THE TOPADAS OF CHILI. 



Each figure lasts about three or four minutes ; 

 after which the music stops for a few seconds, 

 and is then resumed ; this is always repeated three 

 times. The fondness of the populace for this 

 amusement is excessive ; and I have often re- 

 turned to one of the ramadas after an interval of 

 several hours, and have found the same people 

 still looking on at the same dance with undiminished 

 pleasure. 



The climate, during these festivities, was gene- 

 rally agreeable : for in the day-time the thermo- 

 meter ranged from 62° to 64° ; and at night from 

 59° to 62° ; between half-past ten and three in 

 the day, however, it was sometimes unpleasantly 

 hot. Whenever the morning broke with a per- 

 fectly clear sky overhead, and the sun rose uncon- 

 cealed by haze, and when also the horizon in the 

 offing was broken into a tremulous or tumbling 

 line, as it is called, a very hard southerly wind 

 was sure to set in about one o'clock, blowing 

 directly over the high ridge of hills encircling the 

 town. The gusts, forced into eddies and whirl- 

 winds, bore the sand in pyramids along the streets, 

 drove it into the houses, and sometimes even 

 reached the ships, covering everything with dust. 

 About sunset these very troublesome winds gradu- 

 ally died away, and were succeeded by a calm, 

 which lasted during the night. From sunrise till 

 the hour when the gale commenced, there never 

 was a breath of wind ; or if the surface of the 

 bay was occasionally ruffled, it was only here and 

 there by those little transient puffs, which seamen 

 distinguish by the name of cats'-paws. 



On the other hand, when the morning broke 

 with clouds, and the atmosphere was filled with 

 haze, a moderate breeze generally followed during 

 the day, sometimes from one quarter, sometimes 

 from another ; and on such occasions we were 

 always spared the annoyance of the southerly 

 gales. 



These varieties take place only in summer. 

 During the winter months, that is, when the sun 

 is to the northward of the Equator, the weather is 

 very unsettled. Hard northerly gales blow for 

 days together accompanied by heavy rains, and a 

 high swell, which, rolling in from the ocean, 

 renders the anchorage unsafe for shipping, and 

 by raising a vast surf on the beach, cuts off all 

 communication between the shore and the vessels 

 at anchor. These gales, however, are not frequent. 

 At that season the air is cold and damp, so that 

 the inhabitants are glad to have fires in their 

 houses. Charcoal generally is used, in a large 

 polished brazier placed in the middle of the floor, 

 round which the family range themselves, with 

 their feet resting on its edge. In the houses of 

 the English, and other foreign residents, substan- 

 tial fire-places have been substituted for the bra- 

 ziers, and coals are used. Of this material there 

 is an abundant supply from Conception, a port 

 situated about 200 miles to the southward of Val- 

 paraiso. At present it is taken from a thick seam 

 which crops out at the surface, and, as the quality 

 is good, it will probably, at some future period, be 

 turned to great account. 



30th of Dec. — As there was much to be learnt 

 of the habits of the people at the night assemblies 

 in the ramadas, I made a practice of going there 

 every evening. It was particularly amusing to 

 watch, unobserved, the groups round the gambling 



tables in the middle of the area. A single candle 

 placed on the table, threw a light on the counte- 

 nances and picturesque dresses of the players, 

 which exhibited, in a striking manner, the variety 

 of expression peculiarly belonging to such scenes. 

 A party of these gamblers detected me upon one 

 occasion, and insisted good-humouredly that I 

 should try my fortune. By accident the ball rested 

 several times successively on the same square, 

 which raised the odds on my casts to a consider- 

 able amount ; I took all the bets that were offered, 

 and, in the end, won a handful of silver, princi- 

 pally from the people who had been most active 

 in persuading me to play. Their companions 

 joined me in laughing at them a little ; but I 

 thought it better, all things considered, to insist 

 upon returning the money ; for which I was 

 laughed at in my turn ; but we parted all the 

 better friends. 



A Chilian gentleman of my acquaintance lived 

 close to the bull-ring, and parties used frequently 

 to be made up at his house to go to the Chinganas, 

 the general name given to the scenes just described. 

 After chatting together for some time one evening 

 at this house, the gentlemen of the party went off 

 to the bull-ring, while the ladies excused them- 

 selves for not accompanying us, pretending to have 

 business at home. But within a quarter of an 

 hour afterwards, while we were lounging about in 

 one of the most noisy of the ramadas, it was inti- 

 mated to me privately, by a gentleman in the 

 secret, that three of the ladies we had left were 

 actually in our company ; but so completely 

 metamorphosed, that, even when pointed out, they 

 were with difficulty recognised. Thus made a 

 party to the joke, I soon found they came as spies 

 upon the proceedings of the master of the house, 

 the husband of one of these Tapadas, as they called 

 themselves. There had been a feud, it seemed, 

 between these ladies and some others of their ac- 

 quaintance, and the object of this escapo, or frolic, 

 was to watch how the gentleman would deport 

 himself toward their foes. The ladies, accordingly, 

 had the satisfaction, or the mortification, to detect 

 him in treacherous flirtation with the enemy ; this 

 established, they allowed themselves to be disco- 

 vered, to the confusion of the unsuspecting parties, 

 and immediately disappeared. The next day we 

 learnt that the ladies had returned again, in about 

 ten minutes afterwards, differently disguised, and 

 had amused themselves in watching the motions 

 of such of us as had been formerly admitted to 

 their confidence, and who were still chuckling 

 over the success of the first exploit. I attempted, 

 next evening, to pass a similar jest upon them, 

 and disguised myself with great care ; but their 

 practised eyes were not to be deceived, and "they 

 saw through it at the first glance. 



The merchants and other principal inhabitants 

 reside in the houses built along the base of the 

 cliffs in Valparaiso, and along the streets of the 

 Almendral. But the poorer people live chiefly in 

 the quebradas, or ravines. This class of society 

 have been the least affected by the changes in the 

 political state of the country, and retain, as we 

 were informed, nearly the same manners and 

 habits as before ; a circumstance which gave them 

 a higher interest to us, and induced us frequently 

 to ramble about, in the cool hours of the evening, 

 amongst their ranchos, or cottages. We were 



