ANDACOLLO — LIMA PANAMA — JAMAICA. 1 35 



the distance travelled over is considerably more than five 

 times the amount ; we wound round hills, went through 

 mountains and along precipices, and after twenty- 

 minutes we appeared to come out at the same place we 

 started from. However, even the cuesta has an end, and 

 I was rather glad when we got to the top, as the idea of a 

 coupling iron breaking was not a comfortable one to 

 contemplate by any means. The entire road to Panuh 

 cillo was covered with flowers — you could not hav 

 planted your foot without crushing one. 



At Panulcillo we were most hospitably received by 

 Mr. and Mrs. Weir, and T was conducted over the estab- 

 lishment. The mines of Panulcillo can hardly be called 

 mines ; they are more like mountains of poor ore, from 

 four to five per cent. The" problem for the company is, 

 of course, how to smelt these poor ores. Since the in- 

 troduction of blast furnaces, however, the afiairs of the 

 company have been looking up ; the Guayacan establish- 

 ment takes all the regulus made, and I believe the 

 quantity amounts to something like four hundred tons 

 monthly ; average ley about forty per cent. A beautiful 

 garden fronted the house of Mr. Weir, giving the other- 

 wise barren spot quite a picturesque appearance. 



After a few hours^ rest and a stirrup cup, we mounted 

 and rode to Pangue, Part of the road was exceedingly 

 picturesque, and Recoleta, a small puehlo which we passed 

 on our way, seemed a charming spot — for anyone who 

 wished to hide himself entirely from the rest of the 

 world. These interior Chile villages really do seem per- 

 fectly isolated from everything. The padre of the place, 

 when he heard Don Juan was passing through, in- 

 sisted on our dismounting to drink chicha, and it was 

 with the greatest diflSculty we could get away from him. 



