448 BOOK LXXXIX. BOOK DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA CONTINUED. Chili, Paraguay, Terra Magellanica, or Patagonia. PRECIPICES and snow-covered mountains form a bounLXXXIX. dary between Chili and Peru; Nature too has separated that beautiful and fertile country from the rest of the world; yet the Incas had penetrated thither before the arrival of the Spaniards, but neither of them could maintain their their conquest, or force some of the inhabitants to give up freedom. The climate is mild and salubrious; the natives are healthy and robust. The spring continues from the end of September to December, and then the summer of the southern hemisphere begins. The north wind blows with little variation during the rainy season, or from the month of May to the beginning of Spring. A dry south wind continues throughout the rest of the year, not only in the country, but even at a considerable distance off the shore.* The coast consists of a narrow beach, abruptly terminated by lofty hills, their ridges form a fertile plain, watered by many streams, and covered in some places with orchards, vineyards, and meadows. Vancouver, t. V. p. 406. The summits of the Andes, and many volcanoes burn- BOOK ing in the midst of snow, heighten the natural beauties of LXXXIX. this rich landscape. Gold and copper mines have been discovered on the Andes, and Humboldt has observed in the same districts whole hills of magnetic iron ore. The banks of rivers are covered with ferruginous sand; but although the soil is impregnated with many different metals, vegetation appears in its utmost luxuriance. The mountain forests are full of lofty trees; all the fruits of Europe, and a great many aromatic shrubs grow in the vallies. Chili, indeed, is the only country in the new world where Plants. the culture of the grape has completely succeeded. But our knowledge of its vegetable and animal productions is still very imperfect; yet it is evident that they open up a wide field for the natural historian, and furnish many articles of great value in commerce. We cannot classify the odoriferous and other plants which Molina* has mentioned, nor ascertain if the Chili pine be precisely the same as a particular sort in Europe; much less can we determine the real difference between the cedars of the Andes and those of Lebanon. The accounts given by many travellers concerning the prodigious growth of the forests in these mountains seem to be exaggerated. The 'missionaries tell us that a single tree afforded a sufficient quantity of wood for a chapel sixty feet in length; beams, laths, doors, windows, and two confessionals were made from its venerable trunk. The Myrtus luma and maxima are forty feet in height, and the olive tree about nine feet in circumference. The grass in some places is so long that the cattle are concealed among the pastures. The apples are remarkable for their great size, and of fourteen different kinds of peaches, one sort weighs about sixteen ounces.‡ Many shrubs and plants are useful in dying; the Rubia Chilenses yields a bright red, and the Eupatorium * Molina's Natural History of Chili, passim. VOL. V. 57 * Idem, ibid. BOOK Chilense a rich yellow. A different shade of the same colour LXXXIX. is obtained from the Santolina, and a black die is extracted from the root of the Paula tinctoria, gen. nov. Animals. Molina takes notice of thirty-six different species of quadrupeds indigenous to Chili; but many of them are little known. The Castor huidobrius frequents the banks of lakes and rivers, but does not build its habitation after the manner of the common beaver; the fur of this animal is much prized. The Mus cyanus is not unlike the ground mouse, but its ears are rounder, and its hair is grey. The Chinalla or Mus laniger is covered with a fine ash-coloured wool, of a sufficient length for spinning. The Mus maulinus, and Chilian squirrel, are two other animals peculiar to the country. Provinces Copiapo is bounded on the east by the Andes, on the and Towns west by the Great Ocean, on the south by Coquimbo, and on the north by the deserts of Atacama. It is about a hundred leagues in extent from north to south, and is famed for its copper, fossil salt, sulphur, and lapis lazuli. Copiapo, the capital of the district, is an inconsiderable town, about twelve leagues from the sea; its population is less than 12,000 souls. Coquimbo, sometimes called La Serena, is the chief town in a partido of the same name; the streets are shaded with myrtle trees and arranged so as to form squares; a garden, well stored with fruit trees, is