mmediately south of this
bay is the large Bay of Arauco, into which the Bio-Bio river
discharges, and on which, sheltered by the island of Santa Maria, are
the ports of Coronel and Lota. The next important harbour is that of
El Corral, at the mouth of the Valdivia river and 15 m. below the
city of Valdivia. The Bay of San Carlos on the northern coast of
Chiloe, which opens upon the narrow Chacao channel, has the port of
Ancud, or San Carlos, and is rated an excellent harbour for vessels of
light and medium draught. Inside the island of Chiloe the large gulfs
of Chacao (or Ancud) and Corcovado are well protected from the severe
westerly storms of these latitudes, but they are little used because
the approach through the Chacao channel is tortuous and only 2 to 3 m.
wide, and the two gulfs, though over 30 m. wide and 150 m. long, are
beset with small rocky islands. At the north end of the first is the
Reloncavi, a large and nearly landlocked bay, on which stands Puerto
Montt, the southern terminus of the Chilean central railway. The large
Gulf of Penas, south of Taytao peninsula, is open to the westerly
storms of the Pacific, but it affords entrance to several natural
harbours. Among these are the Gulfs of Tres Montes and San Estevan,
and Tarn Bay at the entrance to Messier Channel. The next 300 m. of
the Chilean coast contain numerous bays and inlets affording safe
harbours, but the mainland and islands are uninhabited and the climate
inhospitable. Behind Rennell Island in lat. 52 deg. S., however, is a
succession of navigable estuaries which penetrate inland nearly to the
Argentine frontier. The central part of this group of estuaries is
called Worsley Sound, and the last and farthest inland of its arms is
Last Hope Inlet (Ultima Esperanza), on which is situated the Chilean
agricultural colony of Puerto Consuelo. The Straits of Magellan, about
360 m. in length, lie wholly within Chilean territory. Midway of them
is situated Punta Arenas, the most southern town and port of the
republic.

Rivers.

Except in the extreme south the hydrography of Chile is of the
simplest description, all the larger rivers having their sources in
the Andes and flowing westward to the Pacific. Their courses are
necessarily short, and only a few have navigable channels, the
aggregate length of which is only 705 m. Nearly all rivers in the
desert region are lost in t