C V ftab^rl 3F. W. lilfilrnmb TKRKE YEA.IIS CHILI NEW YORK: FOLLETT, FOSTER AND COMPANY. J. BRADBURN (Sucoessob to M. Doolady), 49 Walkee Steeet. 1863. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by FOLLETT, FOSTER & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Page Departure from New York, 1 Coaling at Kingstou, . . , 2 Its Decay — Tropical Scenery, 3 Barbacoa — Mud and Discomfort, 4 The old passage Of'* the Isthmus, 5 Drunken Boatmeft*, ^ . ... . . . , . 6 River Scenery — Gorgonar, *. .' 7 Granadiau Justice, . '• . , 8 Arrival at' Cruces, . ... u 9 ' CHAPTElt- II. Equipping Tdi' the Journey, ' 10 Bargaining for M^les— The Children, 11 Mules and Mulishness, . . 12 Pleasures of the Passage, / . . 13 Way-side Huts, . . , 14= The Perils of Mu 15 The Elephant Hotel, 16 Cold— The Parrots, 17 CHAPTER III. Continuation of the Journey, 18 Inhabitants — Panama, 19 Fine Baths— Bishop's Palace, 20 IV CONTENTS. Page The Weather, 21 The City, 22 CHAPTER IV. Put to Sea again, 23 Panama Hats— Water-Raft, 24 Bay of Payta, 25 Native Fruits, 26 City of Callao, 27 Aquatic Birds, 28 Native Wine— Chinca Islands, 29 CHAPTER V. Anchor in the Bay of Arica, 30 People and Costumes, 31 Saltpetre and Silver Mines, 32 Coast Towns, 33 CHAPTER VI. Fond Dreams dispelled, 34 Landing at Valparaiso, 35 The Hills— The Almendral, 36 Plazas — Churches, 37 Tile— Roofing— Bamboo Lath, 38 Building— The Shops, 39 Curb-stone Commerce, 40 Bakers— Milkmen — Laundresses, 41 Hotels— Earthquakes, 42 The Weather— Markets, 43 Protestant Churches— Sunday Life, 44 CHAPTER VII. Take possession of a House, 45 Housekeeping Experience, 46 CONTENTS. V Page Domestic Life, 47 Want of Spanish, 48 No Fires Permitted, 49 The Cemeteries, 50 Mode of Burial, 51 How Butter is Preserved, 52 CHAPTER Vni. Glorious Mornings and gorgeous Sunsets, 53 South Wind— Fruits— Poultry, 54 The Opera, 55 Flowers of the Season, 56 An Earthquake, 57 Varieties of Costume, 58 Newspapers in Valparaiso, 59 CHAPTER IX. Anniversary Festivals, 60 Palm Sunday— Holy Week, 61 Ceremonies — Processions, 62 Services in the Churches, 63 A Norther — Wrecks, 64 Snowy Mountains, . .65 CHAPTER X. St. Peter's Day— His Image, 66 Expiation of Sins — Vows, 67 The Diez y Ocho, G8 Holidays— National Dance, 69 Horsemanship— A Ball, 70 Dresses— Dancing — Christmas, 71 Midnight Mass— An Execution, 72 VI CONTENTS CHAPTER XL . Page American Enterprise — Ox-carts, . . '. 73 Start for Santiago, 74 A Posada, 75 Incidents of Travel, 7G Farm Scenery, 77 Arrival at Santiago, 78 City of Santiago, . .79 Tlie Patios, . 80 Architecture of Santiago, 81 Shops— The Cathedral, 82 Relics — A Country-Seat, * . 83 A Fair— Sewerage— "Water- Works, Si Snow Luxuries— Hospital, ^5 Convents— The Nuns, 86 Capuchins— The Cemetery, 87 National Institute, 88 Public Schools, 89 Library— Newsp pers, 90 The Canada, 91 Celebration of the Diez y Ocho, 92 The President at Church— A Review, 93 Country People^Parade Ground, 94 Wealth of Santiago, 95 Return to Valparaiso, 9C Over the Plains, 97 Descent of the Hills, 98 The Cuesta Zapata, 99 Return to Valparaiso, 100 CHAPTER XIL A Great Event in a Foreigner's Life, 101 A Chileno Railroad, 102 Villa at Vina del Mar, 103 Celebration of the Immaculate Conception , 104 CONTENTS. Vii CHAPTER XIII. • . Fage Richest "Silver Mine in the World, 105 Mineral Wealth of Chili, lOG Transportation of Silver, 107 Chileno Currency, , 108 ' A'Chileno CrcesuS, 109 CHAPTER XIV. A- Pleasure Garden, 110 •GftingtoJhePolanco, Ill The Lasso— Early Practice, 112 Street Curiosities, 113 Pulperias— People— Police, 114 Efficiency of the Police, ...*•... 115 Dogs of Valparaiso, IIG CHAPTER XV. First Church for Protestant Worship, 117 Protestantism— Catholic Ceremonies, 118 The Chileno Priests, 119 Indulgences— Mendicant Friars, 120 Chileno Peones at AYork, 121 Railroad Bridges— Grand Mass, 122 Tribulations of the Devout, 123 CHAPTER XVI. A Pleasant Place for Weak Nerves 124 Earthquake Experiences, 125 Storms— Climate, 126 Social Distinctions, 127 Ladies and Servants, 128 Customs of the Country, 129 Chileno Hospitalities, 130 Ladies' Calls— Parental Relations, 131 VIU CONTENTS. Page Chileno Women— Social Habits, 132 Funerals— Gambling — Titles, 133 Hacendados— Politeness, 134 The Constant Cigar, 135 Peones — Marriage, 136 Peculiarities of the Peones, 137 A Day at the Pantheon, 138 Prayers for the Dead, 139 CHAPTER XYIL Weather in Chili, 140 Departure from Valparaiso, 141 Talcahuano- Peon Funeral, 142 Unlading Ships by Launches, 143 Penco— Concepcion, 144 Chileno Hotel, 145 Fruits — Agriculture, 146 Threshing by Horse Power, 147 Immense Crops, 148 CHAPTER XYIH. Classic Ground, 149 Araucanian "Wars, 150 Heroic Struggles and Sacrifices, 151 A Woman Warrior, , . . . 152 Expulsion of Invaders, 153 The Araucanos, 154 Terror of the Chilenos 155 CHAPTER XIX. Voyage to Boston, 156 Sharks— Life in a Calm, 157 Land ! and Honi^e, ......... 158 THREE YEARS IN CHILI CHAPTER I. We left New York on the 20th of July, and on the 28th of August entered the harbor of Valparaiso. The voyage to Aspinwall was eventless, but full of interest and delight for us, to whom this seafaring expe- rience was an entire novelty. On the 27th of July, we saw Cuba ; and on the 28th we beheld the mountains of Jamaica, clothed from sea to summit with the perpetual verdure of sugar-fields and cocoa-groves. The day was warm and bright, and we ran two hours along the coast, before putting into the bay of Port Royal — our vision feasted now with the glories of the land, and now with the beauty of the sparkUng and joyous sea. As you enter the bay, you see Port Royal on the right, crouching with low huts upon the level sands amid shelter- 2 COALING AT KINGSTON. ing cocoa-nut trees ; and at the head of the bay, Kingston, Ijing beneath a mountain that rises abruptly from the water, covered with dark masses of vegetation, and looking at first glance like a great thunder-cloud fallen heavily athwart the sight. Here we stopped for coals, and before we made fast to the dock of the decaying city, the water about the steamer swarmed with unwonted life and activity: innumerable young negroes clove the waves with their arms, and the air with their shouts, noisily besieging the passengers for money: "One dime, massa!" ''One dime, missus!" When a coin was thrown to them, they dived through the transparent water and brought it up with unerring cer- tainty, splashing, sputtering, blowing the brine from their faces, and greedily vociferating for more. A plank walk was laid from the deck of the steamer to the coal-yard, and about one hundred negresses, scantily attired in ragged dresses that left bare the arms and neck and fell only to the knees, began the work of coaling. Each had a tub holding about a bushel, which she filled, and balanced on her head with one hand while she marched up the steep plank, keeping time to a chanted refrain. At the coal-hole the tubs were emptied without O CQ ITS DECAY — TROPICAL SCENERY. 3 being removed from the head by a sudden jerk of the neck and twist of the body ; and the women passed off at the other end of the ship, in endless succession. The hand of decay lies heavily upon Kingston. The narrow streets are filled with loose sand ; the pavements are broken, and the houses almost universally dilapidated. Nevertheless, there were some handsome stores, where we found the merchants very poUte, after we had struggled through the crowds of negro boys who met us at every door and gate-way, with vociferous invitations to enter. In the street, we saw not more than one white man to a hundred black ones, and the bitterest antipathy seemed to exist between the two races. Disembarking at Aspinwall, on the 31st, with the usual scenes of bustle and confusion, we took the Panama Rail- road for Barbacoa, twenty-three miles distant, and plunged suddenly into the heart of tropic scene. For a few miles from Aspinwall, the road passes through a swamp on crib- work of logs, filled in with stone and earth, with the water on either hand thickly matted with aquatic plants. Tra- versing this swamp, we entered a great forest, magnificent with gigantic trees, all clambered with pendant, blossomy vines, and gorgeous with flowers of every hue. It was 4 BARBACOA — MUD AND DISCOMFORT. now the middle of the rainy season, when, in this tropical land, a few weeks suffice to clothe in vivid verdure ever}^ thing left undisturbed. In one place near the road, stood on old pile-driver, garlanded with luxuriant creepers ; and in another, a dismantled locomotive was dimly discernible in a mass of green. Again, in harsh and ghastly contrast with this exuberant vegetable life, the end of a coffin pro- truded from a fallen bank, grimly wreathed with verdure. After three hours' travel, we 'arrived at Barbacoa, and quitting the cars, left behind us the civilization of the North and found ourselves not only in a tropical climate, amidst tropical scenery, but tropical mud, discomfort, and squalor. Barbacoa stands on the bank of the Chagres River — a few bamboo huts, with a hotel distinguished by weather- boarding from the rest. We stopped at this hostelry for refreshments — taking our way from the cars to the house, over a path of what seemed grass, but was really the del- icate and beautiful sensitive-plant, that shrank fearfully from the feet falling upon its tender leaves. The place was full of Californians returning to the States, who gave us terrible accounts of the roads before us — for we were to take boats to Cruces, and thence struggle on with mules to Panama, hy mud. THE OLD PASSAGE OF THE ISTHMUS. 6 The railroad between Aspinwall and Panama has long been completed, and the perils and perplexities of the old- fashioned passage of the Isthmus are historical, rather than actual. I do not think, however, that their becom- ing '• Portions and parcels of the dreadful past," has invested them with any tender hues of romance. They remain in my mind to this day a harsh reality of mud, deprivation, and affliction. I recount them with the sole consolation that for me they are past forever, and that no one hereafter will encounter them. Only, dear reader, as you are w^hirled along by steam over a passage memo- rable with direful struggles, bestow a sigh upon the hard- ships of pre-railroad travelers ! At the inn of Barbacoa we remained two hours, pro- visioning and bargaining for boats. When at last our arrangements w^ere completed, we made our way through the town, and clambered down the steep muddy banks of the river to the water's edge, where we found about two hundred others, trying to embark, and mingling their tumult with the cries of the boatmen, who were shrieking loud demands of '^Homhre, acqui!^^ on every hand. With o;reat ado, a score of us succeeded in seating ourselves in a Yas Eng- lish — the sleeping was decidedly Chileno, in a forhrn brick- floored, dirtily carpeted room, upon hard, narrow beds, which I ache to remember. Casa Blanca is situated upon an elevated plain, and contains about two thousand inhabitants. The road to Santiago (which forms the principal street) is lined on either side with Lombardy poplars for miles. We were on the road again at four o'clock next morn- ing, and traveled until daylight over a level country, which then began to grow more rolling. The road, the hill-sides and plains, in some places, are covered with shrubs, giant cactuses, and espino trees, which resemble old apple trees. The road was thronged with ox-carts, 76 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. and men and women on horseback — the women riding the native saddle, which has a back and no horns, and sitting on the wrong side, their bodies at right angles with the horses' head. Among other wayfarers were chicken-mer- chants, driving mules, each laden with a large coop. These poulterers, in traveling, stop on the plains near a stream, let their chickens out, feed them, drive them to water — and have all the life of the barn-yard about them. Then restoring the fowls to their coops, they set off again. At eleven o'clock we reached Melipilla, a town of one- story adobe houses, white-washed and tile-roofed. It con- tains nearly eight thousand inhabitants, and is a place of considerable wealth. Here we had a miserable breakfast of cazuela and coffee. Cazuela is a national dish, used everywhere in Chili, and is a sort of stew made of chicken commonly (though sometimes of other meats), with po- tatoes, rice and green peas. From Melipilla to Santiago is an almost imperceptible ascent. The sides of the road are lined with ditches of running water, and bordered by long rows of poplars and mud walls. The walls are made of mud taken from the ditch, packed in a frame, and turned out until the wall is of sufficient height ; they are then sometimes roofed with FARM SCENERY. 