I Would Recommend All
Strangers To Go In At The North End Of The Great Island, Giving The
Northern Point Of The Island A Good Birth, And Then To Keep The Island
Side Of The Channel On Board, Running Along Shore To The Southward
(Eastward).
Passing two bays, which seem commodious, you come to a
point, almost contiguous to which is a high rock, somewhat
Like a
pyramid; and passing between that rock and a small high island near it,
you run directly into a harbour resembling the mouth of a river, which
forms a safe anchorage. In going in, take care not to come nearer shore
than having the depth of five fathoms, as the nearer to the small island
the less water; wherefore keep the lead going, and be bold with the
shore towards the north side of the harbour, which has the greatest
depth, while the south side is shoaly.[260]
[Footnote 259: Chiloe reaches from lat. 41 deg. 50' to 43 deg. 50', both S. and
from long. 73 deg. 18' to 74 deg. 24', both W. extending 135 English miles in
extreme length, by 35 in medium breadth. See vol. V. p. 592, for an
account of the Archipelago of Chiloe. - E.]
[Footnote 260: Shelvocke seems here to describe the harbour leading to
the town or village of San Carlos. - E.]
My pilot carried me the contrary way to that here directed, advising me
to keep near the main land of Chili, which I did till I got to
Carelampo Point, having several small islands to the southward of my
course, which proved unfortunate for me by the loss of my anchor. The
soil of Chiloe is very fertile, producing all sorts of European fruits
and grains, and has fine pasture lands, in which great numbers of cattle
are grazed, particularly sheep. The air is wholesome and temperate; yet
I suspect the winter may be rigorous, being bounded on the west by an
immense ocean, without any land to screen it from the cold moist vapours
brought thither by the tempestuous westerly winds, which generally reign
in these latitudes, and which must render it uncomfortable in the winter
months, as the parallels of latitude to the south of the equator are
much colder than those in the same degrees to the northwards.
In this island they have abundance of very handsome middle-sized horses,
which the natives are said to manage with great dexterity. They have
also an animal, called guanaco or carneso de tierra, that is, sheep
of the country, which very much resembles a camel, but not nearly so
large. They have long necks, and I have seen one of them between five
and six feet high. Their wool or soft hair is very fine. They smell very
rank, and move with a very slow majestic pace, which hardly any violence
can make them quicken; yet they are of great service at the mines in
Peru, where they are employed in carrying the ore and other things.
Their flesh is very coarse, as we experienced, having salted some of
them for our future use. Besides these, the inhabitants have European
sheep and great numbers of hogs, but not many black cattle. The island
has plenty of fowls, both wild and tame. Among the former is a small
species of goose, found on the banks of the rivers, which are
beautifully white, and of an excellent taste. The tame poultry are of
the same kinds with our own.
The natives are almost in all respects the same with those on the
continent of Chili, of moderate stature, with deep olive complexions,
and coarse shaggy black hair, some of them having by no means
disagreeable features. They seem naturally of fierce and warlike
dispositions; but the oppressions of the Spaniards, and the artifices of
the jesuits, who are the missionaries in these parts, have curbed and
broken their spirits. Frezier says, that the Indians on the continent,
to the southward of this island, are called Chonos, who go quite
naked; and that there is a race of men of extraordinary size in the
inland parts of the country, called Cacahues,[261] who are in amity
with the Chonos, and sometimes accompany them to the Spanish
settlements in Chiloe. Frezier says, that he has been credibly informed
by eye-witnesses, that some of these were about nine or ten feet high. I
had sight of two of these Indians, who came from the southward of St
Domingo river, one of whom was a cacique, who did not seem to me to
differ in their persons from the ordinary natives of Chiloe. They were
decently clothed in ponchos, monteras, and poulains. The poncho is
a sort of square carpet, having a slit or hole cut in the middle, wide
enough to slip over the head, so that it hangs down over the shoulders,
half before and half behind, under which they generally wear a short
doublet. On their heads they have a montera, or cap nearly like those
of our postillions, and their legs are covered by the poulains, a kind
of knit buskins, or hose without feet. In short, their appearance has
little or none of the savage. Their habitations are firmly built of
planks, but have no chimneys, so that they are very black and sooty
within.
[Footnote 261: See an account of the native tribes, inhabiting the
southern extremity of South America, vol. V. p. 401.]
They inclose some of their land for cultivation, by means of rails or
paling; and although they have plenty of every thing necessary to a
comfortable subsistence, they have no bread, from wanting mills in which
to grind and prepare their wheat They use a miserable substitute, making
a kind of cakes of sea-weeds, which from use is much esteemed by them,
and was not even disliked by some of our men. Besides this, they prepare
their maize in several manners to answer the purpose of bread, and they
use potatoes and other roots with the same intention.
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