ve Pod , oe us | . : f a *. ~w LOW al eS IN as OE cil 7d AB i ee Jeeps Oty rua He” SLY / : 5 Sm Aaa oa cts NREL | q ? ee re a et ee terme ree ta eter pa ee eee | To ot Bay We TRAVELS INTO CHILE, OVER THE ANDES, In tHe Years 1820 anv 1821, WITH SOME SKETCHES OF THE PRODUCTIONS AND AGRICULTURE ; MINES AND METALLURGY ; INHABITANTS, HISTORY, AND OTHER FEATURES, OF AMERICA; PARTICULARLY OF CHILE, AND ARAUCO. SHMlustrated with Thirty Plates : PLANS OF SANTIAGO, THE CAPITAL OF CHILE; AND OF THE POST ROAD ACROSS THE PAMPAS: ITINERARIES, &ce. BY PETER SCHMIDTMEYER. Donnon? PRINTED BY 6&. MeDOWALL, 95, LEADENHALL STREET, FOR THE AUTHOR ; AND PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, & GREEN, Paternoster Rol. yrs is > re ra ee et ; oh ae : el aan a. —-_* ceo " : 7 = - - ax : Pe a shy Ae nde.) ae ‘ S oa ae a, ba Xs ~. ick: CR EY ee ae ’ a ue ; eR oe ae Boe 3 ti Ho? amg ik O AS8t WHA oser Wath: ’ ; : GV BA wee NADL awk, eC ORA ER \ + “=O 6a) Pn, ae . oe canine Arby Pot bose arte 5 i Fy noe a ci i os Skah an AAs” #0 iia ais sbtaiamie e 4) art ae ES etait) on Sate : 4 + ‘ ¥ a ok ee ie) eee ¥ aes e< ; és * Se ne : a - i 2 a ? Baas) 4 a <- a ee eg Sh aka aby ae nk - ~ Rie 7 ; - ':. ee @ wie bait cnr é TAOS. 2S aay Re #4 neh of. Hitt ¥ 1 ne Vin. tht ee pie PART ay. ae ee Cie pte d ‘ TY A te TOE a ¥ t 7 ; ‘AlMate: A Ca te ae intl or on : Pi ae. ng r ; A > lie . TRAVELS TO CHILE OVER THE ANDES. INTRODUCTION. DUVTVTVUTEVEVVVTVITTVTTTETTEVTETVTTTTEVSETETETVTETDETVTE VELVET Fundos Aufidio Lusco Pretore libenter _ Linquimus, insani ridentes premia scribe, Prectextam, \.. <).,- OPS See ay Hor. ltd. 1. Sat. 5. RRTRLEUECEUEUSTRTELEVELETLEUSELEREUALERSETEVEDELATVUTATANB WHETHER you be very indulgent or not, my Reader, I shall be happy to have the benefit and the pleasure of your company in travelling to Chile; but, lest you should afterwards regret your choice, I think it my duty, to do myself the honour, before we start, of introducing him to your acquaintance and knowledge, who’ offers to conduct you to that Country and to bring you back again: and although to he conveyed in a book, be attended with less delay and expence, fatigue and danger, than by other modes of travelling, yet as you might ultimately find that, even thus, too much of all was required for the pleasure and information afforded, I must bring down your expectations to a proper standard by stating, B ~© TO CHILE, INTRODUCTION. “8, that if you are willing that I sfiould take you along with me, this is my first attempt to conduct any one in a public conveyance of this kind; that your intended fellow traveller is a man of rather superficial than deep knowledge ; that as his object, in going to South America, is not that of scientific observation, you will perhaps be hurried on, just where you may wish to stop, and without the benefit of information, when you may most desire to have it; and that another disqualification, which will also tend to lessen, or perhaps altogether prevent, the interest and pleasure which you may anticipate from your intercourse with him, is some impediment of speech. Another consideration, and one of an important nature, is the danger of disagree- ing and even of quarrelling, which frequently accompanies long travels, and may more particularly await us in crossing the continent .of South America, a journey tending to shake the constitution and raise the bile. Against a misfortune of this kind it is also my intention to warn you, and, as much as lays in my power, to provide. This cannot be done during the sea voyage, because in a_small vessel, we cannot well make our escape from each other: but here, a hard gale of wind, a mast going over the board, some vessel running foul of us, or some poor fellow washed into the sea, are occurrences and misfortunes which may be anticipated; and I rely on their usual effect in softening that mental and physical irritability, which is often caused by some supposed failure in expected attentions, or from differences of opinion; or even from a mere atmospheric change. Under their influence, had we separated as much as the sides of our ship allowed it, we should soon unite again ; and the gradual operation ofthis attraction would be the means of affording to any attentive observer of human propensities on board, some entertaining exhibitions and useful knowledge, of which we ourselves might afterwards take the benefit, although mixed perhaps with much mortification, when our judgment, cooled and improved by reflection, would enable us to discover, that our intended display of manly dignity was nothing more, than the effervescence of some boyish qualities in grown- up children. In travelling across the South American continent and over the Andes, there, will certainly be space sufficient for an effectual separation, if you should OVER THE ANDES. 3 INTRODUCTION. think that necessary; but I would not recommend it, as it might endanger our mutual safety, and in case of accident; make us both regret it: nay, if you join me, I shall consider that my duty is to prevent it if I can, by urging you on as expeditiously as possible, in order that you may bear a little longer with any feelings of fastidiousness: But in Chile, your leaving me, as Horace and his party left the scribbler Aufidius Luscus on their way to Brundusium, will not be attended with any such inconvenience; particularly if it be in the City of Santiago, the capital of that country, where you will find a good English hotel, hospitable and genteel society, an interesting scenery, and many opportunities of returning to England, although the conveyance may not be so cheap or expeditious as mine. There then, after having seen a little of the country and its mines, if you should like to return with me, I shall feel happy to have the additional honour and profit of your company, and the cost of mine will be the subject of a new agreement between us. I trust that, after such an: introduction, whatever be the share of indul- gence which you may kindly grant me, you will not think me guilty of too much presumption. What information I cannot afford, I hope to obtain from a better source than mine: but, that I may have a greater chance of success in this, some presumption must be allowed, and may the more readily be suffered an the consideration also, that it is a very tenacious part of human nature. I only wish, that you may not find too great a licence given to that natural dispo- sition in scientific schoolboys, which, arising from superficial knowledge, leads them, when just emerging from the darkness of ignorance and skimming the cream of philosophy, freely to give their opinion on the contents of the bowl; whilst their masters think it necessary, not only to drink also the milk of it, but even to run often the risk of being lost in investigating the turbid sediment. It will be my duty, as it is my wish, whilst we are travelling together, to afford what little information and interest I can: but in such an attempt, I would rather rouse to action than lull to sleep, as I should think it a good purpose answered, if some person of exten- sive knowledge, no longer able to bear that so much should have been offered to read. B 2 4 TO CHILE, INTRODUCTION. concerning Chile, and so little to know, were himself induced to go and survey a country; which, I doubt not, would be found highly interesting to a naturalist, and greatly tending to promote the progress and pleasure of science. | If after all this warning, you still be willing to join me, we will forthwith embark for Buenos-ayres, in a small vessel so full of passengers that we cannot fail, in that contracted circle of human life, to witness scenes which will increase both our knowledge’ of it and that fund of interest, from which, with good management, may be drawn some supplies of pleasure for a more advanced age, if we should be permitted to attain it. OVER THE ANDES. 5 CHAPTER TI. At Sea, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. DPUVVVVVVSSVVSEVVVSSVCVUT VEAL SERSETALVUETUVTEVTVVTVUEBTERUVTTVETUTUAD Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly Goddess, sing ! Popr’s Iniap. RPRVCRVARARRLRDRTRTCATEVRUAREVATETVEVLETAVATS TEVUDTTUATDATAVWHIVAUATG In January 1820 and in the British channel, our ship, the Achilles, of Aine two hundred tons burthen, bound from London to Buenos-ayres, and the brig Catherine, bound from Buenos-ayres to London, ran foul of each other at about dawn of day. ‘To render such an occurrence truly singular, was only wanted the name of a Trojan hero or heroine to our opponent. The shock was such as Homer is stated to tell. those who can read Greek, once took place between Achilles and Hector at the siege of Troy. Our bowsprit was knocked off, some part. of the bows, but fortunately above water mark, were staved in, and it became necessary to dry-dock. the ship at Cowes in the isle of Wight, in order to repair her. This very beautiful island did not appear to me in so high a state of cultivation as I had expected to. find it. Its sea views and scenery are of the finest kind. But the multiplicity of public. conveyances is now so great and the fares are so low, that a traveller has no longer the same means as formerly, to combine the length of his narrative with its novelty. ) We left Cowes on the 28th of February, having cause to fear that the master of our ship, was not a man. by any means fit to promote our safety and comfort during the passage. We were ten cabin passengers, two.of whom were married ladies with their husbands, and. one a single lady. ; Next to, us, in the steerage; a small place a TO CHILE, CHAPTER I. AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. fitted up for the purpose, and with a few inches of room for each to move in, con- tained two married couples and five or six single passengers: so that with the master and his mate, the cabin and the steerage contained a very full cargo. Two or three nights after our departure, the war broke out between thé master and the cabin- passengers, the cause of which was a few sacks of biscuit-bread. Some such have often occasioned it among nations, and made blood flow copiously; no one can therefore wonder at the quick effect of provocation and anger within so short a reach. The commencement of hostilities went against us. We had often requested, but in vain, that the bread, which had been left in our cabin, might be removed from it; and at last we resolved that it. should be so, and that main. force should be used. Nothing could exceed the gallantry with which the sacks were grappled with and thrust out into the gang-way, so as to block up our own passage and that of every one else. The master, hearing‘of this, brought up part of his main body, and ordered some picked men to bring the bread in again: at this moment we all gave way, although there were many young man-of-war’s men with us, who were going’ to Chile in quest of profit or comfort; and the sacks were once more lodged in the | cabin, where they stood before. But we did not lose any ground, and each partys feeling the want of recruiting his strength, went to rest. On the 6th of March, in latitude about 33° N., we made the Madeira, and’on! the 9th early in the morning, in about 28° N., the Canary islands, between some of which we passed, admiring the scenery which they exhibited. The weather was fine: the lower clouds were moving along the hills; the upper, on and off the peak of Teneriffe, which rises 12,200 feet above the level of the sea, and a’ considerable part of which was covered with snow. The sea looked magnificent, and the name of “ Fortunate,” given by the Ancients to these islands, seems well bestowed: but! the water wanted the animation of some intercourse between them: and the land, of some forests on their mountains: both appeared too much deprived of life. On the 16th of March, in latitude about 16°'N,, the Cape Verd islands were thought in sight, and on the 28d we passed the equator, having had a very quick OVER THE ANDES. y AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. CHAPTER I. run to it. A few nights previous to this date, the sea wore a most magnificent appearance : the waves were running high under a fresh breeze, and all their curling tops were luminous, having the effect of a dark tract of ground, studded with patches of snow emitting a white light. But the most brilliant exhibition was round the ship, which appeared as swimming through a substance very like glass when running out of a smelting furnace, with numberless particles like stars out- shining the rest ; and this appearance continued far astern, m the track of the vessel, gradually decreasing in brilliancy: the sky was overcast, and the atmosphere felt as if loaded with electricity. The following night, with a sky and an atmosphere nearly the same, the sea resumed an appearance of the like kind, but with less splendour ; and a night or two afterwards, it gradually subsided until the exhibition ceased. I had often witnessed the effect produced at. sea by luminous insects, but never with so magnificent a scenery ; and by attentively following it, from decreasing daylight to dusk and from dusk to darkness, I should be led to suppose, that it was also connected with a peculiar state of the atmosphere. Several of our fellow passengers were dissatisfied with their own country, and in search of a better; which is often with many, the most effectual or indeed the only way, of knowing and appreciating a native land. Light skirmishes had conti- nued between the master and the passengers, but the flames of war had extended, as if a new box of Pandora had been stowed on board our vessel and broken open. The steerage passengers, who were already at variance with the charterer of the ship, also a passenger in her, were gradually drawn into a state of open warfare with most of the inhabitants of our cabin, by various misunderstandings concerning each other's possessions, rights, and privileges, but particularly because one of us, who was a most strenuous advocate for more extensive freedom in his own country, insisted that they had no right to walk or stand on the quarter deck, the exclusive enjoyment of which only belonged. to us. Discord, not satisfied with this, blew also some sparks into the steerage, which soon increased to a blaze; and a wife, a daughter of Bellona, whose husband, a son of Mars and of Freedom also, liked his own power and liberty 8 | TO CHILE, CHAPTER I. AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. better than her’s, had her face one evening so blackened by the fiery metal put forth by both, that she was under the necessity of keeping her room a few days. But the cabin passengers remained united: the ladies were of pleasing and amiable manners: we had a fare almost sumptuous, which was highly agreeable to some of us: my messmates formed a cheerful society, and the daily occurrences of the wars on board were the subject of much conversation and interest. On the 29th of March, a squall carried away our fore top-mast. The weather had been bad some days, and thunder storms, in restoring to the atmosphere its equilibrium, had also contributed to our peace: passions were again, and during a short time, equipoised. Among the passengers were some good carpenters, by whose exertions chiefly another mast was got up, and all lent assistance, as the few seamen on board were hardly sufficient to do the pie, of the ship, which was old and not in the best order. | | . On the 5th of April, being in latitude 20° S., and still nite midst of storms and squalls, we saw a water spout a few miles from us,,which lasted twelve or fifteen minutes from its formation to its bursting : it reached. about midway to the sea from the dense clouds with which it was connected ; and when. it. burst, looked as if holes had been made round its lower end, in a few circles at regular intervals - from each other, in order to discharge its contents, which issued copiously and beauti- fully: after this, there only remained a faint form of the spout, which was incorporated with the cloud above it, and whose appearance might be compared to that of a large snake, which, having let part of his body down from a cloud, was again drawing it up into it, after spouting water from a head perforated for that purpose. The effect to our view was not that of the water rising from the sea to the spout, but of falling from the spout to the sea. The annexed plate is from a sketch taken shortly after its bursting. . . rf On the 8th of April, we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. Between this and the Tropic of Cancer the sky is often most beautiful, particularly at the rising and setting of the sun or moon; and the edges of clouds are frequently rendered strikingly lucid rs a as Gat se nes He FS soo a Shei fim Hatare PS om Store by Ct Aghir. WATER SPOUT. Seenon ted % of Cpril; L820; a the Utlante’ Ocean) ww Lat. #. ODeg: & oudA Jrintea oy Lowney Ek or fter. ts . Yi eee eee, te Ps =a 3 " = 5 B ‘ i J $ } 4 = ae = . . ei ae = ac i Da ey 1 ie > ae * . . ay ; : ‘ ; 5 y : 2 2 ae : P ee : Hd ea x . tae . = ee ” Nae ae de pent, ak “ae 2 i : ines , < 2 a 7 » . * 5 ' 3 iy. x. % be ; er ry if s > ea we 3 : ° . - * = s i : ame | fiir : é F - > J a *« ‘ = . be z 2 “ - * J v a o h ‘ e y > : ; ¥ 4 ‘ 3 7 : ; _ ‘ ¥ : « a“ Pas » re . % Q = ; } ; : ; B 2 ‘ ‘ 7a * ‘ & fe : we ie ; < aie , ; OVER THE ANDES. 9 AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. CHAPTER I. by the planet Venus alone; they generally appear so hard round the horizon, are of such fanciful forms, and often bear so complete a likeness to mountainous land, that the most experienced seaman, even at a short distance, is deceived by it: as they rise, their edges become smooth and soft; but even very high and small clouds, forming a sky pommelé, have here a dense, and at the same time soft, appearance, usually assuming very fine and delicate featherlike forms. The mean of the daily heat in the northern Tropic was 77° of Far. in the shade; and that of the southern 82°. The heat of the water near its surface was, in its mean, very like the above mentioned. The sun had just left the southern Ecliptic. On approaching the equator, seamen will divert themselves in going up the main mast, and making some inexperienced boy or man on board believe that they can see the line, inviting him to come up and look at it. On crossing it, some stout man, of a characteristic countenance, paints his face, puts on a kind of Grecian dress, and becomes the god. Neptune by whom the master is superseded in the command. Then a large cutlass, mounted in the shape of a razor, is used by the carpenter for roughly scraping the face or beard of any one who has not crossed the line before: this is followed by copious ablutions with buckets full of water. Whilst the operation of shaving goes on, some precepts are delivered to the patient, the chief tendency of all which is, that of their first instruction to him—never to drink weak grog or beer when he can get them strong.—Passengers may- escape, with the fine of a bottle of rum. Sometimes Kolus and the Pleiades intrude on the ceremony, and spoil the sport. On the 9th of April, in latitude 26° S., our fore top mast was again carried away, as were also a studding sail and boom. An old condemned top mast on board, got ready by the passengers and crew, was rigged again in a few days. The state of the war was observed very much to depend on that of the atmos- phere, and the noise of hostilities generally subsided, in proportion as that of the wind increased; circumstances which cannot occasion surprise to those who have observed, how an atmosphere, more or less genial to the constitution of man, will often tend to render his first impulse better or worse disposed towards his kind; and c 10 - ‘TO. CHILE, CHAPTER I. how apt he is by nature, to raise or lower his voice gradually more, as that of a dreaded opponent takes a contrary course. Some challenges had taken place to single combat, on the forms prescribed by the Grecian and Roman wrestling schools, or by the late improvements on them of pugilist Belcher and his- antagonists; but they had not led to any fatal results. The master of our ship had very frequently been, since our departure, in a state of more or less intoxication, affording a most striking instance of the degradation to which man is reduced by this unfortunate habit, which now causes so much misery, so many quarrels, and so large a share of domestic infelicity in many, if not in most, parts of the world. The wild beasts and the meanest insects are dignified beings, when placed by the side of a man sinking under the effect of that indulgence by which he loses his reason, his strength, and often the power of being guided by some faint gleam of instinct; both his mind and his body reeling out of the right way, into one of the darkest, foulest and most dangerous paths that can be entered on earth. Our master exhibited these effects with painful impressions ; and a con- viction of the unfitness and danger’ of such a commander, as also the already crippled state of the vessel, led all the cabin passengers, who had already united with those of the steerage, in order that one of each gang should join the crew in keeping night watches, to adopt the resolution of furnishing the mate, a steady active and sober man, with a written declaration of our opinion on the incapacity and misconduct of the master; on the inadequate number of the crew, which consisted of five men and two boys only; on the precarious state of the ship: and of our determination to use all our endeavours, in order that the mate should as much as possible have the management of her; to continue our personal exertions, and to assist the crew in performing duty. One night, one of our messmates, who had been in the Royal Navy, was well acquainted with navigation, and was keeping watch holding a glass of grog in his hand, shewed to the man at the helm that the ship did not lay her course. The master, who was not far off, hearing this, contradicted him in language the most offensive ; on CHAPTER I. which the other dashed the contents of his glass at the master’s face, and not finding him at arm’s length, the glass itself came in contact with his mouth and made it bleed copiously. We went upon deck, and the master appeared disposed to take this rather quietly than otherwise: he complained of the treatment and was answered that giving the lie, particularly when he himself was in the wrong, was no trifling offence: but an hour or two after we had again turned in, having been plied to grog and retaliation by some other passengers, he began to use such loud and threatening language, that we easily suspected what was intended, and made fast the cabin door: when he came down to demand the surrender of the person who had struck him, the latter, having a loaded gun in his hand, answered that if he attempted to force his way in, he should be shot. Thus ended this affair for the night. The hext morning, wishing to combine as much as possible, what peremptory steps our own safety might sometimes require, with the preservation of subordination on board the vessel, matters were adjusted between the two parties; but as there was not on this occasion any of that strong cement, common interest, which so often serves to bind together men or nations of feelings naturally repulsive and hostile to each other, this was only a suspension of arms and not a peace. On the 17th of April, began to blow one of those violent gales, called pamperos from their passing over the pampas or plains extending to the south and westward of Buenos-ayres; and in the night, we lost both our main and our fore top masts. A poor seaman, whose cries for help were heard far astern, was also lost the same night, and another very nearly so. On the 2Ist, the weather being still very bad, our fore mast sprang; and as the master had remained in his cabin days and nights during the last foul gales and weather, and much of that time in a state of intoxication, we contrived to get a keg of gunpowder out of his reach, fearing lest accidentally, by smoking or otherwise, he should set fire to his birth and blow up the ship: but we left some in his powder horns, that he might not say that we had disarmed him. The bad state of the vessel, the continuance and violence of foul winds, and the threatening aspect of the sky, had caused a total suspension of Cc 2 12 TO CHILE a CHAPTER I. AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES, = NS nnn nnn hostilities, and the passengers might be represented at this time, as having gone into winter quarters. | te On the 25th of April, we entered the great river Parana, so called before it was discovered by the Spaniards, who named it “de la Plata,” on the ill-grounded supposition that silver existed in abundance in the neighbourhood of its banks; but afterwards rendered worthy of the new appellation, by the considerable quantities of that metal received at. Buenos-ayres, chiefly from the mines of Potosi and upper Peru, Uspallata and Chile, and floated down it to Spain. A ship from the Clyde coming up with us, a boat was bought of her, for the purpose of informing two British men of war, the Superb and the Vengeur, then in Maldonado, of our situation; a measure to which I declined agreeing, as I feared that as soon as the boat should be along side, all our most useful hands would leap into it, almost all my fellow passengers appearing very anxious to go and see their friends and countrymen on board the men of war. This was the case. The whole of those who had been of real service in assisting the crew by their knowledge of navigation, and whom we could not safely spare, got into the boat; and there were left on board, with the ladies, a crew totally inadequate to the service of the vessel, and some passengers who could be of no effectual assistance. As soon as the boat was out of sight the master took the helm, and appeared resolved on resuming the management of his ship, which he had for a long time tacitly resigned to the mate, and some of our small crew behaved in a manner which made us fear a mutiny. Amongst the passengers left on board were some, who had been very hostile and mischievous to those of the cabin during the passage, and who, late the next day, the boat not having returned, indulged their perverse disposition by stating within the hearing of the ladies, that it must have been lost on breakers where the surf was seen beating very high; a wicked conjecture which, as their husbands and friends had gone in it, made them cry and distressed them bitterly. | Had the wind at this time shifted to an adverse point and blown strong, we must have gone out to sea again, with hardly any chance left of weathering a gale, or of a proper conduct of our vessel. But at night OVER THE ANDES. 18 AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. CHAPTER I. the boat came back, and the commander of the Vengeur shewed us very great attention and politeness. We dined on board the man of war, and in the evening dancing took place on the quarter deck. She was just going to Montevideo, and as a strong favourable breeze sprang up at night, our party remrined in her. Poor fallen Achilles was then towed in his turn, his body being fastened to that of a more powerful man of war and dragged to Montevideo, a distance of ninety miles, at the rate of twelve an hour. The whole of this the northern bank of the river, from Cape Mary to Montevideo, is now annexed to Brazil. Encouragement is given to settlements at Maldonado, the soil of which is very fertile, and which lies in a situation that might afford considerable advantages, were it not for many circumstances which at present militate against the welfare and comfort of foreign settlers, and may not be soon removed. The population of Montevideo and its environs, which in the beginning of this century was estimated at more than fifteen thousand souls, is stated to be now reduced to a third part of that number. The seal fishery about the little island of Lobos is not likely to yield many years longer, from the great destruction of these animals. The bank is hilly to a considerable extent, with some small mountains in appearance of conical forms, and it becomes flat and low as it stretches from the mountain near the last mentioned town, towards the great river Uruguay. It has a barren aspect and a brown tint which are not gratifying ; yet. its scanty pasture maintains many herds of cattle, and considerable exports are made from hence, of hides, tallow, dried beef, and mules. The southern bank of this river is very low, and, I believe, does not possess any convenient situation for shelter or settlement until it reaches Ensenada and Buenos-ayres, where vessels are not however fully protected from the violence of the pampero or south west wind. At Montevideo, we were left. to continue our voyage up the river, with a considerable addition of officers and men from the Vengeur, and some temporary repairs; the commander of that man of war having carried his attention to a personal 14 TO CHILE, CHAPTER I. AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. inspection of our vessel and of its crew. Near Buenos-ayres and at night, going at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour, some lights on the southern bank of the river were mistaken for those of the Owen Glendour frigate, then in the roads; and we struck very hard, but on avery soft bottom, entering deep into the mud, in which we were kept fast nearly three hours, with very disagreeable sensations to many of us, as, almost every moment, the ship heaved as if she were going to open. ‘The wind very suddenly and fortunately shifted, and blowing hard from the shore, with the assistance of anchors and of our numerous crew, we got off and arrived in the roads of Buenos-ayres on the Ist of May; glad to take leave of our Achilles, whose fate was not, this time, to be destroyed by the treachery of a Paris, but by a violent openly dealt blow from a pampero, which drove and scattered his limbs shortly afterwards on this shore. | The frequency of disagreeable incidents during our passage, had been, to the three ladies who had enlivened the society of our cabin, the cause of much inconve- nience, often of alarm, and sometimes of illness, all which they bore with a placidity of mind, an equanimity of temper, and a good humour, seldom so well mastered and displayed on these occasions. The several objects of each passenger’s pursuit now filled the mind, as the wind had filled the sails of our vessel. ‘The scenes of the passage were left behind with the stage on which they had been acted, and appeared at a distance as the early days of school and boyish age. Every one of us, fraught with the importance of his own schemes, was anxious to know the import also, of the circumstances by which they were to be influenced. A few steps would perhaps spread, over the prospect before him, a gloomy frown or a cheerful smile. When we take into the mind the anxiety and restlessness of the human race; when we consider how precarious is our existence here; how many have no sooner known what it was, than they have been called upon to part with it; and that the longest stay in this world is but a moment—nay, as nothing, in that endless score to which it belongs, we are filled with astonishment at the almost irresistible power with which every one is impelled, and at the intense eagerness with. which he is urging, towards OVER THE ANDES. 15 AT SEA, FROM ENGLAND TO BUENOS-AYRES. CHAPTER I. the attainment of some earthly purpose; and the surprise increases, when each of us sees himself in the number, and perhaps amongst the most earnest in the attempt. The view of Buenos-ayres, from its roads and at landing, offers nothing pleasing. A long range of low and irregular buildings, behind which you cannot see the continuation of the city, would give to it the appearance of a fishing town, if it were not for two or three steeples which rise above them. 'The public walk, and some very small unhandsome trees, lie along that range. The river here is shallow, its water is turbid, and the opposite bank, which is low and thirty miles distant, cannot be distinguished. Unsightly carts are employed in shipping and landing both people and merchandise, and. numbers of laundresses are in view, washing linen on dirty stones, in the midst of the impurities of the town. But yet, with little expence and the display of some taste, the appearance of this large city, along the bank of the river, might be rendered strikingly fine. | The preparations for travelling over land from Buenos-ayres to Chile, by the way of Mendoza, will require some days, and during this interval, we will take a survey of some of the principal features of South America, which may sometimes lead us into its northern continent, or detain us a little longer, when we shall be following them into the country which we intend to visit. 16 | TO CHILE, ‘CHAPTER II. SOME GENERAL FEATURES. PRERVUVEVRTRETEUTAREVTUTESTSECEDERNTTTATY WE were now in what is very frequently called, the new world. Whether it has any claim or not to this appellation, by having been rendered habitable, or by having been inhabited, at a later period than the other hemisphere, is a question which has given rise to much investigation, to various opinions and speculations, but hitherto to no decision; although the scientific researches of Mr. de Humboldt appear to strengthen the conjecture, that the inhabitants of Mexico and Peru, the most numerous and civilized found in it, either sprang from the eastern parts of Asia, or had at least sufficient affinity with some of its nations, for the inference of a common origin and. a long intercourse. This hemisphere, perhaps equal to our own, was first discovered by Christopher Columbus, a Genoese, in the year 1492; but received its name from Americus Vesputius, a Florentine, who first landed on its southern continent in 1497. In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral planted the Portuguese flag in Brazil; and in 1515, Juan Dias de Solis, sent by Spain, entered the river Parana now de la Plata, with a handful of men, whom he lost with his own life in some conflicts with the inhabitants. In 1526, Sebastian Cabot or Gabot, born in England, the son of a Venetian, being on an intended expedition from Spain to the East Indies through the straits of Magellan, altered his destination, entered the river Plata, and partly subdued the natives near it; but it was not until the year 1535, that Pedro de Mendoza, a Spaniard, founded the settlement of Buenos-ayres, which soon OVER THE ANDES. 17 SOME GENERAL FEATURES. ? CHAPTER II. afterwards became untenable and was abandoned. In the year 1582, the site of it was again occupied by Juan Garay and fifty or sixty Spanish soldiers: and when it is considered, that the natives were here robust and brave, had the knowledge of the country, and safe means of annoyance, it cannot be supposed that they were numerous. A very long time elapsed after this period, before Buenos-ayres became a town of any consequence. The salubrity of its climate, the introduction and gradual increase of European cattle, and the opening of communications and trade, first with the interior, and afterwards with the western settlements in Peru and Chile, made it a large populous and wealthy city; as this was found a safer conveyance for the produce of the rich mines of the Andes, than the navigation through the straits of Magellan. Peru, high and low, the first being a part of the chain of the Andes, the last below them and on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, was discovered in 1526 by Francisco Pizarro, who, in 1532, made the first Spanish settlement on it, and in that year, sent Sebastian de Benalcazar to the kingdom of Quito, for its conquest, which was effected: and here also, we may conjecture how few the inhabitants in those very extensive countries must have comparatively been, as, at that time, those expe- ditions did not consist of more than two hundred soldiers, who were found. sufficient for acquiring, within the same year, a permanent possession of them. The Caraccas, a northern part of South America, were discovered by Columbus in 1498, and soon afterwards colonized. New Grenada was conquered and occupied in 1536, by the simultaneous expeditions, of Sebastian de Benalcazar from Quito, and of Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada from Santa Martha, for that purpose. Chile had not many inhabitants, but was notwithstanding only very partially subjugated at first, by an expedition from Peru under the command of Diego de Almagro, in 1535; and more extensively afterwards, by Pedro de Valdivia. But the Araucanos, a stout and valiant race, inhabiting the country between the Biobio and some small tribes to the southward of Valdivia, not only checked the further advance ; of the Spaniards, but drove them back, destroyed their settlements in Chile, and often YD 18 TO CHILE, CHAPTER IL. SOME GENERAL FEATURES. brought the invaders themselves to the verge of destruction: their lands are to this day, and in some late public documents of Chile, called, the unconquered country of Arauco. The harbour, however, where the town of Valdivia stands, and a very small tract of land near it, were conquered and held, owing to their natural strength. The large island of Chiloe was first occupied in 1563, by Gamboa and sixty Spaniards, its inhabitants having made little or no resistance. As to the tracts, between the small tribes adjoinmg the Araucanos, and the straits of Magellan on the western side of the Andes, and those, more extensive still, from near Buenos-ayres to the same straits on the eastern, they may rather be called unpossessed than unconquered, as they are stated to be but very partially inhabited by some thin hordes. If lands were required for cultivation and the sup- port of a redundancy of population, rather than mines to explore, extensive and fertile spots would no doubt be found there : and if another purpose in view should be, to confer on others the benefit of peaceful arts and of civilization; to promote the knowledge and advantages of the Christian religion, by a gradual exercise and display of the rational faculties in the young, rather than by amusing and overawing the old with mysterious ceremonies and creeds which they cannot comprehend, then a few wild inhabitants would also offer themselves to be taught. Indeed it is a cause of astonishment, that no settlement should hitherto have been made in that part of South America, where the very tall stout and well pro- portioned stature of some Indians, particularly of Patagonians, seen both in it and from it, seems to indicate a healthy climate, and where the Andes might also be found to produce gold, silver, and other metals, from both flanks of their cordillera, with their characteristic fecundity. The straits between the southern extremity of this continent and the island of Tierra del Fuego, were first discovered by Magellan in the year 1519, and called by his name. | Ld The Guyanas, after many early possessors and an unsuccessful search for gold, fell chiefly to the Dutch in 1663 or 1667; and the numerous islands in the Charibbean sea, which, with the former, often bear the indefinite name of West Indies, became at OVER THE ANDES. ” GD SOME GENERAL FEATURES. CHAPTER II. different times the properties of Spain, England, France, Holland, Denmark, and Swe- den; but all the largest of them, in the early time of their discovery, were held by Spain. In Mexico or New Spain, the first landing was made in the year 1518, by Juan de Grijalva, sent by Spain, with about two hundred and fifty men; and this expedition was immediately followed by another, under the command of Ferdinando Cortes, who effected the subjugation of this fine and extensive country, whose popu- lation was considerable, and exhibited, in a still higher degree than Peru and Quito, an advanced state of society. The peninsula of California was first discovered in 1536, by the same Ferdi- nando Cortes mentioned above ; and New Albion in 1578, by Sir Francis Drake. The Russians paid some early visits to the northern parts of that coast; but it was not until the year 1'778, that an extensive survey and knowledge of it were obtained, by that celebrated British officer, Captain Cook. The eastern coast of North America with Newfoundland were discovered in 1497, by Sebastian Cabot, sent by England, the same who afterwards entered the service of Spain and went to the river Plata. France planted the first settlement in Canada in the year 1508. The coast of Labrador was early visited and so named, by the Portuguese, but received afterwards the appellation of New Britain in 1610, from the unfortunate Hudson, who first passed into the bay which now bears his name. Baffin’s Bay, from whence the attempts to find a north west passage into the Pacific Ocean have lately been renewed by Great Britain, was more particularly made known in 1585, by John Davis, an English navigator, who gave his name to the straits leading to it, and by William Baffin, in 1616: but as early as the ninth century, according to some, or to others, in the tenth, Greenland had already been discovered and a settlement made on it, by some Norwegians from Iceland. The Portuguese, established on the great projection of the eastern coast of South America, and the Spaniards, on the skirts of nearly all the rest of a continent still less inhabited and defended in its interior than where their respective settle- ments stood, had only to trace on a map the boundaries of their new conquests ; DQ 20 | ‘TO CHILE, CHAPTER II. SOME GENERAL FEATURES. and, however wide from each other the spots occupied stood, no other power appear- ing able or willing to contest the right, they, with some small exceptions, appropri- ated to themselves the whole of it, in shares which bore some resemblance to the relative proportion and situation of the two mother countries. During three cen- turies they have held this immense continent, by a tenure nearly similar to that which holds an extensive sea; by a blockade with a few ships; forbidding all others to pass: but the blockade is now raised, and from the ultimate results gained, its having continued so long, has proved a fortunate circumstance to the other maritime powers of Europe. He who has been restrained from getting at the golden land, and from extracting his share of the precious metals obtained from its bosom, or from the keep of its former possessors, has good cause to use the trite but just French proverb, “ a quelque chose malheur est bon.” | Providence seems to have permitted the discovery and premature use of that rich store, and to have encouraged the general race which, in a few years, was run for it, in order to shew mankind, after a long and impressive experience, that a good field of corn and a luxuriant pasture ground, are more permanently valuable than mountains of gold and silver. South America, in its geography, geognosy, and meteorology, offers some very striking features. The long chain of mountains called Andes, of considerable breadth and enormous height, begins with the land, at the straits of Magellan; extends along the western coast of the Pacific Ocean, within a mean distance of about ninety miles from its-shores, until, in the province of Popayan near the equator, and between the second and fifth degrees of north latitude, it divides into three branches, having run the distance of three thousand eight hundred miles: and then, like a river dividing, its body of water into three streams, they lose much of their bulk and elevation, or, as it were, only divide them; but, yet unwilling to abandon their course and characteristic feature, the central chain, continuing nearly north, remains the highest, until it sinks in the Charibbean sea, and the other two still appear as its parallel flanks, gradually thrown off; the one to the north east, also losing itself in the same sea; the other to the north west and OVER THE ANDES. 21 SOME GENERAL FEATURES. _ CHAPTER II. along the isthmus of Darien, where it is stated to be only twelve hundred feet high. It soon however rises again; and, in Mexico, the Andes resume very majestic forms, pursuing their course to the northward; but how far, does not appear to have been yet ascertained. In the middle of this immense chain or nearly so, rise, considerably higher than their mountainous and chiefly parallel flanks, one or more longitudinal ridges ; and these alone, in Chile, are called cordillera or cordilleras. . This distinction is perhaps only popular and not scientific, but it is nevertheless very characteristic: it applies to a peculiar part and feature of the chain, which, by its superior elevation, its aspect, and a formation, if not really at least apparently, different from the principal structure of the lower Andes, establishes itself very strongly in the mind. Therefore, after having travelled in the mountains of that country, with the impres- sion of the distinction made by the name of cordilleras, of higher central ridges, having the appearance of sharp, indented or knotty lines,and when reading this appella- tion applied to chains of mountains generally, in descriptions of America, it requires an effort of some continuance, to bring down their heights to any standard, and their ridges to a common structure, by which the impression received in Chile becomes gradually more faint and confused. On this higher central chain and at intervals, the lines of ridges or cordilleras are intersected by summits again rising above them, in pyramidal and other forms, many of which are more or less covered with perpetual snow, and are of so great an elevation, that they may rather be described as other high mountains, seated on and along the whole chain, at a smaller or greater distance from each other ; although, when viewed from its ridge, they only appear like hills. 'The greater number of these highest mountains or summits are, in semblance, as so many furnaces, and in reality, the funnels of volcanoes, some still burning, others extinct. A few do not exhibit the appearance of a crater at their top; but it may be supposed, either that it cannot be seen, or that the falling in of the sides has been sufficiently considerable, with the snow lying on their surface, to occasion the rounded and full forms which they 92 °TO CHILE,! (0 CHAPTER II. SOME GENERAL FEATURES. | shew ; unless it be conjectured, on the other hand, that the fermentation of substances chiefly composing the higher. chain, or deeper subterraneous fires, sufficient to raise these higher masses, were not always sudden and powerful enough, for opening in all a wide passage and the crater of a volcano. Between these lofty summits, are also vestiges of great shocks ; and by their sides, on the lower mountains, may likewise be seen the remains of smaller volcanoes and of sudden combustion. Thus runs: this characteristic and magnificent chain of the Andes, with little interruption, the space of near seven thousand miles, or indeed much farther, if the long range of mountains, now described by the name of stony or rocky, should hereafter be found a continu- ation of the same kind and character. The mean elevation of this western wall is stated by Mr. de Humboldt to be, in South America, eighteen hundred and fifty toises, or eleven thousand eight hundred and thirty feet; but the statement, according to the note by which it is accompanied, extends only to the Andes of New Grenada, Quito, and Peru: nearly half the chain appears, therefore, still excluded from the estimate ; and those of Chile, Arauco, and Magellan, may tend to raise, rather than lower, the mean altitude of the cordillera of South America. . When the traveller is on the Andes, and in ‘some spot where he has cause to think himself surrounded with the remains of extensive combustion, with kilns and furnaces, some rising high in the skies, others ‘a little above the ground near him, some again below him, all either burst open, fallen in, or still erect, and what the snow does not conceal, wearing such an aspect of crude ashy tints and of desolation, that he would think it the work of yesterday; and when he reflects on the quantity of metals already extracted from the flanks of this long chain, ‘he may be tempted to fancy a lighted torch carried from one to the other furnace, the blow of hurricanes — as bellows, until the whole is again ignited and in furious action, and Nature at work, roasting the substances necessary for preparing ‘the metallic ores; whilst her little labourers below, in the shape of men, are eagerly engaged ‘in collecting them, and in completing the process, on a scale proportionate to the respective command. of powers: The god Vulcan, the master of the furnace of A‘tna, might be proud of acting only as a first workman here. OVER THE ANDES. 23 SOME GENERAL FEATURES. CHAPTER II. If we now leave for a while the Andes, with the western side of South America, and go to the eastern, we shall find that, in the great projection which forms a con- siderable part of Brazil, are several chains of mountains of no great elevation, whose ranges are chiefly from south west to north east. They begin at the northern bank of the Plata, and as if they had been entirely cut away by this river, whose southern bank is low and flat, making a part of the great plains called Pampas. As the ‘mountains of Brazil stretch to the north east, and the Andes often to the north west, the space between them becomes wider as we advance northwards, This space consists of immense plains, intersected in many places by longitudinal and latitudinal chains and groups of inferior mountains, but which are, either cut off from the Andes by the winding of the plains one into the other, or too distant, too small, and too little connected with that great chain, to be described as belonging to it, although, in some instances, those small chains and groups may unite with it. The latitudinal mountain- ous tracts, lying at some distance north and south of the Equator, have been described by Mr. de Humboldt. One of them extends along the coast of Caraccas, from the eastern branch of the Andes, in the tenth degree of north latitude, to the point of Paria; throwing its waters into the Charibbean sea on the north, and into the Oronoko on the south. Another tract of small mountains, consisting of a collection of granitic groups separated by plains, is called by Mr. de Hurnboldt the group of Parime. These mountains lie in the parallels of 3° and 7° of north latitude; and a plain, two hun- dred and forty miles wide, intervenes between them and the Andes: they divide their waters between the Oronoko on the north, and the great river of the Amazons on the south, extending themselves towards the French and Dutch Guyana. It was in the tract of Parime or near it, that so many expeditions were formerly undertaken in search of a mountain called el Dorado, and ofa supposed great city named Manoa, the one being reported to be made of gold; the other, to be full of it. A third tract — of latitudinal mountains lies between 16° and 18° of south latitude, extending from the Andes to Brazil; and, as it is also described as a group rather than a chain, we may conclude that the plains often continue to pass through it one into the other. 2h - 10 CHILE, CHAPTER II. SOME GENERAL FEATURES. The mountains forming this broken chain, called of Chiquitos, are not high, nor do they yet appear to be much known: they divide their waters between the Amazon on the north, and the river Paraguay, afterwards Parana and. Plata, on the south; and it will be observed by the course of this river, which is from north to south, as also by that of the Uruguay, that the other chains or groups of small mountains are chiefly longitudinal, having likewise very extensive plains between them, until, between the parallels of 33°and 33° 30’ of south latitude, they end; in the east, with the northern bank of the river Plata, and in the west, with the extremity of the mountain of Cordova and the Punta of San Luis, when they leave to the plains a more boundless extent, far to the southward, and towards Patagonia where the ground becomes hilly. The great rivers of South America, we have already seen, are the lower Oronoko ; the Amazon, the largest and most majestic of all; both flowing from west to east, between latitudinal groups of mountains; the Paraguay which unites itself with the Parana; and the Uruguay ; these three having a longitudinal course to the south, like that of the mountains between which they flow: but it is more for the help of perspi- cuity, in presenting some of the principal features of South America, that those rivers are described as running between mountains, because, shortly after leaving éhitax sources, they enter into plains of immense extent on each side their banks, with the — exception of the latter, along which the plains are more confined in breadth. It becomes here worthy of remark, that the rivers Paraguay and Parana, although © flowing fifteen hundred geographical miles from north to south, nevertheless receive most scanty supplies from the Andes and the lower mountains nearer to their western banks ; that, during that space, those masses, of such breadth and extraordinary height, seem to deny those contributions of water which, under an ordinary climate, might be expected from them; and that these rivers are principally supplied, either from the cen- ter of South America and longitudinal streams, or from the east and the mountains of Brazil. If we follow Mr. Helm in his journey to Potosi, the space of eleven hundred and fifty miles, on the western side of those rivers, we shall find that, at Cordova, there is not water sufficient to work the mines; that, from thence to Salta, he only crossed a few OVER THE ANDES. 