11th December 1834

Chiloe
We left S. Pedro in the Beagle.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
Having despatched Mr. Sulivan, with the same party excepting Mr. Darwin, we got under weigh, and hastened towards the middle of the Chonos group, in order to find a port whence Mr. Stokes might set out to explore northwards, while I should examine the southern half of the archipelago.

10th December 1834

Chiloe
The Yawl & Whale-boat, with Mr Sulivan, started to continue their survey.

9th December 1834

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
We remained a few days in San Pedro harbour; and on the 9th Mr. Sulivan and his party joined us. Next day Mr. Stokes and I endeavoured to get to the top of the mountain named Huampelen, Huamblin, or San Pedro; but after climbing, creeping, struggling, and tumbling about, among old decayed trees, strongly interwoven canes, steep, slippery places, and treacherous bog, we failed, and gave up the attempt. Mr. Darwin, Douglas, and others were with me, but we were all foiled.

8th December 1834

Chiloe
A party with Capt FitzRoy tried to reach the summit of San Pedro, the highest part of the islands. — The woods here have a different aspect from those in the North, there is a much larger proportion of trees with deciduous leaves. — the rock also being primitive Micaceous slate, there is no beach, but the steep sides of the hills dip directly down into the sea; the whole appearance is in consequence much more that of T. del Fuego than of Chiloe. In vain we tried to gain the summit; the wood is so intricate that a person who has never seen it will not be able to imagine such a confused mass of dead & dying trunks. I am sure oftentimes for quarter of an hour our feet never touched the ground, being generally from 10 to 20 feet above it; at other times, like foxes, one after the other we crept on our hands & knees under the rotten trunks. In the lower parts of the hills, noble trees of Winters bark, & the Laurus sassafras (?) with fragrant leaves, & others the names of which I do not know, were matted together by Bamboos or Canes. Here our party were more like fish struggling in a net than any other animal. On the higher parts brushwood took the place of larger trees, with here & there a red Cypress or an Alerce. I was also much interested by finding our old friend the T. del F. Beech, Fagus antarcticus; they were poor stunted little trees, & at an elevation of little less than a thousand feet. This must be, I should apprehend from their appearance, nearly their Northern limit. We ultimately gave up the ascent in despair.

7th December 1834

Chiloe
In the morning we stopped for a few minutes at a house at the extreme North point of Isd of Laylec. This was the last house; the extreme point of S. American Christendom; & a miserable hovel it was. The latitude is about 43° 10′, which is considerably to the South of the R. Negro on the Atlantic coast of America. The people were miserably poor & as usual begged for a little tobacco. I forgot to mention an anecdote which forcibly shows the poverty of these Indians; some days since, we met a man who had travelled 3 & ½ days on foot, on bad roads, & had the same distance to return to recover the value of an axe & a few fish! How difficult it must be to buy the smallest article, where such trouble is taken to recover so small a debt.

We had a foul wind & a good deal of swell to struggle with, but we reached the Island of S. Pedro, the SE extremity of Chiloe, in the evening. When doubling the point of the harbor, Mrs Stuart & Usborne landed to take a round of angles. A fox (of Chiloe, a rare animal) sat on the point & was so absorbed in watching their mænœvres, that he allowed me to walk behind him & actually kill him with my geological hammer. We found the Beagle at anchor, she had arrived the day before & from bad weather had not been able to survey the outer coast of Chiloe. The most singular result of the observations is that Chiloe is made 30 miles too long, hence it will be necessary to shorten the island; ¼ of its received size.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
These three outlying islands are thickly wooded, rather level, compared with their neighbours, and not exceeding eight hundred feet in height. There are few, if any others, like them in the Chonos Archipelago; almost all the rest, however portions of some may resemble them, being mountainous, and very like those of Tierra del Fuego and the west coast of Patagonia, beyond 47° south; therefore I need only remark, that the vegetation is more luxuriant; that there is a slight difference in it, consequent probably upon a milder climate; that some productions, such as canes and potatoes, &c., are found there which do not grow near the Strait of Magalhaens; and that in other respects, as to appearance, nature, and climate, the Chonos Archipelago is like Tierra del Fuego in summer.

6th December 1834

Chiloe
Reached Caylen, called "el fin del Christianitad". It is rather better inhabited.

5th December 1834

Chiloe
I noticed to day growing on the cliffs of soft sandstone some very fine plants of the Pangi*, which somewhat resembles the Rhubarb on a gigantic scale. The inhabitants eat the stalks, which are sub-acid, & with the root tan leather & prepare a black dye. (Note in margin: The stalks are called Nalca, so indeed is the plant sometimes.) The leaf is much indented in its margin & is nearly circular; the diameter of one was nearly 8 feet (giving a circumference of 24 feet!). The stalk rather more than a yard high: each plant throws out from four to six of these enormous leaves & a group of them hence has a very fine appearance.

