ii
quake, or rather by an inundation, occasioned by a tremendous reaction
of the sea. Such a catastrophe, it might be supposed, would be sufficient
to deter the inhabitants from again building on low ground ; nevertheless,
the present city is erected on a spot scarcely more elevated than
the other, and the river, when high, washes the threshold of the nearest
houses. It has no defences ; and is also very badly situated iu this respect,
being commanded by a range of hills close behind it. Benavides was
fully aware of this, and constructed a battery upon the eminence, which
still bears his name ; but the guns are spiked, and the fort is in ruins.
During the late incursions, we were told, that the mode of repelling
an attack was to collect the inhabitants in the squares, and barricade
the streets leading out of them, with whatever came first to hand ;
the musketry and the muzzles of the field-pieces were then thrust
through these temporary bulwarks, and a fire opened upon the assailants.
This was a sufficiently secure defence against the Indians, but it is easy
to imagine what would have been the effect of a few well-placed cannon
upon a crowd of persons so collected.
In the selection of the site of the new city, the advantage of the
river Bio Bio was, no doubt, the great consideration ; and when inland
navigation is as well understood in that country as in some others, it
will be of the greatest importance, though its numerous shoals must
occasion serious difficulties. Part of the produce of the interior is
now brought down upon rafts, which, not being able to return, are
broken up and sold for timber. There is a ferry-boat over the river
for the accommodation of persons who wish to pass from Conception
to the Indian country, and sufficiently large to carry cattle or horses.
The natives cross in punts, but have so much difficulty in stemming
the current and avoiding banks and shallows, that, though the extreme
distance is only a mile, they are sometimes an hour and a half performing
the passage. Although the Spaniards nominally possessed territory
far to the southward of this river, yet it in reality formed their
boundary, and until very lately it was unsafe for an European to venture
far upon that side, on account of straggling parties of the Indians*.
• I have been informed th a t since th is period (182.5) th e In ten d e n te has a magnificent
estate on th a t side o f th e river, th a t th e In d ian s are quiet, and th a t Conception has under-
gone g re a t improvement.
The mouth of the Bio Bio is circumscribed by banks, w'hich have pro- CHAP.
gressively risen to 210 yards; and even this stream is divided by a
rock one-third of the way across it. I f the plan of the entrance be October,
1825. correct in the chart annexed to La Perouse’s Voyage, the formation of
these banks has been very rapid, and has altered the channel of the
river.
The population of Conception is about 6500 persons. The inhabitants,
the labouring class at least, have a particularly healthy look.
The men have hard features and strong sinewy limbs, and the women
and children are fatter than would be agreeable to most persons ; short
stature, dark hair and eyes, and pretty Indian features, are the characteristics
of their persons. They are subject to but few diseases ; and for
these they have their own remedies, consisting principally of medicinal
herbs, with which the country abounds, and in the preparation of which
they are well skilled. Fevers, occasioned by cold and dampness, are the
most common complaints.
In the streets of Conception I did not see a single cripple, a very
rare circumstance in Spanish towns; nor were we molested by beggars,
beyond a few troublesome boys beseeching alms; and this arose more
from impudence, and a determination to try their luck, than from any
real necessity; in secret, however, there are not wanting persons who,
if opportunity offered, would not only solicit charity, but enforce their
demand with a pistol or a stiletto. On meeting the Indians in an
unfrequented part of the country, it is particularly necessary to be upon
your guard; for these half-civilized barbarians are generally intoxicated,
and care very little about insulting or maltreating strangers even in the
heart of the town, much less when alone in the country. A regiment
of Araucaneans is embodied in the army of the state, and quartered in
the town : they retain their own weapons, and continue their own
tactics. A specimen of their extraordinary and barbarous warfare was
exhibited at Conception during our stay.
Since the trade of Chili has been thrown open, a remarkable
change in the costume of the inhabitants, and also in the furniture of
their houses, has taken place ; and an Englishman may now see with
pride the inferior manufactures of his own country prized, to the