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VW Order ped weGeare & web > dP Arirhe ed gape oe Wee FB o re -* 8 er oC ot aad 4 Pe ee ed he pede a oh ee rer eee ait) hadborpe te ee Bae ee es FS ote Michie Be pre oe 4d OM 26 ate ewe ke op Fee ears et os ened e ake 88 re Oe MH ny Lge 8 ee lee ty eee ih ee Od p aae: Oe FeO. 0 Per hl bee beedeee $90.8 “a ohe a) § a bdo doy ke ih {yeh b ue { ah i et We ie he pew a) os * vw Pee eee Behe wee era dike : yp ) Ai " ASAIN Pah A wih dels ab Po OD Fe Wyott o> au . m 4 ’, ’ bane eli RY ei ee ee ee 1 AA he doe mee A LARA SY tM ‘hs sp laced he te ipo ee, be Ed ia ame 8 aD wet el vy Awe Pe Gob pe { ee ee qe By! iw bre. 8 Phe bob t be oy ee Or a steele hey eas Rae # deiira-tagel i ee Cee ’ s 9-9 ser ie 04 Ay Boh em Oe, O88 Mee ip bin ae ou ath hh Hap Ly i 4 Wobii ‘ hil, D , om io yi ie ke ie f wa asa dy beng! : dite pe arearer ry) { 4 4 : ot) tal VAP rm) Tee ty a rate rgd ‘ ff uy “4 Pub) " Whe wr) ; CONN tit a8 igo We t ‘ oi » ' md a eo he he se ty rye wrie) - i Ca aa or) Rib Woy ale 4: Wrst te iA 0 ew wag wie ew vow te tne yy J ee A ay eee anecY 4 bei. 14 aw th ; ’ Woo.k , i4 ; My WU Daa A Aer Pe AMAT eg ea he Md CHILI, PERU, AND MEXICO, IN THE YEARS 1820, 1821, 1822. EXTRACTS FROM A JOURNAL BY CAPTAIN BASIL HALL, R.N., F.R.S. iN. TWO: PARTS, PART I. LONDON: EDWARD MOXON, DOVER STRERT. MDCCCXL, its NL iy A REN AEN or | ie de i BRADBURY ‘AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS, ahi hak: a a5 ee he : ; aaa) j i cs x z --| ‘ - : = in _— - 4 . ; ‘ * oe ~ = i ¥ PL es —— <. \ % ~ q a 7 =o ee <2 ? — 1 ee tees, a " *s { . i \ 7 el 9 - ‘3 h * 5 Fe - . -h nal eh i ; 5 i ve ss ; , . Lae ~_ 7 ¥ ’ ia ' q i a ( i 1 j 0 ~ A ‘ ¥ \ ee | Cane : i en j ’ : oy at , iw Th ee ' 1A | a ‘ , » j breyS ‘ _ ot * aa ee. ee ee ee ee ee eS eee) “i> 4 . : i t ' us *" ¥6 :] 4 @ ‘ 7 ; - oe | eel b e ; ‘ LO ame |e , J f - ‘Cl PREFACE. —_@——_- Tue following Work contains literally what the title-page expresses, Extracts from a Journal written at very momentous periods, during short professional visits to the principal ports on the western coast of South America and Mexico. _ It has no pretensions whatever to be considered as a detailed account of those countries. But, at the present moment, when everything connected with the New World engages so great a share of public attention, it was thought that a few characteristic sketches, by an eye- witness, of the progress of the revolutions, and of the state of society, domestic and political, in regions so little known, might be favourably received ; as tending to give more correct ideas respecting them than have hitherto prevailed. From various nautical and scientific researches, which have already appeared in the Philosophical Transactions, or formed the subject of official reports to the Admiralty, a short Memoir on the Navigation of those seas has been selected, and added in an Appendix. Edinburgh, April 1, 1824. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SIXTH EDITION. ———< ans Arter the lapse of more than eighteen years since the voyage was made of which these volumes give a hurried, but faithful sketch, I have been called upon to revise them for their republication, in a new and cheaper shape, better suited, as I am led to hope, to the taste of a large class of readers whom it is essentially important to interest in the class of topics here treated of. South America, when I visited it in 1820, 1821, and 1822, was in a state of violent revo- lution from end to end, and the field being so vast and complicated as to render any detailed account impossible, I conceived that I should be doing more justice to the subject to extract from my journal only such points as appeared best calculated to give a general, but, at the same time, a just impression of the momentous scenes then passing. I adopted this course, on the principle that would have guided me in describing the ravages of an earthquake, which I might have happened to witness, where any attempt to describe the whole would manifestly lead to confusion ; while the narration of a selected few of those circumstances which actually fell under my own observation, might, if faith- fully painted, help to elucidate the whole catastrophe. A similar work, or one executed on the same plan, at the present moment, after an interval of nearly twenty years, would unquestionably afford matter for one of the most interesting, and perhaps useful, comparisons between promise and performance that the political world has ever witnessed. . Such a task, however, could be executed only by an eye-witness, who with equal oppor- tunities to those which I enjoyed, and no less fidelity and diligence, should unite higher powers of observation, and greater capability of giving them effectual expression. For the describer of the present state of things in South America would be required, not to relate what he should actually see, as I have attempted to do, but to trace and expose the causes, as well as the probable consequences, of the dreadful state of confusion— amounting in some places almost to anarchy—which, to the sorrow of every lover of political freedom and of social improvement, too deeply characterises the society of that magnificent continent. Nevertheless, when preparing this edition for the press, I set on foot some inquiries— not indeed with a view to any change in the text—but to the introduction of such expla- natory notes, as might help to throw light on the progress of those stupendous events of which I saw only the commencement. But I soon discovered that, so far from these researches enabling me to furnish information to others, they only tended still further to mystify my own notions ; at last I gave up the inquiry in perfect despair, resolving neither to touch a word of my original narrative, nor to add anything new. These volumes, therefore, must be taken now, as they were at the time of their com- position, twenty years ago, as a brief, but exact, account of the state of things existing in South America, at the termination of the mighty struggle between Spain and her colonies, a moment necessarily of the highest interest in the history of that, as of every other country which, having long been dependent, has at length dissevered the connexion. This transition state it was my good fortune to witness, and [ have endeavoured to describe it faithfully. London, March, 1840, CONTENTS. ——_ @-——— CHAPTER I. CHILI. PAGE Passage of Cape Horn.—Volcano.—Arrival at Valparaiso.—Bull Fights.—Chilian Music and Dances.—Visit to Santiago, the Capital of Chili—Effect of the Political Changes on Public Opinion CHAPTER II. \ Communication between Santiago and Buenos Ayres.—Duties of Naval Officers on the South American 1 Station.—Arrival of two French Ships of War.—Pic-nic Party.—Departure from Valparaiso . ‘ OT CHAPTER III. Notice of the Revolutions in Chili—General San Martin.—Battle of Chacabuco.—General O’Higgins.—Battles of Talca and Maypo.—Arrival of Lord Cochrane, who takes Valdivia. Seer aren Peru.—Capture of the Esmeralda . ° . : . ° . . . ° ’ 5 ° . il CHAPTER IV. PERU. First Visit to Lima, while Peru was still in possession of the Spaniards.—Contrast between Peru and Chili.— Deposition of the Viceroy.—Visit to the ex-Viceroy, Pezuela F - 4 ° . ; 19 CHAPTER V. Bull Fights at Lima,—Marquis of Montemira,—Ex-Inquisitor.—Manners and Dress of Limenian Ladies.—Dis- tressed State of Lima, in consequence of the War.—Dissension in the City . ° s re be? CHAPTER’ VI. Two Officers of the Conway arrested as Spies.—Consequent Ferments at Lima and Callao.—Sanguinary Mobs.— Military Commission.—Sketch of Lima.—Smoking in the Theatre : : - ates tks SRE) yD CHAPTER VII. CHILI. Excursion to the Interior.—Bridge of Suspension made of Hide Ropes over the River Maypo.—Night Scene amongst the Andes.—Description of a Chilian Country-House and Dinner.—Ridiculous Vow . ‘ »« 28 CHAPTER VIII. Selection of Cattle.—Description of the Lasso used for catching Cattle-—Expertness of the Chilians. gerne Dances.—Promesa against Dancing by a Young Lady 3 - ° . . F 2 al CHAPTER IX. South American Method of killing Cattle—Use of the Lasso and the Luna.—Anecdote of some Boys.—Method of preparing Jerked Beef . 2 ° ; . ‘ . ; - : A A F od CHAPTER X. Visit to the Lake of Aculéo amongst the Andes.—Return towards Santiago.—Chilian Flower Garden, with the Flowers planted in the form of Birds and Beasts,—Unceremonious Habits of Travellers in Chilii—Effects of the setting Sun inthe Andes . 5 : * > . . f A 6 : = ° - 35 CHAPTER XI. Matrimonial Anecdote.—Remarks on the Study of the Spanish Language.—Visit toa Water-Fall near Santiago.— Singular Plain amongst the Andes.—Progress of Education, and Decay of Bigotry in Chili—Ignorance of a Spanish Lady.—Spanish and Native Prejudices.—Comet of 1821.—Experiments with the Pendulum. —State of Political Feeling in Chili . - P : ° . ‘ i é : : . 36 CHAPTER XII. PERU. Coasting Voyage.—Melancholy Effects of the War at Arica.—Desolation of the Town Eee of the Sandy Desert.—Fallacy respecting Mines - : ‘ : " 3 i 3 . : - 40 . CHAPTER XIII. Appearance of the Andes.—The Peruvian Balsa or Canoe made of Seal Skins.—-Volcano of Arequipa ~ ‘41 b vi CONTENTS. | 5 CHAPTER XIV. PAGE |f Progress of the Campaign in Peru.—Attempts at Accommodation.—Revolutionary Opinions disseminated through the Country.—Policy of San Martin.—Interview with that Generalin the Callao Roads . - 43 CHAPTER XV. Consternation of the Inhabitants of Lima on being abandoned by the Spanish Troops.—Panic and Flight to Callao.—Meeting of the Public Authorities.—Invitation sent to San Martin.—Wise and Generous ae — Restoration of Tranquillity . r : A : : A “ : 3 4 . . 45 CHAPTER XVI. Interview with San Martin.—Traits of his private Character.—Robbers near Lima.—Guerilla Chief.—Precaution _ used to preserve the Peace in the Capital.—Adventure of a Spanish Viceroy with a Peruvian Aspasia . 47 CHAPTER XVII. Entry of General San Martin into Lima.—His Reception by the People.—Characteristic Scenes at the Marquis of Montemira’s . 3 ° ; . : 2 . ° A 5 : 5 “ A $ - 49 CHAPTER XVIII. San Martin’s Head-Quarters,—The Conway proceeds to Ancon Harbour.—Journey to Lima across a sandy Desert.—The Valley of Lima.—Outposts occupied by Montoneros or Guerilla Troops.—Embarrassment of the Royalists.—Proclamation of Independence.—Tapadas at the Ball in the Palace : ° > - 51 CHAPTER XIX. | Huacho.—Huaura.—Grecian and Gothic Forms of Architecture observed in the Peruvian Houses.—Architec- | tural Theories.—Irrigation.—Chorillos : : ‘ ‘ 4 2 : Be) | CHAPTER XX. 4 Return to Lima.—San Martin assumes the Title of Protector.—Proclamation declaratory of his Views.—Pro- ceedings against the Spaniards.—Their disagreeable Predicament in Lima.—State of Society - 54 CHAPTER XXI, SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. Exclusion of the Natives from Situations of Trust and Profit.—Laws of the Indies.—Discouragement of Science, Letters, Agriculture, and Commerce.—Rigorous Measures against Foreigners.—Suppression of Colleges and Schools.—Oppressive Taxes and Imprisonments . . . e : ° : . : es 7 CHAPTER XXII. Commercial System.—Ordinance against the hospitable Reception of Strangers.—Coast Blockade.—Contraband Laws.—Influence of the Catholic Religion.—_Benefits conferred upon the New World by the Spaniards . 61 CHAPTER XXIII. CHILI, Anxiety for the Fate of Fish, a seaman of the Conway.—Cruise to the South Coast of Chili, to inquire into the Proceedings of Benavides, the Pirate.—History of Benavides——His Condemnation and Recovery after having been supposed to be shot.—Declared Chief of the Araucanians.—His Piracies against English and North Americans.—Project for conquering Chilii—Equipment of his Army and Fleet.—Energetic Character of this Ruffian ; “ : Z = - - - : @ . - : . : - 63 CHAPTER XXIV. The Bay of Conception.—Talcuhuana.—Desolation caused by the War.—River Biobio.—Dilapidated State of the Town of Conception.—Penco.—Strata of Coal.—Torne.—Character of the Inhabitants of the Southern Parts of Chili . ° - : : ° 4 . ° 5 - 3 : ; ~ 66 CHAPTER XXV. Defeat of Benavides.—Island of Mocha.—Arauco, the Capital, burned.—Sack of the City, by the Chilian - Soldiers.—Peneléo, Captain of a Party of Araucanian Mercenaries.—Return to Conception.—Visit to_ the Indian Quarters.—Interview with Peneléo.—Return to Valparaiso.—Chilian Government.—Gazette respecting Benavides 2 ° ; . ° ° ° . ; : . . 2 . 69 CHAPTER XXVI. CHILI, Excursion to the Mining Districts of Chili—Coquimbo.—Parallel Roads in the Vip: of os cage —Theory in Explanation of these Appearances by Mr. Lyell and Mr. Darwin ‘ : 7 U4 EXTRACTS FROM A JOURNAL WRITTEN ON THE COASTS OF CHILI, PERU, AND MEXICO, IN THE YEARS 1820, 1821, 1822. CHAPTER I. CHILI. | Passage of Cape Horn.—Volcano.—Arrival at Valparaiso.— Bull Fights.—Chilian Music and Dances.—Visit to Santiago, the Capital of Chili—Effect of the Political Changes on Public Opinion. His Majesty’s ship, Conway, under my command, sailed from England on the 10th of August, 1820; and, having touched at Teneriffe, Rio de Janeiro, and the River Plate, received orders to proceed to ce ernise, the principal sea-port on the coast. of ili. The passage round Cape Horn has acquired such celebrity in nautical history, from the difficulties encountered by Anson, that no one acquainted with the popular narrative of his voyage, can approach the spot without some degree of interest. The progress of improvement in navigation and seamanship has, indeed, stripped the Cape of most of its terrors; and the passage, which formerly cost so much labour and suffering, is now per- formed with comparative ease and certainty. But there is still left enough of romance about this great promontory to excite no inconsiderable curiosity : and, accordingly, on the evening of the 25th of November, all eyes were anxiously directed towards the west, in which quarter the Cape was situated. Several groups of the more curious | amongst the officers were perched at the mast- heads, with telescopes and sketch-books in their hands, ready to take advantage of the first glimpse of the land. Others, whose energy did not equal their curiosity, mounted a few steps of the rigging, and came down again ; saying they would see it quite as well in the morning without trouble. The sailors in the meantime, habitually indifferent to everything of this nature, amused themselves with a noisy game of leap-frog along the deck. Meanwhile the sun set, and our anxiety lest we should not discover land before night, increased every moment ; but towards the end of the long summer twilight, the looked-for Cape, to our great joy, appeared in the western horizon ; where the outline of the land, distant about fifty or sixty miles, was for a short time distinctly pencilled on the sky, still lighted up by the last rays of the setting sun; but was soon lost sight of in the darkness. The night had scarcely closed in, when a new and unexpected object engaged our attention: a brilliant light in the north-western quarter, shining at regular intervals. At first of a bright red, it became fainter and fainter, till it disappeared alto- gether ; after the lapse of four or five minutes, its brillianey was suddenly restored, and it seemed as if a column of burning materials had been pro- jected into the air. This bright appearance lasted from ten to twenty seconds, fading by degrees as the column became lower, till at length only a dull red mass was distinguishable for about a minute, after which it again vanished. Many conjectures were raised as to the cause of this intermitting light. The seamen at once set it down as a re- volving light-house, to which, certainly, it bore no inconsiderable resemblance. Others insisted that it must be a forest on fire; accounting for the changes in brilliancy by flaws of wind fanning the flames. But all who examined the light carefully through a telescope agreed in considering it a voleano like Stromboli, emitting from time to time jets of flame and of red-hot stones, which, falling on the sides of the rnountain, retained for a short space a visible redness. This singular light continued visible until morn- ing, but faded away with the first appearance of dawn ; and although during the night it seemed not above eight or ten miles distant, to our surprise no land was now distinguishable in the direction of the voleano : and we found, by means of bear- ings taken with the compass, that it actually was upwards of a hundred miles from the ship, on the main land of Tierra del Fuego. It is not impro- bable, that this or a similar voleano may have led Magellan to give the title Land of Fire to this desolate region*. * In the recently-published highly interesting and important voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, by Cap- tain Robert Fitz-Roy, the following remarks occur. «© When we landed to pass the night we found that the B 2 VOLCANO ON TIERRA DEL FUEGO. By six o’clock in the morning of the 26th of November, we had approached within ten or twelve miles of Cape Horn; and in sailing round to enter the Pacific, had an opportunity of seeing it on a variety of bearings. Under every aspect, it pre- sents a bold and majestic appearance, worthy of the limit to such a continent. It is a high, pre- cipitous, black rock, conspicuously raised above all the neighbouring land, utterly destitute of vegetation, and extending far into the sea in bleak and solitary grandeur. As little interest would be taken in the details of a voyage unaccompanied by hardships or dangers, it may be sufficient here to state, that, after struggling for a fortnight against the preva- lent westerly winds, during which we reached at one time the latitude of 62° south, we succeeded in getting sufficiently far into the Pacific, to be able to haul to the northward, and to steer a direct course for Chili, without apprehension of being again driven towards the land about Cape Horn ; an embarrassment in which the early voyagers were frequently involved. In justice, however, to those persevering men, forests had been burned for many leagues, and as we were not far from the place where a voleano was supposed to exist, in consequence of flames having been seen by a ship passing Cape Horn; it occurred to me that some conflagration, like that of which we found the signs, might have caused appearances resembling the eruption of a distant volcano. I have since been confirmed in this idea,” adds Captain Fitz-Roy, “from having witnessed a voleano in eruption, and, not long afterwards, a conflagra- tion, devouring many miles of mountain forest ; both of which, at a distance, showed lines of fire, fitful flashes, and sudden gleams. Persons who have witnessed a forest burning on the side of a mountain, will easily perceive how, when seen from a distance, it may resemble the eruption of a volcano; but to those who have not seen fire on such a scale, I may remark that each gust of wind, or temporary calm; each thick wood, or comparatively barren space, augments or deadens the flames so sud- denly, as the fire sweeps along the mountain side, that, at a distance of fifty miles or more, the deception may be complete.” Vol. ii. p. 203. This is very ingenious, certainly, but Ido not think it conclusive. The light which we saw appeared most decidedly to be produced by periodical eruptions of red- hot cinders, or stones, such as I have frequently seen thrown up from Mount Vesuvius. The opinion of every officer on board the Conway was that the appearance could not be caused by a forest on fire, as it was not thought possible to conceive how the wind could produce such remarkable and such regular changes in brilliancy. Captain Fitz-Roy, however, though one of the most per- severing and accomplished of surveyors, could find in those regions no volcanic mountain in the position laid down by me. I cannot account for this discordance be- tween us, except by supposing that the observations made by me on board the Conway, for ascertaining the place of the volcano, were not made with sufficient accuracy—for of the existence of an active volcano in that region in 1820, I have still not the smallest doubt. Captain Fitz-Roy’s authority as to its non-existence in the spot assigned to it by me is, of course, decisive, but a careful examination of the published account of his voyage leaves the impression on my mind that there are many spots, still unexamined, where there isample room for a volcanic mountain. The following remarkable passage in Captain Fitz-Roy’s in- valuable narrative, when speaking of the rocks not far from the district in question, is worthy of being borne in mind by future investigators. ‘Some curious effects of volcanic action were observed, besides masses of conglo- merete, such as I had not noticed in any other part of Tierra del Fuego.” —VFitz-Roy, vol. ii. p. 223. it is right to explain, that in their day the state of | nautical science was such, that the most able and vigilant navigator could do little more than guess his place on the globe, and was, therefore, at all times liable to commit the most fatal errors in shaping his course ; while, in consequence of the |f} more extended application of astronomy to navi- gation, the use of time-keepers, and the great improvement of other nautical instruments, the modern seaman is enabled to traverse the ocean with confidence, and without risk of being misled by currents and other sources of erroneous reckoning, which perpetually distracted the voyagers of old. On the 19th of December we anchored in the Bay of Valparaiso, the principal port on the coast of Chili, having occupied thirty-eight days in the passage from the River Plate. After a perilous and protracted voyage seamen are ready to consider any coast delightful ; and it was probably from such a cause that the early Spanish adventurers named this place the Vale of Paradise, a designation which its present appear- ance by no means justifies. The Bay is of a semicircular form, surrounded by steep hills, rising nearly to the height of two thousand feet, sparingly covered with stunted shrubs, and thinly-strewed grass. The town is built along a narrow strip of land, between the cliffs and the sea; but as this space is limited in extent, the buildings have straggled up the sides and bottoms of the numerous ravines which intersect the hills. A suburb called the Almendral, or Almond Grove, larger than the town itself, spreads over a low sandy plain about half a mile broad, at the upper or eastern side of the Bay. In the summer months, from November till March, Valparaiso is a safe and pleasant an- chorage ; ‘but during winter, especially in June and July, is subject to occasional hard storms, blowing from the north, in which direction it is open to the sea. We were fortunate in having reached Valpa- raiso at a moment when the Christmas festivities were at their height ; and multitudes of people had been attracted from the country to witness the bull-fights and other shows. On the evening of Christmas day, which corresponds nearly with our Midsummer, everybody had strolled abroad to enjoy the cool air in the moonlight. Groups of merry dancers were seen at every turn,—and crowds of people listening to singers bawling out their old Spanish “ romances” to the sound of a guitar ; gay parties sauntered along laughing and talking at the full stretch of their voices: wild-looking horse- men pranced about in all quarters, mixing amongst the people on foot, drinking and talking with them, but never dismounting. From one extremity of the town to the other, in short, along the base of the cliffs, and all round the beach of the Almendral, there was an uninterrupted scene of noise and revelry. The bull-fights, which took place about four o’clock, resembled anything rather than fights ; but they made the people laugh, which was the principal object ; and by bringing a crowd together in a merry mood, certainly contributed quite as much to the general happiness, as if they had been exhibited in the usual sanguinary manner. The area in which the bulls were baited was a square enclosure, or quadrangle, formed by a temporary building about fifty yards across, rudely S| ES = Se Fe Fe BULL-FIGHTS AT VALPARAISO. 3 ‘ constructed of posts driven into the ground, wattled across with green boughs, and roofed with planks. Over two sides of the square there was erected a second story, divided into separate compartments by flags and various-coloured cloths, and left open at top, and in front. These were crowded with ladies and children, all in their gayest attire, and seated with much formality and decorum to witness the show. The scene in the ground-floor, which was divided into booths called ramadas, was of a very different description: here was dancing, singing, drinking, and all kinds of noise and bustle. Previous to the commencement of the bull-fight, the area was filled with people, some lounging about smoking their segars, and admiring the ladies’ dresses; and some risking their money at rouge- et-noir, for which there were many tables brought from the booths into the open air. But the prin- cipal amusement was within the ramadas, in each of which was to be found a band of musicians and dancers hired to attract company. The musical instruments were invariably a harp, a guitar, and a sort of drum. The harp, which is small and light, is held in a different manner from ours ; for, instead of standing erect, it is kept in a horizontal position, the top of the instrument resting on the lap of the player, who is seated on a low stool. The drum is made of a piece of wood hollowed out, and covered at one end with raw hide. This stands on the ground, and is patted with the fingers, while the wrists rest upon the rim. At times the end of the harp, the empty guitar-box. or anything, indeed, which gives a clear hollow sound, is used as a substitute for the drum. The performers in general are also singers ; and the voice mingles more or less, at all times, with the instrumental music. They sing mostly in a high shrill tone, disagreeable at first to a stranger; but in the course of a little time it recommends itself to his ear, in a manner which his judgment scarcely allows to be just. Occasionally, when they sing in a lower tone, their notes are very sweet and pleasing ; this, however, is perhaps owing to the accidental good taste of the singer, rising superior to the general practice of the country; for it is not frequent, and when it dees occur is seldom applauded. The bull-fights were very boyish exhibitions, and deserve no particular description. The animals, in fact, were never killed, but merely teased by horsemen, who goaded them with blunt spears ; or they were distracted by men on foot, who waved flags in their faces, and, as soon as the bulls were irritated and ran after them, escaped over the railings into the ramadas. The chief interest, to us at least, lay in the people, whose various dresses we were never tired of looking at, while the interpretation of their strange language gave us ample occupation ; for although they all professed to speak Spanish, their dialect was strongly marked with a local idiom and pronunciation. Everything indeed was new to us, and partook more or less of a characteristic air ; but it is not easy to describe such scenes ; chiefly from their want of resemblance to anything we have before witnessed. In the course of the first evening of these fes- tivities, while I was rambling about the streets with one of the officers of the ship, our attention was attracted by the sound of music, to a crowded pulperia, or drinking-house. We accordingly entered, and the people immediately made way, and gave us seats at the upper end of the apart- ment. We had not sat long before we were startled by the loud clatter of horses’ feet, and, in the next instant, a mounted peasant dashed into the company, followed by another horseman, who, as soon as he reached the centre of the room, adroitly wheeled his horse round, and the two strangers remained side by side, with their horses’ heads in opposite directions. Neither the people of the house, nor the guests, nor the musicians, appeared in the least surprised by this visit ; the lady who was playing the harp merely stopped for a moment, to remove the end of the instru- ment a few inches further from the horses’ feet, and the music and conversation went on as before. The visitors called for a glass of spirits, and having chatted with their friends around them for two minutes, stooped their heads to avoid the cross piece of the door-way, and, putting spurs to their horses’ sides, shot into the streets as rapidly as they had entered ;—the whole being done without discomposing the company in the smallest degree. I met at the Ramadas, upon another occasion, a family to whose kind attentions we are all much indebted, especially for their assistance in explain- ing the native customs. We visited together many of the booths, and had an opportunity of seeing more of the dancing than on the first night. One of the most favourite figures begins in a manner not unlike our minuet, with slow and apparently unpremeditated movements, the parties approach- ing and receding from each other, occasionally joining hands, swinging themselves round and sometimes stooping, so as to pass under each other’s arms. These figures, while they admit of the display of much ease and grace, inevitably betray an awkwardness of manner. The slow movements last a minute or two, after which the measure suddenly changes from a dull monotonous tune to a quick and varied air, loudly accompanied by the drum and a full chorus of shrill voices. At this instant the two dancers commence a sort of shuffling step, during which the feet do not slide, but rather stamp with great rapidity on the ground. The dancers then dart forward towards each other, waving their handkerchiefs affectedly before them. They do not actually meet, but, when almost touch- ing, pass, and continue to revolve round each other, in circles larger or smaller, according to the space allowed ; accompanying these rotatory motions by various gesticulations, especially that of waving their handkerchiefs over their partners’ heads. There was a striking difference between the man- ner in which these dances were performed by the town’s-people and by the guassos or country- men ; the latter having always the advantage both in skill and elegance. These amusements lasted throughout the night, and, although the people are naturally temperate, it was evident, that towards morning the dances were apt to acquire a more savage character, and the songs to become licentious. But there were very few instances of intoxication or riotous’ behaviour. No women, except those profession- ally attached to the bands of music, ever dance in public ; but as the men of all classes join occasion- ally, the floor is seldom long unoccupied. More than one couple never stand up at the same time. B 2 4 THE TOPADAS OF CHILI. Each figure lasts about three or four minutes ; after which the music stops for a few seconds, and is then resumed ; this is always repeated three times. The fondness of the populace for this amusement is excessive; and I have often re- turned to one of the ramadas after an interval of several hours, and have found the same people still looking on at thesame dance with undiminished pleasure. The elimate, during these festivities, was gene- rally agreeable: for in the day-time the thermo- meter ranged from 62° to 64°; and at night from 59° to 62° ; between half-past ten and three in the day, however, it was sometimes unpleasantly hot. Whenever the morning broke with a per- fectly clear sky overhead, and the sun rose uncon- cealed wy haze, and when also the horizon in the offing was broken into a tremulous or tumbling line, as it is called, a very hard southerly wind was sure to set in about one o’clock, blowing directly over the high ridge of hills encircling the town. The gusts, forced into eddies and whirl- winds, bore the sand in pyramids along the streets, drove it into the houses, and sometimes even reached the ships, covering everything with dust. About sunset these very troublesome winds gradu- ally died away, and were succeeded by a calm, which lasted during the night. From sunrise till the hour when the gale commenced, there never was a breath of wind; or if the surface of the bay was occasionally ruffled, it was only here and there by those little transient puffs, which seamen distinguish by the name of cats’-paws. On the other hand, when the morning broke with clouds, and the atmosphere was filled with haze, a moderate breeze generally followed during the day, sometimes from one quarter, sometimes from another; and on such occasions we were always spared the annoyance of the southerly gales. These varieties take place only in summer. During the winter months, that is, when the sun is to the northward of the Equator, the weather is very unsettled. Hard northerly gales blow for days together accompanied by heavy rains, and a high swell, which, rolling in from the ocean, renders the anchorage unsafe for shipping, and by raising a vast surf on the beach, cuts off all communication between the shore and the vessels at anchor. ‘These gales, however, are not frequent. At that season the air is cold and damp, so that the inhabitants are glad to have fires in their houses. Charcoal generally is used, in a large polished brazier placed in the middle of the floor, round which the family range themselves, with their feet resting on its edge. In the houses of the English, and other foreign residents, substan- tial fire-places have been substituted for the bra- ziers, and coals are used. Of this material there is an abundant supply from Conception, a port situated about 200 miles to the southward of Val- paraiso. At present it is taken from a thick seam which erops out at the surface, and, as the quality is good, it will probably, at some future period, be turned to great account. 30th of Dec.—As there was much to be learnt of the habits of the people at the night assemblies in the ramadas, I made a practice of going there every evening. It was particularly amusing to watch, unobserved, the groups round the gambling tables in the middle of the area. A single candle placed on the table, threw a light on the counte- nances and picturesque dresses of the players, which exhibited, in a striking manner, the variety of expression peculiarly belonging to such scenes. A party of these gamblers detected me upon one occasion, and insisted good-humouredly that I should try my fortune. By accident the ball rested several times successively on the same square, which raised the odds on my casts to a consider- able amount ; I took all the bets that were offered, and, in the end, won a handful of silver, princi- pally from the people who had been most active in persuading me to play. Their companions joined me in laughing at them a little; but I thought it better, all things considered, to insist upon returning the money; for which I was laughed at in my turn; but we parted all the better friends. A Chilian gentleman of my acquaintance lived close to the bull-ring, and parties used frequently to be made up at his house to go to the Chinganas, the general name given to the scenes just described. After chatting together for some time one evening at this house, the gentlemen of the party went off to the bull-ring, while the ladies excused them- selves for not accompanying us, pretending to have business at home. But within a quarter of an hour afterwards, while we were lounging about in one of the most noisy of the ramadas, it was inti- mated to me privately, by a gentleman in the secret, that three of the ladies we had left were actually in our company; but so completely metamorphosed, that, even when pointed out, they were with difficulty recognised. Thus made a party to the joke, | soon found they came as spies upon the proceedings of the master of the house, the husband of one of these Tapadas, as they called themselves. There had been a feud, it seemed, between these ladies and some others of their ac- quaintance, and the object of this escapo, or frolic, was to watch how the gentleman would deport himself toward their foes. The ladies, accordingly, had the satisfaction, or the mortification, to detect him in treacherous flirtation with the enemy ; this established, they allowed themselves to be disco- vered, to the confusion of the unsuspecting parties, and immediately disappeared. The next day we learnt that the ladies had returned again, in about ten minutes afterwards, differently disguised, and had amused themselves in watching the motions of such of us as had been formerly admitted to their confidence, and who were still chuckling over the success of the first exploit. I attempted, next evening, to pass a similar jest upon them, and disguised myself with great care ; but their practised eyes were not to be deceived, and they saw through it at the first glance. The merchants and other principal inhabitants reside in the houses built along the base of the cliffs in Valparaiso, and along the streets of the Almendral. But the poorer people live chiefly in the quebradas, or ravines. This class of society have been the least affected by the changes in the political state of the country, and retain, as we were informed, nearly the same manners and habits as before ; a circumstance which gave them a higher interest to us, and induced us frequently to ramble about, in the cool hours of the evening, amongst their ranchos, or cottages. We were a ee ee Te hme Pa pe eS ee ee bo, ee a 6 MATTEE, OR PARAGUAY TEA. 5 everywhere received with the utmost frankness, and, as far as the simple means of the inhabitants went, with hospitality. They were chiefly brick- makers, day-labourers, and washerwomen, who were always gratified by the interest we took in their affairs, replying readily and cheerfully to our enquiries. Their first anxiety was that we should be seated, in order, to use their phrase, that we might “feel ourselves in our own house.” Their next wish was that we should taste something, no matter how little ; some offering us spirits, or milk and bread; others, who could afford nothing else, pressed upon us a cup of water. Yet, how- ever wretched the habitation or poor the fare, the deficiency was never made more apparent by apologies : with untaught politeness the best they had was placed before us, and always with a hearty welcome. These ranchos, as well as the houses in the town, are built of large flat bricks dried in the sun; and thatched with broad palm leaves, the ends of which, by overhanging the walls, afford shade from the scorching sun, as well as shelter from the rain. Each cottage is divided into two rooms; one for the beds, and the other as a dining-room ; a por- tion of the mud floor in this apartment is always raised seven or eight inches above the level of the other parts, and being covered with mats, serves as a couch for the siesta sleepers after dinner. In one cottage we found a young woman grind- ing corn in a very primitive mill, which consisted of two stones, one a large grooved block placed on the ground, the other polished and about twice the size of her hand. The unground corn ap- peared to be baked till it could be crumbled into powder between the finger and thumb ; this coarse flour, when mixed with water, made an agreeable drink called ulpa. In some of the quebradas, we occasionally dis- covered houses of a better class, generally occupied by elderly ladies of small incomes, who had relin- quished the fashionable and expensive parts of the town, for more remote though not less comfortable dwellings. Nothing could exceed the neatness and regularity which prevailed in these houses ; where we were often received by the inmates with a politeness of manners, indicating that they had seen better days. These good ladies generally entertained us with the celebrated Paraguay tea, called mattee, a beverage of which the inhabitants are passionately fond. Before infusion, the yerba, as it is called, has a yellow colour, and appears partly ground, and partly chopped ; the flavour resembles that of fine tea, to which, indeed, many people prefer it. The mattee is made in an oval- shaped metal pot, about twice as large as an egg- cup, placed nearly full of water, on the hot embers of the brazier, which always stands in the middle of the parlour ; when the water begins to boil, a lump of sugar burnt on the outside is added. The pot is next removed to a filagree silver stand, on which it is handed to the guest, who draws the mattee into his mouth through a silver pipe seven or eight inches in length ; furnished at the lower extremity with a bulb pierced with small holes. The natives drink it almost boiling hot, and it costs a stranger many a tear before he ean imitate them in this practice. There is one custom in these mattee drinkings, to which, though not easily reconcilable to our habits, a stranger must not venture to object. However numerous the company be, or however often the mattee pot be replenished, the tube is never changed ; and to decline taking mattee, because the tube had been previously used, would be thought the height of | rudeness. A gentleman of my acquaintance, becoming very fond of this beverage, bought a tube for himself, and carried it constantly in his pocket ; but this gave so much offence, that he was eventually obliged to throw away his private bombilla, as it is called, and follow the customs of the country. The people in general, and particularly the pea- santry, and the lower orders in the outskirts of the town, appeared to us much better bred than the corresponding ranks in other countries. In their domestic circle, they were at all times re- markably polite to one another; the children being respectful and attentive, and the parents considerate and indulgent. But this was con- spicuous only at home ; for, when abroad, the men were very negligent of good manners: and, although actual rudeness was contrary to their nature, they were, in general, careless of the wishes of the women, and never sought opportu- nities of obliging them, nor seemed to take any pleasure in being useful on trivial occasions. This habitual inattention on the part of the young men rendered the women, in some degree, distrustful of the civility with which strangers, as a matter of course, treated them; and, at first, we often observed a look of embarrassment and doubt when we paid them the most ordinary attention. The state of education at Valparaiso is very low, and in this respect the men have the advan- tage. The refinement, however, is all with the other sex ; in knowledge of the world, in sound judgment, and in everything relative to manners, they are clearly superior to the men. For some time after arriving at Valparaiso, our attention was much engrossed by the scenes at the bull-fights, and we became well acquainted with the habits and opinions of the lower classes. There seemed, indeed, little probability of such an opportunity occurring again, and, therefore, all of us who took an interest in such inquiries mixed with the natives every evening. This was the more agreeable, as there was nothing coarse or vulgar in their manners ; on the contrary, a bold and rather graceful address characterised all their deportment. To us they were uniformly respect- ful, and always willing to communicate or receive information. Our curiosity was naturally directed towards politics, and, knowing that we should eventually have ample opportunities of learning the state of political feeling in the upper classes, we occupied ourselves, upon this occasion, in ascertaining the sentiments of the peasantry. At first we were rather disappointed with their calmness, and wondered to hear them speaking with so little enthusiasm, and in terms so little vindictive, of the Spaniards : while we remarked that the upper classes, in the same town, were filled with anima- tion when the subject was mentioned, and never allowed themselves to think of their ancient rulers without expressing the bitterest animosity. It must, however, be remembered that, with regard to the effects of this revolution, the upper and lower classes are differently circumstanced. | te im NN dens 42 9 wipes BYE eRe ees See! 6 SANTIAGO DE CHILI. The peasant’s station in society had not been materially changed by the subversion of the Spanish authority ; while that of his landlord was essentially altered in almost every point. The lower orders here, as in all countries, are not those who feel most sensibly the oppression of bad government ; and although, unquestionably, their prosperity must, in process of time, be greatly augmented by the operation of such wholesome changes, their immediate benefit cannot be so direct or manifest as that of the upper classes. In Chili, while the peasant remains nearly as before, his superior has gained many advantages. He has obtained political independence ; he is free, and secure in his person and property ; for the first time in his life he has a share in the government of his country ; he may aspire to the highest offices of profit or distinction ; the value of his property is enhanced by the market which has been opened to carry off its produce ; and he feels no reserve in displaying his wealth, or in expressing his opinions ; in short, he is in pos- session of civil liberty. The benefits resulting from free trade, as com- pared with the restrictions and monopolies of old, are those which come home the soonest to the apprehension of all ranks ; and although it cannot be denied, that even the lowest peasant in the country has felt the change which the revolution has produced on the price of goods, yet the ad- vantage to the upper classes has been much more extensively felt ; for they are not only greater purchasers, but have more home produce to give in exchange. All classes, therefore, both high and low, share, though not equally, in the benefits resulting from the change of government; and this universality of advantage is the characteristic circumstance which, with one exception, (that of the United States,) distinguishes the South Ame- rican from all other revolutions with which we are acquainted. These are real and solid advan- tages. That they should be fully understood, or even appreciated at once, is too much to expect; and many errors and extravagances will be com- mitted before such blessings can have their full effect : but as they are of a nature to work them- selves clear, if left alone, every successive hour of freedom will have the effect of enlarging the circle of knowledge and virtue throughout the country. On the 6th of January, 1821, I set out for Santiago, the capital of Chili, in company with a naval officer, who, having been several years on the South American station, proved a most useful guide, both from his knowledge of the country, and from his general information. As the roads in Chili are ill adapted for carriages, nearly all the travelling is on horseback, the ordinary pace being a hand-gallop, and the change of horses becomes necessarily frequent. The only wheeled vehicle in common use is a large lumbering cart, or waggon, drawn by six or eight oxen, at a very slow rate ; but the transport of goods from the port to the capital, and thence all over the country, is performed almost entirely by mules of an ex- cellent breed. Some rich families occasionally travel in coaches of an antiquated form. An enterprising North American, indeed, established a stage-coach from the port to the capital in 1821 ; but it was maintained with great difficulty, in consequence of the extreme badness of the roads. Our journey was injudiciously arranged ; for, |] | instead of taking one half of it early in the morn- })}} ing, and the other in the evening, we travelled in |}}} the middle of the day, when the heat to which we were exposed was intense. The whole country was burnt up ; the sun flamed out with a bright glare over everything, raising hot vapours from |}}| the ground like the breath of an oven ; not a blade of grass was anywhere to be seen ; not a drop of moisture ; everything was parched and withered along the baked ground, which was riven into in- numerable crevices ; no breeze of wind came to relieve us, and the heat was therefore intolerably oppressive. In the course of the morning we passed several |f|| ridges of hills, and here and there the eye was gladdened by the sight of aslender strip of verdure, pointing out the course of some mountain stream. Between the ridges, which rose to the height of several thousand feet, we observed plains, sur- rounded by the high grounds, suggesting the idea of lakes having once stood there. On crossing one of these ranges, we discovered a party of muleteers, who had sought shelter from the heat of the sun, under a grove of lofty trees, on a patch of grass by the side of a rivulet, which dashed from rock to rock, giving a delicious freshness to the air, and verdure to all around it. The mules, to the number of fifty, were arranged in a circle, each tied by the halter to his load, placed on the ground. The muleteers begged us to dismount and join their party, giving us, at the same time, some of their cool ulpa to drink, and endeavouring to dissuade us from proceeding till the sun should be lower ; advice we ought cer- tainly to have followed, for we suffered severely by the heat before reaching Bustamante, where we dined. This being one of the post-houses, the people were prepared to receive us, and placed our dinner table in the door-way, that we might enjoy the draught from the cool breeze just then setting in. Our repast consisted of a huge bowl of large black figs, and brimming tumblers of cold lemonade, the fragrance of which filled the whole house ; besides newly-baked, snow-white bread ; with fresh butter ; and instead of wine, when the cloth was removed, we sipped our pot of mattee. The kind people of the cottage entreated us to take our siesta before going farther ; but having resolved upon reaching the capital that evening, we denied ourselves a luxury, more tempting now than it had ever appeared to us before. . About an hour before sunset we reached the summit of the last pass, from whence we com- manded a full view of the Andes. We had pre- viously seen their snowy peaks, but from a great way off, at sea ; we had now, however, the satis- faction of viewing them uninterruptedly from the summit to the base, and at a distance calculated to give full effect to their height. The plain from which the great mountains take their rise not being much elevated above the sea, none of the altitude of the ridges is lost, as it generally is when the surrounding country is itself very high. From the spot on which we stood we could count the various ranges, five or six in number, towering one above another, in magnificent irregularity. Nothing in mountain scenery could be finer, or less within the reach of verbal description. On our way across the plain towards the city, | a a 4 oe’ - SUCCESS OF THE PATRIOTS. 7 “we overtook a party of soldiers conducting a number of Spanish prisoners of war towards the capital. They had been recently taken in battle in Peru, then the seat of war between the Chilians and royalists. As there will be occasion, in the next chapter, to give some account of the rise and progress of the Chilian expedition against Peru, it is needless to dwell upon it at present. The pleasing train of reflections, however, suggested by the first good view of the Andes, was dispersed by this disagreeable and unexpected sight. It is painful, indeed, at all times, to see men in chains, be the punishment ever so just ; butit is peculiarly so in the case of prisoners of war: and it was im- possible not to feel for these men, whose only crime consisted in having faithfully adhered to the cause of their king. We found the state of society in Santiago, as might be expected, superior to that of the Port. The inhabitants are wealthier and better educated, and know more of what is passing in other parts of the world: their manners are comparatively polished ; they dress in a neater and more costly style ; and they are much more commodiously and elegantly lodged. They resemble the inhabitants of Valparaiso, however, in their kindness to strangers, and, above all, in their indulgence and \{| consideration for those who speak the language /}| imperfectly. The city is divided into quadras, or solid squares, by streets crossing one another at right angles ; the houses are flat-roofed, and of | one story only, with a neat parapet running along the front above the cornice; they are all white- washed, and the streets being kept perfectly clean, nothing can exceed the neatness of this most regular town. The houses are quadrangular, and all the rooms may be entered either from a square court in the middle, called the patio, or by doors of communication leading from one to the other. The entrance to the patio from the street is by a broad, and generally an ornamental porch, on either side of which are the stables and coach- house. The drawing and dining-room occupy that side of the patio fronting the entrance, and the bed-rooms and counting-house the other two sides. In the hot season, an awning is drawn over the patio, which contributes greatly to the coolness of the rooms. Behind every house lies a garden, beyond which runs a clear rapid stream. th of Jan.—I was introduced to a family this morning, long known to strangers for their hospi- tality and useful friendship. They were seated in the corner of a room, kept almost dark, with a view to the exclusion of the heat. It is the fashion of the country for the ladies to crowd into corners, or to plant themselves in determined lines along the walls, not a little formidable to strangers. Upon the present occasion, one of the ladies per- ceiving the conversation to be hurt by this arrangement, rose and went to the piano-forte ; | the rest remained at their needle, as formal as ever, but presently some other visitors coming in, the parties became intermixed, and the stiffness which had chilled us at first, yielded to a more cheerful and familiar intercourse, which the young ladies encouraged with much spirit. Just as matters had fallen into this agreeable train, a merry-looking old gentleman came skipping into the room with a jest in his mouth, and the easy familiarity of a privileged person. He was a clergyman of seventy, but possessed the health and animation of seventeen, and cracked his jokes to the right and left without mercy, seeming determined to set the whole company at defiance. For some time, he carried all before him, and the adroit manner in which he quizzed every one without distinction was very diverting. At length, however, some of the young ladies rallied, and being rather nettled, perhaps, at some of his sar- casms coming too near the truth, retorted upon their tormentor very smartly, and even repaid him with interest. The good-natured father, en- chanted with their vivacity, stimulated them to | fresh attacks by a ludicrous affectation of suffering under their severity. At length he took his leave, though unanimously entreated to remain. We were curious to know who this old gentle- man might be ; and learnt that he had been for upwards of fifty years the pastor of a remote Indian village, where he had acquired, by his talents and virtues, an extensive and important influence over the natives, whose condition he had greatly improved, by converting them to Christianity, and introducing education, together with the arts of civil life. In the evening, about sunset, every one flocked to the Alameda, or public walk ; called also the Tajamar, from one of its sides forming an em- bankment to prevent the inundation of the river Maypocho, a stream insignificant in winter, but which becomes a violent torrent when the snows of the Andes begin to melt. This promenade con- sists of a wide and finely-kept carriage-way, with a broad walk on both sides of it, each of which walks is shaded by a double row of lofty poplars. Under these trees there stretches a low wall, on the parapet of which the ladies, who generally appear in full dress, spread their handkerchiefs with great care and affected formality, before they venture to sit down. Every part of the walk commands a view of the magnificent Andes, which, though not less than fifty or sixty miles distant, seem to overhang the town. On the 9th of January, the capital was thrown into commotion by the arrival of news from the army in Peru, giving the details of various suc- cesses gained over the Royalists; and such, it appeared, had become the popularity of the Inde- pendent cause, that a whole regiment of the king’s troops had passed over from Lima in a body and offered their services to the Patriots. So completely were the inhabitants of Santiago engrossed by this news, that nothing was thought of or talked of for several days but the Peruvian expedition. This state of things furnished us with frequent opportunities of discovering the public feeling on the general question of the revolution ; for every one was delighted to converse on the subject, while the enthusiasm of the moment made it the most popular topic in all companies. The principal object of their thoughts, or that which they dwelt upon with the steadiest determination, was the preservation of their independence ; the next, a bitter animosity against their former rulers, the Spaniards—a feeling sometimes carried to a most unjust and unreasonable length. They often, for instance, blamed living individuals and whole classes of individuals, for faults and errors with which they were in no respect chargeable, but which resulted from the slow operation of errr ee ee EEE EIEInIIIISIIIIEIIINEINESIEEEIEIEEEEEEEEEEEE REESE 8 UNSETTLED STATE OF SOUTH AMERICA. centuries of misrule. They even took delight in fostering and encouraging these prejudices, knowing them to be prejudices—a species of wilful self-delusion, which, although indefensible in particular instances, may nevertheless in the long-run contribute essentially to the great cause of their country. The spirit which originally roused the South Americans to throw off the Spanish yoke is kept alive and active by such antipathies, and the people are thus prevented by their pas- sions, as well as their interests, from slumbering at their posts, while their liberty and honour are still in hazard. CHAPTER II. Communication between Santiago and Buenos Ayres.— Duties of Naval Officers on the South American Station. —Arrival of two French Ships of War.—Pic-nic Party.— Departure from Valparaiso. 16th of January.—I wan occasion to send a despatch to the naval commander-in-chief, Sir Thomas Hardy, by an express which might be expected to reach Buenos Ayres from Santiago in twelve days: it is said, however, that the journey has, on some occasions, been made in eleven, The distance is 1365 miles, so that the courier must travel, upon an average, about 114 miles a day. This communication between Buenos Ayres and Chili has for some years been open ; and post-houses having been established along the whole line of road, the only difficulties in the journey arise from fatigue, bad lodging, and bad fare. At these stations horses are kept in con- stant readiness ; the supply being maintained from the multitudes of wild droves covering the Pam- pas, or plains of Buenos Ayres, which extend from the sea to the base of the Andes. When gentlemen travel on this road, it is usual to make that part of the journey between the mountains and Buenos Ayres, along the level Pampas, in a carriage : but the part lying amongst the Andes can be performed only on horses or on mules. The couriers, who are bred to their business as an exclusive occupation, are generally small and active men ; temperate in all their habits, and possessed of a spirit of enterprise and energy, which distinguishes them from the rest of their countrymen. As soon as the despatches were sent off I paid a visit to a Chilian family of my acquaint- ance, and immediately on my entering the draw- ing-room, the lady of the house and one of her daughters each presented me with a rose, apolo- gising, at the same time, for having omitted to do so before. This custom of presenting strangers with a flower prevails in all Spanish countries, and is one of an extensive class of minute atten- tions, which the Spaniards and their descendants understand better than any other nation. The favour itself is nothing ; indeed it seems essential to the civility that the present should be a mere trifle ; tne merit lies in the simple expression of good-will and kindness, which, while it is really valuable to possess, is of a nature to impose no obligation. Whilst we were thus establishing an agreeable acquaintance with the inhabitants of the capital, our intercourse was suddenly cut short by a circumstance which obliged me to return with my officers to the port. Accounts had reached Santiago, that a French line-of-battle ship and a frigate had touched at Conception, and intended soon to visit Valparaiso. The arrival of such a force at this moment, excited considerable sensation amongst the Chilians, many of whom entertained apprehensions of its object being hostile. Whatever might be the intention of the French admiral towards the Chilians, I felt it right to be on board the Conway at the time of his arrival ; and therefore lost not a moment in returning to Valparaiso. To quit the capital at this time was to me a matter of considerable regret, both on account of the agreeable society, and of the importance of cultivating the personalacquaintance of men with whom I was likely afterwards to hold official intercourse. The independence of the South American states had not yet been acknowledged by England ; neither had any consuls oer accredited political agents been sent out, The commercial intercourse, however, between the two countries being already very extensive, and every day increasing, points of doubt often arose, which made it necessary to open frequent correspondence of a diplomatic and commercial nature with the various local governments. The only constituted authority on the part of England, in that quarter of the globe, was the naval commander-in-chief; and upon him necessarily devolved the whole responsibility of these discussions. The task was one of great difficulty and importance, chiefly from the vast extent of his command, and the uncertainty and delay of all communications. The varying nature also of every political relation in thuse countries —the instability and inexperience of the govern- ments—the agitated state of the public mind, with the consequent absence of mercantile confidence —the novelty, in short, of every institution—all conspired to complicate in a remarkable degree a subject at no time simple, or of easy manage- ment. Owing to the difficulty of communication between the different parts of the station, it became impossible for the Commander-in-chief to attend to the details of business at more than one spot; the ships of the squadron were therefore distributed at those points where the presence of a British authority was most essen- tially required, namely, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil ; Buenos Ayres in the River Plate ; Valparaiso in Chili ; Lima in Peru ; and San Blas on the coast of Mexico. There were, besides, many intermediate ports where the activity of our merchants had found means to introduce a taste for our manufac- tures ; and all these places required to be occasion- ally visited, that the British interest might not want protection. Without going into details which might perhaps seem tedious, it would be difficult to give a com~ prehensive view of the various duties, which at this juncture devolved upon the captains of his Majesty’s ships, stationed along the coast of South America, and Mexico. It may be sufficient to mention, that as the whole of the consulate affairs fell to their charge, every dispute which arose between British subjects and the local govern- ments was necessarily carried on through them. This was rather a new class of obligations for Bo a DUTIES OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. naval officers, but it was one which from their }| being the only disinterested individuals on the || spot, they alone were qualified to undertake. The || greater number of the misunderstandings alluded | to arose out of commercial regulations, which the | merchants complained of as oppressive ; some- | times they originated in the actual seizure of En- glish vessels, on the plea that attempts were made to introduce goods without paying the established 4| duties ; sometimes the merchants were accused of | concealing Spanish property in their ships; at ji; others the laws of the port, or of the country || generally, were said to be infringed, the imputed || delinquency being followed by imprisonment, or | by confiscation of property. On these, and many jj| other occasions, appeals to the local government, | from the captains of his Majesty’s ships, were }| looked for: it was, however, their special duty | merely to remonsirate, and, if possible, to arrange matters amicably, but on no occasion to threaten or to act in a hostile manner without instructions from the commander-in-chief, in reply to the }| representations made to him of all the cireum- | stances. In almost every case it was of imme- | diate consequence to the advancement of the | commercial interests, that such disputes as have j| been alluded to should be settled at the moment. }| The state of trade, indeed, and of every political circumstance in those countries, was liable to such perpetua! fluctuation, that, long before an answer | could be received from the commodore, every- / | thing material in the case might be altered. The ‘impossibility of foretelling changes, or of estima- ting, with any precision, the probable effect of the great political convulsions by which the country was torn, rendered it a matter of extreme diffi- culty for the commander-in-chief to give instruc- tions to his officers, for whose proceedings, how- | ever, he was officially responsible. Still less, it may be supposed, could his Majesty’s government at }j| home have any clear conception of what ought to | be the details of management, in the midst of such 1 3 prodigious confusion of circumstances, varying every hour. In the end, it became obvious that | the only method was, to make the officers well | acquainted with the general principles by which }j| their conduct was to be regulated, and to leave \}| them afterwards, asa matter of absolute necessity, jj] to act to the best of their judgment and ability, } according to circumstances, but always in the \jj Spirit of their instructions. With every possible \jj care, however, cases would sometimes occur, so | difficult and complicated, as to seem utterly inca- pable of adjustment, without an extension of their powers. On such occasions, a reference to higher authority became indispensable, The port duties, on the other hand, were of | an easier nature, relating chiefly to matters of difference between our own countrymen, and regulated, to a certain extent, by established | written authorities, which might be referred }| to. As the number of merchant-ships in har- | bour was generally considerable, these discussions | became very engrossing, and, when superadded to our ordinary professional avocations, often left us little leisure for attending to the novel scenes of a local and characteristic nature daily passing around us. It will readily be understood how materially our objects, in the official intercourse above alluded 9 to, were likely to be forwarded by a previous per- | sonal acquaintance with the parties on both sides of the question. For it often happened that both were to blame; the only mode of adjustment, therefore, was by compromise, through the instru- mentality of a disinterested third party, the success of whose interference would evidently depend very much upon his knowledge of the respective cha- racters of the disputants. It was on this account, chiefly, that I wished to have remained longer in the capital, to see more of the different members of government, as well as to extend my acquaint- ance amongst the English residents, and the mer- chants of the country. I reached Valparaiso before the French ships made their appearance, and was much struck with the il-suppressed anxiety with which the inhabitants awaited the event. National pride forbade the expression of any aiarm ; but a know- ledge of the defenceless state of the place filled them with very natural apprehension. Nothing, however, as the event proved, could be more unfounded than such fears ; for the Frenchmen, after a short and friendly visit, sailed away again, carrying off the hearts of half the ladies of the port. Previous to their departure the Governor gave a grand ball to the French Admiral and his officers ; and, without considering the size of his rooms, invited the whole beauty and fashion of the town to meet them. Many of the company, well known to be in indigent circumstances, and whose ordinary style of living was of the humblest description, surprised us by appearing in rich dresses, and wearing jewels of considerable value. There is nothing upon which the women of South America, especially those who can least afford it, so much pique themselves as being able, upon great occasions, to dress splendidly ; and it is alleged that they often submit to many severe privations to attain this grand object of their vanity. In the course of the evening, the room becoming close, I was glad to seek fresh air on the platform surrounding the Governor’s house. Returning to the ball, I perceived an open door leading to an antechamber separated from the principal apart- ment by the hall where the music was stationed. On entering this room, I was struck by the ap- pearance of several lady-like young women stand- ing on chairs and straining their eyes, as they looked over the heads of the servants and musi- cians to catch a glimpse of the strangers in the ball-room, from which they appeared to be ex- cluded. Seated on a sofa in the corner near them were two stately old ladies, simply though elegantly dressed : they did not appear to sympathise with their children in eagerness about the ball, but remained apart quietly conversing together. In their countenances, which retained traces of con- siderable beauty, there dwelt a melancholy ex- pression ; while their demeanour indicated a total indifference to all that was passing. On inquiry, I learnt that they were Old Spaniards, who, under the former administration of the country, had been persons of wealth and consequence, but whose very existence was now scarcely known. | The recent revolution had stripped them of their fortune and their rank ; and they were now living in such poverty and obscurity, as not to be thought worthy even of an invitation to the ball. | 10 Even so trifling a circumstance as this, if duly considered, leads the mind to reflect on the inevi- table consequences of all violent political changes. On first arriving in South America, one is apt to be dazzled by the brilliancy of the spectacle, and to imagine that the good arising from the eman- cipation of the people must be without alloy. This delusive veil the successful party are ex- tremely desirous of throwing over everything. Experience, however, soon betrays the bitter workings of fortune under a great variety of shapes ; and it is a wholesome exercise, both to the understanding and to the heart, to view such examples attentively when they happen to occur. In revolutionary times, especially, we may rest assured, that in the midst of the most enthusiastic public rejoicings, there will always be much secret grief entitled to consideration and respect. The incident above related was the first of its kind we had seen, and on that account, perhaps, appeared more striking than most of the numberless in- stances of unmerited ruin and distress which we afterwards met with, everywhere following the footsteps of the revolution. 18th of Jan.—I went in the evening to visit a family in the Almendral, or great suburb of Val- paraiso. The ladies were ranged, as usual, along the wall in a compact line, with their shawls drawn over the head and across the chin, so as nearly to conceal their face. One young lady was playing the harp, and one the guitar ; while others occasionally joined, with their shrill voices, in singing the patriotic songs of the day. Some were chatting, some working, and the evening was passing away pleasantly enough, till suddenly, and without any apparent cause, the whole party jumped up, cast away their music and work, and flew in the most frantic manner out of the house, screaming aloud, Misericordia ! misericordia ! all beating their breasts, and looking terrified beyond description. I was astonished ; but, notwithstanding my ignorance of the cause of the uproar, followed the company into the street, calling out Miseri- cordia ! as loud as any of them. It was a bright moonlight evening, and the street, from end to end, was filled with people ; some only half-dressed, having just leaped from their beds—children, snatched from their sleep, were erying in all directions—many carried lights in their hands— in short, such a scene of wild confusion and alarm I never beheld ; all apparently occasioned by a spontaneous movement, or, at least, without any visible motive. After standing in the street for about a minute, the whole crowd turned round again and ran back to their houses ; so that, in the course of a few seconds, the hubbub was stilled, and not a mortal was to be seen. On returning to the room, I begged to know the cause of this amazing commotion, having a vague idea of its forming some part of a religious ceremony, when, to my surprise, I learned that it had been produced by an earthquake, so severe, that the people had been afraid of the houses tumbling about their ears, and had run into the open street to avoid the danger: for my part, I was totally unconscious of any motion, nor did I even hear the sound, which they described as unusually loud. On mentioning this fact afterwards in company, I was assured, that for a considerable period after AN EARTHQUAKE. . the arrival of foreigners, they are generally quite insensible to shocks, which a native or an old resident can at once distinguish. It may be men- tioned also, as an unusual effect of experience, that the sensation of alarm caused by feeling an earthquake, unlike that caused by other kinds of danger, goes on augmenting instead of diminishing in amount ; and that one who at first ridicules the terrors of the inhabitants, comes eventually to be even more frightened than they are. 19th of Jan.—An officer of the American frigate Macedonian having died at Valparaiso, and there being no ship of war of that nation in port, to pay the accustomed honours to his remains, I conceived it right to supply the place of his absent countrymen, by attending with the officers of the Conway, and great part of the crew, in procession to the grave ; accompanied by all the Americans, English, and other foreigners, without distinction, who happened to be on the spot. In places remote from home, an incident of this description makes every stranger feel more strongly his insulated situation—in the absence of our natural friends, it disposes us instinctively to cling to those around, who, being equally desolate, are always ready to sympathise with us. On reaching the grave, even the most unre- flecting were shocked to find that the body was to be laid in unconsecrated ground ; for the former masters of the country, it appeared, had syste- matically denied to all foreigners, except such as were Roman Catholics, the privilege of Christian burial. But it is very gratifying to learn, that the new government, in a spirit worthy of the times, has since expressed the utmost readiness to grant a piece of ground to be consecrated and set apart for this purpose. 21st of Jan.—The Chilians are fond of making pic-nic parties, to dine in the country, at any spot which may suit them during an excursion ; and to-day I happened to fall in with some friends bent on such an expedition, all crowded into a caretta, or covered waggon, on its way to the hills. They wanted one more caballero, they said, and I was well pleased to be permitted to join them. We reached the destined spot in safety, though sufficiently jolted, and well nigh deafened by the creaking sound of the wheels, which, like ! those in Spain, are kept purposely without grease, in order, it is asserted, by this clumsy device, to prevent smuggling—since no cart nor waggon can pass within half a league of a custom-house officer without calling his attention to the spot. Here we found ourselves seated in the cool verandah of a neatly-built cottage ; and the sea-breeze setting in, was delightfully refreshing after our dusty drive in the caretta. Our situation on the side of the mountain commanded a full view of the bay and | shipping, as well as of the long line of houses skirting the shore; and the cottage being. sur- | rounded by fruit-trees, such as figs, apples, peaches, and oranges, and shaded by lofty tamarinds, “ the Vale of Paradise,” the name given to the spot by its discoverers, appeared no longer inappropriate ; and was still further justified by our discovering afterwards, when rambling amongst the hills, undoubted traces of an ancient forest. We pleased our imaginations by looking forward to the time when industry and wealth shall again restore the whole of this uncultivated scene to its former beauty. ’ THE YELLOW FEVER. 1l Our pic-nic differed greatly from the repasts under that name which I have shared in other countries ; our table displayed at least a dozen dressed dishes, with all the formalities of a dinner, not followed, however, by the customary siesta ; a most remarkable omission. The party being in a merry mood, voted that, instead of sleeping, they should go to a flower-garden about a mile distant. This proposal being carried by acclamation, we all set out, and having sauntered up and down the cool walks for an hour, returned to the town loaded with roses and sweetbriar. One morning about sunrise, I was awakened in my lodgings on shore by loud groans from a person in the neighbouring house. I rose, and having hastily dressed myself, went to the next door, which I found open. The apartment was little more than six feet square, and every way wretched. On a truckle-bed lay a poor man, who, from the tools and shavings about him, I supposed to be a carpenter: he seemed in dreadful agony, with the veins on his forehead swelled to the size of my little finger, and his eye-balls starting from his head. His brow was covered with a coating of white-wash, and his limbs were as rigid as if they had been made of iron bars. The only attendant upon this miserable object was a little child of four years old, who could give me no information ; and all I could extract from the man himself was, “ Oh, give me some water !—some water!” From his appearance I immediately supposed he was seized with the high fever of the country called cheva-longa, a fatal disease if not speedily checked. I was de- lighted, therefore, to discover my boat rowing into the cove near the spot, and hurried her back to the ship for one of the medical gentlemen. On his arrival, the doctor saw that no time was to be lost, for already the man was delirious ; and seizing a piece of cord which lay on the floor, he bound up and opened the veins of both arms. The relief which this afforded was quite wonderful. In the course of half a minute the delirium vanished— the intolerable heat gradually subsided—the eyes assumed new life, and, as the blood flowed, lost their glazed appearance, The patient still called out earnestly for water; but before it could be brought, his thirst had also gone; and in a few minutes the pain across the eyes, which he had described as excruciating, left him likewise ; but the doctor, who was a bold practitioner, would not stop the bleeding till every symptom had dis- appeared. In this case, upwards of fifty ounces of blood were abstracted, and the poor fellow remained abundantly weak, indeed, but altogether without complaint. Had the fever been allowed to follow its course, according to the opinion of the medical gentlemen, the patient could not have lived another hour. He was quite well, however, and again at his work within the week. His first act on getting out was to come on board to thank the doctor, and to offer him a few pieces of silver money—his whole fortune. On his being seized with the fever, he told us he had been placed in bed by his friends, who had daubed his head with lime-water, saying that if that did not save him, he must take his chance, and had left him with only the little child whom we found crying and helpless by his bed-side. The native practitioners fumed a good deal upon the occasion, and said it i LLL was madness to bleed in such a case.—The Chilian carpenter expressively shrugged his shoulders. On the 22d of January his Majesty’s ship Owen Glendower arrived at Valparaiso, and the Conway being ordered to proceed to Peru, sailed on the 27th for Callao, the sea-port of Lima. CHAPTER III. Notice of the Revolutions in Chilii—General San Martin.— Battle of Chacabuco.—General O’Higgins.—Battles of Talca and Maypo.—Arrival of Lord Cochrane, who takes Valdivia.—Expedition against Peru.—Capture of the Esmeralda. Cuixi first threw off the Spanish yoke in Sep- tember 1810, but the national independence was not fully established till April 1818. During the intermediate period, the dissensions of the dif- ferent parties; their disputes as to the form of government, and the law of election ; with other distracting causes, arising out of the ambition of turbulent individuals, and the inexperience of the whole nation in political affairs, so materially retarded the union of the country, that the Span- iards, by sending expeditions from Peru, were enabled, in 1814, to regain their lost authority in Chili. Meanwhile the Government of Buenos Ayres, the independence of which had been established in 1810, naturally dreaded that the Spaniards would not fong be confined to the western side of the Andes ; but would speedily make a descent upon the provinces of the River Plate, of which Buenos Ayres is the capital. In order to guard against this formidable danger, they vigorously resolved themselves to become the invaders, and by great exertions equipped an army of 4000 men. The command of this force was given to General Don José de San Martin, a native of the town of Yapeyt in Paraguay ; a man greatly beloved by all ranks, and held in such high estimation by the people, that to his personal exertions the forma- tion of this army was chiefly due. With these troops San Martin entered Chili by a pass over the Andes heretofore deemed inacces- sible, and on the 12th of February 1817, attacked and completely defeated the Royal army at Cha- cabuco. The Chilians, thus freed from the im- mediate presence of the enemy, elected General O’Higgins as Director ; and he, in 1818, offered the Chilians a constitution, and nominated five senators to administer the affairs of the country. This meritorious officer, an Irishman by descent, though born in Chili, has ever since remained at the head of the government. It was orignally proposed to elect General San Martin as Director; but this he steadily refused, proposing his compa- nion in arms, O’Higgins, in his stead. The remnant of the Spanish army took refuge in Taleuhuana, a fortified sea-port near Concep- tion, on the southern frontier of Chili. Vigorous measures were taken to reduce this place, but, in the beginning of 1818, the Viceroy of Peru, by draining that province of its best troops, sent off a body of 5000 men under General Osorio, who succeeded in joining the Spaniards shut up in Taleuhuana. Thus reinforced, the Royal army, amounting in all to 8000, drove back the Chilians, marched on the capital, and gained other consider- | passed over in silence. 12 able advantages ; particularly in a night action at Cancha Rayada, near Talea, on the 19th of March 1818, where the Royalists almost entirely dis- persed the Patriot forces. San Martin, however, who, after the battle of Chacabuco, had been named commander-in-chief of the united armies of Chili and Buenos Ayres ; and who seems to have pos- sessed, in a remarkable degree, the confidence of both countries, succeeded, in conjunction with General O’Higgins and Las Heras, in rallying the troops, augmenting their numbers, and inspiring them with fresh resolution. These exertions on the part of the generals were admirably seconded by the inhabitants of Santiago, who seeing the necessity of making an extraordinary effort, not only subscribed their money, but gave up all their plate and jewels, for the good of their coun- try. This timely supply enabled San Martin to re-equip the army with amazing celerity, and to bring it again into the field as well appointed as before ; so that, on the 5th of April 1818, only seventeen days after his defeat, he engaged, and after an obstinate and sanguinary conflict com- pletely routed, the Spanish army on the plains of Maypo. This battle is one of the most important that has been fought during the long struggle between the colonies and the mother country ; for had the event of the day been different from what it was, it is impossible to calculate how materially the liberation of the country might have been retarded. It was not in Chili alone, however, that its beneficial effect was felt and acknow- ledged ; and for many years afterwards, the recollection of its details infused vigour and effi- ciency into the independent cause from one end of the continent to the other. On account, there- fore, of its very momentous consequences, both immediate and remote, I think it right to insert the official account written by San Martin, the great officer who commanded on that memorable oceasion. I have retained even those paragraphs which contain the common-place mention of the officers, as many of their names have since become well known in South America ; and it seems but fair that men who have contributed so essentially to the liberation of their country should not be It is interesting, besides, to observe how speedily the talent and energy of the country expanded, as soon as the dead-weight of the Spanish authority was removed. For there can be no doubt that Freyre, Las Heras, O’ Higgins, and various other officers mentioned in this Gazette, and whose services have been of the utmost con- sequence to the cause of South American inde- pendence, would have remained altogether un- known and useless under the former system. “ BUENOS AYRES GAZETTE. « Wednesday, 22d April, 1818. “ Despatch of his Excellency the Captain-General of the Andes to the Supreme Government. ** MOST EXCELLENT SIR, “The unlooked-for events which took place on the night of the 19th ultimo, at Cancha rayada, threatened to annihilate the liberties of Chili. It was certainly a spectacle in the highest degree alarming to see an army, composed of valiant, THE BATTLE OF MAYPO. disciplined, and veteran soldiers, completely dis- |} persed without fighting. “ Ever since the opening of the campaign, as I had been perfectly confident of success, all my movements had for their object to render the victory complete and decisive. The enemy, in fact, from the moment he abandoned Curico, never occupied a position in which our troops did not harass and threaten to turn their flanks. Thus circumstanced, both armies encamped at the same moment in the neighbourhood of Talea, and in such a position that it was impossible to recross the river Maule. “ Our situation was the most unfortunate pos- sible, and was rendered disastrous by the most unlooked-for incidents. Our infantry did not reach their position till sunset ; and as I found it impossible to commence the attack at that |} hour, the army was formed for the time in two lines, while a reconnoissance was made in order to ascertain which was the most advantageous ground to take up. On further examination, I decided upon occupying a position on the left, and directed that wing of the army to move upon it ; but the troops were scarcely in motion when a vigorous attack was made by the enemy, the effect of which was to throw the baggage and artillery into confusion. This was about nine o’clock in the evening, and the disorder soon spread to the left wing of the army, which, after a brisk fire of half an hour, was dispersed like- wise, The enemy, however, lost many men ; and on our side we had to lament that the gallant General O’ Higgins was wounded. “ Aided by the officers, I did everything in my power to rally the troops on a neighbouring high ground, and this was presently accomplished under the protection of the corps de reserve. An obstinate contest now took place; but our people became stupified and confused in the darkness, and there was nothing for it but to abandon the post. “The right, meanwhile, had not been nearly so severely pressed, and Colonel Las Heras had the address to retire with the infantry and cavalry under his orders. This was the only point we had to trust to when I reached Chimbarongo. I immediately took steps to establish a communica- tion with our scattered forces, especially in the narrow pass or gorge of Regulemt. The head- quarters were at San Fernando. Here we con- tinued for two days; and I can assure your Excellency our situation was embarrassing enough. All the baggage, and the whole of the materiel of the army, was gone ; everything had been taken from us ; and we were left absolutely without the power of facing such a superior force, flushed as they were with victory. In this pre- dicament, there was no alternative left but to fall back with all speed upon Santiago, and to put every possible means in requisition to obtain supplies, which might enable me to save the country. j “ Your Excellency will scarcely believe it pos- sible, that, at the end of three days, the army was once more organized and encamped-on the exer- cising ground, at a league’s distance from this city. Their spirits were completely revived ; and within thirteen days of their dispersion, and after a retreat of eighty leagues, were again in condi- J DETAILS OF THE BATTLE. 13 tion to face the enemy. The zeal, energy, and perseverance, with which the commanding officers, and indeed every individual of the army, co-ope- rated to re-establish order and discipline, is beyond all praise. It must be confessed, however, that our force was still greatly inferior to that of the enemy : many corps were reduced to mere skeletons, and some battalions could hardly mus- ter two hundred men. “ Meanwhile our opponent came on rapidly ; and on the Ist instant I received certain informa- tion, that the body of his army, having crossed the Maypo by the fords of Longuen, had marched in the direction of the pass of Calera ; but his posi- tion was neither secure nor skilfully chosen. On the 2d we marched and took post near the aque- duct of Espejo. During the 3d and 4th there was a good deal of skirmishing between the sharp- shooters, and the troops continued under arms on both these nights. “ On the 5th the enemy drew still nearer to us, evidently with the design of turning our right flank, intending thereby to threaten the capital, as well as to cut off our communications with Acon- cagua, and open for himself the road to Valparaiso. As soon as I discovered this movement, I conceived the fit opportunity was come for attacking him ; and I therefore placed myself directly in his front by a movement to the right, which was prepara- tive to all the succeeding operations. 1 placed the whole of the infantry under the command of General Balearce : the right flank under the im- mediate orders of Colonel Las Heras, the left under Lieut.-Colonel Alvarado, and the reserve com- manded by Colonel Hilarion dela Quintana. The right division of the cavalry were placed under Colonel Don Matias Zapiola, with his squadrons of grenadiers, and the left division under Colonel Don Ramon Freyre, with the body-guard of his Excellency the Director of Chili, and the mounted chasseurs of the Andes. “The enemy, upon seeing our first movement, immediately occupied a strong position in front of our line, and detached a battalion of chasseurs to a small knoll on his left, in order to maintain a four gun battery established about half way up the hill. These dispositions were most judiciously con- ceived, as they completely secured his left, while his fire raked and protected the whole front of his position. “ Our line, formed in close column, marched to the right of the enemy, offering an oblique face to their attack. The reserve fell back at the same time, to be ready to cover and support our right. A battery of eight guns, commanded by Captain Blanco Ciceron, was advanced towards our right, and another of four guns occupied nearly the centre of our line, which soon com- menced playing with great effect on the enemy’s position. “ Things being thus arranged, our columns de- scended the side of the rising ground which formed our position, and charged the enemy’s line. We were received with a furious fire, but continued our march, although their flanking battery of four guns annoyed us excessively. At this instant, a considerable body of the enemy’s cavalry, placed behind the hills, came forward and charged our mounted grenadiers, who had formed in column by squadrons considerably in advance. The leading squadron was under Captain Escalada, who, the instant he saw an attack was intended, dashed forward, sword in hand, upon the enemy, and Captain Medina followed immediately. The enemy turned about, and galloped off to the little hill, where, aided by the grape-shot from the four- gun battery, and the fire of the infantry, they rallied and drove our troops back again. These squadrons soon formed anew, and, leaving the fortified hill to their right, pressed forward in pursuit of the enemy’s cavalry, who retreated to a height in their rear ; where, being spedily rein- forced, they attacked Colonel Zapiola, who with- stood this new charge with great steadiness. At last the enemy gave way, and were finally driven entirely from this point. Meanwhile, a most vigorous and destructive fire was kept up between the enemy’s right and our left. His best troops were stationed in that quarter, and presently they were advanced in close column, accompanied by a body of cavalry. “ Captain Borgofio had by this time gained the summit of the hill forming our position, with eight field-pieces, which he was carrying to our extreme left, with the intention of raking the enemy’s line. He very promptly, however, availed himself of the opportunity, and opened such a fire of grape upon the enemy’s advancing columns, that he very soon threw their cavalry into disorder. Notwithstand- ing this advantage, and the gallant efforts made by Captains Alvarado and Martinez, our line be- gan evidently to falter. At this critical moment I gave orders for the reserve, under Colonel Quin- tana, to charge the enemy ; a service which was performed in the most brilliant manner. The troops employed consisted of the first and third battalions of Chili, and the ninth battalion ,of the Andes, under Captains Ribera, Lopes, and Conde. ‘This energetic charge, and one by Captain Tonson of the Coquimbo regiment, gave a new impulse to our line, and the whole fell upon the enemy with more decisive effect than ever. “The squadrons composing the body-guard, and the mounted chasseurs under the intrepid Colonel Freyre, charged at the same period, and were in turn repeatedly attacked by the enemy. It is difficult to give an adequate idea of the numerous feats of bravery which distinguished the troops on this day., 1 speak not only of bodies of troops and commanding-officers, but of individual soldiers. It may, however, be safely asserted, that a more daring, vigorous, or well-supported attack, never was made ; neither, it ought to be allowed, was there ever amore determined resistance. At last, however, the perseverance and gallantry of our soldiers succeeded, and the position was wrested from the enemy at the point of the bayonet. “ These important successes alone, it might have been thought, would have given us the victory ; but it was not in our power to break the enemy’s columns completely. Our cavalry, indeed, hung upon their flanks and rear, and harassed them excessively. Still, however, they retreated in a compact body, till, on reaching the narrow lanes near Espejo, they obtained possession of a hill, where they commenced a new action, which lasted above an hour. On our side, this was maintained by the third regiment of Arauco, the infantry of Chili, and other detachments, which were succes- sively engaged. Eventually, however, the gallant 14 LORD COCHRANE’S ARRIVAL IN CHILI. Ist and 11th battalions of Coquimbo, which had already borne the brunt of the action on our right, attacked the enemy so briskly, that they entirely overthrew them and put them to rout. The gates and lanes being occupied by our cavalry, only the commander-in-chief Osorio, and two hundred horse, escaped ; and it is probable that he will not long evade the pursuit of the troops which are in search of him. All the enemy’s generals have fallen into our hands; and, up to this date, we have taken 3000 men and 190 officers; and on the field of battle lie 2000 killed. All the artil- lery and ammunition, the hospitals and stores, the military chest, and every article it contains —in a word, everything appertaining to the royal army, is either dead, or prisoner, or safe in our power. “Our own loss amounts to one thousand killed and wounded. As soon as the returns of their names are received, they shall be transmitted to your Excellency, together with those of the officers most distinguished on this occasion. “J have to acknowledge the greatest obligation to Senor General Balcarce, whose talents have materially sustained the army since the very first moment of the campaign. The Adjutant-general Aguirre I may give the same praise ; and the other individuals of my staff, including Don Diego Paroissiens. “TJ am also highly satisfied with the conduct of the chief engineer, Dable, and my aides-de-camp, O’Brian, Guzman, and Escalada ; and the secre- tary of war, Zenteno, and my own private secre- tary, Marzan.. My only regret is, that I cannot do adequate justice to all parties, as it isto their united valour and exertions that the country is indebted for so glorious a day. “‘T entreat that your Excellency will permit the names of the officers who have assisted in this severe and honourable campaign, to be inserted after this despatch. “J am aware that it will hurt the modesty of our gallant Supreme Director, Don Bernardo O’Higgins, but I feel it right to mention that his Excelleney, notwithstanding his being severely wounded, having insisted upon being placed on horseback, actually rode to the field, and was in the battle at its conclusion. I grieve, however, to add, that these exertions have aggravated his wound. “ God protect your Excellency many years, “ Jose DE San Martin. “P.S. The action commenced at 9 in the morn- ing, and ended at sunset. The force of the enemy was 5300 men; ours was 4900.” From that day, the 5th of April, Chili may date her complete independence ; for although a small portion of the Spanish troops endeavoured to make a stand at Conception, they were soon driven out, and the country left in the free possession of the Patriots, or, as their expressive language calls them, Hijos del Pays, Sons of the Land. Having now time to breathe, the Chilian Go- vernment, aided by that of Buenos Ayres, deter- mined to attack the Royalists in their turn, by sending an armament against Peru—a great and bold measure, originating with San Martin, who saw that the independence of neither of these countries could ever be secure, whilst a great Spanish force maintained itself in their neigh- bourhood, supported by the wealth and resources of Peru. Had this expedition sailed at once, there could have been little doubt of its immediate and com- plete success ; Peru, in fact, had been left nearly defenceless, by the efforts she had made to repress the revolutionary spirit of Chili; and from this exhausted situation she did not recover for some time. Chili, however, and Buenos Ayres, being both, in a great degree, similarly circumstanced, were not at first equal to the great exertions ne- cessary to send out an expedition ; the difficulty of providing ships, arms, and other requisites, and the indolent habits acquired under their former rulers, prevented any real progress being made in the expedition till about March 1820, two years after the battle of Maypo. They had, however, an animating cause before them ; they were quick- ened by success, and strongly stimulated, both by the hopes of securing their independence, and by the dread of again sinking under the ancient oke. The Spanish naval force in the Pacifie was at this time considerable ; and although the Chilians had made great exertions to equip a squadron, and had distinguished themselves at sea on more than one occasion, they could not for a long time have gained such a command of the sea-coast as was essential to the grand project above-men- tioned, had not Lord Cochrane, fortunately for the Independent cause, accepted an invitation from the Chilian Government, to take the command of their navy. The great influence which Lord Cochrane’s renown, his matchless intrepidity, and his inex- haustible resources in war, have had on the fate of those countries, render some account of his pro- ceedings an important part of this sketch. His Lordship arrived in Chili in November 1818, when he was immediately appointed commander- in-chief of the squadron. Many English officers, and a great number of English and American sea- men, attracted by the celebrity of his name, and the romantic nature of the cause, eagerly flocked to his standard. By their united exertions the Chi- lian fleet was so greatly increased in numbers and efficiency, that in February, and afterwards in September, 1819, very gallant attacks were made on the batteries and shipping at Callao, which although not followed by any important success, gave practical confidence to the fleet, while it alarmed the Spaniards, by displaying an extent ot naval power of which they had previously no con- ception. His Lordship, after this attack, went to Guayaquil, where he surprised and captured a number of valuable Spanish ships, laden with timber and navalstores. He then sailed from the coast of Peru, apparently with the intention of returning to Valparaiso : instead of which he pro- ceeded, with a celerity and decision perfectly in- comprehensible to his dilatory enemies, to Taleu- huana, the port of Conception, a frontier town of Chili. Here General Freyre, commanding the district, re-inforeced his Lordship with a detach- ment of troops, and he sailed for Valdivia, an im- portant and strongly-fortified Spanish town in the south. On the 2d of February 1820, Lord Coch- rane succeeded, by a characteristic combination of LORD COCHRANE CAPTURES VALDIVIA. 15 cool judgment and impetuous gallantry, in pos- sessing himself of all the enemy’s batteries, one after another ; and subsequently, of the town and province. As this is one of the most important achievements of the war, a translation of Lord Cochrane’s own letter, which was written in Spanish, detailing the event, will I think prove in- teresting. “ Despatch from Lord Cochrane to the Minister of War and Marine of the Government of Chil. «¢ On board the Montezuma, *« Valdivia, 4th of February, 1820. “ Sir,—I had the honour to inform you from Taleuhuana, that, taking advantage of the oppor- tunity which presented itself of communicating with Colonel Freyre on the means most effectual towards expelling the enemy from the south of Chili, and freeing the country from future incur- | sions, I availed myself of the assistance of that zealous and active officer ; who supplied me, on the 28th ult. with the troops and other assistance I required. The O’Higgins, Intrepid brig,and Mon- tezuma schooner, sailed with a fair wind, and on the 2d instant arrived at the preconcerted rendezvous, ten leagues to the southward of Valdivia. All the troops were then embarked in the small vessels ; and, leaving the O’Higgins outside, we stood in for the Aguada Inglesa, where we anchored at a mo- derate distance from the battery and fort of San Carlos. The troops were disembarked at sunset ; but this was not effected before the castle com- menced a fire upon us ; and in consequence of the heavy surf retarding the disembarkation, the enemy gained time to collect a considerable force behind the precipices which line the beach. “ Nevertheless, the marines of the O’Higgins and Intrepid, with the military, having reached the shore, put the enemy to flight; and, pursuing them to the forts of Aguada Inglesa and San Carlos, im- mediately took possession of the first. The second was taken by assault after dark, in spite of all the efforts the enemy made to defend it. The rapidity with which we took the forts and batteries of Avanzado, Barro, Amagos, and Chorocomago, can only be compared with the valour and resolution of the officers and men who entered the Castle of Cor- ral along with the enemy, whom they were pursu- ing to this last point that remained to them. In this manner fell all the batteries and forts on the southern bank, whose artificial strength is nothing when compared with their advantageous natural situation. “T enclose you the letters of Major Beauchefs, who commanded the brave detachment of 250 men with which the patriot Colonel Freyre supplied me, and of Major Miller, who commanded the marines. Of the gallant conduct of these two offi- cers, and that of Captain Erezcous, who com- manded the detachment from the Intrepid, as of all the rest, I can say nothing in praise adequate to their merit, and consequently, I shall recom- mend them in expressive silence to the consider- ation of his Excellency the Supreme Director. “TI had almost forgotten to mention, that these forts and batteries mount seventy pieces of cannon, and that we have taken in the port the ship Do- lores, (Signed) “ CocHRANE.” While Lord Cochrane was thus harassing the enemy at every point of the coast where they still maintained a footing, and pursuing their ships whenever he could gain intelligence of them, the government of Chili was not inactive. The re- sources of the country were industriously called forth, troops were embodied and disciplined, and every preparation made for the great expedition against Peru. The executive government also re- moved from the capital to Valparaiso, in order to co-operate more effectually with the indefatigable San Martin in organising the army; and Lord Cochrane, as soon as the necessary arrangements were made for the new administration of Valdivia, returned to Valparaiso, where he devoted himself, with unremitting assiduity, to the equipment of the fleet destined to accompany the expedition. Under his hand all things prospered. The con- fined naval resources of the country were turned to the greatest account, with a dexterity and profes- sional skill which astonished every one. Nor was his Lordship less successful in producing, out of the congruous materials under his command, a thorough union of hearts and hands in execution of the great task he had undertaken. The expedition was finally reported ready for sailing on the 15th of August 1820 ; the troops, which had been encamped in readiness in the neighbourhood, were marched into Valparaiso on the 18th, and immediately embarked from the arsenal under the superintendence of General Las Heras. On this occasion it was admitted, by men experienced in the embarkation of regular Euro- pean armies, that the appearance and discipline of the Chilians were worthy of any country. Their numbers amounted to 3700 men. Fifteen thou- sand stand of arms, witha proportionate quantity of ammunition and clothing, were shipped for the purpose of organizing fresh corps of the Peruvians, who, it was expected, would flock to the Indepen- dent standard as soon as the expedition landed. General San Martin was named Commander-in- chief, and captain-general of the United Liberating Army of Peru. The fleet under Lord Cochrane consisted of the O’Higgins, of 50 guns, bearing his Lordship’s flag at the main; the San Martin, 60; the Lautaro, 40; Independencia, 24 ; and three smaller vessels. The transports were twenty in number, chiefly prizes captured from the Spaniards. The first bulletin of the Liberating Army opens with the following words, which state the object of the expedition briefly and with some spirit :— ** Valparaiso, 13th of August, 1820. “ In the tenth year of the South American Re- volution, and the three hundredth of the conquest of Peru ; a people, whose rank in the social scale has been hitherto rated below its destiny, has undertaken to break those chains which Pizarro began to forge with his blood-stained hands, in 1520. “The government established in Chili, since its restoration, having conceived this great design, deems it right that it should be carried into execu- tion by the same person, who, having twice pro- mised to save his country, has twice succeeded.* * San Martin, in 1817, at Chacabuco, and in 1818, at Maypo, completely defeated the Spaniards, a | 16 *“ An expedition equipped at the expense of great sacrifices, is at length ready to proceed, and the army of Chili, united to that of the Andes, is now called upon to redeem the land in which sla- very has longest existed,and from whence the latest efforts have been made to oppress the whole con- tinent. Happy be this day on which the record of the movements and the action of the expedition commences ! “The object of this enterprise is to decide whether or not the time is arrived, when the influ- ence of South America upon the rest of the world shall be commensurate with its extent, its riches, and its situation.” As there will be occasion to make frequent use of the terms Spaniard and Patriot, it may prevent misapprehension to state, that, by the word Spa- niard is exclusively meant a person born in Old Spain ; and by Patriot one born in South America, and attached to the independent cause. Persons born in the colonies of Spanish parents, are, in Europe, usually termed Creoles, but the use of this word I have avoided, as a little offensive to South American ears; probably from its having been the appellation given them during their dependent state. In speaking of themselves, they use the word Ame- rican, or Patriot ; but as the former might lead to confusion with the inhabitants of the United States, it seems least objectionable to use Patriot, when speaking of persons born in the country, though descended from Spaniards. ‘The term Patriot, indeed, in its strict sense, does not describe what, in speaking of the south American States, it is applied to ; but it has, of late years, been so uni- versally adopted to designate all descriptions of adherents to the cause opposed to the Spanish authority in South America, that I shall constantly use it in this sense, in preference to any more exact, but less generally received appellation. The language, it may be mentioned, spoken all over the country, is Spanish, more or less corrupted by local idiom and pronunciation. The expedition set sail for Peru on the 20th of August and reached Pisco, a port about 100 miles south of Lima, on the 7th of September, where, by the 11th, the whole army was disembarked. The Spanish troops, stationed in that neighbourhood, had previously fallen back upon Lima, where the Viceroy resolved to collect his whole force. At first, therefore, the Liberating Army encountered no resistance, and on the 26th, an armistice of eight days being agreed to at the request of the Viceroy Don Joaquim Pezuela, the commissioners of both parties held a conference at Miraflores, a village two or three leagues south of Lima. The real object of the Chilians in agreeing to this armistice, was to gain time. The whole of the artillery and 500 infantry had parted from the fleet during the passage, and had not rejoined the expedition. In order to allow these vessels to join, the armistice was protracted as long as possible. | Besides, it was of the utmost importance to pro- cure correct information respecting the state of the country, and to distribute manifestoes and other seductive and inflammatory papers amongst the inhabitants. It was first proposed, on the part of the Viceroy, * That the Government and people of Chiliand the army should swear to the constitution of the Spa- THE CHILIANS INVADE PERU. nish Monarchy, and should send deputies to the - Sovereign Congress of Spain, for the purpose of availing themselves of the rights and privileges granted to the colonies by the Cortes.” This proposition the Chilian deputies declined to discuss ; saying they were not authorised to nego- tiate on such a basis, and that they could treat | only on grounds not at variance with the principles, | which the free Governments of South America | had laid down as the rule of their conduct. The Royalist deputies next proposed, “That the Li- berating Army should evacuate the territory of Peru, and return to Chili; under the express engagement, that deputies should be sent with full powers to Spain, to request his Majesty to grant their wishes.” This new proposal convinced the Chilians that the government of Lima had no serious intention of coming to terms ; in fact, they never supposed the Viceroy in earnest ; but as the deputies were instructed to leave nothing untried, and, if possible, to discover the real extent of the obstacles to peace, they proposed on the part of Chili, “ That the liberating Army should evacuate Pisco, and retire beyond thé river Desaguadero, which lies in lat. 18° South, and forms the bounding line of Chili and Peru; and that the royal troops should retire beyond the limits of the presidency of Chili, as defined in 1810; that the political state of Chili remaining unchanged, should send com- missioners with full powers to Madrid, to treat with his Most Catholic Majesty ; while hostilities should cease both by sea and land, until three months after the termination of the negotiations : and finally, that the senior officer of his Britannic Majesty’s ships, and the senior officer of the ships of the United States of North America, should be requested to guarantee the fulfilment of these sti- pulations.” The Viceroy declined the essential parts of this proposal, namely the evacuation of the provinces of Potosi, Chuquizaka, Cochabamba, and La Paz, as well as the guarantee of the naval commanders-in-chief ; so that, after a long but unimportant correspondence between the two parties, the armistice was broken up on the 4th of October, and on the 26th the expedition proceeded to the northward. San Martin’s plan of the campaign was certain- ly very skilful. By landing to windward of Lima, (for the wind blows constantly from the south on this part of the coast,) he retained the power of making a descent upon the capital at any moment he chose, should the Viceroy venture to quit it with the main body of the Spanish army to repel. the invaders. The Viceroy was thus also pre- vented from detaching any of his forces to inter- cept a division of the Patriots’ army, which San Martin sent under Colonel Arenales into the inte- rior. The subsequent removal of the Chilian expedition to Ancon, situated to the northward of Lima, occupied the attention of the Viceroy still more closely, and gave Arenales full time to effect his object of exciting the interior to revolt. In the meantime, while the Liberating Army under San Martin were removing to Ancon, Lord Cochrane, with part of his squadron, anchored in the outer roads of Callao, the sea-port of Lima. The inner harbour was guarded by an extensive system of batteries, admirably constructed, and bearing the general name of the Castle of Callao. The merchant-ships, as well as the men-of-war, : : SPLENDID ACHIEVEMENT OF LORD COCHRANE. consisting, at that, time, of the Esmeralda, a large forty-gun frigate, and two sloops of war, were moored under the guns of the castle within a semicircle of fourteen gun-boats, and a boom made of spars chained together. Lord Cochrane having previously reconnoitred these formidable defences in person, undertook, on the 5th of November, the desperate enterprise of cutting out the Spanish frigate, although she was known to be fully prepared for an attack. His lordship proceeded in fourteen boats, containing 240 men, all volunteers from the different ships of the squad- ron, in two divisions ; one under the immediate orders of Captain Crosbie, the other under Captain Guise ; both officers commanding ships of the Chilian squadron. At midnight, the boats having forced their way across the boom, Lord Cochrane, who was leading, rowed alongside the first gun-boat, and, taking the officer by surprise, proposed to him, with a pistol at his head, the alternative of “ Silence or death !”—no reply was made—the boats pushed on unobserved—and Lord Cochrane, mounting the Esmeralda’s side, was the first to give the alarm. The sentinel on the gangway levelled his piece and fired ; but was instantly cut down by the coxswain, and his lordship, though wounded in the thigh, at the same moment stepped on the deck. The frigate being boarded with no less gallantry, on the opposite side, by Captain Guise, who met Lord Cochrane midway, on the quarter- deck ; and also by Captain Crosbie; the after part of the ship was soon carried, sword in hand. The Spaniards rallied on the forecastle, where they made a desperate resistance, till overpowered by a fresh party of seamen and marines, headed by Lord Cochrane. A gallant stand was again made for some time on the main-deck ; but before one o’clock the ship was captured, her cables cut, and she was steered triumphantly out of the harbour, under the fire of the whole of the north face of the castle. The Hyperion, an English, and the Macedonian, an American frigate, which were at anchor close to the scene of action, got under weigh when the attack commenced; and, in order to prevent their being mistaken by the batteries for the Esmeralda, showed distinguishing signals: but Lord Cochrane, who had foreseen and provided even for this minute circumstance, hoisted the same lights as the American and English frigates ; and thus rendered it impossible for the batteries to dis- criminate between the three ships: the Esmeralda, | in consequence, was very little injured by the shot from the batteries. ' The Spaniards had upwards of one hundred and twenty men killed and wounded ; the Chilians eleven killed, and thirty wounded. This loss was a death-blow to the Spanish naval force in that quarter of the world ; for, although there were still two Spanish frigates and some smaller vessels in the Pacific, they never after- wards ventured to show themselves, but left Lord Cochrane undisputed master of the coast. -The skill and gallantry displayed by Lord Coch- rane, both in planning and conducting this asto- nishing enterprise, are so peculiarly his own, and so much in character with the great deeds of his early life, that a copy of his instructions for the action and his subsequent despatch, will be read with much interest. 17 Copy of Lord Cochrane’s preparatory Memoran- dum to the Chilian Squadron, dated ‘«On board the Chilian States’ Ship O’Higgins, lst of November 1820. “The boats will proceed, towing the launches in two lines parallel to each other, which lines are to be at the distance of three boats’ length asunder. “‘ The second line will be under the charge of Captain Guise. Each boat will be under the charge of a volunteer commissioned officer, so far as circumstances permit, and the whole under the immediate command of the Admiral. “ The officers and men are all to be dressed in white jackets, frocks, or shirts, and are to be armed with pistols, sabres, knives, tomahawks, or pikes. “Two boat-keepers are to be appointed to each boat, who, on no pretence whatever, shall quit their respective boats, but are to remain therein, and take care that the boats do not get adrift. “ Each boat is to be provided with one or more axes, or sharp hatchets, which are to be kept slung to the girdle of the boat-keepers, The frigate Esmeralda being the chief object of the expedition, the whole force is first to attack that ship, which, when carried, is not to be cut adrift, but is to re- main in possession of the Patriot seamen, to ensure the capture of the rest. “On securing the frigate, the Chilian seamen and marines are not to cheer as if they were Chilenos, but, in order to deceive the enemy, and give time for completing the work, are to cheer ‘Viva el Rey !’ : “The two brigs of war are to be fired on by the musketry from the Esmeralda, and are to be taken possession of by Lieutenants Esmond and Morgell, in the boats they command ; which being done, they are to cut adrift, run out, and anchor in the offing as quickly as possible. The boats of the Independencia are to busy themselves in turning adrift all the outward Spanish merchant-ships ; and the boats of the O’Higgins and Lautaro, under Lieutenants Bell and Roberison, are to set fire to one or more of the headmost hulks ; but these are not to be cut adrift so as to fall down upon the rest. “The watch-word, or parole and countersign, should the white dress not be sufficient distinction in the dark, are ‘Gloria! to be answered by ‘ Victoria !’ (Signed) “ CocHRANE.”’ Whether Lord Cochrane really expected to ex- tend his operations beyond the capture of the frigate, or whether he merely wished to inspire his people with confidence, by making the main object appear only a part of the enterprise, is uncertain ; but in either case, the effect could not fail to be valuable. The foregoing memorandum, being addressed principally to Englishmen and North Americans, | was written in English. The following letter I | have never seen, except in the original Spanish. 18 Translation of Admiral Lord Cochrane's Despatch to General San Martin, Commander-in- Chief of the Liberating Army of Peru. *‘ On board the Chilian States’ Ship O’Higgins, before Callao, Nov. 14, 1820. ** Most EXCELLENT SIR, “ The efforts of his Excellency the Supreme Direc- tor, and the sacrifices of the Patriots of the South, to acquire the dominion of the Pacific, have hither- to been frustrated, chiefly by the enormous strength of the batteries of Callao, which (being superior to those of Algiers or Gibraltar) rendered every attack against the naval force of the enemy im- practicable, with any class or number of ships of war. Nevertheless, being desirous of advancing the cause of rational liberty, and political independence, which is the great object your Excellency has in view ; and to promote the happiness of mankind ; I was anxious to dispel the charm which heretofore had paralysed our naval efforts. With this inten- tion, I carefully examined the batteries, the ships of war, and the gun-boats in this port ; and being satisfied that the frigate Esmeralda could be cut out by men resolved to do their duty, I imme- diately gave orders to the Captains of the Indepen- dencia and Lautaro to prepare their boats ; and acquainted them, that the value of that frigate, to- gether with the reward offered in Lima for the capture of any of the ships of Chili, would be the recompense of those who should volunteer to take part in this enterprise. “On the following day, a number of volunteers, including Captains Forster, Guise, and Crosbie, with other officers, offered their services ; the whole amounting to a force sufficient for the exe- cution of the project. Everything being prepared, the boats were exercised in the dark, in the even- ing of the 4th instant, and the night of the 5th of November was chosen for the attack.