*Probably a Gunnera - Gunnera Masafuerae of the Juan Fernandez Islands off the Chilean coast. They can have leaves up to 2.9 m (9 ft 5 inches) in width on stout leaf stalks 1.5 m (5 ft) long and 11 cm (4.5 in) thick according to Skottsberg. On nearby Isla Más Afuera, G. peltata frequently has an upright trunk to 5.5 m (18 ft) in height by 25–30 cm (10–12 in) thick, bearing leaves up to 2 m (6 ft 4 inches) wide. G. magnifica of the Colombian Andes bears the largest leaf buds of any plant; up to 60 cm (2 ft) long and 40 cm (16 inches) thick. The succulent leaf stalks are up to 2.7 m (8 ft 10 inches) long. The massive inflorescence of small, reddish flowers is up to 2.3 m (7 ft 6 inches) long and weighs about 13 kg. [Wikipedia] I have one growing in my garden in the UK.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
On the 5th, we were near Huafo, which, to our surprise, we found to be twenty-five miles farther north than the Spanish charts (following Moraleda) showed its position, yet the longitude was almost correct. In a small cove, near the south-east point of Huafo, we anchored, but broke a bower-anchor in doing so; for the cove is small—an unexpected puff of wind gave us too much way—and dropping the bower in haste, it fell upon a rock, and broke.§ Only two days before another anchor was broken, near Socorro, by the ship pitching while a short scope of cable was out, and the anchor hooking to a rock. I found, on landing, that the formation of the island, like that of Socorro and Narborough Island, is a soft sandstone, which can be cut with a knife as easily as a cake of chocolate.

4th December 1834

Chiloe
The weather was squally, but we reached P. Chagua: the general features of the country remain precisely the same: it is much less thickly inhabited: the whole of the large island of Tanqui has scarcely one cleared spot; the trees on every side extend their branches over the sea.

3rd December 1834

Chiloe
During our last visit, I fancied Chiloe never enjoyed such a day as this; I cannot imagine a more beautiful scene, than the snowy cones of the Cordilleras seen over an inland sea of glass, only here & there rippled by a Porpoise or logger-headed Duck. And I admired this view from a cliff adorned with sweet-smelling evergreens, where the bright colored, smooth trunks, the parasitical plants, the ferns, the arborescent grasses, all reminded me of the Tropics, neither did the temperature recall me to the reality.

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
Having passed the night quietly at single anchor, near the north-east point of Socorro, we weighed and continued our route to and fro along the coast, taking angles, soundings, and observations.

2nd December 1834

Chiloe
2nd The day was calm & we only reached the South extreme of Lemuy.*

* In Down House Notebook 1.8, CD wrote: 'I have mentioned having found at Lemuy an beach very much silicified wood — one piece pentrated by Teredo. Likewise I found many fragments on coast above Yal.[?] At last I found in the yellow sandstone a great trunk (structure beautifully clear) throwing off branches: main stem much thicker than my body & standing out from weathering 2 feet. — Central parts generally black & vascular, & structure not visible. — This tree coetaneous (near in position) with the shells of above: it is curious chemical action, such a sandstone in sea, holding such silex in solution: vessels transparent quartz. This observation most important, as proof of general facts of petrified wood. For here the inhabitants firmly believe the process is now going on.'

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal:
While standing towards distant mountainous land, about the latitude of 45°, we saw a comparatively low and level island;† considerably detached from those which seemed like Tierra del Fuego, being a range of irregular mountains and hills, forming apparently a continuous coast. This level island I have since ascertained to be that formerly called Nuestra Señora del Socorro, where Narborough anchored and landed, in 1670. It was selected in 1740, by Anson, as a rendezvous for his squadron; but no one seemed to know where to look for it: the Anna Pink having made the land in 45°.35′, and the unfortunate Wager in 47°, near Cape Tres Montes. Narborough mentions seeing 'an old Indian hut' on this island; and in a MS. journal, written by Moraleda‡ (now in my possession) it is said that the former natives of the Chonos used to make annual excursions to that as well as other outlying islands. After witnessing the distance to which savages venture in such frail canoes as those of Tierra del Fuego, it does not surprise one to find them going fifteen or twenty miles across an open space of sea in such large canoes as those of the Chonos Indians, which are indeed boats. Fuegian wigwams have been found upon Staten Land and upon Noir Island, each of which is as far from any neighbouring coast as Socorro is from the nearest shore.

While Narborough's ship was under sail, near Socorro, he went in his boat to the island which is nearest to it, by him named Narborough Island. There he landed, and took possession for his Majesty and his heirs.