77 tile, and make excellent fencing, in a climate where there is no frost to crack them. Other fences are made of stakes interlaced with espino bushes. The poplar trees grow readily from cuttings, and are planted so thickly that, when thej are of full size, thej are not more than two feet apart. Occasionally we saw a ranclio or farm-house by the road side, built of adobes^ or of sticks and mud, and thatched with straw. Stopping at one of them to change horses, we entered. The ground served for a floor ; there was a rude bedstead in one cor- ner of the room, and three or four chairs ; a fire of char- coal was burning on the ground, and over it stood a long-legged iron pot, and near this a couple of round, red- dish earthen jars, the sole cooking utensils. Two or three women were standing about, with apparently nothing to do. They were polite and hospitable — asking if we were going to Santiago to spend the diez y ocho, wishing us enjoyment, and presenting us with oranges. Near the hut, a few ap- ple, pear and peach trees were in bloom. We saw a few country-seats — large, low houses, sur- rounded with fruit trees. These places are the residences of the hacendados, or landed proprietors, and all have distinguished names, such as San Pedro, Sand Isidro, etc. 78 ARRIVAL AT SANTIAGO. For miles along the road on either hand stretched bound- less fields of clover, in which thousands of cattle were feeding. At four in the afternoon, passing through the low sub- urbs of Santiago, we drove up in front of a pair of wide iron gates — the entrance to the Hotel Ingles — a large building in the Plaza de la Independencia ; here we found our rooms (engaged three weeks before) very comfort- able. They opened upon an inner patio and the corridor, from which latter the giant crests of the Andes were visi- ble. That evening we feasted our vision upon a scene of sublimity and beauty that alone repaid us a thousand- fold for all we had endured in coming to Chili. The sun was sinking in the west, and flashing his last crimson rays upon those majestic peaks, whose snows gleamed and sparkled in the tender light, as the broad white wings of hovering angels might shine, in the descent from hea- ven. But even as we looked, the glories of the scene passed away, the sun sank beneath the horizon, and the mountains rose, pale and phantom-like, in the deepening twilight. Santiago, seven miles square, lies on a plain at the foot of the Andes — several spurs of which are inclosed within CITY OF SANTIAGO. 79 the city limits. Santa Lucia, a pyramidal bill of rock, rises one hundred and eighty feet above the plaza. It is crowned with a mass of prismatic porphyry, inchning at an angle of fortj'-five degrees, looking as if the first tem- blor would precipitate it upon the houses below. This hill is the site of the observatory established by Lieutenant Gillis, on the part of our government, for the purpose of taking astronomical observations. On the sides of the hill are forts now disused. The river Mapocho divides the city, [n the dry season there is a small quantity of water flowing through many channels ; during the winter, the rains raise the river to a rapid and angry flood. High breakwaters are built on either side of the stream to prevent inundations, which have destroyed a large part of the city. The river is spanned by a massive stone bridge of eleven arches, built in the year 1775, which is 650 feet long, and wide enough for footways, and the passage of two carts abreast. The roadway is paved with stone, and upon each abutment on the stream are little brick towers, originally intended as guard-houses, to protect the bridge against Indians, but are now used as shops, where edibles of all descriptions are sold. 80 THE PATIOS. The streets of Santiago are comparatively wide, and are paved Avith round stones. They were lighted with oil when we were there, but gas was soon to be introduced. The buildings are mostly of adobe, and roofed with tile — seldom exceeding one story in height — a circumstance that of course conduces to safety in earthquakes. Building stone is abundant, but the mechanics are not skilful in working it. The houses of the wealthy are constructed in the Spanish fashion, with patios inclosed by the different apartments of the house, and usually filled with flower- ing shrubs, having a magnolia or some other fine tree in the centre. The entrance is by means of large iron gates, broad and high enough to admit a mail-coach, which are left open by day, and closed at night. In several of the houses we visited, the stable was on one side of the gates, and the porter's room on the other. Passing through the 2?atio we entered the parlors, beyond which was another patio, filled with plants, and accessible from the dining- room and bedchambers — and those with the servants' rooms and kitchens sometimes inclosed a third patio. In the first, just before the parlor windows, the carriage was cleaned and the horses harnessed. The patios are paved with round pebbles from the Mapocho, and have in the ARCHITECTURE OP SANTIAGO. 81 centre, sometimes a fanciful figure, or a date, formed of the extremities of the leg bones of mules. The houses are very unpretending in appearance outside, as the building material does not admit of much architectural display. Square tiles laid upon the ground are universally used for flooring, while the ceilings are always of board, for plas- tering would be shaken off by earthquakes. The walls are plastered with mud, and then every apartment is pa- pered. Within doors, every luxury that wealth can pro- cure, the rich have. Furniture is brought from France ; — one Chileno of whom I heard, furnished two parlors with Parisian furniture, at an expense of thirty-four thou- sand dollars. Some of the public buildings of Santiago are very fine. A new theatre, building while we were there, was to be the largest in the world. A penitentiary recently finished, is two miles from the city. It is built of brick, in octagon form, inclosing a court which serves for a chapel. There are cells for five hundred and thirty prisoners. Of course, the building is only one story in height. The mint, built in Doric style, is the most imposing public edifice. In this the President of Chili resides. A noticeable building is the Portal, on one of the plazas — an immense affair, in 6 82 SHOPS — THE CATHEDRAL. "which most of the splendid shops are to be found, and where every thing that can be imported is for sale. There are many churches, but none of them remarkable for beauty. The Cathederal is an imposing edifice, of gray granite, fronting on the principal plaza. Although one hundred years old, it is not yet finished, and workmen were still engaged upon it when we were there. Two rows of columns support the roof, within. There are six- teen altars in the side-aisles, and one lofty shrine in the centre of the building, w^hich is richly decorated with massive silver candlesticks, silver vases, silver frames on which to rest the books of prayer, — and over all, resting upon a heavy silver cornice, a canopy of the same precious metal. Under one of the aisles lie buried three bishops, whose enormous shovel hats, begrimmed with dust are sus- pended from the roof above the sepulchres. As we sauntered through the building, we were accosted by a young man apparently in office there, who asked us if we would like to see a relic ; we were anxious, of course, and a curtain was drawn aside from a little recess, where we beheld a recumbent skeleton, of small size, brown with age, and decorated with gauze, tinsel, and faded flowers. This, we were assured, was Saint Mark. There are extant RELICS — A COUNTRY-SEAT. 83 several skeletons of this Evangelist, but we were very glad to see one. Upon a table in front of every church in Santiago, stands a figure of the Virgin, with a little box for alms. The interiors of the churches are ornamented with figures of saints, the Virgin, and the Saviour — the latter often depicted in agonies of death upon the cross. In a chapel adjoining the Cathedral, we were shown a splendid painting of Pope Pius Ninth, which was ordered in Italy for Louis Phillippe, but was not finished before his flight from France, when it was purchased by a gentle- man and presented to this Cathedral. There are said to be three thousand priests in Santiago. One morning, an American gentleman, who has long been a resident of the place, came for us with his carriage, and took us three miles into the country, to his Quinta, or country-seat. The mansion was one story, large in di- mensions, and square in shape, with large rooms plainly furnished. A corridor ran along the western side of the house. The kitchen was a hut, about forty feet from the dining-room door. A broad avenue of poplars led from the road to the house, through massive gates, near which stood a thatched porter's lodge, with squalid chil- dren lying about in the sun. 84 A FAIR — SEWERAGE — WATER-WORKS. The first industrial exhibition was held during our stay in Santiago. The show was very poor — consisting for the most part of a few flowers, specimens of embroidery, and poor paintings. A noticeable feature was a figure of the Saviour, of life size, habited in flowing robes, and wearing under the crown of thorns, long curls of brown ribbons. The sewerage of the city consists of ditches in the mid- dle of alternate streets, in which the garbage from the houses is thrown ; at eight o'clock every evening water is let into the ditches from gates in the Tajomar above the city, which rushes rapidly along, and carries all the filth into the river below. At right angles with these ditches are others passing under the rows of houses between the guttered streets. Although this system of sewerage is good, the carelessness of officials often permits the drains to become clogged, and the stench becomes intolerable. The city has command of an unlimited supply of water, but the earthern pipes that convey it are constantly out of order, and the water is turbid. The rich have filters made of a kind of porous stone abounding on the coast north of Caquimbo. Dripping through these filters into earthen jars, the water in this dry climate becomes so cool that no ice is necessary. For purposes of luxury, snow mixed SNOW LUXURIES — HOSPITALS. 85 with hail is brought into the citj daily from the Andes, a distance of four leagues, on mules which carry fifty pounds each, inclosed in straw between frames of hide net-work. It is used for making ices, — of which the favorite is water ice, flavored with coffee or chocolate. Fronting the Canada is the Hospital of San Juan de Dias, with accommodations for six hundred patients. It is spaciously and comfortably arranged, but the rooms are badly ventilated. San Francisco de Borja is a hospital for women, with accommodations for five hundred. It is not so well contrived in any respect as the other. There is a foundling hospital in Santiago, where infants are left day and night, without any possibility of detection from within, by means of a revolving box, in a wall, and a tap to call the attention of the porter ; the box is turned within, and the babe is received, never more to be recognized by the one who leaves it. Almost five hundred children are thus an- nually abandoned by their parents in Santiago. " As the convents," says Lieut. Gillis, in his interesting work on Chili, " are barred to all persons of the male sex (and in- deed to the female also), except the Archbishop, the Doc- tor, and to the new President, for a single visit, I took occasion to examine the arrangements of their intended 86 CONVENTS — THE NUNS. domicil before they moved into it. The apartments open on long corridors, which communicate with extensive cham- bers for the use of the Abbess, and in bad weather afford them places for exercise. Each nun has a small sitting- room, a dormitory, and a servants' room, with conveniences for cooking, washing, and stowage of houshold necessities, a stream of water passing through the premises of every one. " The luxuriously disposed keep a servant, who is free to return to the world when tired of cloistral labor, but is not at liberty to go back and forth each day. " For the supply of their necessities, a sort of market is held daily, in a court of their property specially provi- ded, and hither are brought for sale, provisions and mate- rials, and such articles as their industry embraces. Nei- ther purchaser nor seller sees the §ther, but the commodity offered is placed within one of the recesses of a turnstile, filling an aperture of the wall, and if accepted, its value is returned in the same manner. " Many of the nuns are skilled in needle-work, and in making ornamental pastilles, fancy toys of earthen-ware, and confectionery of various kinds, in the sale of which they employ servants outside. *' In 1850, the convent numbered 75 nuns, and 176 seculars." CAPUCHINS — THE CEMETERY. 