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 PAST AND PRESENT. 
 
 J. M. SPANGLER. 
 
 San Francisco, Cal.: 
 n. G. PARSONS, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER. 
 
 1885.
 
 UBRABY 
 
 UNIVEBSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BAftfiABA 
 
 J ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Dedication . 
 
 To my fellow co-laborers iu the American college iu Cou- 
 cepcioji, Chili; tomy frieml, Mrs. Elizabeth Eobertsou, of the 
 same city; to the ever-increasing number of educated gentle- 
 men and ladies, native to the country, who are laboring with 
 tireless energy and unselfish devotion to make Chili a land 
 of perfect freedom, this book is affectionately inscribed.
 
 
 Errors. 
 
 In the preface, read Javier Morales instead of Jarier 
 Morales. 
 
 On page 19, read Villa Gran for Villa Gran. 
 
 In several places the words Chilino and Chilina are used 
 by the printer interchangeably — he not understanding that 
 the former is a man and the latter a woman; and, as a con- 
 sequence, has given us female soldiers and female politi-
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 During the summer of 1882, I accepted an appoint- 
 ment from Bishop William Taylor placing me at the head 
 of his two American schools inConcepcion, Chili — namely, 
 a college for young gentlemen, and one for young ladies. 
 Very naturally, prior to setting sail for my field of labor. 
 I desired to obtain as much information as possible con- 
 cerning the country that was to be my future home. I 
 remembered, imperfectly, that my geography had informed 
 me that Chili was a Republic, about fifteen hundred miles 
 long and one hundred and twenty miles wide ; that 
 Santiago was the capital, and that Valparaiso was the 
 chief seaport town. From my encyclopedia I learned 
 that the country had certain annual exports and imports of 
 stated values ; that a trans-Andine railway connected 
 Santiago with the Atlantic Ocean at Buenos Ayres, (when 
 I arrived in Chili, I learned that the railway had never 
 existed except on paper) ; that certain schools were es- 
 tablished at various places, and that the people were a 
 mixture of Spanish and Indian, and were quite pro- 
 gressive. From Bishop Taylor's own book, " Our South 
 American Cousins," I learned that he had passed through 
 the country, talked with the President of the Republic, 
 rode sundry miles on the railways, saw a girl crying about 
 her lover, and a woman carrying a goose, wrapped in a 
 blanket. 
 
 Other information I could not obtain; and for aught 
 I knew, one-half of the inhabitants might be living in 
 wigwams, ready to scalp me and my family on slightest 
 provocation. To the hundreds of questions asked me
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 daily by friends I could give no answer. The better class 
 of people might possibly dress as do the civilized people 
 of the world; they might possibly have comfortable homes, 
 and plenty of decent, wholesome food— and again, they 
 might not have these things. 
 
 Furthermore, I found that people in general — educated 
 people — knew as little about the country as I did. One 
 grave college professor assured me that it would be very 
 romantic to travel in a country where the swiftly flowing 
 mountain streams were all crossed by means of baskets 
 suspended by stretched ropes. 
 
 When I arrived in Chili, and found a civilization that, 
 in many respects, compares favorably with that of Europe 
 and the United States, I was very agreeably surprised, 
 and at once determined to write concerning it a small work 
 for publication — hence this little book. 
 
 In preparing the third and fourth chapters, I am 
 indebted to Eev. Dr. D. Trumbull, Valparaiso, from whose 
 pamphlet on the "Constitutional History of Chili," I copied 
 largely. I am also indebted to Mr. Jarier Morales del Eio, 
 of Concepciou, for the use of many books, papers and 
 pamphlets, that aided me greatlj'^ in obtaining historical 
 facts. 
 
 J. M. SpANGliKB.
 
 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Powerful Peruvian Monarchy — The Conquest of Chili — Defeat 
 —Overthrow of the Indians — Aboriginal Tribes — A Ea- 
 rn arkable Tradition of the Deluge. 
 
 /P^|UAINA CAPAC, whose name signifies pow- 
 I^Tf ei'ful, rich young man, was the eleventh 
 ^^a Inca of Peru, who held dominion in that 
 country about the beginning of the fifteenth 
 century. So powerful was he that he was the ac- 
 knowledged sovereign of fifteen hundred provinces, 
 where he imposed taxes, mide laws, and, as rep- 
 resentative of the sun, was the head of the priest- 
 hood — at once a ruler, a father, and an instructor 
 of more than thirty millions of people. So rich 
 was he that in his palace were immense statues of 
 giant men wrought in pure silver and gold, as 
 well as figures representing the natural history of 
 the country — fishes, birds, flowers and grasses, all 
 made of the latter metal. At his death six thou- 
 sand persons were sacrificed, two thousand of whom
 
 6 CIVILIZATION IN CHlLI. 
 
 were beheaded, to accompany him as servants to 
 the spirit land; the remaining four thousand were 
 his kinsmen, oifered to the sun in his honor and for 
 his advancement with the gods. 
 
 Cusi Guascar, his eldest son, succeeded to the 
 throne, and at once commenced the fulfillment of 
 his father's desires, by sending a powerful army 
 across the Andes mountains to subjugate the peo- 
 ple of Chili. When they came to the valley of 
 Copiapo, in the northern province of the latter 
 country, they found it inhabited by a strong nation 
 of Indians, weariug many gold and silver orna- 
 ments, and possessing flocks and herds; and who, 
 though they had every appearance of being a war- 
 like people, were not so barbarous as to be devoid 
 of all courtesies and hospitable dispositions. 
 
 When the Peruvian leader explained to them the 
 greatness of the Inca's domain, the peculiar rites and 
 ceremonies required in their sun-worship, as well 
 their superior knowledge of agriculture, the Copi- 
 apoins offered them no resistance; on the contrary, 
 they lodged them in their homes, made them rich 
 presents of gold triokets, and feasted them on 
 the flesh of their flocks. But as soon as the Peru- 
 vians announced that they would require annually 
 large sums of gold for their king, as well as a full 
 acceptance of sun-worship, the people who had ap-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. * 
 
 peared so passive and quiet flew to ams and drove 
 them from the country. 
 
 When Guascar heard of the overthrow of his 
 army, his indignation knew no bounds; for he vain- 
 ly believed that his was the greatest kingdom, and 
 he, as viceroy of the sun, the greatest personage 
 in all the world. One hundred thousand men were 
 at once sent out, under his own kinsmen, to renew 
 conquest So successful were they that in a short 
 time not only the Copiapoins, but all northern 
 Chili, was reduced, and became subjects of his 
 majesty. 
 
 But little else is known of the aborigines of this 
 country. What has been written by different au- 
 thors seems to be conflicting, and to carry with it 
 a tone of uncertainty. The Spanish invasion fol- 
 lowed soon after; and while it is true that the In- 
 dians of Chili to-day are direct descendants of the 
 primitive tibes, it is also true that the influence of 
 the Spaniard for so many centuries has changed 
 them into a different people, with difierent habits 
 and manners of living. 
 
 It is quite certain, however, that the early Chi- 
 lians were very superior Indians, in language and 
 in military effort, as will appear in another chap- 
 ter. One thing about them, which seems very re- 
 markable, and for a statement of which I am in-
 
 8 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 debted to R P. Diego's "Reyno de Chili " * a work 
 generally accepted as authentic iu all that Repub- 
 lic, is that they had a tradition that carried them 
 back to the Deluge. They believed that the earth 
 was once destroyed by water, and that a few peo- 
 ple only were saved of all the inhabitants then liv- 
 ing; that these were saved by fleeing to a high 
 mountfiin called Tenten; that the people had been 
 warned of the aj)proaching destruction by a good 
 man. who went among them advising them to flee 
 to that particular mountain for safety; but as he 
 was very poor and of humble birth, only a few 
 heeded his warning. 
 
 Their tradition furthermore taught them that 
 on Tenten was a large animal in form of a serpent, 
 of the same name as the mountain, very good and 
 wise, that undertook the ( rotection of all who fled 
 to him. But another serpent, very ugly, fierce and 
 wicked, whose home was in the great deep, and 
 
 *"Teiiteu que para aplacar su enoso y el de Caicai, 8enor del mar 
 que sacrilicassen uno de sus hixos, y descuartizandole en quartos' 
 partes, las echassen al mar, para que las comiesscn los Reyes de los 
 Pezes y las Slrenas, y se serenasse el mar. Y que haziendolo assi, se 
 fueron disrainuyendo las aguas y volvieudo a vaxar el mar. Y al 
 passo que las aguas iban vasando, a esse paso iba tambien vaxando 
 el monte Tenten, hasta que S' assento eu su propio lugar. Y 
 diciendo entonzes la Culebra Ten, ten, quedaron ella y el monte 
 con ese nombre de Tenten, celebre y de grande religion entre 
 los indios. Que como a miserables na tenido enganados esta astuta 
 Culebra, que engano a muestros primeros Padres en el Paraiso."— 
 Reyno de Chili, Vol, I, page 6.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 
 
 whose name was Gici, was determined upon the de- 
 struction of all the people. While Tenten was as. 
 suring the people, through his ambassador, that 
 destruction was surel}-- coming upon them, the 
 serpent of the deep was no less busy in assuring 
 them that it was all a delusion. When he, Cici, 
 succeeded in getting them all within easy cast of 
 his great net, he suddenly caused the sea to over- 
 flow and catch them, when he pi-oceeded to turn 
 them all into monsters like himself, to do his bid- 
 ding and serve his evil purposes forever. He even 
 purposed destroying those who had fled to Tenten, 
 and jjursued them vigorously; but as fast as he 
 pushed the waters up, good Tenten raised up the 
 mountain. The battle raged long and furiously. 
 All the evil hosts were called from afar to help 
 make the destruction complete. Onward and up- 
 ward rolled the great and furious billows; but they 
 were never successful in reaching Tenten and his 
 happy hosts, for the mountain ever kept going 
 higher than the waters. Finally the sun was 
 reached, and the battle came to a singular ter- 
 mination; for among the happy throng was found 
 one who was worthy of making a great sacrifice. 
 The ofi'ering was his son. When he had been slain 
 and his blood sprinkled upon the waters, Cici lost 
 his great power, and the waters and the mountain 
 returned to their former condition.
 
 10 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 This is certainly a most remarkable tradition, 
 and if true, is near enough like the Bible account 
 of the Deluge to show beyond a doubt that the an- 
 cestors of those people either migrated from Asia 
 or had some means of communicating with the 
 ancient Asiatics or Egyptians.
 
 CHAPTKR II. 
 
 First White Man in Chili — Three Ancient Kingdoms— A Ter- 
 rible Battle — Expedition of Almagro— His Reception— His 
 Defeat — The Conquest by Peter Valdivia— Founding of 
 Cities — A Terrible Battle with the Dwellers in the South — 
 Defeat of the Spaniards — A Miracle — Valdivia's Defeat and 
 Death — Exploits of Lautaro, a Terrible Boy Chieftan — He 
 Defeats the Spaniards and Destroys their Important 
 Cities — He Contemplates the Overthrow and Expulsion 
 of the Whole Spanish Colony — The March upon the Cap- 
 ital — Defeat of the Purumancians — Lautaro's Death — Ex- 
 ploits of the Marquis of Canete — His Cruelties — Death of 
 an Araucanian General — Senor Don Martin — Independence 
 of Araucania. 
 
 [I^'iHE first white man known to have penetrated 
 into the interior of Chili was a Spaniard, 
 who, for some crime committed in Cusco, 
 had been punished, disgraced, and disfig- 
 ured by having both ears cut from his head, and 
 who fled across the Andes to hide himself from his 
 fellow-men. 
 
 Prior to this the country — afterwards called 
 Chili on account of the cold rains in the winter 
 months, and the cool winds during summer — was 
 divided by the primitive inhabitants into three 
 small kingdoms. The first of these, extending 
 along the mountains, and including a portion of
 
 12 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Argentine, was called Pehuenche, dwellers in the 
 east; the second was called Morache, dwellers in 
 the west; and the third was called Hllliche, dwell- 
 ers in the south; the names of all arising, no doubt, 
 from location with reference to certain objects. 
 
 So far as known, these people all spoke the same 
 language, had the same manners and custom?, had 
 similar governments, were bound together by kin- 
 dred ties, but were independent from each other as 
 nations. 
 
 In the middle of the fifteenth century, Cusci, 
 Gruascar's successor, sought to further subjugate 
 these people, in accordance with the long-standing 
 desire of his nation. A great army of tried and 
 experienced warriors, who were assembled at Cus- 
 co, the capital of ancient Peru, soon took up the 
 line of march. They successfully crossed the 
 mountains and entered the country; but, in giving 
 battle with the people of Billiche, the dwellers in 
 the south, whither Yuprauqui, the Inca, sought to 
 carry his conquests, the Peruvians met with terri- 
 ble resistance, -^fter a great battle that lasted for 
 several days, in which there was much destruction 
 of life, and during which time both armies sub- 
 sisted on their slain, the Inca ordered hostilities to 
 cease. Whether the people Billiche were after- 
 wards overthrown, or became willing subjects of 
 the Incas, I cannot safely say, as history seems to
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 13 
 
 be conflicting and inrlefinite. However, when 
 Governor Don Diego de Almagro became dissatis 
 fied with his portion of the spoils after the devil- 
 ish conquest of Cusco, and jjushed on to the 
 discovery and subjugation of Chili, already famous 
 for gold, it appears that all these chief tainries were 
 paying annuities in gold to Peru. 
 
 This was neirly eighty years later, in 1535, and 
 Almagro, with an army of less than six hundred 
 Spaniards and fifteen thousand Peruvians, was the 
 second European to visit this country. When he 
 reached Copiapo, so fatiguing and dreadful had 
 been the mountainous journey that more than one 
 hundred and forty of his Spanish comrades and 
 over ten thousand of his Indian auxiliaries had 
 died. Here Diego called a halt, and, in order to 
 revive the drooping spirits of his fellow-soldiers 
 from Spain, distributed among them a million of 
 dollars' worth of gold, which he forcibly took from 
 the poor Copiapoins. 
 
 Almagro and his Spanish troops ^ere tx'eated 
 with great respect, and honored as superior per- 
 sonages. He might have easily conqiiered the 
 whole of Chili; but, inflated with success and great 
 expectations, he became reckless, inflicted upon the 
 people the most wanton cruelties and shameful 
 inhumanities, ^until the natives arose in evei-y di- 
 rection to give him battle.
 
 14 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Finally, after having overcome all obstacles in 
 the north, he advanced to the Cachapoal river, 
 across which was the territory of the desperate 
 dwellers in the south. His army, reduced, disap- 
 pointed in not finding great quantities of gold, 
 weary and discouraged, besought him to give up 
 further conquests. 
 
 Their entreaties were in vain. Almagro, dash- 
 ing across the river, was met in desperate battle. 
 The natives, overcoming the awe and terror from 
 beholding gaily equipped horses and hearing the 
 loud reports of the muskets, fought with daring 
 and generalship entirely unexpected. Under cover 
 of the night the Spanish general withdrew from 
 the battle-field and commenced a retreat to PerU' 
 He was afterwards overthrown and beheaded His 
 Spanish followers became desperate outlaws, and 
 lived reckless, daring lives. 
 
 A year or two later, in 1540, Peter Valdivia, un- 
 der direction of the wicked Pizarro, again under- 
 took the subjugation of Chili. Without sustaining 
 serious loss or meeting great resistance, he ad- 
 vanced as far as the river Atapochia, where, 
 February 12, 1541, he founded the capital city and 
 gave it its present name of Santiago, in honor of 
 St. James, the patron saint of Spain. 
 
 Valdivia was cool, self-possessed, courageous, 
 prudent, and by great effort and soldierly exam-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 15 
 
 pie succeeded in again subjugating all Northern 
 Chili — and this, too, not more by his powder and 
 balls, than by his having, in some manner, gained 
 the confidence of the natives. 
 
 After nine years of toil, during which time he 
 returned to I'eru for a new army, he pushed south- 
 ward as far as the Bay of Talcahuano, where, in 
 October, 1550, he founded the city of Concepcion. 
 Here he soon afterwards met with most serious op- 
 position; for a band of the dwellers in the south, 
 known as Ai'aucanians, to the number of several 
 thousand, advanced across the Bio Bio river and 
 prepared to attack the town. The over-confident 
 Spaniards met them on the plain, where a great 
 battle ensued. Hundreds fell on both sides. Val- 
 divia's horse was killed from under him, and so 
 close was the hand-to-hand encounter that the 
 S')anish troops were often thrown into great con- 
 fusion, from which they barely recovered. 
 
 The Indian leader, however, after the battle had 
 been waging for hours with doubtful results, was 
 slain, and the Araucanians, to the great relief of 
 Valdivia, withdrew — not to remain in quiet, for, 
 appointing a new chief, they soon again appeared 
 ready for battle. Great was the confusion of the 
 Spaniards. Some fled to the waters, others to the 
 forts; some prayed aloud, some of the feeble 
 fainted, and the soldiers prepared themselves for
 
 16 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 battle by taking the sacrament of bread and wa- 
 ter. 
 
 Onward marched the Indians, and Valdivia de- 
 termined to give battle unto death. But all at 
 once the Araucanians withdrew, without any one, 
 being able to comprehend the object of such a 
 movement. But a soldier, declaring that he had 
 seen St. James seated upon a white palfry, the de- 
 livery was attributed by many to divine interposi- 
 tion. 
 
 Two years later Valdivia, at the head of an army, 
 marched into the Araucanians' territory without 
 meeting any great resistance, and founded the city 
 of Valdivia and La Villa Rica— the rich city. .In 
 1553 he founded four otner cities. But the Ar- 
 aucanians, in the meatatime, had elected a chief to 
 supersede their cowardly leader, and soon appeared 
 before a newly erected fort, Arauco. So closely 
 did they besiege it that the occupants, exhausted, 
 concluded to abandon the post, after which the In- 
 dians razed it to the ground. 
 
 Valdivia again went forth in person to give bat- 
 tle — met the Indians near the reduced fort and 
 engaged them in a desperate encounter. After 
 many hours of hard fighting the Araucanians fled 
 and the now bloodthirsty Spaniards followed in 
 close pursuit; but, at this juncture, a young Indian 
 boy whom Valdivia had captured and reared as his
 
 PAST AND PRE8ENT. 17 
 
 servant, named Lautaro, rushed among his fleeing 
 countrymen and exhorted them to once more stand 
 and give battle, assuring them that the troops un- 
 der his deserted master were spent, exhausted com- 
 pletely, but few in number, and that one final 
 effort would overthrow them. His efforts were 
 availing, after much entreaty, and the Indians, 
 rallying:, fell upon the Spaniards. Great was the 
 carnage. Valdivia was captured, and though he 
 plead for his life and made many promises to leave 
 the Country forever, with all his followers, if only re- 
 leased, he was put to death. Only one or two out 
 of his proud army were left to tell the tale. 
 
 The youthful Lautaro, a lad of only eighteen 
 summers, was, by the unanimous consent of a 
 council of wise men assembled, elected to share the 
 honors of assistant ruler-in-chief of the Araucanian 
 nation. The honors were well conferred; for this 
 boy chief, with lofty aspirations, at once com- 
 menced a series of manoeuvers, the outcome of 
 which, as he planned it, was nothing short of rid- 
 ding the whole land of Chili of her Spanish in- 
 vaders. He met Valdivia' s successor, and in fear- 
 ful battle, with six pieces of artillery mowing 
 down his brave men, with the musketry and fierce 
 horsemen to contend with, he displayed such gen- 
 eralship as to outwit the Spaniards and put them 
 to rout with fearful slaughter, so that none were
 
 18 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 left but their leader and a handful of men. He 
 appeared before Concepcion, burned it to the 
 ground, and feasted over its smoking ruins. Em- 
 boldened by his success, he formed a plan of 
 striking a deathblow by attacking the great Spanish 
 stronghold at Santiago. 
 
 With this end in view, he marched at the head 
 of a selected army toward the capital city. On the 
 way he passed through the country of the Puru- 
 mancians, a tribe of Indians who were the enemy 
 of his nation, reduced them by laying waste their 
 territory, burning their villages and destroying 
 their crops. For this, however, he suffered defeat 
 and death; for, instead of pushing on to the attack 
 of Santiago, he fortified himself on his enemies' 
 stronghold and prepared to reconnoiter. This was 
 his fatal blunder. 
 
 The Spaniards were no less astonished at this 
 bold adventure than they were tremulous as to the 
 result. The Governor, who, as Valdivia's success- 
 or, had met this Lautaro, and suffered such signal 
 defeat at his hands, well knew that the task before 
 him needed all his cunning, as well as the combined 
 strength of his forces. The city was at once for- 
 tified, and all the public roads and avenues of ap- 
 proach doubly secured. Then, as Lautaro did 
 not appear, a company of horsemen were sent to 
 reconnoiter. These were attacked and almost de-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 19 
 
 stroyed. A second detachment suffered the same 
 fate; for, allowing themselves to be led into the 
 Indians' intrenchments through a decoy that pre- 
 tended flight, they were cut to pieces. Still a 
 third army shared the some fate. 
 
 The Governor, Villa Grau, now determined to 
 conduct the war in person, for which purpose he 
 selected an army of twelve hundred men, and set 
 out for Lautaro's camp. Thi'ough the aid of a 
 spy he reached it without being detected, and as 
 the day dawned, and the watchful Araucanians 
 had ceased their vigilance, he made the attack. 
 The surprise was very great, and Lautaro, at the 
 head of his men, was the first to fall. But the In- 
 dians, undaunted, continued to fight. They 
 courted death. In vain did the Governor call up- 
 on them to surrender. They would not survive 
 the death of their cherished boy-leader, and crowd- 
 ing around his bleeding body, they fought desper- 
 ately until the last man was dead or dying. Not 
 one remained. 
 
 This boy-general, an unlearned barbarian, dis- 
 played such rare skill in his military exploits that 
 even his enemies sought to honor his memory, and 
 some have lauded him as one of the foremost com- 
 manders of antiquity. 
 
 After this battle the Marquis of Canete was sent 
 from Peru to rebuild the city of Concepcion.
 
 20 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Scarcely had he landed when the Araucanians, 
 again assuming the aggressive, gave battle; but, 
 wanting the generalship of Lautaro, they were de 
 feated. Canete, with a superior army, soon took 
 up the march into the Indians' territory. Every- 
 thing that came within his reach was destroyed. 
 Some prisoners falling into his hands, he mutil- 
 ated terribly and set them free. Some were 
 emasculated; some had their ears, some their 
 noses, some a hand, severed from their bodies 
 Others had their e3'es put out; but these cruelties, 
 instead of intimidating the natives, only incited 
 them to greater hatred. 
 
 When Canete reached the City of Imperial, which 
 had withstood the Araucanians, an attempt was 
 made to capture the town and his army by strata- 
 gem. A pretender had met an Indian spy who 
 was appointed to find out the secrets of the fort, 
 and agreed to admit the Araucaniau warriors 
 through the gates the following day at noon, when 
 he claimed the Spaniards would all be enjoying 
 their naps. The appointed time found the natives 
 with noiseless tread creeping into the town; the 
 gates were opened as agreed upon; the Spanish 
 soldiers were everywhere lying upon the ground 
 feigning slumber. When a large number of the In- 
 dians were well within the fort the gates suddenly 
 closed. A murderous fire at once commenced from
 
 PAST AND PBE8ENT. 21 
 
 the pretended sleepers, and none of the captives 
 escaped. Some who were taken alive had their 
 heads severed from their bodies and displayed on 
 tops of poles extending over the fort. Others were 
 killed by piecemeal, and still others blown to 
 pieces from the cannon's mouth. 
 
 In a battle that followed soon after, Caupolican, 
 the Araucanian general — for such he was — with a 
 host of warriors were defeated, and he himself 
 taken prisoner. He was instructed in the religion 
 of Rome, baptized, received the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, and sentenced to be killed with a 
 sharpened stake. His successor had various en- 
 counters with the Spanish for six years, when he 
 was slain and his army nearly all massacred. 
 Thirty years of warfare followed, without any de- 
 cided results. 
 
 A nephew of the founder of the Jesuitical order 
 was, in 1594, made Governor of Concepcion. His 
 name was Senor D Martin de Loyola. His first 
 thought was to establish friendly relations with the 
 invincible Araucanians, and to this end he met them 
 in council. No terms, however, were agreed upon, 
 and hostilities were renewed with great vigor. 
 
 Martin gave his atteniion to the founding of new 
 settlements, and to the improvement of the old. 
 Every post was so well fortified that they success- 
 fully baffled the attacks of Indians. For four
 
 22 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 years the progress of the colonies and settlements 
 was all that could be desired. The Grovernor was 
 here, there and everywhere. His success caused 
 him to be incautious; and, becoming emboldened, 
 he, on one of his journeys through the enemy's 
 country, camped on the open plain, without neces- 
 sary precautions against attacks. The bold Arau- 
 canians, ever on the alert, had been stealing si- 
 lently in his footsteps all day. 
 
 No sooner had Loyola and his band retired for 
 the night than the Indians, falling upon them, 
 massacred the whole number. This was a signal 
 for a general attack — a bold stroke — whereby it 
 was hoped the Spaniards might be driven from 
 the country. Concepcion and Chilian were plun- 
 dered and burned. With immense booty for sup- 
 plies, other places were besieged and in turn were 
 either abandoned or overthrown. The battle was 
 for life. In vain did the Spaniards redouble their 
 energies. In vain were their musketry, their 
 horses, their cannons. In vain were their barbar- 
 ous cruelties to captives. In vain were their su- 
 perior knowledge of the arts of war and their civ- 
 ilization. One hundred and eighty years of war- 
 fare — it had lasted that long — was not enough to 
 conquer and subdue those invincible Indians. One 
 hundred and eighty years! No, nor a thousand; 
 for nothing would ever have conquered such hero-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 23 
 
 ic spirits but complete extermination. Their only 
 crime was their zeal; their only fault a love for 
 their country. Finally, the Spaniards, tired of so 
 much warfare, vexed and chagrined at their losses 
 and -continued embarrassments, allowed judgment 
 and humanity to prevail, and granted unto the 
 Araucanians their independence ; and in a treaty, 
 fixed and defined the boundaries of their territo- 
 ry. This was in 1724 — one hundred and eighty- 
 nine years after Almagro undertook the conquest 
 of Chili.
 
 CHAPTKR III. 
 
 The Darkness of the Colonial Days — Spanish Intolerance ^nd 
 Bigotry Deeply Eooted in all the Colonies — Communica- 
 tioa with the World Forbidden — A Governor Condemned to 
 Death for Allowing an American Vessel to Anchor and make 
 Needed Repairs — An English Captain Decoyed on Shore, 
 and Murdered for his Rich Cargo, by an Official of High 
 Rank — Re igious Intolerance — The Important Ecclesissti- 
 cal Question of Bangs Worn by the Clergy — Five Years of 
 Legislation upon the Importance of the President's Dress 
 upon Great Occasions. 
 
 T|T is almost impossible to imagine the condition 
 J^ of darkness that existed in this country prior 
 ^^ to the independence from the mother country, 
 Spain. Instead of what we see to day of advance- 
 ment, of education, of commerce, of culture, of 
 freedom of thought and overflow of literature, 
 there was an undeveloped population of less 
 than three-fourths of a million of as ignorant and 
 superstitious people as any Spanish monarch and 
 his court of advisers could desire. In the eai'ly 
 part of the nineteenth century, not a newspaper, 
 not a book had ever been published in all the 
 land. The same spirit of intolerance and bigotry 
 that had characterized Spain since the days of 
 Charles V. — that spirit that had sent an Alva, a
 
 • PAST AND PRESENT. 25 
 
 Don John of Austria, and a Prince of Parma, with 
 an army of butchers, into the Netherlands to hang, 
 burn, drown and skin alive a half million of inno- 
 cent people whose only crime was a desire to think 
 as they pleased, and to worship a living God in- 
 stead of bowing to dumb idols — had tiken deep 
 root in all of the Spanish colonies in America. All 
 the ports were closed against vessels of every de- 
 scription, excepting the war boats from Spain. Ig- 
 norance and vice reigned in triumph. There were 
 no schools; there was no freedom, no communica- 
 tion with the outside world — nothing, excepting a 
 few thousand mestizoes and Creoles, whose only 
 duty was to be obedient and give a liberal supply 
 of gold and silver to the "mother country." 
 
 Any attempt to communicate or traffic with for- 
 eign nations met with severe piinishment. Diuing 
 the latter portion of the eighteenth century an 
 American vessel sought refuge in one of the (Jhilian 
 ports, in order to make some needed repairs and 
 secure a supply of fresh water. Communication was 
 most difficult; but when their wants were made 
 known, the Cpatain,* with fourmen.jwas permitted 
 to land, under the most exact insjiection and the 
 guns of the battery— the governor of the port hav- 
 ing satisfied himself that they had nothing for trade, 
 
 *From a lecture on ''Constitutional History of Chili,'' by Rev. Dr. 
 Trumbull, of Valparaiso.
 
 26 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 and having taken every precaution that they might 
 not ascertain the condition of the country. For 
 having practiced even this small act of humanity, 
 the governor was an-aigned by Ambrose O'Hig- 
 gins, father of the great patriot of later years, and 
 the crown lawyer condemned him to death. Shortly 
 after this, two other American vessels entered the 
 harbor of Coquimbo, seeking nothing but supplies 
 for the crews; but they were ordered to leave with- 
 out being allowed any succor whatever. Still a few 
 years later, an English captain, emboldened by the 
 prospect of great gain, anchored his vessel in a 
 Chilian port with a cargo valued at $400,000. He 
 succeeded in selling a few thousand dollars' worth, 
 when it was suggested to him by some tradesmen 
 that he could do better in a port farther south Sail- 
 ing thither, he was met by a government official of 
 high rank, who invited the unsuspecting ca^Dtain 
 and his officers on shore to attend a feast given in 
 their honor. While seated at the supper-table, they 
 wez'e set upon by a band of solders and all mur- 
 dered, the rich cargo being divided among the cap- 
 tors. 
 
 "Incidentally it folUows, from what has just been 
 said, that dissent from the Roman Church was not 
 to be permitted or even for a moment thought of. 
 Infidel opinions, or even heterodox Christian views, 
 were maligned, outlawed, branded as intolerable.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 27 
 
 excluded by the severest edicts, and put under the 
 
 ban civilly as well as ecclesiastically. In this, as 
 well as in almost all things else, the will of the 
 King's majesty was made supreme. All were to obey 
 his mandates, and against his decrees no individual 
 rights could be asserted. 
 
 "To give an idea," continues the same author, 
 Mr. Trumbull, "of the scholarship of the Church, a 
 celebrated bishop in the capital once published, in 
 a formal treatise of thirty-six folio pages, double 
 columns, his views on the magnitudinous question 
 of hair worn by the clergy. The fashion of 'the 
 world' was to wear what were then called in Span- 
 ish, quedeja^, corresponding to a modern term, mel. 
 anas, answering, apparently, from the description, to 
 our present English word 'fringes' or 'bangs.' Such 
 importance was attached to this matter, that an- 
 other bishoj) in Lima had alleged that his clergy 
 were imitating women ; he also complained that they 
 parted their hair down the middle; and frowning 
 upon both forms of wickedness, first forbade jDres- 
 byters to use ([aedejiiH, under pain of the greater ex- 
 communication, and next, deacons and sub-deacons, 
 under penalty of ten days' imprisonment, with a 
 warning that they must expect no further ordina- 
 tion to higher grades of the jDriesthood, since, by 
 these gaities in imitating women's fashions, they 
 showed themselves unworthy of advancement; and.
 
 28 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 inasmuch as they manifested the wish to be taken 
 for women, they therefore ought to be treated as 
 such in exclusion from the ministry, 
 
 "Returning now to Chili, the prelate of Santiago 
 spoke to the following efl'ect on this crowning theme : 
 'Some people,' said he, 'have their hair divided into 
 two locks, madejas, falling over their ears — quede- 
 jas, we call them. Some frizzle them, some curl 
 them. Women raise on the forehead an elevation 
 which, I know not with what allusion, they call 
 pepino — a cucumber — and this adornment the clergy 
 imitate, allowing their locks to grow over the eyes 
 in a frizzle, which they thrust aside or arrange with 
 the fingers a thousand times a day, calling them 
 pedradas — flings. To escape this trouble some go 
 to the barber, who, heating small tongs, called 
 curling-irons, secures the tuftsin their places. This 
 devilish abuse has come into vogue among ecclesi- 
 astics. My clergy, however, with a little eflbrt on 
 my part, have been thoroughly reformed, for the 
 people of Chili are modest by nature. If those who 
 come to be ordained have not taken the jDrecaution 
 to reform their hair, I myself save the barber all 
 trouble by making the work of tonsure thorough. 
 There is in this city a young man, well-born, rich, 
 known to be virtuous, but intensely ill-favored, and 
 yet he is so superstitiously in love with his hair 
 that his locks, quedejas, being spread over his ill-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 29 
 
 favored countenance, produce, not the portrait of a 
 fury, but the original of one. lie uses the clerical 
 habit, desiring much to be ordained, but the fear of 
 the bishop's shears keeps him back. He has sought 
 to secure indemnity for his hair. A gentleman, his 
 relative, spoke to me at aperiod of ordination, earn- 
 estly asking me to ordain him and allow him to pre- 
 serve his hair; yet I did not care to consent to the ar- 
 rangement, and to this hour he has neither been 
 ordained, nor laid aside his clerical habit, nor re- 
 formed his curls.' " 
 
 This may give an idea of the matters with which 
 theologians in the colonial period sometimes, to say 
 the least, busied themselves and were occupied. In 
 order now to take a glance at political matters in 
 those early days, here is a question that for five 
 years occupied the attention of civilians. The ' ' Pres- 
 ident of the Kingdom of ChDi," as sometimes even 
 then he was styled, in 1710 had attended service in 
 a church, in honor of San Ignacia, in comjmny 
 with the grand Audiencia, a council, wearing only 
 his military uniform. This gave ofience to the coun- 
 cilors, who claimed that he ought to come with 
 them to the church, not in uniform, but en gotilla, 
 which meant with a lace ruff around his throat, used 
 in high dress. The punctilious question was ap- 
 pealed to Madrid, laid before the Council of the 
 Indies and his Spanish majesty, and, after fifteen
 
 30 CIVIMZATION IN CHTLI. 
 
 months' time had elapsed, the reply of the most 
 Christian monarch came, to the effect that the Pres- 
 ident might do just as he pleased, appearing on all 
 warlike occasions in uniform, but on other occa- 
 sions in the costume of either a soldier or a citizen. 
 With this the Audencia were not satisfied, but sent 
 back to Madrid another epistle, asking finally, if 
 the President were not commanded on grand occa- 
 sions to appear wearing the ruff about his throat, 
 that the King would give orders for them not to 
 keep his company. Three yeax's later still, came the 
 King's final reply, to the effect that the President 
 might attend all public ceremonies in his uniform, 
 and that this order must be carried out under peril 
 of the royal displeasure, and of severity to be used 
 against any one who should dare to resist. 
 
 All this may seem very trifling and not worthy to 
 be recorded, but if the reader will remember that 
 it is the history, and that, too, of some of the most 
 important measures of a colony destined in after 
 years to become the foremost nation on a great con- 
 tinent, he will readily see that this short chapter 
 will serve as an index to the civilization, not only 
 of the long centuries of colonial days of Chili, but 
 of all the American colonies belonging to Spain.
 
 CHAPXKR IV. 
 
 The Usurpation of the Spanish Throne by the French Em. 
 peror Napoleon in Consequence of a Civil War — Its Effect 
 upon the Spanish Colonies in America — The Death of the 
 Viceroy of Chili Favorable to Revolution— Arrest of the 
 Leading Rebels — Abdication of the new Viceroy — A Mass 
 Meeting at Santiago Organize a New Government — The 
 First Constitution of the Republic — Bernardo O'Higgins- 
 Patriot Soldiers Overthrown — Battle of Chacabuco — Dec- 
 laration of Indepenednce — Abdication of O'Higgins — The 
 New Government — No Slaves in Chili — A Poor Constitu- 
 tion — Torrents of Blood — Assassination of President Por- 
 tales — Order out of Confusion— Rapid Strides of the 
 Republic. 
 
 r^^URING the first years of the nineteenth cen- 
 Ij tury, the King of Spain, Charles IV, , became 
 ~ involved in a bitter quarrel with his natural 
 son and heii', Prince Fernando, in consequence of 
 the elevation of Don Manuel Godoi, a person of 
 inferior rank, to the important position of Piince 
 of Peace and First Minister of Spain and the In- 
 dies. The agitation increased till it assumed the 
 form of a civil war. The Emperor, Napoleon Bona- 
 parte, who had long desii"ed to carry his conquests 
 into Spanish territor}^ seized the opj)ortunity to 
 oiler himself as mediator between father and son. 
 He was sly and cunning enough to insinuate him-
 
 32 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 \ 
 
 self into tiie good offices of both parties, and, under 
 pretext of reducing Portugal, introduced an army 
 of French solders, and placed his brother Joseph 
 upon the Spanish throne. 
 
 Scarcely was this usurpation known to the Span- 
 ish colonies of America, when they commenced a 
 vigorous uprising against their Spanish viceroys 
 and governors, under the pretext of holding the 
 countries for their natural sovereign, Fernando 
 VII. 
 
 The governor or viceroy of Chili, at this junc- 
 ture having been removed by death, General Car- 
 rasco, who had distinguished himself as a military 
 officer, was appointed in his stead. This proved to 
 be very favorable to the people; for the Audiencia, 
 a local body appointed by the king to watch over 
 the actions of the viceroys, were furious at the ap- 
 pointment, on account of the inferior birth of 
 Carrasco. From the very commencement of his 
 administration he had great trouble with tbis royal 
 Audiencia, and through his inability he soon became 
 entangled in a bitter war of words with the priests, 
 the city governors and the people. In the midst of 
 these dissensions, the revolutionary ideas propa- 
 gated themselves, almost unjDerceived and unheed- 
 ed, until Carrasco, suddenly awaking to a sense of 
 his danger, determined to put an end to these 
 intrigues. On the 25th of May, 1810, he aiTested
 
 PAST AND PRESENT, 33 
 
 and imprisoned three of the leading dissenters. 
 This caused intense excitement. A convocation of 
 the leading personages of Valparaiso sent a depu- 
 tation to the viceroy requesting the prisoners' 
 release, offering to give bonds for their future 
 conduct. After some delay, Carrasco promised 
 compliance; but instead of fulfilling his promise, 
 he secretly ordered the prisoners' removal to the 
 capital city of Peru. When the news of this du- 
 plicity reached Valparaiso, it created a furious storm 
 of indignation. The people appealed to the Audi- 
 envia, v^ho, desiring nothing better than a chance 
 to show their opposition to the despised governor, 
 ordered the prisoners released. This greatly en- 
 couraged the revolutionists, who proceeded shortly 
 after to call a national consultation, or mass 
 meeting of the eminent people of the whole country. 
 This meeting took place on the 16th of July, and 
 as a conciliatory measure it was agreed that Car- 
 rasco should abdicate in favor of Brigadier Matthew 
 Zambrano, a native of Sj^ain. 
 
 The new governor was over eighty years of age, 
 feeble and childish, without influence or power, 
 and soon became a prey to both parties. The rev- 
 olutionists became more clamorous and bolder than 
 ever, and succeeded a few days later in appointing 
 two young lawyers to help the viceroy shape the 
 aftairs of state; then, making along stride, a con-
 
 34 CTVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 vocation of all the people was announced to take 
 place in Santiago, "in order to secure public tran- 
 quility." This meeting took place on tha 18th of 
 September, at which it was determined, almost 
 without opposition, to withdraw from the then 
 existing government in Spain, "in order to hold 
 the country," as they declared, "for its lawful 
 monarch." The loyal manifestations, however, for 
 the "lawful monarch" did not prevent the revolu- 
 tionists from proceeding forthwith, the same day, 
 to organize a Republic, by electing Zambrano tem- 
 porary president, Joseph Antonia Martines, vice- 
 president, and also by preparing for the election 
 and assembling of a National Congress. 
 
 It now became necessary for this germ of a new 
 nation to have a Constitution, and in accordance 
 with the wishes of the people, one Don John Egana 
 was requested to prepare, and did write out, "A 
 Declaration of the Rights of the People of Chili." 
 
 This first Constitution was prepared in the year 
 1810, but during the following year the author 
 greatly modified it, in accordance with the wishes 
 and instructions of an assembled Congress. 
 
 In 1812 an agreement was framed between the 
 provinces of Santiago and Goncepcion, and in 1813 
 a Constitution was formally published by the na- 
 tional government. These all were incipient at- 
 tempts, not by any means in the highest degree
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 35 
 
 successful, for while on the one hand there was 
 war waged against the patriots by Spain, the 
 patriots were not harm )nious and of one mind 
 among themselves. In fact., their divisions were 
 perfectly lamentable, and their jealousies intermin- 
 able; j^roceeding in one instance even to a pitched 
 battle between the troops led by Carrera and those 
 commanded by Bernardo O'Higgins, who was a son 
 of Ambrosia O'Higgins, already mentioned, of the 
 year 1789. The national cause was jeopardized and 
 so weakened that, in 1814, the Spanish general gave 
 them a crushing defeat, altogether routing, scatter- 
 ing and destroying the patriot forces. For four 
 years after th it, there was no constitution-making; 
 the national cause seemed to be utterly lost. The 
 best men were in prison in Juan Fernandez, or 
 wandering as fugitives in foreign lands. Some, 
 however, did not lose heart in the good cause. 
 Even those who had been rivals and ruined it, clung 
 to it still with unflinching fidelity, and, fina ly, 
 with the aid of the La Platte provinces, gathered a 
 new army, crossed the Andes over precipices and 
 through snow, and meeting the King's forces on 
 the . lains of Chacabuco, February 12th, 1817, won 
 a victory that put the patriot cause high again m 
 the ascendant. Still the struggle had to be main- 
 tained against the Spaniards until the fifth of 
 April, 1818, when the Chilians inflicted on them
 
 36 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 defeat that proved final. Then the domination of 
 the Most Christian King was ended, bi-oken to rise 
 no more, and on the Diez-y-ocho, 18th of Septem- 
 ber of that year, the anniversary of the first step 
 that had been taken toward self-government in 
 1810, the Declaration of Independence, was official- 
 ly proclaimed to the world. On the 23d of 
 October a new and complete constitution was sol- 
 emnly signed and sworn to as the organic law of 
 the land. O'Higgins, their successful leader, was 
 in power, almost a dictator, although the country 
 under him was extremely restless and unsettled. 
 Five years afterwards, at the beginning of 1823, 
 Jan. 28th, he in consequence abdicated. Whatever 
 may have been his personal merits, and great, un- 
 questionably, as the public services of this eminent 
 man had been during the war, yet it seems that the 
 best citizens of the time consented to, if they did 
 not demand and insist on, his withdrawal from the 
 presidency. Considering how he had liberated his 
 country, the language he employed in resign- 
 ing the supreme power he had held for six years, 
 does him great honor. "Believing," said he, 
 " that it may contribute to the tranquility of my 
 country, under present circumstances, that I should 
 lay down the supreme command of the State, and 
 having agreed on this with the people of Santiago 
 assembled, who in the present crisis were all with
 
 PAST AND PBESENT. 37 
 
 whom I could consult, I have come to abdicate, 
 and do abdicate, entrusting the supreme direction 
 of Chili provisionally to Junta Guhernativa." He 
 named thereupon, as a triumvirate, Messrs. Ezrazu- 
 riz, Infante, and EizaguiiTe; and then the govern- 
 ment, which had been uni-personal in him, became 
 multi-personal in them. There were three prov- 
 inces — Concepcion, Coquimbo and Santiago; but 
 the two former provinces being dissatisfied with 
 the triumvirate, General Freire was next named 
 by their three respective plenipotentiaries to be 
 the Sui^reme Director of the whole countiy. The 
 point then aimed at being the unification of the 
 provinces, the very first declaration made subse- 
 quently was to this effect: " The Chilian State is 
 one and indivisible, directed by one sole govern- 
 ment and one sole legislature." Now, again, Don 
 Juan Egana's erudition, skill and patient labor 
 were brought into requisition; and a convention 
 being called, a more successful attempt ended in 
 the constitution of 1823, which somehow, although 
 the nation accepted it, they never liked. Public 
 power was vested, first, in a Supreme Director; 
 second, in a senate of nine members; third, in a 
 National Chamber, something over fifty members; 
 fourth, in provincial Assemblies, with powers of 
 censure, supervision and local legislation; and 
 fifth and finally, in a Judiciary, comprising a court
 
 38 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 of Conciliation, another courb of Appeals, and a 
 Supreme Court. Although a benevolent spirit of 
 civic virtue pervaded thi^ constitution, it fell into 
 the error of attempting to govern too much. One 
 most obnoxious clause specified that " every citi- 
 zen must be a Roman Catholic, unless exempt by 
 special vote of the Legislature." It contained, 
 however, another more valuable clause: " In Chili 
 there are no slaves; he who treads the soil for one 
 natural day shall be free. Any one engaged in the 
 slave trade may not reside here more than one month, 
 and never can become naturalized ." All born in the 
 country were Chilians, as well as those born abroad 
 of Chilian parents; foreigners residing here mar- 
 ried to Chilenos, domieilated according to the laws 
 and exercising a i^rofession or calling; and also 
 foreigners married with foreigners, (after a year s 
 residence) having legal domicile and means of 
 living. 
 
 This Constitution, as intimated, did not satisfy, 
 and in 1825 was set aside. General Freire re- 
 signed, alleging that it was not possible to govern 
 with a constitution which the people resisted. The 
 Senate opposed him in asking for its abrogation; 
 but a popular uprising in Santiago, July 24, 1825, 
 made Freire Dictator, when he abolished the con- 
 stitution altogether. A series of ineffectual at- 
 tempts to reorganize followed, lasting through the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 39 
 
 next three years. Eeforms were proposed, resolu- 
 tions were made, a confederation of the provinces 
 was attempted. Some desired more freedom in re- 
 ligion; some, thinking: there was too much, desired 
 less; and finally, in 1828, a new constitution was 
 l^romulgated, in the time of Vice President Pinto, 
 father of the recent President of that name, who 
 said on presen'ing it to the na'ion: "The day for 
 consolidating- our liberty has arrived. It cannot 
 exist without organic laws. Now we have them. 
 They are not the product of force, but of reason 
 The times have gone by in which fortune con- 
 demned us to blind obedience to unlimited power. 
 The laws among us are now compacts, that rest on 
 the free use of our prerogatives. This Constitu- 
 tion ensures to the holy religion you profess an ef- 
 ficient protection, placing it at the front of all our 
 institutions; while it establishes the most formid- 
 able guarantees against the abuse of an}"^ authority, 
 against all excess in the use of power. * * * 
 The provinces will not longer fluctuate between 
 dangerous turbulence and unlimited dependence 
 on the Government." 
 
 This Constitution did not, however, give peace; 
 on the contrary, torrents of blood followed in civil 
 war, and then it was re-cinded. Its j^rovisions, it 
 was alleged, were ambiguous; the suffrage too 
 widely extended; too frequent elections also were
 
 40 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 complained of, and that officials in provinces could 
 too easily resist the supreme Government. All 
 may be summed up in a word : It was felt that a 
 stronger central power must be had to control the 
 nation, maintain justice in it, and develoj) its 
 strength. Parties took up arms. On the seven- 
 teenth of April, 1830, the battle of Lircai was 
 fought, after which the victorious General Prieto 
 was named provincial President of the Republic, 
 and a new code immediately drafted, being still 
 really "that of 1828, with reforms and additions." 
 This is the Constitution promulgated in 1833, un- 
 der which, from that day till now, the country has 
 made most gratifying progress; not, however, with- 
 out conflict, for two wasting though unsuccessful 
 civil wars have occurred in the interval — one in '51 
 and the other in '59 — not to mention the attempt at 
 revolution in 1837, when Don Diego Portales, the 
 head of the Cabinet and moving spirit of the ad- 
 ministration, lost his life, treacherously assassin- 
 ated by the soldiery of Valparaiso. 
 
 The general sentiment now is that much is due 
 to this energetic, far-seeing, prompt and patriotic 
 citizen. My own impression has been that his 
 methods were arbitrary; but when we remember 
 that he arranged to p ly the debts owed to the na- 
 tions of Europe, that he introduced order into the 
 public offices and courts of la-vy, and that he
 
 past3 and presekt. 41 
 
 brought order out of chaos during those important 
 years between 1830 and '37, which were the form- 
 ative period of the Republic's life, we cannot go 
 amiss in thinking that he well deserves the esteem 
 in which thousands hold his memory, and the 
 statue that has been erected to his memory, stand- 
 ing to-day in front of the palace of the Moneda in 
 Santiago. 
 
 This brings us near to our own time; and I think 
 that it may be fairly judged that an organic law, 
 under which during fifty years a nation has doubled 
 its population, augmented eight-fold its commerce 
 with the world, widened its sphere of individual 
 and associated freedom, maintained well the ad- 
 ministration of justice, grown into the respect of 
 the nations of the earth, waged successfully three 
 foreign and put down two civil wars, merits being 
 considered a success, so that to-day it does honor 
 to the forethought, justice and patriotism of those 
 who in 1830 framed it.
 
 CHAPTKR V. 
 
 Physical Disabilities — Indian Blood — Lack of Democracy — 
 E^idences of Superiority — Early Impressions Concerning 
 the Country — Good and Bad Manners— The Typical Rich 
 Man — The Effect of Politeness — Untruthfulness — Educa,- 
 tion of the Ladies — The Middle Classes — The Independent 
 Poor Man — His Condition, Dress and Minner of Living — 
 Washerwomen— The Cause of Poverty — The Number who 
 can Read and Write — Dignified Politicians — Chili an Ex- 
 ception to the other Nations of South America — Murders 
 in Panama— Pern imbuco — Obedience to Law — The Ceme- 
 tery Bill — Interference of Women — Death of a Bishop — 
 The Greatest Nation. 
 
 ^HEN we for a moment consider the physi- 
 l§ll% cal disabilities alone with which Chili is 
 beset, we can but conclude that it is inhab- 
 ited by no ordinary people. 
 
 In every direction nature has erected barriers 
 almost impassable, thus separating it from all other 
 nations of the world — shutting out the civilization 
 of the enlightened and friendly, and forming a 
 wall of defense against those seeking to do her 
 harm. 
 
 The great wilderness of Patagonia is on the 
 south, with its rugged mountains, steep slopes, 
 perpetual rains, and impenetrable forests near the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 43 
 
 coast; while farther up in the Cordilleras, piercing 
 blasts sweep almost incessantly, and snow, sleet 
 and rain prevail during the entire year. 
 
