'4 ■
1 ! T
blue baze of a fine day ! The one for a time may be very
sublime; the other is all gaiety and happy life.
A u g u s t 1 4 t i i .— I set out on a riding excursion, for the purpose
of geologizing the basal parts of the Andes, which alone at
this time of the year were not shut up hy the winter snow.
Our first day’s ride was northward along the sea-coast. After
dark we reached the Hacienda of Quintero, the estate which
formerly belonged to Lord Cochrane. My object in coming
here was to see the great beds of shells, which are elevated
some yards above the level of the sea. They nearly all consist
of one species of Erycina; and these shells at the present
day live together in great numbers, on the sandy flats. So
wonderfully numerous are those forming the heds, that for
years they have been quarried, and burnt for the lime, with
which the large town of Valparaiso is supplied. As any
change of level, even in this neighbourhood, has often been
disputed, I may add, that I saw dead barnacles adhering to
points of solid rock which were now so much elevated, that
even during gales of wind they would scarcely be wetted by
the spray.
1 5 t h .—W e returned towards the valley of Quillota. The
country was exceedingly pleasant; just such as poets would
call pastoral: green open lawns, separated by small valleys
with rivulets, and the cottages, we will suppose of the shepherds,
scattered on the hill-sides. AVe were obliged to cross
the ridge of the Chilecauquen. At its base there were many
fine evergreen forest-trees, but these only flourished in the
ravines, where there was running water. Any person who
had seen only the country near Valparaiso, would never
have imagined that there had been such picturesque spots in
Chile. As soon as we reached the brow of the Sierra, the valley
of Quillota was immediately under our feet. The prospect
was one of remarkable artificial luxuriance. The valley is very
broad and quite flat, and is thus easily irrigated in all parts.
The little square gardens are crowded with orange and ohve
trees, and every sort of vegetable. On each side huge bare
mountains rise, and this from the contrast renders the patchwork
valley the more pleasing. AVhoever called “ Valparaiso”
the “ Valley of Paradise,” must have been thinking
of Quillota. W e crossed over to the Hacienda de San Isidoro,
situated at the very foot of the Bell mountain.
Chile, as may be seen in the maps, is a narrow strip of
land between the Cordillera and the Pacific ; and this strip is
itself traversed by several mountain-lines, which in this part
run parallel to the great range. Between these outer lines,
and the main Cordillera, a succession of level basins, generally
opening into each other by narrow passages, extend far
to the southward. In these the principal towns are situated,
as San Felipe, Santiago, S. Fernando. These basins or plains,
together with the transverse fiat valleys (like that of Quillota)
which connect them with the coast, I have little doubt, are the
bottoms of ancient inlets and deep bays, such as at the present
day intersect every part of Tierra del Fuego, and the west
coast of Patagonia. Chile must formerly have resembled the
latter country, in the configuration of its land and water.
This resemblance was occasionally seen with great force,
when a level fog-bank covered, as with a mantle, all the
lower parts of the country: the white vapour curling into the
ravines, beautifully represented little coves and bays ; and
here and there a solitary hillock peeping up, showed that it
had formerly stood there as an islet. The contrast of these
flat valleys and basins with the irregular mountains, gave the
scenery a character which to me was novel and very interesting.
From the natural slope to seaward of these plains, they
are very easily irrigated, and in consequence singularly
fertile. AVithout this process the land would produce
scarcely any thing; for during the whole summer the sky
is cloudless. The mountains and hills are dotted over
with bushes and low trees, and excepting these, the vegetation
is very scanty. Each landowner in the valley possesses
a certain portion of hill-country, where his halfwild
cattle, in considerable numbers, manage to find sufficient
pasture. Once every year there is a grand “ rodeo,”