342 
CRUISE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 
so remained for some forty years. At the present 
time it is leased to a Chilian merchant, who employs 
all the settlers in cutting wood, tending cattle, &c., 
and during the season seal-hunting, both here and 
at Masafuera, 90 miles distant, when they usually 
capture some two thousand, the skins of which are at 
present worth $16 each. The climate is mild, and 
considered healthy; but the weather is subject to 
great changes. During our stay the mornings were 
generally cloudy, with showers of rain ; towards 
noon it cleared, and for the remainder of the day it 
was usually fine and pleasant. 
On the evening -of the 15th November we left 
Cumberland Bay, steaming out clear of the head- 
lands, when sail was made, and the 360 miles 
separating us from Yalparaiso were expected to be 
soon got over ; but rough seas and head-winds de- 
layed, and made a long passage. It was not until 
the morning of the 19th November that land w T as 
in sight, and as the haze cleared, it proved to 
be the faint outline of Aconcagua, the highest of 
the Chilian Andes. A few hours later we made 
the lighthouse on the southern part of the bay. It 
was a pleasant sight on approaching the anchorage, 
which was full of shipping; and the appearance of 
the city to us, just come in from the turbulent sea, 
was very charming ; the buildings extend along, 
row after row, for a considerable distance in front of 
the bay, and surmount the hillocks which rise at 
