PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
15 
and wounded him and all his boat’s crew. In 1690 the island was CHAP, 
found deserted by Captain Strong, and it has since remained uninha- 
bited. The cause of this is not known, though I was informed in Chili, 
that it was in consequence of the frequent depredations committed by 
vessels that touched at the island. 
We quitted Mocha, passed the Island of St. Mary, which must 
not he approached on account of sunken rocks, and anchored at Talca- 
huana, the sea-port of Conception, on the 8th, fifty-six days from Rio 
Janeiro. Here we found the British squadron, under the command of 
Captam Mahug, from whom 1 received every assistance and attention. 
Our ar„™l off the i»rt was on one of those bright days of sun- 
shine which characterize the snmiTifiv t. ^ ^ 
. • 1 A . ^ summer ot the temperate zone on the 
western s.de of Amenca. The cliffs of Quiriquiua, an island situated 
e entrance of the harbour, were covered with birds, curiously ar- 
ranged in rows along the various strata; and on the rocks were num- 
berless seals basking in the sun, either making the shores re-echo with 
their discoroant noise, or so unmindful of all that was passing, as to 
a ow re birds to alight upon them and peck their oily skin without 
Ottering any resistance. 
nrot ^!'®i f f Conception is a deep, commodious bay, well 
LTf f • I’y fertile little island above-men- 
the entrance ; there is a passage on either side of it, but 
intricate'*™'n f ^ ‘’r® “‘•’er being very narrow and 
hivh wJll V “i ™ western sides of the bay is 
from’ the ®feeP i O" *6 former it slopes 
villiees ““"fe"'® the sea with gentle undulations. Several 
o e situated along the shore on both sides, but principally on 
the eastern. Around these- hamlets, some diminutive patches of a 
more lively green than the surrounding country, show the very limited 
extent to which cultivation is carried ; of which we had further nroof 
as we proceeded up the bay, by witnessing groupes of both sexes up to 
their middle in the sea, collecting their daily subsistence from beds of 
Takahuana we found to be a miserable little town, extending 
a ong the beach, and up a once fertile valley; divided into streets and 
