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WHAT I SAW

OY THE WEST COAST OF

SOUTH AND NORTH AJIERICA,

AXD AT THE

HA W .ÅIIA
ISLANDS.

BY

H. WILLIS BAXLEY, )1. D.
. ,

XEW l"Y'ORK:
D. APPLETON (.
CO:JIP.,AXY,
443 & 445 BROADWAY.
1 8 () 5 .

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E"'TERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by

D. APPLETO
& CO
IPANY,

in the lJlerk's Office oftbe District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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TO MY SO.i.VS

CLAUDE A1
HE:NRY WILLIS,

THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED BY THEm

FATHER.

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6

PREFACE.

ty to 'vrong. Surely Christianity, w]1Ìch has follo
ed it,
should afford no refuge to false disciples, who "are hear-
ers anclllot doers of the VV ord." The religion of Rey.
elation is best served by the exposure and condemnation
of such, wherever found, ånd whatever their profession
of faith. "Faith without ,vorks, like tJie body without
the spirit, is dead," says an Apostle of Christ.

BALTIMORE, March, 1865.

OONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGB

Voyage from New York to Aspinwall.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

CHAPTER II.

Railroad Trip across the Isthmus of Panama.. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . .. 25

CHAPTER III.

City of Panama and Environs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. 30

CHAPTER IV.

Voyage from Panama to Port Paita and to Callao.. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. 46

CHAPTER V.

Harbor and City of Callao. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

CHAPTER VI.

Callao and Lima Railroad. City of Lima. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

CHAPTER VII.

Description of tima continued. Benevolent Institutions. School of Medicine.
Public Promenades. Amphitheatre and X ational Amusement:;!. Monument
.
Chamber of Deputies. Senate Chamber. Former Tribunal of the Inquisi-
tion. Religious Intolerance. Peruvian Army. Senators and Deputies.
Administration of Justice. Education................................ 120

10

CONTENTS.

.

CHAPTER XXII.

PAGB

Negro 81nvery. Its antecedents and cause in Spanish America. Consequences
of Emancipation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 '19

CHAPTER XXIII.

V oyage from Panama to San Francisco. Pacific Coast of Central America. Gulf
of Tchuantepec. Mexican Coast. Acapulco. Atmospheric change off the
Gulf of California. Coast of Lower California. Santa Barbara Islands off
the coast of the State of California. Golden Gate. Arrival at San Fran-
cisco.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 392

CHAPTER XXIV.

City of San Francisco, Bay of San Francisco. Bay of San Pablo. Mare Island.
Strait of Carquenez. Benicia. Sui sun Bay. Sacramento River. City of
Sacramento. Coast Range Mountains. Feather River. Mal'ysville.... . .. 40r>

CHAPTER XXV.

Big Butte. Mount Shasta. Yuba River. Timbuctoo. Hydraulic Gold Mining.
Rough and Ready. Grass Valley. Quartz Gold Mining. Auburn. Ameri-
can River. Alabaster Cave. Folsom, Chinese..................... . .. 416

CHAPTER XXVI.

Trip to the Southward. 'Vest side of the Bay of San Francisco. San 'Bruno.
San Mateo. Redwood. Valley of Santa Clara. Town of Santa Clara. San
José. East side of the Bay. ',,"arm Springs. Old Mission of San José.
Centreville. Alvarado. Alameda County. San Leandro. Oakland. Con-
tra Costa County-its Coal Beds. Martinez. Pacheco. Monte Diablo.
Carbondale and adjacent Coal Mines.. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 431

.

CHAPTER XXVII.

En route to the Geysers-visit the State Prison at Point St. Quentin. Petaluma
Creek and Town. Sonoma. Vineyards. Chinese Labor. Valley of Los
Guillicos. Valley of Petaluma. Santa Rosa Valley and Town. Russian
River and Valley. Healdsburg. The Geysers. Quicksilver Mines. Geyser
Mountain. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : .. 44.0

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Route to the Yo-semite Valley. Stockton. Knight's Ferry. Stanislaus River.
Tuolumne River. Don Pedro's Bar. Coulterville. Chinese Immigration.. 459

CO
""TE
TS.

11

CHAPTER XXIX.

PAGB

y o-semite Valley.. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 471

CHAPTER XXX.

:Mariposa Mammoth Trees. Town of Mariposa. Bear Valley. Adjacent Quartz
Gold Mining. )ferced River-its Gold Deposits. San Joaquin and Sacra-
mento Rivers and their Tributaries drain tbe Auriferous Region. Great In-
terior Basin of California. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 491

CHAPTER XXXI.

v 0) age to tbe Hawaiian Islands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 502

CH.A..PTER XXXII.

Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu and its Ennrons. Hawaiian Customs. Tbe King.
A Vulgar Diplomat. Honolulu Society. Public Buildings. X uuanu Valley.
The Pali. 'Vaikiki. Leabi. " aialae. " aialupe. Nanoa Valley. Oahu
College. Mistaken System of Education. Puahi.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 509

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Departure from Honolulu. Islands of :Molokai and Lanai. Labaina-seaport of
the Island of Maui. rremptations of Residence. Temperature. Simplicity
of Native Habits. Advent of tbe ""bite Man a Curse to the Natives. ,["nited
States Consuls and Hospitals in Foreign Countries. Official
Ialfcasance.. .. 526

CHAPTER XXXIV.

V oyage to Hilo, "Glupalakua, Haleakala, Molokini, and Kahoolawe. Interinsular
Channel. Island of Hawaii. K;twaihae. Hawaüans Originated their own
Religious Reformation. Failure of Foreign Missionaries in Directing it.
Bold Seashore of Hamakua. 'Yaiakea Bay. Harbor and Town of Hilo.
Mauna Kea.
auna Loa.. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .
.. 54(

CHAPTER XXXV.

Temperature. Agricultural Productions of Hawaii. Missionary Intermeddling in
Political Affairs. Rccord of Puritanism. Missionary Intolcrance and Perse-
cution. . . . . . .. .................................................. 556

12

COl\-rrrENTS.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

PAGE

Consequences of Missionary Errors and Persecutions. Missionary Duty. Mis-
sionary Contrast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5'1]

CHAPTER XXXVII.

'Vaiakea. Wailuku River. Sacred Grove and Ruins of a Beiau. Waterfall of
\Vaianuenue.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 584

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Volcano Kilauea-journey to it. Luxuriant Vegetation. Hawaiian Highway.
Fate of the Hawaiian. Pulu. Dome of Mauna Loa. Kilauea............. 591

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Volcanic Eruptions in Hawaii. Native TIut. Mats. Hawaiian Forest. Lava
StretlID from the Crater Mokuaweoweo of Mauna Loa. Wailuku River.
Katural Bridge Kepaukea. Lauiole Falls. . . .. . ... . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. 610

CHAPTER XL.

Homeward Voyage. Profits and Pleasures Afloat. Resources and Destiny of
California.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . .. 625

'VEST COAST

OF

SOU THAN D NO R T 1I AJIE RICA, ET C.

Cll.A.PTER I.

VOYAGE FROM
"'EW YORK TO ASPlliW ALL.

ONE who has adorned English literature with the fadeless
coloring of rare genius, has said, in answer to the question-

"But why then publish
There are no rewards
Of fame or pr0fit, when the world grows weary.
I ask in turn-why do yon play at cards?
Why drink î why read ?-To make some hour less dreary.
It occupies me to turn back regards
On what I've seen or pondered, sad or cheery:
And 'What I write I cast upon the stream,
To swim or sink-I have had at least my dream."

In the contemplation of the ocean that lies before me, and
through which for weary days we shall cleave a pathless way, it
is wise to seek the means" to make the hours less dreary." And
another inducement for noting the incidents and thoughts of
travel, is found in the entertainnlent, and possibly profit, tbat
may thereby be afforded to friends whose hearts will welcome alJ
that comes from the wanderer. For their pleasure, then, as well
as for my o,vn pastin1e, I find myself inlitating earlier efforts in
chirography, ,vhell uniformity was a stranger to manuscript..

14 VOYAGE FROM NEW YORK TO ASPINWALL.

and straight lines and curved made a merit of changing places.
A pitching, rolling, and tremulous steamship, is not the Ill0st
desirable writing acadelny, however appropriate for extenlpora-
neous gymnastics, feats of which are constantly being perfornled
by tho
e 'who have 110t yet " got on their sea legs," for the amuse-
ment of others ",
ho have heretofore 1)een mustered into service.
The" K orthern Light," under full head of steanl, bound fron1
N e\v York to Aspin\vall, illustrates the a1)surdity of striving for
preëminence in either art, when subjected to a discipline de-
structive of physical equilibrium.
The "hauling out" of a vessel bound on a long voyage,
freighted ,vith a full cargo of i>assengers, is a scene of deep in-
terest to those united by a sY111pathy proceeding frolll a like des-
tiny. And when fairly under way, there are presented phases
of character and conduct aU1using to look on, when the new
tenants take proprietary possession of state-rOOlll and berth, and,
going to housekeeping in a small way, begin to arrange their
own and investigate their neighbor's affairs. 11ere, as elsewhere
on the voyage of life, impatience, jealousy, envy, and discontent,
characterize the many; while happiJy for the amiably consti-
tuted, a spice of pleasantry and contentment distinguish the fe,v.
Fortunately for those ,vho cherish the graces of a gentle and
joyful spirit, there is a pacificator on ship-board that never
fails in due time to avenge the "\vrongs inflicted on them by ill-
nature. 'Vith the upheaving swell beneath, and the saucy
'v aves rudely boxing the intruding craft, sea-sickness soon merges
dissatisfaction in indifference to all things, and the troubles of
the spirit are forgotten in those of the stonlach. Thanks to this
discipline of nature, by the time the penalty of hUlllan frailty
is fully paid, a general humility prevails; anger subsides, arro-
gance becolnes quite accommodating, and all are ready to enter
into any comlllutation of dalnages for outraged dignity. It is for-
tunate for commanders that there is lSuch a panacea for the llla-
levolent distempers of those" who go down to the great deep
in ships." ·
I shall spare you the description of specialities of suffering,
where nearly all of several hundred passengers seemed as if they
had been indulging in bumpers of alltÏ1nonial ,vine, and that,

VOYAGE FRO:Y NE'V YORK TO ASPTh-W ALL. 15

too, often without regard to the recognized code of politeness.
Even the" old salt" who paced the deck, swab in hand, gh
ing
practical lessons in good manners, did not withhold his commen-
tary on the sad delinquency of those who ashore arrogated a
superior refinement.
Exempted myself from such ills, it ,\,\TfiS pleasant to have at-
tention diverted to other scenes. The deep blue ocean, when
fairly off soundings, is of wondrous beauty, and this color is es-
pecially the characteristic of the Gulf Strealn. 'Vhether this
be o"ing to greater depth, or to motion, density, or lllore active
chemical properties, is a question for learned and experienced
nautical philosophers to solve. As mere alllateurs, Vr-e were
uf

ficiently interested in seeking the line where the darker waters
of the Stream, we are told, from its higher level overflow later-
allr its ocean water banks, and lllingle with the common water
of the sea. And crossing its nearly a hundred miles of width,
rocked by saucy waves, the offspring of atmosl)herical disturb-
ances so likely to ensue froIll the tropical caloric elubosomed in
the giant flood, that rolls eternally onward to meet in antagonisIll
the icy currents of the north, alnple time was afforded to con-
template the grandeur, and reflect on the phenomena of the
ocean-river, which, more than the greatest of earth, carries bene-
factions wherever it flow.s. ..A., vast vitalizing stream of creation,
equalizing extremes of temperature 'which otherwise ,\,\yould con-
sume with fervid heat the fairest portion of the ,yorld, and bind
in fetters of ice regions, which through its agency yield rich trib-
ute to rejoicing 111illions; feeding the winds with warnl vapors,
to fall in refreshing rain on the thirsty land; facilitating navi-
gation and commerce; and guarding nature from the terrible
consequences of aqueous stagnation; while it contributes to the
genial movements of the air so necessary to the healthful econ-
omy of our planet. The west of Europe, in contemplating its
exemption froln polar frost, should not forget its oLligation to
this grand" hot water apparatus" of Nature. Without it, Vic-
toria's carriage of state might degenerate into a Kamschatka dog-
sledge, the" Emerald Isle" los
its jewelled appellation, and ice
palaces adorn the Seine for the fètes of K apoleon. l\lld ,,110
can say that future generations may not be indebted to the Gulf

16

VOYAGE FR01\I NEW YORK TO ASPINWALL.

Stream for an " overland route" between Europe and America,
,vhen the deposits of boulder, rock, and earth, brought by lllyr-
iads of icebergs from the far north, and unloaded by the resist-
less agency of the heated current ,vhich meets these fi'eighted car-
riers on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, shall have accumu-
lated until these shoals, emerging from the sea, shall assert their
prerogative to terrestrial distinction

Many a gem of literature lies hidden by lllodest lnerit in the
fugitive corner of a portfolio. The follo,,,,ing apostrophe to the
Gulf Strean1, by a young BaltiInore poetess, should not be al-
lo,ved to rest in its place of concealment:

"Pulse of the Ocean's bounding heart,
Wild throbbing through the deep.
Bursting the calmer tides apart
'\Vith an impetuous sweep,
Where have thy waves their place of rest

Where do thy warm tides flow

Vein of the ocean's heaving breast,
Bearing the tropic's glow!

Far down below the solemn deep,
Like ancient funeral pyre,
The ling'ring ashes scatter'd sleep
Of old volcanic fire;
But an their gleanling heat and light
IIave perish'd long ago-
Save Him who guides thy torrent's 1night,
Thy mysteries none may know.

Hast thou a bm..ied treasure hid,
Of gold and gleaming pearls,
Where island gems are set an1id
Thy wavelet's silv'ry curls?
And dost thou pour thy crystal fomn
Along Columbia's strand,
To girdle in the patriots' home,
The freeman's favor'd land?

Still flowing ever through the deep,
Thou mark'st thine onward way
By restless waves that never sleep,
When other tides delay;

.

VOYAGE FRO)! NEW YORK TO ASPINWALL.

17

Bearing the warmth of southern clime
Upon thy snrges free,
Sweeping afar in power sublime,
Wild current of the sea!

Like to a strong, resistless will,
Deep in the earnest soul,
That through all change, and trial, btill
.speeds to the conqueror's goal;
Cleaving its way through threat'ning storm,
Breasting the battle's strife,
Then spreading waves of pas
ion warm
0' er calmer seas of life! "

There's the dinner gong! Shall I sentimentalize or gorman-
dize ? The calls of grosser humanity make themselves heard at
times above refined persuasives. I am :{llortal; good-bye.
The beauty of a crimson dawn at sea induced an early" turn
out" this lnorning. .J..
hard blow last night caused a rollicking
sea, which looked, indeed, decidedly I.' blue." And well it might,
for the waves had been at their noisy revels through the small
hours, and the roar of their mirth, and wild chorus of their
music, told of a merry time in their boundless starlit banquet
hall. But a tranquil atmosphere brought smooth water, in-
viting invalids on deck, who seemed to think, despite their late
despair, that they still had a chance of treading terra jil'Jn(t in
the future, and hence essaJed to walk; a feat awkwardly and
amusingly performed, for reeling and lateral motions prepon-
derated over progressive, and the varying angle3 and incidents of
inclination and declination, "
ere many degrees from a desirable
perpendicular. However, perseverance afforded a good perform-
ance of a "Comedy of Errors."
.1\.mong the results of this release of the" cabin'd, crib'ù,
confin'd," was the renewed function of the vocal organism, a
piece of the human mechanism of no use during sea-sickness.
But when convalescence is established, Babel, I anI sure, did not
put forth a greater confusion of tongues than are uttered on the
decks of a California steamer crow'ded to repletion. All nations
are represented on board the "Northern Light," antI by the
time there were compounded the varied tones and semi-tones of
2

18 VOYAGE FROM NEW YORK TO ASPINWALL.

the Englisll, its masculine, feminine, and ne1tter (1 speak of its
tones), its sharp, its shrill, its meJlo,v; its high, its lo,v; its son-
orous, its nasal; its oral, its guttural; its grave, its gay; its fast,
its slo,v; its tearful, its joyful; its sobbing, its cachiuatory; and
so on ad libitum-by the tÏ1ne these vocal nlodifications were
con1mingled ,vith extravagances of emphasis, varied articulation,
and diverse pronunciation, ,vith other "high falutin" et ceteras
of style, into which illiterate Americans, ,vith a due admixture
of the extrelne Yankee, and of the foreign cross, male and
female, are capable of t,visting, distorting, contracting, expand-
ing, and other,vise doing the English language; and the com-
pound ,vas blended with an approximative variety of German
and IrÙJl, and a s1ight sprinkling of Frencl
, Spanish, and other
tongues, the possessors of which catching the spirit of trans-
Atlantic transcendentalism of style seemed resolved not to be
outdone, and therefore clalnored more vociferously, screamed
louder, and gesticulated more furiously, setting conventionalities
of social law, as wen as the laws of sOlmd, at defiance; I say, by
the tÎIne these vocal phenomena were commingled there was
produced, as chemists call it, a 'l'esultant (1 ,vill not say a 1nean
resultant for fear of being misapprehended) that out-babbled
Babel.
And as if this ,vordy war ,vere not sufficiently discordant,
music, too, as it ,vas libellously termed, ,vas brought to aid in
the desecration of surrounding sublimity; and a villanous ac-
cordeon and execrable guitar, more villanously and execrably
thumbed, and attuned to human tones alike their o,vn, made day
hideous, and drowned the solelnn requiem the ocean was chant-
ing around.
"Land, ho!" ,vas cried this morning-five days from New
York. It was the island of
Iariguana, one of the easternmost
of the Bahamas. '\Ve steered through the Pass of the same
name between it and Crooked Island. Large quantities of sea-
weed betokened our approach to land, cheering us as it did Còlum-
bus, ,vhose dejected mariners it encouraged to hold on their way
until they at last reached San Salvador, one of the saIne group
sOlnewhat to the west of our present southerly course; thus the
ocean drift was Inadc to point the way to the vVestern vV orld.

VOYAGE FRO
NEW YORK TO ASPD"VALL.

19

Running along the west shore of Inagua, during the afternoon
the intensity of tropical heat was realized, the easterly breeze
,vbich ha<.l previously refreshed us being shut off by that island.
It i:; one of the Bahama salt factories, and produces little else.
It presents a sterile look, and is of no value to any but an ag-
gressiye nation like the British, who own it, and to "horn in
war it serves as a port of shelter and supply, and fì'om ,vhich as-
saults may be advantageou
ly made on enemies. Anlerican
cOlnlnerce, large and increasing with unprecedented gro,,-tb,
is ever
rwhere overlooked by these marine watch-towers, and
especially do these" lookouts" command the hundreds of nlil-
lions of productions flowing in a continuous stream fronl the
cotton States, and from the fertile basin of the northern con-
tinent by the lIississippi River.
A dilapidated village on the southwest end of Inagua,
with a few schooners at the ,vharf, showed but little commerce;
and a nominal light-house near by, which is said never to cheer
the mariner with a w.elcome ray in darkness and storm, evinces
a neglect or parsimony not common with the British Govern-
ment. The Mariguana Pass is much used, and marine interests
call for a light on the important headland overlooking it. .L'i.
due southerly course brought us next off )Iaysi Point, the west
end of Cuba; and steering still south, "
e steamed through the
Windward Passage, Santo DOlningo lJing to the eaRt, and faintly
seen in the distance. The remembrance of the bloody passages
in its history, when, in the negro insurrection of 1791, the demon
of relentles-s sayagery and ruin, uuder the standard of a white
infant impaled on a stake, in two months laid waste with fire
and sword more than a thousand sugar, coffee, and cotton es-
tates; massacring t,vo thousand persons of all ages, and both
sexes; sawing SOlne asunder, crucifying and chopping others in
pieces, perpetrating atrocities more horrible than death on W-iT"C:3
and daughters, whose eyes ,vere scooped out in reyelry of brutal-
ity; and when children, "untimely ripp'd froln their nlotller's
womb," were thro"n as food to hogs; ,vas not calculated to in-
spire a "ish to draw nearer to that ill-fated island, once tIle
home of refinen1el1t, and a rich garden of tropical production;
now the dO:Inain of semi-barbarity, and throughout the greater
part an lillcultiyated waste.

20 VOYAGE FROM NEW YORK TO ASPINWALL.

From thirty to forty lniles furtber on our route the little
guano island, N avasa, ,vas seen. Its value as such "
as discov-
ered a fe,v Jears since by a BaltiInore mariner-Captain Cooper
-,yho took possession, and proceeded to ship the fertilizing de-
posit. The IIaytiens attmnpted to displace hÎln, but being una-
ble to show' title to the island, the IT nited States maintained
tbeir citizen's right of discovery and settlelnent.
"\Ve are steering soutlnvest across the Caribbean Sea for Aspin-
wall-J alllaica invisible to tbe ,vest. IIappily we shall pass on its
"yind,vard side; its airs are not burthened ,vith the perfun1es of
Ceylon. A dimpled sea and pleasant east ,vind, are the agreeable
attendants of the present; and the spirits and appetites of passen-
gers are responsive. Not to speak of the steerage, it lllay be said
that tbe Inore pretentious passengers, the upper-ten of the cabin,
are wonderfully characterized by quantitative propensity, whilp
tbe omnivorous nature of man is illustrated by thelll still more
strikingly. The tables, formerly almost untenanted, are now
crowded ,vith the disciples of sensualisln. The art of gastronomy
is clearly in tbe ascendant. Fish, flesh, fowl, familiar ,vith ice
alternated with tropical hèat, and hence passing into tbat ab-
normal condition kno'wn by pathologists as Tan
oli88eT/Wnt j vege-
tablc;s in season and out of season, the hebdolnedal occupants
of the ship's hold, some, doubtless, the forestallers residuum,
,vithered, wilted, and decaying; clams from Squam Beach, and
Shrewsbury oysters, which had long ceased to Inourn their lost
sea-bomes, and had passed into that state of dissolution indica-
tive of speedily being no longer "tenants at will;" pickles,
pastry, puddings, and pecans, duly decorated with those dernier
resorts of the dinner table, almonds, raisins, and filberts, which
generally prove alike first in tbe order of Inorbid causation, and
first in that of retroversive result; all these in varied style de-
vised to deceive the inexperienced and unwary, simple and C0111-
plex, underdone and ovcrdone, and not done at all, \vith the liq-
uid accompaninlcnts of champagne-cider and cider-cball1pagne,
brandy and Bordeaux, pale-ale, porter, anti pop, are" pitched
into," and pitched into thmnselves by old and yonng, ,vith a
voracity and perseverance indicative of a probable short allow-
ance on tho 1l10ITO\V, if ..L.\..spinwall should not then be reached.

,

YOYAGE FROM NEW YORK TO ASPD.\VALL. 21

It should not excite surprise that pac.sengers who are guilty
of such indiscretions, with that, commonly superadded, lingering
long and sometimes sleeping on deck during a greater part of the
night in the tropics, sholùd have dangerous illness to ensue; e
.
pecially, 'When in disembarking, often homesick and dispirited,
they indulge in the excessive use of unaccustomed fruits and
become enfeebled by the intensity of the land heat. The observ-
ance of customary habits, 'When these are conformable to ten1-
perance, and the avoidance of unseasonable exposure, fatigue,
and that undue excitement which results in indirect debility, ,vill
contribute much to prevent the ill effects of the numerous agen-
cies of Inischief ever in activity in tropical regions. And atten-
tion to these rules, before and during a voyage, mIl prevent or
aid the recovery from sea-sickness; relief from which may also
to Eome extent be had by occupying the 'Waist of the ship, espe-
cially at the commencement of a voyage, this part not being
subjected to extremes of motion like the bow and stern. Atten-
tion should also be given to reading, and even to "riting, if
practicable, to avoid looking at the pitching anel rolling of the
vessel, more palpably indicated "hen mea
ured by sU1Tounding
objects. It is sufficiently distressing to realize these motions
"hen sitting on deck, without magnifying through the eye their
effects on the brain, and through it aggravating also these on the
stomach. Mental occupation will preclude, too, to some extent,
apprehensions of evil, which cannot but aggra\ate the reality
that must come sooner or later to nearly all. The maintenance
of a quiet position by reclining is comforting, and cannot be
avoided in severe cases. But the voyager Inust accustom him-
self to the ship's motion at last, and the sooner he essays to do this
in the open air, and by moderate approaches, the earlier will he
secure comfort and acquire the privilege of personal locomotion.
,"Y'iolent cases of gastric irritation and vomiting may require a
resort to anodynes or sedatives. Among the most valuable and
safe of the latter, is ice. The ship's surgeon should be consulted
in the nse of others. If none be on board, a person's customary
dose of lauùanum, morphia, chlorodine, or pru,;;ic acid, may be
resorted to; and good brandy ,vill be found a useful stiInulant.
Even in sicknes
, ice cannot be had on board tIlls steanIer, ex-

22 VOYAGE FROY NEW YORK TO ASPIX1VALL.

cept at extra charge. This should not be in the dog days, con-
sidering the immense and cheap supply in N e,v York, and the
high pas5enger fare on this route.
I would not incur the charge of captiousness, and shall avoid
reference to sundry inconveniences and discomforts to 1vhich pas-
sengers are subjected on theN ew York end of the California Line,
beyonù the control of the COlnmanders of steamers, and only to
be remedied by the proprietor. But a custom of universal rep-
robation should not pass without remark; I refer to a charge on
this steamer of:. ten cents per pound on all baggage exceeding
fifty pounds ,,"eight. It is sufficiently extortionate to be subject
to the highest stealnship fare known to any greatly travelled
route, without the addition of this unjust, and as it often hap-
pens, grievous charge. The reason assigned for it is, to prevent
transportation of merchandise. If this be so, it ,vould be a suf-
ficient protection against imposition to subject a passenger's
legitimate baggage-his wearing apparel-in all cases of suspi-
cion, to inspection. But 1vho can be expected to travel thou-
sands of miles on a continuous route, consuming several 1veeks
of time, in hot 1veather and cold, wet and dry, ,,"ith but fifty
pounds of baggage, including the weight of the trunk? That
alone, even eDlpty, will sometimes "kick the beam" of such re-
striction, certainly if an overcoat be strapped on the top. It
looks like the inauguration of rates of charge according to per-
sonal weight and measure. If this shall follow-and who can
gauge the conscience that recognizes no rule of action but the
gratification of avarice-it 1vill be well for travellers to apply
practically their juvenile lessons in subtraction and reduction.
This indirect mode of levying on the necessities of the travelling
comnlunity, is alike oppressive to those of restricted means, and

'!1
ulting to the rich, both of whom would respect a nlanly
frankness, but despise while they are indignant at indirection
and injustice. The many-hued and changeful dolphin, the type
of unreliahility, ,vith unsatiated greediness follows its prey, the
helpless flying-fish, until bounding froI11 the 1vater to escape its
po,verful foe, the 1ittle victinl encounters a new enemy in the
s,vooping sea-gull, and both pursue it alternately in sea and air
to the death. ThIen have their similitudes in nature. He will

VOYAGE FROM NEW YORK TO ASPINWALL. 23

not be envied by the just and noble, who finds his resemblance
in the 'Voracious dolphin, or in the mean and ungenerous sea-
hawk.
The lofty headlands of the Province of Porto Bello, in the
Republic of K e,," Granada, are in sight. The lifting up, or flit-
ting b
r of clouds in the distance, revealing hills and valley:; be-
neath or beyond, clad in verdure and constantly developing
some ne\v and lovely combination of light and shade, is so fair
to look on, so refreshing to the water-wearied eye, so t.}-rpical of
the brief and changeful visions of happiness sometimes coming
to us in drealns, when the darker curtain of care is drawn aside,
and the liberated imagination looks out on the beautiful scenes
of its own creation, tbat I must cheat you of these moments, and
regale the eye and cheer the spirit with these exquisite dissolving
views of nature. Such they seem; for, as we flit past them, so
rapid is the change of the picture, that ere \ve can say" look,
look, ho\v beautiful !-'tis gOD-e."
Aspinwall was reached in a little over eight days from Kew
York-distance two thousand miles-and too late to make the
railroad connection with Panama; hence we must stay aU night
in this miserable abortion of a town, which is destitute of com-
fortable accommodations, but affords an undoubted chance of
our Ïlnbibing a sufficient quantity of malarious poison to pro-
duce )
ellow fever, a malignant type of which has been prevail-
ing here for some weeks. The voyage was formerly made in less
time, and coulJ be now in perfect safety, and with great econo-
my of time to travellers, but for the parsimony of the monopolist
of this end of the California steamer route.
.A..spinwall cannot be surpassed for filth, nuisance, and nox-
ious eftluvia. The houses-mostly shanties of deal boards-are
built on piles in the midst of a marsh, with the railroad similarly
supported, and filled between the cross-ties with earth brought
from a distance, forming the main street, a few alleys cro
5ing
these at right angles, being nothing but bog pathways, with logs
or planks to keel) the pedestrian ii'om premature interment, or
submersion. The ,rater-lots (there are no yards) are covered
with green, offensive, and poisonous SCUIll, oozing up between
the flooring of the lower stories; and every where, in and around,

24 VOYAGE FRO)! NEW YORK TO ASPINWALL.

the prelnises are surcharged with anÏlnal and vegetable matter,
in all stages of putrefaction and decomposition. '\Vith the ex-
ception of the employés of the Panama Railroad Company, the
inhabitants are of the inferior races, from the Jamaica negro
through all grades of cross and hue, up to the Chiriqui Indian;
and having the filthiest and vilest habits, knowing no restraints
of appetite or passion, is it surprising that this seething cauldron of
physical abomination and moral degradation is a pest-house of the.
Isthmus

Iany of a population of seven hundred to eight hundred
are no,v do,vn with malarious fever, of the fatal types Chagres and
yello"\v. It is dangerous for a native of the North to talTY at As-
pinwall in summer; and the natives are by no means exempt
from these climate diseases, owing to their uncleanliness, de-
bauchery, general vices, and- consequent impairInent of vital en-
ergies. A physician of . the town inforlned me that" more than
half of the population changed hands every year." I did not
inquire into whose hands they had gone; the specimens left re-
moved any doubt.

#

CHAP TER II.

RAILROAD TRIP ACROSS THE ISTBM'C'S OF P A
.ur.A.

FROlI Aspinwall to Panama the trip is made by railroad forty-
seven miles long; the time varies frOIl1 three to four hours. This
road, commenced in 1850, had its conception in the remarkable
forecast of the trade and travel destined to demand facilities of
travel between the two great oceans, and was conlmenced and
prosecuted to completion under circumstances of peril, privation,
and difficlùty, lmparalleled in the annals of similar improve-
ments, and constituting it an Ï1nperishable 11lonunlent of the skill,
enterprise, and energy of
Iessrs. George N. Totten and John C.
Trautwine, ßngineers; and in the finality of its construction, and
subsequent management, of the administrative ability of David
Hoadley, Esq., the present President. In the building of this
great national highw"ay, laborers were gathered from the various
countries to be benefited by it; and especially did thousands
of Irish, Germans, and Coolies suffer, sicken, and die, in their
efforts to bring into closer cOlllmercial relations distant countries
of the globe. Such, indeed, wa;; the terrible mortality attend-
ant on the employment of unacclimated foreigners, that it was,
after ll1uch and sad experience, found necessary to employ the
natives of neighboring provinces and of Jamaica, Vi-ith 1vhose
labor the road was finally completed in 1855.
Leaving Aspinwall on the east side of Navy Bay, the road
soon crosses the narrow channel that separates the marshy island
of )lanzanilla, on which the town is built, from the mainland.
llounding the head of the bay the road then stretches acros
the
peninsula between it and Chagres River, occasionally follo\\ying
the windings of the strean1, "yhile at other times it makes tho

26 RAILROAD TRIP ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA.

chord of its curves, and reaching Barbacoas, twenty-five Iniles
ii'OIll Aspinwall, crosses by a magnificent wrought-iron bridge,
six hundred and t\venty-five feet in length, from the right to the
left bank of the Chagres, along which it runs to the Inouth of
the Obispo River, thirty-one miles froln the Atlantic terminus.
The river scenery is picturesque, and pleasing to look upon, con-
sidering that ,ye ,vere journeying in a fe,v hours over a distance
that formerly required several days to make by boating. The
Chagres has made itself menlorable in the annals of death.
Every nlile of its turbid and sluggish stream can tell sad tales of
suftering and dissolution produced by its poisonous waters, and
the no less fatal malaria resulting from rank luxuriance and
rapid decay of vegetation along its banks.
Abundant rain, uninterrupted heat, and a virgin soil, give an
unsurpassed richness of coloiing to nature's foliage and flowers
in the valley of the Chagres. Crimson, purple, orange, blue,
pink, and ,vhite, flit across the eye in such continued and rapid
succession, as to seem an ever-varying and endless kaleidoscope;
and green throws in and around its sombre and its brilliant
shades, to heighten the general charm. So emulous of continu-
ous life is this region, that it cõnceals the proofs of death and
decay; clothing the sapless trunk of the giant cedro and other
trees, branchless and toppling to their fall, with parasitic vines;
t\vining their fibrils and clustering leaves around, and even at
times weaving for their heads coronets of flowers that cheat the
gaze. The representative tree of all sketches and engravings of
tropical scenery, is seen along the line of the route in great
variety anc1luxuriance; and no one can contemplate the uses to
which it is put by the natives, froln the posts of their rude
huts, and its thatch roof of broad leaves, to their food, beverage,
and domestic utensils, without considering the palm as great a
blessing, as it is a beauty, in this tropical region. The super-
stitious native Inay be excused for believing the soil favored of
heaven, which produces so great a boon; and especiaUy ,vhen
thereto is added the spontaneous bread-fruit, plantain, yaIn,
banana, pine-apple, orange, mango, papaya, alligator-pear. Nor
,vould it be a libel on his simplicity of character and cred.
ulity to suppose, that he regarded as an u:itquestioned proof of

RAILROAD TRIP ACROSS THE ISTIIMCS OF P ÄSÄll.A. 27

that favor, the growth here of that" Flor del E
piritu Santo '"-
the flower of the I-Ioly Ghost; its graceful blossom, of alabaster
whiteness and delicious perfume, enclosing the image of a dove,
perfectly proportioned, subdued, and meek, the emblem of inno-
cence and celestial purity.
But few of the richly-feathered tropical birds are seen by the
pa
senger as he speeds his ",,
ay along the railroad; perhaps, be-
cause of the noisy and startling encroachment upon their do-
main. Parrots, black and yellow turpiales, and a few scarlet
breasted toucans váth huge bills, having a less body of a bird
attached to them, embraced the only ornithological specimens
observed.
It ""yas a great relief to have this beautiful nature without,
to attract attention ii'om that le;;s pleasing within. c.' Black
spirits and white," with broWIl: yellow, and copper, had posses
sion of the cars, and mingled their interminable shadings as if
en,ious of nature's surrounding varieties. .And the represen-
tatives of these closely-approximative tints, free and familiar as
their near relationship of lnongrelislll
uthorizec1, ignorant or
reckless of the comities of life, w'ere, both men and women, busily
puffing the vilest weed known to the vegetabl&kingdom, raising
clouds of slnoky stench to offend eye;;, nose, and lungs; acconl-
panied by such extravagant gesticulations, and vociferous jargon
of spurious Spanish, as revived the scene of the weird witches.
Seated before me in one of the cars of the accolnmodation
train were two negroes, with their arms tied behind thelll by
strong ropes, and near thelll four others unpinioned, but all
under luilitary guard. I took thelll for convicts, but v{as in-
formed by the conductor that they were impressed soldiers, part
of a contingent called for by the Executive of Kew Granada, to
meet the exigencies of an existing revolution. The two guards
were of like color, uniformed with extraordinary simplicity, a
striped cotton shirt and pants hiding so much of their natural
ebony as a paucity of material would allow; while belt, bayonet,
and rusty musket, ""yhich lllight l)robably have been the original
of the comprehensive description, "without stock, lock, or bar-
rel," made up the formidable accoutrements of the imposing war-
rior
, under the cOllllnand of an officer a shade lighter in COIl)-

28 RAILROAD TRIP ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA.

plexion, and of nlore pretentious costume, fDr he was both capped
and shod. This systenl of Inilitary ÍInpressnlent to supply the
wants of the arlny, I ,vas informed, ,vas the frequent and f
1.vorite
one of the authorities; certainly it is an inconsistent exalnple of
free negroiS111 of one of the young Republics, whose universal
libe,.ty and eq'uctlity are lnuch boasted of. If an undesirable
elenlent of Central American population in other respects, the
neO'ro seenlS here to be considered at least fit "food for !!Ull-
o ·

po,vder." "
.l:\..t the several "way-stations" along the line .of the road
native villages are seen, the huts of which are built mostly of
balnboo, with steep pitched palIn-leaf thatched roof. SOll1ethnes
four posts support the roof, the space below being unenclosed,
\vhile a notched upright post in the middle serves the purpose
of a ladder or rude stairway to
scend to the garret above, the
dormitory of the ,vhole family. At SOlne of these stations varie-
gated ,vomen presented thenlselves with the fruits of the country
for sale. They wore heavily-flounced thin muslin dres
es, hang-
ing slatternly off the shoulder, and close to the unshapely per-
SOIl; not uncolnmonly with a child astride the hip and clinging
to the lnother's neck, while she had both hands and head sup-
porting baskets. ]'fost of the inhabitants, however, not engaged
in traffic with the" seîlors" and" señoras," presented a near ap-
proach to nudity; a simple cotton skirt (crinoline is a ll1yth) hung
from the hip of the ,vomen, and with men pants sinlilarly
supported, being the almost universal costume, except where
nature, ahvays ,vith children, repudiated even the artificiality of
a palm leaf. But whatever the style, material, use, or fteedom
from dress, two customs ,vere ah,vays observed, the wearing of
plaid kerchiefs or stra,v hats by the women, and the retention
of a filthy and knotty apology of a beard by the men. A razor
,vould be regarded as a sign of lnodern civilization, and a barber's
pole a harbinger of cleanliness and decency, along this high,vay
ofl1ations. IIurrying along the winding way, thinking of our o,vn
disturbing and dangerous doctrine of "squatter sovereignty,"
exemplified, too, by the pseudo-Spaniard and half-breed, the
Indian and ..A.frical1, who occupy and hold as much land as seems
to them good, ,vithout let or hindrance-and who, from attach-

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RAILROAD 'TRIP ACROSS 'TilE ISTHMLS OF P A...,AMA.. 29

ing no value to what cost them nothing, are correspondingly
lazy and negligent of culti\ation, merely living as benificiaries
of a bOlmtiful nature, ,ve finally reached the "sullunit," t\yO
hundred and fifty-eight feet abo\e the ....-\.t1antic level, and thence
descending rapidly a grade of sixty feet to the nÚle, the surround-
ing scenery becollling Lolder and more picturesque than that al-
ready pa

ed, we came to a singular basaltic cliff, the huge
crJstals of which "Were scattered round, disjointed, broken, and
jagged, proof
of the utilitarian spirit which has cast down and
crushed its massi\e columns; the pillars of earth's great archi-
tecture, perhaps, in ages past, but degraded now to the baser use
of ballasting a railroad.
Iountain peaks here beconle striking
features in the scener

, and the little babbling brook of Rio
Grande leads the way hence to the ,alley of Paraiso; beyond
w'hich is seen, lifting its bold brow above the Pacific Ocean, the
proud Mount Ancon, 1Vhich, long before the generations of man,
looked haughtily and unabashed upon the great sea that humbly
washes its graceful foot, 011 w'hich now sits the historic city of
Pananla. "r e approached this through a fine lmclulating coun-
try, showing better cultivation, adorned with gro\es of cocoanut
and pahn tree;;, through which were revealed, near at hand, the
quaint tiled roofs, dilapidated fortifications, and pearl shell
to-wers of the cathedral. Landed at the cl
ot my cOlllpanions
of voyage proceeded forth,vith aboard of the California steamer
awaiting them in the bay, 1\
hile I sought the omnibus, and soon
found myself trundled o,er narrow streets familiar 'with ancient
paving stones, and cllllnped out, "without pity for person or purse,
at the entrance of the" Aspinwall Hotel" of Panan1a.

CHAPTER III.

THE CITY OF P ANÃJ.\IA, AND EYVIROSS.

THE city of Panalna, the capital of the State of the same
naIne, one of eight confederated States forming the Republic of
New Granada, has been for ten Jears the focus of California
emigration from the United States and Europe, directing it to
the golden North; as formerly the tide of adventure sought its
sunny strand, ere sweeping on to found new colonies in the
South, as .well as North Pacific, to levy the jewelled tribute
which Spanish avarice extorted of the sinlple and unsuspecting
natives. It has been so long the subject of history, so often the
theme of the traveller, and even of daily journalisnl, that if
my story of it be stale, it 'will be excused because the dish is so
common that the spice of novelty can no longer be found to
season it.
This city is built on a small rocky peninsula, by some con-
sidered of volcanic origin, water-washed on three sides, stretch-
ing eastward into the Bay of Pananla, frolTI the Pacific shore of
the Isthmus of the same name; in latitude 8 0 56' N. and
longitude 79 0 31' W. It stands on the foot of a somewhat
elongated hill of five hundred and forty feet height called
"Cerro Ancon," which c0l11mands the to,vn and defences
and
being unfortified, would be quickly occupied by an observing
eneIny. The city proper, elnbracing the parish of San Felipe,
confined strictly to the tongue of land before spoken of; covers
about ninety or one hundred acres, and consists of two and tbJ."ee-
story houses, of dingy and antiquated appearance, built of stone,
mixed occasionally ,vith bricks, stuccoed; roofed with large
heavy concavo-convex tiles, so arranged as to present an undu-

THE CITY OF P AXAM...\., A
D E!>"
YmOxs.

31

lating appearance, and of such great weight as to demand sup-
porting rafterE- of unusual size and strength. The heat, mois-
ture, and innumerable insects of the climate, some of thelll
borcl's, ,ery destructible to all tÍ1nber except pitch-pine, ,volùd
soon destroy shingles. Slate and metal are objectionable, because
of expense and the heat of the climate. The roof projects over
rude and ricketty balconies, 'which overhang narrow sidewalks,
thus protecting pedestrians from sun and rain. 'Vindows are
rare; in their stead wide double doors are seen, opening both
belo,v on the street, and above on the balconies, affording free
ventilation when open, but when closed during heavy rains,
suffocation might be threatened were it not for small sigmoid,
lozenge, or star-shaped holes in the walls, which ser"\e as venti-
lators to the rOOlns.
lost of the houses are furnished, also, with
niches in front for porous jars, in which water is kept pleasantly
cool by constant evaporation. The luxury of X orthern ice is
only to be 4jd at considerable cost. In the better class of
houses the rOOlns are large; and the cpilings, which are merely
the rough boarding and rafters of the floor of the room above,
except in the few instances of plank lining, are high, thus se-
curing airine
s. ChimneJs are unknown to Panama house archi-
tecture; cooking is done on stone tables in the kitchen or little
court-yard, when this latter is found, but generally in a prÍ1ni-
tive way in the highway or byway according to necessity. The
streets run north and south, east and 'west, corresponding to the
sides of the nearly quadrilateral peninsula on which the town is
built; they are paved with cobble stone, and vary in width
from fifteen to thirty feet, including the sidewalks, w1lÎch are
from three to four feet ,,
ide, mostly of flat stone. The proximity
of the houses on many of the streets affords a ready means of
gossiping; 'while from opposite balconies, prying into the
domestic affairs of neighbors nlay be indulged in, by the envious,
jealous, and Inischievously inclined. Clulnsy flO'wer boxes,
monkeys, and parrots, are the usual occupants of the balconies,
for yards, either for floral culture, or for the accon1modation of
the latter Panamanian necessities, are rarely seen; and hence,
also, children who contrive to escape from domestic thra1cloTI1,
generally display their naked charllls in the street, a custom

32

TIIE CITY OF PA..
A:\IÅ, AND ENVIRONS.

,,"hich gives to Panama a peculiar claim upon the attention of
the young artist as a school for the study of unadorned nature.
The lo,,'"er floors of nearly an the houses are occupied for busi-
ness purposes, fanlilies preferring the upper for residences; nQt
Inerely because of 1110re airiness, but being less liable to intrusion,
they are better adapted to the careless and indolent habits of the
natives, to 'VhOlll a hammock, cigar, nothing to do, and I nlight
say of lllany of them almost" nothing to ,veal'," appear the ne
plus ultra of human happiness.
Several small unoccupied pieces of ground are called plazas,
one of these near the centre of the city being considered the
plaza; and this froln its unattractive and unadorned old field
appearance, would be entitled to no more distinction than the
others, but that on its west side stands the cathedral, an anti-
quated grave looking stone edifi,ce, two hundred and twenty by
one hundred and fifty feet in size, with t",'"o ,,'"eather-beaten
stucco to-wers studded with pearl-oyster shells, bO'l,stful of bells
for ever)'" lllodification of ceremonial and prayer; to '\vhich they
are constantly devoted fronl the gray dawn to twilight eve, in
giving fOrInulary utterance; while the personal devotee is going
through the pantomÏInic fOrITIulary "\vithin. The interior is only
imposing for size, the general architectural design is defective,
the details ullharIllOnious, and the decorations in ,vretched taste,
exelnplitying the rudest provincialism. On the south side of
the plaza is the Cabildo, for nlunicipal purposes, a long two
story ,vhitewashed stone building, with a plain, unpretending
double colonnade supporting arches in front, above and below.
A government house in another part of the town nlight be
mistaken for common lnilitary barracks, if not told that therein
were assem bled at stated periods the suprenle officers of the
State.
Churches are numerous. Besides the Cathedral there are
La 1rferced, San Francisco, Santo DOlllingo, San Felipe,
Ionjas,
San José, Santa .A..na, San 1\figuel, and 1tfalambo-chaþel of
Jesus, all, of course, ROlnan Catholic; and nearly all, although
presenting a decaying appearance, are still used as places of re-
ligious ,vorsbip. Perhaps the church of Santo D0111Îngo is the
only one that may be regarded as irrecoverably dilapidated,

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R(,H OF 8ANTO U(nIl
GO.

1'.83

THE CITY OF P A..."iAMA,

E
-rymONS.

33

although the effolt to preserve its memory as a sanctuary is still
made by a couple of old devotees, who occupy a rude building
adjacent to it as a chapel; where they alone repeat their daily
prayers, perhaps with more sincerity than the tinsel clad clergy
of grander temples. When gazing on the remains of this edifice,
now fast clï:nnbling before the silent touches of time, it:; lofty
walls, noble columns and pilasters, and superb arches, standing
like mournful monuments of departed grandeur; with luxuriant
nature draping with eternal verdure these mementoes of the past,
hanging her graceful festoons fronl cornice and capitol, and
crowning keystones with chaplets of shrubbery; whilst grasses
richer than tapestry decorate the walls, and their green mantle
carpets the earthen floor; while I stood and gazed on these, and
recalled the time when the deep peal of the organ reverberated
within, and the solemn chant awakened the religious sentiment
and holy zeal of the Spanish cavalier, to extend the dominion of
the Cross, I did not ""onder that the remnant of the once
powerful people who worshipped here, seen in the aged pair
who still linger under the shadow of this formerly magnificent
temple, should partake the holy sentiment, and cling to the
memory of the glorious past. The poet of another land may
have mourned over such a memorial when he sang

"Here once the glad Te Deum fiung abroad
To heaven the music of its matchless song;
Here once the :Miserere wailed to God,
Joy echoing sweet, and sorrow sobbing long.

But silent now, through ages dim and drear,
In their old consecration standing dumb,
The holy walls rise sad to heaven, and hear
Through the long gloom those deeper voices come-

V oices that know nor gIadne8s nor lament-
That thrill with no desire, nor conflict ken,
The breeze, and billow, in one long Amen,
To all God's will and all His ways consent,

Here once the prayers were more than words could tell,
Impatient wishes that besieged the sky;
Nor was there doubt of any miracle
Save that life's longings and its hopes could die.
3 .

34

THE CITY OF P A..."iAMA, AND ENVIRONS.

But now subdued by tedious toils and cares,
Desire falls faint-hope falters on the strain;
And Time and Nature with a deep Amen,
Fill up the breaks and echoes of old prayers.

Amen! Amen! No warmer voice of praise
The ruined walls, the silent soul, may find;
But oh, thou solemn sea, and mournful wind,
Take up the burden of our elder days!

Amen! Our hearts are hushed, we frame again
No other gospel of fresh hopes in store,
But weary of all tempests, join the strain,
That beats in grave accord on this stern shore.
Amen! Amen! Amen! "

A short distance west of Santo Dumingo are the Inore exten-
si ve ruins of the church and college of the Jesuits, the founda-
tions of which were laid in 1139; and they were built on so
grand and costly a scale, that they were not completed in 1113,
when that order was suppressed, and being expelled from
SpaI;lish America the structures 1\ T ere never finished. Decay is
written on every part of these once proud proofs of the wealth
and power, as well as of the religious zeal and pomp, of their
priestly founders; trees, shrubbery, and weeds, are the sole
tenants of halls, once designed for the nobler culture of the
sciences; roots and branches, like resistless levers, are over-
throwing columned corridor and massive arch; and the best
preserved part, the still unshattered walls of the church, no
longer resounding with choral voices, is now, in obedience to the
promptings of a degenerate race, desecrated by being used as a
cock-pit, where Panameños of all complexions assemble, fre-
quently presided over by a parish-priest, to wrangle over the
brutal national amusement ,vhich is the disgrace of their hu-
manity. Strolling among these perishing relics of the past on a
balmy tropical night, it seemed to me as if the pale moonbeams
crept more gently through the thick foliage that fanned the fall-
ing ruins as it ,vaved in the soft sea breeze, and fell sadly on
prostrate column and cornice, as if to touch with a last radiance
their departing grandeur.
Of the seven convents once inhabited by friars and nuns, six

THE CITY OF P À.J.
AMA, M""D E:yvmOXS.

35

are now in ruins, the property by law hanng reverted to the
State; and one only is occupied, by four nuns, situated near the
"Puerta de las 1\Ionjas"-::-gate of the female n10nks; which is
surmounted by a crumbling sentry-box, once probably of awful
import to the challenged intruder, but now disregarded by the
men-o'-war's boats' crews who generally land at this point. This
property ""ill also pass into the hands of the State on the extin-
guishment of the order, the lingering remnant of which still
offer their faint orisons in the verdure covered cloisters; where
vegetable nature presents a striking picture of undying vigor, in
contrast to the waning mortality within. This reversion to the
State will probably occur ere long, for the order is not likely to
recuperate by voluntary enlistment, the grace of celibacy not
being much coveted-the bridal being preferred to the religious
veil by the languishing Panameñas.
The southem
t corner of the peninsula on which the town
stands, projects about five hundred feet in the same directìon;
and upon this is built the rampart, consisting of a strong case-
mated wall upon a solid rock fOlmdation apparently of lava and
shell, from twenty-five to thirty feet high to the top of the para-
pet, and an equal width, fonning a fine esplanade, now used as a
public " paseo" for promenading, and which from the casemate
caves situated beneath is called by the natives "Bovedas."
T'wo or three circular watch-to,vers are still standing on project-
ing bastions, but like the wall they are gradually bowing to time
and tempest; and another century will not have passed, ere the
ceaseless assaults of the sea, from whose rocky foundations was
obtained the material of which wall and to'\vers were in part
built, will have claimed its O'Wll. The casemates are now used
as vile and filthy apologies for prisons; the convicts being pro-
miscuously thrown together and unemployed, of course are en-
gaged in concocting mischief, and the adepts in instructing the
uninitiated in crime. An arsenal and ban"acks are also parts of
the dilapidated fortification, all of them defectively built, dirty,
and disorderly. These emptied themselves as I promenaded the
paÆeo, of a miscellaneous battalion on parade, of divers hues,
ebony and mahogany predominating. They were neither uni-
form in comple
on nor costlmlC. Some were jacketed, others

36

THE CITY OF PANAMA, AND ENVffiONS.

coated, shirt-sleeved, or bare-armed; some ,vore shoes, the feet
of others rejoiced in the vindication of their naked rights; some
,v are caps, some ,vool slouches, and others slouched ""'001; but
all boasted of a yellow belt ,vith ba
yonet, and an old musket
that looked as if it n1Ïght bave long lain in son1e speculator's
locker, until it found a lllarket in revolutionary N e,v Granada
at two dollars and fifty cents "per barrel," yielding at that a
handsome profit. They were a wretched and forlorn looking
set of warriors as they appeared on parade. Dejection was
,vritten on their faces, and tÏ111idity and apprehension charac-
terized their awkward attempts at drill. In one tbing tbese vic-
tims of military despotism ,vere alike; vdth all of the111 the
lo"wer half of the face ,vas covered, or sprinkled, according to the
fertility of the soil, ,vith dirty ,vool, of a texture conforming to
the departure from the genuine negro standard. The retention
of this grisly appendage, formidable in filth, is a privilege of de-
generacy. The semi-barbarous are prone to Ï1nitate the more
vulgar practices of a higher civilization, especially when they
conform to natural indolence or love of the ferocious. On the
ramparts facing the sea, a single cannon on a broken carriage is
all that remains of the formidable battery that bade defiance to
the bold buccaneers, who longed to seize the golden deposits of
which Panama was the custodian. The mongrel descendants
of the stern old conquerors, who once fearlessly looked out on
threatening fleets, are now so destitute of armament as to be un-
able to interchange a national salute with foreign nlen-o'-war
entering the harbor.
Around the whole of the city, thus far described, is a strong
stone wall both land and seaward, erected when modern Panama
was founded in the year 1670, in its present site, by special order
of the king of Spain, to protect this depot of colonial treasures
frOIll the marauders ,vho had plundered and burnt the first city
of Panama, founded in 1519, about four miles northeast Qf the
present location. A wide ditch, the almost obliterated remains
of which only are now visible, also protected the city on the
land side; and two gates on the land, and two on the sea side,
afforded com111unication with the city; the foriller have been de-
stroyed, the positjon of one of them only being recognized by a

TilE CITY OF PANAMA, A...
ENVmONS.

37

street through a dilapidated part of tte wall, and the ruins of
arch and drawbridge, with general rubbish filling the moat.
Just outside of the site of this western gateway-" Puerta del
tierra "-is the considerable faubourg of Santa .L\.na, mostly of
frame houses, a precinct of abominations repugnant to sight,
hearing, and sInell. -And just beyond this on each side of the
long street leading to the country, are cane huts, sometilnes of
open wicker work, at others bedaubed with mud, 'with high
pitched grass thatched roofs, looking rather like cattle shelters
of an inferior American farm, than abodes of human beings.
These form the suburbs of San 1riguel and Caledonia, and are
occupied by wretched negroes and hybrids, whose habits are as-
sÎInilated to those of the brutes-donkeys, dogs, and hogs-which
are seen to be a joint tenantry. Here nakedness stalks abroad
in shameless indifference to notice; laziness and squalid poverty,
inseparably united, assert undisputed don1Ínion, and but for the
kindly offices of the carrion cro,y, accumulated filth "would breed
a pestilence. Such are the disgusting precincts through "\\yhich
the foreign resident must pass, when, seeking relaxation from the
toil of the day, he drives at evening along the only high'way
leading from the city.
The population of Panama is ten thousand, of 'whom about
six thousand li,e within the wall, and four thousand outside.
Intelligent foreigners of' long residence represent, that not five
hundred of the entire population of ten thousand are of the pure
,vhite race-the boasted" Blanco Puro," the rest are mongrels
of every cross of the European, African, Chinaman, and Indian.
The experiment of practical amalgamation is here being fully
tested, and self-boastful philanthropists may here learn results
of applied theories, without putting to shalne a profession of
superior intelligence, and deteriorating inherited exaltation of
race. PanaIna, once the proud mistress of the Pacific, the seat
of Spanish po'Wer, civilization, and refineluent, on the Istlullu,;:,
and the dictator of colonial destiny; the grand entrepot of South
American and 1tIëxican comlnerce and affluence, where aCCUlnu-
lated silver and gold "ere estimated by the ton, and precious
stones vied with the star::; in beauty and brilliancy; thi
geul of
the coronet of Spain, by a people's disregard of the distinctions

38

THE CITY OF PANAMA, AND ENVffiONS.

of nature's ordinances, by their submission to the rule of un-
bridled passion, rather than to the la,vs of IIÏ1n who made every
" creature after its kind, and saw that it was good," has descend-
ed to a more degraded condition than the aboriginal Indian
race from wholn the country was wrested.
In the degenerate ownership of the pI'esent day, decay and
ruin seem "Titten on all around; walls and fortresses, whose cost
of many millions led to a lnonarch's inquiry if " they were being
built of silver or gold," are rapidly disappearing, no hand being
raised for their preservation. Churches, ,vhose spires shone with
pearls, and whose altars were decorated with the jewels of false
gods, are no,v crumbling in a COlnmon dust with the idol tel11ples
from ,vhich they were taken by fi'aud or force; showing the
error of that assumption, ,vhich inculcates the better adaptation
of a religion of ceremonial to ignorance and debasement-the
impotency of such merely, ,vith the enlightened and reasoning,
not being denied. The imposing grandeur of art may awaken
the sensibilities to emotion of all, but divine truth alone can im-
press these ,vith the enduring precepts fitting man for his sphere
of usefulness and progress here, and exaltation hereafter. It is
an Ull,vortby pretence of religion that reposes upon no greater
glory than the glitter of earthly things and unintelligiùle fornls,
while the longings of the immortal spirit are disregarded, and
the soul is left free to riot in error, licentiousness, and vice, ig-
norant or unmindful of the pure precepts of truth, righteousness,
love, mercy, and charity, whose observaIJce is the measure of
happiness in life, and of peace in death.
No greater proof of the degeneracy and debasement of this
cOlultry can be mentioned, than the abstraction by the govern-
ment of' the revenue for collegiate instruction, and its appropri.
ation to other purposes. Even primary education cannot be had
in Panama, beyond the reading and writing taught by four de-
crepid nuns, shut out from the world, knowing nothing, of its
wants, ignorant of progress and improvements, and "rho, to be-
come competent teachers, would have to return to the world and
learn ane,v themselves. The very few young men ,vho aspire
to literary and scientific attainments seek thel11 in Europe or the
United States; and the still fewer young ladies, .who, like their

THE CITY OF P ANA)fA, A
ì) EYVillO:XS.

39

common mother, desire to pluck the "fruit of the tree of know l-
edge," must at great cost employ private teachers to show them
how-a dangerous experiment oftentimes, for the knowledge
"of good" and the kno"ledge "of evil" are so apt to become
confounded under the tuition of a modern Apollo, that many a
young Hebe learns that there is a serpent's sting in the arts of
her teacher, only when she has realized the earliest sorrow of
Eden.
The American tra,eller destined for the "est coast of
America, on arriving at Panama, must amiably lay aside home
habits and conform himself to customs as he finds them. He
cannot reasonably expect to change the usages of the countries
he proposes to visit, and therefore must change his own. This
ready adaptation will in,ite freedom of communication, a de-
sirable means of information to a stranger; and although he may
be required to breakfast at ten, and dine at fiTe to seven, going
supperless to bed, he will soon find nature under physiological
law.s accommodatingly inclined; and e,en if he be required to
live, as he assuredly will, in an atmosphere of tobacco smoke, he
may philosophically yield to its soporific influence, and become
unconscious of actual annoyance in drealTIs of bliss. Servant he
must be to hin1self where all are on an equality, and where the
negro, having been restored to his original privilege of indolence,
would rather suffer want than perform a servile office, or labor
in any form. As to the ceaseless pounding of' bell-metal, giving
clamorous expression to religious fervor, ,,
hich would ihus ar-
rest the attention of heaven and commeI1d itself to divine ap-
proval, forgetful that the unuttered prayer of the truly penitent
pierceth beyond the din of the self-Iighteous, one need not con-
sider this a reflection on his less demonstrative notions of what
is right and acceptable, but rather let the "sounding brass and
tinkling cymbal" remind hinl of the" charity" that" endureth
all things and hopeth all things," and thus while it teaches him
to bear, it will serve also to encourage his hope of the future.
For recollecting as he mIl the "fire ,,"'orshippers" of his own
country who once gloried in the grandeur of the ,,
i1d element,
and their achievements in staying its career, the echo even of whose
discordant clamor is lost in the scarcely heard pulsations of the

40

THE CITY OF PANAMA, AND ENVIRONS.

great agent which has revolutionized the s
ystem of protection
against the terrible destroyer, he ,vill be led to think that this
senseless clatter n1ay also cease, ,vith other usages of an ignorant
and bigoted people, under the plastic touch which has linked
two oceans in commercial union across this isthmus, and is now
slo\vly and imperceptibly moulding its destinies.
The tout ensernble of Panama and its surroundings, exqllisite-
1.1 beautiful as these are, when, in the case of the former, "dis-
tance lends enchantment to the view," should be seen from.some
adjacent eminence. All Americans who visit Panalna are in-
debted to A. B. Corwine, Esq., United States Consul, and his
accomplished lady, for hospitalities and attentions. For these I
cannot be sufficiently grateful. Accompanied by Mr. and lY1rs.
C., we left the city by the Cruces road, and at the distance of a
mile and a half, alighting at a now unoccupied country seat of a
former British Consul, we walked along one of several wind-
ing paths, pleasantly shaded, up a gradual ascent, '\vhich termi-
nated in a summit known as "Cerro de 105 Buccaneros;" on
which, for the accommodation of the weary, is found a tasteful
rustic arbor. Clad in luxuriant vegetation of rich and varying
green, rarely is so beautiful a spot seen even in the tropics; nor
was I surprised to learn that its fonner owner, for WhOIll the
social life of Panalna could have no attractions, yet lingered
many years in the balmy air of its shadowy groves. The queen
of the Adriatic, on whose '\vaveless canals he now floats, kno'\vs
not the abounding loveliness of this retreat.

"In V enice Tasso's echoes are no more,
And silent rows the songless gondolier; .
Her palaces are crumbling to the shore,
And music meets not always now the ear;
Those days are gone-but beauty still is here.
States fall, arts fade-but Nature doth not die."
.

In this tropical paradise gracefully the palm waves its plumed
leaf in the southern breeze, to fan the golden pine-apples nest-
ling beneath in their green couches that border the shaded paths,
and peep forth to breathe their fragrance, and tell the intruder
ho,v happily life m.ay pass in this sweet solitude. 11ere also hang

THE CITY OF P A.:NAMA,
"'D EXVIROXS.

41

the clustering plantain and banana, while the gay orange and
blushing mango give their brighter tints to enliven the graver
hues of the luscious granadilla, nespero, and mamei de carta-
Jena.
Tradition says, that from this hill of the Buccaneers, the
notorious English freebooter, Sir IIenry Morgan, on his way
from the mouth of the Chagres River across the Isthmus, first
gazed on the spires of old Panama, when, in 1669, be executed
his long-meditated and deliberately-prepared foray in the British
Island of Jamaica, against a Spanìsh possession. Our national
cousins pretend a holy horror of fillibuste}'ing-a 'Word of lllodern
coinage implying a practice, as they profess, of modern origin,
and which in its application to aggression and intermeddling,
they and others have contrived, with persisting effrontery, to
fasten on ..A.nlericans as a special national propensity. Thus
they would divert attention from like deeds of their past history,
and acts of the present, dignified by grandiloquent diplomacy
as "balance of power," "release of commerce from the shackles
of selfish exclusiveness," "protection of Christians from infidel
intolerance," "cause of the oppressed," "natural rights of man,"
"neces:3ities of civilization, -, and so on ad nausea1}
. The au-
thentic narratives of events which have transpired on tbis coast,
have recorded enduringly the international outrages of Sir Henry
Morgan and Sir Francis Drake; and to these might be added
the violations of neutrality of Lord Cocbrane, to show bow
shallow is the artifice that would for selfish and ungenerous
purposes, assail the character of another and kindred nation.
'Vhile the British tattoo boastfully encircles the earth with its
continuous echo, telling a tale of astounding aggression and an-
nexation ; and France, just freed froIn the intermeddling of com-
bined Europe, has appropriated to herself Algeria, Tahiti, and
Savoy, and is no,v recalling her forces from China and Syria, to
instruct Mexico in the duties of good government, or to establish
her "natural boundarJ''' of the Rhine; with such exalllplcs of
tfilli1J'llstcl'iJlg before them, Americans may snlile at a foreign
diplomacy so ignoble, and a popular jealousy so unw'orthJ as
that which would stigmatize as the special offence of others,
acts signally illlLStrative of their O'Vll bistorJ.

42

THE CITY OF PANAMA, AND ENVmONS.

From the summit of Cerro de los Buccaneros we gazed upon
the scene below and beyond, with different emotions from those
which the titled fillibuster, ]'lorgan, may be supposed to have
experienced; when, intent on plunder, the devoted city, the de-
pository of countless treasures, lay revealed before hiIn. Away
to the west and north rolled verdure clad hills of èxquisite out-
line; 'while loftier heights, faintly seen in the distance, showed
where the snowy Cordillera of the Southern Continent was ex-
tending its lower SpUTS, like the taper fingers of a polished arm,
to receive the hard grasp of its rocky neighbors of the north.
Valleys of virgin soil lay about their feet, lllantled in fadeless
green, reposing in unbroken silence, save by the shrill whistle
and rumbling clamor of the locomotive, as hastening along the
iron way which winds alnong these solitudes, it awakens their
sleeping echoes, and teaches them the exultant notes of progress
and civilization. Off to the east four or five miles, close down
on the sea-shore, was seen the lone tower which marks the spot
where all that remains of proud Panama of old lies buried. A
sad memorial of vanity and departed grandeur, it stands, like
many others, deserted, neglected, and forgotten, without a hand
to renew its 1110urnful graces but that of nature, which, year by
year, hangs garlands about its shattered summit, twines a green
lnantle around its body as if to shelter it from sunshine and
storm, and wraps its foot with clustering and imperishable ver-
dure. To the southwest rises the bold" Cerro Ancon," with the
long line of quaint huts at its eastern base, picturesque in the
distance, however repulsive when near, extending to the city,
seen further on stretching into the beautiful bay, with its towers
and turrets reflecting the setting sun, and its buttressed wall
looking darkly upon the ocean ,vhose waves break ceaselessly at
its base, flinging at times their snowy spray even on its frowning
battlelnents. And still further beyond, reposing tranquilly as
if on the bosom of the sea, are seen the islands of Taboga, Tabo-
guilla, Flamenco, Perico, Islando, and Calebra, fornling a beau-
tiful archipelago of ocean gems. The first nalned, about nine
miles from the city, is cultivated in fruits and vegetables for the
Panalna Inarket, and having upon it the extensive machine shops
of the British Pacific Steam Navigation Company; and the last

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p.42

THE CITY OF P AN
IA, AND E
--vrnONS.

43

four, two n1Ïles off, belong to the American Pacific :Mail Steam-
ship COll1pany, on one of which the shop3 of this cOll1pany are
erected. The steall1crd of these two lines lie near their respec.
tive islands, the American having an advantage for convenience
of loading and discharging in the proximity of its anchorage to
the city.
Surpassingly beautiful as was the picture on which we gazed,
the delight of its contemplation was heightened by tbe proofs
of connnercial enterprise seen in the distance. There floated tbe
American an d British ensigns, side by side, the guarantee of
improvement in luan's destiny, and amelioration of human con.
dition. We beheld the proofs of American enterprise,.energy,
and capital, spanning the neck of land so long a barrier in the
path of commerce, linking together its great highways, and
speeding its progress to the Korth Pacific, and to Central Alner-
ica, by the establishment of lines of splendid steamers. And so,
too, "\ras seen the illustration of British enterprise in the unsur-
passed steamships forming an uninterrupted comll1unication
1\
ith the extreme South Pacific, and collateral brancbes of this
great line to intermediate ports; both nations standing ready
,vith men-o'-war on each ocean to guard the great avenue of
trade across the istbu1us for tbe benefit of the world. Such are
some of the triumphs of peace-such the results of generous
emulation and cordial coöperation. :ðIay "\re not hope that these
will always prevail over contracted envy and unworthy antag.
onism 1
It would give no pleasure for llle to write, or you to read, a
detail of manners and customs moulded in all things by selfish-
ness and sensuality. If the people of this country are capable
of responding to the puri(ying influences of a rational and spir-
itual religion, and to the elevat.ing p01V"er of education-a prob-
lem which contrariety of opinion leaves of doubtful solution-
these are not here to exercise their benign control; and hence
indolence is tbe negative evil, "\rhile licentiousness, gambling,
brutal alnuselnents, disregard of dOlnestic obligations and the
decencies of life, stand forth conspicuous and positive vices. I
speak of the larger part of tbe population. The smaUer frac-
tion, less than one-twentieth, of Caucasian blood, "\rhose misfoI'-

4:1:

THE CITY OF PANAMA, AND ENVillONS.

tune it is to mingle its pure stream with this Dead Sea of social
being, true to its inheritance, is found here as elsewhere to assert
its prerogative of superiority in mind and morals-in education,
in virtue, and in the refinements of domestic and social life.
The unchanging heat of this intertropical climate produces
great enervation, particularly during the wet season and preva-
lence of sultry sòuthern airs, from
fay to December; and in-
ducing disinclination to exercise, it thus impairs physical re-
sources, and produces general deterioration, Inade very manifest
,vhen corresponding races are compared with the standards of
tempeI'ate latitudes. A smaller and wasted frame characterizes
both men and animals, a fact noticed by the least observing tour-
ist. Acute disease is Dot, however, so prevalent in Panalna as
generally believed in the United States, and in Europe. Open
directly to the sea, exposed to an unchanging north ,vind in the
dry, and an uninterrupted south breeze in the wet season; and
built on a rock foundation with an unbroken reef on three sides,
swept by a tide of froln nineteen to twenty-t-\VO feet height twice
every day; there are no miasmata in its immediate vicinity ca-
pable of producing the much-dreaded" Panama fever," so much
spoken of in other countries. Great injustice has been done this
city in the belief elsewhere of the origin of that fatal disease
here. The town of Chagres, on the Atlantic side of the Isth-
mus, and its deadly river of the sanle name, with the impru-
dences and exposures to rain and sun incident to travel on it,
and after leaving its malarious bed in crossing the intervening
region, without nece
sary cOlnforts or a change of clothing when
drenched, caused frequent and malignant fevers before the com-
pletion of the railroad; and the victims having reached Panama
just before, or immediately after the development of the dis-
ease, to suffer and often to die here, this city ,vas made by com-
mon nlmor to bear an undeserved odium.
fy O'V11 observa-
tions, and facts derived from those correctly inforlned, lead me to
the conclusion that Panama is safer than AspinwaH for travel-
lers detained on the Isthmus-an event of common occurrence
with Americans going to and returning from the west coast of
South America; for the Royal West India Company is interested
in preventing a connection of the British Pacific Steam N avi-

THE CITY OF P.ÅN
A, AND

OSS.

45

gation Company's steamships with the New York line, by which
connection passengers could often be conveyed to and fi'om Eu-
rope through the United States, in less time than by the Roya]
'Vest India Company's line to Southampton. Thus is public
convenience made subservient to private interest. But Â.nleri-
cans have no right to complain of this selfishness as a special
sin of a foreign company, for who in a more censurable degree
than the monopolizer of the X ew York and Aspinwall Hne of
steamers illustrates the wickedness of intense selfishness, and
disregard of public comfort, convenience, and safet)""

CHAPTER IV.

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO PORT PAITA, AND TO CALLAO.

A GUEST on board the United States man-o'-war "Lancas-
ter," with Flag Officer Montgomery in command of the Pacific
Squadron, and Captain Rudd of the flag ship, as my hosts, and
the accomplished officers of the ward room as occasional com-
panions, what more could be desired to secure a delightful voy-
age from Pana
a to Callao but propitious elements

To a landsman a first-class man-o'-war, when its decks are
trod for the first time, seems something of a mystery; and like
most mysteries creates a sense of awe, to be overcome only by
the exercise of the American's inalienable right to question. I
hope my shipmates forgave earnest efforts to get rid of a dis-
agreeable ignorance; certainly my exertions appeared to receive
the commendation of the old quartermaster, who pronounced
me a " tolerable swab" ere the end of our voyage.
The "Lancaster" is considered as superb a specimen of naval
architecture as can be boasted of by any country; of two thou-
sand three hundred and sixty tons, length two hundred and
seventy, and breadth of beam forty-six feet, full rigged and with
steam power, her full armament twenty-eight guns, her present
complement tw"enty-two; twenty gUllS on the main deck carry-
ing nine-inch shells, and two pivot guns on the spar deck weigh-
ing, ,vith carriage, twenty-five thousand pounds each, carrying
eleven-inch shells weighing each one hundred and forty-two
pounds, or solid shot of one hundred and eighty-two pounds
weight, with an effective range of two and a half miles. lieI'
complement of men is four hundred and six, and yet her size,
arrangement, and discipline are such, that one is not sensible of

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO PORT PArrA.

47

tho presence of one-fourth of that number. IIer engine, of
beautiful construction and finish, has a power of eleven hundred
horses, and gives a speed of eleven knots an hour if her full con-
sumption of thirty-five tons of coal per day be used, without
carrying sail, ",
hich ,vith a good breeze would of course greatly
increase her speed. Her double-bladed propeller, weighing eight
tons, can be triced up so as not to impede her motion when un-
der sail alone. The" Lancaster" is supposed to have no supe-
rior afloat, in effective force, or as a steamer and sailer.
If the direct and manly policy which has characterized the
past history of our country be followed by future administra-
tions of the Government, in its adjustment of international dif-
ficulties; if justice, candor, boldness, and resolute purpose,
should be the attributes of diplomacy in its negotiations with
lninisterial tortuosity, delay, and frivolous pretext; if the patri-
otic declarations of Jefferson and Webster, that " an American
deck is American soil," and that" the flag covers all who are
under its folds," are still to be the proud boasts of .ám.erican
statesmen; if fi'eedom from search is to continue hereafter as
heretofore the American principle of maritime law and justice;
and if British cruisers are not to be permitted to play the part
of high constables of the ocean over American commerce; then is
it necessary that the United States should show a preparation to
maintain their rights by sending abroad such defenders as the
"Lancaster," always a more convincing argument '\vith unwar-
rantable assumption, falsehood, and chicanery, than wordy dis-
cussion, however ingenious and earnest.
But it may become necessary not to stop at the achievement
of even such a hitherto unsurpassed triumph in ship building as
that of the ,.. Lancaster," for the proposal to clad vessels of war
in iron has indeed revolutionized the '\vhole system of naval
warfare, and placed the forlnidable fleets of the past at the
mercy of smaller and apparently insignificant ships cased in
Í1npenetrable armor. The experimentg of "La Gloire" and
" The Warrior," which have been made, enabled the French and
Eng1ish to test the feasibility and effectiveness of tbe proposi-
tion, their capacitJ of resistance, aggression, and sea-,vorthine
:--.
Being r5uccessful, others desiring to maintain national po,,, er
have been prompt to remodel their navies.

"

48

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO PORT PArrA,

As formidable as is the merely passive display of this ship,
it is not until she is seen awakened into warlike life and activity,
that her tremendous power and capability of destruction c
n be
realized. Early this morning the drum beat to quarters, and
instantly, as if a foe were bearing down upon us, every man of
the crew of four hundred ,vas at his post, but a few moments
being required to bring into effective condition for attack or de-
fence every engine of death of this terrible lnachine. The
manning of her prodigious batteries on the main deck; the ac-
tivity, energy, and order of the men; their precision, prompt-
ness, and regularity of movement of the guns; the coüperation
of each one ,vith another, and the noiseless harmony of all, no
word being spoken but that of command; the ease and rapidity
with which the ponderous Dahlgrells of the spar deck, of t,ven-
ty-five thousand pounds weight, were handled, loaded, turned,
elevated, depressed, aimed, discharged, and the effects at two
and a half miles distance of the bursting shell, upheaving the
placid sea and showering the iron fragments far and ,vide upon
its dark bosom; the manning of bulwarks by boarders with
glealning blade, pike, and battle-axe, a living wall of terror,
supported by the stern and disciplined marines, in peace the
sailor's jest, in battle his truest defenders; the rapid, yet steady
and cool passage of alnmunition from the ship's hold, as if the as-
cending buckets were holding the streams of life instead of the
agents of death; the startling cry of "fire," the signal bell, the
attachlnents to the engine, the instantly :flashing torrents ascend-
ing to the topmost spars; these counterfeits of war bursting
unlooked for on the sight, and passing in less time than I have
taken to de3cribe thenl, with a rapidity and order the result
alone of extraordinary drill and discipline, carried conviction
of the perfection of cOlnmand and general training on board
the" Lancaster," and warranted the belief that frOln past expe-
rience of naval warfare, no just estimate can be formeçl of the
dreadful carnage, perhaps to mutual and total destruction, to
result froll1 future encounters of ships of war armed 1vith the
present telTible engines of destruction, and directed by the per-
fect skill and discipline which now characterize the service.
Do not suppose from this "pride, pomp, and circumstance

A:XD TO CALLAO.

49

of glorious war," that my shipmates do not recognize tbe obli-
gations of peace, and that there is no prayer uttered that aU may
live under its dominion. In your city this Sabbath day, with
its Illany churches lifting their lofty spIres and swelling domes
to the skies,_and frescoed ceilings and arches reverberating the
diapason of the pealing organ and the solemn eloquence of the
chant, or echoing the words of Divine truth; howe-vel' impressive
these, and however elegantly attired, graceful, and responsive
the congregations that throng their cushioned pews and car-
peted aisles, there is not a more reverential and attentive as-
semblage than that coming together for religious worship on the
gun-deck of this ship ; on
more sincerely imòued with the spirit
that comes of a conviction of the existence of a Supreme Being,
and our moral obligation to strive to conform our lives to IIis
standard of truth and righteousness. With the vaulted heavens
above and the boundless ocean around us, all felt in IIis august
presence alike humble; officers and men came together, unminù
fulof the distinction of worldly rank, conscious of a common
brotherhood of dependence, to offer up their united gratitude for
preservation from the wrath of the tempest, and their one prayer
for a continuance of the protection of His sheltering arm. Truly
did they know, as '\yith one voice they declared it, " The sea is
His and He made it, and IIis hands prepared the dry land; "
and never was the Psalmist's apostrophe more impressively ut-
tered tban when it came from the lips of these bra-ve, honest,
and earnest sailors, '\yho stood sIDTounc1ed by the tremendous
engines of battle, and" bruised arms," with '\,hich they were
familiar, "0, come, let us worship and fall down, and kneel
before tbe Lord our
Iaker! For the Lord is a great God, find
a great King above all gods"! And appropriate was the
prayer of those bound on a mission of liberty and civilization,
the protectors of their country's example of constitutional gov-
ernment to other nations, n Oh! God, who art the Author of
peace, and Lover of concord, in kno'wledge of whom stanácth
our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedoln, defend us thy
humble servants in all assaults of our adver6aries ; that '\ve sure..
ly trusting in Thy defence, may not fear the po'\ver of any ad-
versaries. "

4:

50

VOYAGE FROM PAN.Al\IA TO PORT PAITA,

Such a scene of sincere devotion as that aboard the "Lancas-
ter" to-day, was calculated to confirm confidence in the increas-
ing po,ver and influence of onr country, ,vhich cannot fail to be
established by tbe continued observance, hereafter as in the past,
of the Christian precept, "deal justly, and love Inerc:r." It
called to mind the illustrative anecdote told of the great queen
of a kindred nation-great because she practices the rules of
duty and virtue inculcated by Divine autbority-who, ,vhen
presented with costly gems by a foreign prince, 'was asked in 1'e-
tUTU to tell hÍln the secret of England's greatness and glory.
" Say to your prince," she replied to the ambassador, handing
him at the same tÏ1ne a copy of the Bìble, and in the spirit of
faith and love ,,"'hich that. book teaches, "say to your prince,
that this is the secret of England's gre.atness."
After a day of heavy rain yesterday ,ve are now steaming
along leisurely under a clear sky, the thernlometcr at delicious

Oo, and a pleasant breeze dead ahead prohibiting the use of a
foot of canvas.
Do you 1'elnenlber the pretty tale of the" Arabian Nights," in
which it is related that a beautiful princess by the nalne of :Thlary
-most
larys are beautiful, you know-1'eceiyed froln her grand-
lllother, ,vho ,vas an enchantress, when dying, a bead having
many faces to it, on each of which ,vas engraven the :figure of some
object, the rubbing of ,vhich Ï1nmediately secured the possession
of the real object itself? The :first 'use to which the princess put
the talislnanic bead was to obtain possession of a n1agic couch ca-
pable of transporting its occupants instantly, and ,vithout dan-
ger, to any desired part of the ,,"'orld, and to perpetrate the very
COlllillon indiscretion of making off with a husband. But the
most shau1eful part of the transaction-one ,vhich appears un-
happily to have served as a precedent even do,vn to Inoc1elïl
times-,vas that 1tlary ran off with anotlwr won
an' 8 husband;
for it appears by the veracious history referred to, that Aladdin
Abushamat, the }'Iohanlmedan whom she inveigled, ,vas already
married to a sweet little lute player named Zobeide. Aladdin
having some cOlnpul1ctions of conscience, or a lingering attach-
ment for Zobeide, did not like to abandon her altogether, and
persuaded his new bride to take her along; so the amiable and

A....
D TO C.ALLAO.

51

forcrivino- Zobeide mounted the charmed couch with the runa-
o <<:::)
ways, and off they flew together, insen;:,ible to fear, forgetful of
danger, and unconscious of "\\earines
, to a valley, where, we are
told, contentlllent and happiness made the winged hours pass
unheeded. Whether their abode 'was fixed in the vicinity of
our o"\\n scandalized Salt Lake, and whether they were the orig-
inal colonists of the 1.Iorlllon settlement there located, strangely
in conformity with the policy of American statesmanship, and
the moral sentiluent of self. righteous religionists who" strain at
a knat and s"\\allow a camel," is not stated in the narrative.
In seeking an illustration of present. realities, I do not fear
a nlisunderstanding of my 111eaning, or an impeachment of
having been carried off by e,en a Princess; for 'lny )Iary being
along, sOlllebody would ha,e to gò off the enchanted couch with
the certainty of a rapid descent and a hard fall. But it is natural
in these mOluents of welcome relief from the wearing and
wasting excitements of the busy world, to recall the recollections
of early years and their delights; and what visions of bliss and
brightness should the strange and pleasing novelties by which I
am surrounded, so naturally reviye, as those which fed the young
fancy, and gave to lllaturer manhood 11lany of the gilded frames
in ,,-hich were set the pictures of real life? Like the happy
heiress of the enchanted bead, I too feel as if I had suddenly
come into possession of a talisman ha,ing power to lift nle abo,e
earthly things, and bear me unharmed, and insensibly to 11lyself,
to distant regions. During the day, through the delicate atten-
tions of my courteous hosts, I partake in their spacious cabin of
the comforts, elegancies, and social refinements of a charmed life.
At night, "I lay me down and sleep in peace," without even the
shadow. of fear to darken my dreams, for I kno\v that a sleepless
eye, experience, and skill, keep the watch, and that a tried and
veteran hand holds the hellll.
We are going at moderate speed along the ,vest coast of
South ...imerica bet"\\een Point Galena and Cape Francisco, the
latter being thirty-nine miles north of the Equator, and forming
the S. W. boundary of a deep concavity ;;:,cooped out of this con-
tinent, called by the old Spaniards "La Mar Tranq cilIa" -the
Tranquil Sea, or Region of Calms, of English charts. We shaH

52

VOYAGE FROM PAN.A1tIA TO PORT PAITA,

cross the equator in a few hours-just one year to day since this
ship crossed it in her northward voyage after doubling the IIorn.
This coincidence, however, is not so remarkable as that which at-
tended Napoleon's passage to his prison at St. IIelena, ,,,,hen his
crossing the line gave neither latitude, longitude, nor declination.
Such an extraordinary fact might "Well attend an event having
no parallel in history; an act without hontr, bravery, or
mercy; a monstrous example of injustice, cruelty, and fear; a
nation's imprisonment for life, ún an ocean bound rock, of a man
who had confidingly surrendered himself to those he deemed
magnanimous enemies, as a prisoner of war-entitled to the im-
munities of such in the eyes of Christendom and civilization;
and the more so in the estimation of the truly noble, because of
his sublÏ1ne genius, wonderful achievements, and grand concep-
tions of human progress! The deed must ever remain a dark
spot on the escutcheon of Great Britain; and if it were not
sufficiently blackened by the self reproach of suicide, an ever-
lasting stain also on the memory of her prime minister " Carotid
artery cutting Castlereagh."
The great superiority of steamships of war over sailing
vessels, is strikingly exemplified in this voyage to Callao.
Despite calms, or the still greater impediment of head winds,
which have thus far attended us, the Lancaster is progressing
steadily and speedily toward the accomplishment of an object,
the prompt execution of which is considered of great importance
to the national interests. Had the St. Mary's, now lying at
Panama, a fine ship of her class but without auxiliary steam
power, been despatched to Callao, she would have been bamed or
been beating about for n1any weeks, or have been under the ne-
cessity of stretching far out to westward beyond the direct
course, and then standing south of" her destination for favorable
winds to bring up to her port, have consumed nearly two months
in doing what ,vith steam may be accomplished in eight to ten
days. The British Admiralty have ceased to regard sailing
vessels as reliable in war, or as efficient instruments of peace.
The innovation of iron armor protection renders them still less
deserving of consideration. And the French, by extraordinary
energy, perseverance, great foresight, and liberal expenditure,

AND TO CALLAO.

53

have command at this time of a steam navy rapidly assuming the
impenetrable feature, but little if any less formidable than that
of Great Britain. The command of the ocean must certainly be
surrendered, in the event of war, to that nation which has the
largest steam marine and steel clad navy. So far from it being
economical to keep in commission sailing vessels to avoid the
cost of stealnships, it really presents the paradox of an expensive
piece of saving j for apart from their certain loss in a fight, and
greater danger in many conditions of weather and position, the
elnbargoes laid upon them in harbor by stress of weather, adverse
winds, and tides; the loss of time incident thereto, and the great
expense attendant on this inactivity; the wasteful consumption
of tinIe, ,too, in beating for thousands of miles to and fro, or the
standing off and on for immense distances to reach a port of
destination 110t one-fourth as far in a direct line, and which
could be run lmder steam at a cost of fuel far less than the ag-
gregate of seamen's wages who have been kept uselessly drifting
or beating about; must satisfy the rational mind that steam as
an au...
iliary element is essential to na
al efficiency, and that
those who Rvail of this certain motive power, must hold su-
premacy over the slower and less enterprising members of the
family of nations.
Yesterday the thermometer sho,ved 76 0 -it was the last day
of summer to us; in the evening we crossed the equator, and
no,v we are in the last winter month of the Southern hemi-
sphere. The transition is imperceptible in all respects-geograph-
ical extremes compromise their difterences on a lille of mutual
agreement without violent result; and in this set an example of
wisdom to 1110re impracticable humanity. .L\. bright and balmy
atlnosphere, and smooth sea, are around us. The coast is but
seven or eight n1Ìles distant;
Ionte Christo in the back ground
about fifteen miles inland, and fifteen hundred feet high, stand-
ing forth the prominent object of the ever-changing panorama.
Cape San Lorenzo, a few miles ahead, is seen jutting out into
the ocean with bold and weather-beaten brow, guarded by t,vo
pron1Íllent and rocky islets looking defiantly on the waves that
break at their feet, one of them bearing a close resemblance to a
well-proportioned light house. Experienced mariners inform

54

VOYAGE FROl\:'I PAN.Al\IA TO PORT PAITA,

me that, besides being incomplete, the old Spanish charts of this
coast are often found inaccurate; and the English charts,
although in the general more reliable, are in some instances
copied froln the Spanish" ith their errors uncorrected. Since
the independence of these South Alnerican countries, their
governments have been so llluch occupied in the business of po-
litical organization, their pecuniary resources have been so
lÎInited or so shamefully Inisapplied, and they have been so per-
petually subject to the disturbing influences of revolution, that no
attention ,yhateyer has been bestowed on the surveys necessary
to secure detailed and accurate knowledge, needful for safe
navigation and for the desirable development of the great re-
sources of N e,v Granada and Ecuador, along V\Thich we are
coasting. If the leading commercial nations of the ,vorld, Great
Britain, France, and the United States, ,vould unite for the pur-
pose; or eithpr would explore with small steamers, and compe-
tent surveying parties, this long line of sea coast, lllinutely ex-
alnining its bays, harbors, shoals, reefs, rocks, soundings, tides,
currents, and prevailing V\Tinds, and publish corrected charts,
great advantage would result to theIn, and all others interested
in the safe navigation of this part of the Pacific.
In doubling Cape San Lorenzo a pretty little village is seen
on a cove indenting the coast just south of the cape. Groves
of .cocoanut trees enlbower the picturesque cottages, and the
inhabitants appear to be dragging nets along shore. They
seem to be :f:ishernlen, and ,ve have nalned the to,vn Piscatoria.
It is not designated on the charts. About fifteen nlÏles S. S. w.
of Cape Lorenzo, Plata Island is seen, so. called by the Spaniards
from their belief that Sir Francis Drake, who, nearly three cen-
turies ago, captured off Cape San Francisco a Spanish treasure
ship, divided his plunder at this island. It is about three miles
long, presents a high bluff along its eastern face, except where
receding it forms a sInaU harbor, the only landing ,isible. Ster-
ility seeIns to hold dominion over it, and man does not appear
disposed to dispute its right.
The life of the Devonshire skipper, Sir Francis Drake, as
told by the historian :Thlotley, was a remarkable one; after coast-
ing as such, he says, "in narrower seas, his spirit took a bolder

A..."""ID TO CALLAO.

55

flight, and ventured on a voyage with the old English slave
trader John Ha-wkins, ,,
hose exertions in that then considered
honorable and useful avocation had been rewarded by Queen
Elizabeth witlb her special fa'L'or, and with a coat of arms, the
crest 1.ohepeof 1.0{{8 a negro's heac7,pJ'ojJer, chained." Such was an
instance of England's agency, under the rule of the" good and
great Queen Bess," in entailing upon America a social condition,
,,
hich she is striving to regulate alike consistently with humani-
ty, and with her own safety; but for the existence of which, she
is strangely considered deserving of harsh denunciation by the
admirers of that right royal wOlllan, and the descendants of that
great race who laid the foundation of England's old renown and
present commercial grandeur. Soon after this, Drake, "the ter-
rible Sea-King, ploughed his menlorable furrow round the
earth," carrying dismay and destruction into the Spanish com-
merce of distant regions, and returning to England, as is assert-
ed, with treasure enough to enable Queen Elizabeth" to main-
tain a war with the Spanish King for seven years," besides en-
riching the pri,ate speculators who had elllbarked in his bold
enterprise of striking terror into the Spanish possessions an over
the earth. It was dluing this voyage that he made the capture
above referred to, and secured and assorted the treasure at Plata
Island.
We did not "cro
s the line" until the night of yesterday;
consequently :x eptune, engaged in taking his nap, did not come
aboard to assert his ancient prerogatives. This morning, howev-
er, he presented hilllself in Pl'opl'ia pe1'80na, and announced that
although be had on a former occasion been aboard of this craft
with his royal family, and adlninistered the ceremony of initia-
tion to all trespassers on his dominion, yet he was duly informed
by his detectives that she bad since take
aboard one who had
never paid tribute to his sovereignty. But that inasmuch as he
was aw"are through diplolnatic channels that I was a special com-
missioner on behalf of a nation in whose nautical deeds he
gloried, who had covered his seas with matchless triunlphs, en-
riched thel11 with the "
ealth of comnlerce, and spread upon
their bosom the blessings of ci,
ilization and knowledge through-
out the world; and as he knew that my l11ission "
a3 designed

56

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO PORT PAITA,

to promote the cOlnfort and welfare of the brave and hardy n1ari-
ners who acknowledged his rule, and were' entitled to his pro-
tection; therefore, not doubting my homage, and in deference
to the oùligations of international courtesy, he ,vould exelnpt
me from the customary ceremonial, and merely require the pay-
ment of a trifling tribute in p1"O forma recognition of his mari-
time rights. I was an attentive, and as you ,viII suppose, a
deeply interested listener to this address-for I had heard of the
terrible ordeal and humiliation of thevictÌIns of this awful rite
-and when the conclusion ,vas reached, and my self-possession
was recovered, I ackno,vledged a sincere and deferential appre-
ciation of Neptune's august consideration of my country and its
representative; and complying with the required recognition of
his rights, expressed, in diplomatic phrase, the very high gratifi-
cation felt at the favorable opinion entertained by his marine
majesty of the objects of my Government, which, in its zeal to
prove its distinguished consideration of his friendship, had never
rested in its progress, until traversing a continent it was able to
plant its foot on the Rocky Mountains, and stretching its arms
to the Atlantic and the Pacific could exclaim, we may not en-
croach on thy imperial dOluain, but thus let us stand in mutual
relation and support, insep.arable in manifestations of greatness,
grandeur, and power.
Yesterday my narrative of an audience ,vas interrupte"d by
an intimation from the" orderly" that I was wanted on deck.
On obeying the summons and looking out, I sa,v som
thing
"very like a whale"-but whether it had some apprehension of
a harpoon, or a shell, or was too modest to be gazed at by the
strange leviathan steaming alongside, I know not-taking a
hurried glance and a ".spout," it disappeared in the depths be-
low. Shortly afterwards a school of black-fish came along, a

pecies of porpoise, reselnbling it in general appearance and
habits, and like it a breathing, or blowing animal. In the l
tter
particular, too, it bears a resemblance to certain terrestrial crea-
tures known as "blowers" and" hangers on," not only in qJout-
ing propensity, but also in ubiquity and tenac-ity,. for look in
whichever direction we would for miles around, there they were
apparently innumerable, sporting their self-conce'its, following us

..

.A1\
TO CALLAO.

51

for hours, and holding on with a persistence that finally became
wearisome and disgusting.
The black-fish is larger than the porpoise, being from fif-
teen to eighteen feet long. It yields an abundance of oil of an
inferior quality to that of the ",.hale, and therefore not sought
so long as a sufficiency of the latter can be had. But ",vhen
whalers have nearly con1pleted their cruise, without having se-
cured a fua cargo of the better quality, they fioequently fill up
with black-fish oil rather than protract their voyage.
'Then my narrative of N eptulle's visit was interrupted
yesterday by the "orderly's" summons, I was about to say
that when he was taking leave, his countenance assumed a
threatening aspect indicative of a serious flare up. In K\..-plana-
tion of this it must be said that ,ve have aboard the" Lancaster"
the Fleet Surgeon of the Pacific Squadron, and eminently qual-
ified he is for his responsible office by varied attainments, skill,
and experience. The doctor, like many of his prescriptions, is
a compound of many and miscellaneous materials. I cannot
quote the trite figure of speech, and say that he is "neither
fish, flesh, nor fo,vl," for his substantial dimensions give an un-
qualified contradiction to the metaphor, all of these having en-
tered as component parts, and liberally too, into his massive
frame. Nor can he be considered unlike "any thing in the
heavens above, or the earth beneath, or in the "\\aters under the
earth," for although he dO'es not present the special characteris-
tics of anyone thing of either of these divisions of the universe,
yet there is that about him so diverse in constitution and physi-
cal organization, so complex in mental and moral nature, so
bountiful in resource, and sharing so largely in the properties,
attributes, phenomena, and capacities of what pertains to air,
earth, and sea, that the similitude may be correct in a compound
if not in an elementary sense. The storehouses of land, ocean,
and atmosphere, have been ransacked by him for kno,vledg

and amusement; and besides his generalities of resources, it
may be added that he is specially qualified to hold the helm of
state, or the hehn of a ship. lIe can navigate the Bay of
Panama or any other, with the same skill as the" Sick-Day"
aboard ship, in which many skippers go to the bottom. And

58

VOYAGE FI-
O:M PANAMA TO PORT PAITA,

woe to the officer of the deck, ,vho, when the doctor is near, shall
"n1iss stays," or "haul on a ,vrol1g tack." 'Vith the first officer
and Jimlny Ducks, the hospital steward, and the loblolly-boy,
he is both oracle and idol; and ,vhen he is on deck, and under
full headway of talk, a visitor is as likely to take hiIn for the
commodore as for the fleet-surgeon. Every one consults him;
all quote hÍl11; the officers have faith in and respect him; the
lnen adore and s,vear by hiln. Ilis state-rool11, six by seven feet,
the size likely to be delIlanc1ed for his earthly grave, if unhap-
pily he should die ashore, contains a greater variety, and more
things in nUlnber and bulk of the curious, convenient, comfort-
able, cOlnprehensive, and compendious, than were ever before
cro,vded and condensed into any corresponding cOlnpartI11ent.
I will not attempt their enumeration, for, never a proficient in
arithl11etic, in this effort it would be sure to fail me. Nor will I
essay to name thel11, for Iny la71g'Mage would certainly prove a
dead one before I could get half through the catalogue.
Some days since, the doctor, in the prosecution of his untir-
ing investigations, determined to SU1111110n ,vitnesses from the
vasty deep, and for that purpose attached one of his mechanical
contrivances to the stern rail of the ship. This Inachine is a
COl11pound of a massive trout reel and a ,vatchman's rattle.
There is no necessity to watch the baited hook attached to it by
a line and trailing in the ship's wake, for any thing seizing it
and drawing on the line sounds its own death-knell. Scarcely
had the doctor" cast his bread upon the waters," when a courser
of the sea, on some mission of his imperial master, indiscreetly
laid hold of the tempting morsel, and thus sounded the alarm,
whirh resulted in his being wound in by ratchet and spindle,
and hauled aboard. It was this irreverent act of the doctor
. that excited the ire of Neptune on his recent equatorial visit to
the ship. Looking sternly for awhile at his old disciple, who

acl grown gray as the mariner's friend, whose home
vas on the
wave, and whose resting-place ere long will probably be beneath
it, the "short passing anger" soon faded a,vay, and shaking
his venerable locks, he spoke rather in pity than in passion,
somewhat after this wise: ":1Iy ancient friend-I,vill not of-
fend thy republican ears by saying 8ubject, ho,vever absurd thy

A
"'"D 'TO CliLAO.

59

notions of popular capacity and right, and disastrous hitherto
the e
1>erinlents of self-government-I know thy proclivity for
sounding the depths of a11 things, and that thou canst not re-
strain thy frailty for diving into the dangerous abJss of knowl-
edge; and therefore I forgive thy injury and detention of my
messenger-doubtless un designedly caused. But thou lllust be
more careful in future when thou heavest thy lead, and see that
there is not attached thereto any of those barbs fashioned froln
that hellish harpoon, which has becolne the terror of my noblest
creatures, and 'w.hich I am resolved to prevent the barbarous
use of, even if I must let loose a typhoon every "eek and sink
all the accursed Yankee whalers afloat on my domain." He
then bo"\ved, "not like a dancing-master at the head of his
drill'd nymphs, but like a gentleman," courteously, yet "ith
dignity, and disappeared. This considerate caution seemed to
have but little effect in restraining the doctor's researches; for on
a subsequent visit to the ward-room to condole "ith him on the
unfortunate result of his late investigations in natural history,
I found him getting his "tattler" ready for another lnarine
foray. And he rather irreverently intimated that Xeptune had
been "sold" in supposing that he had been "heaving the log; "
he was not thinking of taking" deep sea soundings," but 1.l)as
deep in a conspiracy of getting" other fish to fry." 1V T herever
the winds may blow, the billows bear this noble representative
of the medical profession, may he, as now, rejoice the hearts
and guard the health of his shipmates, continuing happy in the
conscióus possession of their confidence and aftèction !
We had head winds in crossing the nlouth of the. Gulf of
Guayaquil, one hundred and twenty miles wide from its north-
ern point, St. Helena, to its. southern, Cape Blanco; the latter
a high and bold headland, sloping gradually toward the sea-
its whiteness giving its name. The doubling of Cape Blanco is
so often difficult of accomplishment, the winds being baffling
and the sea rough, that mariners consider it the Cape Horn of
the ,vest coa
t. Roughnes6 and difficult navigation are, how-
ever, characteristics of the ",.hole coast south"'
ard as far as Fa-
rina Point, the north cape of Paita Bay, including Talara Point
midway. The coast between Cape Blanco anù Farina Point i:;

60

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO PORT PAITA,

cliffy and bare, presenting a picture of barrenness and desola-
tion. It trends nearly due north and south, being the most
westwardly projecting part of the Pacific shore of the southern
continent of America. Hence, however smooth the sea may be
along other parts of the coast, here considerable roughrfess is
apt to be encountered. And such was our experience, for head
wind and swell continued to increase from the tiIne we made
Oape Blanco; and when nearing Farina Point-the shore being
but a mile distant, for we hugged it pretty close here-they be-
caIne so violent as to make it necessary to send do,vn all top-
hamper, furl every thing left standing, and stowaway wind sails
and all other loose canvas ordinarily untouched. Farina Point
is a dark, frowning, rugged, rocky bluff, eighty or ninety feet
high, shelving abruptly down to a reef extending half a mile to
the westward, from ,vhich the breakers send up a fierce and
ceaseless warning. Our ship rolled and pitched in a manner to
disturb the gastric equanimity of all but veteran seamen, and
making physical equilibriuln a stranger to novices, except when,
after sundry evolutions, marchings, countermarchings, gyra-
tions, circulngyrations, side-steps, lock-steps, and no steps at all,
they finally" came to" in a horizontal position. Having my-
self practically abjured allegiance to land, and passed equato-
rial muster, the only effect of this morning's comlnotion ,vas,
by a few feats of gymnastics, to give zest to life, and whet a
sea-appetite for breakfast. We doubled the Point in from seven
to ten fathoms of ,vater, and are 110'V steaming toward Port
Paita ,vith a smoother sea; the mountains of Amatapa,'a spur
of the Ap.des, loolning up on our left, from three thousand to
four thousand feet l1Ígh, trending frolll the northeast to the
south ,vest, and although thirty miles from the coast, they are
seen at all points from Oape Blanco to Port Paita.
Our whole course yesterday off the Gulf of Guay
quil was
across a famous fishing ground, on which ,vhales have. been
taken in great numbers. Many were seen by us, some coming
quite near. One lllonster, apparently nearly a hundred feet in
length, rose a few yards from the ship, spouted two columns of
water shaming the streams of a steam fire-engine, and then
hastily disappeared, perhaps to announce the coming of an in.
truder in Peruvian ,vaters.

A!iD TO C.ALLAO.

61

The town of Paita, incorrectly spelt Payta on most maps
published in the United States, and having its affluent Spanish
pronunciation of vowels superseded to North Aluerican éars by
the New England whaler impoverishulent Pay-tay-is the luost
uorthern seaport of Peru on the Pacific Ocean. It is in south
latitude 50 5', and west longitude 81 0 15', and has a population,
according to the estiulate of the United States Vice Consul, of
twenty-fi ve hundred, which is probably more correct than Find-
lay's statement of five thousand. The harbor is very acce
sible
and has a fine depth of water; our ship is anchored in nine
fathouls, half a mile froIn shore. The appearance of Paita is
not prepossessing. The houses are clustered c10sely on the
beach at the foot of a sand bluff about one hundred and fifty
feet high, without a tree or blade of grass to relieve the unbro-
ken barrenness around. .li. substantial mole receives passengers
on landing, and on this they pass a short distance to the custom
house, an iron structure prepared in England for erection on
its arrival here a few years sincê'. It is a two-story building,
sixty feet square, surrounded by a neat iron balcony, and is sur-
mounted by a cupola, from the staff of which floats the Peru-
vian flag. Behind the custom house is the public store, of the
sanle material. All other houses are built in the rudest Ulanner
and of indifferent materials; usually of rough tilnber frames,
filled in with clumsy sun-dried bricks-adobes, of all shapes and
sizes; or of Guayaquil reeds, whole or split, daubed ,,
ith ulud.
.1:\ few houses of the {lite, and the front of the cathedral, have,
in addition to the mud, a rough cast of linle stucco, or are
"hitened with a wash made froIn the shell strata seen. seaming
the sand cliff back of the town. High pitched roofs are ulade
of stout reed rafters, thatched nine or ten inches thick "ith flag
leaves. Chilnneys and windows are curiosities, the door adn1Ît-
ting air, light, dust, and denizens, in conlmon. The streets are
narro,v, irregular, unpaved; and when you are informed that the
bluff in the rear of the to'
tn is the comnlenceUlent of a sandy
plain or tablaza, of thirty to forty lniles in extent, down the coast,
and into the adjacent province of Piura, of which Paita is the sea-
port-a desert on which rain rarely falls, and de,vs never-you
may imagine the depths and drifts of sand blown ii'om the

62

VOYAGE FROM p
1'\.Al\rÅ TO PORT PAITA,

neighboring hills, through which the pedestrian nlust wade; and
the quantity of dust he lnust inhale .when stirred by the breeze.
The burial service, "dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt re-
turn," seenled about to be illustrated in the lnidst of life, as,
sight-seeing, we threaded the by,vays-high,vays, there .were
none. Eyes, nose, ears, and lungs were the recipients of boun-
tiful contributions of this plastic element of creation; nor was
it at all surprising to us after a day's ,vandering about Paita, to
find that the natives had already taken the conlplexion of the
earth to ,vhich they must finally return. It seenled a foreshad-
o,yil1g of fate, and Inay serve the saIne purpose as the death's
head and marro,v bones exhibited in their churches, to renlind
the people of mortality. And yet this assiduity on the part of
a painstaking priesthood to cherish a conviction of "That ,ve are
and what we must become, does not appear required by any in-
difference of the nlunicipal authorities to "keep it before the
people." Strolling about, I came to the celnetery at the foot
of the bluff, inclosed by a clC1Se reed fence daubed with the in-
evitable mud. Its surface was level, of sand, with pieces of
board stuck sparsely in spots, to lnark the resting-places of the
dead. Epitaphs were unseen; grave-lnounds there were none,
and TII0nUnlentai marble the sacred place probably had never
known. The rude blast had revealed the secrets of the grave,
in many instances disinterring skeletons, parts of which were ly-
ing scattered about, strangers now to their life-long conlpaniol1s.
The scantiest covering and meanest lnemorial were denied to
these sad remains of mortality. Happily for England, even her
country church-yards have lmown no such neglect; if so, the
elegy of the poet would not have touchingly told of "the rude
forefathers of the halnlet " :

" Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.
"Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd ]Iuse,
The place of fame and elegy supply;
And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.

"'D TO CÅLLAO.

63

"For who, to dumb Forgetfulness a prey,
This l)lcasing, anxious being ere resign'd;
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
K or cast one longing, lingering l
ok behind? "

In the middle of the cemetery is a pyramid of bleached
skulls-l counted lllore than a hundred on its exterior-gath-
ered, no doubt, from the scattered testimonials of this Golgotha,
interspersed -with various other specimens of hUlllan osteology,
to give the structure form and compactness. Surillounting it is
a "ooden crucifix eight or ten feet high, the "hole forming a
monument of Paita piety, refinement, and sentiment; not likely,
despite the novelty of the design, to be copied by ..1.nglo-Amer
ican taste and sensibility.
Paita is a considerable resort of whalers for repairing and
refitting after a long cruise; and for the transshipment of oil to
hOl11e ports 'w'hen it is desired to continue fishing. The last
quarterly return shows the large amount of two hundred and
thirty thousand dollars in value of oil brought into this port.
Paita is also the outlet of the in/creasing productions of the in-
terior of the northern part of Peru, among tbe most valuable
of which are orchilla weed, cacao, and cotton. l.Iany bales of
the latter were seen on the nl01e, awaiting the arrival of the
regular British steamer for transportation: most of it is shipped
to :Mexico, but some of it finds its way to European lllarkets.
It is spoken of here as being next in quality to the Korth Amer-
ican Sea Island cotton. The soil and climate are said to be
well adapted to its cultivation; but I found it difficult to pro-
cure satisfactory information in Paita, in regard either to the
l110de of cultivation, extent of production, effectiye labor, or
procurement of supply; the evident purpose being, on the part
of those interested, as I was informed by the United States
Vice Consul, to keep all the information relating to it as far as
possible a secret. This is tbe more readily done because of the
intervening ùesert between Paita and the cotton-gro-wing region
establishing a partial non-intercourse with inquisitive foreigners.
,Thi3 absence of reliable infornlation is the 1110re to be regretted
by manufacturing nations in particular, and by the people gen-
erally of the world, interested in a conllortable, convenient, and

64

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO PORT PAITA,

cheap material of clothing, because of domestic disturbances
threatening to destroy temporarily, if not permanently, the
chief source of supply. For five
years, from 1856 to 1860, in-
clusive, Great Britain, the greatest lnanufacturing country, re-
ceived frolH her own great empire of India, and therefore likely
to obtain its entire exportation of cotton, an average of but
192,005,878 pounds; whilst from the United States, a country
eÀ'})orting largely to other nations, as well as reserving for home
consulnption, she received an average of 869,126,742 pounds; the
last year of the series, 1860, the quantity reaching 1,115,890,-
60S pounds, being five times the import from India during the
same year.
Orchilla weed, referred to above as one of the chief exports
of Paita, is a product of all the northern part of Peru. It has
a parasitic rather than an independent vegetable existence; is
stripped or picked frol11 trees both large and dwarfed, and is
sent in large quantities to Europe, where it is used for its valua-
ble property as a dye.
In consequence of immediately surrounding barrenness, fresh
provisions are brought to Paita from a great distance, and there-
fore command at all tÍInes a high price. Wood and water are
among the great wants of the place; they are brought from the
interior, twenty-five or thirty miles, on donkeys, and sold, the
former at t\VO reals-a quarter of a dollar-per" cargo" of
twenty-four sticks of algaroba, the size of an arm; the latter
at three to four reals for twenty gallons. The natives may get
enough water to drÍlùc, but it is palpably too costly for cleanli-
ness.
Game-cocks appear to be the favorite and best cared-for den-
izens of Paita: trin1med to the top of the fashion, sleek and
saucy, quite conscious of their in1portance, and that without
them no soi-disant Spaniard could exist, they were found every-
where, the" observed of all observers," enjoying all privileges,
except that of full locomotion, for they were tethered alilce to
rum-shop, custom house, private residence, and cathedral; the
last nalned having tw'o tied to its portal. Is this intended to
signify the church's greater devoti01L-to the cock-pit? or its
custom of crowing its own praises? or to remind modern dis-

ÅL
TO CALLAO.

65

ciples of their predecessor St. Peter's denial of his Master be-
fore the cock cre,v, and the duty of striving against a like human
faithlessne
::i
. Certainly priests and people are equally addicted .
to the ignoble pastime of cock-fighting, and the former is said
to show himself often the more accomplished gaffsman, and
Inore skilful handler of his bird. Apart from thi
national
amusement-and excepting the very few. of a better class who
are engaged in business pursuits-most of the natives, palpably
of mi
ed Spanish, Indian, and Negro blood, appeared to be
squatting on dirt floors eating melons, swinging indolently in
hammocks, or celebrating a church festival by dancing and low
buffoonery in the streets in fantastic dresses.
Paita being but a few degrees frolll the equator, it might be
supposed that its climate is uncolufortably wann. But so far
from this being the fact, the thermometrical range this Septem-
ber day has been from 60 0 to 10 0 . Residents inform me that it
is seldom warmer, and that they sleep under blankets the entire
year. Dr. Davine, an Italian physician, who has been engaged
in the practice of his profession in Paita for several years, says
that in consequence of the coolness of the climate and the quan-
tityof dust in the atmosphere, a residence here is unfavorable
to the health of persons predisposed to pulmonary diseases, and
that such affections once in existence are always aggravated by
continuance in the clin1ate.
Fourteen leagues inland across the sandy plain is the city
of Pi1l/ra, the principal to'Vll of the province of the same name.
Although often represented as having been the first Spanish set-
tlement in South .L\.merica, it is said by accurate historians not
to be the same founded by Pizarro in 1531, shortly after land-
ing at Tumbez. That settlement stood on the plain of Targa-
sola, a short distance froln the present town, and it was subse-
quently abandoned in consequence of the insalubrity of the site.
The climate of the present city of Piura is equally warm, and
so dry that it is said if a piece of paper relnain on the ground
all night, RO perfectly dry ,yill it be found next morning that it
,vill admit of
vriting on equally well with one protected by a
portfolio. This unifonn telnperature and dryness of the air, it
is thought, aùapt this climate admirably to the treatIncnt of
5

66

VOYAGE FR01\I PANAMA TO PORT PAITA,

syphilitic diseases; and many persons fronl other parts of South
America, laboring under various and obstinate forins of this af-
. fection, resort to Piura for greater certainty of cure. I am as-
Slu"ed by an intelligent physician of this neighborhood, that the
sJrphilitic opprobr
of other districts of country are often speed-
ily removed at this place. It is believed, however, and not with-
out reason, that the water drank at Piura contributes much to
the reëstablishment of health. In their course the strealns often
flow over extensive beds of sarsaparilla and fallen guaiacum
trees, thus becoming strongly imbued with the virtues of these
valuable medicinal agents. At certain seasons the waters are so
low that the strength of the infusion is greatly increased, thus
materially adding to their remedial virtues. This fact, ànd the
uniform dry climate, lnay reasonably account for the lllany re- I
markable cures said to be effected at Piura.
Bidding adieu to Paita, we hove our anchor of six thousand
one hundred pounds weight as easily as if it had been a fish-
hook, and "catted and fish'd" it in five lllinutes to the shrill
fife's rendering of Old Dan Tucker, to which three hundred
seamen in double file marked time, exhibiting a showy ll
utical
manæuvre, as they hauled on " cat and fish tackle fall." Speed-
ily under way, a few minutes sufficed to bring us to Point Pai-
ta, the southern projection of land bounding the port, which,
differing from the sandy bluff nearer the town, presents here a
steep, irregular rocky cliff, pierced so as to form an arch of :fifty
feet span, through which the breakers rolled and dashed, indi-
cating that ere long it must bow to the ceaseless war old ocean
wages against this exposed part of the coast.
In rounding this Point, and for many miles north and south,
a fine view is had of the" Silla or Saddle of Paita," a cluster
of peaks joined at their bases, situ
ted some distance within the
Point, and stretching southerly. The top of the ridge is undu-
lating, and aided by an accommodating imagination it may as
appropriately be likened to a saddle as to any thing else

Fairly at sea again on our southerly course, several coasting
traders were seen, sometimes called òastas, oftener òalsas; they
are rather a raft of logs than a hull, are made of basta wood as
light as cork, and have but a single sail to propel them. They

AXD TO CALLAO.

67

are a frail-looking craft to live at sea, but are said to ride break-
ers in lanJing when boats would be swamped.
Off the Inouth of Sechura Bay yesterday, the sea 'was rough
-wind dead ahead and cool-60 o . Passed .A.guja Point, the
southern limit of the bay, at night, steering south-southeast so as
to pass outside of the Lobos I::,lands, to the west of the southern-
most of which we are stean1Îng Inoderately along this nlorning.
\Ve have been out of sight of land nearly ever since losing yes-
tcrday that admirable landmark" The Saddle." Consequently
we had an unbroken view of the moon rising from her ocean
bath last night, and burnishing the sea with a flood of light sur-
passing in brilliancy and beauty the moonlit water-scenes of the
northern hemisphere. The. stars trembled in their cold, clear,
silvery garment, and the southern cross hung out its undinlmed
banner as if it delighted to share in the adornment of the placid
heavens. It was a beautiful effulgence on ,vhich I once gazed
with a now translated one, that polished the bosom of Champlain
with subdued radiance as it sported its diInples in the breeze.
Ho,v like her pure and joyful life! And how truly the tran-
scendent splendors of the scene which last night was spread
illimitably around us, pictured the sublimity and the eternity
of her celestial existence! Owing to the unvaried clearness
of the sky at and in the vicinity of Paita, there being no mists,
de,vs, or fogs, the heavenly bodies are lllore distinctly seen there
than perhaps in any other part of the world; and hence the
sailor's sÍlnile, "as bright as the moon at Paita." This fact has
not been overlooked by astronomers; and it is hoped that at
some future day-'when the Peruvians shaH no longer be the
victims of political agitation; when they learn that national good
consists rather in cultivating knowledge, encouraging industry,
and promoting morality, than in countenancing and beconling
the agents of constant revolutions instigated by factionists,
demagogues, and corrul)t officials; and "hen they become con-
vinced that perlllanent government, subject only to the restric-
tions of constitutional provisions duly adlninistered, is essential
to national prosperity-they "ill see their duty in contribut-
ing to the means of progress and knowledge, by erecting and
cndo,ving an astronomical observatory in the neighborhood of
Paita.

68

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO PORT PAITA,

This morning the lTIen were beat to quarters for general in-
spection by the comn1anding officer, according to the naval
regulations requiring it on the :first Sunday of every month.
After w'hich, officers and Inen were mustered on the spar deck
to hear read by the executive officer of the ship, the Articles
of War, a duty also observed monthly; so that all, understand-
ing the requirements of the service, and the penalties of neglect
or violation, may be prepared faithfully to obey, or submissively
to suffer. The Portuguese Hymn, then performed by the band,
announced Divine service, when all but those on duty repaired
to the main deck, there to listen to the Articles of God's
Lau', and to hear proclaÌlned the more terrible and endlu'ing
punishn1ent that shall attend tlteiv
violation. And there to
ackno,vledge also, as all did in sincerity and truth, for the
proof's "\vere around and about, that" The Lord is in His holy
temple;" to recognize the justice of the exalted precept," Right-
eousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people; "
and to p
ay that the" Eternal God, who alone spreadest out
the heavens and ru]est the raging of the sea; "\vho has com-
passed the waters "\vith bounds, until day and night come to an
end, "\vould be pleased to receive into His almighty and gra-
cious protection the persons of the ship on which ,ve serve;
that we may be preserved froln the dangers of the sea, and
from the violence of the enelTIY; that we may be a safeguard
unto the United States of America, and a security for such as
pass on the seas upon their lawful occasion; that the inhab-
itants of our land may in peace and quietness serve Thee our
God; and that we may return in safety to enjoy the blessings
of the land, with the fruits of our labor, and with a thankful
relnembrance of Thy mercies." And believing with the Psalm..
ist that it is " a good thing to sing praises unto God-a joyful
and a pleasant thing to be thankful," the sound of "lute and
harp" went out over the broad bosom of His own waters with
vocal thanks and praise, for that" His mercy is greater than
the heavens" nis truth reaching even unto the clouds!"
For more than a day nUlnerous birds have accolnpaniec1
us resembling dOlnestic pigeons; and for t11at reason, and be-
cause they are "native to the manor" of Cape IIorn, called

Â1'tì) TO CALLOA.

69

Cape-pigeons. They attach themselves to vessels doubling that
Cape and follow them to warmer latitudes, when they return
with any ship they may fall in with going to"
ard their favorite
cruising ground-the tempest-beaten shore of Terra del Fuego.
They leave for a tilne their inhospitable home for the refuse
thro,vn overboard by the ship's ste,vard. They are web-footed,
and very light, from the great quantity of plulnage compared
with the size of their bodies; and sifting on the water to eat
their food, they ride the waves ,vith the grace of swans. Time
Qften hangs heavy on the sailor's hands, and he resorts to :fish-
ing and fowling for amusement. The albatross is caught with
baited hook, and the Cape-pigeon and smaller birds by becoming
entangled in a cotton thread floating at one end loose in the
current of air astern caused by the stea
ler's headway.
Jack, as all sailors are generically called, is in the estimation
of "all the world" a queer animal. And he reciprocates the
questionable compliment by a very unquestionable notion that
"all the world "-among whom he does not desire to be classed,
but prefers to cOlnpose that choice and anomalous part there-
of referred to by an eminent functionary under the title of " the
rest of mankind "-are not deserving through any merit, either
active or passive, of the salvation of being caught by the foretop
when sinking to perdition. Voracious as sharks, in his opinion
landsmen will steer a fellow awry, and then plunder him when
caught sailing on a wrong tack ashore. And as to knowledge,
of which they boast so loudly, they are fools indeed, in his opin-
ion, who are ignorant of the difference between a jibstay and a
ratlin, or, as in the case of a former Secretary of the Navy, who
is said" not to have known a boats,vain from a conllnodore."
A stroll about the ship affords an opportunity to observe
sailors' habits, and take lessons in nautical discipline, that
might prove useful in other pursuits. At one tÏ1ne Jack is
found busy ,vashing decks-giving them daily a cleanliness and
polish surpassing the parlor floors of fashion; at another skil-
fully lllanæuvring immense batteries and handling them with
a celerity and precision and ,vith a general perfection of ord-
nance drill that ,vould justify the conclusion that he had never
been familiar with the use of a "squilgee" and a "swab."

70

VOYAGE FR01-! PANAMA TO PORT PAITA,

One mOlnent he may be seen lying listlessly on the deck, or
engaged in reading, writing on his ditty-box to the" girl he left
behind })ÍIn," or playing a ga111e of chess or draughts 011 a
checker-cloth spread on the deck; and the next instant all
motion, energy, and activity, ,vhen suddenly summoned to
lower a boat and ply the flashing oar, to save a shipmate fallen
overboard and struggling for life amid the boil ill 0" billows.
. 0
One hour s,yinging in his hammock in deep sleep, and then
quickly leaping to his feet at the shrill piping of the boats,vain,
and llloullting with alacrity the giddy mast, swinging to and fro
in the reeling heavens, unseen from the cleck below, conversant
alone with the storm-cloud above, the tempest around, and the
dark w'ave that lifts its crest in challenge to the surging spar
to ,vhich he clings, as faithfully perforn1ing his duty as if the
eye of authority was upon him, and the voice of command could
reach his ear. Again, washing his garments as if trained in a
laundry, and speedily joining in the infantry drill with the pre-
cision of a veteran n1arine. One mon1ent patching a shirt, pea-
jacket, and his stern-breeching, or improving that nether gar-
ment-spoiled by a I ubberly tailor-by giving it a shape in con-
sonance ,vith nautical taste; and the next, executing the fly-
ing-artillery tactics with brass pieces on the main deck, in a
manner to outbrag Oaptain Bragg of Buena Vista reno,vn.
Jack is" an institution" sui generis j and whether taken at
handling a helm or a scrubbing-brush, a Dahlgren or a derrick,
cutlass or a cathead, a gan1e of all-fours, fight, or fun, chess,
checkers, foot-ball, or leap-frog, he is hard to beat. Such is
the opinion of one who has seen standard specimens of the crea-
ture aboard the" Lancaster."
The Andes are in sight, a l1undred miles distant, lifting their
snowy summits above the clouds! Trow in1pressive the scene!
The most magnificent chain of mountains and the grandest
ocean on our globe, confronting each other in mutual ,vonder,
and mutually proclaiming " So far shalt thou go and no farther" !
As ,ve are ne
ring Oallao, the autocrat of the quarter-deck,
considering it unseamanlike to enter port with rigging awry,
ordered up the top-hamper sent do,vn a few days since to pre..
sent less surface to a stiff head ,vind, and in an hour the ship
.

AND TO CALLOA.

71

looked as trig as if a spar or a stay, a brace or a becket, a truck
or a tackle bad not been disturbed. No belle just from her toi-
let, rigged for the promenade, ever looked more a-taunt-o than the
"Lancaster," with her head-gear tossed jantily aloft and stroll-
ing skyward, as if making coquettish incursions into the clouds.
We steamed along leisurely during last night, our captain
feeling his way cautiously on approaching our port of destina-
tion in the dark, and anchored in the Bay of Callao at eight
this morning, a mile from shore, in seven fathoms.

.

CHAPTER V.

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

THE harbor of Callao, in latitude 12 0 S., is about Bix miles in
length and breadth, with ample depth of water, and entirely
protected-no safer harbor being found. The city of Callao,
and a prolonged beach, bound the harbor on the east; the island
of San Lorenzo, four and a half lniles long and one mile wide,
rugged, barren, and from one thousand to t,velve hundred feet
high, stands on the west, with the sn1all island of El }--'rDnton
and the Palminos rocks to the southwest, serving the purposes
of superb breakwaters in these directions; on the south is a
long, low, sandy peninsula-Cal1ao Point-extending west-
,vardly toward San Lorenzo, but leaving a strait called the Bo-
queron between its extreme point and that island; and on the
north the harbor is open to the sea, this being the principal en-
trance to the port. The BoqueTon, the southerly entrance, is
about two lniles wide; and although there is depth of water
enough in its rather narrow channel for vessels of largest
draught, and it is SOlnetÌlnes used by sailing vessels with a fa-
vorable wind, its navigation by such is not deemed safe, as there
is not sufficient room for beating, and a strong current-always
found-may carry a ship ashore. Hence marine insurance is
lnade subject to avoiding the passage of the Boqueron. Steam-
ers from and to the south use this channel in safety, and avoid
the loss of time consequent 011 doubling San Lorenzo. In this
harbor one hundred and fifty vessels are now riding at anchor.
Among those flying the United States flag are three n1en-o'-,var,
the" Lancaster," " Wyoming," and " Narraganset," all carrying
auxiliary steam power, and mounting metal enough to batter

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

73

down Callao and its defences, and take the Peruvian frigate
" Apurimac," lying alongside, by way of reprisal for the seizure by
the Peru,ians of two
\merican merchantmen. The controversy
growing out of this act drags its vexatious length along, and is
likely to hang fire indefinitely, false-hearted diplomacy and in-
solence of office being submitted to rather than risk the possible
inconvenience that might result from a perelnptory demand for
redress of grievances. At this moment the" L an caster" is ab..
sID'dly pretending
nternational courtesy and friendship not felt,
by belching forth a salute, causing the sea to tremble. It is
truly a magnificent cannonade, making the tall Andes to clap
their hands in joy:

"The glee
Of the loud hills shakes with its mountain mirth,
As if they did rejoice o'er a young earthquake's birth."

Callao has a capacious mole for landing merchandise, and a
smaller one for landing passengers in smooth water within that
used for cargo. .L\. sentinel stands at the head of the stairway.
'Vhen we went ashore a large number of loafers of the darker
tints, both sexes, and all degrees of impoverishment, were seen
lounging about. Despite this, however, there was an appear-
ance of business activity near the pier: fiete,>os, keeping their
boats in perpetual motion, seeking employment; and ca'pga-
dores, carrying their burdens, bags, boxes, and bundles to the
railroad depot near by, and to which passengers were hurrying
for the next train to Lima. A large quantity of miscellaneous
merchandise was seen in a picket-fenced custom-house storage
lot, designed for articles under telnporary official restriction; no
building being necessary for the protection of such from rain,
where none ever falls to damage goods.
Callao is cursed by a hotel. May those ,,'"ho come here be
saved by friends from expiating their sins in such a purgatory!
The population is twenty-five thousand, mostly of the mi...
ed
breeds, who from the frequent OCClUï'ence of earthquake
, and
the destruction of life as well as property that has attended
them, are not inf'lined to indulge extravagant fancics in build-
ing large and costly houses. It is considered safer to have them

74

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

of but one story, and of the lightest and most yielding mate-
rials, that they Inay yield and accommodate themselves to
shocks generally without being prostrated. The high, slender
walls of burnt brick of our northern cities would soon be shaken
to pieces here. 1v10st of the houses are sll1all and low, consist-
ing of a light scantling fralne about twelve feet high, resting
usually on timbers lying on the ground-there being no cellar.
The interspaces of the frame are latticed or lathed with cane,
split reed, or cornstalks, plastered with mud, in which chaff or
horse dung is made to answer the purpose of hair in mortar.
SOInetÍ1nes this rough coating is yellow or whitewashed. A
large door and iron-grated window, often unglazed, with un-
planed plank floor, one or two lllud-daubed cane partitions, and
a roof of thatch, or board, covered, when desired to protect the
inmates ft"om the sun's rays, with a considerable thickness of
dried mud as a non-conducto
, cOlllplete the edifice, which, how-
ever suitable and lasting it lnay prove here, would be left un-
tenanted in the bleak and variable north, where well-grounded
apprehensions would be entertained of its being blown or
washed away by a specimen equinoctial storm of that region.
The better class of houses-embracing but few-and espe-
cially those built for storage of merchandise, have a stronger
foundation, usual1y of stone sunk several feet in the earth, on
which is erected a frame of timber :filled in with large sun-dried
bricks-adobes-which are used in preference to fire-burnt
brick, because cheaper, and also less apt to become cracked and
overthro,vn by earthquakes. This wall, one story high and two
feet thick, is plastered with 111ud. On it is built a second story,
called the alto, of lighter materials, usually split reeds, and slen-
der frame'work, slightly rough coated as before described. This
attention to flexible and elastic ll1aterials is considered indis-
pensaùle in the construction of the higher story, inasllluch as
its greater distance frolH the centre of motion makes it more
liable to sway to and fro in terrestrial undulations. '\Vith a
very thick wall of porous substance to break the force of shocks,
for the first story, and for the second, light and flexible building
lllaterials, falling houses from earthquakes are not as frequent as
when the Spaniards first settled this country. The altos are

HARBOR .AND CITY OF CALLAO.

75

usually furnished with balconies of lattice or venetian, and some-
tinles close ,vood,\!ork with curtained windo"ws, ,vhich lo
k
tasteful, airy, and convenient for the bright black eyes that peer
from theln on the outer world in mischievous security; but they
,vould not suit the utilitarian architecture and incendiarislll of
our large cities. Even the best built of these houses could not
withstand the severities of a northern climate, although well
adapted to the moderate temperature and absence of rain of this.
Heavy rains, and severe and quickly alternating frost and tha1\"',
would speedily disintegrate theill. The :flat roofs of the better
houses, formed of rafters, rough boards, and covered in most
cases thicldy with dried mud, are paved in some fe\v others with
brick. T\vo or three dormer-window looking skJ'lights, always
presenting a large funnel-like mouth toward the south, like the
expanq.ed upper part of a 'windsail, stand on the l"oof for the
purpose of ventilating and lighting the rooms below, 1\ y hen, as
is often the case, there are no side windows. This ventilator
is called a teatina, and was the invention of the San Cayetano
order of friars, for the purpose of catching the south 'wind inva-
riably blowing here, and directing it below': it bas shutters
within, which may be closed or opened by cords suspended
within reach. To a North .All1erican eye it has a clumsy and
awk\vard appearance. The style and structure of the houses
are certainly unattractive, and housewifery is equally untidy.
Negligence, disorder, and dirt prevail, whether from ,vant of
servants, where most persons in Callao look like such, or from
indifference and laziness, I know not; but certainly brooms,
brushes, and dusters are at a discoun t. If such household inl-
plenlents be dutiable, the impost cannot be ael valol>em, for that
would involve a defeat of revenue where value is not recognized.
It is probably owing in part to the want of use of these insect
exterminators, that a traveller landing at this commercial gate
of Peru, must become familiar with fleas, and sublnit to terres-
trial torture. My constant experience is a pungent reminder
of early professional duties-of minor surgical operations, phle-
botomy and acupuncturation. It l11ay be safely assumed that
Peru is ren1arkable for in::;ect "industrial exhibitions," and the
8eñoras and senoritas will testify that crinoline is the great aru 4

76

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

phitheatre in which these are held. 1Iy :first night here sub-
jected Iile to the onslaught of a legion of' fleas that preoccupied
the bed, and revelled in a sanguinary saturnalia through the
dark hours; some of them even ambushing themselves in shirt,
drawers, and socks, to assail their victim lnercilessly the next
daJ.
The streets of Callao rarely exceed fifteen or twenty feet in
width, and are paved with cobble stone, with narrow sidewalks
of s!ab. .11. few of the streets in the neighborhood of the fort-
ress are wider. A promenade-the Alameda-at the north end
of a principal street, is ,veIl laid off, and when finished will be
a handsolne improvelnent. At one end of it a singular mound
is seen, four or five hundred feet in dianleter at its base, and
gradually rising to a height of thirty feet. It is conlposed
entirely of shingly deposit, oval-shaped, some,vhat :flattened,
smooth, polished, unmixed with either sand or earth, and merely
with the dust of human bones. From the great number of
these in every stage of disintegration, it may be supposed that
it was probably used by the Indians for burial purposes, and is
one of tbe many 1
uaca8 found in this vicinity, unless, indeed,
it was the place of interrnent of the defenders of the castle
during the long siege, when fan1Ìne and pestilence did what
the patriot army of Peru ,vas unable by direct assault to ac-
complish-reduce a stronghold defended by an equally indolIl-
itable Castilian courage and tenacity. This shingle furnishes
an inexhaustible supply of excellent paving material. It may
have been rolled up by the sea, which perhaps formed an eddy
here, in its ebb and :flow, at some renlote period, when the land
bad not its present relative elevation.
In regard to this subject of the conlparative height of the
land, my observations forbid the adoption of Dr. Darwin's opin-
ion, that the western coast of this continent is gradually rising
anrl encroaching on the sea, or the opposite view of other. geol-
ogists, as being invariably applica1le to the question at issue.
For although shells of the conchyliæ, native to this sea-coast,
have been found at an elevation of eighty to one hundred feet
on the island of San Lorenzo, thus showing a Iifting of the land,
yet it is well known that the Oa1notal, now an extensive shallow

HARBOR AXD CITY OF CALLOA.

77

between the lnain land and a part of the above-uanled island,
was, since the discovery of Peru, so high above 'water as to have
been extensively cultivated, and produced large quantities of
c(unOleS-F\Veet potatoes-,vhence the nallle of the shallow.
And further, the small islands of Santo Domingo, Farallones,
and Pachacamac, about seven leagues south of Callao-on the
last nanled of 'which were, in 1842, ruins that lTIay have had
SOlne connection ,vith the great tmnple in that neighborhood-
formed part of thø continent as p'l'omontoJ'ies, and were sepa-
rated by the earthquake of 1586, the former peninsular connec-
tion no,v being beneath the sea. So that, while there are proofs
of rising in some places, and of sinking of the land at other
parts of the continent, it is most reasonable to suppose that
these results, contingent on earthquakes, l)RVe been attended by
varying phenOIl1ena.
The shingle of the TIlound before described is sÎ1nilar to that
of which the coast balTicade is formed, which has been ,vashed
up by the sea to the height, in many places, of t,venty to twenty--
five feet, serving the purpo
e of a natural breakwater to prevent
inundations-to which parts of Callao would be liable at high
"ateI' but for this defence.
The streets of this city are badly lighted w'ith oil lamps.
There are capitalists here who would gladly introduce gas, but
the cOlllprehensive charter of a LÍIna company, obtained by a
systeulof bribery unhappily not confined to Peru, is construed
into an exclusive right to illuminate the whole country. Thus
the barbarians outside of the capital ,viII probably be restricted
to the means of making dar1..ì1ess visible, until jt nlay suit Li-
menian monopolists to engage in the enterprise.
But if not "Tell lighted, Callao may at least claim a nu..
merous and noisy night-watch. Throughout the dark hours the
cry of the serenos lllay be heard, as, pacing their beats, they,
often with consideraùle pretension to musical execution, an-
nounce the hour and condition of the ,veather-".L\. ve Maria
purissima! Viva Peru! Las dies handado y sereno!" which
may be rather freely rendered, for the sake of measure, thus:

Holy Virgin! may Peru e'er be seen!
The hour is ten-the evening is serene.

'is

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

A different condition of weather causes the watchman to
vary his cry, hut that seldom happens_
The churches are aU Roman Catholic, and are destitute of
architectural Inerit. The largest of them is now undergoing
repair of extensive dalnage from a recent earthquake, the se-
verest kno,vn here for nearly a century, and which destroyed
many houses, and caused a general slnashing of crockery and
glass. Ohorillo8, the fashionable resort for sea-bathing, about
seven lniles south of Callao, it is said suffered still more; among
other consequences of the shock there having been one which
h3s given rise to a nice question of law. .A house and lot were
moved by the earthquake and deposited on adjacent preln-
ises. Who O'VllS tl1e house and lot
-a question threat.ening
to occupy the legal mind of Peru, and pass through the courts
of First Instance, Superior, and Supreu1e.
The most imposing structure about Callao is the old Royal
Fortress-Real Fel
e-built from 1770 to 1775, and costing
the Spanish Government thirty 111illions of donars; a sum so
large that the king is said to have .orùered, in bitter irony, a
telescope to be carried to the top of his palace in
fadrid that he
might look at the fortification on which that enormous treasure
for the period had been expended. A suspicion may have
lurked under this imperial joke, partaken of under like circum-
stances in later times, and in governments self-boastful of purer
popular element. The fortress, covering about fifteen acres of
ground, is quadranguler, has very thick walls and parapet about
twenty feet high, is surrounded by a wide and deep moat, and
has two projecting towers of great strength at the sea,vard angles
-the T01'reon de la Patria and the Torreon de la San Fer-
nando. Outside of the enclosure of the chief fortress and
several hundred yards to the ,vest of it is the smaner tower de
la Santa Rosa. It has been stated that this royal fortress
formerly mounted four hundred pieces of cannon. My conduc-
tor through it says that the number never ,vas so great. Many
of the pieces, ho.wever, were of very large calibre, and most of
theln ,vere of brass. There are but forty-eight now remaining;
nearly all thosp formerly on the fortification having been sold
by a president of this republic; who, having mainly throvgh the

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

79

command of this formidable place, elevated himself to the first
office of the government, and knowing fronl personal experience
the advantage that would be given by the position to a I'ival
who might be its cOIDInandant, determined to dislnantle it and
thus destroy a nursery of seditioll. It ,vas one of the last rOJal-
ist defences that surrendered to the South American revolu-
tionists in their war for independence. Many of the ,vealthy and
faithful adherents of the Spanish crown withdrew into this
stronghold during the reverses of the mother country; and not
until they had stood an eighteen months' siege, suffered great pri-
vations, and had their nUlllber reduced by starvation and death
from Inany thousands to but two hundred survivors, did they
surrender; and then on terms of honorable capitulation.
The court-yards of this fortress have of late years been used
for other than military purposes. Here are the custoln house
offices, and warehouses for the public storage of merchandise.
Within its ,valls is found also the Oasas JIatas, a prison, than
which no country has one more dismal, dirty, undisciplined, and
pestiferous. It consists of three subterranean apartments, each
about eighty by forty feet in extent, apparently fOrIner bomb-
proof.s of the fortress, with light and air adlnitted by one only
small grated side window cOlnmunicating ,vith a vertical funnel
. de
cending from the surface of the earth above, thus effectually
precluding comulunication with outsiders. No bedding is pro-
vided for the prisoners, and no food by the prison government.
Instead of the latter, two reals-nominally tw
lve and a half
cents each-are allo,,"yed per day to a prisoner, to purchase sub-
sistence from victuallers "ho are permitted to cook and sell
provisions in the prison yard. Free intercourse is allowed
among those confined 'within, old criminals instructing novices ;
and there is no labor required of theln inside, and onlyocca-
sional "wheel barrow" work at any time on the streets and
roads. There are now one h ulldred and fifty persons in the
prison; the accused awaiting trial and the condemned under-
going Vunishulent being inc1i
crilninatelJ' thrown together; tbe
certainly guilty and the possibly innocent fnring alike in all
things. ....\. ITIOre odiou
prison s)'"steln, and disgracefhl den of
nloral and phJysical abolllination, cannot be conceived of than

80

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

this; and in the opinion of every just and rational traveller
it is a reproach to the Peruvian Goverlunent.
In another part of the fortress are barracks for the accom-
modation of t,vo thousand anny recruits, ,vho are here taught
the drill-this being one of the chief schools of practice. They
are all cholo mongrels and negroes-are armed with
Iinié
muskets, are ,yen ulliforllled, have rude bunks for sleeping, and an
abundance of coarse rations. The President-Castilla-is said
to take good care of those ,vho fight for nÍ1n. In answer to an
inquiry of an officer-How long do your Inen serve
he said,
"As long as the governnlent ,vants them." To another ques-
tion-Do they enlist voluntarily
he replied, " They are taken
'when wanted wherever they nlay be found and whatever they
may be about, and lnade to serve-no questions being heeded
and no answers given." The rope's end ,vas applied to several
delinquents, sho,ving the discipline in vogue. This is a South
American Republic! And ours of the north is affinned to be
its nloc1el!
A free hospital, that of Guadalupe, is established here for
natives: foreigners are admitted on paying a per diem of four
reals. It has one hundred and fifty beds, nearly all occupied.
Sick paupers, soldiers, seamen, convicts-,vhite, black, and
cholo-men and boys-room together. W OIllen have separate
,vards.
A favorite dance of parts of this coast is called Za1na Cueca.
It consists in two persons-male and felnale-standing opposite
to e:\ch other, and at the sound of music making a few steps
backward and for'ward, elegantlJ or other,vise according to the
grace or clumsiness of the dancer, and then passing each other,
turning in the act so as again to face, at the same tinle waving
a handkerchief each over the head of the other alternately.
Sometimes in the advance and retreat the parties whip at each
other coquettishly, at the saIne time that the body is thrown
into lascivious attitudes. The music of a guitar, or some ruder
instrument, acconlpanies the dance, and also the voice of the
lllusician in a monotonous improvising chant.
Strolling along the street last night ,vith a friend, our atten-
tion was attracted to a large door of one of the humbler dwell.

HARBOR A

CITY OF CALLAO.

81

ings tbrown wide open, and sbo,,-ing tbe front room of the
bouse to be occupied by t\\enty-five or tbirty men and women
sitting along the sides of the room, ,vhile at its farther end facing
the door was what appeared to be a rude altar consisting of a cov-
ered table, crucifix, candles, pictures of the Holy Falnily, and gilt
paper cuttings, above which was an open coffin standing on end
containing the corpse of a child a year or t"yo old, dres5ed in
tbe babililnents of deatb. .L\. bandage round its body prevented
it from falling forward, its hands were crossed on its breast, and a
"Teath of flowers "as on its head, fi-esb, bright, and beautiful, in
mockery of the balf-open dimmed eyes, sunken cheeks, and marble
hue and coldness of mortality below, contrasted with then). We
stood looking on a strange national custom-a mark of respect
here, not an act of rudeness as it ",
ould haye been considered in
some otber cOlmtries; and shortly after, in token of the inmates'
appreciation of our kindly interest in the early fate of the little
innocent thus publicly exhibited, a bottle of pisco, and a copeta
resembling a cordial glass, were handed out to us, that we might
join tbe friends in honoring the memory of the departed. We
moved our hats and touched the copeta to our lips. In the
mean time a guitar was tuned by one of tbe Dlen, wbo then
passed it to a woman of olive cOlnplexion and long raven hair
banging disbevelled oT,Ter well-turned shoulders, who "e pre-
sumed to be the mother of the deceased child; and who, after
striking a few plaintive notes, glided into a Inonotonous air,
two of tbe company rising simultaneously and dancing in the
manner of the country the Zama Cueca. The musician also
gave vent to her feelings in a recitative lament, plaintively
sung, touchingly describing the interesting traits of the lost one,
the failure of their efiorts to save its sweet life, and the resigna-
tion of its friends in view of its bappier destiny. When the
dance ceased, the cordial beverage of the country-pisco-was
passed round, all of the compan y partaking; and again we
'Were inyited to join them. .After this the dance "as resumed
by other couples to the saIne monotonous note and sad song,
while otber guests of both sexe3 smoked cigarettes, conTersed
freely, and some of thelu mirthfully. "\Ye left the party thus
engaged, my friend, ,vho was falniliar with the usages of the
6

82

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

country, informing llle that in this manner the night would be
spent, and also that they believed that their chances of eternal
happiness would be increased by this presence of an angel in
the little corpse they were thus singularly honoring.
The next night ,,"e witnessed the funeral of the deceased.
This consisted of a procession of the friends ,,"alking in double-
file after the pall-bearers, each person carr.ring a lantern; in
this latter particular the cereillony resembling the ancient rope
torchlight procession which gave origin to the tern1 funeral.
Hurried movement and boisterous conversation detracted fronl
the other\vise Í1npressive effect of the illunlinated scene and
soleilln occasion. On arriving at the cemetery situated at Bella
Vista, a long iron rod like a provision merchant's trier, ,vas
thrust into the gravel and sand to a depth of t,vo or three feet,
to ascertain if any previous interlllent had taken place at that
spot, no stone or head-board being there to designate the resting-
place of the dead. After trials in several places success finally
cro"","Iled the efforts of the inspector, and no impediment being
encountered, one of the pall-bearers dug a hole, in ,vhich the
angelita was deposited and hastily covered. A last drink of the
funereal pisco was taken over the grave in memory of the
departed and to refresh the weary watchers, who then in pro-
cession returned horne in gleesolne mood; believing no doubt
that they had performed the rites of sepulture in a becoming
manner. Among the COlnmon people this is the usual mode of
intennent of a child, after a suitable celebration of its death by
song and sentiment, pirouette and pisco. And fond as they are
of children, and convinced of their purity and happy destiny,
rather than olnit honoring the event of their translation, and,
appropriating to themselves the highest influence of their good-
ness, they will even borrow an angelita from an unfortunate
neighbor too poor to defray the expense of a celebration, and,
renloving it to their own house, distinguish the occasiou. by a
considerable outlay of money and a general" good time." It is
said that these celebrations are always characterized by mingled
'sadness, cheerfulness, personal respect, and good will; never
by the wrangling, violence, and brutality which so frequently
attend the Irish wake.

HARBOR AXD CITY OF CALLAO.

83

Last Sunday the singular spectacle ,yas witnessed of an
ecclesiastical dignitary recently appointed Archbishop of Lin1a,
received at Callao 'with military hOnO'l"8. TIe "as on his ,vay
fronI ..L1..requipa, of ,vhich he was fOrInerly bishop, to take posses-
sion of the metropo1itan see, and landed here under a salute of
artillery; a rabble crowd, black, white, and uudistinguishable,
pressing forward apparently seeking the martyrdom of being
crushed to death, or trampled under foot, in striving for the
privilege of kissing his most reverend hand, extended for the
purpose as he hastened by,vith an indifference or contenlpt
befitting such servility. In Lima a grand parade attended 11Ì8
reception; the clergy dressed in fantastic canonicals, and many
thousands of the populace, particularly black and mulatto
women, repairing to the railroad station to welcome him ,vith
burning incense, and to strew his "ay with flowers as he passed
along nUlking the sign of the ('ross, "\vhile the deluded people
exclaimed, "Gracios aDios, ya mi taitita n1e echo la benc1icion"
-Thanks be to God, lilY father has at last bestowed on me his
benediction. The exalnples of personal degradation seen on
this occasion showed that these people have JIlac1e no step for-
ward in the true dignity of hnn1an nature since they shook off
the Spanish yoke. When the simple sacrifice of a 10,vly spirit
to God is all that is demanded for IIis service by divine law,
enlightened conviction and pure religious sentÏ1nent could not
fail to be offended by the public la'vation of the archbishop at
the cathedral to remove his bodily impurities, ere consecration
by being robed in bedizened vestments transferred on silver
waiters by episcopal banels, ,yhich alone .were fitted for the mys-
teries of the sacred toilet. And surely neither good taste nor
good sense could approve of a street parade for three days by
priests and people, for the pnrpose of propitiating the favor of
the ..L\..hnightJ against a recurrence of the earthquake of October,
1746; the absurdity of the parade being heightened by the super-
stitious multitude conveying in proce:"-sion to every clnu'ch in
tbe city a l)ainting of" Señor de 108
Iilagros," ,vbich is said to
have been miraculously saved on that occasion, when the cburch
to which it belonged "Was destroyed-God, as is here believed,
having interposed in behalf of this valued specÏ1uen of tbe

84

HARBOR AND CITY OF CALLAO.

:fine arts, although He declined to do so in favor of the church
dedicated to IIis service. Following this sainted picture were
thousands of people, 'who addressed it their prayers, sought its
blessings, and enveloped it in clouds of incense froln a hundred
censers, s\vung, it cannot be said with truth, by the faÍ?" hands
of ,yomen, for most of thenl \vere clingy; while many had the
hue of darkness typical of their minds.
I aln told, but shall not be here to see, that according to an-
nual custOlll there will soon be a sinlilar celebration Ül Callao,
on which occasion an effigy called" Señor del 1.Iar," duly dressed
and decorated, will be carried in religious procession to all the
churches, and then to the sea-shore, for the purpose of conciliating
the" vast.y deep," and obtaining absolution froln the punish-
lllent once before incurred for sin, when a great "'''"ave washed
away this town. The e'''"ent ""yas a sad one-earth and sea
appearing to have conspired to destroy those of the Spanish
race whose crimes and cruelties, in their donlillion in this coun-
try, dimmed the lustre of their discoveries.
You of the north realize a" firm-set earth," but here its
heavings and vibrations are terribly demonstrative. Proofs are
perpetually repeated in the south to sho\v that the solid earth
can "melt, thaw, and resolve itself;" that its crust has been
broken up by subterranean forces, and its dissolved lnaterials,
carrying with them the tenants of lower levels, have risen to
unwonted heights; while other parts have sunk, burying their
inhabitants beneath the ruins of cities, leaving desolation and
the dirge of the retiring wave where but a few moments before
were the pomp of the festival and the exultant peal of the Te
DeUll1.
On the night of October 28, 1746, while the feasts of two
of the Apostles were being celebrated, St. Sin10n and St. Judas
-the latter a model of lilany political disciples of lllodern
times in bribery if not in suicide-a series of earthquakes com-
Inenced, during the one hundred and twelve days' continuance,
of which four hundred and thirty shocks occurred, shaking the
foundations of earth, and threatening total destruction to the
cities throughout this portion of South America. Three ?nin-
utes of that time sufficed to destroy Lilna ahnost entirely; and

,

HARBOR Â1\ì) CITY OF CALLAO.

85

Callao, in the same brief period, was utterly overw.helmed, for
what the earthquake did not throw do\Vll and dash to pieces, ap.
ocean wave, leaping its accustomed barrjers, and sweeping òver
the devoted city, totally destroyed, entombing in the sepulchres
of their demolished houses and churches, nearly five thousand
persons. But two hundred of the population of this chief sea-
port of Peru escaped death, a fe\v of whom were on a bastion
of the fortress of strength sufficient to resist the shock, and the
remainder "Tere washed on the island of San Lorenzo. In ,van-
dering over the plain where Callao formerly stood, nearer to the
southern shore and to the extremity of the peninsula called Cal-
lao Point than the present city, the ruins were still seen; moul-
dering brick and bone n1Ïngling their dust, and blown hither
and thither, the sport of the idle wind, telling of the emptiness
of earthly splendor, and the uncertainty and brevity óf life;
while this remnant of mortality-perhaps of beauty and of
power-serves also an inglorious use of the builder, furnishing,
indeed, the chief Dlaterial of mud plaster.

"Oh that the earth, which kept the world in awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!
,

Parts of a few nearly-buried arches are still visible. Into
one of the best preserved of these I descended, and found a
large number of human bones, which, with the substantial ma-
sonry of the arch, justifies the opinion that this was probably
a part of the substructure of the catherl.ral, a portion of a vault,
perhaps, in which deceased prelates and others of the clergy
had been buried, according to Catholic usage. But a careful
examination of these relics revealed so many bones of ,vomen
and younger persons, as to lead to the conclusion that as the
first shock of the earthquake was felt at the hour at which the
religious ceremonial of the feast referred to was in progress,
probably lnany of the worshippers, young and old, descended
to the vaults of the church, as well from confidence in them as
places of security froln the unusual strength of the foundation,
as from their sanctity, \vhich superstition \yonld be apt tù clothe
with protective po,ver. But although sheltered frOln the falling

86

HARBOR Al'4L) CITY OF CALLAO.

building, they could not escape the ocean deluge which instantly
ft>llo,ved the shock of the earthquake, and they thus perished by
drow.ning.
It is said by some travellers that a part of the ruins of old
Callao may be seen on a calm and bright day, at the bottom of
" l,Iar Brava "-rough sea-south of Callao promontory. Oth-
ers deny that these are visible at that place, and with more rea-
son, for not only do the few remaining ruins clearly indicate
the location of the former town, but if any part of old Callao
had been situated at the spot where ruins are supposed by the
fanciful to be submerged, they certainly could not have re-
mained there to this tilne, because, constructed chiefly of reed,
adobe, and IllUd, the materials of the houses ,vould have been
speedily ,vashed away by this very rough arm of the ocean,
beating constantly and wildly under the pressure of an unchang-
ing south ,vind on the stony barricade erected by itself along
the shore. Even if hard brick ,valls had been there overthrown,
these would have been rounded by incessant water action and
attrition, and thrown upon the bea
h; but none such are found
alllong the wide-spread gravel and boulders, to tell like the lat-
ter a tale of origin and action-whence they came and ho,v they
reached the shore. Ere long Cowper's description of Inan's per-
ishable vanities will apply to old Callao:

" We build with what we deem eternal rock:
A distant age asks where the fabric stood;
And in the dust sifted and searched in vain
The undiscoverable secret sleeps."

It is not without ullconlfortable apprehension that one strolls
over this vast charnel-house, and surveys the testimonials of an
instantaneous and fearful sacrifice to offended right and justice.
For ,vho can doubt that punishment was the desert of the Span-
iards, who, in their subjugation of the ancient Peruvians, shanle-
1essly violated these, and indulged in the grossest atrocities

And yet with ,vitnesses of evil and proofs of error around them,
the people of this land continue to cling to the chief idol which
has hitherto led and still directs them in dark and devious ways.
So, too, they continue to be rocked ùy terrestrial convulsion, the

HARBOR
D CITY OF CALLAO.

87

type of those 'which so often cause their political and social sys-
tems to tremble, allc1'which will never become firmly and happily
established until religious inculcations and observances more in
consonance 'With the principles and precepts of the Chri5tianity
of the Bible shall guide them.

CHAPTER VI.

CALLAO AND LIMA RAILROAD.-CITY OF LIMA.

