456 



HOUSE MOLGUILLA LEUBU. 



May 



Wherever Mr. Rouse went he carried with him the thorough 

 good-will and high respect of the inhabitants of the province 

 of Concepcion— a feeling inestimably valuable at such a time, 

 and totally different from the mere outward formal civility 

 shown to him as the British consul ! This feeling forwarded 

 him on his journey, induced others to assist in earnest, and 

 afterwards enabled him to procure a large supply of fresh pro- 

 visions for the shipwrecked crew. 



From Concepcion Lieutenant Collins went to Talcahuano, 

 to hire a vessel. Only one fit for such a purpose was in the 

 port, the Carmen, an American schooner, but her owner asked 

 a price so utterly unreasonable, that the Lieutenant refused to 

 engage with him, and returned to the wreck. 



After Lieutenant Collins was despatched to Concepcion, 

 Captain Seymour and the master went to examine the mouth 

 of the river Leiibu, about eighteen miles to the N.N.W. of 

 Point Molguilla, where the ship struck. They found that 

 boats might enter and leave the river with most winds ; that 

 there was no bar at the entrance ; and that under Tucapel 

 Heights^ there was a spot very suitable for their encampment, 

 until some means of embarkation should offer. Travelling over- 

 land so great a distance as to Concepcion, in such a country, 

 would have been almost impracticable, except as a last resource ; 

 for it must have involved the total loss of every thing which 

 they could not carry on their backs, and rendered useless the 

 many days hard labour, in a raging surf, by which so much 

 had been landed. It was therefore resolved, that as soon as all 

 valuable stores which could be removed were landed, measures 

 should be taken for shifting their camp to the Leiibu. 



When the consul arrived his advice strengthened the opinion 



* Immediately over the entrance of the river. 



t While Captain Seymour was away at the Leiibu, the officers availed 

 themselves of the opportunity to get the greater part of his stores and 

 private property, books, &c. landed ; for he would not allow any of his 

 own things to be moved, or a man to be employed about them, while an 

 article of the ship's stores could be saved, though his private property 

 was very valuable. 



