1834.] HOT SPRINGS OF CAUQUENES. 



203 



the evening we reached a comfortable farm-house, where there 

 were several very pretty sefioritas. They were much horrified 

 at my having entered one of their churches out of mere curiosity. 

 They asked me, " Why do you not become a Christian — for our 

 religion is certain ? " I assured them I was a sort of Christian ; 

 but they would not hear of it — appealing to my own words, 

 " Do not your padres, your very bishops, marry ?" The absur- 

 dity of a bishop having a wife particularly struck them ; they 

 scarcely knew whether to be most amused or horror-struck at 

 such an enormity. 



6fh. — We proceeded due south, and slept at Rancagua. The 

 road passed over the level but narrow plain, bounded on one side 

 by lofty hills, and on the other by the Cordillera. The next day 

 we turned up the valley of the Rio Cachapual, in which the hot- 

 baths of Cauquenes, long celebrated for their medicinal pro- 

 perties, are situated. The suspension bridges, in the less fre- 

 quented parts, are generally taken down during the winter when 

 the rivers are low. Such was the case in this valley, and we 

 were therefore obliged to cross the stream on horseback. This is 

 rather disagreeable, for the foaming water, though not deep, 

 rushes so quickly over the bed of large rounded stones, that one's 

 head becomes quite confused, and it is difficult even to perceive 

 whether the horse is moving onward or standing still. In sum- 

 mer, when the snow melts, the torrents are quite impassable ; 

 their strength and fury is then extremely great, as might be 

 plainly seen by the marks which they had left. We reached the 

 baths in the evening, and stayed there five days, being confined 

 the two last by heavy rain. The buildings consist of a square 

 of miserable little hovels, each with a single table and bench. 

 They are situated in a narrow deep valley just without the 

 central Cordillera. It is a quiet, solitary spot, with a good deal 

 of wild beauty. 



The mineral springs of Cauquenes burst forth on a line of 

 dislocation, crossing a mass of stratified rock, the whole of which 

 betrays the action of heat. A considerable quantity of gas is 

 continually escaping from the same orifices with the water. 

 Though the springs are only a few yards apart, they have very 

 different temperatures ; and this appears to be the result of au 

 unequal mixture of cold water : for those with the lowest tern- 



