90 DIFFICULTIES WITH PERU. [1839. 



tribes who inhabit it have never yet been subdued, and claim 

 to be entirely independent. Including the islands, the total 

 area of Chilian territory is about one hundred and thirty 

 thousand square miles. Various estimates in regard to the 

 population have been made ; but the most reliable authorities 

 fix it at one million two hundred thousand. The people are 

 mostly of Spanish and Indian descent, although there are 

 some negroes and mulattoes. In the seaport towns, as in 

 Valparaiso, there are great numbers of foreigners, to whom 

 the country is much indebted for its present commercial im- 

 portance. 



There are no slaves in Chili, but there exists in the coun- 

 try a condition of servitude, called peonage, common to most 

 of the colonies of Old Spain. After its conquest by the 

 Spaniards, Chili was divided into three hundred and sixty 

 portions, which were given to that number of individuals. 

 These, of course, have been frequently subdivided, but there 

 are still many large estates, which are generally kept for 

 grazing purposes. The proprietors usually reside with their 

 families in the towns ; the management of their farms being 

 entrusted to a major-domo, or steward, under whom are a 

 chief, and a few subordinate herdsmen, or guachos. These 

 are assisted in taking care of the land, by tenants, who hold 

 their dwellings under the proprietor, by a sort of feudal 

 tenure — being obliged to give their services in any kind of 

 labor required of them, either without pay, or for a small 

 remuneration — and are termed peons. They are for the most 

 part entirely dependent on their landlord, and sometimes the 

 most arbitrary exactions and impositions are practiced with 

 impunity. 



One great drawback on the prosperity of Chili, has been 

 her difficulties with Peru. The latter was essentially aided 

 in her struggle with Spain by the men and money of the 

 former, and her independence was finally achieved, in 1821, 

 by a Chilian army under San Martin ; it would, therefore, 

 have been but reasonable to suppose, that the strongest ties 

 of gratitude and fraternal feeling would have united the 



