CHILI. 167 



The walls of the buildings are from four to six feet thick. The reason 

 for this mode of building is the frequent occurrence of earthquakes. 

 The streets are well paved. The Plaza has not much to recommend 

 it. The Government House is an inferior building. Great improve- 

 ments are now making, and many buildings putting up. 



They are about bringing water from one of the neighbouring springs 

 on the hill, which, if the supply is sufficient, will give the town many 

 comforts. On the hills are many neat and comfortable dwellings, 

 surrounded by flower-gardens. These are chiefly occupied by the 

 families of American and English merchants. This is the most 

 pleasant part of the town, and enjoys a beautiful view of the harbour. 

 The ascent to it is made quite easy by a well-constructed road through 

 a ravine. The height is two hundred and ten feet above the sea. The 

 east end of the Almendral is also occupied by the wealthy citizens. 

 The lower classes live in the ravines. Many of their habitations are 

 scarcely sufficient to keep them dry during the rainy season. They 

 are built of reeds, plastered with mud, and thatched with straw. They 

 seldom contain more than one apartment. 



The well-known hills to the south of the port, called the " Main and 

 Fore Top," are the principal localities of the grog-shops and their 

 customers. These two hills, and the gorge (quebrada) between them, 

 seem to contain a large proportion of the worthless population of both 

 sexes. The females, remarkable for their black eyes and red " bayettas," 

 are an annoyance to the authorities, the trade, and commanders of 

 vessels, and equally so to the poor sailors, who seldom leave this port 

 without empty pockets and injured health. 



It was difficult to realize the improvement and change that had 

 taken place in the habits of the people, and the advancement in civil 

 order and civilization. On my former visit, there was no sort of 

 order, regulation, or good government. Robbery, murder, and vices 

 of all kinds, were openly committed. The exercise of arbitrary 

 military power alone existed. Not only with the natives, but among 

 foreigners, gambling and knavery of the lowest order, and all the 

 demoralizing effects that accompany them, prevailed. Every body 

 engaged in trade was found more or less to recognise the system of 

 fraud and deceit that had become the order of the day. The de- 

 moralizing influence of smuggling, and bribery in open day, without 

 disguise, with the knowledge and connivance of the higher authorities, 

 whose duty it was to apply the corrective, naturally brought about 

 this state of things : and the inference was drawn, true or false, that 

 they participated in the profits accruing from such transactions. 



I myself saw on my former visit several dead bodies exposed in the 



