ROAD TO SANTIAGO. 



195 



reaching the height, its woody glens, and the snowy mountains beyond, 

 formed a very beautiful picture; the sky was serene, and the tempera- 

 ture delightful. In short, it might have been Italy, but that it wanted 

 the tower and the temple to show that man inhabited it : but here all 

 is too new ; and one half expects to see a savage start from the nearest 

 thicket, or to hear a panther roar from the hill. As soon as we could 

 prevail on ourselves to leave the beautiful spot which commanded the 

 view, we descended into the vale below, where we came to the post- 

 house, and rested our horses ; while doing so, the hostess obliged 

 us to walk in and sit down at her family dinner. The house is a 

 decent farm-house, and not by any means an inn, though the post 

 is stationed there. Our repast was the usual stew, charquican, of the 

 country, fresh and dried meat boiled together, with a variety of 

 vegetables, and seasoned with aji or Chile pepper, the whole served 

 up in a huge silver dish ; and silver forks were distributed to each 

 person, of whom, with ourselves, there were eight. Milk, with maize 

 flour and brandy, completed the dinner. At length, ourselves and 

 our horses being refreshed, we renewed our journey, our peon and 

 mules having gone on before ; and on leaving the Caxon, entered on 

 the long deep vale on which both Curucavia and Bustamante stand. 

 The first lies pretty widely scattered among its orchards at the foot 

 of a mountain, and on the margin of a broad stream called the Estero 

 of Curucavia, which issues out of a deep valley beyond, and the 

 fording passage of which is exactly at the most picturesque spot. 

 Bustamante is a hamlet, so named from the mayorasgo to whom it 

 belongs ; it lies under part of the ridge that forms the Cuesta de 

 Prado, and has little remarkable to recommend it. The post-house 

 is kept by a most civil and attentive old lady, who gave us very good 

 mutton and excellent claret for dinner, and a clean room to sleep in : 

 the floor is mud j and in different corners posts are stuck so as to 

 form bed-places, on which we placed our matrasses, and slept 

 extremely well, my maid, as before, being the most fatigued of 

 the party, a proof that youth and health are riot always the hardiest 

 travelling companions ; — she went to bed, while I remained up to 

 write and prepare every thing for to-morrow. 



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