6 



SANTIAGO DE CHILI. 



The peasant's station in society had not been 

 materially changed by the subversion of the 

 Spanish authority ; while that of his landlord was 

 essentially altered in almost every point. The 

 lower orders here, as in all countries, are not 

 those who feel most sensibly the oppression of bad 

 government ; and although, unquestionably, their 

 prosperity must, in process of time, be greatly 

 augmented by the operation of such wholesome 

 changes, their immediate benefit cannot be so 

 direct or manifest as that of the upper classes. 



In Chili, while the peasant remains nearly as 

 before, his superior has gained many advantages. 

 He has obtained political independence ; he is 

 free, and secure in his person and property ; for 

 the first time in his life he has a share in the 

 government of his country ; he may aspire to the 

 highest offices of profit or distinction ; the value 

 of his property is enhanced by the market which 

 has been opened to carry off its produce ; and he 

 feels no reserve in displaying his wealth, or in 

 expressing his opinions ; in short, he is in pos- 

 session of civil liberty. 



The benefits resulting from free trade, as com- 

 pared with the restrictions and monopolies of old, 

 are those which come home the soonest to the 

 apprehension of all ranks ; and although it cannot 

 be denied, that even the lowest peasant in the 

 country has felt the change which the revolution 

 has produced on the price of goods, yet the ad- 

 vantage to the upper classes has been much more 

 extensively felt ; for they are not only greater 

 purchasers, but have more home produce to give 

 in exchange. All classes, therefore, both high 

 and low, share, though not equally, in the benefits 

 resulting from the change of government ; and 

 this universality of advantage is the characteristic 

 circumstance which, with one exception, (that of 

 the United States,) distinguishes the South Ame- 

 rican from all other revolutions with which we 

 are acquainted. These are real and solid advan- 

 tages. That they should be fully understood, or 

 even appreciated at once, is too much to expect ; 

 and many errors and extravagances will be com- 

 mitted before such blessings can have their full 

 effect : but as they are of a nature to work them- 

 selves clear, if left alone, every successive hour of 

 freedom will have the effect of enlarging the circle 

 of knowledge and virtue throughout the country. 



On the 6th of January, 1821, I set out for 

 Santiago, the capital of Chili, in company with a 

 naval officer, who, having been several years on 

 the South American station, proved a most useful 

 guide, both from his knowledge of the country, 

 and from his general information. As the roads 

 in Chili are ill adapted for carriages, nearly all 

 the travelling is on horseback, the ordinary pace 

 being a hand-gallop, and the change of horses 

 becomes necessarily frequent. The only wheeled 

 vehicle in common use is a large lumbering cart, 

 or waggon, drawn by six or eight oxen, at a very 

 slow rate ; but the transport of goods from the 

 port to the capital, and thence all over the country, 

 is performed almost entirely by mules of an ex- 

 cellent breed. Some rich families occasionally 

 travel in coaches of an antiquated form. An 

 enterprising North American, indeed, established 

 a stage-coach from the port to the capital in 1821 ; 

 but it was maintained with great difficulty, in 

 consequence of the extreme badness of the roads. 



Our journey was injudiciously arranged ; for, 

 instead of taking one half of it early in the morn- 

 ing, and the other in the evening, we travelled in 

 the middle of the day, when the heat to which we 

 were exposed was intense. The whole country 

 was burnt up ; the sun flamed out with a bright 

 glare over everything, raising hot vapours from 

 the ground like the breath of an oven ; not a blade 

 of grass was anywhere to be seen ; not a drop of 

 moisture ; everything was parched and withered 

 along the baked ground, which was riven into in- 

 numerable crevices ; no breeze of wind came to 

 relieve us, and the heat was therefore intolerably 

 oppressive. 



In the course of the morning we passed several 

 ridges of hills, and here and there the eye was 

 gladdened by the sight of a slender strip of verdure, 

 pointing out the course of some mountain stream. 

 Between the ridges, which rose to the height of 

 several thousand feet, we observed plains, sur- 

 rounded by the high grounds, suggesting the idea 

 of lakes having once stood there. 



On crossing one of these ranges, we discovered 

 a party of muleteers, who had sought shelter from 

 the heat of the sun, under a grove of lofty trees, 

 on a patch of grass by the side of a rivulet, which 

 dashed from rock to rock, giving a delicious 

 freshness to the air, and verdure to all around it. 

 The mules, to the number of fifty, were arranged 

 in a circle, each tied by the halter to his load, 

 placed on the ground. The muleteers begged us 

 to dismount and join their party, giving us, at the 

 same time, some of their cool ulpa to drink, and 

 endeavouring to dissuade us from proceeding till 

 the sun should be lower ; advice we ought cer- 

 tainly to have followed, for we suffered severely 

 by the heat before reaching Bustamante, where 

 we dined. This being one of the post-houses, the 

 people were prepared to receive us, and placed 

 our dinner table in the door-way, that we might 

 enjoy the draught from the cool breeze just then 

 setting in. Our repast consisted of a huge bowl 

 of large black figs, and brimming tumblers of cold 

 lemonade, the fragrance of which filled the whole 

 house ; besides newly-baked, snow-white bread ; 

 with fresh butter ; and instead of wine, when the 

 cloth was removed, we sipped our pot of mattee. 

 The kind people of the cottage entreated us to 

 take our siesta before going farther ; but having 

 resolved upon reaching the capital that evening, 

 we denied ourselves a luxury, more tempting now 

 than it had ever appeared to us before. . 



About an hour before sunset we reached the 

 summit of the last pass, from whence we com- 

 manded a full view of the Andes. We had pre- 

 viously seen their snowy peaks, but from a great 

 way off, at sea ; we had now, however, the satis- 

 faction of viewing them uninterruptedly from the 

 summit to the base, and at a distance calculated 

 to give full effect to their height. The plain from 

 which the great mountains take their rise not 

 being much elevated above the sea, none of the 

 altitude of the ridges is lost, as it generally is 

 when the surrounding country is itself very high. 

 From the spot on which we stood we could count 

 the various ranges, five or six in number, towering 

 one above another, in magnificent irregularity. 

 Nothing in mountain scenery could be finer, or 

 less within the reach of verbal description. 



On our way across the plain towards the city, 



