Ch. IV. 



SOUTH AMERICA. 



219 



CHAP. IV. 



Account of the {/lands of Juan Fernandes: 

 Voyage from thofe IJlands to Santa Maria, 

 and from thence to the Bay ^/'Conception. 



TH E iflands of Juan Fernandes, which, on ac- 

 count of their fituation, belong to the kingdom 

 of Chili, are tv/ain number. One, as lying farther 

 to the W, is diftinguiflied by the epithet de Afuera ; 

 and the other, as nearer the land, or to the eaftward, 

 is called la de Tierra. The former, which is fome- 

 thing above a league in length, is nearly of an oval 

 figure, and the land very high, fo that it has the ap- 

 pearance of a round mountain •, and its fteepnefs on 

 all fides renders it every where almoft inacceffible. 

 Several large cafcades tumble from its fummit, and 

 the water of one of them, after a fuccelTion of long 

 falls among the rock on the S. W. fide of the illand, 

 precipitates itfelf into the fea v^ith fuch amazing im- 

 petuofity, that its froth may be feen at three leagues 

 diftance. The longitude or this ifland, according to 

 the reckoning of Don George Juan, admitting the 

 currents to fet towards the S. W. is 3^ 20^ W. from 

 the meridian of Callao but according to my compu- 

 tation 3° 27^ By the coaft we fleered from the meri- 

 dian de Afuera till v/e reached la de Tierra, we con- 

 cluded the diilance between thofe iflands to be thirty, 

 four leagues. 



The ifland de Tierra, which is about four hundred 

 and forty leagues to the N. of Cape Horn, is bc^tween 

 three or four leagues from E. to W. which is its 

 greatefl: length. It is for the mofl: part high land, 

 but not deiiiuute of fome plains, though thefe are 

 part of the mountains themfelves. Its valleys are 

 full of trees, and fome of them an excellent timber. 

 Here is likewife the piem^nto tree refembling the 



Chiapa 



