Apr? voyage had deprived moft of the party of- the principal parts, of their
—.--- 1 wardrobe, and we had fcareely a coat or hat that was fit for - common
>ufe, much lefs for an occafion like this. In the midft of our endeavours
■ to make as fmart an appearance as we could contrive, the dragoon returned,
accompanied by an officer from the Captain General, whom he
■ lent for the purpofe of complimenting us and congratulating us on our
arrival, and of defiring that we would immediately repair to the palace,
on horfes which he had fent for the purpofe of conveying us in a fuitable
manner to the capital.
Although it was by no means my intention to have made fo public
an entry as this arrangement of the Prefident’s would neceffarily expofe
us to, yet it appeared to me that we could not decline it without giving
umbrage, or perhaps offence; we therefore endeavoured to equip our-
felves in the beft manner we were able, and in doing fo we referved our
uniforms, which were extremely rotten and unfit for any ferviceton horfe-
•back, for the purpofe of appearing in on our vifit of ceremony to His
Excellency. The freffi horfes which had been fent from St. Jago, we
•had imagined to be like thofe which had brought us from Valparaifo,
•but, to our great aftoniffiment, thofe which had. now arrived from the
•Prefident under the care and direflions of another officer, feemed to be
very high-bred animals ; and were all richly caparifoned with fine faddles
and bridles,, and faddle cloths richly decorated, and fringed with gold and
filver lace, according very ill with the drefs in which we were under the
neceffity of appearing. All my former objections to a public-entry were
now greatly increafed, and I became very defirous that we might be per-
• mitted to vifit St. Jago in a more private manner ; but on reprefenting
this to the officers, inftead of acceding, to the wifites of myfelf and party;
whips and fpurs were inftantly produced, that nothing might be wanting
to complete our appearance on horfeback in every particular. The ufe
of the fpurs however was generally declined by-us. all, left fome embar-
taffment or mifchance fliould take place from their being unintentionally
applied, whilft our thoughts were, engaged by the new objeris that were
likely to attraCt our attention as we paffed through the ftreetsof the city.
Trivial as this circumftance may appear, yet to the officer who had charge
425
o f this effort it was a matter of the firft importance. He not only ufed
all his eloquence to perfuade us to wear the fpurs, but even expoftula- 1--- ,—-
ted with us on the impropriety of appearing without them, and the un-
reafonablenefs of our declining fo effential a part of drefs; all his intreaties
were not, however,, fufficient to overcome our obje&ions, and
to his great mortification we mounted without them, and proceeded towards
the capital, with a true military ftep, attended by the two officers,
and our former guides the dragoons.
The inconvenience we experienced on firft fettmg out, from being
equipped in this very extraordinary manner, was greatly increafed by the
crowds of people who had affembled to fee our cavalcade pafs along,
in which they were fully gratified by the .flownefs of our pace, until we
arrived at the palace; where, on our alighting, we were received by a
guard which was turned out on the occafion, and were conducted in
form to the audience, chamber. Here we were received by His Excellency
Don Ambrofio Higgins de Vallenar, with that fort of unaffefled
welcome in which neither ceremony nor flattery appeared, and which
amply repaid us for all the little fufferings we had endured in the courfe of
our journey. This polite and cordial reception we had indeed anticipated
from the reports we had receiyed, before our departure from Valparaifo,
and afterwards on the road to St. Jago. His Excellency’s character,
not only in refpefl; o f his great attention and urbanity to ftrangers,
but of his parental care and conftant folicitude for the general happinefs
and comfort of all the people who lived under his government,' were
the conftant topics of our converfation ; and it is not to be wondered at
if, on this occafion, we became inftantly impreffed with the juftice which
report had done ,to his virtues, by his congratulations and hearty welcome
to the.capital of Chili, which were delivered by him in our own language
with a fluency that greatly excited our aftoniffiment, when we were informed
by His Excellency, that he had now been refident in New Spain
twenty-four years, during which time very few opportunities had occurred
to him for fpeaking Engliffi. We now learned from. Don Ambrofio
himfflf that he was a native of Ireland, from whence he had .
V ol. IIL , 3 I been