were greatly augmented; and every preparation was- made for the pur-
pofe of afting vigoroufly on the defenfive; and to'this circumftance alone
His Excellency attributed the abandoning of the defign, that had been
concerted by the Britifh Cabinet.
Soon after fupper was ended, a number o f ladies made their appearance
at the iron grating that protefted the window of the palace, begging
our acceptance of nofegays, and requefting that we would join the
reft of their party, aftembled at a little diftance from the palace; but as
I thought it would be more refpeftful to pay our compliments to His
Excellency in the audience room, which formality was fixed for the fuc-
ceeding morning, before we Ihould vifit any one elfe in the city, we
declined their obliging invitation for the prefent, with a promife of acknowledging
their civility the following day.
We did not retire until an early hour, when we found our beds tolerably
good, but we could not help being much difgufted at the infuffe-
rable uncleanlinefs of our apartments; the floors of which, but more
particularly that appointed for the refidence.of the officers, were covered
with filth and dirt. Application was inftantly made to the dragoons,
to procure us fome bruffies or brooms in order to fweep it out,
but, to our great mortification, they told us that fuch things were not
in common ufe at St. Jago ; fo that the only alleviation we could obtain
was that of water to fprinkle the dull, which was fo thick in the officers*
apartment-, that it would rather have required a {hovel than abruffi for
its removal.
Every funday morning the Prefident has a levee, which is ufually attended
by the military people, and the principal inhabitants of the city
and furrounding country. For the purpofe of being formally introduced
at this levee, we made ourfelves as fmart as the exhaufted ftate of our
refpeftive wardrobes would allow, and then repaired to the audience
chamber; this. room, which is fpacious, was neatly, but not extrava-’
gantly, furnifhed; the anti-chamber Was large in proportion, and the
entrance to each was from'the ground, through large folding doors. In
the anti-chamber Were the portraits of the feveral prefidents of Chili,
from the firft eftablilhment of the Spanilh authority in this part of
the
the country, to the prefent governor, whofe portrait was one of the ^795-
number. The infide walls of thefe rooms were covered with glazed >— v— >
tiles, refembling thofe from Holland, for about eight or ten feet from
the floor, which had a good effeft, and was a great relief to the dead
white plafter of the remaining part up to the ceiling. At the upper
end' of the audience-room was a fmall ftage, raifed a few feet from
the floor, upon which was placed the chair o f ftate, ornamented with a
canopy of red damalk, and decorated with the portraits of their Catholic
Majefties, which were placed on each fide of the Prefident’s
chair. The levee was attended b y . about one hundred and twenty
perfons, the greater part of whom appeared in the regimentals of the
eftablilhed militia of the- country; and, in fuch a well-drefled company,
our thread-bare uniforms fuffered much by comparifon. I had, however,
taken the precaution to apologize to His Excellency for the reduced1
ftate of our apparel, and he did not fail, on introducing us to his friends,
to enumerate the hardfhips we had undergone, to ftate the length of
time we had been abfent from the civilized world, and to conclude, on
every occafion, with fome panegyric on the' laborious undertaking in
which we had been fo long engaged. This very polite and friendly attention
foon relieved us from any embarraffment which, at firft, it was
natural we Ihould feel in being thus unexpeftedly thrown into a circle of
gentlemen, who made: a very fplendid appearance, and who feemed to
have great pride in conforming to the falhion of the day, and the etiquette
of court parade. From all the gentlemen, to whom we were made
known, we received the moft flattering congratulations on our arrival
at St. Jago, accompanied by’ very friendly invitations to their houfes ;
and every one appeared to be anxious to make our time pafs as pleafantly
as the circumftances of the place would permit. The fpecimen we had-
already received from our very hofpitable friends at Valparaifo, left us
no room to doubt the fincerity of thefe {hungers,' whofe kind folicitude '
to gratify our inclinations on every trivial occafion; was infinitely
greater than could reafonably have been expefted. After we had feve-
rally paid our compliments to the Prefident, the levee broke up, and
we followed the reft of the party, accompanied by Don Ramon and
Captain.