3o6 Voyage of the Novara. 



piapo. His mother, a lady some sixty years of age, harangued 

 her son's troops from the balcony of her house, and repeatedly 

 excited her auditory by shrieking out the thrilling assurance, 

 that " she would sacrifice her last farthing would it but en- 

 sure the downfal of the existing Government, and the return 

 to power of the party of the Peluqueros'''' (literally wig-makers, 

 or Whigs, who in Chile are regarded as adherents of the 

 Conservative, or rather reactionary party). 



Of the immense sums which ambition and party rancour 

 are willing to sacrifice in Chile, some idea may be formed 

 from the fact that the Gallo family, at the commencement of 

 the insurrection, engaged to devote their whole fortune, esti- 

 mated at more than £600,000, in promoting the aims of the 

 revolutionists. Fortunately for the pecuniary interests both 

 of the family and the State, it was nipped in the bud, before 

 any enormous expenses had been incurred, although it must 

 be confessed that also in Chile making war is a most costly 

 pastime. The Intendant of Valparaiso, Don Joaquim Novoa, 

 informed us that the cost of maintaining the highly-paid 

 Chilean army, which does not number above 8000 men, 

 amounts to 500,000 dollars (£100,000) a week !! ! consider- 

 ably more, proportionally, than four times the estimated cost 

 of the highly-trained British army. 



Our evenings in Santiago were usually spent in private 

 circles, and we found ourselves in no small degree astonislied 

 at the elegance and luxury which were visible, both in the 

 fitting up of the reception-rooms and the toilettes of the guests. 