FORMERLY the journey from Callao to Lima, although a dis-
tance of scarcely seven miles, was both disagreeable and danger-
ous; for if travellers ,vere not suffocated with dust, they were al-
most certain to be robbed or murdered by highwaymen, who then
infested the route, and, in bold defiance or with the connivance
of government, levied contributions on them. Now, the greater--
comfort and safety of a railroad are enjoyed, and passengers are--
conveyed to the capital in thirty or forty minutes, at a half-donar
fare, exclusive 'of baggage, which, if the bulk of a trunl
, costs
as .much more. The road has but a single track, with an as-
cending grade, from the coast to. Lima-seven miles-of four
hundred and ninety-eight feet. Twelve trains run each way
daily, yielding, at the lowest estimate, :five hundred dollars per
day net profit. The road belongs to Señor Candamo, the
wealthiest citizçn of Peru, ,vbo owns two-thirds of the stock,
and an English capitalist, who owns the remaining third, except
one share belonging to another person, ,vho has refused $20,000
offered for it by Señor Candamo. lIe has a fancy to })ry into
the mystery of management and receipts, commonly an enigma
to stockholders. The above-mentioned profit does not include
the freight on 111erchandise, which is not as large as might be
expected between the principal seaport and the capital, for the
reason that the o,vners of the railroad have been intimidated by
threats of negro and cholo arrieros and carreteros, and they
have sought to conciliate these dangerous enemies by restricting
the carriage of merchandise, allowing the most of it to find its
way by mule caravans and the clumsy old-fashioned carts of the

CALLAO Å.!\
LDIA RAILROAD.

I

89

countrJ, seen by the railroad passengers, trudging and trundled
on the LÏ1na turnpike, running parallel nearly the entire Jength,
at froln one to two Iniles an hour, knee deep and hub deep in
ruts, and enveloped in clouds of dust.
The fields and Illeadows on each side of the railway are en-
closed by lo,v adobe walls; the soil is a dark rich-looking loam,
and the vegetation near to Lima looks exceedingly luxuriant,
especially where the thickly-clustered tropical fruit trees are
seen growIng.
About a mile and a half from . Callao the road passes the
village of Bellavista, formerly the fashionable country residence
of the wealthy inhabitants, and near to which is the only Prot-
estant cemetery in Peru. .l\. cOlllmoclious hospital for foreign
seamen is located at this place; also a naval foundry; and
it was þere that the Chileans, iT). their last war with Peru, erected
the batteries for bombarding the fortress of Ca11ao, ,\-hich soon
after was surrendered. X ear Bella vista lllay be seen a rude
wooden cross planted on a mound, to nlark the spot, as tradition
says, to ,vhich a Spanish frigate was carried and wrecked by the
sea, which finished the work of destruction nearly completed by
the earthquake in 1746. Farther on another cros
indicates the
spot to which the ,vave ascended the inclined plane toward the
mouptains:
Nearer Lima the remains of old canals used for irrigation
are seen, and also the once celebrated Alameda, "yith its central
drive and lateral promenades, bordered by shade trees, and hav-
ing turn-outs and stone benches for the "ayworn and lounger.
This avenue w.as designed by its founder, the 'Ticeroy Higgins,
to be completéd "the entire distance to Callao, in the saIne stJle
of convenience and adornment seen near Lima; l)ut his death
arrested the progress of the ,vork, and the railroad is now likely
to convert it into a dilapidated monument of the past.
The railroad enters the city abruptly at its southwest quar-
ter, and the
assenger finds himself without the usual suburban
approach suddenly in close contact ,vith 111ud walls and com-
pactly built mud houses, delnanding a strict obseryance of a
" notice" once seen in an .....\..nlericall railroad car, "don't put
your head or feet out the ,vindo,v." On reaching the station,

90

CITY OF LIMA.

the traveller, on extricating himself from the motley crowd,
alnong wholn he has taken the chances of suffocation ii'om cigar
smoke, if the ,vindO'\vs should ùe closed, and from the dust of a
rainless region, if they should be open, ,vill find cholos as eager
to take his baggage as those nuisances of American railroads
a
ld stealnboats, called porters, anel that is saying enough to
convince hilll of the propriety of :watching his valuables. T,vo
donars per trunk, anel five for a hack to the hotel, are the pen-
alties of being a foreigner, unless Spanish enough can be mus-
tereel to strike a bargain beforehand.
:1\1y observations must be posted without keeping a day-book.
The moments thus besto,ved ai
e those only incidentally falling
by the wayside of necessary official engagements. Hence, if
note of tÏ1ne ,vero made, the proof of ho,v rapidly it is passing
,vould prove annoying without adding to the interest of ,vhat I
have to say. So that there shall be no occasion to mourn over
the ,vasted moments of the present, nor to lament the colÍective
sum of the past and future, we should be content.
LurA, the capital of Peru, was founded by Don Francisco
Pizarro, in January, 1534, on the day celebrated by the Roman
Church as the Epiphany, or feast of the worshipping of the kings
or magi of the east, and hence called by him La Ciudad de l08
Reyes, the city of the kings. Pizarro being desirous of
ant-
ing a city on the sea-coast, sent officers to select a suitable site;
and the Bay of Callao affording a safe harbor and other com-
mercial facilities, as well as being sufficiently central in view of
territorial acquisition, they followed the river Rimae, ,vhich
empties into the northern part of the bay, an
finding that it
flo,ved through a fertile valley on the. slope of the western foot
hills of the Andes, and furnished a bountiful supply of pure
water, they recolll1nended the southern bank of that stream,
t,vo leagues from the coast, as a suitable site, on which Pizarro
accordingly ordered the city to be built.
The present nanle of the capital, Lima, is derived from and
is consider
d a softened corruption of Rimac, the Indian nanle
of the river. The valley, we are told by Stevenson, an English
traveller of great intelligence, was called by the aborigines
Rirnac lJIalca, the place of ,vitches, it being the custOlll among

CITY OF LDI.Ä.

91

them to bani
h to this valley persons accused of ,vitchcraft.
But Prescott ("" History of the Conquest of Peru ") states that the
word Rimae signifies in the Quichua tongue, "one 'lclto 8jJcaks,
froln a celebrated shrine situated there, and much resorted to by
Indians for the oracles delivered by its idol." I cannot venture
to decide the point of difference between these authors. But it
may be said in this connection, that Th. Prescott is in error in
stating that "the capital was somewhat less than t,,
o leagues
froln its (the river's) mouth, which expanded into a conunodious
haven for the commerce that the eye of the founder saw ,,?ould
one day float on its waters." The distance is not less than t'\\o
leagues froln the lllouth of the river to the city, nor does the
Rimac expand' and form any part of the harbor whate-ver: it
is insignificant for such a purpose; a fishing-boat can scarcely
navigate the shallows at its mouth; while the truly" commo-
dious haven for the commerce" that centres here is on a scale
of extent and depth becoming an arm of the ócean it rea11y is,
with islands and promontories as natural breakwaters against
the heavy swells and :fierce winds which sometimes endanger
shipping on other parts of this coast. It would be as just to
regard tbe Gulf of )fexico as the "expanded month" of the
1\Iissis
ippi River, as the Bay of Cal1ao that of the Rilnac.
Although LÌIna is but 12 0 2' south of the equator, the tem-
perature is not excessive, and is so equable as not to \ary more
than 25 0 throughout the year; 60 0 of Fahrenheit being the low-
est, and 85 0 the highest indicated by the thermometer during
several rears, as shown by the carefully kept record of Sr. Pas
Soldan, a resident of the éapital, as distinguished for his scien-
tific attainments as for his enlightened patriotislll. Thus
Iarch
is
hown to have been the hottest, and July the coldest month
of this part of the southern hemisphere. A corresponding equa-
ble temperature prevails in Callao. An examination of the
meteorological registers of the United States men-o'-war ,,' "\Vy-
ollling" and ,,, Karraganset," the detention of which in the harbor
of Callao in the year 1860, embraced a joint period of eight
months, frOlTI June to January inclusive, showed that the lnini-
11lUln temperature was but 59 0 (in ....\..ugust), and the Inaximunl
78 0 , a variation of but 19 0 . And Mr. Decourcy, of Callao, in-

92

CITY OF LIMA.

formed 111e that a diary kept by him for ten years reported but
10 0 variation for anyone year, m.arked by a thermometer hung
in a non-conducting mud lnansion, and exposed neither to re-
flected rays of the sun nor to currents of air, the lowest degree
having been 62 0 , and the highest '72 0 . An extraordinary uni-
formity, perhaps unsurpassed in any part of the ,vorld.
In attelllpting to account for the equable climate of Lima
and its vicinity, we must seek the probable explanation, first, in
the influence of the neighboring sno,v-capped lnountains, and
the unvarying southerly breeze, inlnodifying a solar heat which
in a corresponding latitude of the northern henlisphere is al-
most insupportable; and secondly, in the scarcely varying tem-
perature of the vast ocean ,vhich washes these shores, and ,vith
"hich the saIne ,yind conles freighted to 1110derate the cold of
,vinter. Doubtless the absence of rainlnay alBo account in part
for the fact that no sudden transitions of temperature are kno\vn
here. Dews, amounting at times to heavy lnists, fall at night,
dampening the atmosphere often for several hours after sunrise.
These yield the required Inoisture for the luxuriant vegetation
of the valley, but they are detrÏ1nental to health, and counter-
act the otherwise beneficial influence of this equable clÍInate
over pulmonary diseases.
The streets of Lhna, in its central districts, run correspond-
ing to the points of the cOlnpass, crossing at right angles; those
of the suburbs are without regularity. Their width varies from
twenty to thirty feet, and they are paved with hard rubble stone,
having sidew"alks from three to four feet wide, of flat stone, sin-
gularlyenough iInported from England, labor being too costly,
or the natives too lazy to quarrJ granite found in inexhaustible
beds a fe,v lniles east of the city.
The river Rimae, running from east to ,vest, divides the city
into two parts. One, the larger portion, embracing four-fifths
of the city, is situated south of the river; and enclosed 'as it is
by an adobe wall twelve feet high, with gates and bastions now
in process of dilapidation, which touches the southern bank of
the Rimac, by its extreme ends east and west, it presents a semi-
circular shape, the length being about two miles and its 'width
but little over one. The other and snlaller part is the irregular

CITY OF LillA.

93

shaped suburb of San Lazaro, forming the remaining one-fifth
of the city, and situated on the nQrth side of the river, being
united to the larger part by a substantial stone bridge, five hun-
dred feet long, re::;ting on six heavy piers, and which has with-
stood uninjured the destructive eartbquakes that have visited
the capital.
Lin1a has a general declivity from southeast to northwest,
and those streets which run froIll east to west, and some few
running fi'om south to north, have in the middle canals, about
two feet "ide, walled, and arched in places to allow of vehicles
crossing to opposite sides of the street, but open abo-ve tbrough-
out the intervening extent. These canals are called aceqltias,
and through them run strealns of water introduced by natural
flow fi'Olll the Riulac, the declivityallo\ring an uninterrupted
passage, the river heading about fifty miles east among the
lnountains, and having a rapid fall the whole distance from its
source to the sea.
Probably these acequias were originally intended to convey
through tbe city pure water for domestic use, cleanliness, and
general hygiene. But they are no,v the depositories of all
sorts of garbage and filth; and by the disregard of municipal
regulations forbidding such use except after midnight, they have
becolne, "itbout reference to tilne, the substitutes of ""yater-clos-
ets, the latter rarely being found, the night-bucket fonning the
usual intermedium, and the direct use of the acequia a not un-
comnlon custom in the le:;s respectably inhabited parts of the
city. These aqueducts, indeed, have degenerated into public
ce3spool
, revolting to decency, repugnant to comfort, and c1etl'i-
mental to health; distributing the f01Ù contents and poisonous
Inalaria ,vherever a streaTn 111eanders; and if perchance this,
from obstruction, should cease to flow, there results an abiding
and intolerable offensiveness. The acequias are the fayorite re-
sorts of that most obnoxious of the feathered famil.r, turkey
buzzard
, the n1unicipal scayengers and privileged proprietors
not Inere1 y of these pestifero"!ls premises, but also of the arcade
anù house-tops, and the church towers, from 'which they COlll-
placently survey their donlaill below, and s",,?OOP do,vll to thcÏ1
repast ,\?hClleVer the uprising' stench of a deposit annOUllCC6 the

94

CITY OF LDIA.

spread of another foul banquet. That malignant yellow fever,
with such a source of pestilence in its lnidst, should have pre-
vailed in this city a few years since, is not surprising, al-
though in this nlild climate and with ordinary attention to pub-
lic hygiene, and dOlnestic and l)ersonal cleanliness, that disease
could never have originated here, nor spread if imported. It is
unpleasant to refer to these things, but it is only by considering
their habits and municipal regulations, that the condition of a
people can be determined.
The houses of Lima, like those of Callao, are of a structure
delllanded by its climate and liability to earthquakes. The lat-
ter requires that they should be built of unusually massive and
strong waIls, capable of resisting shocks, or of yielding and
elastic 11laterials, adapting themselves to terrestrial 11lovement,
and recovering their original condition. As the fonner lnode
of building ,vould be too costly for ordinary dwelling-houses, it
is used only for churches, prisons, and the most expensive edi-
fices, and even for these only in the lower story; the upper,
when such exists, having the lighter materials of ordinary dwell-
ings. D,vellings are of t,vo classes, according to the rank
and ,vealth of their proprietors. The comlnon kind are of very
sin1ple construction, usually one story in height, built on a line
,vith the street, or in long rows at rightangles with it, and COl1l-
nlunicating therewith by a court or cul-de-sac. A. scantling
frame is first put up, tbe inters)?aces of "\vhich are filled with
split Guayaquil cane, or with the wild cane of Peru, cana
òrav(t, these either being passed through holes bored in the tim-
bers above and below, and arranged parallel and near to each
other, or interlaced obliquely, according to the fancy of the
builder. Upon both sides of this fralne,çork a plaster is spread,
consisting of mud lnixed with cut straw or chaff. Partitions
are lnade of split cane and lnucl plaster, separating one or more
apartInents. Chirnneys in such houses are dispensed w-ith, the
mildness of the climate rendering artificial heat unnecessary for
personal comfort, and the yard, when such is found, being the
prÍ1nitive kitchen of the common people. A. door, and a ,vin-
do,v, (ften ,vithout glass, and grated ,vith iron bars, together
with roof of thatched flags, or plank covered with lnud several

CITY OF LnrA..

95

inches thìck, complete the building. Two stories and several
apartments are sometimes found, built of like materials, floored,
and generally l110re cOllllnodious and cOlnfortable.
The residence of a wealthy inhabitant occupies the four sides
of a square open court, or patio, as it is called, the approach to
which is by a well-secured gateway l
rge enough to admit a
carriage, and usually guarded by a porter. The court is taste-
fully paved with sl11all rubble stone, or "dth the bleached yerte-
bræ, or other small bones of animals, alTanged so as to form
ornamental figures. The house, one or two stories high, has
galleries t
,tCing the court, the alto, ",'hen it exists, being pro-
tected by a projecting roof, and having a stairway leading to its
gallery, which gi,es access to tbe upper rooms, aU of which
open on the gallery. The alto in front is provided, also, with a
latticed or glass "inc1ow balcony above the gateway, something
like a bay-window overlooking the street, which serves the ,ery
ilnportant purpose of ladies' observatory. The principal mate-
rial of these houses is usually sun-dried bricks, adobes, for the
10w"er story, the wall of w'hich is very thick, though sometimes
the entire building even of this class is fralnework all<). cane, the ·
stucco of the inside being not so coarse as that in COlnl11on use.
'Vall paper hides the defects of the interior plastering, and par-
titions are lnade of board covered with papered canvas. In
LiIna, as in Callao, the luud roof is preferred as the best non-
conductor of heat 'in warm weather, but l)lank and cement roofi;
are also used. The inyariably flat roof is often furnisbed with
a ?Ju.Jytdop-a look-out. Occasionally a first-clas,s residence is
seen tolerably well frescoed, and neatly, conveniently, and even
luxuriously arranged and furnished. They certåinly have an
advantage over North ..A..merican city re:-:.idences, in that they
have no steep, narrow, and endless stairways to climb. The
,vealthy light their lnansions with gas, and a ,ery few have, also,
,vater introduced into their houses; but both are used at an ex-
orùitant charge: for gas, nine dollars per one thousand cubic
feet; for water, fifty dollars per annun1 for a single flow. The
streetB are "Well lighted by gas. If there be stabling on the
premises, it occupies a small.. court behinù the dw"e1Iing, and is
acces:;ible only thruugh the front gateway and patio. Cellars

96

CITY OF LIMA.

are not dug. Earth so near the lower floor would be detriment-
al to hea1th, but that it is always dry in this rainless climate.
Necessary out-buildings, connllOll anlong the lower classes of
North Americans, are not found in Lima, and a modern water-
closet is unlnlo,vn, froIn which there result great disconlfort, in-
jury to health, and J!ublic as well as private indecency. A
stranger, accustomed to the observances of a higher civilization,
in passing along thoroughfares of this capital, cannot avoid of-
fence to his delicacy; and a nlunicipal regulation tolerates the
weekly call at houses by an incorporated :French cOIIlpany, in
the broad face of day, for revolting cont
ibutions that have
. failed to find their ,yay into the filthy acequias, and are perpet-
ually passing by drayloads through crowded business streets, to
the disgust of foreigners and the annoyance of well-bred citi-
zens.
The many cracked, inclined, warped, and t,visted houses seen
in LinIa, attest the force by,vhich they have been tried; and
sho,v the discretion of the people in sacrificing appearance to
security, and in seeking the best Illeans of guarding against the
· effects of that power ,vhich heaves the granite foundations of the
earth, lifts and sunders its crust, and moves even the ocean to its
will. N orth Anleri
an thin walls of brittle materials, ambitious
of height and often measuring the ambition of vulgar owners,
,vould crunlble into fraglnents under the lnight of a Peruvian
earthquake, involving an, property an6 people, in destruction.
But secure against ordinary danger by architectural ingenuity,
and having the accessible patio to escape to in the event of
threatened demolition of his house, the patriotic LÌ1neño would
rather take the risk of the earth's ague paroxysln than not to
nlake a sensation in the ,vorld. lIe seen1S to have pleasure in
kno,ving that his country can get up a phenolIlenon that cannot
be equalled elsewhere.
IIotels ! "'\Vhat shall be said of them
Send a live Yankee
do,vn here, with plenipotentiary po,vers to take J\Iaury's IIotel
Français, J\Iorin's IIote!, Hotel de la Bola de Oro, IIotel de
l'Europe, and IIotel l'Universo, and put thenl together; let
him turll them inside out, expel the fleas, drive out the billiard
and rocharnbor tables and their devotees froll1 the best and

CITY OF LnIA.

9'7

most public apartments, and get rid of the worthless cholo
apologies for servants; let him bring clean table and bed linen,
and not forget a lot of Irish chambermaids and a cargo of well-
trained "yaiters of the genuine sable standard; let hinl have full
authority to do all things in general and every thing in particu-
lar.. as he may decide to be according to the last X ew York
model; and above all, let him bring with his characteristic
shrewdness, intelligence, energy, activity, and go-ahead-ativeness,
that ethical element so hard for hotel keepers to compass, to
wit: conscience enough to charge but twice the worth of a thing,
and there would then be one house of refuge for the way-worn
traveller such as Lima has not seen, and is not likely to possess
by any other process. It would be a waste of words to describe
the present hotels of this capital. "That do you think of a
hotel in which, if you are not a billiard player, you lTIUst either
go to your chamber or into the street
\Vithout parlor, reading
roonl, or reception roon1, for a weary guest to sit in; without a
servant to ,vait on you except at table, or a bell to ring for one
even if he could be had. Indeed, the possession of a house bell is
the singular exception to the rule. The Amelican Minister's resi-
dence has one, and it serves to remind his wandering countrymen
of the conveniences of home. Indeed, bell-metal appears to have
been all used in the manufacture of church bells, and it may be
that the natives have come to the sage conclusion that they 11lake
noise enough for the whole city. It may be safelyassullled that
if Paradise is to be won by perpetual peals froln to'wer and tink-
lings at the altar, surely the people of Linla have a cheery pros-
pect ahead, for the fonner cease only to call the faithful to the
house of prayer, that the latter may remind them when there of
their duties as worshippers; and so a continuous religious cere-
monial, in w'hich bell-metal performs a chief part, is in progress
fi
om morning until night.
A few words more about hotels-for even among evils there
is a choice. If
then, fate should direct J"our steps to this city
of filth, fe5tival3, and fleas-and the rest of Christendom can
produce none such as the last nlentioned for nun1bers, magni-
tude, and ferocity, and it is doubtful ifMohamluedall Turkey can-
seek :1\Iaury's 110tel Français; there, and there only, you may
7

98

CITY OF LruA.

stand a clutnce of not cOll1prolnising your character for chastity,
and of retiring to your chalnber without a taJ)ada insisting on
accompanying you to cheer the loneliness of night. But as you
will be charged for every thing that you get, and many that you
do not get, fron1 the pOl'tero's fee ,rhen you enter the front gate,
to his unconscionable exaction ","'hen you pass out; for the mod-
icum of candle which lights you to bed, to that ,vhich should
light you ",
hcn you have to go in the dark; and many things
unnecessary to specify no'w, but ,vhich will òe specified in the
bill of whoever shall go there, it may be useful to assist you in
the settlement of your account by giving some information about
Peruvian currency. .As strangers are expected to pay liberally
for the benefits and pleasures of travel, it is not to be prosulned
that they will have any use for lesser values, nevertheless they
may be n:uned.

SILVER COIN.
Cuartillo, (-! Real.) equal to .
1tledio, (t Rcal.) "
Rea], "
Peceta, "
Peso, "

3-1 cents.
. ß! "
12-1 "
. 25 "
1 dollar.

GOLD COIN.

Cuartillo de oro, equal to
Escudo, "
Do blon, "

Iedia onza, "
Onza, "

1-fif dollars.
. 21 "
4-!- "
. 8-! "
17 "

There is no Peruvian money being coined at this tÍ1ne; and
the little of fonner dates in circulation is rapidly disappearing
before the more debased Bolivian currenc y . Small chanO'e is
. b
scarce, and dealers substitute it by halving reals for medios, and
these latter they cut again for cuartillos. The paper issue IDl-
happily sometimes l{nown in our own country in violati.on of
its organic law-the Constitution-which gives the Govern111ent
only the power "to coin llloneyand regulate the value thereof; "
which prohibits the clnission of "bills of credit," and makes
nothing ,,, but gold and silver coin a tender in paJlnent of debts;"

CITY OF LDL\..

99

the unlawful representative of value, which, on each recurring
Inercantile crisis causing a suspension of specie payment
, favora
rogues and defrauds the honest, has no existence in Peru. ..1.1'-
bitrary and absolute as is this Government's disregard of consti-
tutional provisions, yet it has not ventured on such an e
tren1C
of usurpation as to tran1ple under foot the legal standards of
value, and to substitute an illusive invention of financial craft
for the precious metals. It recognizes the truth tbat interna-
tional commerce demands, and will have, actuality of value; and
,vhatever its other tyranny, it has stopped short of the oppres-
sion which would enforce the circulation among its own people
of that which itself ,,
ll not receive in payment of imposts, and
which it could not become a purchaser mth in a foreign lllarket.
In the Inatter of currency, at least, this Government has set an
example of justice and consistency to some others of loftier pre-
tension, however faulty in fulfilu1ent.
The scarcity of small change does not appear to restrain the
national propensity for gambling, shown by the almost daily
drawing of lotteries adapted to the means of the poorer people,
who would rather go w"ithout fooel than lose the chance of get-
ting a prize by staking their re
l or medio. The streets swarnl
with lottery ticket venders, crying at the top of their voices the
temptingprizes-"1[il pecos! para lnañana." "Mil pecos! para
luego." "Quarto mil pecos! para Innes." These venders are
the pests of the streets. Koone is free from their importunities.
They are 1ike the newsboys of large ..d.lnerican cities; you can-
not turn round without running against one. In the restaurant,
the hotel, the market, even at the church door, one is button-
holed and ceaselessly screamed at-" Mil pecos! para mañana."
Great as the national vice of ganlbling has always been, it is
said to be actually increasing. Nor is it likely to diminish
among the low"er classes while those in high official stations and
of great social influence, encourage, as they do, the practice by
public exalnple, staking thousands on the turn of a carel, even in
the presence of their wives and children. If General Castilla is
the chief galnbler as well as the chief magistrate of Peru, losing
Buty thousand dollars a night and draw'Ïng his draft as Presi-
dent on an English Banking IIouse for its payn1ent ne:\.-t 11101'n-

100

CITY OF LIMA.

ing, ,vhat is to be expected but that his supporters ,yill become
his in1itators in official fraud as well as in the base habit of seek-
ing another's fortune at the cost of possible impoverishment of
his family
And ,vhat can be hoped :fi)r in ß claim for indem-
nity for national outrage against such an Executive but prevarica-
tion, quibbling, and delay, which have characterized his conduct
in the negotiation now about to be closed by our national self-
respect

Those who spend their small earnings, and what they can
beg or bon"o,v, in the licensed street-gambling of lotteries, are
of the lower classes of the populace. But as the classification
of society here differs from any of which you have personal
kno\Vledge, it is proper to say in what it consists. And pre.-
mising that it rests rather on the comparative superiority of
blood-the natural distinction of race-than upon any adventi
tious circumstances, it may be sufficient to say that the aborigi
nal race ,vas the Indian; and that subsequently there came into
this country the Spaniard, then the Negro, and recently the
Chinaman, to enable one to come to tolerably correct conclu..
sions as to results, when it is added that the proposal of North
American miscegenation has in South America been practically
applied. To wit:
The White and Indian have given to Peru the mestizo.
White and Negro, the mulatto.
'White and Chinese, the chino-blanco.
Indian and Chinese, the chino-cl
olo.
Negro and Chinese, the zarabo-cldno.
Indian and Negro, the chino.
White and mulatto, the cual'teron.
'Vhite and mestiza, the creole-so called here, but alto-
gether different from the creole of the Southern States of North
An1erica.
Indian and mulatto, the chino-o8curo.
Indian and mestiza, the 'lnestizo-claro.
Negro and mulatto, the zambo-negl'o.
Negro and mestiza, the mulatto-oscuro.
With these data, and kno,ving that the created distinctions
of the primary races have been shalnelessly disregarded by

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101

man, and tbat the baser passions have subverted reason, senti-
ment, and sympathy, the many Inodi:fications of achnixhu'e and
relatiye proportions of blood may be surmised, 1rhich character-
ize a population presenting a greater variety of tints, of physi-
cal and Inental endowments, than can be found probably el
e-
where in the world. The definitive terms Spaniard, Cholo,
Zambo, Negro, are generally heard, to signify the White, Indian,
)Iixed, and Black, but it is becoming custolnary to designate all
except the anthropological antipodes-Caucasian and K egro-as
cholos,. and thus the originally lnild, inoffensiye, industrious,
and provident Indian people, will probably soon have to father
all the physical and III oral debasement resulting from this in-
discriminate crossing of original races and this corrupted prog-
eny; all the feebleness, vicious organization, and defective
'\""italitj'" of the mongrel element proceeding from violations of
the laW's of creation; producing, too, perpetual conflicts, both in
social and political life, until those laws shall be vindicated, as
they inevitably will be, and the outrages inflicted upon nature
as ,veIl as upon the original Indian race, shall be repaired by
the extinction of all title to perpetuity on the part of the
numerically "Weak, and the aboriginal element still dominant on
this part of the continent 8hall be restored to the condition it
held at the time of the Spanish conquest. And this event ,\ill
be hastened by the late act of the Peruvian Government elnan-
cipatil1g the negro slaves, ,\ho have consequently becolne,
according to the testimony of observing and intelligent citizens,
a curse to the country and to thelnselves-robbers, assa5
ins,
drunkards, and general disturbers of the public peace. Idle
and debased, they are passing through a transition of barbarism
to extinction, a final e,ent contemplated "With satisfaction by
all who are interested in the social elevation, political stability,
and general prosperity of Peru.
Another evil resulting from the legislative abolition of judi-
cious and responsible control over so large, and W'hen freed
from disciplinary restraints so disturbing an element of society,
and from the ,yithdrawal of this labor ii'om industrial pur.sllits,
especially of rural districts, is the importation of Chinese Coolics
to supply the wants of agriculture. Thus, instead of a system

. .

..

... '"

"

, ..." , ,," .."

102

CITY OF LIMA.

of ser"\Ïtude, in ,rhi9h it was the interest of the planter to cher-
ish and protect, fronl physical and moral evils, the laborer,
"hose life and "ell-being were the measure of his own pros-
perity, one has been introduced attended "ith unprecedented
cruelties. In fact, the importation of Coolies has taken the
place of the African slave trade, ,vith an aggravation of the
suff
ril1gs of the "lniddle passage," as shown by the startling
proportion of deaths on the voyage, and the frightful picture
of emaciation and disease on landing in Peru. And "Then sold
into telnporary slavery, which has been glossed to dazzle dupes
with the term" free apprenticeship," it is to learn t.hat the
more ,york can be forced from him during his tenn of service,
and the scantier his food and clothing, the larger will be the
emplo
rer's profits-there being actually no motive of interest in
husbanding the Coolie's resources of health and life beyond the
liInit of the bonel. Hence the treatIl1ent he receives on the
hacienda, which is his territorial prison during the term of ser-
yice ,vhich conSUDles the prime of his years, is characterized by
great inhulnanity. The task-nlasters of Coo1ies are negroes or
lnulattoes, whose natural insensibility and proclivity to cruelty
fit them for drivers; and who, it is the general opinion here,
eeenl to consider that if the Coolie succunlbs to the severity of
discipline, and becomes enfeebled or diseased, it is better by
additiol1al severity to rid the hacienda of hin1 altogether-
ginng him the choice solely of death, or seeking the cold
charity of strangers. IIence the frequent meeting of Ï1'llpover-
isheù and elnaciated Chinalnen on the streets of LÏ1na; and the
pitiful spectacle presented by the poor wretches in the pest..
house of the Refugio.
The Limeñians of pure Spanish descent, and especially the
'YOl1len, are quick in detecting any shade of the innurnerable
adulterations of blood, however sligbt the deterioration; and
priding thenlselves upon their nobler race and their fi'eedoln
tì'om taint, they Inay be excused the very COnll110n ,vealn
ess of
announcing the disco"\ery of another's Inisfortune. The ,vhite
skin is the badge of superiority universally recognized, notwith-
standing the pronuncialnentos of equality by aspiring Inilitary
chieftains, to conciliate the brutal blacks and nlongrels, who

CITY OF LruA.

103

have thus become t/
e 'peacly instJ'ulnents of revol'utions and tlw
agents in a de facto political ensla'vement of tlw nation. In
countries boasting of constitutional government, there has J-et
been no such utter disregard of law and personal rights, no such
bold and unblushing executh-e encroachment on the preroga-
tives of coördinate branches of the Government, both legislative
and judicial, as in Peru. By Presidential command, the army,
armed police, and battalions of negro cargadores and aquadores,
march to the polls on days of election, and excluding all by
threat and ,iolence who differ with those exercising official
po,ver, fulfil the l)rearranged progranlme of the Executive.
The halls of national legislation have been closed by Castilla's
order, and fixed bayonets gleaming in the black hands of a
'l'epulJlican tyrant's tools have prevented the exit of deputies,
until, under threat, they have revoked decrees passed in con-
fonnity 1\ T ith constitutional right, and offensive alone to his
despotic will. Elections in distant parts of the State have been
annulled by the President when his favorites and partisans
were not returned; judgments in international questions have
been l.endered in courts in obedience to his instructions, and
have afterwards been quoted in diplomatic discussions as judi-
cial decisions demanding his official recognition and fulfilment;
and Trars have been declared, and decrees of iUlprisonment and
banishment violative of personal rights, proclaimed and enforced
against citizens obnoxious to his suspicion and jealousy, proving
the actual Government an absolute despotislll rather than a
constitutional republic. Events transpiring here, from day to
clay, 111ay well suggest the inquiry, What have Perunans gained
hy casting off the monarchical yoke of Spain, unless it be the
privilege of volunta1>y 8ub'mission to a Presidential yoli,e not Uss
galling, and going to destruction in their own way?
Near the centre of the city is the public square, dignified b
r
the nanle Plaza Nayol'. The great square ell1braces about
tour acres. It is neither enclosed, paved, nor adorned, except
Ly a monumental fountain, consisting of a column supporting a
figure of Fanle spouting '\Vater from its trumpet, which falls
with tbat issuing frolll other parts of the column and its orna-
mental appendages into a capacious basin, whence it is taken

104

CITY OF LDIA.

by aquado1's-water-carriers. For its transportation two kegs
are placed ench,ise in hoops, attached to a pack-saddle on the
back of a donkey. The aquador, arlned "dth a formidable
rop-
stick for supporting one keg when he relnovps the other, and
which is freely used for beating his little beast also, mounts
behind the load, his feet often trailing on the ground, and thus
he traverses the city furnishing the indispensable element at
about a real the load. Several other fountains, of less preten-
sions, all supplied, as is the principal one, by water from the
riyer Rimae, through pipes, are located in other parts of the
city.
The patient and much-abused donkey is the chief agent in
the general carrying trade of the city; whether it be milk,
bread, fruit, meat, grass, charcoal, wood, adobes, earth, reed, or
other useful and ornamental articles requiring transportation,
the indispensable donkey and his pannier are brought into
requisition. And it is interesting to observe with ,yhat intelli-
gence and safety he performs his task; large caravans, with but
one driver, threading the narrow, and at tÏ1nes nearly obstructed
streets, in single file, and with an obedience and precision de-
serving of more considerate and merciful treatment than they
llsual1y receive from their brutal negro task-masters; \vho seem
to have been relieved in Peru from compulsory labor only to
become the more cruel in their inflictions upon animals but
little less intelligent, and far more useful and alnenable to
authority, than themselves.
On the north, south, and west sides of the plaza, are arcades
in front of the houses, covering the side,yalks, which are here
,videI' than elsewhere, and handsomely paved with marble tiles.
These arcades, columned and arched toward the plaza, form
6heltered promenades for the fashionables, who resort here as
"ell for pleasure and sight-seeing as to make purchases at the
fancy and other shops that border the arcades, and brilliantly
illuminate them at night \vith their show-window gas-lights.
On the north side of the plaza, behind the shops, is a court-yard,
with a portal guarded by armed soldiers, and over ,vhich
floats the national flag. Around this space are the buildings
for the accommodation of the criminal court, the office of the

þ

CITY OF LnrA.

105

Intendente, and the former Viceroy's palace, now the official
residence of the President of Peru, but unoccupied by General
Castilla, who continues to reside in his private Inansion in
another part of the city. The whole block on the north side
of the plaza is called Palace Square, but it bas neither grandeur
nor extent to justify the name. The archbishop's palace h
s a
slight claim to consideration as such. All others calleel palaces
are built of common materials, and are unimposing, squatty,
and dirty-looking edifices. On the west side of the plaza there
is found nothing .worthy of mention. Nor is the south side
remarkable for aught except, about the middle of it, the entrance
to el callejon de petatel'o8-mat-maker's alley-the site of Pizar-
ro's palace; where, on the 26th June, 1541, he was, after an
extraordinary career as a discoverer and a conqueror, and the
acquisition of an influence and pow-er only second to those of
his sovereign, assassinated by a band of eighteen or twenty con-
spirators; who, as unfortunate followers of .A.lmagro, the former
companion in arms of the conqueror, but subsequently basely
Inur
ered by his brother Hernando Pizarro, had follow-ed their
young chieftain, Diego, the son of Almagro, to his compulsory
confinement in Lima. And being disappointed in long-expected
redress of their grievances, and indignant at the ridiclùe, scorn,
and contumely heaped upon them by the officials and compan-
ions of Pizarro, fi
ally determined, by a bold assalùt, to rid
Peru of one they considered a tyrant, and thus release theln-
selves and ii'iends fr0111 intolerable oppression. As is the case
with most desperate enterprises, daringly prosecuted by fearless
spirits acting in concert, ,veIl knowing that certain death "ill
be the penalty of failure, this proved entirely successful. Inured
to danger, confident in his prowess, accustomed to triumph,
Pizarro disregarded the ,varnings of a confidential attendant
against the "nlen of Chile," as Almagro's followers were de-
risively called, and thus allowed himself to be attacked at
disadvantage in his own house. He perished, ho,vever, as be-
came a Castilian, and one of the greatest warriors of that warlike
age, having first offered up several of his enemies on the altar
of his sacrifice. So easily is the passive multitude controlled by
the active and resolute few, that the scorned and derided men

106

CITY OF LDIA.

of Chile of an hour before, became, instantly on their successful
revolt becoming kno,vn throughout the capital, the recognized
dictators of Pcru; and the body of the man ,yho had just ceased
to lJreathe, and on ,,
hose breath ","hen living had hung the
destinies of the State, and the fortune, or fate of each of its
citizens, ,vas hastily "Trapped in its bloody shroud, and stealthily
buried by the diInlight of a few tapers in an obscure corner of
the cathedral vault, unhonored in his passage to the t0111b by
the pageant ,vhich had so often garnished his path of tritunph,
and unattended, save by a fe,v domestics, and by one the spirit
of charity designates his ,vife-although the Ï1npartial historian
thro,ys a doubt over the relation, but not on the fact, by saying
"he ,vas never lnarried." Since then, on the erection of the
l)resent cathedral, his relnains were ren10ved for the second tiule
fi.oln their resting-place, and ,vith pomp and cerelnony decnled
appropriate to a just consideration of his eminent services to his
country, they ,vere deposited in the vault of the metropolitan
church. IIere they are said to be exhihited for a trifling
gratuity by the sacristan. Certainly the Inuml11ied relnains of
lnunan bodies are seen in stone niches of the cathedral vaults;
but I do not believe coml11on rumor-coll11llonly a liar-,vhich
designates one of these as the body of Pizarro, any l110re than I
believe in a reproductive power of the holy cross, or of Pizarro's
shirt; which last, if .you 'v ill consider the reIn ark a truth and
not a paradox, it may be said you can buy a piece of, if you
,vish to be "8old." 1tIost visitors are represented to have carried
rnvay a piece of this n1Îraculous garment, but there it is, the
same snuff-colored l11ystery, in a tolerable state of integrity
yet. A fev{ years since an English speclllator, elnulous of
Barnul11's sensational enterprise, surreptitiously cut off anù bore
away the mununy's hands; and there are those in LiIna, "Tho,
deterred by a belief in the sacrilege fron1 descending into the
vault, yet state that the vital forces ,yere telnporarily rene,ved
in the offended liInbs until the hands ,\yere reproduced. But
the act of regeneration has only happened in the fancy of the
credulous; the extrel11ities are seen, but ill the mutilated con-
dition referred to, and the old sacristan has been too honest to
strengthen the delusion by attaching otnep 1
and8. Nor did he

CITY OF LnIA.

107

say any thing to me to encourage the impression that this is
Pizarro's body. He states, that f\ome years since several bodies
"ithout inscriptions were disinterred. This one of then1 he
considers the remains of a former ,veIl-known prelate. If it be
true, as we are historically informed, that Pizarro "was tall in
stature and well proportioned," then certainly the body spoken
of is not his, for it is not over a rnediulll height, and but for the
block underneath would be decidedly flat-chested. What, per-
haps, is more correct than many of the stories about this body,
is, that not long ago an old pair of shoes, mouldy, pliable, and
represented as having belonged to the great conqueror, were
sold to an antiquarian at a high cost. Tpeir value 'was seriously
depreciated on a subsequent critical examination, by the dis
covery on them of the nearly obliterated stamp of a Lynn
manufactory. Italy is not alone in the readiness with w'hicb
she imposes on the credulous. If paintings of the old masters
can be produced to order, so can the shoes and shirts of dis

coverers and conquerors. Pizarro was slain in 1541, and buried
hastily, without embalming. His renlains were twice removed
and reinterred, the last tinle in 160'7---sixt.r-six years after the
first burial. How' much of them "
as probably found at that
time? The historian Prescott says, "his bones were removed
to the new Cathedra!." And yet sensationists who, ,vith Hudi.
bras, "can see what is not to be seen," point out a tolerably
well-preserved body as that of Pizarro!
On the east side of the plaza stands the cathedral referred to
above, and the archiepiscopal palace. The l)ase on ,,-hich the
cathedral stands is ten feet above the level of the plaza, embrac
iug a spacious paved area enclosed by an iron balustrade, giv.
ing the building a suitable elevation to exhibit its great size to
advantage, this being not less than one Lun(h
ed and seventy feet
front by four hundred depth. The walls and the pillars ,,-ithin
are massive and strong, of stone, burnt brick, and adobes, with
coarse stucco. But although the size of the building is impos-
ing the architectural design is not so, an inharmonious assem-
blage of orders, and a rude composite \\ith an undue proportion
of crude fancies, giving an ensenlble at variance "ith rule and
good taste. T"yo to,V'crs surmounting the front façade, contain

108

CITY OF Lru.A..

fine peals of bells, two of these of unusual size, having an ex-
quisitely rich tone; their vibrations, especially in the still hour
of midnight, floating on the air in lingering lnelody and pro-
longed cadence, as if the heavens gave back the sweet notes in
token of acceptance. The white, slate, red, and yello\v wash,
on the exterior of the church, detract IVuch from the effect
which would other,vise be produced by its massive proportions.
The sombre hue of age, and this is now n1easured by centuries,
would be lnuch more hnposing than the glare of a vulgar ,vall-
c-oloring. The interior has thirty-two immense square columns,
supporting arches, Inostly gothic. The floor is paved with
brick, much worn froln long use. The roof is of nalTOW plank,
arched, and covered outside ""ith a thin coat of plaster. Hav-
ing been thrice thrown do,vn by earthquakes, that now described
was built and has been found best suited to resist shocks. The
enlbellishments are on a scale of considerable grandem", and
would be effective but for the quantity of tinsel obtruded every-
\\"'here, not only on the high altar and choir, near the Iniddle of
the church, but fronl the t,velve or fourteen altars, or rather
distinct chapels, which eOCCUpy the large spaces bet\veen the
heavy pilasters against the "ralls, corresponding to the columns
supporting the roof. The side altars are rich, and the high al-
tar is truly magnificent; but it is to be regretted that the effect
of its grandeur is destroyed by the intervention of the choir be-
t,veell it and the luain entrance, especially ,vhen its beautiful
COlUlllllS, capitals, cornices, and mouldings, its statuary, gold-
wrought custodiunl, elnbossed silver altar table, immense silver
candelabra, and innumerable decorations of precious woods and
marble, as well as of metals, are gleaming in the radiance of a
thousand wax candle8, as in the cerelnonial of grand festivals.
Among the heavy and elaborately-carved oak chairs appropriated
to high functionaries, one is pointed out ,vhich is said to have
been used by Pizarro, ,vhen, ,yeary ,vith ,val', satiated ,vith the
blood of innocent victims to his lust of power and plunder, and
perhaps realizing the vanity and vexation of life, he sought to
conciliate divine clemency by a public show of sanctity. It
,vas not because of the proffered" honor" by the sacristan that
it was availed of to rest; but for the reason that the inlmense

CIIT OF LDU.

109

area of the church, although thronged at tilnes mth worship-
per
, is so nearly destitute of the means of seating them, that it
would have been unwise to refuse an opportunity that might
not again have been presented in tills large edifice to relie-re my
fa tigue.
.Another church, that of San Augustin, is much nsited by
strangers. It is large, and its interior architectural and other
elllbellisbments are thought by tbe citizens to excel those of the
cathedral. This cannot be doubted, if glare and glitter are re-
garded as the essentials of beauty, for from entrance to altar"
froln floor to ceiling and dome, there was a rarely-equalled dis-
play of gilt and gaudiness, in tbe celebration last night of the
eve of the feast of the nativity of the blessed Virgin :Mary.
Crimson tapestry covered the large columns and draped the
walls.
Iany coloredlnuslins, blue and buff, scarlet and gTeen,
and lighter tissues of as gay tints, forming banners and looped
pennants, sparkling with spangles, and shining also "ith silver
paper figures, foliated, radiated, stcllated, and twisted into H-rery
imaginable form and dence, were festooned froIn column to col-
. Ulnn, and hung in endless profusion fl.-oln arches and altars; of
which latter there were, besides the grand altar, twelve others
along the side walls. All these were loaded, too, 1\
ith other
glittering decorations, so that the eye burned ","ith the intensity
of reflected light wheresoever it gazed. All glared with gilt
and plated vases and candelabra, and a hundred images of the
virgin and of angels, clad in embroidered silks, satins, law.ns,
bedizened nluslins, and laces, ,vreathed with artificial flowers,
and holding in their hands bouquets of tbe same sorry ÏInita-
tions. To all this gay attire of religionislll was added statues
and paintings of Christ and the
lother, and of saints innumer-
able, in every fashion of dress and of gaudy coloring; the llleek
countenance and holy character of the latter being burlesqued
sometimes by the dress of a bloo'Jne}
, "ith indelicately-abbre-
viated skirt; at others by an extravagant anlplitude of modern
crinoline. Variegated lamps, too, radiated their rainbow hues,
as if in rivah-y of civic fêtes; while really rich chandeliers of
glass, and candelabra of glas8, of silver, and as is said, and it
really seemed, of gold, holding a thousand "ax canùles, re-

110

CITY OF LillA.

flected the flashing rays, until the church seemed a blaze of
light. This brilliant illumination recalled the descriptions of
the ancient Perunan temples of the Sun, whose golden mirrors
gathered the beams of the great hUl1inary, to dazzle the vision
of its sincere and siInple-minded worshippers.
It might reasonably be expected that the effect of such a
spectacle, aided by the ÏInpressive chanting of a hundred richly-
robed prelates and priests, seconded by a powerful choir ,yith
Sconcia and Cecchi to lead, would be deeply impressive upon
the cOlnpact asselnblage of devout WOlnen, ,\\Tho kneeled or sat
Ï1nmovable for two hours on the floor, spread only by their sman
woollen rugs, usually borne by themselves or servants to church
for that purpose. As to the men, they were deemed the lucky
few who secured a remote standing corner, even at the cost of a
coat from the descending showers of melted ,,"'ax froln flaring
candles. Would it be uncharitable to suppose that they were
excluded from the body of the church because of their idolatry

1\10st of them seelned to be ,yorshippers of the lnodern ]'farys,
whose flashing eyes served to increase the brilliancy of the scene.
The religious services above spoken of ,vere repeated on the
succeeding day at the church of San Augustin, the feast of the
nativity of the Blessed Virgin being observed as one of the
most holy of the Roman church. Secular business was sus-
pended, and all the churches were open .and filled .with the
faithful. The occasion afforded an opportunity to see in public
the famed, and somewhat fabulous beauty of Lima. So extrav-
agant have been the pictures dra,yn by travellers of the personal
attractions of Lilneîías,. that one lllay be excused for having al-
lowed his attention to be ,vithdra ,vn frOIl1 the spiritual to the
temporal, froln the Virgin 1\Iother of the past to the virgin
daughters of the present-frolll Dethlehem to beauty. But
candor \vill not pernlit my joining the general acclaÎIn to their
LJranscendent charms. The Limeña of pure Castilian descent,
uncontaminated by inferior blood, it is true, is sometilnes found
a model of symmetry and grace; ,vith regular features, .clear
cOll1plexion, arched dark eyebrows, a profusion of black hair,
small hands and feet, and a flashing black eye, but little less
dangerous than the tender blue that Jess frequently sheds its

CITY OF LDIA.

111

mild ray froln out the constel1ation of dazzling neighbors. But
the departures from this standard are many, even among those
of untainted Spanish lineage, and innumerable among others
of impure blood and degraded caste. It is probable that if
those who formerly testified to a universal Limeña loveliness,
could see the women in later fashions of dress, they -would con-
clude that the saya-y-manto, the mysterious garment then worn,
diel llluch to shape their opinions. The interest felt in that
unique dress may justify a description of it.
The name is cOlnposed of two substantive words, as the dress
consists of two essential parts. The saya is a skirt hvnging in
apparently quilted folds ii-om the "Waist nearly to the ground.
In consequence of this quilting it is dra-wn in, or narro\\"ed
about the knees, 80 as to give an appearance or "ant of fi-eedom
in the use of the limbs, ,,
hich, however, is more apparent than
real, because of the elasticity of the skirt. The material of the
saya is usually black silk. The manto, made of 2 lighter mate-
rial than silk, but also black, is attached to the saya at the waist
behind and at its sides, ,,
hence it is brought up over the shoul-
ders and head, concealing one arm entirely, which is foldf-d up
to hold the opposite 'sides of the manto together across the
breast, and revealing only a part of the other arm, and the
hanel, which is raised for the purpose of dra-wing it o,er the
face, leaving but one eye exposed. A well-turned arl11 and
small hand, with taper fingers, adorned ,vith brilliants, not more
dazzling than the flashing eye, near \\
hich they loiter in coquet-
tish mischie
show to greflt advantage in such a costume, and
very naturally lead to the conclusion that all the unseen is in
beautiful harmony. A gay colored sha-wl, usually crinlson, is
worn under the nlanto, and over the shoulders, cov'cring the
bust and falling in front, aiding by the bright reflection in beau-
tif)1ng the revealed arm and hanel, always left exposed when the
wearer is of pure Cancasian descent. Owing to the awkward
appearance given to the :figure by the contraction of the saJ"a at
the knee, and ,,
hich ga\'e to it also the nalue saya ((ju8tada

dra,vn in-the Limeïías improved the style by opening out the
skirt, letting it drop free and unconfined, and giving an air of
greater ease and grace to the person, this being called in contra-

112

CITY OF LIMA.

distinction saya cle8J.]liegada. And thus it was worn until a
few years since, convenient to the wearer for all artful purposes,
and bewitching to the beholder-the chirimoya of dress-its
captivating mysteries not to be described by language any more
than the nectared sweets of that elysian fruit.
A few years since European fashions, under the skilful lead-
ership of a few cunning beauties, began to make inroads upon
the previously irresistible saya, which had placed the least fa-
voi'ed in personal charms, provided she had but a bright eye,
and understood the art of using it, on the same vantage groluld
with the loveliest. As in IllOst important questions that have
agitated the world, a compromise was the reslùt, and the saya.
Y-'Jnanto is no"T supplanted by a large shawl, usually black,
which the wearer throws over her head; and when it pleases her
to be concealed, it is drawn over the face from each side in such
Inanner as to hide all but one eye, one end of the shawl being
thrown carelessly over the shoulder after the manner of a Span-
ish cavalier's cloak. A Limeña is said to be tapadad, and she
is called a tapada, "\\'"hen thus covered. The shawl thus worn
answers all the plu-poses of concealment afforded by the manto,
but is by no means as becoming. Indeed, so clumsy is it lmless
of very fine and flexible material, and adroitly llianaged, and
so troublesollle to the wearer, that the prettier women, unem-
barrassed by the necessities of intrigue, are outwitting their less
conl
ly cotemporaries, and with ready pretexts appear in public
adorned as of old in the rich and courtly Spanish veil, and some
of them even in that artflù invention of modern millinery, the
cunning little bonnet. It is refreshing to see this iITesistible de-
vice of Parisian civilization, on the form, fit, color, and elllbel-
lishment of which hang the hopes and happiness of nearly half
of the Caucasian race; and when, here in Lima, where it has
110t yet fully established its empire, it happens occasionally
nearly to touch one's cheek as it flits by on the narro\v footway,
it brings thoughts of rosebuds and sweetness, pleasant thoughts
and tender emotions.
So far then as relates to the once celebrated Limeña cos-
tume, the saYOry-rnanto, it may be written a thing of, the past,
preserved as a relic of the ,vardrobe, or donned by pretty

CITY OF LDIA.

113

señoras occasionally to prove to curious strangers ho,v fascinat-
ing tbose might become e-\en if a little mystery were necessary
to awaken the imagination to charms, in their own cases too
real to Heed artificial aids. And its successor, the less elegant
tapada, which has nothing but its adaptation to deeds of dark-
ness to recommend it, is travelling along the same road; ere
long i t8 decline and fall will be written too-fashion has so
decreed. TIut ,voe to those who, not made of porcelain clay,
fall into tbe trap set for thenl by charms that seek the light.
The raising of Mokanna's veil brought not more certainly hor-
ror to his sworn priestess, than the remo-val of the tapada some-
times brings disappointment and disgust to the "Tol'8hipper of
fancied beauty; for it is said that liaisons un"ittingly indulged
in with 7nestizas and negras in the favoring shades of night,
aiding the deception of ,,'"hite-gloved arms and ,,"hitened eye-
lids, haye resulted in a den01tement recalling the Prophet of
Khorassen's fearful apostrophe:

" Here-judge if bell, with all its power to damn,
Can add one curse to the foul thing lam."

However unlucky those whose nlisfortune it will be to stand
re-vealed in repulsive feature, and doubtful or undoubted COll1-
plexion, the sooner tÌ1is masking costume, a lingering badge of
immorality, is driven froln Limeman society the better for its
reputation. Whatever sufficient considerations led to its adop-
tion-and its admirers and apologists have been ingenious in
suggesting many-whether modesty, protection ii-om weather,
diffidence, reserve, convenience in dispensing unseen and un-
known the charities of life, it Inust be conceded tbat its perver-
sion to disreputable purposes, the facility with which it call be
and has been used for intrigue, and for the avoidance of
detection "Then exposure would invite just condemnation, make
it desirable that the revolution in dress already begun should
not be arrested. The sooner it is completed the better for the
character of tbe really virtuous, ,yho bave unhappily ùorne an
unjust odium from the follies of the indiscreet, and the sins of
their ii-ailer sisters. The beneficial influence such change
8

114

CITY OF LIMA.

would exercise In reforming actual immorality cannot be
doubted.
A description of the seventy churches, parish and conven-
tual, of Lhna, would l)e tedious and uninteresting. They
resemble each other in general appearance and structure ex-
tern ally and internally, varying in size, some of them being
insignificantly small, while others although large are without
grandeur, and alï'est the attention n1erely by being overloaded
with tasteless and unharlnonious decorations. The mention of
a few Inay be excused. The church of San Pedro, more than
two hundred years old, is next in size and nearly as large as the
cathedral; but time and frequent earthquakes have so dalnaged
and disfigured it, as to render an outlay sufficient to restore
its original strength and style beyond the straitened means of
those who administer its trusts. And indeed the appropriation
of so large a SUIn for purposes of pomp and vanity, would be of
doubtful propriety even if possessed, ,vhen the ,vants of the
cro,vd of beggars surrounding its portal, and petitioning the
nearly as impoverished looking devotees passing in and out, is
considered. The halt, the blind, the poor, lnight well invoke
curses rather than blessings upon those ,vho, indifferent to their
suffering and destitution, should divert the gifts of divine bene-
ficence and the means of charity to purposes of empty show,
and a splendor that ,vould shame the pretences of those who
profess to obey and teach the precepts of Christ, and yet would
witness the afflicted pauper kneel day by day unrelieved at the
door of His sanctuary.
The church of N uestra Señora de la J\Ierced, also large and
elaborately ornamented, is in a better state of preservation than
San Pedro. It belongs to an order of priesthood considered one
of the richest in South Alnerica at this time. Our Lady of 1\Iercy
is the patroness of the arlny of Peru, by whom her bedizened
effigy is escorted with great military parade on all occasions
observed in her honor.
The church, Inonastery, and college of San Francisco, ,vith
their gardens, cover a space of fi'om twenty to twenty-five acres.
The church still retains much of the splendor for which it was
fonnerly distinguished; but tbis order of priesthood has lost its

CITY OF LULl.

115

forlner sources of wealth, and the monastic buildings are rapidly
going to ruin. The porch, pillars, cornices, mouldings, panelled
root
statuary
hangings, altar, and general ornaments, with the
steeples and fine bells of the church, 8ho\\ that this part of the
once celebrated establishment still posses
es a strong bold upon
the religious sentiment and reverence of the people. The
chopel del milagro also retains tbe traces of tasteful eml>ellish-
ment, a remaining few of the finest collection of paintings of
the old masters e'-er owned in America by a religious institution
-but nearly an purloined, sold, or perishing from neglect-and
the vestiges of a high altar, )Iadonna's niche, elaborate carvings,
and general architectural decorations, showing that these must
have originated in extraordinary religious zeal, or love of mag-
nificence, and a high appreciation of the fine arts, and great
affluence. The :lladonna, once sacredly cherished in this chapel,
formerly stood o,er the entrance to the church; and it is related
of it and believed by these 8uperstitiou
people, that on the
occurrence of a severe shock of an earthquake in 1630, the :figure
turned round facing the altar and lifted up its bands in a bUp-
plicating manner, thus preser,ing the city from destruction.
For this miraculous intercession the )Iadonna received, by a
special ecclesiastical decree appro,ed by popular sentiment,
the addition to her holy title of del TRiÜtgro.
The convent of San Francisco was founded in 1657, and
completed at a cost of twelve millions of francs. In its present
ruins the e,idences are seen of former magnificence and opu-
lence, dilapidated cloisters, untenanted studios, deserted banquet
hall
, corridors that no longer resound "yith the footstep of
monastic po"\Yer, and arches that do not now echo the revelry of
licentiousnes Q , defaced frescoes of the good Eaint's life, falling
arbors, uprooted gardens, walks neglected, grass-groWTI and
nurseries of weeds, and broken fountains "hich ha,e long since
ceased to cool the air with their refreshing waters, Inark the
retribution which has overtaken the luxury, dissolutene

, and
debauchery of which it was the undoubted and shameless seat,
and which cfugraced their profe;..;ion of faith when its ,0
hundred resident monks stripped the lniserable natÍ,c., of
natural rights as well a
of their silver and gold, and robbed

116

CITY OF LIMA.

their temples of jewelled idols to recast for the enrichment aud
celebration of their o,yn scarcely more rational rites, and to coin
into the purchase money of sensual indulgences and a profligacy
that dishonored the me1TIOry of their excellent "and benevolent
founder. But the penalty of sin and wickedness wås finally
paid, and there lingers but a Iniserable remnant of this once
po,verful order. These are the occupants of cloistered cells,
damp and dreary, now shown to the visiting stranger in proof of
their self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of religion; with little
else to cheer their loneliness but a wooden crucifix, and a hUl11an
skull whose speechless eloquence reminds us" to this complexion
\ve Inust come at last," an ox-hide bed and a blanket, brown
bread, and cruse of water. lIay penance and prayer proeure
then1 a happier destiny than the present! The hand of 1nilitary
despotism which they upheld and strengthened, and which so
long oppressed the feeble and once happy natives of the soil, at
length has been stretched forth to seize and appropriate the
property purchased and adorned by their ill-gotten wealth; and
the cholo soldiers of the nominal President but actual JJictatoT
Castilla, the mongrel descendants of the ancient Peruvians, are
no\v seen revelling in the refectories, drilling in the arcades, and
banging their burnished arms against the pillars and a1t?-rs of
this convent.
.A.n Irish gentleJnan-a Catholic-temporarily domiciliated
in the convent, gave me n1uch information about church mat-
tel's; and if at times my remarks upon these seem severe, the
facts on ,vhich they are based mU,st certainly be regarded as
coming in his case fi
om love of truth rather than fro1n sectarian
prejudice. He sho,ved me through the buildings and grounds,
pointed out the proofs of earthquake power, in shattered walls,
demolished
ornices, and crumbling corridors, and directed
attention to a dome of elaborately-carved wood,vork of surpass-
ing elegance, and to son1e fine paintings still remaining of the
many ,vhich forlner1y adorned the ,valls of the 1110nastery. The
fe\v paintings left have been removed frolTI different parts of the
establishment to the" Retreat" by the present worthy Superior,
for better preservation, and protection from the hands of clerical
spoilsmen, who, in many instances, taking advantage of secular

CITY OF LDrA.

11"7

demand for valuable works of art, "\vere discovered to have sold
numerous masterpieces belonging to tbe monastery, for tbe
means of gratifying their lusts, indulging the vanities of
mistresses, and providing for the necessities of their chil-
dren !
My cicerone was a religious formalist of the strictest school,
and not only a zealous defender of the faith but also of the some-
what celebrated women of the famed capital of Peru, who he
considered shamefully slandered not merely by common rumor,
but also by the tales of more responsible travellers. J..
s ,ve
were sauntering along a panelled corridor and vestry, admiring
a Rubens, and as some assert, a Murillo, my new-Inade
acquaintance indulged-as I thought rather fiercely-in de-
nouncing the libels on Limeña "Virtue; when, stopping suddenly
before an image of the Virgin, he devoutly made the sign of the
cross, knelt, and muttered doubtless an appropriate prayer.
Then rising, and while still vis-â-vis with the Holy Mother,
he shocked me by the abrupt, and considering the presence
especially profane remark, that" those who circlùate such vile
charges against tHe WOlnen of Lima are a pack of damned liars
and scoundrels." A candid chronicler should not withhold this
opinion, but give Limeñas the benefit of it. Doubtless my Hi-
bernian friend was sincere; certainly he was lTIuch incensed at
the imputation; I know not "\vhy, for he did not int
ate that
he had been subjected to any suspicion of demonstrati"Ve investi-
gations. But uttered as was his emphatic denunciation in the
presence of his professed patroness, may it not be supposed that
be designed thereby to commend himself to her special protec-
tion, in confidence that bis irreverence would be overlooked in
the appreciation of the chivalric zeal that dictated a defence of
her lnaligned sex-as daughters of earth, deserving heavenly
care? Å change of public opinion on this delicate subject it
must be conceded, however, will be more likely to follow good
deeds than a lavish expenditure of qUL
otism; and the abolition
of the saya-y-lnanto and tapada, when thoroughly accomplished
by the perEistent efforts as well as prayers of those whose acts
need no disguise, 'will effect much to this end.
One other church is regarded with so much superstitious

118

CITY OF LillA.

reverence as to be entitled to brief notice, and then I shall
speak of institutions in ,vhich will be found more practical
charity and benevolence; and therefore they are to be regarded
as the truly religious in an honest Christian sense.
The church of Santo Domingo is said to be the oldest in the
city. It has the appearance of great antiquity, and enjoys the
distinction, as well as the danger, of having the tallest steeple
in Lima; a preëminence certainly not to be en vied in view of
its liability to be toppled over-if not a sacrifice to fireworks-
by that no respecter of persons and things so apt on this conti-
nent to shake down the monuments of 111an's vanity. The
general architecture and decorations of this church, like those
of the other religious edifices, are in profusion, and also, in the
n1ain, in bad taste. But in addition to the several altars in the
common and ta,vdry style, there is one, the altar of our Lady
of the Rosary, which looks as if its various parts ","'ere of 111as-
8ive silver; pedestals, columns, capitals, cornices-chased, e111-
bossed, and fluted-present a superb display of the precious
metal. No altar in Lima can compare ,,,,ith this in effective and
actual richness, although excelled by some öthers in massive
proportions. The niche for the figure of n1Y Lady of the Rosary
is of exquisite material and workmanship; and her dresses,
numerous as the days of the year, and gorgeous in brocade,
lace, and e1nbroidery, can challenge the wardrobe of the vain-
est of earth's temporal queens in variety anù richness. The
rosary of the saint is forn1ed of pearls of largest size linked
by diamonds, mneralds, rubies, and other precious stones, which,
with her finger and ear-rings, are valued at hundreds of thou-
san ds of dollars.
This church being the custodiary of the properties of this
jewelled Saint Rosario, the wealthiest of the calendar, and who
still continues to have large accessions made to bel' estates by
the bequests of the dying who desire her holy intercession for
forgiveness of sins, has a large surplus beyond the support of
her great state, and thus can maintain a great number of holy
fathers. These minister luxuriously to their own, as ,veIl as to
the necessities of the saint, ,vho, although dead and buried, and
therefore it should rationally be supposed having no temporal

CITY OF LrnA.

119

wants, is yet by her devotees considered special1y deserving of
posthumoug honors because of her life of extraordinary pUl"ity
amid unusual tenlptations of poverty; her obscure place of in-
terment having been indicated by the miraculous growth on
her grave of a rose-bush in token of the divine purpose to have
pel1)etuated the memory of her virtues. The age of pious
frauds bas not pass.ed, happily for the holy fathers of Santo
Domingo.
On the annual celebration of the feast of the rosary, besides
a brilliant illumination within the church, froln silver lanlps,
candelabra, and chandeliers, the display of gaudy hangings of
crimson velvet, embroidered muslin, and silk, and an atmosphere
of perfume from scented vapors, costly drugs, and spices, to intoxi-
cate the senses of the votary, the exterior is in ftùl feather with
flags, fireworks, and variegated lamps, with a clatter of bells
beaten through an unending gamut of discord. It is the ne plu8

/ltpa of inflammable display, noise, and nonsense of Lima relig-
ionism. It resembles aNew York Independence day in riot,
combustion and explosion, disorder and disgrace to municipal
governluent. The deluded victinls of ignorance, priest craft,
and superstition here, seem to think that heaven can be most
effectually startled into a recognition of their wants and vows,
by letting loose all the explosives of hunlan invention-rockets,
fire-crackers, torpedoes, roman-candles, flaming-circles, spit
devils, and fiery serpents-by the cargo; and by a din and
uproar unparalleled save by tbe wild tumult of Inodern AUleri-
can rowdyism and partisan pyrotechnics, which have disgrace-
fully superseded orderly political meetings and enlightened dis-
CUSSion.

CHAPTER VII.

DESCRIPTION OF LIMA CONTINUED-BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS-SCHOOL OF MEDICINE-
PUBLIC PRO'dENADES-AMPHITHEATRE AND NATIONAL AMUSEME
TS-MONUMENTS-
CHA.MBER OF DEPUTIES-SENATE CHAMBER-FORMER TRIBUNAL OF THE INQUISITION-
RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE-PERUVIAN ARMY-SENATORS AND DEPUTIES-ADMINISTRA-
TION OF JUSTICE--EDUCATION.

J\fOST of the hnportant and really ùenevolent institutions of
Lima, are under the control of one special board of directors.
Many years since a phil
nthropic citizen bequeathed a considera-
ble property for charitable purposes, and named the managers of
the trust. The property thus donated for public charities has been
added to from time to time by others, SOITIe of ,vhom have given
money, a part of them bestowing real estate, the annual reve-
nue from all of wh
ch amounts to $250,000; and it ,vas said to
me by an intelligent citizen of Lima, that but for neglect and
pilfering, it would have amounted by this time to nearly twice
that sum. The Peruvian Government, regardless of the illegal-
ity of the act, abolished a few years ago the board of managers
appointed under the bequest, and nominated one of directors in
its stead, consisting of eighteen citizens, authorized to fill their
own vacancies, thus perpetuating their official control, and '\vith
power to appropriate the large income derived froln invest-
ments, in such manner as to them should seem best for the pro-
lllotion of the objects originally designed. This board is subdi-
vided into executive committees, for the better supervision of
the several institutions, and they have a duly appointed corps
of "administrators "-elTIployés-consisting of Inajor domos,
physicians, surgeons, pharmaceutists, nurses, who are in all cases
sisters of charity, porters, and servants, a total number of two
hundred and forty-two, who are distributed al110ng, and perform

HOSPITAL OF S
lli
ì)REe.

121

the duties demanded for the care of the following institutions
supported by this Inunificent trust:
1. The Hospital of San Andres, for men, consisting of a large
central room surmounted by a dome; tì'om this room radiate
several long and commodious wards with high ceilings. Each
ward has light achnitted from above, there being no side win-
dows for the accommodation of impertinent curiosity, or to en-
danger patients by draughts of air, atmospheric purity being
secured by suitable ventilators above and below. The floor is
of highly-polished asphaltum-easily cleansed. X eat i1'on bed-
steads have superseded here, as they Sh01Ùd in every hospital,
the more cumùrous and less durable bug-breeders of wood, and
bedding is abundant and clean. Closets, bath rooms, and an
alllple supply of hot and cold water, and all accessories needfh1
for the comfolt of the sick, and the convenience of the convales-
cent, are provided. Each bed is numbered, and has suspended
at its head in brief, the daily medical record of the occupant"s
condition. .l..-\. permanent dressing-table in the surgical ward
has numerous drawers, supplied with necessary dres
ings and in-
struments to meet sudden emergencies; charpie, rollers, cush-
ions, sponges, plasters, ointments, can be had at a mon1ent"s no-
tice, and without the delay often realized in sÏlnilar estaùlish-
ments at home for such articles to be brought. The operating
room is spacious and well lighted, and tbe attendance of in-
ternes upon the visiting surgeon, the quiet and orderly manner
of performing their respective duties, each haying his specially
assigned office, and no one interfering with that of his colleague;
the personal presence, also, of the nurse to give information if
sought, anel to make, herse1t
a note of the prescriùed diet, as
the chief interne does a record of the progress of the case, and
the a
sistant that of the medical prescription; the l)resence, too,
óf a servant with water and napkin for the surgeon-in-chief, so
that each patient shall be examined with unsoiled hands; and
numerous other evidences of order, decorum, foresight, prompti-
tude, cleanliness, aud discipline, are entitled to commendation,
and make San Andres a model worthy of North .American Í1ni-
tation. The larger wards are occupied by charity patients, and
these are certainly nlore cOlufortably provided for than any sÏ1ni.

.

122

HOSPITAL OF SAN ANDRES.

lar class of patients my various official positions have brought
under illY notice. There are slnaller and less crowded wards
for patients not on the charity list, at a rnoderate per dieln; and
neat, ,veIl-furnished private rooms, for the better class of pay-
patients, at a charge of OlIe and a half to two dollars per day.
These rooms, having all the comforts and conveniences of a pri-
vate residence, ,,"ith faithful and experienced attendants, are
rnuch sought by invalid strangers in LÍ1na. ·
I have not seen anywhere a dispensary at all comparable
with that of San .Andres. It has three iarge-sized apartments
for preparing, compounding, and dispensing medicines; and for
cOlllpleteness, arrangelnent, and decoration, of cases, shelves, and
shop furniture in great variety, and for numbers, quantity, and
quality of medicines, it rnay be confidently said, that the botica
of San Andres Hospital is not surpassed by the sho,vy apoth-
ecary shops of the chief cities of the United States. .Although
achnitted-by special courtesy to a stranger-to the private
apartInents of the Sisters of Oharity, a sense of propriety for-
bids a reference to the arrangernents of their seclusion, further
than to say that these are remarkable for the perfection of order,
neatnes'3, yet appropriate plainness, characteristic of these good
Samaritans everywhere. The sisterhood having charge of this
hospital, and of several others in Lilna, came from France a few
years since on this special mission of benevolence. The Supe-
rior, bearing the appropriate name Angelica, and whô illustrates
her title by her good deeds, is a lady distinguished alike by her
accolllplishments, exalted character, disinterested charity, and
administrative ability. In the Orimean war, like Florence
Nightingale, now an historical character, enjoying in life the
rare happiness of witnessing the effulgence shed by a self-sacri-
ficing devotion to good on the destiny of Inankind, she, too,
proved an angel of mercy to the suffering, the distressed, and
the dying. .Answering the appeal of humanity again, she has
come to this distant land to serve those who need her kindly
aid and admonition, as well as the influence of her holy
xam-
pIe; and none but a bigot would fail to honor her noble charac-
ter and generous deeds, and wish for her a present happiness,
flowing from consciousness of good done here, and a reaiization
of more glorious reward hereafter.

LUNATIC ASYLU
.

123

It may be added, that the mode of cooking by stealTI is well
adapted to the wants of this large establishment, and that the
arrangement and economy of the cuisine are as perfect as the
other departments of the hospital, anlong which is an extensive
and well-regulated laundry.
The Hospital of San ..lndres has fl.-ve hundred and fifty beds,
and there are at this tinle in its wards three hundred and nineteen
patients_ The following are the most prevalent diseases: Dysen-
tel-y, diarrhæa, rheumatism, fevers of various kinds-particularly
intermittent-pleurisy, plleumonia,.l)ulmonary consumption, and
venereal, the last being especially the pestilence of the place.
I am indebted to Dr. Ornellas, a Portuguese physician of
great elninence, and surgeon-in-chief of San .A.ndres Hospital,
for politely conducting me through this and similar institutions,
as ,ve11 as through a fine botanic garden attached to the hospital,
and for much information on medical and other subjects relating
to this country.
2. The Hospital of Santa .Ana, for women, is another of the
munificently endo,,-cd charities under the direction of the Bene-
ficentia. It is similar in general plan, extent, construction, and
administration, to San A..ndres, and therefore need not be de-
scribed. It is subject to the same rules of admissiðn, and ia
governed by similar regulations.
lore than three hundred
beds are provided for patients, and there are at this time two
hundred laboring under the same diseases found in San ....-\..ndres.
3. A Lunatic Asylum is also provided by the same benefi-
cent administration, having now one hundred insane inmates
treated according to the present rational system, adopted fir
t
in France, and now pursued in all enlightened countries. The
building is constructed with reference to the improved treat-
ment, and a nloderate space is provided for the out-of:'door exer-
cises, amusements, and occupations, ,,'hich make a part of it.
It is the only institution of the kind yet established in the three
most northern republics of the west coast of South A.Inerica,
K ew Granada and Ecuador haying nothing but prisons for the
confinement of lunatics, merely for security. These are, in fact,
m01YllJJest nouscs for creating and confirming insanity. Such
have been the favorable results of the rational system of treat-

124

THE PANTHEON.

ment in Lima that the countries named send many of this class
of unfortunates here; and when their friends are unable to
recompense the institution, the Beneficentia has been governed
by an enlarged philanthropy and received them without re-
n1uneration. Pay patients are charged as in American asylun1s,
according to the accommodations required.
4. Another of the excellent institutions of Lima is a Mater-
nity, or lying-in hospital, in 'which Inidwives are practically
taught the duties pertaining to that department of medical
practice. An obstetric college anhexed to the
faternity, under
the direction of La Señora Benita Paulina Fossel, has a collec-
tion of preparations illustrating every branch of instruction in
midwifery, with instruments, manikins, natural objects, and
monstrosities. There are, also, a professor of the anatomical
structures relating specially to this branch of science, a professor
of the physiology of the saIne, and a professor of the theory
and practice of obstetrics, with female internes and externes in
attendance.
5. The Beneficentia has also founded orphan asylums for
boys and girls, in ,vhich they are instructed until fitted by age
and education to be placed under other care to be taught some
useful ocCupation. An appendage to this is a foundling hospital
for abandoned children, conducted shnilarly to those of France,
and thought by SOlne excellent citizens to diminish the frequency
of infanticide. Besides these various institutions, the Benefi-
centia has purchased, enclosed, laid out, and adorned a ceme-
tery for public use, called-
6. The Pantheon, froln the building which is its chief
ornament, and ,vhich is situated just within the main
ntrance.
It is siJ.Juated outside of the city ,vall, beyond vlhich it is reached
by an unpaved road covered nearly knee deep with dust. The
Pantheon occupies a space of probably ten or twelve acres. . It
is ,vithout shrubbery or trees within the main enclosure, except
along the principal avenue; the foreground being also sparsely
planted ,vith flowers. But with such a soil, climate, and dews,
flowers should be perennial, clothing the tombs in a perpetual
garb of beauty, and breathing forth their fragrance a sweet
offering to the memories of the departed. The cemetery is sur-

THE P
THEON.

rounded by a high, mud-colored adobe wall, except a small
space in front embraced within a plain iron railing. The mode
of sepulture is above ground, in cells or niches of brickwork,
arranged in tiers three or four feet deep, each cell receiving an
adult body placed in it horizontally. When the cells are
entirely closed, a block of them presents the appearance of a
massive wall seven or eight feet high and as many thick.
SOllletimes the blocks of cells are arranged on the tbree sides
of a square, so as to enclose an open court on which they face,
and from which they are reached for burial purposes. Each
court is called a department, and is designated by the nalne of
a saint. \\hen wanted for use, the cell is opened by removing
the bricks \rhich temporarily close it; and when the body has
been laid within, generally but not invariably collined, the
mouth of the cell is again closed by a nlarble slab, suitably
inscribed, not to be removed again
f the cell has been purchased
for pei'lnanent occul)ation by the payment of one hundred
dollars; otherwise, if lee! sed for the usual tern1 of two years, by
the payment of ten dollars it
ill be opened after the lapse of
that time, the remains remo\ed to a deep pit in the centre of
the cenletery, the comlllon receptacle of all such, and the cell
re-leased to some other tenant. If burial be sought as a charity,
it is given in that '10 tomb of all the Capulets." There are now
but six n10nunlents indicating 8uòtel'/'onean intennent. Four of
these are directly ,vithin the Inain entrance, between it and the
Pantheon, and were erected probably by an act of Government,
in 111emory of the Peruvian
Iarshals Gamarra, :Kicochea, La
Mar, and General Salazar. They are tasteful, appropriate, and
well executed, relieving somewhat the stern salneness of the
scene; and it is 8urprising that the 1eauty of the sculptured
lllarble does not telnpt wealthy survivors to place over their
departed similar memorials of affection, honorable alike to the
living and to tbe dead. The Pantheon proper-the edifice-
designed for ornalnent rather than for use, i., a chaste structure
of about fifty feet height, and proportionate diameter. The
don1e, light and graéeful, is supported by eight interior columns,
within the circle of which, upon a suitable pedestal, is a group
of three beautiflùly sculptured Italian marble figures of life

,

125

.

126

REFUGIO DE INCURABLES.

.

size, representing an angel supporting a cross ,vith one hand
while the other is pointing upward, and a male and female
kneeling, with upturned faces, in attitude of listening to the
declaration, "Canet tuba et mortui resurgent incorrupti "-the
trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incolTuptible.
The presence on ,vall, turret, and tomb, in attitude of ex-
pectancy, of that loathsolne bird of evil omen-" only that and
nothing lnore," none other being there, as in our own hallowed
resting-places, to lull ,vith melody the n10urnillg spirit-did not
enhance illY estin1ate of a civilization and refinement ,vhich,
iU1itating a IIindoo custoni, exposed the festering remains of
mortality, if not on scaffolds and roofs ofhouse"s to vultures, yet
to the light of day and the air of heaven in an uncovered
charnel vault, truly-

" .A thing
O'er which the raven :flaps her funeral wing."

Besides the benevolent institutions established and supported
by the Beneficentia, there is another hospital, the Refugio de
Incurables, containing at this time eighty-seven patients. A
convent building belonging to one of the nearly extinct orders
of monks, is used for the purpose, and the still lingering rem-
nant of these religionists have charge of and support the
sick, that they may thereby propitiate the Executive govern-
ment to allo,v them to retain possession of the convent
property, "Thich a law of Peru declares forfeited to the State
'whenever the number of ii-iars belonging to anyone order shall
be reduced below thirteen.
![ost of the patients in this Refuge
have incurable cutaneous diseases. It is also tbe pest-house to
which cases of small-pox are sent; and many Chinese coolies
"who are refused adlnission to other hospitals gain adlnission
here. It is a wretched lazar-house, filthy in the extreme, ,vith-
out order, conlforts, or any thing to gladden the fleeting mo-
ments of expiring Illortality save the prospect of speedy release
from suffering and neglect. The poor lllonks are incapable of
enforcing discipline, and cannot pass from the indolence and in-
dulgence of the past to the menial offices required for the Inain-
tenance even of necessary cleanliness.

HOSPITAL OF SAX nARTOLO:
IE.

127

....t\.nother hospital, that of San Bartolome, is devoted to the
acco1l1IDodaUon of sick and ,vounded soldiers, being supported
by the national government and under its exclusive control. It
is a large building sOlllewhat on the plan of San Andre;:., but it
is by no Ineana as well arranged, or as orilerly, cleanly, or com-
fortable. It has five hundred beds, and contains at present two
hundred and fifty-five patients. Its generally defective and
dirty condition does not indicate much regard for the cholo ,ic-
tin1s of \var and e
l?osure, however much Oastilla may tickle
their fancies with showy uniforms, and pet them when in health
and capable of performing service in upholding and perpetuating
arbitary and despotic rule.
Having spoken of the hospital:;, nearly a11, certainly the
largest and best organized of which I have named, it may also
be stated that Lilna has a
ational School of
Iedicine. .L\.l-
though founded before, this did not go into full operation until
1855. Its officers are a dean, secretary, librarian, and curator,
and a medical faculty of thirteen professors and several auxilia-
ries, to """it: Professors of Practice of :Medicine; of Descriptive
Anatomy; of General and Pathological Anatomy; of Physi-
ology; of General Pathology; of Medical Xos010gy; of Surgi-
cal X osology; of General Therapeutics and Materia Medica; of
Pharlnacy; of Surgical _\.natomy and Operative Surgery; of
Legal )Iedicine find Toxicology. Also a Master or Teacher of
Clinical )Iedicine, several ....\.u..xiliary or .L\djlillct Professors, and
an Anatomical Dissector.
The collegiate edifice is commodious and conveniently
arranged, and contains an excellent museum of preparations in
natural history, mineralogr, botany, physics, anatomy natural
and pathological, surgery, and obstêtrics. The course of in-
struction extends through nine months of the year, and the
student is required to study five years, undergoing an examina-
tion at the end of each course of lectures, and a final examina-
tion at the end of the fifth year, which is designed to test his
general attainments before he can be entitled to a diploma as
. doctor. A fee of four dollars is charged the student by the
secretary for inscription on entering the college; the course of
instruction i
gratuitous, there being no charge but the inscrip-

128

NATIONAL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.

tion fee until graduation, when a fee of one hundred and twenty
dollars is exacted. The college is endowed by Government with
a sun1 of 820,000 annually, specifically derived from the import
duty on ice. Independently of its precious virtue as such, the
faculty are thus interested in prescribing ice as a febrifuge.
The nUlnber of students in attendance on the last course of lec-
tures was eighty-seven. The college curriculum looks well on
paper; but it is due to candor to say, upon the authority of t,vo
accomplished European physicians now in practice here, that ill
this as in many other things, degenerate Spanish pretension ex-
ceeds largely the reality.
The Estctdistica General de Lima for 1858, states that the
Faculty of
Iedicine of the University of Lima is required by
law to exalnÎne not only all physicians and surgeons, both
national and strangers, who pay on being admitted a fee of
$125, but also all pharmaceutists who pay $60, dentists $50,
phlebotomists $25, and matrons 830. As many as eigh-
teen natives and ten foreigners are said to receive Inedical
diplomas annually. The E8tadistica further states that there
were in LÎJna in that year, sixty-one regular physicians,
twenty-eight l)harmaceutists, thirteen phlebotomists and cup-
pel's, two male and thirteen female accoucheurs, and five
den tists.
I have said that I must note t11ings cU/P1'ente calamo, and as
I happen to see them; it is therefore hoped that the narrative
will be excused which puts hospitals and celneteries before
public parks
lld senate chambers. Whenever the chance is
afforded to stroll, " I stand not upon the order of going, but go at
once." But for this nIle my observations "rould be very meagre.
Formerly the only puhlic promenade and drive was out-
side of the city wall on the Oallao avenue, ,vbich for about a
mile had a double row of shade trees, seats, turnouts, and aque-
ducts, and was the great resort of citizens who sought pleasure
or fashionable display. Being beyond the beat of the po
ice,
frequent robberies and assassinations caused it to be abandoned,
and two other public walks, called alarnedas, were opened ,vith-
in the safer limits of the city. These are both in the suburb
of San Lazaro, north of the river Rin1ac, and access is
ad to

PHITHEATRE.

129

then1 by a substantial stone bridge which spans the river. The
alameda nueva runs three-fourths of a mile along the right
bank of the Rimac, having a drive in the middle, and a double
row of shade trees bounding a spacious walk on each side.
Iid-
way this alameda stands an exquisitely-chiselled marble statue
of Columbus. The figure hns a height of nine feet standing upon
a pedestal of twenty feet. An Indian woman is represented
crouching meekly at his feet, in whose hand a cross is being
placed by the great discoverer,
hile viÏth one of his hands
raised above her head, and his eyes turned toward heaven, he
seems in the act of commending her to divine mercy as he gives
her the sJ111bol of revealed truth. A granite pediment and
substantial iron railing enclose the monument, which is of such
rare merit as to have induced the city of Genoa, before it left
Italy, to offer a large SUIll for it, that by its retention the nlem..
oryof the great disco\erer might be appropriately honored by
the country that gave him birth.
.l\. short distance from this beautiful l\ork of art, on the north
side of the paseo, stands an amphitheatre capable of seating more
than ten thousand spectators of the barbarous bull-bait, the
Spanish national holiday amusement, and the favorite Sunday
entertainment of the inhabitants of the capital, especially during
grand festivals; but one which, although generally attended by
the higher classes, and even by the clergy until recently, is now
I am assured by foreign residents resorted to by the less respect-
able people alone, as is also the Coliseo de gallos-the circus for
cock-fighting-except on some extraordinary occasions. It is
gratifying to find that this withdrawal of encouragement from
a brutal diversion by those whose example in åll communities
exercises a reformatory influence over the vicious inclinations of
the masses, has been inaugur
ted. The higher civilization which
comes of the cultivation of gentle and refined sensibilities, and
of intellectual pursuits and pleasures, forbids an indulgence in
pastimes which blunt the kindly sympathies of human nature
by fanliliarity with suffering and gross sensualism, and create a
false standard of excellence and nobleness by elevating to the
rank and honors of a hero, one who has nothing to distinguish
him but the brute courage of a bull dog, or the cunning and
9

130

NATIONAL DEGRADATION.

activity of a 1110nkey or a cat. Is the matado'p ,yho ventures
into the arena where an enraged bull is challenging him to the
attack, any bolder than the dog ",,"hich may have preceded hin1
and been tossed into the air
Or is he more adroit than the
monkey because he n1ay have eluded the plunge of the infuriated
anin1al, and driven into his victim's spinal marro,v a .glean1ing
steel which science alid skill not his own furnished him
Let
us hope that the partial withdrawal of Peruvians from the am-
phitheatre gives promise of a 'general emancipation of the Span-
ish race from indulgence in this barbarous pastime. But let not
America and Great Britain denounce harshly and without con1-
punctions of conscience the cruel diversions of other nations,
cOInplacently thanking God" that they are not like other men,"
when they, under pretence of encouraging the" noble art of selt:'
defence," crowd around the prize ring, betting tens of thousands
of dollars on human brutality, rejoicing in every blow that in-
flicts pain and disgraces their nature, and exulting at injuries
that may send a fellow-n1an to his final account-an heir of eter-
nity self-degraded to the level of a perishing beast seeking thus
the presence of IIim who n1ade Ina11 in Iris o,vn image. A
Spanish bull-fight is the event of the amphitheatre in ,vbich it
takes place, and is forgotten with tIle day of its occurrence.
The" set-to of the Benicia Boy and Tom Sayers" agitated two
Anglo-Saxon nations for months, took place within an hour's
ride of the 111etropolis of boastful England, and ,vas attended by
British noblemen and melllbers of Parliament; and its result con-
vulsed one nation ,vith joy, thre,v the other into mourning, and
engendered a spirit of ,vide-spread bitterness and lasting animos-
ity. '\Vhich pastime is the more inhuman-the Spanish or An-
glo-Saxon
Which the more disgraceful to national character

Another paseo, called the .Alameda de 70s nescalzos-literally ,
rendered the alalueda of those without shoes from the con vent of
the "bare foot friars "situated near it-excels that already
spoken of in the beauty of plan and decorations. It is at the
Ïoot of a small outshooting spur of the Andes named Cerro de
San Cristobal, from the summit of which the best view is ob-
tained of Lilna at its foot, and Callao in the distance. The ala-
lneda is a long narrow enclosure with walks, flowers, shrubbery,

PLAZA. DE LA COXSTIITCIOY.

131

shade trees, and seats for visitors within a handsome iron railing,
and outside of it a fine carriage drive. One hundred vases on
pedestals, and twelve colossal n1arble statues executed in Rome
representing various arts, are tastefully distributed among the
beauties of nature; and the arched gateway is surmounted by
appropriate statuary. This park is lighted by gas at night, and
it is the resort, especially about sunset, of fashionable citizens;
the pedestrian promenading the interior or lounging on the
marble settees, to feast his eyes on the grace and beauty flitting
past him; while the handsome turnout makes the circuit of the
caJì1jJo a1nid dazzling glances, the envy of the ambitious, the ad-
miration of all, achieving a triumph which its wealthy o,vner,
inflated with Peruvian pride, vainly believes will resound through
America and echo in the fashionable saloas of Em
ope. At the
north end of this alameda, separated from it by tfle width of t'he
call1]Jo, stand the church of San Diego without any special at-
tractions, and the beaterio-house of female seclusion-called
the Patrocinio; a chapel being on one side of the latter, and the
convent of the Recoleta de 108 .d.gonizantes with a small chapel,
on the other side.
....
bout three squares east of the plaza mayor is a small irreg-
ular space dignified by the name Plaza de la Oonstitltcion, near
the centre of which is the only ornament to distinguish it from
what with us would be considered a con
111on .with a dirty ditch
running through it. On a marble pedestal twelve feet high is a
bronze equestrian statue, erected in the year 1858 :

" A Sin10n Bolivar,
Libertador
La Nacion Peruana."

On the side;; of the base are chiselled in basso-relievo, ne"s
of the battles of Ayacucho and J unin, both fought and won by
Bolivar in 1821, and resulting in tbe establishment of South
American independence. This statue was cast in )Iunich, and,
EO far as spirit and expression are concerned, great success "as
achieved, certainly surpassing in these merits the monument
erected in men10ry of General Jackson at Washington; although

132

CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.

in artistic skill, as shown by balancing the whole statue upon
the hind legs of the horse in the latter monument,
Ir. J\Iil1s has
excelled the Munich artist, who was compelled to make the long
tail an additional pillar of support in the Bolivar equestrian
statue.
On the east side of the Plaza de la Constitucion is the hall
of the Chamber of Deputies, corresponding to the United States
House of Representatives. The exterior of the building is not.
imposing. The chamber in which the deputies sit is in size
about ninety by fifty feet, and has a high arched ceiling and
dome, giving many reflecting surfaces and consequently con-
fusion of sound. A balustrade divides the chamber into two
parts; an outer for the accommodation of spectators, who are
also admitted to galleries above, and an inner and larger
part of the main floor for the deputies, which is carpeted and
furnished with high-backed cushioned chairs arranged in two
ro,vs on each side of the hall. The president of the Chamber
and two secretaries are seated at a table at one end of the room,
and a tribune resembling an antiquated church pulpit is situ-
ated on each side. The deputy addressing the Oham bel' occu-
pies for the time a tribune, which elevates him above the level
of his hearers.
This legislative body is now, in conjoint session with the
Senate, engaged in amending the Constitution of Peru, so tliat
an opportunity is afforded to see their proceedings; and while
candor compels a condemnation of many things in this country,
let e,en-handed justice record the fact that the deliberations of
this body are characterized by an order, a decoruln, and a
dignity, to which the House of Representatives of the United
States are too generally indifferent. The attention due to
courtesy as well as to the 3ubject under discussion, is given by
aU ,vhen a deputy is addressing the Chamber. There is neither
reading, writing, nor talking, to tell of weariness and rudeness;
no unparliamentary interruptions, nor vulgar displays of
ere
muscular oratory; no indecent display of legs on desks; no offen-
sive pools of tobacco juice on the floor; and nothing to be seen
of that filthy indispensable appendage of an American Congress,
designated "spittoon," by an affectation of delicacy and refine..

SEXATE CH
ER.

133

ment, which, nevertheless, tolerates the actual presence of the
nuisance, and countenances its use. If it be asked what is a
tobacco-chewing representative to do when in the discharge of
his duties, without such a bar-room convenience
-the answer is
plain. When he aspires to a seat in a deliberative assembly,
"hich, in the experience of other countries, doe8 represent the
intelligence and refinement of a people, and sh01.tlcl also in our
own, as wl1en he seeks an entrance into good society, a condition
precedent should be the abandonment of dirty practices, as
offensive to some of his associates as it is to all that better half
of our race, w.hose comfort and pleasure a well-bred gentleman
will seek to prolnote at whatever saclifÌ.ce of 111ere sensual in-
dulgence. If a man cannot control his vulgar propensities and
coarse appetites, he should remain in a suitable sphere in life,
and with congenial companionship. .
The Senate Chamber is situated on the south side of the
Bame Plaza de la Constitucion, and occupies the grolmds of that
most diabolical of all the self-constituted tribunals whj.ch have
in the history of religion claimed to have derived authority from
heaven to do the work of hell. Indeed, the Senate Chamber is
the identical room in which that ten'ible tribunal, the Spanish
[nqnisition, held its awful sittings, and wbere were pronounced.
its fierce decrees. The room is of moderate size, and with nothing
to distinguish it as the forum of the highest legislative power of
the natioI
, except some specimens of superior roof-panelling
and carving. The Senate "Was not in session at the hour of my
visit, and thought was left free to lift the veil of oblivion from .
cruelties of "Which this chalnber was formerly the scene. Nor
did it seem wonderful, that when the act of the Cortes of Spain
aboli
hing the Inquisition was promulgated in Peru, then a
Spanish colony, that the people who had long groaned under
its tJranny, and trembled in perpetual fear of its secret execu-
tions, should have rushed, as if with one impulse, to revenge
their wrongs by the destruction of the instruments of torture;
and that they stood. petrified mth horror at what they beheld.
And after such revulsion, on the discovery of machinery con-
cealed amid the curtains of a canopy for moving the head of a
crucified image of Christ, which was made to confront the

134

THE INQUISITIOY.

accused, and to approve of inquisitorial judgments by solelunly
bowing, it was not strange that they vented their rage by
demolishing even the sacred s
ymbol of their faith, thus sacri.
legiously made tbe instrument of a base trick. What must haye
been the cOlnmingled ten-or, joy, and rage of those who found
among the secret archives of this dreaded tribunal the recorded
condelnnation of friends who had long before secretly dig.
appeared! and some of wholn found, too, their O'\VIl names, with
the charges on which they probably ,vould have been summoned
to an a,vful account. "\Vhen the room of torture was burst
open, and there were seen a table ,vith iron collar, and straps to
secure body and limbs; ,vith cords, axle, and ,vheel, to stretch,
break, and dislocate the hUlnan frame; pillory, a11d scourges
stiftened 'with blood; gags and nippers; netted ,,,ire with points
projecting inward, of various sizes adapted to bod
r and lÍInbs ;
and finger-screws for crushing nails and bones; aU, contrivances
of torn1ent, to cOlnpel agonizing nature to conform to the be-
hests of priestly power, even to the ackno,vledgn1el1t of guilt
although innocent; ,vhen tbese were revealed to them, it was to
be expected that the frènzied people would break them into
fragments, as they did, and cast thelll forth from this precinct
of hell. To the disgrace of his memory, Ferdinand, in 1812,
restored this institution; but it was of short ùuration, for the
successful revolution, and indepe
dence of the South An1erican
colonies of the mother country, shortly after resulted in its
peni1anent abolishment.
It is not surprising that the people of these countries, suffer-
ing from ecclesiastical and political despotisln, those lllutual
supporters and beneficiaries, should at last have thrown off the
yoke. But there is still Inore for them to do before they shall
have accolllplished the full redemption of human right, and vin-
i1ication of human privilege. Those who will not tolerate civil
and religious liberty in others, are themselves unworthy of theIn,
and they are apt to realize the fate of those who tumble. into
the pit of their o,vn digging; nor can progress be assured but
by the spread of knowledge. Let Peruvians then erase froln
their national Constitution that article which gives an ecclesias.
tical preceùence in a political asselllbly. Let thelll strike froll1

RELIGIOrS IXTOLERAXCE.

135

it that prohibition of religious freedom which is its disgrace,
and ,vhich denies to man the privilege of puhlicly 'Worshipping
God according to the dictates of his conscience, ,.. none daring
to make him afraid." Let them establish schools where l..
owl-
edge shall be placed within reach of the humblest IHlpil, to the
e
tent necessary for the just and intelligent exercise of those
political privileges, whirh are a1ike his natural heritage and his
duty; but without thereby inculcating a release of the citizen
from the parental obligation to provide, as far as in him lies, the
further means of eminent success in life; and a1c.o ,vithout de-
volving upon the industrious and meritorious classes burdens
of taxation oppressive to them, whilst they tend to encourage
irre5ponsibilitJ", idleness, and worthlessness in others. And let
such schools be independent of ecclesiastical institutions, and
free from sectarian influences; the object and aim of which are
too generally to inculcate fanatical dogmas, and partial precepts,
and to poison the pure and natural fountains of liberal senti-
ment; thus shaping the instruments of a selfish clerical aggran-
dizement and power, while they unfit the pupils for enlarged
and diversified intercourse. Let Peruvians watch executive
Eo'wer, check its efforts at consolidation of government, resist
its arùitrary decrees, and teach it obedience to the popular will
as deliberately determined and set forth in the organic la".
Let thelll disband their large standing army at a time of pro-
fessed peace, for it encourages aggression upon neighboring
States, and thus leads to frequent foreign war;;; and it is the
agent of perpetually-recurring rev-olutions, and of Executive en-
croachments at home. Thus, whilst relieving themselves fl..om
exces
ive taxation for the support of an oppressiye military es-
tablishment, increased capital would be thrown into the chan-
nels of trade, and the capacity fur labor of the discharged sol-
dier now festering in indolence, or a means of mischiet
would
be tUTIled to useful account in agricultural, luining, and manu-
facturing enterprises. These are all languishing for aS5istance;
in fact, many valuable products are lying useless in unopen
d
mines, and the nlu
ic of even a single f
1.ctory is still unheard, ..
because the hand of military inlpr(;
;:,lnent would be outstretched
to seize the enlployés, regardless of the interestg of proprietors,

136

W.AR-CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCES.

or the wants of impoverished families, whenever soldiers are
desired for purposes of personal ambition, domestic tyranny, or
trespass on neighboring nations. An American on arriving in
Lima is surprised at the number of soldiers passing and repass-
ing, and in vi8'\v of home usages looks for a grand volunteer
parade. But he looks in vain; these men are of the regular
national army; every day their gay uniforms are seen in bar-
racks, bar-room, and boulevard. There are six thousand of
them stationed in the capital, all except the officers being cho-
los and negroes, ready to do their affiliated chief Castilla's bid-
ding, whether it be to confirm him in the Presidency, contrary
to the provisions of the Constitution, to punish or displace recu-
sant deputies, or to intermeddle in the affairs of feebler repub-
lics. The Peruvian standing army is nearly twenty thousand;
in time of peace greatly disproportioned to the population of the
Republic.
We should not forget that the reality of war is apt to follow
the creation and cherishing of its instruments, and that the
price of its fierce glories is not alone the stream of human blood
that deluges and desolates the land, nor the mountain of debt
which för its maintenance Inortgages the toil of unborn millions
for generations; but religion must stop her labor of love, and
science, too, stand still and cease to work for the improvement
of man, and the exaltation and ennobling of human nature,
that victims may be furnished to the hateful Moloch, and igno-
rance and passion, brutal instincts and violence, assert their
savage sway, and reyel in carnage and oppression. True, the
reign of wickedness and wrong, the domination of selfish, in-
human, and tyrannical rulers, may not always last. The reflec-
tive historian, Alison, has said of injustice: " No special inter-
position of Providence is required to arrest it; no avenging an-
b
l need descend to terminate its wrathful course. It destroys
itself by its own violence. The avenging angel is found in the
human heart." Yet however sure the punishment of those who
have wielded for evil the power entrusted to their hands, it were
far better than that the innocent should suffer and the helpless
perish, the multitude be borne down by misery, murder inflict
its diversified decrees of death, and tyranny stalk abroad Ull-

NATIONAL LEGISLATI;RE-HOW ELEarED. 13-7

challenged, that the agencies of war should "sleep the sleep
that l"TIOWS no waking," and that the death-angel should have
no access to the swift keys of that terrible organ, ,vhose accom-
paniment is ever
" A loud lament, and dismal ]liserere."

The Senate Chamber is not as large as the Chamber of Depu-
ties, and the portal looks like the gateway of an ordinary patio.
more than the entrp.,nce to the upper house of the national
legislature. The room is small and unadorned, except an
elaborately-carved wood ceiling. The President's table, the
chairs and tribunes, conform to an extreme republican simplicity.
The senators, two for each province of Peru, aTe designated by
lotfro'ln the Ohamber of .Deputies j the latter, consisting of one
hundred and six members-one for every twenty thousand
inhabitants-being appointed by an electoral college, which is
elecÚ3d by the people. Thus a more intelligent and dispassionate
creative element is interposed between the generally ignorant,
unreflecting, and impulsive lower classes of citizens, and an
organic part of the GovernU1ent designed to exercise great in-
fluence over the welfare and destiny of the State. It is to be
regretted that other and grave iInpediments to a successful
experhnent of this mode of election of the national legislature,
prevent a fair comparison of it with the rnore direct democratic
method of some other republics. Both the legislative chambers
are guarded by armed soldiers, the glealning bayonet serving to
remind the nlembers of the expediency of shaping proceedings
in conformity to Executive will. 1tlost of the public buildings
in Lima are also under military guard; no stranger can fail to
recognize the supremacy of the military over the civil rule.
The administration of justice is effected through the agency
of-1. Justices of the Peace, elected annually by popular vote.
2. 001.11'ts of First Instance, in which the judge must be thirty
years of age, a native of Peru, and five years a practitioner of
law. The Judge of First Instance, Prosecuting Attorney, and
Reporter of this court, are presented by the Superior Court in
two ternary nominations to the President, ".10 selects from
these the officers of the court, whose term of service is during

138

ADMI:NISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

good conduct. Each province has one judge; some have two or
more, according to population. His jurisdiction is generally
both crilninal and civil, except in Lima and Arequipa, "There is
a special judge for each class of cases, because of the greater
amount of duty. 3. Superior Court. In this court the judge
must have served as judge of an inferior court, as prosecuting
attorney, or as reporter, at least for four years. There are not
less than three judges in the Superior Court, with one prose-
cuting attorney, and one reporter; but the number nlay be
increased according to population. In LÍ1na there are as many
as ten. In civil cases not less than three judges, and in crimi-
nal cases not less than five, Inust sit. There are seven Superior
Cour
s in Peru, the judges being appointed by the President,
by selection froin t,vo lists of nomination presented by the
Supreme Court. The other officers of this court are also ap-
pointed during good conduct. 4..1\.. Supreme Court, composed
of seyen judges and one attorney-general, "Tho are nominated
by the President to a joint convention of the Senate and ChaIll-
bel' of Deputie3. To be eligible to this court the candidate
must have been a lllember of the Superior Court eight years, or
have been engaged in the practice of law during twenty years,
thus securing the greatest legal experience of the country.
rhis
court in Peru, as said by Guizot, "is like the .A
reopagus." It
is the protector of the citizen in all revolutions comillonly en-
dangering the liberty of the ,reaker party. The execu
ve
power may, and often does oppress, but this court never. The
appointment is for life. The Inode of appointing the judiciary
in Peru gives greater assurance of capacity and impartiality
than does the popular election of judges prevalent in many of
the United States; in which parti,san prostitution l1o\vever
debased, and conventional intrigues ho,vever unprincipled, are
LOO comillonly the passports to place and preferment, though
ignorance and corruption thereby occupy stations where knowl-
edge and virtue alone should be found, though violated law
relna-ins un vindicated, and crinle stalks abroad" unwhipp'd of'
justice."
Besides this portion of the
achinery of law, there are in
Lima as many as t,vo hundred and sixty-six counsellors, attor.

ED'GCATIOY.

139

neY8, clerks, registers, and sheriffs; certainl)" a large number for
a population of 125,000 inhabitants.
If the character of the buildings provided for schools be
considered the measnre of Peruvian estÍInate of education, the
stranger would in this resp_ect be very unfavorably impressed;
for with the exception of one academy for young ladies, con-
ducted by several French Sisters of Charity, there are none in
Lima ,vorthy of comparison with even public primary school
edifices in the United States. And yet the cost of instruétion
in private literary institutions is high-from five dollars per
month for A B 0, to thirty dollars per month for the general
branches of education.
The public school system is a failure, both in regard to plan
and result; and until freed from the tramlnels of sectarian re.
ligionism, it is not likely to accomplish the general ÎInprove..
ment contemplated by the enlightened philanthropy in which
the system originated. At the College of Kuestra Seîiora de
Guadalupe, the children of wealthy parentage receive a better
education than in the public schools; but this is by no lneans
up to the collegiate standard in North l\.merica. The College
of San Carlos, founded in 1770, and as at present organized an
amalgamation of three other literary institutions, is entitled to
higher comlnendation than any other in Peru. The builùing
contains tolerable halls, a refectory, and a library. Law and
theology, the classics, French and English languages, natural
philosophy, n1atheluatics, geography, history, and some of the
fine arts, are taught. As to the University of LinIa, once the
chief seat of learning in South America, and in its pahny days
sending forth some eminent n1en who were ornaments of various
branches of knowledge, its 1uildil1gs in the vicinity of the
Chamber of Deputies, ,vith spacious court, corridors, halls, fresco
paintings allegorical of the sciences, and inscribed quotations
froll1 the classics, are the lingering nlonuments of what it was,
but no longer is, a proud and honored seat of learning-that
,yllÍch best determines a nation's clain1 to civilization, influence,
and pow'er.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE MARKET-SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS DEFECTS-CLERICAL PROFLIGACY-IDOLATROUS PRO.
CESSIOX-TESTIYONY OF A FRENCH TRAVELLER-PERU BEFORE AND AFTER THE SPAN.
ISH COXQ1JEST COSTRASTED-INFRACTIONS OF NATURAL AND MOR.AL LAW DRING TIIEIR
OWN PUNISHMENT-CHRISTIANITY A FAILURE IN LIMA-NAVAL AND MILITARY INSTI-
TUTE-MUSEUM AND LIBRARY-RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE-PENITENTIARY-CHORILLûS-
DEPARTURE FROM LIMA.

FROM law and learning let us turn to a subject of unmistak-
able interest to the Limeñian, and which has shared as largely
of his munificence as he has of its abundance. Whatever neg-
lect nlay be chargeable to those in power for failure in providing
suitable food for the mind, certainly they are not to be faulted
for neglecting to furnish facilities for obtaining the more sub-
stantial aliment for the stomach. Producers and forestallers
are provided ,vith a superb market-house. An entire manzana,
a square of ground of about four hundred feet in each direc-
tion, has on its four sides a convenient, neat, and showy build-
ing, enclosing a large court, and divided into apartm
nts open-
ing both on the street and on the court, which are occupied by
green and dry grocers, and other venders. The court faces of
the quadrangular building have along their entire le
gth hand-
some arcades, paved with granite slabs, and forming a covered
corridor or passage way for purchasers. The court within this
enclosure is paved and divided into four equal parts, over each .
of which is a roof supported by iron pillars, and open ip. the
middle for ventilation. These four buildings are fitted with
staUs for the use respectively of venders of meat, fish, poultry,
fruit, and vegetables; all of these articles being in abundance,
but at extravagant prices. For example, fresh meat not less
than twenty-five cents per pound. Smoked hams, fifty to

.

THE GENERAL
IARKET.

141

sixty cents per pound. Lard, thirty to forty cents per pound.,
Butter, one dollar per pound. Eggs, four to six cents each.
Potatoe3, superior, three for twelve cents; inferior, ten for
twelve cents. Sweet potatoes, ten for twelve cents. Let it
be remem"bered that potatoes are indigenous to Pern, and were
exported thence to Europe, and the scarcity and cost of labor
may be fairly estimated when such a price is demanded for
a native esculent. Cabbage, per head, twelve to twenty-four
cents. Cauliflower, per head, twenty-five to fifty cents. 'Wheat
flour, for one hundred pOlmds, nine dollars and a half; and for
a single pound, twenty-nve cents. Fru
t and fish in proportion.
N? one should migrate from North to South America for cheap
living; but if prompted by other considerations thus to change
residence, let him arrange to spend the Christmas holidays at
the old homestead, or take it good-humoredly when he finds he
lnust pay seven dollars for a turkey, two doUars for a chicken,
and thirty-two cents per quart for milk, wherewith to compound
that necessary, but most deceptive and villanous .of all festive
beverages, egg-nog. For coffee, thirty-seven cents per pound
must be paid. Peruvian sugar costs þ;yenty-five cents per
pound. Green tea, in three-pound boxes, good quality, two dol..
lars and a half per pound. The vegetable market is well sup-
plied; the exposure on a stall of black maize-Indian corll-
was a curiosity. The gifts of Flora are not equal to expecta-
tion in this tropical region, and the puchel'os de flol'es of former
times, tasteful comminglings of fruits and flowers, the s"\reet and
the beautiful, were not seen. Perhaps they are not sought in
republican market-places, as once in the proud days of the old
monarchy in the plaza mayor, when high-born señoras graced
that scene of vice-regal grandeur. N or are the fruits equal in
quality, variety, or profusion, to those found nearer the equator;
although the reddish-yellow granadi1la, the golden pine-apple,
and gay orange, contrasted prettily with the darker fig, banana,
and palta; while that queen of fhùts, the chirimoya, with its
slightly-indented covering looking like a reticulated green man-
tle, lay scattered around to gladden the eye and gi ,e promise
of customary pleasures in reserve at the American Minister's
in the evening, when the unsurpassed hospitality of his mansion

142

SOCIAL AND REI..IGIOUS DEFECTS.

shall crown its rare grace and intelligence, its" feast of reason
and flow of soul," with a fitting feast of this elysian fruit. It
is a wonderful product of nature that suggests to the palate a
combined deliciousness of stra,vberry, sickle-pear, and peach,
vdth a dash of -the nectarine. But ,vhy should fastidiousness
forbid my naming the American
Iinister
True, there has
been such a deterioration of qualification for diplomatic ap-
pointments in our country that it is questionable if the reputa-
tion of a man of actual ,vorth be not damaged by the notoriety
of appointment. But John Randolph Clay is not of the pot--
house school of politicians, nor is he of that class of diplomatists.
His public life dates back to a purer period; his character as an
educated gentleman and enlightened statesman is established;
and his courtesy, and high-bred social qualities, his dignity and
ability, have made him popular abroad, and honored at home, by
all "Tho have sufficient patriotisln to consider duty to country
paramount to party fealty.
All the sellers in the Lima lnarket are ",,"omen, generally
cholos. This probably results from the large number of Illen
taken for the army, and from their fear by healthy and robust
countrymen of being seized by the press-gang, if they should
venture into the city,vith the products of their labor. The
dainty stranger should not visit the market before breakfast; his
appetite will not be strengthened by seeing a sales,voman :flea-
hunting in her dog's hairy tegument, and turning froln the in-
teresting pursuit to dip, ,vith her hand, sausage meat for a pur-
chaser; or by seeing another, crack between her finger nails,
less agile insects taken from the head of her child who divides
her attention with customers, desisting from the entertainlnent
to assort mutton chops, possibly intended to appease his hunger,
probably already sufficiently satisfied with what he has seen.

he 10","'er classes, ,vho fOrln the great body of the community,
are regardless of cleanliness and modesty. It is not uncommon
to see the carcasses of dogs lie for days in front of houses; and
buzzards feasting on thenl, to the removal of which an entire
indifference is shown by those to ,vhom the putrefaction, it
lnight be supposed, ,vould be both offensive and unhealthy.
'V Olnen may sOITIetimes be seen riding astride a mule ","'ith an

PRIESTI..Y PROFLIGACY.

143

infant in the arms taking its primitive meal, or asleep with the
pendant breast exposed to the public gaze. In fact it is rarely
the case that one walks in any part of the city during the day
or night, without being shocked by sights of indecency, immod-
esty, and immorality, too gross even to be hinted at, and dis-
graceful to the aITogant ciVilization and Christianity of the na-
tion. If one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three priests,
exercising ecclesiastical authority, and performing religious func-
tions in this city, as publishecl in its statistics for 1858, ,,""jth the
machinery therein also enumerated, of seventy churches, forty-
two chapels, six hundred and twenty-eight altars, and vast power
of influence and enforcement, cannot produce a better state of
1110rals and manners, it shows either a defective system of relig
ion, or incapacity and faithlessness on the part of the executors
of rhe holy trust; and the one should be amended, the other
driven forth from the sanctuar
r, or both be radically reformed
if both be at fault. The statements of candid citizens, and of
foreign residents of many years, compel the belief that the gen-
eral demoralization is n1ainly due to a depraved clergy. The
precepts of the just and conscientious few can ha-\e but slight
influence in purifying the tur1id channel of social life, 'while
most of their brethren are stirring the pestilential current and
wallowing in the Inire themselves. If priests, taking VOW"S of
chastity and devotic,n alone to God, perjure themselves, obey
the lusts of the flesh, and scatter their illegitimate offspring
abroad, with the sole self-deluding merit of not disowning them,
thus giving the brazen lie to their profession, it is to be expected
that in both lying and lechery they will find imitators among
those whose ten1poral purity they should guard, and whose eter-
nal welfare it is their solemn duty to promote. The unblushing
boldness with which clerical debauchery stalks abroad in Lima,
renders it needless to put in any saving clause of declaration.
The rigorous virtue and exacting morality which claim a public
deference in Anglo-America, especially of the crosier and sur-
plice, n1ay cause a doubt of statelnents n1ade in these n1atters;
and therefore, if the obligations of truth were not imperious, I
would gladly give them a coloring more in harmony ,,-ith home
experiences. But the representations of competent and nnprej-

144

PRIESTLY PROFLIGACY.

udiced persons, verified as far as practicable by my own obser-
vations, must llOt be misstated.
The celebration of mass at an early hour of Sunday morn-
ing, does not exempt a priest from the. duty of obeying the
divine command, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."
And yet he may òe seen on that day as on others, in bull-ring
and cock-pit, restaurant and tavern, with commoner and concu-
bine, joining in noisy revel, or looking on with complacent
sanction. Nor does the going down of the sun always arrest
his way\vard peregrinations; for vicious inclinations being un-
satiated, at that hour when the clerical robe after the holy of-
fices of the day should òe folded in the pure atmosphere of the
private sanctuary, it may sometimes be seen profaned by the
pursuit of street adventures, at corners with tapada.s, its wearer
in gay and lascivious conversation, or threading byways in ful-
filment of a lustful assignation. We may demand in the name
of Christianity, and in its own language, is he who standest in
high places" instructed out of the law "-" a light of them
which are in darkness"-and" teacher of others "-not to teach
himself
"Thou that sayest a man shall not commit adultery,
dost thou commit adultery
" " Thou that abhorrest idols, dost
thou commit sacrilege
" Is it not strange that those who assert
a special privilege to study and expound the Holy Scriptures,
should fail to give a just interpretation, and make a righteous
application of these, in their own cases
If the Bishop of Are-
quipa ,viTI turn to the" ,veak and beggarly elements of the
world," if he cannot, like his great predecessor St. Paul, "con-
tain," but must obey the carnal desires, "let him marry" as he
is commanded by the Apostle, like an honorable man and con-
sistent Christian, and not prove a stumbling-block to his more
scrupulous brother. And let him not encourage the frailty of
d.epraved disciples by a shalueless example of licentiousness
made public by his procurement of separate apartments in Lima
fOl
his seven concubines and his thirty-five illegitimate chil-
dren, during his absence on a mission to the Roman head of
the church; who, if rumor speak truth of his virtues, ,vou1cl
spurn him from his presence if a ware of such scandalous lib-
ertinism.

"

IDOLATRors PROCESSIOX.

145

The streets ùf this capital were yesterday the scene of a pro-
cession which was a disgrace to its professed enlightenluent, and
an idolatrous violation of the letter and spirit of its boastful
Christianity. A gorgeously-gilded throne, borne on the shoulders
of negroes, partially concealed by a deep valance, supported the
pontifically-attired effigy of St. Peter, its right arm moved by
secret machinery being occasionally raised in attitude of blessing
the throngs of deluded worshippers who bowed their heads for
its benediction. And another similarly-decorated daïs, bore a
life-size ,.. grayen image" of La lIerced, the patron saint of the
arms of Peru; elegantly arrayed in curls, coronet, richly-em-
broidered crinoline, and robe; pearl necklace and ear-rings,
brooch and bodice, and holding in its uplifted and jewelled fin-
gers a silver yoke. It was not said that the last named was dis-
played as a type of the enslaved condition of the people, or if it
were only significant of the Church's invitation to bear its yoke
"because it is easy, and its bU1.1:hens light; " a fact which need
not be questioned by those who would seek its indulgences, and
imitate the clerical profligacy by ,yhich it is disgraced in Peru.
These effigies were escorted by prelates and other ecclesiastics;
and that of La 1[erced was preceded by six pert-looking mulatto
girls-designed to represent virgins-carrying incense upon sil-
ver salvers, from which numerous censers swung by priestly
hands were kept supplied, and rolled upward their perfumed
clouds to tell of the adoration of her votaries. The whole pro-
cession moved to the measured chant of hundreds of the clergy,
who often bowed, behind ,vhom followed the civic dignitaries
of the nation and city, bare headed and reverential; and after
these came the plumed warriors, on horse and foot, váth breast-
plate and helmet, lance, sabre, nlusket, and cannon, flaunting
banners and martial music, guarding the saints through the
city, and back to the altars of the church of La Merced, ,vhence
they caIne; and where they,vill receive, hereafter as heretofore,
the petitions and vows of thousands of misguided religionists.
Can poplùar regeneration be rationally looked for when e'\:aln-
pIes of ecclesiastical profligacy are patent to the public eye,
when such violations of divine precepts are practised, and snch
10

.

.

146

TESTIMONY OF A FRENCH TRAVELLER.

delusions devised to mislead the ignorant by those faithless min-
isters of Christ-

"Who grope their dull way on
By the dim twinkling gleams of ages gone,
Like superstitious thieves, who think the light
FrOln dead nlen's marrow guides them best at night;
Who cheat the weak believer's blinded eyes
By nonsense heap'd on nonsense, to the skies;
And give them miracles, ay, sound ones too,
Seen, heard, attested, every thing-but true."

That it Inay not be supposed that I am looking at ,vhat is
passing around me with prejudiced eyes, and coloring first im-
pressions of novelties too highly, I will quote at 80n1e length
from "..A Traversl'An
ei'ique du Sud,par F. .Dabadie. Paris,
1859." This French traveller, hÍInself a Roman Catholic, but
evidently one ,vhose sense of religious duty inculcates the sin of
compron1Ísing the lofty character and capacity for good of that
Church, by concealing the ,vickedness of unworthy disciples,
says: "The religious processions of Lima are actually converted
by profane women into Carnivals of Venice-ridiculous, absurd
masquerades! The ceremony loses its sacred character; the
tapadas absolutely making or refusing assignations ,vith those
proposing; the assistants absolutely compressing the waists of
the tapadas more fì'equently than they say their prayers. . . .
It is but a piece of mundane coquetry, with imposing finery and
trappings. They go to the Pantheon to celebrate All Souls
Day as they go to a bull-fight or opera, ogling and laughing
over the very ashes of their friends, with not even a souvenir of
thought or sincere prayer for the loved beings who lie in the
earth. Lima is the heaven of women, purgatory of Inen, and
hell of asses-except that one of the last mentioned cherished
by the Archbishop for Palm Sunday, when he is decked out
with finery and heads the procession of the day. The populace
would consider their damnation certain if anyone of. theln
attempted to ride on this holiest of asses, or if they required of
it any species of work, or offered it any indignity. W Olnen con-
sider a husband only as he may contribute to their love of dress
and indulgence; interest ",,.ith them is the only motive of mar-

TESTDIOYY" OF A FREXCH TRAVELLER.

147

riage. It is a strang
thing for love, that sweet passion ,vhich
ennobles life, to penetrate the heart of a Limeña. Do not ask
her for tears or confusion, experienced by others of the young in
the presence of the objects of their devotion; neither look for
that voluptuous sensation which makes a bride so beautiful and
interesting at the approach of the solelnn monlent. She goes to
the altar with indifference, and does not try to conceal it: she
woúld underrate herself if she made her happiness or lllisforhme
to depend on the feelings entertained tow'ard her by her hus-
band. What does she care about the mysterious joy between
two loving beings? She has but one passion, that of display;
but one imperious desire, that of living the leader of fashion.
It is that, ,vhich
the day after the wedding, would take her to
Chorillos; and she would even on that day annoy herself in her
solitude, if required to renlain at hOIlle to a,vait her husband's
return froln business. This insensibility does not prevent the
Limeñian fi-om throwing herself into marriage with ardor.
Although she lna
y deceive the watchfulness of parents, yet she
is anxious of complete libertJ; besides, a husband represents an
increase of wardrobe and jewelry-box. And so strong is this
desire that lnany young Limeñas are humbugged by cunning
grocers, ,vho, kno,ving the confidence felt in the powers of St.
Antonio to procure husbands, fix up an image of that saint on
an altar near their shop door: on this altar the señoritas deposit
their offerings of sugar, tea, candles, etc., and nluch to the profit of
the grocer, whose stock in trade is thus disposed of, whilst it is
sure to :find its way back, constituting thus a matrÍ1nonial cir-
culating rnedium. If the 11len become the slaves of the ,,"oD1en,
they must certainly be adluitted to become eventually both in-
different and lazy slaves."
It nlay ""yell be questioned if )Ions. Dabadie is not alike un-
generous and in error, in thro'wing the whole burden of indif
ference and disregard of the joys and obligations of the matIi-
monial tie and domestic relation, upon the women. No one
can scrutinize social habits in Lima, without becoming sensible
of the fact that women are probably'" luore sinned against than
sinning." For not only have they provocations to faithlessness,
and opportunity afforded for its indulgence by sanctioned ens-

.

148

TESTIMONY OF A FRENCH TRA. VELLER.

toms, but they are taught by the universally-recognized disso-
luteness of Inen not to place confidence in theIn, and not to
contenlplate marriage as a lneans of happiness beyond its pow-
er to furnish an establishment, and make a woman mistress of
her own actions. If notorious dissipation, debauchery, and un-
conquerable passion for gambling anlong the men of Lima,
causing an abandonment of the family hearth at those hours
which, after the necessary business absence of the day, sh
uld
be consecrated to the duties and to the joys of home, may be
regarded as some excuse for insensibility, indifference, devotion
to dress, and intrigue, among the women, then do they not de-
serve our author's sweeping denunciation; nor should they be
held up as especially criminal. And let it not be overlooked that
anlid the trials of solitude, and experience of the unreliability
of those who should be their protectors from evil, and shield
from suspicion, they are to a great extent without the religious
consolations \vhich should be brought to the sorrowing heart by
righteous counsellors, to sustain then1 in the agonies of loneli-
ness, suspicion, and neglect; but that in their stead, the poison
of insinuation, and the pestilence of justification of guilt, are
breathed upon them, even by the false prophets of their faith,
who kno\v full well

"that once plung'd in
Their woman's soul will know no pause in sin; "

and that thus they will become the dupes and victims of their
own infalnous designs. It would not be just to join in this un-
qualified condemnation of Limeñas. 'Vomen, as a sex, are
purer and more virtuous than men; instinct, reason, and inter-
est, I11ake them so. The observing know it; the candid
acknowledge it. Let us apply the general truth to the particu-
lar case we have been considering.
Mons. Dabadie continues: "In the street of San Francisco,
opposite the monastery of that name, a kind of barracks is found
containing quite a population apart from the rest. There, lives
a class of women and children, wholn one would think came
ill a direct line from gypsies, if their complexion did not show a
variety of a thousand shades from vdlite to black. These wonlen
,

TESTDIO
-ry OF A FREKCH TRAVELLER.

149

are the acknowledged mistresses, and the children the progeny
of the monks of the higher order, who visit them at all times,
and pay then1 a stipend according to their means; meagrely,
for the eÀ1Julsion of the Spaniards fronl the country has Îlll-
poverished the convents. 'La casa de la monjas'-the house of
nuns-as the people ironically call it, is a real Gomorrah. The
clerical .l)}'oteCW1'S of the tenants who inhabit it, willingly 'Jni8-
take the cltaJrWers, not h{{;Ving the weakness of the laity of being
jeawu8 of eacllt other. Do not suppose that we are amusing
ourselves in speaking ill of the Inonks of Lima. Observe them
on a festival day of great sanctity, either in the procession or in
the churches, and you will have proved their barefaced licen-
tiousness. In tedious ceremonies, brothers who have no active
participation in the service, go out of the temple and smoke in
the adjacent cloister, under the portico of the church, or on the
sidewalk, amusing themselves 'with trifles. It ig shocking to
find them in the processions, when bearing the cross, banners,
and candles, having no respect for their robes, nor for the
sainted images they carry, nor for religion, nor for decencies
demanded by the occasion. They shut both heart and ear to
the sacred songs which ascend toward heaven. They smile at
the women, who flutter about like butterflies, as the cortége is
passing along; cast lasci vious glances at them, and addre.,3 to
them words of double meaning. On returning to the church,
two line
of monks are often formed at the portal, through which
the cro"\vd pass into the interior, and there too they indulge
themselves ,vithout restraint in jest and sarcasln, compliment
and repartee; alluring complaisant Christian seüoritas, white,
black, or copper-colored, and addressing to them shameless
gallantries; the spectator, I "\vill not say religious, but merely
of proper delicacy, turning awaý in disgust from such unblush-
ing libertinisIn. These abonlinations alnong themselv
s they
are the first to expose, for in their stated elections for superiors
of convents, such is the bitterness of rival aspirants and their
partisans, that they publicly charge against each other infalnous
transactions, making known the nunlber of their concubines and
illegitiluate children, and crimes which society has deemed it
necessary to erect penitentiaries to punish."

150

CLERICAL DEPRA YITY UNDOUBTED.

Such is the testimony on Peruvian morals and religion of a
French traveller, happily íi'ee ii'Olll the imputation of sectarian
prejudice. It is a sad truth, that Inany of the Catholic clergy
of Lima degrade the religion they profess, póllute the altar a

which they bow, and defile their sacred vestInents. They de-
base themselves by their lewdness and gcneral sensua1ity, and
are exemplars of the worst of sins. Can a State be profited by
maintaining such a clergy, to the exclusion of others of a com-
mon Christianity, ,vhose presence and exercise of religious
functions, if in obedienc
to the pure and tolerant spirit of the
Gospel of Christ, nlÎght shame frailty, and purge His sanctuary
of wickedness
Can the interests of religion be maintained,
and its divine precepts be rightly interpreted, by violations of
its sacred obligations? Can the depravity of social life be re-
formed by corruption? Can virtue be learned of vice
Can
good come out of evil
A terrible retribution has overtaken
the descendants of those who, under a professed purpose of
extending the dominion of the cross, perpetrated barbarities on
the unoftènding aborigines of this land, at the recital of which
the soul sickens. And ,vhat was achieved by this cruel crusade
of a Inistaken Christianity
When Peru was first trod by the
Spaniard her people enjoyed a high degree of civilization, and
a govermnent and institutions securing personal safety and
happiness, political tranquillity and national prosperity. Indus-
try prevailed, agricultural wealth abounded, wonderful facilities
of intercomn1unication were provided. Unnumbered flocks
furnished fleeces for garn1ents, and ample granaries supplied the
want::; of those even whom age or affliction disqualified for
labor. And the nation possessed, too, a religion far loftier in
its conception than a nlere physical idolatry, for it contemplated

n the sun the great giver of a supreme beneficence, as it is
even to. later finite comprehension :its 1nost glorious type. Was
the Peruvian made happier or better by the change forced upon
hÍIn; in that which was given him for that taken away; and
especially in view of the 1nanner in which it was effected? The
truth of history, and that of the present, answer the question.
Delivered over to a brutal soldiery as vassals, the shameless lust
and avarice of their conquerors necessarily led to their debase 4

Th
RACTIONS OF NATURAL AND MORAL LAW P
ISHED. 151

ment and n1isery; towns, villages, and private houses were pil- ·
lagec1, in violation of the inculcations of civilization, to say noth-
ing of the obligations of Christianity. The rights of person
and of property were so utterly disregarded as to have incurred
universal condemnation since; as such barbarities in an future
time, however palliated and by \\
homsoever perpetrated, will be
reprobated by just and enlightened nations. The sacred clois-
ters of the virgins of the sun were polluted by grossest outrage.
Temples were desecrated and plundered; granaries despoiled;
flocks of the cherished llama and vicuna were wantonly de-
stroyed; aqueducts and canals were neglected; the great na-
tional highways were suffered to fall into decay; and finally a
religion of complicated mechanism, of multiplied saints appar-
ently deified, incomprehensible ceremonies and symbols, of
:fierce fanaticislll and intolerance, inconsistent with the teachings
of Divine mercy and sacrifice for man\; redemption; regarding,
too, the object to be attained as justifying any means however
inhuman; such a re1igion,fol"ced upon the country by a war of
bloody ferocity-not bestowed by a blessed Inission of peace-
to supplant one of a simple idea, emanating from a daily con-
templation of the great source of light and heat, of jOJ:, of
gro'wth, of glory, to nature; that \\yhich symbolizes beyond any
other 'work of Creation, Supreme Pow'er and Beneficence.
Punishment, ho"wever tardy at times, is nevertheless sure to
overtake offences against hUlnanity and right. Nor can finite
man foresee the manner any more than he can the day and the
hour of its cOIning. But it will stand confessed in its own time.
And no one can now fail to recognize the deterioration that has
set its seal in Peru on the Spaniard-a representative of supe-
rior Juan-as the penalty of violating la-ws which Nature has
assigned for the government of her creatures. The commingling
of races, while it is destroying the numerically weak, is debas-
ing the higher standard to a level, which, under the influence
also of the rivalries and jealousies of varied and conflicting
mongrelism in political and social life, is rapidly sinking below
tbat which preceded it in the progress of events. Truly a ter-
rible retribution has overtaken the descendants of tbose who
were guilty of gross violations of moral and natural law; not,

152

CHRISTu..NITY A FAILURE IN LIMA.

· whatever they may have professed, in the interest of true Chris-
tianity, 'which teaches obedience to both, but because their souls,
guided by selfish and anÏInal instincts, ,vere fined with visions
of gold rather than ,vith visions of glory; least of all was ce-
lestial glory regarded, except as a means of conciliating the
Church-but too ready, as it proved, to pander to their schemes
of avarice, plunder, and sensual indulgence.
Christianity appears to have been a practical failure here,
as in sorne parts of North Alnel'ica, ,vhere lJrqfe88ion seenIS
to have Leen mistaken for fulfilment, and where the greater
the departure frolll its holy spirit and purpose, the greater
have been the protestations of sanctity. In contelnplating re-
ligionism in Lirna anù reflecting on that of Puritan Alneri-
ca, one cannot fail to recognize, in the doings of the Peruvian
Catholic and of the Protestant Covenanter, a like realization
of ceremonialism-ùiffering only in vain-boastful forlllulary-
of ùigotry, intolerance, selfishness, and actual ignoring of the
precepts of the Prince of Peace, ,vhose lnission ,vas one of
righteousness, love, mercy, and good ,vill to In en ; not, as illus-
trated hy their history, of injustice, persecution, bloodshed, and
cruel ty.
Peru has its" In8titute Naval-JIilitar-," a conjoint military
and naval acadelny, located in the capital on a lot of ground of
very lin1ited extent; the building, possessing neither architec-
tural beauty, strength, nor convenient arrangement, occupying
the entire space, ,vith the exception of t\VO sn1all court-yards.
There are forty Inidshipn1en, and fifty-five cadets in this institu-
tion. All the branches of general education are taught except
the spoken languages, instruction being given in but t,vo of
these-English to ll1idshipmen, and French to the cadets, indi-
cating the opinion entertained by this Government of the com-
parative merits of the respective nations in the naval and 111ili-
tary science of war.
Ii1itary tactics are taught froln the time
of entrance, twelve years of age, except artillery practice, which
is reserved for the last year. The expenses of the Institute are
defrayed by the Governn1ent. It ,vas closed for several years
before General Castilla's accession to po,ver. lIe reopened it,
and in his hands, doubtless, it proves an iInportant piece of the

N A V AL A
ì) :MILITARY L
STITGTE.

153

machinery by which he undisguisedly enforces the edicts of his
arbitrary "Till. When bayonets are seen to gleam at the door
of legislative halls
as if to relnind representatives that they
have a master, and that the military is the dominant pow'er of
this pseuc1o-repub1ic, and ,vhen grave senators are taken into
custody until they shall record enacÌll1ents in conformity to Ex-
ecutive dictation; when an anned soldiery pace the courts of
the Presidential lllansion (an anomaly in republican govern-
ment, 'wherein the people are supposed to be the shield as "ell
as the creator of their chief officer), and even, as I have seen,
forIn, by lying across it, the threshold of his door, that punish-
ment for'violated la,v, and retribution for official cruelty, shall
not reach its occupant; and when cuirassiers "ith flashing
blade guard his steel-clad coach in its swift transit, that out-
raged public opinion and private wrong ma-y not avail of an
opportunity of vengeance; it will not be denied that the educa-
tion and training of such instruments of usurpation, identified
"\vith his fortunes and obedient to his will, evince at least fore-
sight, and considerate preparation to defend despotism.
Lima has also a lIuseuIll and a Library. The former, called
the Museuln of the College of San Pedro, is situated on the
grounds in the rear of, and belonging to the church of that
name. It consists of a Jneagre collection of specimens in nat-
ural history-principally in zoology, geology, Illineralogy, and
botany; some Indian lllull1mies, impleluents, and trinkets; but
being few in number, and badly arranged and preserved, there
is no inducement for the visitor to tarry among theln even if his
weary limbs did not compel hinl to seek a seatel:3ewhere that
cannot be found in the Museum, unless indeed he may desire to
look at the historical portraits of SOlno of the old Incas and the
Viceroys, that give the walls an historical interest. There
being no Government endowment of the 1.Iuseum, it is not
likely to have its sphere of usefulness enlarged; for the cultiva-
tion of the natlual sciences in this Capital, as in many even
larger cities of the United States, is not of that popular charac-
ter to lead either to the search aftcr specimens, to generous
contributions, or to sufficient bequestd to enlarge and enrich it.
An Academy of Design in the same building with the Mu-

154

NATIONAL LIBRARY.

seum, affords gratuitous instruction to a small number of stu-
dents in this branch of the Fine Arts. The National Library,
adjacent, is more ,vorthy of attention. It was founded in 1821
-the books of the U ni versity of San
Iarcos forming its nucleus.
Subsequently the libraries of several nlonasteries-those great
storehouses and conservatories of ancient learning, ,vithout
which the" dark ages" n1Ïght have embraced even the præent
epoch in their forbidding cycle-and some personal col1ections,
were added. It contains now about thirty thousand volumes,
in all the departments of literature and science; and possesses
some very valuable old books on religious and historical sub-
jects; those relating to the Conquest, and to Spanish Viceroy-
alty in South America, are great treasures. The library is pub-
lic. The apartments are commodious, well ventilated, and
cleanly; and are supplied with comfortable seats, tables, and ,vrit-
ing lnaterials for visitors. Padre Vijil is the librarian, an atten-
tive officer and a scholar, accessible and courteous. lie was for-
merlya popular priest of the ROlllan Catholic Ohurch in Peru,
but was recently excommunicated because of his support of the
civil authority against encroachments of ecclesiastical power.
An ecclesiastic himself, such a statement 1night seenl incredible:
but Padre Vijil is familiar with history, past and present; and
possessing more than ordinary wisdom and judgu1ent, he com-
prehends the true interests of religion, and the ilnportance of
keeping thelll free from party corruptions and intrigues, and
in position to assuage the bitterness of partisan agitation, and
the cruelties of civil revolution-an example worthy of Ílnita-
tion by many Protestant fanatics of our o,vn country. He pos-
sesses, too, a liberality of opinion truly Ohristian, and a purity of
life above suspicion. Such qualities of head and heart ,vere of
l.1ecessity at ,val' with the sensualism and general sinfulness of
the ministry of l1Îs Ohurch. It is not surprising tha.t he
should have been deposed from the priesthood by his superiors,
though not degraded in popular opinion. His present position
is well suited to his tastes; and ,vhile he enjoys the confidence
and respect of the best citizens of Peru, he is at liberty to pur-
sue his investigations at leisure, and continue without let or

RELIGIOrrS :D"70LER.A:xCE.

155

hindrance his efforts in behalf of the rights of his fellow man,
whether these be civil or religious.
T;1e rapid increase of the library has made it necessary to
enlarge its acconlmodations, and an apartment is now being
fitted up which was formerly the refectory of the Jesuits, who
owned this and other property in the vicinity, 'when, before the
suppression of their order, they were in the height of power and
prosperity. Judging from the magnificent proportions of this
r001n, and the superbly-carved oak ceiling, it probably was, in
the pahny days of that rich order, the scene of Inany a costly
revel. It is strange that such a splendid banquet hall should
have beeñ recently devoted to the base uses of a wood-ce11ar!
Yet such has been one of its mutations. And now, having been
purified of sensuality by degradation and penance, it rises to
the loftier office of treasuring the imperishable records of learn-
ing and science. Long Juay Euch be its noble use! ....\nd long
may Padre Vijil continue its philanthropic and incorruptible
l)residing geni us

It may have been inferred fronl what has already been said,
that the State religion of this miscalled Republic is Roman
Catholic, and that its Constitution prohibits the exercise of any
other. But it should be acknowledged that the executive au-
thorities have lately, under the pressure of foreign diplomatic
privilege, winked at the pl'i'ì ' ate worship of a few Protestant
Christians. This is interpreted to mean that the Go,ernment
. win not prosecute thenl to punishment, nor hound on a fanatical
populace, pronded they make no open profession of their faith,
no public display of their profane rites. The Protestant in
Lima ,,
ho seeks to wor8hip God, obeys 1iterally the Gospel pre-
cept-" but thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and
""yhen thou has shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret." ....\.nd can those who fulfil that injunction in sincerity
and truth; who do not believe that righteousness is dependent
on "modes of faith," but tbat "his can't be wrong whose life is
in tbe right; " doubt the realization to thenlselves of the Divine
promise, "and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly"? It is to be regretted that the Perunan religion-
ist does not perceive that it is this anti-christian policy which is

156

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE.

weakening the foundations, and shaking the pillars of his church,
throughout his own and some other lands. lIe should kno,v
that its strength ,vould best come of purity; of the" c'barity
that suffereth long and is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up ; " and of the observance of the Divine COlli-
mandlnent " thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself "-on ,vhich,
and on the lo",e of God best sho,vn by obedience to His will,
"hang all the law and the prophets."
The Japanese worshipper of the sun, and the Turkish fol-
lower of Mahomet and the I{oran, are more tolerant than the
Peruvian Catholic; for the fornler by treaty stipulation has con-
ceded the right of worship, according to the dictatès of con-
science; and the latter recently denounced the fanatical zeal of
his Syrian subjects, and granted to France the vindication of
the sacred observances of Ohristianity on Turkish soil. It
,vould be a cOlnmendable example of consistency if Louis N apo-
leon would also see to it that his co-religionists of South America
do not discredit their profession of faith by persecution and pro-
scription.
Returning, one Sunday Inorning frolu an ineffectual effort to
find the sanctuary of Protestant Christiaps, I realized the truth
that secrecy in their religious observances was demanded by a
ROlnan Catholic governluent, in the enactment of whose laws
tIle ecclesiastical power of the country largely participated. And
when on another occasion, in company with our Minister resi-
dent, we sought by a narrow passage-way a studiously hidden .
r001H having but a simple platform for a clergyman and a few
rude benches for forty persons there assembled, I should have
felt humiliated but for the assurance that He also was there, who
said, "Where t\VO or three are gathered together in my nalne
there am I in the midst of theIn." For what are sculptured
colulnn and groined arch, embroidered robe and jewelled altar,
and all the lnagnificence with which wealth and power can
clothe the proudest temple, compared \vith the glory of RiB
Presence
'Vhat fOrIn of ostentatious ceremonial, or of merely
typical presentation, can touch the heart, and reach the con-
science, like the simple teaching of that "pure religion unde-
filed before God-the wisdom that is from above, first pure,

Pm..TIE
ì'IARY .

151

then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy
and good fruit;::, without partiality, and without hypocrisy"

Contemplating tbese things, the candid mind naturally in-
quires, with what pretence of reason can Catholics con,ert Ire-
land into a modern aceldema, in resistance to antagonist
ecclesiastical prerogative; and in the U nitecl States complain
of "I\::now X othing" party persecutions-in both of which
countries they enjoy constitutional freedom of religious opinion
and worship-when, throughout nearly this entire 8"üutbern con-
tinent, there is constitutionally proclaimed the " .i..<\.postolic relig-
ion;" the exercise of none other being permitted? X or does
the disgrace of this prohibition in Peru attach alone to its origi-
nal legislation; for, within a few days, in this capital, the Sen-
ate and Chamber of Deputies refused, after an earnest and pro-
tracted discussion, to expunge that intolerant and anti-republi-
can provision froln the flmdamentallaw of the state.
.A. building now about being cOlllpleted in Lima, and in-
tended for penal and reformatory purpose;::, is deserving of SOlne
notice. In the J
ear 1853 Señor
Iariano Felipe Pa
Soldan
visited the United States, comnlissioned by the Peruvian Gov-
ernment to examine and report upon their penitentiaries, with
reference to the introduction of Í1npro,ements into the prison
systeln of Peru. It is but just to say tbat this in,estigation
was set on foot and conducted by Sellor Pas Soldan in a spirit
of philanthropy, and with an ability honorable to his Christian
character, and to the high intelligence of his pure Spanish ori-
gin. ....-\. report to his Go,ernment shows that he TIsited and in-
spected the various penal and reformatory institutions of the
Di
trict of Columbia, and of the States of Maryland, Pennsyl-
vania, New Y olok, and :lrassachusetts, embracing their jails,
penitentiaries, houses of correction, and houses of refuge; and
that as a result of his obseryations, he recOlnlnellded to his Gov-
ernment a system of imprisonlnent and a plan of building
adapted to its fulfilment, embracing the good points and dis-
carding the bad of the institutions he 'Visited. In tbis respect
his investigations resulted most happily. To the eXRlnillätion
he brought an activ"e, searching, and conlprehensive mind; and
the field before him "yas rich in material::" the United States

158

PENITENTIARY.

having been the reformers of the old and now obsolete systems
of imprisonment alnong civilized nations; and many of the
separate State Governments having Inade liberal appropriations
for the objects contemplated by the movement, which attracted
the earnest attention and inspection of the leading Po,vers of
Europe.
The prison edifice, planned, and now nearly finished, under
tlle superintendence of Señor Pas Soldan, is unequalled by any
penitentiary in the United States, in general design, and in spe-
cial adaptation to the prison systenlof associated laùor in si-
lence, ,vith personal isolation at night. The whole prelnises are
enclosed by a stone wall thirty-five feet high, one side of which
has a portal giving admission directly to that part of the build-
ing in which are situated the various offices and the warden's
apartments. A main côrridor leading thence, has on each side
store-rooms, and froln it also diverges at right angles on each
side a smaller corridor, which cOlnnlUllicates through strong
iron-grated doorways with a ,ving, in which are contained the
lodging cells, one hundred in nUlnber, for the female convicts.
The lnain corridor then connects at its further end through two
strongly-secuTed doorways, with a rotunda or observatory three
stories in height, the upper being set apart as a chapel, whilst
from the other t,vo stories radiate five corridors, communicating
with a corresponding number of wings, in w4ich are adlnirably-
constructed workshops, kitchen, refectory, and cells for solitary
confinement of men at night. The total number of cells is one
thousand. The wings are two stories high, and in their con-
struction and entire appointments for security, comfort, and
cleanliness, they surpass similar departments of all other pris-
ons of the United States, the model penitentiaries of which I
have carefully examined. It is not my purpose to dwell on
details which might prove tedious and uninteresting; but
t is
due to candor and justice to say, that while Señor Pas Soldan
gratefully acknowledges his obligations to the States visited for
nll1ch and valuable infonnation, and especially for the radiated
principle, which affords the greatest facilities for the conducting
of business and enforc
ment of discipline, yet has he, by thor-
ough knowledge of his subject, together with architectural skil1

CHORILLOS.

159

and ingenuity, planned and built a penitentiary affording per-
fect security, and tbe means of non-intercourse of convicts, and
therefore 1ikelihood of refonnation. The walls are of stone and
burnt brick, and are of great thickness alld strength to resist
the shock of earthquakes. .An abundant supply of pure water
fi'oln the river Rimae affords a necessary element of cleanliness
and health. If the Peruvian Governn1ent, which has thus far
entrusted the design and execùtion of thiô great improvement
to Señor Pas Soldan, should continue to him its confidence until
the conSuffilnation of his ,,,"ork, by the introduction of requi:;;ite
discipline, it will probably prove of incalculable benefit to the
State, as well as an enduring monUlnent of his o,vn philan-
thropy and patriotisn1.
The fashionables of Lima have a watering place, to 'which
they resort in the bathing season, embracing the months of J an-
nary, February, and
Iarcb. Ohorillos furnishes a salt sea for
the'LiIneñas, and a "salt ri,er" for the Limeños. Into the
former seí10ras and señoritas plunge, and come out refreshed and
beautified. Up the latter señoras are rowed by galnbling pilots,
1vho understand the shoals and quicksands of the dangerous
8trea111, and how to give the awful cold douche, all but veterans
in the deceptive navigation coming out wearied, wa
ted, and
woe-begone. Germany bas its Baden-Baden, America its Sara-
toga and K ewport, and Peru its Chorillos, all useful if ,yisely
used; all hurtfùl when abused. :Many visit these resorts of in-
valids professedly for health; but mistaking the nleans of secur-
ing it, and worshipping at the shrine of Mammon rather than
at the altar of Hygeia, they quit them, cursing the babbling
waters

" That keep the word of promise to the ear,
And break it to the hope,"

without reflecting that theirs is the sin of omission as of com-
Illission, which has added to the affiictions of the body as well
as to the burdens of the soul.
Chorillos is a to,vn of several thousand permanent inhabit-
ants on the sea-coast south of Callao, nine n1Íles fronl LiIna, and
connected with it by a single track railroad. Mid"ay bet-ween

160

PHOTOGR.APIIY.

the t,vo cities is the pretty EttIe country village of Miraflores,
in the vicinity of which the battle of La Palma was fought in
January, 1855, ,vhen, by a victory of Castilla over Echenique,
the fOrIner lnade himself nominally President, but absolutely
Dictator of Peru. Castilla's triumph, it is said, was chie
y due
to the bravery of an Alnerican adventurer, a Texan Ranger,
who, thinking that he detected a hesitation in Echellique's ad-
vance on Castilla's retreating forces, attacked him impetuously
at the head of his own company, and changed the fortune of the
day. This trivial event shaped anew the destiny of the coun-
try, and established the po,ver of a lnan of selfish purpose and
resolute ,vill, and as ignorant of the teachings of l1istory and of
the true principles of republican governlnent, as he is reckless
of official obligations and of constitutional restrictions on exec-
utive power.
The appearance of Chorillos is not attractive; and no hotels
being provided for guests, visito
s must aSSlune the care of pri-
vate residences. The to\\îl stands on a high bluff, and on the
beach below bordering the sea there are lnany SInall mat-cov-
ered huts, arranged in rows and clusters, with narro,v interven-
ing alleys. These are the dressing-rooms, where bathers disrobe
themselves, and don the kirtle and pant of blue :flannel prepara-
tory to taking the sea. Indian attendants accompany the bath-
ers, who dip listlessly into very placid water w.ithout any of the
slap-dash, heels-over-head accolnpanilnellts of a Cape J\'Iay roller.
The art of photography has had a remarkable success in
Lima. The gallery of 1rlr. Pease-La Calle de Platero8 de San
Pedro-contains some unsurpassed, life-like, and beautifully-
finished photographs, the perfection of 'which has led persons to
think that there is something favorable to the art in the some-
what subdued light of Linla, and in its uniform temperature,
,vhich Inakes it unnecessary to change the force of lnaterials.

Ir. Pease is fortunate in possessing several rare paintings pur-
chased from old families, ,vhose reduced fortunes from the vicis-
situdes of revolution compel1ed their sale. Alnong these is a
Holy Falnily, the property of a former Viceroy, which possesses
Inerits as a work of art so great that a French artist was sent
froln Paris to LÏIna to make a copy of it; and becoming enam..

.

DEPART
RE FROM L
.

161

ored of its extraordinary beauties, he attempted stealthily to re-
move it, and to leave his copy in its stead. The. theft was de-
tected and nearly resulted in tragical consequences to himself.
Four thousand doUars hav.e been refused for it by the present
o\rner. In his possession is also a magnificent and ,veIl-pre-
served viceregal bedstead, with the still more curious receipt for
" 2,000 hard dollars dated in Lima, 20 January, 16:1:0," on the
occasion of its sale by a retiring Viceroy to his successor; the
vender b.eing the Count of CÙ
chon, whose wife learned from
the Indians the anti-periodic properties of the Peruvian bark,
which subsequently was nalned Cinchona, in her honor. ..A..t
this day it is regarded as one of the most valuable of natura]
productions, from which is derived the well-known quinine, in
all malarious regions 1)erha1)s the greatest gift of science to man.
The statements herein made, and the reflections indulged in,
are the results generally of personal observations of 1)ublic
things; in 1)art derived, too, from those ,,"yhose long residence
in this country has made them as familiar with its condition as
if they ,,"yere "to the manor born." The sanctity of p'pivate life
has not been in,aded by criticislll; when its hospitalities have
been accepted, remarks upon its llsages have been deemed a so-
cial sacrilege, anù therefore a,oided. But the public and its
out-of-door life, opinions, and CustOll1S are not entitled to the
immunities of the ta.pada.
In obeying the obligations that no\v require 111e to leave
Lima, I feel none of the regret expressed by another tra,eller,
who tells us that he ,vas so fascinated by his surroundings, as
scarcely to have had the power to tear himself away. To recall
its past gives me no pleasure, for the history of the Spanish COll-
quest of this country is one of l)lood, treachery, religious perse-
cution, and robbery. Whether the tyranny, the butcherie::;, and
extortions of viceroyalty, or the persecutions, cruelties, aud
lllurders of the inquisition be considered, nothing but horror and
indignation attend their recollection. K or does any pleasure
COlne from the contemplation of more recent events, anù the
efforts of the country to shake off the political and religious
atrocities of which it "\\
as the victim unùer the rule of Spain:
for tbe daily proofs are before us that, ,yhilc the profe
6ed for-
11

.

162

DEPARTURE FRO
r LIMA.

l11ulary of government and its official agents w"ere changed, the
actual politic
l spirit and results remain; that despotism and
oppression are still here; and that superstition, bigotry, and in-
tolerance, the offspring of ignorance and delusion, are no,v, as
they \\"'ere in tIle days of Pizarro and of his viceregal successors,
the religion of the l)eople. Of what honor to God, or benefit
to man, are it13 proud adornlnent of churches, its brilliant festi-
yals, its pageantry of processions, the startling or the dulcet
tones of its hundred bells, at
yhose peal as in the Angelus, bus-
iness, anel breath ahllost, are suspended; what the swell of
mingled choirs, with solemn pOlnp of cerelllonial, if the char-
ities of the Gospel are unfelt anel untaught, and the spirit of
divinely-inculcated love has no particil)ation in rites which
are unhappily but a yain and elnpty lllockery of the religion
of Christ
The clÎ111ate of Lima luay be equably mild, its airs
balmy and perfumed with the fragrance of flowers-as a fanci-
ful writer has said ,vho was forgetful of its acequias-its fruits
beautiful to the eye and luscious to the taste, but what avail
these to restrain the footstep that ,vould shun the pollution of
its moral atlllosphere, and escape fi'on1 the vice and debauchery
that boldly invade, or insinuatingly beset its path

A last duty on shore was a sad one-to follow to the grave
an that remained of Lieut. J alnes H. ltfoore, of the frigate
"Lancaster," \vho died in Lima at the residence of ltlr. Naylor,
an English merchant; the attentions of whose fan1ily to a stran-
ger will be gratefully remembered by those of his countrymen
who sa\v in them ,vorthy disciples of IIhll ,vho ",vent about
doing good." Lieut. Moore was an officer of rare l)rolnise of
distinction, faithful in duty, honorable and generous in all llÎs
:elations of life. lIe ,vas buried in the British Protestant celn-
ete1'Y at Bellavista, by the side of Captain Lalnbert of the Brit-
ish navy, who ,vas recently murdered in the suburbs of Lin1a
at midday, probably by robbers, ",
ho were never arrested.
Lieut 1;:oo1'e's body, refused the use of a hearse because he ,vas
" a heretic "-although a Ohristian-w'as borne to the grave by
his conntrYlnen, attended by an English officiating clergrn1an,
the officers and crew of the United States ship" 1V yoming," then
in port-the" Lancaster" having returned to PanaIlla-the offi-

Th
ERXÅTIO:S-.AL KL\'""D:S-ESS.

163

eel'S of her Britannic lIajesty-'s ship" 'Tuen," and a number of ·
...lmerican and Engli5h gentlemen, residents of Lima and Callao,
,rho united, as if of one nation, in paJing a last tribute of re-
spect to the
l1emory of a brave and accoluplished officer. Sad
as W"er
the reflections incident to this loss of a fellow-country-
man in the prime of life and reality of usefulness, and his burial
far from the land of his love, yet did the event show those of
kindred nations forgetful of past differences, and bound by a
bond of sympath
r, uniting in Inanifestations of re;:;pect for the
departed; illustrating the benign influence of a common origin,
language, and literature, "hen cherished by the relations of
peace.

.

CHAPTER IX.

