120 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



(till then uninterrupted) into conversation; even the big French- 

 man looked out round the side of his gig top, and cried " c'est 

 un joli matin!" Manuel again passed his ''lazo" around the 

 axle, and we again kedged down after the Frenchman. About 

 ten o'clock we stopped at an inn situated at the foot of the 

 Cuesta, in a vale called El cajon de Zapdta, where we changed 

 horses, and again moved on. The country is level, and culti- 

 vated, till it reaches an immense hill, or rather mountain, that 

 surrounds the plain, forming it into a great basin. 



About one o'clock we halted at Bustamente, which is 1773 

 feet above the level of the sea, and seven leagues from Santi- 

 ago. Here we stopped to breakfast. The posdda is a one story- 

 building, surrounding three sides of a court or square, having 

 a low corridor, in rather a decayed condition, running round 

 it. We found every thing very comfortable and clean — at least 

 for a high road in Chile. 



They gave us for breakfast the universal <<casu61o," and a 

 roasted "loma," with tea and chocolate. The ^^casuelo" con- 

 sists of boiled chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes and 

 eggs ; the whole being well seasoned with grease, aji, (a species 

 of capsicum,) and a little garlic. The grease and aji are brown- 

 ed in an '<olla," and poured over the dish just at the moment 

 it is served up. In spite of its incongruous materials, to a hun- 

 gry stomach this mixture is far from being despicable. The 

 " loma" is the tender loin of the bullock, dissected out entire, 

 and roasted on the coals, and is an exceedingly precious mor- 

 sel. 



In proportion as out appetites succumbed to the good things 

 placed before us, the Frenchman grew communicative. He 

 was the principal of a fashionable female school, and, about ten 

 days previously, had lost his wife in her accouchement. He 

 lamented her loss, and expatiated on her virtues, because," 

 said he, "I have been casting my eyes amongst the Chilenas, 

 but I am unable to find one who can supply her place in the 

 seminary !" Three weeks after this he was married. So much 

 for the conjugal love of a Frenchman ! 



We again mounted, and were soon ascending the great Cues- 

 ta del Prado, which rises 3543 feet above the level of the sea. 



