the sentiments and views of the people, are remarkably judicious and striking; so that we have seldom met with a more entertaining or instructive work, or one which, along with the utmost sobriety and good sense, combined so much of romantic interest. We shall therefore proceed to lay before our readers a tolerably extended sketch of its contents, with such extracts as may afford a fair specimen of the author's style.

Captain Hall was dispatched from England, on the 10th of August 1820, with His Majesty's ship Conway, to cruise in the Pacific Ocean, and to watch over the interests of our infant commerce in that quarter. He arrived in these seas without any remarkable Occurrence. He describes the interest felt by the officers, as they passed the far-famed Cape Horn, lighted up by the last rays of the setting sun. No sooner was the night closed in, than they were astonished by a brilliant light on the north-western quarter, which shone at regular intervals, disappearing for a little, and after four or five minutes, resuming new brilliancy, and resembling a column of burning materials projected into the air. This light faded away with the dawn, and was judged to proceed from a volcano, which they found to be on the main land of Terra del Fuego, upwards of 100 miles distant. The Conway anchored on the 19th of December in the Bay of Valparaiso, just in time to witness the Christmas festivities, of which Captain Hall gives, as usual, a very pleasing and animated account. The town is built on a narrow strip of land, between the cliffs and the sea; and it has a suburb called Almendral, or Almond Grove, larger than the town itself. On the evening of Christmas day, which is there the middle of summer, every body was abroad, enjoying the cool air in the moonlight; groups of merry dancers," says Captain Hall, "were seen on every hand, and crowds of people listening to singers bawling out their old romances to the sound of a guitar; gay parties sauntered along, laughing and talking at the full stretch of their voices; wild-looking horsemen pranced about in all quarters, mixing among the people on

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foot, drinking and talking with them, but never dismounting. From one extremity of the town to the other, along the base of the cliffs, and all round the beach, was one uninterrupted scene of noise and revelry." Of the bull-fights we have a shocking account. They are mere exhibitions of brutality, the pleasure of which seems to consist purely in tormenting the animal. The climate, during these festivities, was mild and agreeable, the thermometer varying from 62° to 64°. In winter, the air is cold and damp; and the inhabitants have charcoal-fires placed in the middle of the floor, in polished braziers. The English residents have coalfires, the material being procured in great abundance from Conception, a port about 200 miles south of Valparaiso.

On the 6th of January, Captain Hall set out from Valparaiso, for Santiago, the capital, about 55 miles in the interior. They travelled on horseback, the roads in Chili being unfit for carriages, through a country burnt up by the heat of the sun, which flamed out with a bright glow over every thing, parching the grass, and drying up every drop of moisture. They stopt at one of the post-houses, where they had their dinner in the door-way, that they might enjoy the cool breeze. Their repast consisted of large black figs, a tumbler of cold lemonade, the fragrance of which filled the whole house, besides newlybaked snow-white bread, with fine fresh butter; and, instead of wine, they had a pot of mattée, or Paraguay tea. In the course of their journey, they had a fine view of the Andes, towering, in various ranges, one above another, exhibiting a view of mountain scenery magnificent beyond description.

At Santiago they found a better state of society than in Valparaiso, the inhabitants being more wealthy, better educated, of more polished manners, their dress in better fashion, and lodged in better houses. The city is divided into solid squares, the streets crossing each other at right angles. The houses are of one story, flat-roofed, quadrangular, and having their entrances from a square court. They are all white-washed, the streets being kept perfectly clean.

"Nothing," says Captain Hall," can exceed the neatness of this most regular town." Our traveller gives the following lively description of a family-party to which he was introduced:

7th January.-I was introduced to a family this morning, long known to strangers for their hospitality 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 perceiving the conversation to be hurt by this arrangement, rose and went to the pianoforte; the rest remained at their needle, as formal as ever, but presently some other visitors coming in, the parties be came 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 of the health and animation of seventeen, and cracked his jokes to the right and left without mercy, seeming to set the whole company at defiance. For some time he carried all before him, and the manner in which he quizzed the com

pany was every way diverting. At length, however, some of the young ladies rallied, and being rather nettled, as it seemed, at some of his sarcasms coming rather too near the truth, retorted smartly and with interest. The good-natured father was enchanted with their vivacity, and stimulated them to fresh attacks by an affectation of suffering from their severity, and at length took his leave, though unanimously entreated to remain.

