)
Valparaiso.
Excursion to the Foot of the Andes.
Structure of the land.
Ascend the Bell of Quillota.
Shattered masses of greenstone.
Immense valleys.
Mines.
State of miners.
Santiago.
Hot-baths of Cauquenes.
Gold-mines.
Grinding-mills.
Perforated stones.
Habits of the Puma.
El Turco and Tapacolo.
Humming-birds.
CENTRAL CHILE.
JULY 23, 1834.
The "Beagle" anchored late at night in the bay of Valparaiso, the
chief seaport of Chile. When morning came, everything appeared
delightful. After Tierra del Fuego, the climate felt quite
delicious--the atmosphere so dry, and the heavens so clear and blue
with the sun shining brightly, that all nature seemed sparkling
with life. The view from the anchorage is very pretty. The town is
built at the very foot of a range of hills, about 1600 feet high,
and rather steep. From its position, it consists of one long,
straggling street, which runs parallel to the beach, and wherever a
ravine comes down, the houses are piled up on each side of it. The
rounded hills, being only partially protected by a very scanty
vegetation, are worn into numberless little gullies, which expose a
singularly bright red soil.
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