THE DESOLATE CONDITION OF CONCEPTION. 



a 



earnest in his politics, never thought seriously of 

 anything but of his freight. He introduced us to 

 the Governor of Talcuhuana, who received us with 

 a stateliness of manner worthy of the insignifi- 

 cance of his situation ; and when we spoke to him 

 about horses, said, very pompously, he would most 

 gladly use his influence to get us mounted. In the 

 mean time, we strolled over the town and decayed 

 fortifications, lately, we were told, in perfect re- 

 pair ; but the rains are here so hard, that exposure 

 to a few wet seasons soon demolishes any work 

 not built of stone. On returning to the Govern- 

 ment-house, we found no horses, nor could we 

 hear any tidings of our obliging friend his excel- 

 lency the Governor. We therefore cast about for 

 some other assistance, and at last, tired of waiting, 

 walked into a house where we observed a gentle- 

 man reading, and some ladies sitting at work. We 

 sat down and chatted for some time with them ; 

 and on communicating our distress, the worthy 

 master of the house, being pleased, as he said, with 

 our attention in visiting him, and gratified, perhaps, 

 by the attention we paid to his good lady, who was 

 neither young nor handsome, said he would lend 

 us his own horses, whispering mysteriously in our 

 ears at the same time, that the governor's offer 

 was merely " un chasco" — a trick. 



Talcuhuana is described in books as strongly 

 fortified ; and it certainly is capable of being ren- 

 dered very formidable ; but the works have been 

 allowed to go to decay, and all that now remains 

 is a ditch of no great width or depth. Over this is 

 thrown a drawbridge, which we crossed on horse- 

 back, in fear and trembling lest it should break 

 down. The sentinel who guarded it was a rough, 

 half- dressed, donkey-boy, who staggered under the 

 weight of a musket, on the lock of which we read 

 the word tower. 



After passing the barrier, we rode over a swamp 

 of some length, along a hard, well-made road, which 

 brought us to some low grassy hills, from which 

 we had a fine view of the country. In the interior 

 the mountains were clad in the richest verdure ; 

 with many extensive and beautiful openings, ex- 

 posing to view banks of rich grass and long vistas 

 in the forests, varied by masses of light and shade ; 

 the whole prospect bringing to our recollection 

 some of the most carefully managed park scenery 

 of England. The scale, it is true, is here some- 

 what more extensive, although the resemblance is 

 equally striking when the landscape is examined 

 in detail. 



These reflections led us to question our guide 

 as to the causes of the deserted appearance of so 

 magnificent a country. He was an intelligent man, 

 and gave a melancholy account of the destructive 

 wars of which this country had been the theatre 

 for some years past ; first, when the Chilians were 

 struggling against the Spaniards for their liberty, 

 and lately, during the contest between the Chilians 

 and the Araucanian Indians under the outlaw 

 Benavides. Sometimes one party were masters 

 of the country, sometimes the other ; but to the 

 poor inhabitants it mattered little which ; since 

 both armies drove away the cattle and the sheep, 

 and not unfrequently the inhabitants themselves, 

 burning their dwellings, destroying their enclo- 

 sures, and laying the whole country waste. 



In the course of our ride we passed over many 

 leagues of land, once evidently covered with 



habitations, but now totally deserted, and all the 

 cottages in ruins. Rich pastures, and great tracts 

 of arable land, of the finest quality, were allowed 

 to run to weeds ; without a single individual to be 

 seen, or a cow, or a sheep, or, indeed, any living 

 thing. The absence of peace and security bad 

 thus in a few years reduced this fertile country to 

 a state of desolation, as complete, for all the pur- 

 poses of life, as that of the deserts on the coast of 

 Peru. 



When we came within half a league of the town 

 of Conception, we first saw the great river Biobio, 

 at that place about two miles wide, and flowing 

 past in a majestic manner. From a neighbouring 

 height could be traced the windings of this grand 

 stream for many leagues up the country, till lost 

 sight of amongst the mountains. The town of 

 Conception, even at a distance, partook in its 

 appearance of the character of the times ; for 

 the churches were all in ruins, and the streets in 

 such decay that we actually found ourselves in 

 the suburbs before knowing that we had reached 

 the town ; so complete had been the destruction. 

 Whole quadras, which had been burnt down and 

 reduced to heaps of rubbish, were now so thickly 

 overgrown with weeds and shrubs, that scarcely 

 any trace of their former character was distin- 

 guishable. The grass touched our feet as we 

 rode along the footpaths, marking the places of 

 the old carriage-ways. Here and there parts of 

 the town had escaped the ravage ; but these only 

 served to make the surrounding desolation more 

 manifest. A strange incongruity prevailed every- 

 where : offices and courtyards were seen, where 

 the houses to which they had belonged were 

 completely gone ; and sometimes the houses re- 

 mained, in ruins indeed, but everything about 

 them swept away. Near the centre of the town 

 a magnificent sculptured gateway attracted our 

 attention. Upon inquiry, we found it had been 

 the principal entrance to the Bishop's Palace, 

 of which there was not a vestige left, although 

 the gateway was in perfect preservation, Many 

 of the houses which did remain were uninhab- 

 ited ; and such is the rapidity with which vege- 

 tation advances in this climate, that most of these 

 buildings were completely enveloped in a thick 

 mantle of shrubs, creepers, and wild flowers, while 

 the streets were everywhere knee-deep in grass 

 and weeds. 



The Plaza, or great square, generally the resort 

 of a busy crowd, was as still as the grave. At one 

 end stood the remains of the cathedral, rapidly 

 crumbling to dust ; the whole of the western aisle 

 had already fallen in, and the other parts, built 

 of brick, and formerly covered with polished 

 cement, stood bare, and nodding to their fall. 

 A solitary peasant, wrapped in his poncho, stood 

 at the corner of the square, leaning against the 

 only remaining angle of the cathedral ; and in 

 a dark corner, amongst the ruins of the fallen 

 aisle, were seated four or five women, round a 

 fire, cooking their meat by hanging it in the smoke 

 over the embers. 



. In some of the smaller streets there were many 

 more people ; for the town, though stripped of 

 its wealth and importance, was not altogether 

 depopulated. The few remaining inhabitants had 

 drawn together for mutual support and consola- 

 tion in these sorrowful times. The children were 



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