478 PUNISHMENT OF CRIMINALS. 



Even the trees and house-tops of the vicinity were crowded, and the ocean of uncovered heads 

 was immense. But it was extremely creditable to the population of Santiago to say, there 

 was not a person of the better class, man or woman, in the whole multitude : the straw-hatted, 

 ponchoed gentry and their " companeras" were the only spectators of the sad scene. 



A seat had been prepared near the wall and firmly secured to a stake driven in the earth. 

 To this the culprit was bound, the crowd pressing as closely as the civic troops would permit, 

 and absolutely tainting the air so soon to be breathed by him no more. Short respite was there 

 afterwards. Whilst I looked to see the procession file into the bed of the river, the sharp- 

 ringing reports of three muskets told that the mandate of law had been executed, and in an 

 instant every lip murmured a prayer for the soul of the departed. But the soldiers had proved 

 inefficient marksmen, although stationed within ten feet of the victim, and the writhings of 

 his body two minutes later brought another round, followed by yet a third single discharge 

 three or four minutes afterwards. Terrible barbarity this, and a butchery that our populace would 

 not quietly witness a second time, though perhaps no greater retribution than the crime 

 merited. If government considers it most expedient to effect capital punishment by shooting, 

 better drilled soldiers should be detailed for the purpose, or a single one be selected to place the 

 muzzle of his weapon on some vital spot, and not hazard the continued existence of the poor 

 wretch during the moments in which executioners reload their muskets before him. 



One of the attendant friars preached a sermon over the remains immediately afterwards, and 

 the body continued exposed to the gaze of the curious for four hours. However, neither the 

 counsels of the holy man nor the tragic fate of the law's victim appeared to have weight with the 

 spectators, the light-fingered gentry availing themselves of the occasion to inspect the pockets of 

 several acquaintances (foreigners) whom curiosity had tempted to the spot. At night, and on 

 several subsequent evenings, lighted candles were placed round the stake, each passer-by ,..- 

 whispering an ave for the soul that had thence taken flight. 



The lower orders are extremely prone to the commission of theft ; and if the opinions of their 

 own countrymen and countrywomen are to be fully received, the crime is almost universal 

 among them. The rigidly honest are exceptions among the mass. Caution respecting serv- 

 ants was given us by every one, on our arrival in Chile ; even the proprietor of the hotel warning 

 us that everything not under lock and key would be unsafe. We, however, were exceedingly 

 fortunate, having obtained honest and faithful servitors, who, if anything, were over-careful in 

 the preservation of property; and therefore we had little personal experience of their propen- 

 sities as a body. But I have no right to doubt the testimony of so many unbiassed witnesses 

 that generally they are petty thieves. Burglary, of necessity, is a rarer crime. The serenos 

 perambulate the streets at intervals so short, that entrance cannot easily be effected within the 

 castle-like houses. Sometimes admission is obtained through the acequia ; and once within, 

 the houses cover so much ground that depredators proceed fearlessly in their operations until 

 ready to retreat by the same channel. As was just said, the papers publish none of these 

 incidents; and when heard of, their occurrences are coupled with so many fanciful circumstances, 

 that the truth is not easily sifted even from the columns of the law journal specially devoted 

 to condensed statements of the suits tried in the several courts. 



September 14. Rain fell heavily over the city during the preceding night. Its drops were 

 converted into snow-flakes on the Cordilleras ; and as the bank descended to within a few hundred 

 feet of the level of the plain, the contrast of verdure and virgin whiteness was no less singular 

 than beautiful. Until the heat of the sun drove the lower limit some thousands of feet higher, 

 we had winter temperature back again. 



For a month or two previous, a club composed of mechanics and loafers, headed by a few 

 individuals of the better class, had assembled nightly in one of the largest halls of the city, 

 nominally discussing equality of rights socialism, and really taking measures to overthrow the 

 legal government at the approaching celebration of its independence. On one occasion of 

 alleged disturbance within their room, the police took occasion to enter, breaking a few bones in 