HARBOR OF CALLAO-ISLAND OF SAN LORENZO-TITE BOQUERON-EL FRONTO:N-VOY.AGE
TO V ALP .ARAISO-SEA-COAST OF SOUTIlER
PERU, OF BOLIVIA AXD NORTHERN CffiLE-
CHINCH.\. ISLAI'oIDS-GUANo-RAIXLESS REGION-PISCO-ISL.AY-ARICA--IQUIQI;!-
COBIJA-CALDERA-CHA..
ARCILLO-LA SERE:NA-COQB"IMBO-ARRIV AL .AT VALPARAISO.

lIA VlliG bade adieu to Captain Mitchell, the gallant COlTI-
Inander, and his accomplished officers of the United States ship
"1V yorning," at anchor in the harbor of Callao, ,vhose courtesies
will be gratefully remembered, I ,vent aboard of the British
Steamship Navigation Company's steamer "LÏ1na," b.ound for
Valparaiso. Anchor hove and ship underway, ","-e steered for
the southern outlet of the harbor, in ,,-hich, for the first tinle
after the declaration of American Independence, the national
birthday of the United States was saluted by a British man-o'-
,var. On Con1modore Stockton sending a lieutenant to make
an acknowledgment of the unusual cOlnity, Adn1iral Sinclair
manned his boat, and accompanied by his officers, boarded the
American frigate, saying, ,vith a sailor's characteristic frankness,
"fifty years have passed since lnother and child quarrelled-
thne enough to ,vipe off old scores."
An occasional phenomenon of the harbor of Callao, called
:. the painter," darkens all white paint about vessels in port at
the time. It is thought by 80111e persons to depend on disen-
gaged sulphurous gas, which causes an active effervescence of
the ,vater, and results probably froln interior changes taking
place nearer the earth's surface here than elsewhere, and 111ay
have connection with the cause of the frequent earthquakes of
this region.
The lighthouse on the north end of the island of San Lo-
renzo was visible in the distance, a very unusual circUlllstance,

SA...
LORENZO.-WRECK OF FRIGATE.

165

for as it is high enough tò be in the perpetual fog that en\elops
the island heights at night, it is, I am assured by old traders at
this port, of no use whatever. It would be well to put it lower,
below the line of fog, or put it out, and thus relie\e foreign
shipping from a heavy- assessment for ÍtB support.
On nearing San Lorenzo the larboard blùwarks of a Peru-
vian frigate were seen barely lifted above the water, showing
the spot where, with all her armament and four hundred of her
crew on board, she was capsized a few days since, in an attempt
to put her into a floating dock for repairs when a heavy sea was
on. .-:\. fine ship is probably lost to the country, which can ill
afford it, and one hundred and fifty persons 'were killed or
drowned by the accident. President Castilla 'Was near being
of the number, having gone ashore but five minutes before.
Like his Scotch exemplar he seelns to " bear a charmed life.-'
We steered across the harbor due west, and came so near to
San Lorenzo before changing our course, that the steamer seemed
intent on climbing itg bold heights; bnt suddenly heading south
she swept close along shore, taking as cide a berth as possible
of " Callao Point Reef," and the ,. Whale's Back," which lifted
its dark outline above the water, in bold contrast to the sea of
foam that whitenetl its 10'Wer rocks. Emerging from this nar-
ro\y channel, the Boque-ron, the islet of EI Fronton was soon
passed-supposed to have been once united to San Lorenzo, but
at present separated from it by a nan"ow and Í1npassable strait.
l\.nd now, a few detached rocks having been left to the west-
warJ, we are fairly at sea.
" Once more upon the waters ! Yet once more!
And the waves bound beneath me as a steed
That knows its rider. Welcome to their roar !
Swift to their gtüdance, whersoe'er it lead! "
The next morning after leaving Callao we made the Chinch a
Islands; fourteen hours by steam from the l)ort of departure.
On these islands-three in nun1ber-are the rich guano depo
its
of Peru. The original word is It ltanU, signifying in the ancient
Quichua dialect "animal dung. -, The word now in general
use is an abbreviation of pishu huanu, .. bird dung." The ter-
minal syllable nlt of the ancient dialect has been changed by

166

CHINCH.A ISLANDS.-GUAKO.

the Spaniards into no. The Elu'opeali orthography guano, now
so generally adopted as to make an effort to correct it probably
useless, is erroneous, the Quichua language, ,vhich originated
the name, being without the letter g.
The deposit of these islands is doubtless due to the accumu-
lated excrement of marine animals and birds, ,vhich are seen
now in great numbers. The sea-lion and the seal, both by their
presence in the adjacent waters at this tÍ1ne, and their skeletons
, in the strata of guano deposited ages since, tell of their agency
in its production; ,vhile myriads of birds skhnnIÎng the neigh-
boring sea in quest of its abundant fish, show that they too
haye been agents in the general economy of nature, by furnish-
ing a valuable fertilizer for impoverished soil.
These islands being situated ,vithin the rainlesB region of
this coast, furnish the richest guano known to agriculture, inas-
much as its fertilizing ingredients are not dissolved and washed
awaJ. A peculiarity of a great part of the coast of Peru, from
the neighborhood of Arica to Cape Blanco, elnbracing about
16 0 of latitude, is, that- rain is rarely known to fall within its
limits. Stevenson, an English traveller of aCClu'ate observation,
gives the following rational explanation of the anomaly: "In
..A,pril or l.Iay the mists called 'Garuas' begin, and continue
with little interruption till N ovelnber, which period is usually
termed the winter solstice. The gentle winds that blo,v in tbe
Inorning ii'onl the west,vard, and in the afternoon fronl the
south
rd, are those which fill the atmosphere ,vith aqueous
vapors, forming a dense cloud or mist; and owing to the obli-
quity of the rays of the SlID during this season, the evaporation
is not sufficiently rarified or attenuated to enable it to rise abo\e
t
e summits of the adjacent mountains, so that it is li
nited to
the range of flat country lying bet,veen the mountains and the
sea, ,vhich incline to,vard northwest. Thus the vapors bro
lght
by the general ,vinds are collected over this range of coast, and
frolll the cause above mentioned cannot pass the tops of the
mountains, but remain stationary until the sun returns to the
south, when they are elevated by his vertical heat, and pass over
the Inountains into the interior, where they becollle condensed
and fall ill copious rains. That rain is not formed on the const

GUANO.-CH:cçCllA. ISL
DS.

167

is attributable, first, to a '\\'"ant of contrary winds to agitate and
unite the l)articles; and secondly, to their proximity to the
earth, "hich they reach in their ùescent before a sufficient
Dumber of theln can coalesce and form thelllselves into drops."
The agricultural use of gnano is by no Ineans of recent dis-
covery. In the time of the Incas it was employed as a nlanure
in ancient Perno The islands near the coast being easy of access
were much resorted to b.r the natives, and the guano blanco, the
ti"esh 'white deposit, was preferred, as it doubtless had the fertil-
izing properties in greatest strength. The nloc1e in which the
Peruvians used guano was different frolll that by us. A hollo,\'
or trench around the young shoots '\'as l)artly filled with the
manure and then covered ,yith earth. The field ''\
as then
flooded with water, which was readily done ill a country freely
intersected by aqueducts. But for tbis the radicals would have
been destroyed by the potency of the guano, tbe saline ingredi-
ents of ,vhich were thus dissolved and diffused in the circum-
jacent soil, where they were subsequently sought out and
appropriated by the roots ",'ithout danger to their delicate
organization. The field was kept submerged but a few hours.
The aggregate superficial extent of the three Chincha Islands
is about seven square n1Îles; the.}'" are designated northern,
middle, and southern. The northern is the largest, and is that
yielding the greatest quantity of guano, eighty feet being con-
sidered about the average depth; though a gentleman largely
interested in the trade tolil llle that he had lneasul'ecl it at an
indicated point having a depth of one hundred and fifty feet.
The original estimate of the length of time-one thousand
years-that this deposit on the Chinch as will suffice for the
wants of the ,vorlc1, is likely to prove fallacious. So great has
become the demand for it, that half the deposit of the largest
island has been rellloved already; and a considerable quantity
has also been taken from the middle island. More than a
hundred vessels are now lying at anchor al'ound and between
the t\yO larger islands taking ill cargo, besides Inany loaded and
a,vaiting formalities of e
1)Oliatioll in the harbor of Callna,
sho'\ving the extraordinary increase in the demand for guano
within a few years. Instead of fifty thou:3and ton;, being re-

168

GUANO TRADE.

Inoved annually, according to the original calculation, it is now
knO'Yll that for three years but little less than five hundred
thousand tons have been shipped per alillum. And so great
are the pecuniary wants of the Peruvian Government, from offi-
cial iU1providence and delinquency, that it is now thought that
with corresponding recklessness and continued forced sale, the
deposit at these islands will become exhausted in ten or twelve
years. Large as ,viII have been the aggregate revenue of Peru-
l)robably froln five hundred millions to eight hundred millions
of doIIars-fl"oln this source, yet there is not a country paying
its quota of that imJnense sun1 for the use of guano, that will
not have derived more benefit from it than this. Elsewhere
agricultural sldll and industry have n1ade it tributary to a pro-
duction ,vhich has resulted in blessings-developing internal
improveu1ents, affording n1eans of education, prornoting social
happiness and general prosperity. To Peru it seelns to have
been a curse, for it pensions officials to fatten on public plun-
del'; ,vhile it encourages perpetual revolutions, that place and
peculation n1ay re'\varc1 successful treason and reckless disturbers
of domestic peace. It fosters, too, a large standing army, re-
sulting in oppression, paralyzed industry, and "Tars with their
attendant evils. LÍ1nited to the Inoderate expenditure actuaIIy
demanded by the ac1lninistrative necessities of a small republic,
how great the good that Inight be n1ade to flow to the country
from a judicious use of the large surplus revenue! And how
brief the thne ,voulc1 be before an intelligent and enterprising
people, directed by ,vise and honest leaders, ,vith such n1eans at
comlnand, would clÍ1nb or l)ierce the Andes; and uniting the
Pacific and the Amazon ,vith an iron band, would awake the
sluu1bering echoes of mountain l)asses with the panting engine,
ana speak into life the dead elelnents of inllnense Inineral and
agricultural wealth! .
That an idea may be formed of the large amount of shipping
engaged in the guano trade, it may be stated that during six
months of this year-1860-froIll April first to Septelnber thir-
tieth, as ascertained ii'om the United States Consul at Callao,
the tonnage of American vessels entering that port was 111,648
tons, being but 9,992 tons less than that of all the other foreign

CO:llP ARATIVE TRADE.

169

vessels together, ,yhich "as 121,640 tons. The 'J"egistel"ed ton-
nage of the ships is here referred to. One-third more should
be added to show tbeir actual carrying capacity, "hich ,yould
in like proportion increase the guano thus shown to have been
exported, and in like manner the ,alue of cargoes and the
amount of freight. Thus it will be seen that at thirty dollars
per tOll, the guano shipped in} six lllonths in Ålnerican vessels
from the Chinchas, and "hich according to Peruvian commer-
cial regulations, 111USt take its final departure from Callao, was
worth 84,465,920, and the amount received for freight to one-
half that sum. The cargo in the above estimate is considered
as all guano; but it should be stated, for the sake of accuracy,
that a very trifling part thus shipped was vacuna and goat skins,
and Elias' sherry "ine. -'.\lthough the shipment of guano here
referred to was in Llmerican bottoms, nearly one-third of it was
on foreign account, in addition to what "yas exported to Europe
in English, French, and Gernlan vess81s. The above estiluated
value of guano is tbe price in Peru; it is twice that in the
United States-sometimes even more.
It must not be inferred, however, from the above compari-
sons of United States and all other foreign tonnage engaged in
the eXjJort .trade of CaUao, that the fornler enjoys any similar
proportion of its Í1npol'Jt trade.
\.merical1 n1anufacturing and
mercantile complacency 111ay be mortified by the truth, but nev-
ertheless the fact cannot be changed to gratify national vanity.
The record shows tbat of the total value of ÏInports into Callao
in 1860, to wit, 88,562,957.16, the United States furnished a
total of but 8192,836.44; while Great Britain's proportion
amounted to $2,582,109.33; that of France to 82,395,898.79;
ånd even Germany, Chile, and Panama contributed more to the
wants of Peru than the United States did.
Five miles south of the Chinchas are the two slllall and
barren BallisÜt isles j and near them the hidden and dangerous
Salcedo rock. Steering in shore from the Chinchas, a half hour
brought us to Pisco, the seaport of the province and of the in.
Janel to,vn lea. Pisco has a population of six thousand, but
there is nothing in its location or appearance deserving notice.
It bas the finest mole in South Aluerica, a half mile long, ex-
tending beyond the rather threatening looking breakers, anù

170

PISCO. -ITALIA.

built of iron by 1.Ir. Wheelright, a United States civil engineer,
at a cost to the Peruvian Government of $450,000.
Before the abolition of negrq slavery, many negroes were
engaged in cotton and ,vine gro,,,,ing in this province, who still
remaining here, form a worthless part of the population of Pis-
co, of no use to themselves and a burden to the rest of the
cOlnmunity, most of ,,,,hom are cholos. The chief Inerit of this
act of Peru ,vas that she was not unminc1ftlÌ of the equal claims
of citizens to protection and justice; that she did not imitate
some others of larger professions of moral and physical grau-
deur, and play the national philanthropist at the cost of those
\vho aided in giving her existence and power; that she did not
lnerge a government protector in a public robber. The debt
incurred by Peru for the emancipation of the negro slaves ,vas
83,900,000; t,vo hundred dollars being allowed to the owners
for each slave, with interest until paid. The debt is now nearly
extinguished; but it "rill be long before the country ,viII recover
froDl evils that have follo,vecl the error of confounding the po-
litical slavery of the Caucasian race \vith personal servitude of
an inferior race, bet,veen whom it is as impossible to establish a.
harmonious relation of equality, social and civil, as it would be
for human capacity to annul the fiat of Supreme W}sdonl, and
recreate them with similar physical organization, moral senti-
lnents, and intellectual endownlents. Agriculture is languish-
ing for labor; and that labor, once useful under necessary direc-
. tion and control, is perishing, now that it is cast loose 'w'ithout
the po,vers to sustain it in con1petition with a higher order of
intelligence, energy, and enterprise.
The very small quantity of cotton now grown in this prov-
ince of lca, is of long staple and silky texture, and is all pur-
chased on French account. The largest export from Pisco is the
product of the vine, the .Aquardiente de Pisco, of this district
of Peru-" Pisco" as it is commonly called-the ordinary
brandy of the country. A n1uch superior quality and of Inore
exquisite flavor, is the Italia de Pisco, usually known, especially
abroad, Ly the lllore familiar name" ltalia;" it is Inade fronl a
richer grape, the 1\luscatel. Don Domingo Elias, a ,"\calthy
planter and once President of Peru, is also extensively engaged
in manufacturing wine. It is known here as sherry wine, and

SHERRY ""'
E.-BAY OF PARACA.

171

after haTIDg made the voyage of the East Indies, it is consid-
ered by good judges equal to the best sherry of Spain. One
hundred and twelve thousand gallons are produced annually.
It readily brings three dollars per gallon. Pisco and Italia are
conveyed to market on mules in large pear-shaped jars, contain-
ing from :five to ten gallons each, called òotijas.
From ten to t,velve miles south of Pisco is the deep Bay of
Paraca, well sheltered, and better suited for anchorage and land-
ing than the open roadstead of Pisco, where the surf is often
dangerous, and the swell so great that vessels cannot lie at the ..
mole in safety, but lying off are loaded and unloaded by means
of launches. Mariners say that the mole should have been built
at Paraca instead of Pisco. The large interests and influence
of Señor Elias determined its present location.
From the Bay of Paraca the coast s,veeps for five or siX
miles to tho westward, and then again to tbe south, forming a
bold a11d elevated, but barren prolllontory-the peninsula of
Paracas. On the north face of this peninsula is an image of
which the following is a rude representation:

172 EL BOQUERON DE PISCO.-COAST SCENE.

The height of the nliddle crucifix is not less than five hun-
dred feet-estimated by the kno,vn height of the hill. It is
plainly seen frolll the Chinch a Islands, thirteen nliles distant.
It is ditched in the earth, and but for the exemption of this part
of Peru from rain it would soon be obliterated. There are no
records to tell at what time this synlbol of Christianity was
sculptured on this desolate hill-side; but tradition says that it was
done in the tinle of Pizarro, and in a single night, by the united
effort of Inany zealous Catholics, to inlpress the worshippers of
. the Sun with a conviction of Divine interposition, and thus by
a pretended Iniraculous manifestation of the emblem of their
faith, to w'in the Peruvians from idolatry. The present inhab-
itants of the neighborhood Inake annual pilgrimages to the
shrine, and after deepening the ilnpressions of the figure they
drink pisco, dance the zama-cueca, and have a good time gener-
ally.
Doubling Cape Paraca we entered a channel bet-w"eeu the
pronlontory and San GaHan Island, two and a half miles ,vide,
called El Boqueron de Pisco, through 'which the wind blew with
violence, as if to dispute our passage. But a short struggle
gave steam the mastery, and ,ve soon emerged from the stormy
funnel, the ocean spreading illimitably to the west, and to the
east a balTen hilly coast stretching southward hundreds of lililes,
sealned by deep ravines as ,ve approached Islay, and streaked
and patched for ten or twelve miles north and south of that
town, as if ,vith the lingering sno,v-l11arks of spring in colder re-
gions, but here by drifts of a ,vhitish powder blown about by
the steady winds of this coast. This substance becomes fixed
in some places by incrustation and admixture with other sub-
stdnces. After an exalnination of it and the phenomena attend-
ing its presence at Islay, I conclude that it is the widely distrib-
uted disintegrated lava bed, or substratum of the great desert
situated beþNeen the seaport Islay and the inland city of Are-
quipa, thrown up and spread during ages over that extellsi ve
volcanic region. Occasional]y the background of this "\vinter-
looking scene, ,vhere ,,"'inter never COl1leS, was the far-off .Andes,
pencilled !tgainst the eastern sky in faintest outline. Froln
Pisco, our last point of departure, ,ve encountered a stiff south-

ISLAY. -AREQTIP A.

173

cast trade ,rind, which gave us a rough sea, and delayed some-
what our arri ,al at Islay. Distance from Pisco three hundred
and thirty miles-direction southeast.
Islay, in latitude 17 0 S., has bet-ween three hundred and
three hundred and fifty houses, and a population-as stated by
Mr. Gibson, resident agent of the Pacific Steam Xa,igation
Company-of about t\vent
r-five hundred. It is the seaport of
tha important inland city .A.requipa, the second in size in Peru,
situated froIll eighty to ninety miles in the interior, and having
a population of forty thousand. .L-trequipa was the ancient city
to which the Marshal Almagro returned after the first Spanish
incursion into Chile, "hen he encountered disheartening diffi-
culties on hi5 mOlmtain n1arch south, and ten"ible sufferings on
his retreat nearer the seacoast across the great desert of Ata-
cama. Here, too, it was that he received information of the
insurrection of the Perunans, and the danger that threatened
the city of Cuzco, from which he had departed on his southern
expedition of conquest and annexation; and where he wa

shortly after treacherously garroted by command of his old, but
perfidious associate Pizarro.
Islay is built on the brow of a rocky bluff two or three hun-
dred feet high, of sTeep ascent, and overlooks a little bay or har-
bor, formed by the coast line on the east, a bold promontory of
three-quarters of a nlile on the couth, and a western barrier of
several rocky islets that serve as a breakw.ater against the ocean
sw.e11, \\yhich, however, still rolls in sufficiently strong, especially
at the full and change of the moon, to render landing at the
mole very difficult. Lady passengers are often put ashore fì"Oln
launches by means of an arm-chair or basket swung frOl11 a re-
volving crane rigged with suitable tackle. They are thus hoisted
to upper regions like other valuable merchandise-for are they
not made a marketable cOInmodity by modern usage? Two of
such, who have by graceful mannera and charming esprit, won
the achniration of our ship's company-an English rose-bud and
a flashing jewel of the En1erald Isle-sought to startle the na-
tives with blue eyes and the latest fashions. One of them, not
calculating on an impertinent sea, all of hUlllan nature having
been deferential, allo,,"'cd the propitious moment for a step and

174

ISLAY.

a bound to pass, and in the pause was rudely assailed by a pre-
sumptuous roller that lifted her saya de8J]liegada even beyond
the questionable height of a Broadw'ay parvenu. Belles, '\,ho
prefer disembarking by the stair,vay of Islay to being triced up
to the air of yo-hewlJe-o, would :find the saya aj1tstada a more
modest though less capacious costume. The houses of Islay are
built of simple Inaterials-fewer of adobe and cane, and more
of clapboard and shingle, than seen elsewhere in my Peruvian
rambles. A fountain in the public square, near the custoln
house, receives, through pipes, a n10derate supply of water froln
adjacent hills. Several vessels are at anchor taking in cargo-
woo], rice, cinchona, and specie, in exchange for European mer-
chandise, chiefly drygoods and iron, no,v lying at the landing
in considerable quantities. Flour in bags of one hundred pounds
-quintals-principally from Chile, is largely imported, upon
which there is a duty of t,vo doUars per quintal, not for the
protection of agricultural interests, however, for ,vheat is not a
product of Peru. Add this and four dollars per quintal for
transportation on Inules to Arequipa, to the first cost of the
flour, and it will be seen that its citizens pay dearly for the staff
of life. 1\iusic is at a high premium, too. On a pianoforte
the duty is ninety dollars; and fifty more must be paid for
freight to the capital of this province between two mules. It is
not easy to decide "which are the least of asses, the carriers by
necessity of the physical burden, or those ,vho submit to the
civil burden of such unrighteous taxation. The pseudo-repub-
lics of this coast are strangely illustrative of uppressive govern-
ment. But criticisln should not be arrogant of political sanc-
tity, for our tlu'n may yet come to exemplify the subserviency
û: so-called republicans to those who have usurped and tyran-
nically exercised unconstitutional po,ver. It ,vas a novel sight
to vátness all lnerchalldise, even to sacks of "heat, iron ,bed-
steads, and bales of goods, carried on men's shoulders up a steep
acclivity of t,vo hundred and fifty feet height, from the landing
to the custom house plateau, ,vhere lllule caravans a,vaited to
convey it to the interior. ....1..n Anglo-American seaport sinlilarly
situated, the entrepot for the COllllllerce of a populous back
country, ,yould not be long without an inclined plane railroad

ISLA Y.

175

and a stationary engine, or horse-power, for the raising of this
large quantity of lnercbandise. The citizens of Islay talk of a
railroad to the interior. They come of an ancestry remarkable
for grandiloquence-none so. capable of killing a question by
speaking against time; this doubtless will be the fate of the
proposed railroad to Jo.\.requipa. .A. desert to cross ,yithout '\'''a-
tel' and without fuel, and having neither skill, capital, nor labor,
yet Peruvians propose to build the road! Need mOloe be said

True, the historian Prescott seems to have thought it l)ractica-
ble, for he sayg that Gonzalo Pizarro" caused galleys to be built
at Arequipa, to secure the comlnand of the seas." But if he
had personally crossed, or even read authentic descriptions of
the intervening desert of seventy-five miles extent, he "ould
have known the impossibility of their being transported from
that far inland city to the sea, and ,vould have omitted a state-
lllent, in view of natural difficulties, altogether absurd.
Tw.o remarkable excavations in the earth are found three-
fourths of a Inile west of 1slay, near the extreme point of the
promontory on which the town stands. These are enormous
basins of rock, each about three hundred feet "Wide at the top,
and two hundred and fifty feet deep, gradually narrowing to a
diameter of probably one hundred feet at the bOttOlTI; circular
in forIl1, and each COll1111Unicating by an aperture of fifteen or
twenty feet in diameter with tbe sea; the water entering and
escaping in unison with the ocean swells, and sending up the
subdued melody of its flow from the depths below like the sing-
ing fountain of the Arabian tale of enchantment, as if to teJllpt
the weary to cool chambers and sparkling ,vaters, which once
reached, luight prove both bath and burial place. Standing
above and looking at the coming and going tide through the
archways of those vast wash-bowls, but little power of imagi-
nation was needed to f
lncy Neptune driving hig variegated
coursers into ono of theln at early dawn, cahnly to Blake his
nlorning ablutions away froln the agitations of his ,vild domain.
How 'Were these excavations of rock formed
Did they result
fronl ulldel"lnining by the ocean through ages of alternate ebb
and flow-assatùts of tempest "aves and rending earthquakes,
,vith final fall of unsupported masses, and ,vashing a,,-ay of tbe
crumbling debris?

176

ARICA.

All hands aboard, in obedience to the sun1illons of the part-
ing gun, "ye bade adieu to Islay, and steered from the harbor
bet,veen two of the before-mentioned rocky islets, ,vhich ap-
peared white,vashed with guano-blanco by tens of thousands of
pelicans covering their castellated crags, and circling about them
jealous of the intrusion near their sea-girt homes. ",Vith cahner
waters than rocked us before our arrival at Islay, ,ve again bore
away southeast,vardly, and next morning at six o'clock anchored
in the little bay of Arica.
The town of Arica is in the Province of J\Ioquegua, the
most southerly of Peru-its latitude 18 0 28' S. It stands on a
nearly level plain formed by the recession of the coast-range
froln the shore-line, and comlllunicates with the interior by a
vaHey w"hich pierces the surrounding hills, affording a distant
view of the Cordillera, and bringing do,vn by its little river
Azapa, ,vhen in flood in the spring, a supply of fresh ,vater for
the to,yn and shipping. At other seasons very good water is
obtained fi'om ,veIls. The anchorage for shipping is protected
on the south by a bold rocky point six hundred feet high, froln
the base of which extends a reef on which the surf incessantly
beats in noisy ,yare This extends to a low islet, frolll which
projects another shorter reef, the ,vhole forming an admirable
break,vater in that direction. The ,vater-front of the tOW"11 is
protected fronl the incoming rollers by a stone wall, north of
,vhich is a mole for the landing of merchandise. Still further
on stands a cOlll
nodious bonded warehouse and custoll1-house,
two stories high, chastely built of stone, and faced their whole
length of one hundred and t,venty feet by a handsome iron
colonnade. Beyond this are the capacious warehouses and
ofiì0es of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, and these are
ftankeù at the north end by the railroad station buildings. All
of these facing the harbor, present an hnposing appearal)Ce.
Behind thern are the d,velling-houses and small stores, neat and
clean, yello,v or ,vhitewashed adobe buildings; most of theIn
one story high, fronting on streets fronl twenty to forty feet
,vide, running at right angles, and SlllOOtl1ly and beautifully
paved ,vith slnall rubble stone diversified with ornamental
figures; the side,valks being of ",.bite slabbing. A pretty

.

ARICA.-T.ACN Â.

177

market-place and three tasteful churches break pleasantly the
sa.mene
s of the scene; and at the north end of the town shade
trees and flower-gardens relieve the eye from the glare of re-
flected light. Conspicuous among the houses is the very inviting
hotel of
radalne .L'timè-a large square two-story building, sur-
rounded by two suites of open galleries, and a handsome garden
of ornamental trees, shrubbery, and flo"wers. The voyager,
weary of restless waters and a rolling and pitching ship, longing
for the rest and sense of safety of terra firlna,. and the traveller
from Bolivia, jaded, hungry, worried by n1ule obstinacy, and
often suffering from the 8eroche, resulting froln diminished
atmospheric pressure in climbing even the nlountain pass of
Uaylil1os, 14,750 feet above the sea, on brain, stomach, lungs,
and eyes, may well rejoice in such a hotel as is found at Arica,
and such a hostess as
ladame .r\..Ï1nè. This town has a popu-
lation of three thousand, mostly Indians and Indian half-castes. .
It is the seaport of this district of Peru, and also of the neigh-
boring Republic of Bolivia, when trade is not interdicted by
disagreements between the two countries. It is in communi-
cation with Tacna, thirty-five miles to the north-northeast by
railroad, the only one of any considerable extent in Peru-the
seven miles road of Callao to Lima, and the nine miles from
Lima to Choril1os, really being what even a North American
frontiersman would call "one-horse institutions." Tacna is the
largest tOlvn and the capital of the Province of Moquegua,
having a populätion of twelve thousand, including the residents
of suburban haciendas. It is the starting point for the trans-
montane region of which La Pas is the capital, and the place
at which preparations must be made for that tiresome mule-
back journey of four days. The railroad was built by an
English contractor,
lr. Joseph Hagan, for a joint-stock com-
pany; but its ownership has passed exclusively into the hands
of the builder and Señor Candaroo, the largest capitalist of
Peru. 1\11'. H. obtained the grant to build the road, with a
Government loan of 82,000,000, and also a guarantee of six per
cent. on the cost. The vale8-bonds-of the company, held by
the Government as security, were afterward sold, and they were
bought by Mr. II. at forty-eight or fifty cents on the dollar.
12

.

178

ARICA.

The transaction showed t,vo things: :first, that sharp specula-
tions are not limited to 'V aU Street; and secondly, that the
States of South as well as of North America are doomed to be
mercilessly plucked by the shrewd, selfish, and mercenary. The
railroad fare to Tacna is four dollars, and half as 111uch more is
charged for baggage. The road has a gradually ascending
plane; for half the distance from Arica the grade being thirty-
five feet, and the remainder seventy feet to the mile.
Three ships and several smaller vessels are now at anchor in
the harbor of Arica, and a large quantity of imported 11lerchan-
dise is lying at the lllole; as also w.ool, copper, and tin, products
of this country, awaiting exportation; and an abundance of
sngar-cane, chirimoyas, oranges, and other tropical fi-uits and
vegetables, for coast\vise transportation to less favored districts
further south.
On a hill, somev\'''hat more than a mile fro1TI the to,,-n, there
is an ancient burial place of the Peruvian Indians, from which
many mummies have been removed by curiosity-hunters. A
Government prohibition has arrested the frequent desecration
of the graves; although, occasionally, a foreign resurrectionist
escapes detection and bears off a snuff-colored, shrunken speci-
men of hunlanity, folded up and wrapped in coarse cotton or
woollen cloth. These remains become rapidly reduced to powder
when exposed to the air, and are blown abroad by the ,vinds to
fulfil other uses in the economy of nature; yet when first disin-
tered they present an appearance of excellent preservation,
which is due, perhaps in part, to nitre contain
d in the soil
. of this region. One million quintals of nitre, I was informed,
are exported annually frolTI Callao, realizing about two millions
01 dollars.
Taking leave of this very pretty and improving little seaport,
we stood out of the Bay of Arica, doubling the surf-crested reef
and steering close along a steep rock-bound coast resenlbling
somewhat the palisades of the lludson River. In rounding the
barrier reef a glorious sight ,vas presented, as increa
ing dis-
tance lifted the magnificent panorama frOlTI ,vhich we were
passing; a bold spur of the Andes, bounding beyond with dark
and frowning heights a nearer and brighter picture; ,vhile the

IQ'CIQ'CI.

179

beauties of town, ,alley, and mountain, seemed to lead the eye
to the contenlplation of the grandeur of the far-off summit of
proud Tacora, which raised its snow-crown like frosted silver
above the clouds, and bathed its icy minarets in the gleaming
light of an intertropic SUll. The day was clear, the air balmy,
and the sea smooth and polished as a burnished miITor; all
nature sought to elevate the sentiments, and rejoice the
pirit ;
but the thought of that home, with its blissful associations, so
longed for and so long lost, 'would wind its way among the
heartstrings, and awaken sympathies responsive to its touch of
tenderness.
At 11 o'clock P. M. of the day "e left Arica we aITived at
the next port in our route, Iquiqui, latitude 20 0 12' S., and laid
off a short time to land passengers and ß:eight. Of course
sight-seeing ,vas impossible, but no disappointment was felt, as
Captain Bloomfield, of our steamer, familiar by long service
with this entire coast, and reliable authority concerning it and
its various and variegated races of humanity, informed us that
"no one need desire to go ashore, for nothing but saltpetre
would be found worth seeing." His high appreciation of this
saline is accounted for by his English birth and education. Our
venerable kinsman, 1\11'. Bull-with respect Inay he always be
spoken of-has a wonderful penchant for the explosive, of which
it is a chief ingredient; and no person of candor will deny that,
comprehending fully its use, he has also put it to effective ac-
count. The town stands on a slight indentation of the coast, at
the foot of a cliff two thou::,and feet high, and has huts sufficient
for a population of fifteen hundred persons, who are supported
by the production and sale of nitre, upward of one million of
quintals, at a value of about two dollars per quintal, being
shipped annually. Part of thi
probably finds its way to Callao
before :final exportation, hence a corresponding deduction must
be made in the quantity already stated to be shipped from that
port. The importations at Iquiqui are the necessaries of life,
nothing being grown or manufactured here, or in the ncinity;
even the ,vater used is distilled frOlTI sea-water or is brought a
distance of thirty miles.
It was here that the two United States vessels, "Lizzie

180

IQUIQUI.-P AQUIQUI.

Thompson " and "Georgiana," delivered their cargoes of lum-
ber and barley, and were chartered to load ,vith guano at
Pabellon de Pica and Punta de Lobos, about forty miles further
south, where they were subsequently captured by the Peruvian
war-steamer "Tumbez," by the special order of the central
governlnent. It ,vas this act that led to the controversy be-
tween the United States and Peru which has resulted in ßn
interruption of diplomatic relations, after an unanswerable ex-
position by the American Ininister, Mr. Clay, at Linla, of the
facts at issue, and the principles involved in the unwarrantable
seizure of these vessels. It neither comports with the dignity,
rights, nor interest of neutral nations, to submit to the ,COlnmer-
eial restrictions, seizures, and losses incident to the civil strife,
and revolutionary struggles for personal or partisan ascendency,
perpetually agitating these Spanish-Anlerican countries; espe-
cially when belligerents, practically if not by treaty stipulations,
nationalize each other by negotiations and agreements which
ignore the idea of rebellion against legitimate government, and
create in iInpartial judgment an equality of claim to national
respect and recognition.
Bearing away from Iquiqui due south, we ran within three
miles of that small part of the republic óf Bolivia ,vhich borders
on the Pacific, after having passed Paquiqui, a promontory a
quarter of a mile long and thirteen hundred feet high, jutting
at light angles from the bluff of fo1.11" thousand feet, which for
hundreds of n1Ïles rises almost perpendicular from the sea, with
its dark craggy brow frowning upon the waves as if indignant
at their ceaseless aggressions. Although guano may be seen in
superficial patches at Point Francisco two miles north, and
r oint San Philippi two Iniles south of Paquiqui, yet the last-
named place is the only important guano port of Bolivia, except
Cobija, further south. Four English vessels are now loading at
Paquiqui, none of the guano deposited there being shipped to
the United States. It is not considered equal in quality to that
of the Chinch.as, in consequence of its less proportion of ammo-
nia. The guano at Paquiqui is the deposit of birds, that at the
Chinch as of the various species of seal as ,veIl as birds. Bolivia
sells annually to the highest bidder the exclusive privilege of
rClTIOval.

TOCOPILLA.-COBIJA.

181

Twenty or t,venty-five miles further south is Tocopilla, con-
sisting of a number of small houses, and several copper smelt-
ing furnaces standing on the beach directly under a lofty meta-
Inorphic bluff, that presents at numerous points and for long
distances north and south the outcropping of rich copper ore,
which looks like immense metallic buttresses for the gra;nd sea-
,van of the Southern Continent. Copper is the great mineral
staple of this coast for III ore than five hundred miles-even be-
yond Coquimbo. Three ships are riding at anchor close in
shore; and as we pass along almost within hail of the lofty clift

fourteen furnaces are seen in blast on this part of the Bolivian
coast. We left Iquiqui at midnight, and the next day, at 5 P. M.,
anchored off Oobija, in latitude 22
0 S., the only seaport for .
general commerce belonging to Bolivia.
This town has twenty-five hundred inhabitants, and is situ-
ated at the base of a hill from which extends westwardly for
half a mile a low and rugged promontory forming the southern
boundary of the harbor. The junction of the promontory with
the mainland is occupied by a part of the t01m; a small but by
no Ineans formidable looking fortification stands on its outer
point; and several furnaces in blast occupy the in terlllediate
space, their tall chimneys giving forth the flaming token of in-
dustry and enterprioe. ,Ve were landed from a launch UPOll a
tolerably good wharf, on which stood the inevitable cholo senti-
nel-the unvarying sign of South AJuerican military domination
-and a promiscuous crowd of all color.;, a conlpounded lllulti-
tude of races, assembled to seize upon our stealner's cargo of
flesh, fish, fruit, and forage in general, which the sterile soil and
almost equally unproductive waters hereabouts fail to supply;
and for "Thich these people are dependent Inainly upon parts of
Peru and Chile, and even to some extent on the ..Argentine Re-
public in the interior. The houses are weather-boarded, of one
story, with shingle or plank roof. The streets are unpaved.
Public buildings-a custom house, port-captain's office, church,
and Inilitary barracks of course. In the centre of the town is a
dusty plaza, on the sides of which are storehouses, and w.here
are assembled every morning several hundred mules to be
loaded with goods for the interior. The exportation;; of Cobija

.

182

COBIJA.

are principally copper and guano; the former amounting in
value to nearly $2,000,000 annually. An idea may be formed
of the cost of housekeeping here by the follow-ing prices: Fresh
lneat eighteen cents per pound, and if the supply be exhausted,
a not uncommon occurrence, the inhahitants become vegetarians
until next steamer-day; flour twelve dollars per hunch'ed; pota-
toes five cents per pound; cabbage and cauliflower one dollar a
head; rice and sugar t\venty-five cents per pound; butter one
dollar to one dollar and a half per pound; fresh water furnished
by t,vo distilleries, sixty-two cents for sixteen gallons, and if
one of tbese sources of supply should fail from any cause the
price rises to one dollar; servants 1\ r age!f t,venty dollars per
month. I shall have too much regard for any friend of mine to
recommend him for the consulate at Cobija; for apart frOIn the
absence of social, scenic, and even sensual attractions, he might
find it impossiþle to balance his debtor and credit account; un-
less willing to imitate a foreign functionary, who, coming off to
the steamer for an expected package, and Ünpelled b
y curiosity
to see its contents before going ashore, unwittingly opened it and
exposed to some of us a large lot of ]niscellaneous je"relry not
intended to be seen by iInpertinent observers, but designed to
be clandestinely introduced into Cobija without paY'lJ
ent of
duty. Relying on the silence of strangers who were not Govern-
Inent detectives, he hastily concealed the pacl{age, and was
shortlyafter"rards observed in familiar conversation with the
port-captain, 1\rho little supposed that he "ras interchanging
official civilities with a smuggler. Nations o,ve it to justice and
self-respect to see that they are represented abroad by those ,vho
,,,,ill not degrade thelnselves, and diBhonor their country, by
e!:6aging in unla,vful acts against the Governments' to which
they are accredited.
A brief detention at Cobija sufficed for discharging freight,
and '\ve "rere soon again climbing the long s"rel1s of tIle Pacific,
which lifted our stealner on their shoulders like a plaything,
and let her do,Vll into their deep trough with gentleness as if
they loved their favorite too fondly to deal roughly with her.
The air is bracing, bringing health from the breezy south. Its
coming is welcoll1ed, and it passes on its ,yay ladened ,yith love

CALDERA.

183

for those afar off, who are ever in lnind and heart. It is said
that our voyage will not be varied by cbange of scene for a day.
So let it be! There is enough in tbe billo,vy floor beneath us,
and the boundless canopy above, to inspire thought and exalt
the spirit. Through these we may contenlplate that eternity
of which they are the symbols, to ,rhich w'e are hastening, and
the immortal interests of which it were well for us duly to
weigh.
At dawn of the second day after leaving Cobija we were
passing tbe low sandy coast of Atacama, the northern province
of Ohilø-sometimes improperly written Ohili, but the fo}'n
er i8
the G.hilean Got'el'nrllent orthog1'ophy-al1d at" A. M. we entered
the snug little bay of Caldera, about a mile and a half in
general diameter. The town of OaldeJ'a, in latitude 27 0 S.,
like nearly all along this coast, is built on the southeast side of
the harbor, being protected in that direction from the almost
constantly pre"\alent southerly winds, by a promontory extend-
ing westw"ardly, which presents at its point a rugged brea
t-
work of rocks than which nothing could better resist the cease-
less war of ocean ..swells and occasional violent storms. .J...\..
substantial pile ,vharf prolonging a well-built stone breakwater
and abutment, heavily floored, and on 'which is a terminus of
the Copiapo railroad, form.s a small inner harbor of smooth
water for convenient landing of passengers at a stairway. The
sandy slope on which the town stands is spotted liberall.r with
sandstone and dark granite looking rocks. Five or six streets
seem to be under Inllnicipal regulation, but these are unpaved,
though the luxury of freestone sidewalks is fOlmd to prevent
the pedestrian becolning stalled in sand. In my ramble over
the town, eight or ten houses only were seen with alÜ)8, the rest
having but one story, scarcely high enough for a specÎInen
Kentuckian to stand up in. The houses are built of scantling
frame, lathed with split cane, and indifferently stuccoed or
roughly 'weather-boarded, and have slanting roofs of shingle,
plank, or matted cane. A church seemed to be slowly creoping
toward conlpletion; but it is probable that by the time it is
finished it will require rebuilding. If the custOlll of one of JOur
bishops, as well known for political partisanship as for ecclesias.

184

SIL VER :
IrnES OF CHANARCILLO.

tical tyranny, not to consecrate a church until the utterlTIOst far-
thing is actually paid for its erection, should prevail here, it is
to be feared that the people of Caldera ,vill be regarded by some
of the self-righteous as outside barbarians, illasnluch as they are
not likely to have one telTIple dedicated to the service of relig-
ion. A double-towered building assèrts its prerogative of archi-
tectural distinction, and imitates lllany a seedy aristocrat by
looking scornfully through its own dilapidation at shåbby
neighbors, as no doubt its occupants the town officers do at the
canaille over whom they rule. Strolling outside of the town, I
saw but one dwarfed and sickly-looking shrub in all the su1'-
roundjng waste of sand and rock. Provisions for the' t,vo
thousand native tatte1'de1TIalions are brought fronl a distance,
and fresh water is the product of di8tilleries. The only induce-
ment to live here is in the opportunity for capital and enter-
prise to profit by working the neighbol
ing mines of copper, and
the not very distant rich silver deposits of Chañarcillo and Tres
Puntas, the former of which alone has exported $80,000,000
in bar silver and crushed and crude ore, since its discovery
in 1832. tf
An intelligent gentleman, for a time resident at these mines,
who came aboard the steamer at Caldera, gave 111e SOIne inter-
esting inforluation about them, of which the follo,ving is a
sumlnary: Ohaùarcillo is a village, not of houses but of caves;
a hill covered with round holes, resembling a piece of "\vood
honeycombed by worlns. T,venty leagues to the south of Copi-
apo (which is about fifty nliles east-southeast of Caldera) at the
termination of a chain of mountains which extends for a long
distance, varying its directions, and 'whose surface reflects vari-
ous metallic hues, a hunter of Guanacos discovered in
fay, 1832,
a deposit of silver of incalculable value, which in less than ten
years produced more than t,velve millions of dollars. There
re
upwards of a hundred mines now being ,vorked, SOlne very rich,
others occasionally so, but all justifying expectation of ultimately
richly re,varding the perseverance of their owners. The veins
at considerable depth are richest. The works of the chief mine
of Chañarcilla, called Descubredora, as lTIuch on account of first
discovery as of richness, extend to a greater depth than any

SILVER
ES OF CHA.YARCILLO.

185

others; but Las Guia::;, La Carlota, La Santa Rosa, EI Ro:-:.ario
de Picon, La po10rado, La Guia de Carballo, El Reventon 0010"
rado, and several others, are also in flourishing condition. ...:-\.
cOl1i3iderable number of others, although at pre
ent not very
productive, are yet valued at imll1enSe sums by their owners;
and if a mine be abandoned by one party it is unhesitatingly
purchased by another, "ho pursues the work until a fortune
is made, or all that has been embarked in the enterprise is
lost. Chañarcillo is one of the parts of the Republic of Chile
,vhere the greatest activity prevails, and probably for many
Jears it "ill continue a principal source of its riches. In the
midst of the mines is a small village named Placilla, 'Where
miners go for relaxation and frolic; and there in an hour is
expended in gambling, :flirtation, and drinking, the proceeds of
long labor and deprivation of c0111fort, and the occasional nuts
of metal tlwir consciences oblige tll,em to pUl'loin, that the pa-
tron who works much less than they do should not be un'pea-
80nably 'pe
l)arcled.
It is related of these mines of Chañarcillo, that they were
discovered in lIay, 1832, by a donkey driver, who ,vas seeking
"wood, and hunting the huanaco (guanaco) at the same tÍlne for
alllusement. neco
ing fatigued, he sat on a stone to re;::.t, and
soon perceived a projection of his seat to be formed of silver.
Godoi, the poor mule driver, thus suddenly became the possessor
of a secret, vdlÍch, discreetly kept, or wisely imparted, 'would ha'\e
bestowed on hin1 unequalled wealth. He forgot the guanaco,
and would have forgotten his wandering donkies had he not
needed a conveyance for some of his sudden riches to Copiapo.
He found himself in a difficult position; how to turn his dis-
covery to profitable account, was the question. To obtain use-
ftù coun
el, he at last confided his secret to Juan J osé Callejas,
an old explorer and miner by profession; ,vho, although a
placer hunter of many years in the neighborhood, had not been
as lucky as the poor wood-cutter. Godoi presented him one-
third of the new-found riches for the benefit of his profe
sional
\ experience; and after having appropriated the immediately
accessible cream of his disco'\ery, Goc1oi sold his remaining t,vo-
thirds of title, and free fi.onI all anxietic:; of o,vnership and bus i-

186

SILVER
ES OF CHANARCILLO.

ness, retired to taste the pleasures of riches. Although never,
as a donkey driver, recognized by kindred, he s<3Pn found him-
self, as the affluent non Godoi, sought out and courted by
llumerous relatives, the discovery of wholn surprised him as
much as the discovery of the silver ll1ine. Intimate friends and
sn1iling patronesses also visited and courted hiIn, in "Thorn
he recognized those who had been before merely purchasers
of his panniers of wood. Godoi, like other weak-minded per-
sons aspiring to social position, felt obliged to return these
nUluerous and delicate demonstrations of regard. And to show
his appreciation of the efforts to please hiIn, be threw open his
house with unrestrained hospita1ity. Magnificent dinners ,vere
succeeded by splendid balls; these by nights of debauchery;
and the always crowded breakfast board with daily galubling,
followed; until ruinous eÀrpenditure resulted ill impoverishnlent,
and oil even was wanted for the lamp which lighted hiö foot-
steps to dissoluteness and disgrace. Godoi a,vakened to the fact
that he was abandoned by pretended friends, and that the joys be
had tasted as in a dream had turned to bitterness in reality.
A generous friend of the explorer who had become ,vealthy
through the discovery, on learning the misfortune and penury
of Godoi, presented him a share of a single vein which yielded
hitn fourteen thousand dollars; ,vith which SUlll his benefactor
induced hiIn to purchase a farm in Coquimbo, where, profiting
by the wisdom dearly purchased, and no longer trusting to the
arts of the false and delusions of the wicked, he 1ived some
years in dOIIlestic peace and happiness; and then dying, he left '
an exalnple of humble but honest occupation in early life, and
simple competency with industry at its close, to tell how much
111 ore real happiness they besto,ved than did the great riches
unregulated. by moderation, useful emploYluent, and morality,
,vhich cursed his middle age.
Eleven copper sn1elting furnaces are seen in blast at Caldera;
and the superintendent of these informed me that several others
on the opposite side of the harbor, not as strongly built, were
lately shaken down by an earthquake; this, like other distrirts
of Chile" suffering greatly from these visitations. The exporta-
tion of fine copper is eighteen hundred tons annually, worth

CALDER.\., COPIAPO ßí) P .ABELLON RAlLROAD. 181

from ninety to one hlmdred and ten pounds sterling per ton;
but lunch more of regulns and crude ore are shipped. Chan-
aral, which we passed last night, fifty miles to the north of Cal-
dera, is also an Ï1nportant smelting point, producing copper
largely, and greatly increasing the exportation.
A railroad projected by 1,11'. Wheelwright, and built by )Ir.
Evans, both from the United States, extends fifty Iniles, !ì'om
Caldera to Copiapo-which has a population of fifteen thou-
sand-:-al1d then on to Paòellon, SH\l3nty-three l11iles from Cal-
dera. This road pays a dividend of sixteen per cent. per an-
nUIn. Another cOlnpany has continned the road to Chañarcillo,
twenty-eight miles further; but the enterprise has not proved as
profitable. A :fine station and car-houses, and a machine shop,
are at the Caldera terminus of the road; and large quantities
of ore, coal, coke, and general merchandise lying at the depot,
showed an activelJ
-operated road. Coal and cuke are ùrought
from England; the latter for locomotive fuel, the former for
smelting. The southern part of Chile has large deposits of coal,
but it is not so valuable for smelting purposes.
About thirty feet above the water-line of the harbor, and a
hundred in shore, the low bluff near the railroad depot is exca-
vated under projecting }'ocks so extensively, as to induce the
belief that it 'was once "Water-"yashed. It sustains the opinion
of ocean recession at this point.
1\0 Chinamen "Were seen, as in Peru, among the tawny Chil-
enos, squatting on the ""yharf under their gaily-striped ponchos,
or listlessly lounging through the streets. Slavery, little under-
stood by the ignorant masses in its extended applicatiol1 to na-
tional, social, and dornestic condition, and in its relations to
nature's ordinance'5; and nlisrepresented by artful demagogues
and fanatics, the more readily to deceive the unthinking and
aCCOlll p1ish selfish purposes, or gratify an insane Ülea ho\rever
hostile to the public peace, is so repugnant to these people-who
do not know what freedom is except as implied by the license
to stir up an occasional ro""r, ,vhich they call revolution, and
getting shot or banished for it by arbitrary and irresponsible
authority-that they "ill not even allow the
'olllntary servitude
of Coolie apprenticesldi), telnporar
y though it be. Is not this
"straining at a gnat and swallo"wing a camel"?

188

LA SER.E
A.

The" Scotland," a Doston barque, has just dropped anchor
alongside. She sailed froln this port a few days since loaded
heavily,vith copper, and for want of a "trunk" for its proper
distribution, became strained, leaked badly, and must discharge
cargo and repair. A" broken back" is sometimes the conse-
quence of carrying copper cargo ,yithout suitable staging; and
such is as fatal an accident to a ship as to a man.
IIaving added to our list of p
ssengers for Va1paraiso, we
steamed out of harbor and headed south for Coquimbo, our next
port of destination. Between seven and eight o'clock of the
morning after quitting Caldera, we ,yere off La Serena, a town
of ten thousand inhabitants, on the coast of Chile; and at the
distance of seven or eight Iniles looking attractively in its pic-
turesque surroundings. It was in this vicinity that Pedro de
Valdivia established his first colony, when, in 1540, .with one
hundred and fifty Spaniards and a few Peruvian Indians, after
traversing the inhospitable desert of Atacama, he 11larched into
the heart of Chile, to lay the foundation of the present city of
Santiago. A bold enterprise, considering his small force and
meagre resources, and in view of the fact that the
Iarshal Al-
magro, who had been eInpowered by the EIllperOr Charles of .
Spain to discover and occupy the country for the distance of
two hundred leagues south of the lilnit of Pizarro's territory,
anù who had made the first attempt to penetrate Chile and bring
it under Spanish don1Ínion, had but a short tinle before been so
discouraged in the effort as to leave the country, and return to
Cuzco "\vithout prosecuting the enterprise to the extent of l)er-
manent settlement in any part of it. La Serena occupies a
small plain between lofty hills, which bound the river valley,
extending inland. And here for the- first tilne for many hun-
dreùs of miles, the green garniture of earth was unfolded to our
view. Church steeples "\vere seen rising gracefully above "\vhite
houses and dark trees; and although not heard in the distance,
no doubt their bells pealed forth their Sabbath chimes, to call
worshippers to their religious observances. The anchorage
being far fronl shore we passed on seven or eigllt miles further
to the recognized seaport of this district-Ooquimbo-in lati-
tude 30 0 S., which is better sheltered,
Tith deeper water, and
greater facilities for commerce.

I

cOQ"CTIIBo.

189

Coquimbo has a dusty plaza, guarded from tide and roller
which seek to sprinkle it, by a stone wall, beJ"ond which projects
a wharf for con"\enient landing of passengers and freight. On
the other- three sides of the plaza are frame store-houses and
public offices; miserable looking shanties compose the rest of
the town. These are scattered along the foot of a hin of rocks,
piled in inextricable confusion, and def.ying intrusion from man
or beast. From the deck of the steamer sixteen furnace chim-
neys may be counted, "Which, in respect to the day, are not in
l)last. Their foreign o,ynershjp and direction n1ay account for
this observance; for the commandment, "Remember the Sab-
bath day to keep it holy," is not obeJ"ed by the coast natives.
.

"The Sabbath comes, a day of blessed rest:
What hallows it upon this Christian shore

It is not sacred to a solemn feast.
Hark! hear you not the forest monarch's roar?
Crashing the lance he snuffs the spouting gore
Of man and steed, o'crthrown beneath his horn;
The throng'd Arena shakes with shouts for more;
Yells the mad crowd o'er human entrails torn,
Nor shrinks the female eye, nor e'en aftècts to mourn."

Sixteen vessels are lying at anchor, loading and unloading,
showing a considerable import and export trade with the interior
through this place. The shipments from Coquimbo are copper
-metal and ore.
A large cargo of human live stock, chiefly of the con1plexion
of the great staple of the coast hills for five hundred miles, and
uncolmted baskets, bundles, and promiscuous truck, having been
taken aboard, the signal sent its echoes of departure arnong the
distant heights, and a ,vild rush of affrighted natives was made
fi'om the steamer for the launches clinging to her side. So great
is their horror of sea-sickness, that when a voyage is inevitable,
they bury themselves in berth and blanket as soon as they corne
aboard, and there reInain, if cabin passengers, until arri \ying at
their destination they are aroused from torpor to go H
hore. -1
separation at Coquiln bo is a scene of action and expression, of
tragedy and cOlnedy, not easily forgotten. But the ,,-ilt1 e
-
citement, the mingled exclalnations of apprehension, terror, and

190

SUDDEN TRANSITION.

warning, the boisterous joy and ridiculous gymnastics of SOlne
who gained the launches in safety, though sometimes at the cost
of a wet jacket, and the wail of agonized parting of others,
.
could not drown the hoarse word of conlmand that rose from
the ship's gallery above the din; and the "let her go" of Com-
modore Bloomfield soon gave us a headway that merged the
fortunes of all in the destiny of the stealner. The copper-skins
of the second class speedily ,vent to work rigging shelters on the
forecastle with shawls and fancy blankets, to protect themselves
from the cooler winds of the higher latitudes ,ve are daily
making; the rocky promontory of Coquimbo, as ","'e bore away
from the harbor, looking like a huge rasp forged in. Vulcan's
workshop. .
From thirty to forty miles south of Coquinlbo a promontory
of the coast is seen, sternly sterile in its aspect, and called, from
its supposed resenlblance to a cow's tongue, "Lingua de V aca."
\Ve have a beautiful day and delicious atmosphere, inspiring
pleasant thoughts. I would like to put together a missive of
such, but my stateroom-companion-we have filled up at the
various stopping places to repletion-is so garrulously inclined
and in apprehensive of my monosyllables, that an attenlpt to do
so might disturb feelings in harmony with surrounding nature.
I will go on deck and look on the great sea, ever full of sub-
limity and instruction.
The breeze of yesterday afternoon heightened to a gale in
the evening, and through the night blew furiously fronl the
southwest, disturbing the ocean ill such a fashion as to make
the horizontal the favorite position of every thing on deck and
in cabin. Pedestrians are nowhere to be found, the nearest
personal approach to perpetual motion-a German diplomat-
having" turned in" to avoid being turned over. Old Boreas
seems to think that nautical novices have underrated his power
to toss the Pacific about. IIowever the name may imply tran-
quillity, we do not now deny the Pacific's entire submissiveness
to the higher po'wer of upper air. \Ve have been pitched, pelted,
pummelled, and punished particularly and promiscuously, enough
to show its ability to get up an elelnental row, even in this
latitude, after the manner of that "Horn" which is generally

ETYMOLOGY OF V ALP .A.RAISO.

191

supposed to have no equal alternative dilemma. The heavy
blow made it necessary last night to stand further off the coast
than usual; and as the steamer's course this morning is south-
east to make our destination, she is struck by cross-seas from
the southwest 'with such force that her port state-room lights are
sunk under water. .AJI things movable are lashed, and even
man descends from his high estate, or bas to submit to the
hun1Ìliation of being "floored." Oh! that I were a pendulum
for a time, that the perpendicular, which is my anatomical right,
might be maintained! Better the monotony of merely apparent
oscillation, ,,"'ith consc-iou8 rectitude, than the largest latitude of
motion resulting in a sense of actual deg/ 1 odation.
There is a difference of opinion about the origin of the name
Valparaiso, the chief seaport of Chile, for which we are bound.
1Vhile sODle say that the Spaniards who entered Chile from
Peru, across the desert of Atacama, while seeking the sea dO'val
the valley of Quillota, first beheld here the beautiful barbor in
a setting of verdure, ,vhich called forth tbe exclamation Val
Paraiso-- Vale of Paradise; others refer it to the early mariners,
who, after a weary voyage ,,"'ere rejoiced by the surpassing scene
of surrounding bills and quebradas clad in the li,ery of early
spring, when, doubling the rocky bluff which shields the little
bay on the west, they cast anchor in its welcome haven. The
inspiration which so baptized the spot may be comprehended, if
these bold men were as l11ercilfl-5sly buffeted as we were for the
day before we Inade the port. But wby this ocean sbould bave
been called El Pacifico, by Fernando de Magelhaens, who first
entered it by the strait that bears his name, is not as easily
understood, especially when it is remembered that in that famous
voyage he sailed with great storm8-" con gran tormenta "-even
as far as latitude 32 0 20'.
Å.ß we neared our destination, steering southerly, Ooncon
Point was passed lying on the left, and Valparaiso Point, sur-
mounted by its
ight-house, on the right; the semicircular bay
stretching before us about two and a half miles long and two
miles wide, with eighty merchantmen and men-o'-war riding at
anchor in the port next in commercial importance to Callao on
this coast. The city of Valparaiso was seen occupying 8 narrow

.

192

HARBOR OF VALPARAISO.

crescentic beach, overlooked by numerous bins, most of which.
also are studded thickly with houses standing on terraces, rising
above each other to the height of from tw'o hundred to t"ro
hundred and fifty feet. .
A citizen of Valparaiso relieved me from the annoyances to
\vhich strangers are usually subjected by importunate boatmen
and hotel runners. Landing at a fine lnole, of three exèellent
hotels, the U niol1, Aubrey, and Santiago, the first "Tas selected
for a brief residence, and fully sustained the recommendation
given of it by an American resident, for comfort and attention.

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THE plan of the city of Valparaiso was determined by ne-
cessity, not design. Embracing the semicircular harbor to
which reference has been made, is a cOITespondingly shaped
8ierra, a range of hills of from twelve hundred to fourteen hun-
cIred feet high. These hil1s, fifteen or sixteen in number, are
partially separated from each other by ravines called quebradas,
and they are sufficiently distinct to hate received special names,
to wit: Ol:rro A1egre, Oerl'o de la OoncepcWn, Oel"ro del Bo-
'POll, Oef'l'o cÙ3 Bella-vista, Oerro de Yungai, Oe 1'0 de la Oordil-
lelYt, &c. ; while others, the usual resorts of sailors when ashore,
have borrowed an English nautical phraseology, and are known
among foreign mariners as the foretoJ}, maÙäop, m,
zzeniOJ.}.
However experienced Jack may be in surmounting difficulties,
climbing into these altitudes proves dangerous, anù he often
comes down with a lTIortifying reminder that his lonely bunk
below deck is
afer than a more social hammock aloft. SOlne
of the hills are deeply seamed with gulliea; others present pla-
teaus which the hand of art has formed into terraces made ac-
cessible by steep winding paths and btairways. Long since the
foot of the sien'a probably dipped boldly into the "atel's of the
bay, and wa.; -Washed by ocean swells; but centuries of disinte-
gration furnished debris of stone and earth, which has been
,va::;hecl from the hills by rain-torrent::;, and thus has been grad-
uaBy forllleù a crcscentric level belt along the water.s edge, two
miles in length, and of Y"arying width, 011 ,,
hich the business
13

194

VALPARAISO.

part of the city has been built. So nalTOW is this beach between
the rocky buttress of the Cerro de 1a Concepcion and the ,vater
line, that but a single street is found there, ,vhich, being near
the centre of tIle elongated city, n1ay be cOlnpared to the con-
tracted lniddle of an hour-glass held horizontally; while the
expanded parts of the city, extending east and ,vest from its
waist, find a similitude in the enlarged bulbs of the glass. The
west end-el Puerto, the Port-is the older part of Valparaiso,
where wholesale business is transacted, and where are also found
the Intendencia, or local government house, the custom-house
and public stores. The east end of this lower part of the city
is the more modern, over ,\\Thich business Ïlnprovelnents are ex-
tending, and is called the AllÎ
endral, fron1 an ahnond grove
that once beautified the spot. From the contract eel middle,
streets radiate east and west; more ntunerous and widely spread,
hOVirever, to the east, over the Almendral, than to the west, over
El Puerto, the former being larger. These streets are traversed
at right angles and at unequal distances by cross streets, in most
instances, indeed, mere alleys, 1\rhich are little else than less
precipitous continuations of the gorges of the adjacent hills.
COlnmerce has appropriated the greater part of this level space
to its own use, hence parts of the adjoining height.s have been
sought for as residences; and there, on ledge and hill-side, on
projecting rock, and along the rims of ragged gullies, citizens
have built dwellings, ,vhich, ho,,'"ever picturesque the panorama
they present from a distance, rising above each other in succes-
sive tiers like a great amphitheatre, yet are, when scrutinized
closely, a confused assemblage of indifferent buildings, in dan-
g"::'ous and dirty localities; tottering in many instances on the
brinks of precipices of a htmdred feet, and in others overlook-
ing ravines of filth which would prove sources of pestilence. but
for the daily hurricanes that sweep over the Sierra, and disperse
the malaria at one season, and the torrents 0:( rain ,vhich at
another ,vash away acctunulated nuisances, threatening, too, the
miserable hovels that stand on their verge. An exception to
this description Inust be n1ade of the Cerro Alegre, irnproved
as it is with tasteful cottages, and terraced and adorned ,yit!J
flower-gardens and shrubbery; where English, Gerlnan, and

I

.

PLnLIC :MORALS.

195

...'\.merican reÛdents fonn a distinct social community, cherish-
ing their peculiar characteristics, promoting each other's happi-
ne
s and improvement by the culth"'ation of literature, accom-
plishments, and amusen1ents of a higher civilization; and con-
tributing by their example of good order, industry, and peace-
ful pursuit of the means of happiness, to elevate the native
standard of progress. This happy result of foreign and native
intercourse in Valparaiso none can fail to perceive, "ho have
mingled "i th Chilean families of the higher class, among w bonl
will be found exanlples of rare nloral excellence, intelligence,
accomplishment, and refinelnent, however in1IDoral, vicious, ig-
norant, and degraded the vulgar masses.
nut the enlightened and accomplished few, and the occa-
sional examples of domestic and social ,irtues, should not be
regarded as furnishing the standard of p1.lblic intelligence and
morals. It would be equal1y just to involve partial excellences
in the condemnation of the vices of the many. How-ever pain-
fully national sensitiveness lnay feel the judgment, yet truth
den1ands the acl.î1owledgment that public nrtue is neither a
8entiment nor an obser,ance in V alparai
o; an opinion com-
U10n among travellers, and generally entertained b
r foreign res-
idents; who recognize in the frequent abandonment of the do-
lue8tic circle, bJ old lllen and young, either a greater 10\e of
vicious indulgences elsew-here, or a want of attraction at hOll1e;
who Fee in the stern discipline of the mother who marches ber
daughters in single file before her on the street, ,vatchftù of
their every movement and look, a '\vant of confidence in theIrl
and in others, sadly indicatÎ,e of ner unfavorable opinion of
filial and of public morality; ,y ho infer froln the refusal to en-
trust sisters to the care and protection of their own brothers, or
of other near kindred, a deplorable evidence of lost faith and
of profligacy in those best kno'wn to theln; ,vho perceive in the
separate apartments of a large number of females "ithout visi-
ble llleans of support, reasonable presUll1ption of abandoned
habits; who behold in the atrocious excesc:.e:3, robberie
and
lllurders of the soldiery, during re,olutionary outbreak.;;:, and
the indulgence by them of licentious and savage pa5sions, proofs
of depravity, originating in an education of infan1Y, ()r in

.

196

PUBLIC :MOR.ALS.

wicked neglect; and ,vho recognize on the public streets, in the
multiforln diseases kno,vn only to a secret nomenclature, the
proofs of a "ride-spread depravity, associated with a recklessness
of consequences or a destitution of the Ineans of relief. The
,vant of the latter evinces a lanlentable disregard by the muni-
cipal authorities of the public health. In excuse of this neg-
lect it may be stated that the influence of the clergy is said to
have been exerted to prevent any pub1ic provision being Inade
Ïor the treatment of diseases incident to lewdness. A physician
of eminence informed me that the medical profession ascertained
an enornlOUS percentage of such diseases; and through a COlll-
missioner appointed for that purpose, prepared and proposed
to the civil authorities sanitary measures for their treatment
and prevention. To their amazenlent they found thelnselves
opposed by the highest functionaries of the church, the proposal
being denounced as subversive of the ,yill of God, and calcu-
lated to encourage inlffiorality and legitinutte vice. Municipal
benevolence, threatened by clerical nlalediction, resisted kindly
influences, instead of remembering that the lIe ad of the Chris-
tian Church traced ,vith His own hand the Divine Judgulent,
" He ,,\\rho is ,yithout sin let hÍ1n cast the first stone;" and that
He ",vent about all the cities and villages, healing eveJ1Y sick-
ness and every disease among the people."
The hospitalities of a charn1Íng family often afforded me the
opportunity of gazing frOll1 the Cerro Alegre upon the busy
scene belo"\v, ,vhere sbips flying the flags of all nations, and
obedient to port Tegulations lying as if in line of battle, rode at
anchor ,vith Inerely sufficient length of cable to guard against
aceidellts ill a rarely tranquil harbor; while launches bore their
cargoes to shore, to be carried thence through busy streets to
the spacious warehouses of El Puerto. Beyond ,vas the grander
scene, ,vhere ocean spread out its heaving bosom on the. one
hand, and on the other the verdant Viila dell1Iar skirted ,vith
its eJllcrald setting the snowy-crested surf that ,vashes its foot,
and the Oany'Jaña of Q'uillota in the distance, looking darkly
do,vn on hunlbler COlllrades; \"rhile a hundred miles off to tIle
northeast .i1concagua lifted its proud sUllllnit nlore than twellty-
two thousand feet to,vard the heavens, as if to assert its pre-

.

TIIORO'LGHF A.RES DEFECTIYE.

191

rogative of lnajesty over nearly all its mighty brothers of the
Andean Cordillera. It is appropriate that such a scene, sho,v-
ing the destiny of man fulfilled in the active enterprises of life,
and the grandeur and beneficence of nature, should be outspread
for tbe daily conten1plation of those who, like the residents of
Oerro Alegre, appreciate the nobleness of the fOlï11er, and the
lessons of humility and gratitude taught by the latter.
At the base of the luole, 011 w'hich alone merchandise and
passengers are permitted to be landed that sn1uggling 111ay be
l)revented, stands the Custom-house, the upper floor of ,,"'hich is
used as an Exchange and Comn1ercial Reading- Roon1. Com-
modious fire-proof bonded warehouses on tbe beach further west,
are overlooked by a not very forn1Ïdable fortification on the
heigbts above. To the south of the custom-house is the principal
plaza, on 'which are usually seen large quantities of foreign
goods undergoing inspection and delivery. Fronting on the
plaza opposite to the custom-house is the Intenc1encia, a substan-
tial but 'plain building, the official residence of the Intendente,
or Governor of this Province, and furni
hing also offices for
certain subordinates. Behind the lntendencia, as also in other
parts of the citr, are barracks for the military, 111any of ,,
holn,
in flaunting regimentals, are kept on hand in this so-called
!nodel republic of South America, to hold in check the turbuient
spirit of this people, who are thought to be especial1y bold and
revolutionary in their tendencies, perhaps from the influence of
the free speech and insubordinate example of the large foreign
eleluent of \T alparaiso. The city boasts of two other patches of
ground called plazas-the Plaza de la Municipalidad and the
Plaza Vietoria. On the former several dirty alleys debouch;
and the latter, although boasting of the contiguity of the theatre,
and the mausoleum of a fOlmtain which seems to have died of
drought, show's so many traces of vandalism as to indicate a
republican repugnance to the fine arts sinlilar, with shanle be
it said, to our own.
Both hereditary partiality for contracted thoroughfares and
a necessity to economize space, have led to the luaking of
narro,v streets, barely wide euough to al1o,v of two vehicles to
pass each other, and not 'then ,vithout the ,vheels dipping into

.

198

HOUSES.

the curb-gutters, and liberally bespattering pedestrians 011 the
four feet ,vide sidewalks, froIll head to foot. 'V retched is the
fashionable señora, even ill fair ,veather, "Tho happens on these
narro,rest of prolnenades at the moment of passing each other
of two on1nibus coaches: nothing ,vill save her from a sho,yer
of filth, but retreat through the nearest doorv\"ay at hand capa-
ble of adn1itting an expansion of crinoline, certainly not adapted
to Spanish-American sidewallrs. And in the ,vet season, "yhen
the streets and quebradas are fined vlith torrents of muddy
water from the hills, an India rubber armor, or a close coach,
affords the only security against a bal)tism ruinous alike to
costume and con1posure. Tbe streets are also unusually rough,
froln the pronlÎscuous use of large and smaH stones ill paving.
The business part of the to,vn has sOlnewhat of a European
look, as ,vell because of the height and general style and
Inaterial of buildings, as from tbe character of goods and their
display in shop-vdndows; and also fronl the great number of
foreigners, their dress, language, manners, and customs, there
seen. \Vhile elsewhere, the Spanish one-story or low t,,,"o-story
houses ,vith projecting balconies are found, roofed ,vith tons of
red tiles sufficient to crush any. ordinary frame,vork. The
hUlnbler houses are floored with brick, and having grated un-
glazed ,vindo,vs, look cheerless, cOlnfortless, and prison-like.
Balconies are now prohibited by law, because of the combustible
nature of their n1aterials, and the narrowness of the streets,
favoring the extension of fires heretofore very destructive in
Valparaiso. But ,vhere these melnentoes of antique architec-
ture remain, the ostentatious closets on them-generally sought
to be hidden in other countries-do not give strangers a favor-
able opinion of former Ohilean refinement, particularly 'when it
is considered that worshippers in these profane temples, going
and returning, were the" observed of all observers."
The churches at Valparaiso are neither so numerous as at
Luna, nor so violative of good taste in architectural design. In
the latte:c city idolatry seenlS to be canonized even in the high-
ways and by-ways; but in the former, religious ceren10nials are
seen only in the churches and at the Pantheon. Intercourse
with a higher intellectual cu1t
vation land enlightened religious

r
'"'THEON.

199

sentiment, is slowl)" leading to the entertainment of n10re
rational views and observances; besides which it is Ï1npossible
to command deference for priestly processions in the cr01vded
thoroughfares of business, more intent on tbe dominant duties
of life tban on the tinsel, trumpery, and pharisaical street-
corner shows of Inaiestcraft; which have no bigher aim or use
than imposing on the ignorant, and tickling the fancy of de-
hIded and superstitious followers. Nine Roman Catholic sanc-
tuaries daily assert their prerogative of constitutionally-decreed
worship; while a Protestant Episcopal and a Congregational
Church are graciously allowed by the Minister of the Interior
to hide theJnselves unostentatiously within high inclosures, thus
avoiding offence to national religious prejudice.
One of the many hills sUITounding tbe barbor is devoted to
burial purposes, and on it is the Pantheon, a cemetery of three
or four acres, with adobe wall, gate"-a
r, and cbal)el. Here are
closely-crowded vaults and graves, and many monuments of
excellent design and execution, showing a higher sentiment and
better taste than prevail in PeTu. My visit to tbe Pantheon
happened on ..t\.11-Saints' day-calleel also All-Souls' day-a festi-
val strictly observed here, business being suspended, and every
Catholic considering it a religious eluty to bestow votive offer-
ings in memory of departed friends, and aid in all tbe ways in-
culcated by tbe Church in extricating their souls from the pains
and penalties of transgression. I fell into tbe living current of
men, "omen, and children, setting with a free will toward that
mournful spot, to which they must soon be carried ",vhether tbey
will or not. They bore ,vreaths, bouquets, and baskets of flo,,-
ers, and passed tbrough an alley bordered by hovelb, the tenants
of which profited by the chance of selling dulce.s, for which
señoritas have a passionate fondness; wbile black eJes occa-
sionally flashed invitations from windo,v and dOOl
to turn aside
.
the unwary. Then winding our way up a tortuous acclivity
along the edge of a ravine of pestiferous exhalations, w'e next
ascended a steep bill-side, and finally turning abruptly to tbe left
from the dusty ascent, we clambered along a rugged path,yay
'\\-
Lich led to the ceu1etery gate. There stood sentinels armed
and accoutred for destruction, fit rcpresentative
of tbe dread

200

PANTHEON.

lnaster they served, and whose portal they guarded-a need-
less service, ho,vever, for all are welcome within these domains
of death, ,vhether they con1e to honor or to be honored, to pray
or to be prayed for, to return or to reInain. It inspired sym-
pathy and respect to see the living seeking the resting-places of
their beloved and there depositing on polished n1al'ble and ver-
dant .mound the silent tokens of affection, veneration, grief, and
hope. And if candor would allow, gladly would this narrative
be here arrested, for there is no gratification in recording in-
stances of pious fraud, and of superstition and delusion,
although the offspring of sincere religious sentiment.
Priest craft in aU ages, and of its various n10difications of
faith, fùnn, and doctrine, has well understood, that the readiest
-road to the purse of the believer is through his heart. The
fears of the dim and uncertain future, and the lingering love
and desire to secure the eternal happiness of departed spirits,
respond to the talisman of an intercession, the efficacy of ,vhich
has been inculcated by the artful and designing ; who would
not, if they could, recognize the insult to heaven in supposing
that their hUlTIan interposition could divert it fron1 adherence
to the righteous and eternal principles of its o,vn moral govern-
lnent, and the unchanging judgn1ents founded upon them; and
,vhich assuredly recognizes no influence to divert it from these,
bought by filthy lucre. This inculcated delusion is not found
here alone, but the sectarianisn1 of other nations arrogating a
higher reach of intelligence and reason, is tarnished by the same
theological artifice in one or another of its various forms. It is
not sm'prising, then, that the clergy should have availed of this
sad occasion, when the sensibilities of the heart were tenderly
alive to Í1npressions, to levy contributions on superstitious credu-
lity. In n1any parts of the cemetery ,vere seen

. . . . . " State Priests, sole venders of the lore
That works salvation,"

,vith upturned eyes, or resting occasionally on the purse of the
eml)loyer who stood by, n1umhling prayers for the repose oftlle
deceased, or for extrication from presumed detentions by the
way, or exclusions from heaven; sometÏ1l1es stopping in their

P A....
HEON.

201

orisons to ask the name of the beneficiary on whose behalf the
petition was made, that by its audible announcement in the
right place and at the proper time, no mistake could be made
by the saint addressed as to the identical person to be benefited
by the intermediation. The length of the prayer and tbe num-
ber of its repetitions, important conditions of successful appli-
cation for celestial favor, were observed to depend on the
amount of the fee; about which a little misunderstanding arose
occasionally, the Padre generally succeeding in enforcing his
own view"s of the contract, a very natural reslùt as he probably
reserved the right to revoke what he had done. One handsome
young priest of uncommon shrewdness and .l)usiness tact, and
"\vith a lurking devil in his piercing black eye, seemed to treat
the occasion as affording the chance of a profitabl
speculation.
And, as appears to be the case everywhere with the young and
good-looking of the clerical profession of all forms of faith, he
was an especial favorite with the ladies, who 'were certainly tbe
chief victims of pious fraud here as elsewhere. The Inediations
of this popular Padre were al'\vays engaged severall)erforillances
ahead, so great \\yas the demand for his pleadings, the persuasive
eloquence of which may have been fully known to SOlne of his
fair patrons. He "\yas absolutely loaded down with slnall change,
which he turned into his well-lined pockets by the handfull, like
a huckster on market-dgy enjoying the monopoly of a much
sought after comnlodity. In the chapel a general service was
held for the repose of aU the dead collectively. Occasionally
there was seen near a tomb an old family servant, a 'wreck of
better times, with l'osary in hand petitioning heaven in bebalf
of those whose kindness in life was not forgotten in death; an
unbought offering of grateful intercession more precious than
the marketable appeals of the crafty and heartless.
Separated from the Pantheon by a narro'\v lane is a slnaller
burial ground for Protestant sepulture. Fonnerly a foreigner
not of the R
n1an Catholic faith, had not where to lay hi
head
w'hen death 6tilled its achings. But religious intolerance bas so
far yielded to the benign influence of a gro'\ying commercial in-
tercourse, that a heretic may now find interment without the
friends who carry hirn to the grave being stoned, as in tillies

202 PROTESTANT AND CHARITY CEMETERIES.

past, by a Chilean n10b; and without the probability that the
body will be disinterred, and subjected as forlnerly to profane
exposure.
Still further frol'll the Pantheon is a Potter's-field, ,vhere the
bodies of the poor and friendless are put into a pit capable of
holding many hundreds. They are placed in layers with inter-
vening strata of earth, the horrid sepulchre of decol11pOsil1g
mortality being left open to the day until filled, when it is
covered .with caustic lime and sealed ,vith earth. Hither also
a living throng of impoverished looking beings bent their steps.
And here, too, ,vas seen the false disciple of IIim "Tho ,vent
about doing good, ostentatiously displaying thB crucifix, the
holy symbol of self:'sacl
ifice, but ",vhich was insulted by him who
bore it stretching forth his hand to take the pittance of poverty,
for naught was here but the coin of wretchedness. . And what
could be doled out for its piece of copper, but a modicull1 of
even hypocritical sanctity
-the miserable victil11 of ÏI11posture
throwing hiIllself upon his straw that night without even so
much as a penny loaf of bread to appease the pangs of hunger.
Whatever the nal11e of the festival of this day, ,vhether "All
Saints" or "All Souls," certainly they are not all saints who
are the chief actors in its celebration; and as to their own souls,
they ,vill stand much in need of holier intercession to save
the111 from the penalties of unrighteousness. Turning speedily
from this last repugnant scene, I joined on the way to the city
a cheerful throng ,vho were descending the hill, apparently
self-satisfied with what they doubtless deemed the good deeds
of the day.
A stranger in Valparaiso ,vill not fail to observe, ÍInmedi-
ately on landing, the heraldic looking Fire Insurance badges;
sometimes three or four, representing as Inany different C0111-
panies, being seen on a single house, sho'wing an unusual appre-
hension of fire. And this is not surprising when it is considered
that scarcely a day passes ,vithout an alan11; and so disastrous
have been the conflagrations that property of $5,000,000 value
has been destroyed in ten hours by one fire. Insurance C0111-
panies are said to have preceded frequent fires here, and it is a
Inooted question if they are not also entitled to the priority of

FillE CO:MP .A
aES.-GAS.

203

cause and effect. I did not see an Insurance badge or a fire-
engine in Lima; and one only of the latter in CaTIao, and that
was exhibited as a curiosity to a wondering crowd. K or did I
see a fire nor hear an alarm in either of those cities; but from
Korth American experience it n1ay be inferred that an oPl)or-
tunity ",'ill soon be afforded by the curious to test the capacities
of the new apparatus in Callao. In \T alparaiso, however, inS1IT-
ance cOlnpanies, fire companies, fire bells, and fires of course,
abound. Seyeral of the first narned are of foreign capital sent
here for investment, and so probable is the in\estInent to beCOll1e
lJeí'íluulent that the speculation lllay ,,-ell be declined unless to
gratify a disinterested desire to relieve the distresses of others.
The fire companies have peculiar and independent organizations
according to the nationality of their n1embers, most of "hOlll
are foreigners. A law exempting all firelllen from the perfolïn

ance of 111ilitary duty secures the services of a sufficient nlID1-
bel' of able-bodied natives to luan e9ch apparatus. The stealll
fire-engine and alarm telegraph have not yet bee
introduced
into Chile. By and by she will be taught their value. But a
tug with a fire-engine attachlnent, and the head of water given
by the eleyation of the cit)'" reservoir, located two hundred and
forty feet above the level of the port and .A,hnendraJ, are iUl-
portant additions to the ordinary means for the e
1:inguishment
of fires.
Valparaiso is well lighted "ith gas, but it is too costly,
,,'hen the large coal deposits around A..rauco Bay, and the
facility of water transportation thence, are considered. The
street gas lamp is an improvement on that of our cities. A
long-handled lighter is used for turning a cock just below the
lamp, and then by pushing up with it likewise a perforated tin
trap floor, hinged on one side, the flame is instantly con1muni-
cated to the burner within. The lighter being withdraml the
trap fans to its place by its own weight. .d. moment n1erely is
consumed, and climbing with the clumsy use of lucifer matches
are a,oided.
E\elJ' house has a flag-staff projecting fron1 its front. ....\.
la,vof the republic requires a display of the national :flag on
everJ" anniversary of tbe revolution of independence, an event

20:1:

CURRENCY.

which generally wastes a week in its celebration. Patriotism
galvanized into activity by legal enactment and penalty, is not
worth perpetuating.
A note,vorthy and creditable social feature is that the lo,v-
est Chileans are exen1pt f
om a filthy habit of very many N ort11
Americans, en1bracing even SOl11e who otherwise 111ight be con-
sidered exemplary gentlemen. No excuse of health, natural

Tant, or refined gratification, can be made for OlU. national vice
of tobacco chewing, and
pittil1g the offensive extraction in
every place, public and private-church, counting-room, parlor,
and promenade. If a visitor is seen rol1ing a quid about his
befolùed Inouth, and threatening to bespatter the carpet of a
high-bred Chilena, she ,viII conclude that a mistake has been
Inade in his introduction to her house, and withdiaw under the
ÍIupression that he is a " plug ugly" gone astray. Even cigar
smoking is not common, the n1ilder and less offensive cigarito
alone being tolerated in good society, though never used by
ladies. Vulgar ,vornen, and men generally, use tobacco in this
least pernicious form.
The Valparaiso ll1arket is well supplied ,vith fresh meats,
vegetables, fruits, and groceries. A family may live here at
about the cost of residence in N ew York.
The currency is convenient, and pretty looking, 111uch like
the United States coin. It consists of

COPPER.
]Iedio céntavo, ! cent.
Centavo, . 1 "
SIL VER.
:Medio decimo, C/o of a Peso.) 5 cents.
Decimo, (1'0 of a Peso.) 10 "
Viento centavo, (-} of a Peso.) 20 "
]Iedio Peso, C! of a Peso.) . ! dollar.
GOLD.
Peso, 1 doHar.
Dos Pesos, . (Escudo. ) . . 2 dolJars.
Cinco Pesos, . (Dooblon.) 5 "
Diez Pesos, (Condor.) . 10 "

POprLATIOS.

205

Copper forms a considerable al110unt of the circulating
medium of Chile. The Governlnent has ceased to coin doub-
loons or their fractions since the year 1851; Jet they renlain in
circulation and form a large part of the currency of the country.
All considerable payments are made in gold, o".ing to the
scarcity of silyer, 'which is only used to make change; and even
for that silver coin has sometimes cOl111nanded a premiull1 of
from one to seven per centum. The decinlal systenlof cur-
rency was adopted in this country by Legislative .Act in 1851,
and scmllS to haT"e been borro\red frOD1 France. The Peso is
the unit of value, and is divided into one hundred parts denom-
inated centavos.
In 1820 the population of Valparaiso did not exceed fiye
thousand. Since then it has increased greatly in commercial
importance, and its population is now estÏ1nated at seT"enty-five
thousand. French, Germans, English, and Anlericans, contrib-
ute largely to make up this number. These are recognized as
well bJ their business activity, energy, and enterprise, as by
their fairer cOlnplexion and European costume, though in dress
they are ilnitated by the hetter class of Chileno
. The nati,es
who are direct de
cendants of Spaniards retain the physical
characteristics of that renowned people, and the grace and dig-
llity of deportment for which they ha,e always been distin-
guished; to W' hich is added a channing candor of address to
those properly introduced to Chilean families of high bocial
position. But the mixed race of Spaniard and Indian, who
compose three-fourths of the population of Valparaiso, of all
proportions of the original blood and corresponding physique,
is an inferior class to the Castilian, having a less stature-
although surpassing the Peruyian Cholo-a taw'ny skin, coarse
features, straight black hair, and uncleanly and indolent habit
.
1.Iost of this degenerate race are intensely sensual, and regard-
less alike of private ,irtue and public good faitb. Degradation,
profligacy, and po,erty, are so palpable, that no candid chroni-
cler can R,oiù the acknowl
dgment of their unusual existence.
\\" ere it not for the corporate regulation whieh de=,ignates one
day in each ,yeek as "beggar day," and prohibits puùlic al1ns-

206

SCHOOLS.-HOSPITALS.

seeking on others, the principal promenade and chief business
thoroughfare ,voulcl be continually crow.ded with Inendicants
and aftlicted outcasts.
There are a fe,v excellent academies in Valparaiso for the
education of the children of wealthy citizens, ,vhere, in addition
to the usual branches of learning, the English and French lan-
guages-considered here necessaryaccoTI1plishments-are wen
taught; but at greater cost than in the United States. The
provision made for instruction of indigent children is meagre,
and the public school system is a failure.
Only one charitable institution is ,vorthy of mention-the
city hospita1. It has three hundred beds, and is dependent for
support on individual contributions, no public provision being
n1ade for it. It is quite unequal to the de1nanc1s Inade upon it
for relief of the large number of aftlicted and destitute. Sepa-
rate hospitals for the care and treatment of British, French, and
Ålnerican sealnen, are provided by their respective govern-
ments. The first named two being subject to the control of ex-
perienced and permanent officials, are well organized and còn-
ducted. But United States Inariners are unfortunately subject
to the evils of changes, corresponding to those of the h01ne gov-
ernment, and having no reference whatever to considerations of
COlnpetency 61" faithfulness.
Nearly all the physicians in successful practice in Valparaiso
are of foreign birth and education, and n10st of them honor
their profession by skill and conduct. T,vo pseudo-n1edical
practitioners, having scarcely a pretence of patronage, resorted
to tbe novelty of homæopathic delusion to avoid starvation-
"\vhose tongues and souls in this are hypocrites." They now
realize an infinitesimal subsistence of body, at the cost of a com-
p1ete loss of conscience.

,fost of the apothecaries are Germans; none of English or
North American nationality. The reason assigned for tbis is,
that the licentiating board of the University "require all
candidates to produce diplolnas of phar1l1acy; and as in those two
countries none are issued, English and Alnerican apotheearies
are not adlnittec1 to exaluination." They are in error; several

APOTHECARIES.

207

colleges of phannacy are in successful operation in the United
States, affording full instruction in :Materia :Medica, Chelnj
try,
and Pharnlacy, and conferring a graduate diploma on every stu-
dent who has attended the required course of lectures, served a
full practical apprenticeship, and is fOlmd qualified on a final
examination.

J

CHAPTER XI.

A BIRLOCHO AXD A DIRLOCHERo-HACIEXDA. PEÑUELAS-CnILEAN PIC-NIC-PLEASUE.E
AND PAIN SANDWICHED.

EARLY on the nlorning of a feast day, when all business
according to custonl was suspended, I started in cOlnpany ,,"ith
the United States Consul on a before-breakfast ride of t\velve
Iniles to the hacienda Peíìuelas, an estate of several leagues ex-
tent. Our conveyance v{a
a biJ'Zoclto,. before the introduction
of stage-coaches the usual carriage for Santiago travel, and still
often used on that and other roads. The birlocho is a heavy,
IUlnbering chaise, consisting of a one seat body n10ullted on
strong leather thorough braces attacbed behind to vertical senli-
circular steel springs, running 011 two large clmnsy wheeÏs, and
having shafts for one horse. On the outside of the shafts
another horse is attac
ed by a strong rope to some part of the
vehicle, a hook on the other end of the rope slipping into a
ring of his saddle girth. The driver is mounted postilion fash-
ion on the latter horse, and directs the movements of the
birlocho either by pulling the bridle of the shaft horse, or by
1:.rging in the opposite direction the horse he rides against the
shaft, at the same time plulching the neck of the shaft horse
with a formidable looking \vhip handle. The postil.ion's
IÎ1nbs are \vrapped in leather leggings; and with bandit slouch
and variegated poncho, knotted Taw-hide. \vhip-so called

probably from habitual enactment as \vell as constituents-and
colossal sp.urs savagely serrated, the ùirlochero, as the postilion
is called, presents-doubtless to the eyes of horses-a truly ter

riflc appearance.
Soon after starting \ve caIne to the conclusion, froln our

BffiLOCHERO.

209

bounds and rebounds, lateral inclinations, inflections, retroflex-
ions, superpositions, and general churning, that if either of TIC;
should survive the l110rning ride, he "ould be likely, in fulfil-
ment of Halstead's physiological theorl, the oft
pring of a cor-
duroy road slumber, to have .. good digestion ,vait on appetite."
For instead of climùing the Ouesta which we began to ascend
just outside of the city limits, at a pace indicative of a humane
regard for horse flesb, the birlochero scaled the steep ascent of
one thousand four hundred and eighty feet so fast, ,,"ith such
recklessness of obstacles, and indifference to precipices, as
showed that he had bowels of compassion for neither man nor
beast. Our way was over and beJ
ond the Sierra that uver-
looks the city, and like all mOlmtain roads, this one "olmd
with abrupt turns along the sides of acclivities, bounded on one
side by overhanging cliff\ '\\hile deep ravines yawned on the
other. The summit of the Sierra having been reaC'hed without
deatb, but "ith the fear of it constantly before our eyes, our
J ebu peon, apparently impelled by pride of superior daring and
skill in horseTnanship, redoubled his Lrutal onslaught on the
poor beasts now dripping with sweat fro1l1 their incessant effort;
and plunging his rowels into the bloody flanks of the one, and
plying his knotted thong on the flayed back and sides of the
other, a',ay he dashed, deaf to aU appeals, allowing us no privi-
lege of action but to hold on, shut our eyes to consequences, and
pray for deliverance. Dr. Page's giant windnlille, crowning the
heights, "which on
e ga".e fl01U. to California and a fortune to
their proprietor, stood still, as if in mute amazement at the
strange intrusion; while troops of dogs with loud-Illouthed
bay joined in the race, giving rene'wed iIllpulse to the ,vild
Chileno, ,vho precipitated his flight do'Wn the descent. To
have been at the 1nercy of winds and ,yaves would have been a
blessed fortune, but it was vain to pray for it; so awaiting illl-
pending fate, we

"Became settled, and bent up
Each corporal agent to the terrible feat."

At such a furious pace as Tre "ere going suspense was not
of long duration; the plain below was 80un rea.ched, and with
14

210

HACIENDA PEÑUELAS.

it came some sense of safety. But our flight was not an
ested;
over the level we "'
ent pell-mell, and having entered the do-
mains of our host and bounded over three Iniles of his hacienda,
we finally brought up at the court-yard gate. And never ,vas
a 1110re sincere ,. tbank God" uttered than ours at that mo-
ment.
A hearty welcome a,vaited us, " our stern alarums changed
to Inerry meetings," a breakfast that honored the guests and
was not less honored by them, ancl a laugh at the incidents of
the lllon1Íng, handed tbese over to the past and opened the ,vay
to pleasanter events that follo,ved.
The court-yard of an acre of ground is enclosed on three
sides by an adobe wall; on the fourth stands the family man-
sion, a quaint looking, long, one-story stucco, rnany roon1ed,
tile roofed building, ,vith an ample dining-roon1 at right angles
to the main edifice, and a balcony before and behind. Although
sin1ple and unostentatious ,vithout, the d,velling is handsomely
flu'nished, affording both comforts and lluulries vdthin. It was
forlnerly the abode of religionists, as a Jesuit convent; it is now
the residence of purity aHù sentinlent, intelligence and refine-
ment, in the accomplished family of a German and Ohilena mar-
riage. On the side of the house opposite to the court-yard is a
large and handsome garden of shrubbery and flowers, of rich va-
riety and coloring. Bounding this beyond, a crescentic border of
weeping-willows and acacias is seen, mingling their dense foliage
and deep shades, and passable at one point only; seeking which
in my exploration, access was found to a rustic bridge spanning
3 crystal stream that canle leaping and babbling over rocks
above, as if telling a tale of pastoral life to 'which it had just
been a delighted witness; and spreading -out into a limpid lake,
it dinlpled and sparkled in the sunshine, seemingly laughing
at its recent grt1llbols; and then stealing a,vay, sheltered itself
under the shadowy banks, to dream of the flo,vers and foliage
that stand there gazing into the placid depths, in rapture of
their own beauties reflected frolll the mirrored bOS0111 of the
sleeping waters. The opposite side of the strealll is set in a
sÍ1nilar garland, passing which, and then through a queer little
cane-wicker gate, of fitting lightlle:;8 to swing "yillingly to the

HACIL.'"\D.A PEÑL'ELAS.

211

fairy fingers ,vith which it is familiar, Iny eager foot led by the
mysterious beauties of the scene, \ralldered on among fruit trees
of rare variety, rivalling each other in profusion and richness.
Culinary plants, too, were seen n1arshallcd in rank and file on
open spaces; and flowers stood by, there as everywhere-for
November is the lIay month of this southern hemisphere-the
queenly lookers on of hL
uriant horticulture,lanshing their
beauties on surrounding nature, and diffusing perfumed tribute
on the wings of zephyrs. Along the border of a part of this
abounding garden, flow the fugitive waters of the picturesque
little lake of 'which nlention wa3 n1ade. rrom this strealn arti-
. ficial canals escape, meandering like wayward brooklets to re-
fræh the thirsty soil, and whisper to roses and violets, as they
stoop to receive the de'wy ki
s, the happy dreams of recent shun-
bel's. On another side of this Chilean Eden rise Lombardy
poplars, prim and stately, but occasionally forgetful of accus-
tomed dignity, wRving their tall spires, and rollicking in the
breeze in ver
r wantonness of joy under its balmy inspiration.
Beyond these was seen an outstretched prairie of several hun-
dred acres, clad in a mantle of verdure that gracefully bent and
rose again before the playful winds like ocean swells; and this
changeful expanse is bounded in the distance by a rolling sierra,
whose steep sides are seamed by dark quebradas. The land-
scape is of rare beauty, and wants nothing for its perfection but
a Korth American forest to crown the "Tavy outline of the far
off heights.
It wa3 with feelings of re,erence and gratitude that I turned
from this outspread witness of cli,ine po'Wer and gooclne::::.s, to unite
with the family and nsitors of our host in their church offering
of thanks and praise. There, in a tasteful little Catholic Fanc-
tuary, the two hUlldredjJeOn8 of the estate joined the wealthy
proprietor on bended knee at a common altar; and the heart of
a Protestant, free from the trammels of intolerance, gladly availed
of the occasion to offer its tribute of thankfulness to tbe SaIne
" Father "yho art in lleaven," and 'Who, whatever sectarian in-
tolerance and selfishness may inculcate, kno,vs no distinction
among those of IIis children who worship IIÎ1n "in spirit and in
truth..' The cerenlony of mass ,vas follow'ed by excellent a(hno.

212

cnn..EAN PIC-KIC.

llition to an attentive audience, composed chiefly of servants to
the maD or born,1Vhose general conduct, I "as assured, ,vas at
all tÍ111es consistent with the teaching of the
\.postle, to "put
away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil

peaking, \\yith Inalice ;1' and to "be obedient to them that are
(their) masters according to the flesh, with fear and trenlbling, in
singleness of heart, as unto Christ." After tbe religious services
of the day, it became a question how the rest of it was to be spent.
This resulted in an agreenlent of family and friends to seek some
dell alnong the neighboring hills, and there, ,vith forest "Lower
for dining-hall, and sward for festiye board, to give the fleeting
hour to social pleasure and enjoyn1ent of nature.
The busy note of preparation soon resounded throughout the
household, sho'wing that all entered heartily into the spirit of
the ÍInpromptu pic-nic, a word ,vhich has not been rendered into
Spanish, but has been bodily transferred; and, unnlu
ical as it
is in our "harsh, northern, hissing, grunting guttural," it sounds
melodious as uttered by the silver-tongued señoritas of this ely-
siunl. When the monlent of starting came, carriages were filled
"rith matrons and patrons, and prancing steeds lllounted by the
young and gay, a jovial son of merry England lifting his voice
above the din of departure in the unforgotten "Over the hills
and. far away."
A distance of a mile and a hal"Ç in a direction opposite to that
by "which we had entered the hacienda, over fields, across mead-
ows, and along a river bank, brought us to the foot of the hills,
between two of ,vhich we pa
sed; and, as our green avenue nar-
rowed, the occupants of carriages were compelled to descend to
the humility of pedestrianism, and follow a path through brake
and bramble, broken for us by the equestrians who had gone
before. Emerging fi
01l1 the chaparral, a valley \\-as reached
shut in frolll the surrounding ,vorld in its entire circuit, except
where we entered, by hills mantled in verdure, and decked with
,vild flowers. An arbor of Boldo and }'Iolle, t,vined with .Ar-
rl'ayan, in nature's o,yn profusion and fantastic architecture, stood
on a gentle slope, sufficiently capacious to accoillll1odate the COln-
pany; and ",-hen the lingering pedestrians reached that bower
of beauty, our happy predecessors ",vere found enjoying its 1'e-

CHILEAN PIC-
J:C.

213

freshing shade, seated on outspread shawls and poncho
; 'lnd
the 111elody of a guitar, touched by an accomplished señorita,
with the lute-like voice of. her gazelle-eyed sister, were floating
down the glen in harmonious unison, awaking the echoes of the
sleeping quebrada.
Gazing around, find moved by the inspiration of sweet
sounds, how natural for the entranced spirit to join the strain !

Here, upon Chile's land of roses,
Brightly the light of noon reposes;
.A.ndlofty Aconcagua's brow
With snowy crown is gleaming now,
Gazing upon the verdant bowers
Reflected in his robe of sleet,
While summer in a vale of flowers
Is sleeping beauteous at his feet;
And melody ascends to greet
The dews his golden clouds distil;
And breathing music as they meet,
Gives language tothe sparkling rill.

Rest renewing the desire of adventure, the party turned out
to P'l'ospect the sequestered spot for nature's spoils, and rare were
the jewels that were gathered. Floral rubies, sapphires, ame-
thysts, pearls, and the topaz, were soon woven with the emerald
into wreaths, bracelets, necklaces, and bouquets; and, blooming
on brows, blushing on bosoms, rioting in ringlets, decorating
dresses, and flashing all over bewitching Chilenas and their em-
bellished cavaliers, a botanist on. a tonr of disco'Very, coming
suddenly into this happy vaney at that moment, might have ex-
ulted at finding ajlol'al sjJecies of the gen 1 ls honlo. .L\.nd pretty
were the sentiments, and oftentimes eloquent, that these 111ute
teachers of the good and beautiful inspired. Many a thought
strayed fro11l the bright and plu'e scene below to the holier one
of heaven; and to III ore than one, buds and bloSSOJllS '\\ere e111-
blems of the translated who now bloom in the spirit-home.

" Wondrous truths, and manifold as wondrous,
God hath written in those stars above;
But not less in the bright flowerets under us
Stands the revelation of his lovc.

214

CHILEAN PIC- NIC.

" Bright and glorious is that revelation.
Written all over this great world of ours;

Iaking evident our own creation,
In these stars of earth, these golden flowers.

" Gorgeous flowerets in the sunlight shining,
Blossoms flaunting in the eye of day,
Tremulous leaves, with soft and silver lining,
Buds that open only to decay.

" In all places then, and in all seasons,
Flowers expand their light and soul-like wings,
Teaching us by some l)ersuasive reasons
How akin they are to human things.

" And with childlike, credulous affection,
We behold their tender buds expand;
Enlblems of our own great resurrection,
EUlbleuls of the bright and better land."

No exploring expedition ever returned houle more delighted
than
his joyful party to the bower, from its valley and hill-side
wandering; and ,yhen dinner ,vas shortly after announced, no
one ,vas ,vanting in a 1\- T illing and graceful acceptance of the
arm oftered to Doí1a J. and Doña T.,-Doña L. and Doña 0.,-
Doña N. and Doña E., &c., &c., as politeness or a more ten-
der sentiment prompted. A peep through the leafy wall of the
corridor, along which we })assed, revealed the cook basting an
entire 1nouton on a cane spit in a primitive kitchen, with ser-
vants busily arranging turkey, tongue, ham, fo,vl, and other ac-
cessaries of the feast. A few steps brought the guests into a
natural dining saloon, its walls of dense undergrowth of litre,
'Jnaqui, and myrtle, being columned with bolào and maiten;
wbHe a ceiling of foliage hung on spreading branches, and fres-
coed by intrusive sunbeams, perfected the unique architecture.
It was not surprising that the urgent appeal of appetite was
needed, to draw attention from the beauties of the banquet "hall
to the creature comforts of the banquet; and that the invitation
to be seated was oft repeated, ere the snowy cloth on the sward,
spread with an elegant service, and surrounded with grassy otto-
Inans elnbroidered ,vith shawls, received its share of attention.

CHILEAX PIC-
nC.

215

Seats being at last occupied, the table, speedily loaded ,,,"ith
substantials and dainties, soon attested the general joy. .dnd it
is appropriate that an American should record this, the happiest
day to hiln since he left his northern home, in the language
which furnished sentiment to the feast; for let it be added in
acknowledgment of the accomplishments of the company, that
with one exception, aU present, from Chile and various other
countries, cont'e/'sed in .English, and complimented it on this
convivial occasion, by making it the vehicle of wit and repar-
tee, of toast and response.
Dinner ended, music and the dance follo"ed, and here the
Zama Oueca captivated foreign guests by the spirit of its pecu-
liar poetrY;J nor did we wonder; when ,re saw the artful feints
and graceful coquetry of the dark-eyeel damsel who danced it,
that the cavaliers of the party were enlulous of being whipped
by her elnbroidered handkerchief.
Our estimable hostess, the venerated guide and guardian of
the bright spirits, who, like unswerving satellites re\Tolve about
her domestic orbit, warned us in due tÎlne that

" The golden bowers of Even
In the rich west began to wither"-

and the delights of this Chilean pic-nic faded away like the de-
clining sun robed in retiring splendor, for they seemed to gather
a greater and a brighter joy as the day's bliss was coming to a
close. The hacienda Pefiuelas never entertained a happier
party; and "hen the festive board of its historical old mansion
echoed- again, as it diù, the innocent luirth and sparkling
thought of its inmates, ere separating for the night they once
more partook of its munificent hospitality, I thought that this
reunion might justly be regarded one of the examples o:t; dif-
fused good resulting from that revolution, which, by releasing
immense domains from entailed clerical possession, devoted them
to a more general and unselfish use.
The blu5hing morn aroused those guests who remained all
night; and while others were preparing for departure I stole ·
away to take a last lingering look at the flo,vers-those "new
made old acquaintances," ,,"ho 6nlile w"herever met ,vith in the

216

CIlILEAN PIC- NIC.

,vide world, and speak a welcolne and familiar language to the
heart. Awakened from their sllunbers by the luatin song of
birds, and the prattling streaUl dimpling itself in heauty to 1neet
the rosy day, they ""ere taking their dewy baths.

" To one who look'd from upper air
O'er all the enchanted region there,
How beauteous must have been the glow,
The life, the sparkling from below!
Fair gardens, shining streams, with ranks
Of blushing flowers on their banks; "
And golden fruits, reposing there,
Breathing a perfume on the air.

Coffee having been served, and the good-by spoken with that
feeling of sadness ever attendant on its utterance to those ,vho
illustrate, as does the fanlily of the hacienda Perr-iIelas, the pa-
rental, filial, and friendly virtues, and who we never again ex-
pect to 1ueet on earth, my cOlnpanion and luyself started for
Valparaiso. And then it was I realized the sense of doom felt
by the condemned on his way to execution; for the sight of the
bir'lochero .who brought us out on the ,vings of the wind, like
Banquo's ghost, renewed the un oblivious past, and accursed tbe
homo with dread of the future. :Th1acbeth's fearful apostrophe

, Avaunt and quit Iny sight! Let the earth hide thee! "

scarcely served to tell my horror of his presence. Gladly would
I have taken the road on foot rather than have trusted again to
that incarnate fiend, ,vhose eye seenled to gleam with renewed
joy of nlischief. But neither appeal nor expostulation a'wak-
eneù in iny cOlnpanion kindred feelings, or disturbed his stoical
eq11'"V1Ï1nity: hc.had received a California training, and did not
fear-in this case literally-" the devil on horseback." I ,vas
less fortunate; so sinking back in the birlocho, and heaving a
sigh, I surrendered myself to impending fate.
The incidents that Inarked the conduct of the birlochero it
· is needless to narrate. The reönactlnent of the scenes of tho
Inorning before, ,vith, if possible, a greater indifference to con-
sequences, induced by copious inlbibitions of cl
icl
a, was the

PLEA.SrRE ß
P AIX 8.AKD"
CHED.

217

precursor of his climax of madness, when, descending the Fierra
toward the city, with a rocky precipice on one side of the road,
he attempted to tm'll a short curve at a running speed. The
jerks of the birlocho's lateral slide as the curw was being turned
told of imminent danger; and then the off-wheel striking an
obstacle an upset began, nlY C0111pallion falling from the lo'wer
side of the vehicle on the verge of the precipice. It was in-
stincth-ely nlanifest that my chance of escape lay in becoming
braced between dashboard and back, and taking the chances of
the birlocho, for if thrown out froln the ascending siùe ,yith the
momentum then recei'Ved, the rocky depth would ba,e been sure
to re,eal a fatal sequel. ....
nother Inoment sufficed to cOlnplete
the disaster. llappily, a last bOlmd of the horses drew the ,ehicle
fi'om the edge of the gorge, and it was capsized within a step of
a nearly perpendicular descent of a hunch'ed feet. 'Vedged as I
was in the birlocho, I of com'se shared its fate, and was buried
under it. My companion though much injured retained his
consciousness, and dragged Ine in a state of insensibility ii'onl
the '\'Teck. Such restoratives as could be obtained from a kind
native woman living near by, finally brought me back to sense,
a Dl0St painful ODe of dreadful usage. It is needless to particu-
larize illjm'ies.
The birlochero rendered no assi::;tance, either in disengaging
nle fl.'om the broken birlocho, or in restoring me from ten1pora-
rily suspended vitality. Either confounded by the consequences
of his folly, or disappointed in not having achieved a full suc-
cess by disabling my comrade also, he is represented as having
stood by unharlued-for the post-horse anù rider are alw'aYf::
safe in such accidents-and to have remained for a short tilne
stupefied or in sullen indifference, and then to bave disapp
ared
altogether.
Fortunately, the family carriage of my excellent friend Señor
I{amlnerer, came by from his hacienda; and two ladies, Señori-
tas Clara and Isabella Alvarez COlldarco-luay God ble
:; then1 !
-relinlJ.uishing their seats, insisted on our use of thenl; allJ
thus I was conveyed by Dr.!. B. Gorc1on-U nited States Con-
sul-generously forgetful of his sufferings and thoughtful only
of Ine, to his oml house; ,yhere I received kindest attentions

218

PLEAS'LRE AND P AJK SA..."T'IDWICHED.

froB1 bin1, and fronl Dr. A. Reid, of Valparaiso, and offers
of service from many American and English friends.
1\ly injuries although painful are gradually yielding to treat-
ment and time, and to the kind attentions of a noble-hearted
Alnerican resident of Valparaiso 1\11'. P. A. J\IcKellar, and his
accomplished Chilean lady, to whose hospitable residence I was
conyeyed ,vhen sufficiently recovered for removal; and ,vhere I
alll110'\V being invigorated by the pure atmosphere, and rejoiced
by the beautiful prospect of a superb garden of several acres ex-
tent, often thro'\vn open to the public. Here the lily and the
rose, the cactus and the camilla, the florapondia and the siem-
previva, the jasmine and the heliotrope, the honeysuckle and
the hyacinth, the verbena and the violet, the malva and the
Inignonette, are looking up lovingly at. the clustering cherries,
grapes, peaches, and pears, sunning themselves above; with an
occasional tall N orfolk-isle-pine, pi1nienta, and magnolia, stand-
ing sentry around like grenadier outposts of this Eden. On this
scene, lying at the foot of a range of steep hills, and truly in my
eyes a Val Pal>aiso, my chamber fronts; and from its ,vindow,
while I write these lines, I regale the senses; delicious per-
ftune conling to me on every breeze, the eye revelling on the
most beautiful of nature's gifts, while birds of rich plumage and
sweet song are my neighbors in an adjoining aviary; and one
of them of such sad and tender note, that it seeIns a

" Sweet visitant of Paradise;
For, Heaven forgive that thought! the while
'Vhich makes me both to weep and smile.
I sOllletimes deem that it might be
The lost one's soul come down to me! "

.
And it tells me, too, of the terrestrial home, and the beloved
there, and the tones of affection and synlpathy which have
lTIPde me forgetful of the affiiction often my lot. Thus listening,
and thus thinking, I fall into a sweet dream of peace, purifying
to the spirit, cheering to the heart, and in every way prolnotive
of that good result ,vhich my kind friends here spare no pains
to secure. The names of these friends must be ever in my
heart; and if, in the fulness of itg gratitude, I have mentioned

PLEASC'RE AND PAm SAXDWICHED.

219

them, and spoken of things violative of that rule of publication
which should hold the pri\ate relations of life sacred, and re-
strain me from personal allusions, may I not be pardoned

Thus ends a chapter of sunshine and shadow.

.

CIIAPTER XII.

JOU

""EY TO SANTIAGO-CASA BLANCA-THE TWO STAGE RO{;'TES TO THE CAPITAL-SIER-
RAS A.....
m CUEST.AS-MELIPILLA-THE CORDILLERA-CHILEÀ
AGRICULTURE.

LEAVING Valparaiso for Santiago at four A. M., the clear
stars served as lan1ps for the brief period before da,vn. There
are two modes of public conveyance between the chief seaport
and the capital: one the wen known American or English nine
passenger, four or six in hand coach; the other a sInalIer four-
"wheel carriage for four persons, with tongue and pair of horses
attached thereto, and two other horses outside of these pulling
each by a single rope attached to some part of the vehicle; the
h01'ses thus travel abreast, unless there are more than four, ip. which
case t\VO of theln lnay draw from the tongue as leaders, and are
then Inanaged bJ a postilion mounted on one of them, while a
driver in the carriage holds the others in rein. Thus they act
on the rule that t\VO heads are better than one, which does not
ahvays hold good in this case as they sometimes act contrarhvise,
the passengers paying the penalty of disagreelnent. If there
were no other objection to postilion driving as it prevails in
Chile, it is sufficient that he does not incur the risk to which
his recklessness often subjects those entrusted to his care; for
he is always safe on the outside in the event of accident, and in
case of the tumble of a party down a precipice he readily disen-
gages hiInself and horse from the vehicle at the mon1ent of d
n-
gel', by unhooking the trace-rope from his sadclle-girth. Im-
lllunity from personal danger encourages his disregard of the
safety of others. I had ample experience of the recklessness of
a birlochero, and therefore took the Alnerican coach, and had a
sense and a realization of security. But if you should make this

JOrRXEY TO S

IÅGO.

221

journey and trust yourself to the so-called French line. pay the
postilion an extra fee for the privilege of tying a rope round his
neck; and put a revolver in your belt. If be shows him
elf a
dare-devil, pull tbe rope; and if he disregards the hint, shoot
him on the spot: for if yon do not kill him, the probability win
be that-your dooln being that of most persons-you will be
more apt to see San Diablo than Santiago.
The road for a distance of thirty miles from "\" alparaiso is
unpaved, and much obstructed by mule trains and ox-teams;
the foruler carrying on pack-saddles wood, ",yheat, ",yool, and
flour, and in panniers poultry, meat, and vegetables; the latter
drawing large clumsy wagons and carts, with hugh wheels and
tongue, and a body of closely-intertwined cane sides, raw-hide
top stretched over bows, and floor of the same:, for the trans-
portation of merchandise in general. The usual teanl consists
of eight oxen alTanged in pairs, which pull from a yoke attached
to the horns; "hile t"o extra oxen are fastened head-on behind,
as \fell to hold back in descending the steep hills of this moun-
tainous country as to relieve those of the tealll that have beconle
""yeary or foot-sore. The roads are made and kept in repair by
Government, and a regulation requires that the wagons shall
drag behind each ",yheel a block, to check thenl ",yhen stopping
on a hill-side. The drivers of these merchandise teams are like
their confi'ères, the happily nearly obsolete professional team-
sters of our own country; generally lawless in public conduct,
and licentious in I)rivate morals. They display a gay poncho,
and the smallest specÏ1nen of a round crown, narrow brim, straW'
or chip hat, tied on with a gaudy check handkerchief bonnet-
fashion.
rlned ,,
ith a fifteen or twenty feet pole or goad, with
iron spike point, each sceptred chief "
alks either before or at
the side of his tealn, and, in imitation of lllore distinguished
tyrants, punishes his victÎIllS according to his humor, gpnerally
contriving to get them ",yhere they ought not to be, and in the
",yay of every traveller on the road.
nd unfortunate is he who
meets an ascending ox-tealU, or a dozen ofthenl-for they usually
lllove in processions-,,-hen he is going dOlrn a cuesta in a Lir-
locho at a running gait. lIe Inay take his choice betw.ecn a
6111ash up on one side, a leap dO'wn the l)recipice 011 the other,

222

CA,S.A. BLAYCA.-STAGE ROUTES.

or impalement on tJ1e intermediate horns of the dilmnma, as he
pleases.
The country over which we passed looked barren, yet the
soil was rich in places, as sho",-n by heavy crops of barley,
wheat, and garden vegetables, where l)roperly cultIvated. The
houses seen along the road are built of light scantling or pole
frames, filled in with cane or commOll brushwood, daubed with
mud, and thatched with hay or stra\v. A mere shed serves for
kitchen and dining-room, and half-clad families and nearly
disrobed wagoners and muleteers ",-ere seen as ,ve passed the
pueblos, taking their morning meal in primitive fashion, with
fingers for forks, and seated on the ground.
At seven and a half Ä. :M. we stopped for breakfast thirty
miles from Valparaiso, at the lleat little village of Casa Blanca,
containing about two tbousand inhabitants; so called from a
,vhite post-house built there by Valdivia the great Spanish
pioneer of Chile. At this to,vn the road to Santiago forks,
giving a choice of routes to the traveller. One branch takes a
nearly due east direction, and traverses two sierras, i1nportant
geographical features of this region of Chile, the Sie1'ra de la
CostCt;, ,vhich is crossed at the Cuesta de Zapata (pass or depres-
sion of Zapata), eighteen hundred and sixty feet high, and the
Siely'a de Prado, ,vhich the road passes over at the Cuesta de
Prado, ,at an elevation of twenty-four hundred and twenty feet.
This branch of the Santiago road is fifty lniles long frOI11 Casa
Blanca, giving a total distance fronl Valparaiso to the capital
of eighty miles. The other branch of the fork runs southeast
froln Casa Blanca, and after passing several unimportant spurs
of tbe Sierra de la Costa, to ,vit: Las Orcadas, Cuesta del Boldo,
Cuesta de la 1\Iina, and the somewhat higher Cuesta de las
Hormigas, it crosses the considerable Portez
lelo de las Ibacache,
t,velve hunch"ed and fifty-eight feet high; l11uch less, however,
it ,,
ill be observed, than the two Jofty cuestas on the other route.
This branch then seeks the valley of the
IaÏJ.)ú River, stìl1
further to the southeast, and changing its course to the east at
the town of ltlelipilla, runs through the gap of the Sierra de
Prado v.-hich gives passage to the River }Iaipú, thus avoiding
the tedious climbing, abrupt turns, and precipitous and danger-

STAGE ROuTES.

223

ous descent of tbe Cuesta de Praùo on tbe first-nlentioned route.
This
econd branch is known as the )Ielipilla road, from its pass-
ing through. that town; and after turning the Sierra de Prado,
it cbanges its course to tbe northeast, crosses tbe JJIapocno Rit,'u'
a sbort distance north of it:; afilnenee into the lIaipú, and pre-
serves the general northeastwardly direction, running frequently
close along tbe left bank of the :.Mapocho until it reaches Santi-
ago, bcventy-five miles ii'onl Casa Blanca, or a total of one
hundred and :fiye miles fronl Valparaiso. It ,,-ill tbus be seen
tbat the :Melipilla road is twenty-five miles longer tban the first
described, or Curicavi road, as it is sometimes called, from its
pa
sing through a village of tbat name about Inid,,-ay between
the Cuesta de Zapata and tbe Cuesta de Prado. But the greater
safety of the Mclipilla road, as well from- tbe preferable lllode
of travelling it as from its avoidance of the short curves, steep
descent, and fearful precipices of the other, is cbeaply purcbased
. by its increased distance, especially when it is considered that a
longer tÏ1ne is not required to reach Santiago by tbis route.
The French line takes tbe Curicavi road, wbile the 4\.n1erican
coacbes always travel the Melipilla. .áfter leaving Casa Blanca
the latter road was found inlllucb better condition than that
nearer Valparaiso; many rich and well-cultivated quebradas
were also seen as we ascended the Cuesta Ibacacbe; and in de-
scending the eastern face of tbat pass, the migbty ..c\.nde;:., from
fifty to sixty miles off, burst suddenly on the sight, stretching
far to tbe nortb and south, marshalled like an army of giants;
the in1perial Tupungato to"
ering at their head, with it::; sno'wy
banners unfolded like l)ennons of peace from its proud dOlnes,
although the earthquake slumbered within its 111ysterious deptbs.
And as we traversed the scorched and dusty plain at tbe foot of
the Cuesta, breezes from the icy chan) bel's of the distant Cor-
di1.lBra can1e by, to refre
h us ''fith tbeir coolness. Pursuing
our soutbeastwardly course between the ridge we had just
cro
sed and tbe loftier one '\\e were seeking to turn, we came to
tbat ièrtile part of tbe valley about ten 111iles before reacbing
.:.Melipilla, where the Í1nlllenSe hacienda of San J osé is situated.
This estate, of lnany league::; extent, belongs to Don Juan de
dios Correa, the largest landed proprietor of Chile, no,,? in in-

224:

MELIPILLA.-THE CORDILLERA.

voluntary reti.rernent in Paris, for reasons of this free State.
Far away "\\Tere seen stretching the rich fields, teeming 1rith luxu-
riant crops; ,vhile others, irrigated throughout, al1d enclosed
by substantial and highly-orn
nnental adobe fences, pastured
numerous herds of cattle. Froln this hacienda to
{elipilla the
country appears very productive; and this pretty little town of
five thousand inhabitants having been passed at twelve and a
half P. 1\1., our route changed to the east, and continued through
a highly-culti,ated region, vineyards and fields of heavy-headed
grain skirting tbe way on either hand, 1\1ile leagues of graceful
poplars bounded the magnificent avenue ,ve here travelled.
At the little village of San Francisco de
Ionte 1\e crossed the
:Thlapocho River, and ascended its left bank in a northeast direc-
tion through a beautiful valley, but sadly deficient in forest
timber, as is all of Chile that I have seen. The Cordillera,
,vhicb for SOlne tÏIne had been hid froln vie-\v, rose again hefore
us, now that we had el1tered upon the great valley on ,vhich its II
feet had rested for uncounted ages, appearing like a castellated
'\\
all of the ,vorld, supported by 1110untain abutInents, and
crowned by a sno,vy parapet, gleanlÍng in the setting sun like a
silver crest, around ,vhich, the ,vondering clouds gathered as if
in adoration. IIo,v sublime the spectacle of that lTIighty crea-
tion on ,vhose stupendous pillars the overarchil1g blue of
heaven seelned to rest in tranquil grandeur, dividing a continent
throughout its length; reposing its head on a lap of tropical
verdure, while its foot is clothed in polar sleet; separating nation-
alities, giving birth to vast and untold rivers, and determining
their flo,v; yielding 11lineral "\vealth, ,vithout ,vhich labor would
delve in poverty, and industry need incentive and re,vard, C01l1-
merce languish, and the arts fail; and finally, reminding Inan
of his feebleness a.nd dependence, by shaking even his elnpires
with its lllighty throes!
Great quantities of shingle and boulders are founel along the
course of the l\Iapocho River; these. are used in making. roads
and fences. Their presence shows the enorrnous ,vater-power
formerly in operation in the basin between the Andes and the
Coast Range, to shape and distribute so extensively the rocky
debris of these lIlountains.

CHILEAN AGRICI;LTrRE.

C)C)W
..._a

The large production of cereals throughout a great part of
the country over 1yhich ,,'e 11ave passeù to-day is surprising, in
view of the nonusage of improved agricultural implements.
The soil is upturned by a ,yooden plough 'without either share
or coulter of iron, guided by a single stick handle, as in the da).s
of the old patriot farmer Cincinnatus, for "yhose simple mode of
tillage Chileans seeIn to have an aùiding re-'\erence: to the rude
tongue two oxen arc yoked by the horns, and the patient beasts
are banged incessantly by a ponchoed peon with a long pole.
Wagons of hay were seen in process of loading and unloading
,,,ithout a hay-fork, and by hand only; and, despite the speedy
and cleanly lllode of threshing by machinery, the now obsolete
mode every'where else of treading out grain by racing animals
over it, is still in yogue here. The Creator has bestowed a mag-
nificent land on these people; in view of natural gifts they have
fallen short of the degree of progre:;s they should have made;
and the efforts of foreigners in their behalf seem really to fi"et
theln into jealousy; although ,vithout them Chile ,yould scarcely
be entitled to her preënlinence as the most flourishing South
.Ân1erican republic.
We reached Santiago at six P.
I.-fourteen hours fro1l1 1 T al-
paraiso-dista
ce one hundred and five miles; excellent tÏ1ne;
but ,,'e had California drivers, who knew' how to handle the rib-
bons, and that too without hurting either passengers or teall1S.
They were part owners of the line, and watchful o,er their 0\TIl
interests, ,yhich forbade recklessness.

15

I

CHAPTER XIII.

CITY OF SANTIAGO-HOÐSES-CAÑADA-DOTANIC GARDEN AND AGRICULTURAL SCIIOOL-
PLAZA DE LA INDEPENDENCIA-FALSE RECOR OF STATUARY-CHURCHES-HALLS OF
CONGRESS AKD JUSTICE-ECCLESIASTICAL CONTRA.ST-CA!J:PO DE MARTE-PENITEN-
TIARY -P ALACE-IIOSPITALS-CllARITIES VINDICATED.

SANTIAGO, in 33 0 26' S. lätitude, lies close to the western
slope of the Andes, and immediately south of Cerro Blanco,
Renca, and San Cristoval, foot hills of a spur of these nlountains,
on a plain to general observation nearly level, but having suffi-
cient declivity to the west to allow of the free flo,v of water fur-
nished by the
Iapocho River to the city, and which is distrib-
uted throughout it by innumerable small aqueducts. These do
not run in the middle of the streets, as do the acequias of I..ima,
but across the q
taà1'a8 (squares); and ,vhere they pass from one
to another of these they are covered by flat stones, or iron plates.
Nor are they the depositories of all the garbage, as by city regu-
lations that is carted R\Vay at stated periods; yet enough of
filth finds its way into these canals to nlake thenl ill hot ,veather
sOlne,vhat disagreeable and imperilling to health, especially
when not duly covered, or when they becon18 choked by accu-
mulated sedinlent or offal.
Like LiIna, the capital of Peru, so this city, the capital of
Cllíle, has running through it from east to west, and dividing it
into t,vo unequal parts, a river, the 1fapocho; ,vhich, rising ill
the -chain of lTIountains to the northeast, flo,vs first soutlnvest
to,vard Santiag
, then westward a short distance, and then
changes its course to
he southwest again uutil it elnpties into
the }Iaipú River. The portion of the city south of the river is
much the larger, and enlbra(1es the public buildings, finest resi-
dences, commercial depots and offices, and places of fashionable

STREETS.- IIorSES.

227

resort generally. In the absence of any reliable recent census,
owing to the e\asions and denials of the poorer classes ITom ap-
prehension of military impressment and taxation, the actual
population of Santiago cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. It
is estÏ1lJated to exceed at this time one hundred thousand inhab-
itants, and probably may number one hundred and twenty-fi:'\e
thousand; to the observation of the tra-,eller this calculation
seems reasonable, as ,veIl from the crowded state of the principal
streets and public places on holidays, as from the extent of the
city, which covers a space of seven and a half square lniles. The
streets, in general of Spanish American narrownesc., are not as
well paved as they should be, considering the abundance of ma-
terial at hand in the various conditions of rock, boulder, and cob-
ble stone. Throughout the southern portion of Santiago they
intersect each other at right angles, embracing quadras of a little
over four hundred feet in each direction. These afford al11ple
space for the expanded style of building deelned a necessary
measure of safety here, as in the greater part of South America.
The suburban houses are rude one-story structures, adobe
, cane
and ulud being the materials, with thatched cane or flag roof.
The residences of the better classes of citizens are substantial,
commodious, and ornamental; and having strong and stout
"aIls of well-madè adobes and burnt brick, the street fronts of
the finest houses in Santiago invariably have an alto. TIut the
natives feel greater personal security in the one-story back build-
ings ,vhich surround the inner courts, to which nccess i5 had by
a large gateway under the l11iddle of the front edifice. It
would be difficult to find anywhere more convenience, beauty,
and e,en Dlagnificence, than are found in a fir
t-cI3ss residence
in Santiago. This city is tbe capital of the wealth and fashion
ôf Chile, as 'Well as of its Governlnent. I\lallY of its citizens are
the owners of landed estates and 1nines yielding princely annual
incomes, in several instances ranging above a balf million of dol-
lars per annum; and no expense is spared by these persons
ei ther in the erection of Inansions or in furnishing theln. ....\. first-
cla.:.:s house does not consist alone of the builùÍngs around tbe
one patio (court) w"Îth which the gateway cOlumunicates; it is
COlTIlTIOn to find a second patio behind the first, siInilarly STIr-

228

C..lÑ ADA.

rounded by apartInents and an open corridor, and adorned by
flo",yers and a jet d'eau. Often a third patio and suite of apart-
ments are found; ,vhile a fourth and even a fifth are seen in
more ol)ulent residences. The seclusion as well as safety of this
arrangement, and the facility with Vdlich every branch of do-
mestic econo1l1Y n1ay be isolated when desired, as well as the ex-
emption ITOHl toilsome clirnbing of stair,vays, COnl111end this
style of architecture to the old, to invalids, and children, as well
as to the lover of privacy and quiet. It is adapted to this mild
clÏInate ,vhere furnaces are unknown, fuel being used only by
the cook, or occasionally in a brazier; and VI here also luan is
not reduced to a minimum of space by an overcro,vded popula-
tion.
The distinguishing improvement of Santiago, tl1at w.hich best
serves the purpose of a landlnark to strangers strolling about
to,vn, is the Cañada; so called fron1 a species of cane or flag
that grew abundantly on the banks of a rivulet ,vhich once lne-
andered along the nearly three n1Ïles of space no'\v occupied by
this beautiful proll1enade and ch'ive. The Cañada runs froln east
to ",,"est the length of the city, and has throughout probably t,vo
Iniles of its extent six parallel rows of orna111ental trees. Be-
tween these are walks, fountains, and statuary; and a paved
avenue on the outside affords to ,vealthy Santiaguinos the means
of displaying on holidays, and according to fashion on Sundays
and Thursdays, their fine equipages. Seats, too, are provided for
those .who seek refreshing breezes, sprinkled and cooled by the
rapidly-flowing "w'aters of artificial strealns and jets, and ,vhere
they 111ay linger and listen to the operatic ]nusic of a full band
provided at stated periods by the public authorities; while they
gaze at the proud sumlnits of the Cordillera in the east, radiant
,vi+3. the golden glories of a setting sun, then bathed in change-
ful and Inellowing hues of verll1Ílion, and violet, and pU11)le,
ere veiling thelnselves in darkness; and look also on the b.old
bro,v of the Sierra de Prado in the ,vest, which seelns to gather
a daTker fro".u at the transcendent nlajesty and beauty of its
loftier brother.
..Ll.nother canada, or, as a public ,yalk is also called, alarneda,
is situated in the northwest suburb of the city. It is t,vo miles

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BOT
:XIC GARDE:Y.

220

long, and shaded throughout its entire length by rows of poplars.
K ot far frolll this suburban Cañada is a botanic garùen of
sixty acres, beautiful1y Î1npro\'ed "rith drives and walks; trees,
shrubbery, plants, and flowers-indigenous and exotic; rh'l.llets
and lakes; bo,vers, bowling greens, and hedges. A.. farnl of
larger size, for practical instruction of fifty boys in agriculture,
is attached to the garden. The pupils-all of whonl are intel J -
ne8-are also taught the usual branches of scholastic educa-
tion, "with whatever has connection with rural pursuits. Both
the garden and farm are conducted at the expen
e and under the
direction of the Government.
Among other nlunicipal impro\'ements for the use of citizens
are se\'enteen fountains. These afford the only water-privilege,
except by purchase of aquadores (water-carriers), who de1i\'er it
at houses, as in Lima, on donkeys. The want of enterprißing
capitalists or public spirit to w"eave the city vdth a network of
water-pipes, leaves even palatial residences without the bounti-
ful supply that might readily be had from the Mapocho RiYer.
Probably the speculation would prove a losing one, for the re-
pugnance of the 11lajority to the use of "ater for purposes of
personal cleanliness is shockingly palpable. An endemic hJ
dro-
phobia seems to prevail. Is it caused by hereditary hatred of
their forefathers' Moorish oppressors, and opposition to aU their
usages, among which was the religious ritë of a,blution1
K early midway between the east end of the great Cañada
and the Mapocho River is the Plaza de la Inde}Jen(lcncía, occu-
pying the space of a quadra. A part of the plaza is enclosed
by a neat iron balustrade and planted with flo,vers, in the mid-
dle of which, Bon1ewhat elevated, is an octagonal red porphyry
basin of about thirty feet diameter, in ",,"hich is a marble pedes-
tal sculptured in basso-relievo portraying scenes and actors in the
Chilean revolution of independence, supporting suitable water-
spouts, and surmounted by statuary of life-size representing
Liberty striking a chain from the arms of an Indian girl. Thi3
is very "ell as a matter of art, but not reliable as delineating
truth: unhappily, productions of the chisel are as often in-
spirations of fancy as of fact. If ever chains ''\ero riveted
upon a free-born race it ,vas by the conquerors of the American

230

CATHEDRAL.

Indians, both north and south. Nor does the injustice and
cruelty of that infliction rest with past generations alone. At
this day the more exalted representatives of lnankind in intel-
lect and knowledge, and boastful, too, of a higher In oral culture
and religions sentinlent, alnong whonl nlillions of our O'wn self.
righteous countrymen stand prominent, whenever the greed of
territory prolupts, de1nand of the1n possessions given to t4eir
fathers long ages since by the Great Spirit. And if, unwilling
to surrender their inheritance, they resist a claim repugnant to
the laws of nature and God, the penalty of blood is fiercely en-
forced; and the relnaining few, helpless and dismayed, overC01ne
by brute force none the less disgraceful because cloaked by the
purchase for a llless of pottage, are cast out to pine in grie:f, or
to perish in ,yant. It has been truly said by a distinguished
prelate of J\tlinnesota, that" there is not a. Jnan in America who
ever gave an hour's calm reflection to this subject, ,,:-ho does not
kno,v that our Indian system is an organized system of robbery,
and has been for years a disgrace to the nation."
Fronting on the four streets bounding this plaza, are, on the
north side, several 111unicipal buildings; on the east and south,
arcades, ,vhere the chief fancy retailing is done; and on the
west side the cathedral. The latter, although the Inetropolitan
church, is still incomJ?lete; yet there is much about it that is
imposing. It is not less than three hundred and fifty by one
hundred and thirty feet in size; but neither its extent nor ex-
terior appearance indicates the effectiveness of its interior. Al-
though there is, as in most Catholic churches I have seen in
South America, a display of bad taste ill the tawdry trappings
and tinsel, which always detract froill the grandeur of propor-
tions, and architectural embel1islllnents appropriate to a temple
deð:
ated to the ]'Iost High, yet its t,venty 1nassive colu1nns and
numerous graceful arches, supporting a semi-elliptical roof; its
frescoes and gildings, rich high altar, and SOlne fine vestry pai
t-
ings, do not fail to impress the spectator favorably. The walls
are of dark-gray friable granite, very thick, and strengthened bJ
massive abutments.
Behind the cathedral is the Jesuits' church-Iglesia de la
OOìnjJania. It is large and built of dark Spanish bricks, ,vhich

JES'GITS' Cn'GRCH.

31

give it a ,ery antiquated look outside. The interior is inlposing,
the high altar being of beautiflù design and fini:::.h. SOllle of
the paintings are excellent, and the admission of light froDl
abo"\""o through stained glass of the roof and an effectiycly-con-
structed donle, deepens the re1igious sentiment of the devotee by
its unwonted and solemn influence. .i.\ great objection to this,
as to nearly all Spanish-A.nlerican churches, is a brick floor, on
,,
hich worshippers are compelled to sit and kneel for hours,
with Inerely a 8111al1 carpet-rug (bol'ne to and fro) to protect
them from its cold and damp. \\hen it is considered that most
of the church-goers are women, that the early morning hour,
and just from a warm bed, is the tinle usually chosen to seek
preparation for the trials and temptations of the day-which,
,vhate,er may be said by captious travellers, are no greater in
It' good society" here than elsewhere-and that the special
church-going robe, the black 1nanto, is the only extra covering
put on at this the coolest part of the day, it is not EU11)l'ising
that there should be, as I am professionally informed there is,
an unusual prevalence of female constitutional weakness, and an
extent of special disease among them that is considered an op-
probrium of physicians. Since the above was 'written this
Church of the Compania has been destroyed by fire during the
ceremonies of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, more
than t,,
o thousand person
, it is said, håving perished in the
flames. To anyone who has seen in niches and on ledges thou-
sands of candles, and scarcely fewer lamps, suspended carelessly
from arches and ceilings of South-American Chlu'ches, in illu-
minated celebrations, in close proximity to inflanlmable 111ate-
rials, such as artificial flowers, silk and muslin banners, curtains,
. and drapery, pictures, l)aintings, and wooden statuary, it is not
surprising that this awful catastrophe should ha,e occurred. It
is hoped that the religious vanity of those of the clergy who
have encouraged and participated in such displays, has been suf-
ficiently rebuked by this ten'ible holocaust to prevent their rep-
etition.
On the opposite side of the Plaza de la Compania to the
Jesuits' church is the naIl of Congress; a very unpretenùÍllg
t,vo-story building, not to describe "h. .h can give no ofience to

232

IIALLS OF CONGRESS AND JUSTICE.

its members; ,vho, doubtless, ,rill feel very lnuch gratified, as
well for reasons of personal cOlnfort as national pride, ,vhen the
new capitol near by-which seems to have dragged its slo,v
length along to a resting-place-shall have been cOlnpleted.
On the east side of the plaza stands the Hall of Justice; a
lo,v, stuccoed, and pilastered building. The ostentation of an
ine
1>licable ,vooden balustrade on the top lifts it above its ,leg-
islative neighbor; though the decisions of its inner courts may
not be considered as preëminent by that revolutionary and not
very deferential cOllfi-ére. .
It is needless even to nalne twenty-five or thirty inferior
churches, most of which are hut coarse Ï1nitatiolls of the worse
features of the fe\v more conspicuous and in better taste. A
fact in reference to them of singular uniformity is their unfin-
ished condition; and it is the Inore renlarkable in view of the
characteristic devotion of Catholics, and the liberality with
"hich they contribute to uphold the dignity and extend the in-
fluence of their profession. The reason assigned l)y some for
this defect, seelns to a charitable interpretation of hunlan mo-
tive incredible; but if it be true that it is, as sUl'1nised by SOlne
persons, a priestly device, the InOl'e frequently and speciously to
appeal to parishioners for contributions, ,vhich are diverted fron1
the purpose designed to the sensual and luxurious gratifications
of the clergy themselves, then is their perfidy doubly wicked;
for, w'hile it shakes and endangers, by discovery and reproba-
tion, the faith of proselytes, it would also defraud Divinity
of the ,villing tribute of Ilis simple-lninded but sincere wor-
shippers.
The finest of the churches of Santiago are 110t equal, either
in architectural design and finish, or in elnbellishmellt and fur-
niture, to the grandest in Lin1a. A certain sameness exists in
both cities, growing out of the ÏITIperious requirements of coun-
tries subject alike to earthquakes; but beyond this, Peru ex-
hibits more church grandeur and general opulence of decoration,
especially in altar-furniture, than Chile. This may be accounted
for by the accessible ,vealth in precious metals of Peru at the
thne of its conquest, and for a 'while after, and which ,vas rapa-
ciously and ruthlessly seized by the invaders, ,vherever found,

THE CHmCR.

233

and appropriated ùy both people and priests. The wild spirit
of adventure kindled in Spain by the discovery of this luineral
treasure, brought hosts of the needy and unscrupulous to
strengthen the already powerful telnporal and spiritual çoali-
tiol1, 'who diclnot stop at the plunder of every Peruvian shrine
of its sacred jewels, and every house of its silyer and gold, but
tortured the victin1s of oppression, robbery, and lust, until they
revealed their buried treasures and gave up their household gods,
with their freedom and their virtue. Deducting the Crown's
one-fifth of the treasure seized, which, in the early history of the
conquest, ,vas faithfully paid, whatever 111aý have occurred "hen
TIceroyaIty becalne firmly established and conscious of pow"er,
the Ohurch secured directly and indirectly the larger share of
the remainder; for, what it failed to obtain by self-appropriation
and dh"ision of spoils, it rarely failed eyentually to get the greater
part of, by fees, contributions, and bequests, for its good offices
in assuaging the pangs of disturbed conscience-which, in those
tiInes of ,iolence, cruelty, rapine, and murder, were many and
grievous-and otherwise. comforting the distressed and the
d.ying; ,,-hile even the dead were considerately cared for at the
instance of opulent friends.
It is not difficult, in vie" of these facts, to account for the
affiuence and graTldeur of the churches and church establish-
luents of Lima, which were lnore distinguished even before the
Peruvian revolution of independence than no,v. TIut the suc-
cess in the acquisition of wealth by the Church in Chile was
neither so sudden nor so great. Almagro, to ,yh01n by royal ,var-
rant this part of the continent was granted for discovery and
occupancy, and who was the first Spaniard to penetrate its inte-
rior, after having hilnself examined the country as far as the
valley of CoquÏ1nbo, and despatched a part of his command flU'-
ther south, ,,-ho explored nearly to the riyer
Iaule, abandoned
Chile because it ,vas not a country of gold, and returned to
Peru, to contest 'with Pizarro the possession of the imperial city
of the Incas; and although Valdivia 801ne years afterw"arc1
reëlltered the countr
r, establishing various permanent settle-
lnents, and passed much beyond the extreme limit of ..\lmagro's
exploration, his rew"ard was rather the glory of daring achieve-

.

234

CMIPO DE 1YIARTE.

nlent than tbe acquisition of mineral wealth. The metallic
riches of Chile bave been gradually brought to light, as its other
great resources are being developed; and, accordingly, the
,vorldly aggrandizelllent of its Church was for a time in abey-
ance to its spiritual mission. This was fortunate, for it ,vas l{ept
thereby freer from the corruption and vice of its Hlore ,vorldly
neighbor, and better prepared to fulfil its great duty. The very
early history of its efforts in Ohile were accordingly signalized
by many exalnples of self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of the
religion of Christ. It is strange that the purification of poverty
is necessary to perfect piety! 1Vith the discovery of the pre-
cious metals, came here, as elsewhere, the yearning after and
acquisition of riches. The evidence of this is palpable in the
structure and adornlnent of religious edifices; but, as before
said, they are less Ílnposing than in Lima. I t is probable that
greater wealth contributed also to increased ecclesiastical denlor

a1ization.
A principal public resort on occasions of national celebra-
tion by military parade and review, is the Oampo de jJIarte, a
level square of one hundred and fifty acres, beyond the southern
limits of the city, ,vith a ,vide drive and promenade, with orna-
111ental trees on all sides, facing ,vhich, on the north, is the
handsome artillery barracks; on the east and ,vest, beautiful
cuintas (country seats) spl
ead over the extensive plain forlnerly
kno,vn as the lJa?npa,. and on the south is the Penitentiary. A
few words about the Penitentiary, in conformity ,vith my rule
of gathering by the ,vayside and noting as opportunity offers.
This institution is built on a principle sound in theory, and
sustained by the experience of many States of North America;
and yet in its discipline, and the general administration of its
affp
rs, stopping so far short of the s
ystem professed to have
been adopted, as to have utterly failed in the objects desired-
which certainly should be more than the mere confinement of a
human being like a wild beast. A quadrilateral brick ,van" of
sufficient height and strength, on which thirteen guards fur-
nished by the military authorities do duty, encloses about ten
acres of ground. Imlnediately ,vithill this outer wall is another,
enclosing an octangular-shaped space, in the centre of which is

PEXITE
ìT.1RY .

235

a building capable of holding only about fifty or sixty persons,
which is used as a chapel. Its small size ilnplies that religious
observances are not popular with the convicts, or that Go\'ern-
lnent considers the most of then1 too hardened to waste church
accommodations on them. SUITounding this little nucleus of the
prison is a many-sided paved court, from which radiate twenty-
fi \"e uncovered passages, called in the prison language stl'eets,
the entrance to each of ,-rhich is cOll1manded by an iron gate.
On opposite sides of some of these open corridors or streets, are
long rows of cells extending as far as the inner octagonal wan
before spoken of, against which the far end of each 1lock of
cells abuts, wllile the ranges of cells of adjoining streets are in
contact, baC'k to back. Each cell is se\"en by eight feet in size,
is designed for solitary confinement at night, is strongly built
of burnt brick, and has an iron-grateù door opening on its cor-
responding street, in the centre of which is a wall sufficiently
high to prevent con1n1unication between the inmates of opposite
cells by conversation or signs. The whole number of cells is
five hundred and twenty-five; of inmates five hundred. On
other streets 'Workshops are erected, in which the convicts are
engaged in cabinet and smith work, and shoemaking during the
day. This associated labor counteracts the reformatory effect
of personal isolaticn during the night; for no pronsion is made,
either in arrangement of the shops, or by the enforcelnent of a
suitable discipline, to secure that moral isolation ,,-hich is the
chief feature of the Äuburn system of in1prisonment, and abso-
lutely necessary to its Sllccess. By a singular regulation of this
Penitentiary, the product of labor is passed to the credit of the
conDct, who receives the full proceeds of sale when he is dis-
charged. Thus the entire expense of the prison falls on the
Government, instead of the con-nct being required to contrib-
ute to his O\\ìl support as in the United States, which is but just
to the community ,-rho are presumed to have ab'eacly suffered
frvm his crimes, while it inflicts no improper hardship on the
convict; but on the contrary he becollles instructed therebJ in
a trade that will serve him usefully when restored to society,
and he also acquires habits of industry. This defective reglùa-
tion, "hich seelDS to have originated in false consideration;:; of

.

236

P .ALACE.

kindness for the convict, presupposes idleness or occupation to
be properly optional .with hhn-certainlya great error in re-
formatoryeffort. For, if be be without the capacity of earning
a subsistence, and have no habits of industry, "'That guaranty can
there be that his unlawful depredations on society willllot en-
tail upon the State his continuous support
True, if he de-
clines to work he is excluded from the shop, and confined to his
cell. The enjoynlents of the shop are thus considered sufficient
telnptation to exertion. But this implies defective discipline,
affording the opportunity of companionship. And it also ig-
nores the fact that, if the selnblance of occupation is put on
'\yithout actual labor, it answers the purpose to avoid confine-
ment. The rule seen1ed so erroneous that doubts arose as
to Iny proper understanding of the Superintendent's staten1ent
of the fact, but it was subsequently reaffirlned. From '\vhat
,\ya.s learned of the very recent neglect of all efforts to reforul
the barbarous systeul of iInprisonment so long the disgrace of
civilized ilatiolls, it is but just to report a cOlnrnendable im-
provenlent, and it is reasonable to expect a further approach to a
perfect s:rstell1 in Cl1ile; particularly if the Governn1ent should
place at the head of the movement such a philosophical and
practical philanthropist as Señor Paz Soldan of Lima.
Although the transition fronl a penitentiary to a palace may
not seein appropriate, as In any translations from a palace to a
penitentiary would be if justice were duly administered, yet
Iny story 11111St be told in the order of occurrences; and the op-
portunity being afforded to see the chief public building in San-
tiago, iI}.cidentally to the discharge of necessary duties, it nlust
be noted accordingly.
The palace covers a square of four hundred feet, near the
cen+:-e of. the city, fronting on a plazuela by 110 Ineans large
enough to exhibit its architectural pretensions to advantage.
Erected about sixty years since, it was intended for tbe r
si-
dence of the Spanish Viceroy, whose court was but little less
distinguished by disl)lays of grandeur and opulence than tbat
of his royal Inaster. The intention being at the tÎlne to erect
Viceregal palaces in both 1.1exico and Chile, t,vo plans were
prepared in.1\ladricl for the buildings. But by mistake, that În-

,

.

HOSPITALS.

237

tended for Santiago ,,-as sent to
Iexico, and that for the palace
at ::Thlexico "ras sent to Santiago. Defore the error was detected
they were conlmenced according to the plans received, and were
80 cornpleted-the lxdace here at a cost of 89ÐO,OOO. The fa-
çade is of light granite, the order Doric, t,,-o stories in height,
except at the centre, "yhere the main entrance is, and where it
rises to three stories, surmounted by a donle. Between the alto-
relievo pilasters the iron-grated windo'ws give to the edifice the
appearance of a prison, which is increased by the armed senti-
nels at the doorway, at the cornera of the street leading to it,
and at the Inilitary barracks opposite. On entering the portal,
a guard-room is found on the left, facing the quarters of the of-
ficer of the day on the right. Just beyond the former is a broad
stone staircase, over the arched entrance of ,,"hich is an inscrip-
tion announcing to the visitor that it leads to the dw'elling of
His Excellency the President. ....\ corresponding stairway on
the right is inscribed w.ith the notice that above will be found
the department of the Minister of the Interior and of Foreign
Relations. l\..scending this latter stairvw"ay and passing tbrough
a vestibule, a balcony is reached surrounding a courtyard about
fifty feet square, "\vith a little murllluring fountain in the centre, .
emblematic perhaps of the stream of complaints flowing to the
office of his excellency the
linister. From the astute 11lind
and philosophic character of this stateslnan, it is probable that
the latter disturbs his equaninlity as little as the former. Fronl
the balcony access is also had to the offices of other menlbers of
the Executive Cabinet, to "\vit: to those of the 1tlinister of J us-
tice and Public W ors-hip, the Minister of ""\Var and 1\Iarine, and
the Minister of tbe Treasury, ,vhose respectiyc clerks are also
accol1lll1odated in this building.
Occupying a considerable part of the palace "\vill likewise
be found the K ational 1\Iint, the
oinage of "yhich is very cred-
itably executed.
Of course hospitals haye not been overlooked by a ]lledical
l'anlbler. Of these, the IIo8J?ital if Sa/
Jllan de .1Jio8, no,,"
used cxclusiyely for luen, is the 1110st renutl'kable, fl'oln its
antiquity, extent, position, fichnÍnÜ;tration, and general useful-
ness. It is situated at the east enù of the Caiiada, on its south

.

238

HOSPITALS.

side, near the Church of San Augustin, and is ac11nirably located
for ventilation and view. Although the present building is com-
parati vely of recent erection, the institution ,vas founded in the
early part of thE! seventeenth century, by the monks of the relig-
ious order of San Juan de Dios, '\vho then o"rned the ground on
,vhich the hospital now stands, and ,vhich "'
as fonnerly occupied
by their convent. Some of the monks, as ,vas the case ,vith many
of these old religionists whose monasteries in fact ,vere the de-
positories of medical literature in the dark ages, possessing some
kno'wledge of medicine, ,vere in the habit of humanely devoting
it to charitable purposes; and educated physicians being then
scarcely know.n in Chile, they prescribed for all ,yho applied to
them for advice, and often took into their convent, and in ÎIl1i-
tation of the good Samaritan, adn1Ïnistered personally to the
afilictions of the destitute. Thus originated this great charity,
honorable to its founders and honorable to those '\vho no,v per-
petuate its blessings to suffering Inllnanit
y. As the order of.
monks, whose nanle, and the memory of "Those good deeds, the
hospital preserves, became extinct, the National Government
took the UUll1agen1ent of its affairs; find by public appropri-
ations and private bequests it has, from tilne to time, been
enlarged, new buildings erected, and its general condition Írn-
proved. Its glorious destiny of benevolence and usefulness, as
long as mortality ,vith its pains and penalties shall endure, win
make it a monument of the philanthropy and liberality of its pious
founders and of Chilean legislation, Inore ÍInperishable than the
bronze and marble that listlessly adorn the neighboring Cañada.
All the hospital buildings are of one story, except the main
front on the Cañada, two portions of which have altos. The walls
are of adobes and three feet thick, securing exemption fron1. being
thro'wn down; roof of indestructible tile, and floors of asphaltum
and burnt briek, for greater cleanliness. The buildings are
arranged around quadrangular patios, there being fi-ve of these
"\vell-paved, ,vith the exception of that attached to the front
building, which is adorned ,vith flowers and shrubbery, and a
fountain with jets. Capacious galleries open on most of the
courts, allowing cOlnmunication between different parts of the
establishu1ent ,vithout the neces
ity of passing through inter-

..

HOSPITALS.

239

mediate rooms; at the same time, by the devotion of each court
and its surrounding edifice to a different use, the various depart-
ments are sufficiently insulated to prevent undue interference
with the peculiar duties, discipline, and management of each
other. The medical and surgical wards are Eeparate, large,
well-ventilated, and clean; tbe bedding ample and of good
quality; and the general administration under a corps of ex-
perieneed, polite, and attentive Sisters of Charity, and pro-
fessional attendance by educated and skilful physicians and sur-
geons, are such as to deserve commendation. The botica
(pharlnacy) is large, handsomely arranged, and abundantly
supplied with medicines, and all needful accessories of that de-
partment, and has an accomplished pharmaceutist in constant
attendance to compound prescriptions. Its arrangement of
appropriately-labelled jars for keeping a supply of the yarious
invalid beverages and most necessary decoctions, ,vithout the
objectionable delay attendant on preparation ,,'hen called for,
is deserving of Î1nitation in corresponding institutions in the
United States. .Bath rooms are numerous, and well supplied
,yith hot and cold water; and the kitchen and laundry sho,,"" a
studious regard for health and cOlllfort. The hospital bas at
tbis time more than five hundred patients; the nUll1 bel' is SOlne-
times as high as six hundred. This, and all other charities
under the control of Go\ernJllent, are Inanaged by a Board of
Trustees named by. the Executive autborities, composed of men
of wealth and respectability, who serve without compensation.
The Hospital of San Juan is the owner of certain estates, houses,
and investments, the income from which, together with contri-
butions and occasional bequests, are ordinarily sufficient for its
8Upport. If not, the public treasury is called on for assistance.
The hospital statistics show the most fi.equent di5eac;;;es to be
those ordinarily classified as diseases of the chest; those of the
stomach and bowels, particularly gastric fever and dysentery;
and venereal affections: the latter, here as in Valparaiso, sur-
prisingly significant by its ,ery large proportion, of either a
ren1arkable immorality among the 10,,"'e1' classes of the poplùa-
tiou, or of a lan1entable neglect of curative lneans. .1\.lld as I
am professionally informed, and believe also from my lÌ1nitcd

Jr

240

HOSPITALS.

opportunities of observation, it is chiefly owing to the great
prevalence of the last-mentioned class of diseases that in pro-
portion to population an unusually large nUlnber of blind
persons is met with, both in hospitals and higlnvays. It has
been eloquently said by a Inedical writer in the Annale8 de let
l1nivel ' sidacl: '" Looking round the whole horizon, ,ve do not
find a single spot that casts the gerIns of epidemic lniasma
to,vard our blue sky; yet in the lnidst of this beautiful land
we perceive death cutting down the tender plants of the gener-
ation, and striking off the young branches of the tree, leaving
only the dried lhnbs, in ",?hose veins flo,v the poisons that afflict
society. The venereal disease is the prÏ1ne mover of the revolu.
tion effected in the hUlnan species-the infernal contagion trans-
mitted and transmissible. That the Inortality of the. country is
due to it I cannot doubt, after seeing the innumerable children
",?ho have been brought to the charity hospital suffering with
scrofulous syphilis." It ,vould be happy for this country jf
Ineans were adopted to interpret to the unlettered and unthink-
ing multitude the" hand writing" perpetually obtruded before
them. If this be not done, despite their fair inheritance of land
and clhnate, the l1pa8 in their nl.idst, poisoning the fountains of
public health, ,vill bring to the nation, as to the children whose
fate is touchingly proclaimed above, pren1ature decay and death.
Another hospital is that of San Fï'anci8co de Borja. It is
devoted exclusively to ,vornen, is eligibly situated, and consists of
ten separate and distinct one-story buildings, each one hundred
and thirty feet long by thirty feet wide. These are arranged in
equal nurnbers on opposite sides of a large, open, oblong space,
laid off in walks, and cultivated in flo\yers and shrubbery. These
buildings, in which are the wards for invaliås, stand in t,vo rO'W8
endwise opposite to each other, and eaeh building is at such a
distance from those of the saIne side, as to allo,v of intermediate
gardens in addition to the Inain central one. The '\",hole presents
a very pleasing appearance, and contributes doubtless to cheer the
saånesB of InallY a suffering inmate. It is designed to have a
large'and lllore shovvyedifice in front, for official as well as other
occupancy; this 'v ill more perfectly shield frorn obscl'vation and
intrusion, the present ùuilùings and their inmates. Fronl. three

CHARITIES.

g41

hundred to four hundred patients are usually accommodated,
,vhose diseases, ,yith slight exceptions, cOITespond to the general
character of those named when speaking of the Hospital of San
Juan de Dios. ...-1n incollle of twentJ-TI.'\e thousand dollars per
annum, frolll property held under charitable bequests, consti-
tutes its chief support. Sisters of Charity are the efficient in-
struments in its excellent management.
The .Alrns House is another of the charitable institutions of
the city, and is devoted solely to the destitute and infirm. It
consists of commodious one-story adobe building
, arranged
round five patios. Sufficient ground is attached for useful and
ornamental gardens, and the t"o hundred and si.-xty-fi'\e inmates
of both sexes looked well-clad, clean, comfortable, and contented.
The premises once belonged to the Jesuits, "hose large po
se:;-
sions, on the extinction of that order, ,,-ere wisely made in most
instances tributary to the promotion of charitable objects.
Sisters of Charity in this, as in the institutions already n1en-
tioned, are the adn1Ïnistrators of the benevolent trust. To avoid
tediousness I 'v ill, merely in justice to the spirit of practical
charity of Santiago, enun1erate briefly se,eral other institutions
having their origin in enlarged philanthropy.
Four Dispensaries are supported by Goyernment, at which
about fifty thousand persons are said to receive gratuitous medi-
cal assistance annually.
Lin Institution of Evclngelical ChaJ'ity, the expenses of which
are borne by private subscription, gives n1eclical advice and at-
tendance at their houses to the poor, and pecuniary aid "yhen
necessary to deserving objects.
IIospeclel'ia de San Rafael, supported by subscription, ,vhere
destitute or sick strangers are taken and provided for until they
can get employn1ent. It should be added, however, to the
honor of Santiago, that foreigners are received into aU the hO::t-
pita1s vdthout charge; and I anl assured by those "rho are in
position to kno,v, that if any distinction be made bet"
eeu the111
and natives, in regard to attention and treatu1ent, it is in favor
of the foriller.
TIle Institution of tIle Good SlwlJherd, a )Iagdalen Asyluln
16

242

VINDICATION.

for profligate women "ho desire to I'eform. Supported by sub-
scription.
Oasa de .11Iaria-for indigent girls ,vho, fÌ'oln parental neglect
and want, might be led from the path of virtue.
A IIouse of JJIcttern.ity-for charitable accouchenlent. J\tlain-
tainec1 at the cost of Government.
Oasa de Eæpositos, a foundling hospital. And also a P.rovi-
dencia, to which the little unfortunates are rellloved in the event
of passing through the many dangers that beset tender infancy;
and "yhere they are educated, taught some useful elnployment,
and whence they go when a suitable home can be provided for
them. The establishlllent of these latter charities has been re-
garded by S0111e persons as a boon to licentiousness; and a volu-
minous writer upon Chile, ",'ho has discussed both its public
institutions and social custOlllS "rith much ability and freedom,
if not ah.vays in the latter case with discretion, has pronounced
the Casa de Expositos an "encouragenlent of vice." But this
seems to be a reversal of the order of cause and effect; for if the
vice had not ùeen in existence and calling for the adoption of
some 111eanS to nlitigate its effects, such an institution "Tould not
have been thought of. It ,vas the sequence in the order of
events, a necessity gr01ving out of antecedent depravity, with
the perpetuation of ,vhich it is Inanifestly unjust to burden it.
It would be as reasonable to condemn all the other noble chari-
ties it has afforded so much gratification to Inention, which
contribute to brighten a national escutcheon dÌ1nllled by un-
doubted defects, and such as distinguish the philanthropy of
other lands, because forsooth their provision for destitution and
distress may "en
ourage the vices" upon which these in nearly
all cases depend. Profligacy, debauchery, drunkenness, bring
po, erty and disease. Pity beholds the sufferer, leads him to the
door of l\lercy, ,vhere Charity ministers to him, and says, "Go,
sin no lTIOre." 'Vhen the man sick of the palsy was brought to
IIilll ,vho ,vent about doing good, to be healed, lIe first said,
" Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee;'" and then,
after this Divine manifestation of beneficence, "Arise, take up
thy bed and go unto thy house; " thus sho'wing His knowledge
and forgiveness of the frailty inse})arable frolll hUlnan nature.

