A VISIT TO THE SOUTHWARD. 373 



which to filnp tho surplus of tho factory. Enterprise alone seems wanting to carry into oper- 

 ation JIM undertaking which could not fail to be lucrative to its projectors. 



The only percept il.le di He mice in the mass of the population from theircountrymen farther 

 ii.u-th is in their dresses. Closer fitting garment- h-n- tak- the place of the wide and flowing 

 trowsers worn there, and straw hats are superseded by sharp cones of felt pulled closely over 

 the cars. One occasionally meets a full-blooded Indian, too ; but the mass belong to the mixed 

 race propagated through generations. According to the last census, (five years ago,) the popu- 

 lation was 1-1. :!!!, and its host informed citizens do not now suppose it to contain more than 

 15,000 souls. Some years its increase at all appears extremely problematic, the returns made 

 to the curate for 1850 and 1851 showing that the number of deaths actually exceeded the num- 

 ber of births.* To account in some manner for the apparent decrease, it is supposed that a part 

 of the illegitimate births were not registered, the mothers probably being too poor to pay the 

 baptismal fees. But if it be true that the population is falling off, it must be attributable to 

 the notorious neglect of young children, rather than to any local cause the situation of the 

 city and its climate being eminently healthy. I could not find any meteorological register from 

 which to learn accurately its atmospheric changes ; yet the fact that it is near an abundant supply 

 of fuel, and that even the houses of the wealthy are without fire-places, is a proof that the winters 

 cannot be very rigorous. During the three days of my visit, the mean height of the barometer 

 at 9 A. M. was 29.472 inches, at 3 p. M. 29.378 inches, and its range 0.201 inch ; the tempera- 

 ture of the air for the same hours was 64. 4 and 74. 0, the extremes differing 20. 8. The baro- 

 metric heights are not reduced for temperature of the attached thermometer. Throughout the 

 winter season rains are more frequent and copious than at Santiago, and they are often accom- 

 panied by more violent N.W. winds. In summer the heat is not so excessive. Moderate eleva- 

 tion of the plain above the ocean affords it nearly 1,400 additional feet of the denser strata of 

 the atmosphere to temper the sun's rays. The latter fact, and also its geographical position, 

 preserves to it a more humid climate all the year. 



The diseases most common are such as arise from excesses, and prevail equally elsewhere 

 dysentery and venereal. Goitre, though known, is not so prevalent as farther to the north ; 

 and it may be remarked, that the waters of the neighboring streams are quite limpid, instead 

 of possessing the milky turbidness of the Mapocho below the junction of the Maypu canal. 

 There is a charity hospital supported at the expense of the municipality ; and subsequent to the 

 battle on the plain of Loncomilla, a large building, erected for religious penance, was temporarily 

 converted into a military hospital. Of more than 600 wounded conveyed to it, only about 80 

 died; whilst of those taken to San Juan de Dios, in Santiago, after the cmeute of April 20, 1851, 

 quite two thirds left it only when conveyed to the cemetery. As physicians came from the 

 capital to attend at Talca the unfortunate victims of the fratricidal battle, the relative pro- 

 portions of deaths at the two places is the best argument which could be adduced in favor of the 

 more salubrious atmosphere of the latter. In this connection, it would be unjust not to mention 

 that the ladies of the city attended their suffering fellow-countrymen in the military hospital 

 day and night, and in some cases either took individuals to their own houses, or provided them 

 quarters where they would have more airy rooms and more careful attendance than its crowded 

 wards could afford. At the same time, scores of the benevolent at Santiago passed hours in 

 preparing lint, bandages, and delicacies to be sent to Talca acts of charity for which the 

 recording angel will blot out many a sin. 



There is an institution for the education of males supported at the expense of the general gov- 

 ernment, those only who live within its walls paying a monthly sum for board. After completion 

 of the course here, young men were formerly sent to the parent establishment at Santiago to 

 study medicine, law, mineralogical chemistry, or surveying, as might be elected; but a recent 



* In 1850 there were 858 deaths, and 814 births: in 1851, including those who died in the hospital from the effect of 

 \\oiiiidn, tho deaths wore K?4; the birtliH, 8J5. Of the 83-1 deaths, 537 were under seven years of age. The illegitimate births 

 registered more thau twenty-five per cent, of th whole number. 



