WS i VALPARAISO —SANTIAGO. July 1829* 



the shafts, and the others outside, attached to the carriage by a 

 single trace of hide ; and preceded by a drove of horses, from 

 which, at the end of every stage of twelve or fifteen miles, we 

 selected a relay. The day was so very stormy, that we saw 

 but little of the country. Immediately after leaving the Almen- 

 dral, or suburbs of Valparaiso, we ascended twelve hundred 

 feet, and then descended about four hundred feet to an extensive 

 plain, reaching to the Cuesta de Zapato, the summit of whicli, 

 at least the highest part of the road over it, we found by 

 barometrical measurement to be 1,977 feet above the sea. In 

 the interval we passed through the village of Casa Blanca, 

 lying eight hundred and three feet above the sea. After passing 

 the Cuesta de Zapato, between it and the Cuesta de Prado, 

 is another extensive valley, through which runs the River 

 Poangui. At Curacavi, where we crossed the river, the height 

 above the sea is six hundred and thirty-three feet;-*^ and the 

 road proceeds by a gentle ascent to the foot of the Cuesta de 

 Prado, near which is the village of Bustamente, eight hundred 

 and eight feet above the sea. 



This ' cuesta' is passed by a very steep road, and is ascended 

 by twenty-seven traverses, which carry one to a height of 2,100 

 feet above the plain, or 2,950 feet above the sea. When we 

 reached the summit of this mountain the weather was so cloudy, 

 that the Andes were almost concealed from view. Beneath us 

 was the extensive plain of Maypo, with the city of Santiago 

 in the distance, a view of considerable extent, and possessing 

 very great interest ; but from the state of the weather, its 

 beauty would not have been seen to advantage, had not portions 

 of the towering Andes, raised by optical deception to apparently 

 twice their height, appeared at intervals among the clouds. On 



* Miers, in his account of Chile, gives a table of barometrical mea- 

 surements of the heights of the land between Valparaiso and Mendoza, 

 from which it appears that he has deduced the height of Curacavi to be 

 1,560 feet. As my determinations are the results of observations made 

 on my way to and from Santiag-o, T have no doubt of their correctness, and 

 think that the registered height of Miers's table should be 29-355 instead 

 of 28-355. 



