1 877*] 
Present Condition of Chile. 
3S9 
to the neglect of her former masters, which, when she had 
cast off the yoke, drove her to create everything for herself, 
and called forth exceptional energies in the nation. Most 
of these maybe summed up in two words — work and shrewd 
sense ( trabajo i cor dura). 
Thanks largely to the natural advantages of their country, 
and not a little too to foreign — mostly English — energy and 
assistance, the Chilean people have now attained a remark- 
able degree of prosperity ; but Mr. Rumbold points out that 
they have of late shown signs of the intoxicating effects of 
good fortune, and this is exhibited in the fadt that they are 
bent (the Government and upper classes setting the ex- 
ample) rather on decorating and beautifying their house 
than on setting it in more perfect order. A first visit to the 
city of Santiago, he says, cannot but be matter of agreeable 
surprise to an intelligent European ; but after a more 
lengthened stay the ambitious growth and luxury of the 
town will probably seem to him out of due proportion to 
the power and resources of the country of which it is the 
capital. One is, indeed, scarcely prepared to find go miles 
inland, at the foot of the Andes, a city of some 160,000 in- 
habitants, with such handsome public bulidings, stately 
dwelling-houses, and exceptionally fine promenades. On 
this subjedt the reader will find, in Mr. Rumbold’s report, 
some further particulars of interest, to which want of space 
alone precludes us from referring in greater detail. 
To conclude : — The opening years of the century were 
wont to see an anxious crowd watching at Valparaiso for 
the first sight of the ship which, at intervals during the 
year, was sent down from Peru to that port with supplies 
and luxuries commensurate with the wants of a needy out- 
lying province. The same port saw close upon 3000 vessels 
— one-third of them steamers — entering and leaving it in 
1874, while over 11,600 vessels traded in the year in all the 
harbours of the Republic. In the same year it was reckoned 
that the value of the capital in land throughout the country 
amounted to 666,000,000 dollars, or about £133,200,000, 
while the capital invested in banks, or in general commer- 
cial and industrial operations, might be safely estimated at 
over £30,000,000. Figures like these speak eloquently of 
the progress "achieved in the three-quarters of a century that 
have elapsed since men gathered on the beach to wait the 
advent of the promised ship, and on the facets they reveal 
Chile might well rest a claim to universal regard and sym- 
pathy. But she can afford to rest that claim on far higher 