CH
RITY A DUTY.

243

....tnd it ici to be forgiven not merel)"" "seven times," according to
a worldly dispensation, but ,. seventy times seyen," in obedience
to the precepts of heavenly truth, and in fulfilment of that
" charity which never faileth; but suffereth long, and is kind."
In human affliction, the withholding of relief would often de-
stroy, but rarely reclainl; for the lalnp of life is then too flick-
ering to shed even a ray of hope ere it goes out in the darkness
of deatb. The shadows of coming glo01n increased by the heart-
lessness of Ulan, deepen the despair tbat welcomes oblivion. We
are commanded to Î1nitate our Father in heaven, and to be per-
fect eyen as lIe is. This is undoubtedly difficult, and to SOlne
lllay seenl impossible. Yet having been enjoined upon us by Him-
se
and contelllplating IIis comprehension of our capacities, and
that He is too just and mercitìll to require aught that "e ha\'e
not the ability to perforn1, the effort of obedience, far from being
preSu1l1ptuouS, is but a proof of that faith ,vhich 1'en10veth llloun-
tains, and brings the blessings of goodness within reach of human.
attainment. ..t\.,nd this capacity of resemblance must be con-
ceded, in view of the illustration of Divine inculcation of love
and duty: "lIe maketh His sun to rise on the e\'"il and on the
good, and sendeth rain on the j Llst and on the unjust." Throned
in 111ystery, as God may seelll to a finite conlprehension, His
great essence is thus revealed to those ,,
ho seek the 1ight of
heaven, and ,,-ould become warmed with the glow in their own
hearts of its immortal love. .And this '.love, the fulfilJru:id of
the law," must go forth on its benign mission with healing on
its wings, lifting up the broken-hearted, and causing tbe "Won-
dering multitude who ha\'"e lingered in error, to glority the Om-
nipotent Source of such goodness, when they see" the dUlnb to
speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind
to see," whether they be '" evil or good, just or unjust." This
application of beneyolence is especial1y due to this continent;
for if it be true that even in older cornmunities, where the
social organization has had a longer tiu1e to adapt itself to the
requirelnents of necessity, civilization increases lnnuall dispari-
ties, and that the more the wealth and hL'Xury of the fe,v, the
greater the poverty and wants of the many, then are the people
of this country, of deteriorated race, ,vho COlupose by far the

244

CHARITY A DUTY.

larger part of its population, entitled in a marked degree to the
considerate care and assistance of those through ,vhom such
H,ils have come upon them. The more powerfu1, enterprising,
energetic, and intellectnally-exalted Spaniard, in the struggle
for lllastery, ,vhether in clon1Ïnion, government, comn1erce, mines,
or landed estate, has achieved triumph and possession. Hence
the general indigence and ignor?-nce of the mixed race are even
greater than found in homogeneous nations; and the sense of
these is the n10re galling, from the contrast with sUITounding
opulence. Better fo"r the unhappy victims of oppression and
depravity had they enjoyed conscious equality and competence,
even with the imputation of barbarism. The Spaniard further
entailed upon the descendants of the aborigines, through force
as well as exan1ple, unnatural relations, vices, and diseases, to
which those prilnitive natives were strangers. Apart, then, from
general considerations of humanity, there is justly devolved upon
· the affiuent representatives of the Spanish race, a special trust
to minister to the necessities and sufferings of those whose
"vices" are the offspring of a "higher la,v" of civilization-
accursed in this as in some other phases of human relation-
rather than the product of their own sin1ple, and, in comparison
with the pioneers of Spanish dOlninion in Alllerica, purer na-
tures. No additional force can be added to the obligations of
humanity and religion by the consideration, but still it should
not be overlooked that the day is not distant .when, unless
largely strengthened by imlnigration, the European eleluent of
Ohilean population will be merged in the degenerate mixed
race; or its gradually weakening power be ,vrenched frolll its
grasp by rapidly-increasing social antagonism. The cherishing
of kindly sJ111pathies, a-nd èxercise of enlarged phiJanthropy,
Inay serve then to perpetuate blessings to a posterity ,vho, what-
ever may be the pangs of misfortune, will yet find alleviation in
the memory and fì'uits of the good deeds of their ancestry.

CHAPTER XIV.

,
DESCRIPTIO
OF S..\....
u.GO COXTI
TED-Lt;SATIC ASYLr1!-MEDICAL SCHOOL-
LIBItiRY-MILITARY A
MECH.AXlC IXSTITUTES-Pll'TIIEO
-oFFICI.AL .AXD IXTER-
N.A.TIOXAL DISCOURTE5Y-S.AXTA LUCIA-..!..POQl7IXDO MIXERAL SPRIXGS-V.ALLE"t" OF
SA...
TIAGO-RAILROADS.

THE remark was made to me in Lima by a member of the
Beneficentia, that the only asylum on the west coast of South
America for the rational treatment of insanity, was the one in
that city. He was in error. At Santiago a Lunatic Asylum is
found of large size, excellent arrangen1ent, and admirable gOT"-
erlllnent. A lot of ground three hundred and si..
ty-five yards
long by fi'om one hundred to two hunch'ed yards in 'width, is ell-
closed by a substantial wall fifteen feet high. A building of
two hundred and fifty feet, forming the centre of the front
,çall, contains the administrative offices; while within, running
length,vise the enclosure, is an alley, with many long one-story
buildings extending froln it on both sides, arranged parallel to
each other, having patios between them for exercise and garden
cultivation, and tì'om ,vhich the rooms are entered. The main
""yalls of the building are forty inches, and the partition walls of
the rooms for separate occupancy are twenty-five inches thick,
both built of adobes. The strongly-f1'amed roof, of cane and
nlud, as a good non-conductor of heat in summer, is further
covered w'ith tiles saturated with soap and alum, which is said
to make them water-proof. Thirty-two of the cells, several of
the111 of oval shape, are dark, and lined ,,,ith quilted India ru b-
bel' to prevent personal injury, for the confinelllent exclusively
of madlnen. An
l for further protection, SOllle of these have
oak bedsteads built in the wall. ,V ann and cold baths are
liberally provided, both phmge and shower; also a sWIllunmci

246

IEDICAL SCHOOL.

pond, walled and cemented, which is found an excellent hy-
gienic means frolll the all1USell1ent and exercise it affords. The
number of inmates at present is one hundred and seventeen.
A very full proportion of cures is reported; and the advantages
of the 1nodern 8?JSte1í1 of tJ"eatJnent, a gentle and tranquil deport-
ment, and consistent firluness, ""yith rational amuselnent, enter-
tainment, exercise, occupation, and appropriate medical pre-
scription, as contradistinguished to the old and barbal'ou,s sys-
tem of unvarying severity and seclusion, are fully sustained
by the eÀ--perience of this institution. The Santiago Lunatic
.Asylum ,vas built and is supported by the national govern-
ment.
Chile possesses the means of educating 111edical attendants for
these nUlllerous hospitals. A university established in 1842, be-
ing the reorganization of one chartered more than t,vo hundred
years before, embraces the faculties of philosophy and hUlllanities,
ph.ysical and mathematical science, medicine, la,v, political sci-
ence, and theology. The ?nedical school, consisting of a full
corps of professors, is in operation; the course of instruction
aÍ111ing to meet as far as practicable, in the infancy of the in-
stitution, the ,vants of the country. To foreigners aspiring to
practise Inec1icine, surgery, or pharmacy, in Chile, the privilege
is extended upon presentation of a diploma from a respectable
university, and being found cOlnpetent after a strict examination,
both theoretical and practical, by question and ans,ver, attack or
maintenance of proposed doctrines; beside diagnosis, prognosis,
and prescription; and surgical operations on the cadaver. The
fees anlount to $120-the travelling and incidental expenses to as
much more. Owing to the delay incident to examination, the
detention at Santiago gro,vs irksome to the candidate. Usually
five or six ,veeks are occupied in ridiculous formalities, ,yhich
should not conSUIIle more than two or three days. If unsuccessful,
the candidate lIlay present himself for examination again after
the lapse of six months. In phanuacy the examination is ,yell
suited to test the qualifications of candidates for license to com-
pound and vend medicines. Ignorance and presumption, either
in prescribing or administering medicine, llleet ,vith no favor in
Chile. In this respect she is in advance of many of the States

l\IILITARY
"D MECH
"IC IXSTI'fLTES.

2-11

of Xorth America, the lives of whose citizens are considered by
no means as precious as individual right to do in all things as
011e pleaseg, for the brief time that malady or malpractice may
permit him to exercise it. Besides several excellent academies,
for pi't
'ate instruction of the children of wealthy parentage at
high charges, Go\erllll1ent ha:3 provided a National Institute,
nO/'ïnal school, and many pri'fnaTY institutions for puólic in-
struction; which, although not up to the standard of merit of
similar institutions in sonle other countries, are Jet creditable to
this young republic.
..L{ JIilitary Institute is also provided for the education of
naval and arnlY officers. Boys of t,,-"elve years are admitted
anel instructed during five years of study in the various branches
of mathematics, elementary and profound, history, geography,
nangation, the French and English languages, drawing field
fortifications, artillery and infantry tactics, gymnastics, and
sword exercises. There are sixty cadets in the Institute; but
the building, which is in admirable order, and the grounds, are
ample for the accomlllodation of many more.
Still another admirable institution supported by Governlllent
is that for instructing boys, of whom there are now five hundred
in the school, in the useful rnechanic (lJ.ts. They are al.;;:.o taught
the usual branches of scholastic education. This will prove
one of the most useful institutions of Ohile. It is nearly self-
oJ
supportive.
Santiago has a .L"lational Library of 39,000 volumes, to which
the public has access; a reading-room with suitable furniture
being likewise provided. And in the sall1e building is the
.J...Vational MÚseum, in the formation of which a French natural-
ist, 11. Gay, had the chief agency. The ornithological and
botanical departments, enlbracing tbe birds and plants of Chile,
are nearly complete; as is also its zoology. Some fine speci-
mens of Chilean minerals are in the cases; but the shells of the
country are few, and present but little attraction. Altogether
the collection, as representing the natural history of this coun-
try, is highly creditable. The Musetnn is opened to the pub-
lic on one day of each week. Strangers are admitted at any
time.

248

THE PANTHEON.

The Pantheon of Santiago, like that of Lhna, is on the small-
est scale, not 1nore than about fifteen acres being ,valled in for the
celnetery ûf a city whose population certainly exceeds one hundred
thousand. Such scant dimensions are scarcely pardonable, as it
lies at the foot of Cerro Blanco-"
ell adapted to purposes of
sepulture, but nothing else. This celnetery is a splendid specu-
lation at the enormous charges made for te7npOra1
Y burial, the
saIne leasehold interment prevailing here as in other Spanish-
American countries, and the same horrid feature of gratuitous
comnlul1is111 existing too. And if the iml11ense receipts for con-
veyance, burial, removal, and masses, had been appropriated to
the purpose, the avenues and paths of the Pantheon 1night have
been paved with gold by this time. A little chapel within the
entrance tells the visitor that its uplifted cross is "Spes unico"
-the sole hope-of those ,vho pass that portal for the last til11e.
There is l1101'e taste displayed than in Peru, in the adornment
of the resting-place of the dead; cypresses, shrubbery, and
flowers abound, and there are S0111e appropriately designed and
,,,,ell-executed 1nonlll11ents. SOI11e curiosity was felt to see the
statue of which Lieut. J. 1tl. Gilliss (Superintendent of the
United States Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern
Hemisphere) said, one of the n1ausoleums "is sur1110unted by a
nude :figure of Grief executed in white marble, which, by order of
the archbishop, has actually been covered with a petticoat of black
cloth fronl the ,vaist to the knees ! " This declaration has been
indignantly denied by Santiaguinos. Certainly no such attired
:figure is no?!) seen; but a winged marble statue of Grief ,vas
observed, ,vith inverted torch in the right hand, the left resting
on an urn consecrated to the ashes of D. Juan Henrique Rosales
and D. Maria del Rosario Larrain, daubed ,vith coarse celnent
in a manner designed to represent a :fig-leaf. Whose vandal
delicacy is cOlnmemorated by tIlÍs act I kno,v not; but, the
,vhole story of this offending specimen of the :fine arts, and t4e
sadness it ,vas designed so touchingly to tell, is suggestive of the
question-which is more obnoxious to criticism, the vulgar
affectation of l110desty that could not look npon nature with the
purity that truth and virtue teach; or the misapprehension of
duty ,vhich included in a formal report to the Congress of the

TERSATIOSAL DISCOURTESY.

2-19

United States, reIn arks on unofficial subjects offensive to the
sensitiveness of a country that had, ,vith singular alacrity, aided
in promoting the objects of that scientific expedition-of ,vhicb
the officer above referred to has stated that, "throughout nearly
the three years of our residence at Santiago, the Government
ennced the most earnest disposition to forward the objects of
the Expedition, and to extend every possible consideration to its
ll1embers officially and personally. Our equil)lnents and every
subsequent object for public and personal u
e had been admitted
free of duty, a site had been prepared for our observatories, a
guard had been stationed there to protect them, every necessity
had been promptly supplied when sought; in short, we had been
the recipients of its courtesy and coöperation from tbe Inoment
of arrival at the capital." :1[1'. Gil1iss came to Chile accredited
to its Government as an officer of the United States K avy, sent
on a scientific mission. Âs such he was received, and how treated
is recorded in his own language. If the report to his Goyern-
Inent had elllbraced solely observations and reflections upon the
objects of the Expedition, as directed by Congréss, he woulù
have been entitled to commendation for the faithful and able
manner in which he had perfol'lned his "hole duty; and great
benefits would have resulted, not merely to science, but to the
political and comlllercial relations of the two countries. But to
embrace in such a doculnent descriptions of social, political, and
religious customs, private as 'well as public; even in some in-
stances drawn from the sanctuary of domestic life into ",vhich he
had been received ahnost as the guest of the nation; to accon1-
pany these with criticisms often severely censorious, 'while jest
gives additional pungency to others; and to present the whole
record of science, social organization, and scandal, to tbe Govern-
ment autborizing the Expedition, to be by it printed and ClI'CUr
lated as a State docu'JJìent, can scarcely be regarded, when judged
of either by the rules of international courtesy or per60nal
l)oliteness, as legitinlate and civil. It is the undoubted right of
every traveller to observe, record, and publish his observations
and reflections; but tbe mode of so doing should be rightly de-
terlnined, and the obligations Í1nposed Ly formally accredited
anù officially recognized position, and private hospitality, should

,

.

250

SANTA LUCIA.

not be disregarded. It ,vas with 1110rtification that frequent
remarks were heard in Valparaiso and Santiago of the dis-
courtesy of a coulltrJ"man who had been long and largely the
recipient of Ohilean attention and entertainment, public and
private. These remarks ,vere often characterized by great
bitterness, induced perhaps by the consciousness that many of
the public faults and private foibles, which had been exposed,
"were truthfully represented. But an equal consciousness is felt
by Alnericans,. and the reIllark universally made by other foreign
residents here, that whatever these faults and foibles n1ay have
been, they should not have been presented to our Government
as an official report, side by side with an ackno,v ledgment of
national courtesy and coöperation in the objects of the Expedi-
tion. And further, that the strange oversight, or extraordinary
international incivility, should not have been perpetrated by our
Goyernment, of publishing and distributing that report as an
accepted State doculllent. "Our country right or wrong,"
sounds so patriotic as to bave becolne an axiom ,vith dema-
gogues. But our country, justified when right-coIJdemned
when wrong, is a far more honorable aspiration of conscience,
and one that candor obliges l11e tbus to exemplify.
In this connection it may be remarked that the rocky hill
of Santa Lucia, on which the necessary buildings of the United
States Astronomical Expedition were erected, lifts its stern crest
one hundred and ninety-eight feet above the city of Santiago
surrounding its base, an everlasting monument, not only of the
scientific enterprise which vtould peer into the mysteries of
space, and Inap anew, by the trembling Hght of its own firma-
Inent, the southern helnisphere; but of that illdolnitable spirit
of Spanish discovery which sought to penetrate the unknown
regivl1s of earth, and give to civilization the tribute of a yast
conquest. It ,yas on its craggy height that Pedro Valdivia,
three hundred and twenty years ago, in 1541, planted the forti-
fication, ii'oln which, as from an eagle's eyry he swooped upon
the startled inhabitants of the beautiful valley at its foot; and
to '\vhich he retreated ,\\"hen danger threatened him, to rene\v
his energies, mature bis plans, and await a more propitious
moment to accomplish his bold purpose of adding a new elllpire

Sß"A. L17CIÄ.

251

to the already surpat::::ing dominion of Spain. nut for the fore-
sight 'which contelnplated the probable perils that would beset
hinl, and the military sagacity that instructed hÍ1n to occupy
so defensible a position by his small force, the wonderful achie,e-
mcnts of V aldi,ia

oulcl ne,er hav.e made his name falllons in
history; although the Spanish )Ionarcb, it is reasonable to
suppose, might Lave eventually subjugated that portion of Chile
not ruled by the unconquerable and still unconquered ....:\..rauca-
nian. X or was it long before 'T aldiyia had cause to congratulate
hÎlnself on tbe prudence ,,-hich had led him to secure a place of
refuge in case of hostilities with tbe natives; for scarcely had
he founded tbe town of Santiago, so named in honor of the
patron saint of Spain, ,yhen the
lapochin Indians, the}} in-
habiting that part of the ,alley, becoming awakened to the
purposes of the invaders, attacked then1, and utterly destro)-ed
the town. But for the almost inaccessible fort on Santa Lucia,
it is probable that the Spaniards ,,"ould have been exterminated.
As it "as, they "Were barel
r able to maintain their position until
reënforced from Peru.
The west side of the hill is rugged and precipitous: the
summit is reached froln the east by a steep, rudely-terraced
path. At the outbreak of the Chilean
"ar of Independence a
battery on this hill comn1anded the city. It is now dislnantled,
to pre,ent revolutionists overawing tbe Government br seizing
it. A little lower than the site of the battery is still seen the
building of the former astronoD1ical obser,atory, not now used
as such, the instruments having been removed to the A..gricul-
tural College. A short distance from the foot of Santa Lucia,
to the east, is the snlall, one-story, adobe, tile-co\"ered house
occupied by the conqueror of Chile }nore than three centlu"ies
ago. It is carefully preserved as a monument of the old Spanish
pioneer. On the way from this remnant of the olden tinIe,
another relic of the past 'was seen-the residence of tbe Countess
del , one of the few who persisted in retaining the title,
with the pride and many of the customs of ancestry; among the
last, that of driving four horses to her coacb. lla-ring been
notified that such was the exclusive privilege of the President,
she haughtily retorted, "If any nlore such comnlunications are

252

APOQUINDO SPRL,GS.

made to 111e I will drive siæ." This was satisfactory to supreme
authority, and it \\-as decided to "let the Castilian alone."
My remaining day in Santiago was devoted to visiting the
Apoquilldo J\fineral Springs, about t,vo leagues east of the city.
Taking the road along the Tajamar, ,vhich follo,ys the left bank
of the J\Iapocho River for three miles we then passed through a
richly-cultivated country, adobe ,vaIled vineyards hanging their
clustering fruits around in great profusion, \vhile olive groves
and fig-tree orchards darkened the ,yay ,vith their deep shade.
Beyond this first land belt of great fertility, the 1nore rapid ac-
clivity of the foot hill ,vater-shed yielded a less bountiful supply
of fruits and vegetables; and then the hacienda of the Franciscan
friars, who o,vn the Springs, ,vas seen unfolding its vineyards
from which is produced the luscious
I08tO, a native wine resem-
bling that of Bordeaux. The .Apoq
tindo Springs, next reached,
are situated t\yenty-five hundred and seventy-four feet above the
level of the sea, and seven hundred and t,venty-four feet above
that of the plaza at Santiago; the latter being eighteen hundred
and fifty feet above the sea level. The Í1nprovements are neither
handso1ne, cOJnmodious, nor conveniently arranged, and consist
merely of one-story adobe buildings, ,vitli projecting tile roofs,
and very prhnitive apartments, for the accommodation of proba-
bly sixty or seventy persons. There are five springs, and seven
roughly-constructed bath-rooll1s, ,vithin two-thirds of a circle of
fifty feet dialneter; the bath-pools of perhaps six or seven by
three or four feet size, being sunk in the earth so as to receive a
sufficient quantity of water. One of the baths is a natural basin
of rock, five feet in diameter and four feet deep; the others are
artificially walled. Three of the springs have ,vater of like
pl'ol)erties, and are used for baths alone; the other two are both
eme

c and purgative. But the attendants were found to be so
destitute of accurate information in regard to the temperature,
constitucnts, and 111cdical properties of these waters, that no con-
fidence could be placed in their staten1ents. The following,
which I transcriþe bodily from an Essay on the mineral waters
of Apoquilldo by Professor I. DOlneyko of Santiago, published
in 1848, "will be found more reliable :-" At the foot of the first
band of porphyritic earth of the Andes, in a cheerful, pleasant,

APOQ"CIXDO SPRIXGS.

253

and hea1thy locality, some four or five streams of mineral water
come from the interior of the l'ock
and fio,v down the raT"ine,
mingling with another rivulet of plu'e ,,-ater, 'without leaving in
their course any deposit Qf salts. or saline efHorescence. The
'Water of
poquindo is clear, crystalline, odorless, of a very disa-
greeable taste, difficult to de
cribe, and left standing in a closed
vessel forms no deposit. It is neither acid nor alkaline; exerts
no åction upon ,egeta hIe colors; and only by boiling and con-
centration, presents saline substances, a part of these forming a
pellicle upon the slu'face, ,vhile another part is precipitated.
The gas evolved during the ebullition scarcely disturbs water of
bal'ytes, thus showing that the
e ,,-aters contain scarcely a trace
of free carbonic acid.
"In three different seasons of the year I have measured the
temperature of the ..ipoquindo waters at their fio,v from the
cre,ices of the rock, principally in the two little streams whence
is taken the water for drinking. The Rea1.l1n'llr therlllometer
Inarked

30th Ju1y, 18-18, 18 0 5' R. Temperature of air, 17:> 50' R.
15th Ootober, 1848, 18
3' R. " 21 0 R.
õth X ovember, 1848, 18- 2' R. " 22 0 R.

[Lieut. Gilliss's Fo/trenheit thermollletersho-wed in the month
of April in a spring on one side of the raT"ine 74 0 5', and in a
spring on the oppo
ite side of the ranne 74: 0 3'. .,A..llow"ing for
difference in season, closely correspondent ,,-ith Professor Do-
rney ko's report.]
" The ,,-rater of the bathing well, a water for its medicinal yir-
tues in cutaneous diseases called "itch water," has the same tem-
perature.
" In this well there is an interlnitting evolution of gas, the dif.
ferent sized bubbles rising :&om the botton1 in considerable quan-
tities; fifteen or twenty seconds rarely passing -without bubbles
appearing. . This gas is colorles::::, inodorous, extinguishes COlll-
hustion, is not ab
orbed by a solution of caustic potash, and agi-
tated with a solution of barytes scarcely clouds it.
\.ccordiDg
to these indication
, this gas can be no other than nitrogen, po
-
sibly n1Îxed with a l11Ïnute portion of carbonic acid. ",Vhen ana-

254

APOQUINDO SPRINGS.

lyzed in the laboratory of the Institute, this gas gave but two per
cent. of oxygen. This developll1ent of nitI
ogen gas in the midst
of a. fountain of Jllil1eral waters is an interesting phenomenon,
and one of luuch ilnportance in terrestrial physics, but is not the
only one that bas been observed. Berzelius found that the
Inineral water of PorIa (in S,vitzerland) in a well of a yard
in depth, slowly gave off bubbles of gas, composed of six parts
of nitrogen and one of carbonic acid (by vollune), and, according
to the saU1e chemist, it arises froIn the decolnposition of nitro-
genous organic substances. The PorIa water contains neither
sulphurets nor sulphuretted bydrogen, and the greater part of
the substances dissolved therein consists of bicarbonates, chlo-
rides, and organic matters.
" Longchal11ps, in a treatise on 111ineral ,vaters published in
183-:1:, says, that in all the 111ineral "Taters that he has analyzed,
he has found nitrogen, sOll1etÍ1nes pure, at others lllixec1 with a
little carbonic acid, rarely Inixed with oxygen, and never with
the latter in as great proportioll as in atlnospheric air. The
waters of Baréges gave Longchalnps four cubic centimetres of
nitrogen for each litre of water, but these waters differing from
those of PorIa are sulphurous; they contain sulphur and sul-
phate of soda \vith considerable silica, ,yhich has led Long-
champs to think, first, that the bases ,vere found in a metallic
state in the interior of the globe (Davy's hJTpothesis) cOlnbined
with sulphur or chlorine; and seconcUy, that the sulphate of
soda canle fron1 the conversion of sulphuret of soda into sul-
phate, by the action of the oxygen of the air introduced by
rains into the crevices of the rocks, filtering through the pores
and cracks.
"Anglada also, in a 111emoir upon sulphurous and warm
mil1eral ,vaters (1831), says, likewise, that all \vaters containing
or giving out sulphuretted hydrogen contain nitrogen, which
gas, according to Anglada, o\ves its origin to the air carried
along by the waters in their course, and the oxygen of \vhich is
absorbed by the sulphur of the sulphurets in solution.
" The Àpoquindo waters do not belong to the class of ,vhich
Longchau1ps and Anglada treat. In then1 there is no trace of
sulphur in the state of sulphuret or hydrosulphuret, and even

APOQ'LìXDO SPRTI{GS.

0........
....;);)

the aUlount of sulphate of lime is very small. This water hy it:;
composition resenlbles that of PorIa; but that which is most
notable in the water of ..Apoquindo i;:" first, the great quantity
of
a1ts contained in it, amounting nearly to the 1na.f:i1ÎHUn
contained in the n10st saline and active waters. Secondly,
tbe great proportion of cbloride of calcium contained in this
water, greater even than that of Cauquenes. ....l.nd, third, the
almost complete absence of free carbonic acid, and of car-
bonates.
,- Herewith is the con1position of the Apoquindo water taken
fronl its source, con1pared with the analysis of the Cauquenes
water, sho,ying both great analogy and concentration:

CO)1POSITIOY OF E.lCH 1,000 PARTS BY WEIGHT.

Drinking Water of .Apoqnindo.

Canqnenas Water.

Chloride of Calcium, .
" Sodium, .
" )Iagnesiunl,.
Sulphate of lime,
Iron and alumina, .
Silex,
Organic matter,

2.1ß5 .
. 1.1.7
0.034 .
. 0.032
0.020 .
. 0.03,)
trace .

1.929
. 0.821
trace
. 0.041
0.009
. 0.020
trace

Total of saline contents,

. 3.483

. 2.820

" The same w"ater, brought to the laboratory ,yell corked and
sealed, gave by ebullition, in an experiment conducted with
great care, seventeen to eighteen cubic centimetres of gas in
each litre or cubic decÍIuetre of water. But this gas analyzed,
gave a more considerable proportion of oÀJgen than that con-
tained in the free gas of tbe basin of "itch water," although
the said proportion was not more than one-fifth or one-sixth
part of the volume of gas evolved in the ebullition of these
waters.
c.. I have also sought in the .LL\..poquindo 1\?aters for the presence
of iodine or bromine, using for the former chloride of palladiulll,
and for tbe Jatter the ordinary Inethod, but have been unable to
\ discover the sligbtest trace of either substance.
" The water of the basin in 1\?hich batbs are taken, contains
also the same salts as the drinking water, with the diftèrence

256

APOQUINDO SPRIKGS.

that the said salts are found in less considerable proportion
than in the latter, perhaps in consequence of SOlne pure spring
water running near the basin Inixing \vith the lnine!al water.
The mineral water of the basin contains but 2.037 of the salts
in a thousand parts; much less it will be seen than the water
taken 1\ T here it escapes froln the rocks. Reflecting on the results
of this analysis, it is seen:
"1. That if the energy and medicinal virtue of waters depend
upon the quantity of salts contained in them, the ,vater of
Apoquilldo must produce effects at least as prompt and lnanifest
as that of Cauquenes. There \voulcl relnaill only the deternlina-
tion of the possible influence of local circumstances, of air, teln-
perature, and hygrometric state òf the atmosphere of the two
places, upon invalids.
" As far as the height abo\ye the sea-level is concerned, it is
nearly the sa
e in both localities; that of the Cauquenes baths
being, according to my barolnetric observations, eight hundred
'varas (the yara is about thirty-three inches, English measure-
Inent), and Apoquindo nine hundred and thirty-sL
varas above
the level of the sea.
"2. N early the whole of the dissolved salt consisting of com-
mon salt and chloride of calcitun, the latter forming about t",yo-
thirds of the entire matters in solution; this chloride ought to be
that which produces the principal effect upon invalids using the
,vater.
"3. It is seen that the Ãpoquindo waters and that of Cauque-
nes are analogous to each other in nature, and form perhaps a
class of Inineral waters distinct fi'om all those
nown on the old
continent. This class of waters, whose peculiar character con-
sists in the great quantity of chloride of calcium contained in
theIn, arises in the lnidst of formations precisely identical
in a geological point of vie\v; and it is not less interesting to
observe that the electro-positive elements "Thich most abound
in the said waters, are those ,,"'hich also abound in the
variegated porphyries and zoolitic rocks predominating in such
localities.
"It is desirable, in consequence of the no,v ascertained charac-
ter of the Apoquindo water, and of the important facts collected

.

\" ..\.LLEY OF SA1;TIAGO.

QoJ,..,
...a,

by certain physicians of the capital frol11 their use of it, that the
Government, or the lnunicipality of Santiago, should erect bath-
ing establishments and other suitable accommodations tor in-
valids at these springs; anJ also a hospital for the poor, ,,"hose
frightful mortality should stÍ1nulate the zeal of patriots, and the
hUlnane."
It is hoped that the extract above quoted has not proved too
long and scientifically minute to command perusa1. Apart fron1
the useful information it imparts, it shows that Chile is not
without residents of scientific attainments who are active in
making known its reSOlu"ces.
Since the publication of Professor Domeyko's essay, some
improvements have been ]nade; but still these are not either as
extensive or convenient as are demanded by the -wants of the
large population 1vithin a distance of seyen miles, to thousands
of whose afflicted, it is believed by the best info
ed physicians
of Santiago, these mineral waters Inight prove of great ad\"an-
tage. The present buildings are located on the grac1uallJ"-sloping
foot of the mountain, the valley of Santiago lying unfolded be-
lo,v, spread "With grass anel grain broken into dimples by sportive
zephyrs, "While sunshine and shadow chase each other over its
fair bosom. Long avenues of Lombardy poplars like nlilitary
hosts stand marshalled in columns, and olive gro,es re,.eal their
deeper verdure to give variety to the picture. .....\..cross the car-
pet of green and golù the 1Iapocho TIiyer takes it
winding
way, as if a subtle serpent seeking elysian bo"Wers. .t
nd far
away in the distance the Sierra de Prado lifts its dark fon11 and
sharp crest against the western sky like an impassable ",'all;
"Whilst behind, the towering Cordillera raises its head in gran-
deur, and in pride of the surpassing scene unrolled at its foot. It
is not without cause that the Santiaguinos dispute the origin of
the name Valparaiso 1vith their commercial neighbor, and refer
its"etymology to Valdivia's soldiers;who, on going to the coast
from thÎ;:; beautiful creation, exclaÍ111ecl to the founders of the
seaport who were boasting of its beauties, " Va al Paraiso"-
go to paradise-lneaning their enchanting ,[lUcy.
On onr w'ay back to the city the opportunity ,,'as n\"ailed of
to look at the TajaÍllClP (break,yater), a ,yall of nearly three
17

258

RAILROADS.

miles length on the south bank of the :Mapocho River, built at
the instance of the great benefactor Portales, to protect the
city against inundation when the river is in flood. The wall is
t\venty feet high and froln five to six feet thick. The river is
spanned by two bridges; one of them of substantial Inasonry,
six hundred and fifty feet long, supported thirty feet above low
water on eleven strong arches. This space is demanded to give
passage to this wild mountain streal11 when swollen.
No Inore proof is needed to sho\v that Chile is in advance
of its neighbor Peru, in the enterprise necessary to develop nat-
ural resources, than is found in its railroads and telegraph lines,
no\v in operation or in process of construction. The latter
country has but the Lima and Callao, and Lima and Chorillos
Raih'oads, seven and nine miles long respectively; and the Arica
and Tacna road of thirty-five miles length. Chile can boast of,
First, the Oaldera and Oopiapo Railroad, seventy-four miles in
length; originally built to Copiapo, fifty miles, and subsequently
extended to P abell on, twenty-four lniles further; the whole
having been finished in 1856 by an English and Chilean com-
pany at a cost of $2,500,000, under Alnerican construction. Its
transportation of copper ores is heavy. Second, the Pabellon
and Ohañarcillo Raih'oac1, \vhich, although in fact an extension
of the first mentioned, was built and is owned by a different
company. Its length is twenty-four Iniles; it was finished in
1859 at a cost of $800,000. The Inain business of the road is
the transportation of copper and silver ores. Tåird, the Val-
paraiso and Santiago Raih"oad, length one hundred and ten
lniles; finished to Quillota, thirty miles, at a cost of $7,000,000 ;
thence to the capital under contract, and no\v being pushed for-
\vard after considerable delay resulting frOITI political revolu-
tions of the country, and conflicting personal interests striving
to divert the road from the route originally decided on by the
able Anlerican engineer, 1\lr. CaITIpbel1, 'w'hose high sense of
duty and undeviating integrity and self-respect, led hÍ1n to re-
sign his posit.ion in the emplo)-ment of the Chilean GovernU1ent,
rather than s,verve froln his convictions of right, or submit to
the illterlueddling of the ignorant and selfish. His successor
may be more politic and accommodating in unimportant mat-

RAILROADS.

259

tel'S, but will be compelled to endorse the surveys and reCOll1-
mendations of
Ir. CalTIpbell by their adoption. For, unless
the valley of the Qlùllota River (more appropriately called .Llcon-
cagua) is pursued to the point at which that strealn is joined by
the Tabon River, and thence southeast,vardly along that river to
the offshoot of the Andes, forming by its w-estw-al'd stretch across
the great interior valley of Chile an internlontane link with tbe
Coast Range; and unless that spur of the Andean Cordillera is
crossed at the Ouesta of tlw TClbon, of only twenty-six hundred
and fifty feet height, 'with the Tabon River rising on one side
flowing northw-ardly, and the Za1nJJa Em'er rising on the other
side flowing southw'ardly, to conduct tlw road to the lllapocho
River, and by a slightly deviating line and uns
tr'pa88ecl grade
to its eastern terminus, Santiago is likely to be visited from
the seaport yet several generations, by ox-teams, French dili-
gences, and American stage-coaches. :Mr. Campbell may await
the approving verdict of the nation. The pedestal of his mon-
ument is erected-the column will soon be placed upon it.

Fo'urt/
, the Southe/
n Railroad, from Santiago to Talca, one
hundred and forty miles; finished to Rancagua, fifty miles from
the capital, at a cost of 83,900,000; and now under contract
and progressing to San Fernando, thirty-one miles further.
Fifth, the Cañada Railroad, which is merely a city passenger
branch of the last-named road. Its double track "Was laid two
miles along the outside of the fashionable Santiago promenade,
at a cost of 87-1,000. It is a profitable investInent for the own-
ers, the fare being a decimo, and no official perquisites-in rail-
road parlance "stealings "-by the conductors. This self-pay-
ing operation, to which the attention of railroad stockholders in
North America has been directed of late as the great cause of
small dividends, or no dividends at all, is prevented in the Ca-
ñada city railroad by the passenger being furnished ,,-ith a Inetal-
lie check in return for his fare, and on leaving the car he depos-
its the check in a locked box at the door. The number of
checks informs the agent at the end of line, 1vho alonG holds the

* f:incc the above was written the Santiago and Valparaiso Railroad has been com-
pleted on the line of survey indicated. Its length is one hundred and fourteen and
one-q,uarter miles; and the running time between the termini is eight hours.

260

LIFE INSURANCE.

key of the tell-tale, how many fares the conductor has received.
Besides the above roads, there are projected one of nine n1Ïles
ii'onl Ooquimbo to La Serena, and another of forty-five Iniles fro111
Tongoy to Ovalle, the latter certainly to be pushed forwarù "\\yith
energy, and speedily completed under the superintendence of

fr. J. A. Barnard, civil engineer; a fellow-citizen who honors
his own country by serving Chile ,vith rare fidelity and profes-
sional skill. Telegraph lines are in operation betw"een Santiago
and Valparaiso, Santiago and San Felipe, Santiago and Talca,
Caldera and Pabellon, Talcahuano and Concepcion.
I start to-morrow for Talcahuano by the land route to avoid
awaiting the steamer at Valparaiso. The journey ,vill be long
and wearisome, but the attractions of the great vaHey,vill prob-
ably repay one for any endurance of fatigue, exposure, and de..
privation. As to dang8]1, it might be as well, ,vere it not too late
to eftèct it, to consider the e},.1>ediency of obtaining a life insur-
ance in accordance with the Chilean custom, to ,vit: for a spe-
cified tilne, the insured person living for the period named to
1"eceive the amount of the policy; if he should die all is lost, but
as life is already gone the money can be of no mOlnent to the
one 'Jnost interested. The Santiaguinos consider it an excellent
method of providing a marriåge settlement for a daughter, who
being insured in childhood, on surviving, does not ùecolne a
bridal beggar; and 'w"hose chances of matrimonial bliss are pro-
portionably increased. If she should die, the relief of the hus-
band fron1 the burden of support cancels the loss of insurance.
As the hotel watchman is invariably on the corridor at Iny
hour for rising, enjoying his early Inorning nctp, he cannot be
relied on for an early 1110rning rap, and I shall have to "call"
myself, to be in time for the southern train. IIence as it is now
midr.-:ght, this last Santiago de8patcl
must be abruptly closed.
And in bidding you good-night, I "Till also say good-bye to the
Hotel Ingles, that one of the three inns of the capital at ,yhich
tolerable accolnmodation has been found, although ,vater and
towels are sadly needed, and bells also, or an indicator, to pre-
vent the unceasing calls from the galleries, which make of the
patio a bedlam from 11lorning to night.

CHAPTER XV.

SOcrm:R
RAILROAD DEPOT-GREAT I
-n:RIOR VALLEY OF CHILE BE1'WEE
TIIE ßï>ES
A
'l> CO.ÄST RA....
GE MOrST..US:3-YAIPU' RITER-.Å...
GOSTrR.A DE P..!.YSE-LåSDED ES.
TATE, SL"FFRAGE, TRE.ÄSO:Y, IXTOLER..ASCE-lU.SCAQL"A-C..\CIUPO.ÅL RITI
-nATHS OF
CAL'QLE..'X:S-REQUlXO.A-RIO CL.ARILLo--REXGo-.A:KGOSITIU. REGrLEYL-S..:L
FER.
X
'l>o-RIO TIXGrmIRICA-COr
'"TRY CO
"TEYASCE-EL DESCADEZADo-RIO '!'ESO.

ON a bright December morning, at a cost of a decÌ1no (ten
cents), the usual Santiago hack-hire, and the cheapest probably
in the ,vorld, I reached the southern railroad station directly
south of the ,yest end of the Cañac1a, with time to spare to take
a look at its buildings; and where I was shortly after joined by
the United States :Minister to Chile, who was to be ll1Y COln-
pagnon clu 'L.oyage.
1:\. substantially-enclosed space of sixty acres contained the
fol1owing buildings, erected with reference to capacity, con-
venience, and durability, unsurpassed in the northern States:
Besides a cOlumodious edifice in which are the 'Various offices of
the company, there are a first-class railroad station proper, three
hundred by ninety feet in extent," with iron cohunns, rafters,
In'aces, and corrugated iron roof, all of best finish, made in Eng-
land for erection in Santiago. A circular engine-house, con-
structed entirely of iron, one hundred and sixty-eight feet in
diameter; also lnade in England at a cost of
60,OOO. It is
capable of accommodating sixteen engines, nine of which are
now built and in use, nearly all }unerican, 111annfactured by
Rogers & Co., of Paterson, X e,v Jersey; and found on full and
fair trial to be superior in po'wer and speed to the El1gli::;h Ìln-
ported locomotives, which they have superseded. ....\.. nlacLine
shop one hundred and tw"enty by fifty-five feet, of brick and
aJobe, ,rith projecting corrugated iron roof; the machincry all

262

RAILROAD DEPOT.

American; the worlnnen Americans, Englisl1, and natives. A
car shed three hundred and fifty by forty-fi.-ve feet; a double,
open colonnade supporting an iron roof: A freight house t,vo
hundred and eighty by thirty-eight feet, thick adobe walls, with
close fire-proof shutters and corrugated iron roof.
The water for the use of this station is brougllt three miles,
from the 1\fapocho River, in iron pipes laid for this special use.
There. are feW' railroad stations more cOlnplete or better ar-
ranged, or as cleanly and orderly, as this of the Southern Chile
Railroad Company; and its 3ppearance gave promise of good
managelnent in the 1vorldng of the road on ,vhich we ,yere about
to trust ourselves to the care of American engineers, certainly
,,'"ith l1101'e confidence than can be felt in the ,vild Chilenos, "Tho
dash do,vn the neighboring cuesta as if the question of human
endurance were the problem of their lives, which they ,vere
daily engaged in solving.
The cars being well filled with first, second, and third-class
passengers, at a cost respectively of OTIe dollar and a half, one
dollar, and half a dollar, for Rancagua, a distance of fifty-four
Spanish (fifty English) miles-the third-class passengers out-
numbering both the others-1ve started in a southerly direction
up the valley, because with the ascending scale of latitude; the
Andes on our left to the east, and the Coast Range on our right
to the ,,"'est, about t,,'"enty-five n1iles asunder at Santiago, but
approaching nearer at some points while they recede at others,
an average width of the valley being probably about eighteen
miles.
In thus designating the boundaries of the great valley which
stretches to the south from three hundred and fifty to lour
hundred Iniles, it 111ay be stated that froln t,vclve to fifteen
Inilef: north of T1.lJJ1l/ngato, the Î1nperial peak of this region,
which is but little north of east of Santiago, the Andes throv.,"
off a mountainous chain ,vest,vardly called Sierra de la .Dellesa,
"hich pursues its 60me\vhat flexuous course under the local
names of Sie1"ra de la G1.laltatas, and Sierl'a de la lJIeza alta ;
on the last is the 01t1nbre de Tabon. It is near this Í1nportant
cumbre-over ".hich, by the surveys of our countryman 1\11'.
Caìnpbel1, the Valparaiso and Santiago Railroad "rill have to

.

GREAT Th
ERIOR VALLEY.

263

cross with a two feet higher grade than that with which the
:BaltÌ1nore and Ohio Railroad crosses the Alleghanies-that this
offshoot of the Ande:; changes its cour
e to the southw'est, and
reaching a point twenty-five or thirty miles southeast of Quil-
Iota, divides into t"yo chains, one of which, the less of the t,vo,
continues on in a southwest course under the names SieJ>/1a de
la Viscacha and Sie),l'a de Zepata, and then westwardly run-
ning out to the seacoast just north of the Maipú Ri\e1', after
havlllg gÎ\en numerous spurs which tra\e1'se the Province of
Valparaiso. The other, and more elevated chain, passes almost
due south, under the name of Sie/ 1 ra de Pl'ado, several times
spoken of before, and forn1s the western boundary of the great
basin in ,vhich Santiago is situated, while the great Andean
Range itself forms the eastern boundary. It is at a somewhat
depressed part of this Sierra de Prado, and yet at a height of
twenty-four hundred and twenty feet above the sea, that the
well-known Cuesta or Pass is found through which the traveller
by one of the routes finds his way to the capital, and the descent
of the steep zigzag declivity of lvhich causes him so much terror.
It is this last chain, the Sierra de Prado, which pUTsues its w'ay as
the true coast range south of the Mail'úTIh"'er, and far on eyen
to the Province of Valdivia; and by this name I shall call it,
avoiding that of Oordillera, as applied to it bJ a few writers,
and restricting that term solely to the backbone of the A.ndes,
according to the invariable usage of the natives. Certainly the
word cordillel'a, ,vhich signifies a chain, is specially applicable
to the greatest 'Jllountain chain of the 'lIJo, 1 ld. Thus, too, will be
avoided the confusion resulting ii'om its application to the com-
paratively limited chain of the coast, unless a suffix is ah\aY>3
added, as the Cordillera de la Costa.
The plain over which the railroad passes south of Santiago
presents occasional isolated hilJs, other"ise the surface seeIns
nearly leye1, a slight declivity to the ""est being l11allifest by the
flow of ,yater in the innumeraùle slllaU canals by ,\\Thich the
,,
.hole region is irrigated-these being supplied by the great
Canal de lIaipú in its passage from the riyer of that naUle to
the )Iapocho; and further on by the 1Iaipú Riyer itselt
and
then b.r the lllany streams in thell' })a:::-:,age froill the great lllOllli-

264

GREAT INTERIOR YALLEY.

tain chain toward the sea. The railroad excavations invariably
exhibit a substratunl of boulders, cobble, and Slnaller rounded
stones, and these are seen in cuttings of thirty-t,vo feet depth,
sho,ving the long-continued, extensive, and powerful action of
water in breaking up the mountain debris thro,vn o,ff byearth-
quakes, frost, and avalanche, and rounding and spreading it
over iInmense surface and to great depth. They are interesting
questions to consider, if this be the result of nlountain strealns
swollen into torrents by heavy rains and thaws, spreading ,,:,id
ly
and shifting their channels frolll tÏ1ne to tÏ1ne frotn this cause,
and fi'oln terrestrial convulsions which often induce surface
changes
Or if consequent on agencies at ,york ages since,
when the ocean itself 11lay have stretched forth a giant arnl into
the interior of tbe continent, ,vashing the base of "the Cordillera
on the east, and of the Coast Range on the ,vest
Or if incident
to these combined causes

IIowever unfitted for agricultural uses this stony yalley un-
doubtedly once was, it is now yery productive, and is constantly
being Inade nlore so by the deposits of soil and fertilizing ele-
Inents brought down fi'om the mountains, by numerous rivers,
and distributed by stnall aqueducts over every square tnile of
this section of Chile. The recovery of' this shingly neigbbor-
hood froln sterility, is the result of recent enterprise.
The road to San Bernardo, nine and a half' 111iles, is bordered
by beautiful quintas, and rich pastures \\There Í111mense herds of
cattle driven down the valley are fattened for the Santiago
and Valparaìso Inarkets. Beyond San Bernardo vineyards
cover thousands of acres, and olive and fig orchards no,v beautify
lands which a few years since ,vere nearly valueless, but through
irrigation and culture have become exceedingly fertile. Leagues
of gra
eful ala1no8 (poplars) lift their tall spires on every hand,
serving the varied purposes of shading avenues, bounding estates,
fencing, fuel, and building. The certain and rapid gro,vth of .
this tree from the planting of a lnere t,vig, fits it especially to
the wants of the country, ,vhich through this region is almost
destitute of natural tÏ1nber. ltIany of the large estates are
enclosed by high and thick adobe ,yalls, perforated thicldy.with
air-draught openings, which l11ight serve admirably for lllusketry

:yAIPÚ :RITER.

265

loop-holes in the revolutionary encounters of the Republic.
The walls are tile-capped, to prevent rain washing and climbing.
The adobes are Inade by ploughing the eoil, and flooding it witb
,,"ater from a canal; the water then being drawn off, cattle are
turned on to tran1p the ploughed soil into mud, 'which is then
mixed "ith straw and tramped again, then moulded in troughs
of a suitable size, and exposed to the sun to bake. Such is the
most convenient and the usual material for mansion and fence
on the be5t haciendas.
The announcement of our approach to the lraipú River
attracted the attention of passengers to tbe outer world, the
Chilenos fì'om their cigarit05, with which they beguiled the
tedious hours and poisoned the inner atmosphere, and the five
.Americans aboard from their books and papers-none others
were reading or noting. A tra\eller along the west coast of this
great continent cannot fail to notice the absence of one special
.d:7ï1Æ/ican ,. i/z8titution j" the token of enterpri:;e, activity, in-
tent, inquiry, power, knowledge-the 1)/'001 of pl'og,>es8-the
neu.:sòoy! On the landing, at the station, on car and steamer,
in hotel or street, the same Dead Sea of mind is found, with no
daily literature, no magazine, no quarterly, no guide-book even,
absolutely nothing to stir up the passive elements of moral
being. If the Shl"ill \oice of that young merchant of civilization
-for that is the commodity in which he deals-could be once
heard aw'aking the echoes of' this fair garden of the w'orld, the
hopes of nations 'Would be cheered by the promise of its actual
freedom and develoPlnent; for it ,,'ould be the proof that the
now fettered press had burst its chains, and stood forth in the
majesty of its might, guaranteeing to man the realization of his
lofty destiny.
The bridge over the 1Iaipú, one of the finest rivers of Chile,
has eleven spans and a total length of eleyen hundred feet; it is
built exclusively of stone and iron, timber not being used for
raih'oad bridge purposes, in consequence of warping and crack-
ing from the long-continued dry 'Weather of summer. 'fhe heavy
rains of winter finding it thus twisted and cracked, swells it
again by unequal absorption into shapes at variance with rail-
road necessities.
\.n
\.merican traveller cannot look at such

266

])IA!PÚ RIVER.

splendid monUlnents of science and skill as this bridge, and cor-
responding works on this road, without feeling proud of his
countryman, :Thlr. Evans, their constructor; ,vbo, while contrib-
uting to the prosperity of Cbile and to the developlnent of its
natm'al resources, nobly illustrates the enterprise and capacity
,vhich bave placed his country an10ng the 11l0st progressive of
l1ationali ties.
The floods of the 1Ylaipú ,vash do,vn from the 1110Ulltains
great quantities of lÏ1nestone, which is gathered by the peons
",-hen the s,yollen river subsides, and burnt ill limekilns along
the banks, furnishing an excellent building and agricultural In a-
teria1, as likewise that required for the cO'J7'qntlsory whitewashing
of 1
ouse8 on the occctsion of tlte annual national celeb'pation.
This stream also deposits a sediment ,vhich grouts the shingle
along its course ,vith a natural cement, Inaldng the banks in
many places impervious to water for a thickness of ten feet.
Up the valley to the left of the road, along which the Colo-
rado, the northeast branch of the 1\Iaipú, descends, the summit of
Tupungato Inay be seen lifting its snowy crown hTJ. imperial
grandeur twenty-two thousand four hundred and fifty feet above
the sea, wresting froln Chhnborazo its ancient celebrit
y., and dis-
puting ,vith Aconcagua, Llimani, and Sorato, the preënánence
of altitude on the western 'helnisphere. I
It ,vas on the plains of the 1\Iaipú, but a few rniles east of
the point of passage of the river by the railroad, that the deci-
sive battle ,vas fought ,yhich secured Chilean independence;
the Spanish arnlY six thousand strong, in perfect discipline, and
flushed "Tith a recent victory on the banks of the :Thfaulé, having
been here, ,vi thin a few da
ys' Inarch of the capital, encountered
l)y six thousand fiye hundred Chilenos in April, 1818, anù de-
feate(l ,vith great slaughter; t,vo thousand of the royalists hav-
ing. been killed and ,,"ouuded, and three thousand five hundred
Inade prisoners-nearly the entire force.
The
Iaipú lli vel' pursues its ,vay to the Pacific through the
great portal of the Coast Range, of ,vhich Inention ,vas n1ade in
descriùing the
Ielipilla road to the capital. The plain over
,vhich the road passes to the south of the river 1.1aipú, is much
encroached on by n10untain spurs; and, after pa.ssing the An-

A...,""GOSTGRA. DE P A. YKE.

267

{tostura TIi vel' eighteen miles south of the ::\Iaipú by a fine tower-
bridge of three hundred and sixty feet, it becomes reduced to a
mere gorge, 'where the .dndes come dO""l1 in the bold hin of
Chiyi, t-wenty-five hundred feet high, to within ninety or a hun-
dred feet of a lowlier spur of the Coast Range. The river flows
north,varclly between the two, and the railroad cuts the toe of
the Coast Range spur-the whole gorge being swept by the
ri-ver when swoUen. This is the celebrated Angostul'a of the
Southern Railroad-the word signifying naJ'row jJ fl 8s-and is
sometimes called Angostura de Payne to distinguish it from
another
ngostura further to the south.
A few miles beyond is the Convent of Mostazal, erected by
Don Pedro José Luco who married his o-wn niece by permission
of His Holiness the Pope, on condition that he would Lui1c1 and
support this convent on hi::, hacienda in nlitigation of the Sill.
K ear the convent is the haunted b,.idge, on the character of
which for the supernatural, an adjacent hydraulic ram, erected
for the supply of a railroad tank with 'water, exercised a con-
trolling influence; for ,,-hen it was put in operation, the simple
and superstitious native
, ignorant of its presence and action,
thought its continued pumpings the nloanings of fin evil Epirit
in the bridge, and sought the mediatorial offices of the Padre of
the convent, who came with paraphernalia, retinue, and ..expur-
gatorial pra.yers, to exorcise it. But the ranl being incorrigible,
and continuing to pump, the spirit "'as supposed to be too nluch
for the good father; wh
, in consequence, was about to lose his
hold on the faith of his flock, when one of the railroad engineers,
dreading the loss of the padre's benign influence, eXplained to
him the mystery of the spiritual phenonlenon, much to his edifi-
cation and unconcealed Inerriment, and thus he was speedily
restored to the confidence of his rebellious parishioners.
The great valley soon resumes something of its former width,
anel at the distance of nine miles frolll the
ngostura, the
northern boundary is reached of the magnificent hacienda de la
Compania of Don Juan de dios Correa, containing ninety thou-
sand acres of land. This gentlenlan \; estate of San J osé, on the
ltlelipilla road, of one hundred and t""yenty thousand acre:;, has
already been spoken of. With such an example of landed pro-

268

LANDED ESTATE.-SUFFRAGE.

prietorship, the remark of an intelligent foreign resident is not
surprising, that, excepting the eities, and quint as owned by
wealthy citizens, and the rnines, the "\vl101e landed estate of Chile
belongs to about three hundred persons. The effect of this,
hitherto, has been to make this Governnlent an actual oligarchy.
For as the right of suffrage, by la,v, is in those citizens only ,vho
have attained the age of twenty-five years \vho can read and
'write, those ,vho possess real estate of a certain value, and those
who have an emploYlnent the income of ,yhich must be equal to
the annual rent of such estate, estimated at not less than one
dollar and a half per day, it 111USt be evident that, as not one-
fifth of the inquilinos or peons, ,vho con1pose the great body of
the rural population, can read and ,vrite, and as their daily
"\vages rarely amount to a medio peso (a half dollar), they have
but one chance of voting, and that is by a fictitious property
qualification conferred on them by the proprietor of the estate
on ,yhich they live, and for ,vhich act of grace they, of course,
deposit the ticket furnished to them by hiln. The extent of tbis
po,ver is exelnplified by the fact, that Señor Correa is said to
have 1nustered into service, in a fortnight, t\VO thousand of his
retainers for revolutionary purposes. It is not wonderful that
the Governlllent should have found Paris a safer residence for
Señor Correa than San José, and that he should have been
recommended to that school of ste'pn 'l'epublicani8'm to learn obe-
dience to its behests. Nor is it surprising that such a feudal
system, and the perpetual jealousies of rival aspirants incident
thereto, should lead to intrigues, cOlnbinations, and revolutions,
for personal and partisan aggrandizement; that treason to the
State, not obedience to the Law, should be the rule. In the
political convulsions of tbe Spanish Alncricau Republics, this
treason to the State is as frequently the act of those holding the
reins of government, as those striving to wrest theln from their
hands; for the usul1?ation of po'wers not granted by the \vritten .
Constitution, is as much treason to the State as the violation of
special enactments for its safety under that fundamental law.
And the apology for arbitrary acts by an existing organization
of government, that they would also become the rule of action
of succe5sful revolutionists, is a plain avo,val of a purpose of

IXTOLERAXCE.

26D

despotism under the hypocritical pretension of free institutions.
As to the motto on the gold coin of Ohile, "equality before the
law,.' it is a national falsehood. Such a condition of citizenship
is Ì1npossible, with the two hundred and forty-nine thousand
nine hundred and fifty-two square miles of territory, parcelled
out among only three hundred of its one million and a half of
inhabitants. .And if any thing lnore were ,ranted to pro\e the
declaration a coined lie, it is found in that ....-\.,rticle of the Consti-
tution proclaimed in these words: "Å1,ticle 5.- La religion ùe
la Republica de Chile es la Catolica .á.postolica Romana con
esclusion del ejercicio publico de qualquiera otra." " The reli-
gion of the Republic of Chile is the Apostolic Roman Catholic
to the exclusion of the public exercise of every other." Was
there ever a more barefaced profanation of political principle?
A Re.J.'>Jl1òlic declaring its own intoll:l'ance! .L-\.. prohibition of
religious liberty, the dearest right of mankind, by the funda-
'llu3ntalla1.v of a country just released from a foreign yoke, and
professing to have established free institutions!
But it is not without hope that the friend of Chile looks for-
ward to the day when, "by reason or by force," as is proclaimed
by another of its representatives of value, these antagonists to
progress 'will dÜ:;appear before a more liberal spirit. Recent
legislation contemplates the final abolishment of the law of
entail, and the liberation of the landed estate of the country
from its present limited control, that it may become tributary to
the happiness and welfare of the many, instead of to the princely
wealth and power of the few. .Á<\.lready an enlightened stateslnall
and patriot, whose administration of the interior and foreign
relations of the country is distinguishing this epoch as the proud-
est and most prosperous of Chilean history, has decreed that the
'Words of the Constitution, " exclusion of the public exercise of
religion," do not prohibit the private exercise of religious rites
according to the dictates of conscience; and, accol'clinglJ, two
enclosed Protestant churches have been recently dedicated to
religious ,,,"orship in V alparaiso. That city and Talcahuano
have also burial-places for Protestant dead, "\\
here fr:enc1s may
consign the111 I to earth without danger of personal violence.
And already the JToung Inen of Spanish descent are returning

270 REVOLUTIONS-THEIR CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES.

.
home from foreign colleges and travel, bringing the kno"\vledge,
,
and in1bued with the liberal sentiments of other lands, to give a
nobler impulse to the destinies of their own. And the young
,v omen of Chile also are discovering that Protestant foreigners
are "\vorthy of their confidence and affection; and the sooner pro-
hibitions to such marriages by a narro,v-Ininded clergy are re-
moved, the sooner will the country realize the advantages of an
infusion of moral and social elements surpassing in purity and
po"\ver those of the degenerate I-lispano-Indian race cOlnposing
four-fifths of its populàtion.
.A law lately passed by Oongress confiscates the property of
all persons instigating or participating in Tevolutions, to defray
the damages incident thereto. This, it is professed by its advo-
cates, will exercise a salutary influence in restraining causeless
disturbances of the public peace; while it cannot prevent a
general uprising of the people, demanded by the public good,
when arbitrary and unconstitutional powers are exercised by
faithless agents. But it cannot be denied that such obstructions
placed in the "\vay of so-called factional disturbers of the public
peace may also prove ilnpediments to popular movelnents for
necessary reforms. The objects of ambition are generally veiled
by plausible pretexts; and the path of progress has been con-
stantly barricaded by despotic power with sÍ1nilar obstacles.
The friends of ftee institutions should ùe too jealous of their
privileges voluntarily to surrender theln in cases of doubtful ex-
pediency, at the instance of crafty aspirants, or from impulses
gro"\ving out of apparent emergencies. It should be candidly
admitted, ho,,"'ever, that personal ambition and antipathies, and
ecclesiastical love ofpo,ver, lnore frequently produce the factional
struggles in Chile Iniscalled Revolutions, than do considerations
of political principle or national policy; and hence the readiness
with "\vhich cOlnbinations are forn1ed bet",veen rival leaders and
parties of opposite professions, for the purpose of achieving the
displacement of those in power by revolutionary movements;
which, if successful, result in renewed struggles alTIOng thenl-
selves, and new alliances of antagonistic elements to strengthen
the chances of triumph. The maintenance of principles regards
,vith suspicion a coulpronljse dangerous to their purity, and to a

REVOL"CTIOSS-THEIR CArSES
-n CO:XSEQUE...,,"CES. 271

triumph which can only be permanent, if it repose on untram-
Inellecl virtue and right. .Lilld the opinion of intelligent fureign
ob
erver8 is, that it is very rare to see a reany disinterested and
pure patriot, engaged e,en remotely in the political disturbances
of the country. Such are we11 aware that it is not by duplicity,
dishonesty, affiliation with ecclesiastical selfishness and intoler-
ance, and factional intrigues, that they can hope to establish
the success of sound political principles and constitutional lib-
erty. .A.. victory gained by such means, i8like a nectared draught
that turns to poison on the lip, and reslùts in an immediate and
perpetuated struggle with former coöperationists 'whose only
hope is in distraction, and who ,rill labor as untiringly for the
overthrow of one party as of another who will not relinquish to
them the rewards of success. It may be for these reasons in
part, that the distinguished gentleman now at the head of the
Departn1ent of the Interior, Señor ..Antonio Varas, has positively
refused to allow his name to be presented to the nation as a
candidate for the office of President of the Republic-a refusal
deeply regretted by enlightened and patriotic Chilenos, and uni-
versally by foreign residents, ".ho have seen in Señor '7' aras'
able, consistent, just, and firm administration of the affairs of
his office, proofs of great sagacity, and a rational ground for be-
lief that under his Chief Executi,e guidance, as a statesman and
patriot, Chile would continue to prosper, as she has for several
years, in an unprecedented manner. Office can ha,e no allure-
ments for such a man, whose high intellectual resources can
al ways confer on him eminence and happiness; who may not
choose to be suspected by any of having exercised his official
functions for ulterior purposes of political advancelnent; and
who nlay be unwilling to sacrifice a jot of principle to policy
and expediency. But when such considerations resTIlt in such
conclusions, it is a misfortune for the people "hose condition Î1n-
poses then1.
The defile of ..Angostura de Payne having been passed, the
valley is seen to widen again to the east and west until the
hacienda de la compania of Señor Correa is reached. On this
estate is an isolated and remarkably steep hill of three hundred
and fifty or f01U' hundred feet height, accurately described by

272

PAN DE AZUCAR.

Lieutenant Gilliss as presenting a "sm'Íace covered at intervals
of a few feet ,vith a network of lines intersecting each other
diagonally, not unlike paths made by goats." lIe adds: "Tbe
regularity of their intersection, however, would forbid such a
supposition," leaving the appearance an unexplained phenolne-
non. But tIle mystery of Lieut. Gilliss ceased to be such to us
,yhell another side of the Pan de Âz'ucar (sugar-loaf) was
brought into view; a ]arge number of sheep being actually seen
bro,vsing, as they cliu1bed and descended the hin obliquely, the
nU111erOUS paths decussating each other, and intercepting quadri-
lateral spaces, producing the net,vork appearance spoken of,
from the base to the sUlnlnit. The mysterious lines are sheep-
paths-nothing 1110re-although in a land of n1any ,,:ronders.
Despite tbe mathematical postulate, that a straight line is the
shortest distance l)etween two points, a sheep has an instinctive
notion that the old saw" the longest ,ray round js the shortest
way through" has some truth in it-and that the shortest ,vay
to reach the top of a bill is spirally; and a continuous corkscrew
thence to tbe base again, unless the sheep be a very clu111sy
,vorker, Inust give "regularity of the intersections," bo-\vever
incredulous the philosophical inquirer.
I-Iaving crossed this imlnense estate with its rich pastures,
and its fields of heavy-headed grain, spreading out their tens of
thousands of acres of agricultural wealth, traversed near the line
of the railroad by a n1acadan1ized avenue bordered by poplars
for balf a league, presenting an unsurpassed perspective to tbe
Inansion of the wealthy haciendado èmbowered in shade-trees
at its further end, ,ve soon arrived at the station of Rancagua,
the present terminus of the Southern Railroad, fifty-four Iniles
from Santiago-time three hours and a half. T'aldng one of the
several vehicles jockeying for passengers on the plain of shingle,
on which ,ve slipped and slid in ridicule of equipoise, we rode
to tbe town, a mile off.
The literal "carry-all" in ,vhich ,ve were literally all
carl)1ied, ,vas unmistakably antiquated, and looked as if it \\"ere
the time-honored relnains of a Spanish gift to SOI11e Puruman-
ciau Indian chief, whom the invaders endeavored fo inveigle
into submission before resorting to force, and to have drifted

,-

-

RAXCAGUA.

273

down to later days with the ebb and flo,v of aboriginal fortune,
to have floated on the tide of revolution, weathering military
outbreak and civil commotion, and to ha,e descended fronl its
exalted function of conveying royalty through all mutations of
time, to the final bumble office of transporting railroad passen-
gers to and from the ancient town ûf Rancagua. Our" coach"
had wheels, body, and tongue, but they were not such as usually
distinguish that honorable ,ehicle; for the wheels, besides exer-
cising the independent revolutionary proclivities of the people,
from their unequal size, bore but little resemblance to such, ex-
cept in the presumption that they had once been round. The
body had neither doors nor curtains; and fron1 its 103
of sub-
stance and general dilapidation, it was shrewdly suspected that
the reverence in '\vbich it had been held as a remnant of royalty
by those who mourned o,er the monUlnents of departed great-
ness, had led to its gr
dual passing away from the prevalence
of an endemic passion for relics. And the tongue was as much
like a cow's as å coach's; broad, and pliant enough to penetrate
the anterior air-holes of the ,ehicle by retroversion, if the mulish
beasts attached to it had not, with characteristic stubbornness,
refused to accommodate themselves to its abortive efforts.
Three asinine rozinantes roped abreast, and driven by a Rota
attired in a somewhat Inore affluent than Georgia costume, for
he had a chip hat, something more of a shirt than a collar, and
the dependencies of breeches, conveyed us after ,aried pummel-
lings and prodigious efforts, through a mile of dust and loose
cobble stone to the Hotel de l' Union, a one-story adobe building
planted in the midst of lnuddy-looking huts, that seemed as if
they were being borne down by the trouble of a superincumbent
load of tiles. The estimated population of Rancagua is from
four to five thousand, Inostly of varJillg copper shades.
The objects attracting attention on entering the capital of
the Department of TIancagua, to which the advent of a railroad
should have brought sOlnething of Ï1nprovement in social con-
dition by thiß tiu1c, ,v ere, besides shirtless urchins, and in emu-
lation of Constantinople, countless dogs-the undoubted equals
of that cla:::,s of people everywhere ,,,"hose incapacity for refined
and intellectual plea:3ure gives congeniality to the cOlnpanion-
18

.

.

274

CACIIAPOAL RIVER.

ship of brutes: first, the interesting ceremony of kissing a little
wooden saint, for ,vhich blessed privilege the holy father ,vho
was its custodian and carried it tbrough the street, levied upon
each person a tithe-the equivalent of an Aillerican Inissionary
" tis-but;" second, the registering of yoters and issuing the
certificate of qualification; third, the church, riddled by bullet-
holes patriotical1y preserved, to show where General O'Higgins
with a few Cbilenos made a stout defence against a superior force
of Spanish royalists, through "\\-hom he afterwards cut his ,vay.
Our stay in this town ,vas too short to al1o,v of wanderings,
which ,vould have paid poorly for the loss of necessary refresh-
ment, and in1perious appetite decided in Ütvor of casuela, fish,
eggs, beefsteak, mosto-all good, as were also the bread, butter,
and coffee; hence Rancagua must be reported
ore favorably
of than appearances indicated. T,velve dollars purchased a seat
in the French Company's coach, driven six in hand by a Cali-
fornian, and at meridian the route was resumed toward Talca.
.
It was a pretty picture that greeted the eye, as passing from
the town, lID.."TIriant gardens and fields were seen decked in the
choicest livery of summer; while the Cordillera, clad in its
snowy mantle, overlooking the genial valley, told that winter
still reigned in those upper regions. A ride of a mile and a
half brought us to the Oachapoal Riv8 r p, which, ii'om its origin
\vithin the Andean Chain on the slope of the Oruz de Piedra
cluster of mountains rising to the height of seventeen thousand
feet, is fed even in the dry season of summer by melting S1l0\YS,
and hence is even then abundantly supplied with vtater; while
at tÌIlles, either from heavy rains in the region in "l'hich it has
its nun1erous sources, or from unusual thaws, it becomes greatly
8woE
n, its torrent spreading over a vast extent of surtàçe, and
devastating the whole country along its banks. The expanse
of boulders and gravel visible on every side, sho
Ts its capacity
of "wiùe-spread mischief, and the power it lllust possess thus to
break up, rouI?-d, and s'''''eep away l11illions of tons of rock from
l110untain quarries. The ,yaters of this river reach the Pacific
by the Rapel River, into ,vhich it elnpties. The Cachapoal
was crossed by a fine bridge erected for the passage of the
Southern Railroad, "\\:"hich is finished to this point although not
yet run beyond Rancagua. .

BATHS OF C.à.LG'GESES.

'>"'''''
_.t:>

It is up the valley of this river, about thirty Ini1es east of
Rancagua, nearly three thousand feet aboye the sea, and within
the .Átndean foot, that the Baths of Cauguenes are situated.
Thev are celebrated in Chile for the p05session of Inedicinal
oj
properties, and especially for the cure of rheumatism, secondary
syphilis, and chronic cutaneous eruptions. The baths are not
easy of access, tbe road being rough, acclivitous, and in many
places narro,v and dangerous, making the sure-footed mu1e
necessary; and the too sick for such a means of conveyance, and
the timid, are carried on an extelnporaneous ambulance or hand-
barrow, called langa,'illo, formed of folU
poles lashed together
with thongs near their ends, over ,,,hich a rawhide sacking is
stretched. .J:.1. TIsitor who returned from these batbs during my
sojourn in Santiago, and who had great faith in their virtues,
frolll his haying been cured in ten days of an inveterate sypbi-
litiê rheun1atisn1, informed me that the springs are three in
number, fro
hich eight or ten baths, sunk in earth terraces
below each other, are filled;. each bath being separately sheltered
by a thatch caLin for privacy. The telnperature of the ,,-ateI'
varies frolll 100 0 to 120 0 , according to tbe time required to fill
the 1ath. The composites of lime are the chief elements of the
water. The $lccommodations, formerly consisting of a tew rude
· cabins, are now being increased by the erection of a commodious
hotel; and the proprietor is also having the most difficult and
dangerous part of the road to the springs improved. To obtain
the full benefit of the water it is necessary, besides applying it
externally, to drink of this rather u"arm beverage, consider
g
it is distilled in a snow-covered retort of the Andes.
l\.bout two miles south of the Cacbapoal is the Rio Seco,
formerly the principal bed, but now only a branch of the first-
named river-the old channel having become greatly obstructed
by rocks and trees swept fi'om the mountain by floods. ..Although
named dl'Y, the Seco presents quite a full and turbulent appear-
ance from the unusual thaw of this bot day. The road south
of the Rio Seco is as level as a floor, and naturål1y paved with
shingle, which from long use ha
been broken and consolidated
like a macadamized turnpike. \\.,. ell-culth-atecl field:;, rich
alfalfa pastures, "ith an occasional vineJard, and what closely

.

276

RIO CLARILLO.-RENGO.

resembled apple orchard::;, but proved to l)e methodically-planted
Espinos, enclosed by substantial adobe or boulder fencing 'with
parapet of dry mud or tiles, bounded our ,,:ide avenue; ,vhich
was enlivened by lllule trains, country carts, and herds of fat
cattle on their ,vay to Illarket. These evidences of thrift and
industry, with .the newly-constructed bed of the Southern Road,
now ready for the rails, ,vindil1g its ,yay ,vithin sight through
adjacent fields, made our ride of nine mil
s to the village of ':
Requinoa, interesting and cheering. An equal distance furtber
on brought us across two little estel'OS of linlpid ,vater, TijJC(/um
and JJIendoza, to the beautiful Rio Olal}'>illo, ,vhich, having
received the two before-nallled crystal streanls, seeks the Oacha-
poal, with which it unites before that river pierces the Ooast
Range of mountains. The distinction made by the natives be-
t,veen the Estero and Rio is, that the former rises from springs
near tbe foot of mountains, and except in the rainy season, is
always placid and clear; ,vhile the latter rises witfíill the moun-
tains, and even in the dry season, from the IneIting sno,v, is
usually s,vollen with a turbid and often inlpetuous torrent.
N ear the Rio Ularillo is the town of Rengo, containing about
t,vo thousand inhabitants, and consisting of straggling houses
bordering the roadside for Inore than'two miles, thus enabling
the traveller in transit to see to best advantage whatever of ex.
ternal attraction Rengo Dlay possess. We certainly entered this
town ,vith pleasing anticipations; for, ,ve plead guilty to a par-
donable "reakness of our sex, and were eager to catch the first
glance at the pretty señoritas ,vho live in travellers' tales, and of
whom an American astronOlner has recorded that, " ,vhat most
elicits the attention of the passer is the handsome features of
the Y"Jmen." But either our srnitten countryman's retina re-
tained the lingering Í1npressions of those celestial orbs ,vhich
had been nightly winking at and coquetting with him as h

lovingly gazed at them from the summit of Santa Lucia, and he
mistook them for the teITestrial satellites lllan loves to have
revolve about his path, "on whom" the poet tells us "than on
the lights above there hang more destinies; " or ,ye were most
unfortunate in making our observations during an occultation,
for ,ve strained our vision in vain for a realization of blissful

.

.AXGOSTUR.A REG "CLEMU.

277

anticipations. It ""as final1y voted that tltis P(U't of tlte RCjJo"t
of the United States .LYa'ì'al AstJ' zOlnical Ec-Cpedition was an
error of observation, resulting fron1 an ocular illusion, and that
\\"e should be guilty of a libel upon some other parts of Chile if
\\"e imputed to their social heavens the possession of less brilliant
constellations.
Beyond Rengo the road becomes somewhat m'ore undulating,
and about six miles ii'oln the to\vn passes over the slightly-ele-
vated termination of a spur of the Andes, which for some time
had been noticed gradually encroaching upon our route.
Crossing this, we entered the Angostul,((; ReguUmu, a second
nan'o'v pass formed by the Andes and Coast Range, throw'Îng
off lateral spurs "hiéh approach '\vithin a hundred yards of each
other. ..A. creek, tbe Estero de Regulému, winds along the
southeast foot of the .....\.ndean spur, and passes through the gorge
in a northerly direction, and preparations are in progress to
throw over it a railroad bridge of three hundred and fifty feet
length. This is the last point at 'which '\ve saw the advancing
"ork.of the great Soutbern Road, for the cOlnpletion of w'hich
Chile should put forth all her energies, as upon it will depend
the development of the resources of her truly rnagnificent interior
-valley. .....
narrow palt of the -valley was now traversed for a
distance of about two anel a half leagues, "hen \\"e crossed the
Rio San Fe,'nando, an arln of the Rio Tinguiririca, elnbracillg
an insular tract of land on which stands the town of B(ln FeJ>-
nando (a contraction of St. Ferdinando), in latitude 3-1: 0 35' S.,
"There we arri,ed at 4 o'clock P. M., glad to :find that it \\"as not
inundated by this ,vild 1110untain stream, ,,'hich in heav
r rains
and tha"Ts holds the inhabitants in constant apprehension.
The population of San Fernando is variously estilnated. If
the Departlnent of Colchagua, extending tì
oln the Ri-ver Cacha-
poal to the Teno, and from the .á.ndes to the sea, of \\"hich it is
the capital, is correctly reported as baving from ten to t
Yelve
thousap.d inhabitants, San Fernando probably contains half the
number. The plaza is a Juere common; the streets, ,,-ith few
exceptions, are unpaved; and the houses, low, untidy, and Ull-
sightly, might, with few exceptions, be called wretched lllUd
hut
. ,. Carpentier's IIotel;' of 'which the o"yner of the E-tage-

.

218

RIO TINGUIRIRICA.

line is proprietor, and to which we were of course carried to get
the grub-nothing n1ore-
Igularly included in tlw stagejare, ,
,ve found to be a Inean and Iniserable hovel, ,yithout even pre-
tence of decent accon1modation about it. Dinner without
dishes, and a chalnber ,vithout comfort or cleanliness, ,vere the
realities of "entertainment." A tin pan of cas
tela, fiery with
aji, fOl: tIle inner-man; and a flag-Inat bed "ithout sheets, and
a patched coverlid like Joseph's coat of many colors, for the
outer-Iuan, were the sum and substance of our '" f
u'e included; "
that horrible gratuity, which precluded even the poor privilege
of gruin bling. An infinitesimal portion of the fiery broth
served to allay any desire for its further acquaintance; and even
had our couch invited it, slumber ,vould have been a stranger
to our eyelids, from fear of the tons of tiles visibly threatening
us froin above ,,"'ith entombment on the spot. Long before the
peep of day we "were in motion, and at 4 o'clock À. 1\I. "e baòe
adieu to San Fernando, rejoicing in ,the belief that ,ve should
never again become the victilns of its contract of hospitality.
It ,vas a balmy morning on ,vhich ,ye rode over the ,vide
level beel of shingle spread to the south between thé town an d
the Rio Tinguiririca, which has its source in the snows of the
extinct volcano of San Fernando; and there, amid a vast waste
of stone traversed in places by brooklet arms of the river, ,vhich
,vaywardly left it to return again after strolling awhile in co-
quettish adventure, birds of gay plumage were ,velcoming ,vith
n1atin songs the rosy da,vn that leaned upon the sno,,"'y crest of
the CordiUera, looking into the t,vi1ight valley like a blushing
bride over her nuptial couch. It ,yas a picture of rare beauty;
and welllnight that silvery orb, in all ages the recognized queen
of pl

etary brilliancy and grace, linger as she did in the azure
canopy above, ,vhen all her sister stars had passed away, as if
un,villing to ,vithc1ra,v her gaze froIll so fair a scene. A driv

of about three n1Ïles brougllt us to the principal channel of the
river; and it ,vas ,yell we atten1pted its passage in th.e early
morning, for even then it was running riot froln its s,vol1en
flood of melted snow froln the previous day's heat, and which
had not subsided ent.irely during the night. On the afternoon
of the day ,,"'e should probably hav
found it impassable, its

"

FERTILTIT.

279

course being short, and quickly affected by thaw:;. The baggage
was removed to the top of the coach to be abo,e the reach of
water, and our team of six horses being increased by the addi-
tion of t\rO more, under the guidance of a postilion, they dashed
forward, and by dint of persevering effort under ,vhip and spur,
and wild hurrahs, sometimes plunging and :floundering, at others
swimming, and occasionally thrown down by the huge boul-
ders swept along by the fierce clu'rent-the rumbling noise of
which could be heard as they rolled along the rocky floor of the
ri\el;.-they finally succeeded in landing 11
safely on the oppo-
site side of the ford. Rough as was the road over which we
passed for half a league beyond, and until we got fairly off of
the plain over which doubtless this river had frolll tÏIlle to time
shifted its course, yet ,,-as it welcomed after escaping from the
furious Tinguiririca.
The country soon again presented a higher degree of cultiva-
tion, fields of "ybeat, barley, and alfalfa, covering the valley,
which, along this part of our route, has a ,,-idth of frolll twelve
to fifteen n1Íles. .L-\..ncl here, too, as further north, the fruits
brought by the early emigrants froln Europe thrive hL"xuriantly,
the mild and uniform climate producing almonds, olives, grapes,
pomegranates, and figs, as also quinces, apples, pears, plUlllS,
chel:l'ies, and peaches. The dried peaches of Chile exceed in de-
liciousness any found in X orth Anlerica; and it may probably
be said "with truth, that the Huasco raisins surpass any produced
in the Mediterranean for delicacy and lusciousness; as much so,
perhaps, as the Yungai coffee of Bolivia excels in richness of
aronla and flavor any of the world, not excepting the Íë:uned
berry of Mocha. The Y ungai coffee crop is small, and very
costly. In the ,or alparaiso market it readily êOIDlnands from
three-quarters to one doll
r per pound.
Such 'was the genial telnperature and general beautJ
of sur-
soundings of our morning drive, that W"e had no difficulty in ap-
preciating the appropriateness of the nalne of the aborigines)
"yho at the titne of the Spanish invasion occnpied this district of
Chile: Pro,nancians-Illore lately corrupted into Puruman-
cian:-3-signi(ying " people of delight, -, as ,ve are infornled by
the supplclnentary notes to the .á.bbé Don J. Ignatiu5 :Molina's

'*

280

CARRETA.

History of Chile, "being derived frolTI the beauty of the country
which they inhabit." Substantial walls of boulders enclosed the
haciendas and quintas bounding the road; having a tl1Íckness
of four feet at the base, gradually diminishing to the height of
five, sometimes being celuented, and ,vith a corresponding para-
pet. The farmers of this region profit by the geological chalJges
cons
quent on earthquakes, ,vhich often shift the course of rivers;
the extensive deposit of stone thus brought from mountain
sources, furnishing theln secure and enduring fencing. Over
this whole region a 11et,vork of canals for irrigation was seen;
hence a dry season gives the haciendado no uneasiness, for the
adjacent Andes have always a supply of sno,,'" for SUlnIDer con-
SUlllption; and these also furnish enriching mineral deposits, to
relle,v exhausted fertility fronl careless cultivation and unalter-
natcd crops.
Leaving the unimportant village of Chimbarongo on the
right, ,ve passed on to the crossing of the creek of the same
name, the fertilizing ,vaters of which traverse numerous aque-
ducts. 1Veary ,vith looking on feudal dependents of the varied
degrees of guaso, inquilino, and peon gañan, who, ,vith their
felnale companions of Indian tints. and con'espondillg social posi-
tion, had since ,ve left San Fernando lTIonopolized the highway
with théir llluies and ox-carts, :it was to us as cheering as it was
charming, to behold the representatives of higher rank, in three
fair young señoritas with pretty blonde faces, rows of ivory in
ruby settings, and eyes like brilliants beneath arching brows of
ebony, ,vho looked from their cal"ret((, as it moved solelnnly along
to morning mass, at the village church near by. J\Iay the ori-
sons they offerçd to heaven procure for them pardon for the
heartR
he they gave SOlne of our conlpanions, although it cannot
be said artlessly, for their furtive glances and ,vinsollle silliles
revealed the intent of 111ischief. The ca
"]
eta honored by thes

houris, is the co'untJ"Y coach of Chile for parties of pleasure,
social visiting, and going to church. It consists of a cart, or in
deference to its high office "\ve will say carriage body, ten or
twelve feet long and five feet vvide, the sides of which are some-
tÏ1nes boarded and painted pale blue or yello,v, but nearly al-
,vays interwoven cane or flag is the nlaterial; and the top,

COUNTRY CO
-ryEY ANCE.

281

archeù high enough to allo"r a moderate sized lady to stand up,
is sin1Ílarly nlade, tbe cane or flag-leaves being interlaced tightly
and thickly, to make it ,vater-tight and a good non-conductor of
heat. The floor is plank or ox-bide, and the seats are arranged
aìong the sides, cab-fasllioll, tbat the occupant5 may face each
other. Little barred windows intimate the neces:3ity of guarding
the precious freight froln being stolen by "
ayla
ying lovers,
If you happen to be looking toward one of tbese at a tÍIne that
a señorita is peering through it, so luminous will it appear, that
you n1Íght readily suppose it the focus of a calciuIll light. Cur-
tains before and behind secure seclusion or otherwise, according
to the humor of the inmates. The body is Inounted on two
large, clulnsy wheels, running on a wooden axle, and, being un-
familiar ,vith lubricating substance, they indulge a propensity
for hideous creaking to "fright the souls of fearful adversaries"
contenlplating a foray. .A. tongue, sometinles looking like a
young sapling transferred in its native state fro III the forest,. has
a cross-piece at the unattached end having on its under surface
two slight concavities, which, being placed on tbe heads of two
oxen, is lashed to their horns by ra,,-hide thongs. 'Vhen there
are many passengers, or the company is amùitious of extra style,
t
o additional oxen are placed in front, pulling by a rope at-
tached to the tongue. The cctrpateJ'o (carter or coachInall), at-
tired in a variegateq. blanket hung on his shoulders, bis head
protruding through a slit. in its l11iddle, called a portcho, antI
short-legged white trowsers of an anlplitude sufficient to induce
the belief that they might have descended from lroorish anceE,-
tors on one side, with a little sugar-loaf chip or stra,v hat, "yith-
out brim or band, and al'111ed ,,?ith a fifteen feet lance-headed
pole, ,valks in advance of his reflective steeds, significantly dis-
playing for tbeir due regard the embJ.eIn of auth<i:ity, and in-
struluent of pUllishlnent for waywardness and fiansgression.
" The ox lmoweth his ownêr " we are told by the prophet Isaiah;
but it is manifest that tbe declaration was intended to apply to
the ancient representative of that observing beast only, and by
no means was designed to impeach his capacity of improvement
under modern instruction; for it is placed beyond question that
tbe Chilean ox know.pth likewi:::.e, and fun well, his o'\vller"s peon,

282

CHANGE OF SCENE.

to whose uns,verving requirernents he is lneekly submissive,
measuring his movelnents in strict conformity \fith the carra-
tero's appreciation of his O"Tll cOInfort, convenience, and dignity;
\vhich, it cannot be disputed, is unalterably conservative, and
opposed to the shifting and troublesome tendencies of a dis-
contented, and in his judgn1ent rpatheJ
.fast age. Such is the
fashionable equipage of the interior of Chile, an attempt to su-
persede ,vhich by more convenient and rapid means of convey-
ance, except in, and imlnediately in the neighborhood of large
cities, is considered an un\vorthy encouragement of foreign inno-
vations, derogatory to social interests, and dishonoring to Chilean
nationality. But I have ,vandered from the 1110st agree"able
part of the theme, from the lovely freight to the lumbering con-
veyance. IIo,v it was that the fair spirits within this p'pison-
van did not take" the "rings of the nlorning," and fly over the
glad earth clad in green and garnitured ,vith flo\\Ters of bright
and beauteous hues, \\T3.S a mystery. Perhaps an antiquated
duenna "Tas ensconced in a corner of the vehicle, ,vho held the111
in un,villing bondage. If so, they had only to have intÎ1nated
their grievance and they should have been set free, and the an-
cient representative of domestic tyranny ,vho guarded thenl
have been ducked in the canal running through the adjoining
Ineadow, as a punishlnent for doing what no governess in this
country is expected to do-uJatch her young ?nistl'e88 too closely

A short distanc
beyond, the road turning to the east became
a wide avenue, passing through a hacienda of great extent and
fertility, and bordered by Lombardy poplars thickly planted and
of luxuriant foliage, causing a t\vilight within its walls of ver-
dure. .Again pursuing our southerly course, several 1niles fur..
ther un ,ve reached a less attractive region of a h,ighep level than
that part of the valley oyer ,vhich we had been travelling, and
hence not if!tersected by canals as are the lo,,"'er surfaces. This
elevated tract stretches froln the Andes to the Coast Range, a
distance of sixteen or eighteen miles, and ten or t,,"'elve n1Íles
across in the direction of the road, and is more uneven, and
studded ,vith numerous small isolated hills varying in height
froln twenty to fifty feet, looking like volcanic blisters on an up-
lifted surface, as if an internal effort had been made to connect

EL DESCABEZADO.

283

the two mountain chains by a great cross-link, which had failed
for want of sufficient upheaval force. This tract, known as Los
Cepillo8 de Teno, "'"as in time past infested by highwaymen, the
hills serving as watch-to'Wers whence the approach of travelIers
could be seen for several miles, and behind which the robbers
concealed theu1selves until proxÌIllity made. escape hopeless.
A more thickly-populated adjacent country, and the efforts of
Go,ernment to arrest and punish offenders, have given to this
section of tbe Province of Colchagua a better reputation than it
formerly had; although a 801e remnant o
the bandit tribe may
possibly have existed in a 'Wayside Roto, who had e,idently
been imbibing liberally of Chica, and seemed ambitious of a
general hreach of the peace and a passage of arll1S with our
postilion in particular.
....\ way to the southeast forty or fifty miles, an extinct volcano
-El IJescabezado--was seen lifting its decapitated trunk more
than thirteen thousand feet, and standing forth in grandeui' of
massive proportions from the clustering peaks that stretch away
to the north and south, as if he scorned support even in his hpad-
less condition. O,er his bold shoulders the snow mantle fell in
graceful folds, here anù there being throw"n aside by the blast
to reveal somE; noble outline of figure; but dropping lower, as
if in boastfulne
s of l1ardihood he thus proclaÏ111ed to his loftier
brothers of .à.concagua and Tupungato, that eternal snow with
him measures from three thousand to four thousand feet more
of depth than with theI11. it gap in the lower ....\ndean ranges
showed the point at which the ri ,er Teno 'was pouring forth its
flood; and we were soon destinpd to renew our morning eÀ
e-
rience of the effect of a sun1mer-day
s sun upon a snow moun-
tain stream; for shortly after, when we reached that ri,er, ".e
found a French travelling coach that had passed us SOlne miles
back, and several ox-teams, standing on the bank conten1plating
in dismay the furious torrent, which seemed to indicate an im-
possible passage. "That ".as to be done
The Frenchlllen.did
not show any signs of ad'\ance. The great Emperor"8 " allons "
did very wen for national glory, but c.. allez " in their estimation
suited better their personal safety. They e'\idently had made
up their minds that SOlne others might òe, although they should

284.

PASSAGE OF THE RIVER.

not talk, braver than thelllselves. As to the Ohilenos, they ap-
peared to be striving by sundry solicitous coaxings to institute
an initiative consultation with tJle oxen; but froln their inflexi-
ble silence and ÏInmobility, they evidently designed to thro,v the
On1t8 of this water question on the carreteros, avoiding all re-
sponsibilityand danger too if possible, and wisely concluding,
no doubt, that it ,vas sufficient for thelll to beal" tlw ò1lrrlen on
land.
Our gradually reduced stage-load consisted now of an Eng-
lishlnan, ,yho was a !pember of the Valparaiso bar, intelligent,
courteous, and fearless; a Oalifornian ,vIlo had crossed the- plains,
hunted grizzly bears, and encountered the greater danger of can-
vassing the State for the gubernatorial office-need lllore be
said? and a third inside passenger, ,vhose Anglo-Saxon ancestors
entered land in the colonial province of
Iaryland under the
patent of.Lord Baltimore t,vo hundred years ago, and who
could not repudiate the llloral force of the race froln which he
sprang, if he tried. Our driver, of Oalifornia Inettle and nerve,
called out as soon as he had taken his survey of the scene,
"What say you, gentlemen, shall we try it
" It would have
been hopeless to wait for the nlelting of the Andean snow, the
supply ,vas rather large, and centuries of summers had vainly
expended their hottest efforts to reduce it; retreat is becoming
an obsolete English ,vord, and AUlericans refuse to revive it ; so
the answer was a unanimous " aye." The baggage being again
transferred to the top of the coach, and preparations Blade for an
escape from it and a buffet with the torrent if necessary, two
powerful oxen trained to the service were put in the lead of the
six hOr8(;S; as well for the advantage of their st.eady draught, an
jndi8pensablc quality when unseen boulders are to be encoun-
tered, as for their unswerving obedience to direction, thus serv-
ing to keep the horses from becoming unmanageable froln fright
of the tumultuous ,vaters. While the driver skilfuIly guided
his team, the postilion, an experienced cæï"l'ete1
o, stripped to the
buff, nlounted his spirited charger, and with goad in hand took
his station beside the pair of oxen in the lead. Several smaller
branches of the stream were thus crossed, all serving to reduce
the Inain river froln which they escaped, and a rough bed of

.

P A83.AG E OF THE RITER.

285

shingle being also passed, we then plunged into the turbid flood
,vhich rushed by in volull1e and speed, as if a n10untain lake had
burst its barriers. For a tinle it seelned as if we ,yere likely,
instead of pursuing a circuitous land route to the Pacific, to seek
it by the shorter and less tedious channels of the Rio Teno, and
the Rio Mataquito into which the first-named empties; and we
soon found it necessary to mount to the higher altitudes of the
coach, which sprung a leak and threatened to bilge, sOlnetÎlnes
floating and at others attempting lateral somersets, X oticing
this latter gymnastic proclivity, our pilot steered an oblique
course across the strealll so nearly in the direction of the current
as to present the back of our extemporaneous pontoon boat in-
stead of the side to its force. By this manæuvre it received a
11101nentum that assisted the crossing, and in from ten to fifteen
minutes ,ye, more frightened than hurt, landed on the opposite
side of an ullqu
stionably dangerous looking river of two hun-
dred and fifty yards width, in its swollen condition. Our om1
joy on reaching shore in safety was scarcely greater than that
of the French tra-vellers left behind, interested spectators of the
experinlent; for they saw in the fa-vorable result a pronlise that
they might risk its repetition with in:111l1uity, and" allons" now
became doubtless the animated ,yord of conlmand to their postil-
ion, altbough ,ve did not wait to see whether or not they re-
ceived a cold bath in the icy ".aters of the Rio Teno.

CHAPTER XVI.

ROAD COSTUME-CURICO-RIO LONTt'E-PRlMITIVE HADITATIOKS-SOCIAL CONDITION-
POLITICAL UTOPIA...
IS:Y-INCONSISTENCY AND CRUELTY OF FANATICISM-MOLINO-RIO
CLARO-TALCA-RIVER MAULE-LO
COMILLA AKD ITS FRATRICID.AL BATTLE-RIVER
PUTAGAN-LONGAVI AND CERRO FLORIDA PEAKS-MIRAGE-RIO ACHIHUEXO-PARRAL
-ARRIVAL AT SAN CARLOS.

RESU}llNG our journey, the road led for a Inile or two over a
rough and barren tract, and then the country þresented an ap-
pearance of agricultural wealth; a rich soil and teeming crops
bounteously irrigated, and long lines of the alamo bordering the
road, ,vhich itself ,vas thronged ,vith happy people, pedestrians,
equestrians, arrieros, and carrateros. The road costume is pe-
culiar, and may be reduced to four essentials for each sex, that
is of the nine-tenths of the population seen in travelling, who
have the ring of the Indian copper; the one-tenth of Caucasian
8ilver is not in COill111on circulation. The dress of the men con-
sists of a little conical straw hat, min
t8 the apex; a poncho,
resembling a gaudy venetian carpet ,vith a longitudinal slit
in the Iniddle to pass the head through, bound with bright rib-
bon, and hanging from the shoulders around the body down
to the hips; a graceless garment befitting its sluggish Indian
inventors, but an inculnbrance to one who values the privilege
of manhood to use his arms. To the Chileno, from the inquilino
to the roto, the poncho is bed, board, and broidery; for he sleeps
on it;eats froIn it, and often spends the wages of a year to pro-
cure one of bright colors with which to decorate his person. A
pair of trousers, which would be bo1.h more symlnetrical and
useful, if some of the n1aterial were taken from the width and
added to the length; and finally, spurs of terrific proportions
secured to the heels, sometimes through the intennediuln, at

.

CURICO.

287

others independently of, the less necessary appendage a pair of.
shoes. The won1en have invariably two long black hair plaits
hanging down the back; a gay shawl worn à l'Espagnole, one
end throw'n gracefully over the shoulder, or à la tapada to conceal
the greater part of the face ,vhen conceahnent is a nlerit or co-
quetry dietates the cunning device; a skirt à l'antique-inno-
cent of inflation; and the gaudiest-colored shoes obtainable.
Frolll this it will be perceived that parts of our road were not
without a considerable display of hUlnan butterflies, although
the variety of species ,vas not great, the yellow and ')'ed evidently
predon1Ínating.
By the sight of a large cross on a hill we becallle a,vare of
our approaching a town; and in a few nlinutes lnore, doubling
the hill, we passed along a prettily-shaded alameda, and landed
at the principal hotel of CUl,ico. While breakfast ,,-as ùeing
prepared ,ve strolled about the tOWll, containing about five
thousand inhabitants; a public promenade of nearly a mile,
planted "With poplars, and aqueducts of limpid water running
do,,
n their long avenues; houses without taste or variety, except
that some "
ere built of adobes and others of mud-daubed reeds,
occasionally whitewashed, and squatty enough to ,,?arrant the
belief that their enormous tile roofs ,vere slo-wly crushing them
to the earth; unfinished churches without external architecture)
whatever 1l1ay be said of internal sanctity; adults burdened
with ennui, and children not burdened with books, or any sense
of obligation to use them,lnade up the sum of obser\'ations,
from which we cheerfully returned to something 1110re agreeable
to hungry travellers-an excellent breakfast-except the butter)
which froin the abounding alfalfa pastures of the neighborhood
ought to have been golden, fresh, and of rich flavor, but was
pale, and old enough to vote at the coming election for Presi-
dent of the Repuhlie, were it not for the constitutional disquali-
fication of poverty.
.L\.. hearty lneal despatched, seats \\-ere resu1l1ed in the coach,
and a productive country of four or five miles having been
passed over we reached at n1eridian the Rio Lontue, heading in
the sno,v mountains of Las Llanlas, in the vicinity of the Plan-
chon Pass; from the mountain of which name, as also fro 111

288

RIO LONTUE.

those forn1ing the group of the extinct Peteroa Volcano, it
receives a part of its tributary ,vaters. Although this river at
the crossing is divided into several arms, .which flow separately
O'\er a shingly valley t,vo Iniles ,vide, yet its principal streaU1
,vas so s,v.ollen, deep, and rapid, from recent thaws, that no
attempt to ford it had been hazarded' for several days. The
continuous route ,vas therefore interrupted by stopping the
coaches on the opposite banks of the river, and transfelTing
passengers and baggage over an Indian hanging bridge, for an
exchange of conveyances. This bridge, although of 111uch more
rude materials, is nevertheless constructed on similar principles
,vith the suspension bridge of other countries.. Two strong
tÏ1nbers, forked at the upper ends, are planted five or six feet
asunder, perpendicularly and deeply, on each bank of the river,
and connected by a cross:piece lashed to each. TiInbers of
equal strength, but less height, planted some,vhat further from
the stream, give secure attachn1ent to t,vo cables made of ra,v-
hide, which supported in the forks of the main ti1l1bers are
thrown across the river. From these strong horizontal cables,
are suspended vertically nU1l1erous raw-hide ropes or thongs,
which are attached to and support long poles that thus traverse
the direction of the stream; upon these last rests a flooring
composed of lighter cross-pieces, filled in and closed up with
cane, branches, and reeds, of sufficient q nantity and strength to
bear the weight of a man, and even a mule or horse. Not hav-
ing lateral braces, and being very elastic, our hanging bridge
required care in crossing, to avoid a bath in the Lontue, of
nearly freezing temperature, fron1 the icy fountains of the
Cordillera.
E
lortly after resuming our route on the south side of the
river, we crossed a considerable and the last arIn of the Lontue,
the Rio Seco; and although a few well-culti vated haciendas
were seen, the general aspect was that of unthrifty husbandry,
and a greater disregard than further north" of the means of
irrigation at the disposal of the inhabitants. The fencing, SOlne-
times made of trees or posts, sparsely filled in with dead acacia
branches, at othrrs consisted merely of dry brush. 1tlany of
the habitations along the roadside are in the fashion of Indian

SOCIAL CO
'TJITIOX.

289

lodges, with but a single opening answering the threefold l)ur-
pose of door, win do", and chimney. These huts are made of
brush, cane, or flags, lashed or rudely twined into a coarse
.
n1atting; and having but one apartment, with earthen floor, for
the 'whole family, and visitors too, if any should talTyat night.
Even the hovels, one relTIo"Ve from sa vage design, possess no
higher claim to be considered the dwellings of a civilized race;
for apart from the wattled walls of reed and brush, sometimes
daubed with mud, to be washed off by the first heavy rain, "ith
thatched roof of flags or straw, the ûccuIJancy of but ODe apart-
ment in sickness and health, by day and by mght, and by all
ages, sexes, and conditions, huddled promiscuously together,
showed a shameless disregard of the decent observances of life.
It is to the interior of Chile tlJat the traveller must come, to see
the actual national condition-social, moral, and political. It
is not as represented by the lin1Íted better race and class of the
few of its cities, where accumulated wealth, means of education,
and intercourse with foreigner:;, have chastened and refined those
. within whose reach these gifts have been placed, that we are
able to comprehend the status of the people at large; but by
looking upon the populace as it is mainly constituted, of jorna-
leros, guasos, peons, and rotos, its dependent and laboring classes,
by'whatever name these are known, who po
se5s but in a fe,,"
instances e,en a mite of fee silllple property, no coequal political
rights, no education, 'no justly remunerative pursuit, no chance
of preferment here, and no hope of a hereafter, as they are
taught to believe, but that ,vhich a privileged priesthood may
choose to give in return for the fee wrung e,en from the han d of
toil and ,vant, that has just grasped the poor re,,?ard of daily
labor, or grubbed a pittance from some corner of its master's
estate. Aye, 'Jnastel'! For if not so technically and in the
phraseology of statute law, he is so by the stronger law of fact,
resulting from the tenure of estate; and the peon and such like,
the serfs of the country, can no more shake off their servitude-
their slave,ay-than they can dispense with the 11101'5eloÏ food
that sustains life, and for 'wlúch they are dependent on the
elnplo)'ment, or the bounty, of the great landholder or the
miner.

19

290

EQUALITY A MYTH.

In Chile, as elsewhere, capital will rule; and he who wielqs
it is master, ho,vever politic it l11ay be to suppress the term, for
fear of giving offence and producing troublesome antagonisms.
To say nothing of the dOll1inant po,ver of English wealth in in-
fluencing the destinies of other nations, it is sufficient, in illus-
tration of the truth, to refer to the undeniable influence of
capital in controlling the elections in our country, and even
'Jnastering the honest public "Till by giving to it a Presidential
maste1
. 'Vhen fully examined and understood, the problem of
free government, as presented in most modern republics, exhibits
some strange features; and the self:'delusion of the 111ultitude
who are its boastful supporters, and its victims too, becomes
manifest.
The traveller ,vho has sense enough to consider the political
question of human rights, in its application to beings of a like
race and natural endowments, without being carried by trans-
cendental philanthropy to the absurd length of insisting that a
goose having ",
ings can soar as high as the eagle, and is entitled
to ,vheel in loftier space ,vith that in1perial bird; or to the
equally foolish extreme of affirrning that an ass (not a human
ass) is as swift as a horse because he has the same number of
legs, and movable ears; such a traveller, unprejudiced by the
en"ors of education, seeking truth, and open to rational con-
victions on a practical question; who sees the negro, in his ap-
propriate relation of servitude and dependence to the Caucasian,
submissive as a child, affectionate in his instincts, imitative of
others, looking for guidance, and obedient although inclined to
indolence; ,viII not find the term 1Î1aste')
of such horrible im-
port, when applied to one who, being of the master race as
ord ::.ined of God, can direct him in the path of lÍ.sefulness to
hÍInself and others. Frorn an imperial master of the same race
of mankind to a schoolrnaster, so many gradations of station
are perpetually obtruded on us to which that word of relative
supremacy is applied, that the sensitiveness must be strangely
abnorrnal that will take offence at its application to one of su-
periority in the scale of natural being, ,vhether he be the Cau-
casian n1aster of a Negro, or the Caucasian master of a Peon.
It was not, then, ,vith censorious purpose that the rernark was

EQUALITY A MYTH.

291

made when I drifted a'\vay ll'om IllY narrative, that the Peon
has his 111aster in Chile. Nor can he shake off his absolute, al-
though not nominalsZavery, so long as the Spaniard approaches
to numerical equality, preserves hinlself frolH deterioration of
blood, and remains true to the nobler spirit and instincts of his
race. But the boastful pretence of free institutions, and the
hypocritical show of hatred of the condition of slavery, '\vhich
will not allo\v even the semblance of it presented by a tempo-
rary coolie apprenticeship, is, under the circumstances of actual
social and political condition, deserving of a share of the repre-
hension due to the high priests of anti-slavery elsewhere; ",vho,
for the liberation of the negro from a condition of servitude,
sanctioned by the Law and the Prophets, by Christ and the
Apostles, by the example of all nations, and the constitutional
compacts of their own land, '\\ould glory in a carnival of the
flaming torch and bloody hand; in the midnight murder of Inen
and women of their own race, and the worse than n1urder of
virgin purity; in the assassination of the feeble and ulli'esisting,
decrepitude already tottering on the verge of the grave, and
helpless infancy just come to breathe ne,", love into human
hearts. And yet with complacent inconsistency and cruelty,
these deluded propagandists of freedom crush under the wheels
of the same political juggernaut the lingering representatives
of aboriginal liberty in America; thirst for the blood of those
who refuse to be their" hewers of w"ood and drawers of water,"
and insist on living in the land their fathers gave them; and .
frolll the Rock of Plymouth to the Father of Waters, applaud
an Executive decree of death against hundreds of unresisting
children of the forest, who, whatever the offences against civil-
ization of their untaught nature writhing under a sense of gross
wrongs, still surrender to those who claÍ1n to be the special rep-
resentatives of civilization and Christianity, and hence are
bound to " deal justly and 10\"e mercy."
Chilenos should not allow national sensibility to become un-
duly wounrled at an exposure of social and political condition,
by those who certainly manifest no uncandid disposition to con-
ceal their own defects, or to con1plain that otherg have been
quick to detect, and ready to criticize theine However errors

292

SOCIAL EVILS.

may be presented, either to private or public cognizance of those
interested, it is the })art of wisc101n to mark and mend them.
The lTIOst influential inhabitants, those favored by fortune and
rank, have probably not chosen to forego ease and comfort, and
examine ",.here alone they n1ay be seen, in filthy suburban hov-
els, and in the n1iserable lodges and huts of re1110te provinces,
the social destitution, moral debasement, and political corrup-
tion or utter abnegation of the lower classes. They should not
be offended at the wayside observation "\vhich perceives, and the
spirit of frankness that reveals these; the one not being imper-
tinently curious, nor the otber unfriendly. Had my visit to
Chile been restIicted to its seaports, I might have doubted the
correctness of a description representing accurately its physical
grandeur, fertility, and general resources, as seen since leaving
Valparaiso. And yet ,vith such gifts of a beneficent Creator, a
moral degradation.has been found of wide prevalence. It lllust
be understood that these remarks apply to the unfortunate
111any, in birth and poverty; not to the favored few, of blood
and wealth. The absence of home comforts, the disregard of
d01l1estic relations, the renunciation of matrimonial, parental,
and filial ties, the ignorance or indifference to moral restraints,
and the disregard of Christian precept bJ a general profanation
of the Sabbath; the day specially selected for military drill,
drunken debauch, gambling, cock-fight
ng, and borse-racing,
heretofore seen, were again observed during tbis Sunday drive
to Talca; tbe road being enlivened by a Government registry
of voters under military Bupe1'vision, horse-races, general licen-
tiousness, cock-fights, dog-fights, and lo\v gaming, from pitching
coppers, tbrough various grades of hazard, up to monté. Such
ar:, the blots upon the body politic, patent to all ,,,,ho choose to
read the record unfolded before them; and for the existence of
,vhich, in a country professedly Christian, there must l)e sOIDe
censurable cause operating upon the social organization.
Whether this results f-rom the deterioration incident to amalga-
mation with an inferior race, whose baser characteristics nlain-
tain the ascendency, or be consequent on son1C radical defect in
the political framework fastening upon society the evils of igno-
. rance, civil disqualification, and an exclusive or defectively ad-

CHILEAN HORSES.

293

1ninistered church, are questions not to be discussed curiaente
calanlo. But they deserve the unprejudiced investigation and
profound reflection of the leading minds of Chile, upon the de-
termination of 'which the destinies of a magnificent country
greatly depend.
Passing through .JIolino with a large plaza and a little
street, "There voters ,vere again seen being registered uncler mil-
ita1'y sur'L'eillance, the first town through "hich our road ran
in the Province of Talca, beginning at the Rio Lontue and ex-
tending south to the
Iaulé River, ,ye canle, four or five miles
beyond, to the Rio Claro. Crossing this, "e soon entered upon
a rough and sterile tract, with but few mere patches of clùtiva-
tion; and such continued to be the characteristics of the country
nearly to the city of Talca. :Many of the hills were \ery steep
and it often became necessary to assist our team of six by the
attaclmlent of an extra horse; a service rendered by an outrid-
ing Chileno ahvays in attendance. The Chilenos are fearIes:;
and skilful horsemen, and "ould make a formidable cavalry if
mounted on horses of sufficient weight. Those of Chile are too
'-'
light, although they are well trained to the charge by a custom
of riding them under the SplU. against strongly-supported trans-
,erse poles, and against each other breast to breast; and so vi-
cious does a horse become at tÏ1nes by this training, that be will
spring suddenly against an approaching horse and dismount the
rider before he can guard against the shock.
.A.bout fourteen miles south of
Iolino is the Queb'lJada ell! la
JIarca, noted for the excellent cldcha furnished at it.s famous
posada, a horn of which, for the want of a goblet, proT"ed re-
fi'eshing to us on a hot day.
..At OhagÎ'e
where ,ve changed horses, apparently about thirty
or thirty-five miles due west of EI Descabezado, the stones of
which the fences are made present nothing of the characteristics
of the scoria found about Los Cerillos, but are lighter even tban
indurated clay or sand; its exceeding lightness and great friabil-
ity, as well as its grayish-'White color, 'Warranting the belief that
it was formed of the ashes of a volcano-perhaps Descabezado,
when àctive-agglutinated by rains falling on successive lamina,
and sun-ùried, producing a stone as light as pumice. This

294

TALCA.

whole region abounds in it, not a boulder being visible. A great
part of the land along our route of to-day being incapable of
irrigation, is barren, desolation reigns around, and there is noth-
ing of inllnediate "
ayside scenery to give interest to the ride.
Travellers "
ere fe\y, a pack-train and herd of cattle with an
, .
occasional horseman scarcely serving to relieve the oppression
of loneliness; and but for the Cordillera, with its unrolled pan-
oralna of grandeur and Inagnificence, bounding the vision to the
east, and Peteroa, Descabezado, Nevada de Chillan, and Piech"a
Azul, extending over eighty or ninety Ini1es of space, standing
in bold relief beside their less imposing compeers, piercing the
skies with icy pinnacles, and lifting on high their domes of ever-
lasting snow, pencilled with silvery light, or Inellowing in softer
radiance or darker shadow, as jealous clouds concealed tbeir
beauties from the sun; but for tbese eternal oracles of God, that
speak conviction to the human mind, cahning its doubts and
confirming its faith, and that a-waken the sleeping emotions of
the heart to strange delights, there ,vould be no temptation to
repeat the ride froln the Rio Claro to Talea. I-Iaving crossed
the unimportant strea:rp.s of Chagra and Panque, and passed for
a short distance somewhat better cultivated fields near the city,
,ve found ourselves, at six P. 1-1., dashing over paved streets and
skirting the Plaza de Arrnas, to the fashionable Lut rather hUIn-
ble-looking hotel .which faced one of its sides.
Talc((; is about one hundred miles by the road southwest by
south from San Fernando, in latitude 35 0 14' S. It ,vas founded
in 1742, and is much nearer to the Coast Range of mountains
than to the Andes, being but a few n1iles from the foot of the
fonner, fi'om ,vbich it is separated by the Rio Claro in its south-
erly stretch, to empty into the River 1tlaulé. Being the capital
of the province of the same nalne, it has a considerable popula-
tion, estimated at fifteen thousand; and it is the point to which
the Southern Railroad is tending, and, it is supposed, ,viII be
made it::; southern terminus. The policy would be short-sighted
that ,vould arrest that improvement short of the Bay of Con-
cepcion or the Biobio River.
A minute description of Talca ,vonld not repay one for the
perusal. It Ina
y be inlagined froln ,yhat has already been said

TALCA.

295

of other ßecolld-class Spanish-American towns. Rectangular
streets badly pa\ec1, or not paved at all; a plaza, with or w"ith-
out a fountain, according to the facility of getting w"ater, and
SOllletimes a fountain to commemorate the want of it; the plaza
being usually slu'rounded by the public buildings and municipal
offices, and the grand theatre of religious anù military displays,
revolutionary and other riotous movements; an alameda shaded
by Lombardy poplars; squatty houses of indifferent materials,
rude construction, and without architectural design; and unfin-
ished churches. The personnel are equally characteristic, and
consist in the nlain-exceptions being undeniable, and the nobler
because of surrounding degeneracy-of a lazy, bigoted, crafty, and
selfish priesthood; a
d an ignorant, indolent, superstitious, and
iInpoverished population. In the winter a nlore refined and in-
telligent class of inhabitants is found in Talca than at other sea-
sons, the haciendados of the province with their fanlilies resort-
ing thither for amusement and the facility of social intercourse,
which cannot be enjoyed in the country in bad ,,"'eather and at
the distances they reside from each other. Still, the influence
of this temporary accession of a higher education and morality
is but partial in its effects upon the mass of society, and exercises
no control whatever oyer the nlore powerful agents who so sig-
nally fail in their great office. The" bell of agony" (thus reli-
giously l..ïlown) was heard to echo for hours frOln the church-
tower the expiring groans of one 'who for long years had been
par excellence the recognized reprobate of the community, ven-
erable in vice and weary of wickedness only because he was
going .where profligacy and lust could no longer give joy to sen-
sual appetite, and ,vho now, at the final moment, 'Was shriyed
and purified of sin by virtue of liberal beque
t::; and the saTIng
grace of a "yafer, conveyed to him in a clerical coa-ch of state
through the streets, at the approach of ,vhich eyery head bo'Wed
and every knee bent; ,,"bile the luilitary, as if in blu'lesque of
the beneyolent mission, saluted this transubstantiated u Prince
of Peace" by pJ'esenting al'ln8 as it passed along. Such scenes
were not calculated to establish confidence in the reforDlatory
influence anlong the clergy of a partial secular enlightenment,
nor to give a traveller a high opinion of Talca religionislll.

296

TALCA.

The IIotell'Europe, at which we stopped, was built in con-
formity to the Continental rule-a öne-story, quadrangular edi-
fice, on the sides of a patio, to which access was had by a gate-

ay. On the sides of the court were the dining-room, chambers,
and billiard-rooms-the last an indispensable in the ll1unblest
inn-while a parlor is rarely seen, and a reading-room never.
Brick floors, commonly met with in the chalnbers of interior
Chile, are neither agreeable nor healthful; their board ceilings
are safer than the heavy stucco with "yhich ours are loaded, and
the f
111ing of which sometinles proves dangerous to life. But
the partitions of our middle-class houses are preferable to those
of corresponding houses in Chile, both for security and privacy;
for muslin, however 'prettily covered with paper, ,viII neither
shut out a thief nor the snoring serenade of a neighbor, "Those
inheritance of evil

Burthens e'en the tranquil night with discord
And murder of s,veet sleep.

The regular nine o'clock P.M. dinner was excellent, as also
the 10 Ä. 1\1. breakfast, both sustaining the reputation of this
to\vn for abundant and cheap food; which, it is said, has hereto-
fore induced many farnilies of dirninished incolnes to resort
thither, causing Talca to be called at one time, in derision, "the
bankrupt colony."
Altbough at tbe season for visiting the Baths of Chillan a
public stage-line is run two or three times each week south of
Talca, yet, during eight or nine 1110nths of the year, persons trav-
elling south of this city are compelled to take a private convey-
ance. This was our necessity, and with the aid of some fellow-
countrymen found permanently residing here, we succeeded in
hiring a cal l 1 1 etela, two postilions, and ten horses, to carry two
of us to Tomé, nearly t\VO hundred miles, for four ounces-
about fifty-seven dollars of our coin. Full time being taken to
visit the chief points of interest, ,ve bade adieu to a city ,vhich
in the civil war of 1859 was for a time the headquarters of the
Revolutionists, had been strongly fortified, barricaded, arlned,
and provisioned, ai1d, to the surprise of most of those ,vho had
become involved in the mOVell1ent, ,vas surrendered with scarcely

.

ODD MODE OF JO'CR
ETING.

291

,

a show of resistance. Bri'Qery sometimes beconles a great mili-
tary strategist, and is supposed to have achieved triumphs in
Chile as elsewhere.
Our carretela ,vas simply an old-fashioned cab, with square
body, standing top, seat on each side, and door behind, mounted
on two wheels, with shafts for one horse; in the case of the car-
retela another horse being attached on the outside of the shafts
òiï'ZOC!lO fashimL, for the use of the postilion, who guides both
horses. Eight loose horses were drh-en along by another
postilion, and these furnished relays. It was an odd way of
procuring fre8h horses, but the only one of getting any at a11,
as none could be obtained OIl the route. The poor beasts had 3.
hard time, for being left free, and availing themselves of their
supposed privilege to range, they strayed from the road to pick
the wayside grass, and were driven from side to side, and S01ne-
times over extensive plains by their roto persecutor, thus passing
over double the distance they would have done by confinement
to the direct route; and when their turn came to go into harness,
they were no more fit for duty than when taken out. Such is
one of the inveterate custonlS of Chile, which we took the liberty
of commenting on in English-a condemnation intelligible to
our Chileno drivers Inight have resulted in our abandonlTIent on
the road.
After having lost the grateful shade of the Alameda, and a
wide poplar bordered avenue by which we left Talca, we crossed
an inhospitable plain presenting nothing of \erdure but that of
scrubby eEpinos to relieve the barren scene; although the valley
far off to the east, near the converging head-waters of the )IauIé
River, is rich anel well inoigateel artificially. Even the grand
outline of the Cordillera, so long the object of admiration and
'Wonder, seemed fading away to the southeast as we sought the
Coast Range, along the eastern foot of a spur of which-the
Cerro Ohivato-we passed many huge granite boulders bounding
the road; and finally crossing a hilly offshoot of the Range, we
entered the rocky vaHey of the Jlaulé R;VCí
. .A,s "\\
e descended
the hill, the river was seen with its deep and in1petuous torrent
nearly a mile wide, a short distance above Los Perales, the usual
head of navigation; with large nun1bers of pack-mules and cattle

98

PASSAGE OF THE MAULÉ.

standing on its banks, a'w.aiting their turn to be ferried across.
We \,yere no\v thirteen miles froln Talca, without an inn or
decent habitation of any kind in ,ybich to seek shelter; and it
"Tas by no Ineans agreeable to learn that \ve Inight be detained
ll1any hours on the hot shingley river bank, or in the dried
brush rancho near by, a yery pest-hoyel of abolninations, ere we
could get to the opposite side. But 1\e determined to shorten
our detention if possible.
A traveller in Chile soon learns the meaning of yapa, and
its \vonderful efficacy in accomplishing results. It is uncertain
if the above is the con"ect spellil1g of the word, or if it 111ay not
rather be llapa, fì-Iom "Llapar-to add an additional portion of
quicksilver in 'extracting metals." But whatever the orthogra-
phy, the ,yen-understood. signification is, something given for
""yhich a return of favor is expected-in our vernacular, a òl'iòe.
Foreign residents here, very arrogal1t of their own incorrupti-
bility, impute to Chile the special indulgence in the practice the
,vord implies. But if they had a little 1110re candor, they would
adll1it that it is rather an epidelnic than an endemic vice; that
like cholera, no conln1unities escape it, and that it often prevails
11l0st extensively and fatally \vhere the science of government,
comlnerce, and nlanufactures, claim to have elevated tIle human
race to the highest rank of virtue and refinenlent. Be this as
it may, \ve can testify that Chilenos are in the path of progress
and civilization as determined by the above test-the
rapa
worked as a charln on the 1\faulé. 'Ve ,vere put aboard of the
next launch \vith deferential consideration; our extra horses
having been previously driyen into the stream to "paddle their
own canoe," a wild Chileno 011 a trained swinul1er ,-vhooping
thenl before hÍ1n \vith frightful yens. A.nd when they \vere
seen struggling ,vith the furious clUTent, sOlnetinles disappearing
beneath it, at others rolled o\er like huge boulders, and finally
s,vept a mile do,vn stream before landing, it ,va" suggested that
" the other side of Jordan" was probably not 1110re difficult to
reach than the south bank of the J\tlaulé. Ho,vever, the excite-
lllent of novelty often blunts the sense of danger, and ,ve
"shoved off," under the auspices of ten breech-clothed, but
otherwise nude boatIl1en, "\vith integlunent of the color of "e11-

PRO)liXC.LUl Ð'"DIA.XS.

299

tanned sole leather, stretched o,er splendic1ly-c1e,eloped nluséles;
ready for pushing, poling, romng, steering, s,yimming, or any
other kind of river service that mjght become neces
ary. And
a harù tÏ1ne they had, for once in the channel, and fairly ".î*bin
the power of the Ï1p.petuous ton"ent, a,vay "ye went down strealn
with a speed of twenty knots, despite the vigorous efforts of our
",-atermen, "ho could do no more for the time. than to keep the
bow of our trembling craft bead-on tow"ard an eddy below,
formed by a sand-bar from the opposite bank, into which happily
our pilot succeeded in shooting her; and by rowing and drag-
ging along shore,
.e were finally landed in safety,
Yell pleaseJ
at the opportunity thus offered, to transfer from our pockets tõ
the paInls of the Chilenos, the yapa now due-for unlike a pro-
ce
s of gold mining, in this of undeJ
raÙ
in[J, the product is ob-
tained before the quick-silçer is applied.

Iost of the inhaùitants of the Proymces of Talca and )Iaulé
are half-breeds and other mongrel descendants of the ancient
Promancians, the courageous, robust, and warlike tribe of Indians
who occupied this part of Chile before the conquest; and who
defied and successfully resisted the efforts of the Peruvian Incas
to subdue them, ns they did likewise the subsequent invasion of
the Spaniards under Ahnagro; and who failed to preserve their
liberties, from a too generous confidence in the seductiçe
promises of vT" aldina, at a still later period. This conqueror
having artfully stinnùated jealousies and resentments against
their neighbor;:;, and using one to aid in the conquest of another
tribe, thus succeeded in subjugating all except the "Wiser and
invincible Äraucanians. The fine physical de,elopment, bolù-
ness, and activity of onr boatmen ,'VeIl illustrated the superiority
of their aboriginal ancestr
r.
IIaving now entered the Pronnce of )Iaulé, of which the
ri,er ,ve had just crossed fonns the northern boundary, ,\.e pur-
sued our route over a leyel and sandy country for a short dis-
tance. The soil, although still thin, appeared l110re productive,
but \\yithollt the irrigation cOlliluonly founel further north.
Pa
:;ing a posada, and some prettily embo,yered rustic cabins,
where were seen soldiers in gaudy unifol"lnS reclining in the
shade of large willo".s trimnled so as to look Eke iUllllense

300

BATTLE OF LONCO
LA.

umbrellas, we soon after came to the 11lilI, the crystal stream
of which was crinlsoned with blood by the fratricidal battle of
Loncoluilla, in 1851, which will ever remain painfully memora-
ble tn the annals of Chilean revolutions. It was a consequence
of the discontent incident to a Presidential election, considered
by Iuan y illegal in the 11leans, and false in the declared result.
After various lnilitary movements on the part of the opposing
forces this battle ensued, for the nUlnber engaged in it one of
the bloodiest of modern times; in which citizens of the same
country, and the SalTIe religion, ,yere arrayed against each other;
father against son,. brother against brother, relatives of all de-
grees engaged in deadly strife, the luanæuver of combat being
disregarded and military discipline forgotten in a ferocious hand
to hand fight, in ,,,"hich the glittering steel gave no quarter, and
night only stilled the panting efforts of human rage. Of eight
thousand nlen engaged in the battle of Loncomilla, it is stated
that less than three thousand were capable of bearing arms on the
morning after darkness arrested the carnage, a result attesting
the peculiar bitterness of civil strife. General Bullles, in com-
mand of the Government forces, would gladly have escaped the
next day with his shattered remnant of one thousand, if he had
possessed the means of crossing the 1tlaulé River. Slunmoned
to surrender by the victorious General Cruz, conlmander of the
revolutionary army, Bulnes contrived, by prolonged discussion
of te1'1ns, to gain time for the secret action of emissaries, who, it
was then supposed, and is no,,," generally believed, succeeded in
bribing sonle of the leading revolutionists, whose treachery and
desertion conlpelled General Cruz to retire frolTI a field actually
,von, and of .w'hich he rell1ainec11naster on the night before, and
eventually to enter into a treaty terll1inating the ,var, in ,vhich
his party obtained no greater rights or privileges than they had
previously possessed. That General Cruz was duly a,vare of
the cause of his nlisfortune, is shown by one of his despatches, in
which, although he declined to "criminate any individual," he
proclaims his" c1isappoinbnent as dependent upon causes ,vithin
his own canlp;" and adds, that he had "counted on the co:.
operation of others, who failed him in the hour of need-his
successes being inexplicably reversed."

MillAGE.

301

It ,yas an instance of perfidy not sU11)assed by those with
which every chapter of the history of Spanish conquests in
America teems; and supports the opinion of some, "who be1ie'\e
that the ancestral disregard of good faìth is imitated by their
posterity.
Five or six miles south of the battle-field ""e crossed the
Putagan River at high-water mark, a branch of the Loncon1 ala,
which empties into the ltIau]é a short distance west of the ferry.
IIaving nlounted the steep southern bank of the Putagan, 'we
bore south-southeast across a treeless plain, fourteen or fifteen
llliles in extent. This was uncultivated, level, and allo'wed an
unintelTI1pted view of the nearer Coast Range, and more distant
mountain scenery nearly due east. frolll this point, 'with the Lon.
ga'\i and Cerro Florida, wrapped in their "hite mantles, stand-
ing like giant spectres among the lowlier peaks of the Cordillera.
Although our road lay o'\e1' an unwatered and barren plain, the
foot of the Andes could be seen skirted with a broad belt of
verdure, indicating mountain streams and their em'iching
tribute. Far in the distance ahead, a nlirror-like expanse of
",vater appeared across our route, and trees suspended abo'\e it as
if in
id-air. It ,vas a mÙ
age, for as "e approached it dis-
appeared, and having, after two hours of wear.y travel, descended
forty or fifty feet fronl the bigher le'\el we had traversed, and
come to the clear and tranquil Rio Achih'lleno, we had no diffi-
culty in accounting for the illusive picture of a lake and trees
which the pencil of refraction had sketched in the air al)ove to
charm us with its beauty. Although wide, and in sonle places
deep, the Achihueno was forded in safety, 01U. postilion appear-
ing to be fan1Ïliar mth the signs of depths and shallows.
Ascending to the table land on the opposite side, and chang-
ing horses, we struck across another sterile plain of equal extent
with that left behind. With the exception of one small vine-
yard, the vines of ,vhich clustered about a little brook that
strangely distilled its limpid waters midway this desert, a boon
to the thirsty traveller, there was not a spot of verdlu'e to re-
lieve the expanse of barrenness.
The setting sun took leave of us as ,ye pursued onr way
across this desolate plain, but still gilded the lllountain tops after

302

, CERRO FLORIDA.

having left the lo,,"er 'world in shadow', and as a last sign of de-
parting glory touched ,vith a roseate ra.y the lofty brow of the
Oerro Florida. It was a scene of transcendent beauty" that
seen becalne a part of sight," for the rare privilege of beholding
which ,ve bore unmurn1uringly the discomfort and danger of
being benighted on this waste. Our destination, Parral, fifty-
five miles fì
oln Talca, in latitude 35 0 42' S., was not reached
until after 10 P.:M. The latter part of the route ""ItS unseen,
and of course nothing can be said about it, except that sundry
severe joltings and sudden" backing and filling" indicated that
a more rugged country was passed at the conclusion than at the
COill111enCelnent of our day's travel.
On entering Parra1, old-fashioned lanterns, din11y lighted by
tallo,v candles, were seel1 hanging froln the fronts of all the
houses, in obedience to municipal regulation, serving to light us
to the l)osada selected by our postilion, "There ,,"e obtained a
n1iserable meal and as mean a bed in an out-house; but even
these were welcome to hungry and wearied travellers.
Although up with the da,vn and ready for the road, one of
our postilions, ,vho was a " Jack of all trades," found it neces-
sary to turn blackslnith and shoe some of his horses, having
provided himself for elnergencies before lea-ving Talca. The
detention enabled us to look at Parral, stare at the natives, and
be stared at. As lnanyas two thousand persons of all shades
of humanity, do,vn to the sable servant, the political1y presluned
equal and undoubted familiar of our landlady, are accustomed
to stow themselves in the not nUlllerous, nor commodious, nor
ambitious tenements of this to,vn; the amphitheatrical cock-pit
having better design and finish than n10st of the houses, no
doubt in consideration of the brave bird's courage and endur-
ance entitling it to higher distinction. The unpaved streets
looked like a continuous Idtchen from prin1itive ,vayside fires;'
,vhile olive-hued dalllsels, innocent of toilet, stepped softly about
in unsandalled feet, clothed simply in the lllystic garb ,vhich
asks no aid of art, because most artful in that it half conceals,
yet half reveals fair lnaiden CharlTIs. Had they tendered us a
cup of the savory coffee they,vere preparing for the morning
beverage, to detain us strangers for inquisitive regards, the ac-

CARRETA.

303

ceptance would not ba'\e been waived for want of correspond-
Ing curiosity. Ca
retfls-oX carts-too, ,vere creeping along,

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A..'i OX-CART.

ladened "ith small round stones" :?robably for paying the court-
entrance of some village grandee. Carts, did I say? But not
such as are thus designated in the north. K or drays, as seen
there. K or chariot either. Yet more like the last as pictured
by the pencil of art tban any vehicle of modern civilization.
The Cbi1enos manifest a decided preference for the classical in
some things-or is it merely an insuperable prejudice against
foreign innovation 1 Their adherence to the old Roman plough
has been spoken of-a knee of hard wood with two oxen at-
tached to it through the medium of pole and horns, by which
the ground is scratched two or three inches deep; a most effect-
ual cultiyation to preyent the market being overstocked with
cereals. Perhaps this "ill account for the regulation of the
price of wheat by the few proprietors of landed estate, to suit
their O""TI views of value. The ox-cart consists of a square or
oblong frame ,vith a dried ox-hide bottom, resting on a ,,
ooden
axle running on two low solid wood wheels, from two to two..

304

PROVINCE OF NUBLE.

and-a-half feet diameter: from the want of iron tires these
wheels are ,vorn irregularly, and are rarely a perfect circle. A
rude tongue, or its substitute t,vo poles attached near the ends
of the axle and uniting before so as to intercept an isoscelës tri-
angle, being secured to the horns of the oxen, elevate the cart
some"rhat in front, dropping it behind like the old Grecian char-
iot; the resemblance being increased sometin1es by the addition
to the cart of an oval or square ,vicker body, like a china-ware
crate open behind. In this the freight is stowed, and when un-
loaded the driver there indulges in drowsy meditation. In re-
gard to the team the classical resemblance fails; it certainly
would not have been cro\vned for speed at the Olyulpic gaines.
The carreterÇ>'s head-gear is changed from the fashions of north

ern Chile. From Talca to this place, and so on toward the
Biobio, it is a coarse felt, color blue or black, of conical shape,
but with the apex slightly flattened in. It is called a ma
tlé,
from the province ,vhere it originated and is still used. One
might suppose from its shape that it is worn in honor of EI Des-
cabezado, which rises and sets in the n1inds of the people of this
province as the\vonder of creation. They are excusable; Eng-
lishn1en would think so too if it looked down on Windsor
palace. .HI.
Beyond Parral the soillooRs dark and rich, but the want of
water lllust be sensibly felt in a country ,vhere there is no rain
for seven or eight lllonths of the year-embracing the spring
and sun1mer, when most needed for agricultural purposes. In
the southern hemisphere, it must be remembered, the spring
commences the twenty-second of September, summer in Decem-
ber, autumn in March, and ,vinter in J nne. Good crops of
wheat and barley were seen during our n10rning ride; and had
they been sown sufficiently early to obtain the occasional show-
ers of early spring, they ,vould have been heavy. From twelve
to fifteen n1iles south of Parra! we came to the clear and placid
Perq,tlilaoquen River, ,vhich was forded without difficulty. We
,vere now in the province of N uble, the ninth in the series pass-
ing southwardly fronl the extreme northern province of Âta-
cama; and changing our direction to the south by,yest, ,ve sa,v,
after going a fe,v miles, the first post and rail fence we had yet

PROVINCE OF
IUBLE.

305

met with, indicating our proximity to timber; the great want
of which is a sad deprivation to Chile. This sign of thrifty
husbandry was a pleasant sight, after the wearisome leagues of
trenches and wretched brush hedges by which we had been
passing. Then we came, a little further on, to luxuriant fields
of the cereals; lllaize sown broadcast, beans and other garden
vegetables, and vineyards, which continued to border the road
until after a ride of thirty miles from Parral we came in sight
of the bright red tile roofs of San Oarlos, looking gaily out
from among the deep green foliage of ornamental trees which
embowered that neat little town, giving it an air of cheerfulness
and comfort we chose to take as tokens of assured welcome and
hospitality to travellers, who had keen appetites for an eleven
0' clock breakfast.
20

CHAPTER XVII.

PROHIBITION OF THE CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO-SAN CARLOS-THE VINE-WHEAT-
RIVER NUBLE-CHILLAN-BATHS OF THE CORDILLERA-NEVADA OF CHILLAN-RIO
ITÀTA-CUESTA PARALES-RAFAEL-ARRIVAL A.T TOME.

THERE is one vegetable to the gro,vth of which the climate
and soil of Chile are wen adapted, and will produce of fine
quality, the production of which is prohibited under heavy
penalt
y, even to the small extent of supplying the personal
wants of the planter. Government has monopolized the trade
in tobacco, and appoints agents to regulate the importation and
sale of it. Of course the revenue from it is large in a country
where the cigarito is used freely by the men, and 'V01l1en too of
low degree; the human breath and clothing, the breakfast and
dinner table, the hotel, coach, car, street, all places being pol-
luted by its offensive exhalations. It would be difficult to
determine which is the more valuable source of revenue to the
State, the above, or a like monopoly of the sale of playing-cards.
It is å severe criticislTI on the condition of Chile by its own
GovernlTIent ,vhich practically avows that more revenue can be.
raised from its vices than in any other manner. As little sym-
pathy as those are entitled to who are taxed on a vile weed that
natural taste abhors, and a stringent education of which is re-
quired to constrain it to tolerate the poisonous product, yet "it
must be acknowledged that it is an anomaly of republicanism
which punishes a citizen for cultivating on his own land an
article, the use of ,vhich by its own reservation of sale, the Gov-
ernment appears to consider commendable and proper.
The town of San Carlos is in the Province of N uble, nearly
on the intersection of latitude 36 0 S. with longitude 72 0 E. It

S.A...'r C.ARtos.

307

contains about fOlli' tbousand inbabitants, and is surrounded by
one of tbe best vine-growing districts of Chile, tbe wine made
in this vicinity being perhaps equal to the celebrated JIosto of
Oft'Uguenes, produced about t,venty miles to the northwest in a
somewhat nlore bi11y region.
The growth of the vineyard throughout Chile, and especially
in the Provinces of :Maulé,
uble, and Concepcion, the climate
and soil of ,vhich are remarkably adapted to the purpose, is only
second in value to that of the ceréals. Oliacoli, chicha, and
agua,>cZiente, products of the grape, are the favorite drinks of
the common people; and rnosto, a wine, when properly Inade,
of rich flavor and excellent body, is not only extensively useù
by the wealthier classes in Cbile, but is often in demand for
exportation. The above-named drinks lURY be thus described:
Chacoli is much like cider, and is the unfermented juice of the
grape; chicha is made by boiling chacoli, ,vhich hastens fer-
Inentation, each kettlefull remaining over the fire until SCUlll
ceases to come to the surface; aguardiente is distilled from the
pulp, skin, and seed, left from the manufacture of chicha, with
a portion of freshly-expressed grape-juice. 1\losto, tbe choicest
ill-ink, is made according to the r
ceived methods of the best
w'ine producers of France and Germany. K one of. these are
brandied except when exported in fresh cask
. Our õreakfa;;;t
at San Carlos was graced by 11osto, equal to choice Burgunc1J,
at twenty-five cents per bottle! It would be well. for
orth
Americans if they could substitute tbis delicious beverage of the
South for the :fire-water which consumes them wbile it is con-
. sumed. "'\Ve testified by deeds to our host-more significant
than words-our appreciation of his excellent beef, n1utton,
coffee, and bread of surpassing quality, for ,vhich Chile is
famous. I have not seen an indifferent loaf since my arrival at
Valparaiso.
Our carretela being in readiness, we left San Carlos 'with a
grateful appreciation of its excellent fare, and better men physi-
cally for the enjoyment of it. .As '\\
e cro
sed the plaza tbe
judges were seen sitting there in state registering voters, in the
broad glare of day, as if boastful of the openness and fairness
of proceedings. There was no challenging, no intimidation, no

308

RICH AGRICULTURAL REGION.

bullying, no fighting over the inviolable privilege. It ,vas in
this instance certainly a tranquil and dignified procedure, be-
coming the preliminary arrangements for the exe:rcise of au
inherent and sovereign right-none daring to make its possessor
afraid; and one worthy of imitation by many of our own
countrymen. Our road continued south by west across a dis-
trict where extensive, ,yell-enclosed fields of heavy-headed "heat
were sporting their golden ,vaves. It was a scene of agri-
cultural wealth, remínding us of the magnificent prairies of
Illinois, when, near harvest, they seem to heave and .swell with
luxuriant crops. This may justly be considered a teeming gran-
ary of the republic, where wonderful fertility and cultivation
are exhibited through leagues of our progress. The policy of
those public agents would indeed be short-sighted, which, with
a knowledge of the resources of this great interior, would fail to
penetrate it with the Southern Railroad, now winding its slug-
gish way through its first and second chief divisions, soon to
rest, if ruITIOr speak true, in the Province of Talca. With iIn-
lTIenSe reaches of bowling-green, scarcely a swell of earth requir-
ing the hand of the leveller, and water convenient of access,
this magnificent valley seems specially adapted for a railroad
from the capital to the Bay of Concepcion; and even beyond,
if the heroic Araucanian should ever be cheated or bullied out
of his possessions. And while it would reanimate present in-
dustry and startle new enterprise into life, none can doubt its
own rich reward of employment. With vast regions yet await-
ing judicious agriculture, irrigation, and unproved implements,
to repay to an inconceivable extent the hand of laLor, no
portion of the earth producing :finer or more abundantly of
cerealS; bounded by hills adapted to the vine, of suitable climate,
and affording unsurpassed pasturage for sheep; with water-
courses wasting a po,ver equal to the w
nts of all the factories
of England, and mountain timber, and immense deposits of
coal to the south; what should prevent the great valley from
distributing throughout its own limits, and beyond them, its
flour, ,vine, woollens, building-materials, and fuel

A ride of fifteen miles brought us to the River Nuòle, a
wide, clear, and strong stream; and at the point of our crossing,

CHILLA...'"\ .

309

with depth sufficient to allow of light-draught steamboat navi-
gation. The K uble heads in the ..Andes near tbe celebrated hot
baths of ChiIlan, the waters of which it receives. A felTy-boat
put us on the opposite side, and having ascended the steep bank,
we pa
sed over a country not as remarkable for fertility and
cultiyation as that on the north side of the Kuble; which,
ha ving a low'er level, had doubtless, from changes of channel
and overflow, derived its great fertility from the enriching de-
po.sits of that river. But still the gro'wing crops looked promis-
ing, and our day's journey had lost none of its interest, "Then,
seven miles from the ferry, the steeples of Chillan were seen
lifted above surrounding trees, to tell us ,,?e were near our rest-
ing-place for the night.
Ohillan, in latitude 36 0 12' S. and longitude 12 0 W., is the
largest tow'n in the Province of N uble ; and having a population
of twelve thousand, is perhaps the fifth in size in Chile-Santi-
ago, Valparaiso, Talca, and Ooncppcion, being larger. It is
regularly laid out, and, except its suburbs, is well improved, the
streets being wider, the alameda prettier, and the houses better
built and neater, than are found in any of the to'WllS south of
Santiago. The t\\?O large churches we visited are more chaste,
and more nearl)'" :finisbed' than those seen elsewhere; showing
appropriate regard for the external of piety, while internal
ceremonies were impressive and sincere. The inhabitants are
considered more agreeable and intelligent than those of most
parts of tbe republic, except in regard to the few highlyedu-
cated; by intelligence is meant sprightliness and vivacity, for
the public schools, it is stated, are not well patronized. There
is a marked improvement in the appearance of the people
the
complexion showing a larger infusion of the white element than
is ob::;erved in other parts of the interior. During an afternoon
and evening stroll about to\rn, more of the Caucasian character-
istics of fairness and feature, more of chasteness in dress, and
elegance of deportment ,vere seen, than in any city of Chile in
proportion to the population.
.An excellent hotel dinner, with superb mosto at twenty cents
per bottù, was furnished us. And to give you a proof that the
interior Ohilenos are Jet a very prÎluitiyely honest people, it

310

BATHS OF THE CORDILLERA.

may be said that in no instance during our valley journey were
,ve charged nlore than two dollars each person for dinner, lodg-
ing, and IIlorning coffee. Our Roto postilions took care of
themselves, according to contract-one charge covering all ex-
penses ; the safest an d most satisfactory arrangelDent to be made
by a stranger. Of their board I can say nothing. As to their
lodging, they invariably threw thelIlselves on their ponchos on
the gallery outside of our door, to guard us, or-it might have
been-to keep us frolIl running a,vay, and to seek the rest uSlJal
nl:..1ong peon servants, ,vho snatch it as they best can, in stable
or corridor, on hay or poncho, and blanket if obtainable, "Tith-
out giving their employers any of the solicitude felt for negro
slaves in North America. ·
From sixty-five to seventy-five lniles frolD this town, nearly
due east, are situated what in other parts of South Anlerica are
kno,vn as the Batluj qf Ohillan, but here are called the Bath.j
of tlze Cordillera, from their being within tile great lIlountain
range of the Andes. The baths have such celebrity that it may
be interesting to hear sonletl1Ïng abou
then1 ; 1ut as my engage-
ments did not allow of lny visiting thern, I shall be cOIIlpelled
to give a translation of sonle of the most important facts relat-
ing to their location and virtues, taken from a Spanish 111edical
lIlonograph obtained here:
" It is said that in the beginning of the last century, a friar
of the religious comlIlunity of San Juan de Dios, having heard
:trom some of the inhabitants of that part, that hot water flowed
from alnidst the snow, at the proper season of the year visited
the springs, and judging that they n1Íght be of service, ,vent
there every sunllIler with persons afflicted vdth diseases deemed
incurable, who were said to have obtained great relief, until at
last in one of his excursions he ,vas assassinated. The spot in
,vhich nature has placed the springs, is overtopped and sheltered
by that grand mass whose SUIIlIIlit lords it over even conspicuous
parts of the Oordillera. This Colossus, judging from the geolog-
ical nature of the ground, from the numerous places whence
sllloke escapes, and especially fro111 the Inany mineral springs of
hot and cold water, charged highly ,vith principles the result of
volcanic action, appears to he a volcano; extinct for the time,

BATHS OF THE CORDILLERA.

311

in consequence of SOlne fearful terrestrial convulsion and change,
which closed its crater; the products of the volcanic action still
going on, being conveyed to other active volcanoes in the neigh-
borhood by subterranean passages, when a sufficiency of the
compounds elaborated within is not discha!gecl by the numerous
breathing holes which surround this gigantic closed crucible.
llo,,"'ever this may be, froln twenty to t\venty-five leagues fronl
Chill an, surrounded by nearly inaccessible hills, at the point
where aU vegetation ceases and the region of perpetual snow
begins, a small spur exists of an irregular elongated shape, conl-
posed of broken stones upon a sort of unctuous clay, and 'which
separates two torrents; on tbis the most central point of the
Granel Quebrada; the bathing establishnlent is located. Of the
geological nattu'e of the soil little is kno'wn; on exalnining a
vertical section of the hill to the north of the baths, it appears
to consist of a thick layer of porphyritic aluminous non-volcanic
semistratified rocks, frolll 'which some impure ferruginous waters
flow, settling in immense masses of granite, some of colossal
dimensions, some entire, others decomposed, united by a hard
volcanic clay, shaded at intervals with different colors, and
which appear to form the foundation. To these follow a thick
layer of conglomerate rocks of an ashy gray color, feldspar,
burnt clay, native sulphur mixed with earthy substances, differ-
ent kinds of scoria, heaps of small pun1Íce stones, and even true
black and porous lava, all sufficient in,dications of the volcanic
origin of the soil due to convulsion, ,vhich had taken place in
long passed epochs. The surface of the soil presents peculiari-
ties. The borders of the pools which surround the bathing es-
tablishment are composed entirely of round stones; the mineral
springs of hoth 'water and vapor arise in certain hollows, the
cÍrcumference of "yhich (seen to be sprinkled ,yith powder, if not
with cr)
stals or needle-like pieces of sulphur separated during
the ebullition) of an obscure gray clay, in sonle places yellow,
which results íì'om the disintegration of the feldspar, which lat-
t<er by itself forms the entire surface of these cavities exposed
to the constant action of fire;. froIn "hence it resu1ts that tIle
ground in the ilnmediate neighborhood of the springs is exceed-
ingly hot. In its general nature the soil appears to be an amal-

312

B.Ä.THS OF THE CORDILLERA.

gam of vegetable earth, very porous and much burnt, mixed
with small friable angular stones, white mud mixed with differ-
ent shades of a yellowish red color, with sulphate of lime, and
an unctuous marl arising from the decomposition of different
minerals. It may well be said that the sulphurous acid, the
uninterrupted evaporation of water, the sulphur, and above all
the direct action of an internal heat communicate to the soil,
soft in some places, hard in others, a very uncommon character
worthy of the observation of the curious, as well as of the sa-
vant. The zoology and botany of a spot, habitable only for
four nlonths in the year, affords little of interest. They are
limited to a few lichens and l11osses, and animals of an inferior
class which may be attracted there only for that brief period.
The waters in most common use for general purposes come from
valious parts. They are cold, clear, without smell, slightly
styptic, kept a day they become turbid and insipid from the de-
posit of oxide of iron and escape of carbonic acid. They are
easily recognized fi'om the red deposit of iron on the surface
over ,vhich they flow, and contain a small quantity of chloride
I
of sodium, a base of carbonate of iron, and a little carbonic
acid. They increase the appetite, improve the digestion, and
although some-what constipating they animate the frame, give
color to the cheeks, and occasion sensations of perfect health.
The mineral springs are numerous. They are sulphurous wa-
ters. Near them are s
veral which give out steam saturated
with sulphurous acid, sulphur and sulphuretted hydrogen, and
are useful as vapor baths; and not distant from these are five
or six springs, one of them of a sulphuro-ferruginous nature;
the rest sulphurous but cold, some containing more alkaline sul-
phuI et, n10re or less iron, carbonate of lime, or soda, &c. The
temperature of the springs differs greatly, some nearly reach the
boiling point, others are cold. Those most used range from 40 0
to 50 0 Reaumur (equal to 122 to 154i o of Fahrenheit). The
sulphuro-ferruginous 30 0 Reaumur (99!0 Fahrenheit). The cold
sulphurous 8 0 Reaumur (49!0 Fahrenheit). The mountain tOl'-
rent 0 0 Reaumur (freezing point Fahrenheit). The water of the
spring known as the cauldron is 80 0 Reaulnur (boiling point of
Fahrenheit).

BATHS OF THE CORDILLERA.

313

"The chemical analysis of Professor Domeyke gives the fol-
lowing con
tituents, viz. :

Sulphuret of Sodium, .
Sulphate of Soda,
Chloride of Sodium,
Carbonate of Lime,
Carbonate of Soda,
Sulphate of )Iagnesia,
Iron and alum, .
Silex,
Organic matters,
Azote, Carbonic Acid,

. 18.00
10.00
2.00
50.00
8.00
1.01
4.0-1
5.00
0.09
. Inappreciahte."

It would appear from the temperature of these waters that a
patient may be frozen or boiJed at his option; and by inter-
mediate temperatures a certain cure is promised of the following
diseases: "Rheumatism, muscular and articular; white-swelling,
gout, lumbago, pleurodynia, abdominal muscular rheumatism,
uterine, and diaphragmatic. For treatment of diseases of the
skin
hese waters are remarkably applicable and satisfactory;
in eczema, acute and chronic herpes, scabies, impetigo, tinea,
acne, crusta lactea, porrigo, ringworm, prurigo, lepra, lupus.
In 8ypltilis they have been found po"erfully curath""e, although
some physicians consider that sulphur and its preparations are
indicated only in those cutaneous affections which do not depend
on syphilitic taint; but experience shows that they do not only
cure the symptoms of constitutional infection, but also contrib-
ute to make them appear "hen suspected, simplifying them in
severe cases, assist the good effect of mercurial treatment, and
generally repair the bad effects produced by the improper ad-
ministration of mercury in cases in which it might under
judicious medical advice be considered contra-indicated. Blell-
oì
l'hagias of long duration have yielded to the baths in from
fifteen to tlventy daY8. Venereal ulcers, primitive and consecu-
tive, have Jielded to the bath in less than twenty days; -whilst
.it cannot be denied that it is inapplicable to some extensive
syphilitic ulcerations, although pain in the ùones often yield to
it when nothing else has been found efficacious. These baths
have been found serviceable also in SOlne fonDs of paralysis not

314

BATHS OF THE CORDILLERA.

dependent on lesion of the brain or spinal cord. The separation
of osseous sequestra is facilitated by theIn, and old wounds often
heal ,vith wonderful rapidity in the Cordillera. They are un-
suited to consul11ption in its advanced stages, and to acute affec-
tions generally; but pulmonary catarrh, and often asthma, are
greatly benefited. They- are also serviceable in affections of
the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane; functional disorders of
the stolTIac11, chronic gastritis. Chronic diarrhæa and dysentery
generally yield to hip baths and enemas. The scrofulous, rachi-
tic, and scorbutic diatheses are greatly Î1nproved by the waters
of the Cordillera. Gonorrhæa, non-saccharine diabetes, sperma-
torrhæa, leucorrhæa, uterine catarrh, hæn10rrhoids, diarrhæa
dependent on hepatic derangernent, and severe discharges of
various forms, have been greatly relieved or cured by these baths.
.ThIany other affections are curable by the use of the Inineral
sulphurous ,,"raters, but which we classify as of probable cure
only, since the observations which ,ve possess are but few in
nUlnber, or carelessly noted. Nineteen cases of very persisting
neuralgias of various kinds have been carefully recorded as per-
Inanently cured; and spasmodic affections, headache, epilepsy,
hysteria, uterine spasm, and conVlllsive movelnents of the limbs.
CYJ
l"onic infiamlnations are very amenable to treatment in the
Cordillera. Of hepatitis, metritis, cystitis, gastro-ent.eritis, laryn-
gitis, we have forty cases noted. In ]TIenstrual derangements
the baths have acquired great reputation, also in sterility and
impotence. In old ulcers, caries, necrosis, and in affections of
the bladder, in glandular affections and local æden1as, they are
equally efficacious. These Inineral ,vaters are contra-indicated
in all classes of fevers, in acute inflalllIllations generally; they
are inapplicable to hælnorrhages, congestion of the brain, as
well as all organic affections of the heart and of other viscera.
The waters are achllinistered as drinks, and externally as baths,
general or partial; as lotions, fOluentations, douches, enemas.
The vapor baths are used externally and by inhalation. The
alkaline sulphuretted mud is used externally by friction, anoint-
ing, and poulticing. It must be allo,ved, ho,vever, that the
pleasing ilnpressions of travel, separation from business, from
long-continued effort, and froIll habitual cares; the pure bracing

StffiROU
-rr>
G8 OF CHILL.AX.

