VALPARAISO. U9 



and a very pretty young woman the grandchildren of the old lady. 

 They all got up from the bench eager to receive me, and show me 

 kindness. One of the boys ran to fetch his mother, the other went 

 to gather a bunch of roses for me, and the daughter Joanita, taking 

 me into the house gave me some beautiful carnations. From the 

 garden we entered immediately into the common sittingroom, 

 where, according to custom, one low latticed window afforded but a 

 scanty light By the window, a long bench covered with a sort of 

 coarse Turkey carpet made here, runs nearly the length of the room, 

 and before this a wooden platform, called the estrada, raised about 

 six inches from the ground, and about five feet broad, is covered 

 with the same sort of carpet, the rest of the floor being bare brick. 

 A row of high-backed chairs occupies the opposite side of the room. 

 On a table in a corner, under a glass case, I saw a little religious 

 baby work, — a waxen Jesus an inch long, sprawls on a waxen 

 Virgin's knee, surrounded by Joseph, the oxen and asses, all of the 

 same goodly material, decorated with moss and sea shells. Near 

 this I observed a pot of beautiful flowers, and two pretty-shaped 

 silver utensils, which I at first took for implements of worship, and 

 then for inkstands, but I discovered that one was a little censer for 

 burning pastile, with which the young women perfume their hand- 

 kerchiefs and mantos, and the other the vase for holding the infusion 

 of the herb of Paraguay, commonly called matte, so universally 

 drank or rather sucked here. The herb appears like dried senna ; 

 a small quantity of it is put into the little vase with a proportion 

 of sugar, and sometimes a bit of lemon peel, the water is poured 

 boiling on it, and it is instantly sucked up through a tube about six 

 inches long. This is the great luxury of the Chilenos, both male 

 and female. The first thing in* the morning is a matte, and the 

 first thing after the afternoon siesta is a matte. I have not yet tasted 

 of it, and do not much relish the idea of using the same tube with 

 a dozen other people. 



I was much struck with the appearance of my venerable neighbour ; 

 although bent with age she has no other sign of infirmity ; her walk 



