90 Cruise of the "Alert" 



level. The distance by rail from Valparaiso is about 120 miles, 

 but as the railroad makes the greater part of the ascent withi» a 

 distance of 50 miles, the average gradient ot the incline is con- 

 siderable. The train follows the line of the seashore for a distance 

 of about 3 miles to the northward of Valparaiso, when it reaches 

 the mouth of a wide valley running inland, the windings of whose 

 right bank it follows until a station called Llallai (pronounced 

 "Yayai") is reached. It then makes a steep ascent along the 

 side of a mountain, and here on one side a precipitous wall of con- 

 glomerate rock faces the carriage windows, while on the other the 

 eye gazes into the depths of an ever-receding valley, above which 

 the train seems poised as if by magic. While one is still lost in 

 contemplation of this abyss, a short tunnel in a buttress of the 

 mountain is traversed, and the train suddenly sweeps round a 

 sharp corner, and crossing the valley by a light iron bridge which 

 here spans a part of it, constricted to a narrow chasm, enters a 

 highland defile on the opposite side. This place is known as the 

 "Mequin Paso." The train now pursues a meandering track among 

 the hills of Montenegro, where the summit level of the railway 

 is reached, and then inclines gradually downwards to the great 

 plain of Santiago. 



After establishing ourselves in the Oddo Hotel, which is situated 

 in the middle of the city, close to the "Plaza De Armas," we 

 commenced our explorations, and first proceeded to the Natural 

 History Museum. It lies on the outskirts of the town and occu- 

 pies a spacious building which was originally constructed for the 

 Exhibition of 1875, and to which the Natural History collections 

 were transferred in 1877. Favoured by a letter of introduction, 

 we were here fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Dr. 

 Phillipi, the distinguished naturalist, who has for many years had 

 charge of the museum ; and to whose courtesy and good nature 

 we were much indebted. The collections illustrative of South 

 American ornithology and ethnology were particularly fine. The 

 herbarium seemed to be very extensive, and was so excellently 



