EXPERIENCES CONTINUED. !>, r > 



yards, ami always an abundance of stone suitable for macadamising. AH the wrecks 



I' many loaded rarts surrounded by their dismayed drivers an-l -oh-mn-luokin;: beasts amply 



le^tilied. the most unsafe part i.t' the i ; ,at over the last em-' 



Other rarts were hard and fast in mire, fn>m which the unit. ' -th of t. of oxen, 



evaded and ur^ed by the shouts of the driv h pair, wan handy Mitli. 



tliem. Once or twice I thought it absolutely impossible to pass the immense ruts and qua^i 



without capsi/in^, and stopped the hirlocher..s- lor the purpi.se of alight in-/ : hut they knew 



Letter, and moved on regardless of remonstrance ..r question. The fact IH, they do not require 



nm re than a quarter of an inch mi each side of their wheel-hiil.s. ;uid can measure the depth 



of a hole to a shadow. They have lived on horseback full one half of their lives, and can manage 



their heasts as though part of the same animal. 



On a clear day the view from the summit of the hill called Alto del Puerto is very fine. Its 

 sides are divided hy ravines, which are filled with the most verdant and luxuriant foliage, and 

 slope on the west to the shores of a shallow bay now swarming with ships from all parts of 

 the world, for a moment arrested in their race to the Pactolian stream of the northern hemi- 

 sphere. Palms, huge cacti, oranges, lemons, and myrtles, lend an air of semi-tropical beauty 

 to the sheltered ^lens that surround the bay; whilst the horizon is bounded by the snow-c 

 of the Coast range of Cordilleras to the eastward, and the dark blue waters of the Pacific on the 

 west. From the shores of the bay the hills rise quite precipitously, leaving only a narrow strip 

 of beach at their bases, and long and steep tongues of land between converging ravines. On 

 this narrow beach and these tongues Valparaiso has been built; the houses that occupy the 

 former being devoted mainly to business purposes, and those on the eminences to habitations. 

 Thus, the houses between the face of the cliffs and the ocean are necessarily crowded, and built 

 with European elevation, notwithstanding the dangers and terrors of earthquakes; and it is to 

 he feared that one day, in the return- wave that follows the billow of the earth, old ocean will 

 claim back her own grasped by the cupidity of man, and Valparaiso, like Bai?e, will slumber 

 beneath its purple waters. Spread round the amphitheatre above, and overlooking the bay from 

 an elevation of two hundred feet, are the dwellings of the wealthy merchants, amid gardens filled 

 with choice, sweet, and exotic plants, many of them at the time of our arrival in full bloom. 

 Moss-roses, heliotropes, callas, floripondias, pinks, and violets, together with a score or more of 

 native plants, flowering in the open air at the close of December, would be rare sights in 33 

 north latitude; yet here they were in profusion, together with a host of floral treasures, for 

 whose selection and cultivation Chilenas almost universally possess exquisite taste and passionate 

 love. So far as temperature is concerned, one absolutely forgets the lapse of seasons. Except 

 in the cessation of rains between September and May, when gardens are artificially irrigated, 

 there reigns almost perpetual spring, and thus the foliage of nearly all plants is perennial. 

 Almost all foreign trees, as apples, peaches, pears, walnuts, figs, and grapes, are deciduous, as 

 is also the Lombardy poplar, and one or two other ornamental trees introduced into the country ; 

 but native fruits, together with the roses and jasmins, and a very extensive variety of indigenous 

 shrubs, are evergreens, many of the second class ever-flowering also. 



Valparaiso and its people have already been spoken of at length ; and I need only add here, 

 that after enjoying generous hospitality cessation of rain in the interval having rendered 

 the roads more passable I returned to the capital on the sixth day, without incident worthy 

 of note. 



July 15. There was quite a heavy rain (more than an inch and a half on a level) between 

 midnight and 8 A. M. of the 13th, succeeded by light showers throughout the following day. 

 Shortly after 9 o'clock P. M. of the 14th these showers became frequent and heavy, and by day- 

 light of the 15th the bed of the river was again full. Its roar was heard over all the noises of 

 the city ; and the dark, muddy torrent rushed along with such impetuosity that the impact 

 of stones and rocks whirled in its mad course was distinctly audible from the parapet of the 

 tajamar. 



59 



