82 Cruise of the "Alert" 



consequent scarcity of money amongst consumers, the prices of 

 provisions were very moderate, although under normal conditions 

 Valparaiso is famous among Europeans for its high prices. Fruit 

 also and vegetables were in great abundance, and large bunches 

 of delicious grapes were to be had for almost a nominal price. 



One remarkable feature of Valparaiso is that within the pre- 

 cincts of the town a considerable number of people of the very 

 lowest grade live in a sort of gipsy encampment. The buildings 

 which they here occupy are filthy nondescript hovels, constructed 

 out of a patchwork of mud, bits of tin, old planks, discarded doors, 

 pieces of sackcloth, etc., all stuck up together anyhow. Even in 

 the respectable quarter of the town these filthy dens were some- 

 times to be seen occupying blind alleys, or the site of razed 

 buildings. 



Sir George Nares left us here to return home by mail-steamer, 

 on appointment to the Marine and Harbour Department of the 

 Board of Trade, and was relieved in command of the Alert by 

 Captain J. F. L. P. Maclear. 



After wishing him good-bye on the i8th of May, we got under 

 way and steered for Coquimbo. On gaining an offing of about 

 ten miles, and looking in towards the Chilian coast, to which we 

 were then pursuing a parallel course, we saw the lowlands partially 

 veiled in a thin stratum of mist, above which towered magnificently 

 the snowy summit of Aconcagua, 23,220 feet in height. As we 

 approached the Bay of Coquimbo, we passed through immense 

 shoals of fishes, which sheered off in great confusion to either side 

 of our bows with the parting waves. On subsequently hauling 

 in the " patent log," it was found that the revolving blades had 

 disappeared, the towing-line having been chopped in two just 

 above its attachment. This was probably the work of some 

 hungry and indiscriminating shark, whose stomach must have been 

 put to a severe trial in endeavouring to digest this angular and 

 unwholesome piece of metal. 



The port of Coquimbo, where we stayed from the iQth of May 



