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90 BOTANICAL NEWS.
divia (and wliich Philippi has described under tlie name of Lepidothamnium),
as well as Mltraria coccinea, not before obtained to the south of the Chpnos
Archipelago. We arrived at the fort of San Carlos, Cliiloe, at the close of
March, and remained there about a fortnight, and I was greatly interested in
the striking character of the yegetatiou. Here I saw for tlie first time thickets
of an arboreous grass of the genus Chusquea ; Myriacea, Bromeliacete, Escal-
lonias, and Fuchsias constituted a very prominent feature. The trunks of
many of the trees were covered with Sarmienta repens, and their branches with
a scarlet Loranthns ; and Gunnera scabra covered mauy of the sandstone cliffs
with its large Rhubarb-like leaves. Other conspicuous plants were a yellowflowered
Loasa and Berberis Darwinii, and last, but not least, our common
Digitalis, which has completely naturalized itself. We left the Bay of San
Carlos on the 12th of April, to return to the channels, passing between Chiloe
and tlie mainland, and calling at two forts in the island on our way. At the
first of these (Cava Oscura) I found Tricuspidaria in flower, and was consider-
ably puzzled as to its affinities (Dr. Hooker has since set me right with regard
to it). The drooping crimson flowers give tlie tree a most remarkable appear-
ance. Our next halting-place was Port Otway (Cape Tres Montes). I
spent an afternoon on shore there, and found Veronica decussata growing
6 to 8 feet high, and a beautiful Gcsneraceous creeper, wliich I took for a
species of Brymonia, but which I am inclined to suppose to be a Colum-
nea. We entered the Messier Channel on the 17th of April, and remained
thei'e for about a month, sxu-veying the harbours, during which we
had almost perpetual i-ain. I was interested by procuring in several locali-
ties specimens of a handsome Bignoniaceous creeper with rose-coloured flowers,
and was in hopes that it might prove new, but have since found that it has
been previously procured from Valdivia, being Philippi's Tecoma Valdiviana.
It does not appear to have been met before to the south of Valdivia, so this
di-covery of it in the channels extends its distribution several hundred miles.
I have not said anything yet about the Cryptogamic plants of the channels.
There are some very beautiful ferns (chiefly HymenophyllecB), Musci and
Licliens : but the greater number of them occur also in Chiloe and the south
parts of Chili, and I did not meet with such a great number of species as I was
led to expect. One, a species of Sypopterygium, greatly delighted me by the
beauty of its growth, resembling that of a miniature Palm-tree. We left the
channels in tlie middle of May, as tlie weather was so inveterately bad that
surveying operations were reaidered impossible, and, after a short stay at
Chiloe, set out for Valparaiso, calling at Lota and Concepcion on the way. At
Lota I saw for the first time that splendid creeper, the Copigne {Lapageria
rosea). It was in great glory, flourishing even in the vicinity of the copper-
smelting works, where almost all other plants were killed by the sulphureous
smoke. We reached Valparaiso on the 12th of June, and remained till the end
of July, having an extensive experience of northerly gales, accompanied by
rain. As it was winter when we arrived, but few plants were in flower. A
little yellow Oxalis, known to the Chilians by the title of ' Flor de Perding,'
formed bright-coloured patches on the hills, and a Fuchsia with small pink