SOCIETY/. 143 



to be sociable are at 9 or 10 o'clock p. M., according a* the season may be gammer or winter. In 

 the latter case, the party will not Heparate before midnight, and, if specially invited, perhaps not 

 until after daylight. To insure its baptism, a child must have as one of its names that of come 



saint, an. I. ><n tin- anni vi-rsary of the day which the church calendar assigns to the canonized 

 individual, t'i im.ls call to felicitate the " namesakes" of the holy one. A failure to call, or at 

 least to send a card, on these occasions, is considered a special slight. The actual birthday 

 anniversary is never remembered. Those more intimate send presents of flowers, ornamental 

 pastilles, or other pretty fancy articles prepared and sold by the nuns; and the family assemble 

 t<> dine and pass the evening together. No greater proof of their regard and confidence can be 

 shown than an invitation to make one of this family circle. 



As the parlors have windows facing the front patio, a light seen through them is all the 

 evidence one needs that the mistress of the mansion is at home. True, there is a man-servant 

 in the lodge under the archway at the street door, of whom inquiry might be made; but he is 

 rather a guard to the castle than its Mercury, and one takes no notice of him. The door of the 

 saloon will most probably be found open, except during the winter months, and, as it is not 

 customary to knock or to ask for the family, the visitor enters, places his hat in the most con- 

 venient corner, and proceeds to salute the hostess about the centre-table or sofa. Only one or 

 two " would-be exquisites," who returned to Chile subsequent to our arrival, annoyed them- 

 selves by nursing their hats, and none but servants or "gringos," like ourselves, ever announced 

 their coming by a knock ; presence in the saloon was quite sufficient evidence that the ladies 

 were ready to receive you, and needed no warning. Be it summer or winter a matron or a 

 maiden that you visit ; no matter how costly the material of her dress, how exquisite the taste of 

 its colors or the beauty of its adaptation to the person you will find every female with a shawl 

 about her. Nor are they laid aside except when dancing, and these are the only times when 

 their really beautiful forms can be seen. Muffled in these parlor abominations, one sees neither 

 bust, nor arms, nor even hands : whether it was because I had forgotten the appearance of taper 

 fingers, or fancied, from their eternal concealment, that Santiaguinas must possess ungraceful 

 ones, cannot now be decided ; but, if one must pronounce on the few that were accidentally 

 visible, it is feared many could not be selected as models for sculptors. The very general 

 absence of fire-places would be a sufficient apology for the costume during the cool and damp 

 nights of winter, or if it was intended as a modest effort to conceal "a very interesting con- 

 dition" at times. But neither of these apologies is available, for they persevere in its use 

 even when complaining of intolerable heat in summer; and there are few who will hesitate to 

 talk to you of her embarazo not immodestly, with boastfulness, or levity, but simply as one 

 of the events of life that may explain the tooth-ache or other ill under which she may be 

 suffering. Indeed, if the shawl were evidence of such "interesting condition," we should 

 number within the category every female in Santiago above twelve years old. 



Whether for the parlor, the ball-room, or the street, all Chilenas dress with taste; the 

 unmarried plainly, those who have quitted that estate often with costliness and elegance a 

 passion for diamonds and fine jewels belonging to all the daughters of Eve. Formerly, there 

 existed only costumes copied from their Spanish ancestors or those modelled after their father- 

 land, modified by peculiarities of their climate. Now, French modistes have invaded the land, 

 and have almost wholly expelled national characteristics, substituting Parisian styles in their 

 stead. Even the custom of covering the head with a black-lace mantilla only, kept up in old 

 Spain to the present day, and to which the ladies are probably indebted for such beautiful hair, 

 has almost become extinct at Santiago, and the promenades are now filled with those disfigurers 

 of the human face French bonnets. The black church-dress, with its long, gracefully worn 

 mantOy are all that is national remaining ; the priests having done at least one praiseworthy act 

 in the prohibition of bonnets and fancy dresses at mass. The manto is of fine black wool or silk- 

 cloth, bordered with lace or fringe. It fits close over the hair, and is pinned under the chin so 

 as to leave the forehead and a narrow braid of hair exposed on each side of the face. One corner 



