258 CENTRAL CHILE. [cHaAr. XI. 
masses, and not have been utterly obliterated. We must not now 
reverse the wonder, and doubt whether all-powerful time can 
grind down mountains—even the gigantic Cordillera—into gravel 
and mud. 
The appearance of the Andes was different from that which 1 
had expected. The lower line of the snow was of course hori- 
zontal, and to this line the even summits of the range seemed 
quite parallel. Only at long intervals, a group of points or a 
single cone, showed where a volcano had existed, or does now 
exist. Hence the range resembled a great solid wall, surmounted 
here and there by a tower, and making a most perfect barrier to 
the country. 
Almost every part of the hill had been drilled by attempts to 
open gold-mines: the rage for mining has left scarcely a spot in 
Chile unexamined. I spent the evening as before, talking round 
the fire with my two companions. The Guasos of Chile, who 
correspond to the Gauchos of the Pampas, are, however, a very 
different set of beings. Chile is the more civilized of the two 
countries, and the inhabitants, in consequence, have lost much 
individual character. Gradations in rank are much more 
strongly marked: the Guaso does not by any means consider 
every man his equal; and I was quite surprised to find that my 
companions did not like to eat at the same time with myself. 
This feeling of inequality is a necessary consequence of the ex- 
istence of an aristocracy of wealth. It is said that some few of 
the greater landowners possess from five to ten thousand pounds 
sterling per annum: an inequality of riches which I believe is 
not met with, in any of the cattle-breeding countries eastward of 
the Andes. A traveller does not here meet that unbounded 
hospitality which refuses all payment, but yet is so kindly offered 
that no scruples can be raised in accepting it. Almost every 
house in Chile will receive you for the night, but a trifle is ex- 
pected to be given in the morning; even a rich man will accept 
two or three shillings. The Gaucho, although he may be a 
cut-throat, is a gentleman ; the Guaso is in few respects better, 
but at the same time a vulgar, ordinary fellow. The two men, 
although employed much in the same manner, are different in 
their habits and attire ; and the peculiarities of each are universal 
in their respective countries. The Gaucho seems part of his 
