Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

1835. RELIGION KINDNESS TUADE. 381 more often than any clear reference to our Saviour or the Ahuighty. In the foregoing remarks on the Roman Catholic priests at Chiloe whom I conversed with and heard much about between 1829 and 1835, I do not include all. There was certainly one man (I hope there were more) whom I believe to have been as sincerely pious, and therefore good, as any Roman Catholic, but there were others whose lives scandalized even their nomi- nal Christianity. The foreigners settled in Chiloe of course resemble their own countrymen as to morals and habits, not being likely to take example from the Indians : and the Creoles adopt their ideas as hastily as our milliners adopt French fashions. But there is a virtue in Chiloe, which if sins could be atoned for by the good works of man alone, would go far towards pur- chasing good treatment and very slight purgatory for the souls of Chilotes : I mean the warm-hearted kindness shewn to one another, and particularly to strangers. Conspicuous as such a feeling of hospitality and disinterested good-nature is among the descendants of Spaniards in South America, it is no where more to be observed than in Chiloe, Increased intercourse with other countries is annually dimi- nishing the local peculiarities of Chilote society, a remarkable one being that of transacting mercantile business by barter, for want of current coin. Planks of alerse, indigo, tobacco, pepper, salt, &c. were substitutes for silver and gold in 1829, excepting among a very few foreigners or comparatively rich descendants of Spaniards and Creoles. At that time it was extremely difficult to get a few dollars in exchange for a bill upon good security at Valparaiso, even at the exorbitant price of sixty-pence English for each dollar. In 1834, so much had the state of trade improved at San Carlos, that there was no difficulty in obtaining as many dollars as we wanted for forty- eight pence each. In the first volume most of the products of Chiloe are men- tioned, except fish and coal. Of the shell-fish there is a full