184 CHILI. 



The whole is kept quite clean, and has a pretty effect. Fruit and 

 vegetables are abundant and cheap. They are of excellent quality. 

 The grapes and peaches are of the finest kind ; apples are also plenty, 

 but no care appears to have been taken to secure the best kinds 

 Cabbages, beets, potatoes, cauliflower, &c, are all large and good. 



Beef is proverbially fine, and also the mutton ; the prices are six and 

 a quarter cents for the former, the latter three cents per pound. 



The average price of a horse is twelve dollars, but some that are 

 well broken are valued as high as those in the United States. 



The climate of Chili is justly celebrated throughout the world, and 

 that of Santiago is deemed delightful even in Chili ; the temperature is 

 usually between 60° and 75°. Notwithstanding this, it has its faults. 

 It is extremely arid, and were it not for its mountain streams, which 

 afford the means of irrigation, the country would be a barren waste for 

 two-thirds of the year. Rains fall only during the winter months, 

 (June to September,) and after they have occurred, the whole country 

 is decked with flowers. The rains often last several days, are 

 excessively heavy, and during their continuance the rivers become 

 impassable torrents. The temperature near the coast does not descend 

 below 58°. The mean temperature, deduced from the register kept at 

 Valparaiso, gave 63°. At Santiago, the climate is drier and colder, 

 but snow rarely falls. On the ascent of the Cordilleras, the aridity 

 increases with the cold. The snow was found much in the same state 

 as at Terra del Fuego, lying in patches about the summits. Even the 

 high peak of Tupongati was bare in places, and to judge from appear- 

 ances, it seldom rains in the highest regions of the Cordilleras, to which 

 cause may be imputed the absence of glaciers. 



Several of our gentlemen made an excursion to the Cordilleras, in 

 order to get information in their various departments. I regretted 

 they were not provided with the necessary instruments for ascertaining 

 heights. The party left Santiago in biloches, and travelled to the 

 eastward five leagues, to the " Snow Bank" from which the city is 

 supplied. The ascent was gradual, but quite constant, as no intervening 

 ravines occurred. They then took horses, leaving their biloches to 

 return. Their route after this lay up a valley. On the surrounding 

 heights the guanacoes were seen in great numbers. On reaching the 

 head of the valley, one of the party became so unwell that he was 

 unable to proceed, and was obliged to return. 



Dr. Pickering, Messrs. Dana, Peale, and Drayton, went on. As 

 they proceeded they found the middle region was marked by spiny 

 plants', principally Burnadesia. The soil was found to be a mixture 

 of loose earth and pieces of rock. On rising higher, the vegetation 



