SANTIAGO. 



61 



cently committed on the hills we were to cross 

 on our way to Valparaiso. As we descended 

 them to Bustamente^ we perceived the heads 

 of two of the culprits exhibited by the road- 

 side on poles. The innkeeper related to us the 

 circumstances attending this murder^ the au- 

 thors of which were discovered bv one of those 

 accidents which appear almost miraculous. 

 Four ruffians overtook a poor man and his 

 wife^ riding on the same horse up the moun- 

 tain. After some conversation with them^ the 

 wretches knocked the man on the head and 

 killed him. They then maltreated the woman 

 for several hours^ and finally put her to death 

 also, through fear that she might betray them. 

 They threw the bodies over a precipice, and 

 made off to Santiago with the stolen horse, 

 intending to pass through the city, and proceed 

 to a distance from the place of their atro- 



