333 



CHAPTER XV. 



Chiloe — General aspect — Boat excursion — Native Indians — Castro — 

 Large leaves of Gunnera scabra — Tame fox — Ascend San Pedro — 

 Chonos Archipelago — Peninsula of Tres Montes — Granitic range — 

 Lowe's Harbour — Wild potato — Forest — Formation of peat — Myopota- 

 mus, otter and mice — Cheucau and barking-bird — Furnarius — Singular 

 character of ornithology — Petrels. 



CHILOE AND CHONOS ISLANDS. 



November 10th. — The Beagle sailed from Valparaiso to 

 the southward^ for the purpose of surveying the southern 

 part of Chile, the island of Chiloe, and the broken land 

 called the Chonos Archipelago, as far south as the Peninsula 

 of Tres Montes. On the 21st we anchored in the bay of 

 S. Carlos, the capital of Chiloe. 



This island is about ninety miles long, with a breadth of 

 rather less than thirty. The land is hilly, but not mountain- 

 ous, and is every where covered by one great forest, except- 

 ing a few scattered green patches, which have been cleared 

 round the thatched cottages. From a distance the view 

 somewhat resembles Tierra del Fuego; but the w^oods, 

 when seen nearer, are incomparably more beautiful. Many 

 kinds of fine evergreen trees, and plants with a tropical cha- 

 racter, here take the place of the gloomy beech of the southern 

 shores. In winter the climate is detestable, and in summer 

 it is only a little better. I should think there are few parts 

 of the world, within the temperate regions, where so much 

 rain falls. The winds are very boisterous, and the sky 

 almost always clouded : to have a week of fine weather is 

 something wonderful. It is even difficult to get a single 

 glimpse of the Cordillera : during our first visit only one 

 opportunity occurred, and that was before sunrise, when the 

 Volcano of Osorno stood out in bold relief ; and it was curious 



