208 JOURNEY TO THE GOLD MINE OF 



before him ; large masses of rock were rolling down 

 the side of the mountain on which he stood, and he 

 heard them coming and rushing past him without 

 being able to see how to avoid them, and he there- 

 fore stood his ground, afraid to move. In almost 

 all the mines which we visited in Chili we witnessed 

 the awful effects of these earthquakes, and it was 

 astonishing to observe how severely the mountains 

 had been shaken. 



We got back to Petorca by ten o''clock5 and as 

 our host said he could give us fresh mules, I sent 

 ours quietly on, and we agreed to start as soon as 

 we had had a couple of hours' sleep. 



After taking leave of our kind host, and bowing 

 to the ladies, who were all standing at their doors, I 

 went to the mule which had been provided for me, 

 and saw by the wrinkles in his nose that he had 

 some mischief in his head : however, he stood per- 

 fectly still, and allowed me to put my foot into the 

 stirrup ; but as soon as I threw my leg over him he 

 jumped sideways about a yard ; my heel went on to 

 the top of some baggage which was upon the back 

 of another mule, and my long Gaucho's spur got 

 entangled in it. The mule, seeing that his plot 



