BOUND CAPE HORN VALPARAISO SANTIAGO. 109 



railway cars run every few minutes ; these cars are well 

 horsed^ &c.^ and the fare is only 2cl. for the whole dis- 

 tance of three miles. It has another great recommenda- 

 tion — it pays twelve per cent, to shareholders. 



The custom house, at the one end, is a large brick and 

 mortar building, having a good many marks of the 

 Spanish bombardment; it is not remarkable in any 

 other way. On the heights above the custom house are 

 some earthworks, armed with heavy Blakeley and Arm- 

 strong guns, in anticipation, I suppose, of another attack 

 by the Spanish fleet. An uncommonly narrow dirty 

 street leads you on to the Plaza Intendencia ; this Plaza 

 is about one hundred and fifty yards square, one side 

 being formed by the landing stages, inspector's rooms, 

 and the Bolsa or commercial reading room ; another 

 by a fire-engine house, a bank, and the post-office ; the 

 third by numerous grog saloons, stores, |^and a hotel 

 or two ; and fronting the mole is the Intendencia, or 

 residence of the Intendente of Valparaiso. It is an 

 ordinary -looking building, with a belfry and an enormous 

 flag. By-the-bye, nearly the first thing that strikes a 

 stranger's eye is the immense quantity of flags, as nearly 

 every house displays its bit of bunting on every possible 

 occasion. I might say that a more noticeable feature 

 than this even is the frightful state of the pavements, 

 street cars, &c., from excessive expectoration. Yankees 

 are supposed to be '^ some on juicing,'' as they elegantly 

 express it, but it must be said that they spit in the 

 majority of cases with precision, and a consideration for 

 your dress and boots. A Chileno doesn't; he spits 

 anywhere, and on everything — at the dinner-table, at 

 church ; and the women are nearly as bad as the men. 

 In a church at La Serena I saw a notice posted up 