315

air of the Cordillera, the influence of hope and expectation of
cure, separation from the depressing influences incident to 1'e-
Inaining where disease originated anù has long continued, regu-
lar exercise, methodic regÜnen, and rest, coöperate greatly in
producing a sncces:;ful result of the treatn1ent by the internal
and external use of these extraordinary mineral waters."
I have no comnlents to make on the long extract, the perusal
of which ma
y have been repaid for th
tÍlne given to it, for it
will have been perceived that professional men of the country
are not insensible of the duty devolved on them of thoroughly
investigating the qualities and effects of the valuable agent na-
ture has placed in their lnidst doubtless for wise plu.poses. Cor-
roborative testimony has reached me casually from several
sources, of the ,vonderful efficacy of the Chill an Baths of the
Cordillera.
.After a night of as grateful repose as that of the peon at Iny
chalnber door, it ,vas a pleasant sight at da\Vll next nlorning to
see the boiling kettle oftering up its vapory incense from a little
adobe hearth ost
ntatiously built in the patio; a few fragn1ents
of charcoal, economically used in a country of not redundant
fuel, sufficing to furnish coffee before commencing our last and
most fatiguing day's journey to Ton1é.
..At 6 Å. )1. "'"e left, w"ith feelings akin to regret, this prett J T
town with pretty ""yomen, and a beautiful country bordered by
magnificent lnountains, like a bright je,vel in a setting of gold,
for the X evada of Chillall, the pride of the X uhlean Cordillera,
gilded by the rising sun, was seen in the east rolling off the
Inassive covering of morning clouds from its hoary brow, like a
giant a,vakillg fi.oIn his slulnbers ; ",vhile tbe Coast Range in the
",vest lifted its burnished crest proudly abo\e its n10untain foot,
that rested on a carpet of \erdure outspread beneath. Our di-
rection ,vas southwest over an avenue leading from the to"yn,
",vhich ,vas w"ide, level as a floor, and straight as an arrow for
probably five lllilet... It 'was trenched on each side and eJn-
banked, serving the double purpose of draining the road in the
rainy season, and protecting ii'onl intrusion at all tin1es the fields
of luxuriant vegetation that bordered the w'ay. Every day's
observation adds t') the conviction that this great interior valley

316

CA8UELA.

of Chile might be Inade the granary and the vineyard of South
Âmerica, by the construction of improved modes of inter-com-
munication, readier access to the soil by labor, and a superseding
of the present rude modes of agriculture, the primitive plough,
the reaping hook, the tl"illa (tread-mill), the winno,ving by hand,
and such antiquated procedures, by the subsoil plough, horse
reaper, thresher, and fan, alternation of crops, and the many
improved Inethods accessible to every people ambitious of agri-
cultural excellence.
.It rolling prairie follo,ved the level avenue, and then the
Chill an river, twelve miles from the city. Crossing this clear
but moderate-sized stream, the road became rougher, and we
soon began to ascend hills of sufficient 11eight to indicate our
near approach to the Coast Range, over ,yhich our route lay.
Along this part of the road many ox-carts ,vere overtaken, heav-
ily laden with wool on the way to Tomé for exportation; and
the poor oxen becoming stalled in the deep sand troughs of the
outcropping hills, endured terrible inflictions of the goad from
brutal carreteros.
At twenty miles from Chill an the postilion counselled us to
take advantage of the last opportunity that would be presented
for breakfast; so stopping at a roadside casa-posada, of by no
lneans tempting exterior, our repast was ordered-" whatever'
they could give us." One dish was certain to be placed before
us, according to the custom of the country; and that conviction
was strengthened by the outspread red peppers sunning them-
selves in the yard, as if they were not sufficiently hot ,vithout
the addition of solar caloric-a sight to Inake one 'wish himself
near an ice-house. Very soon after, the chickens ,vere heard
screaming for help, but in vain, for the bO,\\Tels of compassion
were all on our side-they were speedily guillotined, and on th

way to casuela, the favor being granted them of sitting in the
pot on some of their o,vn eggs, Inixed ,vith varied vegetables,
of divers properties and abundant quantities. Âs if several
. hours' boiling did not suffice to make the cOlnpound sufficiently
heating, an incendiary portion of the red-hot pepper known as
aJi, ,vas added-the element and essence, sum and substance, of
vegetable phlogiston; and well might the ,veird sister who su..

RIVERS OF CHILE.

317

perin tended this decoction of caloric, as she threw in the last
fiery ingredient, have exclaimed:

" For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble!

The casuela was at last tabled-not after the form of an ob-
noxious proposition in a deliberative assembly, but in all the
"pomp and circumstance of glorious war" . . . upon human
endurance. What was to be done? Strive or starve 1 Fast or
feast
Be consulned by hunger or by :fire
The horns of the.
dilemma were before Ine, and suicide by either not being a ve-
nial crime, or an agreeable contemplation apart from moral con-
siderations, I seized the alternative of the red-hot compound in
one hand and cold water in the other, and proceeded in the ex-
l)eriment by the rapid application of water to :fire in process of
deglutition, to supply a natural want, and yet prevent an oth-
erwise probable combustion. Though rashly undertaken it
proved successful; and the inner man being thus fortified at
least against freezing, we again took the road, and at twenty-
seven miles from Chillan reached the Rio Itata, a clear, placid,
and beautiful st.ream between two and three hundred yards
mde, in places appearing to have considerable depth, which we
crossed on a rudely-constructed raft of logs. This river rises in
the Andes near the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude, and flow-
ing in a northwest direction separates the provinces of K uble
and Conception, until it receives its principal affluent, the Rio
N uble; it then changes its course to the west by north, which
it holds to the Pacific Ocean.
The Itata is the eleventh river we have crossed since leaving
Santiago-to which the largest river in Chile, the Biobio, subse-
quently seen, may be added-the majority of them of large size
and rapid current; and all of them having theií' 8o?trce8 in the
A1UÙ8, 'Punning westwardly through the Ooast Range, and emp-
tying directly, or in some instances by a union of two," into tM
Pacific Ocean. To these might be added smaller streams, trib-
utaries of the abo'\e, flowinO' in the same manner from the
!")
Andes westwardly toward the Pacific. It may well create sur..

318

RIVERS OF CHILE.

prise then to learn tbat Dr. J. J. Von Tschndi has stated-
" Travels in Peru translated frol11 the Gerll1an by Tholi1asina
Ross, London, 1847 "-after rell1arking (page 292) that he will
" call the 'western clLain tlte OOl'dilleJ'a, or the coast Illountains;
and the eastern chain the Andes," that (page 295) " I bave in
IllY last chapter observed that the COl ' dilleJ'a is the point of par-
tition between the ,vaters of the Pacific and the .Lltlantic Oceans.
All the ,vaters of the ßasteJ ' n declivity of the 001 1 dilleJ 1 a, all
those which bave their source on the level beights, and on the
'western declivity of the Andes, flow fro111 thence in the direct-ion
of tll(
east, and ,york their ,yay tlLro'llglt tlte eastel
n mountain
chain. Throughout the ,v.hole extent of South j\..nlerica there
is not a single instance of tlw Oordillera being intersected by a
rpiver."
Now, beåring in Il1ind that Dr. Von Tschudi bas prenlised
that be denominates the Ooast Range the Cordillera-(in "yhich
be difters from the natives)-and the enlphatic lUanneI' in ,vhich
he declares that it is tlw paJ'tition between the watel ' s of tILe Pa-
cific and Atlantic, and that there is "not a single instance of its
being intersected by a riveJ"'," it Inay be supposed that Iny aston-
ishll1ent was great at finding exactly the ?1eveJwe tlw fact, so fa,l' as
relates to that large portion of interior Chile and its nUlnerous
rivers seen by me.
But for the prefatory sarcaSI11 upon other authors by the
translator of Dr. Von Tschudi's book, that he, "disclaÍ111ing any
intention of lnaking one of those travelling rOinances '\\yith
which the tourist literature of the day is overstocked, bas con-
fined bÏInself to a plain description of facts and things as they
caIne wi thin the sphere of his O.Wll knowledge," it would have
been inferred from his general narrative, that he had not been in
Chile beyond Valparaiso, and as very justly relnarked by Lieut.
Gilliss of the United States Navy, "bad been prevented from
seeing nluch beyond the range of hill
surrounding its bay"-
the part, sOl11etÏInes described for the whole, by voyagers along
the west coast. A.nd so far from supposing tbat Dr. "\T on
Tschudi designed to indulge in the fiction or eætl ' avagant inven-
tion of stateJJwnts, in which "romances" consist rather than in
the pleasing, fervid, and enlbellished style in "rhich actual ob-

CT7EST.A P .ARALES.

319

servations; and their incident trains of thought, are presented,
it lnay be inferred from the general accuracy of hi::; Perunan
descriptions, so far as I may judge, that his error in regard to
the rivers of Chile resulted rather from some inexplicavle, though
honest misappl ' enension of facts.
Leaving tbe Itata Ri,er, "e cros5ed a succession of outlying
Coast Range bills, some of them rugged and steep, "ith inter-
vening valleys partiaIJy cultivated, with but few houses deserv-
ing tbe name of human habitations-brru;h-built huts being
the shelter in which the people bmTowed; and ,vhen they "ere
seen in cluster;:;, reminding us of the "bu
h-meeting5" often
seen in our Southern States, w'hen, after har,est, planters indulge
the negroes in their prefelTed and favorite hard-working religious
revivals, and fanciful mode of "getting good."' These \\"ell
ventilated d \VeIlings lnay do for tenlporary occupancy in hot
weather; but if the slaves of the States were compelled to live
in thenl in "inter as are these freemen of Chile, they \\"ould
soon sigh for the cozy quarters and cotton conlforts of the old
plantation, and the quebradas would echo "ith their touching
melody-

(' Oh! carry me back to old Virginia,
To old Virginia's shore."

A small stream crossing our route showed the loose, glisten-
ing sand-shoals, indicative of gold diggings anlong adjacënt
hills, \\"hich subsequent information confirmed the existence of

but not of California richness. Eight or Dine miles of very
broken and but partially cultivated land, brought us to the foot
of the Oue8ta Pal'ales, the chief pass by which the Pacific is
reached at this part of the Coast Range. The elevation, al-
though less than that of the Cuesta Prado W'est of Santiago, is
yet so great as to make the ascent steep, tedious, and dangerous,
the abrupt serpentine ,vindings being overhung by threatening
cliffs, and overlooking l)recipices tì"ightful to the timid, and even
8tartling to the bold. But the ,iew from the SU111111it repaid us
for the toil .and apprehension of the ascent. ....\.t our feet was
spread out the ,ast expanse of hills and ,alleys, over w'hich W'e
had passed after leaving the Ilio Itata, deeply scarred \\"ith ra-

.

320

COAST RANGE SillrnIT.

vines from mountain torrents, ribbed with bald ridges that had
stood unchanged the tempests of unnumbered ages, and en1bel-
Hshed in sheltered nooks by patches of verdure that lent th
ir
elnerald charln even to the awfnl majesty of desolation. Be-
yond was the bright, the beautiful, the bountiful Eden of Chile.
And in the far east, the waving outline of that transcendent
Cordillera, which had been our" cloud by day and pillar of fire
by night," whose mysterious power had swayed the heart and
filled it ,vith strange joy, wonder, awe, and an unchanging wor-
ship, in that it is the everlasting symbol of the incomprehensi-
ble sublimity of its Creator.
Changing horses, and also the snail's pace at which we had
clÍ1nbed to the top of the Cuesta, to a gait more suitable to the
necessities of our long journey, we hurried along the summit
road of about eighteen miles, smooth, nearly level, and much
like the old national road over our Alleghany glade region. On
each side of the way were many well-timbered and cultivated
glens, and even the vine ,vas seen in some places in luxuriant
. gro,vth. On this upper summit road we saw several trains of
pack mules, and counted two hundred and thirty-three ox-carts-
carrying produce and merchandise to and from Tomé, the sea,
port of this region of the republic; wool in large quantities,
wheat, and mosto, from the interior, and return loads of hard
ware, groceries, and drygoods. How much better than this
creeping carreta would be the more commodiol'ls wagon and
powerful tealn, so long the mountain ship of the Alleghanies,
and now of the far "Test sierras of North America
Sluggish
oxen, pulling by the horns a miserable apology for a dray,
mounted on a pair of wooden wheels that might be mistaken
for the heads of flour barrels but for their thickness, flapping
about like the wings of a surfeited condor, striving to fly with-
out the power to lift its overloaded carcass, nlust give way to
SOITIe more expeditious means of interior exchange of com!llodi-
ties, if Chile expects to profit by her extraordinary natural ad-
vantages.
Before coming to the western slope of the Coast Range we
passed Rafael, a village of seventy or eighty houses, located in
a picturesque little glen, looking like Oakland of the
Iaryland

RAFAEL.

321

Alleghany glades region, now being sought in summer by tbe
ræidents of Southern States for. its sequestered beauty and cool-
ness. I remember well the clear atmosphere, invigorating air,
and delicious sense of enjoyment of that retired mountain vil-
lage of the once proud colony of Lord Baltimore, for they are
linked with the enduring recollection of a man met there, shat-
tered in health from the cares of State, and apprehensions of
the departing glory of our country, and prepared to lay down
his life for the perpetuity of its nationality, jf tbe gathering
stonn which seen1ed to be threatening could thereby be allayed.
His Jarge perceptions, comprehensive knowledge, calm and ana-
lytic reason, clear judgment, moral courage, inflexible purpose,
and resolute ,viTI, lmited with a winning earnestness and sincer-
ity of manner, led to a belief that if events ,vhich seemed to be
shaping a crisis in our history should bring about that calamity,
and find hiul on the theatre of action, his great mind, pure heart,
and just sense of right, "Would place him in the front of those
VdlO ,viII do battle for the constitutional liberties of his race.
We now changed our course to the southwest, and a short
distance beyond Rafael were compelled to leave at a wayside
posada two of our horses, broken down by continuous tra
el.
..d.S the long shadows told of coming evening, we began the pre_
cipitous and dangerous descent of the lllountain, ,\\Thich ,vas done
with such fearful speed that in an hour ,,-e reached Tomé at its
foot, standing on the Bay of Concepcion, the largest and 1110st
secure harbor of Chile. Long belore we reached the western
declivity of the Coast Range, one of our drh-ers becoming un-
controllably exhilarated byaguardiente or chicha, which despite
Oill' neces
ary precautions he contrived to imbibe on the ,,-ay,
'we considered that personal safety required that he should be
degraded fr01TI his alternate post of postilion to that of exclusi,e
horse-drover. IIis })otations fitted him well for the vociferous
occupation, and his yells and ,vhoops caused the lnountams to
echo as if' they "yere engaged in a drtmken carni val. Thanks
to tbe care and expertness of the other, om' journey, ordinarily
cstÌlnateù to be four hundred nliles, was accomplished 'without
an accidcnt; and, while w'e did I not forget the golden gratuity
received by hilll "yith a grateful surprise, sho,,-ing that with such
21

322

ARRIYAL AT TO:uÉ.

the peon's palm is not fan1iliar, we ga;;re him a ,vritten ackno,vl
edgment of his faithfulness and dexterity, that other travellers
might avail of his good qualities, and he also be rewarded for
his ,vortb.
In, it lllight ahuost be said, our flight-so rapid was the
descent of the Cuesta-occasional glimpses were caught of the
ocean spread illimitably to the ,vest; its rejoicing waves seem-
ing to clap their hands, and greet with ,velcome the messengers
,vho brought wi
h them tidings of their great brothers of the
Cordillera, a W. hile before seen by us lifting their proud heads
for the wreaths of clouds 'v oven in the busy loom of the Pacific,
and borne to thelTI on " the wings of the wind."

OHA..PTER XVIII.

TOYE-TA..LCAH{jA...
o-BAY OF CO
CEPCIOX-BAY OF YL
CEXTE-PAPS OF BIOBIo-Rln:R
BIOBIo-SIERRA "fELL{jD.A-YOLC.A...
O OF A
""ITCO-CITY OF COXCEPCIOX-COAL :MI
"ES
OF CIL\.YBIQrE, LOTILLA, Ð,""D LOT.A-PEXCO.

'foJIÉ, in latitude 36 0 40' S., is situated at the foot of the
Coast Range of mountains, on the northeast shore of the Bay
of Concepcion, which shall be described hereafter, and fonr
miles to tbe east of its lnain entrance. This flolu
ishing little
seaport contains four thousand inhabitants, a fÈny neat among
many indifferently built houses, and several bodegas-large ware-
houses-for the storage of wheat, wool, and wine, the principal
products of the neighboring rich provinces of Concepcion and
X ublé, brought here for exportation. Flour, manufactured in
the vicinity, also enters largely into the exportation of Tomé.
Here, too, are received large importations of foreign merchan-
dise for the interior, particularly for the provinces above named,
and for the southern departInents of the province of Malllé.
For purposes of general commerce Tomé is tbe chief seaport of
this part of Ohile, both froln the ready access to it from the
ocean, and from its intimate interior relations, while Tcùcahuano
at the southwest part of the same bay is a greater resort for
\vhaling vessels, in consequence of the greater facility afforded
by its tranquil waters for the transshipment of oil, and for refit-
ting. The forlner of' these towns is increasing in size and inl-
portance; while the latter, long the favorite resort of nlal'iners,
seems to be on the decline; its streets, "'''hen we crossed the bay
tcn miles to it the day after our arrival at Tomé, presenting a
deserteù appearance, and none of the comulercial activity that
characterized its bustling little neighbor.

.

324

ESSENTIALS OF PROSPERITY.

A snlall plaza, a fountain, and ahnneda, and a pantheon
which has a seInblance of Christian charity, in that it toleTates
a Protestant cemetery in its neighborhood, ""yith a ceaseless clat-
ter of cracked church bells faithfully pUJnmelled ,vith stones by
noisy religionists; these seeln to put forth a quasi pretension to
superiority for Talcahuano over its alnbitious and enterprising
little neighbor Tomé.
But to observing foreigners it is apparent that unless a
greater degree of stability is secured in the adlninistration of
the Governnlent of Chile; unless the perpetually recurring out-
breaks of revolution can be prevented, añd greater attention l)e
given by public functionaries to the cultivation of the arts of
peace, and to the develoPlIlent of natural resources; and further,
unless there shall be effected a perInanent good understanding
,,,,ith the neighboring ,varlike Indians, ,vho have defied the
po,ver of the republic as they did that of Spain, and ,vho effect-
ually paralyze the hand of agricultural industry and Inining
enterprise to the south of the Biobio Riyer, closing, too, avenues
whereby Talcahuano and Concepcion, of which the former is
the natural seaport, are cut off from interior trade; unless these
desirable re3ults can be seclu"ed no prospect of commercial re

suscitation can da,vn upon this declining city; no chance be af-
forded of its profiting by the advantage it possesses in its safe
and capacious harbor, over every other seaport of the republic
except TOIUé, on the sanle magnificent bay.
With SOlne friends in Talcahuano a visit was made to adja-
cent heights, to obtain a vie,v of surrounding points of interest.
The range of hills to the west of the to,yn stretch nOl'tlnvard,
forIlling the penmsula bounùing the Bay of Concepcion on the
""yest, and terlninate at the ùistance of seven miles, in T
t'}nòe8
Point. The Inost elevated of the hills is called Sentinela, froln
three hundred to four hundred teet high, situated at the base of
the peninsula, and "Tas fonnerly occupied by the old Spanish
fortification, "Castilla "-which comlnanded the harl)or and
city of Talcahuano ; and .with the circulnvallation bristling w'ith
canllon stretching across the foot of the hill behind th8 city,
from the mo')'"o on Concepcion Bay across to the Bay of San
Vincente to the south, COIDll1anded also the entire land ap-

TICDITTY OF TALCÅllL A...
O.

325

proach to the city, as \\'ell as the Bay of San .Vincente itself.
This ,vas the fortification to which the Spanish General Osorio
made his escape with only one hundred of his follower
, after
his disastrous defeat at the battle of :ß1aipú, before spoken of;
and wheloe he remained until the following September, 1818,
when he destroyed the fortifications and sailed for Callao with
the men-o'-war and merchantmen in port, and all the royalist
families of this province who could raise money to accompany
him, the prospect of maintaining the Spanish power in this part
of Chile being considered hopeless. But two places were thu

left unsurrendered to the Repuùlicans; these \\ere Valdi-ria and
Chiloe in the extreme south, which were captured in 1820, free-
ing the country entirely from Spanish possession, ,\YÍth no prob-
ability that its reconquest would ever again be attempted.
From the Sentinela may be seen to the east and below, the
Írreglùarly o\al Bay of Concepcion, ten 11liles long and seven
wide, and a depth of water and capacity sufficient to accomlllO-
date the entire naval and commercial marine of the republic,
where, and where alone in Chile, if the entrances were properly
fortified, they would be safe from capture by a stronger mari-
tÎ1ne power. The town of Talcahuano is on the southwest
shore of the bay; Tomé on its northeast; Penco and Lirquen
on its southeast; and the island of Quiriquina, three miles long
and one wide, like a natural breakwater, protects it on the north-
,vest toward the ocean, leaving two entrances, one between the
north end of the island and the main land, the chief passage
about three miles wide, and a smaller one a mile wide, between
the south end of the island and Tumbes Point, the extremity of
the peninsula bounding the bay to the ,vest. To the south of
Sentinela, beyond the little Bay of San Vincente at its foot, Inay
be seen from that height those two 11lanliUary 8fTI:inences called
the Paps of Biobio, nearly one thousand feet high, which form
the relnarkable and well knOml landnlarks to mariners on this
coast; and south of these the mouth of the Biobio, the largest
river of Ohile, navigable for steamers of fourteen inches draught
a distance of one hundred and twenty miles. From thirty to
thirty-five miles further off in the same direction, the island
of Santa
raria is visible protecting the Bay of .L\.rauco, on tho

.

326

VOLCANO OF ANTUCO.

shores of w.hich are the towns of Coronel, Playa Negra, Playa
Blanco, Lotilla, and Lota, all faillons for the inexhaustible sup-
pHes of bitunlinous coal in their iUllnediate vicinities, and froin
,-rhich large quantities are shipped; an article of vast value to
Chile, for "Tithout it the steam 11larine of this coast "Tould be-
COlne oppressively costly, the copper interest languish, and fur-
naces cease to realize to their proprietors the imInense ,vealth
contributing largely to the general welfare. Still furtller off
stands Arauco, one of the earliest colonial settlenlents, now, as
then, contributing to hold in check the aggressive and revenge-
ful spirit of the unconquered aborigines. Following the wind-
ings of the Diobio River to the eastward, as seen from the Sen-
tinela, the eye rests on the ,vhite walls and waving alaillos of
Oon CejJC ion, dee1ned imlnaculate by its boastful citizens, "Tith
the village of San Pedro on the opposite bank. And away in
the diln distance in the san1e direction the Sierra Vellnda was
observed lifting its sno,v-clad slunnlÏt above the horizon, with its
less lofty l)ut fiery consort of .A.ntuco at its side. Active as the
latter is kno,vn to be, the sentinel froln this natural watch-tower
might be pardoned for attributing possible ocular illusions at so
great a distance to volcanic phenolnena; and unwonted refi
ac-
tions of light to reflections from the Inirrored surface of the pic-
turesque lake, ,vhich, in its fearful sport, that volcano has for1ned
to cool its bm-ning sides. It is known that the volcano of An-
tuco w'ithin a recent period poured out a flood of fire ,vhich
crossed the bed of the River Laja; and by congelation this lava
walled in the river, forming thus by the accuinulated ,vaters a
lake, which, I am inforuled by Col. Blakey, the intelligent
United States Consul at Talcahuano, who visited it in Decem-
ber, 1859, now covers an extent of sUlface twenty-one miles
long by froln two to six miles ,vide, forming in adjacent valley

miniature bays, and insulating slnaller detached sUInmits, mak-
ing of them islets covered with verdure, the resorts of innun1er-
able ,vater-fowl. It is not
ithout reason that the inhabitants
of the province through ""yhich the river runs into which this
stream for1ne1'ly flowed, are apprehensive that the dam of lava,
deep and wide as it is described to be, Inay give way fronl enor-
mous pressure, or from slower but not less certain canses, and

n
\..CIE
l}A DE TC
rnES.

327

overflow the countr
r in its course, producing great destruction
of life and property. For scarcely a quarter of a century has
passed since a flood of the Cachapoal TIi\er, separating the
l)rovinces of Santiago and Colchagua, was attended with such
results in the Inont11 of Decelllber-the SUlniller of this re-
gion-w.hen there had been 110 rain to account for it. And
the Government of Chile sent an able engineer, Señor Condar-
co, to investigate the cause of so extraordinary an occurrence;
who, after a diligent prosecution of his labors in the Andes,
finally disco,ered that the natural embankments of a n1oul1tain
lake had given way, from the great acclunulation of water inci-
dent to an unusual tha,,", and sent down the torrent that laid
,,"aste the country below.
Our enjoyment of the outspread magnificence of sea and
land was interrupted by the notice that friends, who had pre-
ceded us to the hacienda de Tun
òe8 at the northern point of the
peninsula, were delaying breakfast for us. A bracing ride along
the und1.ùating ridge in the early morning air, "yith the sunny
bay gleaming in silvery ripples that danced in \ery joy of the
balmy breeze that kissed their dimples, on our right; and the
broad ocean, breaking its blue swells to bathe the rocky shore
in sho'wers of foam, on om' left, soon brought us to our destina-
tion. .L<\..lthough the 111ansion of the hacienda had not been oc-
cupied for son1e tÏ1ne by its owners, we were not long in per-
cehTing that ",.here the win e
;sts Chilenas ha\e a ready, pleas-
ant, and effective way of extendipg hospit
lities. From thi

new standpoint we soon disco\ered that, although SOlne objects
of interest that had contributed to recent gratification were un-
seen, yet we were repaid for their loss by the sight.of others;
and among these we recognized one of the majestic mountains
of the CordilleJla, for days an object of adu1iration and wonder
while descending the great valley, inspiring a feeling akin to
reverence in the 111elnories of the past; and now again seen,
looming above and beyond the Coast Range to the east-north-
east, with his snowy cowl drawn o,er his head, as he lifted it
proudly and peerless above other gigantic monuments of sur-
rounding nature. I haù almost touched the hen1 of the glitter-
ing garment of the K evada de Chillan; and now that his bold

11.

328

CHffiEA:N TIREARF AST.

lineaments were again beheld even at the distance of one hun-
dred and forty miles, I longed to lay the tribute of adoration
on the shrine of such unchanging grandeur.
A summons to the Illorning Illeal dispelled the pleasant re-
trospection, and approaching the antique, tile-roofed, Spanish
mansion, looking down on the thatched reed outhouses, as
superciliously as a proud old Castilian or a modern upstart pre-
tender, ,ve fOtmd the repast tastefully spread-as only these
Oa/ltCa8ian señoritas understand the art of-under a rramada or
telnporary portico, erected for the occasion, to give us the inter-
est and comfort of out-of-door scene and air. It was built of
olivilla and mar-doña rustic posts, supporting similar rafters;
and roofed, and walled on the e}q:>osed side, to shelter llS from the
sun, ,vith twined and thatched Olliiq1.ten and Avillana branches
and leaves. Oa81.l-ela, the first dish of a Chilean breakfast, soon
tempted with its savory and provoking aroma a saucy appetite;
but I had over-estimated my ability of endurance when I hastily
sought to appease it; for the first appropriation of the liquid
flame to the wants of the inner 111an, ,vhile it brought a practical
illustration of the" fire that is not quenched," brought also tears
to my eyes. And when a lIlischievous señorita on the opposite
side of the table, observing my internal combustion, wickedly
tenderec11Ile an additional portion of the accursed aji to season
the broth" more to my taste," I thought of the streams of lava
consuming Antuco, and the lake of icy waters he had gathered for
their extinguishment, and feJ.t a sympathy coming of realization
of fiery afHiction. A repetition of the indiscretion was not in-
dulged in, and it ,vas a source of joy when the cause of torture
was removed, and a dish of mote con leclw-husked wheat boiled
in mi!
-came to soothe with its demulcent properties my blis-
tered throat. This reinstated confidence, and \yith beco111il1g
gusto a bumper of Champagne prepared the way for an unequalled
r;nmdon., served by the peon cook upon a natural spit of 1naq1ti.
And. that we might not slight any appendage of this extraordi-
nary quadruped, his feet fried in butter ,vith flour and eggs,
\vere next grandiloquently trotted on the table as Patita8 de
OOl'del'o. Duly disposed of, with suitable contributions of vege-
tables, unequalled bread, and alfalfa butter fresh from the churn,

,

CITY OF COXCEPCION.

329

stra",
berries next appeared, nearly 'white, being but slightly
blushed on the sunny side, 'With minute purplish seed sprinkled
like beauty spots over the surface, and weighing eight to the
pO'ltnd! That nUluber quartered filled the largest-sized dessert
plate, and, smothered in cream, was a repast of itself befitting
surrounding scenery. The flavor of the Chile stra'Wberry is
perhaps a shade less rich than the best of our garden cultivation.
But while you may talk of biting a chen-y to express infinitesi-
Inal division if you choose, do not borrow tbe hacienda de Tlun-
beg straw'berry the size of a hen's egg, for your figure of speech
to a Chileno; unless you design to bave your knowledge of
natural products impeached, and your metaphors ridiculed for
tbeir absurdity. Coffee followed, of Bolivian growtb and flavor
-the best in the lvorld-and then the curling smoke of the
cigarito threw its oblivious influence around to mar or make a
further joy, as lnight be determined by natrn"al or perverted
taste. Fearing, shortly afterwards, from certain significant signs,
a purpose to "kill us with kindness," the stranger guest3 took
leave of new made Talcahuano friends, and we literally" vamos'd
the ranche."
The city of Oon<:epcion, the capital of the Province of the
same name, is but nine miles southeast by east from Talcahuano,
the road between them lying over a nearly level sandy plain,
with- the Bay of Concepcion on its north side, and the river
Biobio on the soutb, the distance between these latter
being about five miles; the road crossing this isthmus in a
diagonal direction, to reach the city of Concepcion, which does
not lie on the bay as might be supposed by its name, but upon
the north bank of the Biobio froll1 six to seven miles from its
mouth. The location of Concepcion on the largest ri\er of
Chile, and so near to the ocean, might lead you to the belief that
it is an important seaport; but that ri\er, although navigable
for light-draught boats to a greater distance, is obstrbctecl by
sand-bars at and within its mouth, rendering it hnpracticable
for nayigation of large vessels; and hence Concepcion is with-
out foreign commerce, and dependent on Talcahuallo as a port
of entry. Its imports and exports are carried, by the slow con-
,eyances of the country already described, across a nearly level

330

CITY OF CONCEPCION.

plain admirably adapted for a railroad; ana on ,yhich one
would be built in six ,veeks in North All1erica under the pres-
sure of a like necessity.
The population of Concepcion is estinlated at froln tw"elve to
fifteen thousand. It is difficult to obtain satisfactory inforlna-
tion on this point anywhere in South America; as ,yell froln the
unreliable basis of the census, as is the case in these countries
where ignorance conceals the truth from fear of some ulterior de-
sign by governlnent officials, as from the fact that ,vhatever state-
ments are published often el11brace the population of the depart-
nlent ,vith that of its chief town. The streets are regular, ,vider
than in any other city of Chile, most of theln well paved, raised in
the llliddle, with side gutters, and with good side,valks of brick
or board. A handsolne plaza adorns the city, on which is erected
a splendid Inausoleunl to a lost fountain, or perhaps to COln-
lnenlorate one that was nevm"' found. It consists of a bronze
fluted Corinthian column ,,
ith classic capital, upon a pedestal
supported by four colossal nlerlnaids, trying certainly very in-
effectually to blow lhnpid strealns froln sea-shells held to the
mouth; the whole being Slu'lllounted by a statue of Cere8, ,yith
sheaf and sickle, elnblenlatic of the agricultural character of the
province. Its height is nearly fifty feet; it was east at 1\Iunich,
and is a creditable InonUlnellt of the taste and liberality of the
rnunicipality; although it cannot be denied that its cost appro-
priated to the introduction of pure ,vater, would contribute more
to the health and comfort of the inhabitants. On one side of
the plaza stands a large cathedral, unfinished of course, and
has been for one fourth of a century. Jolly priests, with" fat
capon lined," might become less delnonstrative of good living,
if churches had expended upon theln the liberal bequest

designed for their completion. Doubtless the unction is laid to
the clerical soul that omniscience knows and ap11roves the pious .
offering
, but is indifferent to the application, needing neither
decorated arch nor colulnned portico to perfect Iris glory; and
hence his servants, the achninistrators of the trust, are excusable
for diverting thell1 to their own creature comforts. The trav-
eller through South America is often guilty of the Sill of believ-
ing that if there were not so many priests, there ,,'"ould be nlorc

.

CASAS DE EJERCICIOS.

331

and better religionists; fewer saints, fe"er sinners; not so 11luch
selfishness and sensualitJ behind the altar, more charity and
spirituality before it. On the opposite side of the plaza to the
cathedral stand3 the Intendencia, a capacious and handsome
go\ernment house in process of cOlllpletion. On a third side
the extensive jJortales-arcades-of General Cruz, the fa\orite
citizen of Southern Chile, and nine years since the nearly suc-
cessful leader of tbe revolutionary party in overthrowing the
Government. The fourth side is occupied by shops, .plain, but
lleat and cleanly, as are most of the houses in the centre of the
city; while the precincts, like those of all Spanish American
towns, present with their reed, brush, and lllud hovels, and
tattered and half-naked populace, a repugnant spectacle of
squalid poverty and filth. -
In passing the Oasas de Ejei'cicio8 to-day, I remembered
tLat I had not noted these ltouses of 8piì'itual penance, to be
found in all considerable cOlnnlunities in this country. The
clergy, who no doubt are in position to know fun wen the ex-
tent of prevalent ".ickedness, not only think it necessary that
such establishments should exist, "here sinful flesh shall self-
inflict punishment by stripes, pincbings, hair jackets, hard beds,
hard fare, and no fare at all, for moral delinquencies; but also,
that it shall be 111ade to pay stated fees according to possession
of worldly wealth, for the privilege of this exorcisnl of e\i1,
lmder proper physical instruction, in authorized institutions.
Strange as it may appear to rationallninds, these religious pen i-
tential'les are sought by crowds of pious sinners, during the sea-
son of Lent especially; who abandon for nine days their hOl11es,
and all the obligations of domestic duty, to engage in a system
of self-castigation, laceration, and deprivation, which accom-
plishes nothing lnore than the lifting of one load of conscious
wickedness from their sou1s, that they lnay the better bear that
which is in contemplation for the future.
Besides a beautiful dri,e, pronlenade, private garden
, and
shade trees, Concepcion has in its flourishing college and ex-
cellent academies, ornaments of still higher merit. In no part
of Chile does the literary {:ducation of '\'"Olm rr ladies receh-e 1110re

J 0
attention.

332 NATURAL ADVANTAGES OF CONCEPCION.

This city is built in the valley of
Iocha under a spur of the
Coast Range of Illoulltains; but, for the sake of lllore desirable
elevation, as ,,"ell as for the convenience of deeper water on the
Biobio, it would have been better placed on a higher plateau a
little ,vest of its present site; ,vhere it 'w'ould also have been
nearer to the Bay of Conception, and to that of San Vincente.
With extensive and fertile provinces surrounding it, abounding
in nlineral and agricultural ,yealth beyond the pretensions of
any other. part of Chile-for Ï1nlllense coal-fields are located
but a few llliles south, and 111illions of acres of virgin soil in its
vicinity await but their redemption from Araucanian control
and the stretching forth the hand of industry to yield rich pro-
ductions of labor-,vith mountains of metallic treasure stiU
acl{no,vledging savage sway, and an unused water power ample
for large manufacturing enterprise; what but the fostering and
protecting care of Government, the energy and industry of its
own citizens, and capital, and foreign skill, are wanted, to Inake
Concepcion what it is designed by nature to be, the great city
of the Republic, and its cOlnmercial, if not its political elnpo-
rium
And especially,vould this destiny become realized, if,
as sound national policy dictates, the Southern Railroad now in
progress down the great valley should be continued to this point,
affording an outlet for its great productions, and n1eans of ob-
taining ,vith facility for the undeveloped interior the improved
implements, machinery, labor, instruction, and example of emi-
grants from countries that have the lead of Chile in the arts of
civilized life.
The following facts relating to the coal mines in this vicin-
ity, ,viII give some ,idea of the iInportance of Concepcion as a
cOlnn1ercial and manufacturing point. Lota is situated on the
northeast side of Arauco Bay, ,vhich is about twenty miles wide,
an inlet of the Pacific Ocean but little south of the mouth of
the Biobio River. On this bay are situated also Lotilla, Chan1-
bique, Colcura, and SOlne other towns.
The principal coal mines now (1861) being worked are Chaln-
bique and Lotilla, the yearly products froln which are about
72,000 tOllS, and increasing; and it is thought by many that the
quality is fully equal to the English coal, as it burns ,vith great

COAL
IXES.

33H

freedoll1, and generates steanl rapidly. The coals frOTIl these
mines supply the English and other steanlers on this coast, and
are also shipped to the ports of COqUilllbo, Huasco, Caldera,
Ohaneral, l.
c., for the smelting of copper ores. They are also
exported to Peru and California. The price at the mines is
85.50 to 86 per ton deliyered on boarù vessels. The company
has built an iron 11101e three hundred feet in length, at the end
of which is a drop frolll which car-loads of two and a .half tons
each can be lowered into vessels lTIoored there. Vessels of
tweh"e hundred tons have been thus loaded in two daye. In
addition to this improvement, a steam crane is 1lsed for discharg-
ing copper ore, and for the shipment of fire-bricks.
There is also an establishment for the manufacture of fire-
brick, the clay being obtained in the 1l1ines, froin which 30,000
are said to be tlu"ned out per week, at 830 per thousand de]i,-
ered on shipboard. They are considered superior to the English
fire-brick, and supply the northern parts of Chile, and al:::o
Peru. .d smelting establishment with five furnaces is also in
operation here, and it is the intention of the company to erect
other3. The copper ore is brought froll1 the northern ports in
return for shipments of coal.
Carboncillo (small coal) is used in the slnelting, refining,
l.
c., of ore
, and for the lnanufacture of brick. Coal is found
at these mines from one hundred and fi,e to one hundred and.
t\Venty yards below the surface. At the Lota nline the tunnel
is t\Vo hundred and se,enty yards long. The Chaulbique coal
is raised from below by a steam engine, and being deposited in
cars they are drawn by horse power to the seashore.
The mining èompallY has a1so an extensiye Inachine foun-
dry, black::;mith and other shops, "here all necessary castings
are made. There are six hundred employés in the ,arious de-
partments.
....\1though the Lota coal Dlakes more smoke, it will raise
stealn in shorter tilue than Eng1ish coa1.
There is a vein of superior fire-brick clay about four feet in
thicknes::; under the "Vein of coal. The principal lnine is that
of Lotilla; in it there are three
ealns of coal nOl\ being worked:
the first is fifty yard3 beneath the surface, ''fith a thicklle
s of

.

334:

PENCO.

four feet; the second, forty yards lower, averaging two feet ten
inches; the third, nine yards deeper, is fonr feet ten inches
thick, under which is found the :fire-cla
r. The dip of the vein
is westerly seven inches to the yard. About thirty inches above
the third vein is found a bed of fossils, as regular as the vein of
coal itself. These coal fields are very extensive, and it is esti-
mated that at the present rate of working, seventy years will be
required to exhaust thenl. There are several other Inines of less
extent and value. Colcura is about one league ,vest froln Lota;
forlnerly flour ,vas Inanufactnred and shipped from this place.
TÏInber is abundant in its vicinity. It is situated at the foot of
the Cerro Villa Gran, ,veIl known as the scene of a fierce bat-
tle hetween the Spanish invaders under General Villa Gral1, and
the unconquered Araucanian Indians, who still Inaintain their
freedom in this ,icinity, despite the arts of diplolnacy and the
power of their enemies.
The location of Concepcion it is reasonable to presun1e will
eventually invite trade; its clhnate is very salubrious, but like
Inany other cities of Chile it has suffered greatly frôm earth-
quakes. 'fhat of 1835, ,vhich shook Talcahuano nearly to pieces,
three imlnense sea-waves ,yashing R\Vay what the trelubling
earth had spared, also laid Concepcion in ruins. And Penco,
ßeven 1l1iles off on the southeast shore of the bay, over ,vhose
unhappy people the arm of the destroying angel seems ever to
have been outstretched, was at the saIne tÎIne crumbled into
dust. We rode over to see the remains of this town, once the
pride of the Spaniards, from the fine harbor on which it stood,
and its neighboring gold washings. It was founded by Pedro
Valdivia in 1550, and at that time ca,zZecl Ooncepcion, ,vhich
name it retained through an its vicissitudes of fortune until
1761, ,yhen it was tl"an8ferred to the present city of Concep

cion on the Biobio, already described, "\vhich was then fO'ltncled.
Penco, as I shall, to avoid confusion of ternls, call the town first
founded by Valdivia under a different nalne, is as before stated
on the southeast shore of the Bay of Concepcion, near the
InolÜh of the little river Andalien, on the southeast shore of
the Bay of Concepcion, and consists at present of about one
hundred and fifty adobe houses and reed huts, with several bo-

PEXCO.

335

degas for storage of wool and wheat brought froln the adjacent
country for exportation. With the except'ion of the old fortres;;:,
which has chiselled upon two of its faces, with the arms of Cas-
tile, the nunlbers 1686 and 1687, indicative it is presumed. of the
periods of its comUlencelnellt and completion, and the stone
walls of which-from five to ten feet thick-are gradually dis-
appearing to be used in other structures, rather than from nat-
ural causes or terrestrial phenOJllena; we looked in yain. for the
,. ruins" and the " fallen walls of teluples and fortifications," so
graphically described by a distinguished fellow-colmtr.}'TIlan in
1851. lT7lat he saw bas been correctly and instructh""ely pre-
sented, to the extent reasonably to be expected of a stranger
;vhose opportunities are usually somewhat restricted. But in
reference to these 'to ruins," as in some other matters about wbich
ii'om failure to exaluine for himself he has relied upon the state-
ments of others, he was greatly misled. The only" ruins" we
could find were those of brush huts, undeniably passing away
with tolerable speed; and the probability is that by next month
tbe place that 1.ì10"-S theln no,v "will know thenl no more for-
e,er. ", ..And as to the c. telnples," "fallen" or standing, they
certainly escapeð the scrutinizing search of four AUlericans, tl\O
of theln Californians, who "prospected" Penco through and
around for relics of the l)ast. I relneUlher to have read this
poetic description of the ruins of old Concepcion to which I
refer, with profound interest at the tinle of its publication, and
felt badly treated 'wbèn the illusion was dispelled, and the fact
"'as realized that Penco would not disinter some mournful me-
mentos 'With which to repay the long pent-up sympathy in her
behalf.
But altbough the proofs are not seen, having been crulnbled
into dust, washed away by the inundating ""
ave, or appropdated
to recent building purposes, Pellco has been peculiarly a victÍ1n
of desolation. Ha,ing been abandoned by Villa Gran in 1554,
after his terrible defeat at )IariO'ueno , it was burnt by tbe victo-
o .
rious ..A,rallcanians. Rebuilt by the Spaniards in 1555, it was
shortly after captured by the young but formidable Indian chief
Lautero, then only nineteen )
ears old, "yho put to death the in-
habitants and again destroyed the to""n. IJautero was the young

336

PE
CO.

Araucanian, who, '\\e are told, 1\
hen but sixteen years of age,
I rallied his flying countrymen at the battle of Tucapel, changed
a defeat into a victory, and lnade a prisoner of Valdivia, ",vho
commanded the Spaniards. .An Indian Ulmen, high in author-
ity, having no confidence in the peaceful protestations of Valdi-
via for the future, despatched hilU 1vith his war-club, and thus
terminated the life of this extraordinary man, who had with a
lnere handful of soldiers. penetrated the heart of Chile for lnore
than one thousand n1iles, overcoming the resistance of the na-
tives and natural obstacles at every step of his progress; and
having added a vast empire to Spain, had at last his triuluph-
ant career suddenly brought to a close through the agency of an
Indian boy taught to believe that life was valueles:; w'ithout lib-II
erty, and ,vho set an exalnple of heroisln to his faltering coun-
trymen that lnade then} invincible even by the before un con-
q uered Spaniard. The deeds of the young chieftain Lautero
\vere shortly afterwards visited with terrible retribution. While
encalnped on the banks of the Rio Claro on his ,yay to assault
Santiago, he ,vas attacked by Francisco de Villa Gran, ,yholn
he had previously defeated at J\Iarigueno, and slain, ,vith every
Ulan of the six hundred ......\.raucanians composing his army.
Penco ,vas in 1557 rebuilt by Garcia de
Iendoza, and forti-
fied so strongly as to resist an Indian siege of fifty days. But
after the defeat of Loyola its governor (nephew of the founder
of the order of Jesuits) 'v hen on his return from a visit to the
interior in 1598, the .A.raucanians again succeeded in capturing
and destroying it. Again rebuilt, it was in 1730 s,vept aw'ay
by earthquake and inundation. And once more restored by the
Spaniards, it was doorned to another destruction by earthquake
in 1',51; the inhabitants flying for safety to the neighboring
hills .in time to avoid death fron1 the inrolling sea, which washed
off 1\ r ith its retiring "'''ave every vestige of habitation. For thir':
teen years the inhabitants reulained undecided in purpose, and
finally the majority of then1 resolved upon building the present
city of Concepcion seven 111iles off, on the Biobio River, in ,vhat
they considered a lnore secure place at least froln the ocean
,vave. A fe,v of the people, with affections still clinging to the
scene of fonner varied fortunes, ventured to construct temporary

DEP ..tRTURE.

337

habitations, th
l
perpetuating- the geographical identity of a
spot distinguished by extraordinary
ci
situdes of fortune.
About three miles to the north of Penco is the fisherman's
village of Lirquen, occupying a wide-mouthed quebrada. A
flour mill near by gives elnplo
rment to a busily-disposed little
stream, that comes tumbling headlong down the valley as if
eagar for occupation.
The number of ve
sels arriving at the ports on the Bay of
Concepcion, viz., Tomé, Talcahuano, Penco, and Lirquen, for
one year, ending 1st April, 1860, was four hundred and forty-
two; of ,vhich two hundred and twenty-eight were foreign
ships. IIaving described the surroundings of this fine bay, I
now glide over its placid bosom, with my face turned toward
my native land: which, however rich the resources of this lovely
Chile; however blest in its physical advantages by the Hand of
a Beneficent Creator; however beautiful its valleys, sublime its
mountains, fertile its plains, numerous and enriching its rivers,
bounteous its minerals, sa1ubrious its clÜllate, diversified its
scenery; ho"e,er calculated to charIn, still cannot drawaffec-
tions from that northern hOlne! For is it not a land of civil
liberty, political eqllality, and religious toleration
Without
the bles
ings of which what are soil and scenery
What were
hills even of silver, or mOlmtains of gold

22

CHAPTER XI
.

VOYAGE COASTWISE KORTHW ARD-CO
STITUCION-COPPER PRODUCT OF CHILE-SAILING
VESSEL TO CALLAO NOT AS RELIABLE AS STEMlER TO PAIT.A-GULF OF GUAYAQUIL
TO TUMBES.

ABOARD of the staunch American stealller " Biobio "-Com-
mander George N. Rogers-we stood through the principal
entrance of the bay to the north-northwest, between Quiriquina
Island and Loberia IIead, and shortly after changed our course
due north, and passed Cullin Point and Coliumo I-Iead, the
coast trending first a short distance east, then south, and then
returning on itself to form the small Bay of Coliulllo, which
affords secure shelter for coasters in heavy southwesters. It is
back of this hay that the coal strata of Chile are first seen, ,vhich
stretch to the south as far as the Island of Chiloe, upwards of
three hundred miles.
From Coliumo Bay, for fifty-six miles north to Cape Car-
ranza, and even to the mouth of the Itata River, the shore line
is high and partially wooded. Off Cape Carranza the rock is
found, about three-fourths of a lllile froIll shore, on which the
Chilean '\var-steamer was '\vrecked in 1856 V\rith a loss of four
hundred lives. Seventeen miles further north, in latitude 35 0
20', close in shore is a rock of imposing size, from its Gothic ap-
pearance known as La Iglesia-the church-an opening like a
doorway of corresponding architecture, contributing to the re-
selnblance. And from half to one mile beyond are two pyra-
lnidal rocky masses, the one nalned Las Ventanas, fronl its
window-like openings,-the other Piedra Lobos-beillg the resort
of seals; they mark the mouth of the River }faulé. The CelTo
:MutÜll on the south bank of the river recedes in such a manner
near its mouth, as to enclose a semicircular plain on ,vhich
stands the to'\vn of OvnstiÜtcion, often provincially called l\faulé,

VOYAGE XORTHWARD.

339

from the river. Constitucion has three thousand inhabitants, a
dirty plaza, unfinished cathedral, indifferent one-story houses,
bodegas, and ordinary corporate buildings. It--enjoys the trade
of the largest portion of the Provinces of Talca and Maulé ; but
until greater enterprise, industry, skill, and capital are brought
to the developlnent of these fine portions of the republic; until
the natives seek to put to better account the long neglected gifts
of nature, and Government renders ll10re accessible and safe
this harbor, Constitucion cannot reap the great advantages its
relative position as a natural entrepot would give it. From
Constitucion north the boldness of the coast diminishes until
I
near Algaroba Point, when it becomes cliffy -With high land in
the neighborhood. About Ouraluna Head are high cliffs also,
and beyond it the land rises steeply to the ranges of that name;
in the distance, if'the weather be clear, the Can1pana (bell) de
Quillota, six thousand t,,,"o hundred feet, being seen; and e\en
the far-off Andes may sometimes be discerned, with the majes-
tic A.concagua in surpassing altitude. A few miles past the
heights of Curauma. is Curaumilla Point, and seven miles fur-
ther Valparaiso Point bounds the bay of that name, two hun- .
dreù and fifty wiles from Talcahuano, making an aggregate of
three thousand n1Ïles of the Pacific shore of South .....-lmerica
froln Panama to the Bay of Arauco; all of \vhich, and even
further south, is traversed by a continuous line of British steam-
ers. The only opposition is on the short route from Valparaiso
to .L\.rauco Bay, by the North Alnerican steamer Biobio, Capt.
Rogers, a thorough seaman and familiar ,vith the nayigation
and interests of this coast. What will be the result of individ-
ual competition on a partial route with a wealthy corporation
that aims at monopoly, and a connected line to support it, must
depend on the disposition of those interested in trade to main-
tain it at remunerative rates of passage and freight, rather than
patronize one which, whatever liberality it may show ,,'hen con-
strained 1y opposition, is sure to recognize in them only (1
ntrib-
utors to its oppressive exactions whenever it shall be in position
to exercise exclusive control.
One of the most valuable products of Chile is copper. "It
may be useful to give the substance of information derivecl froBl
one thoroughly conversant with the subject, in reference to the

340 COPPER PRODUCT OF CHILE.
extraordinary richness of Cbile in this n1etal. The following
table will show the exports in a gIven period of tbe various
forms of bars, regulus, and ore:
STATEME
T (in copper (MUZ content8) of the EXp01>ts of Oopper Bars, Regulus,
and Ores, from Ohile, from 1848 to 1857, inclusive.
Tons of 22 quintals.
1848. 1849.
Bars, Regulus. Ores. Total. Bars. Regulus. Ores. Total.
England, . . . . . . . . . 1:590 1193 651 3437 3087 1406 314 4812
United States,.. . . . 2780 88'7 75 3742 3938 185 225 4348
France,.. . . . . . . . . . 1532 3 1535 741 741
Ger
any,.. . . . . . . . 27 234 172 433 112 27 154 293
5929 2317 901 9147 7878 1618 698 10194
1850. 1851-
Bars. Regulus. Ores. Total. Bars. Regulus. Ores. Total
England,. . . . . . . . . 3247 2570 389 6206 2865 1219 374 3758
United States,.. . . . 4256 263 100 4619 3552 3:55 143 4050
France, . . . . . . . . . . 833 833 59 59
Germany,.. . . . . . . . 300 119 1 420 99 202 83 334
8636 2952 490 12078 5775 1776 550 8101
1852. 1853.
Bars, Regulus. Ores. Total. Bars. Regulus. Ores. Total.
England,. . . . . . . . . 3215 3112 1468 7795 714 2080 2158 49:52
United States,.. . . . 5753 435 531 6719 4184 531 1213 5928
:France, . . . . . . . . . . 103 103 98 98
Germany,.. .. .... . 459 409 159 1027 754 302 178 1234
9530 3956 2158 15644 5750 2913 3549 12212
1854. 1855.
Bars. Regulus. Ores, Total. Bars. Regulus. Ores. Total.
England,. . . . . . . . . 1987 2819 3269 8075 4419 6255 3439 14113
United States,.. . . . 4589 426 670 5683 2207 127 1045 3379
France. ......... 962 962 972 27 999
Germany,...... . . . 282 688 107 1077 611 545 633 1759
7818 3933 4046 15797 8209 6954 5087 2025Q
1856. 1857.
Bars. Regulus. Ores. Total. Bars. Regulus. Ores. TotaL
England, . . . . . . . . . 986 7964 3864 12814 2133 10976 4138 17247
Únitcd Statè:;,.. . . . 3684 1775 1151 6610 1995 1517 1286 4798
France, . . . . . . . . -. . 1431 112 131 1874 15G6 62 28 1656
Germany, . . . .. . . . 2Þ* - 133 583 840 322 943 540 1805
622:> 9984 5729 2938 6016 13498 5984 25498
N. B.-In the above statement bars are considered as fine copper, rcgulus as half
copper, and Ol'es as such, of unspecified richness.

COPPER PRODUCT OF CHILE.

3:11

The eXpO]
t8 fì
oln Chile for 1858, and the fir
t Dine months
of 1859, collected from authentic sources, were, to wit:
Quint.'lls. Quintals.
Regulus, 1858,........... 427,662 Gh-ing fine copper, 215,'157
" To Sept., 1859,.. 279,842 "" 136,217

Total,. . . . . . . .. . . . .. 70'7,504 Total copper contents,
Or about 50 per cent. for the average ley.

351,974

Quintals.
Ores, 1858,............. 1,013,216 Giving fine copper,
" To Sept., 1859,. . . . 515,122 ""
Or about 22 per cent. for the average ley.

Quintals.
220,443
136,60:5

Of the whole imports of copper into England in 1858, it is
satisfactorily ascertained froln Parlialuentary returns of that year,
that Chile supplied 56 per cent.
In estimating the effect of the copper production of this part
of the world upon the copper interests of COlllmerce at large, it
must be stated that Bolivia, adjoining Chile, exports copper
largely, 'which for all business purposes is the same as if it ",vas
sent from Chile, for it is chiefly produced by Chile enterprise

that is, by labo! and capital of people Jiving in Chile, either
natives or foreigners. lIenee the in1portance of considering
Chile as a copper producing country, in all interested calcula-
tions relative to this article. If all the exports of Bolina and
Chile were sent to England, 'which is admittedly the great
copper Inarket of the world, they ,\\yould COlllpOSe 70 per cent.
of her entire Ï1nports; and including her own production and
that of Ireland, 'with that of the rest of the world, the in1por-
tation frolu Chile and Bolivia ,,?ould amount to one-half if all,
ùotl
Ï7nporte(l and produced. The truth is that, with copper
riches perfectly fabulous, Chile has been too much overlooked
by con1mercial statisticians. There is one 'lnÙw alone in the
Province of COqUiu1bo (Tamayo), belonging to a pri\ate indi-
vidual, which produces annually more than six tin1es the entire
imports of copper into England from Spain; anel nearly a:;
much as the imports into England frOl11 AUEtralia and Cuba put
together. Yet this Inine has not been publicly noticed; nor has
that either in the north of _
tacama recently discovered, and

342

COPPER PRODUCT OF CHILE.

belonging to another l)rivate individual, w"hich yields as llluch
copper annually (7,000 tons) as is imported into England from
Spain and all other c01tntries, except Australia and Cuba. These
two Ohile mines togetlter p'rodu,ce as much copper as is Ï1nported
into England from every other country in tIle 'world, eæcept
Ohile Iwrself !
But in estimating the importance of the Ohile supply, it
must be remembered that she exports largely to other countries
as well as England, which influences the English market in two
".ays: first, by finding its w"ay into England incli.rectly, but
being credited to the country "Thence it last came; and
secondly, England, being the great copper lnarket, whatever
supplies Chile sends direct to other countries diminishes by so
llluch the demand of those countries in England.
The exact exports of copper produced by Ohile and Bolivia
in 1858, were:

Quintals.
Bar Copper,. . . .... .. . . . 189,181
Regulus,............... 431,181
Ores, .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. 1,219,616

Quintals.
containing 183,610
" 217,340
" 263,183

Tons.
or 8,346 Pure Copper.
"9,879 "
"11,963 "

Of these there ,vere sent to England-

Bar Copper,. . . . . . . . . . . .
Regulus,. . . . . . . .. . . . . . .
Ores, .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .

Quintals.
93,867
333,642
807,132

Quintals.
containing 91,051
" 170,245
" 163,185

Tons.
or 4,139 Pure Copper.
" 7,738 "
"7,417 "

Pure Copper,. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 424,381

"19,294

In other "Tords, of all the copper IJroduct exported by Ohile
and Bolivia to all parts of the world in 1858, there was sent to
Engl
nd, in the shape of-

Bar Copper, about................................ 50 per cent.
Regulus, ". . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 "
Ores, ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 62 "

Altogether in Pure Copper,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ü4 per cent.

Leaving 36 per cent., or 10,894 tons of pure copper for other
countries. These statelnents would seenl to indicate that the
production of Ohile must rule the copper market, and point out
the importance of its consideration by all engaged in the trade.

VOYAGE KORTHW.á.RD.

343

A practicallniner and sn1elter, who recently made a careful re-
connoissance of the he,," copper region in the north of A..tacama,
says that "the copper in this district may be measured by
league:::," and the mines being near the coast are not so subject
to the controlling influences upon mule transportation, of an
arid country and an absence of culture-want of water and
grass. ..t\..nd but a few days since, a gentlen1an who had been in
that vicinity informed me that the copper ore did not lay in
veins but was piled up in inexhaustible hills, fronl 'which it was
literally dug do"Tn.
Xlunber of furnaces in the Province of Capiapo 59-of
which 26 are working, and 33 suspended for repair and other-
WIse.
Kumber of furnaces in the Province of Huasco 30-ofwhich
18 are working, and 12 suspended.
Klunber of furnaces in the Province of Coquimbo 63-of
which 11 are working, and 52 suspended.
The loss of copper fi'OIll furnaces not in operation is 16,160
quintals per day.
To avoid detention at Valparaiso by awaiting for the next
stean1er, I took pa
sage on the ship "Caroline Reed," Douglas,
master, bound for Callao, and getting out of harbor to be he-
calmed "Tithin sight of the city for twelve hours, it was not
t\l1til next day that a south-south,vester came along which
calTied us before it cheerily for a couple of day::;. Bafiling
winds then followed, and finally
lmost a dead calm, and we
were doomed frolll the 27 0 to the 2:1: 0 of south latitude to en-
counter ahnost literaUy the condition described by Captains
Parker and Fitz Roy, when, after saying that the winds from
September to March generally blow from the south-southeast
to soutlnvest, yet add that, "S0ll1etin1es during the summer, for
three or four successive days, there is not a breath of wind, the
sky being. beautifully clear, ,,-ith a nearly vertical sun." Indeed
during six days there was at tinles not sufficient 1110tion of the
air to give the ship steerage way, and she wallowed in a glassy
sea at the mercy of the lazy swells; while occasionally, she crept
along as if afraid of disturbing the slumbers of the lnarine in-
sects which had extinguished their phosphorescent lan1ps, usually

344

VOYAGE NORTHWARD.

illumining this part of the Pacific coast. The only noise that
disturbed a quiet like that of Nature's death ,vas the clatter and
, 8,vash of the ship's punlp, at frequent intervals, givin
notice
that she was not sea-'tvorthy. Before the end of this voyage the
passengers had reason to regret the confidence they had reposed
in the declarations of the captain, "\\-Tho ,vas also part o""ner, and
who, by a large show of ouÞ,vard sanctity, nlanaged for a time
to conceal ,vhat after,vards proved to be absolute rascality.
By the testinlony of two intelligent French passengers, this
vessel ,vas ascertained to be leaking badly immediately on get..
ting to sea froln New York. Ilaving received a coat of paint
and tar after doubling the 1-101'11, she ,vas to be sold on specula-
tion in the Pacific, to the bottom of ,vhich she will probably
make her next voyage. It is not my purpose to write a tale
of grievances, however annoying to others less favored than
myself. But having some experience, I Illay advise others
preparing for a voyage, to assure themselves beforehand of the
condition of the ship and her supplies, and also the character of
the master-his nautical knowledge, honesty, find regard for
the decent observances of life. The usual ,vinds at this season
finally befriended us, and in fifteen days fronl Valparaiso we
anchored in Oallao harbor-distance fourteen hunch'ed miles.
The voyage in this direction is often made in much less time.
The British stealner Lima was taken a few days after fof
Paita. We passed the unimportant little seaports on the Peru-
vian coast, of IIuacho, Sape, Oasma, Samanco, Santa, I-Iuanchaco,

Ialabrigo, PaCaS111ayo, Lambayeque, no one of them worthy of
special description, and reached Paita in two and a half clays.
At several of the to,vns above named, and at some other parts of
the P "ruvial1 coast, landing is effected .with difficulty, and only
to be accomplished both by passengers and for merchandise, by
Cribillit08; ,vhich are bundles of reeds, lashed together and
turned up at the bo,v, and being very light are thro,vn fi'om the
top of the surf to the beach, ,vhen the boatmen jUl11p off and
carry it beyond the next breaker; or a stronger and larger raft
called Balsa is often used, made by lashing together logs of the
cabbage-palm, with a platforlll of thick boards or logs raised
about two feet, on ,vhich Inerchandise is placed. These often

VOYAGE XORT
XRD.

345

are pronded ,vith a large lug-sail, and they may frequently be
seen going up and down the beach, and through the surf, ,vith
inlpunity.
Of Paita I haV"e nothing to add to a prenous description.
It is a wretched compound of clerical licentiousness and popu-
lar indolence and corruption, seasoned with a spice of foreign
mercantile craft. I baw the robed priest tie his galne-cock at
the church door, where he cro,ved a chorus to a solemn ll1ass
celebrated at a cost of four hundred dollars, for the repose of
the soul of a deceased citizen, "ho it was understood ,vas to be
absolved fron1 all his sins, including that of cheating his doctor
-as the unfortunate 11leclico himself said; while the passers-by,
indifferent to what was going on within
saluted the edifice by
ta1..--i.ng off their hats and making a profound salaanl, as they
hurried on, SOllIe of thenl to the neighbouring cock-pit, others
to the mole to gape at the shrewd stranger embark and dis-
embark the cOlnmoc1ities of Paita trade, and the Yankee
whaler transship his oil that he might bear away for another
" catch:'
The bark" Dominga" being up for Tumbes, whither I was
bound, I despatched busine;:,s at Paita and sailed thence 'yrith
her In aster Tholnas Lee, "ho, after recent experience, I "as
rejoiced to find united the deportment of a gentIelnan to the
qualifications of a seaman. Doubling Point Parina and Cape
Blanco, we steered north-northeast up the Gulf of Guayaquil;
and t"o days after, the wind having died away, we came to
anchor six or seven Iniles west of Malpelo Point, in !ati-
tude 3 0 29' south and longitude SOo 30' west, a sailing dis-
tance of one hundred and thirty miles from our port of
departure. The following day ùl'il1ging no S
gllS of a breeze,
Captain Lee and myself took the ship's boat, and coasted "ith-
in a n1Ïle or two of a low shore covered with scru1by trees,
and rimlned by a continuous line of breakers; which, stretching
further out at the Point broke high and ,vildly o"\er the reef,
growling a fierce 'Warning not to venture too near. SL'\: n1Ïles
northeast of )!alpelo Point brought us to the present mouth of
the Tumbes River, in latitude 3 0 21' south, and longitude t:)00
1,' 'West, oft. "hich, vc
.;:.els touching here for supplies of ,,00t1,

346

RIVER TU1\IBES.

water, and fresh vegetables, usually anchor. Formerly the
river en1ptied into the so-called nay of Tumbes, nearer to
Ial-
pelo Point; but heavy freshets in the rainy season occasionally
change the channel, and at present its principal n10uth is found,
as before stated, six n1iles from the Point. An American ship
and a bark "Tere seen lying at anchor in the open roadstead off
the mouth of the river, which is about three hundred yards
,vide; and across it is a sand-bar, on which in stormy weather
there is a furious su
making the entrance dangerous even to
well-manned and managed boats. We ,vere fortunate in our
passage over the bar without getting swalnped; an event for
mutual congratulation, ,vhen, just within the surf, ,ve saw several
sharks, and many alligators, for ,vhich this river is noted-
apparently awaiting ,vith impatience the breakfast of which
doubtless they would have been gratified to have had us to forTI1
the foreign dish. IIalf a mile ,vithin the river is striving to
make for itself a ne,v channel across the lo,v sandy peninsula
which separates it fronl the gulf on the ,vest side: the next
freshet lnayaccomplish this cut off. At high tide the breakers
are even now seen to roll across the intermediate tongue of land,
and mingle their foaln at this part of the stream with the
turbid current of the Tumbes. One Juile above, the river
becomes narrowed to :fifty or sixty yards, the dark rich alluvial
banks being covered in places by a heavy growth of lJIa;ngrove,
while in others they are entirely concealed by dense thickets of
intermingling verdure. The tortuous strean1, doubling upon
itself at every few hundred yards, precluded the vie,v beyond;
so that our progress was constantly revealing new scenes and
objects of interest and beauty. Birds of gay plumage, rivaIling
the Þ
')pical verdure and flowers in richness and brightness of
coloring, welcomed us with strange song; and the flag-roof
balnboo huts, but little larger than dove-cots, raised on posts.
five or six feet froln the ground for protection against venomous
reptiles and inundation, stood in small clearings to show that
the humble occupants of these ranches enjoy the beauties and
the rich productions of this tropical garden as well as their
lordlier neighbors Don 1vlariano a,nd Don Somontes; whose
Inagnificient chacras, adorned ,vith the cocoa, lime, orange,

RITER TOffiES.

347

plantain) and banana, and shaded by groves of the alg
roba,
guachapeli, amariyo, secca, cedro, and charan, bordered the
river, in ,,
hose mirrored bosom they gazed on their own re-
flected charms. These country-seats showed afiluence and
taste.
It was at the plantation of the latter gentleman, Don J osé
Somontes, about three miles up stream, that "we stopped to pro-
cure horses to go by land two miles to the town of Tumbes,
thus avoiding the more tedious river route against the current
-by which the town is seven D1iles from the gulf. Horses
were furnished, but not until a promise was exacted to return
and partake of the hospitality of his house. Having been fer-
ried OT"er the riT"er ".e struck across a leT"el, and at a short
distance from the river-bank an indifferently cultivated plain,
for one and h half or two Iniles, which brought us to the modern
town öf TZllnbes.

.

CI-IAPTER xx.

MODERN TUMBES-RUI:YS OF A:YCIENT TUMBES-GULF OF GUAYAQUIL-ISL.LVD OF EL
1>IUERTO-ISLAND OF PUNA-GUAYAQ"C'IL RIVER--CITY OF GUAYAQUIL.
.

TQ.IBES has a population of about three thousand, there
being but few of the pure European blood, more of unmixed
Indian descent, and still a larger portion of lTIongrels. The
houses differ froln those heretofore described in that a greater
nunl bel' of thenl are two-story buildings; not because earth-
quakes are not both frequent and se'
ere on this part of the con-
tinent, but from the facility of procuring cane and ball1 boo as
building materials, which readily yield to such terrestrial
nlotions and shocks ,vithout falling. Posts of algarob(1r-com-
monly known as iron-,\yood-crotched at the upper end, are
planted deeply in the ground. These, simply divested of bark,
are used of their natural shape, as frolH the 111etallic hardness of
the wood no plane will make an Ílnpression on it. And for the
sanle reason, no nail being capable of penetrating it, the cross
tiulbers are lashed to the uprights by withs if pa88aya bark,
and twigs of the bejuco,. both of then1 being strong, pliant, and
l110re durable than helnpen rope. The ,yalls are made of inter-
laced la.mboo sticks, plastered with lnud, and sOll1etimes white-
,vashed. The ceiling is of board, or lnuslin; the roof, framed of
large guayaquil cane, hollow and light, is crossed thickly with
baln boo for the support of a thick flag thatch; and the floor is
lnade of large guayaquil cane, partially split into slnall ribs in
such manner as to allo,v its being spread out like a board ,vith
a bamboo s
bstratuln, on cane rafters, forming a compact, cool,
and elastic, though rather noisy luaterial to ,valk on. The
light fantastic toe may not trip on it-

.

TUMBES.

349

" X or stealthy pace
Toward his design move like a ghost "-

whatever its purpo
e, without detection. The rude algaroba
pillars ,vithin the best-built houses, are sometimes covered with
marbled paper, as are also the walls, and put on qlúte a sho"
of 8t,1e. The fornl and adornnlents may be peculiar, but cer-
.,
tainly neither iron nor lnarble can be stronger than the algaroba
column. The projecting roofs are supported by posts in front
of the houses; and when many of these adjoin, a continuous
arcade is thus formed which protects pedestrians frolll sun and
rain. Sidewalks and streets are unpa,ed. 1tIay other tra,cl-
1ers visiting this to,,-n meet ,nth as kind friends as I did to ex-
tend to them pri,ate hospitalities! The Posada of Tumbe;; is
a wretched counterfeit of an inn. If vour dinner 'v ere cooked
oj
under your own eye, superintended by a greasy mulatto wench
whose fat hung about her in folds, and who with the same
,vooden spoon stirred, tasted, and Etirrec1, (fcZ ?.nfinitu],z, during
the interesting process, the various dishes designed for your
use, with a view doubtless of seasoning theln to YOU]' liking, do

rou think you would likl3 them at all ? Of course J-on w'ould
pay for the culinary exhibition, and the natives would be
aluazed that
rou had left the lneal untoucheù; and perhaps you
would be somewhat surprised yourself, after having felt an hour
before as if no nunlber of di
hes of fish, fle3h, and fo,,-l could
stagger your appetite. It was necessary to work day and night,
in order to finish business in time to reach Guayaquil for the
next steamer thence to Panalna. But how to get to Guayaquil,
w"as a question not easy of solution. T"'To means '\'ere possibly
attainable-to. hire a small one-masted ri,er "bunque," or
" chata," with one large square sai], anel no shelter but that of
a thateheel arch open before and behind; or procure a row-boat
capable of carrying sail if thp wind should favor. The latter
alone could be relied on; for if becalmed, the bunque would fail
to arrive in tÌIne for the stealner, and t,,-o or three weeks \rould
elapse before another opportunity would be aftòrded of sailing
for Panama. ....Vìer sonle trouble:, a boat anel four rowerd were
hired to carry 111e to GuaJyaquil, for fifty-six dollars; but no

350

NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF PERU.

temptation ,vould induce the crew to start short of a day's prep-
aration; and it was determined to occupy that interval in
visiting the ruins of the ancient Peruyian Temple of the Sun,
on the site of the old city of TUlnbes, no"\v called C01"ales, ,vhere
Pizarro first lanùed in Peru in 1527. Our projected adventure
made it necessary to cross the river Tumbes, ,vhich ,ve had
ascended a few miles by boating the day before, and which may
be navigated by canoes eighteen or t,venty rniles beyond the
town, ,vhere its falls interrupt further progress, although, head-
ing in the Andes it has a length of seventy-five or eight)"" miles.
This river was the forIner Spanish line of separation bet,veen
the Viceroyalties of Lilna and Quito; and hence bet"\veen the
States of Peru and Ecuador, although the former has for some
tÎ1ne claimed to the
facara, about twenty miles further north.
Since the accession of Castilla to power, he is ever ready to make
this an excuse for intermeddling in the domestic affairs of Ecua-
dor. This disposition on the part of Peru has led to a proposi-
tion of General Flores for a union of the States of Ecuador,
New Granada, and Venezuela, for common defence against the
aggression of more powerful neighbors, ,yhich would effectually
arrest the encroachments of Castil1a.
Having crossed by the ferry-boat, we found on the opposite
side of the river horses in ,vaiting, which had been provided by
L. G. Sanford, Esq., United States Consul, and Dr. R. 1f. Co-
lun1bus, a graduate in Inedicine of a North American Univer-
sity; with 'whom, and several other friends, I started for the
ruins of the temple, after having refreshed ourselves at the
chacra of the h03pitable Don 1Ianuel Rodriguez, with a luscious
draught of cocoanut water, fresh fronl trees growing in profu-
Bion on the river bank. To see a native almost ,valk up the
perpendicular trunk of a tree without any thing adventitious to.
assist hiIn, and pluck the pulpy and juicy fruit from the tufted
top seventy or eighty feet high, would lead you to think that he
had been taking lessons of his fellow-countrymen of the monkey
tri be.
Our road was westwardly, and deep with dust, for it ",.as the
dry season, and no rain had fallen for several Inonths. Several
well-cultivated chacras skirted the way, until ,ve came to a very

ASCIEXT TL':MBES.

351

heavily-timbered
lgaroba forest; the trees looking as if they
were the luemorials of ages that had gone before us, and had
been moulded of iron, or been hewn from dark imperishable
rock. Tropical,ines ,,-ere seen clambering up their knarled
and stalwart trunks, clothing them in verdure, and clinging "\yith
feeble tendrils to brawny limbs; while iri03-hued flowers bloomed
along the wayside, fit companions of the birds that flashed their
rich plumage from bough to bough.
A..bout five miles brought us to the old bed of the river
Tumbes, now dry, and since the change of its channel only oc-
casionally containing water when the river is greatly swollen by
heavy rains. Crossing this, dry-shod, "We mounted the opposite
bank of thirty or forty feet, and passing some balnboo houses
sparsely scattered over a level of a half mile, came to hills,
skirted by the remains of an aqueduct eighteen or twenty
feet wide, and se,en or eight feet deep. .L-\.long this we rode,
circling the hills, the sides of which, in many places appeared
supported by dilapidated walls, built of large boulders in SOlne
places, in others presenting the distinct rectangular outlines of
large adobes, seamed with shingle or cobble stones. SOllIe of
the:;e .nlay have upheld superincumbent structures no,v no more.
On crossing over some of the least elevated of the hills, SITIaU
.
quadranglùar stone foundations were observed.. as of houses;
while the larger size, and perfectly regular and level surface of
other places, indicated the probable existence there of streets
and public squares. A mile and a half from "\vhere we crossed
the old bed of tbe river, we came to tbe foot of a hin frolll one
hundred to one hundred and fifty feet in height, commanding a
fine view of the surroundings. Off to the "
est, five miles di
-
tant, El Punta Gal'l
ita formed the northern termination of a
range of hills, the P a(lai'ones, "hich, stretching away to the
southward, throw.s off a smaller spur to the eastward, upon the
several eminences of which the ancient city of Tunlbes was
built.. supposed to ha,e had one hundred thousand inhabitants.
The hill on which we stood is the northernmost of the spur, and
is i:;olated from the rest by a narrow" space bounding its soutb-
ern foot. To the north of this isolated hill, four miles distant,
is plainly seen the Bay of rrumbes, in "hich Francisco Pizarro

352

RUINS OF A TE
IPLE OF THE SUN.

cast anchor ,,"hen be first feasted his eyes on this land of prom..
ise. And spreading out froln the Padarones Range on tbe west,
to the river Tlln1Les on the east, a distance of ten n1iles, is a
leyel plain, which, in the daJs of the Incas, ,vas watered hy
innumerable small canals, fed by the large aqueduct circling
the hill-sides before described, that tapped the Tumbes River
at a height sufficient to distribute water to the town, and the
outspread plain before it. Nor is it surprising that the beauty,
fertility, and wealth of bountiful nature and human industry
unrolled before him, should have filled the Spanish intruder
with amazen1ent; and that he should have hecoIIle inspired
,vith visions of the magnificent conquest that this transcend-
ently beautiful portal of Peru opened to his imagination.
On the level summit of the hill which "e had ascended and
carefully explored, were seen parts of a symmetrical quadran-
gular wall of great thickness, seven hundred and fifty feet long
and four hundred and twenty feet wide, enclosing the remains
of n1assive walls, abutments, and arches, nearly all prostrated,
rent, and crumbling, under the combined influence of hun1an
and natural causes; earthquake, fire, and storm aiding the hand
of lIlan in the work of destruction. There still are visible,
however, some large adobe blocks, ,vith intermediate water-

ashed stones, doubtless frOlTI the gulf shore; the size of these
blocks justifying the presmnption that they were parts of mas-
sive walls. Portions of ,valls, too, of the thickness of from five
to six feet, are standing supported by huge abutments; and a
descent of fifteen feet belo",'" the present general surface level,
at one spot exposed a perfectly symmetrical arch of four feet
radius, with a part of the ,van supporting it on each side, in an
excelle:"lt state of preservation. Near to this arch a tottering
,vall, resting against neighboring fà1len masses, exhibits on its
exposed side two well-proportioned and unbroken niches; once,
posç;-ibly, adorned ,vith Î1nages of gold or silver.
1\11'. Prescott says, in his" IIistory of the Conquest of Peru,"
in describing ancient Peruvian architecture, in it "there is no
appearance of cohu11ns or of arches, though there is some con-
tradiction as to the latter point. nut it is not to be doubted
that, although they may have made SOllle approach to this mode

Rcrns OF A. TE1IPLE OF TilE sex.

3 ""0
é)ù

of construction by the greater or less inclination of the wans,
the Peruvian architects were wholly unacquainted with the true
principle of the circular arch l'eposing on its key-stone..'
This is an error, for the arch seen by myself and friends
amid the ruins of the Temple of the Sun, at the site of old
Tumbes, so far from being a mere" approach to this mode of
construction by the greater or less inclination of the walls," and
showing that the "Peruvian architects were ,vholly unacquaint-
ed w"Îth the true principle of the circular arch reposing on its
key-stone," clelnOnSÜ"ates their pel:fect comprehension of it.s prin-
ciples at the tÏ1ne of the building of that Temple, its circular
sw"eep and key-stone; and shows its entire independence of
,. greater or less inclination of the walls," and that it rests upon
those of accurate perpendicularity as columns of SUPPOIt, as in
tIle architecture of our day. .
.1\..nd this observation sustains the statement found in the
translation by Francis L. Hawks, D.D., LL.D., of the work on
" Peruvian Antiquities, by }Iari2no Ed,vardo Riyero and James
Von Tschudi," TIz.: "A general error among most historians,
as well the ancient as the ll10Jern, is the opinion that the Peru-
vian architects had not attained to the construction of arches
and ,aults; for ill many Huacas of stone we observe vaults
very superiorly constructed." And further: "In some of the
larger edifices you meet also with ve6tiges of arches, but it is
certain that their application was quite limited." It may be
added, that the publication of Rivero and Von Tschudi is the
ablest authority extant on Peruvian architecture, and embraces
the results of the most extensi,e researches that have been made
in modern times, by personal examination and study of Peruvian
antiquities.
The great extent of the building which occupied this emi-
nence, as indicated by the ruins, would justify the supposition
that, as stated by Rivero, the Tenlple of Tumbes was among
the most sun1ptuous ûf the nation; that at Cuzco, perhaps, alone
surpassing it in size and richness. It embraced, probably, be-
sides the chief section dedicated to the supren1c 2{ umen, the
SUll, chal)el;:; for the ,yorship of the moon, the stars, the thunder-
bolt, the rainbow; another section for priestly deliberations, and
23

354

RL
S OF A TE:,IPLE OF THE SUN.

finally one for those entrusted vlith the alternate weekly relig-
ious services. 1:\..nd in the same enclosure there was, no doubt,
one of the "lnore than t,vo hundred" royal palaces erected for
the use of the Inca., in his journeyings between Cuzco and
Quito; and also one of the monasteries of the Virgins of the Sun.
And "'Tell lnight the religious devotion of the Peruvians
consecrate to the uses of the sanctuary and its servants, an
eminence of peculiar adaptation for beholding and \vorshipping
the first glorious emanations of their rising god; and for wit-
nessing the proofs of his beneficence, in the rich productions of
the magnificent garden .spread far and "'Tide, at the foot of the
holy habitation of his golden and je,vel1ed Ï1nage:ì

Our ride was continued over other parts of the spur of hills
before referred to; and showed, in the artificially levelled sur-
faces, prostrate and broken .walls, vestiges of the foundations of
houses and drainage-trenches, the still lingering proofs of a
large city having once occupied these heights. Some distance
further south, one hill appears to have been set apart for burial
purposes; large urns of classic forIn, ,yith large ITIouths, being
found there, SOlne of theln containing human remains in a sit-
ting posture with the chin resting on the knees. In one instance
we traced the root of a giant cactus penetrating an urn, where it
had revelled on the dust of mortality, and flaunted above the
desecrated tOIllb its crimson-flovvered banner in token of tritunph.
. The traveller cannot look upon the still lingering proofs of
the greatness and prosperity of the ancient Peruvians, about the
site of Tun1 bes of old, vvithout deploring the sordid passions, the
love of gold, the fanaticis111, which under pretence of extending
civilization sent forth as missionaries those who ,vere ignorant
of its henign influences; to inculcate a Christianity, too, sadly
* The author has recently been informed by Dr. Columbus, that in 1862 himse
f
and other citizens of Tumbes and vicinity formed a company for the exploration of
the ruins of this temple. From thirty to forty laborers were occupied in the work
of excavation for more than two months. It resulted in the discovery of one large
central apartment, surrounded by many smaller rooms communicating by corridors,
and having a large portal on the east, toward the rising sun, near which were several
arches well preserved. The walls were painted in red, representing Indians and ani.
mals. The rooms had evidently been fillcd by gravel, conveyed from the seashore
for the purpose of concealing the sacred treasures, &c., from the Spaniards. :Many
gold and silver images of animals and plants were also found, of great value; and
also earthen vases o! bright colors and beautiful design.

CR'LELTY OF PIZARRO.

355

affiliated to the superstition it denounced, and lnore intolerant
and "Vin(licti,e than the idolatry it despised. )Iissionaries who
carried misery into this once peaceful and prosperous land,
caused its rivers to run -with blood, its Îruitful fields to becolne
desolate, its public policy, wisely adapted to the necessities of the
people, to perish, its domestic joys to wither, and a general ruin to
its "Vast elnpire of ten or eleven millions of people, and eight hun-
dred leagues extent from Quito to the ri"Ver Naulé, to follow
in the track of the invader, -whose sole rule of action appears to
ha ve been the enforcelnent by bloody inculcation of his arbitrary
will, and the appropriation of the property and the liberty oÎ
these people to the gratification of his mercenary longings and
his unrestrained lusts. The page of history presents no such
deed of perfidy as the capture of the Inca Atahuallpa, and the
slaughter of thousands of his unarmed retinue, when that mon-
arch, unsuspeûtinf;1y confiding in the good faith and hospitality
of Pizarro, visited hiIll at his quarters, to honor and ,yelcome
him as the ambassador of a foreign prince. And the cliluax of
unequalled treachery was completed, -when, after engaging to
free the monarch on the payn1ent of one room full of gold and
t"yo of silver, he received and retained the ransom, ",-orth more
than sixteen millions of dollars, and then strangled him by the
garrote-thus repaying friendship and hospitality by seizure,
Í1npriSOnIl1ent, robbery, and death. When the apologists of
Pizarro attempt to shield his crimes, and excuse his acts of
cruelty by his religious zeal and holy purpose of extending the
dominion of the cross, they may "Well be answered, that the re-
ligion ,yas unworthy of adoption that required for its extension
that the wife of the Inca Manco, then a prisoner in PizalTo's
power, sholùd be "stripped naked, bound to a tree, and in
presence of the camp be scourged with rods, and then be shot
to death with alTows! " This cold-blooded brutality-and to a
;z
'o?nan-should brand his name -with eternal infamy. .dnd it
,vas such deeds o
inhumanity that finally deprived him of all
5YIllpathy, when retributive justice meted out to billl a violent
death, at the hands of his oml cheated and incensed ('ontenl.
porarles.
X 0 one, when recalling the past, and reflecting on tbe pres-

356

TRADITIONAL CSAGES.

ent condition of this country, can fail to see in the degenerate
posterity of its conquerors, the indisputable deterioration of race,
by adlnixture of blood \yith an inferior and more nUlnerous
Indian population, destined probably, at no distant day, to
absorb it altogether; the impairlnent of the higher intellectual
and physical attributes; the substitution of indolence for activity;
of cunning and intrigue for ability and boldness; of perpetual
revolutions, war, and ùloodshed, for stability, peace, and safety;
proofs of the "just recompense of reward" which has overtaken
both national and individual \vicl{edness.
On our return from the ruins of the Ten1ple and other sacred
edifices, whose gigantic renlains are still telling the history of
the past-although J\fr. Findlay, in l1is "Directory of the Pa.
cific Ocean," says these" are now llo\vhere to be seen "-an
opportunity was afforded to look at the few cane huts scattered
about and occupied by listlpss inhabitants, the linpoverished
successors of those who d\yelt in the once proud city of Tumbes,
whose very na111e has been taken fron1 it, ,vith its riches. And
yet even an1id their present poverty, there are proofs alllong the
natives of a pride cherished by the traditions of ancient affiuence. ·
This is shown in the persistent refusal, even by the humblest of
the Indian descendants of this district, to use any but the pre-
cious metals for many of their dOlnestic purposes, \vhatever
other deprivations they Inay have to endure. My companions
on this excursion, to })rove the correctness of the statement,
stopped at the wretched looking cane ranche of Julian Rosillo,
having one earthen floor room for the joint occupancy of hÎIn-
self, wife, three nearly naked chiquitos, and such visitors as
lllight choose to partake of his hospitality. Son1e maize cliicha
was asked for, which required a spoon for stirring. It was
brought in a silver vessel, and with a silver spoon of purer metal
than that used in more refined society. A yapa, and the
pron1ise of another when he should visit town, enabled Dr.
Colunlbus to purchase th spoon, \\rho presented it to me as a
proof of the consistent adherence of poverty to some of the
usages of ancestors; among whon1 gems and gold were the COln-
mon ornaments, and silver the falniliar metal in dOlnestic use.
The shades of evening fell over it as ,ve returned through

L'\STIXCT A:\l) S"DIP .A.THY OF R.A.CE.

357

the .A.lgaroba forest, and I did not remain long in nlodern Tunl-
bes when ,ve crossed the ferry, but proceeded on to Santa Rosa,
the beautiful chacra of Don J osé Somontes, 'where my boat "as
to overtake nle with :Mr. Sanford, "ho had kindly offered to
be my fellow-voyager to Guayaquil. it cordial ,yelCOlne "
as
extended to us bX Don J osé and his charming falnily, "ho
offered every temptation of hospitality to prolong our visit. ..1.nd
certainly if the refinell1"ents and elegancies of life, and the grace-
ful entertainment of an accomplished family, could have pre-
vailed over a sense of public duty, many days "ould have been
given to the delights of Santa Rosa. It is strange upon what
rare spots of intellectual and moral excellence the tra,eller
occasionally comes, in his passage over the great social waste of
South .à.merica. In other instances where superiority was ob-
served, foreign contact was recognized, and its influence ,,"as
e,ident. _illd here also the sensitive and sympathizing nature
of Caucasian descent, was magnetized by the spiritual power of
that exalted agency which the lllere a.ccident of occasional COlll-
lllerce brought into operation.
Our boaÍll1en's song as they descended the river, callle :float-
ing, first faintly to us. on the still night air, and then nlore "dis-
tinctly as they approached Santa Rosa, "alïiÎng us that the
hour of our departure had arri,ed; and near nlidnight, taking
lea\e of a family and fi'iends "hose kindness enshrined thenl in

rateful nlenlory, "We went aboard our boat and pulled dawn the
tranquil river, reposing in the clear moonlight, with nothing to
disturb its peaceful bOSOlll but the meaSUred1110tion of the oars,
as dipping in the sil ,rery \Vater the
y rose a

in" letting t:
ll the
crystal drops that sparkled like dialllonds as they returned again
to their quiet slumbers. ..:-tn hour sufficed to put us alongside
of the Bark DOlllinga, in the offing, 011 board ,rhich 've fOlmd a
,yelconle berth until daylight. ..At six A. M. we cast loose our
little craft-a frail one for a ,oyage of nearly a hundreclllliles-
nnd turned her head toward Guayaquil.
That large ocean expanse known as the Gulf of Guayaquil,
is geographically considered as extending from the sea Ì() a sup-
posed line dra,vn frolll
ralpelo Point in Peru, to Punta. Salinas,
the soutln\est end of the Ii3land of Puna. TIet,,-een the:::e t,vo

358

rSLÂl'il) OF prN.A..

points, the southern or luain branch of the river Guayaquil is
described as ell1ptying into the gulf. But anyone contemplat-
ing the charactèristics of the estuary presented here, l11ight be
forgiven if, in his ignorance of geQgraphical distinction, he mis-
took the river for a part of the gulf itself; for the Island of
Santa Clara (Amortajada or EI
luerto), which, like a shrouded
corpse, lies :1 dead sentinel taking his eternål sleep at the post
of duty the nlouth of the river, is nineteen n1iles fron1 l\Ialpelo
Point on the one hand, and seventeen Iniles fronl Punta Salinas
on the other, making a \vidth of thirty-six 111iles; "Thile the
,vave, the s'\vol1, the general ocean turbulence, and sea Inonstor8,
are ever present to add to the deception of the voyager.
Pulling northeast by north, in eight hours we came oft" the
Punta Arenas of Puna Island, and a sout]nvest breeze striking
us here, 'vc took in oars and set a Inainsail, going before the
.wind at the rate of eight knots, coasting the south side of tho
island its entire length of twenty-eight n1Ïles "ithout seeing a
1Jouse or the sign of cultivation, until doubling Punta Espaí10la
near its northeast end a neat cottage peeped out from its island
wilderness.
It was upon this Island of Puna that Pizarro landed on his
second voyage to Peru, to a,vait the passage of the rainy season
and the arrival of reënforcelnents, before penetrating jnto the
interior of the country of the Inca for the pnrposes of plunder
and subjugation. He found the island ,veIl cultivated, and
blooming ,vith cacao plantations and various tropical products,
and inhabited by a warlike race of Indians \\Tho received the
strangers in a hos
itable lnanner. But a suspicion of Pizarro
that the nati ,-es designed resistance' to his arrogant assulnptiollS
of control over their dOll1inions, led hinl, .with characteristic
treachery and cruelty, to seize and slay a n
mber of their chiefs,
,vhich brought on in1111ediate hostilities; anù the watchfulness
and Î1nplacable spirit of revenge on the part of the islanders
keeping the Spaniards in a perpetuql state of alar]u, they hurried
their departur
and crossed over to the Inain land, but not to
find the same 111anifestatiotls of fi-iendship as at their first yisiL
Distrust had evidently taken l}ossession of the 111inds of the Pe-
ruyians in the 111ean tÍ1ne; a scene of desolation ,vas presented

G r.A Y.AQrIL RIYER.

359

for the contemplation of Piz31TO, the city of TUlnbes was nearly
deserted, d-welling;; ,yere destroyed, and the great Temple de
spoiled of its golden ornalnents and jewelled images, which
Spanish avarice had only left untouched on their first discovery,
that they Inight be nlade an easier and Inore certain prey when
the necessary force was obtained.
It is surprising ho\v completely this fine island of Puna, once
inhabited by a nun1erous tribe of Indians, and the seat of an
abounding agriculture, has become deserted, and reverted to a
condition of original nature-the domain ahnost solely of the
deer and the wild hog, as ,ve were assured by our cholo boahnen.
Extensive sand-bars were passed close in shore, on which
myriads of ,vater-fo'wl were collected; and whole armies of
pelicans stood there, in lengthened line, erect, lllute, 111editative,
and disciplined, like soldiers on parade; unintimidated by our
approach, and as if prepared to resist any act of aggression.
Their martial appearance entitles these birds to the name of
Tumbes soldiers, which ..A.merican whalers have applied to those
that bivouack and drill on the flats of that river.
Doubling Point )Iandinga, the northeast end of the island,
and the few huts called the town of Puna, on our left, we
steered northwardly for the channel of the rh"'er on the ,rest side
of Great :Mondragon Island, anù, night haTIng overtaken us, "e
found the contents of our proy] sion basket refreshing, and then
"rapped in blanket-shawls we laid down in the stern of the boat.
With the young moon peeping coquettishly from behind silken
clouds to watch over us, and :Lght the shadowy river, "e soon
fell asleep-for myself-to drealll of alligators and river-robbers,
of whose ferocity and desperate deeds in these unsettled revolu-
tionary periods our tÏ1nid boatmen had not failed to narrate for
our entertainlnent many frightful tales. ....it midnight, f
1voring
gales died away, and our sail being flu'led and n1ast unshipped,
the measured stroke of the oar
as they struggled against an ebL
tide and a strong current, ,yas the serenade of a ,veary night.
Propitious da"n came at last, to disclose the featln'e-s of the
river bank, the dÏIll outline of ,yhich alone could be seen during
the night. This was lo'w, and Eupported an inlpenetrable wall
of rank verùlu'e-trees, bhrubbery, vines, and :flags, being closely

360

GrAYAQUIL RIVER.

.
twined and Inattec1, and studded with ,yild-fiowers of great
variety and brilliancy of coloring, giving shelter to birds of rich
plun1age offering their nlatin service of sv\"eet song to the coming
day. The interest incident to constantly varying scene, yet
ahvays of rare beauty, marred only by the occasional sting of
the 8ClllCudo or jegen, a diIninutive knat, which, unlike the n10S-
qlútO, gives no musical "warning of its attack, ,vas brought to a
sudden and nearly trngical conclusion. An alligator, unseen by
us before in the turbid streanl, seized an oar and nearly pulled
one of our 1'o,ve1's overboard; by the assistance of others the
man was saved, but the blade of the oar was crushed to fra.g-
111ents. The fright of the boatnlen gave wings to our little craft
for a fe,v lninutes, and although the voracious nlonster could
not overtake us, he pursued us with sufficient perseverance to
make us sensible that if overtaken our fate nlight be that of
others who have been upset and destroyed in the river TUlnbes
by these fonnidable reptiles.
A gradual bend in the river as we ascended fronl the north
by east to north-north,vest brought into view in the distance
the Ce1
}
O de SCfJnta Ana and the OeÎ
l'o del Oal
men, at the foot
of which stands the city of Gllayaquil. vVe approached it by
the main channel bet,veen the western bank and the Island of
Santai, opposite the city. Near the city the river banks are
lo,v, luuddy, slimy-looking, spotted with an uninviting crop of
alligators a,vaiting anxiously the chances of a breakfast to be
furnished by SOlne n10rning bather, and rapidly narro'\ving until
at the city the stream is scarcely a Inile ,yide. Several square-
rigged vessels and steamers, "rith many bunques, chatas, and
river rafts, were lying at anchor and along shore. Seeing the
Britibll :flag flying from the stern of one of the stealuers, we
made fast to her, and going aboard found she ,vas the British
Steam Navigation Conlpany's boat" Anne," to sail for Panamå
the next day. I bore letters to her cOlnnlander, Captain ICing,
,vho gave lne a hearty English ,velcome, and at once made Ine
feel at b0111e on board.
'Ve ,vere t,venty-nine hours Inaking the run of ninety-seven
Iniles, froln the roadstead of Tumbes to Guayaquil; subject, it is
true, to SOUle risks and discomforts, for neither the foggy mias.

----

CITY OF GUAYAQrIL.

361

Inata of night, nor the heat of a tropical sun by day, were
pleasant realities; nor did river pirates, either of the human or
reptile Chl
S, afford agreeable subjects for contemplation.
The City of Guayaquil, so called from its original cacique
GltoY(TS, in latitude 2 0 12' S., and longitude 79 0 52' W., is the
principal seaport of the Republic of Ecuador, contains twenty
thousand inhabitants, and is situated on the west bank of the
river of the same name, at the foot of a hill from two to three
miles lûng, four hundred feet high, and haTIng four distinct and
cbaracteristic elevations above the general height of its elongated
crest. .á.t a greater distance off from the city, to the west, is
another higher range of hills, the Cerro de Chongon, .which is
separated fi
om the before-mentioned height by a narrow level
tongue of land that connects two extensive savannas-one situ-
ated northwest of the hills, the other stretching se\eral miles
southwest and south of the city. The last of these savannas has
become 111elnorable in the revolutionary annals of Ecuador, as
the plain across which General Flores recently turned the posi-
tion and defences of General Franco, and achieved an easy
nctory, after hanng been foiled for several months in numerous
attempts to capture Guayaquil.
This city extends north and south about a mile; its main
street, about SL"\:ty feet wide, fronting the river and protected by
ß strong stone wall, fonns the chief business n1art and promen-
ade, under the name of the Nalecon, or ..à.1alneda. It is poorly
lighted at night by numerous oil lamps, ,vhich, if they are of no
public use, are at least a public expense, 2.nd serve to convince
the people what they need, by contrast with the brilliant gas-
lighted stores that border one side of the great thoroughfare,
and lend to the corporation their excess of splendor until ten
o'clock, when night spreads bel' sable ,,-ing unhindered over the
lIalecon. Several btreets running parallel to the river are inter-
sected by many others at right angles, most of thelu being nn-
paved; and such as h3o"\e a rough apology for a pavement "ould
have been .. more honored in the breach." :x umerous ravines
descending from the hill pass through the city to the river; and
being the receptacles of filth and offal, lnust, except when
,yashed out by heavy rains, become YeIJ
offensi"\e.

.

362

CITY OF GUAYAQUIL.

The houses are very different fronl those seen else,vhere.
ltlost of thelll are higher, Inany having three stories, and fran1ed
of the heaviest and strongest tilllber-in which Ecuador abounds.
But it is manifest that, if instead of l
estricting themselves to
perpendicular and horizontal framing exclusiyely, their builders
were to use ties and braces also in the construction of houses, an
equal if not greate.r strength would be secured with lnuch less
conslunption of xnaterial. A balcony to the second-story of
each house, proj ecting over the sidew'alk, supported by a rude
colonnade, 'with a plain arch thrown from one column to another,
gives the appearance of a continuous arcade in all the streets,
and shelters pedestrians both fronl sun and storm. 'Then a
third-story is built it projects beJond the second, and fOTIns
either a roon1 or open or curtained balcony, as desired. And as
an immensely heavy tile root
of six })ounds to every eight square
inches, in all cases projects even beyond this, it follo""Ts that a
considerable portion of tbe street is shaded by the overhanging
building. Another feature of these lllore commodious hOllses,
described by an old resident, is, that in their joint-occupancy
the lo,yer story is ahvays used for store-rOOlns and shops; the
second floor is as invariably occupiEd by tenants of recognized.
frailty'; ,,
hi1e those of reputable character and unimpeached
virtue pass the doors of the sinners to the higher apartnlents,
conventional usage conceding to them the Inerit and the post of
honor nearest heaven. There are no gardens, or even yards,
and closets or cOl
responding conveniences for health and de-
cency, are novelties; the consequent debasement of dOlnestic
habits, the disregard of delicacy and cleanliness, lllay be inferred.
The population of Guayaquil is essentially Indian; that is
denlonstrated vvherever you wander, through and around the
city, by the copper color, straight black hair, small dark t"wink-
ling eye
, high cheek bones, flat occiput, and sinciput bevelled
to the lo-\v forehead, snlall stature, and graceless gait; ,,"ith in-
dolence, indifference to instruction, and superstition. And if,
in son1e instances, admixture of Caucasian blood has brought
,vith it a lneasure of intellectual and nloral Í1l'lprOYenlent, in
others alIlalgalnation ,vith the negro has degraded the Indian
belo,veven the standard of his original nature. 1rlost of the

CITY OF GrAíAQLIL.

363

soldiers seen in passing the barracks, on duty at tbe prison and
at the guard-house, "ere negroes. ..L-\.n idle military life, and in-
flated sense of self-importance, are congenial to their lazy incli-
nations and lo\e of show; their ignorance and incapability of
appreciating the principle;; and blessings of constitutional gQY-
ernl11ent, lnake then1 ready and fit instrllTI1ents of usurpation
and arbitrary power; and their brutal nature adapts them to
deeds of cruelty, and to the hireling task of disturbing the pub-
lic peace, and murdering those especially "hose attributes of
superior race they cannot hope to rival, and whom th.erefore
they "ould destroy. But for the prompt movement of my cic-
erone in tUlïling aside tbe bayonet, I should have been l)inned
to the .wall of the guardbou3e by one of these black ruffians,
for silnply looking in the gateway as we passed by. :My guide
toltI l11e that personal safety was more seCUl'e "ith a darker
complexion, a 'white skin being cause of mortal offence to them.
There is one college in little nlore than nominal existence;
and one public 8ch-ool, 1.l1ith fOl'ty 'pulJil.s, who receive instruction
froBI a foreign teacher; while one l
'llndred p'J'iesfs 'Ùz, 8e
'en
ch'lu'clw8 soleillnize daily masses, without, as is said, an inculca-
tion of good "yill and charity to"ard Protestant Christians, be-
yond the concession of buriãl when dead; but "ithout the pri\-
ilege of the humblest building ","here h\o or three nlight gather
together ill His name ,rho is the God and Father of us all.
I learned from an intelligent source that in this, as in all tbe
other South ..L-\.merican countries, uearly all those young Ulen
who are ambitious of education seek it abroad,luost of theln
spending several years in France for that purpose; and it "Was
further stated that they generally retlU"n home regarJing \" 01-
taire r
lther than the clergy as authority for religious subjects.
Indeed, educated 111en, and those of the highest respectability
and influence, ha\e no respect for the church, nor do they attend
it;; cerelllonies, except ti'oll1 policy on rare public o'ccasions.
They plainly perceive the fact that the priest, ignoring the Deity
in practice, puts hinlself in IIis stead in regard to actual preroga-
tive3 and authority, and the deference auù obedience due to
Ilin1. ....\.nù although in early lite they are taught to regard IIis
teaching3 ,,-ith reverence, yet the experience of 11101'0 Iuature

364:

CITY OF GUAY.AQ1JIL.

years exposes the worthlessness of the whole scheme as devised
and maintained for the benefit of a selfish and too commonly
licentious clerg)T. W Olnen cling to the fOTIIIUlary, SOlne froIn
love of the virtue ,vmch if preached fi'Oìll the l)ulpit is sadly
violated in practice; others from idle cerenlony, a solemn nlock-
ery of both nlind and heart; others again from ignorance and
superstition; although the great In ass, the lo,ver classes of these,
are unrestrained in their depravity, and as acknowledged by the
candid of the clergy, do not hesitate to rob and cheat the curate
hhnself-who, it is no libel to say, they have .learned is not im-
maculate.
.A ne\v.spaper publication has been projected at Guayaquil,
and the benighted people ,yere a few days since startled by the
full blaze of a weekly a foot square. I sa,v a copy. It has a
portentous look of an early doom, for it contains a criticisIll of
a recent executive proceeding! .
Fronl the top of the Cerro de Santana, at the foot of which
lies the northern or old Spanish part of tl1e town, the t\VO large
affiuents, the Bodegas and the ])aule, lllay be seen rolling down
their Inuddy torrents fronl the north to unite at the base of the
Cerro to form the river Guayaquil. Both these branches are
navigable for light draught steanlooats a considerable distance
into the interior; the larger stream, the Bodegas, to the distance
of eighty-five miles. Rafts ,vere seen de
cending both strealns,
on ,vhich were built fanlily huts, and storehouses containing
cacao, the great product of the country, on its ,yay to Inarket.
This height having several pieces of artillery upon it was re-
cently stormed by General Flores, after he had penetratrd the
city from the opposite side by a strategical movenlent. Fronl
the steep and otherwise difficult ascent all..i:\..lnerican ,vould have
considered such a feat Ì1npracticable, if Franco's men had stood
to their guns. But the redoubtable darkies did not stop rlUI-
uing until they had pitched do,vn the precipitous descent on the
opposite side ii'om their enelny, and plunged up to their necks
in the river, "yhere, revolutionary ardor becon1Íng cooled, they
cheerflùly capitulated.
.L\..t the eastern foot of the Cen'lo del Carmen is situated the
ostentatious Pantheon, to which I last night saw a señora, but

CITY OF GUAY.AQ"GIL.

365

fOU/1 l
ouí'8 dead, borne to a hurried interment, on a bedizened
hear3e, dri ven by a liveried postilion in gold lace and cocked
hat, and lighted by many lanterns carried by a procession of
chattering' boys of all sizes, colors, and costumes, who seellled
to consider the cerenlonial of sepultm'e a clever amUSGUlent.
And not far off is the little spot where Protestants are nowal-
lowed burial, but without the perforraance of 'peligio1ts rites.
To the northeast, from eighty to ninety miles off, may be seen
on a clear day the snow-clacl sunlmit of Chinlborazo, twenty-
one thousand two hundred and forty-two feet high; consecrated
by the genius of Humboldt, and long venerated by tyros as the
greatest of lnoulltains; but sadly fallen frolll its high estate,
since science has announced the greater altitudes of the lofty
peaks of the Himalayas in Asia, Sahama and Perinacota in
Peru, Llilnani and Sorata in Bolivia, and Tupungato and ..d.con-
cagua in Chile.
The industry of this town is confined almost entirely to the
extensive manufacture of cigars from nath-e tobacco, showing a
large growth and consumption of that "yeed; and the cleaning,
by means of large perÏorated ox-hide sieves, of the cacao, another
and valuable prcduct of Ecuador. The latter is extensively
exported, as are also Panalna hats, baled in hide zU/ 1 ones of :fifty
dozen each; sarsaparilla, cinchona (peruvian bark), caned by
the natives cascarilla, and orchilla weed, now used in Europe as
a valuable dye. Ecuador abounds in fine tÍIllber, several specie3
of "hich are largely exported. A merChant in the lun1ber trade
kindly exhibited to me specimens of many of these. TIesides
the light and dark canes extensively used for building purposes,
there are the Nadepa .LYegJ1({; (black ,vood), not excelled in dura-
bility even w"hen exposed to weather. Mter having been planted
in the earth as posts for houses for one hundred years, IllY in-
formant told n1e that he had found this ,vood perfectly soune1.
Guayacan of like qualities with the last mentioned, but of
lighter color. Alga'poba, a dark and very heavy wood, conl-
monly called from its weight and impenetrability, iron \rood.
A1nal
ia, the n10st beautiful veined wood of this country, used
principally for ornamental furniture. Fig u il'oa, of a dark
brown color, close fibre, receives a fine polish, and is used for

366

CITY OF GUAYAQUIL.

the interior of buildings. Roòle, Guayaquil oak, of a white
color, and used also for bui1ding purposes. SzuJhe, of a beauti-
ful yellow, close :fibre, and susceptible of polish, used in build-
ing. I saw colulnns for the interior of the cathedral being made
of this wood to replace others, ,vhich, I was assured, had been
destroyed in a few years by the ravages of very destructive large
,vhite ants. Guachapeli, something like North Alnerican ,yhite
oak, used principally in ship bui1ding. I{nees of any curve or
angle can be had of this timber. lJIarict, used principally for
masts and spars; these can be obtained of any desirable size,
but the tree grows in lnountainous districts, and the transporta-
tion to market is very costly. J.11anglé gro,vs near salt water, is
tall and straight, but is too heavy for ordinary uses; the larger
trees are frequently seen three feet in diameter and one hundred
and fifty feet long, and are used for keels of vessels; the slnaller
are used for house rafters. Palo de Vaca, a yery hard, close-
grained wood, used chiefly for furniture, being susceptible of a
high polish. Moral, of a light yellow color, gro,vs to a great
length, and is very durable. Guasango grows on the seacoast,
is very hard, and much used ,vhen great exposure to weather is
to be encountered. Pacl
iclw, very durable, and used chiefly in
the construction of ,vater-tanks and wells. Ebony is scarce and
highly prized. There are also other woods, the nan1es and uses
of which I had not the opportunity of learning. But these are
sufficient to show the iJ11portance of Guayaqui1 as a tÏ1nber 111art.
The market for the sale of meats, fish, vegetables, and fruits, is
well attended by sellers and buyers. The vegetable kingdom is
especially,vell represented on the stalls. But the hour of de-
partu.re having come llotings were abruptly brought to an end.
Going aboard the stean1er she slipped bel' moorings, and in a
short time Guayaquil faded in the distance, and was soon gar..
nered in lnemory ,vith other parts of this southern helnisphere.

CHAPTER XXI.

CAPE ST. HELEXA-CA.PE S..!.....
LOREXZO-:MA.:STA.-:J:O
'"TE CHRISTI-ESmlU.LDAS-ISL.A.1\-n
OF :MORRO GRA
DE-TLMA.Co-TR.LE BOLXDA.RY BETWEEX THE P A.CIFIC PROTIXCES OF
ECUADOR AXD 1\LW GRA...
.ADA-ISLAl\D OF GORGOXA-BLE...VXn:
ìTRA-DRITISH
PA.CIFIC STEAM XA.VIG.A.TIOY COID'.A.XY-DEFECTIT'E CHARTS OF THIS PART OF THE
COA.ST-XEW S"GR'VEYS XEEDED.

AT dR\\"ll next morning -we were steering between the
islands of Puna and El Muerto; and when, pursuing a north-
"est course, we stretched further out into the Gulf of Guaya-
qui!, the close reseulblance of the latter island to a shrouded
corpse became ,ery apparent. .At si."'{ P. :lI. we doubled St.
Helena, one hundred and sixty-si."'{ miles from Guayaquil, the
northern }Ï1nit of the Gul
a bold, barren, and distinctive head-
land extending far out into the ocean; and connected to tbe
coast line by a long
naITO"", 10'" sandy tongue of land. Bear-
ing away to the north by west, we kept on that C01lrSe during
the night, leaving the Isle de la Plata on the west, and passing
Cape San Lorenzo. Then changing our course to the eastward we
anchored next 11lorning in the open roadstead of the little town of
JIanta nearly t-wo hundred miles ii'om Cape St. llelena, having
one large store-house and about forty huts for a population of
one hundred and fifty or two hundred people. This is the sea-
port of two interior towns; one, also called JIanta, being an
Indian settlement four or five miles to the southeast; and the
other, and larger town, .iJIonte Christi, containing a population
of fifteen hundred, situated nine miles to the east-ward, at the
foot of a hill of the saIne name, fourteen hundred and t-wenty-
nine feet high. The exports of the port of
Ianta are hats,
orchilla weed, starch made from the yuca, which is of t"o spe-
cies, viz., the iatropho. luanihoc, and the iatropha curcas-the

368

PANA1\IA TIATS.

fornler produces the starch, the latter is a valuable esculent;
caoutchouc, and cacao, products of the adjacent country. The
hats generally known in COlnnlerce as Pana?na hats, are not
Inade in that place, '\vhich is Inerely an entrepot for t
leir collec-
tion and exportation. Nor is the nalne Guayaq1dl, sometinles
applied to these hats, 1nore correct as relates to their Inanufac-
ture-their being sent froln that place to Panama is a Inere iu-
êident of trade. They are alllnade in this province, froln the leaf
of a l)(tlïn known here by the nalne of RarrpÙyt. The leaf is
about a yard long, and one-third of an inch wide, and is torn into
shreds of stra,v for use; and according to tIle quality and fine-
ness of this straw, and the skill in plaiting, is the price set upon
the hat. The finest hat occupies Inany Inonths in the nlanufac-
ture. The value ranges from t'\vo dollars to one hundred dol-
lars each, according to quality. Dr. Rubio, an intelligent phy-
sician of J\Ionte Christi, infonned me that many lives are an-
nually sacrificed by the manufacture of the finest hats, owing to
the long-continued Lent position of the worlnnan producing
pulnlonary disease. Good })ahn straw is gro"\\'"n in the districts
of :1Ionte Christi and Santa Elena, but the best in that of Jipi-
japa (pronounced I-lippil
appa); and the so-called Pana1na
hats of all the various qualities, are Inanufactured in Jipijapa,
J\Ionte Christi, :1fanta, and Santa Elena, all in the Province of
J\Ianabi, in the Republic of Ecuador. Hats of this material
cannot be made else,vhere, for a prohibitory penalty attaches to
the exportation of the lmmanufactured straw. So Inuch for
conlmercial acclu'acy. A country of no large pretension to
nlanufacturing skill and production might be conceded thé small
credit. it is justly entitled to.
The hat market is held in the places nalned, at night. The
purchaser, who is generally a merchant buying on speculation,
goes to the market-place, usually the plaza, and taking his seat
with a lantern in one hand, as well to attract attention as to ex-
amine the quality of the hats, he jingles a bag of specie, which
alone is current among these primitive people; who, as some of
us think verJ sensibly, disbelieve that the prolific and perishable
production of a paper Inill can be as valuable as the more
lÏ1nited and unchanging issue of nature's golden depositoriesa

ES:l[ER.à.LD.A.S.

369

The Indian vender, attracted by the light, and the popular
Inusic of all countries, comes to sell, and asks four times as
much for his goods as he intends to take. The purchaser offers
less than the actual value, which, being refused, he increases by
decimals until it gradually reaches one-foluth of the price
demanded, ".hen the bargain is closed. An Indian considers
hÏlnself a good salesman to have obtained a greater price than
the purchaser first offered; and the buyer ,yould lUldoubteclly
be entitled to a fool's cap instead of a Jipijapa hat, 'who ,",ould
gi ye the price originally asked.
A sufficient time is usually afforded by the detention of the
steamer at the port of
Ianta to allow passengers an opportunity
to ride over to Monte Christi. Several Guayaquil hat nler-
chants landed at 1tlànta, and having taken in freight-and gone
aboard, we hove anchor, and again bore away northerly one
hundred and fifty-eight nliles, ",,
hich brought us, the succeeding
day at t"yo P. )r., to the nlonth of the river Esmeraldas; just
within which, on the south bank (latitude 1 0 4' north), is the
small town of the same nalne, l\ith a population of about three
hundred, Indians and nlixed breeds.
1\hen not turbid fronl heavy rains the ,vater of this river is
of a deep green, hence its nRIne, as eXplained by some persons;
""yhile others refer it to a mine of emeralds on the south side and
not ren10te from the river, ",,
hich ouce yielded a large number
of these gems-the pure ,",aters,

" .As on they flow,
Catching the gem's bright color, as they go."

But the superstition of the natives, who believe that it is
guarded by a dragon dealing in thunder and lightning, has for
a long tiIne deterred them :from working it, and e,en fronl
guiding the more courageous into its neighborhood. Las ES111e-
raldas nlight derive its nanle also from the rich green of its
picturesque hills, which lift above and around their terraces
clad in unchanging verdure, from the perpetually alternating
sunshine and shower of an endless 8Ulnlner. The contrast be-
tween the seacoast of Ecuador north of :Manta and of Xew
Granada, and that of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, is very l11arked.
2-1

370

TUMACO.

The former presents a continuous ,vall of trees and shrubbery,
covered with luxuriant foliage, courting the s,veet sea-breeze
and shading the billow that sports at its foot; while the latter
stretches away in sterile slopes, or raises its rocky and metallic
buttresses to hold the ocean at stern defiance.
After a brief detention, we stean1ed out of the harbor of
irregular and doubtful depth, ,vith the saIne care that ,vas re-
quired on entering, to avoid the dangerous bar at its mouth;
and standing away to the northeast, found ourselves early next
morning passing to the ,vest of a gronp of islands in latitude
1 0 51' N., and longitude 18 0 46' W., the northernmost of ""yhich
-
Iorro Grande-","e doubled by steering east and then south,
passing close along its eastern shore for about five nliles, through
a narrow channel between the island and the ]nainland.
IIaving reached its southern end-
Iorro Chiquito-a fourth of
a mile to the south of which, on the island of TUlnaco, stands
the to,vn of that nalne, we dropped anchor in the ahllost com-
pletely land-locked harbor.
Less than a hundred yards fronl shore, off the northwest end
of
Iorro Grande, stands a tall and graceful rock sculptured by
nature's hand, lashed by envious billows that break abashed at
its base. It is El Virgencita-the litt1e virgin-like the being
,vhose name it bears, a type of loneliness, subject to the buffet-
ings of
ude surroundings; and a strange beauty it has in its
desertion, for a chaplet of verdlu'e rests on its SUlllllli t, and fes-
toons drop g1'acefully around, like ringlets frolll a lliaiden's brow.
The whole Island of :Thlorro Grande is an emerald thicket-
trees and shrubbery cOlnpletely mask it-leaving a ]11e1'e rÎlll of
clearing near the shore for the bamboo huts of the indolent,
half-clad Illulattoes and zambos, who have but to stretch forth
their hands, and take from the cocoanut-palIn, the l)anan
,
plantain, nlango, orange, and other fi'uit trees, the food and
beverage that bounteous nature brings to their very doors.
The town of T1lmaco, off which the stealner is now riding at
anehor, is said to have a population of one thousand. From its
srnalluU111Ùer of cane and bamboo houses, oue \vould not sup-
pose that it contained half that 11uI11ber; but these natives have
a great facility of packing in a snlall space; the artificialities of

TOL\CO FO
ERLY G.A.LLO.

371

civilization ha\e not made much progre5:3 in Tumaco, although
Ly a go\ernment decree in lð44, it was declared a tree port
until 1861.
It is its past history, however, and not its present condition,
"Which gives to this I
land of Tluuaco it:; interest for the tra\el-
Ier. \\Then Pizarro, during hi:; second voyage of discovery,
determined to explore the interior of the continent in the vicinity
of the Rio de San Juan, while Ahnagro returned to Panama for
further aC;:'Ï5tance, he sent his sagacious and resolute pilot Bar-
tholomew Ruiz (who did not receive hÍ5 full
hare of tbe honor
of these bold adventures) to prosecute discoveries along the
coa
t to the south. It wæ; then that Ruiz disco\ered the Island
of Gallo now called Tura co j and it was but shortly after that
he fell in with the strange craft. known ever since as the babsa,
of these countries, on which he found a number of natives; and
among them those two from the Peruvian port of Tumbes whom
. he took aboard of his "Vessel and detained, and from whom the
information wa
obtained which led to the subsequent cfuco\ery
of Peru. · \\hen Pizarro, rejoined by both -.Umagro and Rniz,
prosecuted his further voyage along the coast, and reaching the
thickly-populated neighborhood of Tacamez, in the Bay of
t.
lIatthew, found that he must have reënforcements, and again
sent for tbese to Panama, he determined to avail of the in:;:ular.
and therefore n10re defen.-;ible position of the I,land of Gallo, on
which to remain until the an.i\al of a,
Ïi;tance.
nd here it
was that the remarkable deed occurred which ;:::tamped Pizarro,
even in that age of hardy and brave ad\enture, as a man of
extraordinary courage, indomitable energy, and un
werving
pers
\erance. F or when the Go\ernor of Panama, discouraged
by the failure thus far to disco\er the land of Peru-the famed,
)Jut by him and most of his contemporarie;:, then considered
fabulous region of gold-and deploring the IÙ5;:, of many Spanish
cavaliera who had embarked in the enterprise, bent order
fur
the retuiLl of the expedition; Pizan"o, still borne abo,e I1lÍ3-
fortune by confidence in its original purpose, determined to
prosecute it to the end, to suffer every exposure depri,ation,
and hardship nece;::,:,ary for its accolnpli::;hment and to dare
official displea
nre rather than abandon the ellterprÜ3e. With

372

IORAL GRANDEUR.

his sword, tracing a line ft'oln east to ".est on the sand of this
",.sland, other, vise obscure, but thus lllade historic by a deed
.'which ennobles human nature, and has done more than any other
act of his life to dignify his character, be called to his comrades,
and said: "On that side are toil, Iumger, nakedness, storm, de-
sertion, and death; on this side, ease and pleasure. There lies
Peru ,,-ith its riches; here Panalna with its poverty. Choose
each Ulan "hat best becolnes a brave Castilian. For my part I
go to the south." Stepping across the Hne he ,vas follo,ved by
thirteen only of his companions, including his heroic pilot. The
relnainder returned ,vith the governor's luessenger to Panallla.
Such is Prescott's record of the act of Pizarro. But 1\11'.
Arthur IIelps, in his history of the "Spanish Conquest in
America," published since 1\11'. Prescott's" IIistory of the Con-
quest of Peru," saJ"s that the foregoing statement is " according
to the invincible passion for Inelo-dralnatic representation vd1Ïch
people of second-rate ill1agination delight in, those especially
"Tho have not seen lnuch of hunlan affairs, and ,,"'ho do not know
in how plain and unpretending a manner the greatëst things
are, for the most part, transacted." As Mr. Helps tells the
story, it ,vas the comlnander of the vessel sent to convey the
Spaniards back to Panalna, who, "pitying the straits to which
Pizarro was reduced," drew a line on his vessel, allowing that
terrible conqueror and those who chose to follow his desperate
fortunes to withdraw beyond it. 1\Ir. IIelps' book proves him to
have delved deeply into old records. He certainly has a curt way
of disposing of distinguished authority; and one feels disposed
to regret that a doubt has been thrown over 1\fr. Prescott's
effective representation, and that the beautiful coloring of moral
grandeur he has given to it should have been thus dinnlled.
Be this as it Inay, certain it is that, deserteù but not dis:
mayed, delayed but not doubting; abandoned by the tÏ1nid and
the heartless, for it was ,vith difficulty that they begged even a
small portion of ship-stores to support life; and ,vithout the means
of prosecuting their voyage, but sustained by brave hearts, and
undÎlninished confidence in long-cherished hopes, and ,vith faith
in their compatriots I.Juque and Almagro, the little band of un-
daunted spirits awaited for seven nlonths the cOIning of private

Å GRE
T DEED D
ED BY TLRP
E. 373

Buccor from Panama. Twenty-fiT"e leagues north of Gallo, and
fi ve leagues from the continent, W'as the island of Gorgona, also
disco,ered by Ruiz, which, being better supplied with water
and fruit, they determined to reach if possible. And having
acco111plished this on a raft constructed for the purpose, they
there renJained until a small vessel was despatched to them,
w'Íth ,,'"hich these fearless.and unsubdued spirits once more pm"-
sued their trackless way o,er an unexplored ocean, in search of
El Dorado, to which, slowly but surely, accumulated presulllp-
tion as lmdoubtedly pointed in' their opinions, as inductive
philosophy resting on assured facts to certain conclusions.
Except by that of the discovery of the western world, the
record of this constancy, devotion, courage, and :final success, is
not surp

sed by any which adorns the proudest page of Spanish
history. And if its object had been solely the glory of disco,er'y,
the opening of mutually advantageous commercial avenues, the
extension of the blessings of a higher civilization, or of "peace
and good-mIl to man," Pizarro, as the moving spirit of the grept
achievement, would have placed his name among the most 1'e-
nO\\lled of earthly benefactors. But, animated by aT"arice; im-
pelled by a cupidity 'whetted to the keenest relish, and craving
for possession; dreaming dreams and seeing visions of gems and
gold in his excited Í111agination, until their fancied existence was
regarded as a demonstrated fact, the discovery of which was to
entitle him, in his opinion, to the right of estate, 1\ithout refer-
ence to other human oW'nership; he failed to recognize after
w'ards, in his relations with the unhappy ,ictims of his inyasion,
the rig:hteous principles of justice and mercy, and thus branded
his own nèl111e with the infalllY of most sbalneless perfidy,
robbery, and 11lurder. The events of the conquest, recorded by
the unprejudiced pens of Spanish historians of tbat period, point
. to the general fact that the condition of the Peruvians at the
tÌ1ne of the discovery showed a singular freedolll from yice; the:
",vere nlÎld, docile, industrious, and placed by the policy of go,-
ernlnent beyond the possibility of destitution or of want; public
prosperity and persollfll happines;:, prevailed throughout tbeir
'elupire, until the lust of conquest, stimulated hy the loye of gold,
and ellCOlU"aged by a bigoted fanaticisnl, rather than restrained

374

BOUNDARY LINE.

and guided by the benign influences of a pure and exalted re-
ligion, broke the spell of enchantment which had long rested on
the country beneficently-how'ever despotic the sway-and 8"ept
over it as ,yith a telnpest, carrJing. dismay, desolation, and
death to every habitation.
The river Rosario, cOIning from Ecuador, and receiving the
Caullapi branch which flo,,"'S from Ne,v Granada, empties into
the sea opposite the Island of U smal, a few miles northeast of
Tumaco. The Rosario is represented on some maps as the di-
vision line between the above-nalned Republics. But such an
assumption, of necessity throws Tumaco under the Government
of Ecuador, off the coast of which it would in that case lie;
while in fact it has ahvays been recognized and governed as a
part of New Granada. And I have the assurance of a very in-
telligent Spanish citizen of Ne,v Granada, who lived for some
tÍ1ne in Tumaco, that the true division line between the Pacific
Provinces of these t,vo countries is the river Oarchi, which emp-
ties into the ocean a fe,v nliles southwest of Tnmaco.
Ol
r detention here ,vas short, and putting tÛ'sea again we
headed for Bnenaventura, passing at midnight the Island of
Gorgona, in latitude 2 0 58' N., five or six miles long and half
that 'width, said to be a paradise of tropical verdure. As al-
ready stated, it was to this island that Pizarro anq his brave
comrades came {rom Tumaco to await the e:
q)ected assistance
from Panalna, before he could prosecute his discoveries. Here
no,v live a German and his Gral1adian' Eve, literally insulated
from the world, the New Granadian Government having be-
stowed the island upon him for services during its ,val' of inde-
pendeT1.ce. 'Ve ran close to this Eden, the blue wave dancing
joyfully around it, its dark undulating outline distinct1y defined
in the clear moonlight show'ing the depth of shadow of its per-.
ennialluÀ.'1lri:1l1ce, and the air breathing balmy summer" ,vafted .
from that happy isle."
Very different have been the experiences of ,veather in my
southern an d northern voyage. That to the south besides being
attended with constantly diminishing teml)erature, was at times
very boisterous and rough; while pleasant breezes, with the ex-
ception of a few days of calm off the coast of Chile, have served

BrEXA T"EXTCR.A..

375

on the return to temper agreeably the increasing heat. Some-
what more than a day's steaming brought us to the Bay of Bue-
naventura, in latitude 3 0 50' N.; and running eight miles up
the BuenaT"entura River, with a T"arying width of from one to
two Iniles, but a T"ery narrow channel for na,igation, we an-
chored, at 2 P.
r., in the pretty harbor of the town of Buena-
ventura: distance from Tumaco one hundred and shty-eight
miles. Here clouds and water-spouts gather, to make it at all
times the place par excellence of modern deluges. We thought,
on entering the harbor, from the unclouded sky and clear at-
mosphere, that there would be an exception in our favor, and
that one day of the three hundred and sixty-five of the year
would pass mthout rain. Bnt as we were leaving our anchor-
age in the evening, the storm rolled up its dark masses, and the
lightning flashed its signals to tell that Buenayentura was to
sleep that night as usual under a wet blanket.
One-half of the K ew Granadian navy was lying at anchor
in this port: to wit, a schooner mounting six guns. It was said
that she was guarded every night by fifty 8olcliel'8, from an ap-
prehension that the revolutionists intended to 8ll'Í1n ofr and take
her by surprise t The other half of the navy-another schooner
-had sailed, probably to some place of greater security!
The town is at the northeast part of the harbor, and has an
insular position between the Rio Buenaventqra and onc of its
affiuents, the Rio Daguire. The Rio San .....\.ntonio and Rio
Cayn1an also empty near by, aiding in the formation of that
water e:\.
anse called the Port, which extending to the south-
west under the continued name of Rio Buenaventura, finally
empties into the bay eig
t miles further. The to"'ïl formerly
contained five hundred people, but the commander of the
schooner stated that the requirements of military service in
these troublous times, together with revolutionary desertions.
had reduced the number one-half. No addition to our freight
or pa
senger list was made here; and it lnay be remarked that
there has not been thus far any great manifestation of commer-
cial activity, or of pleasure travel on the route of this boat. If
any X orth Americans are looking to this coast with reference
to the establishnlent of steamer lines, let theln carefully e
am-

376

BRITISH STEAJIER L:rnE.

ine the various routes before embarking in the enterprise. At
present the British" Pacific Steal11 Navigation COl11pany" have
the nearly exclusive stearn navigation of the west coast of South
Alnerica. Frolll Panall1a to Valparaiso they have a continuous
line of splendid boats; the fare froln Pallalna to 'Callao being
one hundred and sixty dollars, and froln the latter port to Val-
paraiso one hundred and thirty dollars: returning, the fare is
t,venty dollars less in each case in consequence of the usually
favorable winds shortening the tirne of voyage in this direction.
This line stops at but fe,v ports on the route. But intern1ec1iate
lines of slnaller stealuers run respectively fron1 Panama to
Guayaquil; from Guayaquil t.o Cal]ao; fi
om Callao to Valpa-
raiso ; from Valparaiso to Puerto J\Ionte in the far south of Chile;
and these call at all the sll1aller ports on the coast ,vhere there
is any trade, or any prospect of developing it. Some of the in-
termediate routes are unprofitable, and such necessarily are a
burden upon the continuous and 1110re profitable line, 'which
carries the greatest number of passengers and the largest and
Inost valuable cargoes at the highest rates. On two of the ·
shorter intel'111ediate routes opposition boats fronl the United
States are no,,,, running; and it may be that these experÍIllental
lines, if entirely successful, will fornl the nuclei of a continuous
opposition steanler line along the ,vhole coast. But a careful
exal11ination of t}le proposal, and good judglnent in the decision
of the question, will be requireJ, as ,veIl as staunch and fast
boats, and skill, punctuality, and an acrollllllodatil1g spirit in
· their management, to justify tbe undertaking. The" Pacific
Steam Navigation Company" have at this time a fleet of t\vel ve
steall1erS ; the length of their line of travel is nearly four thou-
sand miles, and the.ports at which they stop on that long route
upwards of fifty; and it should be stated, to the credit of the
chief lnanager,
Ir. Petrie, of Callao, and of the commanders
of the steal11ers, that on no corresponding stean1er route in the
world, especially in vie,v of the ,vant of light-houses, and the
prevalence of fogs on this coast, have so few disasters occurred.
The steamers are of the first class, strong, ,veIl-appointed, com- .
modious, and comfortable; 1;he cOllll11anders skilful, attentive,
and polite; the officers generally, faithful and orderly, and the
lines are run ,vith singular punctuality.

DEFECTITE CHá.RTS.

377

.

Iany nearly naked products of practical amalgalnation, ûf
hues ".e11 suited to the occupation, haTIng coaled the steaHler,
we hove anchor at six P.
r., and stood westwarcU.y until fairly
clear of the entire coa8t; and then we bore away west-north-
'rest, and finally north-northwest for Panama, three hundred
and forty-five miles distant.
The observations of the first and second days out showed the
warping influence of lmlooked-for currents upon our direct course,
and illu
trated the necessity of multiplied exan1Ínations, and
further study of the ocean drifts of this part of the Pacific-in
the opinion of nangators much needed. But few parts of the
coast of the western hemisphere are as unimportant comlner-
cially, at present, as that embraced within the termini of this
stealner route-Guayaquil and Panama. The ports are but lit-
tle resorted to, and its exclusion from the familiarities of trade
renders the ignorance of its harbors, shoals, rocks,
-ïnds, and
currents of less practical importance now, although it may be
regretted in the future.
The English" .á.dn1Ïralty surveys of Kellett and Wood have
not been repeated nor verified by others; and though more cor-
rect in lnany particlùars than the old Spanish charts, yet they
are regarded by some experienced seaU1en as ÍIllperfect. It
l11ight prove a useful question both for the :x orth ..à.merican and
British Go-vernments, to detennine if SOlne of their naval ves-
sels had not better be en1ployed in -veritJing or correcting the
above surveys, find adiling further observations for pnblicrrtion,
than in yachting about classical seas familiar to every schoolboy,
or lingering in inglorious ease about harbors where luanly ser-
vice degenerates into capering" nÍIllbly in a lady's chamber to
the lascivious pleasing of a lute" ?
The acknowledgment should be made, however, that in the
luatter of surveying foreign coasts and harbors, the British
.L\.dn1iralty are governed by a wiser policy, and exact more
active service at the hands of their naval officers than the
United States K avy Departnlent. This lllay depend upon
longer official service of executive authority, and therefore larg-
er experience and more cOlllprehensive knowledge and apprecia-
tion of lnarinc nece::-:,ities and duties. Certain it i:; that in un-

378

NEW SURVEYS NEEDED.

surveyed harbors, or where the surveys are of doubtful accuracy,
and sOlnetÏ1nes for the improvement of young officers in this
branch of service eyen when further information is not actually
needed, British cOlnmanders detained long in port are expected
to fornl surveying parties for actual duty. And I anl assured
by those conversant ,vith such Inatters, that many an officer is
able to trace his promotion, and the subsequent special favor
and confidence of his GOyernnlent, to official records of his com-
petency, activity, industry, perseverance, and accuracy, ,vhen
engaged on such duty in the early years of his professional
life.
..
It is an unfortunate fact that SOlne of our finest specinlells
of naval architecture, the appearance of ,vhich in numerous for-
eign ports would give to the unreading and ignorant a proper
appreciation of our national power, are required to linger in-
gloriously in harbors that Inight ùe nanled, until the original
anchorage, it has been ironically suggested, has undergone a
geological change; and a heaving of the anchor embedded in a
glassy stratuln would have warranted the supposition of a vitri-
fication of the sand bottom by volcanic heat, but for the not
irrational intÏ1nation that long accumulating ale and champagne
bottles had something to do .with it. And this naval inactivity
has not even the apology of a useful incidental employment to
palliate it; 1vhich, while it ,vould prolnote personal health,
official efficiency, and professional improvement, ,vould advance
also the interests of general COllunerce, contemplating the
developnlent of the natural resources of the Pacific Provinces of
Ecuador and New Granada.
Our progress was retarded by head-winds and cross cur-
rents. The latter, in particular along the coast of New Granada,
our cOlnnlander thinks are but itnperfectly understood. In
this field of inquiry there is need of the inspiring influence and
suggestions of our o,,-rn Maury to give impulse to investigation,
his assiduity in collecting and collating its results, his analytic
lnind to unfold the secrets of nature, and his, comprehensive
intelligence to simplifY to others her phenonlena, and frame
rational theories and sound rules of practice.

.

CHAPTER XXII.

'"EGRO SLAVERY-ITS AKTECEDEXTS A.."\D C.At"SE I:Y SPAXISH .Al[ERlCA-COXSEQt"E:sCE

OF EYA....."WIP.ATIO:Y.

Ix returning to the starting point of my southern tour,
n1Ïnd busies itself with a. retrospection of the inciùents and
observations of the interval. Among other things, the condi-
tion of the negro, and the influence he is exercising on the
social and political state of the countries TIsited, l1R,ing been
inquired into, have led to reflections reasonable in one "hose
O'\vn people are interested in that subject.
In N e,v Granada, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, as well as in
the other S'panisl
-ArJ1,el'ican colonies, negro slavery existed and
became an inlwritance of the ens1tÍng Rep'llblics. Indian sla-
very likewi
e existed under the Empire, although in a letter of
Cortez to the Emperor Charles the Fifth he says: " CVJ1.8ideping
the capacity of the Mexican Indians it appears a gra'\e thing to
compel them to serve the Spaniards." Ke,ertheless, tbe press-
ure of necessities of revenue and importunities of followers,
compelled him, as he further says, "to place on deposit to the
Spaniards the lords and natives of these provinces." This was
the COffinlencement of that system of servitude in
Iexico kno,yn
as the" encomienda," and which ,vas subsequently extended to
the other countries disco,ered and colonized by the Spaniards.
True, the Emperor issued an order that no Indian captive ,ras
to be held as a 81a,e "throughout his dominions;" and an his-
torian of that period regards this" a considerable step in the
up-hill work of huma
e legislation," although he withholds all
conUl1ents on tbe numberless cruelties, oppressions, and exac-
tions, ,,,hich placed the Indians in a far less l
1.l1nalZe 'pclatioi1,

380

MONGRELISM.

than would have been a wisely and benevolently ordered sys-
tenl of servitude., Subsequently Ponce de Leon .was sent- to
J\Iexico as residencia, and he was instructed to inquire into the
subject of encomiendas, and" in case he should determine tbat
the Indians were to be given in encol11ienda, he should then
consider ,yhether they should renlain as they were, or be given
as vassals or by way of fief."
In 1533 Charles " authorized the granting of encomiendas
in Pe}'au j " and on the appointlnent of Antonio de
Iendoza as
Viceroy of J\Iexico, ,ve are told that the Emperor secretly gave
hÍIn the power of dealing ,vith the subject, which shows that the
question was still open as regarded the inhabitants of N 8'\V
Spain. In 1535 Charles the Fifth undertook an expedition
against Tunis. It cannot be proved that that expedition had
any influence on the fate of the Indies; but in the next year a
law ,vas passed which may have been due to the ,vant of money
at hOl11e, or to the want of attention to colonial affairs. This
was the la-w of succession proclainled at J\Iadrid in 1536, ,vhich
gave enconliendas for a second life, and ,vas applicable to all
the Indies. Thus, an actual personal, as well as political e11-
slavel11ent of the Inillions of natives of these ne.wly-discoverecl
countries was established, subject only to the la,vs of reparti-
')Jdento, which assigned the specific service and its duration.
The countries tbus enslaved embraced among them the two
great centres of Indian civilization, J\Iexico and Peru; not the
Peru of our day, but that of the Incas, extending frol11 Quito to
the 1\Iaulé, nearly two thousand five hundred n1Ïles. Both in-
habited by races whose intelligence, cust0111S, social and political
institutions, by their general advancenlent and adaptation to
the
Tants of the people, surprised their discoverers. It was a
usurpation of dominion in the West, and a subordination to its
o\vn selfish l)urposes by Spain of teenlil1g millions of people,
having no parallel except in the aggressive and appropriating
policy of Great Britain in the East. Although conquered and
controlled by Spanish hardihood, prowess, and superior agencies
of ,val', yet fì
oln approximative physical and moral equality of
the Indians to their conquerors, intercourse by J11arriage and
otherwise was not insuperably repugnant to the instincts of the

MOXGRELIS:M.

381

higher race, and thus resulte
in great part that e
tensive
mongrelism "Thich is the n105t striking characteristic of the pres-
ent population, and "Which, from the interest of neutralization
and acclll11ulation of power and influence, has overthrown the
system of servitude founded in the first instance upon the greater
diversity of race.
Ü\ving to the rapid disappearance of the Indians in SOI11e of
the Spanish colonies, particularly in the West India Islands,
frolH depressing influences and harsh treatment, a royal grant
allo,ved the Îl11portation of negro slaves to supply necessary
labor. Many of these in tin1e found their "Way to the continent,
and thus another elenient of n10ngrelism "Was introduced on the
great theatre of 8panish-...-llnerican practical anlalgall1ation. For
although the gap between the extremes of tbe hUll1an races-
the Caucasian and the K egro-couJd not readily be filled; not
merely because of instinctive repugnance, but because of the oper-
ations of natural law, which counteract the violations of the or-
dinances of God, who cleterillined the distinctions, relations, and
purposes of His beings, in the development of plan has created
"every thing after his kind," and has also pronded to preser\
e
them thus; yet th
existence of the intermediate Indian facilitated
the ten1porary closure of it. The Indian's approximation to the
White on the one hand, gave to their hybrid offspring a higher
vitality than could be po
ses.sed by tbe mulatto; and his con"e-
sponding approximation to the X egro on the other hand, gaye to
that hybrid offspring also a higher vitality than that possessed
by the nlulatto. ...-\..nd taken in connection with the greatlJ pre-
ponderating aboriginal element in the populations of the Span-
ish-American countries, the ÙnpCl'iOU8 8elf-PJ'ese}'vative law of
natu1'e, if European and ....Vricall iU1migration should be arrested
or greatly re::.tricted, Vtyill surely assert its pow'er and restore tbe
native blood to its original state, and slllTender again to it"
representative man the control of his o\vn destiny.
This e\
ellt appears likely to be hastened by the abolition of
negro slavery since the achie\en1ent of the independence of the
Spanish-
n1erican colonies. For his eluancipation, by fi'eeillg
hitn fro]u the control of a IHaster capable of regulating his
action;:, for their lllutual good. handed hilll over to the deba5ing

t

382

MONGRELIS::\I.

Inastery of his o,vn passions, which, by the universal testiInony
of the intelligent and candid citizens of these countries, are pre-
cipitating his extinction.
Successful in its effort to shake off the political oppression
of the mother-country, the Caucasian race, ,vllÍch originated and
,vas the chief agent in executing the schenle of colonial inde-
pendence, has in its organization of governlnent and moclifiration
of la,v, Inerged the question of domestic bondage, as applied to
an inferior race, in the general proposition of })olitical slavery
considered in its relation to equals in creation. In the Spanish-
Alnerican republics some apology may be found for this in the
,vide-spread 1110ngrelisl11 already referred to, "yhich shaded a,vay
the marked differences of original race, temporarily elevating
the lo,ver at the cost of the higher organization; and where but
few ,vere left untainted by deterioration, scrutiny ,vas deprived
of a motive for activity. And if, by SOl11e, distinction5 were
readily observed, the policy of interest, or aspirations for place
and po,ver, taught the111 silence and sub1nission to the many;
who, hO
Tever clegenerat
, had becolne through nUlllbers the con-
trolling element of the State in its ne",'" fornl. It is not surpris-
ing that mongrels should overlook the inferiority of one of the
elell1ents of their o"yn ancestry. Their ignorance of natural
laws governing the physiological relations of races blinded them
to evils which could not fail to become aggravated by the social
equality necessarily resulting fro111 the exercise of equal politi-
cal rights by the Negro. The intensity of their nevv-born zeal
for freedolll made tbe1n reckless of acts destined to deprive
inyested capital and useful enterprise of necessary labor, and in
its steHd to increase the burdens of society by idleness, poverty,
debase111ent, and consequent disease. They failed to foresee the
additional corruptions, social convulsions, and perpetually r

curring political disturbances, certain to follow an equal grant
of civil rights to those ,vho, from inherent defects, know not
how to use them for the general good, and hence become ready
instruments of evil, of usurpation, oppression, persecution, and
reyenge, in the hands of the designing and wicked. Deteriora..
tion and its inherent prejudice, and the want of means of
kl1O'\vledge, n1ade theln ignorant of the cau:-.;es of the human deg-

.

DIFFERE..
CE OF RACES.

383

radation in their midst, and the increased deba
ement to which
the abolition of negro slavery and the elevation of that low-est
type of In an to equal political and social privilege "itb the highest,
must necessarily lead. Fronl en1ancipation and legal equality,
the tendency is unavoidably to social level, mingling of blood,
hybridislll in the direction of the preponderating element; and
after a long endurance of punishment consequent on tbe perpe-
tration of crimes against the 1a"s of organization as decreed by
the Creator, an ultimate extinction of the feebler race, a repara-
tion of the outrage inflicted on nature, and a l'eturn to the
original type.
Certain physical differences of color, bair, form, feature, are
manifest to all. But of the brain, the seat of mind, and of its
associate nervous apparatus, and their pbysiological la"s and
manifestations of nobler being, the lo"er races know nothing;
and the uneducated even of a higher are too often ignorant fronl
neglect of iuvestigation or the force of unreasoning prejudice.
.1:\.nd yet these are distinctive and peculiar in the races, and a::;
undoubted to those ",vho seek for truth and knowledge, and are
not the victims of a conspiracy against exalted nature, rational
freedom, and progress, as are the pbJsical differences above
nailled to the thoughtless looker-on.
TIut it is strange that so lllany to whom information is acces:3i-
ble, and "ho have the capacity, have failed to apply inductively
certain "ell known facts. Let them C0111pare peoples of Cau-
casian origin, of any period kno"
n to histor
r, ,vith what ,ve
kno,v of the K egro. Can any such examples be pointed to
among the fonner of such degradation and deùaselnent as ate
presented by the latter
Does the history of man, since the
flood, furni::;h the record of a "\Vhite comlllunity without some
recognition of a Suprellle Being; ,vithout ]a", order, or govern-
ment, as the explorations of travellers have shOlvn to ùe the fact
in many instances among Negroes
lias any such CaucasiaL
monster been kno"n as the K egro king of Dahollley, sho,\yn by a
late discussion in the British Parliament to celebrate his" grand
cU8tonlS" by sacrificing t'\,o thousand persons, and collecting in
a pit their human blood sufficient to float a canoe? and ,,"'ho,
by the testin10ny of Lord PalIllCrì3ton, '\\"'as accustomed to "orna..

384

DIFFERENCE OF RACES.

ment his palace with the skulls of his victims sacrificed on these
occasions." When A.dahanzen died, t,vo hundred and eighty
of his ,vives were butchered before the arrival of his successor,
and the remaining ,vives ","-ere buried a1i ve. A.t the "Y aln
cust0111S" every noble sacrifices a slave; and scarcely has one
barbarous and bloody custom been abandoned from the earliest
period of vvhich any thing is known of them. Is there any
historical or traditional account of any family of the 'Vhite race
being found, as in the case of some Negro tribes, habitually
naked, and .without shelter for women and children other than
a hollo,y tree, or a covering of bushes, as provided even by the
N shiego
Ibouve ape; 'without SOlne manifestation of relig-
ious sentiment, or form of worship; ,vithout SOll1e social organi-
zation; ,vithout son1e knowledge of agriculture, and 111echanical
skill beyond the making of a wooden spear or bo,v and arrows

Yet in such a condition lnillions of negroes have been found
during past ages, and are still being brought to the kno,v ledge
of civilization by European travellers in Africa. Surely it ,vill
not be pretended, for it cannot be n1aintained, that this near
relationship to brutal nature is dependent on the influence of
slavery, when these negroes have shaped their own destiny, and
Inost of them roaln as free as tbe ourang outang that disputes vyith
them the dOlllinion of their wild elupire. Happily for the ad-
vocates of diversity of race, and the equal diversity of 111ental
and moral power, the ,vhite man has been a stranger, and his
influence unfelt in interior Africa. The negro has been left to
determine w'-ithout control the probleln of hurnan disparity. In
no instance has he made any near approach to the arts, sciences,
literatl1re, religion, or any of the n1anifestations of a higher
civilization of the wbite race. On the contrary he has grovelled
in ignorance, sensuality, and savagery, in their luost revolting
forn1s. From the period of the destruction of the plain of
Sod om, when its cities and inhabitants, as " an example, suftèred
the vengeance of eternal fire," because of their" giving them-
selves over tð fornication and going after strange flesh," the race
of Ilan1 has illustrated the lo,v instincts of brute nature. And
writers, both sacred and profane, }Ioses, the prophet Ezekiel,
Herodotus, Sonnini (authenticated by the great biblical critic

CAUCA.SI.A..." DEBASEME
'7.

385

Adam Clarke), Gale, Bochart, and Herne's recent Researches,
bear testimony to the bestiality of the negro: the last-named
author adding that there are districts of country in ..Africa in
which apes and baboons live in the mud-huts of the negro na-
tives, as if members of the same community.
It 1vould be difficult to conceive a finer climate than that
found in the republics of Kew Granada, Ecuador, Peru, and
Chile; in many parts of these cOlmtries it is actually delicious.
Throughout the nlost of this great extent of continent the soil
is surpassingly fertile, the products necessary to ulan's comfort
and luxury, flourishing, with even imperfect culture-such as
sugar, cacao, coffee, the cereals of all kinds, rice, maize, cotton;
and fruits of every description, luscious and nutritious, growing
spontaneously and bountifully, making of the country a vast
Eden, were it not for the indolence and debasement of the peo-
ple. l\Ian alone is not as decreed by his Creator. Overstep-
ping the limits of His assignment-an offence pardonable in an
ignorant and degraded being, who has no knowledge of the
la "'"8 ûf reproduction, and no prompting but animal instinct
coupled with a vague sens
of improvement-the Spanish con-
querors of ..t\..merica committed treason against their race; for,
it involved the destruction of its SUprell1acy, its absolute debase-
ment; and is compronlising now the peace and prosperity of
these countries, and the permanency and extension of Republi-
can government. Unfortunately, the first settlers of the colo-
nies were mere ad,enturers-usually the outcasts and morallep-
ers of society-and those of Spanish ..America never exhibited
the restraints of self-respect, and preservative instinct of race,
through which the .L\.nglo-American has more perfectly guarded
his integrity. The former, therefore, ama1gamated with the
Indian in all the colonies; and repugnant as the Negro Inay
have been to him, from low sensualislll and generally ,icious hab-
its, the Spaniard intermixed 1vith him too, to the still greater
degradation alike of bis own moral and physical nature. It
should be said of Chile, that the last deterioration exists there,
notably to a Inuch less extent than in the countries north of it.
The climate of that country is colder, and less adapted both to
the negro and to slave-labor; hence fe,ver negroes, fortunately
25

386

FREE-NEGRO DEPRAVITY.

for that State, were carried to it; and a happy consequence of
that exemption from his presence is perceptible in its sl1perior
population to that of any other South .A.1l1erican Republic I
visited. But wherever the negro, and the negro con1polmd
are found, freed, as they no,v are by acts of elnancipation, from
the control o( superior beings, there have they becon1e the vic-
tin1s of their o,vn crimes, indolence, and sensual appetites;
which, although in the West India islands where they are the
dominant race, are returning thenl to a state of barbarism, as has
been fully shown by abundant published testimony, yet in the
continental countries above named are bringing about their ex-
tinction. In the mean time, until that is accoIllplished, they
are destined to be disturbers of the public peace, tools of Inili-
tary tyranny, thieves, n1urderers, vagabonds, blots on the body
politic. But still, so long as they relllain on the stage of action,
as heirs of " impartial freedom," to such is confided in part the
experiment of self-government, on the result of ,vhich the hopes
of loftier man depend.
Froln the existing stand-point the eye of earnest desire can-
not look beyond and behold a cheering prolnise of the future,
so far as the questions of self-government and of constitutional
liberty rest for their solution, with the Pacific Republics of
South America. And this results chiefly from the deterioration
of nobler faculties, and the impairIllent of the capacity of higher
race for the fulfilment of the trust created and confided to it by
nature. Regardless of the imperious mandates of destiny, ,vhose
violations never fail to decree their own punishment, and faith-
less to the duty of preserving in its purity, elevating, and enno-
bling that exalted humanity from ,vhom they sprang, they have
betrayed their high calling, becon1e common levellers, seek to
degrade that glorious enlanation of Supreme "\Visdom they
should guard, and impiously defalne the temple at whose altars
they were appointed to minister.
IIurnanity, fashioned by the Creator, cannot be improved by
the devices of man; and political governillent, reposing upon
the ordinances of that creation, and upon the precepts of Divine
Revelation, as did that w hiC;h was fran1ed by a strange wisdom
and bequeathed to us by"\V ashington and his cOlnpeers of Í111-

CO
"RIES COXTRASTED.

