242 VALPARAISO. 



ocean's expanse, a raging surf close at hand warning of almost certain death in case of accident 

 to cahles ; but when darkness comes over the face of the deep, and a wild scud wraps the heavens 

 in impenetrable obscurity, the solitary lights that mark the spots of those struggling to secure 

 safety to their ships, and their earnest and anxious voices as they occasionally come to the ear 

 in lulls of the gale, still more painfully enlist our sympathies. Amid the thunders of the 

 storm perhaps the " minute gun at sea" brings its sad story to the ear, or from some dragging 

 ship there flashes a blue light telling how close they deem themselves to destruction ; and the 

 watcher from Cerro Alegre turns away heartsick, remembering the saying, "Between us and 

 you there is a great gulf; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither 

 can they pass to us that would come from thence." 



Unlike the storms of the North Atlantic, the temporales seem to be wholly local, unless the 

 axis is perpendicular to the direction of the wind, and the storm travels directly off the coast. 

 They are hardly ever felt at Coquimbo, Constitucion, or Santiago, three points north, south, 

 and east of Valparaiso respectively ; and the only evidence which Constitucion and Santiago 

 have that a storm is prevailing is from the frequent and heavy showers they experience at the 

 same time. 



