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.
SEPTEMBER 19, 1834.
We left Yaquil, and followed the flat valley, 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 tracts of pasturage which were not irrigated.
(20th.) We followed this valley till it expanded into a great
plain, which reaches from the sea to the mountains west of
Rancagua. We shortly lost all trees and even bushes; so that the
inhabitants are nearly as badly off for firewood as those in the
Pampas. Never having heard 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 action of the sea on gently rising land. In
the steep cliffs bordering these valleys there are some large
caves, which no doubt were originally formed by the waves: one of
these is celebrated under the name of Cueva del Obispo; having
formerly been consecrated.
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