Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests Part 1

Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests.

by J. J. von Tschudi.

PREFACE.

The Work from which the present Volume is translated consists of extracts from the Author's Journal, accompanied by his recollections and observations. The absence of chronological arrangement will be sufficiently accounted for, when it is explained that the zoological investigations for which the journey was undertaken frequently required the Author to make repeated visits to one particular place or district, or to remain for a considerable time within the narrow circuit of a few miles; and sometimes to travel rapidly over vast tracts of country. Disclaiming any intention of making one of those travelling romances, with which the tourist literature of the day is overstocked, the Author has confined himself to a plain description of facts and things as they came within the sphere of his own observation.

But though Dr. Tschudi lays claim to no merit beyond the truthfulness of his narrative, yet the reader will no doubt readily concede to him the merit of extensive information, and happy descriptive talent. His pictures of Nature, especially those relating to the animal world, are frequently imbued with much of the charm of thought and style which characterizes the writings of Buffon.

Lima, the oldest and most interesting of the cities founded by the Spaniards on the western coast of South America, has been frequently described; but no previous writer has painted so animated a picture of the city and its inhabitants, as that contained in the following volume.

After quitting the capital of Peru, Dr. Tschudi went over ground previously untrodden by any European traveller. He visited the Western Sierra, the mighty chain of the Cordilleras, the boundless level heights, the deep mountain valleys on the eastern declivity of the Andes, and the vast primeval forests. Whilst recounting his wanderings in these distant regions, he describes not only the country and the people, but every object of novelty and interest in the animal, vegetable, and mineral creations.

Those lovers of Natural History who are familiar with the German language, and who may wish to make themselves extensively acquainted with the animal world, in those parts of Peru visited by Dr. Tschudi, will find abundant information on the subject in his work, with plates, ent.i.tled "Untersuchungen uber die Fauna Peruana." The present Publication, though containing a vast deal to interest the naturalist, is addressed to the general reader, and will, it is presumed, gratify curiosity respecting the highly interesting and little known regions to which it relates. It may fairly be said that no previous writer has given so comprehensive a picture of Peru; combining, with animated sketches of life and manners, a fund of valuable information on Natural History and Commerce.

T. R.

TRAVELS IN PERU.

CHAPTER I.

Embarkation at Havre--The Voyage--Arrival at the Island of Chiloe--Landing--The Gyr-Falcon--Punta Arena--The Island of Chiloe described--Climate and Cultivation--Cattle--The Bay--San Carlos--The Governor's House--Poverty and Wretchedness of the Inhabitants of the Town--Strange method of Ploughing--Coasting Vessels--Smuggling--Zoology--Departure from Chiloe.

On the 27th of February, 1838, I sailed from Havre-de-Grace on board the "Edmond." This vessel, though a French merchantman, was freighted with a cargo of Swiss manufactured goods, suited to any commercial transactions which might be entered into in the course of a circ.u.mnavigatory voyage.

It was a boisterous morning. A fall of snow and heavy clouds soon intercepted our view of the coast of France, and not one cheering sunbeam shone out to betoken for us a favorable voyage. We pa.s.sed down the British Channel, where the mult.i.tude of vessels, and the flags of all nations, presented an enlivening picture, and we finally cleared it on the 5th of March. Favored by a brisk north wind, we soon reached Madeira and came in sight of Teneriffe, the peak being just perceptible on the skirt of the horizon. Easterly breezes soon brought us to the island of Fogo, which, having pa.s.sed on the 35th day of our voyage, we received the usual marine baptism, and partic.i.p.ated in all the ceremonies observed on crossing the equator. We soon reached the tropic of Capricorn, and endeavored to gain the channel between the Falkland Islands and Patagonia; but unfavorable winds obliged us to direct our course eastwards, from the Island of Soledad to the Staten Islands. On the 3d of March we made the longitude of Cape Horn, but were not able to double it until we got into the 60th degree of south lat.i.tude. In those dangerous waters, where it is admitted by the boldest English sailors that the waves rage more furiously than in any other part of the world, we encountered great risk and difficulty. For twenty-two days we were driven about on the fearfully agitated sea, southward of Tierra del Fuego, and were only saved from being buried in the deep, by the excellent build and soundness of our s.h.i.+p.

