Ɛpsilon

From F. A. Eck   [before 13 October 1834]1

Height of various places in Chile ascertained by Barometrical Admeasurement.2

Feet

“Great Bell” Mountain near Quillota 4716 above the level of the sea3

“Agua del Guanaco”(at the foot of do) 4243

“San Cristoval” (near St Jago) 2678

“St. Jago” 1732

Summit of “Cuesta de Prado” 2515

Summit of “Cuesta de Zapata” 1914

Town of “Casa Blanca”4 811

Village of ‘Plazilla’ 1049

Highest point on the road between Valpo. & the Plazilla 1520

do point of the Quebanda Verde near Valpo. 1076

Fred. A. Eck

AMemS

CD annotations

End of letter: ‘Valparaiso | Sent &c &c 1834’ ink
1
The date is established by the relationship between this memorandum and the letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 (Correspondence vol. 1; see n. 3 below). A summary of this letter was published in Correspondence vol. 1 under the name Frederick W. Eck and the date [September 1834].
2
CD refers to Eck’s measurements in his geological notes (DAR 35: 376, 410–12). The places on Eck’s list lie along the routes of CD’s expeditions from Valparaiso to Santiago between 14 and 27 August 1834, and from San Fernando back to Valparaiso between 19 and 25 September 1834 (‘Beagle’ diary, pp. 250–7, 262–3).
3
CD climbed Bell mountain on 16 August 1834. In his letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834, he gave its height as 4700 feet, matching Eck’s figure, but corrected that to 6400 in a later publication (letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 and n. 1; see also ‘Beagle’ diary, p. 252).
4
CD stayed in Casablanca on 25 and 26 September 1834 (‘Beagle’ diary, p. 263).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-256,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-256