286 
CENTRAL CHILE 
CHAP. 
his profession, belongs to the better informed and more intelli¬ 
gent classes ! Renous himself, two or three years before, left 
in a house at S. Fernando some caterpillars, under charge ot 
a girl to feed, that they might turn into butterflies. This 
was rumoured through the town, and at last the Padres 
and Governor consulted together, and agreed it must be 
some heresy. Accordingly, when Renous returned, he was 
arrested. 
September 19 th .—-We left Yaquil, and followed the flat 
valley, formed like that of Quillota, in which the Rio 
Tinderidica flows. Even at these few miles south of Santiago 
the climate is much damper ; in consequence there were fine 
tracts of pasturage, which were not irrigated. (20 th.) We 
followed this valley till it expanded into a great plain, which 
reaches from the sea to the mountains west of Rancagua. We 
shortly lost all trees and even bushes ; so that the inhabitants 
are nearly as badly off for firewood as those in the Pampas. 
Never having heard of these plains, I was much surprised at 
meeting with such scenery in Chile. The plains belong to 
more than one series of different elevations, and they are 
traversed by broad flat-bottomed valleys ; both of which 
circumstances, as in Patagonia, bespeak the action of the sea 
on gently rising land. In the steep cliffs bordering these 
valleys there are some large caves, which no doubt were 
originally formed by the waves : one of these is celebrated 
under the name of Cueva del Obispo ; having formerly been 
consecrated. During the day I felt very unwell, and from that 
time till the end of October did not recover. 
September 22 nd .—We continued to pass over green plains 
without a tree. The next day we arrived at a house near 
Navedad, on the sea-coast, where a rich Haciendero gave us 
lodgings. I stayed here the two ensuing days, and although 
very unwell, managed to collect from the tertiary formation 
some marine shells. 
24 th .—Our course was now directed towards Valparaiso, 
which with great difficulty I reached on the 27th, and was 
there confined to my bed till the end of October. During this 
