Quiriquina Island, Chile is located at the entrance to the Bay of Concepción, 11 km north of Talcahuano. (Quiriquina is a Mapuche word meaning "many True thrushes"). In April, 1557, Don Garcia de Mendoza, Spanish governor of the Captaincy General of Chile, arrived at Concepción with a large force of infantry and established himself upon Quiriquina. He then used it as a base for his campaign against the Mapuche in the continuing Arauco War. In 1835, shortly after earthquake in the nearby city of Concepción, Charles Darwin, voyaging around the world on board HMS Beagle, visited the island.