a house; and one man even sent us a cask of cider as a present. In the
afternoon we paid our respects to the governor--a quiet old man, who,
in his appearance and manner of life, was scarcely superior to an
English cottager. At night heavy rain set in, which was hardly
sufficient to drive away from our tents the large circle of lookers-on.
An Indian family, who had come to trade in a canoe from Caylen,
bivouacked near us. They had no shelter during the rain. In the
morning I asked a young Indian, who was wet to the skin, how he had
passed the night. He seemed perfectly content, and answered, "Muy
bien, senor."
December 1st.--We steered for the island of Lemuy. I was anxious to
examine a reported coal-mine which turned out to be lignite of little
value, in the sandstone (probably of an ancient tertiary epoch) of
which these islands are composed. When we reached Lemuy we had much
difficulty in finding any place to pitch our tents, for it was
spring-tide, and the land was wooded down to the water's edge. In a
short time we were surrounded by a large group of the nearly pure
Indian inhabitants. They were much surprised at our arrival, and said
one to the other, "This is the reason we have seen so many parrots
lately; the cheucau (an odd red-breasted little bird, which inhabits
the thick forest, and utters very peculiar noises) has not cried
'beware' for nothing." They were soon anxious for barter. Money was
scarcely worth anything, but their eagerness for tobacco was something
quite extraordinary. After tobacco, indigo came next in value; then
capsicum, old clothes, and gunpowder. The latter article was required
for a very innocent purpose: each parish has a public musket, and the
gunpowder was wanted for making a noise on their saint or feast days.
The people here live chiefly on shell-fish and potatoes. At certain
seasons they catch also, in "corrales," or hedges under water, many
fish which are left on the mud-banks as the tide falls. They
occasionally possess fowls, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and cattle; the
order in which they are here mentioned, expressing their respective
numbers. I never saw anything more obliging and humble than the
manners of these people. They generally began with stating that they
were poor natives of the place, and not Spaniards and that they were in
sad want of tobacco and other comforts. At Caylen, the most southern
island, the sailors bought with a stick of tobacco, of the value of
three-halfpence, two fowls, one of which, the Indian stated, had skin
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