Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle Part 26

Luma (_Myrtus Luma_), a very tough and useful wood, used for tree-nails, for stakes in fencing, for rafters in the roofs of houses; and is exported in large quant.i.ties to Lima, for shafts and poles of carriages. The fruit is sweet, and might yield a strong spirit; it is called cauchao.

Ciruelillo, a small tree, used only for was.h.i.+ng-bowls and boxes; it is of little value.

Quiaka. Of no value.

Tapu, a very crooked tree, growing along the ground in swampy places. It might serve for floors, and timbers for small vessels; but it is not used, from its being so very hard.

Tenu, something like muermo, and considered a good wood.

Peta, a species of _Myrtus_, of which hoops for barrels are made.

Ralral, considered to be like the wood of the walnut-tree, and of general use, on account of its toughness and durability; it is made into blocks for s.h.i.+ps.

Meli, more tough than luma: of this the country people make pick-axes, for cultivating the ground (Agueros, p. 127).

Pelu, also tough; useful for axle-trees and gun-carriages (Agueros, p.

127).

Mayten, useful for turning; and lasts long under water.

The above mentioned are produced on the island; but the two following, alerse and cypress, are from the main-land, in the neighbourhood of the Cordilleras. They are not only in general use in Chiloe, but are exported in large quant.i.ties to all the ports to the northward. The alerse, near Chiloe, is of better quality than that which comes from Concepcion.

The Cypress is brought to the island in 'tablones' (or planks), seven or eight feet long, two inches thick, and nine or ten inches wide, as is also the alerse; but the latter, from the facility with {282} which it splits, is brought in boards also, four feet long, half an inch thick, and six inches broad, which, as I have before remarked, are the princ.i.p.al articles of barter.

The Alerse is found in great quant.i.ties near Calbuco; but at so great a distance from the beach that it cannot easily be conveyed thither for embarkation, except in the above form. The tree is cut down and squared, then hewn by the axe into as many logs of seven or eight feet long as it will afford; and these, with the a.s.sistance of iron wedges, are split into planks and boards, in which state, without being further trimmed, they are tied together in bundles, and carried on men's backs, or dragged over the ground to the beach.

The extraordinary straightness of the grain of this tree enables the natives to split it, so as to make it appear as if it had been dressed with an adze, or even with a plane; but, as I have said, the axe is the only instrument used. So great is the difficulty of obtaining a spar of this wood, that when I wished to procure a new mast for the Adelaide, I offered four times the value of an alerse spar to the natives, besides the a.s.sistance of twenty men, and tackles, &c. to a.s.sist in conveying it to the beach. The temptation was almost too great to be withstood; but the man to whom I applied, who had before been employed to get masts for a schooner in the Chilian service, and a flag-staff for the town, said that it would take his own party two months to bring one to the beach: with the a.s.sistance of our people, however, it might be done in a month. The trees were distant, and there were two or three ridges of heights to cross, that would cause much delay. The facility with which these people usually handle timber was a sufficient proof to me that such a task, if refused by them, must be very difficult indeed, and I gave it up, as the Yntendente was so obliging as to give me the flag-staff, which had taken the same party two months to procure.

The Hoxsley, a national schooner, built at Chiloe, for the government, was masted with alerse spars, which proved to be very strong.

Alerse is used princ.i.p.ally for the floors, part.i.tions, and {283} weather-boards of houses, also for s.h.i.+ngling the roof; for which purpose it is very superior and durable: after exposure to the weather it turns blue, and has the appearance of slate. It does not shrink or warp; and though brittle, is of a very close grain, and well adapted for furniture. Of this wood the country people make staves for casks; and the bark of the tree is used for caulking the seams of vessels, for which it answers remarkably well, being extremely durable when constantly wet, though it soon decays when exposed to the sun and air.

Spars of alerse, eighty or ninety feet in length, may be procured; and from eight hundred to a thousand boards are frequently obtained from a single tree. I was told that as many as one thousand five hundred have sometimes been cut out of one trunk. Alerse is found on the island, but not of any size. It is also common in the Strait of Magalhaens, in all those parts west of Cape Froward; but there, from the poverty of the soil, it is of very stunted growth.

