THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 385 



being connected at the middle with the following one by a 

 length of stout hide-rope. The oxen are in general very hand- 

 some and powerful-looking animals, with fine horns. They are 

 urged along by a goad formed of a stick six or seven feet 

 long, with a nail attached to one end. This the drivers use 

 very dexterously, digging it into the animals so as to guide 

 them with great precision. 



The 21st was our first Sunday on shore at Valparaiso, the 

 weather having been too bad on the previous one to allow of 

 our landing. After attending morning service in the English 

 church on one of the hills, some of us whiled away our time 

 in the inspection of the Protestant and Eoman Catholic 

 cemeteries, which lie side by side. It was amusing to observe 

 how the taste for turgid and ridiculous inscriptions, so marked 

 in cemeteries and churchyards in Great Britain, was main- 

 tained abroad, contrasting strangely with the touching sim- 

 plicity and pathos displayed in most of the German epitaphs, 

 which generally began with "Hier ruht," which will be 

 admitted to be an improvement upon " Here where this silent 

 marble weeps," and such like effusions. Many of the Eoman 

 Catholic tombstones had photographs of the deceased covered 

 with glass built into them, and there were likewise many 

 devices indicative of the employments of those buried under- 

 neath. As respects cessation of labour on Sundays, Valpa- 

 raiso has decidedly the advantage over Rio, probably owing 

 to most of the principal shops and warehouses being in the 

 hands of English and Germans. It does not, however, appear 

 to be much of a day of rest on board the Chilian ships of 

 war ; for the unfortunate brass bands, at all events, seemed to 

 do double duty on Sunday, clashing away, with hardly any 

 intermission, from morning to night. 



On the 23d we had our first experience of a regular 



2o 



