THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 333 



way to the north; the other, called the Portillo, is to the 

 south, and nearer, but more lofty and dangerous. 



March i8th. We set out for the Portillo pass. Leaving 

 Santiago we crossed the wide burnt-up plain on which that 

 city stands, and in the afternoon arrived at the Maypu, one 

 of the principal rivers in Chile. The valley, at the point 

 where it enters the first Cordillera, is bounded on each side 

 by lofty barren mountains; and although not broad, it is very 

 fertile. Numerous cottages were surrounded by vines, and by 

 orchards of apple, nectarine, and peach-trees their boughs 

 breaking with the weight of the beautiful ripe fruit. In the 

 evening we passed the custom-house, where our luggage was 

 examined. The frontier of Chile is better guarded by the 

 Cordillera, than by the waters of the sea. There are very 

 few valleys which lead to the central ranges, and the 

 mountains are quite impassable in other parts by beasts of 

 burden. The custom-house officers were very civil, which 

 was perhaps partly owing to the passport which the President 

 of the Republic had given me ; but I must express my admira- 

 tion at the natural politeness of almost every Chileno. In 

 this instance, the contrast with the same class of men in 

 most other countries was strongly marked. I may mention 

 an anecdote with which I was at the time much pleased : we 

 met near Mendoza 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 

 companions 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, have 

 shown such feeling politeness to a poor and miserable object 

 of a degraded race? 



At night we slept at a cottage. Our manner of travelling 

 was delightfully independent. In the inhabited parts we 

 bought a little firewood, hired pasture for the animals, and 

 bivouacked in the corner of the same field with them. Car- 

 rying an iron pot, we cooked and ate our supper under a 

 cloudless sky, and knew no trouble. My companions were 

 Mariano Gonzales, who had formerly accompanied me in 

 Chile, and an " arriero," with his ten mules and a " madrina." 

 The madrina (or godmother) is a most important personage: 



