1S34.1 QUILLOTA SAN FELIPE. 259 



horse, and scorns to exert himself excepting when on its back ; 

 the Guaso may be hired to work as a labourer in the fields. The 

 former lives entirely on animal food ; the latter almost wholly 

 on vegetable. We do not here see the white boots, the broad 

 drawers, and scarlet chilipa ; the picturesque costume of the 

 Pampas. Here, common trowsers are protected by black and 

 green worsted leggings. The poncho, however, is common to 

 both. The chief pride of the Guaso lies in his spurs ; which 

 are absurdly large. I measured one which was six inches in the 

 diameter of the rowel, and the rowel itself contained upwards of 

 thirty points. The stirrups are on the same scale, each consist- 

 ing of a square, carved block of wood, hollowed out, yet weigh- 

 ing three or four pounds. The Guaso is perhaps more expert 

 with the lazo than the Gaucho ; but, from the nature of the 

 country, he does not know the use of the bolas. 



August 18th. We descended the mountain, and passed some 

 beautiful little spots, with rivulets and fine trees. Having slept 

 at the same hacienda as before, we rode during the two succeed- 

 ing days up the valley, and passed through Quillota, which is 

 more like a collection of nursery-gardens than a town. The 

 orchards were beautiful, presenting one mass of peach-blossoms. 

 I saw, also, in one or two places the date-palm ; it is a most 

 stately tree ; and I should think a group of them in their native 

 Asiatic or African deserts must be superb. We passed likewise 

 San Felipe, a pretty straggling town like Quillota. The valley 

 in this part expands into one of those great bays or plains, reach- 

 ing to the foot of the Cordillera, which have been mentioned as 

 forming so curious a part of the scenery of Chile. In the 

 evening we reached the mines of Jajuel, situated in a ravine 

 at the flank of the great chain. I stayed here five days. 

 My host, the superintendent of the mine, was a shrewd but 

 rather ignorant Cornish miner. He had married a Spanish 

 woman, and did not mean to return home ; but his admiration 

 for the mines of Cornwall remained unbounded. Amongst 

 many other questions, he asked me, " Now that George Rex is 

 dead, how many more of the family of Rexes are yet alive?" 

 This Rex certainly must be a relation of the great author Finis, 

 who wrote all books ! 



These mines are of copper, and the ore is all shipped to 



s 2 



