804 



FISH GOATS DOGS. 



Feb. 1830. 



cultivate the soil, and raise potatoes, had been defeated by the 

 destructive ravages of a worm. 



By sending a boat to the east point of the bay, to fish in forty 

 fathoms water, a most delicious kind of cod-fish may be taken, 

 in such numbers, that two men, in half an hour, could fill the 

 boat. Craw-fish, of large size, are almost equally abundant ; 

 they are taken with a hooked stick : one of our boats caught 

 forty-five in a very short time. The inhabitants catch them, and 

 cure their tails, by exposure to the sun, for exportation to 

 Chile, where they are much esteemed, and fetch a high price. 



Wild-goats are very numerous among the inaccessible parts 

 of the island, but are not easily obtained ; they are sometimes 

 shot, or taken with a lazo. These animals, according to Woodes 

 Rogers, and other writers, were originally left on the island by 

 J uan Fernandez, who, for a short time, lived there. Accord- 

 ing to the ' Noticias Secretas,' p. 50 to 56, they are supposed 

 to have been landed by the Buccaneers, who frequented this 

 island. Certain it is, that, without such refreshments, the Buc- 

 caneers would not have been able to carry on their harassing war 

 of plunder against the Spanish possessions on the American 

 coast to such an extent ; nor should we, perhaps, have heard 

 anything more about Commodore Anson, and the crews of the 

 Centurion and Gloucester, who were, on their arrival at this 

 island, in the last stage of scurvy. 



To prevent Juan Fernandez from being so tempting a resort 

 to Buccaneers, the Viceroy of Peru caused a great many dogs 

 to be landed, which hunted down and destroyed the goats in 

 great numbers : this in some measure has prevented their 

 subsequent increase. The dogs however drove the goats to 

 places where they could not follow them, and were then obliged 

 to destroy seals for food. Large troops of these dogs still range 

 about the lower grounds; but the heights are in the undisturbed 

 possession of wild-goats ; which may be seen in numbers brows- 

 ing on elevated and almost inaccessible places, where they live 

 in safety. 



The geological chamcter of this island, according to Mr. 

 Caldcleugh, who accompanied me in this trip, is of basaltic 



