VALPARAISO. jg3 



sensible to show, to amusement, and to external associations. Is it 

 not, therefore, wise to turn these shows and associations to the account 

 of patriotism ? And is it not more probable that the superstition 

 will be forgotten, while the near and almost personal feelings that 

 belong to national triumph strengthen with time. Shakspeare un- 

 derstood the value of such associations, when he makes Harry the 

 Fifth say — 



" Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, 

 From this day to the ending of the world, 

 But we in it shall be remembered." 



And who in England has forgotten Agincourt ? But who, besides 

 the shoemakers, ever thinks of St. Crispin ? 



Chile is so obviously a maritime country, shut up as she is to 

 landward, by the Andes from the eastern provinces, and the desert of 

 Atacama from those to the north, that I would, were I its legislator, 

 turn every feeling and passion towards the sea. St. Peter's day should 

 be a national and naval spectacle : I would distribute prizes to fisher- 

 men and boatmen ; I would bestow honorary rewards on officers ; I 

 would receive and answer petitions and representations from all con- 

 nected with the sea ; in short, I would, on that day, let them feel 

 that the protection of government went hand in hand with that of 

 religion over the most useful, and therefore the most favoured class 

 of Chileno citizens. 



June 25ih. — I went with a party to the Lagunilla, a small fresh- 

 water lake formed from the waters of several little streams, and 

 divided from the sea only by a bank of sand : the road into the 

 valley of the lake is good, but the steepest I ever recollect riding. 

 On leaving Valparaiso, from which the lake is three leagues distant, 

 we found ourselves on a high table land, whence we enjoyed a mag- 

 nificent view of the central Andes on one hand, and the coast with 

 all its harbours and bays on the other. The little bay of the Lagunilla 

 is said not to be safe for ships, who always make it in coming from 

 the southward. At the bottom of the valley we found a Rancho, which 

 just now looks poor and miserable : but it is the poor time of year ; 



y 2 



