156 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



our conversation. I found a man who, although in 

 his seventy-sixth year, was still full of vigour of mind, 

 and I had full opportunity on the following morning 

 to assure myself that this is sustained by abundant 

 physical energy. 



Time slips by rapidly in a conversation on subjects 

 of mutual interest, and when, after arranging for a 

 short excursion with Dr. Philippi, I returned home- 

 ward, the setting sun was lighting up the heavens 

 with the beautiful tints that are more common in 

 the warm Temperate zone than in other regions of 

 the earth. Low as are the houses, they were just 

 high enough to shut out all but occasional glimpses 

 of the Cordillera from the street ; but when I reached 

 the great plaza I came to the conclusion, which 

 I still retain, that Santiago is by many degrees the 

 most beautifully situated town that I have anywhere 

 seen. Rio Janeiro, Constantinople, Palermo, Beyrout, 

 Plymouth, all have the added beauty that the sea 

 confers on land scenery ; but such a spectacle as is 

 formed by the majestic semicircle of great peaks 

 that curve round Santiago, lit by the varying tints of 

 day and evening, is scarcely to be matched elsewhere 

 in the world. In position, as in plan of building, I 

 was reminded of Turin ; but here the Alps are nearly 

 twice as high, and at half the distance. Further than 

 that, the low country at Turin opens to the east, and, 

 although glorious sunrise effects are not seldom visible, 

 they never rival the splendours of the close of day. 



On the following morning, May 12, I started with 

 Dr. Philippi in a hackney coach for an excursion to 

 the Cerro San Cristobal, an isolated hill rising about 