 On the north is the rainless, lifeless desert, known 
 as Atacama, whose lon^ stretch of barren, sandy 
 plains, with the heat of an almost tropical clime, 
 reader j^enetration an impossibility. On the east 
 are the snow-capped Andes, whii;h can be crossed 
 only in summer months, and that, too, by moun- 
 tain passes of perilous heights. And on the west 
 are the great wastes of the Pacific Ocean, whose 
 thoroughfares were long far remote from those of 
 the civilized world. 
 
 Besides being thus excluded from the civilzing 
 influences of the world, Chili inherited at her birth 
 a condition of religious dirkness, of its If a usurper 
 of power, an enemy to progression, and a breeder 
 of dissensions and immoralities. The independent 
 nation of Araucanian Indians have, by intermarriage, 
 disseminated their blood, as well as their slovenly 
 habits, among the lower clashes largely throughout 
 the nation. Again, the political constitution de- 
 prives the poor and ignorant of the right of suf- 
 frage, making it the least democratic of all the 
 republics in the world. But, notwithstanding all 
 these unfavorable conditioas, while other neigh- 
 boring nations of kindred race, far more favored 
 in their natural surroundings, have languished iu
 
 44 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 darkness, Chili, gradually overcoming the obstacles 
 besetting her, has gained for herself no mean dis- 
 tinction of being the foremost and most enlightened 
 nation in all South America, t'chool-houses for 
 the education of the masses are supported in every 
 town and village. The printing press is an educa- 
 tor, doing its work without molestation or inter- 
 ference, and railroad and telegraphic communica- 
 tions connect all the principal seaports and cities. 
 Before I took up my abode among these people I 
 received an impression that the Chilians were about 
 half civilized, wretched fellows, poorly dressed, 
 with no refinement, and but little education. This 
 impression was very incorrect, and again, correct; 
 for there is such a variety of character in this land, 
 and so many conditions of existence, that they are 
 both civilized and uncivilized; they are educated 
 and unedcated; they are polite and impolite; they 
 are well dressed and poorly dressed; they are 
 very rich and very poor; in fact, they are anything, 
 they are everything, they are nothing. They live in 
 beautiful houses, grandly and richly furnished with 
 everything convenient and luxurious, or they live in 
 dirt hovels, and eat clams, fish and boiled beans for 
 a principal diet. But running through all classes of 
 society is to be seen one national characteristic — a 
 quick, sensational, emotional nature, that makes 
 the Chilino soldier a dreadful foe, and the Chilino
 
 TYPICAL CHILIANS OF THE BETTER CLASS.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 45 
 
 gentleman an enthusiastic supporter of what he 
 deems right. 
 
 The typical rich man, young and old, dresses 
 every day in beautiful costume; his clothes are 
 never soiled or threadbare in the least; his hair is 
 always neatly combed; bis shirt-cufts, beautiful 
 and white, extend just so far down on his hand to 
 exactness. He studies jDoliteness and perfection 
 of manners; he will hold his slender cane daintily 
 in his hand, tip his silk hat, bow gracefully and 
 low, aud give you a hearty shake of the hand as 
 often as he meets you. If you call on him, he will 
 assure you that everything he has is yours — his 
 house, himself, and family and servants are all at 
 your disj)osal. His wife, often beautiful, aud al- 
 ways beautifully dressed, will smile thiough two 
 or three coats of paint, and assure you that in meet- 
 ing you she is happier than ever before. 
 
 And still many of these people are very impolite. 
 They will often criticise you in your absence; and 
 a gentleman, at a public dinner, in your own par- 
 lor, or wherever you chance to meet, will pufif to- 
 bacco smoke in your wife's face by the hour. 
 
 The great politeness of the rich has two notice- 
 able eflects upon the nation: First, it induces all 
 the middle and lower classes to be polite also, and 
 to carry with them a certain polish that is pleasing 
 and commendable. The servants are very polite j
 
 46 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 and the commonest, poorest, dirtiest boy or girl, 
 half-clad, who carries on his head a basket of fruit, 
 and bawls, in a painful monotone, "Quiere com- 
 prar duraznos ?" — "Do you want to buy some peach- 
 es ?" — would not think of entering the hall or open 
 court of your house without removing the load from 
 his head and making a graceful bow. And again, 
 these lower classes are very vulgar. They do not 
 hesiiate, if curiosity is at all aroused, to peer into 
 your parlor windows, flattening their noses against 
 he glass and staring at you in a very interesting 
 but distressing manner; and they do not hesitate 
 to attend to nature's calls, committing shameful 
 outrages in the streets, often disgracefully exposing 
 themselves to the eyes of the refined and cultured 
 passer-by. 
 
 The second effect is, the people as a whole learn 
 to have but little regard for truth. They do not 
 seem to consider lying harmful, but regard it in 
 the light of innocent amusement. Call an American 
 a liar, and you offer him the greatest insult; call a 
 Chilino a liar, and he merely shrugs his shoulders, 
 as though it were of minor importance. I have met 
 many ladies and gentlemen of culture, who are ex- 
 ceptions to this rule, but they are decidedly excep 
 tions, and the rule holds well. 
 
 Perhaps this condition of untruthfulness is not 
 entirely attributable to the over-politeness of the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 47 
 
 rich, but it certainly is founded there. The desire 
 to please and appear to be pleased leads to so much 
 flattery that truth thereby is ignored. A. gain, the 
 whole fabric of social life is so constructed as to 
 augment these conditions The ladies have com- 
 pleted their education when they have become 
 proficient in music and fancy-work, and know how 
 to read and write well. History, literature, mathe- 
 matics and the sciences form no part of their men- 
 tal make-up. Their reading generally consists of 
 sensational novels; and, as they are not educated 
 to assume any great responsibility in the house- 
 hold or nursery, life is relieved of the wholesome 
 joys derived from labor, and thus becomes monot- 
 onous. As the mind must have occupation, it seeks 
 it in the lower channels of social gossip. So it 
 happens that the fair lady who is so seemingly 
 delighted in your presence will measure you, not 
 so much by the amount of your brain as by the 
 condition of your finger-nails; should these be out of 
 order, be assured that, when you are gone, you will 
 be a subject of remark with the next neighbor, and 
 will not be pronounced genteel. 
 
 The typical man occupying a lower social con- 
 dition is very like his neighbor in higher life. He 
 may have nothing in his home, but still, in his 
 manner and as far as possible in his dress, he is 
 like the rich man.
 
 48 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 But the poor man of Chili is an entirely different 
 being, with a different individuality, peculiar to 
 himself. He has no relations with his rich neigh- 
 bor other than to serve him and regard him as a 
 great personage. He makes no attempt to ape him 
 in dress; on the contrary, he wears a slouch hat, a 
 pair of dirty pants rolled up at the bottom, and 
 something that might be called a shirt. If the 
 weather is wai'm, he is bare-footed; if cold, and he 
 can afford them, he clatterslaround in a pair of 
 clogs with wood soles an inch thick; if he cannot 
 afford them, he goes with bare feet winter and sum- 
 mer. In winter he wears a heavy blanket over his 
 shoulders, with a slit in the middle through which 
 he puts his head. 
 
 His wants are very few; he is content to live in 
 a dirt hovel, with earthen floor, but little light, and 
 in a condition of misery and filth that invites dis- 
 ease and death. His furniture consists of a broken 
 chair, a box, a rude bed, and his wife prepares his 
 meals over a kettle of coals in their one room. 
 
 The typical poor man in Chili is patient, slow 
 and slovenly. He brings up his sons and daugh- 
 ters without education, and they have no more 
 hopeful outlook than to go to service in the rich 
 man's house. Happy indeed is the young rustic 
 who can become servant to a gentleman who pays 
 him the meager salary of eight dollars per month,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 49 
 
 and his food from the refuse of the table. The 
 daughter can go to service as cook at a salary 
 ranging from three dollars to ten dollars per month, 
 or as chambermaid or body-servant at less rates. 
 The wife will cany around on her head a basket of 
 fruit, which she peddles from door to door, or, 
 seeking some favorite street corner, patiently awaits 
 her customers, content with a profit of a few pen- 
 nies for each day's labor. 
 
 Women may seek other avocations. They may, 
 perhaps, if the husband or father has had sufficient 
 finigalty, drive for him his yoke of oxen hitched by 
 the head to a lumbering cart, and sell for him wood 
 prepared for the stove, or the farm produce. 
 
 But the greatest of all drudgery is borne by the 
 poor washer-woman. How they live God alone 
 knows. It makes the tender heart bleed to see 
 these humble creatures, with a poor excuse for a 
 dress pinned high around the waist, standing ankle 
 deep in the cold water of the rivers, pounding the 
 dirt from the clothes. Water is never heated in 
 Chili for washing purposes; neither is soap used 
 extensively. The woman or young girl with a large 
 bundle of clotheson her head to be cleansed, seeks 
 a favored spot on the banks of a running stream 
 where there is a] projecting rock, and there, stand- 
 ing in water almost ice cold, she moistens the gar- 
 ments one at a time, and laying them upon the rock
 
 50 CIVILIZATION m CHILI. 
 
 pounds the dirt from them with a clvib or wooden 
 paddle. I never saw whiter lin^n than is found in 
 Chili; and for a while it was a mystery, until I 
 learned that from three to four days are required to 
 do an ordinary family washing. The clothes are 
 wet and jDOunded and bleached, over and over, 
 again and again, until they are not only clean, but 
 clear and white. I have seen these poor women 
 dining the cold winter months, when the chilly, 
 penetrating rains would drench their garments 
 through, and when I was compelled to dress in 
 flannels and overcoat, standing with feet and 
 ankles bare in the cold stream, six or seven hours 
 every day in the week. Still, they seem to be con- 
 tented with their lot. 
 
 The condition of the poor is terrible. Everything 
 is comparatively expensive but muscle, which is of 
 but little value. A suit of clothes for a man costs 
 from forty -five to one hundred dollars. A pair of 
 shoes are worth from six to Bfteen dollars, and 
 breadstuff is very high — far beyond the means of 
 the ordinary laborer, compelling him to live on the 
 coarsest and plainest of food. 
 
 Besides this condition of poverty, a large portion 
 of the people can neither read nor write. Accord- 
 ing to the last census there were 382,575 persons 
 who could read, 415,893 who could read and write,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 51 
 
 and 1,177,502 who could do neither. The latter 
 are all of the poorer classes. 
 
 This, however, is no fault of the General Govern- 
 ment. The appropriation made by Congress, in 
 the year 1882, for educational purposes, amounted 
 to almost one and a half million of dollars, or 
 about seventy-five cents for every man, woman 
 and child in the nation. There are also public 
 libraries, and many schools established purposely 
 for the poor. The Government is even making ar- 
 rangements whereby education can be brought 
 within reach of a lai'ge body of the Araucanian 
 Indians occupying the beautiful territory bearing 
 their name. 
 
 Nor is it, in my judgment, any fault of Govern- 
 ment that the poor people are in such a deplorable 
 condition of poverty and distress. All kinds of 
 farm produce bring extravagant prices: a good fat 
 pig is worth from ihu'ty to fifty dollars; eggs are 
 never worth less than forty cents a dozen; butter 
 is always worth fifty cents a pound — and these 
 prices do not change materially. 
 
 I have no theory that would account for the pov- 
 erty of the poor, other than it is due to their natural 
 indolence; they seem to be, as a rule, conten'ed, 
 and to desire nothing better. In fact, I strongly 
 suspect that they have inherited much of the In- 
 dian's characteristics of slovenliness and indisposi-
 
 62 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 tion to work, and that they are therefore contented 
 to live a miserable hand-to-mouth existence. 
 
 This theory is well supported by the fact that in 
 times of war the Chilina soldier — who, excepting 
 the officers, is always of the lower class — is as in- 
 flammable as tinder. The great army is composed 
 of the very lowest scum of society; but their quick 
 resolution, their fearless determination, make them 
 terrible in times of battle. In the war with Peru 
 and Bolivia, everything was carried by storm at the 
 point of the bayonet, in a hand-to-hand encounter. 
 Who could resist them ? What body of men could 
 stand before them ? 
 
 The typical Chilina politician is always a man of 
 dignity and wealth, and I believe, as a rule, is 
 tolerably free from the intrigue and rascality so 
 common in those seeking office. 
 
 So much cannot be said of all South American 
 countries. Personal observations made in the 
 United States of Colombia lead me to believe that 
 the average politician of that republic is a man of 
 no great moral character. All society is in a ter- 
 rible condition; marriage laws are disregarded, and 
 a system of concubinage seems to be in vogue. A 
 man who has a little money lives almost beyond 
 the control of any law the legislative body may 
 enact. In Panama, in the year 1882, a woman, 
 somewhat noted for her beauty, quit her lawful
 
 PAST AND PRBSENT. 63 
 
 husband and took up her abode with a rich neigh- 
 bor, living as his wife. In a short time, however, 
 she repented and returned to her first love; where- 
 upon the rich neighbor employed a "native," for 
 the sum of two dollars, to murder the favored hus- 
 band. It was to be no half-way affair, as the con- 
 tract required the head to be entirely severed from 
 the body. The "native" did not seek to cover his 
 crime by the darkness of night, but went at it, busi- 
 ness-like, in the day time . He called upon his vic- 
 tim, ate breakfast with him, invited hira into the 
 front yard, slew him, cut off his head, and killed an- 
 other man who tried to interfere. The murderer was 
 arrested, but upon the payment of thirty-seven dol- 
 lars to the government officials by his employer, he 
 was set at liberty and stood ready for another job. 
 
 In Peru, law apparently has only been obeyed 
 when it has suited the convenience of the rich man 
 to obey it. In fact, the average citizen of that ill- 
 fated country seems only to have lived to plunder 
 his government. "As rich as Peru," has become an 
 adage; but, while it is immensely rich in natural 
 resources, it is also very rich in rottenness. 
 
 In Pernambuco, Brazil, in the year 1883, the 
 leading daily newspaper criticised the police of 
 that town very severely for taking a well-dressed 
 man a prisoner and marching him through the 
 streets. The complaint was that the man was
 
 54 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 dressed as a gentleman, and that such treatment 
 belonged only to the lower classes. 
 
 But the Chilina politician, being a thorough pa- 
 triot, enacts only such laws as he hopes will be' 
 obeyed and as he believes will be for the welfare 
 of the Reijublic. 
 
 After the famous cemetery bill, compelling the 
 authorities (the jjriests had always had charge of 
 the cemeteries, and collected a death tax of eight 
 dollars on every person who died, but refused Pro- 
 testants the right of burial) to permit the burial of 
 Protestants in public cemeteries, had passed both 
 houses of Congress and was awaiting the signature 
 of the President to become a law, that gentleman 
 was visited by a delegation of three hundred of the 
 wealthiest, most influential ladies in the state, re- 
 questing him to veto the bill. 
 
 They were the wives of senators and churchmen 
 of great standing, and^ the reported value of the 
 jewels they wore upon the occasio i was a million of 
 dollars. The President received them with great 
 courtesy, but the bill was duly signed and became 
 a law. 
 
 Of such importance was this cemetery bill, that 
 upon its passage being heralded over the land, the 
 Bishop of Concepcion, the most influential Jesuit 
 in all South America, and a man of powerful phy- 
 sique, fell dead from the shock. The wealthy Cath-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 55 
 
 olics, moreover, commenced a wholesale removal 
 of their dead, to bury them in churches, and in 
 private houses, but were stopped short by the 
 prompt enactment of another law maldug it a crime 
 to remove the dead without sufficient cause. 
 
 This political energy and discriminating wisdom 
 has made of Chili the most intelligent nation in all 
 South America. Small, but wonderfully energetic, 
 she is, one by one, lopping o£f the dead limbs of 
 superstition and ignorance inherited at her birth, 
 and is marching forward with rapid strides to 
 write her name high among the list of civilized 
 nations in the world.
 
 CHAPTKR VI. 
 
 Gold Horseshoes — Rich Wheatfields — Araucanians — Large 
 Women — A Wonderful Miracle — Pehuenchea, Llanistas, 
 CastinoB — A Visit to the Llanistas — A Chief and our Re- 
 ception — Skulls for Drinking Vessels — Fighting in the 
 Clouds — A Spirit Volcano — Bumblebee Heaven — A Present 
 — Resurrection of the Dead— Child-birth— Early Education 
 — The Devil as a School Master — Public Speakers — Witch- 
 craft and Witch Doctors— Great Surgical Operation- 
 Sleight of Hand — Big Medicine Men — House Raising and 
 Feaiting— Foot Ball— Justice— The Blcod of the Lamb 
 and its Signification. 
 
 sHEN Valdivia desired to recruit his army, 
 while attempting to overthrow the dusky 
 ^ f Araucanians, he shod his favorite mare 
 with shoes made of pure gold, driven on with head- 
 less nails, and appeared thus before the Peruvians. 
 The nest day, while racing for a high wager against 
 a horse owned by one of the princes of the country, 
 the golden shoes, as Valdivia expected, were left 
 on the race course. When the common people 
 gathered them up and took them to their owner, 
 eipecting to be handsomely rewarded, he said: 
 ".Keep them, my countiymen; in the land of Chili, 
 whither I shall soon return, riches are to be had 
 for the gathering. There gold and silver are but
 
 PAST AKD PRESENT. 57 
 
 little valued; here they will serve to make you 
 comfortable." A great army accompanied him on 
 his return. 
 
 "Winding around the Bio-Bio, and emerging into 
 the great plain of the Veragara river, I was led to 
 believe that Valdivia's statement was almost the 
 truth — " Riches are to be had for the gathering." 
 As far as the eye could reach were great fields of 
 grain. Such grain ! Golden fields of ripened wheat 
 were being harvested that would yield from thirty 
 to forty bushels per acre. The land is immensely 
 rich, and but little cultivation is required. Who 
 are those dusky men and maidens that wield the 
 reap-hook, bind the gathered grain into bundles, 
 and pause anon to wipe the gatnered sweat from 
 their brows ? They are Araucanians. Civilization 
 has conquered them, and they form a great body 
 of plodding, patient laborers, who work for a mere 
 pittance, and help make this a land where riches 
 are gathered easily. 
 
 Yes, we are in Araucania. When the Spaniards 
 gave them — the Araucanians — their independence, 
 a great law was enacted by the wise men which 
 punished any Indian with death who would be 
 guilty of selling his lands to the white man. Even 
 thirty years ago any one was considered venture- 
 some to travel in this country. But now it is all 
 owned by men who, if they are not white, would
 
 58 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 be greatly insulted to be called anything else, and 
 who are intelligent enough to reap great riches 
 and to have happy homes. 
 
 How fat and stalwart those dusky maidens! 
 What broad shoulders, great fat arms, immense 
 bosoms and broad sides! No wonder they can 
 work; no wonder they can bear children as easily 
 as the animals of the forest; no wonder that the 
 wife, when the husband gets drunk and unruly, 
 can take the lash and flog him into submission, as 
 I have often seen done! 
 
 But when I look into their faces, and see the 
 sweat streaming down, leaving lines and furrows 
 washed out through the dirt, I am inclined to be- 
 lieve Diegoss' story of the Virgin Mary having 
 thrown dust in their eyes. He solemnly records it 
 as a matter of history, that, during one of the 
 many battles of Concepcion, when the fighting In 
 dians were suddenly reinforced by an addition of 
 forty thousand warriors, and the Sjjaniards were 
 almost overcome, the Virgin suddenly appeared on 
 a beautiful white horse with fiery nostrils, and or- 
 dered the Indians to desist. Awed for a moment 
 by her great beauty and the terrible light of her 
 eyes, they suddenly recovered, determined to take 
 her captive, and complete their work of destruction. 
 But the Virgin, having great compassion for them, 
 did no further harm than to seize a handful of
 
 Photo, by Dlez y Spencer, Santiago. 
 
 ARAUCANIAN CHIEF AND HIS FAMILY.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 59 
 
 dust and sprinkle it in their eyes, whereupon they 
 all became blind and fled. 
 
 The Araucauians, as they now exist, are divided 
 into three tribes — the Pehuenches, inhibiting the 
 pine groves (Pehuen) of the Andes; the Llanistas, 
 living in the central plain (Llanos); and the Casti- 
 nos, who have submitted to the Government and 
 form the great body of laborers of whom I have 
 just spoken. The two former ti'ibes are quite 
 warlike, live in entire independence of the govern- 
 ment of Chili, and retain many of the customs of 
 the primitive or indigenous people 
 
 Determined to visit the Llanistas, who are said 
 to be the most independent and warlike, in com- 
 pany with three guards, an interpreter and two 
 gentlemen friends, I left the military capital of 
 Angol on horseback, and proceded southward to 
 their territory. After traveling seven days, much 
 of the time among the wilds, and during which, 
 sundry halts were made for fishing and hunting, 
 we came to an Indian camp. 
 
 Before we reached the houses, we were met by a 
 young Indian who had evidently been sent to 
 inquire who we were and where we belonged. Our 
 interpreter assured him that we were friends; that 
 we had written passports from the great white 
 Governor of Concepcion; and that we had come a 
 long way to see the great chief and his people.
 
 60 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 The young man told us that we were heartily- 
 welcome, and although the chief lived farther down 
 the river, the under-chief, who was himself a man 
 of valor, would be glad to entertain us . He es- 
 coiied us at once to that worthy's house. A man 
 of powerful frame, an immense head, a low but 
 broad and intelligent brow, met us at the door. 
 When informed who we were, he shook hands with 
 us all around, and bade us enter his dwelling. It 
 was quite roomy, contained three compartments, 
 and was made of logs and mud, and thatched with 
 straw. 
 
 As soon as we entered, dressed skins were spread 
 upon the earthen floor for us to sit upon, and the 
 chief introduced his favorite squaw, who placed 
 before us horn cups of cider, taken from an earthen 
 vessel. Before we drank, however, the chief, whose 
 name I never could spell, but which sounded like 
 "Loamqui," and which, as we afterwards learned, 
 meant "who is fat," told our interpreter that his 
 squaw would drink first. This, he said, was the 
 custom of his people when anything was placed 
 before a guest to drink; and it went to show that 
 the drink was not poisoned. 
 
 The cider, which is called "chicha," we all knew 
 well was not unpleasant to the taste; but knowing 
 that the Indians, big, little, old and young, some- 
 times perform an important part in its manufacture
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 61 
 
 by taking repeated mouthfuls of grain, chewing it 
 into pulp and spitting it in a large vessel to fer- 
 ment, we had a delicacy about accepting Loamqui's 
 treat. But our interpreter assured us that we 
 would give great offense if we refused, and himself 
 setting the example, we all drank our horn cup of 
 cider, or all pretended that we drank it; for, ob- 
 serving that none were looking at me, I poured 
 mine on the wooly sheepskin on which I sat. 
 
 Loamqui then told us that he had thirteen wives, 
 twenty-one ponies, and a large number of sheep. 
 He said his people were all very happy, as were all 
 the tribe to which he belonged. They had much 
 to eat, were at peace with eveiybody, and all had 
 good homes. The smallpox had raged among 
 them fearfully, about foiu- years before, and carried 
 off great numbers; but still the Llanistas, he as- 
 sured us, were a great nation of people. 
 
 Some one of oui* party then told him that we had 
 read with pleasure about the way in which his fore- 
 fathers had withstood the Spaniards, and that we 
 knew they must be a very great nation of warriors 
 from that fact. The chief seemed greatly pleased, 
 and said something to his favorite squaw, who at 
 once left the room, soon to return with an armful 
 of human skulls. The face part was cutaway from 
 each of these, and some of them looked very old, 
 and were worn perfectly smooth.
 
 62 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Loamqui assured us that they were the skulls of 
 men of great rank, who had been slain in battle 
 while fighting his people. Some of them, he said, 
 had been handed down from one generation to an- 
 other for a long period of time, and were used by 
 the chiefs and wise men for drinking vessels on 
 great occasions. The others had been taken from 
 persons in his own time, and were used also for 
 diinking vessels during all ordinary feasts. 
 
 Being anxious to learn all E could about these 
 people, I told our interpreter to ask Loamqui if he 
 were not afraid of some of the slain coming bac to 
 reclaim those skulls. He was very certain, he said 
 in reply, that it could not happen; for the Spaniards 
 who died were well entertained in the clouds by 
 fighting the departed Indians. 
 
 In reply to the question whether all Indians go 
 to the clouds at death, he said they do not; only 
 the great ones go there -those who have been great 
 warriors and have distinguished themselves in ba*:- 
 tle. When these departed braves are mad, their 
 friends on earth can always tell it by seing their 
 anger in the shape of lightning; and when they 
 have a great battle with then' enemies, and the en- 
 emies are beaten, it is always known by the thunder, 
 which is their cry of distress. 
 
 A very great chief, who has led his people through 
 many successful battles, goes to a better place, and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 63 
 
 is distingmshed by becoming a volcano; when such 
 an one gets mad he always spits out much fire and 
 steam . 
 
 When a common Indian dies, he continued to 
 inform us, he at once becomes a bumblebee, which 
 has nothing to do but to wander up and down the 
 earth eating sweet things. The friends of such de- 
 parted never have a feast but what they put pome 
 chicha, sugar and other good things upon the gi-ave 
 of the depai'ted, so that the bumblebee into which 
 he has entered can have its share. 
 
 After we had been entertained for an hour or 
 more, we told Loamqui that if he would excuse us 
 we would retire, pitch our tent for the night' and 
 get our supj)ers. He assured us that he had sent 
 for a young sheep, and that he could serve us well 
 and with much i^leasure. But no amount of per- 
 suasion could induce us to accept his hospitality; 
 and after we had made many excuses he seemed 
 satisfied to let us go; but before retii'ing we made 
 him a present of a new, red blanket and a pair of 
 leggings, to his infinite delight. 
 . On oiu' emerging from the house, to our aston- 
 ishment our horses were nowhere to be seen, but 
 our man John, the interpreter, said it was all light, 
 the squaws had provided for them, and we had best 
 make no inquiries. It was but a few minutes till 
 our saddles, blankets and tent were all brought to
 
 64 OITILIZATION IN OHELI. 
 
 US, and before we had things in order to cook our 
 supper a young squaw laid at our feet the slain 
 sheep, as a present from the chief. 
 
 We had an excellent, refreshing sleep, and in 
 the morning John told us more about the Arau- 
 canians' religious belief. Putting his head out the 
 tent door, or entrance way, and observing that it 
 was veiy cloudy, he said : 
 
 "Perhaps now we will have a battle." 
 
 "Why, John?" 
 
 "Because it is going to rain. If there should be 
 a thunder storm, these Indians would all conclude 
 that a battle is going on in the clouds, and that 
 the Spaniards, or other enemies with whom they 
 are fighting, are crying much, through fear and 
 distress, as the chief said. I have seen whole vil- 
 lages turn out in the rain to cheer the Indians in 
 the cloud-battle." 
 
 "But," he continued, "when the storm is clear- 
 ing away they have one sure sign, which always 
 tells who has won the battle : if the clouds move to- 
 ward the village, the Indians have been victorious, 
 and there is much rejoicing; if they move from it, 
 they are certain that they have been defeated, and 
 then they are sorrowful." 
 
 "Old Loamqui didn't tell us," he went on to 
 say, "that the whole tribe of Castinos believe in 
 the resurrection of the body; but it's a fact, sir.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 65 
 
 They believe that the dead pass at once into a hap- 
 py hunting ground in the far west, where each 
 Indian has a piece of land, and all the wild animals 
 he can slay and eat forever. When one of that 
 tribe dies his favorite horse is slain to accompany 
 him, and all his jewels and other trinkets are bur- 
 ried with him for his use in the happy land. I 
 have known them to put food on a grave every 
 night for weeks, and when the wild animals, such 
 as foxes or wolves, would eat it during the dark- 
 ness, the friends would feel sure that the departed 
 had eaten it to give him strength on his journey." 
 
 John then went on to tell us that all these In- 
 dians are very superstitious. Every dream is sup- 
 posed to mean something, aod they confidently 
 look for its fulfillment. The singing of a certain 
 kind of a bird is a bad omen and augurs death. 
 The twitching of the muscles in the left arm also 
 foretells death; and if it should occur en route for 
 the field of battle, the whole army will turn back. 
 If they see a fawn on the left side of the road, it 
 foretells sickness or ill-luck; on the right side, as- 
 sures long life with plenty to eat and numerous 
 friends. 
 
 After a delicious breakfast of savory meat from 
 the lamb supplied by Loamqui, we strolled down 
 the banks of a creek running close by, and there 
 saw a woman, in a secluded spot, washing what we
 
 66 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 afterwards learned was a new-born infant. We 
 also learned that a woman in child-birth is com- 
 pelled to flee to the river or some other place where 
 there is water and seclusion, and there endure her 
 sorrows alone. When she starts on this journey, 
 she flings a stone at the sun, if it is shining, 
 or at the moon or a bright star, if it be in the night 
 time, and says: "May my offspring be as bright as 
 thou art, and may my sufferings be as swift as the 
 flight of this stone." 
 
 As soon as the child is born she bathes it and 
 herself in the cold water of the creek, no matter 
 howinc'ement the weather, and then returns to 
 her home. But instead of finding friends she finds 
 the house deserted — her husband and all the other 
 inmates of the family having gone to a neighboring 
 house. Even the furniture and everything else 
 but a new suit of clothes for the woman, and some 
 skins for her to lie upon have been removed. She 
 is compelled to remain there for eight days alone, 
 when her friends return. The babe is then named, 
 generally after some bird or animal, as Spotted 
 Crow, Big Tiger, or Great Bear; and the whole is 
 attended with much ceremony and feasting. 
 
 This, however, is hardly a commencement of 
 the new-comer's career, and his cold bath at the 
 creek upon whose banks he was born is only a hint 
 pf what he has to endure. He is firmly bound to a
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 67 
 
 board, so that he can be conveniently set away in a 
 corner, and his cold bath is continued daily through 
 childhood, without fire and with but a scanty allow- 
 ance of clothing. In his early boyhood, in order 
 to teach him to endure hardships, he is compelled 
 to eat and sleep out of doors in all kinds of weather, 
 and is never given a mouthful of meat. If the boy 
 should become too fat on his vegetable diet and his 
 life of exposure, the friends at once give him a trial. 
 He is sent on an errand on which he is required to 
 be very fleet; but if he does not run fast enough, 
 he is pursued by swift runners, who prick him with 
 sharp irons to let the blood out, so that he will be- 
 come lighter and run faster. He is then denied 
 salt, as they believe it is the salt that makes him 
 heavy and fat. If the poor child dies during this 
 terrible exposure, the parent fee's sure that he has 
 become a happy bumble-bee, and is much better 
 satisfied than to have him grow up a sickly Arau- 
 canian. 
 
 But the Indian boy who thrives under such 
 harsh treatment soon commences an education for 
 his appearance in public. Strange that these people 
 should believe in a devil ! but they do believe in 
 one, and he becomes their school-teacher, too ! I 
 asked Loamqui one day, if he believed the earth 
 had ever been destroyed by water, and he assured 
 me that Cici, the great evil one, had caused the sea
 
 68 CIYILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 to rise over all the earth, as was plain to be seen by 
 the shells and bones found in the high hills and 
 mountains; so 1 concluded that their belief in the 
 devil was a part of the old tradition of the deluge. 
 When the boy is of proper age, he is taken daily to 
 some dark recess, and there the great evil one 
 teaches him the art of public speaking. This ex- 
 ercise is continued until the boy has grown to be a 
 young man, and has learned how to appear well 
 before an audience, and to entertain them with a 
 fine flow of language. 
 
 But the boy's education does not always end with 
 this voice-culture alone; for if he is smart, andean 
 get the consent of the wise men, he can learn how 
 to cure witchcraft, and also how to detect it. All 
 sickness, it is believed, is due to the witches, and 
 when a young man becomes proficient in detecting 
 the witch and the poison she has given to the sick 
 person, he is given the title of "medicine man," and 
 has high honors among all the people. 
 
 When a medicine man is called to see a sick per- 
 son, as we witnessed on our fourth day with Lo- 
 amqui, he converses in a loud, grali' voice for a 
 long time with the devil, calling upon him to know 
 how to cure the sickness. Sometimes the would-be 
 doctor gets instructions to plant a young tree in 
 front of his patient's house; sometimes he holds 
 religious services by rattling a tin can containing
 
 PAST AND PEEflENT. 69 
 
 gravel stones over the sick man's body; and some- 
 times, when the affiicte^l is rich in squaws and herds, 
 and the medicine man desires a great fee, he per- 
 forms a wonderful surgical operation. Truly, they 
 have the cunning and sagacity of medical quacks in 
 the United States ! 
 
 The great surgical operation is attended with 
 much ceremony. The medicine man's attendants 
 beat loudly upon a large drum-like instrument, 
 rattle tin pans and old cast-away buckets, and sing 
 in a fearful monotone, to drive away any lingering 
 witches. The medicine man, meanwhile, bending 
 over the patient, with a blanket covering them both 
 so as to shield them from view, proceeds to remove 
 his —the sick man's — stomach, heart, liver and 
 bowels, in search of the poison given him by the 
 witches. After a long search, he always finds it, 
 and proceeds to show the astonished man and his 
 friends a lizard's tail, which is considered deadly 
 poison, and which he claims he found secreted ia 
 s me of the vital organs He calls upon the friends 
 to witness the fact that although he had just cut 
 him open, not a tiace of it remains — all being 
 healed perfectly, so that the man is as sound as he 
 was before, and is entirely free from the poison ! 
 
 No doubt such a ceremony often so stimulates a 
 man that a reaction takes place, and he gets well. 
 But, should the patient die, the doctor always
 
 70 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 claims'tbat another witch visited him after the great 
 oi^eration was performed, and caused him to take 
 m re deadly poison. 
 
 In case of death, the medicine man is called upon 
 to point out the witch, who is at once killed. 
 
 The devil teaches the doctors many skillful tricks 
 in sleight-of-hand, such as changing noses with 
 people, taking out the eyes and vital organs without 
 pain, and of thrusting a sharpened stick clear 
 through the stomach of any individual. The last 
 one is said to be performed in full \iew of all the 
 people, much to their astonishment and admira- 
 tion; and any man who has learned to perform it 
 is a complete graduate of the devil's college, and is 
 a great man in all the nation. 
 
 The evening of our fourth day among the Llan- 
 istas, Loamqui informed us that the next day some 
 of his relatives across the creek were going to build 
 a house; that he was expected to attend, witness 
 the ceremonies, and participate in the feast, and in- 
 vited us to accompany him. 
 
 Accordingly, the next morning, we found our 
 horses awaiting us, which we soon saddled and 
 mounted, and being joined by the chief, started for 
 the scene of house-raising. The ride only occupied 
 about half an hour. On our way over, the chief 
 informed us that every one who attended the feast 
 was expected to contribute something to eat or to
 
 AEAUCANIAN'S HOME.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 71 
 
 drink, and, knowing that we did not understand 
 the custom of his peoi^le, he had sent over some 
 cider and a small sheep in our name. We thanked 
 him; and one of our party took from his saddle- 
 bags a half dozen strands of large, frosted glass 
 beads, the color of gold, and presented them to him 
 for his kindness. He was more pleased than d child 
 would have been. He held them up to the light, 
 with his face all aglow with satisfaction, then put- 
 ting them around his neck, he galloped his horse 
 three or four times around us as we proceeded on- 
 ward, laughing in great glee all the time. During 
 the whole day he never ceased to think of his 
 beads, and display them to his friends. He would 
 talk and laugh about any commonplace matter, and 
 always end by holding his beads out from his neck 
 so that he could look down upon them, and his 
 face would show every expression of gratification. 
 When we had crossed the creek, we came to a 
 beautiful oj^ening, free from brush and young sap- 
 plings, where were situated five small houses, and 
 where the sixth one was to be erected. As soon as 
 we dismounted, some squaws came forward and 
 took charge of our horses. I noticed that three or 
 four sheep were lying bound among some vessels 
 of cliicha, and some bags of green roasting corn, 
 and that additions were made to these as new 
 guests kept arriving. John assured us that great
 
 72 CIVIIJZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ceremony was observed iu handing in the donations 
 to the feast; that the squaws in charge of the arti- 
 cles presented would always say: "My master prays 
 you to accept a mere trifle as an offering for 
 this great occasion." And that the squaw who re- 
 ceived them would always reply: "How very gen- 
 erous!- Indeed, he ought not to have done so, as 
 nothing of the kind was expected." 
 
 Presently some squaws commenced digging holes 
 in the ground, near by, and we were informed that 
 the ceremonies had commenced. Two other young 
 squaws seized one of the bound sheep, laid it across 
 a log, and while one held it, the other turned over 
 its head and ran a knife into the large vein behind 
 its ear. The sheej) soon bled to death, the blood 
 all being saved for jDudding. 
 
 When the squaws had finished digging the holes, 
 the cider was passed around and the Indians all 
 drank very freely. In about an hour afterwards 
 some posts protruding far enough above the ground 
 to form the four corners of the house were planted 
 in the holes. After the lapse of another hour or 
 so, cross-pieces wei'e bound firmly to the tojis of 
 these posts, and the raising was completed for that 
 day. We were told then by John that it required 
 about a week to complete a house ; that the next 
 day they would weave in the small poles for the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 73 
 
 walls, on another day put up the rafters, and so on, 
 till it was completed. 
 
 Feasting soon commenced; but prior to that we 
 ha i persuaded John to ask Loamqui and his friends 
 to excuse us — the three Americans — telling him 
 that as we had only visited the great nation of 
 Llanistas to learn their ways, we could not observe 
 so well if our stomachs were filled with wine and 
 meats. In view, perhaps, of the golden bead^, and 
 of the readiness with which John and the three 
 guards took hold, we were excused. 
 
 When the company were all seated upon the 
 ground, some clams, jalaced in a wooden trough 
 with a large red pepper upon them, were passed 
 around. Every Indian took a clam, and each one 
 gave the red pepper a suck with his lipg and placed 
 it back. This, we were informed, was a token of 
 everlasting friendship. 
 
 When the clams had all been eaten, great vessels 
 of cider, kettles of cooked corn, and quantities of 
 raw mutton were placed before them. There is no 
 poetry in being a glutton. Those fellows drank 
 chiaha, ate corn and raw meat till they were full; 
 then they rested. Ate and drank, and ate again 
 for two hours longer, till nature could stand no 
 more, and most of them were in a heavy, drunken 
 sleej). 
 
 About five o'clock in the afternoon, the glutton-
 
 74 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ous, drunken sleep having worn off from most of 
 the young men, they indulged in a game of foot- 
 ball. The ball was made of strips of rawhide, 
 covered with many pieces of woolen cloth, so that 
 it would not injure the moccasined foot. So far as 
 I could see, there were no rules regulatinoj the 
 game, and the whole outcome was to see how far 
 and how often each one could kick the ball. They 
 laughed, and yelled, and jostled each other in the 
 scramble for the ball, just as a set of school boys 
 would have done. 
 
 When we returned to our tent that night, we 
 learned that some comjolaint of stealing was to be 
 made to the chief against one of the Indians, and 
 repaired at once to his house. We were all anx- 
 ious to know what kind of justice would be meted 
 to the offender. Loamqui assured us that we were 
 welcome to hear all that should be said on the 
 subject. In a few minutes two young women en- 
 tered and told the chief that they had seen a young 
 man steal some skins from their house during their 
 temporaiy absence He at once sent for the young 
 man and ordered him to either return the skins or 
 pay their full value. The young man denied tak- 
 ing them, but soon returned with others which the 
 girls accepted as equal value, and the case was dis- 
 missed. On inquiry we learned that two witness-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 75 
 
 es ordinarily were enough to establish the guilt of 
 a person accused; that if proven guilty of theft, 
 the injured party must always receive full value for 
 the articles stolen; that if the person was not able 
 to pay, his friends must pay for him; and if thej 
 were not able to do so, the thief was challenged 
 to deadly combat with any of the friends of the in- 
 jured party who were mx^st able to do the fight- 
 ing If the thief should be successful in slaying 
 his adversary, it was generally accepted as evidence 
 that he was not guilty and that a mistake had been 
 made in accusing him. 
 
 It is straDge that the blood of a lamb is an em- 
 blem of safety with these Indians! Such we were 
 assured is the case. "When they go to war, a lamb 
 is killed, and the blood sprinkled upon the arms 
 of the warriors, as a sign that vengeance shall not 
 come upon them. And when they make a treaty 
 of peace the slain lamb is again brought into requi- 
 sition. Each one of the covenanting parties tastes 
 of the blood and eats of the flesh, to show that what 
 is sealed by the blood of innocence shall not be 
 broken . 
 
 The next morning, owing to the expense of our 
 hired horses and guards, we distributed presents 
 to each of Loamqui'ij wives, gave him a large 
 butcher's knife, and took our leave, feeling greatly
 
 76 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 satisfied with our visit, and confirmed in our belief 
 that the Llanistas are a remarkable tribe of In- 
 dians,
 
 CHAPTKR VII. 
 
 A Wicked King— The Conditions of Birth— Falsehoods— Sab- 
 bath-breaking — Prostitutes — Church Services — Image 
 Worship— A Talk in the Church Yard— Crawling to the 
 Cross— Good Effects— Money Making— Church Bells —The 
 People Desire leligion — Blood Money — Belesario Para- 
 Good Friday— "Holy Ghost" in Bad Repute— What Caused 
 Religious Reform— The Burning of a Great Cathedral— 
 3,000 Women Carbonized— The Heavenly Letter BOx— 
 Cowardly and Crafty Priests— Their Ruinous Pracices— 
 The Confessional in Bad Repute. 
 
 ^P^|HILI was born under a very dark oloud. 
 I^lyj During a period in the world's history 
 ^^ when an ill-conditioned, low-browed, 
 lantern - jawed, ignorant king, with small 
 stature and great pretentions, sat on the 
 Spanish throne and dictated to the rulers of 
 more than half the world; during a period when 
 the Spanish Inquisition was hunting down men, 
 women and children of high and low degree, tear- 
 ing them upon the rack, burning them at the stake, 
 drowning them iu rivers, buiying them alive, 
 pinching them to death with red-hot pincers, dis- 
 emboweling them, stinging them to death with 
 bees after they had been skinned from neck to 
 navel — all in the name of Christ; during a time
 
 78 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 when the wicked misrule of the same Spanish mon- 
 arch had so degraded labor that merchants, me- 
 chanics, shop-keepers, and all who acquired wealth 
 by production or traffic of any kind, were degraded 
 and looked upon as dishonorable reptiles; when 
 to cheat, to steal, to lie, to murder were among 
 the greatest privileges of the privileged classes; 
 when to bribe and be bribed, to plunder in all con- 
 ceivable forms, to barter influence and honor, to 
 sell official interviews and offices of trust, were the 
 common practices of ecclesiastical dignitaries, who 
 had obtained a monopoly of such'business> — daring 
 Such a period of corruption and from such ignoble 
 jmrentage the "Kingdom of Chili" was born. 
 
 The child of Spain, it inherited all the folly 
 and corriij)tion of its sire. Its government in all 
 its branches was conducted either by the priests 
 themselves or by parties of their own choosing. 
 Long did the powers of darkness reign. The 
 shackles of Spain were finally thrown oflf, but the 
 shackles of Rome still bound the little nation with 
 the cords of superstition and violence. A great 
 wall of bigotry and religious intolerance completely 
 shut out the light and benefits of religious freedom 
 for many years. And to-day, notwithstanding the 
 fact that by almost miraculous powers the shackles 
 of Rome have been broken, yet by no means have 
 they been cast aside. The priest is still there; and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 79 
 
 the paths of darkness, so long and faithfully trod- 
 den, are still plainl}^ visible. 
 
 As an evidence that Spain was once there, there 
 are still many families of Spanish origin who are 
 as proud and haughty as any grandee under the 
 reign of Charles V. Having obtained gi'eat wealth 
 as well as great ignorance by inheritance, they 
 look upon all artisans and tradesmen as mere 
 feudatory vassals to do their bidding. Consequent- 
 ly labor and the laborer have not the great degree 
 of dignity they deserve. No wealthy man's son 
 would degrade himself by carrying a musket for 
 his country, or by performing any kind of manual 
 labor. The rotos, or ragged men, do it all. In 
 the United States — that "blessed home of the free'' 
 — the laborer has equal privileges with all men. 
 He may shovel dirt in a rich man's garden, or he 
 may occupy a seat of honor in the presidential 
 chair. Bat in all South American countries the 
 laborer is not even allowed the privilege of the bal- 
 lot. The difterence is easily explained : the United 
 States was born of Protestant England; South 
 America, of Catholic Spain. 
 
 As an evidence of the long and fearful rule of 
 darkness and corruption of Rome, one has only to 
 witness that in Chili to-day truth is almost a 
 stranger. Men, women and children consider it 
 quite legitimate to make misstatements. Even
 
 80 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 those who appear most eminently pious are those 
 who will mislead 3'ou and deceive you in matters of 
 business. The priests themselves are a set of reli- 
 gious liars. It is not a part of their religion to lie, 
 but their religious sentiment teaches, if it teaches 
 anything, that the blackest kind of a falsehood is a 
 mere hyperbole. 
 
 The Sabbath day, instead of being a day of rest, 
 is universally profaned and desecrated by misappli- 
 cation and diversion from sacred purposes. It is 
 a day of bartering and gaining; a day for great en- 
 tertainments, such as the theater, the circus, the 
 dance; a day for drunkenness, gambling, fighting, 
 visiting, traveling, horse-racing, seducing, debauch- 
 ing, corrupting, and everything else but what the 
 Great Giver of life intended it. 
 
 Another evidence, hinted at in former chapters, 
 that darkness has long had a terrible reign in Chili, 
 is the great number of prostitutes found through- 
 out the land. I admit that this is a very homely 
 fact to record; but I am dealing with facts, and 
 must pen them just as I find them. Among the 
 lower classes, at least. Chili has more prostitutes 
 than any other country I was ever in. But the 
 most noteworthy fact of all is, that, with but few 
 if any exceptions, they are all tried and faithful 
 members of the Romish Church. One-third of all 
 the children in the nation are born out of wed-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 81 
 
 lock, many of them sons and daughters of priests, 
 without great stigma or scandal attached either to 
 them or their parents. 
 
 Again, to an enlightened mind, the church ser- 
 vices are not only very barbarous and dipgusting, 
 but sometimes they are revolting. During Sema- 
 na Santa — holy week — in every city, town, village, 
 hamlet and parish, there is exhibited a wax figure, 
 supposed to represent the crucified Saviour, just as 
 they were taking Him from the cross. A death agony 
 is on the face. The head is fallen over lifeless. 
 The spear wound is plainly visible in the side, and 
 the blood seems to be actually dripping from all 
 the five wounds. One foot is usually removed 
 from the recumbent cross and carefully placed 
 over an open box. The credulous, superstitious 
 people crowd around this, and, awe-stricken, fall 
 upon their knees, kiss the extended foot, and de- 
 posit money in the box beneath. Thus the blood 
 of oiu" Saviour, instead of being represented as 
 cleansing from all sin, is used to wring from the 
 poor and hungry souls — hungry for the real truth 
 — their hard-earned pennies to fill the pockets of 
 the crafty priests. 
 
 But the images intended to represent the Sav- 
 iour of the world are not always even decent 
 looking. In Concepcion, those that I have seen 
 were made of wax and were life-like in appearance.
 
 82 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI, 
 
 But in Santiago, the great center of wealth and pow- 
 er, the image I saw there, in one of the largest and 
 most influential churches, was something dreadful 
 to look at. A Peruvian mummy could scarcely 
 have been more revolting. It was rudely carved 
 from wood, roughly painted, and the hair from a 
 horse-tail made to represent the hair of the Son of 
 Man, wearing a crown of thorns. 
 
 On one occsion, while watching the great mul- 
 titude solemnly and sorrowfully approach one of 
 these images, I was met with a smile and a friendly 
 nod from a native lady acquaintance and friend. 
 Knowing that she was honest, sincere, a true friend, 
 and quite well educated, I embraced the opportu- 
 nity of questioning her concerning the worship of 
 images. 
 
 "Why do the people crowd around that image, 
 and bow down and kiss that dreadful, repulsive 
 foot?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, my dear sir," she said, ''how dare you! 
 That is the blessed -Jesus!" 
 
 "No, not Jesus. He is the Son of God, the great 
 source of light and life; and that is nothing but a 
 dumb, lifeless image, made by man." 
 
 "My dear sir !" she said, "do not blaspheme in 
 this sacred temple, upon this holy occasion. God 
 might smite you \" 
 
 "Pardon me, senorita; I do not wish to be oflen-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 83 
 
 sive, I assure you that I am an earnest seeker after 
 truth; so please tell me why that image of the cru- 
 cified Lord is used to extort money from so many 
 of these poor people." 
 
 "No money is extorted, my friend," she an- 
 swered. "It is all given freely; and you ought to 
 know that by the giving of good gifts we come into 
 favor with God." 
 
 "The best gift is the heart, senorita." 
 
 "True, but God accepts the heart more readily 
 when he sees these tokens of our sincerity and de- 
 votion. I would lay all the world on this altar to- 
 night if I had it. Come, my friend," she continued, 
 growing very earnest, "leave your heretical doc- 
 trines, join in this blessed worship, and become a 
 true son of the Church, and gain eternal life and 
 glory, instead of resting under the condemnation 
 of the blessed Saviour !" 
 
 Poor, devoted creature ! I turned away and 
 busied myself in studying the strange scenes before 
 me. 1 had observed before that the priests and at- 
 tendants were robed in black; that the church and 
 altar were stripped of all ornaments and draped in 
 heaA^y mourning; that the priests were reciting 
 long and oft-repeated prayers for all orders, ranks 
 and classes of the true church, as well as for her- 
 etics, heathens and Jews. But the strangest, most 
 impressive and striking part of the ceremony was
 
 84 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 the great crowd of female worshipers, led by the 
 dignitaries of the Chui'ch, and joined by a limited 
 number of men, all creeping to tbe cross on their 
 knees — in memory of the awful events which the 
 crucifix represents. The great throng first knelt in 
 the front yard, and slowly walked on their knees 
 through the gravelly courts, up through the long 
 hall, until they reached the image of the Crucified, 
 and each in turn kissed the wounded foot. The 
 scene was solemn and awful, and many who came 
 to look, reverently joined in the worship. 
 
 This worship has one good efi"ect: It brings rich 
 and poor to the same level. For here, all wrapped 
 in black manias, were rick ladies side by side with 
 those who, in social life, are degraded as servants. 
 
