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CLIMATE. 



by the W. to S.W. ; but notwithstanding the great quantity 

 of rain that falls, the evaporation is great, and it cannot there- 

 fore be called unhealthy ; indeed, from experience, it is con- 

 sidered quite otherwise. Agiieros, to whose excellent account 

 of Childe I have so often referred, dilates much upon this 

 subject, and from having resided there a considerable time, may 

 be taken as the best authority. Those who now reside upon 

 the island speak very much against it, and all whom I met, 

 previous to my visit, condemned it, as being " the worst in the 

 world.'"* Perhaps we, who had lately been experiencing a much 

 more disagreeable climate, went to Childe with the expectation of 

 finding it exceed in severity that to which we had been accus- 

 tomed in the Strait of Magalhaens, but we found ourselves 

 agreeably mistaken. Our visit certainly was in the better season, 

 and we had, perhaps, no right to form a decided opinion upon 

 the other part of the year. I shall, therefore, first quote Agiieros, 

 and then describe what we found the weather from September 

 to December; yet as these months were considered by the inha- 

 bitants to be finer than is usual at that season, we can only form 

 a vague idea of the spring and summer. For the autumn and 

 winter I must depend upon the accounts of others. 



After explaining the contra-position of the seasons, to what 

 is experienced north of the equator, with regard to the months 

 of the year; Agiieros says, "Childe has also its four seasons, but 

 does not enjoy the benefit of those changes, as do other parts of 

 Chile ; for there is neither that abundance of fruit, nor are its 

 fields adorned with so many and such beautiful flowers, and 

 useful medicinal plants. The summer is the best time ; for in 

 the month of January, from ten o'clock in the morning till 

 three in the afternoon, the heat is excessive. Between these 

 hours, however, a sea-breeze, which is called ' Vira-zon,' re- 

 freshes the air. In the winter the temperature is very cold ; 

 but the frosts are by no means so severe as in Europe. I have 

 never seen ice, even in the small streams, nor does snow lie any 

 length of time on the ground. 



" In the winter months, as well as in other parts of the year, 

 there are falls of rain, and heavy gales from N.N.W., and west. 



