KNCKS COM -\(\\\ 



the mountain, its ra)iilly *he! lei Mil u rated by preceding nhowi-rM having thrown off the 



: ist as ii irll had swollen tin- .stn-uinlrt- .n-i'li-ralily. Thus, beds which are nearly 



<lrv ilm -iii'4 *" l"H'j; a |""-ti f the year were now rapid brooks, gome of them whirling across 



tlic road with nuirli violence. 



ter an<l heavier fell the rain-limps as the day wore on ; and the drivers both now con- 

 stantly aiding the shaft horse on account of the in. teasing heaviness of the road spurred and 

 las he- 1 their beasts more energetically with the augmentation of the storm, and a disk of water 

 si.M.lilv accompanied the wheels. K n<.\\ le.l^e of the inconveniences of these vehicles, and the 

 difficulties of crossing streams after a few hours of heavy rain, had prevented any traveller 

 from starting towards the capital. Even the heavy freight wagons had been stopped at the 

 ranchos; and the drivers, half suffocated in smoke, whose only egress was by the door or 

 through the straw thatch of the roof, were huddled comfortless about little fires built on the 

 i-art hen floors. How cheerless looked the country I During the last days of spring, when the 

 earth is covered with flowers and the air redolent with their perfume ; when long trains of 

 wagons wind across the plains, or are picturesquely projected in the zigzags up the mountain 

 sides ; when greetings from strangely costumed peasants, and hasty though courteous nods from 

 passing travellers constantly attract attention ; and when the gay warbling of birds prevents 

 the mind from " preying on itself," the absence of dwellings for the better classes, and of evi- 

 dences of civilization, prosperity, and wealth, is not so apparent, to the eye. But now, when 

 the road was deprived of its fair-weather occupants, and the earth of its gems, its solitariness 

 and comparative desolation appeared striking. There may be country-seats and cultivated 

 farms at a distance not visible to the traveller over the great thoroughfare; but in the more 

 than eighty miles to Valparaiso only three or four are to be seen. Want of water for irrigation 

 is the great drawback ; and perhaps the still existing law of entail has some influence. The 

 latter, by preserving immense estates in the possession of individuals who have almost a 

 Chinese amount of aversion to depart from the customs of their ancestors, necessarily produces 

 large tracts of uncultivated land. Then, too, in accordance with the example set by large 

 numbers of their employers, the peons who cultivate the soil are indolent in the extreme, and 

 utterly improvident. If they can obtain sufficient to gratify present appetites, there is no 

 thought for the morrow ; and it may be doubted whether there exist ten individuals of the 

 class in Chile into whose minds ever entered the idea of purchasing homesteads for themselves. 

 A lazy, careless race, given to ebriety and sensuality whenever occasions are presented. 



Curacavi was reached near 2 p. M. ; and though there was no moderation in the violence with 

 which the rain descended, the temperature of the valley was far more pleasant. Here the 

 corridors were occupied by a group of peons and barn-yard fowls, both seeking shelter from the 

 storm, though the latter were no little persecuted by a brace of bare-legged and bare-headed 

 boys, who chased them from point to point, practising early lessons with twine lassoes. Greatly 

 to the annoyance of his less dexterous companion, and doubtless no less so to the feathered 

 tribe, one of the little fellows rarely failed to noose his bird ; and in the excitement of the sport 

 utterly disregarded wet and mud, although the water streamed from his long, fair hair, and his 

 legs were fairly purple from cold. An old peoii, whose round, good-humored face betokened 

 frequent acquaintance with the chicha-cup, entered into their amusement with much earnestness, 

 and was himself no Uninteresting figure in the picture. Although he had but a cotton shirt, 

 drawers, and a tattered poncho just clothing sufficient for a summer temperature, as we should 

 estimate it in a similar parallel north of the line ; for shoes, bits of un tanned hide laced with 

 twine at the heel and over the instep ; and for a hat, a conical pile of woven rushes there 

 pervaded his features an expression of profound satisfaction, and he moved from his seat to 

 render homage, as I alighted, with the dignity and grace of a courtier of the old school. 



Night overtook us still on the road. In many flat places the ground was completely sub- 

 merged, and it became necessary to change the three horses every hour instead of every two, as 