 That foot is a money-making institution. Con- 
 cepcion has nine Catholic churches, and the harvest 
 during the one week has been as great as eleven 
 thousand dollat's. Poor people, who do not know 
 where or how the next meal is to be provided, de- 
 posit there their hard-earned pennies. On Thursday 
 night of Holy-week, all the churches are grandly 
 illuminated, and decorated profusely and often 
 beautifully with flowers. Each chm'ch seems to vie 
 with its neighbors in beautifying the altars and 
 walls; but there is no strife. Everything is in per- 
 fect harmony, and every church has its own image 
 of Jesus.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 85 
 
 All the communicants congregate first in their 
 own edifice, approach the image on their knees, 
 kiss the extended foot, and deposit their money; 
 then the whole congregation marches to the next 
 nearest church, praying aloud as they go, as though 
 trying to repeat the Ave Maria each oftener than 
 his neighbor. In this way all the churches of the 
 city are visited, the devotions and donations re- 
 peated in each, so that the harvest of money is 
 much greater than it would be were there no inter- 
 changes of congregational visits. The priests are 
 often among the wealthier classes of the country. 
 
 The nine church b uildings of Concepcion eould 
 not have cost less than one million of dollars. They 
 are very large, plain-looking on the outside, but 
 inside they are grand. Large marbled columns, 
 thirty, forty and fifty feet in height, support arched 
 roofs, studded with golden ornaments of beautiful 
 design. The paintings are expensive and quite 
 numerous, and everything seems to have a digni- 
 fied, rich appearance that would say, "We are 
 wealthy people who worshij) here !" 
 
 One feature about these churches worthy of no- 
 tice is the great number of bells belonging to each. 
 That, of course, of itself would be nothing very un- 
 common. These bells, however, are all discordant 
 and out of tune. The more hideous the noise they 
 make, the more satisfaction they seem to give. The
 
 86 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 church nearest our residence rings its every-day 
 bell each morning at five o'clock the whole year 
 round; and soon after we can hear the faithful 
 senoritas trudging past our window, obeying its 
 call to attend mass. It rings again at six, again 
 at seven, again at eight, at twelve, at two, and at 
 six and at eight in the evening. For special 
 occasions the same church has three larger ones, 
 all differing in size and tone, all of them discordant 
 and ringing in great confusion. The church on 
 the next square rings its bell every hour in the day, 
 from five in the morning till nine in the evening. 
 Its one large bell is hammered, for special occa- 
 sions, by a boy who beats time to some imaginary 
 quickstep, not unlike, in time and measure, to the 
 playing of Yankee Doodle on a snare drum. 
 Saturday evening all the bells of the city are run 
 at once, and I am sure that the bellowing of a 
 thousand bulls would not be more distressing or 
 discordant. 
 
 I never knew a people more devou.t than the 
 people of Chili. If torture, confession, self-denia 
 and self-inflicted punishments will take people to 
 heaven, a great throng will go up from that little 
 republic. It is no uncommon thing for persons to 
 march to the shrine of worship on thek knees, 
 over sharp and flinty gravel-stones, and then beat 
 themselves continually with leather straps, con-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 87 
 
 taining sharpened nails. The bodies are often thus 
 punished until the blood runs profusely; and when 
 the poor creatures can do no more, they leave all 
 of their moneyed values upon the altar and depart. 
 
 It will thus be seen that a large portion of the 
 wealth of the Church is blood money, obtained as 
 recited above. I have gone into details somewhat, 
 but I think no more than is necessary, for I want 
 the world to know what an earnest, enthusiastic set 
 of worshipers the Chilians are, and how they are 
 really hungering after religious truth. They are 
 seeking the bread of life, and are being fed on 
 husks by ravenous wolves. When will the shackles 
 be cast aside? When will the power of Kome be 
 superseded? 
 
 My poor servant, Belesario Para, than whom a 
 better man never lived, is an example of the won- 
 derful influence the Chiu'ch exerts over the great 
 body of poor and ignorant people. His infant 
 daughter was very sick, and the poor man, instead 
 of seeking the wise counsels of a physician, laid 
 the whole case before Saint Sebaf<iian. And al- 
 though receiving but eleven dollars per month ^ — a 
 third more than he could receive elsewhere — from 
 which he had to support himself and family, he 
 vowed to give the Saint fifteen dollars for interfer- 
 ing with the disease, and five dollars more with 
 which to buy wax candles.
 
 88 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Now, this man was no fool. On the contrary, he 
 was very shrewd; knew how to read and write, 
 and, after his fashion, was something of a philos- 
 opher. His baby died, even before I knew it was 
 very sick; but he did not lose confidence in Halnt 
 Sebastian. However, when he was preparing to do 
 what all the rest of his class are compelled to do — 
 wrap the dead body of his beloved in a rag, dig a 
 hole and bury it — and whea I came to the rescue 
 with a coffin, hired a carriage to carry himself and 
 family with their dead to the cemetery, he could 
 not help contrasting such principles of love with the 
 treatment he had received from the priests, not one 
 of whom had darkened his door, and he wisely con- 
 cluded not to pay his vow to the Saint. 
 
 Chili is making rapid advances, even in matters 
 of religion. Ten years ago the religious enthusiasm 
 did not permit a man to ride through the streets on 
 Good Friday. Even the cars were not allowed to 
 run. All business was stopped, and woe to the 
 carriage that made its appearance upon the streets. 
 But now business is conducted at liberty as upon 
 other days ; the omnibusses run w^ith as much clat- 
 ter, and people generally do as they please. The 
 great mass of people, however, please to patronize 
 the Church. 
 
 One of the many customs, so foolish, and still so 
 dear to the hearts of the priests, that is gradually
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 89 
 
 dying out, is the "Procession of the Holy Ghost." 
 It is still practiced; but the j)oor ghost has but a 
 ghost of an audience, composed mainly of rag- 
 muffins. 
 
 The 'holy ghost" of the occasion is a priest, who 
 generally enters a carriage with great pomp, bear- 
 ing in one hand burning incense and in the other 
 the consecrated wine and wafers of the commun- 
 ions. Somehow this is supjiosed to represent the 
 Holy Spuit, but just how, I have not learned. The 
 moment the priest enters the carriage the proces- 
 sion commences. The carriage is drawn b}^ some 
 of the faithful. A few years ago, it was required 
 of every person meeting this procession to fall to 
 the ground and uncover the head; but now it is 
 in such ill-favor that it is carried into the suburbs 
 of town or into the country to avoid the sneers of 
 enlightened people. 
 
 The saints, too, are rapidly losing their power, 
 and educated people are refusing to bow to their 
 images. Saint Sebastian, however, is still a great 
 favorite in the province of Concepcion. At Yum- 
 bel, as mall town near the city of Concepcion, 
 there is a church dedicated to this saint. Being 
 a patron saint, a day is given every year, set aside 
 and consecrated for his worship. People flock to 
 Yumbel by the thousands, and when night comes, 
 the priests find themselves usually about twenty
 
 90 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 thousand dollars richer. This is somewhat un- 
 usual in the country at large, and many of the bet- 
 ter classes, who ai'e devout Catholics, shake their 
 heads ominously regarding saint worship. 
 
 Perhai^s not one thing has done more to open 
 the eyes of the people of Chili, and cause a grow- 
 ing reversion of feelings for the priest and his ava- 
 rice, than the burning of the Cathedral in Santiago 
 in 1863. On the eighth day of December, in that 
 year, that magnificent structure was burned to the 
 ground, in such a manner as to stir the heart of 
 the nation to its profoundest depth, giving it such 
 a shock as to depict sorrow and sadness upon the 
 brow of every individual in the Republic . 
 
 Long before dark, while the doors of the temple 
 were still closed, the square in which it was situ- 
 ated was densely crowded with people, mo 4 of 
 whom were women — the wives and daughters of 
 the noblest and wealthiest men in the capital city — 
 waiting for the doors to open to receive them. 
 
 "The Tale of the Confessional," an admirably 
 written novel, by a Chilina gentleman, who was 
 himself a member of the Catholic Church, and who 
 was an eye-witness to this dreadful calamity, truth- 
 fully tells the tale of horror, as I quote below: 
 
 "The crowd kept increasing rapidly, for in all 
 the streets which opened into the squai*e were seen 
 hundreds of persons, thronging in haste, that they
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 91 
 
 might reach the chiu'ch in time to secvire good sit- 
 uations to see the whole ceremony. 
 
 "It was not long, however, until the temple 
 doors were thrown wide open, into which the im- 
 mense crowd rushed like a toiTent, to gain the in- 
 terior of the church, spreading themselves in all 
 directions through the extensive aisles, but more 
 particularly the nave and the large open space be- 
 fore the high altar. 
 
 " People kept arriving in great numbers. They 
 commenced to light the thousands of lamps, which 
 in great abundance were hung in every part, 
 wherever it was possible to place them. Many boys 
 were seen crawling along the cornices, in imminent 
 danger of their lives, lighting the innumerable col- 
 ored glass vases filled with paraflfine, which were 
 most artistically distributed among the gauze and 
 muslin clouds to represent stars. 
 
 "All the women were in ecstasies. In no theater 
 in the world had ever been seen such a splendid 
 light; but it was at the high altar where the great- 
 est blaze of sj^lendor was displayed. 
 
 "The Virgin was arrayed in most beautiful and 
 costly dress, shining in glittering and valuable 
 jewels and ornaments; around her head were sparks 
 of light, forming a phosphorescent aureole. All 
 the world was in ecstasies, and yet that sea of par- 
 affine was not all lighted.
 
 92 CIVILIZATION IN CHrLI. 
 
 People kept an'i\dng in great numbers. All 
 classes of society were confounded together, and it 
 may be said that nearly half of the women of San- 
 tiago were collected in that place where, in a few 
 minutes, was going to be the greatest sacrifice ever 
 known — not of a hundred oxen, as the ancients 
 were in the habit of ofteiing up to their idols, but 
 between two and three thousand human beings, 
 who were waiting to be offered up as a burnt offer- 
 ing to the gorgeously dressed idol of the queen of 
 heaven, which stood behind the high altar of the 
 church. 
 
 'Lamps containing paraflfine were placed behind 
 a transparency representing a half-moon, which 
 served as a pedestal to support the colossal image 
 of the Virgin. The flame from one of these lamps 
 caught the painting; it immediately ignited, and 
 soon the whole was in a blaze. The fire spread with 
 frightful rapidity, and communicated itself to a 
 painted screen of wood and canvas, which rested 
 against the wall at the back of the altar; thence 
 running along the wreath of artificial flowers 
 formed of paper and muslin, it reached the roof of 
 the building, which was soon a mass of flame. 
 
 ''When the first cry of fire was heard, the women, 
 alarmed, confused, ignorant of what was the mat- 
 ter, rushed and crowded against each other, without 
 knowing where to go or what to do. The confusion
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 93 
 
 and disorder were indescribable, and the cries 
 heartrending and harrowing. The immense quan- 
 tity of combustible matter in the building-, the 
 strong current of air set uji between the cupola on 
 the roof and the doors, the woodworks dry and 
 freshly painted, the paraflfine in the lamps in every 
 part, hundi'eds of which were susjDended from the 
 roof, and from which poured down streams of 
 liquid fire upon the devoted crowd beneath — all 
 this contributed to form an immense furnace, in 
 which were consumed, in a few minutes, more than 
 two thousand human beings. 
 
 "Many of the male part of the congregation, by 
 desperate eiYorts, succeeded in escaping; but the 
 females, encumbered by their crinolines, getting 
 their feet entangled in the ample folds of their 
 dresses, fell prostrate in heaps upon the very 
 threshold of the door, wher^ they lay piled up by 
 the hundreds, thus forming a barrier impassable to 
 the horror-stricken crowd behind. 
 
 "Soon the whole interior of the building was en- 
 enveloped in flames, the light of which rendered 
 distinctly visible a most horrifying and appalling 
 sight. From the entrance of the church, far back 
 as the great altar, was an immense lake of fire, in 
 which hundreds of human beings, mostly females, 
 were seen. Some of the victims appeared in the act 
 of embracing each other; some in a supplicating at-
 
 94 OIVELIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 titude, as though they were imploring the mercy 
 of God; some on their knees, and others standing, 
 but in all life was extinct. All description, how- 
 ever exact it may be, will fall far short of painting 
 the facts as they were in reality; and it is beyond 
 the imagination to form an idea of the agonizing 
 and horrifying scene. 
 
 "This famous temple of Campagnia was reduced 
 to ashes, and more than two thousand persons, the 
 greater part of whom were women, perished with 
 it, without a voice of one of the priests being heard 
 to restrain them, to direct them, and to prevent the 
 confusion peculiar to the female sex. 
 
 "If any one of the priests had only said in those 
 awful moments to the affrighted crowd, 'Do not be 
 alarmed, my children; make not such confusion 
 there is time sufficient for all to leave,' the loss of 
 life would have been less. And if those priests 
 had been more zealous, more humane, and had 
 performed their duty — if they had guided the poor 
 women with calmness, and sustained them by 
 their presence; with their words, as they ought to 
 have done, it is evident that hundi'eds of lives 
 might have been saved, and perhaps we should 
 only have had to lament the loss of the church. 
 
 "Such was not the case, ho*vever, for it was the 
 contrary of all this. The ravens of the sacristy 
 were the first to escape by the same sacristy (side
 
 PAST AND PEESENT. 95 
 
 doors of the vestiy), occupying themselves only in 
 removing to a place of safety their clerical orna- 
 ments and those trumpery of paintings and images 
 which serve them in their religious or rather pagan 
 ceremonies and phantasmagoria. 
 
 "In a short space of time all effort was useless. 
 To the cries for succor and pity, succeeded a death- 
 like stillness. The lamentations of all were hushed, 
 and nothing was heard save the frightful crickling 
 sounds caused now and then by the flames, which, 
 impelled by the strong currents of air, rushed 
 through the doors of the temple. 
 
 "Scarcely a mvirmur was heard in that immense 
 number of persons congregated togetlier, aston- 
 ished, frightened and stupefied, who gazed without 
 being able to comprehend the extent of the evil 
 and the colossal proportions of the catastrophe. 
 This sepulchral silence, this hoarse sound of devour- 
 ing elements, the burning fragments flying through 
 the air and carried to a long distance, the sight of 
 those human heads, carbonized and apparently 
 lying in symmetrical rows, one above the other to 
 a considerable height— all this produced a fear and 
 a terror in the minds of men we will not attempt to 
 describe. There is nothing more frightful and 
 alarming than to see an immense crowd without 
 movement, without noise, silent and contracted, 
 each individual within himself, and with their eyes
 
 96 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 all staring and fixed on one single point. A parox- 
 ysm of violent pain wlien the suflferer is mute is 
 most terrible. 
 
 "The night arrived before the fire had exhausted 
 itself and was almost extinguished. Here and 
 there might be seen a faint bluish flame, fed by the 
 gases exhaled from the dead human bodies. Pieces 
 of wood were still burning, but they were only 
 brands or smoldering embers, the flames from 
 which were weak, and there was nothing left to 
 admire or to fear. And then that crowd, as though 
 awoke from profound lethargy, commenced to 
 show signs of life. They run in different directions, 
 they question each other, they embrace, they weep, 
 they disperse themselves in every pai"t, seeking 
 for those friends whom they love, and whom they 
 fear are forever lost. 
 
 "Husbands, fathers, mothers, brothers, sons, 
 relations and friends — the population of the entire 
 city, without exception, are all in great commo- 
 tion. All the streets are filled with crowds of peo- 
 ple. 
 
 "In all parts resound outcries, complaints, sobs, 
 curses, questions, afraid to be made acquainted with 
 the reality — evasive answers or sad and cruel truths. 
 No one knows what has truly happened, but all 
 fear to know. In all du-eotions may be seen indi- 
 viduals of different sexes, ages and conditions, who
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 97 
 
 run to and fro; they inquire at their homes if the 
 lost ones have returned, and not finding thera, 
 again start off to inquire at the houses of their 
 friends, and, heart-broken, direct their steps toward 
 the place of the fatal catastrophe. 
 
 ''There was one particular circumstance, although 
 not noticed at the moment, vet afterward attractino- 
 the attention of everybody, which was, that during 
 the whole of that dreadful night, when many of 
 those persons who had been drawn from the fire 
 were d}ing by the dozen, in the hospitals, in the 
 chemists' shops, and in the streets and houses in 
 the vicinity, not one priest, not one of those black- 
 robed gentry who are to be found as thick as flies 
 in all the streets in our Catholic caj)ital city, was to 
 be seen to afford the last consolation to their ex- 
 piring flocks. * * * 
 
 "As the morning light of the following day ap- 
 peared, it made more palpable, more evident, the 
 fatal results of the ti'emendous and de^ructive 
 conflagTation. No one could doubt the reality of 
 what had occurred, no one could mistake the loss 
 they had suflered. Very few were the houses in 
 which they had not to lament one or more members 
 of the family, and some houses remained closed, 
 entirely shut up, for masters and servants had 
 died, and there remained only the dogs, the fowls 
 and the cats, and they, too, died in their turn —
 
 98 CrVILIZATION IN CHIIil. 
 
 died of hunger, for there was no one to feed them. 
 
 "It was not unfrequent to find men left com- 
 pletely alone, having lost wife and children, and 
 obliged to return to their desolate hearths, filled 
 with tender and painful reminiscences. How 
 many of these may not have found relief in their 
 despair by committing suicide." 
 
 This wonderful event, so full of sadness and so 
 heart-rending in all its contingencies, penned by 
 an eye witness, is a true picture, as I have been 
 abundantly informed by those who were them- 
 selves witnesses of as well as su£ferers in that great 
 calamity. 
 
 It was intended for the grandest display of reli- 
 gious devotion ever witnessed in all the world. It 
 was during the "month of May" — a month set 
 aside for the worship of the Virgin. The whole of 
 Chili had gone into ecstasies over the rel'gious 
 rites, the different churches in the different towns 
 vieing with each other in the great display of 
 wealth and in the enormity of the sums collected 
 for the priests. 
 
 "The Heavenly Letter-Box" was established in 
 Santiago, and a large sisterhood arose in all parts 
 of the state ctdled Daughters Predilect of Mary. 
 This sisterhood made all of its wants known to the 
 Virgin through the heavenly letter-box.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 99 
 
 A priest being the appointed mouthpiece of the 
 Virgin, received and opened all these letters, an- 
 swering them as his fancy dictated. It was of im- 
 mense value to the church, and gave a power to 
 the priest he could not command through the con- 
 fessional. For example: A young lady desiring 
 a husband asked for one in her secret correspon- 
 dence with the Virgin Mary; this desire not being 
 a sin, she does not reveal it to her confessor, thus 
 making tbe letter-box the complement of the con- 
 fessional. In the confessional they confessed their 
 faults; but in the sacred post-office "in heaven" 
 they revealed what was most delicate and suscep- 
 t ble in the soul of woman. The confessional 
 could only exercise its sway over the conscience; 
 but the sacred postoffice, with its mouthp-ece of 
 the "Queen of Heaven," could penetrate even the 
 wishes, the desires and asjiirations of every woman 
 belonging to the order. 
 
 Thousands of letters were registered every week, 
 some of which were of the greatest importance. 
 The postmaster-general of heaven, acting as the 
 mouthpiece of the Virgin Mary, was owner of 
 the whole of the capital city, if not of Chili. His 
 nets were extended in every direction; from the 
 hovel to the gilded mansion, the names of the wo- 
 men were recorded upon his book. This gave him a 
 sure clue to all the family secrets, which was used
 
 100 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 as a means of great power and gain. For example : 
 Some pious sister of Daughters Predilect of Mary 
 discovered that her husband, who was a distin- 
 guished senator, would oppose certain measures in 
 Congress beneficial to Catholicism; whereupon, her 
 heart being greatly troubled, she conferred with the 
 Virgin Mary through the secret postofl&ce and told 
 all her fears and misgivings. The mouthpiece of 
 the Queen of Heaven, having news of great 
 importance, would send a message in answer, 
 dii'ect from the Virgin herself, assuring the unhap- 
 py woman that by her aid and influence the views 
 of her husband could be changed; whereupon the 
 faithful wife would consider it her religious duty 
 to engage in secret plottiugs with her priest to de- 
 feat the husband of her bosom and love. 
 
 This order of the Daughters Predilect had its 
 headquarters in the ill-fated church, and the gor- 
 geous display, intended to eclipse any and all for- 
 mer attempts of the kind in the world, but which 
 ended so sadly, was born of the enthusiasm of the 
 women and priests of that order. No doubt the 
 great power this private letter-box gave the priests 
 over the secret workings of all the families had 
 caused great discontent and annoyance among the 
 husbands and fathers in all the land. Catholicism 
 in Chili was then in its gloiy; but its dominant 
 power had been earned so far that without doubt
 
 PAST AND PRESENT, 101 
 
 many of the better classes were weary and were 
 longing for something else. 
 
 The fatal destruction of that grand edifice, con- 
 taining so many mothers, wives and fair daughters 
 of the land, and the terrible cowardice and selfish- 
 ness of all the priests in the hours of peril and 
 danger, are thought by many to be the stroke that 
 said plainly to Catholicism, "thus far and no far- 
 ther." Be that as it may, it is certain that since 
 that day Romanism has been slowly on the decline. 
 A liberal party has come into power, which, one 
 by one, is taking away the wings on which Roman- 
 ism sailed to gloiy. 
 
 Nothing now prevents a separation of Church 
 and State but for the liberal party to step foi-ward 
 and claim it by constitutional revision. This, in 
 the judgment of all who have studied the situation, 
 will be done before many years. 
 
 That such a high-handed humbug as the heavenly 
 letter-box could ever have existed in a country with 
 a school house in every town, and where there are 
 many thousands of gentlemen and ladies of refine- 
 ment and education, i? truly a marvel. It shows 
 to what extent extreme religious zeal can mis- 
 guide and mislead the people of a nation. Pagan 
 lands have many idols; but Christian Chili, in the 
 nineteenth century, overshadowed them all with an 
 
 UBRAIY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA
 
 102 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 idol that was carried into the homes of all classes 
 in all the country. 
 
 The heavenly letter-box has ceased to exist; but 
 many of the poor, deluded women still cling to the 
 phantom. In the year 1882 three hundred letters 
 were received at the postoffice in Santiago >, directed 
 to the Virgin Mary— a sad comment on a land that 
 resounds with the whistle of the locomotive and the 
 electric click of thf^. telegraph. 
 
 But the priests are not lacking in power, and 
 many are the devices and subterfuges by which they 
 control their flocks; for, like all good shepherds, 
 they look upon them as their flocks, and proceed 
 to shear them accordingly; and many are the fat 
 fleeces they put into their pockets. 
 
 But here in Chili, as in all other Catholic coun- 
 tries, the great rock Peter, upon whom Rome has 
 builded her Church, is the confessional. When 
 the poor, earnest seekers have become so humili- 
 ated that they long to repent and find rest and 
 salvation, they know no other way but to carry 
 their burdens and lay them at the feet of the 
 priests. The whole heart is laid open, and the 
 mind is in that plastic, mouldable condition that 
 makes the penitent willing to do anything the cold- 
 blooded priests ma}^ dictate. But their power is 
 particularly with the women and young girs. The 
 latter are probed and questioned with things
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 103 
 
 they do not understand, and taught that things 
 shameful to mention are in accord with the will of 
 God. For, be it known that the priests often 
 teach^that they are authorized by the mandates of 
 Rome to investigate the most secret and hidden 
 things, thus often tearing away the veil of modes- 
 ty and purity, which is the most precious gift of 
 the tender young girl, and her moi-t fascinating ai- 
 traction. Is it any wonder that vh-tue here is not 
 highly regarded among all the people of the na- 
 tion ? Is it any wonder that one third of all the 
 children born are begotten in sin through lusts and 
 unholy desires? 
 
 "Woe unto the pastors that destroy and scatter 
 the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord." 
 
 This veil of jaunty should never be touched. But 
 the priests of Eome are those who contaminate 
 and blunt its delicacy, and blast it with their poi- 
 sonous breath. What else could we expect of men 
 who have renounced the family tie and the natural 
 affections implanted in their hearts by the Creator ? 
 IIow should we expect men to conduct themselves 
 who have solemnly sworn to disobey the commands 
 of God to "multiply and rejolenish the eai'th"? 
 Ah, sad indeed ! for as they have denied themselves 
 of the love of wife and children, and renounced all 
 the greatest blessings given to man, so they 
 avenge themselves by stirring up "contentions
 
 104 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 among families and nations; by propagating igno- 
 rance and superstitions; by teaching the most hor- 
 rible and wicked doctrines, and blaspheming the 
 Almighy God, our Heavenly Father. In their am- 
 bitious endeavors to subvert mankind to their 
 yoke, and to reduce them to the level of the brute, 
 they cause war and persecution in every part, and, 
 to such an extent, that there is not a spot upon 
 this beautiful earth on which any of them have 
 placed their feet but has become contaminated by 
 being made to suffer the consequences of the dis- 
 cord they incite by their bigotry and insolence." 
 
 That there is a better class of priests, I admit. 
 I have not drawn this picture, however, myself, 
 but I have quoted, and, to some extent, been aided 
 othei-wise by the works of Don Martin Palma, a 
 Chilina gentleman, who is himself a member of 
 the Catholic Church, and who knows all about the 
 terrible, withering, blighting influences of the con- 
 fessional. 
 
 But no other fact serves so well as a finger-board 
 to point to the truth that the small but energetic 
 Republic of Chili is gradually growing into the 
 light of freedom and Christian civilization, as the 
 one fact that /lere among the better classss of x>eople 
 the confessional has lost its power . I know of scores 
 of refined mothers in Concepcion who are devout 
 Catholics who would sooner bury their daugh-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 105 
 
 ters than see them go to the dark cloisters 
 to confess to the cold-blooded, villainous priests. 
 Amen.
 
 CHAPTKR VIII. 
 
 The Altar of Ponitence — Mysterious Whisperings — Faithful 
 Women— The Holy Fight over the Tablilla— The Happy 
 Priests — Their Magnetic Influence over their Flocks — 
 Their Power Slowly on the Decline — A Marriage Law 
 and its Result — Burial of Paupers — Blood Money — Get- 
 ting Married— A Steel Trap and a Dollar— The Blighting 
 Influence of the Church — An Impeachment of Rome — In- 
 fidelity—The Great Power Broken— The Pope's Embas- 
 sador Sent Home- -Not Done in Ignorance — Horrible 
 Image-Worship — Disgraceful Mummery in a Church — 
 Saint Peter's Day — Children of Priests. 
 
 i'lHE most powerful weapon ever hurled against 
 any nation endeavoring to give her sons and 
 daughters religious liberty, freedom of 
 thought and speech, and a government so free from 
 internal strife and dissensions as to bless the great- 
 est possible number of its subjects with peace and 
 prosperity, is that sanctuary of Catholic fanaticism 
 which they choose to call the "altar of penitence." 
 It would be better named were it called the "altar 
 of superstition and corruption." 
 
 It is a small wooden box in a dark and obscure 
 corner of the church, so constructed that the father 
 confessor can look over his subjects and, with his 
 ear placed at one of the peculiarly-constructed win-
 
 PAST AND PBE8ENT. 107 
 
 dows, hear all the whispered confessions, while 
 
 those on'the outside who may chance to be specta- 
 tors remain in ignorance of what is said. 
 
 Beneath these windows is a small wooden stool 
 about six inches in height, over which the Chilino 
 penitent throws her carpet, which she always carries 
 with her to chui'ch, and in a kneeling attitude upon 
 this commences her holy an 1 mysterious whisper- 
 ings. 
 
 Tliroughout all the land of Chili, and perhaps 
 other nations of Spanish origin, this stool upon 
 which the penitent kneels is called the IhbliUa. 
 At about half past five o'clock every morning 
 throughout the year, the church bells ring out in- 
 vitations for the faithful to attend mass. I must 
 say that I never saw so many devout women in any 
 country; for the diflerent churches are visited each 
 rooming, no matter how inclement the weather, by 
 scores of female worshipers. Our own American 
 ladies deem it a hardship to attend Sabbath-school 
 once a week as early as ten o'clock in the morning; 
 but the Chilino devotee considers it a jDrivilege to 
 attend mass each morning of the week and confess 
 her sins, before she has even had her breakfast. As 
 confession is made after mass, it often happens 
 that the number of penitents is great, and the 
 squabble for the tablilla turns into a field of battle. 
 
 For this the pious penitent goes prepared, and
 
 1U8 CIVHilZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 woe to the one who receives a favored nod from 
 the father confessor on his high altar. This, how- 
 ever frequently happens, and if the j^riest desires 
 to favor some particular wealthy person, or person 
 of great iafiuence, he beckons her at once to the 
 tablilla, and those who are nearer, and hoped to be 
 first to confess, must stand aside and wait, without 
 daring to show any signs of displeasure oward the 
 mysterious fraud in the confessional. But the 
 poor culprit thus favored cannot go on "flowery 
 beds of ease," for the envious sisters immediately 
 commence a warfare, consisting of cuffs, kicks, 
 pricks from pins, scratches of the nails, crowding, 
 jostling, hair-pulling — all of which is a holy pas- 
 time and mirthf J recreation for the priest. 
 
 "This holy fight," says Mr. Palma, "is a favor- 
 ite diverson of the priest or friar who sits in the 
 confpssional, and the more arduous the struggle 
 and more numerous the combatants, the great-r is 
 the inward satisfaction of the confessor; because 
 they show his great popularity and the credit he en- 
 joys among the beatas, and how he is sought for 
 and admired by his beloved lambs. 
 
 "In this merciless conflict there is no quarter 
 given, no consideration held for one another, for 
 each and every one is determined to be the first to 
 gain the tablilla. and the pious fervor and the 
 devout antagonism to gain it is the cause of this
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 109 
 
 cruel struggle, at the end of which all the combat- 
 ants come off with bruises in various parts sev- 
 eral pricks with pins, scratches, etc., affording 
 matter for conversation for the day in the different 
 circles of society, according to the number, more or 
 less, who have have taken part in this Catholic 
 contention. 
 
 "We make no false assertion when we say that 
 this is the pride of the priests; for the height of 
 their ambition is to see themselves, and be seen by 
 other members of their fraternity, surrounded by a 
 lai'ge number of penitents, as it is this that gives 
 them more i^restige among themslves and with the 
 public, independent of a thoasand other perquisites 
 they receive from the young and handsome sinners, 
 and also from the old and ugly ones, when they 
 have anything to bestow. 
 
 "In that holy tribunal, and among that no less 
 holy flock, the shepherd exercises an impartial 
 sway, for he is more omnipotent among his peni- 
 tents than the most powerful and despotic mon- 
 arch of a nition of slaves; for the priest determines, 
 decides questions and concedes privileges without 
 any one daring to raise his voice against his de- 
 cisions, or show the least opposition. * * * K 
 one could only relate all the ridiculous, grotesque 
 and sudden changes in those who surround the 
 confessional, we would never finish or cease to
 
 110 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 laugh at the animation of the countenances of the 
 penitents, who appear absorbed in mystical con- 
 templation, and bowed down by t'le eiiormous 
 weight of their sins, yet possessed of only one ex- 
 clusive idea — that is, to gain occupation of the 
 tablilla. 
 
 "And the priest ! Yes, this is the interesting per- 
 sonage, a person much more iLteresting than a 
 trainer of wild beasts, because the priest, on whom 
 all the women who surround him fix their looks of 
 supplication, draws them, excites them, ecstacises 
 them and magnetizes them to such a point that 
 they depend on him alone, and in those moments 
 only live by him and for him. A wonderful phe- 
 nomenon ! But a phenomenon not less evident 
 because it happens every day in the Catholic con- 
 gregation, but which we do not notice because it 
 has become quite familiar." 
 
 Such is Romanism in Chili, penned by one who 
 is a native of the country, and who was born and 
 reared in the Catholic Church. Such I know it to 
 be by personal observation; but, as remarked else- 
 where, this wonderful ^ ower of the Church, still 
 wonderful and awful, is, to an extent, on the de- 
 cline. Slowly but surely is the great controlling 
 power of the nation freeing itself from the fetters 
 by which the priests and prelates of Kome have 
 bound it.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. Ill 
 
 But, notwithstanding, the Church rules in Chili 
 to-day in more respects than one. The Government 
 of this nation still pays annually large sums of 
 money to the legates of the Pope, whose sole office, 
 in return for their annuities, is to deceive and cor- 
 rupt the people; for either they never knew the 
 Gospel themselves, or they, knowing, are willfully 
 leading the people away from the teachings of that 
 Gospel. The priests have always enjoyed a com- 
 plete monopoly of all mamages, burials and bap- 
 tisms, until the winter of 1883, when the cemeteries 
 were made public. The news of the passage of this 
 bill killed the Bishop of Concepcion in fifteen 
 minutes. He was buried, at great expense, as 
 though he were a king. The next day the writer 
 witnessed the burial of another Roman Catholic. 
 lie was poor, and died in the government hospital 
 in Concepcion. Although surrounded by thousands 
 of his religious advisers, and nothing had ever 
 estranged him from his Church, not a soul followed 
 him to his grave. The black-robed prelates who 
 controlled the cemetery permitted him, a brother 
 of their faith, a child of their own nursing, to be 
 thrown into a cart, drawn to an obscure corner of 
 the cemetery, fenced oft' for that purpose, and to be 
 IDartly covered with dirt, with his feet and head 
 protruding from the ground. Hundreds are buried 
 in this manner every year, as witness the great
 
 112 CrVTLIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 number of skulls and other human bones scattered 
 arouud on the grass. 
 
 No person, no matter of what position in life, 
 excepting the paupers, could be buiied in the cem- 
 eteries without paying to the iniquitous apostles of 
 the Church a blackmail as fees for burial service. 
 For, in addition to the cemetery and undertaker's 
 chai'ges, a fee of eight and one-half dollars was 
 always paid into the pocket of the parish priest. It 
 was not a fee for attending the funeral — for he does 
 not do that, only on extra occasions and for extra 
 pay — but it was a revenue tax of sonow, laid upon 
 bleeding and stricken hearts to help fill the pockets 
 of idle priests. 
 
 It is a mystery to any one without the pale of the 
 Romish Church how such a thing could be in vogue 
 among a people of so much intelligence and ed- 
 ucation, and of so much independence of spirit, 
 as the people of Chili. Yet it is an undeniable 
 fact. And more: The holy marriage relation is 
 abused in the same manner. No one can get mar- 
 ried [at this writing there is a bill before the Senate 
 to establish civil marriage, but its passage is some 
 what doubtful] without a solemn vow to sei^e the 
 Church of Rome, unless — yes, unless he has money. 
 That settles it — covers over the sin, and makes it 
 all legal ! A trap baited with the almighty dollar 
 will catch the soul of almost any Catholic priest on
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 113 
 
 earth. If any evidence were needed to manifest 
 the enslaving, crippling, blighting and benumbing 
 influence of that Church, to show how it stupefies 
 men, stifles their generous emotions, stultifies and 
 deadens every inborn principle of good, and makes 
 them indifferent to the wants and sufferings of 
 humanity, one has onl_y to look at the fact, patent 
 and undeniable, that Chili has been free from Spain 
 since the year 1820, and still the laws of the gov- 
 ernment justify and enforce such direful practices 
 as those mentioned above. 
 
 O Rome ! There are fearful evidences against you 
 in this land ! In every street, in every village, in 
 every parish, in every district and j)rovince are to 
 be seen the workings of thy power, the blasted 
 blight of death where thy hand hath swept over. 
 See the thousands of noble sons of toil, disgraced, 
 compelled to live in filth and rags, in such wretch- 
 edness and woe that pen fails to depict the mis- 
 ery — and for what ? Because your self-appointed 
 advisers, your sons of Belial, who claim to be 
 ministers of light commissioned to preach the 
 Gospel of good news, to feed the hungry, 
 to clothe the naked, to heal the sick, to 
 bind up the broken-hearted — have neglected 
 them, spurned them, robbed them, treated them as 
 inferior animals, and never have put forth one ex- 
 ertion to ameliorate their condition of disti-ess and
 
 114 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ignorance. Look at the great multitude of men 
 and women, willing to do the most menial service, 
 who live in damp holes where rats and lizards and 
 death are their companions, and whose food is a 
 scanty allowance of beans, shell-fish and a little 
 parched wheat, and behold thy work, O Rome! 
 Look at the great number of prostitute women, who 
 sell their virtue, not to eni'obe themselves in luxu- 
 ries, but to get the crumbs wherewith to sustain 
 life, and the necessary cheap clothing sufficient to 
 cover their naked bodies. Ah Rome, you have 
 been teaching here ! For hundreds of years your 
 masters have ruled these people! Look at the great 
 number of old men and old women, grandfathers 
 and grandmothers, with silvery hair and wrinkled 
 brows, who go about the streets in naked feet, des- 
 titute of proper clothing and food, and with such 
 expressions of sorrow, heart-break and humility 
 that one would think the tears of angels would 
 moisten their unprotected bodies ! Look at the 
 great throng of infants — seventy -five out of every 
 one hundred born — that die and are buried, a large 
 portion of them without coffins or other covering 
 than to be wrapped iu a rag and placed in a hole in 
 the ground; die because they are born in damp 
 holes where death is a terrible victor, and because 
 the parents are in such ignorance and poverty that 
 they cannot properly warm and nourish their Httle
 
 PAST AND^PEESENT. 115 
 
 bodies ! Look at the great multitudes of rich, who 
 have became so through other men's necessities, 
 who pass by these familiar scenes daily without 
 considering them, without having heart for their 
 distress, or seeking in any manner whatever to re- 
 lieve it! Look at the great throng of well-fed 
 priests, who call themselves ministers of Him 
 whose whole mission was to elevate fallen human- 
 ity, who pass by these scenes without a word of 
 consolation, without a visit as a token of kindness 
 and love, but who compel the payment of the 
 death-tax of sorrow, or in default, refuse burial of 
 the dead of their own flocks, and who use every 
 possible sort of intrigue and treachery to wring 
 from tliis mass of suffering humanity a portion of 
 their hard-earned pennies, so essential to the sup- 
 port of their own bodies! Look, O Rome, and be- 
 hold thy work! The half of thy c'amnable infamy 
 can never be told, for pen and tongue fail in their 
 mission of justice to tell of thy horrible deeds. 
 Had any other jjotentate under heaven attempted 
 the one-hundredth part of the misery and destruc- 
 tion that you have brought upon C hili, every stream 
 and every rivulet would have been tinged with 
 blood. But Rome, you have been permitted to doit, 
 because you have done it in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, the crucified and risen Son of God. 
 
 But more: Infidelity is the great correlative of
 
 116 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 thy work. In every land where you have had 
 awaj it has flourished as mould flourishes in holes 
 of dampness. So here, where you have so long 
 held sway, the number who have discarded reli- 
 gion and are living and dying without it are le- 
 gion. 
 
 But, Rome, the mighty sceptre of your p )wer is 
 broken. Your nefarious practices can only flourish 
 where there is ignorance and lack of freedom. The 
 Chilians are now an enlightened people; and down 
 deep in the heart of every one is an inbred spirit of 
 freedom — deep indeed in many, in others a mere 
 germ, that will as surely find the light and bloom 
 forth into a perfect flower as the hidden water 
 lily, buried in the black mire and slush of a 
 pond, pushes forth to ride upon the wave a thing 
 of beauty. 
 
 In 1882 you sent an emissary to this land as 
 sindico, to rule over the Chiu'ch and the people, 
 sell indulgences to fill your coffers, and if possible, 
 regain the power you saw was slipping away from 
 your grasp. It is true, he came under a blind, 
 wearing the garb of a lamb but possessing the ap- 
 petite and disposition of a hyena, and pretending 
 he had other business. But the President and 
 members of Congress in this Republic saw the 
 mask, tore it away, and in terms of dignified j)o- 
 liteness informed him that he need stay no longer
 
 PAST AND PEESENT, 117 
 
 — in fact, that he must leave the country. Your 
 bishops and priests howled terribly; they published 
 resolutions; they made speeches; thej' draped 
 themselves in morning; they pronounced anathe- 
 mas and maledict ons; they ordered all the faithful 
 to do penance, and they took collections (another 
 pretext for robbing the people) for forty consecu- 
 tive days in all the convents and churches in the 
 land. But all the secular newspapers, all the law- 
 yers, a vast majority of the senators and politi- 
 cians, nearly all of the merchants, the doctors, the 
 educators, and a majority of educated people- of 
 every calling, applauded, in the highest terms, the 
 actions of the Government; and your prelates, 
 bishops, priests, a majority of the women of the 
 nation, and the great body of ragmuffins whom 
 you had disgraced, were left alone in their confu- 
 sion. 
 
 It is comforting indeed to know that private 
 judgment and common sense so far prevail among 
 the enlightened men of the nation that they can- 
 not be terrified by the empty noise of fanatics, 
 willing to sell the independence of their country 
 to any pretender who receives his authority from 
 the Pope. 
 
 I wish to disabuse the minds of any who may 
 read this terrible record who may think that these 
 transactions are the result of ignorance, and are
 
 118 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 only practiced by the ignorant in heathen coun- 
 tries. Chili is not a land of ignorance; but 
 it is a land of colleges, schools, seminaries, 
 telegraph}' and railroads. Were any one of 
 America's fair sons to suddenly wake from sleep 
 and find himself traveling in some first-class 
 passenger car in Chili, were it not for the 
 language of the people, he would not know 
 but what he was still in his own country, so much 
 do they appear and dress like our own gentlemen 
 and ladies. The priests, far from being ignorant, 
 are shrewd, wide-awake, and many of them well 
 educated. But the great mass of these people have 
 large instinctive natures that lead them out to 
 worship in some form, and, as they have never 
 been taught any better religion, and look upon the 
 priest as the embassador of God, clothed with the 
 spirit and power to execute his divine will; and, as 
 it is the policy of Rome to benumb and corrupt 
 and cripple and dwarf, the nation has become full 
 of absurd, grotesque and ridiculous follies. 
 Hence, one can see how men and women who 
 in all other matters exercise shrewdness and com- 
 mon sense, in matters of religion do things, in 
 the best possible faith, that look childish, foolish 
 and disgusting. 
 
 On Christmas Eve, every town, village, city and 
 distiict is in commotion. The churches are pro-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 119 
 
 fusely decorated, and lighted with wax tapers and 
 candles numbering thousands. In a conspicuous 
 place is an excellent wax figure of an infant, rep- 
 resenting the new-born Saviour, surrounded with 
 stalls, and cattle, and donkeys, and goats, and 
 nests of doves, and the doves and many other 
 things, all made of wax, so arranged as to repre- 
 sent as nearly as possible an oriental stable, such 
 as one in which Christ was born. Here, too, is a 
 large wax figure of the Virgin Mary, surrounded 
 with much glory — the whole scene being so ar- 
 ranged as to be picturesque and beauiiful. 
 
 Before these images the immense audience bow 
 as silent worshipers till the hour of midnight. 
 Then a priest steps forward and declu'es that 
 "now the man Jesus is born from the holy and 
 blessed Mary, a perpetual Virgin, who by her 
 piety and purit}' of life has brought much glory to 
 herself and the world, entitling her to be adored 
 by the sons of men forever and forever." 
 
 No sooner is this announcement made than the 
 church becomes a din of discordant noises. Many 
 boys and young men have been appointed to blow 
 upon horns, play upon accordions, sing and halloo 
 at the top of their voices — this, of course, all varying 
 according to the mood of the priest and his flock 
 of female advisers assisting him in the prepara- 
 tions of this Pharisaical phantasmagoria. In
 
 120 CIVILIZATION m CHILI. 
 
 Talcahuano, besides the horns and bugles, a 
 committee of boys were appointed to bray at the 
 top of their voices, in resemblance of donkeys; an- 
 other to bellow like cattle, another to neigh like 
 horses, still another to crow like roosters— all to 
 show the joy supposed to have been manifest 
 among animals and men when Christ, the Saviour 
 of][ the world, was born. After the din and confu- 
 sion of horns and voices has somewhat subsided, 
 the faithful crowd around, kiss the wax figure of 
 the infant, offer presents of money, to the great de- 
 light of tbe priests, and burn incense; the boys 
 withdraw to the streets, toot their horns, and 
 carouse in unmolested enjoyment till dawn of day. 
 
 I imagine some one saying, with a supercilious 
 smile, "That is heathenism in its worst form, and if 
 Chili is not an ignorant, heathen country, there are 
 no ignorant heathens." 
 
 Quite to the contrary, my dear sir! The better 
 class of people compare favorably with those in 
 out- own sensible America. The only difference is, 
 Rome has lived here for a century. It would be the 
 same at home could the long-robed gentry of the 
 confessional succeed in throttling our public 
 schools and in substituting their parochial schools 
 instead. If they could control the children for 
 four generations, the transformation would be com- 
 plete. Besides, if this "heathenism" is not Chris-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 121 
 
 tianity, it is all done in the name of Christ, and 
 Christianity gets the blame or the credit, as the 
 case may be. 
 
 Saint Peter's Day is a great day in Chili. Peter 
 was a fisherman, and fortunately for priestly ava- 
 rice and fanaticism. Chili has many miles of sea 
 coast, and its greatest width is not so great but what 
 a large portion of the devotees can go to the sea 
 and worship this saint in a fit and becoming man- 
 ner. It is a holiday. In the morning the bells 
 are rung and mass said at six, as usuil. The 
 church being decorated, time is given until half 
 past ten for the faithful to congregate, when the 
 procession is formed and marched to the sea. At 
 the head of this procession is carried a large wax 
 figure, representing the Apostle Peter; and because 
 he earned an honest living catching fish, the priests 
 seem to feel themselves authorized to earn a very 
 dishonest one by duping and catching men. With 
 great pomp and ceremony the wax figure is car- 
 ried to the water's edge, placed in a boat, and held 
 over the sea, while the "holy fathers" go through a 
 farcical form of blessing the waters that they may 
 produce fish abundantly as food for the faithful. 
 The image is then set up in a conspicuous place, 
 and gifts become the order of the day, aftording a 
 large benefit for the pockets of the priests. 
 
 It is not my desire or intention to enumerate all
 
 122 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 the follies of Romanism during the many feast-days 
 appointed by the Government or authorized by the 
 Church in the Republic of Chili. They would of 
 themselves aiford subject matter for a large book. 
 With one more thought, therefore, I will close this 
 chapter. 
 
 It often happens, during the confessions and 
 mysterious whisperings, that some over-confiding, 
 robust daughter of respectability is led into dis- 
 grace and ruin by the crafty priest who .has denied 
 himself forever the blessings of a wife and who 
 seeks to satisfy the hunger of his nature through 
 such low and disgusting avenues of sin. I said the 
 daughter is led into disgrace and ruin — not so, 
 however, in Romish circles; for when the fair one 
 finds that such is the case, she seeks the bishop 
 with her priestly paramour, to whom they confess 
 their sins, receive holy absolution, and become as 
 pure and perfect as they were on the day they were 
 born. Bastard children, the result of such unholy 
 relations, are common in Chili. They are called 
 children of the confessional, and are by no means 
 held in disrespect. 
 
 We have seen enough. Draw the curtain and 
 cover it over.
 
 CHAPTKR IX. 
 
 Missionary Societies — War-Stricken Peru — Invitations from 
 United States of (Jolombia — Po)r Bolivia— Ecuador — Mis- 
 sions in Chili — Index to South America — A Nation in 
 Darkness — Rev. William Taylor and His Missions— Per- 
 sonal Work in Concepcion — Progress of the Schools — Five 
 Persons Converted — Wm. Taylor No Organizer — The 
 Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 IT is now proper to call attention to what is be- 
 ing done for the religious amelioration of this 
 ^^ country. Our friends in England and the 
 United States who direct great missionary eater- 
 prises are certainly aware that in this vast conti- 
 nent, of seven and one-half million square miles of 
 fertile soil, the light of religious freedom has 
 scarcely ever penetrated. While they are direct- 
 ing their efforts to the heathen millions in dark 
 Africa, in China, in India, thirty million of be- 
 nighted pagans are living and dying without a 
 gleam of truth on the very threshold of their ex- 
 istence. While they are interested in the glowing 
 reports from those far-away lands, their very 
 neighbors are living under the bans of a Church 
 that bears the name of the cross only to degrade, 
 cripple, blight and enslave the people. Look at
 
 124 OIVILEZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 war-stricken Peru! With a population of more 
 than 3,000,000 souls; with the greatest natural re- 
 sources of any nation perhaps in the world; with 
 immense mines from which wealth is shoveled up 
 and counted by the million; with a vast expanse 
 of broad acres, a fertile soil, and a salubrious clime 
 that produces food for man and beast in spontan- 
 eity — she has not a solitary minister of the gospel* to 
 proclaim the good news of salvation by faith. Look 
 at Colombia! Nestled almost in the very lap of 
 the United States, with a constitution that guar- 
 antees religious liberty, freedom of speech and of 
 press, she thus invites her enlightened neighbor to 
 show her more plainly the way of life! "What are 
 the facts? Three million of souls steeped in ig- 
 norance and crime, priest-ridden, cureed with 
 wealth and revolutions, are crying for light. 
 Constitutional enactments have removed every 
 bairrier. • The way has been made plain. "Come 
 and help us," is the cry that rolls up to the very 
 vault of heaven itself and extends outward to the 
 whole civilized world. What is the answer? The 
 Truth is proclaimed to the natives at one solitary 
 mission post in the whole nation, and to the English 
 speaking residents on the Isthmus of Panama. 
 With these exceptions, the call, long and oft-re- 
 i:)eated, has not been answered. Why? Truly, not 
 
 ♦Since writing the above two ministers have located at CaJao.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 125 
 
 because of climatic influences, for Colombia's in- 
 habitants experience in one day's travel all the cli- 
 mates of the world; and besides, the vast majority 
 of the people reside on plateaus at such an elevation 
 as to experience delightful, temperate climes. Bo- 
 gota, the capital, is almost 'J, 000 feet above sea 
 level. The eastern Cordillera consists almost 
 wholly of a vast system of table lands, cool and 
 healthful, where white men flourish as vigorously 
 as they do in Europe and America. Cattle, horses, 
 wheat, corn, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, sugar, plan- 
 tains, cinnamon, cedar, mabogany, gold, silver, 
 lead, iron, coal, copi^er, emeralds and pearls are 
 among the productions that enrich the people. 
 Truly, it is a most favorable field for missionary en- 
 terprise, and it ought to be used. 
 
 Behold poor Bolivia ! Like the lazy swine, she 
 wallows in her own mire, and knows not the con- 
 dition of her own filth. Like her sister states, she 
 is an oligarchy, bearing the name of a ref>ublic, 
 but governed by a degraded, ignorant aristocracy. 
 Like all nations of Spanish origin, the breath of 
 Rome has long been there, blighting and withering. 
 Contumely has met and crushed, and will long con- 
 tinue to meet and crush everything that lifts its 
 voice or raises its head to favor the light of reason 
 and freedom of conscience. And nothing is being
 
 126 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 done, nor is likely to be done soon, to ameliorate 
 the condition of the people. God lielp them! 
 
