62 FROM MENDOZA TO SANTIAGO AND BACK 



obliging enougli to let me have tvro horses, one for myself and another for my servant, which 

 was a great favor, considering the rush for the mines; and after these arrangements were made 

 I went to bed, with the hapjiy thought that I should be in Santiago next day. Just as I 

 was getting into a doze the Frenchman came into the room, and, with the most lost-all-my-poor- 

 relationish look and tone, requested that I would allow Jose — my servant — to take charge of 

 his bundle, as it would be rather inconvenient for him to carry, walking. The poor fellow had 

 not eaten any dinner, and as I was in too good a humor to stand on trifles, I told him to get 

 a horse and dinner, and I would pay for them. This was done, and by four o'clock next morn- 

 ing the three of us were off again ; slowly at first, but at a gallop as soon as daylight showed 

 us the nature of the ground over which we were travelling. About five miles from San Jose 

 we crosed the Rio Colorado by a bridge, and thence followed the Maypu through lanes bounding 

 farms and houses to the plain of Santiago. For further information regarding streams crossed 

 or passed, I refer to the map. 



I have s^joken of the prosperous appearance of tlie country as a distinctive feature of Chile : 

 before arriving at Santiago I saw another and very common characteristic in the person of a 

 sturdy beggar priest on horseback. This particular one was very familiar to me, for there 

 was seldom a day during our residence in Santiago that I did not see him, as then, riding along 

 in his blue dress of the order of San Francisco, with a blue umbrella over his head, and a saint 

 in a glass case under his arm. 



All my efforts to prevent Jose from dismounting and having a kiss at the saint were ineffectual, 

 and when I saw him pay a real for the privilege I was disposed to discharge him on the spot. 

 However, it was the "costumbre del pais," as they say, and so I let the matter pass. 



On arrival at Santiago, I rode along the well-known street behind Cerro de Santa Lucia, 

 and stopped at the house of Don Carlos Moesta to make arrangements for making a set of ob- 

 servations in the observatory, but to my regret learned, from the lady of the house, that M'oesta 

 was away, and the observatory closed ; and afterwards ascertained that the object and eye glasses 

 of the telescope had been taken out for safe-keeping, and were " nobody knew where." For- 

 tunately Mr. Mowatt, of Valparaiso, was in Santiago at the time, and had a pocket-sextant 

 and an artificial horizon with him, with which I made the necessary observations. 



The remainder of the day of our arrival and all the next were passed in a whirl of giving 

 salutations to and receiving them from old friends and acquaintances, who appeared as glad to 

 see me as I certainly was to meet them ; and on the following morning — the 15th of December — 

 we turned our backs on Santiago again. The twelve leagues to San Jose was accomplished at 

 a slashing pace, and on reaching there we found the arriero ready and anxious to be off ; so, 

 changing from horses to mules, we started for the portillo. 



From the time of our first arrival in San Jose until daylight of the third day afterwards, when 

 my servant turned me out for the purpose of saddling up, everything had jjassed so rajiidly as 

 to appear a dream, and I was at a loss for a while to determine whether I had been in Santiago 

 or not ; but when I felt my bleeding heart, and got the scent of French brandy from my pocket 

 handkerchief, I knew that all was reality, and that the confused images of Dona Cualquiera 

 and Don Antonio were tangible facts. 



Nothing worthy of remark occurred on our return trip until we arrived at " La 011a." We 

 stopped there at three p. m. of the 17th for dinner ; but as it was evidently snowing in the 

 pass, I called a council of war to determine whether we should proceed or not. The arriero 

 thought we could cross before night ; the peon — who was really the only one among us ac- 

 quainted with the road — was non-committal ; I myself, resting my judgment on notes of the 

 first trij), stated just how long it had taken us to accomplish the jiassage ; so that my servant 

 had the casting-vote. I told them, however, that if they thought it imprudent to attemjjt the 

 pass, they must go to work at once and collect fire-wood, as we were likely to have a cold night 

 of it, and very soon learned the result of their deliberations by seeing them busily engaged 

 rooting up the shrubs which serve for this purpose in the mountains. In a short time we were 



