372 Chile. 



possibly ^lo to ;^3o per annum. The system seems antiquated 

 and oppressive, but I do not think that the Chilian inquileno, 

 though sometimes hard worked and poor, is by any means so 

 badly off as the poor in our large cities in Scotland. The climate 

 is glorious ; no one ever seems hungry, and though it is said 

 that there is much aquardiate or brandy drunk, one sees ex- 

 tremely little drunkenness — far less than in Scotland. The 

 exports of agricultural products in 1901 amounted to ;£336,o76. 

 The Government fosters agriculture. I found an agricultural 

 school at Chilian, a smaller town than Dumfries, where the care 

 of vineyards and other agricultural practice was thoroughly and 

 scientifically taught. Down the great central valley of exceeding 

 fertility, irrigated after the Luca fashion and managed on oM 

 Spanish lines, runs a main line of railway. Locomotives and 

 running-stock are American, but the travelling is exceedingly 

 comfortable. Trains start from big cities at a convenient hour, 

 stop for 25 minutes to lunch, and stop at a big city for the night. 

 About dinner time, at every station, the traveller may choose 

 plums, peaches, cherries, and other fruits from long files of 

 baskets. The restaurants are excellent, and the fares by rail 

 are extremely moderate. 



Going south, after crossing the Bio Bio, which was for cen- 

 turies the Spanish-American frontier, the whole character of the 

 land and economy changes. The clearing of the forest and the 

 formation of farms can be seen in every stage. Some 2500 

 acres of forest can be bought for ^1000, on easy terms. Fencing 

 and surveying is compulsory. First the smaller trees, creepers, 

 and brushwood are cut through, and then the whole is set on 

 fire. The blackened stumps of the larger trees are left till 

 they rot away, standing in a melancholy fashion out of the rich, 

 waving wheat. Wheat is grown till the land can no longer pro- 

 duce a harvest, and then it is used as pasture. Such a farm, if 

 carefully tended, is said to yield about ;!^25o a year. This 

 southern part of Chile is rapidly losing its woods, and the farmers 

 are often German, English, or Chilian. In this modern agricul- 

 tural development Germans play a large part. Valdivia is wholly 

 German, and very excellent and cheap beer and lager beer is 

 made and exported through all Chile. Though the German 

 language is kept up, and Deutschland is very conspicuous in 

 convivial meetings and songs about the Vaterland, yet I am sure 