We suffered much, and were long delayed by this storm; but when it subsided, a smart breeze sprang up from the southward, and we held our course along the Pacific to the coast of Chile. After a voyage of 99 days we cast anchor on Sunday the 5th of June, in the Bay of San Carlos.

Like the day of our departure from Europe, that of our arrival off Chiloe was gloomy and overcast. Heavy clouds obscured the long-looked-for island, and its picturesque sh.o.r.e could only be seen, when, at intervals, the wind dispersed the dark atmospheric veil. We had no sooner cast anchor than several boats came alongside rowed by Indians, who offered us potatoes, cabbage, fish, and water, in exchange for tobacco. Only those who have been long at sea can form an idea of the gratification which fresh provisions, especially vegetables, afford to the weary voyager. In a couple of hours, the harbor-master came on board to examine the s.h.i.+p, the cargo, &c., and to give us permission to go ash.o.r.e. The long-boat being got out, and well manned, we stepped into it, and were conveyed to the harbor. The Bay of San Carlos being shallow, large s.h.i.+ps, or vessels, heavily laden, are obliged to go three English miles or more from the landing-place before they can anchor. Our boat was gaily decorated and newly painted; but this was mere outside show, for it was in a very unsound condition. During our pa.s.sage through the tropics, the sun had melted the pitch between the planks of the boat, which lay on the deck keel uppermost. In this crazy boat, we had scarcely got a quarter of a league from the s.h.i.+p, when the water rushed in so forcibly through all the cracks and fissures, that it was soon more than ankle deep. Unluckily the sailors had forgotten to put on board a bucket or anything for baling out the water, so that we were obliged to use our hats and boots for that purpose. Fourteen persons were crowded together in this leaky boat, and the water continued rising, until at length we began to be seriously apprehensive for our safety, when, fortunately, our situation was observed by the people on sh.o.r.e. They promptly prepared to send out a boat to our a.s.sistance, but just as it was got afloat, we succeeded in reaching the pier, happy once more to set our feet on _terra firma_.

Our first business was to seek shelter and refreshment. There is no tavern in San Carlos, but there is a sort of subst.i.tute for one, kept by an old Corsican, named Filippi, where captains of s.h.i.+ps usually take up their quarters. Filippi, who recognized an old acquaintance in one of our party, received us very kindly, and showed us to apartments which certainly had no claim to the merits of either cleanliness or convenience. They were long, dark, quadrangular rooms, without windows, and were dest.i.tute of any article of furniture, except a bed in a kind of recess.

As soon as I got on sh.o.r.e, I saw a mult.i.tude of small birds of prey.

They keep in flocks, like our sparrows, hopping about everywhere, and perching on the hedges and house-tops. I anxiously wished for an opportunity to make myself better acquainted with one of them.

Presuming that shooting in the town might be displeasing to the inhabitants, who would naturally claim to themselves a sort of exclusive sporting right, I took my gun down to the sea-sh.o.r.e, and there shot one of the birds. It belonged to the Gyr-Falcon family (_Polyboriniae_), and was one of the species peculiar to South America (_Polyborus chimango_, Vieil). The whole of the upper part of the body is brown, but single feathers here and there have a whitish-brown edge. On the tail are several indistinct oblique stripes. The under-part of the body is whitish-brown, and is also marked with transverse stripes feebly defined. The bird I shot measured from the point of the beak to the end of the tail 1 foot 6-1/2 inches. Though these Gyr-Falcons live socially together, yet they are very greedy and contentious about their prey. They snap up, as food, all the offal thrown out of doors; and thus they render themselves serviceable to the inhabitants, who consequently do not destroy them. In some of the valleys of Peru, I met with these birds again, but very rarely and always single and solitary. I continued my excursions on the sea-sh.o.r.e, but with little satisfaction, for the pouring rain had driven animals of every kind to their lurking-holes. After a few days, I went on board the "Edmond," for the purpose of visiting PUNTA ARENA, a town on the side of the bay, whither our boat used to be sent for fresh water. The ground surrounding the spring whence the s.h.i.+ps obtain supplies of water, is sandy, and it becomes exceedingly marshy further inland. After wandering about for a few hours, I found myself quite lost in a mora.s.s, out of which I had to work my way with no little difficulty. The whole produce of my hard day's sport consisted of an awlbeak, a small dark-brown bird (_Opethiorhyncus patagonicus_), and some land-snails. On our return, as we were nearing the s.h.i.+p, we killed a seal (_Otaria chilensis_, Mull.), which was rising after a dive, close to the boat.