* “‘ Captain Crosbie had charge of the first divi- sion, consisting of the boats of the O’Higgins, and Captain Guise of the second, which was formed of those of the other ships. At half past ten we rowed in two lines towards the enemy’s anchorage, and at twelve forced the line of gun-boats guard- ing the entrance. The whole of our force boarded the Esmeralda at the same moment, and drove the enemy from the deck after an obstinate resist- ance. “ All the officers employed on this service have conducted themselves in the most gallant manner. To them, and also to the seamen and marines, I feel under extreme obligations for their activity and zeal in boarding the Esmeralda. “JT was sorry that the necessity of leaving at least one captain in charge of the ships, prevented my acceding to the wishes of the captain of the Independencia, who accordingly remained with the squadron. I have also to lament the loss we have sustained. That of the Esmeralda cannot be ex- actly ascertained on account of the wounded and others who leaped overboard ; but we know that, * This night was not fixed on accidentally, or if so, Lord Cochrane knew how to turn even such a trifle to account. He addressed a few words to his people, before setting out in the boats, and concluded by saying, he had purposely chosen the 5th of November—“ and now, my lads, we skall give them such a Gunpowder Plot as they will not forget in a hurry!” LORD COCHRANE’S DESPATCH. out of 330 individuals originally on board, only 204 have been found alive, including officers and woun- ded men. The Esmeralda mounts 40 guns, and is not ina bad state, as was represented, but, on the contrary, very well found and perfectly equip- ped. She has on board three months’ provisions, besides a supply of cordage and other articles for two years. A gun-boat of four guns, which lay directly in the passage of our boats, was boarded and towed out on the following morning. “JT hope the capture of the flag-ship Esmeralda, secured by booms, batteries, and gun-boats, in a situation always before deemed impregnable, and in sight of the capital, where the fact cannot be concealed, will produce a moral effect greater than might be expected under other circumstances. “ T have great satisfaction in sending you the flag of Admiral Vacaro, that you may be pleased to present it to his Excellency the supreme Director of the Republic of Chili. (Signed) “ COCHRANE.” While the spirits of the Chilians were raised to a high pitch by this splendid naval exploit, equal success crowned their exertions by land. Colonel Arenales, with a body of 1000 men, had been sent from Pisco, with orders to strike into the country across the Andes, and to proceed by a circuitous route round Lima, till he rejoined the army. This march was to be made through a country occupied by the Spaniards, and had for its principal object to discover the state of political feeling in the dis- tricts surrounding the capital. The service was performed ina masterly manner by Arenales, who accomplished the object of rousing the inhabitants of those districts to assert the cause of Indepen- dence, and gained also high military renown for the Liberating Army. On his march through the interior he was met by a strong division of the royal troops, expressly sent against him from Lima ; this he totally defeated in a pitched battle at Pasco, killing or taking prisoners the general and the whole of the division. These various successes gave so much splendour and popularity to the In- dependent cause, that, on the 3d of December, a wholeregiment of the Royalist force left the Spanish camp, and actually volunteered to serve under the standard of the Liberating Army. This regiment was called the Battalion of Numancia, and was commanded by a Spaniard of the name of Delgado, who was made prisoner by his own troops, and delivered over to the Patriots. After a short stay at Ancon, San Martin, in the end of 1820, proceeded with the army to Huara, a strong position near the port of Huacho, lying seventy-five miles to the northward of Lima. - Here the expedition remained for upwards of six months, without performing any other brilliant service. San Martin, indeed, having shown sufficiently what his army and fleet were capable of, chose to rely less on military achievements, than on the effect of disseminating the principles of insurrection throughout the country. The army was greatly reduced by sickness at Huacho : but San Martin succeeded, through the influence of the Marquis of Torre Taglé, in gaining over the populous and important department of Truxillo, By means of political publications, aided by the exertions of numerous able and active agents, he carried his intrigues not only into the provinces, but into the eae FIRST VISIT TO PERU. | very heart of the capital ; and in process of time } acquired sufficient influence in the surrounding districts, to cut off the principal supply of pro- } visions to the capital by land. The port of Callao | being at the same time closely blockaded by Lord i} Cochrane, the inhabitants of Lima were reduced ) Valparaiso. to the greatest extremity, while every other part | of the country was enjoying freedom and plenty. CHAPTER IV. PERU. First Visit to Lima, while Peru was still in Possession of the Spaniards.— Contrast between Peru and Chili.—Depo- sition of the Viceroy.—Visit to the ex-Viceroy, Pezuela. On the 5th of February 1821, we anchored in Callao Roads, after a passage of nine days from The distance from Chili is about 1300 miles, and as the wind is always favourable and moderate, a more agreeable voyage can hardly be conceived. Our studding-sails, indeed, were set on both sides all the way, the truest proof of a fair | wind, while the climate was the most delightful possible, and the sea quite smooth. The return passage is another affair, and requires a totally different sort of navigation. The wind near the shore, and even as far off as the straight line joining Valparaiso and Lima, blows constantly from south or S.S.E., consequently, it would be impossible to make the passage directly back. ‘| When a ship leaves the coast of Peru, therefore, she steers boldly off into the middle of the S.E. trade-wind, which blows steadily at some distance from the shore. In proportion as the ship gains southing by standing off, she finds the breeze gra- dually blowing more from the east, so that she is perpetually inclining her head more and more to- wards the south. On reaching the latitude of 32° or thereabouts, she will lose the trade-wind and get into what are called the Variables, which generally blow from the westward ; with these a course is readily shaped to regain the coast. By using a proper degree of vigilance a man-of-war may make this passage in less than three weeks, and it has once been made by a frigate in less than fourteen days. In former times, before these mat- ters were scientifically dealt with, three months was the usual period. I had quite a levee next morning in my cabin, consisting of people who came on board for news, or who had intelligence to communicate which they thought would be acceptable. We had, of course, much to tell that was interesting and new to them ; for their information from Europe was scanty and disjointed, having been received at ir- regular intervals through the medium of casual newspapers. I observed here what I had often seen in other distant corners of the world, that there is always a strange want of keeping amongst the different parts of the knowledge which our countrymen possess in respect to European affairs. This knowledge, it will be remembered, is not transmitted to them in regular order, but comes in sudden quantities, and the arrangement of its parts becomes curiously jumbled. Dates and incidents are perpetually misplaced, effects precede their causes, and the most unsubstantial rumours assume 19 the place of well-known events. The most ridi- culous anachronisms are thus for ever occurring, and the actions of one man and one period ascribed to totally different persons and different eras. The most singular error of all, however, consists in the false estimate which is formed of the impor- tance of distant events. Frequently very insignifi- cat circumstances will seem to threaten the sub- version of the state, while the most important transactions pass by unheeded. ‘Their notions, like the fashion of their dress, are two or three years behind-hand ; and we could recognise in full action prejudices, and fears, and expectations, which we had left dead and gone ages before in England, Weheard people speaking just as we might suppose persons at home to do, who should be put to sleep for twenty or thirty months ; on waking they would jumble what they recollected of the world before their dozing, with some con- fused reminiscences of their dreams. A stranger to all this is apt to take a great deal of ineffectual pains to rectify these mistakes in the minds of the | people to whom he is addressing his budget of news. But it is always found impossible for persons at a great distance to keep up with the current of re- mote events, however much they may be interested in them ; their view is somuch dimmed by the in- tervening time and space that nothing is seen dis- tinctly, and what is very odd, but not unnatural, the older impressions, which are often the falsest, retain their ground in spite of new and correct in- telligence. If the mistakes of our countrymen excited our surprise, we were sometimes much more amused by the total want of knowledge in the natives. This morning, for instance, several gentlemen of the country paid me a visit, and one of them, on hearing me say we had lately come from England, said, “ Yes,—England is situated in the Baltic?” So much for their knowledge of European geo- graphy ! But within the same hour I discovered that I had made almost as grievous a mistake, in their eyes, with respect to a Peruvian town, Arequipa, which I imagined to be a sea-port, whereas it lies a hundred and fifty miles in the interior. At the time of our arrival, the state of Peru, both domestic and political, was highly interesting, though differing in almost every particular from that of Chili. There is no circumstance which distinguishes travels by land, from voyages by sea, more than the different manner in which new countries are brought under notice. On land the traveller is so gradually introduced to new scenes, as scarcely to be aware that he has passed a frontier, for the manners of the adjacent territories often blend themselves insensibly into one another. sea, the case is different ; for we are abruptly in- troduced, while the impressions of the places we have come from are fresh in our recollection, to a totally new set of objects, which we are thus en- abled to compare with those we have left. Even when the two countries are in a great measure similarly circumstanced, as in the case of the dif- ferent South American states, there will always be found a sufficient number of distinctions, arising out of climate and other local causes, to diversify the picture. c3 When | countries, on the other hand, are approached by | ———— 20 CONTRAST BETWEEN CHILI AND PERU. In Chili, as we have just seen, national inde- pendence had been for several years established, and a free and extensive commerce had, as a na- tural consequence, speedily sprung up; knowledge was gradually making its way ; the moral and political bonds in which the minds of the people had been so long constrained were broken asunder ; and the consequences of such freedom were developing themselves in a thousand shapes. In Peru, on the contrary, the word Independence was now heard for the first time ; but as yet only in whispers, under the protection of San Martin’s cannon. In Lima, where such free sentiments were still deemed treasonable, prejudice and error had established their head-quarters ; and the obstinate bigotry with which old customs and opinions were adhered to, was rather strengthened than diminished by the apprehension of a total subversion of the whole system. The contrast between the two countries, Chili and Peru, as it met our eyes, was most striking ; and if due justice could be done to the description of each, a pleas- ing inference would be drawn by every Englishman in favour of the popular side of the question. The contrast between a country in a state of war, and one in a state of peace, was, perhaps, never more strikingly displayed than upon this occasion : but, besides the interest arising out of such a contrast, as applicable to the states of peace and war, the view was curious’ and instructive, as displaying the rapid effect produced by a change in the government of one of the two countries. As long as both were similarly administered, Peru had an infinite advantage over Chili in wealth and importance ; but as soon as Chili became independent, she at once assumed the superiority. We left Valparaiso harbour filled with shipping ; its eustom-house wharfs piled high with goods, too numerous and bulky for the old warehouses ; the road between the port and the capital was always crowded with convoys of mules, loaded with every kind of foreign manufacture ; while numerous ships were busily taking in cargoes of the wines, corn, and other articles, the growth of the country ; and large sums of treasure were daily embarked for Europe, in return for goods already distributed over the interior. A spirit of inquiry and intelli- gence animated the whole society ; schools were multiplied in every town ; libraries established ; and every encouragement given to literature and the arts: and as travelling was free, passports were unnecessary. In the manners, and even in the gait of every man, might be traced the air of conscious freedom and independence. In dress also a total change had very recently taken place, and from the same causes. The former uncouth, and almost savage costume of the ladies, and the slovenly cloaks worn by the men, had given way to the fashions of Europe: and although these may be deemed circumstances almost too minute to mention, they are not unimportant when con- nected with feelings of national pride, heretofore unknown. It is by this and a multitude of other small changes, that these people are constantly re- minded of their past compared with their present situation ; and itis of essential use to their cause, that they should take delight in assimilating them- selves, even in trifles, with other independent nations of the world. No such changes, and no such sentiments, were as yet to be found in Peru. J Callao, the shipping were crowded into a corner, encircled by gun-boats, close under the fort, and with a strong boom drawn round them. The custom-house was empty, and the door locked ; no bales of goods rose in pyramids on the quays ; no loaded mules covered the road from Callao to Lima; nor during the whole ascent was an indi- vidual to be seen, except, perhaps, a solitary courier galloping towards the fortress. In Lima itself the difference was as striking: jealousy and distrust | of one another, and still more of strangers, filled every breast ; disappointment and fear, aggravated by personal inconvenience and privation, broke up all agreeable society ; rendering this once great, luxurious, and happy city, one of the most wretched | places on earth. Lima was not, however, on this account, the less interesting to a stranger: and although we often regretted not seeing her in her days of glory, we could not but esteem ourselves fortunate, in having an opportunity of witnessing the effect of a com- bination of circumstances, not likely to be met with again. The immediate cause of this unhappy state of things, was the spirit of independence which had recently burst forth in South America ; and it may be remarked, that none of those free | states have achieved their liberty without first — running a similar course of suffering—a sort of © ordeal to purify them from the contamination of their former degraded condition. Lima, up to this period, had been exempted from the sufferings of the countries by which she was surrounded. It is true there had been wars of a revolutionary character, in the interior of Peru ; but their desolating effect had not till now reached the capital, the inhabitants of which went on in their usual style of splendid luxury, in thoughtless ease and security, till the enemy came and knocked at the “silver gate of the city of kings,” as Lima was proudly called in the days of her magnificence. the Limenians quite by surprise ; for they had always held Chili in contempt, as a mere appendage | to Peru, from which no attack could be appre- hended. The attack, however, was made by land | and by sea; and while San Martin was making | head steadily with his troops, drawing nearer and nearer to the capital, cutting off its supplies, and gaining over to his cause all the districts through which he passed ; Lord Cochrane swept the sea of Spanish ships ; blockaded the Peruvian ports ; and carried off their finest frigate, from under the very guns of their strongest fort. The violent irritation produced in Lima by these operations of the enemy was quite natural ; for the | fortunes of the inhabitants, who had been accus- tomed for ages to revel in luxury and wealth, were now reduced to the lowest ebb ; and the Spaniards, proud by birth and education, were cut to the soul by such humiliating reverses, of which these unac- customed privations made them only the more | sensible. As they were aware that Lord Cochrane | and the greater part of his officers and crew were English, it was to be expected they would be jealous | and distrustful of all Englishmen, however uncon- nected with the Chilians, or however circumspect in their conduct. A person professing neutrality is placed in an awkward situation, between two | —— . . : etree a In the harbour of | San Martin’s expedition took | : THE PALACE AT LIMA. contending parties: his indifference is ascribed to ill-will—the slightest expression which escapes Phim in favour of the other party is resented as hostility—and any agreement, on a single point, is instantly seized upon as an indubitable proof of his friendly disposition. To a mere traveller, this state of things might have been amusing enough ; but to us, who had a particular line of conduct to pursue, and a number of objects to attend to, it was frequently the source fof considerable embarrassment. We were obliged to communicate occasionally with both parties, on business relative to commerce, and other matters affecting the British interests ; and as the nature of | the subject often required personal intercourse, we were inevitably led, at times, to a greater degree jof apparent familiarity with one party, than the } other could allow to be consistent with our pro- jfessed neutrality. Each, however, in turn, inva- | riably forgot this reflection, when the intercourse happened to lie with themselves: so that, to main- | tain our neutral character on these occasions, and jnot at the same time to give offence, required some address. With the Chilians, whose fortunes | were advancing, it was not so difficult as with the | Spaniards, who stood in need of countenance. The |Chilians also had good reason to believe that we | wished them success, on account of our trade ; as well as from the sentiments known to be expressed | on the subject in England. But with the Spaniards, who were sinking in the world, it was otherwise : nothing would satisfy them but a declaration of cordial adherence to their cause, and hatred to | that of the Insurgents, as they, in the bitterness | of their hearts, called the Patriots. At the same | time they always affected to despise their enemies, | and to be perfectly indifferent to our opinion ; yet, | with the perversest spirit of inconsistency, they occupied themselves in watching us, and misinter- preting all our actions and expressions to such a | degree, that nothing was too extravagant to be | told and believed in Lima respecting our breaches | of neutrality. It was in vain, by a frank and open behaviour, to hope to escape suspicion ; for it had | become a sort of disease amongst the Spaniards _to suspect the English ; and its symptoms were “aggravated every moment by the increasing dis- tresses to which they were exposed. It will be easily conceived that, under such circumstances, we had not much enjoyment in visiting Lima, and that, situated as we were, with many anxious duties to attend to, little leisure could be found to remark or to record peculiarities of society and manners. Even when we did go into company, no great pleasure was to be derived from it; as the people had neither leisure nor spirits to discuss any other topic than their own apprehensions and sufferings. The undisturbed quiet which they had so long enjoyed, made them only more sensible to the present evil ; and all was doubt and despair. In former times, said the Limenians, our city was that in which pleasure held her court; wealth and ease were our attendants ; enjoyment was our only business; and we dreamt of no evil but an earthquake. - They had yet to learn that there are moral and political,as well as physical earthquakes, which, though they leave churches and dwellings undestroyed, may lay the whole fabric of society in ruins. 21 The Royalist army, in common with the people, as usual, referred every evil to the mismanage- ment of the executive government ; and having decided, in their summary way, that the Viceroy was unfit to reign, they forthwith deposed him at the point of the bayonet; and raised one of their | own Generals in his place. This strong measure had been carried into effect a few days before we arrived, and we found the city in considerable bustle, preparatory to the festivities usual on the installation of a new Viceroy. The soldiers, of course, were confident the change would imme- diately turn the fortunes of the day, and, even in | the city, a faint hope for a moment animated the | inhabitants: but most reflecting persons saw clearly, that these violent proceedings only be- trayed to the enemy their own want of union and | discipline. As we were not, and, indeed, could not be com- | petent judges of these proceedings, and were not accredited to any particular government, or autho- rity, we were always left free to take things as we found them, and to communicate with the person | at the head of the government, for the time being, | whoever he might be, and without inquiring how | It thus became my duty to pay my | he got there. respects to the new Viceroy, General La Serna ; as it would have been to have waited on his pre- decessor, General Pezuela, had I arrived a few | days sooner. The palace had a good deal the air of a native court in India ; exhibiting the same intermixture of meanness and magnificence in style, which, while it displays the wealth and labour it has cost, betrays, at the same time, a want of taste and judgment in the design. There was no keep- ing amongst the parts; so that the shabby and the gorgeous were blended, and one was never sure that anything pleasing would not be found contiguous to something offensive. The entrance was by a dirty court, like that of a stable-yard, communicating with a staircase, on the steps of which the soldiers of the guard, in ragged shabby uniforms, were lounging about, smoking their segars at their ease, and making way for no one. | A long and narrow set of winding passages brought | us to a suite of waiting-rooms, filled with many weary supplicants, amongst whom the etiquette of precedence was not forgotten, the poorest and most hopeless being left in the outer apartments. In the room adjoining the audience chamber, we saw only the priesthood and military ; for, in these turbulent seasons, the value of a sword is esti- mated, at least at its due weight. Our interview, being merely ceremonial, was short, and led to nothing worth relating. In the evening I was introduced to several families, all of which were more or less cast down by the circumstances of the day; and their good- breeding was hardly sufficient to conceal their suspicions of our neutrality. Next morning we called upon the deposed Vice- roy, rather as a civility than a duty, for his autho- rity was utterly destroyed, and he had retired to his country-seat, called La Magdalene, not far from Lima. He was more dejected than we thought a haughty grandee ought to have been: but he ex- plained this to us, by saying, that he felt deeply for his lost country, which he foresaw would never prosper under such rebellious guidance. | 22 Instead, however, of his being afflicted at the change, it is probable he secretly rejoiced at his dismissal from the command. He had done his duty as long as he could, by making a respect- able stand against the enemy; and it was clear, that he must, ere long, have yielded up the capital, not so much to the force of San Martin’s army, as to the overwhelming influence of public sentiment, the tide of which had decidedly turned, and was at this time flowing directly against the Spanish authority. During the first few days, our thoughts were so much taken up with official duties, that little time was left for observing either the town or the society. We became every day more and more sensible of our precarious footing, and the neces- sity of observing the greatest cireumspection in our intercourse with these jealous people. Living entirely on board ship, would at once have con- firmed all their suspicions of our favouring the enemy, whose squadron was anchored in the outer Roads ; while residing altogether at Lima might lave been attributed to our wish to spy into the nakedness of the land. The course we did follow, of being at Lima, or at Callao, or on board, as circumstances required, though it did not exempt us from suspicion, was the best we could adopt ; and we hoped, by caution and forbearance, to ‘avoid giving cause of offence ; but in this, as will be seen, we found ourselves much mistaken. CHAPTER V. Bull-Fightsat Lima.—Marquis of Montemira.—Ex-Inquisi- tor.—Manners and Dressof Limenian Ladies.—Distressed State of Lima,in consequence of the War.—Dissension in the City. Berne desirous of ascertaining, an all occasions, the real state of popular feeling, which generally develops itself at public meetings, I went to one of the bull-fights, given in honour of the new Viceroy’s installation. It took place inan immense wooden amphitheatre, capable of holding, it was said, twenty thousand people. As we had been disappointed at Valparaiso by a sham bull-fight, we hoped here to witness an exhibition worthy of the mother country. But the resemblance was, I suspect, not less faulty, though in the opposite extreme ; for the bulls were here put to death with so many unusual circumstances of cruelty, as not only, Iam told, to make it unlike the bull-fights of Spain, but to take away all pleasure in the spectacle from persons not habituated to such sights. These exhibitions have been described by so many travellers, that it is needless here to do more than advert to some circumstances which are said to be peculiar to those of Lima. After one of the bulls had been repeatedly speared, and tormented by darts and fire-works, and was all streaming with blood, the matador, on a signal from the Viceroy, proceeded to despatch him. Not being, however, sufficiently expert, he merely sheathed his sword in the animal’s neck without the intended effect. The bull instantly took his revenge, by tossing the matador to a great height in the air, and he fell apparently dead in the arena, The audience applauded the bull, while the attendants carried off the matador. The bull next attacked a horseman, dismounted BULL-FIGHT AT LIMA. q him, ripped up the horse’s belly, and bore both him and his rider to the ground ; the horse was not suffered to die in peace, but being raised on his legs, was urged, by whipping and goading, to move round the ring in a state too horrible to be described, but which afforded the spectators the greatest delight. The noble bull had thus suc- ceeded in baffling his tormentors as long as fair means were used, when a cruel device was thought — of to subdue him. A large curved instrument | called a Luna was thrown at him, in such a way | as to divide the hamstrings of the hind-legs ; such, | however, were his strength.and spirit, that he did — not fall, but actually travelled along at a tolerable | pace on his stumps,—a most horrible sight !_ This | was not all ; for a man armed with a dagger now mounted the bull’s back, and rode about for some > minutes to the infinite delight of the spectators, who were thrown into ecstacies, and laughed and — clapped their hands at every stab given to the miserable animal, not for the purpose of killing him, but to stimulate him to accelerate his pace ;_ at length the poor beast, exhausted by loss of blood, fell down and died. The greater number of the company, although * females, seemed enchanted with the brutal scene — passing under their eyes, and I looked round, in | vain, for a single face that looked grave: every individual, indeed, seemed quite delighted. It. was melancholy to observe a great proportion of ° children amongst the spectators; from one of whom, a little girl, of only eight years old, I learned that she had already been present at three » bull-fights ; the details of which she gave with. great animation and pleasure, dwelling especially — on such horrid circumstances as I have described. | It would shock and disgust to no purpose to give » a minute account of other instances of wanton | cruelty, which, however, appeared to be the principal recommendation of -these exhibitions. . But it was impossible to help feeling, in spite of | our much-talked-of neutrality, that any change which would put a stop tosuch proceedings was | greatly to be wished. In every instance in South America, where the cause of Independence has | succeeded, two measures have been invariably — adopted : one the abolition of the slave-trade, and as far as possible of slavery; the other, the relin- . quishment of bull-fights. With respect to the : slave question, most people think alike ; but many ' hesitate as to the propriety of doing away the » bull-fights, especially they who have witnessed them | in Spain only, or who have never witnessed them | at all; but it is rare to hear any one condemn | their abolition after having been present at those ° of Lima. : I heard a Chilian gentleman offer a curious } theory on this subject. He declared that the » Spaniards had systematically sought by these cruel | shows, and other similar means, to degrade the taste of the colonies, and thereby more easily to) tyrannize over the inhabitants. The people, he» said, first rendered utterly insensible to the feel- . ings of others, by a constant familiarity with | cruelty and injustice, soon became indifferent to | the wrongs of their country, and in the end lost’ all motive to generous exertion in themselves. | An excellent old Spaniard, of whom I shall have occasion to speak hereafter, stated, that these : bull-fights were-totally different from those exhi- THE SAYA AND MANTO. bited in Spain: those of Lima, indeed, he could not bear to look at; nor had he ever met an Englishman who could be prevailed upon to visit the amphitheatre a second time. He ridiculed the theory of the Chilian above-mentioned ; though he acknowledged with shame that these scenes, horrible as they were, had always been encouraged by the Viceroys, and other Spanish rulers of the country. In the evening I went in company with a young Spaniard to be introduced to a fine old nobleman, the Marquis of Montemira, uncle of the Duke of San Carlos, who wag for some time in England as minister from the court of Madrid. He was eighty years of age, and appeared much broken down by the climate ; but still possessed in a remarkable degree the cheerfulness of youth: indeed his thoughts and the turn of his expressions were so juvenile, that he wanted nothing but bodily strength to take an active part in the bustling scenes of the day. At the Marquis’s we met a _heavy-looking elderly priest, who put a thousand idle questions to us respecting the news from Europe. In the course of this conversation, my malicious com- panion, in order to plague his reverend friend, whispered to me to say the Inquisition had been re-established in Spain. Accordingly, taking the first opportunity, I said something bearing this interpretation. The effect was amusing enough, for the old father, who it seems had been the chief inquisitor, clapped his hands, and, with a sparkling eye, shouted, “ Bravo! I thought it must be so!” but perceiving his young friend smiling, he first looked angry, and then laughed, calling him a sad “picaro.” —“ Nevertheless,” added he, in a lower tone, with his fist clenched, and his teeth closed, “though it be not yet re- established, it soon will.” Everything connected with the recently abo- lished Inquisition is viewed at Lima with a degree of scorn and hatred, very remarkable in a city so crowded with clerical establishments ; and where the observances of the church form so great a part of the business of the people. But whatever be the cause of this unmeasured detestation, nothing can be more determined than it is; and our portly friend, the ex-inquisitor, must, I fear, be content to follow the stream, and give up his chance of again tormenting his countrymen. A story is told of this priest, however, which shows he was not quite hardened by the duties of his former office, but that he mingled his natural feelings with those proper to his calling, in a man- ner rather amiable for an inquisitor. Happening one day to visit a house where four or five Eng- lishmen were dining, he joined in conversation with them; and was so much pleased with his company, that he turned round to a friend, and exclaimed, “ Oh! what a pity it is that such fine rosy-looking, good young men, should all neces- sarily and inevitably go to the Devil!” (a los infiernos.) — The domestic manners of the society here differ from those of Chili, almost as much as the dresses. Instead of meeting at balls, concerts, and tertulias or parties, the women associate very little with one another; there are few dances, very little music, and, except at the bull-fights or the play, and sometimes in the country, the ladies seldom 23 assemble together. But they are all extremely regular in their attendance upon mass: indeed, the women in these countries form the congrega- tions almost exclusively. At the houses where we called in the morning, we usually found the ladies dressed very gaily to receive visitors : that is, male visitors, for we seldom met any but the ladies of the house on these occasions. In the evening, the same thing generally takes place ; and our chance of meeting the gentlemen of the family, had we wished it, was always least at their own home. In the cool part of the day, for about an hour and a half before sunset, the ladies walk abroad, dressed in a manner as far as I know unique, and certainly highly characteristic of the spot. This dress consists of two parts, one called the Saya, . the other the Manto. The first is a petticoat made to fit so tightly that, being at the same time quite elastic, the form of the limbs is rendered distinctly visible. The manto, or cloak, is also a petticoat, but, instead of hanging about the heels, as all honest petticoats ought to do, it is drawn over the head, breast, and face; and is kept so close by the hands, which it also conceals, that no part of the body, except one eye, and sometimes only a small portion of one eye, is perceptible. A rich coloured handkerchief, or a silk band and tassel, are frequently tied round the waist, and hang nearly to the ground in front. A rosary, also, made of beads of ebony, with a small gold cross, is often fastened to the girdle, a little on one side ; though in general it is suspended from the neck. The effect of the whole is exceedingly striking : but whether its gracefulness—for, with the fine figure of the Lima women, and their very beautiful style of walking, this dress is eminently graceful —hbe sufficient to compensate for its indelicacy to an European eye, will depend much upon the stranger’s taste, and his habits of judging of what he sees in foreign countries. Some travellers insist upon forcing everything into comparison with what they have left at home, and condemn or approve, according as this unreasonable standard is receded from or adhered to. To us, who took all things as we found them, the saya and manto afforded much amusement, and sometimes not a little vexation. It happened occasionally, that we were spoken to in the streets by ladies, who ap- peared to know us well, but whom we could not discover, till some apparently trivial remark in company long afterwards betrayed the Tapadas, as they call themselves. Ladies of the first rank indulge in this amusement, and will wear the meanest saya, or stoop to any contrivance to effect a thorough disguise. I myself knew two young ladies who completely deceived their brother and me, although we were aware of their fondness for such pranks, and I had even some suspicions of them at the very moment. Their superior dex- terity, however, was more than a match for his discernment, or my suspicions ; and so completely did they deceive our eyes, and mislead our thoughts, that we could scarcely believe our senses, when they at length chose to discover themselves. Lima has been described as the “ Heaven of women, the purgatory of men, and the hell of jackasses,” and so, perhaps, it may be in times of peace ; but the war had now broken down such distinctions, and all parties looked equally miser- 24 ¢ able ; or if any one had the advantage, it was the donkeys, who from the absence of all business were, for the first time in their lives, exempted from labour. The men were miserable from un- wonted privation, apprehended loss of fortune, and wounded national pride. But the ladies, however annoyed by these circumstances, in common with the rest of the world, still maintained their pre- rogative of having their own way ; a right which, when acting in co-operation with the impenetrable disguise of the saya and manto, give to manners a tone and character that may be imagined, but cannot well be described. Neither would it be fair for a passing and busy visitor, like myself, with his thoughts and attention occupied by other objects, to give general opinions upon the habits of a great city, But even had our opportunities and leisure been greater, the moment was singularly unpropitious, since scarcely any circumstance in society occupied its wonted place. Even in families, the effect of the times was deeply felt: a particular view of politics was adopted by one member, the opposite by another ; some acted from principle, some from interest, others from fear ; thus sin- cerity and confidence were banished, just at the moment when the pressure of the war was most urgent, and when a cordial union was the only safeguard against the ruin and misery of the whole house. — Had my attention been less occupied in pre- serving a prudent and circumspect line of conduct, I might, undoubtedly, have noticed many incidents, which, if properly described, would have served to characterise the singular state of Lima at the moment: but this being impossible, I could only hope to catch occasionally some minute though sufficiently portentous symptoms of the times. We of course paid our respects to the venerable Archbishop of Peru, who professed himself much attached to the English, and entertained us witha discourse on the advantages of free commerce, and the just exercise of other civil rights. This surely was ominous. From the Archbishop’s palace, we crossed the square to an old lady’s house, whom we found, as well as her daughter, in deep grief. The cause we did not inquire; having for some days known, although it had been concealed from her, that her son, who had betrayed his allegiance to his king, and gone over to the Patriots, had been taken prisoner, and shot as a traitor. This also belonged to the times. On the same day a lady applied to me for a passage to Chili, where her husband then was, a prisoner of war: she had succeeded, she said, after much trouble, in obtaining permission from the Government to leave Lima; for such were the suspicions of every one, that even a wife’s motives for joining her husband in prison were looked upon with distrust, and made matter of long debate in council. So little accustomed of late was the poor woman to being treated with any confidence or consideration, that when I frankly promised her a passage, she could scarcely believe it possible, and burst into tears. Very different tears, 1 suspect, were shed by another lady whom we called upon immediately afterwards. News had just arrived of her husband, the Marquis of Torre Taglé, (afterwards a leading public character,) having gone over from the Royalist cause to that of the Patriots, while-she, DISTRESS OF LIMA. good lady, remained in the power of the Royalists. Both she and her husband being natives of Lima, and persons of wealth and high rank, their polities had long been suspected to have a tendency to the Independent cause, which offered to persons so situated a great increase of fortune and con- sequence ; and many people deemed the fair lady’s sorrow was not so deeply seated as her tears implied. But hypocrisy was the ruling sin of the hour. I dined one day with a party of gentlemen at a pleasant country-house in Miraflores, a fashionable bathing-place, six miles south of Lima. Villas and ornamented cottages were thickly scattered around us, but instead of being filled with company, as in times of peace, no one was now to be seen, although this was the height of the season: the sea broke idly on the beach without wetting the feet of a single bather ; not a guitar, nor a song, nor the merry sound of a dance, was heard in any of the bowers or shady verandahs ; no lively groups were seated on the neat stone benches, tastefully fitted up round the houses ; and the fine shady gravel walks in the numerous gardens round the villas were quite deserted, and all running into weeds. The gay multitude, who formerly gave animation to this spot, were now drawn into the capital; the only place where they could feel secure 3; and where they derived, or sought to derive, a melancholy consolation from companion- ship ;.and soon forgot, in the pressure of want and the immediate apprehension of violence, those enjoyments once deemed absolute necessaries of life. From the highest to the lowest person in society, every one felt the increasing evils that crowded round the sinking state. Actual want had already begun to pinch the poor ; the loss of almost every comfort affected the next in rank ; and luxuries of all kinds were discarded from the tables of the highest class. Military contributions were heavily exacted from the moneyed men ; the merchants lost their commerce ; the shop-keepers their wonted supplies. Even the Viceroy himself held his power by no enviable tenure; being surrounded by a suspicious and turbulent population, and by an army, to whose criminal insubordination alone he owed his authority. The city was invaded by a cautious and skilful general on land, and blockaded by anenterprising commander at sea ; and to wind up the evils of this ill-fated city, many of those men from whose steady and sincere support much might have been expected, were wasting their time in useless reproaches and recriminations. Two years antecedent to this period, when an attack from Chili was first seriously apprehended, it had been suggested by some clear-sighted indi- viduals, that the trade of Lima should be thrown open ; whereby the treasury, filled by the increased receipts of the customs, would be able to meet the expenses of a defensive war. As these very per- sons were amongst the number who derived the greatest benefit from the existing monopoly, it was much to the credit of their sagacity, that they foresaw more ample personal profits from a fair competition, than from their portion of monopoly. Simple and effectual as the above proposal seemed, as far as the immediate security of the state was concerned, the local authorities hesitated to adopt it without licence from Spain: every one ac- | | i} i | \| TWO ENGLISH OFFICERS ARRESTED. | quainted with the subject foresaw the issue of an | appeal to that quarter, on a question of free ‘colonial trade. In the meantime, the Chilian | squadron put an end to the discussion by enforcing | the celebrated Spanish Code, the Laws of the | Indies, as to the Lima trade : the port was block- | aded, and the treasury remained empty. The consequent bitter reproaches and taunts, now | that they were too late, took a still more virulent \| character from the state of affairs ; so that these i} 1 || still less to that practical cordiality so essential to and similar topics were discussed in a temper little suited to lead, even in theory, to useful conclusions ; the welfare of the state, at such a moment. These ruinous dissensions were still further fomented by the new spirit of independence, which, early in the campaign, pervaded the country, but had not heretofore attained the same height in Lima as in other parts of South America ; owing, perhaps, to its containing a far greater proportion of Old Spaniards of wealth and consequence. Be the cause what it may, the vigilance of Govern- ment had hitherto succeeded in keeping down the expression of such feelings ; but now this was no | longer possible, and every day raised the hopes, _and added to the numbers, of the Independent | party. CHAPTER VI. Two Officers of the Conway arrested as spies.—Consequent Ferments at Lima and Callao.—Sanguinary Mobs.— Military Commission.—Sketch of Lima.—Smoking in the Theatre. 18th of February.—I LEARNED, when at Lima this morning, that two officers of my ship had been arrested at Callao on the evening before, and were imprisoned in the Castle, on suspicion of being spies from Lord Cochrane’s squadron, though landed by my boat. In ordinary times, had such a mistake happened, it would have been easily explained; but at a moment of such popular ferment, especially when the English were held in universal distrust, it was likely to prove a serious affair. All Lima was thrown into commotion by this circumstance; every one implicitly believed the story, and at Callao, the uproar was described as infinitely worse. At the time of receiving a report of this transaction from the ship, a letter from the Viceroy was put into my hands, stating | that two persons, giving themselves out as officers of the Conway, had landed in my boat ; and that, as five men at Callao had recognised and sworn to their having belonged to Lord Cochrane’s ship, they had been confined in the Castle; and the formal declarations of the witnesses were to be taken preparatory to the trial of the prisoners. I immediately waited on the Viceroy, and assured him there must be some mistake: but in order to preventall further misunderstanding, before making an official requisition to the Government for the officers to be delivered up, I wished to have access to them at Callao. This, however reasonable, was at first objected to, on the ground of improper communication ; but as I merely asked to have the means of identifying their persons, an order was given for that purpose, which I carried with me to the Castle. The ferment at Callao, a place at all times liable a 25 to violent popular commotions, was supposed to | be so great on this irritating occasion, that many people counselled me not to excite the mob to greater fury by showing myself amongst them. But it seemed very obvious that any delay in visiting my officers in confinement at this par- ticular moment, would tend indirectly to confirm all the suspicions against them ; and possibly lead to their being sacrificed to the fury of the populace. | The executive Government, it was to be feared, possessed at this critical season no very great authority ; and as the military partook deeply of the wild opinions of the people, their subordination, especially in a popular point like this, could not be relied on. I saw, too, with much regret, that whatever might be the issue of this affair, all chance of our remaining afterwards on any good | understanding with the Spaniards was gone. On reaching Callao, I rode slowly through the streets, which were filled with people, over whose countenances hung a scowl that spoke anything but civility or welcome ; there was also some little murmuring, and an occasional appearance of sur- prise at my presence :-——but no violence or insult of any kind was offered to me. The Spaniards are so devoted to form, that my order for admission to the prisoners was required to pass through innumerable hands before I was permitted to look at them ; and then I was not allowed to speak a word. This done, the prison doors were again locked, and I returned to Lima to make an official application to the Government for the individuals who had been arrested, and whom I had now identified as officers of my ship. There is some reason to think that the peace- able reception I met with at Callao was owing to a mere acccident. All commercial intercourse between Chili and Peru having been cut off from the moment the expedition sailed, the only mode of communication between Valparaiso and Callao was by means of the neutral men-of-war; and as, in former times, there had been a constant inter- course between these two ports, and numerous connexions had been formed between their respec- tive inhabitants, the effects of the war were now severely felt in the interruption of correspondence. I have stated, that, at Valparaiso, I sometimes amused myself by going into the cottages to observe the habits of the lower classes ; and as it happened that most of those people had some relative or connexion settled at Callao, I was charged, on sailing, with many messages and letters, all of which, it may be mentioned as characteristic of the times, they insisted on my first reading in their presence, lest they should accidentally contain political matter likely to prove prejudicial to their correspondents, or to me the bearer. Shortly after my arrival at Peru, I took care to deliver all these letters and messages in person. The letters were few, but the neighbours flocked in on hearing that tidings had come from Valparaiso ; and though | many were disappointed, many also were made happy, by hearing of their friends, from whom they had received no other direct communication for a long time. I had fortunately taken the pre- | caution to write down the very words of the dif- | ferent messages from the people at Valparaiso in my pocket-book, so that when these little memor- andums were torn out and given to the parties, they became a sort of letter, and were prized as | / | | | 26 such by the receivers. For my own part, I was well satisfied with seeing people so easily made happy, and thought no more of the matter. Just now, however, when I had become an object of suspicion, and when the lives of two of my officers were at stake, it was of some consequence to main- tain any good-will that accident might have gained for me amongst the mob—a mob, it may be added, of a notoriously sanguinary character, since, on a recent occasion, they had actually put a whole boat’s crew to death, during a popular tumult. This occurred a few days after the capture of the Esmeralda, in consequence of an idea, equally preposterous with that which possessed them now, that the American frigate Macedonian had co- operated with Lord Cochrane upon that occa- sion. As I was mounting to return to Lima, on coming out of the Castle after seeing the officers, a crowd rapidly collected around me, seemingly in no cordial mood. I walked my horse deliberately to the nearest of the houses to which any letter or message from Valparaiso had been delivered, and, under pretence of asking for a glass of water, stopped at the door. The people of the house came running out to receive me, and one of them said, in a tone partaking both of kindness and reproach, “ Oh, Senor, I did not think you would have allowed spies to land in your boat.” “ And I, my good lady,” said I, “never could have sup- posed you would allow such an absurd suspicion to enter your head.” The crowd had, by this time, collected in great numbers round us, listen- ing to all that passed, and many of my old ac- quaintances came forward to renew the subject of their Valparaiso friends. In this way the con- versation went on for about ten minutes, after which I turned my horse towards Lima. The crowd opened a passage for me ; and I was never afterwards molested or threatened in the slightest degree, though I passed through Callao several times every day during the hext week, at a time when the hatred and suspicion of the English were at their greatest height. The delay of a Spanish pleyto, or cause, is, above all others, proverbial ; and, therefore, it was not matter of surprise, however it might be of vexa- tion, that the release of my officers was not obtained atonce. An official letter was written to Govern- ment to require their restitution, as they had been identified by me, and I pledged myself, of course, to the truth of this statement. The difficulty was to determine the value of my word, as opposed to the oath of no less than five men at Callao, who had sworn, it seems, most positively, that they had recently seen these very officers doing duty on board Lord Cochrane’s ships ; whereas, in point of fact, neither of them had ever set their foot on board any one of the Chilian squadron. The Viceroy admitted that the character of the wit- nesses was utterly worthless ; but he did not, or, perhaps, could not, do me the justice to act upon that admission. It was clear enough that he doubted his own power; for he said very can- didly, that the tide of popular feeling could not be safely resisted, without a little delay. This want of confidence on the part of the executive govern- ment was areal source of alarm ; and I was made still more uneasy, by learning that the officers were to be tried by a military commission—an A MILITARY COMMISSION. a nature not to be trusted. The Viceroy told me, at this interview, that he had just received advices of ten or twelve deserters |) from the Chilian squadron having arrived : he had ordered them to Callao that their evidence might also be taken in the case of the officers. The tes- timony of these men, he thought, would probably not agree with that of the first five witnesses, who might well be suspected of having concerted their story. This seemed sensible enough ; but the manner in which the scheme was carried into execution was highly characteristic. 'The Govern- ment considered that they had done everything towards the advancement of justice, in originating the idea of this cross-evidence ; and, therefore, merely gave an order for the deserters to be sent to Callao, without stating that they should be kept apart from the first witnesses: so that they absolutely were placed, for a whole night, in the same room with the very men whom they were sent to confront. I attended next morning, along with the officers, whilst the declarations of all the witnesses were taken, by the commission appointed for that pur- pose ; when fifteen men swore on the cross to the fact of these two gentlemen, whom they pointed out, having served upwards of two years with Lord Cochrane. They were all men of the most abandoned character, and well known at Callao as such ; but that circumstance mattered little, as their evidence ministered to the heated imagina- — tion and violent prejudices of the people. As far, therefore, as this sage inquiry went, it would cer- tainly have left matters worse than it found them, had not three Spanish gentlemen voluntarily come forward, greatly to their honour, in the very face © of the popular clamour, and in a manner well deserving our acknowledgments. were naval officers, the other a respectable mer- { ominous court at best, and one, in such times, of | Two of them | chant ; all three had been prisoners of war on | board Lord Cochrane’s ship at the time specified | by the witnesses ; and they swore positively, that neither of the prisoners had then been on board the flag-ship, nor any other of the Patriot squadron. Had not the latter witnesses fortunately come | forward, there is no saying what might have been | the result of the inquiry. mission, however, appointed to consider the evi- dence, after a violent discussion, in the course of © which it was seriously proposed to hang the officers as spies, agreed, by a small majority, to liberate | them. The military commission took this occasion to recommend to Government, not to allow any | stranger to land from the foreign ships in the Roads, during these turbulent times. part of the despatch is curious, from showing the state of feeling at the moment, I subjoin a transla- tion of it: “ And in order to maintain the friend- ship and harmony so valuable to both nations ; to place out of reach all motive of dissension ; and | to avoid misunderstandings between the English and Spaniards, which, in consequence of the opi- . nions held at Lima, and still more at Callao, neither » the prudence, the foresight, nor the zeal of the ) commanders can prevent ; it seems necessary to ) the Government, under existing circumstances, , (the port being blockaded by the Chilian squadron, , under Lord Cochrane,) that all strange ships | re | The military com- | As - this | CEMETERY AT LIMA. 27 should anchor outside of the line, (of gun-boats,) and that no individuals, of whatever class and con- dition they be, shall come on shore.” On the 23d of February, we accordingly embarked, and, for the present, took leave of Lima, without any great regret ; for the period of our visit had been one of constant irritation and difficulty. Lord Cochrane, who had been at sea for some time, rejoined the blockading squadron in the Roads just before the above discussion ended ; and on the 24th, I had an interview with his lordship, on board his flag-ship, the San Martin. On the 25th his Majesty’s ship Andromache returned to the anchorage ; and on the 28th, with a ship full of passengers, I sailed for Chili. The city of Lima has been described so often, and so minutely, by well-known authors, that a very few words respecting it will be sufficient in this place. The road from Callao to Lima is six miles long, perfectly straight, and the rise so gradual, as to be almost imperceptible, although the city is elevated above the level of the sea more than six hundred feet. When seen from Callao Roads, or even from a less distance, no town has a more splendid appearance, owing to its numerous domes and spires, rising from so elevated a situa- tion, and wearing a strange and rather Moorish aspect. On approaching the city, everything speaks of past splendour and present wretchedness. At the top of the road, there is an approach a mile in length, between two double rows of fine trees, with public walks, stretching on either hand, and elegant ornamental stone seats ; all being now in ruins, and choked up with weeds and shrubs. The principal entry to Lima is at the end of this grand approach, through a gorgeous triumphal arch, tawdry and falling to decay, with the crown of Spain mouldering on the top. No traveller, it is said, ever entered a great town without feeling some disappointment ; and the capital of Peru furnishes no exception to the observation. The churches, which, at a distance make so splendid a show, turn out on closer in- spection to be very paltry structures, overlaid with fantastic and tasteless stucco work, and tinsel ornaments. The effect, therefore, which the mag- nitude of the buildings might have produced, is quite destroyed by the meanness of the details. The lower part only of these great churches is built of stone, the spires and domes being formed of wood plastered over, which, though certainly a wise precaution, is destructive of their magnificent effect. This proceeds not from economical motives, but from the recollection of many fatal catastrophes which have taken place in churches built of stone, in consequence of earthquakes, to which Peru is unfortunately very liable. Lima, like all the Spanish towns in this country, is divided by parallel streets, with others crossing at right angles, into quadras or solid squares of houses, about a hundred and twenty yards in length on each face: a very considerable propor- tion of the whole town is occupied by convents and churches. Along the middle of the streets there runs a stream of water, into which all rubbish is ordered to be thrown; but as this is seldom duly attended to, the streets become receptacles of filth from one end to the other. The pavements both of the carriage-way and the footpaths, have been allowed to go out of repair; a circumstance the less attended to from there being few wheeled carriages ; all heavy work being done by asses and mules, About half a league from the city walls on the N.E. there has been built, during the last century, an extensive public burying-ground, in rather an unusual taste. Instead of being dark and gloomy, and surrounded by all sorts of sombre images, we found it a very elegant and cheerful place, more like an ornamental pleasure-ground than a ceme- tery. The approach was by a fine sweep along which carriages could drive, and visitors were received at a handsome gate, within which was a highly ornamented building like a Grecian Temple, most absurdly named the Pantheon, inasmuch as it contains only a large image of our Saviour enclosed in a glass case, like a body lying in state. On passing this edifice, we reached a large enclosed space, like a garden, with numerous walks crossing each other at right angles, and kept in the nicest order. On each side of the walks rose walls about six feet high, and eight or ten thick, which, on close inspection, were found not to be solid, but con- structed on the principle of honey-ccmbs, with a series of horizontal cells lying one above another, each adapted for the reception of a coffin. Besides the cells contained in these middle walls there appeared to be innumerable others in courts and areas adjoining. Every part of these works, how- ever, was neatly whitewashed, and the whole was rendered pleasing by some attempt at architectural ornament: a small projecting cornice ran along the top of the whole building, under which extended from end to end a flat band or fillet of smooth stone on which the names of the tenants of these picturesque-looking tombs were inscribed. We soon discovered by these inscriptions that each convent and each family had iis allotted place ; and it was amusing enough to observe with what exact attention to etiquette the precedence of the dead bodies was maintained. The departed Arch- bishops of Lima occupied the highest part in the grounds—next came the subordinate fathers of the church, the great officers of the state, and so on, down to the lowest ranks. A particular spot was assigned to the ladies—another to children ; and here a careful distinction was pointed out to us between the burial-place of infants who had been baptized before their death, and those who had not, the souls of the latter, as our guide took great pains to inform us, being disposed of in Limbo, a minor degree of purgatory. At the very bottom of the grounds was a space railed off, apart from the rest, in which the bodies of executed malefactors were deposited. Even these, it ap- peared, were allowed a decided superiority of rank above suicides and heretics, who were excluded from the enclosure altogether, and a strong screen- work of brick built up between them and those who, whatever their crimes may have been, had died in the true faith of the church. The theatre, which was opened during the fes- tivities upon the accession of the new Viceroy, was of rather a singular form ; being a long oval, the stage occupying the greater part of one side, by which means the front boxes were brought close to the actors. The audience in the pit was com- posed exclusively of men, and that in the galleries of women ; a fashion borrowed, I believe, from 28 Madrid: the intermediate space was divided into several rows of private boxes. Between the acts, the Viceroy retires to the back seat of his box, which being taken as a signal that he may be considered as absent, every man in the pit draws forth his steel and flint, lights his segar, and puffs away vigorously, in order to make the most of his time ; for when the curtain rises, and the Viceroy again comes forward, there can no longer be any smoking, consistently with Spanish etiquette. The sparkling of so many flints at once, which makes the pit look as if a thousand fire-flies had been let loose, and the cloud of smoke rising immediately afterwards and filling the house, are little circumstances which strike the eye of a stranger, as being more decidedly characteristic than incidents really important. I may add, that the gentlemen in the boxes also smoke on these occasions ; and I once fairly detected a lady taking a sly whiff behind her fan. The Viceroy’s presence or absence, however, produces no change in the gallery aloft, where the goddesses keep up an unceasing fire during the whole evening. —_+— CHAPTER VII. ’ CHILI. Excursion to the Interior.—Bridge of Suspension made of Hide Ropes over the River Maypo.—Night Scene amongst the Andes.—Description of a Chilian Country-House and Dinner.—Ridiculous Vow. On the 18th of March, 1821, we anchored at Valparaiso after eighteen days’ passage from Lima, which is considered rather quick, the average for ships of war being somewhat more than three weeks. I landed in the evening to deliver letters and messages, being principally in answer to those we had carried on last sailing from Valparaiso, and already alluded to in the account of our procedings at Callao. Many of the people at Valparaiso would scarcely believe that we had been in Peru at all, not being acquainted with the expeditious manner in which passages are now made. We had been absent only seven weeks, whereas in old times as many months at least would have been required to have performed the same service. At the first house for which I had letters, the family received me with a look of disappointment, and begged reproachfully to have the letters returned, not supposing it possible that I could have delivered them ; but when they beheld the answers, their joy and gratitude knew no bounds; the news of our arrival spread rapidly, and in ten minutes the house was filled with people beseeching us for letters. In no country could a more lively interest be expressed than by these persons for their absent friends ; and this furnishes a complete answer to the statements so often made, of their coldness and indifference in their domestic relations. After delivering all my letters and messages, I was overpowered by questions from the ladies as to the appearance, manners, and various other quali- ties of persons whom they had not seen, but who had married into the families of their relatives in Peru. This was a hard task; but the little I recollected was extremely well bestowed,and it was pleasing to observe the effect which all this pro- duced in developing character. Many people who had always been cold and formal before, came up REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. and offered their hands with a cordiality and frankness quite contrary to what had seemed their natural disposition, but which proved ever after- wards sincere and steady. Just as I was leaving the house to return on board, two young men came to enquire for their sister, a widow lady, of whom they had not heard for more than a year. It so happened that this very person was one of my passengers, and nothing would satisfy the brothers and their wives, and two or three more, but going on board the Conway instantly, though it was near midnight. Accordingly I stowed the whole party in my boat, and carried them off, to the great joy and astonish- ment of the widow. I afterwards went to call upon two young Eng- lish women, one of whom was in a very desolate and distressing situation, and wished to see me on the subject of a passage to England. It appeared she had been induced in an evil hour to leave her father’s roof, to accompany a wild adventurer, who, in the taste and spirit of a bueccaneer, made sure of a golden harvest in the predatory wars he »had heard were raging against the Spaniards on the shores of the Pacific. The discipline and regular measures, however, of the Patriot fleet ill agreed with his fiery temperament, and he was eventually thrown out of employment. While living at Valparaiso with this lady, a child was added to their establishment, and the infant one day happening to cry, he desired it to be quiet ; the little thing only cried the more, which enraged the savage so much that he threatened to shoot the child. The mother, of course, took the child away ; he called to her to bring it back, and upon her refusing to do so till he was cool, he roared out that if she did not come instantly he would kill her. “Oh, no,” said she, playfully, “ you won’t do that, I am sure.” he, “at all events I can shoot myself;” and instantly this impetuous and foolish madman seized a pistol and actually fired it through his own body. The wound was mortal, and the approach of death having at length mitigated his ferocity, he endeavoured to repair the evils he had heaped on this unhappy woman’s head, and sending for a clergyman, was married on the spot to the wretch he had betrayed, ruined, and was now about to leave helpless in a foreign land. He next seized a sheet of paper, and scrawled a will, leaving all the property he had to his desolate widow ; and in fact she became such before the ink which recorded this solitary act of justice was dry. Next morning I resumed my occupation of delivering messages and letters. At one house where I called, the poor people had absolutely nothing te entertain me with, having been reduced, by the events of the revolution, from affluence to the lowest state of poverty. But they would not consent that I should leave their house without accepting their hospitality, such as it was, and one of the children being despatched to a neigh- bouring pulperia or ale-house, with a broken wine-glass and a small piece of money, returned with some spirits, of which they entreated me to drink at least a drop, as it would be an unfortu- nate omen were I to decline. A person now came in, who said that a relation of the family who was sick in bed, hearing I had brought news of her ? “ Then,’’ exclaimed | } parents, wished to see me. SUSPENSION BRIDGE OF HIDE ROPE. 29 I accordingly set out, under the escort of a little boy, who conducted | me through sundry strange-looking alleys, till at length we reached a bolted door. Admittance was demanded and as stoutly denied, till it was | announced that the caballero with news had arrived. In an instant the door flew open, and } before I had time to look round me, I found myself in the lady’s bed-room. Her anxiety to | know about her parents was extreme. She fancied somehow there was a studied reserve and embar- rassment in my manner, and in an instant her | Suspicions caught fire, and starting up, in spite of . similar. the efforts of her nurse, and clasping her hands, she screamed out, “I see it—I see it all—now I know my mother is dead!” and burst into a violent fit of tears. I had great difficulty in reassuring the poor girl, whose mother was alive and well. It was the same, more or less, every- where; and amongst no people have I ever met with more thorough kindliness and affection for one another than was exhibited by these poor Chi- lenos. As the Commander-in-chief was at the capital, I proceeded there on the 23d to make my report. On the 28th of March I set out from Santiago, accompanied by one of the English residents and a young officer of my ship, to pay a visit to a Chilian gentleman who resided about eighteen leagues in the interior. The day was well advanced | before we started, and we pursued our way at a rapid pace over the great plain of Santiago, appa- rently a dead flat ; but which we discovered, upon looking back at the city, to have a considerable though very gradual ascent: so that we were how several hundred feet: above the highest churches, without having perceived that we had been rising. In a country the character of which is quite new, we are always liable to err in the ideas formed of the scenery around us. Amongst the Andes this is particularly the case ; for the scale of everything is so great, that our previous con- ceptions are unable to grasp the scene before us, and we run almost necessarily into mistakes respecting heights and distances, which nothing but experience can rectify. It is not at first that one is conscious of the deception ; and the interest of a journey made under such circumstances, is greatly heightened by the growing conviction that our senses are unequal to the task of duly esti- mating what is before us—the reality, in short, on these occasions, often outstrips the imagination. We crossed the river Maypo by a bridge made of hide ropes, near the scene of the battle fought by San Martin on the 5th of April 1818, already oR to in the account of the revolutions in ili. This bridge is curious from its simplicity, and from the close resemblance it bears to the iron bridges of suspension recently introduced into England, to which, in principle, it is precisely It consists of a narrow road-way of planks laid crosswise, with their ends resting on straight ropes, suspended by means of short lines, toa set of thicker ropes drawn across the stream from bank to bank. These strong sustaining cords are six in number, three at each side of the bridge, and hang in flat curves, one above another, the short vertical lines supporting the road-way being so disposed as to distribute the weight equally. The main or suspending ropes are firmly secured to the angles of the rock on one side, at the height of thirty feet from the stream ; but the opposite bank being low, it has been found necessary to correct the consequent incli- nation in some degree, by carrying the ropes over a high wooden frame-work, and attaching them afterwards to trees, and to posts driven into the bank. The clear span from the frame, or pier, on one side, to the face of the rock on the other, is one hundred and twenty-three feet. The materials being very elastic, the bridge waved up and down with our weight, and vibrated from side to side in so alarming a manner, that, at the recommendation of the guide, we dismounted and drove our horses, one by one, before us ; but, it must be owned, neither man nor horse appeared much at ease during the passage. Shortly after crossing the Maypo, we reached the lowest range of the Andes, round the base of which the road wound amongst immense masses of rock which had been precipitated from the ridges above : and occasionally we passed through a belt of trees, growing like a fringe to the skirt of the mountains. It soon became dark ; and if in broad daylight the character of the scenery was so new and stupendous as to defy all our attempts to estimate distances and proportions, much greater was our perplexity now. Ina strange country, the traveller’s fancy is curiously worked tpon at such moments by the indistinct images which rise before him, so that he is perplexed and bewildered at every step. He sees, for example, what he takes to be a precipitous cliff, which, judging from his experience in daylight, he fancies many a league off ; but in the midst of his admiration, he thrusts his head amongst the branches of an olive- tree, the dark outline of which he had mistaken for that of one of the remote Andes. Or, being anxious to inquire his road, and seeing what he conceives to be a peasant’s hut some fifty yards before him, he hastens forward to inquire the way ; but at length, to his amazement, discovers that this fancied hut is some far distant peak of the Cordillera ! The day had been calm and sultry, but the evening no sooner closed in, than we were cheered by a cool and reviving breeze, blowing gently from the mountains, like the land-winds off the coasts of hot countries ; and, no doubt, from the same cause, namely, the differen¢e of temperature between the mountains and the plain, and the consequent difference in the weight of the air over each. The stars shone out with singular brilliancy,and we rode on in pleasing uncertainty of what was to come next. Under the influence of the surrounding scenery, we soon fell into a pleasing reverie on the romantic history of the conquest, and the gorgeous descriptions we had read of the Andes. At length the silence which we had for some time maintained was interrupted by one of the party calling out, that we were entering the grounds of a gentleman who wouid furnish us with another guide for the remainder of the journey. We dismounted at the door, and were shown into a bleak comfortless room with a mud floor, a rude unfinished roof, and lighted by a solitary black tallow candle, all of which made us feel in- a STE eS SU LI eo ee aos = SE ae aie 30 stinctively sure of a cold reception. In this, how- ever, we were much mistaken ; for the master of the house no sooner saw who we were, than he begged us to walk into his sala or drawing-room, a very different apartment from the first. As we entered, we could scarcely stand the glare of light from a dozen wax candles. The floor was covered with a rich carpet ; the roof and cornices were neatly finished, and the walls ornamented with mirrors and pictures. At the upper end of the room stood a grand piano-forte, by Broadwood, and at the tea-table, near it, the lady of the house and her daughters received us most kindly. We soon became acquainted ; and while one of the young ladies went out to gather some flowers for us, another opened the piano-forte at our request, and played very good-naturedly, while we sat chatting with the old people, who were entreating us to stay the night. There was something so unexpected in this kind of reception; and the people themselves were so obliging and agreeable, that I, for one, was very reluctant to quit such good quarters ; but as it was deemed necessary by the rest to go on, we mounted our jaded horses again with a very bad grace. But the charms of the night-scene were now all gone, and the wild embellishments with which fancy, an hour before, had dressed up the scenery, were supplanted by the dark and comfortless re- ality. Everything seemed to go wrong ; the road was full of holes ; the travellers weary of them- selves, and of one another, and the journey was never to be atanend! At length, after a tedious ride, we reached the Chacra, or farm, to which we were bound, and had proceeded about half-way up the approach, when we were overtaken by two riders, one of whom proved to be the master of the house. He immediately dismounted, and welcomed us to the country with a frankness of manner, and a kindliness of tone, peculiarly pleasing to an uninvited visitor. The ladies of the family, they said, were just behind us, the whole party being on their return from a little dance in the neigh- bourhood. We therefore hurried on, and had our horses put away in time to hand the ladies from their carreta. 29th of March.—When we met next morning, every one looked well pleased to find himself in the country, free from the bustle and distraction of the capital. The fresh feeling, always produced by the free air of the fields, was increased on this occasion by their being covered with vines, and olive-trees, and sweet-scented shrubs, and decked out with all sorts of gay blossoms. There is a genial influence in the country in all climates, under which the frost of etiquette melts away, the natural character comes into view, and many amiable qualities, heretofore unobserved, are discovered and acknowledged. But we missed the sociability of the breakfast party, for in these countries the family seldom assemble till the dinner-hour, which is generally before two. Yet we found ample objects to interest us during the early part of the morning until the heat of the sun drove us into the house, long before our curiosity was satisfied. We sat down to dinner, a very merry party, the master of the house insisting upon my taking the top of the table ; a custom he said that could by no means be dispensed with. The first dish which NIGHT SCENE AMONGST THE ANDES. was placed on the- table was bread soup, exceed- ingly good, and enriched either with fish or meat : a distinction so immaterial, we thought, that our surprise was considerable when we observed a gentleman of the party start up, and, with a look as if he had swallowed poison, exclaim, “O Lord, there is fish in the soup!” and while we were wondering at this exclamation, our friend ran off |} to the kitchen to interrogate the cook. He re- turned with a most woe-begone countenance, and finished his plate of soup as if it had been the last he was ever to taste. A feeling of delicacy pre- vented our asking questions, although our curiosity was raised to the highest pitch, by observing the gentleman touch nothing else, and go without his dinner. It was Friday, and it was in Lent, cir- cumstances which might have accounted for his horror at meat ; but it was fish which had shocked him ; besides, we saw the rest of the company eating both one and the other without scruple, which puzzled us exceedingly, and the more so as the self- denying individual was really a very sensible man, and showed no other symptoms of eccentricity. We at last discovered that he had, for some reason or other, come under a religious engagement not to eat both fish and flesh, though the South Ame- ricans are permitted to do so, by an express bull in their favour, which any one may purchase who pleases. It so happened, that this conscientious individual had set his fancy most particularly ona meat dish close to him, never dreaming of what had been put into thesoup; butfish once tasted, his feast was at an end, and, to do him justice, he kept his vow in a manner worthy of an anchorite. We had then the Olla, a dish celebrated in all lands where Spanish is spoken. It consists of boiled beef, piled round with all sorts of vegetables, and well covered with a large yellow pea, called a Garbanza ; and so inseparable is this union, that our “beans and bacon” is not better known in English, even in a proverbial sense, than “ Olla con Garbanza” is in Spanish. Besides these dishes, we had various rich stews, and last of all a dish of roast beef. This did not in the smallest degree resemble the glorious roast beef of England ; but was a long thin, black strip of dry, burnt-up meat, without a single bone to give it a shape, and with every bit of fat carefully cut away. Mean- while we finished our dinner, and then partook of a capital dessert of cool bursting figs, fresh from trees within sight of the table ; as well as the luscious sweet grapes, the pride of our host’s heart ; and lastly, the enormous purple water- melon, the staff of life amongst the poorer classes in this country: to all which was added a pleasant small wine, manufactured, as our host triumphantly imparted to us, by our absent hostess. | The whole scene was highly characteristic of the country. We sat in the cross draught of two open doors and numerous unsashed windows, en- joying the balmy air as it passed through the house, whisking in its course the dried fig and vine leaves along the floor. On one side we could see the gravel walks of the garden, stretching far under trellised vines, and shaded by a broad belt of lofty walnut-trees, which formed a grateful ‘screen be- tween us and the fiery glare of the western sky. On the other hand, our view extended to the base of the Andes, fifty or sixty miles off, indistinctly seen through the waving haze caused by the fierce- | | | and fixing his eye upon the fattest, pointed it out THE SOUTH AMERICAN LASSO. mess of the sun’s rays striking on the arid low grounds : neither bird nor beast was to be seen, nor the least speck of a cloud in the sky. The yranny of the sun was complete. There was a solemn tranquillity in this, which, while it disposed ithe mind to thought, took nothing from its cheer- fulness. But we were soon left to enjoy it alone, jas the company dropped off one by one, to take jtheir siesta, the landlord only remaining ; but as this was evidently out of civility to his guests, we itook an early opportunity of slipping off to our jrooms, that he also might retire. —_oe—_. CHAPTER VIII. | Selection of Cattle—Description of the Lasso used for catching Cattle.-—Expertness of the Chilians.—Country Dances.—Promesa against Dancing by a Young Lady. | Ovr host was a native Chilian, but of Spanish idescent. He was a considerable landed pro- |prietor, who passed the greater part of his time on his estate, and who, from his knowledge of farming, cattle breeding, and the cultivation of the vine, had been enabled not only to turn his pro- perty to good account, but to obtain great influence in the country. By kindness and hospitality he drew people to his house, while his talents and information rendered him an invaluable neigh- bour. His wife was absent in the city for her confinement, but her father and two sisters were of our party. Between four and five o’clock, the siesta being over, our friends rubbing their eyes gradually made their appearance ; and by half past five, we were all assembled. The carreta, which is merely a | covered cart, well supplied with mats and straw in place of springs, was ordered for the ladies, who set out to pay what they were pleased to call “unas visitas campestres ;” in plain English, gossiping | country visits. The gentlemen rode in another direction to see | the cattle selected for next day’s Matanza or slaugh- ter. We were guided by a cloud of dust to the spot where the country people had collected the drove, and hemmed them into a corner. The master of the house, accompanied by the principal | horseman of his farm, rode amongst the beasts, to the attendants, who soon separated it from the rest, by means of their goads. In this way fifteen were selected,and being surrounded by about a dozen horsemen, were driven slowly towards the house, and finally shut up in an adjoining corral or enclosure. On our way homeward, our host entertained us by making his people show us the South American method of catching cattle. The instrument used is called in English a Lasso, from the Spanish Lazo, which signifies slip-knot or noose. It consists of a ' rope made of twisted strips of untanned hide, vary- ing in length from fifteen to twenty yards, and is about as thick as the little finger. It has a noose sr running knot at one end, the other extremity | being fastened by an eye and button to a ring in _ 4 Strong hide belt or surcingle, bound tightly round | the horse. The coil is grasped by the horseman’s left hand, while the noose, which is held in the right, trails along the ground except when in use, “31 and then it is whirled round the head with con- siderable velocity, during which, by a peculiar turn of the wrist, it is made to assume a circular form ; so that, when delivered from the hand, the noose preserves itself open till it falls over the object at which it has been aimed. The unerring precision with which the lasso is thrown is perfectly astonishing, and to one who sees it for the first time, has a very magical appear- ance. Even when standing still, it is by no means an easy thing to throw the lasso ; but the difficulty is vastly increased when it comes to be thrown from horseback and at a gallop, and when, in addition, the rider is obliged to pass over uneven ground, and to leap hedges and ditches in his course. Yet such is the dexterity of the guassos, or countrymen, that they are not only sure of catching the animal they are in chase of, but can fix, or as they term it, place their lasso onany particular part they please; either over the horns or the neck, or round the body; or they can include all four legs, or two, or any one of the four ; and the whole with such ease and certainty, that it is necessary to witness the feat to have a just conception of the skill displayed. It is like the dexterity of the savage Indian in the use of his bow and arrow, and can only be gained by the arduous practice of many years. It is in fact the earliest amusement, as well as business, of these people ; for I have often seen little boys just beginning to run about, actively employed in las- soing cats, and entangling the legs of every dog that was unfortunate enough to pass within reach. In due season they become very expert in their attacks on poultry; and afterwards in catching wild birds : so that by the time they are mounted on horseback, which is always at an early age, they begin to acquire that matchless skill, from which noanimalof less speed than a horse has the slightest chance of escaping. Let us suppose that a wild bull is to be caught, and that two mounted horsemen, guassos as they are called in Chili, or guachos in Buenos Ayres, undertake to kill him. As soon as they discover their prey, they remove the coil of the lasso from behind them, and grasping it in the left hand, prepare the noose in the right, and dash off at full gallop, each swinging his lasso roundhishead. The first who comes within reach aims at the bull’s horns, and when he sees, which he does in an in- stant, that the lasso which he has thrown will take effect, he stops his horse, and turns it half round, the bull continuing his course, till the whole cord has run out. The horse, meanwhile, knowing, by experience, what is going to happen, leans over as much as he can in the opposite direction from the bull, and stands trembling in expectation of the violent tug which is to be given to him by the bull when brought up by the lasso. So great, indeed, is the jerk which takes place at this moment, that were the horse not to lean over in the manner de- scribed, he would certainly be overturned ; but standing as he does across the road, with his feet planted firmly on the ground, he offers sufficient resistance to stop the bull as instantaneously as if it had been shot, though the instant before he was running at full speed. In some cases, this check is so abrupt and violent, that the animal is not only dashed to the ground, but rolls along at the full stretch of the lasso ; while the horse is drawn sideways, and ploughs up the earth with his feet ' 32 for several yards. This, which takes so long to describe, is the work of a few seconds ; during which, the other horseman gallops past ; and be- fore the bull has time to recover from the shock, places the noose over his horns, and continues advancing till this lasso also is at full stretch. The bull, stupified by the fall, sometimes lies motionless on the ground; but the men soon rouse him up, by tugging him to and fro. When on his legs, with a horseman on each side, he is like a ship moored with two cables ; and however unwilling he may be to accompany the guassos, or however great his struggles, he is irresistibly dragged along by them in whatever direction they please. If the intention be to kill the animal for the sake of the hide and tallow alone, as is often the case, one of the guassos dismounts, and running in, cuts the bull’s hamstrings with a long knife, which he always wears in his girdle ; and, instantly after- wards, despatches him by a dexterous cut across the back of the neck. The most surprising thing is the manner in which the horse, after being left by his rider, manages to preserve the lasso always tight ; this would be less difficult if the bull were to remain steady, but it sometimes happens, that he makes violent struggles to disentangle himself from the lassos, rushing backwards and forwards in a furious manner. The horse however, with wonderful sagacity, alters his place, and prances about, as if conscious of what he is doing, so as to resist.every movement of the bull, and never to allow the lasso to be relaxed for a moment. When a wild horse is to be taken, the lasso is always placed round the two hind-legs, and, as the guasso rides a little on one side, the jerk pulls the entangled feet laterally, so as to throw him on his side without endangering his knees or his face. Before the horse can recover the shock, the rider dismounts, and snatching his poncho or cloak from his shoulders, wraps it round the prostrate animal’s head ; he then forces into his mouth one of the powerful bits of the country, straps a saddle on his back, and, bestriding him, removes the poncho; upon which the astonished horse springs on his legs, and endeavours, by a thousand vain efforts, to disencumber himself of his new master, who sits quite composedly on his back ; and, by a discipline which never fails, reduces the horse to such complete obedience, that he is soon trained to lend his speed and strength in the capture of his wild companions. During the recent wars in this country, the lasso was used as a weapon of great power in the hands of these people, who made bold and useful troops, and never failed to dismount cavalry, or to throw down the horses of those who came within their reach. There is a well-authenticated story of a party of eight or ten of them, who had never seen a piece of artillery, till one was fired at them in the streets of Buenos Ayres. Notwithstanding the effect of the fire, they galloped fearlessly up to it, placed their lassos over the cannon, and, by their united strength, fairly overturned it. Another anecdote is related of them, which, though possible enough, does not rest on such good authority. A number of armed boats were sent to effect a landing at a certain point on the coast, guarded solely by these horsemen. The party in the boats, caring little for an enemy un- provided with fire-arms, rowed confidently along THE CHILIAN LADY’S PROMESA. the shore. The guassos, meanwhile, were watching their opportunity, and the moment the boats came sufficiently near, dashed into the water, and throwing their lassos round the necks of the officers, fairly dragged every one of them out of their boats. In the evening we were engaged in amusements of a very different description. Our party repaired | to the house of a neighbour, an old lady, whose greatest delight was to see her friends happy about her. We were soon joined by several other fami- lies, and there being a piano-forte in the room, the inevitable consequence was a dance. If it be dif- ficult to describe the lasso, it is quite impossible to describe the Spanish country-dance, which bears | no resemblance to that known in England. It | consists of a great variety of complicated figures, affording infinite opportunities for the display of | grace, and for showing elegance of figure to the greatest advantage. It is danced to waltz tunes, played in rather slow time ; and instead of one or } two couples dancing at once, the whole of the set from end to end is constantly in motion. dance can be more beautiful to look at, or more bewitching to be engaged in; yet there is no denying that, admirable though it be for those warm regions, it is of a character unsuited to the climate and habits of England. Dancing and | walking, for the last is equally looked upon as an |} accomplishment, are taught with great care, and I do not remember to have seen any lady who did not do both well. Differences in the figure and in the taste of the individual, will of course make distinctions quite as remarkable as are observable in other countries ; but still the universality of good dancing, and more particularly of graceful, or it may be called elegant walking, is a very remarkable feature, and well deserving of notice. As the Chilian ladies have more or less a taste for music, and all play on the ‘piano-forte, there seldom arises, on such occasions as this, a difficulty in finding a player. But I was surprised, and somewhat disappointed, to see a young lady, one of the gayest and best dancers in Chili, place her- self at the instrument. The gentlemen loudly ap- pealed against this proceeding ; but she maintained her place resolutely, declaring she would not dance a single step. Seeing there was some mystery in | this, I took an opportunity of begging to know what could have induced a person of so much good sense and cheerfulness, and at the same time so fond of dancing, to make so very preposterous a resolution. She laughed on hearing the subject treated with such earnestness, and confessed that nothing was farther from her own wishes or habits than her present forbearance, but that she was bound by what she called a Promesa, or engage- ment, not to dance fora whole year. I begged an explanation of this singular obligation, when she told me, that, during the recent confinement of her | sister, our host's wife, at a moment when her life | was despaired of, her mother had made a vow, that, if she recovered, not one of the unmarried girls should dance for twelve months. Her younger || sister was, however, dancing ; and I found she had managed to evade the interdict by an ingenious piece of casuistry ; arguing, that as the promise had been made by her mother in town, it could never be intended to apply to the country. The good-natured mother, who probably repented of | No | THE SOUTH AMERICAN LASSO. “her absurd vow, allowed that a good case of con- science had been made out ; and the pretty Rosa- lita danced away with a spirit which was taken up by the whole room, and a more animated ball was never seen. —$ CHAPTER IX. South American Method of killing Cattle—Use of the Lasso and the Luna.—Anecdote of some Boys..—Method of preparing Jerked Beef. 30th of March.—Brrore breakfast to-day, we witnessed the South American method of killing cattle, a topic which, though at first sight no very delicate or inviting one, will not, I trust, prove uninteresting or disagreeable in description. The cattle, as I mentioned before, had been driven into an enclosure, or corral, whence they were now let out, one by one, and killed; but not in the manner practised in England ; where I believe, they are dragged into a house, and de- spatched by blows on the forehead with a pole- axe. Here the whole took place in the open air, and resembled rather the catastrophe of a grand field sport, than a deliberate slaughter. On a level space of ground before the corral were ranged in a line four or five guassos on horse- back, with their lassos all ready in their hands; and opposite to them another set of men on foot, similarly equipped, so as to form a wide lane, extending from the gate of the corral to the distance of thirty or forty yards. When all was prepared, the leader of the guassos drew out the bars closing the entrance to the corral; and, riding in, separated one of the cattle from the drove, which he goaded till it escaped in the opening. The reluctance of the cattle to quit the corral was evident, but when at length forced to do so, they dashed forward with the utmost impetuosity. It is said that in this country, even the wildest animals have an instinctive horror of the lasso; those in a domestic state certainly have, and betray fear whenever they see it. Be this as it may, the moment they pass the gate, they spring forward at full speed with all the appearance of terror. But were they to go ten times faster it would avail them nothing against the irresistible lassos, which, in the midst of dust and a confusion seemingly inextricable, were placed by the horsemen with the most perfect correctness over the parts aimed at. There cannot be conceived a more spirited or a more picturesque scene, than was now presented to us ; or one which in the hands of a bold sketcher, would have furnished a finer subject for the pencil. Let the furious beast be imagined driven almost to madness by thirst and a variety of irritations, and in the utmost terror at the mul- titude of lassos whirling all around him ; he rushes wildly forward, his eyes flashing fire, his nostrils almost touching the ground, and his breath driving off the dust in his course:—for one short in- stant he is free, and full of life and strength, defying, as it were, all the world to restrain him in his headlong course ; the next moment he is covered with lassos, his horns, his neck, his legs, are all encircled by these inevitable cords, hang- ing loose, in long festoons, from the hands of the af Sa a horsemen galloping in all directions, but the next instant as tight as bars of iron; and the noble animal lying prostrate on the ground motionless and helpless. a man on foot, who stands ready for this purpose with a long sharp knife in his hand ; and as soon as the body is disentangled from the lassos, it is drawn on one side, and another beast is driven out of the corral, and caught in the same manner. On begging to know why so many lassos were thrown at once on these occasions, we learned that the first rush of these cattle, when driven out of the corral, is generally so impetuous, that few single cords are strong enough to bear the jerk without breaking. As an experiment, a cow in a very furious state was let out, and directions given for only two men to attempt to stop her. The first lasso fell over her head, which it drew | round, so that the horns almost touched her back, but the thongs snapped without stopping her ; the second was intentionally placed round the fore part of the body, and it also broke without ma- terially checking her progress. Away went the cow, scouring over the country, followed by two fresh horsemen standing erect in their stirrups, with their lassos flying round their heads, and their ponchos streaming out behind them, a highly ani- mating and characteristic sight. The cow galloped, and the horses galloped, and such is the speed of cattle accustomed to run wild, that at first the horses, had little advantage. The ground being covered with shrubs and young trees, and full of hollow places, and sunk roads, the chase was diversified by many leaps, in which, although the poor cow did well at first, the horses, ere long, gained upon her, and the nearest guasso perceiving that he was just within reach, let fly his lasso. The cow was at such a distance that it required the whole length of the rope to reach her, and the noose had become so contracted by the knot slipping up towards the end, that it was barely large enough to admit the horns; had the cow been one foot more in advance, the circle would have become too small ; but this nicety is considered the perfection of the art. When the rider saw the noose fixed, he stopped and turned his horse, upon which the poor cow, her head nearly wrung off, was cast to the ground with great violence. The second horseman dashed along, and on passing the cow, instead of throw- ing his lasso, merely stooped on one side, and laid the noose, which he had contracted to a small circle, over her horns. This done, the gaussos turned their horses’ heads and trotted back with their unwilling prize, not having been more than four or five minutes absent from the ground. There is another method of arresting the ani- mal’s progress, without using the lasso, which is said to require even more skill and presence of mind than that formidable instrument itself. A horseman is stationed a little way from the en- trance of the corral, armed with a weapon called | a Luna, which consists of a steel blade about a foot long, and curved, as its name implies, in the form of a crescent, sharpened on the concave edge, and having a pole ten or twelve feet long screwed into the middle of the blunt or convex side ; so that when held horizontally, the horns of. the crescent point forward. The rider carries this luna _ in his right hand, couched like a lance, the blade D He is immediately despatched by | 33 | | | =a - eee 2 34 being then about two feet from the ground, in advance of the horse, while the staffis kept steady by passing it under the arm. Having allowed the animal to rush past, he puts spurs to his horse, and gallops after it ; on coming close up, he places his weapon in such a situation, that when its right hind-leg is thrown backwards, it shall enter the fork or crescent of the luna, and by striking against the edge, which is kept as sharp as a razor, divide the tendon. The weapon is then quickly trans- ferred to the left leg, where in like manner the least touch properly applied divides the other tendon. We saw this cruel feat performed by the principal guasso on our host’s estate, who was described as being the best rider and the most expert man in that part of the country. The ground was very dry and dusty, so that by the time he overtook the bullock he was in chase of, there was such a cloud raised by the animal’s feet, that we could scarcely see what was doing. The guasso contrived, however, to cut both hamstrings, but his horse becoming confused fell over the bullock, and we were in considerable alarm lest the man should be cut in two by his own weapon, or be transfixed by the beast’s horns: but he never lost his self-possession, and having first flung the instrument high into the air, raised both himself and horse from the ground, and rode out of the cloud unhurt, and without having ever lost his seat. While this more serious business was going on, a parcel of mischievous boys had perched them- selves on a pile of firewood close to the corral ; and being each armed in his way with a lasso made of a small strip of hide, or of whipcord, got the first chance to noose the animals as they rushed out. They seldom failed to throw successfully, but their slender cords broke like cobwebs. One wicked urchin, indeed, more bold than the rest, mounted himself on a donkey that happened to be on the spot ; and taking the lasso which belonged to it— for no description of animal that is ever mounted is without this essential equipment—and placing himself so as not to be detected by the men, he threw it gallantly over the first bullock’s neck. As soon as it became tight, away flew the astonished donkey and his rider: the terrified boy soon tumbled off; but poor Neddy was dragged along the ground, till a more efficient foree was made to co-operate with his unavailing resistance. When a sufficient number of bullocks had been killed, they were dragged away by means of a small car, to which the heads were tied, with the bodies trailing behind on the ground. The corral, or place to which they were removed, was an en- closure from fifty to sixty yards square ; the inner half, or that farthest from the entrance, being left open to the sky, while the other part was shaded with a rude sort of roof, consisting of branches of trees, and long broad leaves, placed on trellis-work, forming a texture sufficiently close to exclude the sun, but not intended to afford any defence from rain ; for in these countries, it must be recollected, that wet and dry seasons recur at such stated intervals, that the inhabitants can regulate the periods of their different occupations with a much _ greater degree of certainty than can be done in Europe. On entering this court, we looked along a wide passage leading into the uncovered part. On the ————————— PREPARATION OF JERKED BEEF IN CHILI. right hand stood a double line of posts, joined by cross-bars ; and on the left were five separate cells, formed of posts and cross-bars six or eight feet wide, and twelve or fourteeu long. The rest of the ground under cover was slightly divided, by eross- bars, into compartments of different sizes, with passages leading amongst them. Beyond the railings on the right hand ran a stream of clear water, shaded by some large walnut-trees, the branches of which reached to the ground, and mingled their leaves with a crowd of wild flowers, the commonest weeds, we were told, of the climate ; but some of which we recognised as the cherished — plants of our greenhouses. The heat in the outer space, where we had witnessed the lassoing, had become so great, that , we were glad to seek shelter in this cool and quiet spot. the bullocks which had been killed were dragged We had not been there long before five of | in, and placed in order, one before each of the cells | described above. Immediately three men betook themselves to each carcase ; and with much dexterity, and in an incredibly short time, stripped off the hides, which were carried to the open part of the enclosure, preparatory to their being staked out and dried in the sun. I observed that the principal guasso allowed none of these hides to pass him without first cutting off a thong and trying its strength; if it broke easily he took no further notice ; but if it proved tough, he ordered the hide to be put by for making lassos, always the uppermost thought in a guasso’s mind. After removing the skin, the fat and tallow were cut carefully off, and the muscles detached from. their several seats, with the exact situation of which the men seemed perfectly ac- quainted. But although their knives flashed about with great celerity, no fibres were cut across, each of the muscles being slipped out of its natural place, with a sleight of hand, which nothing but long and constant practice can teach. As fast as a portion was detached, it was carried into the adjoining cell, where it was hung on a part of the railing expressly appropriated to it, every separate portion of the animal being arranged in a certain order. The head, feet, and refuse, were carried to the other side of the passage, and placed on a thick layer of green boughs, along the margin of | the stream, by this time all discoloured and blood- stained. So quickly was the carcase separated into different parts, and with so little noise or » violence or apparent effort, that an active fancy might have supposed it had melted away. There | was nothing in the whole course of this process at | all calculated to disgust ; nor any hacking,—nor » hewing,—nor sawing,—each joint being dislocated | as if by magic, at the first touch of the knife. The bones also had distinct places allotted them, as well | as the fat, notthe slightest vestige of which wasany- » where allowed to remain attached to the meat. . When everything was completed, and the ground | clear, the leading man of each set went carefully | round his cell to see that the whole was in order, , and that each piece of meat was hung up correctly: : the exact number of pieces I omitted to record, , but it is always the same, and if any one be) missing, or misplaced, it is immediately remarked | by the man who inspects the cell. The head, the ) back-bone, and the legs, were next chopped into) small pieces, and thrown into the boilers, that not! a ~~ A ql ff THE LAKE OF ACULEO IN THE ANDES. a particle of fat might be lost ; and I observed ey even took the pains to strip off a thin skin from each of the ribs. The finer parts of the tallow were now spread out on a frame in the shape of a boy’s kite, and hung up in one of the minor divisions. The three men who had been employed in cutting up the bullock now commenced an operation peculiar, I believe, to South America, namely, the preparation of what is called by us jerked beef, a term probably derived from the localname charqué. The men seated themselves on low stools in the different cells, and began cutting each of the detached portions of meat into long strips, or ribbons, uniform in size from end to end ; some of these, which were cut from the larger pieces, being several yards in length, and about two inches in width. To perform this operation neatly requires considerable expertness. The piece of meat is held in the left hand, and at each slice is hitched round so as to offer a new place | to the knife ; and in this way it seems to unwind | itself, like a broad tape from a ball, till at last nothing remains. We tried to perform this our- selves, but continually cut the strip across before it had attained any length. When the whole has | been treated in this manner, it is allowed to hang under cover for a certain time, during which it acquires a black colour ; and owing to the heat and dryness of the air, speedily loses much of its moisture. The meat is afterwards exposed to the sun till thoroughly dried, and being then made | up into great bales, strongly tied round with a | network of thongs, becomes the jerked beef or charqué of commerce. —_¢— CHAPTER X, Visit to the Lake of Aculéo amongst the Andes.—Return towards Santiago.—Chilian Flower Garden, with the Flowers planted in the Form of Birds and Beasts — Unceremonious Habits of Travellers in Chili—Effects of the setting Sun on the Andes. AFTER breakfast we varied our amusements, by forming a party to ride to the Lake of Aculéo. We had to wind for some time through the valleys of the lower Andes, before reaching the Lake, which lay placidly amongst the mountains. Per- haps it is the smoothness and delicacy of finish, as it were, of a mountain lake, together with its solitude, compared with the bold and rugged majesty of the surrounding scenery, which give it so much grace and beauty. It may be, too, that a scene like this, altogether without artificial embellishment, is more engaging from its simplicity than one enriched with towns, and ornamented with villas and gardens, and other works of man, | in the brilliant manner of the Italian lakes. In strictness, however, the Lake of Aculéo is not altogether desolate ; for we could see here and there a cottage amongst the luxuriant groves skirting its margin on every side. But these served rather, I fancied, to augment the solitude ; and the eye wandered more frequently to the lofty snow ridges above, and to the vast flocks of undisturbed wild-fowl floating on the breast of the lake, than to these faint traces of population. One of the company who possessed an active fancy, entertained us by drawing a lively picture 35 of what the lapse of a century might produce here, if the country continued to prosper. He planted villages along the banks, cut commodious roads on the sides of the mountains, and covered the lake with boats ; substituting the busy hum of man for the present silence of the scene. While our ingenious friend was thus enlarging on the possible effects of these anticipated improvements, another gentleman, who cared little for such spe- culations, was bitterly lamenting that we had not brought our fowling-pieces ; as the birds, which showed no alarm at our presence, allowed us to pass quite close ; so near, indeed, were they to us, that we could distinguish wild ducks, swans, and flamingoes, besides many others of which we knew nothing ; and once we were startled by the sudden appearance of a flock of wild parrots, which passed close overhead, screaming most discordantly, while their beautiful plumage flashing in the sun was the most brilliant sight imaginable. The flamingo we recognised by the delicate pink colour under the wings. When travelling, there often arises a peculiar interest out of circumstances, which, however trivial in themselves, distinctly speak to the senses, of a uew and foreign land: thus, what the Andes had failed to do, the sight of a single bird effected at once. A lofty snow ridge is comparatively speaking a familiar object, and associates itself readily with European recollections ; but we feel at once, that a bird so remarkable in its appear- ance as the flamingo, can belong only to a foreign and different climate. In the evening, most of the ladies whom we had met at the dance last night came to the house in which we were living ; but their hilarity seemed to have fled with the sound of the music, and nothing more formal or prim than they were can be easily imagined. They ranged themselves along the wall in so determined a manner, that it would have tried the skill of the most hardy tactician to have broken their line. Presently, however, an accidental opening weakened their position, and at once did the business. In the end, the ladies confessed they were well pleased that we had thus forced them, in spite of them- selves, to show how agreeable they could be, even without the aid of a fiddle. 3lst.—Our country-party broke up to-day, to the great regret of us strangers at least. The old gentleman, with his eldest daughter, and our friend of the tender conscience, together with my young officer and myself, formed the riding party to the city. The day was comparatively cool, so that our journey was most agreeable ; and to us it had a double interest, since we now passed those places in daylight over which we had before travelled in the dark; and it was curious to’ observe how very erroneous all our impressions had been of every feature of the landscape. In such company, the road, formerly so tedious, was reduced to nothing ; and before we thought half the distance accomplished, we discovered that we were entering the grounds of our hospitable friends who had entertained us so kindly a few evenings before. The lady of the house had, on that occasion, more than once lamented that, owing to its being dark, she could not show us her garden, the pride of her life ; she was therefore delighted to have caught us on our return, and led the way D2 36 with great glee to her favourite spot. It certainly was a brilliant spectacle ; for in these climates, where nature does so much, the least assistance multiplies the effect in a manner of which, in cold regions, we have no conception. But our good dame, who thought of nothing less than of letting nature have her course, had planted her flowers, and cut her walks and borders, into the form of beasts, birds, and fishes ; not only had she displayed the figures of the animals in a sort of relief, but she had attended minutely to the ap- propriate colours of each, by the careful distri- bution of the proper flowers; and, to do her justice, the spot looked more like a menagerie than a garden. We reached the bridge of Maypo at noon, and having made preparations for dining on the road, resolved to stop, during the heat of the day, at the Post House on the top of the bank. Our dinner was plain and good, and we were merrily eating our olla, when a new guest stepped in ;—a coarse, loud-talking, impudent sort of personage, who seated himself unceremoniously at a vacant corner of the table, displayed his wallet, and drew forth a handful of charqué, or jerked beef, and a great lump of cheese. The beef he sent out by one of the guassos to be pounded between any two stones on the road; and while the charqué was undergoing this primitive cookery, he cut up his cheese, and handed it round with the air of a man at the head of his own table. For my part, I was greatly diverted with the fellow’s ease and impudence ; but my friends, especially the young lady, were shocked that I should witness such an intrusion, which they could not prevent; for although the table was theirs, it is the privilege in this country of travellers to associate with and claim assistance from one another on the road, without regard to distinctions of rank. When dinner was over, and the table removed, the floor was spread with mattresses and beds preparatory to the siesta. There were not beds enough for every one, and this being the only room in the house, a momentary dilemma arose, but was soon settled by the lady taking the upper station next the wall, and placing her father by her, and so on with the rest of the party. Our self-elected companion seeing a vacant space, spread out one of his horse-cloths, and drawing his saddle under his head, was asleep in a moment —an example soon followed by the others. The sun went down while we were still a league or two from the city, and his rays, by passing ‘through the thick haze before described, shed a remarkable gold-coloured light on the spires and domes of the churches; whilst the tops of the mountains, the highest of which were covered with snow, still retained the clear bright sunshine. In a short time the light began to fade, even on the highest peaks, and at every successive moment a change took place in the colour of the different ranges ; the lower ones first catching the golden tint, which was soon changed for a variety of pink, and lastly, for a dull cold grey ; so that the whole view in the eastern quarter was variegated in the most singular manner, according to the height, each ridge of hills being thus prominently distinguished from all the others, and its outline most distinetly displayed. It was rather a dis- appointment to discover that our fair companion, A CHILIAN PENANCE AND ITS REWARD. with all her good sense, had not much feeling for In the magnificent beauties of her native spot. reply to our reproaches on her insensibility, she } said it might be very wrong not to admire what | she saw, but as she had never been out of the ) valley in her life, and consequently had no other | scenery to compare with this, she was, at least, | unconscious of its superiority to the rest of the | world. —_@—_—_- CHAPTER XI. Matrimonial Anecdote.—Remarks on the Study of the Spanish Language.—Visit to a Waterfall near Santiago.— Singular Plain amongst the Andes.—Progress of Educa- tion and Decay of Bigotry in Chili—Ignorance of a Span- ish Lady.—Spanish and Native Prejudices.—Comet of 1821.—Experiments with the Pendulum. — State of Po- litical Feeling in Chili. A Lupicrovus event occurred about this period, and excited much mirth both amengst the English and the natives. A certain foreigner, it seems, had fallen desperately in love with a young Chilian lady of great beauty and accomplishments, but withal a most rigid Catholic. His attentions were all to no purpose ; for, although the damsel admitted that he had made some impression on her heart, she was resolved never to marry any one but “ un buen Cristiano.” In this dilemma, his passion overcame the feelings of his early education, and, after long and frequent discussions with the fair Papist, he consented to comply with the forms of the Romish | Church ; read his recantation, and subscribed the confession of faith. This, however, to his great mortification, he discovered not to be sufficient. A further purification was considered indispensable ; and the poor lover was told, he could not prosper unless he consented to do penance in what is called the Casa de Exercicios for fourteen days ; at the termination of which time all her scruples would be at an end, and the hand of the fair Chilena was to be his for ever. Exercise were accordingly shut upon him ; the penitent fasted, prayed, scourged himself in good earnest, and, at the end of a fortnight’s discipline and mortification, came out a good Christian ; but when he hurried to the house of his mistress to claim the fulfilment of the bond, he found she had been married six days before to a countryman of her own ! By this time we had made considerable progress | in the language ; but it was curious to observe with | what different degrees of facility we communicated with the natives. At some houses a stranger to the language might have thought us quite masters of it, from the fluency and apparent ease with which we spoke, and the readiness with which the natives understood us. At other houses, with ten times the effort, scarcely a word could be found, or when drawn laboriously out, it fell flat and profit- less on the ears of the company. In the first case the imagination seemed all on fire, and lighted the way to the clearest expression ; in the other, the ideas were fettered, and the enunciation became sluggish, confused, and puerile. The study of a language, indeed, involves in a great measure the study of society : and we invariably found it our surest road to an acquaintance with the manners of the people, and not only their manners, but their sentiments, moral and political ; and much The doors of the House of |) THE SPANISH LANGUAGE. that was at first inexplicable merely from our ig- norance, became obvious and useful information, when we knew how to reckon the currency in which its value wasexpressed. In families where, from whatever cause, we found little sympathy either in taste or in sentiment, it became impossi- ble to find language to express even the merest common-places. In others again, where we were understood, and the foreign ideas which we im- ported were eagerly grasped at, it was wonderful with what effect we could give them utterance. Mere ignorance has no curiosity in its nature ; and we observed everywhere, that in proportion as the people were instructed, so they required information. Some of the families at Valparaiso, with whom we made acquaintance, entertained us | with nothing but a few tunes on the guitar, or a native dance, or some disquisition on a new dress ; | but others threw down their work the moment we appeared, crowded round us, and would sit half | the night asking questions about London, and all | our habits and customs ; and in return told us of | their own, and drew such interesting comparisons | as excited the highest admiration of their acuteness. On these occasions, I have sometimes been led to think, that the very want of full power to ex- press our thoughts reciprocally was of use. In the search for just expressions, the ideas were | more carefully investigated. This first version was generally overstrained, and was not intelligible on that account ; the second attempt gave more insight into the subject ; and in the course of these efforts to embody the thoughts, the conception it- self was often sifted, and purified, and rendered distinct, and consequently applicable by the dis- cipline it had undergone. It was some time, however, before we came, in practice, to a right apprehension of these truths, which were of considerable consequence, and re- quired much address on the occasions alluded to, even when both parties were quite willing to un- derstand each other. More or less these obser- yations will apply to every state of society ; but they were especially remarkable in the case of the South Americans, just awakening from a state of mental lethargy, or, more strictly speaking, of error. They had as much to unlearn as to ac- quire anew ; and the jumble of old and new ideas was often curious, and in many cases highly in- structive. 3rd of April.