The cypress is thought to be a different tree, but I rather imagine it to be only a variety; the wood being white, whilst that of the alerse is of a deep red colour. As the trade of the island is princ.i.p.ally carried on by water, roads are seldom used for that purpose, for which, indeed, the few that exist are far from being convenient. Between San Carlos and Castro there is a road cut through the forest, forty or fifty feet in width, in the middle of which is a causeway, four or five feet wide, formed of logs of wood, laid transversely. This is the only way of communication, unless, which rarely occurs, the weather has been dry during some days; for, off the causeway, there is a mere bog, in which a horse frequently sinks up to the girths in mud. In many parts of the causeway, indeed, where the logs have decayed, and have not been repaired, the pa.s.sage is equally bad, so that in wet weather, only persons without a load are able to pa.s.s. For the greater part of the way, the trees on each side prevent an extensive view; but on approaching within five or six miles of Castro, the country becomes more open, having been cleared by cultivation, and there, of course, the road improves.

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There is a track branching off from the main road to the district of Dalcahue; but on it, I believe, there is no causeway.

As the only mode of supplying the town of San Carlos with provisions is by water-carriage, it is frequently ill supplied during winter, when N.W.

winds prevent the arrival of the piraguas. A southerly wind for two days, at that season, brings from fifty to a hundred piraguas from Dalcahue and Castro, laden with hams, potatoes, pigs, grain, fowls, calves, dried fish, and charcoal, which are sold at a cheap rate, paying one-tenth to the government.

The arrival of so many piraguas at San Carlos creates no slight bustle in the neighbourhood of the mole; and a stranger happening to arrive at the time would think it a place of considerable trade; the return, however, of the N.W. wind, with all its attendant "vapours, clouds, and storms," very soon dispels the illusion: the piraguas depart, one after another, and in two days all is dull and monotonous.

These piraguas, the boats used by the natives of the archipelago of Chiloe, are all similar in form and material; but vary much in size, according to the voyage they have to perform. The largest are from thirty-five to forty feet long. The head and stern are alike, and resemble those of a whale-boat, being sharp at both ends. The transverse section is that of a thick wedge, so that they have no bearings, and must be extremely unsafe,(v) particularly with so lofty a sail as they hoist; and yet these vessels have made long, and even dangerous pa.s.sages, as is fully attested in Agueros's account of the missionaries' visit to the archipelago southward of Tres Montes. These boats are literally sewn together, there is not a nail used in their construction; every portion of the hull is of a vegetable nature. The lower, or garboard strake, is sewn to the keel by strips of the stem of a creeping plant, called Pepoi,[153] and the seam is caulked with bark of the alerse, which, while under {285} water, is admirably adapted for the purpose. The upper planking consists of three or four broad boards on each side, sewn together, and their seams caulked. The wood of which they are made is the roble, or sometimes tiqui.

Agueros's description of the construction of a piragua cannot be improved.

"They are constructed of five or seven planks, each of which is from two to four fathoms long, half or three-fourths of a yard wide, and two or three inches thick. These are fas.h.i.+oned, or worked, narrow at each end, so as to form the bow and stern, and afterwards are exposed to the fire, in order to burn the outer surface on both sides. To unite these planks, they bore or burn holes, two inches from each other, along the edges of the planks, through which they sew them together with a rope of solid reeds (soquillas), or twisted cane (coligues), forming a junction as close as a seam of cloth. To prevent water from pa.s.sing through the seams, they apply along the plank, within and without, pounded leaves of trees, over which they pa.s.s the st.i.tches, and with the same preparation of leaves the holes are filled up. Thus constructed, it is in appearance a perfect boat, or vessel, but without keel or deck. That they may resist the pressure of the water, and retain their shape, curved pieces (curbas) of wood, called 'barrotes' are fitted inside, and fastened by wedges of wood, instead of nails. For all this, they are dangerous; and, since their sails, oars, and other furniture are very inferior to what boats require, they are much exposed to be easily sunk, and the risk is greatly increased by want of care and management in those who navigate them."

In the above description Agueros has given a very good account of the rude manner in which they are built, and has not in the least magnified the danger attendant on their use. It is, indeed, a miserable and unsafe vessel; and for the rudeness of its construction, and the poverty of its equipment, is a perfect prototype of the crew which it conveys.

The largest have from eight to ten people, each of whom furnishes one poncho, and the 'patron,' who steers, and directs {286} the course and all their movements, provides two ponchos, all which are sewn together to form their sail, which is hoisted by 'lazos,' or thongs of bullock's hide.

