wages. Until a father has a grown-up son, who can by his labour pay
the rent, there is no one, except on occasional days, to take care of
his own patch of ground. Hence extreme poverty is very common among the
labouring classes in this country.
There are some old Indian ruins in this neighbourhood, and I was shown
one of the perforated stones, which Molina mentions as being found in
many places in considerable numbers. They are of a circular flattened
form, from five to six inches in diameter, with a hole passing quite
through the centre. It has generally been supposed that they were used
as heads to clubs, although their form does not appear at all well
adapted for that purpose. Burchell [3] states that some of the tribes
in Southern Africa dig up roots by the aid of a stick pointed at one
end, the force and weight of which are increased by a round stone with
a hole in it, into which the other end is firmly wedged. It appears
probable that the Indians of Chile formerly used some such rude
agricultural instrument.
One day, a German collector in natural history, of the name of Renous,
called, and nearly at the same time an old Spanish lawyer. I was
amused at being told the conversation which took place between them.
Renous speaks Spanish so well, that the old lawyer mistook him for a
Chilian. Renous alluding to me, asked him what he thought of the King
of England sending out a collector to their country, to pick up lizards
and beetles, and to break stones? The old gentleman thought seriously
for some time, and then said, "It is not well,--_hay un gato encerrado
aqui_ (there is a cat shut up here). No man is so rich as to send out
people to pick up such rubbish. I do not like it: if one of us were to
go and do such things in England, do not you think the King of England
would very soon send us out of his country?" And this old gentleman,
from his profession, belongs to the better informed and more
intelligent classes! Renous himself, two or three years before, left
in a house at San Fernando some caterpillars, under charge of 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 19th.--We left Yaquil, and followed the flat valley, formed
like that of Quillota, in which the Rio Tinderidica flows. Even at
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