—I rode this morning from the city, in company with two English gentlemen, to see a waterfall. To attain this object, we had climbed from the plain on which Santiago stands, by a jong and steep path, to the height of about four hundred feet. We imagined ourselves to be mounting the side of a steep ridge, and that on reaching the top we should look down the other side on the low ground beyond ; but, instead of this, we found ourselves on the level of a great plain joining that which we had come from, which also most strangely appeared to be exactly at the same elevation with it, notwithstanding the addi- tional altitude we had gained. This singular opti- cal deception must have been caused by the extreme regularity of the slope in the ground from the point we stood upon to the plain we had left. In- deed, the enormous scale of everything around us, with the dimensions of which we were yet far from sufficiently familiar, made it impossible to! 37 appreciate correctly either heights, distances, or levels. One of the party happening to desery at a dis- tance the country-house of a friend, we agreed to try our fortune there, as we had been disappointed with the waterfall, which proved quite contempti- ble. The master of the house, an old Spaniard, was delighted to see us, and very kindly took us over his vineyards, and his olive groves. His vines, which were loaded with fruit, were planted in the manner of those at the Cape of Good Hope, form- ing rows like gooseberry-bushes, and supported only here and there as occasion required. He showed us also his wine-presses, and his immense cellars ; along which were ranged many hundreds of Botijas, or gigantic jars, capable of holding, at least, a tun each. He had beena naval captain in his day ; but having become disgusted with the service, and being of a quiet disposition, he had bought this place, married, and given up all thoughts of honour and glory ; so that we found him most amiably ignorant of all that was passing beyond the boundaries of his estate: but with re- spect to machinery, the manufacture of wine, or the culture of olive-trees and vines, he was full of information, and caught eagerly at any hints for their improvement. In the evening we called on several families to take leave, it being our intention to return imme- diately to Valparaiso. At one house we were the only visitors ; at another we could scarcely get in owing to the crowd of company, and when at length we gained a seat near the ladies, we found it not easy nor agreeable to converse in our lame Spanish before so great an audience of the natives. Our receptionat the first house was much warmer, and proved more satisfactory, and more useful to those who were anxious to improve themselves in the language. At the other we saw a larger company, but made fewer and less valuable acquaintances. In both, and indeed I may say in every house, there seemed to prevail but one kindly disposition to treat us with attention and hospitality ; and to assist us, with the most polite, friendly, and patient assiduity, in acquiring their language : a remark which may be extended to the whole coast which we visited. The following anecdote was at this time current in the city ; and from all we heard during our short stay at Santiago, we were satisfied that the influence of the priests had been gradually on the decline ; and that a more liberal spirit, especially in matters of education, had recently been intro- duced, and was fast spreading over the country. A gentleman had thought fit to instruct his daughter in French,—a circumstance which the girl, unconscious of any crime, mentioned in the course of her confession to the priest, who, after expressing the greatest horror at what he heard, denounced the vengeance of Heaven upon her and her father, refused to give her absolution, and sent the poor creature home in an agony of fear. The father soon discovered the cause, and after some correspondence with the confessor, went to the head of the government, who sent for the priest, questioned him on the subject, and charged him with having directly interfered with the letter and spirit of the constitution, which gave encourage- ment to every species of learning. The priest af- fected to carry matters with a very high hand, and 38 STATE OF EDUCATION IN CHILI. even ventured to censure the director for med- dling with things beyond his authority. This was soon settled: a council was immediately called, and the next day it was known throughout the city, that the priest had been seen crossing the fron- tiers, escorted by a military guard. An account of the whole transaction, with the correspondence between the parent and the confessor, was also published officially in the Gazette, and full autho- rity given in future to every person to teach any branch of knowledge not inconsistent with morals and religion. I set out, on horseback, from Santiago for the port at four o’ clock, and reached the village of Casa Blanca at midnight, a distance of about sixty miles, and as I was detained an hour at the station of Bustamante, the average rate of travelling may be stated as more than eight miles an hour. It being the custom to change the horses frequently, and the pace a hand-gallop, the fatigue is much less than by the ordinary method of riding in Eng- land. The evening was very fine, the air mild, and a bright moon shining. As I had passed over the same country in daylight upon a former occasion, I could just recognise the different parts of the landscape ; but the whole aspect of the scenery was changed, and much softened by the feebleness of the light. The freshness of the night air was also most grateful, as compared with the burning heat of the former journey in the day-time. It was a dead calm, and there was now no dust, no glare, and the parched soil, lately sopainful to look at, was checkered and broken in the most pleasing manner, by the shadows of the scattered trees. Instead of the burnt, choking smell which arose on all hands from the baked ground, a delicious perfume was now breathed from thesweet-smelling shrubs, steeped in the copious dews by which the bountiful arrangement of Providence compensates these arid districts for the absence of rain in summer. At Casa Blanca the accommodations were re- puted to be so bad, that I anticipated little rest, and the bed-room to which I was shown certainly gave no great promise ; it was ten feet long by six wide ; the floor was of mud, all hills and hol- lows, a model of the country, while the moon shone through the walls at twenty places ; the bed was a mere sack of straw laid on some planks. I was in no humour, however, to quarrel with any place of repose, after a gallop of sixty miles, and fell fast asleep in an instant. A loud chorus, from about twenty cocks, awoke me early next morning, and fancying I had over- slept myself, I jumped up and looked out. A cold clear tinge of distant day, was just beginning to insinuate itself amongst the low eastern stars, which flashed and sparkled, and made noble head against the dawn, for a littletime. By-and-by, as they were extinguished one by one by the full burst of light which rolled over the Andes, a vivid imagination might have compared them to the proud and glittering Spaniards of this land, gradu- ally sinking before the influence of liberty, which, from the same quarter, has beamed so gloriously upon the country. I reached Valparaiso easily to breakfast, and was glad to find myself once again amidst the bustle of a sea-port ; and although no one could read nor write.” have enjoyed more completely than I had done }} the novelty and varied interest of travelling in the }f interior, I was well content to feel myself at home on board my own ship. On coming from such a country as England, one 4} is not prepared for a degree of ignorance which it }} is often a traveller’s fortune to encounter where he least expects it ; and he is apt to commit blunders and be guilty of incivilities, when he means no- thing but kindness. One evening when engaged 3} in conversation with an extremely pretty, well- |} informed young lady of the country, on the subject |} of languages, I strongly recommended to her to study English, of which she had some knowledge, |} by means of a grammar, and said I would send } her one which she would find very useful. She made no reply, and, I thought, looked a little con- fused. Presently her mother took me on one side, | and said, “ My dear sir, what is the use of your offering Guadaloupita a book—she can neither | In these respects, it must be confessed, the. Spanish ladies whom we met with were vastly superior to the natives. Of these there were very , few left, however ; and I was often surprised to) think how rapidly they must have disappeared. | No situation could be conceived more miserable | than that of an Old Spaniard amongst the Patriots; ; and the natives of the country may be said to have » deeply repaid the sufferings which their old masters } inflicted upon them. This antipathy, indeed, is) mutual, and I fear there is no possibility of cordial | assimilation. I knew one Spanish lady at Valpa-. raiso, whose husband, a Spaniard also, was in }} Lima. Noone could be more liberal or intelligent |} than she was; and her excellent education and |} manners rendered her house most agreeable. On | every subject but one, she was rational and clear- - sighted ; but the instant the slightest allusion was } made to the progress of the Independent cause, , not a trace of reason seemed to be left. She would! neither admit the possibility of the Patriots suc-- ceeding, nor confess that the country had been) mischievously administered before. It was, indeed, , quite curious to observe the measureless violence : with which the Spaniards and South Americans: treated these questions; and until I actually, witnessed it I had no conception of the intensity | of which national hatred was susceptible. This: elegant person, feminine to the highest degree on } every other topic, became a perfect fury when the: revolution was talked of. In like manner, the» Chilians execrated the Spaniards. One evening I made use of some expression, and not being quite: sure of its proper construction, I asked a gentle-. man whether or not it was Spanish. “ It is Cas-. tilian,” he said ; “I know nothing of Spanish.—- Desde la Patria,” he continued, (that is, “since the revolution—since we acquir ed the name of aj country,) we talk Castilian, not Spanish.” This,) to be sure, was nonsense ; but it marks the feel-| ing. And to press him further, I asked his opinion) of bull-fights. “ Ay,’’ said he, “Digno de los; Espanoles—they are worthy of Spaniards—every- thing bloody and cruel is suitable to them.” Inj the course of further conversation, I happened to; mention that a great many people had been killed: on the 2d of May, 1808, in Madrid. “ Yes,” he: observed, with a sneer, “but not quite enough ; and let me tell you,’’ ‘said he, with vehemence,§ FIRST DAWN OF CIVIL LIBERTY IN CHILI. | “had the whole Spanish nation been put to death except one man, that solitary remaining person | would have conceived himself fully authorised, and by birth entitled, to tyrannize over the whole con- tinent of South America !— No, sir, while one Spaniard remains alive, our independence will never be acknowledged. A hundred years after this country is absolutely free from end to end, the Spaniards will go on talking of reconquering us, and will pass edicts to that effect. Why, even to this hour, the bulk of the nation hardly admits the independence of Portugal ; and very few give up the hope of regaining dominion over the Low Countries ! ” From the 5th of April to the 26th of May, we remained at Valparaiso; but our occupations, however interesting to ourselves, were not of a nature to be here detailed. The few leisure mo- ments which our professional avocations left us, were employed in making surveys, in observations on a comet, which remained in sight from the Ist of April to the 8th of June, and in experiments with Captain Kater’s pendulum, the object of which was to determine the figure of the earth. The observations on the comet were success- ful, as they furnished data for the computation of its orbit ; a task performed since our return by Dr. Brinkley of Dublin. The results of his com- putations have been published, together with the original observations, in the Philosophical Trans- actions for 1822. The experiments with the pendulum were of a more delicate and complicated nature, and required much care and exclusive attention. But the cir- cumstances under which we were placed deprived us of that degree of leisure and abstracted thought which this difficult and extensive problem requires. In all its details, however, it carries along with it the liveliest interest ; yet only those who have been similarly employed can have a correct idea of the cruel disappointment which a cloudy night, or any other interruption, produces in the midst of a series of observations. On such occasions, when all our hopes were gone, and our day’s labour wasted, for want of a few clear hours of star-light, we employed the unwished-for leisure in visiting our neighbours near the observatory, or in calling on the English residents, and other well-informed persons. In this manner we were enabled to form a tolerable estimate of the state of political feeling at Valparaiso, where the intercourse with Strangers was the -greatest ; and by comparing it with that at Santiago, of which also we had now seen a good deal, to draw conclusions on the grand question of the effect of the Revolution on public opinion throughout the country. At the port, in consequence of the number of arrivals, there is certainly to be found, occasion- ally, more exact information on particular points of foreign news than in the capital ; but in the latter there is much more general information, owing no doubt to the extensive diffusion of knowledge and intelligence amongst the inhabit- ants, than at the port. They know, accordingly, with tolerable precision, not only what is passing in other parts of South America, but have a clearer idea of European affairs than I had been led to expect ; for they begin to be fully sensible of their own importance in the world, and to see the neces- sity of being acquainted with the proceedings of -- 39 other states. To this incipient feeling of national dignity, they add a deep-seated and resolute enthu- siasm in favour of independence. Of civil liberty I am not sure that the Chilians have as yet equally clear and correct notions ; but nothing is more decided than their determination not to submit again to any foreign yoke ; and I should conceive, from all I have been able to learn, that, under any circumstances, the Spanish party in Chili would be found small and con- temptible. Every day deepens these valuable sentiments, and will render the reconquest of the country more and more remote from possibility. The present free trade, above all, maintains and augments these feelings ; for there is not a single arrival at the port which fails to bring some new article of use or luxury, or which does not serve, by lowering the former prices, to place within reach of the inferior ranks many things known before only to the wealthy ; to extend the range of com- forts and enjoyments ; and to open new sources of industry. Amongst a people circumstanced as the South Americans have been, debarred for ages from the advantages of commerce, this change is of the last importance ; and it is pleasing to reflect that while our merchants are consulting their own interests, and advancing the prosperity of their country, they are at the same time, by stimulating at once and gratifying the wants of a great people, adding incalculably to the amount of human happiness. By thus creating higher tastes and new wants, they produce fresh motives to exertion, and give more animating hopes to whole nations, which without such powerful and immediate excitement, might have long remained in their ancient state of listlessness and ignorance. Every man in the country, rich or poor, not only practically feels the truth of this, but knows distinctly whence the advantage is derived ; it is idle therefore to sup- pose that blessings which come home so directly to all men’s feelings, and which so manifestly influence their fortunes and happiness, can be easily taken from them. There are, no doubt, many defects in the admi- nistration of affairs in Chili ; occasional bad faith, and occasional oppression ; and sometimes very inconvenient disturbances, and partial political changes ; but these are of no moment in so vast a question. The barrier which has so long dammed up the tide of human rights and free action, has been at length removed; and the stream is assuredly not to be stopped by anything from without : and what is internal that might produce mischief, is rapidly improving as men advance in intelligence, and acquire a deeper interest in good order. An invasion, indeed, might cause much misery and confusion, and tend for a time to keep back the moral and political improvement of the country ; but the reaction would be inevitable, and ere long the outraged country would spring forwards to life and liberty with tenfold vigour. By means of foreign intercourse, and by the experience and knowledge of themselves acquired by acting for the first time as freemen, they will come to know their own strength ; by learning also to respect themselves, which they could hardly have done before, they will be ready to respect a government formed of themselves ; and, instead of despising and hating those at the head 40 DESOLATION CAUSED BY CIVIL WAR. of affairs, and seeking to counteract their mea- sures, they will join heartily in supporting them when right, or in exerting a salutary influence over them when wrong. At all events, even now, all parties would unite upon the least threat of an attack ; and so the result will prove, should any- thing so wild and unjust be attempted. CHAPTER XII. PERU. Coasting Voyage.—Melancholy Effects of the War at Arica. —Desolation of the Town.—Description of the Sandy Desert.—Fallacy respecting Mines. On the 26th of May 1821, we sailed from Val- paraiso, and proceeded along the coast to Lima. During the greater part of this voyage the land was in sight, and we had many opportunities of seeing not only the Andes, but other interesting features of the country. The sky was sometimes covered by a low dark unbroken cloud, oversha- dowing the sea, and resting on the top of the high cliffs which guard the coast ; so that the Andes, and indeed the whole country, except the imme- diate shore, were then screened from our view. But at some places this lofty range of cliffs was intersected by deep gullies, called quebradas, con- nected with wide valleys stretching far into the interior. At these openings we were admitted to a view of regions which, being beyond the limits of the cloud I have described, and therefore exposed to the full blaze of the sun, formed a brilliant contrast to the darkness and gloom in which we were involved. As we sailed past, and looked through these mysterious breaks, it seemed as if the eye penetrated into another world ; and had the darkness around us been more complete, the light beyond would have seemed equally resplendent with that of the full moon, to which every one was disposed to compare this most curious and surprising appearance. As the sun’s rays were not, in this case, re- flected from a bright snowy surface, but from a dark-coloured sand, we are perhaps thus fur- nished, by analogy, with an answer to the diffi- culties sometimes started, with respect to the probable dark nature of the soil composing the moon’s surface. On the 7th of June, we anchored off Arica, about mid-day ; and on landing found the town almost completely deserted, exhibiting in every part marks of having been recently the scene of military operations. The houses had been broken open and pillaged, the doors mostly unhinged and gone, the furniture destroyed, the shops and store- houses all empty. The first house we entered was that of the person styled Governor; he lay stretched on a mattress placed on the floor, for no bedstead or other vestige of furniture had been left ; and the poor man was suffering under the cold fit of an ague. His wife and daughter were seated on the floor of an adjoining room, where they had collected a few friends ; the whole party looking most disconsolate and miserable. The town had recently been attacked by a Patriot force, and had, as usual, suffered by being made the scene of conflict. Most of the people had fled to the interior, and the empty streets and houses gave an air of silent desolation to the place, which |} was very striking. Such of the inhabitants as were obliged to remain, either from sickness or from other causes, were reduced to severe priva- tions. We saw some families that had not a table or a bed left, nor a chair to offer us when we entered : the governor’s wife declared she had not a change of dress ; and her daughter was in the same predicament; a pretty round-faced modest girl, whose attempts to tie a piece of a handkerchief round her neck, in the absence of all her wonted finery, were affecting enough. The people in general were silent, with an air of deep-settled anger on their countenances. That species of grief which breaks out in fretfulness and complaint is not characteristic either of the Spaniards or their South American descendants ; and I have in- variably observed amongst both a great degree of composure in their sorrow. Asan English gentleman, who was passenger in the Conway, had letters to deliver to a Spanish merchant, we hunted long for him amongst the desolate streets, and at length learned that he, like the rest, had fled to the interior. We had some difficulty in getting mounted, but at length set off in quest of the Spaniard up the valley of Arica, the country round which was, in the truest sense of the word, a desert ; being covered with sand as far as the eye could reach, without the slightest trace or hope of vegetation. The ground was varied by high ridges, immense rounded knolls, and long flat steppes, and far off could be gained an occasional glimpse of the lower ranges of the Andes ; but, high and low, it was all alike,—one bleak, comfortless, miserable, sandy waste. The colour of the ground was at some places quite black, generally, however, of a dark brown, and here and there was a streak of white. Such a scene I believe cannot be well conceived without being wit- nessed ; at least all the ideas I had formed of it fell infinitely short of the reality ; which had the effect of depressing the spirits in a remarkable degree, and inspiring a horror, difficult to describe or account for. Nearly in the middle of the valley ran a small stream of water, accompanied in its course through the desert by a strip of rich foliage, infinitely grateful to the eye, from the repose it afforded, after looking over the surrounding country. The road was judiciously carried amongst the trees, near the margin of the stream ; and so luxu- riant was the vegetation, that we fairly lost sight of the neighbouring hills, amongst the great leaves of the banana, and the thick bushy cotton-trees, the pods of which were in full blossom. Being in quest of adventures, we rode up to the first house we came to, which we found occupied by a respectable old Don, a merchant of Arica, who had been totally ruined by the recent events of the war. He described the battles to us, and in very affecting terms recounted his own misfor- tunes, and, what seemed to distress him more, the loss of a great quantity of property belonging to others, intrusted to his care. His family were about him, but they appeared equally destitute ; and the picture was every moment heightened and rendered more painful by some little touch of distress, too trifling to be described, or to be thought much of at a distance. There is a - ~ ‘® romantic or picturesque sort of interest which : ——— ee VIEW OF THE ANDES A HUNDRED MILES OFF. belongs to well-described misfortune, that has no existence in the reality. In the one case, a multi- tude of small circumstances, by giving force and apparent truth of effect to the imaginary picture, | render it rather pleasing than otherwise ; but the /very same circumstances, when actually wit- nessed, produce a totally opposite emotion in the mind of the spectator. The universal look of sorrow, for example, the total discomfort, the | pitiable makeshifts, the absence of ease and cheer- | fulness, the silence, the disordered aspect of every- | very happy. thing, the misplaced furniture, the neglected dress and innumerable other details, produce, when viewed on the spot, a painful degree of commise- ration for the sufferers ; widely different, as we | experienced, from that pleasing sort of pity which mere description can excite. After a long search we discovered the house of | the Spaniard we were in quest of. He was an elderly man, who laughed and joked about the recent disasters in a manner that at first surprised us exceedingly ; but we soon discovered that this was the wild mirth of despair, a sort of feverish delirium ; for he, too, was utterly ruined and broken-hearted by the calamities of the hour ; and he soon relapsed, from the excitement our presence had caused, into a gloomy despondency. Whilst he and the gentleman who had brought him letters were discussing their business, I made acquaintance witha pretty brown damsel, upon whom the distress of the times had falien but lightly : for she smiled through all, and seemed She was a clever, well-informed, and conversable little coquette, but resisted, with great adroitness, all our attempts to make out in what relation she stood to the master of the house ; leaving us in doubt whether she were his wife, his mistress, his daughter, or his maid- servant. She showed us over the beautiful garden and dressed grounds round the house: and we were well pleased to have our thoughts taken off the painful stretch, in which they had been kept all day, by the contemplation of so much wretched- ness and unmerited calamity. On returning to the town, we paid a visit to the curate, who showed us the church, which had been sacrilegiously broken open ; the whole picture, in fact, excited such a feeling of horror, that we were very glad to get on board again to a scene of order, and peace, and comfort. Next day, the 8th of June, a party being again made to visit the valley, we rode several leagues further than we did yesterday, the people every- where receiving us with kindness and hospitality. The more we receded from the town, where the resistance had been made, the fewer symptoms of the war were to be seen. The inhabitants of the cottages entertained us with delicious figs and other fruits, and a small clear white wine made on the spot ; they also placed before us olives, some fresh, and others salted, but both in their ripe state, and full of oil ; these, which were eaten with bread, and small slices of raw onions, were very high-flavoured and coarse. At another house they gave us water-melons of the richest and juiciest kind, which it is their custom to eat along with cheese and a sour kind of plum. The tables were placed in a verandah, or in a covered court, left open on all sides, and here and there we ob- 41 served openings in the roofs also, to allow the breeze to pass freely through. The houses were built of sun-dried bricks, plastered with mud, and thatched over with palm-leaves ; their external ap- pearance was shabby and unpicturesque enough, which we regretted the more from their being so beautifully situated ; generally under the shade of some great tree, and thickly begirt with bananas, figs, and other tropical fruits, and guarded by hedges of magnificent aloes, and nopals or prickly pears. This slender belt of vegetation owed all its fertility to the solitary stream of water, and ten minutes’ walk on either side of the rivulet brought us to the edge of the sandy waste, con- demned for want of moisture to perpetual sterility ; and, indeed, along the whole coast of Peru, no rain ever falls, though at a few places the soil is occasionally refreshed by thick mists and copious dews. The tract of country, which is an irremediable desert, may be said to extend for more than six- teen hundred miles along the shores washed by the Pacific ; that is, from Coquimbo in Chili, nearly to the entrance of the Guayaquil River, or from 4¢ to 30° south latitude. This vast and desolate region, which lies between the great chain of the Andes and the sea, varies in breadth from thirty to a hundred miles, and is traversed by very few rivers, and none of them of any magnitude. Wherever a stream does occur, the adjacent soil of the valley becomes capable of the highest cultivation ; but except at these rare spots, no trees are found, and the scenery is everywhere uninteresting. The barren high country along the inner margin of this uninterrupted desert is rich in mineral treasures ; and there prevails, in consequence, an idle notion in the country, that nature, in such cases, capriciously withholds her treasures from the surface : and conversely, when the country is capable of high cultivation, denies to it the riches of the mine. Such is the stubborn nature of pre- judice and error once admitted, that although this absurd notion is contradicted by a thousand well- known facts, the multitude still go on repeating the fallacy, and reasoning upon it with the same confidence as if it were true. CHAPTER XIII. Appearance of the Andes.—The Peruvian Balsa or Canoe made of Seal-skins,—Volcano of Anequipa. . On the 9th of June we sailed from Arica, and steered along shore to the north-west. In the evening of that day we had a fine view of the Cor- dillera or highest ridge of the mountains, about a hundred miles off. It was only, indeed, when the ship was at aconsiderable distance from the shore that the higher Andes came in sight ; for when nearer, the lower ranges, themselves of great height, intercepted the remote view. But when we stretched off to the distance of thirty or forty miles, these intermediate ridges sunk into insignifi- cance, while the chain of snowy peaks rose in great magnificence behind them. It sometimes even happened that the lower ranges, which had entirely obstructed the view of the Cordillera when viewed at no great distance from the coast, were actually sunk below the horizon, by the 42 THE ANDES curvature of the earth, when the distant ridges were still distinctly in sight, and more magnificent than ever. We were occasionally surprised, when we had little expectation of seeing the Andes, to behold their snowy tops towering above the clouds, and apparently so close, that it required a con- siderable degree of experience, and a strong effort of reason, to remove them in imagination to their proper distance. At first every one was disap- pointed to find them so much lower than had been anticipated. This, however, arose from a mis- conception of their distance, and gave way gradu- ally to the highest admiration, when it became known by measurements, and by due reflection, how far they were off. Observations were made on some, which, though ascertained to be upwards . of a hundred and thirty miles off, were distinctly visible. The pleasure which this constant view of the Andes afforded cannot be described; and we watched every morning for the day to break with great anxiety, certain of the highest gratification. Our enjoyment from this source was at times very short-lived, at others it lasted throughout the whole day. One morning, we were much mor- tified when the day dawned and no mountains were to be seen in the eastern quarter. The ship was not above a hundred miles from the shore ; but no land could be distinguished. Presently the sun began to show himself above the horizon, and I have no language to tell the degree of in- terest. with which we discovered on his disk, as he rose, the outline of a distant summit of the Cor- dillera, clearly and sharply traced, though the mountains were so far removed as to be totally invisible except at this particular moment, when, being interposed between us and the sun, they intercepted a portion of his light, disclosed the form and situation of the ridge for a few seconds, and then vanished again into thin air. Our thoughts, ‘however, were at this stage of the voyage called off from matters of taste and curiosity, by a series of anxious official duties connected with the British trade on this part of the coast. As I do not feel myself at liberty to enter into any of the details of these proceedings, I shall omit all mention of them, and pass on to matters perhaps of less interest, but more im- mediately characteristic of the country and the times. On the 12th of June we anchored at Ylo, a town which, as well as Arica, is often celebrated in the voyages of Dampier and the old Buccaneers. We landed at a little sandy beach, sheltered from the swell of the sea by a reef of rocks, on which the surf was breaking with prodigious violence, so as to cover half the bay with foam. We were greeted by two men and a woman: the lady was evidently a native, and her two companions were also deeply dyed with aboriginal blood ; one was a young and active man, the other an old ragged beggar-like person. I asked the first to point me out the Alealde’s house. “This is the Alcalde himself,” said he, pointing to his aged companion ; and cer- tainly of all the constituted authorities whom we had to deal with on the shores of the Pacific, the Alcalde of Ylo was the least like what the imagi- nation conceives of a chief magistrate. But things must be judged with reference to their mutual fit- ness ; and in this view, our shabby Alcalde was AT “SUNRISE. appropriate to his office ; for in his town we en- countered only three living things—a ragged wild- looking Patriot soldier—an Indian from the moun- } tains fast asleep in the middle of the street, and a Most of the> lean, half-starved, solitary jackass. houses had lost their doors, so that the sand drifted through them at every blast of the sea-breeze, | which had just set in. A walk of five minutes) brought us to an olive grove, under the shade of} which we trod on a rich, elastic coating of grass ; } and after wandering a little onwards, we reached } a rivulet completely arched over by trees, the } branches of which meeting above the stream, were interlaced and matted together by innumera- | ble creepers ; and the whole being overlaid with | a thick mantle of leaves and blossoms, not a single ray of the sun was allowed to reach the water. A_ little path conducted us to an opening in this ver- | dant screen, where a rude bridge, formed of two | trees, laid from bank to bank, invited us to cross, | although we saw no house nor living creature. We had hardly reached the opposite side, however, | when a cock crowed, and we found ourselves in- the next moment close to a cottage completely | | enveloped in the luxuriant foliage I have been describing. A fine old dame presented herself, and although, ! no doubt, somewhat surprised at the sight of | visitors so unexpected, she welcomed us with that | intuitive sort of politeness which characterises ) the whole population of the South American coast. _ Having spread mats on the grass for us, she sent — her sons to collect guavas, and brought out a little » bottle of aguardiente, that we might refresh our- selves after our walk ; and all with such simple) earnestness of good-will, that we knew not how to » express our obligations, or to offer any adequate | return. ; ) On our way back, the Alcalde told us the canse — of the present deserted state of the town, and described the miseries of the war in language > which showed him worthy of a higher office. We) invited him to go on board the Conway, but could — not prevail upon him to accompany us. In the evening we get under-weigh, and, in the » course of the night, stole gently along-shore by — means of the land-wind, which was just sufficient | to fill the sails, dripping wet with the heavy dew. , In the morning of the 13th of June we anchored | in the open roads of Mollendo. There are no} harbours on this coast; a circumstance, however, , which is nearly immaterial, since the wind is} always so gentle, that ships anchor and lie exposed | in perfect security. The water being deep, vessels are obliged to approach the shore, within a quarter * of a mile, before they can find anchoring-ground ; ; and, as there is nothing to break the prodigious | swell which rolls in from the Pacifie against the » rocky coast, a surf is caused of enormous magni- | tude, which dashes up and roars along the base of | the cliffs in the most terrific manner, trying the) nerves of strangers, who, in spite of their convic- | tion that all is safe, and that no storm will occur, , cannot at once divest themselves of the most dis- agreeable associations, connected with a shore so ) formidable in appearance. It is in such situations as this that Captain Brown’s invention of the chain-cable is of so great utility. The coast being rocky, hempen cables are liable to be cut through ; and, as the anchoring dis- THE SOUTH AMERICAN BALSA. | tance from the shore is very small, a ship is apt to be drifted amongst the rocks, and lost, before a second anchor brings her up. In the case of a chain, however, no such accident need be appre- hended ; and it is curious to observe what an ex- | tensive influence this single circumstance has had on the commerce of the coast. Innumerable vessels now lie close to the landing-places, and disembark and take on board their cargoes in safety, not one of which, in former times, could have approached without imminent hazard of shipwreck. The operation of landing at such a place is both | difficult and dangerous, especially at the full and change of the moon, when the swell is always much increased ;—a remark which applies to the whole coast. I had been told that ships’ boats seldom succeeded in crossing the surf, and that the balsa, or double-canoe of the country, was the proper thing to use ; I made the experiment, however, in my own boat, which was accordingly swamped, and I got soundly ducked for my pains. The balsa, which we employed ever afterwards, is made of two entire seal-skins inflated, placed side by side, and connected by cross pieces of wood, and strong lashings of thongs ; overall a platform of cane mats forms a sort of deck, about four feet wide, and six or eight feet long. At one end the person who manages the balsa kneels down, and by means of a double-bladed paddle, which he holds by the middle, and strikes alternately on each side, moves it swiftly along—the passengers, or goods, being placed on the platform behind him. The buoyancy of these balsas enables them to cross the surf in safety, and without wetting the passengers, at times when an ordinary boat would inevitably be swamped. All the goods which go to the interior, at this part of the coast, are landed in this manner. The great bars of silver, and the bags of dollars also, which are shipped in return for the’ merchandise landed, pass through the surf on these tender, though secure conveyances. The Alcalde, or governor, was a more dignified personage than our friend at Ylo, inasmuch as he had under him a guard of six soldiers, and a popu- lation of nearly one hundred souls. As he treated us in the best manner he could, it was but common civility to give him and his friends a dinner in return. Such grotesque-looking company, how- ever, having rarely been seen to enter the cabin, many a smile was raised on board the ship at the expense of the captain and his guests. The town of Mollendo, which is the sea-port of the great city of Arequipa, sixty miles inland, con- sists of forty or fifty huts, built of reed mats ; without any coating, of mud, as the climate requires no exelusion of air. Each hut is sur- rounded by a deep shady verandah, and covered by a flat cane roof. There are no windows, and of course no chimneys ; and the doors, like the walls, are constructed of basket-work. The original ground, with all its inequalities, forms the floors ; —in short, a more primitive town was never built. The inhabitants of this rude sea-port were very kind to us, and remarkably gentle in their manners. The women were of small stature, but elegantly formed ; with fine laughing black eyes, and a bright copper complexion ; and, though extremely lively, and even merry when encouraged to speak 43 out, seemed so timorous and sensitive, that at first we were almost afraid to speak to them, lest they should fly off like so many startled deer. We wished next day to walk over the country, and, if possible, to reach the top of one of the hills in the neighbourhood ; but the ground being covered with a snow-white powder, threw up so disagreeable a reflection, that we were forced to return, half blinded by the glare, and choked with dust. This powder, many years ago thrown out from the great voleano of Arequipa, covers the whole country to a considerable depth. On the 20th we left Mollendo, and sailed along the coast, with a fresh and fair wind, till the even- ing of the 24th of June ; when we anchored in Callao Roads, after a passage of twenty-nine days from Valparaiso. —— as CHAPTER XIV. Progressof the Campaign in Peru.—Attemptsat Accommo- dation.—Revolutionary Opinions disseminated through the Country.—Policy of San Martin.—Interview with that General in Callao Roads, In our absence, the campaign had made consi- derable progress in Peru, and the Viceroy, pressed severely by want, and menaced by the growing enmity of the districts surrounding the capital, had requested an armistice. The ostensible reason assigned by the Viceroy was the arrival of a com- missioner from Spain, Don Manuel Abreu. This was agreed to by San Martin, and hostilities had ceased for two months, during which the respective deputies frequently met, and many projects for an accommodation were discussed, without any satis- factory result. The object which the Spaniards seemed desirous of attaining was, that an appeal to the mother-country should be made by the Colonists, and that, in the mean time, a truce should be agreed upon, until the Cortes had con- sidered the petition of the inhabitants. San Martin, on the other hand, considered the independence of the country a sine qua non, which must precede any other arrangement whatsoever. The expedi- tion intrusted to his command, he said, had the independence of Peru for its express object; and he could never allow that point to be relinquished, or in the smallest degree modified. If this were once admitted by the Spaniards, and received through- out the country, San Martin declared himself ready to enter into any terms, and even offered to goin person to Spain, as one of the deputies, to treat with the Cortes. The Viceroy also, to prove his anxiety that some terms of accommodation should be arranged, offered to give up the Castle of Callao as a guarantee for his sincerity, in the event of his proposal for a truce being agreed to. In consequence of the preliminaries, an interview actually took place between San Martin and the Viceroy ; at which, after much discussion, it was agreed, that the independence of Peru should be acknowledged by the Spaniards, in conjunction with the Chilians. Everything seemed thus to be settled amicably, when the whole of this pacific plan was overturned by the loyal interference of General Valdes, a Spanish officer of great autho- rity, and strongly attached to the royal cause. As he had been chiefly instrumental in raising La 44 GENERAL SAN MARTIN. Serna to the viceroyalty, his influence prevailed and the only opportunity for concluding the war was lost. ; The interview between the two chiefs is described as having been extremely interesting ; and from all that passed, both parties appeared perfectly sincere and cordial. Thus, as every proposition led in the end to nothing, the armistice. was dissolved about the time of our arrival; and the first news we heard was, that the royalist army meant to abandon the capital, and to retire to the interior, where they were more certain of supplies. The truth probably was, that the revolutionary principles disseminated by San Martin had taken such deep root in Lima, and the surrounding country, that the Viceroy felt himself insecure. in that quarter, and was willing to try a different mode of warfare, after having in vain endeavoured to stem the torrent of new opinions which the expedition had introduced. He well knew that San Martin’s great art consisted in winning to his cause all persons within his reach, and in stimulating them to assert their claim to independence. The policy of the Royalists, therefore, required that some change of plan should be adopted, and it was resolved to yield for the present to the storm. Whether these were the Viceroy’s real motives or not is immaterial. I had better and more frequent opportunities of hearing what were General San Martin’s views, and therefore give them with more confidence. How far his professions were sincere, or, if sincere, his plans were wise, it is now very difficult to say. They certainly appeared to many people very judicious at the time, and they were uniformly followed by the success which he anticipated. I am therefore free to confess, that whatever may have been his subsequent con- duct, his measures at this juncture seemed to be marked with much sagacity and foresight. The political maxims by which he professed to be guided will be given in detail, as well as his subsequent conduct ; and although it be true, that they were not eventually found, in every minute detail, consistent with each other, his original plans and professions were not, on that account alone, less judicious or suitable to the particular times. It is my present purpose to describe merely what I actually saw, accompanied by such reflections only as seem calculated to give clear- ness to that description, without the most distant view to the advancement of any party-question, or mere political controversy. Even had my op- portunities enabled me to collect adequate infor- mation respecting all that was passing at the moment, I must still have left the inquiry incom- plete, on quitting the spot. On the 25th of June, I had an interview with General San Martin, on board a little schooner, a yacht of his own, anchored in Callao Roads for the convenience of communicating with the deputies, who, during the armistice, had held their sittings on board a ship in the anchorage. There was little, at first sight, in his appearance to engage the attention ; but when he rose up and began to speak, his great superiority over every other person I had seen in South America was suffi- ciently apparent. He received us in very homely style, on the deck of his vessel, dressed in a surtout coat, and a large fur cap, seated at a table made of a few loose planks laid along the top of | two empty casks. General San Martin is a tall, erect, well-pro- | portioned, handsome man, with a large aquiline nose, thick black hair, and immense bushy whiskers, extending from ear to ear under the chin: his complexion is deep olive, and his eye, which is large, prominent, and piercing, jet black; his |p} whole appearance being highly military. He is |}] thoroughly well-bred, and unaffectedly simple in his manners ; exceedingly cordial and engaging, | | and possessed evidently of great kindliness of dis- position : in short, I have never seen any person, the enchantment of whose address was more irre- sistible. In conversation he goes at once to the strong points of the topic, disdaining, as it were, to trifle with its minor parts : he listens earnestly, and replies with distinctness and fairness, showing wonderful resources in argument, and a most happy fertility of illustration ; the effect of which is to make his audience feel they are understood in the sense they wish. Yet there is nothing showy or ingenious in his discourse ; and he cer- tainly seems at all times perfectly in earnest, and deeply possessed with his subject. Several times during this interview his animation rose to a high pitch, and then the flash of his eye, and the whole turn of his expression, became so exceedingly energetic as to rivet the attention of his audience beyond the possibility of evading his arguments. This was most remarkably the case when the topic was politics ; on which subject I consider myself fortunate in having heard him express himself frequently. But his quiet manner was not less striking, and indicative of a mind of no ordinary stamp: he could even be playful and familiar, when such was the tone of the moment ; and whatever effect the subsequent possession of great political power may be supposed by some to have had on his mind, I feel confident that his natural disposition is kind and benevolent, and, I conceive, far above the reach of such vulgar influences. During the first visit I paid to San Martin, several persons came on board his vessel privately, from Lima, to discuss the state of affairs, upon which occasion his views and feelings were dis- tinctly stated ; and I saw nothing in his conduct afterwards to cast a doubt upon the sincerity with which he then spoke. The contest in Peru, he said, was not of an ordinary description—not a war of conquest and glory, but entirely of opinion ; it was a war of new and liberal principles against prejudice, bigotry, and tyranny.—* People ask,” said San Martin, “ why I don’t march to Lima at once; so I might, and instantly would, were it suitable to my views—which it is not. I do not want military renown—I have no ambition to be the conqueror of Peru—I want solely to liberate the country from oppression. Of what use would Lima be to me, if the inhabitants were hostile in political sentiment ? How could the cause of In- dependence be advanced by my holding Lima, or even the whole country, in military possession ?— Far different are my views. I wish to have all men thinking with me, and do not choose to advance a step beyond the gradual march of public opinion. The capital is now ripe for declaring its sentiments, and I shall give them the opportunity of doing so in safety. It was in sure expectation SS I of this moment that I have hitherto deferred advancing ; and to those who know the full extent of the means which have been put in action, a sufficient explanation is afforded of all the delays that have taken place. I have been gaining, indeed, day by day, fresh allies in the hearts of the people, the only certain allies in such a war. In the secondary point of military strength, I have been, from the same causes, equally successful in augmenting and improving the liberating army ; while that of the Spaniards has been wasted by want and desertion. The country has now become |sensible of its true interests, and it is right the inhabitants should have the means of expressing what they think. Public opinion is an engine newly introduced into this country ; the Spaniards, who are utterly incapable of directing it, have | prohibited its use ; but they shall now experience | its strength and importance.” | On another occasion I heard San Martin explain | the peculiar necessity there was for acting in this cautious, and, as it were, tardy manner, in revo- lutionising Peru. Its geographical situation had, in his opinion, great influence in continuing that state of ignorance so favourable to the mistaken policy of the Spaniards; long after the other countries of South America had awakened from their apathy. Buenos Ayres, from its vicinity to | the Cape of Good Hope, and the facility of inter- course between it and Europe, had many years before acquired the means of gaining information, which had not yet reached Peru. Chili originally derived her knowledge through Buenos Ayres, but more recently by direct communication from England and North America. Columbia, although the scene of terrible wars, had the advantage of being near the West Indies and North America ; and Mexico was also in constant communication : with those places, as well as with Europe. Thus they had all, more or less, enjoyed opportunities of obtaining much useful knowledge, during times little favourable, it is true, to its culture, but which did not, indeed could not, prevent its in- fluence from being salutary. Peru, however, was unfortunately cut off by nature from direct com- munication with the more enlightened countries of the earth, and it was only very recently that the first rays of knowledge had pierced through the clouds of error and superstition which the folly and bigotry of the government had spread over it; and the people were still not only very ignorant of their own rights, but required time and encouragement to learn how to think justly on the subject. To have taken the capital by a coup-de-main, therefore, would have answered no purpose, but would probably have irritated the people, and induced them to resist the arms of the Patriots, from a misconception of their real intentions. The gradual progress of intelligence in the other states of South America, said San Martin, had insensibly prepared the people’s minds for the Revolution. In Chili and elsewhere, the mine had been silently charged, and the train required only to be touched ;—in Peru, where the materials were yet to be prepared, any premature attempt at explosion must have been unsuccessful. LIMA ABANDONED BY THE SPANIARDS. 45 CHAPTER XV. Consternation of the Inhabitants of Lima on being aban- doned by the Spanish Troops.—Panic and Flight to Callao. —Meeting of the Public Authorities.—Invitation sent to San Martin.—Wise and generous Reply.—Restoration of Tranquillity. Tue privilege which our neutral character gave us of examining both sides of the question in person, was turned to great account at this period ; for immediately after conversing with the Patriot general San Martin, I landed and went to Lima, where I had an interview, within the same hour, with the Spanish Viceroy ; and returned in the evening to my ship, anchored not very far from the Chilian fleet under Lord Cochrane. On going to Lima, I found it in the most singular state of agitation. It was now generally known that the Royalists meant to abandon the city to its fate ; and it was clear, that whatever happened, a violent revulsion might be expected to take place ; but no one knew, or could guess, what its extent might prove, although every one deemed the crisis full of danger and difficulty. The timorous were distracted by the wildest fears; the bold and steady knew not how to apply their courage ; while the irresolute were left in the most pitiable state. The English and other strangers, unwilling to offend either side, I thought acted wisely by putting a good face on the matter and taking their chance. The female part of the community, though much embarrassed and flut- tered, certainly behaved better than the men: they displayed more fortitude, were less timorous, less querulous under suffering, in general saw things in a brighter point of view, and did not distress themselves, or those about them, by needless complaints and anticipations of evil. In their hours of ease, no females on the face of the earth could be more uncertain, coy, and hard to please, than these very Limenas, who, now that the danger was imminent, really behaved with admirable judgment and firmness. On every successive day things became worse ; and towards the close of the week, the terrors of the people assuming the character of despair, it was utterly useless to reason with them, or to attempt im- pressing upon their minds the value of calmness and patience at such an alarming moment. On the 5th of July 1821, the Viceroy issued a proclamation, announcing his intention of abandon- ing the city, and pointed out Callao as an asylum for those who fancied themselves insecure in the capital. This was the signal for immediate flight ; a rush was made towards the castle by terrified mul- titudes, who, when questioned as to their reasons for leaving the city, could give none but that of fear : indeed the majority acted from mere panic, which spread amongst them in the most extraordinary manner. I had gone to the ship in the morning, but hearing shortly afterwards by an express sent to me by the English merchants that the capital was certainly to be deserted by the Royalists next day, and wishing to be near my countrymen, whom I had strongly recommended, come what might, to stay by their property in Lima, I landed, and proceeded along the Callao road. It was with great difficulty that I could make head against the crowd of fugi- tives coming down in the opposite direction ; groups 46 CONSTERNATION OF of people on foot, in carts, on horseback, hurried distractedly past ; men, women, and children, with horses and mules, and numbers of slaves laden with baggage and other valuables, hurried wildly and indiscriminately along, and all was outcry and confusion. In the city itself the consternation was excessive; the men were seen running to and fro in the streets in fearful doubt what was to be done ; the women flying in all directions towards the convents: the narrow streets were literally choked up with wag- gons and mules, mounted horsemen, and loaded slaves. All night long the noise and confusion continued. At day-break the Viceroy marched out with his troops, not leaving a single guard, nor even a sentinel over the powder-magazine. Up to this moment many people, with a strange degree of incredulity, arising out of long-cherished prejudice and pride, would not believe that such events were ‘possible; so that when the moment actually arrived, their despair became immeasurable, and they fled away like the rest. For an hour or two after the Viceroy’s departure, the streets were filled with fugitives; but by mid-day scarcely an individual was to be seen; and in the course of the after- noon I accompanied one of the English merchants, during a walk of more than a mile, through the most populous parts of Lima, without meeting a single soul ; the doors were all barred, the window- shutters closed, and it really seemed “some vast city of the dead.” An indistinct dread of some terrible catastrophe was the principal cause of this universal panic ; yet there was a definite cause of alarm besides, which contributed considerably to the extraor- dinary effect I have been describing. This was a belief, industriously propagated and caught up with all the diseased eagerness of fear, that the slave population of the city meant to take advantage of the absence of the troops, to rise in a body and massacre the whites. I could not, however, bring myself to suppose this at all probable; the slaves, indeed, had no leisure to plan such a scheme; their habits, too, were not those of union or enterprise, for being all domestic servants, they were thinly scattered over an immense city, with very rare opportunities of confidential intercourse. Had the panic, however, been less general, and not spread itself over all classes, from the highest to the lowest, there might have been some grounds to apprehend a riot, or other mischief, from the mob attacking the houses of obnoxious individuals’; but as the inhabitants were all equally under the influence of terror, there was no one left to take advantage of the moment. The Viceroy, on leaving Lima, had nominated the Marquis of Montemira as governor of the city, and the selection was a judicious one, for this old nobleman, independently of being a native of the place, was so universally esteemed, that his influence was likely to prove most beneficial to the city at this juncture. In the course of the day he sent for such of the principal inhabitants as had not fled to Callao, in order to consult with them on the measures to be taken for securing the peace of the town. As the British merchants had no trifling interest in this question, I considered it right to be present at this meeting, where I found a strange assembly of people. Some came to learn the news, others to suggest THE INHABITANTS. plans; and all to talk, smoke cigars, and do nothing. Many whose politics had obliged them to keep out of sight for a long time, now came forward from their hiding-places ; and others, whose authority had a few days before carried all before it, now looked sadly crest-fallen. Some expressed the greatest alarm ; some sorrow; others, again, were exulting and congratulating one another on the consummation of their political hopes ; and some bustled and fidgeted about amongst the crowd, and aggravated the evil by saying how very much they were in doubt what ought to be done. My old acquaintance, the ex-inquisitor, whom I had met in the same house in February last, was there among the rest, but was treated with a contempt that very clearly proved his occupation to be gone. On the other hand I recognised a strange little |} man, folded up in an old dingy Spanish cloak, with a broad-brimmed yellow hat, hooked loosely on one corner of his small square head, and shadow- ing a face plastered all over with snus, which, in the vehemence of his agitation, he flung at his nose in handfuls; but through this forbidding exterior it was easy to perceive, by the flash of his eye and the sarcastic turn of his expression, a promise of intellect far beyond that of the people about him. He had been formerly pointed out to me in the streets as a furious republican, who had been with difficulty restrained by his friends from breaking out too soon; his active intrigues, it was also said, had essentially contri- buted to that revolution in public sentiment which had been gradually accomplished in Lima,—and now he was in his glory. Among Spaniards no business is ever done on such occasions without much talk ; the tendency of which generally is to avoid meeting the question. Accordingly, the state of the times was canvassed and recanvassed, but the main point at issue, namely, what was to be done, was perversely kept on one side. By a unanimous vote, however, the late rulers of the city were stigmatised, in no very measured terms, as having proved themselves trai- tors to their country. In the midst of this universal confusion and doubt, the minutest points of etiquette were not forgotten: the new Governor had to receive a visit of ceremony from the Cabildo, or town-coun- cil ;—from the Consulado, or commercial board ; and so on through all the public bodies, or, at least, from as many of the members as remained in the city. In these idle forms much time was lost ; and the day was wearing fast away, when the necessity of doing something, and that speedily, became too obvious to be longer neglected, even by men never known to act promptly in their lives. At the suggestion of the little republican, whose indignation at these absurd delays was roused to the highest pitch, a short letter was written to San Martin, inviting him to enter the city, to protect it from the imminent dangers by which it was threatened. It was not only of the slaves and of the mob that people were afraid ; but, with more reason, of the multi- tude of armed Indians surrounding the city, who, although under the orders of San Martin's officers, were savage and undisciplined troops, and very likely to enter the place in a body as soon as the Spaniards had gone. These Indian auxiliaries were so near that we could see them The rest of the Patriot army, also insight from Lima, formed a semicircle round the northern side of the city, ready to march in at a moment’s warning. . The most profound silence reigned over the capital during the night ; and next morning the same party assembled at the governor’s as on the preceding day, in order to receive San Mar- tin’s answer. It was brief, but admirably in point, as it stated distinctly the terms upon which | he was willing to enter the city with his army, should it be the real wish of the inhabitants to declare their independence. He had no desire, he told them, to enter the capital as a conqueror, and would not come at all unless expressly invited by the people themselves. In the meanwhile, however, to prevent any disturbance in the city, and in order to give the inhabitants leisure to consider these terms, he added that he had sent | orders to the commanding officers of the troops surrounding Lima, to obey implicitly the direc- tions of the governor, who might dispose of all or any part of the forces as he pleased, without refer- ence to himself. This conduct it may be said was evidently the most judicious on everyeaccount that could have been adopted: but it is seldom that men in real life recollect, on such tempting occasions, those maxims at other times so obvious which stand between them and a display of their power: the Limenians, therefore, were taken quite bysurprise ; and could scarcely believe it possible, that they should be so treated by a man whom they had been taught to consider as an enemy. His an- swer, consequently, was considered as noble and chivalrous; certainly it was very considerate of ' the feelings of the citizens, even had it not been in the highest degree politic. After discussing the answer of the invading general for some time, however, a doubt was started as to its sincerity ; and some of the company went so far as to suggest that the whole must be a mockery of their distress, and that, in a few hours, San Martin would be entering the city at the head of his victorious troops to pillage and lay it waste. Upon this motion being suggested, the little old gentleman who had been so active during the consultations of yester- day, and whose sagacity led him to perceive the wisdom of San Martin’s conduct, proposed that the matter should be put to the proof, by the governor actually sending an order to some of the troops investing the town; the result of which, he said, would at once show on what ground they stood. Accordingly, an order was written by the governor to the commanding-officer of a regiment of cavalry, stationed within a mile of the gates, desiring him instantly to remove one league further from the city. Considerable anxiety prevailed during the absence of the messenger sent to try this experiment, and great surprise and joy when he returned to say, that the officer, immediately on receiving the order, broke up his quarters, galloped off, and never halted till the regiment had reached the required distance. The news of this delegated power over the hostile troops being in the hands of the governor, and the fact of their ready obedience, flew rapidly through Lima, and put an end to every apprehen- sion of insurrection among the slaves, or of riotous THE PATRIOTS ENTER LIMA. | distinctly from the street, perched along the heights overhanging the town. 47 behaviour on the part of the mob. It instantly restored confidence to every one, and put the whole society into good humour with San Martin. For although it was obvious that the governor could not turn the power thus placed in his hands to any improper use, yet every one felt there was something noble and generous in this show of con- fidence in people so recently his foes, and so com- pletely at his merey. His subsequent forbear- ance in not marching the army into the city. was a measure no less courteous and judicious: it not only spared the inhabitants the humiliation of a triumph, but kept his own troops out of the reach of temptation at a moment the most dangerous of all, perhaps, to good discipline. It was not, indeed, until the city had been completely tranquillised, a vigorous police established, and many small parties of chosen soldiers introduced under the command of careful officers, that the body of the troops were permitted to come near, or even to hold any com- munication with the city. In a day or two everything was restored to its ordinary state ; the shops were again opened ; the women were seen in every quarter stealing out of the convents ; the men ventured forth to smoke their cigars in the Plaza ; the streets were lined with people returning to their homes, and with loaded mules, ‘bringing back trunks, boxes, and household articles of all kinds; the mass-bells were again tinkling; the street-criers bawling as heretofore ; and the great “City of the Kings” once more restored to its wonted noise and bustle. During nearly two days, however, the apparent desertion of the capital had been more complete than I could have supposed possible in so large and populous a place ; and as the majority of the inhabitants, notwithstanding the flight to Callao, were certainly still in the city, it was inconceivable how so many people could have remained locked up for such a period, without being once tempted to peep out; especially when the danger was by no means pressing or certain. We sometimes fancied that the slaves were more cheerful than usual during this period ; but this probably was a deception, arising from our contrasting their un- disturbed gaiety, for they were quite careless about the matter, with the doubt and gloom which had beset every other mind. It may be mentioned here, that one of San Martin’s first proclamations declared the freedom of every person born after the 15th of July 1821, the day on which the independence of Lima was first announced ; and that every slave voluntarily enlisting into his army should become from that instant a free citizen ; measures which at once gave a death-blow to the whole system of slavery. ——_o—— CHAPTER XVI. Interview with San Martin.—Traits of his private Cha- racter.—Robbers near Lima.—Guerilla Chief.—Precau- tion used to preserve the Peace in the Capital.—Adven- ture of a Spanish Viceroy with a Peruvian Aspasia. Wuen all was quiet in the capital, I went to Callao, and hearing that San Martin was in the roads, waited on him on board his yacht. I found him possessed of correct information as to all that was passing ; but he seemed in no hurry to enter the city, and appeared, above all things, anxious to 48 avoid any appearance of acting the part of a con- queror. “ For the last ten years,” said he, “ I have been unremittingly employed against the Spaniards ; or rather, in favour of this country, for I am not against any one who is not hostile to the cause of independence. All I wish is, that this country should be managed by itself, and by itself alone. As to the manuer in which it is to be governed, that belongs not at all to me. I propose simply to give the people the means of declaring themselves independent, and of establishing a suitable form of government ; after which I shall consider I have done enough, and leave them.” Those who heard this declaration at the time with scorn and incredulity, will do well to take notice how exactly the whole of his subsequent conduct was in accordance with these professions. General San Martin is now residing in retirement at Brussels. On the next day, the 8th of July, a deputation of the principal inhabitants of Lima was sent to invite San Martin formally to enter the capital, as the inhabitants had agreed, after the most mature deliberation, to the terms proposed. To this requisition he assented, but delayed his entry till the 12th, some days after. It is proverbially difficult to discover the real temper and character of great men: and I was, therefore, on the watch for such little traits in San Martin as might throw a light on his natural dis- position ; and I must say that the result was most favourable. I took notice, in particular, of the kindly and cordial terms upon which he lived with the officers of his family, and all those with whom his occupations obliged him to associate. One day, at his own table, after dinner, I saw him take out his cigarrera, or pouch, and while his thoughts were evidently far away, choose a cigar more round and firm than the rest, and give it an un- conscious look of satisfaction ;—when a voice from the bottom of the table called out, “ Mi General !” He started from his reverie, and holding up his head, asked who had spoken. “It was I,” said an officer of his establishment who had been watching him ; “I merely wished to beg the favour of one cigar of you.”—“ Ah ha!” said he, smiling good-naturedly, and at once tossed his chosen cigar with an assumed look of reproach to the officer. To everybody he was affable and courteous, without the least show or bustle, and I could never detect in him the slightest trace of affectation, or anything, in short, but the real sentiment of the moment. I had occasion to visit him early one morning on board his schooner, and we had not been long walking together, when the sailors began washing the decks. “ What a plague it is,” said San Martin, “ that these fellows will insist upon washing their decks at this rate!”—“ I wish my friend,’ said he to one of the men, “ you would not wet us here, but go to the other side.” The seaman, however, who had his duty to do, and was too well accustomed to the General’s gentle manner, went on with his work, and splashed us soundly. “T am afraid,” cried San Martin, “we must go below, although our cabin is but a miserable hole, for really there is rio persuading these fellows to go out of their usual way.” These anecdotes, and many others of the same stamp, are very trifling, it is true ; but I am much mistaken if they do not give more insight into the real disposition, than a A SOUTH AMERICAN GUERILLA CHIEF. long series of official acts: for public virtue, whether justly or not, is unfortunately held to be so rare, that we are apt to mistrust a man in power for the very same actions, which, in a humble station, would have secured our confidence and esteem. On our way back to Lima we were threatened with an attack from a body of a dozen robbers: © men let loose upon society by the events of the day. Our party consisted of four gentlemen, each | armed with a pistol. approach of the city, we saw the robbers pull three people off their horses, and strip them of their cloaks, after which they formed a compact line across the road, brandishing their cudgels in defiance. We cantered on, however, right against them, with our pistols cocked and held in the air. The effect was what we expected: an opening was made for us, and the robbers, seeing their purpose As we rode up the great _ frustrated, turned about, and became of a sudden | wonderfully good patriots, calling out, “ Viva la | Patria ! Viva San Martin!” On the 10th of July, I dined with a small party at the Marquis of Montemira’s. Whilst we were at dinner a soldier entered with a letter, which he delivered to the old Governor. He was a short, round-faced, daring-looking fellow, dressed in a shaggy blue jacket, and trowsers of immense width, | with a blue cloth cap on his head, encircled by a broad silver band, and: by his side hung a huge broadsword. His manners were somewhat too free, but not vulgar or offensive ; and there played about his eyes and his mouth, during the interview, an expression of broad coarse humour, which a glass or two of wine, and a little encouragement on our part, might, not improbably, have ripened into impertinence. The old Marquis, whose heart was open with excess of glee at all the events of the day, was delighted with his-new guest ; and rising from the table, actually embraced the as- | tonished soldier, who was standing most respect- fully behind his chair, little dreaming of such familiarity. though by birth a Spaniard, was a thorough Patriot at heart, and from being long resident in Lima, had become acquainted with every distinguished or notorious individual it contained. I observed him fall back in his chair, and in vain try to sup- press a laugh on seeing the Marquis embrace the bearer of the despatch. On my insisting upon knowing the cause of his mirth, he told me that our new friend was no other than one of the most noted robbers in the whole country, who, not many months since, had been condemned to be hanged, but was let off with a sound whipping through the streets of Lima. San Martin, who was on the look-out for every sort of instrument to advance his purpose, ‘had heard of him as a man of talents and enterprise, and had given him the command of a band of Partidos, or Guerillas, composed chiefly of Indians, from the lower districts of the Andes. I was much amused with this account of our new companion, who was urged by our host to take his seat at the table, and where he accordingly made himself quite at home in a very short time. This was just the sort of man to flourish in a revolution, and we found him a very shrewd person, well adapted to his situation in the event of any desperate service being required. He was I was seated near a friend, who, | eS iver LA PERICHOLE’S AMBITION GRATIFIED. | asked if he had come alone, or whether he had not thought of bringing some of his people with him to assist in guarding the city at this critical moment. “ Guard the city !—don’t mention such a thing,”’ cried he; “ they are the greatest set of villains in Peru, and would cut the throats of half Lima before morning if they were trusted within — the walls.” The streets were this morning secured in every | direction by mounted patroles, consisting of ten or a dozen gentlemen each, who allowed no one, without special permission, to remain out of doors after eight o’clock. These precautions were taken by the inhabitants, in consequence of the tumul- tuous assemblages of people in the streets the night | before, shouting “ Viva la Patria! Viva la Inde- | pendencia!” and making a furious riot, which | was greatly assisted by the incessant ringing of all | the patrole. | : the church-bells. Several shops were broken open, and one or two people were shot. Some judicious persons at last obtained an order that the bells should cease ringing ; after which the mob soon retired to rest. In the midst of the confusion a violent shock of an earthquake was felt, but I missed this by having gone on board my ship in the evening, a few hours before it took lace. 4 On the night of the 11th of July, the patroles did their duty so effectually, that, after it was dark, hardly a soul was to be seen in the streets, and not a door open, except here and there, where a drinking-house was allowed, the solitary mirth from which proved the real repose of the city more than if every house had been rigorously blocked up. I walked, in company with a gentleman, over great part of the town, without meeting any one except As we were returning through the Plaza, or great square, the deep silence was sud- denly broken by the clank of a hand-bell rung in front of the cathedral. Presently there issued from the palace, on the other side of the square, a great lumbering old-fashioned gilt coach ; which drove to the principal entrance of the cathedral, and having received the priest charged with the Host, or consecrated wafer, moved slowly away to the house of some dying person. The Host is usually carried in procession on foot; but a car- riage has been appropriated to this duty in Lima, in consequence of a curious circumstance, the details of which were related by my companion, a person who delighted in anything tending to make the past times look ridiculous. It seems that a certain viceroy, some years ago, had become deeply enamoured of a celebrated actress, named La Pericholé ; and as vice mon- archs, like real monarchs, seldom sigh in vain, La Senora Pericholé soon became mistress of the palace, where, besides spending large sums of the public money, she succeeded in making her admirer even more contemptible than he had been before. Every request she chose to make was immediately granted her, except in one trifling case, which, of course, she resolutely set her heart upon attaining. Her whim was not of great consequence, it might be thought, since it was merely to be allowed, for once, to drive in a carriage of her.own through the streets of Lima. Now this, which to us seems the simplest thing in nature, was looked upon in quite a different light in the capital of Peru; for although any one might ride about as long as he pleased in 49 a gig, or a calesh, or in a balancia, no one ever presumed to dream of entering a coach but a grandee of the highest class. The wretched viceroy tried every argument to free La Pericholé’s head of this most unreasonable fancy, but all in vain : at length he was obliged to set public opinion at .defiauce, and, at the risk of a rebellion, order a coach to be made for the lady, whose folly was destined to render them both ridiculous. How to traverse the streets without being mobbed, was the next grand difficulty; for the viceroy, who dreaded the indignation of the populace, was pretty sure that he should never behold the fair Pericholé again if she went alone: to go in the same carriage, however, was too scandalous to be thought of,— besides, it was not what the lady wanted, who must needs go in her own carriage. In the endit | was arranged that the viceroy should lead in his | coach of state, and that of La Pericholé should | follow, while the usual train of carriages brought | up the rear, with the body-guard surrounding all. | It is said the viceroy had a window cut in the back part of his carriage, for the express purpose of keeping an eye on his lady: be that as it may, it | so happened that the mob were amused with the ridiculous nature of the procession, and, instead of pelting the ambitious damsel, followed with huzzas the delighted Pericholé, while she crossed and recrossed the city. On returning towards the palace, she drew up before the cathedral, and stepping out, declared that the grand object of her life being now satisfied, she had no farther occasion for the coach, and would therefore, in gratitude to Heaven, devote it to the service of the church ; and desired that henceforward it might always carry the Host, whenever the sacrament of extreme unction was to be administered to dying sinners. CHAPTER XVII. Entry of General San Martin into Lima.—His Reception | by the People.—Characteristic Scenes at the Marquis of Montemira’s. Tue 12th of July 1821 is memorable in the | annals of Peru, from the entry of General San Martin into the capital. Whatever intermediate changes may take place in the fortunes of that country, its freedom must eventually be established: and it can never be forgotten, that the first im- pulse which led to so glorious a consummation, | was due entirely to the genius of that great Patriot leader, who planned and executed the enterprise which first stimulated the Peruvians to think and act for themselves. San Martin did not enter in state, as he was well entitled to have done, had he cared about forms and ceremonies instead of cordially despising them, but waited till the evening, and then rode in without guards, and accompanied only by a single aide-de-camp. Indeed, it was contrary to his original intention that he came into the city on this day ; for he was tired, and wished to go quietly to rest in a cottage about half a league off, and to enter the town before daybreak next morning. He had dismounted accordingly, and had just nestled himself into a corner, blessing his stars that E 50 he was out of the reach of business; when in came two friars, who by some means or other had dis- covered his retreat. Each of them made him a speech, to which his habitual good-nature induced him to listen. One compared him to Cesar, the other to Lucullus. “ Good Heavens!” exclaimed the general, when the fathers left the apartment, “ what are we to do? this will never answer.”— “Oh! sir,” answered the aide-de-camp, “ there are two more of the same stamp close at hand.”— “ Indeed! then saddle the horses again, and let us be off.” Instead of going straight to the palace, San Mar- tin called at the Marquis of Montemira’s on his way, and the circumstance of his arrival becoming known in a moment, the house, the court, and the neighbouring streets, were soon filled. I happened to be at a house in the vicinity, and reached the audience-room before the crowd became impass- able. I was desirous of seeing how the General would carry through a scene of no ordinary dif- ficulty ; and he certainly acquitted himself very well. There was, it may be supposed, a large allowance of enthusiasm, and high-wrought expres- sion, upon the occasion ; and to a man innately modest, and naturally averse to show or ostenta- tion of any kind, it was not an easy matter to re- ceive such praises without betraying impatience. At the time I entered the room, a middle-aged fine-looking woman was presenting herself to the general: as he leaned forward to embrace her, she fell at his feet, clasped his knees, and looking up exclaimed, that she had three sons at his service, who, she hoped, would now become useful mem- bers of society, instead of being slaves as hereto- fore. San Martin, with much discretion, did not attempt to raise the lady from the ground, but allowed her to make her appeal in the situation she had chosen,and which of course she considered the best suited to give force to her eloquence : he stooped low to hear all she said, and when her first burst was over, gently raised her: upon which she threw her arms round his neck, and concluded her speech while hanging on his breast. His reply was made with suitable earnestness; and the poor woman’s heart seemed ready to burst with grati- tude for his attention and affability. He was next assailed by five ladies, all of whom wished to clasp his knees at once ; but asthis could not be managed, two of them fastened themselves round his neck, and all five clamoured so loudly to gain his attention, and weighed so heavily upon him, that he had some difficulty in supporting him- self. Hesoon satisfied each of them with a kind word or two, and then seeing a little girl of ten or twelve years of age belonging to this party, but who had been afraid to come forward before, he lifted up the astonished child, and kissing her cheek, set her down again in such esctacy, that the poor thing scarcely knew where she was. His reception of the next person who came for- ward was quite different ; a tall, raw-boned, pale- faced friar ; a young man, with deep-set dark-blue eyes, and a cloud of care and disappointment wan- dering across his features. San Martin assumed a look of serious earnestness while he listened to the speech of the monk ; who applauded him for the peaceful and Christian-like manner of his entrance into this great city—conduct which, he trusted, was only a forerunner of the gentle character of his SAN MARTIN’S RECEPTION IN LIMA. future government. The General’s answer was in a similar strain, only pitched a few notes higher ; and it was curious to observe how the formal cold manner of the priest became animated, under the influence of San Martin’s eloquence ; at last losing - all recollection of his sedate character, the young man clapped his hands and shouted, “Viva! viva! nuestro General !”—“ Nay, nay,” said the other, | “do not say so; but join with me in calling Viva la independencia del Peru!” The Cabildo, or town-council, hastily drawn to- gether, next entered, and as many of them were natives of the place, and liberal men, they had enough to do to conceal their emotion, and to maintain the proper degree of stateliness belonging to so grave a body, when they came for the first time into the presence of their liberator. Old men, and old women, and young women, crowded fast upon him: to every one he had some- thing kind and appropriate to say; always going beyond the expectation of each person headdressed. During this scene I was near enough to watch him closely ; but I could not detect, either in his manner or in his expressions, the least affecta- tion ; there was nothing assumed, or got up : no- thing which seemed to refer to himself: I could not even discover the least trace of a self-approv- ing smile. But his manner, at the same time, was the reverse of cold ; for he was sufficiently animated, although his satisfaction seemed to be — caused solely by the pleasure reflected from others. While I was thus watching him, he happened to recognise me, and drawing me to him, embraced — me in the Spanish fashion. I made way for a beautiful young woman, who, by great efforts, had got through the crowd. She threw herself into the General’s arms, and lay there full half a mi- nute without being able to utter more than “ Oh mi General! mi General!” She then tried to disengage herself, but San Martin, who had been struck with her enthusiasm and beauty, drew her gently and respectfully back, and holding his head a little on one side, said with a smile, that he must be permitted to show his grateful sense of © This | such good-will, by one affectionate salute. completely bewildered the blushing beauty, who, turning round, sought support in the arms of an officer standing near the General, who asked her if she were now content: “ Contenta!” she cried, “ O Seftor!” It is perhaps worthy of remark, that, during all this time, there were no tears shed, and that, even | in the most theatrical parts, there was nothing carried so far as to look ridiculous. It is clear that the General would gladly have missed such a scene altogether ; and, had his own | plan succeeded, he would have avoided it ; for he ee intended to have entered the city at four or five in | the morning. His dislike of pomp and show was - evinced in a similar manner when he returned to Buenos Ayres, after having conquered Chili from the Spaniards, in 1817. He there managed mat- ters with more success than at Lima; for, although the inhabitants were prepared to give him a public reception, he contrived to enter that capital with- out being discovered. LOS MONTONEROS. 51 CHAPTER XVIII. San Martin’s Head-quarters.—The Conway proceeds to Ancon Harbour.—Journey to Lima across a sandy Desert. —The Valley of Lima.—Outpost occupied by Montoneros or Guerilla Troops.—Embarrassment of the Royalists.— Proclamation of Independence.—Tapadas at the Ball in the Palace. Next morning I rode with two gentlemen to -San Martin’s head-quarters, a little beyond the city walls, on the Callao road. He had come to this place, on the evening before, from the marquis of Montemira’s instead of going to the palace, where he dreaded a repetition of the same bustle. He ‘was completely surrounded by business, but attended to it all himself. It was curious to ob- serve every one coming out of his presence pleased with the reception he had met with, whether he had succeeded or not. We no sooner entered than he recognised one of my companions, who was an excellent draughts- man, and whom he had seen on board the schooner a fortnight before. He had heard how much the jealousy of the Spaniards had interfered with my friend’s amusements, and told him he might now sketch away as much as he pleased, and might have an escort if he had any wish to extend his researches into the country. _ An old man came in at this moment with a little girl in his arms, his only object being that the General should kiss the child, which he good- naturedly did, and the poor father marched off perfectly happy. The next person who entered delivered a letter to the General, in a manner somewhat mysterious, and we found, on inquiry, that he was a spy who had been sent to the enemy’s camp. A deputation from the city followed, to speak about removing the situation of a military hospital from the village of Bellavista, which was within range of cannon-shot from the Castle of Callao. In this way he passed on from one thing to another with wonderful rapidity; but not without method, and all with great patience and courtesy to every one. This minute attention to business might be useful at first ; but if a com- mander-in-chief were to undertake to manage so many details in person, he would waste his time to very little purpose: so perhaps the General thought, for, in the course of the day, he shifted his head-quarters to the palace, and in the evening held his first levee in this ancient abode of the Spanish viceroys. The great audience gallery was lighted by win- dows opening into a long passage, or verandah, overlooking the garden, in the centre of the quad- rangle of the palace. During the levee, these windows were filled with anxious crowds of women straining their eyes to catch a glimpse of San Martin. On my passing one of these groups, they petitioned me to bring the General, if possible, towards their window. Accordingly, having con- sulted with one of the aides-de-camp, we contrived between us to get him into conversation about some despatches I was about to send off ; and we drew him, in the mean time, towards our fair friends at the window. When we had nearly reached the spot, he was about to turn round, which obliged us to tell him our plan ; he laughed, and imme- with them for some minutes, left them enchanted with his affability. Having at this time no business of any conse- quence to transact in Lima, I went on board, and removed the Conway from Callao roads to the har- bour of Ancon, lying about twenty miles to the northward of Lima ; in order to be near the English merchant-ships, all of which had recently gone to that port. The Spaniards on abandoning Lima retained possession of Callao, which, being an im- pregnable fortress, was for the present merely blockaded by sea and land, and all its supplies being cut off, there was an expectation that the garrison would eventually be starved into sub- mission. While things were in this situation, no intercourse could be allowed with Callao, and the merchant-vessels accordingly went to Ancon to land their cargoes. I anchored there also on the 17th of July, and having remained two days, was obliged to return by land to Lima, to arrange some business relating to the detention of two English ships by the Chilian squadron. I rode to the capital in company with several gentlemen, and do not remember anywhere to have made a more fatiguing journey, although the dis- tance was little more than eight leagues. At first, the whole country was a sandy desert, like that described at Arica ; and as nothing can be conceived more irksome than travelling over such ground, the relief was very great when we reached the hard road, after riding eight or ten miles through deep sand. As we approached the great valley of Lima, the country gradually improved: at first we could discover at long intervals a few blades of grass ; then a little tuft of herbage here and there ; then a shrub ; next a tree ; and by- and-by a hedge of aloes ; but the most pleasing object of all was a sparkling stream, winding and hissing along the sandy plain, accompanied in its course bya slender belt of bright green. But when we entered the valley of Lima, the whole scene was changed; fields of sugar-cane, maize, rice, and various grains, appeared on every side ; and we rode through lanes of thick-set trees, over substantial roads, that eventually led us to the sharp crest of a range of hills deeply indented by the road. From this gorge we had a view of the immense valley, with the river Rimae, which di- vides Lima into two parts, running through it, and lending its copious waters to fertilize the sur- rounding plain. About a league and a half from the city, we passed one of the Patriot outposts, consisting of Montoneros, or irregulars, guarding a depdt of horses and mules. Montonero is a provincial word adopted from the Spanish, Monton, which signifies a heap or pile : thus, monton de gente,a crowd or multitude of people. It is used in Chili and in Buenos Ayres, to designate bodies of men who make war in an irregular manner, with little or no discipline. These wild, bold-looking men, who were rather short in stature, but well-set and athletic, were scattered about in groups on the grass, in the fields, along with the horses. The sentinels, pacing along the walls by the road-side, formed on the sky-line the most picturesque figures imaginable. One of them, in particular, attracted our notice ; he wore on his head a high conical cap, made of a whole diately went up to the ladies, and having chatted | undressed sheep’s skin; and over his shoulders 5B 2 re, — See pee SS ee Se eee Ene Tata TUN RPICK Gall 52 SAN MARTIN ADDRESSES THE PERUVIANS. hung a large white cloak of blanket-stuff reaching to his knees ; his long sword, pulled somewhat in front, dangled about his ankles, round which were carelessly laced square pieces of raw horse-hide instead of boots : in this garb he strode along the parapet, with his musket over his arm, the very beau-ideal of a Guerilla. On hearing the tramp of our horses’ feet, he turned round, and perceiving we were officers, saluted us with all the respect- fulness of a disciplined soldier, but at the same fume with the air of a freeborn son of the hills. As for the rest they were like so many Scythians, and they stared at us with an interest at least equal to that which they inspired.. Nothing else of particular interest occurred in our journey, except that, when we reached the outskirts of Lima, we observed a dead body placed by the road-side, with a small cross laid on the breast. Upon inquiry, we were told that this was the corpse of some unknown person, exposed until money enough should be received from charitable passengers to pay for its interment. _ On reaching the city, we found that the ebulli- tion caused by the recent events had by no means subsided, Doubts and difficulties presented them- selves in fearful array before the eyes of the inha- bitants. The Spaniards, who formed the wealthy class, were sadly perplexed: if they declined entering into San Martin’s views, their property and their persons were liable to confiscation ; if they acceded to his terms, they became committed to their own government, which, it was still pos- sible, might return to visit them with equal ven- geance. ‘The natives, on the other hand, who had better reason to be confident, were even more alarmed at the consequences of their present acts. Many questioned San Martin’s sincerity ; many doubted his power to fulfil his engagements. To most of the inhabitants of Lima, long pampered in the lap of prosperity, such subjects were quite new, and it was, therefore, to be expected that alarm and indecision should fill every breast. In the midst of this general doubt and difficulty, perhaps the least at ease was the great mover of the whole, to whom every one, of whatever party, looked up for protection—the confident and the doubting—the Patriot as well as the Spaniard; and it required a skilful hand indeed to steer the vessel of the state at such a moment. The difficulties of San Martin’s situation, and, in general, the nature of the duties which now devolved upon him, are so clearly pointed out in an address to the Peruvians, which he published about this time, that an extract will be read with Interest ; especially as it is free from what has been well called revolutionary jargon ; in the use of which the Spaniards, and their South American descendants, are great adepts. “The work of real difficulty, and that which must be courageously, firmly, and circumspectly undertaken, is to correct the vague ideas which the former government has left impressed on the minds of the present generation. It is not to be supposed, however, that this difficulty consists so much in the want of acquaintance with the ade- quate means by which the end is to be accom- plished; as in the dangerous precipitaney with which new governments reform the abuses they find established. In the first place, liberty, which is the most ardent object of our wishes, must be ee bestowed with caution, (sobriedad,) in order that |} the sacrifices made for the purpose of gaining it be not rendered useless. Every civilised people || is entitled to be free ; but the degree of freedom which any country can enjoy, must bear an exact proportion to the measure of its civilisation: if |) the first exceed the last, no power ean save them — from anarchy ; and if the reverse happen, namely, that the degree of civilisation goes beyond the amount of freedom which the people possess, op- pression is the consequence. If all Europe were suddenly to be put in possession of the liberty of © England, the greater part of it would speedily |, present a complete chaos of anarchy ; and if, instead of their present constitution, the English were to be subjected to the charter of Louis XVIII., they would consider themselves enslaved. It is quite right that the governments of South America be free ; but it is necessary they should be so in the proportion stated; and the greatest triumph of our enemies would be to see us depart |) from that measure. ! “In every branch of the public welfare, even in ~ that of domestic economy, great reforms are ne- cessary. It may be said generally, without risk of error, although the expression may look like a — prejudiced one, that it is essential to strip our institutions and customs of all that is Spanish ; and, according to the expressions of the great Lord Chatham, on another occasion, ‘ to infuse such a portion of new health into the constitution, as may enable it to bear its infirmities.’ To make | these reforms abruptly, and without discreet re- flection, would be also a Spanish error ; and one into which the Cortes have at this moment (1821) fallen, by too precipitately changing the religious — and political state of the peninsula. We, on the — other hand, ought to avoid running into such mistakes, and to introduce, gradually, such im- provements as the country is prepared to receive, | and for which its people are so well adapted by their docility, and the tendency to improvement — which mark their social character.’’* Asa measure of primary importance, San Martin sought to implant the feeling of independence, by some act that should bind the inhabitants of the — capital to that cause. On the 28th of July 1821, therefore, the ceremonies of proclaiming and ~ swearing to the independence of Peru took place. — The troops were drawn up in the great square, in the centre of which was erected a lofty stage, from whence San Martin, accompanied by the governor | of the town, and some of the principal inhabitants, displayed, for the first time, the independent flag of Peru, calling out, at the same time, in a loud | voice,—“ From this moment Peru is free and independent, by the general wish of the people, — and by the justice of her cause, which God de- fend!” Then waving the flag, he exelaimed, | “ Viva la Patria! Viva la Libertad! Viva la Independencia !” which words were caught up and > repeated by the multitude in the square and the adjoining streets ; while all the bells in the city rang a peal, and cannon were discharged amidst shouts such as had never been heard in Lima before. * The peculiarity of these doctrines, under all the cir- cumstances of the country and the times, is so striking, that this extract in the original Spanish is added in the Appendix. THE NEW FLAG OF PERU. The new Peruvian flag represented the rising sun appearing over the Andes, seen behind the city, with the river Rimac bathing their base. This device on a shield, surrounded with laurel, occupied the centre of the flag, which was divided diagonally into four triangular pieces, two red and two white. From the stage on which San Martin stood, and from the balconies of the palace, silver medals were seattered amongst the crowd, bearing appropriate mottos. On one side of these medals was, “ Lima libre juré su Independencia, en 28 de Julio del /1821;” and on the reverse, “ Baxo la proteccion del exercito Libertador del Peru mandado por San Martin.” Which may be translated thus: “ Lima being liberated, swore its independence on the 28th of July, 1821; under the protection of the Liberating army of Peru, commanded by San Martin.” The same ceremonies were observed at the principal stations of the city, or, as they were termed in an official proclamation, “in all those public places where, in former times, it was an- nounced to the people that they were still to wear their miserable and heavy chains.” The ceremony was rather imposing. San Martin’s manner was graceful and easy throughout, unac- companied by anything theatrical or affected ; but it was a business of show and effect, and therefore quite repugnant to his taste, and I sometimes thought, there might be detected in his face a momentary expression of impatience or contempt of himself for engaging in such mummery ; but, if it really were so, he speedily resumed his wonted look of attention, and of good-will to all around him. After making the circuit of Lima, the General and the persons who accompanied hin returned to the palace to receive Lord Cochrane, who had just arrived from Callao. Next day, Sunday, 29th of July, Te Deum was sung, and High Mass performed in the Cathedral by the Archbishop, followed by an appropriate sermon preached by a Franciscan friar. As soon as the church service was over, the heads of the various departments assembled at the palace, and swore “to God and the country, to maintain, and defend, with their opinion, person, and property, the independence of Peru from the government of Spain, and from any other foreign domination.” This oath was taken and signed by every respectable inhabitant of Lima, so that, in a few days, the signatures to the declaration of Peruvian independence amounted to nearly four thousand. This was published in an extraordinary Gazette, and diligently circulated over the country, which not only gave useful publicity to the state of the capital, but deeply committed many men, who would have been well pleased to have con- cealed their acquiescence in the measure. In the evening, San Martin gave a ball at the | palace, in the gaiety of which he joined heartily himself ; took part in the dances, and conversed with every individual in the room with so much ease and cheerfulness, that, of all the company, he seemed to be the person least burdened with cares or duties. A strange custom prevails everywhere in this country at balls, public as well as private. Ladies of all ranks, who happen not to be invited, come 53 in disguise, and stand at the windows, or in the passages, and often actually enter the ball-room. They are called Tapadas, from their faces being covered, and their object is, to observe the pro- ceedings of their unconscious friends, whom they torment by malicious speeches, whenever they are within hearing. At the palace on Sunday evening, the Tapadas were somewhat less forward than usual ; but at the Cabildo, or magistrates’ ball, given previously, the lower part of the room was filled with them, and they kept up a constant fire of jests at the gentlemen near the bottom of the dance. CHAPTER XIX. Huacho.—Huaura.—Grecian and Gothic Forms of Archi- tecture observed in the Peruvian Houses.—Architectural Theories.—Irrigation.—Chorillos. 31st of July.—I was under the necessity of leaving Lima at this interesting moment, for the purpose of going to Huacho, a small port to the northward, to- complete the stock of water in the Conway, preparatory to proceeding to Valparaiso ; for during the siege the watering-place at Callao was inaccessible, and not a drop was to be found, without going nearly sixty miles along-shore for it. * As the wind on this coast blows always from the south, it is easy to make a passage to the north- ward, and we reached Huacho in a few hours. While the ship was taking in water and fresh pro- visions, I rode, with one of my officers, to Huaura, a town on the banks of the river of the same name. This spot was interesting, from having been the head-quarters of San Martin’s army for nearly six months. Our road lay through a highly-cultivated country ;.a new and grateful sight to us, heartily tired as we were of comfortless deserts and barren cliffs. The pleasing distinction enjoyed by this district is attributable to irrigation from the river Huaura, the waters of which are distributed over a considerable extent of country. The unvarying heat of the climate, and the abundant supply of water, produce a surprising luxuriance of vegeta- tion. We were shaded, during our ride, by arches of foliage formed of the branches of trees meeting over the road ; while the underwood was so thickly matted together, that sometimes we could not distinguish the houses, till within a few yards of them. Many of these dwellings bore a rude resem- blance in design to a Grecian temple ; they were oblong, nearly flat-roofed, and ornamented with a row of columns along the front. The walls, which were about twelve feet high, were composed of strong canes placed upright, and wattled across with reeds. The columns were generally made of posts, encased by small rods placed close together so as to resemble the Gothic clustered column : others were left hollow, being formed of rods alone. Most of the pillars swelled out at the bottom like a tree : nature in this instance, as in many others of architectural design, having probably suggested the original idea. Hach wali was surmounted by a sort of entablature, consisting of a rude wooden frieze, and a cornice carved with the knife. Orna- mental tracery in wicker-work, and of a Gothic form, ran along the tops of the houses, and over most of the gates. | 54 This taste for architectural ornament in wicker whole party forked their meat out of one dish. It | is found in other uncivilised countries at a distance from, and holding no communication with, one another. In Java, in Manilla, and in Ceylon, and probably at other places in the Eastern seas, the natives are in the practice of erecting temporary triumphal arches ; which exhibit a great variety of very elegant forms, of a purely Gothic character. In Ceylon, large buildings, entirely of canes and basket-work, are sometimes erected, of a highly ornamental description. The bamboo and rattan are generally used ; but the willow, or any pliable material possessing elasticity, seems to afford,im the hands of these ingenious people, an endless profu- sion of beautiful forms. In Java, where there are a great number of such arches, it is rare to observe exactly the same tracery repeated, although a striking consistency of character pervades the whole. It is interesting to trace, in such remote regions, the same analogies which, in Europe, have been conceived to afford some explanation of the origin and consistency of principle of the two finest styles of architecture, the Grecian and the Gothic. The theory of Vitruvius receives all the confirmation it could desire from these humble structures at Huaura ; while that of Sir James Hall, in the case of Gothic architecture, derives no less support from the wicker forms above mentioned. And these instances, as far as they go, seem to possess a peculiar value from being found amongst rude nations, separated far from one another, and hold- ing little or no intercourse with those countries in which architecture has made the greatest progress: they help to support the idea, that there may be an intrinsic or natural beauty in certain classes of forms, which afterwards, in the hands of persons of higher powers of execution, and cultivated taste, may not only have afforded a ground-work, but have given consistency to more elaborate architec- tural systems. On returning from Huaura, we lost our way by making a wrong turn up one of the innumerable lanes which intersect the country in every direc- tion. By following one of these, we were eventu- ally brought to the very edge of the desert, and found ourselves once more in a sea of sand. On another occasion, we came to a road filled two feet deep with running water, and upon afterwards observing the others more attentively, we disco- vered that our supposed roads or lanes were only so many water-courses, and as each field required at least one ditch, the cause of their numbers was explained. The hedges appeared to be planted merely to give stability to the embankments ; although their shade must also have the beneficial effect of preventing evaporation. Wherever a river, or even the smallest stream occurs, the in- habitants gladly profit by it; and nothing can exceed the fertility of the soil which this irrigation produces: but jt is the misfortune of the western side of America to have very few rivers at that part of the coast which is never visited by rain. At Huacho, we found the governor at dinner with two or three friends. He was of the abori- ginal race of the country, spoke a little Spanish, and was probabiy a discreet and clever fellow ; otherwise he would not have been left in a com- mand by San Martin, The dinner was placed on a low table in the middle of the floor, and the GOTHIC FORMS IN WICKER. circumstances, perfectly sincere. was interesting, on looking round the shop, to observe the effect of the recent political changes. | A roll of English broad-cloth was resting on a | French wine-case, marked MEDOC; on the table | stood a bottle of champagne ; the knives and forks | were marked Sheffield, and the skreen which divided the apartment was made of a piece of Glasgow printed cotton. ie We sailed for Lima again on the 4th of August, |] but it was not till late at night of the 7th that we |}§ reached Chorillos, an open roadstead in front of a | small town about ten miles to the southward of Lima. This spot, in times of peace a favourite |} bathing-place for the gay world of the capital, was | now a military outpost. Sentinels paced along the |} heights ; parties of soldiers occupied the beach ; | all the neat villas and ornamental cottages were | turned into guard-houses and stables ; so that the | beauty and comfort of the spot were utterly | destroyed. As no one was allowed to proceed | without a passport, I was forced to wait till a messenger went to Lima, and returned. CHAPTER XX. Return to Lima.—San Martin assumes the title of Protec- |) tor.—Proclamation declaratory of his Views.—Preceed- ings against the Spaniards.—Their disagreeable Predica- ment in Lima.—State of Society. 1 | 9th of Aug.—ONn reaching the city we learned |} that General San Martin had taken upon himself | the title of Protector, uniting in his own person |f) both the civil and military authority of the liberated | provinces. The proclamation which he issued on | this occasion is curious; it has but little of the | wonted bombast of such documents, and though | not sparing of self-praise, is manly and decided ; | and, as I fully believe from a number of collateral “ DECREE “By Don Jose de San Martin, Captain-General _ and Commander-in-Chief of the Liberating Army || of Peru, Grand Cross of the Legion of Merit of |f Chili, Protector of Peru. “ When I took upon me the important enter- prise of liberating this country, I had no other | motive than a desire to advance the sacred cause of America, and to promote the happiness of the | Peruvian people. A very considerable part of | these objects has already been attained ; but the || work would remain incomplete, and my wishes |} imperfectly accomplished, were I not to establish || permanently both the security and the prosperity |} of the inhabitants of this region. } “From the moment of my landing at Pisco, I announced, that the imperious necessity of cir- cumstances obliged me to vest myself with the supreme authority, while I held myself respon- sible to the country for its due exercise. Those |f circumstances have not varied, since there is still jf in Peru a foreign enemy to combat; and conse- |] quently it is a measure of necessity, that the political and military authority should continue | united in my person. “ T hope that, in taking this step, I shall have |f the justice done me to have it believed, that Iam |} SAN MARTIN’S PROCLAMATIONS. not influenced by any ambitious views, but solely by such as conduce to the public good. It is abundantly notorious that I aspire to tranquillity alone, and to retirement from so agitated a life : but I feel a moral responsibility requiring this | sacrifice of my most earnest desires. Ten years of experience in Venezuela, Cundinamarca, Chili, and the united provinces of the river Plate, have made me acquainted with the evils which flow from the ill-timed convocation of congresses, while an enemy still maintains footing in the country. The first point is to make sure of inde- pendence ; and afterwards to think of establishing solid liberty. The religious scrupulousness with which I have kept my word throughout my public life gives me a right to be believed ; and I again pledge it to the people of Peru, by solemnly pro- mising, that the very instant their territory is free, I shall resign the command, in order to make room for the government which they may be pleased to elect. The frankness with which I speak ought to serve as a new guarantee of the sincerity of my intentions. “JT might easily have settled things in such a manner, that electors, named by the citizens of the free department should point out the person who was to govern until the representatives of the Peruvian nation might be assembled : but as, on the one hand, the repeated and simultaneous invi- tations of a great number of persons of high character, and decided influence in this capital, make me certain of a popular election to the | administration of the state ; and as, on the other hand, I havealready obtained the suffrages of those places which are under the protection of the liberating army, I have deemed it more fitting and decorous to follow an open and frank line of conduct, which ought to tranquillise those citizens who are jealous of their liberties. “When the time comes in which I shall have the satisfaction of resigning the command, and of giving an account of my actions to the representa- tives of the people, I am certain they will not discover, during the period of my administration, any of those traits of venality, despotism, and cor- ruption, which have characterised the agents of the Spanish government in South America. To administer strict justice to all, by rewarding virtue and patriotism ; and to punish vice and sedition wherever they may be found, are the rules which shall direct all my actions while I remain at the head of this nation. “It being comformable, therefore, to the inter- | ests of the country, that a vigorous government | should be appointed to guard it from the evils | which war, licence, and anarchy, might produce, “TI declare as follows :— | “Imo, From this day forwards the supreme | political and military command of the free depart- ments of Peru shall be united in me, under the title of Protector. “ 2do, The minister of foreign affairs shall be Don Juan Garcia del Rio, secretary of state.” (Andso on with the other officers of government. ) “ Given in Lima, 3d August 1821, second year of the liberty of Peru*. (Signed) “ JosE DE San Martin.” * The era of the liberty of Peru commences with 1820 ; as it was in that year the Patriots first landed and pro- claimed independence. : 55 I am tempted to insert another proclamation which appeared on the following day, and which is characteristic not only of the writer, but of those distracted times. It gave the poor Spaniards a shock from which they never recovered : indeed, from the hour it was published, they dated the death of their hopes, and one and all seriously prepared to quit the country. Such an effect, most probably, San Martin wished to produce, for he knew the Spaniards too well to believe they could ever cordially associate with the natives on equal terms, under a free government, independent of Spain. “ PROCLAMATION addressed to the European Spaniards, “T have promised to respect your persons and property: I have fulfilled that promise, and none of you can as yet doubt my word. Nevertheless, I know that you murmur in secret, and that some of you maliciously propagate the idea that my in- tention is to abuse your confidence. My name is too celebrated for me to stain it with a breach of my promises, even where, as a private individual, it might be supposed I should be justified in doing so. “ However, I now finally publish the following articles, to confirm the guarantees which I have formerly given :— “Ist, Every Spaniard, who, confiding in the | protection of my word, continues peaceably in the exercise of his industry, swearing to the inde- pendence of the country, and respecting the new government and the established laws, shall be pro- tected in person and property. “2d, Those who do not confide in it are to | present themselves, within the. space of time formerly pointed out, to request their passports, and are to leave the country with all their movable property. “3d, Those who remain, professing their con- fidence in government, and at the same time secretly working against it—as I have informa- tion that some do—shall feel the whole rigour of the laws, and shall be deprived of all their posses- sions. “ Spaniards! You know well the state of pub- lic opinion te be such, that, even amongst your- selves, there is a great number who pry into and observe your conduct. J know whatever passes in the most retired corners of your houses. Tremble, if you abuse my indulgence! Let this be the last time I shall remind you that your destiny is irrevocable, and that you ought to submit to it, as the only mode by which you can reconcile your interests with those of justice. “ Given in Lima, the 4th of August 1821. ~ (Signed) “San Martin.” Such being the extraordinary state of affairs in Lima, I regretted much that my orders rendered it necessary for me to leave this part of the coast, at the very moment when the interest of the political scene was at the highest. I wished, above all things, to have seen the effect of these two decrees, respecting the policy of which the opinions of the inhabitants were much divided. It would also have been peculiarly interesting to have marked the progress of improvement under the new system. The necessity of departure, however, prevented our doing so ; and we were 56 thus made to feel one of the severest drawbacks on the pleasures of a naval life. Naval officers have undoubtedly, during their roving life, great oppor- tunities of seeing distant places, sometimes at moments of extraordinary public interest, and generally without the difficulties encountered by other travellers. They have also the advantage of being everywhere well received, as_ their situation is a universal. introduction to the con- fidence and hospitality of the inhabitants. On the other hand, our means are almost always much cramped by want of time, our thoughts being necessarily taken up with a variety of duties having no reference to the interesting parts of the scene. Thus it frequently happens, as on this occasion, that, during our stay, we are too busy to remark properly what is passing: and are called away just at the moment when the interest is greatest, and when a traveller, whose time was at his own disposal, would determine to remain. Indeed, it was often matter of regret to us, that almost every record of so many interest- ing and important events should be lost, for want of a dicinterested spectator having leisure to note them down as they occurred. San Martin certainly did wisely to assume the supreme command, circumstanced as he was, especially with an enemy’s force still in the country. Under whatever name he might have chosen to mask his authority, he must still have been the prime mover of everything ; for there was no individual in the country who had any pretensions to rival him in talents, or who, admit- ting that he possessed equal talents, could hope to gain so completely the confidence of the army, and of the Patriots. It was more creditable to assume the full authority in a manly and open manner, than to mock the people with the semblance of a republic, and, at the same time, to visit them with the reality of a despotism. He knew, from personal experience, the mischief attending the precipitate establishment of free representative governments in South America: he was also aware, that previous to raising any enduring political superstructure, he must gra- dually clear away the prejudice and error which overspread the land, and then dig deep into the virgin soil for a foundation. At this time there was neither knowledge nor capacity enough amongst the population to form a free govern- ment ; nor even that love of freedom, without which free institutions are sometimes worse than useless ; since, in their effects, they are apt to fall short of expectation ; and thus, by their practical inefficacy, contribute to degrade in public opinion the sound principles upon which they rest. Unfortunately also the inhabitants of South America are apt at first to mistake the true ope- ration of such changes ; and to conceive that the mere formal establishment of free institutions will at once ensure their being duly understood and enjoyed, whatever may have been the state of society antecedently. That a taste for liberty will eventually spring up with the judicious esta- blishment of free institutions, and with the power to enjoy civil rights, is unquestionable ; the mis- take lies in supposing that this will take place immedia*ely. With this taste will come the ability to take further advantage of the opportunities for asserting these valuable privileges, and of securing LIMA AGAIN IN CONFUSION. them by corresponding institutions. In process of time, mutual confidence, and mutual forbear- ance, which it was the narrow policy of the former government to discourage, will of course be deve- loped ; and society will then act in concert and consistently, instead of being as heretofore like a rope of sand, without strength or cohesion. In a pamphlet published in June 1824, by Itur- bide, the unfortunate ex-emperor of Mexico, there occur many just reflections on this subject. The following observation seems much to the pre- sent purpose :—“ To think that we could emerge all at once from a state of debasement, such as that of slavery, and from a state of ignorance, such as had been inflicted upon us for three hun- dred years, during which we had neither books nor instructors, and the possession of knowledge had been thought a sufficient cause for persecu- tion ; to think that we would gain information and refinement in a moment, as if by enchantment; that we could acquire every virtue, forget prejudices, and give up false pretensions, was a vain expecta- tion, and could only have entered into the visions of an enthusiast.”’ At the time I left Lima, to return to Valparaiso, in Chili, which was on the 1Cth of August, the Royalist army, under the Viceroy La Serna, having proceeded some way to the southward, had struck into the interior, in order to join the other divisions of the army under Generals Canterac and Caratala, in the valley of Jauja, a district in which the rich silver mines of Pasco are situated. The Viceroy’s ultimate intentions were not known ; but it was supposed that after recruiting his army, he would return upon Lima, with a view to expel San Martin: a project he was the more likely to undertake, as the Castle of Callao was still under the Spanish flag. It became, there- fore, of great iraportance to San Martin to gain possession of it, and he put in motion every engine of strength or policy in his power to accomplish this vital object: and at the time I left Peru, well-grounded hopes were entertained of its speedy surrender. Meanwhile Lima was in a strange state of con- fusion. The effects of the shock which society had received by the abrupt nature of the revo- lution, could not be expected to subside for some time ; while the incongruity of the materials of which it was composed offered an effectual bar to real cordiality. The Old Spaniards, feeling them- selves objects of suspicion and distrust, would willingly have retired from a place where they were considered as intruders. But this was not easily accomplished, without incurring such losses as overbalanced the danger and discomfort of remaining. Most of them were possessed of large capitals,embarked in commerce : many held con- siderable property in the country ; most of them also had wives and families in Lima, or were otherwise bound to the soil ; and it became a severe sacrifice to leave their present enjoyments, for the uncertain security held out by Spain, at | that moment not in a much quieter state than the colonies. Their best and surest policy would have been to follow the fortunes of the country, and to engage heartily in the new cause. But this was too much to expect from men bred up in the very hotbed of monopoly and every sort of prejudice | SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM. and error; and there were consequently few Spaniards who did not look to the return of the Royal army with great anxiety ; and still fewer who placed any real confidence in San Martin, or who took sufficient pains to conceal their dis- like. This led afterwards toa series of despotic measures on the part of the Protector, by which nearly all the Spaniards were ruined, and eventu- ally banished from the country. With respect to society, the most conspicuous traits which the extraordinary nature of the times developed, were a constant apprehension of fur- ther change, and an engrossing selfishness ; feel- ings, natural enough, perhaps, during the panic which at first overspread the city ; but which, it may be thought, ought to have subsided when the immediate danger was gone, and a new and secure system established. It was quite otherwise, how- ever ; and the reason may be, that the Limenians, long pampered by luxury and security, and now for the first time fairly awakened to the real miseries and dangers of life, could not all at once acquire the faculty of balancing motives, or of distinguishing what was useful and secure in their new state, from what was ruinous or degrading. In short, the circumstances to which they had been suddenly brought were so totally new, that, considering all things, their selfishness and alarm were very excusable. As these feel- ings were not confined to any one class, but per- vaded the whole, social intercourse was at an end ; and we took leave of Lima, for the second time, without much regret. We had now seen it in all the miseries of a siege, and again in all the dis- traction and exultation of the first moments of a revolution, before anything had settled into its proper station, and before confidence had again sprung up, in place of the universal distrust which preceded the catastrophe. —_¢——_ CHAPTER XXI. SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. Exclusion of the Natives from Situations of Trust and Profit.— Laws of the Indies.—Discouragement of Science, Letters, Agriculture, and Commerce.—Rigorous Mea- sures against Foreigners.—Suppression of Colleges and Schools.—Oppressive Taxes and Imprisonments. Tue interest inspired by the present political state of South America has thrown its former condition somewhat into the shade. It will be useful, however, now that we have witnessed one of the last struggles for power made by the Spaniards, to take a general view of the colonial system, which the revolution has abolished ; that it may be seen what the grievances really were from which the inhabitants have been relieved. Every writer who has treated of South America furnishes numberless details of the monstrous abuses which affected those countries : but the following sketch is confined chiefly to a general view of the most prominent features of the old administration, illustrated by a few well- authenticated anecdotes, selected not so much on account of any peculiar point or interest in them- selves, as from their serving to show the general temper and spirit of the policy by which the government of Spain was actuated, in her admi- nistration of the colonies. The Spanish American possessions were consi- dered, in law, from the time of the conquest, as integral parts of the monarchy, not as colonies of the mother-country : they were held in fief by the crown in virtue of a grant from the Pope ; and their affairs were supposed to be regulated, not by the government of Spain, but by the King, assisted by a special board, named the Council of the Indies. A separate code of laws also was es- tablished expressly for them, called the laws of the Indies. America then was nominally inde- pendent of the Spanish nation: and upon this principle the South Americans, after Ferdinand’s imprisonment by Buonaparte, claimed an equal | right with Spain to name juntas to regulate their | affairs, in the absence of the king, their only legal head. Ata moment such as that alluded to, this argument had some force and utility ; but of course, South America was always virtually governed by the ministers of Spain. The country was divided into viceroyalties, captain-generalships, intendancies, and various other subdivisions. Each separate government was independent of the others, but all were im- mediately under the king and the Council of the | Indies. Without going into minute details, it is sufficient | to state, that the principle on which the colonial government rested was, that no single department should be allowed to act without being checked by some other: a principle weak and ruinous, as it demonstrated a total want of confidence in the executive officers ; and by virtually depriving them of responsibility, yet still exacting obedience, took away the highest and most effective motive to the performance of their duty. The viceroy was nominally controlled by a body called the Audiencia, the inembers of which were European | Spaniards, who were not allowed to hold lands, or to marry in the country. The Audiencia had | the privilege of remonstrating with the viceroy, and of corresponding directly with the Council | of the Indies. But any beneficial effect which | this might have had in protecting the people | was counteracted by the inordinate power of the | viceroys, and their consequent means of influ- | encing the Audiencia, and every other subordi- | nate authority, civil, military, judicial, or ecclesi- | astical. | In free states administered by a representative | body, and when men are allowed to act and think for themselves, the legislative, executive, and | judicial branches of the constitution are easily | kept separate by the essential distinctions in their nature. But in states absolutely governed, it in- | variably happens that these totally distinct function. | aries either clash or blend themselves with one | another, and mutually neutralise their respective good effects. In order, as it was pretended, to remedy the constant mischief arising out of this practical inefficiency, the number of official autho- rities in every department of the state was multiplied beyond all example ; for every new office required afterwards a dozen others to watch it. The original complexity of the machine was thus daily augmented by the introduction of these wheels within wheels, and its operative effect became less and less. | SS ES SE SS a LS SI RI TT a ST SIA SE ELE LEI AILS EE pS It is perfectly clear that no system of govern~ ment can be effective, as far as the public prospe- rity is concerned, if it be not perfectly understood by these whose conduct it is intended to control. This is true, even where the intentions of the rulers are honest, and have for their sole object the wealth and happiness of the people. But when the object is the reverse of this, and when the welfare of the country is studiously repressed, there cannot be conceived a more efficacious plan to perpetuate its degradation. The evil was immensely aggravated also by the manner in which this unintelligible system was constituted. Every individual com- posing it was a stranger in the land, born ina distant country, and had no fellow-feeling nor common interest with the inhabitants. Neither worth nor talents were thought of in nominating to these appointments, the colonial offices being sold in Madrid, and the proceeds at one time made no inconsiderable item in the royal revenues. “ All public offices,” says the manifesto of Buenos Ayres, “ and employments, belonged exclusively to Spaniards ; and although Americans were equally called to them by the laws, they are appointed only in rare instances, and even then not until they have satisfied the cupidity of the court by enormous sums of money. Of one hundred and seventy viceroys that have governed this country, only four have been Americans ; and of six hundred and ten captain-generals and governors, all but fourteen have been Spaniards. The same took place in every other post of importance ; and even amongst the common clerks of office, it was rare to meet with Americans.” This was a most grievous op- pression ; but the chief evil which resulted from it consisted not so much in the absolute loss sus- tained by them, in consequence of their exclusion from stations of profit and honour, as in the moral degradation consequent upon the absence of all motive to generous exertion, and the utter hope- lessness that any merit could lead to useful dis- tinction. This exclusion did not stop with official prefer- ment, but pervaded every branch of the state : the Spanish government, not content with tying up the hands of the Americans, and forcing them to be idle and vicious, extended this tyranny even to the mind, and forbade the cultivation and exercise of | those faculties which, least of all it might be | thought, ought to be subjected to the control of despotism. Not only were agriculture and the arts, and manufactures and commerce, prohibited to the natives of the soil; but literature, and every species of useful knowledge, was rigorously inter- dicted. To secure this exclusion, the inhabitants were forbid, upon pain of death, to trade with foreigners, none of whom were allowed to visit the country : Spaniards themselves could not set foot in the colonies without special permission, and for a limited time ; and even the inhabitants of the | different provinces were denied, as far as it was | possible, all intercourse with one another, lest by mutual communication they should increase their knowledge. The difficulty of governing distant countries with justice and with due consideration for the rights and happiness of the inhabitants, is familiar to the mind of every one who has studied our own | Indian polities ; where, with the purest intentions of doing everything for the best, innumerable arti- PROHIBITORY LAWS AGAINST COMMERCE. * . , - fices and anomalous provisions encumber the executive administration, and render the system utterly unintelligible to the natives. Were the same system in the hands of the crown, without being, as at present, administered by a number of individuals of all parties, and, comparatively speaking, indifferent to political power and pa- tronage, there can be little doubt that its practical operation would soon prove destructive of the | happiness of the Indian population, even were the intentions of the political authorities at home ever so virtuous. If this be true, with our represen- tative government, and with the numerous consti- tutional checks which arrest the undue exercise of authority at every turn, how much more must it have been in the case of South America! With us, public opinion, as is universally allowed, is the best safeguard of the happiness of India, and of the permanence of our authority. But in South America, where principles of govern-— ment diametrically opposite prevailed, the instant public opinion was allowed to exert its infiu- ence, the authority of the parent state was at an end. ; In proportion to the apprehension which the Spaniards felt that the presence of strangers might lessen their authority, they enforced their prohi- bitory laws with rigour. When the Spanish General Morillo captured Carthagena, he seized all the British and foreign merchants, threw them into dungeons, and would unquestionably have shot them all, for a breach of the laws of the Indies, had it not been for the timely interference on the British Admiral of the West India station. It was a capital crime, according to that code, for any foreigner to enter the Spanish dominions with- out a licence. An apprehension of the resentment of other nations has generally prevented the en- forcement of the law to its utmost extent; but the same end was, perhaps, more effectually served by the most barbarous imprisonments. In Mr. Ro- binson’s interesting Memoirs of the Mexican Re- volution, many curious anecdotes are given, which show the pertinacious and vindictive determination with which these regulations were enforced. Mr. Robinson’s cruel confinement of two years and a half, for no other crime than having been found in the country without a licence, is an ample com- mentary on the whole subject. “ The dungeon in the Castle of San Juan de Ulua, in which he was confined, was fourteen feet under the arches of the castle, and a faint gloomy light was admitted by a small grating at the top.” One of his fellow- prisoners, a citizen of the United States, had the skin of his leg chafed by the iron. “ From the want of dressings and wholesome aliment, tlie sore rapidly increased. The irritation and pressure of the iron caused the muscles to become completely ulcerated to the bone. Unavailing were his peti- tions to have his irons taken off, though his groans and excruciating agonies at length so far arrested the attention of his keepers, that he was removed to the hospital. The physician, on examining the horrid state of the leg, immediately addressed a representation to the governor, stating, that unless the irons were removed, death would inevitably ensue. Upon the margin of the memorial, the governor wrote the following inhuman reply, and sent it to the officer of the guard: ¢ Que los lleva, mientras respira.’—‘ Let him wear them while he | breathes.’ | barbarity died*.” In a few hours this victim of Spanish Sometimes the intruders were sent to Spain, after being long confined in the colonial prisons, and from thence were remitted to Ceuta, in Africa, after which they were seldom heard of more. Sometimes they were sent as convicts to Malaga, and other Spanish ports, where they were forced to work in chains. By these and other means, the spirit of the laws of the Indies was most rigorously enforced, and it required an extraordinary combi- nation of favourable circumstances, and the stimu- lus of the most powerful motives of interest and patriotism, to free the country from their baneful influence. It may naturally be asked, what possible motive could give birth and permanence to so unwise and so wicked a system as this ? It was no other, than that Spain alone, and her sons, should derive the whole wealth of the country, without allowing to the Americans themselves the smallest partici- pation, or even the slightest hope of ever partici- pating, in those riches. That evil must spring out of principles and practices so repugnant to the laws of our nature, might have been anticipated. The reaction, indeed, which we have witnessed upon Spain her- self, was inevitable ; and in the decay and final | ruin of the mother-country we distinctly recog- _ order of things. nise a severe but merited retribution for the injuries cast upon the colonies. colonial patronage which the court possessed completely crushed the liberties of the mother country ;—the ill-gotten money which came to it from America, not being the produce of Spanish industry, passed off to other countries, without leaving a trace of national wealth behind,—and the restricted commerce which was intended to benefit the Peninsula alone, destroyed her credit, ruined her manufactures, and finally lost her the market of the colonies. ~ Toaccomplish the base, selfish, and short-sighted purpose alluded to, the clumsy device of degrading the whole population of South America was the only one which suggested itself to the cupidity of the Spaniards. And to ensure the permanence of a system so liable to revulsion, the whole country was covered with active and experienced agents, deeply interested in the maintenance of the same Humboldt has ascertained, that there were no less than three hundred thousand | Old Spaniards in the colonies. Every art also was used to prevent the increase of population, by collecting the people together in towns, where, | besides being more easily controlled by by the mili- tary, they were prevented from forming establish- ments, and augmenting their wealth; as they unquestionably would have done, had they been allowed to spread themselves over this fertile | country, wherever their tastes or interests should direct them. Agriculture, indeed, was not allowed to extend itself; and even so late as 1803, when Humboldt was in Mexico, orders were received _ from Spain to root up all the vines in the northern | provinces, because the Cadiz merchants complained of a diminution in the consumption of Spanish wines. I was informed at Tepic of a measure * Robinson’s Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution, vol. I. page 313. EDUCATION CURBED. The enormous. precisely similar having been a few years before actually carried into effect in New Galicia, in the case of some extensive and fiourishing tobacco- plantations. The Americans were prevented, under severe penalties, from raising flax, hemp, or saffron. The culture of the grape and olive was forbidden, as Spain was understood to supply the colonies with wine and oil. At Buenos Ayres, indeed, they were allowed to cultivate grapes and olives, but by special permission, and only in sufficient quan- tity for the table. Precisely in the same spirit, colleges were not allowed to be founded, though permission was earnestly applied for by the inhabitants ; and, in many instances, even schools were prohibited. A well-known Spanish minister observed, that a knowledge of reading and writing was quite enough | for an American ; and King Charles the Fourth | said, he did not think it proper that information should become general in America. In the manifesto published by the constitutional congress of Buenos Ayres, in October 1816, these | grievances are forcibly drawn. “ It was forbid- den,” they state, “ to teach the liberal sciences ; we were only permitted to learn the Latin gram- | mar, the philosophy of the schools, and civil and | ecclesiastical jurisprudence. The viceroy, Don Joaquim Pino, gave much offence by permitting a nautical school at Buenos Ayres, and in compli- ance with a mandate of the court it was shut ; while at the same time it was strictly prohibited to send our youth to Paris for the purpose of | studying the science of chemistry, in order to | teach it on their return.” The change in this respect brought about by the revolution, is one of the most remarkable cjreumstances which have attended that great event. Schools have been established in all parts of the country, where the actual presence of the war has not rendered it impossible: and the thirst for knowledge and instruction, formerly described as having no existence, has proved to be quite universal. The following extract from a Mexican newspaper is interesting on more accounts than one :— 6 ADVERTISEMENT. *« LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL. “ The managers have the satisfaction to inform the subscribers of the Said school, that the place appointed for its commencement is one of the halls of the abolished (extinguida) Inquisition, which is now under preparation as a school-room. It is therefore necessary that the subscribers | present their children, or those whom they think fit to recommend, to Don Andres Gonzalo Millan, master of the first class, (the director named by 59 | the patrons of the school,) who lives in No. 2, | Manrique Street, in order that they may be duly classed, and informed of the day of meeting. “ The subscribers will send, in a similar view, the children of poor people also, who wish to be admitted ; giving to each child a ticket to certify his being entitled to admission. If, in eight days from the publication of this notice, the full mumber of children have not been presented by the sub- scribers, the managers will fill up the vacancies at their own discretion. «* Mexico, Wednesday the 20th March, 1822.’ 60 As an important branch of the executive go- vernment, it may be mentioned, that the exactions in the shape of taxes, tithes, and duties, were levied with a degree of severity unknown in any country except, perhaps, in Spain. The duties on the precious metals at the mouth of the mine, though latterly much reduced, by the impossibility of collecting the nominal amount, were, to the last hour of Spanish authority, a great and for- midable impediment to industry. Tobacco, salt, gunpowder, and quicksilver, were close royal monopolies, the effect of which exclusion was not only to prevent the people from having an ade- quate supply of these articles, even at an immensely augmented price, but to deprive the government of a large revenue, which they might have obtained by a wiser system. The horrible Alecavala, the most vexatious of taxes, as it is levied ad infinitum upon every transfer of goods, pressed heavily upon all classes. Nothing escaped the tithes, and every individual in the country was compelled annually to purchase a certain number of tle Pope’s bulls, under a penalty of forfeiting various important advantages. A man, for instance, who had not in his possession the “ Bula de Confession,” could not receive abso- lution on his death-bed ; his will became invalid, and his property was confiscated. Every stage of legal proceedings was in the most deplorable state that can possibly be con- ceived. The administration of justice, which, even in the best-regulated governments, is so liable to delay. and individual hardship, had, in South America, scarcely any existence whatever. There were forms enough, and writings enough, and long imprisonments without number ; but I never yet met a single individual, either Spaniard or American, in any of those countries, who did not freely admit, that substantial justice was in no case to be looked for, even where the govern- ment had no interest in the event. What chance any one had when his cause involved a political question, it is needless to say. Imprisonment, that. bitter torture, was the grand recipe for everything ;—“ Sir,” said a man to me, who knew well, from long experience, what it was to be | engaged in a South American law-suit, “ they put you into prison, whatever the case be ; they turn | the key, and never think more of you.” At the _ capture of Lima, the dungeons were found filled _ with prisoners long forgotten by the courts, and against whom no charge was upon record. The following extract from the Biblioteca Americana, | No. 3, (a periodical work recently published in | London,) puts this branch of the subject in a _ strong light :— | *“ In America, as well as in Spain, there were collected together, in obscure, humid, and infected _ dungeons, men and women, young and old, guilty _and innocent ; the hardened in crime, along with those who had erred for the first time ; the patriot and the murderer; the simple debtor with the most determined robber, all were confounded together, The filth, the wretched fare, the naked ground, the irons, were all in South America the _ same, or even worse than those of Spain. The alealde, generally taken from the dregs of the people, was a kind of sultan; and his satellites s0 many bashas, to whose severe and capricious SPANISH TAXES AND OTHER OPPRESSIONS. | decrees the unhappy prisoners were compelled to submit, without appeal. It is impossible to paint in colours sufficiently vivid the miseries to which all prisoners were subjected, or the inhumanity with which they were treated by their keepers. They were stripped of everything, deprived of all motive to exertion,—occasionally put to the torture, to confess imaginary crimes, and in all the prisons corporal punishment was allowed. Such was the state of the prisons all over South America during the dominion of the Spaniards. A Chilian writer, since the revolution, describes with great energy the pernicious effects of this system in that country. ‘ Among us,’ he says, ‘aman was imprisoned, not that he might be improved, but that he might be made to suffer,—not that he should work, but that he should learn idleness,—not as a useful warning to others, but to shock their feelings. On visiting a prison, we beheld several hundreds of men in rags, or entirely naked,—their counte- nances withered away, so that they were more like spectres in chains than men: they trembled at the presence of the insolent alguazil, who struck and insulted them. We examined the food of these miserable wretches, worn to skeletons, and it proved such as the lowest beggar in the streets would have rejected with disgust.’ ” In Lima, where the population was upwards of seventy thousand, there were only two small prisons ; and the want of room aggravated the other miseries of the captives beyond all concep- tion. But the most horrible of all prisons was invented in Lima during the viceroyalty of Abascal. ** These were subterranean dungeons, constructed in such a manner that a man could not place himself in any natural position whatever. Many persons, victims of despotism, were confined in these holes for years ; and when at length let out, it was only to bewail their own existence, being rendered useless and helpless for the rest of their lives; crippled, and liable to acute pains and diseases of an incurable nature.” The public gave the name of little hells (infiernillos) to these places, and they were allowed to exist in Lima fully a year after the Spanish constitution had been proclaimed. I was in Lima at the time they were abolished by a public decree, dated the 19th of December 1821. San Martin, on the 15th of October 1821, visited in person the prisons of Lima, accompanied by the judges and other public officers, who furnished a list of all the prisoners, with an account of the crimes alleged against them. He listened patiently to what each prisoner had to say, and at once ordered a great number to be liberated, who had been wantonly placed there, without any sufficient charge,— directed proper provisions in future to be sup- plied to those who remained,—and appointed a commission, who were ordered to hear and deter- mine the whole of the cases within the space of twenty days, though many of them had been stand- ing for several years. The most admirable regu- lations were afterwards established respecting the prisons of Lima. > ——$——<———— SPANISH COMMERCIAL SYSTEM. CHAPTER XXII. Commercial System.—Ordinance against the Hospitable Reception of Strangers.—Coast Blockade.—Contraband Laws.—Influence of the Catholic Religion.—Benefits conferred upon the New World by the Spaniards. THE commercial system was in strict character with all the rest of this extraordinary mass of misgovernment. The old principle, that the colo- nies existed only for the benefit of the mother country, was acted up to completely. The sole objects thought of were to gather wealth into the hands of Spaniards, by abstracting the riches of South America; and to take care that the Americans neither supplied themelves with any article which Spain could possibly produce, nor obtained these supplies from any but Spaniards, No South American could own a ship, nor could a cargo be consigned to him; no foreigner was allowed to reside in the country, unless born in Spain; and no capital, not Spanish, was permitted in any shape to be employed in the colonies. Orders were given, that no foreign vessel, on any pretence whatever, should touch at a South American port. Even ships in distress were not to be received with common hospitality, but were ordered to be seized as prizes and the crews imprisoned. The capture of Lima has put the Patriots in possession of many curious state papers, some of which have been published, reflecting much light on the details of the colonial system. Amongst these is a curious extract from the report of the proceedings of Don Teodoro de Croix, viceroy of Peru and Chili, between the years 1784 and 1790, drawn up by himself for the use of his successors. He gives at great length, and with as much importance as if the whole Spanish colonies de- pended upon it, an account of an American ship from Boston having touched at the island of Juan Fernandez in distress. She had lost, it appears, one of her masts, sprung her rudder, and had run short of water and fire-wood. The viceroy states that the governor of the island sent off to the vessel, and, on discovering her to be in great distress, and that she had no cargo on board, after some hesitation as to what was the proper line of conduct on such an occasion, decided to act hospitably ; (se habia decidido por la hospitalidad ;) and having allowed her to repair her damages, and to take in wood and water, permitted her to sail. “In my answer to the governor,” adds the viceroy, “I expressed my displeasure for the bad service which he had rendered to the king in allowing the strange ship to leave the port, instead of taking pos- session both of her and the crew, and giving an account of his having done so to his immediate superior, the president of Chili, whose orders he ought to have waited for. I expressed my surprise that the governor of an island should not know that every strange vessel which anchored in these seas, without a licence from our court, ought to be treated as an enemy, even though the nation to which she belonged should be an ally of Spain. This is in conformity to the royal ordinance of the 25th of November 1692. And I gave orders that if the ship should appear again, she should immediately be seized and the 61 | crew imprisoned. I also wrote to the viceroy of New Spain to give him an account of this transaction, and to recommend him to look out for the ship in question. Finally, I desired a complete statement of the whole affair to be transmitted to his majesty.” The president of Chili, it seems, wrote to the viceroy to justify the governor of the island for what he had done, on the ground of an existing treaty between the two countries, by which the Spaniards were bound to give succours to vessels in distress, together with a royal ordinance in the law of the Indies to the same effect. The viceroy, however, true to the spirit of the com- mercial regulations, replies to the president’s re- presentation, by again calling his attention to the above ordinance, and reprimanding him and the Audiencia, for not having wit enough to see that the treaty and the article alluded to in the laws of the Indies were meant to apply solely to his Ca- tholic majesty’s dominions, ports, and coasts, north of the Americas; in which regions alone foreign powers had any territories ; and “not atall to the coasts of the South Sea, where they neither have, nor ought to have, (ni tienen ni deben tener,) any territories requiring their ships to double Cape Horn, or to pass through the Straits of Magellan or Le Maire.” The viceroy further reports, that this affair of the Boston ship induced him to send, with all due cireumspection, (con la reserva con- veniente,) repeated cautions and orders to the in- tendants and other officers along the whole coast of Peru, “not to allow any foreign vessel what- ever to anchor ; and that, should any one enter the port, the local authorities were sagaciously and carefully to use every artifice to take possession of her and of the crew. And,” he adds, “lest the strangers should demand supplies, and threaten to use force, the cattle and other articles in the neighbouring farms, which might afford relief to them, are to be carried off to the interior upon these occasions.” He also desires that sentinels and look-out men be placed on all the hills over- looking the coasts, in order that immediate infor- mation may be given of any vessel appearing. “I had again occasion to repeat these cautions,” says the Viceroy, “in consequence of having received intelligence from a Spanish vessel, lately arrived at Callao, that an English ship had been seen in lat. 50° south, giving herself out to be in search of whales.” Had Spain been engaged in the hottest war with America and England, measures more hostile could not have been taken. And it gives not a bad picture of the feverish jealousy with which the colonies were guarded, when we see the single arrival of a dismasted American ship producing a commotion along the whole coast of New Spain, Peru, and Chili; and when the accidental ren- contre of a Spanish ship with an English whaler, at the distance of thirty-eight degrees of latitude, is considered sufficient cause of alarm by the vice- roy of Peru, to induce him to send orders to the authorities on the coast from Guayaquil to Iqui- que, to redouble their vigilance in watching for strangers. ‘ This curious and characteristic example, though it be not one which shows the immediate inter- ference of the government with the happiness of the Americans, discloses the real extent of that / | 62 jealous and cruel system, upon which the Spaniards proceeded in all that related to the wants of the colonists, for whom they never, for a single instant, seem to have had the slightest consideration. The sole purpose for which the Americans ex- isted, was held to be that of collecting together the precious metals for the Spaniards ; and if the wild horses and cattle, which overrun the country, could have been trained to perform this office, the inhabitants might have been altogether dispensed with, and the colonial system would then have been perfect. Unfortunately, however, for that system, the South Americans, notwithstanding the net-work of chains by which they were enveloped, had still some sparks of humanity left, and, in spite of all their degradation, longed earnestly for the enjoyments suitable to their nature ; and find- ing that the Spaniards neither could nor would furnish them with an adequate supply, they in- vited the assistance of other nations. To this call the other nations were not slow to listen; and, in process of time, there was established one of the most extraordinary systems of organised smuggling which the world ever saw. This was known under the name of the contraband or forced trade, and was carried on in armed vessels, well manned, and prepared to fight their way to the coast, and to resist, as they often did with effect, the guarda costas, or coast blockades of Spain. This singular system of warlike commerce was conducted by the Dutch, Portuguese, French, English, and latterly by the North Americans. In this way, goods to an immense value were distributed over South America, and although the prices were necessarily high, and the supply precarious, that taste for the comforts and luxuries of European invention was first encouraged, which afterwards operated so powerfully in giving a steady and intelligible mo- tive to the efforts of the Patriots, in their struggles with the mother-country. Along with the goods which the contraband tradeforced into the colonies, no small portion of knowledge found entrance, in spite of the increased exertions of the Inquisition, and church influence, aided by the redoubled vigi- lance of government, who enforced every penalty with the utmost rigour. Many foreigners, too, by means of bribes and other arts, succeeded in getting into the country, so that the progress of intelligence was gradually encouraged, to the utter despair of the Spaniards, who knew ne other me- thod of governing the colonies but that of mere brute force, unsupported by the least shadow of opinion or of good-will. How long it might have been before this slow importation of knowledge, and this confined degree of intercourse with foreigners, if unaided by other causes, would have stimulated the Americans to assert their birthright, it is very difficult to say. Unforeseen circumstances, however, brought about that revolution, in some parts of the country per- haps premature, which has recently broken their chains, and enabled them, by a display of energy altogether unlooked for, even by themselves, to give the lie to those cruel aspersions cast on their national character by their former rulers. The operation of unrestricted trade is certainly the most conspicuous and striking result that has followed upon the new order of things. But the action of a free press, or of a press comparatively SPANISH THIRST FOR GOLD. free, is not much less remarkable. It displays itself chiefly in the form of newspapers, which start up in every corner where the ancient autho- — rity has been removed. These papers treat not only of the news, and of the political discussions — of the day, but their columns are often filled with translations from French and English works, here- — tofore rigorously prohibited. A vast number of pamphlets also are scattered over the country ; many of which, it is true, consist of local and transitory topics; but there are many others which contribute essentially, by means of original essays, as well as translations from foreign works of acknowledged excellence, to enlighten the minds of the people. Occasional abuses of this liberty have occurred ; but, upon the whole, it is truly surprising to see how discreetly this formidable weapon has been handled by persons quite un- trained to its use. It was originally my intention to have related, at this place, some circumstances within my own knowledge, illustrative of the effect which a per- version of the Roman Catholic religion has had upon the society; and I was the more inclined to | take this course, from a strong persuasion that | both the principles and the manners of the South | Americans have received their deepest stain from |} this source. In preparing the materials, however, for this || exposition, the task proved at once revolting and |f ungracious ; and, after some hesitation, I decided to abandon it. I felt, indeed, unwilling to ineur the risk of shocking the feelings of many who may agree with me in thinking, that it is searcely pos- sible to treat such a subject in detail—and by details alone can it be done effectually—without a painful and needless degree of indelicacy. It is sufficient to mention, that in the practice of the Catholic religion, all its dignity, and much of its utility, have been lost—the minds of those sub- jected to its perverted institutions, and disgusting forms, have been debased beyond all example— and moral principles, also, and domestic manners, have been in consequence scandalously outraged in practice. Fortunately, however, the real character and dispositions of the Americans, are rational and docile ; and there is every reason to expect, in consequence of all that has resulted from the revolution, that the eyes of the great mass of the population are now fully opened toa due perception of these abuses, which not only limited their own social happiness, but by degrad- ing them in their own opinion, rendered the work of oppression a task of comparative ease and cer- tainty. ; I have said nothing of the treatment of the In- dians, because I cannot speak from personal observation of their present state, compared with the past. In every instance, however, the new governments have abolished the oppressive poll- tax, and all forced services. Decrees have been published in all the new states, formally including the Indians among the number of free citizens, and repealing the laws by which they were ren- dered ineligible to offices of trust, or to appear as witnesses in a court of justice. Now that all classes of men are allowed to settle where they please, the population will spread itself over the country and rapidly increase ; and the Indians will soon find it their interest to connect BENEFITS CONFERRED BY THE SPANIARDS. themselves with the settlers, and friendly alliances will be formed, greatly to the advantage of all parties. The new motives, indeed, to industry and to improvement of every kind in South Ame- rica, are innumerable ; and the intellectual expan- | sion which, according to every principle of human nature, may now be expected to take place, when the weight of tyrannical authority is entirely re- moved, baffles all calculation ; it must, however, be prodigious—and perhaps the present military excitement, and the exclusive occupation with which it furnishes every class, may not be so great a misfortune as it is sometimes supposed. It may contribute eventually to the more tranquil estab- lishment of the country, by giving the inhabitants time to reflect and act deliberately, instead of rushing at once and unprepared, from a state of slavery, into the full exercise of civil liberty. Notwithstanding, however, all the faults which have been enumerated in the colonial administra- tion of South America, it cannot be denied that great or lasting benefits have been conferred upon that country by its European masters. At the period of the conquest, the whole popu- lation were ina state of comparative barbarism. Their knowledge was confined to a few rude no- tions of agriculture ; their forms of government were inartificial, despotic, and cumbersome ; they were acquainted with none of the arts or sciences; were possessed of no literature ; in their habits and customs, indeed, they were little better than savages ; and their religion, if so it can be called, was a blind idolatry, rendered still more revolting by the practice of human sacrifices. Christianity has long since happily annihilated the worst of these evils ; for although there remain a few tribes of Indians yet unconverted, the cruel rites alluded to have no longer any existence. Along with the knowledge and the industry which the Europeans brought with them, there was in- troduced a more refined system of manners and - of moral habits. Under the influence of established laws, aided, perhaps, by the general use of an elegant and copious language, and an increasing intercourse with the rest of the world, the states of South America were gradually elevated to the rank of civilised nations. Higher motives to ac- tion, consequent upon improved tastes, naturally gave birth to those arts and luxuries of life which ministered to the new wants of the successive generations of settlers, who thus silently but steadily advanced the country to its present con- dition, Large and beautiful cities have been built ; and Sea-ports, guarded by strong fortresses, constructed along the coasts ; roads ‘of communication have united the different provinces, and rendered even the ridges of the Andes passable ; while mines of gold and silver have long poured their treasures over the whole world. Along with the improve- ments in agriculture came the rich productions of other lands, such as wheat and barley, the vine and the olive, the importance of which to the grateful soil of a new country has been so well illustrated by the divine honours paid in' early times to those persons by whom they were origi- nally introduced into Europe. In addition to these gifts, to which South America owes her plentiful harvests, the con- heedlessly exposed him to such danger. 63 querors brought over the horse, the cow, the mule, the sheep, the hog—all of which, though formerly unknown, now abound beyond all example else- where. . The civil institutions of the country, too, with all their defects, are infinitely superior to the rude establishments of the aboriginal inhabitants. And it may therefore be said with strict historical truth, that for all those advantages by which civilisation is | distinguished from barbarism,—Christianity from Paganism,—knowledge, in short, from ignorance— this vast portion of the globe must for ever stand indebted to the Spaniards. —_o——_— CHAPTER XXIII. CHILI. Anxiety for the fate of Fish, a Seaman of the Conway.— Cruise to the south Coast of Chili, to inquire into the Proceedings of Benavides, the Pirate-—History of Bena- vides —His Condemnation and Recovery after having been supposed shot.—Declared Chief of the Araucanians. —His Piracies against English and North Americans.— Project for conquering Chilii—Equipment of his Army and Fleet.—Energetic Character of this Ruffian. WE reached Valparaiso on the 28th of August 1821, after a pleasant passage of eighteen days from Lima. We had carried the trade-wind as far as latitude 254° south, and reached the island of Juan Fernandez in thirteen days. It was a great mortification to every one on board that the wea- ther prevented our landing at this island, which has a classical place in nautical story, as the reputed scene of Robinson Crusoe’s adventures. It was now the winter season of Chili, and most disagreeably contrasted with the beautiful weather of December and January. Comparatively speak- ing, the gales and rains were severely felt, and we were glad to find fires in most of the houses, although the thermometer was ‘never below 52°, and seldom below 60°. Some inconvenience arose, however, from the sudden manner in which the northerly gales sprang up ; for the anchorage of Valparaiso was completely exposed in that direc- tion, and all communication with the shore pre- vented on those occasions. One evening I landed after sunset, and the weather being fine, told the coxswain to keep the boat ready for me, as I intended returning on board: The crew, with the exception of the usual boat-keeper, were allowed to walk about on the beach till I should return. Nothing could be more serene or of finer promise than the evening, and I thought no more of the boat till two hours after- wards, when I was startled by observing that the wind had risen into a gale. Ihastened to the landing-place to learn what had been done with the boat ; and on the way met the coxswain, who said the gale had come on so suddenly he had not been able to eross the surf, but he had hailed Fish, the boat-keeper, and desired him to make fast to the Custom-house barge lying off at anchor. By this time it was so dark we could sce nothing, and the breeze having greatly increased, a mountainous swell rolled into the bay, which broke with a deafening clamour along the shore. It was now quite impossible to do anything for the poor fellow, and I bitterly reproached myself for paula sf ay 64 awake all night, and as my window, which looked to the sea, was directly over the shore, I started up a dozen times fancying I heard the sound of his voice calling for help amongst the waves. To- wards morning I fell asleep, and dreamed that the Conway and all on board had gone to the bottom. From this unpleasant situation I was awakened by the coxswain, who came to my bed-side, all dripping with sea-water, and his hair standing on end, to tell me that the boat had been found high and dry on the beach, far from the spot where she had been ' moored, but that there was no trace of the unfor- tunate boat-keeper. I ran breathless to the spot ; the painter, or rope which ties the boat, had been chafed through ; the oars and rudder were gone, and the general opinion was that the boat had been | upset, and the poor lad swallowed up in the surge. The gale was still so high as to prevent all commu- nication with the ship, and I therefore sent the remaining hands in different directions, and went myself in a state of painful anxiety, to trace the shore, fearing every instant to discover the drowned man. I shall not attempt to describe the horror with which I saw four or five people, at some dis- tance, bearing along something which looked like a dead body. I could neither move nor speak, and the coxswain, who was with me, stood nearly as much aghast. Still less can I tell the delight I felt on discovering this burden to be merely the black root of a tree torn by the waves from some bank, and drifted to the beach by the storm. After coasting all round the bay we returned in great despair to the boat, and upon examining her more closely I discovered lying within her, a small horn used for baling the water out. It instantly occurred to me that if she had actually been upset, this horn could not possibly have remained where it was, and therefore Fish, I thought, might yet be safe. Had the horn been filled with diamonds it could not have been more precious to me, and I clung to the hope it afforded all this wretched day, the most unhappy of my life. I searched every public-house and lodging, and offered rewards to the people, who dispersed themselves in all direc- tions in search of the shipwrecked seaman, but | he was nowhere to be found. The second night closed in and still no accounts of Fish. I went into company, and even found my way to a ball-room, in hopes to distract my thoughts ; but at every fall of the music I thought I heard a cry in the surf, and quite forgetting where I was, repeatedly imagined I saw him push- ing his way towards me amongst the crowd. My distress was augmented by therecollection of having spoken somewhat sharply to the poor fellow two days before, in consequence of an excursion he had made to a wine-house without leave. Before morning, the state of anxiety and doubt in which I was kept had wrought me into a high fever, and I was pacing the floor opposite the window which overlooked the sea, and watching for the first peep of day to renew my search, when the door was burst open, and the coxswain rushed in to tell that Fish was safe and sound on board the Conway, where he had been upwards of thirty hours, little thinking of the sensation he was exciting. It appeared, that shortly after he had obeyed the coxswain’s orders, and tied his boat to the Custom- _ house barge, the pinnace of a merchant-vessel had been overset by the surf close to him, and he had nn THE ROBBER BENAVIDES. succeeded in rescuing the men, who afterwards © agreed with him that their situation was not one — in which to weather such a night. fore took stoutly to their oars, and pulled to a brig not far off. Everything was then removed — that was liable to be washed away, except my |} treasure of a horn. was chafed through, and the boat drifted on the beach. During a casual lull a launch belonging | to one of the ships had called and taken Fish from the brig to the Conway, where it seems | never to have struck any one what our anxiety must be on shore, and no effort was made to com- — municate what had passed till the gale was entirely gone. On the Ist of October we sailed from Valparaiso | for Conception, the frontier town on the coast, at | the distance of two hundred and twenty miles to the southward. Our object was to learn the fate | of certain American and English seamen lately | made prisoners by a piratical chief of the name of | enavides, whose head-quarters were at Arauco, | the capital of an unconquered Indian district of | the same name. | site the island of St. Mary’s, one of the stations | to which American and English ships repair to | catch seals, and recruit their stock of wood and |} water. Benavides had, in the first instance, suc- | ceeded in entrapping the American whaling-ship |} Hero, which he surprised in the night-time ; and, | with the boats and arms of his prize, had contrived to capture two other American vessels, the Ocean and Herselia, and finally, the English whale-ship, Perseverance. The history of Benavides is curious. He was a native of Conception, and served for some time in the Chilian army, from which he deserted to the Royalists, but was retaken at the battle of Maypo in 1818. He was of a most ferocious character, and in addition to the crime of desertion had committed many murders; he was therefore most justly sentenced to death, along with his brother and other delinquents. Accordingly, the whole party were brought forth in the Plaza of Santiago and shot ; but Benavides, though terribly wounded, was not killed, and had sufficient fortitude to feign himself dead. The bodies being dragged off, were left without burial to be destroyed by the galli- nazos, a species of vulture. The sergeant who superintended this last part of the ceremony was personally inimical to Benavides, on account of his having murdered some of his relations ; and to gratify his revenge, drew his sword, and, while they were dragging the body of his foe to the pile, gave it a severe gash across the neck. The reso- lute Benavides bore this also, without flinching, and lay like a dead man amongst the others, until it became dark ; he then contrived to extricate himself from the heap, and in a most miserable plight crawled to a neighbouring cottage, the gene- rous inhabitants of which received and attended him with the greatest care. 2 General San Martin, who was at that time planning the expedition to Peru, and was looking about for able and enterprising individuals, heard of Benavides being still alive ; and knowing his talents and courage, considered him a fit person to serve some of his desperate purposes in those trying times, when, to gain the great objects in view, there was little scrupulousness about the They there- }jj By some accident the rope |} It is situated on the coast oppo- |f} N moral character of the instruments. The bold -ruffian himself actually gave information of his | being alive, and invited San Martin to hold a secret conference at midnight, in the centre of the great square of Santiago. The appointed signal was to strike fire from their flints three times ; a mark sufficiently conspicuous for the purpose of distinction, yet of a nature calculated _ to excite no suspicion. San Martin accordingly, alone and provided with a brace of pistols, went to the spot, where he encountered Benavides, similarly armed. After a long conference with the desperado, whom he finally engaged in his service, he settled that Benavides should, for the | present, serve in the Chilian army, employed _ against the Araucanian Indians in the south ; but Should be ready to join the army in Peru when the expedition sailed. This was, perhaps, ill- judged ; for Benavides soon quarrelled with the Chilian General, and once more changed sides, offering his services to the Indians, who were glad to obtain so brave and unrelenting an asso- ciate. In a short time, his experience and con- genial ferocity gave him so great an ascendency amongst this warlike race, that he was elected Commander-in-Chief. He soon collected a re- spectable force, and laid waste the whole of the Chilian frontier, lying along the right bank of the great river Biobio, to the infinite annoyance of the Chilians, who could ill afford troops, at that | moment, to repel these inroads ; nearly the whole -resourees of the country being required to fit out the expedition against Peru. . Benavides, taking advantage of this favourable moment, augmented his authority amongst the Arauecanians by many successful incursions into Chili ; till, at length, fancying himself a mighty | monarch, he thought it becoming his dignity to - hatches. have a fleet as well as an army. Accordingly, with the help of his bold associates, he captured several vessels. The first of these was the Ame- rican ship Hero, which he surprised in the night, as she lay at anchor off the coast. His next prize was the Herselia, an American brig, which had sailed on a sealing-voyage to New South Shetland ; and, after touching there, had come on to the Island of St. Mary’s, where she anchored in a small bay exactly opposite to the town of Arauco, the well-known scene of many desperate contests between the Old Spaniards and the still uncon- quered Indians of that territory. While the unconscious crew were proceeding, as usual, to catch seals on this island, lying about three leagues from the mainland of Arauco, an armed body of men rushed from the woods, and, overpowering them, tied their hands behind their _ backs, and left them under a guard on the beach. The pirates now took the Herselia’s boats, and, going on board, surprised the captain and four of his erew, who had remained in charge of the brig ; and, having brought off the prisoners from the beach, threw them into the hold, and closed the They next tripped the vessel’s anchor, and, sailing over in triumph to Arauco, were re- ceived by Benavides with a salute of musketry, fired under the Spanish flag, which it was their chief’s pleasure to hoist on that day. In the course of the night, Benavides ordered the captain and his crew to be removed to a house on shore, at some distance from the town ; then, taking them BENAVIDES CHANGES SIDES AND ENACTS THE PIRATE. 65 out one by one, he stripped and pillaged them of all they possessed, threatening them the whole time with drawn swords and loaded muskets. In the morning he paid the prisoners a visit ; and, having ordered them to the capital, called together the principal people of the town, and desired each to select one as a servant. The captain and four others not happening to please the fancy of any one, Benavides, after saying he would himself take charge of the captain, gave directions, on pain of instant death, that some persons should hold themselves responsible for the other prisoners. Some days after this they were called together, and required to serve as soldiers in the pirate’s army ; an order to which they consented without hesitation, well knowing, by what they had already seen, that the consequences of refusal would be fatal. About a month afterwards, Benavides manned the Herselia brig, partly with his own people, and partly with her original crew, and despatched her on a mission to the Island of Chiloe, to solicit assistance from the Spanish authorities there. The brig was placed under the command of the mate, who was given to understand, that, if he betrayed his trust, the captain and his other coun- trymen would be puttodeath. This warning had its effect : the brig went and returned as desired ; bringing back a twenty-four-pound gun, four six-pounders, and two light field-pieces, with a quantity of ammunition ; besides eleven Spanish officers, and twenty soldiers ; together with the most complimentary and encouraging letters from the Governor of Chiloe, who, as a good and loyal Spaniard, was well pleased to assist any one who would harass the Patriots, without thinking it his business to inquire very strictly into the character or practices of his ally. Shortly afterwards, the English whale-ship Perseverance was captured by Benavides ; and in July, the American brig Ocean, having on board several thousand stand of arms, also fell into his hands. The Ocean was bound, it was said, from Rio de Janeiro to Lima, but, running short of water and fuel, had put into the Island of St. Mary’s, where she was surprised and taken during the night. This great accession of ships, arms, and men, fairly turned the pirate’s head ; and from that time he seriously contem- plated the idea of organizing a regular army, with which he was to march against Santiago, while his fleet was to take Valparaiso ; and thus Chili was to be reconquered without loss of time, He was thwarted a good deal, however, in the outset, by the difficulty of making the sailors useful ; one of the hardest tasks in the world being that of converting Jack intoa soldier. The severity of his discipline, however, struck such terror into the seamen’s minds that he not only made them handle a musket, and submit to the drilling and dressing, practices utterly repugnant to their habits, but, for a time, entirely stopped desertion. To encourage the rest, he put the captain of the Perseverance to death for having attempted to escape ; and some time afterwards, having caught one of the seamen who had deserted, he inhumanly ordered the poor fellow to be cut to pieces, and exhibited the mangled body asa warning to the others. ; Benavides, though unquestionably a ferocious savage,and a thorough-bred buccaneer, was never- F —_ 66 theless a man of resource, full of activity, and of considerable energy of character. He converted the whale-spears and harpoons into lances for his cavalry and halberts for his sergeants; out of the ships’ sails he made trousers for half his army ; the carpenters he set to building baggage-carts, and repairing his boats ; the armourers he kept perpetually at work, mending muskets,and making pikes : managing, in this way, to turn the par- ticular skill of every one of his prisoners to some useful account. He treated the officers, too, not unkindly, allowed them to live in his own house, and was very anxious, on all occasions, to have their advice respecting the equipment of his troops. Upon one occasion, when walking with the captain of the Herselia, he remarked, that his army was now almost complete in every respect, except in one essential particular ; and it cut him, he said, to the very soul to think of sucha deficiency. He had no trumpets for the cavalry : and added, that it was utterly impossible to make his fellows be- lieve themselves dragoons, unless they heard a good blast in their ears at every turn: neither men nor horses, he said, would ever do their duty properly, if not roused to it by the sound of a trumpet; in short, some device, he declared, must be hit upon, to supply this desideratum. The captain, willing to ingratiate himself with the pirate, after a little reflection, suggested to him that trumpets might easily be made out of the copper sheets nailed on the bottoms of the ships he had taken. “ Very true,” cried the delighted chief ; “ how came I not to think of that before ?”’ Instantly all hands were employed in ripping off the copper ; and the armourers being set to work under his personal superintendence, the whole camp, before night, resounded with the warlike blasts of the cavalry. It is difficult to conceive how this adventurer could have expected his forced auxiliaries, the Americans and English, to be of much use to him in action ; for he never trusted them even on a march without a guard of horsemen, whose orders were to spear any one who attempted to escape : in this way he afterwards carried them many a weary league over the country. The captain of the ship who had given him the brilliant idea of the copper trumpets, had, by these means, so far won upon his good-will and confi- dence, as to be allowed a considerable range to walk in. He, of course, was always looking out for some plan of escape; and at length an oppor- tunity occurring, he, with the mate of the Ocean, and nine of his own crew, seized two whale-boats, imprudently left on the banks of the river, and rowed off. Before quitting the shore, they took the precaution of staving all the other boats, to prevent pursuit, and, accordingly, though their escape was immediately discovered, they succeeded in getting so much the start of the people whom Benavides sent after them, that they reached St. Mary’s Island in safety. Here they caught several seals, upon which they subsisted very miserably till they reached Valparaiso. It was in consequence of the report of Bena- vides’ proceedings made to Sir Thomas Hardy, the commander-in-chief, by these persons, that he deemed it proper to send a ship, to rescue, if possible, the remaining unfortunate captives at Arauco. I was ordered on this service ; and the THE CONVOY SAIL AFTER BENAVIDES. senior officer of the squadron of the United States having no ship to spare at that moment, I was directed to use equal exertions to liberate the seamen of that nation. The captain and mate of the Herselia, who had recently escaped, offered me their services as pilots, and I was much indebted to them for their zeal and local knowledge. It ought to have been mentioned before, that | Benavides sometimes, when it suited his purpose, |} affected to call himself a Spanish officer, and often hoisted a Spanish flag; though, in general, he || carried colours of his own invention, as chief of the Araucanian nation, and declared himself totally independent of Spain. The circumstance of his sometimes calling himself a Spaniard, together with his having received assistance from Chiloe, made it rather delicate ground for neutrals to tread. T was, therefore, instructed to avoid any measures likely to embroil us with the contending parties ; but to recover the seamen, if possible, without offending either Spaniards or Chilians. ———_o—— CHAPTER XXIV. The Bay of Conception.—Talcuhuana.—Desolation caused by the War.—River Biobio.—Dilapidated State of the Town of Conception.—Penco.—Strata of Coal.—Torne.— . Character of the Inhabitants of the Southern Parts of Chili. As the wind, at this season of the year, blows almost constantly from the southward, the passage from Valparaiso to Conception was very tedious ; for, though the distance was little more than two hundred miles, it occupied us seven days before we came in sight of the high lands over the town. As we approached the shore we were cheered with the appearance of hills wooded from top to bottom, a sight to which we had long been strangers. The Bay of Conception is a large square inlet, open on the north, while the south and the west sides are formed by a high promontory jutting out from the mainland, and bending into the shape of an elbow; each side being three or four leagues long. Tal- cuhuana, a miserable town, with a dilapidated fort, is the sea-port of Conception, and occupies the south-western angle of the square. The present city lies a league further inland, about five or six miles distant from Taleuhuana. We found in the harbour a ship from Lima, full of Chilian Royalists: unhappy peopie who had | | emigrated to Peru, when their country had been |} rendered independent by the arms of San Martin. Being followed to Lima by their evil genius, they had resolved to return to their native place; and throw themselves on the mercy of their successful countrymen, the Patriots of Chili, These poor people, strangers in their own land, now found their possessions in the hands of others, and scarcely knew whither to bend their steps. I landed with one of the midshipmen, intending to ride to Conception, and on the beach met the captain of the ship which had brought the passen- | I had known him in Lima a most staunch |} gers. Royalist, and was amused to find him here trans- formed into just as staunch a Patriot. The truth is, that he, like many others we met with, whose sole object was gain, cared very little for either side ; and though he had the art to seem thoroughly in { q :) | | | | | a} ES A a THE DESOLATE CONDITION OF CONCEPTION. 67 | earnest in his politics, never thought seriously of anything but of his freight. He introduced us to the Governor of Talcuhuana, who received us with a stateliness of manner worthy of the insignifi- eance of his situation ; and when we spoke to him about horses, said, very pompously, he would most gladly use his influence to get us mounted. In the mean time, we strolled over the town and decayed fortifications, lately, we were told, in perfect re- pair ; but the rains are here so hard, that exposure to a few wet seasons soon demolishes any work not built of stone. On returning to the Govern- ment-house, we found no horses, nor could we hear any tidings of our obliging friend his excel- lency the Governor. We therefore cast about for some other assistance, and at last, tired of waiting, walked into a house where we observed a gentle- man reading, and some ladies sitting at work. We sat down and chatted for some time with them ; and on communicating our distress, the worthy master of the house, being pleased, as he said, with our attention in visiting him, and gratified, perhaps, by the attention we paid to his good lady, who was neither. young nor handsome, said he would lend us his own horses, whispering mysteriously in our ears at the same time, that the governor’s offer was merely “ un chasco”—a trick. Taleuhuana is described in books as strongly fortified ; and it certainly is capable of being ren- dered very formidable ; but the works have been allowed to go to decay, and all that now remains is a ditch of no great width or depth. Over this is thrown a drawbridge, which we crossed on horse- back, in fear and trembling lest it should break down. The sentinel who guarded it was a rough, half-dressed, donkey-boy, who staggered under the weight of a musket, on the lock of which we read the word TOWER. After passing the barrier, we rode over a swamp of some length, along a hard, well-made road, which brought us to some low grassy hills, from which we had a fine view of the country. In the interior the mountains were clad in the richest verdure ; with many extensive and beautiful openings, ex- posing to view banks of rich grass and long vistas in the forests, varied by masses of light and shade ; the whole prospect bringing to our recollection some of the most carefully managed park scenery of England. The scale, it is true, is here some- what more extensive, although the resemblance is equally striking when the landscape is examined in detail. These reflections led us to question our guide as to the causes of the deserted appearance of so magnificent a country. He was an intelligent man, and gave a melancholy account of the destructive wars of which this country had been the theatre for some years past ; first, when the Chilians were struggling against the Spaniards for their liberty, and lately, during the contest between the Chilians and the Araucanian Indians under the outlaw Benavides. Sometimes one party were masters of the country, sometimes the other; but to the poor inhabitants it mattered little which; since both armies drove away the cattle and the sheep, and not unfrequently the inhabitants themselves, burning their dwellings, destroying their enclo- sures, and laying the whole country waste. In the course of our ride we passed over many leagues of land, once evidently covered with tion in these sorrowful times. habitations, but now totally deserted, and all the cottages in ruins. Rich pastures, and great tracts of arable land, of the finest quality, were allowed to run to weeds; without a single individual to be seen, or a cow, or a sheep, or, indeed, any living thing. The absence of peace and security had thus in a few years reduced this fertile country to a state of desolation, as complete, for all the pur- soap of life, as that of the deserts on the coast of eru. When we came within half a league of the town of Conception, we first saw the great river Biobio, at that place about two miles wide, and flowing past in a majestic manner. From a neighbouring height could be traced the windings of this grand stream for many leagues up the country, till lost sight of amongst the mountains. The town of Conception, even at a distance, partook in its appearance of the character of the times ; for the churches were all in ruins, and the streets in such decay that we actually found ourselves in the suburbs before knowing that we had reached the town ; so complete had been the destruction. Whole quadras, which had been burnt down and reduced to heaps of rubbish, were now so thickly overgrown with weeds and shrubs, that scarcely any trace of their former character was distin- guishable. The grass touched our feet as we rode along the footpaths, marking the places of the old carriage-ways. Here and there parts of the town had escaped the ravage ; but these only served to make the surrounding desolation more manifest. A strange incongruity prevailed every- where: offices and courtyards were seen, where the houses to which they had belonged were completely gone ; and sometimes the houses re- mained, in ruins indeed, but everything about them swept away. Near the centre of the town a magnificent sculptured gateway attracted our attention. Upon inquiry, we found it had been the principal entrance to the Bishop’s Palace, of which there was not a vestige left, although the gateway was in perfect preservation, Many of the houses which did remain were uninhab- ited ; and such is the rapidity with which vege- tation advances in this climate, that most of these buildings were completely enveloped in a thick mantle of shrubs, creepers, and wild flowers, while the streets were everywhere knee-deep in grass and weeds. The Plaza, or great square, generally the resort of a busy crowd, was as still as the grave. At one end stood the remains of the cathedral, rapidly crumbling to dust ; the whole of the western aisle had already fallen in, and the other parts, built of brick, and formerly covered with polished cement, stood bare, and nodding to their fall. A solitary peasant, wrapped in his poncho, stood at the corner of the square, leaning against the only remaining angle of the cathedral ; and in a dark corner, amongst the ruins of the fallen aisle, were seated four or five women, round a fire, cooking their meat by hanging it in the smoke over the embers. . In some of the smaller streets there were many more people; for the town, though stripped of its wealth and importance, was not altogether depopulated. The few remaining inhabitants had drawn together for mutual support and consola- The children were F 2 68 almost all handsome, and had the appearance of belonging to a fine race: unlike their parents, they were unconscious of the evils by which their country had been overwhelmed, and looked as happy and merry as their elders were despondent and miserable. The governor received us courteously, and gave us all the information he possessed. Accounts, he said, had been received of Benavides having crossed the river Biobio at a place called Mon- terey, twenty-five leagues above Conception. He had marched upon Chillan, a town about thirty leagues off, in a N.N.E. direction ; and had with him thirteen hundred followers, including the English and American seamen taken at Arauco. A considerable force, he told us, had recently marched from Conception, and succeeded in getting between Benavides and the river Biobio ; there being also a well-appointed force in Chillan, it was next to impossible, he thought, that the outlaw could now escape. Benavides, it seemed, never gave quarter, but the governor assured me that, as the Chilians did not retaliate, the seamen incurred no danger on this account. I was anxious to engage some Indian messenger, to communicate either with the pirate himself, or with his captives ; but the governor drew up at this, and expressed some surprise ‘at my thinking it either proper or possible to negotiate with this desperate outlaw, who was, he said, little better than a wild beast, and approachable only by force. As correct information respecting the further proceedings of Benavides would probably reach the local government in the course of a couple of days, I determined to wait for the courier, and to employ the interval in examining the Bay of Conception. An officer was accordingly sent with boats, to survey and sound all the different anchorages, while the ship proceeded to several small ports lying round the bay. The first of these was Penco, a town built on the site of the old city of Conception, which was swept away by a great wave, that accompanied the earthquake of 1751. When the city was to be rebuilt, a more inland situation was chosen ; but as it stands at present on low ground, it is questionable whether an earthquake wave of any magnitude might not still reach it. As we had heard of coal being in this district, we engaged a guide to show us where it was to be found, and had not walked a mile into the country before we reached some ex- cavations at the surface of the ground, from which the coal is worked without any trouble. The seam is thick and apparently extensive, and might, pro- bably, with due care and skill, be wrought to any extent. In the course of our walk to the coal-pits, we fell in with an intelligent native, who offered him- self as our guide, and interested us a good deal by his account of the past and present state of the country. He had been cattle-keeper, he said, to a farmer, and, at one time, had charge of two hun- dred beasts ; but that his master had not one left, and was now as poor as himself. The estate had formerly produced many thousand fanegas of wheat, which had served to maintain a consider- able population : “ but,” added he, “ the fields are now grown up with long grass ; all the enclosures, and all the houses gone ; the cattle entirely driven - MISERIES OF INDIAN WARFARE. off ; and the inhabitants dispersed, no one knows |} Who will rear cattle, or sow grain, if not |} sure of the herd, or the harvest ? and so,” added |} he, “it will continue till these sad wars and incur- |} sions are at an end, and property be made secure ; — for nobody will remain even in this fertile and | where. beautiful country in such times as the present.’’ The correct feeling which this rude peasant dis- played for the natural beauties of his native spot | was very remarkable ; for he was never tired of |f expatiating on the picturesque graces of the land- scape, and was perpetually calling our attention, as we walked along, to some new and more pleasing aspect which the scenery had assumed. He was so much delighted with our admiration |) of his country, that he forgot, in our praises of its || beauty, the calamities under which it was labour- ing ; and having, probably, rarely met with such sympathy before, he scarcely knew how to thank us for our companionship. The natives of the southern provinces of Chili | have always been described as a bold and hardy race of men, although not so warlike as their neigh- bours, the Indians of Arauco, who, though often | conquered in single battles, were never completely subdued by the Spaniards. Whenever a judicious President happened to be at the head of the government of Chili, a treaty was generally entered into between that state and the Araucanians ; yet, notwithstanding the acknowledged fact that these | alliances proved invariably advantageous to both | parties, the next governor would, in all probability, go to war ; considering it unworthy to remain on good terms with a set of savages. From that moment, a miserable conflict was commenced, | of inroads on one side and hard fighting on | the other, equally mischievous to Chilians and |} These wars generally began by |} the Spanish disciplined troops entering the Indian | Araucanians. territory, and possessing themselves of the capital, Arauco, and other towns; but, ere long, they | were always forced to retire before the bravery and numbers of the Indians ; who, in their turn, entered and laid waste the Chilian frontier, drove off the cattle and dispersed the inhabitants, acting pretty much in the style of our Borderers of old. However spirited and romantic such a state of |} things may sound in poetical description, it is very melancholy to witness in real life. Indeed, while this poor peasant was detailing to us the ruin and misery which had befallen his country from this profitless and barbarous system of war- |} fare, and when his narrative was confirmed by every circumstance around us, we felt somewhat ashamed of the lively and pleasing interest with which we had recently listened to an account of the very same transactions, at a distance, and before we had witnessed the reality. On returning to the beach, we were assailed by a number of little girls, six or seven years of age, each with a fowl in her hand, and all beseech- ing us to purchase. These children were very pretty, and their cheeks, unlike the natives be- tween the tropics, chubby and rosy ; their hair, resembling that of their Spanish and Indian an- cestors, was long, glossy, and black, hanging over their brows, till smoothed back by the hand, to disclose their still blacker eyes. When the little monkeys looked up in our faces and smiled, so as to show their beautiful white teeth and dimpled SS t BENAVIDES DEFEATED. | , ) | cheeks, there was no resisting the appeal; and we | bought a boat-load of poultry more than we had ] any use for. i We laid in a supply of coals and fire-wood at | this place. The coals, which were brought for us to || the beach, cost twelve shillings per ton, everything included. The fire-wood cost about four shillings | per cargo of three hundred and sixty billets, and weighing 1300 lbs. From Penco we sailed along the eastern side of the bay till we reached Tomé, a small snug cove in the most picturesque situation imaginable, sur- rounded by rocks and magnificent trees, with a little village at the upper corner, almost hid in the foliage. A party landed at some distance from the houses to walk along the beach; but we were soon benighted, and, our course being interrupted by a creek, we were for some time reduced to a considerable dilemma. At length the natives heard us shouting to them for assistance, and came in their canoes, to ferry us over to the village, where a great crowd soon assembled to see the strangers, and to offer their timber for sale. | While our bargains about the logs of wood were going on, we turned to look at the moon, nearly at the full, which had just risen above the trees, accompanied by the planets Jupiter and Saturn ; and we were admiring the same scenery, now | brightly illuminated, which we had passed through in the dark ; when one of the natives, somewhat to our surprise, left his logs, and looking up, asked us what we thought of it ; of course we answered, it was most beautiful. “Si Sefiores,” replied he, quite delighted, “Resplandeciente !” asif he were | not less struck than ourselves with the beauty of the sight. I mention this circumstance, as afford- ing another instance among these rude people of a degree of taste and feeling for the beauties of nature which we never met with in any other part of South America. After purchasing the timber, we bargained with a wild-looking Indian, who had joined the group, for a mule-load of wine, which he had brought in skins for sale. It was of good quality, though rather sweet, and cost about twopence-halfpenny a bottle ; cheap enough certainly, but exactly double the usual price, as we discovered afterwards. We | also bought seven logs of wood, each twenty-one feet long and twelve inches square, for nine dol- lars ; which is about five shillingseach. The wood called Ligny was as good as ash, and answered well for building boats. We learned afterwards that we had paid about one-fourth too much. There was a great variety of squared timber for sale, adapted to different purposes; but this, which was the dearest, appeared to be much the best. The district of Conception, as far as natural advantages go, is richer than most other parts of Chili ; it possesses also a hardy and intelligent population, a delightful climate, and a soil of the most fertile kind, capable of producing the finest wheat, vines, olives, and the richest pasture : it is covered with extensive forests of valuable timber, contains coal in abundance, as well as freestone and lime, close to the shore ; besides being fur- nished with excellent ports, and numberless small Streams, it is intersected by a large river navi- gable for upwards of a hundred miles. Notwith- standing all these advantages, it has been almost entirely depopulated, and the whole country al- 69 lowed to run to waste. It is to be hoped, however, that the spirit which animates the rest of this regenerated country will soon lead to some new system of political measures, either for the de- fence of this magnificent district against the inroads of the Indians ; or, what would be infinitely better, for making peace with them, on terms which would render it their interest to preserve a lasting and cordial friendship with their neigh- bours, . ——_o—_ CHAPTER XXV. Defeat of Benavides.—Island of Mocha.—Arauco, the Capi- tal, burned.—Sack of the City by the Chilian Soldiers.— Peneléo, Captain of a Party of Araucanian Mercena- ries.—Return to Conception.—Visit to the Indian Quar- ters.—Interview with Peneléo.—Return to Valparaiso.— Chilian Government Gazette respecting Benavides. On the morning of the 12th of October, authen- tie accounts arrived of Benavides having been defeated near Chillan, and his army dispersed, while he himself had escaped across the frontier, accompanied only by a few followers. By the same opportunity, we were informed that the Chilian sloop of war Chacabuco, without waiting for the troops sent by land to co-operate with her, had made an unsuccessful attack upon the Indian capital Arauco. Having previously obtained information’ that two of the American seamen, captives with Bena- vides, had succeeded in escaping from his camp and in getting on board the Chacabuco, I imme- diately proceeded in quest of that vessel, being most desirous of seeing these men, in order to learn the fate of their companions. Without some such information, it was obviously impossible to know where they were, or how to assist them. I therefore made the best of my way to the anchor- age of Arauco ; but tomy mortification, no vessel of any kind was there, and I proceeded on to the southward, having reason to think the Chacabuco had gone in that direction. After two days’ search, I fell in with her at anchor between the mainland and the island of Mocha. This island is overrun by horses and pigs, both of which are used as fresh stock by the whaling and sealing ships in the Pacific. The two American seamen were immediately sent to me ; and it appeared from their statement, that when Benavides marched from Arauco a month before, he had left Mr. Moison, captain of the brig Ocean, together with several American and English seamen, to fit out the ship Perse- verance ; but that all the rest of the captives had been forced, at the point of the bayonet, to accom- pany the army. During the march, they had been so strictly guarded by a body of cavalry, that it was not until after they had crossed the river Biobio that an opportunity occurred for these two men to effect their escape, and, after suffering many hardships, to reach Conception. This in- formation decided me to return immediately to ' Arauco, for the purpose of making an attempt to rescue Captain Moison and the seamen, should they still be on the spot. I had little hope of success, indeed, since hearing of the Chacabuco’s attack on the place; for it seemed probable, that, on that occasion, the prisoners would be sent off to the interior. 70 THE TOWN OF ARAUCO SACKED AND BURNED. On entering the bay, I had the mortification to perceive, by various symptoms, that we were too late ; for, on the bar of the river Toobool, which passes near the town, one of the prizes was in flames ; behind the high grounds forming the harbour, rose a great column of smoke from another burning ship ; and the town of Arauco itself was also on fire. All this showed that an attack had been made, and that the Indians had fled; since it is their invariable practice to burn their towns and everything they cannot carry with them, whenever they are obliged to retreat. I anchored off the flaming town late in the evening; and, having communicated with the Chilian ships lying there, learned that the Araucanians, under one of Benavides’ officers, had been attacked on that morning, but had speedily given way, and fled to the woods, after setting fire to the town and all the ships. On the morning of the 19th of October, I landed at Arauco, to make, if possible, some arrangement with the commander of the Chilian expedition, in the event of any of the prisoners effecting their escape, and reaching his camp. We found the head-quarters established in the centre of the capital, which had consisted of fifty-six houses, arranged in rows: nothing now remained but a number of black, square marks, except where a few houses had been more substantially built than the rest. Part of the walls of Benavides’ own house were still standing, but the rafters and the door-posts were burning on the floor when we visited it. On the walls we could see the names of some of the captives who had been confined there, traced with charcoal, or scratched with a knife. Captain Sheffield of the Herselia, who had accompanied us from Valparaiso, carried us through the town, where he had been so long a prisoner, and over the smoking ashes of which he looked with malicious satisfaction. This diminutive capital was about three hundred yards square, enclosed by a wall twelve feet high, and guarded by towers at two of the angles, with one of its sides resting againstasmallsteep hill,aboutahundredand fifty feet in height. Though insignificant in size, it is nevertheless a classical city, and well known in Spanish song and history. It was from this place that the celebrated Valdivia made his last march, and it was afterwards the principal station of the great savage general, Lautaro. Arauco was often taken and retaken by the Spaniards and Indians in old times; and, by a curious anomaly in the history of this country, these very Araucanians, who for three centuries have been fighting despe- rately, and not unsuccessfully, against the Spaniards in Chili, now when the common enemy is driven out, and liberty proclaimed, take up arms under a renegade Spanish officer, and fight against the liberated Chilians. On going to the top of the hill, we commanded a view of a country fully as rich in fine woods, lawns, and rivers, as that near Conception; and could not help lamenting, that the profuse gifts of nature should be thus utterly wasted. The Chilian camp presented a very curious scene: the soldiers, on entering the town, had found, in the half-burnt store-houses, and in the cellars cut in the rocks, various articles taken out of the prizes: some of them were loaded with plates, dishes, and cooking- utensils ; others with books and charts. One man had got hold of a broken quadrant, which puzzled him exceedingly ; another was stirring up his fire with a long whale harpoon; and one poor fellow came running up to us with a bundle of the Tract | Society’s publications, which he had just found; | but was greatly disappointed when we declined becoming purchasers. Before I returned on board, the commander of the Chilian forces told me, that a party of Indian | auxiliaries under his orders had that morning | taken three Araucanian prisoners, two of whom they had deliberately put to death, and had sold the third to himself for four dollars. We expressed great horror at this anecdote ; but he said it was absolutely out of his power to control these Indians, who made it a condition of their service, that they should never be denied the privilege of cutting the throats of their prisoners. Besides these three prisoners, it appeared that there had been a fourth, a young woman, the wife of one of the men butchered in the morning. The commandant, however, had accidentally omitted to tell me this circumstance, which I did not learn till late in the evening, after I had gone on board. He had in vain tried to prevail upon Peneléo, the Indian in command of the auxiliaries, to release her ; but this ‘savage, after putting her husband to death before the poor woman’s face, refused to give her up for a less ransom than thirty dollars—a sum which no one in the camp was willing to advance. It was provoking not to have heard of the cireum- stance during the morning, since, had she been liberated, she might have been employed to carry a letter to the captives I was in quest of, who, I had now no doubt, were removed into the interior || by the Araucanians, when they fled to the woods. On the 20th, I went on shore as soon it was day-light; but my vexation and disappointment were extreme, on learning that Peneléo, with his troop of Indians, had set out on their return to Conception two hours before, taking the poor widow along with them. While we were speaking on the subject, a soldier, who had met the Indians, rode into the camp. On being interrogated about the woman, in whose fate we began to take great interest, he said, she would probably never reach Conception alive, as he had heard Peneléo threaten, that, unless she left off crying, he would certainly kill her, as he had killed her husband the day before. As Conception lay directly in our way to Val- paraiso, I determined to call there, not only to concert some measures respecting the captive seamen, should they make their appearance, but also, if possible, to rescue this poor woman from the Indians. Accordingly, after waiting another day at Arauco, and seeing no hope of gaining in- telligence of the prisoners, we sailed for Port St. Vincent, a small secure harbour, not far from the bay, and rather nearer than Talecuhuana to the town of Conception. I lost no time in riding to the city, along with one of the officers; but our haste was needless, for we were stopped at the gate of the government-house by a domestic, who, by closing his eyes, and reclining his head’on one hand, intended us to understand that his excellency was taking his siesta, and could not be disturbed. Nothing, as all the world knows, puts a Spaniard more out of humour than interrupting his siesta ; and, as we wished to solicit his favour for our i ~ a , + ‘ tk g I| countrymen, we thought it prudent not to urge | the point on the attendants, who shuddered at the very thoughts of it. Meanwhile we strolled along the banks of the magnificent river Biobio, which washes the walls of the town. In our walk we observed many black-eyed dames, sitting rurally enough at their doors, spinning with distaff and spindle, while their children played about them in the street.’ They wore flowers in their hair, in the Chinese fashion, and were dressed with great neatness: we found them quite willing to make acquaintance and to chat with the strangers. In process of time we saw the Governor, who obligingly allowed us to go to the Indian quarters ; but he smiled incredulously, and shook his head at our Quixotical project of rescuing the distressed damsel, saying, it was quite useless to attempt treating with Peneléo, who had scarcely anything human about him. We made our visit to the Indians at a most unpropitious hour, for they had just finished their dinner, and were all more or less tipsy. On our entering the court-yard of their quarters, we ob- served a party seated on the ground round a great tub full of wine; they hailed our entrance with loud shouts, or rather yells, and boisterously demanded our business ; to all appearance very || little pleased with the interruption. The inter- preter became alarmed, and wished us to retire ; but this I thought imprudent, as each man had i his long spear close at hand, resting against the }| eaves of the house. Had we attempted to escape, we must have been taken, and possibly sacrificed, || by these drunken savages. As our best chance | seemed to lie in treating them without any show | of distrust, we advanced to the circle with a good- j| humoured confidence, which appeased them con- | siderably. One of the party rose and embraced us in the Indian fashion, which we had learned from the gentlemen who had been prisoners with Benavides. After this ceremony, they roared out to us to sit down on the ground along with them, and with the most boisterous hospitality insisted on our drinking with them; a request which we cheerfully complied with. Their anger soon vanished, and was succeeded by mirth and satis- faction, which speedily became as outrageous as their displeasure had been at first. Seizing a favourable opportunity, we stated our wish to have an interview with their chief, upon which a message was sent to him ; but he did not think fit to show himself for a considerable time, during which we remained with the party round the tub, who con- tinued swilling their wine like so many hogs. Their heads soon became affected, and their ob- streperous mirth increasing every minute, we felt our situation by no means agreeable. At length Peneléo’s door opened, and the chief made his appearance; he did not condescend, however, to cross the threshold, but leaned against the door-post to prevent falling, being, by some degrees, more drunk than any of his people. A more finished picture of a savage cannot be con- ceived. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man; with a prodigiously large head, and asquare-shaped, bloated face, from which peeped out two very small eyes, partly hid by an immense superfluity of black, coarse, oily, straight hair, covering his cheeks, and hanging over his shoulders, rendering his head somewhat of the size and shape of a bee- a SRS Nene INTERVIEW WITH AN ARAUCANIAN CHIEF. 71 hive. Over his shoulders was thrown a poncho of coarse blanket-stuff. He received us very gruffly, and appeared irritated and sulky at having been disturbed: he was still more offended when he learned that we wished to see his captive. We in vain endeavoured to explain our real views ; but he grunted out his answer in a tone and manner which showed us plainly that he neither did, nor wished, to understand us. We were deterred from pressing the matter further, by the sight of his spear, which was within his reach, and had already heard too much of his habits to disregard his displeasure. Whilst we were in conversation with Peneléo, we stole an occasional glance at his apartment. By the side of a fire, burning in the middle of the floor, was seated a young Indian woman, with long black hair reaching to the ground ; this, we conceived, could be no other than the unfortunate person we were in search of ; and we were some- what disappointed to observe, that the lady was neither in tears nor apparently very miserable ; we therefore came away impressed with the un- sentimental idea that the amiable Peneléo had already made some impression on the young widow’s heart. Two Indians, who were not so drunk as the rest, followed us to the outside of the court, and told us, that several foreigners had been taken by the Chilians in the battle near Chillan, and were now safe, The interpreter hinted to us, that this was probably invented by these cunning people, on hearing our questions in the court; but he advised us, as a matter of policy, to give them each a piece of money, and to get away as fast as we could. On the 23d of October we sailed from Concep- tion, and on the 26th anchored at Valparaiso. About a fortnight after our return, we were greatly rejoiced by the arrival of Captain Moison, and the seamen, so long captives, and in search of whom we had been so ineffectually employed. As we had formerly conjectured, they had been re- moved to a considerable distance inland, when Arauco was attacked. It was very satisfactory, however, to learn, that all the prisoners had at last succeeded in making their escape, after the battle in which Benavides was routed near Chillan. They had found their way to different parts of the coast, and, after many difficulties, had reached Conception, where they procured a passage in a ship coming to Valparaiso. As the Conway did not again visit Chili, after leaving it at this time, I found some difficulty in discovering what had become of Benavides at last. Fortunately, however, I obtained possession of a Chilian Government Gazette Extraordinary, published officially at Santiago, which gives a history of the rise, progress, and close of his career. I insert a translation of this document, as it is not only curious in itself, but shows the singular state of the Chilian frontier at that time ; and helps also, in some degree, to fill up the foregoing incomplete sketch. “ Santiago, Saturday 23d February, 1822. «“ PuBLIc VENGEANCE ! “ Be it known to all Chilians, who are interested in the glory of their country—and all who watch ee ee eee eee Neen nrc reese 72 the conduct of the South Americans, that the execution which has taken place to-day is in no respect derogatory from that scrupulous attention (delicadeza) which Chili has always paid to the rights of all parties engaged in the war so vigor- ously carried on by her against the pertinacious interference of the Spanish usurpers. This outlaw, who has just been executed, is Vicente Benavides, son of Toribio, jailor in Quirihue, in the province of Conception: he was a foot-soldier in the Patriot army, and had attained the rank of serjeant of grenadiers at the time of our first revolution. He then deserted to the enemy at Membrillar, and in the memorable action at that place under General Makenna was taken prisoner, and brought by the corps de reserve along with the army, which were marching on that side of the river Maule, to be tried by a court-martial. Near the city of Linares, he set fire to a store-house and fled, taking advantage of the army making preparations for a night attack. He continued in the employ- ment of the tools (serviles) of Ferdinand, until again taken prisoner on the glorious 5th of April 1813, on the plains of Maypo. He was kept as a prisoner until he was sentenced, by a military tribunal, to be shot as a deserter; but having survived the execution in the most extraordinary manner, he presented himself to the General of the army, and offered his services to dissuade the Indians and the other inhabitants, on the southern bank of the river Biobio, from lending themselves to the.desperate and illegal war in which the Spaniards wished to involve them. His offer was accepted : passports were given him, and other documents relative to his commission. Thus accredited he proceeded to the town of Los An- geles, and from thence to Nacimiento, where he succeeded in persuading Don Juan Francisco Sanchez, commander of the Spanish troops, that he possessed ability to keep up the desolating war, which had almost ceased on the southern frontier of Chili, The commander accordingly retired to Valdivia, leaving Benavides as com- mander-in-chief of the whole frontier. He com- menced his authority by a most scandalous action, directly against the laws of war. He attacked an officer of the name of Riveros, who commanded a party in the fort of Santo Juana, and took him prisoner, with fourteen soldiers who were saved from the bloody attack. It was deemed proper to propose to exchange for this officer the wife of Benavides, then a prisoner in the city of Concep- tion ; and for this purpose, Lieutenant Don Eugenio Torres was sent with a flag of truce. Benavides agreed to the proposition ; but his depraved dis- position inspiring him with distrust, he detained the flag of truce and the soldiers, and sent back the officer Riveros alone. The officer of the ad- vanced guard applied for Torres, who had borne the flag of truce, stating, that Benavides’ wife had already been sent from the fort of San Pedro ; nevertheless, with an excess of ferocity, unheard of in this enlightened age, that very night he ordered the officer’s throat to be cut who had brought the flag of truce, although he had actually supped in his company. The fourteen soldiers, who had been made prisoners, were also put to death on that night. “ His subsequent proceedings were marked by a similar spirit ; even the instructions which he OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF BENAVIDES. gave to the commanders of his guerrillas seemed to be written with blood, for in them he consigns to death ‘ every insurgent, whatever might be his offence ;°—orders which were executed with an exactness that characterises these vile instruments of cruelty. These murderous agents were m the habit of offering to the peaceable peasants the terrible alternative of following them, or of being put to death. They slaughtered children, women, and old men, to prevent information being given of the road they had taken, or of the mountain in which they had hid themselves. In the month of July 1820, when General Freire was passing through the Hacienda of Totoral, on the banks of the river Itata, a widow presented herself to -him ; her husband, she said, had been killed a few days before, by the captain of a guerrilla party, for having given information that the party had been in his house. Actions similar to this were innu- merable, and quite notorious in the districts of Chillan and Rere. At a place called Cajon de Palomares, a party of the enemy found an old man of sixty years of age, his wife, his daughter, and three nephews, all poor people, and, having robbed them of all they had, finished by murdering them ; their bodies were afterwards carried to the burying-place of Conception in April 1821. “In this manner the contest was maintained ever since the year 1819—very much, it may be observed, in the manner the war has been carried on by the Spaniards themselves in all parts of South America. “ Several times the Intendant of Conception, commander-in-chief of the army of the south, by authority of government put the law of retaliation in force ; but with characteristic moderation, and with the sole view of repressing these violations of the laws of war. At other times this conduct was changed, and offers of pardon, approved by his Excellency the Supreme Director of the Re- public, were made to those who should give them- selves up; and these promises were held sacred even with the most atrocious. The commanders and officers of the Chilian army were restrained from exercising the just resentment inspired by thefall of their companions, so inhumanly murdered ; but nothing could mitigate the insane fury of this monster Benavides, and his iniquitous associates. He took prisoner in an action, on the 23d Sep- tember 1820, Don Carlos Maria O’Carrol, and ordered him to be shot immediately. On the 26th, on the banks of the river Laja, he attacked three hundred men of the Coquimbo battalion, No. 1, and some militia, which had been sent to reinforce the head-quarters ; the action was so sharply maintained, that his dastardly person was in some danger. At eight o’clock next morning he addressed a despatch to Major-General Don Andres Aleazar, offering to spare the lives of all those who should give themselves up unarmed. It happened that this worthy veteran had run short of ammunition, and his people were worn out with fatigue ; he therefore capitulated, giving up at once his arms and his life. The officers were immediately shot, without being allowed the consolations of religion ; one person only escaped by accident, Friar N. Castro, of the order of Hermits. Major-General Alcazar, and Sergeant- major Ruiz, were then delivered over to the Indians, that they might be speared to death, ) along with three hundred families who had as- } sembled on the island of Laja. _ He lost no opportunity of destroying every town he came near, burning as many as he possibly could. And, not deeming all this sufficient to glut his insatiable disposition, he opened a commu- nication with Carrera, one of the chiefs of the ) anarchists, who was laying waste the province of ] } ! | being more perfidious. | of horse to continue the hostilities. Mendoza, and invited him to take a share in these | devastations. “‘ He was at length defeated at Conception on the 27th of November, 1820, upon which he pro- posed terms of peace, only for the purpose of He sent the Presbyter Ferreba with the despatch containing his propo- sals. His messenger, of course, enjoyed the im- munity which the rights of war gave him ; but, at the very same time, the chief who sent him took advantage of the moment, and ordered a squadron Eventually he threw off the mask of the King’s authority altogether ; since, when Brigadier Prieto informed | him of the fall of Lima, upon which Benavides had formerly declared himself dependent, he dis- played his true character in his answer: and | declared ‘ that he would make war against Chili to the last soldier, even if its independence were acknowledged by the King and the whole Spanish nation.’ “It was natural that one crime should lead to others. He had either been accustomed to pay no respect to the laws of nations, or he hoped to conceal those actions from his government: be this as it may, he did everything to establish the character of a pirate. He equipped a corsair to cruise on the coast of Chili, giving the commander instructions to respect no flag whatever, ‘and to put to death the crew of every insurgent vessel he should meet with, and of every vessel which he might even suspect to belong to insurgents.’ By what law of war can this be justified ? “The situation of Arauco, so directly opposite the Island of Santa Maria, where vessels, having doubled Cape Horn, stop for refreshments, gave him an opportunity of capturing the ships Hero, Herselia, Perseverance, and another, exclusive of the boats belonging to ships which he could not take. These vessels were the property of the English and North Americans ; the captains were shot secretly, and the crews were made to serve along with his troops. How came he to express so energetically in his confession, ‘ that these peo- ple had caused him an infinite deal of mischief 2’ —hut it does not belong to Chili to inquire into this matter. “ At length, in the end of December, 1821, dis- covering the miserable state to which he was reduced, he entreated Brigadier Don Joaquin Prieto, Intendant of Conception, that he might.be received, on giving himself up along with his partisans. This generous chief accepted his offer, and informed the supreme government ; but, in | the mean time, Benavides embarked in a launch at the mouth of the river Lebo, and fled, with the intention of joining a division of the enemy’s army, which he supposed to be at some one of the ports on the south coast of Peru. It was, indeed, absurd to expect any good faith from such an in- | triguer ; for, in his letters at this time, he offered his services to Chili, and promised fidelity, while 3 HIS CAPTURE AND EXECUTION. 73 his real intention was still to follow the enemy. He finally left the unhappy province of Conception, the theatre of so many miserable scenes, over- whelmed with misery which he had caused, with- out ever recollecting that it was in that province he had first drawn his breath. “ His despair made his conduct in the boat in- supportable to those who accompanied him ; and they rejoiced when they were obliged to put into the harbour of Topocalma, in search of water, of which they had run short. On the Ist of this month, (February, 1822,) he ordered a soldier to swim on shore to look for a supply. At daylight on the following morning, the tide admitted of his boat approaching the shore, when he landed under the pretext of procuring a messenger to carry despatches to the Supreme Director, which he said he had brought from Conception. He con- cealed his name ; but the patriotic individuals, Don Francisco Hidalgo, and Don Ramon Fuensalida, proprietors of the neighbouring grounds, being in- formed who he really was by the soldier who swam ashore the day before, arrested him on the beach. “From the notorious nature alone of his deeds, even the most impartial stranger would have con- demned him to the last punishment; but the supreme government wished to hear what he had to say for himself, and ordered him to be tried according to the laws. It appearing on the trial that he had placed himself beyond the laws of society, such punishment was awarded to him as any one of his crimesdeserved. As a deserter to the enemy he merited death—as a frequent violator of all military laws, he had forfeited every claim to be considered as a prisoner of war—as a pirate and a barbarous destroyer of whole towns, it became necessary to put him to death in such a manner as might satisfy outraged humanity, and terrify others who should dare to imitate him. In pursuance of the sentence passed on the 21st of this month, he was this day dragged from the prison in a pannier tied to the tail of a mule, and was hanged in the great square. His head and hands were afterwards cut off, in order to their being placed on high poles, to point out the places of his horrid crimes, Santa Juana, Tarpellanea, and Arauco. “‘ Bythesentence of the 21st, it had been directed that he should be executed on the 23d, thus ex- pressly allowing him three days to avail himself of that religious consolation which this faithful vassal of his Most Catholic Majesty denied to General Aleazar, Don Gaspar Ruiz, Captain O’Carrol, to all the officers of the Coquimbo battalion, and to many others. “The generosity of free states is never to be found in the corrupted hearts of those who serve tyrants ! «“ Every person in the least acquainted with public rights, knows, that in war, the law of re- taliation applies equally to both parties, and that Chili is at perfect liberty to make equivalent repri- sals upon the domineering Spaniards, for their actions towards the Patriots. But his Excellency the Supreme Director, wishing to draw a veil over the past, has ordered that the rigour of the law be directed against Benavides alone ; and that the lives of his followers be spared, though justly for- feited : he also extends the same mercy to others, pn 74 who, from holding communication with the out- law, merited, if not the same, at least nearly the same punishment.” This singular official document winds up with the four following lines, in prominent characters. Esos monstruos, que cargan consigo El caracter infame y servil, g Como pueden jamas compararse Con los Heroes del cinco de Abril ? Those monsters, who bear about with them A character infamous and servile— How can they ever compare themselves With the Heroes of the 5th of April? The 5th of April being the anniversary of the battle of Maypo, which decided the fate of Chili, is an era introduced, naturally enough, on every pos- sible occasion. The foregoing lines form a stanza of their most popular national song. CHAPTER XXVI. CHILI. Excursion to the Mining Districts of Chili —Coquimbo.— Parallel Roads in the Valley of Coquimbo.—Theory in explanation of these Appearances. AFTER returning from this very busy and amus- ing trip to Arauco, I landed my instruments, and set up an observatory at Valparaiso, where I hoped to profit by a week or ten days of leisure, which were allowed me before proceeding on a fresh cruise to the northward. Nothing, indeed, could be less favourable to the successful performance of the delicate experiments I had undertaken, than the constant hurry and distraction in which I was necessarily kept at this time ; but I was willing to give them a chance, and, although in the end no- thing material was accomplished, I had the satis- faction of acquiring sufficient experience in using some of the instruments which were new to me, and especially the Invariable Pendulum of Captain Kater, that, upon subsequent occasions, I was _ enabled to take advantage of accidental moments which otherwise must have been lost. It is not, however, my present purpose to enter into any detail of these operations ; their results are given at length in the Appendix, and I shall merely. remark, in passing, that even in so hurried a way, there is something particularly interesting in the progress of astronomical observations. The beau- tiful regularity and absence of all bustle in the celestial movements—the majestic silence with which they are conducted—and the total separa- tion which exists between them and the affairs of the earth, come forcibly home to the imagination when the attention is seriously called to them. While the observer's eye is fixed at his telescope, in expectation of some approaching phenomenon, and his ear is conscious of no sound but the beat- ing of the clock, he feels for the time lifted into another sphere, and admitted as it were to a companionship with the wonders of distant planets, and is tempted to ask how, with such objects of curiosity and interest at his command, he can ever condescend to mingle with the turmoil of human affairs, or exchange the contemplation of such matchless order for the instability of earthly pas- sions ? The fascination of such pursuits can only THE REAL WORLD BEATS THE IMAGINARY. be known to those who have deeply indulged in them ; and I am sure they will bear me out in the assertion, that there are few purer enjoyments. On the 14th of November, 1821, I received orders to proceed in the Conway from Valparaiso towards Lima, and to call by the way at the inter- mediate ports on the coast of Chili and Peru. The object of this cruise was to inquire into the British interests at those places ; to assist and pro- tect any of his Majesty’s trading subjects ; and in ageneral way toascertain the commercial resources of the district. Several points of this inquiry have formed the subject of official reports ; but, as any interest they possessed was of a temporary nature, I shall not repeat them here, but confine myself to a general sketch of what we saw on the voyage. : The ship being required by a certain day for other services, we were much restricted in time ; which was the more to be regretted, as accidental circumstances put it in our power, if we had pos- sessed leisure, to have visited many of the mines under considerable advantages. Hurried, how- ever, aS we-were, it was impossible to take more than a superficial glance at that interesting part of the country; and we were more solicitous to mark the effects of the recent political changes on the mining system, than to investigate minutely the nature of the ores, or to inquire into the details of working them. Sailing from Valparaiso on the 15th of Novem- ber, on the 16th, a little before sunset, we steered into the bay of Coquimbo; and, having anchored the ship, landed at a point near some huts, in order to inquire our way to the town of La Serena, or Coquimbo, lying two leagues to the northward. On entering a remote foreign port which no one on board the ship has before visited, there always arises a delightful feeling of curiosity and uncertainty, which recalls those juvenile emotions with which every boy has read Robinson Crusoe. The reality, in general, comes fully up to the vivid promise which the imagination holds out, nor is this interest abated by the repeated sight of new objects; but on the contrary, each new place seems more curious than the last ; and as the sphere of observation is enlarged, curiosity becomes more impatient, though, at the same time, it is fortu- nately more easily gratified. The world, indeed, in every place is so thickly crowded with new and varied objects, that no traveller, even by the most awakened attention, can observe thoroughly the details of any scene ; and his interest is thus kept constantly alive by the certainty of meeting every- where with novelty. If he does not fall in with it in the great outlines and broad distinctions, he is sure at least to find it in the minute shades of dif- ference, which experience will teach him to discri- minate, and enable him to apply with increased satisfaction, as the objects of comparison are multi- plied and his familiarity with them extended. In the first instance, the observer’s pleasure springs out of ignorance—in the course of time it is derived from his knowledge. Just as we were mounting our horses, two English gentlemen from Coquimbo came galloping towards the landing-place. They had mistaken our ship for the American frigate Constellation, on board of which a son of one of them was expected to come as passenger. The father bore PARALLEL ROADS || his disappointment with great good-humour ; and | even insisted upon carrying us back to his house. || At the door we were received by his wife, a native | of the place; while half-a-dozen children, who || rushed in a body to the court expecting to meet | their brother, could ill dissemble their mortification || at seeing only strange faces. But our reception, | notwithstanding this disappointment, was hospi- | tality itself; and our kind friends insisted on | making up beds for the whole party, although it | consisted of five persons. | We remained at Coquimbo four days, during | which our host entertained us with morning and | evening parties at his house, and by carrying us | round to visit the different families of his ac- | quaintance in the place. Though it would be } ridiculous to attempt any account of a society in | which we passed so short a time, yet there were | some traits which, even in that brief acquaintance, | were distinguishable as sufficiently characteristic. / It is true that, where every object is new, a _ traveller may be so well pleased, as to render it | difficult, in description, to disentangle the transi- | tory interest arising out of mere novelty, from ) the enduring impression which real excellence | alone ought to leave. This facility of being pleased, 'which is the happiness of a traveller, is the mis- | fortune of travel-writers ; who sometimes are i expected, when strongly or sincerely interested, | to give their readers some grounds for their sen- ll timents and opinions, which it will often be very | difficult to do. | In their manners the Coquimbians are remark- | ably unaffected and gentle, and seem habitually | well-bred ; but they act more, perhaps, from ici tates | 5 hee sideration, than from any formal rules of polite- | ness. They have as yet had little intercourse | with foreigners, for the town lies considerably out | feelings which lead to general kindness and con- id | of the way, and has never had much commerce. | Their climate is delightful ; and the people appeared | to be so easy and contented in their circumstances, | that we were sometimes inclined to lament the | inroad which the progress of civilisation must soon make upon their simple habits. | On the 18th of November, our friendly host | accompanied one of the officers of the Conway | and me, in a ride of about twenty-five miles, up } the valley of Coquimbo ; during which the most | remarkable thing we saw was a distinct series of | what are usually called parallel roads, or shelves, | lying in horizontal planes aiong both sides of the | valley. They are so disposed as to present exact } counterparts of one another, at the same level | on opposite sides of the valley: being formed entirely of loose materials, principally water-worn | rounded stones, from the size of a nut to that of -aman’s head. Each of these roads, or shelves, | resembles a shingle beach ; and there is every indication of the stones having been deposited at the margin of a lake, which has filled the valley up to those levels. These gigantic roads are at some places half a mile broad, but their general width is from twenty to fifty yards. There are three distinctly characterised sets, and a lower | one, which is indistinct when approached, but, when viewed from a distance, is evidently of the } same character with the others. Such shelves | are improperly called parallel: horizontal would be a more correct term: the planes in which they NEAR COQUIMBO. 