464 EXPERIENCES CONTINUED. 



is customary. At starting there was a hope that the journey to Valparaiso would have been 

 practicable without stopping ; but as the darkness came on, and the roar of the mountain-torrents 

 made itself heard, prudence dictated otherwise. Indeed, the multitude of deep ruts that 

 required no ordinary skill to avoid, even with daylight, had rendered progress extremely slow 

 for the hour or two about sunset. At half a league from Casa-blanca a brook crosses the road, 

 which the rains had swollen to a wild and angry torrent, whose rumbling was audible a hun- 

 dred yards or more before reaching it. Ordinarily, in summer the stream is not more than a few 

 inches deep ; in winter, perhaps two feet. Now, in the darkness, the drivers appeared doubtful 

 of its depth ; and as the horses plunged in, I was rather startled to hear the capataz say : ' ' Cui- 

 dado, patron!" (Take care, patron!) I had two of the best, the boldest, and most skilful drivers 

 in the world, and was morally confident that, if the vehicle could be conducted safely across, they 

 were the men to do it; but so unexpected was the warning, that my cloak was thrown off, and 

 overcoat instantly unbuttoned, to be ready, if need be, for a struggle with the waters. Whilst 

 in mid-stream, and the torrent poured across the bottom of the birlocho, the shaft-horse stum- 

 bled and fell, momentarily impeding the others, and placing our safety in great jeopardy. It 

 was pitch dark : one horse was floundering ; the other two, scarcely possessing power to sustain 

 the vehicle against the stream, only kept their footholds through the weight of their riders ; 

 and thus there was an instant of thrilling anxiety. It is difficult to say what I should have 

 done on detecting that the carriage was drifting ; but probably no one ever divested himself of 

 coats with greater celerity, and I well remember how my heart throbbed for some minutes 

 afterwards. Nothing but the wonderful dexterity and good management of the men prevented 

 the whole of us from being swept away by the current. Had any lingering longings to go on 

 remained, this adventure would have dispelled them, especially as there was another such 

 place a like distance beyond Casa-blanca ; and I sat me down contentedly over the dry air of a 

 brasero in its auberge. 



One may ask, Why was such risk incurred ; why not have turned back even as far as Cura- 

 cavi ? and be surprised at the seemingly useless hazard of life. But the truth is, my first 

 knowledge of risk was the warning as the drivers dashed in, and there was no time for remon- 

 strance. They knew that the streams in our rear were equally dangerous; the mountain 

 between us and Curacavi not less so ; and they must either push across to a hot supper and 

 comfortable quarters, or sit all night in the pitiless storm. The landlord regarded our escape 

 as no little surprising, soundly rating the drivers for crossing the branch after such a day of 

 rain as we had had ; but they defended themselves on the plea that they dared not attempt 

 repassing the Cuesta Zapata with their tired horses, even had they succeeded in getting so far, 

 and there was no place nearer than Curacavi where I could have been decently lodged. An 

 hour later the mail from Santiago was transported across the same stream on a rope, horse 

 and rider swimming over, aided by cords leading from the shore ! 



The creek beyond Casa-blanca is more difficult of transit, because of its steeper sides and bed 

 of loose rocks. At the moment of our arrival in the village, it could only be passed in the 

 manner just indicated. Indeed, though the rain ceased by 8 P. M., and the inclination of the 

 bed is such as to create a current during freshets of at least ten miles per hour, we found some 

 difficulty in crossing at 8 o'clock on the following morning. One of our best horses was com- 

 pletely lamed in the attempt. 



It is a matter of surprise that government has not thrown bridges across these places, and at 

 Pudaiiel. Every public improvement is at its expense and under its control, and the people 

 who pay tolls for travelling over this great highway have the right to require that it shall be 

 kept in safe transitable condition. Such is not the case in winter; and though an engineer and 

 laborers are constantly engaged in repairing bad places, as most of the road surface is concave 

 instead of convex, heavily-laden carts soon work it into sloughs again. Usually their repairs 

 consist in removing the mud, which is carried off in hand-barrows, and replacing it with an 

 equal quantity of clay. At the same time there is often excellent gravel within a few hundred 



