456 FIRST EXPERIENCES IN CHILE. 



them to the observatory with the means at command in Santiago, and I found it necessary to 

 construct them of three blocks each. These were drawn on a sled, by two yokes of oxen. They 

 could drag but one at a time, and then only as far as the castle. From thence they were hauled 

 up to the observatory by men, with ropes and boards what sailors call "par-buckled;" a job 

 that would have been accomplished easily, if the power could all have been applied in the line of 

 motion ; but, unfortunately, the broken surface of the hill scarcely permitted two men to stand in 

 the same plane. In illustration of the difficulties encountered, it may be mentioned, that although 

 fifty per cent, was added to the original contract price, in order to hasten its execution, more 

 than two weeks were spent in efforts to blast a block as large as ten cubic feet ; and when 

 deposited on the terrace, near the castle, thirty men were more than three hours in raising it 

 to the observatory. 



In the midst of erecting the piers, one of the many "feast days" observed in Catholic coun- 

 tries occurred, when, for the day, their church places a ban on labor. To us, who acknow- 

 ledge no days of rest but the Sabbath and our national holiday, or at most Christmas and Good 

 Friday included, the frequent recurrence of interdicted periods, when much was to be accom- 

 plished, was extremely annoying ; and so public sentiment begins to regard it here. Yet, as 

 government supports the pretensions of the church and its infliction of fines for violation of the 

 appointed times, of necessity the lower orders obey ; and while this continues, and the well fed 

 and well clad friars are encouraged to indolence, Chile can never advance to the eminence 

 to which it is entitled to aspire. 



Though the carpenters did not complete the last one until the meridian circle to be mounted 

 in it had arrived from Germany, both buildings were finally ready about the 1st of January. 

 Indeed, the mechanics had been longer reconstructing houses that required only putting each 

 marked portion in its place, and inserting the screws, than it had originally taken to build them 

 in the United States. Even the Yankee master-workman employed had lost all idea of the value 

 of time, and by procrastination tired my patience beyond measure. True, there was ample work 

 for the small party with the instruments already arranged, and there were few hours of rest 

 even by daylight. Night after night eighty-seven out of ninety in succession did the planet 

 Mars command use of the equatorial ; and the days and hours pre-arranged for the magnetical 

 and meteorological observations required the constant presence of one assistant at our residence 

 near the foot of the hill. 



We were domiciliated under one roof, and were gradually becoming accustomed to the 

 novelties of Santiago life. Ordinarily, my earliest consciousness was of the cry of the aguador 

 (water-carrier) who supplied our household, and heralded his entrance to the patio by drawling 

 in a crescendo tone, " A-gua-ti-ro," lengthening each syllable to the duration of a respectable 

 word. He is one of a privileged class who spend their days, from early dawn till nightfall, 

 conveying that essential of life from the two or three fountains through the streets of the city. 

 With a keg strapped on each side of his horse, and a can with which' to fill them, his whole life 

 is passed in perambulating a few thoroughfares. He wears cotton drawers and a shirt that are 

 rarely made acquainted with the element in which he deals, a poncho, a high peaked hat of 

 rushes, and sandals of raw hide, or coarse shoes. For seven eighths of a dollar per month he 

 supplies all the water we need for every purpose; but as it is quite turbid, from the admixture 

 of river earths in its passage to the reservoirs or fountains^ we are obliged to filter before using 

 it. Soon the streets resound with the cries of venders who have "big, fat fowls and chickens;" 

 "potatoes by the peck;" "onions by the dozen;" "pork, fat pork;" "pejereys from Aculeo;" 

 "corn, green corn;" and a host of other edibles that form part of the substantial Spanish break- 

 fast. Each has his peculiar cry and intonation, interpretable at times only by his class or 

 immediate customers, and defying the philological acumen of most of his own countrymen. 

 With the momentary succession of new candidates for the favors of housekeepers, each screaming 

 at the top of his voice, and the tramp of horses and mules within a few feet of one's ear, sleep is 

 no longer possible. By eight o'clock the streets are thronged. Huge carts are passing to their 