79 lie are indeed parallel to one another, and thence has arisen the erroneous expression. The uppermost shelf or road lies probably three or four hundred feet above the level of the sea, and two hundred and fifty from the bottom of the valley ; the next twenty yards lower; and the lowest of the distinct set about ten yards still lower. These distances are loosely estimated, and may be wrong; for it is very difficult to determine heights or distances in a country quite new, and without natural and determinate objects of comparison. There being neither trees, houses, cattle, nor men in this valley, our estimates were made entirely by guess. This, however, does not affect the general question, but only the dimen- sions. When at any time we found ourselves on one of these parallel roads, we saw, upon looking across the valley, or up or down it, as far as the eye could reach, portions of flat spaces, apparently on the same level with that on which we stood ; and when, in order to determine this more exactly, we went over the edge of the road or beach, and brought our eye into the plane of one of the roads, we invariably found, on looking round, that the same plane produced would merge into every portion of the same road ; exactly as we should see the margin of a lake, with all its windings, on a level with the surface, if, while bathing, we brought the eye close to the water and looked round. I regretted not having time to return with a ‘spirit-level, to examine accurately this question of horizontality. In the centre of the valley, which is six or seven miles wide, there stood an extensive plain, narrow at the upper end, and widening out towards the sea, thus dividing the valley into two parts *. The surface of this insulated space was to all appearance quite flat and horizontal, and, as far as the eye could determine, exactly on a level with the highest of the above-mentioned roads ; so that, if a lake ever stood in this valley, at the level of the upper road, the present surface must have been barely covered, or, as seamen term it, just lipping with the water’s edge. It is several miles wide, and shaped like a delta ; its sides are at many places deeply indented with ravines, which enable us to see that it is composed exclu- sively of the same water-worn materials as the roads, which, on both sides, are easily traced at the same levels, and in perfect conformity with those on the opposite banks of the valley. The stones are principally granite and gneiss, with masses of schistus, whinstone, and quartz, mixed indiscriminately, and all bearing marks of having been worn by attrition under water. Since the above description of the Coquimbo roads was written, I have had an opportunity of examining the analogous phenomena in Glen Roy, in the Highlands of Scotland. The resemblance between the two cases is not so great as I had been led to suppose from description. In prin- ciple, however, there is not the slightest difference, and the identity of origin seems unquestionable. In the Chilian valley the ground is entirely des- titute of vegetation, while Glen Roy is covered with a thick coating of heath. In the latter, too, the shelves are comparatively narrow, and resemble * It appears from Mr, Darwin’s more careful measure- ‘ments, that this valley is not above three or four miles wide. 76 exactly the beaches which fringe the Highland lakes of the present day. Those at Coquimbo are greatly wider, and I should think had been caused by the operation of some more violent agent than the others. One theory which presents itself to explain these appearances, supposes a lake to have been formed in the valley and to have stood at the level of the highest road, long enough for a flat beach to be produced by stones washed down from above. The water in the lake must next be conceived to have worn away and occasionally to have broken down portions of ‘the barrier across the valley ; this would allow the lake to discharge a part of its waters into the sea, and consequently, to lower its surface to the level of the second road ; and so on successively, till the whole embankment was washed away, and the valley left as we now see it. These stones all bear the marks of having come from some distance, and may possibly have been deposited by a river flowing, in ancient times, from the Andes ; whille some vast, though tran- sient cause, may, at one operation, have scooped out the valley, filled it with water, and left a barrier of adequate strength to retain it at the upper level long enough to account for the forma- tion of the beach we now see, which may have been the work of years or of minutes, according to circumstances. By a succession of sudden dis- ruptions of this dam, the supposed lake would be made to stand at different levels ; and the water washing down the sides of the banks would bring along with it the loose stones, gravel, and mud, to the water’s edge, where, their velocity being checked, they would be deposited in the form of level beaches. In the Alpine valleys of Savoy, circumstances precisely analogous frequently oc- cur: a great avalanche dams up a stream, and forms a lake which stands at different heights as the barrier of ice successively breaks away, and we can readily trace the different levels at which the water has stood. According to the Huttonian theory of the earth, it is supposed that vast masses of solid land have been forced up, from time to time, from the bottom of the sea, with great violence. If this be admitted, it has been suggested that a wave, greater or less in magnitude, according to the size and velocity of the submarine elevation, must inevitably have been produced: and it requires no great effort of the imagination to conceive a wave sufficiently large to submerge the whole of this coast: at least those who have examined the Alps, the Andes, or any other’ lofty chain, and have seen the solid strata of rock now elevated on their edges, to the height of many thousand feet, in the air, although bearing indubitable marks of having once been in a horizontal position, and under the sea, will discover nothing extravagant in sup- posing that if they had been thrown up suddenly from the bottom of a deep sea, a huge wave must have been the result, P.S.—March, 1840. At the time I wrote the Journals from which these volumes are extracts (in 1823) I confess I saw no objection, in theory, to the foregoing conclusions. The perusal, how- ever, of Mr. Lyell’s admirable book on the “ Prin- ciples of Geology,” has quite satisfied me that MR. LYELL’S THEORY OF THE PARALLEL ROADS. nature does not act per saltum in the manner above conceived, but that all the geological opera- tions of which we have had the means of care- fully examining the traces may be referred to the gradual action of existing causes. The following observations, which are taken from Chapter X. of Mr. Lyell’s work, will be read with interest by those who are curious in such matters :— c “As I did not feel satisfied with this explana- tion,’ (that above given by me,) “I applied to my friend Captain Hall for additional details, and he immediately sent me his original manu- script notes, requesting me to make free use of them. In them I find the following interesting passages, omitted in his printed account :—‘ The valley is completely open towards the sea; if the roads, therefore, are the beaches of an ancient lake, it is difficult to imagine a catastrophe suffi- ciently violent to carry away the barrier, which should not at the same time obliterate all traces of the beaches. I find it difficult also to account for the water-worn character of all the stones, for they have the appearance of having travelled over a great distance, being well rounded and dressed. They are in immense quantity too, and much more than one could expect to find on the beach of any lake, and seem more properly to belong to the ocean.’ “ I had entertained a strong suspicion,” adds Mr. Lyell, “ before reading these notes, that the beaches were formed by the waves of the Pacific, and not by the waters of a lake ; in other words, that they bear testimony to the successive rise of the land, not to the repeated fall of the waters of a lake*,” These parallel roads of Coquimbo have since been visited and carefully examined by Mr. Dar- win, whose Journal on board the Beagle has deservedly excited so much attention in the geo- logical world. At page 423, he has these words: “ T spent two or three days in examining the step-formed terraces of shingle first described by Captain Basil Hall on the west coast of America. Mr. Lyell concluded from the account that they must have been formed by the sea, during the gradual rising of the land. Such is the case. On some of these steps, which sweep round from within the valley, so as to front the coast, shells of existmg species both lie on the surface and are imibeddeliin a soft calcareous stone. This bed of the most modern tertiary epoch, passes downward into another, containing some living species-asso- ciated with others now lost. Amongst those now lost may be mentioned shells of an enormous perna, and an oyster, and the teeth of a gigantic shark, closely allied to, or identical with, the Carcharius Megalodon of ancient Europe ; the bones of which, or of some cetaceous animal, are also present, in a silicified state, in great numbers. At Guasco,” continues Mr. Darwin, “ the phenomenon of the parallel terraces is very strikingly seen. No less than seven perfectly level but unequally broad plains, ascending by steps, occur on one or both sides of the valley. So remarkable is the contrast of the successive horizontal lines, corresponding on each side with the irregular outline of the surrounding mountains, that it attracts the atten- * Lyell’s Principles of Geology, vol. iv. page 18, Fifth Edition. . observe, are best characterised. tion of even those who feel no interest regarding the causes which have modelled the surface of the land. The origin,” adds Mr. Darwin, “ of the _ terraces of Coquimbo is precisely the same, accord- ing to my view, with that of the plains of Patagonia; the only difference is, that the plains are rather broader than the terraces, and that they front the Atlantic Ocean instead of a valley,—-which valley, however, was formerly occupied by an arm of the sea, but now by a fresh-water river. In every case it must be remembered that the successive cliffs do not mark so many distinct elevations, but, on the contrary, periods of comparative repose, during the gradual, and perhaps scarcely sensible, rise of the land. In the valley of Guasco we have the record of seven such nights of rest, in the | action of the subterranean powers *.” As the whole history of these singular phenomena has been lately fully investigated by Mr. Darwin, and as I feel that my description given above is not only meagre, but probably inaccurate, from the inevitable haste in which the observations {| were made, I felt it due to the subject, as well as to all the parties who have treated of it, to request Mr. Darwin to give me his frank opinion || upon my statement, to state the analogy exist- ing between the phenomena at Coquimbo, and those of Patagonia, and also to point out the parts of his recent paper on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy in Scotland, which bear most directly on this curious question. The following is the {| answer with which Mr. Darwin favoured me :— <*12, Upper Gower Street, 15th March, 1840. || « My Dear Sir, “1 much regret that, from the state of my health, | | I am incapable of answering your question at the length which I shouid much wish to do. I forget what I said to Mr. Lyell, but I remember that, from your description, I had expected a much larger valley. If the valley be considered as bounded by the mountains of granitic rock, its - widthis betweenthreeandfourmiles. But the width of the valley, in which the river flows, is only about amile. I ¢hink, too, you have considerably over- stated the distance up the valley to which the terraces extend, at least as far as I could discover. There are five terraces, of which three, as you The height of the edge of the upper plain, close behind the town of Coquimbo, is 364 feet. This upper plain slopes down, but insensibly to theeye, towards Herradura Bay, where it is chiefly formed of calcareous rock, in the place of gravel,and its height is only 252 feet. This calcareous rock, contains recent marine shells. On the lower terraces, I also found existing shells. The upper plain, (whose edge is 364 feet close behind Coquimbo,) rises (but insen- sibly to the eye), in its course up the true valley of Coquimbo, and at two miles up the valley is 420 feet above the sea,—that is, 55 feet higher behind the town of Coquimbo. “The sketch I have given in my Journal of ‘Researches, of the theory of their origin, is I * Darwin’s Journal, in the Voyage of the Beagle, p. 423. MR. DARWIN’S VIEW OF THESE PHENOMENA. 77 believe accurate. You will understand it better, if you will be so good as to read what I have written about the plains of Patagonia, at pp. 200 to 208. When I wrote p. 423 of my Journal, I had not visited Glen Roy. I now consider the cases as somewhat different. The appearances at Glen Roy are almost entirely due to the cumulative power of the sea, on steep slopes during a period of rest. The terraces of Coquimbo and Patagonia, are due to the abrading action of the sea, on gently inclined surfaces, during such periods. The parallelism of the ¢erraces are, consequently, far less exact than those of the “ Roads” of Glen Roy. If you think it worth the trouble to read my Glen Roy paper, in the Philosophical Trans- actions, you will perceive that the formation of terraces, by the abrasion of the matter accu- mulated in a gentle slope in the valleys during the rising, is a somewhat complex action. The upper terrace, or plain of Coquimbo, is, I believe, strictly analogous to the fringe of stratified allu- vium in Glen Roy, described at p. 50 in my paper ; its origin is explained in the hypothesis given at p- 59. The successive terraces at Coquimbo, I believe, are analogous to some appearances in the mouth of the Spean, which I have just alluded to at p. 67. “Glen Roy and Coquimbo, or Guasco, offer two grand instances of slight modifications of the action of the sea on land, during periods of rest in its gradual elevation. “ IT much fear this note will be scarcely intel- ligible ; I should have much enjoyed conversing with you on this subject, but I am not at present capable of such exertion. If the subject is worth your attention, I am sure you will fully compre- hend all I know, by comparing what I have written on Glen Roy and Patagonia at pp. 200 to 208. I should feel extreme interest in hearing your judgment on the theory I have proposed to account for the whole class of appearances under question. I think you will be pleased to hear, that traces of parallel roads have been discovered in other parts of Scotland, since I published my paper in the Philosophical Transactions for 1839.—Believe me, my dear sir, “ Yours very truly, “ CHARLES Darwin,’’ I have only to add that, after having examined the parallel roads of Glen Roy, and carefully perused Mr. Darwin’s paper on that wonderful series of shelves, as well as what he says of the gigantic terraces of Patagonia, and having wit- nessed in various other parts of the world many analogous phenomena, I feel compelled (cheer- fully, I grant,) to surrender my judgment on this point into his hands, and to abandon many of my former notions on the subject. I consider Mr. Darwin’s generalisations on this point as not more | distinguished by boldness of speculation, than by the most careful, minute, and progressive induc- tion—qualities by which geological theories are not always characterised. ee ~f END OF PART I. EXTRACTS FROM A JOURNAL CHILI, PERU, AND MEXICO, IN THE YEARS 1820, 1821, 1822. BY CAPTAIN BASIL HALL, R.N., F.R.S. IN TWO PARTS. PART II. LONDON: EDWARD MOXON, DOVER STREET. MDCCCXL. “ BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. | CONTENTS. —_9@——_ Sketch of the Duties of the Naval Commander-in-Chief on the South American Station, before the eee ment of Consuls : = . Cay ve , : | CHAPTER XXVIII. CHILI, ; Part of Guasco.—Village of Asiento.—Copper Mine.—Beauty of the Women s : CHAPTER XXIX. ; Copiapé Anchorage.—Earthquake of 1819.—City destroyed.—Old Monk in the midst of his ruined Convent CHAPTER XXX. _ Visit to a Silver Mine.—Subterranean Pool of Water.—Relative Value of Copper, Silver, and Gold Mines.—Gold i Mill.—Farther Notices of the Earthquake.—Increasing Terror which this Phenomenon inspires on the Minds of Persons frequently exposed to its Influence . CHAPTER XXXI. Account of the Mining System of Chili.—Effect of the Revolution in the Prices of Goods.—Details of a Mining peetton. —Fallacies respecting the Profits of such Enterprises.—Advantages of unrestricted Commerce CHAPTER XXXII. PERU. Return to Lima.—First Appearance of the Independent Flag on the Fortress of Callao.—Effect of the Change of ‘Masters on the Inhabitants of Lima.—Their Sentiments respecting Free Trade and Independence.— Mummy of a Peruvian Inca A : - ; . . ° . - : 3 ‘ . CHAPTER XXXIII. Arrest of Don Pedro Abadia, an Old Spaniard.—His Character, Influence, and Reverse of Fortune.—Fluctuating Nature of Public Sentiment exhibited at the Theatre.—Order of the Sun established . : - . CHAPTER XXXIV. Sketch of the State of Peruvian Politics at the Close of 1821, and during the Year 1822..Expulsion of the Spaniards from Lima.—Meeting of the Peruvian Congress.—Disasters of the Patriots—General San Martin leaves Peru.—Explanation of his Views, and Remarks on his Character and Conduct CHAPTER XXXV. Visit to Payta.—The Town taken and sacked by Lord Anson.—Scarcity of Water.—Guayaquil River.—Descrip- tion of the Hammocks used by the Ladies.—Remarkable Fairness of Complexion of the Women of this City 5 . A i ¢ A P 4 CHAPTER XXXVI. Discussions on the Freedom of Commerce.—Letter on the Subject of unrestricted Commerce.—Gradual Introduc- tion of wiser Notions on this Subject CHAPTER XXXVII. GUAYAQUIL. Political Revolutions of Guayaquil.—Declares itself an Independent State.—Military Interference.—Terror excited by these Commotions,—Politics the reigning Topic, even amongst the Ladies.—General View of the State of Politics in South America 4 : z - x . Ff “ 4 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Interesting Navigation down the River of Guayaquil by means of an Operation called Kedging.—Meeting with the American Frigate Constellation.—Visit to the Galapagos Islands.—Experiments made with Captain Kater’s Pendulum.—Terrapins or Land Tortoises . : : : . . : CHAPTER XXVII. PAGE to 12 14 16 19 22 : | ae CONTENTS. | | CHAPTER XXXIX. PANAMA. PAGE | Arrival at Panama.—Hospitality of the Inhabitants.—Negroes seit ame iden —Pacific Revolution of this City.—Moonlight Games and Music of the Negro Slaves : 4 i : : . « 29 EI | CHAPTER XL. / Description of some old Ruins at Panama.—Project of opening a Communication between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.—Troops of Bolivar . : cb , ° : : ‘ - - : - 30 | CHAPTER XLI. MEXICO. Visit to the Island of Taboga.—Tropical Scenery.—Peaks of the Andes near Guatimala.—Estimation of their | Distance and Height.—Severe Gale of Wind 3 : 3 ; - , : “ “ : aareae CHAPTER XLII. _ Western Coast of Mexico.—Arrival at Acapulco,—Beautiful Harbour.—Account of the Inhabitants.—Wretched | State of the Town.—Earthquake.—Description of the Method of ee ses the Coast.—Land and Sea Breezes described.—Arrival at San Blas 5 2 : 5 . 34 CHAPTER XLIII. NEW GALICIA IN MEXICO. Journey to the City of Tepic.—Rencontre in the Forest with old Friends.—Opinion of a Peasant as to the Nature of Free Trade.—Discussions with the Merchants respecting the Shipment of Treasure . A 5 - 36 CHAPTER XLIV. TEPIC IN MEXICO. Feast of Santa Cruz.—Dress worn by the Inhabitants.—Tertulia, or Evening Party.—Theatre in the open Air.— Convite, or Dinner.—Tumultuous Uproar . ° : 5 - : c A : : “ . 38 A Case of Conscience adroitly managed.—Penance and Marriage, Offence and Expiation.—Expedition to the Top | i CHAPTER XLV. of a Mountain.—Absurd Jealousy of the Local Authority.—Illustrious Ayuntamiento’s Despatch . - 40 | CHAPTER XLVI. i Marriage Feast.—Description of a Mexican Bride.—Indians armed with Bows and Arrows.—Singular Bee-hives, and Bees without Stings.—Discussion on the Export of the precious Metals.—Neglected State of Female Education . A 3 ° : 4 ° A 2 - 5 : “ . 5 - 42 CHAPTER XLVI. SKETCH OF THE REVOLUTION IN MEXICO. First Appearance of Don Augustin de Iturbide.—Plan of Iguala.—General O’Donaju.—Treaty of Cordova.—Con- " gress.—Decree of the Cortes at Madrid.—Iturbide proclaimed Emperor.—Character of Iturbide.—Abdica- tion and Banishment.—Return and Execution . ; 5 . - : - P . - 45 | CHAPTER XLVIII. | State of the Public Feeling in Mexico with respect to National Independence.—Iturbide’s Views with respect to | the Revolution in Mexico.—Excellent Character of the Spaniards considered individually . : . 52 CHAPTER XLIX. : | SAN BLAS IN MEXICO, Embarkation of Treasure on Board the Conway.—Beneficial Effect of such Shipments on Commerce.—Intolera- ble Heat of San Blas, and qin Clouds of Insects.—Sickness and Death of ‘a Child. ai of a Barber Surgeon - , ° : . ° s 5 F ° 2 64 CHAPTER L. SAN BLAS, Result of Experiments with the Pendulum.—Popular Commotion,—Credulous Priest.—Mining Speculator,— Periodical Departure of the Inhabitants from San Blas.—Commencement of the Rainy Season.—Tropical Thunder Storm.—The Conway leaves the Coast of Mexico . F ; : i > é ‘ - 56 EXTRACTS CHAPTER XXVII. | Sketch of the Duties of the Naval Commander-in-chief on the South American Station, before the appointment of Consuls. THE nature of the service on the coast of South }| America, during those troublesome revolutionary times, is so little known to the public, that a slight sketch of its general features may, perhaps, be read with interest; and it will serve to place }| the delicate nature of our situation in a more dis- | tinct point of view. Owing to the unacknowledged political existence of the South American governments, they were for some time diplomatically neglected by European || nations ; Great Britain, at least, had no ambassa- dor there, nor consuls, nor indeed any public || authorities whatever, until towards the end of | 1823. But as the commerce of those countries, upon being freed from the Spanish yoke, imme- diately became considerable, and was rapidly in- creasing, and as many British merchants were resident there, and much commercial capital was floating about, it became necessary that some pro- tection should be afforded to those interests, and a watchful eye kept over the proceedings of states which, though still in their infancy, were never- | theless respectable from their wealth and extent. | Asit had always been usual to station men-of- }| war wherever commerce was in activity, there | was nothing novel, or calculated to excite jealousy, }j in our having a squadron in South America. The duties of this squadron became important in pro- portion as the new states, feeling their growing strength, were inclined to give trouble, either by oppressive commercial laws, or by interfering with the personal liberty, and sometimes by de- taining the ships, of our countrymen. Many of the countries of which we are speaking were then, it must be recollected,in a state of war. Some | of their ports were blockaded, and every source of jealousy and distrust let loose. Others had more than one government—and the consequent confu- sion was greatly augmented by the eagerness of | commercial speculation, which led many indivi- | [PART I1.] FROM A JOURNAL WRITTEN ON THE COASTS OF CHILI, PERU, AND MEXICO, IN THE YEARS 1820, 1821, 1822. duals to despise all prudence, and all local regula- tions, in order, at every hazard, to force their trade: this was naturally followed by seizures, confiscations, and a long train of appeals. The governments, too, were often ignorant of what was customary ; and were generally obstinate in pro- portion to their ignorance. Not unfrequently they were right—and our own countrymen were not always easily defended. Under these circumstances, the greatest temper and judgment and the nicest discretion were necessary. It is scarcely possible, without entering into long details, to afford a just conception of the effective manner in which these complicated duties were conducted by Sir Thomas Hardy, commo- dore and commander-in-chief. It will be easily understood why services of this nature are not suited to strike the public eye in a gazette ; but it is certainly to be lamented, that the successful exercise of such qualities should be confined to the knowledge of a few officers whom accident had placed within its view, and be utterly unknown to the public, and to the body of the naval service, to whom the example is of so much consequence. These things are the more worthy of remark, from their requiring an exertion of powers very different from those which it has heretofore been almost the exclusive duty of offi- cers to cherish. It is pleasing also to see that patient forbearance and conciliatory kindness may, at times, prove quite as useful to the public service, as the more energetic qualities of enterprise and | action. In South America, indeed, where we were at peace, any show of violence must have been mis- chievous to the British interests, and could have | accomplished nothing. Yet there was no want of provocation ; for injustice was often committed, and the national honour, it might seem, sometimes threatened ; and although there could not for a moment be a question that these things required adequate redress, yet there was no ordinary skill and dexterity displayed in seeking and obtaining | it, so as always to leave things better for us than These cases were scarcely B they were before. a \ 2 SIR THOMAS HARDY’S SERVICES. ~ ever alike, so that experience did little more than teach the truth and solidity of the principles by which our conduct was directed to be regulated. Had we always had right on our side,—that is, had the commercial transactions which it became our duty to protect always been pure, and the displea- sure of the governments always unjust, the service would have been easier ; but it sometimes hap- penedotherwise. Many prizes, or rather detentions, were made by the Patriot squadrons, on the strongly supported plea of having Spanish property on board —British sailors.reported that they had been for- cibly detained, and made to fight against the allies of their country—masters and supercargoes of ships complained that they had been plundered on the high seas, under the form of local usage and the exaction of regular duties—Englishmen repre- sented themselves as being unjustly imprisoned— each party charged us with favouring their oppo- nents—the crews of ships, taking advantage of the general state of confusion, mutinied, and refused to do their duty :—in short, all was out of order; nothing was flowing in its natural course ; every thing being under the guidance of men whose pas- sions were at their height, and whose minds were in such a frame, that they interpreted whatever occurred in the worst language it would bear. This total dislocation of society was not confined to a single port, or a single state, but extended, more or less, over the whole continent, threaten- ing all social order and personal security, as well as destruction to the great mass of commerce, which, notwithstanding the forbidding aspect of affairs, was always ready to flow in at every casual opening, in spite of prudence and experience. At a time when very few, if any other man, saw his way clearly through this dark and troubled prospect, Sir Thomas Hardy appears never to have faltered, or been at a loss ; and this confidence, as he sought on every occasion to impress on the minds of his officers, consisted principally in their keeping themselves pure and disinterested, and in avoiding all share in what was going on—in main- taining themselves, above all things, free from political party spirit on every hand—and, whatever apparent provocation might arise, never considering the disrespect intentional, unless it were obvious— being slow, in short, to take offence, national or personal, unless it could not be mistaken ; and re- collecting, in every consequent explanation, that a voluntary acknowledgment, however trifling, was always better than any extent of apology that was compulsory. When decision and firmness, how- ever, became necessary, as they sometimes did, the different new governments and their servants speedily learned that nobody could be more immov- ably resolute than Sir Thomas Hardy. Yet the sentiment of respect and personal esteem which his private habits and public conduct had inspired, not only amongst the Spaniards and the native powers, but amongst the strangers who from motives of gain had sought that country, was of a far kindlier nature; and in all probability it was essentially owing to this circumstance, that his influence became so commanding and extensive. He was trusted implicitly everywhere, and en- joyed in a wonderful degree the confidence and hearty good-will of all parties, however opposed to one another. His advice, which was never ob- truded, was never suspected; and a thousand bitter - = - A SE ESTE LF 1 once become fully established, everything went on |} so smoothly under his vigilant auspices, that it was | those only who chanced to be placed near thisstrange scene of political violence who could perceive the extent, or appreciate the importance, of the public good which he was silently dispensing—as, in a |] | well-steered ship, a stranger is unconscious how much he owes to the silent operation of the helm, or how much merit belongs to the hand which, unseen, guides the motions of the whole. It is on this account that I say so much on services which, unlike this officer’s former exploits in war, do not speak for themselves, but which are nevertheless in the highest degree entitled to public gratitude, and certainly are most worthy of professional imitation. P.S.—March, 1840. Sir Thomas Hardy died in 1839; and it is very much to be regretted that we have no account of his professional life, so fertile in interests of every kind. It had, indeed, long formed a favourite project with me, to attempt a biographical sketch of this great and good officer, and at his death I should |f have been happy to have availed myself of the |} copious materials in the hands of his family—of |] his old and faithful and accomplished secretary— and of his numerous friends. But I then learned positively, what I had suspected before that he had expressly forbidden any such life to be written. I cannot say that on my own account I re- |f gretted this, for I could not help feeling how very little qualified I was for so important a task. But I certainly regret, on public grounds, that so large a portion of that extensive, hard-earned, practical experience, which the devotion of his whole life to the Navy had given, and the result of those wonderful resources which he possessed. by nature, should be allowed to die with him. It may be asked “ Why not impart these, without touching upon Sir Thomas Hardy’s own history?” To which I answer, that unless this were done in conjunction with his own life and opinions, their utility would be greatly diminished. Besides, I should just as soon have thought of disobeying his orders when alive, as presume now to depart in any degree from the spirit, even if I could escape from the letter, of his dying injunction. : CHAPTER XXVIII. CHILI. Part of Guasco.—Village of Asiento.—Copper Mine.— Beauty of the Women. On Monday the 19th of November we sailed from Coquimbo for Guasco, another port from which the produce of the mines is exported. We anchored at two o’clock on the 20th of November, and in about an hour afterwards were mounted, and on our way to a village called the Asiento, or seat of the mines. It lies about five leagues from the sea, on the left bank of a stream of snow- water, which, though not large, is sufficient to ive full verdure to the flat bottom of the valley Ferough which it flows, and to place it in agreeable contrast to the rest of the country, which is a sandy desert in every direction. Within the space of one month, we had now witnessed all the different degrees of fertility and desolation. At Conception, in the south of Chili, the eye is delighted with the richest and most luxuriant foliage ; at Valparaiso, which lies between } one and two hundred miles farther north, the hills are poorly clad with a stunted brushwood, }| and a faint attempt at grass, the ground looking }| everywhere starved and naked; at Coquimbo even this brushwood is gone, and nothing left to supply its place but a wretched sort of prickly- pear bush, and a scanty sprinkling of wiry grass ; at Guasco, four degrees nearer the Equator, there is not a trace of vegetation to be seen, all the hills and plains being covered with bare sand, excepting where the little solitary stream of water, caused by the melting of the snow amongst the Andes, gives animation to the channel, which conducts it to the sea. The respective latitudes of these places are 37°, 33°, 30°, and 283° south; and I fear that no degree of civilisation or industry can ever ameliorate the desolation of the arid portion of this coast. Beyond a certain latitude, no rain ever falls; and as no streams of any magnitude flow from the Andes to the west, the desert must remain for ever uncultivated. The village of Asiento is pleasantly situated on the banks of the river, with gardens and trees between the houses and the stream, and shady walks reaching from the doors to the water. We were kindly received by a gentleman connected in the mining business with our Coquimbo host, who accompanied us on this excursion. As our time was short, we proceeded imme- diately to see the operation of smelting the copper-ore, in the rude manner of the country. On coming to the river, we found it unusually swollen, owing to a thaw in the upper country : the guide hesitated, for some time, as to the possibility of crossing, till one of the officers of the ship, followed by the rest of the party, cut the matter short by plunging in; and, although we were all drifted a considerable way down, we at length reached the opposite bank, soundly ducked, but in safety. The Chilian smelting-furnace resembles a small lime-kiln, covered at top with a sort of dome, open on one side, and terminating in a chimney. The copper-ore being broken into pieces of the size of a walnut, is placed in layers alternately with fire-wood, till the whole is filled up to the open space. The wood being kindled, a steady blast is introduced beneath from two pairs of bellows, worked by cranks, attached to the axis of a water-wheel, of a slight construction, which, | instead of being fitted with buckets, is encircled with a series of projecting boards, shaped like spoons, upon which the water, falling in a per- pendicular stream, is.made to play. The melted | ore is allowed to run out at a hole in the lower me 4 a A ee ee part of the furnace, closed up by clay during the smelting, and afterwards opened in the usual way, by forcing in a heavy iron bar. The metal, which, at the first operation, comes out in a very impure state, is thrown inte water while hot, and then scraped by iron instruments to remove the slags THE COPPER MINES OF CHILI. 3 and dross. It is next melted in the refining furnace, and drawn off into moulds about twenty inches long, twelve wide, and three or four thick. In this state it is exported. We forded the river again with still more diffi- culty, as it had risen considerably in the interval, and, after getting fairly across, paid a visit to a family, who had assembled before their door to watch our dangerous navigation. It is a pleasant fashion in these countries, that a stranger may enter any house, at any hour, and always be sure of a welcome reception. On the present occasion, our visit was peculiarly well bestowed, as it af- forded the people an opportunity of a nearer view of the strangers, whom they seldom saw, and who, we found, were objects of no small curiosity : wherever we went, indeed, we were accompanied by a train of wondering children ; and, on passing along the streets, all the doors and windows were filled with gaping heads. We were the last people in the world to object to being thus made shows of ; particularly as it afforded us in return an opportunity of seeing all the inhabitants. The women were much fairer in complexion than the natives of the other parts of Chili; and it may be here remarked, that we did not find the depth of colour in the skin so much dependent upon latitude and temperature as it is usually supposed to be. The men at Guasco are a fine race, well made, and generally handsome ; with graceful, and rather gentle manners. Most of the women we saw, both in figure and countenance, were handsome ; indeed, we scarcely met with one, out of many hundreds, who had not something pleasing either in look or person ; and what is more rare in hot countries, this remark extends to elderly women. Although considerably fairer than any South Americans we had yet seen, the natives of Guasco were all characterised by the dark eye and long black hair of their Spanish ancestors. Immediately after breakfast, next morning, a party was formed to explore a copper mine in the neighbourhood. We had to wind by tiresome sandy paths up a steep hill, at the top of which we were met by one of the workmen, who led us to the mouth of a mine called La Gloria. The opening was not more than six feet across, and, as the descent was very crooked, we were soon obliged to light candles, one of which each person carried in a forked stick. The mine was so steep, and the roof so low, that it was difficult, and sometimes dangerous, to proceed; but by per- severing, we reached the bottom, at the depth of a hundred and fifty feet from the surface. The whole rock forming the mountain seemed to be impregnated with copper ; some strata, however, and occasionally quartz veins, which crossed the strata, were so much richer than others, that it had become worth the miner’s while to incur the expense of its carriage from the top of the hill, whence the ore has been scooped out with great labour, rather than work the more accessible but poorer rocks which lie lower down. As the workmen, therefore, had followed the rich veins in all their windings, the shafts were very tor- tuous, and branched off to the right and left | wherever the ore was to be found. We observed | that every crevice or rent in the rock, of whatever size, was invariably coated with crystals of calca- reous spar, or of quartz, but frequently metallic : 4 CAPTAIN HENRY FOSTER. when the light was thrown into these clefts, it gave them a brilliant appearance, like frost-work. The copper-ore was richest in the quartz veins, but it was found frequently unconnected with them, and combined, in various degrees, with other substances. Having made a careful col- lection of specimens, we returned to the Asiento, or village of Guasco. Our fair hostess had in our absence made up a party to visit the Conway, as I had requested her to do, on hearing her say, that no one in the Asiento had been on board of a man-of-war: most of them, in fact, had never been afloat, and some had never even seen a ship in their lives. I gave them dinner on board, and showed them over the ship, with which they expressed them- selves much gratified ; but none of them evinced that childish kind of surprise, which people a little, and but a little, acquainted with a subject, are more apt to betray, than those totally ignorant. The Spaniards, in all things excepting politics, are a deliberate people, and, as their descendants partake of the same cautious spirit, it is not easy, at any time, to excite them to the expression of strong emotion. Being somewhat piqued, there- fore, that my friends were so little roused by the novel wonders of a man-of-war, I laid a plan for surprising them, which succeeded completely. After dinner, the party landed, and scattered themselves about in groups on the sunny face of a rock, fronting the ship. It was quite calm, and the water was so smooth, that, although the whole Pacific was open to the west, there was not the least swell; and only a little scarcely audible ripple broke at our feet. I had given orders that, at a certain hour, about which a breeze from the land might be expected, the sails should be set. Accordingly, at the appointed time, a shrill whistle was heard : this attracted the atten- tion of my Chilian friends to the ship, lying within three hundred yards of the beach. In the next instant, the sailors were seen flying out upon the yards to loose the sails. The ladies, who had never before witnessed such a sight, gave an involuntary scream of terror, lest the seamen should fall; while the gentlemen shouted with delight and surprise, to witness their dexterity. Our adieus were most pathetic, although our acquaintance had subsisted not quite thirty hours; and as we sailed away, we could observe through our glasses that the ladies remained seated on the rocks, like so many deserted Didos, waving their handkerchiefs to us till the night closed in, and we lost sight of one another in the darkness. —_ -e-——_. CHAPTER XXIX. Copiapé Anchorage.—Earthquake of 1819.—City destroyed. —Old Monk in the midst of his ruined Convent. We had some difficulty next day in finding the harbour of Copiapé6, which was not distinctly laid down in the plans in our possession. On coming near it, a dangerous line of reefs was discovered, of which no books nor charts made any mention. This circumstance determined me to have the whole bay trigonometrically surveyed, and care- fully sounded. As soon, therefore, as the ship was anchored, I sent one of the midshipmen, Mr. Henry Foster, an excellent surveyor, on this |} service. But as it was soon discovered that two days would be barely sufficient to accomplish this | indispensable work, I determined to employ the |} interval in visiting the town of Copiapé, lying | eighteen leagues in the interior. I The gentleman just mentioned was shortly after- |}) wards promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and ac- |f) companied Captain Parry, on his great voyage in 1824, and 1825, as assistant-surveyor. It gives me great pleasure to have a public opportunity of bearing testimony to the talents and knowledge of this rising young officer—but it is with a sorrow, which the lapse of years only augments, that I mention his untimely death in 1831, nearly at the conclusion of a voyage of scientific research, under his command ; after he had been promoted, and honoured by the Royal Society by the presentation of the Copley Medal, for his numerous and im- portant observations, made during the North Western expedition under Captain, now Sir Edward Parry, in 1824, and 1825. The first thing which arrested our attention, after anchoring, was a curious pile, or large brown stack, on the beach, apparently of hewn |} stones. After we had in vain examined it through |}) our glasses, our Coquimbo friend explained to us |}/ that it was a quantity of copper, the cargo of a |f ship he had ordered to call in a few days. He |} was well pleased to find his agents had so pune- | tually attended to his directions, especially as they had no idea of his intending to visit the |} coast. Presently we saw a man riding along the |} edge of the cliff above the beach on which the | copper was placed, and on sending a boat for | him, he proved to be the person in charge of the copper, much delighted that his employer had found him at his post. He was instantly de- spatched into the country to get horses for our | journey next day. Farly on the 23d of November, we set off for Copiapé. Besides the never-failing motive of curiosity to see this place, merely because it was new, we felt most anxious to witness the effects of the*great earthquake of April 1819; and, if our time would permit, to visit the silver-mines | in the mountains near the town. Our party con- sisted of three passengers from Coquimbo, and three of the officers of the Conway, including myself. The first part of the road lay along a hard level surface, chiefly rock, at some places covered with a thin soil. We then entered a broad valley, the sides of which were fermed entirely of water-worn stones and gravel, covered | by a stratum or crust several yards thick, of a rock composed entirely of pieces of broken shells, stretching, as far as we could discover, over the | whole country bordering on the sea. The valley was three or four miles across, and bore every appearance of having been, at some former period, the channel of a mighty river, now shrunk into a scanty rivulet, flowing almost unseen amongst dwarf willows, stunted shrubs, and long rank grass. The soil was completely covered, at every part of the valley, by a layer, several inches thick, of a white powder, since ascertained, by analysis, to be sulphate of soda, or glauber salts. It looked like snow on the ground, an appearance it still retained even when made into roads, and beat down. The dust thrown up by the horses’ SS EARTHQUAKE feet almost choked us, and the day being dread- fully hot, our thirst became excessive, so that we hailed with delight the sight of a stream ; but, alas! the water proved to be brine, being con- taminated by passing through the salt soil. The country, except where the stream stole | sluggishly along, was quite a desert ; but to our surprise, we felt none of that fatigue and depres- sion of spirits, which, in a peculiar degree, had affected every one, when travelling at other places across utterly barren and level wastes. The agreeable distinction between the present and other journeys across sandy countries was re- marked by several of the party. We sought to account for it by the circumstance of having con- stantly in view, though at a great distance, several of the beautiful and towering ridges of the Andes. | The horizon, in the east and north, and partially in the south, was bounded by this lofty chain of mountains, which rose one above another with such an endless variety of outline, that the eye was never tired of contemplating them; and although they were as barren as the country we were riding through, the different shades of the air-tints, caused by the different heights and great distances of these mountains, gave a mixture of softness and sublimity to the landscape to which no language can do justice in expression. At the distance of forty miles from the port, we came to the farm-house of Ramadilla, where the | obliging proprietor entreated us to alight, while | his people prepared fresh horses and mules, for the remainder of the journey to Copiap4, still four | or five leagues off. Shortly after remounting, everything wore a new and more pleasing aspect ; | for, from the moment of entering the Ramadilla | of verdure, were seen on all sides. grounds, cultivation and pasture, and abundance The cause of this change was another little streamlet, the water, however, of which was fresh, gladdening every- thing through which it passed. We are, in general, so much accustomed to see what is called spontaneous vegetation, that we forget the obli- gation which the soil lies under to moisture ; but in a country without either rain or dew, the case is different, and wherever a stream is found, the debt is gratefully acknowledged. By the time the sun had set, we became com- pletely bewildered amongst the lower Andes, and, but for the guide, must soon have lost ourselves. When it became dark, we were left in that mys- terious and rather pleasing state of uncertainty, which belongs peculiarly to night-travelling, in a country totally new. At Copiap6, our party were kindly received by a most intelligent and gentlemanly person, a native of the island of Chiloe, on the south coast of Chili. We rose early next morning, impatient to see the effects of the earthquake, which over night, indeed, had been partly visible by candle-light, for the house we were in, the only one in this part of the town which had not been thrown down, was cracked and twisted in the most extra- ordinarymanner. It was built of wood, plastered over, and the main uprights having been thrust deep into the ground, the heaving of the earth had wrenched the parts of the building asunder, and without demolishing it altogether, had given it the torn appearance which it still retained. AT, COPTAPO. 5 In the Plaza, every house except this single one and a small chapel, was completely destroyed. The walls had tumbled in all directions, some inwards, some outwards, presenting a scene sin- gularly ruinous and melancholy. It was obvious at a glance, that this was the work not of years, but of a cause at once general and rapid in its effects. Ina climate such as this, without rain, the footsteps of time fall so very lightly, that it is probable these ruins were much in the same state as on the day when they were cast down, two years and a half before, and will remain in the same state for many years to come. The walls being from three to four feet thick, none of them above twelve feet high, and built of large flat sun-dried bricks, were calculated, it might have been supposed, to withstand the shocks even of an earthquake; yet, notwithstanding their strength, they seem to have been toppled down like so many castles of cards. The little chapel above-mentioned was built by the Jesuits, who had bolstered. it up with a set of monstrous but- tresses, occupying an area considerably greater than the chapel itself; which nevertheless was so twisted about, that the roof had fallen in and the walls were cracked in all directions. Some houses had been so shaken that not a brick retained its original place, yet the walls were standing, though with a most ghost-like appear- ance ; and at such an angle, that, in passing we were not quite free from apprehension of their falling upon us; indeed there was hardly a single wall which was not sloping over more or less. In some places the buttresses were shaken down and gone, but the shattered wall was left standing ; and in many cases the wall and its supporter had been torn apart from each other, and were in- clined in opposite directions. The great church, called La Merced, fell on the 4th of April 1819, one day after the earthquake began, and seven days before the great shock which completely destroyed the town. Its side walls, and part of one end, were left standing in a dislocated and inclined state, and rent from top to bottom ; but what was curious, the buttresses, which appear to have been broad and substantial ones, were almost all thrown down. One of them, however, which still remained, was fairly wrenched apart from the building it had been intended to sup- port, the wall touching it at the ground, but standing a yard and a half from it at the top. It appears, therefore, as ought to have been anti- cipated by the architects of Copiapd, that these supports contribute nothing to the stability of a wall opposed to the shaking of an earthquake : their real use is to resist a lateral thrust out- wards, not to act against a vibratory motion of the ground on which they stand. In a situation such as this, constantly exposed to these visita- tions, the houses ought to be constructed on the principle of a ship, with timber firmly bolted together, and as little as possible connected with the ground. If this were attended to, there need never be the least danger: for at the worst it is not to be supposed that the motion of the earth can amount in degree to that of the waves of thesea. Instead of adopting some such principle, however, the Copiapénians, by following blindly the rules of architecture in undisturbed situations, exert themselves solely in making deep found- 6 THE SILVER MINES OF CHILI. ations, massy walls, and ponderous buttresses, devices all adapted, in my opinion, to co-operate with the earthquake in the quick work of destruc- tion. In point of fact, the only houses that had stood the shocks were those built of the lightest materials, and connected in the most superficial manner with the ground. All the rest, with deep foundations and thick walls, being riveted as it were to the surface, were exposed to the full violence of its movements. While we were viewing the church of La Merced, one of the holy Fathers of the ruined establishment came into the court, and pointed out the various circumstances, describing how each had happened. He himself was not a bad appendage to the ruin, being nearly as much shattered as his church: a connexion probably not quite accidental, for the wealth and consequence of the priests had fled when their shrine was destroyed ; and this worn- out old man was the only remaining monk who chose to abide by the ruins of the edifice which had sheltered and enriched him for half a century. a CHAPTER XXX. Visit to a Silver Mine.—Subterranean Pool of Water.— Relative Value of Copper, Silver, and Gold Mines.— Gold Mill.—Farther Notices of the Earthquake.—In- creasing Terror which this. Phenomenon inspires on the Minds of Persons frequently exposed to its Influ- ence. Arter breakfast we set out to explore a silver- mine, amongst the hills at’ some distance, on the western side of the town. On reaching the height of four or five hundred perpendicular feet above the bottom of the valley, and turning round to look at the ruins we had left, the general effect of the earthquake was more distinctly marked than when viewed from below. Each house had formerly a garden attached to it, surrounded by tall cypresses, many of which were drooping over the ruins, or leaning against one another ; but not a house was now to be seen, although the situation of the streets, and quadras or divisions of the town, were distinctly pointed out by the lines of rubbish. It is a remarkable circum- stance that an extensive district of the town, called the Chimba, had suffered comparatively nothing, though not a mile and a half from this scene of devastation. Some of the houses at the outskirts of the town were also still stand- ing ; which led us to conclude that the shock had been limited in its operation, bya line of no great breadth. Possibly there may have been a vast rent, or rather a crack in the earth; and the ground on one side of it may have been put. into violent motion, while that on the other side, not being within reach of the same disturbing cause, may have remained at rest. Our road, which lay along the bottom of a ravine, soon carried us beyond the valley, where nothing was to be seen but the vast sea of sandy mountains composing the country. On reaching the summit of the pass we had the satisfaction to find ourselves on a spot which commanded a free view on both sides to a great distance ; but the ground in every direction was utterly desert. Our guide took us first across a sandy plain, and then along the sharp ridges of several hills, till he —— : fairly bewildered us amongst the mountains ; and — every trace was lost of the entrance into this wild — labyrinth. At length he led us by a high, narrow — neck of land, to a solitary hill, in the middle of a plain, round which the road turned in a spiral — manner, till it reached the mouth of La Santa | Clara, a silver mine. Here we dismounted, and — prepared for the descent, by taking off our coats and hats, and providing ourselves with candles, © As the mine was inclined to the horizon, at an angle of about twenty-five degrees, and its roof, — at some places, not above three feet high, it was — both difficult and disagreeable to proceed. The seam, which originally contained the silver, had been wrought to a great extent, so that there was left a wide space between two strata of the rock. The surface, fortunately, was irregular, but so | worn by the miners’ feet, when bearing their load upwards, and so much polished by their sliding down again, that we found it no easy matter to avoid slipping at once from the top to the bottom. The guide had excited our curiosity by the account of a lake, which, he said, lay at the | bottom of one of the great workings ; but in search- - ing for it, he mistook his way, and followed a. wrong course, and no lake was found to repay our — labour. As he was still confident, however, and | declared the next trial would be more successful, . we consented to renew the search. After ascending for about a hundred and fifty paces, we went down | a second shaft, the inclination of which was so) great, as to make the adventure rather more / hazardous than the first. At length, after innu-- merable windings and turnings, when nearly ex- - hausted with the heat, which was excessive, we ' reached a little cave, or nook, excavated in the’ solid rock, with a little mysterious-looking lake | in the middle. We tasted the water, which was + intensely salt and acrid, but had unfortunately — provided no means of carrying away any of it. A gentleman at Copiapé, who said he had examined | it, told us afterwards that it contained antimony, | sulphur, arsenic, and soda, in solution, besides a | little copper and silver. I cannot pretend to an- | swer for the accuracy of this analysis. The mar- / gin of the lake was fringed with erystals of salt ;: the roof and sides also of the cave sparkled with spangles sublimed from the liquid. Every crevice and cavity in the rock, of which there were great | numbers, was lined with nests of crystals of quartz and calcareous spar. The silver in this mine is mostly in union with | limestone ; but much rich ore is also found in} quartz veins traversing the strata. The miners: were not at work ; but we examined the spots where } they had been recently quarrying, and broke spe- - cimens from many different parts. There is no} machinery of any sort in these mines ; and all the: ore, when wrought, is carried to the open air on the | backs of labourers. Gunpowder, indeed, is used | to blast the rock; but, with this exception, the» whole business of the mine is conducted by manual | labour alone. After the ore reaches the surface, mules are employed to carry it to the valley of! Copiap6, where it is extricated from the ore either by amalgamation or by smelting, according to | circumstances. | By counting the number of paces, and consider-— ing the inclination of the shaft, it was calculated, | that we had descended in this mine two hundred | ae -~ == } i } : | | and eighty-five perpendicular feet. It was reckoned one of the richest in the neighbourhood, until its || depth became so great, that the expense of raising || the ore to the surface overbalanced its value when brought there, and made it more profitable to work {| poorer ores of more easy access. It is said there || is an intention of running a horizontal shaft from | the side of the mountain into the mine, at the level || of the lake, in order to save the upward carriage ; but it is questionable if there be yet spirit enough in the country for such an undertaking. There is no saying, indeed, what British capital and enter- {| prise, aided by machinery, may effect, especially as there are but few silver mines wrought at present in Chili; and the returns might therefore be considerable. After dinner, on our return to the town, we sallied forth to take another survey of the ruins, which we never tired of looking at ; for scarcely any two of the houses were shaken down exactly in the same manner : but it was no less interesting to mark the effect of the earthquake on the minds of the inhabitants. Many of the most wealthy and industrious had removed to other quarters ; some from apprehension of a recurrence of the evil, and some from the natural effect of the destruction of property, which, for a long time, seemed likely to paralyse active exertion. One very serious consequence of the earthquake has been the diminution in the only stream of water by which the town is supplied, and to this cause we must ascribe great part of the emigration. As the population decreased, many rich mines were of course abandoned. But such, fortunately, is the tendency of man to trust rather to his chance of future good- fortune, than to be influenced by experience, how- ever fatal, that the people were busily engaged in rebuilding their houses, and again working their mines, as if nothing had happened. Copiapé has been destroyed about once every twenty-three years; the latest well-authenticated periods of these catastrophes being 1773, 1796, and 1819. In the course of our walk, we discovered near the stream a grove of trees, in the centre of which stood a neatly-built cottage, surrounded by farm- offices and garden, with everything in the most rural style, and in the centre of all, a gold-mill, which though characteristic enough of Copiapé, certainly looked somewhat out of place, in a court- yard. This establishment belonged to a man who had been making a handsome fortune by a copper- mine, till, unfortunately for the proprietor, it gra- dually degenerated into a mine of gold: from that moment the tide of his fortune turned, and ever since has been on the ebb. This, which at first looks a little paradoxical, is precisely what might be expected. The scarcity of gold, the uncer- tainty of its extent in any given situation, and the consequent great cost of production, are the cir- cumstances which, while they give it so high an exchangeable value, render mining speculations in gold invariably hazardous. On the other hand, copper exists in great plenty, and is easily wrought. In these countries, therefore, it has become a com- mon saying, that a diligent man who works a copper mine is sure to gain; that he who opens one of silver may either gain or lose ; but that if the mine be of gold, he will certainly be ruined. The gold-mill which we examined, consisted of | METHOD OF WORKING THE MINES. 7 | an upright shaft, or spindle, the lower end of which was fixed to a horizontal water-wheel, working in a sunken water-course ; this gave a rotary motion to the spindle, which passed through the centre of a large circular trough on the ground. In this trough a millstone was carried round upon its edge, on a horizontal axis projecting from the spindle. Small pieces of the ore were throwninto the trough, which was kept full of water by a constant small stream ; and when the machine was put in motion, the stone wentrapidly round, crushing and grinding / the ore under the water. As soon as the whole has been reduced, by this process of trituration, to a fine mud, quicksilver is added, and by its union with the detached particles of gold, an amalgam is formed. This process is said to be quickened by the agitation of the water, and the friction of the millstone. The water is allowed to trickle off by a nick cut in the edge of the trough, and is received in long wooden chan- nels, covered with coarse cloth, the folds and irre- gular parts of which catch any stray portions of gold, or of the amalgam, which the agitation of the water may have thrown out of the trough. When all the gold is supposed to be combined with the quicksilver, the water is removed, and the amal- gam being exposed to heat in vessels adapted to the purpose, the quicksilver is distilled off, and the gold remains behind in a pure state. After passing a considerable time at the gold- mill, we strolled along the face of the hills, which are indented in many places by copper mines, or rather quarries ; for the rock is here so rich in ores of that metal, that it is broken from the surface, and smelted at once. It was interesting to notice how constantly the earthquake occupied all people’s thoughts at this place, however much they might seem to be en- grossed by other objects. Inthe early part of the evening, an English gentleman, resident at Copia- po, invited me to visit a family of his acquaintance, living in the undestroyed suburb called the Chimba. Though almost worn out with the day’s work, I was tempted to go, by the promise of being pre- sented to the handsomest young woman in Chili. We had come here, it is true, with our thoughts full of mines, deserts, and earthquakes ; or, if we had originally any thoughts of mixing with society, the desolate appearance of the town had chased them away ; nevertheless, we could not refuse to visit a lady with such pretensions. We found her very pretty and agreeable; but what entertained us particularly was her vehement desire to havea wider field for the display of her charms, which, to do the secluded beauty no more than justice, were of a very high order, even in this land of fas- cination. The accounts she had heard from others of the fashionable world of Santiago, and of Co- quimbo, had so completely turned her head, that earthquakes had ceased to make the usual impres- sion. “TI see,” cried she, “other people running out of their houses, full of terror, beating their breasts and imploring mercy ; and decency, of course, obliges me to do the same ; but I feel no | alarm—my thoughts are all at Coquimbo. How can my uncle be so unkind as not to repeat his invitation!” We consoled the pretty damsel as well as we could, and as she had spoken of earth- quakes, asked her if there had been one lately. | “No,” she answered, “not for some time—I really | 8 TERROR EXCITED BY AN EARTHQUAKE. do not think I have felt one myself for three days —somebody said there was one last night, but I knew nothing of it—I am tired of these earth- quakes—and would never think of them again if I were once at dear Coquimbo !” On putting the same question to another person present, he said, they had not experienced one since April ; meaning, as I discovered, April 1819, two years and a half before ; not conceiving we could possibly take any interest in such petty shocks as would not demolish a town. An old man in com- pany, however, seeing that we had been misunder- stood, explained that it was a long time since they had felt a shock of any consequence, ; and upon our pressing him closely to say what he considered a long time, replied, at least a month. On returning to the town we were gratified by meeting two agreeable and intelligent men, whom our considerate host had invited to meet us. They were most willing to exchange their local infor- mation for our news about the rest of the world, with which they appeared to have extremely little intercourse. We soon engaged them in conver- sation about the great earthquake. It began, they said, between eight and nine in the morning of the 3d of April 1819, and continued with gentle shocks during that day and the next. At four in the after- noon of the 4th, there came a violent shock, which produced a waving or rolling motion in the ground, like that of a ship at sea, which lasted for two minutes. In every instance these shocks were preceded by a loud rolling noise, compared by one person to the echo of thunder amongst the hills ; and by another to the roar of a subterranean torrent, carrying along an enormous mass of rocks and stones. Every person spoke of this sound with an expression of the greatest horror. One of the gentlemen said, it was “ Espantoso !” (fright- ful.) “ Yes,” added the other, shuddering at the recollection, “ horroroso !’’ Something peculiar in the shocks of the 4th of April had excited more than ordinary fear in the minds of the inhabitants, and, at a particular moment, no one could tell distinctly why, they all rushed in a body to the great church called La Merced. Our informant happened to be standing near this church at the time, and thinking, from appearances, it would probably soon fall, called out loudly to the people not to enter, but rather to bring the images into the streets, where their in- tercession would prove equally efficacious, For- tunately, the prior of the. church, who was just entering the porch, saw the value of this advice, and seconded it by his authority ; ordering the people to remain without, and desiring those who had already entered to bring the images instant- ly into the street, The last man had scarcely crossed the threshold with an image of San Antonio on his shoulders, when a shock came, which, in the twinkling of an eye, shook down the entire roof and one end of the church, leaving it in the state already described. Had not the people been thus judiciously detained in the open air by our friend’s presence of mind, almost the whole popu- lation of Copiapé must have perished. One is apt on such occasions, when attended with disastrous consequences, to blame the folly andimprudence of people exposed tosudden danger. But it ought to be remembered, that by far the | greater part of mankind are not trained to habits of quick decision and presence of mind ; and, in fact, have practically little need of any such disci- pline, as occasions of danger and difficulty are | rare. When accidents, however, arise, and our safety depends entirely upon prompt and vigorous measures, this defect in mental training becomes very conspicuous, and often proves fatal. The course to be followed is, in most cases, extremely |}/§ simple, and all that is wanted is the habit of view- ing danger with composure, and learning that it is most securely encountered by steadiness. After the fall of La Merced, and their provi- dential escape, the inhabitants fled to the neigh- bouring hills, leaving only one or two fool-hardy people who chose to remain. Amongst these was a German, who, as he told me himself, divided his time in the Plaza between taking notes of the various passing phenomena, and drinking drams of aguardiente, the spirits of the country. Slight shocks occasionally succeeded that on the 4th ; but it was not till the 11th of April, seven days after the fall of the church, that the formidable tremor occurred, which, in an instant, laid the whole town in ruins. It was accompanied as usual by a subterranean sound, which, though at first of a low tone, gradually swelled to a clear and dreadful loudness, of which no one, I observed, even at this distance of time, could speak without an involun- tary shudder. ; After the first great shock, which levelled the town, the ground continued in motion for seven minutes, sometimes rising and falling, but more frequently vibrating backwards and forwards with great rapidity; it then became still for some minutes, then oscillated again, and so on, without longer intermission than a quarter of an hour at any one time, for several days. The earthquake then abated a little ; the intervals became longer, and the shocks not quite so violent: but it was not till six months afterwards that it could be said to be entirely over; for the earth during that period was never long steady, and the frightful noises from beneath constantly portended fresh calamities. While listening to these interesting descriptions, we were much struck with the occasional intro- duction of minute characteristic circumstances, which, however trivial in themselves, served to stamp the authenticity of the whole. One of the party, for instance, was describing the effect of a severe shock, which, he said, happened at four o’clock in the afternoon. “Oh no,” said another, “it was later, I assure you.”—“ Indeed it was not,” answered the first ; “don’t you remember we were playing at bowls at the time, and when the sound was heard I stopped playing, and you called out to me to look what o’clock it was; I took out my watch, and told you it was past four ?” Upon another occasion, our host said, “I was just going to look what the hour was, at which one of those sounds was first heard, when my attention was diverted from the watch by a hideous seream of terror from a person near me. He was such a little insignificant wretch, that I had not conceived so loud a yell could possibly have come from his puny body; and so we all for- got the shock in quizzing this little manikin ” (hombrecito). “ Nevertheless,” added he, gravely, “although I am not aman to ery out and play the fool on such occasions, like my little friend, yet I THE MINING SYSTEM OF CHILI. 9 do fairly own that these earthquakes are very awful things ; and, indeed, must be felt, to be understood in their true extent. Before you hear the sound,’ he continued, “or, at least, are fully ‘eonscious of hearing it, you are made sensible, I do not well know how, that something uncom- mon is going to happen: everything seems to change colour; your thoughts are chained im- movably down ; the whole world appears to be in disorder ; all nature looks different from what it was wont to do ; you feel quite subdued and over- -whelmed by some invisible power, beyond human control or comprehension. Then comes the hor- ‘rible sound, distinctly heard ; and, immediately, the solid earth is all in motion, waving to and fro, like the surface of the sea. Depend upon it, sir, a severe earthquake is enough to shake the firmest mind. Custom enables a man of sense to restrain the expression of his alarm ; but no custom can teach any one to witness such earthquakes with- out the deepest emotion of terror.’’ —__@—_—. CHAPTER XXXI. Account of the Mining System of Chili.—Effect of the Revolution in the Prices of Goods.—Details of a Mining Speculation.—Fallacies respecting the profits of such _ Enterprises.—Advantages of unrestricted Commerce. NotwitustanDInG the severe fatigues of the day before, our party was up and bustling about by half past five in the morning, making prepara- tians to return to the Port. Our obliging host accompanied us for some leagues, and then re- turned to his mines and his earthquakes, while we hurried on, to make the most of the coolness of the morning. In these countries, the day always breaks with a delicious freshness, which the tra- veller soon learns to appreciate ; for even where there is no dew to moisten the ground, the air is always pleasant at this hour, and the long shadows of tie eastern hills which stretch across the valleys, ze only protect him, for a time, from the intense heat, but shield him from the universal glare, which, in the middle of the day, is so intolerable. On reaching the ship, we found Mr. Foster’s survey just completed ; and at sunset weighed, and steered along the coast with a gentle breeze from the southward. The following account of the mining system in Chili is principally derived from a gentleman long resident in the heart of that particular part of the country ; and as we had many other sources of in- formation to fill up and check his statement, its general accuracy may, I think, be depended upon. Copper, silver, and gold, are produced from the mines in the district we had just visited ; the least valuable of these metals being the staple commo- : dity of the country. There are many hundreds of “copper mines wrought in Chili; but not more than one of gold for fifty of copper ; and probably not above one of silver for fifteen of copper. The average produce of copper in one year has lately risen to more than sixty thousand quintals, of one hundred Spanish pounds each. The greatest part of this goes to Calcutta, a small quantity to China, and the rest to the United States, and to Europe. The annual export of silver may be stated at twenty thousand mares, at eight dollars per mare ; but this quantity has varied considerably of late years. Of gold, it is difficult to speak accurately, but its export is certainly very trifling, and of late has been falling off, in consequence of the mining capital finding more advantageous employment in working copper. This subject is rendered more than commonly interesting at this moment, from its affording some valuable examples of the practical operation of freetrade. Three important commercialadvantages have taken place, in consequence of the removal of restrictions, and other reforms consequent upon the revolution :—the enlargement of the market caused by opening a trade with all the world ;— the increased price of copper caused by fair com- petition ;—and the diminution in the cost of its production, owing to the fall in the price of every article used in the mines. To place this in a striking point of view, I sub- join a table of the prices before and after the revolution :— COMPARATIVE TABLE OF PRICES. | ARTICLES. nae ee Copper per quintal of 100 Spa- mish lbs.ci ae eas 64 to 7 12 to 13 * Steel per quintal . 50 16 * Tron GOH ety pra Meee 1s 25 8 * Wheat per fanega of 150 Ibs. 5 24 * Beans OF pci ahaa vs 6 5 * Jerked Beef per quintal of | 1001bs. . SERB DC 10 7 to 73 * Grassa, or soft fat, per botica GHOOUDSsiy weuaee ets 8 6 to 64 * Wine and Spirits No change | as yet (1821) Fine Cloth per yard . 23 12 * Coarse Clothdo. . . . 5 3 Printed Cotton Goods, do. . |18 to 24reals | 24 to 3 reals Velveteens per yard . 26 do. 2 do. Crockery per crate 350 40 Hardware. . 300 100 Glass . . 200 100 —The articles marked with an asterisk are used in the mines. The money price of labour in the mines had not yet risen, but it is evident that it must rise as the country improves in civilisation, and as more capital is employed in bringing new mines into work ; and, in the mean time, the comforts of the labourers have been materially increased by the diminution in the price of food, and all articles of consumption. The above table shows the prices at Santiago and Valparaiso, but the present master-miners enjoy a still further advantage in the cheaper, and, what is of still greater consequence, the more certain supply of all articles necessary in the mines ; formerly, every requisite, such as steel, iron, clothing, and food, was made to pass through Coquimbo, under the mistaken idea of benefiting that town, at the ruinous expense of the miners. This abuse is now removed, and the ships destined to carry away the copper, having unloaded their cargoes of goods for the Chilian market, at Val- paraiso, proceed in ballast to the ports on the mining coast, and carry with them, for a very small freight, everything required by the miners ; so that the heavy expense of land-carriage is en- 10 tirely saved. The practical advantage, both public and private, produced by this change from re- strictions, protections and monopolies, has been immediate and obvious ; and the instance is the more worthy of remark, as it is seldom that a commercial question in political economy is suffi- ciently disentangled from collateral difficulties, to admit the distinct exhibition of the theoretical principles by which the operation is regulated. There are two principal persons concerned in almost every mine, the actual proprietor and the Habilitador. The first, who is also the miner, lives at his hacienda, or farm, generally in the neigh- bourhood, and attends to the details of working and smelting the ore. The habilitador resides at a distance, generally at one of the three principal sea-port towns, Coquimbo, Guasco, or Copiapé: he is the mining capitalist, and he has the character of a diligent, saving man of business, very dif- ferent in all his habits from the miner, who is commonly an extravagant and improvident person. The word habilitador might, if there was such a word, be translated enabler, as it is by means of his capital that the miner is enabled to proceed with the work. The proprietor of a mine usually tills his own ground, on the banks of one of the few streams which traverse this desolate country. His farm supplies vegetables, and sometimes stock, for the subsistence of the miners. The smelting-house is also built on his farm, and the ore is brought to his door on mules. These farmers rarely under- take to work a mine with their own unassisted capital,—they are seldom, indeed, sufficiently wealthy ; and when they are so, it is not found, in the long-run, so advantageous a method as sharing the transaction with an habilitador, who takes charge of the commercial part of the busi- ness. Sometimes, however, the owner makes the attempt to work his mine single-handed, in which he usually fails. But to elucidate the subject fully, I shall give the details of a case, which involves most of the varieties, and upon which I happen to possess exact information. A farmer, resident in the Asiento of Guasco, with whom I conversed on the subject, told me that he had opened a copper mine about eighteen months previous to our visit. He then possessed some capital, and a small farm near the river, and, upon the whole, was doing very well ; but he had set his heart upon a larger and more fertile pro- perty, lying about a league higher up the stream. Deluded by the hope of soon realising a sufficient sum of money to purchase this piece of ground, he rashly undertook to work the mine himself ; but he miscalculated his means, and expended all his capital, before any adequate returns had come in. His mine, however, was rich and promising, and he had raised a considerable mass of ore to the surface ; but he had no money to build furnaces, or to purchase fuel, and his workmen became cla- morous for their wages. In short, the working of the mine was brought to a stand, and utter ruin stared him in the face. When things had reached this stage, one of these cunning and wealthy habi- litadors, who had been all the while watching these proceedings with inward satisfaction, stepped for- ward and offered to habilitate the mine, as it is called. The bargain he proposed, and which the wretched miner had no alternative but to accept, DETAILS OF MINING OPERATIONS. was, that the habilitador should pay the workmen their wages, feed and clothe them, and provide tools, and all other articles necessary for working the ore ; he undertook, besides, to build smelting- furnaces, and purchase fuel, and occasionally to supply the miner with money for his subsistence. In repayment for the sums advanced on these dif- ferent accounts, he required that the whole of the copper from the mine should be delivered to him at a fixed price, namely, eight dollars per quintal, until the entire debt incurred by the outlays should be discharged. The miner endeavoured to stipu- late for his copper being taken off his hands at a higher rate than eight dollars, foreseeing that at such a low price his debt would never be liquidated. He was also well aware that, in consequence of the increased trade of the country, the price of copper had of late years been nearly doubled, and he naturally felt entitled to share more equally in’ this advantage. But the habilitador, who was not in want of money, was in no haste to close the bargain, and was deaf to this reasoning: at length, the poor miner, rather than sell his little farm and become a beggar, agreed to the hard terms offered — him. The enterprise being now quickened by the habilitador’s money, and the mine again in action, copper was produced in abundance, all of which was delivered to the capitalist, who lost no time jf in sending it to Guasco, where he sold it for twelve |f}} or thirteen dollars per quintal, clearing thereby, | at once, four or jive dollars upon every eight of jf expenditure. But his gains did not stop here; for, |} as he had to provide the miners with food, cloth- ing, and tools, he made his own charges for these, jf} which, being a capitalist, he could afford to pur- | chase in wholesale, while he took care to distri- |} bute them at very advanced retail prices at the | mine. In the payment of the workmen’s wages, |f he also contrived to gain materially. By estab- | lished regulations, it is settled, that for every pair of workmen, or what is called a Bareta, the habi- |f litador is entitled to charge a specific sum of forty- five dollars per month, that is, sixteen for wages, |] and twenty-nine for clothing and food. The habi- | litador paid the bareta honestly enough their six- teen dollars ; ten to the upper workman, who is | called the Baretero, and six to the other, the Apire, |} who is a mere carrier: but he charged twenty-— nine dollars more in his account, as he was entitled | to do, against the miner for clothing and other |} supplies, to each bareta, although it was notorious |} that the real cost for these articles always came to much less than that sum. Thus the poor miner went on, producing copper, |} solely for the benefit of the habilitador, without jf the least diminution in his debt, and without any |} prospect of ever realising money enough to make |} his wished-for purchase of the large farm. The | other, indeed, was willing to advance him small |f sums of money, to prevent his sinking into utter |}}] despair, and abandoning the mine; but he had |} the mortification of feeling, that, for every eight | dollars he borrowed, he was bound to pay back | copper, which the habilitador sold for eleven or | twelve, while the current expenses of the mine were every day involving him deeper and deeper 3 |} and, finally, reducing him to mere dependence on |} the will of the capitalist. | This, and similar transactions, where the habi- FALLACIES RESPECTING MINES. litador’s price is about eight dollars, refer toa recent period only ; that is, since the price of copper has risen, in consequence of the increased commercial intercourse, which, in the first instance, had been forced upon South America, in spite of all the Spanish regulations to the contrary; and was afterwards, to a certain extent, sanctioned by the government. Antecedent to that period, when | the Spanish authority was absolute, and the prices | were as stated in the table at page 9, the habili- | tadors made bargains, proportionably profitable to themselves and hard upon the miners. The liberation of Chili, and the consequent establishment of English and North American mercantile houses, have wrought a great change in the whole system; as will be seen by stating what actually took place in the instance described above ; rand this example, with various modifications, im- material to the general principle, will serve to explain the manner in which a great majority of all the mines are now managed in Chili. An English merchant, who had resided long enough at Coquimbo, and other parts of Chili, to become well acquainted with the mining districts, and with the personal character of most of the miners, happened to hear of the situation to which the farmer above-mentioned had been reduced ; and, knowing him to be an honest and hard-work- ing man, inquired into the details of his case. It appeared that his debt to the habilitador was eight thousand dollars, and that there was ore enough at the surface to smelt into a thousand quintals ; which, at the stipulated rate of eight dollars per quintal, would be just sufficient to redeem the debt. But the miner had no funds to defray the cost of this process, or the current expenses of the mine. The English merchant, upon hearing how the matter stood, offered to free him from his embar- rassment, and to conclude a bargain far more advantageous to him. In the first place he offered to lend the miner a thousand quintals of copper, to be delivered at Guasco to the habilitador, whose claim upon the mine would be thus annihilated. He next agreed to purchase the farm which the miner had so long wished for, and at once to put him in possession of it. He then proposed, not to habilitate the mine in the usual way, but to lend money to the miner, that he himself might pay the workmen, and be the purveyor for his mine; instead of having an account kept against him for these disbursements. Finally he was willing to take the copper off the miner’s hands at eleven dollars per quintal, instead of eight. The miner was, of course, delighted with these terms, and readily adopted them, as he gained im- mediately several material advantages. He got rid of the oppression of the habilitador ; he accom- plished the great object of his exertions, the possession of the large farm ; he secured a high price for all his copper ; and, what he valued more probably than all the rest, he had the satisfaction of providing the mine himself, and was saved from the mortifying conviction of being cheated at every stage of the transaction. The moment the bargain was concluded, the ‘new farm was bought and entered upon: the smelting went on ; the miner soon paid back the thousand quintals he had borrowed ; the miners were set to work, to raise some metal to the sur- 11 face ; so that, at the end of five months, enough of copper had been delivered to discharge two- thirds of the original debt, including the purchase- money of the farm. On balancing accounts, how- ever, it appeared that the farmer was still nine thousand dollars in debt to the English merchant, owing to fresh advances made to the mine. At the time I visited the spot, he was still considerably in arrears, but was nevertheless perfectly con- tented ; and so also was the capitalist. The miner received what he considered a fair price for his labour, and the merchant was satisfied with the profit which he realised: for although he pur- chased copper at eleven dollars, and sold it for twelve or thirteen, he felt also certain of having a complete command of all the copper of the mine in question as long as he pleased, since it was highly improbable that the miner could ever clear off his debt. There is a fallacy in the reasonings of many people, even on the spot, as to the extent of mining profits, which arises, probably, out of the prevalent misconceptions respecting the nature of money ; or, which is the same thing, the true use of the precious metals, considered as wealth. In conse- quence of great gains being occasionally made by mining, it is erroneously assumed, that the returns from capital so employed are likely to be, upon the whole, greater than from that applied to agriculture, for instance, or to commerce ; and many ruinous speculations have been entered into, solely from omitting to take into account the multiplicity of failures, which balance the casual successes, and necessarily reduce the profits to the ordinary level. Even, however, if this uncer- tainty were not characteristic and inherent in the nature of mining, still, like every other branch of industry, it could not long continue to yield extra- ordinary profits ; since, if capital were more pro- ductively bestowed on mines than in other ways, it would be speedily withdrawn from those other employments, and applied to mining speculations, until competition had lowered the rate of profits to the usual standard. This being inevitably the case, now that all things are left to find their natural place, it follows, whatever view we take, that a miner, who borrows the capital of others to enable him to proceed with his speculations, is situated precisely as a farmer or merchant, who incurs debt to carry on his business. And although there be a sort of imaginary wealth attaching to the idea of a mine, the proprietor will undoubtedly find just as much difficulty in shaking off the incum- brance of debt as either ‘the merchant or the farmer. In practice, however, this leads to no bad effect ; but, on the contrary, as might easily be shown, the present state of the mines in Chili is, perhaps, upon the whole, the most favourable for the production of national wealth. This rea- soning is evidently inapplicable to former times, when everything was regulated by monopolies ; the tendency of which was to bribe, at a great cost, the capital from its natural channel, into directions which, if left to itself, it never could have taken ; and from which, consequently, the returns would inevitably be less, by the amount of the bribe which the community had to pay to a few interested individuals. The English capitalist, in the case described, might, of course, have made a bargain apparently I 12 better, and agreed, for example, not to receive the copper for more than nine or ten dollars, instead of eleven: but his principal object was to set competition at defiance, and, by concluding such bargains only as produced moderate profits, secure the whole produce of the mine, by making it per- manently the miner’s interest to go along with him. Such a principle is quite foreign to the practice and ideas of the native habilitador, who, notwithstanding the great alteration both in the extent and advantages of the trade, cannot bring himself to submit to smaller, though more certain profits. In process of time, he must, no doubt, consent to act as he has already been obliged to do in part ; but in the meanwhile, the more active foreign capitalist has stepped in and displaced him. The advantage which the merchant derives from securing, in this manner, the constant produce of the numerous mines similarly at his command, consists in his being enabled to act with confidence as an agent for the commercial houses of the capital. The manner in which this branch of trade is carried on is as follows :—Goods are sent from England or Calcutta, adapted to the Chilian market, and consigned to British or American merchants resident in Santiago. The returns for these goods can be made at present only in bills, in specie, or in copper. If this last be decided upon, the consignee at Santiago writes to his cor- respondent at Coquimbo, the British merchant alluded to above, telling him, that on such a day a ship will call on the coast for so many quintals of copper, and authorising him to purchase at a certain price, and to draw bills upon Santiago to the required amount. All that the Coquimbo merchant has to attend to is, to see that a suffi- cient stock of copper be ready by the appointed day. To enable him to do this at all times without risk of failure, it is essential he should possess the complete command of a great many mines. His method of acquiring such influence has been detailed ; but to carry his plan into effect on an extensive scale, he must have capital to work with ; and this is accordingly furnished by the various credits which the Santiago merchants supply him with from time to time. Thus, by a beautiful system of interchange of advantages, the benefits of unrestricted commerce are rendered very apparent. The European or East Indian merchant receives a valuable return cargo for his goods ; the population of Chili are supplied at low prices with articles which they want, but cannot produce at home ; the consignee having made the required remittance, and charged his commission, makes a further profit on the retail distribution of the imported cargo; the agent at Coquimbo, besides gaining by the sale of his copper, acquired in the manner already described, gets a per centage on the transaction ; and, lastly, the produce of the mine is enhanced in value to its owner, while the expenses of all his operations are reduced. Such manifest advantages have naturally direct- ed much capital to this productive source of wealth; and fresh mines are opening in all parts of the district, under the genial influence of the new system. As the increased supply may be expected to lower the price of copper, a more extensive use of the article will inevitably follow, which will be THE FLAG OF INDEPENDENCE AT LIMA. succeeded, in due time, by a greaterdemand. All this, however, it is important to observe, is new to South America ; and is to be attributed solely to the recent changes. Its successful progress, it is extremely important to remark, has also been essentially promoted by the good sense of the Chilian government, who have left every branch of the subject entirely to itself. —_e—- CHAPTER XXXII. PERU. Return to Lima.—First Appearance of the Independent Flag on the Fortress of Callao.—Effect of the Change of Masters on the Inhabitants of Lima.—Their Sentiments respecting Free Trade and Independence.—Mummy of a. Peruvian Inca, Our stay at Lima, upon this occasion, was short, but very interesting. We arrived on the 9th, and sailed on the 17th, of December 1821. In the interval of four months, which had elapsed since we left Peru, the most remarkable change had taken place in the aspect of affairs. The flag of Spain had been struck on the castle of Callao ; and in its place was displayed the standard of Independence. The harbour, which we had left blockaded by an enemy, was now open and free to all the world ; and, instead of containing merely a few dismantled ships of war, and half-a-dozen empty merchant-vessels, was crowded with ships unloading rich cargoes ; while the bay, to the dis- tance of a mile from the harbour, was covered with others, waiting for room to land their mer- chandise. On shore all was bustle and activity. The people had no longer leisure for jealousy ; and, so far from viewing us with hatred and dis- trust, hailed us as friends ; and, for the first time, we landed at Callao without apprehension of insult. The officers of the Chilian expedition, whose appearance, formerly, would have created a sanguinary tumult, were now the most impor- tant and popular persons in the place, living on perfectly friendly terms with the very people whom we well remembered to have known their bitterest, and as they swore, their irreconcilable foes. There was nothing new, indeed, in this degree of political versatility ; but it was still curious to witness the facility and total unconcern with which the sentiments of a whole town can be reversed, when it suits their interest. As the population of Callao depend for subsistence entirely upon the port being open, their anger had formerly been strongly excited against the Chilians who had shut it up, and thereby brought want of employment, and consequent distress, upon the people. But now the Independent party had not only restored the business of the port, but aug- mented it much beyond its former extent. The inhabitants of Callao, therefore, whose interest alone, quite independent of any speculative opinions, regulated their political feelings, were in raptures with the new order of things. In the capital also a great change was visible. The times, indeed, were still far too unsettled to admit of ease, or of confidence, in the society. The ancient masters of the city were gone ; its old government overturned ; its institutions, and many of its customs, were changed ; but, as yet, GENERAL SAN MARTIN PROTECTOR. 13 nothing lasting had been substituted; and, as circumstances were varying every hour, no new habits had as yet beenconfirmed. In appearance, also, everything was different. Instead of the formal, dilatory style of doing business, that pre- _vailed in former days, all was decision and activity ; even the stir in the streets looked to our eyes quite out of Peruvian character : the shops were filled with British manufactured goods ; the pave- ment was thronged with busy merchants of all nations, to the exclusion of those groups of indo- lent Spaniards, who, with cigars in their mouths, and wrapped in their cloaks, were wont, in bygone days, to let the world move on at its own pleasure, careless what turned up, so that it cost them no trouble. The population appeared to be increased in a wonderful degree ; and the loaded carts and mules actually blocked up the thoroughfares. While viewing all this, the probable result becomes a curious but intricate subject for specu- lation. That eventual good must spring out of the increased knowledge and power of free action which the recent changes have introduced, there could be no sort of doubt; but in what manner it might be modified, and when or how brought about ; into what state, in short, the government might settle at last, could not be predicted. In the midst, however, of the great confusion and uncertainty which prevailed in these countries, it was satisfactory to think, that, in every variety of aspect under which they could be viewed, there was none in which the advantages of free trade were not likely to be insisted on by the people ; who acquired, with wonderful quickness, a clear and comprehensive view of the subject, as distin- guished from the ancient system of restriction. There was no need of time, indeed, or of education, to teach people of every class the direct benefits of having a large and constant supply of useful merchandise at low prices; and although the means of purchase, and the disposition to spend capital in that way, must be greatly increased by the establishment of a steady government ; yet, even in the most ill-regulated and unsettled state of public affairs, there will always be found, in those countries, extensive means to make adequate commercial returns. It is not, as I conceive, any want of power to pay for imported goods that is to be apprehended; but rather the absence of those wants, tastes, and habits, the hope of gratifying which is, in every country, the surest stimulus to industry. The mining and agricultural resources of South America are very great, as we already know, by what they produced even when under the unfavourable circumstances of the ancient system ; and, from all we have seen of late years, it is highly improbable, that, with the worst form of government likely to be established, these resources will be less productive than heretofore. The desire to enjoy the luxuries and comforts, now, for the first time, placed within reach of the inhabitants, is probably the feeling most generally diffused amongst them, and would be the least easily controlled, or taken away. Perhaps the wish for independence was, at the moment I speak of, a stronger emotion, but it was not yet so extensively felt as the other. To the great mass of the people, indeed, abstract political ideas, standing alone, are quite unintelligible ; but, when’ associated with the practical advantages alluded to, they acquire a distinctness unattainable by any other means. Had the Spaniards, some years ago, been judicious enough to concede a free com- merce to the colonies, there can be little doubt, that, although they would, by that means, have involuntarily sown the seeds of future political free- dom, by giving the inhabitants a foretaste of its enjoyments, they might have put off what they considered the evil day to a much later period ; and the cry for independence, now so loud and irresistible, might perhaps not have yet been heard in South America. It may be remembered, that, when we left Peru on the 10th of August 1821, General San Martin had entered Lima and declared himself Protector, but that Callao still held out, and, as long as this was the case, the Independent cause remained in imminent hazard. San Martin, therefore, em- ployed every means of intrigue to reduce the castle, as he had no military force competent to its regular investment. It was supposed, that, in process of time, he would have succeeded in starving the garrison into terms; but, on the 10th of September, to the surprise of every one, a large Spanish force from the interior marched past Lima and entered Callao. San Martin drew up his army in front of the capital as the enemy passed, but did not choose to risk an engagement. The Spaniards remained but a few days in Callao, and then retired to the interior for want of provi- sions, carrying off the treasure which had been deposited in the castle. As they repassed Lima, another opportunity was afforded for attacking them ; but San Martin still declined to take ad- vantage of what many of the officers of the army and some other persons conceived a most favour- able moment for gaining an important advantage over the Royalists. A great outery was in con- sequence raised by all parties against him, on account of this apparent apathy ; and his loss of popularity may be said to take its date from that hour. The fortress of Callao, nevertheless, surrendered to San Martin a few days afterwards, and with this he declared himself satisfied. Being all along, as he declared, certain of gaining this most important object, by which the independence of the country was to be sealed, he did not conceive !} it advisable to bring the enemy to action. It is ; asserted, indeed, by many who were present, that | San Martin’s army was much superior in num- | bers to that of Canterac, the Spanish general: | but his friends, while they admit this, assert, | that it was at the same time necessarily defective | in discipline and experience; since more than two-thirds of the original expedition had sunk under the effects of the climate at Huaura, and the new levies consisted of raw troops recently collected from the hills, and the surrounding countries. Canterac’s army, on the other hand, consisted entirely of veterans, long exercised in the wars of Upper Peru. San Martin, therefore, thought it better to make sure of the castle, than to risk the whole cause upon the doubtful and irremediable issue of one engagement. With Callao in their possession, and the sea open, the Patriots could never be driven out of Peru. But the slightest military reverse at that mo- ment must at once have turned the tide; the Spaniards would have retaken Lima; and the ————— a RR 14 A PERUVIAN MUMMY. independence of the country might have been in- definitely retarded. On the 13th of December, I went to the palace to breakfast with the Protector, and to see a curious mummy or preserved figure, which had been brought the day before from a Peruvian village to the northward of Lima. The figure was that of a man seated on the ground with the knees almost touching his chin, the elbows pressed to the sides, and the hands clasping his cheek-bones. The mouth was half open, exposing a double row of fine teeth. The body, though shrivelled up in a remarkable manner, had all the appearance of a man, the skin being entire except on one shoulder. In the countenance there was an expression of agony very distinctly marked. The tradition with respect to this and other similar bodies is, that, at the time of the conquest, many of the Incas and their families were persecuted to such a degree, that they actu- ally allowed themselves to be buried alive rather than submit to the fate with which the Spaniards threatened them. They have generally been found in the posture above described, in pits dug more than twelve feet deep in the sand ; whereas the bodies of persons known to have died a natural death, are invariably discovered in the regular burying-places of the Indians, stretched out at full length. There was seated near the same spot a female figure with a child in her arms. The female had crumbled into dust on exposure to the air, but the child, which was shown to us, was entire. It was wrapped in a cotton cloth woven very neatly, and composed of a variety of brilliant colours, and quite fresh. Parts of the clothes also which the female figure had worn were equally perfect, and the fibres quite strong. These bodies were dug up in a part of the country where rain never falls, and where the sand, consequently, is so perfectly dry as to cause an absorption of moisture so rapid, that putrefaction does not take lace. P The male figure was sent to England in the Conway, and is now in the British Museum. ———_ @——__ CHAPTER XXXIII. Arrest of Don Pedro Abadia, an Old Spaniard.—His Cha- racter, Influence, and Reverse of Fortune.—Fluctuating Nature of Public Sentiment exhibited at the Theatre.— Order of the Sun established. Axout this time a great sensation was excited among the English, as well as the majority of the inhabitants of Lima, by the arrest and imprison- ment of Don Pedro Abadia, an Old Spaniard, who had possessed for many years the highest influence over every class of society; a power which he owed, not so much to his extensive wealth, as to his talents, knowledge, and amiable disposition. As a man of business he held the highest reputation for probity, liberality, and per- severance. Of his enterprise it will be sufficient to state that he was the first man in South Ame- rica who sent to England for steam-engines ; and he had actually erected them at one of the mines in the interior, at the distance of several hundred miles from the capital. He was a most accomplished traveller, had visited great part of a TE ee ee ee ee —————— the world, and spoke and wrote English, and |}) several other European languages, with great || facility and correctness. Long before the attack |} was made on Lima, he had, in vain, exerted all |} his influence to prevail upon the government to open the port to free trade ; which measure, he |} promised, would not only win the confidence and |} hearty support of the people, but would supply |} the treasury with means of resisting the enemy, |} should an invasion be threatened. His advice, |} however, was overruled by the body of merchants, who possessed a close monopoly of the commerce of Peru, and who could not be induced by any considerations to yield the smallest portion of their exclusive privileges. It signified nothing to prove to them that, without commerce, there could be no receipt of duties, and without receipts, the treasury must remain in a state inadequate to provide meansof resistance, when the contest should arise. All such patriotic views were absorbed in the selfishness of a monopoly which could bear no modification: the united influence of these mer- chants prevailed, and the measure proposed by this sagacious individual was not adopted till long after it was too late—till Lord Cochrane had blockaded the port, and put an end to com- merce in that quarter, and San Martin had landed with his army to instigate the oppressed popula- tion to assert their right to the advantages enjoyed by every other part of South America. Thus these bigoted and obstinate people, by acting under the influence of deep-rooted prejudices, and narrow views of the real principles of commerce, not only paved the way for the conquest of the colony, but in the end brought total ruin upon themselves. Butalthough thisable and enlightened Spaniard’s influence was unequal to the task of successfully opposing the monopolists, and of affording govern- ment the pecuniary means of defending the coun- try, it will easily be understood that a man of his extensive views, attainments, and wealth, must have possessed great consequence in a society like that of Lima. His influence, indeed, extended from the palace to the lowest cottage: he was the companion and the counsellor of the highest ; the comforter and protector of the most wretched; and he was the friend of all strangers, to whom his hospitable doors were always open. Not a mortal in Lima could act without his advice ; a word or two with him was essential to every project, great or small ; his house was constantly besieged by crowds, and whenever he walked along the streets he was arrested at every corner by supplicants. With all this real importance, he had not a spark of presumption: in his manners he was simple and unaffected ; always in good-humour ; always saw the bright side of things ; made the most of the good, and promised that the bad would mend: his heart was open to every generous impression, and it was impossible not to feel in his presence something of that involuntary, but entire respect, which men pay to taste and excellence in the other Sex. But when San Martin entered Lima, a new order of things took place. That vigorous chief wanted no adviser ; he directed everything him- self, and with the decision of a soldier, admitted no appeals ; he swept whole classes away 3 estab- DON PEDRO lished new laws and institutions; and entirely altered the general aspect of society. All stran- gers were admitted to the port, and were in- | vited to establish themselves in the capital with- out reserve or restriction ; and every one being allowed perfect liberty of action, there was no |} need of influence or management, and our excel- lent friend’s occupation was gone. He was no longer sought for at the palace, nor chased in the streets, nor blockaded in his house. During the siege of Lima, and while its fall was still doubtful, his goodwill had been sedulously courted by the emissaries of the Patriots; but when the conquest was complete, his support was of less moment ; and the old man, fallen from his high estate, had not forbearance enough to conceal his chagrin ; and probably, in conversation, expressed himself indiscreetly with respect to the reigning powers. Be this as it may, he soon received a severe lesson of prudence. Two friars called upon him one mor- ning, saying, they had come from that part of the country where his mines lay, then occupied by the Spanish forces. They gave out that they j were bearers of a message from the viceroy, that, unless he sent back correct information respecting the state of Lima, his steam-engines and other works would all be destroyed. He endeavoured to get rid of these friars without committing himself so seriously as to give them the intelligence they wanted, but they declared, that. they dared not return without something to prove they had actually seen and conversed with him. The old man resisted for a long time ; at last, one of them took up a book with his name upon it, and said that it would serve as a voucher, and he unwittingly allowed them to take it away. The friars, who were arrested in the course of the same day, with the book in their possession, were, at first, treated as spies, and it was expected they would be hanged on the spot; but, to the surprise of every one, they were both released, and the Old Spaniard alone imprisoned. This gave rise to the notion, I believe unfounded, that they had been employed merely to entrap our incautious friend. It was ‘soon known that he was to be tried by a military commission, and alarm and distress spread from one end of Lima to the other: indeed, had the public sentiment been less universally expressed in his favour, he would, in all probability, have been put to death, for the purpose of striking terror into the minds of all the remaining Spaniards, and inducing them to leave the country. No one suspected this Old Spaniard of such gross folly as giving political or military informa- tion to these creatures of the viceroy ; but he very naturally heard with much interest any informa- tion they possessed respecting his mines ; and in an unguarded moment was probably guilty of the high indiscretion of sending some message to the Spaniards in the interior about his steam-engines and other property. While he was still in confinement, I went one day to visit him, as soon as the interdict against visitors was removed. He was as cheerful as ever, though well aware of his danger. The room in which he was confined was hung round with old pictures, amongst which was one of St. Francis by Velasquez, which he had been trying to purchase from the friars, in the hope that I would accept it, and hang it up in my ship. It DE ABADIA. 15 was thus that his thoughts were at all times more employed in seeking means to oblige other people, than in attending to his own concerns ; an amiable indiscretion, but unsuited to such times, and to which, perhaps, he owed his ruin. In the end this excellent old man was released from prison, but was ever afterwards watched with a jealous eye; and when the great perse- cution commenced against the Spaniards in the beginning of 1822, he was banished, and his pro- perty was confiscated. More unmerited misfor- tune never befel a worthier man, whose greatest crime, indeed, was indiscretion. His is one of the innumerable cases, where we had the means of knowing correctly, how severely and unjustly the effects of the contest were sometimes directed. In ordinary revolutions, most of the cruelty and injustice generally result from lawless and tumul- tuous assemblages of people ; and such is the natural and looked-for consequence of placing power in the hands of inexperienced men. But in South America these political convulsions have, with few exceptions, been kept under a certain degree of control, and have generally been directed by men having reasonable and praiseworthy objects in view. Nevertheless, in every possible case, a revolution is necessarily a great temporary evil, and must always have its full share of crime and sorrow ; private feel- ings, interests, and rights, must on such occasions take their chance of being swept away by the torrent of innovation ; and of being sacrificed, sometimes to public policy, and not unfrequently, perhaps, to individual ill-will, avarice, or ambi- tion. That things in South America can ever, by any chance, revert to the melancholy state they formerly were in, is impossible ; that they will upon the whole improve, is equally manifest ; in the meanwhile, notwithstanding this convic- tion, it is difficult, when on the spot, to see only the good, and to shut our eyes to the sufferings which the country is exposed to, in its present fiery ordeal. On the 14th, in the evening, there was a play, but the people we had been wont to see there be- fore the revolution were all gone ; and their places occupied by Chilian officers, and by English, Ame- rican, and French merchants, together with num- berless pretty Limenas, a race who smile on all parties alike. The actors were the same, and the play the same, but everything else—dress, man- ners, language, were different ; even the inveterate custom of smoking in the theatre had been abo- lished by a public decree. On Sunday, the 16th of December, the ceremony of instituting the Order of the Sun took place in the palace. San Martin assembled the officers and civilians who were to be admitted members of the order, in one of the oldest halls of the palace. It was a long, narrow, antique room, with a dark wainscotting covered over with gilt ornaments, carved cornices, and fantastic tracery in relief along the roof. The floor was spread with rich Gobelin tapestry ; and on each side was ranged a long line of sofas, and high-backed arm-chairs with gilded knobs, carved work round the arms and feet, and purple velvet covering on the seats. The windows, which were high, narrow, and grated like those of -a prison, looked into a large square court thickly planted with oranges, guavas, and other fruit-trees 16 THE SPANIARDS OPPRESSED BY THE PATRIOTS. of the country, all kept fresh and cool, by four fountains playing in the angles. Over the tops of the trees, between the steeples of the great convent of San Francisco, could be seen the tops of the Andes capped in clouds. Such was the ancient audience-hall of the viceroys of Peru. The Insurgent General, San Martin, as the Spaniards in the bitterness of their disappointment affected to call him, sat at the top of the room, before an immense mirror, with his ministers on the right and left. The president of the council, at the other end of the hall, invested the several knights with their ribbons and stars; but the Protector himself administered the obligation on honour, by which they were bound to maintain the dignity of the order, and the independence of the country. After a very busy and amusing visit of a week, during which our attention was constantly occu- pied by the multiplicity and variety of the objects in this renovated capital, we sailed, with orders to visit the coast of South America, as far as the Isthmus of Panama ; thence to proceed along the shores of Mexico which are washed by the Pa- cific, to call at the various ports by the way, and then to return to Peru and Chili. CHAPTER XXXIV. Sketch of the State of Peruvian Politics at the Close of 1821, and during the Year 1822.—Expulsion of the Spa- niards from Lima.—Meeting of the Peruvian Congress.— Disasters of the Patriots.—General San Martin leaves Peru.