1835. 



VOLCANOES — NAMES — HUAFO. 



377 



means 'having a shivering, and unnatural heat**), andMinchen- 

 madom, which, in the Huilli-che tongue, means ' under a fire- 

 brand' ; names so expressive and appropriate as to put to shame 

 much of our own nomenclature. Wherever I have been able to 

 discover the aboriginal name of a place in South America, and 

 could ascertain its meaning, I have been struck by the extreme 

 appositeness, as well as by the copious though condensed allu- 

 sion usually conveyed. 



In Chiloe and about the north-eastern Chonos Islands, almost 

 all the aboriginal names are preserved, because there interpre- 

 ters could be procured ; but, of course, such advantages were 

 generally unattainable in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. 

 In Chiloe, as in Araucania, every corner and every con- 

 spicuous spot, whether land or water, has a particular and 

 expressive name, a word usually compounded of two or three 

 others : thus, Huapi-quilan means Three Islands : Calbu-co, 

 Blue Water ; Cauca-huapi, Gull Island ; Huechu-cucuy, 

 Point Cucuy,* or Grandmother ; Carel-mapu (Cara-el-mapu), 

 Bad-city-country ; Petu-cura, middle stone (a rock in Chacao 

 Narrow), &c. 



15th. We sailed from Port Low and went to Huafo once 

 more, wishing to give Mr. Darwin an opportunity of examining 

 it geologically. There are now no inhabitants on that island, 

 though there are a good many sheep belonging to Chilotes, 

 who live at Caylin. Formerly there were Indians called Huy- 

 huen-che,-!- upon Huafo ; but the Spaniards obliged them to 

 quit it, for fear they should give information or supplies to 

 English ships. Near the Beagle, when at anchor, there was a 

 square .place, like an entrance to some cave, seemingly cut 

 by man in the soft sand-stone rock ; and I have since often 

 reproached myself for having left the place without ascertaining 



* Cueuy is the name of a bird, much noticed by the aborigines because 

 its motions are supposed to be ominous : it also means grandmother. 



t The Huyhuen-che, often called Huyhuenes, were a tribe of Chonos 

 Indians, adjoining the Pichi-huilli-che, who lived in the northern portion 

 of Chiloe. The word Huyhuen signifies ' whistle,' or ' hiss,' or ' to whistle? 

 or hiss.' 



