28 



REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 



Madrid : the intermediate space was divided into 

 several rows of private boxes. 



Between the acts, the Viceroy retires to the back 

 seat of his box, which being taken as a signal that 

 he may be considered as absent, every man in the 

 pit draws forth his steel and flint, lights his segar, 

 and puffs away vigorously, in order to make the 

 most of his time ; for when the curtain rises, and 

 the Viceroy again comes forward, there can no 

 longer be any smoking, consistently with Spanish 

 etiquette. The sparkling of so many flints at once, 

 which makes the pit look as if a thousand fire-flies 

 had been let loose, and the cloud of smoke rising 

 immediately afterwards and filling the house, are 

 little circumstances which strike the eye of a 

 stranger, as being more decidedly characteristic 

 than incidents really important. I may add, that 

 the gentlemen in the boxes also smoke on these 

 occasions ; and I once fairly detected a lady taking 

 a sly whiff behind her fan. The Viceroy's presence 

 or absence, however, produces no change in the 

 gallery aloft, where the goddesses keep up an 

 unceasing fire during the whole evening. 



CHAPTER VII. 



CHILI. 



Excursion to the Interior. — Bridge of Suspension made of 

 Hide Ropes over the River Maypo.— Night Scene amongst 

 the Andes. — Description of a Chilian Country- House and 

 Dinner .—Ridiculous Vow. 



On the 18th of March, 1821, we anchored at 

 Valparaiso after eighteen days' passage from Lima, 

 which is considered rather quick, the average for 

 ships of war being somewhat more than three 

 weeks. I landed in the evening to deliver letters 

 and messages, being principally in answer to those 

 we had carried on last sailing from Valparaiso, and 

 already alluded to in the account of our procedings 

 at Callao. Many of the people at Valparaiso would 

 scarcely believe that we had been in Peru at all, 

 not being acquainted with the expeditious manner 

 in which passages are now made. We had been 

 absent only seven weeks, whereas in old times as 

 many months at least would have been required to 

 have performed the same service. At the first 

 house for which I had letters, the family received 

 me with a look of disappointment, and begged 

 reproachfully to have the letters returned, not 

 supposing it possible that I could have delivered 

 them ; but when they beheld the answers, their 

 joy and gratitude knew no bounds ; the news of 

 our arrival spread rapidly, and in ten minutes the 

 house was filled with people beseeching us for 

 letters. In no country could a more lively interest 

 be expressed than by these persons for their absent 

 friends ; and this furnishes a complete answer to 

 the statements so often made, of their coldness 

 and indifference in their domestic relations. After 

 delivering all my letters and messages, I was 

 overpowered by questions from the ladies as to 

 the appearance, manners, and various other quali- 

 ties of persons whom they had not seen, but who 

 had married into the families of their relatives in 

 Peru. This was a hard task; but the little I 

 recollected was extremely well bestowed,and it was 

 pleasing to observe the effect which all this pro- 

 duced in developing character. Many people who 

 had always been cold and formal before, came up 



and offered their hands with a cordiality and 

 frankness quite contrary to what had seemed their 

 natural disposition, but which proved ever after- 

 wards sincere and steady. 



Just as I was leaving the house to return on 

 board, two young men came to enquire for their 

 sister, a widow lady, of whom they had not heard 

 for more than a year. It so happened that this 

 very person was one of my passengers, and 

 nothing would satisfy the brothers and their wives, 

 and two or three more, but going on board the 

 Conway instantly, though it was near midnight. 

 Accordingly I stowed the whole party in my boat, 

 and carried them off, to the great joy and astonish- 

 ment of the widow. 



I afterwards went to call upon two young Eng- 

 lish women, one of whom was in a very desolate 

 and distressing situation, and wished to see me on 

 the subject of a passage to England. It appeared 

 she had been induced in an evil hour to leave her 

 father's roof, to accompany a wild adventurer, 

 who, in the taste and spirit of a buccaneer, made 

 sure of a golden harvest in the predatory wars he 

 , had heard were raging against the Spaniards on 

 the shores of the Pacific. The discipline and 

 regular measures, however, of the Patriot fleet 

 ill agreed with his fiery temperament, and he was 

 eventually thrown out of employment. While 

 living at Valparaiso with this lady, a child was 

 added to their establishment, and the infant one 

 day happening to cry, he desired it to be quiet ; 

 the little thing only cried the more, which enraged 

 the savage so much that he threatened to shoot 

 the child. The mother, of course, took the child 

 away ; he called to her to bring it back, and upon 

 her refusing to do so till he was cool, he roared 

 out that if she did not come instantly he would 

 kill her. " Oh, no," said she, playfully, " you 

 won't do that, I am sure." " Then," exclaimed . 

 he, " at all events I can shoot myself ; " and 

 instantly this impetuous and foolish madman 

 seized a pistol and actually fired it through his 

 own body. 



The wound was mortal, and the approach of 

 death having at length mitigated his ferocity, he 

 endeavoured to repair the evils he had heaped on 

 this unhappy woman's head, and sending for a 

 clergyman, was married on the spot to the wretch 

 he had betrayed, ruined, and was now about to 

 leave helpless in a foreign land. He next seized 

 a sheet of paper, and scrawled a will, leaving all 

 the property he had to his desolate widow ; and 

 in fact she became such before the ink which 

 recorded this solitary act of justice was dry. 



Next morning I resumed my occupation of 

 delivering messages and letters. At one house 

 where I called, the poor people had absolutely 

 nothing to entertain me with, having been reduced, 

 by the events of the revolution, from affluence to 

 the lowest state of poverty. But they would not 

 consent that I should leave their house without 

 accepting their hospitality, such as it was, and 

 one of the children being despatched to a neigh- 

 bouring pulperia or ale-house, with a broken 

 wine-glass and a small piece of money, returned 

 with some spirits, of which they entreated me to 

 drink at least a drop, as it would be an unfortu- 

 nate omen were I to decline. A person now came 

 in, who said that a relation of the family who was 

 sick in bed, hearing I had brought news of her 