387

mortality, and which served for a time as the model of later
republics, could not be violated without danger to the whole
fabric once securely resting upon it. Thus it is that a conse-
quence of disregarding nature's laws, and ,yise political arrange-
ments in conformity thereto, is seen in the deplorable condition
of the countries of which "e have been speaking, and of others
of Spanish settlement.
While the Southern States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and Brazil,
with Elavery entailed on them by the acts of others, have en-
joyed, through an intelligent and benevolent direction of it, an
extraordinary degree of prosperity, and mutual happiness and
reciprocal benefits have prevailed, "hat is the condition of other
countries in which it has been attempted to abrogate the dis-
tinctions of natural and civil law? It would be true to say
that "hile in all deterioration and evil have resulted, in most of
them the freed negro is sunk in moral corruption, and is abso-
lutely rioting in his own ruin. Even if it ,vere appropriate in
this connection to dwell on what has not passed under nlY spe-
cial observation, the "ell-kno'\Dl facts would render it unneces-
sary to refer to distracted, desolated, impoverished, and perish-
ing :Mexico; to torn, 'ITetched, and insignificant Central ....
mer-
ica; to savage Hayti reverting to heathenism, and becon1Ïng a
waste, where the sugar-cane and coffee-tree once flourished in
unequal1ed luxuriance; to Jamaica and other English islands,
blasted in agriculture, ruined in trade, and only kept fi'om sink-
ing into the saIne l)ollution and barbarism with Hayti, by the
pride and power of the misguided Government which impover-
ished thousands of its prosperous, educated, refined, and loyal
"bite citizens, and blighted fair garùens of tropical agriculture,
that it might gratify tbe vain-glory of a mock philanthropy by
restoring to the negro his native right of indolence and liceu-
tiousness, and tickle the fancy of" gfoundlings" with a show of
love of liberty anù equalit
r, while it takes special care to con-
cede even to these white dupes but a ,}/U3agJ'e privilege of lJoliti-
calright and a stern 'pealization of social deg/ 1 adation. But the
obligations of perðonal narrative and observation ùemand that
I shoulJ. point to New Granada, e,er harassed by revolution,
and trembling on the verge of dis
olution; one part of it the

388 DEGRADATION OF NEW GRANADA AND ECUADOR.

victim of one military dictator, while another part groans under
the oppression of a rival chieftain-both lawless, both cruel;
and such is' the universal national impoverishment, that, but for
the annuity of an Alnerican railroad across the Isthmus of Pa-
nalna, the Presidential usurper who may happen to hold the
capital for the time, would not have the means of paying the
expenses of his official state. Why speak of Ecuador, known
rather as the territory on which Chimborazo frowns, and ,vhere
Cotopaxi pours forth its volumed flalne and ashy cloud, and
heaves and rends the earth, as if in punishment of In an's neg-
lect of this glorious and perennial garden of earth; ,vhere truly
he has paid no tax of lluman effort to improvement-no tribute
commensurate ,vith Supreme Beneficence
And Peru! lIas
even its ancient grandeur survived modern humanitarianism

Where are its unequalled roads and magnificent canals? the
happiness and prosperity of its contented millions? Will the
evidence of a Spaniard be taken against the policy of his own
countrymen, whose precepts taught and example illustrated the
wickedness of disregarding the distinctions of the Almighty

lIe had no grievances to redress-no sense of injustice to dictate
false representations. He had received his portion of plunder,
for he originated the saying, "he plays a\vay the sun before ris-
ing," by losing at Cuzco the golden image of the sun of the
great temple, in one night's gambling. What says this ,vitness,
Capitan !-fancio Sierra de Leguizamo, in his last ,viII and testa-
ment ? " We found these kingdoms governed in such a manner
that throughout theln there was not a thief, nor idler, nor a
vicious man; neither ,vas there any adulterous or bad ,voman.
The laJ1ds, the mountains, the mines, the pastures, the houses,
the woods, were governed and divided in such a lnanner that
each man kne,v and kept to his o\vn estate. There ,vere no la\v-
suits about property. Th
affairs of war did not hinder those
of comlnerce, nor those of comlnerce those of agriculture. In
every thing, from the sma1Jest to the greatest matter, there ,vas
concert and arrangelnent." lIe then adds, "the Spaniards have
destroyed people of such good governlllent as ,vere these na-
tives of Peru." And what have flowed ii"oln alnalgamatioll and
its consequential political and social equalit:r of antagonist

DECAY OF PERIJ.

389

races
Is it necessary to ans,ver the question after what has
been already said of this republic
Scarcely has it taken a
position among the fan1Ïly of nations, "hen it is found to be
hastening to premature decay. Religion is a thing of fornl.
Morality bas no national existence. Virtue, like the diamond,
is buried, and unrecognized in overshadowing darkness. Per-
sonal safety and justice have no guarantees. .A.griculture, in a
comprehensh"'e sense, has ceased. Con1merce languishes. The
political rights of the citizen are not respected by public author-
ities. Literature and science are not of l)ersonal knowledge or
of practical utility, and in the library of Lima" sleep the sleep
that will kno,v no '\vaking" in the near future of Peru. Gov-
ernment is the football of military usurpers. Free government
.and self-government are popular illusions, while despotism stalks
abroad guarded by mail-clad cuirasseurs, as brutal as tbeyare
black, '\vhose sabres carryon their points the answer to all re-
monstrances and appeals for redres::; against arbitrary power.
And the State, despite extortionate exactions, would become
bankrupt but for the deposit of guano which ancient Peruvians
bequeathed as an everlasting legacy of fertility; but which the
present Governlnent is thrusting upon the market of the }Vor1d
with the improvidence of a spendthrift, who has mortgaged his
estate for the means of indulging the profligacy of to-day, though
beggary may be the doom of to-morrow.
It would be "yise for all '\,ho are interested in the question
of the correlation of the races, to exalnine with a view to the
ascertainment of truth, and to consider dispassionately the ex-
periment by others of political and social equality, and thus
supplant closet speculations by a practical know ledge, which
alone should be relied on to deteru1ine how far it is meet that a
Caucasian freeman should become not merely debased in blood,
but also a bondman of labor to the negro. Thus f
lr reliable
testimony sustains the conclusion tbat when this inferior ele-
ment of society is liberated from disciplinary and intelligent
contr01, his native tendency to still greater degradation drag:;
him, and others whose destiny lnay be inseparable froll1 his,
do'Wll to ruin. Occasional instances of 'ìn()n.gJ
el8 educated bJ
extraordinary effort, are not to be regarded even as exceptions

390

BAY OF PANÄ1\IA.

to the rule of negro inferi01"ity, certainly they do not disprove
free negro depravitJ. Vice, critne, and pauperism devolve
upon wbite laboring classes evils incident to the development
of these in their midst, from ,vhatever cause; and while the
burden of their. own support becomes increased by the with-
dra-v{al under a system of free negroism of productive laborers
froln pursuits to which they are, and whites are not adapted,
their burden of taxation likewise becomes increased byaddi-
tional expenses of prisons, aln
s-houses, and other penal and
charitable institutions, demanded by the social condition re-
ferred to.
Better, far better than these, or than the ,val' of races COIn-
ing of them-whether ,vaged by nature or by the vindictive
passions of man-that the counsel of Paul the .I.-
postIe of Christ
should be taken, and that slaves should be taught to " l)e obe-
dient to then1 that are (their) masters a
cording to the flesh,
with fear and trelnbling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ.
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any nlan doeth, the saIne
shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."
We are in the Bay of Panama, a hundred miles ,vide at its
Inouth, from Cape Garrachina on the east, to Cape Mala on the
\vest; and ne
rly seventy Iniles in length, from these wide-spread
anus to the city of Panalua, ,vhich stands at its head. Steering
np the bay, the archipelago of the Pearl Islands is seen to the
eastward, about fifty 111iles from Panama. This archipelago,
including rocky islets, is numerous. The Isla del Rey, the
principal of the group, is seventeen miles long and ten ,vide.
This is one of tbe 1n05t valuable pearl fisheries of the world, the
produc
.being $150,000 annually to the divers. The profit of
the pearl merchant is still greater.
These Pearl Islands stand off the mouth of the Gulf of San
Miguel, an arm of the Bay of Panama, and reinarkable in the
history of America as being the watery expanse to ,vhich Vasco
Nuñez de Bilboa was conducted from Darien, when, acting on
infonuation derived frOlU the Indians, he undertook the journey
which resulted in tbe Spanish discovery of the Pacific Ocean
on the 25th September, 1513. Travellers, in making the jour-
ney from Aspinwall to Panama, ,vill sometimes have pointed

P ,...\,...'" ..uIA.

391

out to them, near Panama, the height from which Vasco Xuñez
first saw the great ocean spread illimitably at his feet. But it
is not to be seen on that line of transit. The isthmus was first
crossed by the Spaniards at least a hundred miles to the south-
east of the line of the railroad; and anlong tbe rich presents at
that tiIne made to them by the Indian Caciques living on the
sbores of the Gulf of San l\Iiguel, were two hundred and forty
large pearls, deri\ed doubtless from the neighboring pearl fish-
erIes.
Francisco Pizarro accompanied Vasco
uñez on this first
expedition to the Pacific; and it is stated also that he was pres-
ent at an earl
er period when K uñez was infonned by the son
of the Cacique Comogre, that by traversing the great sea, of
which the Spaniards were then for the first tinle informed, to
the southward, they "would find a land of great richness where
the people had large vessels of gold, out of which they ate and
drank; where, indeed. there was more gold than there was iron
in Biscay." And doubtless it was the information thus recei\ed
that led to the subsequent arrangement at Panama between Pi-
zarro, .Lllmagro, and Luque, which resulted in the discovery and
conquest of Peru.
There are the white caps tossing their silve;y spray o\"er the
dark sea-wall of the depot of Pacific treasure, now, as of old.
And there are the towers of its cl:umbling churches. .And there
dips the cross of St. George on the" A..nne" in salutation; and
no'\v the stars and stripes of the "Lancaster" in response.
'Ve have been nearly nine days in making the yoyage from
Guayaquil. Rather a tedious voyage it would have been, but
for its novelty, off of the usual route of travel, and the fine so-
cial qualities of our commander, Captain King, than whom a
more skilful seaman and agreeable companion has never been
baptized by the" white sea-foam."

CHAPTER XXIII.

VOYAGE FROM PANAMA TO SAN FRANCISCO-PACIFIC COAST OF CENTRAL AMERICA-GULl!'
OF TEHUANTEPEC-MEXICAN COAST-ACAPULCo-ATMOSrHERlC CHANGE OFF THE GULF
OF CALIFORNIA-COAST OF LOWER CALIFORNIA-SANTA BARBARA ISLANDS OFF THE
COAST OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA-GOLDEN GATE-ARRIVAL AT SA...
FRANCISCO.

" The morn is up again, the dewy morn,
With breath all incense, and with cheek all bloom,
Laughing the clouds away with playful scorn,
And living as if earth contain'd no tomb-
And glowing into day; we may resume
The march of our existence; and thus I,
Still on thy shores, fair Isthmus! could find roon1
And food for meditation, nor pass by .
}Iuch that might give us pause, if ponder'd fittingly."

BUT this may not be. IIowever beautiful the attractions of
this sunny clime; though the fascinations of the verdure-adorned
ruins of Panama, and of the remembrances of its past history
are difficult to overcome, and the hospitalities of friends bard
to escape fro In, yet the obligations of duty are imperious, and I
return from the South of the Spaniard's descendant to seek with-
out deI8:;- the North of the descendant of the Saxon. A golden
key in both cases opened the portal of a new region to the tide
of emigration, which flowed in the one through a channel of
rapine, lust, and cruelty, to present degeneracy, and civil and
religious oppression; what is to come of the other and later,
setting steadily and sternly to Ineet the coming current of the
]'Iongolian and 1.lalay, on the glittering strand of California, is
yet to be revealed.
Without waiting for the steam-tug which conveys the rail-
road passengers from the depot ,vharf to the San Francisco

COAST OF CEXTRAL
IERICA.

393

steamer in the offing, I put Inyself as ofttimes before, under tne
care of Iny good friend Flag-Officer lIontgomerJ", and crossing
at high tide the reef w"hich surrounds the peninsula on which
the town is built, and which at low water is bare for half a mile,
went aboard the" Lancaster," bearing that veteran officer's blue
pennant, to take leaye of friends who were""the first to greet me
with a cordial welcome when corning from the far-off South,
and now gave nle the adio8 of countrymen when about to seek
the distant Korth.
Domiciled aboard the steamship" Golden Age," I found her
to be one of the largest and fastest on the Pacific, and much
superior in all her appointlnents to those on the Atlantic end
of the line, with accommodations for from one thousand to
twelve hundred passengers. .d..large falnily to be cared for dur-
ing a long voyage; and yet all seem contented and happy-good
order, discipline, and regard for the c01nfort of passengers char-
acterizing the government of our ne"," sea-home. The COln-
mander, Captain Watkins, being asked the secret of his success,
replied-" If such I have, it is due to a constant effort to com-
mand myself-the first duty of those in authority." Every day
this model officer inspects his ship, with the san1e scrutinyob-
served on board a man-o'-war by its executive officer.
Late in the evening we stood out of the Bay of Panama
under an easy head of stea1n, the rollers lifting their golden
crests as they encountered the onward movement of the ship,
whose dark way was thus brilliantly illuminated by the gleam-
ing phosphorescence for which this harbor is noted when agi-
ta ted.
Early next morning found us doubling OalJe jJIala, the
southwestern point of land bOlmding the Bay of Panama, and
we pursued a varying westerly course along the coast of Åzuezo
-a province of. the State of Panama-dlu'ing the day; lofty
hills in the background advancing their gradually diIninishing
swells clad in tropical verdure, to bathe in the blue ",yaves tbat
broke in foaln at their feet. Evening brought us off the Isla/lei
of Coiba.
Beyond this, although our course bore west-north'west and
northwest by west, corresponding to the trend of the coast, and

394

GULF OF TEHUANTEPEC.

not a great distance from it, we only occasionally saw the dim
and apparently barren outline of the remainder of Central
Aluerica. The skies were clear, and the breezes as if wafted by
a lady's fan, until on a line with Lake Nicaragua, over ,vhose
bosom tl1e northers from the Gulf of :Thlexico reach the Pacific,
less shorn of their strength than where Inountain barriers are
interposed. Here a stiff gale disturbed the sea somewhat, but
by this tiule the voyagers had learned to bear a little rough and
tumble, and there ,vere no candidates for sea-sickness and sym-
path y.
On the fifth day out from Panama we rOlmùed Gllacalate
Bar, and entered the Gulf of Tehuantepec; and on the sixth
coasted within ten or twelve Iniles of its mountain shore, ready
to take advantage of friendly shelter under the lee of tbe Coast
Range, if the winds, ,vhich in winter particularly often come
fiercely through La OlLivala Pass, should disturb uncolnfortably
this notoriously riotous gulf. During the more tranquil SUlnIXler
the course of the California stealners is in a direct line across
the 11lûuth of the gulf, from Guacalate Bar to Port Angeles, the
headlands which lllark east and west the geographical mouth
of this wide indentation of the coast; a route by no means safe
when a ,iolent ,vinter norther, blowing through the mountain
gap, sends a rough sea against the incoming ocean swells. The
strife of waters at such a tilne is described as being terrific.
Port Angeles having been passed at nine P. 1tr., ,ve steamed
within three or four Iniles of the dark mountainous shore of
1tlexico during the night, sensibly feeling the deprivation of the
refresl1ing breeze wl1ich came to us during the previous day
through the gorge of Chivala, invigorating intertropical travel-
lers, and causing the very billows to dance in joy of the deli-
cious dalliance. During the entire seventh day,ve skirted a
low sea-shore, resting against an undulating nlountainous back-
ground, sometilnes raising on high lofty and distinctive peaks;
and at six P. M. nlade Point Diamant, a bold rocky cape, ,vhich
marks the entrance to the Port of Acapulco, although the ÍIn-
mediate pillars of the narrow inlet to. that fine harbor are Bruja
Point on the east, and Griffin Point on the west-Griffin Island
lying a little further seaward, and dividing the entrance into

ACAPULCO.

395

two channels, the" great" 'and the" little," both of whicb hav-
ing sufficient depth of water for vessels of the largest draught.
The harbor is as nearly land-locked as possible to admit of
ingress and egress, and is about three nliles long and one ,,'ide;
but only the slnaller west end, called the Bay of St. Lucie, is
ordinarily used for anchorage, on the north shore of ,,-hich
stands the City of ACflþulco. The anchorage is commanded by
a fort built on a sJuall tongue of land at the entrance of the
inner harbor, and looks as if it might once have been a fortifi-
cation of considerable strength, though now greatly dilapidated,
after the fashion of every other great work, whether road, bridge,
ch urch, or fortress, since Spanish America threw off the govern.
lnent of the mother êountry.
Although nearly encircled by land, and ordinarily regarded
as aftording perfect shelter for shipping, yet hurricanes of fear-
ful force sOlnetimes sweep over the surrounding mountains, caus-
ing vessels to drag their anchors. .K evertheless, from the facil-
ityof access, great depth of ,vater even within a ship's length
of shore, freedom fronl bar:;, rocks, currents, and heavy s\\el1s,
this harbor must "be regarded as one of the finest on the Pacific
coast; and frolll its nearly equidistance between the Pacific ter-
Hlini of the California route, it will probably continue to be, as
it is now, the chief intermediate coal and provision depot of this
stealllship line.
The city of Acapulco is in latitude 16 0 55' N., and longitude
Ð9 0 48' W., fourteen hundred and forty miles from Panallla,
has an estimated population of perhaps twenty-five hundred;
lies at the foot of steep hills ribbed with rock, partial1y mantled
,,-ith shrubbery, belted below with the broad-leaved banana and
the phulled cocoa-palm, presenting a picturesque tropical scene,
doubtless especially pleasing to those returning from the north-
ern regions of quartz rock and pine. The streets are n3rro\'\,
irregular, and bordered by nlean-looking, lo,,
, one-story, nIud-
bedaubed, whitewashed houses, with roofs of reel tile or thatch
projecting over uneven sidewalks of a height abo\e the level of
the street, that in the event of a trip and tumble would lead an
unlucky night-walker to think that he had gone on a voyage of
discovery into a cellar. But the stranger may be comforted by

396

ACAPULCO.

the assurance that whatever other pitfalls may lie in wait for
him-with which all seaports abound-cellars are not of the
nUlllber, for earthquakes forbid these readY-Inade graves in vol-
canic countries; so that Pat and his shovel have no chance of
emploYluent hereabouts-there being besides neither railroads
nor canals-unless with characteristic pluck he attacks the bo,v-
els of Popocatapetl and Orizaba, in search of the phenomena
of terrestrial convulsions.
The scene presented at" night on landing from the steamer,
was novel and exciting. Lifted high and dry on the sandy
beach by a gentle roller, the moment of its retirement was
seized to leap from the launch and escape, ere another should
catch the loiterer, and inflict the penalty of a foot-bath for tres-
pass on ocean's skirt. Opposite the landing stands a large shed,
with latticed and palisaded sides, dignified by the name of cus-
tOlll-house. It is the depository of the few goods destined for
the interior, whither they are conveyed on mules. This rude
public store bounds the sandy plaza on one 'side, two other sides
of which are occupied by petty variety stores, dirty-looking eat-
ing houses and dramshops, while the fourth is dignified hy the
cathedral, a one-story adobe building, ,vith a squatty tower from
,vhich can1e the ceaseless clatter of an afflicted bell, which-like
SOll1e " Scribes and Pharisees" at home, 'v ho make a virtue of
disobeying the Divine injunction to "go into their closet and
pray to their Father who is in secret," and who for" a pretence"
make long prayers every day in the ,veek in public places, and
according to a published programme-stood at the street corner,
and in the absence of any devotee within the sanctuary, con-
tinued TLoisily responsive to a lllurky saint, who pummelled as
much piety out of its cracked sides as burthens the souls of some
sanctimonious sinners who thank God that they" are not as
other men." Senseless as seems this perpetual din of bell-metal
in Spanish America, it may yet be, in the absence of positive
harm, a more acceptable service in the eye of heaven, than the
frequent teachings in our own land of a desecrated pulpit, which
awaken in the human heart the wildest passions of fanaticism
and intolerance.
The plaza is the market-place, where were seen flowers, fruits,

AC.A.PL"LCO.

397

and shells, on mats spread on the ground, with the venders
squatting or standing about, seeking purchasers. The whole
was fantastically arranged; and the gay and varied intertropical
coloring illuminated by many candles made quite a pretty scene,
the novelty of which was heightened by the dark-complexioned
flower-girls, who familiarly button-holed a readily detected sh"an-
gel', and dropping a bouquet in his bosom, hinted payment in
his country's coin, " un dime." The intimation was irresistible,
coming frolll descendants of the Aztecs, the ancestry of nlany
of whom could be recognized in their diminutive size, delicate
conformation, approximative Indian features and complexion.
. :Most of these people live upon the products of sale of such
trifles to the Americans in transitu, who land at Acapulco for a
few hours, during the coaliI;tg, watering, and provisioning of the
steamer. Their general appearance and their houses indicate
poverty. But their ,vants are few, and readily supplied in a
warm clilllate by skirt, shirt, pants, sOlllbrero, thatched shelter,
spontaneous fruits and nutritious roots. They take no heed for
the morrow, what they shall eat, nor wheremthal they shall be
clothed-and the only instance I heard of in which this scrip-
tural precept was departed from ,vas that of a French-ì:
ankee-
a lusus natnræ-who, follo",
ing in the wake of the American
army from 1fatamoras to
Iexico, remained in the latter city for
a while after the treaty of Guadalupe llidalgo, and finally
drifted to Acapulco. Here, with the combined snlartness,
shrewdness, and skill of both his inherited and adopted nation-
alities, he is successfully conducting the only restaurant where
unsurpassed chocolate, and good squabs, eggs, and sherry-cob-
blers, can be had; and here, with the assistance of an active lit-
tle helplllate of a wife, ""yho shows her partiality for shirt and
trousers by wearing them, he is rapidly laying up treasures on
earth.
:ßlany half-naked, dirty-looking, idle negroes were seen saun-
tering about, indifferent to the cnance of employment afforded
by the entrance into port of the' L Golden Age,
' and that of the
downward bound stealner which came in a fe,v minutes after.
They are the worthless survivors of an industry that existed be-
fore the abolition of negro s1avery in 1\Iexico, when, under the

398

ACAPrrLCO.

direction of the superior intelligence and energy of Spanish
ll1asters, the fertile ,alleys beyond the coast range of Il10untains
ga\e to COUlmerce their rich productions.
,.As our launch skimll1ed over the placid bay on our return to
the stean1er, with the bright torche
of rapidly plJ
illg boats
flashing their long lines of light across the glassy surface, the
dip of the oars letting fall as they rose again phosphorescent
drops a
if of n10ltell gold, and nloying in lneasured harulony
to the prolonged cadence of a colonial Castilian tongue, the
men10ry of that historic period "yas awakened, ,\yhen, floating
on these still "Tater::;, guarded b
T y-on fortress, and elnbosollled
w'ithin these lofty surrolmdings "hich hid thelll fron1 the eyes
of the bold buccaneers Drake and .A..nson, lay those treasure gal-
leons lading with the Ï1un1ense riches of this, one of the t,vo
lllOst magnificent dependeucies ever o"Tl1ed by an earthly poW'er-
dependencies, strong in their affections for the III other countr)?,
and ".hich now 111ight have been the brightest jew'els of 11er
croW'n, had W'isdou1 directed the adn1Ìnistration of her lligh trust
of sovereignty, and the just rights con1ing of equal race been
conceded. But recognizing no law but the dictate of sclfi8h-
ness, no restraint within the linlÎt of despotic 'will, no justice
but that of tyrannical prerogative, royalty finally broke the
bond of loye ,yllÌch had held these colonies to Spain; and every
effort to restore the political union by the s"rord, seryed but to
nlienate Inore entirely their aftèctious, to provoke a fiercer re-
sistance, and to arouse an intense and enduring hatred. It is a
fact significant of evil, ,vhen nations become forgetful or regard-
less of the le;:,sons of history. GovernUlent, ho"yeyer consti-
tuted, is too apt in the exercise of power to o\
erlook the rights
of the governed, and thus arousing in the aggrievcd a detel'lni-
. nation of self-protection anù resistance, it often aggravates the.
evil by the application of coercive
11easures, alike unjust and
unwise-at variance ,vith,the inculcations of a benign religion,
still1ulating to human passions, destructive of social peace and
prosperity, and even of the foundations of the political fabric.
A union of governn1el1t and people essential to :o.atioual ,yelfhre,
or of the difterent parts of a great elnpire, ".hether of original
association or colonial, can only be secured by Illutual confi-

COAST OF MEXICO.

309

dence, cquity anù affection. ...\.. political union of States, to be
pennanellt, HUlst result ii-om attraction, not from compulsion.
True, the latter 111ay enforce it for a titHe, if of sufficient power;
but it is the welding of an iron despotisln, and although it may
not be sundered on the in
tant, the 810,\yer assaults of time and
the corroding influences of di;:,content and a '\crsion, will even-
tually and surelr destroy it.
On reëlubarking w'e found several of the )Iexican church
1) arty on Loard, w'ho were escaping fronl the reëstablished liberal
Governnlcnt. It is remarkable ho,v iIllitative the official:; of 80-
called fi'ee Governments are becoming of arbitrary rulers. Ille-
gal an-ests, decrees of banishnlent, military executions, and
practical repeal of all constitutional rights, are as COlliI110n in this
distracted country as under any known absQlutisIn.
During the eighth and ninth days out frolll Panama, the
bold shore of the
Iexican States of Guerrero, )Iichoacan, and
ColiIna, along ,,"hich we passed, appeared but a few hundred
yards uff, giving a feeling of safety to tiInid travellers. Great
depth of ,vater is always found on the Pacific coast, ,,-llere
mountain ranges approach close to the ocean; sha110',8 invaria-
bly Bkirt the low lands. X oon found us opposite the extinct
volcano Colhilta, t"elve thousand feet high, anJ thirty leagues
distant, but distinctlr seen to"ering loftily above the peaks of
nearer spurs. .lit evening "e were abreast of JIanzanillcI, a
small seaport froln which the specie of the adjoining country,
and particularly of the large interior city of Oolif'1a, is shipped
in the California steamers once a month, in return for Inerchan-
dise, from San Francisco and Europe. During the night we
were approaching Cape Corrientes, the eastern point of the Glùf
of California, from which at eight A. :M., on the tenth day, ,YO
took our departure across the mouth of the Gulf. ..At night it
became much cooler, and on the evenipg of the eleventh day of
our Yo)"age, as ,,"e neared Cape St. Lucas, in latitude 22 0 52' S.,
the lo\v teInperature made a change from linen to "oollen cloth.
ing necessary to cornfort. It is on this part of the California
route that nlany passengers suffer hnpairment of health from
neglect of necessary precautions. From the relaxing cffects of
heat 011 the physical ti-arne, and predisposition to disca
e inci-

400

LOWER CALIFORNIA.

dent to malarious exposure during an intertropical transit, det-
riment to health may reasonably be looked for when the atmos-
pheric temperature falls suddenly from 90 0 to 60 0 , unless warm
clothing be put on, habits of temperance observed, and night
air on deck be avoided.
The large Island of .lJIal'ga?"'ita, nearly closing the mouth of
JJIagdalena Bay, showed its bold outline off our starboard side
on the afternoon of the twelfth day. Shortly after a dense fog
prevented a sight of San Lorenzo Point in latitude 2-1 0 50', and
enveloped us in a veil of such thickness that a ship under full
sail was unseen until she swept under our bow like the flying
Dutchman-" a moment seen, then gone forever." An instant
later and she would have gone down, and not known ,vhat sent
her there. .
A deep bight indents the coast of Lower California north of
Point San Lorenzo. Having stood across this northwest half
west on the thirteenth day out, we steered along the ,vest side
of the large OedJ'o8 Island, in latitude 28 0 21' N., the two small
Islands of Benito lying off our port side, lifting into the air
their little pinnacles and domes in miniature imitation of moun-
tain scenery.
Our route lay now north-westwardly across another deep in-
dentation of the shore line, al,vays a pleasant departure from
the low shore to those who know that the charts of the coast
from Panama beyond this point, although of London publica-
tion, are Inade up from old Spanish surveys, and equally unre-
liable individual sources, a11d are not issued on government or
adnliralty authority. It is discreditable to the United States,
that in the navigation of a coast in which they have the largest
interest, in life and treasure, both its naval and commercial ma-
rine are dependent on such imperfect foreign guides; and that
they are eonstantly liable to ship,vreck from unknown sunken
rocks and shoals; and to impediments of navigation from im-
perfectly unders
ood currents. It is mortifying to reflect that
there have been ollieers of their navy ,vho might have eonferred
benefits on their eountry and the world, and aequired profes-
sional reputation, if aetively engaged in eoast-survey duty; ,vho,
under existing regulations and usages, have been victimized by

COAST OF STATE OF C.ALITOR
Ll.

401

ennui, àisabled by diseases of indolence, or prematurely incapa-
citated by intemperate habits and artificial excitenlents, and
have been :finally" retired" from service. discredited, if not dis-
graced.
A..t nine Â. M. of the fifteenth day from Panama, 'We made
the "
en-known group of Santa Barba,'a Islands off the coast
of the State of California; the dark outline of San Clernente
shováng its seventeen Iniles of peak, undulation, and elevated
level at the distance of thirty miles on our starboard bow'; while
the dangerous Oortez s}loal, whose breakers were concealed by a
densefog bank tbat lifted its black wan a"þo,e the sea in a man-
ner to cheat a landsn1an 'with the belief that he was under the
lee of a bold bluff, lay SOlne :fifteen lniles a,ray on tbe port side.
The archipelago of Santa Barbara lies off that part of the coast
where are situated the towns of San Diego, Los .....'\..ngeles, and
Santa Barbara, and consists of eight islands, destined to play
a conspicuous part in the future activities of this coast.
In fair weather the northwardly route of the California
steamers is usual1y inside of this group, not lnerely to avoid the
current setting south,vardly to the outside of the islands, but to
take advantage of its supposed s"weep around their south, and
up,vard set along their east sides. In the thick fogs, however,
which are frequent, the danger of running ashore is great; and
consequently the outward route is usually selected by careful
commanders, at the cost of a somewhat longer passage. The
through steamers do not now, as they did forlnerl)'", stop at the
ports above nalned; of course ,ve did not see .Ðead-lnan's Isl-
and at the mouth of San Pedro Bay, the port of Los Angelcs-
so caned, not because of its resemblance to a shrouded corpse, as
in the case of El1ruerto in the Gulf of Guayaquil, but because
there lie l}uried many J.\.n1ericans ,yhose lives "
ere lost in the
service of their country in the war "ith )lexico, and w'ho found
a resting-place on this sea-girt spot, for protection against the
ravages of the coyote, a species of w'olf that infests the mainland,
and, like the hyena, revels on hlunan remains.
In the afternoon we ran along the seaward side of San Xich-
ola:;, a sterile-Iooldng island. The Island of Santa nosa loomed
up ùÏIn}.r in the di
tance to,,-ar<.1s evening; anù after dark we
26

'-

402

GOLDE
GATE.

passed on the west side of San
Iiguel, the outennost of the
Santa Barbara archipelago. The lighthouse on Point Concep-
tion of the n1ainland
vas seen in the slnall hours of the ITIOrn-
ing of the sixteenth day, beaming forth an ever.cheering wel-
come to the Inariner; and Point Arpguilla ,vas passed about five
P. 1\r., after which a 10'" sandy, and barren-looking shore at a
few miles distance was coasted for thirty-five Iniles to Point San
L1tÏS Obispo, fron1 which to Point SUT, in latitude 36 0 20' N.,
eighty-five Iniles further north, the shore a n1Île and a half off,
looked bold, rugged, seamed with deep ravines, occasionaHy dis-
closing a green valley from the early sprouting wild oats, and
of a height varying from a thousand to fifteen hundred feet; ex-

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II;

FORT POIST A
D THE GOLDE
GATE.

cept where the two small ba}Ts of EsteTos and San SÙneon indent
the coast, w'here it is lower and edged with verdant rancnes.
Point Sur being passed at ten P.
r., the wide mouth of the Bay
of -11Ionter
y ,vas crossed during the night, and at daylight next

GOLDE...'f GATE.

403

morning-the seventeenth dal-an lillusually long voyage be-
cause of our having in tow from Acapulco a disabled steamer,
'\\e \fere off Point Anno .1.\""'ueva, thirty-eight miles beyond
which brought us to the rocky Point San Pedt 1 0 j thence the
coast line dips slightly to the eastward, and ten miles further we
entered that celebrated inlet to ll1ineral and cOllilllercial,vealth,
the Golden Gate, w'hich, in eleven years, has excited a greater
interest, and become better kno'\\n to nations, than any other
geographical point on the 11lap of the "
orld in a like period.
Two miles and a quarter "ide at its entrance, between Point
Bonita on the north and Point Lobos on the south, and extend-
ing eastward a distance of t,YO nliles and a hali, with a bold,
abrupt, rocky shore on the left as you enter, and a somew-hat
lower and undulating shore line on the right, there is a gradual
diulinution of the width of the passage, until one n1Ïle only sepa-
rates Fort Point on the south, on "yhich stands a formidable forti-
fication, and LÍlne Point opposite, the northern pillar of the nar-
row inlet, a spot somewhat renowned in the annals of senatorial
speculation. The::;e two and a half miles of funnel-shaped en-
trance form, the magnificent portal appropriately called Golden,
for through it the white-winged lUeS::5engers of the sea are per-
petuall y passing, bringing the riches of commerce, and bearing
away the wealth of exhaustless mines. Four miles "yithin the
gate, guarded midway the channel of the bay by another for-
tress of great strengtb, which crowns the Island qf' Alca(l'az,
there is brought into view. on doubling .L\'Tol'th POlJtt to tbe
right, the young Queen City of tbe Pacific, occupying a le,el
space reclain1ed from the bay at the foot of steep hills, whose
crescentic sweep belts a dense mass of substantial buildings;
--;vhile scattering houses climb the surrounding heights, showing
the resolution and perseverance with which the citizens of San
Francisco are surmounting the natural difficulties of placing
here the emporiulll of western commerce. Such she is, as at-
tested by the forest of masts swaJing to and fro, responsive to_

the swell of the proud waters whose chief adornment they are,
and giving to the winds the banners of a varied COlnlllerce, des-
tined ere long to s'well to an unsurpa;;;..::ed trade with :five hlmdred
millions of :ijeople of Eastern .-Ìsia and its adjacent islands, long

404

GOLDEN GATE.

a sealed volume in the history of national intercourse and pro-
gress.
For a distance of several miles before entering "The Heads,"
as the outer ]imits of tbe funnel-shaped lTIouth of the Golden
Gate are called, the crowning hills of the otherwise black and
bleak-looking seashore lifted up their cultivated fields, to look
out upon the expanse of ocean as if to challenge a comparison
of its azure beauty ,vith their o\Vll rich emerald. And telegraph
poles, too, standing at intervals upo
the wavy summits of dis-.
tant heights, outlined against the sky like Inile-stones on the
highway of advancing civilization, with stations and light-
houses; and all around below, s,vift pilot-boats, hovering about
a fleet of in\vard and outward-bound vessels, pursuing their si-
lent and trackless "ray; these served to tell us that we had
l)assed froln the dominion of the Spanish-American to that of
the Anglo-American; from the proofs of degeneracy conling of
mixed breeds, to those of the exalting influence of preserved
purity of superior race; from .the region of indolence and sen-
suality to that of industry and intelligence; from countries of
oppression and intolerance to one, let us hope, of lillchanging
liberty, liberality, and la,v.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CITY OF SA..'i YR.A...
CISCo-B..\Y OF SA...'l FRA..
CISCo-BAY OF SA..
PABLO-MARE ISL.A...'ID-
STRAIT OF CARQt:"E5EZ-BE5ICIA-SUIS"GY BAY-SACR..U!EXTO RIVER-CITY 01' SÄC-
R.UIE

O-CO..1ST RA5GE MOüXTA.IXS-FEÄTHER RIV'ER-YÄRYSVILLE.

IT has required but a brief survey of surroundings to ,bring
me to the conclusion that my mode of' journalizing must be
changed. An old America has been seen "of gray and leafy
walls, where Ruin greenly dwells," and where moral sense seems
irresponsive to the inspiration of a lofty civilization. In examin-
ing what " Young Anlerica" is doing with that part of the hemi-
sphere into which he is infusing a new life, and the resources of
which he is developing in a manner to astonish the world; where
change and progress are written upon every thing, and the real-
ities of to-morrow may contradict the descriptions of to-day, .we
must deal more in generalities than specialities. In this man-
ner alone wiH n1Y California narrative of what I saw, avoid the
ridicule to which it might otherwise be subjected by the presen-
tation of" dissolving ,iews," whose realities, apart from nature,
are merged in other scenes as the eye rests upon the picture.
But a few years have passed since this State was peopled by a
few wild 1rexican half-breed herd:;men, who roved over ranches
bounded only by ll10untain ranges, or the streams which broke
from their untrodden solitudes, to wander through imlnense
plains, and ,,'ho slaughtered tens of thousands of cattle for hides
and tallow alone. Now four hundred thousand inhabitants,
nearly all of Caucasian nationalities, led and stimulated by
Alnerican example and success, are disembowelling the earth
of its mineral treasures; developing unsurpassed agricultural
wealth, and e:3tablismng the means of fi-ee intercolnmunication

406

SAN FRANCISOO.

bet\Veell all parts of the State, and with neighboring territories.
J.Jooking at San Francisco, the trayeller beholds apparently in-
superable barriers to improvelnent disappearing as if by the
touch of an enchanter's wand-lofty hills vanishing before the
steam-paddy, which sends its trains of railroad cars to fill up
marsh and shallow; \vooden buildings of earlier date seeking
suburban retirement with wheel and lever, to give place to store-
house'S of iron and granite; palatial residences springing up as
if by magic, embo\vered in shrubbery and flo\vers; hotels of
metropolitan dimensions, succeeding each other with a rapidity
of construction showing an extraordinary flood of travel and
pressure of demand; eighty-three thousand people, a dense
mass of busy artisans, enterprising 111erchants, and men of va-
ried professions, cultivating the arts of peace, promoting the in-
terests of trade and of social happiness, and establishing the
empire of knowledge and civilization, where, but t\velve Jears
ago, the eddying sand, spor'ting in the gale that rushed through
the wind-gap of the coast range, built its luimicry of nature's
grander scenery undisturbed by luan's intrusion; and where the
\vavelet, unbroken by the rollicking oar, kissed the silent shore
,vith silver ripple.
Standing upon Telegraph Hill, or upon Rincon I-lill, the
north and south horns of a deep crescent of hills, the concavity
of which ,,,,as formerly a harbor where vessels rode at anchor
and discharged their cargoes, and looking down ui?on the ware-
houses, foundries, and machine shops, now occupying the entire
space, pushing the ,yater front to a straight line fì'oln one ex-
trelne "")oint to the other, the observer is aluazed at the immense
results of labor and perseverance in a brief tÏ111e. Yet San
Francisco Inust be regarded as in a transition state, for here lin-
ger still Inany ll1ean-looking bouses, the melnentoes of its days -
of hurry and hardship; ungraded, unpaved, or defectively
planked and dangerous streets; badly built and unfinished
wharves intercepting filthy pools, the receptacles of garbage and
offal, and sources of evil to a nlagnificent ,vater front, which
should be carefully guarded for the uses of the vast shipping des-
tined to adorn it if it he not destroyed by neglect or unwise leg-
islation. Sand hills and drifts also remain in populous thorougl-

SA..X FRA....'CISCO.

407

fares, recalling experiences of desert tra,el; and pioneer cus-
toms of all sorts, illustrative of enterprise and adventure, in-
tentness, selfishness, rudeness, recklessness, jostlings, and general
abandon of go-ahead-a-ti,ene6
, ignoring collaterals and conse-
quences. But w'bile we trace in these San Francisco as she was,
Jet can we not fail to contemplate her as she is to be, in the wide
and well-paved avenues seen in the rapiJly improving parts of .
the city, bordered by substantial edifices and fancy stores filled
,vith the products of .L.\..sia and its isles, competing ,yith the nlan-
ufactures of Europe and America for the golden prize that Cali-
fornia holds forth to the trade of the ,rorl<1. ..As seen, too, in
the scattered clusters of architectural residences which would
grace the "west end" of Atlantic cities, adorned "jth gardens
of perennial foliage, and flo\\
ers that never cease to bloom; in
the improving material, stJ Ie, and arrangement of public struc:'
tures; in beautiful chlu-ches looking ii'onl sUl'founding heights
upon the outspread proof of man's progress, and the improye-
ment of his moral nature which they ha\?e had their share in
elevating; in the uninterrupted, abundant, and cheap supply of
pure w'ater, flo,ying fi-om distant sources to every door, a spring-
tide of health and enjoyment, when but a few years since a
draught was a costly boon; in well-lighted streets; in an effi-
cient police to control the disturbing elelnents of society, "ith-
out, as formerly, in.consistently Ü"anpling law 1tndú" foot to pun-
ish lawlessness, thus justifying in practice what it professes to
denounce, and violating the sanctity of å principle which is the
only sovereign of a fi-eeman, and, professing to obeJ 'which, he
cannot disregard in practice w'ithout the establishment of a pre-
cedent, eventually detrinlental to the c
use of constitutional lib-
erty. We see the foreshadowing of her future in city passenger
· railroaJs, places of rational alnusement, and })llblic gardens of
unusual attractiveness; in 111arkets of great variety, abundance,
rarely equalled quality, and moderate prices-the fi-uits and
vegeta bles generall.y of California attaining a wonderti.1'l gro'wth,
and the salmon of its waters being unequalled; in numerous,
excellent, and cheap restaurants: in public schools, libraries,
asylums, hospitals, and an actÏ're fire departlnent. In all these
the gro'wth of t\velve years-no, not more than nine years, for

408

BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO.

this city has been three times nearly, and twice entirely destroyed
by fire-we have proofs of a creative and reproductive power,
which entitles San Francisco to the post of honor for unequalled
activity, enterprise, and success. And in them ,ve read also the
signs of her n1agnificent destiny. Diligent inquiry and obser-
vation have led me to the conclusion, that the luæury of living
. may be had here for a family at about a third above New York
prices. Those who are content with the necessaries of life, and
of industrious and provident habits, cannot fail of acquiring
competence and comfort, with the probability of their experience
transcending any moderate expectation. As to men unembar-
rassed by families, it may be confidently asserted that, nowhere
in the United States can such live at as small expense as in
San Francisco, provided they are willing to occupy furnished
l'00n1s, and take their meals at restaurants unsurpassed for excel-
lence and unequalled for cheapness.
For the purpose of visiting some part of the lnining and agri-
cultural regions, a fare of one dollar ,vas paid for a passage which
formerly cost thirty, to Sacramento, on board a stealner of speed
and acccnnlnodation equal to a North River boat. Casting loose
at four P. :M., our route lay northward up the Bay of .San Fran-
cisco, the uninhabited island of Yerba Buena, destined to play
a conspicuous part in the future annals of the city, lying to the
right, and serving as a partial wind-screen for the town of Oak-
land on the east side of the bay, against the blasts, which, dur-
ing the sumU1er lnonths, COlne fiercely through the narrow en-
trance of the harbor. To this island, called Yerba Buena by the
Spaniards from its production of a peculiar plant, the later
Saxon settlers gave the less euphonious name Goat Island. But
this and like efforts to despoil the Spaniards of an incidental
honor of discovery and occupancy is not likely to prove success- .
ful, for their footprints are too deep to be effaced from the new
world; and their renown ,viII continue to be proclaimed through
all time, -by the sublime language that speaks from its moun-
tains, valleys, and rivers-from ever.y sea, island, and headland.
Further on than Yerba Buena, and to the left of the stean1-
er rou.te, is Angeles Island, of several hundred acres extent, sep.
arated froln the .western shore of the bay by the narro,v, but

.

I

B...1.Y OF S
PABLO.

409

deep Racoon Stl'ait, through which flows a strong tidal and
river current, to be duly considered by vessels entering the har-
bor on an ebb tide, to avoid being driven on the south shore of
the inlet. The island shuts from the view of the ascending nav-
igator of the bay the little harbor of Saucelito, off its west side,
where formerly whalers of the Korth Pacific, and subsequently
the founders of San Francisco, obtained supplies of fresh water.
Thirteen miles from the city, on the 'West side of the bay, just
after passing an insular" Red Rock," stands Point St. Quentin,
on which is built the State Penitentiary; and about three miles
to the northwest of this, at the head of a snug little harbor, the
village of San Rafael is seen nestling in a pretty setting of ,er-
dure-clad bills. A short distance north of Point St. Quentin is
the narrow entrance to the Bay if San Pablo, a differently
denominated part of that beautiful expanse of water usually
l.J10wn as the Bay of San Francisco. The passage is bounded
on the east by Point San Pablo, and on the west by Point San
Pedl'o; t'\vo rocks near the former and two near tbe latter called
Tlw Bpothel's and TIle Sistel's, by a little stretch of fancy, may
be regarded as being occupied in the pious duty of washing the
feet of the apostolic fathers. )Iany rocl
y islets scattered o,er
the face of the bay add to' its picturesque scenery; and the back
ground of the shores being off shooting spm
s of the Coast Range
of mountains on both sides, adds to tbe beauties of the scene by
their graceful lmdulations, and especially when their foothills
are clad in the livery of early spring. The Bay of San Pablo
looks like a rapid and n1uddy embouchure of the great Sacra-
mento River, bearing tbe floods of its turbid tributaries to the
ocean through a vast valley of the Coast :Mountains. Steering
northeast, JIare Island was soon reached, on which is located a
United States navy yard, elllbracing extensive shops, store-
house::;, and a sectional dry dock. A strait separates the island
froll1 the main land, on which, opposite to the public buildings,
is the old town of Vallejo, now inhabited by most of the work-
IHen of the navy yard, and a remnant of' the former :Mexican
population. Na:fJ((; Creek, which drains a part of the fertile
valley of the same name, and affords water communication by
steamboat between that rich country and San Francisco, Clnp-

410

BENICIA.

ties into l\Iare Island Strait a short distance above the to",vn of
Vallejo. Leaving all these to the left of our route, ",ve passed
east,vard tbrough the Strait of Oarqu-enez, six miles long, and
,arJ'ing frolll three-quarters to two miles ",vide, comlIlunicating
with Sui8u
n BelY. On the north shore of the strait stands the
to"'l of Benicia, so called in honor of the ",vife of the brave
old l\Iexican frontiersillau, General Vallejo. Benicia is fifty-
eight nliles from San Francisco. It was here that it was for a
tÏ1ue intended by interested parties to establish the conllnercial
enlporiunl of the Pacific, and also the capital of the State of
California. But the la",,,"s of trade, too ilIlperious to be over-
ruled, elected San Francisco for the forlIler; while the machin-
ery of party, 1110ved by a controlling personal interest, decreed
that it ,vas advisable to expend the State appropriations in the
erection of legislative and executive buildings where there ",vas
a probability they,vould be washed out occasionally by an over-
flo",v of the Sacramento River-a process of purification kno,vn
to be needed by the experienced in partisan legislation and po-
. litical corruption. Benicia has several fine academies; there are
also in its Ï1runediate vicinity the extensive machine shops and
foundries of the Pacific }\tIail Steamship Company. A fleet of
their stealners was seen moored along shore. The United States
Pacific l\Iilitary Headquarters, consisting of barracks, arsenal,
lnagazine, and storehouses, are located near the Steamship Conl-
pany's works. Opposite to these, on the south side of the strait,
is the neat little town of Mal.tinez, the county-seat of Contra
Costa.
It was night when we passed frolIl the Strait of Carquenez
into Suisun Bay and the Sacramento River, '\vhich, having been
ascended during the dark hours, renlained a sealed book until a
subsequent opportunity was afforded to see its generally low and.
level banks of rich soil, but liable to overflo,v in high ,vater.
'\Ve reached the city of Sacramento at 2 A. !\I., a ten hours' run
of one hundred and t\venty miles from San Francisco.
The city of Sacramento is situated imlnediately below the
junction of the American River cODling frolIl the east, and the
Sacramento River fio,ving frolll the north; and is built princi-
pally on the east bank of the latter, (South of the former river.

S.A.CILrnEXTO.

411-

These rivers are greatly swollen at this time, frolll heavy rains
and the spring thaw of the Sierra Nevada SIlOW. The high-
est water hitherto known here was in 1854, when it rose to
b\ellty feet abo\e low water. It is now equally high, and threat-
ens to submerge the plain on which the town is built. In
December, 1861, a flood of these rivers did overflo\\T the levee
and inundate tbe city; and in the following month, January,
1862, an unprecedented rise to twenty-four feet abo\e lo,\-water
mark, converted the city and adjacent country into a \ast lake,
flooding every dwelling and store, destroying probably millions
of property, and rendering communication Í1npossible except by
boats. The Sacramentinos must be made of pretty resolute
stuff, if their purpose to make this city the capital of the State
can survive such a Cù'oWlling out. .
The streets of Sacralnento are laid off at right angles, des-
ignated by letters and numerals: they are wide, nlostly un-
paved, with plank sidewalks, covered with shed awnings in the
business part of the town.; alid a plaza of abundant mud and
dirt, reveals a lingering attachment to Spanish Anlerican fash-
ions. Most of the houses are weather-boarded fraIne, and the
suburbs are far from prepossessing; but there are substantial
stores in the hpJ.rt of the city, and some fine brick dwellings
,rith pretty flower-gardens, for which the Sacramentinos seem
to have a passion.
The present capitol building furnished by this county for the
use of the Legislature, is unworthy of the character and re-
sources of the State; but a new one is in process of erection at
a probable cost of half a million of dollars, the foundation ,rans
of which are already up, and which it is expected wiII be fin-
ished in about three years, unless the Sacralnento and .L\.nleri-
can I
ivers-not originally consulted in the premises-should
decree otherwise. Whether the omission to take into consiJera-
tion the influence which these im l )ortant aaents mio-ht exercise
'" '"
on the question, ,vas dependent upon the want of \\yisdom and
experience in the Legislature, usually the attendant on mature
age, I know' not; but certainly if there was an old ll1an in that
honorable body, he could not be distinguished aUlong the stal-
wart-framed, ruddJ-colnpl
xioned, and dark-haired lllember
.

· 412

COAST RANGE MOUNTAINS.

Indeed, it is I'are to meet with a wrinkled brow and venerable
locks anywhere. The young, the vigorous, and the resolute
appear to have taken possession of this new land, which is rap-
idly beco1l1ing the active theatre of that civilization destined to
confront and conquer the errors and prejudices of Asia.
Taking the seven A. 111. boat for :Thlarysville, we found on
board that hUlnal1 speciality the newsòoy-long lost sight of.
lIe has scaled the Rocky Mounta
ns, and awakened the echoes
of the Sierra Nevada with his startling summons. His next
leap will be to the Hawaiian Islands; and then may Buddha
and Joss shake on their shrines, for it will not be long before
Japan and China will respond to an influence more po,verful
than that of the missionary.
II
ving ascended the Sacralnento River fifteen or twenty
Iniles, the Coast Range :Thlountains could be seen in the far west,
a portion of the chain breaking into spurs as it approaches San
Pablo Bay, some of them passing along the west side of the bay,
while others descending obliquely along its head seek the Strait
of Carquenez, and leaping it form the great :Thlount Diablo
Range, which runs along the east side of the Bays of San Pablo
and San Francisco, through the counties of Contra Costa and
Alameda, to unite again in the far south with that chain ",-hie-h,
in consequence of its bordering lllore closely the seacoast on the
1\ T est side of the bay, properly retains the nalne Coast Range.
It is thus by the connecting Gabelan spur, that the subdivisions
of the great northern Coast Range, which separate to embrace
the Bays of San Pablo and San Francisco, again coalesce; and
after having by their relmion formed the southern boundary of
the magnificent valley of Santa Clara, pass on to receive still
further south the gradually approaching Sierra Nevada. It is
in the Coast Range that those breaks are found, at Bodega, the
Golden Gate, :Thlonterey, and San Pedro, ,veIl named wind-gaps,
through ,vhich the sea-breezes seek the great interior basin, thus
mitigating the extrelne summer heats ",-hieh ,,,"ould other,vise
be insupportable.
On each side of the Sacralnento River the overflowing water
was seen, as we ascended it, covering the adjacent country in
111any places from ten to fifteen Iniles, giving the appearance of a

EVILS OF MIXING.

413

succession of lakes. The tributaries of this great river are all
similarly swollen, and the destruction of property on their banks
111115t be immense. Fleets of bridges, fences, flumes, and crops
l)assed us, and e-,en an occasional house was seen launched on
the swift current, "bound to San Franci
o and a market."
Orchards, vineyards, gardens, and thousands of acres of rich
bottom lands are under water, and probably ruined by the de-
posits of sand and clay brought down frolTI the lllining districts
and spread abroad by the flood.
ábout twenty-five or thirty Iniles above the capital the Sac-
ramento River receives one of its largest affiuents, Feather
River, which we ascended, and found also to be rolling down a
swift tide of turbid ,yater, thick with sedinlent fronl the gold-
belt of the mountain region, the great source of sand-bars and
general lifting of the river bed and obstruction of the channel,
thus impeding stealnboat navigation, as well as injuring se-
riously the agricultural interests of the State by increasing the
liability to ovelllow.
The discovery of the precious metals has done much for Cal-
ifornia by attracting imuligration, and leading to an eXalllil1a-
tion of her other resources. But it is feared by some of excel-
lent judgment, that the pennanent interests of the State are
sustaining great detriment by the injury to navigable ,yater-
courses incident to 111iniug and consequent flooding of valuable
lands, by the diversion of labor from agriculture, by the cher-
ished spirit of speculation and improvidence, and their connuon
attendant del11oralization, and by the abnornlal attraction of
professional lnen, including professional ganlblers and profes-
sional idlers, resulting frolll a continuance of the golden enthral-
ment and the suprenlac.r of the mining interests. California is
capable of producing cereals far beyond the delnand for h0111e
consuluption. From July, 1860, to March, 1861, she exporteel
two InilliOIl six hundred thousand bushels of -wheat, and of
barley a very large quantity. As to potatoes, the whole Pacific
coast of .L'l.luerica could rely on her -without apprehell:3ion of dis-
appointInent. \Vhy should sbe send n}illions of dollara abroad
for cm-od lneats, butter, cheese, \vines, dried fruits, tobacco, rice,
when her ri,er bottoms can produce abundantly of corn, and

.

414

AGRICULT"CRAL CAPACITIES.

.

oak forests furnish thousands of tons of lnast for fattening hogs;
,vhen her luxuriant valleys can pasture innulnerable herds;
when her hill-sides, basking for ]11ont11s in a warm and rainless
sky, would rejoice in the vine and gro,v jocund ,vith the grape;
and when a virgin soil and propitious cliInate a"
ait but the
hand of the husbandlnan to fill it "rith the richest rewards of
industry, however applied
It is nlanifest that the greatest
want of California is labor.
Large timber is only occasionally seen along the river banks,
and this differs ii"om that of the Atlantic States, in the gnarled
and scraggy appearance of the trees. The nsual inhabitants of
these forests are the .DiggeT Indians, whose lodges-if such they
can be called, ,vhich are merely hollo,v mounds of earth into
which they burrow through a hole-stand in clusters of five or
six, giving shelter to the most wretched-looking of the native
race, ,vhose food is the acorn and such esculent roots as they can
dig from the earth, seasoned occasionally ,vith a worm or grass-
hopper; and ",
hose clotLing, if clad at an, the tattered cast-off
garll1ents of the miner, picked up on the wayside.
..L1Ic{;Tysville, at the junction of Feather and Yuba Rivers,
,vas reached in eight hours and a half fronl Sacralnento-dis-
tance about seventy miles. Rapidly accu111ulating deposits in
the rivers nlay soon make it necessary for this to'Vll to rely upon
railroad cOlnlnUl1ications for its prosperity, ,vhich it has hitherto
had as much frotl1 the facility of receiving its supplies of lner-
chandise by the Sacrall1ento and Feather Rivers as from its
proxinlity to lunny of the richest golcllnines of the State. .
la-
rysville is the chief to'wn of Yuba County, the lnost important
in tl
northern part of the State, and possesses an extensive
area of the finest Illineral and agricultural lands. The town is
situated on a nearly level plain, sufficiently above high ,vater to
protect it frOll1 river freshet, except tbose few parts in the vicin-
ity of sloughs. Its 1)re8ent population is six thousand. The
streets are ,vide, intersect each other at right angles, are un-
paved, and designated alphabetically in one direction and nn-
l11erically in the other, which facilitates the finding and recollec-
tion of places. The sidewalks are paved, and substantial brick
buildings occupy the business part of the to,vn, while the dwell

:M..:\RYSYILLE.

415

iugs in other parts are of brick or frame in cottage style, and
haye .fine gardens. Se,eral churches are well designed and sub-
stantial, as is also the court-house; and '\vell-conducted hotela
are found, in nUlnber and accolnmodation equal to those of sonle
Atlantic cities with twenty times the population.
Iarysnne is
lighted by gas, and is entitled to be considered a neat, well-or-
dered, and prosperous town, creditable to its inhabitants, and
gh'ing prolllise of a growth and influence correspondent with
the destiny of the State.
J\.lready two railroads are being built ;
one to connect it with Folsoln and thence with Sacramento, and
,vhatevêr improvement n1ay penetrate the great valley of San
Joaquin to th
south, or climb the Sierra X evada to the east;
and the other to run to Benicia or to Vallejo, as may be deter-
Inined; in either case giving a more certain, frequent, and a
shorter communication with San Francisco-the steau1boat COll-
nection between those places and the comlnercial lnetropolis
being alwaY3 uninterrupted.
-\. third road is being projected
to Oronlle in the interior. It "Would haye been pleasant to
have lingered longer in this fresh and vigorous little to,yn,
"here, in my "prospecting" California, I found "a nugget of
pure gold" in one of the truest of friends and best physicians
"ho e,er enligrated fron1 his nati,e State of ::\Iaryland. But
duty "ould not wait on pleasure, and the" word which must
be and hath been," had to be spoken.

CHAPTER XXV.

BIG BUTTE-YOUNT SHASTA-YUBA RIVER-TIMBUCTOO-HYDRAULIC GOLD MINIXG-
ROUGH AND READY-GRASS VALLEY-QUARTZ GOLD l\IINING-AUBURN-;AMERICAN
RIVER-ALABASTER CA VE-FOLSOY-CnlNESE.

As we left }Iarysville the Big Butte was seen thirteen lniles
to tbe northwest, lifting its dark brow nineteen hundred feet
above the surrounding plain, on which it stands a majestic and
lonely monarch, as if proclain1Ïng to its giant brother of Shasta,
visible one hundred and fifty miles off in the far north, and
fourteen thousand three hundred and ninety feet high, that they
alone reign within the great interior valley of four hundred

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DISTANT VIEW OF l\IOUNT SHASTA.

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\

JIOrx.T SHASTA.

417

miles extent, which lays its tribute at their feet. The following
is from the pen of a gentleman of Marys\ille, an hour spent
with whom, ".here all surroundings were bright and joyous, w
s,
in his own language, like

" sunlight on
The golden streams that through the ,alleys glide."

Genius can weave no more fitting wreath for Shasta's imperial
brow:

" Behold the dread 1tlount Shasta, where it stands
Imperial midst the lesser heights, and, like
Some mighty, unimpassioned mind, companionless
And cold. The storms of Heaven may beat in wrath
Against it, but it stands in unpolluted
Grandeur still; and from the rolling mists up-heaves \
Its tower of plide e'en purer than before.
The wintry showers and white-winged tempests leave
Their frozen "tributes on its brow, and it
Doth make of them an everlasting crown.
Thus doth it day by day, and age by age,
Defy each stroke of time-still rising higher
Into Heaven!

" ASI)iring to the eagle's cloudless height,
1\0 human foot hath stained its snowy side,
Nor human breath has dimmed the icy mirror
"Which it holds unto the moon, and stars, and sovereign
Sun. We may not grow familiar with the secrets
Of its hoary top, whereon the Genius
Of that mountain builds his glorious throne!
Far-lifted in the boundless blue, he doth
Encircle, with his gaze supreme, the broad
Dominions of the West, that lie beneath
His feet, in pictures of sublime repose
Ko artist ever drew. He sees the tall,
Gigantic hills arise in silentness
And peace, and in the long renew of distance
Range them
elves in order granù. He sees the sun-light
Play upon the golden streams that through the valleys
Glide. He hears the music of the great and solemn
Sea, anù over-looks the huge old western 'Wall,
To ,iew the birth-place of undying )Ielody !
27

418

:MOUNT SHASTA.

" Itself all1ight, save when some loftiest cloud
Doth for a while embrace its cold forbidding
Form-that monarch-mountain casts its mighty
Shadow down upon the crownless peaks below
That, like inferior minds to some great
Spirit, stand in strong contrasted littleness!
All through the long and summery months of our
:Most tranquil year, it })oints its icy shaft
On high, to catch the dazzling beams that fall
In showers of splendor round that crystal cone,
And roll, in floods of far magnificence,
Away from that lone vast Reflector in
The dome of I-Ieaven.

" Still watchful of the fertile
Vale, and undulating plains below, the grass
Grows greener in its shade, and sweeter bloom
The flowers. Strong Purifier! From its snowy
Side the breezes cool are wafted to 'the peaceful
Homes of men,' who shelter at its feet, and love
To gaze upon its honored form, aye standing
There, the guarantee of health and happiness!
Well might it win communities so blest
To loftier feelings, and to nobler thoughts-
The great material symbol of eternal
Things! And well I ween, in after years, how,
In the middle of his track, the plougIllnan,
In some sultry hour, will pause, and, wiping
FrOlll his brow the dusty sweat, with reverence
Gaze upon that hoary peak. The herdsman
Oft will rein his charger in the plain, and drink
Into his inmost soul the calm sublimity;
And little children, playing on the green, shall
Cease their sport, and, turning to that mountain
Old, shall of their mother ask, 'Who made it
'
And she shall answer, 'God! '
"And well this Golden State shall thrive, if, like
Its own l\iount Shasta, sovereign law shall lift
Itself in purer atmosphere-so high
That human feeling, human passion at its base
Shall lie subdued; e'en pity's tears shall on
Its summit freeze; to warm it e'en the sunlight
Of deep sympathy shall fail;
Its pure administration shall be like
The snow immaculate upon that mountain's brow!"

HYDRAULIC GOLD-MIXIXG.

419

Crossing to the south bank of Yuba River, 'We pursued an
easterly route, ,vith that river frequently in view; first over a
level tract of country not remarkable for cultivation, and then
over low foot-hills, some of which '\\ere very rugged, and most
of them bearing marks of mining claims, ditches, diggings, and
flumes, with endless heaps of washed boulders, cobble, and
gravel, showing the enornlOUS labor and wealth that ha,:"e been
expended in prospecting and placer mining in this county. If
there has been a correspondent expenditure in the other aurif-
erous regions of the State, the aggregate, if so appropriated,
would have been sufficient to have placed California in raih-oad
communication with the valley of the Mississippi long ere this.
A drive of eighteen miles brought us to TÏ1nbuctoo, a to'wn in
the eastern part of Yuba County, of from four thousand to .five
thousand inhabitants, in and around it, engaged in mining and
kindred pursuits.
The mode of mining chiefly pursued here is that caUed hy-
d
aulic, which consists in washing down the gold deposits by
projecting against them streams of '\\ater, and then directing
the sediment by water currents through wooden troughs, called
flumes, where the particles of gold become disengaged and de-
tained by riffles of quicksilver. This mode of mining was :first
used at X evada in 1852, but the prinlitive arrangen1ent of raw-
hide hose and wooden pipe has been since much improved on;
and wherever it is applicable the results, as compared with the
early processes of pan, rocke,", and long-toln, are remarkable for
increased production. We were conducted over the extensive
and
"ich ..A..ntoine claim by a resident of Timbuctoo, largely en-
gaged in mining. The claim is located, with twenty-four oth-
ers, on Timbuctoo Hill, having a height of five or six hundred
feet, and a diameter of about one mile at the base. This small
mountain, which by its large yield of gold has proyed one of
the l"ichest deposits in California, was once placer-mined over
its entire surface; and now, for that which is imbedded deeply
within, is being so rapidly disembowelled by tunnelling, and un-
dermined and washed away by streams that bave been turned
froln their channels for this purpose, that it is computed that in
fi-om two to three years the ,,
hole will be levelled to the bed of

420

HYDR.AULIO GOLD MIXING.

the adjacent river, and where the lllountain no,v stands will be
found naught but a plain of boulders. Indeed there are geolo-
gists who believe that this will be but a return to its original
condition, and that it is in fact an upheaval of a ,vater bed, as
it is formed of ,corresponding rock of various inclinations,
washed into holes similar to those of the present hed of the
Yuba River, mingled with rounded stones of all sizes, and 1\ T ith
gravel and sand. '
After clalnbering over enormous quantities of boulders, the
refuse of fluIlles scattered broadcast at the foot of the hill, ,ve
penetrated an artificial cleft in the rock and hard cement, of
great length and depth, through which ,vater and rolling stones
were rushing with the noise of a mountain torrent. Ilaving
ascended this gorge in constant danger of falling fragnlents
fronl the ragged walls above, and slipping and sliding over an
unctuous pathway, we emerged upon a plateau fronting which
,vas a perpendicular bluff of gravel and boulders, sand and clay,
resting on a substratum of hard white cement. This bluff was
one hundred and thirty-five feet high, frOln three to four hun-
dred feet wide, and against its base, men clad in india-rubber
cloth, standing sixty or seventy feet off, ,vere directing four
streams of water from pipes of three-and-a-fourth inch nozzles.
The water thus used is furnished to miners by a canal company,
and is conveyed in canals and flumes a distance of thirty miles.
The cost of ,vater for the Antoine mine is eighty dollars per
day, and, including other necessary charges in the working, it
foots up an aggregate expense to the proprietors of eleven hun-
dre il dollars every ten days. The product an10unts to three
thousand dollars for the same period-the "run," as it is called,
at the enù of which a cleaning up takes place-that is the bOJIl-
del's ,vhich have become jammed in the flullle are removed, the
amalgam is taken out, retorted, and quicksilver replaced in the
.flume preparatory to another run.
The head of water gives a pressure of frOIll seventy to one
hundred and forty feet, and it is conveyed from the i'eservoir
through a thirty-t,vo inch diameter riveted boiler iron pipe,
thirteen hundred feet long, to a rubber hose of seven inches di-

l111eter, froln ,yhich it is thrown, as before stated, with such

Hì."""DRA17LIC GOLD ?tIIXING.

421

force that four streanlS produce a rushing and crashing of boul-
ders like tbe roar of a cataract.. The spectator realizes the
Inight of tbese streams when, after a process of undermining
for a few minutes, he sees thousands of tons forming a terrific
land-slide of rock and earth, fall with deafening crash. The
disintegrated lnass subject to the continued play of the pipe-
men, is gradually washed at the Antoine Inine into a deep cut
which tra-verses the plateau, and thence through a cleft of an
adjacent part of the hill to a strongly-braced wooden trough
having a rapid fall. This is the flume,. it is about fi-ve feet
wide and three deep, and five or six hundred yards long.
-\.cross
the bOttOlll are placed blocks of hard nut pine, four or five inches
thick, intercepting small spaces well packed to prevent leakage,
into which quicksilver is put, "hich attracts the particles of gold
rushing along the flume with the mass of debris, forIlling an
G1nalgam, which, froIll its metallic weight, rests securely in the
little spaces between the blocks until the expiration of the rUll,
when it is carefully collected, and the gold and quicksilver sep-
arated by heat. Eight hundred pounds of quicksilver are used
at the ....\.ntoine mine during every run of ten days, from 1\hich
some iJea may be formed of the in1mense quantity consumed in
the State, and the importance of the almost simultaneous dis-
covery of that metal with gold in California.
The cost of opening the .L\ntoine clainl "Was seventy-five
thousand dollars before operations cOlùd be commenced. The
day for picking up gold on the surface of the earth has gone by,
and the in-vesÌInent of large capital is now required to bring
about the remlmerative results rarely to be secured without the
adoption of improved r.aethods.
Hydraulic and quartz mining-the latter yet to be seen-
I aUl infol'llled are attended ,yith many accidents from falls, land
slides, and rock blasting; perhaps in no equal number of opera-
tives as alTIOng miners, are the services of the sm
geon so fre-
quently required.

ext morning we started for Grass ValleJ, a quartz rock
gold region, eighteen Iuiles distant in Xevada County. 'fhe
usual pas:;enger conveyance of this country of rough and deeplJ"-
rutted road:; in the ,yct season, is what is here caned a mud

422

INTERIOR TRAVEL.

,vagon, a ,vider and lnore capacious vehicle than the stage-coach,
witb a body resting on stiffer springs, and not so high, hence
less liable to capsize. Passing S
tcJ
er Flat and Empire Ranche,
three Iniles brought us to lJIorney' 8 Flat, 'v here are found nu-
merous still productive claÏ1ns. The road is precipitous and
rocky, and the hill-sides are sealned with ditches and tail-wash-
ings, the great canal of the Excelsior Company before referred
to being sOlnetilnes seen in its earthen channel, at others leap-
ing by aqueducts, supported on trestles fifty feet high, over
"Tide valleys. Ruinous as these arteries of impoverishiilg sedi-
Ulent now prove to agriclùture, the tÏIlle 'will probably con1e
when the glittering attraction shall have ceased to exist, that
they may become converted into JlleanS of irrigati.ng vineyards
and other fruiteries, destined to flourish throughout this foothill
region, the soil and climate of which, in the judgInent of resi-
dents, are well adapted to their cultivation. And ,,
ho can
doubt the In ore extended and enduring benefits that will C0111e
of this nobler industry
Ilnmense rocks were occasionally seen
bounding the wayside, their sides and feet washed by lTIountain
torrents for centuries, standing like buttresses of iron supporting
massive walls and. defying the vain assaults of storm and flood,
,vhile above the acculnulating Inoss of long years gave a look
of v
nerable grandeur to their stern bro,vs. Sometimes a pretty
opening revealed itself, ,erdant in grass and foliage, like a pic-
ture of youth in an antique fraIne; and the neat cottage, flo"'ler
garden, and cultivated field near by, told that gold had not en-
grossed all thought and labor. A toll-gate was not wanting to
exemplify ulan's adherence to usage, rather than to delTIOllstrate
improved highways in these outcroppings of the Sierra Nevada.
But a truer sign of progress was the tiny thread of the telegraph
stretched through the ,vilderness, and beyond the lTIountain
lin1it that nature for ages had assigned to man's elTIpire, to unite
the 8\:trelTIeS of a continent in instant intelligence, sympathy,
and interest. Stately pines waved their graceful heads
and
lordly oaks-live, ,yllite, red, and black-stretched abroad their
brawny arms, while extensive undergrowths oflnanzanita, buck-
eye, and chaparral served to shelter the ,vild tenants of the for-
est, occasionally startled by our intrusion. Nor ,vere spring's

r..
RIOR TRAVEL.

423

wild flowers wanting to heighten the beauty of the scene. N a-
ture's gorgeous embroidery of crimson, and yellow, and purple,
was spread 0:1\ the sunn
y hill-side; \\yhile pink, and blue, and
,,-hite nestled in shady nooks, to tell that no part of earth is left
by the Bountiful Giver of Good without these beautiful em-
blems to remind us of the lovely and pure departed.

Thanks for the gift of flowers-
For the bright, loving, holy thoughts, that breathe
From out their perfumed beauty, like a wTeath
Of sunshine on life's hours!

Thanks for the wayside handwriting of goodness along the gar-
den path, to teach childhood its earliest lesson of Supreme Be-
neficence, and inspire its heart with the love of beauty and
sweetness, brightness, joy, and gentleness; and that puts its
record for man on rock and hill, forest and field, mountain and
valley, that he may be taught" what::,oever things are pure and
lovely-to think on these things"! And that seeing all perish
too, and fall before the wintry blast, he may also be reminded
of his own passing away!
Twelve n1Îles -èast of TÎ1nbuctoo we came to EO'lIgh an<l
Ready, a small mining village of little else than shanties-from
its rocky surroundings certainly deserving of the first half of its
name, and not less entitled to the last froln the ready manner
its inhabitants are said to have of deluding the un,vary, with the
idea of profitable investment in gold claims, more remarkable
as stone quarries. IIundreds of acres of boulder and gravel,
anclleagues of useless ditches and diggings, showed the vast ex-
penditure of time and labor in prospecting, and on abandoned
claims-the victims of disappointment doubtless being often the
children of luxury and refinenlent, whose dreams of affiuence
having faded into realities of penury and destitution, becoming
the hirelings of more fortunate speculators, to avoid starvation.
California ha:; been the theatre of diversified experience, and no
part of it has seen more suffering and disappointment than this.
Rugged and Rascally would have alliterated as wen, and been
equally euphonious and as truthful a name as Rough and Ready
-appropriate as that is. The road beyond, though not as

424

GRASS VALLEY QUARTZ ltIINING.

rocky, continued miry fron1 heavy rains, and Grass Valley was
not reached until 4 P. :?tI.
The town of Grass Valley is the second in 4lnportance in
Nevada County, and has a population of five thousand. The
stores are substantially built, and contain an abundant supply
of goods; and the d\yellings, many of them pleasantly located
on the gently-swelling hills bordering the valley, are tasteful
and surrounded with fine gardens. Among the latter Inay be
seen the cottage built and occupied for a short tilne by Lola
Montes, the erratic, cast-off mistress of Bavarian Inajesty, who
appears to have girdled the earth ahnost with coquetries and
liaisons, and at her final hour to have been canonized as a saint
by New York piety. Placer gold Inining was for a thl1e suc-
cessfully conducted in thi
vicinity, but the accidental discov-
ery of gold-bearÍng quartz in 1850, soon led to the erection of
mills, first driven by water po\ver, and subsequently, as tlle ex-
tensive gold quartz deposits were developed, steam po\ver ,vas
found necessary to meet the great delnand for those agents in
the separation of the precious Inetal. Within the space of five
llliles square as many as sixteen quartz-crusÞ.ing mills have al-
ready been erected, doing custom as well as pl'iyate \vork, and
thirty-five steam pumps are also engaged in freeing the Inines
from ,vater, and in raising rock. As quartz mining is one of the
two hnproved methods in use for the procurement of gold in
Oalifornia-the hydraulic haying already been spoken of-a
brief description of this may be given.
At certain distances beneath the surface of the earth in the
gold region, a layer of rock is found. After the first hap-haz-
ard period of surface scramblings, scratchings, and scrapings,
the fact was stulubled on by the early adventurers, that the gold,
from its superior specific gravity, gradually precipitated itself
down to the rock, and was often found occupying its crevices
and depressions in such great quantities as to lead to a system
of "coyoting "-in California Ininer's phrase-or subterranean
burrowing after the rich deposits; and ,vhen the bed-rock was
at a great depth a more extensive and scientific system of tun-
nelling and barro\ving, and sometimes even railroad horse-car
conveyance, was introduced for the purpose of securing the trcas 4

QUARTZ GOLD
L
G.

425

ure earth, for sluicing or such other ]l1ean5 of separation as ,,"'ere
most acces::,ible. The next step in discovery "as that of the rock
wealth itself, occasionally outcropping, but generally at a consid-
erable depth, and was follo"\\ed ùy the sinking of shafts to hun-
dreds of feet in some instances, and blasting. The quartz rork
thus separated was first raised by hand and horse po-wer, and
now in many cases by stean1. When brought to the surface and
carried to JuiU, it is there broken into smaller fragluents by hand
labor with hammers. Many persons now regard this quartz
rock as the ,. mother of gold," and that the precious Inetal "as
first forlned in or with quartz; and by the e:\.})osure of the lat-
ter to water, terrestrial chemical agencies, and atmospheric in-
fluences, disintegration has ensued, and the gold thus liberated
hag been distributed abroad by physical agencies. The rock
differs greatly in the quantity of metal it contains in different
localities-in some mines paying but a small profit o,er the ex-
penses of working then1, ,yhile in others the proprietors are
speedily enriched. .After quarrying the alu'iferous quartz and
breaking it into fragments t,vo or three inches in diameter, the
remaining proces
for obtaining the gold consists in pulverizing
the rock, and separating the lnetal frol11 it. This is accom-
plisb:ed by shovelling the broken rock into a sloping box that
serves as afeeder, down which it slides into a battel'!! of iron, in
which are arranged numerous heavy upright iron ShlJiljJe,Js.
These stan1pers are lifted by" cams" or arms, attached to a re-
vohing iron shaft turned by """ater or steam power. As each
8ta1l1per reacbes a certain height it is released by the continued
revolution of the shaft, and falls with its weight of several hun-
dred pounds upon the quartz resting on the iron bed-plate of the
battery, which thus becomes speedily reduced to powder. If
the dry process be adopted, an arrangement of macbinery for
subjecting the powder to the operation of al11algamation with
mercury is used, and reduction of the lnetal by retorting then
folloWE-. But if the lllore common mode of ",-et crushing be
adopted, a continuous supply of water is furnished to the bat-
tery, by which tbe finely-crushed po,vder is washed through a
part of the battery along ,yhich a vertical wire sieve is arranged
to pr9vent the coarser particles from passing until sufficiently

426

QUARTZ GOLD MINING.

pulverized. Other smaller streams of water outside of the bat-
tery bear the senli-fluid mass which has escaped from the bat-
tery do,Vll an inclined board plane, on which are spread woollen
blankets. These entangle that portion of the taiJings that is
richest in gold, and at stated periods they are relnoved and
,vashed in vats or tanks containing "rater. The sediment is
scooped fronl these tanks into another receiver called an amal-
gamator, where, by a revolving cylinder armed with spirally-
arranged blades, it is freely mixed with quicksilver, and the
alnalganl thus formed is duly retorted, the pure gold obtained,
and the mercury reclaimed by vaporization and condensation.
The refuse of, amalganlation, and that portion of the semi-fluid
po,vdered gold rock ,vhich has escaped from the blanket trays,
are conveyed to a large iron basin called a GAile mill, in ,vhich
are two heavy iron wheels or rollers, connected to and kept in
circular motion by a revolving pivot shaft. In this the quartz
sand is again subjected to further pulverization and amalgama-
tion with 111ercury.
Such are the chief features in the method of obtaining gold
in Grass Valley and its vicinity, the prosperity of which is
mainly dependent 011 quartz lnining. The munificent results
of enterprise and investInent of capital, in the extraction of gold
even from the foundation rock of this region, have been so won-
derful in some instances that a statement of thelll "rould seeln
like romancing. It "'"ere better that ,ve should leave Grass Val-
ley than take the hazard of this imputation; merely adding that
although the search after the precious metal has hitherto en-
gaged the attention of the inhabitants hereabouts alnlost exclu-
siyely, yet are they now becoming sensible of the agricultural
resources of this part of the State, and Inanifesting a disposition
to prolnote the comforts and secure the luxuries of life, by a
cultivation of all the fruits of a temperate climate, which are
said to thrive here in a reIn ark able manner, by raising heavy
crops of the cereals, and by promoting the growth of the vine,
which it is thought will soon yield one of the richest products
of Oalifornia in relnunerative quantity and quality.
Instead of taking the public stage for Folsoln we hired a
private conveyance, that ,ve lnight de-viate from the direct road

A"L"l3 URX .

427

for the purpose of seeing a somewhat remarkable ca,e recently
discovered in EI Dorado County. Our route 'was due south fronl
Grass Valley, first t,venty-four miles to ..Auburn, the county
taw"n of Placer County, with about fifteen hundred inhabitants.
The road was deep]y cut by nUlneroU'3 heavily-loaded six and
eight horse wagons, and "as bordered in many places by fine
timber, various kinds of oak, manzanita, and magnificent pines
a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high, and from three to
four feet through at the butt. Bear River, a considerable afiiu-
ent of Feather River, was crossed sixteen miles from Grass Val-
ley, and teamsters in arrears of toll for crossing the fine bridge
that spans it, ,vere reminded by the publication of their names
on a placard at one end of the bridge, to "pay up like men, and
ha,e their names blotted from the book of remembrance."
Two miles from .L-\.uburn we left the main road to Folsoln,
and passing two and a half miles to the east, and scarcely as far
to the south, crossed the north fork of the American Ri \
er,
after its confluence -with the middle fork, by a fine suspension
bridge, at the formerly somewhat famous mining locality, nlore
significantly than classically named TVhislæy Bap. Striking
there the Georgetown road, a fluther distance of two lniles,
brought us to the cave. The entrance to the ".L\labaster" or
" Coral -, cave is near to the roadside. .r1. guide accompanies
visitors with necessary lights. A reception rOOI11 is first entered,
of thirty or forty feet length, sixteen or eighteen feet ,
idth, and
ten or twelve feet height, having walls of dark slate stone and
an unsYIlllnetrical arched roof of veined limestone with petri-
fied water streaks. From this antechamber the explorer passes
into a larger room, probably a hundred and fifty fcét long, with
an average width of seventy-five, and a height varying fì.onl ten
to twenty feet. The floor of uneven slate rock, inter
persed
,vith irregular nlasses of crystallÏ111estone, snpports seyeral short
cohunns of siu1ilar marble. The ceiling is of white limestone,
perlnanently streaked "ith gray and yellow clay penetrating
water frescoes, while stalactite cr
rstal pendants hang fi'Olll its
arches in great Yariet
y of size, shape, and color. O,-er the en 4
trance to this grand cathedral ig a projecting platforlll of rock
fifteen or t'
enty feet wide, and extending nearly acro
s the

428

ALABASTER CAVE.

roon1, which is the orchestral gallery. Through a passage thirty
or forty feet long by eight ,vide, near which Nature has placed
a chaste marble baptislnal font, we entered a crJ"stal chapel of
exquisite beauty. It is oval shaped, about a hundred feet long,
thirty wide, and twenty-five feet high. Its walls and ceiling
are frescoed writh permeating water stains; the former being
. also richly decorated, pilastered, and pannelled with crystal lime-
stone frostwork, resen1bling varied forn1s of coral, floss, scalloped
and spiculated shells, moss, leaflets, and multiform frosty veg-
etation; while the marble ceiling, repeating this beautiful sculp-
ture, is hung 1ike\vise with crystal1ine stalactite pendants, giv-
ing it the appearance of a magnificent vaulted chandelier stud-
ded with myriads of diamonds. Toward the lower end of the
chapel the arched roof opens into an irregular oval donle, the
deep shadow of whose interior contrasts strangely with sur-
rounding splendor. Near the entran
e to this apartment is a
rude stone stair\vay, by ,vhich the visitor may ascend to ,vhat is
calied the pulpit of the chapel. This stands on a pedestal of
limestone, and looks like an oval-shaped mass of alabaster, seven
or eight feet high and three or four in dialueter, of rare chisel-
ling and graceful proportions, from the 10w"e1' part of which falls
an inilnitable semi-transparent drapery of like material. The
appearance of this chalnber when illulninated by torches is gor-
geous, and reminds one of the geln-lit idealities of romance. It
was natural to feel tl1e inspiration of such a sublhne revelation
of Supreme Power, and excusable to strike a chord where for
thousands of years silence has reigned, none having awakened
the sleeping echoes of this sealed solitude.

Cavern of thc crystal hall,
Gleaming with a mirror'd wall,
Say, who hung thy sparkling roof,
Weavil1g in its frosted woof
N ailleless gems of radiant hue

Strangely carved anc1 frcscoed too!
Who, thy coral cornice made?
Who, thy lllarble fount arrayed?
Whose the sculptor hand did trace
Types of forcst and of sea,
Leaf and shell of wavy grace
In thy ceiling's imagery 1

ALABASTER CA. VE.

429

Who upheaved yon shadowy dome-
Older than imperial Rome-
O'er thy alabaster throne,
Wrapped in marble drapery

Silence muses! He alone
Robed in light Ulan may not see,
"Who the vault of Heaven hung
With a diadem of gold,
And around its glories flung
Ere His night its stars unroll'd!
Lo! the mystery of God,
On the rock thy foot hath trod,
'Traces there the Truth Divine;-
1\Iortal read! Before His shrine
Bow thy knee! "The uork is JIine!" ·

There being no hotel immediately at hand "e proceeded on
onr way without further delay, one mile bringing us to the El
Dorado valley tllfllRike, and then ten ll1iles to Folsom, crossing
Bald :llountain Ridge, so called from its entire destitution of
trees, composed of roning hil1s with an extensive substratuln
of lÍ1nestone. From this ele,ated ridge a fine view of distant
scenery is had, especially of the great Sacramento valley, un-
folding in the spring its mantle of verdure at the foot of the
lnountain, with Sutter's Buttes in the distant northwest, and

Iount Diaùlo in the south-west looking proudly do'\,n on tbe
scene of beauty. Having descended the ridge, the mining dis-
trict of Nigger Hill was passed, a half nlÍle beyond which, by a
mre suspension bridge two hundred feet in length, we crossed
the south fork of the American River-at a point twenty-eight
miles west of where gold was first discovered in California on
that strean1-and entered the town of Folsom, on its left bank,
in Sacramento County.
Folsom has a population of twenty-five hundred persons,
Inany of wholn are Chinese, a people thus far seen in consider-
able numbers .wherever "\'\?e have been in this State. They are
diligent seekers after the precious metal 'which has attracted
them from their far-off home, and are usually found working
the abandoned claÌ1ns of others in the primitive luethods of pan
and cradle; preserving their national habits of dress in loose

430

FOLSOM.

coarse cottons, long queues, skull-caps, or little peaked felt hats,
and slip-shod shoes; they eat rice, drink tea, and the people
hereabouts say steal pigs and poultry. :Most of them are hired
in China by capitalists for a term of years. The capitalists pay
all their expenses, farln out their labor for their own benefit, and
according to contract send them back to China at the end of the
specified terlll, dead 01' alilve. They seeln to be conceded he,v-
ers of wood and drawers of water, the slaves in tàct of Cali-
fornia.
Although there are gold diggings about Folsom, they are
not as rich as those found elsewhere. Valuable granite quarries
in the Ì1nmediate vicinity are worked to great advantage. And
it is the great central point from ,vhich the lines of travel di-
verge to all parts of the State, north, east, and south-a place
of hurry, bustle, and excitelnent-without telnptation to tarry;
and hence after a night's rest we took the 7 A. M. railroad train
for Sacranlento, and passing over a thickly-settled and well-cul-
tivated level country, a distance of tw"enty-two miles, reached
the capital in tÏ1ne for breakfast and the noon steamboat to San
Francisco, ,vhere we arrived at 10 P. M.

CHAPTER XXVI.

TRIP TO THE SOt;THWARD--WLc:"f SIDE OF THE BAY OF
FRAXCISCo-SA...'"i BRt"XO-
S.!...
MATEo--REDW'OOD--Y' .ALLEY OF Sll'"T.A. CL.A1U.-TOW'X OF S
ì'A CLARA-SA.....

JOSÉ-EAST SIDE OF THE BAY-WilY SPRL
GS--oLD YIESIO
OF S.!...
JO:::-É--CEX.
TREVILLE-AL V .AR.ADo--ALAMEDA COt"
'TY-SA...'i LEllDRû--O.A.KLAXD-COXTRA COST.\.
COG
'TY -ITS COM. BEDS-MARTß""EZ-P ACHECO-lIO
ì'E DlA..BLû--CA.RBOSD.A.LE ASD
ADJ.A.CEXT COll Yl
ES.

.

K EXT morning another exploration "Was proposed, this tÏ1ne
in a southerly direction on the west side of the Bay of San
Francisco, through the counties of San Francisco and San }Ia-
teo, to the Valley of San J osé-also called Santa Clara, frolll
its being in the county of that name. Starting from the city of
San Francisco in the 12 M. stage-coach, we s1.'Í.rted for eight
miles the bay shore, the road winding also along foot-hills of
the Coast Range, sometimes over their slight acclivities, at
others along the level margin of little water-inlets, and in places
stealing from green slopes barely sufficient space along 'Which to
wind 'With cautious step above the tide that ,V"ashed their rocky
base. Luxuriant quebradas bordered the road-side, and wild
flowers were scattered broadcast over the lniniature prairies 'We
sornetinles crossed. Many well-enclosed ranches "Were seen, and
herds of fat cattle revelled on the vernal grass. Fifteen miles
from San Francisco the coast-station of San BT'uno unrolls its
cuìtivated fields for the traveller'8 admiration. And the "Village
of Sa/
JIateo at t,,-cnty miles' distance from the city, in natural
scenery, vale and la,,"n, grove and streamlet, and in the decora-
tion of art, in cottage, garden, path, enclosure, flo,V"ers, shrub-
bery, and general culture, pl'e8ents a picture of beauty rarely
equalled.
The c. dirt-road" over 'Which we travelled, must become "Very

432

SANTA CLARA.

heavy and slo,," of passage in the wet season; but a railroad, for
the building of which the requisite sum has already been sub-
scribed, 1vill soon place San Francisco and San J osé in uninter-
rupted and rapid communication.
Considerable live-oak and post-oak timber was seen on this
part of the route; and imlnense droves of cattle were passed on
their wa.y to the market of the metropolis, where, I was inforrned,
the price ranges froln one to five cents per pound on the hoof,
during the entire year. As we approached the village of Red-
1vood, so called fi'OIU the valuable tinlber of that naIlle in the
neighboring Coast Range l\Iountain, myriads of ground squirrels
were seen-said to infest many regions of California, and to be
very destructive to crops. Rechvood is thirty miles fronl San
Francisco, and lies in a fine agricultural district.
As the village of l\Iayfield, at the distance of thirty-five
miles, was approached, the bay, 1vhich had been for SOlne tinle
lost sight of, ,vas again seen a few luiles to the east, 1vith both
ranges of the Coast l\lountain, one on its east, and the other on
its west side, plainly in vie,,", elnbracing a valley ,vhich, as the
bay becon1es rapidly narrower to,vard its lo,yer end, appeared on
the west side to grow ,videI' as we progressed toward the south,
and to become continuous with that of Santa Clara; ,vhich soon
after unfolded its surpassing beauty and agricultural wealth for
our admiration until evening closed in just before reaching the
town of Santa Clara, distant from San Francisco fifty miles.
The present neat and flourishing little to,vn of Santa Clara,
of 1,500 inhabitants, is the seat of the old Catholic lnission of the
same naIne; the first established in the interior, after and be-
yond that of l\lonterey, and which afterwards fell under the
ecclesiastical jurisdiction of San Francisco. The establishlnent
of the mission ,vas due to the Jesuits; but on the suppression
of that order by the Spanish Government, it fell into the hands
of the Franciscans, nearly all of whom connected with jt hav-
ing died, the archbishop transferred it again to the Jesuits, who
by the events of political revolution ,vere permitted to hold it,
and, under a con
titution guaranteeing religious liberty, still
11a ve it in possession. But these transfers of jurisdiction by no
Ineans imply a corresponding conveyance of dOlnain; for,

COLLEGE.

433

throuO'hout the -varied contests and alternate successes of rival
o
factions, fòllowing the attempt of Santa Anna, in 1835, to cen-
tralize the Government of :ßlexico, do,vn to the final success of
the federal party, one purpose animated all administrators of
the government in reference to the missions; and that was to
secularize their extensive property, and abrogate all but strictly
spiritual privileges. Even before they were stripped of their pos-
sessions and influence, the Fathers, rightly interpreting the
signs of the times and foreseeing the catastrophe, became indif-
ferent to the care of their immense estates, neglecting their cul-
tivation, recklessly slaughtering their cattle for hides and
tallow, and carele:3sly granting away their property, or selling
it for trifling sums of money. In the final proceedings of 1845,
which effectually destroyed the original organization of the mis-
sions, the government distribution of the proceeds of sale or
rent, assigned a specified amount to educational and charitable
uses. The good which has come of this proceeding is strikingly
illustrated by the successful establislullent of the Santa Clara
College-a literary and scientific institution, ably and success-
fully conducted by the Jesuit order of the Catholic clergy; in
,vhich tbe youth of California may acquire a thorough classical,
mathematical, philosophical, and generally accomplished literary
education, without the risk and cost of travel to the Atlantic
States. A YÍsit to the college and an examination of all its de-
. partments, showed an excellence of arrangement, order, neat-
ness, and cleanliness of buildings and grounds. Reception,
study, recitation, reading, D1usic, and drawing-rooms; dormito-
ries, baths, and refectories; kitchen, bakery, infirmary, and phar-
macy; Dlechanical shops, armory, and gymnasium; library, la-
boratory, and philosophical apparatus; vineyard, garden, and
playground; all are as perfect as neatness, liberalitJ, good taste
and good judgment can make thenl. If this college is to be
taken as a sample of the means of education California is fur-
nishing her children, her citizens must become as distinguished
for intelligence as they now are for hardihood and enterpribe.
It ""a
gratifying to recognize the evidence of public apprecia-
tion of this institution in the large classes in attendance. The
healthy and delicious climate of this beautiful region of the
28

431

,
SAN JOSE.

State, seem to fit it peculiarly for the residence and physical
and mental development of youth. IIence other educational
institutions have been fOlùïded in this and the neigh boring town
of San J osé. Among the Inost flourishing of these is the U ni-
versity of the Pacific, with a college of arts and sciences in op-
eration at Santa Clara, and-it may be noted here-a Inedical
departInent successfully conducted in San Francisco by physi-
cians of distinguished reputation.
Three nliles froln Santa Clara, on the site of the old pueblo
of San J osé-a settlement of retired soldiers of the pJ 1 esidio,
with other white settlers, on a land grant of the fathers of the
mission-stands at present the beautiful town of San José, one
of the most flourishing in the State, and in the centre of an ag-
ricultural district unsurpassed in the ,vorld for productiveness.
An avenue connects the t,vo to,vns-wide, perfectly graded,
shaded by two rows of willow and cotton-wood trees, closely
resembling a South Anlerican alalneda. In the days of the old
friars, ",rho paced its paths in Ineditative and praJTerful mood,
four rows of ornamental trees mello\ved the bright sunlight ,vith
their deep unlbrage; but the flood of Anglo-Saxonisln, as it
rolled olnvard to the region of gold, uprooted many of these
long-cherished objects of affection and pride, and the vandal
axe laid others low to feed the camp-fires of reckless pioneers.
It is gratifying to observe that the better taste and Inore consid-
erate care of the present inhabitants are striving to preserve the
renll1ant of the chief Ornall1ents of this handsollle avenue.
'Vithin a n1Ïle of San J osé, on the south side of the avenue, the
Agricultural Society's grounds, covering a hundred and sixty
acres, are situated. Every necessary building is connected there-
with for the purposes of its establisluTIent, and in the cOlnplete-
ness of their arrangement they would not suffer in comparìson
with those of the Atlantic States. San J osé has five thousand
inhabitants; the streets intersect each other at right angles;
they are ,vide, well graded, and gravelled. The stores are sub-
stantially built of brick, and well filled with Jnerchandise; the
d,vellings of weather-boarded franle, are tastefully designed, and
nearly all have flower and fruit gardens; the churches are lnany,
and as in Protestant countries generally, of as great diversity

EAST SIDE OF THE BAY.

4 0'"
ùt:>

of style as of fo1'n15 of faith, each striving to outdo the other in
external show, as it is hoped their living sectaries (to in internal
righteousness. Education is at a prelnium, and the Catholic
young ladies' ., Colegio de Xirras" is a model of TI1anagelllent.
The celebrated ..L-\.bnaden quicksilver llline has its t,vo remark-
able veins of Enrequita and Guadalupe about twel,e llliles from
San J osé, in the west range of the Coast
lountaill, which form

the western bOlmdary of the "Valley of Santa Clara; "yhile the
)Iount Diablo range of that mountain, descending on the ea
t
side of the Bay of San Francisco, forms the eastern b.olmdary
of that yalley, its northernliInit being the bay, and its southern
limit the Gabilan spur, a connecting link near San Juan, about
forty-:fi ve miles south of San J osé. The valley of Santa Clara,
though not on 80 grand a scale as the great interior valley of
Chile, yet reminds the traveller of parts of that great basin in
its mountain walls, its picturesque scenery, its wonderful fertil-
ity, and delicious climate free ITOnl extremes of temperature.
.Although there is a steaulboat plying bet,yeen Alviso landing,
eight nlÏles from San J osé, at the head of a slough branching
from the foot of the bay, and San Francisco, ",ve preferred 1'e-
tm'lling thither by the land route, that we l:night see the cOlmtry
on the east side of the bay. Our route crossed Cayote Creek a
short distance northeast of the town. Passing over a level part
of the county of .L-\.lanleda at ele"Ven miles from San J osé, we
ascended a llloderate foot-hill of the eastern Range to the first
station-the Warm Springs-a watering place of considerable
re
ort for San Franciscan
. Continuing on nearer to the 1110Ull-
tam than to the bay 8hor , at :fifteen lllÏles we entered the seat of
the old Catholic mission of San J osé, a spiritual establishnlent
and jurisdictioll entirely distinct frolH the pueblo of the same
nalne already described, which was a village of the populace, as
contradistingui
hed from a settlement of priests. .L\. few crum-
bling adobe Luildings, a dilapidated tile-covered church and COll-
"Vent, are the only Inelnentoes of this once rich and flourishing
eccleÛastical establi
hlncnt "whose formulary of external observ-
ance "a:::. the religion of the siu1ple natives, who::,e unllulllùered
cattle covereù tbe rich savannas extenùing for leagues along the
bay shore, ,vho:;e flocks "whitened the adjacent hills, and 'whose

436

OAKLAND.

will was the. sovereign law of the land during the dominion of
Spain in America. It is in this vicinity that Mission Gap is
found, the mountain pass through the Range by ,vhich commu-
nication is had between this district and the great interior basin.
The extent of level land between the
Iount Diablo Range
and the Bay of San Francisco, is far greater than that between
the Coast Range proper and the west shore of the bay. The
soil, however, on both sides is of equal and great depth and fer-
tility, and the probability is that the waters of the bay formerly
covered the whole surface of the valley from Range to Range,
and that their retirement within the present lÏlnits left the rich
alluvial deposits, the agricultural wealth of which Spain showed
that she was duly sensible when her Government sought to en-
courage their cultivation for the supply of her Pacific marine,
by a liberal bestowment of land grants to emigrants. Five
miles beyond the old mission we passed through the pretty little
village of Centreville; and still further five n1iles we saw in the
distance, off to the left of the road, and near the bay
hore, the
slnall town of Alvarado, in water communication with San Fran-
cisco. The agricultural capacities of this part of Alalneda
County, and of the still wider part of the valley further north,
are represented to be unsurpassed, and this we fOlmd confirmed
by the continuous unfolding of aflluent :fields and meadows,
abounding gardens, and luscious vineyards.
At the distance of thirty-five miles from the to'Vll of San
J osé the village of San Leandro, the county seat of Alameda,
was reached, sitting prettily on the bank of San Lorenzo Creek,
at the foot of the Mountain Range. Seyen miles more of flat
cc,ûntry, requiring much drainage, brought us to Oaklan(l in
Contra Costa County, the Brooklyn of San Francisco, situated
immediately opposite to that city, on the eastern shore of the
bay, ten Iniles distant, and in free c01l1IDunication with the city
by a steam ferry established and still conducted by Mr. Charles
Minturn, one of the most enterprising citizens of the State, to
whom California is chiefly indebted for the introduction of lnany
facilities of travel. The name of this appendage to the COln-
mercial metropolis is derived from its magnificent groves of live
oaks, which are not merely ornalnental, but really subserve a

COAL.

437

useful purpose for parts of the town, in screening them from the
fierce winds that in the summer come through the gap of the
Golden Gate, and to the force of which Oakland is especially
exposed. There can be no doubt that this town is destined to
playa conspicuous part in the future of Pacific cOlnmerce, in
which San Francisco will be the chief actor.
,1\. necessary product of every commercial and manufactur-
ing country is coal, for the generation of steam. The enterprise
of California has been held in serious check for some time by
the high cost of this element of prosperity, most of it hitherto
used having been shipped from great distances, chiefly from Bel-
linghaln Bay in the north, and Chile in the far south. Recent
geological explorations, however, have resulted in the discovery
of valuable coal beds in Contra Costa County, and I was led,
by the general interest felt in the announcement, to examine
how far they were likely to realize the promise of important re-
sults made for t11em.
The
fternoon boat for Sacramento landed a San Francisco
friend and myself at the little town of Xartinez, opposite to
Benicia on the Strait of Carquenez-heretofore spoken of-where
we spent the night at an excellent hotel. N ext morning we
took the road toward )Iount Diablo, a drive of five miles brin g-
ing us to the hastily put together town of Pacheco, containing
four or five hundred people, in a valley of twelve by seven
miles, much of the land being still in a state of nature; some of
it bein
a portion of an old Spanish grant of nine leagues to
Señor Pacheco, who, desirous of keeping intermeddlers at a dis_
tance, refuses to sell any part of his vast estate. He occupies an
unpretending rough-cast adobe mansion, with many natural,
but no artificial surroundings of beauty, unless a bee-hive bake-
oven can be so considered, which occupies a conspicuous position
before the front door. The old Mexican is said to have been,
from some unexplained cause, singularly exempt from the nui-
sance of 8qU(ltter8, a free and easy class of humanity, indigenous
to the United States. But the reluark does not apply to the
quadrupeds of that denomination, for millions of squirrels
were 6een as we cr05sed the estate, sitting in squads on their
haunches, and chattering as if in consultation about our intnlsion,

438

COAL.

and then, on nearer approach, darting into their burrows with as
self-satisfied a discretion, and quite as much intelligence as a
Digger Indian dodges into the hole of his earthen habitation.
On climbing the Big Sulphur-Spring IIill, beyond the Pacbeco
grant, we sa\v traces of coal; and soon came upon the Peacock
OlaÍ1n, where we found a tunnel two hundred and thirty-five
feet long through slate and rock, ,vith a declivity of thirty-six
degrees, into a five feet and a half vein of excellent bituminous
coal. The nearest point of shiplnent for this coal is the .Ernbar-
cctdero of Pacheco; the difficulty of conveyance to which, to-
gether with the labor and cost of mining and raising t.he coal,
will make the speculation of working this clain1 unprofitable.
Crossing the ridge of fifteen .hundred fe
t height just beyond
the Peacock Claim, a fine view was afforded of far-off objects,
and especially of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, tbe
Strait of Carquenez connecting the extreme arteries of inland
navigation with their great heart, and the long mountain ranges
mello,ved by distance; itself being overlooked by the near
Monte IJiablo-

Stern in loneliness-
Standing apart from snliling slopes and glades,
Which, clothed in verdure, seek t' embrace the foot
That rudely spurns the beautiful caress:
Lifting its darkened brow with scornful mien,
And lofty pride, o'er nature's tinlid gaze,
That upward looks as if in fearfulness.
Ages have scarred its bare and blackened sides,
And set their seal e'en on its haughty head;
And yet it stands in conscious grandeur still-
Defiant symbol of lone majesty-
As when Creation, with mysterious ".and,
Touched the foundations of the circling earth,
And lifted them above surrounding things.

On descending the eastern face of the ridge, and at a height
of twelve hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, we
came to the" Cumberland" coal mine ".ith a vein of four and a
half feet thick, where we found a tunnel four hundred feet long,
six feet high and five ,vide, strongly timhered-for l)rotectioll
against crumbling slate-'w"ith eighteen shoots at right angles

COAL.

439

connected by cross tunnels, and communicating with air-shafts
for ,entilatiol1. The perfect grade of the mine allows of an easy
removal of the coal by rail; more than a thousand tons haye
already been sent to the San Francisco market, where it brings
twelve dollars per ton; and the farther the miners proceed, the
harder and richer is the coal. About three-quarters of a mile
beyond, the same vein has been opened at "Black Diamond"
mine, being four feet tbick anel somewhat harder than the Cum-
. berland. No timbering is required at this mine, in consequence .
of the sandstone rock fornlation which Inakes the tunnel self-
supportive. ..d.bout a mile off, the "Adams," "Clark," and
" Cruikshank" mines are also furnishing coal of excellent qual-
ity; and it is eÀ1)ected that when a projected railroad is com-
pleted to the shipping point, aspiring to the metropolitan name
K ew York, :five and a half miles distant, near the confluence of
the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, coal will be delivered
ill San Francisco at a greatly reduced price, in large quantity,
and of a quality equal to any imported into that market. ..d..
thri,ing little vilhtge-Oal'bondale-is being built near the
mines, which promises to rival in business activity, black dust,
black hands, black faces, black deeds, and black guards, its ....t\.t-
lantic namesake. It is situated one mile and a half northeast
of Monte Diablo-the sight of "which alone repaid us for our
day's ride of thirty-two miles to the coal region anel back to
J\Iartinez, where we arri,ed in ample time foi. the call of the
evening Sacramento boat to San Francisco.

CHAPTER XXVII.

EN ROUTE TO THE GEYSERS-VISIT THE STATE PRISON AT POINT ST. QUENTIN-PETALU-
MA CREEK AND TOWN-SONOMA-VI
EYARDS-CHINESE LABOR-VALLEY OF LOS GUlL-
LICOS-V ALLEY OF PETALUMA-SANTA ROSA VALLEY AND TOWN-RUSSIAN RIVER AND
VALLEY-HEALDSBURG-THE GEYSERS-QUICKSILVER MINES-GEYSER MOUNTAIN.

A TRAVELLER who has but little time afforded to hÏ1n for
sight-seeing must not tarry long in one spot, but keep on the
move. IIappily the points of interest are so numerous in Cali-
fornia that one cannot go in any direction without being repaid
for ad venture. Among the many curiosities of this State are the
Geysers-spouting springs of boiling ,vater in Sonoma County.
Those of Iceland near Mount Hecla have been regarded as among
the most renlarkable of phenomena. I availed of the few re-
maining days before sailing for the Hawaiian Islands to visit the
not less wonderful Geysers recently discovered here.
Taking a fine steamer of Mr. Minturn's line to Petalunla, we
proceeded up the bay, passing among other places heretofore
mentioned the State Prison at Point St. Quentin; which, unless
greatly improved in buildings and discipline, will scarcely repay
one for the delay of a visit. In the erection of buildings, no
special design appears to have been adopted with reference to
the introduction of either the improved Aubm'n or the Pennsyl-
vania system of prison discipline. The prisoners n1ingle freely in
shops, dormitories, and cells; uninterrupted intercourse seeured
to be the rule, and criminal education, disorder, and danger of
outbreak, are necessary results. This disregard of moral iRola-
tion and reformatory effort is the more to be regretted because
of the bold, daring, debased, and dangerous social elements, to a
large extent the refuse of other countries, introduced into this
State by its unusual attractions; and for the control of which

P
TJTENTIARY.

441

a more than ordinary judicial strictness and penal infliction are
demanded. The practice of leasing the labor of the convicts to
the highest bidder, or to some favored partisan, has aho hitherto .
been at variance ,vith reformatory result; for discipline is not
likely to be enforced ùy a lessee intent alone on profit. The
realization of this fact by the present able Executive of the State
has led Governor Downey to cancel existing contracts, and to
take the management of the prison, both disciplinary and indus-
trial, into the hands of the legitimate authorities. It is reasona-
ble now to anticipate better results, morally and financially, to
the State. The presence of a strong guard of musketeers, and
artillerymen with several twelve-pounders loaded with canister,
on the outside of a prison-wall twenty feet high, to intimidate
the convicts who. might scale it, is certainly a sad comlnentary
on the efficiency of the prison discipline. With such lllodels of
penitentiaries for study as can be found in some of the Atlantic
States, there should be no ignorance here on the subject of their
construction and management.
Passing froln the Bay of San Francisco into that of San
Pablo, ,ve crosseà the latter bay in a :N. N. W. direction and
entered Petaluma Creek, one of its affluents. Eight lniles from
its lllouth and thirty-one froll1 San Francisco brought us to Lake-
ville, a passenger and merchandise depot of a country rich in
grass and grain, and with" cattle on a thousand hills." The
creek, which at its mouth is about half a Inile wide, rapidly
contracts above Lakeville to a hundred and fifty, and in many
places to fifty yards. It is very serpentine and has numerous
miniature bayous which are favorite haunts of water-fo,vl. The
banks of the streaUl are low, of dark rich loam and clay, often
caving in when not matted by tule roots, from the swash of steam-
boats that frequently almost touched them, so narrow in places
is the channel. Here, as elsewhere in California, the absence of
barns denotes an invariably dry autlunn, during which the har-
vested grain is stacked and thrashed in the open air. Five m
les
above Lakeville the navigation of the creek is interrupted; and
here pa::;sengers for the town of Petaluma, in Sononla County,
land and are conveyed to their destination, t"o miles further, in
stages.

442

PETALUMA.

Petal1,l'lna is a flourislJing and fresh-looking town of twenty-
five hundred people, and the' point of divergence of llumerouíò
.. routes of travel to the surrounding interior country. As a fair
specinlen of this, the Sonoma Valley ,vas selected to look at. .1\
ICentuckian, a rare sample of nature's noblemen, "'
as my cice-
rone. Two or three Iuiles in an easterly direction brought us to
the foot of a not very elevated ridge dignified by the nalne of
SOnOll1a J\Iountain, ascending ,vhich by a good road, in dry
weather, the magnificent Sonoma Valley was seen frolll its sunl-
Init stretching to the eastward as far as the Napa spur of the
Coast Range 1\Iountain, which separates it froln the like beauti-
ful and fertile valley of Napa, in ,vhich are some of the finest
farnls of the State, and also the lnedicinal springs that have
nlade Napa the fashionable ,vatering-place of Cålifornia. While
descending the eastern slope of Sononla Ridge, an opportunity
,vas afforded to see a rode-po, a Mexican custom of driving up
herds of wandering cattle, lassoing, marking, and branding them.
On such occasions notice is given to neighbors, that they may
attend for the identification and protection of their like prop-
erty that lnay have strayed frolu their ranches; and, if they
choose, to partake of the dainty of cruelly caught and prhnitively
cooked" Inountain oysters "-always found in great abundance
,vhere lllany calves are herded. It is a scene of intense excite-
ment. Thousands of alu10st wild anilnals are crowded into one
corral; and being run down by fleet horsemen-especially dex-
terous when they happen to be remnants of the old ltlexican
tribe-are t,vined by the unerring lasso, flung, hacked by the
rudest rhinoplastic surgery, forming superfluous noses, abbrevi-
ated ears, and cervical pendents of strange shape, and other\vise
dégraded, cauterized, and branded by the red-hot iron, sinking
deep into the quivering flesh and hissing an accolnpaniment to
the cries of the suffering victims; 'while the frantic bello'wing of
the surging herd around startles the very air 'with fear, and fins
the inexperienced spectator with commingled terror and pity.
ltlr. S-, on ,,,,hose ranche this barbarous enforcement of prop-
erty identification was practised, ,vas one of the t,velve .L1\.llleri-
cans who, on the anticipated outbreak of the J\Iexican ,val', un-
dertook, and, as it resulted, successfully achieved, tbe ha.zardo1"l .

SOXO)fA VALLEY.

443

adventure of seizin
General Vallejo in his bed at Sonolna, and
111aking prisoners of his guard of thirty soldiers. The stars and
stripes were reIie,ed from the responsibility and odiull1 of the
fillibustering procedure by hoisting the pioneer flag of a grizzlJ"
bear,progJ'es8iL'e-lllore significant than if couchant. The prop-
erty that caIne of this daring deed to }'Ir. S- has an extent r
of twelve thousand acres of ,irgin land, on which there now II
range fifteen thousand sheep, five thousand cattle, and six hUll-
I
dred horses.
Sonoma Valley is seen to great advantage in descending So-
nOlna
Iountain, shut in by that spur on the "'
est, and that of
X apa on its east side, the ,alley extending north and south
t'wenty miles,
nd ha\"ing an average width of about six. The
central part, \\:-ith a declivity to the south barely sufficient to
give necessary :fl01\ to the water of Sonoma Creek which mean-
ders through it, is an agricultural garden of 1\onderful lu...-ruri-
ance; ,vhile the bordering slopes lift up their vineyards, as if to
dispute with Los .d..ngeles their boasted preëll1Ínence of producing
the nectared grapé of California. In the middle of the valley
stands the little village of Sonoma, 'which is slowly changing its
Spanish .dJnerican habits and habitations for Anglo-.d.merican
customs and cottages. The opportunity was availed of to visit,
near to the village, the extensive -vineyard of an enterprising
Hungarian \\yho is doing much to promote the clùti\-ation of the
grape in California, and "hose lllanufacture of wine alnounts to
1\'\'"0 hundred and fifty thousand gallons annually. lIe has four
hunch'eel and fifty acres of his estate of fiye thousand planted
with the vine, one hundred and sixty being in full bearing at
this tÍ1ne. A superb cellar of low teluperature is made in the

ide of the mountain, in which are stored large quantities of ex-
cellent still ",-hite wine, chalnpagne, port, sherry, and also brandy
of native production.
Chinese labor is en1ployed on this ,ineyarc1. These people
are n101'e docile and Inanageable than the 1\hites, and they can
be had at lo"er wages-the usual "rages being twenty doUal's
per month and find then1selves, ,yhile the \\
hite laborer demands
thirty dollars and his board also. Â Chinese RO'ent makes the

ö
contract for his cCaIntrYlnen, and recei,es the pay on their behalf;

444 LOS GIDLLICOS AND PETALUMA VALLEYi.

a single failure in the punctual stated settlement of which ren-
der6 them totally worthless; otherwise great confidence may be
felt in their industry and :fidelity until they have accumulated
what they have learned to call their" pile "-which is three
hundred dollars for each person-when, considering themselves
rich, most of them become indifferent to this land of promise
and long to return to the flo,very kingdom. It is not the least
interesting of the novelties of this country of strange sights, to
see sixty Chinese laborers-the number employed in Col. Haras-
thy's vineyard-engaged in their well-disciplined work, dressed
in wide blue cotton pants of abbreviated pattern, corresponding
jacket, and high peaked cane or leaf hats with brÏln of tran-
scendent width, peering out of their little almond-shaped eyes at
the passer-by, and chattering an uninteHigible lingo with inveter-
ate volubility, as if vocal utterance were an essential accolnpa-
niment to physical labor. Their sleeping apartnlents and furni-
ture, and kitchen arrangements, are neat and orderly; and they
are represented to be relnarkable for personal cleanliness, two
baths daily, before and after the day's work, being cOlnmonly
used.
Sonoma Valley contracts at its north end to a narro,v pass,
by which it communicates with the valley of Los Guillicos,
three miles long, and one and a half wide, which in turn is con-
tinuous with that of Santa Rosa. The valley of Los Guillicos,
set in a cil'clet of hills, is a little elysium of seclusion, covered
with verdure and orange-colored wild flowers, forrning a rich
carpet of green and gold. The sole proprietor of this lllagnifi-
cent estate is well fitted by courtesy and liberality to dispense
its munificent hospitality. If one were disposed to repine that
a:J ther, rather than he, is the owner of this bright spot, the
relnelnbrance of Tennyson's" Two V oices," while looking forth
on its beautiful nature might make him a happier man:

A still small voice spake unto me
" Thou art so full of misery
Were it not better not to be

" Thine anguish will not let thee sleep,
Nor any train of reason keep;
Thou canst not think, but thou wilt' weep. "

"

LOS GUILLICOS
"'D PETALQIA VALLEYS. 445

A second voice was at mine ear,
A little 'Whisper silver-clear,
A murmur, " Be of better cheer."
Like an Æolian harp that wakes
No certain air, but overtakes
Far thought with music that it makes,
Such seemed the whisper at my side:
,. What is it thou knowest, sweet voice?" I cried.
" A. hidden hope," the voice replied:
So heaven-toned, that in that hour
From out my sullen heart a power
Broke, like the rainbow from the shower,
To find-although no tongue can prove-
That every cloud that spreads above,
And veileth love, itself is love.
And forth into the fields I went,
And X ature's living motion lent
The pulse of hope to discontent.
I wondered at the bounteous hours,
The slow result of winter showers :
You scarce could see the grass for flowers.
I wondered, while I paced along:
The woods were :filled so full with song,
There seemed no room for sense of wrong.
So variously seemed all th
ngs wrought,
I marvelled how the D1ind was brought
To anchor by one gloomy thought;
And wherefore rather I made choice
To commune 'with that barren voice,
Than him that said, "Rejoice! Rejoice!"

Returning to Petalnma, the next morning we started for the
Geysers, near the division line bet-ween Sonolna and
Iendocino
countie:3, pas,ing in a northw"est direction up the valley of Peta-
luma, its ,,-ell-fenced fields, covered with luxuriant crops of
wheat, barley, and oats, and its nun1erous vineyards indicating
great fertility. Occasional grove:; of Jiye and scrub oak ""ere
seen, but timber is not abundant. This valley, lying bet,,,,een

446 SANTA ROSA AND RUSSUN RIVER Y ALLEYS.

the Petaluma and Sonoma ridges-spurs of the Coast Range,
running in a southeastwardly direction-has a length of about
t\yenty-five miles, and an average width of bet'veen four and
five. West of the former ridge Ijes the Bodega country, cele-
brated for its production of potatoes, unsurpassed in quality and
quantit.y, the coast fogs favoring their growth throughout the
dry season of the interior.
.11 ch'ive of sixteen n1iles brought us to the flourishing little
town of Santa Rosa, the county-seat of Sonoma-certainly now
undeserving TIayard Taylor's designation of a shabby place-
elTI bosolned in a superb valley of the same nalTIe, \vell culti-
vated, through which ,ve passed in a still north\vard direction.
This valley of Santa Rosa is wider than that of Petaluma; its
tÎlnber also is more abundant, and of larger gro\vth; the pa-
triarchal oaks of the forest shaking in the ,vind their venerable
locks of long gray moss, to ten of their heritage of centuries.
Crossing the Russian River, a clear, wide, and strong streanl,
fordable only in the dry season, ,ve entered the Russian River
Valley, and s\\-ept along its lnagnificent bowling green, until, at
the distance of fifteen lniles froln Santa Rosa, we passed through
tbe town of llealdsburg, of four or five hundred people, built
in the shade of a large grove of n1adrones and oaks. The Rus-
sian Ri vel" Valley is the third in the ascending series froln the
bay shore, which in fact forln but one continuous ,vhole-\vith
occasional narro\vings froln encroaching spurs of the opposite
ridges-of like physical characteristics anti fertility, and should
be called by but one nalne. Although thus far the proof;:; of
agricultural industry have been seen scattered on either hand, still
the great expanse of uncultivated land along our road shows the.
pressing want of labor to develop the latent resources of this as
of other parts of the State. .And labor ,viII be had by the gov-
erning class ,vho have wrested this wonderful country froni the

Iexican. Of ",'"hat race, hue, and relation it will cOlne-whether
it \vill he furnished by peon, serf, coolie, IIindoo, or 1rIoor,
as controlled by Spanisl-Aulerican, Russian, Engl isllln an, or
Frenchman, or "rill be had of the negro, lnust relnain a ques-

ion for time to settle. TIut labor ,vill be sought of some com-
plexion anù form, either ebony, copper colored, or questionable

:mGHT L'\ TIlE GEYSER )IOB""TAIXS.

447

tint, and of personal or pquall!J oòjectionabl
political bondage,
to bring about the grand results a"aiting its application in this
magniticent field, on which the light of human progress is now
dawning.
Le
s than a mile beyond Healc1sburg the plain is studded
with many volcanic bli:;ters, isolated and gra
5-coverecl, except
at the sunllnits, several of "hich are crowned with rock lami-
nated -vertically, as if burst through by upheaval 'force. Wind-
ing along a somewhat rougher road in a still northerly direc-
tion, four miles further brought us again to the Russian River,
which for a while had been lost sight of, and which we recrossed
to the east side. A gradual climb of t,,-o miles up a 'winding
acclivity brought us-seven nlÍles fì.oln llealdsburg-to the
roadside house of John Ray, "ho gave us a hospitable but -very
hOlnely back"ooc1s reception. Travellers in the Geyser Moun-
tains ,vho do not tarry at Healdsburg, to "hich point a public
conveyance may be had, usually stop at Ray's for the night.
But finding a pack-mule driver on our arri-val about to start
thence for the Geysers, we determined to avail of his guidance
over the uncertain moul1tain path. Hiring fresh horses and
leaving our buggy we took the saddle at 6
P. )1., and started
,,-ith the loaùed pack-Illule in the lead, follo'wed by bis 1110unted
dri,
er, my companion next, while I brought up the rear of the
single file in "hich our narro,v way cOlnpelled us to travel.
This 1110untain journey at night was a bolel undertaking for the
uninitiated; bpt he, who ,,-ith brief time at his dispo
al "ould
see the "onders of a new country, must not count the cost in
comfort and the risk of danger.
In a quarter of an hour after starting a thick coast fog came
sweeping along, rendering the gathering gloom of eveIÚng an
almost inlpenetrable darkness. .t\.nc1 "hen, shortly after, it con-
densed into heavy rain as we ascended the steep and dangerous
Geyser Riùge, our gJ.lide expressed his fear that, as inexperienced
mountaineers, we had probably undertaken an advenhu'e ,\-e
should regret, and advised our return. But "ge kne,y .C no such
wo
'ù as t
lil," and, already "9ct to the bufi
declined to discuss
the propo;:,al to turn back. Onwarù "c went, over rock and
ravine, Inoor and morass, amid trees and through chaparl'nl" a
it

448

THE GEYSERS.

seelned to me from sounds and scrapings ; for night had gathered
her black folds around, vei1ing all things, ,vhile the rain pelted
us with mOlnentarily increasing fall, as if in punishlnent for ob,
stinacy. Of surroundings nothing could be seen by man, ,,"hat

ever the instincts of our beasts may have taught them. I was
sensible only of darkness and drenching, water-spouts and weari

ness, plunges, stumbles, and lllultiplied inflictions of twig and
thorn on face and limb, and of the necessity of keeping a tight
rein to prevent Iny horse froln falling, holding on, ignoring con-
sequences the consideration of which would have encouraged
tiInidity, and plying my spurs diligently to avoid falling too far
behind those in advance, and thus being left to spend the entire
night in the mountains with the uncertainty of being able to ex-
tricate myself even by daylight.
Four hours and a half of time and twelve miles of such a
ride brought us to the Geyser Hotel; and it cannot be denied
that, ,vhen we dismounted, ,vet and weary, ,ve ,vere of opinion
that nothing to be here seen could repay us for the discomforts
and risks of a storm-night in the Geyser 1tlountain.
"Tired nature's sweet restorer" and a good breakfast con-
tributed much to renew hopeful anticipations, and we started on
our tour of observation next Inorw:rrg with buoyant spirits.
FroIn the plateau on which the hotel stands, facing north,
and looking down a rugged bank of ninety-seven feet, a bold,
rapid, and clear strealn-Big Sulphur Creek-is seen below
dashing over a bed of rocks with noisy revelry, wþose note is the
ceaseless serenade of the sleepers of the lnountain house near by.
The opposite bank of the creek is formed by the foot of Geyser
Ridge, on which lie the objects of interest that are the attrac-
tiùns of this remarkable region. Descending from the plateau,
the streaUl was crossed by a foot-bridge resting on natural abut-
ments and piers of massive rocks. flaving attained the north'side
of the stream opposite to the hotel, we entered the mouth of a
cañon debouching at that point, in which are situated several
bath-houses. Leaving these to the left, the bank of the cañon
was ascended to the right, and, following a path running north-
east","ardly about twenty paces, a bold spring of strongly irnpreg-
nated sulphur ,vater of a teInperatul'e of 110 0 Fahrenheit was

THE GEYSERS.

449

found, which. through suitable pipes flowed to the bath-houses
below.
scending still in the same direction, the large ravine
or gulch called .nevil's Oañon "as seen off to the left, forrned of
tw'o branches which circumscribe a large, irregular, and entirely
insulated momid of commingled red and \rhite sterility, ,\yhich,
in the ,ocabulary of the place, is set down as the .JIountain of
FÙ'c. Leaving this also on the left, and proceeding toward the
east about eighty paces, we came to a depression of uneven sur-
face, rocky, and bounded on one side by a reddish colored earth
elnbankment. K umerous basins at the foot of this contain water
of various inky shades, and in e,ery degree of ebullition, accom-
panied by hissings and puffings of escaping vapor .which rises to
the height of a hundred feet. These are tbe .nevil's Trash-tubs,
and, in a space of about eighty or ninety feet circuit, there are
ten of them of different sizes, from a few inches to several feet
diarneter, sUITounded by ledges of friable reddish clay blackened
on the surf
1ce. Large quantities of sulphur, alum, magnesia,
ammonia, and oxides of iron are found in this TIcinity, some of
them of beautifully crystalline form. We did not linger long at
}lis infernal nlajesty's laundry, for the trelnblings of the crust on
which we stood-certainly not in the lnind of :1Iacbeth when he
apostrophized the" sure and firm-set earth "-and its insupport-
able heat to the thinly shod, together ",ith the sulJterranean
rlUllblings and grumblings as of discontent at intrusion into this
out-house of Pandemonium, Inade it uninviting, and we moved
on tboughtless of the adage that one may" jlunp 0" .[; of the fry-
ing-pan into the fire."
Retracing our steps a few paces toward the north of the
Mountain of Fire, in a shallow ravine were seen two clefts of'
nine or ten inches, and tw.o feet asunder, in the side of a stiff
clay
nd unctuous rocky bank, giving vent to volulnes of stealll
with roaring noise mingled with that of deep subterranean boil-
ing. These are l-nown as the .net,il's Tea-kettles ,. and tradition
has it that, Sf) strongly were the Indians of this region in1bued
with the superstition of the Evil Spirit's abode here, that death
was deemed the certain penalty of trespass-a belief and appre-
hension in no sense partaken of by their ""yhite brethren, ,yho:-:e
latter-day progressive tenlerity seelns rather to court the privi-
29

450

TIlE GEYSERS.

lege of exploration of Satan's undoubted dominions. About
seventy feet south,vest of the Tea-kettles is a depression of the
surface t,venty or twenty-five feet deep, and nearly forty in di-
alneter, rinu11ed by a considerable quantity of iron slag and scoriæ
of all kinds, and thickly traced ,vith brÏ111stonë, alulll, potash,
ancllnagnesia-having also about it severallllinute steanl vents.
This spot is called the Orate}' j it is on the SUllUl1it of the J\Ioun-
tain of Fire, and probably ,vas once the seat of remarkable ter-
restrial pheno1l1ena. Even no,v a stan}]? of the foot gives re-
sounding proof of dangerous hollowness; and holes lllade by
forcing a ,valking-cane a fe,v inches through the unresisting
earth gave vents for escaping vapor indicating close proxll11ity
to a stealn-boiler, that lllight at any Inoment give the curious in-
vestigator an undesirable elevation.
Passing from the Crater in a west by north, and then in a
nortlnvest direction, and descending froln the 1vlountain of Fire,
"e wound around the head of the Devil's Cañun, })assing on the
way a little spring rivulet of pure and cool crystal ,vater, looking
strangely out of place in this region of boiling inky pools. A
ShOTt distance further brought us to a pretty grove of ShittÍ?n
trees, ,vhere the heated and ,vearied wandel
er Inay tarry and
rest, and determine, if it please hiIn, if these furnished the tim-
ber of ,vhich "Bezaleel made the ark of shittim-,vood" as COIn-
lllancled. A colos
al boulder-fit mile-stone for the surrounding
scenery-,vill direct the explorer a few paces further to a bab-
bHng mountain brooklet, which at the crossing mingles its pure
stre::un
Tith the oftènsive ,vaters of a sulphur spring at that spot.
Forty paces of rugged patlnvay brought us to Avalanche A'pboJ1 j
an enormous land-slide having occurred here recently, precipi-
ta
.i.ng thousands of tons of rock frol11 the 1110untain sunnnit
above, and thus relieved the lover of the picturesque fi'01l1 future
danger in his wandering
about this secluded spot. The arbor
has several massive rocks on one side and a magnificent bay-tree
on the other, ,vith its lo,v-hung thick-spreading branches and
dense foliage, fonning a bower for those ",-ho ,vonld meditate in
solitude and shade on the 111ysterious powers at work beneath
them. IIastening on, a fe,v steps brought us to another 1ittle
brooklet dashing on froln the lnonntaill above-like thoughtlpsB

..

THE GEYSERS.

451

youth in a reckles
career-unaware of the polluted fate await-
illf!; it in the De,il's Cañon belo\,. And here is found the place
of te7nporary menlories, where a magnificent colonnade of tree

is marred by the carvings of the vulgar, capable of no other
power of lnaking their perishing names known than by burden-
ing a beautiful nature with the disgraceful catalogue.
The explorer a short distance beyond COBle;:; suddenly on :.t
projecting rock in a rapid state of disintegration, standing abOl\t
t\\'o hundred feet above the bed of Devil's Cañon; fi'om 'which,
facing the south, he looks into the depths below with elnotions
of a\\'e and terror, lningled with "onder and delight. ....-\.t his
feet he beholds a scene of deco1I1Posing forces-of death and
desolation-the proofs of a po\\er transcending lu'evious concep-
tions; while in the distance, be
yond Big Sulphur Creek, that
,rinds along the foot of the ric'ge, he sees a fresh creation; roll-
ing hill::;, clad in richest livery, fanned by waving groves, and at
their base man's beautiful handi,,-ork-bis temporary abode-
embowered in live oaks, firs, pines, madrones, and alders, and
garnished with the adornments of the garden, presenting a con-
trasted picture of production and life. Gras;;, foliage, and flow-
ers beyond, breathing the vapor3 and gases of decomposing
nature at his feet, the creative elements of growth, of verdure
and bloom. IIere Dlay science stuùy lessons on a
cale of vast
grandeur, "Thile in the scene an inullovable stumbling-block in
the path of scepticisln is also recognized.
Descending into the cañon by a steep and narrow-ledged
track, safe, hOy\1"ever, for the courageous and sure-footed, ,re
pas3ed on the way that fearful exhaust-pipe of subterranean
steam called the Stealnboat GeyseJ'. Here the escaping yapor
i
sues frOln a hole about t,,,"o feet in diauleter, nearly IHilh,ay
the height of the right w'all of the cañon, and in the midst of a
large quantity of clinker and slag. TÞ.e noise of this elnission
is terrific-a continuous, trelnulou3 thunder, of cOlluningled
shrill hoarsene;;s, running through the galllut of a thousanù lIis-
si
sippi high-pres::,ure steamers in riyalryof explosive di:;cord.
The column ùf stealll shoot::; with resi
t1e
;:; force to a height of
n10rc than one hundred feet, yi
ible in the f
lce of the noonday
SUll; and, in the cool air of early Inorl1ing, it lifts its \vhite cloud

.

452

THE GEYSERS.

even five hundred feet above the cañon, to meet the first bealns
that glance over the adjacent lnountain-spur, and forn1of its
baptismal 1l1ist a l'ainbo,v-a harbinger of promise even in this
scene of desolation.
This is undoubtedly the greatest steam-vent of the wonderful
terrestrial boiler ,vithin; although, in truth, the ,valls of tbe
Deyil's Cañon present several hundredsmaII blo,v-holes of steam,
as if the vast generator were riddled with perforations, making
of the whole cañon a huge vapor-bath.
A short distance below the great steam-pipe, and directly be-
neath the .Devil'lj Peak, froIn which the view before spoken of
is had of the entire cañon, an alum 8.JYl'ing is found-a rock pot
one foot and a half in dian1eter, of black, powerfully astringent
boiling water, from wllich arise the lnost offensive of gases, sul-
phuretted hydrogen, and steam, ås fi'om other springs, of differ-
ent properties, in this vicinity. IIuge Inasses of amorphous
rock, of all colors and shades, slirny and slippery, track the ,vay
of the explorer; but he ,vho ,vould see the Geysers ll1ust sur-
mount these obstacles, or he ,viII have accomplished but a part
of the object of his visit, and have realized imperfectly the sub-
limity and terrors of the place. If he pause here to debate the
chances of peril or escape, increasing timidity may determinc
hin1 to turn back; but he should bear in mind that the descent
of this valley of the shadow of death is easier than a returning
ascent; and he had better ÏInitate Bunyan's" }'fr. Greatheart"
and push ahead than get involved in the difficulties of" }fr.
Timorous," trusting to the helping hand of SOlne good friend
"Faithful" if he should" slip by the ,vay."
Iany demons will
seen1 to menace hÏ1n with hissing, wheezing, ,vhistling, roaring,
rasping, rumbling, puffing, and lnoaning; but he must stop his
ears to sounds, and trust to quick sight and steady nerve to put
hilIl through in safety.. From a little below the Aluul Spring
the rocky obstacles increase in nlunber, size, and confusion; and
the panting, heaving, and throbbing of the earth appear to
threaten a breaking up of its solid structure. If, baffled in sur-
mounting the impediments in your path-the heterogeneous
components of which have been Inelted, mingled, and baked in
the eternal fires beneath-and, faltering, you stand with sus-

.

.

THE GEYSERS.

453

pended breath 011 the groaning and trelnbling crust; or you hun'y
on over yielding substance, softened by the boiling water burst-
ing forth all around, threatening a solution or sinking of the sur-
face on which you plant your heated foot; or, displacing a
- stone, you open a new vent and suffer the painful contact of
scalding steam and gas, giving warning of dangerous proximity
to fearful agencies of mischief; if, with such experience, one
fails to recognize the neighborhood of Tartarus, he is not likely
to beCODle a believer in ancient mythology.
. If the attention of the adventurou6 explorer can be withdrawn
for awhile from the bolder features of the sUIToundings, froIl1 the
steep 810ping cañon walls at the narrow bottom threaded by the
little mountain stream from above, now the Pl'Uto/
Cf,'eek of
smoking \vaters, to their height of fi'om two to three hundred
feet, stained with red, rust, slate, green, ash, and the many col-
ored marbling of nature's wonderful art; from rock, and stream,
and bubbling pool; it may be directed for a\
hile \vith well-re-
paid interest to the less striking, but equally instructive speci-
Inens of strange chemistry sent forth from the vast laboratory
beneath, and lying along the rugged pathway. Sulphur of all
qualities and forms, from the delicate feathcry crystal to the
crude mass, is found on every hand, and aluln, Inagnesia, lime,
iron, ammonia, and varied salts, ",vith acidulates of vitriolic
strength, as the indiscreet at times determine by cauterized
tongues and blu'nt garments.
Proceeding on, the puffing and panting of the LoCo1notive
Engiræ is heard on the left of the descent, as if impatiently test-
ing itg capacities ere starting on the race before it; the earth
around it shaking in sympathy as with the tread of a giant.
Aud lower still, on the opposite side of the ravine, ",,,ith a sllloke-
stack open in the front, is the Witches' Oauldron, a rock-pot
scventeen or eighteen feet in cÎ1"culnfcrence and of un1..
o'vn
depth, filled nearly to the brim "ith a íetid, Stygian, sen1Í-fluid,
800ty substance, boiling, bubbling, and swashing in terrific com-
Inotion. Opposite to the cauldron is Pluto's Pulse Glass, a
stone cylinder of six or eight inches dianleter, communicating
,
ith interior steam pa6:;ages, and thro,villg up its intennittent
j
ts of scalding fluid occa
ionally to the height of several feet,

. 454

THE GEYSERS.

its greater or less activity being doul)t1ess dependent on the ac-
cmnulation and condition of tension of steam in the subterranean
reservoirs and their channels of communication. But for the
great vent of the Stealnboat Exhaust-pipe already described, the
safety-valve of ,vhich is always open, it is probable that the
Pulse Glass, ,Vitches' Cauldron, and all other pools in which
rising vaporg are condensed, and which are merely kept in a
state of ebullition or jet by the vis a tergo, would thelnselves
become steam-vents of 11101'e or less pO"Ter. The .nevil's Bake
Oven, a short distance farther down the cañon, consists of ,an
excavated vertical rock "\vith an overhanging ledge, ,vithin w"hich
invalids have sometimes taken sulphur vapor-baths formed of
escaping stealn froln the foot of the rock. The bath is had
without cost, except that of a partial parboiling; and a gratu-
ity is also afforded to the lover of physic at a spring near by,
of a dose of Epsom salts dissolved in chalybeate water. .Lifter
passing the region of hot-baths and stealn-baths, a narro,yer
part of the cañon is reached where the commingled waters,
duly tenlpered by admixture of hot and cold currents, and
medicated by various elelnents, acid, alkaline, sulphurous, and
ferruginous, precipitate themselves over a rock five feet high
into a pebbly basin, a superb tepid douche-bath, such as the
invalid can no,vhere obtain from the hand of art. A few
.
steps farther dow"n the pathway by which the strealn is dash-
ing, the cañon is roofed by t,vo large bay trees that have fallen
across it, resting their limbs on the opposite sides, ,vhile their
roots still cling to their mother earth and to vitality. The
close and high ,valls and tþick leafy ceiling, give to the cañon
a t,yilight shade even in brightest day; and this spot lnight
ha'Tfe been considered, in the early classical age, the favorite re-
sort of the bride of the presiding genius of the place-the ruler
of .....\vernus. Ilaving rested in PToserpine's GT'otto, the explorer
then proceeds a fe,v paces to the Elysian Bath, a rock-girt pool
t
venty feet long by five wide, in ,vhich the te111perate ,vater of
the slllaller ravine which bounds the east side of the 1\íountain
of Fire-and in which is a chalybeate alun1 spring, said to be a
specific in chronic ophthalmia-lningles ,,?ith the ,varnler water
of the great cañon; and he "Tho has not, ,yhen "exhausted by

THE GEYSERS.

455

intense excitelnent, and wearied by long clambering, plunged
into such a blissful and renovating strealn, kno,ys not the great-
est lu..
ury of life. The water of this pool is conducted to the
batb-houses already spoken of; for the use of those ,rho forego
the delights of the elysian bath rather than encounter the terrors
of night in the Devil's Cañon.
Having thus made the circuit of the chief points of interest,
and partaken of an excellent dinner, we started again with our
guide a hundred yards up that hank of the Big Sulphur Creek
on which stands the hotel. Opposite to us nUlnerous steanl
vents were seen on the mountain side, and dark sulphurous
strean1S tracked it, the foul overflowings, probably, of the Devil's
Wash-TubE situated above. These streanlS it is proposed to
unite and convey across the creék in an aqueduct, for the sup-
ply of bath-houses on this side of the creek, more accessible to
illyalids, who thus-and by the use of a pure white sulphur
'water of agreeable coolness for drinking, found near the hotel,
at the foot of the plateau on ,,
hich it stands-will be relieved
from the discoD1fort and effort of seeking the waters at "an incon-
venient distance. It may be stated in this cOlmection that about
three-quarters of a n1ile, on the opposite side of the creek above the
hotel, there is another very large "hite sulphur spring, very closely
resembling the famous Greenbrier White Sulphur Spring in Vir-
ginia. Turning in the opposite direction, we now proceeded down
the creek on its left bank, and nearly half a mile below crossed to
the opposite side by ,yading, for the ,vant of a bridge or boat.
A quarter of a mile below the crossing we climbed a hill cov-
ered with heary-headed wild oats of rank luxuriance, and then
descended its opposite declivity into a glen sLaded by a thick
grove, a lnile and a quarter froln the hotel. IIere is a large
spring of black sulphur water, the escape of ,,-hich from the
earth is llnattended with noise, and which, when it mixes in an
adjacent pool "With a pure cool stream coming down the little
valley, yields a "hite sulphur precipitate "Which gives the water
a nlÍlky appearance. This is tbe Indian Sj}}'ing, famous 8
a
11lace of rc
ort for the sick of former neighboring tribe:;, who
feared to approach the more tUll1Ultuous and threatening Gey.
sers, believing as they did that intruders there became the ,ic-

456

THE GEYSERS.

tinlS of the Evil Spirit who controlled the inextinguishable fires
within. The afflicted Indians, generally suffering fronl rheum a-
tisln, were wrapped in blankets, stealned over the hot spring, and
then, divested of the blankets, ",vere plunged in the tepid pool,
frolll ",vhich they were conveyed in dry blankets to their telnpo-
rary lodges on the high ground in the vicinity.
The value of the ,vaters of the California Geysers in the
nledical treatnlent of chronic rhelunatisln, chronic liver affec-
tions, and SOlne eruptive diseases, cannot well be overestilnated,
and doubtless tÏ1ne, with intelligent observation and research,
will detennine their adaptation to a wide range of human afllic.:.
tions. J\Iany of the nlost celebrated nledicinal springs of the
world find here, within the space of a few hundred acres, their
counterparts, both in properties and tenlperature, medical and
thennal characteristics. But there are required capital, enter-
prise, good judginent, professional investigation and skill, to
apply properly this vast laboratory of nature-to adapt it to
public ,vants and to give profit to its proprietors. -Unless the
Geysers shall be Inade lllore accessible by an improved road for
vehicles, the sick, those who most need the restorative virtues
of their waters, '\vill be unable to reach them; and unless proper
facilities are provided ,vhen there, for their convenient, safe, and
skilful application, benefit cannot come to the patient seeking
relief, nor pecuniary gain to the owners, whose patronage must
COlne of such success.
",Villing to leave the exalnination and decision of the ques-
tion, whether the varied phenolnena of caloric ,vitnessed here
are the results of volcanic or of chelnical action, to the scientific
gentlelnen ,vhose official duty it is to solye the problem, and
-o;"h05e capacity and opportunity fit them for the task, and hav-
ing had sufficient exercise to forego the temptation of trout-
fishing and a bear hunt, thrown out by our obliging landlord to
detain us among these highlands of the Coast Range, ,ve bade
adieu to the Geysers, duly sensible of the indisputable claÍ1ns
California is rapidly putting forth for recognition as a land of
,vonderful natural curiosities, as well as of vast natural re-
sources.
A.fter having ascended the steep bill that bathes its foot in

THE GEYSERS.

451

Big Sulphur Creek, and bounds in part the deep gorge through
whic
that stream rushes ""ildly in places, in others meanders

s gently a
if courting repose after a tiresome race, "e came, at
the distance of lllore than a mile, upon that nan'ow. ridge of
nearly two lniles' length, called the IIog's Back, presenting in
some p arts a mere spine for our bridle path, bounded on each
side by precipices, the knowledge of which would not hate con-
tributeù to diIninish the apprehensions of our fearful ad venture
Ote1' the same road t,\"o ni
hts before. A short distance to the
<....;
right of our way, among other objects of interest, "ere seen ab-
rupt red-colored bluffs, abutting in ravines of the Dlounhlin
spur, and ""yhich mark the locality of the Geyser qldcksilveJ1
mines, represented to produce an exceedingly rich cinnabar.
On thi::; s[une route, three or four miles northeast of Ray's Sta-
tion, are the Pine Flat mines, where extensive deposits of pure
quicksilver are found in the rock. It is thus seen, that Califor-
nia is not dependent on the .J..\bnaden mines for the necessary
supply of this lnetal in her gold-mining operations.
Somewhat less than a mile from the Hog's Back, on our re-
turn, brought us to the foot of God,vin's Peak, one of the lof-
tiest of the Miakmus or Geyser Range, which walls in the Rus-
rian Riter Valley on the east. The peak is three thousand four
hundred and ninety feet high, and from its summit, which Inay
be reached by a rugged side-path, through dense chaparral, an
extended view is had of llUlnerous nlollntain Spill'S and glens at
its foot; of the Coast Range in the distant west, with its foot
clipping in the blue ocean, while its long line is lost to the sight
in the far-off north and south; of Mount St. Helen
s to the south-
east, with its transcendent form of symmetry and grace; and of
the valleys of Kapa, Sonoma, Los Guillicos, Petaluma, Santa
Rosa, and that of Russian River, threaded by its silver strealn,
all unrolled belo'y and presenting a continuous picture of bright
verdure, IJroken only by occasional deep shades of relienng
forests.
FroIn Godwin's Peak to Little Sulphur Creek-a mountain
trout stream of con
iderable size, two miles from the Peak and
six íì'om the Geysers-the road has a rapid descent. .l\.lld
thence to Ray's, six miles farther, after a slight acclivity, it be-

.

4:58

THE GEYSERS.

cOll1es decliyitous again, but with a general improvelnent of
condition lnost acceptable to returning excursionists. We 'wer

glad to exchange wearied nags for our bl1ggy and fresh horses,
and "Tith but little delay were soon lnaking good speed along
the bo,vling greens seen from the top of the mountain; and
over which, ere long, a railroad ,vill probably convey the pas-
senger still more fleetly from the Russian River region to Peta-
IUll1a. The distance from Petaluma to the Geysers is fifty Illiles.
Returning to San Francisco by the next day's steamer, our pas-
senger ship for Honolulu was found ready to sail, and I forth-
,vith went aboard. But as, on my return to San Francisco
from tbe Hav{aiian Islands, an opportunity ,vas afforded to visit
, tbe Valley and Falls of Yo-Semite, it is deemed best, for the
sake of connection, to lJut here upon the record what I saw of
then1.

OIIAPTER XXVIII.

ROUTE TO THE YO-SEMITE T'ÅLLEY-STOCKTO
-KSIGHT'S FERRY-STANISLAUS RIVER-
TUOLUMSE RIVER-DOX PEDRO'S BAR-CO{;LTERnLLE-CHI
X:SE IlIMIGRA.TIOX.

NEARLY every country can boast of son1e great attraction in
nature or art inviting the investigations of the learned, or the
transient observations of the passing tourist. Tbe disinterred
remains of the buried })a5t, the crlullbling m0l1Un1ents of Hnti-
quity, and the imperishable proofs of its genius and po',er, lun
e
caused Egypt and Europe to be tracked for centuries by the
footsteps of the curious. While tbe highlands of Scotia; the
vales of fair Italia, looking on which, "full flashes on the soul the
light of ages; " and the grand old lTIountains of S,vitzerland,
the unsealed fortresses of freedom wrapped in everlastin
snows,
and shaking fr01l1 brow and shoulder the avalanche and the 1ner
de glace, the coronet and robe of grandeur and n1Ïght, ,,'ith tran-
quil valleys sleeping at their feet lulled by the music of couP
-
less waterfalls-the comn1ingled mysteries of the sublÍ1n
ànd
beautiful-have awakened tbe enthusiasm of travellerf'" <-Lnd in-
spired the pen of genius to record the strange cOlllpanionsbip
and the sovereignty of nature.
Europe 111aJ" ,veIl rejoice in its scenery, as well as in its ci\"'-
ilization. TIut the Creator has placed else,,"'he1'e also, in tbis
great world of ours, the proofs of IIis Power, and annual di
-
coveries in this latest of territorial acquisitions show that Cali-
fornia is not left "ithout these voiceless teachers of truth.
Among these is the Y o-Sem-i-te Valley in 1tlariposa County,
among the foot-hins of the "estern slope of the Sierra K e"\ada,
two hundred and :fifty-t",..o lniles froln San Francisco. The route
to it froIH that city is by steamer one hunch.ed and t,venty-:five

460

STOCKTON.

miles to Stockton, a ;flourishing to'Wll of four thousand iñhabi-
tants in the interior on a slough of the eastern arm of San J oa-
quin, the second river in size and hnportance of the State;

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SAN JOAQUIN RIVER-MONTE DIABLO IX THE DISTANCE.

thence by stage-coach to Coulterville, or to 1tíariposa, or to Big
Oa.'r Flat, at which places the public conveyance stops, and
anoth
l' Inust be sought. The Coulterville route is preferable
for econolu J
f tÏIne, cost, distance, and for greater cOlnfort.
Starting fi'orr

0clTton at 6 A. M., an hour after our arrival
L j the boat, with a fine team of horses, fair samples of Califor-
nia size, speed, and bottom, we travelled first east by south,
and then east-southeast, over an extensive tract of bottom lands
of alluvial deposit, bearing abundant testimony of rich growth.
Seventeen miles of unpaved road, parched, cracked, and dusty,
in the long SU1l1mer drought, brought llS to a rolling and Jess
fertile district, with fewer evidences of thrifty husbandry; and
at thirty-six miles from Stockton we caIne to Knight'8 Fe1'1'Y, a
to'\",n of about a thousand inhabitants, at which a fine bridge is

CO{;LTER'\lLLE.

461

thrown over the Stanislaus River, the clear waters of "hich
from the Sierra, flow over a rocky bed onward to the San J oa-
quin to be lost in its ever turbid current.
Abandoned diggings, Eluices, flumes, grR\el banks, and
heaps of boulders, showed how diligent had been the search for
gold in this vicinity. Beyond the river the country is still more
rugged, the road to the OrÍ1nea House on Kentucky Ranche
fourteen miles from the ferr
y, being skirted for a long distance
by upheaved lan1inated rocks of various sizes, looking like tomb-
stone::; of a vast celnetery, some as if designating t
e gTaves of
giants, 'while others modestly marked the resting places of in-
fancy. Fron1 the Crimea House the coach continued on the
main stage-route in a northeast direction to Sonora, "bile we in
a small mud-'wagon took a southeast course, passing over a
much more hilly country, and crossing the beds of many small
strean1S "hi -h bave existence only in the rainy seasons. At
ten n1Ïles frol11 the Crimea I-Iouse 'We reached the Tuohunne
River, heading in the Sierra and flowing 'West to the San Joa-
quin of which it is one of the large branches. The little town
of .J)on Pedro's Bap has grown up at tbis crossing from placer
and ri,er mining, which, not being among the most profitable of
such operations, is chiefly in the hands of Chinamen; and as
they "Were seen shovelling, and rocking their cradles on the river
banks and shoal
, for the discarded remnants of wealth borne
a,vay by more fortunate enterprise, a curious fellow-traveller
inquired whether the river bad given their integmnent, or it
had given the rh"er, a dingy hue
From the Tuolulnne River
the road is more lllountainous, frequent foot-hill spurs being en-
countered stretching "Westwardly from the Xevada and giving
steep ascents to climb, and gorges and ravines to be threaded by
narrow' defiles, or turned by tedious w'indings, for fourteen miles
to Coulterville, where we arrh-ed at 9 P. M.-in fifteen hours
from Stockton-distance se-\enty-four miles.
.1.\t Coulter's Hotel we ,,-ere received, in the absence of the
host, by a fine specimen of
young .America but thirteen years
old, "ho registered our nallles, ordered supper, and showed ru;
to our chambers with remarkable intelligence, ancll11uch more
politeneS3 than is usually observed by older emplo
rés of thcse

462

STATUS OF CRISAMEN.

frontjer caravansaries; in ,vhich Inankincl are regarded as a live
llunber, ,,-ithout feeling or claim to comfort, and under an obli-
gation to sublnit to rudeness, neg1ect, and extortion. The town,
situated in a wild Inountail1 gorge, ""here gold was found as
early as 184:9, has three or four hundred inhabitants, exclusive
of Chinese, of whom there are about as Inany more, in and
around it, engaged in sand washing .with cradle anù sluice,
along the little creek that flows through the gulch.
Public opinion here, as in other parts of the State, is divided
in regard to the character of Chinaluen, and the desirableness
of their ilnmigration. 'Vhile some Americans denounce them
as petty thieves, and otherwise troublesome interlopers whose
notions an
habits are at variance ,vith those of the ,vhites, and
whose inferiority of race unfits thenl for social and political
equality, others contend that DJ110ng the1u are to be found nu-
lllerons and reluarkable exau1ples of probity anQ, intel1igence,
and that in the general their morals are not of a lower grade
than those of other inulligrants, while the vices in ,vhich they
indulge are 110t lllore degrading, and the crilnes of which they
are guilty are neither as atrocious nor brutal as those perpetrated
by Europeans and An1ericans. Perhaps, froln natural organiza-
tion, the Chinall1an is neither as capable of touching as low a
degree of debasement as the Caucasian, nor, on the other hand,
of mounting to the same height of 1110ral and inteilectual excel-
lence. There are between forty and fifty thousand Chinese in
California, and their proportion of crin1inals in the Penitentiary
is less than that of the white population. But this fact is
luerely sufficient to warrant a conclusion of con1parative convic-
tions, not of actual crin1Înality.
Chinese labor certainly constitutes a prolninent element in
the developluellt and promotion of the 111aterial interests of tbis
State. Unlike the Caucasian, the Chinaman must work or
starve. K 0 provisions of corporate charity, sectarian benevo-
lence, or more enlarged associate philanthropy, are made for
hinl, and" root pig or die" beCOlnes the law of his denizenship.
The avenues of 1UOst profitable and honorable eluploymellt and
enterprise are, except to a lilnited extent in the field of com-
Inerce in San Francisco, closed to hin1. by tbe jealousies of the

ST.ÅTCS OF CHL
-UtE
.

463

dOlninant race, so that he falls of necessity into the hiatus of
hardship, where other productive industry ,,-ill not come, and
which, but for him, would be left unfilled. "Thus he becomes
the house servant, the field and -vineyard hand, tbe general la-
borer or
\.siatic Irishman, the follow"er in the ,vake of the white
111iner who bas appropriated the golden nuggets, and discarded
impoverished sands; and he re-digs abandoned placers, and
drains and ,vashes neglected river-beds, seeking industriously
their scattered and less valuable deposits, which, in the aggre-
gate, however, contribute largely to the moneyed ,veaIth of the
State. For, by the payment of passenger fare to and ii'om Cal-
ifornia, of freight of Chinese supplies through .American ship-
pers, and of their import duty, of steamboat and coach fare to
the interior, along many of the routes of which they are the
greater number of stage tra",ellers; their outlays for transpor-
tation of goods by wagons, for State license of four dollars per
month each for the privilege of n1Ïning, for house and land rent
to Åluerican owners, and for provisions to farmers-for these
purposes currency is given to a large amount 'of gold, w1ri.cb,
but for Chinalllen, would lie useless in gorge and shoealll. But
although these facts would seem to indicate the impolicy of
o",erlooking the general results of labor, however applied, in the
narrow contemplation of tenlporary selfish intere5t
, there is
another ",iew of this question of Chinese iInmigration of far
higher importance to the race into whose hands this fair land
has fallen, ".hich
hould not be disregarded, and tbat is, how far
it will comport with the preser",ation of that highest t
rpe of
Inankind, with the protection of its exalted physical and mental
attributes, to concede equal political privileges to the eastern
...:\.siaties with 'whom the Anlerican has now been brought face
to face, who could spare to California more millions of peo-
1)le than the population of the United States, and'11ot be sensi-
hIe of the 105s; and who, thus becolning the governing class,
and through a consequent social equality the p;'oducers for a
time of a hybrid race, would finally, by an inevitable la,v com-
ing of numerical strength, extinguish every trace of the noLleI'
t'}1)e of Inan. With this nobler tJpe now rests the deterIuina-
tion of his own future destiny, and the preservation of hi::; pu-

464

TO THE YO-SEMITE.

rity and exaltation, by disregarding a false hlunanitarianism
and a fanaticis111 which h11pugn the distinctions of the Creator,
and by the adoption and enforcelnent of law's for their protec-
tion. A commercial intercourse 111utually advantageous to
China and California, and to some extent industrial interchanges,
may take place compatibly ,yith a justly administered natural
Ja" of self-preservation. But if, as appears to be the fact 1l0'V,
differences of opinion are to exist among Californians in regard
to the status of the Chinaman, a question nlight be put here of
equivalent import with that especially interesting to another
part of Anlerica, i. e. if the white race cannot agree aòout the
negro, ,vill it ever be able to agree with him

Coulterville is the terminus of the public stage line, and the
tourist lnust 11ere seek other means of getting on to the Y 0-
Sem-i-te. Fortunately he will find here excellent horses at the
livery-stable of ltIessrs. Smith & Scott-just and reliable per-
sons-,vho flu"l1ished me a suitable outfit, and all the inforlna-
tion necessary to make a safe and satisfactory trip. True, it
was discouraging to learn from a returned excursionist, that the
hon1Îcide of an Indian by a ,vhite settler in the neighborhood
of the valley, and a Inanifestation of hostile intentions on the
part of the tribe, had induced the whites to leave the two houses
kept there for the accolnmodation of visitors. But Mr. Thomas
W. Long, a resident of Coulterville, and a fearless son of the
" old Kentucky State," experienced in frontier life, kindly offer-
ing to accompany l11e, it ,vas deterlnined to go for,vard and feel
the way, and next morning we started to make an easy day's
ride to the stopping place for the first night-" Black's."
Our east by north road was ascending from CoulterviHe,
e
ghteen hundred feet above the sea-level, to the Yo-Semite,
,vhich is said to be twenty-three hundred feet above. the sea.
Five sa,v-Inills within seven lniles of Coulterville, furnish four
millions of feet of lumber annually for the supply of the Tuo-
lumne and }Ier
ed Valleys. At ten Iniles a trail alone marked
our route, and that in places was quite indistinct. At twelve
miles from Coulterville there is a " cave" about a hundl'ed yards
to the left of the path, which ,vould scarcely be considered such
but for the close board fence that shuts in its front, and gives to

TO THE YO-SEMITE.

