THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 379 



in the bay on the morning of our arrival, as well as repre- 

 sentatives of the navies of most European nations — Great 

 Britain furnishing, in addition to ourselves, the " Pylades," 

 "Malacca," and "Nereus," the last a large vessel of the 

 antique t}^e, permanently maintained at Valparaiso as a 

 store-ship. The forenoon was fully occupied in the perusal 

 of a large supply of letters from England, which we found 

 awaiting us, while in the afternoon many of us landed 

 to inspect the city. The streets were much narrower, and 

 appeared much shabbier in general aspect, than those of 

 Monte Video ; while the shops, as a rule, were poorer 

 looking, and nearly all the articles contained in them were 

 extravagantly dear — upon an average, I should think, twice 

 as expensive as at Monte Video, and four times more so 

 than in England.* A ferro-carril, or iron railway, is laid 

 down through some of the principal streets, and upon this 

 numerous omnibuses drawn by two horses run, so as to 

 make a circuit of the lower part of the town, the terminus 

 being at a railway station at one end. Some of the buildings 

 still bore evidence of the Spanish bombardment about a 

 year previously, the custom-house being yet in ruins, and 

 cannon-balls sticking in the walls of some of the houses. 

 The churches, like most South American edifices of the kind, 

 are exceedingly poor as regards architecture, stucco largely 

 prevailing in the interior, and the spires in general being 

 constructed of wood — in one instance painted green ! The 

 population seemed to be pretty equally divided between 

 English, Germans, and Chilians ; and the excessive fondness 

 of the last mentioned, alike young and old, for sweetmeats, 



* I may mention, as a good example of the prices we required to pay for 

 comparatively inexpensive articles, that a quire of stout blotting-paper cost 

 me two dollars and a half ! 



