GEOGRAPHICAL, NATURAL, AND CIVIL HISTORY OF CHILI. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN OF THE ABBE DON J. IGNATIUS MOLINA. TO WHICH are added, NOTES FROM THE SPANISH AND FRENCH VERSIONS, AND TWO APPENDIXES, BY THE ENGLISH EDITOR; THE FIRST, AN ACCOUNT OF THE ARCHIPELAGO OF CHILOE, FROM THE THE SECOND, AN ACCOUNT. OF THE NATIVE TRIBES WHO INHABIT THE IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. PUBLIC PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND:ORMT, PATERNOSTER-ROW. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. IMPORTANT and interesting as has ever been the History of the Spanish settlements in America, particularly to the inhabitants of the same continent, that importance and interest is at the present period greatly increased, by the occurrence of events of such magnitude, as will most probably be attended with the total severance of those colonies from Europe, and the establishment of a new empire in the west. Of these settlements, Chili is in many respects one of the most important. Blest with a soil fertile beyond description, a climate mild and salubrious in the highest degree, productive of every convenience and most of the luxuries of life, and rich in the precious metals, Nature appears to have been delighted in lavishing its bounties upon this favoured portion of the globe. In its minerals, its plants, and its animals, the naturalist will find an interesting and copious field of research; and the character of its natives furVOL. I. b |