48 



CHILI AND VALPARAISO. 



The population of the republic is estimated at one million 

 and a half. 



The capital is St. Jago, which is situated at the foot of the 

 Cordilleras, and distant about sixty miles from Valparaiso. 

 All of our officers who visited it were delighted with it. A 

 long line of turrets, domes, and spires, occasionally screened 

 by intervening trees, planted along its numerous avenues, 

 indicated the city. The •population is 60,000. It has a 

 national college, a military academy, various private semi- 

 naries for both sexes, an extensive hospital, and several hand- 

 some churches. 



Valparaiso is the next largest town in the republic, and is 

 one of the most flourishing places in the Pacific. In 1820 it 

 consisted of fifteen or twenty huts, and now it contains eight or 

 nine thousand buildings, and individual houses fetch an annual 

 rent of more than three thousand dollars. Its principal street 

 runs parallel with the beach — is tolerably wide, and contains 

 many large and commodious shops, well supplied with English 

 goods and various other kinds of merchandise. The remain- 

 ing streets are paved, but are narrow and winding. The 

 public buildings consist of the churches, the Governor's 

 palace, and the custom-house. The dwellings are slightly 

 built, and never more than two stories high, on account of 

 the earthquakes, and in general have a wooden balcony in 

 front. There are many Americans and English living in the 

 city, who carry on a lucrative business, the export trade being 

 mostly monopolized by them. They reside on the hill in the 

 rear of the business part of the town, in neat white cottages, 

 surrounded by flower-gardens. This is the most pleasant 

 part of the city, and commands a fine view of the har- 

 bor. From here may be seen the vessels of the United 

 States, England, France, Holland, Denmark, and Sweden, 



