JULY 23rd. -- The Beagle anchored late at night in thebay of Valparaiso, the chief seaport of Chile. Whenmorning came, everything appeared delightful. AfterTierra del Fuego, the climate felt quite delicious -- theatmosphere so dry, and the heavens so clear and blue with thesun shining brightly, that all nature seemed sparkling withlife. The view from the anchorage is very pretty. The town isbuilt at the very foot of a range of hills, about 1600 feethigh, and rather steep. From its position, it consists of onelong, straggling street, which runs parallel to the beach,and wherever a ravine comes down, the houses are piled up oneach side of it. The rounded hills, being only partiallyprotected by a very scanty vegetation, are worn into numberlesslittle gullies, which expose a singularly bright red soil. Fromthis cause, and from the low whitewashed houses with tile roofs,the view reminded me of St. Cruz in Teneriffe. In a north-westerly direction there are some fine glimpses of the Andes:but these mountains appear much grander when viewed fromthe neighbouring hills: the great distance at which they aresituated can then more readily be perceived. The volcano ofAconcagua is particularly magnificent. This huge and irregularlyconical mass has an elevation greater than that ofChimborazo; for, from measurements made by the officers inthe Beagle, its height is no less than 23,000 feet. TheCordillera, however, viewed from this point, owe the greaterpart of their beauty to the atmosphere through which they areseen. When the sun was setting in the Pacific, it wasadmirable to watch how clearly their rugged outlines couldbe distinguished, yet how varied and how delicate were theshades of their colour.

I had the good fortune to find living here Mr. RichardCorfield, an old schoolfellow and friend, to whose hospitalityand kindness I was greatly indebted, in having afforded mea most pleasant residence during the Beagle's stay in Chile.The immediate neighbourhood of Valparaiso is not very productiveto the naturalist. During the long summer the windblows steadily from the southward, and a little off shore, sothat rain never falls; during the three winter months, however,it is sufficiently abundant. The vegetation in consequenceis very scanty: except in some deep valleys, there areno trees, and only a little grass and a few low bushes arescattered over the less steep parts of the hills. When wereflect, that at the distance of 350 miles to the south, thisside of the Andes is completely hidden by one impenetrableforest, the contrast is very remarkable. I took several longwalks while collecting objects of natural history. The countryis pleasant for exercise. There are many very beautiful flowers;and, as in most other dry climates, the plants and shrubspossess strong and peculiar odours -- even one's clothes bybrushing through them became scented. I did not cease fromwonder at finding each succeeding day as fine as the foregoing.What a difference does climate make in the enjoymentof life! How opposite are the sensations when viewingblack mountains half enveloped in clouds, and seeinganother range through the light blue haze of a fine day! Theone for a time may be very sublime; the other is all gaietyand happy life.

August 14th. -- I set out on a riding excursion, for thepurpose of geologizing the basal parts of the Andes, whichalone at this time of the year are not shut up by the wintersnow. Our first day's ride was northward along the seacoast.After dark we reached the Hacienda of Quintero,the estate which formerly belonged to Lord Cochrane. Myobject in coming here was to see the great beds of shells,which stand some yards above the level of the sea, and areburnt for lime. The proofs of the elevation of this wholeline of coast are unequivocal: at the height of a few hundredfeet old-looking shells are numerous, and I found someat 1300 feet. These shells either lie loose on the surface, orare embedded in a reddish-black vegetable mould. I wasmuch surprised to find under the microscope that this vegetablemould is really marine mud, full of minute particles oforganic bodies.

15th. -- We returned towards the valley of Quillota. Thecountry was exceedingly pleasant; just such as poets wouldcall pastoral: green open lawns, separated by small valleyswith rivulets, and the cottages, we may suppose of the shepherdsscattered on the hill-sides. We were obliged to crossthe ridge of the Chilicauquen. At its base there were manyfine evergreen forest-trees, but these flourished only in theravines, where there was running water. Any person whohad seen only the country near Valparaiso, would never haveimagined that there had been such picturesque spots in Chile.As soon as we reached the brow of the Sierra, the valley ofQuillota was immediately under our feet. The prospect wasone of remarkable artificial luxuriance. The valley is verybroad and quite flat, and is thus easily irrigated in all parts.The little square gardens are crowded with orange and olivetrees, and every sort of vegetable. On each side huge baremountains rise, and this from the contrast renders the patchworkvalley the more pleasing. Whoever called "Valparaiso"the "Valley of Paradise," must have been thinkingof Quillota. We crossed over to the Hacienda de San Isidro,situated at the very foot of the Bell Mountain.

