which to ship the surplus of the factory. Enterprise alone seems wanting to carry into operation an undertaking which could not fail to be lucrative to its projectors. The only perceptible difference in the mass of the population from their countrymen farther north is in their dresses. Closer fitting garments here take the place of the wide and flowing trowsers worn there, and straw hats are superseded by sharp cones of felt pulled closely over the ears. One occasionally meets a full-blooded Indian, too; but the mass belong to the mixed race propagated through generations. According to the last census, (five years ago,) the population was 14,391, and its best informed citizens do not now suppose it to contain more than 15,000 souls. Some years its increase at all appears extremely problematic, the returns made to the curate for 1850 and 1851 showing that the number of deaths actually exceeded the number of births.* To account in some manner for the apparent decrease, it is supposed that a part of the illegitimate births were not registered, the mothers probably being too poor to pay the baptismal fees. But if it be true that the population is falling off, it must be attributable to the notorious neglect of young children, rather than to any local cause-the situation of the city and its climate being eminently healthy. I could not find any meteorological register from which to learn accurately its atmospheric changes; yet the fact that it is near an abundant supply of fuel, and that even the houses of the wealthy are without fire-places, is a proof that the winters cannot be very rigorous. During the three days of my visit, the mean height of the barometer at 9 A. M. was 29.472 inches, at 3 P. M. 29.378 inches, and its range 0.201 inch; the temperature of the air for the same hours was 64°.4 and 74°.0, the extremes differing 20°.8. The barometric heights are not reduced for temperature of the attached thermometer. Throughout the winter season rains are more frequent and copious than at Santiago, and they are often accompanied by more violent N. W. winds. In summer the heat is not so excessive. Moderate elevation of the plain above the ocean affords it nearly 1,400 additional feet of the denser strata of the atmosphere to temper the sun's rays. The latter fact, and also its geographical position, preserves to it a more humid climate all the year. The diseases most common are such as arise from excesses, and prevail equally elsewheredysentery and venereal. Goitre, though known, is not so prevalent as farther to the north; and it may be remarked, that the waters of the neighboring streams are quite limpid, instead of possessing the milky turbidness of the Mapocho below the junction of the Maypu canal. There is a charity hospital supported at the expense of the municipality; and subsequent to the battle on the plain of Loncomilla, a large building, erected for religious penance, was temporarily converted into a military hospital. Of more than 600 wounded conveyed to it, only about 80 died; whilst of those taken to San Juan de Dios, in Santiago, after the émeute of April 20, 1851, quite two thirds left it only when conveyed to the cemetery. As physicians came from the capital to attend at Talca the unfortunate victims of the fratricidal battle, the relative proportions of deaths at the two places is the best argument which could be adduced in favor of the more salubrious atmosphere of the latter. In this connection, it would be unjust not to mention that the ladies of the city attended their suffering fellow-countrymen in the military hospital day and night, and in some cases either took individuals to their own houses, or provided them quarters where they would have more airy rooms and more careful attendance than its crowded wards could afford. At the same time, scores of the benevolent at Santiago passed hours in preparing lint, bandages, and delicacies to be sent to Talca-acts of charity for which the recording angel will blot out many a sin. There is an institution for the education of males supported at the expense of the general government, those only who live within its walls paying a monthly sum for board. After completion of the course here, young men were formerly sent to the parent establishment at Santiago to study medicine, law, mineralogical chemistry, or surveying, as might be elected; but a recent * In 1850 there were 858 deaths, and 814 births: in 1851, including those who died in the hospital from the effect of wounds, the deaths were 834; the births, 815. Of the 834 deaths, 537 were under seven years of age. The illegitimate births registered more than twenty-five per cent. of the whole number. re-organization of the latter, requiring among other things the dismissal of all boarders above sixteen years old, has effectually excluded those whose parents reside in the provinces from participation in its benefits. There are also several private schools for the education of both sexes, at which the attendance is quite good. From what had been experienced elsewhere of the provision made for travellers, a commodious inn was not looked for, and consequently there was no disappointment. There are, however, two houses that offer entertainment-one possessing an abundance of everything except lodgingrooms; the other a multitude of apartments, though very little of anything else. In fact, the first is a restaurant, with a single spare room, where one's "almofrez" may be spread; and the chambers of the latter, though cleaner in their equipments, are only one step in advance of the San Fernando posada. Happily I was not destined to try the merits of the first very long. Friends had provided me with letters to several persons; and within an hour after most of them had been sent to their respective addresses, invitations were extended to me in the kindest and most considerate manner. Two notes awaited my return from a short walk; and as I sat hesitating which to accept, the secretary of the Intendente came again, with three soldiers, saying good-naturedly: "I have orders to take you to the Intendencia. These are the troops to aid me if you resist; if you submit quietly, they will only convey your luggage." And so I was marched off a voluntary prisoner to one of the most accomplished and hospitable young men whom it has been my fortune to meet anywhere. March 30.