bivouacked, before the barefooted son of the governor came down to
reconnoitre us. Seeing the English flag hoisted at the yawl's
mast-head, 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.
25th.--Torrents of rain: we managed, however, to run down the coast as
far as Huapi-lenou. The whole of this eastern side of Chiloe has one
aspect; it is a plain, broken by valleys and divided into little
islands, and the whole thickly covered with one impervious
blackish-green forest. On the margins there are some cleared spaces,
surrounding the high-roofed cottages.
26th--The day rose splendidly clear. The volcano of Orsono was
spouting out volumes of smoke. This most beautiful mountain, formed
like a perfect cone, and white with snow, stands out in front of the
Cordillera. Another great volcano, with a saddle-shaped summit, also
emitted from its immense crater little jets of steam. Subsequently we
saw the lofty-peaked Corcovado--well deserving the name of "el famoso
Corcovado." Thus we beheld, from one point of view, three great active
volcanoes, each about seven thousand feet high. In addition to this,
far to the south, there were other lofty cones covered with snow,
which, although not known to be active, must be in their origin
volcanic. The line of the Andes is not, in this neighbourhood, nearly
so elevated as in Chile; neither does it appear to form so perfect a
barrier between the regions of the earth. This great range, although
running in a straight north and south line, owing to an optical
deception, always appeared more or less curved; for the lines drawn
from each peak to the beholder's eye, necessarily converged like the
radii of a semicircle, and as it was not possible (owing to the
clearness of the atmosphere and the absence of all intermediate
objects) to judge how far distant the farthest peaks were off, they
appeared to stand in a flattish semicircle.
260