Chile, as may be seen in the maps, is a narrow strip ofland between the Cordillera and the Pacific; and this stripis itself traversed by several mountain-lines, which in thispart run parallel to the great range. Between these outerlines and the main Cordillera, a succession of level basins,generally opening into each other by narrow passages, extendfar to the southward: in these, the principal towns aresituated, as San Felipe, Santiago, San Fernando. These basinsor plains, together with the transverse flat valleys (like thatof Quillota) which connect them with the coast, I have nodoubt are the bottoms of ancient inlets and deep bays, suchas at the present day intersect every part of Tierra del Fuegoand the western coast. Chile must formerly have resembledthe latter country in the configuration of its land and water.The resemblance was occasionally shown strikingly when alevel fog-bank covered, as with a mantle, all the lower partsof the country: the white vapour curling into the ravines,beautifully represented little coves and bays; and here andthere a solitary hillock peeping up, showed that it had formerlystood there as an islet. The contrast of these flatvalleys and basins with the irregular mountains, gave thescenery a character which to me was new and very interesting.

From the natural slope to seaward of these plains, theyare very easily irrigated, and in consequence singularlyfertile. Without this process the land would produce scarcelyanything, for during the whole summer the sky is cloudless.The mountains and hills are dotted over with bushes andlow trees, and excepting these the vegetation is very scanty.Each landowner in the valley possesses a certain portion ofhill-country, where his half-wild cattle, in considerablenumbers, manage to find sufficient pasture. Once every yearthere is a grand "rodeo," when all the cattle are driven down,counted, and marked, and a certain number separated to befattened in the irrigated fields. Wheat is extensivelycultivated, and a good deal of Indian corn: a kind of bean is,however, the staple article of food for the common labourers.The orchards produce an overflowing abundance of peachesfigs, and grapes. With all these advantages, the inhabitantsof the country ought to be much more prosperous than theyare.

16th. -- The mayor-domo of the Hacienda was good enoughto give me a guide and fresh horses; and in the morning weset out to ascend the Campana, or Bell Mountain, which is6400 feet high. The paths were very bad, but both thegeology and scenery amply repaid the trouble. We reachedby the evening, a spring called the Agua del Guanaco, whichis situated at a great height. This must be an old name,for it is very many years since a guanaco drank its waters.During the ascent I noticed that nothing but bushes grewon the northern slope, whilst on the southern slope there wasa bamboo about fifteen feet high. In a few places there werepalms, and I was surprised to see one at an elevation of atleast 4500 feet. These palms are, for their family, ugly trees.Their stem is very large, and of a curious form, being thickerin the middle than at the base or top. They are excessivelynumerous in some parts of Chile, and valuable on account ofa sort of treacle made from the sap. On one estate nearPetorca they tried to count them, but failed, after havingnumbered several hundred thousand. Every year in the earlyspring, in August, very many are cut down, and when thetrunk is lying on the ground, the crown of leaves is loppedoff. The sap then immediately begins to flow from the upperend, and continues so doing for some months: it is, however,necessary that a thin slice should be shaved off fromthat end every morning, so as to expose a fresh surface. Agood tree will give ninety gallons, and all this must havebeen contained in the vessels of the apparently dry trunk.It is said that the sap flows much more quickly on thosedays when the sun is powerful; and likewise, that it isabsolutely necessary to take care, in cutting down the tree,that it should fall with its head upwards on the side of thehill; for if it falls down the slope, scarcely any sap willflow; although in that case one would have thought that theaction would have been aided, instead of checked, by the forceof gravity. The sap is concentrated by boiling, and is thencalled treacle, which it very much resembles in taste.

We unsaddled our horses near the spring, and prepared topass the night. The evening was fine, and the atmosphere soclear, that the masts of the vessels at anchor in the bay ofValparaiso, although no less than twenty-six geographicalmiles distant, could be distinguished clearly as little blackstreaks. A ship doubling the point under sail, appeared asa bright white speck. Anson expresses much surprise, in hisvoyage, at the distance at which his vessels were discoveredfrom the coast; but he did not sufficiently allow for the heightof the land, and the great transparency of the air.

The setting of the sun was glorious; the valleys beingblack whilst the snowy peaks of the Andes yet retained aruby tint. When it was dark, we made a fire beneath a littlearbour of bamboos, fried our charqui (or dried slips of beef),took our mate, and were quite comfortable. There is aninexpressible charm in thus living in the open air. The eveningwas calm and still; -- the shrill noise of the mountainbizcacha, and the faint cry of a goatsucker, were occasionallyto be heard. Besides these, few birds, or eveninsects, frequent these dry, parched mountains.

