procured a sweet treacle, or, as he called it, honey. His children and
pigs seemed almost to live, during this season of the year, in his
orchard.
February 11th.--I set out with a guide on a short ride, in which,
however, I managed to see singularly little, either of the geology of
the country or of its inhabitants. There is not much cleared land near
Valdivia: after crossing a river at the distance of a few miles, we
entered the forest, and then passed only one miserable hovel, before
reaching our sleeping-place for the night. The short difference in
latitude, of 150 miles, has given a new aspect to the forest compared
with that of Chiloe. This is owing to a slightly different proportion
in the kinds of trees. The evergreens do not appear to be quite so
numerous, and the forest in consequence has a brighter tint. As in
Chiloe, the lower parts are matted together by canes: here also another
kind (resembling the bamboo of Brazil and about twenty feet in height)
grows in clusters, and ornaments the banks of some of the streams in a
very pretty manner. It is with this plant that the Indians make their
chuzos, or long tapering spears. Our resting-house was so dirty that I
preferred sleeping outside: on these journeys the first night is
generally very uncomfortable, because one is not accustomed to the
tickling and biting of the fleas. I am sure, in the morning, there was
not a space on my legs the size of a shilling which had not its little
red mark where the flea had feasted.
12th.--We continued to ride through the uncleared forest; only
occasionally meeting an Indian on horseback, or a troop of fine mules
bringing alerce-planks and corn from the southern plains. In the
afternoon one of the horses knocked up: we were then on a brow of a
hill, which commanded a fine view of the Llanos. The view of these
open plains was very refreshing, after being hemmed in and buried in
the wilderness of trees. The uniformity of a forest soon becomes very
wearisome. This west coast makes me remember with pleasure the free,
unbounded plains of Patagonia; yet, with the true spirit of
contradiction, I cannot forget how sublime is the silence of the
forest. The Llanos are the most fertile and thickly peopled parts of
the country, as they possess the immense advantage of being nearly free
from trees. Before leaving the forest we crossed some flat little
lawns, around which single trees stood, as in an English park: I have
often noticed with surprise, in wooded undulatory districts, that the
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