On the 22d of June, all our s.h.i.+p's company were on board by order of the captain. We weighed anchor, and cruized about for some time. At length, about five in the afternoon, we returned, and the s.h.i.+p was anch.o.r.ed again precisely on the spot she had left a few hours before.

It was set down in the log-book that the wind was not sufficiently favorable to allow the s.h.i.+p to pa.s.s out safely through the narrow entrance to the bay. But all on board were well aware that this was merely a pretence on the part of the captain, who, for some reason or other, wished to stop longer at San Carlos.

I was very much pleased at this opportunity of prolonging my stay at the Island of Chiloe, hoping that better weather would enable me to make an excursion into the interior. But the sky still continued overcast, and the rain poured incessantly. One day, however, I undertook a journey to Castro, in company with the French Charge d'Affaires to Peru, one of my fellow pa.s.sengers on the voyage. A merchant accommodated us with two horses, saddled in the Chilian manner; but he warned us to be on our guard, as horses were often restive when just returned from their summer pasturage. We set off very promisingly. The commencement of our ride was pleasant enough, though the road was steep and very difficult. It sometimes lay over smooth slippery stones, then through deep marshes, or over scattered logs of wood, which bore evidence of attempts to render the ground pa.s.sable, by this rude kind of paving. After we had ridden for several hours in the forest, the rain checked our further progress, and we turned, to retrace our way back. Our horses seemed well pleased with the project of returning home. For a time they proceeded with wonderful steadiness; but on coming to a part of the road where the ground was comparatively level and firm, they quickened their pace, and at length dashed forward through the wood, uncontrolled by the bridle.

The long narrow saddle, with its woollen covering, the crescent-shaped wooden stirrups, and the heavy spurs, with their clumsy rowels, baffled all our skill in horsemans.h.i.+p, and it was with no little difficulty we kept our seats. We thought it best to give the animals the rein, and they galloped through the umbrageous thickets, until at last, panting and breathless, they stuck in a mora.s.s. Here we recovered our control over them, and pursued the remainder of our journey without further accident, though we were drenched to the skin on our return to the town.

On subsequent days, I took my rambles on foot, and found myself richly rewarded thereby. The long evenings we spent in the company of our host and the harbor-master, from both of whom I obtained some useful information respecting the island.

Chiloe is one of the largest islands of the Archipelago which extends along the west coast of South America, from 42 south lat. to the Straits of Magellan. It is about 23 German miles long, and 10 broad. A magnificent, but almost inaccessible forest covers the unbroken line of hills stretching along Chiloe, and gives to the island a charming aspect of undulating luxuriance. Seldom, however, can the eye command a distinct view of those verdant hills; for overhanging clouds surcharged with rain, almost constantly veil the spreading tops of the trees. At most parts of the sh.o.r.e the declivity is rapid. There are many inlets, which, though small, afford secure anchorage; but there are no harbors of any magnitude. While Castro was the capital of the island, Chacao was the princ.i.p.al port; but San Carlos having become the residence of the governor, this latter place is considered the chief harbor; and with reason, for its secure, tranquil bay unites all the advantages the navigator can desire on the stormy coast of South Chile. At Chacao, on the contrary, reefs and strong currents render the entrance dangerous and the anchorage insecure.

