814 PORTILLO PASS. [chap. xv. 



the Portillo, is to the south, and nearer, but more lofty and 

 dangerous. 



March ISth. — We set out for the Portillo pass. Leaving 

 Santiago we crossed the wide burnt-up plain on which that city 

 stands, and in the afternoon arrived at the Maypu, one of the 

 principal rivers in Chile. The valley, at the point where it 

 enters the first Cordillera, is bounded on each side by lofty barren 

 mountains ; and although not broad, it is very fertile. Numerous 

 cottages were surrounded by vines, and by orchards of apple, 

 nectarine, and peach trees — their boughs breaking with the 

 weight of the beautiful ripe fruit. In the evening we passed the 

 custom-house, wliere our lug^gage was examined. The frontier 

 of Chile is better guarded by the Cordillera, than by the waters 

 of the sea. There are very few valleys w hich lead to the central 

 ranges, and the mountains are quite impassable in other parts by 

 beasts of burden The custom-house officers were very civil, 

 which was perhaps partly owing to the passport which the Pre- 

 sident of the Republic had given me ; but I must express my 

 admiration at the natural politeness of almost every Chileno. In 

 this instance, the contrast with the same class of men in most 

 other countries was strongly marked. I may mention an anec- 

 dote with which I was at the time much pleased : we met near 

 Mendoza a little and very fat negress, riding astride on a n\ule. 

 She had a gotfre so enormous that it was scarcely possible to 

 avoid gazing at her for a moment ; but my two companions almost 

 instantly, by way of apology, made the common salute of the 

 country by taking off their hats. Where would one of the lower 

 or higher classes in Europe, have shown such feeling politeness 

 to a poor and miserable object of a degraded race ? 



At night we slept at a cottage. Our manner of travelling vvas 

 delightfully independent. In the inhabited parts we bought a 

 little firewood, hired pasture for the animals, and bivouacked in 

 the corner of the same field with them. Carrying an iron pot, 

 we cooked and ate our supper under a cloudless sky, and knew 

 no trouble. My companions were Mariano Gonzales, who had 

 formerly accompanied me in Chile, and an " arriero," with his 

 ten mules and a " madrina." The madrina (or godmother) is a 

 most important personage : she is an old steady mare, with a 

 little bell round her neck ; and wherever she goes, the mules 