 Ecuador is no better. Its 600,000 white i^eople, 
 700,000 Indians, 8,000 Africans, and 35,000 Mesti- 
 zoes are, all alike, living" under a moral cloud of 
 midnij^ht darkness. Not a solitary voice has ever 
 appeared among them to invite them to a higher 
 plane of manhood. With the exception of a few 
 of th'^ most enlightened priests and leading men of 
 the nation, they have never heard of any other way 
 of life. A million and a half of souls ihere have 
 never seen a Bible or heard of a (lOspel of love. 
 
 In Chili, where all people are encouraged to 
 pursue their own religious tenets, there is a mere 
 handful of earnest men and women engaged in 
 evangelical missionary effort. The Presbyterians 
 are in the lead They maintain three native 
 churches, under four missionary pastors, two mis- 
 sion schools, and two periodicals. Rev. William 
 Taylor's workers are directing sis mission schools, 
 and maintaining preaching in the English language 
 at five of these points, and a G-erman organizat on 
 in the interior numbering about s'xty-tive members. 
 Besides these there may be half a dozen other 
 places where preaching is ca ried on in a foreign 
 language. 
 
 Thus, from Panama to Terra del Fuega, those 
 who are scattering the blessings of religious truth
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 127 
 
 can be counted upon the fingers of a man's hands; 
 and this is a fair index of what is being done — or 
 rather, what is not being done — in all South Amer- 
 ica. What do our missionary societies mean ? Are 
 these vast fields— where there is no Sabbath, no 
 Gospel, no moral sentiment — to be neglected? Are 
 the workers so few, the supplies so scarce, that at 
 least the wailing fields shall not be harvested ? 
 Shall we let thirty million souls perish in ignorance, 
 vice and superstition, without an effort to better 
 their condition? Shall we let them live and train 
 up their sons and daughters for generations to 
 come in the same paths of moral darkness that has 
 long kept this whole continent a wilderness, with- 
 out roads, without commerce, without agriculture, 
 without factories, and with an average of only three 
 and one-half souls to every square mile of territory ? 
 Truly, the call is very great. From every valley, 
 from every mountain slope, from every plateau, it 
 rises from beneath the great, overshadowing 
 clouds, and says: "Come !" Two hundred earnest, 
 Christian men and women — teachers and preachers 
 — would no more than supply the open fields on 
 the Pacific sloj)es. 
 
 "The poor peojile," says Rev. Dr. Trumbull, 
 who has given the best years of his life to direct 
 missionary effort on this coast, "the poor are but 
 one degree removed from abject heathenism. They
 
 128 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 do not know the way of the Lord. They are igno- 
 rant of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. They 
 are strangers to the sanctifying power of truth. 
 Poor, degraded, untaught children of nature, how 
 shall they hear without a preacher; and how shall 
 any preach unless they be sent ?" 
 
 In 1877, Kev. William Taylor visited nearly all 
 the countries of South America. He promised 
 himself that, by the grace of God, he would^'under- 
 take the Christian education of all the nations 
 willing to receive instruction. Accordingly, he 
 arranged with the people in different places on the 
 Atlantic and Pacific coasts to send them teachers. 
 The sum total of his plans is about as follows : The 
 people of these states, many of them, are abundant 
 ly able to educate their cbildien; they are also will- 
 ing and even anxious to bring about such great 
 desiderata; as theii* schools and teachers, native of 
 the country, are necessarily as yet inferior, they can- 
 not in consequence offer superior educational ad- 
 vantages. This deficiency he supplies by furnish- 
 ing teachers, who instruct the youth first iu the 
 sciences, and then, as soon as possible, in matters 
 pertaining to religion. The teaching is all done 
 in the English language, which the natives, as a 
 rule, are anxious to learn. These teachers sail 
 under no false colors, but let the people know at 
 once that they are Protestant missionary teachers,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 129 
 
 but generally consider it wise for a time to teach 
 no church creeds. 
 
 Parents are attracted by the superior advantages 
 these schools offer for the education of their chil- 
 dren; but they are at first somewhat reluctant 
 about sending them to Protestant schools; for, be 
 it remembered that Protestantism is not at all popu- 
 lar, even with the most radical of the progressive 
 liberal party. But upon hearing good reports 
 from the few who have ventui-ed to send their 
 children, and learning that no allusion is made to 
 the dogmas of the Catholic Church , or no attempt 
 made to enforce upon them Protestant religion, 
 the schools quickly fill up with the sons and 
 daughters of the wealthy and influential of the 
 land. In time the sons and daughters of very 
 stiff and decidedly zealous Eoman Catholics are 
 enrolled upon the school register; the singing of 
 religious songs is introduced; the Bible is read and 
 explained and the children induced to attend Sab- 
 bath-school and even di\4ne service on the Sabbath. 
 By careful management and painstaking to not 
 mention the doctrines of the Church of Rome, the 
 religious exercises become popular with all of the 
 students. The children of Chili dearly love to 
 sing, and through this alone many of them will be 
 finally led to God. 
 
 No matter how great or how little a young man
 
 130 CrVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 or young woman leaving these schools has been 
 impressed religiously, he goes out a confirmed 
 friend of the missionary with all his prejudices 
 against Protestantism scattered to the winds. 
 This is a great thing, and will, in due time, open 
 the way for direct evangelical missionary labor 
 that could not now possibly be accomplished. 
 
 In the year 1883, I commenced the school year 
 at Concepcion, the third town in importance in all 
 of Chili, as successor to the Rev. A. J. Jeflrey, A. 
 M., who had been director of "Colejio Americano" 
 for some time previous. At half-past eight in the 
 morning I struck the bell, and a crowd of boys as- 
 sembled, nearly all of whom were the sons of 
 wealthy and influential Catholics in southern 
 Chili. 1 passed around a number of Gospel 
 Hymns and Sacred Songs, and announced that we 
 would sing 
 
 "I am so glad that our Father in heaven 
 Tells of his love in the Book he has given." 
 
 Miss Lelia Waterhouse, a missionary of great 
 zeal, who almost gave her life in this work by con- 
 stant and continued effort and hard labor, had 
 spent two years in teaching these boys to sing; 
 consequently, this song was not new to them, and 
 they all joined in the singing. Their voices 
 sounded so strangely sweet, as, in broken English, 
 they rang out the chorus,
 
 PAST AKD PRESENT. 131 
 
 "I am so glad that Jesus loves me," 
 that I could not restrain the tears. When this 
 school first commenced, it would have been an im- 
 possibility to have taught these Christian songs; 
 such an act would have been a blow that would 
 have struck the school to its death. But now they 
 not only sing with fervor, but they join in repeat- 
 ing the Lord's Prayer. I read and explain to 
 them the Scriptures, take many of them with me 
 to the Sabbath-school, and quite a number are 
 regular attendants of our preaching ser-vaces. 
 
 In ohe department for girls and young women the 
 same instructions have been given, but with re- 
 sults of much greater imjDortance; for from that 
 school five bright and precious girls were led into 
 the light of the Gospel, mainly through the eflbrts 
 of Miss AVaterhouse. These are all members of 
 our little church, and two of them have risen to 
 important positions in our schools — one as primary 
 teacher of English and interpreter in the female 
 department, and the other as teacher of Spanish 
 and interpreter in the department for bo^'s. 
 
 With these results obtained in so short a time, 
 and our schools still continuing to grow in favor 
 with the masses of the people, and with the same 
 encouraging results from other places on the Pacific 
 coast, I am led to believe that Dr Taylor's mis- 
 sions in Chili and other portions of South Ameri-
 
 132 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ca will be a means of gathering into the Church a 
 great throng of those who have been saved through 
 the atoning power of the great Redeemer. 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Taylor, dated at Co- 
 quimbo, Chili, September 1st, 1883, will give his 
 opinion as to the great importance of school-room 
 work in connection with evangelical missionaiy ef- 
 forts: 
 
 " Dear Brother: God has a great work for us 
 to do in Chili; and, though it will take time, the 
 most direct way of introducing the Gospel to the 
 hearts of the people of South American nations is 
 thi'ough the school-house. They despise a pro- 
 fessional padre, but have a high respect for a pro- 
 fessor of the sciences. We want a great number 
 
 of professors, who, like you and Bro. S , can 
 
 both teach and preach. 
 
 ' ' Our workers in Pernambuco are getting on better 
 and are quite hopeful. 
 
 "Bro. Nelson, at Para, is gettino; on grandly. 
 He has organized a Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and has a good congregation; says he has the best 
 congregational singing he ever heard — all native 
 Brazillians. His brother, whose wife died there 
 of yellow fever, will, D. V., retm-n this fall, to 
 teach English to the natives and learn Portuguese 
 language for a year, when he will re-open theii' 
 college. They are bound to leaven the valley of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 133 
 
 the Amazon, large as it is, with the Methodist 
 'orospel; and that, too, very largely will be accom- 
 plished through the school-house." 
 
 But Dr. Taylor's missions in South America ex- 
 ist under many disadvantages. The Doctor, one 
 of the best and wisest missionaries in all the world, 
 is no organizer. There is no head nor tail to his 
 institution. Every mission post is a kind of an 
 independent monarchy, and the missionary does as 
 he pleases and reports to no one. From these 
 conditions arise serious consequences; for occa- 
 sionally a worker is sent into these fields wholly 
 incompetent for the labor, with none but mercenary 
 desires, and, as there is no one to remove him, the 
 work, if not wholly ruined, is placed in bad odor 
 among the people. But, as Mr. Taylor never in- 
 tended that his self-supporting missions should 
 have a separate existence from the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, he is not answerable for these 
 things. The blame rests with the Church. It 
 ought to farther these societies and organize them 
 under its own colors. The work is well and faith- 
 fully done, and all the workers at present, so far as 
 known, are earnest, self-sacrificing, educated men 
 and women. It is a. shame that the Methodist 
 Church does not sustain one mission field on the 
 western coast of South America. 
 
 But Doctor Taylor's work in South America is
 
 134 CITILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 not self-supporting. Outside of Santiago College 
 there is not a teacher or preacher on the whole 
 coast but what is compelled to live from hand to 
 mouth. Poor Miss Waterhouse, after laboring for 
 years, was compelled to go home in a sailing ves- 
 sel. Miss Esther Spink and Prof. F. D. Newhou^e, 
 both retiring from the work in ill-health, went 
 home on borrowed money. There is no provision 
 for the care of the sick. It is actually "root hog, 
 or die," as the good Doctor expressed it himself. 
 The Rev. Mr. Collier, a noble minister who wore 
 himself out in this work, took passage on a sailing- 
 vessel for the United States because he had not 
 the means to pay his way on a steamer. In mid- 
 ocean he died of dysentery, simply because there 
 were no medical attendants, which can always be 
 found on all steamships carrying passengers. Some 
 of the workers are compelled to dress shabbily, 
 and every school on the whole coast is biuxlened 
 with debt. If simply existing is self-suj^porf, then 
 the workers are supported. But there is not a sol- 
 itary' condition of this work but that could be 
 maintained with equal or even better success under 
 the auspices of a missionary society at home. I do 
 not criticise Mr. Taylor. He has done what the 
 Methodist Church has neglected to do — sent earn- 
 est men and women to this continent to labor for 
 the salvation of benighted souls, and they have
 
 PAST AND PKESENT. 135 
 
 lived and done good work; but their sacrifices have 
 been both great and humiliating. They ought not 
 to bear all the burden.
 
 CHAPTKR X. 
 
 Silk-hat Aristocracy — Evidence of a Gentleman — The Differ- 
 ence—The Price of Things — Second-class Fare— A Memor- 
 able Eide — The Boston Man and the Fat Woman — His De- 
 feat — Chilian — An Attentive Landlady — A Good Luncheon 
 Horse Sausage— Keligious Women — Irreligious Men — The 
 Landlady's Priest — How He Converted an Englishman — 
 A New Interest in a Circus — The Parade — Plaza de Armes — 
 A Mother Desires to Sell us her Daughter — The Theater — 
 The Clown — Tight-Rope Dancers— Money Made Easily. 
 
 "W|N Chili there are notably two classes of society. 
 ^1 If a man wears a silk hat and carries a pretty 
 ^A cane, it is presumable that he belongs to the 
 better class. If he has a servant to wait on him at 
 home, or to cany his small luggage when he trav- 
 els; if he emerges from a first-class railway coach 
 and takes a first-class carriage without inquiing 
 the price; if he settles with his landlord by handing 
 him a large bill without a question, and shoves the 
 returned small change in his vest pocket without 
 deigning to count it, there is no doubt but what 
 he is a Gaballero — a gentleman of means and in- 
 fluence. But should a man be fortunate enough 
 to have the silk hat and the pretty cane, and un- 
 fortunate enough not to be able to pay first-class
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 137 
 
 rates, or to employ a ragged man to carry his bun- 
 dle, it is certain that he is not admitted into the 
 
 first circles. The Rev. Mr. Mc , my neighbor, 
 
 a man of great ability and worth, was given the 
 opprobrious name of vaquero — cowboy — because 
 he carried home each morning a pitcher of milk. 
 Even his silk hat and polished cane, coupled with 
 very polished manners, would not save him. 
 
 The man who makes your shoes, the tailor who 
 fits your clothes, the woman who irons your shirt, 
 vn\\ each charge for his labor according to your 
 cloth. If you are a cahallero, or pretend to be one, 
 the price will be enormous; if you are a laborer, 
 a tradesman, or a clerk, it will be moderate. If 
 you go to the market in person to purchase a steak, 
 it will cost you forty cents a pound; if you send 
 your servant he will purchase the same quality for 
 half the money. The doctor who paid a profes- 
 sional visit to my family, requiring his services for 
 thirty minutes, sent in his bill for seventy-five dol- 
 lars; but when informed that I Avas poor, wrote 
 me a polite note, saying that it was of no import- 
 ance; I could pay him whatever I thought proper. 
 
 It may seem strange that a person from Christian 
 America should for a moment debate the question 
 of first and second-rate railway fare when traveling 
 and short of funds. But I found myself doing 
 that same thing when I went to Chilian. When I
 
 138 CIVILIZATION IN CHILT. 
 
 left home I was quite certain that second-class pas- 
 sage would serve me very well. When I reached 
 the depot I was somewhat in doubt, and concluded 
 to hastily inspect the waiting cars. They were all 
 manufactured in the United States, and one looked 
 quite as comfortable as the other from an outside 
 view, but when I peeped into the second-class car 
 all doubts vanished — being confronted with things 
 about as follows: 
 
 1. My olfactories were regaled with an unpleas- 
 ant odor. 
 
 2. A dirty, pock-marked man, with wartery 
 eyes and a sore face, lying full length upon one of 
 two long benches extending lengthwise through 
 the car. 
 
 3. A slovenly-looking woman seated on the 
 floor in the i^assage-way, surrounded by children 
 from whose heads she was picking j)arasitical ani- 
 mals, and cracking them between her thumb nails. 
 
 I rode on a first class ticket; but I shall never 
 forget that ride! The fat woman occupying the 
 seat just behind me will never forget it! The 
 traveling salesman from Boston will never forget 
 it! It was a memorable day! I swallowed five 
 hundred pounds of dust, more or less. It was m 
 the midst of the dry season, no rain having fallen 
 for mouths, and the on-rushing train caiiied with 
 it swirling clouds of dust as though it were a cy-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 139 
 
 clone. The fat woman's servant fanned her 
 vi^rously. She sneezed, she coughed, she swal- 
 lowed dust, she cried, she swore terribly in per- 
 fectly good Spanish, she vomited, and then she 
 cried and coughed and swore again. 
 
 This was great fun for the man from Bostom; he 
 winked knowingly, chuckled behind his hat, and 
 laughed outright, at which the fat woman looked 
 daggers. ''Been traveling in this country for ten 
 years; got entirely used to it. 'Tell ye, though it's 
 a pic-nic to watch some of the high-steppers. Ha, 
 ba, ha, ha, ha!" said he, looking at the fat wom- 
 an. 
 
 "D'ye see those mountains, there? Ah! here's 
 the man with ice-cream — ha! ha! Funny ice-cream. 
 Tell ye, though, nothing but a tumbler full of 
 snow with cinnamon water on it — ha, ha, ha, ha! 
 Best kind of thing to take, though, to wash down 
 the dust when a man's traveling — ha, ha, ha! Look 
 at that fool woman! Mountains very beautiful," 
 he contiuued. "D'ye see that large canon running 
 away up between the snow peaks ? Two robbers 
 lived there in a den and carried on the business till 
 they had killed seventeen men, and — good heavens ! 
 ha, ha, ha! hear that woman swear — ha, ha, ha, ha, 
 ha-a! The' tried to take 'em hundred of times, but 
 couldn't do it— couldn't find out where they had 
 gone, where the den was, ye see. Have another
 
 140 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 glass ice-cream? ha, ha, ha! But finally one 
 young fellow went out all alone an' brought 'em 
 both in dead on an old cart— ha, ha, ha, ha-o! My! 
 ha, ha, ha, he-e — see that woman (pointing right to- 
 ward her) ha, ha, ba !" 
 
 "Bobo de nacimiento!" (born a fool) cried she, 
 hurling at him her bottle of cologne, which, while 
 his head was well thrown back and his mouth 
 stretched with boisterous laughter, struck him with 
 a thud squarely in the face. How his poor nose 
 did bleed! How those unfeeling Spaniards did 
 roar and shake with laughter! That man from 
 Boston said something, something that wouldn't 
 sound well to hear it read. But the more he said 
 the more the other passengers laughed; they 
 laughed till he left the car, and continued to 
 laugh till they could laugh no more. Even the 
 fat woman forgot her sorrows and joined in the 
 laugh, in spite of the dust. 
 
 Chilian (pronounce Chill-yan) is an inland town 
 of about twenty thousand inhabitants, situ- 
 ated in the great agricultural district, close up to 
 the foot-hills of the Andes Mountains. Like all 
 small towns in South America, it is so ugly that it 
 is wonderful. The houses are all one story in 
 height, made mostly of adobe, have far-projecting 
 eaves with no cornice, and the walls are thick and 
 damp. In company with the man from Boston,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 141 
 
 another American and an Englishman, I repaired 
 to the Hoted Finances del Ferrocaril, and secured a 
 cool, comfortable room. 
 
 The landlady was all attention. She sent a 
 swarm of servants to attend to our various wants, 
 and as soon as we'had our bath, and were well cur- 
 ried down by the boot-black and the man whose 
 business it was to dust our clothes, she invited us 
 to an inviting lunch of splendid salads, cold meats 
 (one dish of which we afterwards learned was 
 canned horse, right from France, but which was 
 very palatable as long as we didn't know what it 
 was) and bread. She brought a large decanter of 
 wine, filled goblets to the brim and drank our 
 health. Noticing that two of us did not drink, she 
 inquired at once if we were Protestants, assiu'ing 
 us at the same time that she, though a professed 
 Catholic, had great regard for all Protestant peo- 
 ple. Her priest was also a man of large views, as 
 well as of great social qualifications, and he would 
 only be too happy to meet us and entertain us as 
 became a Christian gentleman; and, as he was to 
 dine with her, she hoped that we would all get 
 well acquainted and spend a pleasant evening, 
 long to be remembered; for she was so cetain that 
 el Sacerdoti was the jolliest and best man in the 
 world. 
 
 The truth is, our landlady was very religious.
 
 142 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI, 
 
 as are all the women in Chili — that is, they have 
 an unswerving devotion for their priests. I can- 
 not account for it, but it is a noticeable fact that 
 nearly all the women of the educated classes are 
 wonderfully devoted to the Church, while nearly 
 all the men have not the slightest confidence in either 
 the priest or the religion he professes. When the 
 bill for granting civil mai'riage was being discussed 
 in the Chilian Senate, the priests scorned the coun- 
 try to secure signers to a petition asking that it 
 be defeated. Seventeen thousand ladies and fifteen 
 gentlemen signed the petition; and that may be 
 considered a fair index for the ratio of devotion to 
 the Church throughout the nation. But Oh, how 
 wonderfully devout the ladies are ! They sleep re- 
 ligiously; they think religiously; they talk relig- 
 iously; they eat religiously; they gossip religiously; 
 they profane the name of God religiously (I never 
 saw a Chilian who thought it harmful to swear); 
 they lie religiously; and some of them even steal 
 in the name of their priest and their religion. 
 
 When the dinner hour arrived, our landlady's 
 priest was on hand. He was certainly all that she 
 had claimed for him — a jolly fellow. When intro- 
 duced to us, he declared, as he almost staggered 
 toward us, with a bottle of wine, that we should 
 drink his health. He knew, he said, that we were 
 Protestants, but it made no difference; they were
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 143 
 
 good people here, but they would have a hard time 
 hereafter, aud so he was going to be merry with 
 them. "Besides," he said, addressing the Boston 
 man, who spoke excellent Spanish, "if I could talk 
 to you fellows an hour over a good glass of wine, 
 I could convince you that ours is the true Church." 
 The Boston man was about to demur, but Jones, 
 the Englishman, said, with a wink, that he was 
 certain of it. "We have never heard your side of 
 it, yet," said he. 
 
 "That's it," said the priest; "people are Protes- 
 tants because they have never known the revealed 
 truths of the holy Church ! Think a moment, gen- 
 tlemen, of her greatness ! how she is extending 
 her power ! how she has sent emissaries to every 
 part of the world ! Think what her missionaries 
 have done, what they have sacrificed, the king- 
 doms and nations they have built up and strength- 
 ened ! Do you think it possible to have accom- 
 plished so much if ours had been anything but the 
 true Church ?" 
 
 **Ah ! father," said Jones, producing from his 
 coat-pocket a flask of brandy, "you talk wisely, and 
 there is much reason in your remarks; but pray, 
 drink with me the rose-colored nectar of my own 
 native land, that I may be cheered to listen to more 
 of your manly talk." 
 
 Jones actually filled the glass to the brim , and
 
 144 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 the half-drunken man in the black gown, puffed 
 with what he believed to be a victoiy within easy 
 grasp, actually swallowed it at a quaff. In thirty 
 minutes' time he was dead drunk in the landlady's 
 own boudoir. 
 
 After dinner our attention was arrested by hear- 
 ing music in the streets, and stepping to the door 
 we witnessed the street parade of what was adver- 
 tisedas " Girco Esjylendido" — "magnificent circus." 
 
 "A great and priceless thing is a new interest!" 
 How that parade cheered me! How it did take 
 possession of me! How it did bring to my re- 
 membrance the childhood days, when, in bare feet, 
 I walked twelve miles, and spent the only twenty- 
 five cents I had ever possessed for the then priceless 
 sight of seeing a vulgar clown and looking at the 
 elephant! And oh, what music! How it delighted 
 me ! warmed me ! thrilled me ! lifted me up and 
 made me cry (with laughter) ! Jones, the English- 
 man, cried, too; and we all of one accord agi'eed 
 to attend the circus. While we were reading the 
 handbills announcing the great feats of "those 
 kingly performers," whose "reputation" was 
 "word- wide," and whose "fame" had "never been 
 equaled," that music kept ringing in oui' ears. 
 
 True, there were only two horns and a large 
 drum, and one of the horns was cracked; but what 
 of that! Can't a fellow appreciate small things!
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 145 
 
 If there had been anything in that parade except 
 the music, the dog-cart, and the black driver sit- 
 ting behind, it would have spoiled it. And cer- 
 tainly, if downright, hearty laughter, long-con- 
 tinued and oft-repeated, is an indication of appre- 
 ciation, then the whole affair was most highly ai)- 
 preciated . 
 
 Whiling away an hour or two prior to going 
 to what we knew, at best, would be nothing but a 
 coarse and vulgar entertainment, but which we 
 had determined to attend in order to see all sides 
 of Chilian life, we strolled down to the Plaza df 
 Armes. It was evening. The city band was dis- 
 coursing splendid music, and hundreds of people 
 were out in full dress. Ah! there are sorrowful 
 things in Chili. The great multitude promenad- 
 ing around, all so merry, so light-hearted, gave 
 evidence of nothing but happiness. But, O 
 Death ! there is canker there ! 
 
 "Would the senor like a little maiden?" said a 
 middle-aged woman, pausing before us, with a girl 
 of fourteen years on her arm. 
 
 "Is the young lady your daughter?" 
 
 "Si, senor." 
 
 "Do you want to give her away ?" 
 
 "Ah! no, senor." 
 
 "Do you want to sell her ?"
 
 146 orvrLiZATiON in chili. 
 
 "No — no! Perhaps the senor would like her 
 for a short season ?" 
 
 I blush to record it; but the conversation ac- 
 tually occun'ed, and I afterwards learned that in 
 some of the larger towns it is no uncommon thing 
 for a family in poor circumstances to maintain it- 
 self by making merchandise of the young and ten- 
 der daughters. I turned to the woman and asked 
 where she lived. 
 
 "In this city, senor," she replied. 
 
 "How many children have you ?" 
 
 "Four, senor." 
 
 ' 'Are they all girls ?" 
 
 "No, senor; this is my only daughter." 
 
 "Are you a Christian ?" 
 
 "Of course, sir." 
 
 "Do you tell your priest that you are in the 
 habit of putting your little girl out for such bad 
 purposes ?" 
 
 "Ah, no, senor; it is not necessary. She is my 
 own daughter, and the priest does not care what I 
 do with her " 
 
 It was half-past eight when the music again 
 broke forth to call us to the circus. Jones danced 
 a hornpipe; and we all set out for the entei-tain- 
 ment. Following the crowd, we soon appeared in 
 front of an old, rickety, board barn, with an im- 
 mense sign-board over the door, on which was
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 147 
 
 written, in large letters, the Spanish word 
 "Teatro." 
 
 ''Is the circus held here to-night?" asked Jones, 
 of the man at the window. 
 
 "Held here, sir!" said the man, in good English. 
 
 "What's the admission?" 
 
 "Have a box, sir?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Five dollars, sir." 
 
 Jones paid for the box, and we went in. I no- 
 ticed that the ceiling had been made by stretching 
 muslin sheeting over the upper joists, and that in 
 different places the accumulated dirt from above 
 had bagged it down, and even torn holes through 
 it by the weight. That the roof leaked badly was 
 evident from the stains on the canvas. The "thea- 
 ter" was lighted with twelve large lamps hung 
 ai'ound in different places, so as to afford the best 
 possible light. The pit, the gallery, the stage, the 
 elevated boxes, in fact, the whole inside of the 
 building was made of unplained boards, and be- 
 tween each two boards was a good-sized crack or 
 opening; and overall was a thick coating of white- 
 wash that readily rubbed oft' on our clothes. 
 When we reached our box it was empty, and the 
 Boston man again made some remarks that I can- 
 not record. But the good-natured Jones gave a.
 
 148 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 boy a half dollar to go to the hotel and bring us 
 four chairs, which made us quite comfortable. 
 
 Presently, after repeated calls from the audi- 
 ence, the bell — a very large dinner-bell — rang; the 
 music struck up, and the curtain was raised; but 
 not a soul appeared on the stage We supposed 
 some little blunder had been made, and that soon 
 things would be righted. But after the music had 
 been played clear through and repeated, the audi- 
 ence got restless and uneasy. The Boston man 
 sneered; but Jones said it was excellent — the 
 best thing of the kind he had ever seen or heard. 
 
 Just then something white shot out on the stage 
 with considerable velocity. It was a clown. His 
 face was jDainted white, with the exception of a red 
 spot on his cheeks and one between his eyes. His 
 white cap tapered to a point three feet above the 
 top of his head, and his false ears, which were 
 black, stuck out a foot long, quite like those of a 
 mammoth donkey's. The rest of his dress was a 
 loose-fitting, muslin gannent, made waist-coat 
 fashion, and trimmed up the entire length of each 
 seam on the outside of the legs with an abundance 
 of immense white frills. He jumped up and 
 down, stiif-legged, ran around the stage, threw 
 up his arms in wild gesticulations, fell down a 
 dozen times and as often quickly jumped up, and 
 kept up that kind of performance for ten minutes,
 
 PAST AND PRE8EKT. 149 
 
 with not a sign of recognition, by even a smile, from 
 the audience. Then, from the sheer ridiculousness 
 of the situation, the peoi^le began to unbend — just a 
 little at first, but gradually increasing till the whole 
 house was a wild tumult of laughter and cheers. 
 After this performance was over, and the band had 
 again tormented the people with its clumsy music, 
 there appeared upon the stage two young men and 
 two young women, all dressed alike in flesh-colored, 
 tight-fitting garments. They made a low bow, the 
 young women at the same time raising the right 
 foot and bending the right knee, and then they re- 
 tired. The whole of the performance was in keep- 
 ing with the surroundings, and I must say that the 
 people of Chili are easily entertained. Then fol- 
 lowed, however, some wonderful feats on the 
 tight-rope, the elevated swing, and the trapeze. 
 For instance, a young man climbed into a swing at 
 least twenty feet above the floor, and while it was 
 in rapid motion, with folded arms he stood up and 
 danced, or, at least, kept time to the music with 
 his feet. At twelve o'clock the '*Girco Esplendido" 
 closed its entertainment, and the people were all 
 satisfied and pronounced it excellent. 
 
 Chilian is situated in the midst of an excellent ag- 
 ricultural district, and cattle, sheep, swine and 
 horses are very abundant. It is no uncommon sight 
 to see a dozen or more large pigs lariated to stakes
 
 150 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 and grazing upon the commons. A German farmer 
 adjoining the city makes a fortune of thirty thou- 
 sand dollars every year by grazing cattle. He has 
 a farm of eight hundred acres, the whole of it 
 thoroughly irrigated and used for pasture lands. 
 A Mr. D , an American, has a half million dol- 
 lars' worth of machinery, all under one roof. He 
 smelts his own iron, and manufactures wagons, 
 coaches, threshing-machines, mill-irons, car-wheels, 
 etc. Money is easily made, and any one so in- 
 clined can easily seciire wealth.
 
 CHAPTKR XI. 
 
 The Baths— Flowers — Pleasnre-seekers— High Life — Education 
 — Courtship^Getting Married — A Good Wife — A Chilian 
 Husband — A Steamboat Ride — The Bathers — Soldiers- 
 Ashamed of our Countrymen. 
 
 ^^BOUT fifty miles from Chilian, high up 
 among the everlasting snows of the Andes, 
 . is a place familiarly known to eveiybody a3 
 the "Baths." There is nothing there but a large 
 hotel — where a fellow has the exquisite pleasure of 
 paying at the rate of about a dollar a bite for two 
 meals a day — and a great quantity of mineral 
 springs. The latter are the attraction of every 
 body in the whole nation afflicted with anything 
 like a disease, and of many not afflicted, who re- 
 sort there during the summer months to spend 
 their money and keep cool. The proprietor of the 
 hotel pays ten thousand dollars a year to the mu- 
 nicij)ality of Chilian for the privilege of entertain- 
 ing these health and pleasure seekers for three 
 months in the year, and makes a nice little profit 
 of sixty thousand dollars. 
 
 The hotel is situated on what appears to be a 
 precipice, which is sumptuously cushioned and
 
 152 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 draped with foliage, and breaks up into many 
 beautiful chasms, leading off into the dense 
 woodland of mighty oaks, then delving into the 
 plain far below, in which is situated the town, with 
 its houses barely distinguishable; and far, far be- 
 yond are the wonderful wastes of the mighty Pacific, 
 whose blue waters mingle with the blue of the hori 
 zon in misty confusion. But what shall I say of 
 the flowers? Chili is pre-eminently a land of 
 flowers. From the time we commence to slowly 
 ascend the mountain at its base, winding in zig-zag 
 lines among the gorges up higher and higher till 
 we reach the limit of everlasting snows, our eyes 
 are feasted and our souls delighted with the beau- 
 ty and fragrance of flowers. Daisies, pansies im- 
 mense in size and beautiful beyond description, 
 heliotropes, geraniums with immense stalks like the 
 trunks of young saplings and with red, yellow 
 and variegated flowers ! Are we in Paradise ? Is 
 this the garden of Eden ? Are we enchanted ? 
 Are those fairies that nod and bend and beckon 
 to us with blushing face, rosy lips and glory- 
 crowned smiles real ? "Is it the fragrance of their 
 breath that floats up to regale us with pleasant 
 odors, that charms and soothes and lulls us off into 
 dreamy existence where we wander in celestial gar- 
 dens of beauty ? Are flowers immortal ? Is the 
 odor the soul that wafts its way up to a higher Eden
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 153 
 
 of perpetual beauty, of which all the fragrance and 
 honey-dews of this world are but a foretaste of its 
 gi'andeur? Are the love-tinted petals and the 
 beautiful leaves the smouldering body that shall be 
 resurrected and united with the soul to again send 
 forth a rapturous beauty on the banks of the River 
 of Life?" Ah, no! Grod is not so impoverished. 
 But why do flowers so elevate us ? Why do they 
 remind us of the chubby hands, the dimpled 
 smiles and sweet breath of the tender little one 
 that fell away like a bursting bud plucked from the 
 living vine ? Why do we think of heaven when we 
 see such beauty, if these things are not really a 
 foretaste of the great beauty in the life to come ? 
 
 At the hotel are hundreds of guests. Some are 
 old and ugly, some are rheumatic and feverish, 
 but by far the larger part are young and middle- 
 aged. What brought them here ? Certainly anx- 
 ious mammas are not out to display their daughters 
 as a bundle of fanciful merchandise in order to 
 make a good '-'catch" — it is not the fashion here. 
 There are no private walks where the belles and 
 the beaux can saunter and gossip, read poetry and 
 love tales, create passions and form attachments 
 that are discarded and broken on to-morrow. There 
 are no secluded tete-a-tetes where the young nis- 
 tic can while away an hour or two with his lady- 
 love, unmolested. It is not the fashion either. In
 
 154 CIVILIZATION IN CHIU. 
 
 fact, it would create scandal for the young lady to 
 si^eakto the young gentlemen, unless it should be 
 in the presence of mother, or auntie, or a confiden- 
 tial servant. 
 
 But these young girls are so charmingly beauti- 
 ful, and they are so polite, and they can play so 
 nicely and sing so sweetly, and — and — and that's 
 all ! No, not all, either. If there ever is a time 
 when mamma is not on guard for a moment — just 
 a little moment — which rarely ever occurs, it is so 
 nice for one of them to receive a charming little 
 billet-doux, written on gold-tinted paper, nicely 
 scented, and placed in the sweetest little gipsy of 
 an envelope, tied with a white silk bow with deli- 
 cate tassels! O dear! how very, veiy cunning! Then 
 if the rare moment in life should ever happen when 
 a nice beau-like gentleman can only say: "Oh, you 
 are so pretty, that I love you with all my heart!" 
 how that little guarded soul will tremble! How 
 she will remember those words and feast upon 
 them! But mamma or no one else must ever 
 know a breath about it, for mamma would scold 
 furiously, tear her hair, and cry herself sick, and 
 any one else would say that she did something 
 "very, very naughty!" and eveiy lady acquaintance 
 that heard it would hold up both hands, open her 
 astonished eyes and say "Oh, law!" So the dear 
 little darlings must behave very properly, play
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 155 
 
 for the young gentlemen in the presence of mam- 
 ma, and read all the little love stories by them- 
 selves. It is veiy wearisome, no doubt; but what 
 is better for weary people than sleep? So, when 
 the dear pets ^"et tired, they just sleep — sleep till 
 ten or eleven every day, and have a good long nap 
 in the afternoon. In fact, most of the pleasure- 
 seekers desire nothing- better than the luxury of a 
 good hath, a good dinner, some good wine, to be 
 kept cool, and to have plenty of sleep. But the 
 poor girls have the hardest time. They are so 
 guarded, so petted, so dressed, and so much con- 
 fined to the narrow circles of music, love stories, 
 lily-white and gossip, that their pretty faces are 
 often as expressionless as a mass of putty. 
 
 I once said to a very pretty and also very fashion- 
 able young lady who had called with her mamma, 
 when we were discussing the people of Spain: 
 
 "But, after all, we owe a great deal to the people 
 you now dislike so much." 
 
 "Ah, yes, that is very true," she paid. 
 
 "What America would be to-day," I continued, 
 "if there never had existed a Columbus, would be 
 hard to conjecture." 
 
 "Very true," she said. But a moment after- 
 wards I heard her quietly, and as she thought pri- 
 vately, inquire of her mamma who Columbus was; 
 and the dear mamma said she was not quite cer-
 
 156 CJITELrZATION IN CHILI, 
 
 tain, but she thouglit he was one of the early saints. 
 
 In a short time I asked the same dear lady to 
 play. She seated herself at the piano, and fairly 
 delighted me and every one else in the room. The 
 piano seemed to be a vital, living, breathing thing 
 under her masterly touch, it was so full of ex- 
 pression. When she had finished, a friend from 
 the United States said, after a reasonable silence: 
 
 "Senorita, I have no words with which to express 
 my delight! Youi' music is absolutely charming." 
 
 "Ah, you flatter me indeed!" she said. "I play 
 very poorly." 
 
 "Excellent, beyond expression!" he declared. 
 
 "No, indeed! I make no pretentions." 
 
 "The selection you played was from Strauss I 
 believe." 
 
 "I do not know from what it is quoted." 
 
 "Do you like Strauss ?" 
 
 "I have not had the pleasure of seeing it," she 
 said. 
 
 "Strauss — Strauss !" he exclaimed. "Johann 
 Strauss, the great Viennese musical composer!" 
 
 "Oh, certainly!" she said, getting very red. 'Of 
 course; he is a splendid musician." 
 
 The poor girls! They know so much about mu- 
 sic, they can make such excellent fancy work, and 
 they can write so handsomely; but they have 
 learned it all mechanically, as though they were
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 157 
 
 machines. They scarcely know the meaning of 
 biography, history or methematics, or anything 
 else pertaining to real life. 
 
 An Englishman of my acquaintance fell in love 
 with one of the very prettiest girls in all Chili. He 
 did the polite and proper thing by going to her 
 mamma and asking consent to win the daughter 
 for his wife, which consent was given. All the 
 courtship was done under direction of the mater- 
 nal eye, and soon the happy pair were betrothed. 
 But getting married was quite a different affair. 
 The first thing to be done was to consult the priest, 
 who agreed to sanction the marriage providing the 
 young man would unite with the Romish Church, 
 which, as he had no particular religious views, he 
 agreed to do. For this consultation the holy 
 father expected and got a good fee. The next 
 week the jDriest called with necessary papers, for 
 which he charged another fee. The young man 
 was instructed to carry these papers to the magis- 
 trate for his signature. The magistrate endorsed 
 them, and instructed the young man to go to 
 another officer to have them properly recorded and 
 sealed. For this service he charged a good fee. 
 The recorder put the papers in the proper mill, 
 charged another good fee, and instructed the 
 young man to write to his native land and have a 
 magistrate there certify that he knew him when
 
 158 CIVIMZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 he was born; knew his "sisters and his cousins 
 and his aunts;" knew all the rest of his relations; 
 knew that he was not born out of wedlock; and 
 knew that he had no deserted wife in the land of 
 his nativity. After waiting about nine months, 
 some papers were received that would answer, 
 which were forthwith carried to the parish priest. 
 That gentleman, though unable to read a word of 
 English, after examining them for a month or two, 
 and receiving a second fee, pronounced them all 
 right. The magistrate and the recorder each in 
 turn examined the papers critically, pronounced 
 them genuine (another fee for each), and finally, 
 after waiting about two years, the happy pair were 
 made one, at a cost of something less than two 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 But the Englishman's troubles were not at an 
 end. The very next morning after his marriage, 
 he said to his wife with a loving smile : 
 
 "Darling, can I trouble you to sew this button 
 on my coat?" 
 
 "Oh, my husband! I never, never did such a 
 vulgar thing in all my life!" 
 
 They soon went to housekeeping, and as there 
 were but two of them, he suggested that they 
 might get along with but one servant. 
 
 "Oh-o-o-o!" she cried. "Boo-oo-oo! 1 ca-ca- 
 can't stand it ! I can't be redu-du-duced to such
 
 PAST AND PRESENT . 159 
 
 a condi-i-i-tion ! I thought that you lo-o-o-ved 
 me! Oh-o-o-oo! Boo-ho-hoo!" etc. 
 
 The poor husband, almost frantic, made speedy 
 amends by securing a first-class cook, a dining- 
 room maid, a man servant to wash and wipe the 
 dishes and go to the market, a chambermaid, and 
 a servant at hand to hand the blessed darling wife 
 a drink when required, to fan her when she was 
 warm, to help her dress, bathe, paint, and do a 
 host of other fatiguing things. The Englishman's 
 income was only two thousand a year, and as a 
 consequence he became involved, took to drink, 
 and put an end to his miserable existence, leaving 
 his beautiful wife to return to her darling mamma. 
 
 But these dear creatru'es make better wives for 
 the young men of their own countiy. The native 
 husband understands his little wifey. If he is 
 wealthy he supports her grandly; he keeps 
 her as nearly as possible in a bandbox; and 
 when he tires of her, which he soon does, he spends 
 all of his evenings at the club, or at the room of his 
 mistress, whom he supports in a different part of 
 the city. If his dear little gipsy wife complains 
 of this, and ofiers any serious remonstrance, the 
 loving husband sometimes indulges (as my neigh- 
 bor in Concepcion did about once a month) in the 
 manly exercise of boxing her ears and kicking her 
 about the house.
 
 160 CIVILIZATIOK IN CHILI. 
 
 When I left Chilian and the Baths, I went di- 
 rectly to the bay of Talcahuano, and took a steam- 
 boat for Tome, another summer resort, on the 
 opposite side of the bay. The steamboat was a 
 marvel. It was about fifty feet long, fifteen feet 
 wide, with a canvas covering to protect the passen- 
 gers, and was purchased by an energetic German 
 for what loose money he had in his vest pocket. 
 He makes about ten thousand a year by cai*rying 
 passengers across the bay. 
 
 Tome is quite a manufactming town — perhaps 
 the first in Chili. They there make barrels, and 
 wine, brandy and whisky to fill them; flour, bricks 
 and tiling, and a very excellent quality of woolen 
 cloth. 
 
 Strange, how much the whole of the business of 
 the coast is in the hands of foreigners ! We went 
 to the hotel and said, in the best Spanish we could 
 command : 
 
 "We would like breakfast for three, Senor," 
 
 "Ah, yes ! do you speak English?" 
 
 We went to all the other public places in town, 
 tried to air our bad Spanish, but got rebuked by 
 similar answers. 
 
 In the afternoon a company of six of us, including 
 two young ladies, strolled down to the bathing 
 places on the beach. We had been assured that 
 everything was delightful, but were not quite pre-
 
 PAST AND PBESENT. 161 
 
 pared for what we saw. There was no bath-house. 
 A pax'ty of children and a woman were enjoying a 
 bath in a perfectly nude condition, and were not at 
 all startled or surprised by our appearance. We 
 there learned that it is the custom for each party of 
 bathers to carry with them two small tents, in 
 which all dress is adjusted for the occasion. 
 
 On our return we had a chance to see American 
 life and Chilian life placed side by side. An 
 American man-of-war was anchored in the bay, 
 and some two dozen soldiers who were off on a 
 "pass" came sauntering into the car. They were 
 splendidly dressed in new uniform, were cleanly 
 shaven, manly-looking fellows. They all took 
 first-class car fare, which is something no common 
 soldier in Chili would be guilty of doing — no, in- 
 deed! They would not for the world intrude so 
 much upon the "senoiitas" and the "caballeros." 
 But the American soldiers all crowded in, secured 
 the best seats, became terribly loud, vulgar and 
 foul; swore, yelled, hooped, sang songs, laughed, 
 jeered; filled the whole floor in the passage way 
 with tobacco juice, and succeeded in driving every 
 respectable person from the car. 
 
 In the second-class car were a lot of Chilian 
 soldiers; and they were about as slovenly-looking, 
 dirty, unkempt set of fellows as one ever beholds. 
 "Some were di'unk and some were sober;" but
 
 162 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 they were all orderly and quiet. Some of the la- 
 dies who were driven from the iirst-class car by the 
 foul language of the American soldiers, were quietly 
 seated by the Chilian soldiers when they entered 
 the second-class car. We were almost ashamed 
 that we were American citizens. 
 
 Taking it all in all, our trip to the public bath- 
 ing places was a success, and we felt repaid for our 
 trouble. The flowers, the pretty girls, the tender 
 mothers, the polite fathers, the patient servants, 
 the excellent fare, the solicitious and tender care 
 bestowed upon us — all together were certainly a 
 pleasant episode in a busy life among a strange 
 people.
 
 CHAPTKR XII. 
 
 Independence Day — Preparations — Great Festivities — Patriot- 
 ism — Fine Dresses — Fried Pies — Bill of Fare — Dance 
 Houses — A Chilian Beauty— The Condition of Sampson- 
 Good Order — "Rompe Cabeza" — The Greased Pole — The 
 Fat Man — The Find — On ths Pampas — A Fried Man — A 
 Battle — A Private Entertainment — A Tilt on Horseback 
 — The Tournament — The Soldiers — The Rapid Improve- 
 ments of the Nation — "Viva Chili." 
 
 i^IEZYOOHO means eighteen. In Cluli it 
 [||y has reference to theii' national day of 
 "^^^ independence, which was declared Sep- 
 tember 18, 1818, after O'Higgins had success- 
 fully broken the power of the soldiery of Spain. It 
 is a great day, or rather a great week. The munici- 
 palities usually recognize three days as a time of 
 feasting and rejoicing — the first for the assemblying 
 of the people from the country; the second for 
 dancing, drinking, horseback-riding, and general 
 jollification; the third for sham battles between 
 chosen divisions of the soldiers, the tournament, 
 racing and fist-fights. 
 
 The people, especially all the lower classes, 
 spend an entire week in festivities, in preparing 
 for which some of them sell anything and every-
 
 164 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 thing they possess in order to procure sufficient 
 pocket-money for the occasion. 
 
 In company with the Professor we will pay a 
 visit to the Alameda (public walk), to see, as 
 "Dick," my six-year-old, expresses it, "the show." 
 The Alameda of Concepcion is on the outskirts 
 of the city, lying snug up against a beautiful hill 
 that rises abruptly to the height of a thousand 
 feet. For more than thirty years it has been a 
 public resort. The "Lombardy" poplars are 
 growing thickly in long rows, many being five feet 
 in cii'cumference and nearly all a hundred feet in 
 height. There are no other attempts to beautify 
 the grounds excepting a partly completed highway 
 around the mountain, which will some day be ex- 
 tended to its top; but the place is beautiful, none 
 the less. 
 
 Wonderfully patriotic are the people of Chili. 
 The houses have all been newly painted, and nice, 
 large flags are streaming over eveiy doorway. The 
 cannons are booming with joy for the occasion. 
 The band is playing Viva Chili, and grandly they 
 play it, too. Carriages and coaches are going 
 to and fro, cariying people with glad faces full of 
 joyful expectations. Hundreds of young gentle- 
 men beautifully dressed, riding the gayest and 
 nicest of horses with ornamental saddles and bri- 
 dles, are dashing in every direction — some to show
 
 PAST AND PRBSEKT. 165 
 
 their skill as equestrians, others to prepare for the 
 tournament on to-morrow. Gentlemen and ladies 
 finely dressed are parading up and down the walks, 
 apparently to show their silks, satins, laces, dia- 
 monds, feathers, puffs, curls, frizzes and "bangs." 
 Indeed, they are very j)retty. 
 
 On either side of the first row of trees are long 
 rows of tents, some made of boards covered with 
 cloths, some of old carpets, and others of muslin. 
 In these are thousands of the poor and common 
 people from the country, dressed in their best, 
 whole families together, detei'mined to have a week 
 of undisturbed enjoyment. 
 
 In front of each tent are several women prepar- 
 ing dainties for the table. Some are kneading 
 dough, some preparing soups, some frying little 
 pies as large as a tablespoon, in great skillets of 
 hot lard. On rows of shelves, these, with other 
 delicacies, are exposed for sale, so that none may 
 go hungry. Here is a great gobler, baked with 
 both head and feet intact as in life; in his mouth 
 is an olive, as an advertisement of the boxfull just 
 behind for sale. 
 
 If you wish a meal, the bill of fare at one of 
 these tent hotels is about as follows : 
 
 Soup — made of chopped clams and beef kidneys. 
 
 Broiled lungs of fat pigs. 
 
 Broiled sea crabs and grilled entrails of pigs.
 
 166 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Roasted Bea-urohins. 
 
 Fried fish and baked clams. 
 
 Prepared sauce of ox-feet. 
 
 Roast turkey — stufifed with onion and spices. 
 
 Roast chicken — stuffed with chopped kidneys, red pepper, and 
 
 coryanders. 
 
 Boiled lungs of the ox. 
 
 Fried peas. 
 
 Pepper salad. 
 
 Yerba — tea, sipped while hot or drawn through tubes, size of a 
 
 straw. 
 
 Bread, butter, cake, etc. 
 
 You can take this whole course — standing up, 
 eating from your fingers — for the modest price of 
 about two dollars; if that is too expensive, you can 
 pass over on the other side, and join in a family 
 dish of boiled meats and vegetables, all eating from 
 the same tray, for about ten cents, and an extra 
 dime for the gallon or two of wine with which you 
 wash it down. 
 
 Every tent is a dance-house, where two young 
 women sing some plaintive air, accompanied with 
 guitars, while others whirl the handkerchief and 
 dance, as described in another chapter. Barrels, 
 casks and bottles of wine are strewn around pro- 
 miscuously; so, while some dance, others drink, 
 and they in turn dance and drink again and still 
 again, until they are top-heavy and can dance no 
 more, when they are stowed away to sleep off the 
 drunk.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 167 
 
 Here is a beautiful girl, with close-fitting dress, 
 black eyes and rosy cheeks, whirling the handker- 
 chief in a dance with a rough rustic in boots and 
 spurs. "Ah ! she must have her wine !" "So she 
 must !" echoes the rustic, who fills a large goblet 
 to the brim, which she turns off at a quaff. 
 
 Other lovers must come in for a dance with the 
 same damsel, for she is so pretty, so fascinating, 
 so sprightly, girlish, innocent and sweet that all 
 admire her. Oh, those large, black goblets of 
 wine, how they make her feet fly ! Her tongue 
 flies, too; but it is getting tired now, though she still 
 smiles, still twirls her handkerchief, and — takes 
 another drink. Oh! the floor goes up to meet her; 
 she cannot step straight; she staggers, but regains 
 herself, staggers again, falls, tries to get up, but 
 fails. She raises her head for a moment, her pretty 
 eyes look bleared and crazy, she smiles, bobs her 
 head, is gone — dead drunk. 
 
 At the next tent a man with a large head, ex- 
 pressive of Sampson, has fallen among some rub- 
 bish where already a man and woman are piled up 
 in drunken sleep; his little two-year-old is sitting 
 on his breast, playing with an empty bottle. Dozens 
 and scores of these people are in some stage of 
 intoxication. But there is no great disorder, no 
 yelling, no bragging, no quarreling or fighting, and 
 as the wine is the pure juice of grapes, the drunken
 
 168 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 sleep passes oft" without many bad oftects. The 
 secret of good order is the whipping-post, for 
 while to-day they are allowed to get drunk, they 
 must keep order or be arrested; and once in prison, 
 the police whip them unmercifully. To-moiTow 
 they can get drunk and fight all they desire, with- 
 out being molested. 
 