Chiloe is but little cultivated, and scantily populated. If the statement of my informant, the harbor-master, be correct, Chiloe and the adjacent small islands contain only from 48,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, part of whom live in _ranchos_ (huts), and part in a few villages. Next to San Carlos, and the half-deserted Castro, to which the t.i.tle of "City" is given, the chief places are Chacao, Vilipilli, Cucao, Velinoe.

It is only in the neighborhood of these towns or villages that the forest trees have been felled, and their removal has uncovered a fertile soil, which would reward by a hundred-fold the labor of the husbandman.

The climate of the island is moist and cool, and upon the whole very unpleasant. During the winter months, the sun is seldom seen; and it is a proverbial saying in Chiloe, that it rains six days of the week, and is cloudy on the seventh. In summer there are occasionally fine days, though seldom two in succession. The thick forests are therefore never dry, and beneath the trees, the vegetation of the marshy soil is peculiarly luxuriant. The constant moisture is one of the greatest obstacles to agriculture. To clear the ground for cultivation, it would be necessary to burn the forests, and as the trees are always damp, that could not be done without great difficulty. To some kinds of culture the soil is not favorable. The cereals, for example, seldom thrive in Chiloe; the seed rots after the ear is formed. Maize grows best; though it shoots too much into leaf, and bears only small grain. The damp soil, on the other hand, is favorable to potatoes, of which vast quant.i.ties are planted. There is a degenerate kind of potato, very abundant in Chiloe. On bisection it exhibits a greater or lesser number of concentric rings, alternately white and violet; sometimes all of the latter color. It is well known that southern Chile is the native land of the potato. In Chiloe and also in the neighboring islands, potatoes grow wild; but, both in size and flavor, they are far inferior to the cultivated kind. Like the maize, they shoot up in large leaves and stalks. The climate is also very favorable to the different kinds of the cabbage plant; but peas and beans do not thrive there.

In the forests there are often clear spots on which the gra.s.s grows to a great height, and supplies excellent pasturage for numerous herds of cattle. The inhabitants of Chiloe breed for their own use, horses, oxen, sheep, and swine. The horses are small, and not handsomely formed, but very spirited and strong. Some are scarcely twelve hands high. The cows are small and lank, and the same may be said of the swine and sheep. It is remarkable that all the rams have more than two horns; the greater number have three, and many are furnished with four or five. I afterwards observed the same in Peru. The domestic animals on this island, notwithstanding the abundance of food, are small, and sickly-looking. I believe the cause to be want of care, for they remain all the year round exposed to every sort of weather and discomfort.

The population of Chiloe consists of Whites, Indians, and people of mixed blood. The Indians are now few in number, and those few are chiefly in the southern part of the island, and the adjacent islets.

They are of the Araucana race, and appear to be a sept between that race and the people of Tierra del Fuego, on the one side, and the Pampas Indians on the other. People of mixed races form by far the greater portion of the population. They are met with in every variety of amalgamation. Taken in general, they are the reverse of handsome.

They are short and thick-set, and have long, straight coa.r.s.e hair.

Their faces are round and full, their eyes small, and the expression of their countenances is unintelligent. The whites are either Chilenos or Spaniards: the latter are almost the only Europeans who have become settlers here.

The princ.i.p.al town, San Carlos, called by the natives "Ancud," lies on the northern coast of a very fine bay. Without a good chart, the entrance to this bay is difficult. Numerous small islands form a labyrinth, out of which vessels, if not commanded by very experienced pilots, cannot easily be extricated. Besides, near the land, the sky is usually obscured by clouds which prevent any observation for the lat.i.tude, as the sun's alt.i.tude cannot be taken even at noon; and when the sun gets lower, the hills, which would serve as guiding points, cease to be distinctly seen.