25 SOME GENERAL FEATURES. CHAPTER Ti. mountain torrents without bridges, and the dry bed of a river, the ground being barren and desert, with only one kind of plant, a small tree; that, at the latter place, the woods ceased, ‘and’ vegetation only appeared again on the top of high mountains; and that, from Salta to Potosi, although the mountains rose in height, yet there were no woods; a beam, sixteen inches square ‘and thirty four fect’ long; costing in the last town two hundred pounds! and yet there is ‘ho reason to doubt, but the soil be as fertile in this tract as in the rest of ‘South America. | We shall soon learn the prox- - imate cause of this scarcity of rivers and water, thé’ reverse of what might have been conjectured ; as a'small piece, of the size of Swisserland, cut off from the Andes and placed in the climate of Europe, would probably produce half a dozen rivers, flow- ing with deep and rapid streams, equal in bulk to’ the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Po. The countries on both sides the Andes, from the straits of Magellan to the latitude of the river Biobio, in’ 87° S., are described as being moistened by’abundant rains, particularly’ the tract to the’ south of the Araucanos. The lands of the latter are represented as enjoying a fine climaté, a very fertile soil, and as sufficiently watered for good pasture, and for agriculture without irrigation: but, from that river, the climate begins to undergo some change, and irrigation often becomes necessary. As we advance northward and nearer to Santiago dé Chile, the alteration becomes ‘more: striking, although the geographical distance be small ; pasture is’ scanty, owing to the want of moisture, and from about ‘Talea to Atacama, which forms nearly the whole of Chile below the Andes, the lands cannot’ be described’ as pasturages, nor vegetation as strong. Yet, the soil is every where uncommonly good : it throws up a little ‘grass after the winter’s rains, which are of very short duration: as we proceed to the north of San- tiago, they decrease into a few showers, and at last, along the desert of Atacama and lower Periti, they entirely cease. But the spots of land which are cultivated, or laid down and irrigated, produce very abundantly without manure. © ‘The thin grass, of natural growth in the spring, lasts a few weeks, is very good for cattle of all descriptions, and a small saving against the calls on agriculture, so that the herds must ‘be ‘sent ‘as early as possible to the Andes. ’ Some trees and shrubs will however grow, in spite of the E a6 2 \TO-CHILE,) 4/0 CHAPTER II. SOME GENERAL FEATURES. extraordinary driness of the atmosphere, and cover thinly the ground. The dews are by no means generally heavy, but on the contrary seldom so. In winter, going from. Santiago to Guasco, usually sleeping in open air, a heavy dew would. sometimes. come on and moisten our upper covering much, but the night would often pass without any ; and in spring, summer, and autumn, either on the mountains or below them, in seve- ral excursions, during which we frequently slept without shelter, we seldom felt any. other than a very slight dew. Were it not for the algarob tree, the acacia, a few other half dried up shrubs, and. the irrigated. spots in cultivation, the greatest part of . Chile during nine months of the twelve, would be very like the desert of Atacama. . On the eastern side of thie Andes, the climate offers the same phenomenon, and I have no doubt, as far to the northward as on the western ; although there are in both some few small spots, which, owing to their peculiar forms or situations, and to the supplies of some scanty streams from the mountains losing themselves over their surface, are naturally fit for pasture the whole year ; and these are very valuable to the owners of the estates in which they happen to be situated.. To the eastward, | there being more scope than in Chile, the effect of this peculiarity of climate is felt at a dis. tance of near five hundred geographical miles from the Andes, where the heavy and frequent rains which, fall at Buenos-ayres, begin sensibly to decrease, and soon after- wards, to make way for almost uninterrupted sunshine: and although light showers will sometimes extend. beyond their usual limits, or some remarkable winter ‘may. cause a little more rain to fall than usual, yet such is the principal feature of the climate on both sides that chain; as far as the sixtieth degree of longitude, to the east; probably far at.sea to the west; and to Quito northward, In Chile and in the opposite eastern country, the sun shines nearly the whole year, with great brightness and, power, being only now and then interrupted, by the short rains and cloudy days of winter with the northwest wind, and by some few passing clouds in the other seasons: but, in lower Peru, the sky is much more clouded, although rain do not fall.. If we now advance on the chain itself of the Andes, we shall find that, from the same latitiide where the climate becomes drier, and of Conception, or perhaps far OVER THE ANDES. 27 SOME GENERAL FEATURES. CHAPTER II. a ER EE RR I EER PELL LAE more to the southward, the clouds hang thick, almost daily, on some parts of the higher ridges, or, to speak the language of Chile, of the cordillera, and that they are not often seen on the top of the lower chain, except in winter. Storms about those ridges are very frequent during the whole year; and, in summer, the lightning may be seen there from Santiago, two or three times a week in the evening or at night; but thunder is very seldom heard. The clouds do not discharge their contents in rain, but in snow. Guides in Chile, the herdsmen who lead the cattle to the mountains below the higher cordillera in summer and who tend on them, or, in short, any one that I heard, will not say, it rains on the mountains, but, it snows; although the storm may extend very far below the line of perpetual snow. In the months of January and February, our July and August, the next day after descending from spots proba- bly about five thousand feet high, not half the height of the cordillera, nor a third part of a summit rising above it, storms and cold having replaced the sunshine we had enjoyed, and the great heat we had experienced, the men with us said, that it snowed where we had slept, and the thin covering of snow which had extended to a mountain much below the central ridge and very distant from it, continued to shew itself after a bright sunshine of two days; although under the 33d or 34th. degree of latitude! In the middle of March, after daily icpend iby the Andes, the snow came down so low, that for a short time the prospect, even of the smallest mountains around, was that of the beginning of winter in the north of Europe, whilst the heat below them Was very great: so considerable is the difference of temperature in that country between the low and the mountainous lands, and between a calm and a windy day, unless the wind be from northwest. This is probably what induced. some early travellers to represent Chile as a land so cold as to oblige its inhabitants to shut them- selves up in caves during the winter, and others, to describe it as a hot country. Ihave dwelt the more on this peculiarity of the climate of the Andes, and of some countries on each side of them, as it explains the ultimate cause, why the rivers which descend east and west of that chain are so few and so small. To begin with the Maypo in Chile, and to end with Atacama, a space of one thousand geographical E 2 ob | TRO CHILE YO - CHAPTER II. See SOME GENERAL FEATURES: | milés; all the rivers and streams, which flow westerly from those huge masses; would not form so considerable.a body of water, ‘as that with which the Rhone enters the lake of Geneva, or of the Thames at Staines. -In winter the lower snow melts, and in summer the higher, by which means those rivers receive their small supplies,in much the same quantity, throughout. the year, 1inless the expected falls should be’ smaller than. usual ; a circumstance which sometimes happens, and lessens'the annual supplies; as much to the detrimentof irrigation in the nortliern vallies of Chile and of the small _ display of agriculture there, as the long droughts with us.' On the eastern side of the Andes and near San Luis, what in’ some maps is marked as a Jarge lake, is but a small piece of water ;as is‘also one in Chile, to the southward of Santiago, which is so'shallow; thatit has been contemplated, bythe owner:of the estate in which it-lies, to draim it; and, I little doubt, but such would be found the case with many other lakes traced in those maps. The river Mendoza, although collecting the streams of a very broad and long range of the Andes with several summits of considerable ‘height’ constantly covered with snow,is only a large torrent: The river Desaguadero is marked’as large; but is only just deserving tobe called one: it: shews the surface of a‘river above a small size, but has:no depth of water: it however runs in a very wide channel, and, at‘some former period, must have been: considerable and majestic.’ | The river Ter: cero, by far the largest of: all, at the distance of a hundred and fifty miles from the Parana, may be from fourand a half to six feet deep in the middle of its stream, and about ninety wide; yet here, at five hundred and fifty miles from the Andes, it has received the waters of mountains branching out from them in the latitude of Cordova. From this river to Potosi, are seen’nothing more than a few mountain torrents. But that rivers of the first magnitude have once flowed, is evident. I have men- tioned the former wide bed of the Desaguadero, and on the road from it to Mendoza, is the very broad but dry channel of a river, which must formerly have existed: it is full of stones much worn and rounded by attrition. In Chile, from Santiago’ to ‘Copiapo, there are some vallies. which are very remarkable, and form a singular feature in that country. ‘These extend from the Andes to the sea, are from one to two miles wide, and OVER THE ANDES. 29 ‘SOME GENERAL -KEATURES. CHAPTER II. although now-only watered. by very small rivers, shew: traces of having been once filled. up bys them, ito’ a height) of thirty or fifty feet : each bank is lined with a high extensive mass of rounded stones mixed with earth, entirely dissimilar from the ground onmeach sideof the valley, and two or three different: banks.are seen contracting as they‘ lower, and shelving down with a regularity, which seems to indicate that the water; after: flowing.a considerable time with an even stream, must have suddenly fallen much: at * different: periods. | «These: shelving banks» look .asif they had been: raised-or cut down. by human? labour, and the traveller wants but little help, to imagine the enormous masses of water, which must: have most magnificently flowed in such channels a considerable time: the image, connecting itself with a period when ‘Chile mustshave been very different from what it now is, becomes more striking and interesting’; as it is much easier to fancy a great sudden catastrophe, a temporary convulsion by which mountains are raised. or overturned, waters. breaking ‘in or out, advancing and again abruptly retreating, than such immense rivers with a regular and, majestic: course, ‘not. exceeding one ‘hundred miles, where. there is now but a stream, and where every feature, except the body of water, appears to remain precisely inthe same state as:when those’ vallies. or rather: broad channels, were left: nearly empty. .They: were not common supplies that could fill them. Lakes overflowing the numerous bowls of Chile, or waters oozing out at every’ pore of the Andes, must have contributed to them; andwhen the present dry climate of that country, with its scanty streams, are considered, the sight of those old banks becomes the more extraordinary. It is in them, and often at a height of twenty or thirty feet from the present bed of the rivers, that search is made for gold, and that the washers or lavadores.are looking for it. To do so in the lowest channel, and by: the sides of the streams now flowing, will not reward their labour, unless it be in some mountainous spots known to contain gold, or in some: breaks and hollows, where‘a heavy winter shower, may have disturbed the soil or the fragments of rocks... The small rivers ‘on the eastern side of the Andes, corresponding with the situation of Chile, have not, I 30 . - TO CHILE, 22 eee CHAPTER II. SOME GENERAL FEATURES. believe, been much visited, and a scientific traveller might find it interesting to ascer- tain, if those which flow to the northward of San Juan present the same features. It may be doubted if this part of South America can strengthen the opinion, that the southern hemisphere is colder than the northern. The mean summer heat, at two o’clock p. M. and in the shade, probably is, at Buenos-ayres, in 35°, about 88° of Far. ; at Mendoza, in 33°, about 90°; and that of Santiago in 33° 20’, 85°.. Santiago is nearer than Mendoza to the central cordillera: but in the two last towns, the thermometer usually sinks in summer and in the night, from 20 to 26 degrees. When the navigation from Europe into the Pacific Ocean was through the straits of Magellan, between the parallels of 53° and 54°, the excessive cold felt there was often described, and much surprise at the same time expressed, at the strength of vegetation on the shores: but now that it takes place round cape Horn, and near the sixtieth degree of southern latitude, the cold felt there is not mentioned as being very intense. (SEE METEORO- LOGICAL OBSERVATIONS AT THE END OF THIS VOLUME). May it not be conjectured that it is not the wind alone, passing over the snows of the Andes, which causes a lower temperature near that chain, but that the substances of which it is composed, and some process still going on in them, are generating the cold so extensively felt along it, when not subdued by a sunshine which must have the more power as the atmosphere is thinner? and may not the driness of the climate be attributed to the same cause ?—Mr. de Humboldt mentions an extraordinary fall of temperature in the table lands of Quito, ever since the earthquake of 1797, which caused the destruction of forty thousand people, and the thermometer to stand most generally from 41° to 54°, instead of 66° and upwards, which was the temperature of those lands before that calamity happened; whilst no indication is shewn of a tendency to resume its former elevation. The immense plains of South America have lately been described as present- ing this characteristic feature, that they are to common sight without inequalities, and perfectly level in every part; but this description cannot apply to what I have OVER THE ANDES. | 31 SOME GENERAL FEATURES. CHAPTER II. seen of the most extensive of all, the pampas, which, from Buenos-ayres to Mendoza, are a continuation of undulations very strongly delineated. Whether or not these inequalities enter Paraguay with the plains, where these become, during a short distance, contracted by the mountains. of Brazil on one side, and the groups of Cor- doya and San Luis on the other, I cannot state. The left bank of the lower Oronoko, we learn from Humboldt, has few or no trees, and consists of swamps and pasturages whilst under the effect of the winter’s rains; but in summer, they become entirely dry and burnt up, losing their vegetation. The immense extent of plains, between the mountainous and transverse groups of Parima and Chiquitos, being within the range of equatorial rains, is, on the contrary, almost wholly covered with thick forests, which also crown those mountains; and there are no other roads in them than the course of rivers. But the southern plains or pampas cannot be described, in regard to vegetation, as similar to those of the Oronoko, from which they appear to differ no less essentially in their vegetation than in their inequalities. Within two hundred miles of the Andes, from 36° or 37° South, these plains bear scarcely any thing more than small trees and shrubs, thinly scattered over the ground. Without that distance, and for the space of about three hundred miles more to the eastward, the line of pampas is, in some places, thinly covered with woods, chiefly consisting of a small acacia, called espino, and the open ground with a tough wiry grass, of a yellowish green, which grows in large bunches wide apart : and at last, more to the east and out of the line of about five hundred geographical miles from the Andes, is another tract of plains, which is watered by abundant rains all the year, and the vegetation of which is very luxuriant in trefoil and variegated thistles. Within this tract are, I believe, the principal herds of cattle ; and it is very probable, that it widens as it advances towards the lands of the Moxos ; because, if the Andes really be what occa- sions these different stages of vegetation, they stretch out to the northwest, and because the equatorial rains may extend their influence, so as to counteract that of the great chain. I am well convinced that, on the road from Buenos-ayres to Men- doza, there is not generally any essential difference in the soil, and that almost any i HPO. CHILES ! CHAPTER II. SOME GENERAL FEATURES.” spot under the dry climate will, with irrigation, display the‘same fertility and produce most abundantly, without manure. Mr. de Humboldt states, that he has not met with gravel in South America; and having been attentive to. a feature which is so con. spicuous and so extensive in many soils and countries, I have not been ‘able to dis- cover a single trace of it, on either side of the Andes. ‘The only substance approach- ing it, with which I met, was a coarse conglomeration of masses, at the top of the central ridge or cordillera, and at a height probably not less than fourteen or fifteen thousand féet above the level of the sea: it consisted of granitic and other stones rounded by water, sand, and pieces of rocks apparently calcareous. Mr. Helm expresses his astonishment, at having seen a thick stratum of granitic stones. also rounded by attrition, nine miles from Potosi, on one of the highest mountains there covered with snow, as the low ridge of granite had ended at Tucuman, and the chain rising from thence to Potosi, ‘had consisted of simple argillaceous schistus. | It ought to be observed, that the account given here of the pampas is derived from an inspection in two journies across those plains, but that I have not been out of the road from Buenos-ayres to Mendoza ; and that north of it, within five hun- dred miles of the Andes, vegetation may assume a different character, as the driness of the atmosphere increases, or as the situation of the plains alters. Although the want of moisture, within that distance, appears to be much less felt beyond the 36th or 37th degrees of southern latitude, and near the equator, yet it may become interesting hereafter to ascertain, if the cause of this atmospheric driness remain, and be only counteracted by another which lessens it, or if it be entirely removed. For this investigation, a scientific man would probably find, from the latitude above stated, the range of the Andes, both east and west, of safe and easy access ; but I doubt much, if he could yet penetrate further to the southward without exposing himself to great risks. The range of mountains, along the coast of Caraccas, has been described, as cut by deep ravines, very uniformly directed from southeast to northwest. In Chile, the bays, whether large or small, are known very generally to open to the northwest, and OVER THE ANDES. 33 SOME GENERAL FEATURES. | CHAPTER II. the vallies or broad channels, which I have already mentioned as communicating between the Andes and the sea, are, I have reason to believe, though unable to affirm it, likewise directed from S.E. to N.W. Indeed it was to the comparative obliquity of this direction in ridges of rocks and vallies, that I attributed the constant deception of that of the Andes when on them, or of the road whilst travelling along the sea shore, where it either appeared as if leading to the sea itself, or, on the contrary, as if striking quite inland. Whilst the principal part of the high chain of the Andes, * of the most Bievated mountains in South America, appears to consist of argillaceous shist, the lower chains and groups of that continent are described as chiefly granitic. Having had an opportunity of sailing in view of a considerable extent of the southern coast of Brazil, I observed the same features as at Rio de Janeiro; rounded hills of granite, much blackened outside; very numerous, either on the coast or forming islands near it; appearing as so many large loaves or domes, and as if having swelled and risen into their present shapes. On approaching and ascending the chain of the Organ Mountains, to the west of Rio de Janeiro, I no longer found these conical hills and the granite; but after having descended the western side, they again appeared. Conical hills of the same appearance are likewise seen about seven hun- dred miles further to the southward, near the northern bank of the river Plata.. The southern extremity of the mountains of Cordova I found to be of a coarse granite, the same which Helm observed further to the north, and which he only lost on approaching the Andes, where the clay slate becomes the predominant rock. The transverse group of Chiquitos has not, I believe, been investigated ; but that of Parima is described as being also principally granitic. In travelling from Coquimbo to Guasco in Chile, we shall have to notice a remarkable rock near the sea, shewing I think evidently, the different stages of its formation ; and if I durst venture a conjecture from it, on a subject with which I am so little acquainted, it would be, that granite may be found formed of a due proportion of fragments of sea shells with sand, having undergone an inward process modified by local circumstances. 4 TO CHILE, CHAPTER III. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED, { RRTECEVERATRAETETERSDELSTSTEVTVVSTIUTETVTVEBDLVAVOUTD ONE of the necessary preparations for visiting foreign countries, particularly those which are distant, is to procure as much information as possible concerning them. All the books that can afford it, are ransacked and read; and the traveller, when he arrives, often finds himself enabled to impart some of his knowledge to the inhabitants, who, however well informed themselves, often learn from him of their own country, what they did not know. But this can yet but seldom happen with Chile and its Andes. I as well as several other persons whom I saw there, felt much surprise and disappointment at the inaccuracy of many accounts given of that part of South America; and I have no doubt but they would also be felt, in several of the eastern tracts of that portion of the Andes, Some writers, partial or careless, have led the way ; others have followed it: amongst these, many would naturally take for granted, that where high mountains are found, there, must also be deep vallies; and that, of a great number of vallies, some must be like Arcadia with its shepherds, others a Tempe ; some must represent Swisserland with its pastoral costumes, others the views of Italy and of the Pyren- nees: that where rise many hills, the sceneries of Wales, of Cumberland, or of the Scots highlands, must often shew themselves; and that a vale of Clywd or of Llangollen, a Windermere or a Loch Lomond, will gratify the traveller at many a turn. When they see rivers traced on the maps, they conclude that nature will smile on their banks, because it does on those of the Thames or the Wye, of the Rhine or the Loire. Then, from analogy, they are led to call countries, so enclosed and so watered, fine and fruitful. But he who travels in them, has a very different account OVER THE ANDES. 35 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER III. to give: a rock ora half withered shrub, will perhaps be his only shelter from a burning sun : his beasts will starve for want of pasture; and the plant on the water edge, will die for the lack of moisture, or only live with the thirst of Tantalus. The face of nature here becomes soon known. The deceitful hope that it would smile at every step, vanishes. The traveller, fond of its beauties, finds none: yet it seldom frowns. A want of animated expression prevails every where : yet all is not dead, but seems asleep; and the expected delight is changed into the wish to lay down and rest, or to accelerate the step and begone. When the productions of a country are stated, the acceptation of that word, as a preliminary step, ought perhaps first. to be defined; and. I hope I shall not err in giving to it the same signification, as when it is said that the mines of Great Britain produce coals, iron, copper, tin, and lead, by which is understood, that these are got in sufficient abundance to provide for the principal consumption of its inhabitants, or even to export to foreign countries. If we were to admit the literal meaning of the word. production, it might then be stated that England yields gold, because a few pounds of it can be obtained from its bosom; or grapes and pine-apples, because some of these fruits will ripen against favoured walls or in hothouses. _ We have already seen, in South America, a great variety of climates ; situations fit for settlements and. agriculture, so low and so high in the same latitudes, that under the equator itself, whilst some inhabitants experience a scorching heat, the greater number reside on table lands of considerable elevation, and of a cold tempera- ture. We have observed a vast eastern tract, with a transverse equatorial zone, watered by abundant rains; and a western line, of very great length and breadth, with hardly any other moisture than what is produced by the snow falling on the Andes: part of this line almost ever cloudy, and part with a nearly uninterrupted sunshine. The latter tract, on each side that chain of mountains, and within four or five hundred miles of it, is probably and comparatively to situations, the most fertile when irrigated, but the least productive in its natural state. In Brazil, the F 2 36 ‘TO CHILE, 3 ; CHAPTER III. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. soil requires manure, but the climate is so favourable to vegetation, that, in most spots, two abundant crops of maize and other grains may be raised in the year. North of Chile, in some parts of Peru and Quito, they also use manure, ‘and the dung of sea birds forms a considerable branch of employment and trade. It may be conjectured that there, the want of sunshine must cause less fertility in the soil: But in Chile, and on its parallel eastern side, manure is not used ; yet the land produces every where abundantly, with irrigation and very little labour. Therefore, when the extent, the situation, the soils, and the climates, of this great continent are considered, it becomes obvious, that the shortest way of giving an account of what it can produce, would be to state what it cannot; but this is not yet ascertained ; nor is there cause for supposing that any plant could be found, which South America would refuse to grow to maturity. Let us then imagine, all that could: tend to encourage and multiply the wants and fashions of dress or dwellings, and the materials would here be found for that purpose: or if we wished, first to indulge our palate with any production that we ever tasted or heard of, and next to remove the effect of that indulgence, the sweets for the gratification, and the bitterns for the cure, would be obtained here, by a cooperation of the gifts of nature with the industry of man. Owing to the abundance of rains and moisture, along the eastern parts of South America, and in the midland countries under the equatorial zone, all branches of agriculture may there be pursued without artificial irrigation ; but, from the province of Caraccas to the westward, and then south, on each side the chain of the Andes, _as far as the lands of the Araucanos, with the exception of some particular spots, no progress can be made in the culture and growth of products, unless they be irrigated. Within the tropics, and where there is sufficient heat and moisture, the sugar cane, the coffee, cacao, and cotton trees or shrubs, are the most profitable objects of agriculture and trade. These are extensively cultivated in Brazil, in the Guyanas and Caraccas ; in New Grenada, and a little in some other parts of the west. Maize is so generally grown in South America, that it may be called the corn of that country. OVER THE ANDES. 37 - GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER III. At the time of the conquest, this production was already cultivated in most parts of it, both for food and drink. Jatropha manthot or mandioc, the white and esculent root of which is ground into the substance called cassava, was also a plant of extensive use and cultivation: it is still so, where the climate is sufficiently hot and moist for its growth: this root which, in its natural state, is highly poisonous, loses its deleterious effects by being ground and washed. The meal made of it, commonly called harina, is either eaten when new, or stored up after being dried over large heated copper pans, without which process it will not keep: it is also made into cassava bread ; and, like maize, it serves for a fermented drink. Potatoes are also a production of South America, and indeed were first introduced into Kurope from the western continent; but in Chile, where they are extensively cultivated, they fail much in flavour, and cannot be compared to our’s: in some other parts, particularly in the eastern, they degenerate so fast, that the plants must be renewed by foreign bulbs every one or two years; a circumstance which may be owing to a want of skill in the culture. Onions are a production which grow to great perfection in South America, and are an article of considerable consumption, particularly amongst the labouring classes. Kidney beans are much cultivated in Brazil and Chile: they are, in the latter country, of more importance than maize, and constitute one of the principal articles of food for the poorer classes: some sorts are of an extraordinarily fine taste. Wheat and barley have long made a branch of the agriculture of Chile, and much of the former grain is annually exported to Peru, or is occasionally sent to Brazil. It is also cultivated in the neighbourhood of Buenos-ayres, in sufficient abundance for exporting it, particularly to Brazil, where it is yet but very partially attended to, although its growth there would be most extensively favoured, both by climate and situations. ‘This corn is also reared in some parts of New Grenada, from whence considerable quantities of flour are exported: it is likewise produced along the Andes on table lands and other spots, until, to the southward of the equator, the difficulty and expence of irrigation become so considerable, as to render the 38 | ivi TOSCHILEY 0 Ne a oes ae 7 CHAPTER. III. . GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ; ” EERIE mE ea > importation of it preferable. ice is one of the productions of Brazil, and is I believe but little cultivated elsewhere: it is often brought to the western coast from the East Indies. The cabbage is also met in abundance; and the gourds, which are so generally an appendage to every dish of boiled meat, in the tracts of Buenos-ayres and Chile, are of a flavour much superior to those which I ever had an opportunity of tasting elsewhere. Capsicum or red. pepper, called aghi, is very much and very generally grown and used in many parts of South America: it forms a small branch of trade between many districts of it; and seldom is a dish produced, without being highly | seasoned with it: it is of an agreeable flavour, and although much more pungent than the pepper of Hindostan, yet it is thought more wholesome. Tobacco is cultivated in many places in great abundance; much of it is nevertheless imported from the island of Cuba: it is seldom chewed, or taken as snuff, but is of a most extensive and considerable consumption in the shape of cigars among both sexes of nearly all ranks, although of late the upper, and more particularly the women, are gradually leaving off the custom of smoking. The hierba coca or coa, the infusion of which is so much drunk in a great extent of South America that it is often called its tea, is gathered in Paraguay. Some spurious or inferior kinds of it are produced in Brazil and elsewhere; but the real or best hierba is said to be only gathered near Villarica, which is contiguous to the mountains of Maracayu, the eastern part of the province, in low woods of difficult and dangerous access. ‘The tree which yields the leaf, is a species of ilex, of a size and appearance somewhat similar to an orange or a small pear tree. Considerable. quantities of these leaves, which are first dried and coarsely pulverized, are, or rather were, consumed in Buenos-ayres, and in all the neighbouring provinces; in Chile, Peru, and other parts: but the difficulties thrown in the way of their being got and exported, even in Paraguay itself, are so great, that hierba is now selling at about seven shillings sterling a pound in Chile; and as a palatable infusion cannot be produced, without using far more of it than is required for making good China tea, OVER THE ANDES. \. 3g GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ‘ CHAPTER III. the poorer classes are nearly deprived of an enjoyment, which, particularly among women, extended also to social pleasure. Drinking a mate or a matecita, which derives its name from the vessel out of which the infusion is sucked. being so called when full, forms a kind of tea party and talk, when the afternoon siesta is over % and, until lately, was as generally offered to a visiter, as is a cup of chocolate in some parts of Europe. This beverage is thought a specific against what, may tend to disturb the constitution,-and a mean of cure when it is disordered. After the use of tea, the flavour of this Paraguay hierba is at first a little insipid, but soon improves with the habit of taking it, and at last becomes pleasant. It does not in the least tend to shake the nerves. A small quantity of China tea mixed with. it appeared to us an improvement; and during excursions in Chile, when the keen air of that country at night renders very early rising a chilling exertion, a warm bowl of this infusion was particularly agreeable: it. became more so if some cow’s or goat’s milk could be added to it, a luxury seldom to be procured. A considerable importation of hierba coca once took place from the river Plata into England, at which the traders in tea took alarm, and such as had begun to drink the former, were frightened out of its use, by reports that it was unwholesome. China tea is now consumed by the labouring classes in. England, in much more abundance than formerly: in many cottages it-is drunk three times a day, and has superseded the use of beer or pure water at the midday’s meal. This is one of the changes in diet, the effect. of which can seldom be ascertained until whole generations have passed away, and the evil consequences of which, if any should follow, manifest themselves too late for a complete cure. The mixture of Paraguay hierba with tea might correct the effect of the latter on the nervous system, and agree no less with the taste than with the constitution of the consumers, a considerable number of whom are under the necessity of drinking tea with very little sugar, and. often without any. It would be the means of opening a trade with a state in the interior of South America, which, from its situation and climate, might become the garden of that continent. 40 ~i°TO CHILE,” : CHAPTER III - GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ¥ The vine, orange, lemon, almond, olive, pomegranate, peach, apple, pear, and fig trees, are more or less cultivated in most of the settlements of European origin in South America. It is, I believe, only in Mendoza, in Chile, and in the southern parts of lower Peru, where wine and brandy‘are made from grapes, on a scale sufficiently extensive for trade. Apples and peaches are abundantly found east and west of the Andes, about the latitude of Buenos-ayres, and appear only to require some attention and skill, to become equal to our own. ‘The cherry tree is also found there, but does not bear fine fruit. The figs are small and of a good flavour: the fig trees, which grow to a large and handsome timber size, might become no less ornamental to the landscape than useful to the inhabitants. Pine- apples, melons, and water-melons, are generally met: the first, under the equatorial zone, are said to be far superior in taste, and the last are so in Chile, where, next to tobacco, they afford to the lower classes one of their greatest enjoyments during half the year. At any time of the day or at eve, a labouring Chileno is always ready for smoking a cigar and eating a water-melon, which, as soon as it ripens and appears in the garden or market, is hailed with a general welcome, shares with the infusion of hierba the renown of preventing or removing all bodily complaints, and gives rise to many nightly thefts amongst poor cottagers. “The strawberries of that country are famed, but deserve to be so for their size only and not for their flavour : it is said that in Quito, they are as large as a small hen’s egg. Hemp and flax grow well in proper situations, and at one time were gaining ground in Chile; but the demand having been only temporary, during the late wars in Europe, these productions are again neglected. Madi is cultivated in Chile, and seeds of it were sent from thence to Buenos-ayres ; but hitherto its culture has not made any extensive progress. It is spoken of as a very useful plant, its stem being strongly alkaline, fit for bleaching or for making soap, and the seeds producing, by pressure or boiling, an oil which is good for household purposes, and said to equal that of olives. They distinguish the Madia sativa, a genus novum, which is cultivated, from the Madia villica or mellosa, which grows wild. OVER THE ANDES. 41 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER III. ‘The grass which is cultivated, near Buenos-ayres; in the neighbouring provinces, particularly in those where irrigation is practised, on the eastern side of the Andes; and in Chile, is the lucern, which grows most kindly, yields very abundantly, wants seldom, if at all, to be renewed, and makes a very substantial fattening pasture and fodder. In those countries it is called alfalfa. It has been mentioned as a natural grass in Chile; but I could not observe, in any part of that land or of the pampas, a single trace of it, in grounds which had not been previously ploughed and cultivated. Red and white clovers are plants which I have not any where seen. In the environs of Rio de Janeiro, the only grass‘which I could find eultivated is of African origin, of a very quick and tall growth; but it requires cleaning and top manuring, operations which render it expensive. The introduction of some kinder grasses into that part of Brazil, which appears deficient of good pasture, is the more requisite now, as the lands are, although very slowly yet gradually, clearing of their woods, in order to be cultivated, and as the cattle in them, notwithstanding the great fertility of the soil and a most favourable climate, seem neither numerous nor very thriving. Some experiments lately made with lucern offer a doubtful result, and I do not think that the cultivation of any kind of clover has yet been tried there, nor have 1 seen any grass resembling it, in the pasture grounds near Rio de Janeiro. A plant, growing abundantly in the woods to a considerable height, is either eaten by the cattle on the spot, or cut for them, owing to the want of a better, as it is coarse, and poor of nourishment. The name of the African grass in Brazil is capim de Angola: tough and reedy, its being a fit and wholesome food for beasts may be doubted. I have already mentioned, that the eastern part of the pampas through which’ I travelled, was covered with trefoil and variegated thistles, both of which were soon replaced by a stiff grass, scattered in large bunches over the plains. In Chile, on the western side of the Andes and in few places, is found a thin plant of clover, which bears a yellow flower, but is considerably smaller, both in leaf and stem, than our white species. The brows of the lower Andes, and the declivities of the fe 42- TO CHILE CHAPTER III. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. a A SESE TL A I EE I EE LET I SE SIT breaks and vallies, are very thinly covered with plants, which rapidly grow in the spring, soon’ dry up, and preserve their straweoloured stems until the following winter, as there is not moisture to hasten their decay. ‘These plants consist chiefly of wild oats, intermixed with patches of wild barley. Our. beasts ate them very readily intheir withered. state, particularly the latter. During a great part of the year, they throw over the lower sides of the mountains. a bright yellow tint, which at a distance looks as if it belonged to the soil... Above these, and below the central cordillera, the alpine pasture is but thin; but yet sufficient to afford to considerable herds of cattle a strong and fattening food, and, I.think I may venture to affirm, to. the botanist, much employment and. pleasure. The, plants are here singularly glutinous to the touch. The guides and herdsmen, vaccianos, of the- Andes, had told me of one called by them. ceponcilla, which was particularly kind to’ the cattle and the guanacos, and eagerly sought by them. During an excursion along the central chain, and probably at a height of six or seven thousand feet, I founda small patch of it, which had taken possession of a piece of soil very different from the rest, and much more moist; it had been grazed quite close. I found some seeds of it, between pieces of rocks to which the animals had not been able to get: the root was of the size of the little finger, and’it appears to belong to the order of polygona: from recollection I should suppose it to be the polygonum setosum. Below the mountains, and on the sides of irrigating channels, -before they enter the cultivated fields, is often seen strong couch grass, which. they. think, .good pasture. I observed rushes in one single spot only, mixed with the bunchy grass of the pampas. The fallow lands are covered with very tall and. stout thistles, wild turnips, and other weeds. Rice is found wild in the low and inundated lands of the interior of South America, near and within the tropics. x bolieteeat Wild coffee and cacao trees are chiefly seen in the basins of the Oroneko and Amazon, The Indians eat the pulp of the cacao nuts and throw away the kernels, which are picked up by the traders and carried down those rivers for. sale: when these nuts come from uncultivated trees, they generally are bitter, and sell at very OVER THE ANDES. 49, GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ; CHAPTER IIT. inferior, prices, owing to the quantity of sugar required for making chocolate with them. ‘The wild cotton tree is extensively spread in South America: trunks of this order have been found, which measured above’ fifteen feet in diameter. . The fig tree also grows wild in the forests; but the few which are seen in Chile are reared from shoots. A tree of this species is described by Mr. de Humboldt, the diameter of which was twenty two feet and a half near the roots... This, no doubt, is the extreme width, including all those ligneous excrescences,, rising like ridges or ribs as high as, twenty feet with the main stem, and as abutments to it: it constitutes, nevertheless, a most-enormous size. When the roots were cut with a hatchet, at a distance of twenty feet from the tree, its milky juice gushed out, but deprived of the vital influence of the organs of the tree, it immediately altered and. coagulated. In Chile, and on the eastern side of the Andes, this is almost the only tree which ornaments and shades the ground near cottages and small farms: it requires but a moderate share of moisture, and produces good fruit, the consumption of which is considerable amongst the labouring classes; yet, notwithstanding its great use, it is not often found there. The banana or plantain tree, grows freely under a. tropical heat anda moist climate, to the height of twelve or fifteen feet, bearing a. great abundance. of a mealy fruit, of a yellowish white colour, from six to nine inches long and one and a half thick, of a sweetish somewhat insipid flavour, which. is extensively used by the Indians, and by the African slaves, but not much by the white inhabitants. With its long majestic leaves, this plant is very ornamental to the grounds near Rio de Janeiro. _ The soil and climate of the eastern part of South America. appear to. be less favourable to the production of drugs and spices, than they are towards the western. The Peruvian bark, whose qualities were first discovered to the Jesuit Missionaries, and by them made known to Europe, forms a considerable branch of trade. | It is brought to Europe, after a difficult land carriage, and a.sea voyage round Cape Horn, of five months or more: some of it is afterwards sent back to many parts of its native continent, which, by inland navigation, might be supplied with it in less than a G 2 44, TO CHILE CHAPTER II. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. month. Sarsaparilla grows very abundantly in the interior, and principally in the _ forests between the Amazon and. the Oronoko: the best is said to be near the Rio Negro, which falls into the Amazon up which Brazilian traders go and fetch it. The wild cinnamon tree is found scattered in most of the western tracts, and reaches, it is stated, as far as the land of Magellan, notwithstanding its high latitude. I once only met with this fine shrub in Chile, in latitude 33° S.: it was shooting straightly and elegantly up, in a hollow spot well sheltered and moistened by sur- rounding mountains, helping some other ‘trees near it to gratify the traveller with the appearance of an European grove, a pleasure seldom enjoyed in the bowls of that country, where the ground which is not occupied by the acacia and the algarob, is so encroached upon by aloes and prickly pears, that the inhabitants neglect no opportunity of burning these off, where they wish some goats and other animals to browse. The bark of the wild cinnamon is used there; its spice appears to partake of both the cinnamon of Ceylon and the cassia lignea of China. Vanilla and nut-— megs are found nearer to the equator. The black pepper plant was formerly brought from Goa to Brazil, and cultivated with success; but to get this spice ready grown from the East Indies is cheaper still; and as to those extensive countries, where the inhabitants are in the habit of using so profusely the red pepper or capsicum, the fine - and very pungent flavour of it, will not probably ever be exchanged for that of the black or white, which only appear there on some tables, chiefly for the sake of fol- lowing European customs. | The poison ticunas of the Amazon, upas ticute of Java, and curare of Guyana, is the most deleterious substance known; and being used by many tribes of Indians in the interior of South America, principally under the equatorial zone, forms at first a branch of manufacture and trade amongst them, and at last the means of mutual destruction. It has been described as a part of the alburnum of the tree called mavacure, which is bruised with stones, infused with cold water, filtrated, and afterwards concentrated by evaporation. A glutinous substance is nuxed with it, in order to make it stick to the arrows, and its powerful effect is OVER THE ANDES. 45 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. A CHAPTER Iii. only felt when the poison comes in contact with the blood. The Indians kill all animals, whether domesticated or not, with those poisoned arrows; and the reason which they give for it is, that their flavour is thereby much improved. Dying woods are abundantly produced in South America. The most valuable is that which is known under the general name of Brazil wood: it produces very beautiful red and orange colours, and is so hard that it sinks in water. Log or Campeachy wood, and fustick wood or the dyer’s mulberry tree, are generally got from the Bay of Honduras; both used as preparatory bodies in dying; the first yielding a dark red, and the last, a greenish yellow colour, which are afterwards altered or modified by alkaline and other mixtures, to blue, red, green, black, and other tints. The fine vegetable dies which are obtained below the Andes, in Chile and on the eastern side, and the fastness of the colours, would lead to think, that they must be there of a superior kind, and may give rise to some interesting investigations hereafter: the driness of the climate, the continuance of sunshine, or the metallic nature of the soil, may contribute to the excellence of those dies in their growth, rather than the skill of the inhabitants in their use. The indigo plant was formerly very extensively cultivated, and its dying substance manufactured, in Brazil, Caraccas, New Grenada and Guatimala; but the rapid and extraordinary increase of the supplies of indigo sent to Europe from the East Indies, during the last thirty years, has gradually caused this branch of industry to be nearly aban- doned in South America, and to make room for coffee, cacao, or sugar. The plant is found wild in many parts of it, and used by the inhabitants for dying their stuffs; even by the Araucanos, according to Molina. Cochineal, which is used for the scarlet crimson die, and from which the finest carmine is prepared, is principally reared and gathered in Mexico: it is also a branch of trade in New Grenada, and was once successfully attended to in Brazil, where the want of precaution for preventing its adulteration became fatal to its sale, and it ‘was abandoned. This insect is found in many parts of South America; it exists in Paraguay and Tucuman ; and we met with it in the state of Cordova, where we 4G ae TO CHILE ———————————EEueeqeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeaeaeaeaeaeoaueoooaooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemw CHAPTER III. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. eee enn nen een ene nn een ee eee ee ee ree eee saw it and its plant near a posthouse, whose owners, after having kneaded the cochineal into small cakes, used it for dying worsted... The large importations of this article into Europe from Mexico, and the attempts to supply it from the East Indies, have been very considerably checked of late years, by the improve- ment effected in the use of lac or lacca, commonly called gum lac, although it does not appear to be a gum or resin, but the work and cell of the female of an insect, which feeds on various trees in the East Indies. If lac be gathered before its dying properties are consumed by the new born, it yields a colouring matter, which is nearly as fine as that of cochineal, and is said. to be more durable; forming a considerable inland and foreign trade, and imported at a price, which has sunk that of the best cochineal, from about thirty five to near twenty shillings the pound: this latter die, being mixed with that. of lac, adds to its brilliancy. Sticklac and shellac are the lac so called after having undergone different processes. Sealing wax, beads, and other ornaments, are made with it. As the eastern countries of the South American continent are not, like the western, subject to earthquakes, they may and do bear higher buildings and — dwellings without danger. In Brazil, they often rise two stories above the ground floor, and in Buenos-ayres, one; but, in the interior and.in the west, the whole dis- tribution of apartments is generally made on a ground floor, The timber used for building whatever deserves the name of a house, is very hard and durable, and in many extensive tracts, cannot be procured without a long and expensive mule carriage. In Chile, a wood of a red colour is employed for inside work and other purposes, when it can be got; it comes from the island of Chiloe, and from a tree which has been described as a cedar, of a size so immense, as sometimes to yield eight hundred planks: but if the planks meant. here be what I have seen at Valpa- rayso, they are only small boards, about. six inches wide, an inch thick, and ten or twelve feet long. This wood is not sawed, it is only split into boards; but so easily and evenly will it divide, that they appear as if slightly planed; it is extremely light. I could not perceive in its texture much similarity to that of the cedar; it — OVER THE ANDES. Ay GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER Iii. appeared very like the wood of the red larch, which is found in some of the highest Swiss vallies or declivities, and preferred by the inhabitants to the white; but the wood of Chiloe is still lighter, and of a deep red colour. It might prove a valu- able acquisition to Europe, particularly to England, where some likeness of climate might favour its growth, which, I should suppose from its appearance, must. be rapid: its fibres seem as fine and closely united as those of the larch: it has not the aromatic scent of the red cedar, but, like it, it is said to remain’ free from insects, whilst the hardest woods are attacked by them: water casks and buckets are also made of it, owing to its fitness for such a purpose. If any of the British ships of war, stationed on the western coast, should ever visit Valdivia, an easy opportunity might offer of procuring some plants or seeds of this tree. | A plant, which at first begins to appear in the shape of a shrub, and in patches near Buenos-ayres, on the banks of some rivers, grows towards the west into a small tree, and principally forms the thin woods in the dry regions of the pampas, from the state of Cordova to the foot of the Andes; appears again below them in Chile, and extends over the greatest part of all the hills, bowls, or vallies, of that country, as also over vast tracts in Peru, is the espno or espinillo, of the Spaniards, the caven, in the Araucano or old Chileno language, and the mimosa caven, of Molina, which, the Abbé states, resembles the acacia of Egypt. I brought some seeds of it, and it is the mimosa Jarnesiana. This tree has been, and still is, of the most essen- tial service to the inhabitants, and particularly to the miners, having principally furnished the fuel hitherto used for household purposes, and for those of the mines. Notwithstanding its being hacked and torn in every direction, it will grow again, and in six or eight years be fit for another cut; but of late, they have greatly injured and in many places destroyed it, by taking off too many crops, and by leaving the young plants too much exposed to the sun, which is now the cause of very considerable inconvenience and expence to the copper mines: it is very hard, gives much heat, and makes ashes sufficiently alkaline for the manufacture of soap. It is brought to market, both in its natural state, and in small pieces slightly charred, which are used 48 TO CHILE, : CHAPTER Iil. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. in large warming pans during the winter, without any inconvenience. The extensive utility and importance of such a readily growing wood as this, in mining countries, where much fuel is required, where there is hardly any other moisture than, that produced by artificial irrigation, and where land carriage is difficult and laborious, may easily be conceived; and Chile will, ere long, have to deplore the want of care and regulations for the preservation of it, notwithstanding the coal beds of Concep- tion. A tree belonging to this class, for which the general Indian name in New Grenada is samang, was seen there by Mr. de Humboldt, which, with its branches, formed a hemispheric head of five hundred and seventy six feet in circumference, bending towards the ground like an umbrella; the trunk being only sixty feet high, and nine thick. But the acacia, below the southern Andes, is a very small unsightly tree, either with a stinted trunk, or issuing from the ground with many tortuous branches, half of them quite dead, the remainder looking almost sapless and but just alive. On advancing towards the chain of the Andes, the espino or acacia is found joined by the carob or algarobo, ceratonia siliqua. ‘This tree, both east and west of those mountains, appears to range only along a particular tract below them, and, like the former, to prefer the very driest lands: on each side they keep company, until the algarob leaves the ground to its associate. Its white fruit is contained in large yellow pods, and has been by some writers called the bread of St. John in the wilderness ; its thorns are often, in Chile, above two inches long, so hard and so round, that they may be used as nails in soft woods. Another species, whose pods are of a reddish black, is found in the states of Cordova and San Luis. The algarob grows also in New Grenada, and probably all the way along the Andes. The early Spanish settlers, in going from Paraguay to Peru, met with some tribes of Indians who used its fruit for food: it is sweet; birds and cattle are very fond of it; and the whole algarob is so often preyed upon by locusts in some countries, that it is called the locust’s tree. Near to Mendoza, and in Chile, a small tree, with a straight stem of a bright yellowish green, might be the morus xanthoxylon or bastard fustick, but this is only a conjecture; it bears a fruit of the size and appearance of a nutmeg. OVER THE ANDES. 