August 17th. -- In the morning we climbed up the roughmass of greenstone which crowns the summit. This rock, asfrequently happens, was much shattered and broken intohuge angular fragments. I observed, however, one remarkablecircumstance, namely, that many of the surfaces presentedevery degree of freshness some appearing as ifbroken the day before, whilst on others lichens had eitherjust become, or had long grown, attached. I so fully believedthat this was owing to the frequent earthquakes, that I feltinclined to hurry from below each loose pile. As one mightvery easily be deceived in a fact of this kind, I doubted itsaccuracy, until ascending Mount Wellington, in Van Diemen'sLand, where earthquakes do not occur; and there I sawthe summit of the mountain similarly composed and similarlyshattered, but all the blocks appeared as if they had beenhurled into their present position thousands of years ago.

We spent the day on the summit, and I never enjoyed onemore thoroughly. Chile, bounded by the Andes and thePacific, was seen as in a map. The pleasure from the scenery,in itself beautiful, was heightened by the many reflectionswhich arose from the mere view of the Campana range withits lesser parallel ones, and of the broad valley of Quillotadirectly intersecting them. Who can avoid wondering at theforce which has upheaved these mountains, and even moreso at the countless ages which it must have required to havebroken through, removed, and levelled whole masses of them?It is well in this case to call to mind the vast shingle andsedimentary beds of Patagonia, which, if heaped on theCordillera, would increase its height by so many thousand feet.When in that country, I wondered how any mountain-chaincould have supplied such masses, and not have been utterlyobliterated. We must not now reverse the wonder, and doubtwhether all-powerful time can grind down mountains -- eventhe gigantic Cordillera -- into-gravel and mud.

The appearance of the Andes was different from thatwhich I had expected. The lower line of the snow was ofcourse horizontal, and to this line the even summits of therange seemed quite parallel. Only at long intervals, a groupof points or a single cone showed where a volcano hadexisted, or does now exist. Hence the range resembled agreat solid wall, surmounted here and there by a tower, andmaking a most perfect barrier to the country.

Almost every part of the hill had been drilled by attemptsto open gold-mines: the rage for mining has left scarcelya spot in Chile unexamined. I spent the evening as before,talking round the fire with my two companions. The Guasosof Chile, who correspond to the Gauchos of the Pampas, are,however, a very different set of beings. Chile is the morecivilized of the two countries, and the inhabitants, inconsequence, have lost much individual character. Gradationsin rank are much more strongly marked: the Guaso does notby any means consider every man his equal; and I was quitesurprised to find that my companions did not like to eat atthe same time with myself. This feeling of inequality is anecessary consequence of the existence of an aristocracy ofwealth. It is said that some few of the greater landownerspossess from five to ten thousand pounds sterling per annum:an inequality of riches which I believe is not met with inany of the cattle-breeding countries eastward of the Andes.A traveller does not here meet that unbounded hospitalitywhich refuses all payment, but yet is so kindly offered thatno scruples can be raised in accepting it. Almost every housein Chile will receive you for the night, but a trifle isexpected to be given in the morning; even a rich man willaccept two or three shillings. The Gaucho, although he may bea cutthroat, is a gentleman; the Guaso is in few respectsbetter, but at the same time a vulgar, ordinary fellow. Thetwo men, although employed much in the same manner, aredifferent in their habits and attire; and the peculiaritiesof each are universal in their respective countries. The Gauchoseems part of his horse, and scorns to exert himself except whenon his back: the Guaso may be hired to work as a labourer inthe fields. The former lives entirely on animal food; the latteralmost wholly on vegetable. We do not here see the whiteboots, the broad drawers and scarlet chilipa; the picturesquecostume of the Pampas. Here, common trousers are protectedby black and green worsted leggings. The poncho,however, is common to both. The chief pride of the Guasolies in his spurs, which are absurdly large. I measured onewhich was six inches in the _diameter_ of the rowel, and therowel itself contained upwards of thirty points. The stirrupsare on the same scale, each consisting of a square, carvedblock of wood, hollowed out, yet weighing three or fourpounds. The Guaso is perhaps more expert with the lazothan the Gaucho; but, from the nature of the country, hedoes not know the use of the bolas.