 For the amusement of those not caring to drink 
 and dance, the municipality has fixed up a play- 
 thing called Rompe-Gabeza, meaning to break the 
 head. It is well named, and consists of wood the 
 shape of a triangular prism, about one foot wide 
 and eight feet long, poised in a horizontal position 
 about eight feet from the ground. It is so perfectly 
 balanced on an u'on roller that the least touch will 
 cause it to revolve; and for this very reason it has 
 been introduced as a thing of amusement. Some 
 gentleman places a twenty-cent piece on the solid 
 framework at one end, and tells the boys that the 
 one who crawls across the balanced tiiangle can 
 have the money. About one boy in every ten is 
 successful; the rest lose balance and are thrown to 
 the ground, to the great delight of the crowd. 
 
 The municipality has also planted a great pole, 
 turned, smooth and straight, about sixty feet in 
 length, firmly in the grond. This is well smeared 
 with grease to the very top, at which extremity is a 
 purse of money to be given to the one that gets it
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 169 
 
 by climbing. Little boy number one, with clean 
 linen pants, vest and coat, thinks the chances 
 worth trying for, succeeds in crawling up about 
 four feet, when down he comes, greased all over. 
 A large, fat mau suggests that "it is not an impos- 
 sibility to climb that pole." A stranger tells about 
 a man in Santiago who tried hundreds of times, 
 each time before making the tiial rolling in the 
 sand so as to put grit on the pole, and at last suc- 
 ceeded in getting to the top, and finding ten thou- 
 sand dollars in bank checks. 
 
 The fat man lays ofl" his hat, and walks around 
 the jDole. Little boys, numbers two to six, in the 
 meantime have succeeded in wiping the grease off 
 to a height of about fifteen feet. The stranger 
 suggests that the package on top looks as though 
 it might contain bank checks. The fat man de- 
 clares that he could climb that pole when he was 
 young, and if it was not for his lame knee he could 
 do it anyway. "Of course you could," said the 
 stranger; "it was a man nearly fifty years old that 
 got the money in Santiago." 
 
 The fat man declares that he will try it, though 
 he has no hopes of getting higher than ten feet on 
 account of his lame knee. Up he goes, slow and 
 heavy, and having filled his pockets with sand, 
 which he administers freely to the sleekest parts, 
 he reaches a height of thirty feet, and stops. Every
 
 170 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 part of his person • that touches the pole is thor- 
 oughly saturated with g'rease. He makes another 
 effort, and commences to slide downward, and 
 reaches the ground with a crash, to the infinite de- 
 light of the stranger and a thousand others. 
 
 But some one is bound to reach the top of that 
 pole. The crowd is increasing; fully ten thousand 
 people are present. The fat man goes in league 
 with twenty-five boys to get the bank checks at 
 the top. He pushes one fellow up as high as he 
 can reach, and immediately starts another after 
 him, followed by still another and another, keep, 
 ing the pole full below the fii'st boy all the time- 
 In this way, he argues that he can stay on the 
 ground and crowd the boys up, one after another, 
 till the topmost one gets the money; then they will 
 divide. It is a failure. 
 
 Finally, after the great crowd had been amused 
 for three hours, and two or three hundred dollars' 
 worth of clothing had been destroyed, a lad, dressed 
 in rags, with arms and legs stuck full of sand-paper, 
 succeeds in reaching the coveted package. It con- 
 tained a dollar bill. 
 
 One day later. 
 
 The whole crowd, tents, barrels of wine, drunk- 
 ards and all, have gone to the pampas, two miles 
 south of town. "We go out, anxious to see the 
 tournament. We walk around, watching the gay
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 171 
 
 gentlemen on horseback canter over the large 
 plains. We are all expectation, for we want to see 
 with our own eyes enactments of the days of chiv- 
 alry, when hooded knights fought desperate battles 
 on horseback for the entertainment of the people. 
 We walk till we get tired, but there is no tourna- 
 ment. We sit down on the tongue of a cart. A 
 drunken fellow mistakes us for black stumps and 
 puts water all over us. 
 
 Our eyes are diverted and wander to the dancing. 
 Our fat man of yesterday is again conspicuous; 
 this time he has forgotten his lame leg, and swings 
 it high in a dance with a black-eyed beauty. A 
 stately gi'andmother fries her diminutive pies in a 
 skillet-ocean of hot lard, very close to the dancers' 
 feet. The fat man is more than cleverly drunk — 
 steps very high, swings his handkerchief, claps his 
 hands, endeavors to embrace his black-eyed part- 
 ner — but woe, woe to the fat man! woe to the 
 skillet of boiling lard! and woe to the frying pies! 
 The indignant beauty resents his insult with a push 
 which lands the fat man in sitting posture squarely 
 in the ocean of boiling grease. Poor fellow! We 
 turn away sick at heart, but many of these heathen, 
 half-Indian fellows think it a good joke. 
 
 Here are two fellows having a battle, one on his 
 horse, the other on foot. The latter has a stout 
 fish-pole ten feet long, and welts the former over
 
 172 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 back and head unmercifully; this he stands brave- 
 ly, until he seizes the end of the pole and jerks it 
 from the fellow on the ground, runs him down, 
 and pelts him in turn. 
 
 Here are some gentlemen in broadcloth and silk 
 hats who are getting up a small entertainment of 
 their own, and as they are ge'^.tlemen, and charge no 
 gate money, we will stop. A ring is formed and 
 two burly fellows, half drunk, are going to fight, 
 not to settle a qi^arrel, for they are friends; but to 
 get each of them a dollar from the gentlemen in 
 broadcloth. They have agreed to fight till one of 
 them gives ujo as being whipped, or till the gentle- 
 men aforesaid are satisfied and say it is enough. 
 They commence in a laughing tussel, and fall to 
 the ground. By degrees they grow more and 
 more in earnest, and soon are fighting like two 
 savage dogs; but not till they are pummeled almost 
 beyord recognition do the by-standers interfere 
 and say it is enough. We learn that one of the 
 men is to be sent to the city hospital. 
 
 There are some fellows having a tilt on horse- 
 back; there are eight of them, and they have 
 chosen sides in equal numbers. They start and 
 ride away from each other for a quarter of a mile, 
 then at a given signal turn and rush upon each 
 other in mad fui-y. The four horses abreast, with 
 their fearless, foolhardy riders, dash right into
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 173 
 
 the other four horses while all are running at full 
 speed. Some fall and roll over, some dash madly 
 onward, some aro lamed, and all more or less 
 bruised and hurt. This is the tournament, but one 
 sight is enough. 
 
 Luckily for the horses, at least, the soldiers have 
 made their appearance, and the "tournament," for 
 the present, comes to an end. These half-breed 
 Indian soldiers are very inferior looking men. 
 They are rather undersized, with hump shoulders, 
 bow-legs, and have not the ability, or have not had 
 the training sufficient to know how, to keep step. 
 They cut a sorry military figure, but the Chillian 
 soldiers are desperate in a fight. 
 
 All Chilians go into ecstasies over Dieuocho. 
 The opinion of the writer is, that the manner of 
 celebrating it is a national disgrace to the intelli- 
 gence of the country. One by one, however, the 
 nation is laying aside the conditions of society 
 she inherited from Spain at her birth. The bull- 
 fight has been abandoned, and certainly the foolish, 
 cruel custom of trying to unhorse one another, by 
 riding the poor animals into collision while run- 
 ning at full speed is not longer in great favor with 
 the intelligent people. Some daring German 
 ladies commenced in Concepcion the custom of 
 horseback riding with gentlemen friends. It was 
 0, bold step, for no Chilian lady of any character
 
 174 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 cared for the saddle. But as these German ladies are 
 of high standing and wealth, the custom is becom- 
 ing general. Our own American ladies do not 
 hesitate to walk out with young gentlemen friends, 
 something that would give rise to great scandal 
 among the natives of the country. But, one by 
 one, they are adopting the customs of the more 
 civilized and enlightened natioasjand certainly, no 
 other nation in all the world, under like circum- 
 stances of inherited darkness, of great isolation 
 through the physical structure of the country, of 
 the thousands of bigoted priests whose only aim is 
 to keep the people in darkness, has made the 
 progress that this little Republic has made in the 
 last fifty years. With great enthusiasm I am 
 ready to swing my hat, and in a rousing three 
 times three, cry aloud — Viva Chili!
 
 CHAPTBR XIII. 
 
 Concepcion— Its Early History— One Hundred and Eighty 
 Years of Warfare — Destroyed by Earthquakes — Evidences 
 of Civilization — A Million would not Save a Murderess — 
 Screen-Doors — One Kind of Missionaries — Converting an 
 Indian — American Tramps— Good Newspapers and Their 
 Future— A Wild Bill of the Andes— A Fire Company- 
 Prospective Mouse-Trap Millionaire — Good Police Eeg- 
 ulations — A Good Medicine for Thieves — Out of Debt — 
 General Description — Monotonous — Prof. F. in Trouble. 
 
 /pJI^UAINT old city of . Concepcion, founded 
 in^J more than three hundred and thirty years 
 "^y ago— it has a histoiy of its own! What 
 scenes in the drama of life have the sun'ounding 
 hills witnessed! Here once extended the bay, 
 where, unmolested or undisturbed by his near re- 
 lation, man, floundered the huge plesiosaurus, and 
 where, on the banks, the monster megatherium 
 played at death games of hide-and-seek with the 
 huge mastodon — all of them passing away and 
 leaving their bones for the astonished gaze of man. 
 Here were great internal commotions, and the sub- 
 terranean world of surging, boiling, swelling, hiss- 
 ing lava and steam, broke through the crust that 
 conflned it, and with trememdous tumult and
 
 176 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 crash, broke to fragments the azoic rocks and piled 
 them high in air, in conglomei-ate mass with the 
 coaser-textured rocks and sand-washings of the 
 sea. Here were earthquakes such as were never 
 witnessed by man — earthquakes that made more 
 than a quaking and trembling of the ground ; for 
 at one mighty bound the whole of the beautiful 
 valley on which now stands the city was redeemed 
 from the bay. Then, in later ages, when the then 
 nameless Bio-Bio had cut its channel along the 
 eastern hills, a rival earthquake still farther ele- 
 vated the land, and left the waters to course their 
 way through the western slopes. Here the wild 
 Indian roved unmolested for ages, built his wig- 
 wam in the sunniest, cheeriest places, killed the 
 wild-tame game, and never dreamed tbat from 
 another world, over the sea, would come a foeman 
 to steal his hunting grounds and murder his kins- 
 men. Here Valdivia, three hundred and thirty- 
 four years ago, founded the city. Here are 
 the scenes of many battles. To-day the Span- 
 iards are joyous and hopeful, giving out their songs 
 of rejoicings, that are caught up and echoed and re- 
 echoed by the silent, surrounding hills. To- 
 morrow the city is in flames; the few surviving in- 
 habitants flee to the boats; the Indian exultingly 
 swings his scalps, reeking with red, and gory, 
 while he plunders the ruins and feasts upon his
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 177 
 
 booty. Again the daring Spaniard erects the walls, 
 and the city is alive with throbbing, hopeful 
 hearts. But the cunning Indian, ever on the alert, 
 seeks an unguarded entrance, and the city is again 
 in smoking ruins. Once more does the Spaniard 
 build it up. Once more do the silent hills witness 
 the revengeful Indian raze it to the ground. For 
 one hundred and eighty years they witness the 
 battles on the plain below, between the hardy Span- 
 iards and the determined, unconquerable Indians. 
 
 And when the ground is made rich with human 
 gore, and the rivulets and brooklets are tinged a 
 thousand times with the blood of the slain, these 
 towering hills are witnesses of peace; for the In- 
 dian and the Spaniard somehow find out that God's 
 world is large enough to afford them both a dwell- 
 ing place, and that their fighting and murdering 
 has been greatly lacking in happy results. 
 
 But these silent sentinels are witnesses of still 
 more death and destruction, and twice do they see 
 the walls of the city tremble, and totter, and fall, 
 crushing to death the stricken inhabitants; for 
 twice do monster earthquakes level all the houses 
 to the ground. 
 
 But the grand old city still exists, and the quaint 
 old houses, with their thick walls and open courts, 
 are examples of architecture very ancient. 
 
 Concepcion has made many advances in the
 
 178 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 scale of civilization. For instance: About twenty- 
 five years ago, a beautiful lady, whose pare:ats 
 were very wealthy, married a young man, and set- 
 tled in life with many flattering prospects for the 
 future. Her domestic felicity was undisturbed for 
 years. A daughter was born, and had grown to 
 the age of five, and a world of honor and glory, as 
 well as of connubial bliss, was spread out at the 
 mother's feet. But suddenly that world came to an 
 end — her world of happiness and prosperity. She 
 was seized by a "green-eyed monster," who held 
 her in his death- vice gTasp, and waltzed her around 
 to the tune of Fiendish Whims; and finally he 
 caused her delicate hands to carry a kettle of 
 boiling water and pour it into her sleeping hus- 
 band's mouth and face. He died. So did she, 
 but not before her father had offered the whole of 
 his wealth to save her. The Governor was oflered 
 half a million in gold to pardon her. On the Hill 
 of Death — place of j)ublic execution — she was shot, 
 sewed into a bag with live snakes and live rats, and 
 sunk into the middle of the river. 
 
 Civilization, however, has done much to enlight- 
 en these people since, and now, under like circum- 
 stances, the grave Governor, filled with humanity, 
 would consider how much that money would en- 
 able him to do for "his fellow-men," and the wo- 
 man would be pardoned. If enough money was
 
 PAST AND PBE8ENT. 179 
 
 not forthcoming to mitigate her crime, she at least 
 might have Christian burial in the paupers' cem- 
 etery, where in after years the bad boys could play 
 football with her skull.* 
 
 In Vali^araiso I saw even more evidences of civ- 
 ilization than were ever found in Concepcion. I 
 saw there the stained windows and the green 
 screen just inside the door so common in all the 
 saloons in a Christian land. It was the first sight 
 of the kind I had seen since leaving New York. It 
 almost cheered me to know that I was once more in 
 a land that evidenced Christian civilization. Any 
 thoughts that I might have had of stopping were 
 instantly driven away, however, by the appearance 
 of a man from behind the screen. He wore two re- 
 volvers, a large knife, and a frightful scar, extend- 
 ing from his temple to the corner of his mouth. 
 I doubted the place from that moment, although it 
 did look wonderfully like the thousands of places 
 established and protected by law in our own Christ- 
 ian America. 
 
 I will add, that such great improvement is due 
 to one kind of missionary effort. The Rev. Mr. 
 
 B , a missionary of great zeal, was laboring to 
 
 elevate the Indians in the far-away Montana Terri- 
 tory; but at the same agency were many very 
 
 ♦Skulls and other human bones are very plentiful in the paupers' 
 cemetery in Concepcion.
 
 180 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 wicked men who largely counteracted his influence. 
 As a number of Indians could speak the English 
 language, he appointed special meetings and talked 
 to them upon the imj^ortant subject of Christian 
 civilization. But the chief could never be 
 persuaded to attend, although oflered many induce- 
 ments, as he desired much to have him converted 
 because of his widespread influence among the 
 other redskins. The opportunity, however, pre- 
 sented itself when the minister could address the 
 chief alone; for one day he found that worthy sit- 
 ting on a pile of rails in front of the agency, close- 
 ly observing some laborers plowing near by with 
 oxen, swearing and yelling at a terrible rate. 
 
 "Ah, Trushaway," said the holy man, "you 
 ought to be a Christian !" 
 
 "Ugh !" observed Trushaway. 
 
 "You ought to come out to our meetings and 
 learn to pray to the Great Spirit, and read in His 
 Book what he says to all the people." 
 
 "Ugh !" grunted the chief, still eyeing the oxen. 
 
 "If you were a Christian, Tmshaway, you might 
 induce all your nation to become civilized." 
 
 "Ugh !" 
 
 "Then," continued the good man, "you and your 
 people could soon have plenty of oxen and plows, 
 and could cultivate the soil like these fellows you 
 have been watching."
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 181 
 
 "Heap-a-good !" said Trushaway, jumping up, 
 "heap-a-good ! Indian be Christian ! Indian plow ! 
 Indian drive oxen ! Gree. haw, Buck, Bright ! 
 Whoop ! Wo-haw-back, Buck ! Indian much civil- 
 ized ! whoop !" 
 
 All of this was intermingled with a fearful volley 
 of oaths, in imitation of his civilized brother, the 
 ox-driver, who had intuitively done more to dissem- 
 inate evil habits than the good minister could ever 
 counteract — the long and short of the Indian's 
 progress in religious matter consisting in blasphem- 
 ing the name of God. 
 
 Christian America sends into this land of Chili 
 many missionaries. I speak what I know, for 
 some of them have called upon me in Concepcion 
 every week since I have been here. They usually 
 present themselves at the door, and with the fore- 
 finger pointing to the open mouth, utter the only 
 Spanish word they have learned — "Hambre," 
 meaning hungry. A careful diagnosis generally 
 shows they are afflicted about as follows: 
 
 They are very ragged. 
 
 They are very dirty. 
 
 They are very lousy. 
 
 They are extremely lazy. 
 
 They are excessively impudent. 
 
 They are the smartest of thieves.
 
 182 OIVILrZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 They are needed at home to be punished for 
 crime. 
 
 In fact, the most degraded people in Chili are 
 American tramps, who infest this country by the 
 hundreds, and who, as graduates of our higher 
 civilization, are educating a large class of natives 
 in the Christian accomplishment of being expert 
 pickpockets. Of all the representatives from our 
 beloved land, these tramps are so much in the as- 
 cendancy as to numbers, that a gentleman is al- 
 most made to blush at times to own that he is an 
 American citizen. 
 
 But to return. Concepcion has other evidences 
 of a growing civilization — it has a fire company. 
 The houses being built of heavy brick, and cov- 
 ered with earthernware tiling, it is almost impossi- 
 ble for them to take fire and burn down. But, as 
 all well regulated cities in civilized lands have fire 
 companies, the peojDle, determined not to be out- 
 done, purchased a monster fire engine with all 
 modern improvements, and organized a company 
 to put out fires. Now, there had not been a fire in 
 Concepcion of sufficient magnitude to burn a 
 farmer's smoke-house in twenty-five years. That 
 sounded very tame; it was far behind the spirit 
 and progress of the age, and so some good people 
 determined to redeem the city fi'om this long- 
 standing evidence of barbarism. The insurance
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 183 
 
 man was encouraged to visit the place, and suc- 
 ceeded in issuing several policies for about double 
 the value of the property insured. Then there was 
 a fire; a fire in which coal oil and other inflamma- 
 bles caused the flames to leap high in the heavens. 
 The people were in ecstasies. The church bells 
 rang out loud and clear. Even the fire engine 
 bustled around and was on hand before the build- 
 ing was half consumed. The fire company got 
 there, too. One by one they came saunteiing up, 
 some on foot, some in carriages — all dressed in 
 broadcloth, and looking as though it was a mighty 
 satisfactory aftair. So the city was redeemed, and 
 bids fair to maintain a character becoming the 
 third city in size and importance in a growing, 
 civilized Republic. 
 
 Concepcion has two daily newspapers, both filled 
 with wholesome articles of biography, of history, 
 of science, of jurisprudence, of theology, of afi"airs 
 of state, and of the general news of the world. 
 They are papers that will elevate the family, and 
 are a credit to the town and state. They are 
 remarkably free from reports of murders, highway 
 robberies, suicides, seductions, and the great class 
 of crimes so eagerly sought for publication in our 
 journals at home. But civilization will soon regu- 
 late this matter also. A generation or two more 
 will witness a radical change, and the young civil-
 
 184 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ian will eagerly scan the columns of "crimes and 
 casualties." He will read how the daring "Wild 
 Bill" of the Andes, single-handed, stopped the pass- 
 ing stage-coach, and made a full baker's dozen of 
 hearty mountaineers "stand and deliver" their 
 money, watches, revolvers and other valuables; 
 how he then generously presented the driver with 
 a j)urse of gold, and, covering the cowering pas- 
 sengers with a cocked revolver, watched the stage 
 recede from sight; how, when a sheriff's posse of 
 fifty armed men pursued him, he boldly gave 
 fight, killing seventeen of the number and refusing 
 to surrender until his own body was riddled with 
 holes; how the whole city turned out to his funer- 
 al, and the ladies wept and strewed flowers on his 
 grave. He will be feasted with articles extolling 
 the manly virtues of the popular "light weight," 
 Jemmy Johnson, who so gallantly pummeled his 
 adversary till he was almost beyond recognition, 
 ".to the great delight of the select party of a thou- 
 sand sports so favored as to witness the fun." 
 He will read of successful "corners" in grain; how 
 a clever gentleman from the West made an im- 
 mense fortune by "selling short" and watching 
 the markets; how a man in the East commenced 
 with a mouse-trap, and by "watering his stock" 
 and being shrewd enough to "take advantage of 
 the laws of trade," got to be a millionaire of such
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 185 
 
 immense influence as to control courts and legislative 
 bodies; in short, he will read of high crimes and mis- 
 demeanors until his heated, feverish brain will be 
 on fire; he will ponder such scenes by day and 
 dream of them by night. Then he will be civil- 
 ized. Then Concepcion will not be such a hum- 
 drum town, that has not aflbrded a solitaij mur- 
 der, a bank or highway robbery, for twenty-five 
 years. The Province of Concepcion may 
 even get to be as civilized as the State of 
 Missouri, and support a gang of train and 
 bank robbers, whose lives shall be wi'itten in 
 flaming, glowing lines of praise. If these are the 
 effects of civilization, I only pray that I may live 
 in Concepcion forever, and that nature, in some 
 way, will erect barriers imj^assable that shall for- 
 ever shut out all possibility of intercourse with my 
 own loved America, and all the rest of the civilized 
 world. For here such things are unknown, and 
 perhaps in all the world there is not another town 
 where life and property are so safe from the hand of 
 crime as they are in this city. 
 
 Concepcion has the best police regulations I ever 
 saw. Look at that half-breed Indian as he parades 
 up and down the sti'eet, dressed in full uniform. 
 He is under-sized, black, stoop-shouldered, and ex- 
 cessively homely. He "cuts the pigeon-wing" on 
 a bone whistle during all hours of the night, by
 
 186 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 blowing shrill blasts which one can hear a full 
 mile. But somehow he manages to keep order. 
 Perhaps this is due largely to the great body of 
 secret police, who, disguised and unknown, parade 
 the city in eveiy part. But more likely it is due to 
 the "medicine" the criminal is compelled to take 
 when once in prison. After a man has had one . 
 dose, all the powers of earth could not persuade 
 him to take another, and knowing that the jail is the 
 only place where the dreaded "medicine" is given, 
 it has quite a reformatory effect. It is administered . 
 about as follows: 
 
 1 . A good rope with which the patient is bound. 
 
 2. A stout post to which he is firmly tied. 
 
 3. A broad leather strap, one end of which is 
 cut into many strings, 
 
 4. A short, stout whipstock, to which the heavy 
 end of the leather strap is fastened; and 
 
 5. A burly man to lay it on to the patient's back 
 in about one hundred quick, successive strokes. 
 
 An Englishman, having received a dose of this 
 kind of Spanish soothing syrup for the crime of 
 stealing a saddle in the Province of Concepeion, 
 declared that he would as soon stand for the same 
 length of time neck deep in purgatory; and that 
 sooner than take any chances of receiving another 
 dose of the same kind, he would starve. 
 
 Concepeion is out of debt. Civilization, however,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 187 
 
 may in time remedy even that; and the progressive 
 Spaniard may live to see the day when gyratory 
 office-holders with gum-elastic souls, will plot to- 
 gether to erect a capitol building of paxillose ar- 
 chitecture, after the Albany Statehouse style. As 
 it now stands, the municipality has been so stu- 
 pidly honest as to erect good, roomy public build- 
 ings, pave all the principal streets with squared 
 blocks of granite, and beautify the city with public 
 gardens and walks without appropriating a solitary 
 cent of the public money. An office-holder who 
 would be guilty of such culpable stupidity in the 
 State of New York would never survive an election, 
 if he was even fortunate enough to escape impeach- 
 ment. 
 
 Concepcion is surrounded with beautiful scenery, 
 but like all the towns from Panama to Terra Del 
 Fuega, it is so ugly that it is picturesque. It has 
 nine Catholic churches and no sewerage. It sup- 
 ports fifty Catholic priests and thx'ee hundred pros- 
 titute women. It boasts of the greatest Jesuit col- 
 lege in South America, and over one-half of the 
 people cannot read or write. It maintains a lively 
 theatre and a great graveyard. It has palaces 
 where dwell the rich and pens where human pigs 
 feast in filth. It has a grand baijd of musicians as 
 well as perpetual smallpox; four banks and a thous- 
 and paupers; beautiful .carriages and wood-wheeled
 
 188 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 carts; locomotives and thundering trains of cars of 
 latest design, and the primitive plow with wood 
 mould-board and one handle. 
 
 Concepcion, like all coast towns of Western 
 South America, is excessively monotonous. The 
 buildings all have the same shape, and only vary 
 as to size and color. The streets all have the same 
 appearance, and it is easier for a stranger to lose 
 his bearings here than in London. This statement 
 was verified in the case of "Fin," the professor of 
 Greek and history in the American College, when 
 he first anived from the United States. Being out 
 together, I requested him to guide us back home. 
 He was confident, but did not know that we were 
 within ten yards of our own college door. When 
 we arrived there I suggested that we stoj) and meet 
 some friends. Passing into the parlor that we had 
 left not twenty minutes before, the professor joy- 
 ously greeted oui' fellow-teachers and declared him- 
 self happy in meeting them in a distant part of the 
 city.
 
 C\^\.«- 
 
 cMlL^a 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A Barren Coast — Rich Mines and ±tich Lords — A Barren 
 Desert — A Great Discovery --The Survey — A Dispute 
 about Boundaries — Rich Mines Claimed by two Nations — 
 War — A Treaty — A Revolution — New Discoveries — Another 
 Revolution and Another Treaty — Peru out of Money— Peru 
 Turns Miner — Peru Makes a Failure — She Stimulates the 
 Quarrel between Bolivia and Chili — A Secret Treaty— Peru 
 again in the Mines— Still Another Treaty to avoid War— 
 An Election in Bolivia — The Strife Deepens — Seizure of 
 Mines — Chilian Soldiers to the Front — A Great Feast — A 
 War on Paper — A Wonderful Army, all Otticers — Declara- 
 tion of War — Chili Occupies the Field — Battle of Calama — 
 The End of the War— The Beginning of Another. 
 
 HE whole of the western coast of South 
 America from the gulf of Gruayaquil to Val- 
 paraiso presents to the eye of the traveler a 
 succession of barren, sandy hills, that to the casual 
 observer has the ajopearance of beiug entirely 
 worthless. For many years it was never dreamed 
 that nature had stored away in those monotonous, 
 reddish, sandy barrens untold wealth that was to be 
 had for the gathering; and in later years, when inex- 
 haustible mines of guano, copper and saltpetre had 
 enormously enriched the lords of Peru, it was still 
 supposed that the great desert known as Atacama,
 
 190 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 lying between the inhabitable portions of Bolivia 
 and Chili, was a useless waste. 
 
 In both of these republics, however, mining had 
 assumed magnitudinous proportions. In Chili the 
 government revenues on mines alone had increased 
 over sixteen millions of dollars in a period of fifty 
 years; and the Chilians were fully alive to the great 
 importance of this branch of industry. Finally 
 some miners determined to investigate the desert. 
 Very foolish fellows they were considered, indeed; 
 for so worthless had the whole barren always been 
 considered that the SjDaniards in an early day had 
 pronounced upon it the greatest of curses; and 
 either of the two nations would have willingly 
 ceded all interest to the other for a mere trifle, if 
 not for the asking. But the plucky Chilian miners, 
 nothing daunted, pushed to the north, entered the 
 desert, and were rewarded with great finds of salt- 
 petre, copper and silver, in such abundance that 
 the supply seemed inexhaustible. 
 
 When these discoveries were made known, there 
 was naturally great rejoicing in the little Eepublic. 
 A great fountain was right at her own doorway, 
 where individuals could feast and fatten, and where 
 the nation could easily replenish its empty ex- 
 chequer. The Government at once commenced 
 complete surveys of the desert, northward as far 
 as the twenty-third parallel, which the Chilians
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 191 
 
 believed to be the boundary line between their 
 country and Bolivia. Small towns sprang up that 
 at once became the centers of large commercial 
 traffic of immense benefit to the nation. 
 
 The Government of Bolivia regarded all this with 
 a jealous eye. The rapid strides of its small but 
 energetic neighbor in obtaining this vast resource 
 of wealth, instead of being viewed with indiffer- 
 ence, was somehow considered an encroachment. 
 Bolivians, it was thought, ought to own the mines, 
 and in a short time they began to lay claim to a 
 portion of the now valuable territory. The whole 
 desert had hitherto been considered so worthless 
 that not the slightest attention had]ever been given 
 by either nation to a boundary line. But now, 
 Bolivia became convinced that her territory ex- 
 tended south to the twenty -fifth parallel, instead of 
 stopping, as the Chilians claimed, at the twenty- 
 third, and made a demand for possession of this 
 strip, also occupied by Chilian laborers, and con- 
 taining many valuable mines. 
 
 Both parties exhibited historical documents es- 
 tablishing different boundaries, and both seem to 
 have manifested great faith in the reasonableness 
 and justness of their claims to the disputed terri- 
 tory. War seemed imminent. On the fifth day 
 of June, 1863, the legislative power of Bolivia dic- 
 tated a law authorizing the executive of that nation
 
 192 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 to declare war against Chili. But neither party 
 was ready for war, and some diplomatic service was 
 rendered that appeared to give satisfaction in both 
 countries. 
 
 In 1866 a treaty was signed from which it was 
 hoped there would be continued peace. It stipu- 
 lated that all the products of the mines within the 
 disputed territory should be divided equally be- 
 tween the two countries, and that each should pay 
 an equal share of a debt of $80,000. 
 
 But Bolivia, in the midst of many revolutions, 
 neglected her part of this treaty, and again there 
 was strife between the two nations. Demands were 
 made upon the Chilians for the payment of the 
 entire debt, instead of the half of it as the treaty 
 stipulated, and the Bolivians were accused of re- 
 ceiving large sums from the products of the mines 
 that were never reported to the Grovernment of 
 Chili. 
 
 In 1868 two citizens of the latter country dis- 
 covered immense mines of borax and saltpetre 
 within the bounds of the disputed tenitoiy, which 
 were destined to deepen the strife between the 
 two nations, and to play an important part in 
 bringing about the war that followed, nine years 
 later. Before the owners of these mines were al- 
 lowed to operate them, they were requu-ed to pay 
 the Bolivian Government the sum of $10,000; also
 
 I PAST AND PRESENT. 193 
 
 to build a wharf at the seaport of Antofogasta, and 
 to build a road a distance of seventy-five miles into 
 the interior. To this Chili submitted, though it 
 cost her miners over $6,000,000. 
 
 About this time a new revolution occurred in 
 Bolivia, and the Government that had made these 
 restrictions and signed the treaty of 1866 was 
 overthrown. This was in 1871. The new Govern- 
 ment did not recognize the transactions or con- 
 tracts of the old, and again the two countries sent 
 out engineers to survey the disputed territory, and 
 the company at Antofogasta, notwithstanding its 
 enormous outlay, commented to make new regula- 
 tions. But many threatening revolutions in Boli- 
 via retarded an amicable settlement. The Presi- 
 dent, in the midst of many disputes and bitter 
 quarrels with aspiring statesmen — if that term can 
 be applied to hot-headed, ignorant chieftains, whose 
 sole desires were not to elevate the people, but 
 to further their individual interests at the expense 
 of the nation — ^dissolved the legislature. The next 
 day, at a banquet given by himself in honor of this 
 event, he fell dead, pierced by seven bullets, and 
 another government was immediately organized. 
 After much puerile diplomacy on both sides, an- 
 other treaty, differing but little from the old, was 
 signed between the two nations in 1872.
 
 194 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 About this time it ajDpears that Peru, notwith- 
 standing her great wealth, became painfully aware 
 of the fact that her coffers were empty. In the 
 latter part of the same year, President Manuel 
 Prado appeared before his assembled legislature 
 and declared that the Government could not con- 
 trol enough money to defray daily expenses. 
 Among other methods suggested for increasing the 
 revenues was a proposition that the Government 
 should control the saltj^etre mines in her own 
 province of Tarapaca. But even these mines were 
 largely in possession of the energetic Chilians, sup- 
 ported by powerful organizations at Santiago and 
 Valparaiso. But, encouraged by the concessions 
 Chili had made to Bolivia, Peru. enacted a law that 
 permitted only the Government to export saltpetre 
 from any of her territorial ports. But, at the same 
 time, it must be said that she offered the miners a 
 fair compensation for their mineral. In fact, the 
 law defeated itself; for the same authority that 
 enacted the law also stipulated that the Govern- 
 ment should pay the miners $2.50 for each hun- 
 dred weight of saltpetre delivered. This had the 
 effect of flooding the market and reducing the 
 price of that commodity to such an extent that the 
 Government received but little or no profit. To 
 add still more to the embarrassment of Pera, 
 Chilian miners made other great discoveries of the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 195 
 
 same mineral nearer to Antofogasta^ which threat- 
 ened the market with ruinous prices. 
 
 Probably somewhat envious of the continued 
 success of Chili, and stung by the effects of her 
 own failures, as well as having a desire in some 
 manner to own all the mines situated in her own 
 territory, it seems that Peru quietly determined to 
 stimulate the strife existing between Chili and 
 Bolivia. On the sixth day of January, 1873, the 
 two nations secretly confederated against the Gov- 
 ernment of Chili, as an outcome of Peruvian de- 
 sires — at least the Chilians so interpreted the 
 alliance, when it became known to them later. In 
 this secret league the two nations agreed to march 
 unitedly, against any nation that threatened their 
 territorial integrity. Peru, also, at the same time 
 dispatched an embassador to Buenos Ayres, to in- 
 duce the Argentineans to join this alliance. Argen- 
 tine, though cherishing no friendly feelings toward 
 Chili, refused. 
 
 Peru, feeling sure of her footing, however, soon 
 after enacted a new law. authorizing the Gov- 
 ernment to purchase all the mines within the 
 tenitory of Tarrapaca. The miners who refused to 
 sell were compelled to pay a duty on their mine 
 produce. What this duty was in amount I have 
 not been able to learn, but the Chilians complain 
 of it havinp: been so exorbitant that no mines could
 
 196 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 be operated, and that in time the miners were 
 compelled to sell. Be this as it may, Peru became 
 owner of all the mines, and the sellers, it is stated, 
 were persuaded to receive their pay in vouchers, 
 as the Government was out of money. 
 
 Chili, not knowing of the alliance between Bo- 
 livia and Peru, but feeling her inability to conduct 
 a war, in 1874 made a new treaty with the former 
 Government, in which great concessions were made. 
 All the disputed territory passed into the hands of 
 Bolivia, and all the privileges of revenue granted 
 in the treaty of 1866 were annulled; in fact, the 
 only clause in the new treaty favorable to Chili 
 was one stipulating that Chilian miners within 
 that district should not be subject to an increase 
 of tax or duties for a period of twenty-five years. 
 
 This treaty, however, did not solve the difficult 
 problem. For, two years later, the Government of 
 Bolivia underwent another revolution. That coun- 
 tiy for years had been in a terrible state of 
 anarchy. It was a popular thing for a general or 
 commander of a body of troops to seek out the 
 President, murder him and usurp his power. For 
 many years the presiding officers had all been 
 "elected" in that manner. This last revolution 
 gave the people a violent, dangerous man as their 
 leader. Law and order were everywhere disre- 
 garded. Frequent assaults were made upon the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 197 
 
 miners in Atacama. Of all the people in that min- 
 ing district, eighty-five per cent, were Chilian citi- 
 zens, all under control of a Bolivian colonel. Every 
 report sent to the capital of Chili is said to have 
 contained accounts of murder or some other out- 
 rage upon these citizens. The Government at La- 
 paz, the capital of Bolivia, disregarding the claims 
 of these people to protection, issued a circular, 
 calling upon her officers to protect all of her citi- 
 zens against foreigners, under whatever circum- 
 stances. The question of boundary between the 
 Argentine Confederation and Chili threatened war. 
 It was commonly reported that both nations had 
 their armies in readiness to march at a moment's 
 notice, and Bolivia, believing Chili to be in no con- 
 dition to resent her insults, became more an'ogant 
 than ever. On the 14th of February, 1878, a law 
 was passed levying a tax of ten cents on everj' 
 hundred weight of saltpetre exported. This was 
 in direct violation of the treaty of 1874, under 
 which Chili surrendered her claim to the territoiy. 
 As this tax was not exorbitant, it might have 
 been paid and war avoided, had not the Bolivians 
 wickedly demanded of the miners a back tax, due 
 under the recent law, of $90,000. This was too 
 much. The miners refusing to pay, their property 
 was seized and ordered sold. The day of the sale 
 Feb. 14th, 1879, dawned, but with it came an army
 
 198 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 of Cliilian soldiers, who landed at Antofogasta and 
 took charge of the mines. 
 
 They met with no resistance. The Bolivian 
 officers and troops were deprived of the functions 
 of government, but were permitted to retire. This 
 movement was received with great joy in all the 
 mining towns of the coast. But little excitement 
 prevailed. Chilian troops kept arriving, but their 
 actions were strictly limited to the occupation of 
 the territory northward to the 23d pai'allel, which 
 covered the long disputed territory, and to the pro- 
 tection of her own miners and their proj^erty. The 
 Bolivian troops numbering only sufficient to per- 
 form police duty, the whole of the territoiy was at 
 once given over to Chili without resistance. Cbili 
 soon had four thousand soldiers in the field. 
 
 When Bolivia received notice of these proceed- 
 ings, all the assembled officers of that Government 
 were occupied in national festivities. The holiday 
 lasted for twelve days, and President Daza, who 
 had received the message, did not make it known 
 even to his Cabinet officers until the carnival was 
 ended, the 26th of the same month. He then as- 
 sembled his officers, and with their united coun- 
 sels, sent out printed circulars announcing the 
 facts to the people, and denouncing the Chilians 
 as cowards, bandits, murderers, a people depraved 
 by miseiy and vice, and enriched by treasures
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 199 
 
 stolen from the Bolivian people. He next de- 
 creed the expiilsion of all Chilians from Atacama, 
 a sale of their mines and the confiscation of all 
 other property found. 
 
 Sixteen generals, about one hundred colonels, 
 and seven hundred inferior officers then signed a 
 written compact, in which they bound themselves 
 to rid the territory of the Chilians, or seal their 
 vows with their own blood. 
 
 The condition of the standing army of Bolivia 
 at this time was somewhat noteworthy. When 
 Pi-esident Daza usurped the powers of government, 
 in order to strengthen his own cause, he elevated 
 all the men^in the army of any note or preten- 
 sions to high offices and still higher pay. In the 
 standing army there were 2,232 common soldiers, 
 and one thousand officers. Twenty-two of the lat- 
 ter were generals, one hundred and thirty-five 
 were colonels, and seventy-two were captains. 
 One battalion, known as the chief supporters of 
 state, consisted of 540 men, 367 of whom were 
 officers. With this condition of afiairs, it can 
 readily be seen that but little patriotism existed. 
 
 A great difficulty presented itself to the Boliv- 
 ians. In order to reach the^scenes of trouble, it 
 was necessary to march an army across the moun- 
 tains, which could only be accomplished by rough 
 and dangerous passes, and then to endure the
 
 200 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 heat of the desert for many miles, for which ample 
 provisions of food, clothing, and even for carrying 
 water had to be made. 
 
 Chili, upon hearing the declaration of war made 
 against her, ordered her soldiers to the north. 
 Every town on the Bolivian coast clear up to the 
 Peruvian line fell into her possession without any 
 show of resistance, excepting the small mining 
 town of Calama. Here the Bolivian soldiers, who 
 had been generously allowed to retire from the 
 mining towns in Atacama, made a stand. A trooj) 
 of Chilian soldiers appeared before this town on 
 the 23d of March and were fired upon. A short 
 battle ensued, in which twenty Bolivians were slain , 
 thirty were made prisoners and the rest put to 
 flight. Chilians lost twelve in killed and wounded. 
 The aristocratic army from Lapaz, not caring to 
 endure the hardships of the mountains and desert, 
 never put in an apjjearance on the coast. They 
 had done all their fighting on paper. And as 
 Chili had neither the desire nor the necessary force 
 to j^enetrate the interior of Bolivia, the war with 
 that country was practically at an end and the long 
 standing war with Peru about to commence.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Excited PeruvianSr-Tliey demand "War with the Chilians— Ig- 
 uacio Prado — A Mob — Peruvian Congress Requests the 
 Withdrawal of Chili's Troops from Atacama— Peru's Pre- 
 parations — A Secret Alliance with Bolivia Declared — Chili 
 Declares War — The Condition of the Two Armies— Block- 
 ade of Iquique — President Prado Sails for Fields of Action 
 —The Huascar and the Esmeralda — A Fighting Retreat— 
 Rrave Resistance of Arturo Pratte — Overthrow of the Pe- 
 ruvian Man-of-War — Efifects of the Battle on Chili — Sloth- 
 ful Peru— Another Sea Fight — Battle of Pisagua — Iquique 
 and Dolores Vacated — Prado and General Daza flee to 
 Europe — Battle of Tacna — Battle of Arica — The Mines — 
 Savage Warfare— Sinking of a Vessel — The Result of the 
 Battle. 
 
 ^^^HEN news was received at Lima that Chilian 
 V^l soldiers had taken possession of Atacama, 
 ^ ▼ great was the excitement of the Peruvians. 
 There was but one opinion — "Chili must be pun- 
 ished" — and as Peru had the best navy, the largest 
 and, as they believed, the best-disciplined standing 
 army of any of the Pacific States, this appeared to 
 be a matter of easy undertaking. They were very 
 certain that had Chili known of the secret alliance ex- 
 isting between the two nations, there would have 
 been no war. They were also certain that in case of 
 continued hostilities, not with Bolivia alone, but with
 
 20^ CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 the combined armies of both nations, there could 
 be but one result — the speedy ovei-throw of the 
 Chilian Republic; and they therefore exulted over 
 the good fortune that, seemingly, had placed that 
 nation within easy cast of the net long and secretly 
 spread for its downfall . As the Chilians were un- 
 used to warfare, having lived in peace with them- 
 selves and their neighbors for many years, they were 
 accounted effeminate and cowardly. On the other 
 hand, both Bolivia and Peru had long maintained a 
 condition of civil warfare that had inured their sol- 
 diers to the hardships of the field, as well as to the 
 scenes of battle; and it was confidently expected 
 that, ere long, the Chilian songs of triumph over 
 easy possession of Atacama would be turned to 
 lamentations. 
 
 Manuel Ignacio Prado, the President of Peru, 
 was the only man of his nation who did not desire 
 war. But a few years had elapsed since he had 
 been compelled to flee before a furious mob that 
 had created a new revolution also characteristic of 
 that country. He took refuge under the friendly 
 protection of the Chilian Government, and though 
 a man of no high order, he could not forget that 
 Chili had given him a home for over seven years, 
 till a new revolution in Lis own country again re- 
 stored him to power. The Peruvians suspecting 
 this, a furious mob appeared before the doors of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 203 
 
 the municipal palace and demanded Lis intentions. 
 Prado saw that he must renounce Chili or lose his 
 life. Addressing the mob with the utmost calm- 
 ness, he said: "Gentlemen, and fellow-protectors 
 of the Government and liberties of Peru: I only 
 ask that you prove me. Chili desires war. Let us 
 see to it that she is satisfied." 
 
 Congi-ess, however, advised that war should not 
 be declared, but that Chili should ba requested to 
 withdraw all troops from Bolivian territory. The 
 cramped financial condition of the country is all, 
 perhaj)s, that induced the Peruvians to act upon 
 this advice. Accordingly an ambassador was dis- 
 patched to Santiago, carrying with him the secret 
 treaty of 1872, between his nation and Bolivia. 
 He first offered the services of his Government as 
 mediator between the Bolivian Government and 
 that of Chili. This act of seeming kindness was at 
 once accepted; but his next step was to require 
 the removal of all troops from Bolivian territory, 
 in order, as he expressed it, "to make sure of the 
 acceptance of the mediatorial office by that coun- 
 try also." This was promptly refused. 
 
 In the meantime Peru improved the time by con- 
 centrating the army and strengthening the navy 
 with new vessels and more men. Some men-of- 
 war were sent south and were seen cruisiilg around 
 in the neighborhood of the Bolivian coast occupied
 
 204 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 by the Chilian soldiers. When all this became 
 known in Santiago, the Peruvian minister was 
 called upon to define the attitude of his Govern- 
 ment. Delay was required; but after some inef- 
 fectual diplomatic quibbling, the existence of a 
 secret confederation was declared. Peru believed 
 that Chili would now withdraw her troops, but in- 
 stead, without hesitation or delay, she declared 
 war. 
 
 The standing army of Peru at this time con- 
 sisted of 8,096 men, of whom 3,896 were officers, 
 and 4,200 common soldiers. The navy was quite 
 a formidable affair, and was believed to be the 
 best equipped and best drilled of any belonging to 
 the Pacific States. It consisted of four iron-clads, 
 a frigate of eighteen guns, the montiors Huascar, 
 Atahualpa and Manca Capac, and twenty smaller 
 vessels. To sustain the two armies cost the Govern- 
 ment, for salaries alone, an outlay of nine million 
 dollars a year. Many revolutions had made Peru, 
 seemingly, a warlike nation; but in reality it had 
 lost in patriotism and had become effeminated by 
 sustaining in idleness many influential men at pub- 
 lic expense. 
 
 The forces of Chili numbered only 2,440 men, 
 410 of whom belonged to the artillery and 530 to 
 the cavalry. The marine contained two frigates of 
 twelve cannons each, three wooden vessels, and
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 205 
 
 four small ships, said to be old and almost useless. 
 
 With all these odds against Chili, coupled with 
 the fact that the combined population of Peni and 
 Bolivia was more than trijDle her own, it was be- 
 lieved, even in Europe and North America, that 
 but one result would follow— and that, the speedy 
 overthrow of the Chilians. But these people had 
 one great advantage over their enemies; they had 
 a stable government, where revolutions were only 
 known as events of history, and where eveiy man 
 was a true patriot. 
 
 When war was declared, they lost no time in es- 
 tablishing the blockade of Iquique — the principal 
 port of Tarapaca and a great center of exports of 
 saltpetre. This was occuj^ied by three thousand 
 Peruvian soldiers. All military operations were 
 of but little moment, however, until the 16th of 
 May, when President Prado sailed from Callao 
 with a large fleet. His plan was to raise the 
 blockade at Iquique, sail south and subjugate all 
 the coast towns of Chili. But learning that the 
 Chilian fleet had sailed northward, and that only 
 two small vessels maintained the blockade, he 
 deemed it prudent to protect his own coast, con- 
 tenting himself by sending two of his largest ships 
 to Iquique, one of which was the monitov Huascar . 
 The two Chilian vessels at this place were un- 
 der the control of two young officers, Arturo
 
 206 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Pratte and Carlos Condell. Their whole mission 
 was to shut up the port, but on sighting the two 
 Peruvian ships bearing upon them, they sailed 
 boldly to the attack. This was May the 21 st. 
 Officer Pratte's vessel, the Esmeralda, was singled 
 out by the HuaHcar, and the other Chilian ship 
 was followed south by Peru's second man-of-war 
 in a fighting retreat. The people at Iquique for 
 awhile witnessed an equal contest; but soon the 
 Euascar determined to crush the feeble Esmeralda, 
 and bore down upon her wooden hull to part it 
 assunder. Pratte, at the moment of collision, 
 leaped upon the Peruvian vessel, calling upon his 
 men to follow, but the vessels separating, he was 
 left standing upon the enemy's deck with but one 
 man to support him. Both were riddled with bul- 
 lets; but their death inspired the Chilians with 
 greater determination. A young lieutenant, as- 
 suming command, called upon his fellow-soldiers 
 to carry the battle to death. The Huascar 
 again bore down upon the Esmeralda, be- 
 lieving that one more blow would split 
 her in twain. Lieutenant Ignacio Serrana with 
 f oui'teen men sprang on the deck of the approaching 
 vessel, only to be mown down as stubble. The 
 Euascar again struck the broken vessel, when it 
 parted asunder. "Viva Chila !" rang out from the 
 remaining spirited Chilians, as they swung their
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 207 
 
 hats, and with their shattered vessel sank out of 
 sight. The engagement had lasted four hours, but 
 the ii'on ship Huasrar was not injured and had lost 
 but one officer. 
 
 The other Chilian vessel, Covadonga, a mere 
 boat containing but two guns, maintained itself in 
 a fighting retreat for hours; when reaching famil- 
 iar waters it sailed boldly into a dangerous recess 
 containing many hidden breakers. The powerful 
 Peruvian vessel, not suspecting the trap, thought 
 victory within easy reach, when all of a sudden it 
 struck a hidden rock and went to pieces. The 
 Covadonga was but little injured. 
 
 Considering the vast difference in the combat- 
 ants. Chili, notwithstanding the total destruction 
 of the Esmeralda, regarded this first battle in the 
 light of a great victory. In fact, to them it was 
 such; for when war was first declared against Peru, 
 many of the leading men were doubtful as to the 
 results, and feared that a great mistake had been 
 made. As time wore on and but little was accom- 
 plished, this feeling grew stronger. There were 
 but few soldiers, no munitions of war, no money, 
 but a feeble navy, and every town and port along 
 the coast was exposed to attack from Peru's superior 
 naval forces. The country seemed upon the eve of a 
 revolution; but now this heroic resistance of Pratte 
 and his brave followers sent a thrill of delight
 
 208 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 throughout the nation. The first battle touched 
 patriotism to the veiy core, and the country be- 
 came a consolidated union, and Pratte an imperish- 
 able hero. The little army was greatly encouraged, 
 and Peru had at least learned the true character of 
 her foemen. 
 
 Six months passed without further effectual 
 warfare. Three thousand soldiers in Chili were 
 without arms; and the Peruvian monitor, Hiiascar, 
 became a terror to all the -towns along the coast. 
 Had Peru seized this golden oj)portunity, and 
 landed her whole available army upon Chilian 
 soil, she might have easily subjugated the whole 
 nation. But all her generals boiled down 
 to a single individual would not have made a good 
 commander; and instead of seizing the opportunity 
 offered by Chili's needy condition, she contented 
 herself in allowing her greatest men-of-war to slip 
 into the enemy's open harbors and destroy their 
 small transports and puy galleys, and in beholding 
 her foemen daily accumulating strength. 
 
