44 



SANTIAGO. 



large enough to afford much shade^ though this 

 is the only promenade for the citizens of San- 

 tiago. A number of Chilean troops^ in white 

 and light blue uniforms^ were drilling, generally 

 stout handsome-looking men. The natives 

 are strongly prejudiced against our foreign cos- 

 tume. On this account the waiter at our hotel 

 entreated me not to wear a jacket in the streets. 

 I therefore abandoned it, and threw on my dusty 

 poncho; but the curious of Santiago, of both 

 sexes, all stopped to quiz the breadth of my 

 Guayaquil hat, and the next day I was con- 

 strained to lay that aside also. 



In the Plaza is a coffee-house called El Cafe 

 del Comercio ; within its walls is a garden 

 containing fountains, and orange-trees, where 

 people drink mate and lemonade, and eat ices, 

 or play at billiards. In another part of the city 

 I bathed in some large cold baths, sheltered by 



