172 THE SEA. 



railroad which, during its construction, is said to have cost the life of a Chinaman for 

 every sleeper laid down, so fatal was the fever of the isthmus has the dearest fares of 

 any in the world. The distance from Panama across to Aspinwall (Colon) is about 

 forty miles, and the fare is 5 ! An immense amount of travel crosses the isthmus ; and 

 it is only matter of time for a canal to be cut through some portion of it, or the isthmus 

 of Darien adjoining. Steamers of the largest kind are arriving daily at Panama from 

 San Francisco, Mexico, and all parts of South America; while, on the Atlantic side, 

 they come from Southampton, Liverpool, New York and other American ports. 



Southward, with favouring breezes and usually calm seas, one soon arrives at Callao 

 a place which may yet become a great city, but which, like everything else in Peru, has 

 been retarded by interminable dissensions in regard to government and politics, and by the 

 ignorance and bigotry of the masses. Peru had an advantage over Chili in wealth and 

 importance at one time ; but, while the latter country is to-day one of the most satisfactory 

 and stable republics in the world, one never knows what is going to happen next in Peru. 

 Hence distrust in commerce; and hence the sailor will not find a tithe of the shipping in 

 Callao Roads that he will at the wharfs of Valparaiso. Lima, the capital, is situated 

 behind Callao, at a distance of about six miles. When seen from the deck of a vessel in 

 the roadstead, the city has a most imposing appearance, with its innumerable domes and 

 spires rising from so elevated a situation, and wearing a strange and rather Moorish air. 

 On Hearing the city, everything speaks eloquently of past splendour and present wretchedness ; 

 public walks and elegant ornamental stone seats choked with rank weeds, and all in ruins. 

 You enter Lima through a triumphal arch, tawdry and tumbling to pieces; you find that 

 the churches, which looked so imposing in the. distance, are principally stucco and tinsel. 

 Lima has a novelty in one of its theatres. It is built in a long oval, the stage occupying 

 nearly the whole of one long side, all the boxes being thus comparatively near it. The pit 

 audience is men, and the galleries, women; and all help to fill the house, between the 

 acts, with tobacco smoke from their cigarettes. 



The sailor, who has been much among Spanish people or those of Spanish origin, will 

 find the Chilians the finest race in South America. Valparaiso Harbour is always full of 

 shipping, its wharfs piled with goods; while the railroad and old road to the capital, 

 Santiago, bears evidence of the material prosperity of the country. The country roads are 

 crowded with convoys of pack-mules, while the ships are loading up with wheat, wines, and 

 minerals, the produce of the country. Travelling is free everywhere. Libraries, schools, 

 literary, scientific, and artistic societies abound; the best newspapers published in South 

 America are issued there. Santiago, the city of marble palaces where even horses are 

 kept in marble stalls is one of the most delightful places in the world. The lofty 

 Andes tower to the skies in the distance, forming a grand background, and a fruitful, 

 cultivated, and peaceful country surrounds it. 



Valparaiso the "Vale of Paradise" was probably named by the early Spanish 

 adventurers in this glowing style because any coast whatever is delightful to the mariner 

 who has been long at sea. Otherwise, the title would seem to be of an exaggerated nature. 

 The bay is of a semi-circular form, surrounded by steep hills, rising to the height of near 

 2,000 feet, sparingly covered with stunted shrubs and thinly-strewed grass. The town is 