-As the season had arrived when rain might be expected almost any day, it was concluded safer to make the proposed excursion down the river Maule at once, deferring visits in the vicinity until after my return; and therefore I determined to leave Talca on the day following my arrival. When Nicolás presented himself to pack the mule, he had so far conformed to the dominant fashion as to exchange his greasy-looking straw hat for one of the fancy-colored cones, and the rest of his outward man had also evidently been renovated; but there was something gnawing at the old man's mind, and he hung about fidgeting over the almofrez and trunk with a face betraying all the mental struggle his features were capable of expressing. As the cause was apparently connected with the proposed journey, I resolved to remain both blind and silent, to test whether he would initiate a conversation. Time pressed, and he at length spoke out. One of the kind and attentive friends whom the letters of introduction had obtained for me, finding I would not permit him to undertake so comfortless a journey only to accompany me, had sent a well dressed and sprightly young servant to act as a guide to the landing; and Nicolás feared he would be taken down the river instead of himself. At first vanity suggested that the old "vaquero" was jealous;. but it subsequently proved that, instead of regard for my good company, he was thinking of the donkeys at home. Nicolás owned half a dozen mules at Aguila, and desired an opportunity to traffic a little in sheepskins with which to repair packsaddles! No one was really needed after my equipage was placed in the boat, and I had no thought to avail myself of the generous offer of my friend and take away his servant; but I was quite willing to oblige the old guide, and when told he might take charge of the luggage if he chose, in the hurry of his motions there was such an incessant clattering with spurs that every one was rejoiced when he left the patio. We left Talca at 5 P. M. by a road to the westward, towards a gorge of the near cordilleras, through which pass the united waters of the Claro; its affluent, the Lircay, from the northeast; the Maule, from nearly east; and the Loncomilla, with its many tributaries, from the south. The Claro washes the base of these mountains from the immediate vicinity of the ford mentioned a page or two back, and both it and the Loncomilla fall into the Maule within six leagues of Talca. For two leagues the road lies through some of the best-cultivated lands in the country. At three miles from the city, and even where the supply of water for irrigation is insufficient, farms are worth $50 per acre. Like the land near the banks of the more northern streams, it has a shingle substratum, with a soil of vegetable and mineral detritus that yields almost incalculably; and, as it is divided into small estates, every portion is under cultivation. Colin, a settlement like Renca, near Santiago, is at the distance first named, and scattered over a mile or two in each direction about the road. Within that space is embraced a population of nearly 4,000 souls, famed for their honesty in the neighborhood of a district somewhat proverbial in the northern part of Chile-the Maulino being the type of all that is finished in knavery. Beside the road there are but two dwellings of persons probably wealthy; the rest are a better class of ranchos surrounded by a few acres of ground. From the "chacras" of Colin the finest fruits and vegetables are carried to Talca, the white strawberries having especial recommendation. Passing by occasional trees and a mile of shrubby bushes near the south bank of the Lircay, the road turns to the south for a short distance, and ascends a slightly rising hill, in reality a part of the western cordilleras intercepted between that river and the Maule. Here night overtook us; and sterility, the dominant characteristic of the surface of this range, needed darkness to soften its desolate aspect. For miles the ground is so indurated that loaded carts, though constantly passing, fail to cut tracks; and there are so few rocks to serve as guides, that even with bright moonlight one may easily be lost on its monotonous waste. By riding in advance of the guide I once or twice got astray, and nothing but the sound of horses' feet on the hard surface enabled me to regain the road. It was just such an evening as that at San Fernando, when all space above was seemingly deprived of atmosphere, and the stars almost within one's grasp. As I stopped for a few moments on one occasion to detect the direction from which the sounds came, there was an instant when I thought the Descabezado again an active crater after its ages of repose; but the light which glimmered about its black and flattened summit was that of Jupiter just coming to replace the