87 I was told that in one convent of the Capuchins, ap- plicants are only received upon the payment of two thou- sand five hunderd dollars. They sleep in holes made in the earth of the size of their bodies, with a cloth around them, and a stone for a pillow. If they encounter, when walking in their yard, their salutation is : " We are to die," and " We know it." Many of them die early from the hardships of such a life, and their money goes to the institution. There are seven monasteries and eight convents in San- tiago, wherein five hundred women are shut out from the world. The cemetery is a mile and a half from the plaza. About fifteen acres of ground, inclosed by high walls, are divided into lots by iron railings, for monuments, families, and the poor. In the cemetery are a chapel and buildings for workmen, a pretty garden, and rows of cypress trees. There are a few handsome mausoleums of marble, one of which is surmounted by a nude figure of Grief, executed in white marble. By an order of the Archbishop, this statue has been covered with a petticoat of white cloth, from the waist to the knees. As at Valpariso, there are 88 NATIONAL INSTITUTE. perpetual sepulchres, graves for one year, and for the poor the bone-pit. In regard to education in Santiago, I quote Lieut. Gillis, who sajs : " The National Institute numbers 900 pupils, of whom 260 are internos, and live wholly within its walls. The remainder are day scholars. To conduct the establishment there is a rector, a vice-rector, and thirty- six professors, all receiving their appointment and pay from government. " Instruction is free to all — the internos only being sub- ject to $150 per annum for their board. Corporal punish- ment is not permitted. Among the gravest oflfenses speci- fied are, not retiring at the appointed hour, leaving the Institute without permission, and neglect to confess at the appointed times; among the lightest are uncleanliness, and disrespect to their companions. Latin, Greek, Eng- lish, French, arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geography, cosmography, drawing, history, rhetoric, and moral phi losophy ; religion, music and the elements of physics, chem- istry, mineralogy and natural history are taught. " The course occupies six years. Connected with the In- stitute is a normal school under the direction of the Minis- ter of Public Instruction ; twenty-eight young men are PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 89 prepared here as teachers for the provinces. The course occupies three years, vaccination being one of the subjects of instruction. There are a number of boarding and day schools, under the direction of convents and individuals, which are well patronized. Besides these, there are thir- ty-five primary institutions at the cost of the municipality. The last, as almost all the day-schools for the humbler class, are held in rooms badly lighted, and worse ventila- ted, of whose vicinity one becomes aware at a long dis- tance, by the loud voices of all the children conning their lessons at the same time." There are, in the Republic of Chili, without counting Araucanian Indians, 1,439,120 inhabitants, of whom there are 13,250 more women than men. Of all the inhabitants of the Republic, 123,437 men, and 70,461 women, can read ; total, 183,898— leaving 1,225,222 individuals of both sexes who cannot read. An academy was established in 1842 for the education of officers destined to service in the army and navy. Sixty cadets are educated at the expense of the State, but super- numeraries are admitted, and the number of actual students of the academy is twice that expressed in the statutes. There are besides schools under government patronage, for 90 LIBRARY — NEWSPAPERS. instruction in the mechanic arts, agriculture, painting and music. The national library at the capital contains about twenty-one thousand volumes, which are accessible to the public from ten till one every day. No one is permitted to remove, a volume from the building, though every facility is afforded for making extracts. In the way of journals, there was, when we visited San- tiag, one netvspaper, El Auracano^ as large as one of our smallest dailies. It is the official organ, and rarely pub- lishes any thing but laws and decrees, and the reports of congressional proceedings. Two small monthly periodi- cals were devoted, one to the Catholic religion, and one to musical and dramatic criticisms. Yery few foreigners, beside the diplomatic corps of some four or five countries, reside in Santiago, and the streets present an appearance very different from that of the port at Valparaiso, where there is much of the bustle and ac- tivity of one of our American cities. Early in the mor- ning the women, in their black dresses and montos,* throng the streets on their way to mass, and hundreds of peones from the country, noisily cry their wares. As noon ap- proaches, the heat of the sun drives every body within * A large black shawl worn over the head and shoulders. No other color than black is ever worn to church. THE CANADA. 91 doors, vrhere the people remain until its declining rajs per- mit them to issue forth again. Night and day the clangor of church bells is incessant — as if it were a dogma of the mother church to make all the clashing possible, and to de- stroy the slumber of heretic foreigners. All Spanish cities are much alike, whether in the old or new world — one of their invariable features is an avenue adorned with trees, for promenading. The Alemeda or Canada of Santiago, is a broad walk about two miles in extent, with seats at intervals, under the triple lines of poplars on either side, of which the roots are bathed with streams of running water from the mountains. Streets five hundred feet in breadth, lie between the poplars and the houses. Hither in the twilight or the moonlight comes the fair Santiaguina to promenade and display her finery — of- ten wearing in the summer a full ball costume. In these charming avenues, people meet their acquaintances, sit or walk, as they choose, and enjoy social intercourse in the pure air, with the glorious mountains in full view. A walk in the Canada is the daily custom when the weather permits. On either side of the avenues, the ton dash up and down in their carriages, with coachmen and footmen in livery. Indeed, no family in Santiago can pretend to 92 CELEBRATION OF THE DIEZ Y OCHO. respectability without keeping a carriage, and many of the equipages, imported from France and England, are magnificent. The 17th of October was ushered in by the firing of cannons from the forts on Santa Lucia, which simultane- ously displayed the national flag, and soon the city was gay with the banners that fluttered from every house-top. This patriotism is in part compulsory, for there is a fine of from one to twenty dollars for failure to show a flag. Foreign ministers raise the colors of their respective gov- ernments, but resident foreigners, undistinguished by of- ficial rank, are allowed to flaunt none but the Chileno stan- dard. On the 18th, at sunrise, the national air was sung by one hundred little boys and girls, in the Plaza de la Inde- pendencia. At noon there was a grand misa de gracia in the Cathedral. All the foreign diplomats (many of them in superb military dress) were present. The President arrived in his coach-and-four, escorted by a battalion of soldiers, and a detachment of cadets from the national military academy, who formed his body-guard. Entering the church, he seated himself in a large chair covered with crimson and gold, in the main aisle, fronting the cen- THE PRESIDENT AT CHURCH — A REVIEW. 93 tral altar — two of the cadets, with fixed bayonets, taking position on either side. His Excellency was dressed in plain black frock coat and trousers, with a tri-color scarf passing over his shoulder, and having a chapeau plumed "with one white ostrich feather. As part of the ceremony, the President was presented with a book and cross to kiss ; the osculation being repeated by each of the officials, while at the same time they were all fumigated with in- cense. The ceremonies occupied two hours, and the evening closed with illuminations, and a grand display of fireworks on the plaza. On the 20th, the President reviewed the troops — the plain Pampilla^ two miles from Santiago, being used an- nually for military reviews, which are always a great spec- tacle to the thousands, who flock to witness them from country and city. As we passed through the streets on our way to the Painpilla, every thing wore a holiday as- pect. Gay crowds thronged the way, and the pulperias and confectionery shops swarmed with customers. Mean- while, the guasos and guasitos, or country lads and lasses, galloped from their homes to the parade ground on horse- back, and country families soberly followed in their primi- 94 COUNTRY PEOPLE — PARADE GROUND. tive carriages — a kind of cart, of 'which the body and roof are made of boards, or bamboo and hide, with win- dows in the side, and curtains shielding the openings in front and rear — while the interior is made comfortable with hides. This vehicle is drawn by a yoke of oxen, whose driver, with his conical straw hat, poncho, and goad fifteen feet long, is a cos a de ver. Sometimes notes of the guitar, accompanied with very bad singing, proceeded from these carriages. On the grounds we found some six or seven thousand military drawn up in front of two lines of ox-carts, at least a mile in extent, with sufficient room between them for promenading and riding. Awnings were stretched from cart to cart, forming booths, where cakes, fruit and chiclia were sold, harps twangled, and the cueea danced, while mounted peddlers, with panniers of every conceivable com- modity — guasos dashing about at fearful speed — beggars on horseback — and carriages filled with joyous people, con- tributed to form a scene of rare confusion and gayety. At two o'clock, the President and his staff" arrived ; the review took place, and the troops, after a grand feu de joie, marched back to the city, followed by an immense WEALTH OF SANTIAGO. 95 crowd, while thousands of the country people renaained on the Pampilla, for a week of frolic and carousal. In the evening, we walked in the Alemeda, which was thronged with six or seven thousand promenaders, while elegant dresses, with the brilliant uniforms of the naval and army officers, and the state dresses of the foreign diplomats, made the beautiful avenue gayer than ever. Santiago is immensely rich — richer perhaps, according to its population of 130,000, than any other city on this continent. The Chileno has few inducements to travel in his own country, and little ambition to go abroad. The great object of life is to accumulate wealth, and remove to the capital, to lavish it in costly furniture, equipage, and splendid living. As Santiago is more elevated than Valparaiso, it is sub- ject to greater extremes of heat and cold ; and during the hot months of December, January and February, the rich retire to their quintas, or to Valparaiso for the sea bathing. Manuel Montt, the President of the Republic during our stay in Chili, was then nearly sixty years of age. He was the first civilian who had filled the presidential chair, and was a gentleman of fine ability and liberal views. On the 24th of October, we bade adieu to Santiago, and 90 RETURN TO VALPARAISO. returned to Valparaiso bj a different route from that we had traveled in coming. From Casa Blanca there are two roads to the capital — the stage-coach route, long but comparatively safe, and the other passing over the famous Ciiesta del Pracio, which is traveled usually in gigs, and is rather dangerous. We thought we would risk its perils for the sake of its novelties, and so determined to take the latter road. At first we intended to charter hirlochos, but I dreaded the fatigue, and we finally took passage with a Frenchman, who drove a coach regularly between the cities. We hired his vehicle (which he called the Valan- drino Chileno, or Chilian Swallow), and he pledged him- himself to drive just as we desired, and stop when we wished — which he of course utterly failed to ^o. At nine o'clock in the morning, we started from the ho- tel with three horses abreast, and in the suburbs stopped while three more horses were attached to our vehicle — one on either side of the first three, and the third, bestridden by a 2^^071 in a scarlet poncho, made fast to the carriage- tongue in front, with a thong of twisted hide some ten or twelve feet in length. We had then five horses abreast — no tw^o of the same size or color, but all bruised and beaten till spotted — the harness a bewildering miscel- OVER THE PLAINS. 97 lany of leather and rope, inscrutably attached to the coach and horses — and all under the guidance of the mounted peon. Our Gaul, who was to take no passengers but our- selves, begged us to allow him to have two friends with him in front. We weakly consented, and away we went, through squalid streets of adobe huts, and avenues of pop- lar, until we reached an open plain, which on this side of the city is arid and uninteresting. The road was broad and dusty, the whip was constant- ly applied, and with our horses on a swift gallop, their heels flying in the air on either side of our coach, and our driver shrieking " Faego at Campo ! " (fire to the plain), we ascended gradually for twenty-one miles to the foot of the cuesta. Here a relay of horses were feeding on a little piece of pasturage, and our peon was detached to drive them to the summit, when we were to change teams. Now com- menced the real ascent. The road is about forty feet wide, inclining to the hill, and we wound up and up, turning sharp corners and plunging through deep gorges, whose green banks were gay with flowers, and bristling with giant cac- tuses, till at last we reached the summit of twenty-four hundred feet ; and while our driver was changing horses, alighted to look back over the route we had traveled. A 7 98 DESCENT OF THE HILLS. verdant basin laj in an amphitheatre of green hills, with Santiago in the centre ; scarcely perceptible at this great distance amid its dark green poplars, while far beyond rose the mighty Andes, glittering between fleecy clouds in the morning sun. The air was bright and pure and sweet, and I felt that glorious exaltation of the spirit, which the subtlest and deepest of our poor utterances cannot de- scribe. Regretfully we mounted again into our vehicle, and re- sumed our journey. We had now in front three horses abreast ; and behind, two attached to the coach with halters to retard our descent. The zigzags were short and steep, and the angles so acute that, as we whirled furiously around them, our wheels gave out a harsh, whizzing sound that thrilled every nerve ; but down we went, never once pau- sing, on a rapid trot, our Frenchman, who was to drive just as we wanted, declaring that he would beat the loco- motive. As we neared the level ground again, the zig- zags grew longer ; our horses were again hitched in front, and we dashed away over the dusty road through a coun- try of sparsely covered shrubs and stunted trees, with here and there a squalid hut of mud and sticks, until twelve o'clock, when we entered the town of Curacavi, THE CUESTA ZAPATA. 