August 18th. -- We descended the mountain, and passedsome beautiful little spots, with rivulets and fine trees.Having slept at the same hacienda as before, we rode during thetwo succeeding days up the valley, and passed through Quillota,which is more like a collection of nursery-gardens thana town. The orchards were beautiful, presenting one massof peach-blossoms. I saw, also, in one or two places thedate-palm; it is a most stately tree; and I should think agroup of them in their native Asiatic or African deserts mustbe superb. We passed likewise San Felipe, a pretty stragglingtown like Quillota. The valley in this part expands intoone of those great bays or plains, reaching to the foot of theCordillera, which have been mentioned as forming so curiousa part of the scenery of Chile. In the evening we reachedthe mines of Jajuel, situated in a ravine at the flank of thegreat chain. I stayed here five days. My host the superintendentof the mine, was a shrewd but rather ignorant Cornishminer. He had married a Spanish woman, and did notmean to return home; but his admiration for the mines ofCornwall remained unbounded. Amongst many other questions,he asked me, "Now that George Rex is dead, howmany more of the family of Rexes are yet alive?" This Rexcertainly must be a relation of the great author Finis, whowrote all books!

These mines are of copper, and the ore is all shipped toSwansea, to be smelted. Hence the mines have an aspectsingularly quiet, as compared to those in England: here nosmoke, furnaces, or great steam-engines, disturb the solitudeof the surrounding mountains.

The Chilian government, or rather the old Spanish law,encourages by every method the searching for mines. Thediscoverer may work a mine on any ground, by paying fiveshillings; and before paying this he may try, even in thegarden of another man, for twenty days.

It is now well known that the Chilian method of miningis the cheapest. My host says that the two principalimprovements introduced by foreigners have been, first,reducing by previous roasting the copper pyrites -- which,being the common ore in Cornwall, the English miners wereastounded on their arrival to find thrown away as useless:secondly, stamping and washing the scoriae from the oldfurnaces -- by which process particles of metal are recoveredin abundance. I have actually seen mules carrying to thecoast, for transportation to England, a cargo of such cinders.But the first case is much the most curious. The Chilianminers were so convinced that copper pyrites contained nota particle of copper, that they laughed at the Englishmenfor their ignorance, who laughed in turn, and bought theirrichest veins for a few dollars. It is very odd that, in acountry where mining had been extensively carried on for manyyears, so simple a process as gently roasting the ore to expelthe sulphur previous to smelting it, had never been discovered.A few improvements have likewise been introduced in some of thesimple machinery; but even to the present day, water isremoved from some mines by men carrying it up the shaft inleathern bags!

The labouring men work very hard. They have little timeallowed for their meals, and during summer and winter theybegin when it is light, and leave off at dark. They are paidone pound sterling a month, and their food is given them:this for breakfast consists of sixteen figs and two small loavesof bread; for dinner, boiled beans; for supper, broken roastedwheat grain. They scarcely ever taste meat; as, with thetwelve pounds per annum, they have to clothe themselves, andsupport their families. The miners who work in the mineitself have twenty-five shillings per month, and are alloweda little charqui. But these men come down from their bleakhabitations only once in every fortnight or three weeks.

During my stay here I thoroughly enjoyed scramblingabout these huge mountains. The geology, as might havebeen expected, was very interesting. The shattered andbaked rocks, traversed by innumerable dykes of greenstone,showed what commotions had formerly taken place. Thescenery was much the same as that near the Bell of Quillota-- dry barren mountains, dotted at intervals by busheswith a scanty foliage. The cactuses, or rather opuntiaswere here very numerous. I measured one of a sphericalfigure, which, including the spines, was six feet and fourinches in circumference. The height of the common cylindrical,branching kind, is from twelve to fifteen feet, andthe girth (with spines) of the branches between three andfour feet.

A heavy fall of snow on the mountains prevented meduring the last two days, from making some interestingexcursions. I attempted to reach a lake which the inhabitants,from some unaccountable reason, believe to be an armof the sea. During a very dry season, it was proposed toattempt cutting a channel from it for the sake of the water,but the padre, after a consultation, declared it was toodangerous, as all Chile would be inundated, if, as generallysupposed, the lake was connected with the Pacific. Weascended to a great height, but becoming involved in thesnow-drifts failed in reaching this wonderful lake, and hadsome difficulty in returning. I thought we should have lostour horses; for there was no means of guessing how deepthe drifts were, and the animals, when led, could only moveby jumping. The black sky showed that a fresh snowstormwas gathering, and we therefore were not a little gladwhen we escaped. By the time we reached the base thestorm commenced, and it was lucky for us that this did nothappen three hours earlier in the day.

August 26th. -- We left Jajuel and again crossed the basinof San Felipe. The day was truly Chilian: glaringly bright,and the atmosphere quite clear. The thick and uniformcovering of newly fallen snow rendered the view of the volcanoof Aconcagua and the main chain quite glorious. Wewere now on the road to Santiago, the capital of Chile. Wecrossed the Cerro del Talguen, and slept at a little rancho.The host, talking about the state of Chile as compared toother countries, was very humble: "Some see with two eyes,and some with one, but for my part I do not think that Chilesees with any."