—Explanation of his Views, and Remarks on his Character and Conduct. CIRCUMSTANCES occurred to prevent the comple- tion of this plan, and to render it necessary for me to repass Cape Horn, without again visiting the western coast. I cannot, therefore, from personal observation, or from inquiry on the spot, give any detail of the interesting and important events which took place subsequent to our departure. The fol- lowing brief sketch, however, will serve to wind up the various accounts already given. The facts, I am confident, are correctly stated : to reason upon them to any useful purpose is a difficult task, and one which I am not prepared to undertake. Few persons in England have succeeded in ac- quiring any distinct conception of South American politics, from the accounts given in the newspapers, or other publications ; and it may be some conso- lation to others to know, that, at this distance, even those who have been long on the spot, and know all the parties concerned, find very considerable difficulty in getting at the truth of any events sub- sequent to their visit. Even with the assistance of trust-worthy correspondents, and facilities of reference to authentic documents, they still en- counter no small difficulty in arranging their infor- mation, so as to estimate correctly the merits of the great measures which are to settle the fate of the country. Anunprejudiced and connected narrative, written by an impartial eye-witness, is the only remedy for this evil. The field of view, indeed, is so immensely extensive, so remote, and so crowded with new objects, and the information we receive has to pass through such an atmosphere of preju- dice and selfishness, and comes to us at such irregular intervals, that it is almost out of the |} question for any one, not on the spot, to acquire |} adequate means of forming a correct judgment of |} what is passing in South America. | In August 1821, as has been stated, San Martin | became self-elected Protector of Peru. After this | he proceeded steadily in recruiting and disciplining | his army ; in reforming the local abuses in the | administration of affairs ; in preparing and pro- mulgating a provisional statute by which the government was to be administered, until the per- manent constitution of thestateshould be establish- ed. Having business to transact at Truxillo, a sea-port town to the northward of Lima, he ap- pointed the Marquis of Torre Tagle as supreme delegate in his absence. The person, however, essentially charged with the executive administra- tion, was Don Bernardo Monteagudo, a very able man and a most zealous Patriot ; but who, besides being unpopular in his manners, was a bitter enemy to the whole race of Old Spaniards. After a short absence San Martin returned, yet he did not osten- sibly resume the reins of government, nor live in the palace ; but retired to La Magdalena, his country-house, at a short distance from Lima. Towards the end of the year 1821, a decree was published, ordering every unmarried Spaniard to leave the country, and to forfeit half his property ; and within a few months afterwards, this decree was extended to married men also. Upon one occasion, no less than four hundred Spaniards of the first families, and the most wealthy persons in Lima, were forcibly taken from their houses and marched on foot to Callao ; surrounded by guards, and followed by their wives and children, of whom they were not even allowed to take leave, before they were thrust on board a vessel, which sailed immediately with them to Chili. Though, by the original decree, only one-half of the property of Spaniards was confiscated, it was soon altered to the whole ; and in July, 1822, the ruin of the Old Spaniards was complete. The manner, also, in which this persecution was carried on, is said to have been unfeeling and ill-judged: the most in- sulting decrees were published, such as, “ That no Spaniard should wear a cloak, lest he should con- ceal weapons”—“ That they should never be seen out of doors after the vespers”—“ That no more than two should be seen together ;” and, it is even said, a Spanish woman was once actually put in the pillory for speaking disrespectfully of the Patriot cause. : The whole of these arbitrary measures were carried into effect during the nominal administra- tion of Torre Tagle ; and it was generally believed that their offensive and cruel execution originated with the prime minister Monteagudo. But if they be in themselves unjustifiable, and deserve the imputation of tyranny, it will not avail San Mar- tin’s friends to say they were the acts of another ; for he was notoriously the main-spring of the whole government, nor would he himself seek to escape censure, if the measures were proved to be wrong, by any such subterfuge. In May the Patriot army under General Tristan, sent by San Martin against the Spaniards, was defeated : still he remained inactive. In July he left Lima for Guayaquil, where he had an inter- view with Bolivar. During his absence the people of Lima, irritated by the arbitrary proceedings of [_ SAN MARTIN ABDICATES THE PROTECTORSHIP. / the minister Monteagudo, forcibly deposed, im- | prisoned, and afterwards banished him to Panama. A new minister was chosen by the supreme dele- gate, and confirmed in his appointment by San - Martin on his return from Guayaquil ; from whence | he sailed in August with a body of troops furnished by Bolivar. The Sovereign Constituent Congress, consisting of representatives, elected by the different liber- ated provinces, had been several times convoked, | but as often prorogued : till at length, San Martin, to the surprise of many persons who believed he was aiming at permanent power, complied with the | general wish of the people, and actually assembled SS ne the deputies on the 20th of September 1822. Into their hands he immediately resigned the supreme authority which he had assumed a year before. The Congress, in return, elected him, by unanimous decree, generalissimo of the armies in Peru. But he resolutely declined receiving more than the mere title, which he consented to accept as a mark of the approbation and confidence of the Peruvians ; declaring that, in his opinion, his presence in Peru in command of the forces was inconsistent with their authority. The following | is a translation of the answer which he made to | the Congress, on their invitation to him as gene- ralissimo. “ At the close of my public life, after having signed into the hands of the august Congress of Peru the supreme authority of the state, nothing | eould have flattered me so much as the solemn expression of your confidence, in naming me Gene- | ralissimo of the national forces, by sea and land, which I have just received by a deputation from | your house. sincere gratitude to those who made me this com- “munication ; and I have since had the satisfaction to accept the title alone, because it marks your -approbation of the brief services which I have T have had the honour to signify my rendered this country, “ But, in order not to compromise my own feel- ings, and the best interests of the nation, allow me to state, that a painful and long course of experi- ence has taught me to foresee, that the distinguished rank to which you wish to raise me, far from being useful to the nation, were I toexercise the authority, would only frustrate your own intentions, by | rousing the jealousy of those who are anxious for complete liberty ; and by dividing the opinion of | the people, would diminish that confidence in your | pendence can inspire. ee. ~eeeeee eel decisions, which nothing but unqualified inde- My presence in Peru, considering the authority I lately possessed, and the power I should still retain, is inconsistent with the moral existence of your sovereign body, and with my own opinions ; since no prudence, nor forbearance, on my part, will keep off the shafts of | malevolence and calumny. “T have fulfilled the sacred promise which I | made to Peru: I have witnessed the assembly of its representatives: the enemy’s force threatens | the independence of no place that wishes to be | free, and possesses the means of being so. A humerous army, under the direction of warlike chiefs, is ready to march in a few days to put an -end to the war. Nothing is left for me to do, but to offer you my sincerest thanks, and to promise, that if the liberties of the Peruvians shall ever be attacked, I shall claim the honour of accom- (PART II.] 17 them, to 'defend their freedom like panying a citizen.” The Congress, who were either unwilling, or affected to be unwilling, that San Martin should view their offer in this light, wrote to entreat him to take the actual command of the armies ; quoting, in their letter, his own expression in his address to them on their meeting, where he says: “ The voice of the sovereign authority of the nation shall always be listened to with respect by San Martin, as a citizen of Peru, and be obeyed by him, as the first soldier of liberty.” This appeal, however, did not change the reso- lution which San Martin had formed on the occa- sion ; and having issued the following proclamation, he went to Callao, embarked in his yacht, and immediately sailed for Chili; leaving the Peru- vians, as they had wished, to the management of the Congress they had themselves elected. * PROCLAMATION. “ | have witnessed the declaration of the inde- pendence of Chili and Peru: I hold in my hand thestandard which Pizarro brought over to enslave the empire of the Incas: I have ceased to be a public man: and thus are repaid to me, with usury, (con usura,) ten years spent in revolution and war. “ My promises to the countries in which I made war are fulfilled—I give them independence, and leave them the choice of their government. “ The presence of a fortunate soldier, however disinterested he be, is dangerous to newly-consti- tuted states ; on the other hand, I am disgusted with hearing that I wish to raise myself to the throne. Nevertheless, I shall always be ready to make the utmost sacrifice for the liberties of the country, but in the character of a private indi- vidual, and in no other (en clase de simple par- ticular, y no mas). “ With respect to my public conduct, my coun- trymen, as usual, will be divided in opinion : their children will pronounce the true verdict. * Peruvians! I leave you the national repre- sentation established : if you repose implicit con- fidence in them, you will surely triumph :—if not, anarchy will devour you. “ God grant that success may preside over your destinies, and that you may reach the summit of felicity and peace. “ Dated in the Free City, (Pueblo Libre,) “ 20th September, 1822. (Signed) “ JosE DE San Martin.” The sovereign Congress, thus left to themselves, appointed a governing junta of three experienced men. They also passed an immense number of decrees to little or no purpose ; and everything very soon went into utter confusion under their inexperienced guidance. Indeed, the greater number of the deputies were men who knew little or nothing of the science of legislation. In November 1822, an expedition sailed from Lima for the south coast ; but in January 1823, shortly after landing, they were completely defeated. This disaster was followed by general discontent, and in February, the sittings of the Congress were suspended by Rivaguero the president, who sub- sequently dissolved them in a summary, and, as it was said, a most unconstitutional manner. Cc 18 The royal troops soon took advantage of the imbecility of the Patriots, who were without a leader: and in June 1823 General Canterac re- entered Lima; and, having driven the Patriots into Callao, levied heavy contributions of money and goods on the inhabitants, destroyed the mint, and retired again to Upper Peru, after a stay of only fourteen days. While these ruinous proceedings were going on, Bolivar was bringing the war in Colombia to a close ; and foreseeing, that if the affairs of Lima were not put into better train the Spaniards would in a short time re-establish their authority, and probably shake the power of the Independents in Colombia ; he resolved to accept the invitation of the Peruvians, and to proceed to Peru with a considerable force. The Spaniards, however, retired some time before Bolivar’s approach. He has since met with various success in that country, the detail of which it is not the purpose of this narrative to enter into. Of the ultimate success of the Independents there cannot be the slightest doubt : the reverses to which the Peruvians have been subjected, will only have the effect of giving them and the whole of the other South American States a fresh stimulus to accomplish more com- pletely their great object. As the character and conduct of San Martin have been made the subject of a controversy into which for many reasons I am unwilling to enter minutely, I shall merely state what are the leading points of this topic; the real merits of which cannot for the present, as I conceive, be fully understood at this distance from the spot. The first charge made against him is his want of activity and energy in the conduct of the Peru- vian war ; the next, his despotic expulsion of the Old Spaniards in Lima ; and the last, his desertion of the Independent cause at a season of great danger and perplexity. With respect to the first of these charges, enough, perhaps, has already been said, both in describing the effects and in explaining the prin- ciples of his cautious and protracted system of revolutionising, rather than of conquering the country. The banishment and ruin of the Spaniards are justified by San Martin’s friends on the ground of the obstinate conduct of those individuals them- selves, who, it is asserted, resisted every attempt to engage them to co-operate cordially with the Patriots, and who persisted at all times in intriguing for the restoration of the old authority. It is urged by his adherents, that in Colombia and Mexico a similar degree of severity towards the Spaniards has been found indispensable to the safety of the new governments. InChili, and also in Buenos Ayres, the same policy has been considered necessary ; but as their revolutions were more gradually brought about, the extirpation of the Spaniards, though equally complete, has been accompanied by less abruptness. With respect to the propriety or impropriety of San Martin’s leaving the Peruvians to be governed by the Congress, unaided by him, it is difficult to speak decidedly, without more exact and extensive information on the subject than has yet been published. He never made any secret of his wish for retirement, and lost no opportunity of declaring, both publicly and privately, his intention of grati- SUMMARY OF SAN MARTIN’S CHARACTER. fying his inclinations as soon as the independence | of Peru should be established. The question, there- | fore, seems to be, not whether he was justified in | leaving the Peruvians at all, but whether he seized | the proper moment for doing so. It is true that he undertook to stand by and protect Peru when the sole charge was placed in his hands; but when the inhabitants, after a whole year’s reflec- | tion, thought fit to claim from him the privilege of being governed by representatives chosen from |} amongst themselves, he did not feel justified in |} refusing their demand. Yet, at the same time, © he may not have considered himself at all called © upon, as the subject of another state, to serve a country that no longer sought his protection ; but which, on the contrary, felt competent to its own defence, and entitled to an uninfluenced govern- ment; which, in his opinion, it could never possess | as long as he was present. It was altogether | contrary to his usual practice and feelings to use | force in advancing his opinions :—and finding that | he had lost his influence, and that the whole country, and even Buenos Ayres and Chili, accused | him of a wish to make himself king—he was | resolved to abandon, for the present, a cause he | could no longer benefit. | Viewing matters then as they now stand (1823), | or seem to stand, and reflecting on the character of | San Martin, it is quite evident that he is a man | not only of great abilities, both as a soldier and a | statesman, but that he possesses, in a remarkable | degree, the great and important quality of winning | the regard and commanding the devoted services | of other men. To these high attributes he is— indebted for the celebrity he acquired by the | conquest of Chili, and its solid establishment as a free state: and, whatever may be said of his latter conduct in quitting Peru, when he found it im- possible to govern it in the manner he wished, he may still safely lay claim to the full honour of | having also paved the way for the liberation of that country. These are no trifling services for one man to perform ; and if we believe San Martin in earnest in his desire for retirement, as I most sincerely — do, we shall have still more reason to respect that disinterested public spirit, and that generous love | of liberty, which could for so many years surmount | every consideration of a private nature. It is so _ rare to see such high powers as he unquestionably — possesses, united with a taste for domestic and — retired life, that many are slow to believe him | sincere. If, however, that doubt be removed, © and the above character be supposed fairly drawn, we shall arrive at an explanation of his conduct, perhaps not far from the truth ; by supposing him ~ to have imagined, at the time he retired, that he had done enough ; and that, consistently with his real character and feelings, he could be of no further service to the Peruvians ; or that, at all events, his presence was not likely to advance their cause ; and that, by retiring for a time, he might more essentially advance the great object of his life, than he could hope to do by struggling against the wishes of the country so decidedly expressed, This is stated neither as praise nor as blame : but simply as affording some explanation of a very curious historical event. Whether or not 1t would have been better for the cause of Peruvian i cam a iS, ST ————————— VISIT TO PAYTA. 19 Independence, had the chief actor in the revo- lution been a man of sterner nature, is another question entirely : my sole object, in this sketch, has been to draw as faithful and impartial a picture as I possibly could of what has actually taken place. San Martin, after retiring to his country-seat at Mendoza, on the eastern side of the Andes, hoped to find some relaxation from his long course of laborious exertions. But such men are seldom allowed to remain quiet in those times ; and he was soon solicited to join various political parties, both in Chili and in Buenos Ayres ; and was also repeatedly urged to return to Peru. His name and influence, in short, were considered of so much consequence in those countries, that, in spite of all he could do, he was not permitted to live a retired life. Not choosing, however, to remain as a rallying point of discontent, or a cause of alarm to those governments, he resolved | to come to Europe, where he might hope to live beyond the reach of these intrigues, and hold him- self ready to return, when he should conceive that circumstances rendered his presence useful to the cause of Independence. Since the period alluded to this distinguished officer has resided at Brussels, and at this mo- ment, the end of 1825, is still living in perfect retirement. P.S.— March 1840. T have lately heard with great satisfaction, that General San Martin is still alive, and well ; and that with the same unshaken | firmness of purpose, which won for him so much success in his public career, he has resisted in private life every attempt to reinvolve him in politics. In the enjoyment of a competent for- tune, and possessed of a mind at ease, he has for some time past resided at Paris, where the interest | of the passing events, and the retrospect of a life of usefulness, afford him abundant sources of that | enviable contentment which great men, who have taken a large share of active employment in the busy world, know best how to appreciate. CHAPTER XXXV. Visit to Payta.—The Town taken and sacked by Lord Anson.—Scarcity of Water.—Guayaquil River.—Descrip- tion of the Hammocks used by the Ladies.—Remarkable Fairness of Complexion of the Women of this City. On the 17th of December 1821 we sailed from Callao Roads, and coasted along to the northward till the 20th ; when we anchored off the town of Payta, a place celebrated in Anson’s voyage, as well as in the histories of the old Buccaneers. Lord Anson’s proceedings, we were surprised to find, are still traditionally known at Payta ; and it furnishes a curious instance of the effect of manners on the opinions of mankind, to observe that the kindness with which that sagacious officer invariably treated his Spanish prisoners, is, at the distance of eighty years, better known and more dwelt upon by the inhabitants of Payta, than the capture and rather wanton destruction of the town. __ We had scarcely anchored before the captain of the port came on board, accompanied by a person whom he chose to call an interpreter ; but who, upon being put to the proof, was so drunk, as not ————_———_ : to be able to articulate one word of any language whatever. The heat is always considerable at Payta ; and as no rain falls, the houses are slightly constructed of an open sort of basket-work, through which the air blows freely at all times ; the roofs, which are high and peaked, are thatched with leaves: some of the walls are plastered with mud, but, generally speaking, they are left open. After having ex- amined the town, a party was made to visit the neighbouring heights; from whence we could see nothing, in any direction, but one bleak, unbroken waste of barren sand. Our guide, who was rather an intelligent man, expressed much surprise at our assiduity in breaking the rocks ; and at the care with which we wrapped up the specimens. He could not conceive any stone to be valuable that did not contain gold or silver; and supposing that we laboured under some mistake as to the nature of the rock, repeatedly begged us to throw the specimens away, assuring us it was merely “piedra bruta,” and of no sort of use. On returning through the town, we were at- tracted by the sound of a harp, and, following the usage of the country, we entered the house. The family rose to give us their seats ; and, upon learn- ing that it was their music which had interested us, desired the harper to go on. After he had played some national Spanish airs, we asked him to let us hear a native tune ; but he mistook our meaning, and gaveus, with considerable spirit,a waltz, which, not very long before, I had heard as a fashionable air in London,—and here it was equally popular at Payta—one of the most out-of-the-way and least- frequented spots in the civilised world. Of the tune they knew nothing, except how to play it: they had never heard its name, or that of the com- poser, or of his nation; nor could they tell when, or by what means, it had come amongst them. While our boat was rowing from the ship to the shore to take us on board, we stepped into a house, near the landing-place, where we were hospitably received by a party of ladies assembled near the wharf, as we surmised, to have a better view of the strangers as they embarked ; at least they seemed very well pleased with our visit. Being nearly choked with dust, I began the con- versation by begging a glass of water ; upon which one of the matrons pulled a key from her pocket, and gave it to a young lady, who carried it to the corner of the room, where a large jar was placed, and unlocking the metal lid, measured out a small tumbler full of water for me ; after which she se- cured the jar, and returned the key to her mother. This extraordinary economy of water arose, as they told us, from there not being a drop to be got nearer than three or four leagues off ; and as the supply, even at this distance, was precarious, water at Payta was not only a necessary of life, but, as in a ship on a long voyage, was considered a luxury. This incident furnished a copious topic 5 and on speaking of the country, we rejoiced to learn, that we had at length very nearly reached the northern limit of that mighty desert, along which we had been coasting ever since we left Co- quimbo, a distance of sixteen hundred miles. We weighed as soon as the land-wind began to steal off to us, and steered along-shore, with the sea as smooth as glass, and the faint sound of the surf on the beach just audible. On the evening of c 2 20 the 22d of December, we anchored off the entrance of the Bay of Guayaquil: but, owing to the light winds and the ebb tide, it was not till the evening of the next day that we reached the entrance of the river. The weather, in the day-time, was sultry and hot to an intolerable degree : at night, the land-breeze, which resembled the air of an oven, was heavy and damp, and smelled strongly of wet leaves and other decaying vegetables. We anchored near a small village on the great island of Puna, which lies opposite to the mouth of the river, and presently afterwards a pilot came off, who, to our surprise, undertook to carry the ship up the river, as far as the town, in the course of the night. It was very dark, for there was no moon: not a soul in the ship had ever been here before ; the pilot, however, appeared to understand his business perfectly, and I agreed to his proposal, upon his explaining, that, during the greater part of the night the wind and tide would be favourable, whereas in the day-time both were likely to be adverse. This pilot was a remarkably intelligent person, and I have observed in every part of the globe, that this class, and in most cases the guides on shore also, are a superior race of men to the gene-~ rality of their countrymen of the same rank in life ; a remark which holds good, whatever be the degree of civilisation of the rest of the inhabitants. The reason of this striking fact is intelligible enough : a pilot must know his business thoroughly, if he is to subsist at all; for, if he knows it imperfectly, he soon runs a ship on shore, and from that instant his occupation is so utterly gone, that we see no more of him. Thus the profession, in process of time, is effectually weeded of the inefficient plants ; or, what is the same thing, none are allowed to assume the office without an adequate education, and a due course of experiment as to general ability. This is of essential consequence, for the duties of a pilot are frequently of a high order, and require much foresight and presence of mind, in addition to ac- curate local knowledge. It happens also, generally speaking, that where a man is well informed upon any one subject, he will have tolerably just ideas upon many others ; and a good pilot will probably be a man of more general information than those about him. It is an amusing and exhilarating sight, after a long voyage, to observe the eager crowd which assembles round the pilot, generally the first person who comes on board. Questions are poured upon him by hundreds: every word he speaks is received with the most greedy anxiety, and is long recollected as the first touch of a re- newed intercourse with scenes from which we have been long cut off. This is more remarkably the case on the return home ; but even in strange countries, and on occasions such as the present, the interest is always of a peculiar and lively de- scription. The novelty of the stranger’s language, the strange dress, the foreign manners, and the new story he has to tell, all conspire to awaken the attention even of the dullest booby on board; and for some time afterwards, it is easy to discover, on coming upon deck, that a new set of topics are afloat. Various detached groups are soon formed on the deck—some to obtain and some to impart information—some to discuss what they have just heard, and others to frame new interrogatories to the stranger, who, like the inhabitant of another SPECULATION ON CURIOSITY. planet, seems to have dropped from the clouds | I may take 6ccasion here to men- | amongst them. tion, what indeed might have been inferred from — other views of society—the wonderful difference which exists amongst voyagers as to the degree of | curiosity, and, generally speaking, of interest, as | to strange objects, on approaching countries quite new to them. Curiosity is thought to be the most universally diffused of human passions, if I may call it so, and a pretty general belief is entertained, that it is strongest in the rudest and least cultivated stages | of society. All my experience gues in the other direction, and tends to show that curiosity, and | the faculty of observing to agreeable and useful | purpose, are qualities which improve by exercise | in acuteness and power, more than almost any | others. Of our number in the Conway, there were many on their first voyage, who took scarcely any | es interest, either pleasurable or otherwise, in the — very novel circumstances which were constantly | presenting themselves to our view. On the other | hand, all those who had travelled much previously, | were far more interested with the new objects than | those who had never gone beyond the Atlantic. | Those, in short, who had most objects stored up |} in their memory, were perpetually finding out | similitudes or discordances at once curious and instructive. seemed to have the faculty of discovering, at every turn, innumerable: distinctions and combinations, |} abundantly manifest, when pointed out, but which |} were passed unheeded by those who had less expe- rience. the world and its wonders, rendering an observer fastidious and indifferent about what are called || ordinary objects, I have observed that exactly the | The truth seems to | be, that in every natural scene, the number and | variety of objects which are worthy of attentive | examination are so great, that no diligence can | hope to describe, or even to enumerate the whole. | contrary effect takes place. To many. eyes, however, these nicer differences, or refined analogies, are totally and irremediably invisible, just as certain sounds are said to be in- |} audible to certain ears. Some observers are so ignorant, or so perverse, that they will insist upon |} looking at the wrong end of the telescope, and are |f predetermined to see everything in little which | is out of their own country ; on such people, of || course, travelling is quite thrown away, or, what | is worse, it tends only to confirm prejudice and |} error. Others are sufficiently disposed to hold the | glass properly, but still can see little but a confused mass of many images floating before them. I would illustrate the proper effect of travelling by sug- gesting, that it gives the judicious observer the power of adjusting the focus of his mental tele- |}} scope to that distinct vision, suited to his particular taste and capacity ; and the faculty thus acquired will generally be found available not only in con- templating, to good purpose, new objects in remote countries, but will open up to his improved powers of perception, wide fields of curious and rich inquiry, or of agreeable observation, in quarters with which he had imagined himself to be already — so thoroughly and familiarly acquainted, that no- thing further was to be discovered. It was not until I had made many voyages, and ~ Their field of observation appeared | to be ten times wider than that of the others; they |f Thus, instead of a more extended view of | THE SOCIETY OF GUAYAQUIL DESCRIBED. 21 | thus learned to appreciate the value of scenery, that I became sensible of the matchless beauty and grandeur of the landscape round the spot where I | passed my early life, totally unconscious that the world possessed- nothing more varied, or more worthy of being admired. | The river was in general broad and deep, though at some places there were abrupt turnings, and many shoals, which sometimes obliged us to keep so close to the banks, that it seemed, in the dark, as if our yard-arms must get entangled with the branches of the trees, which grew down to'the very water’s edge. The wind was gentle, but steady, and just enough, in such perfectly smooth water, to keep the sails asleep, as seamen express it, when in light winds they do not flap against the mast. By means of this faint air, and the tide together, we shot rapidly up the river, threading our way, as it were, through the woods, which stood dark and still, like two vast black walls along the banks of the stream. Men were placed by the anchor, and all hands were at their station, ready at an instant’s warning to perform any evolution: not a word was spoken, except when the pilot addressed the helms- man, and received his reply ; not the least noise was heard but the plash of the sounding-lead, and the dripping of the dew from the rigging and sails on the decks. The flood-tide, which we had caught just at the turn on entering the river, served to carry us quite up to the town, a distance of forty miles ; and at four o’clock, after passing the whole night in this wild and solemn sort of navigation, we anchored amongst the shipping off the city. As the day broke, the houses gradually became visible, presenting to the eye forms and proportions which varied at every moment, as fresh light came in to. dissipate the previous illusions. At length the old city of Guayaquil stood before us, in fine pictu- resque confusion. I had a letter of introduction to a gentleman, who received me in the easy style of the country, and at once undertook to put us in the way of procuring fresh provisions and other supplies ; carried me to the governor’s to pay the usual visit of ceremony, and afterwards offered to introduce my officers and myself to some families of his ac- quaintance. We were somewhat surprised on entering the first house, to observe the ladies in immense hammocks made of net-work of strong grass, dyed of various colours, and suspended from the roof, which was twenty feet high. Some of them were sitting, others reclining in their ham- mocks: with their feet, or, at least, one foot left hanging out, and so nearly touching the floor, that when they pleased, they could reach it with the toe, and by a gentle push, give motion to the ham- mock. This family consisted of no less than three generations : the grandmother lying at full length in a hammock suspended across one corner of the room; the mother seated in another, swinging from side to side; and three young ladies, her daughters, lounging in one hammock attached to hooks along the length of the room. The whole party were swinging away at such a furious rate, that at first we were confounded and made giddy by the variety of motions in different directions. We succeeded, however, in making good our pas- sage to a sofa at the further end of the room, though not without apprehension of being knocked over by the way. The ladies, seeing us embar- rassed, ceased their vibrations until the introduc- tions had taken place, and then touching the floor with their feet, swung off again without any inter- ruption to the conversation. We had often heard before of the fair complexion of the Guayaquilenas, but had fancied it was merely comparative. To our surprise, therefore, we found these ladies quite as fair and clear in complexion as anyHuropeans: unlike the Spaniards also, their eyes were blue, and their hair of a light colour. The whole party maintained the character for pre-eminence in beauty, for which Guayaquil is celebrated in all parts of South America : even the venerable grandmother preserved her looks in a degree rarely met with between the tropics. This is the more remarkable, as Guayaquil lies within little more than two degrees south of the Equator : and being on a level with the sea, is during the whole year excessively hot. Some people ascribe the fairness of the women, and the wonderful permanence of their good looks, to the moisture of the air ; and the city having on one side a great marsh, and on the other a large river ; while the country, for nearly a hundred miles, is a continued level swamp, thickly covered with trees. But how this can act to invert the usual order of things I have never heard any one attempt to explain ; certain it is, that all the women we saw were fair, and perfectly resembled, in this respect, the inhabitants of cold climates. At the next house, the most conspicuous person- age we encountered was a tall, gentlemanlike, ra- ther pompous sort of person ; dressed in a spotted linen wrapper, and green slippers, with his hair cropped and frizzled after a very strange fashion. His wife, a tall handsome woman, and his daughter, a grave pretty little freckled girl, as we thought of sixteen years of age, but actually only thirteen, were seated in a hammock ; which, by the united efforts of their feet, was made to swing to a great height. In another very large hammock sat a beautiful little girl of five years of age, waiting impatiently for some one to swing it about. Ona sofa, which was more than twenty feet long, sat . two or three young ladies, daughters of the lady in the hammock, and several others, visitors ; be- sides five or six gentlemen, several of whom were dressed, like the master of the house, in slippers and various coloured night-gowns of the lightest materials. On first entering the room, we were astounded by the amazing clatter of tongues speaking in tones so loud and shrill, and accompanied by such ani- mated stampings and violent gesticulations, that we imagined there must be a battle royal amongst the ladies. This, however, we were glad to find was a mistake ; it being the fashion of the country to scream or baw], rather than to speak, in familiar conversation. Not long after we were seated, and just as the war of words and attitudes was recommencing after the pause occasioned by the ceremony of present- ing us ; another daughter, a young married lady, came tripping into the room, and with a pretty and mirthful expression of countenance, and much ele- gance of manner, went round the company, and begged to be allowed to let fall a few drops of lavender water on their handkerchiefs. To each person she addressed something appropriate in a neat graceful way, beginning with the strangers, to eo 22 whom she gave a kind welcome, and hoped their stay would be long and agreeable. She then re- tired amidst the plaudits of the company, who were delighted with the manner in which she had done the honours of the house ; but she returned im- mediately, bringing with her a guitar, which she placed in the hands of a young lady, her friend, who had just come in, and then dropped off modestly and quietly to the furthest end of the great sofa. CHAPTER XXXVI. Discussions on the Freedom of Commerce.—Letter on the Subject of Unrestricted Commerce.—Gradual Introduc- tion of Wiser Notions on this Subject. MEANWHILE the master of the house sat apart in deep conversation with a gentleman recently arrived from Lima, who was recounting to his friend the amount of various duties levied at that place by San Martin’s government. He listened very composedly till the narrator mentioned the duty on cocoa. The effect was instantaneous ; he rose half off his seat, and with a look of anger and disappointment was preparing to utter a furious philippic against San Martin. The other, ob- serving the expression of his friend’s countenance, which was wrinkled up like that of a game-cock in wrath, and dreading an explosion, took upon himself to put his friend’s looks into language, and then to answer them himself ; and all with such volubility, that the unhappy master of the house, though bursting with impatience to speak, never got an opportunity of saying a single word. The scene itself was in the highest degree comic ; but the inference to be drawn from it is also worth attending to. In former times, when monopoly and restrictions blighted every commercial and agricultural speculation ; and when the wishes of individuals were never taken into account ; and all exertion, or attempt at interference with the establishment of duties, was utterly hopeless ; this man, now so animated, had been given up to indo- lence, and nothing connected with the custom-house had ever been known to rouse him to the slightest degree of action. Ever since the opening of the trade, however, he had taken the liveliest interest in all that related to import duties at Lima, espe- cially on the subject of cocoa, of which he was an extensive planter. In former times all such things, being irrevo- cably fixed, no exertions of any individual could remedy the evils which, by rendering every effort the inhabitants could make useless and hopeless, repressed all the energies of the country. And the charge, so often laid against the natives by the Spaniards, that they were stupid and incapable of understanding such subjects, was a cruel mockery upon men who had been from all time denied the smallest opportunity of making any useful exertion. Now, fortunately, it is far otherwise: the people have acquired a knowledge of their own conse- quence and power ; and, instead of submitting quietly, as heretofore, to be cheated at every turn, and letting all things pass unregarded, from utter hopelessness of amelioration ; they take a deep and active interest in whatever affects their for- tunes in the slightest degree. This spirit, which, THE NEW-BORN FREEDOM OF COMMERCE. in the hands of persons but partially acquainted | with the subject, at first leads to many errors in | practice, will, ere long, undoubtedly produce the best effects, by enriching that great field of com- merce, which wants nothing but the fertilising influence of freedom to render it in the highest degree productive. The most glaring practical error which the | Guayaquilenians have committed, and under which | they were suffering at the time of our visit, was the exclusion of foreigners from their commercial establishments ; none except a native being per- mitted to be at the head of a mercantile house ; while the duties paid by foreign goods were so — They © great as to amount nearly to a prohibition. had thus voluntarily reduced themselves in a great degree to the state in which they were placed before the revolution. This arose from ignorance it is true ; but ignorance is sufficiently excusable | in people heretofore purposely misdirected in their | It was pleasing, however, to observe — education. more correct views gradually springing up, and in the quarter where they were least likely to appear —amongst those very merchants themselves for whose benefit these absurd restrictions had been imposed, The following translation of a letter published in the Guayaquil newspapers, will show the progress already made in the right path. If is written by a man who probably derived more benefit than any other from the restrictions he condemns ; but his good sense and liberal views showed him that if they were removed, his gains would become still greater. To those who recollect the state of the press, and of everything else in former times, such a letter in a Spanish colonial paper will appear a wonderful phenomenon; and though containing nothing but common-places, brings with it a long train of interesting and useful reflections. “ Mr. Epiror, “ Nothing could distress me more than to hear that my former observations had offended any in- dividual ; and I declare that my sole object has been to explain my opinion on a subject, upon which, according to my view of it, much of the prosperity of this province depends. I allude to the commercial regulations ; and all the world knows that those existing before our political trans- formation subjected the whole province to the most insulting monopoly ; the right of supplying it with goods, and of exporting its productions, being reserved exclusively for the merchants of Cadiz, so that the province could not possibly prosper. After our conversion into a free state, the public had a right to hope that the disease being discovered, the remedy would have been instantly applied ; and I for one confess that I really did hope it would be so. I believed that we should immediately see liberal institutions tending directly to the benefit of the province ; but, lamentable to say, the same monopoly still continued in a very great degree. I see that its effects are the same, and that the population in general have received no relief from the establish- ment of the new institutions. “The commercial regulations, recently pub- lished, bear me out in what [ have said. I respect, in the highest degree, the authority which enforces those laws ; but I must be allowed to observe, : ee er eee a ee REVOLUTIONS OF GUAYAQUIL. that, in their formation, the true interests of the || people have not been consulted. The exclusive privileges which those regulations grant to the merchants are most grievous to all the rest of the population, as J shall endeavour to prove. It is a well-known principle, that the wealth of a peo- ple consists in satisfying their wants at the lowest cost possible ; and disposing of their own produc- tions at the highest cost possible. The regulations alluded to have a direct tendency to prevent this ever taking place. The trammels in which foreign intercourse is held by the third, twelfth, and fif- teenth regulations, will for ever exclude it from our port, and limit the buyers and sellers in our province, to an exceedingly small number: this result, although it be not so styled, is precisely the same thing as the ancient monopoly ; a mis- chievous system, under which no country can prosper. The regulations cited above give our merchants an absolute power over the rest of the people—they impose the most unworthy obliga- tions on foreign merchants, and subject them to a degrading subordination. There can be no doubt, indeed, if they be allowed to continue, that our commerce will remain in the same confined state as formerly, and the interests of the whole pro- ae will be sacrificed to those of a new mono- poly. “T ama merchant who fully enjoy the exclu- Sive privileges of the regulations ; and happening to be acquainted with all the languages most use- ful in commerce, I possess an advantage over most of my companions ; nothing therefore, in appearance, can be more beneficial to me, than the enforcement of the three articles in question. But as long as I desire the good of the province, and prefer the interest of the public to my own, I shall never cease to pray that these evils, which paralyse all commerce, may be corrected. “Let those three articles be erased, and I pledge myself, that, before’ a year shall have elapsed, the beneficial influence of a commerce, really free, will begin to be felt. Foreign mer- chants, protected by law and seeing their specu- lations encouraged in every way not opposed to the public advantage, will flock to our market ; this competition will lower the price of articles con- sumed in the country ; while it will raise that of such as are produced in it for exportation, and opulence will speedily take up her residence amongst us.” The first of the three articles alluded to forbids the introduction of any goods, unless consigned to an inhabitant of the city, and a naturalised sub- ject. The second directs that no stranger shall be allowed to establish a factory, or a commercial house, in the province ; and the third is intended to give such advantages to the native merchant, as must prevent all foreign competition. _As might be expected, these laws were begin- ning to be evaded by English and other capitalists, who settled on the spot, and, without their names appearing, really transacted the whole business. The government were by these and other cireum- stances eventually made to feel the absurdity of their restrictions, and I have been informed that a new and liberal set of regulations has since been established. CHAPTER XXXVII. GUAYAQUIL. Political Revolutions of Guayaquil.—Declares itself an Independent State.—Military Interference.—Terror ex- cited by these Commotions.—Politics the reigning Topic, even amongst the Ladies.—General View of the State of Politics in South America. In the latter end of the year 1820, Guayaquil declared itself independent of the Spanish autho- rity ; framed a new government ; established laws, and opened the port to foreign trade. They ham- pered it, however, injudiciously, in the manner alluded to in the foregoing letter ; and, conse- quently little good arose from the change, or at all events, much less benefit than a more liberal sys- tem would have produced. The population in this town is about twenty thousand, and in the surrounding country subject to it, about fifty thousand more ; and although it is evident that so small a town, and so limited a population, were insufficient to constitute a sepa- rate state, yet at the time I speak of, the sur- rounding countries were so circumstanced that no other power had leisure to interfere ; and Guaya- quil threw off the Spanish yoke. It is the princi- pal port of Quito, and belonged formerly to the province of New Granada, at that time in posses- sion of the Spaniards, who, however, were pre- vented from sending troops to re-establish their authority, as their whole attentien was then occu- pied in trying to repel the Patriots. When Bolivar was creating the republic of Colombia in 1819 he included Guayaquil in that territory, although he had not actually taken possession of it. Jn the meanwhile, the people of Guayaquil, as has been stated, became independent, and remained as a separate state, till Bolivar came in the middle of 1821, and then he confirmed his former appro- priation of this port to Colombia. But the place was still disturbed, and the Guayaquil flag was again hoisted. The only other person besides Bolivar that could have interfered with them was San Martin; but he had enough on his hands already ; so that, in the general bustle, Guaya- quil was allowed to carry its Independent flag, and call itself a separate state unmolested. All reflecting persons in the town, however, saw that it was utterly impossible to maintain such a position, and that, sooner or later, they must fall permanently under one or other of the great powers, Colombia or Peru. The inhabitants were nearly divided on this subject ; and contemptible as the discussion was, more violent party-spirit was never displayed. A constant war of words was maintained, for no swords were drawn : distinguishing badges were worn by the different parties ; and each bawled out in the streets, or from their windows, the names of their respective favourites, Bolivar, or San Martin. There was something a little ludi- crous, perhaps, in their notion of displaying an Independent flag, and calling themselves an inde- pendent nation, while in the same breath they were vociferating their determination to submit to the will of a military leader, and were quarrelling amongst themselves, merely as to which of the two chiefs they would be governed by. It was an election, however, and one in which all classes took an active and sincere part. This was a new 24 GENERAL SUCRE. thing for South Americans, and their spirits accordingly rose with that feeling of freedom, which the exercise of an elective right inspires more than any other. The whole scene, therefore, was highly animated, and more like that of an English election than anything I had before seen abroad. They must needs have an army too ; and,as in revolutionary times, the military always take upon themselves to become a reflecting body, and as they wear by their side a cogent and effective argument, they generally usurp no small share of influence. Accordingly, on Christmas eve, at the time we were sailing up the river, the whole. army of the state of Guayaquil, consisting of one regiment, marched out of the town, and having taken up a position half a league off, sent in a message at day-break to the governor, to say they were determined to serve under no other flag than that of Bolivar ; and unless they were indulged in this matter, they would instantly set fire to the town. The governor, with the good sense and pru- dence of utter helplessness, sent his compliments to the troops, and begged they would do just as they pleased. Upon the receipt of this civil mes- sage, one half of the regiment feeling much flattered with having the matter left to their own free choice, and being rather anxious, perhaps, for their breakfast, which was waiting for them, agreed to relinquish the character of rebels, and come quietly back to their allegiance. The government thus strengthened, took more vigorous measures, and lost no time in acceding to the wishes of the remainder of the troops, who were embarked in the course of the morning of our arrival, and sent up the river to join Bolivar’s forces, at this time surrounding Quito. This measure was adopted at the recommendation of General Sucre, one of Bolivar’s officers, whose head-quarters were actually in Guayaquil, notwith- standing its boasted independence. The whole affair, indeed, looked like a burlesque on revolu- tions : most fortunately no blood was shed ; for as both the soldiers who went out of the town, and the inhabitants and such of the military as remained, had arms in their hands, itis difficult to say how tragical this farce might have been inits catastrophe, had they not come to some terms. Although it ended so pacifically, there was considerable alarm throughout the town during the whole of Christ- mas day, and no flag of any kind was flying till about noon, when, upon the suppression of the rebellion, the Independent national standard was again displayed. On the 26th, the alarm had completely subsided, and all was going on as before. As it was a fast- day, however, no business could be done, nor any supplies procured ; and as all the people I wished to see were occupied at mass, I took the oppor- tunity of making some astronomical and magnetical observations, on the left bank of the river, imme- diately opposite the town ; a spot which from its solitude appeared well suited to this purpose. But, on rowing up a little creek, we came unexpectedly to a large wooden house, half concealed by the trees ; here we found a merry party of ladies, who had fled on Christmas eve during the alarm. They carried us into the forest to show us a plan- tation of the tree which yields the cocoa, or more properly cacao-nut, from which chocolate is made. The cacao grows on a tree about twenty feet high The nut, such as we find it, is contained withina | rind of a melon shape, as large as a man’s two. fists, with the nuts or kernels clustered in the inside. The fruit grows principally from the stem, or, when found on the branches, still preserves the same character, and grows from the main |} branch, not from a lateral twig. Whilst we were losing our time with these merry gossips, a messenger arrived to inform the ladies that a boat had been sent to carry them back, as the city was again restored to tranquillity. We escorted them to the creek, and saw them safely into their boat, having made more progress in our acquaintance in an hour, than we could have done in a month, in countries further removed from the sun, and from the disorders of a revolu- tion. We were still in good time for making our ob- servations at noon ; but the heat at that hour was intense, for there was not the least breath of wind; and as soon as the meridian observation was over, we retreated to a thick grove of plantain trees, to make some experiments with the dipping needle. Here, though completely sheltered from the sun, we had a fine view of the river, and the town beyond it. The stream, which at this place is about two miles broad, flowed majestically along, with a surface perfectly smooth and glassy; bearing along, on its steaming bosom, vast trunks of trees and boughs, and large patches of grass. The town of Guayaquil viewed through the vapour ex- haled from the river and the glowing banks, was in“a constant tremour—there was no sound heard, except now and then the chirp of a grasshopper, —the birds which soared sleepily aloft seemed to have no note—everything, in short, spoke to the senses the language of a hot climate. I dined at two o’clock, with the author of the foregoing letter, and afterwards rode with him to see the lines thrown up for the purpose of keeping off the Spaniards, should they, as was apprehended, make a descent upon Guayaquil from Quito. Such irregular and hastily constructed means of defend- ing an open town, are held, I believe in no great respect by military men; yet the moral influence of such undertakings may nevertheless, as in this instance, prove beneficial. It may have the effect of making the people believe themselves in earnest; and thus by uniting them in a common work, give them confidence in one another’s sincerity ; a feeling which, if properly guided, may be rendered a great deal more formidable, than the artificial defences themselves. In the evening a party of ladies assembled at our friend’s house; but as they arranged themselves in two lines facing one another, in a narrow veran- dah, it became impossible to pass either between or behind them. Atlength I discovered a little window which looked out from the drawing-room into the verandah, near the middle of the station taken up in this determined manner by the ladies. By this time they were all speaking at once, in 2, loud shrill voice ; and so distinctly, that I had no difficulty in distinguishing the words ; but of the conversa- tion, which was entirely made up of local topics, and allusions to characters and incidents of the day, I could make nothing for a considerable time, till at length the subject was changed, and a very spirited discussion on polities commenced, | REFLECTIONS ON THE SOUTH AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS. 25 | This I could follow: and it was singularly interest- | ing to mark, in the eagerness in these debates, the | rapid effect which the alteration of the times had | produced, by stimulating even the ladies to become | acquainted with a class of subjects, which, two or | three years before, the most resolute man in the country dared not think of, much less give an || opinion upon. | | | Being resolved to see somewhat more of these good people than one evening afforded, I invited the whole party to breakfast on board next morn- ing, an invitation which was accepted by accla- mation, for they had already set their hearts upon seeing my ship. They were by far the merriest and '| lightest-hearted people, besides being the fairest | | and handsomest, we had met within South America. Accordingly next morning, at the expense of a little crowding, we contrived to seat the whole party to a substantial breakfast. As most of the officers of the ship spoke Spanish, we took good care of our party, who split themselves into groups, and roved about the ship as they pleased : a sort of freedom which people greatly prefer to being dragged mechanically round to see everything. Our fiddler being unfortunately indisposed, we could not have a dance, which evidently disap- pointed no small number of our fair friends ; but even without this powerful auxiliary to form ac- quaintance, we were all soon wonderfully at ease with one another. I lamented sincerely that my duty obliged me so precipitately to leave a spot holding out a pro- mise of such agreeable society ; and where every- thing, domestic and political, was at the same time so peculiarly well circumstanced for the exhibition of national character ; and calculated to show, in a more striking light than in quieter times, the real spirit and essence of a country, that has never yet had justice done it, and of which in Europe we still know but little. There has seldom, perhaps, existed in the world a@ more interesting scene than is now passing in South America ; or one in which human character, in all its modifications, has received so remark- able a stimulus to untried action ; where the field is so unbounded, and the actors in it so numerous ; where every combination of moral and physical circumstances is so fully subjected to actual trial ; or where so great a number of states living under different climates, and possessed of different soils, are brought under review at the same moment ; are placed severally and collectively in similar situations ; and are forced to act and think for themselves, for the first time : where old feelings, habits, laws, and prejudices, are jumbled along with new institutions, new knowledge, new cus- toms, and new principles, all left free to produce what chance, and a thousand unthought-of causes, may direct ; amidst conflicting interests and pas- sions of all kinds, let loose to drift along the face of society. To witness the effects of such a pro- digious political and moral experiment as this, even in our hurried way, was in the highest degree gratifying and instructive. But the impossibility of examining the whole at leisure ; of watching its progress; of arranging and connecting the different parts together ; and of separating what was accidental and transient, from that which was general and permanent ; was, indeed, a source of the greatest mortification to us. As we had now completed our supplies, and finished all our business at Guayaquil, I decided upon sailing ; and at the recommendation of the pilot, agreed to proceed the same evening. It would have been satisfactory to have returned in day-light, that we might have seen that part of the country which we had before passed in the night-time ; but the tides had changed in the interval of our stay, and again perversely served only at night. I took a farewell dinner on shore, and in the early part of the evening, just as I was stepping into the boat, was assailed by a large party of ladies, who were on their way to a ball, at which all the world, they said, was to be present. The temptation to stay one day longer was great, and I might, perhaps, have yielded, had I not fore- seen that these good and merry people would have discovered means to render our departure more and more difficultevery day. On going on board, I found the pilot had deferred moving the ship till eleven o’clock, by which time, he said, the ebb-tide would be running strongly down. When I came upon deck, accordingly, at that hour, the night was pitch dark, and the damp land-breeze was sighing mournfully among the ropes. On turning towards the town, we saw a blaze of light from the ball-room windows ; and, on looking attentively, could detect the dancers crossing between us and the lamps ; and now and then a solitary high note was heard along the water. Far off in the south-eastern quarter, a great fire in the forest cast a bright glare upon the clouds above, though the flames themselves were sunk by the distance below the horizon. This partial and faint illumination served only to make the sky in every other direction look more cold and dismal, ——- 9 ———~ : CHAPTER XXXVIII. Interesting Navigation down the River of Guayaquil by means of an operation called Kedging.—Meeting with the American Frigate Constellation.—Visit to the Gala- pagos Islands.—Experiments made with Captain Kater’s Pendulum.—Terrapins or Land Tortoises. . THE manner in which we proceeded down the river is so curious, and, as far as I know, so rare, that I shall attempt to make it intelligible even to readers who are not nautical. In the navigation of rivers which have many windings and shallow places, the chief danger is, that the tide will force the ship either on the banks or on some shoal lying in the stream: there is a risk of this even when under all sail, and with a good breeze of wind ; for the tide sometimes runs so rapidly and irregularly as to hustle her on shore before the sails can be made to act. When the wind is blowing faintly, and at the same time not quite fair, the danger of this happening is much increased. On such occasions, instead of sailing in the usual manner, with the ship’s head foremost, no sails whatever are set, and the stern, instead of the bow, is made to go first, an operation technically called Kedging. ? If the anchor by which a vessel is riding in a tide’s-way be raised off the ground, she will, of course, immediately begin to drift along with the stream, and most probably soon run aground. 26 The ship, it must be observed, when under these circumstances, and with no sail set, can make no progress through the water, but must drift along with it like a log; consequently the rudder will have no effect in directing her course, and she will be left entirely at the mercy of the tide. The ope- ration of kedging is a device to produce a relative motion between the ship and the water, in order to bring the directing power of the rudder into action. This object is accomplished by allowing the anchor to trail along, instead of being lifted entirely off the ground, as in the first supposition. It is known practically, that the degree of firmness with which an anchor holds the ground depends, within certain limits, upon its remoteness from the ship. When the anchor lies on the ground immediately under the ship’s bows, and the cable is vertical, it has little or no hold ; but when there is much cable out, the anchor fixes itself in the bottom, and cannot without difficulty be dragged out of its place. In the operation of kedging, the cable is hove, or drawn in, till nearly in an upright position ; this immediately loosens the hold of the anchor, which then begins to trail along the ground, by the action of the tide pressing against the ship. If the anchor ceases altogether to hold, the vessel will, of course, move entirely along with the tide, and the rudder will become useless. However, if the anchor be not quite lifted off the ground, but be merely allowed to drag along, it is evident that the ship, thus clogged, will accompany the tide reluctantly, and the stream will in part run past her ; and thus a relative motion between the vessel and the water being produced, a steering power will be communicated to the rudder. In our case, the tide was running three miles an hour ; and had the anchor been lifted wholly off the ground, we must have been borne past the shore exactly at that rate ; but by allowing it to drag along the ground, a friction was produced, by which the ship was retarded one mile an hour; and she was therefore actually carried down the stream at the rate of only two miles, while the remaining one mile of tide ran past, and allowed of her being steered: so that, in point of fact, the ship became as much under the command of the rudder as if she had been under sail, and going at the rate of one mile an hour through the water. This power of steering enabled the pilot to thread his way, stern foremost, amongst the shoals, and to avoid the angles of the sand-banks ; for, by turning the ship’s head one way or the other, the tide was made to act obliquely on the opposite bow, and thus she was easily made to cross over from bank to bank, in a zig-zag direc- tion. It sometimes happened, that with every care the pilot found himself caught by some eddy of the tide, which threatened to carry him on a shoal ; when this took place, a few fathoms of the cable were permitted to run out, which in an instant allowed the anchor to fix itself in the ground, and consequently the ship became mo- tionless. By now placing the rudder in the pro- per position, the tide was soon made to act on one bow ; the ship was sheered over, as it is called, clear of the danger ; and the cable being again drawn in, the anchor dragged along as before. The operation of kedging, as may be conceived, requires the most constant vigilance, and is full of interest, though rather a slow mode of pro- KEDGING DOWN THE RIVER, ceeding ; for it cost us all that night, and the whole of the next day and night, to retrace the ground which we formerly had gone over in ten hours. ‘ We had by means of this delay an opportunity | of seeing the country by day-light ; but except at | a few chance openings, the distant view was com- | pletely shut out by the dense nature of the forest on both banks of the stream. On reaching the entrance of the river, we fel in with two boats belonging to the United States’ |) This |} ship Constellation, proceeding to Guayaquil. frigate’s draft of water was so great, that the pilots could not undertake to carry her over the shoals, — unless she were lightened by the removal of her | guns. As this could not be done readily, the eap- tain and a party of his officers had determined to go up in their boats. We were happy to afford them a resting-place and refreshment, before their | long row, in a dreadfully hot day. The accidents of a similar course of service had | thrown the Constellation and the Conway fre- quently together, during the last year ; and the intercourse which naturally sprang up in conse- | quence had established an esteem and friendship which made such a rencontre a source of general satisfaction. i] | | We learned from our American | friends, that they also expected to visit the coast | of Mexico, for which we were bound, and we rejoiced at the prospect of again falling in with | them. Something, however, interfered to alter | their plans, for we never had the pleasure of | meeting them again. We finally left the river and the bay of Guay- aquil on the morning of the 30th of December. It was no small mortification to us not to have seen Chimborazo, the highest mountain of all the Andes. It was covered with clouds, in the most pro- voking manner, during the whole of the eight days we had been considerably within the distance at which it is easily discernible in clear weather. ! From Guayaquil we stretched off to the west- | ward to the Galapagos, an uninhabited group of | voleanic islands, scattered along the equator, at the distance of two hundred leagues from the main-land. As this is a place of resort for the South Sea whaling-ships, I called there to see whether any assistance was required by that important branch of the British shipping interests. But we fell in with only two ships, at one of the most southern islands of the group ; after which we proceeded to an island thirty miles north of the line, where I remained a few days to make some experiments with an invariable pendulum of Captain Kater’s construction. I had intended to have made these experiments | on a spot lying exactly under the equator, but when we got amongst the islands, a strong current set us so far to leeward in the course of the night before we were aware of its influence, that I found it impossible to regain the lost ground, at least without spending more time than my orders admit- ted of, and I therefore made for the nearest an- chorage within reach, The spot chosen for the experiments lies near the extremity of a point of land running into the sea, at the south end of the Earl of Abingdon Island, and forms the western side of a small bay about a mile across. This point is part of an | ancient stream of lava which has flowed down the | side of a peaked mountain, between two and three ) miles distant from the station, in a direction nearly } north, and about two thousand feet high. The peak slopes rapidly at first, forming a tolerably steep cone, but terminated by a broad and gently inclined base of a mile and a half. The mountain | is studded on every side with craters, or mouths, | from whence, at different periods, streams of lava have issued, and running far into the sea, have | formed projecting points, such as that on which we fixed our station. The western face of the island presents a cliff nearly perpendicular, and not less than a thousand feet high ; it exhibits the rude stratification of lava, tuffa, and ashes, which | characterises the fracture of ancient volcanic mountains. | Abingdon Island is ten or twelve miles in length, || the north end being a series of long, low, and very | rugged streams of lava ; the peak standing about one-third of the whole length from the southern extreme. The rock at different places not far from the station was found to be full of caverns, into which the tide flowed and ebbed through sub- terranean channels, the outer crust of the stream having, as frequently happens, served as the pipe to conduct the lava off. It is therefore probable that our foundation may not have been the solid. rock ; a circumstance, which taken along with the general hollow nature of volcanic districts, and the deepness of the surrounding ocean, renders these experiments not so fit to be compared with those made in England, as with others made on a similar volcanic soi]. It was greatly to be regretted that our time was too limited to allow of our engaging in a fresh series, either at the same island, or on some other lying near the equator ; the service upon which the Conway was employed rendering it necessary that our stay should not be longer at the Gala- pagos than the 16th of January. But as we anchored at Abingdon’s Island on the 7th at noon there remained barely nine complete days in which everything was to be done. We had to search for a landing-place, which occupied some considerable time ; to decide upon a station ; to rig our tents ; to build the observatory ; then to land the instru- ments and set them up ; and, as we had no time for trials and alterations, everything required to be permanently fixed atonce. We were fortunate in weather during the first two days, when our things were all lying about, and our habitations ill assorted ; but on the third night it rained hard, and the water, which trickled through the canvas, caused us some discomfort, although we fortu- nately succeeded in sheltering the instruments. The heat, during the day, was not only oppressive at the time, but very exhausting in its effects ; and at night, although the thermometer never fell lower than 73°, the feeling of cold, owing to the transition from 93°, to which it sometimes rose in the day, was very disagreeable. It was with reluctance that I left the neighbour- hood of the equator, without. having made more numerous and varied, and consequently less ex- ceptionable, observations on the length of the. pendulum. It would above all have been desirable to have swung it at stations whose geological cha- racter more nearly resembled that of England, where Captain Kater’s experiments were performed, THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. 27 Thus the results obtained at the Galapagos, though very curious in themselves, are not so valuable for comparison with those made in thiscountry. The time may come, however, when they may be more useful; that is to say, should experiments be made with the pendulum at stations remote from the Galapagos, but resembling them in insular situation, in size, and in geological character ; such as the Azores, the Canaries, St. Helena, the Isle of France, and various other stations amongst the eastern islands of the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. The advantage of having it swung at the Cape of Good Hope, and especially at the Falkland Islands, (which lie in the correspondent latitude to that of London,) and at various other stations on the main-land, or on large islands, is still more obvious. The length of the seconds pendulum at the Galapagos, as determined by our experiments, is 39.01717 inches, and the ellipticity or compression of the earth, is expressed by the fraction 54, ; where the numerator expresses the difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of the earth, and the denominator the length of the diameter at the equator. The details of these experiments have been already published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1823 ; and a general abstract is given in the Appendix to this Part, No. III. We had no time to survey these islands, a service much required, since ‘few if any of them are yet properly laid down on our charts. They are in general barren ; but some of the highest have a stunted brushwood, and all of them are covered with the prickly pear-tree, upon which a large species of land-tortoise lives and thrives in a wonderful manner. These animals grow to a great size, weighing sometimes several hundred pounds ; they are excellent eating, and we laid in a stock, which lasted the ship’s company for many weeks, The most accurate and full account of these curious animals which I have anywhere seen, is contained in a very amusing book, Delano’s Voyages and Travels, printed at Boston, in 1807. From the fidelity with which such of their habits as we had an opportunity of observing are de- scribed, I am satisfied with the correctness of the whole picture. We took some on board, which lived for many months, but none of them survived the cold weather off Cape Horn. I preserved one in a cask of spirits, and it may now be seen in the Museum of the College at Edinburgh : it is about the medium size. Captain Delano says,—“ The Terrapin, or as it is sometimes called, the Land- Tortoise, that is found at the Galapagos islands, is by far the largest, best, and most numerous, of any place I ever visited. Some of the largest weigh three or four hundred pounds ; but their common size is between fifty and one hundred pounds. Their shape is somewhat similar to that of our small land-tortoise which is found upon the upland, and is, like it, high and round on the back. They have a very long neck, which, together with their head has a disagreeable ap- pearance, very much resembling a large serpent. I have seen them with necks between two and three feet long, and when they saw anything that was new to them, or met each other, they would raise their heads as high as they could, their DIMENSIONS OF A TERRAPIN. necks being nearly vertical, and advance with their mouths wide open, appearing to be the most spiteful of any reptile whatever.. Sometimes two of them would come up to each other in that manner, so near as almost to touch, and stand in that position for two or three minutes, appearing so angry, that their mouths, heads, and necks, ap- peared to quiver with passion, when by the least touch of a stick against their heads or necks, they would shrink back in an instant, and draw their necks, heads, and legs into their shells. This is the only quick motion I ever saw them perform. I was put in the same kind of fear that is felt at the sight or near approach of asnake, at the first one I saw, which was very large. I was alone at the time, and he stretched himself as high as he could, opened his mouth, and advanced towards me. His body was raised more than a foot from the ground, his head turned forward in the manner of a snake in the act of biting, and raised two feet and a half above its body. I had a musket in my hand at the time, and when he ad- vanced near enough to reach him with it, I held the muzzle out so that he hit his neck against it, at the touch of which he dropped himself upon the ground, and instantly secured all his limbs within his shell. They are perfectly harmless, as much so as any animal I know of, notwithstanding their threatening appearance. They have no teeth, and of course they cannot bite very hard. They take their food into their mouths by the assistance of the sharp edge of the upper and under jaw, which shut together, one a little within the other, so as to nip grass, or any flowers, berries, or shrubbery, the only food they eat. “Those who have seen the elephant, have seen the exact resemblance of the leg and foot of a ter- rapin. I have thought that I could discover some faint resemblance to that animal in sagacity. They are very prudent in taking care of themselves and their eggs, and in the manner of securing them in their nests ; and I have observed on board my own ship, as well as others, that they can easily be taught to go to any place on the deck, which may be wished for them to be constantly kept in. The method to effect this is, by whipping them with a small line when they are out of place, and to take them up and carry them to the place assigned for them ; which, being repeated a few times, will bring them into the practice of going themselves, by being whipped when they are out of their place. They can be taught to eat on board a ship, as well as a sheep, or a goat ; and will live for a long time, if there is proper food provided for them. This I always took care to do, when in a place where I could procure it. The most suitable to take on board a ship, is prickly pear-trees ; the trunk of which is a soft, pithy substance, of a sweetish taste, and full of juice. Sometimes I procured grass for them. Either of these being strewed on the quarter-deck, the pear-tree being cut fine, would immediately entice them to come from all parts of the deck to it ; and they would eat in their way, as well as any domestic animal. I have known them live several months without food ; but they always, in that case, grow lighter, and their fat diminishes, as common sense teaches, notwith- standing some writers have asserted to the con- trary. If food will fatten animals, to go without it will make them lean. “T carried at one time from James’s Island, | three hundred very good terrapins to the Island of | Massa Fuero ; and there landed more than one- | half of them, after having them sixty days on | board my ship. Half of the number landed died |} as soon as they took food. This was owing to their | stomachs having got so weak and out of tone that jj they could not digest it. As soon as they ate any | grass after landing, they would froth at the mouth, | and appeared to be in a state of insanity, and died |] in the course of a day or two. This satisfied me |} that they were in some sort like other animals, and | only differed from them by being slower in their |} motions ; and that it takes a longer time to pro- | duce an effect upon their system than upon that || of other creatures. Those that survived the shock which was occasioned by this sudden transition | from total abstinence to that of abundance, soon || became tranquil, and appeared to be as healthy and as contented with the climate as when they || were at their native place ; and they would || probably have lived as long, had they not been | killed for food. Their flesh, without exception, is | of as sweet and pleasant a flavour as any that I ever ate. It was common to take out of one of them ten or twelve pounds of fat, when they were opened, besides what was necessary to cook them |} with. This was as yellow as our best butter, and |} of a sweeter flavour than hog’s-lard. They are the slowest in their motions of any animal I ever saw, except the sloth. They are remarkable for their strength ; one of them would bear a man’s weight on his back and walk with him. I have seen them at one or two other places only. One instance was, those brought from Madagascar to the Isle of France ; but they were far inferior in size, had longer legs, and were much more ugly in their looks, than those of the Galapagos Islands. I think I have likewise seen them at some of the Oriental Islands which I have visited. “ T have been more particular in describing the terrapin than I otherwise should have been, had it not been for the many vague accounts given of it by some writers, and the incorrect statement made of the country in which it is to be found. It has been publicly said that terrapins are com- mon in China, which, I am confident, is incorrect ; for I have carried them to Canton at two different times, and every Chinese who came on board my ship was particularly curious in inspecting and asking questions about them ; and not one, I am positive, had any knowledge of the animal before.” I subjoin the measurement of one terrapin, weighing 190 lbs. Dimensions of a Terrapin weighing 190 lbs. Length of upper shell, Breadth of ditto, . Length of belly shell, Breadth of ditto, . Length of the head, Greatest breadth, . Ditto depth, : , ° ; ‘ Greatest extent of upper and lower man- dible, .. ; ' : ° Distance of eye from nose, é Length of neck, . . : Circumference about the middle of the neck, 9 ARRIVAL AT PANAMA. ih. Inches. From fore part of upper shell to the fore part of belly shell, 2 , : - Il} From after-part of upper shell to the after- _ part of belly shell, . : = Stine igh’ Length of fore-leg and thigh, . : on Qhy Circumference above the foot, is - « 82 Length of hind-leg and thigh, : - 24 Circumference above the foot, woke Length of tail, . . : . ‘ . 88 Depth of upper shell when scooped out, . 17° Widthinside, . . : : ‘ ee QF Number of pieces composing the disk, . . 13 Number of pieces in the margin, ‘ »- 24 When alive weighed : - 190lbs Quantity fit for use, °. es | | Loss, . : - 106 Having finished our experiments, we made sail on the 16th of January 1822 for Panama, but owing to the light winds and calms which prevail in the bay of that name, it was not till the 29th that we came in sight of the coast of Mexico, about one hundred and twenty miles to the westward of Panama. CHAPTER XXXIX. PANAMA. Arrival at Panama.—Hospitality of the Inhabitants.— Negroes speaking English.—Pacific Revolution of this City.—Moonlight Games and Music of the Negro Slaves. We anchored in Panama Roads at nine in the morning of the 2d of February 1822, and as no one on board was acquainted with the place, a fisherman was called alongside, who undertook to pilot our boat through the reefs to the landing- place. On rowing round the angle of the fortifi- cations encircling the town, which is built on a rocky peninsula, we found ourselves in a beautiful little bay, strongly marked with the peculiar features of the torrid zone. The beach was fringed with plantain and banana trees, growing amongst oranges, figs, and limes, and numberless rich shrubs, shaded by the tamarind-tree rising higher than any of the others, excepting the tall, graceful cocoa-nut, with its feathery top and naked stem. Close to the ground, and almost hid by the foliage, were clustered groups of cane-built huts, thatched with palm-leaves; and on the sandy beach before them lay the canoes of the natives, hollowed out of single trees ; while others were _ paddling across the bay, or skimming along under a mat sail, hoisted on a bamboo mast; all con- tributing, with the clear sky and hot weather, to give a decidedly tropical aspect to the scene. _ Our surprise on landing was considerable, when we heard the negroes and negresses who crowded the wharf, all speaking English, with a strong accent, which we recognised as that of the West Indies ; a peculiarity acquired from the constant intercourse kept up, across the isthmus, with Ja- maica. Most of the natives also spoke English more or less corrupted. Innumerable other trivial circumstances of dress and appearance, and man- ners, conspired to make us feel that we had left those countries purely Spanish, and more effec- 29 tually excluded by the ancient policy from foreign intercourse. We had no letters of introduction, but this appeared to be immaterial, for we had scarcely left the boat before a gentleman, a native of the place, but speaking English perfectly, introduced himself, and made us an offer of his house, and his best services during our stay. This ready hospitality would surprise a stranger landing at a European port, but in distant regions, where few ships of war are seen, the officers are always received with attention and confidence: for as they can have no views of a commercial nature, they are at once admitted into society as persons quite disinterested. This cordial reception, which is universal in every part of the world remote from our own shores, independently of being most agreeable, is also highly convenient ; and com- pensates, in a great measure, to naval travellers for the interruptions to which they are always lia- ble in their researches, by the calls of professional duty. Our hospitable friend being connected with the West Indies, as most of the Panama houses are, put into our hands a file of newspapers, principally Jamaica Gazettes ; and as we had not seen an English paper for many months, nothing could be more acceptable. But upon examining them, we discovered that most of the news they contained came to us trebly distilled, via Jamaica, via New York, via Liverpool from London. In some of these papers we saw our own ship mentioned ; but in the several transfers which the reports had undergone, from one paper to another, could scarcely recognise our own proceedings. We had been led to expect that Panama was still under the Spaniards, and the first indication we saw of the contrary was the flag of another nation flying on the fort. We were by this time indeed become so familiar with revolutions, and had learned to consider every government in that country so unsettled, that we ceased to be much surprised by any such change, however sudden. It appeared that the Spaniards a few weeks before had detached nearly all the troops of the garrison to reinforce thearmy at Quito, and the inhabitants being thus left to themselves could not resist the temptation of imitating the example of the sur- rounding states, and declaring themselves inde- pendent. They were not, however, quite so extravagant as to constitute themselves into a free and separate state, like the town of Guayaquil ; but chose, more wisely, to place themselves under one of their powerful neighbours, Mexico or Colombia. After considerable debating on this point, it was decided by the inhabitants to claim the protection of Bolivar, to whose country, Colombia, they were nearer, and with which they were likely to hold more useful intercourse than with Mexico. No place, perhaps, in all the’ Spanish Trans- atlantic possessions, suffered so little from the erro- neous systems of the mother-country as Panama ; partly in consequence of the constant intercourse which it maintained with the West India islands, and partly from its being the port through which European goods were formerly made to pass across the isthmus to Peru, and to the south coast of Mexico. Thisdegree of intercourseand business gave it an importance, and afforded it the means 30 of acquiring wealth, which the rigorous nature of the colonial system allowed to no other place in that country. The transition, therefore, which now took place from the Spanish rule to a state of independence, was very easy, and there being no motive to violence, it was unaccompanied by any extravagance on the part of the people. Thus Panama, under similar political circumstances with Lima and Guayaquil, was placed in singular contrast to both those cities. So gently, indeed, was the revolution brought about, that the inha- bitants did not even change their governor, but left him the option either of continuing in his old situation, or of retiring. When the alternative was put to him, he shrugged his shoulders—whiffed his cigar for a few minutes—and replied, that he had no sort of objection to remain: upon which the inhabitants deliberately hauled down the flag of Spain, hoisted that of Bolivar in its place, pro- claimed a free trade, and let all other things go on as before. But there were many, it was said, who did not rejoice so much in the change, as good patriots ought to have done ; a piece of political scandal, however, which attached chiefly to the ladies, who are in general vastly more enthusiastic in the cause of independence than the men. The real truth is, Panama had been garrisoned by a very handsome Spanish regiment for some years ; and the abstract feeling of freedom, consequent upon the departure of the troops, was considered, it was said, by the fair Panamanians, a very poor com- pensation for the gentle military despotism in which they had been lately held. I waited upon the governor to breakfast, and not knowing that he had been in power during the Spanish times, I said, as usual, something congra- tulatory upon the improvements likely to result from the recent changes. I saw, with surprise, a cloud pass across his brow ; but he soon recovered, and in a dry sarcastic tone said, he hoped it would be a change for the better. In the course of the morning we became ac- quainted with many of the merchants of the place, who surprised us a good deal, and somewhat piqued us, by their total indifference about the South American news which we were so full of. They declared they could never manage to under- stand the different accounts from the south: that names, places, and circumstances, were all jumbled together ; and, in short, treated the whole subject very much in the way it used to be received in England a few years ago. They were, in fact, far more occupied with North American, English, and West Indian topics, and, above all, with the little matters which concerned their own town, than with the momentous affairs affecting the whole southern continent ; upon which, however, their own prosperity must eventually depend. It was by no means easy to get in return the news we wanted, even from people who had recently been in England, or in Jamaica, for they had no idea of the extent of our ignorance, made no allowance for our dates, and never dreamed of telling us anything not new to themselves ; for- getting, that to us, who had not seen an English paper for half a year, everything was new. And they were just as much surprised at our indiffer- ence about Jamaica and New York intelligence, as we had been to find them careless about Lima THE SONG OF LIBERTY SUNG BY SLAVES. and Valparaiso. must of course have heard of that long ago ;” and so on with the rest, till at length we became com- | pletely confused and tired of asking questions ; and were glad to relapse into our wonted abstrac-- tion from all that was distant, and turn again cheerfully to take an exclusive interest in what was passing immediately before us. As I had been kept out of bed for two nights, attending to the pilotage of the ship, I was glad to retire at an early hour; but I could get no sleep for the noise in the Plaza, or great square, before the windows of my room. After some time spent in vain endeavours to disregard the clamour, I rose and sat at the window, to discover, if I could, what was going on. It was a bright moon-light night, and the grass which had been allowed to grow up in the centre of the square was covered with parties of negro slaves, some seated and When in reading the papers we | came to some allusion, and asked what it meant, — the answer generally was, “Oh! I thought you | others dancing in great circles, to the sound of | rude music made by striking a cocoa-nut shell with a short stick ; while the whole party, dancers as well as sitters, joined in a song with very loud but not discordant voices. It appeared to be some festival of their own, which they had assem- bled to celebrate in this way. I was half disappointed at discovering nothing appropriate or plaintive in the music; on the con- trary, it was extremely lively, and seemed the result of light-hearted mirth. Many of the groups were singing, not without taste and spirit, a patri- otic song of the day, originally composed at Buenos Ayres, and long well known in the Independent states of the south, though only recently imported into the isthmus. The burden of the song was Libertad! Libertad! Libertad! but I conceive not one of these wretches attached the slightest mean- ing to the words, but repeated them merely from their accordance with the music. While listening however to these slaves singing in praise of free- dom, it was difficult not to believe that some por- tion of the sentiment must go along with the music; yet I believe it was quite otherwise, and that the animation with which they sung, was due entirely to the lively character of the song itself, and its happening to be the fashionable air of the day. There was something discordant to the feelings in all this; and it was painful to hear these poor people singing in praise of that liberty acquired by their masters, from whose thoughts nothing certainly was farther removed than the idea of extending the same boon to their slaves. —o-——_—_. CHAPTER XL. Description of some old Ruins at Panama.—Project of opening a Communication between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.—Troops of Bolivar. Earty in the morning of the 3d of February I sallied forth, as one would do at Rome, to view some celebrated ruins—a strange and unwonted sight in America. Panama has flourished for a long series of years, but its sun has at last set with the golden flag of Spain, the signal of exclusion wherever it waved. As long as the ports of the Pacific were closed against all commerce, except THE JESUITS’ COLLEGE. 31 what it pleased the Council of the Indies to mea- | sure thriftily out across the isthmus, Panama, being the sole port of transit, prospered greatly ; but “now that the navigation of Cape Horn is rendered easy and secure, and is free to the whole world except to the short-sighted Spaniards themselves, innumerable vessels contrive to search out every nook in the coast, and supply it with goods infi- nitely cheaper than Panama can furnish them. Thesituation certainly possesses advantages, which, in process of time, may be turned to great commer- cial account, and Panama will probably become greater than ever: but such greatness must now | be shared with many competitors ; and its pre-emi- nence can never be acknowledged again ; because the policy by which it was aggrandized at the ex- pense of other cities cannot by any possibility be revived. If ever Panama recovers its former | wealth, it must be by fair and active competition, | and she may then, without injustice as heretofore, | indulge in that luxurious and tasteful splendour | which displays itself in fine public edifices, and of which there remain more genuine traces here than even in Lima, “ the city of the kings,” with all its | tinsel and pretension. The finest ruin at Panama is that of the Jesuits’ College, a large and beautiful edifice, which, how- j ever, was never finished ; yet the melancholy in- terest which it inspires is rather augmented than | diminished by that circumstance ; for it reminds us not only of the destruction of the great order which founded it, but also of the total decay of Spanish taste and wealth, which accompanied that event. The college is a large quadrangular build- ing, which had been carried to the height of two stories, and was probably to have been surmounted by a third. The ornamental part of the building is in a pure and simple taste: neat cornices, with high mouldings, are carried round the work about and below the windows, which are very numerous, and some of them crossed by gothic mullions; the corners also, and the stones over the doors, are relieved by mouldings. From each angle of the building, and from the middle of each side, there projects a solid square tower, resting upon arches based on the ground, through which carriages might drive. Taken as a whole, it has a compact, massy, and graceful appearance ; not dissimilar in general effect to that of a Grecian temple, though totally different in its structure. The details are executed with neatness and delicacy, but there is no frippery about the ornamental carving, and: every part appears to contribute to the grandeur of the whole. As the work has been carried on to the same height all round, no part of the walls is higher than the rest ; and although the court is thickly overgrown with trees and shrubs, and the walls are matted with creepers aud brilliant flowers, the edifice cannot, in strictness, be called a ruin, since every stone retains its original place. In a field a little beyond the square, on the side opposite to the college, stand the remains of a church and convent, which is reached, not without difficulty, by wading breast-high through a field of weeds and flowers, which, in this climate, shoot up with wonderful quickness. In the course of this scramble, I came unexpectedly upon a gor- geous bath, by the side of a dried-up marble fountain. It is not now easy to enter the convent, owing to the piles of rubbish and thick foliage which have usurped the place of the inhabitants. The building seems to have been destroyed by fire. Along the uneven ridge of the remaining wall has sprung up spontaneously a row of trees, giving a singular and rather a wild and unnatural appear- ance to this immense ruin. In some districts of the town of Panama, whole streets are allowed to fall into neglect ; grass has grown over most parts of the pavement, and even the military works are crumbling fast to decay. Everything, in short, tells the same lamentable story of former splendour, and of present poverty. The desolation was in some respects as complete | as that of Conception, described in Chapter XXIV. The slow, though sure, results of national decline, are visible in one place—the rapid effect of war in the other ; in both the withering consequences of misgovernment are distinctly to be traced. On my return, I fell in with one of the merchants of the place, who insisted upon taking me home with him to breakfast. His wife did the honours, and made tea in the English fashion, but she did not carry her complaisance so far as to drink any of it herself. Her husband was a very intelligent person, who had studied particularly the question of cutting a passage across the isthmus ; and had actually examined several of the proposed lines. He seemed to consider the passage at the narrowest point, which on the map looks so tempting, as by no means the best. In the mean time, he was of opinion, that an immense and immediate advantage would be gained by making a good road from sea to sea across the isthmus ; which might be done very easily, and at an expense incalculably less than a canal could be cut, under the most favour- able circumstances, while many of the advantages of a canal would at once be gained by this road. The question of opening a communication has been ably discussed by Humboldt, in his New Spain, Vol. I., and subsequently by Mr. Robinson, in Chapter XIII. of his excellent account of the Mexican Revolution; but I had no opportunity of examining in person any of the points alluded to by these writers, or of gaining any new information on the subject. During the morning, it was much too hot to move about with any comfort, but towards sunset, all the world strolled about to enjoy the delightful air of the brief twilight, along some charming walks in the woods, beyond the suburbs, the scenery about which was of the richest description of tropical beauty. The night closed in upon us with a pre- cipitancy unknown in higher latitudes: but before we reached the drawbridge at the entrance of the town, the moon had risen, and the landscape be- came even more beautiful than before. It is in moon-light evenings that the climate of the tropics is most delightful. In the morning the air is somewhat chill—in the middle of the day, it is im- possible to stir out of doors—but after the sun has set, the full luxury and enjoyment of the climate are felt. About a fortnight before our arrival, a consider- able detachment of Bolivar’s troops had entered the town ; they had formed a part of the army so long engaged in the dreadful revolutionary wars of Venezuela, and especially in that province of it -ealled Caracas, between the Royalists and Patriots. I made acquaintance with several English officers belonging to this force, who had gone through the 32 THE ALCALDE OF TABOGA. whole of the campaigns. Their accounts, though interesting in the highest degree, do not belong to the present subject, and are, I believe, already generally known to the public. Whatever we may think of the prudence of people voluntarily en- gaging in such enterprises, it is impossible not to respect the persevering fortitude with which they have endured privations and hardships of the most overpowering nature, and far exceeding anything known in regular services. In the streets, nothing was to be seen but Colombian officers and soldiers enjoying a partial respite from their hard labours; for I observed, that the severe discipline which Bolivar has found it so advantageous to establish, was still unrelaxed ; and that drilling parties, and frequent mustering and exercising of the troops, were never intermitted: the town, in short, was kept in a state of military bustle from morning till night. THinving occasion to send dispatches to the com- mander-in-chief on the Jamaica station, I found no difficulty in procuring means of doing so, as there is a constant communication, both by mer- chant-ships and men-of-war, from Chagres and Porto Bello with the West Indian islands. To such an extent is this carried, and such is the su- perior importance of their West Indian intercourse, that every one at Panama spoke, not as if residing on the shores of the Pacific, but as if he had been actually living on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. One gentleman said to me, that the Africaine fri- gate had been here ten days ago ; an assertion which surprised me greatly, as I had reason to know that the ship in question had not doubled Cape Horn. On stating this to him, he laughed, and said he meant to speak of Port Bello, on the other side of the isthmus; with the arrivals and departures of which he was much more familiar than with those of his own port, in which he had, in fact, little or no mercantile concern connected with the South Sea. —_———— CHAPTER XLI. MEXICO. Visit to the Island of Taboga—Tropical Scenery.—Peaks of the Andes near Guatimala.—Estimation of their Distance and Height.—Severe Gale of Wind. On the evening of the 4th of February we took our leave of Panama, and proceeded to recruit our stock of water at the little island of Taboga, which lies about nine miles to the southward. The an- chorage is in a snug cove, opposite to a romantic little village, the huts of which, built of wattled canes, are so completely hid by the screen of trees which skirts the beach, that they can scarcely be seen from the anchoring-place, though not two hundred yards off ; but the walls of a neat white- washed church, built on a grassy knoll, rise above the cocoa-nut-trees, and disclose the situation of the village. The stream from which vessels fill their water-casks is nearly as invisible as the houses ; the whole island, indeed, is so thickly wooded, and the ground so crowded with shrubs and thick grass, that nothing can at first be dis- covered but a solid mass of brilliant foliage. As the days were intolerably hot, I determined to water the ship by night ; and she was accordingly moved as close to the shore as possible. The sea | in this corner of the cove being quite smooth, the | boats rowed to and from the shore all night with | perfect ease ; and the moon being only one day | short of the full, afforded ample light to work by. The casks were rolled along a path, to the side of a natural basin, which received the stream as it leaped over the edge of a rock, closely shrouded by creepers and flowers interlaced into one another, and forming a canopy over the pool, from which | our people lifted out the water with buckets. This |} spot was lighted only by a few chance rays of the moon, which found their way through the broken skreen of cocoa-nut leaves, and chequered the ground here and there. Through a long avenue in the woods, we could just discover the village, with many groups of the inhabitants sleeping before their doors on mats spread in the moon-light, The scene was tranquil and beautiful, and in the highest degree characteristic of the climate and country. . I discovered next morning, from the Alcalde or governor, that a very unfavourable impression of the English had been left on the minds of the in- habitants of this island, by the conduct of a ruffian, said to be an Englishman, commanding a Chilian privateer ; who, some time previously, had attacked the village, robbed it of all it possessed, wantonly destroyed the church, and ill-treated the inhabit- ants. He pretended to act under the authority of the Chilian government, but it is now well known that he had no right to hoist the flag of that country, by which he had been disowned: in short, he was a pirate. I was desirous to do everything in my power to regain the good opinion of the islanders; and was much pleased to find that no offence had been given to the villagers by our people during the night ; but, on the contrary, that the inhabitants were delighted with the prices they had got for their fruit and vegetables, and with the treatment they had received on board. I went, with several of the officers, in the course of the morning, to call upon the Alcalde and his family. He had expected our visit, and had in- vited a party of his friends to meet us. I took the liberty to offer each of the women some Euro- pean trinket, from a collection made at Lima, in anticipation of such incidents. Nothing could be better bestowed ; and after sitting for half an hour, we rose to take leave. The whole party, however, insisted on accompanying us to the beach, where we were received by the rest of the natives, who had all left the village, and assembled to bid us good-bye. They were a little surprised, but seemed pleased when I invited the governor to accompany me on board ; which he readily agreed to. He was received with all attention, shown round the ship, and finally complimented with a salute of a few guns. His satisfaction, and that of his attendants, at this honour, and indeed of the whole inhabitants, many of whom had come off in their canoes, was very manifest, and exactly what I had hoped to produce. The occasion, indeed, was not a very important one; but it appeared, nevertheless, of some consequence, in so remote a country, to restore the English to the good-will of these injured and unoffending people. I did not, therefore, stop to inquire, whether or not, in strict etiquette, the governor was entitled to a salute MOUNTAINS OF GUATIMALA. 33 of three or four guns ; but I am quite sure the object was effectually answered by this noisy ; compliment, so dear to the whole race which in- habit the coasts of the New World. » The watering of the ship was completed in the course of the day, after which we tripped our anchor, and made all sail out of the bay, on our course to Acapulco, which lies on the south-west coast of Mexico, at the distance of fifteen hundred miles from Panama. There are two ways of making this passage, one by going out to sea far from the land; the other by creeping, as it is called, along-shore. I preferred the latter method as the most certain, and as one which gave an opportunity of seeing the country, and of making | occasional observations on remarkable points of ‘the Andes, the great chain of which stretches | along the south-west coast of Mexico, precisely in the manner it does along the west shore of South America. On the 23d of February, eighteen days after leaving Panama, when we had reached a point a little to the northward of Guatimala, we discovered two magnificent conical-shaped mountains towering above the clouds. So great was their altitude, that we kept them in sight for several days, and by making observations upon them at different stations, we were enabled to compute their dis- tances, and, in a rough manner, their elevation also. On the 23d, the western peak was distant _eighty-eight miles, and on the 24th, one hundred and five. The height deduced from the first day’s observations was 14,196 feet ; and by the second day’s, 15,110 : the mean, being 14,653, is probably within a thousand feet of the truth ; being some- what more than two thousand feet higher than the Peak of Teneriffe. The height of the eastern mountain, by the first day’s observations, was 14,409 feet, and, by the second, it was 15,382, the mean being 14,895. How far they may have preserved their peaked shape lower down, we do not know, nor can we say anything of the lower ranges from whence they took their rise, since our distance was so great, that the curvature of the earth hid from our view not only their bases, but a considerable portion of their whole altitude. On the first day, 5273 feet were concealed ; and on the second day, no less than 7730 feet of these Mountains, together with the whole of the coast ridge, were actually sunk below the horizon. Owing to the great distance, it was only at a certain hour of the day that these mountains could be seen at all. They came first in sight about forty minutes before the sun rose, and remained visible for about thirty minutes after it was above the horizon. On first coming in sight, their outline was sharp and clear, but it became gradually less and less so as the light increased. There was something very striking in the majestic way in which they gradu- ally made their appearance, as the night yielded to the dawn, and in the mysterious manner in which they slowly melted away, and at length oes totally from our view in the broad day- ght. As it is rather an interesting problem to deter- Mine the height of distant mountains observed from sea, I give the necessary data for the com- putation. _ Data for computing the distance and height of the Peaks near Guatimala, in Mexico, 23d of February. [PART 11.) Lat. by mer. alt. of Antares, after the day broke, and the horizon consequently perfectly sharp and distinct. 23d, = 14° 23’N. long. by chron. 93° 7’ W. 24th, iy ey ENG 93 38 W. Whence the base stretches N. 36° 52’ W. 50 miles long, or = 57,53 Eng. miles. 23d, True bearing of W. peak, N. 52° 28’ 58” E. Angle subtended by the two peaks, 8 10 12 23d, True bearing of E. peak, N. 60° 39’ 0” E. 23d, Alt. west peak observed, 1° 15! 55" 23d, Alt. east do. li Height of the observer’s eye 16 feet. Barom. 29,90. Therm. 81°. 24th, True bearing of western peak, N. 85° 40/ E. Angle subtended by the peaks, 3 44 24th, True bearing of eastern peak, N. 89° 24’ E. 0°.59/ 12” 24th, Alt. west peak observed, 0 45 17 24th, Alt. east. do. Height of the observer’s eye 16 feet. Barom. 29,95. Therm. 80° Lat. W. peak 15° 9’ 54” N. long. W. peak, 92° 3/ 40” W. Lat. E. peak, 15° 4/50” N. long. E. peak, 91° 51’ 24” W. The bearings were determined astronomically, by measuring the angular distance between the peaks and the sun’s limb, at sunrise. The altitudes were measured separately and repeatedly by four sextants, and the mean taken. We had now, for a very long period, been sailing about in the finest of all possible climates, without meeting a gale of wind, or encountering bad weather of any kind ; and as we had not been able to obtain particular information respecting the navigation of this coast, we sailed along it with the same confidence of meeting everywhere the delightful weather we had been accustomed to. We had, as usual in such climates, all our thread- bare sails bent, our worn-out ropes rove, and were in no respect prepared to encounter storms. On the evening of the 24th of February, the sun set with astonishing splendour, but with a wild, lurid appearance, which, in any other country, would have put us more upon our guard. The sun itself, when still considerably above the horizon, became of a blood-red colour, and the surrounding clouds assumed various bright tinges of a fiery character, fading into purple at the zenith: the whole sky looked more angry and threatening than anything I ever saw-before. | The sea was quite smooth, but dyed with a strange and unnatural kind of redness by the reflection from the sky. In spite of the notions we held of the fineness of the climate, I was made a little uneasy by such threatening ap- pearances, and upon consulting the barometer, which, in these low latitudes, is seldom of much use, was startled by finding it had fallen consider- ably. This determined me immediately to shorten sail, but before it: could be fully accomplished, there came on a furious gale, which split many of our sails, broke our ropes like cobwebs, and had it not been for great exertions, we might have 34 ACAPULCO. been dismasted. At length we got things put in proper trim to withstand the storm, which lasted with unabated violence for two days. During the greater part of the gale the wind was fair, but blowing so hard, and with so mountainous a sea, that we could make no use of it, nor show even the smallest stitch of sail, without its being in- stantly blown to rags. i The place where we were thus taken by surprise was near the top of the Gulf of Tecoantepec, which lies opposite to that part of the Gulf of Mexico, between Vera Cruz and Campeachy, nearly abreast of the narrowest part of the land, and about three hundred miles to the eastward of Acapulco. CHAPTER XLII. Western Coast of Mexico.—Arrival at Acapulco.—Beau- tiful Harbour.—Account of the Inhabitants.—Wretched State of the Town.—Earthquake.—Description of the Method of navigating along the Coast.—Land and Sea Breezes described —Arrival at San Blas. On the 8th of March, we anchored in Acapulco harbour, a name familiar to the memory of most people, from its being the port whence the rich Spanish galleons, of former days, took their de- parture, to spread the wealth of the Western over the Eastern world. It is celebrated also in Anson’s delightful Voyage, and occupies a conspicuous place in the very interesting accounts of the Buccaneers ; to a sailor, therefore, it is classic ground ; and I cannot express the universal pro- fessional admiration excited by a sight of this celebrated port, which is, moreover, the very beau-idéal of aharbour. It is easy of access ; very capacious ; the water not too deep ; the holding- ground good; quite free from hidden dangers ; and as secure as the basin in the centre of Ports- mouth dock-yard. From the interior of the har- bour the sea cannot be discovered ; and astranger coming to the spot by land, would imagine he was looking over a sequestered mountain lake. When we had reached about half way up the harbour a boat came off to us, but as soon as the officer discovered who and what we were, he rowed away again in great haste, to communicate the news. We had scarcely anchored when a barge came alongside with the governor of the town, accompanied by all the officers at the head of the different departments. As soon as the governor and his suite had severally embraced me, he made a set speech, in which he said we had long and anxiously been looked for ; and that, as the Conway was the first of his Britannic Majesty’s ships that had honoured the harbour of Acapulco with her presence, he considered it his duty, no less than his inclination, to waive the usual etiquette, and come on board in person to welcome our arrival. I replied in the best Castilian I could muster, to this remarkable compliment; after which he for- mally communicated a message he had lately received from his Serene Highness Generalissimo Don Augustin Iturbide, then at the head of the government, inviting me and all my officers to visit the capital, and placing horses and every means of travelling at our command. This was a most tempting occasion, indeed, to see the coun- try ; but it was impossible to avail ourselves of it, -moment. ' “| and we reluctantly declined the honour. The governor, after a long and cheerful visit, took his leave, assuring us, that we should be assisted by all the means the local government possessed, to complete our supplies, and to render our stay, which he entreated might be long, as agreeable as possible. | Next morning, I returned the visit of last even- | ing, accompanied by all the officers, in imitation | of the governor. We were received with the | greatest attention and kindness; and indeed during our whole stay, nothing could exceed | the active hospitality of these people, the most civil and obliging of any we met with during the voyage. After the audience at Government-house was over, I proceeded with the purser to inquire about supplies. On the way we fell in with a young Spaniard whom I had met at Canton, in China, some years before, who at once, with the promp- titude of renewed friendship, took charge of us, carried us to his house, and made us at home in a ' Such meetings with persons one never ' expects to see again, and in places so remote from each other, are peculiarly interesting ; and, per-— haps, as much as anything else, characteristic of a | naval life. This gentleman and I had parted in~ China four years before ; he had gone first to | Manilla, and thence sailed eastward till he reached | the shores of Mexico: I had, in the mean time, proceeded round the Cape of Good Hope, and eventually to the westward by Cape Horn, till, on reaching the same spot, we came together again, after having by our united voyages cireumnavi- gated the globe. The appearance of the country people at Aca- pulco differs from that of the South Americans. Their features and colour partake somewhat of | the Malay character ; their foreheads are broad | and square ; their eyes small, and not deep-seated ; | their cheek-bones prominent; and their heads | covered with black straight hair; their stature about the medium standard ; their frame compact | and well made. These are the country people who | come to market with poultry, fruit, and vegetables, | and are generally seen seated in the shade under the verandahs of the houses, or in their own ran- | chas ; which are sheds made of mats loosely pinned } together. We took notice of another class, less savage in appearance than that just described, and rather more interesting ; they are the labourers and car- riers of burdens employed about the town : a tall, bold-looking, strong race of men ; they wear a hat, the crown of which is raised not more than three inches above a rim of such unusual width, that it serves as an umbrella to shade the whole body. Round their neck is suspended a large flap of stiff} yellow leather, reaching below the middle, and nearly meeting a pair of greaves of the same mate- | rial which envelop the thigh ; the calves of the | leg are in like manner wrapped round with pieces 4 of leather tied carelessly on with a thong ; over | the foot is drawn a sort of wide, unlaced half-boot, which is left to float out like a wing from the ankle. § These figures are striking, and highly picturesque. | Their colour is a bright copper, and they probably have some intermixture of Spanish blood in their; veins, The negroes form a third class at Acapulco. | LN i a | in the course of time they have become a mixed ace with the aborigines, and thus, also, may pos- | sibly partake of a slight dash of Spanish blood. ‘The result, however, is a very fine race of men: ) they retain the sleek glossy skin, the dark tint of the negro, and his thick lip ; along with which we | mow see the smaller form, the higher forehead, | prominent cheek-bone, the smaller eye, and the | straight hair of the Mexicans ; together with many other mingled traits which a closer observation | would be able to discriminate, but which a stranger | is merely conscious of seeing without his being | able to define exactly in what the peculiarities ) consist. It may be remarked, that, in the Spanish Transatlantic possessions, we find a greater variety of intermixtures or crosses of the human species than are met with in Europe, or, perhaps, in any | other part of the world. The tribes of Indians, in | the first place, are numerous, and distinct from one | another ; the Spaniards themselves differ in depth of colour, and in figure, according to their several | provinces ; and, lastly, the African differs from that of the whole. Humboldt, in his usual distinct | and satisfactory manner, (New Spain, Book II. | Chap. VI.) has classed the various shades of colour resulting from the admixture of these dif- | ferent people. ; | I dined to-day with our friend the young Spa- | niard, and met at his house the Minister, as the ) chief civil authority is called, and three other gen- | tlemen ; being very nearly the whole society of Acapulco. I had been desirous of meeting these gentlemen, in order to Jearn something of the state of the country, but discovered that they knew ex- tremely little of what was going on, owing to the very confined intercourse kept up between this port and the capital, or indeed any other part of the country. The truth is, that with the exception _of its splendid harbour, Acapulco is, commercially speaking, an insignificant place, and has been so ever since the days of the galleons. It is not well situated for commerce, as the country lying be- tween it and Mexico is difficult to cross, and is not rich either in agricultural produce, or in mines, The town, at present, consists of not more than thirty houses, with a large suburb of huts, built of reeds, wattled in open basket-work to give admis- sion to the air. It is guarded by an extensive and formidable fortress, called the Castle of San Carlos, | standing on a height, commanding the whole har- -bour. The inhabitants told us, when we expressed our surprise at the smallness of the town, that | the greater part of it had been shaken down by an earthquake. If this be true, the people have been uncommonly careful in removing the mate- rials, for not a trace remained, that we could see, of any ruins. | In the course of a long walk, which our party } took after dinner, an earthquake was felt. We were walking slowly along, when the gentlemen stopped, and one of them seeing us look surprised at their doing so, cried out, “ Temblor!” (earth- quake.) A sound, like distant thunder, was then | heard for about a quarter of a minute, but it was impossible to say from whence it proceeded ; and, although conscious that there was something un- usual in the noise, I cannot say exactly in what respect it was particular. The residents declared that they felt the tremor, but none of us were sen- | They were originally imported from Africa ; but LAND AND SEA BREEZES DESCRIBED BY DAMPIER. 35 sible of any motion, ‘lhis was the fifth occasion since my arrival in the country, on which I had been present at earthquakes, without ever feeling any of them in the slightest degree. On the 12th of March, we sailed from Acapulco for San Blas de California, so named, from its lying near that country, and in order to distin- guish it from other Mexican towns of the same name. Although the distance from Acapulco to San Blas is no more than five hundred miles, it cost us sixteen days to make the passage. This was owing to the prevalent winds of the coast at this season of the year being from the north-west- ern quarter. The weather, however, was extremely fine, though very hot in the middle of the day. In most tropical climates, near the shore, there pre- vail what are called land and sea breezes, which, if properly taken advantage of, greatly assist naviga- tion on the coasts where they are found. During certain hours of the day, the wind blows from the sea towards the shore, and during the greater part of the night, it blows from the land. The navigator, whose object is to make his way along the coast, takes advantage of these changes, by placing his ship at night-fall so close to the shore, thathe may profit by the first puff of the land-wind ; and after- wards steers such a course throughout the night, that, by the time the land-wind dies away, the ship shall have reached that degree of offing, or distance from the coast, which it is most advantageous to be placed in, when the sea-breeze of the next day begins. Both these winds are modified to a cer- tain extent in their direction by the winds which prevail on the coast, at a distance beyond the in- fluence of these diurnal variations. Thus we found both the land and the sea-breeze always disposed to have more north-westing in them, than, in strictness, they ought to have had; that is, than they would have had in a situation where no such general cause prevailed in their neighbourhood. It was owing to this circumstance that our passage -was so much retarded. The most exact description that Ihave anywhere met with of these remarkable winds, is written by Dampier, one of the most pleasing and most faith- ful of voyagers ; and, as the passage is in a part of his works not generally read except by pro- fessional men, I am tempted to insert it. “These sea-breezes do commonly rise in the morning about nine o’clock, sometimes sooner, sometimes later ; they first approach the shore so gently, as if they were afraid to come near it, and ofttimes they make some faint breathings, and, as if not willing to offend, they make a halt, and seem ready to retire. I have waited many atime, both ashore to receive the pleasure, and at sea to take the benefit of it. “ It comes in a fine small black curl upon the water, whereas all the sea between it and the shore, not yet reached by it, is as smooth and even as glass in comparison. In half an hour’s time after it has reached the shore, it fans pretty briskly, and so increaseth, gradually, till twelve o’clock ; then it is commonly strongest, and lasts so till two or three a very brisk gale; about twelve at noon it also veers off to sea two or three points, or more in very fair weather. After three o’clock, it begins to die away again, and gradually with- draws its force till all is spent, and about five o’clock, sooner or later, according as the weather D 2 is, it is lulled asleep, and comes no more till the next morning. “ Land-breezes are as remarkable as any winds that I have yet treated of ; they are quite contrary to the sea-breezes ; for those blow right from the shore, but the sea-breeze right in upon the shore ; and as the sea-breezes do blow in the day and rest in the night ; so, on the contrary, these do blow in the night and rest in the day, and so they do alter- nately succeed each other. For when the sea- breezes have performed their offices of the day, by breathing on their respective coasts, they, in the evening, do either withdraw from the coast, or lie down to rest. Then the land-winds, whose office it isto breathe in the night, moved by the same order of Divine impulse, do rouse out of their pri- vate recesses, and gently fan the air till the next morning, and then their task ends, and they leave the stage. “There can be no proper time set when they do begin in the evening, or when they retire in the morning, for they do not keep to an hour, but they commonly spring up between six and twelve in the evening, and last till six, eight, or ten in the morn- ing. They both come and go away again earlier or later, according to the weather, the season of the year, or some accidental cause from the land. For, on some coasts, they do rise earlier, blow fresher, and remain later than on other coasts, as I shall show hereafter. “These winds blow off to sea, a greater or less distance, according as the coast lies more or less exposed to the sea-winds ; for, in some places, we find them brisk three or four leagues off shore ; in other places, not so many miles, and, in some places, they scarce peep without the rocks ; or if they do sometimes, in very fair weather, make a sally out a mile or two, they are not lasting, but suddenly vanish away, though yet there are every night as fresh land-winds ashore, at these places, as in any other part of the world.’* Being always near the land, we found a constant source of interest in the sight of the Andes, and sometimes, also, of the lower lands, close to the sea, which we approached so near as to see the huts, and even the inhabitants themselves ; but, though very desirous of landing to examine things more closely, we were obliged, for want of time, to deny ourselves this gratification. As it was sel- dom that a day passed without our seeing some remarkable peak, or range of mountains, thesketch- ers and surveyors were never idle. We kept sight of one grand peak, the Volcano of Colima, for no less than five days, during which it was drawn in every point of view, and its true geographical place ascertained within very small limits, by means of cross bearings and astronomical observations. But in the whole range we had not the satisfaction of discovering one volcano in*action, nor even one emitting smoke, which was a considerable disap- pointment. At night we frequently saw brilliant fires on remote and very elevated spots, and some- times bright reflections from the sky, of great illuminations beneath, which were invisible to us ; but we were always incredulous as to their origi- nating in volcanoes. * Dampier’s Discourse of the Trade Winds, Breezes, Storms, Seasons of the Year, Tides and Currents of the Torrid Zone, throughout the World. Published at London in 1699. Vol. IL. pages 27 et seq. of his Voyages. 36 TEPIC IN NEW GALICIA. The only distinct snow we saw was on the top | of Colima. The temperature of the air, for the first | ten days after leaving Acapulco, was always con- } siderably above 80° even at night. It afterwards |§ fell to 72°, a diminution in temperature which was |f sensibly felt by every one. a I On the 28th of March, at three o’clock in the J afternoon, we anchored at San Bias, having com-_ pleted a coasting voyage from the Island of Mocho, | on the south coast of Chili, nearly to California, a 9 distance of four thousand six hundred miles ; during | | the whole of which, with the exception of about two hundred leagues between Guayaquil and |f Panama, the land was constantly in sight. a | —oe—— CHAPTER XLIII. NEW GALICIA IN MEXICO. HT Journey to the City of Tepic.—Rencontre in the Forest f with old Friends.—Opinion of a Peasant as to the Na- J ture of Free Trade.