SANTIAGO. . 231 



I spent the evening in my room, where the young ladies came 

 occasionally to me ; and Mr. De Roos, Don Jose Antonio, and Don 

 Domingo Reyes, spent the evening. Don Domingo is a grave, 

 well-informed, kindly person, to whom I am obliged for much of the 

 knowledge I have of the country, both historical and physical. His 

 father was secretary to Don Ambrose O'Higgins, and to several other 

 captains-general ; he was even so to Osorio, in the interval between 

 the battle of Rancagua and that of Chacabuco, after which he emi- 

 grated. But his conduct had always been so honest and honourable 

 that all parties trusted him, and none disliked him. He was there- 

 fore recalled, his property restored, and himself employed. The 

 character of Don Domingos is one formed by the times : a pre-emi- 

 nent point in it is love for the father he has seen so tried. And he 

 is pious, — I should say almost to superstition, did I not know what a 

 life he has seen ; yet he is quietly cheerful, and actively kind to his 

 friends, and possesses a most affectionate disposition. My friend 

 Don Antonio has neither the knowledge, nor intelligence, nor cul- 

 tivation of Reyes ; but he is good-natured and kind-hearted. He 

 takes half a dozen matees when he first rises, smokes segars all day, 

 goes to his counting-house I believe regularly, and at night loves to 

 dance cuandos, and sing, and play the guitar better elsewhere than at 

 home ; all this is not very unnatural, and moreover not inconsistent 

 with the character of a Chile beau : to-night he sung and played very 

 pleasantly several of the songs with which the young gentlemen of 

 Chile serenade their loves ; a custom at least as prevalent here as in 

 Italy. After all, the most beautiful thing of the kind in the world is 

 Shakspeare's own, " Hark, the lark at heaven's gate sings ;" which 

 puts to shame all other minstrelsy to ladies sleeping, or waking in the 

 hope of hearing music. 



Thursday, Sejit. 5th. — A large-party, consisting of the whole of the 

 Cotapos family, and a number of others, amounting to thirty, includ- 

 ing Mr. Prevost, Mr. De Roos, and myself, spent a day in the country. 

 The ladies who did not ride went in carretons, small covered vehicles 

 of the country, in which they sit on carpets and cushions. The ser- 



