462 EXPERIENCES CONTINUED. 



turned in the opposite direction to watch the oscillations of the harometer. The shock was not 

 preceded by the usual rumbling noise, but was accompanied by it, and the whole, except the re- 

 ceding echoes from the hills, did not occupy more than four seconds. Short as it was, people 

 rushed to the streets, utterly regardless of scanty toilets. 



It is not easy to comprehend why we attempted to fly from danger. Had there been the cus- 

 tomary warning to influence, it might have been explicable; but there was no such precursor, 

 nothing to tell of the coming shock, and thus the mind was absolutely dormant, whilst the 

 body was sensible. Experience had taught me that life was in no great jeopardy at such a 

 distance from the focus of these convulsions; nor, indeed, was property, unless nature meant to 

 change the order she had followed for two centuries. Therefore one ordinarily cool and reflect- 

 ing usually has time to take out a watch, and prepare himself, before the tremor is under foot, 

 to seize as many of the concomitants as their brief duration will permit. These can be noted 

 more satisfactorily at the second shock than at the first, because the little flurry of the moment 

 will have subsided in the short period of time between them. But all are not thus calm ; intu- 

 itive apprehension of danger sends half the population flying to the patios and streets, scarcely 

 cognizant of the cause. 



June 24. St. John's day. A heavy rain having fallen almost continuously for forty-eight 

 hours, the broad and pebbly bottom of the Mapocho was filled with a wild and muddy torrent, 

 attracting people from far and near to witness it. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the 

 weather, the river-bank and bridges were crowded with the gazing multitude, many of whom 

 had come in carriages. By the afternoon the foundations of the upper bridge must have been 

 seriously undermined; yet, in spite of the warning of an uprooted tree that had grown beside one 

 of the piers, the crowd continued to collect upon it in numbers. Suddenly a hand-rail gave 

 way under the pressure of human weight, and many were precipitated amid the foaming waters. 

 Within a stream so furious, one would have thought the chance of life scarcely worth struggling 

 for, and a rescue from death by others next to impossible ; but two of the bystanders actually 

 plunged headlong into the roaring volume to save their unfortunate countrymen; and, stranger 

 still, only one was drowned. Afterwards the lookers-on were said to have a horror of water, 

 amounting almost to hydrophobia. When the mischief was done, the police received instruc- 

 tions to exclude persons from the bridge ; and they went so far as to prevent even those from 

 going upon it who were desirous to obtain a view at some risk to life. 



Disagreeable as was the day, the namesakes of the holy Baptist confidently awaited visits of 

 gratulation; and woe to the soi-disant friends who forgot to present themselves in person or by 

 billet to all the Juans and Juanas of their visiting circle. 



June 28. Forty-eight hours' cessation of the rain giving reasonable hope that the roads 

 would be in tolerably passable condition, I left the capital before daylight on a brief visit to Val- 

 paraiso. The morning was overcast and raw; but the clouds were evidently high, and ranged 

 in strata, which are ordinarily precursors of fair weather. As the birlocho was new, and the 

 owner promised eighteen fine horses to start with, there was no doubt that plenty of wrappings 

 would protect me from the cold of the mountains and gorges, and I anticipated a pleasant ride. 



Eain began to drop again as we crossed Pudaiiel ; and by the time we had ascended to the pass 

 of the Prado, three hours after leaving the city, it descended furiously, an easterly wind driving 

 it over the face of the mountain behind us. Diminished temperature, consequent on height, 

 converted it into snow on the higher portions of the chain to the right and left; and the cold 

 wind from the Andes pouring through the gorge was the first discomfort of the journey. On 

 every side nature was in her most velvety and brilliant livery : not ornamented with flowers, as 

 in early spring, it is true ; but the valleys and ravines, and mountain sides to the very snow- 

 line presented verdant hues that varied in tints with the character of the vegetation. Of 

 flowers there were only one or two the little flor de perdiz, and one other small pinkish oxalis, 

 whose season had almost gone by ; but the shrubbery was in full foliage, with clusters of swell- 

 i.ig buds, which a few warm days would expand into flowers. By the time we had descended 