attached to every house. The land in the neighbourhood of Coquimbo and Guasco is impregnated with metallic substances. The copper is valuable, and of the best quality; 10,000 hundred weights were annually exported to Spain, and 30,000 to Lima. The province of Quillota is about twenty-five leagues from north to south, and nearly twenty-one from east to west. The capital, St. Martin de la Concha, or Quillota, is built upon a fertile valley on the banks of the Aconcagua; but the flourishing city of Valparaiso has of late years attracted most of the settlers. It stands on the base and side of a steep hill, and is inconveniently situated for building. Trading vessels from Lima take in their BOOK cargo at Valparaiso, which consists, for the most part, of LXXXIX. wheat, tallow, leather, cordage, and dried fruits; the inhabitants receive in exchange, tobacco, sugar and spirits. The harbour is much exposed to the north wind, but the ships make generally three voyages during the summer, or from the month of November to June. Santiago, the capital of Chili, was founded in the year 1541, by Pedro de Valdivia. It was originally called Nueva Estremadura, its streets are wide and well paved, its gardens are watered by canals, and the principal square is adorned with a fine fountain. The town is bounded on one side by a hill, and on the other by a large plain. The palace, the court of royal audience, the town-hall, the prison, and the cathedral, are the most remarkable public buildings. The last edifice was planned and begun by two Englishmen, the mint is the work of a Roman architect. The governor and the primate of Chili resided at Santiago. The extensive diocese, of which it is the chief town, was erected by Paul IV. in the year 1561. As the capital is the centre of all the internal traffic of the country, it is well stored with every sort of merchandise, and there are more shops in it than in any other city of Chili. Its population and com- Population merce increased rapidly; the former, before the late revo- and inhalution, are said to be more than 50,000 souls. The inhabitants are gay and hospitable, and in these qualities excel their countrymen in the old world. Music and dancing are there, as well as in most other places of Spanish America, the favourite amusements of the people. Petorca, renowned for its gold mines,* lies eastward of Santiago; like those of Peru, they are situated in the region of perpetual snow. The ore on the mountain of Upsallata is so valuable that a quintal of it is generally sold for sixty Spanish marks. Ulloa, Book VIII. chap. 9. bitants. BOOK Talca is the chief town in the partido of Maule, a disLXXXIX. trict abounding in wine, corn, and cattle. The capital is built near two hills, many amethysts are found on the one, and the other consists of a particular sand or cement called tale. There are gold mines in the fertile province of Puchacay, a country in which agriculture repays abundantly the labours of the husbandmen, the ear of corn often contains more than sixty grains, and the vine bears in the same proportion. The meadows are covered with herds; in the year 1797, fat oxen were sold for four crowns, and the price of a sheep was less than a dollar.* Conception, or Penco, was founded by Valdivia, and destroyed in 1751 by an earthquake. The inhabitants then chose a place for their town in the beautiful valley of Mocha at a league's distance from the former site: it has since that time been called Mocha, or New Conception. The population is supposed to exceed 12,000 souls. The corregidor of the town commanded the troops on the Auracanian frontier. The place is chiefly of importance from its vicinity to Conception Bay, one of the best in Spanish America. The fortresses of Araucos and Tucapel were erected to check the incursions of Indians now reduced to a state of subjection. There is a good harbour in the town of Valdivia, and plenty of timber in the adjacent country. The archipelago of Chonos or Chiloé, consisting of forty-seven islands, is situated on a gulf near the southern extremity of Chili. Thirty-two of them were colonized by Spaniards and Indians, the rest are uninhabited. Isla Grande, or Chiloé, is the most considerable in the group, its name has been given to the whole archipelago. It is well wooded, and produces as much corn as is sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants. The sea port of San Carlos de Charcao, and the town of San Juan de Castro, are the most remarkable places Voyage de la Perouse, t. II. p. 60. See Feuillée, t. I. p. 312, and t. II. p. 345. |