99 twenty miles from Santiago. In this cluster of adobe hovels, we remained long enough to lunch and exchange for fresh horses. After a travel of some miles further, the monotony of which was only varied by meeting ox- carts, laden with merchandize, we arrived at the foot of the Cuesta Zapata, and while our cochero halted again for fresh horses, we alighted to rest ourselves by walking. Following a path made by the cattle, we ascended a part of the mountain, while our coach followed the windings of the road. This cuesta is eighteen hundred and fifty feet above the sea, and from the top, looking down the western side, the zigzags are all seen at once, resembling an immense stairway. Some fifty ox-carts were ascending and de- scending, in the distance looking like giant bees, crawling along the sides of a gigantic bee-hive. Encountering these carts is one of the perils of the road, but we descend- ed this cuesta more slowly than the other, and although we came in collision with one of the carts, no damage was done. Reaching the plain, we crossed a stream of water, now insignificant, but which, with a few hours' rain, be- comes an impassable torrent. The ten miles to Casa Blanca we traveled at a gallop, never resting a moment — the whip going, the horses' heels 100 KETURN TO VALPARAISO. fljing in close proximity to our windows, and the scarlet poncho of our driver gallantly streaming in the wind. It was twilight when we drew up in front of the posada at Casa Blanca — very tired, but extremely thankful to have arrived in safety. On the following day, reached Val- paraiso at noon. CHAPTER XII. The great event of the foreigner's life at Valparaiso, is the semi-monthly arrival of the mail-steamer, bringing news from home. We long eagerly for the day she is ex- pected, and hail with rapture the first breath of her smoke on the distant horizon. As she reaches her anchorage, we watch with a glass the transfer of the mail-bags to the boat, and calculate the moments which must elapse before we receive our letters. While we were in Santiago, the opening of the Valparai- so and Santiago Railroad (which had been completed as far as Vina del Mar), was celebrated with great pomp and religious ceremonies, the engines being blessed and sprin- kled with holy water by the bishop himself. The road as surveyed is one hundred and twenty miles in length. It was commenced in 1852, and before we left Chili, had been finished to Quillota, a distance of forty miles, at a cost of $3,500,000. The estimated expense of complet- 102 A CHILENO RAILROAD. ing the road to Santiago is $5,500,000. The engines were brought from England, and the passenger cars from Bel- gium. The latter were similar to our old stage-coaches, in shape and capacity, trimmed with fine drab cloth, and highly finished. The second class cars were merely bodies, furnished with seats and without roofs. The road for some distance runs at the foot of a rocky blufif, and is protected on the side next the sea by a massive wall of masonry ; passing then through a short tunnel and a deep cut, the cars arrive at Viiia del Mar, seven miles from Valparaiso. This has always been a favorite resort with pleasure-seek- ers, who used to come hither on horseback, every Sunday and feast day. Since the road is completed, Vina del Mar has been more popular than ever ; and one day we made an excursion to the place. It is a little valley upon an arm of the sea, watered by a small stream, and has several posadas^ eating-houses, and country-seats belong- ing to people of the city. One of these latter, the pro- prietress kindly gave us permission to visit. It was in the rainy season, and the valley was beautifully green, while the hill-sides were gay with flowers. From the road we passed through a long avenue of poplars, entering a yard in front of a large, low adohe house, with a corridor in VILLA AT VINA DEL MAR. 103 front. Behind the mansion was a small plat of ground , adorned with all the choice flowers of this and other coun- tries, in full bloom. The flowers were in beds, with ele- vated, narrow paths between, and each surrounded with a little ditch for irrigation. Beyond this yet, on the hill- slope, under the shade of some small trees, was built a bath of masonry, through which flowed a mountain rivulet, giving life and freshness to the gay parterre below. We procured some broad and cheese at one of the cafes, and with strawberries from a bed near us, we made our dinner in the shade of an immense fig tree that rose forty feet above us ; and so returned to the city. On the 16th, there was a grand procession at Valparaiso, in honor of the Immaculate Conception. All the images of the churches were borne through the streets on men's shoulders. One figure of the Virgin had a new dress for the occasion made of a flowing robe of blue silk, with curls of ribbon falling to her shoulders, a wreath of flow- ers on the head, and long ribbons passed around the waist, and terminating in the hands of two little girls represent- ing angels in the act of leading the Virgin. A woman intended to represent Judith, carried a hideous counter- feit of Holofernes's head in one hand, and a large knife in 104 CELEBRATION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. the other. Many priests followed in their robes, chanting ; and an immense rabble of the devout packed the narrow streets, and moved confusedly to different measures of music — the band performing " Bowery Girls," among other solemn pieces, with great distinctness. CHAPTER XIII. " The portion of Chili, north of the Valley of Huasco," says Lieutenant Gillis, " is the richest in mineral wealth, particularly silver. In 1850, there were worked in the department of Copiapo, two hundred and ninety mines of silver, six of gold, and thirty of copper. Chailarcillo is considered the richest silver mine in the world. It was discovered in 1832, by a man hunting goats. He sat down to rest on a projecting rock that gave way, and dis- closed the pure silver. This mine also yielJs mercury, copper, bismuth, tin, lead, arsenic, cobalt — in fact, almost the whole range of minerals are found within its depths. " Tlie province of Coquimbo is one of the most produc- tive copper districts in the world, and with more skilful engineers and suitable machinery, the more precious met- als could be obtained in a remunerative quantity. " The region between the parallels of 30° and 31° south latitude, and 74° of longitude, is filled with veins of gold. 106 MINERAL WEALTH OP CHILI. silver, quicksilver, copper, and other rare combinations of metals. I shall only mention two — Arqueros and Algo- dones, one to the north and the other to the south of Co- quimbo river. They were accidentally discovered by a hunter stumbling over some rolling stones containing a large percentage of silver, lying at the bottom of a ravine. "When his good luck became known, a crowd went to the spot and picked up 10,000 dollars' worth of ore from the surface. Soon after the vein from which these stones came was discovered, and also two others, since which time they have yielded in all more than four millions of dollars. There are gold and salt mines to the south among the Araucanians, but the former are not worked. Iron is found in small quantities. " Valuable coal mines exist half w^ay between Talca- huano and Concepcion, on the river Andalien ; the coal is of good quality, and the position such that boats can be load- ed from the mouth of the mine. " Extensive coal deposits also exist at Coronel and Col- cura, a few leagues south of the Biobio, on the coast." The coal is extremely inflammable, and the engineers complain that it burns out their fire-bars. It is taken to TRANSPORTATION OF SILVER. 107 Valparaiso, Santiago, and California in large quantities, and is delivered on board ship, at five dollars a ton. In the northern provinces of Chili, there is almost un- limited wealth in silver and copper, but owing to the scarcity of water and fuel in many places, and the great difficulty of transporting the product, many of the mines have been abandoned, while others yield but a small profit. Nevertheless, speculation in mining sometimes almost amounts to mania ; in many cases owners become discour- aged — think they do not acquire wealth rapidly enough — and sell out at a low figure, and the purchaser perhaps strikes a rich lode, and doubles his investment. There are proprietors of mines living at Santiago, whose income is so enormous, that they are ignorant of the exact amount. Smelting, where there is fuel, is sometimes done at the mines, but usually at the port, and much metal is shipped in a crude state. Trains of mules laden with silver and copper ore in bags, or smelted bars, under military escort, and headed, each train, by an old mare, called the maclri- na, to whose neck a little bell is hung— wend their way through the mountains and over the rugged country, bear- ing their precious cargoes to the ports. On their return the mules are tied heads to tails, and never losing the 108 CHILENO CURRENCY. sound of the madrina^s bell, slowly and patiently regain the mines. In Valparaiso the bar-silver passes through the hands of the British consul, and I have seen upon the floor of his office, a pile of silver bars, fifteen feet long, four feet high, and four feet wide, each bar valued at from $2,200, to $2,500. The currency of Chili is metallic. The silver is deci- mal like our own, and quite as handsome. Formerly there were silver coins in circulation, which were made by drop- ping melted silver on a hard surface, and when cool weigh- ing it, and stamping its value in shillings (reales) upon one side, and the cross on the other. These coins were called plata de la cruz — silver of the cross ; they are now with- drawn from circulation. In gold there are ounces, half- ounces, quarters, and eighths, and a new coinage of ten- dollar pieces called condors and twos. There is also in copper, the cent and half-cent. Metallic currency has some disadvantages, for it is heavy, and the silver is incon- veniently bulky. Large sums are carried in stout linen bags, and it is common to meet gentlemen in the streets, with their hands on their way to business, or followed by peones, carrying the money-bags on their backs. In Valparaiso there is a banker of immense wealth, who A CHILENO CROESUS. 109 knows that he is worth $2,000,000, but cannot tell how much more. He has a small oflSce on one of the principal streets, where I have seen two or three bushels of ounces on the counter, as he was shoveling them uncounted into the scales. CHAPTER XIV. There is a pleasure-garden in the eastern part of the citj, much resorted to bj all classes — not because the place has many attractions, but because there is no other means of varying the monotony of existence; within this semi- circle of hills, where you cannot drive in more than one direction without climbing some acclivity, I always en- joyed my after-dinner rides to the Polanco (as the gar- den is called), from the novel life I was sure to encounter on the way. Descending the steep rocky gorge, by which, from our residence, we reach the streets, we beckon to a passing birlochero, in whose vehicle we seat ourselves with the direction, '' Vaya al Polanco," and away we go over the badly paved road at a full gallop. You are jolted against your neighbor, you knock your bonnet against the side, you bound against the top ; but you are riding for pleas- ure, and so grasping a strap, and bracing your feet, you GOING TO THE POLANCO. Ill endeavor to enjoy the exercise, consoling yourself with the reflection that it will help you to digest your dinner. The first person we notice is an old guaso, mounted on a fine horse, with his wife behind him. He wears a bright poncho and straw hat. Her dress is a gay calico, a shawl, and a Panama hat. The horse's bridle is finely plated, with a continuation of the reins fringed at the end — which serves the double purpose of whipping the horse, or lash- ing any unlucky cur within reach. The bridle-bit is pow- erful enough to break the horse's jaw ; and on the saddle are five or six shsiggj piUo7ies, or woolen cloths, which al- most cover his thighs. The rowels of the guaso's spurs are as large as tea-plates ; his stirrups are made of a block of carved wood six or eight inches in diameter — forming a complete protection for the feet in passing through rocky gorges and mountain defiles. On one side of the saddle hangs a coiled lasso, made fast to the saddle. The lasso is made of twisted hide about as thick as one's thumb, and some fifty or sixty feet in length, with a slip-noose at the end ; the mounted guaso is never without it. The skill and precision with which it is thrown is surprising. When the guaso desires to catch an animal while running, he takes the coil of the lasso in his right hand, puts his horse at full 112 THE LASSO — EARLY PRACTICE. speed, and whirling his lasso to give it momentum, hurls its loop around the neck, horns, or leg of the animal, with as much certainty as a skilful ball-player sends his ball. The horse is trained, so that the instant the lasso leaves his riders' hand, he stops and braces himself, to bear the strain of the captured animal. The men are bred to this exercise from infancy ; and th-ere is not a ragamuffin boy old enough to walk, but is forever practicing his art on poultry, dogs, goats, and sheep, or any small animal that comes in his way. One day, while walking on the Plaza Ancha, we saw one of these little wretches throw his lasso over the head of a passing water-carrier, whom he dragged, half choked, from his donkey. The urchin drop- ped bis lasso and ran for life, while the aguatero relieved his feelings with all the expletives in the language. Hurrying onward to the Polanco, we meet and pass other birlochos, gentlemen in gay ponchos, mounted on prancing horses ; drunken sailors galloping the street at a break- neck pace, knowing little of horsemanship and caring less ; and guasos on mules and donkeys with panniers of fruit and vegetables. Here is a peon, with a long pole over his shoulder, from STREET CURIOSITIES. 