XV 



liot exj3ect f be believed on my own unsupported 

 asscrlicn ; but the passages that I have selected 

 wille\i;!ce tliat I have not exagg;eraled in my 

 accounts of the sahibrity of the climate, and the 

 exceUence of the soi!^ and that I might have 

 been justified in saying still more. 



With respect to this wcrk^ it is no more than 

 a compendium, or an abridged history of many 

 of the natural productions of Chili. The reflect- 

 iiig reader will not look in it for a complete na- 

 tural history of that country ; such a v/ork would 

 have required much greater means than I possess, 

 and such assistance as I have not been able to 

 procure. 



Those acquainted with M. de Pauw's philoso- 

 phical inquiries respecting the Americans, will. 

 perhaps be surprised to find in my work some 

 remarks Mhich do not correspond with what 

 that author has said respecting America in gene- 

 ral. But whatever I have asserted respecting 

 Chili is founded upon personal experience and 

 attentive observation duriris: a residence of manv 

 years in that country ; and, in support of what 1 

 have advanced, I have cited the authority of se- 

 veral respectable authors, who were eye-v/it- 

 nesses, and not hear-say relatcrs, of what they 

 have written, iVI. de Pauw, on the contrary, 

 not only rscver saw the country tliat lie lias under- 

 iriken to characterize, but even appears not to 

 have been solicitous to consult those autliors who 



