(PLATE 64. CORDILLERAS FROM SANTIAGO DE CHILE.)
We left the baths of Cauquenes, and, rejoining the main road, slept
at the Rio Claro. From this place we rode to the town of San
Fernando. Before arriving there, the last land-locked basin had
expanded into a great plain, which extended so far to the south
that the snowy summits of the more distant Andes were seen as if
above the horizon of the sea. San Fernando is forty leagues from
Santiago; and it was my farthest point southward; for we here
turned at right angles towards the coast. We slept at the
gold-mines of Yaquil, which are worked by Mr. Nixon, an American
gentleman, to whose kindness I was much indebted during the four
days I stayed at his house. The next morning we rode to the mines,
which are situated at the distance of some leagues, near the summit
of a lofty hill. On the way we had a glimpse of the lake
Tagua-tagua, celebrated for its floating islands, which have been
described by M. Gay. (12/2. "Annales des Sciences Naturelles"
March, 1833. M. Gay, a zealous and able naturalist, was then
occupied in studying every branch of natural history throughout the
kingdom of Chile.) They are composed of the stalks of various dead
plants intertwined together, and on the surface of which other
living ones take root.
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