314 Voyage of the Novara. 



vitatlon, and thus had to forego an excellent opportunity for 

 examining the line itself, and studying its interesting geo- 

 logical features. 



We succeeded once in getting as far as Gruillota, the Spa 

 of Chile. This portion of the road, 30 miles in length, is 

 much travelled over, the fares being 1, 2, and 3 dollars ac- 

 cording to class, and the monthly receipts amount to from 

 20,000 to 25,000 dollars (£4200 to £5250). 



The little village of Guillota, lying in a valley laid out in 

 orchards and vineyards, is of enormous extent ; the Calle larga^ 

 or Long Street, being six English miles in length. The houses 

 are usually one storey, very plain and unpretending but scru- 

 pulously clean. The stranger who wanders though Guillota, 

 and becomes* sensible of the filth and dust in the streets, and 

 the entire absence of comfort within-doors, is apt to puzzle 

 himself how the place came to be selected for a summer resort 

 of the fashionable world, as indeed he may marvel how the 

 Spanish navigators, to whom Valparaiso is indebted for its 

 name, contrived to associate the idea of the Vale of Paradise 

 with its sandy hills and glades bare of vegetation. Possibly 

 the summer guests, who flock hither from October to March, 

 may be sufficiently enthusiastic in their admiration of natural 

 scenery, to feel themselves indemnified for discomfort within- 

 doors by the cliami of the surrounding landscape. The 

 environs are exceedingly beautiful, the valley abounds in 

 luxuriant vegetation and beautiful distant prospects, and from 

 the little hill of Manaca, 150 to 200 feet in height, on the 