 The first of October, Chili, having received arms 
 and ammunition from Europe, dispatched a fleet 
 to capture the dreaded Peruvian monitor. On the 
 ninth instant one of these vessels, the Cochrane, 
 came into contact with the Huascar near Mejillones, 
 and compelled it to give battle. Early in the en- 
 gagement its tower was carried away, and at the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 209 
 
 same time the chief commander of the Peruvian 
 navy and two other officers of high rank were 
 killed. As this juncture the Cochrane was joined 
 by the Blanco and other vessels, and in one hour 
 and a half the Huascar surrendered, with twenty- 
 eight officers and one hundred men. This was a 
 great prize. Chili's loss was one killed and nine 
 wounded. Peru lost the flower of her navy, and 
 her most intelligent marine officer. The captured 
 vessel was repaii'ed and put at the head of the 
 Chilian fleets, which at the same time were further 
 strengthened by a large vessel purchased from 
 Europe. 
 
 Chili now had 16,000 soldiers, all well equipped, 
 and the navy had been greatly increased. Ten 
 thousand picked men and nineteen ships com- 
 menced the war in earnest by moving north to in- 
 vade Peru. For hundreds of miles the whole coast 
 is barren — almost destitute of fresh water and vege- 
 tation, so that the soldiers of this campaign were, 
 compelled to carry with them food and water for 
 man and beast. Then- first point of attack, there- 
 fore, was the mining town of Pisagua, in Terra- 
 paca, where the Peruvians had immense machinery 
 for condensing fresh water from the briny ocean. 
 After a sharp battle, which lasted five hours, this 
 town was taken. During the same month, Novem- 
 ber, Iquique was vacated, and Dolores and the cap-
 
 210 
 
 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ital city of Terrapaca fell into the hands of the 
 Chilians, leaving them masters of the whole of that 
 province. 
 
 In studying this history the student is forcibly 
 impressed with two important facts concerning 
 both Peru and Bolivia, viz: (1.) No one had any 
 confidence in the stability of those governments. 
 So numerous had been the revolutions that faith 
 in the actions of any general or commander of 
 high standing was limited to a knowledge of his 
 daily actions. The Presidents always lived in 
 dread, for none could tell when the assassin's knife 
 would be used in his removal, to make room for 
 some aspiring chief. This lack of confidence was 
 general, but particularly manifest among the com- 
 mon soldiers. (2) There was a wonderful want of 
 patriotism, for none felt enthusiastic in offering his 
 life in a cause that he could not respect. 
 
 At about this juncture some very important 
 changes occurred in the Peruvian army. Presi- 
 dent Prado, fearing a threatened revolution, secret- 
 ly resolved to flee the country; but not wishing to 
 leave it wholly unprovided with executive powers, 
 he aj)pointed General Daza, President of Bolivia, 
 Commander in Chief of the army. Daza had lisen 
 from the ranks of a common soldier, and, although 
 possessing considerable ability, he was very igno- 
 rant and tyrannical, and was thoroughly hated by
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 211 
 
 the Peruvian officers. They soon requested him 
 to resign, and carried matters so far as to threaten 
 revolt; but to this he j)aid not the slightest atten- 
 tion. He believed that as long as his favorite regi- 
 ment, "Chief Supporters of State," upheld him, he 
 had nothing to fear. One day, however, the whole 
 of that regiment, divested of clothing, plunged in- 
 to the sea to bathe, when other regiments coming 
 up their guns were seized and the "Supporters" 
 were all taken prisoners. Daza, knowing too well 
 the meaning of such maneuvers, fled to Europe. 
 Thus both countries were deprived of their execu- 
 tive heads, and many chiefs and men of wealth and 
 influence followed suit, carrying with them as much 
 of their wealth as could be converted into gold. 
 
 On the 26th of May, 1880, the Chilians appeared 
 before Tacna, inland from the coast town of Arica 
 about thirty miles, to reach which they had to 
 undergo the greatest privations. In order to se- 
 cure secrecy it was necessary to traverse a desert of 
 hot, bm'ning sand for a distance of nearly four 
 hundred miles. Horses and mules became ex- 
 hausted and died from thirst, but the soldiers, re- 
 duced to such straits that they were compelled to 
 drink one another's mictuiitions, dragged the can- 
 nons by hand, and weary and exhausted, appeared 
 before the fortified town. All other hope of life 
 was cut off — they must take the forts or die. For-
 
 212 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 tune favored them, for the Peruvians, learning of 
 their near approach, sent out six hundred fresh 
 men to give them battle. While the Chilians, with 
 parched lips and swollen tongues, were dragging 
 themselves wearily around one side of a long sand 
 hill, the Peruvians marched around the other. 
 That saved them, for it is certain that had they been 
 attacked in the sorrowful condition of their weary 
 march, they would have been overthrown, and per- 
 haps the whole drift of war would have been 
 changed. As it was, when they reached the forts 
 they attacked them with the energy of despair, 
 and soon carried everything before them, though 
 it cost the lives of 2,128 men. This opened the 
 way for the attack upon Arica, the second military 
 post in importance in Peru. 
 
 That city had a strong defense. An abrupt hill, 
 almost one thousand feet high, known as Morrow 
 (long "o"), towered above it in close proximity, and 
 ended in a rocky precipice of fearful height that 
 overlooked the bay. The battery planted on top 
 could sweep the enemy approaching either by 
 land or water. The hill and the harbor formed 
 two sides of a triangle, lying snug and close to the 
 city. The other open side on the south was de- 
 fended by three lines of breastworks composed of 
 sacks of sand. Besides, there were eighty-five 
 mines of dynamite within the limits of the fort,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 213 
 
 which, in case of emergency, were to be exploded 
 by electric wires from the heights of Morrow. 
 The harbor was guarded by the monitor Manco 
 Gapac, of two five-hundred-pound guns. 
 
 On the 6th day of June, the Chilians appeared 
 before this fort with four thousand men, supported 
 by four of the best men-of-war. After bombard- 
 ing the fort, they made a demand of unconditional 
 surrender, which was refused. They then deter- 
 mined to carry the city by storm, which appears 
 to be their favorite mode of warfare. The land 
 forces were divided into three divisions, one of 
 which was to charge the breastworks on the south, 
 a second to storm the heights of Morrow, and the 
 third held as a reserve to assist either of the 
 attacking divisions in case of emergency. During 
 the night the first division, without being observed, 
 marched close to the outer breastworks and rested 
 on their arms. At the dawn of day they made the 
 charge, and successfully entered the fort. The 
 Peruvians, dejDending more upon their mines of 
 dynamite than upon their arms, fled toward Mor- 
 row and proceeded to apply the electric spark. 
 But a fatal blunder was made, and instead of fir- 
 ing the outer mines, two of the inner ones explod- 
 ed, carrying into the air over two hundred Peru- 
 vian soldiers. Great was the consternation; and 
 while the defenders of Morrow were sfivint'" their
 
 214 CIVILIZATION m CHUii. 
 
 attention to the side of the hill overlooking the 
 city, the second division of Chilian soldiers crossed 
 the breastworks defending the other side. It is 
 rejDorted that a young Bolivian lieutenant, seeing 
 that all was lost, put spurs to his horse and rode 
 over the perpendicular precipice, almost a thou- 
 sand feet in height. The victors, maddened at 
 the attempt to blow them in the air, raised the cry, 
 "No prisoners to-day;" and before their fury 
 could be controlled, more than four hundred 
 Peruvian soldiers were crowded over the same 
 precipice at the bayonet's point. It was a terrible 
 affair. Many of the poor \dctims lodged on pro- 
 jecting rocks or crags, and remained there for 
 months, until they withered away as dust, monu- 
 ments of that great destruction and needless cruel- 
 ty. The battle was short. The impetuous and 
 irresistible activity of the Chilians had carried 
 everything, and left them masters of that Peruvian 
 stronghold inside of sixty minutes from com- 
 mencement of the battle. 
 
 The Manco Capac, however, was still master of 
 the harbor; but observing the fort in the enemy's 
 hands the officers and crew quitted the vessel, after 
 which it was sunken in deep water. 
 
 In this battle Chili sustained a loss of 362 men 
 in killed and wounded; but they gained great 
 quantities of ammunition and provision, besides
 
 PAST AND PKE8ENT. 215 
 
 taking twenty-one large cannons, numerous 
 stands of small arms, and 1,328 prisoners. Eighty- 
 three of the mines of dynamite were not exploded.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 New Presidents — Internal Dissensions — Withdrawal of Boliv- 
 ian Troops — Seeking Aid — 50,000 Men on Paper — Chili's 
 Third Expedition — Destruction of Property — A Eich Haul 
 — Mediation of the United States — A Greedy Syndicate of 
 New York — Chilian Forces on the Move — Inland Towns 
 Capitulate — Peruvian Women in Arms — The Great Battle 
 of San Juan — Battle of Chorillos — Horrible Butchery of 
 Peruvian Soldiers — Begging in Vain for Mercy — Mines in 
 the Pumps — Resistance unto Death — Women and Children 
 Cut to Pieces — Flight of Pierola — The Soldiers in Lima 
 Disarmed — A Night of Carnage by a Mob — The Chilians 
 Enter Lima — The End of the War — Treaty of Peace with 
 Peru, and a Truce with Bolivia. 
 
 /a^lENERAL PIEROLA was now appointed Dic- 
 y^Yi tator of Peru, and General Campero became 
 " President of Bolivia. Measures calculated 
 to add to the great discomfiture of the former na- 
 tion were constantly being enacted. The soldiers 
 of that country threw the responsibility of the 
 defeat at Arica and Tacna upon the Bolivians. 
 "Had not Daza," they said, ''deserted the army, 
 the soldiers would have had more confidence, and 
 the disgrace and great disasters might have been 
 averted." The Bolivians retorted by reminding 
 them of Prado, and also by accusing them of acting
 
 PAST AND PKESENT. 217 
 
 the part of cowards; whereupon a mutual distrust 
 and a bitter jealousy sprang up between the two 
 armies. There was confidence nowhere nor in 
 anybody. The common soldiers, naturally brave 
 and obedient, and perfectly willing to be led to the 
 defense of their country, were rendered almost 
 powerless from the extreme lack of military genius 
 or powers to govern, and from the great distrust 
 with which they regarded their leaders; and the 
 officers themselves, endeavoring to hide their lack 
 of patriotism and their inability by wordy prom- 
 ises, were none the less bitter and jealous of each 
 other. Instead of gathering strength for a conflict 
 with a nation determined and patriotic to the core, 
 the Peruvian army stood on the veiy verge of dis- 
 integration, and in the very midst of these perplex- 
 ities the Bolivian troops withdi'ew far into the in- 
 terior of their own country, away from the scenes 
 of battle. 
 
 In her despair, Peru again sought an alliance 
 with Ai'gentine, and as an inducement to that na- 
 tion to join issue against Chili, offered three-fourths 
 of all the spoils of war, including territory. Failing 
 in this, she turned towards Spain and knocked 
 loudly at the door of the courts of Madrid, in hopes 
 that the Spaniards would not allow this oj)portunity 
 to pass without interfering to punish Chili, against 
 whom it was said she held a grudge since the colo-
 
 218 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 nial days of the latter country. Spain, however, 
 was neutral, and the Dictator, persuaded that he 
 must fight his battles alone, announced that his 
 army had been increased to 50,000 men, and ^that 
 he should speedily march to the overthrow of the 
 enemy. In the meantime, the active Chilians had 
 established the blockade of the seaport of Callao, 
 within seven miles of Lima, the cajiital city of Peru. 
 Chili now determined upon the thu'd expedition 
 under command of Gen. Patricio Lynch. The 
 fourth of September he sailed northward from 
 Arica with three thousand men, and six days later 
 disembarked at the town, Chimbote, bordering on 
 the great agricultui'al district of Peru. As he ex- 
 pected, the blockade of Callao had called all the 
 soldiers to Lima, in exj)ectation of a great battle, 
 and none were left to resist him. Lynch marched 
 into the interior, in the very heart of a rich sugar- 
 refining district, imposing heavy fines upon the 
 people, which they were required to pay in gold 
 and silver. All towns and manufactories refusing 
 to pay his exorbitant tax were razed to the ground. 
 In two months' time he returned, having overrun 
 the richest agricultural district of the State, de- 
 stroyed millions of dollars' worth of property, 
 captured a Peruvian vessel containing $7,000,000 
 in paper money and $375,000 in postage stamps, 
 and laid down for his Grovernment, besides almost
 
 PAST AND PRE8EKT. 219 
 
 $150,000 in gold, $12,000 in silver, and immense 
 quantities of valuable merchandise. 
 
 The great destruction of life and property in- 
 duced Great Britian and the United States to offer 
 their friendly mediation in hopes of reconciling the 
 belligerents. The latter country was accepted; but 
 as Peru had made overtures to some wealthy par- 
 ties in New York, a greedy syndicate of American 
 capitalists was formed, that stood ready to gobble 
 the rich mining district of Tarrapaca as a result of 
 the mediation. This was a deep insult to Chili. 
 However, two councils were held at which represen- 
 tatives from the three nations were present, as well 
 as the American plenipotentiaries to Peru and 
 Chili. But, as the latter countiy was firm in de- 
 manding the territories of Tarrapaca and Antofo- 
 gasta, as well as a war indemnity of $20,000,000; 
 and as Peru and Bolivia were determined that 
 nothing but an indemnity should be given , which 
 it was believed the American syndicate stood ready 
 to pay, nothing was accomplished. 
 
 These negotiations did not prevent the Chilians 
 from making further extensive preparations for 
 carrying on the war. General Baquedano, the 
 commander in chief of the army, was all activity. 
 The infantry was largely increased. New imple- 
 ments of war and ammunitions were constantly ar- 
 riving from Europe. The army was concentrated,
 
 220 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 the navy put in more perfect order, and 25,000 
 troops turned their faces toward the Peruvian capi- 
 tal. 
 
 On the 15th of November the first division of 
 this army left Arica in transports. In four days 
 they disembarked at Paracas, ten miles south of 
 Pisco, and Chief Lynch demanded the surrender 
 of the town. This the Peruvians refused, but dur- 
 ing the night they fled, and Pisco was occupied 
 without bloodshed. Two days later, lea, an inland 
 town, was captured without firing a shot. In the 
 meantime the Peruvian official who deserted Pisco 
 took up his station at a point where he could inter- 
 cept telegraphic communication, and kept up the 
 appearance with his Government of fighting the 
 enemy. "The bombardment has commenced," 
 said the dispatch, and later, "We will resist till we 
 die." The newspapers at Lima, commenting upon 
 this, jDromised the people a great victoiy, and as- 
 sured them that the tide of war had turned in their 
 favor. Telegrams were also sent abroad announc- 
 ing the Peruvians' success. 
 
 The second division of the Chilian army left 
 Arica and landed on the desert coast about twenty 
 miles south of Lima, on the 22nd of December. 
 Lynch advanced northward at the same time to- 
 wai'd the capital city. Peru was now well under 
 arms. Even armed bands of women fired upon
 
 PAST AND PEE8ENT. 221 
 
 Lyncli in this march; but that inhuman monster 
 not only killed them all, but he levied heavy fines 
 upon the remaining inhabitants in the district 
 where they were organized. On the 25th of the 
 same month, two divisions united at Curayaco, 
 giving a force of 26,500 men. 
 
 The outer fortification of Lima was a stronghold 
 named San Juan, after a neighboring farm, and this 
 the Chilians determined to occupy at all hazards as 
 an entering wedge to the Peruvian caj^ital. On 
 the morning of the 13th of January, 1881, the en- 
 tire army ajjpeared before this fort and commenced 
 the attack. In a few minutes the outer works 
 were earned by storm, and by nine o'clock the en- 
 tire field was won. 
 
 Near San Juan was another still stronger fort 
 protecting the town of Cborillos. Many hills and 
 highlands overlooking the town were fortified and 
 defended by strong batteries, on one of which was 
 General Iglesias, Penivian Secretary of War, with 
 five thousand men. Pierola was also at this time 
 at Chorillos. The Chilians, under a terrific fire, 
 stormed the outer forts in less than one hour after 
 the surrender of San Juan. Hundreds of them 
 were mown down, but encouraged by their leaders, 
 they pressed onward, daunted by no obstacle. By 
 twelve o'clock the outer works were all carried, and 
 Iglesias was taken prisoner. The Peruvians re-
 
 222 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 sorted to their old trick of exploding mines when 
 the Chilians had fairly gained the ground, and 
 then commenced one of the most dreadful scenes 
 ever recorded in the annals of civilized warfare. 
 It appears that around the forts were many small 
 corrals or pastures, fenced in, so that it was im- 
 possible to pass in or out of them excepting through 
 gates. Into these the retreating Peruvians fled, 
 and, being pursued by the Chilians, got down on 
 their knees and begged for mercy; but the Chilians, 
 who were armed with axes and swords, in the most 
 inhuman manner proceeded to j)ut them all to death. 
 One of the leading Chilian papers published at 
 Valparaiso, El Mercurio Bel Vapor, commenting 
 upon this, calls the inhuman soldiers braves, and 
 speaks of their fiendish actions in a commendable 
 manner: "The enemies who now made any resist- 
 ance by firing upon our brave men were very few. 
 The most of them were limited to the defense of 
 their heads with their rifles from the blows of the 
 swords and axes. Others hid as patiidges among 
 the bushes and ditches. The blows of the swords, 
 which sounded as the hammer on the anvil, were 
 only interrupted by the cries of the dying and the 
 curses of hatred by our men. When they heard 
 the phrases of 'Pardon, Chilenito,do not kill, 'they 
 answered indignantly, 'There is no pardon for 
 cowards who take mines.' A Peravian captain
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 223 
 
 threw up his arms and begged for life, but a sol- 
 dier, saying, 'You discharge mines, do you?' split 
 his head to the very shoulders with an ax. Difier- 
 ent pastures were visited, and the horses seem to 
 have been as much exalted by this destruction of 
 the enemy as were the men who rode them. 
 Everywhere the cowardly Peruvians begged for 
 mercy, but our men showed them none, and 
 when the work ceased not one of them was left 
 alive." 
 
 But the battle still raged in the town below. 
 Chorillos was a summer resort for the wealthy fam- 
 ilies of Lima, and, though the streets were narrow, 
 the houses were elegantly and strongly constructed. 
 When Dictator Pierola saw that the battle was 
 raging high and furiously, he took sliipping for 
 Miraflores, a fort near by, seeking reinforcements. 
 Scarcely had he left when the Chilian infantry en- 
 tered the town. But the battle was by no means 
 ended. The Peruvian soldiers fled to the strong 
 brick and adobe houses, each one of which was at 
 once turned into a fort. The resistance was ter- 
 rible. The Chilian soldiers had to charge these 
 Jiouses one at a time, for the Peruvians were de- 
 termined to resist unto death. Automatic pumps 
 were so constructed that when the victorious, 
 weary and thirsty Chilians touched them they ex- 
 ploded, filling the streets with dead and dying.
 
 224 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Thus enraged, they forced the doors one by one 
 
 and set fire to the houses. The Peruvians perished 
 in the flames. Those seeking to escape were at 
 once dispatched, and it is related that fleeing wo- 
 men and gu'ls were killed and cut in pieces; none 
 were left to tell the tale. 
 
 Less than foiu' miles from these scenes of car- 
 nage was stationed Peru's gi'eat reserve army. But 
 so well fortified had been the places that it was 
 never dreamed that they could be taken. The 
 great army at Miraflores was confident that the 
 Chilians would be defeated, and no attempt was 
 made to assist in the defense of San Juan and 
 Chorillos. Pierola, it is true, returned with an 
 army of soldiers, but seeing that all was lost, he re- 
 treated unobserved. Chili lost in the two engage- 
 ments 797 killed and 2,512 wounded, among whom 
 were many distinguished officers. Peru's loss was 
 not less than ten thousand killed, and two thou- 
 sand jDiisoners, taken in the commencement of the 
 day's actions. 
 
 In the meantime, nearly all the wealthy inhabi- 
 tants of Lima had taken flight either to foreign 
 lands or to the interior. The Peruvians began to 
 feel that the time of peril had come, and that fate 
 would compel them to submit to the conquerors. 
 A train of cars, bearing a white flag, was sent from 
 the capital city to advise with General Baquedano,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 225 
 
 to ask him to spare the property of foreigners, and 
 to see if negotiations could possibly be made 
 whereby the city of Lima might be spared. While 
 Baquedano was willing to entertain this commis- 
 sion, he could name no terms of a satisfactory na- 
 ture, and the same day, December 14th, marched 
 against Miraflores. The battle commenced in the 
 afternoon, and before six o'clock the Chilian flag 
 floated over the forts. 
 
 At seven o'clock the same evening, Pierola 
 reached Lima, and found everything in great con- 
 fusion. Seeing that not enough discipline could 
 be had to maintain a defense, he remained but four 
 hours, when, accompanied by two thousand men of 
 distinction, he fled. He left not only his capital 
 city to be occupied by his enemies at their liesure, 
 but he left it also to a worse fate — to the wiles of 
 an infuriated mob of his own countrymen. The 
 mayor communicated with Baquedano at once, and 
 informed him that Lima was in no condition to 
 offer resistance, and asked for twenty-four hours 
 to effect the disarming of all the Peruvian soldiers. 
 This was granted. But the soldiers, cursing their 
 leaders for cowardice, determined to enrich them- 
 selves by raiding the town. Great was the de- 
 struction. Men, women and children ran through 
 the streets shouting, "Viva Peru," and at the 
 same time breaking in the doors of storehouses.
 
 226 OIVlIilZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 and killing the proprietors. Similar scenes were 
 enacted at Callao. The Peruvian vessels in the 
 port were fired. All night and all day the carnage 
 raged, until Baquedano took charge of the city. 
 Four hundred armed soldiers marched through the 
 streets in the midst of profound silence. One of 
 the first measures was to restore order, and to as- 
 sure the terrified people that their lives and prop- 
 erty would remain safe. The great army organ- 
 ized for the defense of Lima was disbanded, and 
 not one hundred anned men could be found in all 
 the surroundings — the most of them having re- 
 turned to their different homes and avocations. 
 
 The war was practically at an end. The small 
 had conquered the great, and the world, though 
 witnessing inhumanities on both sides such as 
 would make older and better civilized nations 
 blush, also witnessed the triumph of devotion and 
 patriotism over misrule and selfishness. Better, 
 undoubtedly, a thousand-fold better would it have 
 been for both Peru and Bolivia had the industri- 
 ous Chilians conquered and controlled their entire 
 territor}-; but this they were unable to do. The 
 mighty Cordilleras, with their intervening wastes 
 of hot and glaring sands, were more formidable 
 than any bulwarks human ingenuity could con- 
 struct. Behind these, in the great interior of 
 PerUj the conquerors, fe-w in ^^mbers and limited
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 227 
 
 in means, could not penetrate; they had simply 
 gained the ports and coast towns, and the great 
 body of the enemy's country had neither been en- 
 tered or seen. It was still within the bounds of 
 possibilities for a modern Farnese, a Bonaparte, a 
 Washington, or a Grant, or anyone with a grain 
 of their military spirit and enterprise, to organize 
 and equip behind those mountains a powerful 
 army, surprise the enemy by rapid marches, and 
 drive them from the country. But, alas, for poor 
 Peru! Distrust and misrule had sown well their 
 seeds, and the only attempts at organization were 
 not in defense of the country, but for its farther 
 ruin. Anarchy reigned in triumph. Armed bands 
 of guerillas devastated the country and robbed and 
 murdered the people. For two long years Chili 
 stood ready to negotiate a treaty of peace, but 
 there was no one with whom to arrange the terms 
 of a compact. 
 
 Finally, however, in 1883, General Iglesias as- 
 sumed dictatorial powers, and as President of the na- 
 tion, entered into relations with Chili by which 
 peace was restored. The rich territory of Tarra- 
 paca was ceded to the latter country for a period 
 of ten years, at the expiration of which its future 
 ownership is to be decided by a popular vote of 
 the inhabitants. Chili also received a war indem- 
 nity of twenty million dollars.
 
 228 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 When the Bolivians, fox-like, left the confused 
 and disorderly Peruvians, and retired to their den 
 across the lofty Andes, they had no notion of 
 again coming forth as wan-iors. Their appetite 
 for war was not at all whetted, unless it was for 
 the achievement of great military results by pub- 
 lishing edicts, and making solemn, high-sounding- 
 vows. They had not only lost all their territoiy in 
 Atacama, the great bone of contention, but with it 
 every seaport and every foot of coast upon the Pa- 
 cific Ocean; and it had all fallen, too, without a 
 solitary manly effort to save it, or to regain it after 
 it was lost. In 1884 a truce was signed, by which 
 it was agreed that there should be no more hostil- 
 ities for a term of years, and the Chilian soldiers 
 were sent home and disbanded.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A Choice — Modes of Conveyance— Wicked Coach-drivers — Dis- 
 honesty- -No Faith in Romanism — A View of the Houses — 
 Water Barrels and Donkeys — Fruit Venders — A Native 
 Saw-mill — The Market — Meat by the Yard — God Spanish — 
 Purchasing a Cow — A Chilian Fune/al — A Eide to the 
 Cemetery — Native Trees — Washing Clothes — Drunken 
 Men— Easy-going People— At the Farm. 
 
 ^OU can take your choice. 
 
 We are going to ride into the country, to 
 see a Chilian farm. We could walk, but the 
 distance is too great; besides, in that event, our 
 rank in life would be put to a severe test and we 
 might lose our standing. The little boys would 
 laugh at us, too; and all the little girls we would 
 meet from the age of five to twenty years would 
 shrug their shoulders, as much as to say: "They are 
 nothing but ignorant foreigners, otherwise they 
 would ride in a carriage." 
 
 ?o, I eay, you can have your choice. We can go 
 in a carriage having fine glass doors and cushioned 
 seats, if you so desire. In that case we will pay 
 the driver ten dollars, and right gallantly will he 
 drive, too. 
 
 The Chilian horses seem to be made of cast iron
 
 230 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 — or what would be a better figure, springsteel — for 
 they certainly have wonderful powers of endurance. 
 I have known one instance in which a team of 
 these speckled, grisley-grey, bare-boned fellows 
 have traveled one hundred miles in a day of six- 
 teen hours. 
 
 If we choose the carriage, the driver will, whip 
 in hand, make the horses go in a gallop every step 
 of the way, up hill and down. He will whip the 
 poor animals unmercifully on good roads as well as 
 bad. He will whip them, yell at them, and jerk 
 them until oui' hearts ache, and we will wish horses 
 were immortal, so that in the day of judgment they 
 could confront him with his cruelties. 
 
 There are many other modes of conveyance, and, 
 if you prefer, you can go in an express wagon, or 
 country carriage. Now, the express wagon is a very 
 simple affair, and not half so dangerous to ride in as 
 the carriage. It is true, it has only two wheels, 
 and they perhaps were made by sawing off sections 
 from the end of a log; but it has a regular omnibus 
 car, with windows, and a door in the rear end. Be- 
 sides, the oxen that draw it never get frightened 
 and run away; the "express" is never crowded, 
 the seats extend the full length of the car, affording 
 ample room for a comfortable nap when the scenery 
 becomes monotonous. 
 
 If the express wagon is not to your liking, you
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 231 
 
 can choose a goat cart, covered with brush, and 
 drawa by six handsome brown goats; and right 
 royally will they travel, too. 
 
 Or you can have a large open cart, heavy enough 
 and strong enough to hold up ten tons ' weight — 
 drawn either by a little mule or a frowzle-headed, 
 long-eared donkey. 
 
 You prefer the carnage. Very well. We must, 
 however, agree with the driver concerning the 
 price, or he will charge us double when we return. 
 These fellows are terribly dishonest, and I never 
 knew one but would take all the advantage possible 
 in any trade. It is considered entirely legitimate, 
 and strong business men, as a rule, think nothing 
 regarding it. 
 
 I had business with a man who was considered 
 very honorable in his dealings, and who stood sec- 
 ond to none in social circles in the city of Concep- 
 cion, I contracted to pay him one hundred dollars 
 per month for the use of a house to be used in 
 connection with our schools. He said I could have 
 the house, but he was too busy to make a written 
 agreement to that effect . Next day he had gone 
 abroad and left the business with his son. The 
 son, Clerk of the Court, assured me that I could 
 have the building, as his father's instructions were 
 to that effect; but it would not be legal for him to 
 BJgii Jiis father's name to an article of ftgre^meiit,
 
 232 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 On the strength of this assurance, I released a for- 
 merly contracted building, waited two weeks for 
 this man of honor to return, and then did not get 
 the house. Another party had offered a trifle more 
 for the rent, and thus secured it. When I re- 
 minded the senor of his pledge he simply shrugged 
 his shoulders, and told me I ought to have secured 
 a written agreement. The secret of this is easily 
 determined: Not one man in twenty has any faith 
 in the religion of the country; and where there are 
 no deep-seated religious principles, one cannot ex- 
 pect very much honor. 
 
 But, to return to our ride: 
 
 We enter the carriage and pass rapidly down 
 street. The houses are all one-story high, usually 
 about twenty feet. In Santiago and Valparaiso 
 they are higher, and some are veiy elegant and 
 pretty; but in Concepcion they are made low on 
 account of the earthquakes, which are numerous. 
 They are all made of large, porous bricks, that are so 
 soft that water is absorbed by them as readily as 
 by sand; consequently they are plastered inside 
 and out, the outside being firm and hard, and kept 
 neatly painted by law. Some are red, some blue, 
 some green, some drab, others brown, white and 
 buff— a favorite color being blue. 
 
 They are all covered with earthenware tiling, im- 
 bedded in mud, and thus held in place oi; the roof.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 233 
 
 This kind of a roof is very homely, and must be 
 repaired every year before the rainy season com- 
 mences; but, notwithstanding, it is a good roo^ 
 and has its advantages. It will not bm'n, and 
 should fire originate in the rafters or sheeting 
 boards beneath, it would go out of its own accord, 
 for after they have burned away, the heavy clay and 
 mud covering falls in and smothers the fire effec" 
 tually. 
 
 That man following a half dozen slim-legged 
 donkeys, each with two barrels of water on its back, 
 is making an easy living selling water from house 
 to house, at one cent a bucket. That other man 
 with a large cow-bell on a small mule, which is 
 hitched to a lumbering cart containing an immense 
 barrel, is his competitor in business. 
 
 ' ' Quieri comprar ciruel as !" "What in the 
 
 world is that man saying and doing ?" you ask, as 
 you hear these words drawled out by a man on the 
 tail end of an already over-loaded donkey. He is 
 selling fruit from house to house, and is inquiring 
 of the people if they would like to buy some plums. 
 He has three bushels in each of those two baskets, 
 but still thinks it is his duty to ride. He cannot 
 sit on the donkey's back, for the fruit occupies all 
 the space; he cannot sit on his shoulders, for i^ 
 that case the donkey would kick up and land him 
 in the road over his head; so he contents himself
 
 234 cmLiZATioN in chili. 
 
 by sitting far back on the animars rump, in the 
 most uncomfortable position imaginable. 
 
 We have now reached the suburbs of the city, 
 and you can take a passing glance at a Chilian saw- 
 mill. There is no large timber in the vicinity of 
 Concepcion; but logs are rafted down the Bio Bio 
 from the timber districts one hundred miles south, 
 and are here manufactured into lumber. They are 
 elevated on large truncheons until a man can easily 
 stand beneath, when the log is ripped into lumber 
 by a man standing on top and one on the gi-ound 
 below, working a large saw up and down by hand 
 power. A few steam and water power saw-mills 
 are being introduced, but a large part of the lum- 
 ber is manufactured the "other way." 
 
 With your permission, we will signal the driver 
 to stop, and we will visit the market. It occupies 
 an entire block or square, and has been well fitted 
 up by the city authorities, so that it is worth seeing. 
 Here country produce of all kinds is bought 
 and sold without the aid of "middle men." The 
 producers either bring or send their fruits and 
 vegetables, butter and eggs, their fish, clams, beef, 
 pigs, etc., and barter them to the best possible ad- 
 vantage. There is no regular price for anything, 
 so that you are as liable to pay thirty or forty cents 
 a yard for sausage as you are to get it cheaper, but
 
 PAST AND PRE8ENT. 235 
 
 as a rule you get it for twenty cents — it is always 
 sold by the yard. 
 
 It being the fruit season, the market is over- 
 flowing, so that there is not room for all the ven- 
 ders inside the building, and the sidewalks are oc- 
 cupied around the square by many old women and 
 girls, displaying their wares for sale. 
 
 We enter the building. To. our left is a meat 
 merchant who has cut his meat all up into long 
 strips as though he would sell it by the yard also; 
 but he doesn't. lie sells it by the strip or chunk, 
 and guesses at its weight. The next is a clam 
 stand. The old woman attending has taken the 
 clams from their shells and strung them on stems 
 of grass, about a dozen on a stem. She sells them 
 three bunches for ten cents. To our right are long 
 rovvs of fruit merchants, usually women. Cherries, 
 large and fresh, are tied on sticks so closely that 
 they resemble miniature ball clubs painted red. 
 
 "F rectos ?" we ask, as we take up a stick. 
 
 " Un Gentaro" is the answer. 
 
 As one cent is not much to j)ay for a half pint of 
 cherries, we will invest. Here are great heaps of 
 figs, black, shining and delicious, for sale at five 
 cents a dozen. Here are melons by the cord; and 
 such melons! Thirty, forty and fifty pounders 
 are common. Here are great stacks of beautiful 
 potatoes; there green peppers in immense piles.
 
 236 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Here are live chickens, live ducks and geese; de- 
 licious peaches, large and red; beautiful and tempt- 
 ing apricots; cabbages, green corn, oranges and 
 lemons, peculiar looking earthenware, boots and 
 shoes, cheap handkerchiefs, cheap lace, cheap 
 wine, immense quantities of fresh fish, sea crabs, 
 sea-urchins, oysters, bread and butter, vessels filled 
 with boiled, thickened milk — in fact, in the line of 
 vegetables and other eatables, there is almost any- 
 thing one could desire, and many things he would 
 not desire. 
 
 Before we enter the carriage again we will buy a 
 cow, that is, we will purchase a Chilian water ves- 
 sel. It is made of black earthenware, and is of 
 the shape of a cow stmding on all fours. The 
 water is put in at the top of the head, and you 
 pour it out at the end of the noSe. "Yo quiero 
 comprar uno vaso," we say to the woman in the 
 stall. She says not a word. We wonder why she 
 does not understand, and so point to the cow. She 
 passes it to us with a smile, and we know that our 
 Spanish has been faulty. O yes, we have it now; 
 vaso means glass tumbler, and vaco means cow. 
 We had told the woman we desired to purchase a 
 tumbler, and she had none. We laugh heartily at 
 our mistake, in which we are joined by the women 
 around us. They are too polite to laugh until they 
 see that we make a joke of it.
 
 PAST AND PRESEKT. 237 
 
 The above mistake is in keeping with many more 
 I might mention — some not so bad and some worse. 
 The Spanish language is said to be very easy to 
 learn. No doubt. I have talked with men by the 
 half hour, when they would be all attention to catch 
 even a glimpse of my meaning; but they would 
 enthusiastically declare, "Peyfectimenta, Senor; 
 perfectimenla!" No doubt at all; it was perfect. On 
 that basis the language is easily learned. I might 
 tell about a certain person going to the barber 
 shop and asking in perfectly good Spanish if he 
 could get his cabbage head cut; about his 
 going to a hardware store and asking for a good 
 sharp flaxseed to trim pencils with. The same 
 individual once called upon a wealthy lady and 
 said to her: ^'Es su alfileres biieno f He meant to 
 ask if her husband was well, but instead he asked 
 if her pin-money was in good health. There is not 
 a particle of similarity between the two words; but 
 it answered the same purpose, for the good lady, 
 without a smile, assured him that her husband was 
 quite well. 
 
 We get into the carriage and go on. The driver 
 is out of patience at our delay, and vents his wrath 
 upon the horses. 
 
 On we fly, out of town on a long, swinging, 
 galloping trot. We turn a corner so quickly that 
 we almost upset, and get a glimpse of what is be-
 
 238 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 hind us. All creation seems to have turned out in 
 carriages and are following us. On they come, 
 pell mell ! They are surely trying to overtake us ! 
 No, they are racing! Not so; they are drunken 
 rowdies on a spree! But upon looking closer we 
 observe that the front one is not a carriage, it is a 
 hearse, elegantly plumed, and the procession turns 
 out to be a first-class Chilian funeral. 
 
 The first time I ever attended a funeral of this 
 kind the scene was strange and awful. An Eng- 
 lish gentleman, who had lived in Concepcion for 
 many years, sickened and died. I took a carriage, 
 as the custom of the country required, and after 
 appropriate religious services at the house of the 
 deceased, the procession started for the cemetery. 
 From the very first every carriage was in a trot, 
 and after we got well out of town, racing com- 
 menced. The roads were rough, and very sandy; 
 the drivers, however, were "not afraid." Some- 
 times half a dozen carriages were side by side, 
 when one getting a trifle ahead would veer off and 
 partly get into the track of the one next to him. 
 This would cause number two to rein up, and all 
 the others had to exert themselves to keep from 
 smashing headlong into their neighbors. Pres- 
 ently the roads grew heavy, and our carriage 
 fell behind. The driver whipped and jerked and 
 yelled tenibly; but in spite of his efforts we came
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 239 
 
 to a standstill . Two of us got out, and away went 
 the carriage, full gallop, for a quarter of a mile. 
 "We caught up and got in; another gallop; came to 
 a hill, and another stop; we got out; a gallop up 
 hill. When we got in again, the horses were gal- 
 loped down hill until we reached the graveyard, 
 where we found the rest patiently awaiting us. 
 The poor man was hurriedly buried in a shallow 
 grave. Then we raced all the way back home, and I 
 really felt as though I had been to a sad and sor- 
 rowful circus. The custom of the country prevents 
 the relatives from following their dead to the 
 grave. It is a merciful custom. 
 
 But the driver has been vigorously using the 
 whip. We have gone quickly around the mountain 
 valley, passing rivei's and groves of pretty trees. 
 The latter ai'e mostly a shrub belonging to the spice 
 family, very strongly scented and beautiful; but 
 we recognize a few old friends, such as the elm, 
 Cottonwood and sycamore, but they have a difier- 
 ent look from those in our northern homes; the 
 leaves are smaller, the bark smoother and the wood 
 more compact. There is something singular about 
 the trees in this country. The common currant bush 
 is here an evergreen; the sycamore is manufactured 
 into beautiful parlor furniture, equal in beauty to 
 black walnut. The rain and sunshine of the winter 
 months keep the grasses and flowers growing and
 
 240 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 blooming all the time; but the trees tbat shed their 
 leaves in Autumn remain intact, with bud dry and 
 hard, and no amount of coaxing will cause them to 
 push forth until the full season of rest is com- 
 pleted. 
 
 That group of women standing knee-deep in 
 water are washing clothes in the ordinary method 
 of the country, of which I spoke in a former chap- 
 ter. It is a laborious job, for which they are poorly 
 remunerated, and is a frequent cause of much sick- 
 ness. The most patient people in Chili are the 
 poor washei-women. 
 
 That man lying by the roadside is sleeping off 
 a drunk; yesterday was a feast-day, and feast-days 
 always mean drunkenness. In the city we see but 
 little effects of it, for the police punish drunken 
 men severely; but here in the country they are 
 not molested. In the United States men grow rich 
 adulterating wines with dried cocki-oaches, bed- 
 bugs, logwoods, etc.; but here in Chili the in- 
 gredients for adulteration would cost more than 
 the wine, A hogshead of sixty- three gallons can 
 be purchased for from five to nine dollars, accord- 
 ing to the age of the liquor. Consequently we do 
 not see such bad results from drunkenness as we 
 see at home. 
 
 Do not judge that, because the miserable driver 
 is taking us along so rapidly, it is a characteristic
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 241 
 
 of the Chilians to hurry; that would be a bad 
 mistake. No Chilian ever hurries except the 
 coachman, and he only because of his mania for 
 beating dumb animals. 
 
 The average Chilians are the easiest going people 
 in the world. If you have an engagement with a 
 man at ten, he will think it near enough if he meet 
 you at eleven. If the business is not urgent, he 
 may put it off till two, or perhaps the next day, 
 or forever. I had business transactions, as agent, 
 with a banker, involving property worth $20,000. 
 We appointed next morning at ten as a time for 
 meeting at his bank; but at that hour the bank 
 had not been opened. I waited till eleven, went 
 home, and returned at one. The banker had just 
 come in and was ready to talk business. It is not 
 a usual thing for ladies of fortune to spend much 
 time in a store "jewing" down the price of a piece 
 perhaps of lace worth fifty cents a yard. They do 
 it because they love to talk and have much lei- 
 sure. 
 
 But we will stop the carriage, get out at the 
 farm, and tell about it in another chapter.
 
 CHAPTKR XVIII. 
 
 Model Farm — Fences Ten Feet High — The Sick Overseer — 
 The Parlor — A Chilian Dinner — The Landlord and the 
 Spirit- Witches — A Haunted Lake — The Workingman's 
 Meal — Keeping Accounts — Loading Grain in the Bundle — 
 Threshing Wheat — Large Vineyards — Cheap Wines — Cheap 
 Donkeys — Milking the Cows — Evening Sports — Dancing 
 the Culca — Sleeping-Rooms for the Poor — Selling to the 
 Devil — Implements — A Talk with a Doctor — Statistics of 
 Agriculture. 
 
 ^|HIS farm belongs to our friend Juan Santia- 
 go Latinero. The English of it would be 
 John James Tinker; but it sounds better in 
 Spanish. In coming here we have passed many 
 smaller farms; but as Senor Latinero is a represen- 
 tative man, who owns one of the average large 
 farms of the country, we prefer to visit his rather 
 than a small one. He owns five hundred acres, all 
 under one fence. 
 
 We will examine the fence. Barbed wire* has 
 never been patented here; if it should be, the pat- 
 entee would not make a fortune from it. Eails 
 are never used excepting in the south. Stone 
 
 *The Gofernmeat of Chili is feucing its railroads with barbed wire 
 imported from the United States.
 
 Wim^/iiMMi
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 243 
 
 fences are sometimes made, but always solid, with 
 lime and sand. I never saw a board fence in 
 Chili outside the city of Concepcion, where there 
 is an occasional lot weather-boarded in like the 
 side of a house. But still there are fences — fences 
 that would defy a kangaroo or a Colorado steer. 
 The one around Senor Latinero's farm is ten feet 
 high, three feet wide, and has a roof on it all the 
 way around. It is made of mud. Large quantities 
 are moulded into squares, dried in the sun, built 
 into a wall, and covered with earthenware tiling. 
 It looks sti'ong enough to last forever. 
 
 We pass through a large, swinging gate up to 
 the house. The senor is not here; he lives in the 
 city, and perhaps does not visit his farm oftener 
 than once a month. The overseer, however, sends 
 out servants to conduct us into the house, where 
 we find that gentleman sick in bed, and are ushered 
 into the parlor to be entertained by his wife. 
 
 The parlor is carpeted with fine Brussels; heavy, 
 gilt-framed paintings, expensive and beautiful, are 
 on the walls; rich lace curtains of great length are 
 at the doors and windows; heavy mahogany chairs, 
 center table, corner stands, armchairs, and two 
 sofas form the rest of the furniture. 
 
 We are soon invited to dinner, and accept the 
 invitation. Our meal consists, first, of soup; then 
 roast meats; a dish of meats, onions and bread,
 
 244 OIVILrZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 highly seasoned and called jihote (pronounced 
 he-goaty); a dish of rice and sausage cooked to- 
 gether; bread, butter and fruit; a pudding made of 
 new Indian meal and sugar boiled in corn-husks; 
 and lastly, tea and cake. 
 
 After dinner we turn our attention to the over- 
 seer and inqiiii'e the cause of his sickness. He is 
 an ignorant man, very superstitious, and for some 
 reason hesitates to tell us. His wife, after many 
 assurances and indications of sympathy from us, 
 comes to the rescue, and informs us that the ghosts 
 have been after him. He was returning from town 
 on horseback the previous evening, when all at 
 once he was aware of something sitting in the sad- 
 dle behind him. He did not dare to look back for 
 a long time, but felt the presence of some dreaded 
 personage holding him as by a spell of evil, as 
 though he were frozen to the spot. His limbs 
 seemed loosened from their sockets, and his tongue 
 was dumb and useless. How long he remained 
 under the power of this dread controller he was un- 
 able to tell; but it must have been a considerable 
 time, for he remembered the horse was walking 
 slowly without being guided, and that he had 
 forded the brook and passed by the sandhills. But 
 at length he thought of his good patron , Saint Se- 
 bastian, and prayed him to come as his deliverer. As 
 soon as he had done this, and vowed to pay the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 245 
 
 saint a sum of money and to give many candles to 
 burn on saint's day, lie had courage and power to 
 look around. Sitting behind him he recognized 
 the departed spirit of a man with whom he had 
 quarreled, and who had died without being recon- 
 ciled. He had come back to torment him till he 
 confessed his wrong; and as he was sure that it 
 was the will of his saint, he promised to confess , 
 and the spirit departed. 
 
 The middle and lower classes ai'e very supersti- 
 tious. Many of them believe that the witches have 
 power to change a man into any kind of an ani- 
 mal or hideous hobgoblin. If you give a stranger 
 some fruit he will gladly accept it, but will not eat 
 of it for five days; if at the end of that time it is 
 not eaten by worms, there is no danger of its hav- 
 ing been bewitched, and can safely be eaten by 
 man. 
 
 Near Concepcion is a small lake, covering an acre 
 or more of ground, which, as the story goes, the 
 owner once attempted to draia. It proved to be 
 very deep and to requu-e much work; and while 
 the workmen were digging deep in the ground, 
 they came across the tnink of a large tree which, 
 upon being cut with some of the tools, issued great 
 quantities of blood. The work was at once aban- 
 doned. But the sti'angest thing about it is, that 
 since that time spiiits have always visited the lake
 
 246 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 at nights, and sailed upon it in steamboats brought 
 with them for that purpose. This stoiy is told and 
 believed by all the lower classes in the city and 
 surrounding country. 
 
 As we came out on a tour of inspection, we ask 
 permission to see what the laborers have to eat. 
 The request is granted, and we pass into a room 
 in the rear part of the building, where twelve stout, 
 healthy looking men are seated around a rough, 
 board table with no cloth. The meal consists 
 wholly of beans and peas. Twice a week they re- 
 ceive meat and potatoes. Every farm house has a 
 small mill for grinding gi'ain, that two men could 
 easily carry; upon this mill wheat that has been 
 previously roasted is ground into flour. The 
 workmen, after receiving a cold lunch in the morn- 
 ing, get a measure of this meal, which they carry 
 with them for dinner or lunch; this and the horn 
 of water is all they receive until they return at six 
 in the morning. 
 
 The overseer, being a man of "letters," writes 
 each laborer's name in some convenient place, 
 and when his day's work is done gives him a mark. 
 At the end of the week he receives his pay, but, as 
 a rule, pai'ts with it the following day, as the Sab- 
 bath is generally spent in drinking and gambling. 
 We pass out with the laborers. Some of them have 
 been hauling bundles of wheat for others to thresh,
 
 PAST AND PRISBNT. 247 
 
 and some have had exclusive care of the vineyard. 
 The day is not finished until the sun is well down. 
 So we accompany those to their labor who have 
 been drawing wheat. All work requiring heavy 
 draft is done by cattle, a yoke of which, in this in- 
 stance, is fastened to a lumbeiing cart containing a 
 hay rack, narrow and high, made of cane poles. 
 The cart being driven to a convenient place where 
 the bundles are thick, the cattle taken from the 
 tongue and secured to a wheel, the labor of gath- 
 ering commences. Each man seizes a bundle and 
 carries it to the cart; he is not in a huiTy , but 
 takes time to laugh and chat with his neighbor, 
 and even to give him a push forward on his face 
 when he finds him in the act of stooping fiar a bun- 
 dle. The work goes on slowly; the fun is more 
 lively. Presently the bundles near the cart are all 
 gathered, but it never occurs to them to move the 
 cart; no, the bundles are still carried, the distance 
 gradually increasing until the load is complete. 
 
 The wheat is hauled to threshing yards, where 
 it is thrown into convenient heaps, without the 
 necessity or trouble of putting it into stacks; as it 
 rarely ever rains here during the summer mouths, 
 there is but little danger of it spoiling, no matter 
 how carelessly thrown together. 
 
 The threshing is going on slowly and surelj'. A 
 large spot of earth has been previously swept
 
 248 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 clean, and upon this the bundles are thrown and 
 tread upon by a large number of horses marching, 
 or rather running, around and around until the 
 wheat is shelled from the straw; the straw is then 
 removed, the wheat raked to the center of the 
 floor, and more bundles thrown down to be tread 
 upon. When the floor gets full of wheat and 
 chafi", the threshing is stopped and the windmill is 
 introduced. No wheat could be of better quality: 
 the grains are fully one fifth of an inch in length, 
 and are plump and round. 
 
 We pass by the vineyard, which contains more 
 than one hundred acres. The vines are in hills 
 about six feet apart, each hill supported by a 
 stake, and the entire vineyard is remarkably free 
 from weeds. They are not plowed, but hoed. 
 The hoes used are about fourteen inches high, five 
 broad, and each weighs about eight pounds. Every 
 well regulated farm has its vineyard, many of 
 which are very large; the grapes are excellent, and 
 the crop is nearly always abundant. They make 
 an excellent quality of raisins as well as of wine. 
 They sell cheaply on the market, and in their sea- 
 son can be purchased for about one cent a pound. 
 Good wine can be procured at from five to ten 
 cents a quart. Every Chilian, old and young, 
 drinks wine at all times in the day, but more es- 
 pecially at meal-time. Apparently, they are rarely
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 249 
 
 intoxicated; especially the better classes, who do 
 not drink to excess. Cheap liquor, however, is 
 bad for Americans and Englishmen. A large per 
 cent, of them coming to this country, instead of 
 making fortunes, a thing easily done, become ob- 
 jects of contempt and often of charity. 
 
