21 4 JOURNAL. 
height above the knoll where we first saw the Salta, and where there 
is a little village. Here I dismounted, and by the assistance of two 
of my friends, stepped across one of the water-channels to have a per- 
fect view of the work, and of the fall below. We had not descended, 
perceptibly, since we left Santiago ; yet, though we had climbed the 
steep cliff of the fall, we found ourselves still on the plain of the city; 
having between it and us a very high hill, whose base is uneven, so 
that the north side rests below the fall, and the south side above it. 
On either side, the country appears to the eye perfectly level. The 
river Mapocho flows from the Andes through the upper plain; the 
lower one is without a natural stream, but the land is evidently better 
than that above. The Caciques observing this, cut channels through 
the granite rock, from the Mapocho to the edge of the precipice, and 
made use of the natural fall of the ground to throw a considerable 
stream from the river into the vale below: this is divided into numer- 
ous channels, as required; and the land so watered is some of the 
most productive in the neighbourhood of the city. The Indian 
chiefs, instead of one large channel, have dug three smaller ones, 
directing them to the centre of the vale, and to the sides of -the hills 
on either hand, so as to fertilise the whole district; an advantage as 
great to the admirer of picturesque beauty as to the cultivator. To 
the beautiful artificial waterfalls praised by travellers, I must add 
this, which is quite as rich in natural beauty as Tivoli; and as 
singular, as a work of early art, as the channel by which the Velinus 
falls into the Nar. I appreciate the work of the Caciques the 
better for having seen that of the Roman consul; and only regret 
that I am not a poet to immortalise these beautiful waters which 
precipitate themselves into the vale below, and reappear in 
sparkling rills to fertilise the plain beyond. _ We left the fall with 
regret to return to the city, or rather to go to it by a very different 
road. We proceeded over a plain completely covered with shingle, 
and only here and there a clump of some low sweet shrubs, of which 
the horses are very fond. This is the winter channel of the Mapo- 
cho, which covers the land far and near with its waters, and rolls 
these pebbles over it. 
