CONCON. 30i 



loveliest evenings of this lovely climate, and I felt more than com- 

 monly exhilarated and disposed to enjoy it, not having been so far 

 on horseback since my disastrous ride from San Francisco de Monte 

 to Santiago. 



15///. — Rode to the mouth of the river ; part of the water of which 

 is lost in the sand accumulated there, part is kept back on the land, 

 and produces a marshy lake ; but there is enough left to form a con- 

 siderable stream at the regular outlet. I was grieved to see a great 

 quantity of very fine machinery, adapted for rolling copper, lying on 

 the shore, where Mr. Miers had thrown out a little pier. This ma- 

 chinery has been regarded with jealousy by certain members of the 

 government, because some part of it may be used for coining ; and 

 yet that jealousy will not, I fear, prompt the state to buy it, and 

 thereby reform their own clumsy proceedings at the mint. However, 

 here lie wheels, and screws, and levers, waiting till more favourable 

 circumstances shall enable Mr. Miers to proceed with his farther 

 plans. But time, his becoming a citizen with some landed property, 

 and the circumstances of his children being born here, will, I trust, 

 do every thing for him. 



The hills here have no longer the same character as about Valpa- 

 raiso : there, a reddish clay, with veins of granite and white quartz, 

 form the greater part, if not the whole mass ; here they consist of a 

 greyish or blackish sand, with layers of pebbles and shells visible at 

 different heights by the sea-side. The plain on either side of the 

 river is rich deep soil, with all sorts of things in it that a large river 

 swelling and passing its bounds twice a year may be supposed to 

 deposit. The first inundation, for it is little less, is during the rains ; 

 the second on the melting of the snows of the Andes : it is said also 

 to rise in misty weather ; but this place is so close to the moun- 

 tains, that it must feel the daily changes ofweatner in the cordil- 

 lera ; and, indeed, I believe there is always less water in the morn- 

 ing than in the evening, owing, of course, to the melting of snow in 

 the day time. 



11th. — We rode to Quintero, stopping to rest at the old house on 