49 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER III. Another small tree which mixes with those already mentioned, particularly in the lower Andes of Chile, is the chanar or lucuma spinosa: it belongs to the sapota family, but is not so useful a member of it, as the palo de vaca cow-wood, or arbol de leche milk-tree, which Mr. de Humboldt found in New Grenada, and of which the following interesting description is given by that traveller.—* This fine “ tree rises like the broad leaved star-apple. Its oblong and pointed leaves, tough and alternate, are marked by lateral ribs, prominent at the lower surface and , ** parallel; some of them are ten inches long. We did not see the flower: the fruit “is somewhat fleshy, and contains one, or sometimes two nuts. . When incisions are “ made in the trunk of the tree, it yields abundance of a glutinous milk, destitute * of all acrimony, and of an agreeable and balmy smell. We drank considerable “ quantities of it in the evening, before we went to bed, and very early in the “morning, without feeling the least injurious effect. The viscosity of this milk “alone renders it a little disagreeable. The negroes and the free people who work “in the plantations drink it, dipping into it their bread of maize or cassava, and are « said to grow sensibly fatter during the season when the tree furnishes most milk. «This juice, exposed to the air, presents at its surface, perhaps in consequence of “the absorption of the atmospheric oxygen, membranes of a strongly animalized “ substance, yellowish, stringy, and resembling that of cheese. These membranes, *“ separated from the rest of the mote aqueous liquid, are elastic, almost like caout- “ choue; but they undergo i in time the same phenomena of putrefaction as gelatine. | “ The people call the coagulum, which separates by the contact of the air, cheese.” This tree appears to be peculiar to the chain of the coast, particularly from Barbula to the Lake of Maracaybo. Mr. Bredemeyer found it also at Caucagua, three days journey east of Caraccas. The inhabitants profess to recognize, from the appearance of the trees, that which yields most juice, as an experienced herdsman distinguishes, from external signs, a good milch cow. There: is in- Jamaica a wood also called milk-wood. _ Avclass of trees, which might be supposed to have served the office of nurses to H 50 TO CHILE, ~ CHAPTER III. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. the human creation an its infant state, is that of the padms. This numerous and bountiful family, so extensively spread in the world, is stated to count about two hundred different branches, and to have nearly half of them settled in South America, where they distribute their gifts with a majestic grace. The mauritia palm is described as the American sago tree, affording food in considerable abundance; but the real sago, which signifies meal in the dialect of Amboyna, comes from the East Indies; it is taken from the trunk, and a tree, fifteen years old, will yield six hundred pounds of it. The mauritia or murichi palm is found in low spots, in the basins of the Oronoko, and in many other parts of America. The pirijao palm is also seen growing in that basin: its fruit, of the size of a peach or apple, hangs in clusters, each containing from fifty to eighty: it is slightly saccharine and very nutritious. Mr. de Humboldt mentions this species of palm as very useful, the Indians depending on its fruit for support during several months in the year. The coco or cocos palm is very extensively distributed, and its large fruit well known, considerable quantities being brought to Europe: it is of the shape of an egg, nearly as large as a small human head; has a white kernel above half an inch in thickness, of the flavour of a hazel nut, and holds in the middle more than half a pint of a sweet refreshing liquor. The fibres of the nut’s shell may be spun, and made into very durable cordage; and this tree, like many other palms, furnishes wood for building, trunks fit for light canoes, large leaves for thatching, and, in the East Indies, for writing upon instead of paper. Other palms bear various edible fruits, and some yield oils, substitutes for honey or other substances, from their trunks. The palm of the Andes is described as a species, which is found as high as the line of perpetual snow. I did not meet with it in those parts of the chain which I have visited in Chile, nor on the road from Buenos-ayres to Mendoza, with the exception of two or three trees of this kind, which are seen rising above the houses of the latter town and that of San Luis, in irrigated garden grounds. The numerous groves of palm and cinnamon trees, mentioned by Molina amongst the beauties of Chile, must have ye eo ro is + ty, ? A ‘ ar ; ‘tp OVER THE ANDES. 51 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER III. suffered much destruction since his time, or have but partially existed, as they very seldom offer themselves to the traveller, who must seek for a few of them in retired and particularly favourable spots, amongst the lower groups of mountains. The substitute used for honey, in Chile, is from the palm: it has a good flavour, but is thin. It is very probable, that the race of palms was formerly more numerous in that country, and that being injudiciously or wantonly used, it has gradually been decreasing, and will soon be totally extinct, as the tree usually dies after the liquid substance has been drawn off from its trunk. The coco nuts, which it there bears in considerable quantities, are very small. The palm tree rises from twenty to near a hundred feet in South America, according to situations and species. Several kinds of palms might be called bread trees, owing to the many farina- ceous fruits which they yield; but what is generally understood by that name, is the bread fruit tree of Otaheite, an artocarpus which has superseded. other trees of the same numerous class, so extensively spread over the East Indian continent and islands, and in the Pacific Ocean. Captain Cook, when at Otaheite, discovered the superior quality of its fruit there, which does not bear seeds; and the British Govern- ment sent an expedition to that island, in the year 1791, in order to its propagation. Several hundred plants of it were brought and distributed, at St. Helena and in the West India islands ; but, owing to the easy growth there, of many edible productions preferred by the inhabitants, it has been hitherto propagated rather for ornament than for use. It is somewhat similar to the fig tree, with larger leaves; it grows to the thickness of a man’s body, and to the height of about forty feet. The fruit is a nearly globular berry, about nine inches long, filled with a white farinaceous pulp, which is best when gathered before it is quite ripe, and is, in consistence and flavour, a little like new leavened bread. One stem was sent from France to Cayenne during the revolution, and so numerous a family has been obtained from its shoots or suckers, that a considerable quantity of plants was lately received in France from that original stock. This tree is said to be one of the finest known. Some of its H 2 : » * fi ¥ * 52 “ TO. CHILE, ~~ | . wv R x F GHAPTER III.° GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. varieties bear seeds, which are mealy like chesnuts. When the roots of the bread: tree are wounded, they, like those of the fig, pour out a milky juice. ©. +4 The only tree of the fir kind with which I met, is the pinus Araucana, or pehuens but it was in the woods of Brazil, in the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, where I found it, and not in Chile. I was informed in the latter country, that it grew in the parallel of the river Bio-bio, and from thence to the straits of Magellan. .The climate of nearly all Chile is too dry for any of the fir or cedar trees; yet, ina country where wood for building is so scarce, the experiment of sowing in ‘the. Andes some seeds of the hardy fir and larch tribes of Europe might prove successful, because there are many moist spots in those mountains, where they might thrive, to the use and benefit of the inhabitants. ‘The cones which the Araucana pine bears, are very similar to those of the pineaster, but more spherical, and as large as a small human head: they contain seeds which are like elongated chesnuts, and. are sold. roasted in the market places of Rio de Janeiro. The tree, at a distance, has in some degree the appearance of a silver fir; but the leaves. are above half an inch broad, in the form of blades an inch and a half long, drawn or curled in, and prickly. The earliest travellers in Paraguay, and in the south of Brazil, describe this tree as growing there to a considerable height and size, affording food to the Indians with its fruit: they call it the stone pine, probably from the tree of that name which grows in the south of Spain, and bears nuts also, but different in quality and size, Having brought with me some seeds of this Brazil pine, 1 understand that there is no doubt of its being the same as the Araucana, a name which it therefore does not exclusively deserve. The description given by the Abbé Molina answers to it in every respect except one: he mentions that the cones are smooth and. ligneous, whilst those which I got in Brazil, were still abe rough and scaly than the cones of the pineaster. “In the same account it is also stated, that this tree is much cultivated in Chile; but I did not observe it in those parts which I liave visited. The existence of a fir tree within sight, would have been too singular an object to remain unnoticed, GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ‘ CHAPTER III. and I should have almost hailed it as the meeting with an old friend: the country about Conception is probably that, where Molina found so many. In the Swiss mountains, and on the high ridges nearest to Italy, the last tree seen is most frequently the larch, which, at an elevation of four or five thousand feet, becomes of very small and stinted growth, and at last leaves the ground entirely free to alpine grasses and pasture. Below the larch, or mixed with it, are the silver and spruce firs, and sometimes a few of the species called Scot’s fir; but these are more generally closing the rear, in some low swampy spots, few in numbers, of a small and unseemly growth, the least esteemed of any; the larch the most, which, either unwillingly mixing with the other tribes, or unwelcome to them, occupies but few of the high eastern tracts, whilst the spruce and silver, but particularly the spruce, are very generally distributed over the whole country. Below the fir tribes © are the beach, the oak, and other forest trees. There the face of the land varies incessantly, from soft to hard features, froma smiling to a stern countenance; its scenery, from luxuriance and magnificence to majestic sublimity and expressive wildness. The trees unite with the ground in producing these effects; and whilst warm tints enliven the lower vallies, the dark hues af the fir are finely contrasting above, with fields of ice and summits covered with perpetual snow. The lofty pine seems to vie with the tumbled rocks, in assuming bold and. threatening: atti- tudes; sometimes its huge trunk stands on a large stone, so bare that no trace is seen of the support by which is was at first reared; sometimes it dashes out of the rock, as if holding to it by strong muscular powers; or weakened by great age, it is seen leaning on its more vigorous companions. So well fitted to the powers of “ human sight are the various changes of scenes there, that they are seldom otherwise than precisely such, as the traveller, in his progress, is either able or desirous to com- mand and enjoy; and so expressive is the countenance of Nature, that whilst he is gazing on it, she seems as if answering to him, and making a strong appeal to his feelings in her favour. Very different indeed: from this, shall we find the scenery of the Andes in Chile, when we arrive at a near view of them. But they are not & 54 - To: CHELENg * 5 ae » mut afi s CHAPTER IIL. . | GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. "2 " visited and crossed for the gratification of mountainous landscapes. The eyesiof » 8 ‘ i the traveller are occupied with some object in his own mind: some metallic icity. ¥ would perhaps please him more, than a fine prospect and the sight of Nature in a rich : dress: if so, she cannot be too naked and inanimate for him: r & @ In passing over the Andes, from Mendoza to Santiago de Chile, the eastern . 4 ascent is nearly destitute of trees, although it is of considerable breadth, and formed of several lower chains of mountains with intermediate vallies. But there is, on this — * flank, such an appearance of general combustion, of crudeness and sourness of soil, that the traveller is not surprised at its scanty vegetation. The western descent 7 is not so generally barren. Whether: this difference of feature, between the eastern " and western sides of the Andes, be only marked in this part of the chain, or exhi- _ bited all along it, might be an interesting subject for investigation, and if found to be its general character, might be connected with the circumstance which has been observed, that volcanoes are, or have been, more numerous and active on the eastern than on the western cordilleras, where the higher ridges are divided into several branches. After having passed the cumbre, called the pass of the volcano, and descended about half way down the Chile side, at a height of perhaps six or seven thousand feet above the sea, the first tree seen is the quillai, or quillaja saponaria of Molina, which, at some distance, looks very much like a beech of ordinary size, fifty or sixty feet high. It generally grows insulated, and is sometimes seen at the top of the ridges of the lower mountains of Chile in the driest situations, whilst their sides are nearly bare. Its bark, holding a compound of alkaline and oily | substances, is a natural fabric of soap, and is an article of small inland and foreign trade: it is first macerated, and afterwards stirred in hot water, when a lather rises, more pungent however than cleansing. The principal or almost only consumption of this bark is by the women of Chile and Peru, for washing their long and strong black hair, of which it is believed to promote the growth. ‘This is the largest forest ~ tree which I have seen in that country, and indeed the only one which seems to = deserve that name, unless others be found about the Bio-bio; for when a traveller . ce - & Pe ¢ v a ae sien % a ¥ we ba *,. a " ae & a He ye 2 ae € “e a ' F re %¢ »% OVER THE ANDES. i 55 “a " a eae . ie GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. -" CHAPTER III. complains of the want of trees and vegetation, he is always referred there for them. : A greater moisture must undoubtedly render those southern borders of Chile, very different from the other parts of that country. That the soil of South America is fertile in an extraordinary degree, appears evident in almost every part of it; and that the land of Chile, when irrigated, is perhaps the most productive of any, may be conjectured: but, that a given space of _ land there, does not yield at present so large a crop of corn, as the same extent does : under good English agriculture, may be said of that country, and probably of all South America. When we are told of the corn lands in Chile yielding sixty or eighty for one, we are most incorrectly informed ; and when the abundant produce of Africa and America is extolled, unless such statements be qualified, and the standard known by which they are to be taken, no useful information can be derived from them. If we cast up the account, merely between the numerical amount of seeds deposited in the ground and the return yielded by the crop, and if we suppose the process of sowing to be the same throughout the world, we certainly, then, can understand this part of the results of agriculture, and judge from it of the compa- rative state of husbandry in different countries. Thus we may state, that England yields, in wheat, a mean return of twelve or thirteen for one; France six or seven ; Germany five or six; and by taking for granted that, by drill or broad-cast sowing, the same mean quantity of seed is deposited in the three countries, the statement helps us to judge of the skill displayed in their respective agriculture, or of the fertility of their soils; but it helps us no farther, and by extending that standard to any country without explanations, and without qualifying the kind of produce to which it is applied, we shall discover that, in some, the mode of sowing is such as to render it entirely fallacious in its most important results in regard to wheat, and that, in others, the staple produce may be Indian corn yielding many hundreds for one, whilst wheat may not return twenty. Thus, if we take a comparative view of this last produce in England and in Chile, we shall find that, in the latter country, he _ for one. This will ge Sas d, when we are in Chiles ‘by the a - “ pressure of public burthens, . have led to this, much in the same manner as former _ manure whatever. If that superiority do not yet extend also, to.a g eaters urn. of ¢ “a oradual increase of the duty on spizits i -d the distiller to improve his still, and so 4 * 2 good crop of wheat will yield teeny five for one; and yet, that th ish farme who gathers forty bushels of it from an acre of land sown. with two, and. a half, | obtains a more aN ederalte return, than the hileno does from t e sa e spa e of é hile twenty five, Wh ifferencein the") Th Se The quantity of seed sqyn being generally the least valuable outgoing for a crop, a more comprehensive estimate of the return of lands will be made, by taking also into accom the value of the Piitire and labour requisite, in order to get a field into good aring ; and hereafter we shall see, that the land of Chile likewise exhibits a considerable superiority in regard to both, owing to the little fins. of seed and i labour, with which a good crop of wheat may be raised in that country, without any ground, although the English return be only sixteen, and that of process of sowing. ave | Lak. es wheat and barley from a given space of ground, than is obtain .in the most fertile and. best cultimaied parts. pbaporape, it is owing to a want of industry and skill in ~ agriculture, and not of powers in the soil and climate. 2 Te gai charges, are brought into the account of a field of wheat, the result of which would often shew that, in some countries of Europe, whee the return is oulysfive or six for one, the farmer prospers more than in others, where it is twice that amount. The British agriculturist,, whose soil, speaking generally, is neither uncommonly fertile nor of easy management, may be the more proud of having brought his land to bear a heavier crop than perhaps any other in the world; and, by shewing how the gi Be of Providence may be most increased ongs least space of ground, he deserves the gratitude of his fellow creatures. | His “natural - activity and industry, with the © : e A still more comprehensive estimate is that by which rent, tithes, and indirect £ on ; ‘ q % * - ° - 5 & be oh a 3 : 2 ' well to fit it to every additional tax, as to be, for a long time, rather gaining 91 on the public revenue, than gained upon by it. But ee a display of ing chinne ~ “ee * a * 5 : vj zs »” : % Y ’ y ad 2 fe od oe ba : > ea”? “ a. 3 : , , pt + ae ™ * # ” of CHAPTER I~ % a petnawii caf of spi tert be h meat Fan a”. ncreas I a , wn oe advantage to the _ ulture.. ese, it cannot in agricu o be able to answer the em met he at the lowes possible rate, pian be the eke _ be one shghtivesin ‘and of eiieity persevering ibs watobfil labour ; himself alike Pig ‘stranger to ae and transient enjoyment of luxuries sometimes erica by other more culative purstits, and to the anxiety, distress, and bitterness, which often attend them. Farming is, of all concerns, the least capable of bearing large eitpotnigen diet 18) playing high stakes, with general and permanent Resnariys sithe ‘ least intended for the ¢ expectation of great profits, or the ini dah of heavy | losses. In other pur suits, men can more or less fit their business and situation to the change a public and private circumstances ; in agriculture they cannot. The farmer is seldom’ a’ man’who can turn himself about, and face many attacks made on his purse previous to its. being replenished by the sale of his crops. Field work, not ‘ aa sian transactions, s ond -_. his time “ih his abilities. An igh Me of poe w %, duce of iis ban will steatiy make up ) for all, compels him to run risks which were not intended for him. Annoyed, worried, and often distressed, by repeated ™ ae calle he is driven from his home: the necessity of raising money, or e impossibility of so doing, make him —_ days after days his farm and his | » work: a most precions time is lost, his business is neglected, and his spirits are. broken down: his life becomes any but that which Providence seems ta have © -“Sntended that it should be, industrionsly but placidly laborious ; domestis, | and patriarchal, # se mm . ‘ ee { whan > #« J = — ve . a i i " “= < * | 2 a i 4 ra s a waa es & ce ; Li, ? re . *, *. oe“ Ist its foundation is hee ane. weaker,’ It t will ite in ® CHAPTER. Ill. of all neds ites me leatest re tof a ane to ~ toa new generations, aoe RS all will:crowd. into the ‘upper’ car of © a cigacart is a mgpeupermgane t source: of, prosperity. tr may unite in ‘increasing it; that the. pursuit of farming is. ~ under Saint circumstances, fit. itself to the present: ¢ oie i cxapelaane thachiperys, of the financial . system of Europe; ‘and ow Sesann; “Process. ~ preparing, a field . for a crop. of corn, to that of consuming ae St f that the t ransactions and peelings cannot be too. few, too simple, and, too small. ig ‘Nor does it. appear, in the present improved state of erratgn and. of . social, intercourse ee nations, or in the view of. their mutual. connections. with, and. wants from, . 4 each other, that the interchange of. the primitive alimentary ‘produce of the land can be, checked. by public restrictions’ and phi with. any’ advantage toa State, * ¢ unless to prevent an extraondinagy: scarcity. That intercha nge tends to the: prospe- = rity of the. community of Ee and — each of ‘them, in. some way or -another, Fla obtains its share of the general welfare. *The cheaper that produce. camilig: sold.to « ~ the consumer, the better it is,for a people; but. far best indeed’ for th ial aso if they themselves be able to. gro wit at ame, as cheap as any where else.'. And ve threatening, must . the dreaded. or existi , scarcity be, to. render any, r interfer a , with the first aL ignessantog. of “life, either j or ultimately JBongfictah to a nation, ifthe | “srt ON, pe that of toda of xa with tthe pulse. asthe sistent” Sate me the (erate of food siooretne to reumstanc ecomes necessary, i in order that it may be rendered. just towards all, that the duti 8, resttictio ns, @F orotibitions; by which it is so regulated, should — be e incessantly modified hati to the various changes of those, circumstances, as meh appen to effect the grower and the consumer, whose standard of transactions at r is, in he former « case, graduated by themselves, ‘and in the latter, by their islature. e © ed O. Ps ) ~ -'The current of kn vle ge and improvement. appears to be gradually carrying along with itfinto the: councils of the most enlightened nations, the conviction % that ~ anufactures and trade are ‘most extended and. rendered useful to States, . . > pe, 1s much as possible burthens and restrictions ea them; and. that. where the food a ds raw materials can be*procured. gt the lowest. possible . the. means of producing the best works with, the least possible. labour and. expence, are encouraged and protected, there, must consequently be the most and. best trade. Formerly the effectual means of advantage to the public, and of encou, ; . ragement to ee manufacturer and trader, were thought to be high duties and probi- bitions, both so very injurious to morals, and often to trade itself. But now, to render their pursuits a trial of skill and industry among nations, and an object of al emulation for underselling one another, is found a more permanent and less injurious source of wealth. In short, experience seems to sh ew, that it is far more advanta- ous to a State, to eile the consumer to buy che: p, than the vender to sell dear ; and, above all, the produce of the land and the necessaries of life. . Among statistic itkeMti cations, that which would offer a correct statement of the respective results rf of agriculture indifferent, kis of Europe, deduced from the most comprehensive” " estimates, would perhaps not on ape, be the least interesting and useful in’ these times, ? * ? ' < - hs. To : % © * v senna pursuits in Europe, is Doth te an Pain th « 2 : at ose ¥ ¥ ts Ps : * ee. ried ty Sct. TSI Hips MIRC +... Pageoae- eet i hae nae lll heer ice sata tsitis ae i he bag: oe B) > : ey ; a x ar - = x =e — aaa 4 CHAPTER Ill. J a. GENERAL PRA Th Miav alte who, a FF culties ference and carelessness, with which they a are often fo _ struck with the dispensations of Povillpacen and with tl cf ] “evil which seems to flow from the two opposit te states, ce We: civil oy -< * e i . , a ¥ j £ 4 j : Po aa nv ‘ 7 ¥ » | ‘s e - ™ tg ee ad a << Boogie a oy & na igo E 2 ai : 8 fa SH ; j Tm ad : a nee “ty ’ 4} tate AF ae ve ra - | “ * ao Bpishuss ins ., — 2% -f ¥ n - & Me ” ee Oe | Rraowt er i ae et: Bie ‘ + eo We oa ite Fiat ee gy het si c.. begs,” mae a — « % = ‘a ae. 6tSl6 Mee ney ey ee senewc £ ‘ic # 5b; se. Te ai : —. 1G axe seid hi ae ee ogptgpoitid ied ih ilies dae Spel lienivn, ieee homens % 3 Sea a it, re “a - -e ae ss" tied : Ww a Chile, in the small mountains below the Andes, _ when ha traveller happens * tobe a some. aps: ‘of the colour of wood ashes, very like fine barilla in € sited he will often see “that the miner has, in many places, tried the ound _ . for’ silver, and eeched here perhaps only a hole without success, but there has Ws follagysd a vein to a small depth -» These blueish barilla-like places form a charac: teristic feature of the bowls of Chile, of some of the lower mountains of re chain | of the ° 2 that country, and ap of, its higher cordilleras, being | seen in e ¥ * tisnaians ich contrast with the tint of the ground near them. The eo "S Niceichtly. occur where’ the soil is not alluvial, are sometimes very extensive, at other sigs only in small ‘beds: ‘and the sight of them was invariably accompanied with the idea, that I was looking at deposits of sealbhells which ha ff undergone some fermentation, as they often exhibited The eastern par of the American continent, and. particularly the mountains of Brazil, have often undergone an eager search silver, but with very little a ~-uecess, if any. ‘Whe omaments of this metal, colle he possession of the Indians : »» there, and near Rio: Plata, y at est to the supposition: that it existed in those - © countries, and to manynles essful expeditions for the discovery of the spots which - i \ had produced it, but they never could be found; ; andwit was afterwards concluded, | : that the Indians: Thad: brought, the. iS PP ict: the Andes, or that it had passed + ee their different tribes, by the -teans of trade and wry, from west to east. ‘here remain, in Brazil and in Guyana, s ne; mountainous tracts of considerable extenty, which have not, yet. been explored, and are ii still. unknown. But _ gold appears chiefly to constitute the metallic ae f the eastern mountains me ae ape mostyextensive mines 6f Dy Nas now wrought, are those of New’ ‘Spainy like. 4 the appearance of having been partially or slightly charred. > Mee % ae a . an » 2%. ns *. i a." i | ~ - ih ow eho ves a, tee * * ts 2 Vas . . ‘eal 4 # x: . . gat rd x cz in the Mies rs oo - Ml i SoMmeUyeye © OMCs a mines of. , + al Andes of New Spain, is a clay slate, and the absoliie height of those mines is stated a, “of America are Guanazuato, Zacatecas, Catorce, and Real del M fs $$$ <<< oo : » _ fas CHAPTER. Iv. 5 - se wise situated Reacpistivaiontiot , ae oO t e a the Andes; mountains Oe re. x 4 exclusively to von e power 0 a at least sins considerable quanti ity, this metal in MA tHerines But we learn from yen althggehiniage f native silver, of considerable weight, have often been n found in those mines, rs, it has pien extracted. from theig J metallic veins, yet, generally speaking, it is rather from their extent than from thes Ne # richness of their ores, that those of New Spain are so productive. TR passage and , access to them from Europe are so much shorter and easier than to those» of the Andes f South America, and the means of working them so much more: consi- derable, that the miners of Mexico would naturally gail much vrour dover those of the southern continent, although many spots, of g greater ¥ we ealth in silver, males notwithstanding the great abundance with w The; e Fock which appedllc form the base of the ans 8 in molds to be, from five thousand niné hundred to nine thousand eight bilinear feet. The spots where most of this 1etal has been extracted in that part Some * the metallic veins lie at the top of the high central cordillera, 4) The districts of the silver mines of Potosi, Oruro, La Paz, Based Pree Gual. gayoc, Mm or near upper pai, athe in regions of which the ele vation above the sea surpasses ten thousand feet, the last being about thirte and we Sreiamtaees Mr. Helm that, on his way to Potosi, grounds, he found them to consist of very firm sanidiec tl la of various een ; and that the mountain of that name, as also those es were chiefly _ composedh of that sub stance. ¢ @ « =* ? é -T have visited the silver mines of Uspalata, the last of! importance in $ sone Andes, on the eastern side of the central ridge, an taf I mntity ‘venture to ; ans height, I would suppose it to be from six to eight - thousand feet ¥ » &; . Mendoza, and from five hundred toa thousand more feet above the sea. “They “a j & ye § io ae w » ® ry ‘4 out a GENERAL PRATT 6 ‘CONTINUED. | ; CHAPTER IV. likewise rest on a base of a hard, yellowish ereen, slightly micaceous slate rock, which ‘is seen to form, not only the greatest part of the mountain of Uspallata, but likewise the i inner and higher steps of the ascent to the central cordillera, beyond the bowl or valley of the same name, which is about twelve miles wide. The stratification of this rock is very conspicuous and uniform; and its dip, as near as Icould judge “without a compass, is to the northwest, at an angle which, in most parts, may be about forty degrees. Where the dip i increases, the strata generally become thinner, and in a few spots where it is very considerable, they are reduced from the peat of a few feet to that of some inches. wide : From the great sameness in the appearance of this first longitudinal eastern. mountain of the chain on the Andes, which I was informed extends about two hundred miles north and south of Mendoza, and whose mean height above and near that town might be estimated at eight or nine thousand feet, there is reason to : suppose that it is chiefly formed of the same argillaceous shist. But this, as well as _ the ‘other mountains that have the same base and lie further in the chain, are covered. with substances of a calcareous appearance, which exhibit, in’ the most striking manner, signs of a general combustion of that crust, and of the higher part of their declivities towards the basin of Uspallata. It is on the descent into it, and amongst the debris of that apparently burnt crust, that the silver mines are situated. The argillaceous rock is seen sometimes throwing up summits above the whole, or piercing through the sides below, so as to surround a considerable part of the bowl, in the same uniform undisturbed state, and having been evidently blackened by the smoke of a volcano, now extinct, on the south side of it. The prevailing wind here being from the southward, would naturally drive the smoke towards the slate rocks, which, on this slope, are very much darkened, whilst, on the other, they are of a bright colour. The crater lies low, and presents the appearance of the bursting open of the crust with rather a short than a continued action. I brought specimens of oe rocks and substances of . interesting spot, over which we shall soon have an K CHAPTER IV; P GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. opportunity. of ieee a again, as it lies,im,our way over the os from Mendoza to Santiago. - | eae re ie Ee ot ck snleot seeds It thus: appears, that a general feature shi atoaatos the regions of the principal ee: -silver in the Andes, along a range of four thousand three hundred geogra- phical miles ; the metallic veins being situated at a very considerable height, and on a base of .argillaceous shist of very great depth... = 254 ; | _.. GoD. is most frequently and most abundantly found in nailed ribpntaiins or in hills, which form. bowls and vallies east and.west. of the Andes, much below the height of the aes mines of iia or in alia soils ome that chain, at so of ‘de, hills Sd ee terete of South ereeis it. is sc found amas with copper, and, in the higher regions of the Andes, very: generally with silver, in small proportions to these metals. . The production of gold is not therefore, like that of silver, confined to the Andes, and. the metallic countries near them, but, : on the contrary, and in proportion to the space of. ground which the gold. districts occupy in Brazil, the east of America has yielded more of it than the west: and if it donot now produce it.in the same abundance as formerly, it. is probably, more owing to a want. of encouragement for enterprize, and of industry in the inhabitants, or of security in.the prosecution of their labours, than to a denial from the soil... So that whilst, silver is the principal production of the high chain of the Andes, ‘ gold is that.of smaller mountains in Brazil, the mean height of which we find stated, in Mr. Southey’s interesting history of that country, at about two thousand six hundred feet above the level of the sea, and none of whose summits reach the mee of perpe- tual snow. | ! . | ite The alluvial soils of the districts of ine in. lint Miacige, and of Choco, in New Grenada, both on the western side of the Andes, are some of the spots whieh have hitherto produced most. gold in the west of America, comparatively. to their extent. In Chile, it is seldom sought in the higher Andes: but below them, there OVER’ THE ANDES. 67 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER IV. are. probably but 'few mountains. or hills, and. perhaps not any stream, without it. When found in-veins, it is most: frequently in hills of striking: tints, of which:the predominant.colour is red or crimson. | In the gold mounts near Guasco, which have been opened. in all directions, it is not the soil only, but also some part of the vege- tation’on it, which exhibits. that appearance. ‘The mines in them are’ generally of very: small depth; and many are abandoned... In: some::of these, a very thin white stratum, of a calcareous appearance, was :pointed: out: to me in the rocks: it. hardly exceeded in many places the fourth part. of an-inch, and I was informed: that it generally was the sign of a good'vein. In» these: mounts,. copper is) also !fourid:itt abundance. I could not observe any indication: tending to support the supposition, that this last metal. was superincumbent to: gold; but a closer :and abler investigation might lead toa different result. -Gold, in that country, is chiefly obtained by washing the soil, which is generally of a yellow or yellowish brown ‘colour, and it is said that the latter)is the most productive of ity “The country of the Araucanos:is known to contain this-metal,- and it is-even described: as holding it in very great abundance, much being found in its streams; but the information yet obtained on this subject is probably of a.doubtful nature... tat | | _\~ In Brazil, gold is likewise commonly obtained by the process of washing ‘the soil, and. itis more abundantly found. there in the former beds of rivers, which “are called guapiaras or the highest’ channels, and. in éaboletros or table grounds by their sides, than in those which they now occupy.: When got in the same manner in Chile, it is'also, most generally, from the upper and older banks and channels of rivers, the size of which indicates that bodies of water, hundreds of fathoms wide and of a proportionate depth, have formerly been flowing, where now are streams perhaps only one deep and ten broad. ©The gold miners likewise dig for it the soil of former. channels ‘of corisiderable magnitude; but’ where no rivers are now seen: or if they workalong some mountain stream in that country, they prefer the old alluvial deposits, or that which may have been brought down by a heavy winter's rain. K 2 68. / SOTO. CHILE, > : CHAPTER IV. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. I have already mentioned that, on the eastern side of the Andes near Mendoza, are also seen old channels’ of very considerable breadth, in which now flow ‘small streams only; and it is stated in Humboldt’s, that from the Oronoko, at a hundred or hundred and thirty feet above the highest present increase of its waters, may be seen black bands and erosions, indicating the ancient abode of waters; that figures sculptured in rocks .of a considerable and now inaccessible height, were likewise observed along the banks of that river ; works which, according to traditions among the Indians, were performed at the time of the great waters. The former banks of the broadest old channels, in Chile, ‘are ‘chiefly: formed: of alluvial deposits; but I. well remember noticing with astonishment, from the upper roads between Valparayso: and Guasco, and among the lower mountains in that country, erosions which also’ indicated a long course of deep rivers, where none are now flowing. These appear-' ances, observed. in many parts of South America’ so distant from each other, form a general and interesting feature, perhaps well worthy of further investigation. § Mercury or quicksilver, exists in considerable abundance in the chain of the Andes, and principally where it is most required for the purpose of amalgamation, the process by which the greatest part of the gold and silver obtained in America’ are separated ; that of smelting being rendered less expedient, in the many metallife- rous districts along those mountains, where fuel fails. But, before the conquest and some time afterwards, smelting was the only process in use among the natives and their conquerors. Amalgamation by means of quicksilver and salt was first practised in Mexico, by a Spaniard, in the middle of the sixteenth century, and was soon afterwards introduced into Peru. Like silver, mercury is chiefly found in the high ridges of the Andes, in Mexico, New Grenada, Quito, Peru, and Chile, either in veins or beds of cinnabar ; seldom in a pure metallic state; and there are indica- tions of its existence in most parts of that chain. But notwithstanding its: great consumption, and the expence of procuring it from foreign countries, only three mines are wrought for it; two in Mexico, and in Peru that of Guancavelica, which contains it in very considerable abundance, and is thirteen thousand eight hundred OVER THE ANDES. | 69 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER IV. feet above the level of the ocean, probably the highest mine from which any metal has: yet been obtained in the world: The quantity of mercury required for amalga- mation in America, has been hitherto made up by large supplies drawn from the celebrated mines of Idria in Carniola, and from those of Almaden in Spain: but the late wars and disturbances have often been the cause of its being very scarce and dear in several mining districts; an injury which is considerably increased, by the custom of their respective Governments, to carry on themselves and exclusively this branch of trade: they purchase or import the quicksilver, and retail it to the miners; a monopoly which has likewise contributed to keep shut the native stores. _» PuatTINum isa metal which is only obtained in South America, in the districts of Choco and Barbacoas, between the second and sixth degrees of north latitude, on the shores of the southern ocean, and has not hitherto been discovered elsewhere in the world: it is produced in small quantities and in grains, by alluvial soils which algo contain gold. What gave rise to the supposition that it existed in Chile was, I believe, a metallic ore near Copiapo, which the miners have not yet been able to reduce, but which is thought by some to contain chiefly silver. | Copper, although very abundant in many parts of Western America, in and near the Andes, is not so extensively produced as gold and silver; but it exists along that chain, from New Mexico to the southern parts of Chile, in many spots, the situation and climate of which have not hitherto offered means or advantages sufficient for its extraction. Some mines have been sparingly wrought in New Spain ; but the countries where this metal is principally obtained in America, are the Caraccas and Chile, particularly the latter, where, independently of the exports made. of it to‘other parts of North and South America and to Europe, considerable quantities have, of late years, been shipped to China and Bengal, in return for the produce and manufactures of those countries: a circumstance which has tended to give more activity to the copper works. of the Chilenos, by enhancing the price of copper in the mines, from twenty four or twenty six shillings the quintal, its former standard, to about fifty, the price at which it was selling in the year 1821. 70 og GRO. CHILE; 340 2 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER IV. .. But in Chile, and carriage is so difficult and laborious ; wood; water, and fodder, are'so scarce, that the advantage of mining for metals less valuable than gold and silver is very much counteracted, and must gradually become more’so, until private exertions and public encouragement shall have contributed to reniove. the difficulties and expences which now attend copper. mining: these are every year: increasing most, where the ores of copper are most productive-and abundant, in the neighbour- hood of Copiapo, Guasco, and Coquimbo, owing to the excessive driness of the climate and the destruction of the woods... The distance-of the spots from which water and fuel must be brought, the great number, of. men, mules, and: asses, required: for that service, as also for the conveyance of ,the ore from, the: mines to the: smelting works, and of the metal to some shipping place ;' the maintenance of'so many: beasts ee fail, not only natural moisture for, vegetation, but even ‘streams for artificial irrigation, are all causes of such considerable and gradually ‘increasing expences, that if the present high price of copper in Chile were to occasion some change in the channels of that trade, and a diminution of the.demand for some years, many-minies would be abandoned. ... These. difficulties, and: probably some: want of skill, are likewise operating against the quality of the metal, the improvement of which is less attended to, than the economy-.of the process for obtaining it. Such veins only are wrought, as are most productive and. least inconveniently situated; and as there are neither skilful workmen, nor timber. trees, sufficient, for’ carrying down the excavations to much depth, when the ground threatens to fall in, the work is shifted, and. the mine opened again lower down the vein or higher up it, if it can be traced and followed; if not, another must be found, and the difficulty is not to meet with it, but to fix on one sufficiently rich in copper,to render it worth the labour. In that country the ore is roasted. and reduced, and the metal is only once refined) in a reverberating furnace. | 3 ' Some accidental observations made, and. information received, during: excursions in mining districts of Chile, would lead. to suppose, that the line of copper veins and deposits, or at. least. that of mines wrought, in that country, runs chiefly in a OVER THE ANDES. 71 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. | CHAPTER IV. northwest; direction; beginning im: the Andes and about the 36th “degree of south latitude, where:considerable masses of native copper have been found, particularly at Payen, long since abandoned, owing to the want of population and security; ap- pearing again near Aconcagua, and from thence continuing its course northwest- ward.towards Coquimbo, Guasco, and Copiapo, approaching the sea more and more until it loses itself in it. | . Tron exists in most parts of the chain of the Andes or near it, in large stores which, at some future period, may be opened for the use of America. It is very abundant in New Spain, where some mines have occasionally and. very sparingly been wrought, when the importation of supplies from Europe was interrupted. In South America there is not population, fuel, or water, sufficient to reduce this metal with advantage, and it is therefore found preferable to import it. Iron is found in Chile mineralized with various substances, and in many spots in very considerable masses of pyrites, which are generally called by the miners, brass and bronze, from the’erroneous supposition that, copper forms the principal of their component parts, and that it is naturally alloyed with zine and other metals. I brought some speci- mens ofa, large store of this kind lying, between Coquimbo and. Guasco, and upon investigation they. have proved iron pyrites. It is stated by the Abbé Molina, that brass’ exists native and in a malleable state in Chile. The magnetic iron ore or load- stone may be plentifully obtained in that country, and in other western districts. _|. Lap is found in the Andes in very considerable abundance from New Mexico to Arauco, mineralized with silver,.and. in various other shapes. Chile could yield large supplies, of it; but it is seldom attended to any where in the west of America, and indeed; like iron, is very little wanted. There the lead works, which in many parts of Europe are necessary, in order to carry) off water and supply it, or for other pur- poses, are either unknown, not practicable, or seldom required.,, Few, sportsmen are found for the consumption of shot.: (Woods are there so hard, as to afford in many eases a substitute for iron, of which but little is used in buildings.. Several culinary and working tools, pans, stills, or other. utensils, are manufactured \in.-Chile of On - TO CHILE, | GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ~ i CHAPTER IV. hammered. copper, and from thence exported to many other parts of America. Horses: in the southern continent, with the exception of a few used by Europeans, or destined § te for long journies, are made to work, and to work hard, without shoes. Tin is likewise produced by the western mountainous grounds of America, in veins and in alluvial deposits: the little which is got of this metal, is preferably: obtained from the latter. It is supposed to be abundant in New Mexico, and is stated to be so in Chile. Zinc, ANTIMONY, MANGANESE, ARSENIC, and other metals, are likewise abundantly found in that immense chain of the Andes,’ which, from what we have seen, truly deserves the name of metallic. | SuLtpHur very plentifully exists in the volcanic grounds of America, and therefore all along the Andes. In Chile are masses of it sufficiently pure for use without previous refining, and this substance appears to be disseminated in the soil of that country with extraordinary abundance. | | Coats, in the west of America, begin to be extensively seen at nearly an equal distance to the north and south of the Equator. They are known to abound in New Mexico and along the stony mountains. In Chile, near Conception, are considerable stores of them, which at first, and when taken from the surface, were not of a good quality, but which are now found to improve much as thé mine increases in depth, and are already an article of trade and consumption at Valparayso: © When the inha- bitants shall know how to use them for the reduction of metals, and when their industry, now fettered by numberless duties, restrictions, and prohibitions, the effect of contracted or selfish views still strongly operating in that country and other parts of South America, shall be allowed to follow its natural course of improve- ment, then will no doubt many of the difficulties, now existing against the working of the mines, be removed. Between the two latitudes above mentioned, coals have been also discovered in the Andes, but in very’ small quantities. ComMMON SALT is more abundantly found in the west of America than in’ the east. On the table lands of the Andes, and in all the countries along their sides, are’ great stores of it. The names of salado or saladio and saladillo, given to so many OVER THE ANDES. 73 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. — CHAPTER IV. rivers, indicate their briny qualities, and there are several salt lakes, by the sides of which common salt may be procured in a crystallized state and fit for use. It is also found disseminated in argillaceous lands, at a considerable distance from the Andes, and is besides contained in a fossil state, in some parts of that chain or below it, rock salt being easily obtained in many spots. At Valparayso in Chile, large quan- tities of salt are often required for the shipping, and for the whale or seal fisheries, particularly since the discovery of New Shetland, and they are supplied, partly from beds near the river Maule between Valparayso and Conception, and partly from Peru, in the table lands of which, rock salt is found in great abundance. In the vast basins of the rivers Amazon and Oronoko, the distant settlements are often without it: in some districts, they extract it from a kind of palm tree, which forms or absorbs it in sufficient quantity, to yield much of it again by lixiviation and eva- poration. In Brazil are many salt works, some on the sea coast, others by the sides of salt lakes, in the north of that country, but much of what is consumed there comes from Europe and Cape Verd Islands. The practice of drying the meat in the sun instead of salting it, which prevails in the extensive cattle districts of South America, and that of using so much red pepper with food, render the consumption of salt, for domestic purposes, less considerable than it would otherwise be; but it is largely employed in the process of amalgamation, and, like quicksilver, is obtained in abundance where it is most required for the gold and silver mines. Saltpetre is found in thick incrustations, in some of the vallies of the Andes and elsewhere. It is plentifully produced in Chile. The Andes of New Mexico, and the chain further north called stony mountains, have been very little explored, and are therefore in a. great degree unknown. Nor have the metallic properties of the Southern Andes, from the 36th or 37th degree to the straits of Magellan, been investigated. It is known that gold exists in Arauco, and still further to the south: it has even been often stated, that it is very abundantly found there, by the sides of rivers and torrents, but that the Araucanos would never allow mining or washing for it to be practised in their lands: I also heard this iL 4 -.TO CHILE, © FO ee ee a TNS eee MER ee eee CHAPTER Iv. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. in Chile; and the aie part of the account which may be pier pee the diffi- culty of having accurate information, is the.great,abundance in which. this metal is said to exist in that country. Still less can the wealth of that part of the Andes, in silver and copper, be known. It is not probable. that, in leaving Chile,: that chain, should lose its characteristic feature, and the possession of these metals; but their discovery in Arauco is rendered much more difficult than i in Chile, owing to the moisture of the climate, and the more powerful vegetation on the ground ; whilst the latter country lies in so exposed and naked a state, that the search for metallic veins is very much facilitated... Another obstacle which occurs beyond the Bio-bio, and even in some parts of the Andes of Chile to the north of that river, is the unfriendly disposition of the Indians, who, although not in a state of open warfare, yet cannot be trusted. It is therefore to be expected that, unless some European power should effect a settlement between the straits of Magellan and the Araucanos, by which both sides of the Andes might be colonized, that part of South America will long remain unknown, as it is very improbable that any attempt for.it. can be made, either from Buenos-ayres on the east, or from Chile on the west: there are neither power, means, nor population, sufficient for, it. The eastern side of the Andes in the parallel of Chile, has likewise been so little explored, that its metallic properties are in a great degree unknown, with the exception of the silver mines of Uspallata, the discovery of which was probably owing to their situation near the road over the cordillera, and which appear to be now abandoned. 'The remoteness of those districts, the barrenness of the country, appa- rently still greater than on the western side of the chain, the great driness of the climate, the very small population, and the fear of the Indians, are the causes of it. Even in Chile, the ground is far from having been much explored yet, and during the last ten or twelve years, the miners of that country have found, in the Andes above Copiapo and Guasco, some new and rich stores of silver. In Brazil, to the advantages of considerable fertility of soils, great variety of climates for the growth of all kinds of productions, rains and moisture almost every OVER THE ANDES. 75 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER IV. where sufficient for the purposes of agriculture, valuable forests, beautiful sites, and extensive gold grounds, may also be added the possession of the districts where the DIAMONDS of South America are obtained. Diamond and gold mines are words which sound high in the organs of wealth; yet it has been found, even there, after a long experience, that he who turned his attention and pursuit to agriculture, and to the valuable vegetable productions of that country, obtained gold in greater abundance, than him who mined for it or for diamonds. This discovery, and some exhaustion of the mines, have greatly contributed to lessen the eagerness with which adventurers formerly flocked: to them, and the gold and diamond districts have long since’ gra- dually declined in wealth. A want of protection and of encouragement to enterprize and industry, by good permanent and well administered laws, has also been a cause of the neglect into which the mines of Brazil have fallen. --.| The process of mining ‘for diamonds, is by digging and washing the soil which forms the beds of streams’ known to possess them: the earth and gravel so taken out are called cascalho, which is washed in troughs, so as to free it from its finer earthy substance: the larger stones. are next separated, and afterwards the smaller, until the whole has ‘undergone the most careful investigation for the discovery of diamonds. It may be supposed, that the poor slaves, who are employed in this labour, are strictly and incessantly watched by their overseers, and that the whip, with other stimulating or forbidding instruments, has also an important office to perform. A slave who finds a diamond of a certain size obtains his liberty ; and whether this proceed from the cupidity or humanity of his owner, may perhaps'as well remain without investigation.. Many an unlucky fellow may condense and exert thé power of his sight, until, after spending nearly all his life in looking for his freedom, he shall-have looked himself quite blind, and be a slave still. The difference between mining for diamonds and for gold, by washing alluvial soils, is, that the former are not, like gold, sought for in the old and higher channels of rivers, but in the present beds of the streams by which they are brought, and which must. partly be turned out of their course, to the end that the soil may be dug up for Lg 76 TO CHILE, CHAPTER IV. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. . the operation of washing: and whilst gold is amalgamated with quicksilver, and afterwards purified by the agency of fire, each diamond must be separated by manual labour, and would only produce a piece of charcoal, if exposed to a heat sufficiently intense to decompose it. ed oto | ' Bae The diamond district lies in the capitancy of Minas Geraes, in about 18° of south latitude, in the serro frio or cold mountain, so called from its effect in lowering the temperature of the country near it. It is almost circular, about one hundred and seventy miles in circumference, and has also yielded a considerable quantity of gold: Being reserved for the Crown, this diamond ground is called the forbidden district. Some few diamonds have likewise been found in other gold grounds of the same province, and in Cuyaba; in the capitancy of Matto grosso; in New Spain; and in some other parts of America. 'The discovery of this precious substance in Brazil, which took place about the year 1730, and the large supplies that followed it, had a very considerable influence on its value in Europe, and the price of diamonds experienced a great depression. The Rusy, the Sappuire, and the Topaz, which, when in their most perfect state, are described as differing but little in their composition, with the exception of the small portion of the substances from which they receive their different colours, have not been found in that state in America, and the most valuable of these gems come from the East. Brazil has produced some, but generally of an inferior kind, principally Topazes. The finest Emera ps, on the contrary, are found in America, and chiefly in the Andes of New Grenada and Peru. Whoever is practically acquainted with the business of custom and excise houses and duties, must be convinced of the difficulty of having accurate state- ments of the aggregate annual amount of any article of small bulk and great value, which may be liable to high duties or prohibitory laws, even in countries where these are most rigorously enforced ; and whoever has also some knowledge .of the manner in which business has hitherto been carried on in Spanish America, ‘will perhaps think, that to arrive even at approximate results may not be possible. It q : { a iD ey OVER THE ANDES. 17 al GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER IV. unfortunately happens, that every additional duty laid on a community operates, in a great measure, as a new drawback from its morals; and who can state or even conjecture, to what extent smuggling has been practised, with such valuable and slippery things as gold and. silver, and what allowances are to be made for it, in countries where even whole cargoes have repeatedly escaped the vigilance of custom house ‘officers, or paid their way to a clandestine introduction ? Were it even allowed, that by far the greatest part of the gold and silver extracted from the mines of America, has been entered at the custom houses, or passed through the mints there, and that the books may have been kept in such a manner, as to indicate with accuracy the annual and aggregate amount of such entries, those records do not go very far back, and therefore the early times of the production of these metals, by spoils and by mines, are involved in obscurity. From the works of scientific travellers and writers, who had the best means of obtaining authentic documents, and whose labours have no doubt produced the nearest estimates which could be formed, and particularly from Baron Humboldt’s, are drawn the following comparative statements of the annual amount of gold and silver obtained from the mines of Europe, Northern Asia, and America, in the beginning of this century. a "8 ‘TO CHILE, CHAPTER IV. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. —————————EE————————e—eEee—eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—eE—e A comparative Statement of the Gold and Silver annually produced by Europe, Northern Asia, and America, in the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. | Mascs . Amount AMOUNT GOLD. or CasTILE. tn PrastTREs, In £ STERLING. Binaisret eeoe 5,640 | 822,800 | 185,020 NORTHERN ASTA sesewereerereeremerreeerenns 2,340 | 841,200 16,770 [Te I UN pete ZT reece ind 3,400 495,700 111,530 | & Potosi and the Provinces to the east 4. ee AMERICA w : ' e ‘ of the Andes, formerly included in f 2,200 320,800 | 72,180 = - _ the Viceroyalty of Buenos-ayres.~ se ‘bo axlt ' ms. a) Brazil .eveeereveeeverrerereererrrerrernns 29,900 | 4,359,400 | 980,870 Total of Gold... 83,190 [12,129,100 | 2,729,050 — a —T ° Z , = ——— - SILVER. . : NORTUERN HARTA) niceccacacackuna Mionseene ee 94,440 887,'700 199,730 New Spain csverevrmevrerreseatticreeres | 2,555,990 21,979,300 | 4,945,340 New Gr enada DAwe ee ereeeeeveetetejenetct]s]s ines nS = { Per ea A ES 611,090 5,744,200 | 1,292,440 | & Potosi, Uspallata, and the Provinces = AMERICA « to the east of the Andes, formerly a included in the Viceroyalty of (| 481:880 | 4,529,200 | 1,019,070 | = Buenos-aylés nk wana ms Chileon cpccneannnesaaetet cca cease 29,700 279,200 62,820 ° Total of Silver...| 3,784,400 | 35,573,300 | 8,003,980 OVER ‘THE ANDES. 79 CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. PUVVUVVVSVAVSVVVTSSVPVSoVoeEVeSeVoesesSeVseSesessess seven WE have seen, that from the lower Oronoko and some other rivers more to the west in that parallel, to the transverse mountains of Chiquitos and the northern confines of Paraguay, and between the Andes on the west, and the mountainous regions of Brazil on the east, that internal part of South America is covered with very thick forests. The nominal owners and rulers of these vast regions are, the Portuguese Bra- zilians ; the now independent Spanish Americans; the Aborigines, and a few African . blacks ; all the various stocks of whom are gradually contributing to the formation of one race of those mixed origins. But they are very thinly scattered in distant settlements, which chiefly lie on the banks of large rivers, and many of which are the remains of missions formerly under the Jesuits, now in a decayed dispersed or depopulated state, whilst the acting and ruling masters of the soil are, lions, tigers, bears, tapirs, wild hogs, monkies, and other animals. 'The command of the waters is with crocodiles, alligators, palometas, gymnoti, boas, or rattlesnakes: and both the settler and the traveller are made to feel, that bats and mosquitos have some share in the sway of the atmosphere. All these noxious animals are holding possession, as weeds do of neglected fields, and will quit as soon as man gives them notice that he is in want of the ground, by clearing, draining, and cultivating it. The time may come, when lions, tigers, and large serpents, will only exist in the records of the painter or graver, and when their fossil remains shall excite the same curiosity and interest, as those of the megatherium or mammoth, of mastadontes or American elephants, no longer found alive. Bones of the former have been discovered near the rivers Uruguay and Parana, and of the latter, in many parts of the high table 80 TO CHILE, . CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. lands of the Andes. We will now take a short notice of some of the most remark- able, hurtful and useful, animals of South America, and begin with the inhabeés of the rivers. CrocopiL£s, and alligators or caymans, are very numerous in the Oronoko, the Amazon, and the deep rivers which flow into them. In some they are very daring, in others timid. Perhaps, like tigers, they only become the fierce enemies of man and eager for his flesh, after having once tasted it. These large lizards, from twenty to twenty five feet long, are also found in some of the more southern rivers, such as the Paraguay, Parana, and Uruguay, but they are not mentioned by travellers, as being so numerous and dangerous as in the equatorial regions. As they at first rather hold than bite their prize, for the purpose of carrying it away, the mean of extri- cating oneself is by putting their eyes out, when they let go their hold ; and instances have been related of this having been. successfully effected by Indians; but. it may be doubted, if any such performance has ever been really. witnessed. Great numbers of inhabitants are every year destroyed, in the Oronoko and in other rivers, by these amphibious animals. | The PALoMETA, or guasgarito, is also found in the rivers and regions mentioned above, and particularly in the southern, where this little fish is very dangerous and destructive: each of its jaws has fourteen teeth, so hard that they are used as fine saws. It is related of them, that they will not attack a human being who is swimming, and nowhere wounded so as to shew his blood; but that on the sight of a wound, such is the number and eagerness with which they perform the work of destruction, that the Oronoko tribes, who preserve the bones of their dead in caves, have the bodies of the deceased reduced to perfect skeletons, by exposing them for a single night to the palometas. Some of the southern tribes are very skilful in decapitating their prisoners with the jaw of this fish; they first saw the neck all round, and afterwards twist it off. In districts to the north of the equator it is called caribe. The Gymnorus, or electrical eel, is a fish which abounds in the rivers near the equator, and possesses the power of discharging at will its electricity: it is capable OVER THE ANDES. 81 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED: CHAPTER V. of giving shocks sufficiently strong to kill both men and beasts; its length generally is from four to five feet ; and it is so numerous in rivers flowing into the Oronoko, that they often cannot be passed without much danger, as the eels place themselves under the bodies of mules and horses, bring them down by repeated shocks, and render them unable to save themselves. Both hands must be laid on the fish, for feeling the full effect. of its electrical battery. A gymnotus was lately sent from South America to France, and there still able to display its power with considerable energy ; but was strangled in consequence of some incautious experiment. This fish seldom enters into the description of those which inhabit the southern rivers. It is the largest of all ~ guch as are known to possess the faculty of giving electrical shocks, and it can apply it with a more violent effect than the torpedo. ity | _ SERPENTs of very great sizes, and of extraordinary powers by their bodily strength or venemous bites, are found in the midland forests and rivers already mentioned. The boa constrictor, the first for size, beauty, and strength, is from twenty to thirty feet long, and approaching the thickness of a man’s body : it is not thought poisonous, but it will encircle, press, and grind to destruction, any animal of less’ strength or size than the lion, the elephant, the hippopotamus, and the rhinoceros. The rattlesnake, so called from the noise which it makes with the scales of its tail, is from five to six feet long, and of the thickness of an arm: its first bite is so highly poisonous as to occasion death in a few minutes; and it can distend its mouth in an extraordinary manner, so as to afford in it, like other serpents, protection to its young, .or to swallow large animals, which are said to be so terrified at the sight of this snake, as to lose all power of escaping from it. Many other huge and powerful reptiles are found in those regions; one of which is mentioned as existing in Brazil, and described as being of very great size and strength, having two hind feet by which it holds fast, whilst it springs upon its victim and brings it down. - TorToisEs or turtles are particularly abundant in the Oronoko and Amazon, where the fisheries for their eggs cause a concourse of Indians, from various parts M 82 >TO CHILE, : aN Se ET CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. == eT and tribes, to meet at the time when they are laid, in the islands and spots which are usually frequented by the turtles for that: purpose. | These eggs are an article of consumption and trade, and the great. distance from which the Indians come in their canoes, and assemble for procuring them, as also the order which is necessary to the end that each may effect his purpose without disturbance, give to those wild spots, for a short time, some appearance of an European fair. ~ The MANATEE, sea cow or damantin, is an amphibious and herbivorous animal, chiefly found near the equator. It is of a very deformed shape, and sometimes grows to an enormous size, its length having been described of twelve, twenty, and even of twenty eight feet; the circumference of its body, from ten to twenty; and its greatest weight, eight thousand pounds: it affords food to the inhabitants, and tastes more like pork than beef: its usual weight is about five hundred pounds only. During summer, in the. plains between the mountains of Caraccas and the Oro- noko, crocodiles and serpents will remain in the sand ina torpid state, from which they are roused. by the first falls of rain, when they become very dangerous to the cattle which come to feed off the first growth of grass. If any of the noxious animals already mentioned should exist in the rivers of Chile, they must be there in such small numbers and in so few spots, as not to excite any fears, nor render any pre- cautions against them necessary. A traveller will see the inhabitants bathe, and may himself do 50, wherever he goes, without hearing of them: the rivers are probably too shallow and their banks too dry, for their existence in that country. The Tarir, sometimes called, mountain cow, anta, or hippopotamus terrestris, is of the size of a small heifer, and approaches in shape that of a hog; it inhabits the forests near the Oronoko and Amazon, is harmless, and serves for food to the Indians: it swims and dives with very great facility, and is by some thought amphibious. | The American Lion without mane, cougowar, felis puma, pagi in old Chileno, mitstli in Mexican, is not mentioned by travellers as having been so frequently seen as tigers, in the forest lands of South America, nor did I hear it noticed in the pampas. OVER THE ANDES. 83 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER V. But.in Chile, particularly in summer, it comes in numbers to rove over the whole ex- tent of the alpine pastures of the Andes; and when the herds of cattle are sent up the mountains of that chain, the owners are under the necessity of taking precautions against these beasts, which are very dangerous to heifers, mules, and horses, attack- ing and destroying them preferably to the larger cattle: but man is, of all, the least exposed to their hostility: In the latter end of spring, when the herds can ascend. the higher pasturages, the owners, who are also proprietors of very large estates, keep hunters on the mountains, who live in small huts, change their habitations as the cattle move, and hunt the lions with fire-arms and dogs. During an excursion, and at a height probably of’ eight or nine thousand feet, we found some of the remains of one, whose flesh had no doubt been a great feast to the hunters and herdsmen, as it is held in high estimation by them. We were glad of the bones only, which we used. for fuel, as the night was cold, and we had not been able to. carry up much wood: I found them much stouter than had expected from the description read of these beasts. My guide tied our horses as near to us as possible, and we made the fire burn as long as we could keep our eyes open; they startled several times in the night and waked us: the guide pretended that lions were near, but I rather thought that the poor animals, who had been travelling and climbing up hard nearly all day, had nothing to eat, and could not without danger be left to graze at night, were quarrelling for some blades of grass within their reach. We had overlooked the necessary precautions of taking dogs with us. It is probable that in the commence- ment of the autumn, when the snow begins to drive the herds of cattle down from the higher grounds, these lions cross the Andes back again between Chile and! Peru, and retire into the midland forests, as they do not descend into the lower parts of Chile. Molina mentions, that they are particularly fond of horses, and deceive them by the appearance of friendly playfulness, until. within a proper distance for suddenly and furiously darting at them, when they take a spring, fasten on their backs, and kill them. Sometimes the herds will successfully resist them; the cows and oxen, by: their usual tactics on dangerous occasions of forming a ring, with their heads M 2 84 2— 0 TO CHILE; (> CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ' and horns outside for defence ; the horses and mules, by the same arrangement, but with their backs turned out, so as to be able to kick at the enemy. It is related that in the Swiss Alps, bears are sometimes vanquished by bulls, which first endea- vour to place the bear between them and a rock, and then press it to death. | The American TicER, or jaguar, felis onca, is of a large size, of great strength: and ferocity. It is to monkies what a cat is to mice, and such numbers of them infest the forests, as to be to the inhabitants the cause of much dread and mischief. Its colours are, a yellowish ground with black open spots: but some nearly black, and others almost white, are also found there. It has been stated that small tigers and panthers extend their dominion as far as the latitude of Buenos-ayres, and _ frequent the thin and small woods which cover some parts of the plains from thence to the Andes; but I did not hear of them, nor even notice any precaution taken against them by the people, who, with mules or with carts drawn by oxen, carry goods and produce over that part of the pampas. Indeed it is not probable, that ferocious beasts should -exchange the shade and abundance of the forests, for the exposure and hard fare of the dry regions, where travellers have much less to fear from them than from their own species. As little did I hear of them in Chile, out of which they are perhaps kept. by the Andes and the climate. Bears, with black fur and of a small size, inhabit the forests, but do not appear to be numerous: they have probably suffered considerable destruction, as their flesh is much esteemed by the Indians. They are not mentioned as frequenting , any parts of Chile or of the Andes, in that parallel. | PeEcaris, or wild hogs of different kinds, some of which are called ceuicen apida, and by other names, are very numerous in the forest lands, where they some-. times wander in large herds of several hundreds. They are announced from afar by. their gruntings, and by the impetuosity with which they break down the shrubs in their way. We read in Humboldt’s that Mr. Bonpland, in an excursion, being warned by his guide, hid himself behind the trunk of a tree, and saw a herd of pecaris' pass by him in a close body, each male going before, the female following, | OVER THE ANDES. 85 “GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER V. accompanied by ber: young. ophiet flesh is flabby and little aida but furnishes much food to the ‘inhabitants. 1: The Guemvt, equus bisulcus, cloven footed or Chileno horse, is of an appearance between the horse and the ass, very wild and swift: it inhabits the most southern and highest parts of the Andes, having been found as far as the straits of Magellan. I never saw it, nor heard of it, in Chile; but what has been observed in regard to vegetation, applies also to animals of many descriptions, which are much more numerous in Arauco, and towards those straits, than in the dry regions of Chile. The Bat called vampire, is the largest and most troublesome of all. It is found in such numbers in the forest lands of South America and near their rivers, that it is difficult to escape being bit by them in the night; a wound however so slight, that it is not always sufficient to awake from sleep ; but to the cattle they are most tormenting and destructive, as they fasten on their back, renew and extend their small wounds, until insects swarm in them and gradually destroy the beasts; so that such of them as had. accidentally penetrated into those parts of South America, or had been driven there by the Missionaries and. escaped the tigers and crocodiles, have perished by this lingering death. doe bats which are seen in the prt and. | in Chile are small and harmless. MosauirTos swarm to such a degree in the same forest lands, as to be, even to the Indians themselves, the cause of: incessant torment. There are some rivers, whose waters are called black, which these insects’ dislike, and therefore do not frequent. Whoever may have been exposed to the attacks of gnats, at the approach of sunset, in some of the wild bogs of Europe, and may have observed, how they will sting off the ground the most brawny countryman at work on it, will better be able to form an idea of the effect which must be produced by numberless mosquitos, in such countries as the basins of the Oronoko and Amazon. In Buenos-ayres they are troublesome; but, on leaving the regions of rain and moisture, they become much less so, and in Chile they are seldom felt. . ANTs are extremely numerous and destructive in South America. Abroad 86 DO CHILE, CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. they attack plants, and in houses books and wearing apparel, so as to do much injury in a short time. In some distant settlements they are, in their turn, assailed by the Indians, who make pies of the largest of them, as also of a kind of worms found in palm trees. A stomach which is not exposed to wait long for its food, or straitened in the choice of it, will perhaps revolt at the thought only of such a pie; but if a contest were entered into, between it and others of the most renowned and palatable European manufacture, what the latter might gain by flavour, would, on an impartial judgment, be exposed to the risk of being again lost by uncleanliness. _ In the number of many other mischievous animals and insects, may be men- tioned the chigua; or jigger, many of which will frequently introduce themselves into the foot, in spite of shoes and stockings, lodge there, and require to be. often looked for, and extirpated before the sores enlarge. Rats are supposed to have been imported into South America from Europe, and have there greatly multiplied: they attain a large size, are very destructive to plants, and will the easier undermine the foundations of houses, as they are mostly made of soft materials. ; Ma Among many adyantages very justly attributed to the land of Chile, is that of the little risk and inconvenience of any kind, arising there either from animals or from climate. A traveller needs not fear much else than fleas, which are generally nume- rous and sometimes very large, a few bugs, and still fewer mosquitos, within doors: but a ready way of avoiding these constantly offers to him, that of chusing his resting place at some distance from any dwelling. There, on a piece of level ground, although without shelter, he will neither be interrupted in his sleep, nor exposed to catch a hurtful cold. The dry regions of the pampas, and the eastern. foot of the Andes, possess, I believe, the same advantages, though not quite in» so high a degree as Chile. The eastern and mountainous parts of Brazil are not — much infested with ferocious beasts, but have abundance of noxious reptiles and insects. The brute creation, inhabiting the Patagonian and Magellanic lands, are still less known than the human; and in Mexico, to most of the wild animals already mentioned, must be added other kinds, which more. particularly OVER THE ANDES. 87 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER V. belong to North oT such as the wolf, the lynx, the bison, the raccoon, and several more. . The Lama, | retonsilns glama, or Peruvian sheep, is principally found in Peru, both in a wild and domesticated state. It is a very useful animal, employed in the conveyance of goods, and in the work of mines. These sheep are able to carry from one to one a half quintal, up and down steep and rugged mountains, at the rate of about fifteen miles a day. Their food is a scanty allowance of grass, and they seldom drink water, moisture being derived from abundant saliva, a valuable gift ‘in regions where rain does not fall. Their flesh is good, having the flavour of mutton; and their wool is of considerable fineness, being ‘manufactured in that country into a cloth of superior texture and quality. ‘The skin is also used for several purposes. After the introduction of mules and asses, the service of carriage became divided, but the lamas are still performing a very useful part. ._. The Vicunta, camelus vicugna, often called vigonia in Europe, and the camelus paco, are much wilder species than the lamas, and are fond of the highest parts of the Andes. ‘Their wool is still finer, and very valuable; but they are stated to have much decreased in numbers. _ |The Guanaco, camelus guanacus, is seen in numerous herds in Chile, and on the eastern side of the Andes, both in those mountains and below them; they look and move very like deer. This animal has been described as being sometimes of the size of a horse; but I never saw any that was even of the stature of a Shetland pony, either on the Andes or elsewhere. They are extremely shy, and form a pretty object when seen moving along some high ridge: they also frequent the lower grounds’ as far as the western sea shore, and are often met on the pampas: their wool is short, and they are seldom hunted. _ The CuitenvEQvueE, or sheep of Chile, is mentioned: as having been formerly used by the inhabitants asa beast of burthen; but whether it was the lama or the guanaco does not appear: I did not hear in Chile, that the Peruvian sheep was now found in that country; although it may be:so. 88 | TO CHILE, CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. iS DEER, of a small size, have been mentioned as having existed in South America before the conquest of that continent, and as being found feeding in the plains of Caraccas and other parts. Whether among the herds seen on the pampas, and generally described as guanacos, some may be deer or not, I cannot state; I never observed any horns in them. OstricHEs are often seen in considerable numbers moving over the plains, in the latitude of Buenos-ayres, and in the regions of the best pasture. Farther to the southward they become still more numerous; and on the western side of the Andes, in Arauco and its neighbourhood, they are likewise seen in flocks. They are hunted for their feathers, and require for being caught, a swift horse, as well as the good horsemanship of the inhabitants of those countries. _Mr. Helm relates that having broken one of their egos, a young ostrich sprang out of it, immediately ran to the grass, and began to feed as if previously taught. | The CHINCHILLA is a woolly field. mouse, which lives under ground, and chiefly feeds on wild onions. Its fine fur is well known in Kurope: that which comes from upper Peru is rougher and larger than the’ chinchilla of Chile, but not always so beautiful in its colour. Great numbers of these animals are caught in the neighbourhood of Coquimbo and Copiapo, generally by boys with dogs; sold to traders, who bring them to Santiago and Valparayso, from whence they are exported. The Peruvian skins are either brought to Buenos-ayres from the eastern parts of the Andes, or sent to Lima. ‘The extensive use of this fur has lately occasioned a very considerable destruction of the animals. | ; The Viscacta, or Peruvian hare, inhabits the colder parts of Peru, and*has a very, fine woolly fur, with which stuffs of a superior quality were formerly’ made for the Incas; it resembles the rabbit. ais principally of European origin, is generally found in abundance. The traveller over the pampas and in Chile, may almost every where get fowls, which are fed on meat and corn; seldom are tender, or of a flavour equal to those of Europe. Turkies, ducks, and pigeons, are likewise ipmialeneas geese seldom so. OVER THE ANDES. 89 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER Vv. Near Buenos-ayres are quantities of wild fowls, and other birds of excellent taste ; but on advancing westward into the dry regions, they become much less numerous. In this part of the world, few birds enliven the landscape, or gratify the traveller with soft and modulated warbling: In these plains and in Chile, flights of squeaking parrots, and in the Andes a few large eagles, are often all that is seen or heard in the atmosphere. The want of large trees and of insects is probably the cause of it. Does, both wild and domesticated, are numerous, and particularly so in the regions of this continent which hold many herds of cattle. They are to the traveller, | sometimes the cause of annoyanée, sometimes of pleasure. Half a dozen of them will perhaps rush out of every, even the humblest, dwelling in his way, and frighten his horse. But towards night, and the close of a long fatiguing day’s ride, he will check his beast, and strain his organs of sight and hearing, for catching from some lonely habitation, the view of a light or the sound of a dog, and the hope of soon recruiting his strength by food. and sleep. ‘The introduction of Kuropean cattle into South America has been an event of much importance and interest, in the history of this part of the world. It was one of the practical expedients, which most effectually tended to assist the religious and moral institutions of the missionary Jesuits, and to forward the progress of civiliza- tion among the Indians, by affording the means of intercourse and trade, and by creating in many extensive regions, the main object of man’s principal pursuit, when in a state of progressive improvement, property. It is worthy of consideration, that, without the communications opened between the two hemispheres, unless’ the inhabitants of this continent had, in course of time, been able to tame down, break, and domesticate, lions, bears, or tigers, for field labour and for conveyance, they must probably have remained deprived of those resources, which have been so instru- mental to our own civilization, by their operation in favour of agriculture and com- merce; or, at least, that they could only have possessed them in a very inferior degree to our own. This is a striking and interesting feature. As wild and incon- siderable tribes, they were abundantly provided with the means of subsistence, but N 90 . TO CHILE, not with those of making: a rapid progress towards what is called with us, often so emphatically and self-complacently, a civilized state, until they recéived them in greater abundance from Europe; and with them also, the germs of many moral and physical evils, which have struck deep roots into that new and ready soil, and the branches of which often cast a dark and malignant shade over the ground, The Peruvian sheep was unquestionably a most valuable animal, but its size and power were small, and its propagation chiefly confined to the Andes of Peru., Of the guemul or Chileno horse, too little is yet known for any conjecture concerning its faculties ; and as to the unexplored southern Andes, from Chile to the straits of Magellan, although probably covered with rich pasture, and maintaining multitudes of, animals, yet it would be an extraordinary circumstance, if any, of a powerful and useful species, should have existed there to this day, without having hitherto been seen or heard of. ) i. ifatl vi Many parts of the plains of South America were in a great degree vacant, and as if waiting for some consumers of the pasture which covered them ; whilst on our side, the cattle of Europe seemed as if having been intended for establishing colonies there; so rapidly and extensively did they spread and multiply, not only with- out degenerating, but, on the contrary, with an improvement of their species ; for the cattle of the pampas and of Chile, which may still be considered partly as half wild and partly quite so, estimated generally, is superior in size; quality, or strength, to what cattle, answering the same description, is or would be, in most if not in all parts of Europe. The soil also, appeared as if expecting the introduction of some more congenial and nutritious plant, and the lucern, to have been the one destined for enriching it by its culture. In Brazil, however, the ground seems to be still wait- ing ; and what the plant should be, has not been yet discovered, or sufficiently tried. It was in the year 1556, when. seven cows and one bull were first carried from Andalusia to Paraguay. They were therefore,’ as we observe from the description already given of the different climates between the eastern coast and the Andes, placed within the range of the best pasture lands: and here, joined no doubt by OVER THE ANDES. — 91 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED: CHAPTER Vv. additional importations, so rapid was their increase, that in the year 1580, a cargo. of hides was sent from Buenos-ayres to Spain; and in the beginning of the following century, a million of cattle -were driven from the country about Santa Fe into Peru. --Qxen and cows, horses, mules, . asses, sheep and goats, all originally from European stocks, are now found in very considerable herds in Mexico; in the Ca- raccas, New Grenada, and Quito; in Chile and Arauco; in the pampas, particularly near Buenos-ayres and Santa Fe; ‘and in Brazil. They are less numerous in Peru, owing to the excessive driness of the climate; and they have not been able to esta- blish themselves and propagate their species, in the inhospitable forests between the Oronoko and the southern side of the méuntains of Chiquitos, where such as had been introduced with considerable difficulty, and principally by the Jesuits, have been overpowered by hostile animals. In the plains of Caraccas, New Grenada, and Brazil, they are exposed to many dangerous vicissitudes, resulting from the nature of the climate, which occasions considerable inundations or long droughts, and from the numerous formidable enemies constantly on the watch for their destruction ; but, in the Andes and the pampas, they may graze with more peace and comfort, particularly in the latter. OxEN are used for ploughing, and for the draught of large carts: for fresh food, ox and cow beef being one of the most considerable articles of consumption in the regions of good pasture; and for drying by means of the sun into jerk beef, carne secca, which is sent to many distant parts, and very generally consumed by those who are not conveniently situated for procuring fresh meat. In the southern states they differ but little from each other in their size, which is inferior to the best English breeds, but superior to those of Scotland and Wales. I have seen, in some parts of Chile, oxen having short but very stout legs and shoulders, with such large bodies and necks as denoted beasts of uncommon strength: very bony and powerful, they appeared to belong to a peculiar race; but, in the northern districts of that country, they decrease in size. When I again landed in England, I was particularly struck with the contrast, between the shining appearance of its cattle and the dull N 2 92 ; TO CHILE, a CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. look of that of South America. The beef of the pampas is of a good quality in texture and taste, often superior to that of Europe, but never equal to our best beef: nor is that of Chile quite so good as the former. The fat is very generally taken off, for making grease and tallow. The owners seldom let this. description of cattle live above four or five years, as they then shew a strong inclination to run wild. In the eastern parts of the plains, where is found abundance of good trefoil and other pasture, cow’s milk is good; but towards the west and the Andes, it becomes thin, of a blueish colour, and. viscous, particularly in Chile; so that, with the exception of a few spots, no good cream and butter can be obtained : with some skill and pro- ‘per management, the milk might probably be very greatly improved. Indeed the inhabitants of these southern regions attach but little importance to its quality, .as they seldom make use of it: with them, grease and oil are substitutes for butter, and they do not even like to draw milk from their cows, whose office is only to - increase their species, until the age for slaughter arrives. Nowhere, in this part of: the world, did I meet with fine butter or rich milk, notwithstanding the pains taken by some foreign settlers to procure them ; but in some spots they are improving. It is thought, that there no longer exists any wild herds of this kind of ‘cattle, all being either destroyed or appropriated. The Indians of the southern pampas often make inroads into the lands of Buenos-ayres, for the sake of carrying off the herds which are kept on private estates; a circumstance which seems to indicate, that they rove no more over the plains in a wild state. In many parts of Brazil, the inhabitants cannot obtain milk from their cows without much trouble, and what little they get is of an inferior quality: the beasts are probably not sufficiently domesticated, nor is the pasture there very fit for them, notwithstanding the ‘great power of vegetation. The cattle of Brazil, within or near the tropics, is smaller than that of the pampas, and of Chile. Horses, in the southern plains, are, like oxen; of nearly the same. stature,. of a middling size, and of a good appearance; strong and active, without being lively or high spirited : performing their work with surprising power, steadiness, and good OVER THE ANDES. 93 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER V. temper, when it is considered that, when not ridden, they are always left at liberty and kept on the pasture grounds, without any corn or care. None of these animals, approaching the fine large breeds of cart or coach horses in England, are seen in the pampas; but they generally are of a good size for the saddle. Those of Mendoza and of Chile are often handsome; so strong and hardy as to be able to carry their riders above eighty miles a day at a gallop, with very little rest, and no other food than lucern grass allowed. They are well broken; seldom kick or rear; are some- what stiff and awkward, gallop well, and sometimes walk uncommonly fast; but the trot is with them, and for their riders, an unpleasant pace, into which they seldom get. There probably are wild herds of horses still feeding on the pampas, but I never saw any: in proportion as the good pasture lands of Buenos-ayres are left behind, both horses and other cattle decrease much in numbers, and at the distance of one or two hundred miles to the westward of them, hardly any other herds are seen than those of the postmasters. : The Mutzs and Asszs of the pampas and of Chile are of good sizes, of consi- derable strength, and very hardy. A good mule can carry four quintals or a little more, during several days, over rough mountainous grounds, with a scanty allowance of food and water, being turned out at night, and often left to graze on very bare spots. Considerable numbers are bred in the hilly pasture lands of the northeastern bank of the Plata; in the pampas; at Mendoza, and in other districts; for the con- veyance of goods and inland trade; for the supply of Peru and of other mining countries, or for exportation by sea from the Plata to Brazil, Guyana, and the West India islands. But when under the influence of a tropical climate in the eastern parts of South America, they generally lose much of their strength, and considerably degenerate. SHEEP are to be found in more or less numbers all along the Andes, on their table lands and below them, from Mexico to Arauco. In Chile are not many flocks of them, nor is their wool fine: the breeds there are very much mixed with that of goats, by which neglect much injury has been caused to the race: good wool 4 BO CHILE TC . CHAPTER V. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED, may however be got by a careful selection, and some owners of estates and sheep in that country are directing their attention to this branch of husbandry... The inhabit- ants are not fond of mutton, but will often eat lamb. The flocks of sheep in:the pampas are likewise few: the wools of Corrientes and Cordova are the best, but they are nowhere of a superior quality, and near Buenos-ayres it is coatse. In these plains, the inhabitants beara positive dislike to mutton, not only because it is lean and has little flavour, but because they have not a good opinion of this kind of meat. It is stated that in the northern provinces of Brazil, numerous flocks of sheep, as well as herds of larger cattle are grazing ; but in the Caraccas are few or no sheep. - | etl diay Bs ‘sy atedaisy Goats are, on the contrary, very numerous in the Caraccas, and are also kept:in most parts of the Andes or near them. The natural vegetation of Chile suits them better than it does sheep; and many of the small farmers or cottagers in that country — have flocks of them, from which they derive an income of kids for their table, disposing of the skins for the manufacture of morocco leather, or other purposes. Goats are likewise kept in the countries east of the Andes, in the driest regions ; and although their owners often feel some reluctance to milk them, yet a traveller may have goat’s milk wherever these animals are to be found, and I generally thought it preferable to that of cows, which indeed can seldom be procured. Cheese of any kind is not often made in these southern countries. The inhabitants near Buenos-ayres, and those of the province of Conception in Chile, make some of it, with which they provide themselves and their neighbours, but it is not of a good quality. Hoes, of domesticated and improved breeds, are numerous in Brazil, where are found in abundance the best natural and cultivated productions for these animals, which there are of very good quality and flavour. But, in the more southern parts, the very few of them seen are generally of a tall coarse breed, lean, tough, and of little taste. This meat is of very small consumption in Chile, where they. might easily improve the race and flavour of hogs, by the introduction of some of the Chinese or European breeds, and by taking more pains to domesticate them, and . OVER THE ANDES. 95 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER V. to feed them properly.. In the Province of: Conception hogs are more numerous, and. ofa better quality: the hams of this name are in ot the ies toegees of Europe; but very little good can be said of them. - | The CamMet of Arabia, or dromedary, that almost venerable beast of Fiiedey was not found in any part of this hemisphere; and towards the end of the sixteenth century, some were sent by Spain to Peru, with the hope that they would multiply there, and be of considerable use in the countries of the Andes, several parts of -which are, in many features, similar to the dry and burning deserts of Asia and Africa. But the animals, having suffered either from neglect, or from the sudden changes of temperature to which the regions of that chain and in its vicinity are liable, or from some other disappointment, did not thrive. A cause has been given for this, which marks more strongly a feature in our nature, from the contemplation of which we shrink with pain. The Indians of America, with the soil which’ they pos- sessed; had been appropriated by the conquerors, who were letting them out on hire and for gain. ‘To the fear of a diminution in this source of profit, has been attri- buted an opposition to the introduction of the Arabian camel, and the failure of the experiment. The climate, however, appears to form a strong ground for hesitating to admit this evidence of the ascendancy, in so extreme a degree, of selfishness over humanity, as this beast is well known to be of a constitution which requires particular care and management. The Bactrian camel of eastern Asia, with two - dorsal bunches, would probably suffer less from the change of climate, and might hereafter be of considerable service to the intercourse and trade in South America, by affording the means of communications and carriage over the extensive deserts which lie on each side the Andes, such as Atacama, and several other tracts of the same nature. Aprs and MonkIEs, of small stature, inhabit the forest lands of America, within the tropics, in various and numerous tribes; but it does not appear that any of the larger races have yet been seen in them, notwithstanding the opinion which prevails among the inhabitants of those regions, that some ourang-outang, or great - 9 ay: 9TO CHILE, © ae 5 = CHAPTER V. ’ GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. . a. — - ape, satyr, or wild man of the woods, exists in the forests, and that. women are often carried off by some. creature of this description. Father Gili relates, with no i. | less gravity than that with which many other very wonderful things have been done — and told by the Monks of this continent, that a lady of San Carlos, in the pi of Venezuela, passed several BOPpy years with one of these salvajes or men of the ~ woods, whose treatment of her was gentle and affectionate. © 3 When the chain of animals is observed, and the scales by which some scientific men have graduated it are followed upwards, we find one link, a part of which is: assigned to apes and monkies, the other to mankind. Surely, this is placing us somewhat low; and such a station never can be looked at, without its very deeply wounding the pride with which we are so generally anxious to select our connections, and the dignified feelings with which we are often apt to be animated and pleased, at the contemplation of our own nature. I trust that I may be allowed to anticipate the time, when an entire link of the chain to which we belong shall be allowed to us, and when we shall wisely maintain, and manfully defend, the full and exclusive possession of it whilst we are in this world. Therefore will I take leave, to reserve for a distinct chapter, some account of the inhabitants of our own species, in es America. . fie . OVER THE ANDES. 97 ¥ as iii +... GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. SMR) Ja Thad i EA, cea ak sseedilihcloov gids’ -s Tue object of removing the dominion of Spain from America has almost every where been attained.. The spots where the Spanish flag is still flying are few, or of small ok lag and were it again erected in some from which it has lately been displaced, it would probably be of no avail. Whatever may be the obstacles to the strength of union, to the display of wise, enlightened, and disinterested measures, and to amore general.enjoyment of that moderate share of individual freedom, with which man in a social state must be satisfied in this imperfect world, but which ought to.accompany the name of independence, yet the feelings in favour of it, even where nothing more than the name has been obtained, seem so very generally to prevail: in all.these southern countries, that though little has yet been gained from the late changes by the bulk of the South American people, and though a general participation in the advantages and privileges which have been held out and promised to them, may not speedily be allowed to extend beyond the few who now possess all the power and the wealth, yet the number of those who still adhere to the parent country, is very small, and the animosity against. them, of a decided and implacable nature. -With such unrelenting rancour has mutual persecution followed the suc- cesses. of each. party, that most of the inhabitants who were attached to Spain, or only born in that country, have either left South America, lost the property which they possessed in it, or perished. __If Spain were able again to subjugate any part of the now independent states of this continent, it could only be for a short time, and without advantages adequate to the risk and expence of the undertaking. The population is become much thinner, and the greatest part of it morethan before empoverished, Gold and silver are no longer abundantly found in the possession of Indians, in streams, in superadvenient Oo iy rr, : a *, Py 98 ww CHILE, ’ ‘CHAPTER VI. metalliferous veins, or in pure ; masses lying near’ aie divfbcg for, the Sompen- sation of danger and the gratification of cupidity : the search for rae precious © metals requires, in a much greater degree than formerly, means and qualifications: which are now held in a smaller measure—labour, knowledge, capital, and security. Agriculture and grazing, which have been a source of considerable, wealth,” have suffered much from the declining state of the mines, the civil wars, and the preda- tory incursions of Indians. The means of Spain are not sufficient to meet the demand. of blood and treasure, which an obstinate resistance arising from deep rooted animosity»would occasion, and for an effectual attempt to regain any ‘permanent footing here, By lengthening the contest where it is not entirely ended, or renewing it: where it is, Spain could undoubtedly: do- fvugh harm to South America; but: no good to herself.” y ELE GOO AGRI ~tPO, CHILE; CHAPTER VI. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. old and nearly drunk, was thrown from his horse, and fell on stones ’as if he had ~ been a lump of lead, with a noise similar to a box breaking by its fall. An imstan- taneous mirth and loud laugh were the consequence with the ladies near me, who did not move a step, or make any enquiries about the man: his companions, laughing heartily also, got off their horses, sat the old man up again on his own, without first looking if he was hurt or not, for he could not speak; rode off with him, one on each side, holding him up and taking good care of him, but at the same time highly entertained by the occurrence. A miner was one day brought to Guasco so badly wounded, after fighting with the knife, with so many deep stabs, and such loss of blood, that his case was supposed quite desperate by a foreign medical gentleman of that town: but one of the butchers, the men who on such occasions perform the office of surgeons, was sent for, laughed, and said that the man was not made of white flesh, meaning Europeans, that he would cure him. as mules were cured, and enable him again to go to his work in a few days, which was the case after much cutting and plaistering. They are very fond of gambling at cards, but this I only saw once or twice: they cheat very expertly, and most deliberately plunge their knives into one another’s body for foul play, when it is discovered. The ingenuity and intelligence of the American Indians have been displayed in many branches of manufactures, both before and after the conquest: they smelted and extracted gold, silver, copper, and other metals; wrought them into tools, utensils, and ornaments, of fine and tasty workmanship: the elegance and pleasing fitness of proportions and patterns of many articles, still made in South America by them, indicate the gift of considerable natural abilities. Fine cotton, woollen, and hair stuffs, were there wrought, printed or died with lively and fast colours; but these are now in a great degree superseded by the cheapness and variety of European manufactures. Hats and other articles of plaited grasses and beautiful texture, morocco leather died of different colours, richly ornamented saddles and bridles, fine mantles and carpets, and in short most articles of necessity and luxury, were and are still made in Peru and elsewhere. Vessels of all descriptions, baskets, pans, OVER THE ANDES. ‘ . 2y GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER VI. and other utensils; of silver and copper, are formed with the hammer only ; and of the latter kind a considerable quantity is made in Chile, for the use of the inhabit- ants, and for exportation. » Some tribes in the basin of the Amazon, with tools made of stones, bones, and hard woods, were skilful carvers. A branch of manu- facture, known and practised by almost -all the Indians of America, was. pottery, and many excelled in it: the present Chilenos are good potters. for common ware; they introduce a considerable quantity of earth or sand, containing abundance of yellow mica; and jars, holding seventy gallons or more, are made by them of great thinness, lightness, and strength, which sound as if they were of metal. In all works of arts and manufactures, if the ancient Mexicans surpassed the Peruvians, in the number of their tradesmen and artisans, and in the various distributions of labour, they were excelled by them in taste or elegance, and in fitness of propor- tions, in all which the Mexicans appear to have been awkward. and unskilful. ‘The plants most extensively cultivated for food in America, were maize, mandioc, bana- nas, and kidney beans; and with the former and other productions, among which was the fruit of the algarob, they made fermented. and inebriating liquors, but much less pernicious than the powerful spirits which have since been introduced among them. Chocolate is supposed to have derived its origin and name in Europe from the Mexicans, who called it chocolatl. The religious opinions of the Indians of America were almost as various as their nations or tribes. The Mexicans had an extensive mythology with a supreme deity, and besides many gods and. goddesses, they worshipped the sun and the moon, but particularly an evil spirit and agod of war: the forms in which their religion was clothed, were not only austere and cruel, but hideous.. _With the Peruvians, the sun was therchief object of adoration as the source of life: to it they offered some of the fruits of their lands, and they sacrificed some. beasts on its altars: their religion was less cruel and repulsive. But with them, as with the former, considerable numbers of attendants and slaves were often sacrificed on the grave of their masters, in order that they should continue to serve them in their new abode. Both had temples and 4 fie * 24080. CHILE YO CHAPTER’ VI: GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. priests, ‘and it is recorded that‘the Mexicans immolated seventy’ thousand prisoners, for the consecration of one of their sanctuaries. ‘With all other tribes, religion:assumed ruder bit'rather less sanguinary forms : some acknowledged‘one supreme Godyothers two or three, with various’ mixtures of idolatry: many worshipped a good or an evil spirit, or both,° personified indifferent ways: )they had neither priests: nor temples, and ‘the performance of religious rites was usually left to the care of women of great age, whom, as'well as some ‘sorcerers'and magicians, the Jesuits found:to: be consi- derable obstacles to their progress. A class of persons,’ also’ supposed: by: them to hold communications with good and evil spirits, were their physicians, whose office was exposed to much risk; for, if'a patient of any consequence: died, they were often put to death for it. The method in most common practice, for the cures of wounds and sores, was'that of sucking them. ©) 6 4) 50%) er pe gee - A general feature, without which’no human prise or society. has yet been found, is a belief in the immortality of the soul. This, however rudely carved in many, ‘is an impression everywhere exhibited, and to provide for physical wants or spiritual happiness in another life, each according to his own iia atlas sana appears a care, with the least as with the most civilized man. sud BHOTDiMMaE wi We may suppose that the most. common ‘instrument, fies wa sdiminibatias of justice with the Indians, was the power of the strongest, or that the standard for it was’ such, as what prevailed before christianism’ became: well: understood: and its influence felt, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for.a tooth. The Peruvians, from the nature of their government, the community of goods, ‘the annual mutation of their possessions, the scattered abodes of their tribes, and the divine attributes and power acknowledged’ in the Inca their ‘sovereign,.'could not: be exposed to many ‘private broils; but all:crimes with them ‘were considered:-as.offences’ to.that divinity; and therefore punished with death: Much of the Mexican ‘power was vested .in ‘the higher order of nobility as well as inthe king; ‘after:them came other classes, of nobles; and, as ‘real and moveable’ properties were with the: Mexicans well. defined and established, held under different tenures, and in most. cases hereditary, it is v OVER: THE: ANDES. 