August 27th. -- After crossing many low hills we descendedinto the small land-locked plain of Guitron. In the basins,such as this one, which are elevated from one thousand totwo thousand feet above the sea, two species of acacia, whichare stunted in their forms, and stand wide apart from eachother, grow in large numbers. These trees are never foundnear the sea-coast; and this gives another characteristicfeature to the scenery of these basins. We crossed a lowridge which separates Guitron from the great plain on whichSantiago stands. The view was here pre-eminently striking:the dead level surface, covered in parts by woods of acacia,and with the city in the distance, abutting horizontallyagainst the base of the Andes, whose snowy peaks werebright with the evening sun. At the first glance of thisview, it was quite evident that the plain represented theextent of a former inland sea. As soon as we gained thelevel road we pushed our horses into a gallop, and reachedthe city before it was dark.

I stayed a week in Santiago, and enjoyed myself verymuch. In the morning I rode to various places on the plain,and in the evening dined with several of the English merchants,whose hospitality at this place is well known. Anever-failing source of pleasure was to ascend the littlehillock of rock (St. Lucia) which projects in the middle ofthe city. The scenery certainly is most striking, and, as Ihave said, very peculiar. I am informed that this samecharacter is common to the cities on the great Mexicanplatform. Of the town I have nothing to say in detail: it isnot so fine or so large as Buenos Ayres, but is built after thesame model. I arrived here by a circuit to the north; so Iresolved to return to Valparaiso by a rather longer excursionto the south of the direct road.

September 5th. -- By the middle of the day we arrived atone of the suspension bridges, made of hide, which cross theMaypu, a large turbulent river a few leagues southward ofSantiago. These bridges are very poor affairs. The road,following the curvature of the suspending ropes, is made ofbundles of sticks placed close together. It was full of holes,and oscillated rather fearfully, even with the weight of aman leading his horse. In the evening we reached a comfortablefarm-house, where there were several very prettysenoritas. They were much horrified at my having enteredone of their churches out of mere curiosity. They askedme, "Why do you not become a Christian -- for our religionis certain?" I assured them I was a sort of Christian; butthey would not hear of it -- appealing to my own words, "Donot your padres, your very bishops, marry?" The absurdityof a bishop having a wife particularly struck them: theyscarcely knew whether to be most amused or horror-struckat such an enormity.

6th. -- We proceeded due south, and slept at Rancagua.The road passed over the level but narrow plain, bounded onone side by lofty hills, and on the other by the Cordillera.The next day we turned up the valley of the Rio Cachapual,in which the hot-baths of Cauquenes, long celebrated fortheir medicinal properties, are situated. The suspensionbridges, in the less frequented parts, are generally taken downduring the winter when the rivers are low. Such was thecase in this valley, and we were therefore obliged to crossthe stream on horseback. This is rather disagreeable, forthe foaming water, though not deep, rushes so quickly overthe bed of large rounded stones, that one's head becomesquite confused, and it is difficult even to perceive whetherthe horse is moving onward or standing still. In summer,when the snow melts, the torrents are quite impassable; theirstrength and fury are then extremely great, as might beplainly seen by the marks which they had left. We reachedthe baths in the evening, and stayed there five days, beingconfined the two last by heavy rain. The buildings consistof a square of miserable little hovels, each with a single tableand bench. They are situated in a narrow deep valley justwithout the central Cordillera. It is a quiet, solitary spot,with a good deal of wild beauty.

The mineral springs of Cauquenes burst forth on a line ofdislocation, crossing a mass of stratified rock, the wholeof which betrays the action of heat. A considerable quantityof gas is continually escaping from the same orifices withthe water. Though the springs are only a few yards apart,they have very different temperature; and this appears to bethe result of an unequal mixture of cold water: for thosewith the lowest temperature have scarcely any mineral taste.After the great earthquake of 1822 the springs ceased, andthe water did not return for nearly a year. They were alsomuch affected by the earthquake of 1835; the temperaturebeing suddenly changed from 118 to 92 degs.

