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

432 FEBBY — RIVERA — ESTATE. Ji)nC doubted. In leaping in the horses nearly knocked down, or trod upon, those who were dismounted ; and when leaping out again, they made such a splashing of the water in the leaky ferry-barge as effectually washed our faces. The river is wide, deep, and rapid ; and there are many sand-banks. The boat- men use oars as well as long poles ; but are slow and awkward to a degree I could scarcely have believed, had I not witnessed their progress. The breadth at the ferry is about a quarter of a mile, when the river is low, but upwards of half a mile when flooded, as at this time. The south bank is steep ; and from San Pedro, a little village at the ferry, the land rises in a south- east direction, towards a lofty range of hills ; but towards the south-west, it is low, level, and firm. Across this excellent galloping ground we tried our horses, and made the miles seem short, till we reached a low range of hills over Point Coronel. There, dismounting, we used our own legs until the hills were passed, and before us lay two long sandy beaches, called ' Playa Negra,' and ' Playa Blanca.' In our gallop we passed the house of Don Juan de Dios Rivera,* whose estate on the south side of the Bio Bio is men- tioned by Captain Hall as an instance of the progressive tran- quillization of the Indians. Several lai'ge barn-like buildings spread over about two acres of ground, enclosed by a high fence of rough posts and rails, showed an eye accustomed to the country, that the proprietor held in his own hands a large estate : but that collection of thatched irregular roofs, and the utter absence of any thing like outward neatness or regu- larity, brought to my mind a very neglected rick-yard, near which not even a cottage appears. Yet this was the house of a man of large property ; and not by any means a bad one, compared with others in that country. Many reasons might be adduced to explain why Chilian gen- tlemen are reluctant to expend either time, trouble, or money in building good houses. Earthquakes are very frequent ; pro- perty is yet insecure; and the country has been occupied, * Yntendente of Concepcionin 1821.