200 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



valley which appears to contain the main stream of 

 the Aconcagua, I reached the Resguardo somewhat 

 before noon, and proceeded at once to dehver my 



letter to Captain X , the officer commanding the 



frontier station. I was most courteously received, 

 with a pressing invitation to join the almuerzo, or 

 luncheon, which is the ordinary midday meal in Chili. 

 Besides the lady of the house, I met at table an 

 officer of the Chilian navy, a friend of my host, who 

 had come to recruit in mountain air after recovery 

 from a serious illness, and who spoke English fairly 

 well. The conversation was interesting, and I was 

 struck by the excellent tone and quick intelligence 

 displayed by these agreeable specimens of Chilian 

 society. In the kindest way, and with evident 

 sincerity, my host pressed me to remain for a week 

 at his house, and promised me many excursions in 

 the neighbourhood. It was with real reluctance that, 

 owing to imperious engagements, I was forced to 

 decline the hospitable invitation ; and it has been a 

 further regret that, having failed to note it at the 

 time, my treacherous memory has not retained the 

 name of this amiable gentleman. 



Meanwhile, although the time passed so pleasantly, 

 I was burning with the desire to make use of the 

 brief interval available for seeing something of the 

 surrounding country. The Resguardo stands at 

 the junction of a rivulet that descends from the 

 Uspallata Pass with the Rio Colorado, which flows 

 from the north-cast apparently from the roots of the 

 great peak of Aconcagua. As far as I could see, 

 the track leading to the pass wind in zigzags up steep 



