196 
CHILI. 
three days' ride they had passed over about sixty miles ; the highest 
temperature experienced was 65J°, the lowest 35|°. At the rancho 
where they stopped for the night, the temperature fell 20£° in three 
hours. 
They passed the night with the usual annoyance in most houses 
in Chili, for fleas were found in great abundance. In the morning 
the temperature was 35j°, and the ground covered with hoar frost. 
The rancho was supposed to be about one hundred feet above the 
level of the sea, The mountains in the immediate neighbourhood 
were from six to seven thousand feet high, exhibiting a gorgeous 
appearance as the sunbeams lighted them up, and at times the 
brilliancy was so great as to dazzle the eye. They left the rancho at 
seven o'clock, and although it was only ten miles distant, they did 
not reach San Felipe before eleven. The road passed over a third 
cuesta, which exhibited a regular columnar structure. The hills 
inclining to the northward open and present to view the broad plain 
of Aconcagua. San Felipe de Aconcagua stands about fifteen 
miles from the foot of the Andes, and the mountains are seen from 
thence in all their grandeur. The peak of Tupongati is, however, 
lost sight of as the town is approached, disappearing behind the 
nearer snowy peaks. This mountain is situated on the dividing or 
eastern ridge of the Cordilleras, and within the United Provinces of 
La Plata. 
On arriving at San Felipe, they proceeded at once to the house of 
Mr. Henry Newman, an English gentleman resident there, and 
engaged in mining operations, to whom they had letters. Mr. 
Newman was not at home, but they were hospitably received by 
his lady, a native of Chili, who treated them with great kindness 
and attention. In the absence of her husband, she made them 
acquainted with an American gentleman, a Mr. Chase, who happened 
to be on a visit there, from Santiago. He had been in Chili since 
the failure of the expedition of Carrera, when he, with several 
of his companions, settled in Chili, and afterwards engaged in 
mining operations. He had several times amassed a large property, 
and as often lost it, by the revolutions that had taken place in the 
country. He is now engaged in working a silver mine, in the 
vicinity of Santiago, and attempting the German process of smelting, 
as there are vast quantities of ore, containing a large per centage of 
silver, which have hitherto been neglected, from the impracticability 
of separating the silver by the usual method. There is now only one 
