ewing being unpicked, the ponchos
and mantillas are returned to their respective owners, who wrap
themselves in them, and go to sleep.

There is but little trade in San Carlos, for Chile itself possesses in
superfluity all the productions of Chiloe, and the inhabitants of the
island are so poor, and their wants so limited, that they require but
few foreign articles. The port is therefore seldom visited by any
trading vessel from Europe. Some of the Chiloe boats keep up a regular
traffic along the coast. They carry wood, brooms, hams, and potatoes, to
Valparaiso, Arica, Callao, &c., and they bring back in return, linen,
woollen and cotton cloths, ironware, tobacco, and spirits.

North American and French whalers have for several years past been
frequent visitors to San Carlos, as they can there provide themselves,
at a cheap rate, with provisions for the long fishing season. All the
captains bring goods, which they smuggle on shore, where they sell or
exchange them at a high profit. A custom-house officer is, indeed, sent
on board every vessel to examine what is to be unshipped; but a few
dollars will silence him, and make him favor the contraband operations,
which are carried on without much reserve. A French captain brought to
Chiloe a quantity of water-proof cloaks and hats, made of a sort of
black waxed cloth, and sold them to a dealer in San Carlos. To evade the
duty, he sent his men on shore each wearing one of these hats and
cloaks, which they deposited in the dealer's store, and then returned on
board the ship, dressed in their sailors' garb. This was repeated so
often, that at length it was intimated to the captain that, if his men
had a fancy to come on shore with such hats and cloaks they would be
permitted to do so, but it must be on condition of their returning on
board dressed in the same costume.

The people of Ancud (San Carlos), formerly so simple and artless, have
gradually become corrupt and degenerate, since their frequent
intercourse with the whale-fishers. Among the female portion of the
population, depravity of morals and unbecoming boldness of manners have
in a great degree superseded the natural simplicity which formerly
prevailed. All the vices of the lowest class of sailors, of which the
crews of the South Sea Whalers are composed, have quickly taken root in
San Carlos, and the inseparable consequences of those vices will soon be
fatal to the moral and physical welfare of the inhabitants.