250 CEXTRAL CHILE. [ciui>. xn. 



animals, when led, could only move by jumping. The black sky 

 showed that a fresh snow-storm 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 

 Ran 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 qiiite 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 niy part I do not think that 

 Chile sees with any." 



Awjust 27th. 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 we pushed our 

 horses into a gallop, and reached the city before it was dark. 



I 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 merchants, whose hos- 

 pitality at this place is well known. A never-failing source of 

 pleasure was to ascend the little hillock of rock (St. Lucia) which 

 projects in the middle of the city. The scenery certainly is most 

 striking, and, as I have said, very peculiar. I am informed that 

 this same character is common to the cities on the great Mexican 

 platform. Of the town I have nothing to say in detail : it is not 



