16 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, squares, but much dilapidated, dusty, and in some places overgrown 
with grass, A thousand inmates occupied these wretched dwellings, 
October, who acknowledged the supremacy of a governor, poor, proud, and 
independent; and intrusted their spiritual concerns to the care of a 
patriot priest. In the principal square stood a church, in character 
with the rest of the buildings ; and in front of it a belfry, which for 
some time past must have endangered the hfe of the bellman. His 
occupation, however, was less laborious than in other catholic countries, 
as it was here called into action but once in the seven days ; and was 
then attended to only by the female part of the inhabitants. 
It was painful to compare the present circumstances of this place 
with the prosperity that once prevailed, and impossible to look upon 
the unhappy inhabitants without feelings of pity at the state to 
which they are reduced. The other villages in the bay were in a 
very similar condition ; and one, Tomb6, where there was formerly an 
extensive saltpetre manufactory, was entirely deserted. 
The day after my arrival, I accompanied the captains of the 
squadron, and Mr. Nugent the consul-general, to Conception, pursuant 
to an invitation we received from the Intendente to visit that city. 
Its distance from Talcahuana is about three leagues. The road, at 
first, leads over a steep hill to the eastward of the town, the summit of 
which commands an excellent view of the natural advantages of defence 
which the peninsula of Talcahuana possesses, and shows how formidable 
it might become under judicious management. The royalists were not 
ignorant of this, and during the turbulent times of emancipation, sought 
shelter amongst them, cut ditches, and threw up temporary works of 
defence, all of which are now nearly effaced by the heavy rains that 
visit this country at particular periods of the year. At the back of 
this range of hills, the country is flat and occasionally swampy, and 
continues so, with very little interruption, to the C0II6 de Chepe, a 
small eminence, whence a stranger obtains the first view of the river 
Bio Bio and the city. The Intendente met us about a mile outside 
the town and accompanied us to his residence, where we experienced 
a most cordial and hospitable reception. 
Conception, during its prosperity, has been described by the able 
