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480 EXTRAORMNAI IY CURRENTS. July
amounted to more than forty miles; and the only way in which
I can account for it to my own satisfaction is, that while the
north-west wind was blowing, a current set to the southward
and eastward, for which no allowance was made, as those on
board could not be aware that such a current might be found,
its existence not being known. A south-east current was not to be
expected thereabouts; for the general set of the waters is northerly,
excepting near the land, and they thought themselves in
the offing. But currents are very uncertain and treacherous in
most places. Unusual vands, peculiar seasons affecting the
weight of the atmosphere, and those powerful interrupters of all
order—earthquakes, have immediate effect upon the great
ocean, as well as upon small bodies of water, though not
always so visibly.
Scarcely four months had elapsed since that tremendous
earthquake, which destroyed so many towns in Chile, had
altered the movements of the Pacific Ocean upon all the extent
of coast which reaches from latitude forty-five to the
parallel of twenty-five. Even in July, the land about Concepcion
was scarcely considered to be at rest, and recovered, as it
was said, from those awful convvdsions. Can it then be considered
improbable that the currents of that sea should have
taken unusual directions, and betrayed even cautious seamen,
such as Captain Seymour and Mr. Macdonald (the master)
were well known to he. So much care and judgment had always
been shown in conducting the Challenger, and she had visited
so many places in the Atlanticj in the Pacific, and among the
South Sea Islands, that of all the King’s shijis at that time in
commission, those who sailed in her (unconnected even with her
management) thought her one of the last that would end a
voyage disastrously.* The surprising manner in which the
hull of the Challenger held together, and so long resisted
heavy shocks, reflects infinite credit upon her architect (Hayes),
and upon the dockyard where she was built.
* This I have heard from several persons who were wrecked in the
ship, whose opinions I have reason to respect.
CHAPTER XXI.
Andes—Aconcagua—Villarica—Tslay—Powder—Callao—Rejoin Beagle
— Constitución —Plans —Wilson — Carrasco—‘ Galapagos’— Iguanas
■—Lava Rocks —Land-tortoises —Craters —Turtle — Shells— Dye—
Volcanoes—Settlement—Albemarle Island—Cyclopian Scene—Tagus
Cove —Tide Ripples — Settlers — Climate — Salt—Dampier— Birds—
Transportation of Tortoises—Currents—Temperature of Water.
T he irreclaimably barren appearance of the sea coast of
Northern Chile, is very repulsive to an eye accustomed to
woodland scenery : yet there is an effect in its lofty mountains,
which seem to rise abruptly almost from the ocean, that
charms one for a time. Just before sunrise is generally tbe
most favourable moment for enjoying an unclouded view of the
Andes in all their towering grandeur: for scarcely have his
beams shot between their highest pinnacles into the westward
vallies, when clouds of vapour rise from every quarter, and
during the rest of the day, with few exceptions, obscure the
distant heights.
It has been long supirosed that the Andes are higher about
the equator than near or beyond the tropic; but the Beagle’s
measurements of Aconcagua* and Villarica,# prove that there
is still much to he ascertained on this subject. Few results,
depending upon angular measurement, are more difficult to obtain
with accuracy than the heights of distant mountains. AVith
respect to Aconcagua, though a variety of measurements, taken
by different officers at various times, agreed together so closely
as to give from 23,200 to 23,400 feet for the vertical elevation
of that volcano above the level of the sea, I would not claim
to be much nearer the truth than within 500 feet.
The Blonde touched at Cobija, Arica, and Islay—hapless
arid dwelling-places for either man or beast, as I have ever
* Lat. 32®. 39'. S .: height, 23,000 feet above the sea level.
+ Lat. 39b 10'. S ,: height, 16,000 feet aboA'e the sea level,
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