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Show 336 CHILO E. Nov. 1834. thickly covered with one impervious blackish-green forest. On the margins there are some cleared spaces, surrounding the high-roofed cottages. 26TH.-The day rose splendidly clear. The volcano of Osorno was spouting out volumes of smoke. This most beautiful mountain, formed like a perfect cone, and white with snow, stands out in front of the Cordillera. Another great volcano, with a saddle-shaped summit, also emitted from its immense crater little jets of steam. Subsequently we saw the lofty-peaked Corcovado-well deserving the name of "el famoso Corcovado." Thus we beheld, from one point of view, three great active volcanoes, each of which had an elevation of about seven thousand feet. In addition to this, far to the south, there were other very lofty cones covered with snow, which although not known to be active, must have been in their origin volcanic. The line of the Andes is not, in this neighbourhood, nearly so elevated as in Chile; neither does it appear to form so perfect a barrier between the regions of the earth. This great range, although running in a direct north and south line, owing to an optical deception, always appeared more or less semicircular; for the extreme peaks being seen standing above the same horizon together with the nearer ones, their much greater distance was not so easily recognised. When landing on a point to take observations, we saw a family of pure Indian extraction. 'rhe father was singularly like York Minster ; and some of the younger boys, with their ruddy complexions, might have been mistaken for Pampas Indians. Every thing I have seen convinces me of the close connexion of the different tribes, who nevertheless speak quite distinct languages. This party could muster but litt.le Spanish, an~ talked to each other in their own tongue. It 1s a pleasant thmg to see the aborigines advanced to the sa~e de?ree of civilization, however low that may be, which the1r wh1te conquerors have attained. More to the south we saw many pure Indians: indeed, some of the islands, such as Chauques, &c., have no other inhabitants than such as retain Nov. 1834. I N DI A~ I:\'11 .\.B T TA~TS . 337 the Indian surname. In the census of 1832, there were in Chiloe and its dependencies, forty-two thousand souls. The greater number of these appear to be little copper-coloured men, of mixed blood. Eleven thousand actually retain their Indian surname; but it is probable that not nearly all of them · are of pure blood. Their manner of life is the same with that of the other poor inhabitants, and they are all Christians : but it is said that they yet retain some strange superstitious ceremonies, and that they pretend to hold communication with the devil in certain caves. Formerly, every one convicted of this offence was sent to the Inquisition at Lima. Many of those people who are not included in the eleven thousand, cannot be distinguished by their appearance from Indian~ . Gomez> the governor of Lemuy, is descended from noblemen of Spain on both sides, but by constant intermarriages with natives, the present man is an Indian. On the other hand, the governor of Quinchao boasts much of his pure Spanish blood. We reached at night a beautiful little coYe, north of the island of Caucahue. The people here complained of want of land. 'rhis is partly owi.nu to their own negligence in not clearing the woods, · and partly to restrictions of the government, which makes it nece sary before buying ever so small a piece, to pay two shi.llin!!S to the surYeyor, for measuring each quadra (150 yards square), together with whatever price he fixes for the value of the land. After his valuation, the land must he put up three times to auction, and if no one bids more, the purchaser can have it at that rate. All these exactions must be a serious check to clearing the ground, where the inhabitants are so extremely poor. In most countries, forests are removed without much difficulty, by the aid of fire; but in Chiloe, from the damp nature of the climate, and the sort of trees, it is necessary first to cut them down. This is a heavy drawback to the prosperity of Chiloe. In the time of the Spaniards the Indians could not hold land; and a family, after having cleared a piece of ground, might be driven away, and the property seized by VOL. III. z |