J 24 



RAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



mirage, whicli was pointed out to me by a Chileno 

 gentleman in the train ; about two miles from tbe track 

 were apparently two or three broad lagimas or sheets 

 of water ; it was in reality the reflection of the sun on 

 the grass, due I suspect to a particular angle of the 

 reflection, and not to the particular quality of the grass, 

 as I was informed, but I had not time to inquire into the 

 phenomenon more minutely. "We travelled in the same 

 train with several padres or priests ; on arriving at 

 Santiago these gentry were all accommodated with private 

 carriages and fine horses, and drove off like princes of 

 the land, as indeed they are; a Chileno priest has 

 an uncommonly good idea of taking care of himself. 

 The railway station is a very creditable one, and the 

 cabs outside better than those at Valparaiso, and well 

 they might be. We drove to the Hotel Ingles, where 

 we secured good quarters at the moderate sum of two 

 dollars, or eight shillings, a day. And now for the 

 city. 



It is not a fine city; I suppose I shall offend some 

 hundreds of foreigners, and of course all Chilenos, by 

 saying so. The thing is, what are you going to compare 

 it with — Paris ? St. Petersburgh ? Oh, of course you 

 can't do that, you are told ; what then ? Santiago is a 

 city of some 150,000 people, laid out in regular squares ; 

 it has an Alameda or public walk three miles long, and 

 I should say something more than 600 churches and 

 convents ; it has a tolerable plaza, one good hotel, and 

 can boast of the finest situation and scenery of any city 

 in the world. It lacks the element of Spanish antiquity 

 which gives the charm to Lima and some few other 

 cities ; it looks more like a modern European town than 

 any I know of — indeed, some of the houses recently 