113 which hang bunches of tallow candles velas de seho ; and there another with a bundle of country brooms, made of broom-corn tied about the end of a rough stick. On our left, we have just passed an hombre, with a number of gay feather dusters made from the plumage of the South American ostrich ; just before us is a man carrying two ele- gant robes of guanaco skins — a soft, fine fur, buff and white, brought from the Straits of Magellan, and used here in winter to rest the feet on ; coming toward us is another with a robe of ostrich skins, with gray and white feathers some four inches in length. These are also from the straits, and are used for the same purposes as the gua- nacho skins. At the corners, organ-grinders with monkeys, discourse music to the delighted populace — more fortunate than the troubadours of the north, for instead of being continually routed by the police, they are here absolutely paid by the authorities. We pass men seated on the ground, with broad shallow baskets containing cakes and dulces for sale. By and by, as it grows dark, they will light small lanterns, and doze over their wares till bedtime. Near the garden we cross a bridge that spans a wide deep sewer, now nearly dry, but which, in the rainy season, 114 PULPERIAS — PEOPLE — POLICE. is a raging torrent. On one side of the estero stands a row of mean houses, pulperias, where they sell the liquors of the country ; and despachos, where all sorts of meat, vegetables and fruits may be had. The sidewalks are unpaved, and the doors stand wide open, discovering the filthy earthen floors of the interior, always a little lower than the street — where unwashed, uncombed buyers and sellers are chaffing together, half-naked, squalid chil- dren are playing, and fat, greasy women are seated on the ground twangling guitars. We returned to the city just as a detachment of the police in the Plaza del Orden, were being detailed to their different beats for the night. The policemen are divided into two forces, the Vigilantes^ who preserve order during the day, and the Serenos, who watch by night. They are uniformed in coarse blue cloth ; a part of each watch is mounted, and are all armed with sabres. The vigilantes go to their beats at daylight, and are authorized to arrest every one violating the peace or public decency, and to keep the streets clean and orderly. One is usually placed at the intersection of every two streets. At twilight the serenos are marched to the relief of the vigilantes. The sereno is never allowed to leave his beat, on any account, EFFICIENCY OF THE POLICE. 115. until a comrade has responded to his whistle. A house- holder maj send him to call a priest or physician, but if either of these reside outside of his district, he must pass the message through his comrades. The sereno examines the street-doors of the houses, and if thej are not properly secured, he notifies the residents. After ten o'clock, he cries the hour, describing the weather in a prolonged sing-song tone ; and the presence of belated persons is announced bj whistles, sounding from sereno to sereno, to put all on the alert. The number and efficiency of the police aflford compara- tive security ; and, on the whole, I think life and property are safer in the midnight streets of Valparaiso, than in many cities of the United States. In street encounters with the disorderly and drunken, the police use their sa- bres without mercy. In regard to their qualities as cen- sors of cleanliness and decency, they are not so efficient, being ignorant of what cleanliness and decency are, ex- actly. Dogs are one of the pests of the city. They are of all kinds and colors, from the tiny white Lucia poodle (the pet of the parlor, washed, combed and flea-d every morning), down to the mongrel cur of mangy constitution and un- 116 DOGS OF VALPARAISO. sightly aspect. They roam about the streets and lie ia the doorways ; and hundred sthat have no masters, live wild on the hills, and gather their food by night from the offal thrown on the beach. One day, to our great horror, a donkey fell dead near our door; but the hungry dogs pounced upon him, and in less than twelve hours no ves- tige of the deceased remained. Of course, the greater part of these dogs belong to the very poor ; and every hill- side hovel harbors two or three great half-starved brutes, the terror of every passer-by. CHAPTER XV. On the first of May, the Minister of War died in Val- paraiso. From eight o'clock in the morning until sunset, guns were fired every quarter of an hour ; and on the day following the minister's death, his remains were taken to the church, where the grand mass was said ; the body was then placed in a rich funeral car, drawn by six richly ca parisoned black horses, and removed to Santiago, with a numerous escort, as far as the suburbs of Valparaiso, of the military, and the native and foreign officials. On the 26th of May, the first church building for the protestant worship in the Republic of Chili, was consecra- ted at Valparaiso. Catholicism is the established religion of the country, and the law tolerates no other ; but^there are now so many foreigners resident in Valparaiso, that the authorities do not like to interfere in their mode of worship, and are rather disposed to ignore the subject. Our humble edifice was permitted neither bell nor steeple ; 118 PROTESTANTISM — CATHOLIC CEREMONIES. yet bj its architecture it was readily distinguished as a church. Every Sunday, a crowd of the common people gathered around the high board fence that inclosed it, and there was evidently a great deal of curiosity about the forms of heretic devotion. No progress is made in the conversion of the natives to Protestantism ; and I do not see how there is to be a change in this respect. If a Bible is presented to a child or adult, the fact is at once made known to the confessor, who of course condemns the book, and bids the penitent beware of the heretic. As in other Catholic countries, the priests here have the strongest hold upon the devout and emotional natures of the women. Many of the educated of the other sex, seeing and feeling the absurdities of the Romish church, are lapsing into in- fidelity. In the port at Valparaiso, the Host is now carried to the dying, by a priest with a red umbrella, preceded by three boys with a bell and lighted candle. As the proces- sion pass by, all good Catholics kneel and utter a brief prayer for the departing soul to which the sacred wafer is passing. Formerly, the Host was conveyed with great pomp of military, bells and lights, and was the occasion of constant difficulties between the natives and the heretic THE CHILENO PRIESTS. 119 foreigners. The authorities finally prohibited these out- ward demonstrations in the port, but they still continue at the capital and other places. The custom of kneeling as the viatico passes, is so sacredly observed, that even the participants in a waltz will pause and bend the knee when the sound of the bell is heard. Intolerance and superstition, although bad enough in Valparaiso, are unchecked at Santiago. The character of the clergy is low, but they tell their people, '' You must live what we preach, not what we practice." They are vowed to celibacy, yet many of them are known to have large families of children ; and pretty country cousins are frequent guests at their households. A friend of mine told me that he once attended mass at a town in the inte- rior, where the congregation, impatient at the absence of the priest, sent for his reverence. Their messenger found him at a cock-fight, which he refused to leave until the exciting combat was ended. Recently a Chileno died leaving a thousand dollars in the hands of an executor, to be expended in masses for his soul ; the native priests would only consent to perform five hundred masses for the money. Accordingly the executor, who had an eye to business, wrote to Spain, and procured a thousand masses 120 INDULGENCES — MENDICANT FRIARS. for six hundred dollars. The church of Chili then sued him for defrauding it out of its legitimate business. At the door of evej church in Santiago, printed indul gences are for sale on fast days. The usual tenor of the indulgence is, that whoever will observe faithfully certain ceremonies, shall have permission to commit minor sins for a specified length of time. The applicant kneels, a light- ed candle is placed in his hand, a badge is thrown over his neck, and a priest mutters a prayer. At the close of the ceremony, the applicant rises, pays a dollar, and receives a printed indulgence, with his name written in the blank space, certifying, " In the name of God," that he, , is permitted (for instance) " to eat meat one month during Lent." Bareheaded friars clothed in coarse woolen gowns, with 'sandals upon their feet, and carrying a small crucifix, beg from door to door in the cities — presenting the crucifix to be kissed, and expecting a real in return. On the street at the foot of our hill in Valparaiso, is a shop where sacred images are manufactured and sold. The walls are covered with figures of all the saints in the Catholic calendar — varying in size from six inches to six feet. Among the rest was a vivid representation of the Passion of the CHILENO PEONES AT WORK. 121 Saviour — a figure nailed to a cross, with blood starting from the forehead, hands and side. On the 14th of August, we went by rail a little dis- tance into the country, to dine with a friend who has a contract for building some of the railroad bridges. We found our friend livmg in a shanty near a gorge in the coast range of mountains, where the grade is very steep, and where five bridges are required within one mile. A large number of peones were at work here, each of whom the contractor paid five reales a day, and furnished with a sufficiency of bread and beans. They had a brush shanty in which to sleep at night ; a stone oven to bake their bread, and a large iron kettle to cook their beans. The bread was leavened with yeast ; pieces of the dough were weighed, made into loaves, and covered with a dirty poncho, and then placed in the sun to rise. At noon, old nail kegs, filled with cooked beans, were placed on the ground ; three or four laborers squatted around each keg, and with a piece of bread in one hand, and in the other a stick flattened at the end, or mussel-sbell, with which to scoop up the beans, they ate their dinner. When their hunger was satisfied, thej threw themselves on the ground, and drew their hats over their eyes for a few moments' si- 122 RAILROAD BRIDGES — GRAND MASS. esta. The dress of these peones consisted of a wide pair of cotton drawers, a shirt, and a conical straw hat. The poncho is worn mornings and evenings, and when the Tveather is cool. At night, it is used for bed covering. The railroad bridges are very expensive structures. The lumber for their construction is all Norway pine ; and the iron girders are brought from England. The piers and abutments are built of very fine granite (re- sembling the famous Quincy stone), which is found in great abundance near by. On the diez y ocho of this year, I attended grand mass in the church of La Matriz. The building was decorated with flags ; and inside, the two rows of pillars were adorned with gay ribbons, and the altar flamed with lighted candles. A soldier stood on guard at each door to prevent the in- gress of the lower classes. The church was soon filled "with ladies, wearing superb black silks, vails, diamonds and white gloves, who knelt on mats, spreading their flounced skirts to the utmost extent. We arrived at ten o'clock in the morning ; at eleven, the Intendente^ with the officers of the army and navy, and the foreign consuls, escorted by military and a band of music, entered the church, and threaded their way through the kneeling TRIBULATIONS OF THE DEVOUT. 123 groups to the chairs which had been placed for them. The religions ceremonies were similar to those at Santiago, but less imposing. The bishop of Valparaiso officiated. The attendance of military and naval officers at these ob- servances is enforced by the loss of a month's salary for every failure to be present. I was extremely amused by the performances of one of these near me. He was dressed in full uniform and watched the ceremonies very narrowly, lest he should not make his genuflections at the proper time. At his feet was a lady whose skirts covered a vast area, and every time the officer knelt, he planted the end of his sword firmly upon her dress, which she attempted to extricate — so that their time was occupied in the inef- fectual struggle. The Danish Consul, whose gorgeous uni- form had evidently been made for him when he was a much thinner man, told me that, after kneeling fourteen times, he gave up in despair and exhaustion, and remained quietly seated during the rest of the service. On the night of the same day, the city was lighted with gas for the first time. At the plaza Victoria, an inscrip- tion was formed of small jets of gas in these words : Val- paraiso, Honor d la ilustre Manicipalidad — Honor to the illustrious Municipality. These the Intendente lighted with his own hand, and then the street-jets were lighted. CHAPTER XYI. On the evening of the 28th of September, we experi- enced the severest shock of earthquake that occurred during our residence in Chili. It came upon us without a premonitory noise or tremor — a tremendous shock, that brought us all to our feet in consternation, and rocked the house till every door, window and dish rattled again. With a common impulse we sprang to the door and out upon the hill. Two more shocks followed, each increasing in violence. It was dark, but in the streets below us we could hear the hum of voices, as the people rushed out of their houses, praying to heaven, and calling upon each other ; while the dogs added terror to the scene by their doleful howls. "VVe knew our house to be perfectly safe ; an earth- quake which could demolish that, would destroy the city. Nevertheless, on the slightest tremor of the earth, an irresistible impulse of flight always possessed us. EARTUQUAKE EXPERIENCES. 