30 VIEW OF THE ANDES. [1839. 



lordly castles and fairy palaces, glittering with all the wealth 

 of Ophir, sparkling with gems and precious stones, and 

 crowned with burnished domes supported on pillars of ivory 

 and gold, beneath which hang 



" Pendant by subtle magic, many a row 

 Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fe? 

 With Naphtha and Asphaltus." 



But at early dawn, just before the sun peeps above the hor- 

 izon, when the morning light streams from the east through 

 every cleft and fissure, when Night still enshrouds the bases 

 of the mountains in her sable mantle, and the tops are tinged 

 with the maiden blushes of Aurora, the rough outlines are 

 more clearly distinguished, and, perhaps, a more powerful 

 impression of vastness, magnificence, and sublimity, is made 

 upon the mind of the beholder. 



(2.) Were it not for its beautiful and matchless climate, 

 Valparaiso could boast of nothing that would entitle it to the 

 distinction implied by its name.* The country in its vicinity 

 is sterile and monotonous ; along the sea coast there extends 

 a range of steep round-topped hills, from fifteen to sixteen 

 hundred feet high, covered with a bright grayish red soil, 

 worn into numberless gulleys, in consequence of the slight 

 protection afforded by the dry and scorched turf scattered 

 about over it in small patches ; there are few or no trees 

 except half-withered cacti ; and the clumps of low stunted 

 bushes and brambles occasionally seen, do not go very far to- 

 wards relieving the dreary sameness of the landscape. In 

 the deep valleys, the vegetation is a little more abundant ; 

 and the plants and shrubs, — which possess, as in most dry 

 climates, peculiarly strong and pungent odors, and, when in 

 blossom, present greater liveliness and richness of color than 

 is usually met with, — are considerably more numerous. 



Still, the view of the town from the anchorage is quite 

 pretty. It appears to be built in terraces, at the foot of the 

 range of hills flanking the coast. The houses are mostly con- 



* The meaning of Valparaiso s — Vale, or Valley, of Paradise. 



