they were used as heads to clubs, although their form does
not appear at all well adapted for that purpose. Burchell*
states that some of the tribes in Southern Africa dig up
roots, by the aid of a pointed stick, the force and weight of
which is increased by a round stone with a hole, into which
the stick is firmly wedged. It appears probable that the
Indians of Chile formerly used some such rude agricultural
instrument.
One day, a German collector in natural history, of the
name of Renous, called, and nearly at the same time an old
Spanish lawyer. I was amused by afterwards hearing the
conversation which took place between them. Renous speaks
Spanish so well, that the old lawyer mistook him for a fellow-
countryman. Renous, alluding to myself, asked him what he
thought of the King of England sending out a collector to their
country, to pick up lizards and beetles, and to break stones ?
The old gentleman thought seriously for some time, and
then said, “ It is not well,—hay mi gato encerrado aqid (there
is a cat shut up here). No man is so rich as to send out
people to pick up such rubbish. I do not like i t : if one
of us were to go and do such things in England, do not you
think the King of England would very soon send us out of
his country ?” And this old gentleman, from his profession,
belongs to the better informed and more intelligent classes !
Renous himself, two or three years before, left in a house at
S. Fernando some caterpillars, under charge of a girl to feed,
that they might turn into butterflies. This was rumoured
through the town, and at last the Padres and Governor
consulted together, and agreed it must be some heresy. Accordingly,
when Renous returned, he was arrested.
S e p t e m b e r 1 9 t h .—We left Yaquil, and followed the
flat vaUey, formed like that of Quillota, in which the Rio
Tinderidica flows. Even at these few miles south of Santiago
the climate is much damper; in consequence there were fine
tracks of pasturage, which were not irrigated. (2 0 th.) We fol*
B u rch cU ’s T ra v e ls , vol. ii., p . 45.
lowed this valley till it expanded into a great plain, which
reaches from the sea to the mountains west of Rancagua. We
shortlv lost all trees and even bushes; so that tlie inhabitants
are nearly as badly off for firewood as those in the Pampas.
Never having lieard of these plains, I was much surprised at
meeting with such scenery in Chile. The plains belong to more
than one series of different elevations, and they are traversed
by broad flat-bottomed valleys; both of which circumstances,
as in Patagonia, bespeak the gentle retreat of the ocean.
In the steep cliffs bordering these valleys, there are some
large caves, which no doubt were formed by the waters of
the ancient bays and channels. One of these which I visited
is celebrated under the name of Cueva del Obispo ; having
formerly been consecrated. During the day I felt very
unwell, and from that time till the end of October did not
recover.
S e p t e m b e r 2 2 d .— We continued to pass over green
plains without a tree. The next day we arrived at a house
near Navedad, on the sea-coast, where a rich Haciendero
gave us lodgings. I stayed here the two ensuing days, and
although very unwell, managed to collect from the tertiary
formation some marine shells, many of which turn out to be
quite new forms. 24th. Our course was now directed towards
Valparaiso, which with great difficulty I reached on
the 2 7 th, and was there confined to my bed till the end of
October. During this time I was an inmate in Mr. Cor-
field’s house, whose kindness to me I do not know how to
express.
I will here add a few observations on some of the animals
and birds of Chile. The Puma, or South American Lion, is
not uncommon. This animal has a wide geographical range.;
being found from the equatorial forests, throughout the
deserts of Patagonia, as far south as the damp and cold
latitudes (53° to 5 4 °) of Tierra del Fuego. I have also seen
its footsteps in the Cordillera of central Chile, at an elevation
of at least ¡0,000 feet. In I,a Plata the puma chiefly preys
oil deer, ostriches, bizcacha, and other small quadrupeds ; it