—Discussions with the Merchants J, respecting the Shipment of Treasure. : A { \ | i | f i | As no English man-of-war had ever before anchored in the port of San Blas, the arrival of if the Conway excited considerable interest: and we had scarcely secured the ship before boats | were seen bustling on board, from all quarters, to inquire for and to give news. We had little to communicate, as we had been so long on our} passage ; but from some ships lately arrived from | Lima, North America, and India, we learned many interesting particulars. This port had been | | so recently thrown open to a free trade with all the world, that we had not expected to find so # many ships ; nor was this the only instance in if which we had miscalculated the activity of com- J mercial enterprise, wherever it is happily unre- # stricted and unprotected. After a few minutes’ ride from the landing- } place, we found ourselves in the town of San Blas, which is perched, like an eagle’s nest, on J the top of a rock a hundred and fifty feet high, | absolutely precipitous on three sides, and very steep on the fourth, rising out of a low swampy #} plain, which, in the rainy season, is laid completely # under water. As I found that the merchants, both English if} and Spanish, lived in the interior, some at the neighbouring town of Tepic, others at the provin- J cial capital, Guadalaxara, I determined to proceed |} to the former place to learn the state of the com- mercial intercourse with England, and whether I could in any way contribute to advance the interests of the British trade in that quarter. A revolution, I found, had taken place not long before our arrival on the coast, by which the coun- try of Mexico was declared independent of Spain ; |f but there had been no further quarrel between the countries ; on the contrary, the union of Mexicans if and Spaniards formed an essential part of the new \f constitution. The Spanish merchants, therefore the ¥ great and almost the only capitalists, were allowed to remain in the country. Trade was declared to | be free to all persons, and with all countries ; yet | this invitation of competition did not at first || much affect the resident Spaniards, since they fy were already sole possessors of the market, by § holding in their hands the greater part of the active qj} trading capital: it rather augmented their profits, by giving them a wider range for the employment of their funds. | It was intimated to me, shortly after I had landed, that the Guadalaxara and Tepic mer- chants were anxious to establish, for the first time, a direct commercial intercourse with En- | gland ; and that the arrival of the Conway had | been anxiously looked for, in order that arrange- ments in that view might if possible be entered | into. I lost no time, therefore, but set out on the | next day for Tepic, in company with an English | gentleman, captain of an East India ship, and a | young Spaniard from Calcutta. | The first part of our journey lay across low swamps, covered with brushwood, and enveloped in | creeping, aguish-looking mists. In the course of a | few hours we began to ascend the hills, where the | country was richly wooded, the trees being tied to | one another by festoons of innumerable creepers, waving gracefully above the impervious underwood, which concealed the ground from our view, and gave the forest precisely the air of an Indian jungle. _ We passed several villages built of canes, with | peaked roofs, rising to twice the height of the walls, thatched with the large leafy branches of | the cocoa-nut tree, fastened down by rattans. | At the half-way house, in the village of Fonsequa, I. we fell in with a party of English gentlemen going | down to the port. We had all met before in the | midst of the turbulent times at Lima, and little expected to encounter one another at the next interview in the depths of a Mexican forest. In the interval, the different members of the com- pany had visited, at very remarkable moments, many of the revolutionised countries ; so that, when we compared notes, the several accounts were interesting and curious in the highest degree. We joined dinners, and sat afterwards for up- wards of three hours talking over old and new adventures ; till, at length, the San Blas party 'mounted and set off; while we, not choosing to encounter the sun, looked about for cool places _to take our siesta. A great sugar-mill close to us, which had been working all day, and screak- ing in the most frightful manner, now stood still; the labourers went to sleep under the bushes ; the tired bullocks were dozing stupidly in the sun, crunching, from time to time, some dried Indian corn husks; all the villagers: had disappeared ; everything was perfectly still ; and we soon caught the drowsiness which universally prevailed, and fell asleep in an open shed under an enormous tamarind-tree, whose branches over- shadowed half the village. _ The rest of the journey lay through a thick forest, along wild mountain-paths, by which we gradually ascended so high, that before the evening there was a sensible change in temperature, causing that bound- | ing elasticity of spirits which such transitions, accom- panied by change in elevation, invariably produce. The mountain scenery, during the latter part of the day, was bright and gorgeous beyond all description ; and the sun had just set when we reached the top of an Alpine knoll, or brow of one of the highest ridges. This spot, which was free from trees, and matted over with a smooth grassy turf, projected so much beyond any ground in the neighbourhood, that it gave us a command- ing view of the whole surrounding country, even A MEXICAN’S OPINION OF FREE TRADE. 37 to the sea. We stood here for some time ad- miring this magnificent scene, and watching the rapid change in colour which the woods under- went, at different elevations, as the sun’s rays became fainter and fainter ; till at last all bril- liancy and variety were lost in one cold, grey, unpleasing tint. Presently it became dark for a time, after which a very different landscape arose, | and finally settled for the night in broad black shadows and bright fringes, under the gentler | influence of the moon. While we were admiring the scenery, our people had established themselves in a hut, and were preparing supper, under the direction of a peasant, a tall, copper-coloured, semi-barba- rous native of the forest ; but who, notwithstand- ing his uncivilised appearance, turned out to be a very shrewd fellow, and gave us sufficiently pertinent answers to most of our queries. The young Spaniard of our party, a royalist by birth, and half a Patriot in sentiment, asked him what harm the king had done, that the Mexicans | should have thrown him off? “ Why,” answered he, “as for the king, his only fault, at least that I know about, was his living too far off. If a king really be good for a country, it appears to me he ought to live in that country, and not two thousand leagues away from it.” On asking him what his opinion was of the free trade which | people were talking so much about ? “ My opinion | of free trade,” said the mountaineer, “rests on | this ; formerly I paid nine dollars for the piece of cloth of which this shirt is made: I now pay two; that forms my opinion of the free trade.” The Spaniard was fairly baffled. At daybreak next morning, after travelling over the hills, we came in sight of Tepic, a beau- tiful town, in the midst of a cultivated plain. It seeemed strange to us that there should have existed so large and important a place, of which, until a few weeks before, we had never even heard the name; a reflection which often arises in the mind of a distant traveller. This city is next in importance to Guadalaxara, the capital | of New Galicia, and is built in the regular man- | ner of most of the Spanish towns in that country. | It lies near the centre of a basin, or valley, formed by an irregular chain of volcanic moun- tains; and the appearance of the town is ren- dered very lively by rows of trees, gardens, and terraced walks, amongst the houses, all kept green and fresh by the waters of a river which embraces the town on three of its sides. In the course of the morning, I had several conferences with the merchants of Tepic, and the agents of others at Guadalaxara. It appeared, that the commercial capitalists of this part of Mexico were desirous of opening a direct com- munication with England; and, in order to do this safely and effectually, they proposed to remit a considerable quantity of specie to London, in the Conway, for which returns were to be made in English goods, in the manner practised ever | since the opening of the trade in Peru, Chili, and; Buenos Ayres. After a long discussion I agreed to remain till a certain day, to give time for communications to be held with Guadalax- | ara, and with Mexico, it being necessary to obtain permission from the Supreme Government, before | any treasure could be exported. Meanwhile, the 38 merchants of Tepic, that no time might be lost, undertook to collect their funds, and to send off expresses to Mexico, and other towns, from which money was likely to be transmitted. Se CHAPTER XLIV. TEPIC IN MEXICO. Feast of Santa Cruz.—Dress worn by the Inhabitants — Tertulia, or Evening Party.—Theatre in the open Air. —Convité or Dinner.—Tumultuous Uproar. In the afternoon, we had an opportunity of seeing the gay world of Tepic, especially the female part, to great advantage. At about an hour before sunset, apparently the whole popu- lation repaired in large family groups, to the church of La Santa Cruz, by a broad public walk, shaded by four or five rows of chesnut trees, extending nearly half a mile out of the town. The evening was exceedingly pleasant, for the sun was low, and no longer scorched us, as it had done during the morning. The church stood in a little hollow behind a small grassy knoll, in the brow of which the road leading to the court had been cut. Through this opening the town and the hills beyond it, and part of the great public walk, could be seen from the porch at the en- trance: in other respects the spot was quite se- cluded, and cut off from the sight of the low country surrounding the town. As none except women attended the service, we were unwilling to intrude to see what ceremonies were performed ; but the door was thronged with comers and goers, and a continued, low, humming noise, like that round a bee-hive on a fine sum- mer’s day, indicated that a multitude were en- gaged in a common pursuit. Sometimes a group of six or eight damsels would arrive together, and vanish at the entrance; or a stray demure Beata would steal in at the side with affected humility. A compact cluster of merry lasses, a minute before in high gossip, might be seen sober- ing down their looks, and adjusting their shawls, as they approached the church ; while another party, still running over their last ‘ Ave,’ were pressing outwards ; and, as soon as the threshold was passed, flying off in all directions. The women of the lower class wore lively- coloured gowns, and scarfs, called Rebozos, gene- rally of a blue and white pattern, which was not printed but woven. Some of the patterns consis- ted of red, blue, and white, in zigzag stripes dif- ferently arranged. The dress of the lowest class was of cotton only ; that of the others was a mix- ture of cotton and silk; and that of the richest people entirely of silk ; the whole being of the manufacture of the country. During the middle of the day at Tepic, the heat was so great that no one could venture to stir abroad ; but at half past three or four, when it became agreeably cool, riding or walking parties were formed. In the evening, every house was thrown open to receive visitors ; but there were generally one or two, more fashionable than the rest, to which strangers were invited as a matter of course, as they were always sure of meeting pleasant company. The men of business repaired to their counting-houses very early in the morn- ing; but the ladies were not visible till about THE FEAST OF SANTA CRUZ. ten o’clock, when they received company in the }} principal bed-room, or in the sala. One o’clock was the dinner-hour ; and from two to half past three or four all the world were taking their siesta; the streets at this period being literally deserted. The ladies of Tepic were already beginning to dress in the Enropean style ; though, of course, — some years behind the fashion, but still without anything peculiar to describe. The gentlemen |j wore brimmed brown hats, encircled by a thick |} gold or silver band, twisted up like a rope. When |} mounted every gentleman carried a sword ; not belted round him, as with us, but thrust, in a slanting direction, into a ease made for the pur- pose in the left flap of the saddle, so that the sword — lay under, not over the thigh, while the hilt rose in front nearly as high as the pommel of the saddle, where it was more readily grasped, in case of need, |i} than when left dangling by the side. The saddle }}j was turned upwards four or five inches, both }ij) before and behind ; in order, as I was told, to {if give the rider support both in going up and in coming down the very steep roads of the country. |] On each side, before the knees, hung a large skin | of some shaggy-coated animal, reaching nearly to |} the ground: in wet weather these skins cover |) over the rider’s legs, while the Mangas covers the }jJ body. This is a cloak exactly resembling the poncho of the south, being of an oblong form, with |} a hole in the middle to receive the head. | In Mexico these cloaks are generally made of |i} fine cloth, richly ornamented round the neck with }if gold embroidery. The stirrups are made of wood, |i taken, no doubt, from the Spanish box-stirrup ; but |i they are more neatly made than in Spain, and are lighter, and fit the foot better. Silver spurs, of | immoderate length and weight, were generally worn ; and, instead of a whip, a long and cu- riously twisted set of thongs, which are merely a tapered continuation of the slender strips of hide of which the bridle is made, plaited into a round cord. On Sunday, the 7th of April, the public were kept in full employment—first, by high mass; next by feats of horsemanship in an open circus ; and, lastly, by a play. The theatre was rude enough, but the greater number of the party, having seen no other, were perfectly satisfied. The audience were seated on benches placed on the ground, ina large court,open to the sky. The stage was formed of loose planks ; the walls of cane and plaster, covered by a roof formed of boughs ; the scenes consisted of pieces of cloth pinned together, and suspended from the cross-bars supporting the — thatch. There was no light but that of the moon; but the climate was so mild, that we sat for several hours without any inconvenience either from cold or from dew. As for the play itself, it deserved a better stage and better acting ; it was a comedy of Calderon’s, however, and caused great mirth. There was a tertulia, or party, somewhere every evening, to which every person who chose was | expected to go, without particular invitation. I | shall endeavour to describe that which I visited J | | y | His ee eee on Sunday night. | * Across the upper end of a large room, and for fj some distance along the sides, were seated the He ladies, about twenty in number, in a compact line, jf and glued, as it were, to the wall. Sometimes, in fy the course of the evening, a gentleman succeeded #} ; in obtaining a station amongst the ladies, but he re —— ee es _A MEXICAN CONVITE’. . 39 was generally an intimate acquaintance, or a very determined stranger. In each corner of the room was placed a small stone table, on which stood a dingy tallow-candle, the feeble glimmer of which gave a dismal light to the apartment ; but, by an incongruity characteristic of the country, the candlestick was large and handsome, and made of massy silver. Behind the light, in a glass case, was displayed an image of the Virgin, dressed up as Nuestra Sefiora de Guadaloupe, the patron saint of Mexico, almost suffocated with a profusion of tawdry artificial flowers. The line of ladies on one side reached to the door, and, on the side opposite, to a table about half-way along the room, on which were placed wine and water, gentlemen’s | hats, and ladies’ shawls. Against one of the corner tables rested a guitar ; and it seidom happened that there was not some person present ready to play a popular tune, or to accompany the ladies, many of whom sung very prettily. This occasional music | went on without interrupting the conversation ; indeed, the sound of the guitar amongst the Spa- niards or their descendants is so familiar, that it } acts more as a stimulus or accompaniment to con- versation, than as an interruption. Atthe further end of the room was a card-table, where most of the gentlemen played at a game called Monte. The space in the middle of the room seemed to be allotted as a play-ground for the children of the house and those of many removes in consanguinity. The nurses, too, and the old servants of the family, used the privilege of walking in and out ; and some- | times they addressed themselves to such of the company as happened to be seated near the door. It | may be remarked here, that in all those countries a degree of familiarity is allowed between the serv- | ants and their superiors of which, in England, there is no example in any rank of life. The entrance to the room was from a deep verandah, or, more properly speaking, a passage } open to the court and flower-garden in the centre of the quadrangle forming the house. It occurred to me during the evening, that if a person were suddenly transported from England | to this part of the world, he might be much puzzled to say where he had got to. On entering the house, by an approach not unlike the arched gate- way of an inn, he would turn into the verandah, where he would in vain inquire his way from the | merry group of boys playing at bo-peep round the | columns, or scampering in the moonlight amongst | the shrubs in the centre of the court ; nor would he | gain more information from the parties of neatly- dressed girls, who would draw up and become as prim and starch as possible, the moment they beheld a stranger; they would pout at him, and transfix him with their coal-black eyes, but would not utter a single word. Mustering courage, he might enter the sala or drawing room ; in an in- ' stant, all the gentlemen would rise and stand before their chairs like statues; but as neither the mistress of the house, nor any other lady, ever thinks of rising in those countries to receive or take leave of a gentleman, however cordial to ladies our friend would be apt to conceive his reception somewhat cold. But he could have no time to make minute remarks, and would scarcely notice the unevenly paved brick floor—the bare plastered walls—-the naked beams of the roof, through which the tiles | | average, towards the end of dinner, there could be might be counted—indeed, the feebleness of the light would greatly perplex his observations. The elegant dresses, the handsome looks, and the lady- like appearance of the female part of the company, would naturally lead him to imagine he was in re- spectable society ; but, when he discovered all the ladies smoking cigars, and heard them laughing obstreperously, and screaming out their observa- tions at the top of their voices, he would relapse into his former doubts, especially when he remarked the gentlemen in boots and cloaks, and some with their hats on. Neither would his ideas be cleared up by seeing the party at the other end of the room engaged in deep play, amidst a cloud of tobacco smoke. And were he now as suddenly transported back again to his own country,it might be difficult to persuade him that he had been amongst an agreeable amiable and well-bred people —in the very best society—in the Grosvenor Square, in short, of the city of Tepic. On the 12th of April, I made one of a great dinner-party, a sort of feast, or, as it is called in Spanish, a convité. The hour named was one o’clock, but it was half past one before the company were all assembled. We were first invited into a side-room to take a whet, which, to say the truth, looked more like a substantial luncheon than a sharpener of the appetite ; for in the middle of the table was placed a goodly ham, flanked by two huge bowls, one filled with punch, the other with sangaree—a mixture of wine, sugar, lemon-juice, and spirits, and a favourite beverage of all hot cli- mates. At each end of the table stood a dish of cheese, ingeniously carved into the shape of ra- dishes and turnips ; and at the corners a dish of olives covered with slices of raw onions, floating about in vinegar. I need not add, there was aguardiente and wine in profusion. Such ample justice was done to this whet, that the dinner, I thought, stood a poor chance of being touched, but in this I was much mistaken. Forty people sat down to one table. Atthe top were placed the two principal ladies; on their right sat the military Commander-in-chief, while I was requested to sit on the other side, next to the lady of the house. Then came the Alcalde, the chief civil authority, and so on. The master of the house would on no account sit down, but served at table in the capacity of waiter, assisted most good-naturedly by four or five gentlemen, for whom there were no places, or who preferred making themselves useful in this way to dining in another apartment along with ten or a dozen young men, equally shut out by want of room. At first a suspicious kind of calm prevailed ; but the soup had scarcely been removed before there appeared symptoms of anapproaching storm. While we were discussing the olla, the dish which always succeeds the soup, a principal person in company rose up and shouted out, “‘ Copas en mano!” handle your glasses! But such was the noise and clatter of plates and tongues, that he had to repeat his mandate several times, and to stretch out his tumbler brim-full of wine, before the distant parts of the company stood up in honour of the toast, which I had expected was to have had some point, but was merely one of the common-places of the day, “Union y Libertad.” After this signal there _ was kept up during the whole dinner a constant discharge of toasts and sentiments ; and upon an 40 no less than ten or twelve gentlemen on their legs all speaking at once, at the full stretch of their voices, and accompanying every remark with some theatrical gesticulation. Others kept their seats, thinking perhaps that they might thereby have a fairer aim at the table, which rung from end to end with the blows by which these jovial orators sought to enforce their arguments. Meanwhile the dinner went on as if nothing remarkable was passing; the plates and dishes were changed by the servants and the amateur waiters, with such singular dexterity, that in spite of this vast disorder, the bottle passed in safety, and more and more rapidly ; the noise increased; the bawlers became more numerous; and by the time the dinner was well over, the party fell:to pieces, and all seemed uproar and confusion ; groups of four or five, and sometimes twice that number, might be seen clustered together, all speaking or singing at once. J never was more astonished than at seeing men, on all other occasions perfect models of de- corum, suddenly lose their formality, and act like professed topers and merry-makers. At first, judging by the analogy of Europe, I thought this must needs end in blows, and stood prepared to avoid the bottles and glasses, which were soon likely to be flying about. But after a little while, it was easy to discover more sounds of mirth than of anger ; and as the ladies, who must have been accustomed to such scenes, sat very composedly, viewing it all with great delight, I becamereassured, and kept my place. Something like order was presently restored by the feats of amerry Biscayan, who dressed himself like a cook, by throwing off his coat and waistcoat, turning up the sleeves of his shirt above the elbows, and pinning a napkin across his breast. Those who knew him of old were-immediately aware of what he was going to do, and roared out, “ Pastel! pas- tel!” (a pie! a pie!) upon which all singing, drink- ing, and talking were put an end to for a season, and every one crowded round to see this famous pie made, The Biscayan first indicated by signs that a large dish was to be supposed before him, into which he pretended to place a number of ingredients,naming each as he affected to put it into his pie. These ingredients consisted principally of his friends, some of whom he inserted whole ; of others he appropriated merely some ridiculous quality or characteristic peculiarity ; and as he chose only such persons as were present, the laugh went round against each in his turn. His satire was sometimes very severe, especially against the ladies; and at length he pretended, after a long and witty preface, to cut up the curate, who was sitting op- posite, and thrust him into the dish, to: the un- speakable delight of the company. No one enjoyed the laugh more than the priest himself. But the Biscayan was too judicious to risk tiring his audience with any more of. the pie after this last happy sally, so catching up a guitar, an instrument always at hand wherever Spanish is spoken, and casting his eyes round the company, he addressed an extempore verse to each of the principal guests; then jumping off the table, on which he had seated himself to play the guitar, he set about imitating the manner of walking and speaking of five or six different provinces of Spain. This mimicry, though lost upon us, appeared to be so accurately done, A HUMOROUS BISCAYAN. that he could scarcely begin an imitation before a |! number of voices called out “ Gaditano!” “ Gal- lego!” or whatever might be the province the |] manners of which he was representing. j His last feat was one which certainly would not |} have been permitted a year or two before in a country so bigoted, or indeed in any country under — I Spanish control. Having taken a table-cloth, he dressed himself like a priest, and assuming the most — ludicrous gravity of countenance, went through a part of the ceremony of high mass, to the infinite’ delight of the company, who shook the house with | | peals of laughter. The curate was nowhere to be seen during this exhibition, which he could not, I | suppose, have permitted to go on in his presence, |} although, indeed, everything serious seemed ba- |}} nished for the time. Immediately after this joke, the noise ceased, }]} the party broke up, and and every one went off to |} his siesta, with a composure and steadiness which jf} showed that the greater part of the preceding riot ||} was the effect of choice, not of intoxication ; to }| which, certainly, in appearance, it was most ]| closely allied. To satisfy myself on this point, I | entered into conversation with several of the most ] boisterous of the party ; but they were now so J] perfectly quiet and sedate, that it was difficult to believe they were the same individuals, who, but a | few minutes before, had been apparently so com- J} pletely tipsy. CHAPTER XLV. A Case of Conscience adroitly managed.—Penance and | | Marriage, Offence and Expiation.—Expedition to the | Top of a Mountain.—Absurd Jealousy of the Local Au- thority.—Illustrious Ayuntamiento’s Despatch. Some days after this dinner, I went to the Con- vent of La Cruz to visit a friend who was doing }| penance, not for a sin he had committed, but for | one he was preparing to commit. The case was this : Don N. had recently lost his wife, and, not | choosing to live in solitude, looked about for an- | other helpmate ; and being of a disposition to take little trouble in such a research, or probably thinking that no labour could procure for him a companion more suitable than his own house | afforded, he proposed the matter to his lately | lamented wife’s sister, who had lived in his house for several years before ; and who, as he told me himself, was not only a good sort of person, but one well acquainted with all the details of his }| household, known and esteemed by his children, }| and accustomed to his own society. The church, however, looked exceedingly grave | | upon the occasion ; not, however, as I at first sup- posed, from the nearness of the connexion, or the shortness of the interval since the first wife’s death, but because the intended lady had stood godmother to four of Don N.’s children. This, the church said, was a serious bar to the new alliance, which } nothing could surmount but protracted penance and extensive charity. Don N. was urgent, and a council was assem- bled to deliberate on the matter. The learned body declared, after some discussion, the case to be a very knotty one ; and that, as the lady had been four times godmother to Don N.’s children, it was impossible she could marry him. Never- a 1 ' istry. A CASE OF CONSCIENCE. theless, the good fathers wished to give the unhappy couple another chance; and agreed to refer the question to a learned doctor in the neigh- bourhood, skilled in all difficult questions of casu- This sage person decided that, according to the canons of the church, the marriage might take place, on payment of a fine of four hundred dollars : two for the poor in pocket, and two for the poor in spirit, namely the priests. But to expiate the crime of marrying a quadruple god- mother, a slight penance must also be submitted to in the following manner. Don N. was to place himself on his knees before the altar, with a long wax-candle burning in his hand, while his in- tended lady stood by his side, holding another : this was to be repeated in the face of the congre- gation for one hour, during every Sunday and fast- day throughout a whole year ; after which purify- ing exposure, the parties were to be held eligible to proceed with the marriage. Don N., who chose rather to put his conscience than his knees to such discipline, took his own measures on the occasion. What these were, the idle public took the liberty of guessing broadly enough, but no one could say positively. At the end of a week, however, it was announced, that the case had undergone a careful re-examination, and that it had been deemed proper to commute the penance into one week’s retirement from the world ; that is to say, Don N. was to shut himself up in the convent of La Cruz, there to fast and pray in solitude and silence for seven days. The manner in which this penance was performed is an appropriate commentary on the whole transaction. The penitent, assisted by two or three jovial friars of the convent, passed the evening in discussing some capital wine, ‘sent out for the occasion by Don N. himself, after eating a dinner prepared by the cook of the convent, the best in New Galicia. As for silence and solitude, his romping boys and girls were with him during all the morning ; be- sides a score of visitors, who strolled daily out of town as far as the convent, to keep up the poor man’s spirits, by relating all the gossip which was afloat about his marriage, his penitence, and the wonderful kindness of the church. The interest I took in the question throughout induced Don N. to invite me to the wedding. The ceremony did not differ essentially from our own : but the prayers were read in so rapid and mum- bling a style, that I could not for a long time dis- cover whether they were in Spanish or in Latin. There was, as usual, abundance of wine and cakes ; and it was truly exhilarating to mark the relish with which the good fathers drained their glasses. The Novios, as the bride and bridegroom are called, were silent and attentive, but I was the only other person in the room who was so during the whole ceremony ; every one else being employed in laughing or whispering to his neighbour. Even the officiating priest was scarcely serious ; and at the conclusion, when he shut the book, and the ceremony was considered as over, he said some- thing ludicrous and appropriate to the cireum- stances, but in the same tone he had used in reading the service. This,. notwithstanding. its scandalous impropriety, was almost irresistibly comic, and I had the utmost difficulty to repress a laugh. I was restrained by an idea, that what- ever liberties these people might themselves choose 4l to take on such an occasion, they must have been | displeased at a heretic’s presuming to join in the jest. This prudent gravity, which cost me a con- | siderable effort, was the means of bringing me | acquainted with an old gentleman I had not seen | before. He came up to me, and begged to intro- | duce himself, saying he wished to express how | much pleased he was to observe that all English- | men did not ridicule the Roman Catholic sacra- _ ments ; and he hoped I would accept a copy of | Don Quixote, of which he had an old and valuable edition, in testimony of his satisfaction, as well as to keep me in mind of his friend Don N.’s mar- riage. In relating this anecdote, I trust it will not be supposed that I intend to ridicule the Catholic ser- vice generally ; but it seems quite allowable for a traveller, on such an occasion, to impart to his journal the same tone, which the whole society of the place, where it occurred, are disposed to give. I have always, indeed, studiously avoided placing in a ridiculous point of view any customs or ceremonies which, however absurd they might appear to us, were held sacred by the inhabitants themselves. On this occasion, however, I have rather understated than exaggerated the degree of merriment which the events described excited in all classes of society on the spot; and I feel well assured, that should these pages ever meet their eye, they will be as much amused with the adventure as any foreign reader can be. On the 18th of April I accompanied a Spanish gentleman and a native merchant of Tepic to the top of a hill in the neighbourhood of the town. Our object was to gain a view of the surrounding country ; and in this we succeeded beyond our expectation, for the view extended to the sea, and along the coast to a great distance. On the other hand, it brought some ranges of the Andes in sight, especially one remarkable mountain, the top of which, unlike this chain in general, was per- fectly flat for an extent of many leagues. Nothing certainly could have been more inno- cent than this trip to the hill,and I was of course greatly surprised to learn next day that it had ex- cited suspicion in the minds of the local authorities. It was provoking too to find that the unceasing pains we had taken to avoid giving cause of offence had proved ineffectual. On first reaching Tepic, I had learned from a friend that the people were remarkably jealous of strangers, and apt at any time to misinterpret the most harmless actions ; and that, in our case, their suspicions would be increased, as the Conway was the first English man-of-war that had visited this remote corner of the country. I did not see why this should follow, but attended, nevertheless, sedulously to the hint, and took care to impress on the officers a similar feeling. We had been flattering ourselves that we had completely succeeded, and imagined we had gained the good-will of all parties, by avoid- ing political discussions, and by being pleased with everything and everybody. We were mis- taken, however ; and on the day following the ex- cursion to the hill, the Illustrious Ayuntamiento, such is the title of the town-council, met to ex- amine evidence ; and all sorts of absurd stories were told and believed, till at length, having worked themselves into a due pitch of diplomatic alarm, they resolved to write me an official letter. 42 Several of the members, with whom I was per- sonally acquainted, suggested that a little delay, and some farther inquiry, might be advisable, before an angry letter was written to a stranger living amongst them. This forbearance, however, was overruled ; and as the state appeared to be in danger, the letter was sent before the meeting broke up. I give a translation of it here, as it explains the nature of their suspicions, which, I need scarcely say, were utterly without foundation. It serves also, in some degree, to show the temper of the times: the government and its institutions being still new, and administered by inexperienced hands, it was natural for the executive branch to feel somewhat over-cautious, and to be apt to suspect, without cause, that their authority was trifled with. TRANSLATION, “The Ayuntamiento has learned, that during the time you have been resident in this city, you have taken measurements for making a plan of it, and of the neighbouring hills, according to the series of observations which it is known you have made of its respective points ; and that you are now in expectation of some necessary instruments from the port of San Blas. Even admitting that these operations have been the result of mere curiosity, and have not been made with the above- mentioned intention, the Corporation, nevertheless, cannot but express its surprise, that while the Su- preme Government of this empire has given orders that the officers and other subjects of his Britannic Majesty should be treated with the greatest atten- tion,—(as accordingly has been done by allowing them to enter the country,)—you should not have condescended to request of this subordinate go- vernment the necessary permission for carrying on such operations, the object of which can have been no other than that which is assigned above, the very serious consequences of which you can- not be ignorant of. “God grant you many years. “ Dated in the Council-Chamber of Tepic, 19th April, 1822. Second year of the Independ- ence of Mexico. (Signed) “J. R. “™M. D. Sec.” Spanish diplomacy, like that of China, has means of showing everyshade of respect or disrespect, by the mere form and style of the despatch, without any direct breach of etiquette ; and accordingly, this testy communication was written on an uncut sheet of coarse note paper, and transmitted with- out an envelope. I thought it most suitable, how- ever, not to take the least notice of these symp- toms of ill-humour, but to answer the Illustrious Ayuntamiento in the most ceremonious and formal manner possible, but at the same time with the utmost good-humour, I had nothing, indeed, to say, but that I never had the slightest intention of making any plan of the town or the neighbouring country, and had taken no measurements nor any observations, and that I neither had brought with me, nor had I sent for, any instruments. The Ayuntamiento, who had probably been hoaxed by some wag, were afterwards sorry for having sent me such a despatch, and it was actu- ally proposed in council to write me another in A MEXICAN MARRIAGE FEAST. explanation ; but a friend of mine, belonging to that illustrious body, put a stop to this, by declar- ing, he had authority from me to say, that I was perfectly satisfied of there having been some mis- take, and that I had already received too many proofs of their good-will to require or wish for any apology. This puzzled them a little ; but they were ever afterwards particularly civil and kind, not only tome, but to the other Englishmen on the spot. CHAPTER XLVI. Marriage Feast —Description of a Mexican Bride.—Indians armed with Bows and Arrows.—Singular Bee-hives, and Bees without Stings.—Discussion on the Export of the Precious Metals.—Neglected State of Female Education. 21st of April—aA FamiLy of my acquaintance, consisting of a widow, her son, and two daughters, invited me to-day to accompany them to a wed- ding-dinner, given to an old servant of theirs by his relations. These ladies had observed, that the English were always inquiring into the customs of the natives ; and thinking it would amuse me to see this dinner, had asked me to join their party. It appeared, that at such entertainments it was considered a creditable thing for the parties to have the countenance of their former masters, or some person in better circumstances 3 a very natural feeling, and one which the higher classes in that country appear to have great pleasure in gratifying. Indeed, I never have seen in any part of the world a more amiable, or more con- siderate and kindly feeling of superiors towards their dependants, than exists in South America and Mexico. In those parts, also, now very few, where slaves exist, the manner in which they are treated is highly exemplary. And it may be said, generally, that in the Spanish colonies, or in places occupied by the descendants of Spaniards, the treatment of servants of every kind is milder than in most other parts of the world. This has some- times been explained, on the supposition, that the oppression of the mother country might have taught the colonists gentleness and indulgence to such as were dependent upon them. But ex- perience shows that the contrary really takes place in the world ; and we must look for an explanation of the fact in the genuine goodness of the Spanish character, which, though overlaid and crushed down by a series of political and moral degradations, is still essentially excellent, and worthy of a far better destiny. The cottage in which the entertainment was given stood on the wooded bank of the river, on the north side of the town ; and, though not ten minutes’ walk from the market-place, had all the appearance of being far in the country—such is the promptitude and luxuriance with which vegeta- tion starts up in these happy climates. As we approached the spot, we observed a number of people, in their best dresses, seated on the grass round the house; they rose as we entered the court, where the master and mistress were standing ready to receive us. The former, who, it seemed, was the padrino, or person who gave away the bride, was the giver of the feast. In the room to which we were shown, a dinner- table was laid out for eight or ten people. The MEXICAN bride and her mother, with several female re- lations, were seated at the upper end of the apartment ; the bride being dressed up in gaudy- coloured cottons, with immense ear-rings, and a profusion of showy artificial flowers in her hair. She sat with her arms folded, and with a look of determined gravity, or rather, as it appeared, of sulkiness, that promised no comfortable life to the husband. But I learned afterwards, that it was an essential part of the etiquette upon these oc- casions for the bride to be uniformly grave, silent, and seemingly abashed and frightened ; that a smile from her would be considered the height of indecorum ; and a cheerful speech, even to welcome a guest, the most unpardonable inde- licacy. No one sat at dinner besides our party, except the bride and her mother, and one of her aunts. The bridegroom would also have sat down with us, had there been room ; but as there was not, he placed himself at a small side-table, along with his father. When we had done dinner, we rose to make room for the second set, consisting of the friends of the Novios ; after which a feast was spread on the grass outside, for all who chose to partake of the good cheer. The object of the first dinner was to prove that the family was respected by their superiors—of the second, to show they were not witheut friends of their own class—and the dinner without was intended asa display of their liberality. When the party who succeeded us had nearly dined, one of them, a poet by profession, rose and addressed some extempore verses to the bride ; which, though humorous enough to make all the | rest of the company laugh, were received by her with the most correct indifference. The poet, a sly old fellow, and half tipsy, was a person well known for making it a point of conscience never to allow any wedding, or other merry-making, to pass without a sufficient dose of his verses. As we imagined our presence imposed some restraint upon the party, we retired to another cottage, when one of the young ladies, spying a harp, carried it to the door, and played to the people whowere loungingabout. They immediately began the dance of the country, consisting of a short inelegant step, mixed with an occasional rapid stamping of the foot, while in the act of describing various small circles round one another. The harp on these occasions was generally accom- panied by a shrill song. No more than two persons danced ata time ; and the step, figure, and the numerous gesticulations, appeared to depend on the taste and fancy of the couple them- selves. Itis very remarkable that this dance bears the closest resemblance to that of Chili, and every other country we visited along the whole coast. The natural inference from this fact svould seem to be, that it owes its introduction to the Spaniards ; who in their turn may have borrowed it, in still earlier times, from the Moors. The dance and the music certainly bear no small resemblance to what we find at the Natches, or native dances in India. On the 22d of April, when I was walking through the market-place with one of the officers of the ship, our attention was arrested by a party | of native Mexican Indians, who had come from the interior to purchase maize and other articles. INDIANS. Each of them carried a bow, and about two dozen of arrows, and wore in his girdle a long broad knife. Their dress was a coarse cotton shirt, made of cloth manufactured by themselves ; and a pair of leather small-clothes, loose at the knee, fringed with a line of tassels, and short strips of leather ; each being intended to represent some article belonging to the wearer ; one meant his horse, another his bow, another, larger and more orna- mental, stood for his wife, and soon. The most striking circumstance, however, was, that all these Indians wore feathers round their heads, precisely in the manner represented in the drawings which embellish the old accounts of the conquest of the country by Cortes. Some of these people tied round their straw-hats a circle of red flowers, so much resembling feathers, that it was not easy to distinguish between the two. Several of the Indians wore necklaces of white beads made of bone, the distinctive mark, as we were told, of being married. A little old man of the party, who seemed much entertained by our curiosity, begged our attention to a rod about two feet long, which he carried in his hand, and to the skin of a little bird of brilliant plumage, suspended at his left knee : these two symbols he gave us to understand belonged to him as chief of the village. The only woman of the party stood apart, wrapped in a coarse kind of blanket, holding the bridles of the mules. At first, these poor Indians were rather alarmed at the interest we took in their dress and appearance; and as they understood but little Spanish, shrunk back from us. But an obliging person in the market-place stepped forward to act as interpreter, which soon reassured them, and they came round us afterwards with confidence ; but it was with great reluctance they parted with their bows and arrows, and their feathered orna- ments. The old man could not be prevailed upon to part with his rod of authority, nor his official bird ; neither could we induce them to sell, at any price, that part of their dress to which the inventory of their goods and chattels was ap- pended. These Indians are a small and feeble race of men, resembling, in this respect, the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, whom the early tra- vellers have described. Their bows and arrows are suited to their strength, being more like those of school-boys than the arms of men who have their country to defend ; and it is impossible not to look back with pity upon the unequal contest waged in this unfortunate country, when the musket and bayonet of the disciplined Spaniard were opposed to weapons so contemptible, and in such feeble hands. From the Plaza, we went to a house where a bee-hive of the country was opened in our presence. The bees, the honeycomb, and the hive, differ essentially from those of Europe. The hive is generally made out of a log of wood, from two to three feet long, and eight or ten inches in diameter, hollowed out, and closed at the ends by circular doors, cemented closely to the wood, but capable of being removed at pleasure. Some persons use cylindrical hives, made of earthenware, instead of the clumsy apparatus of wood ; these are relieved by raised figures and circular rings, so as to form rather handsome ornaments in the verandah of a house, where they are suspended 43 | | | ) / | eS SSS SSS SSS SSS nS SSS sss sles sss ssn 44 by cords from the roof, in the same manner that the wooden ones in the villages are hung to the eaves of the cottages. On one side of the hive, half-way between the ends, there is a small hole made, just large enough for a loaded bee to enter, and shaded by a projection, to prevent the rain from trickling in. In this hole, generally repre- senting the mouth of a man, or some monster, the head of which is moulded in the clay of the hive, a bee is constantly stationed, whose office is no sinecure ; for the hole is so small, he has to draw back every time a bee wishes to enter or to leave the hive. A gentleman told me that the experi- ment had been made by marking the sentinel ; when it was observed, that the same bee continued at his post a whole day. When it is ascertained by the weightthat the hive is full, the end pieces are removed, and the honey withdrawn. The hive we saw opened was only partly filled ; which enabled us to see the economy of the interior to more advantage. The honey is not contained in the elegant hexagonal cells of our hives, but in wax bags, not quite so large as an egg. These bags, or bladders, are hung round the sides of the hive, and appear about half full, the quantity being probably just as great as the strength of the wax will bear without tearing. Those nearest the bottom, being better supported, are more filled than the upper ones. In the centre or lower part of the hive, we ob- served an irregular-shaped mass of comb furnished with cells, like those of our bees, all containing young ones, in such an advanced state, that when we broke the comb and let them out they flew merrily away. During this examination of the hive, the comb and the honey were taken out, and the bees disturbed in every way ; but they never stung us, though our faces and hands were covered with them. It is said, however, that there is a bee in the country which does sting: but the kind we saw seem to have neither the power nor the inclination, for they certainly did not hurt us; and our friends said they were always “muy manso,” very tame, and never stung any one. The honey gave out a rich aromatic perfume, and tasted differently from ours: but possessed an agreeable flavour. On the 26th of April, an answer to the appli- cation of the merchants, for permission to ship money in the Conway, was received from Mexico. But the terms in which the licence was worded showed, that although government had felt it right, in conformity with a proclamation issued some time before, to grant this permission, yet they still retained the characteristic feeling of doubt as to the expediency of allowing gold and silver to leave the country. They could not, all at once, divest themselves of the mistaken idea, that money, inde- pendent of its exchangeable value, was riches, They had not yet learned to separate the idea of wealth and power from the mere possession of gold and silver ; not seeing that it was solely by the process of exchanging them for goods and for services which they stood in need of, that either wealth or power could arise from the precious metals, of which they had more than they wanted. Juster notions, it is true, were by this time begin- ning to be disseminated amongst them ; and the government perceived the importance of viewing the precious metals as mercantile commodities of MEXICAN BEE-HIVES. exchangeable value, and, since they were the staple produce of the country, of encouraging their production and export. That enlarged views should at once take deep and effective root in the minds of such infant governments, was hardly to be looked for ; and, accordingly, we invariably found the same erroneous but seductive idea pre- vailing, more or less, that gold and silver were in themselves national wealth, and that they ought not, therefore, to be allowed to leave the country. These notions obtained universally amongst the lower orders, and generally amongst the upper classes, excepting the principal merchants, whose habits of business led them directly to the truth. As the greater part of the treasure was exported in British men-of-war, the jealousy with which we were often regarded by the people was increased ; and it was no easy task to show that, for every dollar carried out of the country, an equivalent value in goods must necessarily come into it—of goods which they stood in need of, in exchange for metals of which they had infinitely more than they wanted. It would be unreasonable, however, to reproach these people with inaccurate views on this subject, simple as it may seem; since, till very recently, opinions equally false and mischie- vous to society prevailed almost universally in countries where political economy was much better understood than it is likely to be for some time to come in Mexico. But if we lament the folly of thus throwing obstacles in the way of turning the most valuable produce of the country to the best account, we feel deeper regret, and more lively indignation, when we see the waste of mental treasure which the same unwise policy, and contracted views, have occasioned in those countries. These remarks refer more particularly to the female part of society; and I find it difficult to use language which shall describe the state of the case, without, at the same time, implying reproach or censure upon them, a thing altogether foreign to my meaning. The fault, in fact, does not lie with the individuals; so far from it, that when, in any instance, the opposing causes happened to be removed and opportunities were presented for improving their minds, the effect was so remark- able, that it was impossible not to hail with satis- faction the prospect now opening, by which the means of improvement, heretofore rare and acci- dental, may become general, and within the reach of the whole society. It was really painful to see so many young ladies, of excellent abilities, anxious to learn, but without any means of improvement, receiving little or no encouragement from their seniors, and the very reverse of encouragement from the priests. With respect to the men, it may be remarked, that they, probably unconsciously, have contributed by their behaviour to the women to aggravate the effect of the other causes which have been adverted to as degrading their country. They had no share whatever in the government, or in the commerce of the country ; and were thus left almost without motive to any kind of exertion. They, therefore, naturally betook themselves to ignoble pursuits, and being indifferent to public opinion, thought of nothing less than of studying to elevate and sus- tain the moral excellence of the other sex. The SKETCH OF THE REVOLUTION IN MEXICO. 45 reaction upon themselves, from the degradation which they caused, followed as an inevitable con- | sequence: and thus the whole community was lowered in the scale of civilisation and morals. We may now, however, rationally hope, that when the men are called to the exercise of high duties, and a thousand motives are placed before them to encourage them to exertion, they will soon learn the value of character; and public opinion will, for the first time, be felt and under- stood in the country. They will then discover | how important a share of that opinion belongs to the women; and will have an interest in contri- buting everything in their power to elevate, instead of undervaluing theirinfluence. If things be thus left to take their natural course, the tide of know- ledge and happiness will soon overspread the land ; and the fertility, which such an inundation will impart to the soil, will enable it to bear any degree of culture. CHAPTER XLVII. SKETCH OF THE REVOLUTION IN MEXICO. First Appearance of Don Augustin de Iturbide.—Plan of Iguala.—General O’ Donaju.—Treaty of Cordova,—Con- gress.—Decree of the Cortes at Madrid.—Iturbide pro- claimed Emperor.—Character of Iturbide.—Abdication and Banishment,—Return and Execution. Berore describing the state of party-feeling, it will, I think, be satisfactory to say a few words on the recent Revolution in Mexico, which differs in many particulars from those of the other Trans- atlantic States. Mexico, like Chili, has been twice revolution- ised. The first struggle commenced in September 1810, and was carried on with various success till July 1819, when the exertions of the Patriots were almost extinguished. Although the Independents failed in their first attempt, the experience gained in the course of a long and arduous contest contributed materially to the more successful conduct of the second Revo- lution, of which I am about to give a very brief sketch. About the middle of 1820, accounts were re- ceived in Mexico of the Revolution in Spain; and it was soon made known, that: orders had been sent to Apodaca, the Viceroy, to proclaim the Constitution, to which Ferdinand VII. had been obliged to swear. But it appears that Apo- daca and some of the principal generals, acting probably under secret orders from the King, re- solved to resist the establishment of the Constitu- tion. The popular sentiment, as may be supposed, was against such a project ; and the seeds of an extensive revolt were in this way sown by the very persons who, it may be supposed, had the interests of the mother-country most at heart. New levies of troops were made by government to suppress any attempt to declare the Constitution ; and the whole country was gradually, and almost insensibly, roused into military action. The chief obstacle, as it was thought by these leaders, to the success of their plan was the pre- ‘sence of General Don N. Armigo, whose attach- } ment to the cause of the Constitution was too well known to admit a doubt of his supporting it. He was, therefore, dismissed from the command of the military division stationed between Mexico and Acapulco; and in his place Don Augustin Iturbide was appointed ; an officer who, during the former Revolution, had adhered steadily to the interests of the King, though he was a native of Mexico. He had been privy to the secret pro- ject above alluded to, of forcibly resisting the pro- clamation of the Constitution, and when he left Mexico in February 1821, to supersede Armigo, he was implicitly confided in by the Viceroy, who appointed him to escort half a million of dollars destined for embarkation at Acapulco. Iturbide, however, soon took possession of this money, at a place called Iguala, about one hundred and twenty miles from Mexico, and commenced the second Mexican Revolution, by publishing a paper, wherein he proposed to the Viceroy that a new form of government should be established, independent of the mother-country. As this document, which bears the title of the Plan of Iguala, was made the foundation of all the subsequent proceedings of the revolutionists, it may be interesting to give a sketch of its leading points. It bears date the 24th of February 1821, the day after Iturbide had possessed himself of the treasury under his escort. Article Ist maintains the Roman Catholic re- ligion, to the entire exclusion (intolerancia) of any other. 2d, Declares New Spain independent of Old Spain, or of every other country. 3d, Defines the government to be a limited mo- narchy, “ regulated according to the spirit of the peculiar constitution adapted to the country.” 4th, Proposes that the Imperial Crown of Mexico be offered first to Ferdinand VII. ; and, in the event of his declining it, to the younger princes of that family, specifying that the repre- sentative government of New Spain shall have the power eventually to name the Emperor, if these princes shall also refuse. Article 8th points this out more explicitly. 5th, 6th, and 7th Articles, relate to the details of duties belonging to the Provisional Govern- ment, which is to consist of a Junta anda Re- gency, till the Cortes or Congress be assembled at Mexico. 9th, The government is to be supported by an army, which shall bear the name of “ The Army of the Three Guarantees.” These guarantees, it appears by the 16th Article, are, Ist, The Reli- gion in its present pure state: 2d, The Indepen- dence; and, 3d, The Union of Americans and Spaniards in the country. 10th and 11th, Relate to the duties of Congress, with respect to the formation of a constitution on the principles of this “ Plan.” 12th, Declares every inhabitant of New Spain a citizen thereof, of whatever country he be ; and renders every man eligible to every office, without exception even of Africans. A subsequent modi- fication of this article excluded slaves. 13th, Secures persons and property. 14th, Gives strong assurances of maintaining, untouched, the privileges and immunities of the Church. 15th, Promises not to remove individuals from their present offices. 16th, (See 9th). 46 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th, relate to the forma- tion of the army and other military details. 21st, Declares that until new laws be framed, those of the present Spanish constitution are to be in force. 22d, Declares treason against the Independence to be second only to sacrilege. 23d, To the same effect. 24th, Points out, that the Cortes, or Sovereign Congress, is to be a constituent assembly, to hold its sessions in Mexico, and not in Madrid. This plan dexterously involves the direct and obvious interests of all classes in the community, especially of those who had most to lose; the clergy and the Old Spaniards, who held by far the most extensive influence over society—one by being in possession of nearly all the active capital in the country—the other by having gained in times past, an influence over men’s minds, to which, perhaps, there does not now exisé a parallel in the Christian world. Bnt, although this be true, yet both these parties had been recently made to feel, for the first time, that their influence, and even existence, depended upon opinion alone ; and this they were sufficiently aware they might lose inamoment. To them, therefore, the countenance of men in power was of the greatest consequence ; and it became their immediate interest to support the views of a party which, instead of oppressing them, as had been the case elsewhere in South America, actually condescended to borrow their support, and to provide for their safety. Again, by not holding out a vague prospect of a representative government, but beginning at once, by calling the deputies together, and by appoint- ing a deliberate junta and an executive regency, doubts and jealousies were dissipated, or put to sleep. In the interim, while the above proposition was submitted to Spain, this plan answered Iturbide’s purposes fully, as the flame which it had kindled soon spread over the whole country. He was soon joined by several of the most distinguished of the king’s officers; amongst others by Don Pedro Celestino Negreti, a Spaniard, but married in the country; and by Colonel Bustamante, who brought over with him a thousand cavalry. On every side the great cities yielded to the Revolu- tionary forces. Such also was Iturbide’s address, that, in every case of conquest, he converted into active friends all those who had been indifferent before ; and seldom failed to gain over to his cause the most powerful of his enemies ; while, at the same time, he won the confidence and esteem of every one, by his invariable moderation, humanity, and justice. While the Independent cause was thus rapidly advancing, that of the Spanish government was falling fast to pieces. The Viceroy Apodaca found it impossible to stem the torrent, and was glad to abdicate his authority at the mutinous suggestion of the officers, who, it is curious to observe, adopted a course exactly similar to that of their country- men in Peru, in the case of Pezuela. But his _ suecessor, Field-Marshal Novella, in vain endea- voured to restore the cause of the king, while Iturbide drew his armies closer and closer round the capital, subduing everything before him. At this critical moment, a new viceroy, General O’Donaju, arrived from Spain, vested with powers THE TREATY OF CORDOVA. to supersede Apodaca. To his astonishment he found the country he came to govern no longer a colony of Spain, but an independent state. As he had come without’ troops, he saw at a glance that Mexico was irretrievably lost, on the terms, at least, on which it had been held heretofore. He endeavoured, however, to make the best conditions he could for his country; and, in order to pave the way, issued a proclamation to the inhabitants, breathing nothing but liberality and hearty con- gratulations upon their prospect of happiness ; a most singular document indeed to come from a Spanish viceroy, and one which it was next to madness to suppose that the Spanish Government would ever acknowledge. Iturbide, delighted to see this disposition on the part of O’Donaju to take things in such unexpected good part, invited him to a conference. They accordingly met at Cordova, where, after a short discussion, a treaty, which bears the name of that city, was signed on the 24th of August, 1821. By this treaty, O’Donaju fully recognised the Plan of Tguala ; and not only engaged to use his influence to support it at home, but, in order to manifest his sincerity still farther, he actually agreed to become a member of the Provisional Revolutionary Go- vernment—to despatch commissioners to Spain to offer the crown to Ferdinand—and, in short, in the name of Spain, to make common cause with Mexico. This treaty of Cordova bears internal evidence of having been dictated by Iturbide himself, and as it bears in all its parts the strongest character- istic marks of his policy, and is in itself highly interesting, I think it no more than justice to Iturbide, as well as to the truth of history, to give it at length. The form of government, indeed, established by this treaty, subsisted little more than a year and a half (August 1821 to February 1823) ; but although so short a period be inconsiderable, when speaking of other nations, it is by no means so when it refers to these new-born states. The good effects which arose from Iturbide’s energetic and virtuous administration will long be felt by that country, however little its influence may at present be acknowledged, or however inexpedient it may be to re-establish a similar authority. « TREATY OF CORDOVA. “ Treaty concluded in the Town of Cordova on the 24th of August, 1821, between Don Juan O’Donaju, Lieutenant-General of the Armies of Spain, and Don Augustin de Iturbide, First Chief of the Imperial Mexican Army of the ‘ Three Guarantees.’ “ New Spain having declared herself indepen- dent of the mother-country ; possessing an army to support this declaration ; her provinces having decided in its favour; the capital wherein the legitimate authority had been deposed being besieged ; the cities of Vera Cruz and Acapulco alone remaining to the European government, un- garrisoned, and without the means of resisting a well-direeted siege of any duration, Lieut.-General Don Juan O’Donaju arrived at the first-named port in the character and quality of Captain- General, and first Political Chief of this kingdom, appointed by his Most Catholic Majesty, and being ARTICLES OF desirous of avoiding the evils that necessarily fall upon the people in changes of this description, and of reconciling the interests of Old and New Spain, he invited the First Chief of the imperial army, Don Augustine de Iturbide, to an interview, in order to discuss the great question of independence, disentangling, without destroying, the bonds which had connected the two continents. This interview took place in the town of Cordova, on the 24th of August, 1821, and the former, under the character with which he came invested, and the latter as representing the Mexican empire, having conferred at large upon the interests of each nation, looking to their actual condition, and to recent occur- rences, agreed to the following articles, which they signed in duplicate, for their better preservation, each party keeping an original for greater security and validity. “ Ist, This kingdom of America shall be recog- nised as a sovereign and independent nation, and shall, in future, be called the Mexican Empire. “2d, The government of the empire shall be monarchical, limited by a constitution. “ 3d, Ferdinand VII., Catholic King of Spain, shall, in the first place, be called to the throne of the Mexican empire, (on taking the oath prescribed in the 10th Article of the Plan,) and on his refusal and denial, his brother, the most serene infante Don Carlos ; on his refusal and denial, the most serene infante Don Francisco de Paula; on his refusal and denial, the most serene Don Carlos Luis, infante of Spain, formerly heir of Tuscany, now of Lucca; and upon his renunciation and denial, the person whom the Cortes of the empire shall designate. “ 4th, The emperor shall fix his court in Mexico, which shall be the capital of the empire. “ 5th, Two commissioners shall be named by his Excellency Sefior O’Donaju, and these shall proceed to the court of Spain, and place in the hands of his Majesty King Ferdinand VII. a copy of this treaty, and a memorial which shall accom- pany it, for the purpose of affording information to his Majesty with respect to antecedent circum- stances, whilst the Cortes of the empire offer him the crown with all the formalities and guarantees which a matter of so much importance requires ; and they supplicate his Majesty, that on the oc- currence of the case provided for in article 3, he would be pleased to communicate it to the most serene infantes called to the crown in the same article, in the order in which they are so named ; and that his Majesty would be pleased to interpose his influence, and prevail on one of the members of his august family to proceed to this empire : inasmuch as the prosperity of both nations would be thereby promoted, and as the Mexicans would feel satisfaction in thus strengthening the bonds of friendship with which they may be, and wish to see themselves, united to the Spaniards. “ 6th, Conformably to the spirit of the ¢ Plan of Iguala,’ an assembly shall be immediately named, composed of men the most eminent in the empire for their virtues, their station, rank, fortune, and influence ; men marked out by the general opinion, whose number may be sufficiently considerable to insure by their collective knowledge the safety of the resolutions which they may take in pursuance of the powers and authority granted them by the following articles. THE TREATY. DE ae EE SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSeSsseeeeeeee “7th, The assembly mentioned in the preceding article shall be called the * Provisional Junta of Government.’ “ 8th, Lieutenant-General Don Juan O’Donaju shall be a member of the Provisional Junta of Government, in consideration of its being expedient that a person of his rank should take an active and immediate part in the government, and of the indispensable necessity of excluding some of the individuals mentioned in the above Plan of Iguala, conformably to its own spirit. “ 9th, The Provisional Junta of Government shall have a president elected by itself from its own body, or from without it, to be determined by the absolute plurality of votes; and if on the first scrutiny the votes be found equal, a second scrutiny shall take place, which shall embrace those two who shall have received the greatest number of votes, “ 10th, The first act of the Provisional Junta shall be the drawing up of a manifesto of its in- stallation, and the motives of its assemblage, together with whatever explanations it may deem convenient and proper for the information of the country, with respect to the public interests, and the mode to be adopted in the election of deputies for the Cortes, of which more shall be said here- after. “ 11th, The Provisional Junta of Government, after the election of its president, shall name a regency composed of three persons selected from its own body, or from without it, in whom shall be vested the executive power, and who shall govern in the name and on behalf of the monarch, till the vacant throne be filled. “ 12th, The Provisional Junta, as soon as it is installed, shall govern ad interim according to the existing laws, so far as they may not be contrary to the * Plan of Iguala,’ and until the Cortes shall have framed the constitution of the state. “ 13th, The Regency, immediately on its nomi- nation, shall proceed to the convocation of the Cortes in the manner which shall be prescribed by the Provisional Junta of Government, conform- ably to the spirit of article No. 7, in the aforesaid ‘ Plan.’ “14th, The executive power is vested in the Regency, and the legislative in the Cortes ; but as some time must elapse before the latter can assemble, and in order that the executive and legislative powers should not remain in the hands of one body, the junta shall be empowered to legislate ; in the first place, where cases occur which are too pressing to wait till the assembling of the Cortes, and then the Junta shall proceed in concert with the Regency; and, in the second place, to assist the Regency in its determinations in the character of an auxiliary and ecnsultative body. “ 15th, Every individual, who is domiciled amongst any community, shall, on an alteration taking place in the system of government, or on the country passing under the dominion of another prince, be at full liberty to remove himself, together with his effects, to whatever country he chooses, without any person having the right to deprive him of such liberty, unless he have contracted some obligation with the community to which he had belonged, by the commission of a crime, or by any other of those modes, which publicists have laid down; this applies to the Europeans residing 47 ee ee ee aa ag te LE _— = —— 48 in New Spain, and to the Americans residing in the Peninsula. Consequently, it will be at their option to remain, adopting, either country, or to demand their passports, (which cannot be denied them,) for permission to leave the kingdom at such time as may be appointed beforehand, carry- ing with them their families and property ; but paying on the latter the regular export duties now in force, or which may hereafter be established by the competent authority. “16th, The option granted in the foregoing article shall not extend to persons in public situ- ations, whether civil or military, known to be disaffected to Mexican independence ; such persons shall necessarily quit the empire within the time which shall be allotted by the regency, taking with them their effects, after having paid the duties, as stated in the preceding article. “ 17th, The occupation of the capital by the Peninsular troops being an obstacle to the execution of this treaty, it is indispensable to have it removed. But as the Commander-in-chief of the imperial army, fully participating in the sentiments of the Mexican nation, does not wish to attain this object by force, for which, however, he has more than ample means at his command, notwithstanding the known valour and constancy of the Peninsular troops, who are not in a situation to maintain themselves against the system adopted by the nation at large, Don Juan O’Donaju agrees to exercise his authority for the evacuation of the capital by the said troops without loss of blood, and upon the terms of an honourable capitulation. «¢ AUGUSTIN DE ITURBIDE. < Juan O’Donasvu. ** Dated in the Town of Cordova, 24th of August, 1821.” The accession of such a man as O’Donaju to his party was of incalculable importance to Iturbide. It destroyed the hopes of those who, up to this moment, had looked for the re-establishment of the ancient order of things—it completely justified the conduct of the Spanish residents, who had in a similar manner yielded to the popular tide—-and it was very naturally hailed, from one end of the country to the other, as a confirmation of the justice and solidity of the Independent cause, when even a Spaniard in authority agreed to co-operate with them so heartily. The capital was soon persuaded to surrender, at O’Donaju’s desire ; Iturbide entered it on the 27th of September, and immediately installed the Go- vernor alluded to in the Plan of Iguala. At this moment O’Donaju caught the yellow- fever, and died, to the great sorrow of all parties. | But it is difficult to say, whether or not his death | was detrimental to Iturbide’s views. O’Donaju had already done all that was possible to establish the immediate objects of that chief, particularly in preventing disunion ; and it may be questioned whether he would have co-operated with him so fully when these objects came to take a more | personal and ambitious direction, and when the interests of the Spanish crown were less con- sidered. | From that period, up to the end of March 1822, Iturbide’s plans were steadily carried forward, the deputies to Congress gradually drew together from _ the different provinces, and he had time to collect ——— eee DECREE OF THE CORTES AT MADRID. in his favour the suffrages of the remotest towns. |} } The Trigaranti colours were worn by all classes ; and by a thousand other ingenious manceuvres, the people were gradually taught to associate their present freedom with Iturbide’s celebrated Plan of Iguala, and thence, by an easy transition, to look to him, individually, for their future pros- perity. ; ; The Mexican Cortes, or Sovereign Constituent Congress, finally met on the 24thof February, 1822 ; and one of their first, if not their very first act, was an edict, permitting all who chose it to leave the country, and allowing the export of specie at a duty of only three and a half percent. This good faith, for it had been long before promised by Itur- bide, gave great confidence to the mercantile capi- talists, and probably decided many to remain in the country, who, had they been less at liberty to go, would have felt less desirous of remaining. A rumour was also circulated at this time, that the inquisition, which had been abolished by the Constitution before Ferdinand’s release from France, might probably be re-established—a prospect which was no less grateful to the hopes of the clergy, than a free export of specie was to the merchants. Iturbide himself, at this juncture, condescended to espouse the cause of the army, by publishing appeals, with his name at full length, in the public prints, in favour of the merits and claims of his fellow-soldiers ; thus dexterously contriving to bring all parties into the best possible humour with himself, and consequently with his adminis- tration. On the 18th of May 1822, he presented to the Congress two Madrid Gazettes of the 13th and 14th of February, by which it appeared that the Cortes of Spain had declared the treaty of Cordova, entered into by the Viceroy O’Donaju, to be “ille- gal, null, and void, as respects the Spanish govern- ~ ment and its subjects.” As this document is no less characteristic of the obstinate policy of the Spaniards, in all that respects South American affairs, than the foregoing treaty of Cordova is of the Mexicans, a translation is here inserted. ** DECREE OF THE CORTES AT MADRID. “Tn the Session of 13th February 1822, the Ex- traordinary Cortes at Madrid approved of the following articles :— “Ist, The Cortes declare, that what is styled the Treaty of Cordova between General O’Donaju and the chief of the malcontents of New Spain, Don Augustin de Iturbide, as well as any other act or stipulation involving the recognition of Mexican independence by the aforesaid general, are illegal, null, and void, as respects the Spanish government and its subjects. “2d, that the Spanish Government, by an offi- cial communication to all such powers as are in amicable relations with it, shall declare that the Spanish nation will at all times consider as a viola- tion of existing treaties, the partial or absolute re- cognition of the independence of the Spanish Ame- rican colonies, seeing that the discussions pending between some of them and the mother country are not yet concluded ; and that the Spanish govern- ment in the fullest manner shall testify to foreign powers, that hitherto Spain has not renounced any | | en meme a CHARACTER one of the rights which she possesses over the aforesaid colonies. “ 3d, That government be charged to preserve, by all possible means, and reinforce with all speed, those points in the American provinces which still remain united with the mother-country, obedient to her authority, and opposed to the malcontents ; proposing to the Cortes such resources as it may require, and which it has not at its own disposal.” This was undoubtedly what Iturbide, knowing the temper of the court of Madrid, had expected. The Mexican Congress, together with the inhabit- ants and the troops, immediately decided, “ That by the foregoing declaration of Spain the Mexican nation was freed from the obligations of the treaty of Cordova, as far as Spain was concerned ; and that as, by the third article, the constitutional Congress were left at liberty, in such event, to name an emperor—they thought fit, in conse- quence, not only in persuance of their own opinion but in accordance with the voice of the people, to | elect Don Augustin de Iturbide the First, consti- tutional emperor of Mexico, on the basis pro- claimed in the Plan of Iguala, which had already been received throughout the empire.” The Congress of Mexico issued a manifesto to the people on the elevation of Iturbide to the throne. Most of it consists of mere words and declamation ; but there is one paragraph evidently written from real feeling—at least it exactly defines Iturbide’s character, such as it was generally re- presented in Mexico while I was in that country. The passage is as follows :— “ His love of liberty, his disinterestedness, his dexterity, and political skill in uniting conflicting interests, his capability in affairs of state, were so many attractions to call forth your admiration, and to excite the interest and affection which you have professed for his person from the time he com- menced his glorious career.” The Emperor and the Congress did not long agree. Conspiracies were formed amongst the members; arrests and trials took place, and vio- lent resolutions were passed ; public business was entirely neglected, and the Congress gave them- selves up to personal squabbles and recriminations against the Emperor. At length, on the 30th of October 1822, Iturbide dissolved the assembly by force, and formed a new one, called the Instituent Junta, consisting of forty-five members of the Con- gress. An insurrection shortly afterwards broke out, under an officer of the name of Santana, a strenuous republican ; and a document, known by the name of the “ Act of Casa Mata,” was pub- lished on the Ist of February 1823 by the chiefs of that insurrection. By this act, it was decided that the Congress should be reassembled notwith- standing their dissolution by the emperor ; but the chiefs took upon them to proscribe certain depu- ties, and directed the provinces to elect members more suitable to their views. Iturbide, feeling himself unequal to resist the tide of republicanism which was setting against him, and not choosing to hold his authority under these chiefs, reassem- bled the Congress, abdicated the throne, and re- quested permission to retire from the country. His presence, as he states in his pamphlet, might have proved prejudicial to the country, by exciting the people to civil war. (PART I1.] OF ITURBIDE. “ There will not be wanting persons,” says he, “who will charge me with a want of foresight, and with weakness in reinstating a congress, of whose defects I was aware, and the members of which will always continue to be my determined enemies. My reason for so acting was this: I wished to leave in existence some acknowledged authority, knowing that the convocation of another congress would have required time ; and circum- stances did not admit of any delay. Had I taken any other course, anarchy would inevitably have ensued, upon the different parties showing them- selves, and the result would have been the disso- lution of the state. It was my wish to make this last sacrifice for my country.’* Iturbide, thus forced to leave Mexico, accord- ingly went to Italy, where he resided till the end of 1823, when he came over to England. On the llth of May 1824, he again sailed for Mexico from Southampton, having been urgently solicited to do so by his countrymen, “ who,” to use his own words, “ considered his presence as necessary to the establishment of unanimity there, and to the existence of government.” The result proved, that Iturbide’s decision was unwise :—that it was patriotic and disinterested, I have not the smallest doubt ; and as yet there has not appeared the least reason for suspecting that his views had any other object than the service of his native country, Mexico, and of resistance to Spain, or any other nation which might seek to reconquer that country. The following is the most distinct account which I have been able to collect of Iturbide’s proceed- ings, up to their fatal termination :— Iturbide was called to London from Italy by many reasons, which he considered important to the Mexican nation ; he believed that his presence in Mexico was the only means of uniting the many divided opinions, and of organising an army which could oppose the invasion which Spain would pro- bably attempt as soon as Ferdinand VII. should be re-established in the plenitude of his power, by the assistance of France and other nations. Itur- bide was of this opinion, in relation to the ex- pected invasion, and being desirous of assisting his country, even at the sacrifice of all that was dear to him, he sent for his family, then at Leghorn, and in the mean time busied himself in making the necessary preparations for his voyage ;—such as procuring a vessel, borrowing money, seeking for a fit person to conduct him to Mexico, and other arrangements. As soon as his family arrived, he placed his six eldest sons at proper schools, and with his wife, his two youngest sons, two chaplains, a nephew, two strangers, (one of whom had before been in his ser- vice in Mexico,) and four servants, he embarked at Southampton in the brig Spring, on the 11] th of May 1824. On the 12th of July he arrived off the Bar of Soto la Marina, at which time he was necessarily ignorant of the decree of the Mexican government, dated the 28th of April, since it was published only thirteen days before he left England. By this de- cree, he was declared to be “a traitor out of the pale of the law, and liable to be instantly put to death, if he should set foot on the territory of the Mexican Federation.” Neither was he aware in * Iturbide’s Statement, p. 88, published in London. t Preface to Iturbide’s Statement p. 15. E 49 | : 50 ITURBIDE RETURNS TO MEXICO. a what light a communication had been received, addressed by him from London, under date of the 13th February, to the Mexican Congress, offering his services as a simple military man, should the nation deem them useful ; and that, for the further- ance of this object, he had departed from Italy, in the month of November 1823. He accordingly caused Lieutenant-Colonel Don Charles Beneski to go to Soto la Marina and ob- tain information, charging him particularly to ascer- tain if General Don Felipe de la Garza was in that province, as he had left him at his departure. This general was the first who, while Iturbide was em- peror in Mexico, proclaimed the republic in the province of Santander ; but troops having marched against him, he abandoned those who had followed him, and presented himself to Iturbide, who par- doned him, spared his life, and reinstated him in his honours and employment. In return for this generous action, Iturbide, no doubt, thought that Garza would be grateful, and protect his landing, and assist his subsequent operations. Beneski returned on the morning of the 16th of July, without having discovered how much Itur- bide was in danger, but rather bringing favourable information, which, added to the knowledge that Garza commanded in that quarter, made him de- termined to land the same evening, attended only by this officer. He instructed the other persons who remained on board, attached to him, to hold themselves in readiness to follow as soon as they should be ordered to do so. They then proceeded to the first town, where they were to take horses, and Beneski set about procuring them. Iturbide remained in the boat near the river side, with his face covered to his nose with his handkerchief, a disguise which he used, because he wished to pre- sent himself before Garza by surprise, and, until then, not to be recognised. This circumstance, however, called the attention of the people, who were struck with his appearance, and among those who drew near to see him was a merchant of Du- rango, who recognised him as he mounted his horse. He immediately informed the Alcalde, who sent four soldiers to follow Iturbide to a town called Los Arroyos, where he intended to pass the day, and thence proceed by night to Soto la Ma- rina. The soldiers remained quiet and said nothing in his presence. Several communications as to what was going on had been sent to Garza, and on the evening of the 16th, this general, with two adju- tants and eight soldiers, arrived at the place where Iturbide was. They embraced each other, and after a secret conference, they all set out for the town of Soto la Marina, where they arrived on the morning of the 17th. Iturbide and Beneski were immediately put in prison, and at twelve o’clock of that day one of Garza’s adjutants came to announce to them the sentence of death, agreeably to the decree of pro- scription which the Congress had passed on the 28th of April, the very day on which they received and read his exposition of the 13th of February. The adjutant informed them that at three o’clock that afternoon the sentence would be put in execu- tion. Iturbide requested that three days might be allowed him, to arrange his family and other concerns, although, before he left the brig, he had made some dispositions, in the event of his dying before he could rejoin his friends. As Garza wished to save Iturbide’s life, he de- clared to the local authorities, that the law which | condemned him to death ought not to attaint him, | if he were totally ignorant, as he must have been, of its existence ; and therefore ordered that they should go to Padilla where the National Congress was assembled, and where this circumstance would, of course, be taken into consideration. The whole |} party, therefore, set out with an escort of about | one hundred militia, no regular troops being there, at three o’clock in the afternoon, and without stop- |} ping they travelled until the morning of the 18th, | during which time Iturbide and Garza had fre- | quent and long conferences, the object of which no doubt was, that Garza should call a meeting of the officers, put them under the command of Itur- bide, and harangue the troops, exhorting them to follow the only person who could save the country || - and make them happy. They all agreed to this, ||- and Garza returned to Soto la Marina, with the intention of making the necessary arrangements for the new operations. But on his arrival there, he received letters from the inhabitants, disap- proving of his conduct. This determined him to re- turn immediately to the place where Iturbide was. Iturbide had proceeded towards Padilla, and on his approach to that city sent an officer to the Presi- dent of the Congress, begging him to call a meeting of that body, and soliciting him, in the name of his country, to listen to the reasons which had induced him to return to Mexico; assuring him, at the same time, of his determination to obey the will of the nation without any restriction whatsoever. * While waiting for an answer to this communi- cation, Garza, who had just returned, approached him, and said it would be necessary for him to enter as a prisoner, until he, Garza, could speak to the Congress. To this Iturbide consented, and at eight o’clock on the morning of the 19th they all entered Padilla together. Here Iturbide was put under a guard of twenty men and an officer, and conducted to one of the first houses of the town. Garza then went to the Congress, where he found assembled the seven voters who then com- posed that body. He immediately addressed them, and dwelt with much force on the reasons which ought to induce them to save Iturbide—stating as the principal one, that on coming ashore he knew nothing, and, indeed, could know nothing, of the decree, which was the only one against him ; and, therefore, that he ought to be allowed to embark again with his family ; of course under the obliga- tion of not returning to the territory of the Mexi- can republic. But this body, composed of men not the most enlightened in the world, and only lately placed in such high stations, were unmoved by these argu- ments, and would give no other decision but that he must die forthwith, agreeably to the act of Con- gress; and imperiously ordered Garza to have him shot on the same afternoon. While Garza was thus addressing the assembly to so little purpose, Iturbide was busied in writing a third exposition to the general Congress of Mexico, in which he recapitulated the many ser- vices he had rendered the nation, since he had proclaimed the Independence at Iguala; together with a detailed examination of his public conduct, in which he could not perceive what atrocious crime he had committed to deserve the punishment ee | ' of comment for the first three days. | of July the following temperate and generous FATE OF ITURBIDE. of death. This memorial was sent to Congress accordingly ; but at five o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, and before his memorial had gone many miles, the sentence of death was intimated to Iturbide for the second time, and that it would be executed at six o’clock. To put this sentence in execution, the hundred men from Soto la Marina, and about fifty more who were in Padilla, were formed in the public Plaza, and a picquet of twenty under an adjutant, conducted Iturbide to the place of execution. As he was taken from the house where he was con- fined, he requested that he might be permitted to be seen by the people, and he appeared to look eagerly around him. Heasked how many soldiers were to fire at him, and being informed that four had been ordered, he said they were too few, and requested that three more might be added. He then desired to be led to the place where he was to be shot. No preparations had been made; and on reaching the spot, he asked for a handkerchief, with which he bound his eyes himself. The attendants next proceeded to tie his hands ; this he at first resisted, but being informed that compli- ance would be enforced if he did not willingly grant it, he quietly submitted himself to be bound, and proceeded to the place of execution. There addressing himself to the soldiers, he spoke thus —“ Mexicans, at the very moment of dying, I recommend you to love your country, and to observe our holy religion ; these will conduct you to glory. I die for having come to help you, and I die happy because I die amongst you. I die with honour, and not as a traitor. That stain will not rest upon my sons, and their descendants. I am no traitor. Be subordinate and obedient to your chiefs in executing what they and God may command. I do not say this from vanity, for I am far from vain.” Having said this, he knelt down and raising his voice he said, “I par- don all my enemies with all my heart.” He had hardly uttered these words, when the soldiers taking aim, discharged their muskets, and Iturbide died. His body was then conveyed to the house where he had been detained in the morning, and on the 20th of July 1824, it was buried in an un- covered church, without the customary ceremonies, and even without a coffin. Thus terminated the career of this ill-fated and ill-advised chief. To those who were personally acquainted with him, and believed him honest and patriotic, however indiscreet, (of which number I acknowledge myself one,) his death is a subject of sincere regret, on his account, and that of his family. At the same time, it is impossible to deny, that the existing government of Mexico has been much more firmly established by this vigorous measure than it ever was before; so that Itur- bide’s death, just or unjust, has materially contri- buted to the present political tranquillity of that country, and his fate therefore, on public grounds, is not to be lamented. In Mexico, the capital, the news seems not to have been welcomed with any unseemly exultation _ over a fallen enemy, or any tumultuous feeling of recovered security. The Mexican papers only publish the official bulletins, and give not a word On the 29th remarks appear in the Sol, a Mexican journal. “ We have received various communications relative to the death of Iturbide; but we think that we ought to insert none of them in our paper. Humanity and policy equally counsel us not to disturb the ashes of the dead. His misfortunes ought to make us forget his previous conduct, since he has expiated by his death whatever offences he may have committed against his country. Such at least shall be our conduct on the present occa- sion. As long as Iturbide lived and was danger- ous, we constantly endeavoured to expose the maneceuvres of his partisans, to put the nation on its guard against them, and events have confirmed our predictions. He is now dead, and this cir- cumstance changes the state of things. Let us commiserate his misfortune, and let us endeavour to sink into oblivion the mournful divisions into which we were about to be plunged.—Let this be the epoch of reconciliation ; and forgetting the number of parties which drag us to our ruin, let there be no party but the nation—no desire among us but that of consolidating its beneficent institutions.” The Congress and the executive Government seem to have been actuated by the same feelings of moderation and mercy: While addresses were arriving from the provinces, congratulating them on the adventurer’s fate, we find a considerable party in the Congress disposed to provide liberally for his widow and children. On a proposition being made in the sitting of the 27th of July]824, to authorise the Government to send his widow and her children out of the country to any place they thought proper, many members delivered their opinions. The Minister for Foreign Affairs said that the Executive Government was far from wishing to aggravate the misery of an unhappy family ; but it was considered, that till their insti- tutions were consolidated, it might be dangerous for this family to inhabit the republic of Mexico, or any place from which they might easily return to it. A Senor Bustamante was of the same opinion. He thought that the factious should not be allowed such a rallying point as the eldest son of the Pretender, who he heard was of perverse inclinations, and disposed to follow up his father’s tyrannical ideas. Several members admitted the propriety of banishing the family, but denied the right of Congress to fix their residence in another country. After a good deal of discussion, the first article for empowering the Government to dispose of the Ex-Emperor’s family was agreed to. On the next day, the debate was resumed on the mode of disposing of Iturbide’s widow and children, ‘when the following proposition was made and dis- cussed, namely,—* The Government shall punctu- ally pay to Dona Ana Hecarte, 8000 dollars annually; and her children, on her death, shall enjoy a corresponding allowance under the rules of military pensions.”—Severalmembers supported this proposition, on the ground that the crimes of Iturbide furnished no reason why his familyshould be deprived of the decent provision made by an anterior congress. Public decency dictated that some provision should be made for persons who were, for reasons of state, compelled to reside out of their native land. One member proposed as an amendment, that the above sum of 8000 dollars should be allowed, but be lodged in the bank of ' Philadelphia, and drawn only so long as the family should reside in the republic of Colombia. The E 2 ap a I EE De RT OY 1D ~ — =— a fesaebeat = ae ee = ee 52 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs saw no reason to oppose this amendment. The Govern- ment would of course reserve to itself the right of withdrawing the pension, if the family neglected to observe the condition of residence on which it was granted. Two members objected to the granting of any pension, on the ground that other widows and orphans deserved better of the republic, and ought to have their claims first attended to. The first part of the proposition, granting the pension to Madame Iturbide, was agreed to. The latter part of it, extending the same to her family after her death, was postponed for further consideration. —+— CHAPTER XLVIII. State of the public Feeling in Mexico with respect to Na- tional Independence.—Iturbide’s Views with respect to the Revolution in Mexico.—Excellent Character of the Spaniards, considered individually. - Ir has sometimes been thought by strangers, that the South Americans generally were indifferent to the independence of their country, and that a great European force, by encouraging and pro- tecting the expression of contrary opinions, might, ere long, succeed in re-establishing the ancient authority. This I am thoroughly convinced is a mistake, and he who should reason by analogy from the fate of Spain to that of South America, if exposed to the same trial, would confound two things essentially dissimilar. Were he to sup- pose that the ery of “ Viva la Independencia” in the one, and “ Viva la Constitution ” in the other, are indicative of an equal degree of sincerity and of right apprehension of these subjects, he would be greatly in error. There is this important distinc- tion: the greater number of those people in Spain who called out for the constitution, knew very imperfectly what they were asking for ; whereas, every individual in the new States of South America, however ignorant of the true nature and extent of civil liberty, or however indifferent about other political matters, is strongly possessed of the same clear, consistent, and steady concep- tion, of what national independence means ; and well knows its important practical consequences. It is because these sentiments are universal, and receive every hour more and more strength and confirmation, from every incident, fortunate or otherwise, which arises, that I venture to speak so decidedly of the utter impossibility of again re- ducing to political and moral thraldom so vast a population, every member of which is at length fully awakened to a sense of his own interest and honour. In all companies, the conversation invariably turned on political topics ; and it was very curious to observe, amidst much prejudice and error in reasoning, and much exaggeration and mis-state- ment of facts, how justly every one felt on the oceasion, and with what delight they exercised the new privilege of uttering their thoughts freely ; a privilege, it may be remarked, which is at once cause and effect : since we know, that in former times, when no freedom of speech was permitted, the faculty of thinking to any purpose was equally repressed. These are truths which, though mere FEELINGS ON NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE. common-places, are not, on that account, the less interesting to see confirmed in practice. At this time every one not only'took a pride in saying what his opinions were, but seized every oppor- tunity that occurred, or could be devised, to mani- fest his political sincerity. The borders of the ladies’ shawls were wrought into patriotic mottos ; the tops of the newspapers and play-bills bore similar inscriptions ; patriotic words were set to all the old national airs; and I saw a child a few days old munching a piece of gilt gingerbread, stamped with the word Independencia ! I am aware that all this show proves little ; and that nothing is more unsubstantial than this sort of verbal enthusiasm, which evaporates at the first show of opposition ; and certainly, taken singly, it would be of small moment in a political point of view, however amusing to witness on a great scale. But it is no bad accompaniment to successful ac- tion, and helps to keep alive the new-born spirit of independence, when other and more important causes are ready to give practical effect to the sentiment. Patriotic exertions are always thought more highly of when viewed from a distance, than when examined closely. But, even in the eyes of those who are present, the interest which a show of patriotism excites is often at first of a very lively character. This dazzling effect, however, speedily goes off: the real characters and motives of the actors become so well known to us, that the ficti- tious representation of pure, disinterested, public spirit, no longer pleases ; and at last we see little in this revolutionary drama that is acted to the life, but the cruelty and the sorrow. « In the case of the Mexican revolution, Iturbide endeavoured to conciliate all parties, and tried, by various means, to unite the interests of the Old Spaniards with those of the natives: but the re- sult of the experiment shows how vain all such attempts are. It was, in fact, entirely contrary to the habits of the Spaniards, to form a solid friendship with the people over whom they had so long held absolute dominion: it was equally contrary to the feelings of the Americans to repose confidence in those who had never trusted them. It is due, however, to Iturbide to say, that by the idea of uniting the two heartily together, the blow which was sure to fall eventually on the heads of the Spaniards was deferred ; and more time was given for them to wind up their affairs, and ren- der their fate as little severe as possible. If this was really the object, the device of the three Guarantees, which Iturbide fell upon, was inge- nious and statesmanlike. Since the Second Edition of this Work was printed, I had the satisfaction of conversing with Iturbide himself in London, just before he sailed for Mexico, where he lost his life ; and I was grati- fied to learn from his own mouth, that, as far as his motives and conduct were concerned, my statements were accurate. But the poor Spaniards had a very difficult task to perform, and, upon the whole, they did not exe- cute it well. For they could not bring themselves to make a sincere effort to deserve the good-will of the Americans, but viewed, with mortification and envy, the growing prosperity of the country, no longer exclusively theirs. They felt the foun- dation of their own fortunes gradually slipping MEXICANS AND SPANIARDS, 53 | from them ; and having been habituated to the enjoyment of exclusive privileges, could not recon- cile themselves to share their fortunes and long established rights, with their former dependants. Being conscious that these feelings rendered them unworthy of confidence, they naturally inferred, that in reality they were not trusted. In this frame of mind, they lived in constant dread of popular vengeance, and often gave way to terrors from causes insignificant, or imaginary. When they met together, they never failed to augment one another’s fears, by repeating stories of the threats and insults they had met with ; and spoke of the various symptoms of enmity on the part of the free Americans, who, they said, were only waiting for an opportunity to expel them from the country. The correspondence also which they maintained with all parts of the interior contributed, in a remarkable degree, to heighten these feelings of alarm ; since it was impossible to investigate every idle report which came from a distance. They were also absurdly unguarded in the terms which they used in speaking of the native inhabit- ants of the country. They delighted, for instance, in conversation to contrast their own “superior illustracion” with the “ignorancia barbara’’ of the Mexicans ; and if any one of us, who were indifferent parties, ventured to insinuate, that this ignorance of the natives might, perhaps, have been produced by the manner in which the country had been governed; and that, possibly, there might be much intellectual wealth among the inhabitants, though the mines, in which it was hid, had never been worked—they would turn fiercely upon us and maintain, that the people of whom we spoke were incapable of being educated. If we further suggested that the experiment had never been fairly tried, they flatly denied the fact, and declared there was nothing in the laws which pre- vented a native from obtaining the same know- ledge, wealth, and power as a Spaniard. But this assertion is not to the purpose : for whatever the laws may have been, we know well what the actual practice was ; and even where exceptions occurred, the argument of the Spaniards was not strengthened. Whenever a native did rise to wealth or consequence, he became, from that instant, virtually a Spaniard ; and derived his riches by means of monopolies, at the expense of the country ; and as he obtained power, solely by becoming a servant of the government, he merely assisted in oppressing his countrymen, without the possibility of serving them. Much, however, in fairness, is to be said in excuse for the sinking race of Spaniards in those countries. They undoubtedly were far better informed men, more industrious, and more highly bred, than the natives, taken generally, at the period of our visit. As merchants they were active, enterprising, and honourable in all their dealings. It was only on the national question between them and the natives that they were illiberal. Towards those with whom they were acquainted personally, or with whom they had business to transact, they were always fair and reasonable. They were much less tainted with bigotry than the natives ; and they were men of | pleasing conversation and manners, and habitually obliging ; and when not pressed by immediate : danger and difficulties, particularly so to strangers. | Notwithstanding their habitual jealousy, their pre- judices never interfered with their cordial hospi- | tality, and even generosity to all foreigners, who | treated them with frankness and confidence. ) A Don, it is well known, is the most stately of | mortals, to those who behave to him with hauteur | or reserve ; but to such persons as really confide ! in him, and treat him, not precisely in a familiar | manner, but in what they term “un modo cor- riente,” he becomes as cordial and open as any man. The above Spanish phrase describes the manners of a man who, without departing from his own natural character, is desirous of pleasing, and willing to take all things as he finds them, and in good part. The judgment which men form of national ques- tions is often irresistibly influenced by the feelings of private friendship, which they bear to a few of the individuals of that nation ; and although I have said nothing of the Spaniards, which is not perfectly notorious to all the world ; and which no liberal Spaniard that I have met with has attempted to deny, I feel considerable remorse for using such ungracious terms, however just, in speaking of a class of society, to very many of whom I am indebted for much disinterested kind- ness, and for whom I shall always retain the sin- cerest esteem and respect. Persons removed, as in England, to a great dis- tance from the scene, are too apt to err on the other side ; and to overlook altogether the suffer- ings of men who, taken individually, deserve no such hard fate as that which has lately befallen the Spaniards. We forget that whatever the na- tional injustice may have been with which the colonies have been administered, the existing Spanish members of the society in America came honestly by their possessions and privileges. We make no allowance for their personal worth and claims, but see without regret the property right- fully possessed by a whole class of deserving per- sons, rudely transferred to other hands ; who take advantage of the times, to seize on it under the pretence of an abstract right. Sometimes too, in no very charitable spirit, we permit ourselves to derive a kind of ungenerous satisfaction, when we think of the mortification and sorrow with which the ruined Spaniards have been thus rudely ex- pelled from America,—as if it were just, suddenly to visit the accumulated errors of three centuries on the heads of the last, and perhaps the least offending generation. A personal aequaintance, as I have said, with a few of the suffering individuals, softens down these illiberal sentiments in a wonderful degree, and begets a more considerate and charitable way of thinking. This kindly feeling towards the mem- bers of the sinking party, which in no degree blinds the judgment to the true merits of the great ques- tion of independence, is perhaps the chief satisfac- tion, though it be a melancholy one, which results from seeing things with one’s own eyes, and on the spot; instead of viewing them at a distance, and through a medium wilfully coloured by in- terest, prejudice, and passion. essere sees eset perelgee eee ere ree ee 54 EMBARKATION CHAPTER XLIX. SAN BLAS IN MEXICO. Embarkation of Treasure on board the Conway.—Benefi- cial Effect of such Shipments on Commerce,—Intolerable Heat of San Blas, and tormenting Clouds of Insects.—Sick- ness and Death ofa Child.—Pedantry of a Barber Surgeon. On the 5th of May I left Tepie for San Blas, in order to be present when the treasure for Eng- land should be put on board the Conway. The officers, as well as myself, took leave of the interior without much regret ; for, notwithstand- ing the many kind attentions which we had met with, it was impossible to disguise from ourselves, that we were all, more or less, objects of constant suspicion to the inhabitants, roused by circum- stances into a high degree of political excitement. In such times, party-spirit is a feeling which must belong to every individual forming the society ; an impartial stranger, therefore, who does not, and indeed cannot, enter fully into the enthusiasm of the moment, is a sort of intruder ; his indiffer- ence is always mistaken for ill-will ; and because he does not take part with either, both look upon him as unworthy of confidence. At first, it was not uninteresting to see a whole community so much in earnest upon one topic ; but this became rather irksome, when we could no longer maintain a correspondent degree of animation on the sub- ject. As soon as the novelty had gone by, we were looked upon as sober men in an intoxicated company; spies, as it were, upon the extravagance of those in whose dissipation we did not choose to participate. On the 6th of May, more than half a million of dollars were embarked in the Conway; and on different days during the month, other large sums, all destined for London. Some of the treasure was sent by Spanish merchants, a small quantity by Mexicans, but the whole intended for the pur- chase of British goods. When money is shipped, a set of bills of lading are signed for the amount. These bills, which are immediately sent to England by various opportu- nities, become negotiable in the European market, and may be transferred to other hands. The trea- sure is insured in London the instant advices arrive of its being actually shipped ; thus the consignee, or the holder of the bill, in Europe, becomes cer- tain of his money in the course of time, whatever be the fate of the ship. If she arrives safe, he receives the identical hard dollars; if not, the insurers make up the loss. _ Thus, it is interesting to remark, the instant accounts are received that gold or silver has been placed on board a ship of war, at ever so great a distance, its representative, the bill of lading, acquires an exchangeable value in the London market. It may, and sometimes does happen, that part of the returns, in the shape of goods, actually reaches South America before the money itself has arrived in England. There is, . perhaps, no instance in which the beneficial influ- ence of insurance on commerce is more obvious than in these shipments of treasure. We experienced a great difference between the climate of San Blas and that of Tepic, especially at night. At both places it was disagreeably hot during the day, but at Tepic, which stands on an elevated plain, the thermometer fell 15° or 20° at night, whereas at San Blas, which is close to the OF TREASURE. sea, there was much less variation of temperature. Throughout the day it was generally, in the coolest part of the shade, about 90°, sometimes, for several hours, 95°. The reflection from the walls, and from the ground, made the air in the open streets often much hotter, and I have several times seen it above 100°. The highest temperature, however, in a shaded spot, was 95°. At night the thermo- meter stood generally between 80° and 85°. Between ten and eleven o’clock in the morning, the sea- breeze began to set in. None but those who have felt the bodily and mental exhaustion caused by the hot nights and sultry mornings of low latitudes, can form a just conception of the delicious refresh- ment of this wind. For some time before it actu- ally reaches the spot, its approach is felt, and joy- fully hailed, by people who a few minutes before, appeared quite subdued by the heat; but who now acquire a sudden animation and revival of their faculties ; a circumstance which strangers, who have not learned to discover the approach of the sea-breeze, are often at a loss to aecount for. When it has fairly set in, the climate in the shade is delightful ; but in the sun, it is searcely ever supportable at San Blas. o’clock, the sea-breeze generally dies away 5 it rarely lasts till five. The oppression during the interval of calm which succeeds between this period and the coming of the land-wind, baffles all de- scription. The flat-roofed houses, from having been all day exposed to the sun, resemble ovens ; and as it is many hours before they part with their heat, the inhabitants are sadly baked before the land wind comes to their relief. During the morning, the thorough draught of air, even when the sun is blazing fiercely in the sky, keeps the rooms tolerably cool; but when the breeze is gone, they become quite suffocating. The evil is heightened most seriously by clouds of mos- quitoes, and, what are still more tormenting, of sand-flies ; insects so diminutive as searcely to be distinguished, till the eye is directed to the spot they settle upon by the pain of their formidable puncture. San Blas, as mentioned before, is built on the top of a rock, standing in a level, swampy, and wooded plain. During ordinary tides in the dry season, this plain is kept merely in a half-dried, steaming state ; but at spring tides, a considerable portion of it is overflowed. The effect of this in- undation is to dislodge from the swamp myriads of mosquitoes, sand-flies, and other insects, which had been increasing and multiplying on the surface of the mud during the low tides. These animals, on being disturbed fly to the first resting-place they can find ; and the unhappy town of San Blas being the only conspicuous object in the neighbour- hood, is fairly enveloped, at the full and change of the moon, in a cloud of insects, producing a per- fect plague, the extent of which, if properly de- scribed, would scarcely be credited by the inhabit- ants of a cold climate. The most seasoned native fared in this instance no better than ourselves ; and wesometimes deriveda perverse sort of satisfac. tion from this companionship in misery ; and laughed at seeing them rolling about from chair to chair, panting under the heat, and irritated into a fever, by the severe and unintermitted attacks of their indefatigable tormentors. I cannot say which was worst, the unceasing buzz and fierce sting of the Between three and four A DEATH-BED SCENE. mosquito ; or the silent but multiplied assaults of the sand-flies, which came against the face, as I heard a miserable wight exclaim one evening, like handfuls of sand. Mosquito curtains were not a | sufficient defence against these invisible foes ; and there was nothing for it, therefore, but to submit. It is perhaps worthy of remark, that those persons invariably suffered most who were least temperate in their diet ; and that the water-drinkers, that rare species, were especially exempted from the feverish discipline of these attacks. It was per- fectly out of the question to try to get any sleep before the land wind set in; but this refreshing breeze often deceived us, and, at best, seldom came before midnight ; and then having passed over the hot plain, it reached us loaded with noxious and offensive vapours from the marsh. But this evil was considered as trifling, sinceitserved to disperse the sandflies and mosquitoes, and gradually acquired a degree of coolness, which allowed us to drop asleep towards morning—worn out with heat, vexa- tion, and impotent rage against our tormentors. Some days after I came to San Blas, the chief secretary of the government called, to request that the surgeon of the Conway might be allowed to visit his sick daughter, a little girl of three years of age. I sent to the ship for the doctor, and accompanied him to the house, where we found the child not so ill as the father’s fears had ima- gined. Mr. Birnie thought that with proper care she might recover ; and being obliged to go on board himself, he sent medicines on shore, which I carried to the child. I was in the first instance prompted by the desire of being civil to a person who had shown great attention to the officers dur- ing my absence at Tepic ; and I was glad also to have an opportunity of seeing the interior of a New Galician family. But I soon acquired a far deeper interest in the case, by the increasing illness of our little patient, one of the prettiest and most en- gaging children I ever saw. The doctor, at my request, visited her as often as he could come on shore ; but as he was in close attendance upon several yellow-fever patients, not only in the Con- way, but in the merchant-ships in the anchorage, the task of watching the child’s illness fell princi- pally upon me. The poor parents would not be- lieve, notwithstanding my reiterated assurances, that I knew nothing of medicine: but it was too late to draw back at this stage of the case, since it was through me alone that any report could be communicated to the medical gentlemen on board. Yet I saw with much regret that the whole family were becoming more and more dependent upon me. They sent for me at all hours of the day and night, whenever there was the least change ; and although they must have seen that I could do them no good, they still wished to be encouraged to hope the best. In so small a town, and where there was no physician within twenty miles, every eye was turned upon us, which made the case a still more anxious one. If the child recovered, indeed, we should have been certain of the respect and the esteem of the society: but on the other hand, if she died, as we began to fear she soon must, the effect of our interference was much to be dreaded on the minds of people habitually distrustful of strangers. There was clearly nothing for it now, however, but to go through with the matter; although it ‘ | was too obvious that in spite of our care, the child was daily getting worse. As all the old women in the town had given the case up as hopeless—and they were the only pretenders to medical knowledge in the neighbourhood—our endeavours were watched with uncommon anxiety, and became the universal topic of conversation, even as far as Tepic. Late one night I was called out of bed by a breathless messenger, who came to say the child was much worse ; and that I must come down to the secretary’s house immediately. I found the infant in its mother’s arms, with its eyes closed, and the sickly hue of its skin changed to a pure marble whiteness: indeed it looked more like a statue than a living being, and was evidently dying. The poor father, who still fondly rested his hopes on my opinion, accompanied me to the room, and watched my looks with the most melancholy anxiety. On catching from the expression of my countenance, when I beheld the infant, what was the nature of my thoughts, he took a last miserable look at his child, and rushed into the streets. I saw him no more till long after all was over, and I had returned to my house ; when I observed him at a distance, bare-headed, and running, in a distracted manner, away from that part of the town in which hishouselay. Meanwhile the mother, more true to her duties, sat upon the bed, and from time to time pressed the infant’s cheeks, and tried to raise its eyelids, earnestly supplicating it to speak once more.—* Dolores !—my little Dolores, don’t youknow your own mother ?””—“ Dolores!—Dolor- cita !