192 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



votes as he pleases to the one or more candidates of 

 his choice. I unfortunately was not aware of these 

 facts while in the country, and therefore failed to 

 make inquiry on the subject ; but the fact that, while 

 there is a keen interest in political life, no one has 

 proposed to alter the present mode of voting, seems 

 to prove that the existing system gives general 

 satisfaction. 



Early in the morning of May 24 I left Santiago, 

 bound for Santa Rosa de los Andes, the highest town 

 in the valley of the Rio Aconcagua. That river is 

 mainly fed from the snows of the great peak from 

 which it takes its name, the highest summit of the 

 New World.* In its lower course it waters the Quil- 

 lota valley, through which the railway is carried from 

 Valparaiso to Santiago. In travelling from the latter 

 city it is therefore necessary to return to the junction 

 at Llaillai, whence a branch line leads eastward along 

 the river to San Felipe and Santa Rosa, The sky 

 was cloudless, the air delightfully clear, and the views 

 of the great range were indescribably grand and 

 beautiful, especially in the neighbourhood of San 

 Felipe. The summit of Aconcagua, as seen from this 

 side, shows three sharp peaks of bare rock, too 

 steep to retain the snow which now lay deep on the 

 lower declivities. It has been inferred that the summit 

 must be formed of crystalline or metamorphic rock, 

 as there is no indication of the existence of a crater. 

 This is by no means improbable, as we know that 



* The measurements of the height of the peak of Aconcagua vary 

 considerably in amount, but I believe that the most reliable is that 

 adopted by Petermann — 6834 metres, or 22,422 English feet. 



