374 A VISIT TO THE SOUTHWARD. 



re-organization of the latter, requiring among other things the dismissal of all boarders above 

 sixteen years old, has effectually excluded those whose parents reside in the provinces from 

 participation in its benefits. There are also several private schools for the education of both 

 sexes, at which the attendance is quite good. 



From what had been experienced elsewhere of the provision made for travellers, a commodious 

 inn was not looked for, and consequently there was no disappointment. There are, however, 

 two houses that offer entertainment one possessing an abundance of everything except lodging- 

 rooms ; the other a multitude of apartments, though very little of anything else. In fact, 

 the first is a restaurant, with a single spare room, where one's "almofrez" may be spread; 

 and the chambers of the latter, though cleaner in their equipments, are only one step in advance 

 of the San Fernando posada. Happily I was not destined to try the merits of the first very 

 long. Friends had provided me with letters to several persons ; and within an hour after most 

 of them had been sent to their respective addresses, invitations were extended to me in the kindest 

 and most considerate manner. Two notes awaited my return from a short walk ; and as I sat 

 hesitating which to accept, the secretary of the Intendente came again, with three soldiers, 

 saying good-naturedly: "I have orders to take you to the Intendencia. These are the troops 

 to aid me if you resist; if you submit quietly, they will only convey your luggage." And so 

 I was marched off a voluntary prisoner to one of the most accomplished and hospitable young 

 men whom it has been my fortune to meet anywhere. 



March 30. As the season had arrived when rain might be expected almost any day, it was 

 concluded safer to make the proposed excursion down the river Maule at once, deferring visits 

 in the vicinity until after my return ; and therefore I determined to leave Talca on the day fol- 

 lowing my arrival. When Nicolas presented himself to pack the mule, he had so far conformed 

 to the dominant fashion as to exchange his greasy-looking straw hat for one of the fancy-colored 

 cones, and the rest of his outward man had also evidently been renovated ; but there was some- 

 thing gnawing at the old man's mind, and he hung about fidgeting over the almofrez and 

 trunk with a face betraying all the mental struggle his features were capable of expressing. 

 As the cause was apparently connected with the proposed journey, I resolved to remain both 

 blind and silent, to test whether he would initiate a conversation. Time pressed, and he at 

 length spoke out. 



One of the kind and attentive friends whom the letters of introduction had obtained for me, 

 finding I would not permit him to undertake so comfortless a journey only to accompany me, 

 had sent a well dressed and sprightly young servant to act as a guide to the landing ; and Nicolas 

 feared he would be taken down the river instead of himself. At first vanity suggested that the 

 old "vaquero" was jealous; but it subsequently proved that, instead of regard for my good 

 company, he was thinking of the donkeys at home. Nicolas owned half a dozen mules at 

 Aguila, and desired an opportunity to traffic a little in sheepskins with which to repair pack- 

 saddles ! No one was really needed after my equipage was placed in the boat, and I had no 

 thought to avail myself of the generous offer of my friend and take away his servant ; but I was 

 quite willing to oblige the old guide, and when told he might take charge of the luggage if he 

 chose, in the hurry of his motions there was such an incessant clattering with spurs that every 

 one was rejoiced when he left the patio. 



We left Talca at 5 P. M. by a road to the westward, towards a gorge of the near cordilleras, 

 through which pass the united waters of the Claro; its affluent, the*Lircay, from the northeast; 

 the Maule, from nearly east ; and the Loncomilla, with its many tributaries, from the south. The 

 Claro washes the base of these mountains from the immediate vicinity of the ford mentioned 

 a page or two back, and both it and the Loncomilla fall into the Maule within six leagues of 

 Talca. For two leagues the road lies through some of the best-cultivated lands in the country. 

 At three miles from the city, and even where the supply of water for irrigation is insufficient, 

 farms are worth $50 per acre. Like the land near the banks of the more northern streams, it 

 has a shingle substratum, with a soil of vegetable and mineral detritus that yields almost 



