XIII 
BOAT EXCURSION 
29 3 
a merchant, and again sell the goods which he takes in 
exchange. 
November 24 th. — The yawl and whale-boat were sent 
under the command of Mr. (now Captain) Sulivan to survey 
the eastern or inland coast of Chiloe ; and with orders to meet 
the Beagle at the southern extremity of the island ; to which 
point she would proceed by the outside, so as thus to circum¬ 
navigate the whole. I accompanied this expedition, but 
instead of going in the boats the first day, I hired horses to 
take me to Chacao, at the northern extremity of the island. 
The road followed the coast; every now and then crossing 
promontories covered by fine forests. In these shaded paths 
it is absolutely necessary that the whole road should be made 
of logs of wood, which are squared and placed by the side of 
each other. From the rays of the sun never penetrating the 
evergreen foliage, the ground is so damp and soft that except 
by this means neither man nor horse would be able to pass 
along. I arrived at the village of Chacao shortly after the 
tents belonging to the boats were pitched for the night. 
The land in this neighbourhood has been extensively 
cleared, and there were many quiet and most picturesque 
nooks in the forest. Chacao was formerly the principal port 
in the island ; but many vessels having been lost, owing to the 
dangerous currents and rocks in the straits, the Spanish 
government burnt the church, and thus arbitrarily compelled 
the greater number of inhabitants to migrate to S. Carlos. 
We had not long bivouacked, before the barefooted son of the 
governor came down to reconnoitre us. Seeing the English 
flag hoisted at the yawl’s masthead, he asked, with the utmost 
indifference, whether it was always to fly at Chacao. In 
several places the inhabitants were much astonished at the 
appearance of men-of-war’s boats, and hoped and believed it 
was the forerunner of a Spanish fleet, coming to recover the 
island from the patriot government of Chile. All the men in 
power, however, had been informed of our intended visit, and 
were exceedingly civil. While we were eating our supper, the 
governor paid us a visit. He had been a lieutenant-colonel in 
the Spanish service, but now was miserably poor. He gave 
us two sheep, and accepted in return two cotton handkerchiefs, 
some brass trinkets, and a little tobacco. 
