26 



sings enjoyed by this delightful country.* Before 

 the arrival of the Spaniards contagious disorders 

 were unknown : the snaall pox, which occasionally 

 makes its appearance in the northern provinces, and 

 is known by the name of the plague, was first intro- 

 duced by them. At such times, the inhabitants of 

 the neighbouring provinces oblige every person 



* If Chili is not populous, it cannot be attributed to the fault of 

 its climate, which is one of the most salubrious of any known, the 

 contiguity of the Cordilleras communicating to it a delightful tem- 

 perature, which, from its latitude, it could not be expected to en- 

 joy. Nor does Spain possess a province more pleasant and agree- 

 able as a place of residence. — Philosojihical History of the Eu- 

 rojiean Establishments^ book viii. chap. 2. 



There are two reasons which have impeded the population 

 of Chili, and counterbalanced the advantages it has received 

 from nature : The first, the almost continual wars between the 

 Spaniards and the Araucanians from its first discovery, which 

 have destroyed an infinite number of people. The second (and the 

 principal) the commercial restrictions which were imposed upon 

 that country, as for a century the Chilians had no direct commu- 

 nication with Europe, nor were they permitted to send any of their 

 produce to any other place than Callao, from whence it followed, 

 that every species of exportation and importation was conducted 

 by the merchants of Peru, who of course reaped all the profit of 

 this trade. This pernicious system discouraged industry, and had 

 a sensible effect upon the population ; but of late, since a direct 

 commerce has been carried on with European ships, which arrive 

 every year in some of the ports of Chili, that delightful country 

 begins to increase in numbers, and, in some measure, to raise itself 

 to that important station which its natural advantages claim. In 

 the year 1755, in the province of Maúle alone, there were calcu- 

 lated to be 14,000 whites capable of bearing arms, and the popu- 

 lation of the other provinces had increased in a degree proportionate 

 to the extent of their limits. The estimates, therefore, made by 

 Dr. Robertson and the Abbé Raynal, in their histories, are, in thif 

 particular, incorrect, being founded on accounts furnished during 

 the last century. 



