48 CHILI AND VALPARAISO. 



The population of the republic is estimated at one mil- 

 lion and a half. 



The capital is St. Jago, which is situated at the foot of 

 the Cordilleras, and distant about sixty miles from Valpa- 

 raiso. All. of our officers who visited it were delighted with 

 it, A long line of turrets, domes, and spires, occasionally 

 screened by intervening trees, planted along its numerous 

 avenues, indicated the city. The population is 60,000. It 

 has a national college, a military academy, various private 

 seminaries for both sexes, an extensive hospital, and seve- 

 ral handsome churches. 



Valparaiso is the next largest town in the republic, and 

 is one of the most nourishing places in the Pacific. In 1820 

 it consisted of fifteen or twenty huts, and now it contains 

 eight or nine thousand buildings, and individual houses 

 fetch an annual rent of more than three thousand dollars. 

 Its principal street runs parallel with the beach — is tole- 

 rably wide, and contains many large and commodious 

 shops, well supplied with English goods and various other 

 kinds of merchandise. The remaining streets are paved, 

 but are narrow and winding. The public buildings con- 

 sist of the churches, the Governor's palace, and the cus- 

 tom-house. The dwellings are slightly built, and never 

 more than two stories high, on account of the earthquakes, 

 and in general have a wooden balcony in front. There 

 are many Americans and English living in the city, who 

 carry on a lucrative business, the export trade being mostly 

 monopolized by them. They reside on the hill in the rear 

 of the business part of the town, in neat white cottages, 

 surrounded by flower-gardens. This is the most pleasant 

 part of the city, and commands a fine view of the harbor. 

 From here may be seen the vessels of the United States, 

 England, France, Holland, Denmark and Sweden, dis- 