119 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. | CHAPTER VI. _ probable,» from: theii institutions and ‘their. natural disposition, that they must. often have had recourse:to tribunals or to arms, for the settlement of their differences. In other parts:of: America, many customs prevailed for the atonement of injuries, more or less according to the=standard. already mentioned: the. caciques, who were. first captains'in war, often performed. the office.of judges in time of peace, and a spirit of equity with many tribes; has often been noticed amongst their good qualities. — _ «te! The Jesuits,» who spread themselves nearly all over America, for the purpose of converting its inhabitants tothe christian religion, first arrived in Paraguay in the year 1556.:0 They: were ofall nations... Spanish, Portuguese, German, Irish, French, Italian, and other monks of that:order, soon flocked to both the eastern and western Shores of this ‘hemisphere, and once:a single ship brought forty of them to Buenos- ayres. This was indeed a vast field for them, and they explored it. Many had the most arduous labours to; perform, and'very severe hardships to. undergo, in, pene- trating into unknown and: inhospitable regions, inhabited by wild tribes, often hostile to strangers: to these they submitted, and some) sank under the effect of their zeal, overcome by the difficulties: of their journies and enterprises, by the climate, the attacks of Indians, or of wild beasts., With the exception of the still unexplored tracts, they penetrated into)the principal. parts and settlements of, the basins of the Oronoko, of the Amazon, and: of La Plata; along both sides the Andes and the western coast, from Arauco to California, and through a great portion of Brazil. In nearly all the Indian settlements which could be discovered, missions were by degrees established; in which not only the work of baptism ‘and. conversion, but also the trade for slaves, were at the same time favoured and-performed; the latter often with reluct - ance’and. opposition on the part: of the fathers, sometimes with their assistance, under the veil of less opprobrious names.. Some used their influence well, others abused it. » ') During one hundrediand fifty years, the Jesuits had brought as many Indians as they could into their missions and estates; and the conquerors, all those of whom they could lay hold, far and: near, into the mines and their private service as slaves.. After much animosity, occasioned by these conflicting wants, the latter complained, that 120 ~ ‘TO CHILE, (— CHAPTER VI. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. owing to the Jesuits, Indians could no longer be found in sufficient number for the required. labours; and those fathers, on the other ‘hand; sent remonstrances to Spain on the effect of slavery and cruel treatment, observing that their missions were deserted or deserting,» because the Indians saw, that, whether christians or not, they were destined for slavery. The great destruction among the American race tells this more forcibly, than all those who have written it. We find the following observa- tion in the account given of Paraguine Indians by Father Martin Dobrizhoffer, a late Jesuit of Paraguay, in Vol. I. p. 165. “ The Indians, wearied with miseries, returned «whenever they could to the ancient recesses of their forests..'The Lules, who had “ formerly been baptized by St. Francisco Solano, and cruelly enslaved by the inha- « bitants of the city Estero, fled to the woods, which they had formerly inhabited.” Tt cannot be said that the original Indians have gradually passed into their mixed races and been replaced by them; for after the lapse of three centuries, the propor- tion of the latter is at present perhaps only one tenth part, to the number of the former at the conquest; if, at least, we are to admit the statements given of the Indian population of America at that period: nor can there be much weight in the - observation that the Indians were continually at war and destroying one another: to die at the birth or in war, and to die a‘slave after hard labour, are not the same thing ; and America was conquered by those who claim a preeminence in the practice of christianism, the chief duties of which are peace, humanity, and chat ; to treat and love our neighbour as ourselves. sf ceed Lloepbrae Such had been the drain of those unfortunate obistbnd in thie Spanishi and Rites guese possessions, and so loud were the groans of their survivors, that these were at last heard in Europe, and in the beginning of the eighteenth century, regulations intentionally less mhumane, but ultimately of no avail, were transmitted to America, The privileges of the encomiendas and repartimientos were modified, in order that the sufferings of the Indians attached to them might be lessened. These names had been applied to the portions of lands granted to the conquerors, of which the various orders of ecclesiastics held the largest and finest. The Pope had granted America OVER. THE ANDES. -121 at ae ee es ‘GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER VI. to Spaimand Portugal with all its human’ stock, and in the same manner had it been parcelled out to: their subjects. The instructions sent, to the end that the Indians might have more food and less labour, were evaded or laid aside: magistrates were then\appointed for the same purpose, and this also failed of success. It had been ordered that when the Indians on the estates readily submitted to labour for their masters, these should use them well, and instruct them in the christian religion, allow them sufficient pay or food, and require only a certain share of labour; they were then called mitayos, or taskmen: those who resisted and were overpowered, might be used as their masters pleased; in which case they were denominated yanaconas, an appellation given in Peru to a particular race of helots or’ slaves. But the ground of resistané@#was easily created or pretended, and both the mines and the estates continued to be stipplied with yanaconas. The mitayos had, by the last regulations, another duty to perform besides labour to their lords and monks, and besides a capitation tax of a dollar a head; they were obliged to go and work in the mines once every third:and a half year, whatever might be the distance over which they had to’travel, which frequently exceeded many hundred miles: they exchanged one forced labour for another, with the additional hardship of leaving their homes and their families for-a service, the nature and distance of which often made it their last; and relieved them from farther miseries; as what the work in the mines did not effect, was done by diseases and the use of spirits. | _» The Jesuits, ‘however, obtained an order by which the Spaniards’ were not only prohibited from interfering with their establishments and. missions, but even from entering their territories without the permission of the fathers; and, from the beginning to the: middle: of the eighteenth century, they were able greatly to increase the number. of the missions and their population, but not without a considerable increase also; of animosity and hostility’on the part of the Spaniards and of the slave traders. The means employed by those monks, as a first introduction to the friendship and confidence of the Indians, were the gifts of various tools and utensils, and of articles of dress, with all which they. were always well provided ; they next baptized them, R 122 PROTO eee ¥O — SS CHAPTER VI. GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. and endeavoured to prevail on them to live by seman rather tidniadalanane to settle in the missions and submit to their rules; to abandon cannibalism, poligamy, wars, and idolatry; to rear all their progeny, and to become. faithful christians. Fach Indian had a task allotted to him, and the produce of his agriculture and ma- nufacture was lodged in a store, which was called common, but was in fact the store of the fathers: out of this stock the Indians were fed and clothed ; better or worse according to their labour and diligence: a trade was carried on with what was not necessary for their support, by means of which the: — European commodities were obtained. . hevsoig | viral vides Jeeay. aula The success of the Jesuits in Paraguay was caiasianieienieiiemnaaanin missions were those called the Reductions, on the bankgjof the Uruguay, with some on the Paraguay and Parana rivers, the chief of which was Asumpcion. In that part of South America they found the Guaranis, one of the most ‘numerous. tribes, and whose language or its derivations, we have already seen, were spoken or under- stood over the greatest part of it. The Guaranis of the missions became such good and faithful subjects to Spain, that they bravely fought for her; against the Portu- guese of Brazil and the hostile Indian tribes, whenever required : they very readily learned what the Jesuits taught them, and possessed qualities which held out the prospect of much farther progress. The Guarani tongue was adopted by the monks, as had been done in Peru, where the Quichan, a common language ordered by, the Incas to be learned and spoken by all their various and distant tribes, had likewise been adopted in many districts by the fathers; so that to this day, dialects of mixed origins, in which the Spanish is blended with the Guarani and the Quichan, have in many settlements replaced their parent tongues. The numbers of converted Guaranis have been variously stated, from fifty to above a hundred thousand, and that of. the missions of Chiquitos to above twenty thousand: but so anxious were the Jesuits to send the most flattering accounts of the results of their labours, that) their:exag- gerations became proverbial ; and little reliance can be placed on the description of their numerous towns, many of which were nothing more than a few huts, or on OVER THE ANDES. 123 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. CHAPTER VI.. their inhabitants, numbers of whom had no sooner received the customary gifts, and been baptized and registered, than they went back to the forests. As the success and influence ‘of the Jesuits increased, so did envy and. ani- mosity towards them ; and an event happened which shews, that the mitigation which had been intended by the ‘sovereigns of Spain and Portugal was not, with their ministers, ‘much greater in Europe than in America. In the year 1750, the most considerable Guarani reductions on the Uruguay were ceded to the Portuguese, their bitterest enemies, and after many vain -intercessions from the Jesuits, and some useless resistance from the Guaranis, thirty thousand of them were compelled to abandon ‘seven of their best settlements and lands, and to seek elsewhere new dwellings and means of subsistence. This harsh measure gave a blow to christianism, from the effect of which among the Indians it-did not:recover, and soon afterwards it almost entirely sank under another. Envy and malignant animosity, many vague and unfounded suspicions, and some well grounded accusations, having continued to assail the Jesuits on all sides, and to undermine their reputation, gave at last in Europe an alarming appearance to their growing influence, and caused their down- fall. -In or about the year 1757, they were expelled from Brazil; in 1767, from all Spanish America, and soon afterwards was their order entirely suppressed. They were not so much recalled, as ignominiously and cruelly driven out, and many shipped off, much in the same manner as African slaves were transferred from their native land to be converted from human beings to beasts. Their fate was rather aggravated than softened by other religious orders, anxious to take possession of the comfort and power of wealthy establishments and estates, no longer liable to the same dangers and hardships ‘as had attended their founders. ‘The innocent suffered with ‘the ‘guilty, ‘and men who had been authorized to represent themselves to the Indians as sanctified and almost supernatural, the fathers of christianism, were sud- denly, in their ‘presence, hurled down from the pulpit, and treated as the most cri- minal felons. ) After that event,: the situation of the Indians became: more extensively worse: R 2 (194 | r0 CHILE; > ‘CHAPTER VI... GENERAL ‘FEATURES CONTINUED: thé regulations which had been “intended ‘to “alleviate ‘their sufferings ‘had ‘the:con- trary effect, and rendered oppression more systematic: ‘the ‘missions, as well ‘as the forests, furnished what more slaves they could afford) for the mines and: the éstates, and in'the*year 1779, the Indians: of Peru’and La’ Plata attempted to redress ' their ‘wrongs themselves, by an extensive insurrection, which ‘caused the ruin of several thriving towns ‘engaged in mining, below the eastern side: of the Andes between Potosi and Cuzco; the destruction of their most: wealthy inhabitants, and threatened an overthrow’ of the Spanish power in’ those districts: but it was’ quelled ; and although from the decay of the Indian population and of the mines, from feelings a little more just and humane, and from the effect of the late revolutions, the situation of the Indians has been meliorated, slavery and the mita service abolished, yet they continue in the lowest state, because the spirit of emulation and improvement cannot be manifested, where the benefits to which itis nai tissaiens to — are denied ere O, ~ | rial | bellaser deerin tor arn When we make a due allowance for the ‘effect of distance, in’ softening the for- bidding features of many past deeds, as it does the sounds of harsh: notes :"when we wash off the false colouring with which history is often covered, or remove’ the gloss which adorns it, the mind waxes sad under the impressions conveyed by ‘what remains. We feel pleased in raising ourselves much ‘above uncivilized man,’ or in lowering him deeply below us. But, if:we exclaim against the oddity of his fashions, he will laugh at the comic effect of our own, their incessant changes, the high and paramount importance attached to them, and the infantine exhibitions which the shifting of their various scenes places before him. If we tell him of -his wars, he may shew us the’records of ‘ours; ‘how many murders'and miseries they have caused, OVER THE ANDES. 125 GENERAL FEATURES CONTINUED. ; CHAPTER VI. for one truly just and heroic deed; how ee desired, not only for conquest and plunder, but even for some paltry gain Lattaced to the state of warfare alone :—If of cannibalism; he may ask whether some among us do not believe that wars are necessary dispensations, in order that-a seat may be had at the table spread out for the support of mankind :—If of our skill in politics ; he will say that what he chiefly sees arising from them, are discord. or- discontent ; social ties incessantly rent asunder, by mere differences of opinion in them:—If of our civil institutions; he may observe, that most only tend to shew the accumulation of evils, against which we learn how to guard, as Indians do shooting with arrows to prevent starvation, and to roost on trees to avoid wild beasts:—If of our morals; he may request that, like the devil on. two sticks, we will unroof every dwelling, and shew him what passes there :—If of his idolatry ;, he will set before us the many strifes, midnight massacres, tortures, burnings, and persecutions, in the name of religion; animosities and discordance, in creeds: and in modes of worship.—But if we. tell him of good will and of justice towards all mankind; of humanity, and of charity for the relief of both the body and the mind ; he will exclaim, that with such as follow this truly christian practice, he will live and die: for the natural disposition of unci- vilized man soon teaches him how to find happiness in these, as much as the gradual improvement of rational faculties does the most civilized, that there is no other that can be lasting. . We may easily enjoy the gratification of seeing, rie Pl tt the distance between the human creation and that of brutes may be widened: in the lowest hut. can this be witnessed, and the mind gladdens at the sight; for, even there, after sufficient observation and an impartial judgment, must we allow.a share, generally underrated, of intelligence, good sense, and seriousness of thought; natural feclings of justice, humanity, and benevolence, which, to grow and thrive, only require some culture and good examples. ‘There we may rejoice at the conviction, that man in the rudest stage was born religious; ; formed to be a. rational sagt and a Christian. 196 act “TO sth AYO aangcoeniape ssi: | ete mpenetastantaniieastitate ete Seats £5 PON om “ahem Thee alee me. SHARIR Rs Death es nr ee ge hee « Se ETS Blea Ae batieh ‘nafs vod’ :bosh Sioiat De ti Ried CHARTER, YU, soa thos Stan ont Pili cette RO PROVINCES OF SOUTH AMERICA WHICH FORMERLY CONSTITUTED i | VICEROYALTY OF BUENOS-AYRES OR LA PLATA, AND WHICH . ‘NOW FORM INDEPENDENT STATES. SPUCVVCVVVSVVSVSEATVSVAUVVVIEVSVSEVTTVISVST VV OVSSHTVIETESD Tra. ae u ty BH THE portion of South America which, after the conquest, made a 1 part of ‘of the Viceroyalty of Peru, was afterwards, in the year 1778, detached from: it, in order to constitute that of La Plata, and is now independent, may be repre- sented as a vast elongated basin, opening at the southeast into the Atlantic Ocean, and partly formed on the east by the mountains of Brazil ; on the north by the Campos Parecis or table lands of that country, the groups of the small mountains of Aguapehy and those of Santa Cruz, included i in the transverse chain of Chiquito ; on the west by the higher Andes, and on the south hy the hills of ‘Patagonia, from the extremity of which the opening extends to the river Plata. ~The northern and eastern waters of this basin empty themselves into the Atlantic by that river ; : the southern principally by the Colorado, the real course of which does not appear to be fully known: but most of the waters from the west and the Andes, | compara- tively of very small abundance, are lost in the ground or by evaporation, shortly after leaving the mountains from which they flow. The gradual rise, from the southeast to the foot of the higher mountains or lands which form this basin, seems to be so small, that were we to travel in it round their base, during ‘the winter months or shortly afterwards, we should have to wade a considerable part: of our way through inundated tracts and shallow lakes, as if we were going rather i in a broad ditch, than over sloping regions with a sensible declivity towards the south- eastern opening. The current of the great rivers Paraguay and Parana is so gentle, OVER THE ANDES. 127 STATES OF LA PLATA, &« CHAPTER: Vil: - that the fall of the principal part of their waters has been estimated at only one foot in.a league, and this probably, without any allowance for the power by which they may be propelled, as, according to other accounts, the declivity of the ground, between the 18th and 22d degrees of south latitude, is not one foot altogether. _ Within this basin and its whole length, besides the many extensive bowls and broad longitudinal vallies caused by. groups and chains of smaller. mountains, are plains which appear as forming a distinct and uninterrupted great. channel or vale, from north or northwest to south or southeast; the plains of Guanacos,.those of Manso, and the plains of Buenos-ayres more frequently called by their Indian name, Pampas. But when the latter reach the southern extremity of the mountains of Cordova, in the latitude about 33° south, whether they are to be described as a continuation of the same broad channel of plains, formed here by only a ridge or step of higher lands, extending from those mountains far to the southward, or as taking a much wider range, and spreading out with nearly the same level. as far as the Andes, has probably not been yet. ascertained.. The loss of the rivers Quarto and. Quinto, after flowing some distance to the southeastward, would very much support the supposition that there is such a ridge of high lands, if their waters were not so. inconsiderable. As to the Desaguadero, which is described in maps as the main branch of the river which afterwards takes the name of Colorado, it may be doubted, from the nature and small size. of the former, if it can warrant such a description: but, at the little lake del Chorillo, or del Bebedero, about two hundred and twenty miles to the southeast: of Mendoza, at» the junction. only, rather than confluent, of the Desaguadero with the. Tunuyan, a larger river which comes out of the Andes .a little. below Mendoza, and. after their many bifurcations and some partial retrograde course into the lake, it is very possible that what is not lost here of their waters, taking a southerly course, may reach the Colorado and the Atlantic. However this may be, the nature of the.climate would lead to suppose, that the principal supplies of the latter river must. proceed. from more abundant. and more southerly streams, than either the Desaguadero or the Tunuyan. : 128 LPO ‘CHILE, ¥O CHAPTER VII. STATES OF LA PLATA, &e. “ ~ In the basin of the Amazon and in'that of the Oronoko, which are chiefly covered with thick’ forests,'no other roads éxist than the course ‘of’ their many and large navigable'rivers, and almost no other settlements than what are on their banks. ‘In this basin,“although little intersected with thick forests, only partially’covered with’ thin and small woods, and'therefore nearly all open to communications and to trade, yet the population and intercourse are principally confined to three great lines of roads. The first to the north, from Buenos-ayres to Paraguay, along the rivers Parana and Paraguay: the second to ‘the northwest, from the saine city to Potosi ‘and ‘Peru, the great and formerly wealthy channel of inland trade ‘and ‘carriage ‘with the mines of the Andes of Peru’ and with ‘Lima, a distance of two thousand-nine hundred and’ twenty five. road miles: the third, from the Esquina de Medrana in the state of Cordova, where the road from Buenos-ayres to Mendoza’ and Chile leaves that'of Peru and takes 4 westerly direction! 4Mibiinix9 2bcsl rorgit 10 Gate Near Buenos-ayres the population spreads out, and communications are more extended: but afterwards, it is on or near those roads where, in this vast basin, we find almost the whole of the inhabitants of European or mixed origins; which eompara- tively and with the exception of Buenos-ayres, Asumpcion, Potosi, and Mendoza, is very inconsiderable, and which of late has been lessened by wars, and by the gradual decrease of inland trade. Between’ these three principal lines of intercourse and population, or beyond them, are regions, some of which have hitherto been rendered uninhabitable by either too much or too little water, extensive’ inundations’ or continual droughts; others, which are pasture’ lands, entirely left to ‘the range of cattle; and some tracts, which are settled or roved upon’ by Indians, whose numbers, probably never very great here, have been still-:more reduced ‘by the causes” stated in the foregoing chapter. -Azara, a Spanish writer, thinks that all the Indians “of the pampas could not ‘assemble more than four ‘hundred warriors, and that “all the tribes continue rapidly to diminish. "When we are told that.five or ten thousand have approached Buenos-ayres for the plunder of cattle, I'believe, from what I have heard on the road, that the number may be reduced to one or two hundred: hut ‘even: OVER THE ANDES. 129 STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. CHAPTER VIil. this, from the exposition of the country, is sufficient to drive very large herds of cattle away. ‘The whole of the population of this basin, of whatever origin, is at present estimated at one million one hundred thousand souls, of which the state of Buenos-ayres is supposed to form the sixth or seventh part. ie. Its political division is, in most cases, founded on the different jurisdictions which already existed under the Viceroyalty of Buenos-ayres. A congress, from large provinces and small districts, now forming separate states, was held in Tucuman in the year 1816; some towns making up, by their population and their vicinity to the stores of silver, for the want of lands: and other states, by very extensive territories, for that of towns, or at least of inhabitants: for, the titles of Bishoprics, cities, and towns, so readily granted in South America, should not be suffered to convey an idea of population: high sounding descriptions and names have prevailed in an extraordinary degree in this continent, ever since its conquest: Baron Humboldt often found, during his travels in the northern parts of it, what is also observed on both this and the western sides of the Andes, the name of city, ciudad, bestowed on what can only boast of a few streets, and that of town, vila, on what only consists of some few huts and a corral.. The act of independence was signed in San Miguel del Tucuman, on the 9th of July, 1816, and has been published in the following terms :—“ We, the representatives of the United Provinces of Rio de la “Plata, assembled in a general congress, imploring the Supreme Being who presides “ over the universe,. calling on heaven,’ earth, and men, to witness the justice of our “cause, in the name, and by the authority, of the people we represent, solemnly “declare, that it is the unanimous will of the said provinces to break all the ties “which united them to the Kings of Spain, to be reinstated in all those rights of “which they were deprived, and thus to be raised to the rank of a free and inde- “pendent nation, capable henceforth of forming for itself such a government. as “justice and circumstances imperiously demand. We are therefore empowered by “the United Provinces at large, and by each one separately, to declare and engage “that they will support this independence. Their lives, property, and fame, shall be s 130 | bhepo cnERe ge OO CHAPTER VII: STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. “their guarantee. Out of respect for the nations whom our fate may interest, and “feeling the necessity of declaring the weighty reasons which impel us thus to act, “we decree that a manifesto shall be published.” Had this congress been held by Indians, the former owners of these lands, it would remind the traveller. of the midnight meetings in the field of Griitli, on the craggy banks of the Four Cantons lake. When the spirit of christianity shall here become more united with the forms of it, the few who remain of those Indians may find some benefit in the change; and some atonement for the wrongs which they have suffered. veo ori In giving the names and some description of these states, it is necessary to observe, that the limits of several, and the relative political situation or ties of all, appear to be yet very unsettled. A few of them, with Buenos-ayres at their head, have long and strenuously tried fora federal union, but hitherto with little success, Some deputies have occasionally met: several states would not send any; others; owing to their great distance or other causes, could not: and whilst Buenos-ayres, in its effort for the accomplishment of that measure, has at the same time shewna strong disposition to avail itself of its situation and population for retaining some influence and controul over the whole, a partial reaction against independence appears to have taken place in Potosi, and other mining districts below the Andes; owing to the retreat of the royal army from Lima into Upper Peru. It is probable that much time will elapse, ere any permanent political union can take place, among states so numerous, so different, and so distant from each other : but they have not many causes for discord, and as long as the important navigation of the river Plata shall not serve the ambition of the one to the prejudice of the other, and shall remain open to the export of their productions, the interior may be tolerably free from disturbance, although ina weak and unprotected situation. By following the three great roads already mentioned, that description will be facilitated, and principally found in the following statement of their post stages and distances. NORTH ROAD FROM BUENOS-AYRES. ITINERARY FROM BUENOS-AYRES TO PARAGUAY. Estimate of Population of POST STAGES. Lee Ore, 1) ag | Authorities. BUENOS-AYRES. Bishopric. | 80,000 Conchas one ene ene a ad Berne. Arroyo de Pinazo wre | vrcrreer Pilar wide wr crrassinrircceciccee: |) AAA Canada de la Cruz nnnauncs | anmun Areco Rio few ANAW HARA AAAS anette Canada onda PRCEUTVVAUTVVDAVAVANN VEVVVTWS Canada vellaca Km nin: | Kanu Arrecife Rio Na ta Ya tn ot ne oo ne nd ewer San Pedro Ee we SSeS ta to oo nn aren Hlétimanas.. .ikiinunixcres | Kris Arroyo de Ramallo www | wine Artoyo de en medio www | rn Arroyo de Pabon w.nwinnn | nnuiw Arroyo Seco DRWADA Ltt ttt Awe Rosario ae a at to ae oe nn a en eed waar Espinillo BRAVA A040 10 AAwrnwewe San Lorenzo BARA WA HAHA ween Carcarana Rio. Carcar. ana e888 atanerw go) Ce ee Rae nney Iga eepety Colestiné, 6 Coronda rw... | nnn Bragado, 6 Lomas... | nnn Monte de Los Padres sc... | nnn ee Poona cacccncsesee | GOOO From Buenos-ayrese. | sn... 1 Ee ee ee ae ae SAUCE STANGE rr reaches sees | eee Patere ce Vera’... | Antonio Tomas weet ett ttt tet weet Piermaritlatias CNR AAR | nes Alcaraz Peete ee ee eee eye eeeeeees onenen Rio Feliciano Benen weet. are... Arroyo hondo Ee na a a ah nana ae are. Rincon del Yacaréy ......-..... | wwe Rio Guaiquiraré ne are. TN ip eat Biel ale aah Yee Tein Esquina 6 Sta. Rita. Administration. MATTE eee cad icnccscian, | OS 2 J ee SR Sears Aroma Da tah ton tho hg nay on ne na Srcasica. * Adminiwarrrccracr Chiota R008 8888888 Ayo Ayo Areeevete ttt tttetst8s ‘ ata ArGk . di pti narccecerie ET a ad, cctinniotn~.wececeeve LA PAZ, Admin. Bishop. Laja RUBE eeet eters) TARR R EAC eeminrinr nencecec’ Guaqui, (here begins the Lake Tituaca. ) wreese riers Cepita ewer eevee te etetetesesetes Quilca 6 tambillo. ..........0 Fr OID AER, xvanestasyeseerisietwr aes JULI Deweveeeetetetetet ett tte YLAVE. Admin. Deeeetetetet.t.8e Acora ii a “a Yan "ah “a hp nh ph ana a ea na Chucuito Deane eeereeeteretesetes Puno. Here are two roads over the Andes ; the one west, and over ‘the Desert, or Travesia, from Puno to Arequipa, by Avilque rn.wriveriereeimivwnns Tayataya rr... veeseeee PRE) ETERS cannncacensuceensse8 GUARTA swine rerieeeemreevies 4 Pati SPVVVVVVSVSVVV VV VS HVeVoessesveesews Estimate of Population of all Origins, from various Authorities. WVevevse.ee DEVE VIAS 30,000 |. small, ed DVVTV BV sett PRVeVeesee arr... SBVTVeEsVs DBVVeVses —=—_ =a -e———- so) ¢ 6 4: 4, 4 5 6 6 10— 61 627 10 6 4, 4 4 4: 6 7 5— 50 677 6 7 4, 7 4, 3 4. 5 5 3 4— 52 729 7 6 z 8 5 POST STAGES. Tambo de aji nS an nee nee eee Tambo I a a AREQUIPA. Admin. Bishop. and from Arequipa to Lima, by the sea side. The other north, from Puno to Paucardblls gcctasdin wna Poracotd 22ckd den. 4 eh Na VaDURe da veannnann te neknnne, Pucara. Admin.awerrrwrrr Sanita Risa) gece Bis Agua CALION te ninene | o > I <<) 28 sail aoe) a pod o_o WBWWWOADAHASCWMDEPNWADANWN AMADA! O~A NORTHWEST AND WEST ROADS FROM BUENOS-AYRES. ITINERARY FROM BUENOS-AYRES TO CHILE. POST STAGES. BUENOS-AYRES. Bishopric. Puente de Marquez w....... Cafhada de Escovar.s..n.r vse Canada de Roch#®#ainwcceeaw Cahada de la Cruz ww. www AYLeCO were WVCVVVeseseewes Chacras de Ayala ww... | Arr ecife ttt tated Fontezuelas Ree fhe eer Canada de Gomez, ..w+...+.0+0~ Arroyo de en medio .,. Arroyo Pabon w Arroyuelo del Sauce... Manantiales, i Orquetas....... Candelaria nr wrrrwrrrreewrreeee Desmochad08 vervwwrsreereeeer veers a At tind Esquina de la Guardia .....0 Cabeza del Tigres. wre Esquina de Lobaton .........0 SaladilloBencsckin aa necceusew Barraneas wwii Warns entenss Zanjon R000 08288888 Fraile MUCTTO nnn Tres. CTUGES ncasacesscnscaewncee. Esquina de Medrano. x... Here the Chile leaves the north- western road of Peru. Arroyo de S. José www Canada de Lucas ..ww.wrwrrnr Punta de AQUA werererrereeeserer Santa Barbara Tt at te ttt Corral de Barrancas, 6 Tegua.. Tambo Weewereeeeeeesepsesstst]etes Aguadita bw ate CCE CETCVVS Chaharitos 6 Barranquita ~~ | Estimate of Populationof Authorities. | 80,000 | PRE PE HRATWE EP HE AAMODHDHFSWAOAUAAANWS Leagues, OPP BP OO Oyo POST STAGES. j Portez elon neSernnEOE _ Morro Laguna del Chorrillo..... | Desaguadero .... WeVewes Corral de cuero, 6 Pirgua.... | 6 bajo del Maltés | Corocorto, 6 Dormida Be as Catitas x. TRV a wet eteretstseteteses | Rodeo de Chacon sr..w.w La Ramada ae WV eoe Rodeo de Moyano 6 Retamo | Rodeo de en TMEUIOwchewisccwen MENDOZA .... Villavicencio Aho 2840000020008 Uspallata B00 0088888888 Punta de las bacas sn... Pujios W000 40008040020 204022208008 P aramillo UE Peasy lo Las Cuevas wiiwsine Cumbre, or Summit of the Cen- tral ridge of the Andes .. Calaveras 200002042 2020032320408 Juncal, laguna del Inca ...... Ojo de AQUA wrereevereereseseees Guardio del Resguardo ..... Villa de Sta. Rosa Colina ESA hs Py SANTIAGO DE CHILE Bishopric. tad From Buenos-ayres w |. www | SECVVVTTVVVVTUD \ | Rio quitito. 2 eet t SAT LUIS oven eeaeneahe WwVeve ~~ re Authorities. DVVUVVVWeY 218 OVER THE ANDES. 131 STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. CHAPTER VH. In the preceding itineraries, the towns which are capitals of the new indepen- dent states, or of more or less consequence, either from their size and population, or from the extent of their territories, are described with larger or smaller types: the other stages chiefly consist of hamlets or post houses only. — To the east of the northern road are Montevideo and Maldonado, which, with their districts, have passed from this former Viceroyalty to Brazil; and the: state of Entrerios, situated between the Uruguay and Parana rivers, whose capital is Cor- rientes, a small and badly built town. The annual inundations along the mountains of Brazil, extend more or less from the river Plata to the transverse chain of Chiquito, and are such as to interrupt the communications by land, during several months; and the course of the largest rivers is often lost in them. The rock of granite, which forms a great part of those mountains, is covered with a thin crust. of soil, seldom sufficient for the purpose of agriculture, but which bears good pasture. With the exception of Asumpcion, there are no towns of any consequence in Paraguay ‘proper. This state has been governed, since its independence, by a supreme Dictator, with absolute power, and without any political connection or much trading intercourse with its neighbours. Its militia consists of five or six thousand men, half of whom are on duty during six months. It is watered by many large rivers, particularly the Paraguay, Parana, Pilcomayo, and Vermelho; and, being moistened by abundant rains, it is rendered fit for almost any kind of productions: thick forests with numerous wild beasts and reptiles are found in it. Dobrizhoffer gives us an idea of some serpents, by relating that a number of men, mistaking one of them for the trunk of a large tree, sat on it some time, before they discovered their mistake! Azara, in the same manner, describes the violence of the southwest wind of the pampas, by telling us, that once a hurricane tore off the head of a horse which was fastened by the neck! Santa Fe, a town and district of Paraguay, forms now an independent state, whose territory adjoins the Indians, and has often suffered much from their depredations. The population of all Paraguay is rated by some at near a hundred thousand souls, and by others at one hundred and fifty. «) To the east of the northwest road, towards the plains of Manso and Guanacos, $ 2 132 TO CHILE, > CHAPTER VII. STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. are the states and towns of Tarija, La Plata or Chuquisaca, Misque, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz,’ Apalobamba, and the very large countries of the Chiquitos, and of the Moxos, in both of which are some small.settlements and missions. Among these, La Plata is the only city of any importance, and an Archbishopric; it is well built, and is stated to contain twelve or thirteen thousand inhabitants. |. Between the northwest road, the western, and the Andes, are the states of San Juan, Atacama, the only province of this Viceroyalty which extended over. the Andes to the Pacific; Lipes, Carangas, and Paria: and here, as. already observed; for a longitudinal distance of above four. hundred miles from the Andes, and two thousand from north to south, the climate is excessively dry, and the land partially and chiefly covered with small algarobs and acacias. A traveller relates, that.on the paths across some of these regions, he only found a few hamlets, at ‘a’ distance of above a hundred and fifty miles from each other, and that in one of ‘them, the isolated inhabitants, living with primitive simplicity, had adopted celebrated names of antiquity among themselves. The whole state of Atacama, which is about nine hundred miles long, and four or five hundred broad, is so nearly a complete desert on each side the Andes, that all its inhabitants are supposed to be only about two thousand unsettled Indians. But near the large lake 'Tituaca, that of Paria, and the desaguadero which connects them, the country is very beautiful, and the inhabitants much engaged in agriculture and grazing, for the supply of the mining districts: these lakes are situated in a valley, which extends from the neighbourhood of Potosi to Cusco, with little variation, the distance of above six hundred miles. It was on the borders of the lake Tituaca, where the first Incas of Peru resided: between it and La Paz are seen some ancient and curious colossal pyramids, and.gigantic figures cut out of stone. This last town, which was very prosperous, suffered much, as did Oruro, Puno, and many more, from the Indian insurrection of 1779. In all those which are described above and in the itineraries, are generally found from three to half a dozen convents or more, besides large cathedrals and. other churches splendidly ornamented. In some are nunneries; and a few have. hospitals, colleges, and other public establishments. There are near the Andes, in the northwestern parts of this . ta OVER THE ANDES. 133 STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. CHAPTER VII. _ basin, several other districts, formerly corregidores, with very small towns or villages only, monastic establishments, and a small population engaged in mining or agri- culture, now governing themselves independently, like those already named, without any political ties with each other. | | The celebrated town of Potosi, once with above a hundred thoitsand inhabitants, now holds thirty thousand. The Indians, at one time fifteen thousand, forced to work in its mines, are at present less than two thousand, and voluntarily employed . in them. The mountain, from which so much silver has been obtained, is 4360 feet above its base; and it is related, that the first discovery of its wealth was made by an Indian of Porco, who, whilst pursuing some goats, pulled up a bush, and found some pieces of silver adhering to its roots.. Masses of gold and silver, of most extraordinary sizes, are stated to have been found in several of these mining districts. : Military commanders, priests, missionary monks, and others, who came from Spain, Portugal, and Rome, with rank and power, divided the greatest part of this continent among themselves, with royal grants or otherwise; and the portions were made of such large sizes, that comparatively to the extent of what is appropriated, and except in the vicinity of populous towns, or in some particular spots, it is held by few, and the limits of those possessions are in many instances undefined. In Chile, some private estates not only reach from the Andes to the sea, a length of about a hundred miles, with a breadth of twenty or thirty, but the owners claim also. the same space over the chain down to its eastern foot, by which another hundred miles of pasture lands are added to those properties. Some of their cattle, in order to keep alive: the right of possession to their masters and themselves, will often venture over the central ridge, and. come down the eastern declivity: but the masses of that chain are so wide, and the herds of the Mendozines and San Juanistes so few, that there is yet no risk of hostile contacts. Even, therefore, on the Andes of Chile is there no common pasture land; and if a muleteer wish, that some of his | beasts should have the benefit of the fattening and invigorating alpine plants, he must pay for it to the owner of.a section of those mountains. The highest. ridges and summits, being thus divided, bear the names of the Chileno estates below them; ish | ' me CHILE, '° wate CHAPTER VII. STATES OF LA PLATA, &e. such as the cordillera of Colina, of Ladessa, of Chacabuco. Other baits though not so extensive, are very large. pee OC GD ~~ Tn this basin, many estates are said to be still more considerable than in Chile, and on both this and the western sides of the Andes, most of the largest and finest belong to the clergy ; a great barbes of others are entailed on the eldest branches of families, by mayorasgos, so that a very considerable portion of this continent is at present unalienable, and it is not therefore so easy as might be supposed, to ahi freehold land, or to obtain grants of it.. The consequences of the mayorasgo are much felt in Chile, and measures have oy been adopted there, ies ghd se its extension. | ae A large estate is called an hacienda, in Brazil faxenda, words nite more parti- cularly denote the mansion on it, where the works of slaughtering cattle, ‘drying beef and hides, making tallow, rum, sugar, and preparing other commodities and productions for their markets, take place. An estate consisting of grazing lands i is also called here estancia; and a quinta properly means a farm paying the fifth of its produce to the owner, but is farther applied to a country house, with a little land around it: the name of chacra is likewise given to a small possession, at a short distance from a city. Both on this side the Andes and in Chile, the owners of the immense possessions mentioned, are also merchants, shopkeepers, miners, and mariti- facturers. In their town house they have a store, where they sell in wholesale and retail, and they are concerned in foreign adventures, although these are now princi- pally left to foreign merchants: on their landed possessions they keep shops in the most convenient situations, but principally in their own mansion : they have mayor- domos, or stewards, to superintend the business of the estates, and of the mines if any, and shopmen to manage that of the stores: they are tanners and millers. The little farmers, the labouring miners, the cottagers, and all working peons, are supplied by them at exorbitant prices, and generally in debt to’ them; ‘so that their labour, . and, if I have been correctly informed, often some young memibers of their families, become in some degree mortgaged to the’ owners of the land, who, besides all this, fill up all civil and military places. The whole wealth, power, and influence, ‘being a OVER: THE) ANDES. 13% STATES OF LA PLATA, &e. CHAPTER. VII. 3 thus concentrated in a few, the bulk of the people remains poor and dependant, and. there are no links by which to connect the community: that part of it which, when, numerous, possessed of property and morals, forms the great strength of the chain, the chief prop and stay of the civilized body, the middle ranks. of society, is not found in this land; and from the few who hold and are all, to the many who hold and are nothing, the descent is but one abrupt and deep step: some little property. does undoubtedly pass into the hands of carriers, small farmers, and artisans, in large towns, but it gives them no political importance. | ‘The materials most used for building, here and in Chile, are called. adobes; Pcs consist of large plates of indurated earth, about four inches thick, fifteen or eighteen long, and nine or twelve wide. Earths of an adhesive nature are rendered muddy ; some chaff is thrown over them, and the whole is well mixed by treading down and shovelling up: this done, the mud is cast into plates, which are dried in’ the sun, and which, when laid on, are bedded in the same substance, which also serves for plastering work, of different degrees of fineness. The Peruvians used adobes before the conquest, and the ruins of an extensive town built with these materials, are; I am informed, still standing near Truxillo: they mixed fragments of sea’ shells with them, and rendered the plates very hard and durable. The great Chinese wall appears to have been built either with adobes or with bricks, of a nearly similar descrip- tion; and Sir George Staunton does not give a decided opinion, whether they were burnt in kilns or not, but thinks that they were so: there are remains of kilns neat the wall; but these might have only served for burning the lime, which was found in considerable thickness between the plates, which, from the description of Sir George, have a blueish and not a reddish appearance. In the dry western regions of South America, adobes are sufficiently lasting, and sometimes they are burnt for foundations, in order to protect them from very destructive rats. In the largest cities several churches, public works, and other buildings, are erected with stones or bricks. The extraordinary moisture of the atmosphere at Buenos-ayres renders adobes inconvenient, as grass and moss grow there so fast, even in bricks and stones, as to require to be often cleaned out, Quick lime is generally dear, and of an inferior 186 ' TO CHILE, © CHAPTER VII. . STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. quality, owing to the scarcity of fuel and the use of sea’ shells, as limestone: is seldom conveniently found, and chalk, I believe, not at all, on either side the Andes. — The roofs consist of tiles and thatch, the latter being often neatly covered in the west with a coat of mud: Humbler habitations are constructed with small posts, having branches or reeds interwoven between them, and a plastering of mud over the whole; others humbler still, are found sufficient for Ree witha align frame - and branches only. The plan on which the Spanier have built the: Sinead townis''in South — America, has contributed much to convenience, symmetry, and individual security against light shocks of earthquakes, and the sudden attacks of hostile Indians. The | streets, which are of a good width, cross each other at right angles by means of guadras, or square bodies of houses, which occupy a space of 20,648 square yards, or a little more than four English statute acres, the corners of which aré usually destined: for shops, and in Buenos-ayres, more particularly for a public house and. the sale of wines and spirits, the incessant cause of considerable mischief. On each side of the quadra are several gateways, which lead into as many square areas, three sides of which form a ground. floor, with a suite of rooms and chambers, constituting a private dwelling. . These apartments are generally spacious and lofty, opening one into the other, and, when well furnished and lighted up, exhibit a considerable, degree of splendour; behind them is another square area, with offices and rooms for stores and servants, usually with piazzas, and in the vacant space are trees and garden grounds, into which the largest rooms open. In front and over the gateway is a first floor, called an alto, and this side of the building is particularly reserved for. stables and coach houses, shops, stores, and offices for business, and also for receiving travellers and visiters. All windows, inside and out, are strongly defended by iron works, and sashes are seldom used. The towns near the Andes have not many-first floors in front, lest they should be thrown down by earthquakes; and, as the ground. is less valuable in them than at Buenos-ayres, the trees rising in the midst of very low houses, make them appear to an European very unlike towns, and when seen. at a distance, the effect is very pleasing. This circumstance has no doubt given rise to PLAN of the CLALE f Da soa SANTITAGG, = vas 3 S| -* § iy e ; Hf, \ y : the CAPITAL of CHILE’. \ \ MA = ARN REFERENCES. 4 Publie Place » Cnbildo, Palace, K Prisat ) x. Cethedral | 4. Custom Mouse Ns Verto Mine O. Chard) 7 PE Dowrnge §. Consitlale 9. Company RI nstitule. \ 70. lugustine Nine. i a. Ariedlery 4 72. Wind ij Ma ese Cugustin jj 14. Cneversiy. i 15. 8S“ Clara | 16. Penitentiary. | 17. Monastery of the Hrah (awelites 19. SS? John of Croa. 5 “9 JS! Francisco 20. Court of 8! Benevenlo 24 S§? James. y) Sooo ‘d 22 SS! francseco de Boya 43. S*Lararo. 2. Grenaderos 25. Seminary. 26 Post Oftice d 27. StAnne fia PY. S!Paud. Le ih cagsiciteais a Vuze —— | 3a College of Carmetites. 3). Public Walk orTaamar. 2, Hild of S™ Lucia? 3). Foundling Hospital. 14. Pollery & Stare House. 35. 3? Ferdro. 36.8" Rosa 7 Mills of Comex 38. Chapel of the/Image. | Nunnery of Franciscans. | 49. Viennery of Domamcane. 4). Wale Stree’ with Feai ML of § * Domingo. \ wy 5 Z ea : re] PS9 WN 13. Hills of S$ Christquiver. WAY any : pee 14. St Mercy | ii \OoOLBUOGOL (eA lg DODSCUGE; ta i j 16. Road to Aconeagus 15. River Mapocho. ; ee d7. Froad to \alpazayso. 7 Corl ee ees or e ‘ al ald ey ig Lies) on Storie be OL aten - Wi. Ae ae me bl : % = is 3 « , £ ‘, ’ S i j 1 + ' er ‘ { % “ 3 ’ ' e s : ns b 2? oy ¥ as 7 ae * ” ae Le hw eae ¢ : Ago be edge a: Oe oh. vente tere cee Wpwgtineap ts ie att er eM ir ian Gasteue j ss NS a boty 4 , TM SNE ge oa Pen OVER THE ANDES. 137 ee _———————e—————ee——— a eee STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. CHAPTER VII. the description often found, of many cities of South America, by which they are represented, as standing in the midst of groves of the most luxuriant trees; whilst they often adjoin barren wastes, and the groves should rather be described as rising in the midst of those cities. | biti The plan of Santiago, the capital of Chile, which is introduced here, in Plate No. IL, shews the effect of the distribution of bodies of houses into quadras. It is copied from an accurate diagram; but the view added at the top of it, is from recol- lection only, and without correct or classical delineation, being intended, as well for a general effect of the scenery of the Andes and of their central cordillera, from the _town or its vicinity, as fora plan of the waste and: cultivated lands between it and the foot of those mountains, and for a distance of about forty miles along them. The straight line on the right indicates, the canal which brings water from the river Maypo to increase the Mapocho, and the cultivated grounds along it: a line on the left shews a small channel, which carries: water from the Mapocho, along the brow of the mountains, to a village about eighteen miles distant, by a cut called Salta de agua, which is said to have been the work of the Indians before the conquest. There seldom is, in this part of the world, any intermediacy between the large house of a family of wealth or rank, and a small habitation, consisting of a room: for sleeping, one for sitting, and another for cooking; the latter having its fireplace on the ground, and the smoke escaping where it can; ‘the dormitorio, or sleeping apartment, divided from the sitting place by a wall or a piece of cloth only, and the - ground sometimes floored with bricks: but a dwelling must belong to a very poor and unsettled family, if it do not consist of two sheltered places, one of which for cooking. In the west, particularly in Chile, a traveller who stops at a farmer's of some small property, and sleeps in open air, will sometimes see, in the morning, the whole family and servants lying down about the house and him, where they have passed the night. .I remember the effect of the first morning scene of this kind which I unexpectedly witnessed. On waking, it pleased me much, but soon morti- fied me: I thought that the men, wrapped up in their common ponchos, with their heads and. thick black hair uncovered, looked much more dignified. than I. did, T 138 TO. CHILE, CHAPTER VII. STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. although my: blanket, fine poncho, and night: cap,:made my birth a kind of ‘state bed and furniture among them. ‘Then the women exhibited an odd appearance, which, whatever their accomplishments might have been, did not at the moment put:me in mind of angelic beings, formed for adoration; and lastly, when I looked at the dogs, cats, and poultry around us; I:found, that in their sleeping appearance and attitudes, — they looked more neat: and graceful than any of us.» The scene certainly was very picturesque, but almost too rural, and the distinction ‘of ranks was not ‘sufficiently established.. In spots most exposed to incursions. from neighbouring settlements of Indians‘on the pampas, the habitations: have a small: ditch and fence round: them, which are-often sufficient to deter'small parties from the attempt to break in. The houses of‘ the largest sizes are generally: most surrounded with bones of slaughtered cattle, dogs and: birds of prey feeding on carcases, pieces of hides, horns, and other impurities, which, to an European, may appear disgusting; whilst the inhabitants of these plains and of Chile might say, that, to them, the sight is as didi: and - the smell.as little offensive, as those of a fine farmyard in Europe. mont oh The habits of the rich do not offer much for description ; those who are not engaged on their estates in killing cattle, in mining, or in some publie employments, are generally in their stores; they rise and dine early, sleep much after dinner, and in the evening go to ¢ertulias or parties, to the theatre, or to gaming places. Notwith- standing the considerable property often contained. in their shops,:and ‘their love of gain, yet there is no emulation nor contrivance, for attracting customers or outshining one another: their dress is much the same as in Europe, and sometimes very expen- sive. It'is with the country people, that we are to look for more ‘characteristic features ; and amongst:them, the herdsmen of the pampas, who are of all kinds of origin, appear to live in a wilder state than the roving Indians. Every herd has a master herdsman or capatax, who has under him an assistant for every thousand heads of cattle. These herdsmen live in huts placed in the middle of the grazing estates, without doors or windows, and:with seldom any other furniture, than a barrel to hold water, a drinking horh, some wooden spits’ for roasting beef, a small copper pot for taking matés, and hides to lie on: Few of them are married. . Their office is to ride out from time to OVER. THE ANDES. 