THE OCEAN VOYAGE 137 



the country becomes more level, while the coast cordillera 



seemingly runs aside from the river bed; however, one 

 sees neither here nor in the immediate vicinity of the city 

 cultivated ground worth mentioning, as in most places 

 nothing has been done but rough tree cutting, whereof 

 the stumps remained standing. 



About one o'clock in the afternoon we arrived in Val- 

 divia. The town did not impress me as being particularly 

 foreign in its build. There were about two hundred and 

 fifty to three hundred one-story wooden houses scattered 

 in disorder, mostly covered with shingles, rarely with 

 straw; few had glass windows. The streets were all with- 

 out paving or grading and ran up and down, owing to 

 the fact that the town is built upon uneven ground. Most 

 houses have some kind of a nursery attached, which like- 

 wise contains a few vegetable and flower beds; rose 

 bushes and apple trees were already in full bloom. The 

 whole place bore the appearance of a large primitive 

 village. 



We remained in Valdivia until Monday and met great 

 hospitality among the German residents. While they do 

 not put themselves to any particular trouble for one's 

 sake, their hearty welcome makes you feel quite at home. 

 There are a great many Germans in Valdivia, who show 

 signs of wealth in a comparatively short time, particu- 

 larly the artisans. However, they do not live altogether 

 in harmony with their Chilean neighbors, whose truly 

 Spanish tenderness and ease is often met by characteris- 

 tic German' severity and firmness. Politically they re- 

 main non-partisan, but they have established a so-called 

 citizens' guard of their own in order to maintain neces- 

 sary watchfulness and secure to themselves protection 

 in these days of unrest. They have even succeeded in 

 maintaining a guard in the government building. The 

 militia of the natives, which is at present in arms 

 throughout Chile, is as comical looking a sight as you 

 can possibly see. The whole company goes bare-footed, 

 their uniforms which are made after the old Prussian 

 pattern, are blue, trimmed with red, over which they 