These sails are generally in a wretched state, the name Santisima is applied to them all by the crews, with the hope of securing the protection of their patron saint. The anchor is of wood, formed of four crooked pieces, in the shape of a grapnel with four flukes, at the bottom, or crown of which a large stone is fastened, to increase its weight. The crews are exceedingly timid, and instead of making exertions to extricate their vessel from any impending danger, they throw themselves on their knees, beating their b.r.e.a.s.t.s and calling loudly upon their saint, for 'misericordia.'

I was given to understand that very few of them can swim, which seems extraordinary, since they are born and bred in the immediate vicinity of the sea, and depend chiefly upon its productions for subsistence. The fact speaks strongly for the indolence of their character, even although the rigour of the climate forms a bar to bathing as a mere amus.e.m.e.nt. Several piraguas were lost while we were at Chiloe, and, as may be inferred, their crews were all drowned.

With regard to the cultivation of land, they are very far behind, and, comparing the present state with the description of Byron (1740), and of Agueros (1791), very little improvement seems to have been made. The ground is prepared by make-s.h.i.+ft ploughs, of a very rude construction. Two poles of hard wood (luma), about three yards long and proportionably large, trimmed to a sharp point at one end and rounded at the other, are held by the middle, one in each hand, and pointed very obliquely into the ground; in this direction they are forced forward, by pressing against the blunt end with the abdomen, which is defended by a sheepskin, suspended in the form of an ap.r.o.n. After these have penetrated twelve or fourteen inches into the soil, a second person, generally a woman or a boy, places a stout stick under the poles, or 'lumas,' as they are called, close to the earth, to form a solid support for them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: P. P. King T. Landseer

BREAST PLOUGHING AT CHILoE.

Published by Henry Colburn, Great Marlborough Street, 1838]

{287} The large ends are then forced down, the ground turned up, and the lumas pushed forward again, while the woman uses her stick to turn the clods over, to the right and left, alternately. These clods are afterwards broken up by a wooden tool, in the shape of a pick-axe, called 'hualate,'

made of the wood named meli. Rude as this process is, the operation is rapidly performed, and I have seen a field, ploughed in this way, that would not do much discredit to an expert ploughman with a European plough.

The soil is a rich, sandy loam, of a dark red colour; and although rarely, if ever manured, produces fair average crops. According to the usual allowance of 175lbs for a fanega of wheat,[154] the weight of a bushel would not be more than 51lbs., which shews that the grain is but poor.

Wheat is sown in the month of April, and cut in the same month of the following year; but from the humidity of the climate, and constant rain, particularly at that season (the commencement of winter), it is frequently reaped before it is ripe, and almost always gathered in wet. Every subsequent sunny day is taken advantage of, to dry the grain, but a part must be spoiled by mildew. The evaporation, however, is so great, that merely moving it about, and keeping it thinly strewed in granaries, will effect much. It is trodden out by oxen, and to clean it, the grain is thrown up in the wind by means of broad wooden shovels, and effectually separated from the chaff. This rude winnowing takes place frequently in the princ.i.p.al streets of San Carlos, and even at the mole, where one would suppose that a great deal must be lost; but from the adroitness of the operation, it is not only well cleaned, but suffers no diminution.

Potatoes are planted in September, October, and November, and are fit to dig up in May.

Of the proceeds of harvest, one-tenth is paid as a tribute, or {288} tax, to the government; but forced contributions may be required, when the necessities of the state demand them. These contributions are sometimes unfairly levied in Chile; for the subsidy is only taken from those who possess grain, or some equally tangible article which can easily be turned into money; so that persons who are rich enough to live without cultivating land, or trading for their support, contribute nothing towards the emergency of the State. How does this accord with republican principles? or how can a republican government, so conducted, expect to become respectable among nations?

I am not aware that such contributions have yet been levied in Chiloe. From the character of General Aldunate, I do not for a moment think he would commit such an act of injustice; but it is in the power of any Yntendente to call for them, and I afterwards witnessed an example of this, during my visit to Concepcion. A considerable quant.i.ty of wheat, purchased by a Russian vessel, for the use of their settlements on the coast of California, was brought down to the port, at a time when the government was much in want of money, and knew no just way of obtaining it. They therefore very unceremoniously seized the wheat, and applied its value in dollars to their own use, giving only an uncertain, almost a nominal security to the owner for the recovery of his money. The only way of accounting for such an arbitrary proceeding is, that the country was distracted by civil war, and that the person who owned the property was opposed to that party, which at the time happened to have the upper hand, and which held, by main strength alone, the reins of government.

