that the forest trees have been felled, and their removal has uncovered a fertile soil, which would reward by a hundred-fold the labor of the husbandman.

The climate of the island is moist and cool, and upon the whole very unpleasant. During the winter months, the sun is seldom seen; and it is a proverbial saying in Chiloe, that it rains six days of the week, and is cloudy on the seventh. In summer there are occasionally fine days, though seldom two in succession. The thick forests are therefore never dry, and beneath the trees, the vegetation of the marshy soil is peculiarly luxuriant. The constant moisture is one of the greatest obstacles to agriculture. To clear the ground for cultivation, it would be necessary to burn the forests, and as the trees are always damp, that could not be done without great difficulty. To some kinds of culture the soil is not favorable. The cereals, for example, seldom thrive in Chiloe; the seed rots after the ear is formed. Maize grows best; though it shoots too much into leaf, and bears only small grain. The damp soil, on the other hand, is favorable to potatoes, of which vast quantities are planted. There is a degenerate kind of potato, very abundant in Chiloe. On bisection it exhibits a greater or lesser number of concentric rings, alternately white and violet; sometimes all of the latter color. It is well known that southern Chile is the native land of the potato. In Chiloe and also in the neighboring islands, potatoes grow wild; but, both in size and flavor, they are far inferior to the cultivated kind. Like the maize, they shoot up in large leaves and stalks. The climate is also very favorable to the different kinds of the cabbage plant; but peas and beans do not thrive there.

In the forests there are often clear spots on which the grass grows to a great height, and supplies excellent pasturage for numerous herds of cattle. The inhabitants of Chiloe breed for their own use, horses, oxen, sheep, and swine. The horses are small, and not handsomely formed, but very spirited and strong. Some are scarcely twelve hands high. The cows are small and lank, and the same may be said of the swine and sheep. It is remarkable that all the rams have more than two horns; the greater number have three, and many are furnished with four or five. I afterwards observed the same in Peru. The domestic animals on this island, notwithstanding the abundance of food, are small, and sickly-looking. I believe the cause to be want of care, for they remain all the year round exposed to every sort of weather and discomfort.

The population of Chiloe consists of Whites, Indians, and people of mixed blood. The Indians are now few in number, and those few are chiefly in the southern part of the island, and the adjacent islets. They are of the Araucana race, and appear to be a sept between that race and the people of Tierra del Fuego, on the one side, and the Pampas Indians on the other. People of mixed races form by far the greater portion of the population. They are met with in every variety of amalgamation. Taken in general, they are the reverse of handsome. They are short and thick-set, and have long, straight coarse hair. Their faces are round and full, their eyes small, and the expression of their countenances is unintelligent. The whites are either Chilenos or Spaniards: the latter are almost the only Europeans who have become settlers here.

The principal town, San Carlos, called by the natives "Ancud," lies on the northern coast of a very fine bay. Without a good chart, the entrance to this bay is difficult. Numerous small islands form a labyrinth, out of which vessels, if not commanded by very experienced pilots, cannot easily be extricated. Besides, near the land, the sky is usually obscured by clouds which prevent any observation for the latitude, as the sun's altitude cannot be taken even at noon; and when the sun gets lower, the hills, which would serve as guiding points, cease to be distinctly seen.

Several whalers, which for some days vainly endeavored to work through this passage, were afterwards obliged to direct their course northward, and to cast anchor in Valivia. One of the largest islands at the entrance of the bay is San Sebastian, where there are numerous herds of cattle. Cochino is a small island, distant only a few miles from San Carlos. It is hilly, and thickly crowned with brush-wood. It has only one landing-place, and that is rather insecure for boats. The water of the bay is remarkably clear and good; only round the little island of Cochino, and along the harbor, it is covered with an immense quantity of sea-moss, which often renders the landing difficult. It frequently happens that commanders of ships, wishing to go on board to make sail during the night, get out of the right course, and instead of going to the ship, steer to Cochino and get into the moss, where their boats stick fast, till returning daylight enables them to work their way out.

The poor inhabitants boil this sea-moss and eat it. It is very salt and slimy, and is difficult of digestion. Among the people of Chiloe, this sea-moss occupies an important place in surgery. When a leg or an arm is broken, after bringing the bone into its proper position, a broad layer of the moss is bound round the fractured limb. In drying, the slime causes it to adhere to the skin, and thus it forms a fast bandage, which cannot be ruffled or shifted. After the lapse of a few weeks, when the bones have become firmly united, the bandage is loosened by being bathed with tepid water, and it is then easily removed. The Indians of Chiloe were acquainted, long before the French surgeons, with the use of the paste bandage.

The town of San Carlos is dirty; the streets unpaved, narrow, and crooked. The houses, with few exceptions, are wretched wooden huts, for the most part without windows; but there is a board divided in the middle horizontally, the upper part of which being open, it serves for a window, and when both parts are open, it forms a door. The flooring usually consists merely of hard-trodden clay, covered with straw matting. The furniture, like the apartments, is rude and inconvenient. These remarks of course apply to the habitations of the very poor class of people. The richer families live in more comfortable style. Of the public buildings, the custom-house and the governor's residence are the most considerable, but both make a very indifferent appearance. In front of the governor's house, which occupies a tolerably large space of ground, in the upper part of the town, a sentinel is constantly stationed. This sentinel parades to and fro, without shoes or stockings, and not unfrequently without a coat, his arms being covered only by his shirt sleeves. As to a cap, that seems to be considered as unnecessary a part of a well-conditioned uniform, as shoes and stockings. After sunset every person who passes the governor's house is challenged. "Who goes there?" is the first question; the second is Que gente? (what country?) The sailors amuse themselves by returning jocular answers to these challenges; and the sentinel, irritated by their jeers, sometimes runs after them through part of the town, and when weary of the chace returns to his post.

Poverty and uncleanliness vie with each other in San Carlos. The lower class of the inhabitants are exceedingly filthy, particularly the women, whose usual dress is a dirty woollen gown, and a greasy looking mantilla. In their damp gloomy habitations, they squat down on the floor, close to the brasero (chafing pan), which also serves them as a stove for cooking. They bruise maize between two stones, and make it into a thick kind of soup or porridge. When employed in paring potatoes or apples, or in cutting cabbages, they throw the skins and waste leaves on the ground, so that they are frequently surrounded by a mass of half-decayed vegetable matter. Their favorite beverage is