Several whalers, which for some days vainly endeavored to work through this pa.s.sage, were afterwards obliged to direct their course northward, and to cast anchor in Valivia. One of the largest islands at the entrance of the bay is San Sebastian, where there are numerous herds of cattle. Cochino is a small island, distant only a few miles from San Carlos. It is hilly, and thickly crowned with brush-wood. It has only one landing-place, and that is rather insecure for boats. The water of the bay is remarkably clear and good; only round the little island of Cochino, and along the harbor, it is covered with an immense quant.i.ty of sea-moss, which often renders the landing difficult. It frequently happens that commanders of s.h.i.+ps, wis.h.i.+ng to go on board to make sail during the night, get out of the right course, and instead of going to the s.h.i.+p, steer to Cochino and get into the moss, where their boats stick fast, till returning daylight enables them to work their way out.

The poor inhabitants boil this sea-moss and eat it. It is very salt and slimy, and is difficult of digestion. Among the people of Chiloe, this sea-moss occupies an important place in surgery. When a leg or an arm is broken, after bringing the bone into its proper position, a broad layer of the moss is bound round the fractured limb. In drying, the slime causes it to adhere to the skin, and thus it forms a fast bandage, which cannot be ruffled or s.h.i.+fted. After the lapse of a few weeks, when the bones have become firmly united, the bandage is loosened by being bathed with tepid water, and it is then easily removed. The Indians of Chiloe were acquainted, long before the French surgeons, with the use of the paste bandage.

The town of San Carlos is dirty; the streets unpaved, narrow, and crooked. The houses, with few exceptions, are wretched wooden huts, for the most part without windows; but there is a board divided in the middle horizontally, the upper part of which being open, it serves for a window, and when both parts are open, it forms a door. The flooring usually consists merely of hard-trodden clay, covered with straw matting. The furniture, like the apartments, is rude and inconvenient.

These remarks of course apply to the habitations of the very poor cla.s.s of people. The richer families live in more comfortable style. Of the public buildings, the custom-house and the governor's residence are the most considerable, but both make a very indifferent appearance. In front of the governor's house, which occupies a tolerably large s.p.a.ce of ground, in the upper part of the town, a sentinel is constantly stationed. This sentinel parades to and fro, without shoes or stockings, and not unfrequently without a coat, his arms being covered only by his s.h.i.+rt sleeves. As to a cap, that seems to be considered as unnecessary a part of a well-conditioned uniform, as shoes and stockings. After sunset every person who pa.s.ses the governor's house is challenged. "Who goes there?" is the first question; the second is _Que gente?_ (what country?) The sailors amuse themselves by returning jocular answers to these challenges; and the sentinel, irritated by their jeers, sometimes runs after them through part of the town, and when weary of the chace returns to his post.

Poverty and uncleanliness vie with each other in San Carlos. The lower cla.s.s of the inhabitants are exceedingly filthy, particularly the women, whose usual dress is a dirty woollen gown, and a greasy looking mantilla. In their damp gloomy habitations, they squat down on the floor, close to the _brasero_ (chafing pan), which also serves them as a stove for cooking. They bruise maize between two stones, and make it into a thick kind of soup or porridge. When employed in paring potatoes or apples, or in cutting cabbages, they throw the skins and waste leaves on the ground, so that they are frequently surrounded by a ma.s.s of half-decayed vegetable matter. Their favorite beverage is _mate_ (the Paraguay tea), of which they partake at all hours of the day. The mode of preparing and drinking the _mate_ is as follows: a portion of the herb is put into a sort of cup made from a gourd, and boiling water is poured over it. The mistress of the house then takes a reed or pipe, to one end of which a strainer is affixed,[1] and putting it into the decoction, she sucks up a mouthful of the liquid. She then hands the apparatus to the person next to her, who partakes of it in the same manner, and so it goes round. The mistress of the house and all her guests suck the aromatic fluid through the same pipe or _bombilla_.

The poverty of the people is extreme. Specie is seldom current, and is exclusively in the hands of a few traders, who supply the Indians with European articles, in payment of their labor, or in exchange for the produce of the island, which is sent to Chile and Peru. With much surprise I learned that there is no saw-mill in Chiloe, where the vast abundance of trees would furnish a supply of excellent deals, for which ready and good payment would be obtained in Peru.

