Nov.] CHARACTER, MANNERS, ETC. 163 



nanimity to celebrate in verse the exploits of a people who shed so 

 much Spanish blood in maintaining their independence. 



I have been struck with horror, even here in civilized Chiloe, among 

 professed Christians, to hear a Spanish priest denounce some native 

 Indians just brought in from the mountains, as brutes ; nay, as objects 

 of Divine wrath doomed to perdition. When this same arrogant 

 Spanish ecclesiastic, and others like him, had wantonly assailed, robbed, 

 and despoiled the fair possessions of these unfortunate Indians ; had 

 deprived them of all they held dear, and driven them to the Andean 

 deserts for safety ! 



The inhabitants of Chiloe, generally, are a brave, humane, liberal 

 people ; similar, in most respects, to those of Valdivia and Concep- 

 tion ; except that the ladies do not dress quite so much in the Euro- 

 pean style. Their demeanour and manners, however, are so delicate 

 and pleasing, that a man must possess more stoicism than I can boast 

 of who does not, after a short acquaintance, feel for them a strong 

 partiality. They are remarkable for quickness of apprehension, wit, 

 and vivacity. They are also sociable, lively, and polite ; which, com- 

 bined with an excellent taste, seem to be hereditary qualities in these 

 interesting descendants of two distinct and dissimilar species of the 

 human race. They appear to be particularly well-affected towards 

 the Americans of the United States, and also to Englishmen ; and for 

 my own part, I could never think it improper to reciprocate such favour- 

 able sentiments. 



In the concluding sentence of the preceding paragraph is seen and 

 felt the want of a generic name for our own country, in distinction 

 from all other nations in the western hemisphere. We are all Amer- 

 icans, from the Northern Frozen Ocean to Cape Horn ; and the citizens 

 of the United States alone are without a specific national appellation. 

 The late learned and scientific Dr. Mitchill, while he held a seat in 

 the national legislature, proposed a very good one, " Fredonia but as 

 a revolution in South America was at that time never dreamed of, his 

 proposition was rejected. Since that period so many new nations 

 have sprung into existence on the southern continent, each of which 

 has been appropriately christened by its republican sponsors, that it 

 has become quite inconvenient to navigators and travellers from the 

 United States, in reporting themselves to our neighbours of the south. 



In the course of a desultory conversation, I once observed to a lady 

 of Valparaiso, that the Americans (meaning citizens of the United 

 States) had felt and expressed a lively interest in the late successful 

 struggle of Chili for liberty and independence. " O yes, sir," she 

 replied with vivacity ; " we certainly felt anxious for the result." Here 

 I was fishing for a polite compliment for our national sympathy, and 

 was not understood, because my country has no other name than that 

 which is claimed with an equal right by the Canadians, the Mexicans, 

 Brazilians, and each republic of South America. But this is another 

 digression. 



Taking it for granted that the fair reader of my own country (should 

 any condescend to peruse the rough journal of a seaman) would 

 like to know something respecting the dress of these black-eyed ladies 



8 



