Chap. I, Captain George SheIvockes io'j 
Pinnace arrived, with all their Crew ; but were fo terrified, 
that I had no Hopes of their being fit for Service in a little 
time. The Officer told me, that he had fought his Way- 
through feveral Canoes of armed Indians , and that it was 
with great Difficulty he got clear of them •, which he 
did by making his Paffage round the Ifland, which was 
feventy Leagues. . This nothing but an Excefs of Terror 
could have urged them to, even if they had had fuch 
Numbers to encounter as they reported •, but, efpecially, 
when there was but one Boat of unarmed Indians, with a 
Spanijh Sergeant, who came off to them without the leafl Shew 
of Violence, as the Governor mentions in his firft Letter, 
and as lbme of themfelves afterwards confeffed ; but, with 
this Addition, that there were great Numbers of People on 
fhore, whom they were appreheniive would follow them. 
T^ie Officer had no Excufe, nor could he allege any better 
Reafon for not returning on board as foon as he had got a 
Sightof the Town, but that the Tide hurried him away •, 
and that in the Fright he had forgot, that he had a Grappling 
in the Boat, to come-to with, till the Tide had fhifted. By 
this ftrange Mifmanagement of theirs, I miffed a fa- 
vourable Opportunity, which otherwife I fhould have 
feized, of reducing the Town of Chacao. Had I appeared 
before it in forty-eight Hours after my Arrival, when the 
Governor was totally unprovided, whereas now he had 
been for a whole Week together muftering the whole 
Force of the Ifland, and had brought together (as the 
Indians , who were on board my Pinnace, told, me, 
that there were) near a thoufand armed Spaniards on 
the Ifland *, and my Frenchman was of the fame Opi- 
nion •, but both agreed, that, if I would let them alone 
In their City, I might do what I pleafed in the Country, 
where the poor Indians mull: bear the Weight of all Da- 
mages ; upon this, I laid afide all Thoughts of going 
to their Towns, under Hopes of furnifhing myfelf with 
what we wanted from the Indian Plantations and Farms, 
which, in the Sequel^ afforded us, what I propofed to my- 
felf in coming hither, a competent Stock of Provifions ; to 
which Purpofe, I kept one of my Boats continually em- 
ployed in bringing Provifions. By the 16th, we had our 
Decks full of live Cattle, Poultry, and Hams in abundance ; 
and fuch Quantities of Wheat, Barley, Potatoes, and In- 
dian Corn, that I was fatisfied : On a moderate Compu- 
tation, we had added four Months Provifions to the Stock 
we brought from England ; fo that I was very well fatisfied 
with the Effe&s of our Stay at Chiloe , and prepared for 
my Departure. I might certainly have done much more 
for my own Credit, and my Owners Profit, if I had been 
properly feconded by my Officers. As I do not know of 
any exa£t Defcription of this Ifland in our Language, and 
as I had a very good Opportunity of being acquainted 
with it, I think it my Duty therefore to give the bed: De- 
fcription of it in my Power. 
7. Chiloe is the firft of the SpaniJIo Poffeffions on the Coaft 
of Chili *, and, though it produces neither Silver nor Gold, 
is confidered by them as a Place of very great Confequence ; 
and for which they would be under much greater Concern, 
when ftrange Ships enter the Ports or Harbours of it, if 
they did not confide in the Number of its Inhabitants, 
which, for this Part of the World, is really very extraor- 
dinary ; at which the Reader will the lefs wonder, when he 
has gone through this Defcription, and finds how fine a 
Place it is. The Body of this Ifland, lying in 42 0 4c/ 
South, is, from North to South, about thirty Leagues in 
Length, but in Breadth not above fix or feven Leagues. 
It is watered by feveral Rivers, and produces feveral kinds 
of ufeful Trees ; and yields an agreeable Profpeft when 
you are near it, when one fees the great Number of Indians 
Farms and Plantations, which are difperfed at fmall Di- 
ftances from one another, among the Woods, on riling 
Grounds. Within it is formed an Archipelago, which 
contains more Hands than are well known ^ the leaft of 
which are faid to have many Inhabitants, and abound in Cat- 
tle. Among thefe, there are very uncertain Tides and Cur- 
rents, fo violent, that it is by no means fafe to venture near. 