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In the evening, every one flocks to the public walk by the side of the Maypocho, which is a wide and finely-kept carriage-way, with broad walk on each side of it, shaded by poplars. Here there is a fine view of the Andes, which, though not less than 50 or 60 miles distant, seem to overhang the town. All ranks were much interested in the public events which were taking place, and which were to determine the fate of the country. Of their old rulers, the Spaniards, they spoke

with feelings of the bitterest animosity, and seemed to retain a most rancorous remembrance of the cruel bondage they had endured at their hands. They were all much animated by intelligence which had been received from Peru, of successes gained over the Royalists. Captain Hall had occasion to communicate, from this place, with Sir Thomas Hardy; and for this purpose he had to send an express across the whole continent to Buenos Ayres, 1365 miles distant. The couriers who travel these expresses generally make out the journey in the incredibly short space of twelve days, so that they must travel at the rate of 114 miles per day. Post-houses are established along the whole line of the route, at which relays of horses are constantly kept for the accommodation of travellers. The chief difficulties of the journey arise from fatigue, bad lodging, and bad fare. With a new, a free, a more enlightened and enterprising Government, and a people roused to exertion by the certainty now held out to them, of enjoying the fruits of their labour, the inconveniences of this barbarous communication will not be long suffered to remain; it was one of the cruel effects of the tyranny now done away, that it caused the industry of the country to languish ;

it laid its interdict on talent and enterprise,-was jealous of knowledge and of all improvement, and encouraged, from policy, the darkest ignorance and bigotry among the people. Under such a system all enterprise was suppressed, and every effort at amelioration, however little connected with the political condition of the people. A different era has now arisen; and the secret principle of enterprise, let loose from its prison, will extend itself, we have no doubt, over the whole system of life.

Captain Hall continued, during his residence at Valparaiso, on the most friendly terms with the inhabitants, and visiting in the best families. He gives an account of a most singular incident which took place in one of those parties, which is quite characteristic of this wonderderful country. They were engaged in entertaining each other with music on the guitar, and patriotic songs;

while some were chatting, others working, and the evening was passing very pleasantly. In the midst of this, the following scene took place:

Without any apparent cause, the whole party jumped up, cast away their music and work, and flew in the most frantic style out of the house, screaming aloud, Misericordia! Misericordia! beating their breasts at the same time, and looking terrified beyond description. I was astonished at all this, but followed the company into the street, calling out Misericordia 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 crying in all directions-many carried lights in their hands-in short, such a scene of wild confusion and alarm was never seen, and all apparently occasioned by a spontane. 'ous movement, without any visible motive. After standing in the street for about a minute, the whole crowd turned round again and ran into their houses, so that, in the course of a few seconds,

the hubbub was stilled, and not a mortal was to be seen. I now 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 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 the arrival of foreigners, they are in like manner insensible to shocks, which a native can at once distinguish. It may be mentioned, also, as an unusual effect of experience, that the sensation of alarm, caused by feeling an earthquake, goes on augmenting instead of diminishing, and that one who at first ridicules the terrors of

the inhabitants, comes eventually to be even more frightened than they are.

Captain Hall left Valparaiso in the end of March, and anchored before Callao, the port of Lima, on the 5th cf Feb. 1821, after a passage of nine days. This was just about the time that San Martin's expedition, from Chili against Peru, had arrived in the neighbourhood of Lima, and