One day I rode up the valley to the farthest inhabitedspot. Shortly above that point, the Cachapual divides intotwo deep tremendous ravines, which penetrate directly intothe great range. I scrambled up a peaked mountain, probablymore than six thousand feet high. Here, as indeedeverywhere else, scenes of the highest interest presentedthemselves. It was by one of these ravines, that Pincheiraentered Chile and ravaged the neighbouring country. Thisis the same man whose attack on an estancia at the Rio NegroI have described. He was a renegade half-caste Spaniard,who collected a great body of Indians together and establishedhimself by a stream in the Pampas, which place noneof the forces sent after him could ever discover. From thispoint he used to sally forth, and crossing the Cordillera bypasses hitherto unattempted, he ravaged the farm-housesand drove the cattle to his secret rendezvous. Pincheira wasa capital horseman, and he made all around him equallygood, for he invariably shot any one who hesitated to followhim. It was against this man, and other wandering Indiantribes, that Rosas waged the war of extermination.

September 13th. -- We left the baths of Cauquenes, and,rejoining the main road, slept at the Rio Clara. From thisplace we rode to the town of San Fernando. Before arrivingthere, the last land-locked basin had expanded into a greatplain, which extended so far to the south, that the snowysummits of the more distant Andes were seen as if above thehorizon of the sea. San Fernando is forty leagues from Santiago;and it was my farthest point southward; for we hereturned at right angles towards the coast. We slept at thegold-mines of Yaquil, which are worked by Mr. Nixon, anAmerican gentleman, to whose kindness I was much indebtedduring the four days I stayed at his house. The nextmorning we rode to the mines, which are situated at thedistance of some leagues, near the summit of a lofty hill. Onthe way we had a glimpse of the lake Tagua-tagua, celebratedfor its floating islands, which have been described byM. Gay.

When we arrived at the mine, I was struck by the paleappearance of many of the men, and inquired from Mr.Nixon respecting their condition. The mine is 450 feet deep,and each man brings up about 200 pounds weight of stone.With this load they have to climb up the alternate notches cutin the trunks of trees, placed in a zigzag line up the shaft.Even beardless young men, eighteen and twenty years old,with little muscular development of their bodies (they arequite naked excepting drawers) ascend with this great loadfrom nearly the same depth. A strong man, who is notaccustomed to this labour, perspires most profusely, withmerely carrying up his own body. With this very severelabour, they live entirely on boiled beans and bread. Theywould prefer having bread alone; but their masters, findingthat they cannot work so hard upon this, treat them likehorses, and make them eat the beans. Their pay is hererather more than at the mines of Jajuel, being from 24 to 28shillings per month. They leave the mine only once in threeweeks; when they stay with their families for two days. Oneof the rules of this mine sounds very harsh, but answerspretty well for the master. The only method of stealing goldis to secrete pieces of the ore, and take them out as occasionmay offer. Whenever the major-domo finds a lump thushidden, its full value is stopped out of the wages of all themen; who thus, without they all combine, are obliged to keepwatch over each other.

When the ore is brought to the mill, it is ground into animpalpable powder; the process of washing removes all thelighter particles, and amalgamation finally secures thegold-dust. The washing, when described, sounds a very simpleprocess; but it is beautiful to see how the exact adaptation ofthe current of water to the specific gravity of the gold, soeasily separates the powdered matrix from the metal. Themud which passes from the mills is collected into pools, whereit subsides, and every now and then is cleared out, and throwninto a common heap. A great deal of chemical action thencommences, salts of various kinds effloresce on the surface,and the mass becomes hard. After having been left for a yearor two, and then rewashed, it yields gold; and this processmay be repeated even six or seven times; but the gold eachtime becomes less in quantity, and the intervals required (asthe inhabitants say, to generate the metal) are longer. Therecan be no doubt that the chemical action, already mentioned,each time liberates fresh gold from some combination. Thediscovery of a method to effect this before the first grindingwould without doubt raise the value of gold-ores many fold.

It is curious to find how the minute particles of gold, beingscattered about and not corroding, at last accumulate insome quantity. A short time since a few miners, being out ofwork, obtained permission to scrape the ground round thehouse and mills; they washed the earth thus got together, andso procured thirty dollars' worth of gold. This is an exactcounterpart of what takes place in nature. Mountains sufferdegradation and wear away, and with them the metallic veinswhich they contain. The hardest rock is worn into impalpablemud, the ordinary metals oxidate, and both are removed;but gold, platina, and a few others are nearly indestructible,and from their weight, sinking to the bottom, are left behind.After whole mountains have passed through this grindingmill, and have been washed by the hand of nature, the residuebecomes metalliferous, and man finds it worth his while tocomplete the task of separation.

Bad as the above treatment of the miners appears, it isgladly accepted of by them; for the condition of the labouringagriculturists is much worse. Their wages are lower, andthey live almost exclusively on beans. This poverty must bechiefly owing to the feudal-like system on which the land istilled: the landowner gives a small plot of ground to thelabourer for building on and cultivating, and in return hashis services (or those of a proxy) for every day of his life,without any wages. Until a father has a grown-up son, whocan by his labour pay the rent, there is no one, except onoccasional days, to take care of his own patch of ground.Hence extreme poverty is very common among the labouringclasses in this country.

