1831.1 HOT SPRINGS OF CAUQUKXEP. 251 



so fine or so large as Buenos Ayres, Imt is built after tlio same 

 model. I arrived here by a circuit to the north; so I resolved 

 to return to Valparaiso by a rather longer excursion to the south 

 of the direct road. 



September 5th. By the middle of the day we arrived at one of 

 the suspension bridges, made of hide, which cross the Maypu, 

 a large turbulent river a few leagues southward of Santiago. 

 These bridges are very poor affairs. The road, following the 

 curvature of the suspending ropes, is made of bundles of sticks 

 placed close together. It was full of holes, and oscillated rather 

 fearfully, even with the weight of a man leading his horse. In 

 the evening we reached a comfortable farm-house, where there 

 were several very pretty sefioritas. They were much horrified at 

 my having entered one of their churches out of mere curiosity. 

 They asked me, " Why do you not become a Christian for our 

 religion is certain ? " I assured them I was a sort of Christian ; 

 but they would not hear of it appealing to my own words, " Do 

 not your padres, your very bishops, marry?" The absurdity 

 of a bishop having a wife particularly struck them : they scarcely 

 knew whether to be most amused or horror-struck at such an 

 enormity. 



6th. We proceeded due south, and slept at Eancagua. The 

 road passed over the level but narrow plain, bounded on one side 

 by lofty hills, and on the other by the Cordillera. The next day 

 we turned up the valley of the Kio Cachapual, in which the hot- 

 baths of Cauquenes, long celebrated for their medicinal properties, 

 are situated. The suspension bridges, in the less frequented parts, 

 are generally taken down during the winter when the rivers are 

 low. Such was the case in this valley, and we were therefore 

 obliged to cross the stream on horseback. This is rather dis- 

 agreeable, for the foaming water, though not deep, rushes so quickly 

 over the bed of large rounded stones, that one's head becomes quite 

 confused, and it is difficult even to perceive whether the horse is 

 moving onward or .standing still. In summer, when the snow 

 melts, the torrents are quite impassable ; their strength and fury 

 are then extremely great, as might be plainly seen by the marks 

 which they had left. We reached the baths in the evening, and 

 stayed there five days, being confined the two last by heavy rain. 

 The buildings consist of a square of miserable little hovels, each 

 with a single table and bench. They are situated in a narrow deep 



