148 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



seed in his poncho, which he holds with one hand, while with 

 the other he scatters it over the ground as the horse walks 

 along. 



As the rains are not always sufficiently copious, the fields 

 are irrigated by acequias" or shallow gutters, running in 

 every direction through them. Every estate requiring water, 

 which is scarce, pays a rent or tax to have it at stated periods 

 after the grain is sown, until it becomes ripe enough to har- 

 vest. The water is derived solely from mountain streams. 



The scenery around Colina is of the grandest character. The 

 Cordilleras, ever robed in snow, stand close at hand, and send 

 offspurs two or three thousand feet in height in every direc- 

 tion. In the winter the atmosphere is clear, the sky is of the 

 purest azure, and the stars cannot be more brilliant in any part 

 of the world. When the moon shines on the cold mountain 

 snows, and all is hushed in silence, except the occasional wild 

 shriek of the quiltr^gui,* the scene is truly sublime, requiring 

 all the warmth of poetic description to portray it to the ima- 

 gination of those who have not seen it. 



Colina is celebrated in Chile for the thermal springs in the 

 neighborhood, which are visited by invalids and valetudina- 

 rians from all points, to drink and bathe in their waters. No 

 accurate analysis has yet been made of them ; they are said to 

 contain both antimony and sulphur. 



One morning while at breakfast, a friar from San Felipe, a 

 small town to the northward, called at our house, and desired 

 permission to visit a mill on the premises. When we saw him 

 at the door, I thought he might be a true copy of the renowned 

 friar Tuck, for, besides a short rotund figure, he had a swag- 

 gering air, wore a gay poncho, botas, a straw hat, secured by 

 a black cord knotted on one side of the face, having tassels 

 five or six inches long swinging below the chin. His counte- 

 nance was calm, but it was the calmness of determined courage, 



* The quiltr^gui is a species of horned plover, which frequents near habi- 

 tations ; at night it shrieks in the most melancholy manner at the approach of 

 any one, or on hearing any unusual sound. For this reason, they are cherished 

 by the farmers, who value them as if they were so many dogs. 



