level. The distance by rail from Valparaiso is about 120 miles,
but as the railroad makes the greater part of the ascent within a
distance of 50 miles, the average gradient of the incline is considerable.
The train follows the line of the seashore for a distance
of about 3 miles to the northward of Valparaiso, when it reaches
the mouth of a wide valley running inland, the windings of whose
right bank it follows until a station called Llallai (pronounced
“ Yayai”) is reached. It then makes a steep ascent along the
side of a mountain, and here on one side a precipitous wall of conglomerate
rock faces the carriage windows, while on the othei the
eye gazes into the depths of an ever-receding valley, above which
the train seems poised as if by magic. While one is still lost in
contemplation of Jhis abyss, a short tunnel in a buttress of the
mountain is traversed, and the train suddenly sweeps round a
sharp corner, and crossing the valley by a light iron bridge which
here spans a part of it, constricted to a narrow chasm, enters a
highland defile on the opposite side. This place is known as the
“Mequin Paso.” The train now pursues a meandering track among
the hills of Montenegro, where the summit level of the railway
is reached, and then inclines gradually downwards to the great
plain of Santiago.
After establishing ourselves in the Oddo Hotel, which is situated
in the middle of the city, close to the “ Plaza De Armas, we
commenced our explorations, and first proceeded to the Natural
History Museum. It lies on the outskirts of the town and occupies
a spacious building which was originally constructed for the
Elxhibition of 1875, and to which the Natural History collections
were transferred in 1877. Favoured by a letter of introduction,
we were here fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Dr.
Phillipi, the distinguished naturalist, who has for many years had
charge of the museum ; and to whose courtesy and good nature
vve were much indebted. The collections illustrative of South
American ornithology and ethnology were particularly fine. The
herbarium seemed to be very extensive, and was so excellently
.■ .%5* WW1è .^ ■ A
Santa Lucia.
arranged as to afford ready access to any groups of specimens.
In the spacious hall devoted to this department, we saw a section
of a beech tree from Magellan which was more than seven feet
in diameter, and the silicified trunk of a tree fifty centimetres in
diameter, which had been found near Santa Barbara. The mammalian
collection included two specimens of the Huemul {Cervus
Chilensis), one of which was said to be the original figured by
Gay in his “ Historia Physica y Politica de Chile.” Among the
human crania were some very curious specimens illustrating the
extremes of dolicocephaly and brachycephaly. It is to be
regretted that the subsidy voted by the Chilian government for
the maintenance of this admirable museum does not exceed C \o o
a year, and Dr. Phillipi may well be congratulated on the results
of his self-sacrificing labours.
About the centre of the town of Santiago is a remarkable hill
called Santa Lucia, whose summit affords a very extended view.
It is a mass of columnar basalt rising abruptly from the plain to
a height of about 300 feet, and presenting on all sides boldly
scarped faces in which several flights of stone steps have been
ingeniously cut, so as to lead by various labyrinthine routes to the
summit. We made the ascent towards the close of day, and were
well repaid for our trouble by the really magnificent view. The
town lay extended at our feet with its various buildings and
monuments standing up in bold relief. As we raised our eyes, its
outskirts dwindled into the broad plain of Santiago valley, which
here seemed to form an immense amphitheatre, surrounded in the
distance by a chain of lofty hills whose snowcapped summits were
at this hour illumined with the lovely roseate colours so characteristic
of sunset in the Cordilleras.
On the following day we visited the site of the church of La
Compania, where the fire took place in the year 1863, when some
2,000 people, mostly women, were burnt to death. The church
was never rebuilt, but in its place now stands a handsome bronze
monument to commemorate the victims of this dreadful calamity.
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