139 -STATES.OF LA PLATA, &c. CHAPTER. VII. time, and see that the herds donot leave the limits of the estate: they drive the oxen and cows once’a week into-an enclosure called: rodeo, and the horses into:the farmyard or corral, and there they mark the new*born with the stamp. of the: estate: they attend to what other service the breeding of cattle requires, but pass much. of their time in idleness : they live at a distance of five, ten, or even.twenty leagues from oneanother, andif they have an opportunity of hearing mass, they remain on horse- ~backvat the church or chapel door, which is left open for them, and they usually baptize their children themselves: they are very hospitable and ‘highly disinterested, but strangers to feelings of friendship and sympathy. It is truly extraordinary: that, ‘either on the pampas or in Chile, among people who live. in lonely habitations,.use their horses as: we do our feet, and. are surrounded with faithful: dogs, I should never have witnessed a single mark of affection to these animals: even children are seldom playful with dogs, which are their most steady companions by. the, fire- side.. When it rains, the herdsmen of Buenos-ayres pull off their clothes, and lay them. under the saddle until the weather again becomes fine, because, say they, the body. dries the. quickest......: ... | » The flocks of sheep are only attended by large dogs, called ovejeros. As soon as born; puppies are put to suck.ewes held down to them by force, and are by degrees taught, to drive the flock out of the fold in the morning, and to bring it back in the evening: the dog has as much food and drink as he likes before he goes out, and some meat is tied round his neck, else the flock would probably be driven back before the end of the day. These dogs are said to refuse mutton: they constantly remain with the sheep, prevent them from straggling, and defend them if attacked. T have not seen any of them, nor have I had an opportunity of witnessing this. The countrymen of this part of South America, seen on their feet, and afterwards on horseback, appear very different beings, Off their horses they are, if not unable, at least unwilling to move half a dozen steps, and seem in a torpid state; but on them, they. display much activity, and when necessary, become almost indefatigable. Their dress consists of a black woollen or yellow straw tapering hat, a coloured kerchief tied round the head, hanging out behind and flapping to the wind, a T 2 140 TO CHILE; CHAPTER VII. STATES OF LA PLATA, &e. poncho or mantle with stripes of various colours, which covers the body down to the knees, and is put on the shoulders by means of a slit which lets the head through it ; boots made with the unwrought skin of a horse’s hind leg, which fits without any seams, and only lets the end of the toes out, and very large spurs with sharp rowels near an inch and a half long. The saddle consists of a large piece of leather, with two of wood at each end, so as to fit the horse’s back, and it is fastened by means of two iron rings and a thong: under it lie several skins and woollen cloths, which prevent the animal from being chafed, and provide the rider with bedding at night: the stirrups are very small, and commonly made of a piece of wood of the size of a hoop, bent into a triangle’: the bridle has very stout reins, made of twisted strips of hide, ending with three or four knotty thongs, long enough to lash the horse’ in every direction. This whip rein, the bit which is of great strength and purchase, and the tremendous spur, form in ‘all a much greater power than that with which the horse is subdued in Europe. A hat with’a broad rim, a poncho of good work- manship, small clothes with white drawers hanging out of them, silver spurs, and. ornamented horse furniture, indicate a person above the herdsmen and the labourers or peons. In Chile, such a man, instead of boots, usually wears red or blue stockings with shoes; and the stirrups, in that country, chiefly consist of large and solid pieces of wood, with a socket to receive the end of the foot. : - These people are such good horsemen, that they appear as identified with their horses; they ride through woods, as if both they and the horse were cats: if they want stones to throw at some dogs, they pick them off the ground without dismounting, stooping as if they were on their own feet. In racing, they will endeavour to entangle one another’s horse at full speed by throwing a noose at his feet, and to bring him down; then, if they should lose their seat, they generally remain standing on the ground, with the bridle in their hand: or they will stop their horse so short, that being suddenly pulled back with the great power of the bridle, it is made to sit on its hind parts: they mount them with extraordinary ease and grace, and without any inflection whatever of the head or chest ; they do not stretch one leg and carry it stiffly over the horse, but they bend or, as it were, fold OVER THE ANDES. 14] STATES OF LA PLATA, &c CHAPTER VII. it in backwards, take it over, and let it drop down. As the stirrups only support the tip of the toes, they are rather felt than used: after a little practice they are found very convenient for the walk or gallop, but at a spring trot, the feet would soon be tired and in pain. As the poorest Brazilian is too proud to carry a bundle across a street, but will bid a slave do so for him, in the same manner does the dread of any kind of exertion on foot operate with these country people, and their horses are the whole day either in use, or in readiness before the house, as walking sticks may be with us: they make them drag nets, thrash corn, mix up earth or mortar ; and they will stand several hours on them, before a public house or a booth, drinking, smoking, hearing songs, and conversing, without alighting, and then ride away. When off them, they squat round the fire, smoke again, drink matés, eat and sleep, unless they take to cards, when another change of scene takes place; for, whilst the horse seems to be the only means by which they can display their activity, gaming appears almost the only way of rousing their feelings. The weapons most commonly used, are, the knife on foot, the Zaxo and the balls on horseback. ‘The lazo is a strong rope, made of plaited strips of hide, from thirty to forty feet long, and having an iron ring at one extremity ; the other end, being passed through it, is fastened to a like ring under the saddle: the thong forms therefore a noose, which is drawn in, till within three or four feet in diameter; and the rest being coiled up to it, the whole is whirled over the head, and flung in full speed at such beast and such part of it, asit is intended that the noose should fix upon, and which is seldom missed: then the rider, turning his horse suddenly round, draws the rope tight and pulls the beast along with him. Horses are likewise made to draw a carriage, by means of rings fastened to a girth round their bodies, and seldom by a collar. It is somewhat extraordinary to see them, with their riders, pull a powerful and restive ox, or, without them, steadily keep the beast on the ground. ‘The custom of lazoing appears to have been brought here from the south of Europe: but one which, it seems, was found generally to prevail in this country, and which by its ingenuity might assist in tracing the origin of these Indians, is that of balling, which the Spaniards adopted for catching ostriches and wild horses, and “ =< 'TO CHILE). /~ CHAPTER VII. is, STATES OF LA PLATA, && as a smi for: attack ges SO = ‘horsemen. on these plains seldom ridé without it. olistl eeatie’ > bor an ist “ods? s ent deft to ei ods The mantic consists of! two otis stones, scents fei a half) to: one ols sewed in ‘a piece of leather, and connected by a hide rope, about: fifteen: feet long: one: ball:is held in the hand, and the thong attached to it is coiled. up. and whirled ‘over the head with the other stone: the coil is by degrees let out, and when the object of attack: is within» seventy or eighty feet, the whole is loosened, the ball — held in the hand being let go; in time to prevent any interruption of the power given to it by the rapid swing: the two: balls fly along like chain shot, until, coming in contact with the legs of an’ animal, they twirl round and entangle them. Sometimes three balls are used, two being whirled and one held. .The course of the animal being thus impeded, the lazo is flung at it; and if a wild horse, it is afterwards broken with the spur and violent exercise only, guided with a rein without a bit, which is seldom used before the horse is tamed. = balling of some riage Pony will be seen in Plate IV.. ow "Sid On the Andes of Chile, stones are found which are mentioned in Molina’s, and of which, during an excursion, at a considerable height, I picked up two, which I brought with me. . It appears probable that these stones were used ‘by the Indians before the conquest, for balling guanacos and other animals, or perhaps, enemies: they have holes in the middle, through which the thong might be pret! and remain attached to the stones by means of knots. bask As the balls and lazo are used with extraordinary dexterity, at the’ fullest Man of which a horse is capable, an European cannot expect to avoid theeffect of hostile intentions on the part of any inhabitant here, by outriding him: such an attempt would indubitably end with his being entangled, lazoed, and dragged away: the best mean of escape, therefore, is that of riding immediately: up to any apparently hostile person, when within reach of his thongs, and of séeing him depart in'such a direction, as will prevent a throw without his turning his horse back again. Fire arms are generally much dreaded by people roving for plwtiges and a in their Own possession. is OVER THE ANDES. 143 STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. CHAPTER VII. * Women, as well as men, smoke cigars, and.it.is only among the superior class of the former, that they'do not participate in this occupation, which seems to vie with the infusion of hierba, in affording the greatest share of enjoyment to these people: but. women: jare much less idle.than men: they spin by means of a long bobbin, only, which they twirl,with the hand, and whilst it is turning, as much thread is spun as the motion will allow; then, dexterously, making fast the thread to the bobbin,’ they! twirl and spin again. ile lal _) > Burnos-ayrEs, situated in 34° 40' S., is a large city, the population of which does not probably fall short of eighty thousand souls, and exhibits to. an European a scene quite new, owing to the lowness of the buildings; the throng of country people on- horseback, of a wild appearance, with a dress as different from that of the town’s men, as the smock frock is from the coat of a fashionable Londoner; and to huge carts, drawn by four or six oxen, whose rough axletrees.are groaning with stunning sounds, whilst their tall wheels are slowly performing their rotation; or with two oxen only, and a driver seated. on their yoke beam, unmercifully pricking them with a sharp goad, ‘and beating their heads at the same time with a large mallet. ~The heat: here in summer, at three o'clock P. M., has been generally observed to be. from. 88° to 90°.of Farenheit in the shade, and sometimes to approach 100°. In winter a slight frost, of at most three or four degrees below the freezing point, will pethaps once happen, and last.a few days; but, the temperature soon resumes a much higher degree, and snow is'unknown. Thunder storms are very frequent and dangerous, particularly in summer; and in the year 1793, the lightning struck thirty seven times-in Buenos-ayres, and killed nineteen.people.. During my short visits here, I more than once saw the lightning flash for several hours, almost without intermission, and shew the sky in.a constant blaze: the rolling and claps of thunder are very loud, and generally accompanied by heavy -rains,.. whilst at some distance to the westward, ‘sunshine is uninterrupted.. The atmosphere, although very moist, is uncommonly’ salubrious here. | Owing to sandbanks; ships of war and of Cae must.remain at anchor, in an exposed anton; at five or six miles from the landing place.. ‘The town is built with bricks 144 - TO CHILE, CHAPTER VII. STATES OF LA PLATA, &c. and adobes; some churches and convents, with a handsome white stone: it is distri- buted into quadras; a few streets are paved, and others hold deep mud or water in them. A spacious public college, not yet in a state of much forwardness, and two schools, on the plan of mutual instruction, established by a native of Great Britain. of an able and philanthropic mind, with about a hundred boys, are patronized and supported by the government and clergy. This town is lighted up, but not very safe at night: when a murder is committed, the body is exposed in public to be claimed, and there generally ends the occurrence. The market is very abundantly supplied : but wheat now sells in it at about ten dollars a fanega of 2101b., or thirteen shillings: a bushel, and some years ago, was only about half this price. When TI left Chile,’ the cost of that weight, near the river Maule, was two reals and a half, or fivepence a bushel! That of beef, the chief food here, 1s regulated by law at half a dollar an arroba of 251b. Mutton costs about three shillings a carcase. Good fish is caught in the river; and partridges, with other fine birds, in the plains. Various other kinds of cheap provisions are found in this market, and here are two or three English hotels, with public tables-and plentiful fare, for two dollars a day. Water is daily sold in the town, and the horses kept in it are chiefly fed with lucern and barley grasses, which are brought twice a day for them. The higher classes of women dress very well, and after European fashions: they have a fair complexion, and a ladylike appearance: many display elegant figures and much beauty; but there seems to be’ some want of that mildness of expression and flexible dignity of manners, which’ are no less expected than pleasing in their sex. ‘The Buenos-ayrians are fond of society: dancing is here, as in other towns of this country, a favourite amusement, ' and they have a small theatre. | Here are a very considerable number of foreign merchants and tradesmen, and a manufactory of fire arms near the-town. The chief exports are hides, tallow, dried beef, and some articles of transit. European goods are distributed from hence into the interior, against precious metals, hierba, furs, ostrich feathers, ponchos, carpets, saddlery, and the productions of grazing and agriculture. The government of this state consists of a supreme Director and a Junta. iat S MOLE 7 ai ) a a4 COM CE IRR XS ft eae S Santiago—ie OS 27S Lake 71 O43 Wong: = Pi, Bos mee iS Sef C0 ANE f { 7 ” Sf) aa ui 4 ’ ; ‘i nt Ss Kam adn mA ’ eS peer a . EEN fee Ser Prt fos 70 TKO ep eS cA aly, . te eee i atatad < OVER THE ANDES. 145 CHAPTER VIII. DEPARTURE FROM BUENOS-AYRES.—ARRIVAL AT PORTEZUELO.— DIGRESSING EXCURSION. VPVUVCVOSVOVUTVTVVSVCVSEVIVVTVVTTVTVVSSSVTE VV OSVsIVVew OnE Englishman, two Germans, and myself, in a carriage on two wheels, manufactured in Buenos-ayres, left it on the 8th of May, 1820. _We had hired three peons, aterm which I shall henceforth use, as it is comprehensive, and extends to guides, servants, labourers, porters, and generally all such as are hired by the day, or for some particular service not permanently domestic. Flexible trunks, neatly made here with hides, containing the most necessary things, and whose single weight did not exceed ninety pounds, were loaded on pack horses, one on each side, and between them was placed some bedding. In the body of the carriage we had a good supply of Paraguay hierba and China tea, sugar, boiled tongues, and imple- ments for boiling water and for eating: under it, on a suspended hide, were saddles and bridles, in case that any irremediable accident should happen and render riding on horseback necessary, some tools, leathern bands, and a little cask intended for water in* the west, but which the peons said would ride better if filled with Mendoza wine; all so stowed and balanced by them, after many councils, altera- tions, and delays, for a drive of nine hundred miles at a gallop, as to indicate, that a day or two after starting, our vehicle would be disabled. : Some of the streets of Buenos-ayres were rendered so bad by the mud and water in them, that we were under the necessity of lighting, and of taking several turns, before we could find a practicable way out. The first seven or eight leagues were through a country enclosed with hedges of aloes and prickly pears, of. consi- derable height and thickness, better formed to displease the beast which cannot U > ae 146 PO CHILE,' 0 _ CHAPTER VIII. DEPARTURE FROM BUENOS-AYRES, &c. penetrate them, than to please the traveller who cannot see over them, and. report in his narrative the appearance of what lies behind, consisting of quintas or country houses and small farms, with corn fields, lucern days, plantations of vine, orange, lemon, olive, fig, and other fruit trees, in garden grounds and orchards. Having passed the last enclosure, we entered the pampas; and here, indeed, the eye may see as far as its power can reach; neither hedge nor tree is standing in its way. We passed through the little Buenos-ayrian town of Luxan, on the river of the same name, consisting of fifty or sixty houses and a church, with a detach- ment of ‘soldiers, where, with half a crown; we avoided the search of our trunks; and having arrived at the river Arecife, which runs into the Plata and often ‘swells | considerably, we were obliged to cross it in‘a canoe, and had much trouble in getting our carriage through it, which had already experienced some considerable shakes in passing. through muddy streams and small: bogs: The road near Buenos-ayres, and the track over the plains, were’soft:and much cut: in deep ruts by the traffic of carts. Our peons, who were guides of long experience, said that we should not have good travelling until'we got out of the rainy: country, ‘the limits of which Snare placed at about sixty leagues from that city. ; The operation of passing the Arecife lasted three hours, and having got to the post house of the same name close by it, we dined with its owner, at his particular invitation. ‘He appeared to be, in his circumstances, a man superior to those of the former: stages: he had a large garden, a few enclosures, and some imelination ‘to agriculture. 'Feasting being.over, he told us that he intended to make us.a present ‘of our dinner ; and this, with so much gravity, with such an expression of counte- nance, as evidently indicated the assumed exhibition, or the consciousness, of a great honour conferred by him, ‘with extraordinary condescension, by asking us: to his own table, ‘where, whatever the honour, cleanliness and good cookery ‘did not preside. ‘But’ why’ not allow this man* the gratification of plainly telling to: his guests, what in refined Europe is often’no less expressively looked to one’s own, although perhaps with a more civilized and dignified countenance? In order, therefore, wagy bn, © Lof ROT OY) Yjiat Py G10) “HILLIVO MO (aldd-soumg som uasyog) MATA VW rete A SAUSTS Bg haay ty Y G ounyue: 9-7 Mb anny nuod payaay A s Ps ¥ - d ” 4 ; vayfiog w dousoy G [age hecad 09D DB eUuazsy U0 ‘Sar MG angus 0d, Peypy e ® Sate CP ie of * Z a aati: eae aa aie: Res 3 “ ‘ } . s ~< i > a — < 5PE , * , these ‘towns and villages is that of the Oracion. At -matins and vespers, no sooner do the bells’ toll;-than instantly every one within hearing stops, and makes a short prayer ; some kneeling down, others only uncovering themselves. The sudden’ check’ thus given ‘to the most eager pursuits is awful. Where there are ‘protestants, they generally stop also, and take their hats off. © The Was it truly for the sake of Indians that the erection of so many churches and chapels was extended to the wildest parts of this prayer lasts but a minute or two. continent? What is now the fate of the souls, and the number is not small, of those who, from idolatry, woods, and freedom, were drawn into Christianity, mines, and slavery; and of those who thus converted them? Were the Indians brought over to our religion, to the end that they should really understand its doctrines and enjoy its blessings, or live the life, and die the death, of beasts of burthen? Their race is now in a great degree destroyed: a few of them still inhabit Is our divine the forests, and fewer continue within the pale of Christianism. religion, in its farther progress through the world, gradually to cast off all myste- rious and superstitious dress? to be accompanied with sincerity and simplicity, with toleration, peace, and good will, towards mankind; or with the stern belief, that so many millions and hundreds of millions, of beings who have already died, and all those who may be destined by our Creator still to live and die, without the benefit of Christianity, are to be for ever rejected by him; nay, that even Christians who differ among themselves in the performance of their rites, ought to hate and perse- cute each other more than idolaters? What difference is there, between a member of the school of Pythagoras, who believes that his soul “in days of other times” may have assisted bodies, now heaps of dust, in balling ostriches on these plains, as his master believed that he had assisted Euphorbus in handling his buckler, or a follower of Plato, who thinks that he may once have been some guanaco bounding over the pampas, or Patagonian hunting after it; and one, who, armed with the spirit of relentless intolerance and contempt towards the greater part of his fellow 160 - TO CHILE, . CHAPTER VIII. DEPARTURE FROM BUENOS-AYRES, &e. creatures, is taught to believe in the exclusive efficacy in his favour, of some hie | ee 2 religious signs and. ceremonies? No one wakes,. or cares to answer, and a more general siesta seems likely to follow.—Surely the doctrines of those heathen philo- sophers, however unfounded, and perhaps insincere on their part, were innocent deceptions, when compared with those that have been practised under the cloak of ‘ our religion. OVER THE ANDES. - 161 CHAPTER IX. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO.—ARRIVAL AT MENDOZA.—MODE OF | LIVING AND OF TRAVELLING ON THE PAMPAS. VPVGVVVVVSV GSS VIBES VTEOSUSVVUET SS VSVVVUVVVVVVVSVVOs WE left Portezuelo on the 19th of May, and having got round the extremity of the hill over the rocks described in the preceding chapter, we had a view of the small mountains of San Luis, and entered the province of that name. The ground between them slopes gently down towards the middle, and resumes at the same time an undulated shape, with features somewhat stronger than before. We crossed the little river Cinco, near to which stands the post house, in a picturesque spot, the view of which afforded us some gratification, as we had gradually been taught to be pleased with little. This river is very limpid, winds here with fine turns, and has its banks thinly covered with some lean trees and shrubs, chiefly algarobs and espinos. Here is vegetation sufficient for the keep of some goats. ‘The Cinco, like the river Quarto, which we had passed at Tambo, runs some distance to the southeast, and ends its course in swamps. If united, they would not form a body of water equal to that of the New river near London. The extremity or point of the mountain of San Luis must be turned, before the small town of that name, called from its situation de la punta, can be seen. The highest elevation of this mountain may be estimated at twelve or fifteen hundred feet from its base: it seems to differ entirely from that of Cordova, and, viewed at a small distance, the masses above the ground have the appearance of indurated earth, of smooth forms without any stratification. Far to the northward the ground rises, and small mountains of conical shapes form groups which extend towards the Andes. In passing round this point, the surface seemed also to exhibit underlying calcareous rocks. Y 162 TO CHILE, CHAPTER IX. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. The grass seen in this part of the plains continues of the same description ; its bunches are large, but each plant has round it such a space of bare ground, that the land has very much the appearance of having been cut for fuel; and we could fancy that we were travelling over some of the lower wastes of Surrey, where heath is replaced by a kind of grass very like this, and where the turf has been partially taken off. Pasture is therefore scanty, but fattening, owing probably to the abun- dance of seeds which it bears, induced by so constant and powerful a sunshine. This grass, however, was in many places beginning to disappear, and we continued often to pass through some small woods, chiefly of espinos and algarobs, mixed with the chafiar and the poleo, the latter being perhaps a bastard fustic. The tint of the algarob is a light pleasing green, but its foliage is so small and scanty, that it is — overpowered by the dull brown colour of its branches: it is of the size of a small apple tree. The plantations of peach trees had long since ceased, and near some habitations, in small and irrigated spots of ground, we saw a few fig trees of a timber size, whose whitish stems, contrasting with their dark green leaves, had a fine effect. We also met with some apple and walnut trees, the latter of which bear smaller leaves and fruit than with us. The road is much cut by the traffic of the mules and carts which carry produce and other commodities between Buenos-ayres and Mendoza, so that, in a carriage, an increase of disappointments and incon- venience must be expected; to drive it on the grass is generally worse still: ours continued to want repairs, and to threaten dissolution at every step: and indeed to have proceeded so far, without being under the necessity of leaving the carriage on | the road and of taking to horse, must be considered as an exception to what usually happens. At the distance of ninety three miles from Portezuelo we found the little town of San Luis, on the western side of its mountain, the houses of which are built with adobes, and have extensive grounds attached to them, so that the appearance is that of a straggling village. The enclosures are chiefly formed with mud walls, from five to ten feet high: these are built by means of a wooden frame, which is OVER THE ANDES. 163 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &ci CHAPTER IX. shifted as the work proceeds, and gives to it, when new, the appearance of a wall built with large hewn stones: they are at first neat and pleasing, but very much otherwise when in a decaying state. Owing to the tenaciousness of the earth, some long chaff which is mixed with it, and the great dryness of the climate, these fences last many years, and are to be seen in several other parts of South America. Within them are lucern lays, some fields of wheat and barley; vine, fig, olive, orange, lemon, apple, peach, and other fruit trees, with a few cypresses and poplars. Some houses are large, and, with their grounds, have the appearance of being inhabited by families of property. But this little state is much exposed: a chief, with a few followers, can spread desolation in it, and has lately done so. | We waited on the governor and had our passports inspected; a regulation with which every stranger is expected to comply, and which ought not to be overlooked ; because, if any circumstance should prevent him from proceeding on his journey and bring him back again, he would find himself without claim to protection and hospitality, or perhaps liable to suspicion. Indeed a traveller, and particularly one coming here for the purpose of scientific observation, would do well to have the different countries, which he may intend to visit, stated in his European passport, and to take good care of it; as that which he must also procure at Buenos-ayres may be rendered less effective, or even insufficient, in the event of some war breaking out among the many different states, of which this part of South America is composed. The road distance from San Luis to Mendoza is two hundred and forty six miles, or a few over. The ground is very like that of the plains already described, but rises more and more to the northward, so that the waters, which in all are but very little, flow in a southerly direction, gradually decreasing till they cease to run. The first thirty miles brought us near a small lake, called da laguna del Chorillo, which lies to the southward of the road; another view which, from its novelty, pleased us much: it was certainly not a loch Catherine with Trossacks, nor a lake of Geneva viewed from the Jura; but it was a pretty piece of water unexpectedly ¥ 2 164 ' TO CHILE, CHAPTER IX. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. offering itself in a spot, which, being called a desert, in the midst of plains already so like one, produced on us the same effect as if, placed near a den, with the expect- ation of hearing the yells of wild beasts confined in it, soft and melodious sounds had suddenly issued from it and struck on our senses. By means of algarobs thinly scattered on the ground, and of a prospect nearly horizontal, the country towards the lake looked as if it had been well wooded. aya tebe | We crossed the desert, which is a rising ground nearly fifty miles in extent, without any water except a thin spring, sometimes dried up, about midway of it, and having descended the gentle western declivity of this spot, we arrived at the post house of Desaguadero, a very miserable habitation, where the wooden spit of a piece of roast beef, and a picturesque expedient of the peons, supplied the want of dishes. Here some water is collected, and mostly overgrown with reeds, inha- bited by wild ducks, geese, and swans. The annexed Plate No. VI. is from a sketcli taken of this place, and exhibits the herd of horses driven into the corral, for the purpose of selecting some for the next stage: the whole are brought in, in order that they may not lose the habit of remaining together. | We had just left Desaguadero, and were at a distance of one hundred and eighty miles from Mendoza, or of about two hundred and forty from the line on which rose the highest summits of the Andes, when we were gratified with the sight of that lofty chain; our opinions being at first divided between mountains and clouds, until a few of these, which were here and there skirting the snowy cordil- lera, soon left it, and no farther doubt remained. The considerable angle which the ridge itself, independently of the high summits above it, formed with the horizon, was the cause of much astonishment. I compared their appearance from this spot with that of Mount Blanc from the river Soane, a little above Lyons, not half the distance in a straight line, whose white top only, rose above the horizon like the half of a sugar loaf, whilst here, an extensive range of the Andes was high in the skies. The ground on which we stood was not elevated, and in reckoning the distance, I have estimated that of a straight and level line from Mendoza to the central base of ae ‘a Drawer on Stone by A. Aglio from a sheich. * ro DESAGUA DER O, PLATE V1. Printed br C Motte &¢ a OVER THE ANDES. 165 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. CHAPTER. IX. the cordillera or higher ridge. I am aware that the road distance, from San Luis to Mendoza, would be more or less reduced by an exact knowledge of the longitude of these two towns; but against this reduction must be set, the length of the Andes from north to south which we could plainly see, and which was considerable; including, I have reason to think, the cordillera of San Juan and that of Talca. Therefore, some part of the chain may have been at a rectilinear distance of two hundred and fifty miles from us, or might be supposed to stand on the borders of ondon, looking at it. But the Andes can be seen at a still greater distance: the “sb ¢ Molina mentions three hundred miles; and a gentleman, on whose testimony I may rely, has twice seen them, without a glass, from some spot near the Punta of San Luis, rising considerably above the horizon, a distance which, in England, would remove the sight of them from Scotland to the Isle of Wight: or, if placed by the side of Mount Blanc, would render them visible Scotland, and we, in L at Paris. pao Here then, and in height, when the distance is considered, the Alps already sink into insignificance ; but not in beauty; for, the summit of Mount Blanc seen from the spot which I have mentioned, with the tops of Mount Rosa and of some other high mountain, only just rising above the ground by the side of it, all gilt by the rays of a setting sun, have a much more beautiful effect than the huge masses before us, which, owing either to their great distance, or to some peculiar arrangement and character, looked dull and heavy. Nor did they gain in ‘perspective as we advanced towards them: the masses did not disengage themselves, but remained to our view of a gloomy uniformity, presenting the reverse of what is so pleasing in the gradual approach to alpine scenery. Before we could obtain a fine view of the higher chain, we lost it by degrees, as the lower continued to rise above the horizon, owing chiefly to the mountain of Mendoza in the foreground, which runs in a parallel line with the main range, as far north and south as we could see; and when we got near to the town of the same name, this last mountain alone, of a dull brown tint, formed almost the only prospect before us. 166 - ‘TO CHILE, CHAPTER IX. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. There is not, in the approach to Mendoza, any visible appearance of ascent to it: the plain in which it stands is more level than the ground on which we had travelled from Portezuelo, and might even be found lower than it. ‘The only river which had indicated some rise to the west as far as the mountains of Cordova, is the Tercero, by its long easterly and somewhat rapid course, after which, the few other rivers or rivulets which traverse the road, flow to the southeastward, where they are lost. It may be doubted if the word desaguadero was ever meant for the name of a river. The great lake Tituaca below the Andes, in latitude 15° and 16°S. . empties itself by a desaguadero, or large aaah into another,ake to the southward, from which no water comes out again. The desaguadero on our road drains the lakes of Guanache into that of Chorillo, as may be seen in the map annexed to this work, from an original, which, I believe, has undergone the test and additions of a late military survey. As to the river Mendoza described in it, which winds back again and traverses our road, there was no water in its very wide channel when I crossed it, nor did I see any in the lake to the right, which is only occasionally formed by it. This spot seems to form a very extensive and shallow bow], a feature which prevails below many parts of the Andes. I mention this, in the first place, to shew how little is all the water which comes down from that chain in this part of South America, and how much less still it must be farther to the northward; in the next, because the course of the river Colorado may hereafter excite some interest, particu- larly if its connection with the Tunuyan should render navigation practicable to the spot where the latter leaves the Andes. A settlement at the mouth of the Colorado may, in the course of time, take place, and by means of steam vessels not only establish, as far as Mendoza, an easy communication with fertile countries, whose great inland distance checks their trade and progress, but also become the channel of a better acquaintance with the southern pampas and Patagonia, and for rendering them useful. The soil had gradually changed to a whitish colour: in a few places, particularly in the desert, it was sandy, and exhibited a quantity of very minute fragments of OVER THE ANDES. 167 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. CHAPTER IX. | quartz; but it more generally continued of a fine and friable nature, without stones, except in channels where waters from the mountains had formerly brought some. By degrees the bunchy plants of grass had disappeared, and vegetation chiefly con- sisted of a thin covering of algarobs, espinos, myrtles, and some other small trees or shrubs. The general appearance was that of an unproductive waste, and of a vegetation perishing by some unusual drought. The dead shoots and branches were often more numerous than the living, and even these seemed in a dying state. Here however, plants, like animals, learn how to exist with a very small allowance of moisture. Sometimes the ground was so even, and so bare of smaller plants, that shrubs a little greener than others would look like groves, recently and carefully hoed : the more so as imagination, tired of the monotony of the scene, was anxious to assist in producing some more pleasing effect. The absence of higher gratifica- tions tends, in an extraordinary degree, to modify the powers with which we view, hear, or taste what is offered; and the source of real pleasure to us was a pretty yellow flower, which sometimes appeared under the algarob only, as if thankful to that tree for its kind shade, and anxious that the traveller should see, that nature smiled even in a desert. But indeed, from a faint smile, nature once suddenly low’red her countenance, and changed it toa frown. We were in a spot mostly covered with algarobs, and observed that at some distance from us, the light green of that tree was replaced by a tint nearly black. I imagined that another species of vegetable beings had taken possession of the ground, and held it so completely, that no one of our nearer neighbours was suffered to pass the limits, which formed a straight line to the right and left of the road, and of so considerable an extent, that we could not see beyond it. We were anxious to reach it, and well it was for us, that neither we nor our beasts were made or dressed like green trees, as we might otherwise have been attacked by one of the most numerous hosts that ever took the field. Myriads of large locusts covered every branch, sprig, leaf, and fruit, so completely and in such close order of ranks, that not only a bare space could hardly be discovered on them, 168 TO CHILE, — CHAPTER IX. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. but even the trunks of the trees and the ground beneath them were quartered upon by some, which, perhaps weaker or less fortunate than their fellow insects, were doomed to a humbler fare and station. These locusts covered a spot of several square miles, made no noise, and our driving with great speed through their ground and in the midst of them, did not in the least disturb them: yet the ride here was not without some disagreeable feelings, as the load of a single tree, transferred by imagination to one of us, was accompanied with the idea of slow destruction: they however allowed us to pass in safety; leaving us at liberty to make what moral deduction we thought fit from the scene. The bee, for its industrious and useful labours, gently gathers from the flower what can well be spared. The locust, in its preying and destructive course, strips the plant stark naked. | Soon after leaving Desaguadero we came in sight of the river Tunuyan, along: sahioh the road lies a considerable distance: it does not appear quite so considerable as the Tercero, but its course is in a very wide channel, which, if full, would render it magnificent. The verdure of niany spots in it has a fine appearance, below the waste on each side. It is easily forded where the ground is firm, but quick sands. - often render its passage dangerous. On entering the territory of Mendoza, habitations rather increase in number, and appear a little more substantial: the grounds about them exhibit more agriculture, though with the same features of negligence and disorder which, nearly all along the road, had been so. displeasing. Some mud fences, generally half decayed, enclose the grounds nearest to the houses, and. within them are seen lays of lucern, a few fallows full of tall weeds, and still fewer fields sown with wheat, barley, and maize. A small vineyard generally forms. bowers near the house, and, in two or three places, a row of poplars, a tree lately introduced here, ranges along some urigating channel, breaking at intervals long travelled for, and not with graceful and pleasing effect, the sterility and sameness of the landscape.. From San Luis, oxen and cows had almost entirely disappeared : some small herds of horses and of guanacos formed nearly all that could be observed. moving on the plains. We had hardly seen a dozen of hogs yet, and these were of a very tall and coarse breed. OVER THE ANDES. 169 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, Sco . CHAPTER IX, opr “We at last entered the city of Tacini siiiah covers a.very large spot, owing to the extensive grounds which are) attached:.to,every, house, and become larger as they recede from the public. place and the centre of the town, the buildings of which consist ‘almost entirely of ground floors: only; so that here also, the appearance is that of a very large straggling village. Standing in a low and flat situation, with barren plains before it, and a still more barren ground beyond it, which forms a slope of ten or fifteen miles to the base of the first mountain of the Andes, Mendoza does: not present that picturesque object, which might have been expected at the foot of such a lofty chain. We drove to the fonda, which is a coffee and eating house with a billiard room, kept in 1 821, -by a person remarkably civil and attentive to travellers; where the preparations for the journey to Chile detained. us till late the next day, and where, on my return to Buenos-ayres, I staid about a fortnight. I have been using. the, expressions, of post, houses and post masters, because, strictly speaking, they are)such, and under posting licences and regulations from the governments of the states in which they are situated: but. a traveller must not: be led to expect that, on his arrival at every or any stage, the postmaster:or any one else will step. forward, and open the carriage door or hold his horse ;. ask him with the anxiety of competition. what he wishes to, have, and. shew him into his house: nor that a chambermaid will be rung for, and come to eye him, piercingly to his purse, in order that the,supposed weight of it may determine the size of a room. for his repose, and the depth of the down in which he is to sink., He will look in vain for a stately landlady at the bar, as the forerunner of a full larder; nor will the heightened complexion. of a civil Jandlord shew the practice, whilst he makes the offer, of generous living. An enclosed shelter, a small dirty table, a broken chair, a hide or the ground to lie on, and a rent wall or decayed roof to breathe from, are what he may.expect, and soon think luxuries. . He will alight at this.“ traveller’s room,” which by the regulations ought. to be kept always ready and in) repair, and: which is most, usually detached from the post. house. . In the. evening his baggage. will be carried into.it, and.there, seldom will any other beings than large fleas, bugs, 170 TO CHILE, DME cE aks Sh lh See clingeets CHAPTER TA. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &. = Pore SE a and mosquitos, welcome his asebratD Near it a fire is lighted " the pedal, for Wing water and drinking a few cups of hierba, whilst supper is preparing, which, where there is poultry, consists of a fowl cut and boiled into a soup, and roast beef; and where there is not, of beef only, first served up boiled and afterwards roasted : they’ are seldom tender or with much flavour: the meat is young, tastes of both beef and veal, and is nearly stripped of all its fat, which is previously taken off for making tallow. Gourds, a few of which are almost the only productions seen growing’ about the houses, and some maize or rice, are the vegetables usually boiled with the meat, and the whole is highly seasoned with red pepper. In many post houses’ bread is not found. The price for this supper and the room is three or four reals, or from one shilling and eightpence to two and threepence, for one traveller and his peon; and he will get his dinner when and where he can, whilst the horses are fetched from their pasture ground into the corral. As to breakfast) its consistence in this country does not often exceed some cups of infused hierba, and the smoke of a cigar. The traveller will often arrive in the evening and again start the next’ morning, without having seen any of the inhabitants of the house, who appear as little anxious to offer any thing, as to make a charge for it when it is given: but, although there is no officiousness, the disposition is rather that he should be accommo- dated ; and in many places they ask so little, that it shews disinterestedness, because’ they well know, that the few Europeans who are crossing these plains will readily’! pay whatever is asked of them. Perhaps a message will come from the mistress of the house, to enquire if any hierba and sugar are to be sold, which i is the usual way of asking for a small gift of them, and these are always most agreeable presents. At night, the door, if there be any, must be barricaded, and the fire arms in ar ness, lest some Indians or other persons should be strolling for plunder. , The rate of posting, from Buenos-ayres to San Luis, for each riding and. pack’ horse, is half a real, or near threepence halfpenny a league of three miles, and from thence to Mendoza, double that rate: a draught horse costs as much again. The’ traveller pays for the postilion’s horse, but not for the man, «unless he ‘chtuses to give him a real or two at every stage, whieh he will not ask, nor often give thanks | OVER THE ANDES. 171 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. CHAPTER IX. for. Most: of the stages are of twelve, fifteen, and eighteen miles; others extend from eighteen to thirty six. In a carriage, for a long stage, relay horses are driven ahead; but on. horseback, only for crossing the desert. The whole ride, from Buenos-ayres to Mendoza, costs very little more ‘or less than twenty five dollars for each loaded or ridden horse. ‘The price of a guide or peon of experience, as far as Chile, is from forty to fifty dollars. . | A traveller on horseback, and without any other baggage than a change of linen in a small leather case, may with ease go over ninety, or with fatigue, a hundred and twenty, miles a day, from sunrise to sunset, and have a short siesta: but, with a load, much time is lost on the road in balancing and tying it up so as to stand the shake of a continued gallop, and also in getting the horses to start readily, as they will sometimes attempt to throw off their loads, and again. to join the herd: they are rough for riding, and the exercise is trying. Saddles, and particularly bridles, made at Buenos-ayres, are more convenient than those of European manufacture for such a journey, and much attention to their state and fitness is required at every stage, as the peon will be of little assistance in this, and will let a traveller take care of himself as well as he can, whilst he and the postilion are often riding in advance and for several miles, without looking back, a circumstance which might render the consequences of an accident the more serious. I have already mentioned. what delays and disappointments: generally attend travelling in a carriage: they may be lessened by great precautions and cares, but not entirely avoided. - The choice of a tried and well known guide, and the precaution of being well accompanied, have become more and more necessary, as Indians, contending chiefs, and military stragglers, are often disturbing the provinces, and interrupting the communications. The post horses are also getting worse, as the herds have in many places been required and the best taken away for service, by both friend and foe. The road, therefore, was lately and on many accounts very unsafe. It is dangerous to travel at night on horseback, unless with a’ strong:moonlight, owing to the holes in the ground: the jerk once caused by one of them was such as to make one of my: Z2 172 42808 CHILBR0 CHAPTER IX. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &e. | pistols jump out of its holster, and the bit come out of the horse’s mouth: had I not been quite close to the other horses, mine would probably have run far away, with or without me, to join some grazing herd. Two Englishmen, who overtook us the next day, brought the pistol with them. The horses are strong, uncommonly hardy, and better able to goa sa stage in the dry western regions of the pampas than in'the eastern, where they perspire much more abundantly,.and are apt to flag sooner. They ‘will carry their riders, and the pack’ horse his load. of about two hundred pounds, at a good ‘gallop, the distance of thirty six miles, requiring no more than a walk or a rest of ten minutes two or three times, for recruiting their breath, whilst the trunks are adjusting and the girth of the saddle made tight. The poor animals will however sometimes sink under the labour, and drop suddenly down dead or entirely knocked up. If it be supposed that, after such a ride, they will be well rubbed down and: fed ; that. the travellers will be the subject of many enquiries and conversation between the inha- bitants of the post house and the postilion, and that eating or ‘drinking will take place, the case will-usually be found the reverse: he unloads and unsaddles:all the horses except his own; ties them up to some stake, water trickling down their bodiés. from heat; pulls his hat off to, and signors, his brother postilion who'is to ride the next stage; goes into the kitchen shed; and, after the signores, signoras, and)signoritas, who may be squatting round the fire, have been: bowed to and compliménted:in the: usual way, “ at your service,” with as much gravity and decorum as if he had been’ entering a drawing room, he prepares his cigar, which is food: and drink to‘ him, lights it, fastens the horses two or three together, and gallops all the way back again,, whether the stage be eighteen or thirty six miles ; but not at night, which he usually, passes in the post house. The postilions are in general hired -peons, or’ the sons: of. the postmasters, and men well known. Their horses seldom complete theis work,- without: having their flanks torn an inch deep by the large spurs of this country,’ and ‘bleeding’ ginton from which they are eats meaa sent, to recover on the. plains) 916 odkat oF 28 4 suiodd Yo acto yd boanae sono ate? orl? boner OVER THE ANDES. 173 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. CHAPTER IX. Another mode of travelling here is in carts. Caravans of ten, twenty, or more covered carts of a large size, and on two very high wheels, carry produce and other trading ‘commodities, between Buenos-ayres, San Luis, Mendoza, and San Juan, as also on the northwestern road towards Salta. The carts are drawn by six oxen, to the sides of which are others for relay or additional power, some being fastened behind for slaughter. The oxen are yoked two abreast; the first pair draw by a yoke beam made fast to the pole of the cart; the second, at a considerable distance from them, by a hide cord, tied to the end of the pole and the middle of their own beam; and the third, close to the second, by another cord which is fastened in the same manner, ‘and passes through the yoke behind them. The great space which the whole team occupies, by which means the first four oxen are often enabled to pass over a muddy river before the others with the cart have’ got into it; the very consi- derable size of the wheels, which are eight feet high; the stout and rough work- manship of the whole vehicle; the long flexible poles, which project above thirty feet from the front of the cart and reach over the whole team, ‘goading the foremost’ obliquely, and the two behind them vertically, by means of pieces of wood with sharp points hanging down from the pole; the arrangement of the march and the’ great order of it, have a singular and a picturesque appearance on these plains; and the very loud creaking of so many axle trees, which are never greased, makes a stunning noise and a rustic music, without which, it is said, the oxen will not so readily draw, and which well. agrees with the scenery and the scene. an At night the caravan forms two rows, and a passage like a street is left between them: large fires are lighted and an ox killed: the best part of the meat is selected, and the rest left on the road: the birds and wild dogs next come in for their shares, and leave the carcase for the traveller to look at.. These carts are from thirty two to thirty five days going from Buenos-ayres to Mendoza, if no unexpected delay occur, and. are the safest conveyance, as they are under the command of trusty carriers, who - ride and proceed very cautiously with them: they travel-more or less by day or night, according to the season and the state of the moon.’ This conveyance, and.as 1%4 | 2TCBO CHIBERT VO oe ar Bee CHAPTER a DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. much of the ox as the traveller chuses to eat, only costs six or eight dollars, or from twenty seven to thirty six shillings. But he may hire a whole cart, have it fitted up) go with the caravan, and, if a sportsman, meet with game in many places: this will naturally be much more than the usual fare; but yet considerably cheaper and more convenient to travellers, particularly to families, when expedition is not. required. A stranger landing at Buenos-ayres will be laughed out of the choice of such a con- veyance; but what may not be fit for Hyde Park or the Boulevards does very well for the pampas, and the only hardship endured may be reduced to that, by which a squeamish stomach is forced to appease hunger with meat nearly raw from an ox’ just killed, or a nervous head submitted to sound sleep, by the te iss a0 of a music so harsh as to. have occasioned pain at home. | This manner of travelling might also very well suit a person initenstibig to cross’ these plains for the purpose of scientific investigation: his instruments, the preser- vation of which is of so much importance, would not be exposed to so much risk in‘ a cart as in a.carriage, which is knocked about, rammaged by the peons, and emptied’ every night lest it should be plundered. If he should wish to leave the caravan for’ any excursion, the carriers would engage to keep horses always at his disposal : : his effects would be safe while he is riding about, and the slow progress of the cats: renders it easy to overtake them. But, to go to a considerable distance. from the’ road, without being accompanied by a friend and some good peons, and without: being well armed, would be very: imprudent: the more fire arms the better, they’ are what the Indians dread most. Travellers passing with rapidity over these plains do not run the, same risks, as might attend occasional delays and excursions, and the’ temptation of a good, opportunity for plunder. i petites ra Se oes The Plate No. VII. represents a. caravan of carts, which is going round’ about: the road for the purpose of avoiding a bog. In. the eastern districts, after heavy , rains, carts and oxen, will sometimes stick so fast ina muddy river or eats. that some , of the beasts yoked to the pole perish, after much unmerciful goading. » Another conveyance on this road is by mules, which are categyle destined for Shectohed BPS. on Stone by é Leto. eee stintepemree es ace Se Sati reteeneneenrers CRRA, ots ora CARTS conrering Goods X Fapsengers aciofs the Lhinted by Kowner & Foxfler OVER THE ANDES. 