1st December 1834

Chiloe
We steered for the Isd of Lemuy. — I was anxious to examine a reported coal mine, which turned out to be Lignite of little value in the tertiary Sandstones of which these Islands are composed. — During the day we passed many Chapels; the number of these all over Chiloe is remarkable; every collection even of a few houses has its Capella. When we reached Lemuy we had great difficulty in finding a place for the tents, owing to it being Spring tides & the land being universally wooded to the high water line.

We were soon surrounded by a large group of the nearly pure Indian inhabitants. They were much surprised at our arrival & said one to the other, this is the reason we have seen so many Parrots lately; the Cheucau (an odd red-breasted little bird, which inhabits the thick forest & utters very peculiar noises) has not cried "beware" for nothing. They were soon eager for barter. Money is scarcely worth anything, but their esteem & anxiety for tobacco was something quite extraordinary: after tobacco, indigo came next in value, then capsicum, old clothes & gunpowder; the latter article was required for a very innocent purpose; each parish has a public musket, & the gunpowder was wanted to make a noise on their Saint or Feast days.

The people here live chiefly on shell-fish & potatoes; at certain seasons they catch also, in "Corrales"or hedges under water, many fish which are left as the tide falls dry on the mud-banks. — They occasionally possess fowls, sheep & goats, pigs, horses & cattle, the order in which they are mentioned expressing their frequency. — I never saw anything more obliging & humble than the manners of these people. — They generally begin with stating that they are poor natives of the place & not Spaniards & are in sad want of tobacco and other comforts. At Caylen, the most Southern island, we bought with a stick of tobacco, of the value of three half-pennies, two fowls (one of which the Indian stated had skin between its toes & turned out to be a fine duck): & with some cotton handkerchiefs worth three shillings, we procured three sheep & a large bunch of onions. — All these purchases were transacted under the denomination of money; the stick of tobacco was valued at one shilling & the proportion of a shilling to the half-pennies expresses the profit of the traders with these Islanders.

The Yawl at this place was anchored some way from the shore & we had fears for her safety during the night. Our pilot, Mr Douglas, accordingly told the constable of the district that we always placed sentinels with loaded arms, & not understanding Spanish, if we saw any person in the dark, we should assuredly shoot him. The constable, with much humility, agreed to the propriety of this consequence & promised us that no one should stir out of his house during the night.

30th November 1834

Syms Covington Journal:

Anchored at Castro (the old capital) on Sunday the 30th. This town is situated on the South part of the island of Chiloé, a channel is formed here by the latter and the island of San Pedro. The town is built on a flat tableland about a mile square each way, has a church, but all in ruins, the houses all built of wood. The inhabitants are but few in comparison to what there were when it was the capital.

29th - 30th November 1834

Chiloe
We reached on the Sunday morning Castro, the ancient capital of Chiloe. I never saw before so truly a deserted city. The usual quadrangular arrangement of Spanish towns was to be traced, but the streets & Plaza were coated with fine green turf on which Sheep were browzing. A church, built by that all-powerful order of the Jesuits shortly before their expulsion, is highly picturesque; (Note in margin: It is not the Jesuits Church but the Parochial one.) it is entirely built of plank, even to the roof: it seems wonderful that wood should last for half a century in so wet a climate. The arrival of our boats was a rare event in this quiet retired corner of the world, nearly all the inhabitants came to the beach to see us pitch our tents. They were very civil & offered us a house; & one man even sent us a cask of cyder as a present. In the afternoon we paid our respects to the Governor; a quiet old man, who in his appearance & manner of life was scarcely superior to an English cottager. I afterwards went out riding, to examine the geology of the neighbourhead. The country rises to some height behind the town, it is partly cultivated & pleasant looking. At night rain commenced, which was hardly sufficient to drive away from the tents the large circle of lookers on. An Indian family, who had come to trade in a canoe from Caylen, bivouacked near us: & they had no shelter during the heavy rain: in the morning I asked a young Indian, who was wet to the skin, how he passed the night; — he seemed perfectly content & answered "Muy bien Signor".

27th - 28th November 1834

Chiloe
We had the good luck to have these two days fine, & reached by night the Isd of Quinchao. This neighbourhead is the centre of cultivation; many of the islands are nearly cleared & a broad strip of cleared ground follows the coast of the main Island. I was curious to know the wealth of the Chilotans. — Mr Douglas tells me that no one can be considered to possess a regular income. Each person raises enough for the consumption of his own family & a little more such as hams & potatoes, which are sent in the rude country boats to S. Carlos, where they are exchanged for such articles of clothing as they can not themselves manufacture, & a few other luxuries. — One of the richest landowners, in a long industrious life, might possibly accumulate as much as a thousand pounds sterling; should this happen it would be stowed away in some secret place, for each family generally possesses a hidden jar or chest buried in the ground.