110 



CHILI. 



the departure from the Thames of two Chilian 

 corvettes, the Chacabuco and the O'Higgins, 

 and at the same time balancing the matter by 

 consenting to the sailing of two Spanish iron- 

 clads. The four vessels had suffered detention 

 for some months, owing to the war existing 

 between Spain and the allied republics of the 

 Pacific. After the meeting of Congress, the 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs presented to the 

 Houses all the papers relating to the matter. 

 These throw no new light on the subject, but 

 very bitterly condemn the action of the Peru- 

 vian Charge d' Affaires in London, who formal- 

 ly protested against the consummation of the 

 agreement referred to. This protest made to 

 the English Government showed, it is alleged, 

 to the world the little true feeling of friend- 

 ship and amity existing between the so-called 

 allied republics. The report of the Chilian 

 Government states that the arrangement en- 

 tered into is highly advantageous to the allied 

 republics, as they have the privilege of buying 

 and exporting from England material of war to 

 the value of 400,000, the difference in the 

 cost of the Spanish and Chilian vessels, and 

 that Government has already given orders to 

 its agents in London to purchase a monitor 

 which will, by the terms of the convention, be 

 allowed to sail immediately on its completion. 

 The House of Deputies, after two days of warm 

 discussion, adopted the following proposition 

 by a vote of 47 to 8 : " The House of Deputies 

 having before them the documents, and having 

 heard the explanations given by the minister, 

 approves the proceedings of the Government 

 in the transaction made in London to liberate 

 the corvettes Chacabuco and O'Higgins." 



The Congress of Chili was opened on the 

 1st of June. The President delivered at the 

 opening the usual message. The main topics 

 upon which it touches are the war with Spain 

 and all relating to it, the affair of the corvettes, 

 and the question of electoral reform. As far 

 as regards the war, the President disbelieves 

 in a renewal of hostilities, and begs that, in 

 consequence, the extraordinary powers granted 

 him by the war statute of 1865 be revoked. 

 The merchants who addressed a protest to the 

 British Government on the subject of the de- 

 parture of the Chilian corvettes and the Span- 

 ish iron-clads may, therefore, rest assured that, 

 so far as Chili is concerned, there is no danger 

 of fresh hostilities. On the question of elec- 

 toral reform, the President expresses his full 

 adherence to the measures proposed, and rec- 

 ommends them to the consideration of Con- 

 gress. In August, the Chamber of Deputies 

 accepted, by 42 to 16 votes, a motion by Settor 

 Sanfuentes to impeach the Supreme Court, of 

 which ex-President Montt is president. The 

 impeachment trial created great excitement, 

 the Liberal party sympathizing with the Su- 

 preme Court. 



The Government had again considerable 

 trouble with the Araucanian Indians. These 

 savages have always been remarkable for their 



CHIMNEY. 



ferocity, and for a settled determination to re- 

 pel all advances made by the Government with 

 a view to civilize and improve them. Since 

 the colonization of the country by the Span- 

 iards, the Araucanians have always held their 

 own portion of the republic intact, and only 

 lately has the Government been enabled to 

 take some effectual steps toward opening to 

 commerce and improvement the very valuable 

 territory held by the Indians. On the 25th of 

 April, a small outpost of Chilian troops, num- 

 bering one hundred and sixty-nine rank and 

 file, was furiously attacked by six hundred of 

 the savages, the latter armed with their bows, 

 arrows, and spears, and after a sharp combat 

 of some hours the troops were obliged to fly, 

 leaving twenty -five of their number killed and 

 wounded. Among the killed were several of- 

 ficers. The troops, however, inflicted a severe 

 punishment on the Indians before the latter 

 proved too strong for them. As a general 

 movement of the Indians against the frontier 

 settlements was feared, the Government dis- 

 patched a column of 1,400 men with a section 

 of artillery to the theatre of war. This divi- 

 sion, commanded by Colonel San Martin, an 

 able and experienced soldier, prevented the 

 repetition of disasters. 



On August 13th, several places cm the coast 

 of Chili, especially Talcahuana, were visited by 

 an earthquake. The damage done was, how- 

 ever, not so great as in Ecuador and Peru (see 

 EAKTHQUAXES). 



On the 13th of May the first steamer of the 

 line which places Chili in direct communica- 

 tion with Europe, by the way of the Straits of 

 Magellan, sailed from Valparaiso. The line 

 receives a government subsidy of $60,000 an- 

 nually, which will be increased to $100,000 as 

 soon as the line shall be permanently estab- 

 lished. 



In accordance with the notice given in 1867, 

 the Government abolished the free-trade treaty 

 with the Argentine Confederation. This treaty, 

 which established a complete exemption from 

 duties in favor of the overland trade, was con- 

 cluded in 1856, during Montt's administration 

 in Chili, and IJrquiza's in the Argentine Re- 

 public. The majority of the Chilian press 

 censured the decree abolishing the treaty as 

 prejudicial to both parties. 



CHIMNEY, THE TALLEST. The chimney at 

 the Port Dundas Works, Glasgow, is the tallest 

 chimney and one of the highest masonry struc- 

 tures in existence. In Europe there are only 

 two church steeples, those of the Strasburg 

 Cathedral and of St. Stephen's Church, in 

 Vienna, which, by a few feet, exceed the height 

 of this chimney, and the great Pyramid of 

 Ghizeh was but is not at present the only 

 other human erection exceeding this great 

 chimney in height. The dimensions of the 

 chimney are: total height from foundation, 

 468 feet ; height above ground, 454 feet ; out- 

 side diameter at the level of ground, 32 feet ; 

 outside diameter at the top, 12 feet 8 inches; 



