is a fine view of the sea and the Andes. At this time of the year (it is autumn here) there is very little verdure discoverable; everywhere bare hills, covered only with brush and enormous cactuses, with pretty, bright red flowers, and from time to time one may espy in the ravines or on the slopes a solitary palm, seeming to announce itself as the monarch of this desert. Even the valleys that we crossed are covered with bushes and trees of low growth. We saw a few scattered huts or cabins, built of branches of trees or of straw, but one is really tempted to believe that these people live on the dew of heaven, for there is hardly any soil to be seen. The distance from Cura-cavi to the passage of the second range, the Questa de Zapata, is about four leagues. We crossed it the next day by the pass called Prado, as well as the great torrent that drains it and which we were obliged to ford, there being no bridges. It seldom rains in summer in Chile, and consequently the rivers are usually just about dry: but when they are swollen by the melting of the snows, or by copious rains, communication is broken off for three or four days. Toward noon on the 17th we arrived at the chateau of Seflor Ruiz-Tagle, one of the richest proprietors of the Republic, who received us with genuine Castilian cordiality and hospitality. As we did not know Spanish Reverend Father Gomila's acquaintance with French was of great service to us. After we had taken a lunch we were shown to an immense enclosure of olive trees, which here grow to a prodigious size. Toward four o'clock Senor Tagle took us to the city in his own carriage, which he placed at our disposal for so long a time as we should stay with him.
The city of Santiago lies at the foot of the Mapocho I-Tountains, in a beautiful, delicious and fertile valley 33° 35' S. latitude and 73° 4' W. longitude from the meridian of Paris. It is 2,400 Spanish feet above sea-level. It was founded in 1541 by Pedro Valdivia, contains some 500 squares, and the elegance and richness of its edifices, its commerce, its public works, its population of over Ioo,ooo,