204 JOURNEY TO THE GOLD MINE OF 



into a flood of tears, and said, Mis espuelas" (my 

 spurs), and on he proceeded. One cannot say much 

 for the lad^s fortitude, yet the loss of spurs to a 

 Gaucho is a very serious misfortune. They are in 

 fact his only property — the wings upon which he 

 flies for food or amusement. 



The sun was getting low, and the mules quite 

 tired with the rocky barren path on which they had 

 toiled, when we came to the top of a mountain, 

 from which we suddenly looked down upon the val- 

 ley of Aconcagua, which is a long narrow plain, irri- 

 gated by a fine stream of water. The contrast was 

 quite extraordinary ; — the colour of the trees and 

 grass was black rather than green, and vegetation so 

 rank and luxuriant, that the huts literally appeared 

 smothered in the crops around them. This pic- 

 ture is one which is constantly met with in Chili ; 

 and as the produce of these plains, when irrigated, 

 is greater than that of any of the world. Chili has 

 often been called one of the richest countries. But 

 although these productive spots deservedly attracted 

 the attention of the Spaniards, who found that the 

 necessaries of life were there so easily obtained, yet 

 the country is generally so mountainous, and so 