while Lord Cochrane was, at the same time, blockading Callao. He gives a very brief and interesting summary of the military career of San Martin, previous to his entering Peru; of the conflict for superiority between the different parties in Chili, which was decided in favour of the patriots by the battle of Maypo, fought on the 5th April 1818; and of the subsequent expedition of the Chilians against Peru. This expedition was under the direction of San Martin, who was ably assisted by Lord Cochrane, of whose zeal and characteristic intrepidity, in the service of his new masters, we have a most animated account. In Lima the greatest agitation prevailed from the threatened attack of San Martin. This capital had been for centuries the seat of luxury and sloth; and though there might have been distractions in the remoter provinces, no evil had ever approached this secure refuge of enjoyment and wealth. But now the inhabitants saw the enemy at their doors; they were besieged both by sea and land; commerce was at a stand; their wonted luxuries were cut off; and they were already suffering the most severe privations. What rendered this more galling was, that they had always held the Chilians in the greatest contempt; and the old and proud Spaniards now saw the country, by their aid, on the brink of a revolu tion, which, by securing the rights of all, was to strip them of their ill-gotten consequence and power. The fierce passions which this state of things engendered, and the feuds and the factions which now rent society asunder-the hopes of some, the dismay of others, and the anxious uncertainty of all-gave to the political state of Lima, under those agitating causes, a fearful degree of interest. The following striking contrast between the state of Valparaiso, animated by a free trade, and Lima, yet languishing under the bondage of old monopolies, is the most powerful argument that could possibly be desired in favour of independence:

We left Valparaiso harbour filled with shipping, its custom-house wharfs piled high with goods, too numerous and bulky for the old warehouses; the road

are trained from their infancy to these feats, though their horse be at speed, and though hedges and ditches are to be leaped, never miss their aim, but are sure to place their noose on any particular part they please,-over the horns, round the neck or 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 must be witnessed before it can be adequately conceived. "It is, in fact, (says Captain Hall,) the earliest amusement of these people, and I have often seen little boys just beginning to run about, actively employed in lassoing cats, and entangling the legs of every dog that was unfortunate enough to pass within reach. They soon try their skill on poultry, and on wild-birds; and by the time they are mounted on horseback, which is always at an early age, they begin to acquire that matchless skill, from which no animal of less speed than a horse has the smallest chance of escaping." The following detail of the mode of catching a wild bull is highly interesting:

Let us suppose that a wild bull is to be caught, and two mounted horsemen, guassos, as they are called, undertake to kill him. As soon as they discover him, 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 round his head. The first who comes within reach aims at the bull's horns, and, when he sees, which he does in an instant, that the lasso will take effect, he stops his horse, and turns it half round, the bull continuing his course, till the whole lasso has run out from the guasso's hand. 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 in trembling expectation of the violent tug which is given 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, he would certainly be overturned; but standing, as he does, 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 at full speed; and, in some cases, the 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, drawn sideways, ploughs up the earth with his feet for several yards. This, which takes so long to describe, is the work of a few se conds, during which, the other horseman gallops past, and, before the bull has time to recover from the shock, places the lasso till it also is at the full stretch. The bull, over his horns, and continues advancing stupified by the fall, sometimes lies motionless on the ground; but the horsemen soon rouse him up, by tugging him to and fro. When on his legs, he is like a ship moored with two cables, and how. ever unwilling he may be to accompany the horsemen, or however great his strug gles, he is irresistibly dragged along by them in whatever direction they please.

Not less singular is the mode in which are caught the wild horses, which rove about in innumerable droves on the boundless plains of the interior. The horse is entangled by the two hind legs, in such a manner as to be thrown down on his side. The rider dismounting, wraps round his head the cloak which he commonly wears on his shoulder; then forcing into his mouth one of the powerful bridles of the country, and strapping a saddle on his back, he bestrides him, and removes the cloak; on which the astonished horse springs on his legs, and makes many a vain effort to rid himself of the burden. The rider sits quite composedly, and by a discipline which never fails, soon reduces the horse to complete obedience.

During the recent wars of the country, the noose, or the lasso, was found to be a most powerful weapon; and those who could wield it, never failed to dismount cavalry, or throw down the horses which came within their reach. In the streets of Buenos Ayres, several horsemen gallopped fearlessly up to a piece of artillery, and having placed their nooses over it, fairly overturned it.

Our traveller recounts the mode of killing the cattle after they are caught, which at first may seem rather an unpromising subject; but when it is considered that they are first allowed to bound out of the inclosure in which they are confined, and are then entangled in the lasso, it will be seen that the killing of cattle is not here a mere exhibition