The great increase in the amount of bar silver exported in 1849 was due to the discovery of the rich mines at Tres Puntas; and the decrease in this metal, and partially of the bar copper also, in 1851, arose from the fact that mining operations, both in Atacama and Coquimbo, were greatly interrupted by the revolutionary condition of the country. Indeed, some of the mines were temporarily abandoned by all the laborers for two or three months. Of the copper ores, much more is smelted than formerly; new processes having rendered the operation more economical, and vessels sailing from England with freights of light goods finding it convenient to fill partially with coals, in which the mineral districts are wholly deficient.

Every article is embraced in the preceding table whose value in any one of the years amounted to $10,000.

Possessing, as has been shown, nearly all the foreign trade of the country, its narrow streets present more of bustle and activity than any other city of Chile; indeed, its transient population have brought with them the habits and industry of the northern hemisphere, and there is scarcely a remnant of native customs among the better classes.

Being the seat of government of the province, Valparaiso is immediately under the control of an Intendente, who exercises the functions of military and naval as well as of civil governor. Its municipal affairs are in charge of the Cabildo, which is composed of seven members elected by the people, but over whose acts the Intendente has a controlling vote; neither of them, however, having the power to enact any law without the sanction of one of the Ministers of State, whose duty it may be to take cognizance of the subject to which such enactment pertains. The revenues collected under taxes imposed by them during the last ten years have been as follows:

The whole of which, except $12,000 in 1847, and $4,000 in 1843, was expended for local purposes. Such prosperity can scarcely be wondered at after the facts stated.

But it is scarcely probable that Valparaiso can much longer continue in such a prosperous career. Hitherto it has not only engrossed all the trade, but tolls have been paid to it for supplies by nearly every ship that doubled Cape Horn, and thus many hundred thousand dollars have annually been contributed for native commodities forced there from the coast. This continued with the fleets of vessels from the United States during the Californian fever in 1849–’50, and partially in 1851, when the construction of clippers commenced a change, and now the voyage direct to San Francisco is made in less average time than was formerly occupied in that to Valparaiso. It has already become as rare for ships to call, as it previously was for them to pass by. Moreover, the transit of the Isthmus of Panama is made with such celerity and facility that light, valuable goods, which first found storage in Chile and subsequent distribution along the western coast, have begun to take that route direct to their ultimate markets; and the quantity will undoubtedly increase as soon as the railroad or canal is completed, and reasonable rates of freight are established. Nor can the southern provinces much longer defer demanding

their rights. Did they comprise only the native population, they might be willing to follow the custom of their forefathers for another quarter of a century or so; but it is impossible that the colony of Germans near Valdivia should not rapidly increase in numbers and prosperity. Emigration swells their ranks every year. They have brought industry and energy to a virgin soil of unlimited fertility, in a climate unsurpassed for salubrity and amenity; and they would be unfaithful representatives of Saxonism did they not become sufficiently powerful, in a few years, to break down this anomaly in the course of trade.

To its superficial increase there are interposed enormous physical obstacles. Every foot of ground is already covered by buildings from the face of the cliffs to the sea; and, to obtain space for other warehouses, either the sea itself must be encroached on, and its billows braved, or families must submit to dwell on the hills, so as to devote all the lower part of the town to business pursuits. Within the last two years each of these measures has been partially resorted to, and even the name "Cape Horn" will soon be forgotten in the shadow of the lines of magazines erected between it and the waves that once laved its Cimmerian cave, whilst elegant villas above Cerro Alegre have added no little to the beauty of the landscape. The completion of the projected railroad to Santiago would probably obviate this difficulty somewhat, as well as preserve the prosperity of the port: for a part of the merchants would prefer a residence at the capital, if the journey could be made in four or five hours; and we have the experience of the world in proof that increased facilities of transportation multiply rapidly the amounts of traffic and travel. A consummation of the object is, therefore, of vital importance; one which commercial men of both cities should leave no effort untried to perfect, but unite as a body to break down individual aspirations opposing themselves to the general good. It is conclusively shown by the accomplished engineer who made the survey, that there is not only a practicable route over which a road may be built, under the direction of a competent engineer, in five years, and for less than $8,000,000, but, from the statistics of traffic and travel, it is quite certain the investment will prove a safe one. Encouraged by his report, a company was formed of which government became a shareholder to the amount of $2,000,000, and a commencement of the work was made with great formality on the 1st of October, 1852: but the obstacles to be overcome at the very outset were such as only a practical man could grapple with; and the task being too great for the person whom the company had charged with it, this part of the work was abandoned for ground better suited to his capacities. It is much to be apprehended, that the successful operation of the road from Caldera to Copiapó, by exciting the envy of commercial capitalists, may cause the failure of this great work; as its two or three controlling stockholders seem determined to monopolize all possible immediate profits without regard to ultimate costs. Of course the engineer who surveyed, located, and exhibited the feasibility of the road, had too much experience in details to countenance the contracts they wanted on their own terms, and his services have not been needed subsequently.

Open as it is to the north, the sea rolls in from an illimitable distance; and during the storms of winter it often breaks across the street at Cape Horn, its roar along the beach at such times drowning even the stirring noises of commercial life. I was present during one of them -the third temporal of the winter of 1851, having just returned from Caldera. These northers are generally accompanied with much rain, far more falling in the course of a very few hours than is ever known in the same parallel of North America. At such times there are parts of Valparaiso wholly impassable by pedestrians, as volumes of water and mud pour down the ravines, deluging the contiguous streets, and discoloring the sea for miles. Though its fall is quite slight in comparison, the barometer is a very sure indicator; and as soon as it descends to 29.80 inches, a signal is thrown out from the Exchange, "Prepare for bad weather." In the most severe of the three storms within as many weeks, it fell only to 29.63 inches-the lowest that had been known in many years. The steamer Peru and four other vessels were driven on the beach during its violence. Even by daylight it is distressing to watch the ships tossed and plunging over their anchors amid seething seas which the tempest has driven across an