125 No buildings were thrown down by this shock, but the walls of many were cracked, and immense damage was done in the fracture of window-glass and crockery. The motion of the earthquake seemed to be a perpendicular vi- bration, like great heavings from beneath ; it was felt on the ships in the bay, and produced a heavy swell. During the next twelve days we had nine more, and we seemed in a fair way to be shaken out of our belief that the earth was terra firma. At another time, we had six earth- quakes in one week ; and in the three years we lived in Chili, we felt fifty-eight shocks. Our nerves became acute- ly sensitive to the temhlor. When all other noises passed unheeded, the faintest roar, or feeblest motion of an earth- quake caused us to start and turn pale. Many a time I have been awakened in the night by the trembling of the bedstead — wondered in terror if that would amount to any thing, and if the motion did not continue, dropped to sleep again. But if the shock is severe, away you go out of doors, regardless of clothing and propriety, and it is not until the earth is calmed, that you realize your situation. Ridiculous scenes constantly take place ; a very severe shock occurred one morning in 1851, just as the American Consul had retired, after his return from a party, to which 126 STORMS — CLIMATE. he had worn his uniform and chapeau. At the first warn- ing he leaped from bed, dashed on his embroidered coat and chapeau, and ran out upon the hill, utterly destitute of pantaloons. Many people will not sleep, nor even sit in a room with closed doors, lest they should be fastened in their frames during an earthquake, and so prevent egress. The administrador of a mine in Copiap6, told me that he was once in the depths of the mine, four hundred and fifty yards from the surface, during an earthquake, and that the noise was like that of a thousand gongs, while the motion was scarcely perceptible. During the three years of our residence in Chili, we had but one thunder-storm, though they are very frequent on the other side of the Andes. Indeed, if one had the arrangement of a climate to suit oneself, one could hardly make one more perfect than that of Chili. In Valparaiso, the mercury ranges from 50° to 80°, and rarely exceeds either extreme. The nights are always cool, and I inva- riably slept under one heavy blanket, and sometimes two. Thick clothes are always comfortable within doors, and in the shade without. On account of the coolness of the weather, everybody wears a shawl, and the women have a curious habit of SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS. 127 crouching on the floor, with one foot folded under them, in order to keep warm. From the 1st of April until the 1st of October, " rain may be looked for " in Chili; although the rains frequently do not begin till June, and cease in August. After that, as certainly as the day dawns, the sun shines. The people here are divided into two classes : the gen- try, and the peones or peasants. Of the former class, the men are rather below the medium size. They invariably have black hair and eyes — with a sallow complexion which is sometimes very dark. Many of them are well educated in the Chileno schools and colleges, and a few have trav- eled in Europe or the United States ; but they are indo- lent and effeminate, never doing to-day what can be done to-morrow — fond of gaming and dress — inveterate smok- ers, and loose in their notions of morality. The beauty of the women has been greatly overrated. When they wore the graceful black veil, which harmonized so well with their jet-black hair and eyes, they had attrac- tions which they do not possess now, when dressed in col- ors. As they approach middle life, they incline to flesh. They are indolent and slovenly. The Chileno lady rises late ; she dresses hastily, throwing a charitable shawl 128 LADIES AND SERVANTS. about her to hide manifold sins of omission. Her little feet are carelessly thrust into slippers, her hair is plaited in two braids that fall down her back. Her ablutions are merely a form of politeness to the wash-bowl. In this dishabille she dawdles about, amusing herself with some fancy work, until ennui drives her to seek refuge in shop- ping or pa3'ing visits. Then she makes her appearance in all the splendor of silks and diamonds, never wearing muslin or calico, and preferring a tattered silk for morn- ing dress, to the most exquisite cotton fabric. Servants are abundant, and if one does not please, a bet- ter may be had ; so that the ladies here are relieved entirely of one of the most harassing responsibilities of northern housekeepers. A young girl never leaves the house of her parents unless accompanied by some member of the family or a female servant. If she pays a visit, the duenna waits for her at the front door, or gossips with the other servants. Interviews between young ladies and gentlemen never take place except in the presence of others. Of course, mar- riages of convenience are frequent. There are also many instances of matrimony within the forbidden degrees of con- sanguirnty — even to the union of uncles with nieces, and step- fathers with step-daughters. The honey-moon is pass- CUSTOMS OF THE COUNTRY. 129 ed in strict seclusion ; after that, the husband and wife usually occupy separate apartments. Children at birth are almost invariably given in charge to a wet-nurse, whose child in turn is nursed by a poorer woman. This nurse of the nurse's child, in nine cases out of ten, has never been married. Some of the social customs of the Chilenos are peculiar. Hospitality to evening visitors is expressed in tea and cakes — the hostess always pouring out the beverage, and a ser- vant passing it to the guests. Yerba Mata, the leaves of a shrub imported from Paraguay, is the beverage of the common people, and is also much used by the better classes ; though the Chinese plant takes its place in the parlor. The t/erba mata has the taste of tea, with a faint savor of to- bacco, and is a slightly exhilarating drink. It is always pre- pared with sugar in the dish, from which it is drank, or sucked, boiling hot, through a tube. The poor use little gourds with a bamboo tube called a bambiUia, while the rich indulge in elegant chased silver or china cups, with a bambillia of silver. Evening parties (tertulias) are much in fashion, the re- freshments being usually cakes, ices and tea. Thirty years ago, the Chilenos welcomed all foreigners 9 130 CHILENO HOSPITALITIES. with overflowing hospitality, and with a primitive warmth and simplicity that was delightful. Such welcome is now seldom shown, except in remote places in the country, where the mata cup with its bambillia is still passed from your neighbor's lips, no matter how old or ugly, to your own ; and where your hostess will pause in front of you, with her dish of dulces in one hand and spoon in the other, while she envelopes a peach in its syrup to gently thrust it into your expectant mouth, and so pass on around the circle. Now, letters of introduction, although not abso- lutely necessary, still facilitate your entrance into society. A gentleman leaves his card for you, and at your first visit will " celebrate greatly acquaintance with you," and assures you " that the house and all it contains are wholly at your service" — high-sounding but meaningless phrases, though it is true that you have the entree of his house, where his wife will receive you cordially. The saloon is always lighted at evening, where you can drop in without knocking, at nine or ten, to take tea, and remain until midnight, or perhaps later ; music, conversation and tea are the amusements. The gentleman of the house is not often present, spending his evenings with other companions, and perhaps in not so innocent a manner. Sunday is the ladies' calls — PARENTAL RELATIONS. 131 day for complimentary visiting, calls being made at two or three in the afternoon, and also at twilight. Ladies are rarely attended home from evening visits by any one but a servant, custom not permitting beaux to accompany them, unless affianced, and then with the servant also. Ac- quaintances always address each other by the given name, with the prefix of Don, Dona, or Seilorita, an affectionate custom much less ceremonious than our own. The tender love between mother and daughter, as it ex- ists with us, is unknown. The child being at birth intrusted to a wet nurse, goes later to school, where she S'^es her mother but seldom ; she is constantly under the care of servants, and there can be but little confidence between them, which the confessional probably lessens. If she wishes sympathy or advice she goes to a companion, look- ing upon her mother, who should be her best friend, as her natural enemy. Never mingling with boys at school, and when grown, never enjoying freely the society of the other sex, she is ignorant of her own powers of pleasing or conversation. In nine cases out of ten, married with- out consulting her wishes, she is an indifferent wife of an unfaithful husband. In religion she is willing to be guided solely by her confessor, without consulting her own jud^y- 132 CHILENO WOMEN — SOCIAL HABITS. ment. The intellect of the females I think superior to that of the male sex, but in Chili there is little to excite their ambition. There are no lectures, no literary societies, but few cultivated minds to come in contact with. There is no opportunity of traveling in their own country, ex- cept up and down the coast to a few miserable ports, and back and forth from Valparaiso to Santiago. Both sexes confess to apathy. " Personal labor is considered degrad- ing. Want of occupation encouraged by the chmate soon confirms a habit of indolence, where there is no mental en- ergy to shake it off, and in a brief while the youth, who might have become a man of ability and enterprise, falls irreclaimably into idleness and listlessness." Thus life is one monotonous round — to the female, of going to mass in the morning, attending to a few domestic duties during the day, and the opera or a tertulia in the evening. The male sex omit the mass, look a little after their business aflfairs if they have any, go to the opera or tertulia, or the gaming table for the night. Ladies never attend funerals. Within ten days after the obsequies, it is customary to pay visits of condolence. The mourners for many days sit in one corner of a dark- ened parlor, and the first arrivals seat themselves next the FUNERALS — GAMBLING — TITLES. 133 afflicted, expressing sympathy for the living, or regret for the dead ; then make their bows and retire, as the suc- ceeding arrivals move up. Gambling is a national vice ; but the miners carry it on more extensively than any other class. One instance came under my own observation where the proprietor of a mine, on a steamer coming down from Copiap6,lost 90,000 dollars in a single night. At many of the houses in San- tiago the gaming table is regularly set out, and forms one of the features at their entertainments. The poorest pe- ones and raggedest urchins can be seen at any time in the lanes and alleys, betting medios and centaros with as much eagerness as the miner does his ounces. There are laws against gaming, but they are not enforced, and even the Church keeps silent, as many of her dignitaries are experi- enced monte players. Although all titles are abolished, many of the old fam- ilies would be proud to retain them, and still keep up the retinue and state of nobility. The Countess de Toro, whom I saw at Santiago, pays the government a yearly sum for the privilege of being called countess — an empty gratification for which she can well afford to pay, for her wealth is almost fabulous. At a ball given during the fes- 134 HACENDADOS — POLITENESS. tivities of the diez y ocJio, besides being richly dressed, she wore diamonds estimated to be worth forty thousand dollars. She sports a Parisian coach and four, with four outriders and a postilion. Her house is a large, two-story brick mansion, painted a brilliant red, with white doors and window casings. Her husband ordered in his will that the color should remain unchanged, and the slightest deviation would forfeit the property. In the country, on the large estates, many of the Jiacen- dados live in almost regal style, keeping large retinues of servants and troops of horses with which to serve and amuse the guests, with whom they are always happy to have their houses filled. We profess to be a cultivated people and stiffen our necks with Yankee independence, but in some things we might learn courtesy from the Chilenos. They never enter or leave a public vehicle without a bow to its occupants, and we never make one unless to an acquaintance. At the table d'hote at the hotel in Santiago, no lady or gen- tleman ever sat down, or rose from table without a graceful inclination of the head to all who were present. So in shopping, they bow to the merchant or his clerks on entering and leaving the store. These simple acts of THE CONSTANT CIGAR. 