There are some old Indian ruins in this neighbourhood,and I was shown one of the perforated stones, which Molinamentions as being found in many places in considerablenumbers. They are of a circular flattened form, from five tosix inches in diameter, with a hole passing quite through thecentre. It has generally been supposed that they were usedas heads to clubs, although their form does not appear at allwell adapted for that purpose. Burchell

One day, a German collector in natural history, of thename of Renous, called, and nearly at the same time an oldSpanish lawyer. I was amused at being told the conversationwhich took place between them. Renous speaks Spanish sowell, that the old lawyer mistook him for a Chilian. Renousalluding to me, asked him what he thought of the King ofEngland sending out a collector to their country, to pick uplizards and beetles, and to break stones? The old gentlemanthought seriously for some time, and then said, "It is notwell, -- _hay un gato encerrado aqui_ (there is a cat shut uphere). No man is so rich as to send out people to pick upsuch rubbish. I do not like it: if one of us were to go anddo such things in England, do not you think the King ofEngland would very soon send us out of his country?" Andthis old gentleman, from his profession, belongs to the betterinformed and more intelligent classes! Renous himself, twoor three years before, left in a house at San Fernando somecaterpillars, under charge of a girl to feed, that they mightturn into butterflies. This was rumoured through the town,and at last the padres and governor consulted together, andagreed it must be some heresy. Accordingly, when Renousreturned, he was arrested.

September 19th. -- We left Yaquil, and followed the flatvalley, formed like that of Quillota, in which the RioTinderidica flows. Even at these few miles south of Santiagothe climate is much damper; in consequence there are finetracts of pasturage, which are not irrigated. (20th.) We lfollowed this valley till it expanded into a great plain, whichreaches from the sea to the mountains west of Rancagua.We shortly lost all trees and even bushes; so that theinhabitants are nearly as badly off for firewood as those inthe Pampas. Never having heard of these plains, I was muchsurprised at meeting with such scenery in Chile. The plainsbelong to more than one series of different elevations, andthey are traversed by broad flat-bottomed valleys; both ofwhich circumstances, as in Patagonia, bespeak the action ofthe sea on gently rising land. In the steep cliffs borderingthese valleys, there are some large caves, which no doubtwere originally formed by the waves: one of these is celebratedunder the name of Cueva del Obispo; having formerlybeen consecrated. During the day I felt very unwell, andfrom that time till the end of October did not recover.

September 22nd. -- We continued to pass over green plainswithout a tree. The next day we arrived at a house nearNavedad, on the sea-coast, where a rich Haciendero gave uslodgings. I stayed here the two ensuing days, and althoughvery unwell, managed to collect from the tertiary formationsome marine shells.

24th. -- Our course was now directed towards Valparaiso,which with great difficulty I reached on the 27th, and was thereconfined to my bed till the end of October. During this timeI was an inmate in Mr. Corfield's house, whose kindness tome I do not know how to express.

I will here add a few observations on some of the animalsand birds of Chile. The Puma, or South American Lion, isnot uncommon. This animal has a wide geographical range;being found from the equatorial forests, throughout thedeserts of Patagonia as far south as the damp and coldlatitudes (53 to 54 degs.) of Tierra del Fuego. I have seen itsfootsteps in the Cordillera of central Chile, at an elevation ofat least 10,000 feet. In La Plata the puma preys chiefly ondeer, ostriches, bizcacha, and other small quadrupeds; it thereseldom attacks cattle or horses, and most rarely man. InChile, however, it destroys many young horses and cattle,owing probably to the scarcity of other quadrupeds: I heard,likewise, of two men and a woman who had been thus killed.It is asserted that the puma always kills its prey by springingon the shoulders, and then drawing back the head with oneof its paws, until the vertebrae break: I have seen in Patagoniathe skeletons of guanacos, with their necks thusdislocated.