bright rays of Venus, then disappearing behind the cordilleras to the northwest. Soon after eight o'clock we reached the bodega, a store-house on the banks of the Maule for goods in transit. Its distance from Talca is said to be seven leagues, and here passengers await the departure of the launches or the arrival of conveyances from Talca. When we left town it was supposed that there would be a boat ready to start at daylight, but we had been misinformed. The agent told us one would be despatched some time during the day, if the remainder of the intended cargo arrived; though as the river was very low, he thought it might be the better part of two days in reaching Constitucion. A rather discouraging prospect this! Usually travellers pass the night in the bodega, so as to be ready for an early departure, and make all the voyage during daylight. At this time it was half filled with new cheese, whose odors, if not sweet, were certainly strong enough; and during the first five minutes I sat within it I received proofs that a multitude of its inhabitants would highly appreciate company. Having, unfortunately, neither taste to enjoy the fragrance, nor generosity to gratify the desire one moment longer than the usual hour of leaving, if it should be possible to get away, a bargain was struck by which, in consideration of six dollars, the launch was to start at daylight with the half freight it would be possible to put on board during the night. After a night passed in combating the insinuating solicitations of my co-occupants of the dark and odorous domicil, it was no little gratification to learn from Nor Nicolás that the day was at last breaking. But instead of being able to commence our journey at once, as had been agreed on, not a man of the crew had come, and the bags of barley intended for cargo were still lying on shore. Even the agent, or owner, with whom the contract had been made, had gone, the Lord only knew where. As there was no chance to get away for hours, I availed myself of the stream to drop some of the young lobsters of the bodega into it, whilst Nicolás superintended the preparation of a casuela for our breakfast in a rancho near by. About nine o'clock, and when the very estimable gentleman knew that I had just commenced the meal, he bustled to the bodega, and had the assurance to complain that I was detaining the boat. This was spoken in such a tone of injured innocence and outraged rights that Nicolás, I verily believe, bolted potatoes and chicken legs whole in his hurry and fright. Too glad to get away & even at this hour of the day, as nothing was to be gained by altercation, (he had shrewdly There was March 31.-After the first heavy rains, and until the middle of summer, the rivers are high, and launches may ascend the Claro to within a league or less of the city. During the rest of the year this (Los Perales) is the nearest place of embarcation. Having more water for ten miles above its mouth, the Loncomilla is navigable all the year by boats carrying forty tons. More than a hundred launches find constant employment in conveying produce of the surrounding country to Constitucion, each hundred-weight carried about seventy miles down stream paying one real. Besides these there are smaller boats regularly occupied in the conveyance of fruits and vegetables for the market of Constitucion, and shipment to Copiapó and other northern districts where nature has been less bountiful in its supply of water. Wheat, flour, beans, cheese, charqui, wines, and wool, are the principal exports; the province of Maule also sending its surplus produce by this route. Ordinarily the launches return empty; and if, by chance, a freight is obtained, unless specially agreed on, the freight-money belongs to the crew. The largest of them will carry from forty to forty-five tons. Each has five or six men, one of whom is dignified with the title of Piloto, and is really the navigator of the shallow craft. He receives $3, the others $1.50, for the round trip; and each is furnished by the owner with a peck and a half of flour made from toasted wheat, and water from the river à discretion. During summer, when the river is at its mean height, the voyage down is made in from eight to twelve hours, depending on the boat and crew; the return trip in from two to four days. With a cargo, the latter is often extended to six or eight days. When descending the stream, a velocity of two miles per hour is maintained with the oars; and where the rapids make it necessary to have the boat well under control, even double that speed is kept up for a time: but in coming back they are obliged to track the launch nearly every step of the distance, and rarely use their oars except when necessary to shoot the river to obtain a better beach, or to take advantage of an eddy. Sometimes they are aided by the prevailing southwest winds, though the hills are so high and steep that they more frequently sweep above the surface of the water from ravine to ravine of opposite shores. It is hard work dragging a heavy boat against such a current all day; and though excessively annoying to lie by when the night was bright and the wind favorable, I was subsequently obliged to confess that the crew had fairly earned a right to rest. As soon as the current becomes greater than the velocity attained by the aid of oars and wind, all hands strip to their shirts and jump overboard with a tow rope over their shoulders, ranging themselves at equal distances from each other. Walking barefoot as they do over the shingle, with bodies thrown forward the better to overcome the