135 politeness always impressed me pleasantly, and as so much better than our own don't-care-for-any-body sort of way. In the street, however, the Chilenos might learn from us. If a group of gentlemen are conversing on the narrow ddewalk, and a lady approaches, they often will not notice her, or will perhaps step back, leaving her the curb-stone. Sometimes she is obliged to step into the gutter to pass around them. Ko place except the church is sacred from the fumes of the cigar. Gentlemen, whether riding or walking, with or without ladies, are always smoking. The priest in the Pantheon takes a whiff between prayers ; and even the firemen while running with their engines, must pause to light the cigarrito, let the urgency be ever so great. The Seiioritas have the name of being addicted to this habit, and I was told that formerly the greatest compliment a lady could pay a gentleman, was to light the cigarrito and pass it to him from her own lips ; but I never saw any thing of this. This is life in Chili. To vegetate in a soft climate, free from excitement, except an occasional revolution, or earth- quake ; to attend strictly all the fiestas of holy church, and ensure salvation, as the priests say ; to walk in the evening 136 PEONES — MARRIAGE. in the Alemedas or public gardens (termed in their grandiloquent stjle, jar dines de las delicias — gardens of delight), and to enjoy the moonlight, as advertised in the daily paper, M'ita noche tendran oportunidad los hermosas senoritas de pasearse en el Uden, y oir encantado la musica hajo la luna de enero. (This evening our fair ladies will have the opportunity of promenading in the enchacted Eden, and listening to music beneath the light of the Janu- ary moon.) As to the second and poorer class of the Chilenos — the peones are hideously ugly — with thick heads of hair hang- ing straight from the crown, high cheek-bones, wide mouths, and copper-colored complexions. Small hands and feet are property in the beautiful, common to all Chilenos. Some of the women of the 2?eones are quite pretty, but there is a great want of chastity among them. Unions without marriage are frequent, and are excused on the ground that the blessing of the church is too great an ex- pense to be incurred. Born as inferiors and dependants, the highest ambition of the peones is to serve masters or mistresses of wealth and consequence, addressing them as Patron, and Patrona. Their necessities are few, and may be summed up in a mud, or adobe hut, a hide in one cor- PECULIARITIES OP THE PEONES. 137 ner upon which to sleep, an iron pot and matd cup, bread and beans for substantial food, with garlic, or onions and fruits for relishes. In the cool rains of winter they shiver uncomplainingly, and when the sun shines, crouch into every sheltered nook and corner to enjoy its grateful warmth. Like all ignorant people they are superstitious, believing in charms and amulets as powerful to drive away diseases ; and it is common to see them with little round plasters upon their temples as antidotes for headache. On Sundays they visit the barber, who is one of their own class, and whose shop is the shady side of a bit of cloth stretched upon poles ; and there perform their toilet for the week to come. The wages of a year's labor is often spent upon a poncho to wear at the diez y oclio. Mechanics and shopkeepers are a degree removed from these, but there is a want of cleanliness in all ; and a passion for display and finery that, to gratify in public, they will suflfer any deprivation at home. The 1st of November is All-Saints-Day, when in Catho- lic countries, surviving friends decorate the graves of the dead, and procure prayers to be said for the souls of the departed. The road leading to the Pantheon at Valpa- raiso, on this day was thronged with people in deep black, 138 A DAY AT THE PANTHEON. on their way to the performance of these rites. The cemetery had been put in order for the occasion — the pits had been filled up, and the pieces of coffins and bones had been cleared awaj. We passed through aisles of beggars on the hill-side to the gates of the Pantheon, where vend- ers of fruits, cakes, ices and milk punch, hoarsely offered their wares to purchase, while the vigilantes running about to preserve order, contributed to a scene of confusion more appropriate to the entrance of a fair ground than the sol- emn abode of the dead. At the portal of the Pantheon is a hall, opening upon a corridor, near which the chapel was filled with kneeling devotees. The interior was draped with black, and lamps were burning before the altar. In front of the chapel was a table on which stood a figure of the Saviour, with an old, brown skull, surrounded with wax tapers at its feet. The monuments and tombstones were all covered with fresh flowers, in wreaths, festoons, and vases, while blos- soms were lavishly scattered upon the graves. Many tombs were adorned with beautiful garlands of immortelles. Groups of people chatting gaily, were seated upon the stones, while at various points throughout the grounds, priests of different orders were repeating prayers for the dead. PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. 139 Passing down the broad walk, on my left was a reverend man in long robes of black broadcloth, who would pray for any desired soul, at one real a prayer; while on the left ^Yas a portly-looking person in a flowing gown of white merino, whose supplications came one real higher. Be- yond these were two priests in gray cloth, who looked rather seedy. Their demand was one penny, and to these the very poor came, untying the coin from the corner of a handkerchief, while one of the priests muttered the prayer for which it was to pay. Meanwhile a person in secular costume, followed by a score of women, went from cross to cross at the graves of the poor, petitioning the Vir- gin in their behalf. CHAPTER XVII. Our last summer in Chili was the warmest we experi- enced in that climate — the thermometer in the shade rising several times as high as 78°. We had made up our minds to quit Valparaiso during the month of February, with the intention of returning home by way of Cape Horn, instead of crossing the Isth- mus again — for two reasons : the one was that the Isthmus route was very expensive, and the other that a detention of two weeks, either at Panama or Aspinwall, was unavoid- able, and afforded opportunities for taking the Panama fever altogether too flattering. A line of ships, between Boston and Valparaiso, made regular trips, and we determined to take passage in one of these. Our ship was to return to the United States with a cargo of wool and copper ores, going to Coquimbo for the latter, and thence down the coast, below Valparaiso, to the ports of Tome, and Talcahuano, in the Bay of Concep- DEPARTURE FROM VALPARAISO. 141 cion, for the wool — not touching at our port on her down- ward passage. So we took the propeller Valdivia, and joined her at Talcahuano. We left Valparaiso with many regrets, for our residence in its soft climate, and amid its novel scenes had been most agreeable, and we were parting moreover from many kind friends. On the 10th of February, at noon, we rounded the light-house point, and shut the familiar bay and city from our view. The second night, at eight o'clock, we reached Tome, lying at anchor all night, and early in the morning crossing six miles to Talcahuano. The Bay of Concepcion is six miles long and four miles wide, with Tom^, Liriguen, and Pence on the east, and Talcahuano on the west. At the entrance lies the island of Quiriguina, nearly three miles in length, and one in width. Talcahuano was entirely destroyed by an earth- quake and the sea, on the 20th of February in 1835. The sea receded and then advanced in three successive waves — unbroken walls of water, thirty feet in height — dragging ships from their anchors, and dashing one more than two hundred yards inland — sweeping houses from their foundations, and in the subsidence, bearing away ^ the ruins, and leaving the site of the town desolate. At 142 TALCAHUANO — PEON FUx^ERAL. the first alarm, the inhabitants fled to the hills behind the town, and there, with the earth quaking so violently beneath them that it was impossible to stand, they beheld the ad- vance of the devouring sea, and the utter destruction of their property. Talcahuano now contains about about four thousand inhabitants, and like other South American towns, is mostly built of adobes, though there are some framed and brick houses in the place. It has narrow streets, and one plaza, where you wander about in the dust, amid peones, donkeys, dogs, and fleas, and behold women sitting in their doorways strumming guitars. It is a great resort for whale ships in the summer season, and of course the streets abound in drunken sailors whom you always see in a disturbance of some kind. One day while there, the sound of music attracted me to my door, when I witnessed a most singular pageant. A peon was carrying on his extended hands a board about five feet long, upon which lay the body of an infant, dressed in pink. The eyes stood wide open, and the cheeks were painted to simulate the flush of health. The man was followed first by two women, then by two men — one playing a fiddle and the other a guitar — while a half- score of both sexes, brought up the rear, gayly laughing UNLADING SHIPS BY LAUNCHES. 143 and chatting together. They were going to bury the an- gelita, over whom they had danced and froUcked for three days — perhaps lending it, in the mean time, once or twice to some family that were not so fortunate as to have a corpse of their own ; and so furnishing an excuse for or- gies quite as wild and ridiculous as those of an Irish wake. This custom is generally observed among the more degra- ded classes, who often keep a corpse for festive purposes, until it brcomes offensive to all who approach the house. Here, as at Valparaiso, ships are unladen and laden by means of launches. The boatmen are a class who follow this business and no other. The launch is rowed near the beach, and then pushed on it, stern foremost, as far as the depth of the water will permit ; the men, naked save for a shirt and a piece of cloth about the loins, wade through the surf carrying articles to shore, no matter what their size or weight. I have seen twelve of these men bring to shore in this way a large carriage boxed up. Their mus- cular frames become wonderfully developed, and it is as- tonishing with what rapidity they perform their work. Concepcion, formerly called Pence, was situated on the eastern side of the bay, but its repeated destruction by earthquakes, the sea and the Araucanian Indians, drove 144 PENCO — CONCEPCION. the inhabitants nine miles inland, where they located the present city, upon the northern bank of the river Biobio, a large navigable stream. Old Penco, as it is now called, possesses peculiar inter- est from its historical associations, for it was here that the cross was first raised in southern Chili, by General Yal- divia, in 1550. All that is now to be seen of its former greatness, are the remains of an old fort, or water battery, with walls of great extent and six feet in thickness. On the fa9ade is cut in stone, the Spanish coat of arms, cover- ing a space of eight feet square, with the date, " Afio 1687." The road from Talcahuano to Concepcion traverses a sandy plain, dotted here and there with shrubs and dwarf trees. As we approached, at first we saw what seemed a few scattering huts, at the base of a range of sand-hills, and not far ofi*, the river Biobio ; and were surprised soon afterwards to find ourselves in the midst of a city of some twelve thousand inhabitants. The streets are of moderate width, and the buildings are of course like those of all other Chileno towns. It was noon when we entered the city, and in passing through a long street to our hotel, we saw only three animated objects — two men and a donkey. CHILENO HOTEL. 145 It was the hour of the siesta, the whole city was asleep, and in broad day, amid so many thousands of people, there was utter silenee. The great earthquake of 1835 destroyed Concepcion. A lady, who resided there at the time, told me that but one house was left standing, and that she lived for some time afterwards in a tent. The stone Cathedral of the city has never been rebuilt ; its foundation walls on one side, and the archway of the door alone remain. I may describe the Hotel del Sur, for it was like all other houses of the kind in Chili. There was a passage in the centre, through which the donkeys with wood and water were driven to the kitchen. The only room to sit in was the dining-room, floored with brick, and with a bar of liquors in one corner. The bed-rooms opened on the patio. The kitchen, about twelve feet square, had a brick range on one side, and a table opposite — the floor of earth, plaster- ed over with all the grease and victuals that had been dropped upon it during the preparation of innumerable dinners. The province of Concepcion is of untold fertility ; it pro- duces enormous quantities of wheat of the finest quality, and barley, beans, and vegetables of every description, 10 146 FRUITS — AGRICULTURE. as well as fruits and wine, and cattle and sheep. A wine called mitsto, which they make here in large quantities, is like Burgundy in flavor. From the forests of apple trees that grow without culture, the national drink chicha is made, and a pine tree on the slopes of the Andes yields the pifion, a nut similar to the chestnut when boiled, and prized as a delicacy by the ladies of Santiago, while to the Araucanians, it is bread. Gold, copper, and coal abound, and only enterprise and mining intelligence are needed to develop vast mineral resources. As soon as the rains have sufficiently softened the ground, it is prepared for wheat by the rude plough of the natives, a knee-shaped piece of wood, of which the larger end serves as the share, and the smaller as the handle. It has a second straight beam near the joint for the tongue, and the end of the share is shod with iron. It does not make a furrow more than six inches in depth. The oxen are attached by means of a long straight yoke lashed to their horns. Ploughs have been brought from the United States and England, but the laborers will only use them while under the eye of the proprietor, and are averse to innovations and improvements. The grain is sown broad- THRESHING BY HORSE POWER. 