2nd June 1835

Set out for the valley of Guasco, taking with me a guide for the road. — The Beagle was to sail for Valparaiso a few days afterwards, from thence to Copiapò to pick me up & then to Peru. Capt FitzRoy hired a small vessel & left a party under the command of Mr Sulivan to survey the Northern coast of Chili & to rendezvous at Lima. — We rode this day to a solitary house, called Yerba-buena, where pasture for the animals can be bought. — On the whole road we passed only one other house or inhabited spot. — There are two roads from Coquimbo to Guasco, one near the sea coast, the other in the interior; in this latter there is nothing for the animals to eat during the whole time. I therefore followed the former line. — The shower alluded to a fortnight ago had reached about half way to Guasco, we had therefore in this first part a slight tinge of green, just sufficient to remind me of the freshness of the turf & budding flowers in the Spring of England. — Travelling in these countries, like to a prisoner shut up in gloomy courts, produces a constant longing for such scenes.