Sept. 1834. HOT SPRINGS OF CAUQUENES. 



321 



as might be plainly seen^ by the marks which they had left. 

 We reached the baths in the evenings and staid there five 

 days^ being confined the two last by heavy rain. The build- 

 ings consist of a square of miserable little hovels^ each with a 

 single table and bench. They are situated in a narrow deep 

 valley, just without the central Cordillera. It is a quiet, 

 solitary spot, with a good deal of wild beauty. 



The mineral springs of Cauquenes burst forth on a line of 

 dislocation, crossing a mass of stratified rock, the whole of 

 which betrays the action of heat. A considerable quantity 

 of gas is continually escaping from the same orifices with the 

 water. Though the springs are only a few yards apart, they 

 have very different temperatures ; and this appears to be the 

 result of an unequal mixture of cold water : for those with the 

 lowest temperature have scarcely any mineral taste. After the 

 great earthquake of 1822, the springs ceased, and the water 

 did not return for nearly a year. It is said that they have 

 not since regained their former volume or temperature.* 

 These springs were also much affected by the earthquake of 

 1835 ; the temperature being suddenly changed from 118° to 

 92°. t It seems probable that mineral waters rising deep 

 from the bowels of the earth, would always be more deranged 

 by subterranean disturbances, than those nearer the surface. 

 The man who had charge of the baths assured me, that in 

 summer the water is hotter and more plentiful than in 

 winter. The former circumstance I should have expected, 

 from the less mixture, during the dry season, of cold water ; 

 but the latter statement appears very strange and contra- 

 dictory. The periodical increase during the summer when 



* When I doubted the change of temperature, in this case as well as 

 in the one mentioned a few lines lower down, the inhabitants maintained 

 that they knew it well. Their thermometer, however, was an odd one : 

 it is the common custom in this country to scald a fowl before plucking it, 

 in the same manner as we treat a pig, and then the feathers come off very 

 easily; they judged from the comparative facility with which this operation 

 could be performed during the two periods. 



t Caldcleugh's Philosoph. Transact, for 1836. 



VOL. III. Y 



