PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
21 
here as in the different parts of the city. At present, as much arable CHAP, 
land as is absolutely necessary for the support of the inhabitants is 
cleared, and no more ; and even its produce is but scantily enjoyed by October, 
the lower classes on the coast, who are obliged to subsist almost entirely ' 
upon shell-fish. The soil, if attended to, will give an abundant return : 
wheat, barley, Indian corn, beans, pease, potatoes, and arrow-root; 
grapes, apples, pears, currants, strawberries, and olives, are the common 
produce of the country. From the latter a fine oil is extracted; but 
the fruit is too rank to be eaten at table, except by the natives. The 
arrow-root is of a good quality and very cheap. In the ravines and 
moist places, the panque ( gunnera scabra ) grows luxuriantly and strong: 
it is a very useful root, and serves for several purposes ; a pleasant and 
cooliiij, drink is extracted from it, which is deemed beneficial in feverish 
comp aints , its root furnishes a liquid serviceable in tanning, and 
superior to any of the barks of South America; when made into tarts, it 
is scarcely inferior to the rhubarb, for which it is sometimes mistaken ; 
and it is eaten in strips after dinner, with cheese and wine, &c. Several 
European shrubs and herbaceous plants grow here, but more luxuriantly 
than m our own country; among these were hemlock, flax, chickweed, 
pimpernel, water-cresses, and a species of elder. 
The wines, which were formerly so much esteemed, and carried 
a ong the coast to the northward, are now greatly deteriorated, and 
the sea-port much adulterated. There is a great variety of them, 
and in general they are very intoxicating. The only palatable kind 
aste was made from the vines on the estate of General Friere, and 
or w 1C I was indebted to the liberality of the governor, as there 
was none to be purchased. This wine, though agreeable to the English 
palate, is not in such estimation with the Chilians as one that has a 
strong empyieumatic flavour. It acquires this in the process of heat- 
ing, or rather of boiling, the fruit, which is done with a view to extract 
a larger proportion of the juice than could be obtained by the ordinary 
means, and to produce a mellowness which age only could otherwise 
give. Cici, and mattee, are still in use, though less so than formerly; 
and indeed it appeared to me that the Chilians were fast gettin- rid 
ot all their old customs, of which the drinking of mattee is one. 
ter passing a very pleasant time in the society of the Inten- 