—no conoces 4 tu madre?” are words I never shall forget. I sat down by her, and she made me touch its cold cheek—accustomed, poor woman, to derive consolation from the encouragement I had formerly given to her hopes—I did as she desired, but the child was gone. The funeral, as is usual in Catholic countries, when a child under seven years of age dies, was a sort of merry-making ; it being considered a source of rejoicing that an innocent soul has been added to the number of angels. The effect, however, I must say was very distressing. The respect I felt | for the family, and the curiosity I had to see the ceremony, were barely sufficient motives to retain me in the procession ; where fiddles, drums, and fifes, played merry tunesround the bier; while the priests chanted hymns of rejoicing at the accession which had been made to the host of little angels. The effect of our failure on the minds of the people was the very reverse of what we had anti- cipated ; for both the surgeon and myself were ever afterwards treated by all classes of the society with a more marked, respectful, and even cordial attention than before: and whenever the circum- stance was spoken of, the exertions we had made, though unsuccessful, were everywhere duly felt and acknowledged. The poor father could set no limits to his gratitude ; and at last we were obliged to be careful, when in his presence, how we ex- pressed a wish for anything ; as he never failed, upon discovering what was wanted, to send at any cost, and to any distance, to fetch it for us. When I was coming away, some weeks afterwards, he insisted upon my accepting the most valuable curiosity he possessed, and which he had cherished with care for fifteen years—a beautiful bird of the _eountry, celebrated all over the province of New Galicia, and considered as the finest specimen of its kind ever seen. | | | | I now made a firm resolution to meddle no more with the practice of medicine ; and had just de- clared my regret at having been induced, on any account, to place myself in the way of responsi- bilities, which I could not bear with a safe con- science ; when a man burst into my room, and exclaimed, that I was wanted immediately, as a young woman was dying, a few doors off! I said I was no doctor—knew nothing of medicine—and could not possibly follow him—but that 1 would send off to the ship. “ No, no,” cried the man, * that won’t do—no time is to be lost—the girl will die—and her blood will be on your head if you delay a moment ;” and he dragged me along with him to a house, where a girl, about sixteen years of age, was lying in a state of insensibility. I was received with infinite joy by the numerous matrons assembled round the bed, who insisted, with one voice, on my saying what was to be done. They told me she had accidentally fallen backwards down some steps, and had pitched her head against a stone, since which she had lain in the state I saw. © Médecin malgré moi,’—I was forced to do something, and, aware of the advantage of bleeding in such cases, I said the girl ought to be bled at once, and told them to send for the person usually employed on such occasions, who it ap- peared was the principal barber. A long time elapsed before he made his ap- pearance, and when he did arrive, he showed no disposition to make up for this delay ; but insisted upon telling the company, at great length, how much provoked he was to have been disturbed in the middle of his siesta. I took the liberty of urging him repeatedly to defer the story till after he had bled the girl; but as this produced no effect, I said, at length, that unless he began im- mediately, we must employ some one else to do it instead. This put him a little on his mettle, and he very pompously called for a ribbon, a towel, a handkerchief, a candle, and a basin. These being brought and ranged before him, he drew forth his ease of lancets, examined five or six with most pedantic deliberation, and, after many minutes’ delay, selected one ; he then tied up the arm, drew it out at full length, and folded it up again till the fingers touched the shoulder; this he repeated several times, without seeming at all disposed to go any further ; upon which we insinuated to him, that if the girl died through his preposterous delays, he should be held responsible, This roused him a little; and having bared the arm, he first wet it, and then, in the rudest manner possible, rubbed it with a coarse towel from the wrist to the elbow, till the skin was much abraded. At last he touched the vein with his lancet, after slowly making the sign of the cross three times over the place. Owing to the violent manner in which he had bound up the arm, he had stopped the artery, as well as the vein, and no blood flowed until he had loosened the bandage—then he relaxed it too much—in short, the operation was perhaps never less skilfully performed. The effect, however, was in the end most satisfactory, for the girl gradually recovered as the blood flowed, till in the course of five minutes she regained her senses completely. Next day she was quite well; and thus, in spite of all my endeavours, my reputation as a doctor was as fully established in San Blas, as if I had graduated at Salamanca. 56 PENDULUM EXPERIMENTS. CHAPTER L. SAN BLAS, Result of Experiments with the Pendulum.—Popular Commotion.—Credulous Priest.—Mining Speculator.— Periodical Departure of the Inhabitants from San Blas. Commencement of the rainy Season.—Tropical Thunder i || Storm.—The Conway leaves the Coast of Mexico. As the treasure to be shipped on board the Conway came at intervals of a week or ten days, I took advantage of these leisure moments to erect an observatory ; where my assistant Mr. Foster, and I, repeated the experiments made at the Galapagos. The result gives the length of the seconds pendulum at San Blas, 39.03776 inches, and the ellipticity ,,3+5. The commandant at San Blas, greatly to our comfort and happiness, was a remarkably sensible, unprejudiced, and well-informed Old Spaniard ; he not only encouraged us to make these observa- tions, and assisted us as far as his means went, but even allowed us to survey the harbour and the town. Under his sanction, therefore, we com- menced our operations. It being necessary, in the first instance, to erect a mark in a conspicuous situation, in the meridian, on which a light was to be placed at night, we fixed upon the parapet of a friend’s house, on the further side of the market- place. No particular directions had been given as to the form of this mark, which was nailed up late on Saturday evening ; nor was it until after it had been exposed for some hours next morning that I discovered it to be in the form of a crucifix. We had learned, by many circumstances, that the in- habitants of San Blas were above all things jealous of any interference with, or any disrespect shown to, their religious customs ; and we had, in con- sequence, taken great care to avoid every con- ceivable cause of offence on such subjects. I was horror-struck, therefore, to see the sacred symbol built up as a part of my profane apparatus, and immediately repaired to my friend the commandant, to consult with him what was best to be done on this alarming occasion. “It is a great pity,” said he, “ and I hope it may not produce a popular commotion ; although I think the chances are, the people will take it rather as a compliment than otherwise: at all events, let it stand now ; and, in the mean time, come down to mass along with me.” Accordingly, as the third bell was just then ringing, we set off for the church. On reaching the market-place, we observed a great crowd gaping at my cross ; but we walked on boldly, and | must own I was not a little relieved by the good-humour they appeared to be in, and by the unusually civil manner in which they made way for us to pass. They were delighted, in fact, with the circumstance ; and I heard no more of the matter, except that the inhabitants were much pleased with the pious regularity with which we lighted up the cross every night, the moment it was dark. Instead of offend- ing them, indeed, it had the effect of inspiring them with hopes of our conversion ; for the ques- tion, as to whether or not we were Catholics, was more frequently put than before. They were never displeased with our replying in the negative ; and always considered our regular attendance at mass, and other attentions to their customs, as marks of civility and good-will. They hoped, they said, that in time we would see our error, and yield to the true faith Anamusing instance occurred one day, that gave us a practical lesson, which we did not fail to turn to account, on the necessity ofattending to the pre- judices of the populace. An American merchant- ship arrived at San Blas witha cargo for sale. Some difficulties at the custom-house prevented her unloading for a few days : in the meanwhile, a few small articles found their way on shore, and amougst others, several pairs of shoes, which were exposed in the market. These shoes, like many other kinds of American goods, bore the stamp of an eagle on the sole. As the Mexicans, about a month before, had established themselves into an independent Imperial state, of which the eagle was the emblem, the San Blasanians sapiently conceived that the North Americans, in placing an eagle on the sole of their shoes, meant to imply their contempt of the country, by trampling its national insignia under foot! A vast commotion was raised in the course of a few minutes,—all business was put a stop to,—the shops and houses were shut up, and a riot ensued, such as we had not witnessed before, and had never expected to see amongst a race in general so tranquil. The Illustrious Ayuntamiento were speedily as- sembled, and, after much grave discussion, a de- spatch waswritten to the commandant on this im- portant subject. However ridiculous he must, of course, have considered the whole affair, he could not appease the ferment, without directing a com- mission to examine the American ship, and to inquire into and report upon the matter. The commissioners, accordingly, went on board in great state. When they commenced their survey, they were thunderstruck with the multitude of eagles that everywhere met their eyes: on the guns—on the sails—on the sailors’ jackets—on everything, in short, was stamped an eagle; and they returned to the shore half distracted with the sight of the imperial bird. The populace were eventually pacified, and order gradually restored ; but the original impression left by the shoes was never totally removed, and the crew of the ship were ever afterwards viewed with jealousy and dis- trust. This is national or political bigotry : but it is of the same family as religious, or rather superstitious bigotry, which is carried to a greater extent in that part of the world than I have seen anywhere else. I became well acquainted with a priest at San Blas, a rational man on some points, but who often entertained me with relations of the nume- rous miracles which he himself had actually wit- nessed, and therefore, as he repeatedly told me, he, of course, most sincerely believed. He was a man of great influence amongst the inhabitants of the town, who gave implicit credit to every one of these stories ; and it was really a melancholy sight to see the old man leading his whole congre- gation along with him in the wildest absurdities, to most of which he bore personal testimony from the pulpit. He was a deep speculator also in the mines, and being very credulous on every subject, was easily led astray, and pillaged by profligate agents, who wrought upon his mind by absurd prognostics of approaching riches. He had long wearied out the patience of all his friends, by his prosing ; and I observed, that he no sooner com- CLIMATE OF SAN BLAS. 57 | menced the subject, by the slightest allusion to a mine, than his audience immediately moved off : he was therefore enchanted to have a new and ready listener. He showed me the plans and sections of his mines, and the letters of his agents, by which, though unacquainted with the subject, | I saw at a single glance that he was their dupe : but it would have been an ungracious and, I sus- pect, a vain attempt, to have tried to make him sensible of this. He possessed considerable know- — ledge of the habits of the lower classes ; and, as I found much pleasure in his conversation on this account, I was frequently in his house. The inti- | macy which sprung up between us, I have no | doubt contributed essentially to the quiet which — we enjoyed at San Blas; and I encouraged it | more than I might otherwise have done, froma _ conviction, that if we had got into any scrape, no | one could have extricated us so well as this good father. There was something, also, very primi- | tive in his credulity ; a sort of childish and ami- | able simplicity, which rendered it impossible to | listen without compassion to his wild stories of the miracles he had actually seen performed before his eyes, chiefly by Nuestra Senora de Talpa, his favourite saint. He was but too fair a subject for | the mining charlatans, who abound in all those countries, and I greatly fear my reverend friend | was on the high road to total ruin. I have spoken of the heat of San Blas; but the period I described was considered the fine | season, which lasts from December to May inclu- sive. During that interval, the sky is always clear; no rain falls ; land and sea breezes prevail; and as there is then no sickness, the town is | crowded with inhabitants. From June to Novem- ber, a very different order of things takes place. The heat is greatly increased ; the sky becomes overcast ; the sea and land-breezes no longer | blow ; but in their stead, hard storms sweep along the coast, and excessive rains deluge the country; with occasional violent squalls of wind, accom- | panied by thunder and lightning. During this | period, San Blas is rendered uninhabitable, in | consequence of the sickness, and of the vio- | lence of the rain ; which not only drenches the whole town, but, by flooding the surrounding | country, renders the rock on which the town is | built, literally an island. The whole rainy season indeed is sickly, but more especially so towards | the end, when the rains become less violent and | less frequent; while the intense heat acts with mis- | chievous effect on the saturated soil, and raises an | atmosphere of malaria, such as the most seasoned | native cannot breathe with impunity. This being invariably the state of the climate, | nearly all the inhabitants abandon the town as soon as the rainy season approaches. As we had often | heard this migration described, we waited, with | some curiosity, for the arrival of the appointed | time: and, accordingly, towards the end of May, | had the satisfaction of seeing the great flight com- | mence, I shall never forget the singular nature | of the scene which was presented to us. All the world began to move nearly at the same time ; the | rich and the poor streamed off indiscriminately together. The high-road to Tepic was covered with horses, loaded mules, and foot-passengers, | winding along the plain on their way to the in- terior. On passing through the streets, we saw 58 THE LADIES people everywhere fastening up their windows, locking their doors, and marching off with the keys ; leaving the greater part of their property behind them, unguarded by anything but the pes- tilence of the climate. The better classes rode away on horseback, leaving their baggage to fol- low on mules; but the finances of the greater part of the inhabitants did not admit of this: and we saw many interesting family groups, where the very aged and the very young people were huddled on mules, already loaded with goods and with furniture ; while the men and the women, and the stouter children, walked by their sides— a scene from which a painter might have collected innumerable subjects of interest. A city without people is, at any time, a strange and anomalous circumstance ; but it seemed pe- culiarly so to us, by our friends leaving us day by day, till at length we found ourselves compara- tively alone in the deserted town. The governor and his family, and one or two other officers of government, with a few shopkeepers, remained till our departure ; but with these exceptions, the inhabitants had nearly all gone before we sailed. There are, it is true, always a few people, who, | for high pay, agree to watch valuable property; and some families so miserably destitute, that they absolutely have not the means of removing. The population of the town, in the fine season, is about three thousand ; but the number which remains to brave the climate seldom exceeds a hundred and fifty. The last family of my acquaintance, except that of the governor, and almost the last of the town, went off on the 31st of May. I have seldom be- fore taken leave of my friends abroad, without having some hopes of seeing them again ; but the chances of my ever returning to so remote and unfrequented a spot as San Blas, or of ever meet- ing or hearing of these friends again, were so small, that I felt, on losing sight of them this morning, as if they had actually sunk into the grave. The family consisted of a gentleman, his wife, and his wife’s sister, with two elderly female relations, The sister was a very pretty young woman of fifteen; an age, in those countries, corresponding to seventeen, or upwards, in Eng- land. She was very dark, and strongly charac- terised by the Mexican features ; elegant in her manners, simple and unaffected in her behaviour; and though much beyond all the people about her, both in knowledge and judgment, no one seemed to have been aware of it, till the attention of the strangers attracted the notice of everybody to her merits. Truth, however, bids me add, that this young lady could neither read nor write, and had probably never heard a book read out of church ; but there was nothing uncommon in this. The mistress of the house was a lively, conversible, handsome person ; very hospitable and kind, espe- cially to the strangers ; and she often made up little parties in the evening, where the company sat in the street, before her door, till a late hour ; smoking, chatting, and flapping away the mosqui- toes, and watching anxiously for the first puff of the Jand-wind, The master of the house, who was in office, had it sometimes in his power to be use- ful to us. In this way I became intimate with the family, and although there be very little to describe about them, I insensibly felt interested | during the whole day. OF SAN BLAS. in the whole party, and saw them go away this morning with considerable regret. The ladies were in their riding dresses, which consisted of a yellow-coloured beaver hat, with a brim so broad as to serve the purpose of an um- brella ; but with a low crown, scarcely two inches and a half high ; tied round with a richly wrought ribbon, between which and the hat was stuck a tri-coloured cockade, the emblem of the Guarantee mentioned in the account of the revolution. The hat served to confine a handkerchief, doubled corner-wise, and placed previously over the head ; in such a way, that the two corners, which were laid together, hung half way down the back, while the other corners fell one on each shoulder. The handkerchief was of white muslin, with a scarlet border, four inches broad. Over the shoulders was thrown the Mangas, or cloak, which has a hole in the middle to receive the head. That which was worn by the youngest of the ladies was a deep purple cloth, ornamented round the neck with tasteful. gold embroidery, eight or ten inches wide. Below the Mangas, there peeped out a cotton gown of English manufacture, and a pair of un- tanned yellow boots, made on the spot. On the table lay two pairs of French gloves, but the ladies not being used to wear such things, soon tore both of them to pieces, in vain attempts to get them on; upon which they called out to the gentlemen to assist them in winding handker- chiefs round their hands, to defend them, as they said, from the chafing of the hard hide- bridles. : It is the frigid custom all over South America, for the ladies, however well acquainted, not to shake hands with gentlemen. As, however, I had been unusually intimate with this family, I was rather curious to see whether an exception might not for once be made; and stood in waiting, by the side of the door, to see them off. First, the master of the house mounted his horse ; then his wife’s mother; next, a venerable aunt. The most ‘courteous and formal Adioses were inter- changed between us. The lady herself now stepped out, and, to my surprise, held out both her hands, and took her leave with a carino, as they call it, far beyond my expectation. The little girl was last ; and having such an example before her, took upon her to forget the formalities of her country, and, with a frank sincerity, came.up and offered me her hand. On the Ist of June 1822, the day broke with an unwonted gloom, overshadowing everything ; a dense black haze rested, like a high wall, round the horizon ; while the upper sky, so long without a single speck, was stained all over with patches of shapeless clouds flying in different directions, The sun rose, attended by vapours and clouds, which soon concealed him from our sight. The sea-wind, which usually began gently, and then gradually increased to a pleasant breeze, now came on suddenly, and blew with great violence : so that the waves curled and broke in a white sheet of foam, extending as far as the eye could reach. The whole sea looked bleak and stormy, under the portentous influence of an immense mass of dark clouds, rising slowly in the western quarter, till they reached nearly to the zenith, where they continued suspended like a mantle The ships which, for | RETURN ROUND CAPE HORN. 1 months before, had lain motionless on the smooth | surface of the bay, were now rolling and pitching, with their cables stretched out to sea-ward ; while | the boats that used to skim along from the shore | to the vessels at anchor, were seen splashing through the waves under a reefed sail, or | struggling hard with their oars to avoid being / roaring furiously along the coast. driven into the surf, which was breaking and The flags that were wont to lie idly asleep for weeks together, by the sides of the masts on the batteries, now stood stiffly out in the storm. Innumerable sea-birds continued during all the day, wheeling and screaming round the rock on which the town stood, as if in terror at this sudden change. The dust of six months’ hot weather, raised into high pyramids, was forced by furious gusts of wind into the inner- most corners of the houses. Long before sunset, it seemed as if the day had closed, owing to the darkness caused by the dust in the air, and to the sky being overcast in every part by unbroken masses of watery clouds. Presently lightning was observed amongst the hills : followed shortly afterwards by a storm, ex- ceeding in violence any which I had ever met with before in other parts of the world. During eight hours, deluges of rain never ceased pouring down for a moment ; the steep streets of the town soon became the channels of streams of such magnitude, as to sweep away large stones : rendering it every- where dangerous and in some places quite impos- sible to pass. The rain found its way through the roofs, and arenched every part of the houses; the deep rumbling noise of the torrents in the streets was never interrupted ; the deafening loudness of 5) the thunder became exceedingly distracting ; while flashes of forked lightning, playing in the most brilliant manner, without ceasing, from the zenith to the horizon, on all sides, and clinging, as it were to the rock, were very beautiful, and sometimes not a little terrific. I never before witnessed such a night, As the next day broke, the rain and its accom- paniments ceased. During all the morning, there was a dead calm, with the air so sultry, that it was painful to breathe init. Though the sky remained overcast, the sun had power to raise up from the drenched ground clouds of dense steam, which covered the whole plain, as far as the base of the mountains. No very violent rain fell after this furious burst till the evening of the 4th of June, when the periodical wet season set in. During the inter- mediate mornings, it was generally clear and fair ; but about half past three or four, on each of these days, the sky became suddenly overcast, and at five o’clock the rain began ; though it was seldom before eight o’clock that it fell in the torrents I have described, or that the thunder and lightning commenced with great violence. After such warning as we had received on the first of the month we were glad to imitate the ex- ample of the inhabitants, and take our departure as soon as possible. Accordingly on the 15th of June, all our business being concluded, we sailed from San Blas ; and, after a voyage round Cape Horn, of nearly eight thousand miles, anchored in Rio de Janeiro on the 12th of September 1822 ; having been at sea three months without seeing land. rs im Z, ea A, ae — ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SIXTH EDITION, PRINTED IN MARCH 1840. I HAVE already explained, in the advertisement to Part I., why I felt it right to make no change in the narrative part of this work. But I have found it indispensable to make some alterations in the Appendix, The original edition of this appendix contains a Memoir on the Navigation of the South American Station, a table of the latitudes and longitudes, and several other papers of a professional and scientific nature. All of these, with the exception of the table of latitudes and longitudes, I have resolved to leave untouched. It was my habit when navigating on any coast of which the geographical positions were inaccurately determined, not to waste my time in trying to ascertain the actual longitude of each point visited, but rather to measure the differences of longitude between place and place, and especially between some one principal port, on the station selected, from the rest, as being the most frequently visited. Thus, on the coasts of Chili and Peru, Imade Valparaiso the first meridian to which all the others were referred. Of course, if the differ- ences were correctly measured, the longitude of all these places would partake of any error which belonged to the assumed longitude of the primary meridian. But it will also be obvious, even to unprofessional readers, that, if at any future time, the longitude of that chief meridian should be ascertained by more numerous and exact observations, the longitude of the other places of which the differences of longitude had been correctly measured, would at once become equally well known with that of the selected port. On this principle, I took Valparaiso as my chief point, and occupied myself in measuring, by chronometers, the differences of longitude between it and all the points on the coast east and west of it, which I visited while sailing backwards and forwards in those seas. Subsequent voyagers, both French and English, many of whose opportunities of leisure and other means vastly exceeded mine, having decisively proved that another longitude from that which I assumed must be taken for Valparaiso, I have exchanged for the new one, that originally given in the table, and then by applying my own observed differences to the newly assumed longitude, I have imparted to all other longitudes nearly as great a degree of correctness as that which belongs to the principal point, Valparaiso. The longitude I have now assumed is 71° 40’ 18” instead of 71° 31/ 00”, being a difference of 9! 18/’, which is the quantity therefore added to all the longitudes in Mr. Foster’s table. I have been induced to make this change for the reasons stated by Lieut. Raper, R.N., in his admirable article “‘on longitudes ” published in the Nautical Magazine for 1839, page 758. These corrections are easily made; but it is by no means so easy to correct what may be defective in the sailing directions which form another part of the appendix, in which the different passages made between place and place on the coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico, are described. Itis true, that in the works of King, Beechey, Fitz Roy, and others, there is a vast fund of fresh and valuable information on these points ; but I have not found it possible, within any reasonable compass, to apply their observations to the improve- ment of the statements in the appendix, without so materially destroying the original texture, as to deprive it of nearly all the value (whatever that be) which belongs to the integrity of the actual narrative written at the moment, and on the spot, I might not, perhaps, have been so scrupulous in this matter, had all these nautical observations been strictly my own; but as I was very materially assisted, not only in making them, but in recording, and eventually in drawing them up, for the Admiralty, by my late much lamented friend Captain Henry Foster, I feel the strongest reluctance to alter anything which has had the advantage of his masterly handling. The loss which the scientific branch of the Naval service has sustained by the untimely*death of this rising young officer, is only to be estimated by those, who, like myself, had the advantage of enjoying his companionship and assistance. Justice to his memory requires me to add, that if I had not been so effici- ently aided in the hydrographic, and in various other scientific departments of this voyage, they must have been almost entirely neglected in the absorbing excitement of the whole scene, or in the paramount obliga~ tions of official duties of a totally different description. APPENDIX, No. I. ee ee MEMOIR ON THE NAVIGATION OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN STATION. So little has been published respecting the navi- gation of South America, and especially of that part which lies beyond Cape Horn, that ships first going to that station are often ata loss to discover, which is the best mode of making the different passages from place to place. Having experienced this difficulty myself on many occasions, and having lost much time in guessing my way in the dark, I endeavoured to collect as much information on the subject as possible, with the view to the formation of some general sailing directions for the whole of those coasts. But, upon revising the materials in my possession, I find they are very far from being sufficiently copious and exact for such a purpose. My time and attention, indeed, were so much occupied by matters in no respect favourable to such inquiries, that I was often under the mortify- ing necessity of letting occasions pass, when, if I could have devoted sufficient leisure to the subject, much useful information might have been collected. I do not think it right, however, on this account to abandon altogether the intention I had first formed. Our opportunities, in fact, were so very extensive, that I think a simple description of each passage, together with such collateral remarks as circumstances suggested, cannot be otherwise than useful to future navigators similarly circumstanced with ourselves. And there can be no doubt, that if every one who has equal means, will, in like manner, record and bring forward merely his own information, we shall soon possess all the know- ledge we can desire upon the subject. Officers are too apt to undervalue the nautical knowledge which they acquire in the ordinary course of service ; and to forget, that every piece of correct information which they obtain, especially on distant stations, is essentially valuable. If it be new, it is a clear gain to the stock already ac- cumulated ; if not, it is still useful as a corrobora- tion: and this costs very little trouble, for a few practical observations, made during or at the end of a voyage, give immense additional value to the dry details of a log-book. I have arranged the accounts of the different passages in the order in which they occurred, and have confined myself strictly to the nautical details. A list of the latitudes and longitudes of the dif- ferent places visited by the Conway is given at the end of these notices. It has been extracted from a Hydrographical Memoir drawn up by Mr. Henry Foster, then master’s mate of the Conway, and transmitted by me to the Admiralty. That Memoir contains minute directions for every port which we entered, together with a detailed Account of all the Nautical, Hydrographical, and Astronomical | Observations, during the Voyages which we made along the vast range of coast washed by the Pacific. It would have given me much satisfaction to have printed the whole of this work of Mr. Foster’s, had its nature not been exclusively pro- fessional. But I take this public opportunity of bearing the strongest testimony to the merits of this rising young officer, to whose assistance and companionship, in every pursuit connected with nautical science, I stand essentially indebted. It is with real satisfaction, therefore, on public as well as private grounds, that I mention his pro- motion to the rank of Lieutenant, his admission into the Royal Society, and his appointment as Astronomer and Assistant Surveyor to the North- Western Expedition which sailed in the spring of 1824, and returned in October 1825. The chart published in the former editions of this work was drawn up under my directions, and from Mr. Foster’s observations, by Lieutenant A. B. Becher, of the Conway, from whose practical skill in hydrography, as well as other branches of his profession, I derived much valuable assistance. I owe my acknowledgments also to Lieutenant (now Captain) Charles Drinkwater Bethune, mid- shipman of H. M.S. Creole, for his assistance in our endeavours to bring the higher branches of nautical astronomy into practical use. His zeal, his talents, and. his intimate knowledge of the subject in all its stages, rendered his simultaneous co-operation, in another ship, at stations distant from ours, of the highest utility. LIST OF THE PASSAGES MADE BY HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP CONWAY, NO, PAGE I. Passage from Rio de Janeiro to River Plate . : ‘ . . - 64 Il. — from Monte Video to Valparaiso 64 | NO. : PAGE . Passage from Valparaiso to Lima . 65 from Lima to Valparaiso . 66 1 from Valparaiso to Lima by the Entremedios » 66 Mi. from Chorillos (near Lima) to Valparaiso . 66 Vil from Valpar aiso to Conception, Bay of Arauco, and Island of Mocha . 67 . ——— from Valparaiso to Lima, ecall- ing at Coquimbo, Guasco, Copiapé, Ari ica, and Mollendo . ‘ 67 from Lima to Pacasmayas, Payta, and Guayaquil . 67 xX. — from Guayaquil to the Gala- pagos Islands. 68 from the Galapagos toPanama 68 XII. General Remarks on the winds, wea- ther, and navigation, on the south and is : south-west coast of Mexico . =” he. Pee XIII. Passage from Panama to Acapuleo . 70 XIV. ——— from Acapulco to San Blas . 71 XV. — from San Blas (round Cape Horn) to Rio de Janeiro . 71 XVI. — from Rio de Janeiroto Bahia 73 NO. I. FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO BUENOS AYRES. P.M, 14th of October to A. M. 23d, 1820. (84 Days.) THIS passage was made in less time than it usually occupies. We passed the Sugar Loaf at the entrance of Rio about four o’clock in the after- noon of Saturday the 14th of October, 1820, and were off Maldonado, at the entrance of the river Plate, at the same hour on that day week, viz. the 2ist, and anchored off Buenos Ayres at four in | the morning of Monday the 23d ; thus completing ' seven days from Rio to the River Plate, and eight and a half from Rio to Buenos Ayres. The wind was moderate, from E.S.E. as far as | latitude 26° 46’ South, when it drew to N.E., and _ blew fresh; it then hauled gradually to the north- ward. In 33° it fell light, and drew to the west- | ward, south, and so round to the eastward. On | approaching the river it came to the southward again ; after entering which, the wind came from | the S.E., and afterwards N.E. and East, moderate, _ and fine weather. An American frigate, which sailed from Rio a _ fortnight before us, met with hard S.W. breezes, and arrived only two days before us. Two years afterwards we were off the river | Plate, between the latitudes of 40° and 30° for | thirteen days, contending against Northerly, and N.N. Westerly winds, between longitudes 40° and 50°. This was in the latter end of August and beginning of September 1822; and it may ,be useful to remark, that, on this occasion, the winds | invariably followed the course of the sun, that is, from right to left, or what is technically called, in the northern hemisphere, against the sun. This change occurred three different times; the wind drawing from N.E. to North, then to N.W. and _ West, and so to S.W., and again by S.E. to N.E. _ and North. Upon two occasions it shifted to S.W. from the northward, without any warning, and | blew fresh. APPENDIX, No. I. NO. I. FROM MONTE VIDEO TO VALPARAISO, 11th of November to the 19th of December 1820. (38 Days.) Tus passage was favourable both as to the |f weather we met with, and as to the time it occu- |f pied. With the exception of a gale from South, on the 18th of November, in latitude 463° South, longitude 57° West, and another short one from | West on the 12th of December, after rounding |} the Cape, in latitude 51° South, longitude 82° |}} West, the weather was uniformly moderate. At |}} starting, we had the winds from the W.S.W., S.W., and West, with one spurt of twelve hours |} from north by west, in 413° South, as far as 45° || South. It then fell calm, and the wind afterwards | sprung up from N.N.E., drew to N.W., and blew |} hard. After which it again fell calm for an hour, then a breeze sprang up from the southward. This, in the course of a few hours, freshened to a hard gale, which lasted about fourteen hours. A calm succeeded, and then a fresh N.E. by north, and easterly wind with rain and squalls as far as the latitude of 503° South, when it hauled to the S. Eastward, and in 513° South it fell calm, This was succeeded ‘by a ‘strong westerly, and then |} north-westerly breeze, with fine clear weather. |} This carried us to 54° South, when we got N.N.E. | and North by West winds, which took us through the Straits of Le Maire. We rounded Cape Horn on the 26th of Novem- | ber, fifteen days from the river, with a fresh N.N. | Westerly breeze. This speedily shifted to the N. W., and then S.W., and again to West, and W.S. W.; sothat we made little westing till we reached | 612° South on the first of December. The weather was always moderate, with drizzling rain, and { occasional fogs, and a high swell, from S.W. Between the 2d and 3d of December the wind drew to the northward, with a thick fog. Next day it came to the S.W., with sleet squalls, and a thick haze. This wind gradually hauled to the northward of West with hail squalls. An inspectien of the track will show how uniformly the winds between 60° and 511° South gradually drew from the S.W. to westward, then to N.W., and so to the northward, and always squally, with hail and sleet. In 514° South we had a gale of nine hours from the West, with squalls of hail. This wind, however, instead of drawing to the N.W. and northward, as it had been wont to do in the six preceding de- grees South of us, now hauled W.S.W., and blew fresh, with constant squalls, till we had run ona North by West course (by compass) nearly to 42° South. The wind then, after a short calm, came to the eastward, and drew round gradually to 8.S.E. where it remained steady and fresh till we made the land to the southward of Valparaiso on the 19th of December. We had light airs from the north- ward in the middle of the day, which carried us into the harbour. The highest south latitude to which we reached was 611°, being then in 75° West longitude. This was in the evening of the first of December 1820. We had then a fresh breeze from the N.W. by West with a thick drizzling haze. The barometer stood at 29,34, and the thermometer at 41°. The farthest west to which we went was 841°, in lati- APPENDIX, No. I. tude 57° 45’ South, on the 7thof December, the wind | very light from the westward, barometer 28,66. When the prevalence of strong N. W. winds be- ) tween 50° and 54° Southis taken into consideration, it will probably be advisable to go, al least, as far west as 84°, in order to make a fair wind of the north-westers when not too strong to admit of carrying sail. From the best information respecting the wea- ther off the Cape, there seems reason to believe, that the hardest gales prevail near the land, and that the chance of good weather, and of easterly winds, is, at least, as great at a considerable dis- tance off shore. A ship, on meeting westerly winds, therefore, ought perhaps to stand on to the; south- ward as far as 62° or 63°, and be indifferent about northing till between the longitude of 80° and 85°, after which there will be little difficulty in proceed- ing, although there must always be considerable discomfort in passing between 55° and 50° south, where the north-westers prevail, with a high sea. I am at a loss what to think of the utility of the barometer on this passage. Off Cape Horn, on the 26th of November, in latitude 564° South it stood at 29,55; on reaching 60° South, it had fallen to 29,13 ; the wind to the westward, and a thick fog; but no foul weather followed. From the Ist to the 2d, when we were in the latitude of 61° ||| it ranged South between 29,50 and 29,30, with light winds from the north-westward, and drizzling rain. During the next day, when we were running nearly on the parallel of 61° South, the mercury fell from 29,30 to 28,84, with athick fog, and a moderately fresh breeze from the North-west. On the wind coming from the South-westward, it rose slowly to 29,95; the weather moderate, with slight hail-squalls and clear weather. It again fell,as the wind shifted to the northward, N.E. and E.N.E., and stood at length at 28,60, which is the lowest point it reached. This was on the evening of the 4th, in latitude 59° south, and longitude nearly 80° west, the wind at E.N.E., moderate and cloudy weather. Fresh southerly, south-westerly, and west-south-westerly breezes followed, and hard-squalls, with sleet, but no galeof wind. It remained below 29 inches till we had passed the latitude of 57° South, and after- wards rose very gradually, till, having reached the latitude of 56° south, on the 16th of December it stood at 30 inches. It gave no warning of the approach of the gale on the 11th, but fell during its continuance, nearly to 29 inches from 29,28, which it had stood at before. From a consideration of these circumstances, it is to be apprehended, that the barometer, which in middle latitudes is so useful an instrument in foretelling changes of weather, may sometimes fail us in very high, as it almost always does in very low latitudes. On the return passage round Cape Horn, on the 15th of August, 1822, during the op- posite season, the same thing was observed, viz. a fall so low as 28,88 in latitude 56° South, which was not followed by any bad weather. The wind was then N.W., and moderate. Perhaps it is affected, in high latitudes, by fogs and rains, in a greater degree than it is in middle latitudes, where I have not observed that anything but winds materially influenced its movements. On the passage from the East, in the summer of that hemisphere, (December,) the lowest tempera- ture we observed off Cape Horn was 39°. On the (PART I1.] 65 return passage in winter, (August,) it never fell below 40°, till off the Falkland Islands, when it was one day as low as 35°. We observed no current off the Cape greater than what might be ascribed to error in the esti- mation ; neither have I yet heard any well-esta- blished facts respecting the currents off Cape Horn, more than what must always attend hard gales, A considerable difference of opinion prevails as to the fittest time of the year for making a passage round Cape Horn, from the eastward. There seems good reason to believe, that in winter, when the sun is to the northward of the equator, the chance of easterly winds is the greatest ; and many persons are of opinion, that the westerly gales are then neither so violent nor so lasting as during the months that the sun is to the southward of the equator. Admitting these circumstances to be as stated, there remain two very serious objections to the winter season ; first, the length of the nights ; and, secondly, the presence of ice-islands. Ina tempestuous and frigid latitude, the absence of day-light always augments, in a very serious de- gree, the difficulties of navigation ; but when the formidable danger of ice-bergs is added, there can be little farther question, I think, as to which season is preferable. All accounts seem to agree, that itis during the winter and spring months, July, August, and September, that the ice is most gene- rally met with; and as the masses in which it floats aboutare sometimes only a few feet above the water, and such as cannot possibly be distinguished at night, the risk which ships run in winter months is very great. Sometimes it is met with in fields, which embarrass ships exceedingly ; and since the opening of the commerce with the shores of the Pacific has multiplied the number of vessels navi- gating those seas, many accidents occur every season. It will be seen under the head of Notice XV., that we met the ice both in large and small islands in August, 1822; and several ships returned to Rio about the same time, after running against the ice, dismasting themselves, and sustaining other damage. I have lately been informed, by persons well acquainted with the opinions of the whale-fishers on this subject, that they prefer rounding Cape Horn in the winter months, during which season less ice is said to be found than in summer, and there is a greater chance of easterly winds. I am disposed to pay great deference to the opinion of men so familiar with the navigation in question; but after giving it all the consideration in my power, I confess I am still disposed to prefer the light to the dark season, especially since I know by experience, that even in the dark or winter season, ice-bergs do make their appearance. NO. Ill. FROM VALPARAISO TO LIMA. 27th of January, to 5th of February, 1821. (9 Days.) Tue wind on this passage is always nearly the same, viz. 8.S.E. It sometimes hauls a point or two to the eastward, but the passage is always certain. The only precaution to be attended to is, to run well off the land in the first instance, say 150 miles on a N.W. course, and then steer direct for San Lorenzo, a high and well-defined island, F 2 66 forming the eastern side of Callao Bay. It is usual to make the land of Morro Solar, which lies ten miles to the southward of Callao, and then run into the roads by the Boqueron Passage, or pro- ceed round by the north end of San Lorenzo. By attending closely to the directions on Mr Fos- ter’s chart transmitted to the Admiralty, any vessel may safely enter the Boqueron ; but great attention must be paid to the lead and the bearings, and an anchor kept ready to let go. It is generally calm in Callao Roads during the morning, and sometimes foggy ; but about eleven o’clock, it clears up, and the breeze freshens from the southward, which enables ships to reach the anchorage generally without a tack, after rounding the north end of Lorenzo; so that upon the whole, this outer route, which is entrely free from danger, is preferable to the other, at least for a stranger. NO. IV. LIMA TO VALPARAISO. 28th of February to 18th of March 1821. (18 Days.) THE return passage from Peru to Chili requires some attention, and may generally be made by a man-of-war in less than three weeks ; it has been made in less than a fortnight by a frigate, which, however, on the next occasion, took twenty-eight days. The point which contributes most to the success of this passage is keeping well off the wind after leaving Lima, and not having any scruples about making westing, provided southing can also be gained. The S.E. trade-wind, through which the greater part of this course is to be made, inva- riably draws to the eastward at its southern limit, and, therefore, a ship eventually can always make her southing. The object, however, being to get past the trade and into the westerly winds, which lie to the southward, a ship ought to keep the wind, at least a beam, while crossing the trade. In winter, that is, when the sun is to the northward of the equator, the trade-wind blows steadier, and its southern extreme lies four or five degrees to the northward of its summer limit, which may be taken at about 30° or 31o South. The sun was near the equator when this passage was made, and we retained the trade-wind as far as 31° South, after which we had Northerly and North-westerly winds as far as the Island of Mas- afuera, when it shifted to South, and then to S.E. by S., blowing fresh. This changed to S.S.E., the regular coast-wind, as we drew in shore. During summer, the land ought always to be made to the southward of the port. In winter, when hard north winds are frequent, this is not advisable. Perhaps, at such seasons, a direct course for Valparaiso may be the best, after losing the trade-wind. NO. V. VALPARAISO TO LIMA, BY THE ENTREMEDIOS, OR INTERMEDIATE PORTS. 27th of May to 24th of June 1821. From Valparaiso we steered at the distance of about sixty mile# from the coast, as far as lat. 2240 South ; when we hauled in, and afterwards coasted APPENDIX, No. I. along in sight of the shore, at the distance of seven or eight leagues, as far as Arica. The winds being light from S.S.E., it was not till the 7th of June that we anchored there. From thence we coasted along by Quiaca, Morra de Sama, and Ilo, to Mol- lendo, the winds being generally from the east- ward, and drawing off shore at night ; calm in the mornings ; and hauling in from the sea in the day ; the weather invariably fine. From Mollendo to Lima we had a fresh breeze off shore about S.E. On approaching the Morro Solar, the wind fell light, and we were obliged to tow the ship through | the Boqueron Passage into Callao Roads. There is no difficulty in making a passage along the south coast of Peru from the eastward. But from the westward a great deal of vigilance is re- quisite to take advantage of every occasional shift of wind, since by this means alone can a passage be made. The best authorities are, I think, against standing out to sea to the south-westward, in the hopes of fetching in upon the starboard tack. The Constellation, American frigate, tried this passage, but she thereby lost a great deal of time, being at least three weeks in going from Lima to Mol- lendo. The San Martin, bearing Lord Cochrane’s flag, made the passage to Arica, which is considerably further, in thirteen days, by keeping in-shore, and taking advantage of the changes which take place, with more or less regularity, every evening and morning. As the weather along the south coast of Peru is invariably fine, ships are not otherwise incom- moded at the various anchorages, than by a high swell, which always rolls in at the full and change of the moon. Arica is the only place having any pretensions to the name of a harbour ; but the se- veral bays described in Mr. Foster’s Memoir may be considered safe, provided the ground-tackling be good. NO. VI. CHORILLOS (NEAR LIMA) TO VALPARAISO, 10th to 28th of August 1821. (18 Days.) Tuts being what is called the winter passage, we lost the trade-wind in latitude 25° South, after which we had the winds to the S.W. as far as lon- gitude 88° West, and latitude 27° South, when it shifted to the N.W. and West, and so to the S.W. and South, as far as 78° west longitude, and lati- tude 33° South. We were much embarrassed by calms, light winds, and heavy rains, after which the wind came to the northward and N.N.W., with thick rainy weather. We made the land to the southward of Valparaiso on the 27th, and got in next day by the wind coming round to the S.W. At this season of the year, when northerly winds prevail, with heavy rain, and unpleasant weather, it does not seem advisable to make the coast to the southward of the port. Neither ought a ship, I think, to run into Valparaiso in one of these gales, since the wind frequently blows home, and is at- tended by a high swell. During the winter, the best ground-tackle ought to be laid out to the north- ward, and a birth taken sufficiently far from the shore to allow of veering, in the event of bad wea- ther coming on. It does not seem necessary to eee eh on en ee Tee Te Seem ner Sane Maken, | 5 aT eg Omen SYMLER DE Me AN enon We ALS ES ES | | I | | | | APPENDIX, No. I. et 8 ea ee 67 take more than barely room for this purpose, since, by lying near the shore, there will be always an undertow, which relieves the sea-cable of great part of the strain. Before the gale comes on, the barometer, the threatening aspect of the weather, and the rising swell, generally gave sufficient warning. Previous to a Norther, as these gales are called, the land of Concon, and that beyond it to the northward, are seen with unusual sharpness and distinctness. This passage in eighteen days may be termed short. Formerly thirty days was usual, it after- wards sunk to twenty-five days, and, at the period of our arrival, three weeks was considered good. Sir Thomas Hardy, i in his Majesty’s ship Creole, made the passage from Huacho in something less than fourteen days, the distance being more than two thousand two hundred miles. This was early in May 1821, and it is well worth attending to, that the trade- ‘wind was crossed with a fore-top- mast studding-sail set, no regard being paid to any object, but getting through the trade-wind as fast as possible. The same ship, however, in February and March of the following year, was twenty-eight days making the passage, but this is unusually long for a man-of-war. NO. VII. VALPARAISO TO CONCEPTION, BAY OF ARAUCO, AND ISLAND OF MOCHA. Ist to 21st of October 1821. As the prevalent wtnds along this coast are from the southward, it is necessary to take advantage of every slant that will allow of southing being made, and we were fortunate in meeting with a westerly wind on the third day after sailing, which carried us more than half the distance. The wind subse- quently was South by W., which made the rest of the passage to Conception almost a dead beat. We arrived at Taleuhuana, in Conception Bay, on the 8th. During the 9th, it blew fresh from the north- ward. We afterwards beat up to the Bay of Arauco, and to the Island of Mocha, in 38° 19/ South, having on this occasion been favoured with a south- -easterly breeze, and then a southerly one to stand in with. We endeavoured to reach Valdivia also, but the wind came from South by East, and blew so hard that we were obliged, for want “of time, to give it up. On the return passage to Valparaiso, we had light north-westerly and west winds, then S.W., and so to the southward, and South by East, which is the most common wind. These particulars would seem to point out that a passage may always be made to the southward ; for the winds are seldom steady for twelve hours, and by taking care to profit by every change, south- ing must be made. The passage from Valparaiso to Conception is generally made in ten days, which is also the usual time required for a passage to Lima; the distance, however, in the first case, is two hundred and twenty miles, and in the latter, thirteen hundred and twenty, a circumstance which points out very decidedly the direction of the prevalent winds. NO, VIII. VALPARAISO TO LIMA, CALLING AT COQUIMBO. GUASCO, COPIAPO, ARICA, AND MOLLENDO. 15th of November to 9th of December 1821. (24 Days.) Tue winds during these passages along-shore are always light, and from the southward, hauling in from sea during the day, and freshening from off the land in the night. Between Mollendo and Callao there is a pretty steady breeze from E.S.E., with a drain of current along-shore ; a remark which applies to the whole coast from Valparaiso to Lima. A remarkable increase of the great S. W. or ocean swell is observable at the full and change of the moon on these coasts, especially from Arica to Huacho inclusive, a cireumstance which renders it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to land at those places. NO IX. LIMA TO PACASMAYAS, GUAYAQUIL. 17th to 25th of December 1821. THE winds between Lima and Guayaquil are moderate from the southward; at night hauling to the south-eastward, and in "the day from the S.S.W. When we came off the entrance of the river of Guayaquil, on the 23d of December, the wind met us from N.W.,and then fell calm. We were obliged to anchor on the ebb, and to beat up against the light northerly and northwesterly winds as far as the anchorage off the N.E. end of Puna. In the afternoon of the 24th, we received a pilot from the town of Puna, who undertook to carry us up during the night. We accordingly weighed at four o’clock, and with the flood tide and a light breeze from west by south, ran up in the dark, and anchored at four in the morning of the 25th off the town of Guayaquil. The pilots of this river are expert, and appear to understand their business well; but it is quite indispensable that their wishes be promptly and exactly attended to, as the passages are so narrow, and the tide so rapid, as to admit of no delay. Several ships have been run aground, by the captain hesitating to let go the anchor at the desire of the pilot. The passage down again was more difficult, in consequence of the prevalent winds being up the river. It afforded us, however, a means of becom- ing acquainted, to a certain extent, with the pilot- age; and I feel assured that Mr. Foster’s directions, transmitted to the Admiralty, taken along with the chart usually supplied, and used with extreme caution, would prove sufficient, in time of war for instance, or when there might be some urgent necessity for a ship’s going up with- out a pilot. In the narrow parts of the river we kedged down with the ebb, without any sail set, but having a bower anchor on the ground, and the cable at short stay peak ;* in this way the ship was readily steered from side to side, or brought PAYTA AND * See an account of this operation at page 25, ante. KF 2 ee 68 APPENDIX, No. I. up at an instant’s warning. At other places we backed and filled, and at some made shore tacks. We were always obliged, however, to anchor when the flood tide made. This is the period at which the rains are ex- pected to set in, and the heavy threatening aspect of clouds over the hills gave us reason to expect that we should not escape; but none fell during our stay, between the 23d and the 30th of Decem- ber. The passage from Guayaquil back to Lima requires jattention, as may be seen from the following directions, which I obtained from Don Manuel Luzurragui, captain of the port of Guaya- uil. “The average passage, in a well-found and well-managed ship, is twenty days; eighteen is not uncommon; and there is an instance of a schooner doing it in twelve. From the entrance of the river as far as Punta de Aguja, (in latitude 6° south,) the shore must be hugged as close as possible, in order to take advantage of the changes of wind, which take place only near the shore. In this way, by due vigilance, slants may be made every day and night. On reaching Punta de Aguja, work to the southward, as nearly on the me- ridian of that point as may be, as far as 113° lati- tude, and then strike in-shore for Callao, and if it is not fetched, creep along-shore, as formerly directed.” Persons accustomed to the navigation between Lima and Valparaiso are tempted to stand boldly out in hopes of making their southing with ease, and then running in upon a parallel. But this is not found to be practicable ; and, indeed, the cases have no resemblance, since the passage to Valpa- raiso is made by passing quite through the trade- wind, and getting into the variables; whereas Lima lies in the heart of the trade; accordingly, a ship that stretches off from Guayaquil comes gradually up as she stands out, and finally makes about a south course; when she tacks again, the wind shifts as she draws in, and the ship will be fortunate if she can retrace her first course ; very often, indeed, she does not fetch the point left in the first instance. To work along-shore with effect, the land must be kept well on board, and constant vigilance be bestowed upon the navigation, otherwise a ship will make little progress. NO. X. GUAYAQUIL TO THE GALAPAGOS. 30th of December 1821 to 5th of January 1822. (6 Days.) As the winds between the Galapagos and the main are always from south or S.S.E., there is nothing to be particularly attended to in this passage, except the currents, which generally set to the northward, and increase in strength near the islands. On getting amongst them the greatest care is necessary, to avoid being carried to leeward of the anchorage where it is proposed to stop. In the Conway we were drifted to leeward of James’s Island, and could never afterwards regain it. We lay upwards of a week at Abingdon Island, the most northern of the large ones, in a bay at the south end, where we were disagreeably exposed to the S.S.E. winds. It appeared as if the bad season was about to set in, for several nights we had rain and squalls. It is to be regretted, that the true geographical position of these islands is still uncertain, and the hydrographical knowledge respecting them so ex- ceedingly scanty. Several of the islands have, it is said, some safe ports, but these are little known, and their resources still less so. We know that an ample supply of terrapins, or land-tortoises, may be procured at some of the islands, and water is probably to be found at most of them, if diligent search were made. They offer at all seasons a most valuable asylum to the South-Sea whalers. NO. XI. | GALAPAGOS TO PANAMA. 16th of January to 2d of February 1822. (17 Days.) THIS passage, at all times in the year is tedious and uncertain, in consequence of the light baffling winds and calms which belong to the great bight, known under the name of the Bay of Panama; and these winds being also uncertain in direction, the best method seems to be to steer for the port whenever that can be done. For the two first days of our passage, the 17th and 18th of January, we had a fresh breeze from the southward, after which we were much retarded by calms, light winds, and squalls; and it was not till the 29th that we made the Morro de Puercos, the high land of the promontory forming the west- ern limit of the Bay of Panama. On steering to the eastward, we met a fresh breeze from north immediately on our opening the point. This carried us across the bay in the parallel of 7° north. As we closed with the eastern coast, the wind drew more to the westward, and enabled us to make the land about Point Escondida, in 7° 40’ north. From hence we took advantage of the shifts of wind between the night and the day, and beat up till abreast of the island of Galera, lying between the south end of the Isla del Rey and Point Garachine, forming the south side of the Gulf of San Michael. There, in latitude 8° 11’ north, it was thought prudent to anchor till the morning, as there is a shoal laid down in this neigh- bourhood, but which, we afterwards learned, has eight fathoms on its shallowest part. Next morn- ing, the Ist, we were employed working against light winds from the northward, with a slight current in our favour: towards sunset the breeze freshened considerably, and when we tacked close to the island of Petado, on the N.E. shore of the bay, the breeze was so fresh that we could hardly earry the top-gallant sails. This breeze blew from N.N.E. to N.E. by North, enabling us to clear, at a proper distance, the long line of small islands which stretch to the N.N.W. of the Isla del Rey, and thence to proceed, ina straight line, a little to windward of W.N.W. by compass, directly for the anchorage of Panama, But towards the morning of the 2d of February, the wind drew to the N.N. APPENDIX, No. I. W.., and, after the day broke, we had several tacks to make before reaching the anchorage, within the island of Perico. After entering the bay, we were not much influ- enced by currents. From what we saw and heard it uppeared to be essentia, on working into Pana- ma, to keep on the eastern side, where the wind is moderate, the water smooth, and there is no cur- rent ; whereas, on the western side, the breeze is too strong, there is a short sea, and generally a - drain of current setting out to seaward. NO. XII. GENERAL REMARKS ON THE WINDS AND WEATHER, AND THE NAVIGATION OF THE SOUTH-WEST COAST OF MEXICO. On the south-west coast of Mexico, the fair season, or what is called the summer, though the latitude be north, is from December to May inclu- sive. During this interval alone it is advisable to navigate the coast, for in the winter, from June to November inclusive, every part of it is liable to hard gales, tornadoes, or heavy squalls, to calms, to constant deluges of rain, and the most danger- ous lightning ; added to which, almost all parts of the coast are, at this time, so unhealthy, as to be abandoned by the inhabitants. At the eastern end of this range of coast, about Panama, the winter sets in earlier than at San Blas, which lies at the western end. Rains and sickness are looked for early in March at Panama ; but at San Blas, rain seldom falls before the 15th of June; sometimes, however, it begins on the ‘]Jst of Jnne, as we experienced. Of the intermediate coast I have no exact information, except that December, January, and February, are fine months every- where; and that, with respect to the} range ‘be- tween Acapuico to Panama, the months of March, April, and half of May, are also fine—at all other times the coast navigation may be generally de- scribed as dangerous, and on every account to be avoided. From December to May inclusive, the prevalent winds between Panama and Cape Blanco de Nicoya are N.W. andnortherly. From thence to Realejo and Sonsonate N.E. and easterly. At this season off the Gulfs of Papagayo and Teco- antepec there blow hard gales, the first being generally N.E., and the latter north. These, if not too strong, as they sometimes are, greatly accelerate the passages to the westward—they last for several days together, with a clear sky over- head, and a dense red haze near the horizon. We experienced both in the Conway in February, 1822. The first, which was off Papagayo on the the 12th, carried us two hundred and thirty miles to the W.N.W. ; but the gale we met on cross- ing the Gulf of Tecoantepec, on the 24th, 25th, and 26th, was so hard that we could show no sail, and were drifted off to the S.S.W. more than a hundred miles. A ship ought to be well pre- pared on these occasions, for the gale is not only severe, but the sea, which rises quickly, is un- commonly high and short, so as to strain a ship exceedingly. From Acapulco to San Blas what are called 69 land and sea-breezes blow: but as far as my experience goes, during the whole of March they scarcely deserve that name. They are described as blowing from N.W. and West during the day, and from N.E. at night; whence it might be inferred, that a shift of wind, amounting to eight points, takes place between the day and night breezes. But during the whole distance between Acapulco and San Blas, together with about a hundred miles East of Acapuleo, which we worked along, hank for hank, we never found, or very rarely, that a greater shift could be reckoned on than four points. With this, however, and the greatest diligence, a daily progress of from thirty to fifty miles may be made. Such being the general state of the winds on this coast, it is necessary to attend to the following directions for making a passage from the eastward. On leaving Panama for Realejo or Sonsonate, come out direct to the north-westward of the Isla del Rey—keep from twenty to thirty leagues off the shore as far as Cape Blanco de Nicoya, and on this passage advantage must be taken of every shift of wind to get to the north-westward. From Cape Blanco hug the shore, in order to take advantage of the north-easterly winds which prevail close in. If a Papagayo (as the strong breeze out of that gulf is called) be met with, the passage to Sonsonate becomes very short. From Sonsonate to Acapulco keep at the distance of twenty, or at most thirty leagues from the coast. We met with very strong currents running to the eastward at this part of the passage ; but whether by keeping farther in or farther out we should have avoided them, I am unable to say. The above direction is that usually held to be the best by the old coasters. If, when off the Gulf of Tecoantepec, any of the hard breezes which go by that name should come off, it is advisable, if sail can be carried, to ease the sheets off, and run well to the westward, with- out seeking to make northing ; westing being, at all stages of that passage, by far the most difficult to accomplish. On approaching Acapulco the shore should be got hold of, and the land and sea- breezes turned to account. This passage in summer is to be made by taking advantage of the difference in direction between the winds in the night and the winds in the day. During some months, the land-winds, it is said, come more off the land than at others, and that the sea-breezes blow more directly on shore ; but in March we seldom found a greater difference than four points ; and to profit essentially by this small change, constant vigilance and activity are indis- pensable. The sea-breeze sets in, with very little variation as to time, about noon, or a little before, and blows with more or less strength till the evening. It was usually freshest at two o’clock ; gradually fell after four ; and died away as the sun went down. ‘The land-breeze was by no means so regular as to its periods or its force. Sometimes it came off in the first watch, but rarely before midnight, and often not till the morning, and was then generally light and uncertain. The principal point to be attended to in this navigation 1s, to have the ship so placed at the setting in of the sea-breeze, that she shall be able to make use of the whole of it on the larboard tack, before closing 70 APPENDIX, No. I. too much with the land, If this be accomplished, which a little experience of the periods renders easy, the ship will be near the shore just as the sea-breeze has ended, and there she will remain in the best situation to profit by the land-wind when it comes ; for it not only comes off earlier to a ship near the coast, but is stronger, and may always be taken advantage of to carry the ship off to the sea-breeze station before noon of the next day.* These are the best directions for navigating on this coast which I have been able to procure : they are drawn from various sources, and, whenever it was possible, modified by personal experience. I am chiefly indebted to Don Manuel Luzurragui, master-attendant of Guayaquil, for the information they contain. In his opinion, were it required to make a passage from Panama to San Blas, without touching at any intermediate port, the best way would be to stretch well out, pass to the south- ward of Cocos Island, and then run with the southerly winds as far west as 96° before hauling up for San Blas, so as to make a fair wind of the westerly breezes which belong to the coast. An experienced old pilot, however, whom I met at Panama, disapproved of this, and said the best distance was fifteen or twenty leagues all the way. In the winter months these passages are very unpleasant, and it is indispensable that the whole navigation be much further off-shore, excepting only between Acapulco and San Blas, when a distance from ten to twelve leagues will be sufficient. The return passages from the West are always much easier. In the period called here the summer, from December to May, a distance of thirty to fifty leagues ensures a fair wind all the way. In winter, it is advisable to keep still farther off, say a hundred leagues, to avoid the calms and incessant rains, squalls, and lightnings, which everywhere prevail on the coast at this season. Don Manuel Luzurragui advises, during winter, that all ports on this coast should be made to the southward and eastward, as the currents in this time of the year set from that quarter. If it be required to return direct from San Blas to Lima, a course must be shaped so as to pass between the Island of Cocos and the Galapagos, and to the south-eastward, till the land be made a little to the southward of the equator, between Cape Lorenzo and Cape St. Helena. From thence work along-shore as far as Point Aguja, in latitude 6° South, after which, work due South, on the meridian of that point, as far as 114° South, and then stretch in-shore. If the outer passage were to be attempted from San Blas, it would be neces- sary to run to 25° or 30° South across the trade, which would be a needless waste of distance and time. Such general observations as the foregoing, on a navigation still imperfectly known, are, perhaps, better calculated to be useful to a stranger than detailed accounts of passages made at particular seasons. For although the success of a passage will principally depend on the navigator’s own vigilance in watching for exceptions to the common * See Dampier’s account of land and sea breezes, quoted in pages 35, 36, ante. rules, and on his skill and activity in profiting by them, yet he must always be materially aided by a knowledge of the prevalent winds and weather. As many persons, however, attach a certain degree of value to actual observations made on coasts little frequented, although the period in which they may have been made be limited, I have given, in the two following notices, a brief abstract of the Con- way’s passages from Panama to Acapulco, and from Acapulco to San Blas. The original notes from whence they are taken are too minute to interest any person not actually proceeding to that quarter of the world. NO. XItfl. PANAMA TO ACAPULCO, 5th of February to 7th of March 1822. (30 Days.) WE sailed from Panama on the 4th of February, and anchored on that afternoon at the island of Taboga, where we filled up our water. Next evening, the 5th, we ran out of the bay with a fresh N.N.W. wind, and at half-past two in the morning of the 6th rounded Point Mala, and hauled to the westward. As the day advanced the breeze slackened and drew to the southward. In twenty- four hours, however, we had run one hundred and forty miles, and were entirely clear of the bight of Panama. It cost us nearly six days more before we came abreast of Cape Blanco de Nicoya ; at first we had light winds from S.S.W., then a moderate breeze from N.N.W., which backed round to the eastward, and was followed by a calm ; during each day we had the wind from almost every point of the compass, but light and uncertain. Between the 11th and 12th, we passed Cape Blanco de Nicoya with a fresh breeze from S.S.E. and then 8.8.W., which shifted suddenly to the northward, afterwards to the N.N.E., where it blew fresh for upwards of twenty-four hours, and enabled us to run more than two hundred and thirty miles to the west-north-westward in one day. This breeze, which is known by the name of Papagayo, failed us after passing the Gulf of the same name, and we then came within the influence of adverse currents. On reaching the longitude of 92° West, on the ]6th we were set S. 16, W.77 miles ; on the 17th, N. 16 miles ; on the 18th, E. 51 miles ; on the 19th, S. 78°, E. 63 miles; on the 20th, S. 62°, E. 45 miles; on the 21st, S. 87°, E. 173 miles ; all of which we experienced between 91° and 930 West, at the distance of twenty leagues from the shore, meanwhile we had N.N.E. and northerly winds, and calms. After these currents slacked, we made westing as far as 933°, by help of N.N.E. and easterly winds. On the 22d, 23d, and 24th, we were strug- gling against north-westerly winds off Guatimala between ]4°and 15}° North latitude. This brought us up to the top of the Bay of Tecoantepee at sunset of the 24th, we then tacked and stood to the westward. The weather at this time looked threatening ; the sky was clear overhead, but all round the horizon there hung a fiery and por- tentous haze, and the sun set in great splendour ; presently the breeze freshened, and came to North by West, and before midnight it blew a hard gale of windfrom North. This lasted with little inter- mission till six in the morning of the 26th, or about thirty hours. There was during all the time an uncommonly high short sea, which made the ship extremely uneasy. The barometer fell from 29,94 to 29,81, between noon and four p.m., but rose again as the gale freshened—the sympieso- meter fell twelve hundredths. This gale drove us to the South-west by South about one hundred and forty miles. A fine fresh breeze succeeded from N.N.E., which carried us on one hundred and twenty miles towards Acapulco, and left us in longitude 974° West, and latitude 15° North, on the 27th. This was the last fair wind we had on the coast ; all the rest of our passage, as far as San Blas, being made by dead beating. The dis- tance from Acapulco was now less than one hun- dred and eighty miles, but it cost us eight days’ hard work to reach it, principally owing to a steady drain of lee-current running East by South at the following daily rates, viz. thirteen, sixteen, twenty- seven, thirty-seven, twenty-five, ten, nine, seven, and nine miles. The winds were, meanwhile, from N.W. to N.N.W., with an occasional spurt from South-East and South, and several calms. We had not yet learned the most effectual method of taking advantage of the small variation between the day and night winds. NO. XIV. ACAPULCO TO SAN BLAS. 12th to 28th of March 1822. (16 Days.) TuIs passage was considered good for the month of March ; but in the latter days of December, and first of January, an English merchant-ship made it in ten days, having a fair wind off shore nearly all the day. A merchant-brig, which passed Acapulco on the fith of February, at the distance of 150 miles, was a fortnight in reach- ing Cape Corrientes, and nearly three weeks afterwards getting from thence to San Blas, a distance of only seventy miles. There is, how- ever, reason to believe that this vessel was badly handled . It would be useless to give any more detailed account of this passage than will be seen in the preceding remarks, (No. XII.) We generally got the sea-breeze about noon, with which we laid up for a short time W.N.W., and then broke off to N.W.; and so to the northward, towards the end of the breeze, as we approached the coast. We generally stood in within a couple of miles, and sometimes nearer, and sounded in from fifteen to twenty-five fathoms. If the breeze continued after sunset, we made short tacks, in order to preserve our vicinity to the land, to be ready for the night-wind. With this we generally lay off S.W., sometimes W.S.W. and West, but only for a short time. After passing latitude 18°, the coast trended more to the northward, and a much longer leg was made on the larboard-tack, before we were obliged to go about. As we approached Cape Corrientes, in latitude 20°, the Jand-winds became more northerly, and the sea-breezes more ° westerly ; so that, as the coast also trended off APPENDIX, No. I. 71 to the northward, a more rapid advance was made. On passing Cape Corrientes, the Tres Marias Islands came in sight ; and if they be passed to the south-eastward, at the distance of eight or ten leagues, and a N.N.E. course steered, Piedra Blanca de Mar, off San Blas, will be readily got sight of. ‘This is a round, bold, white rock, in latitude 21° 343/ North, and longitude 105° 324/ West, and being one hundred and thirty feet high, forms an excellent land-mark. It lies exactly eleven and three-quarters of a mile nearly due west from the harbour of San Blas, which is pointed out by another white rock, bearing south, 82° East from the former. Close round this last rock, called Piedra de Tierra, on the eastern side, lies the anchorage. The coast between Cape Corrientes and San Blas is full of deep and dan- gerous rocky bights. Itis little known, and ought not to be approached. Care should also be taken, in the night-time, to keep clear of a small cluster of low rocks, which lie twenty-two miles to the N.N.W. of Cape Corrientes. We made them in latitude 20° 43/ North, and longitude 105° 51/ 4’ West. Vancouver places them in latitude 20° 45/ North ; longitude 105° 46’ 55” West ; an agree- ment sufficiently near. Our difference of longi- tude was ascertained by chronometers next day from San Blas, where the longitude was after- wards determined by an occultation of a fixed star. Cape Corrientes lies in latitude 20° 24’ North ; longitude 105° 42/ 26” West, or 22/ 59” West from San Blas. During our stay at San Blas, from the 28th of March to the ldth of June, we had light land- winds every night, and a moderately fresh breeze from West every day, with the thermometer always above 80°. Towards the end of the period, the sky, which had been heretofore clear, became overcast ; the weather lost its former serene character, becoming dark and unsettled ; and on the Ist of June, the periodical rains set in with great violence, accom- panied by thunder and lightning, and fresh winds from due south. This was nearly a fortnight earlier than the average period. The heat and closeness of the weather increased greatly after the rains set in; but although our men were much exposed, no sickness ensued, excepting a few cases of highly inflammatory fever. The town was almost completely deserted when we came away ; the inhabitants having, as usual, fled to Tepic, and other inland towns, to avoid the discomfort and sickness whieh accompany the rains. As soon as the rains subside, in the latter end of October, or beginning of November, the people return, although that is the period described as being most unhealthy, when the ground is still moist, and the heat of the sun not materially abated. NO. XV. SAN BLAS, ROUND CAPE HORN, TO RIO DE JANEIRO. _ 15th of June to 12th of September 1822. (89 Days.) Tue navigable distance of this passage, or that over which a ship must run, without counting casual deviations, is 7550 miles, and includes every variety of climate and weather. An inspection of the track in the chart which accompanied this Memoir, will give a better idea of the extent and variety of this passage than any description can do. A few general remarks, how- ever, may have theiruse. We were recommended by the oldest navigators at San Blas to get off the coast as fast as possible, in order to avoid the very unpleasant weather which belongs to it at this season. This, it appears, is sometimes difficult to accomplish, and ships are even driven as far as Acapulco, before they can disentangle themselves from the westerly and south-westerly breezes. We, however, found no difficulty in running off to the S.W. as far as 110° W. and 15° North. From 83° North, to 34° North, and longitude 105° W., we were much retarded by southerly winds. -We then got the trade-wind, which hung far to the south at first, and obliged us to cross the line in 1103° West. We kept the trade-wind for fifteen days, that is, to the 23d of July, at which time we had reached the latitude of 27° South, having run by its means about two thou- sand miles. The wind afterwards came to the northward, and then to the N.W., whence, in 304° South, it shifted to South by east, and then to South-west on the 29th of July. In 353° South, and 102° West, we had a hard gale from the southward. The wind had been previously so fresh from the S.W. and S.S.W., that we were obliged to close reef at midnight of the 28th of July. It shortly afterwards came on to rain hard, and fell calm for an hour, at the end of which interval a gale sud- denly came on from South, and blew with violence all that day. This gale was followed by fresh South-west-by-West winds, which came round to N.W., and then to S.S.W. again, as far as latitude 46° South, and longitude 90° West, when the wind hung for three days from the Southward. From 494° South, and 82° West, to 55° South, and 78° West, we had fresh N.N.E., N.N.W., and N.W. winds. Just as we were about to haul up to round the Cape on the 12th of August, the wind came from N.E. (by compass, or about E.N.E, true,) which obliged us to go as far as 573° South, before the wind shifted to west and north-west. We passed out of sight of Cape Horn on the night of the 14th of August, just two months from San Blas, strictly 601 days, the navigable distance being six thousand miles. From the meridian of Cape Horn, to that of the Falkland Islands, we retained the N.W. and latterly the S.W. winds. It then fell calm, after which we had S.E. and §.S.E. breezes, with snow showers, (the first we had seen,) nearly as far as latitude 40° South. In the Pacific, between 50° and 55°, we had hard breezes, with rain, and a consider- APPENDIX, No. I. able sea, but not such as to prevent our scudding \ with ease. During all the passage off the Cape, we had fine weather, with smooth water, and a mild climate, that is to say, the thermometer was not below 39°. Off the Falkland Islands, with an E.S.E. wind, it fell to 35°. This temperature seemed cold to persons recently come from a residence of more than six months in one of the hottest parts of the world, but upon the whole- the season was finer than that of the corre, spondent north latitude. ; When off the Cape in 57° South, and longitude 69° West, we fell in with four ice islands; two of these were very high and long; the other two were about twenty yards long, and as they floated not more than ten or twelve feet out of the water would, in all probability, not have been seen at night till too near to be avoided. Next day an immense island was seen, which could not have been less than two or three hundred feet high, and a quarter of a mile long. This was in 564° South, and longitude 65° West. Some days after- wards, we fell in with an American whaler which had passed more to the southward in 58°, where he not only met with innumerable ice islands, | but with an extensive compact field, as far as the eye could reach. He found himself in the morning almost beset, and it cost him nearly twenty-four hours beating among the floating pieces and icebergs, before he was clear of them. I examined his chart, on which his track was laid down with every appearance of exactness ; the ice and ice islands were sketched in a. busi- ness-like manner on the chart. The high island which we saw on the morning of the 15th was probably one of the same group, and the smaller ones fragments. ; There are few things more dangerous in naviga- tion than one of these low ice islands, in a dark night, when blowing hard, and with a high sea ; all circumstances which unfortunately are likely enough to come together at this particular season, when the ice is most frequently observed to be floating about off Cape Horn. In bad weather it might be prudent to lie-to. But in fine weather, although dark, as it was with us, a leisurely course may be followed, provided uncommon vigilance be used. On this occasion I thought of a precaution, which it may perhaps be worth while stating. Having reefed the courses, that the officer of the watch might have a free view, the yards were braced sharp up, bowlines hauled, and everything prepared for tacking, and always kept so at night, from whatever direction the wind might blow. On an ice island being seen a-head, and near us, in the case of the ship being by the wind, the helm being put down she would readily come about: if off the wind, she would come to, with the sails so trimmed as to allow her sailing past the danger ; or if this could not be, still she would be more ready to come about, and certainly be more man- ageable in all respects, than if the yards had been in any other position. The latter part of this passage between the lati- tude of 40° and that of Rio, was rendered tedious by frequent northerly winds. On the 24th of Au- gust, in latitude 39° 45’, the wind, which had been gradually hauling from the S.E. to the North-east- ward, came to N.N.E., then to North, N.N.W., and latterly N.W., shifting gradually at the rate APPENDIX, No. I. of one point in twenty-four hours. In the week || from the 24th to the 3ist, we made, on an E.N.E. course, only four hundred and eighty miles. Du- || ring this period the wind was moderate, and the atmosphere filled with a dense haze, which made everything damp. The barometer continued high all the time, never falling below thirty inches, and generally standing at 30,30. On the 31st, in lati- tude 37° South, longitude 39° West, the wind came in a squall to the S.W. This wind, like the above, shifted from right to left, that is, from S.W. to South, S.E., East, and so on to N.E. North, and N.W., with a thick haze, heavy rain, thunder and lightning, and the wind blowing occasionally in strong gusts. After this it fell calm, in latitude 33° South. The breeze which succeeded was first from the N.E. but, as usual, it drew to the north- ward,with a thick haze, and a high swell from the same quarter. In the evening of the 5th, the wind, which was blowing fresh and steady from North, shifted suddenly, and without any lull, or other warning, to S.W., and blew for two hours so hard, that we could barely carry triple reefed topsails and reefed courses. This breeze in twen- ty-four hours fell light, shifted round as formerly to the South, S.E., East, and in latitude 28° South to N.N.E. The only difference between this shift of wind and those which preceded it, was the absence of haze. It hung in the N.N.E. quarter, blowing at times very fresh for three days, with a high short swell. On the 10th it fell calm, after which, on the evening of that day a breeze sprung up from the S.W., and having made Round Island, off Rio, early on the morning of the 12th, in very 73 -———_-_- ee tn | thick rainy weather, we ran in, and anchored, after a passage of eighty-nine days from leaving San Blas. NO. XVI. RIO DE JANEIRO TO BAHIA, OR ST. SALVADOR, 25th of November to 13th of December 1822, (18 Days.) Tis passage, and that of his Majesty’s ship Doris, about the same time, serve to show how uncertain the winds are on this coast. We sailed in the Conway, on the 25th of November, met with North and North-easterly winds off Cape Frio, which obliged us to stand off for nine days, at the end of which time we were one hundred and fifty miles farther from Bahia than when we first sailed. The wind now shifted to the south- ward and S.W., with a high swell, and much rain, and we reached our port on the 13th of December. The Doris sailed on the 5th of December, ten days after the Conway, and reached Bahia on the 12th, one day before us. It so happened that, immediately on leaving Rio, she got the same southerly wind which carried to the northward, and on the same day, but with a less distance to run. At this time of the year northerly winds certainly prevail, and such cir- cumstances as the above do not arise above two or three times in a season. As there are ample published directions for navigating on this coast, it is needless for me to say any more. 74 APPENDIX, No. II. TABLE OF THE LATITUDES, LONGITUDES, AND VARIATION OF THE COMPASS OF THE VARIOUS PORTS ON THE SHORES OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN, VISITED BY HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP CONWAY, IN 1820, 1821, AND 1822. From a Hydrographical Memoir, by Mr. Henry Foster, R.N., in 1823, corrected in 1840. N.B.—AI1 the longitudes, up to those of the Galapagos inclusive, have been augmented by 9! 18’, that being the presumed error in the longitude of Valparaiso, by the observations made on board the Conway, from whence all the others were deduced. That longitude, as determined by Mr. Foster and myself, was 71° 31’ 0’; but I have now altered it to 71° 40’ 18, which is the mean of all the most recent astronomical determinations. See Lieutenant Raper’s article on Longitudes, in the Nautical Magazine for 1839, page 755. I have left the differences of longitude, however, as we measured them by our chronometers between Valparaiso and the different parts of the coast.—B. H. LONGITUDE. a SM GRR TEME EE i NAME OF THE PLACE, Country. LatiTupE. East or West of Compass Valparaiso, Mee Easterly. by Chronometer. Greenwich. Valparaiso . . ed hak opie Bot CS ean Set at oa 71° 40’ 18”) 14° 43/ E. (Fort St. Antonio) . ae | Island of Mocha . .. . 38 19 13 2°10 17 W,! 73. 55 . oo | 1 oa ee Arauco 37 14 30 lL 42 O 73 22 18 | 18. 22 Point Lobos, Is. of St. Mary’s SP Cade or (elon 2 30 Taleuhuana. (Bae Gh >. ji». Chill. 36 42 52 1. 28.. 33 13, ,8 61 15 cae Penco (Conception) . : oe) | 36\..43 34 Coquimbo Bay . . 29: 56 59 0 1 AM wl 25. et Islet A. (Bay of Coquimbo) 29 53 57 0 12 49 C127. ZO") Se ae Guasco (Outer-rock A.). 28,21, 0 0 21 55 71 18.25.) JS a0 Bay of Copiapo (Point A.) . i Ziy wae 10 0 40 19 70 59 59 | 13°30 Arica (Town of St. Mark) . 18 28 35 V old, 44 70 22 384; 10 25 Pamt Goles: 560 a6. BY FAS rQ O shies 2 iL... 28. 530). 10 se Valley of Tambo . 9 meas: 0 0 9 Q@7 W.| 71 49-45 Village of Mollendo . . . South- | 17° 2 15 0. 23, 9 42. B+ abl aa Eater Esly 2G ee lL Westy LIF, 1 0 0 29 15 72 9 33 Point Peseadores . . ~. .| { Coastof| 16 15 10 Dis Digg 73 42 19 | di20 Point Nasco, or Caballos_ . Pera. | 14 . 58>, 53 3. D2, ST 475.30. 15 Internal Rock : 14 42 5 4 13 33 75 §3 51 Hill of Mercedes . ote 14/35: 29 4 32 48 76,013 \6 Los Amigos Rocks . oe 14: 20.0 4 36 16 76 16 34 Castle (Point 0)! P ) 12 «3 465 By cal, , 12 7? UL. 30y) 1G Ancon (Point Mulatas 11 45 55 Pdive ‘. x jaa 10 25 Huacho . an is bal AS oR aa ee ae . 7 9 36 Hill of Eten oe, a "6 66. TO 8 ill) .b 79 Shy 28 PAM: o) ets pth sd || ‘ Og . = $5.00 Island of Santa Clara Coast of 13 42 8 43 33 80 23 51 (Entrance of Riv. Guayaquil) C he 7 Town of Guayaquil . Veet. ar aes 22 8 8 46 79 49... 41 Oe Gardiner’s Island (centre) L 22. 32 18 (27 382 90. 7 50 Charles’ Island (Saddle pt. ) 1 20 40 18. 39 31 90 19 49 (Post-Office Bay) . Gal oe 18 35 35 90 15 53 Indefatizable’s Island, N.end Peet} sh B83. 86 James’ Island (Sugar Loaf) Teed (OS OB. BE 28 90 37 46 Ear] of Abingdon’ s Island . aan (Conway’s anchor.) : 0489 DUB — (S. W. point) on 0 32 19 18 49 39 90 29 57 | 8 20 East or West of San Blas. Acapulco (Fort Carlos) . . ogi} Bbo-24' 40’ EB. | 99 58 4%) 0 40 Peaked Mountain (supposed the volcano of ‘oman -|| South- | 19 36 20 1 41 58 103 36 29 Cape Corrientes. West | 20 24 32 0 23 59 W. {105 42 26 Rock to the N. W. by N. by Coast of compass of Cape Corrientes Mexico. | 20 43 0 GO: $8, 14 105, 5h, sat Piedra Blanca . 21 34 48 0.18 40/105. 32.7 San Blas . ws 21 32 24 oe ie Mec iOS lB cai ah inal 75 APPENDIX, No. III. SUBSTANCE OF A LETTER TO CAPTAIN HENRY KATER, READ BEFORE THE ROYAL SOCIETY, APRIL 24, 1823, Giving an Account of some Experiments made by Captain Hall and Mr. Foster with an Invariable Pendulum, during the Voyage to South America, in his Majesty’s Ship Conway. THE following pages contain an account of the experiments made with an invariable pendulum, placed in my hands by the Board of Longitude, at the suggestion of Captain Henry Kater, F.R.S., the philosopher to whom the scientific world is in- debted for this simple method of determining the figure of the earth. The principle, indeed, was | known before ; but the practical application, in its present form, is due entirely to his skill and in- genuity. It was a source of considerable regret to Mr. Foster and myself, that we should have visited so many remote places, with such means in our | hands, and at last have so few results to produce, The fact, however, is, that the service upon which the ship was employed had no connexion with scientific research ; and it was only at casual in- tervals of active professional employment, that I, at least, could attend at all to inquiries of this nature. These occasional opportunities I owe to the indulgence of Sir Thomas Hardy, Commander- in-chief in South America, to whose encourage- ment, in every pursuit having useful knowledge for its object, I stand essentially indebted. In drawing up the account of these experiments, care was taken to state all the attendant circum- stances, and to record in tables every observation in the utmost detail ; so that any person wishing to examine the work, may have the best means possible of estimating their value. These tables, which are too voluminous for the present work, will be found at length in the Philosophical Trans- actions for 1823. The methods followed for making the adjust- ments of the instruments, conducting the experi- ments, and deducing the results, were those laid down in Captain Kater’s paper on the length of the pendulum at the principal stations of the Trigo- nometrical Survey. We took particular care, for example, always to adjust the diaphragm which is placed in the focus of the eye-piece of the telescope, so that its edges should coincide exactly with those of the extremity of the tail-piece of the pendulum of experiment, according to the precept at page 9 of Captain Kater’s paper, read before the Royal Society, in June 1819. This adjustment, it may be useful to observe, is rendered more easy and exact, by placing a card, or other white object, at a little distance behind the pendulum, when at rest. I also invariably determined the intervals by observing the moment of disappearance of the white disc behind the pendulum, not only in London, but at all the stations abroad. I am particular in stating these two circum- stances, especially the first, from its being so essential to the accuracy of the whole experiment, in all cases where the diameter of the disk and the breadth of the pendulum, though in fact equal, happen to be placed at different distances from the eye, and therefore must appear under different angles ; and not, as in Captain Kater’s first’ ex- periments, (which had another and perfectly distinct object in view,) where the disk and tail- piece were so proportioned, that both occupied the same apparent angle when seen through the tele- scope. We were at first disposed to think it might be better to observe both the times of disappearance and reappearance of the white disc, and to assume the mean as the true instant of the coincidence ; but we found, by repeated trials, that the time of reappearance was liable to greater or less uncer- tainty, according to the degree of light, and other unmanageable circumstances ; and, having satis- fied ourselves that the method of obtaining the intervals by observing the disappearance, was rigorously correct in principle, we adhered to it ever afterwards, as being more simple and infallible in practice. It is meant by this, that in all com- parative experiments, such as these were, the method of disappearances is rigorously accurate. It formed no part of our object to determine the absolute length of the pendulum; and therefore we considered it needless to encumber ourselves with a troublesome method of observing, when another, perfectly easy and simple, and equally correct, was within reach. To those who have not considered the subject attentively, and who may be desirous to know what difference it caused, it will be satisfactory to learn, that when experi- ments are made, at different places, by observing the disappearances only, the results are strictly comparative, and, in point of fact, give identically the same results with those deduced from observing both the disappearances and the reappearances, and taking the mean for the time of true coin- cidence. This assertion is the result of an actual comparison of the two methods. In making these statements, it is not only due to Captain Kater, but may, perhaps, be useful to future observers, to state, that, after many trials of fancied improvements and simplifications of his methods, both in the conduct of the experiments themselves, and in the subsequent computations, we were finally obliged to acknowledge, in every instance, even where we succeeded, that we had, 76 by more labour, or by more circuitous paths, reached the same point to which his admirable rules would at once have led us, ; From having carefully studied Captain Kater’s works before leaving England, we had conceived ourselves sufficiently qualified to undertake a course of experiments at once. In this, however, we were mistaken ; and the consequence was, that of two extensive series made at Valparaiso, neither proved sufficiently accurate to deserve notice. The experience, however, gained in the course of these operations, enabled us ever afterwards to proceed with confidence. And here it may be well to suggest the advantage which, on future occasions, might arise from having the whole ex- periment performed in England, by the person who is afterwards to repeat it abroad, not under the hospitable roof of Mr. Browne, to whose in- valuable assistance every one who has attended to this subject is so deeply obliged, but in the fields, and with no advantages save those which he could carry with him. He would thus, in good time, discover omissions in his apparatus, which are not to be supplied abroad, and be aided in surmounting difficulties before he had sailed beyond the reach of appeal. The first series of experiments was made in London. The next was made thirty-two miles and a half north of the equator, at one of the Gala- pagos, a group of islands in the Pacific, lying upwards of two hundred leagues west from the continent of South America. It was intended that a station should have been chosen immediately under the line, but the ship being swept to leeward in the course of the night by a strong current, this object could not be effected without losing more time than circumstances admitted of being spent in that quarter. The spot chosen for the experiments lies near the extremity of a tongue of land running into the sea at the south end of Abingdon Island, where it forms the western side of a bay, about a mile across. The point is a stream of lava, which, in former ages, had flowed down the side of a peaked mountain, standing in the middle of this end of the island. The summit of this peak is between two and three miles from the station, in a direction nearly north, and is about two thousand feet high. It slopes rapidly at first, so as to form a tolerably steep cone, terminated by a broad and gently- sloping base of a mile and a half. The sides of the mountain are studded with craters, or mouths, from whence, at different periods, streams of lava have issued, and run down to the sea, where they have formed sharp projecting points, such as that on which we now fixed our station. The western face of the island presents a cliff nearly perpen- dicular, and not less than a thousand feet high ; it exhibits a rude stratification of lava, tuffa, and ashes, materials which characterise the fracture of ancient volcanic mountains. I am thus minute in describing this island, that the reader may be enabled to judge how far its density may have modified the results of the experiments. It is ten or twelve miles long ; the north end being a con- tinued system of long, low, and very rugged streams of lava ; the peak standing about one-third of the whole length from the southern extremity, where our station was. The rock, at different places not far from the station, was found to be full of APPENDIX, No. III. caves, into which the tide flowed through subter | ranean channels ; the outer crust of the stream having, as usual, served as a pipe to conduct the lava off : it is therefore probable that our founda- tion may not have been the solid rock: a cireum- stance which, taken along with the general holloy nature of volcanic districts, and the deepness of — the surrounding ocean, renders these experiments | not so fit to be compared with those made in England, as with others which may be made here- after on a volcanic soil. The range in the temperature, in 24 hours, was. from 74° to 91°; and, as we were obliged to place the instruments in a tent, the thermometer rose | greatly in the day-time, and fell as much at night, but unfortunately without much uniformity, On_ the first day of observing coincidences, a set was taken after breakfast, and another before dinner ;_ but it was soon seen that this would confine the observations exclusively to the hot period of the day ; it was therefore determined to take in future one set as soon after sun-rise as possible, in order | to have a result in which the performance of the pendulum should be modified by the whole night’s | continued low temperature; and another set towards the close of the day, to obtain a result — partaking in like manner of the influence which — the whole day’s high temperature might have on — the length of the pendulum. We also endeavoured — so to arrange things, that we might catch a suffi- ciently long period of uniform temperature during | the interval of observing, that all the coincidences | of each set might be taken with an unvarying thermometer. By these arrangements it was hoped, that although no one experiment could produce strictly correct results, the errors of the morning and evening observations, being of a con- trary nature, might counterbalance one another ; that the mean, in short, between observations taken in the hot and in the cold periods of the day, would probably give such a result as might fairly | stand by the side of rates deduced from transits of | stars, the intervals between observing which, in | like manner, included the very same extremes of temperature. It should be carefully borne in mind, that the real desideratum, as far as respects rate, is not to know what is the aggregate loss or gain of the clock in twenty-four hours ; or, in other words, the mean rate ; but the actual rate at which the clock is going during the particular period of ob- serving : That is to say, the number of beats, and parts of a beat, which, were the clock to go on uniformly from that instant, would be indicated by its dial-plate, in 24 hours of mean time. As the method of transits of stars, however, gives only the average rate, or that due to the middle point of time between the transits, we sought, by the arrangements above stated, to obtain, in like manner, average results, by taking the mean of observations with the pendulum made at the ex- treme temperatures. One thermometer was suspended, so that its bulb stood an inch in front of the middle part of the pendulum, while another was hung lower down, between the clock-case and the pendulum. The average temperature at night was 74°, and in the daytime, from 86° to 90° ; the latter, asI have said, depending principally on the state of the sky. The allowance for expansion was made “APPENDIX, No. III. from the deductions which resulted from experi- ments made by Captain Kater on a similar pen- | dulum. An astronomical circle, by Troughton, wasused as a transit instrument, and was so placed in a | small octagonal observatory of light pannels, com- | nometer. municating by a door with the tent, that the clock could be seen, and its beats heard, by the observer at the instrument ; thus, with the exception of the first day’s transits, the time was recorded directly from the clock, without the intervention of a chro- The meridian mark was placed near the sea, at the distance of 806 feet : a strong post having been driven into a cleft of the rock, and firmly secured, a screen was nailed to it made of copper, and perforated with a set of holes, from one-fourth to one-tenth of an inch in diameter, and readily distinguishable from the Observatory. This fixed screen being made in the form of a box to receive the lamp, it became impossible to mis- place the light. | The instrument was brought down to this mark, and the level carefully examined, be- fore and after every observation, except with some stars which followed too close upon one another. The sun was fortunately observed at noon every day ; and as its rays were never allowed to touch any part of the instrument, or to enter the Obser- vatory, except at the moment of noon, and then only through a small aperture, I had reason to hope that none of the adjustments were, at this obser- vation, ever deranged. As the great alternations in temperature alluded to above might naturally be expected to cause fluctuations in the going of the clock, it was satisfactory to have a series of frequently recurring tests, brought to bear upon this essential particular. As the same precautions were observed at every station, this account of them will apply to the whole series of experiments. But in order that no higher than a correct es- timate be formed of this insulated experiment, it is right to describe the peculiar circumstances under which it was performed. It was above all to be regretted that we were so much limited in time, that we could not engage in a fresh series, either at the same island, or on some other lying nearer the equator : but the service upon which the Conway was employed, rendered it necessary that our stay should not be longer at the Galapa- gos than the 16th of January. Now, as we an- chored at Abingdon’s Island on the 7th at noon, there were barely nine complete days in which everything was to be done. We had to search for a landing-place, which occupied a considerable time ; to decide upon a station; to rig up our tents ; to build the Observatory ; then to land the instruments, and set them up; and as we had no time for trials andalterations, everything required to be permanently fixed at once. We were for- tunate in weather during the first two days, when ' our things were all lying about, and our habita- tions ill assorted ; but on the third night it rained hard, and the water which trickled through the canvass caused us some discomfort, although we fortunately succeeded insheltering the instruments. The heat during the day was not only oppressive at the time, but very exhausting in its effects ; and at night, although the thermometer never fell below 73°, the feeling of cold arising from the transition from 93°, to which it sometimes rose in the day, was no less disagreeable. 77 | It was with reluctance that I left the neighbour- hood of the equator, without having made more numerous and more varied, and consequently less exceptionable observations on the length of the pendulum. It would, above all, have been desir- able to have swung it at stations more nearly re- sembling those with which its vibrations were to be compared. Thus, the results obtained from the experiments at the Galapagos, though curious in themselves, are not so valuable for comparing with those deduced in this country. The time may come, however, when they may be rendered more useful ; that is to say, should experiments be made with the same pendulum at stations re- mote from the Galapagos, but resembling them in insular situation, in size, and in geological cha- racter ; such as the Azores, the Canaries, St. Helena, the Isle of France, and various other volcanic stations amongst the eastern islands of the Indian and the Pacific oceans. The advan- tage of having it swung at the Cape of Good Hope, and especially at the Falkland Islands, which lie in the correspondent latitude to that of London, and at various other stations on the main land, or on large islands, is still more obvious. OBSERVATIONS MADE AT SAN BLAS DE CALIFORNIA, San Blas is a sea-port town on N.W. coast of Mexico, in latitude 215°N. and longitude 1051° W. and not far from the south point of California. The experiments were performed under favour- able circumstances, the sky being clear, the tem- perature steady, and the rate of the clock uniform. The station, indeed, was more elevated than could have been wished, being 115 feet above the level of the sea, on the summit of a cylindrical rock of compact whin-stone, and measuring not more than 500 feet across, and nearly perpendicular in three quarters of. its circumference. The length of the seconds pendulum at San Blas, by these experiments, appears to be 39.03776 inches, and the mean ellipticity 7;4.<;. By a second series of experiments at San Blas, the details of which are given by my coadjutor, Mr. Henry Foster, the length of the seconds pen- dulum is made 39.03881, and the mean ellipticity soz-s—: The circumstances in this case, however, were not so favourable as those of the first series, being to one another in the ratio of 47 to 397, or nearly as 1 to 8. This arose from the change which took place in the weather at that period, the sky being overcast, the temperature fluctuat- ing, and the rate of the clock unsteady. RIO DE JANEIRO. Two extensive series of experiments were made at this place, first by myself, and then by Mr. Foster ; the total number of the factors in the first case being 210, and in the second 452. The re- sults agree with surprising exactness for operations entirely unconnected. The length of the seconds pendulum by my experiments, being 39.(4381 By Mr. Foster, : ‘ : - 39.04368 The meanellipticity bymy experimentsis, 3o}.57 By Mr. Foster, : A : e sobsT The circumstances in both cases were favour- 78 able, especially in the steadiness of the tempera- ture and the uniformity of the clock’s rate ; but as they were decidedly most favourable in the case of Mr. Foster’s experiments, I have no hesi- tation in considering his as the most entitled to credit. Mr. Foster is the gentleman to whose co-opera- tion I owed so much when observing the comet at Valparaiso ; an account of which, in a letter to Dr. Wollaston, appeared in the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1822. His present work speaks sufficiently for itself ; but I should be doing him scanty justice by confining myself to such a refer- ence, without also stating that, occupied as I was with professional duties, it would have been hope- less to have undertaken these experiments with- out the valuable assistance of a person who, besides being free to attend exclusively to the subject, was thoroughly skilled in all its details. This zealous officer has since been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and after being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, accompanied Captain Parry on his voyage to the N.W. in 1824 and 25. The very important experiments which he has made in those regions, and which afterwards ap- peared before the public, justified the high promise which I had some years ago the honour to make in his favour. Being desirous of presenting an account of these operations to the Royal Society before the vacation of 1823, 1 had not time to repeat the experiments in London before the above letter was read. Since that period, however, I ascertained by careful ob- servation, that the number of vibrations made by the pendulum now, did not accord with that which resulted from the experiments made in London before the voyage. The number of vibrations of this pendulum, in London, in May 1820, before the voyage, was - 86235.98 The number in August 1823, after the voyage, was. ° : : - 86236.95 The difference being . : . : 97 As it was not possible that so great a difference could arise from errors of observation, it became an object of anxious inquiry to discover the cause. Captain Kater was disposed to assign it to an ac- cident which had happened to the pendulum at San Blas, but which I, at first, imagined inadequate to such an effect. The accident was this: the pendulum, when not in use, was, as usual, raised by means of a screw, so that the knife edge was lifted clear of the agate planes on which it vibrated during the experiments. This screw being too small, or having some flaw in it, unexpectedly broke at San Blas before the experiments there were begun ; and although the knife edge was not raised more than the twentieth of an inch, yet, as the pendulum weighed more than 15lbs., the fall might, he thought, have altered the form of so delicate an edge in a slight degree, and thus have virtually lessened the distance between the point of suspension and the centre of oscillation ; for if the knife edge be supposed to have become cylindrical, the virtual point of suspension, as has been demonstrated, would be at the distance of APPENDIX, No. IIL. the radius of curvature of this cylindrical portion below its surface, and the number of vibrations of | course be greater than before. As the whole pendulum had acquired a coating of oxide, with the exception of the tail-piece, | which was lackered, J was desirous of ascertain- ing in what manner, and to what degree, its } vibrations would be affected by this partial addition of weight ; and for this purpose the following ex- periments were made:—The vibrations of the pendulum in its oxydized state having been deter-_ mined, 10 grains of weight were affixed at 3 of the length of the bar, measured through the ball, from the point of support, that being sup- posed to be near the centre of oscillation of the | oxide. This had for its object to discover, before cleaning the pendulum, what would be the effect of an addition of weight at that place. On swing- ing it accordingly, the number of vibrations was increased 0.83 in 24 hours. It was then taken‘ to the Mint, and the weight, carefully determined by Mr. Barton in one of his delicate balances, was | It was next cleaned by Captain Kater, by means of | diluted sulphuric acid, and afterwards washed with |} found to be 15 Ib. 10 oz. 14 dwts. 123 grs. a solution of soda in water, and being effectually — dried, was again weighed: when it was found to | have lost exactly 24? grains. Coincidences were now taken on three succeeding days, and the number of vibrations of the pendulum in its clean state proved to be fewer than when it was coated with oxide by only 0.73 of a vibration. Since no more than 1} part of the oxide removed could be oxygen, only 4 4 of the above difference between its vibrations when clean and when coated, or 0.14, can be ascribed to additional weight since it was formerly swung in 1820 ; the real difference, how- ever, to be accounted for, being 0.97, this cause is manifestly inadequate to the effect. 1 therefore thought it right, after attentively considering every other possible manner in which the pendulum could have been altered, to adopt the idea which had been suggested, and which was eventually proved to be correct, since the knife edge, upon removal after the experiments were over, was found to be distinctly rounded. To obtain the most correct results, I accordingly used the vibra- tions made in London in 1820, to compare with the experiments made before the accident, and the vibrations recently determined in London for com- paring with those made after it ; am arrangement — rendering the resulting ellipticities entirely in- dependent of that circumstance. ABSTRACT OF THE MOST EXACT RESULTS AT EACH STATION. Diminution| . Stations. of Gravity | Ellipticity. Seake ten 4 to Equator. 1 Galapagos 0° 32'0’ N.| .0051412 | 534-98 39.017196 ] San Blas, 21° 30/ 25’N,| .0054611 313.55 39.00904 1 Rio, . 22°55! 928. | .0055431 39.01206 Ir may be interesting to notice, briefly and generally, the diseases to which Europeans will be more particularly liable on visiting the western coast of America. For the sake of perspicuity, the coast may be divided into three parts :—The first extending from Valdivia, in latitude 40° South, to Coquimbo, in latitude 30° South ; the second from Coquimbo to Payta, in latitude 54° South ; and the third from Payta to the Gulf of California, which lies in latitude 23° North. The first of these divisions compreliends nearly the whole coast of Chili, inhabited by the descendants of the Spaniards. Chili lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes, and has a mean breadth of about 120 miles. It is one of the most healthy and delightful countries in the world ; for though it borders on the torrid zone, it never suffers the extreme of heat, the Andes defending it on the east, and gentle breezes refreshing it from the west. It possesses an equable and serene temper- ature, of about 64°. It is neither afflicted by in- termittent fevers nor dysenteries. Some years, in the summer and autumn, there occur a few cases of an ardent fever, called by the Indian name of Chaoo longo, which means disease of the head. This complaint, in robust subjects, is ex- tremely violent and rapid in its course, but yields readily to bleeding and purgatives. The second division, from Coquimbo to Payta, embraces a line of coast of about 1500 miles in length, and 70 in breadth ; the chief characteristic of which is, that no rain ever falls in all this im- mense tract, and the sun is generally obscured by a canopy of clouds ; in consequence, the country bordering on the shore, for an indefinite breadth inland, is one sterile sandy desert ; and, with the exception of a few fertile valleys, at immense dis- tances from one another, it exhibits an almost con- tinued scene of desolation and barrenness beyond all description. The mean temperature may be called 74°, and the diseases which sojourners have chiefly to fear are intermittent and continued ar- dent fevers, affections of the liver, cholera morbus, and dysentery. I have entered at length, at an- other place, into the discussion of these subjects, and shall merely observe here, that by living’ tem- perately, by avoiding exposure to the night air, or | APPENDIX, No. IV. NOTICE ON THE CLIMATE OF THE WESTERN COASTS OF SOUTH AMERICA AND MEXICO, AND ON ITS EFFECTS ON THE HEALTH OF THE RESIDENTS AND OF STRANGERS. Extracted from a MS. Memoir on the Climate and Diseases of South America, By Gerorce Brraniz, Esq. R.N. SURGEON OF HIS MAJESTY’S SHIP ‘* CONWAY.” sleeping on the ground, and by attending to the digestive functions, one may contrive to live com- fortably, and preserve tolerable health, in most parts of Peru. On this part of the coast we had but little sickness in the Conway ; but some of the vessels trading along-shore suffered severely from intermittents, particularly at Arica, and the Patriot Army under San Martin lost nearly one-third of their number when encamped at Huacho, by dy- sentery and intermittent fever, and their conse- quences. Most of the diseases of Lima have their immediate origin in affections of the stomach, so that there is no disease which they do not refer to Empachos, or indigestions, literally surfeits ; and these, and all their other complaints, they ultimate- ly refer to the effects of cold. Indeed, between the tropics, the irritability of the human frame is so much increased by the uniformity and continued action of habitual stimulus, that it becomes sensi- ble to alterations not indicated by the thermometer, and depending solely on the humidity and dryness of the atmosphere. The third division, extending a distance of nearly 1700 miles from Payta to the entrance of the Gulf of California, formsa perfect contrast with the second. All this humid and burning coast has alternate wet and dry seasons, and is clothed in the most luxuriant vegetation, which approaches to the water’s edge. The mean temperature may be called 82°. Mangroves, avicennias, and other shrubs, flourish abundantly along these swampy shores ; and their intertwining roots form retreats for molluscze, and an infinite variety of shell-fish and insects. Places of this kind are invariably deleterious to the human constitution. The heat and humidity of the air increase the development of diseases in two different manners—by increasing the irritability of the organs, and by the production of miasmata. The disease which we chiefly encountered in this tract was an ardent fever, resembling in every re- spect the yellow-fever of the West Indies, both in the suddenness of its attack, and the violence of its symptoms. It yielded to precisely the same treat- ment, by copious and properly regulated bleeding, ‘and purgatives—remedies which, in every case, proved successful. 80 APPENDIX, No. IV. I may shortly observe, that to me it appears ex- tremely probable, that the yellow or higher grades of remittent fever, would seldom provemortal, were it met in the first stage by bold and decisive blood- letting, and that blood-letting alone has any power over it. For this purpose, however, we must not be guided in our bleeding by the number of ounces taken away, but by the effect produced upon the disease. We must bleed at the commencement of the attack until the pain be removed, the skin ren- dered soft, and the morbid heat have disappeared ; and when these symptoms return, as they often do, we must again bleed until their removal. Dr. Rush observes, and my experience confirms the observa- tion, that, “in the use of this remedy, it may be truly said, as in many of the enterprises of life, that nothing is done while anything remains to be done.” In fevérs and other diseases which run their courses in a few days or hours, and which threaten immediate dissolution, there can be no limits fixed to the quantity of blood which may be drawn at once, or in a short time. Whenever an extensive commerce shall attract numbers of people from more temperate latitudes, to this last division of the coast, there is no doubt but the yellow-fever will prevail as extensively, and prove as destructive, as it does on the eastern coast. The heat and miasms, which only perpetuate a general state of bad health and debility in the in- habitants, will act upon these robust strangers with great violence and rapidity, just as it happens on the opposite coast. The inhabitants of this coast invariably remove, in the winter season, from the’ shores to the high grounds. The winter, as it is termed, is from June to November, inclusive, du- ring which violent rains, storms, and excessive heat |} prevail, rendering the neighbourhood of the sea | almost uninhabitable. “Tt has been long remarked, that the epidemics |} at Callao and Panama have commenced on the ar- | rival of vessels from Chili ; not because that country, which is one of the happiest and healthiest of the earth, can transmit a disease which does not exist there, but because its inhabitants, transplanted into the torrid zone, experience, with the same violence | as the inhabitants of northern. countries do, on || going to the West Indies or Vera Cruz, the fatal _ effects of an air excessively warm, and vitiated by | a mixture of putrid emanations.” * According to | Dr. Unanue, “ Even black cattle reared on the mountains cannot support the temperature of the coast ; as soon as they come down to it they are affected ; according to the vulgar expression, viz. they grow stupid, and perish with frightful rapidity. On opening them, the liver is found hardened, as if it had been placed on coals. The butchers know |}, by experience, that cattle die much faster in sum- mer than in winter; and therefore choose the latter season to provide their supply for the Lima markets tf.” * Humboldt’s New Spain, vol. IV: Unanue, ‘‘ El] Clima de Lima.” t El Clima de Lima, p. 5. - 153, See also THE END, LONDON: BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. 4 ep ey aN 14" y ty shy 4 yee HOLMES BOOK BIND Ey 306-12th ST. DAKLAND, CA. 94607 ENCES LIBR TON ri 018 3 iF