118 KAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



be got, of course ; but a man must make up bis 

 mind to a fortnight in the Cordilleras if be wants sport. 

 There are plenty of partridges away from the towns, but 

 not in any great number. They are a larger and coarser 

 bird than the English partridge; in fact, they are not 

 a true partridge at all, but a — well, upon my word, 

 I forget what they are ; anyhow they are very dry eating. 

 There are tortolas, or doves, in abundance, and a few 

 snipe and golden plover. Down south innumerable flocks 

 of duck and geese congregate, and can be shot by the 

 cartload. There is also good seal shooting to be had for 

 those who like it ; I don^t, as nine cases out of ten you 

 lose your seal. There are no rivers and no fishing worth 

 speaking in Chile, and I never heard of a fish rising to 

 a fly. The pejerrey grows in the southern rivers to 

 a foot long, and gives some fair sport, but the travelling 

 is leg-weary work, I can assure you. 



So much then for Valparaiso; a person would gain 

 just as much knowledge about Chile from visiting that 

 city as he would of North America by seeing Kam- 

 schatka. I will beg my readers to remember that I do 

 not intend these letters to be " an exact and full account ^' 

 of the arts, manufactures, &c., of Chile ; anyone can 

 get better insight into them by turning up the last 

 edition of the Encylo. Britan. and Darwin's " Naturalist's 

 Voyage '' than I could give him in fifty pages. I 

 merely wish to endeavour to give a general idea of the 

 country by means of a few sketches, not by means of 

 a diary. I am aware that many men write a book of 

 travels while the steamer waits to coal at the several 

 ports ; I can only say I wish I had the recipe. As an 

 instance of what some men can do in the way of book- 

 making, I will relate a true story. A gentleman 