I would advife all Strangers, who go in at the North-end, 
to keep the Ifland-fide of the Chanel aboard, giving the 
Northermoft Point of Chiloe a good Birth ; that is, keeping' 
It at a pretty good Diftance ; which done, run along- fhore 
Numb. 14. 
to Southward, and you will pafs by two Bays, which feerri 
to be commodious •, but hold your Way till you come to 
a Point, almoft contiguous to which is a high Rock, fome-? 
what like a Pyramid •, pafs between this Rock and a fmall 
high Hand, which you will fee near it, and run a little 
Way diredlly up the Harbour, which looks like the En- 
trance of a River, and you will have a fafe Port to drop 
your Anchor ; but, in going in, take care that you do not 
fall under five Fathom Water from the Shore j for the 
nearer you advance to the fmall Ifland before-mentioned, 
the lefs Water you meet with •, therefore keep your Lead 
going, and be bold with the Shore towards the North Side 
of the Harbour when you are in, you will have the greateft 
Depth, but the Southermoft Side is Shole. My Pilot car- 
ried me a contrary Way to what I have now directed ; for 
he advifed me to keep to the Main-land of Chili, which I 
did till I had got the Length of the Point of Carelmapo , 
having to the Southward of me feveral fmall Elands, 
which you will fee as foon as you have the Chanel open„ 
This proved a frightful and unfortunate Paffage to me, 
fince the Lofs of my Anchor here was one of the greateft 
Damages I could have fuftained : In fliort, if any Ship 
fhould be by Neceffity, or otherwife, driven to this Ifland, 
I have given the fafeft Inftrudtions they can follow. The 
Soil is very fertile, and produces all forts of our European 
Fruits and Grains, together with fine Pafture-lands, where- 
with they graze great Numbers of Cattle, particularly 
Sheep. The Air is wholfome, it being fituate in a tem- 
perate Climate : But I think it reafonable to conclude, that 
their Winter Seafon is very rigid, the Ifland being bounded 
on the Weft by an immenfe Ocean, without any other 
Land to fcreen it from the cold moift Vapours, which are 
brought thither by the Violence of the tempeftuous Weft- 
eriy Winds, which, for the Generality, reign in thefe La- 
titudes ; all which muft render it an uncomfortable Place 
in the Winter Months *, forafmuch as it is to be confi- 
dered, that the fame Parallels of Latitude to the Equator 
are much more cold, than they are to the Northward. They 
have abundance of very handfome middle-fized Horfes, 
which are faid to mount with great Dexterity ; and have 
like wife a Creature, which they call Guanacoes , or Carneros 
del Fierra, i. e. the Country Sheep ; thefe partake very 
much of the Refemblance of a Camel, but are not near fo 
large : They have long Necks, and I have feen of them 
between five and fix Feet high j their Wool (which is no 
other than a fine fort of Hair) is extremely fine ; they fmell 
very rank, and move with a very flow majeftic Pace, 
which hardly any Violence can make them quicken. Ne- 
verthelefs, they are of great Service at the Mines in Peru, 
where they are employed in carrying the Ore, &c. Their 
Flefh is very coarfe, which we experienced by fome of them 
we had halted for our future Ufe : Befides thefe, they have 
European Sheep, and great Numbers of Hogs, but are not 
overftocked with Black Cattle. Here is no want of Fowl, 
both wild and tame : Of the wild there are feveral forts pe- 
culiar to the Country ; and, in particular, a fort of fmall 
Geefe, which are found on the Banks of their Rivers, 
which not only afford an agreeable Profpect of their beau- 
tiful Whitenefs, but are alio of an excellent Tafte : As to 
their tame Poultry, they are of the fame kind with ours. 
The Inhabitants are almoft, in all refpefts, the fame with 
thofe on the main Continent of Chili. They are of a mo- 
derate Stature, of a deep olive-coloured Complexion, and 
have coarfe ffiaggy black Hair, and fome of them have 
Countenances by no means difagreeable : They feem to be 
naturally of a fierce warlike Difpofition % but the common 
Oppreffions of the Spaniards , and the Artifices of the Je- 
fuits, who are Miflioners in thofe Parts, have fufficiently 
curbed and broken their Spirits. Monfieur Frezier gives us 
an Account, that the Indians , inhabiting the Continent to 
the Southward of this Ifland, are called Chonos % and that 
they go quite naked •, and that, in the inland Part, there 
are a Race of Men, of an extraordinary Size, called Ca- 
cahues •; that thefe, being in Amity with the Chonos , have 
fometimes come with them to the Dwellings of the Spa- 
niards at Chiloe . He adds, he was credibly informed, by 
feveral who had been Eye-witneffes, that fome were about 
nine or ten Feet high : But I had a Sight of two, one 
whereof was a Cacique , who came from the Southward of 
3 G the 