The inhabitants direct their industry chiefly to agriculture and navigation. But rude and imperfect are their implements for field labor, as well as their nautical vessels. To a stranger nothing can appear more extraordinary than their mode of ploughing. As to a regular plough, I do not believe such a thing is known in Chiloe. If a field is to be tilled, it is done by two Indians, who are furnished with long poles, pointed at one end. The one thrusts his pole, pretty deeply, and in an oblique direction, into the earth, so that it forms an angle with the surface of the ground. The other Indian sticks his pole in at a little distance, and also obliquely, and he forces it beneath that of his fellow-laborer, so that the first pole lies as it were above the second. The first Indian then presses on his pole, and makes it work on the other, as a lever on its fulcrum, and the earth is thrown up by the point of the pole. Thus they gradually advance, until the whole field is furrowed by this laborious process.

The Chiloe boats are merely hulks. They obey the helm reluctantly, but they bear away before the wind. Several individuals usually join together, and convey in these boats, the produce of their respective localities, in the southern villages, to San Carlos. Women as well as men take their turn at rowing the boats, and after being out all day, they run into some creek, where they pa.s.s the night. When a favorable breeze springs up, they hoist a sail, made of _ponchos_. The poncho is an important article of male clothing in this country. It consists of a piece of woollen cloth, measuring from 5 to 7 feet long, and from 3 to 4 feet broad. In the middle there is a slit from 12 to 14 inches long; through this slit the wearer pa.s.ses his head. The poncho thus rests on the shoulders, and hangs down in front and behind as low as the knees.

At the sides, it reaches to the elbow, or middle of the forearm, and thus covers the whole of the body. The carters and wagoners in Swabia wear, in rainy weather, a covering somewhat resembling the poncho, which they make out of their woollen horse-coverings. When a Chiloe boat is on its pa.s.sage on the coast, and a sail happens to be wanted, the men give up their ponchos and the women their mantillas. The slits in the ponchos are st.i.tched up, and both ponchos and mantillas being sewn together are fixed to a pole or bar of wood, which is hoisted to a proper position on the mast. This patchwork sail can only be serviceable when the wind is fresh. At nightfall, when the boat runs into one of the creeks for shelter, the sail is lowered, and the sewing being unpicked, the ponchos and mantillas are returned to their respective owners, who wrap themselves in them, and go to sleep.

There is but little trade in San Carlos, for Chile itself possesses in superfluity all the productions of Chiloe, and the inhabitants of the island are so poor, and their wants so limited, that they require but few foreign articles. The port is therefore seldom visited by any trading vessel from Europe. Some of the Chiloe boats keep up a regular traffic along the coast. They carry wood, brooms, hams, and potatoes, to Valparaiso, Arica, Callao, &c., and they bring back in return, linen, woollen and cotton cloths, ironware, tobacco, and spirits.

North American and French whalers have for several years past been frequent visitors to San Carlos, as they can there provide themselves, at a cheap rate, with provisions for the long fis.h.i.+ng season. All the captains bring goods, which they smuggle on sh.o.r.e, where they sell or exchange them at a high profit. A custom-house officer is, indeed, sent on board every vessel to examine what is to be uns.h.i.+pped; but a few dollars will silence him, and make him favor the contraband operations, which are carried on without much reserve. A French captain brought to Chiloe a quant.i.ty of water-proof cloaks and hats, made of a sort of black waxed cloth, and sold them to a dealer in San Carlos. To evade the duty, he sent his men on sh.o.r.e each wearing one of these hats and cloaks, which they deposited in the dealer's store, and then returned on board the s.h.i.+p, dressed in their sailors' garb. This was repeated so often, that at length it was intimated to the captain that, if his men had a fancy to come on sh.o.r.e with such hats and cloaks they would be permitted to do so, but it must be on condition of their returning on board dressed in the same costume.

The people of Ancud (San Carlos), formerly so simple and artless, have gradually become corrupt and degenerate, since their frequent intercourse with the whale-fishers. Among the female portion of the population, depravity of morals and unbecoming boldness of manners have in a great degree superseded the natural simplicity which formerly prevailed. All the vices of the lowest cla.s.s of sailors, of which the crews of the South Sea Whalers are composed, have quickly taken root in San Carlos, and the inseparable consequences of those vices will soon be fatal to the moral and physical welfare of the inhabitants.

