300 JOURNAL. 



November lAth, Concon. — This morning we set off early from 

 home, and at eleven o'clock arrived at Vina a la Mar, the hacienda of 

 the Carreras. The family has suffered much during the revolution, 

 the head of it being cousin-german to Jose Miguel Carrera. Some of 

 the sons met an untimely death ; one of them is now an exile in the 

 service of Artigas : three daughters only, out of nine, are married ; 

 the rest are living with their parents at Vina a la Mar. It is a noble 

 property : the little stream Margamarga flows through it to the sea, 

 forming a valley exceedingly fertile ; and at the village, whence the 

 stream takes its name, the best dairies in the district are situated. The 

 house of the hacienda is placed nearly in the middle of a little plain 

 formed of the alluvial soil washed down from the surrounding moun- 

 tains, which rise behind it like an amphitheatre. A few fields and 

 some very fine garden ground, cultivated by a Frenchman, Pharoux, 

 occupy the space between it and the sea. Behind it lies the exten- 

 sive vineyard, which is gradually making way for corn, which is both 

 more successful and more profitable than wine here. 



We were received most hospitably by Madame Carrera, who was 

 sitting on a very low sofa at the end of the estrada, on which some 

 of her grand-children were at play, while her daughters sat round on 

 chairs and stools. Refreshments were offered instantly, and warm 

 milk with sugar and a little grated cinnamon was brought in and pre- 

 sented, with slices of bread. The invalid was then taken into a 

 pleasant cool room to rest ; and while he slept, the young ladies 

 showed Mr. Davidson, who had escorted us from the port, and my- 

 self, the garden, orchard, and farm offices, which differed little from 

 those I had seen before, except that they were much out of repair. 

 But as the nature of the farm is changing from a wine to a corn farm, 

 all the vats and the alembics for brandy, &c. are becoming useless, 

 and will be replaced by granaries. The dinner was a mixture of 

 Chileno and English customs and cookery ; the children and the 

 grandmother being most Chilian, the young ladies most English. 

 After a reasonable time after dinner, we rode on to Concon, and were 

 met about half way by Mr., Mrs., and Miss Miers. It was one of the 



