262 ACACIA WOODS. [chap. xii. 



was too dangerous, as all Clille would be inundated, if, as 

 generally supposed, the lake was connected with the Pacific. 

 We ascended to a great height, but becoming involved in 

 the snowdrifts, failed in reaching this wonderful lake, and 

 had some difficulty in returning. I thought we should have 

 lost our horses ; for there was no means of guessing how 

 deep the drifts were, and the animals, when led, could only 

 move by jumping. The olack sky showed that a fresh 

 snowstorm was gathering, and we therefore were not a 

 little glad when we escaped. By the time we reached the 

 base the storm commenced, and it was lucky for us that 

 this did not happen three hours earlier in the day. 



August 26th. — We left Jajuel and again crossed the basin 

 of San Felipe. The day was truly Chilian : glaringly 

 bright, and the atmosphere quite clear. The thick and 

 uniform covering of newly-fallen snow rendered the view 

 of the volcano of Aconcagua and the main chain quite 

 glorious. We were now on the road to Santiago, the 

 capital of Chile. We crossed the Cerro del Talguen, and 

 slept at a little rancho. The host, talking about the state 

 of Chile as compared to other countries, was very humble : 

 " Some see with two eyes and some with one, but for my 

 part I do not think that Chile sees with any." 



August 2'jth. — After crossing many low hills we descended 

 into the small land-locked plain of Guitron. In the basins, 

 such as this one, which are elevated from one thousand to 

 two thousand feet above the sea, two species of acacia, 

 which are stunted in their forms, and stand wide apart 

 from each other, grow in large numbers. These trees are 

 never found near the sea-coast ; and this gives another 

 characteristic feature to the scenery of these basins. We 

 crossed a low ridge which separates Guitron from the great 

 plain on which Santiago stands. The view was here pre- 

 eminently striking : the dead level surface, covered in parts 

 by woods of acacia, and with the city in the distance, 

 abutting horizontally against the base of the Andes, whose 

 snowy peaks were bright with the evening sun. At the 

 first glance of this view, it was quite evident that the plain 

 represented the extent of a former inland sea. As soon as 

 we gained the level road v/e pushed our horses into a gallop, 

 and reached the city before it was dark. 



1 stayed a week in Santiago and enjoyed myself very 

 much. In the morning I rode to various places on the 

 plain, and in the evening dined with several of the English 