175 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. CHAPTER IX. the carriage of wine, dried fruits, with some other productions from Mendoza, and the return to it of Paraguay hierba, empty casks, and what else may offer: it is usually by a few days more expeditious than the carts. At night, or at midday if hot, the loads are taken off, and with them a circle is made on the ground with much regularity, each burthen and its apparatus by itself: within the ring a fire is lighted for cooking, and the muleteers with their peons sit, eat, and smoke round it, until, wrapping themselves up in their ponchos, they lie down on the ground to sleep. If a troop of mules and one of carts should have stopped near each other at dusk, the sight of them is truly characteristic and pleasing. The Plate No. VIII. exhibits a spot where the muleteers have halted: the mules are gone to graze: the horses kept in the ring are for the purpose of riding out and fetching back the mules, which are either watched by peons, or, when the nature of the country admits of it, left as it were under the charge of a horse with a bell, from which they will seldom separate. The men are passing to one another a wooden spit with a piece of roasted beef, from which each cuts a bit, and another is seen roast- ing at the fire. Mule carriage in Chile, which is, with very few exceptions, the only land conveyance for any kind of goods in that country, offers the same arrangement; but the scene there is rendered more picturesque, by the hills or mountains always in sight. Owing to the disturbed state of the country, and to the decline of its inland trade, we met with very few travellers, or troops of carriers: the number of the former did not exceed ten or twelve, several of whom were expresses and postmen ; and unless some change, very much for the better, takes place in these provinces, the intercourse may probably become still less, rather because of the want of peace and security, than of objects for trade, as they possess valuable and most useful produc- tions, to exchange for foreign commodities, and to promote the exercise of that first branch of human industry, agriculture. | The inhabitants who are so thinly scattered on this road, offer little or no variety of habits, but some of disposition; and although it might have been expected, that: 176 | 2tGh®, OILERS CHAPTER IX. | DEPARTURE FROM: PORTEZUELO, &e. the farther we went from the eastern coast, the worsé would have: been found their appearance and condition, the reverse was the case: for, after we had. left the terri- tories of Buenos-ayres and Santa Fe, they began to assume more pleasing features; and the nearer we approached to Mendoza, the greater was the display of ‘a rational and sensible expression. of countenance. Of the little time which is left for labour, after eating, drinking. matés, smoking, and sleeping have consumed the greatest portion of the four and twenty hours,. women make a better use than men, and are seen cooking, spinning, and weaving. Men, when at all in motion beyond a few steps, move on horseback over the plains, and it is then only that haste is made: Many of them and most of the women are without shoes and stockings, yet their dress would be sufficient to give them a good appearance, if it were not for an: uncleanliness which is truly offensive. Their children pass their infaney in dirt and slovenly idleness, and the sight of a family is frequently such, as to establish a strong contrast between the human and animal creation, unfavourable to the former. The retired life of these people in lonely habitations, and» the | little security of it, naturally prevent the access of much cheerfulness, and the only exhibition which I witnessed on the pampas of any of their favourite amusements, was once that of a small party, in which an individual was singing with an accompa- niment of the guitar, and the others listening: their oS cues much from: that of the Chilenos, which is cheerful and lively. . : A boy, very soon after his birth, is often held on hci néldade asa by: his father; and when able to hold himself and to ride alone, he assists in looking after the herds, or exercises himself in horsemanship, and in throwing the. lazo; and; whilst. in Europe, the educating schoolboy, not seldom nursed. with vanity rather: than modesty, self gratification than self denial, and a consciousness of. importance: rather than of insignificance, appears frequently to grow to any shape but manhood; and gentlemanliness, in some of the young gentlemen’s academies spread over several! parts of it, the ignorant American boy of the pampas, if belonging to some’ post- master of property, seems not only to acquire all this without being taught in similar, PLATE W727. a secies Drawn or Stone by A. Aglio from a Sheteh. Privted bv C. Morte k Ce MULE TEERS. OVER THE ANDES. 177 DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. CHAPTER IX. institutions, but to exhibit it with less childishness: with his little poncho on, his huge spurs, anda lazo fitting his age in the hand, he would more than once, at some post house, ride past us, swelled with pride, and affecting to be without the least wish to look at ‘some of the very few foreign travellers on this road, content with the hope that we were observing him: and, indeed, it is not a little extraordinary, that whilst grown up and civilized man and woman must with us often do this also, to the end that their growing fashion may not be arraigned; here, the untaught boy appears to know as well as ourselves, how to command his looks and turn them forcibly away, lest his growing manhood should be impeached for its curiosity. We read in Humboldt’s of the vexation which was often caused in the missionary settlements of the Oronoko, by answers indiscriminately given of “ yes Padre” and “no Padre,” less to satisfy enquiries than to get rid of them. Here, and particularly in Chile, with the peons, who in all countries often possess a good share of the store of practical knowledge on many subjects, “ quzen sabe,” who knows! is very often the first answer to a question, which being again put with some different turn of expression in order to draw out if possible a satisfactory reply, “ quien sabe” is 429 repeated somewhat impatiently ; and lastly, “ quien sabe, signor!” comes out with so much ill grace, that. the subject is given up as desperate. Nor does it always fare better with the master; and I have already mentioned, how some prejudice is fre- quently apt to exist against the accuracy of informations received.- These countries are not Scotland, where the very ploughman will often not only tell what a stranger wants to know, but even lead him to the knowledge of what he might otherwise have not thought of acquiring, and this with no less civility than clearness. Again, the time for enquiry here is short; and if a traveller were to meet his hours of business about midway between a fashionable and a laborious life in some parts of Europe, and be ready for it between ten and eleven in the morning, soon after- wards, almost every place would be found shut up, ‘and no one accessible. Dinner begins, and a long siesta follows. At five or six, according to seasons, the cool. ness of the breeze from the Andes has the same effect, which rains are described to 2A 178 20CYO. CHILHPIVG CHAPTER IX. DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &c. have on what lies with torpid life under the sands of equatorial regions; sleep is"at last again and for a few hours shaken off, and rational animation restored." ©" What an extraordinary contrast’ is offered, between the towns of this country, and some of the largest capitals of Europe! There, a traveller may have as much of life in a few hours as here in years. He may there walk the streets, with averse of Shakspeare in Hamlet present to his mind or on a slip’of paper. “At every step, a public caterer is contriving to make his fellow creatures sensible that, for him and them, “ to be,” is the question ; that unless haste be made; it will be too late, and that not only his viands and spirits will get weak and cold, but likewise the ‘stomach for which they are intended. All that can please the palate is not only exposed in the most ingenious and tempting shapes, but held to the very lips of him, who other- wise would not have thought of them. One after the other, of those whose office is to supply life with its wants, is incessantly labouring to convince man, that he only is, by eating, drinking, and dressing; by continual change and motion. A ‘What are they doing?’ Pounding and mixing up the corrective drawbacks from the pleasure of step farther and a different, but no less active, scene is observed. indulgence. “'To be, or not to be: that is the question.” The traveller yields to the impressive warning, and goes in for the purpose of securing existence against the other alternative. In a short space of time, he has seen all the attributes of the different periods of life; he has passed through the reminiscence of the various scenes of his own from ‘its infancy, or even, he has acted them all over again. Happy now with the thought that he has secured many more to come, a noise somewhat strange excites his curiosity; he looks into the place from whence it proceeds, and observes a number of men employed in fixing thousands of fine nails over some large chests ; and that so many are the beautiful and fantastic ornaments arising under the hammer, that, however various the tastes of mankind, each must be gratified: if travelling trunks, to pass them by, without an exchange of the old for a new, requires too much self-denial. But what are they? Coffins. “ Not to be,” is here the question ; and the master, like the ferryman:Charon by the side of his bark, drily asks the traveller OVER THE ANDES. 179 . DEPARTURE FROM PORTEZUELO, &e, CHAPTER IX. which of them, he Bikes best, adding, that the sooner it is out of his way the better. In these countries, no such warnings are held out to him of the shortness of existence, and of the value of time: nothing is contrived to induce him to do any thing, or to move one step before the other. The scenes and their effect are indeed so much the reverse, that they would rather gradually lead him to believe, that he has already passed into eternal life, and that days, being no longer of any consequence, need no casting up. . | Some remains of European habits prevented us, however, from trusting to an impression, by which our passage next year over the Andes would have appeared to us just as early as if effected this, and we were urging the muleteers and our peons to a speedy departure. Winter had already sent its harbingers to the mountains, over which two snow storms had burst, and which a third might render impassable. 180 -) TO CHILE; ) «> . Se SRR nets “piers nape Neh Hee Spit | MY 6 WENy sented DH + > aT ES: os ee ei iacmemtammnticy spies MENDOZA AND GOITRES. _ DEVO CVVPVAVUVVTVUVSETUTSBVVTVOVVUETSVSVTVSVSVSVSVVVS Collect at ev’ning what the day brought forth, Compress the sum into its solid worth, , And if it weigh th’ importance of a fly, The scales are false, or algebra a lie. Cowper on CONVERSATION. ~ PATEVATSTATSTVTESVVETUVEVETNTSTSTSVTIEVUEVIETDIUVAVS Tue city of Mendoza covers a considerable space, owing to the enclosed grounds which are attached to most houses. The inhabited and cultivated lands extend more particularly to the southward, towards the river of the same name, and the Tunuyan, the distance of about twenty miles, for the easier benefit of irrigation : and very nearly the whole of the population of this state is concentrated on this spot. The town stands too low for any view of the flat country near it. To the west is the chain of the Andes, of which the extensive longitudinal mountain already noticed is almost the only part seen, as it is of sufficient elevation to interfere with the view of the higher cordillera, except far to the southwest, where being divided, the opening exhibits some lofty summits covered with snow, which form a fine contrast with the gloomy brown tint of the arid foreground, and contribute to vary the prospect of the public walk, called Tajamar, which is confined to the west, and no part of which has the character of alpine scenery. In full day, the accidents of light do not lend to any landscape generally, and much less to this in particular, much variety of effect ; and towards the close of it, at the time when nature so often gratifies her admirers with the most splendid dress, when the shifting tints of a setting sun become more and more fiery and magnificent, as their total disappearance is drawing OVER THE ANDES. 181 MENDOZA AND GOITRES. 3 CHAPTER X. “nearer, at this time, the lofty western masses, behind which the sun so early sets here, become dull and confused; whilst to the east or any other side, there is not an object which can arrest the departing rays, and reflect their splendour: darkness comes gradually on, without any pleasing and picturesque change in the scene. _> Two torrents, or very small rivers, the one called Cueva, the other Tupungata, produced by the snow which lies the whole year on the most elevated parts of the cordillera, and in winter covers also the lower mountains, lose their names at their confluent, and take that of Mendoza: this river then flows to the eastward, and, at --its entrance into the vale or bowl of Uspallata, about six miles from the hamlet of that name, takes a sharp turn and a southerly course; it passes out of the bowl through a very deep and narrow cut, and, after a run of above fifty miles in that direction, comes out of the Andes at the opening seen from Mendoza, and winds back near it, but not to it, from the southwest; supplying by means of large courses opened for the purpose, all the wants of this district, for the irrigation of its agriculture, and the use of its inhabitants: its course, with that of the 'Tunuyan, is shewn in the map, and I have been informed, that the valley or basin through which they leave the Andes is a fine country. That way chiefly lie the haciendas or estates of the « Mendozines, and to the south of the Tunuyan are Indian settlements. Thus to describe the origin and course of rivers, which are not much more than mountain torrents, may appear superfluous, but these, for thousands of miles to the northward along the Andes, are proud Amazons; and at some future period, the inhabitants of this country may enjoy the agreeable sight, of some Europeans arriving here in steam vessels, after a navigation up the Colorado and Tunuyan, to purchase their hides, tallow, and other productions; perhaps to have another trial at the silver mines, and to explore, by means of these rivers, countries which may well prove worth the enterprise. | | I need not mention, that what is not cultivated and irrigated here, is yet more barren and dreary than any tract hitherto seen on the road, as the dryness of the atmosphere is still greater, and the small woods, if having at any time deserved that 182 : PAGYO. CHILE;ZVO CHAPTER X. MENDOZA AND GOITRES. name, have been ina great degree destroyed for fuel and other purposes.’ Fragments of rocks are seen along the foot of the mountain ; but here, the whitish soil continues to be of that fine and friable nature which forms so characteristic a feature’ across the pampas, and appears mostly unmixed with any stones. Sunshine being seldom inter: rupted,’ the middle of the day, during’ nearly the’ whole year, is hot ‘here, and in summer intensely so. From observations, of the general’ results’ of which’ Ihave been informed, it appears that the mean heat, in the latter season and in the shade, at two o’clock, P. M., is about 90° of Far. or a little above: the ear are wi very cool, and in winter they are cold and frosty. 9°") 9 8) 0) 0 ee The grounds adjoining the houses are enclosed with mud walls, and the roads or streets through them do not offer any pleasing object: there is, in’what'is seen from them, a want of arrangement and neatness which renders it unsightly : the main irrigating channels which run along them, and might tend to their ornament, have the contrary effect, and in many places the water is suffered to overflow; or what at small intervals comes out of the private grounds makes a puddle across the traveller’s way: but all these water courses, which are not agreeable to him, are channels of abundance. The cattle of this district is large, its meat good, and ‘all vegetable productions are here of a good quality and quick growth. The’ principal pasture and fodder continue to be lucern grass; which is cut four times a year, and every time nearly all in blossom or seed, a circumstance which, ‘with’ the substance of its stem, renders it so excellent a food for cattle: it is brought every morning and’ ~ evening to the most inhabited parts of the town for the beasts kept in it: a load of it, which is nearly as much as a horse or mule can carry, costs about two shillings sterling, but becomes dearer during the winter months, when barley and chaff ‘are partly substituted for it. Wheat, barley, maize, kidney beans, gourds, melons and water melons, potatoes, onions, cabbages, and other productions, are obtained here in abundance without manure: The vine is here cultivated, or ‘rather planted, receiving no other care than that of irrigation, and bearing very good red and white — grapes, the bunches of which are large’and full: the white are ‘usually dried up in’ OVER THE ANDES. 183 EEE ELE EEL A ELE DOT a, MENDOZA AND GOITRES. CHAPTER X. the sun, and the red» made into wine or brandy, giving rise to a branch of trade comparatively considerable, and. chiefly with Buenos-ayres; the best of this wine does not yet deserve much praise, but some inhabitants have turned their attention to its improvement, and not without success. We shall learn in Chile, how the excellent grapes of these countries are converted into bad wines. Figs and peaches are also dried here, and sent out for sale: good apples are produced, and orange, lemon, olive, with other fruit trees, are seen in the enclosed grounds. » «If we limit the town to the public place, the quadras, and the regular streets, it will then be small, and its suburbs of very considerable extent: the buildings are chiefly of adobes, none of which make any particular appearance: the dwelling houses consist of a distribution of apartments on a ground floor: many are on a large scale, and among these a few are well furnished, with Cordovine or European carpets, English or other furniture, looking glasses, and musical instruments. .The necessaries of life are very cheap in this town, and travellers desirous of residing some time in it, may have from some respectable family part of a house with large rooms, at a trifling expence; or, for a very short stay, they may be accommodated at the fonda. Letters of introduction to some of the chief inhabitants may be pro- cured. at Buenos-ayres; and if their object be that of scientific research, it should be well made known, because such a purpose, being new and little understood in this part of the world, might be misconstrued. In some of the latest accounts published of the town and territory of Mendoza, the whole population is stated at six thousand souls; but one of the principal inha- bitants of it told me that thirty thousand was its amount, and though perhaps a little overrated, yet I cannot think it far from the real number. Many families among the poorer classes of Chile continue to emigrate, and to come over the Andes to Mendoza, where they are encouraged to settle by grants of lands and of civil rights, which are denied them in their own country. ‘The Mendozines are more farmers and graziers than manufacturers: they exchange the produce of their lands and of their cattle for fabricated goods, which they receive from Buenos-ayres, Cordova, and the southern 184 TO CHILE, CHAPTER X. MENDOZA AND GOITRES. Indians: some of the silk and cotton goods, which come directly from China and Bengal to Chile, are also brought over the mountains to this place. But its transit and carrying trade has considerably decreased, since a direct intercourse with Valparayso has been opened round cape Horn, and it is the more likely to cease almost entirely, as the safety of the road cannot be relied on; for, whilst troops of mules or carts are loading, with a prospect of a free passage, a military chief with a handful of followers, or a few Indians, will suddenly start up and intercept the communica- tions. A branch of trade still existing between Mendoza and Chile, is that of herb of Paraguay, which, when it can be had, is sent over the Andes to Santiago. Soap of a tolerably good quality is made in this town, some of which is sent out for sale: the alkali for it is obtained by burning, in nearly the same manner as sea weeds are burnt for making kelp in Europe, green boughs which produce it abundantly. The trans- actions in unwrought gold and silver are now very inconsiderable. The government of this state is, in some of its forms, very popular, and during some stay here at another period, a small want of money for a. public exigency, caused a meeting of all the divisions of the community for its grant. But it has not been yet put to any great test, and from local and other circumstances, perhaps also from good sense and disposition, those who possess most influence and power, have neither inducement nor inclination to exert them for their own individual advantage and gratification, as is but too evidently done in many of these independent states. In so remote a situation, with lands sufficient, not only for their own people, but also for the encouragement of foreign settlers, they have not yet had to contend with clashing interests at home, or with jealous and hostile neighbours abroad: all their lands are not granted away in immense estates, as is so much the case in a great part of South America. Nevertheless, I do not think that they place much reliance on the fitness of the present political arrangements for this part. of the southern conti- nent; and here, as elsewhere in it, a few families possess the principal part of the wealth and trade: several others are found of a superior class, but not opulent; the younger branches of stocks, whose chief substance is gone to the eldest, or reduced OVER THE ANDES. 185 MENDOZA AND GOITRES. CHAPTER X. by other causes to small circumstances. Among the rest of the population many are seen, who by means of their industry have acquired some little property, and none appear indigent, almost all being possessed of portions of land more or less consider- able, which, with a moderate share of labour, provide for their wants. Their dress is plaim but good. The men are rather above than under a common stature; the women short, and both stout. The higher classes are more genteel by their manners than by their figure, particularly the women, few of whom are favoured with much beauty of countenance or elegance of shape. Here also, in several houses, is seen some display of splendour, by the spaciousness of the rooms destined for evening parties, their lights and furniture. A taste for music prevails, but not the means of making much progress in the art, and the skill of the principal inhabitants is confined to some easy pieces on the piano-forte or guitar, and the accompaniment of the voice. A few private libraries are found, consisting of select works, but the — stock of information possessed is very small, and the instances of extraordinary igno- » rance, which sometimes burst upon conversation, occasion to a stranger the more surprise, as they form a striking contrast with the appearance and polished manners of those from whom they proceed. The Mendozines are unaffected, well disposed, and hospitable. Notwithstanding their want of education and information, they exhibit, even among the poorer classes, the possession of a share of good sense, of sound judgment, and of manly manners, which are seldom 50 evidently shown in this part of the world, and render their general deportment very pleasing to a stranger. By the want of education is here meant what is commonly conveyed by such an expression; because, if more literally understood, they must receive those qualifications from their parents or their small schools, by an education which promotes a right course and use of their intellectual faculties, as far as they extend; although it does not furnish them with that kind of knowledge, which, being often more aimed at in Europe than those advantages, takes precedence of them, and frequently supersedes them altogether. Four lines of Cowper have hurled mankind down to a very low state in the 2B 186 — oo. DO CHILE, aaa. | ‘MENDOZA AND GOITRES. creation. If the compressed product of our daily conversation be so light or so bad, as not to yield the weight even of a fly in worth, what are we yet but amass, of matter, only shaped to feed and to sleep! It is not a little surprising, that no attempt should yet have been made to drive the poet from his position: the defiance thrown out requires not a great power, and to rescue us from the disgrace of its, operation, would deserve a greater triumph than the gain of many battles... Scales adjusted by justice itself, set in every dwelling, from the palace to the cottage, in full view, on every table, wherever there is social intercourse and feasting, would decide the con- test; not like the sword. hanging over the head of Damacles, by frightening hungry stomachs from the banquet, but by improving the mental feast of the guests, and reminding them of what is required for success. If there should be felt the want of a subject from which to extract solid worth, an appeal made for its production, to those whose example is more than law, would not be made in vain, and. the most skilful mathematicians would watch over the integrity of their science.) 4) 4) The Mendozines are excessively fond of dancing: they have or know of little else to do in the evening, and as soon as the heat of the day and the siesta are over, social intercourse begins, of which dancing, intermixed with a little music, is the principal amusement, and people of all ages join in it. Perhaps a grave game player will here exclaim, “what a childish people!’ But a judgment cannot be pro- nounced merely from the difference of attitudes, which human bodies exhibit at the card or other gaming tables, and in the ball room: if the one, whilst dealing, or playing his part, pretends, that notwithstanding the unfavourable situation and contraction of his person, yet enough of it is left at liberty for the display of much gracefulness and elegance, the other lays a claim to a considerable share of the same accomplish- ments, and to the advantage of exhibiting them in full length: if the former plead that he can assume more dignity of countenance, the other answers that if he do not possess SO many Means to’ overawe, he has more to please. But let us now take Cowper’s scales. In the ball room we find: that much is not said, but that an effort towards some good and agreeable subject of conversation does not allow the mind to OVER THE ANDES. 187 portion Delt = MENDOZA AND GOITRES. CHAPTER X. be at rest: that many steps made to please, and some compliments bestowed, render numbers of ‘partners contented with each other, and that if they occasionally be out of time and tune, the disagreement is short, and without self blame: the fashionable but childish and self lowering propensity to mock, has not yet passed from Europe to this spot; and if any unkind observations escape, there appears no disposition to indulge in them at the expence of others: cheerfulness and animation take gradually — the place of gloom and indolence; and much previous stiffness of mind and body is changed into gracious feelings, and physical flexibility. At the gaming table we only hear some, and always the same, words and combinations, which any human head. can learn and make by such constant practice: and if the stake be at all important, the disposition of the players towards others and themselves greatly depends on the number of stakes lost or won. But at the high gaming board, the most shocking scenes are exhibited: here the worst passions are presiding, and the greater the loss and irritation, or the more complete the ruin and despair of one, the higher the gratification of another. Were the gold obtained by these combinations all gain, they would show Cowper in fault ; but since there is as much lost as won, no solid worth can be compressed from them. Tf, however, in neither case, by the test of conversation alone, can the fly meet the importance of its weight, let us look for some other results, and also place them in the scales. The dance is a most wholesome exercise, which makes the blood freely circulate, and when perfectly modest, is as innocent an amusement as it is cheerful and genial to our nature, whose physical construction was not intended for a constant display of stately attitudes. The gaming table constrains the body, obstructs circulation, and often ‘leads to the loss of health. The player becomes thin whilst the dancer grows fat, and thus many pounds of solid worth, lost by the former, are found won by the latter. The principal performance in the ball room, at Buenos-ayres, here, and in Chile, is a kind of English country dance, to the slow tune of the waltz, so that the amusement is not fatiguing, and any one able to stand on his legs can join in it. The figures, the attitudes, and the slowness of the measure, occasion a very graceful oa 188 TO CHILE, | CHAPTER X. : MENDOZA AND GOITRES. display of this exercise, chiefly from women, as men are less flexible, and an uncommon degree of pliancy is required: itis performed with much decorum, as are other parts of social entertainments here; and whilst it exhibits to a stranger a very pleasing ensemble, it does not allow of that vain and forward individual exhibition, which many dances in Europe not only occasion but render necessary: nor can the feet be kicked into intricate and wonderful steps, as these are neither required nor indeed practicable. itacstibidians ) But whilst we are indulging so long in looking at an assemblage of well dressed people, with countenances animated by pleasure, uniting and parting again with gentle movements, bending and figuring to the tune with flexibility and grace, and slowly gliding along to its measure, without hop or contortion, we are reminded, that no pleasure can be enjoyed without some pain usually tripping also close upon the heels of it; and we have now before us a change of scene and a painful exhibi- tion. The greatest number of the inhabitants of this state are afflicted with that unseemly and injurious disorder, the goitre, which prevails in so many parts of the world, and for the prevention of which little progress seems to have hitherto been made; yet the disease is such, as may justify an appeal to governments as well as to individuals, for farther and if possible more effectual efforts, for the dis- covery of its cause, and for the means gradually to remove it. It cannot be supposed, that Providence should have destined so many countries of the earth per- manently to produce this evil, and the numerous inhabitants compelled to reside in them, to be for ever subject to it: mental or bodily faculties are generally more or less affected by it, and those who have been in the vallies of Swisserland and Savoy know, how often they are lost by this severe visitation, which, however, can only be viewed as one of the very many imperfections which meet us at every step, and. are intended to draw forth our labours and our exertions for ther removal. Both men and women, and it is said four fifths of the population of Mendoza, are seen either with the distinct swelling of the thyroid gland, or with an unnatural enlargement of the neck: the head also seems bloated, moves stiffly and heavily on the shoulders, and gives to the inhabitants the same appearance as that of many men OVER THE ANDES. 189 MENDOZA AND GOITRES. CHAPTER X. in the widest and lowest vallies of the Swiss Canton of Valais, who, though not exhibiting the goitre so distinctly as women, yet have necks and heads unusually and unfitly large; exclusively of the unfortunate beings called cretins. I hope that, on this subject, an extension of indulgence will be granted to me, if I venture, without any scientific knowledge, to dwell a little on it, and to increase the stock of conjectures which have been made on its origin, by offering some more to those whose attention and abilities may be engaged with it; and by submitting to their decision, now that it seems ascertained that snow or ice waters cannot be the cause of the swelling, whether or not, it can be owing, both and at the same time to the water which is inhaled by breathing and to that which is drunk? If, when the quality of that water is of such a nature as to engender the goitre in any spot, drinking it with the atmosphere, in a manner of speaking, and with a cup, cannot tend to the same effect with a twofold agency? and lastly, in case it were found induced by some noxious impurities and qualities of the waters, where the goitre prevails, if those waters, when stagnant in low and marshy grounds, would not more rapidly contribute to its production and increase, by being quickly evapo- rated and inhaled, than by being drunk, when it is considered that such stagnant waters are so often found, if not generally so, where neck and head swellings, fevers, and other diseases are observed, whilst the variety of springs, which are used for drinking by the inhabitants of those spots, must necessarily offer much difference in their qualities, and their noxious impurities be more or less modified ? There are many very small swampy vallies in Swisserland, where nearly all the female inhabitants have the goitre, and in some one of which the draining and cul- tivation of the whole valley, and the establishment of filtering basins, might perhaps be effected without much expence, as an experiment which would tend in the space of some years to decide, whether the hope of removing the cause of this disease can be entertained or not. Water which falls or overflows on a soil opened, warmed and sweetened, by cultivation and the sun, must, I should suppose, be exhaled in a very different state from that in which it is, when that soil is closed and already satu- rated with it, and leaves such water on the surface, not only with all its original 190 ~/°TO CHILE, — MENDOZA AND GOITRES. CHAPTER X&. impurities, but also with the additional noxious qualities which it may receive whilst in a stagnant state. Such.an experiment might likewise tend to the removal of fevers and other disorders; and when it is considered also, that an inducement of this kind to a more complete cultivation of many large vallies, now with extensive marshy pasture grounds, would contribute to a practical demonstration, that by cultivated arti- ficial meadows, two or three times more or better food could be obtained from those lands, the trial may be found worth the expence. If successful, it would change those spots, less expected there than almost any where else in the world, into fine fields, and these would exhibit a more generally healthy race, instead of so many bloated or ema- ciated inhabitants, bearing necks sometimes of such a size, as greatly to impair both their physical and mental faculties. The cattle, which are likewise strongly affected by this unfortunate disorder, would be improved. by its suppression, and the benefit would gradually extend to some of the many other countries where it prevails. The information and extracts which end this chapter tend to show, and more or less to support, the opinion entertained by many, that noxious exhalations may be the principal cause of the goitre. The change of water, or the use of the same in a purer state, has undoubtedly been found a preventive against the disease, or a cure for it: at Mendoza and at Santiago filtering stones are used, and no cold water is drunk at the hotel in the latter place, without having first been filtered: but I would ask, if the effect of such better or purer water may not be due, as much to a qualification and correction of the consequences of a bad atmosphere, as to @ removal of the cause by which the disorder is occasioned? I shall conclude with the hope, that a deformity, which so frequently occasions pain and disgust, may be subdued at last. If so, and by the cultivation of the low marshy lands which, in many mountainous countries, nature seems rather to have intended for gardens, a twofold good will be effected. The medical men who may be engaged with this interesting subject, to whose knowledge and abilities it must be. left, and the govern- ments which may be pleased to assist their labours, will remember that Cicero said “neque enim ulla aha re, homines propius ad Deos accedunt, quam salutem hominibus dando.” OVER THE ANDES. 191 MENDOZA AND GOITRES. ' CHAPTER X. GOITRES. 4 —= ; Se By meet ™ Birt ¢ Si WHILST the quotation | from Cicero must be left to the just praise of those scientific men, who may now be successfully engaged in effecting the cure or the prevention of this severe disease and deformity, I have to provide against the effect of the blame to which I may be exposed, by thus introducing the subject so much at length in this work; and I rely for support on all those who may now be afflicted with the goitre, neck or head swelling, i in the world; both trusting and fearing, that I may have the protection of some millions of fellow creatures. ~ Mendoza is perhaps one of the spots, if not the spot itself, where the largest proportion of inhabitants is found to labour under the swelling of the thyroid gland, or an unnatural enlargement of the neck and head. A medical gentleman from the United States, who had practised several years both at Mendoza and at San Juan, told me, that he was convinced that the disease was not owing to snow water: that at the latter place, although the water used by the inhabitants comes immediately down from the snow, he had not seen goitres; whilst at Mendoza, where they are so numerous, the river runs near a hundred and fifty miles before its water reaches it. But the opinion that goitres were owing to such a cause appears no longer entertained; they do not exist on the coast of Labrador, nor in Lapland, nor in other northern countries where snow and ice waters are constantly drunk ; whilst they are extensively found in many, in which thefe is neither snow nor ice whatever. "There is probably very little resemblance of situation, climate, and vegetation, between this spot and those of Europe where the goitre most prevails. Around it, except on its western side, are immense plains, with an atmosphere of excessive dryness; and if the river wash any plants or their roots during its long course, judging from what I have seen of it, they must be very few. Yet Mendoza may be exposed to the same effects from noxious vapours, as contracted and marshy vallies. The road map annexed to this work shews the large lagunas, rather marshes than lakes, which are near it, and which in summer are almost dried up: to their exhalations must be added those from the southward, caused by extensive artificial irrigation, and by what other swamps there may be between the Mendoza and Tunuyan rivers, or farther in that direction. .Evaporation must be very quickly performed under such a sun and climate; and however open the situation of this spot, yet, from the great height of the Andes, the wind does not probably disperse the yapours here so often and so effectually as it does at a greater distance from them. When the situation of Mendoza, and the extraordinary prevalence of the disease here, are considered, this may perhaps be thought an instance strongly tending to support the conjecture, that goitres may be chiefly owing to an atmospheric influence; and the medical Doctor whom I have mentioned, was of opinion, that it w as here entirely caused by it. Salta and Santiago del Estero are, like Mendoza, surrounded with marshes, under a still warmer sun and drier atmosphere, and. the following extracts will shew that goitres are common there. The situation of Santiago de Chile is very open, and a day seldom passes without a breeze towards the evening. Its climate is no less fine and dry than that of Mendoza: some small swampy spots are, I should think, too far‘distant from it, to have any effect on its atmosphere; but irrigation is very extensive and copious around the city, and particularly on that side of it from which the wind usually blows. The inhabitants of Santiago, however, do not exhibit the same enlargement of the neck and head as the Mendozines : the goitre is with them more distinctly seen, and it is neither so common nor, except perhaps in a few cases, so protuberant as at Men- doza. I observed it in women inhabiting cottages within a few leagues of Santiago, and in the midst of irrigated grounds, but nowhere else in Chile during a journey of above a thousand miles, along hoth the sea shore and the foot of the Andes. There are not in those tracts either moist lands, marshes, or artificial irrigation sufficient, to have any particular influence on the atmosphere. I am not aware of any other precaution against the goitre in these towns than filtered water; and I heard at Santiago of only one case where the ampu- tation of it was performed. Yr esipaé goitre prevails in many countries whose lands are artificially and extensively irrigated; in South America; in Piedmont, Lombardy, and all the great valley between the Alps and the Apennines; in Bengal and others: and an additional evidence for supposing, that the atmosphere breathed, more than the water drunk, may be the cause of the disease, seems to be, that it generally is avoided by only removing to a greater elevation, in spots where the quality of the water is the same. In the Appendix to Mr. Helms’s Travels, we find the following account of the women of Salta, the situation of which has been shown in the itineraries, and where, in and after the winter, the environs become such a vast morass, that those who go there to hold the fair, can with difficulty find a spot on which to fix their tents:—‘‘ It is not improbable but to these marshy exhalations may be attri- *¢ buted the hideous goitres with which the female sex is here so frequently afflicted. As beautiful as the women are, and distinguished 192 TO CHILE, CHAPTER X. MENDOZA AND GOITRES. ee “ for their fine complexions and particularly for the fine growth of their hair, no sooner have they attained their twenty fifth year, than “ their necks progressively increase in size, till they at length attain a most disgusting protuberance, and in order to conceal this deformity “ these poor women envelop themselves up to the chin in a thick handkerchief.” Father Dobrizhoffer, the Jesuit, accidentally mentions, in his account of the Apibones of Paraguay, that wens and fevers prevailed in Santiago del Estero in Tucuman, before its decay, owing to inundations, but takes no further notice of the first disease. I have not been able to learn in what part of Paraguay it exists; but a Paraguine gentleman, whom I have seen in Chile, had a very considerable goitre. The north of Paraguay is surrounded with inundated lands. In Brazil, where there is not any snow, goitres also prevail extensively. Mr. Maw, when on his way from the port of ante to St. Paul, between the latitude of 280 and 240 S. mentions them as follows :—¥‘‘ Some of them (Indians and negroes) I noticed with ¢¢ swellings in the neck, though very different from those I have observed in Derbyshire and other mountainous countries. In the case | “‘ of these Indians not only there appeared that protuberance from the glands commonly called a wen, but lumps of from an inch to “¢ three inches in diameter, hung from it in almost botryoidal form.” In Luccock’s Notes on Brazil, page 478, we find the following account :—‘“ Through the whole district of the mines, (Minas Geraes,) that dreadful disorder, the goitre, or, as it is called here, the ‘6 papas, prevails greatly, afflicting people of all classes and all colours ; even the cattle do not escape. I have endeavoured to trace it to “the coldness of the waters, to the mineral and vegetable impregnations which they contain, and am satisfied with neither solution. On a very large estate, near Sabara, it prevailed so much, both among the family and the cattle, that the owner was induced to dispose “ of the place. The purchaser observing that one side of it was bounded by a river, which flowed through thick native forests, and “ attributing the evil, as is generally done, to the water, he caused a broad trench to be dug across the ground, so as to compel the “ cattle to seek their beverage from some springs, which he opened and nurtured, and ordered the same spring water to be used in his “house. No goitre has appeared upon the estate since, though he has been in possession of it several years.” Mr. Luccock notices another case, that of a man who cured himself by drinking sea water; and he thinks the goitre may be owing to the want of salt. It would have been desirable to know, if the trench above mentioned, which must have been of considerable depth, did also contribute or not to drain wet or flooded lands. From some additional information concerning the goitre in Brazil, whose name, papa, is of Indian origin, it appears that it prevails most extensively in that part of South America, and amongst all descriptions of inhabitants. It is remarkable, that papa is likewise the original Indian name for the same disease in Peru. Garcillasso de la Vega states, that Tupac, Inca of Peru, having subdued the province of Cassamarquilla, ‘¢ proceeded to another people called Papamarca, from the papas, which are great bunches “¢ that hang from their throats.” In the appendix to Dr. Barton’s Memoir on Goitres, authorities are quoted which show that it prevails in the empire of Mexico, in many spots from Guatemala to Santa Fe, where it is called cotos; in Nueva Gallicia guéguéchos. Mr. De Pauw also takes notice of the goitre as a disease of the Indians inhabiting the foot of the cordillera, and called by them coto. Doctor Barton, quoted above, medical professor in the University of Pennsylvania, published in the year 1800, his very instructive memoir on the subject of the goitre, as it prevails in North America, particularly in the United States; and we learn from him, That it is common with the Indians as with inhabitants of European origin. That men, women, and children are subject to it, but more particularly the female sex. That, in some states, both sheep and horned cattle are sometimes affected with large swellings of their necks. That the disease has an extensive range in North America, chiefly in low and marshy spots; and that in Lower Canada, it is particularly to be found in the marshy lands between St. John’s and Montreal. That it is not always confined to vallies and mountainous countries, but also extensively prevails in some high and level plains of North America; and that it is observed both where there are lakes or not any. > Dr. Barton does not admit the supposition, that the goitre is owing to calcareous waters, as it is found in some parts of the United States, where there is not any limestone. The Doctor states that where it prevails, there are generally also found intermittent and remittent fevers, and dysenteries ; and is of opinion that, like these, the goitre is caused by a miasm. The memoir ends as follows :—‘ Upon the whole, the farther I proceed ‘* in this enquiry, the more I am inclined to believe, that the principal remote cause of goitre is a miasm of the same species. as that ‘“‘ which produces intermittent and remittent fevers, dysenteries, ‘and similar complaints. I pretend not to determine, what is the precise ‘¢ nature of that miasm. This and many other points which I have touched upon, in the preceding pages, I submit, for the present at ‘¢ Jeast, to the judgment of those who have leisure, and more inclination than myself to woo the fairy favours of conjectural science.” In many parts of Asia and of its islands, the goitre has been very extensively found to afflict the inhabitants, as appears by the following extracts, and first, OVER THE ANDES. 198 MENDOZA AND GOITRES. CHAPTER X. From Captain Turner’s Embassy to Tibet, published in 1800, p. 86-88. at 20 -, .° The unsightly tumour to which I alluded,” states Captain Turner, “ known in Bengal by the names of gheig and anbi and *¢ which in Bootan is called ba or keba, the neck swelling, forms itself immediately below the chin, extending from ear to ear, and grows “ sometimes to such an enormous size, as to hang from the throat down upon the breast. The same disorder is known to prevail in many “¢ parts of Europe; in Italy near the Alps; Stiria, Carinthia, the Ukraine, and the Tyrol; it is distinguished by the name of goiter. It *¢ is particularly observable among the inhabitants of the hills of Bootan, immediately bordering upon Bengal, and in the tract of low ‘¢ country, watered by the rivers that flow from them to the South beyond the space of a degree of latitude. But it is not peculiar to * these’regions. The same malady prevails among the people inhabiting the Morung, Nipal, and Almora hills, which, joined to those * of Bootan, run in continuation, and bound to the northward, that extensive tract of low land, embraced by the Ganges and the Berham- $epooters??s i ce. ses And farther, “+ This same disease is also more particularly met with in the low lands adjacent to these hills. From the “frontier of Assam, which I reckon to be in the 27th degree of North latitude, and 91st of East longitude, it is to be traced through *< Bignee, Cooch, Bahar, Rungpore, Dinagepore, Purnea, Tirroot, and Betiah, along the northern boundary of Owd in Gorraspore, ‘¢ Barraitch,) Pillibeat, and on the confines of Rohileund, to Hurdewar which is situated in thirty degrees N. latitude, and 78° 25’ E “ longitude. This evil, as‘ before observed, in Europe is called goiter, and has the effect, or rather is accompanied with the elect, & Maiti from the same cause, of debilitating both the bodies and the minds of those affected with His ‘ . From Sir Stamford Raffles’s History of Java, Vol. I. p. 60-61. ~~» Here Gn Java) as in Sumatra,” writes Sir Stamford, “¢ there are certain mountainous districts; i in which the poopie are subject to “ those large wens in the throat termed in Europe gottres. The cause is generally ascribed by the natives to the quality of the water ; but “ there seems. good ground for concluding, that it is rather to be traced to the atmosphere. In proof of this it may be mentioned, that “‘ there is a village near the foot of the Teng’gar mountains, in the eastern part of the Island, where every family is afflicted by this: ‘¢ malady, while in another village, situated at a greater elevation, and through which the stream descends which serves for the use of ‘6 both, there exists no such deformity. These wens are considered hereditary in some families, and seem thus independent of situation. «¢ A branch of the family of the present. Adipati of Bandung is subject to them, and it is remarkable that they prevail chiefly among the “ women in that family. They neither produce positive suffering nor occasion early death, and may be considered rather as deformities «+ than diseases. . It is never attempted to remove them.” From Mr. Marsden’s History of Sumatra, p. 42. *¢ From every research that I have been able to make, I think,’’ states Mr, Marsden, ‘ I have reason to conclude, that the com “¢ plaint is owing, among the Sumatrans, to the fogginess of the air in the vallies between the high mountains, where, and not on the “‘ summits, the natives of these parts reside.”” Mr. Marsden farther mentions, that between the ranges of hills, a dense mist rises every: morning with the sun, in a thick; opaque and well defined body, and seldom disperses till after noon ; and that, as the goitre is ‘peciliar to those regions, it may be presumed that it is connected with those cold and uncommonly gross vapours. e9i From Sir George Staunton’s Embassy to China, Vol. II. p. 201-202, who, after having mentioned that the goitre is a frequent complaint in the vallies of Tartary, north of the great wall, vallies ‘+ with a contracted horizon and dark atmosphere,”’ writes as follows: “¢ In villages dispersed through such vallies, many of the inhabitants were found labouring under a disorder observed in similar situations in *¢ the Alps, and known there by the name of goitres, or swelled neck. The glands of the throat begin at an early age to swell, and gradually *¢ increase, in some to an enormous size. The swelling begins immediately below the parotid gland, and generally extends. under the: “¢ jaws from ear to ear, affecting all the submaxillary glands... Dr. Gillan estimated that nearly one sixth of the inhahitants. he saw had *s this deformity ; which is said, however, not to appear such in the eyes of those villagers. Both sexes are subject to these swellings, ‘¢ but females’ more than males ;\ the latter removing oftener fromthe spots where the causes exist, whatever they may be, that occasion “them. But the minds of many of them were much weakened, ‘and perhaps of all in a less degree. Some were reduced to a’state of ‘¢ absolute idiocy. . The spectacle of such objects, which failsmot to convey a serious and even a melancholy impression:to persons:who’ “+ view them for. the first, time, produces no'such effect upon those among whom they are bred. The objects themselves’ are ‘in their *¢ general habits cheerful, and lead a mere animal life, as contradistinguished from that in which any thought or reflection is concerned.’ -sdsee+ «And farther, “It.is likely, that a particular state of the atmosphere among mountains, must concur towards operating this effect. ‘* The part of ‘Tartary where this,disease abounds, has many alpine features, much resembling Savoy and Swisserland.” ) >» ? That part of the foregoing extracts which relates to eastern Asia demonstrates, how extensively the goitre prevails there. The results of some farther enquiries made from travellers in the East Indies, and of researches in other works on India still in manuscript, which have been obligingly communicated to me, tend to show, that the disorder is found more prevalent on the left or northern bank of the Ganges, than on the southern, between that river, the Berhampooter, and the foot of the hills of Nepaul, Bootan, and others, the first step to the high mountains of Tibet; that the extensive tracts, whose inhabitants are so generally subject to it, chiefly consist of low forest lands, which are rendered very wet and swampy by the abundance of the waters which flow down those mountains, and ac 194 eeerPO CHILE? 