192 CHILI. 



not at home, but the*y 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 imprac- 

 ticability of separating the silver by the usual method. There is now 

 only one survivor from among the thirty persons who settled in Chili 

 with Mr. Chase. From his operations he expects in a few years to 

 realize a large fortune. 



The town of San Felipe is laid out with great regularity, in the 

 form of a square, surrounded by extensive alamedas, which are planted 

 with Lombardy poplars. Mr. Newman gave the population at from 

 twelve to thirteen thousand. In the centre of the town is a large open 

 square, one side of which is occupied by the town hall, and offices 

 connected with the municipality. Opposite are the church and bar- 

 racks, and the remaining sides are occupied with shops and private 

 dwellings. The houses are all of one story, and are in a good style of 

 building. The better class of houses stand some distance back from 

 the street, and are decorated tastefully with paintings in fresco on the 

 walls. Roses and jessamines were seen in every court-yard, and the 

 gardens are well filled with various fruits, apples, peaches, pears, 

 grapes, pomegranates, oranges, lemons, and quinces ; the latter are 

 remarkably fine, and in great plenty. The houses, as in other parts 

 of Chili, have no fire-places, in lieu of which they use brazeros, or 

 pans of live coal when heat is required. Mr. Chase took them to a 

 friend of his, to see the process of manufacturing the acida and aguar- 

 diente of the country. The whole process is carried on in a large 

 court behind the house. The grapes are brought in large baskets, or 

 on hand-barrows, made with poles and raw hide, and are emptied in 

 heaps, under an open shed. Here several small boards are placed, on 

 which the grapes are laid by the men, who separate them from the 

 stalks, by rolling them rapidly in their hands, the grapes foiling along 

 the boards, which are inclined into a large vat, where they are trodden 

 out by men. The juice, which runs off through a rude strainer at one 

 end, is received into large earthen jars ; the pumice, or residuum, is 