 We pass from the vineyards to the cattle-yard. 
 It is milking-time, and over two hundred head of 
 cattle are in the coiTal. Cattle-raising is profita- 
 ble. A cow, comparing favorably in size and ap- 
 pearance with our Colorado or Texas cattle at 
 home, will sell for about forty dollars; a steer sells 
 for from sixty to one hundred dollars, which is a high 
 price, considering that there is plenty of grass the 
 entire year. Donkeys are very cheap, and are the 
 most despised and worst abused animals in the 
 land. A good-sized donkey will sell on the market 
 in Concepcion for about three dollars and a half, 
 with a small one thrown in for a "yapa" — meaning 
 a gift They are whipjDed and hammered unmerci- 
 fully, and it is no uncommon thing to see them 
 with ears cut off, or minus both ears and tail . The 
 most abject, degraded-looking animal 1 ever saw 
 was a big-headed, thick-legged donkey with both 
 ears cut oft" close to the head, and his tail cut close 
 to his backbone. This poor, degraded fellow 
 makes the rounds every day, in Concepcion, 
 carrying on his back at least thirty gallons of wa-
 
 250 CIVILIZATION IN OHIU. 
 
 ter. He is the most patient animal I ever saw, 
 wearing neither halter nor bridle, but being 
 guided by his owner following him with a huge 
 whip, and telling him when to go, when to stop, 
 and when and where to turn. He always obeys, 
 and serves his master as though he thought him a 
 god, with patience enough to drive a Christian to 
 shame in his half-hearted service given the Deity. 
 
 Let us return to the cow-yard, where the women 
 are out, in full force, milking. They take no 
 chances whatever. Each cow, in turn, has her 
 hind legs firmly tied to stakes made fast in the 
 ground before the milking commences. They milk 
 from either side; and these dark-skinned, black- 
 eyed women handle cattle as skillfully as do the 
 men. The milk is carefully cared for and manu- 
 factured into butter and cheese, of which they 
 make an excellent quality. The whole coast of 
 northern Chili, Bolivia, and Peru depends largely 
 on this section for supplies; as a consequence, 
 these commodities are always in demand and bring 
 good prices in the markets. 
 
 After the milking the men and women gather in 
 the open court of the house and spead an hour in 
 singing and dancing. Only two dance at a time. 
 A young girl selects a young man to assist her, 
 and they both step out into the middle of the patio. 
 They do not clasp hands or tpucli §acli other ia,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 251 
 
 any manner; but as she sings they each flirt a 
 handkerchief and turn slowly and gracefully, keep- 
 ing time with the music. In this instance the 
 singing is accompanied by a banjo, and its dead 
 thumpings and the doleful singing reminds one of 
 Edward Eggleston's Baptist preacher swaying his 
 body and singing in nasal tone, "Come buck-ah! 
 Come buck-ah !" Nothing could be more doleful 
 and plaintive than these songs and the music ac- 
 companying them. Here is a song just as Senorita 
 Rose Vasareo sang it, as she danced with the 
 young i-ustic of her choice. While she sang they 
 both danced and kept the handkerchief whirling 
 around and around, continually. 
 
 Disen que no me quirer, 
 Porque no tengo; 
 La Mavis afilida, 
 
 Y log ojos nigros. 
 
 Para que me pareguantes 
 Que vida paso, 
 Que vida pasare 
 Quenendo un huaso ? 
 
 Gauntos tormentOB 
 Sufro per ti; 
 
 Y siendo asi 
 Me pagftis mall 
 
 Trista a la tumba, 
 Su cumbire; 
 
 Y Harare: 
 
 Mi amor fatal I
 
 252 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 A somewhat literal translation of this song is as 
 follows : 
 
 They say they do not like me. 
 Why I cannot tell, 
 Except my nose is sharp, 
 And my eyes are very black. 
 
 Why do you not ask me 
 What kind of a life I live ? 
 What kind of a life I live 
 Loving a country-man ? 
 
 How many, many torments 
 I suffer now for you ! 
 And suffering so for you 
 You pay me badly. 
 
 Sadly to the grave I'll yield, 
 I soon will come and yield; 
 And when I'm there, I'll cry: 
 "0 my fatal love!" 
 
 Having spent an hour with the singers and 
 dancers, we will retire for the night. Our room is 
 nicely furnished, and we go to sleep on a hair 
 mattress, on a little bedstead made of iron, even 
 to the slats. Could we have followed the poor, 
 hard-working servants to their rooms we would 
 have found their apartments damp, ban'en and 
 gloomy. The sun never shines in them, and the 
 thick earthen walls and clay floors retain their 
 winter dampness. Rats, lizards and long, slimy 
 snails are in abundance. There is but little or no 
 furniture, and the workman lies down to sleep on
 
 PAST AND PBESENT. 253 
 
 a coarse wooden bunk, filled with straw. Before 
 going to bed each one kneels and crosses himself 
 several times. 
 
 Protestants are not so much despised by these 
 people as they are dreaded. They believe that in 
 order to become a Protestant a person makes a 
 solemn contract to serve the devil forever; opens a 
 vein in his arm and signs the contract with his 
 own blood. Whereupon Satan receives the blood- 
 sealed parchment and gives the signer a thousand 
 dollars. Protestant ministers on this coast have 
 received calls from poor women, broken and dis- 
 couraged, who thus came to sell themselves to the 
 devil for gain. Poor souls! They believe that the 
 moment one receives the money evil takes posses- 
 sion of him; that, though he may have power to 
 smile, appear happy, give good gifts, he does it all 
 to deceive people and lead them to sin. 
 
 We sleep a sound and refreshing sleej), and are 
 up at dawn. These laborers commence work at 
 six o'clock. The ghosts have given up their claim 
 on the overseer, and he is out ready for business. 
 Six men are sent to cut a small field of late wheat. 
 They each caiTy a reap-hook, a cow-horn of water 
 and a small bag of meal. It will be twelve hours 
 before they get anything else to eat. 
 
 The overseer, at our request, shows us the farm 
 implements. The plows are very rude afi'airs, con-
 
 254 OIVILIZATIOK IN CHILI. 
 
 sisting of a beam with one long, stout handle ex- 
 tending far enough downward to attach a piece of 
 flat iron that has been hammered sharp on a stone. 
 With this tbey can but little more than scratch the 
 ground. Wheat is sown broadcast, and covered by- 
 dragging over it a weighted plank. Corn land is 
 furrowed into rows in one direction; in these, at 
 regular intervals, holes are made with sharpened 
 sticks, into which the corn is dropped, and then 
 covered with the foot. 
 
 We learn that wheat yields on an average about 
 twenty bushels to the acre; but the yield of corn 
 is small, as the seasons are always too cold. How- 
 ever, oranges, lemons, figs, peaches, apples, pears, 
 grapes, etc., are always a sure crop. This can 
 readily be understood when it is known that in 
 winter there is never frost enough to kill the 
 flowers, and in summer it is never warm enough to 
 require thin clothing, in the south. Cabbages, 
 turnips, potatoes, carrots and beets grow in abun- 
 dance. When a native plants beets, he ties a knot 
 in the small end of each growing plantlet to keep 
 it from growing long. 
 
 Our carriage has returned, by agreement, to 
 carry us backto town; so we say ''Adios" — "adieu," 
 literally, "to God" — to our friends at the farm and 
 return. 
 
 And nov7, if you will go with me, I will intro-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 255 
 
 duce you to my friend, Dr. Enrique H. B , an 
 
 Irish gentleman who has resided in Chili for over 
 twenty-five years. He has amassed a large fortune 
 here, and as he owns man}' fai'ms in this Province, 
 we will be glad to meet him. After the introduc- 
 tions we proceed to interrogate the Doctor, as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "What is the average per cent, of deaths that 
 occur in this country, compared to the whole pop- 
 ulation, Doctor?" 
 
 "I do not know, indeed; but I can tell you that 
 about eighty per cent, of all the children born 
 here die in infancy." 
 
 "Why, Doctor, you verj' much surprise me! It 
 cannot possibly be so great!" 
 
 "It may be overrated a very little, sir; but not 
 much — a very trifle, if any at all. Why, just think 
 of it! Years and years ago Chili had two million 
 of people, and she has only that number to-day. 
 They never move away ; but few were killed during 
 the war — that is, comparatively few; and besides, 
 this is a healthful climate. But these poor people 
 live like hogs, and they don't know so well how to 
 care for their young. They do not properly clothe 
 them, and when the cold rains come they permit 
 them to crawl around in the wet, which soon puts 
 an end to them. It's a terrible shame, sir; but it's 
 ft fact !"
 
 256 CIVILIZATION IN CHlLI. 
 
 "Doctor, I understand that you own a great deal 
 of farm land in this vicinity. May I ask if farming 
 is a profitable business ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, it pays very well. Labor is very cheap, 
 and crops are always sure. It costs about one dol- 
 lar to raise three bushels of wheat, and it usually 
 sells at about a dollar and a quarter a bushel. 
 Wheat and barley, though, are the only crops we 
 can raise profitably; there is no foreign demand for 
 anything else. Oats will yield sixty bushels to the 
 acre, easy enough, one year after the other; but we 
 can never sell them." 
 
 "How much grain do you usually grow in a 
 year?" 
 
 "Not much; I only sowed three thousand bush- 
 els this year, as I have grown tired of grain, and 
 have commenced raising cattle." 
 
 •'Do you have all your large harvests gathered 
 with reap hooks, Doctor?" 
 
 "Reap hooks! Law, bless you, no! I own 
 twenty-five of the latest improved reaping ma- 
 chines, right from the States, and two good thresh- 
 ing machines. The reapers cost me $450 each, and 
 the threshers cost me $3,200 each." 
 
 "What makes them so expensive ?" 
 
 "The duty, freight and exchange. You see, we 
 have no direct line of communication with the 
 United States. We have a line of English steam-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 257 
 
 ers, one of French, one to Germany, one to Italy, 
 and another to China and Australia; but we have 
 none with the Yankees, and we care most for their 
 goods. I have ordered goods from New York that 
 would first go to Liverpool, and then to Hamburg, 
 Germany, before they would reach here." 
 
 "Are the farmers here ready, as a usual thing, to 
 introduce improved farm implements to take the 
 place of their reap hooks and wooden plows ?' ' 
 
 "Yes, if they were not so expensive, and we 
 could get them here by a direct line of steamers. 
 You see, there is nothing manufactured here at all, 
 and such things ordered from the States are six 
 months in transit. That makes matters bad; for 
 were the people to introduce machinery, when any- 
 thing would get out of repairs it would require 
 six months to mend it. If we had a direct line 
 of steamers, I thiuk the American farm wagon could 
 be introduced without trouble." 
 
 "Would it not be better to have them manufac- 
 tured here, Doctor ?" 
 
 "Well, yes; but all the timber would have to be 
 shipped from abroad. The timber here, though 
 beautiful for furniture, is not fit for wagons; it's 
 too brittle and porous, and swells terribly in wet 
 weather. You must know that these huge carts 
 are a necessity in this country. If they were made 
 smaller they would twist all out of shape in wet
 
 258 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 weather, and the wood is so brittle that they would 
 be broken unless made very large." 
 
 "Are taxes exorbitant here?" 
 
 "No, sir; I would gladly pay double theamount to 
 be as sure of life and property as I would be in the 
 States. You see, rich men here living in the coun- 
 try are considered common prey for every man 
 inclined to steal. They are not under the eyes of 
 the police, and cattle-stealing, horse-stealing' and 
 robberies of every description are very common. 
 Life even is not safe for a man of means in the 
 counti-y; hence the rich farmers nearly all live in 
 the city. There are some, however, who are rich 
 and still live in the country; but they have the ap- 
 pearance of being veiy poor, or have gained the 
 good will of their neighbors. They do this to ]Dro- 
 tect themselves and to keep from being mur- 
 dered." 
 
 "What are some of the hindrances to farming 
 other than the thieves ?" 
 
 "Not anything, excepting a rotation of crops. You 
 see, wheat is the main thing, and so much of it is 
 raised that the same land is necessarily seeded 
 down year after year, and thus « becomes weedy 
 and foul. People in this country never manure 
 land either, and, of course, in time it becomes 
 foul."
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 259 
 
 "What kinds of grass are cultivated here, Doc- 
 tor?" 
 
 "Here in the south we cultivate rye grass large- 
 ly. We also cultivate timothy and clover, and sow 
 considerable corn, too. In the north they raise 
 alfalfa altogether." 
 
 "Why are not horses and mules more in use as 
 draft animals?" 
 
 "Because of the harness, which are very expen- 
 sive if brought from abroad, and those made of 
 leather tanned here are worthless. Consequently 
 horses are used only for the saddle and the coach. 
 Horses bring about one hundred dollars a head, 
 though, because the Chilians like the saddle; but 
 mules are worth only about ten or fifteen dollars a 
 head for the very best. Donkeys are raised so that the 
 natives can have something to abuse." 
 
 "What are the custom-house duties on imported 
 articles, such as agricultural implements?" 
 
 "About forty per cent, of their valuation." 
 
 The total valuation of real estate in Chili is esti- 
 mated at about $900,000,000. In 1882 the total 
 amount of wheat produced was over 14,000,000 
 bushels . 
 
 Total amount of corn, 500,000 bushels. 
 " " " barley, 5,000,000 bushels. 
 
 " wool, 11,000,000 pounds. 
 " beans, 900,000 bushels. 
 " " potatoes, 3,000,000 bushels.
 
 260 CIVrLIZATION IK CHILI. 
 
 The wealth of the nation is not in its agriculture, 
 although that is great considering the limited ter- 
 ritory within bounds of the agricultural districts. 
 But in the products of the mine the nation is rich. 
 The most important minerals are gold, silver, salt- 
 petre, copper, mercury, nickle, lead, cobalt and 
 stone coal. But there is also found in consider- 
 able quantities, tin, borax, marble, aluminium, 
 agate, zinc, antimony, chalcedony, magnesia, jas- 
 per, slate, lime, building stone, and in lesser quan- 
 tities all the rest of the known minerals.
 
 CHAPTKR XIX. 
 
 Santiago a Beautiful City — Wonderful Mountain Scenery — 
 Decorated Mounds — Beautiful Shrubs — A Theater on the 
 Mountain — Ghosts and Witches — Old Aconcagua— The 
 Wonderful Climate — A Mother at Twelve — A Set of liabor- 
 ers — A Scandal among the Seasons — Ignorant Rosea — Fu- 
 ture Chilians — Fleas and Dust — The Great Alameda — Cow- 
 Girls — General O'Higgins— A Rose-Bud Plaza — Rejoicing 
 of Demons — The City of the Dead — A Rich Legacy from 
 Death Tax— Out into the World. 
 
 ^^lANTIAGO is by far the most beautiful city in 
 '^gil all South America. Standing at the western 
 ^^ base of the mighty Cordilleras, at an eleva- 
 tion of 1,800 feet, it overlooks a vast, fertile plain, 
 dotted with tasteful villas and well-cultivated 
 farms, while the great Cordilleras, that tower 
 above it, and seem to almost enclose it in a won- 
 derful embrace, afford scenery of the grandest de- 
 scription. Enchanting mountains, with then- deep, 
 dark-shaded ravines and snow caps, rise one above 
 the other in sublimest grandeur. From every 
 principal street, in any direction one chooses to 
 look, the eye beholds and feasts upon the loveliest 
 of scenes. It is the nook of the world. Old Al- 
 pine travelers, standing upon the banks of the
 
 262 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Mapocho, that goes rushing through the city like 
 an army of merry boys let loose from school, say 
 that more beautiful scenery was never beheld. 
 Around you, above you, the mountains lift, eight, 
 ten, fifteen, twenty thousand feet intT the air, and 
 seem to watch each other like silent ghosts. You 
 are lost in admiration. The varied tints of light 
 and shade, as the sun falls upon the green, the 
 brown, the white, and loses itself in the deep ra- 
 vines, impress you with a great sense of loveliness; 
 while the towering cliffs and misty peaks, that 
 reach to and blend with the vaulted skies, compel 
 feelings of reverence and awe. 
 
 Cro?s sj)urs, ending in well-defined mounds, ex- 
 tend to the very midst of the city. Some of them 
 are thousands of feet high, and would be of them- 
 selves very attractive; but the municiimlity, as 
 well as gentlemen of j)i'ivate fortune, have spent 
 millions of dollars in making of them modern gar- 
 dens of Eden. Here is a path, winding around a 
 rock-hill in gently ascending slope, almost hidden 
 by green shrabs and trees that "flourish like the 
 wicked." As we ascend, the way grows crookeder, 
 narrower and wilder. You now enter a craggy, 
 romantic grotto, where are hidden caves from 
 whose walls trickle the ice-cold waters from perpet- 
 ual snows, and where artificial serpents, raised for 
 a blow, gleam upon you with wicked eyes-, seeming
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 263 
 
 to say: "Come a step farther, if you dare!" The 
 minor grottos and niches appear to have been prop- 
 erly and hapi)ily mated, and, as a result of their 
 union, statuettes of new-born angels, with delicate 
 wings, and older saints, with expressions of love, 
 are guarded by the careful mastiff, and by lions 
 and tigers, of which no man need be afraid. 
 
 All along the crooked path the honey-suckle, 
 giant geraniums, ten feet high, with trunks like 
 young sapplings, delicate roses, the Indian pink, 
 blue-bells, azaleas, giant pansies, forget-me-nots, 
 and a variety of other flowers and ornamental 
 shrubs cling to the seemingly barren rocks, with 
 faces toward the road to greet you, like pretty 
 children in summer dress. 
 
 The air is pure from the breath of mountain 
 snows and sweet with the perfume of flowers. We 
 ascend the rude steps cut into the stone wall, and 
 mount up higher and still higher, but there is no 
 sense of danger; for the flowers, the clinging vines, 
 the over-lapping branches obscure the giddy 
 heights below and seen to again reiterate, "Who's 
 afraid?" Away up in the heights, far above the 
 city, in an obscure corner, reached only by ever- 
 changing, ziz-zag foot-paths, is a pleasant prom- 
 enade, with rustic seats and over-hanging trees, 
 leading off to a miniature lake, cut in the solid 
 rock, where the weary can rest and bathe, and
 
 264 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 amuse themselves by tossing pennies into the wa- 
 ter and watching the peon-lads dive from a great 
 height and bring them up from the bottom. On 
 the top of one of these mounds, at least two thou- 
 sand feet higher than the city, is a theater that is 
 well patronized. No wonder; for the tints of the 
 setting sun light up the tips of ten thousand 
 mountain peaks in night-cap attire, and reveal 
 clefts and gorges whose crags frown down from 
 the very sky; and as the last crimson glow mounts 
 the terraced stairs, and 
 
 "The splendor falls on castle walls, 
 And snowy summits, old in story," 
 
 the red-roofed city below, in the dimmer twi- 
 light, looks like a vast herd of sandy swine huddled 
 for the night. The on-coming darkness and the 
 newly lighted street lamps change these into weird 
 monsters with fiery eyes, that wink and beckon and 
 nod, and seem to whisper together ia the hollow 
 winds. Hamlet's ghost may be down there, "weird 
 witches in black attire" may be issuing from the 
 tombs for high revel. The fiery eyes winking in 
 silence, imaginary figures beckoning to and fro, 
 and the mysterious whisperings of the hollow 
 winds are all that is left of the mantled city below, 
 while up on the theater grounds it is still twilight, 
 and away off on the tips of Aconcagua the sun is 
 making his good-night bow before going to bed.
 
 PAST AND PEE8ENT. 265 
 
 This giant mountain of the whole continent has 
 mingled the last touch of his sunlight splendor 
 with the crimson clouds upon which the rainbow 
 has left its glory, and the whole seems fixed in 
 solid forms of grandeur. Who can help but won- 
 der? The awe that such scenes inspire fills one 
 with joy akin to sadness. Still it is not sadness. 
 "It is not sorrow; it is not gloom; it is not des- 
 pondency ! It is one of the moods of joy." And it 
 is such joy that one desires to have oft repeated. 
 
 Santiago, like all Southern Chili, has a glorious 
 climate. It stimulates men and women like con- 
 tinued tastes of old wine. Watch that boy. Born 
 in filth and rags, inheriting an inferior social posi- 
 tion that places him at the very bottom of the social 
 scale, despised and treated as a serf or an inferior 
 animal, he surmounts them all I With quick, elas- 
 tic step and determined look, he bears around upon 
 his head his ponderous basket of fruit, and bawls 
 out in masterly, monotonous twang : "Qaiere 
 comprar bravos ?" as though selling fruit was the 
 greatest calling in life, and he king of the army of 
 venders. Had he been born in a hot climate, only 
 starvation could stimulate him to such exercise. 
 
 See that army of laborers. They appear to be the 
 slowest, easiest-going do-nothings in all the world! 
 They scarcely move. But it is all a Chilian trick; 
 for they are employed by the day, and their dis-
 
 266 oiviLrZATioN in chili. 
 
 honesty leads them to give the least labor for the 
 largest pay. Only give them a stint for a stipulated 
 sum, and instead of moving with th^ slowness of 
 an old "hall-clock pendulum," they will wake up, 
 half Indians as they are, to sprightly libor of six- 
 teen hours every da* . "Seventy miles in twenty- 
 four at the East, over satin roads in December, is 
 a Jehu of a drive. Here sixty miles before sunset 
 hurts nobody. Your horse has been drinking" — 
 Santago air. "He will do his best or die a-trying. 
 But he will not last any more than his master. He 
 will want an extra feed. The driver will want an 
 extra drink. He cannot be a chameleon. He can- 
 not live forever on air. He looks in a tumbler for 
 a stimulant. By-and-by he flickers, and it is out, 
 brief candle! It is the climate." 
 
 "Boys and girls are born with percussion caps 
 on. Touch them and they explode. They ripen 
 early, in this sun and tonic air, into manhood and 
 womanhood." That young girl has grown wise at 
 ten, and has learned the hidden mysteries of her 
 sex. She is fairly developed at eleven, and at 
 twelve she may become a mother! It is all due to 
 the climate. It quickens her brain and the throb 
 of her pulse. It develops and strengthens her 
 passions. It stimulates her body and sends her 
 forth a seeker of pleasure. She will be wrinkled 
 at twenty ; she will be old at thirty ; at forty she
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 267 
 
 will be "where the wicked cease from trouble." 
 As a rule, all Chilian laborers are slow and 
 slovenly, and transplanted into a hot climate, they 
 would die of disease and laziness; but in all 
 southern Chili, from Valpariso to Chiloe Island, 
 they are fairly alive. Go to the market i^laces at 
 four in the mornin^- and you will find a great num- 
 ber of loaded carts, driven from the country, with 
 fruits and vegetables awaiting purchasers. It is 
 due to the tonic of the refreshing mountain and sea 
 breezes. 
 
 Nowhere in all South America are the seasons so 
 neighborly as in and around the great mountain 
 slope from Santiao;o to Concepcion. "The impro- 
 priety of Winter sitting in the laj) of Spring has 
 made a public scandal, but when September is on 
 whispering terms with May, and January borrows 
 June's clothes, and July gives all her rainbows to 
 November, it is high lime to talk! The winter 
 is in summer, and the spring is in winter, and har- 
 vest is in seed-time, and autumn is lost out of the 
 calendar altogether; and the siroccos blow from 
 the north, and the cold winds from the 
 South, and you must sail by the almanac or lose 
 your reckoning and get lost in the weather. 
 
 "The eft'ect of this loose state of society among 
 the seasons is delightfully apparent. You never 
 saw such ignorant roses in all your life. They bud
 
 268 CIVILIZATION, IN OHILI. 
 
 and blossom the year round and never stop to un- 
 dress or take a wink of sleep. Ripening fruit and 
 baby blossoms show on the same bush at once as 
 they do in well-blessed human families. * * The 
 hills are emerald in the winter — Ireland would 
 glory in them — and the shamrock grows as big as 
 the burdock. The hills are tawny as African lions or 
 Sahara sands in the summer. The grasses look 
 withered and dry as tinder, but they hold the con- 
 centrated riches of the year cooked down by fire. 
 Turn out an emaciated old ox that resembles a 
 hoop-skirt with a hide on, and though you would 
 make an affidavit that on such fare he will resem- 
 ble a hoop-skirfc with the hide off in six weeks, yet 
 the old yoke bearer will grow fat, round and 
 smooth as a silk hat."* 
 
 Santiago weather makes a man "belligerent and 
 aggressive j it will put new springs in his temper 
 and make it quick as a steel trap." And unless a 
 huge earthquake or some other prank of nature 
 jostles all Southern Chili out of existence, it will 
 not be many years till somebody from that region 
 of bliss will climb up the intellectual ladder of 
 fame and compel the world to look at him and 
 sing his praises. Fifty years ago newspapers and 
 books were scarcely known in all the land. Fifty 
 years hence the world will be talking of Chilian 
 
 "From "Between the Gates," by Taylor.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 269 
 
 philosophers, Chilian poets, Chilian mathemati- 
 cians, Chilian scientists, who will rank with the 
 foremost men of the age. 
 
 But Ohili is "of the earth, eai'thy." It has two 
 atoms of things that are both in a lively state of 
 unrest in the summer time. They are fleas and 
 dust, and both products of the blessed weather. 
 But the first are only innocent dots of acrobats, 
 the mustard seed of full-grown circuses, and the last 
 will leave no darker trace upon a lady's garment 
 than a jjinch of salt. The first day of your arrival, 
 when you are filling and tacking and beating up 
 the breeze and bowing to it as if it were a friend, 
 and blinking at the dust that waltzes at you around 
 the corners and bears down upon you at an ana- 
 pestic gait, as Byron's Assyrians came, and you 
 winking at it all as if you had just made a joke 
 and were pleased with it, you vow you will go home 
 to-morrow. And when you are hunting from chin 
 to gaiters for that prince of leapers, and assuring 
 youi-self that "the wicked-flee- when-no-man-pur- 
 sueth" is not the kind of insect that has just 
 doubled the cape of your left shoulder, and taking 
 yourself to pieces at all hours and never catching 
 anything but a cold, you declare you will go home 
 to-night. But the weeks go on, and the winds 
 blow on, and the fleas leap on, and you stay on, at 
 first resigned, at last delighted.
 
 270 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Let us leave the wind, the dust, the fleas and 
 the weather, and return to the city. We are in the 
 Alameda, or public walk. The highway of Semira- 
 mis was never half so roomy and grand. It is in 
 the heart of the city, running east and west. It 
 has a width of six hundred feet, and is over three 
 miles in length. On each side, confined in 
 channels with brick and cement, is a noisy brook 
 that leaps and babbles and laughs as it kisses the 
 roots of the growing elms and is off in a race with 
 itself like a silly puppy chasing its own tail in its 
 hurried march to the sea. The mountain winds 
 whisper and sigh among the over-hanging branches 
 as though trying to hide from the great throng of 
 happy faces the monster statues and the beautiful 
 fountains. This is everybody's resort. Piled 
 under a tree close to a beautiful bronze fountain 
 sits a melon vender, with twenty cords of water 
 melons. He is out bright and early so as to miss 
 no chance for a sale. Here is a group of dusky 
 maidens milking their cows right under the very 
 nose of a grand statue of the Abbe Molina. It is 
 a pretty picture. The morning birds are twitter- 
 ing in the trees, and the mountain air is as fresh as 
 though new-born from sweet-smelling clovers. In 
 every direction can be seen groups of well dressed 
 ladies and dandy looking gentlemen, out for their 
 morning walk and a glass of fresh milk. It is the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 271 
 
 fashion. By nine o'clock all trace of the milking 
 will have disappeared, leaving the grounds clean 
 and sweet. 
 
 Here is a statue of General Don Ramon Freire, 
 a hero of 1855. He is looking as peaceful as a 
 wise i^adre giving loving counsel. But across 
 this way is one of another hero, General Carrera, 
 who, with clenched teeth and protruding visage, 
 seems to say: "I'll do it or burst." PerhajDS he 
 did both. 
 
 Here you see the statue of O'Higgins, in full 
 uniform, mounted on a powerful steed, proclaim- 
 ing liberty to the people. O'Higgins — who is he ? 
 The greatest man that ever trod upon South Ameri- 
 can soil! Living in a time when the momentous 
 questions that disturbed and moved the nation to 
 its depths were whether the clergy should friz the 
 hair on their foreheads, in the style of modern 
 "bangs," and whether the chief ruler should go to 
 church in uniform or in the dress of a private gen- 
 tleman, he freed the country from the yoke of 
 Spain; he averted threatened revolutions; he bound 
 the people together in a firmer union; he gave 
 character and dignity to the national Government; 
 he so directed the shaky helm of state as to make 
 all the interests of the difierent chieftains and men 
 of rank a concentrated unit, himself at the head; 
 and then, although holding power almost unlim-
 
 272 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ited, and recognized by a vast majority of all tlie 
 men in the nation as the gi'eat central figure of 
 power so necessary to direct the ship of state, in 
 order to apjoease the wrath of petty church offi- 
 cials, and save his country from a threatened civil 
 war, he resigned the supreme power he had held 
 for six years. His language on the occasion 
 ought to be engraved on golden tablets and placed 
 over the door of the capitol building of eveiy na- 
 tion in the world: "Believing that it may contribute 
 to the tranquility of my country, under present cir- 
 cumstances, that I should lay down the supreme com- 
 mand of state, * * * 7 come to abdicate, and do 
 hereby abdicate, the power 1 have held over the great 
 nation and people of Chili." That is certainly re- 
 freshing. We look up at his graven image again, 
 and in our hearts we thank and love him for his 
 unselfish devotion. 
 
 I doubt if any city in the new world can contri- 
 bute anything in the shape of public walks that 
 will begin to compare with the Alameda in Santia- 
 go. 
 
 But the city has other public resorts. We are 
 now in a little rose-bud of a plaza, in front of the 
 Archbishop's palace. It has a history. Here once 
 stood the great cathedral. Here, on the very spot 
 upon which we now sit amidst the roses, and look 
 up at the monument "sacred to the momory of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 273 
 
 three thousand dead," for over two hundred years 
 have "matin prayers, vesper songs, and grand 
 high-mass been rung and chanted, sung and said." 
 Here ten thousand priests from Spain, from Rome, 
 from France; have lifted hands and blessed the 
 people, "while Indians, Mexicans and old Peru- 
 vians stood around." These silent flowers, the gen- 
 tle fountains, the towering mausoleo, are indeed 
 monuments of a terrible fanaticism. Here a vile 
 pretender of a priest established the Heavenly 
 Letter-Box, through which he communicated with 
 all the women of the nation. They believed the 
 Virgin Mary answered these letters in person. Oh, 
 how good and how blessed she was ! How kind in 
 her to be so devoted to the poor, misguided 
 women ! A great carnival must be given in her 
 name! It must be the greatest ever witnessed in 
 all the world! And for this the great cathedral 
 had been in preparation for many weeks. Ten 
 thousand candles, adjusted so as to represent stara, 
 amidst a thousand yards of muslin tapestiy high 
 up in the dome, stood ready to be lighted. Eich 
 laces, costly frills, gorgeous ribbons had been so 
 arranged around the images of saints and costly 
 paintings as to produce a panorama of wonder. 
 A colossal image of the Virgin, whose robe 
 sparkled with diamonds, was the figure-head of 
 great attraction. Oh, what a feast! All the city
 
 274 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 was in a delirium of excitement! But how the 
 demons in hell rejoiced that night! For suddenly, 
 when all the lamps and all the candles had been 
 lighted; when the house had been filled to over- 
 flowing, and the doors closed against a still larger 
 crowd seeking admittance; when the carnival had 
 reached its highest pitch of glory — suddenly there 
 arose an awful shriek of agony, that sounded 
 thi'oughout all the city to the very court of heaven 
 itself. The idolized image of Mary had ignited 
 from a melting candle, and before anyone knew 
 what was the matter, the entire building was a 
 solid sheet of flame. Nearly three thousand 
 women and young girls were charred and burned 
 beyond any possible hope of recognition. And 
 upon the spot the sorrowful friends have erected 
 an elevated monument, suiTounded with walks, 
 flowers, trees and fountains. It is a delightful 
 place, often visited, not on account of its associa- 
 tions as much as on account of its beauty. 
 
 But we must not taiTy. It is in keeping that we 
 should now visit another public resort. It has been 
 for many years, if not the most popular, the most 
 frequented in all the city. The names of three 
 hundred thousand peoj)le are registered who have 
 taken up their abode here forever. We pass vinder 
 an arched gateway as we enter. On its top is a 
 cross. Evergreens, roses and forget-me-nots are
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 275 
 
 intermingled with beautiful flowering shrubs, 
 weeping willows, saints and solid crosses in mar- 
 ble. "A suppliant woman, with sad, sightless eyes 
 raised toward the heavens, impresses us with rev- 
 erence and avve." It is the city of the dead. The 
 earth is rich with their ashes. The trees and flow- 
 ers are fed by their dust. "Let us hope they have 
 gained the crown, for behold the crosses they have 
 left behind!" Still they come! There goes a troop 
 of sextons with spades. They cut down into the 
 sandy earth. Soon they come to something hard. 
 It is the old fragments of a coffin, which, with the 
 skull and other bones, are rattled out upon the 
 sward. Down deeper they come to another, and 
 still another and another, till four grizzly skulls are 
 rattled together. It is soon explained. All the 
 cemeteries in Chili have until this present year of 
 '84 belonged to the churches . They only sold lots 
 for burial for a period of four generations, or about 
 thirty years on an average. If a family who owned 
 a vault removed to a distant part of the country, 
 the lot was sold again for a new grave. 
 
 A fat legacy the priests made of it. The grave- 
 yard is divided into four parts : one for great digni- 
 taries of the church, one for wealthy and influential 
 gentlemen, one for ordinary mortals, and one for 
 the rotos — ragged people, too poor to pay. The 
 average price for a lot two yards long by one wide
 
 276 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 was twenty dollars for four generations. The same 
 sized lot for one burial one year, three dollars. For 
 the privilege of erecting a large family monument 
 on the same lot, thirty dollars. A first class hearse, 
 owned by the priests, for the removal of the dead 
 to the cemetery, cost fifty dollars — used only for 
 great dignitaries; second class cost twelve 
 dollars; third class, eight dollars; fourth class, 
 three dollars; fifth class, one dollar. The 
 sixth class, though the most faithful servants 
 of the Church, carry their dead in their arms and 
 bury them without coffins in the ragged man's cor- 
 ner. If, when the stipulated thirty years were up 
 (and the Chm'ch always kept a faithful record), the 
 friends of the deceased desired to continue in pos- 
 session of the lot, an additional thirty dollars was 
 charged. If not, and they desu'ed to remove their 
 dead to another cemetery, the thirty dollars had to 
 be paid. It may be the effect of the climate; but 
 be that as it may, a Chilian priest will scent a penny 
 and follow it into the very mouth of purgatory. 
 The cemetery in Santiago netted the parish priest 
 almost twenty thousand dollars a year. 
 
 Father above, bless the world! Let us go out 
 through the great gate into the tides of living 
 humanity and leave the silent dead with themselves 
 and their God.
 
 CHAPTKR XX. 
 
 Quinta Normal— The Wild Animals— Taken in by a Llama— 
 A Rare Collection of Birds— Some Extraordinary Ancient 
 People— The President and his Family— Congress Hall— 
 An Eloquent Address of Old Times— The Beginning of a 
 Reform- A Holy Fraud— The Great Cathedral -The Por- 
 tales— Early Education — Beaux and Belles — A Downy 
 Ceremony— Institutions of Learning— Fine Residences — 
 Fortunes— Some Ordinary Americans— Farewell. 
 
 [ffi^E are still in Santiago, in Quinta Normal — 
 the normal garden. It is beautiful. Great, 
 f towering pines, mated to masculine oaksi 
 shed their blessings upon the gi-een sward below, 
 making it a paradise. Here are rustic seats, hid- 
 den by growing vines and straggling flowers in 
 cool and shaded nooks. Here is a lake, round and 
 beautiful, surrounded with walks adorned with 
 statues, fountains, blushing roses, and a world of 
 other flowers. 
 
 We are viewing the wild animals. There are 
 pacas, wild hogs, zebus, yaks, the customary lions, 
 tigers, monkeys, wolves, foxes, camels, and 
 hundreds of rare and beautiful birds. We 
 stop to look at a yard full of llamas, big, lit- 
 tle, old, young, and of many colors. An old griz-
 
 278 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 zly fellow, with a tawny hide and coal black eyes, 
 rears up, with forefeet on top the fence, and puts 
 his slender head over to greet, us. He looks so 
 timid, so mild, so inquuing, so beseeching, that 
 we are won at once. We are certain that he is 
 kind and good, and out goes our hand to pat his 
 slender neck — Presto! the thief! the villain! the 
 Judas! The incarnation of everything wicked 
 and threacherous! Back go his ears; his eyes 
 gleam like balls of firej his mouth flies open angri- 
 ly, and he blows a handful of mucous from his nose 
 straight into om' face; then tiurns tail and kicks up 
 his heels as though enjoying the joke. We leam 
 from inquiry that the llama always, when possible, 
 plays ojff such pranks upon strangers. 
 
 We are in the museum, in the ornithological de- 
 partment. We look, we stare and wonder! Who 
 in all this undeveloped land, so young in scientific 
 research, has done this ? A naturalist would revel 
 here for days. There are thousands upon thou- 
 sands of birds, as natural as life. Humming 
 birds in great variety and great beauty; golden 
 pheasants, handsome and atti'active; chattering 
 icterias; hooded birds of paradise; the magnificent 
 fan-tailed lyre bird; parrots and paroquets in great 
 vrriety; the horned screamer; the famous secretary 
 bird; the huge condor; birds from the sea and birds 
 from the land — from Europe, from Asia and from
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 279 
 
 all parts of South America — form a collection of 
 whicli any institution or any nation would be proud. 
 Take but a passing view, for the old janitor has let 
 us in out of regular hours, and stands holding the 
 keys for our exit. 
 
 The next department is labeled, Collecciones Eara. 
 Let us enter. Ah, there he sits! We have heard 
 of that old gentleman before. It is solemnly re- 
 corded in Diego's "Kingdom of Chili," that whien 
 Valdivia's forces met the Indians at Imperial, a 
 great red cloud overshadowed them, of wonderful 
 brightness. While the astonished armies gazed in 
 profound awe and wonder, an angel rolled back the 
 crimson curtains and revealed the Virgin Mary, 
 gorgeously arrayed as (jueen of heaven, with an 
 old Indian kneeling before her asking for mercy. 
 The Indians fled, and the battle was decided with- 
 out bloodshed. We are inclined to accept most 
 things we read in history as facts, but we must 
 confess that, all along, this story has staggered us; 
 but now we have the proof (!!) right before our 
 eyes. For here is the old Indian, still in a half- 
 kneeling, half-sitting, suppliant position, preserved 
 as an historic relic. He is dried; he is smoked; he 
 is pickled and tanned; he is grim, gi-izzled and gray. 
 He is tied around and around with rawhide strips, 
 with his knees reaching to his ears, his mouth 
 open, eyes gone, and garments old and tanned like
 
 280 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 his skin. He is scarcely an impersonation of 
 Satan, for he has a milder look — somewhat as 
 though that fiend had tried to paint his own pic- 
 ture, and gave it an expression of innocence to hide 
 his claws. 
 
 Around the corner sit the old man's relatives — a 
 dozen of them, all dried and tanned and pickled, 
 and bound up, with knees extending to the ears, 
 like himself. What if they could speak! Ah, they 
 could tell a story ! — a story of a great, partly civ- 
 ilized nation, that trod the soil a thousand years 
 before the enlightened world had ever dreamed of 
 an America. They could tell of immense idols, 
 worshiped in gi'eat temples; of a nation that lived 
 and loved and struggled, perhaps, amidst defeat 
 and victory; they could tell stories of adventure, 
 of conquests, of the upbuilding of an empire; of 
 its decline, its fall and final disappearance from the 
 stage of action. Speak, old Peruvian, speak! Why 
 wilt thou not speak ? Speak — 
 
 "For thou long enough hast acted dummy; 
 
 Thou hast a tongue — come, let's hear its tune; 
 Thou art standing on thy legs, above ground, mummy, 
 
 Kevisiting the gjimpsea of the moon; 
 Not like ghosts and disembodied creatures, 
 But with thy bones, and flesh, and limbs, and features." 
 
 Ah, you will not speak ! Farewell, then; we 
 have seen enough of your grizzly visage, mocker of 
 death, and shall remember you forever.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 281 
 
 We are now in front of the President's mansion — 
 a large, clumsy affair, like a huge wall, with no 
 attempts at ornament. It is ornamented and beau- 
 tified inside, however; but its chief est attraction is 
 the president's family. Domingo Santa Maria, the 
 executive head of the nation, is a great man, whose 
 name in English, oddly enough, is Sunday Saint 
 Mary, but he is neither a day of rest, a saint, nor a 
 woman. He is a good man, beloved and almost 
 idolized by one portion of the people, and cursed 
 and hated by the other. Elected by the Liberals 
 in opposition to Romanism, he has gathered around 
 him a cabinet of noble gentlemen, who look at 
 truths as they exist, and are fearless in duty. 
 Having control of all the offices, from Secretary of 
 State and governors of the provinces down to 
 justices of the peace, with almost unlimited power 
 to create and set aside, he has not hesitated, in the 
 face of storm and opposition, to use his high office 
 to bring about needed reforms. The first was to 
 give the Pope's envoy from Rome — on a mission to 
 Chili to sell indulgences and stir up the people 
 against their own nation — his passport and send 
 him home. The second was to wrest the cemeteries 
 from the hands of the priests, and make them free. 
 The third was to establish civil marriage — setting 
 at rest the consciences of thousands of his subjects 
 who were living in illegal marriage, or hesitating
 
 282 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 on the very verge of selling themselves to Rome 
 for the sake of a family. All this was contested 
 inch by inch, and was carried against the popular 
 voice of nearly every woman and young girl in the 
 State, as well as all the ignorant masses not enti- 
 tled to a vote, the priests whose names are legion, 
 and the gentlemen of rank adhering to the foibles 
 of Rome. And as sure as Santa Maria lives, he 
 will not stop short of the one great object of his 
 administration — the separation of Church and 
 State. "Thank heaven for Santa Maria!" say the 
 Liberals. "To hell with Santa Maria!" say the 
 maddened priests and their adherents. 
 
 Santa Maria is a man of good sense. It is pleas- 
 ant to meet one of his address in this land of aris- 
 tocracy. He is like a father to all the people, 
 meeting them not as a prince or a ruler, but as a 
 friend. "I am Santa Maria," he said, extending 
 his hand as he introduced himself to one of our 
 teachers, a person of very humble pretensions; 
 "and this is my dear wife, and these my children — 
 all of them, ten of them." Who could help loving 
 such a ruler ? who could help admiring his family ? 
 Graceful, queenly daughters, and noble, manly 
 sons; and such a mother! She is a very queen, 
 large, well-formed, a mother ten times, and looking 
 no older than forty, she carries with her a becom- 
 ing dignity and ease of manners that at once
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 283 
 
 makes her your friend. In all the land of Chili it 
 is the custom of the wealthy to leave their chil- 
 dren entirely in the care of a nmse, and as the 
 latter are villainously ignoiant and often cruel, the 
 tender little blossoms die for want of proper care. 
 But Mrs. Santa Maria is a true mother, nursing 
 her own children and caring for them during all 
 the days and hours of their infancy. 
 
 The President's mansion is massive, majestic, 
 sublime and sad. Like a towering Araucanian 
 damsel, with big sides and protruding front, it has 
 more strength than beauty. The whole thing was 
 a misconception, planned for a public edifice in 
 Mexico and given to Chili by mistake of the archi- 
 tect. It has a front 360 feet wide, and is over five 
 hundred feet in length. It was commenced by 
 O'Higgins in 1787, and finished a quarter century 
 later, at an expense of one and a half million dol- 
 lars. It is an oriental omnibus, holding the Pres- 
 ident and family, all the cabinet officers and their 
 families, the commander-in-chief of the army, the 
 government architect, the civil engineer of State, 
 the superintendent of primary education; it holds 
 the northern telegraph office; it is used as a gov- 
 ernment arsenal; it is the government mint, where 
 all the nation's mone}' is coined; it is head qiiar- 
 ters for the superintendent of police; it is the na- 
 tional treasury building — and the rest of it will
 
 284 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 be fitted up for public use when the needs of the 
 country require it. 
 
 Congress Hall is a respectable — a very respect- 
 able building, occupying an entire block. It is 
 254 feet long and 247 wide, and about seventy-five 
 feet in height, with a combination of Doric and 
 Grecian ai'chitecture. The senate chamber is large, 
 cool, inviting, semi-circular in form, and covers an 
 area of more than 224 square metres. The house of 
 deputies is still larger. What scenes have been 
 enacted here ! What excitement, what quarrels, 
 what victories these sombre pillars have witnessed! 
 Here in early days, when the nation was an un- 
 propitious sprout, the wise legislators discoursed 
 upon the important subject of frizzes for gentle- 
 men, in melodramatic voice and gestures wonderful 
 to behold. 
 
 "Seiiores," said the gentleman from Coquimbo, 
 Sefior Martinez Friere, rising from his seat with 
 flashing eyes and compressed lips; "Senores: This 
 bill to prohibit the wearing of bangs by gentlemen 
 is of the utmost importance. Bangs, sir, are a 
 national disgrace to this great republic. Look 
 abroad, and what do you behold? Even our spir- 
 itual fathers are given to this vile practice, and are 
 trying to beautify their forms by frizzing the hair 
 over the eyes. Is this a custom tending to elevate 
 the morals of mankind ? Shall our growing sons
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 285 
 
 bloom into intelligent manhood with all the vile- 
 ness of these nefarious practices paraded perpetually 
 before theii- eyes? And that, too, seilores, by those 
 to whom they are taught to look for advice and 
 counsel ! If so, will they not become effiminated ? 
 Will the desire not grow upon them to imitate — to 
 imitate the softer sex, until we find a nation of men 
 in petticoats and rufHed pants? Sirs, this bill 
 should become a law. It is the wish of all the peo- 
 ple that it should become a law. As a representative 
 of one of the greatest provinces in this nation, I know 
 that my constituents will be greatly disappointed 
 if it does not become a law. And I declare to you, 
 sir, and to these, my fellow senators, that in the 
 name of my country, in the name of all her fair 
 sons and daughters, in the name of om- good 
 mothers whose glory is being trampled in the dust, 
 in the name of the Church whose sanctuaries are 
 being defiled, in the name of all that is good, and 
 pure, and noble, with the eyes of Heaven looking 
 down upon me and demanding justice of all my 
 actions— I declare to you that I will lend my hand, 
 my heart, my head, my all, to the rooting out of 
 this great evil from our land, and shall never cease 
 to cry eternal destruction and death to bangs, as 
 now worn by the clergy and many influential gen- 
 tlemen in all our land !" [Tremendous applause, 
 mingled with hisses and groans, j
 
 286 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Chili has greatened since then. Stil], questions 
 seemingly as ridiculous as bangs have stirred the 
 nation to its profoundest depth in recent years. In 
 1883 the priests flooded the land with circulars 
 giving a hundred reasons why civil marriage 
 should not be established. A few years previous, 
 a well-known man, who had faithfully served his 
 country, quan'eled with his wife. She fled. In 
 course of time, the man, not being able to as- 
 certain whether she were living or dead, took an- 
 other, contrary to the wishes of his Church. Short- 
 ly after this he became very sick, and his friends 
 despaired of his life. A priest called upon him, 
 demanding him to renounce his new wife and re- 
 ceive absolution, which he refused to do. The 
 priest called again, and still again on succeeding 
 days, making the same demand. Threats followed, 
 and finally the poor, harassed man, in despair, 
 took from his pillow a revolver and drove the priest 
 from the room. The man died, and the priests re- 
 fused him burial. The family appealed to the 
 mayor of the city, who ordered him buried. The 
 priests appealed to the Bishop of Concepcion, who 
 declared he should not be buried; but the Presi- 
 dent of the Republic promptly overruled the 
 Bishop, and oi-dered the man interred. 
 
 But the matter did not end thus; for the whole 
 nation became aroused. The Church hurled bitter
 
 PAST AND PREBENT. 287 
 
 anathemas and maledictions at the President, de- 
 nouncing him as a heretic and a corrupter of all 
 that was good. The press was full of it, and for a 
 month the people talked of scarcely anything else. 
 For several years the battle thus begun was waged, 
 until, at the earnest recommendations of Santa 
 Maria, the national congress decided against the 
 Church and threw the cemeteries all open to the 
 public in 1883. 
 
 There goes a lumbering coach, drawn by two 
 donkeys, with a driver seated in front dressed in 
 red, and a priest inside. The whole outfit is called 
 the Host, probably from a small box carried by the 
 priest called hostiario^ from the unconsecrated 
 wafers it contains. As the Host moves onward, a 
 boy, also dressed in red, vigorously rings a bell to 
 call attention of the passing multitude. A strange 
 sight! Men of education, who denounce the Church 
 most bitterly, stop and uncover their heads; some of 
 them carefully spread a handkerchief and kneel 
 before the holy fraud, while a majority of all the 
 lower classes fall at once to their knees. When a 
 cross-road is reached, the people, for a distance of a 
 whole block, either uncover their heads or bow to 
 the earth. The Host is on its way to a distant 
 part of the city, where the priest is to admioister 
 the Sacrament to a dying penitent. 
 
 We are in front of the great cathedral. We ob-
 
 288 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 serve the same deference paid to the Church, even 
 by men who have been excommunicated; for but 
 few go by without removing their hats. It is a cus- 
 tom grown upon the people from infancy. The 
 building will shelter fourteen thousand people, has 
 a length of almost six hundred feet, and is two 
 hundred and sixty feet wide. It is three and a 
 half centuries old, is a witnesser of tremendous 
 wars, terrible earthquakes, dreaded pestilences, 
 and the births, marriages and deaths of a thousand 
 generations. It contains more than a score of al- 
 tars and a multitude of graven images before whom 
 the people bow. It has massive arches and tower- 
 ing columns that are indeed "grand, gloomy and 
 spectral." Commenced by Valdivia, it has never 
 been completed . Destroyed twice by earthquakes, 
 it is still a towering monument of solidity and 
 firmness. Bowed with age, it has the appearance 
 of being new-born. A monument of ugliness, it is 
 greatly admired. Here souls have been created, 
 blessed, and forever damned, according to the pas- 
 sions and humor of the priests. The great aiTay of 
 stained glass, the expensive paintings in great num- 
 ber, the inwrought gold that glitters from over- 
 head, all betoken gi'eat wealth; still it is a monu- 
 ment of perpetual charity. Like a famished Tartar 
 with open mouth, it points to its own imperfec- 
 tions and cries, "Give! give! give!" The great
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 289 
 
 cathedral, said to be the gi-eatest on the whole 
 continent, will nevey- be completed. Millions of 
 dollars have been collected for that purpose — 
 enough to overlay it with gold; and still it stands 
 and will ever stand, crying, "Give I give!" With- 
 out it the Church would be bereft of a pretext for 
 wholesale begging. Completed, a large revenue, 
 ever inflowing for the sly and crafty priests, would 
 be cut off. 
 