465

its interior the necessary" dim religious light," on which some
sensational guide-hook yet to be printed .will go into raptures,
to lighten tbe purses of California tourists. A short distance
beyond the trail enters a dense forest of fine tilllber, seen also
skirting tbe road in places before reaching this point; and w.ind-
ing o"\er steep rocky hills for lllore than a mile, a slightly roll-
ing surface was reached, co"\ered with trees twined with vines,
and sheltering a thick lmdergrowth. Pines, stately and straight,
still clinging to their favorite green, stood round, mingling with
lordly oaks clad in the yellow and nut-brown foliage of autumn;
with dogw.ood and .wild honeysuckle dressed in gayer hues of
scarlet and crimson; while crystal ri,ulets leaped across, or ran
murmuringly hy our pathway, courting a "illing admiration of
their wild l11usic, anel tempting, too, the thirsty palate.
At seventeen miles from Coulterville a pretty glen, sur-
rounded by pine-covered hills, was reached, tw"o narrow defiles
opening into it froin opposite directions. .A"nd near the border
of a streamlet that seemeù fondly to linger in the sequestered
spot, so placid was its flow, "e found the unpretenàing but hos-
pitable house of
lr. Black, at whirh we put up for the night.
TIere it \\?as ascertained that the Yo-Semite Valley "
as de-
serteù by white visitors, and that no persons were there but some
straggling Indians of a Digger tribe, engaged in gathering their
winter subsistence of 'Wild roots and acorns. The infol'lllation
previouslÿi=ëëëi\ed of the killi ng o f an Indian, and the medi-
tated revenge of his friends upon the whites, ,ras also eonfirmed ;
but it was acconlpanied by the gratifying intelligence, that at the
instance of an influential frontiersman they had been induced
to await a promised trial and punishulcnt of the offender by
due proce
3 of law. ::\11'. Black having been assured, by a
friendly Indian, that under these circumstances no retaliation on
the neighboring 'whites lleed be feared for sonle time, w.e deter-
mined to continue our journey; and the proprietor of the first
cabin built in the vaney for tbe accol11lliodatioll of visitors hav-
ing placed it at our disposal, we hired a pack mule, and having
procured of :.Mr. Black the necessarJ' creature cOlllforts of food
and blankets for the trip, were en route again early next Inorn-
ing for the great yalley, ,vith the addition to our company of
30

4û6

TO TIlE YO-SEMITE.

another Kentucky volunteer, }Ir. James Lamb, whose knowl-
edge of this region and its native tribes was a guarantee of
safetJT, and "rho proved an adept in managing the domestic
economy of our future cabin household.
It cannot be denied that the charge of unjust and cruel
treatment of the Indian race by our countrymen is truthfully
made. Inferior to us in blood, in culture, and in po,ver, the
original possessors of the land, and ever ready to extend the
hand of hospitality and friendship to the stranger who came to
them in the spirit of peace seeking benefits; sufferers, too, froIl1
the vices of civilization, l110re studiously taught to thC111 than
its virtues, they ùeserve at our hands as a people, an extension of
the most benign policy, and individually protection, charity, and
Inercy; instead of ",vhich they are the victims of systenlatic fraud,
persecution, and frequent atrocity, rapidly leading to their ex-
termination. The murder of an Indian at the hands of a ",vhite
Iuan, if not magnified into a 11lerit, receives no punishluent;
hut the killing of a ,vhite Inan by an Indian, whatever the mit-
igating circumstances, calls for the blood of the offender, and
brings a ne,v curse upon his tribe; ,vhile the kidnapping of
Indian children and selling them to service in California, has
been ll1ade the subject of newspaper comment in San Francisco,
and they are sometÍInes seen 'unaccountably in domestic eU1-
ploYluent, the stealing and carrying off of a ,yhite child by
the Siou
or Chippe,vas, fills the whole land with lamentation,
and calls for a Presidential decree, sacrificing a hecatolnb of
human victÏ1ns. Shall \ve continue thus indifferent to the in-
culcations of justice and mercy, and wj}fully incur the retribu.
tion which in sonle forlu or other will sur
ly follow

Our route fron1 Black's ,vas up Bull Run, ",v en known as the
olel Indian trail to the ]'Iono I...ake region, on an Îlnportant " di-
vide," more easily travelled in "\vinter and earlier in spring "than
others on \vhich the sno\v is heavier and lies longer. A short
distance brought us to a deep gorge bet,veen ridges, covered
\vith pitch and sugar pine, the latter so called frol11 its yielding
a sugar of turpentine, Yvhich is both purgative and diuretic,
cedar and hlack oak timber, charred bark of standing trees,
Jnany black and fallen trunks, and the ashy earth swept of Ull-

TO THE YO-SEMITE.

:1:67

dergro,vth anù grass, showing the ",'ide desolation resulting fro1l1
careless camp-fires. The feet of the ridges "ere ,yashed by a
clear, cold streaIn, that ran flashing o,er a smooth and continu-
ous rock channel, along ,,-hich ,ye passed between four and five
miles, "hence a less precipitous and "ider avenue led to Dee'/'
Flat, six miles from Black's, a prairie le\
el of about two hun-
dred acres, 'with a log cabin, shovel, pick and pan, indicating a
lniner's residence. I-Ialf obliterated blazes Inarked the trail be-
yond, "hich passed, six n1Íles further, over a shaded hazel-green,
and -which soon becalne rugged, and wound tortuously anlong
ridges, heading ravines, and passing over low hills, but "ith a
gradual ascent, until, seventeen miles frolu Black's, we reached
the highest altitude bet-ween Coulterville' and the Y o-Sen1ite,
,vhence can be seen the "hite cliffs fifty miles di:-;tant, marking
the head of the Stanislaus River in the Sierra Kevada, and,
,,-here the tin1ber allo,vs, the course of that river, ß.nd the di-
viding ridge betV\'"een it and the Tuolumne River. A mile fur- "7
ther brought us by a Flight descent to a levcl of three or foul'
hundred acres, called Crane Flat, 'where we procured grass and
,,,,ateI' for our horses, and -where a little untenanted clapboro"d
house, "pro bono publico," and a grove of pines and cotton-
\voods, offered to us the ten1ptatioll to rest and lunch.
A splendid forest of pines, both pitch and sugar, firs, cedars,
and black oaks, overshado'\,ed the trail beyond, many of tbe
former lifting their heads b\o hundred and fifty feet above TIS,
their mas5iv
trunks of seven and eight feet diameter, standing
as straight as lllonuluental shafts. The beauty and grandeur
of these trees are marvellous, and yet I am told by n1Y cOlupan-
ions, that thus far "e ha;ve but entered the vestibule of the great
forest temple, \vhich California for ages bas been building for
the worshippers of these giant lTIonarchs of -vegetable nature.
It is painful to witness the ra\ages of fire, cOlnlnonly the conse-
quence of neglect to extinguish tbat which cheered a nigl1t's
lJivouac, and sometimes of purpose to uncover hidden ganle, on
this magnificent timber. Often a blackened and lilnblcss trunk
,vas seen 8tanding like an iron column of incolnparable prop or.
tions. .L\..nd then again a shaft prouder tban Pompey's pillar,
whose root alone the saIne destroyer had touched ,yith wither.

468

TO THE Yo-SEJ\ITTE.

ing .blight, dropping its bark and branches, and bleached by the
sun, froIH which no friendly foliage now screens it, lifting on
high its seelning marble to perpetuate its ow'n great memory.
While occa.sionall y the scene ,vas n1ade instructive by one of
these voiceless types of majesty, sapped by natural decay, fold-
ing around itself "an evergreen ,vinding-sheet of moss, to tell
that though nlaterial for111s n1ay change, elementary life does
not perish, and thus reminding the pas6er-by of the " mortal
that 111ust put on iInmorta1ity."
The trail froin Crane Flat continued yery tortuous, and the
trees along it ,vere frequently seen to bear the nearly obliterated
crucial blaze of the old lVIexican pioneers. The undergro,vth,
too, in Inany places was observed to be flattened and matted to-
gether so closely by the ,veight of winter sno,vs, as to forin per-
fect shelters for wild animals, and such dangerous coverts for
the dreaded grizzly, that they are often designedly burnt along
the line of the trail, to get rid of their fierce denizens.
About eigl1t Iniles from Crane Flat, and three fronl the high-
est point ûf the trail, and fifty or sixty yards to the right of it,
the first glimpse is caught, through an opening in the trees, of
the Y o-Selnite Valley in the distance. A sensational '''''Titer,
after the fashion of eastern guide-book authors, calls this the
,;, Stand-Point of Silence;" but, as if to contradict his own des-
ignation of the spot, he seems to have fallen into quite a loqu/a-
CiOU8 fit of rapture over it. The truth is, that at the distance,
none of the grand features of the scene are visible-the yalley
appears to be nothing but a vast misshapen cleft in the earth's
surface, and rather calculated to disappoint expectation. It is
a mistake to strive to manufacture a preliminary enthusiasm
ai.1d sentiment over it. The Yo-Semite should be left to create
its own in1pressions on the mind and soul ,vhen they come, as
they will in due time, ,vithin its l11ysterious influence. "Good
wine needs no bush." 'Ve ,vere a,vare of the importance of
reaching our destination before nightfall, and the kno,vledge of
the l11any miles yet to be travelled ,yarned us not to linger on
the "Tayside. T,vo Iniles further brought us to a headlong and
sparkling little 1110untain-streanl called Oascade N uIIlber One,
and another mile to Oascade Number T,vo, ,vhich raced over its

yo-SE:yrfE.

46!>

rocky bed as if eager to reach first the Merced River, for which
we were all bound, though not exactly by the same route. Be-
yond a rugged little elevation, we came again on a level trail
which soon forked, a finger-board telling us that the left led to
the :Mono Lake gold district, fifty or sixty miles to the north-
east, while the other, a half mile further, brought us to the

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470

YO-SEMITE.

comlnencement of the steep descent into the chasIn ,ve had been
long and weariedly seeking. And here we realized the fact that
the Y o-Belnite was not a valley of gracefully curving and sloping
boundaries, a ,"vaving tracery of verdure, but an awful cleft of the
earth, ten miles long, of 'Varying depth from three thousand to five
thou:sand feet, ,vhose perpendicular granite wans, so near were
they, looked as if about to reunite and close the ,:ast ten
estrial
crevice, into ,,,,hose dark depths we peered in vain for the revelation
of its ,vonderful creation. This colossal cañon can be entered
readily only at one point at its east end, and from either side of
its western outlet. As we came to it upon the Coulterville trail,
we made the descent from the north side. The path is wind-
ing and precipitous, the angle of ine1ination being not less than
thirty degrees, and in many places as great as forty-five. Nearly
all explorers dismount and ,valk, as ,veIl for })ersonal safety as
to relieve their 110rses from the distressing shoulder-weight of
their burdens. IIalf ,yay do,vn, a lnain fork of the lvlerced
River, ,,
hich for ages has flo,ved through the valley, is heard
lifting its wild 111usic from its bed of giant boulders, as if re-
joicing at its prospect of escape fronl prolonged imprisonu1ent,
to rnn through naturallneadows a fev/nlÍles to the ,vest, whose
,vild luxuriance is their slnile of welcolne to its coming. Two
lniles of descent brought us to the bottoln of the abyss, ,vhich
shall be described as it unfolded itself in our further progress;
its physical features as these may 1)e presented by language, not
the inlpressions of its inconceivable sublimity, which can he
written upon the soul only by the wondrous manifestations here
displayed of Almighty Po-were

CHAPTER XXIX.

YO-SEMITE T' ALLEY.

ARRIVED at the foot of the trail, do'wn which so rapid is the
declivity that it is difficu1t to avoid running-a pace that would
be indulged in with the certainty of a flying leap over tbe cliff
that borders Olle side of the serpentine path-a ri ,er is seen
Ina-king its escape through a nnrro,v gorge to the right, while
to the left, so little north of east that it Inay 'with sufficient pre-
cision be said eastward, the valley of Y o-Selnite stretches in
Jim distance and perspective for ten Iniles, 'with a varying width
of from three-quarters of' a mile to one and a half. But in con-
sequence of the mountain height of its perpendicular granite
walls, the valley really appears to be but a fe,v hundred yards
wide. Its level floor spread "with a carpet of ,vild gras
, and
adorned v
yith groves of pine, fir, alder, oak, cedar, cotton-Ytood,
w'iUow, and ash, is threaded throughout its entire length by a
stream, clear and cool, from the snow fountains of the Sierra
:N evada-a Inirror in "hose crystal depths the bold features of
surrounding grandeur are reflected váth ,rolldrous distinctness;
while every blade of grass that borders its banks, and the over-
hanging boughs, seem pencilled on its transparent bosom.
One of the first objects arresting the attention on reaching
the foot of the valley by the north trail, is tbe w'aterfall nearly
opposite on tbe south side, called, not inappropriateIJ
,
- Bridal
Veil." It is also kno,vn
by those who prefer the Indian no-
Inenclature for the chief objects of interest here, as the ,- Pohouo
Fall," fr0111 an evil spirit supposed to exercise a malign po\rer
over a little streaUl of the same name t11at rises ten or twelve
miles to the southward, and, crossing the :ßIariposa trail, hurries

472

YO-SEJ\IITE.

on to forIn this "'v at erfall, by leaping over the edge of the
cliff, pitching its continuous jets downward nine hundred and
fifty feet, that break into luist and float like w"aves of gauze
to the rocks beneath, ,vhich have for ages been gradually 1ift-
ing higher their colossal abutment to Ineet the falling spray.
The avalanche of foåln at first plunges ",vith arrowy speed 1 then
seems to rest an instant, then starts again on its flight; clothed,
too, in varying tints, as sunshine paints the rainbow on the
fleecy drapery, or shade reveals its sno"ry purity. Wondrous
as is this magic veil, yet is there a fascination in the majestic
rocks ,vhich look do"\vn fi"om their gray heights upon this scene

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PonONO-Or. BRIDAL-VEIL FALL.

A short distance west of the waterfall stands a bold cone of
granite nearly three thousand feet high, like a ,vatch-to,ver at
the entrance of the valley. And near it to the east is a perpen-
divular bluff tv;"o thousand nine hundred feet high, crowned
with spires and minarets several hundred feet higher, giving a
tapering grace and architectural finish to the grand substruc-
ture. The special nan1es applied to these by some tourists are
in bad taste. To call the whole group" The Cathedral Rocks"
is sufficient to distinguish them from others of like interest.
On the north side of the valley, opposite to the Bridal Veil,
is a truncated mountain of granite three thousand six hundred
feet high, projecting boldly beyond the general ]ine of the val..

YO-SElliTE.

475

ley wall. It is massively buttressed, and standing at its foot
and looking up at its stern brow, it seems as if about to plunge
forward and fill up the vast chasIn at its foot. The size of
" Tu-toch-ah-nu-lah," or " El Capitan," as it is also called-the
captain of the grand array of columns that uphold the northern
wall of the yalley-may be judged of by the fact that it occu-
pied a quarter of an hour to ride at a brisk trot round its base.
The mercantile marine of America, England, and France could
be loaded ,vith itg debris, and' the tonnage of the world could

ot canoy EI Capitan itself.

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l;-LAH-OR EL C.\.PlTAX.

The trail above this point leads to the river, which is crosded
by ford or feITY according to the stage of water. ,;, The shade

476

YO-SE::\IITE.

of night "rere falling fast" when we reached it, and we notified
our ,vearied nags by a reminder of the spur that further partic-
ular observations ,vould be deferr
d until another day. As
darkness gathered its deeper folds within the depth profound
along ,vhicb we sought our way in some perplexity, the kindly
stars shone forth ,vith un'\yonted brilliancy, and the brow of the
valley, darkly outlined against the azure sky, became radiant
with a jewelled coronet. A fire-glow in the distance, and then
the wavy line of burning grass, gave notice that Indians were ·
in the valley clearing the ground, the lnore readily to obtain
their ",-inter supply of acorns and wild sweet potatoe root-
"huckhau." This unwelcolne discovery was soon after .con-
firmed by the barking of dogs, that caIne echoing from the walls
of this grand corridor in startling reverberations. Then ,ve
came to calnp-fires, and blanketed ,varriors, squaws, and pap-
pooses, standing and squatting around theln; their swarthy feat-
ures discolored ,vith ashes, in token of Inourning for the mur-
dered men1.ber of their tribe. Silent and unmoved, they scarcely
gave sign of noticing our intrusion. A hundred yards froln
their bark and brush lodges, stood the cabin of which we were
to be the occupants during our stay in the valley-a rude clap-
board frame of two rooms, liberally ventilated by defective car-
pentry-the hastily-abandoned cooking utensils, table, benches,
and unbeddeù bedstead, of ,vhich, with a fe"w other traI>s, we
found to have been undisturbed by the untutored savages with-
out; an ilnnlUl1ity that perhaps "Tould not have been conceded
to theln by civilized barbarians, under like circumstances of des-
titution and provocation. It ,vas an omen of good' neighbor-
hood, ,vhich ,ve sought to strengthen by sllloking the calulnet
of peace, and bestowing a few. favors in return for infornlation
of a 'suitable Ineado,v in which to picket our horses, and for
,yood, and a fagot fronl their canlp-fire "Therewith to nlake our
o,vn. Ooffee, slapj acks, an d broiled !laIn passed rapidly through
the process of cooking to that of digestion, V\rhich did not ,vait
long on the mountain appetite, cOIning of our rough ride of
thirty miles fronl Black's-our stopping-place the night befo1'e-
to the foot of the valley, and six n1Ïles beyond to the cabin.
And then, "Trapped in our blankets, we laid down to sleep;

.

YO-SEmTE.

477

and then, to dream; and such dreams! Of cañons, and cata-
racts, and copper-skins! But this is to be a narrative of .what
I saw, not what I fancied.
We rose "With the dawn; that is, with the dawn that came
do'wn into the deep valley, 'while tbe first rays of the l'ising sun
,,-ere tipping '\vith radiance the spires and pinnacles around, 'Which
seemed to be lifted into Iniel-heaven to catch the first con1Ïng of
the glorious emanation. ..::\... little to the west of north "Eleacha"
raised its three cones, called " The Three Brothers," three thou-
sand four hunch'ed and thirty-seven feet, to receive their golden
cro'vns. While to the south, immediately behind our cabin,

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ELEACIIA--oR THE TYREE BROTIIEr.8.

478

YO-SEMITE.

"El Sentinel," a symmetrical needle of granite standing like a
lone s
ntry on a battlement three thousand two hundred and
seventy feet high, keeping his ,vatch and ward of unknown ages,
welcomed the warm glow of morning that chased the clouds
of mist, which rolled up\vard to his bro,v froBl the matchless
\vaterfall of the " Y o-S" elnite, on the opposite side of the val-

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EL SE
T1NEL.

Ie) . Just east of that waterfall another spire, three thousand
two hundred feet higll, was also burnished by the first rays of
the stillllnseen sun.
Despatching our morning Ineal, cooked by a camp-fire of
grateful warmth to us in the cool atmosphere of this mountain
region, and saddling up for our day's work, ,ve started for the
waterfall in vie,v, the point of interest next in tbe order of the
ascending series. The valley was crossed from the south to the
north side by fording the stream meandering through it. In

YO-S
ITE.

479

autumn this ma
T be done in several places, but not ,,-hen it is
swollen by 'v inter rains or the spring thaw. To approach near
enough to realize the great height from wh
ch the water leaps,
we w'ere cOTIlpellcc1 to disnlount and clamber for SOlne distance
over huO'e rocks that had frùul tÎlne to tÏ111e fallen from the clifts
w
above.
The Yo-Semite waterfa11 and the valley are so called from
the tribe of Indians formerly occupying this district of country.
The name is said ùy some to Inean Great Tratei'. It has been
attempted recently by fastidious e(ymologists to show that
....o-
IIamite was the name of the tribe, "ho alone for a time are
supposed to have known, and to have held the key of entrance
to tbe valley. But the designation l
o-Semite given by the
first white explorers who visited it, appears to be too firluIy fixed
on tbe public n1Índ to be unsettled. X or, so far as I can a::cer-
tain, are tbere any sufficient reasons ,\-hy it should be changed,
'While consequent confusion and uncertainty Sh01Ùd forbid the
attempt. On the score of euphony nothing would be gained by
the change.
The stremn which forms this waterfall heads in the Sierra
Xevada, nearly twenty-fiye Iniles off; and although in the dry
season it dwindles to a brooklet, forming in truth but an in
ig-
nificant cascade in voluIlle, yet ,,-hen in Înll flow in winter and
spring, and eyen in June, as I am asslu'ed b
y one of my com-
panions who has several times crossed it, it is fordable with diffi-
culty, and pitches a torrent over the precipice, forming an unri-
valled cataract. It is not bJ a single bound that the :flashing
sheet of foam reaches the \a11ey that clothed in beauty wel-
comes the sparkling tribute. First plunging perpendicularly
fourteen hundred and ninety-seven feet, it then rushes madly
through a cañon having an angle of fifty degree
, and a total
perpendicular of four hundred and sixty-two feet 11l0re; and a

if impatient of partial restraint, it leaps again at another bounù
ûf five hundred and eighteen feet into a rock-walled basin,
,vhence floats on the undulating air the wild n1usic of its rejoic-
ing to a whispering galJery in the vaulted c1ift
which echoes it
,vith startling distinctne:3s.
There is some diver:5ity of statement about the height of this

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YO-SE
ITE.

481

and other object.s of interest in this valley. The measurelnenta
here given are taken from the record kept at the valley. ltlr.
Long, one of my companions on this excursion, who was for-
Incrly engaged in surveying this and neighboring counties, con-
siders them correct. The whole height of the Y o-Sernite water-
fall thus given, is two thousand four hundred and seventy-seven
feet. But it should be said that
Ir. llutchings, in bis published
" Scenes in California," states the height to be t,yO thousand
five hundred and forty-eight feet. Either measurement Jnakes
it tbe highest waterfall knom1. The <!ascade of Ol'CO, in the
.Alps, baving the greatest fall of which we hRve any record, bas
a less beigbt by seventy-seven feet than the least measureU1ent
given of the Yo-Semite, ".hile that of EL'anson, also in the .J..lps,
is only t,yelve hundred feet high; the Falls of Tequendalna, on
the Rh"er Funza, near the plain of Santa Fe de Bogota, but
five hundred and seventy-four; and that first discovered by
Gonzalo Pizarro in bis falllous expedition to Quito, on the Ri
'er
Na'po, a tributary of the Amazon, rising near the volcano Co-
topaxi, in Ecuador, and heretofore considered the highest in the
western heu1isphere, but twelve hundred feet high. In regard
to the last-mentioned estimated height of the Falls of .11'apo, it
n1ay be added that Mr. Prescott, in a note to his "History of the
Conquest of Peru," says in reference to it, that he "finds noth-
ing to confirm or to confute the account of this stupendous cat-.
aract in later travellers, not very numerous in these wild regions.
The alleged height of the falls, twice that of the great cataract
of the Tequendama in the Bogota, as measureù by HUlnboldt,
usually esteemed the highest in America, is not so great as that
of sonle of the cascades thro'Wn over the precipices in Switzer-
land. l
et the estimates of the Spaniards, who, in tbe gl00n1Y
state of their feelings, were doubtless keenly alive to Ï1npressions
of the sublime and the terrible, cannot safely be relied on."
Until the
yet untrodden solitudes of the Himalayas shall
reveal a loftier claim to distinction, the Yo-Semite waterfall
Dlay at least be recognized as entitled to the palIn of a1titude,
ho"yever inferior to Kiagara in lnight and Inajesty. And yet
there is a sense of the vast and infinite, as ,veIl as of the tran-
scendently beautiful, realized by the mind when gazlllg on the
31

482

YO-SEMITE.

long line of flashing foan1 that seems to shoot from the vaulted
firmament, and sparkles with countless gen1s; and which touches
the valley's skirt only to mOlmt in clouds of silvery spray, that
falls again in misty baptislll upon the emerald scene below.
Passing up the valley, its granite wall, having a gray color
in some places, especially on the south side, is nearly white in
others. This is more lnarked on the north side, which is exposed
to the direct rays of the sun. Everywhere it is veined ,vith
water-marks by melting snow rills holding discoloring sub-
stances in solution, so that, in places, it may be compared to the
marbled facing of a vast uncovered corridor. Three miles east
of our cabin, and nine n1iles from where we entered the valley,
or great cañon, as it deserves to be considered, it forks; or per-
haps it ,vould be JTIore correct to say, that at this point it ap-
pears to be formed of two cañons of less size, which, running in
different directions, cOllverge here. One of these comes from
the northeast, the other froIn the southeast by east; but the lat-
ter, after having a short distance up received another cañon
coming f
oln the south, which is thus designated, changes its
own direction and aSSlunes that of the lllain cañon or valley,
running fi'Olll the east by north, being in general grandem
of
features, extent, and interest, as well as in direction, the repre-
sentative and continuation of the main cañon.
Just before reaching the entrance of the northeast cañon, in
passing up the valley, the north wall is seen spanned by a ma-
jestic arch, of perhaps fifteen hundred feet radius; and beyond,
at the exact point of divergence of the gorge, an Í1nmense semi-
circular pilaster of granite nearly three thousand feet high,
stands like a mighty pillar to support, with the arch near by, the
l,,,
erless North DOlne, towering above in symlnetrical grace and
grandeur to the height of three thousand seven hundred and
t,venty-nine feet. The proudest dOIne of religious po'wer, that
of St. Peter's, would fail to touch with its tOplllost cross lifted
to four hundred and thirty feet, even the vaulted pediment on
which. that of the Y o-Selnite stands in everlasting lllajesty:

" Simple, erect, severe, unchanged, sublime-
Shrine of the Indian-temple of the gods
To whom he bowed-spared and blest by time;

YO-SEMITE.

483

Looking tranquillity, while falls or nods
Arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods
His way through t
orns to ashes-glorious dome!
Sbalt thou not last 1 Time's scythes and tyrant's rods
Shall shiver on thee-sanctuary and home
Of nature"s sanctity-purer than that of Rome!"

The northeast cañon is five or six miles long, and has an av-
erage width of about half a mile; it is through this cañon that
the ßhortest and best trail from Mariposa to the Mono Lake re-
gion lies. A small stream, rising twelve or fifteen miles toward

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XORm DOME AS'D SEMI-DOME OF TISS.AACK.

the Sierra, COlnes down the gorge, and is the north branch of
the middle fork of the )Ierced Ri\er, 'which floW'f>> through the
main valley. This north branch forms a picturesque little
"
irror Lake,'" a short distance before reaching tbe mouth of
the northeast cañon. It is near this nliniatur
lake that the
best view can be had of the ,. Semi- Donle of Tissaack, ", w"hich
faces on the southea
t the entrance of this cañon, and looks as

484

YO-SEMITE.

if a mountain of granite, higher than :I\fonte Diablo the lone
monarch of Contra Costa, lifting its head of imperishable rock
four thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven feet, even into the
clouds, had been- riven froul slunmit to base, and one-half re-
moved, leaving the other standing, clear, cold, stately, stupen-

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:MIRROR LAKE.

dOllS.; the most wonderful of all IllonUlnents of the massive
Inasonry of creation. When you behold the clouds flitting
across its changeless face, far below its bold and barren brow,

ToU realize its loftiness; but its own voice of power; that calls
back in tones of thunder the peals of the tempest, and repeats
the prolonged reverberations of ans,vering peaks, alone can tell
the vastness of its strange sublimity. There shall it stand and
gaze ,vhile time may last, into

The :i\Iirror Lake, where stars and n10untains view
The stillness of their grandeur, and the hue
Imperishably pure beyond all things below,
Traced in the crYBtal wave of cold Nevada's snow.

Yo-SEmTE.

485

When about to pass froln the head of the great valley or
cañon into its other branch, the southeast cañon, one cannot fail
to have his attention arrested by the immense bluff forming the
south wan; rising to the great altitude of four thousand four
hundred and eighty-four feet, supported by an unbroken, slTIooth,
and in many places polished abutment, itself having a height of
two thousand five hundred feet, an angle of elevation of at least
seyenty degrees, and an extent in the direction of the valley of
a mile. Taken in connection with the North Dome and the
Serni-Dome of Tissaack, these three objects, arranged round the
head of the great vaHey, form perhaps, as a distinct class, the
Inost striking features of tbis ,,'onderful panorama of nature.
On entering the southeast cañon, a continuation is found of
the level meadow spread across tbe Inain valley, presenting al-
rnost a park-like appearance in places, from the clusters of treps,
especially along the banks of the middle fork of the l\lerced
River which flows down this cañon. Horses must here be teth-
ered; and fortunate will he find hÎ1nself 'Who has been well-
trained to the rough pedestrianism of further exploration. The
Merced, which ,\""e have already seen receives a little tributary
from the northeast cafion called the North Branch, is joined alw
in the southeast cañon, a mile from its entrance, by a South
Branch, ,,
hich comes to it from that direction do,\yn a narrow,
rocky, and ahnost iU1passable gorge, along which it rushes in
wild tumult, after having plunged by an unbroken fall, accord-
ing to the valley record, of eleven hundred feet from the vertical
cliff of the unsealed terminus of the chasm. This third waterfall
of the series, enumerated froln the foot of the ,alley, is called the
"South Fall "-by some the Indian nalne "Tooluluwach" is
retained.
Near to the confluence of the South Branch with the Merced
River, the southeast cañon changes its course and runs east by
north, the direction of the main valley, of ,vhich it is regarded
as the continuation. It is but little over a half-mile wide at this
point, walled in by mountain cliffs as elsewhere, and it din1in-
i:;hes rapidly in width to the Vernal ,,'"aterfàll a Inile further.
The trail is steep, one thousand feet of elevation to the luile of
distance, paved with boulders and fenced with fallen rocks, many

486

YO-SEMITE.

\
,I'

t ",
I, P

.J

TOOLULUWAcn, OR SOUTH !ORK FALL.

of theln exceeding in weight the twenty-five thousand tonnage
of the Great Eastern; some too, burdened with the names of
\vould-be immortals-dolts still more leaden.

Forest shaded, wild and varied,
The beauties are of this defile;
And flowers there perfume the air
That never felt the sun's warm smile:

while the swift river speeds onw'ard, flashing and foaming over
its granite bed, a continuous rapid, seeking ,vith eager haste to
join the sparkling streams that fling their crystal tribute into
the vale below. The trail finally terminates at a narrow ledge
running for a short distance along the face of the south wall of
the cañon, and at a considerable height above the channel of the
river; this leads to the foot of a perpendicular precipice over

.

YO-SEMITE.

487

'which the" "\ ernal Fall" pitches its :fleecy jets six hundred feet
into a pellucid basin, clothed in befitting rainbo,ys. The showers
of spray, faDing perpetually upon the scanty soil around, nur-
tures an endless verdure tbat has given the name to tbis beauti-
ful w'aterfall-

" That mounts in spray the skies, and thence again
Returns in an unceasing shower, which round,
With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain,
Is an eternal Al)ril to the ground,
)Iaking it all one emerald-how profound
The gulf! and how the giant element
From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound,
Crushing the cliffs, "hich, downward worn and rent
With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful 'Vent! "

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VEP.YAL FALL.

488

YO-SEMITE.

Here would the footsteps of the explorer be arrested, but that
ladders have been erected which, with an intermediate platform
of the c1i
afford the means of scaling it, and looking in safety
from behind a granite parapet down on the shadowy scene of
the frightful abyss stretching in dim perspective beyond.

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It must not be supposed that in surmounting tl1is precipice
the upper level has been attained. On the contrary a new scene

YO-SEMITE.

489

is unfolded to the view, a secret chamber where worshippers at
the inner shrine alone intrude; whose everlasting walls, crowned
with beetling battlements, for unknown ages were unscaled save
by the wild symphony of the crashing cataract and tumultuous
rapids, which roll their notes of revelry over peak and pinnacle.
to cheer the coming of Nevada's flood.
This upper gallery of the cañon is "Tider than that part
through which it must ùe reached. At its east end, less than a
mile from the Vernal Fall, is situated the "K evada Fall,"
formed by the middle fork of the Merced River, rising in Lake
Tchnayia in the Snowy Sierra, and casting its first tribute into
the Valley of Yo-Semite at this portal, over ,yhich it shoots,
rapid as the light, a sheet of foaln, beating the air with dewy
wing ere falling on its granite bed. As if to commemorate the
grandeur of surrounding nature, a pyramid of two thousand feet
stands near the waterfall, by the side of which the largest of
Egypt would sink into insignificance. The laughing stream,
broken into dimples by the sportive breath of its Olfn zephyrs,
hastens from its rocky basin, dashing over the massive fragments
of mountain debris, and then darts through an exquisitely fornled
natural granite aqueduct, to spread itself like a floating apron of
silver tissue over an inclined plane as if of polished marble, down
which it glides into the placid bosom of a miniature lake; where,
EO tranquil is its face, it seems to sleep ere taking its " Vernal"
leap and resuming its race in the cañon below.

Oll! tbou Nevada! in thy coolest wave,
Of tbe most limpid crystal that was e'er
The haunt of Indian nymph, to gaze anc1la ve
With loved and loving Xature-thou dost rear
Thy grassy banks, whereon the ancient seer
Sought the Great Spirit in the peaceful water-
Gentle, serene of aspect, and most clear.
}'Iay e'er thy river, unprofaned by slaughter,
Be mirrored bath for Freedom's favored daughter!

The mysterious influence of this spot held us with charmed
spell, until tbe slanting bemlls of the setting sun touched but
the sUlnluit of the great Pyramid w'ith a departing glory, and

.

490

YO-SEMITE.

warned us to descend to the lower' cañon before its fast coming
t,vilight should deepen into night.
As we sought our cabin in the bosom of the valley, the
young Inoon arose to add her testimony to the unrivalled gran-
deur of Yo-Semite; crowning its domes with subdued radiance,
tracing a silver cornice on its bro,v, and pouring a liquid light
into its depths to woo the spirit to a fitting worship.

CIIAPTER xxx.

M.1.RIPOSA
LUI:YOTH TREES-TOW
OF MARIPOSA-BEAR V ALLEY-ADJACE
--r QUARTZ
GOLD
UXIXG-:m:RCED RItER, ITS GOLD DEPOSITS-S.A
JO.AQUIX A

SA
'"TO
mTEll.S A
m TIIEIR TRIßI;T.ARIE3 DR.AI
TIlE AURIFEROI;S REGIOX-GREAT IX-
TERIOR BASIX OF CALIFORS:U.

T AKIXG lea-ve of our dusky neighbors, who did not seek, yet
accepted with becoming spirit our surplus provisions, slowly
and sadly ,ve passed down the valley-for here are the oracles
of a higher wisdom than 111an's-and at early dawn sought the
Mariposa trail, by which we proposed to return circuitously to
Coulterville, visiting the most remarkable of the gro-ves of Cali-
fornia Big Trees on the route. At the perpendicular height of
fifteen hundred feet in ascending tbe steep acclivity, a fine view
"as afforded of the tout ensemble of Yo-Semite, and an10ng
these the South IJome, some distance bebind El Sentinel, appro-
priately so called because of its relati-ve position to the others"
and not -v:sible at aU from within the main valley.
\.ùout four
n1Îles up the trail, which skirts for a sbort distance the va;;:t
cañon, the last and perhaps the most comprehensive view was
obtained of this" temple not made with hands "-whose tran-
scendent architecture of everlasting 'walls and columns, spires
and minarets, to'wers and domes,

,

"Came of the :fiat that gave instant birth
To the fair sun and his attendant earth "-

and among "hose imperishable arches swell tbe.n1ingling sym 4
phonies of joyous floods, a ceaseless anthem at the sbrine of
IIim \\Tho "hath lllade llis wonderful works to be relllèlli 4
bered. "

492

:MARIPOSA :hfAM)fOTH TREES.

About a mile beyond the point at ,vhich wa
taken the last,
long, lingering look of this n10st marv
llolls scene, the trail
crosses the Pohono Creek, rushing fleetly on to ,,-eave "Tith lUYS-
terious art, in airy 100m, the gauzy fabric of the" Bridal Veil."
The well-beaten trail was across the ridge dividing the South
from the Middle Fork of the
Ierced River, and proceeded in a
soutlnvest,vardly direction up, do,vl1, and around secondary
hills, covered with forests of magnificent tilnber that "Tould, if
,vithin water conveyance of the sea, become a source of wealth
to this State but little less valuable than its mines of gold. At
the commencement of the route the Sierra Nevada was often
seen 1ifting its bleak and barren peak on high, patched even
through Slllnl11er heats with sheltered snow drifts. 1/Iany grassy
openings, too, were seen in the wood-land; one of these kno,vn
as the Big Jleadow, five miles from Pohol1o Creek, resembling
a glade of the great Alleghany }follntain-where Iuan and
horse may ,veIl refresh themselves for their further journey; that
is, if the fonner has been as proyident for himself as nature
has been tor the latter. At ten 1l1iles fron1 the Big
Ieadow the
descent froin the general upper level of the" divide" COillIllen-
ces, and two luiles 1110re Illllst be passed of steep declivity be-
fore the South Fork of the 1Ierced, a bold, clear mountain river,
is reached, which is crossed by a strong corduroy bridge. The
left hand trail, within a quarter of a 111ile, leads to" Clark's
Call1p; " this ,vas the first habitation seen ùy us since starting
frorn the Y o-Semite-distance, including five miles w'Ìthin the
valley, twenty-seven miles. The" Camp" consisted of one log
cabin of I)rimitive size, structure, and uses; one aparhnent
being alike kitchen, bed-room, and parlor, for the hermit occu-
pant-a nlan "\vedded to sincerity and solitude; of that cOI11Inin-
gled sense and sensibility "\vhich spurn the social unrighteous-
ness they will not imitate, and often shun; by seeking the com-
panionship of pure and undisseln bling l1atur
. The frequent in-
trusions of "\vay,vorn travellers of the 1YIariposa trail on
Ir.
Clark, induced him to put up a tent for their use as a refectory,
and another for a dormitory in common for sleepers who may
not prefer to sit on a hig log hefore the can1p-fire all njght, and
perform the pantonlin1e of "nid, nid, 110ddin." He received us

MARIPOSA :MA:MMOTH TREES.

493

'with the easy politeness and unaffected ,velcome characteristic
of nature's noblemen; and doing the duties as weB as the hon-
ors of the hermitage, we were soon enabled to appreciate the
facility with ,vhich an earnest purpose can accommodate itself
to the prompting of hospitality, and the obligations it imposes.
Weariness and watching, with which our journey to and fro and
our three days of valley ,,-andering hadlnac1e us falniliar, "ere
both appetizer and anodyne, and made the homely fare sweet,
and a rude cot refreshing. The cock's clarion sUilllfions, of un-
,routed shrillness in this clear and tranquil air, called us forth
to break the ice for our morning wash; and then to luxuriate
in the glow of a camp-fire that knew no restriction of fuel "where
fallen forest trees ,yere clunberers of the ground.
Breakfast finished, '\\e saddled up for the "
Iariposa
Iam-
moth Trees," our guide in the leaù disdaining dependence on a
horse, and with his unerring rifle in hand to replenish his larder
with a bear, should one cross his path; his head uncovered b
r
hat, though well lined with knowledge; and his heart respon-
sive to generous emotions, and luunane in1pulses, though beat-
ing under a check shirt solely. First, over a wild meado,,-, and
then in a southeast,vardly direction up a gradual ascent of
probably twenty-five hundred feet aboye the bed of the South
Fork of the Merced, ,ye rode fi,e lniles, ""hen a sligIlt descent
brought us suddenly upon the remains of a lllastodon óf the
vegetable kingdom. It lay, as if to challenge aluazement, at

the threshold of the forest 1vhose wonderful precincts 1ve were
about to enter-lneasuring seyenty-five feet in circulnference at
its butt, and two hundl'ed and fifty-nine feet in length to an
end of its trunk, marked by the ravages of fire. There have
been three groves of these
Ialnmoth Trees discovered and ex-
plored in California. One, of a hundred and three trees., with-
in an area of fifty acres in Calaveras County, discovered in 18:52 :
a second, that I anl now describing, discovered by
lr. Galen
Clark our host and an exploring coinpanion, and then situated
in ]'Iariposa County-hence its nalne-but no,v embraced with-
in the limit:") of the ne'w County of Frezno, anù containing six
hunch'ed and thirty trees ill its Þ,vo subdivisions, covering a sec-
tion of land of six hundred and forty acres: and a third grove,

494:

MARIPOSA MAMMOTH TREES.

also in Frezno County, about eight miles south of the last
named, dißcovered also by 1t1r. Clark, called the Frezno Grove,
and nUlnbering about five hundred trees. Another considerable
grove is said to have been found about twelve miles east of
the Frezno Grove, on the head waters of the San Joaquin
River.
While some botanists consider the JY1ammoth Tree as form-
ing a new genus, others regard it as belonging to the falnily of
Taxodiums, and have designated it " Washingtonia gigantea."
The wood of the Big Treeê is of a light reddish color, not dense,'"
and so devoid of sap 1110isture as to appear seasoned as they
stand. The bark is frOlTI a foot to a foot and a half in thickness,
and nearly as light and dryas cork. l'he nearest approach to ..
thenl in general appearance, but not in size, is presenteù by the
Arbor Vitæ cedar, of which numerous fine specimens are found
in the vicinity; yet the bark of the cedar although of the same
cinnarnon color, is more deeply furrowed longitudinally, while
its limbs are lnore numerous and branch from the trunk lower
down, and the Big Tree foliage resenlbles more closely that of
the pine. The author of an " Overland Journey to California,"
says he "believes these trees no,v bear no seed-cone, or nut,
whatever they may have done in Scipio's or Alexander's tirne,
and there. is no known means of propagating their kind." And
in an explanatory note, adds: "I sa,v no cones on any of the
giants, tbough they vvere season." 1\11'. Clark, one of the dis-
coverers, and the guide and guardian of the Mariposa Grove
expressed his surprise at this statelnent, pointed out to us
numerous seed-cones on several of its patriarclls; and in further
correction, 'v hile it showed his accuracy of ahn, raised his rifle
arld brought one of them to the ground from the brow of the
"Grizzled Giant." lIre Clark has a standing order froln the
dealers in seed in San Francisco for all the cones he can furnish,
to supply the great dernand on foreign account for public and
private parks. 'Vhile Alnerica is negligent of all lneans to pre-
fierve froln destruction by fire this great connecting link of the
ancient world ,vith the present, Europe is studious of efforts
to perpetuate the grandeur of its creation, in her o,vn soil,
The author aboye referred to says also that he" did not per-

MARIPOSA 'M A "\ßf OTH TREES.

495

ceive a single young tree coming forward to take the place of
the decaying patriarchs." This was not surprising, if his exam-
ination of the grove was as hurried and imperfect as that of the
Yo-Semite. There are aU gro,vths, from the birclten 'pod in

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J) FOLU.GE OF THE Ylllliorn TREE.

size to the stalwart tree; and the fonner might be appropriately
applied to tbe shoulders of one, who, by his own acknowledg-
ment, arrived at the Yo-Semite at one o'clock À.
r. and left it
at two P. M. of tbe same day, thirteen hours only being devoted
to sleeping, breakfa
ting, dining, and-Oh ! marvellous man I-to
exploring the Yo-Semite! Mr. Olark expressed tbe opinion

496

MARIPOSA :MA1tIMOTll TREES.

that these trees once had extensive existence in the Nevada
Range of ltIountains, and that they had been near1y all de-
s troyed by earthquakes and by the fires of olden tribes of In-
dians. '\Vill not California devise some means of preserving the
remaining bequest, of which she has become the residuary
legatee

There are other kinds of trees scattered about-firs, pines,
and cedars, beautiful specÎ1ncns of their species, b
t pigmies by
the side of the giants of which ,ve bave been speaking; the
undergrowth in fact of these forest mammoths. The size of the
rernains of the" Prostrate ltlonarch" at the entrance of the
grove has been referred to. The following are my own measure-
ments of a few others, among the most conspicuous met ,vith in
our ramble. That known as the" Grizzled Giant" lneasured,
at three feet above the ground, ninety feet in circlunference.
The "Faithful Couple," united below and separated above,
have a circumference near the earth of ninety-eight feet.
Another tree near by, a short distance above the ground gave a
circumference of ninety-one feet. The" Riding School," still
standing, although luuch burnt inside as well as outside, has a
diameter ,vithin, of thirty-three feet in one direction, and thirty-
four feet in the opposite. Our three horselnen rode through its
charred door,vay and trotted around its interior. The" Great

Western Sn10ke Stack," burnt do'\vn to a height of fifty feet, and
charred within and without, measured eighty-four feet in cir-
cumference. The" Grizzly's Den "-kno'\vn as the former
haunt of a bear-a partially burnt trunk broken into t,vo pieces
by falling, formed the section of a tunnel of t,vellty-five feet
length, at eighty feet from the stU1l1p, through which ,\ye rode
,ýith head-room to spare. Another fallen trunk, partiall
y burnt
at one hundred" feet froTH the r,9ot rJ leaving an arch above like
the span of a bridge, afforded sufficient height for a horsell1all
to ride under without being able to touch it ,vith the tip of his
finger, though standing in his stirrups. A tree of beautiful pro-
portions ,vhich had escaped the scathing flan1es, n1easured, a
yard from the ground, ninety-seven feet in circumference. The
prostrate remains of the" Forest Mastodon," nearly destroyed
by fire, were examined with great care and interest. Its dialIl-

MARIPOSA M.A.YMOTH TREES.

497

eter at tbe butt by accurate llleasurement is thirty-three feet.
divested of sap-w'ood and bark. Add two feet on each side for
these-a D1inimum allowance for a tree of this size-gives a
diameter of thirty-seven feet; which lllultiplied by three and its
proper decimal, shoW's the circumference of this 1110nster tree,
fairly above the swell of its roots at the surface of the earth, to
have been one hu'nd7 ' ecl and siæt
en ..feet and ninety-se
'en one
Ilundl'eth8. X early a hundred feet of the trunk still remains;
which
with the trench supposed to have been fOrIllerlyoccupied
by that part ,vhich h3.5 been destroyed, and a presumptive esti-
mate of its branching portion, justi(y the conclusion that, when
it stood the nlonarch of this forest, its height probably exceeded
four hundred feet. It was obser'
ed that these lingering 1110nu-
lnents of past ages occupy a basin of the ridge 'we ascended to
reach them, ,,-here they have been sheltered from fierce winds;
"hich, in consequence of their great height and weight they
could not have so long ,,-ithstood, on hin-side and summit.
Xumerous fanlÍly groups of two and three trees, doubtless hav-
ing srrung from the same seed-cone, are found, which contrib-
ute to dh'ersify this forest scenery.
We returned to the calllp shortly after nightfall; and the next
morning parting froIH our host with a respect which strengthened
,vith our stay, ,ve struck a nearly due ,vest course for the to,\'n of

Iariposa, twenty-five Iniles distant, cr03sing first the South Fork
Ridge, in descending 'which glimpses were caught of the undulat-
ing outline of the Coast :Mountains frOln sixty to seventy n1Ïles dis-
tant; while the magnificent growth of pines, cedars, anù balsanl
firs, long our finger-posts of altitude, gradually disappeared,
and '\\ere folloW'cd nearly altogether by oaks in the Cho,vchilla
Valley. The author of an " Overland Journey" was astray of
geographical accuracy when he stated that from this point his
"range of vision extended south to the Tulé lake, or Ílnmense
morass in
chiclt tIle San Joaquin has its source..' Whatever
former guess-'\\ork may have represented. it '\\as established at
the time of his WTiting, by United States" Explorations and Sur-
veys for a railroad route frOlll the Mississippi lliver to the Pa-
cific Ocean,.' published by Congress, tbat the San Joaquin River
rises in the Siel ' ra Ne
'ada, ea.st of tbe point indicated, not soutlt
nC)
v....

498

MARIPOSA-BEAR VALLEY.

in tAe Lake Tulare j nor does it at any part of its course approach
nearer than probably fifty miles of the lake. 1\fy engineer
fello\v traveller informeù me that a late State survey, n1ade to
ascertain if t11e lake and its morass could be drained by a canal
into the San Joaquin, resulted in the discovery that the reverse
would occur if the canal were dug, the lake occupying a lower
level than tbe river, as far as the confluence of the 1\Ierced Riv-
er witb the latter. King's River, which rise
but a few miles
from the source of the San Joaquin in the Sierra Nevada,
actually flo,vs south,vest\vardly into tlie lake.
In crossing the dividing ridge west of Chowchilla Creek, we
observed, as in SOllie other parts of California where oaks and
pines are found in the same localities, the singular results of the
industry and providence of El Oarpintero-so called by the
Spanish settlers-the carpenter of the feathered family: the
trunks of pine trees having their soft bark bored over the ,vhole
surface except near the ground, as if "\vith brace and bit, by this
California wood-peckel', which is seen in autu1I1n 'with its red,
white, and black plulnage, glean1ing in the sunshine, the busiest
of the busy, foraging about and depositing in every hole an
acorn. It has been denied by some that this cåche-ing is to be
regarded as an instinctive storage of food for future use. But
such objectors attempt no explanation of this invariable habit
of that bird; while the argulnent that the acorns often relnain
unconsumed is without force, for if the crop has been veryabun-
dant, and the ground uncovered by sno,v, there is no need of
the provision stored aw"ay. But even in that case, the wornlS
formed in the acorns in the spring, are used as food especially
for the young bird. The 1\Iariposa herlnit, a close observer of
Lature, is my authority for this statement.
1Ylariposa Creek succeeded the " divide" on the line of our
route, along \v hich ,vere seen unsightly' heaps of boulders' and
gravel, scarred hill-sides, and trenches, destructive of the
beautiful face of nature, ,vhile they lliark the untiring search
for gold 'wherever water could be made tributary to its disen-
gagement from earth and stone. IIo,v widespread the surface
from ,vhich the soil is being rellioved, and ,vhere quartz is being
pulverized in countless tons, to pollute the crystal streall1S, fin

GOLD-
G.

499

up the channels of rivers, anà form flats. and bars in the straits
and bays of this State! A mile and a half further brought us
to the to,,-n of Mariposa-distance from Clark's Camp twenty-
five roUes-with a population of four hundred persons, chiefly
engaged in Inining and furnishing supplies to miners.
We found a good hotel at
Iariposa, at which we rested for
the niO'ht. Next roornin!! we started for CouIterville, t\vel ve
ð ......
n1Îles and a half westwardly to Bear Valley, and thence tbe
same distance in a generally nortlnvest direction to our destina-
tion. K otbing worthy of mention was seen on the now well-
traveIled road to the village of Bear Valley. .Jo.
short distance
beyond it we began the long and steep descent to the Merced
River, passing through the Mariposa gold quartz luining prop--
erty, the title to which, bought of a Mexican by Gen. Fremont,
as a cattZf3 rancne on the fine botton1 lands, the latter, prompted
by "prudential considerations," is said to haye "engineered'"
so as to elnbrace a gold quartz vein, suòsequently disco'L'e1
ed 'l
n
thø adjacent hills. A very precipitous and dangerous looking
railroad track of several miles, conveys the rock from its quar-
ries to lnills for crushing and the other necessary processes of
separation of tlJe metal. There are seven mills on the estate,
two run by water anti five by steam-pow.er, making a total of
one hundred and sixty-eight stampers. The gold product of
this estate hag been represented to be large, though there are
lnany persons in California ,,
ho believe that to promote politi-
cal aspirations it has been greatly overstated, ,vhile the almost
universal opinion is, that whatever may be the product, it all
passes into the hands of mortgagees, the property being 60 heav-
ily encumbered by debt as to he profitless to the non1inal pro-
prietor, who thus is seen in n10re ways than one to have" held
a barren sceptre in his gripe." The estate was designated by
tbe old Spanish settlers, and is still known as Las ....."1lCl1.i.posa8-
the Butterflies. It has certainly proved a butterfly to Gen. Fre-
mont, .with gilded w.ing8, too, which bear it off to beautify tbe
gardens of other persons.
An occasional opportunity has been afforded on this road to
see the primitive Spanish-American method of quartz crushing
by the rastl'a, ,vhich consists of a circular trough paved ,vith

500

GREAT INTERIOR BASIN.

flat stones, in the centre of which is an upright revolving shaft,
through which a horizontal pole passes, a short end being
chained to a heavy granite block ,vithin the trough, while the
longer end serves as a lever by which a mule on the outside
drags the heavy stone around the circular trough, and reduces
to powder the gold-bearing quartz, broken as for the stamping
mill and thrown within. Quicksilver thrown in amalgamates
the gold particles, while the pasty pulverized quartz flo,vs off
with the water turned in for the purpose. The more expedi-
tious iron stamping-mill has nearly entirely superseded ell'astra.
Descending the south bank of
{erced River from the l\fari-
posa mills, the method of turning the course of large rivers to
.explore the bottoln for gold was seen. Dams are built, the river
of course not bøing in freshet, and the entire strealn is thus di-
verted into canals along the river bank, or into strong flulnes
built above the middle of the bed of the stream. Undershot
waterwheels, placed over these, are turned by the flow of the
artificial currents, and by means of horizontal shafts work pun1ps
to keep the river-bed free of ,vater. Thus every pocket and
crevice lnay be searched for the golden deposits washed down
from the hills, or worn from their bases, and froln the outcrop-
ping quartz rock which sometin1es tr..'1.verses the river-bed.
Sluices and amalgamation, as already described, finish the work.
Four miles do,vn the Merced ,vas crossed by a ferry-boat.
Tbence by the north bank of the river a great part of the way,
the road ,vith slight improvelnent might be travelled in a buggy
to Coulterville, ,vhere we arrived at 5 P. M., and left at one next
morning by stage for Stockton, ,vhich we reached at 3 P. M.,
with an hour to spare before the starting of the steamboat for
San Francisco. We descended the San Joaquin, ,vhich, with
the other principal river of California, the Sacramento, and
their Rlunerous eastern tributaries, drain tbe auriferous region,
and run through the great interior basin of the State, 'which has
a length of three hundred and fifty miles, and a breadth vary-
ing from fifty to seventy; and finally after flo,ving, the San J Ofi-
quin north, the Sacramento south, they meet lnid,vay, to Iningle
their ever muddy streams, and nlake their way "restward through
a gap of the Contra Costa and Mount Diablo Coast Mountains,

GREAT n."fERIOR BASIN.

501

and then between them and the San Francisco or Coast Range
proper by the Bays of San Pablo and San Francisco, and finally
by the Golden Gate to the Ocean.
San Francisco ,vas reached early next morning, the trip to
the Yo-Semite and the Mariposa Big Trees being not hurriedly
Inade in thirteen days.

of

.

OHAPTER XXXI.

VOYAGE TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

REGULAR Liners profess to run between San Francisco and
Honolulu; but the fulfilment does not ahvays correspond with the
profession, hence passengers often avail of chance traders for
that yoyage to avoid detention, and the extortion of monopo-
lists. The clipper ship" Rapid" sailing under the Danish flag,
was up for llong Kong, via the Hawaiian Islands j and being
bound rnyself

"From the orient to tIle drooping west
Making the wind my post horse, to unfold
The acts commenced,"

I took passage on board of her for IIonolulu, the capital of the
islands. The HaV\raiian I{ingdoln, a constitutional monarchy,
and ackno,vlec1ged independent government, conducts its func-
tions and maintains its international relations, under that name,
derived from its great island of Hawaii, ,vhich forms two-thirds
of its territory; and thus designating the group-flawaiian
Islands-it is, to say the least of it, an ÎInpertinence in foreigners
to insist on calling them Sand"rich Islands, a nanle having no
:fiÞ
ess beyond that too common among Anglo-Saxons, coming
of self conceit, national vanity, or the motive of personal interest
prompting a servile flattery. Because Captain Cook, the discov-
erer, desired to Inanifest his gratitude to his patron, the Earl of
Sandwich, is no sufficient reason to the rest of mankind for the
un\varrantable presulnption. And as to the incorrect orthogra-
phy Owhyhee for IIaw'aii, if pardoned in view of misapprehension
at the tÎlne of the discovery, it certainly should not be l>erpetu-
ated in any of the geographical publications of the present day.

VOYAGE TO THE HA.:WATIÅJ.""i ISLANDS.

503

.....
steaul-tug w'ould have carried our ship to sea in less than
an hour, but between baffling "inds and flood tides she did not
get outside of the ... heads" ,,-ithout such assistance for lllore
than a day after we went aboard. Parsimony in this matter is
sometinles bad policy, especially "hen tbe chances are consid-
ered of being beached in beating tbrough "The Gate.' under a
compulsory pilot law, ,,,,hose often incompetent agents are the
offspring of party machinery, and "bo a "eek ago succeeded ill
piloting thpee vessels a8hoJ'e.
Our good ship once fairly out, bore away southwest by south,
and sprung upon her long course of from two tbousand, to two
thousand two hundred n1Îles to IIonolulu, according to her
steerage, under a stiff west by north breeze at a speed of nine
knots, 'Which 'Was increased next day to ten knots. Most of the
passengers paid the usual tribute to X eptune, and manifested theh
sympathy ,vith his reckless and upheaving ocean by correspond
ent deeds. Even the Chinamen, of '\vhom there 'Were lllany on
board, 'Who had before crossed the Pacific in quest of golden
favors, v.
ere, after being duly purified of sins against their na-
tional dietetic usages, compelled to seek in the ship's hold the
forlorn hope of relief afforded by darkness and a bunk. A few.
days of favoring \vind wafted us to the" horse latitudes" of
seamen, about 30 0 north, more appropriately called by Maury,
the h Belt of Calms of Cancer." .....\..nd here ,,"e were destined to
realize the truth of that distinguished savant's theory of atmos-
pheric circulation as applied to this tropical region; and it was
gratifying while reflecting on the illustration before us, to read
in the last number of Black,yood's )Iagazine, 'which formed a
part of our mental sea-stores, the following ,rell-deserved com-
pliment. Contrasting Captain
Iaury's Sailing JJÙ'ectioJZs with
the British JIanual fop ......'{aval Ojfice}18, the reviewer says: ..
" 110"''' different it is in the Aillerican work before us ! Here is
a subject, in the abstract hopelessly dry, treated in a manner
that, from the opening of the book to its close, never tires; and
""ye shut it w'ith a detern1Ïnation to know III ore of the many in-
teresting features of the ocean. The American hydrographer,
in nervously eloquent language, has sun1med up the evidence of
man upon the laws governing the great ,vaterJ' elrulcnt caned

504

VOYAGE TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

ocean, and of the atmosphere which envelopes it, and \vell describes
the close affinity between the t\vo. He dwells upon the telnper-
ature of each, and its life and death creating consequences-of the
,vinds which blow over the surface of the waters, and of the
climates through ,vhich they togethel- roll. Not only does he
treat of the anÎInate and inanin1ate products of the sea, and of
the currents ,vhich circulate through its ,raters, and impart life
and action to its uttermost depths; but to Captain 1\Iaury we
are indebted for much information-indeed for all that Inankind
possesses-of the crust of the earth beneath the blue waters of
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. IIopelessly scientific ,vould
all these subjects be in the hands of Inost men; yet upon each
and all of them Captain 11aury enlists our attention, or charms
us with explanations and theories replete with originality and
genius. IIis is, indeed, a nautical Inanual, a handbook of the
sea, investing with fresh interest every wave that beats upon our
shores; and it cannot fail to aw'aken in both sailors and lands-
men a craving to know more intimately the secrets of that
wonderful elelnent. The good that 1faury has done, in awaken-
ing the powers of observation of the officers of the royal and
mercantile navies of England and America, is incalculable."
Such candid complhnent is as honorable to the revie\ver as
to the reviewed. IIo,v superior to the jealousies and detractions
of a narro'\v-lninded national antagonislll !
Truly did we, "at this part of the voyage, verify the declara-
tion of tlw preacher-" The wind goeth to,vard the south, and
turneth about unto the North; it ,vbirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth again according to its circuits." For on
entering this '1nal' tranquilla, we found that the passage ,vinds
"wll
ch had thus far sw"ollen our ,velcorning sails, had either
· folded their wings in sleep, or like their feathered cornra
es,
weary of follo\vil1g the patient vessel on her changeless course,
or obedient to natural laws, had started on their upvlard and
home,vard stretch to cool thelnselves again in polar regions;
leaving us to the careless sport of the ocean s,velI, whose "rise
and faU "like that of railroad stocks, gave little prolnise of reali-
zation of hope to those lnost interested-the representatives of
Dona fidø investment. We spent four days, including a Sunday,

.

VOYAGE TO THE llAW.A.I1AN ISL.A...'IDS.

505

in a. patient waiting for the desired activities of the morrow;
faithfully observing that Sabbath according to the approved
formulary of some self-complacent sanctimonious communities,
,vh
se sleep on that day, at home and in church, is the rule of
practice, as ,veIl as the least committed offence against God;
interrupted it Jnlly be by occasional reflections on a meditated
speculation, or on a less venial schenle of Inercantile fraud, or of
political fraud or partisan atrocity, devised in monlents of pro-
- .
fessed sanctity, to be matured a
d executed regardless of divine
inculcations.
A breath of air scarcely recognized by the dog-1Xtne, a barely
discernible surface current, and passive swells moving in gentle
undulations in the same direction, finally hot'e us over the south-
ern edge of the calm belt in latitude 26 0 north, and the gleesome
fl'ade
cind from the northeast came whistling through the rig-
ging to cheer ,vith its merry strain, and remind us that nature
bas her unvarying compensations. The :flapping sails of the
" Rapid, -, answering to the 8ulnmons, swelled in graceful curve;
while spars bending, and cordage tightening under the inspiring
impulse, a\vay sbe darted again; and many a thougbt ,yas giv-
en as we were ,vafted by the steady trade wind-the mariner's
constant and unfailing friend-over the blue bosoln of this
Inajestic ocean, to the incidents of discovery which have invested
it with a strange interest, and even romance.
r\.nd fronl thought
of the adventures' of Cook, La Perouse, Adams, and "\r ancouver,
it was natural in a specially utilitarian age, and under the in-
fluence of contact with Californian energy and progress, to reflect
on the rapidly-developing wants of this vast theatre of com-
merce, and on the results to flow to the nationalities on its bor-
ùers, when they shall be brought by projected enterprises into
free intercourse with each other. England and France bursting
the chain which fetters Asiatic trade, while also engaged in open-
ing another and shorter avenue of intercourse with the hundreds
of millions peopling that great continent and its neighboring
islands; while Russia and Anlerica, with tbe sanle object in
view, s<!ek to rernove oriental prejudice and suspicion by a mo:re
persuasive appeal and policy; California too bringing to her
shores the misguided victims of restriction, to realize the advan-

.

506

VOYAGE TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLA..L"ffiS.

tages of commercial interchange, and u. new and extended field
of industry.
Ho\v exalted must be the spiritual enjoyments of the early
navigators ,vho discovered the Pacific islands, if permitted to
behold the part they are fast taking in the development of hu-
man intercourse! Depots of supply, dock-yards of repair, life-
buoys of the shipwrecked, resting-places of the \veary, finger-
posts for the doubtful, and truly emerald spots of hope and
promise to the ll1ariner, causing his eye to beam with joy as they
rise upon his sight, and moisten vdth sadness as they fade again
fronl view. And none of thel11 are 1110re inlportant in this
pledge and reality of usefulness, than those of the I-Iawaiian
group; standing as they do l11idway between Panama and
China, and on the route, and one-third of the distance between
the most enterprising and the richest portion-whether in re-
gard to mineral or agricultural resources-of the Pacific front
of An1erica, and that opposite coast of Asia, the prodnctiol1s and
treasures of \vhioo, fabulous as they are represented in oriental
tales, 111ay be surpassed by the results of an impulse inlparted
to industry by contact \vith European and American civiliza-
tion and itnprovelnent, science, skill, and enterprise.
Our voyage is 110t \vanting in variety. 'Ve are happy in
having a polite and intelligent comulander, Captain 1vföller, a
Dane, and a Danish crew, quiet, sober, orderly, obedient, and
active seamen. Besides the cabin passengers, there are more
than a hundred Chinese on board; yet such is the attention to
cleanliness, ventilation, and general good managelllent, that 'we
"'would be insensible of their being fellow-voyagers, but for their
occasional presence on the forecastle, in quaint blue nankeen
Jàcket and ,vide trowsers, queue long enough to tickle their heels,
religiously preserved through all vicissitudes of fortune, and
without ,vhich disgrace ,vould attend their return to thei"r na-
tive land; ,vith conical hat, or skull-cap, and a demure de-
meanor, quite puritanical in its type. The study of their hab-
its fron1 the use of chopsticks in eating to the oblivious enjoy-
ment of opium smoking, for which 111any of them, like our
whiskey drinkers, \vill mortgage body and soul, served to vary
the monotony of the voyage, which ,vas a1so spiced by the va-

VOYAGE TO THE HA"TÅILL.
ISL
--r>S. 507

rieties of a sea DOt always pacifical1y incJinec1, Vt?hatever its name
Inay ilnply; for old Ocean, disposed to assert for a time its pre-
rogati ve of capriciously administering penal inflictions, reminded
me of the rough discipline of a pedagogue-may his committed
cruelties, as well as his omitted duties, no longer rise in judg-
ment against hÌ1n !-who once reined and ruled in my native
tow'n. The words are to be taken literally, for he achieved a
perfect success in 'J'estraining the young idea, by beating the
pupil,vith a l'ulel ' he was thus familiar with the use of, in a
Inanner that dwarfed any gerln of kno,vledge that may ha\e
taken root in his aching brain. Our experience in latitude 23 0
K. ,vas like a practical boxing between seas coming from two
opposite points of the cOlnpa
s, alternately trying 'which could
hit the "Rapid" the hardest blow, and produce the greatest
consternation in state-rOOln and cabin. Going directly before
the wind, with no opposing force to steady the ship thus receiv-
ing lateral shocks, the largest latitude of rolling ensued, "ith a
consequent vacation of berths, in disregard oi the proprieties
of toilet. As to the perfornlances of the dinner-table, when the
curtain rose on that "colnec1y of errors," the manner in 1\hich
dishes danced, castors
apered, plates polka'd, claret chassé'd,
decanters dos-a-dos'd, and an, including the passengers, finally
participated in a promiscuous ho-down, those only can judge of
".,.ho ha-\e been actors in such a scene. Fortunately a day of
such infliction was all we Trere at this time caned on to endure,
or despite the steward's precautions of table-racks anù sand-
bags, the ,. Rapid's" entire pantry would probahly have served
to exemplifJY the poet's" wreck of matter."
The propitious trade-wind bore us to the north of the island
of Hawaii, not seen in the distance, against the highlan4s of
which it "caroIlled," rebounding with diminished force on OUT
port side. \Vith less of headway we then skirted the islands of
l\Iaui and 1I:olokai, and passing through the channel between
the latter and Oahu, were caught up again by a spanking breeze
and wafted along the breaker-bordered shore of that island, lofty
hills rising in the background to bathe tt.eir brows in the va-
pors of the northeast trades. But a brief space elapsed ere pass-
ing Coco Point, ,\?hen a pilot coming aboard off the little cres-

508

VOYAÇtE TO TilE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

centic Bay of Waialae, he took the helm and doubled the bold
headland of Diamond Point, an extinct volcanic crater abruptly
terminating a range of hills running from the interior toward
the sea. From this point, five or six nlÎles froln IIonolulu, the
shore line for nearly that distance was seen prettily bordered by
the tropical cocoa and tutui trees; the ocean swells breaking
over the coral reef, and rolling. their ,vhite fringe up the yello,,

sands to kiss the feet of those wav-ing banners of peace that
cease not to ,velcome the weary lIlariners of all countries. .A
relIlarkable entrance through the reef to the harbor of the cap-
'ital has been left by nature, a tortuous channèl a Inile long,
from one hundred and t,yenty to two hundred and twenty yards
wide, the least depth of water being t".enty-tw.o feet, opening
into a port of perfect security, ,vith roon1 for b\TO hundred ves-
sels. The fact that an entering vessel ,you1d have to sail in the
""ind's eye" coming down the N uuanu V àlley, and incur the
risk of going on the reef, has made a stealn-tug a necessity of
navigation for safety. 'Ve tb!e,v it a hawser wben it puffed its
high-pressure salutation across the bow of the" Rapid," which,
furling sails, surrendered herself to the blustering little craft,
and passing frolll the deep blue of ocean to the green of sound-
ings, and then through the miJky-tinted waters of the submerged
reef, bounded on each side by a 1110re superficial coral bank, ,ve
anchored in the inner harbor on the thirteenth day of the voyage
froin San Francisco.

.

CII.APTER XXXII.

HAWAIIAN ISLA.::'iDS-llOXOLULU A
"'D ITS E
TIROXS-HAWAIIA
CUSTOMS-THE KI,So-
A VULGAR DIPLO:llAT-HOSOL"['LU SOCIETY-PUBLIC BUILDL"lGS-XCUAXU T' ALLEY-
THE P .ll.I-W A..IKIKI-LE...\.HI-W AIALAE-W AIALUPE-MA..
OA V ALLEY-O.A.HU COLLEGE
-MISTAKEX SYSTE
[ OF EDt'CA..TIOX-PUAllI.

THE Ha-waiian Islands are grouped in a sOlnewhat crescentic
forn1, with a convexity presenting to the northeast, and lie be-
tween the parallels of 18 0 50' and 22 0 20' north latitude, and
west longitude 154 0 53' and 160 0 15'. There are eleven of
theIn, of 'w
ich three are but barren rocks and uninha1ited.
The other eight, named from northw'est to southeast, are Niihau,
ICauai, Oahu, )Iolokai. Lanai, Maui, I\:ahoolawe, and Hawaii.
The 'whole embrace an area of nearly sixty-one hundred square
nÜles, of ,,-.hich Ila".aii contains two-thirds, its superficial extent
being fOUl' thousand square miles.
Although IIa\vaii is Inost distinguished for size, agricultural
capacity, and physical grandeur, Oahu, from its more central
position, and froill the influence of general maritime interests
and trade, has asserted political supremacy, and on it is the cap-
ital of the kingdom, Honolulu, a nalne implying, it is said, "011
the back of, to leeward," because it is beyond the Jnountains,
and protected by them frolll the northeast trade-".inds.
No equally slnall part of the New "T orld has been so mi-
nutely described as the Ha,,-aiian Islands. The Pacific com-
lnerce has Bought their welco111ing harbors wherein to fold its
weary wings, ,,-hile ,,'balers, ,,"orn with toil, have gladly escaped
froin polar stOrIUS, to rest and refit in their genial atInospherc.
The mariner has ofttimes told his talc of wonder, and awakened
in the hOlnes of civilization a peculiar interest in the beings who

510

IIA 'v AIIAN ISLANDS.

people these fairy isles. The American Inissionary, too, has
penetrated their every nook, and unwilling to hide his light un-
der a bushel, has Inultiplied and magnified descriptions to super-
fluity. If to these sources of information the labor of the his-
torian be added, for Hawaii has now a recorded past, and tbe
official reports of scientific explorers, it may well be supposed
that the proposal to "'"rite any thing new on tbis subject ,voulc1
be hopeless, especially if undertaken by one ,vho but skiulS tbe
surface before him, vdth an eye rarely withdrawn fron1 an ob-
ject of special duty. But the figures of the kaleidoscope please,
although each turn of the toy, while it destroys one illusion,
gives no trace of connection ,vith anotber. Each presents its
distinctive attraction, and comes of a separate creation. Thus it
is ,vith ,vhat is presented in the rapidly-changing scenes before
me, novel, perhaps, and exciting, though disconnected and -val-
ueless; sketched, too, by a rude artist. Yet in some respects it
Inay be the turning of the kaleidoscope at least for rny a1nuse-
mente
The Ilawaiian Islands are i1ìdisputably of volcanic origin,
and present accordingly the bold and diversified features of that
character of creation. They seem to have been uplifted froin
the ocean successively fron1 northwest to southeast, J{auai having
been the first in the order of appearance. .And this opinion is
supported by the fact that that island, while it has but t\VO visi-
ble craters at its southeastern part only, all the others, which
doubtless formerly existed, being obliterated by age or concealed
by forests, possesses also in proportion to its size a greater 1)1'0-
portion of arable land, deeper soil, and more vegetation. Oahu,
the next island to the east, presents Inore numerous and palpa-
aole proofs of volcanic action. :1Iaui lifts its magnificent crater
of IIaleakala, worthy of being called by the natives" the
ouse
of the sun," more than ten thousand feet above tbe sea to attest
its origin; and IIa,vaii, the last and greatest of the insular se-
ries, still exhibits in fearful activity the sublhne agency to ,vhich
its creation is due. It is probable that these islands are in truth
the loftie
t volcanic peaks of a sub-oceanic Inountain range,
stretching from Niihau and l{auai, in the extrelne ,vest, to IIa-
waii, in the southeast. Oahu, on ,ybich we first landed, is dig-

OAHU.-HO:NOL'C'LU.

511

.
nified by the residence of Haw'aiian majesty; it is forty-six
miles long and twenty-five miles broad. 11ere is the capital
and chief cOln1l1ercial tow'n, Honolulu, standing on the southern
shore of a plain stretching nine or ten lniles ea::;t and west, and
varJying from one to t,vo miles wide, at the foot of a COITe-
sponding mountain range, "hich latter is cleft in twain by a
deep gorge, continuous with the beautiful X uuanu vaHey that
debouches at the back of the town. The plain is overlooked to
the east by Dialnond Head, and to the north by Punch-bowl
Hill, b,
o now extinct craters, the eruptions of which doubtless
in past ages formed them, as show'n by the substrata of lava,
asbes, and cinders, overspreading the deeper coral fOrIuations,
mingled 'with sea sediment, bones of fishes, and lllarille shells.
The accllffitùated mineral and '\egetable decay of centuries has
covered the plain and the valley, which opens upon it, with a
rich soil, the cultivation of ,vhich forn1s a setting of ß.O'\vers and
"Verdure to the capital. -
IIonolulu presents features in strange contrast, ,,,,hile some
are such 111ere shadings of diversity as to make it diffictùt to
determine in w'hat the difference consists. On landing, the
traveller is surprised at, the many signs of European civilization
in men, Dlanner
, and pursuit;:, for the Caucasian is seen to have
transplanted himself here ,vith his social habits, and his me-
chanical, n1anufacturing, and n1ercantile enterprise. While
gazing at the busy scene, in disdain of servile labor, stand the
sorrowing descendants of the once haughty and happy island-
ers, listless spectators of doings in which they can only partici-
pate as slaves, subject to the "ill of those "bo with speciou3
pron1Ïses bave lured the111 to corruption and decay, and 'VhOll1
they have learned to regard as the destroyers of their race.
True, Inongrelism is filling up the gap; and "hile it is approxi-
mating the e"\:tremes of physical characteristics, is also llloulding
the ,veaker nature into conforlnity ,,
ith the CustOIllS of the
stronger, or is crushing it out by that process of extinction
which comes of yices inculcated in greater proportion than nr-
tuc
. l\Iany hon::es of Inodern style, comu10dious and conven-
ient, are seen, built of dressed hunber, or of coral rock quarried
from the ocean-hed around the island, ,vhere those bu
y little

512

HONOLULU.

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architects, the reef-building polyps, have been through long
centuries rearing those '\vonderful sea-walls. But the native
hut, with its thick ,vall and roof of thatched grass, admirably
adapted to exclude the tropical heat of day, alld the cool air of
night, is still seen to assert its claÏ1n of priority, while the riva1
tastes of Old and of New England are struggling for predomi-

H.A. W AII
"i CLSTO
IS.

513

nance, botb, ho,vever, engrafting on their styles tbe essential
verandah of tbe tropics. A regard for the beautiful of nature
is observed, too, many of the residences being embowered in -
sbrubberyand :flowers, and some of the gardens are enriched
by exoties of wonderful beauty and great variety, preëminent
alllong ,vhich for variety and beauty are the extensive parterres
of an Irish lawyer and a German physician,

" Whose sandal groves and bowers of spice
1tIight be a Peri's Paradise."

The population of Honolulu and it3 suburbs, as shown by a
late census, is fourteen thousand, including two thousand seven
hundred foreigners. As the latter are shaping the political des-
tiny of the natives, so likewise are" they striving to direct tbeir
religious sentiments and social customs.
The Government of tbe Hawaiian kingdom is a constitu-
tional monarchy, formed upon the model of that of Great Bri-
tain, being vested in a king, house of nobles, and house of rep-
resentatives, while many of the features of its judicial system,
as "'''ell as its customs and n1unicipal organizations, are borro,ved
from tbose of the United States. The first constitution adopted
in 1840, guarantees liberty of conscience in religious opinion,
and the new laws of King l{amebanleha III. provides that" all
men residing in this kingdom shall bë allo,ved freely to worship
the God of the Christian Bible according to fhe dictates of their
own consciences." These are in conforlnity to the spirit incul-
cated by the faith of that religion; and it ,vould have been ""ell
for its interests, and for the welfare of the people it was in-
tended to redeem from error, if Protestant lnissionaries had in
all things been as consistent in practice as they professed to be
in doctrine, and thus exemplified the graces of charity. Äs to
social customs, these in part still illustrate the past. ,Vith lnany
of the natives there is a transition affectation of habits and man-
ners, grotesque in the extreme, while son1e have overcome en-
tirely their repugnance to foreign arrogance of superiority, and
strive to excel their exemplars in the absurdities of modern fa
h-
ion. Europeans anù A..mericans, at first shocked at the sight of ..
nude specimens of mankind, soon becallle reconciled to the study
33

514

HAWAIIAN CUSTOMS.

of physical development; and the illusion of a :fig leaf, in the
" mamucki "-breech-cloth-of women, and "maro" of men,
with the native brown complexion, aids in the conciliation of
delicacy by heightening the :fiction of bronze statuary. With
some an interest is felt in even a closer investigation, for the
Ha,vaiian :figure, particularly in the young, in consequence of
freedom from the restraints of dress, and from free indulgence
in the aquatic sports of the surf, is generally faultless. The
inhabitants of the towns being in closer contact with foreigners,
are more subject to their exalnple and influence; hence in these,
even alnong the poorest of the populace, sonle kind of garment
is worn in most instances; by the men, "kanakas," a coarse
cotton shirt and trowsers; the WOlnen, ",vahines," ,vearing a
calico slip, the gaudier the color the more prized, falling loosely
from a yoke at the shoulders, and without girdle or gathering.
Thus simply and singly attired, the wahines might by the stran-
ger be thought unattractive, but their profuse raven hair, usually
bound by a gay bandelet of feathers or ohia blossoms, softly
expressive dark eyes, pleasant countenance, erect figure, graceful
and steady carriage, coming of unsandal'd feet, soon command
for them that admiration of the gazer, nlore commonly given
than sought. It is on the occasion of an equestrian gala-day
that a IIawaiian belle sho,vs to the greatest advantage. Satur-
day afternoon is the tÏ1ne usually devoted to feats of horseman-
ship and general racing. Honolulu is in the saddle on that
day-that is if saddles can be had; if not, the barebacks of all
horses, mules, and donkeys are sure to be in demand, without
reference to caparisons; the steed, ho\vever, may not cOlllplain
of this naked exposure, for his rider is often in the saIne dilem-
ma. Urchin and adult seem emulous literally of "kicking up
the greatest dust," and the principal avenues of the town, .and
the plain east of it, become as invisible in the distance as if twi-
light had fallen upon theIne The mariner nearing tbe southern
coast of Oahu during such a revel, lnight ,veIl suppose that the
crater of Punch-bo\vl Trill had awakened froln its long sleep,
and was again l>elching forth its clouds of ashes over the devoted
city. N or is the kanaka and his youthful rival of the same
sex, those alone who at such tinles display feats of skill, daring,

HA W ATIAN CrrSTO:llS.

515

and fleetnes3. The wahine disputes with them the palIn of su-
periority, and as, astride of her flying steed, she startles the.
timid stranger with her boldness and address, her voluptuous
bust bending forward in graceful curve, supporting an un-
daunted head bound with a brilliant bandeau, and her" tie," a
riding-robe of orange or crimson calico encircling the waist,
hips, and legs, and thence suspended, w
ving' on each side like
triumphal banners in token of confident victorY1 a new-comer,
unused to such scenes of excitement, Inay justly concede to her
surpassing horsemanship, and its attendant intensity of anima-
tion, an admiration they never fail to challenge. The innova-
tion of side-saddle, with its awkward pommel, embarrassing
riding-habit, stiffened corsage, cravat, and jockey cap, may seem
very civilized, but unlucky will she prove who thus caparisoned
tmdertakes a tilt of equestrianism with a wild wahine, as free
and as fleet as the trade-w'ind that fans her open brow.
The domestic eco
omy of the Hawaiian who contemns for-
eign fashions is very simple. A grass hut of one or two apart-
ments serves for shelter; a split lauhalla leaf mat for bed and
ottoman, calabashes for cupboards and bo,vls, and poi as the
standard national food, compose the chief, and in most instances
tbe only requisites. Poi is a dish prepared from the root of the
taro (arum esculentum) somewhat reseinbling the potato in con-
sistence and nutritive pròpertie:;. These roots are beet-shaped,
from six to ten inches long, and thre
or four thick. They have
an acrid and pungent taste "yhen uncooked. This is removed
by baking or boiling. It is ,vhen subjected to the former pro-
cess in a shallow excavation of the earth lined with heated
stones, and covered by the same, and subsequently reduced by a
stone pestle to a pulpy mass, which is allo,ved to become sonr
by fermentation, that it forms the staff of life of these islanderrl;
who, however they may relish roast dog, pig, and dried fish, on
the occasion of a "luau," or feast, when intense
t sensualities
rule throughout the night, yet return again to the pleasures of
poi ,,,,ith rene"'"ed zest; and as they stir their fingers in the cala-
bash to secure its portion of the precious paste, ere poising it
,vith ,,"ondrous de-xterity above the uplifted 1nonth awaiting to
receive it, seem radiant with joy that they are not as that un-

516

THE KING.

natural part of nlankind, who prefer forks to fingers, and pud-
-ding to poi.
But it must not be supposed that the cultivation and refine-
lllent of lllodern civilization has no observers among these
swarthy islanders and their lighter-hued descendants. The king
and queen are ,veIl educated, intelligent, and courteous; of dig-
nified manners, becoming their position; and possessing a proper
appreciation of the influence of their example over their people.
The king has excellent judgIl1ent, good taste, kindness of lllan-
ner, and affability in social life; and on occasions of state, a
calm, thoughtful, self-possessed, gentlemanly, and impressive
deportment, commanding respect and adlniration, and ,vhich far
surpasses in appropriateness the ostentatious a\vkwardness and
rude an'ògance of some who are, unfortunately for their more
pretentious nationalities, appointed to represent these at his
court. On the occasion of an official presentation, it was \vith
mortification that several Americans witnessed the reception of
a Commissioner, ne.,vly accredited by their Government, whose
vulgarity was signalized by a Bowery costume of the rowdiest
style, by repeated expectorations of tobacco juice at the foot of
his majesty, to whorn he was addressing a speech in the naIne
of the President, and by his eInphatic announcement of gratifi-
cation that" during the short time that had elapsed since his
arrival in the kingdom he had been s.urprised at much that he
had seen, and especially by the fact that he had found the peo-
ple of these islands not to be half as savage and heathenish as,
from what he had heard and read, he expected to find theIn."
Kc:tmehameha IV. doubtless considered himself sufficiently re-
venged for this insult, by the self-disparagement of the Allleri-
can Government in the appointment of such a representative;
and appreciating his own self-respect and dignity too justly to
notice the impertinence, could not have failed to observe also in
the palpable mortification of the late CommissIoner, of the Flag
Officer of the Pacific Squadron and suite, and of others pres-
ent, a sufficient commentary on such official blackguardism.
To account for this diplomatic fauw pas, it may be mentioned
tbat the in.cumbent, in his elnigratioll from the northwest to
Oregon, bad always kept a/Lead of civilization, and that his

.

SOCIETY.-RELIGIO'GS PREFEREKCE OF THE KIXG. 517

occupancy of the chair of a frontier partisan newspaper, could
scarcely be expected to fit him for ministerial duties. If, how-
ever, such are to be regarded by the appointing power as proofs
of fitness for positions of delicate and responsible trust, the
United States Hlust expect an estimate to be put upon them by
foreigners, corresponding to the characters of those they accredit
a. broad.
The better educated few of the Hawaiians, especially the
women, mingle on terms öf equality .with foreigners in their
social circle at IIonolulu; nor is that circle disparaged by the
association, for in the lighter graces of fashionable life, music,
the dance, sprightly conversation, and pleasing deportment, it
would have been difficult at the private entertainments and pub-
lic assemblies I attended, to have selected among their Caucas-
ian sisters more attractive examples of these than were presented
by some of the fairer specimens of Hawaüan' belles.
Churches are sufficiently numerous, and worshippers profess
as diversified belief, and maintain their opinions with an inten-
sity of bigotry and bad logic, confornlable .-with the exalnple of
the teachers who train them. But of religion in these islands
something may be said when other opportunities shaIl have been
afforded to obtain full and satisfactory information. The royal
family have a preference for the profesc:.ion of faith and the rit-
ualism of the Church of England; and at their instance a
Bishop of that Chlu'ch, under the auspices of Queen Victoria,
was sent to the Haw.aiian Islands in 1862 formally to establish
and "further the good work of the English mission." This has
been the cause of a most extraordinary manifestation of jealousy
· and ill temper on the part of the Rev. Secretary of the Amer-
ican Board of COlnmissioners for Foreign Missions, who in a
recent book (1864) on the Hawaiian Islands, designates it" a
breach of that courtesy which is due from one Christian body
to another," and charges further that "in the hour of their vic-
tory a body of professed allies comes to us from the land of our
fathers, with the evident intent, if it ùe possible, of taking pos-
session of the field." Really Euch contracted feelings are un-
worthy of the professed objects of the enterprise in which the
Rev. Secretary boasts of having been long engaged.

518

NUUÂNU VALLEY.

The royal palace scarcely deserves the name. It is a plain
but commodious building, the chief lnaterial being the coral
rock which borders the seashore. The grounds are arnple,
adorned with trees, shrubbery, and flowers, substal1tiaHy en-
closed, and guarded by sentinels in showy unifornls.
A monument of the king's good taste and liberality, as well
as of his humane regard for the welfare of his subjects, is b.
large, admirably planned, and ,veIl-conducted hospital, in which
gratuitous accomlnodation and medical attendance are furnished
to those whom poverty and disease have made fit objects of sym-
pathy and care. The Governluent buildings, whether national
or municipal, deserve no special notice.
A principal object of natural curiosity on this island, is the
Pali--a precipice froll1 six to seven Iniles from IIonolulu, at the
north end of a vast gorge of the central nlountain chain which
traverses the island from east to west throughout nearly its
whole extent. The traveller lTIay Inake the trip on foot or
horseback-the latter being preferable unless he is a good pedes-
trian. Leaving the city in a northerly direction the N uuanu
valley is soon entered, the ascent of ,vhich from its southern ex-
panded embouchure, at first gradual, soon becomes steep; while
. the sloping foot-hills nearer the plain on which Honolulu stands,
becol11e lost in the nearly perpendicular mountain heights,
which, as the Pa1i is approached, encroach upon the rapidly-
narrowing pass like giant walls, covered ,vith all shades of
shrubbery and ',vild grass, that preserve a perpetual verdure
from the ceaseless distillation of the clouds al \vays hovering
&'-0011t the lofty SU1111nits overhanging the valley.
The pretty villas of foreign residents that stud the ,vider-
part of Nuuanu valley nearer the city, give place beyond to the
grass huts of natives, past whose doors mountain rivulets
hasten with merry note, giving 'velcome tribute to groves of
Roa, Tutui, IIibiscus, and Lauhala, sparsely scattered along the
way; and to the simple and patient people, ,vho desire no
sweeter beverage, and ,vho by little artificial canals divert theln
from their course to water their sunken beds of tal'õ, returning
them again to their natural channels to be similarly used by
each successive cultivator of that indigenous plant, which is

THE PALl.

519

both bread and meat to the Hawaiian. Small cascades occa-
sionalIy seek tbe admiration of' the passer-by; while one water-
fall, that of Keanuan2oo, of lllore pretension than the rest, chal-
lenges the excursionist some fifty or si.
ty yards off to come and
look at it Ìluuh1e from a perpendicular rock of fifty feet height,
into a pebbly basin beneath. The road becoming narrower
and rougher, finally leads to a rocky ledge, till'ning round which
to the right, a scene alike beautiful and grand is so suddenly
brought into view as to excite mingled awe and admiration.
Standing upon a small volcanic rock plateau, the trade-wind
rushing through the narrow gorge through which it is
approached, mth a fierceness that endangers his foothold, the
spectator sees so near that his brain grows dizzy at the sight, a
fearful precipice-known on this island as the Pal i-of six hun-
dred feet nearly perpendicular height from the plain at its foot;
the latter falling gradually as it stretches away to the north
tllany miles even to the ocean, so a:; to give the Pali an elevation
above the sea-level of eleven hundred feet.
The picture beyond is placidly beautiful. Sward and hil-
lock, grove and streamlet, hamlet and pathway, nature's wild-
nec:s and man's culture, blend in tranquil harmony, and present
a landscape of rare attractions; enclosed to the south by a cres-
centic F-weep of the mountain chain; and far sea'\vard as it soft-
ens in the distance, lilnited by a changeful edging of snowy foam,
that touches tbe dim outline with a new and fadeless charm.
And then, as if nature designed to startle man by her contrasted
creations, gazing upward he beholds overlooking even his oW1l
elevated standpoint the frowning peak of Konah'uan1d, proud
and 1mbf'ndillg, as when first the central :fires lifted it four
thousand feet above the sea, to bathe its brow eternally in the
trade-wind's misty breath. .....\.nd on the opposite side of tbe nar-
row gorge, the pointed basaltic rock shaft,.J,,' u1lanu nearly
rivalling Konahuanui in magnitude, and surpassing it in stern
and stately grandeur, looks scornfully too on the tranq1;lil vane
r
of J\:olau, and as the blast howls through the wild defile at tbeir
feet they seeIn thu
to give utterance to their contempt of its
humility.
....\. roug11, circuitous, and steep path, along the face of the

520

THE P ALT.

cliff on the east side of the Pali, is the avenue of cOlnmunication
with the district beyond the precipice. Over this the natives pass
to market ,vith the products of I{olau, principallJ carried in
huge calabashes s,vung in netting from the ends of a shoulder
pole. The existence of this path,vay, in the opinion of some per-
sons, refutes the tradition, commonly believed, that it ,vas over
the precipice of the Pali that many warriors of tbis island were
driven, and thus perished, after their defeat in a battle which .
was fought near the cascade of I{eahuamoo for independence,
against their invader Kalnehalneha the Great. But it is alto-
gether reasonable to suppose that Inany might thus have per-
ished in the confusion and panic of a general rout, from the
crowding of persons in the narrow pass and on the S111a1l plateau
of the Pali, all of ,vhom cOlùd not escape by one steep and con-
tracted pathway.
The unvarying Borean blast that bursts through the narrow
gorge formed by the riven mountain for more than two-thirds
of its height, and sweeps down the N uuanu valley to temper the
tropical heats of the capital, together with the daily recurring
showers which cover with perennial verdure that valley and the
mountain heights, are phenomena suggestive of inquiry, and
may be accounted for by the northeast trade-wind finding itself
hemmed within the vast crescent formed by the northern face
of the mountain chain, which thus becolnes an expanded funnel
to gather and direct the steady gale with the force of a hurricane
through the contracted neck of the Pali pass; the condensa-
tion of moisture drank by the trade-winds in their long ocean
p&.
sagc, being due in part as well to partial con1pression "with-
in the northern arc of the mountain, incident to Ílnpeded
escape, as to contact with the colder objects of an elevated
regIon.
The Hand of the Creator, among these everlasting records
orHis power, paints day by day with the sunbeam on the show-
er, the arc of IIis Covenant of Mercy. IIo\v happy the native
race, fast passing a ,vay before the Inalign agencies directed by
their more po\verful fellow-man, if they can see in this symbol
the promise of a more blissful destiny hereafter ! Then will
they, as they gaze in wonder and devotion at its Î1nperishable

WAIKIKI.

521

radiance, seek to preserve in the retirement of nature, away
froin the haunts of civilized vice, their simple and unvitiated
habits. And as they cultivate the verdant plain belo,v they will
recognize in its productiveness the goodness of Him w'ho planted
their land with abundance; and behold there alsO" the proofs of
His power and design in the miniature mountains scatter
d
broadcast, evidently the remains of those cones of eruption often
seen in the craters of active volcanoes, sometimes disappearing,
but finally becoming monuments of pre,ious phenomena,
when other outlets occur and the elelnents of destruction cease
to overthro'w them. It is probable that the ,yhole plain bet,veen
the Pali and the ocean was once an imlnense crater, of thirty or
forty miles circumference, the southern semicircular rim of
which only is now visible, the northern having been destroyed
by unrecognized agencies, and buried in the depths of the sea
that now rolls its surf above the sunken ruins.
In years gone by the whole seashore of Oahu was an unre-
stricted bathing-place, where the guileless islanders sported in
tbe surf, seeking health and vigor fronl the alluring waves.
Modern ministers of religion, assunllng, often as unfortunately
as gratuitously, to interpret and enforce modern civilization, now
,vie I ding a power wrested fronl the ancient IIawaiian priesthood,
have taóoo'd the universal custoIn, and proclaÏ1n the sill of ablu-
tion-except according to the gregarious usages of a fashionable
watering-place, consequently the tropical island of Oabu has no,v
its duly appointed bathing sea80n, and its duly assigned bathing-
place. lVaikiki-interpreted spouting water, frOIn the rollicking
breakers' feathery foam-about three miles east,vard of Honolulu,
is the reno"ïled spot at which its dusky denizens" do congre-
gate," when dust and dirt have sufficiently accumulated, accord-
ing to the established code, to Dlake a general ,vashing appro-
priate. 1.1. drive over a good road through surburbs of gra
s huts,
among taro patches, and across salt mar
bes that" might by
moderate enterprise anù industry be converted into productive
rice fielùs, soon brings the visitor to a cocoa-nut grove, "ithin
and beyond ,vhich, on tbe seashore, are th.e cottages for the
accommodation of the bathers, '\9ho provide themselves 'with
bed and board in the absence of hotels-a lucky necessity for

.

522

LE.AHI.-W AIALAE.-W AIALUPE.

those who need dietetic restrictions and renovation, rather than
the poisonous pandering to the palate of these modern caravan-
saries. Nearly three miles east of 'Vaikiki and beyond the old
native village of the saIne nalTIe, projects the bold proillontory
of Diamond IIead-the Hawaiian Leahi-among the most con
spicuous and distinctive objects of this island, and once seen
by the mariner remaining an unforgotten landlnark. Dia-
mond Head is an extinct crater, about a thousand feet above
the sea at its highest point, and may be ascended by anyone of
moderate strength and perseverance. A volcanic pit, two hun-
dred feet deep and probably three-fourths of a mile in diameter,
is found at its top, lined 'with vegetation, except at the middle,
where a small fresh,vater lake is forIned.
A ride round the IIead enables the excursionist to see its
massive buttresses, and the deep channels of its ancient lava
streams; and scattered about its foot beds of volcanic rock l11in-
gled confusedly ,vith coral, forluing a barrier to the encroaching
sea, the tides of which, however, flow among the gigantic fi'ag-
ments, uttering their hoarse song of triumph over its long since
extinguished fires.
Off the eastern face of the headland, in the sands of the sea-
shore, beyond the reach of ordinary high water, an immense
trench is found, in which lie innulnerable human bones piled in
indiscriminate confusion, and in every degree of disorganization;
SOlue few of them being perfect in structure, and bleached by
the sun, where disinterred by the northeast wind, forll1ing inter-
esting ethnological specimens. .L'\.re these the remains of the
v:
tin1s of war in the earlier battles of I{amehameha, ,vho landed
at Wiakiki, and ICalanikupule, the king of Oahu, for the pos-
session of this island
Or do theJ mark the resting-place away
from the homes of the panic-stricken people, of thousands ,vho
,vere suddenly swept a\vay by some epidcInic pestilence

Further along the shore, the few hamlets of TTTaialae are
seen nestled in a pretty grove. And a short distance beyond,
the grass huts of Waial
e cluster near the high hill of J\Iauna
Loa, from the southern foot of which a ridge extends still far-
ther southwardly to the bold and lofty cape named Ooco Head,
the eastern boundary of the beautiful bay of Waialae, of which
Diamond Head, already described, forms the western.

MANOA V ALLEY.

523

Returning to Honolulu across the ridge which unites Dia-
mond Repd ,vith the highlands of the interior, an opportunity
was afforded of seeing nature in her rugged garb of crumbling
scoria, sbapeless porphyry, and basaltic boulder, in strange and
perplexing contiguity. It is a mantle of mysterious texture,
covering the probably yet unsta1)le crust beneath, and may "ell
deserve the investigations of those 'who seek in such testimonials
the revelations of N abu"e. The lover of panoran1Ïc display may
also from tills elevation behold unfolded around him a scene of
rare variety, and of "ondrous beauty and sublimity. To the east,
the dimpled waters of Waialae Bay seem joyful in the protec-
tion of the embracing shore wbich thro"s its verdant anTIS
around, that tempests may" not visit theln too roughly.'" To
tbe north the verdure-clothed lllountains look out from the misty
cowls that wrap their lofty heads, gazing as if in pride upon the
bold Leahi in the south, planting his fearless foot against the
sea, deftant of" its power, w'hile far awåy the waves roll on their
countless battalions, tossing their "spouting water" over coral
barricades, and retiring to renew again the ceaseless assault;
and to the west, beyond an outspread plain of man's adornment,
IIonoll1lu, luellowed into queenly beauty in the distance, is seen
to rest against the shadowy mountains of Waianae, behind
which, as I beheld the enchanting scene, the sun was sinking to
its rest, clad in a gorgeous livery of clouds.
llaving crossed Telegraph Ridge, so called because it is the
signal station of ye::;sels approaching IIonolulu from the east,
the vaHey of
Ianoa was seen to the right, slumbering in the
deep shade of forest green, enlulous of the rich emerald of tbe-
mantled earth, over which the crystal water ,vas weaving a ,,-eb
of streanllets, whose liInpid tribute gave to the spot a fresh and
lasting charn1. ..A. footspur of Tantalus Hill seeks ineffectually
to bar the entrance to Manoa's grateful shades and inviting sol-
itudps. Happily these are open to the ,vearied pupils of Oahu
College at Punahou, established in 18-12 as a school for the chi1-
dren of missionaries only, but subsequently, in 1848, enlarged
for the accommodation of others, both foreigners and natives,
and finally in 1856 chartered by the IIawaiian GovernU1cnt as
a college. The buildings, plain but c01l1fortable, and grounds

.

524

OAHU COLLEGE.

neatly kept and cultivated in shrubbery and flowers, lie near
Tantalus Hill, a spot no doubt deemed well choselJ. by some
'who tread the academic groves at its foot, and who, despite their
efforts to drink of the 'vaters of knowledge, find, like that Inýth-
ical personage, the refreshing draught ever to retire from rea.ch.
The course of instruction takes a wide range for a school so
recently organized, and the pnpils e:!hibited excellent attain-
n1ents at a public examination held during my visit. Both boys
and girls are educated at this college, separate buildings being
· provided for their accommodation. But a striking difference is
observable bet\veen the white and lIa","aiian children; the for-
mer in general having the wasted physique and thoughtful
countenance of close study, mind cultivated at the expense of
body; while the latter looked cheerful, healthy, and fully devel-
oped. By and bye, as the pressure of discipline is brought to
bear on them more forcibly, the artificialities and restrictions of
a false system of training will hurry them, too, along t1le path
of destruction crowded by their unhappy race, since puritanism
first undertook to enforce its harsh and uncompromising decrees.
Once during the torture of the public exhibition, when the In eIl-
tal cords seemed to quiver and crack 'with tension, a calisthenic
interlude relieved the strain, and sho,ved that the graceful girls,
,vho went through their changeful drill and manæuvre, \vith
Zouave-like preci
ion, to the varJing music of their o,vn voices,
both grave and gay, had in thei
hearts a fountain of happiness
and joy, ,vhose sparkling flow jt were wickedness to restrain.
And long ,yill " a sigh in the heart," of which little Nell's en-
.cp'tnting melody told the plaintive tale, linger váth the stranger
who on that day had a,vakened within hiln slumbering and sa-
cred menlories. It comes alike of an ignorance of the laws of
<-
health, of mistaken nlorals, and of an austere and absurd relig-
ionislu, to bind the young by a rigid formulary of thought and
manners, that fetters or destroys every impulse implanted by
beneficent nature for its o,vn ,vise purposes. N either measured
movement nor sauntering is exercise, any more than loafing is
,york, or fancy dreaming is thought. Yet exercise is essenti
l
to well-developed forms, bright eyes, clear complexions, active
limbs, sound hUlgS, and a healthy and vigorous brain, as wen as

.

PUAHI.

525

to cheerful spirits. It is exercise the young need and must
have, if they are to fulfil the nobler destiny awaiting them; the
exercise of all youthful creatures of whatever kind, free, unre-
strained, gleesome, and intense. And he whose great privilege
it is to shape for manhood and womanhood the beings ,vbo are
to redeem the obligations of their creation-he who burdens a
sensitive, aspiring, and intelligent mind, ,vith the cares of an
affiicted and feeble frame, through narrow and erroneous views
of religious duty, commits a fraud upon his fellow-creature, and
violates a natural right.
The last object öf interest on the route of my return, as it
""as also the first on D1Y leaving Honolulu in the morning, is
Punch-Bowl RiB, a more expressiye than elegant name for the
Haw"aiian Puahi. It is an extinct crater, somewhat east by
north of the town, and in its suburbs. It is not more than five
hundred feet high, and is easily ascended at its less precipitous
side. A concavity occupies the top, having a diameter of nearly
a half mile, the decolnposing lava and earlier vegetable fornJa-
tions affording sufficient soil for pasturage, on which goats and
cattle ,vere seen browsing, happily insensible that Punch-Bowl
might, like some other 'well-known craters, suddenly become the
recipient of ingredients too hot for a refreshing beverage. This
hill was once the site of a fortification intended for the defence
of the capital; the position is a comnlanc1ing one, and by mod-
ern lnilitaryengineering and a large e
'"Penditure 9f treasure,
could be made impregnable from the sea. A few old and indif-
ferently mOlmted cannon are all that remain of its equipnlent,
and these 8eem to be preserved for the sole purpose of saluting
foreign men-o'-war coming into the harbor, and for occasional
salvos in honor of Hawaiian royalty.

.

CIIAPTER XXXIII.

DEPARTURE FROM HONOLULU-ISLANDS OF MOLOKA! AND LANAI-LAHAINA-SEAPORT OF
THE ISLAND OF MAUl-TEMPTATIONS OF RESIDENCE-TEMPERATURE-SIMPLICITY OF
NATIVE HABITS-ADtE
T OF THE WHITE MAN Jl. CURSE TO THE NATIVES-UNITED
STATES COXSULS AND HOSPITALS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES-OFFICIAL MALFEASANCE.

THE object of my visit to Honolulu being accomplished,
duty forbade the gratification of a wish to linger longer among
the attractions of this politically chief island of the group, and
in a comlnercial sense, as before stated, its most important, for
it is the principal resort of the great whaling fleet of the Pacific,
which in the palmy days of whaling ,vas sometimes represented
in the harbor of I!onolulu by more than one hundred vessels,
valued, with their cargoes, at ten n1illions of dollars, riding at
anchor within its protecting reef. Such prosperity, however, is
not likely to be realized in the future, although Oahu may re-
tain its rel
tive commercial Ï1nportance, for the rapidly-dimin-
ishing "catch" of whales, owing to their disappearance from
the seaman's favorite fishing grounds, together ,vith the growth
oi San Francisco, and the opening of other Pacific ports, are
working revolutions in trade, and affording depots of supply and
transshipn1ent that cannot fail to operate disadvantageously upon
the shipping interests of the IIawaiian Islands, so far at least as
relates to this particular source of their prosperity.
Leaving Kauai to the northwest, an island of great salubrity
and agricultural capacity, the first in the order of creation of
this group, as it ,vas also tbe first in that of lnodern discovery,
we steered in the little IIawaiian stean1er "IG.lauea" out of the
harbor of IIonolulu, bound for Lahaina, another port at which
the United States have a resident consul. The king was aboard

MOLOKAI.-L.ANAI.

527

with some of his courtiers, on their way to another part of his
dominions, where, in accordaI?-ce ,vi th usage, he proposed to
spend a part of the summer. Puahi thundered its farewell, re-
peated long and loud in the echoing caverns of Konahuanui,
while the cro\yd of natives on the pier sent after their beloved
monarch the boisterous tokens of their devotion. The king
hÎ1nself seemed touched by their attachment, and as he waved
his hand in adieu, ennobled his sovereignty by the undisguised
tenderness of human nature. Both in his official and personal
relatÍ'òns, J{alnehameha IV. shows much intelligence on gen-
eral subject8; and while preserving at all tilnes a becollling dig-
nity, his Inanners in social life are characterized by a winnil1g
yet always courteous affability.
Fading in the distance as we bore away to the eastward,
Oahu looked like an elnerald set upon the heaving bosom of the
ocean; and as the sad strain of a fellow-passenger floated on the
breeze to Iningle with the plainti\e lllelody of the sea, it gave
a sense of mournful reality to the poet's inspiration-

,. Still the blue wave danced around me
'
Iid the sunbeam's jocund smile,
Still the air breathed balmy summer
Wafted from that happy isle;
When some hand the strain awaken'd
Of my own, my native shore,
Then 'twas first I wept Oh! N axos,
That I ne'er should see thee more."

Night closed in upon us before entering; the channel between
the islands of Molokai and Lanai, so that nothing of them was
seen but their dim outlines, as the Kilauea rolled and pitched
through a sea, roughened by a northeaster con1Îng fiercely
through the Molokai-Maui par,sage. But 110 disappointment
was felt at the deprivation ",vhen, after the lapse of tw'clve hours,
we anchored in the roadstead of Lahaina at daybreak, and
looked back at the former, still in vie\y, presenting no special
features of interest; and the latter, whose look of tan1e sterility
might ,veIl account for its almost total depopulation. It is the
presence of these islands in the vicinity, and that of Kahoola,,"e
still further oft
to the southeast, that lna
es the roaùsteaù out-

528

LAHAINA. ·

side of the reef a safe anchorage; except when winds and seas
come unusually strong from the undefended south, when vessels
have son1e difficulty in holding o
.
Lahaina is celebrated for her fearless and skilful watermen,
who besiege every newly-arrived craft with offers of service, and
put passengers ashore either in a canoe or a whale-boat, and over
the crested breakers or through a narrow channel of the reef,
according' to the spot at which a landing is desired. While
riding in conscious security upon the curving swells, and listen-
ing to the melody of the natives' vowelled language, which

"Sounds as if it had been writ on satin
With syllables that breathe of the sweet south,
And gentle liquids flowing all so pat in
That not a single a
cent seems uncouth,"

the stranger cannot fail to have the charm of his Ï1nmedlate sur-
roÜndings heightened by the scene he is approaching. Nearer
to hÎ1n stretches the bright seashore edged ,vith rippling foam;
the quaint hamlets of the islanders with inter
persed buildings
of 1110re modern style, dotting; a higher level, seeking the south
wind's daily tribute tbat cools the tropic sultriness. Cocoanut,
plantain, banana, hreadfruit, tutui, koa, and lauhala trees, are scat-
tered through tbe to,vn, and cluster in groves beyond, tempering
",vith grateful shade the unclouded sunlight of a level plain ex-
tending to the green foot-bills of the interior highlands of the
island; while the last lift their steep and scraggy brows to catch
the ,velcome vapors of the" trades," and quench the thirst of
t
le green valleys that deck their rugged sides.
fany and
magnificent are the revelations of natural scenery, in which the
stupendous and the lowly comlningle in harmony, presented by
tbese insular sportings of volcanic power.
Lahaina and its adjoining. district have a population of
about three thousand five hundred, the proportion of foreigners
being less than at IIonolulu. The. island of Maui, of which it is
the chief town, is forty-eight miles long and thirty miles broad,
and is estimated to have a population of eighteen thousand.
The town consists principally of one long street running parallel
,vith the shore-a fe,v cross streets, being avenue
of cOlumuni-
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cation with the country, having but fe" houses upon theill, and
soon degenerating into rugged lanes, strewn thickly, as well as
fenced, by lava rocks of aU sizes and shapes; while the streets
. themsel ves, marvellously paved with an unknown depth of reddish
dust, would constrain the utterance of llamlet by the white
resident, when regarding his Hawaiian ncighbor-" to this com-
plexion we must come at last "-were it not for the luxury of a
34

LAIUINA.

529

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530

LAHAINA.

breaker-bath gratuitously brought to his threshold by beneficent
na ture.
To the stranger strolling through the environs of Lahaina
the acknowledged fact becomes confirmed, that t1lis fornlerly
prosperous seaport is on the decline. Di1apidatecl houses and
fences, neglected taro patches, abandoned pren1ises and banana
orchards, neglected sugar-cane fields, and a general return to
the wildness and ,vaste of tropical vegetation, Ineet hin1 in what-
soever direction he may go; to sho,v that demand has ceaf?ed,
and that laboT', no longer re,varded for its toil by the whalers
who fOTinerly sought supplies and the facilities of transshipment
at this port, has lapsed into a neglect and indifference coming
of the consciousness tl1at a half acre taro patcb, well lined with
beaten clay to make it ,vater tight, ,vill furnish food enough for a
family of five or six persons with an expenditure if m.d two hours
effort pel' 'week, including tbe tin1e consumed in preparing the
poi. When commerce has failed to stÍlnulate production, excite
and direct industry, and develop the usual beneficial results-
accompanied unhappily with their evils too-of contact with
civilization, mere religious missionary enterprise addressing
itself to the idealities of hun1an nature, has done little else than
substitute one foriTI of bigotry and intolerance for another,
although it loudly proclaims the praises of its beneficent achieve-
ments, ,vhich the disinterested, close, and candid observer here,
fails to realize. Practical virtue rather than theoretical, and a
religionisrn adapted to the improvement of man's condition
here and thus affording the sole promise of happiness hereafter,
dnd that, illustrated by exalnple as well as taught by precept,
r!lust form the foundation of any rational hope of beneficial
proselytism. .
The soil and clÍInate are well adapted to the cultivation of
sugar cane, cotton, and the vine; and the natural growth of the
banana and bread-fruit, with the cheapness of labor when not
oppressive-one dollar per week for a man, and half that SUll1,
for a boy, ,vho furnish their o\vn food consisting of poi-offer
strong ternptations of residence to the possessor of a small in-
come. And to the valetudinarian, especially if afRicted with pul-
monary disease, these are increased by the triyial deviations of

TEMPERATLRE.

531

tmnperature; the highest 'Inean teínpeJ'ature Qf an entire year,
as shown by a carefully kept meteorological table, having been
83-!o Fahrenheit, "hile th
lowest was 66 0 -the mean variation
being thus seen to have been but l7!O th'i'ol.lgh all seasons-a
deviation from absolute uniformity far less for the whole year,
than frequently occurs in most parts of the United States on a
8ingle day. Perhaps, however, the contrast of climate between
the two c01.mtries will appear more striking, by presenting the
annual variation l7t O of this island, in opposition to that COrt1r
mon in the States-from zero to blood-Mat.
It may be stated that the extremes of temperature at Hono-
lulu are certainly not greater than they are at Lahaina; ,vhile
during one :rear, a nleteorological table published by R. C.
1V yllie, Minister of Foreign Relations, shows that the variation
at the former place was
ess than the above mentioned. It
must be added, however, that the changes of te111perature are
more sudden at Honolulu than at Lahaina, induced by the gusts
of wind which frequently reach the city by the K unanu Valley
froln the gap of the Pali, charged too as they often are .with
mist or rain. This fact should not be overlooked in making a
choice of residence for health by those of extrenle sensibility to
even slight vicissitudes.
It is probable that ere long these islands .will become places
of resort for invalids from the rigors and vicissitudes of an Ameri-
can clinlate. Indeed the lives of Inany have already been pre-
served by a residence in their genial atmosphere; and some
were met ,vith "horn no temptations of social rank, political
position, and accuIl1ulated wealth at bOIne; no seductions of
continental pl
asure, fashion, and refinement, could allure from
the balmy airs and the delicious physical existence of these ely-
sian islands.
'The appearance, habits, and dress of the native inhabitants
of Lahaina resemble those of the Honolulans. Those most fre-
quently in contact ,rith foreigners ÍInitate partially their usages;
m05t of theIn, ho,,-ever, cling to the customs of their fathers.
Happily these are inexpensive; a'C. ahnost gratuitous repast is
spread for them by creative bounty, and the sÍ1nplicitics of cos-
tume, or none at all, suffice for the exigencies of ,yeather; a

532

THE QUEEN'S PALACE.

cotton slip is a woman's abundant wardrobe, and breeches are a
superfluity when the absence of imperious foreigners leaves the
wearing of a tapa (bark cloth) maro, a sufficient observance of
the modesty of nature.
It is ,veIl that the Christian duty divinely inculcated "I
was a stranger and ye took me in," is practically observed here,
otherwise, in the absence of publicans, the visitor ,vould fare
badly. The citizens generally, both foreigners and natives, are
found ,villing and anxious to contribute to the comfort and
pleasure of all respectably accredited travellers. An English-
Jnan, no,va IIawaiian citizen and judge of this district, po-
litely tendered to Ine the hospitalities of his house, and I am
indebted to him for lnany attentions and much information.
But the claims of nationality made Ine the guest of a fel1ow-
countryman, and here, as at Honolulu, with a noble-minded
Virginian, I am nlade to realize the fact that in distant lands
the ties of a COilllnon country are synonymous with a bond of
brotherhood. :1\ly apartmen t5 are in the palace of the formel-
Queen Keopuolani, standing on the seashore in a groye of shade
trees, and looking out upon the breakers as they lift their ,vhite
crests above the coral reef, and roll their flo,ving tide ,vithin, to
forln a fitting hath, formerly for the queen and her maidens,
and now for one who, ho,vever HIuch they and their l)eople lTIay
have been traduced by the designing, uncharitable, and vainglo-
rious, believes that they have been" more sinned against than
sinning."
'The palace may be described as a specimen of the better class
of native houses. It is fronl forty to fifty feet square, and built
of strong round posts several inches in diameter, and eight or
ten feet high, planted in the ground three feet apart, and inclin-
ing very slightly in,vard. The upper concave ends of these re-
ceive horizontally-placed timbers, and on these rest rafters, fonn-
ing the frame of a high-pitched roof, the posts, beams, and raft-
ers being lashed together, and the latter to the ridgepole of the
roof, ,vhich rests on t,vo or three stronger and taller posts, in
the middle of the building, by ropes and t,vine of twisted co-
coanut fibre, vines, and tough grasses. Small poles represent-
ing lathing, are similarly tied crosswise the posts and rafters, to

ADVEXT OF THE WHITE :MÅ
A CrRSE TO THE :NATIVES. 533

the outside of which are secured large banana leaves, that serve
as a rude wall-paper, and then eight or ten inches thickness
of thatching, formed of pandanus or sugar cane leaves, or bun-
dled or plaited grass, for walls and roofing. In front, the
thatched roof is made to project over the doorway, and being
supported by columns of small undressed tree trunks, present8
the appearance of a rustic portico. Stripped of its thatching,
my residence would look from the interior like a huge bird-cage;
in its completeness it resembles on the ouÜdde an architectural
hay-rick. Since the palace passed into the possession of foreign
plebeians it has been modernized, three apartments being par-
titionçd off, having as many windows, and it can likewise boast
the luxuries of floor, tables, chairs, and bedsteads. When shel-
tering sovereignty the necessary domestic economy demanded
but one large room, and the mat-covered earth sufficed for sit-
ting, eating, and sleeping. To Hawaiian royalty of the past,
lulled by the song of the melodious sea, there were needed " no
perfumed chambers nor canopies of costly state," and its lowly
couch gave a blissful rest unknown to hÜn of England, who
siO'hino- said
o 0 ,

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

But the same even tenor of content and obliviousness of ill
are not the realities of the present day. The ceaseless moan of
the surf as it rolls its fitful tide over coral beds, and whispers
sighs upon the golden strand, seems in the silence of the lnid-
night hour, when sleepless Inemory calls up the traditions of the
Hawaiian, and justice weighs the deeds of his fello,v-man, like a
plaintive wail of the gentle and confiding natives, because of
conscious degradation, and for the independence and happiness
fast passing a,vay before foreign aggressions, innoyations, and
constrained customs not adapted to their wants, nor promotive
'of their enjoyments. Impartial observers are saddened by the
reflection that the nlissionary has given thenl no equivalent for
their deprivations, and for the promiscuous evils of which the
r
have been made the victÍIns by the van{r"
ard of civilization, too
commonly the rworst of baJ'baJ'i8m8, because of its commingled
})o,,'er and ",icl{ed di
regard of allla,v, human and divine. The

534

SUPPLIES HOW OBTAINED.

test of excellence is ill the result of effort. Are the natives
purer and happier, more trnthful, industrious, honest, hospita-
ble, prosperous; have they increased in number and in good
works since the advent of the white man
Or are they not
Sill1ply more subservient to the selfish purposes of the crafty and
avaricious foreigner; 11lore deceitful, lnere formalists in religion
to deceive the preacher and acquire in:fluen
e through his favor,
perseverance, and adroitness
Are they not disappearing before
a moral pestilence as destructive as the plague, and ,vhich has
brought in its train as grievous physical evils
The affirillative
of these questions is painfully trne. If the depopulation of
these islan<1s to the extent qf fOU''l'-fij'ths since thei,'l' discovery,
and, under the operation of like causes, the probable extern
ina-
tion of the 're?nainde'l' in the next twenty or thirty years, and a
consequent abolition of paganisll1, are to be regarded as proofs
of proselytism and redelnption from habits and customs fearfully
and extravagantly pictured to horrify Christendom, certainly
the efforts of the missionaries and their profane confrères must
be regarded as having proved en1inently successful.
Although an abundance of sa,ved lumber is now brought to
these islands froln Oregon, and used by foreigners for building
purposes, yet the natives prefer grass huts, cOI11IDonly, however,
of less size and lnore simple structure than the queen's house
above described, the kitchen consisting of the capacious outside
and a cook-stove of heated stones.
Foreigners, both at Honolulu and Lahaina, are abundantly
supplied at S111all cost with vegetables by natives, ,vho daily
b

ng to the houses in large calabashes, bananas, Inelons, plan-
tains, potatoes, figs, grapes, taro, and even poi for those ,vho
fancy finger-dipping according to the fashion of the country.
A school at Lahainaluna, t\VO Iniles fron1 Lahaina, for the
education of native boys, is said to be in successful operation.
It is conducted 011 the l11anual labor plan, as well to assist in'
the support of the institution, as to give the pupils a kno'wledge
and habits of industrial emploYll1ents.
There is at this port, and also at the capital, a hospital for
distressed and destitute Alnerican seamen. Into the condition
and management of these, and of those on the west coast of

OFFICIAL :MALFEASANCE.

535

South America, my commission required me to examine. There
is one other yet to be visited, which is an acknowledged excep-
tion to the practice of fraud8 and abuses prevalent else,,-here,
and the investigation and correction of which have long engaged
the attention of Government. Probably the history of no com-
mercial nation furnishes such gross examples of violated duty
as is presented by the United States consular administration of
the 1'elief trust at the above places; a fact the lllore disgraceful
because the humane intentions of Congress are endangered
thereby. It has been my duty to consider the renlote, as well
as the proximate causes of this official malfeasance; and the
acknowledgment is demanded by candor, that the prevalent
practice of appointing incompetent persons to consulates, and
the sJstelll of indiscriminate rotation in office, which seeIns to
have become incorporated with the administration of public af-
fairs, are the probable and chief causes of the evil.
The British and :r-'rench Governments, and I am informed
the Sardinian also, exact especial requirements for the consular
office. I
nowledge of general comnlerce and conlmercial law,
clerical qualifications, and acquaintance with the language of
the nation to whom he is accredited, as "ell M grammatical
accuracJ in his own, are, together with assured good character,
necessary pre-requisites for the consular office, after having
served a prescribed terlll as consul's clerk. And when once
appointed to consulates of inferior rank and Í1nportance, the
certainty of retention and promotion in office are held out as
incentives to official improvement, industry, and integrity.
Thus these countries, in justly rewarding merit, secure to them-
selves competent and faithful service.
It is the oppo
ite of this usage, the appointInent of United
States consuls 'without reference to special qualifications, and
too often despite recognized incapacity, questionable character,
and immoral habits, that leads to the defective and discreditable
performanc
of duty. Further, the periodical relnoval of these
officers merely to reward clamorous partisans, invites to all pos-
sible appropriations of forbidden pay and perquisites of office,
and leach, to a system of bribery on the part of subordinate eln-

536

OFFICIAL MALFEASANCE.

ployés, who can well aflord to pay the wages of dishonesty from
exorbitant receipts. .
And in proportion to the brevity of the officiai term, and
the distance fr01n supervision, has been the recklessness of offi-
cial delinquency. The door once opened by a predecessor to
successful peculation ,vithout detection and punishment, his
successor having no hope of re,vard for fidelity in expected re-
tention be
rond his four years of appointment, in1itates the exam-
ple that has been set hiIn, and seeks to realize as speedily as
possible a sum sufficient to lneet the contingencies of the future.
A result con
espondent to that commonly ,vitnessed in South
American republics, consequent on frequently recurring revo-
lutions and official changes incident thereto; each successive
band of rulers, harpies of the State and creatures of a day, in-
dulging in the grossest abuses, frauds, and peculations.
The passage of a la,v by Congress years since, authorizing
the appointment of consular pupils, indicates the opinion then
entertained by the members of that branch of the Governn1ent,
that a suitable education was a necessary pre-requisite for the
office of consul. And the excellent regulations relating to con-
sular pupils contained in the "}Ianual for Consuls," is signifi-
cant of the hnportance attached by the fralners of that code to
a proper education of candidates for that office.
Unfortunately no appropriation has at any tilne been made
by Congress for fulfilling the la w so wisely enacted, and hence
the .benefits to the country', of "\vhich it gave prolnise, have not
been realized. It is not the promulgation of an opinion through
l<;gislative enactment alone, ho'\vever indisputably sound, that
will secure practical benefits. And a sense of duty will cOJ.llpel
me to say in a final report, that unless legislative and executive
action go hand in hand, to the end that the country 111ay secure
the services of honest, capable, and faitbful agents, any abstract
plan of service ,vhich Inay be proposed, of efficient and econom-
ical relief of distressed and destitute American sealnen, will fall
short of the objects designed by the Department of State in
instituting the investigation ,vith ,vhich I have been charged.
The question to some l11ay seem absurd-Is political liberty
compatible with good government
Yet foreign experiences, as

OFFICIAL :MALFEASAXCE.

537

well as some at home, the recollections of which are by no
means calculated to strengthen democratic faith, fi'equently ob-
trude the inquiry. The si:::ter republics of the South, who have
with us entered on the work of asserting and maintaining pop-
ular rights, are perpetually distracted 'with revolutions, entailing
upon the 111 evils, than which no Inonarchical despotism could
inflict greater. The specialty of service of our own Govern-
ment abroad, coming under I11Y examination, has, in the opinion
of all who have knowledge of what is passing, become synony-
mous 'with a system of licensed þlundering and stupid blunder-
ing; while the tendency at home, in the general and local ad-
ministration of public affairs, is to deterioration, ignorance, and
corruption. This avo,val will be thought by the time-serving,
impolitic, and nlay be denounced by delllagogues as unpatriotic.
It is at least consistent ,vith 'uJ)pight principle, at all tÏlnes a
nobler Illotive of action than policy, and as to patJ"iotism, the
fearless expression of t/
1.lth in regard to national evils is finlong
the best proofs of it.
It is certainly a mortifying consciousness that OlU' country-
men ha-ve so far degenerated since the days of their fathers, who
gave theln both liberty and la-\y, as 'Well as exalnple ho,v to per-
petuate them. And it is perhaps because of departure from
professed principles of political faith and virtue, and a resort to
despicable and degrading expedients, that the ignorant 111aSSeS
might be used for the attainment of party triumphs, that this
lamentable state of things has been brought about. For ,yhen
the unenlightened Inultitude are taught, as they have been, by
their superiors in knowledge, that trick is a warrantable, and
often a surer means of success than truth, cunning better than
consistency, policy than principle, and even violence than vir-
tue, and that these concessions are lnade to them as possessors
of numerical power, they do not fail to profit by the lesson, and
thus become, through delnagogues catering to their low instincts,
dictators of the future destiny of the countr
y'. Leaders of par-
ties who can finq a merit in a coffin hand-bill, hickory tree,
sledge-halnmer, hard-cider barrel, log cabin, or Uncle TOln's
cabin, must expect eventually to realize their level wit1l the
agrarian mob to whom such arguments are addressed; and, in,

538

OFFICIAL ?tIALFEASANCE.

the general scramble for place, and its honora and profits, they
should not be surprised if Inusc1e triulnphed over Inilld.
And this result has been hastened in the United States by
the culpable indifference to passing events which are shaping
the future life of the nation, of the Inisnan1ed conservative
classes of the people, ,vhose devotion to the accumulation of
lnoney-truly whèn goverrunent springs from the people, the
"lnalnmon of unrighteousness "-and the ing10rioud ease and
selfish indulgences which come of it, has been so deadening
that it seems as if they 'would .not awaken to the fact that they
have an interest in the political condition of the country, and
should participate in a jealous supervision and control of its gov-
errnnent, until it may be too late to avoid their virtual if not
absolute disfranchisenlent.
Not only do the festering elements of political and social
disorganization, at work alnong the uninformed native popula-
tion, and even better educated fanatics, yet slaves of passion,
prejudice, and inïpulse, require it, but the onward flood of rabid
republicanisln from abroad, the foreign refuse radicalism, long
pent up and once set free, submissive to no restraints of reason,
acknowledging no deference for constitutional obligations, Ï1n-
periously demands of the more enlightened, reflective, and dis-
creet citizens, the exercise of those conservative duties necessary
to hold in check the spirit of destructivism seeking to set aside
the precepts of the 'wise and the inculcations of history. And
if the duty shall not be fulfilled, the United States ,viII proba-
bly soon learn, that by urging too far the doctrine of popular
oovereignty; by pushing to excess a single principle irrespective
of correlative duties, however true in itself
and hov?ever valua-
ble its wise application, conclusions may follow which will
amount to the overthro\v of the principle itself, and thus tyranny
be made to trample on popular rights.
Once lnore in the periods of time the experiment of demo-
cratic governlnent is being tried. We of Anlerica must bear
our individual share of responsibility connected 'with it, and
,vithhold neither action nor testimony bearing on the question.
IIowever mortifying then the confessiop, it lllUSt under the obli-
gations of truth and candor be made, that it has been my mis-

OFFICIAL MALFEASAXCE.

539

fortune to have presented constantly recurring proofs of national
degeneracy, in the low state of Inorals, Inanners, and capacity
of .A.merican officials abroad; and unless the causes lèading to
this and other like evils, coming of a flagrant sJstem of politi-
callevelling, and disregard of undeniable distinctions and the
inculcations of duty and 'wisdom, sball be reformed, the page of
history will probably soon record another decline and fall of a
a great nation.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

. VOYAGE TO HILO, ULUP.A.LAKUA, HALEAKALA, 1IOLOKINI, AND KAHOOLAWE-INTERINSULAR
I CHANNEL-ISLAND OF HAWAII-KAWAIHAI-HAWAIIANS ORIGINATED THEIR OWN RE-
LIGIOUS REFORMATIO
-FAILURE OF FOREIG
MISSIONARIES IN DIRECTING IT-BOLD
SEASHORE OF HAMAKUA-WAIAKEA BAY-HARBOR AND TOWN OF HILO-MAUNA KEA
-MAUNA LOA.

THE rosy da ,vn of an unclouded summer Inorning revealed
the steamer ICilauea at anchor in the roadstead of Lahaina,
awaiting passengers for Hilo and intennediate ports. Going
aboard at 8 A. M., but few cabin passengers were found, all for-
eigners, except two, "\v 110 were Hawaiians of noble rank. The
deck-load of natives ,vas numerous, perhaps two hundred, froln
infancy to premature decrepitude; the former not in the usual
proportion to adult age, as observed on other occasions, for the
connubial relation is less fruitful than before the advent of civ-
ilization, and the latter has not given the natives the kno,vledge
and the means of care of offspring.
Partial observers say that the fe,vness of children is owing
to the use of abortives, and to in1proper violence in aid of ac-
couchement. If these practices ,vere of native origin, like efiects
should have sprung from like causes, and these islands would
have been depopulated long since; and if of modern introduc-
tion, it becollles a rational and just inquiry before indulging in
harsh censure, how far may the. teachings of strong-minded
WOluen of our day, and of itinerant lecturers to ladies exclu-
sively, on the laws of life and reproduction, and their regula-
tion, have been deemed worthy of propagation among the
heathen, ,vith the other articles of faith and practice taught by
zealous disciples of the school of progress
It ,vill scarcely be
adlnitted by anyone who has .witnessed the rapid revolutions

CHARGE OF
FÅNTICIDE.

541

of the "hub of the universe" and its radiating spokes, that
Hawaii has travelled faster than New England. The school-
master is proclaÏ1ned to be abroad, and the schoolmistre6:;, too,
and it is boastfully asked ,-rho furnishes thenl? K one ,,
ill deny
': By their 'works ye shall know them." Anatomy is no longer
a JnJTstery; the hand of 111aiden modesty, forgetful of the primal
law, lifts the yeil of its nakedness, that by the falniliar use of
virtue it may become fashioned into nature itself. .....\.las! for
the purity of virtue taught in the school of a model artist.
Physiological law, too, has become common la"T, so that physi-
cians, still clinging to the ancient ethics of their profession, are
often luade to blush fro III indignant shame, at questions repng-
nant alike to delicacy and morals; and JTet, with the possession
of forbidden knowledge, Alnerica sho"s no sign of becoming
childless.
The above charges against the IIa"aiians, as a nation, I
have the authority of nlany fair-minded foreign residents for
saying are. slanders, "hatever individual exceptions, as in the
case of others, may have occun"ed to give color to them. There
are other causes in operation to produce barrenness, dinlinish
births, and hun"y prematurely to the grave those who arc born,
about ,,
hich intelligent resident physicians agree. The most
common among these is that scourge of lust, to which the
islanders were strangers until introduced among thenl by the
pioneers of civilization, as if to clear a path for the readier in-
gress of another race; and ,,"hich, in their ignorance of reme-
dies, cursed them, and has continued to curse their children's
children to the present generation, sapping thé foundations of
health, poisoning the fountains of procreation, and interrupting
its processes if begun. Along with this may be mentioned, as
destructive of infantile life, the prevalence of epidemics for-
merly unkno"
n in the islands, or of which there are no tradi-
tions; a growing disregard of the preservative instinct::) of race,
under a convirtion of increasino" national deO'radation and sub-
ö Ö
jcction to foreign Í1npositions; and a 'w'ant of suitable hygienic
and strictly llledical provision, against the ravages of diseases
brought to their shores by other5, and of ,,
hich they ha"Ve no
kno,vledge. Hence it is unjust to cast. upon these haple:35 peo-

542

ULUP .ALAKUA.-H.ALEAKAL.A.

pIe reproaches, due rather to the self-righteous intruders among
then1, ahvays prone to "behold the mote in their brother's eye,
but consider not the bealn in their û'\vn."
Our deck-passenger companions of voyage are natives, and
the majority of these are loafers, who having rpalized a dollar-
the unvarying fare, for such freight-by the sale of pig or poultry
,vhieh has gro,vn to their hand without the labor of production,
spend it in the habitual luxury of idleness, or of passive Inotion,
calculating upon unbought fish and poi enough to preserve ani-
Inal existence, ,vhen landed at the end of their money's worth
of travel. These are literally deck-passengers, and have none of
the cOlnforts or conveniences furnished for such on the California
steamers. The deck is their bench, board, and bed; on it they
sit, eat, and sleep. BUlall is the spot allotted to those ,vho pay
the cabin fare of eight dollars from Lahaina to Hilo, certainly
not large enough to "turn your partner." Calabashes of food
and water, ,vith a miscellaneous 111ixture of humanity, a few
f1a'3hily bedizzened with ribbons and hugles, others prouder of
natural charIns, monopolized the remainder of the deck so
entirely that the hand-rail was the bridge of transit fore
and aft.
Coasting along the southern shore of the island of ]vIani ,ve
soon passed froln under the lee of the western highlands, and
across the mouth of the watery inlet that nearly divides the low
hour-glass contraction of the middle of the island, which unites
the smaller ,vest district to the larger, kno,vn as East !laui. As
the lnariner hugs the southern shore of East !Iaui, he again find

the mountains shutting off the northeast trade-,vind, and plac-
ing hiIn, ,vhen '\vithout the aid of stealn,
t the lnercy of callns,
currents, and s,vells. And here, if ,veather-bound, the ilupover-
ished looking little village of Ul'llJ}alakua 'v ill receive hinl, off
'\vhich the stealner stops to land passengers destined for that
neighborhood and for the remarkable volcanic mountain IIalea-
kala---house of the sun-seen rising behind and above the vil-
lage to the l1eigl1t of ten thousand t,vo hundred feet; its extinct
crater having a circumference of nearly thirty-five miles, hold-
ing within its concavity of two thousand seven hundred feet
depth, cones of seoriæ from five hundred to six hundred feet

D-"ERIXSLL...\R CH
NEL.

543

high, and in it London might be buried entire, while St. Paul's
steeple would dwindle into insignificance.
Passing Ulupalakua and leaving tbe rocky islet of 1rolokini
to the southwest, and farther off in the same direction the island
of Kahoolawe, used as a sheep and goat range by the present
,yorthy chancellor of the kingdom, we bore a"ay southeasterly
across the channel bet"Teen the islands of }Iaui and Hawaü.
This nlay be considered the Pacific counterpart of the English
channel. The northeast trades blowing beb,een these islands as
through a funnel, and glancing from tbeir respective highlands,
becoming fitful and baming, aided by cbangeflù currents and a
swaggering swell for which these passages are noted, cause short
chop seas, rough and boxing, well calculated to test the powers
of endurance of even veteran sealnen. The right kind of a sea
and the fight kind of a craft, are the necessary provocatives of
sea-sic1.."ì1e
s, and one is apt to find them after long seeking.
Our captain said that nlany an "old salt" who had belted the
globe, finally paid tribute to X eptune in passing this part of his
dominion in our jumping Jenny of a steamer, "hich is ahvays
out of tilHe to the ocean polka, and keeps bobbing up and do"n
like a fishing-cork in a wind ripple; and twisting, 'niggling,
and rolling, in incalculable variation
. But for the mildness of
the climate this interinsular navigation ,,'ould be attended with
great hardships to seanlen compelled to keep the deck on sailing
vessels. Storm, sleet, and snow, would be cheerless accompani-
ments to the roughness and delay in beating about these
channels.
Closing in under the lee of Hawaii we coasted its west shore
southerly twenty miles more pleasantly, and by moonlight
entered the little bay of I{"awa'l.hae, to land freight and passen-
gers at a town of the same name. It was a rare picture pre-
senteù by the nearly full Inoon peering from behind a fleecy
cloud, like beauty ii"om its silvery veil tossed aside by tbe
capricious breeze, and crowning with softened effulgence th('l
sun1mit of JI(tuna Hualalai in the background, lifted ten thou-
sand feet to lneet the radiant gift. 'Vbile scattered lights of the
villagers, who were startled by the shrill signal of the steamer,
threw their long raJs upon the shaded shore-bound 'waters, as if

544

DESOLATION AND DEPOPULATION.

in rivalry of the moonlit billows in the clear offing, that danced
in pride and joy of the sublimity that looked do,Vll upon
theIne
Returning on our track during the night, ,ve found ourselves
at sunrise next rooring doubling ICohala Point-the north cape
of Hawaii-and having landed sonle of the live cargo at the
to,vn of IIolloipu, the stealner bore a,vay east by south with the
island full in vie,v, grass huts, and stone-enclosed patches of
land rarely under cultivation, being seen bordering the rocky
beach; -but beyond, the country is ,vithout houses, and sho,vs
none of the usual signs of agriculture. Stone landmarks and
walls, and dilapidated foundations of houses, 'v ere seen with
a good glass, far inland; but the once numerous inhabitants
have disappeared before, ,vhat, paradoxical as it may seelll to us
no'\v, truth requires should be ackno,vledged as the desolation of
civilization,. but ,vhich a more enlightened, pure, and merciful,
a less selfish and pharisaical future, win probably regard as
proof of a Daròar'ism, more fruitful of evil to its unhappy vic-
tims than that under ,yhich they increased and multiplied. The
population of these islands, estimated by Captain Cook in 1779 at
four hundred thousand, and corroborated by other voyagers, the
accounts of old natives and the indications of the country, was
found, by the census of 1860, to have been reduced to sixty--nine
thousand eight hundred. And even if the opinion of the
American historian of the IIa,vaiian Islands be correct, that the
eQtimate of their discoverer ,vas "vague," and that one of
" three hundred thousand would have been nearer to tbe truth,"
still the ravages of contact with so-called civilization, llave been
well calculated to cheek further self-glorification, and teach a
lesson of hUlnility; "especially in vie,v of the fact, that extraor-
dinary missionary efforts from the year 1820, when the popula-
tion was computed to be at least tw'o hundred thousand, have
not contributed to arrest the ,vithering blight of an arrogant,
but pernicious and false philanthropy, stiln ulated rather by
lust of conquest, power, and profit, than by a disinterested love
of fellow-men, and fast hurrying. the Hawaiians to de-
struction.
It seelllS to be overlooked that the duty of uprooting hea-

MISSIO
.ARY EFFORT A FAILURE.

545

thenisnl does not require an extermination of the heathen.
Neither is it imperath"e, nor the most successful means of incul-
cating religious truth, intolerantly to denounce and tyrannically
prohibit usages not incompatible with it, indeed harnlles:; in
themselves, interwoven with national existence, adapted to the
simple nature of the people, and contributing to their happiness
and perpetuity. The severity of discipline of the Puritan, in
domestic and social life, and his rigid exactions of confol'lnity to
a harsh and repugnant religionism, made up of a formulary of
long prayers and long faces, and an austere inculcation of un-
ending penalties, have not assured the holiness of those ,vho
have drunk deepest of their bitter waters. IIow then can the
stranger, even of a false faith, be expected to draw from such a
Dead Sea creed and practice the precious draught of eternal life

Better, far better for him, had the professed disciples of a new
dispensation borne in mind the divine precept-" neither cir-
cumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith
which w01 1 kf3th by love."
It is by no means a pleasant duty to condemn the acts of
American missionaries, especially in view of the favorable opin-
ion generally entertained at home of their labors, fOlmded of
course nlainly upon their own representationc:::, prolnulged in
every form of speech and pubJications, by their sectarian parti-
sans; accompanied, too, at times by a fulsome adulation as yio-
lath"'e of good taste, as it is detrimental to their cause in the
estimation of people of good sense.
The gentleness, kindness, charity, and excellent judgment,
as well as purity of life, of some of these laborers, and the un-
questionably upright motives of action of others of less modera-
tion and prudence, should not preclude the expre
sion of a can-
did opinion as to the general means and agents of regeneration,
formed from visible results, and from views entertained by
many impartial observers long resident in the islands. The in-
terest felt by all philanthropists in the spread of truth and
knowledge, as means of promoting the welfare of 111ankind, de-
mands that nothing should be withheld calculated to enlighten
the public mind as to the enterprises undertaken for these
objects. It is impossible to witness without conden1nation the
35

546

ECCLESIASTICAL DOMINATION.

ecclesiastical domination extensively exercised over the natives;
the virtual bondage in ",vhich these are held by those whose pro-
fessed object it is to confer benefits. To confer benefits! Aye
-but not "without money and without price." For which
"tithes of mint, anise, and cummin" are exacted, while" the
weightier matters of law, judgment
mercy, and faith "-the
faith of the Apostle" shown by ,vorks "-are on1itted. It is a
violation of the plainest dictates of humanity, and assuredly
of the precepts of Christianity, to levy and importunately
collect, a tax on the paltry production, or pittance, of the poor
native, for purposes of selfish display or accumulation. Yet
such is the usage of some missionaries, though under cover of a
motive designed to sanctify the deed. The natives often express
disbelief in the sincerity and benefit of any scheme for their ÏIn-
provelnent, associated with such acts. And they sOlnetimes
shrewdly suggest, that the contributions professedly exacted of
them "for the spread of the gospel and the love of God," much
more frequently spread the missionary's table with luxuries, and
gratify his love of a fine house and sho,vy furniture; while the
poor natives are taught to partake of their primitive poi, and
repose on the ground floor of their grass hut, and to offer thanks
morning and evening in " long prayers," and" vain repetitions
as the heathens do," for these 'lnerciful dispensations. Verily
might they be pardoned if, from sad experience, the victims of
-,uch hypocrisy, féeling the necessity of divine interposition, also
prayed that they Inight "Be,vare of false prophets, ,vhich con1e
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening ,volves."
A perversion of truth is unhappily not an unusual resort of
those who seek to Inagnify their ,yorks, and obtain an influence
and reward transcending desert. The I-Iawaiian islands, fi'om
their rellloteness from the great centres of observation and knowl-
edge, have afforded a ready theatre for mystery and misrepre-
sentation in religious matters. A common error pervades the
public mind of America-how propagated it might seem invidi-
ous to suggest-that the suppression of h Ulnan sacrifices, the
taboo (a priestlJ interdict), and idolatry, among the IIawaiians,
is due to the labors of missionaries. "\Vhile it would be unjust
to detract from any deserved praise of others, it would be

HAW.AIIA...
REGEXERATIOK.

54'7

equally wrong to strengtben a delusion having its origin in '3,
selfishne;:,s unbecoming the professed objects of the missionary
enterprise, and calculated to lllislead the humane in future under-
takings, at the same time that it would contribute to the with-
holding from an unfortunate people the credit to which they
are entitled, for a bold and spontaneous Inovement to arrest the
cruelties and superstitions of barbarism, and lift themselves
from degI'adations in which a priestly government, cunningly
devised and despotically enforced, had sunk them.
It is a fact of historical record, universally accepted, that the
missionaries did not alTive in Hawaü until lIarch,1820. The
great King Kamehameha died nearly a year before that time.
It is also matter of history that although he continued through
his reign his devotions to idols, yet he "acknowledged their
worthlessness, and doubtless viewed the system as a powerful
engine of go'Vernment, mO
J'e of politics than piety mingling'in
his later views." It is further stated that" toward the latter
period of his reign, a general laxness in regard to the taboos
began to prevail," and that "in lieu of human victims, a sacri-
fice of three hundred dogs attended his obsequirs." What shook
his faith in the religion of his ancestors is unknown. Whether
SOlne faint tradition of centuries, telling of shipwrecked stran-
gers who worshipped an unseen God, and of which present his-
torians profess to have traced some probabilities; or SOl11e word
dropped, or look or sign c
relessly made by still later tran-
sient but profane visitors of the coast was told to him, and thus
put in motion the secret springs of a mind of great activity and
power, as shown by the achievements of his reign; or some in-
herent and mysterious agency of thought or spirit startled con-
viction, and shook the foundations of the false faith in which he
had been educated, it cannot be doubted, in neW" of well-estab-
lished facts, that the light of truth had da,vned upon hÍI11, al-
though the required policy of government, as illustrated by the
history of more enlightened nations, veiled it ii.om general rec-
ognition.
And these view.s are supported by subsequent events, for ,ve
find that those who it is reasonable to suppose received their
first impressions, if not their matured opinions fronl him, l1Ìs

548

HAWAIIAN REFORMATION INHERENT.

queens and his son Liholiho, who succeeded to the throne after
the death of ICamehameha, acted more defiantly of priestcraft,
and after a temporary hesitation on the part of the son, boldly
renounced pagan ceremonies. ICaahuluanu, the favorite queen
of the deceased soyereign, in N ovenlber, 1819, cast aside the
idol of the new king, Liholiho making no objection; and subse-
quently the latter deliberately violated the sacred interdict which
forbade the sexes feasting together, by seating himself at the
table of the female chiefs, partaking of their food, and directing
theln to do like,vise. 1\11". J arves, in his IIistory of the Ha-
waiian Islands, gives the following description of what ensued:
" The highest had set an example which all rejoiced to follow.
The joyful shout arose, 'the taboo is broken! the taboo is bro-
ken!' Feasts were provided for all, at which both sexes indis-
criluinately indulged. Orders were issued to delllolish the
heiaus, and destroy the idols; temples, Í1nages, sacred property,
and the relics of ages were consulned in the flanles. The high
priest, Hewahewa, having resigned his office, was the first to
apply the torch. Without his coöperation the attempt to de-
stroy the old system would have been ineffectual. Numbers
of his profession, joining in the enthusiaslll, followed his exam-
ple. Kaulllualii having given his sanction, idolatry was forever
abolished by law, and the snloke of heathen sanctuaries arose
from Hawaii to Kauai. All the islands uniting in a jubilee at
their deliverance, presented the singular spectacle of a nation
without a religion."
Such was the reformation begun and in progress in Hawaii,
when on the 20th of the follo,ving March, 1820, the first mis-
sionaries arrived; and the historian proceeds to say further that
(:' the cheering intelligence of the abolition of idolatry, and the
favorable condition of the natiye for the reception of a new re-
'ligion, reached them that evening. IIewahewa (the chief priest)
was cordial in his welcome to his 'brother priests,' as he called
them. He possessed an uncommon liberality of mind; five
'Jnonths bifore he had counselled the king to destroy the idols,
publicly renounced heathenism hÍ111self, and acknowledged his
belief in one Supreme Being, and said that he knew' that the
wooden images of our deities, carved by our o,vn hands, were

\

. -

THE GREAT REFOR
HE'VAHEWA.

549

incapable of snpplJing our wants, but I worshipped theln because
it was the custom of our fathers; they nlade not the kalQ to grow,
nor sent us rain; neither did they bestow life or health. My
thought has always been-Akahi waleno .Åh.l1a-nui iloka 0 ka-
lani-there 1.8 one only Great God dwelling in th6. heavens.' " In
the far-off islands of the sea this Hawaiian priest believed with
the prophet J eren1Ïah, " that the Lord is the true God, he is tbe
Ii ving God, and an everlasting King." And that" the gods that
have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish
from the earth and from under these heavens." Thus, through
Cbristian testimony, is traced the downfall of heathenism in Ha-
waii, by an inherent power of reformation. What the great chief-
tain failed fully to accomplish himself, the surviving inspirations
of his spirit did, through the will of his son, sustained by the
faith and devotion of "Woman, to whom the world has often been
indebted for the success of reformations, and aided by the pro-
phetic counsel and countenance of one of the purest representa-
tives of priesthood, from whose life many of our day might take
lessons of disinterested goodness; one who, surrendering an
almost unlimited power with the paganism thus prostrated, and
without the aid of that preaching which was "to the Greeks
foolishness," laid hold of the great truth that confounded their
wi
dom, and set at naught their "Vaunted philosophy.
In the face of such facts, now becon1Ïng more extensively
made known through the candid criticism of fair n1Ïnded and
disinterested persons, it may well excite surprise, and even bring
reproach on a cause worthy of approval in itself, that the sup-
porters and partisans of these mi
sions should have spread abroad
the error that through them Ha",vaiian paganism perished; and
that the special agents of the trust should have dismgenuously
countenanced, by a failure to correct, the perversion of truth. ·
Giving to the noble Ha-waiians ahoead.}" mentioned, and to
those official natives who coöperated with them, the exalted
l}raise which is their due, for having stricken down the heathen
rites of idolatry, human sacrifice, and the taboo, and which, by
the Government machinery of centralized power, they could
effectually and speedily do, the most that can be clain1ed for
the missionaries, is their sub5equent aid in trall1pling the ruins

550

COAST LINE OF HAMAKUA.

in the dust, and giving direction to the future religious belief
of the people. And surely this might have been deemed suffi-
cient honor, if the latter duty had been wisely and faithfully
performed, in strict fulfilment of the Divine commands they
professed to obey, and the righteous precepts it ,vas their duty
to teach. How far their practice conformed to the obligations
of their religious profession, 111ay, in some other particulars than
those already ad velted to, be remarked upon hereafter. In the
mean time the opinion may be expressed, that if, apart from the
cardinal truths of religion, which cannot be moulded to suit the
diversities of man, the missionaries had adapted their system of
moral training, duty, relations, and pursuits, more in consonance
with the simple minds, amiable disposition, passive nature, and
innocent pastimes of the natives; and if they had labored more
assiduously and successfully to control their own countrymen
who visited the islands for commercial and Inaritime purposes,
and used the arts, the power, and the resources of a superior
race to gratify an infalllous licentiousness; and who sought by
every mode of craft and corruption to cherish and strengthen
their own idolatry of the almighty dollar, as repugnant in its
practices and damning in its effects as that abolished idolatry
of heathenism, the fall of which was hailed by the shouts of
applauding millions: if such had been the aims of missihn-
ary effort, happier results,
t is believed by n1any foreigners res-
ident in the islands, would have been secured than can now be
rightful1y claimed.
It might be well to consider if Christianity and civilization
ought not to be regarded as convertible terms-expressive of
personal purity and a righteous performance of duty here, con-
templating a hereafter of endless joy and exalted being. If this
be conceded, and the deeds of the latter conform to the known
precepts of the former, ,ve cannot fail to recognize the" law of
love which worketh no in to his neighbor," and the observance of
which the Divine Author of the Christian religion proclaimed
to be an essential of goodness and celestial approval, as the sole
and imperative Tule of action, in shaping the destiny of those
over whom the modern spirit of progress has usurped control.
Having passed the district of Kohala, that of IIamakua, to

SUPERA.BUNDAKCE OF CHURCHES.

551

the southeast, presented a seashore bluff of black, brown, and
gray laminated lava rock, appearing porous, and washed into
caverns by the inces:;ant beating of the waves. And still fur-
ther in the last-named district the coast is faced by a rock of
more uniform dark color, of from one thousand to two thousand
fiet perpendicular height, looking like an iron balTier against
which the huge swells rolled and broke, flinging their spray high
into the air to meet tiny waterfalls leaping from their dizzy
heights, and seeming like silver threads pencilled on the rocky
wall. At"\V aipio one of these picturesque cascades springs from
a height of fifteen hundred feet, back to the maternal bosom of
the sea, from which in mantling clouds it had been borne on
the wjngs of the wind, to bathe '\vith genial showers the hoary
brow of Mauna JCea, and break the silence of shadowy solitudes
that clothe his rugged sides, with murmuring melody or shouts
of joy, as on it hurries to join again the revelry of winds and
waves.
At the foot of a steep bluff which divides the outlet of Wai-
pio valley into two parts, a large, towered missionary church has
been erected for the accommodation, I am told, of t,,"'enty to
twenty-fi ve families living in the valley; and on the upper level
about three miles. further to the southeast, is seen another tow-
ered church, with but three houses between the two, and none
beyond the last church that a good telescope revealed. What
these two churches have been built there for is beyond rational
conjecture, unless, indeed, as telegraphs, to notify the passing
voyager that the missionary is abroad; certainly a sufficiently
well-attested fact at h0111e, both by pulpit and press, as also by
the ceaseless calls for contributions in aid of missions in foreign
parts, which many now think would be better appropriated in
converting the citizen heathens of our own country. When it is
considered that this sparsely-populated district of Hamakua-
one of the six into which the island of Hawaii is divided-has
thirteen churches, it will probably be thought by many a poor
widow and s1ioele
s child, who gave their hard-earned pittance
for" the spread of the Gosprl among the heathens of the Sand-
wich Islands," that these islanders have been superabulldantIy
supplied '\vith the means of grace, and that it will in future be

552

CHANGE NOT ALWAYS IMPROVEMENT.

wiser to be more gracious to themselves, and not allow either a
one-idea fanaticisnl, or the specious appeals of self-interest, to
make them miserable about the" lost souls" of those ,vho, there
are reasons for believing, were happier, and better too, before
than since int.ruders came among theu1, to introduce diseases
from which they had never suffered, vices of which they were
ignorant, and discontent with a form of governmental landed
proprietorship, adapted to their wants and parental in its char-
acter, and which taught them by precept and example a provi-
dent industry, and not to fail to prepare for the wants of to-
morrow by planting to-day. The indifference to cultivating the
soil, the innumerable neglected taro patches, and abandonlnent
of cocoanut-tree planting, prove how unwise was the policy
hastily introduced and pressed to adoption by foreigners, of re-
leasing an unprepared people from the influence and control of
their higher chiefs, and handing them over to listlessness and
indolence; or to a dependence 011 the chances of subsistence
resulting from traffic ,vith or employment by whalers, who have
for SOIne years found it to their interest to resort to these islands,
but ,vho may at any tÌ1ne for a like reason forsake theIll, con-
venience or gain atiracting them elsewhere. Indeed, the strange
disappearance of whales from former fishing regions, and the
great facilities offered to shippers to seek the great Pacific port
of San Francisco, are already operating unfavorably on the
whaling interests of the Hawaiian Islands. It is not every
change that brings Í1nprovement; nor are the usages, the modes
of control, and reforlns of one race of mankind always adapted
to another of different nature and capacities. It would have
been wiser, then, if the fe,v foreigners had duly weighed these
tr
ths, and also that it was the good of the many, the natives,
which deserved the first consideration, and was to be most Ilia-
teriallyaffected by proposed changes. Experiments involving
a total revolution of government and morals, and the relations
of mankind subject to these, having no support of eÀ.1Jerience,
are of doubtful propriety. But ,vhen these COlne of specula-
tions at variance with the distinctions of nature, and violative
of laws enacted by her, they prove not merely hazardous, but
sooner or later disastrous in their results. The fate of the IIa-

WAlAKEA BAY.-HILO.

