Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.3)

Nov. 1834. CHiLOE. 335 gate the island. I accompanied this expedition, but instead of going in the boats the first day, I hired horses to take me to Chacao, at the northern extremity of the island. The road followed the coast ; ever}' now and then crossing pro- montories covered by fine forests. In these shaded paths it is absolutely necessary that the whole road should be made of logs of wood, which are squared and placed by the side of each other. From the rays of the sun never penetrating the ever- green foliage, the ground is so damp and soft, that except by such means, neither man nor horse would be able to pass along. I arrived at the village of Chacao, shortly after the tents belonging to the boats had been pitched for the night. The land in this neighbourhood had been extensively cleared, and there were many quiet and most picturesque nooks in the forest. Chacao was formerly the principal port but many vessels having been lost, owing to the dangerous currents and rocks in the straits, the Spanish government burnt the church, and thus arbitrarily compelled the greater number of inhabitants to migrate to S. Carlos. In a short time the barefooted son of the governor came down to re- connoitre us. Seeing the English flag hoisted at the yawl's mast-head, he asked, with the utmost indifference, whether it was always to fly at Chacao. In several places, the inha- bitants were much astonished at the appearance of men-of- war's boats, and hoped and believed it was the forermmer of a Spanish fleet, coming to recover the island from the patriot government of Chile. All the men in power had, however, been informed of our intended visit, and were exceedingly civil. While we were eating our supper, the governor paid us a visit. He had been a Heutenant-colonel in the Spanish service, but now was miserably poor. He gave us two sheep, and ac- cepted in return two cotton handkerchiefs, some brass trin- kets, and a little tobacco. 25th. — Torrents of rain : we managed, however, to run down the coast as far as Huapi-lenou. The whole of this eastern side of Chiloe has one aspect : it is a plain, broken by valleys, and divided into little islands, and the whole