398 



TOWN— ABORIGINAL NATIVES. 



Feb. 



48-9° S. I thought another copy might be found at Lima, but 

 during my subsequent stay there, not one could be discovered. 



The town of Valdivia, formerly dignified by the appellation 

 of city, disappointed our party extremely. It proved to be no 

 more than a straggling village of wooden houses, surrounded 

 with apple-trees ; and the only building, even partially con- 

 structed of stone, was a church."* Many of us were in the 

 town on the 20th of February, at the time of that great earth- 

 quake, which ruined so many places besides the city of Con- 

 cepcion : an awful event, which will be related in the following 

 pages. 



An English carpenter, who had served on board the Beagle, 

 in 1828, but had since settled on the banks of the river Cruces, 

 about thirty miles from Valdivia, came on board his old ship 

 one day, to see those whom he knew. It happened that I had 

 formerly been of some assistance to him, and he was naturally 

 glad to oblige me, by giving such information about the coun- 

 try and the natives as he was able to impart ; and having lived 

 nearly four years among them, his accounts were not only in- 

 teresting, but, I think, worthy of credence.-j- As some of these 

 were confirmed by what I heard from residents at Valdivia, 

 and I have no doubt of their truth, I shall mention them with- 

 out hesitation in the course of my narrative. 



I was much struck by the peculiar physiognomy of those 

 aboriginal natives whom I saw during my stay : and there must 

 have been some ground for Mr. Darwin and myself remarking 

 at different times, unknown at first to one another, that their 

 countenances reminded us of portraits of Charles I. This was 

 my impression at the first glance; but after closer examination 

 it wore off, and I thought less of that likeness than I did of 

 their resemblance to the Hindoo race. There was neither 

 the open honesty of a Patagonian, nor the brutal look of 

 most Fuegians ; but there was a sombre cast of depressed 



* That church and other edifices have since been laid in ruins by the 

 violent earthquake of Nov. 7> 1837- 



t He was a very intelligent, observing man, and a good workman : while 

 belonging to the Beagle, he was rated carpenter's mate. 