553

waiians will probably exemplify the correctness of this POSI-
tion.
Steering more southerly along the coast of the district of
Ri10 during the evening, at midnight we doubled Makakanaloa
Point, and again changed our course to the south-south'west,
passing up TTétiakea Bay, in extent ii-om the point above nalned
on the north, to Leleiwi Point on the south, twelve miles, and
frolll the line of these points on the east to the head of the bay
westwardly, eight miles. It was to this bay, known and called
by the celebrated Vancouver, as by the natives before him,
Wal
akear-broad water-that the less appropriate personal narne
of the English navigator Capt. BYJ'on was given, on the occa-
sion of his subsequent visit to it in the British frigate c. Blonde."
This is a cheap custom of transmitting one's name, in the ab-
sence of any deed deserving remembrance; and many a humble
headland, hill, and rivulet would be "more honored in the
breach than in the observance" of it, especially by English and
American explorers, who have a ridiculous fancy thus to apply
their unmeaning "harsh, hi:3sing, grunting, guttural" cogno-
mens, even to the suppression often of native appellations, both
expressive and euphonious.
A submerged coral reef extends ii-onl Cocoanut Island on
the south, to within half a mile of the north bide of the bay,
leaving a passage of that width for vessels of the greatest
draught; and there is within the reef a harbor of one and a
quarter by two miles in extent, in which ships of any size may
ride at anchor in perfect security. On the west side of this
harbor stands the to,vn of Illl{), and on the south the little vil-
lage of Waiakea, a crescentic beach bordering and lying between
them, on which the breaking surf looks in the distance like a
fringe of frosted silver.
The quaint-looking thatched houses, with others Inore mod-
ern and of tasteful design, haying alnple grounds and gardens,
rise above each other on an inclined plane on which Hilo stands,
eU1bowered in tropical shrubbery and trees. Anlong the latter
are the broad-leaved banana and the deep-shaded bread-fruit,
above which the tall cocoanut ,vayes its graceful branche
, ,vel-
coming, as I looked on the beautiful picture, the first coming of

554

MAUNA KEA.-MAUNA LOA.

the sweet sea-breeze of the morning, whose genial breath cheered
the chilled bud, and gave brighter bloom to the blossoIu, rudely
shaken by the cool night wind froIn the mountains. nilo is
the gem of Hawaii, and sublime is the surrounding'in which
it is set, when at early da,vn the coming voyager looks above
and beyond it, his eye resting on the majestic .1JIauna Kea,
thirty-five miles to the north of west, raising upward, 13,953 feet,
its bold turrets defiant of storm, and its proud pinnacles seeming
to pierce the lightning's dwelling-place. And when, turning to
tbe south of ,vest, he beholds the surpassing dome of Mauna
Loa, sixty miles distant, and having a base diameter of like
extent, rising in grandeur to a height of 13,760 feet, illulnined
by the coming sun yet below the horizon; while hills and val-
leys are unrolled beneath, clad in verdure of darker and richer
hue, from the shadow in which they still repose.

It stands,
A mighty mount-transcendently sublime.
The very sun, as though he worshipp'd. there,
In homage lingers on its dome of snow,
Gilding the radiant roof as if with gold;
And through its strangely column'd corridors,
And o'er its vast volcanic capitals,
Shedding the glory of his tropic beams.
An everlasting temple, thus it seems,
Lifted above the shadowy earth, that spreads
Before its still unfinished porticoes
An emerald carpet for its worshippers.

And long and clear will also remain tbe remembrance of }Iauna
l{ea's surpassing majesty, when, shortly after the sun bad risen
above the sea, gathering clouds from the northeast caIne rolling
by, and the grand old mo
ntain in stately sovereignty folded
them as a mantle about his brawny shoulders, and lifted his
cold bro'\v above, bound \vith snow and ice, that gleamed in the
golden sunlight like a burnished coronet.
From witnessing the grandeur of creation, to thoughts of the
Po,ver of the Creator, is a natural transition; and from emo-
tions incident to a human appreciation of these, I was startled
by the summons to go ashore. Passing frolTI the anchorage to

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II'

HILO HOSPITALITY.

555

the beach in a shore-boat, I was borne through the surf on a
native's shoulders, the Hawaiian Government having left Hilo
without wharf or Inole; and the town not yet tolerating a hotel
as a practical reflection on its hospitality, I was taken in charge
by Captain T. Spencer, an American resident, on whose gener-
osity I can safely trust for pardon for this mention of him; and
who is the impersonation of outspoken opinion, commercial en-
terprise, and belief in the" Inanifest destiny" of a country he
will not forswear for local advantages of Hawaiian allegiance,
as some Americans have done of more noisy and intolerant
patriotism.

CHAPTER XXXV.

TEMPERATURE-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS OF HAW All-MISSIONARY INTERMEDDLING
IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS-RECORD OF PURITANISM-MISSIONARY ISTOLERANCE AND PER-
SECUTION.

OCCUPYING a commanding site with extensive grounds on
the principal avenue of the town, the hospitable residence of
which I became unexpectedly a guest, was found replete with
comforts and luxuries. A bath of extent and depth for swim-
ming, to ,vhicb a mountain stream brings its crystal tribute,
and verandahs, on which the refreshing sea-breeze never cease
to blow, except to rest when cooler airs from the snowy heights
of
Iauna Rea COllie do,vn at night to brace the nerve of sleep,
make weariness a name, and cause forgetfulness of being in a
tropical climate. My examination of a carefully kept thermo-
metrical record sho,ved 81 0 Fahrenheit to have been the highest
temperature of the year in this latitude of 19 0 42', while 55 0
marked the lowest ten1perature of several years, that of a well-
remembered and exceptional cold day; thus, embracing tbis alto-
gether unusual low temperature, the thermo metrical range has
been but 26 0 . In speaking of the clirilates of Honolulu and
Lahaina, statements were given of the diversities of mean tem-
perature at those places respectively. That a comparison of
telllperature 111ay be fairly made, it is necessary to add that the
observations of Dr. Rooke showed the maæim
l/ln temperature
of one year at Honolulu to have been 86 0 and the minim
/,;m
62 0 , the variation being 24 0 ; and at Lahaina a meteorolbgical
jouTnal of the Rev. },tIre Bald\vil1 gave for a like period 87 0 as
the 'f)2aæim
/,;m and 61 0 as tbe minimum temperature-variation
26 0 . Thus it is seen that while the absolute eætrelne vaj'>iati{}'IL

PRODUCTIOXS.

557

of temperature is precisely alike at Hilo and Lahaina, that at
Honohùu is set do
at 2 0 less-a difference undeserving of
considerafion as affecting the question of comparative advantage
for invalids. The Pali hurricanes which sometimes reach the
last-named city, causing more sudden vicissitudes, are certainly
to be regarded as of greater Î1nportance; and the quantity and
frequency of rain throughout the year at Hilo may make a res-
idence at Honolulu and Lahaina more desirable, at least to the
extent that this fact may bear upon the particular case. But in
some other respects, and especially for surpassing loveliness of
nature, Hilo and its vicinity are without a rival in these islands.
Verdure is the unchanging mantle of earth-green of endless
shades, in grass, shrub, -rine, and tree, the chief adornment,
gemmed with flowers of richest hues.
..A.. ride through the adjacent country reveals the bread fruit,
bananas of the Hawaiian, Tahitian, and choice Chinese species;
the ora
ge, lime, pineapple, cocoanut, and guava, taro and ar-
rowroot, and also the coffee-tree and sugar-cane.
The coffee-tree, apparently hopelessly destroyed in these
islands by a blight which first appeared in 1857, and which the
Hon. R. C. Wyllie, ]'Iinister of Foreign .L\.ffairs, expressed to
me an apprehension ,,"ould not recover, it was gratit)ying to find
on my arrival at the island of Hawaii, was presenting in many
instances a vigorous growth and an abundant crop of berries,
with no sign of the insect producing it, ""yhich had suddenly
made its appearance. A \ery intelligent physician and natural-
ist, Dr. Hillebrand, of Oahu, remarked to me that it was prob-
able an antagonist and 111 ore powerful insect ",'ould appear and
prey upon and destroy the present insect causing the blight.
This is not an uncommon experience of botanists, and there are
indications that it Inay be realized on this island. The Ha-
waiian coffee has a fine flavor, by some thought to rival that of

focba, and to be inferior only to the Y ungai coffee of Boli ria.
Its successful cultivation would add greatly to tbe wealth of thi

kingdoln.
The sugar-cane is of sure, rapid, and rich growth, eight and
nine years being here the limit of its productiyenes::.; a longer
tiIne, however, it is said, than on the other islands of tbe group.

558

LABORERS W ABTED.

There are four sugar estates on Hawaii, seven on !Iaui, and
three on Kauai, producing nearly five thousand tons of sugar
annually, of the finest quality, for home consunlption and the
California market. Large tracts of land suitable for sugar-cane
planting are to be had on this island at from two to five dollars
per acre. Some of these are convenient of access to the port
of Hilo, a consideration of much importance in a country where
good roads, it might ahnost be said with truth roads of any
kind, are a great desideratum. Some of the n10st fortunate ad-
venturers in this branch of industry are Chinese. It may be
that their success is due to the greater facility with which they
can obtain laborers from among their own countrYlncll. The
difficulty of securing certain and reliable labor has no doubt
deterred others from engaging in the business. .
The district of IIilo is the most fertile of this island, and
best adapted to the growth of sugar-cane, and the northern part
of the district, that above the Wailuku River, surpasses the
southern in both depth and richness of soil. This river appears
to have been the limit of the later volcanic eruptions from

launa Loa, which on the eastern side of the island appear not
to have passed north of its bed. "\Vhile the slumbering, or per-
haps extinct volcanic action of
Iauna Rea, has left that region
of country, north ot
the river, long undisturbed; subject only
to the changes of su
face' incident to decomposition and veget-
... able growth and decay, creating and ripening a virgin soil,
which may be irrigated to any desirable extent by descending
mountain streams, and ,vhich requires but the application of
skill and industry to produce remarkable results in any branch
of agriculture. If the primitive habits of the natiyes must be
abolished, and tl}-eir inclinations constrained, it is experienced
and scientific representatives of labor that are most needed.
This kingdom is dotted all over ,vith officials of foreign birth-
legislative, ministerial, judicial, magisterial-indeed generally
adn1inistrative. But, for the good of the country, for every; one
8uch in the service of the Governlnent, there should be one hun-
dred well inforlned and faithful laborers, engaged in developing
the agricultural resources, not in consuming its vitality, its cap-
ital and its credit, and endangering its hypothecation to the

THE RELIGIOrS m.S;;;IOX PERVERTED.

559

world's banker, to whom a Pacific may be as desirable a5 an
Atlantic Bermuda, for money to defray the expenses of a gov-
ernment transcending its receipts: laborers to set the poor na-
tives, no,v subjected to an irresistible re-volution, an example
of industry and practical lllorality, and to teach them how to
avert threatened ruin.
Besides the production of sugar and coffee, of large crops of
potatoes, both s"eet and Irisb, and of nearly all tbe garden veg-
etables grown in the United States, I have seen cotton of excel-
lent staple growing wild and neglected; and responding to in-
different cultivation, choice "heat, tobacco of appro\ed quality,
and an experimental crop of rice that would have been consid-
ered satisfactory in Carolina or China.
As to the grasses, their luxuriant and perennial growth on
this island, and also a genial climate, are sho,,'n by the fact that
cattle and sheep brought here by Vancouver and other naviga-
tors in the latter part of the last century, nlultiplieù so greatly
as to have become valueless except for hides and tallow, and
running 'Wild and without ownership, were lassoed and slaugh-
tel'ed by thousands to supply the California demand incident to
its recent great immigration.
The town of Hilo has a population of about one thousand.
It has two churches, occupying comlnanding positions, and ri-
valling each other in size and display of towers; these form the
showy architectural features of the t01\"1l when approaching it
from the sea. They both sprang froin missionary enterprises,
the one being Catholic, the other Protestant; but from the man-
ifestations of sectarian animosities, it "ould seem as if the Chris-
tian duty of charity and brotherly love had not been duly incul-
cated therein. I have heard a theological controvers
r between
two excited parties of natives on the street, in which warlike,
if not convincing words, were freely bandied; and fearing that
something harder and nlore effective in ending the dispute
might follow, I speedily placed nlyself beyond the reach of
1110ck-down arguments. Such disgraceful scenes result from
the too common intolerance and denunciation of tbe pulpit,
shalnefully perverted from its sacred trust to the engendering
and stimulating of prejudices and passions in tbe ignorant and

,

.

560

THE RELIGIOUS MISSION PERVERTED.

deluded people, who COlne to "gather grapes" but are given
" thorns;" to pluck" :figs," but :find" thistles."
Ho\v far antichristian lessons were taught, and to ,vhat ex-
tent 111issionary intermeddling with the affairs of political gov-
ernment in these islands once existed, are questions so intimately
connected with the propagation of the Gospel, and ,vith a just
exercise of human rights and the prevalence of free. principles,
as to deserve some notice from one not interested in propagating
erroneous statements. Next to the grain of mustard seed of
ciyilization, presumed rather than proved to have been planted
in Hawaii through a Spanish shipwreck, the germ of which is
supposed to have been strengthened by the subsequent discov-
eryof Cook, and occasional visits of comlnerce and curiosity,
came the :first systelnatic attempt of the ..Ltl.merican Inissionaries
to Christianize the islanders. Their movelnent was regarded
,vith great interest, general civilization and commerce anticipat-
ing good results fronl it, and America especially contemplating
a further extension of liberal and elevating principles of self:'
govenunent, as a natural consequence to föllow the benign influ-
ence of a true Christianity. The Foreign Secretary of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign J\1issions favors
this view by saying that "the Protestant community on these
islands is responsible for self-government in all matters of the
church, as ,yell as in all matters of the State. It should be held
to this." * The establishment of enlightened views of govern-
ment, conformable to those of the political constitution of their
o,vn country, depended in part upon the faithful adnlinistration
by the missionaries of their special trust, as assuredly did the
bestowal of religious truth, for ,vhich the natives were awaiting,
having, as already sho,vn, on their own motion deposed the idol-
atry of their fathers. .
True, it was not appropriate for the Inissionaries to interfere
in political governnlent, and they were expressly instructed by
their superiors in authority to "withhold themselves entirely
from an interference and intern1eddling ,vith the political affairs

* The Hawaiian Islands, under missionary labors, by Rufus Anderson, D. D. Bos-
ton, 18ß4.

MISSIOXARY IXTERMEDDL
G L'i POLITICAL AFFAIRS. 561

and party concerns of the nation," and from following, as the
historian of the llawaiian Islands has pointedly expressed it,
" the exan1ple of the Jesuits, and creating at once a church and
state." Adopting an opinion of
Ir. J arves, who, however, it
is to be regretted for the sake of his own reputation, too often
sinks the historian in the partisan advocate of the missionaries,
but from w.ose pages, nevertheless, I shall draw material facts,
although our conclusions will sometimes differ widely, it Inust
be admitted that the prohibition of the missionaries :tron1 inter-
meddling in political affairs ",vas a good rule." Yet if we
,vere disposed to grant their obedience to this instruction, they
Jnust still be held accountable for'any injury sustained by sound
political principles and practice, resulting from afallul'e to in-
culcate, both by precept and example, the .Divine lessons of the
Founder of the Ohristian 'J'eligion, the observance of the rules
of justice and ove, instead of that hatl"ed and all uncharitable-
ness which are as fruitful sources of political as of sor:ial evil.
But did not the missionaries commit political sins as well as
olnit religious duties? .á..uthentic records declare that the prin-
cipal rulers of the islanders" were favorers of the mission and
converts to Christianity." That the Queen Regent }{aahu-
manu, "in the daJs of her heathenism, a cruel, haughty, anJ
imperious woman-the glance of whose angry eye carried terror
to all her obsequious and crouching vassals, not a subject, ho,y-
ever high l1Îs station, darin
to face her frown," became a con-
vert to the new faith, and "warmly attached to the missiona-
ries, the same activity and firmness which were infused into all
her former acts being 111anifested in her subsequent govern-
ment. That -the machinery of the old systen1, w"hich centred
all power in the hands of the chiefs, in 'whom it IDay with pro-
priety be said the nation was individualized, was brought to aid
in the In oral reform. The w'ill of the rulers being the will of
the poplùace, the revolution that followed was not surprising."
To this startling account of despotic machinery the historian
adds, " The rulers had providentially become Christian," a suf-
ficient consideration it would appear in his judgment to justify
the extreme exercise of tyrannical power; and he then further
states, what llluSt certainly be regarded a
an unfortunate COll1-
36

.

562 MISSIONARY rnTERMEDDLrnG IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS.

mentary on his text, though announcing a very natural result of
such an antecedent, "its pure (Christian) doctrines were ITlani-
fested in the lives of afew of all degrees, but with the mass it
was an external Itaòit, like the clothes borrowed fl"orn civiliza-
tion." Nor is it ,vonderful that the missionaries were led from
such data to exaggerate the moral revolution they presumed
they had inaugurated; and that they misnndersto
l ,vhat they
supposed was the "perceptible influence of Christianity upon
the acts of the GovernlIlent, and tlw character if the nation."
About four years after the arrival of the missionaries a
charge ,vas 111ade against them of meddling in governlnental
matters-a charge sustained by the general opinion of foreign
residents expressed in lIlY hearing, and of which the historian
of the Ha'\vaiian IslandS' says, " so far as their influence affected
the chiefs this was true. That they gave advice in ell1ergencies
when asked, is evident frolll the humane influenoo they exerted,
and the encouragement they afforded the loyal chiefs in the late
rebellion at I{auai." . Although even this unsophisticated apol-
ogist of Inost of their acts, condemning them for calculating
timidity and two-faced-ness, states that "they were not always
su.fficiently fTank and open in it, and shrunk unnecessarily from
encountering boldly the opposition when their assistance ,vould
have been serviceable to the chiefs, or they rendered it in too
cautious and noncomrnittal a manner for it to avail much at a
crisis, though it ejfected m
tch in the general issue."
The historian proceeds further in proof of the political asso-
ciation of priests and people, although he strangely, and, as we
think, ungenerously charges the illiterate and simple-minded
authorities "dth the errors of execution-" in the early stage of
their career the strong attacblllent of the rulers for their teach-
ers, and the inseparable policy of tlw Government with th(! relig-
ion it fostered, caused its precepts to be felt in every political
movement,. the rnissiona;ries were truly and Ipigl
tfully the actirve
causes. No more positive proof exists of tIle hold ,vhich the
mission was acquiring in the affections of the Government, than
the aid furnished in furtherance of their views. So far as the
lIlissionaries ,vere faithful to their cause they becalne identffied
with Govern11U3nt,. for it was only to theIn, and the transient

mSSIONARY INTOLERAXCE AND PERSECUTION. 563

visitors of intelligence at the islands, that the chiefs could safely
apply for disinterested advice." ..á.nd again, in detailing the
proceedings of a general council at which it was proposed to re-
duce certain gubernatorial ed.icts into a national code, it is stated
that :, two veal'S before, an attempt had been luade to introduce
...
a municipal code of a similar character. The regents had in-
vited some
of the missionaries to be present at th
council at
which the se
.eral clau8es were to be discussed."
,Vith such evidences of intermeddling in the affairB of Gov-
ernment by the American missionaries, furnished by a historian
prone to strain crit.icism, if not historical accuracy, to a partial
judgment of their acts, it is not surprising that a general dis-
content should have arisen among foreign residents who thought
their proceedings at variance "áth the professed objects of a
religious enterprise, calculated to mar the benevolent designs of
its originators and patrons, and to convert it into a machine for
the accomplishment of selfish, fanatical, and unhallowed pur-
pose3. And it was reasonable to expect tbat English, French,
and .American resident officials, with such facts patent to them,
would unite with others in an expression of disapprobation; and
as was the case, even to manifest a spirit of antagonism to a
cause, the professed agents of which were engaged in procedures
determining a governmental policy and purposes greatly to be
deprecated.
Nor should such opposition have been regarded by the advo-
cateï3 of a t,,-o-fold mis;:.ionary scheme-political and religious-
as a "wholesale condemnation of creed or sect," as has been said.
Differences of opinion as to the expediency of measures may be
honestly entertained; and a belief in personal incompetency, in
errors of judgment and practice, does not justify a charge of in-
fidelity, or denominational hostility.
But how stands the question with reference to the other siùe

....t\Ie the missionaries free from the attaint of intolerance and per-
secution
lias their conduct presented an example of consistent
profession and practice? Jlave their lives illustrated a benign
Christianity
That they were sent to establish; and to do
whiC'h the secretary for Foreign Missions says, more than one
million of dollars have been expended, ,vhile, by the testimon)'

564 MISSIONARY INTOLERANCE AND PERSECUTION.

of one of their most eloquent friends, "in the course of six
:rears preaching he had admitted but a single individual into
the church "-130 few were the really converted and deserving.
Let us seek an answer to the questions; and in so doing we may
ascertain some additional reasons for the signal failure of tbe
schelne-as one of absolute good--exemplified by the above fact,
and others heretofore l11entioned.
The attention of the Roman Catholic Church in France was
drawn to the Hawaiian Islands as a desirable field for the prop-
agation of their faith, and in 1827 several missionary priests
were despatched thither, two of whom an'ived at Honolulu;
and, as stated by the historian, in language for such an
authority rell1arkably indicative of partisan feelings and ungov-
erned prejudices, "with an effrontery that sho,ved a sad ,vant of
moral principle," insisted on remaining; although by comnland
of the haughty and imperious Queen Regent, the favorite con-
vert of the American Inissionaries, the proverbially "new and
good I{aahumanu," an order had been given "for' their ex-
pulsion. "
Although these Inissionary priests are thus charged with a
"sad want of moral principle," yet the same author, and upon
the same page of his book, strangely declares, that "they appear
to have been men of simple and pious habits, desirous of effect-
ing good in accor
ance ,vith the mandates of their Church.
Had they been dropped among an entirely heathen tribe, their
zeal, instructions, and purity of lives, would have won respect,
and 8uccess crowned their lab01's."
And a kindly appreciation of these "simple and pious
-priests" appears to have been entertained at first by the Ameri-
can missionaries also, for it is said of thenl that they furnished
the former" with copies of their works in the Hawaüan tongue
to enable them to prosecute their studies."
But when it was found that a snlall congregation was gath-
ered by the priests, who conformed to their cOIDlnullion, and
that occasional converts were made among the natives who
attended their instruction, then, as we are told, was " strongly
urged upon the Govern.ment the impolicy of allowing the intro-
duction of this new religion, about worshipping images, and dead

MISSIOX.ARY L"fi'OLERANCE
D PERSECUTION. 565

men's bones, and taboo on meat." ..And then also, as is further
and rather censoriously recorded by the historian, "some with
'lnore zeal tl
an propriety taught tlte Government of the long and
bloody persecutions of Europe, the inquisition, crusades, papal
suprelnacy, and all the iniquities of its most corrupt age. These
sunk deep into their minds, and their fears, magnified by igno-
rance of history, conjectured like evHs for their dominions. As
the proselJtism of natives slow ly progressed, and the Romish
mission gave indications of permanency, the Protestant mis-
sionaries by force of argument, teaching, and all the influence
they could la,yfully employ, endeavored to arrest its progress.
Sermons defending the theology of Protestants, and attacking
the dogmas of the hostile Ohurch, were uttered fron
every pulpit;
tracts gav-e further circulation to their opinions, and a war of
discussion was commenced and actively pursued. Govern1nent
lent its a-l:d, and unfortunately for the principle, though neces-
sarily for its support, Church and State were nwre closely united
than ever "-a sentence expressing in brief apposition as candid
an adlnission of '\\-"hat all liberal minds deplore, as solemn a truth,
gross a falsehood, and lalnentahle a consequence, as ever fell
from the pen of an author. The Reverend Secretary for Foreign
Missions in his book already referred to, in the face of such facts
unblushingly declares that the missionaries have abstained from
" interference with the political affairð of the nation." And in
comparing the operations of Inissions he says that, certain wri-
ters ha\ye "overestimated the successes of Romish missions and
their comparative power, in the same :field ,vith missions," by
him designated as "of the evangelical or Puritan stamp."
It would have been a praiseworthy example of Christian can-
dor, calculated to direct more justly the action of Hawaiian
rulers, if the American missionaries of that tÍlne, while telling
thelll the faults of others, and with extravagant harangues ex-
citing them to acts. of persecution, }1ad revealed also the frauds
and violence, tha bigotry, intolerance, duplicity, and shocking
barbarities, practised by the Pilgrim P'ttritans from whom they
sprang; whose chartered privileges-l11erely those of a mercan-
tile company-were granted in the royal hope, unhappily dis-
appointed, that their exalnple would win the aborigines of K e\v

566

RECORD OF PURITANISM.

England to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God.
Such was the "royal intention and the adventurers free pro-
fession."
But it seems not to have suited their selfish purposes to make
known that the worst of Romanist offences against the spirit of
Ohristianity have been sternly Ï1nitated by Protestant fanaticisin.
It was not told to the islander, "Those ignorance it was the pro-
fession of the missionaries to enlighten, that the Puritans clan-
destinelyand illegally transferred a charter, to be subsequently
perverted to purposes of heinous oppression and crime, in a far-
off country where observation and authority could not readily
reach them. *
Nothing was said of the disfranchisement of all wIlo refused
to burden their consciences with that covenant, the fell spirit of
which instigated the enactlnent that" none should be adinitted
to the liberties of the commonwealth (of Massachusetts) but such
as shall be meinbers of SOlne of the (Puritan) churches within its
jurisdiction." And no matter what their Inaterial interests at
stake in the cominunity, they had no security of property or
person, but became, from want of "covenant grace," a degrad-
ed caste.
The Hawaiians were not told that the crÏ1ninallaw of Puri-
taniSIn, ,vhen popery had not yet intruded on its sanctified do-
main, was steeped in blood; that witchcraft, blasphemy, adul-
tery, perjury, conspiracy, cursing or smiting, rebellion of chil-
dren against parents, and such like offences-strangely found in
its holy precincts-were deemed deserving of the saIne penalty
affixed to the crime of murder. Even the islanders, whom it was
sought to purge of heathenism, would have stood aghast at the
relation of such a code, and trembled with forebodings of th
san-
guinary carnival which would have been inaugurated by its adop-
tion ainong them. Nor did the American Inissionaries, in de-
nouncing the other iniquities of popery, think the wicked insinua-
tion worthy of notice, that a Puritan' censorship of the press had
been deenled necessary to the purification of" the cradle of liberty ."
Neither was it told, with suitable cOlnlnentaries, that ,vhipping

. See Historical Review of the Puritan Government in Massachusetts, by Peter
Oliver, Boston edition, 1856.

RECORD OF PLRITA1-.'7S:ll.

561

even na7
ed through the streets-banishment, fines, hnprisonrnent,
branding, bodily mutilatio,n by cutting off the ears and boring
the tongue with a red-hot iron, the pillory, selling into slaT"ery, *
and even the gallows-punishments cOIning of bigotry and intol-
erance, disgraceful to the model mission of "a Puritan stamp"
were inflicted upon men and women, for reUgious opinions, for
which they were accountable to God alone; and imposed by
those, too, who clahned to have freighted the ships in which
they fled from their own country to raise altars in a wilderness,
with that most precious of hUlnan rights, libel"ty of conscience.
The cruelties of Puritan" persecutions, inquisitions, crusades,
and supreinacy," would have been but a fair offset to those of
European Catholicism IJroclaimed. to the Ha-waiians by the
American missionaries; and certainly as appropriate a theIne
for pulpit denunciation. They did not sketch, even in outline,
the horrors of the exterminating wars prosecuted against the
rightful possessors of the Boil, by those who had it ever on their
lips, that theirs was the mission to " Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature." Nothing was
aid of the
Puritan plea of Christian right "by the grand charter of God,"
to despoil the Indian of his for
sts, fields, and waters. Nothing
of the sad fate of the Pequod tribe, who, as the PilgrÏ1n 'Vin-
throp afterwards said, " had done Massachusetts no injury," and
yet every warrior and old man of whom was slain, the ,vomen
being distributed as slaves, and the male children sold to the
Bermudas. Nothing of the cold-blooded murder of the two
great K arrangansett chiefs; the perfidious resolution "to blot
out that tribe ITOln existence, although the ink with which 3.
treaty of peace had been ratified was scarcely dry," tIle merci-
less slaughter of nine hundred walTiors even when defence of
their homes and their lives ceased to be maintained, and the
horrid burning of the captives, old men, women, and children.
Kothing of the deliberately predetermined extermination of the
Walnpanoags, bunted like 'wild beasts by tbe dropping shots of
the chase; nor of the fate of their King Philip's son, "the last
of the race of
lassasoit-that kindly and kingly entertainer of
the Pilgrinl Fathers-who was sent like a brute without a soul,
to toil in slavery under the burr;ng sun of the BerIlludas."

568 1\IISSIONARY INTOLERANCE AND PERSECUTION.

Fortunate indeed, would it have been for these simple, trust-
ing, and faithful children of nature, if, like I{ing J allies of Eng-
.. land, they had knolvn those ,vith whonl they were dealing.
"1tfy son," said that monarch addressing Prince llenry, "take
heed of the Puritans, very pests in the Church and COlnmon-
wealth, . whom neither oaths nor promises bind, making their
own ilnaginations the square of their conscience "-then would
not one hundred thousand human beings bave been sacrificed
in fifty years, to gratify a ferocious fanaticislll; nor would their
land have become crimson with innocent blood nor reeking with
the fraud of false-hearted in trudel's.
And fortunate would it have been for the Hawaüans if Ameri-
can missionaries had presented the two pictures in candid com-
parison; that they did not draw of Puritan intolerance, fanati-
cism, and cruelty, with that by then:! so vividly portrayed of
Catholic bigotry, fólly, and persecution; then might the rulers
of these misguided people have avoided the perpetration of per-
secutions, for which their only excuse is to be found in the dis-
ingenuousness of those wholll they trusted.
It is not surprising that the unfair and persistent efforts of
an established mission to control a centralized power for selfish
purposes should have inaugurated what was subsequently called
" the persecution; " nor that, as a consequence, the party in the
state hostile to the Governn1ent, should have been increased by the
accession of many previously indifferent observers of the contro-
versy, \vho were prompted by liberal and generous sentiments
to side ,vith the oppressed. But this manifestation of sympathy
strengthened the resolutions of intolerance, and inflamed the
imperious Kaahumanu; by whose command the" natives were
forbidden to attend the religious services of the Papists." . The
arbitrary will of I{aahulnanu, directed by the missionaries, who
availed in all things relating to their interests, of the I{anleha-
mehian policy of suprenle control and unquestioned domina-
tion, was not to be resisted; and accordingly, Governlnent im-
posed fines and imprisonrnent upon converts to Catholicism.
The history of that period sho\vs that such converts " were con-
fined and set to work making stone walls, repairing roads, and
fabricating mats, aggravated J y filthy lodgings, bad food, and

MISSIONARY L.
TOLERANCE A}..l) PERSECUTIOK. 569

the contelnpt and rudeness COilllllon to the lowest orders particu-
larly of natives, with ,,-horn malevolence to the unfortunate had
ahyays been an active principle. They were punished for their
idolatry, and they who repeated the oftence five times, either by
,vorshipping at the chapel or indulging in their old rites, were
obliged to remove tlU} filth of the fort with their hands. Ron1an-
ists to the number of thirty men and 'YOIUen were incorporated
in the ranks of common malefactol's, and from time to tinle for
several yeaJ'S made liable to sÏ1nilar punishments."
The partial historian of this persecution for conscience' sake,
unblushingly attributes the" mildness" of this inhumanity, in
comparison with the harsher punishment ,vhich 'Would have
attended such offences a fe,v years before, to the" h1.l1nanizing
8jJirit of tlU} Ohristian'ity " inti'oduced by the mis8ionaries. The
saving clause of the sentence, is in the kind of Christianity thus
introduced. But at the inauguration of the new faith, it would
have been more appropriate that SOllle other name had been
taken, and that the religion of the meek and lowly one of Beth-
lehem had sprung and flourished of its o,,-n benignant spirit,
and not from the rankness of evil passions; had come at its own
tÏ1ne and in its own way, with healing on its wings, not to be
sn1Îtten by the rude blasts of persecution; ha.d Inade known its
own messages of peace and good will to an Inen, and not have
been shaIlled by curses and cruelties nleted out to the oppressed.
If Christianity had come thus, not only the intolerance of Ro-
manislll, which American lnissionaries had enriched the Hawaii-
an tongue ,vith new epithets to denounce, but intolerance in an
matters 01' religious faith, ,vould never ha"Ve raised its head.
And if a purified and enlightened public sentiment and not the
inhumanities either of legal enactment or of arùitrary ,vill,
had been the means of reformation, the historian would not
have been required by truth reluctantly to acknowledge in ref-
erence to the above-recited punishn1ents, that" there "yere in(1i-
vidual instances of missionaries whose minds, iHiberalized by sec-
tarianisln, looked on ,vith reprehensible apathy."

reanwhile, the pair of patient priests, protected as they be-
lieved bJ tbe panoply of truth, and sUbtailled ùy an in '\\ard con-
sciousness of duty, pursued their path of piety so llleekly and

570 :MIssrONARY INTOLERANCE AND PERSECUTION.

uncon1plainingly, SO entirely in harlnony with the mercitùl and
loving spirit of the Gospel they professed, that a cOll"\,"iction of
their goodness coming of a true religion, seized upon many, and
they still gained converts, despite the inflictions of the civil
authorities, controlled by fanaticism. Embittered by their con-
tin ued success, a misguided Government next deterll1ined to
send them out of the country; and as they declared themselves
without the means of going, they were by direction of the rulers
in 1832, forcibly put on board of a vessel and banished. An
act ,vhich the historian-
Ir. J arves-pronounces "for barbari-
ans, a humane consideration;" strangely overlooking his previ-
ous record of the priests' "sÏ1nple and pious habits, their zeal
and purity of lives;" and also that he had called the rulers,
Ohristians, and pronounced the Queen p,egent's "character so
entirely altered, and her deportment so consistent with the prin-
ciples of her faith, that none could doubt its sincerity." Who
were the" barbarians "
The priests, or the princes
And
will Mr. J. inform us further, in what consists the "humane
consideration" of banishment for religiou8 opinion?

.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

CO
SEQUE...
CES OF MISSIOSARY ERRORS A
!) PERSECUTIOXS-
ISSIONARY DUTY-lliSSIO
-
ARY CO
TRAST.

THE Kamehamehian rule of goyernment-arbitrary decrees
and punishments-the handmaid of the American missionaries
in these islands, was not restricted to the catholic clergy alone.
'Ve are told by !II'. J arves that Kuakini, the brother of the
self-"yilled Kaahumanu, and her governor of Oahu, being" fully
equal to the task of subduing the impertinence of lawless whites,
his rigorous enforcement of the letter of the law ga,e cause of
offence to many foreigners." Briefly told, his agents rudely
entered private houses, seizing and carrying off forbidden bev-
erages. Horses were forcibly taken from o'wners who rode on
Sunday. Armed bands paraded the streets and ,iolently sup-
pressed houses obnoxious to puritanical ordinances. It is not
surprising that under such an enfòrcen1ent of fanatical despotism,
the annals of that period should present the acknowledgment
" tbat the strong arm of Government was not capable of infusing
order and sobriety into a dissolute population; that secret
means of indulgence were sought out; that the governor's meas-
ures met a strong opposition, and lnany continued to be evaded."
That it should have been declared that the apparent moral con-
dition was entirely ow'ing to the absolutism of the chiefs
and
that the historian of the time was compelled to say, " tbat this
was partly true, no 'Jnissional'Y could deny. They nUlnbered
but few real converts, though they justly claimed the ameliora-
tion of manners, the de3ire of instruction, and much of the grad-
ual change for the better, to be the result of their labors. Still
follo,ving the example of the rulers, it bad beCOllle fashionable

,

572

CONSEQUENCES OF MISSIONARY ERRORS.

to be of their òeliefj all important offices were in their hands,
and interest lnore than intelligence conspired to produce an
out
l)ard conformity to morality. While nUlnbers, to tlw best of
their abilities, ,vere Ohristians, thousands joined their rank8
frol1
unworthy 1notives; perhaps in no instances have the
united cunning and lnendacity of the Ha'\vaiian character been
more strikingly displayed than in their stratagems to deceive tlwir
religious teachers. By fraud, by even giving up much-loved
sins, and by ready knúvv"ledge of tbe Scriptures, many managed
to become church members, because by it their importance was
increased, and their chances of political preferlnent bettered.
This is too Christian a practice for civilized !llen to ,vonder at.
Deceived by appearances the friends of the mission exaggerated
tlwir success." 'Vith the obligation of presenting such a record
upon him, it is remarkable that the historian should at any time
have attelnpted to gloss his subject. It was at this tÎIne that a
condition of civil and III oral anarchy is stated to have prevailed
throughout the islands; schools w"ere deserted, teachers relapsed,
congregations were thinned, excesses abounded, several churches
'\vere burned, and in sonle places idolatry was reinstated. And
this result has been referred by the apologists of missionary
errors to the sweeping away by others of moral restraints and
municipal regulations in a well-ordered community; and that
in the face of the above-cited acknowledgnlents of fraud, false-
hood, and hypocrisy, assuming the mantle of morality and piety
for despicable and mercenary purposes; of admitted inhumanity
and tyranny that could not fail to kindle a spirit of resistance;
ünd of conreded religious persecution, the offspring of fanati-
cism and the parent of evil. Could it have been rationally ex-
pected that people would fall in love ,vith the demon of all-
uncharitableness, equally repugnant vV"ith the idolatry they had
repudiated
Rather Inigl1t '\ve suppose that they thought--lf
tlwse white priests wllo claim to have been ta'ttgnt of God, can
teach us no better precepts than these, no purer and nobler prin-
ciples of action, nothing more deser,ving of reverence than that
religion which we have
'oluntarily discarded as w01
thless and
wicked, they cannot be reliaòle interpreters of what the " One
Great God dwelling in the IIeavens" considers pure and good.

COSSEQ'UEXCES OF IDSSIO:':ARY ERRORS. 573

He cannot have revealed H'l.mself unto theJn, G8 they profess ,.
they a}
e bItt" blinrlleodel's of the blind." .A..nd truly was it said,
that in 1836 the missionaries had calTied the nation to a point
when it became necessary for new influences to operate, for the
accolnplishment of desirable resu1ts which they had been unable
to reach. .L\.nd why? Because" the strenuous opposition to
the progress of the Gospel was gradually changing its character,
and sett1ing into a political animosity to the chiefs; 1yho had
unfortunately and Ull\\isely submitted to -ecclesiastical control,
and shaped their go\ernmental policy according to
cclesiastical
dictation." Because, as candidly confessed by the historian of
Hawaii, "laws, people, and govérnment, partook of the puritani-
cal caste of their religious teachers."
Such was the lesson taught by the missionary experiment up
to this period that a change of programme was demanded; and
such, comprehensively expressed-the puritanical character of
the movement-was the cause of the failure of the .work of re-
ligious ci\ilization. It became necessary to regenerate individ-
uals through personal connction and purification, rather than
to move the unwieldy and pa
sive multitude through arbitrary
authority; to obey the Founder of Christianity, and "seek t
e
lost sheep of the house of Israel-to heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils," instead of courting" Prin-
cipalities and Powers," and devising political engines full of
human conceits to move the unthinking and indifferent Inasses
in conformity to despotic will, that the missionaries might n1ake
" Christendom resound with their triumph," and magnify their
achievements.
Subsequently to these events, infonnation having been con-
veyed to the banished priests that in consequence of an under-
standing between tbe king and the commanders of a French
sloop-of:'war and a British frigate, they could return to tIle isl-
ands, these clergymen in 1837 again visited ITonolulu, in a ves-
sel under English colors; but much excitement having thereupon
ensued, their reëmbarkation was ordered by the governor, and
a proclamation of perpetual banishment was issued. To this
the priests entered formal protests before the Engli:3h con:;ul,
who counselled a disregard of the edicts of Governluent. For-

\.,

57! CONSEQUENCi5S OF :MISSIONARY ERRORS.

cible expulsion follo,ved, and also a severe ordinance eftèctually
to prevent the introduction of the Catholic faith. The histori-
cal record of those events sho","'s that" a number of the natives
were arrested and confined for their adhesion to the doctrines
of the priests. They manifested a dogged obstinacy to the au-
thorities, and a contumely ,vhich brought upon them unneces-
sary severities. They were few, ignorant, and powerless; the
Inenials of the governor frequently apprehended thenl when
they 'v ere detected in the exercise of their (religious) rites, and
carried them before him."
.
Soon after these occurrences, the Hawaiian rulers, now en-
tirely lilder the influence of the missionaries, ,vho unhappily
considered their interests at variance with all others, and secu-
lar views and policy as necessarily of Satan, detennined upon
the appointment of the Rev. William Richards, one of the
American lllissionaries, as " chaplain, teacher, and translator of
tbe Governlnent ; " and the year 1838 marked the epoch ,vhen
the missionaries elnboldened by previous successes, and the
rulers pleased with the executive bauble gilded ,vith novel
usages, deterluined to throw off the cloak which had but illy con-
cealed previous relations of cause and effect, lay aside further
..
disguise, and establishing an official connection, thus fearlessly
proclaim the union of Ohurch and State. }Ir. Richards' act,
ostentatiously proclaimed, of "dissevering hÍ1nself from the
mission by the advice and consent" of his nlissionary brethren,
was a device too thinly veiled to prevent detection, if a cover
were designed. It ,vas plain to all disapproving of the step,
t1-:at the relations of sectarian interest, sympathy, motive, pur-
pose, and plan, remained tbe saIne as before; and that the osten-
sible disassociation but strengthened their bond, by enlarging
their power, and confirming their obligation to each other.
Profession is not ahvays to be regarded as the test of sincerity.
"'\Ve have already seen that the missionaries were instructed by
their patrons in the United States" to withhold tbenlselves en-
tirely from all interference and intermeddling ,vith the political
affairs and party concerns of the nation." The taldng of office
under Government by one of the mission, was therefore a viola-
tion of bis sacred trust. l\fr. Richards intended to occupy of-

COXSEQ1JX:XCES OF mSSIOXïRY ERRORS.

575

:flce, either true to the cause of the ll1ission, or fal.<Jo to it. If
the former, then he forfeited the confidence reposed in him by
the lords of the vineyard, who had commanded him not to sow
thistles among grapes-not to bring upon their cause the odium
of moving in political matters; and that his connection with
the Government 'was considered as bearing that complexion. is
shown by the act of disseverance deen1ed necessary by the lllis-
sionaries. And if, on the other hand, he designed to abandon
the spiritual objects of the
uterprise for selfish and temporal
purposes, tben unhappily he must be numbered among those
of whom Christ said, "He that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a
thief and a robber."
We leave to others the deternlfning of 11r. Richards' true
position, after reading that page of Hawaüan history on which
it is recorded that, after the missionary power became para-
mount, and the Rev. Yr. Richards had taken office under its
modest title, "his influence on the fOl'eign policy of the clliefs
became conside,ywle, and in it he was sustained by his brethren.
Each missionary was generally the friend of SOllle chief living
in his neighborhood, and over whom he ÍInperceptibly acquired
that influence which moral confidence is sure to engender, so
that without knowjng exactly how it was, he felt himself pow-
erful in his little field. 'I'lL 'l'LissionaJ'ie8 being united 'h
policy,
were thus enabled to affect the tone of tlæ public council8, th,>ough
thø voices of tlwÍ1" i.ndiviclualfl'iends."
As shown by the records of the tinle, other menlbers of the
.-
mission are designated as 'wielding great influence; but it is not
necessary, beyond the general testimony already presented, to
sbo'v the responsibility of the ..d.nlerican missionaries for many
error.:; of the Government, to do more than to name one more
personal example, that of the Rev. Mr. Bingham, referred to by

rr. J arves, as " long known by the soubriquet of King ITiraln,
who had acquired great prominence in the affairs of the IlJis-
sion, enjoyed the confidence of the chiefs, and 'was devoted to
the cause in which he had embarked. But it must be ackno,vl-
edged he pO;:,5e
:;ed a knactty of opini()n and a sectarialb ZdÙ,

576

CONSEQUENCES OF MISSIONARY ERRORS.

which. at times separated him in some degree from his friends,
and marred his usefulness."
With this foreign sectarian influence and intemperate zeal at
work, stirring up the bitter waters of strife, engendering preju-
dices, and exciting evil passions and re1igious intolerance, it
,vas but reasonable to look for international difficulties. It was
not to be expected that repeated persecutions of her subjects,
under "rhatever pretexts, would be submitted to by France
without interposition; and hence those proceedings which sub-
sequently modified the policy of the IIawaiian Governn1ent,
released it tÌ'om the shackles of bigotry, and shaped it in accord-
ance with the liberal spirit of the age, developing in tn1th the
new era, tl1e dawn of which was contemplated by a sensible in-
timation that the lnissionaries were unable to carry the nation
beyond a certain point-one that every enlightened mind will
admit, having been once reached, ,viser counsels were demanded
to shape its future.
In 1839 the French frigate" Artemise" arrived at Honolulu,
her commander, Laplace, having been instructed by his Govern-
ment to put an end to the ill treatment to ,vhich its citizens had
been subjected in the Hawaiian islands. IIis complaint stated
that the rulers of the islands had been misled by perfidious
counsellors, that French subjects had been made victims of un-
warrantable persecution, and in violation of the usages of civil-
ized nations had been forbidden the exercise of their religion,
while Protestants enjoyed every privilege; "for these, all favors
-for those, the most cruel persecutions."
Captain Laplace was certainly wrong in saying, as he did in
his manifesto, that" among civilized nations there is not even
one which does not permit in its territory the free toleration of
all religions," lUlless indeed he designed to exclude froln the
pale of civilization certain nationalities, especially of South
America, in which he should have known religious freedom is
not allowed. But Catholic intolerance in those countries should
not be imitated by others who condemn it; and as he ,vas not
himself the representative of a national religious exclusiveness,
we should not quarrel with his efforts in behalf of religious free-
dom, however we may differ with him on a point of fact.

5 7 7
COXSEQ"'GE
CES OF l\IISSIOXARY ERRORS. .

The commander of the " .....-\..rtemise" demanded that French
citizens should be permitted to enjoy the privileges granted to
others; and that a guarantee for the faithful performance of the
engagement entered into should be given. As the consequence
of a refusal on the part of the Hawaiian Governn1ent WfiS to be
an immediate declaration of war, asylum and protection was
offered on board the French frigate to friendly foreigners. But
in the tender of such to the American consul at Honolulu for
his countr.rmen, the French commander expressly stipulated,
and I refer to it in proof of the political character of mission-
ary proceedings, that he "did not include in this class the indi-
vidn
ls who, although born in the United States, make a part
of the Protestant clergy of the Ohief of the Archipelago, direct
his cO'llnsels, influence his conduct, and al'e the true authors of
the in8ult given by him to F/'ance." " For n1e," he further said,
" they compose a part of the native population, and must un-
dergo the unhappy consequences of a f{.!Ja')1 f{.l)hich they shall have
brought on tlds count1.y."
" Deplorable" as this demand has been pronounced by the
Rev. Secretary for Foreign Missions, and ungenerous as consid-
ered by others, in view of the feebleness and incapability of
resistance of the Hawaiians, yet it surely does not become
Americans, the special advocates of civil and religious liberty,
to deny the justice of the French claim to be placed on a foot-
ing with others. And as to immunity to perpetrate a wrong,
the ,veak have no n10re right to it than the strong. They are
equally at fault for acts of injustice, and should be subject to
a like penalty. It is a sick1y statesmanship that concedes the
claim of the feeble to violate ,vith Ï1npunity the unchanging
principles of international right.
The lla'waiian rulers had set a bad example in granting no
privilege of conscience to their helpless people; and having
adopted the rule that 7night maùe right, in their own Govern-
ment, they were not entitled to complain that a machinery cor-
responding to that of their old sJstem, which centred all power
in the hands of the chief", and which was approvingly claimed
to have been "brought to aid the Inoral reform," the Dlachinery
37

578

CONSEQUENCES OF MISSIONARY ERRORS.

of arbitrary will and power, should also have been brought to
bear upon them to enforce equity.

The display of naval po'wer, with the purpose to use it if
necessary, led to the wise decision to secure peace on the terms
demanded. A treaty ,vas entered into between his IIawaiian
1\Iajesty, who had passed from his 'wardship to the throne as
Kalllehameha III., and the commander of the frigate on behalf
of France, when the latter sailed from Honolulu, after having
received from the foreign residents opposed to the missionary
policy of the Government a letter of thanks, containing the fol-
lowing significant passage: "'V e are willing to hope that the
horrifying realities of persecution and torture for conscience'
sake, will, by your :firmness and justice, have been forever
crushed, never again to show its hydra-head; and that the sim-
ple and confiding children of nature in these islands, so long
deluded by designing and interested counsellors, will see the ne-
cessity of immediately retracing their steps, and taking a manly
and nobly disinterested example you have set them for theÏJ
guide, that the blessings of freedom, of peace, and prosperity
may be henceforward the interesting portion of these hitherto
deluded people."
Thus we see that it was left for the representative of a pro-
fessedly ROlnan Catholic country to plant and maintain relig-
ious freedom in a field first occupied by Alnerican PI.otestant
laborers, and where they had sown the seed of a spurious Chris-
tianity, to take root in the evil passions of hUlnan nature, and

roduce the bitter fruits of' malevolence, discord, and persecu-
tion. Under the blighting shadow of such a tree the hopes of
a people seeking regeneration must have perished. And it is a
mortifying reflection for Protestant Americans that their mis-
sionaries, born and bred under a political constitution forbid-
ding tlw passage of any law" respecting an establishment of re-
ligion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," should have
failed to bear to others that glorious decree of human wisdom
and of human privilege, with the blessed inculcations of peace
and good .wil\ toward aU men.
The remarks upon Protestant missionary intolerance in these
islands are consistent with the condemnation of like illiberality

CO:XSEQUE...,CES OF IDSSIO
ARY ERRORS. 579

in the Catholic clergy of SOlne other countries ]lerein spoken of.
Sectarianism, creeds, and confessions of faith-" winds of doc-
trine "-may both pleasantly and profitably be passed unheeded.
It is only violations of the COllUllon rights of humanity, and of
the Christian principles upon w'hich they profess to build their
respecti '\e churcheF, that it is deemed a duty to expose. If
Protestants condelnn "the example of the Jesuits in creating at
once a Church and State," they Inu
t not expect their imitation
of it to be approved by the impartial and just. Let them not
be "forgetful hearers of the word," but treasure fO}
practical

l-8eS, rather than for the vanity of pulpit oratory and sensa-
tional declamation, the sublime instruction, "For with what.
judgn1ent ye judge ye shall be judged; and with \vhat measure
ye mete it shall be measured to you again.
' "First cast out the
beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to
cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
If the "poor heathen" ia to be benefited by religious pro-
jects of civilization, the executors should remember that though
they" ha,e the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge, and have all faitb, and Ilave not chal'ity,
theJ are as nothing." J!rot the cheap chal',ity to bloated wealtlb
of alms-giving, unattainable by righteous poverty, but tbat to
which all 111ay aspire, both rich and poor, which the apostle
tells us ,. suftereth long and is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not
itsel
doth not behave itself unseemly, thinketh no evil, endur-
eth all things," and exceeds in righteousness e,en faith, the
cherished foundation of the Christian
s reward, and hope, w'ith-
out "yhose blessed pronlÍses his earthly probation would be drear
and desolate. The ,. Poet's Creed," read in the "Pol
ynesi'.1n,"
is true, every word of it:

" I hold that Christian grace abounds
"Ìlere charity is seen; that when
We climb to heaven 'tis on the rounds
Of love to men.

" I hold all plse namcd picty
...\ selfish scheme-a vain pretence:
Whcre centre is not) can there ùe
Circumfcrence ?

580

MISSIONARY ERRORS.

"This I moreover hold, and dare
Affirm where'er my rhyme may go-
Whatever things be sweet or fair,
Love makes them so.

"Whether it is the sickle's rush
Through wheat-fields, or the fall of showers,
Or by some cabin-door a bush
Of ragged flowers.

"'Tis not the wide phylactery,
Nor stubborn fast, nor stated prayers,
That make us saints; we judge the tree
By what it bears.

" And when a man can live apart
From works, on theologic trust,
I know the blood about his heart
Is dryas dust."

If higher and nobler motives of action cannot be presented
to mankind than those which spl
ing froln selfishness, malevo-
lence, and vengeful passions, to induce them to change their
religion, truth might well stand by heedless of the result of the
effort. Happy in the possession of a delicious climate, and a
bountiful nature bestowing a rich return to lTIoc1erate industry;
easy, healthful, hospitable, with unrestricted means of gratify-
ing his sensuous inclinations; and an ahsolution from pains and
penalties for nonconforn1ity to the selfish decrees of a priesthood,
whose taboos were abolished al1d absurd theology exploded by
the highest in authority, it may well be doubted by the philan-
thropist if the Hawaiian derived any actual advantage in the
substitution for these of polemical subtleties he could not com-
prehend; petrified creeds, impenetrable to his perceptions; con-
flicting interpretations by professed disciples of a common Chris-
tianity, and therefore stumbling-blocks in his ,vaJ; mutual de-
nunciations, persecutions for conscience' sake, and punishment
of himself for his inability to deterlTIine who of his white broth-
ers was right and who wrong, ,vhile each professed to be" the
only true interpreter of the new faith. In vie,vof existing
facts the Rev. Secretary for Foreign 1\lissions may well say that
"the shadows were perhaps never darker than they are now,

.

mSSIOXARY DTITY.

581

even ,,,,hile we are raising the cry of victory." X or is it sur-
prising that with such antagonisms in operation, Christianity
becall1e polluted "by an almost universal hypocrisy;. and that to
this day, as recognized by every intelligent observer, and ac-
kno,vledged by the disinterested and candid, a conformity to a
Christian church requirement and ceremonies js to be regarded
rather as the cloak of pride, interest, stratagem, and deceit, than
as tbe garment of sincerity and true piety. Witnessing this
shailleftù corruption of nlorals, and conten1.plating its causes in
the gross perversion of the real objects of the 11lisj;Ïonaryenter-
prise, one is reminded of the warning of Jesus to the multitude,
" W 0 unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For Je
compass sea anù land to make one proselyte; and ",-hen he is
made ye make hiIn twofold more the child of hell than your-
sel ves."
The sincere friends of this much-abused people hoped for
them a better return for the kindness and hospitality extended to
the discoverers and other early voyagers to these islands; and
. especially was it due to them, in vie,v of the many and irrepar-
able e,ils brought to their hOlues by Dcious and heartless guests.
There are many foreign residents who frankly acknowledge the
force of the obligation, and who think that if missionary efforts
are to be continued the Divine injtillction should be remem-
bered, that" Not everyone that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that docth the will of my
Father ,,,,hich is ill heaven." ..And what is that will ?
.. Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul,
and all thy Dlinc1. This is the first commandment, and the sec-
ond is like unto it-thou sl
(tlt love tllY neighbor as thyself."'
Love is the golden thread interwoven with the whole woof of
Christianity, as it came ii"om the IIand of its Divine Author;
and man is not in his proper relation to his Creator, nor to his
fellow-man, until, discarding the stony theology óf sectarian
dogmas and creeds, he goes fearlessly forth to fulfil, in its sinl-
plicity and truth, the Law of Love.
)I.r inforlllation, derived from several Protestant sources,
was that the Catholics are more successful in making proselytes
than Protestants; and this ,vas accounted for in part by the

582

MISSIONARY CONTRAST.

facts that in their domestic habHs the priests have adopted the
simple and inexpensive custOlllS of the country, their genial
dellleanor and benevolent offices are better adapted to the native
notions of goodness, and they do not levy on their church lllenl-
bel's assessments; this conduct establishes confidence in the dis-
interested character of their purposes, and in the sincerity of
their professions; while, on the otber hand, the large falnilies of
D10st of the Protestant clergy requiring for their support, and
the gratification of the vanities of personal and household dis-
play, a much 4 larger expenditure, has led in some cases to a sys-
tem of church taxation and levy on labor considered by many
natives oppressive, and indicative of an unchristian seeking
after treaSlu'es on earth rather than a patient ,yaiting for those
more precious in the world to come..
This great success of the Catholics in these islands, reminds
us of the more glorious results attendant on the mission of
priests than on that of the Puritans in North America. 'Vhile
the fonner, tl)rough the benign influence of genuine religion,
and a reasonable confoflllance to the out,vard life, simple habits,
and natural instincts of the Indian, possessed themselves of the
door of human nature, the heart, and by kindness, sympathy,
persuasion, and rational appeal, passed through it to the inner
seat of his convictions; the cold, unbending, unpitying, and un-
conlpromising disciple of puritanism, sought to attain the sarno
end by dictatorial harangues on election,jrústijication, and sanctifi-
cation, unintelligible to themselves and incomprehensible to their
hearers; and by harsh decrees, fierce denunciations, and finally
by the practical enforcement of death and damnation. The
results of these two systelTIS of proselytism are matters of rec-
ord. The former, introduced by the French Franciscans, on the
rocky shores of 1tlaine, ,vas subsequently borne thence along the
great val1ey of the St. Lawrence and the lakes, even to that of
the Father. of Waters, by the Jesuits; winning the confidence
and love of t
e untamed savage, guiding him to the peaceful
contemplation of truth, and along the path that leads to eternal
life. \\Thile the latter wrote in blood the record of aboriginal
repugnance, and of their own persecutions, oppression, and final
externlination of a race whom they professed to seek with the

MISSIONARY CONTRAST.

583

Gospel of Peace, but in fact destroyed with the weapons of war;
and when at a later day they seized the happier fields of Catho-
lic missions along the St. Lawrence and the lakes, there too they
blasted the fair face of a benignant Christianity, by the terrors
of uncompromising heartlessness, intolerance, cruelty, and sel-
fishness. As aNew England historian * has asked in regard to
the contrasted spirit of the missions of that day, equally appli-
cable to tbe missions of which we have ,been speaking in the
Hawaiian Islands-" Can we wonder that Rome succeeded and
that Geneva failed
Is it strange that the tawny pagan fled
from the icy embrace of Puritanism, and took reftlge in the
3.rll1S of the priest and Jesuit? "

ill "The Puritan Commonwealth, by Peter Oliver." Boston, 1856.

CHÄPTER XXXVII.

W.AIAKEA-WAILUKU RIVER-SACRED GROVE A....
m RUn
S OF A HEIAU-WATERFALL OF
W AI
UE:srE.

A:Mo
G tbe most useful and best conducted of tbe benevolent
institutions of these islands, is the Manual Labor School at Hilo,
v.nder the superintendence of Mr. and Mrs. D. B. Lyman, to
whom great credit is due for its judicious organization and excel-
lent arrangements. It was conducted for a time under great
disadvantages, but was incorporated in 1848, and obtained from
the Government a grant of forty acres of land, on which the
present buildings are erected. The main building was after-
wards destroyed by fire, and in 1856 was rebuilt at tbe expense
of Government, aided by contributions from resident foreigners
and natives, and from the Än1erican Board of Foreign Missions,
who also pay the salaries of the principals. The edifice is -ulain
but commodious and neat, occupying a healthy and command-
ing position. Well cultivated lands, tasteful bouses, and gar-
dens surround it, with the bay stretching away before it to wed
the ocean that forms the distant horizon; and three lofty extinct
craters rise in the rear, now clad in verdure, yet serving to re-
mind the young Hawaiians, who dwell in their shadow, that
their fatherland was upheaved from beneath the deep sea that
now surges against its rocky shores, in vain efforts to recover its
lost dominion. The average number of pupils is about sixty,
wh0 are selected from the common schools of this island, and
who labor from three and a half to four bours per day. They
cultivate and cook tbeir own vegetable food, furnish their own
bedding, make, mend, and wash their o'wn clothes, and perforn1
some minor 1uechanicallabor, the proceeds of which pay for the

W AllREA.

::>ð5

animal food the, coru;ume. Their academical imtruction is in
the Hawaiian tO
011e. but they are taught also the English lan-
guage on payment of a Slllall fee, which i
said to be charged
for the purpose of prompting to producti\e industry. This is
one of tbe foreign enterprises for the benefit of the nati \e

which mu
.t be pronounced popular and Eucce
;;:ful.
P
ther more than a mile.from Hilo, on the south shore of
the harbor. stands the ancient TIllage of Waialæ.a consisting of
eighteen or twent, thatched hou
e
commanding a fine view of
natural scenery and bO well protected bv the natural break-
water::, of reef and rock a5 to show that the o]d Hawaiians had a
prudent con
ideration of
afety, as "ell as a nice appreciation
of the picturesque and grand. The soil of its TIciuity is T"ery
rich. and with )fauna Rea crowned with eternal sno,v towering
in majesty belore i+-, while )Iauna Loa, to the left, lifts its ever-
lasting dome to the heavens in surpassing grandeur; with old
Ocean rolling his restless breakers against the opposite and dis-
tant
hore. bordering a verdant landscape, the tide mOTIng with
gentler swell to kiss its own sheltered beach, and a climate di::-
tilling an atmosphere of balm no spot perhaps on these islands
ofters greater natural inducement;;: for residence, to a
te and
afiluence.
Foreign residents are not insensible of the value of thi5 har-
bor to commerce. .And if a proper con,ideration were given to
this fact by the public &uthorities Hilo would probably become
the emporium of the Hawaiian is1ands: for not only Í5 its har-
bor the largesT, deepest, and easiest of acce,;;::, but its pilot and
port due.. are less, with no expense to be incurred for a stean1-
tug as in the case of entering the port of Honolulu against an
in,ariable head wind, and through a narrow,
inuolli. and dan-
gerous channel of the
urrounding reef. T1lli island too, from its
greater size than all the other islands of the Hawaiian archipelago
together and from it
fertility, and frequent showers over a
great part of its sulface, furnisbes the largest quantity of supplies
for shipping" always cheapest where grown. .And its relatiye
po;:,ition n:aking it more accessible to ve,sels from the east, com-
ing do'WTI with the northeast trade mnd and not liable to be-
come becahued as on the lee side ûf other island
, or baffied by

586

WAILUKU RIVER.

inter-insular winds and currents, would seem to point out Hilo
as the port most likely eventually to become the intra-oceanic
stopping-place of the California and East India trade on its out-
ward passage. But a brief tÍ1ne ,vas required to finish official
business here, and while a,vaiting a return passage an oppor-
tunity was afforded to visit several objects of interest in the
vicinity. Alnong these is the river scenery of the TVailuku-
watep of destr'uctio1û-so called from frequent suction and drown-
ing of bathers in a whirlpool, although perhaps no people in as
high :e degree as the Hawaiians, possess the natural gifts of
fishes. This river is t1\ T enty-five or thirty miles in length, and
of considerable size, formed lnainly of the melting sno\vs and
rains of 1tlauna Rea, and flo,vs east,vard to the ocean, into
which it empties about a mile and a half from the town. A
bridge spans it near its mouth, a half mile beyond which, and
close to the seashore as it stretches north,vard from the mouth
of the river, is seen what is traditionally considered a sacred
grove of trees; and near by, a large quantity of stones, which,
on like authority, are regarded as the ruins of a fornler heiau.
These temples were usually built near the sea, or on elevated
sites fonning conspicuous objects, and the absence of similar
stones in this vicinity, ,vllÍch on the contrary presents an un-
broken surface of soil on one side, and ocean expanse on the
other, indicates that these Inust have been brought froln a con-
siderable distance and by great labor; such as was not likely to
have been given to any other than a religious object, in a coun-
try,vhere large or substantial edifices of any other description
are not known to have been erected in the olden time, and
where grass houses, it is believed, were alone used for dwellings.
J\Iany of the stones now seen here are large, and each one must
llave required the united effort of many persons for its move-
ment; but they v{ere in their natural state and without any
ll1arks indicating the uses to which they had been put. Theywere
lying in confused piles, as if massive walls had-fallen in detached
parts at different times, and they occupied a high hill, affording
an extensive view of land and sea. This opinion of these ruins
is sustained by the better preserved relnains of such structures
found in other parts of the island, of which we have authentic

S..!.CRED GROVE.-HEIAU.

581

accolmts, in which the thick and high stone walls are seen to
have outlived the perishable buildings within, used lnerelyas
priestly or idol residences, 'and ,,
hich were constructed of
materials not more durable than those ordinarily used by the
people at large.
The grove, not 1110re than fifty paces from the stony ruins,
occupies an oval space of about two hundred by one hundred
and fifty feet. A majestic ohia stands in the middle, lifting its
stalwart trunk aloft and stretching its giant arms abroad, as if
to protect tl'ees of 6mall
r growth, the more yielding bodies
and pliant limbs of which had been bent and intert,vined, while
yet young, so thickly and inextricably as to fOrIn an overhanging
roof of foliage, and a dense surrounding wall of trunks, branches,
twigs, and leaves, impenetrable to intrusion except where a rude
portal is found on the side next to the ruins of the temple, by
means of which accesS" is had to the interior of the grove.
Whether this was a place of retirelnent in mOlnents of
priestly relaxation, or for meditation on subjects connected with
their holy functions, or in some manner associated with the sac-
rifice of human victims of frequent occurrence before the reign
of Kamehameha the Conqueror, hut discontinued by him, as were
other usages of idolatrous worship, there are now no lneans of
determining. But the grove is rapidly passing into neglect and
decay, with a discontinuance of the uses, whatever they were, to
which it was devoted; as, are all others of the ancient sacred places
rapidly crumbling into ruins, under the decisive measures
adopted for the abolition of idolatry by Liholiho at the instiga-
tion of the high-priest Hewahewa.
Having returned to the south bank of the Wailuku, and
ascended it a mile and a half, the river ,vas seen from the cliff
that walled it in, coming from the west through a narrow cañon
and forming a rapid of between one and two hundred yards;
it then pitched over a precipice to the depth of a hundred
and four feet. The basin belo"r
nd its surroundings presented
a scene of lnarvellous beauty, and we sought it hy descending a
lateral ravine, observed to open below a short distance down
stream. An obscure trail was found leading between high and
nearly perpendiéular walls of rock, trellised and festooned by

588

W AIANUENUE.

the climbing lwhoi, the thick foliage and pendant nuts of which
frescoed and nearly concealed them. Through a network of
promiscuous undergrowth, the meshes of '\vhich were closely in-
terwoven by an unending season of vegetation, a way was
forced, up and down and around rocky fragments, the more
startling and perplexing because nearly concealed by the dense
jungle through which '\ve broke and crashed until suddenly
brought to a stand-still, or a tumble over a fallen fern-trunk,
forests of which were scattered around to challenge the over-
confident footstep. Through this labyrinth of obstructions,
veiled in twilight-for even the mid-day sun could not penetrate
the closely-walled and covered aisles through which we sought a
winding way that rell1i nded us of chil dhood's solutions of the
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W.A1A,NUESUE.

589

Trojan problem-,ve groped along, final1y reachÏ11g the mouth
of the ravine which opened below on a bed of volcanic rocks,
where ,v-e gladly seated oursp-h"-es to look on a scene of rare
beauty and sublimity, that fully repaid us for the ,exation and
fatigue endured in reaching it.
Facing the waterfall-appropriately called Traianul'nue, sig-
nifying rainbow water, fi"om the iris that spans its luist when tl1e
sun sends its long risen beams into the deep recess, to cool thenl-
selves in this rarest of nature's rock-encompassed baths-the
. sparkling flood is seen to take its fearless leap of more than a
hundred feet over a broad ledge of rock, ,ertical1y cut and
faced as if chiselled by the hand of art. Sp1it in twain by a
projection resembling the architectural dental of a nlarble
entablature, the descending water breaks into foam, which, ré-
uniting, forIns a wavy column as of snow, whose myriada of
minute flakes fall and vanish in the deep and dark 'waters below
-looking deeper and darker from the shadowy sun"oundings of
rock and \"erdnre of this wild gorge. This waterfall has about tlle
volume of that at Kiagara lï10wn as the" Centre Fan," and like
the precipice, too, over "..-hich it shoots, this is excavated behind
the faUing sheet into a deep cavern; which, however, surpasses
the" Cave of the Winds" of the Centre Fall in beauty, from its
vaulted ,v-all and roof being lined ,vith moss, the rich green of
which, contrasted with the snowy foam, gives another charm to
this bathing place of zephyrs.
The basin is oval, ,vith diauleters of about two hundred and
one hundred and fifty feet; enclosed, except at the outlet, by a
perpendicular wall of rock a hundred and fifty feet high, hung
with a tapestry of \"egetation, and corniced with flowers, over
whirh a tropic foliage sports in the breeze.
Fronl this rare chalnber, in ,,'hich the wearied waters c::.eeln
to sleep, they finally flow placidly through a narrow portal,
after having glided around the ba
e of a basaltic column. This
colossal shaft is formed of Î1nlnense superposed hexagonal and
pentagonal ùlocks, rising to a height of a hundred feet above a
graduated peristyle of cOlnpactly-adjusted pillars of like forrna-
tion similar to those of the flu110U3 Giallt
' C:Hlscw'ay in Ire-
, .
land anù fOrInin rr a fit l )ediment for a Inonu1l1cnt that sultably
, 0

590

W AIANUENUE.

commemorates the grandeur of creation which it proudly
overlooks.
We turned from this enchanting abode of solitude with the
feeling, that the speH put on our hearts by the religion of nature
there taught, would long relnain. ·

CH.A.PTER XXXVIII.

VOLCA..
O KILAD:!.-JOCID."EY TO IT-LUXCRIA..
T TIGETATIOX-HA W AI I A..'l HIGHW AY-
FATE OF THE HAWAIIAN-PULC-DOME OF 1L\.1:ÌNA LOA-KILAUEA.

THE object of sllrpa:-3sing interest hl Hawaii, indeed one of
the wonders of earth, is the Volcano Kilauea. rfo visit it, some
preparation is n
cessary; for neither on the way to it, nor
"hen there, are bed and board to be had; hence a blanket,
food, et cetera, must be pro-vided at Rilo, where precise infor-
mation can be had of your purveyor as to the essentials of com-
fort. J.. sure-footed and hard-hoofed horse must be provided,
other,vise he should be carefully shod for a road that looks as if
it had been paved wj.th iron for half the distance. .And the
excursionist should be particular in the selection of a competent
and faithful guide, ,vho will also carry baggage and provision
in two large calabashes hung by netting fi'om the ends of a
shoulder-pole. My experience justifies Iny speaking favorably
of Kaildl'aoli, a native Hawaiian living in the suburbs of lIilo.
Since my trip to Kilauea I have heard that )11'. Hitchcock, an
enterprising citizen, intends to provide relays of horses, and
better accommodations on the road for TIsÎtor:::.
Suitably equipped and provisioned, and "ith
Ir. Lynlan,
principal of the native manual labor school, as IllY intelligent
companion, I started for the volcano on a delicious sumUler
morning; pursuing a southerly courBe over a rugged trail,
through tangled shrubbery of oi, alnal.lrrnau-f(;J'u, ii, and
guava, ,vith the silvery-leaved tutui trembling like the aspen
in the background. .L\.t the distance of rather nlore than four
miles '\"e entereJ a forest, through which a ,,-ide a '
enue three
miles long has been cut, along the grea
er part of 'v hich i:; a

.

.

592

JOURNEY TO THE VOLCÁlliO.

causeway nine feet ,vide, built of volcanic stones, with gigantic
fern logs thro,vn across corduroy-road fashion. This cause-
way facilitates travel over an uneven, and in places, marshy
surface, but it is overgrown by rank grass and weeds.
The principal thnber of this forest is the indigenous ohia
from fifty to seventy feet high, looking luuch like the oak, but
,yithout its distinctive brawniness and strength. The tutui,
dressed in bright green foliage, seeming brighter by contrast
with sUIToundillg dark verdure, and ,vith the deep shade of the
spreading lauhalla upheld by its numerous props, and having
long lancinated leaves resell1bling those of the pine-apple radiat-
ing thickly froln the ends of branches, and forming a canopy of
umbrellas, giving shelter to the traveller against rain and sun.
The long leaves of the lauhalla tree-the Hawaiian pandanus
-smoke dried, trÜumed, and split, are used fòr making the
coarser n1ats of the country, in common use. Ferns abound in
great variety; the an
a1t mau, distinguished by the beautiful
architectural scrolls into which its tender branches and young
leaves are coiled for protection, and the pulu fern with its
scrolls c:tsed in silken arnlor to guard thell1 even fronl winds
that ll1ight visit them too roughly, being Inost remarkable for
luxuriance. But in all this dense growth of vegetation nothing
surpasses in grace
nd beauty, and in instructive lesson too, the
depending ie, ,vhich twines its golden vine around the stalwart
trunk, and clasps ,vith tiny tendrils the rough bark of the oAia j
while its long alld delicate leaves, springing spirally like those
of the lauballa from twigs, expand into sun-shades to shield
while they adorn the stern form to which the creeper clings.
An mublem Qf the feeble, lovely, and tender, ,vho, while they
seek support of ruder man, yet throw around him their own
graces, and strive to shield him from unkindly influences. At
seven and a half miles from IIilo-three hours in time-we
emerged froln the forest, and dismounted in the shade of a cocoa-
llut grove for refreshment. "
Again in the saddle our course lay next west of south over
a path choked ,vith wild grass, and across a plaiu on which the
amau fern and the ti struggled for dominion; the latter
mingling ,vith the fo
mer for miles, looking like a ,vilderness of

.

H.AWAIIA...
HIGHWAY.

593

Indian corn as it swayed its sapling stalks to and fro in swagger-
ing merriment, and gave the slender leaves of its tufted tops like
banners to the breeze as if in boastful triumph over its rival.
But as the road showed diminishing soil and signs of imp over-
ishulent four or five miles further, the fern shook its nodding
pluIlles as master of the field, a few scrubby ohias, like sentries,
standing guard in the distance. A tuft of the ti leaves was the
flag of truce in the former wars of t11e islanders; and from its root
an ardent spirit called oholehau is distilled, resembling whiskey
in color, strength, and :flavor, and once much used by the natives
for its intoxicating effects. The root possessing considerable
saccharine juices, has also been used for food in times of scar-
city; and the leaves make wrappers in cooking according to
the native mode of baking, and for taro and stiff poi in travel-
ling.
From the tenth to the twelfth nlÍle our road 'was like the
proverbial one to Jordan-hard to travel. The almost daily
rains, and animals following each other in the same tracks,
make deep holes with intervening ridges, perplexing to the poor
beasts and dangerous to riders. The former sometimes stick
fast on this part of the route, and the latter occasionally plunge
headlong into a mudhole, and to extricate themsel,es are COIl1-
pelled to "follo,v in the footsteps of their illustrious predeces-
sors." Where the fern is the sole vegetation a "yaste of lava is
seen, ,vith no soil but that 'which exists in the clefts and crences
of the metallic-looking crust
Beyond this as far as fifteen
miles and a half froll1 Hilo the surface is a slightly-inclined
plane, apparently of iron, modified by small elevations and de-
pressions, ridges and chasms, metallic-looking plates broken and
bent, and of various shapes; swells, ,vavelets, and rippl
s, some
circular, others serpentine; as if a black tenacious fluid, in ever
-
condition of obstructed flow, had become suddenly solidified.
Compared "yith the reality on a previous part of the road it "as
a transition from soft to hard, and after debating the question
we were left in doubt of the relative advantages of mud and
metal as materials for road-building. At the end of this stage
of our journey-fifteen and a half IUneS fronl TIilo---,ve caIne to
the stopping-place for the night; tÍlne, seven hours and three-
38

594

HALFWAY HOUSE.

quarters; gait, a walk nearly all the way, and a slo,vone too,
the guides on foot carrying from forty to fifty pounds each of
baggage and provision, in calabashes two feet in diameter, abso-
lutely distancing our horses.
Of half a dozen thatched huts we selected the largest, and
dis1l10unting and giving our horses to the guides to be tethered
and grassed, ,ve entered, without any notice being taken of our
intrusion by the native occupants; one of ,vhon1, engaged in
pounding and kneading taro, had his nakedness very partially
hidden by a n1uch abridged garment-the shortest specimen of
that n1ystery ,vhich has neither definite form, fit, fashion, nor
right to be recognized, and even to name which is forbidden by
the fastidiousness of an affected refinement, except when the
plaintive "song of the shirt" sOInetilnes touches our heart-
strings. Another native similarly attired, with the vague addi-
tion of a " maro "-a Ha,vaiian device which has superseded the
primitive fig-leaf-,vas transferring poi from one calabash to
another, l11aking a dipper of his hand. And a third, a gray-
haired old woman in long loose slip, was occupied in assorting
the vegetable ingredients of a decoction, slo,vly and thoughtfully,
as if preparing" a chartn of po,verful trouble" for SOI11e Inisera-
ble martyr. Perhaps she belonged to the sisterhood of modern
llledicine. Like the" strong-minded" new-lights nearer home,
she

" Looked gravely dull, insipidly serene,
And carried all her wisdom in her mien."

It was an agreeable reflection that we were not depend-
ent for the creature comforts of food on the manipulated poi
before us. But tl.te contemplation was not pleasant of a plat-
form of logs-a" hikiee "-occupying nearly one-fourth of
the room, on which ,vas spread dried fern leaves and a mat
for our bed; the common bed of the country, as it was to be
our bed in common. Nor ,vere our anticipations of "balmy
sleep" enhanced by the kno,vledge that seven kal1akas, includ-
ing our guides, and three wahines
,vere to be joint occupants
of the one apartment of the hut for the night. Necessity is a
great leveller, however, and teaches the ,visdom of adopting a
practical philosophy and conforn1Îng cheerfully to Ïtnperious

.

FATE OF THE HAWAIIA5.

595

circumstances. So, after discussing the merits of a rough road as
a surpa;;.sing appetizer, over a cold chicken and a cup of tea-for
the making of which ,ye found a kettle at hand, the only cooking
utensil on the premises-we wTapped ourselves in our blankets
and courted the slumber tendered by a corduroy bedstead; after
haying concluded that the lady"ho undertook a journey to the
volcano showed neither wi-:.dom, love of adventure, nor amiable
adaptability to unayoidable requirements, who, on reaching this
half'way house, and seeing no .L\..merican hotel elegances, would
not enter, but burst into tears, and, like Rachel, "refused to be
comforted." Ladies must forego a sight of the world's greatest
wonder, or forego crinoline, and turn bloomer in dress, daring,
and disregrtrd of the customs and conveniences of fashionable
life.
The lurid light of the Lake of Fire, when at night we looked
abroad, ,yas seen reflected by the overhanging clouds in the dis-
tance; and a throe of that -vast mystery ,,,hich sensibly lifted
our platform of logs, made us think that our Hawaüan hotel,
although in truth "built on a rock" of lava, n1ight nevertheless
be readily toppled over. The novelties of our situation, ,,-ith
the anticipations of the coming day, made bleep a stranger to
Iny eyelids that night; and seeing the swarthy figure of a na-
tiye crouching by the fire that glilumered from a t3hallo,,- pit in
the middle of the earthen floor, rolling its sU10ke up,rard to
e:;cape through the thatched roof, and obser-ving his painfully
thoughtful countenance, ,rhich seenled to tell ùf memories of
the past of his race, and meditations on the fate that awaits it,
as the tide of Caucasian ci-rilization rolls on to bury it beneath
its resistless surges, my mind, follo,ving a siInilar train of thought,
recalled the strange yicissitudes of nations ,rho had risen, :flour-
ished, and fallen; and a profound sympathy for the doomed
IIa'waiian before nle came of the reflection, that then my own
country, surpas
ing in its progress to prosperity and po"er all
that had preceded it, "'''as endangered by a convulsion ,,-hich
would shake it to its centre, and might shatter it into fi'aglnents.
.x ever "as the day 1110re cordially ,ye1C01l1ed than when,
looking forth, the Inorning was seen succe3Û""ely to put on if::;
garnlents of gray, and roseate, and gold; and coficc, our o"
n,

596

PULU.-DOME OF
fAUNA LOA.

of course, and cold viands having been taken, and four reals
each paid for the novelty, if not the lu."'{ury of a hikiee, we
mounted at six A. M., and rode over a rough causeway of vol-
canic clinker and coke, with fern trunks laid crosswise, for some-
what more than a mile; then followed a rocky patlnvay, paved
as if with the broken castings of numberless iron foundries.
At twenty-two miles from Hilo "\\re entered a dense ohia for-
est of large growth, with the pulu fern also in great number
and size, some of them twenty feet high, and from one and a
half to two feet in diameter. The pulu of commerce is ob-
tained from this fern, and is extensively used as a substitute for
feathers and hair, in the making of beds and mattresses, and
stuffing of sofas and chairs. In the natural state thè pulu forms
a snuff-colored silken envelope for the young and tender branches
of the fern, which grow from the top of the stalk or trunk,
forming beautiful scrolls until of sufficient strength to super-
sede the older branches and leaves that droop on all sides like
graceful plumes. In gathering pulu the natives cut from the
top of the fern trunk the tender scrolls in lnass, then strip off
the soft fibrous wrapper that protects them, which they loosen
by picking, and expose for several weeks on platforms to the
rain and sun. From two to four pounds are gathered from a
full-sized tree. When perfectly cleansed and dry, it is bagged
and sometimes baled for shipping, and is much sought after for
the California Inarket.
A mile or so of woodland shade was a pleasant relief froll1
a warm sun, and then a better road, over which we travelled at
a faster gait than our previous snail's pace, soon brought us, at
t-,,;enty-five miles from Hilo, in full view of Mauna Loa in the
distance before us, with snow-banks scattered over its magnifi-
cent dome like an elnblazonry of pearls. So vast are the. pro-
portions, and so grand the outline of this wonderful structure
of creation, that by scientific explorers who have ascended to
its SUll1mit it was found to possess a horizon of its own.
Cheered by the prospect of a speedy end to a wearisome trip,
we cantered along an excellent bridle-path, the first we had met
with, and at ten A. M., four hours in time from our stopping-
place of the night before, and twenty-eight and a half rniles in

KILAUEA.

597

distance from HHo, we came suddenly and while riding over an
apparent level surface to an immense pit of about nine miles
circuit, sunk nearly seven hundred feet in tbe earth, walled
throughout almost its w hole extent by perpendicular rocks,
floored as if with black marble, and rolling up from more than
a hundred vents of cone and chasm dense clouds of FIDoke and
steam, to tell of the terrific fusion þelow. It was Kilauea!
and well n1ay the visitor hesitate to dismount in such fearful
proximity to the most wonderful active volcanic crater of "bich
we have authentic history.
A few yards from the rim of the abyss stands on a slightly-
elevated plateau an unoccupied hut, built for the accommoda-
tion of visitors, ,-rho are charged two donars each per day for
the use of it, by a native who accompanies them from the stop-
ping-place of the night before for that purpose, and who fur-
nishes a mat to lie on. This lnay be caUed extortion, but for-
eigners have earned this penalty of imposition. In the olden
time hospitality was religiously practised by Hawaiians. \\ith
them" the string of the latch was never pulled in; " every house
,,-as a shelter, every mat a resting-place for the weary, and every
calabash of poi was open to the traveller, without recompense
of re-ward; and those informed of these matters assure me that
such is still the usage of the relnote interior; but wherever the
influence of foreign example has trequently reached, there a cor-
respon<1ent greed of gain has been engendered; and, as in the
case of foreignerfi, extortion is tbe more gross and glaring from
their irresponsibility to any restraining public opinion, and from
eagerness to accunlulate and depart, so with the native, under-
standing the foreigner
s practice and motives, he plucks freely
to-daý the bird that will not roost under his roof to-morrow.
The vicious examples of our countrymen have been mu
h luore
influential for evil among these people, than their precepts have
been for good.
Like the usual habitations of tbe country, thiB volcano hut
is built of the lightest materials, and in a lnanner to adapt itself
to, rather than resi
t the terrestrial tremblings and shocks to
which from its situation it is constantly liaòle. Rustic posts
and light cross-tinlbers, with walls of thatched fepn, lined with

598

KILAUEA.

long flag-looking leaves of the indigenous uki, and roofed with
pili grass; the materials of wall and roof being bound to al
o
lathing, which is also siInilarly fa
tened to the posts by ie and
huih
ti vines, that Inake excellent cordage; thus constructed,
lightness and elasticity are secured. Even if thrown down, the
,veight coul.d not injure the occupants.
1Vhile our attendants were finding grass for the horses, and
preparing IUIlch, a stroll to the rear of the hut showed us sev-
eral vents under a lo,v bank, froln ,vhich volumes of steam were
issuing and condensing on overhanging and adjacent rocks,
forming little crystal pools, from which water for culinary pur-
poses was obtained, and ,vhere. chickens wrapped in leaves 111ay
be readily cooked by stealning.
Several hundred yards further west, under a continuation of
the saIne bank, but at this point presenting a steep bluff, that
by SOlne visitors has been described as an outer rim of the c

a-
tel', but which cannot be traced in continuity around it, there is
an hnmense sulphur ll10und, with offshoots and facings of the
bluff of the same substance. The whole surface in this vicinity
seems studded with apertures and crevices, fronl which sulphur-
ous gases and vapors escape, and ,vhere ll1ay be collected rich
specimens of feathery and acicular prismatic crJstallizations, of
a light yellow color. Some of the finest and largest tetrahedral
pyranlids are found under the superficial crust, but in conse-
quence of the suffocating atInosphere and great heat, especially
near the apertures, the pursuit of these is not often persisted in.
Further to the west on the saIne level, large cracks and even
chasms are seen, traversing a considerable extent of surface,
frf)nl which columns of steam ascend, which, condensing as it
rises, falls in showers to nourish the grass and flags in the "vicin-
ity, and form little pools of ,vater for the thirsty traveller. At
times, indeed, so great is the quantity of vapor that it forms a
dense cloud, concealing completely the neighboring bank of the
crater. The surface openings of this neighborhood, often llid-
den by vegetation, and sometimes covered hy a thin and friable
crust of lava that gives way under slight pressure, delnand of
the excursionist great caution in his rambles even during day-
light, and at night enforce a confinement to the sl1lall space

KILAUEA.

599

of this upper le-vel immediately about the hut in which he
lodges.
In the same direction and at the distance of about a mile
and a half froIn the house, the highe;:.t point of the rim of the
crater is reached, from which the best view of the to'ut ensen2,-
ble is obtained. If it be not designed to make the entire cir-
cuit, and unless more than four days are given to the excursion,
points of greater interest should not be neglected for this by the
general and unscientific explorer; it is better to return to the
starting point for refreshment, and to be ready as we were at
meridian for descending into the great abyss, whose reyela-
tions, ho"wever appalling and terrific they may be, serve but to
strengthen the desire to penetrate nlore deeply into nature's
m
ysteries. It is a remarkable fact that the most timid and ap-
prehensive at the commencement of the e:xploration of ICilauea,
become insensible of danger during its prosecution, such is the
strange fascination of .even its frightful features.
I 'was informed by nlY companion,
Ir. LYInan, and also by
:ßlr. Coan, another intelligent observer of the phenomena of this
crater, that so sudden, frequent, and great are the changes occur-
ring in it, that a visitor is apt to become distrustful of the state-
Inents of his predecessors. Hence it was determined to disre-
gard the descriptions of others, and examine the features of the
changeful scene presented at the tilHe of our exploration.
Standing on the northeast rim of the crater and looking into
and around it, a first thought was its unlikeness to the general
notion of a volcano deri-ved fronl those with which travellers
and readers are more familiar. K 0 lofty elevation was seen,
,vith steep conical acclivity and narrow truncated top, from the
open Blouth of which ashes and stones were being thrown. But
a vast cleft or pit-Lua Pélé, Pélé\; pit-folu. thousand feet
above the sea, on the nearly level flank of )fauna Loa, which
soars ten thousand feet above it, was before us, seven hundred
feet deep, egg-shaped, sOlne,vhat 1110re than three Iniles long,
and bvo and a half ,vid
at its larger enù. Blackness seemed
to reign "yithin, and stupendous ruins to floor it, as if some great
city within its bosonl had been consumed by fire, Ica-vil1g a

.

600

KILAUEA.

charred and smoking wreck and fitful flames to tell of the
mighty conflagration.
A feeling of disappointment is said to be experienced by
many on first beholding this crater. The same relnark applies
to visitors to Niagara. Nature fails sometimes to produce. im-
pressions on the instant, correspondent to her wonderful crea-
tions. But a final acknowledgIl1ent of the surpassingly marvel-
lous and fearful cannot be withheld by those who come to look
on this work of ber hands.
At the northeast rim of the crater, the point usual1y selected
for the descent into the abyss, the visitor, imagining hÌ1nself
standing on the front cornice of a vast cathedral, like a Grecian
temple, without dome, tower, or roof, and looking directly down
three hundred and fifty feet, sees belo,va plateau extending
from side to side, and half a mile in ,vidth, covered with veg-
etation as ,vith a carpet. This nlay be regarded as the orches-
tral gallel)T, beyond which and about three hundred and fifty
feet lower still, is seen the dark marble :floor of the great tem-
ple stretching a'\vay two and a half Ini1es further, and pierced
near its extreme end by a lake of fire, whose illunlined smoke
rises as if from an eternal censer to Him who was alike the
Divine Architect and Builder.
Descending to the plateau by a rough and steep declivit
y,
in doing which the free use of hands was necessary to prevent
too rapid locomotion, and shrubbery, roots, and rocks proved
excellent substitutes for a handrail, we crossed over it by a tor-
tuous path, carefully avoiding holes and chasIns that beset the
way. On this plateau are found scrubby ohia and sandalwood
trees, clwarf ferns, and a creeper of the Sal1le family, called by
our guides kukaeuwau, together with ohe10 bushes bearing ber-
ries of a blended red and yellow color, and of size and" taste
somewhat like the cranberry, but sweeter. They are very grate-
ful to the palate of a wearied and thirsty explorer. These ber-
ries ,vere formerly held by the natives sacred to tho uses of Pélé,
the then ,vorshipped goddess of this volcano, ,vho was supposed
to wield its terrible agencies of fire, and thunder, and lightning,
at will; and into whose fearful abode' every native in passing
threw SOlTIe of the berries gathered above, as a propitiatory offer-

KIL.A.UEA.

601

ing. Until this was done the tasting of the fruit by a native
was deemed sacrilege. At the commencement of the religious
reform of these islands, the daughter of the I\:ing of J{auai, a
chieftess of highest rank and excellence of character, is said to
bave be
n the first native, not only to descend into the crater,
but to eat of the ohelo berries fi o eelJ1", and without offering any
to Pélé, in condemnation and contempt of the idolatry then
doomed to extermination.
From the plateau above spoken oí
explorers usually descend
to the lava floor of the crater, and proceed directly to its great-
est attraction, the lake of fire. But to save time and toil, and
yet not fail to look at every thing deserving of attention, our
guides left the beaten track and led us close to the east wall of
the crater, towering several hundred feet above us. Warned
not to linger for fear of falling crags, ,ve soon reached a path
up a steep clift' of probably two hundred or two hundred and
fifty feet height, along which we hastened, and then proceeded
a quarter of a Inile further on a le\el bed of clinker and ein-
ders, to an old crater kno,vn as Kilauea lki-small Kilauea-in
contradistinction to Kilauea
-'-ui, ,vhich is the great crater.
The I\:ilauea Iki, wllich is a short distance removed froln and
to the east of the true volcano Kilauea, is not no,v active; and it
is the last of a series of extinct craters stretching from the sea-
coast in the district of Puna, up to this point. It is a deep pit,
like that of which we have been speaking, with walls but little
less elevated, though 1110re sloping, and now covered ,vith \eg-
etation. In shape, as 'Viewed from abo\e, it is elongated, and
contracted in the Iniddle like an hour-glass. Its lava floor is of
a black color, and of c01l1parati\ely recent fOrInation, an erup-
tion having occurred in 1832, at the le"\el of our standpoint.
near the "'Te::,tern end of its southern rim, v.-hich divided into
t",TO streams, one of 'which flowed into and floored anew this
crater, while the other ran ,veshvard to the great I\:ilauea, and
plunging over its lofty ",vall formed a cataract of fire, one of the
Inost a,vful of nature'
displays of Inight and grandeur, w'hich
faced the cliff of several hundred feet height, as if w'Ïth iron,
leaving above and below' its ineft
tceable footprints in the ever-
lasting billows of its majestic torrent.

602

KILAUEA.

Crossing this bed of laya in a southerly direction, we ascended
about fifty or sixty feet froln Byron's ledge-the gigantic parti-
tion wall bet,veen the tw"o craters-to the upper level on its
southern side, and skirted the eastern rirn of the large crater
for nearly a mile, over volcanic stones, clinker, coke,
nd cin-
ders, and descending gradually a sloping surface; and finally we
slipped and slid do,vn a steep bank to the dept11 of two hundred
feet, over beds of clinker and cinders, sOlnetimes leaping from
rock to rock, or coasting over an ashy or pasty soil in a more
humiliating posture. The bottoln of the crater was thus reached
at the only place of descent except that by which persons usually
go down froll1 the plateau or gallery already referred to; and it
landed us near an enormous sulphur bank on the southeast side
of the crater, that looked like an abundant n1agazine for all
earthly purposes of ,val' and pharmacy. Various earths and salts
-such as gypsuln, ahnninous, magnesian, and ammoniacal sul-
phates, are also found mingled with this chief e1ement and prod-
uct of fusion, or incrusting neighboring crags. The heated
surface on which ,ve stood, and surrouildings of steam and dele-
terious gases escaping from vents, and IJermeating the sulphur
bank itself, which looked like an enormous tUInulus of variega-
ted lime in process of slacking, soon reminded us that curiosity
Inight not be gratified, certainly ,vithout great disco111fort, and
possibly danger.
Froln this deposit of sulphur we struck across the solid lava
in a southwestward direction. And as I stood for the first
time on the dark floor ,vhich, recently in a state of fusion, was
then cast jnto its present fonn by the hand of Olnnipotence, I felt
an a,ve even at the threshold, befitting a human intrusion into
such presence. !Iy description may fall short of the reality of the
scene, yet it must be attelnpted to preserve the thread of the narra-
tiye. IIo,vever even the surface over,vbich we toiled, clan1hered,
and leaped, appeared, "\\yhen first seen from the upper rÏ1n of the
crater, yet vie,yed fronl belo,v it looked like a tempest-tossed
ocean that had becolne frozen, blackened, and burnished; in
"vavyoutline in sonle places, in others lifted and broken by re-
sistless forces into fragments which becan1e fixed again in gran-
deur of chaos. The river of Niagara in winter faintly images

KIL..A. UE..i.

603

the wild disorder, its icy crust crashing and crumbling before
the mighty torrent, ,vhich piles the whirling n1a:;
es on high, or
bears them in strange confusion w"elded again ,vith sea1ns of
frost. ,'Therever ,ve turned our steps, cracks, fissures, and
chaslOs, traversed the floor of corrsolidated lava, frOln n)an
y of
then1 sulphurous vapors, gases, and smoke issuing; ,vhile some
of the larger vents rëvealed, far belo,,"', a sea of molten lava in
the terrific throes of its red agony, and breathed forth vast
'VolUIlles of steam to tell1\ y hat would 1e the convulsions of earth
but for these safety vah"'es. The access of w"ater to immeasura-
LIe alkaline and earthy bases in a state of igneous fusion, gener-
ating a re;:;istless pressure of steam, together 1\ y ith liberated sul-
phurous gases, would probably blow IIawaii to aton1s, but for
the millions of openings that allow of their harnlless escape.
In many places immense cakes and blocks of lava, thro,vn on
end and partly enlbedded in substrata, formed in1passable barri-
ers; in others they were sublnerged, making deep trenches and
pits, ,vhich compelled a deviation from direct progress. Some-
times ,ve encountered cones and domes from twenty to forty
feet in height, upheaved by subsurface agencies, and increased
froln tin1e to time by fresh projections of liquid laya, cooling
and forming successive lalninæ, 'v hich were pierced by apertures
making of them huge chimneJs for the escape of hot and stifling
gases fi'OIll the vast laboratory beneath. ..And occasionally these
structures ,vere seen to have fallen in by their o,,-n weight, or
to have been undermined by flows of the fiery torrent, leaving
their jagged and craggy founcLq,tions of more solid lava rock
surrounding the ruin, to ,varn the explorer of the awful abyss
belo,v.
Iany :fissures and chasms ,vere recognized by the fresher
and more cellular lava, to have been perfectly closed by a ,yell-
ing up and partial flow of the consolidating fluid. .A.nel ,,'ide
spread over the surface in several places, ,yas observed the
spongy anù bronzed layer of an eruption that occurred but a
few lnonths since, showing the extent to which the boiling flood
had flo"yed fro1l1 these lava ducts, and diffused itself in "ya 'Yelet

and ripples, and in coiled, or in Slnooth and e,-en currcnts of
more porous and lighter lava known as the Panoel/;oe, or batin
s treanl.

604

KILAUEA.

The laminæ thus formed have become so numerously and
thickly superposed of late years, and the great floor of the crater
has been so much upraised by the lava tide beneath, that the wide
ledge, which it has been stated once projected like a black mar-
ble mantle from the wall of the cr3:ter throughout its entire cir-
cuit, at a height of three hundred and fort.y-two feet above the
bottom, and which was particularly described in 1840 in the
Report of the United States EÀrploring Expedition to the Pacific,
if it has not fallen and thus disappeared, is no,v either buried
beneath the present floor, or by submersion has been melted
down, except at the ,veòtern ,yall for a slnall extent; wbere a
shallo,v black line is seen, like the wash-board of a roolD, show-
ing itself slightly above the :floor as it is now found.
Still pursuing the saIne general direction over tbe more re-
cently solidified lava, that crackled under the feet like light
snow in frosty ","'eather, we caIne, ,vithin about half a mile of
the narrowest southwest end of the crater, to massive piles of
gray, slate, and black colored rocks, solid and cOlnpact, having
evidently been subjected to great pressure, and overhanging an
oval chasIn of about one thousand by seven hundred and fifty
feet diameter, bordered by a narrow black rim which looked like
a shelf projecting in,vards from the bottom of the surrounding
rocks. 1\Iany of the latter of great size and weight, craggy and
toppling, threatened to fall and crush the black ledge at the
foot of the cliff; the whole ruin indeed as well as ledge seemed
of uncertain stability, in the presence of the resistless forces
palpably at work in its vicinity.
These rocks in 1851 formed the colossal foundations, ,valls,

nd abutments of a dOlne, built by volcanic po"wer, which at
that time spanned the chasm now seen. The wonderful struc-
ture was described to Ine, by one who then sa,v it, to have been
on a scale of transcendent grandeur, and to have been sur-
mounted by several conical chimneys for the escape of smoke,
gases, and sornetilnes flame. But falling froln its own ponder-
ous ,veight, or having been shaken into pieces by that dread
power ,vhich raised it as if in sport, there is now revealed again,
what for a brief time was hidden, a lurid lava flood, which, as we
gazed upon it, boiled and bubbled with fearful activity, spout-

KILAUEA.

605

ing its crimson streanlS and heaving its fier
y crests high into
the air, rivalling the sun with brilliant coruscations. And re-
sponding to the deep pulsations of earth's mighty heart it surged
to and fro, swallowing up and melting, as if they were flakes of
snow, the adanlantine rocks of the adjacent cliff, that fell upon
its bosom, and dashed its gleaming .spray against the surround-
ing walls to run do,vn in streams of startling contrast with their
blackness, as if it sought to burst or burn the barrier that con-
fined it; under which, indeed, on the side opposite to that
were we stood, could be seen consuming fires illumining deep
caverns, and enlarging the domains of the terrific element.
It was the" Lake of Fire" on the brink of which we stood;
and contemplating its red glare, and terrific commotion, the ex-
cited fancy might well compare it to that of Revelation, into
which, "whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life,
was cast." I ,vas told that sometimes the Lake of Fire rests for
R\vhile, motionless and noiseless, apparently sleeping, with a
leaden looking scum like a silken coverlet, upon it, and causing
disappointlnent to the expectant explorer. But as beheld by us,
it was fearfully aroused, tossing its huge bulk fronl side to side,
and lashing its fipry flood into heaving billows, tbat wrapped
around and under them, to disappear in an instant, the thin film
tbat feebly strove to hide its terrific fpatures from view'; "Vindi-
cating its claim to be considered the ,vonder of both the learned
and unlearned, the cause alike of aw'e in the civilized religion-
ist, and terror to the superstitious heathen.
And its contemplation inspired profotmd reflection, as well ns
intense en10tion; for it is the palpable manifestation of that ele-
ment, which, flung into space in the nlorning of time, when
this planet was" 'without form and void," had wl1irled around
its axis, and circled in its orbit for untold ages; moulding into
shape, crystallizing, and consolidating its original materials,
"with ,,-hicb, too, the destiny of lnan is linked, on which the tenl-
poral objects of his creation are enacted, and ,vhence, a nobler
longing and conviction tell him, he lnay rise to a lllore e
alted
and imIllortal being.
It demonstrates, also, the geological truth of internal fusion,
for it is the welling up of that ocean of fire on 'which the CTIlst

606

KILAUEA.

of earth is floating; and ,vithin this crater the lava flood and
its transformations illustrate also, fronl time to tinle, the won-
drous phenomena of terrestrial development. JIere lllay he
seen in lllil1iature the gradually-encrusting surface, and the con-
solidating rock; the upheaved mountains, and intervening
valleys; rolling prairies, and outspread plains; ravines, and riv-
er-beds. And although in this grand dissolving vie,v of nature
-representing the iUlperceptible transition frol'll cbaos to order-
the reality of barrenness still predolllinates, and rocky cliff, cone,
chasIn, cavern, pinnacle, parapet, tower and turret, bare and
black, present the striking features of the slowly-unfolding pan-
oralna; Jet, when disturbing agencies allow, the type is also seen
of that advent of morning and evening, ,vhel1, in the long gen-
erations that have gone before us, God said, "Let the earth
bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and tbe fruit tree
yielding fruit after its kind;" for, in sheltering crevices, the
pioneer fern is seen timidly to lift its scarcely-recognized form,
and trelnblingly look abroad ovel' the dark dominion on which it
has been the first to plant the banner of vegetable ] ife.
Dense volumes of sTlloke and steam rise from the lake of
fire, and fronl neighboring cones and vents, and are wafted frOln
the explorer's usual standpoint by the prevalent northeast ,vind.
It is on the south side, over which these clouds are b]o,vn, that
the choicest speciulens of that singular production called Pélé's
hair-because formerly believed by the natives to be portions
of the combed locks of that goddess-are obtained. It is a
capillary glass forllled of sUlall detached portions of lnoltenlava,
projected irOnl the lake and cones of eruption, unfolded and
drawn out into fine-spun sellli-transparent bro,vnish olive threads,
as it is borne on the currents of heated air, and finally deposited
in chasms and caves; and sOlnetilnes it is carried by the ,vinds
even to a considerable distance beyond the crater. The delete-
rious gases, smoke, and vapor, t11' t usually :fin the southern part
of the crater, nlake it SOlnetimes unsafe to seek there this 'l'auolw
o Pélé-hair of Pélé.
l\ppalled as the visitor may be, ,vhen first he looks upon the
terrific agitation, and shrinks back at the :fierce heat of the lake
of fire, yet he ,rill soon becolne spell-bound, and unconsciously

KILA'LE.A.

C07

dare destruction, for the red charm of its gleaming anù surging
tide. X 0 object in nature perhaps throw's over the soul such
wondrous f
1scination, and extingui::;hes so cOlnpletely the sense
of
reat and undoubted danger; for who can tell that the ,. foun-
dations' of this great deep," which have been often loosened
within the 111emory of IHan, Inay not on the instant he again
"broken up," and the floor on which he stand.;;, though of rock,
be shattered into fi'agments, for re-fusion and re-casting in new
and otranger fashion
l
et despite this thought it was reluct-
ant1y that \\ye turned a\\"ay, to proceed by another and 1110re
direct path back to our humble tenelnent, which looked in the
distance like a Inole hill on the upper rim of the great crater.
Objects of interest EÏn1Ïlar to tbo:::,e already desclibed ,,-ere
seen as we passed along, representing varieties of nature's fan-
ciful art and flowing graces, fixed as in iron while in the act
of disappearing. .J.. structure thirty feet high stood on the
left of our track, built apparently of large plates of corrugated
watch-spring ::;teel, superpo:3ed in endless relative positions, and
bent and welded together, giving beauty of outline and security
of strength. Claulbering up to an opening in its side, ".e baw
burning on a furnace hearth a bright fire, surrounded by an
abundant supply of :;ulphurou3 fuel anll reagents, indicating
that a gra:qd manufacture of gases and cheulicals "as going on
in this unique laboratorr.
ot far off another edifice" built by
the wonderful and plastic power of eruption, looked like a
church in process oÌ delllo1ition; but its
tin standing remains
of "\\alls and abutments, spire and lllinaret, told how surpassing
the de5ign and structure of that telnple must bave been, ,,-hen,
through its lengthened aisles ancllighted arches, the earthquake "s
diapa
on once resounded.
\.nd further on to the right, lay long
ridges and huge l)iles of slag, scoriæ, clinker, ,itreoUb refuse,
and broken ca:-:.ting
, ,,-ith nla
.;,es of basaltic rock, as if an tIle
foundries and fl!rnaces of England had been tUlubled do'\\-n, and
thro'Vll together in promiscuous confusion of lnaterial for near].r
a Jllile; ,vhile to the left, in a nearly correspondent ridge, tho
e
of Pennsylvania
eelned to bave heaped np their contribution
of a centurJ
's rubbish. )Iall
r ca,e
\\yere also seen, a few' of
which \\"c cÀplored, and ,vhich appeareò forlncù l)y the uphe
n al

608

KILAUEA.

of the thick surface lamina, or by the subsidence of that below,
leaving extensive intennediate spaces, in some instances distinct,
in others forn1ing a series of apartments communicating with
each other. In these a beautiful process of the finer and more
delicate modelling, moulding, and casting has been conducted
by a secret process, probably a liquefied condensation, and final
solidification of the purer lava vapors, holding in solution me-
tallic bases, which have penetrated into these chambers through
imperceptible fissures leading fi"Olll lo,ver depths. The results
are imitations of nature's stalactite and stalagn1Ïte creations in
the crystal caverns of upper earth; yet more curious in SOlne
instances, in that a greater tenacity before final consolidation
has given greater variety of curve and outline. J\lany exquisite
resemblances to familiar objects of art have been obtained in
these caves since their discovery by the officers of the United
States Exploring Expedition to the Pacific.
Having reached the northern end of the crater, we sat down
to rest on the last swell of a recent lava tide, fixed in enduring
bronze until another flood shall consume or sweep it again into
the ocean of fire from which it came; then slo,vlyascending
the steep acclivity to tIle plateau, "rhich at the outset of the
exploration we cOlnpared to an orchestral gallery of a vast
cathedral, we crossed it to the bottom of the rough n
tural stair-
,vay leading to the upper level, which we climbed, wearied and
footsore, glad to reach our habitation for the night, just as the
shudes of evening were gathering around to borrow from Ki-
lauea a crimson light, for the golden beams which the setting
sun had borne beneath the ocean that bathes with crested bil-
lo\vs) and strives in vain to stay the fiery mountain's boldly en-
croaching foot.
Supper, seasoned by an appetite coming of toil, having .been
despatched with rare relish, we did" not wait upon the order
of our going," but Haole and Hawaiian, employer and elnployed,
sought at once, and without cereInony, such repose as might be
had from blanket and mat.
Often during the night we rose to look upon the strange
painting of surrounding nature, as, pencilled with the red light
of inextinguishable fires, it raised on high its bold and glaring

KILAUEA.

609

features, above which glimmered, with sickly beam, the stars,
that paled as they looked upon this sublime spectacle of earth.
Gazing upon the columns of smoke rolling in illumined gran-
deur upward, to meet the first coming of the gray daw'n, we
beheld to tbe west of the lake a pillar of fire suddenly leap
througb the vent of a spouting cone, its burning shaft perhaps
a hundred feet high, shedding a radiance abroad as if to add its
tribute of adoration to the coming day, and then falling, it spread
abroad a crimson sheet, to darken and disappear in the morning
haze.
....t\..nd when the rising sun was seen to touch the topmost
dome of
Iauna Loa, lifted nearly fourteen thousand feet to the
skies, and gild it with outspread gold, it seemed to pause in
admiration of the departing glory that gleamed from the flank
of that majestic n10untain, ere it sent its brighter beams below,
to dim for a tÏIne the splendors of the Place of Fire, which"
" day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shew-eth
l..--no\vledge," and is the "testimony of God n1aking wise the
simple," and proclainlÎng "that Thou, whose name alone is
JEHOVAH, art the Most High 0 vel' all the earth."
We added to our breakfast stra-\vberries of delicious flavor
gathered about a mile off, and after packing our travelling equi-
page, and extinguishing our hearth-fire-a necessary precaution
for the safety of a grass house-we quitted our banquet hall at ten
A. :Y., and stopped that night at Waiuli, tw'o miles beyond the
half-way house on returning, where, being much fatigued, my
guide proposed to subject me to the native manipulation called
in Hawaiian l()lni-lolni j and he really did gently and soothingly
rub, punch, grasp, tickle, knead, and generally magnetize me
from head to foot into a sweet slumber" from which I was awa-
kened some time after entirely refreshed, and ready for a hearty
meal. In the saddle next morning at seven o'clock, we reached
Hilo at half-past eleven, but little more than three days from
the time we started for the volcano.
39

.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

VOLCANIC ERUPl'IONS IN HAWAII-NATIVE HUT-],{ATS-HAWAIIAN FOREST-LAVA STREAM
FROM THE CRATER MOKUA WEOWEO OF MAUNA LOA-W AILUKU RIVER-NATURAL
BRIDGE KEPAUKEA-LAUIOLE FALLS.

OF the three v01canic mountains on the Island of Hawaii,
two of them have long slept. There is no definite information
to be had of the last eruption of Mauna Jeea, though there are in-
dications that it was probably in action during the last century.
I-Iualalai, now quiescent, poured forth a torrent of lava as late
as 1801, ,vhich laid waste the country in its progress to the sea,
and is said to have filled up an extensive bay, and formed a new
headland several n1i1es beyond the former line of the coast.
l\fauna Loa alone seems still disposed to assert its prerogative
of remodelling the great island it has contributed largely to
form; and seven tilnes within the last forty years it has Bent
forth its fiery agent to destroy and rebuild much of its earlier
work. In 1823 an eruption took place fronl its crater of ICi-
lauea, the lava reaching the surface of the earth some miles
south of the crater through subterranean passages, flowing
tÌ1rough the district of Rau to the sea. In 1832 an eruption
occurred both from the lateral crater Kilauea, and frolll that on
the summit of the mountain, the stream of the first named flow-
ing, as stated in my description of that crater, into Kilauea lId,
and part of it back again into Kilauea N ui, son1e persons sup-
posing from the great subsidence of lava in the great crater tbat
there was also probably an escape by subterranean channels
under the sea. The flow from the summit took place froln
nUlnerous vents, difi'using its light to such a distance that it ,vas
visible even at Lahaina. In 1840 there was another eruption

VOLCANIC ERUPTIOXS IN HAW.An..

611

from Kilauea, partly subterranean, which destroyed the village
of Nana,vale, and rearranged the features of the coast where it
reached the sea. In 1843 an outbreak took place from the sum-
mit, the stream subdividing and flowing severally in the direc-
tions of 1fauna Rea, Waimea, lIilo, and Hualalai. Still another
eruption took place from near the summit of the mountain in
185-2, flowing east\vard about fifty miles, but stopping short of
the sea. In 1855 another eruption occurred froin the old crater
of Mokuaweoweo, which, in the quantity of lava thrown out,
has not been surpassed, if indeed it has been equalled, by any
happening since the residence of foreigners on the island. The
Rev. Mr. Coan, who saw it, in describing this outbreak says, " a
vast chasm opened horizontally on the top of the mountain, and
along the yawning fissure stood series of elongated, jagged, and
burning cones about a hundred feet high, rent through this l
rg-
er dianleter, and throwing up dense colunlns of blue and white
smoke, which, covering the mountain's sUIllmit, rolled in fleecy
masses do,vn its sides, and spread out like the wings of chaos
over unmeasured regions. Still no fire was seen in the fountain
crater. We could feel it eveI"Y'vhere, and hear escaping gases,
but the throats of the cones were clogged with hot masses of
cinders, pumice, and ashes, with cracks and crevices for escaping
smoke. The fusion had found- vent in a lateral subterranean
duct, several hundred feet below the rim of the crater, and in
this covered way it flowed off until it made its appearance two
mi1es down the side of the lnountain." The torrent of lava
appeared on the surface at about ten thousand feet above the
level of the sea; it flo,ved eastwardly to the distance of forty
miles by its "illdings, not stopping until within from six to
seven miles of Hilo, and destroJing every thing in its course for
at least three hundred square miles. The last eruption froln
Mauna Loa occurred in 1859, from the new crater Pélé-hou, on
the northern slope, about six thousand five hundred feet above
the level of the sea. It is said to have been remarkable for its
fountain-like ejection of lava in a perpendicular column of vary-
ing height and appearance from two hundred to five hundred
feet, and it ,vas judged by one obEerver to have once reached a
height of even eight hundred feet, ,vith it
capital sometÏInes

612

NA.TIVE HUT.

simple and :flowing, at others involved and occasional1y efllores.
cent, casting above and beyond its own jet of crimsolllava, red-
hot boulders of hundreds of tons' weight, to burst and scatter
their fragments like gory spray abroad. The course of the lava
stremn was about north\vest, passing bet\veen }Iauna Rea and
Mauna Hualalai, and running between fifty and sixty miles to
the ocean, into which it poured for a width of a half mile, l{eat-
ing the startled billows, and sending up clouds of stean1 hun-
dreds of feet into the air.
Approaching, as the lava :flood of 1855 did, to within from
six to seven miles of Hilo, before its flow ""as arrested, and lift-
ing its imperisbable proofs witbin so short a distance of that
town to tell that tbe island of Ha\vaii is Dot yet finished, I
devoted the last two days of my sojourn in Hawaii to an excur-
sio
to the iron river. The route indicated by my companion,
Judge Hitchcock's familiarity with tbis region, embraced also
the natural bridge of Kepaukea, and the La
tiole falls of the
Wailuku River, objects of great interest rarely visited by stran-
gers.
By a tortuous and broken bridle-path we proceeded west-
wardly over an uncu1tivated country, with the exception of a
few upland taro patches, without enclosure, save long barn boo
stalks run through holes in scrubby-looking posts. Iî these
are land boundaries, they certainly do not preclude proprietor-
ship in common with promiscuous quadrupeds, the younger
members of the swine family being generally tied by the bind
leg to the door-posts of the huts, no doubt for the secm"ity of a
pig's head "\v hen wanted to adorn the more delicate and savory

ody of roast dog, for the entertainment of dainty foreigne
s,
the uninformed among whom partake of that dish with great
gusto. A short distance on the way a heavy shower made us
take shelter in a native hut, built of sugar-cane-blade tbatched
walls, and fern roof, \vith one alnple apartment for the accom-
modation of family and friends, from the central earthen hearth
of which rose the fiunes of taro slnothered in ti leaves, s\veating
between a bed and covering of heated boulders. Around the
room hu:ng a score of calabashes of all sizes, from half a foot to two
feet in diameter, serving as cupboards, closets, pots, trunks, and

HAW AllAN :MATS.

613

general table ware, where tåble there ,vas none, and these con-
tained the few essentials of IIa-\vaiian house,vifery, with such few
gewgaws and trumpery as imported taste and fashion made sig-
nificant of the higher law of civilization, sOlnetinles as disgusting
if not as base as that other" higher law" coming of a new and
odious political proposition, which sneers at the sacredness of
constitutional cornpacts and tramples good faith under foot. On
the ground, covered with mats that had never known the purifica-
tion of ,vater, sat an old crone whose skin looked like the copper
on a ship's bottom covered with barnacles, from the effects of a
hateful disease introduced by foreigners into these islands. She
\vas occupied in trimlning and splitting smoke-dried lauhalla
(pandanus) leaves for a couple of young, lithe, and bright-eyed
wahines, who, in a posture between kneeling and squatting, 'w.ere
plaiting them with great dexterity into large, neat, and durable
:floor mats. The best quality of I-Iawaiian mats, Tery :fine and
beautiful, on which the chiefs recline, are made on the islan.d of
Niihau, and are sold at from five to eight dollars each. The
coarser lllats used by tbe common people can be had at half a
dollar apiece. Several l{anakas were lounging around, engaged,
according to the wont of these household nuisances of the mas-
culine gender, in jabbering ,vith extraordinary volubility and
vehemence their yowelled vernacular. My cornpanion partici-
pated in the colloquial comedy, until, perceiving that the rain
had. ceased, we resumed our ride, and having proceeded :fi'\e
111Ïles ii.om IIilo, our horses were left ,vith a native to be brought
to us next day at a designated place about a mile east of the falls.
With a guide in the lead, and follo\ved ourselves by two other
I{anakas carrying camp equipage and provisions, ,ve then, on
foot, entered a forest, through 'w.hich, for a distance of about two
Iniles, we had litérally to thrash and cleave our way; for al-
though at the tiule the lava "
as in actual fio,,"', parties of curious
and hardy adventurers broke and kept open a track through the
forest, yet in the time since elapsed, and stimulated by ceasele::,;:,
showers and continuou
warn1th, such rank vegetation bad
sprung up as not only to obliterate eycry trace of path, but act-
ual1y to erect a barrier to progress, which bad to be beaten or
hewed down at almost every step.

.

.

614

HAWAIIAN FOREST.

The recognized forest trees were the koa, tutui, and ohia, of
larger gro,vth than I had seen elsewhere, several of the latter
having trunks five feet in diameter, overtopping and spreading
their brawny arms abroad, protecting less vigorous growths,
and with the tutui, furnishing a dense foliage iml)enetrable to
the sun. Ferns, of numerous species, rare gro,vth, and vary-
ing shades of green; the fragrant leaved n1aile, of which the
favorite necklace and coronal of the I-Iawaiian maiden is made;
the wild gin
er, more agreeable for its subdued spiciness; the

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KANAKA CARRIERS.

.
wild taro, the original of the plant now cultivated and yielding
the chief food of the islanders; the 'wild raspberry, and the
wild banana, were all found in this forest growing luxuriantly;
and above them was seen the beautiful parasite ekaha, opening
outwardly from its root-latticed base, its long green leaves in
8ymmetrical scrolls like hanging-baskets suspended by a delicate
cordage of ié which hung froln tree to tree. The ulebihi and
the ié were the principal creepers; the latter, in some parts of
the forest, clothing many of the trees in an entire livery of green,
and masking completely their distinctive features; and so nu-

HA W AIIA.....
FOREST.

615

merolls, wandering, and tangled were its roots, tbat weary and
\veak froin slipping .and sticking in mire and mud.bole, our feet
became often entangled and tripped, causing tumbles that went
far toward dispelling tbe pleasing fancies indulged on a former
occasion about tbis same plant. Indeed it was suggested that
the climbing of the ié resembled that personal propensity which
aspires to notice on another's merits, and that its clinging to
venerable trees typified the dependence of children of larger
growth, the lazy and selfisb, who overburden parental infirmity,
and hasten the death of those \vbo give support. It is not
uncommon for a stately tree to become the victim of this
parasitical tenacity of the ié, which suffocates it with clustering
vines and fo1iage, appropriates its inherent vital circulation, and
consumes the nourishment of surrounding soil.
To increase our annoyances, after two hours of c1ambering
over fallen trees, crawling through branches and undergrowtb
slimy with moss and moisture, and floundering through pools
and mud, our guide said that he had lost his way. Without
beaten track or blazed tree to direct, or the brigbt sun pene-
trating this dense forest to ligbt hinl to recognition of fan1Ïliar
things, he had become confused in its labyrinth, doubtflù of pur-
pose, and wandered without definite result. Climbing a tree
he looked abroad for landmarks, and started again on his ex-
ploration, tbis time alone, leaving us to such rest and cOlnfort
as practical hydropathy, adlninistered by a drenching rain and a
saturated moss-covered stump, could give. In due time, by
hallooings, at first distant and faint, then near and louder, the
guide was enabled to return to the spot about which \ve had
bpen revolving; and assured by his observations, he struck a
bee line-whicb, however, even with that little insect mathema-
tician, and encompassed by corresponding obstructions could
not have exemplified tbe " shortest distance bet,veen t"o points"
-for the bed of lava; and after the expiration of four hours
from the tinle of entrance, we made a joyful escape froln tbi

forest of but two nliles breadth, in w"hich ".e had 'Very fairly
illustrated the law of centripetal motion.
Dark and dismal as was that unmovinO' and hnulovable
ö
river of laya, on the brink of which we stood, and which had

616 THE PROOF OF TERRESTRIAL FORMATION.

unrolled the blac1..
ess of desolation over this region, Jet was ít
a welcome sight; for it removed doubt, and released us from im-
prisonment, as wen as frolll an oppressive sense of the absence
of anirnal life, there being no. birds there to cheer us with their
song, and naught else but a few lizards, centipedes, and scorpions
-not even a snake being seen, none having been found on these
islands, and it is said only one imported, which was instantly
killed. It is surprising ho,v the feathers were obtained of which
the t,vo royal robes of the I-Iawaiian monarch ,vere made; es-
pecially if it be true, as stated, that but two feathers are found
in each bird suitable for the purpose, one under each wing-a
story, ho,vever, probably more sensational than true, as a, Ha'\vaii-
an naturalist assures n1e that the bird furnishing the material of
the rich fabric has a tzift of feathers under each wing.
Bending our steps over s,vells, troughs, and mounds of lava,
the fiery flood was seen to have cleaved its way through the
grand old forest ,vith a sword of flame. Its results were curious,
as in its progress in different degrees of liquefaction and move-
ment it assumed varied forms, ,vhich became apparently cast-
ings in iron to tell to future generations the tale of cause and
effect: confirming its truth by an imperishable causeway of
forty miles from the source, ten thousand feet above the level
of the sea, whence it flowed from the great central fire that lias
burned since this sphere was thro'wn into space by'" the hand of
Omnipotence. In one place were seen parts of a great dome,
which had once stood, as lnigbt have been supposed from their
massiveness, in imperishable solidity; but ,vhich fì'oln later flo'\vs
of the resistless flood had been overturned, and scattered abroad
III ruins. In another the mould of a. noble tree tbat had been
felled by an axe of fire, and then ,vas wrapped in the red stream
to be consumed as that became congealed and solid. Then we
traversed an immutable sea of iron, its ,vaves, and troughs, and
Inaelstroms, the colossal castings of a river, a rapid, and a cata-
ract; billows, eddies, ripples, 2nd successive circles of flow;
whose outlines, seen through the refractions of light produced
by rarefied air ri
ing frorn the sun-heated black surface, cheated
the eye into a belief of fluidity and motion. Ilere lay an iron
rope and there a coiled cable, and further on a shattered pyra-

A NIGllT OY THE LA.VA.

617

mid, prostrate temple, and dilapidated fortress, all built as if in
sport, and then overthrown, revealing the entrance to a series
of tunnels, vaults, and caves, "hose secrets may one day excite
the surprise of the idler, and the. inquirJ of the savant. All
these, and ll10re of the wonderful displaJs of this plastic power,
lay about our way. Finally, passing along a narrower flow,

hich reminded us of what the Rapids above the" "\Vbirlpool "
at Xiagara may look like, when the icy fetters of the great river
are broken to fraglllents and re-welded 'while dashing in 'wild
career ov<.:r gigantic ledge and boulder, we halted wet and weary
at sunset a mile further on, at the foot of a nlound forty or fifty
feet high thrown up by the lava in the last moments of its ,vork,
a 1ll0nUlnent of expiring power.
A limpid stream of 'water running for lniles through secret
channels of the black crust hidden fì'om observation, escaped at
this point, furnishing both bath and beverage; and near it,
upon a smooth floor of lava, we pitched our tent, and proceeded
to build. a camp-fire of fallen timber from lava girdled trees
gathered near the border of the flow. ...\. bright blaze cheered
the night, and enabled us to dry our wet clothes; and a supper
of Baltimore oyster8, Hawaüan coffee of delicious flavor, and
excellent bread of Hawaiian wheat, made us forget the toils and
annoyances of the day. Soon after, wrapping rnyself in a blan-
ket, I laid down to rest on fern leaves gathereù beyond the lilnit
of desolation, and spread 011 the lava rock-lulled by the ll1ur-
Inuring of the little streanl seeking escape from its confinement
beneath us, and by the dull flapping of our canvas root' in the
chill nigbt-wind descending from tbe icy hall; of )launa l\:en.
But sleep would not be wooed to cOlnpliant favor
. The flinty
hardness of our couch repelled the courted sluillber. Busy n1Ïlld,
too, kept unfolding ane,v so viviùly the panorama just witne
sed
of creation's wonderful developments and startling truth
, that
" Nature's soft nurse" could not 1.1. steep my senses ill forgctfhl-
nes.
." And ll10re than these to hinder sleep, there "
as in tho
river of death on ,vhose dark b
soln we 8ccmeJ to float, a sYln-
b01 of tbe Inoral as well as physical desolation now' s,\ceping
over our o,vn once happy land; of the wickednes:;, cOIning of
fanaticism and passions, laying ,va:-;te the fair fields of national

618 FURTHER PHENOMENA OF YOLCANIC ERUPTION.

prosperity planted by the hands of ancestral wisdom. Truly
did the gory flood recently bursting from the mountain's side
illumining its O,\Y11 hideous carnival, blasting plains, levelling
hins, and :fi1ling valleys, leaving no trace of the wondrous beauty
of this Eden, seem but a type of tbe red carnage in which is
being written a.history of horrors, and which threatens general
ruin to the hopes of a great people. Recalling the records of
fratricidal strife, more terrible than those of international war:
tbe heart's prayer from that dread river of death ascended often
that night for peace. Aye-as sung by one whose harp was
then attuned to melodious measures, but whose now" discord-
ant noises jarrest the celestial harmonies" of his younger
nluse-

" Peace! and no longer from its brazen portals
The blast of war's great organ shakes the skies!
But beautiful as songs of the immortals,
The holy melodies of love arise.

" Were half the power that fills the world with terror,
Were half the wealth, bestowed on camps and courts,
Given to redeeln the human mind from error,
There were no need of arsenals nor forts.

"The warrior's name would be a name abhorred!
And every nation, that should lift again
Its hand against a brother, on its forehead
Would wear for evermore the curse of Cain! "

We rose to welcome the da,vn, and enjoy in the chill
morning air the grateful warmth of a glowing bed of coals fron1
a quarter of a cord of wood thrown on by our Kanaka cook.
Having taken breakfast from a table as black and po]i
hed as
ebony, ,ve struck tent, packed camp-traps, and started again
over the desert of lava for the Wailnku River, which it was pro-
posed to descend to the natural bridge which spans it some
miles below. A short distance from our camping ground the
lava was found to have been piled up to the height and shape of a
considerable ridge; formed probably by the blowing up of tun-
ne1s by the confined stre
tlns, and the subsequent additions of the
congealing currents, bearing on their bosom the broken masses

WAILUKU RIVER.

619

and crumbling debris detached from other parts of the great bed.
Sometimes these ridges are doubtless formed by the covered
flow penetrating chasms and cracks of the tunnel wall, formed
by contraction in process of cooling, and laying above these,
stratum upon stratum of lava; and sometimes, perhaps, by the
accumulating masses borne upon an upper rapidly-thickening
and slowly-moving current.
These phenomena of physical formation are not so striking,
I am informed, near to the source of the stream, owing to the
greater fluidity of the lava nearer its source, and the more pre-
cipitous declivity of the higher parts of the mountain. .And the
same causes will account for the greater distance of th1rt)". nliles
over which the stream passed on the first night after the eruption.
The flow continued lnore than a year, but did not extend beyond
forty miles, owing chiefly to obstacles throw.n in the way by its
own consolidation, which caused it to spread in SOlne places to a
width of ten miles, and contribute greatly to tbe formation of
the ridges before referred to. We diverged from the lnain lava
stream by a lateral tongue running northw.ard, and about a mile
from our encampment the night before ,ve canle to the ri,er.
Naught but lava blister
, bubbles, swells, exploded ducts, and
broken plates, were seen along this part of the route, save an
occasional sprig of fern seeking to establish a "squatter sover-
eignty" in a chink or cranny of the lava.
At the river we found that the tongue of lava which guided
us to the Wailuku divided into t,,
o small branches, one of which
when in a state of fusion had evidently flowed across the chan-
nel, and striking the opposite bank waa there arrested. The
other branch diverging somewhat from the last named, was seen
to have leaped down the bank where it reached tbe river, and
then to have plunged over a fall of fifty feet into a basin one
hundred feet in diatneter. This ba
in is thought to resclnble
somewhat a reclining human head; while the streaUl flo,ving
from the basin through a narrow outlet is compared to a neck;
and then expanding again presents an appearance not unlike a
body, from the upper part of which on the north bank a rivulct
looks like an arm, and finally the river a short di:-,tance below
divides into two streams representing legs; the whole taken

620

W AILUKU RIV:E.t'R.

together being thought so like a gigantic human figure as to
have obtained for i a place among t1le native water divinities.
The cervical part of this deity is shut in by high banks so closely
as to make it impossible to pass through the gorge dry shod,
except by mounting the guide's shoulders. :ßline waded ,vaist
deep, bearing me along a narrow submerged ledge of rock that
bordered a threatening looking depth of the river. The" Old
Man of the Sea" did not clasp more tightly with his legs the
neck of tIle unlucky" Sindbad" than I did Piimoku's, in fear
of baptisrn by immersion. And had I not strangled the ,vords
in utterance he luight have begged me not to sacrifice him to
this, object of former idolatry. As it was, ,vhen released, he de-
c1ared that rather than sublnit again to such an embrace, the
sacrilege might be perpetrated of my swimming down the throat
of the ancient Hawaiian God.
The division of the river below diminished so much the water
in the left channel, that we ,vere able to pass a considerable dis-
tance frolll rock to rock along the bed of the sh'eam, until conl-
ing to an abandoned hut on the north bank ,ve rested a"Thile
within its sÍlllple architecture of a fe\v forked posts, supporting
light cross tÍlllbers, roofed and clapboarded with Koa bark, so
perfectly stripped froln that valued tree as to furnish slabs nine
feet long and three wide, when outspread and dried after re-
moval. Our guide entertained us, here as elsewhere, ''lith tra-
ditional lore, not unl11ingled with proofs of the clinging super-
stitions and faith of his forefathers, despite the influence of what
many of his kindred still deem a profane civilization. I-Ie ,vas
a choice specimen of native loquacity and good hUluor; and his
stentorian oratory and shouts of merriment shamed the less
noisy babblings of the Wailuku, and a,vakened the echoes of
the adjacent hills. Volubility was a physical necessity of Pii-
moku; his capacious mouth full of vo'\vels roning over each
other in continuous and blended sound in their struggles for
utterance; a, e, i, 0, u, and sOlnetimes w, but not y, seeming to
be the elementary material, and the. completed fabric of his lan-
guage. Such was his incorrigibly loquacious propensity-sound
alone being often the measure of sense-that I found to my
great grief, as a fellow occupant o'f the same flinty couch on the

NATURAL BRIDGE KEPAUKEA.

621

night before, when" tireù nature's sweet restorer" shrouded
hinl in blessed obli,ion, and the vocal organislu, wearied and
exhausted by its day's labor3, sank to a like deep repose, that
ever mindful aS3ertor of dignity and disdain, ,vhich never slum-
ber:; on its post of duty, but snuffs afar off iInpertinence and in-
Bult, and often gives startling proof of synlpathy 'with its less
capable neighbor, 4.' took up the ,vondrous tale," and Inade our
abode hideous with its vicarious utterance from dewy eve till
rosy nlorn.
Again on the route, we were soon forced by the fulne
:3 of 3.
reunited stream to abandon the rocks, and for a short distance
take to the n
ighboring bush, nearly as dense, tangled, ob-
structed, tortuous, uneven, and rrlÏry as that through ,vhich w'e
toiled the day before. Extricating ourselves from this, "
e trav-
elled along a more passable part of the river cl)annel, and so
continued, alternating between rocky bed and busby bank, ac-
cording to the conlparative facilities of passage, for a di:;tance
of two mile3 from the point at which we struck the stream, and
three hours and a balf in time from our camping-ground, when
we reached the bridge IlaIlled by the natives Kepiulkea-the
hole the God went through.
In the distance specified, the river has a great descent over
rapid
and falls, as many as seven of the latter having been
seen; one of them bet,veen fifty and sixty feet high and exceed-
ingly picturesque, being called in Ha"raiian, lliola, signi(ying
avalanche, from the snowy plunge of its 'waters.
The natural bridge is a grand and imperishable structure,
evidently built by 'Volcanic agency, )Iauna Loa, the
'onderful
architect of this region, having in 80me reDlote age UnkllO,yn to
tradition pourcd forth its fused materials to be moulded at this dis-
tant
pot into massive abuhnents, arch, and keystone, defYing the
fury of flood and the slower ra-vages of tiUIC. Fronl the south bank
of the 'Vailuku the torrent of llloltell lava flowed across, ,velcling
itself and becoIning incorporated with the opposite rocky "yall ;
the rivcr is thus completely obstructed for perhap
four-fifth:; of
its ,vidth of one hundred and twenty feet. the briJgc rcsting to
that extent upon the bed of the stream, and fOrIlliug a COITC-

pondillg Ï111pa
:;able barrier, the 'water being directed along its

622

CATARACT OF L.AUIOLE.

face toward the north bank, and escaping under a perfectly
turned arch of about twenty-five feet span, and of varying
height from the surface of the river according to its fulness.
The length of the arch is nearly two hundred feet, and midway,
as we passed through it in a canoe, conveyed to the spot for the
purpose, there was seen piercing its graceful curve above, a sky..
light of ten feet diameter, lined with moss, and adorned with a
chaplet of flo,vers to welcolne the stray sUnbealTIS peeping in at
the placid strealn. It is probable that "Then this arch was
formed, the still fluid lava of the subsurface flo,ved out, leaving
the more superficial and solidified portion standing as at pres-
ent constructed, thus allowing the escape of the river, which
other\vise ,vould have been damlned up cOlnpletely, and over-
:flo,ving the obstruction added another waterfall to the many
now found in the vicinity.
At the lo\ver end of the natural bridge wê disembarked from
the canoe, and clambered over rocks for a fe\v hundred yards
along the right bank of the .river, to the Oataract of La
tioù,
\vhere the Wailuku takes a leap of one hundred and thirty-t,vo
feet, changing the snowy garment in which it wraps itself in its
,vild plunge, for a mantle \vhen it reaches the foot of the cliff,
whose coloring seems borrowed from a "Tilderness of foliage that
rises on either hand belo,v. In its passage over the precipice
the stream is broken into two falls by a colossal colulnn of ba-
salt, cl
d in verdure and bejewelled with spray from its base
washed by sportive wavelets, to its capital, crowned with flowers
and foliage. From an overhanging rock of the d
ep abyss the
Bay of Hilo may be seen far beyond and below, looking, under
a richly-clouded canopy, and with alternations of light and
shade painting its quiet bosoln, like a blue and purple foot-
stool embroidered ,vith gold, for the wearied ",Vailuku, as, clad
in its garment of green, bright and gay at our feet, grave and
shadowy in the distance, it danced onward to the strain of
its O'Vll wild music, ,vhirling through the mazes of defiles, leap-
ing down precipices, dashing over rocks, then to a gentler
measure of breeze and billow, lnoving tranquilly to its ocean
repose.
Turning from the waterfall we crossed a small, thicklv-wooded

RETURN TO mLO.

623

island, to a wide floor of rock over which flows a branch of the
ri,er, when, from floods, it cannot empty its accumulated wa-
ters through the arch of the natural bridge and breaks over it,
filling this as well as its customary low-water channel. At such
tÎ1nes another cataract is formed by this southern branch of the
river, of greater height than that already described
Looking from this upper terrace at the bold scenery at our
feet, and the beauty of that mellowed by distance, as it Jay clad
in the "essential vesture of Creation," the heart cannot withhold
its reverence fronl IIim who said, "Let the watera under the
heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry
land appear," and who shaped and is still fashioning these by
such wondrous agencies, that finite man trembles even at the
threshold of His revelations.
Some Hilo friends coming by a nearer route met us at the
Lauiole Fall, and curiosity having been gratified we bade adieu
to the wild valley of the Wailuku. Slipping, sliding, tripping,.
and tralll}Jing through wood and marsh, deemed by the ladies
of the party" perfectly awful," but in truth "\ery tolerable for a
patient pedestrian, compared with the pathless forest and jungle
in which w'e had wandered the day before, we came to a branch
of the 'Vailuku River, ,vhich as a limpid strealulet bad furnished
our beverage as it bubbled from its aqueduct beneath the field
of lava we had visited, and which no,\"", after miles of meander-
ing and gathering of tributary rivulets, ,vas again met, no longer
a mere brook. It was the water of this stream that wàs kept
at a scalding temperature for months by the hot lava, ,vith ,vhich
it was in constant contact during the eruption of 1855, and into
which a native accidentally falling instantly perished. How
different its condition when crossed by us! Cool, placid, trans-
parent, seemingly a polished mirror, in which the coquettish
ferns overhanging its banks gazed admiringly at their reflected
beauty, that looked up from the crystal depths so bewitchingly
at our gentler companions borne across by a stahvart native,
that one nJÍght have fancied they sought to seduce tbese sister
spirits to dwell 'with theln.
IIalf a mile further brought Uo to our awaiting horses, and
mounting into the saddle ,,'e hastened to llilo in an unluoked

624

RETURN TO HILO.

for yet not unusual shower, reaching tbat bijou of a village nest-
ling in buds, blossoms, and shrubbery, and fanned by cocoanut
trees tbat "raved in the sweet sea-breeze as the rain ceased, and
evening's gay banner was flung from the western sky to add
another charm to the scene.

CHAPTER XL.

HOMEWARD VOYAGE-PROFITS AND PLEÅSURES AFLOAT-RESOURCES AND DJ!:S'I'ß"Y OF CAL-
IFOR.'HA.

.ABOARD the brig " Francisco," bound for San Francisco just
as the morning opened her rosy gates to welcome the coming
of the glorious sun, and anchor hove, we beat out of the bay,
and bore away under the auspicious trade-wind, Halvaii, the
jewel of this island group, long and dimly seen in the distance,
at last vanishing from sight, but leaving its beautiful image
traced unfadingly on the memory.
The nervous, tilllid, and those of exce:::sive gastric irritabil-
,
ity may doubt, nevertheless it is true, that in nearly all cases of
generallas;:,itude and constitutional debility, unattended byor-
ganic or grave functional derangement, a sea voyage .will prove
the most valuable of tonics and the surest restorative. The
rapid motion, breathing of a pure air, mental relaxation, bodily
repose, awakened interest in new scenes, excitement incident to
changeful breeze, billow, and nautical manæuvring, and the sys-
tematic and disciplined habits of a well-ordered ship, contribute
greatly to the renovation of a human fralne wearied of monot-
ony, wasted by disease or debauchery, and exhausted by inces-
sant toil. For the victim of mercantile anxiety, overexertion, and
Inistortune; the sUl'feited and exhausted votary of fashion; the
pale, prostrate, and drooping devotee of literature and science;
the exhau
ted practitioner of an exciting profession; and for hilll
whose mind and heart are harassed ,vith care and steeped in
sorrow, a sea-voyage is a soporific, tonic, seùative, awakener of
new interest, and a general renovator. Even a failing pOl::\t-me-
ridian life ,viII often find it to possess a po,vcr of rcj u vcne:;ccnce.
40

626

PROFITS AND PLEASURES AFLOAT.

The fashionable places of resort thronged by a n10tley crowd of
fools, fiddlers, and faro-bankers, present no such probabilities of
restoration for those nallied, and for the summer invalid, as a
sea voyage. True, the occasional sameness of sea life may hang
heavily on those who have difficulty in disposing of time; but
not so with others who have minds to shape their o,vn joys, and
souls to respond to their blessed inspirations; and it n1ay be
that even the listless may find a refuge froin ennui in the per-
sonal peculiarities of fellow-passengers and incidents gro'wing
out of them. The" Francisco" ,vas not without examples of
such, yet however varied the entertainnlent they afforded to
some, others preferred the companionship of nature, and at all
times its eloquent instruction.
Our course from the Islands to the North Anlerican conti-
nent was the usual one northward, to get the ,vesterly wind and
bear away before it for our port of destination. "The trades,"
which had borne us steadily on, gradually fell off for three days,
and finally died away altogether in latitude 38 0 21/, thirty-three
miles beyond the parallel of San :Francisco, a calm follo,ving,
in which the sea was spread out smooth, glassy, and motionless,
save in inherent sympathies, which in scarcely perceptible undu-
lations responded to the pulsations of its mighty heart afar off.
A Inin'or, too, it seemed, of the overhanging canopy, set in a
rim of clouds that bordered the horizon, still as the heaven
against which they leaned, pure as the snow, unlike in form, and
yet akin in faultless beauty. There lay the sea, in truth

" A glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form
Glasses itself in tempests; in all time,
Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm,
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clhne,
Dark-heaving; boundless, endless, and sublime-
The image of Eternity-"

reflecting from its blue, unfathomable depths, besides the radiant
sky and clouds, a semblance of the patient vessel that sat upon
its polished bosom, gazing within upon the likeness of its taper-,
ing spars, its drooping sails, and slackened cordage; a listless
revelation, mocking the helplessness above tbat passively a\vaited

PROFITS AXD PLEASCRES AFLo.AT.

627

fayoring gales. The birds which had borne us compnny, skim-
ming unweariedly the crested wave, deserted us, drifting to other
latitudes ,,-here they could spread their unmoving pinions to the
gale that bears theln up in circling flight. The sense of ""ant
of nature's accustomed proofs of presence became painful.
N aught but ocean's 0'WIl remained, and those of frailest organi-
zation, as if too delicate to go where mnd and wave might visit
them too roughly, or so low in the scale of creation as to be
akin to surrounding lifelessness. The oce3.n water-spider, unseen
at other times, ran unharmed on the smooth sea, or, contracting
its little body, sunk below the transparent surface, :fleeing as
fleetly and as visibly as before. That harnlless little sea-craft,
inappropriately called the "Portuguese man-o'-,var," in safety
spread its semilunar sail of gos8amer so skilfully athwart its
tiny oval blue bull, that gentlest zephJrs could not breathe ,vith-
out aiding the capillary propellers that moved their minute
screws beneath. Myriads of barely perceptible monads, invisi-
ble ",.hen the ocean is disturbed
reveale,d to the micro
cope
through their transparent gelatinous bodies, a rudimentary vas-
cularity and a n1otÌoD, showing that the apparently dead waTe
teemed with elementary life; and tangled skeins of fibrous-look-
ing mucilage floated abroad to feed the unseen creatures of the
great deep; while lower still, touched by varying shades of light,
and gleaming at times as if a sunbealn gilded them, lay motion-
less but to the mind not voiceless, other and startling mysteries-

The semblances of forms familiar,
That, loosened from their ocean tombs, arose
To tell how perish victor and vanquish'd,
Feeble and strong, timid and brave, alike.

And although they did not reveal the secrets of that eternity
of which their sepulchre is the sYlnboI, though of tbese in1ffior-
tal mysteries they w.ere silent, as is the sun in its daily errand
of goodness; and the moon, sailing through the upper deep,
,vhich tells no tidings of the ethereal waste; and tIle stars on
their nightly rounds, uttering no syllable of the lin1it1cS5 world
of which they are the unwearied sentinels; yet the
e floating
fraglnellts of lllortality did speak to the soul 01' the river bct,vecn

..

628

PROFITS AND PLEASURES AFLOAT.

this life and the eternal, ,vhich no boat but Death's shall cleave,
and of the immortal spirits-

"That none return from those quiet shores
Who cross with the boatman cold and pale;
We hear the dip of the golden oars,
And catch a gleam of the snowy sail-
And 10! they have passed from the yearning heart;
They cross the stream and are gone for aye;
We may not sunder the veil apart
That hides from our view the gates of day.
We only know that their barks no more
May sail with us o'er life's stormy sea,
Yet somewhere, I know, on the unseen shore,
They watch, and beckon, and wait for me.
" And I sit and think, when the sunset's gold
Is :flushing river, and hill, and shore,
I shall one day stand by that water cold,
And list for the sound of the boatman's oar:
I shall watch for a gleam of the silvery sail ;
I shall hear the boat as it gains the strand;
I shall pass from sight with the boatman pale
To the better shore of the spirit land:
I shall know the loved gone hence forever,
And joyfully sweet will the meeting be,
When over the river, the peaceful river,
The Angel of Death shall carry me."

The contemplation of the great deep, when not ,vrapped in the
lethargy which sometimes drops its leaden pall on parts of the
wondrous whole, leads the mind from the fleeting interests of
time to sublimer conceptions, although the veil that hides the
realities of eternity may not be penetrated. For, as in the .begin-
ning "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the ,vaters,"
so now even finite apprehension recognizes there IIis presence,
teaching man humility and wisdom. We behold in the sea,
thus consecrated everywhere by the Spirit of its Creator, and
in Galilee by the footsteps of the Saviour, the boundless bosom
into which the countless rivers of earth pour their waters un-
heeded, to be mingled with the floods that have gone before,
and shall follow after through all time. IIo,v like to eternity

PROFITS

D PLEASURES AFLOAT.

629

in which ages shall end from everlasting to everlasting, and yet
whose vastness heeds not their number or the nleasure of their
years! And the waves rolling on their unending legions, com-
ing and going in ceaseless agitation, or lifting their crests of
foam to be a filoment seen, then passing away forever-are not
these like the generations of men? ..A.. span of feverish restless-
ness and deatn Inake up their brief record. Waye and life
are merged in ocean and eternity, which remain the same un-
changed similitudes. In the presence of such a symbol of life
and death, of the perishing present and everlasting future, that
soul must indeed be dead while it liveth, that fails to take in
the solemn responsibilities of the hour and determine wisely the
future foretold by the" longing after immortality" within us;
and as we listen to the symphonies of the melodious billo'ws,
and the ceaseless cadence of the surge that welcomed creation's
dawn, the tTansported spirit seems to drink in the celestial strain
that greets the coming of the just, and swells the anthelll of
eternity; and thus it, too, would win the .gift that lifts .. the
crystal bar of Eden."
For two days our vessel sat silent, unmoving, po,verles:3, on
the wide ,vaste; and ,yhen the favoring west ,vind came at last
to awaken the sleeping ocean, and with gentle breathings di111-
pled its fair face as with a smile, ere stirring the depths of its
strange strength, it seemed a reflection of hearts rejoicing in the
goodness of HÜn whose ",vay is in the sea, 'whose path in the
great waters.
'
Though sailing as close to the wind as possible we were
driven .westward to the 159 0 of longitude, 3 0 21' beyond the
meridian of Hilo, while our de5tination ,vas far away to the
ea::;t. Our captain was not long, therefore, in changing our
eourse as soon as favoring gales allowed, and clothing our craft
in her fullest rig of canvas. Bright skies- and propitious winds
lnake happy voyagers, whose hearts beat responsive to the joy-
ous serenade of sea and seamen.
On the nineteenth day of our pas::.age ,ve ran near the R eel
Rocl>s, in latitude 37 0 21', and longitude 137 0 2
' against which,
in navigating this part of the Pacific, a ship is apt to stulnp her
"forefoot" unless a sharp lookout is kept froln the forecastle.

630

PROFITS AND PLEASURES AFLOAT.

The Farralones Islands, twenty-seven llliles off the coast of Oali-
fornia, were Inade after midnight of the twenty-fifth day of the
voyage, the revolving light on South Farralon having been seen
but a few minutes ,,",hen a dense fog, common on this coast,
caIne up, shutting it from view, and compelling us to stand off
for safety until daylight and less haze showed us again our
whereabouts. The seven or eight guano covered rocks called
the N orth,vest Farralones were on our port side and South Far-

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ralon on the starboard as we steered northeast by north along-
side of the Middle Rock, nearly nlidway the channel of eight
miles between the extremes of the group. South Farralon is
about a mile long, and looks in the distance like a lofty edifice
váth low wings. A lighthouse stands on its sUIDn1Ït; the guid-
ing star during the dark hours, of the busy commerce covering
this part of the greatest oceal1, as the islands themselves are the
conspicuous. landmarks by day. A few hours after passing the

RESOURCES
D DE3TIXY OF CÅLIFOR
"7.Å. 631

Farralones we shot through the Golden Gate, with a north-
wester that thoroughly stirred the sandy depths of San Fran-
cisco. We dropped anchor in the harbor of that Queen City on
the t,venty-sixth day after parting with our pilot off Hilo; twice
the time ha ring been taken to run the two courses of three
thousand one hundred miles on the return voyage that was
needed to make the scarcely deviating stretch of t",.o thousand
two hundred miles to the Hawaiian Islands. The regular
winds were light on the home passage-usually the case in
August and September-and the customary triangle was traced
by the outward and inward voyages.
Having again looked on this land of promise, in amazement
at the proofs of progress starting up as if by ellchanbnent, the
golden portal of Oalifornia was repassed hOlneward bound, to
close a public trust in fulfilment of the terlns of its acceptance.
A tv.-ice-told tale of incidents of voyage on the K e,v York and
San Francisco steamer route can add no interest to this narrati\'e.
I will merely say, in conclusion, that California, having attracted
the particular attention of nations chiefly because of her depos-
its of gold, bas commonly been regarded solely as a source of
111ineral wealth. But a loftier distin
tion will be hers; for she
is destined in the progress of events, and that "\vithout con1pro-
mising her O'ITl good by Quixotic efforts to reform others, to
carry a higher civilization to the teelnillg island population of
the Pacific, and to the hundreds of 111illions who inhabit the
regions beyond. It may not be extravagant to say, that in the
past" eJ"e hath not seen, nor ear hf1ard, neither hath it entered
into the heart of man to concei '\e" of the wonderful re
ources
and promise of greatness of this glorious land. If we regard its
mineral wealth in precious and ponderous metals, its agricul-
tural capacities, or its geographical position, fronting the most
populous parts of the ea
tern hemisphere, and by reason of that
po:;:ition destined to become a chief agent in the distribution of
their rich productions to other countries, through their nearc,t,
and natural gateway of foreign comlnerce; if we consider its
constitution and laws, lnodel1ed after the "\vise:-;t of older States
while avoiding their defects; its freedom from sectional jealou::.-
ies, and its exemption from the dominant influence of questiollii

632 RESOURCES AND DESTINY OF CALIFORNIA.

which have proved under pernicious agitation destructive of the
harmony and welfare of other parts of the country; its fertile
soil:- and immunity from atmospheric vicissitudes detrimental to
agricultural production; its remarkable adaptation to varied
growths; its population, nearly all of the Caucasian race, the
most elevated and best endowed of the human family: fi
om
whatever point we view the future of California, and of its great
elnporium, San Francisco, through "Thich the trade of that and
adjoining States, of the vast region between the Sierra Nevada
and Rocky Mountains, and of an extensive Pacific coast must
pass, and pay tribute in its transit, we are constrained to believe
that their history will be illustrated by unsurpassed grandeur,
if they prove true to the mission confided in the progress of
events to them, and if they adhere to the objects of all good
govermnent-the political welfare, and the moral and social
elevation of the people for whom it was specially organized-
without embarrassing its operations by schemes of transcendental
humanitarianism proceeding from partial and distorted views of
truth and justice; which, however plausibly presented, but re-
semble the prismatic colors of a sunbeam, whose adaptation to
human wants comes not of e1e separate and showy hues in
which it may be exhibited by the cunning art of man, but of
the immaculate perfection with which it emanated from Him,
who said, "Let there be light."

THE END.

.

.

14 DAY USE
RETURN TO DESK FROM W1llCß BORROWED
LOAN DEPT.

This book is due on the last date stamped below,
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:Renewals røa7. be made 4 dayS prior to date due.
:Renewed bo<>ks are subject to itnß1ediate recall.

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