TOWN DURABLE WOOD. 



275 



house, and opposite to it is the church, • also built of stone. 

 On the side next the sea is the Yntendente's residence, a low 

 range of wooden buildings, erected without regard to taste, 

 convenience, or comfort ; and opposite to this are two or 

 three dwellings, very little superior to common huts, or 

 ranchos. 



Within the last few years, however, some substantial build- 

 ings have been erected by the more wealthy people in the town, 

 an example which is likely to be followed. During our visit, 

 several were built equally creditable for strength and con- 

 venience; and not a little remarkable for the rapidity, with 

 which they were completed. 



Wood, being abundant, and cheap, as well as easily v/orked, 

 is the only material used in the construction of houses, which, 

 with the exception of the provision-store, and the church, are 

 all built of it ; and notwithstanding the perishable nature of 

 the material, which is not protected by paint, or any external 

 coating, from the humidity of the climate, they are of extraordi- 

 nary durability. The treasury, one of the oldest houses in the 

 place, has been built upwards of seventy years ; and is even now 

 tight, and dry, and by no means unserviceable : but its removal 

 has been ordered, and, probably ere this, it has been replaced 

 by another. In Chacao, where, in former days, the Yntendente 

 resided, the greater number of the government-buildings, not 

 less than sixty or seventy years old, are still standing. This 

 durability can only be accounted for by the nature of the wood, 

 and the practice of charring the ends of the timbers before they 

 are inserted in the ground. The lower frame is of ' Roble (t} 

 the beams are of laurel, and the floors and partitions, as well 

 as the weather-boarding and shingles, of ' Alersef the latter 

 forms an excellent substitute for tiles, or slate, being much 

 lighter, and almost as durable. Some of the houses are thatched 

 with reeds ; but this shift is only used by those who cannot 

 afford the expense of shingling. 



The inclosures, round the houses, are fenced with stakes of 



CO A kind of beech, found every w]\ore on these shores. The literal 

 meaning- of Roble, is oak.— R. F, 



T 2 