5 CHAPTER X. MENDOZA AND GOITRES. remain stagnant on the surface of the ground; and that as.soon as the first hills are ascended, and the low and fenny tracts left, goitres are seldom seen. The low lands of Bengal, where they have likewise been found, are much watered, not only, by rains and. irivers, but also by the frequent artificial inundations of rice grounds. bide The goitre is found in England, as also a swelling of the neck called mumps; in Scotland, branks: but comparatively with the appearance of these diseases in other countries, they might rather be called symptoms of them in Great Brita, than the diseases themselves. The goitre is, I believe, chiefly observed at and near Castleton, in Derbyshire; and if I recollect the situation of the spots right, they are either low, contracted, or mostly uncultivated. Close to that County, at Bulwell, in Nottinghamshire, in a small valley exposed to annual inundations of some duration, the principal part of the inhabitants are or have been with the mumps, of which a cure is stated to be there easily effected; and I am farther informed that this last disorder is found to prevail in particular situations in other parts of England. It might be conjectured that the influence of the sea air tends to check the progress of those diseases here, and to prevent them from assuming more panting features, as it does net appear that pair: in Asia or America they ike ues i near the sea shores. Having noticed in the vicinity of Santiago, in Chile, a crust of a very fine whitish deposit, left by the water along the siteigallng channels, and brought some of it for trial, it has not been found to effervesce in acids, has shown only a very slight trace of lime, and seems chiefly to consist of alumine having a strong smell.|, The water which brought it down is a mixture ef the western streams of the Andes for a length of perhaps forty or fifty miles, and is very commonly used for_all purposes at Santiago and in its neighbourhood. As the eastern torrents which form the river Mendoza run in nearly the same parallel, one might be led to vag tine that their waters are of much the like kind. I have learned from a good source’ of information, that goitres, some of which very large, are found in Uppét Calabria, below and on each side the Apennines, where the waters which come down those mountains form extensive fens, and in many spots whose situation is not, any more than their atmosphere, contracted; and that in other parts of the kingdom of Naples, where are many swamps and small shallow lakes, the disease appears to assume a different character, and to manifest itself in such a general orang of the neck and head, as we have already seen in Mendoza and elsewhere. I have been told that in the great vale between the Alps and the Apennines, this disorder is confined to places comparatively low, and where, owing to considerable either natural or artificial moisture, the waters remain a long time stagnant on the ground; whilst m towns and villages situated at only a small elevation above those spots, and where the water used is supposed to come from the same sources, the inhabitants are not liable to it. In the beautiful vallies of Antigorio and Formazza, seldom visited by travellers, where majestic mountain scenery, very numerons and fine waterfalls of all shapes and sizes, a no less pleasing than striking contrast between the very dark rocks of the high mountains on’ each side, and the luxuriantly smiling vegetation of the ground below, exhibit, in many spots, and within a short distance, the different features and complexions of English, Swiss, and Italian prospects, I have not seen the least appearance of neck or head swelling’; nor’ in the vallies of Tessin. All these are well drained : but, if we pass from them over the ridge of the Alps, we no sooner approach the marshy meadows of Wallis, of Uri, of Schwyz, of Unterwalden, of the Oberhasli, than we find abundance of goitrous or otherwise swelled necks, and many emaciated inhabitants. In short, it might perhaps be advanced, that in almost every part of Swisserland where there are lands which are not undergoing a frequently renewed cultivation, and on the surface of which waters: are left more or less to stagnate, a decided swelling of the neck or a tendency to it will be observed. , What has been stated above on this subject may, besides the inferences already drawn, be allowed to warrant the ound that it is not so much because mountains form narrow vallies and contract the atmosphere, that the inhabitants of mountainous countries or near them, are more subject to the goitre than others, as it is: because very elevated lands send down to and along their bases a great abundance of water, much of which, particularly where there is no cultivation, remains there on the ground in astagnant state; and that although the atmosphere be not always (and indeed not at all, where the greatest proportions of swelled necks seem to be produced,) contracted between mountains, yet it may often be deprived by a high range of them of the full effect and pies of Kio currents: of air, for its purification when in a foul state. repageang tee It appears that Doctor Coindet, of Geneva, after very persevering and scientific tabi has discovered an panes cure for the: goitre: were now the cause of the disease ascertained, both might be attacked, and with united efforts ultimately eprerniemiaas OVER THE ANDES. 195. CHAPTER, XI. SOME OCCURRENCES DURING A SUBSEQUENT JOURNEY.—DEPARTURE ” _ FROM MENDOZA. —PASSAGE OF THE ANDES.—ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO DE CHILE. PCVEVSOCVSCVVVSSESVSVOVeVoessVqVesSVsessesVse sees sess oEsesseseses EXTRAORDINARY adventures are to travels, what strong accidents of light are to landscapes; and it is probably owing to their effect, that a considerable scope of indulgence is granted to travellers, who are generally allowed to introduce small incidents into their narrative, and, provided veracity be not in the least offended, to make the most: they can of them, if they have no events of a higher interest to relate. This is the case with me: but, in order to avail myself of some unimportant occurrences on the pampas, it is unluckily requisite, that I should advance in time and. retrograde in steps, two moves for which we feel very little disposed in. this world. What! may, however, obtain toleration even for this, is the fear that my travelling reader will have enough of my company to Chile, and therefore the hope that he will kindly permit the harvest to be redped whilst the sun shines. If he consent to pass over one year, and to follow me back again from hence to Buenos-ayres on horseback, we shall speed as fast as possible; and as fo the conveyance from which we are once more to alight in Mendoza, I will engage, that it shall be still more expe- ditious and easy, than the turning over of a leaf in a book. By allowing our muleteer and peons time for completing the preparations necessary for our passage over the Andes, and by supposing ourselves here in April, 1821, instead of May, 1820, we shall start at a time when the road is announced to be safer than has been the case for some months before. A chief, named Carrera, opposed to the present independent governments, with about two hundred followers, and some Indians stirred up by him, had interrupted the communications between this place and Cordova, but after some engagements, was reported to have been defeated, and his band dispersed. ‘The carts and mules 2C 2 196. TO! CHILE; * /o CHAPTER XI. DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. were again loading here the accumulated produce destined for Buenos-ayres, and I was preparing for my departure, when some officers of the Buenos-ayriane a which had been, acting in Upper Peru and was disbanding for want of pay, came to Mendoza. One of them most earnestly requested that I would take him ‘with me to Buenos-ayres, where he expected to find the means of subsistence: the only obstacle was the additional expence, and he proposed. that I should dispense with a guide, as he knew the road and postmasters well. As I wanted no personal attendance, could saddle my horse, and, in case of need, cook a supper, we sat off on horseback,’ and T, was glad to find, after the first rides of between eighty and ninety miles a de that, the exercise was rather less fatiguing than I had expected. Sviodeets? ons bent The chapter of accidents began with some tumbles, one of which was most providentially harmless. My horse at full speed, on a gentle declivity and a road. deeply cut by mule paths, fell down, glided along it some yards, remained lying across it, and I obliquely under him, his head and mane touching my neck.) T° endeavoured to draw myself out, but could not: the horse laid as still as if he had been dead, and my fear was that he should attempt to get up again. Fortunately, my fellow traveller and the postilion were behind me, and as soon as they got near enough, I requested that they would not approach on horseback, but walk gently. with their horses: they came with as little noise as possible, lifted up a part of the body of mine by the head and neck, and with an effort I disengaged myself, after having lain four or five minutes in the situation which I have described. . How it happened that the animal should have remained motionless so long, and allowed him- self to be handled by the head like a log, must be placed to that account of escapes which have given rise to the just saying, that Providence watches over travellers: My spur was broken, but no other mischief done. We had ridden about, the half of a stage of twenty seven miles, and the horse performed nearly the whole of the other half at a gallop, a sign that it was not fatigue which had made him fall and lie still. I have already observed that these horses are awkward: the deep mule paths in this spot would have made a very safe road in England. OVER THE ANDES. 197 DEPARTURE: FROM’ MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. Two Englishmen from Chile with a peon, after riding above a hundred miles at one stretch, overtook us the third. or fourth night after our departure, and we all started together the next morning. At our passage through San Luis we heard, that since an engagement which had there taken place, between Carrera’s band and the inhabitants, the former had gone elsewhere, and were supposed to have dispersed : but we had no sooner entered the state of Cordova than, in the evening, on our arrival ata lonely and rather substantial post house, we found the master much alarmed and his wife crying. They told us that the chief and his followers were again on the road; not far from them, and that seeing our party, they had concluded that we belonged to him. We comforted our hosts as well as we could with some matés of genuine hierba, and they us with a good supper, after which, strongly barricading the door, we all slept in the same room. Upon these occasions the postmasters are as much as possible in communication with each other; and hearing the following morning that the road to the next house was clear, we started, and proceeded in this way, from one to another stage, with alarms, but concluding that the accounts were much exaggerated, and that the most straight and expeditious course would be the safest. ~ > We were not at a great distance from Fraile-muerto, when the inhabitants of _ some small cottages within sight, came out, waved their hands, and made signs to us to go back again: we rode up to the huts and were told, that Carrera and his troop were in that village; that some hundred Indians had joined him; that these and some stragglers were plundering where and whom they could; that they would burn us, or sew us up in hides, or carry us into slavery. We did not believe every word, but we did enough to become more uneasy, and continued our joumey till within twelve miles of Fraile-muerto and the post house, where we stopped to pass the night. Here the news became worse, and were, that Carrera had really been in that place the day before, and that his intention was to cut off all communications on the road. In the night arrived two expresses from Buenos-ayres going to Chile ; and they had been under the necessity of making long circuits, to avoid several 198 . ~. TO CHILE, «© CHAPTER XI. DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. ~ post houses where the marauders had.been, ‘particularly that of Fraile-muerto. A peon, sent there for information, reported however on his return, that he had not seen any of them, and we proceeded, notwithstanding many exhortations: that’ we would go back to Mendoza, a’distance then of five hundred and thirty milessi+ 9 We entered the village, found it very quiet, and called on the Alcalde or judge; to tell him of our purpose; that we had nothing to do with the contending parties, and as Carrera himself was a gentlemanly officer, we expressed our wish to have his. leave to pass freely through any of his posts with which we might fall in» The Alcalde and the people about him had not, on this occasion, prepossessing counte- nances, and he, with an excess of reserve which was not encouraging; said that she would endeavour that our request should reach General Carrera. »\We waited: two days, but he was not to be found. The officer who travelled with me, and belonged to a party opposed to him, became an object of suspicion. The guide; who: was much frightened and dejected, told us that he was sure the intention was to: waylay us; and a person of some respectability in the village hinted likewise, that some foul play was probably in agitation. We had partly agreed to go to Santa Fe by what is here called ed campo, which means some distance from roads, paths, or habitations; but fifty horses were necessary for this undertaking, and the river Tercero was deep where we must cross it. The next morning we thought that the least danger was in going straight forward, as the band. was supposed to have taken a southerly: direction: At first post horses were refused by order of the Alcalde, but afterwards granted, and-we went on, the peon convinced that we should be murdered, pOntere We had travelled two or three miles, when a man with a musket overtook us, and said, that the judge ordered the officer to go back to Fraile-muerto, but that the foreigners might proceed. Against his gun we had three braces of good pistols, and we answered that the order should have been given in writing, that we could not abandon the officer, who was our travelling companion and of whom we had taken charge ; that we all would return, or none of us. The soldier rode back with our answer, and we forwards, as hard as the spur and the whip thongs could impress OVER THE ANDES. 199 DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. our horses with our purpose, and make them assist us in it: but, to outride pampas men requires more odds than we had taken, particularly with baggage, and this was not to be left behind unless by main force: I had above a thousand pounds in doublons in my trunks, part of which belonged to a merchant of Mendoza, who had requested me to deliver it to his friends at Buenos-ayres; and my English fellow travellers had, I believe, several thousand in theirs. The stage was of twelve miles only, and new horses were getting ready, when the same man joined us a second time, with a written order for the officer to return with him. We agreed that it should not be complied with, stated to the postmaster what had happened, who, with a generous warmth, said that he:had nothing to do with the contending parties, and would give us as many of his best horses as we might require, to proceed in what manner we pleased. The officer was offered to continue with us, or horses and money to get out of the territory of Cordova, “ por el campo ;” but he chose to remain in our company: the gendarme was taken “ par la douceur,” and the officer requested of him that he would go to a house in sight about three miles off, and there wait for him, as his intention was to attend to the order; and the man went. Our object now was more speed than ever, as we were not without fears that the Alcalde, finding him- self trifled with and deceived, might send sufficient power after us to enforce his commands, and on leaving the post house, the young soldier was seen on the plain watching us. But, the stage performed, on our alighting before the isolated post huts of Barrancas, we found them deserted. A large pot was on the fire, and the dinner in it cooked. A loom had the appearance of having been hastily left. We heard some groans, and discovered a very old woman in a small place backwards, lying down, and unable to move or to speak. The river Tercero was near, and we tracked the post horses to it; when, on the opposite bank, two men on horseback, with muskets slung across their shoulders, made their appearance, and, seeing that we were travel- lers, said that they would cross the river over to us: their horses rather swam than » forded it, and we found that one of them was the postmaster. They related that, 200° ATCLO. CHILE A ¥O CHAPTER XI.’ DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. © not long before our arrival, a man’ had passed by on horseback at full speed, eryinig’ “Jos Indios! los Indios!” the Indians! the Indians ! on which they had immediately’ left their house, and driven their horses across the river. ‘The women were concealed’ in some wood on the other side of it, and did not return. After much delay some’ horses were driven back, got ready for us, and we rode on; having heard that some’ Indians and stragglers had visited our next stage, Saladillo, a hamlet where some’ fighting and plunder had taken place, and in the-vicinity of which they’ were -still’ supposed to be: but we did not find any of them in it; they had left it, anda man’ was lying down in a hut with a ball in his thigh, for whom we made up.a small sum’ of money, hurrying the postmaster, as it was nearly dark, and this not a safe place in which to pass the night. Two men said that they would escort us, and the fear of offending them, rather than our inclination, induced us to accept of the offer. They led us fifteen miles at a very hard gallop in the dark, ithe horses jerking and’ swinging us, or at least me, most uncomfortably, to avoid the holes on the road.; It was impossible to go farther than one stage from Saladillo, and keeping a good watch over our trunks, we plied the better feelings of our escort with hierba, cigars, brandy, anid a good supper. Twice during the night the officer thought that he heard the: trampling of horses, and that the Alcalde’s men were come to lay hold of him.) is .. Karly the next day we left behind us, with the territory of Cordova, all farther: apprehensions, and were breathing and eating freely, after an uneasy ride of the:last; two hundred and forty miles, when a man, of a soldier or seamanlike appearance, entered our post hut, and placed before us some water melons, a pitcher full ofimuilk, and a bow] of cream which was the first and last that I saw in South America, The. pampas had not changed the rosy complexion and fair hair of our visiter, and it:was: impossible to mistake him. He had addressed us in Spanish, and we spoke to: hime in English ; but he pinched his lips, and all that we got from him;:besides his'timely:’ and obliging fare, was “yes countryman, or no countryman,” to our questions 3: with® some eccentricity of countenance: » We heard, afterwards, that he probably was.an: Englishman, practising medicine on the pampas, where no diploma:is required)»: OVER THE ANDES. ; 201 DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. : CHAPTER XI. » Near Buenos-ayres we found that some Indians were also plundering the inhabit- ants, and the day after our arrival, an account was brought, that two foreign merchants of that city, who were on their estate superintending the slaughtering of cattle and, salting of meat, had been murdered by them, and their ladies carried to the southward into captivity; of whom I understand no account has yet been received : many of the poorest people in Buenos-ayres stood in the night before their town house, making loud lamentations, according to the custom of the country. Some days were necessary to get a small detachment in marching order, and in the meanwhile, a small band of plundering Indians had time to drive away very considerable herds of cattle from several estates, News were lately received in Europe that Carrera had been taken at last and shot. The time appointed by the muleteer for our departure having arrived, we must return’ to Mendoza. Two roads and passes lead from this town to Santiago in Chile; the one northwestward, by Uspallata to the pass called the cumbre of the volcano, where/the cordillera is only a single ridge; the other southwestward, near the river Tunuyan, to the pass of the portillo, where the same cordillera forms two ridges, both of which must be crossed. The journey by the former is a little more than three hundred road miles, and by the latter less than two hundred; but this is only practicable during two or at most three months in the year, the distance from one ridge to the other being thirty miles, and the snow storms between them so frequent and sudden, that the passage, even then, is accompanied with some danger, as there is not any shelter. In the latter end of February, our month of August, ‘a party of travellers suffered from a storm in that spot, and received some injury in their hands anil feet; ‘The pass of the volcano is less exposed to that inconvenience, and there are, on both sides of its ridge, high vaults strongly built for the shelter of travellers: from the end of December to the beginning of May, it is generally easy, and with- out snow; but during the other part of the year, it is attended with more or less difficulties, danger, or total interruptions. The latter is the high road, and both are described in the map. 2D 202 - TO CHILE, — CHAPTER XI. DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. ‘The price for the passage, in the favourable season, is five dollars for each mule’s load, and six or seven for every saddle mule: but as it was late, and much snow had already fallen, we were under the nécessity of paying nearly three times as much, and of promising more, in case that the central ridge were to be descended on foot or on hides, and the loads carried or slid down it by men. With well known muleteers there is less risk of being attacked in the Andes than any where else; and as the mules have the most arduous labour to perform when they become most exhausted, it is much better to pay some dollars more, and to contract with one who possesses a good number of these animals and the means of keeping them well. The attempt of a traveller to direct the passage himself, by purchasing mules and hiring peons, would be highly dangerous. On my return to this town, and immedi- ately below the higher ridge, the muleteer pointed out the skeleton of a foreigner, who had left Santiago some time before I did, with a peon only, and had, it was supposed, been murdered by him. Small crosses, erected in several spots, mdicate that travellers have perished there ; but in this instance it had not been done, owing perhaps to superstitious scruples, or to the total want of even small sticks in that. place. | lod Age ‘On the 27th of May, 1820, in the evening of the day after our arrival at Men- doza, all being in readiness, the mules came to receive their burthens, and our party was joined by a Peruvian officer. The practice of the muleteer's is to make the first stage of four miles only, for the purpose of ascertaining if the loads are well distri- buted, and the cavalcade in a good travelling trim. The journey over the Andes at this late season requires some precautions. The peons had made ts provide, by a supply of ponchos and of thick worsted boots, against the danger of being frost bitten; and against that of being starved, by sacks full of ‘tongues, beef, bread, onions, sugar, and hierba, in sufficient abundance to keep us amonth. A cask and horns full ‘of Mendoza wine were to assist in quenching the ‘extraordinary thirst which is felt in passing the mountains, as the peons had not forgotten to warn us against the scarcity of water or its bad quality. The poor mules were groaning OVER THE ANDES. 203 DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. under the weight of our fare, whilst their own was to consist, during the day, of some, .water very sparingly allowed, and at night, of a little grass gradually decreasing to a few blades, with the branches of half, dried up shrubs, the finding of which was to be left to their own sagacity: the knotty thongs, and. the long pointed spurs, were to prevent the consequences of their striking for an increase of allowance, The bad usage of so many most useful animals, seldom restive without a just cause, in these and many other countries, is apt to remind us of the philo- sopher of Samos and his metempsychosis. Should these beasts hereafter have an opportunity of returning to us the blows, wounds, and hardships, which are so unmercifully inflicted on them, and to turn against us the tables on which our respective fares were going to be spread, our fate will be miserable indeed! For the first time since we had left Buenos-ayres we slept in open air; and the next day, in an oblique northwesterly direction, up a gently rising ground, we made for the long mountain of Mendoza: its top was covered with snow, an indi- cation that the central ridge had already received a part of its winter clothing. For some distance the whitish soil continued fine, but became afterwards mixed with stones, gypsum, and substances evidently of volcanic origin, such as lumpsof roasted or vitrified matters, and smoked or half caleined fragments of clay slate. We passed by a consi- derable number of small hillocks from five to ten feet high, some of round forms like limekilns, others elongated, of a soft white substance, several of which had on their surfaces little stones or gravel, blackened and apparently partially calcined. At the extremities of the mountains of Cordova ‘and of those of San Luis, on the ground near. the underlying white rocks already mentioned, I had likewise found stones of a similar description. On this eastern side, the broad and high mass of the mountain of Mendoza does not exhibit the effect of any convulsion: the clay slate shows itself in very uniform shapes, and towards the base, some long ridges of the same formation rise a little above the ground, apparently indicating that. this was a large basin or valley which has been gradually filled up. But at some distance in the plain rises a small isolated group of hills, from one to two hundred feet high, 2D 2 204 “UDO CHILE! ! -CHAPTER XI. - DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. ; which had the appearance of having undergone some violent action; and here, in some parts of this scenery, begin that crudeness and singularity of tints, and that impression of recentness of: operation, which I afterwards found to accompany the view of many. parts of the Andes; as if nature had not long ceased to be convulsed. The shrubs and small trees thinly scattered on this slope, without any grass between them, looked as if they had been half roasted; and indeed to dismiss the idea that they were not burnt or dried up past recovery, required the lapse of some months, and to see vegetation of the same description in Chileagain revive after the showers of winter. hh | puimiaten ‘Hundtege Towards the evening we entered the mountain’ and the Andes, by a glen of a steep ascent, up which we rode, and which carried us so deep into it, that we lost all view of any ground except what was close around us, like small funnels; and we continued to wind, during an hour and a half, out of one steep funnel into another, until one of them became a little larger than the rest, and in it we found Villavi- cencia, where we halted for the night. This own serves to illustrate what has been observed, of the liberality with which the name is bestowed in South America: it consists of two huts in which we did not find any inhabitants, and a corral. Here, an English lady was some years ago brought to bed; and under the necessity of postponing the journey over the Andes. ) Lato} Our resting place was in the open air, where a fire was lighted up and supper cooked, to which an uninterrupted ride of thirteen hours had insured a weleome reception. The day had been so hot, that it was with every prospect of sound sleep that we laid ourselves down; but there suddenly descended to us such a cold breeze, to announce the vicinity of the cordillera, that it did not allow some of us, of whom I was one, to sleep a moment, and our surprise at the effect of it ended when, in the morning, we found that some running water near us was frozen over. Owing to a peculiar introduction and accident of light, the rising sun was here most magnificently beautiful, although :the prospect did not extend beyond the sides of the funnel and the sky above it. The effect was rather that of a night scene, and of some forest - ee Mie heme oe A zom Natu bp 23S on SHone b 2 Brintea OVER. THE ANDES. 205 enero aecerneeeee ese rT PS es sa ey oe tse renee DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. & on: fire before us, than of the break of day and a rising sun.. The Plate TX. is froma sketch made of Villavicencia after we had left it. The travellers are getting up at the dawn of day, and the peons lighting the fire for taking matés. A-man is, going to saddle the mule left in the corral all night, and to fetch the others from their pasture ground. | | -se We left Villavicencia with an impression that the cold of the cordillera would be very intense, and continued our journey up other funnels of the same steep ascent as before, with the argillaceous slate every where exhibiting itself around us in‘the manner described in the fourth chapter. I observed along the stream many frag- ments of a substance which had undergone ignition, and having ascended about two third parts of the mountain, we came in sight.of a very large yellowish mass from which they had been detached, which hangs down over the path many hundred feet, with’ an appearance of having been in a fused and boiling state: here and there a few very small white or grey. masses showed themselves in the slate. This eastern declivity is tolerably well covered with grasses and shrubs in many spots, notwith- standing the great dryness of the climate: its small and deep basins are favourable to the growth and shelter of plants, and a botanist would probably find here an inte- resting crop. It is said that a little gold may be obtained from some of this soil, by washing it. The small streams with which we met, lose themselves before they reach the foot of the mountain. | ‘Ba : Having passed up through perhaps thirty or forty funnels, during more than five hours, besides the ascent of the preceding day, we arrived at the top, of the moutitain,; where the great power of the sun had already melted. a considerable part of the snow which had fallen during the late storms. Here, for the first time since our ascent, and from one spot only, we caught a. view of the pampas, which, had we not known that they were land, we should have taken for a continuation of the sky, as neither their horizon nor any object whatever could be distinguished: the whole appeared a blueish expanse, bounded below us by our own mountain: I have twice seen the plains from this spot, with the clearest possible sky and the same 206 ae - TO CHILE, CHAPTER XI. DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO, ca ee ee ee ae ee ae ee ern NN a eee erento ay A ey - - - = effect ; and when the nature and steepness of the ascent, and the seven hours required for it at a good step, are considered, the height of it may be found above eight or nine thousand feet:' I must here observe, that if I often venture to state the probable elevation of mountains, it is only because it assists description, and that my standard is not only their appearance, but also the time required for their ascent, and the nature of it, compared with what is necessary for reaching on foot the top of moun- tains in Europe of five or six thousand feet above their base. With the exception of some higher summits, which also onanduin formed of the undisturbed shist, the ground over which we crossed the breadth of this moun- tain was often without any vegetation, and covered with substances, either thrown over it by a volcano, or having otherwise undergone combustion ; sometimes offering themselves in the shape of heaps like those already mentioned, and many with very striking white and red colours. When we came to the western declivity, which is very gentle, we obtained a view of the valley or basin of Uspallata, the surrounding mountains of which, owing to the variety, crudeness, and decided character of their tints, presented a view as new to me as it was interesting. Beyond it was the inner chain of the Andes: some parts of its higher central ridge were visible, but not with very striking effect, and those immense masses appeared resolved to preserve the same heaviness with which they had at first presented themselves to our view: As we descended towards Uspallata, the scenery nearest to us increased in singu- larity and interest; the ground appeared as if covered with the ruins of ovens and furnaces: some large heaps looked like turf ashes, but with more decided hues: soft substances, somewhat similar to shale, were seen by the road side in thin layers or plates, which evidently had run down in a state of fusion over a small patch of ground, and then cooled, or had penetrated and flowed into some clefts of slate rocks: some appeared partly calcined ; others were in vitrified lava, others again roasted. Many whitish heaps, of round forms, had on their surface a thin covering of very small dark stones, as if they had been sprinkled over them, and in some degree similar to what I had seen near Mendoza, but of a purply hue, and appa: OVER THE ANDES. 207 a Se DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. rently porphyritic nature: then came some strata of very coarse blueish sand; rocks of a soft greenish and light porphyry, the clay slate rising here and there out of all this without the least appearance of derangement, but very much darkened by smoke. We soon came to a spot where this scene of combustion became still more characteristic, and in it we found the silver mines, several of which were near the road; but the strokes of the miners were not heard, and they are I believe entirely abandoned. I collected some specimens of what I found near them in broken fragments, probably rejected ore; and out of one of the mines I took some pieces of the greenish porphyry mentioned above, which appeared to have been the matrix of the ore. The vitrified and scorified substances on the road cannot have proceeded from any human works here; for, not only was, I believe, the silver of Uspallata entirely extracted by amalgamation; but if the ore ever were roasted, it must have been at the hamlet, and not here where is neither wood nor habitation. Having continued a descent, which in all may form a little more than the third part of the elevation of the mountain from its eastern base, we reached the basin of Uspallata, and afterwards its hamlet, which exhibits the remains of enclosed grounds and of much better habitations, but now only consists of three or four decayed huts, with a Mendozine guard house where passports are inspected. Around a considerable part of the basin, the slate rock shows itself with the same form as before, but very much darkened by fire and smoke for several leagues. Behind and above this fumigated base, to the southward, rise two masses of a crust rent asunder, and thrown open by some violent action, each reclining from what is no doubt the crater of a small and comparatively low volcano, and exhibiting about half a dozen strata of various colours, red, brown, yellow, and white: they showed by their correspondence that they had formerly been united; and this in much the same manner as the strata of the mountain of Hartz, in’Germany; but mdicating still smore decidedly ‘here the bursting open of the crust. Very near that spot, between the volcano and the inner Andes, is ‘a very deep and narrow opening, through which passes out the river Mendoza, and which adds much to this inte- 208: TO pier: 40 CHAPTER XI. DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL) SANTIAGO. sme — The aon chain exhibits masses 8 eee ‘red, and oth detached in small angular scape of about the size of a thumb: I n inal one of them a foot deep, with the hand only; but at a greater deh | On my return through this salen I rode to some of the isi roeks; to\see what they were, and found that they had been exposed to considerable heat, and came off in very thin partly calcined slates. Most of the algarobs, which sparingly ‘cover the ground towards them, are almost as black in their’ stems and branches as if they had been charred, and it is really very surprising that trees can continue: to live in such a state. The ground to the north rises to a gentle hill, down which flows the rivulet of Uspallata; and as its hamlet stands in a moist spot, the verdure of it forms a considerable contrast with. the surrounding scenery, of. which»:deel unable to give a description adequate to the very striking impression which ‘it has left: nor can I offer any other view of it, than what recollection and some attentive observation have produced, which will be found in Plate X..' Im-front ‘is the:rock split and thrown up: on the left, the mountain of Uspallata, also called, el paramillo de las minas, which some travellers are seen descending; on the right, the inner sais shea of the Andes, and a valley to which our party is directing its course.) ©) 1 6 A very extraordinary effect is often produced on the mind, ‘when its pitch is accidentally harmonizing with peculiar circumstances, anda strong’ vibration ‘takmg place, which it is no less impossible to define than to account for.. This sensation is almost too highly spiritual for our reach, and such was’ that produced by this spot, when, supper being over, and the ceremony of going to rest performed, by’ laying Printed by Rovner Me orien. Shethed from Nature by PS: on Stonely 0 liglio. USPALLATA. ‘ OVER THE ANDES. 209 : DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. ——————————————————— aside the stone which had served us for a plate, the knife in its sheath, the knees and blanket which had made our table and its cloth, down again, I began to gaze at the stars, and to wait for sleep or a cold wind. The sun with its lights had gone far down and left us in jhe dark, but the scenery around us was still in the mind. Those great travellers, who have been skipping from Europe to Asia, from Asia to Africa, and back again to Europe by way of America, are every where at home; but I, a little traveller, was not at home here. They will stand with their feet resting on Popocatepetl and Mont Blane, their hands on Dhawalagiri and Chimborazo, viewing Corcovado and the new southern lands; they will turn about and look for a northwest passage or the magnetic pole, and feel no surprise at what they see; but I experienced a very considerable astonishment at finding myself thus passing the night in this volcanic antichamber of the Andes, and at what I had seen: it seemed as if crowds of ideas were dancing in the mind, with associations so rapid and figures so intricate, that I could not’ make any of the performances out: something like a _ eadenced shake alone was sensible, and some pleasing sounds heard. The confusion gradually ceased, whilst sleep, the high master of ceremonies in this world, was I suppose conducting each performer back to its cell; and during this time some conversation took place, the subject of which was the name of Paradise, bestowed on Chile in several works. Every one present admitted, that this word should not be allowed an introduction into books without, being accom- panied with truth; and an idea, better read and informed than the rest, vindicated the authors who on that occasion had introduced it. Curiosity then became strongly excited, and desirous to know what a terrestrial paradise was, when the following descrip- tion was begun of the abode which awaited us on the western side of the cordillera. At our arrival upon the central ridge, we were to hear the ring of distant bells, of most extraordinary sizes, made of gold and silver, whose sounds were so full, so mellow, and chime so harmonious, that angels not men would be supposed the per- formers. Shortly afterwards we were to perceive, rising amongst beautiful trees of wonderful height, surrounded by lofty summits clothed with a most luxuriant 2E 210 -FOTO. CHELEATO | CHAPTER XI. _ DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. vegetation, and of tints never before seen, a pile of buildings, constructed with the finest porphyry, and of such size and magnificence, that the Great Chartreuse with its mountain scenery, placed by the side of it, would here appear but a summer house in a garden. The sounds of a more heavenly than terrestrial music would first arrest our steps as if by enchantment, then hurry them forwards to meet the gradual swell of its notes, and lead us to an hospitable mansion and. its chapel, where, after a plain and fervent prayer from a priest, that the watch and check placed over the frailties of human nature might be rendered daily more strong and. vigilant, and that both spiritual and temporal wants might be supplied, we should hear a discourse of such an impressive nature, in which, all mysteries and dogmas being avoided -and left to the consideration and decision of each, our divine religion would be shown in its natural and beautiful forms, harmonizing so completely with the con- science and the rational faculties of man, even when in his lowest stage; so well fitted, by what it makes evident and what it leaves to conjecture, to the manifest purposes of this life, that Protestants and Catholics, Athanasians and Arians, Quakers and all sectaries, had they been present, would again have thought themselves but one body, and wondered how they ever were led, to clothe it with dresses of such various descriptions, and to give to it so many different appearances. The inhabitants of this spot, like the hospitable and useful fathers of the great Saint Bernard, em- ployed in assisting travellers over the cordillera, would give us a kind reception, and an entertainment, which by its simplicity and substance would invigorate our bodies, as their exhortations had our souls. Continuing our journey, after the most comfortable night ever passed, we were to find ourselves, sometimes on a Righi, with its magnificent mountains and lakes around us; sometimes in a vale of Chamouny or of Neath; now passing under a cave of Fingal with its thousand pillars, and now riding along a giant’s causeway, with columns ten times larger and more numerous. Here would be waterfalls, to which those of the Niagara, of the Rhine, and of the Formazza, the Pissache and the Staubach, would offer themselves to our imagination, only as the contents of so many troughs, OVER THE ANDES. 211 DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO: CHAPTER XI. pouring over mill wheels. But as we descended the Andes, our gratifications were to become more and more sensual, and whilst we should sometimes be travelling along a river, another Rhine for the beauty of its banks, and another Amazon for its size, we were to meet with huge casks, to which the tun of Heidelberg would be but a barrel, and out of which some Patagonians, of the size seen by early navigators, were to offer us, in golden pans of exquisite workmanship, the most delicious WiN6S.......:..;,-ELere, however, sleep entered the room and put an end to the descrip- tion, an interruption which I did not regret.. We may easily believe, that He who made the prismatic colours, could produce another, entirely unlike what we have hitherto. seen: yet any such, we ourselves cannot: even imagine; and the inferior scenes of a terrestrial paradise would only lead us, to fine glittering mansions and splendid entertainments, gildings and silverings, tables and mirrors, gear and dresses, as beautiful as it is in our power to conceive them; fineries and gauderies, gimcracks and gewgaws, puppets, dolls, and toys, all got without any labour or cares, Early in the morning we left the hamlet of Uspallata, the last inhabited spot on this side of the Andes. To form a near estimate of distances, in this climate and under this sky, some practice is required, and nowhere perhaps more than in this valley. When we were on the point of entering, it the day before, it had appeared so narrow, that we had supposed its width to be from three to four miles, and that we should be able to leave it far behind us before sunset; but an hour and a half on that day and three the next morning were required to cross it, the whole distance being about fourteen. . Our peons were unable to explain the cause of such a peculiarity in the atmosphere of this spot, but they could tell us of one of its effects: we were to feel a thirst still more difficult to allay than before; the waters of the torrents, said. they, were worse and very unfit to drink; if, therefore, we wished to do so when thirsty, the only expedient left, was to go with the empty _ cask and horns to the guard house, and there have them again filled up with Mendoza wine: this reasoning and conclusion, which we knew to be dictated by long experience, appeared to us so full of good sense that we yielded to it. The supply 2E 2 212 TO CHILE, CHAPTER XI. = DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. being got we proceeded, and when I asked the muleteer, if the high mountains before us were the cordillera, he laughed and answered, that we should be travelling and ascending two whole days longer before we could see it. There was a kind of emulation between him and me: when he named the cordillera, it was always with emphasis, and evidently with the wish that the word should make an extraordinary impression on us; and I, as often attempted to muster up Spanish language sufficient to talk down his cordillera, and to make him suppose, that their mountains could not excite wonder in one who had seen and crossed some parts of the Alps: our conversation on this subject might perhaps sometimes produce those flowers in logic called puffs; but his rhetoric was of a higher order than mine, owing to my — rance of his language. We passed amongst a considerable number of the white round heaps which I have before described; afterwards by prodigious accumulations of what a more — powerful body of water than the present Mendoza river has brought out; and, leaving the basin of Uspallata, we entered a narrow valley, of a very gentle ascent, and found its entrance covered with white fragments, so very like pieces of old mortar, that I could not without difficulty persuade myself; that I was not riding over the ruins of old walls: an adjoining mountain appeared formed of the same substance. _ After proceeding some way up the valley we again found the clay slate, and its summits partly covered with a crust, apparently similar to that of the mountain of Uspallata; here and there, some thousand feet below it, were regular white and grey strata, or sometimes small masses, of bodies heterogeneous to the chief part of the mountains. Some scanty and brownish grass was seen in patches above us, but with- . out trees or shrubs; and only a few of the latter alongside of us, chiefly myrtles, widely scattered over the ground, with scarcely any other plants between them. We arrived at avery bad path which hangs over deep precipices, below and almost underneath which runs the river Mendoza: it was rendered very slippery by some snow and loose stones on it. This, if a specimen of our road, made me sup- pose that our way over the higher mountains would be like the paths of the chamois OVER THE ANDES. 213 DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. hunters in the Alps. A small cross indicated that some traveller had perished here, and, among other warnings, impressed us with the necessity of holding fast on our mules. A point of honour seemed to prevent us from dismounting unless the muleteer ahead showed us the example, and if these people ever get off their beasts on such occasions, there must be an extraordinary necessity for it, It required some caution and practice to avoid having the knees bruised, the feet turned back, or even the seat lost by projecting rocks,-when endeavouring to keep close to the mountain side: even mules, with all their instinctive geometrical skill, sometimes knock their loads against them, lose their balance, and are precipitated; an instance of which kind I witnessed on my return, a little beyond this spot, where the mule which was going immediately before me with two boxes, struck one of them against ‘a stone, missed her hind step, and rolled down some hundred feet, turning like a wheel, and the two chests, loosened from the animal, bounding down before it ; some tackle leisurely sliding in the rear. The mule died shortly after the accident: the boxes were stopped by some sand and a large rock which interfered between the ‘river and them, and their strong hide covering saved them from being broken open in the fall. We were able to reach the spot where they lay, by going back some distance, and there I saw the skeletons of several mules which had perished in the same manner. Yet, two men, with a single day’s work, might render the road here very safe. | But to proceed with our present journey, the bad path did not continue beyond a mile and a half. We passed by and almost under a very enormous mass of a por- phyritic rock, of a bright reddish yellow colour, which hung down many hundred feet, or perhaps thousand, from the mountain above us: it appeared entirely distinet from the rest, and as having cooled whilst flowing down or forced up in a state of fusion: the mass here, and that seen in the mountain of Mendoza, by their colours and formations, their circular undulations, and their contrast with the surrounding rocks, seem to indicate the effects of a strong effervescence. This: valley is more or less partly filled, and in some places to the height of several 214 | TO CHILE, CHAPTER XI. DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. “— hundred feet, with alluvious matter; stones and pebbles brought down and rounded by the current of some former large body of water; and through this has the present torrent again sunk a channel to a considerable depth. It exhibits the same features as some of the large western vallies in Chile, which have already been described in the second chapter; and very high banks, shelving down with much regularity, are likewise found here in several spots: if these have been the work of former inha- bitants for the purpose of irrigation, the appearance of the country has changed indeed, as nothing more is seen than a few small and. half starved shrubs, of no pleasing tints: but the situation and climate of this long valley would be favourable to habitation, and, though narrow, be able to maintain a considerable population by the means of artificially irrigated agriculture. We rode on in it with much ease and a hot, sun during thirty miles, and did certainly experience a thirst of the most uncommon kind; no sooner quenched than again felt ; and having travelled about forty on that day, we stopped for the night close by some large rocks, which in their fall have placed themselves in different attitudes, very much for the accom- modation of travellers. appa The scene, dreary and lifeless around us, suddenly became full of animation where we stood. A large fire was soon seen and heard crackling its fuel, and, with a still more cheering noise, the meat which was roasting over it. The water for drinking matés was boiling hard. Even the luxury of two courses might be expected: onions with red pepper were ready to be poured. into a beef pottage, and to give to it as high a flavour, as the most consummate science and execution of a professor in gastronomy presiding over a skilful cook ever produced'to a princely palate, and a richer tinge than a Salvator Rosa ever gave to the sun when: setting down an Italian sky. Nay, yet. more than this: for, the shist and’ the: porphyry were on all sides echoing the sound and crash of pestles, which were pounding the “carne,” or dried beef for our muleteers and. peons; their first and ‘sometimes their only course, whose preparation is‘ as short as that. of an oatmeal cake for a Scot Highlander. The dried meat, which consists of thin layers pulled. OVER THE ANDES. 215 gabe DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. CHAPTER XI. off the most fleshy parts of the slaughtered beast in large slices, is pounded between two stones till its threads look like lint, and then put into a vessel with onions cut small: boiling water is poured over this compound, to which an abundance of red pepper gives a fiery colour and taste, and which requires no farther operation. . _. Some eagles and guanacos might have been lurking on high rocks to the leeward of us, inhaling the vapours arising from our kitchen; lamenting, like a poor hungry man passing over the grating iron that fences the hot and smoking feast, that the ascending fumes were not in more tangible forms. Such among us as could wait till the bell rang for supper smoked their cigars; those who could not, fell on the bread. and tongues. As wars are thought by some a pleasant pastime, when.they have returned from them full of glory, and void of wounds or sufferings, so is travelling, when, after a sultry and fatiguing day, the traveller can fill his stomach with whole- some food; and drink, even South American, wine, without inconvenience or ail- ment. The effect of two cold nights had rendered us skilful in selecting proper resting places, and this time we bade defiance to the frigid lungs of the cordillera, which might breathe and blow their worst, even unto the bursting of all its pipes. At daylight the mules were driven in, and manifested evident signs that their supper had not been so abundant as our own. ‘This was almost the last spot for the exhibition on the ground by our sides, of any thing more in an organic and living shape, unless indeed the huge masses before us should ultimately, and in the farther progress of science, likewise be found so; growing into layers and forms, by suchlike but slower processes as cause the rise and enlargement of bodies in the vegetable and animal worlds, and again decaying and decomposing out of them by fermenta- tions, which Nature may sometimes think fit to accelerate in her large furnaces and crucibles, as we do many substances in our kitchens and laboratories. ‘The journey of this day excited an anticipation of more interest: we were to enter into another long and ‘higher valley, covered with snow, and formed on one side by the central ridge of the Andes. The rays of the sun struck on us soon after its rising, and tempered the chilling breeze. ‘The mountains on each side continued. to exhibit 216 STO. CHILE; 47 CHAPTER XI. DEPARTURE FROM MENDOZA AND ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. the clay slate in immense bodies, whose stratification, although little conspicuous, seemed to indicate a westerly or northwesterly dip: but of this I was unable to have a generally conclusive observation, and the fragments on the ground appeared to indicate a slight transition into porphyritic rocks. When we arrived at the end of the valley in which we had been travelling nearly the whole of the preceding day; we saw through a very narrow opening the lofty summit of Tupungato, ‘covered with everlasting snow, and presenting itself in the middle of it with a fine effect: it appeared as if very near to us, though its distance was probably not less than sixty or seventy miles: the little rrver Tupungata, which comes from it, unites itself here with the Cueva, and their mixed waters, also joined by another snow torrent from the north, take the name of Mendoza.