The puma, after eating its fill, covers the carcass withmany large bushes, and lies down to watch it. This habit isoften the cause of its being discovered; for the condorswheeling in the air every now and then descend to partakeof the feast, and being angrily driven away, rise all togetheron the wing. The Chileno Guaso then knows there is a lionwatching his prey -- the word is given -- and men and dogshurry to the chase. Sir F. Head says that a Gaucho in thepampas, upon merely seeing some condors wheeling in theair, cried "A lion!" I could never myself meet with any onewho pretended to such powers of discrimination. It is assertedthat, if a puma has once been betrayed by thus watchingthe carcass, and has then been hunted, it never resumesthis habit; but that, having gorged itself, it wanders far away.The puma is easily killed. In an open country, it is firstentangled with the bolas, then lazoed, and dragged along theground till rendered insensible. At Tandeel (south of theplata), I was told that within three months one hundredwere thus destroyed. In Chile they are generally driven upbushes or trees, and are then either shot, or baited to deathby dogs. The dogs employed in this chase belong to a particularbreed, called Leoneros: they are weak, slight animals,like long-legged terriers, but are born with a particularinstinct for this sport. The puma is described as being verycrafty: when pursued, it often returns on its former track,and then suddenly making a spring on one side, waits theretill the dogs have passed by. It is a very silent animal,uttering no cry even when wounded, and only rarely duringthe breeding season.

Of birds, two species of the genus Pteroptochos (megapodiusand albicollis of Kittlitz) are perhaps the most conspicuous.The former, called by the Chilenos "el Turco,"is as large as a fieldfare, to which bird it has some alliance;but its legs are much longer, tail shorter, and beak stronger:its colour is a reddish brown. The Turco is not uncommon.It lives on the ground, sheltered among the thickets which arescattered over the dry and sterile hills. With its tail erect,and stilt-like legs, it may be seen every now and then poppingfrom one bush to another with uncommon quickness.It really requires little imagination to believe that the birdis ashamed of itself, and is aware of its most ridiculousfigure. On first seeing it, one is tempted to exclaim, "Avilely stuffed specimen has escaped from some museum, and hascome to life again!" It cannot be made to take flight withoutthe greatest trouble, nor does it run, but only hops. Thevarious loud cries which it utters when concealed amongst thebushes, are as strange as its appearance. It is said to buildits nest in a deep hole beneath the ground. I dissected severalspecimens: the gizzard, which was very muscular, containedbeetles, vegetable fibres, and pebbles. From this character,from the length of its legs, scratching feet, membranouscovering to the nostrils, short and arched wings, this birdseems in a certain degree to connect the thrushes with thegallinaceous order.

The second species (or P. albicollis) is allied to the firstin its general form. It is called Tapacolo, or "cover yourposterior;" and well does the shameless little bird deserve itsname; for it carries its tail more than erect, that is, inclinedbackwards towards its head. It is very common, and frequentsthe bottoms of hedge-rows, and the bushes scatteredover the barren hills, where scarcely another bird can exist.In its general manner of feeding, of quickly hopping out ofthe thickets and back again, in its desire of concealment,unwillingness to take flight, and nidification, it bears a closeresemblance to the Turco; but its appearance is not quite soridiculous. The Tapacolo is very crafty: when frightened byany person, it will remain motionless at the bottom of a bush,and will then, after a little while, try with much address tocrawl away on the opposite side. It is also an active bird, andcontinually making a noise: these noises are various andstrangely odd; some are like the cooing of doves, others likethe bubbling of water, and many defy all similes. The countrypeople say it changes its cry five times in the year --according to some change of season, I suppose.

Two species of humming-birds are common; Trochilusforficatus is found over a space of 2500 miles on the westcoast, from the hot dry country of Lima, to the forests ofTierra del Fuego -- where it may be seen flitting about insnow-storms. In the wooded island of Chiloe, which has anextremely humid climate, this little bird, skipping from sideto side amidst the dripping foliage, is perhaps more abundantthan almost any other kind. I opened the stomachs of severalspecimens, shot in different parts of the continent, and in all,remains of insects were as numerous as in the stomach of acreeper. When this species migrates in the summer southward,it is replaced by the arrival of another species comingfrom the north. This second kind (Trochilus gigas) is avery large bird for the delicate family to which it belongs:when on the wing its appearance is singular. Like othersof the genus, it moves from place to place with a rapiditywhich may be compared to that of Syrphus amongst flies,and Sphinx among moths; but whilst hovering over a flower,it flaps its wings with a very slow and powerful movement,totally different from that vibratory one common to most ofthe species, which produces the humming noise. I never sawany other bird where the force of its wings appeared (as in abutterfly) so powerful in proportion to the weight of its body.When hovering by a flower, its tail is constantly expandedand shut like a fan, the body being kept in a nearly verticalposition. This action appears to steady and support the bird,between the slow movements of its wings. Although flyingfrom flower to flower in search of food, its stomach generallycontained abundant remains of insects, which I suspect aremuch more the object of its search than honey. The note ofthis species, like that of nearly the whole family, isextremely shrill.