CHILOE AND CHONOS ISLANDS
Chiloe--General Aspect--Boat Excursion--Native Indians--Castro--Tame
Fox--Ascend San Pedro--Chonos Archipelago--Peninsula of Tres
Montes--Granitic Range--Boat-wrecked Sailors--Low's Harbour--Wild
Potato--Formation of Peat--Myopotamus, Otter and Mice--Cheucau and
Barking-bird--Opetiorhynchus--Singular Character of
Ornithology--Petrels.
NOVEMBER 10th.--The Beagle sailed from Valparaiso to the south, for the
purpose of surveying the southern part of Chile, the island of Chiloe,
and the broken land called the Chonos Archipelago, as far south as the
Peninsula of Tres Montes. On the 21st we anchored in the bay of S.
Carlos, the capital of Chiloe.
This island is about ninety miles long, with a breadth of rather less
than thirty. The land is hilly, but not mountainous, and is covered by
one great forest, except where a few green patches have been cleared
round the thatched cottages. From a distance the view somewhat
resembles that of Tierra del Fuego; but the woods, when seen nearer,
are incomparably more beautiful. Many kinds of fine evergreen trees,
and plants with a tropical character, here take the place of the gloomy
beech of the southern shores. In winter the climate is detestable, and
in summer it is only a little better. I should think there are few
parts of the world, within the temperate regions, where so much rain
falls. The winds are very boisterous, and the sky almost always
clouded: to have a week of fine weather is something wonderful. It is
even difficult to get a single glimpse of the Cordillera: during our
first visit, once only the volcano of Osorno stood out in bold relief,
and that was before sunrise; it was curious to watch, as the sun rose,
the outline gradually fading away in the glare of the eastern sky.
The inhabitants, from their complexion and low stature; appear to have
three-fourths of Indian blood in their veins. They are an humble,
quiet, industrious set of men. Although the fertile soil, resulting
from the decomposition of the volcanic rocks, supports a rank
vegetation, yet the climate is not favourable to any production which
requires much sunshine to ripen it. There is very little pasture for
the larger quadrupeds; and in consequence, the staple articles of food
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