Aug. 1834. 



SANTIAGO. 



319 



form covering of newly-fallen snow rendered the view of the 

 volcano of Aconcagua and the main chain quite glorious. 

 We were now on the road to Santiago^ the capital of Chile. 

 We crossed the Cerro del Talguen^ and slept at a little 

 rancho. The host, talking about the state of Chile as com- 

 pared to other countries, was very humble : Some see with 

 two eyes, and some with one, but for my part I do not think 

 that Chile sees with any.^^ 



August 27th. — After crossing many low hills, we de- 

 scended into the small land-l,ocked plain of Guitron. In the 

 basins, such as this one, which are elevated from 1000 to 

 2000 feet above the sea, two species of acacia, which are 

 stunted in their forms, and stand wide apart from each other, 

 grow in large numbers. These trees are never found near 

 the sea-coast ; and this gives another characteristic feature to 

 the scenery of th6se basins. 



We crossed a low ridge which separates Guitron from the 

 great plain on which Santiago stands. The view was here 

 pre-eminently striking : the dead level surface, covered in 

 parts by woods of acacia, and with the city in the distance, 

 abutting horizontally against the base of the Andes, whose 

 snowy peaks were bright with the evening sun. At the first 

 glance of this view it was quite evident that the plain repre- 

 sented the extent of a former inland sea. As soon as we 

 gained the level road we pushed our horses into a gallop, 

 and reached the city before it was dark. 



I staid a week in Santiago, and enjoyed myself very much. 

 In the morning I rode to various places on the plain, and 

 in the evening dined with several of the English merchants, 

 whose hospitality at this place is well known. A never- 

 failing source of pleasure, was to ascend the little pap of 

 rock (fort St. Lucia) which projects in the middle of the 

 city. The scenery certainly is most striking, and as I have 

 said, very peculiar. I am informed that this same character 

 is common to the cities on the great Mexican platform. 

 Of the town I have nothing to say in detail : it is not so 

 fine or so large as Buenos Ay res, but is built after the same 



