Nov. 1826. 



FIRE GEOLOGY GUANACOES. 



3 



made snug, than it blew a hard gale from the S.W. The 

 water however, from the wind being off the land, was perfectly 

 smooth, and the ships rode securely through the night : but 

 the following morning the gale increased, and veered to the 

 southward, which threw a heavy sea into the port, placing 

 us, to say the least, in a very uneasy situation. Happily it 

 ceased at sunset. In consequence of the unfavourable state of 

 the weather, no attempt was made to land in order to observe 

 an eclipse of the sun ; to make which observation was one 

 reason for visiting this port. 



The day after the gale, while I was employed in making 

 some astronomical observations, a party roamed about in quest 

 of game : but with little success, as they killed only a few wild 

 ducks. The fire which they made for cooking communicated 

 to the dry stubbly grass, and in a few minutes the whole 

 country was in a blaze. The flames continued to spread dur- 

 ing our stay, and, in a few days, more than fifteen miles along 

 the coast, and seven or eight miles into the interior were over- 

 run by the fire. The smoke very much impeded our observa- 

 tions, for at times it quite obscured the sun. 



The geological structure of this part of the country, and a 

 considerable portion of the coast to the north and south, consists 

 of a fine-grained porphyritic clay slate. The summits of the 

 hills near the coast are generally of a rounded form, and are 

 paved, as it were, with small, rounded, siliceous pebbles, imbed- 

 ded in the soil, and in no instance lying loose or in heaps ; but 

 those of the interior are flat- topped, and uniform in height, for 

 many miles in extent. The valleys and lower elevations, not- 

 withstanding the poverty and parched state of the soil, were 

 partially covered with grass and shrubby plants, which afford 

 sustenance to numerous herds of guanacoes. Many of these 

 animals were observed feeding near the beach when we were 

 working into the bay, but they took the alarm, so that upon 

 landing we only saw them at a considerable distance. In none 

 of our excursions could we find any water that had not a 

 brackish taste. Several wells have been dug in the valleys, 

 both near the sea and at a considerable distance from it, by tlie 



