CHILI. 



while his people prepared fresh horses and mules^ 

 for the remainder of the journey to Copiapd, still 

 four or five leagues off. Shortly after remount- 

 ing, everything wore a new and more pleasing as- 

 pect ; for, from the moment of entering the Ra- 

 madilla grounds, cultivation and pasture, and 

 abundance of verdure, were seen on all sides. 

 The cause of this change was a little streamlet, 

 gladdening everything which it passed through. 

 People are, in general, so much accustomed to 

 see what is called spontaneous vegetation, that 

 they forget the obligation which the soil lies un- 

 der to moisture ; but in a country without either 

 rain or dew, the case is different, and wherever 

 a stream is found, the debt is gratefully acknow- 

 ledged. 



By the time the sun had set, we became com- 

 pletely bewildered amongst the lower Andes, and, 

 without a guide, must soon have lost ourselves. 

 When it became dark, we were left in that mys- 

 terious, and rather pleasing state of uncertainty, 

 which belongs peculiarly to night travelling, in a 

 country totally new. 



At Copiapd, our party were kindly received by 



