CHAPTER VIII. 



SANTIAGO. 



TOPOGRAPHY lolNDATION OP THE CITY AND ITS PRESENT EXTENT; BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OP IT FROM BAJTTA LfCIA> 



MORNING; NOON; NIC.IIT. PLAN OF THE CITY. noTi:i.s Aitrm n.( Ti in: or DWI.U.IM.O \ M.DIVIA'S REMII>KN< i 



1 III .Mill IWAI.; OTIIKIl ( III UCIIKS. CONVKN I "I I UK CLARAS. LA MKRCED. SANTO DOMINGO. HAN AUGU 8TUJ 



lltil >l > I in: M'lKl I I \l I'l N \NCE. THE MINT. PALACE. Cl STOM-IIOI si:. CONHULADO. MARKKTM; MEATS; GAME; 

 FISH; VEU ETA BLES; FRUITS; FLOWERS. BRIDGES. THE TAJAMAK (itREAK WATER.) THE CANADA. N A I ION M, IN-II 

 TUTE; ITS ORIGIN; PROGRESS OF EDUCATION; PRESENT STATE OF LEARNING ; ORGANIZATION. OTHER SCHOOLS. 

 Till: t M\ I :KSITY. THE MILITARY ACADEMY. SCHOOL FOR MECHANIC ARTS. SCHOOL FOR INSTRUCTION IN AGItH i I 

 TURK. PAINTING. Ml'SIC. NATIONAL LIBRARY. NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS. -CABINET OF NATURAL HIHTOHY. 

 I III. Ill i:MI I.. CABINET OF MINERALS. THEATRKS. THE PORTAL. FOUNTAINS. WATER; ICES; CONFECTIONERY. 

 THE PENITENTIARY. HOUSE OF CORRECTION. ALMS-HOUSE. BEGGARS. INSANE PERSONS. ASILIA DEL SALVADOR. 

 llnsnT.u. -AN Jl AN DE DIOS. STATISTICS OF DISEASE; DISEASES, AND CAUSES OP MORTALITY. WOMEN'S HOSPITAL! 

 SAN FRANCISCO DE BORJA ; STATISTICS OP DISEASES THERE. THE FOUNDLING HOSPITAL; ITS PROBABLE PERNICIOUS 

 INFI.rr.NCi:. STATISTICS FOR TWO YEAHS. MI.DICAL EXAMINERS. MANUFACTURES. MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 

 THE INTENDENTE. THE CABILDO. RECEIPTS AND IIM'KNDITI Ui:s OK THE CITY DURING 1850. POLICE. POPULATION; 

 DIVISION OF RACES AND CLASSES; CHARACTERISTICS. THE PANTEON (CEMETERY). STATISTICS OF MARRIAGES, 

 BIRTHS, AND DEATHS DURING TEN YEARS. 



From the summit of the Cuesta de Prado the eye embraces a verdant basin lying N.X.E. 

 and S.S.W., wholly closed in on all sides by the Ancles and Central cordilleras, except through 

 one narrow gorge or outlet at the south. Its length will vary little from sixty miles, and its 

 average breadth is more than one third of that space ; although there are places where spurs 

 thrown off like abutments to the two chains, diminish materially at such points the width be- 

 tween the basin walls. The bottom of the basin, a plain rising gently to the eastward from 

 near the base of the western boundary, is traversed in its southern half by the Maypu. Across 

 the centre comes the Mapocho; and still nearer to us, along the base of the hill we occupy, 

 flows the Lampa tributaries of the first-named, whose courses are distinctly traceable. At 

 two thirds the distance across the oval, and on both sides of the Mapocho, lies Santiago, scarcely 

 perceptible at so great a distance by reason of its structure, the multitude of poplars within and 

 around it, and the lofty back-ground of the Andes, which apparently cast a dark shadow over 

 the city ; but the eye is soon able to detect amid the dark foliage a white wall, and occasionally 

 the turret of a church. 



The approach from the westward is not of the most interesting character an arid, unculti- 

 vable, and dusty waste, a mile or two broad, with wretched hovels inhabited by a slovenly and 

 unwashed population, heralding suburban streets in many places deep in mire from negligence 

 of the acequias. For a mile on either side of the road there are cabins of unplastered adobes, 

 with loosely-thatched roofs; the absence of chimneys, open walls, and roofs plainly indicating 

 the geniality of the climate and the improvident nature of their occupants. Diversifying these, 

 there are rows of Lombardy poplars ; patches of flowers in gardens, matted together in wild 

 luxuriance; here and there earthen ovens for baking bread, resembling in form the bee-hives 

 of the old spelling-book; and rude arbors, with tables, displaying their loaves for sale. A little 

 farther on, streets paved with rolled pebble-stones, and more compactly built and whitewashed 

 houses, and mounted policemen at each corner, indicate that you are within the city founded 

 in 1541 by Pedro Valdivia. Should your arrival be during the business hours of the day, or 

 rather if it be during that portion of the day elsewhere devoted to business, the impression is more 

 striking. Its long streets are almost deserted. There is no life, no activity, none of the bustle 