147 cast, and covered by dragging brush over it ; and the sickle is used for reaping. While in Concepcion I had an opportunity of witnessing the labors of the wheat-threshing, which is an annual event of great importance. As the wheat is cut, it is placed in a pile on an elevated site, until it rises to the height of a considerable hill. The pile I saw was as large as six of our common hay-ricks, and was inclosed by a high fence of poles and bushes, adjoining a field in which were some forty mares, only used in this country for the purpose of increasing the stock. A portion of the grain was thrown from the pile upon the ground ; the mares, with half-a-dozen guasos to drive them, were turned in, and at a signal from the mayor-domo^ stationed on the summit of the pile — away they went at full speed, incited by the whips of their drivers, and the yells of a crowd of men and boys outside. After a certain number of rounds, " Vael- ta! " roared the mayor-domo^ when the mares turned in their tracks and ran in an opposite direction — half obscured in straw and clouds of dust. Now and then one lost her foot- ing and fell, of course bringing all behind her to a full stop, but doing no injury to herself in the mass of straw. When exhausted, the mares are turned into the corral to 148 IMMENSE CROPS. rest, while the grain was scraped up near the fence, and a new supply of unthreshed ears scattered over the ground. After the grain is threshed, it is winnowed by being tossed into the air, with shovels, when the wind blows away the chaff. On some haciendas, where the crop of wheat is large, one or two hundred mares are employed in the threshing, a sufficient number being hired from neighboring estates, when there are not enough on the proprietor's farm. A daily feast for the laborers is provided by the patron as long as the trilla lasts. It is difficult to arrive accurately at the amount of wheat raised in Concepcion, but the av- erage value of the crop is something near $12,000,000. The bean crop, of which there are some sixteen varieties, is of more importance to the laboring classes than any other — that vegetable constituting their chief article of diet. Indian corn does not thrive well, and beans supply to a great extent the place of bread. CHAPTER XVIII. The southern part of Chili is classic ground. There, inhabiting a delightful territory, situated between the riv- ers Biobio and Valdivia, and between the Andes and the sea, extending from 30° 44' to 34° 50', south latitude, is a nation of Indians, named by the Spaniards, Araucanos, who have maintained their independence for more than three centuries. So strenuous and succesful has been their resistance, that their country was early called, by their invaders, the "Invincible State,'* and a Spanish poet has magnanimously celebrated in epic poetry the exploits of a people, who, to preserve their independence, have caused such torrents of Spanish blood to flow. The Spaniards, under their great general, Pedro de Valdivia, having conquered the northern provinces, and founded the cities of Santiago and Concepcion, in 1550, crossed the Biobio to give the Araucanians battle. After a hard contest, in which Valdivia said *' he was never in such imminent hazard of his life,'' the Indians, losing 150 ARAUCANIAN WARS. their chief, retreated, and left the Spaniards too much ex- hausted to pursue them. For the next few years, owing to the timidity of the In- dian commander, Valdivia, sometimes defeated and at others victorious, advanced into their territory and found- ed seven cities, which prospered for a time. The Arau- canos finally deposing their old chief, elected Caupolican, who renewed the war, and prosecuted it with vigor, be- sieging cities and destroying fortifications, until the inhab- itants, driven from one place to another, at last narrowly escaped in a vessel from Valdivia. Deeds of heroism done in this war, are recorded worthy of more civilized nations. The Araucanos, in their deadly hatred to the Spaniards and their determination to keep their country free from the yoke of the foreigners, who un- der the plea of spreading their religion, committed every cruelty and oppression that human nature could invent, con- tinued hostilities with a perseverance and resoluteness of purpose which nothing could turn aside. " In a battle between Caupolican and Valdivia, when victory seemed in favor of the Spaniards, a young Indian named Lautaro, but sixteen years of age, whom Valdi- via had taken in one of his incursions, baptized and made HEROIC STRUGGLES AND SACRIFICES. 151 his page, quitted the victorious party, reproached his coun- trymen with cowardice, and grasping a lance, turned a- gainst his late master, crying out, ' Follow me, my coun- trymen ; victory courts us with open arms.' " The Araucariians, ashamed at being surpassed by a boy, turned with such fury upon their enemies as to put them to rout and destroy them, so that of the whole army but two escaped." * Valdivia was taken prisoner and killed in 1553, and as years passed on, was succeeded by other generals, and Caupolican had many successors. Caupolican was the most distinguished of all the Ar- aucanian chiefs. He was defeated in battle, and for a long time his retreat was unknown, but finally one of the natives being severely tortured, revealed his hiding place, when he was captured, after a terrific struggle, with ten of his followers, who would not abandon him. His wife, who exhorted him to die rather than surrender, on seeing him taken, threw her infant son at his feet, saying, " She would retain nothing that belonged to a coward," In 1590, the Indian chief Guepotau, who had for a long time defended a pass in the Andes, desiring to have his * Abbe Molina. 152 A WOMAN WARRIOR. wife with him, descended into the plains in search of her, but was surprised by a party of Spaniards and killed. His wife, Janequeo, burning with a desire to revenge her husband's death, placed herself, with her brother, at the head of a company of neighboring Indians, and made inroads into the Spanish settlements, killing all who fell into her hands. She sustained successfully many contests with an ex- perienced Spanish general, and at the commencement of the rainy season, retired to the mountains, fortifying her- self in a place surrounded by precipices ; from whence she daily harassed a neighboring city in such a manner that no one dared to leave it. She Was finally driven from her stronghold by artillery, and saved herself by flight. For ninety years the Indians, armed only with spears, lances, bows and arrows, waged war with their invaders, who were supplied with firearms, and constantly recruited from Peru. Finally the Spanish government, seeing it had made but little progress in conquering this fierce and warlike people, made a treaty of peace with them, which continu- ed until 1655, when war again broke out, continuing with violence for ten years. EXPULSION OP INVADERS. 153 After an iaterval of peace, in 1723, the Araucanians determined to expel the Spaniards from the whole of Chili, but this war only amounted to a few skirmishes, when peace was established. The Araucanians are of medium height, muscular, and well formed, with a reddish brown complexion ; their faces are oval, with small expressive eyes, rather flat noses, and white, even teeth ; the hair, coarse and black, is worn long by both sexes, and wound in tresses around the head. They have many virtuous qualities as well as savage vices, and a haughty contempt for all other nations. The dress of the men consists of shirt, pantaloons, and poncho, of coarse woollen cloth. The women wear a tunic, and ornaments of gold, silver and beads are much prized among them. Polygamy exists, and plurality of wives are employed in manufacturing cloth aud ponchos — the latter often of delicate fineness, embroidered with figures of flowers and animals, and worth a hundred and fifty dollars. The art of weaving was understood by them before the arrival of the Europeans in the country, and they had the same style of plough now used by the Chilenos. The interior of their territory is almost unknown, as 154 THE ARAUCANOS. they are so suspicious of the white race, that only pedlers, bringing toys and finery, are permitted to pass to the plains. From them we learn that the country is well watered by large rivers, has fine forests of timber in the interior, and is rich in mines of gold, silver, salt, and coal ; that they have immense herds of cattle and horses to bar- ter for trinkets — orchards of apples and pears, adjoined by fields of wheat, barley, beans, and cabbage ; and that their houses are built of mud or reeds, and situated near streams of water. The cities founded by Yaldivia (of which Imperial was the finest), with the exception of the one bearing his name, have been for more than two centuries an undis- tinguishable mass of ruins. Yaldivia, built upon a river of the same name, eight miles from the sea, is now a Ger- man colony under the auspices of the Chilian government, and although the colonists are provided with arms for de- fense, the Indians occasionally rush in and lay the whole city under contribution. It is said that they can bring ten thousand warriors into the field, and being most expert riders, they generally fight on horseback. Catholic mis- sionaries are scattered among the savages along the coast, but they make but little progress. TERROR OF THE CHILENOS. 155 Mention the Araucanians to a Chileno at this day and be will turn pale ; and I was informed that the govern- ment gave them a large subsidy to keep the peace. A niece of a well known family in Valparaiso, some years since, started down the coast for Valdivia in an old, crazy vessel, much against the wishes of her friends. The vessel was wrecked — she fell into the hands of the In- dians, and is the wife now of one of their chiefs. One thousand gold ounces has been offered by the Chili gov- ernment as her ransom, but they refused to give her up at any price. President Montt, the present Executive, was making a tour in the south of Chili, and sent word for one of their caciques to come and see him. " Tell Montt," he re- plied, " if he wants to see me, to come where I am,'' — showing that the proud spirit of the great Caupolican is not yet extinct in that people. CHAPTER XIX. Our voyage to Boston was not marked by any other than the usual events of voyages by the Cape Horn route. We set sail from the Bay of Talcahuano, on the 23d of February. On the 3d of March, a strong gale commenced blowing, with occasional squalls of snow, and during a storm of two days, we learned how angry a Pacific ocean may become. By the 7th, we were seventy-seven miles south of Cape Horn, and after a calm of six hours, our ship headed homeward with a fair strong wind, making for several days, two hundred and twenty-five miles every twenty-four hours. The weather was cold and disagreea- ble ; and to this I had the added horrors of sea-sickness. We saw the albatross, and the Cape Pigeon, and as we entered warmer latitudes, flying-fish began to make their appearance ; and stormy-petrels flashed eagerly around the ship, and fed on the bits of pork thrown to them. On Sunday morning, while we were at breakfast, the man at the wheel gave an alarm of sharks, and we hurried SHARKS — LIFE IN A CALM. 157 to the deck. In the water about the stern, some thirty of these hideous monsters were plajing. They were from three to seven feet in length, with smooth backs of dark green color, and white bellies. A shark-hook was quickly baited with a pound or two of pork, and thrown over, when one of the largest sharks seized it. He was dragged on board by the sailors, and was duly tormented by his im- placable enemies. As we approched the equator, the fine winds which had" wafted us so far, died away, and in one week we only made one hundred and seventeen miles. The indolent, careless life of the calm was pleasant enough. "We brought our books and work to the deck, and under an awning which had been put up to screen us from the sun, watched the sailors painting and repairing the rigging. The demon of sea-sickness was laid for the time. Sky above and sea below were deliciously blue ; the slow sun rose and sank ; the moon nightly poured her light upon the smooth and silent ocean, while the sailors sang their songs, and talked of every land. We ate and slept ; we lived in our little lazy city of wooden walls, and knew nothing of the toil and turmoil of the great worlds to the east and west. One night, when we were within three miles of the 158 LAND ! AND HOxME. equator, I was awakened bj the sound of the ship rushing through the water. A fair wind was blowing, and we were once more in flight for home. Every night we examined the chart to see how rapidly the distance between us and home decreased, and grew more impatient as we drew nearer to our native land. In the gulf stream we had one rough day, but after that, our progress was rapid and almost direct. • Ho, for land ! When seventy-six days out, the Captain announced that on the morrow at two, we should see Cape Cod. That day the sun rose brightly ; the wind blew fresh and free, and our ship carried every stitch of canvas her masts would bear. As the hour of two approached, all eyes were turned in eager expectation. " Land ho ! Land ho ! " shouts the lookout from aloft. " Land ho ! " echoes the Captain, and all who can, mount the rigging. It is not long before my unpractised eyes distinguish the sandy hills of Cape Cod, and my heart leaps with a joyful rapture to behold my native land once more. At eight o'clock we enter Boston Harbor, and in fifteen minutes, a pilot takes us up the channel. f-^ -*^.. >