NOTICES OP CHILE. 



93 



te frequent. At sunset the ladies are generally prepared to re- 

 ceive company, and expect it. The history of my first visit 

 will give a better idea of the forms of society, than a simple 

 rehearsal of them. 



I followed a friend into a drawing room, furnished in the 

 Chile fashion, with tables, mirrors, a sofa, a piano, and a great 

 number of chairs, ranged in two rows facing each other, on that 

 side of the room where the sofa stood. A "petdte," or thick straw 

 mat, covered the floor, and a strip of carpet was laid only under 

 the chairs on one side of the room. It was twilight, and can- 

 dles had not been yet brought. Three ladies sat upon the sofa, 

 conversing, with their feet drawn up under them, h la Turque, 

 while a fourth stood looking through a glass door that opened 

 upon a balcony, beating one of the panes with her fingers, as if 

 it had been a piano, and humming a waltz. The evening was 

 cool, and the ladies were all covered with large shawls, the 

 right corner being thrown over the left shoulder, so as to bury 

 the chin in its folds, much after the manner that dandies wear 

 the Spanish cloak. In the winter, this custom is universal ; 

 then the nose and chin are hidden in the shawl, the eyes only 

 being seen above the fold. During that season, having neither 

 hearths nor chimneys in the house, except for the kitchen, the 

 ladies keep warm by placing a **brazero," or copper pan of 

 well burned charcoal, near the sofa, with a basket, made for 

 the purpose, turned over it, upon which they rest their feet, 

 or even sit. As we entered the apartment, which was high and 

 airy, the ladies on the sofa ceased their conversation, and bent 

 forward in formal salutation, as my conductor said, '*^Como 

 pasan ustedes, Senoritas ? Un Amigo!" — How do you do, 

 ladies ? A friend — pointing to me as he pronounced the last 

 word. The lady who was humming, curtsied and took a chair. 



Que fresquito es la noche, Don Samuel ! — the evening 

 is a little cool, Don Samuel ! — ask your friend to be seated,'' 

 said the eldest lady to my cicerone, and then resumed the con- 

 versation for a moment with the three young ladies, who were 

 her daughters. I felt very much as if I were not welcome, 

 from the cold reception we had received. Presently long tal- 

 low candles with thick wicks were brought in, and one set 



