5th August 1834

Valparaiso
I have taken several long walks in the country. The vegetation here has a peculiar aspect; this is owing to the number & variety of bushes which seem to supply the place of plants; many of them bear very pretty flowers & very commonly the whole shrub has a strong resinous or aromatic smell. In climbing amongst the hills ones hands & even clothes become strongly scented. With this sort of vegetation I am surprised to find that insects are far from common; indeed this scarcity holds good to some of the higher orders of animals; there are very few quadrupeds, & birds are not very plentiful. I have already found beds of recent shells, yet retaining their colors at an elevation of 1300 feet; & beneath this level the country is strewed with them. It seems not a very improbable conjecture that the want of animals may be owing to none having been created since this country was raised from the sea.