In the interior of the island of Chiloe there are few quadrupeds. The largest, the domestic animals excepted, is a fox (_Canis fulvipes_, Wat.), which was first discovered by the naturalists who accompanied Capt. King's expedition. This is the only beast of prey. The coast abounds in seals of the sea-dog species (_Otaria chilensis_, Mull., _Otaria Ursina_, Per., _Otaria jubata_, Desm.)--in sea-otters (_Otaria chilensis_, Ben.)--and in the water mouse (_Myopotamus Coypus_, J.

Geoff). Among the birds, there are some very fine species of ducks, well worthy of notice, which are also found on the continent of South America. There is the little Cheucau (_Pteroptochus rubecula_, Kettl.), to which the Chilotes attach various superst.i.tious ideas, and pretend to foretell good or ill luck from its song. The modulations which this bird is capable of uttering are numerous, and the natives a.s.sign a particular meaning to each. One day, when I wished to have some shooting, I took an Indian lad with me. Having levelled my gun at one of these birds, which was sitting in a low bush, and uttering its shrill _huit-huit_, my young companion firmly grasped my arm, earnestly entreating me not to shoot the bird, as it had sung its unlucky note. But my desire to possess a specimen was too great to be thus baffled, so I fired my gun and brought it down. I was engaged in examining the elegant little bird, when a mule, probably alarmed by the shot, came running at full speed towards the spot where we were, and we deemed it prudent to get behind a hedge as speedily as possible. The infuriated mule made an attack on my gun, which was resting against the hedge. It was thrown down, bitten, and trampled on by the mule. The Indian boy turned to me, with a serious countenance, and said:--"It is well if we escape further danger! I told you the bird had piped bad luck!"

The day fixed for our departure from Chiloe now approached. The wind, which had heretofore been unfavorable for leaving the port, promised to change, and we began to s.h.i.+p provisions. Whilst I was waiting for the boat which was to take me on board, I had an opportunity of observing the dexterity with which the Indians slaughter their cattle. This business is performed on the Mole, where, in the s.p.a.ce of a quarter of an hour, and by two men only, an ox is killed, and the carcase cut up into the proper pieces. When it is necessary to s.h.i.+p live oxen, the animals are brought to the sh.o.r.e, where their feet are bound together, and then they are rolled over planks into the _lancha_ (boat). On nearing the s.h.i.+p, the Indians tie a rope round the animal's horns, and then the sailors hoist him up with a strong tackle. It is a curious sight to behold a strongly-bound struggling ox, hanging by the tackle, and swinging between wind and water. My little Chilotean pony, which I intended to take to Peru, was dealt with more gently: he was got on board with a girth, purposely made for hoisting horses on board s.h.i.+p.

At length we sailed out of the bay with a fresh easterly wind. Three coasting boats, one of which was heavily laden with brooms, left the roads at the same time, and their crews said they hoped to reach Valparaiso before us. But they had too great confidence in their round-bottomed keels, for they did not anchor in their place of destination till five or six days after our arrival. The wind soon got up, blowing W.N.W., but rather flat. In the course of the night, during the second watch, we were roused from our sleep by a heavy shock, followed by a peculiarly tremulous motion of the whole s.h.i.+p. We concluded we had struck in pa.s.sing over some hidden rock. The lead was thrown, but no ground was found; the pumps were set a-going, but we were free of water. The captain attributed the shock to an earthquake, and on our arrival at Chile, his conjecture was confirmed. In Valdivia, in the lat.i.tude of which place we were at the time, a severe shock of an earthquake had been experienced.

After a pretty favorable pa.s.sage of seven days, we anch.o.r.ed on the 30th of June in the harbor of Valparaiso.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: _Bombilla_ is the name given to this pipe, and the cup or gourd in which the decoction of the _mate_ is prepared, is called the _macerina_.]