SANTIAGO. 



33 



We found the state of society in Santiago, as 

 might be expected, superior to that of the Port. 

 The inhabitants are wealthier and better edu- 

 cated, and know more of what is passing in other 

 parts of the world ; their manners are compara- 

 tively polished ; they dress in a neater and more 

 costly style ; and they are much more commodi- 

 ously and elegantly lodged. They resemble the 

 inhabitants of Valparaiso, however, in their kind- 

 ness to strangers, and, above all, in their indul- 

 gence and consideration for those who speak the 

 language imperfectly. The city is divided into 

 quadras, or solid squares, by streets crossing one 

 another at right angles ; the houses are flat roof- 

 ed, and of one story only, with a neat parapet 

 running along the front above the cornice ; they 

 are all white-washed, and the streets being kept 

 perfectly clean, nothing can exceed the neatness 

 of this most regular town. The houses are qua- 

 drangular, and all the rooms may be entered ei- 

 ther from a square court in the middle, called the 

 Patio, or by doors of communication leading from 

 one to the other. The entrance to the Patio from 

 the street is by a broad, and generally an orna- 



VOL. I. c 