resistance, their feet become thick and hardened, and their legs attain surprising muscular development. The soles of the feet of those in the launch with me seemed quite double the thickness of those of ordinary men. But the chronological order of the story has been somewhat anticipated. As has been said, it was a bright and warm day, without a breath of air to temper the heat. At 9 A. M. the barometer at the level of the river, reduced to 32° Fahrenheit, was 29.485 inches; and the temperature of the water at the junction of the Claro, a few hundred yards below the landing-place, was 60°.8. Near Constitucion, where the ocean influenced it, the temperature was 40.5 warmer. At the place of embarcation the river is fifty yards wide and from two to three feet deep in the centre, with a current varying from three to four miles per hour, according to : its depth and width. In the strongest rapids it possibly attains to seven miles, and the noise of the water over the shingly bottom may be heard for a long distance. During the first thirty miles it is often divided into two or more branches, though invariably one is much greater than all the others would be in a combined volume. Within this distance, also, there are occasional snags, the remains of trees brought down by heavy freshets. At such times the water rises. between six and seven feet above its present level, and entirely submerges the flats that form the shores for more than fifty miles, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other. Along the first five leagues, except clumps of shrubs with small trees here and there, the hills back from the river are destitute of herbage; and such continues to be the character of the southern shore full ten miles lower down. Both become more and more densely clad as you approach the ocean, until, from the edge of the stream to the summits of the hills, there is a forest of trees so entwined with climbing plants as to be almost impenetrable without an axe. Solitary sentinels on opposite sides, and not far below Los Perales, are two of the coco-palms (Jubœ spectabilis) so common near Valparaiso. That on the south shore is growing on a shingle flat, evidently overflowed at every freshet; but Robles, Peumos, Boldos, Canelos, Litres, Quillays, and Maytens, form a forest comparable in its density to those of North America. The birds most common on the river are Garzas (Ardea egretta and candidissima), Cuervos (Ibis falcinellus), and several varieties of ducks. There was also a flock of Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ignipalliatus), with their long and graceful necks, one of Bandurrias (Ibis melanopis), and a few gulls, tempted from their ordinary haunts about the sea-side. By noon the heat of the sun and the glare reflected from the water became so oppressive that they could no longer be borne without suffering to the eyes. Although an awning had been included in the bargain, it was discovered after we had started that there was nothing in the boat with which to make one, except the large lug-sail, and this was too unwieldy. The launch was therefore run ashore, some fragrant branches were cut from a Boldo, and a poncho hung over them afforded shade and refreshing odor at the same time. Ordinarily, when there are passengers, three or four willow branches are bent over and across the stern, and a bit of old canvass or cotton cloth spread over them makes quite a comfortable cabin for inland Chile travel. Half-way down the river begin the districts in which timber is cut; and on both shores there are spots on the hill-sides worn bare by logs which are constantly being tumbled down to the water. These are most frequent on the south side; as are also patches of ground from which the undergrowth has been burned, and where only trees with blackened trunks and denuded arms remain, sad monuments of the power of the devouring element. From this portion of the river the rapids become less frequent, and there are fewer separations of its stream by pebbly islands. At ten miles above Constitucion, the hills rise from the water at angles of 35° to heights ranging from 200 to 300 feet. In some places the formation is entirely concealed by a reddish clay, like that of the hills back of Valparaiso; and in others black and irregular strata of porphyritic rock form walls whose bases are laved by the stream. Within this distance one never finds more than a single beach, and that continues on the same side only for short spaces, interrupted by spurs that project into the river. Here, too, the latter begins to widen, and thence continues to do so almost insensibly, until opposite the town it is three fourths of a mile across. Here, for the last time, it is divided by a low, sandy island partially covered with shrubbery. In the direction of the stream the island is about five sixths of a mile long, with a breadth of nearly 300 yards. A steam saw-mill is in course of erection upon it, and many rafts of timber are already moored along its shores awaiting final preparation for market. During the last league the southern shore of the Maule has again become barren; and at the distance of a mile and a half from the sea the hills bend away from it, enclosing a semicircular basin, the lowest portion of whose rim is opposite the island. This range terminates in a steep granitic eminence, much resembling in form the rock of Gibraltar, or a huge grave, though it scarcely attains half the height of the European promontory. It is covered with shrubby bushes and verdure, has a signal-staff on its most elevated point, and on a small plateau near |