Among the birds of Chiloe, the most remarkable are the 'Cagge,' the 'Cancania,' or 'Canquena,' and the 'Barking bird.'[155]

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The sh.e.l.l-fish,[156] for which this island is justly famed, are princ.i.p.ally brought from Calbuco, and consist of the finest {290} muscles, of which there are two sorts: the Choro (_Mytilus Choras_, Molina), and Cholgua (_Mytilus Magellanicus_, Lamarck), Picos (_Bala.n.u.s psittacus n.o.b. Lepas psittacus_ Molina, 1, p. 223), a large barnacle,[157] and the oyster (_O.

Edulis_), which is exceedingly well-flavoured. Besides which there are several kinds of sh.e.l.l-fish of less value, but equally abundant, such as Navajuelas (_Solen sp._); Caracoles (_Turbo_); Cornes (_Pholas Chiloensis_, Molina); Campana (_Calyptraea_); Lapas (_Crepidula_); Tacas (_Chama Thaca_, Molina); Locos (_Concholepas Peruviana_, _Murex Loco_ of Molina); Quilmagues; Piures (_Pyura sp._ Molina); and others.

The apparently inexhaustible abundance of sh.e.l.l-fish with which nature has provided the inhabitants of these islands, the facility with which they are obtained, and their consequent cheapness, is the princ.i.p.al cause of that want of industry which is so remarkable in the Chilotes.

Of the above-mentioned sh.e.l.l-fish, those deserving more particular notice are the large muscle, the oyster, and the pico.

Molina has described the choro of Conception, which is not at all different from that of Chiloe. It is often found seven or eight inches long. The fish is as large as a goose's egg, and of a very rich flavour: there are two kinds, one of a dark brown, and the other of a yellow colour; but the last is most esteemed. There is also another sort, much larger than the choro, yet equally delicate and good, the fish of which is as large as a swan's egg: it is called cholgua; but as the sh.e.l.ls seem to be of the same species, I think the distinction can only be owing to size. In Febres's Dictionary of the Chileno language, the word {291} cholchua is rendered into Spanish by "cascara de choros blancos," or sh.e.l.l of the white muscle.

Cholhua, or cholgua (the letters g and h are indiscriminately used), must be a corruption; for it is now used in Chiloe to distinguish the large from the small choros.

The manner in which the natives of these islands, both Indians and descendants of foreigners, cook sh.e.l.l-fish, is very similar to that used for baking in the South Sea Islands, and on some parts of the coast of New Holland. A hole is dug in the ground, in which large smooth stones are laid, and upon them a fire is kindled. When they are sufficiently heated, the ashes are cleared away, and sh.e.l.l-fish are heaped upon the stones, and covered, first with leaves or straw, and then with earth. The fish, thus baked, are exceedingly tender and good; and this mode of cooking them is very superior to any other, as they retain, within the sh.e.l.l, all their own juiciness.

The oyster, which is a true _Ostrea edulis_, is found in beds, at low water, or taken with the dredge. It is about the size of the native oyster of England, and not at all inferior to it in flavour. In Agueros's account of Chiloe, he notices this excellent sh.e.l.l-fish; but remarks, that the islanders are ignorant of the value at which it is appreciated. It is rather curious, that, excepting in the neighbourhood of Chiloe, the oyster is very rarely to be met with on the South American coast, while there it is in the greatest abundance. We have never observed any sh.e.l.ls of this fish anywhere between the river Plata and Chiloe; nor is it known elsewhere upon the western coast, I believe, to the southward of Guayaquil, which is very near the equinoctial line.[158] The oyster-sh.e.l.ls at Port San Julian are fossils. Of the Linnaean genus, Ostrea, there are many sorts, on all parts of the coast, both east and west, but they are what we call the pecten or scollop. At Coquimbo, a species of scollop is much used as an article of food, and called oyster; but it has no further right to the name than because Linnaeus cla.s.sed them all as _Ostrea_, and Molina describes this to be _Ostrea edulis_.

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