128 WHAT MR. DARWIN SAW. 



CHILE. 



reception. The captain forced me to take his bed, and 

 would sleep on his recado. 



At Mercedes I asked two men w^hy they did not work. 

 One gravely said the days were too long; the other, that he 

 was too poor. The number of horses and the abundance of 

 food are the destruction of all industry. Moreover, there are 

 so many feast-days : and again, nothing can succeed unless it 

 be begun when the moon is on the increase ; so that half the 

 month is lost from these two causes. 



Both at Colonia and in other places I noticed a very 

 general interest in the approaching election for President. 

 The inhabitants do not require much education in their rep- 

 resentatives. I heard some men discussing the merits of 

 those for Colonia, and it was said that, " although they were 

 not men of business, they could all sign their names." With 

 this they seemed to think every reasonable man ought to be 

 satisfied. 



THE CHILENO. 



I MUST express my admiration at the natural politeness 

 of almost every Chileno. I may mention an incident with 

 which I was at the time much pleased : We met near Men- 

 doza a little and very fat negress riding astride on a mule. 

 She had a goitre so enormous that it was scarcely possible 

 to avoid gazing at her for a moment; but my two compan- 

 ions (Chilians) almost instantly, by way of apology, made 

 the common salute of the country by taking off their hats. 

 Where would one of the lower or higher classes in Europe 



