316 



CHILE. 



Aug. 1834. 



which are absurdly large. I measured one which was six 

 inches in the diameter of the rowel^ and the rowel itself con- 

 tained upwards of thirty points. The stirrups are on the 

 same scale^ each consisting of a square^ carved block of 

 wood^ hollowed out^ yet weighing three or four pounds. 

 The Guaso is perhaps more expert with the lazo than the 

 Gaucho ; but^ from the nature of the country^ he does not 

 know the use of the bolas. 



August 18th. — We descended the mountain, and passed 

 some beautiful little spots, with rivulets and fine trees. Hav- 

 ing slept at the same hacienda as before, we rode during the 

 two succeeding days up the valley, and passed through 

 Quillota, which is more like a collection of nursery-gardens 

 than a town. The orchards were beautiful, presenting one 

 mass of peach-blossoms. I saw also in one or two places the 

 date-palm. It is a most stately tree ; and I should think a 

 group of them in their native Asiatic and African deserts 

 must be superb. We passed likewise San Felipe, a pretty 

 straggling town like Quillota. The valley in this part ex- 

 pands into one of those great bays or plains, reaching to 

 the foot of the Cordillera, which have been mentioned as 

 forming so curious a part of the scenery of Chile. 



In the evening we reached the mines of Jajuel, situated in 

 a ravine at the flank of the great chain. I staid here five 

 days. My host, the superintendent of the mine, was a shrewd 

 but rather ignorant Cornish miner. He had married a 

 Spanish woman, and did not mean to return home; but 

 his admiration for the mines of Cornwall remained un- 

 bounded. Amongst many other questions, he asked me. 

 Now that George Rex is dead, how many more of the 

 family of Ilexes are yet alive This Rex certainly must be 

 a relation of the great author Finis, who wrote all books ! 



These mines are of copper, and the ore is all shipped to 

 Swansea, to l^e smelted. Hence the mines have an aspect 

 singularly quiet, as compared to those in England : here no 

 smoke, furnaces, or great steam-engines, disturb the solitude 

 of the surrounding mountains. 