 We are now paying our respects to one of the 
 most beautiful edifices in all the city— the "Portal 
 Fernandez Concha." It is a spacious gallery of 
 eighteen arches, on which is raised a two-storied 
 building — the whole being four-stories in height. 
 I cannot describe it. It is beautiful. It is pictur- 
 esque. It is strange and odd. It is poetic. It is 
 fascinating and charming. You seem to be in the 
 great court of a marble palace, arched overhead. 
 On the sides are beautiful frescoes, pretty engrav- 
 ings, and little niches full of statuettes. The gi'eat 
 dome is of beautiful glass. Here is a natural cave, 
 made of granite boulders. Its dark recesses look 
 cool and inviting. Be careful, there is a monster 
 serpent, coiled, in readiness for a strike ! Pshaw ! 
 — it is made of stone. On penetrating into the 
 mouth of the cave we find it is the front doorway 
 to a private dwelling. All of these fancy doors 
 along the sides lead into immense business houses
 
 290 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 — the fashionable shopping-places for the elite 
 Away up in the third and fourth stories, surround- 
 ing this fairy -like court, is the great Santiago Hotel, 
 for many years the best in all the Pacific States, 
 and claimed to be the bef?t in all South America. 
 Here are also Portals Bulnes and MeLure, two 
 immense edifiices of which any city ought to be 
 proud. 
 
 A few years ago, learning was limited to a kowl- 
 ede of Christian religion, as understood and prac- 
 ticed by the priests of Rome. The Santiago belle 
 was then an object of most terrible vigilance. 
 Between her mother and her father-confessor, she 
 grew up to be a thing of putty — a wax doll, use- 
 less but pretty. The first was charged to give at- 
 tention to all the secret sensations of her soul; the 
 second guarded all her actions. She could not 
 read she could not write; she knew nothing of 
 housework, nothing of business, nothing of the 
 transpiring events of the world; for all these things 
 it was believed were degrading, and helped expose 
 her to the snares of wicked men. The young boys 
 and young men were scarcely better off. They were 
 not at all permitted on the streets without a guard- 
 ian. Everywhere and at all times they were watched , 
 and no one trusted them. They were cradled pig- 
 mies, dwarfed in intellect by being tied to the pa- 
 ternal waistcoat.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 291 
 
 A young man with down on his lip, and the dig- 
 nity of rising manhood resting on his shoulders, 
 could not lather his face and shave without consent 
 of the father, all the household concurrinoj. "When 
 that eventful thing first transpired, it was to the 
 youth something long to be remembered. The 
 priest who had baptised him was first consulted; 
 the consent of the god-mother and godfather were 
 next procured; then the grand-father and the 
 grandmother were consulted; and at last, amidst a 
 great family gathering, where the eavory roast and 
 the red-eyed wine were important factors, 
 
 " Then the Master, 
 With a gesture of commmand 
 Waved his hand; 
 Loud and sudden there was heard " 
 
 the rattle of the sharp-edged razor upon his downy 
 lip, and the youth, in the hands of a skillful bar- 
 ber, was transformed into the first degree of man- 
 hood. 
 
 "And lo I from the assembled crowd 
 There rose a shout, prolongd and loud." 
 
 Still he was not free, not a man; nor could he be 
 until he had a business of his own, or had arrived 
 at the twenty-fifth year of his existence. He could 
 not smoke or drink before his parents. If he de- 
 sired the favor of a walk with a ti'usted servant, he 
 would appear before his father with a stiff and
 
 292 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 formal bow, and say: "If your excellency will per- 
 mit." 
 
 The young beaux and belles, during those early 
 days, were not allowed the exquisite pleasures of 
 the hop. During such festive occasions they were 
 put under lock and key, under the gentle superin- 
 tendence of granny and a trusted servant. The 
 hop was for the old folks. Indeed, if there was 
 anything calculated to make the Santiogians fools, 
 it was their early education. 
 
 But now, behold how different ! Here is the 
 National Library, containing 42,000 volumes of 
 choice literature, open every day in the week for 
 all classes. Another public libraiy, the National 
 Institute, has over 10,000 volumes; and still another 
 has about seven thousand. Here is the great Uni- 
 versity, filled every year to overflowing with earn- 
 est and thoughtful young men. It is a grand af- 
 fair — still in its infancy, but grand in its outcome. 
 Here is the National Institute, with a course of 
 study embracing mathematics, practical surveying, 
 French, German, English, Latin, physics, natural 
 history, chemistry, astronomy, cosmography, and 
 other sciences, covering a period of six years' study. 
 Here is the Normal School, the Agricultural Col- 
 lege, the Military Academy, and a great number of 
 private institutions, all doing good work. Here are 
 a score of newspapers, delving into all manner of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 293 
 
 evil and ways of ignorance, and affording the peo- 
 ple fresh and original matter full of excellency, and 
 of sufficient worth to keep them abrest of the great 
 tide of the world . 
 
 Santiago has many bautiful palaces, where dwell 
 the Jay Goulds and the Eothschilds of the nation. 
 They are either built of Italian marble or in its im- 
 itation. We take but a passing look. They are 
 beautiful, grand and colossal ; but they are not for 
 us, nor of us. We are convinced, however, as we 
 turn away, that their owners, if they are rich, are 
 generous. See that great army of beggars ! — none 
 go away empty. American and Irish tramps, able- 
 bodied and strong, make from ten to twenty dol- 
 lars per day going about begging in rags and filth. 
 
 That large frame house, of such elegance and 
 taste as to fill any moderate measure of comparison, 
 was built in the United States and shipped here in 
 sections. It was done by Meigs. Meigs— who is 
 he ? He tvas, so we are told, a Calitornian, an ad- 
 venturer, who left home in debt, came to this coast, 
 became a railway king worth his millions, and then 
 — died. 
 
 Fortunes are easily made here. There is an 
 Americam photographer, "salting" away his ten 
 thousand a year above all expenses. Here are two 
 American dentists, clever at their craft, but very 
 ordinary fellows in other affairs, clearing and sav-
 
 294 CIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 ing, as the product of the punch and gouge, file 
 and forceps, a neat fortune of twenty thousand 
 dollars, each, per annum. 
 
 Farewell, Santiago. We have spent a week with- 
 in your limits; but only three or four hours of the 
 whole could be devoted to sight-seeing. We have 
 not told of half your greatness; but we have done 
 our best under the circumstances.
 
 CHAPTRR XXI. 
 
 Valparaiso — John Saaredra — A Jolly Englishman — Cochrane 
 a Foreigner — Discordant Houses — Climbing up the City — 
 High Prices — A Poor Man — Chilian Promises — A Drove of 
 Turkeys— White Petticoats — A Belle — A Beau— Wedding 
 Outfits— A Wedding. 
 
 [f^A-LPARAlSO means Vale of Paradise. It 
 certainly is rightly named, for the whole city 
 
 ^ is on a number of hiU><, and I presume, reas- 
 oning from the same standpoint, it is like Paradise 
 because it Las thieves in it. The vale was cap- 
 tured from the Indians in 1536, by one John Saa- 
 redra, who, eight years later, laid out the Paradise 
 and had it dedicated under its present name in 
 three separate parts: The Port, The Saint John-of- 
 ■God, and The Almendral. Whether that effort 
 killed Saaredra I have not been able to ascertain. 
 It is quite certain, though, that he died. 
 
 The old city, however, is gtill alive, looking as 
 fresh and as young as a country belle, and con- 
 taining, besides its eighty thousand natives, about 
 four thousand English and more than that many 
 German inhabitants. The first person who meets 
 us after landing is a round-faced, fat, jolly-looking
 
 296 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Englishman, in close-fitting suit, a nice cane and 
 a silk hat. 
 
 "Hello, Doctor!" we say, mistaking the familiar 
 type for a former acquaintance. 
 
 '"EUo," he says, very stifly. 
 
 "Have we not met before ?" 
 
 "Cawn't tell you, sir." 
 
 "Ah! — yes — I see, I am mistaken. Beg pardon. 
 I thought you were an acquaintance. However, I 
 am glad to meet with some one who speaks the 
 English language." 
 
 "Yes, you don't 'ear Hinglish very hoftenhin 
 South America; houtside of Valparaiso, there his 
 scarcely han Hinglishman on the 'ole coast." 
 
 "May I ask if you reside here?" 
 
 "Hi reside 'ere, sir; 'ave lived ere habout height 
 years." 
 
 "Ah, indeed! You are very well acquainted with 
 the country, then ?" 
 
 "Guess hi ham; hi know Chili from one hend 
 to the bother, like ha book." 
 
 "I am very fortunate, then, in meeting you. I 
 came here to build up a good American school, if 
 possible, and you may be able to give me much 
 needed information." 
 
 "Habout schools ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 ' 'Your school going to be Hinglish ?"
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 297 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, young man, your prospects hare not 
 hoverly bright, hi can tell you that." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Well, you'll please bexcuse me; but to tell the 
 truth, Hamericans speak Hinglish too bad to do 
 henything 'ere has teachers; hif you were Hinglish, 
 you could likely build huj) heny kind hof a school 
 you'd like, but has hit his, your hacceuthis too bad 
 to suit the people." 
 
 We pass on to The Port, which is the only level 
 portion, and the real business part of the city. The 
 houses are three storied, the streets are narrow, 
 well-paved, and filled with busy, bustling men. 
 Here, in a very little public square, is a large statue 
 of Cochrane. As his name implies, he was a for- 
 eigner, to whom there have been so many sta'ues 
 erected in Chili that the name has become a catch- 
 word. 
 
 "Here," says an enthusiastic admirer, "is a grand 
 statue erected to virtue!" But the words are 
 scarcely out of his mouth till some one yells: 
 "Another foreigner!" 
 
 The houses in Valj)araiso (as well as in all west- 
 ern South America) are entirely out of tune with 
 the suiTOundings. The beautiful hills, rising one 
 above the other, the majestic mountains, the mini a- 
 ture cataracts dancing and gleaming in the sun,
 
 298 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 the beautiful bay with its hundreds of vessels lying 
 at anchor and its rolling tides washing the gray 
 rocks — all combine to give one a feeling of peace 
 and love, and make him feel sweet toward all the 
 world; but when he turns from these and contem- 
 plates the houses, his poetic feelings are frozen 
 stark stiff. The prim, hideous, straight-up-and- 
 down things, with their thick walls, plastered all 
 over to resemble stone, are so stiff, formal, forbid- 
 ding and ugly, so suggestive of damp, cold and 
 cramp colic, so out of harmony with the gracious 
 landscape, so dead and dumb to the poetry that 
 speaks out from all the sun'oundings, as- to be sug- 
 gestive "of an undertaker at a picnic or a corpse at 
 a wedding." 
 
 Here we go, winding our way around the hills, 
 turning the cape of some man's garden, that 
 stands on the very edge of a precipice hundreds 
 of feet deep, ourselves clinging to the iron railing 
 that skirts the narrow pathway cut in the solid 
 rocks. Up, up we go, now turning to the right, 
 now to the left, as we follow the ever-changing, 
 zig-zag i^ath. We stop, out of breath, to view the 
 scene below us. Not a ripple is to be seen on the 
 great bay, and the countless ships are silent and 
 motionless as ghosts. The streets in the level por- 
 tion of the town look wee and narrow; and the 
 great array of red roofs, with many visible columns
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 299 
 
 of ascending smoke, is a strange mixture of beauty 
 and ugliness. Taken as a whole, the picture is very 
 pleasing — something like sweet harmony out of 
 deafening discord. 
 
 How tired we are! Half a mile of climbing has 
 taken our breath and made our sides ache; but a 
 lady in elegant costume and many brilliants glis- 
 tening from her throat, goes tripping by, looking 
 fresh and rested. She is accustomed to it. If we 
 had a ladder a hundred feet long, we could climb 
 up and get into her back yard, while she is com- 
 pelled to wind her way around the hill for a quar- 
 ter of a mile to get to her front door. 
 
 We are just in the midst of the city. Higher 
 and still higher are houses and houses. If that boy 
 should jump from the window from which he is 
 looking he would go five hundred feet; almost any 
 man could surj)rise his neighbor by falling into his 
 — the neighbor's — front yard from his own door- 
 way. 
 
 It is strange, the kind of a life the poor people 
 live here, in a country where wide-awake men 
 make fortunes in a few years! A Yankee or a 
 German laborer would desire nothing better than a 
 chance to sell produce of their own raising, at Val- 
 paraiso prices; but the Chilian laborers live in 
 their little seven-by-nine houses, and eat and 
 drink and sleep, and nothing more. A gentleman
 
 300 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 told me about his going to a shoemaker in Brazil, 
 to get his boots mended. The shoemaker said he 
 would fix them for two dollars. 
 
 "All right," said the man, "when can I have 
 them?" 
 
 "I don't know till I ask my wife how much 
 money we have on hand." Returning in a mo- 
 ment, he said: "We have a dollar and eighty 
 cents, senor, and that will last us three days. No 
 use to work as long as we have money. Let me see. 
 This is Monday, and we can get along well enough 
 till Thursday, anyway; so I can fix them for you on 
 Thui-sday evening." 
 
 But the Chilian laborer does it differently. He 
 will promise to perform the work right away; and 
 will, without hesitation, ask you three times as 
 much as he expects to get. Having agreed upon 
 the price, he say s : "You can send around for the 
 work in a couple of hours." To make sure of 
 getting it you wait four, but when you send for it, 
 it is not quite ready, so you wait till next morn- 
 ing. Still it is not quite finished, and you wait till 
 noon, and then till night, and the next day, and the 
 next, for a whole week before you get it, and then the 
 good workman will expect a little present for being 
 punctual. By the time a man has resided in this 
 countiy a few months he learns that a week or a
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 301 
 
 month is considered of no importance in business 
 matters. 
 
 Here comes a fellow down the mountain side 
 with a drove of turkeys. ' 'What are they worth ?" 
 we ask him. 
 
 "Seven dollars apiece, senor." 
 
 "I don't want them." 
 
 "I'll take four, senor." 
 
 And four dollars each is what he will get any 
 place in Valparaiso. He will take the money home, 
 and, next day or so, he will feast like a king, till 
 eveiy cent is gone. Then, the day following, his 
 wife will go to market, buy three cents' worth of 
 flour, two cents' worth of beans, a cent's worth of 
 potatoes, and four cents' worth of fuel, and the 
 family will have a poor man's dinner. Thus they 
 live year in and year out. They make no progress, 
 and seem to have but little ambition to better their 
 condition. 
 
 There is one thing, however, that all poor women 
 indulge in, and that is a white petticoat. It is all 
 the rage; and a ragged woman would as soon think 
 of doing without her stiffly starched white skirt as a 
 Yankee loafer would of doing without his pipe, or 
 a pine stick to whittle. I have seen poor women in 
 Concepcion tramping around in clogs and bare 
 ankles, displaying nicely ironed white skirts. I 
 have seen others in bare feet, sloshing through the
 
 302 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 mud ankle deep with a white skirt to adorn the 
 dirty legs that were exposed to the knees. A white 
 petticoat, a black mantle, a cigarette, and a box of 
 musk complete the dress of roto women, young or 
 old. 
 
 A poor man's wedding in Chili is the one great 
 affair of his life. Here is a plump little maiden 
 who would become a belle in American society; 
 she has soft, loving eyes with long lashes, she has 
 peachy cheeks, a dimpled chin, a fair complexion, 
 a rosy mouth closing over beautiful teeth, and a 
 graceful form; but her white petticoat and black 
 mantle define her station. She is quite content 
 therein. She never tries for a moment to look 
 higher than her own caste — to palm herself off for 
 somebody and marry out of her station. No. Her 
 lover is a young rustic, with a slouch hat, a greasy 
 skin, a black complexion, and a bullet head, who 
 can neither read nor write, who has no property, 
 and who cares for none above what supplies his 
 daily wants. He will work among the slums, black 
 your boots, steal your purse, cut your throat if a 
 good opportunity offers, spend all of his money as 
 soon as he gets it, always gets fair wages when he 
 works, and never looks decent. 
 
 They are going to get married. He must have a 
 broadcloth suit and she the richest, downiest, soft- 
 est, white silk dress. He must have the most costly,
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 303 
 
 the nicest fitting gloves, and she must have white- 
 satin shoes, a quart of musk, a splendid veil, a del- 
 icate, daint}^ shawl for an after-wrap, and a profu- 
 sion of head-gear. They have sold the cow, the 
 pig, the wagon, the scanty house furnitui'e, and 
 borrowed from all the neighbors to obtain these 
 indispensable luxuries. As soon as the ceremony 
 will have been pronounced they will commence 
 drinking and dancing, and they will drink and 
 dance amidst dirt and filth until the white dress, 
 the white shoes, the white gloves, the broadcloth 
 suit and all the finery can never be worn again 
 only by ragged people. Then they will commence 
 the business of life in a dirt hovel, with a kettle of 
 coals for a stove, a box for a table, and a pallet of 
 straw for a bed.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Yisiting the Schools— A Cold Eeception — Wanted to Show 
 the Programme — Some Wonderful Mathematicians — 
 At the Government College — A large Building — 
 A Kind Keception^Methods of Study— School Eoome 
 and Black-boards — Bed-rooms — College Jails — College 
 Church — Theatres — Men in Petticoats — The Good fle- 
 sult of Education — The Number of Primary Schools — A 
 Professor of Geography — Studying Theology — The Cate- 
 chism—Off with your Hat — The Church still an Educator 
 — Public Education — Meeting the Demand fur Better 
 Teachers — Who are Educated ? 
 
 Xf N the winter of 1883, in company of two lady 
 ^1 teachers, I started on a tour of inspection to 
 ■^^ visit the native schools in the city of Concep- 
 cion. As the school buildings are all so con- 
 structed as to give ample room for play-grounds 
 in the open courts within, the children are not 
 seen from the time they enter school in the morn- 
 ing until their return home; and for the same rea- 
 son, as well as from the fact that it is not the fash- 
 ion for parents or friends to visit the schools during 
 recitation hours, one has no chance to judge of the 
 merits of a school from a personal knowledge of 
 its inside workings. It thus happened that, al- 
 though I had resided in the city for some time and 
 was well known there myself as a teacher, I had
 
 past] and present. 305 
 
 not the slightest idea of the kind of work done in 
 any other school besides my own. 
 
 The nearest one, only two squares distant, was 
 a large school for boys and young men, known 
 as "Coiejio Andres Bello," containing over five hun- 
 dred students. It is strange how isolated from all 
 the world a man can live, in one of these large 
 open-court houses, where your back yard, your gar- 
 den, your well, your hen-house, your stable, your 
 wood-house, your parlors, kitchen, dining and bed 
 rooms, servants' quarters and store-rooms are all 
 within the same walls and covered with the same 
 roof ! An ordinary individual might be murdered 
 and hid away a dozen times if possible, and no 
 one ever makes inquiry concerning him. So it 
 happened that I had lived within a stone's throw of 
 my neighbor for a year and had never seen him, and 
 did not even know his name. We called at the 
 large, double front door, and asked the porter who 
 held the keys if we could be admitted. 
 
 "It will be necessary to see the director, senor," 
 said he. 
 
 We sent in cards, with a request to see the di- 
 rector in person, who, instead of admitting us, ap- 
 peared at the door. 
 
 I said to him: "Being teachers ourselves, and 
 having leisure, we have called to visit your school,
 
 306 civirjzATioN in chili. 
 
 aud learn your method of instruction. I hope it will 
 not be inconvenient for you to admit us." 
 
 "Ah! pardon me,senor," he said, "could younot 
 do me the favor to call uiDon the Sabbath? The 
 students will all be out then, and we will have the 
 rooms in more perfect order for your reception." 
 
 "My dear sir! that is just what we do not wish. 
 We would like very much to see your young men 
 and hear them recite, in order to learn your meth- 
 ods of instruction." 
 
 "Impossible, seiior; it is entirely conti'ary to the 
 customs of the country to permit visitors to hear 
 recitations in any school." 
 
 "But I am writing for the press in my own coun- 
 try, and I cannot properly represent the education- 
 al interests here unless I am permitted to see the 
 schools." 
 
 "Oh! Well, I can obviate the difficulty," said 
 he, "I will lend you my programme." 
 
 "But the pro gi'amme will only indicate the num- 
 ber of classes and the houi'S of recitations ?" 
 
 "Of course, what more would you desire!" 
 
 "I would like to see your school just as it is now. 
 I would like to pass from one room to the other 
 and hear the students recite in the different branches. 
 I would like to see your school furniture, your 
 library, your laboratory, and such things." 
 
 "I cannot permit you to hear my students re-
 
 PAST AND PKESENT. 307 
 
 cite, for I can assure you that the young gentlemen 
 are not used to it, and would not know how to ap- 
 pear to advantage. As for the rest if you will be 
 kind enough to call upon the Sabbath, I will be 
 happy to admit you and give you all the informa- 
 tion possible." 
 
 One year later, several graduates from this same 
 school entered my own to study English and 
 mathematics. 
 
 I said to the first one who came: "Are you famil- 
 iar with arithmetic ?" 
 
 "O, jes, indeed; I have completed the course 
 which includes arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trig- 
 onometry and civil-engineering." 
 
 "Very well; you can readily tell me, then, the 
 per cent, of gaia in buying three-fourths of a cord 
 of wood for six dollars and selling it at the price of 
 a full cord ?" 
 
 "Excuse me; we did not study percentage in our 
 school." 
 
 "Ah, indeed! You studied interest, of course?" 
 
 "A very little, sir." 
 
 "Do you know the multiplication table ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, most of it." 
 
 "How much is nine times nine '?" 
 
 "Twenty -seven." 
 
 "How often is ten contained in ten?" 
 
 "Four times."
 
 308 CIVILIZATION, IN OHILI. 
 
 "How long did you study algebra ?" 
 
 "About a month." 
 
 "How long geometry?" 
 
 "We only bad eight pages, and I committed that 
 all in one day, and passed final examination the 
 next." 
 
 I hesitate to record this conversation, for fear it 
 will not be believed. It actually occurred, and the 
 young man was by no means a dummy. The only 
 explanation! can make is, that the average Chilian 
 student, while he excels in writing, Spanish gram- 
 mar, history, picture drawing, and the languages, 
 in mathematics he is almost a blank. 
 
 "How do you sell this paper?" I inquired of a 
 clerk in a book store. 
 
 "Two bundles for one dollar and twenty-five 
 cents." 
 
 "How much for one bundle?" 
 
 "At the same rate, senor?" 
 
 "How much would that be ?" 
 
 Figuring for a moment he replied: "Eighty 
 cents." 
 
 And so it goes. Of course there are many ex- 
 ceptions, but in one half the native Chilian small 
 stores a person can purchase articles by retail 
 much cheaper than by wholesale, simply because 
 they do not know how to compute. "Golejio An-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 309 
 
 dres Bello" is by no means a "snide" affair except- 
 ing in the matter of mathematics. 
 
 We next visited the Jesuit Seminary, where, con- 
 trary to our expectations, we were at once admit- 
 ted, the ladies to the parlor, while I was shown 
 through the house. It is a large building, cover- 
 ing an acre or more of ground, and everything 
 about it was in beautiful order. There were pres- 
 ent one hundred and twenty young men and boys, 
 all dressed in black robes. The whole school was 
 divided into four departments. When we entered 
 these, the young men, at a signal from my conductor, 
 rose and made a graceful bow. The best of order 
 prevailed, but I was not permitted to hear the 
 much coveted recitations. A good chemical labor- 
 atory was evidently kept for ornament, but I must 
 bear record that the director of this institution is a 
 scholarly gentleman and a very devout man. 
 
 At the Liceo, a government school for young 
 men, I met with a hearty reception. The balding 
 is very large, coveiing about three acres of land ; 
 and there were present about five hundred young 
 men and boys at the time of my visit. I was ush- 
 ered into a large patio, or open court, containing 
 many trees, with swings and other things for the 
 entertainment of the students. On one side of this 
 was the director's office, well supplied with cai-pets 
 and good furniture, as well as a suite of rooms
 
 310 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 containing maps, globes, charts, and different 
 laboratories — all, as I firmly believe, kept for orna- 
 ment. 
 
 I was greatly entertained and highly amused in 
 this college. Everything was done in clock-work 
 order, and moved off with business-like pre- 
 cision. 
 
 Marching around a corridor that projected from 
 the building into the open court, were about one 
 hundred elegantly dressed young gentleman, study- 
 ing law. They marched, two-and-two, clear around 
 the hollow square of the court, each doing his best to 
 memorize his lesson. As they marched they re- 
 peated aloud the particular passages they desired 
 to memorize, each one talking as loudly as a person 
 does in general conversation. They were under 
 supervision of a teacher, and after they had marched 
 and studied for an hour, to the minute, they were 
 called in to recite. The whole affair was decidedly 
 mechanical. During a subsequent visit I heard a 
 young gentleman of eighteen summers memorizing 
 his lesson in English: "The ailephant eez a large 
 animal. The ailephant eez a large animal. The 
 ailephant eez a large animal," etc. I heard him 
 repeat these words one hundred and sixty times, 
 over and over. 
 
 In another patio was a large class of boys, from 
 eight to twelve years of age, memorizing whole
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 311 
 
 volumes of grammar without comprehendiug or di- 
 gesting a single sentence. 
 
 The school-rooms were curiosities. The black- 
 boards were outside on the corridors, used, 
 seemingly, for playthings. The maps, globes, 
 charts, dictionaries, laboratorien, were all under lock 
 and key, and seemed to play no part in the daily 
 routine of school labor. A row of benches extended 
 entirely around each room, where the young gen" 
 tlemen would sit duiing recitation hours, while 
 the professors occupied a slightly elevated seat in 
 the center. 
 
 The rooms on one side of each patio were devoted 
 to sleeping purposes, as many as forty beds occu- 
 pying one large room. The boys and young men 
 were under strict vigilance day and night, and each 
 sleeping room had its/ 'watch" — a little ante-cham- 
 ber for the professor, or guard appointed for the 
 purpose, so constructed that he could lie on his bed 
 and overlook all the students at the same time. 
 
 When a boy became boisterous or unruly, he was 
 sent to jail, of which there were as many as one 
 hundred, I think, ranged along the sides of one of 
 the patios. These were dark vaults, just large 
 enough, each, for one person to stand in, where the 
 offending student was locked and left to meditate. 
 By the time he remained there in one position for 
 six hours, he was generally quite docile. A pro-
 
 31 2 0IVILI2ATI0K IN CHILI. ' 
 
 fessor informed me that sometimes boys are left in 
 these jails until midnight. 
 
 Other rooms were used as kitchens and dining 
 halls; and in a corner room of one of the best patios 
 was a church with numerous shrines, idols 
 representing different saints, confessionals, and the 
 usual array of wax candles. I noticed a very com- 
 fortable bathroom, also, well supplied with fresh 
 water. 
 
 A theater, with elevated stage, movable scenes, 
 side doors and footlights, forms quite a conspicu- 
 ous part of this college. But, the poor fellows! 
 As co-education is not allowed, and as any young 
 woman who would associate with them on the stage 
 would be degraded, they are driven to petticoats 
 themselves. I have attended a number of their 
 dramatic entertainments, where the principal act- 
 ors were young men in female attire. 
 
 On one of these occasions I received a polite note 
 from a young professor, inviting me to occupy a 
 box in the principal theater in the city, as the stu- 
 dents had determined to give a grand entertain- 
 ment, and the college theater was considered too 
 small. One-half the elite of the city were present, 
 and the darling young ladies were highly enter- 
 tained by the playing of two coarse-voiced young 
 men, gaudily dressed in women's clothing. 
 
 A garden in one part of the great college build-
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 313 
 
 ing was full of beautiful flowers. There was also 
 ample room for a poultry yard, a horse stable and 
 a pigpen. 
 
 As superficial as the above would indicate edu- 
 cational matters to be, it must be borne in mind 
 that it is the earnest of a naton long enthralled 
 in the midnight darkness of the mother country, 
 and of Rome. They are doing grandly. 
 
 Besides, the effects of education in this republic 
 are very noticable. At the centennial exhibition 
 iu Buenos Ayres, in 1882, Chili received seventeen 
 medals of first-class, many of the second, and dif- 
 ferent bronze medals, amounting in all to one hun- 
 dred and seventeen premiums, although she had 
 but a few weeks for preparation. Home industiies 
 and manufactories, though largely in their infancy, 
 have lately received a great impetus. The press 
 has been granted the widest liberty. Benevolent 
 institutions for the care of the unfortunate and 
 feeble have been erected in many places. The 
 condition of both army and navy has been greatly 
 improved. The merchant marine trade has been 
 largely increased, and commerce with other nations 
 augmented. Agiiculture has been extended. The 
 diplomatic service has been gi-eatly enlarged, so that 
 instead of having but four foreign ministers. Chili 
 has plenipotentiaries accredited to Mexico, Cen- 
 tral America, United States, Colombia, Brazil,
 
 314 OIVILIZATION IN OHILI. 
 
 Argentine, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, England, Ger- 
 many, France; and all the nations here enumerated 
 have representatives resididng in Chili. 
 
 The national revenues have also been greatly 
 increased. Men of private fortunes have become 
 numerous. Numerous societies of credit, loan as- 
 sociations, and life insurance companies have 
 sprung up in the land as if by magic, Books of 
 travel, of history, of philosophy, of law, of fiction 
 and of theology have been poured out in the land, 
 the product of home talent and industry. The en- 
 tire Federal Government has been greatly elevated 
 and intensely unified. New railways are opening 
 up new fields for internal commerce, and one, now 
 in process of construction, is to pierce the mighty 
 Andes, and connect with the Atlantic ocean. 
 
 In 1883, there were in Chili 753 primary schools, 
 giving instruction to over one hundred and twenty 
 thousand boys. 
 
 A large per cent, of these schools, however, are 
 under the control of the priests, and are attended 
 only by the children of the poor. I visited a num- 
 ber of these schools. One can scarcely imagine the 
 starvation food the poor little fellows are stuffed 
 with. On one occasion, a grave young teacher was 
 giving instruction to about twenty very ragged, very 
 dirty little boys, with intelligent faces and bright 
 eyes, in^elementary geopraphy.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 315 
 
 "Now," he said, "which way is the equator from 
 where you stand ?" 
 
 "It is north," said the boy. 
 
 •'Right. Is it warm or cold there ?" 
 
 "1 do not know." 
 
 "Ah! well, you should know that theykW/te/* nor^/i 
 you go, the warmer it gets. Which way is Terra del 
 Fuego?" 
 
 "South," answered a chorus of voices. 
 
 "Right," said the j)rofessor. "Is it cold or warm 
 there?" 
 
 "Very warm, sir." 
 
 "Right again," said the professor. 
 
 On another occasion, the young priest-professor 
 was giving lessons in the "elements of theology" 
 from the Catechism: 
 
 "Where does God live?" he asked. 
 
 "Everywhere," was the answer. 
 
 "What is the Church?" 
 
 "The Church is the congregation of those who 
 have been baptized, received the sacrament, and 
 obey the priests and the Pope." 
 
 "Why is it called the Roman Church?" 
 
 "Because in Rome is established the great Ca- 
 thedral of Saint Peter, who was prince of all apos- 
 tles and successor of all popes. 
 
 "How is the Christian Church divided?"
 
 316 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 "It is divided into the Church triumphant, the 
 Church of purgatory, and the Church militant." 
 
 "What is the Church triumphant?" 
 
 "It is the congregation of all the righteous in 
 heaven." 
 
 "The Church of purgatoiy?" 
 
 "It is the congregation of those who died with- 
 out doing sufficient penance here on earth, and 
 who have been sent to purgatory to suffer for a 
 season before being allowed to join the Chvu'ch 
 triumphant in heaven." 
 
 "Very well; tell about the Church militant." 
 
 "The Church militant is on earth, and is com- 
 posed of those who have been baptized, and who 
 fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil." 
 
 "How is the last divided ?" 
 
 "Into the official Church, composed of the Pope, 
 the bishops and the priests; and into the common 
 Church, composed of the people who follow and 
 obey them." 
 
 "Very true, indeed. Tell me now why we say 
 holy Mary after saying Our Father '?" 
 
 "Because we have no one else, excepting Jesus, 
 in heaven, so powerful to intercede for us as His 
 holy mother." 
 
 "What is penance?" 
 
 "It is a sacrament instituted by Christ." 
 
 "Why was it instituted ?"
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 317 
 
 "So that those who make confession to the priests 
 may obtain forgiveness of sins." 
 
 "That is right. When did Christ institute this 
 sacrament ?" 
 
 "When he said to the apostles and through 
 them unto the priests: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 
 Whose soever sins ye remit are remitted unto them; 
 and whose soever sins ye retain shall be retained.' " 
 
 "What sins can the priest remit ?" 
 
 "All those committed after baptism wherein the 
 person repents and manifests sorrow." 
 
 "What is the form?" 
 
 " 'I absolve you from all sin.'" 
 
 "What is the effect?" 
 
 *"It causes great grace and purity to rest on the 
 person absolved, who is at once freed from sin." 
 
 There is not a native boy in every one hundred 
 in all Chili, who cannot repeat these questions and 
 answers. The Catechism, a book of ninety-six 
 pages, is used in all the government schools, and 
 apparently forms the basis for education in the 
 primary schools. The whole book is actually com- 
 mitted to memory by repeating it over and over, 
 day after day, and year after year. 
 
 In the school referred to above, the little ragged 
 
 *For these questions and answers, see Catholic Catechism (pages 
 31, 32 and 76), published in Spanish, and used in all public schools in 
 South America.
 
 318 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 boys were as familiar with all the answers as an 
 educated man is with the alphabet. The school 
 closed its session with the repetition, by the stu- 
 dents, of the following prayer: 
 
 Jesus, Joseph and Mary, I give you my heart and soul; 
 
 Jesus, Joseph and Mary, assist me in my last agony; 
 
 Jesus, Joseph and Mary, may my soul expire with you in peace! 
 
 Whereupon, the little fellows marched out-doors; 
 and as the school-room was simply an addition to 
 a large church building, an image of St. Sebastian 
 was about the first thing they encountered after 
 leaving the house. Each one carefully removed 
 his hat as he passed the image, in token of respect 
 and reverence. 
 
 It will readily be seen from the above that the 
 Church still exerts a powerful influence in mould- 
 ing the minds and characters of the youth, in this 
 little republic. Still 1 believe that the great glory 
 of the Church is fairly broken. Among the thou- 
 sands of priests in the land but four hundred are 
 natives, the rest all coming from Italy and Spain to 
 supply the demand, which certainly of itself speaks 
 volumes, Only about twenty per cent, of the mem- 
 bers of Congress belong to the clerical party, 
 whereas but a few years ago they all belonged 
 there; and besides, the State Church has a constitu- 
 tional provision for an archbishop and three dio- 
 cesan bishoj)s, offices of immense value to the
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 319 
 
 Church. But so unpopular are the clergj' with the 
 law-making body, that the archbishop and two 
 bishojis having died, they refuse to appoint their 
 successors. 
 
 Public education in Chili is divided into three 
 grades — the higher, the intermediate and the pii- 
 mary. The seat of learning is the national Univer- 
 sity at Santiago, which has a council of education 
 that superintends all the higher and intermediate 
 schools of the country. They are all free — the 
 Government owing the buildings and paying the 
 salaiies of the teachers. 
 
 In order to meet the demand for better teachers 
 the Government maintains a number of young men 
 at great expense in some of the best schools in 
 Europe, to educate them for that purj)ose; and the 
 national Congress appropriated $150,000 in 1883 to 
 introduce the American method of imparting in- 
 struction. 
 
 In all the high schools in the State there are 
 about three thousand students enrolled. A man 
 is not considered educated who is not versed in 
 law and who cannot speak two or three languages 
 sufficiently well at least to pass examination. The 
 latter is always very easy.
 
 CHAPTKR XXIII. 
 
 Punta Arenas— Its Origin— A Wild Place— Leaving Civiliza- 
 tion — Pluck — Building Houses and Experimenting in Vege- 
 tables — Establishing Trade — Discovery of Gold and organ- 
 izing a Colony — Coal Discovered — A New Era — Farming on 
 the Straits of Magellan — Beautiful Cattle— A Church 
 Building and a School-house — Success in Spite of Difficul- 
 ties — Punta Arenas the most Southerly Point of Civilization 
 — The Town — The Commerce — The Patagonian Indians — 
 The Indians of Terra del Fuego — A Slandered People — A 
 Professor's Lecture — The Opinion of Eye-llVitnesses — An 
 Interesting Letter from Terra del Fuego — A Keform 
 Needed. 
 
 TW\AR away on the western coast of the Straits 
 jju of Magellan— the home of the penguin, the 
 '^^ sea-lion and the guanaco — where wind and 
 storm and cold prevail during the gi'eater portion 
 of the year, is situated the nineteenth province of 
 Chili, in a town and surrounding counti-y called 
 Punta Arenas. 
 
 Many years ago, either for political or criminal 
 offenses, the Government decided to banish some 
 prisoners, and as no more desolate, forsaken place 
 could be selected where they could possibly sub- 
 sist, they were sent to this promontory on the 
 Straits.
 
 PAST AND PRE8KNT. 321 
 
 It was a wild place. Wild rocks and wild waves, 
 producing nothing more edible than celery and 
 shell-fish, were the principal feature of all the sur- 
 roundings. Wild birds went screaming through 
 the air, and wild animals, in search of prey, went 
 roaring through the scanty, shrubby, snow-hidden 
 forests. 
 
 When the prisoners left their northern homes, a 
 thousand miles away, they left all traces of civiliza- 
 tion, never more to return. South of them were 
 the "furious, human tigers" — the Indians of Terra 
 del Fuego —and still farther south as well as west, 
 the cold, dreary wastes of the Pacific Ocean. East 
 of them were the snow-clad mountains, and on 
 their north was the great wilderness and the wild 
 tribes of Southern Patagonia. 
 
 The true history of their struggles and hardships 
 will never be known; for, undoubtedly, no one 
 ever dreamed that they would survive one genera- 
 tion after another, much less that they woidd el- 
 bow their way through such a sea of desolation, 
 and compel the mother country to acknowledge 
 them as citizens, having rights equal with all other 
 men. 
 
 The first care of the banished prisoners, of 
 course, was to erect for themselves homes, which 
 they could do without great difficulty from the 
 trees of the surrounding forests. By experiment-
 
 322 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ing they ascertained that certain vegetables, such 
 as the potato, cabbage, lettuce and cauliflower, 
 could be profitably grown during the short summer. 
 Their early care was also to establish friendly re- 
 lations with the slovenly Patagonians, from whom 
 they commenced the purchase of hides and furs to 
 sell again to passing vessels. In this way the 
 place in time became quite a trading post, and cer- 
 tain vessels anchored regularly in the little harbor. 
 Other prisoners were added; but as the numi)er8 
 increased new opportunities were also aflbrded. 
 Gold was discovered in paying quantities, and in 
 due time the prisoners organized themselves into a 
 colony obeying certain rules and regulations. A 
 town sprang up bearing the significant name of 
 Punta Arenas (Poonta Arraynus), point of sands. 
 Later on large quantities of coal were discovered, 
 and the inhabitants lost no time in communicating 
 the fact to passing vessels. It marked a new era in 
 their lives. Six Peruvian warships were the first 
 to purchase this mineral; but in a remarkably 
 short time the place became well known to Ameri- 
 can and European steamers as a convenient place 
 to obtain supplies of fresh water and fuel. The 
 condition of the little colony grew better every 
 day. The land extending rearward from the town 
 for a distmce of ten miles was divided into farms 
 for the raising of cattle, horses, i)oultry, and such
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 323 
 
 vegetables as would thrive there during the very 
 short summers. Wheat would not mature, but an 
 abundance of hardy grasses were introduced that 
 made excellent fodder for cattle. The latter are 
 said to bfi the finest-looking in the world, having 
 soft, velvety hair, and looking round and sleek like 
 a silk hat. 
 
 A comfortable church building that cost three 
 thousand dollars was followed by a school-house, 
 where the children received instructions during 
 the entire year. A government building was 
 erected, at a cost of five thousand dollars. A caar- 
 tel, or jail, was also constructed, and the town and 
 colony were put under military control, with forty 
 soldiers in uniform to do pf)lico duty and be ready 
 for unexpected attacks from the Indians. 
 
 Thus, despite the dreary surroundings, the bar- 
 ren wastes, the cold rains and long, stormy winters; 
 despite the fact that they were isolated and cut off 
 from all civilization, and compelled to reside 
 among the wilds and desolations of an almost 
 frozen country; despite their ignorance, their half- 
 Indian natures, without books or papers or friendly 
 counsel from any, with nothing more hopeful than 
 for them and their offspring to remain there for- 
 ever — instead of degenerating to the savage con- 
 dition of their suiToundings, they, one by one, 
 overcame the difficulties that beset them; they,
 
 324 CIVIMZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 step by step, improved their condition, grew in 
 wealth and influence, until the nation that had 
 banished them saw the wisdom of removing the 
 ban and restoring them to full citizenship. This 
 was done in 1883, the colony and district organized 
 into a new province, and a governor sent from 
 Santiago to rule over them. 
 
 Punta Arenas is interesting, as marking the most 
 southerly point of civilization in all the world. It 
 contains abont two hundred houses, comfortably 
 built of wood, on streets extending northeast and 
 southwest, with cross streets dividing the whole in- 
 to seventy-two *'mausans" (apples), or blocks. The 
 principal street, called Magellan, is paved with 
 stones, and eight entire blocks are surrounded with 
 sidewalks. Eveiy square in the town is enclosed 
 with high palisades, after the manner of enclosing 
 lots with high walls of masonry in all the towns of 
 Chili. 
 
 Near the town are two fresh water streams, 
 called Mine and Hand rivers. From the sand wash- 
 ings of the former, quantities of gold are obtained. 
 In the small district are also three other fresh 
 water streams, known as Three Bridges, Three 
 Arms, and Deer rivers. 
 
 The commerce is limited to coal, gold, guanaco 
 and fox hides, and the skins and feathers of os-
 
 PAST 'and present. 325 
 
 ti'iches and swans, which are named in the order of 
 their importance. 
 
 The Indians that occasionally visit Punta Arenas 
 are deserving of passing notice. Those of south- 
 ern Patagonia, unlike the sturdy Americans, are 
 tall, rather slender, and instead of being almost 
 black, are of reddish caste, like the tribes of North 
 America. They are excessively slovenly and lazy, 
 subsisting entirely upon the products of the chase 
 and of the ocean, are fond of trinkets and jewelry 
 made of shells, bones and silver, have an abhor- 
 rence of gold, and dress in the rudest and simplest 
 manner. The hide of the pretty guanaco is fast- 
 ened around the body under the arms, with the fur 
 side out, and extends to the knees; another hide, 
 with a hole in the center, through which to pass 
 the head, falls over the shoulders. Their shoes, 
 which they call abarca, are made of rawhide, with 
 leggings of the same material extending to the 
 knees. The hair is worn long, and is held in place 
 by strings or strips of cloth, which often are large 
 enough to form a kind of turban or covering for 
 the whole head. 
 
 As slovenly and degraded as these Indians ap- 
 pear, they have some redeeming qualities. If 
 treated well, they are kind and neighborly. They 
 do not practice polygamy, and they believe in the 
 immortality of the soul. They worshij) a (ireat
 
 326 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 Spirit called Coche, who they are sure has a very 
 tender heart, is loving in disposition, forgiving in 
 nature, and is waiting for them in another life, with 
 all the good things necessary for their exis'ence. 
 
 The good things are summed up in the belief of a 
 plentiful supply of food and furs, plenty of wine — 
 of which they are very fond, and which they pur- 
 chase from the Chilians — and a hunting ground 
 where there are no storms and no night. The Ind- 
 ians of Terra del Fuego are a badly slandered set 
 of people. Perhaps there is not a gazeteer or en- 
 cyclopedia of general information j)ublished in all 
 the world that does not speak of the Fuegians as a 
 small, almost dwarfish tribe of Indians, possessing 
 but little or no intelligence. I well remember a 
 college professor, a grand man of wonderful knowl- 
 ege, standing before a class in geography, explain- 
 ing the condition of these people. 
 
 "They are very ugly,"* he said; "their average 
 height is only about four feet and a half, and they 
 are the most ignorant, most degraded people in the 
 world. They have large heads, large bodies and 
 short limbs, are very uncleanly, and even filthy in 
 their habits, and file their front teeth sharp like"those 
 of a dog. Their food consists almost wholly of fish 
 and a yellow fungus about the size of an orange, 
 
 * From notes on Terra, del Fuego, taken when a student at the State 
 Normal School, at Emporia, Kansas, 1870.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 327 
 
 that grows on the small birch trees. They are 
 greatly attached to their dogs, and in seasons of 
 famine, kill and eat the old women rather than the 
 dogs." The professor was simply giving the com- 
 monly accepted opinion, in America and Europe, 
 of these Indians, as well as an expose of the stuff" 
 that will occasionally insinuate itself into our best 
 encyclopedias — the latter of course unintentionally 
 and innocently. 
 
 If the words of two parties residing in Chili, 
 with whom I have conversed, men of ordinary "truth 
 and veracity," who have visited these Indians in 
 recent years, can be relied upon, the Fuegians are 
 nf^ither small nor ignorant, below that of ordinary 
 Indians. They are of average height, are well 
 proportioned, have a few cattle — introduced by the 
 misi-ionaries, without a doubt — and sometimes culti- 
 vate the poil. 
 
 These statements are fully verified by a letter 
 from the pen of Rev. Thomas Bridges — a mission- 
 ary now laboring among the Indians of Terra del 
 Fuego— published in Dr. Ti-umhulVs Record in Val- 
 paraiso, in 1878. He says: "I am now on board 
 the A. Gr. 'en voyage' to Wollaston, the scene of the 
 wreck of Hazelline, in order to make inquiries in'o 
 a certain murderous afiray, which transpired three 
 weeks ago, between a small body of natives and 
 the little schooner Rescue. * * J take occasion
 
 328 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 on the present opportunity to visit different spots 
 en passant, to encourage the natives in their effoits 
 to develop the resources of the country and in- 
 crease their social comforts, by their personal in- 
 dustry in cultivating the soil. * * * 
 
 "Some of the spots the natives have settled in 
 are most beautiful and suitable, and moderate in- 
 dustry would repay them a hundred fold in increas- 
 ing the supplies of wholesome food to carry them 
 through the winter. They will thus obtain better 
 health, and steady industry will help to produce 
 other good qiJalities. It will, for instance, cause 
 them to look upon a place as their home; they will 
 build better dwellings, and cease to be the house- 
 less wanderers they have for ages been. To-mor- 
 row I hope to be down to Lenox to give the natives 
 their solemn warning. I hear they have been say- 
 ing that if they get a chance to enrich themselves 
 by murdering any ship's party they will do so. 
 
 "I shall make good use with them and others of 
 the futile and disastrous attempts of the Wollaston 
 Islanders to warn them, assuring them that though 
 they may succeed, it will only and surely tend to 
 their own destruction. I doubt not I shall thor- 
 oughly shame and humble them. The natives at 
 Ushooia, were very indignant when they heard of 
 the bravado of the Lenox Island natives. 
 
 "Fred Hamacana, his wife, and two boys are with
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 329 
 
 me. I propose leaving this family at Wollaston 
 Island, of which she is a native, that he may be a 
 go-between for the mariners visiting the wreck, and 
 the natives who may come to the place. Here as 
 elsewhere, we find the strong addicted to im- 
 posing upon the weak. Thus men of inflnence get 
 lads and poor fellows to work for them in every 
 menial employment for nothing. This oppression 
 we are useful in putting a stop to, by stating the 
 rights of every man as God's creature, and the duty 
 of every man not selfishly to seek his own things, 
 but generously to seek the good of his neighbors. 
 Thus for instance, atOuilooshooia, which we visited 
 this morning, the two chief men are Chicole and 
 Tunamootaze, brothers. They are both men of 
 force, strong, proud a:ad domineering. They de- 
 mand as of right, the unrequited labor of the other 
 poorer natives, instead of urging them each to work 
 for himself. Yes, they would get all the praise 
 and profit, and look upon themselves as superior 
 to the rest, and more deserving of our consideration, 
 because they had gardens, which the rest had not. 
 "AtUshooia, we have largely put matters to rights 
 in these ways, where every one does his own work 
 or pays for such labor as he hires. There is the 
 same tendency here to keep others down who are 
 down, by the strong, and no tendency to raise the 
 fallen or to help the weak. ***** "wTq
 
 330 'civilization in chili. 
 
 have occasion from time to time to exert discipline, 
 as was the case on ^Sunday last. I had given no- 
 tice for the baptism on that day of certain chil- 
 dren of certain baptised persons, but meanwhile I 
 had heard of one of them committing grievous sins 
 that called for public censure, and which com- 
 l^elled me to withhold baptism from his child, as, 
 with this sin upon him, he could not, without the 
 greatest impropriety, take the vows of a Christian 
 parent without turning the whole baptismal ser- 
 vice into mockery. So I gave jDublic notice to him 
 accordingly, and stated further, that not before he 
 had obtained the forgiveness of the injured party, 
 and publicly confessed his repentance for his crime, 
 could I baptise his child. He was a valued work- 
 ingman, yet we dismissed him, though there is a 
 great press of work at present. 
 
 "A canoe has just left the vessel's side contain- 
 ing a handsome Indian, one of the tallest fellows 
 down here, and his wife, equal in form and stat- 
 ure to himself. These, after the usual custom, 
 called out for pity and kindness, chiefly in con- 
 nection with giving them food. I told them plainly 
 that in these matters they do not deserve pity, 
 at least at the present season and under the pres- 
 ent circumstances of fine weather. I told them 
 that they deserved pity for their ignorance and 
 sin, and that I was not sent to fill their stomachs
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 331 
 
 or cover their backs, but to teach them how to 
 please their Maker, and how to obtain his favor 
 and blessings. They were ofifended, but if one 
 will do his duty here, as well as everywhere else, 
 he must from time to time oflend the self-indulg- 
 ent nature of sinful man. The erection of the or- 
 phan home is the great work now on hand at 
 Ushooia. For it, all the material, boards and 
 framing are prejDared on the spot. Much lumber 
 has still to be cut, but Mr. Whaits hopes by the 
 end of ten weeks to have sufficient to complete it. 
 "As regards the language sj)oken by these na- 
 tives, I am getting onward with its dictionaiy, which 
 will contain at least 18,000 words, and 700 pages 
 of 34 lines to the page. It is most regular and in- 
 genious in its structure, and on its face beai's the 
 divine impress. The wonder is how so depraved 
 and miserable a peoi^le kept up their language, 
 which is so comprehensive and regular. This can 
 only be accounted for by their living in public, and 
 not shut ofi" in family seclusion. Thus they always 
 moved about in company, and four or more families 
 would crowd into a single wigwam. The children 
 heard every word ppoken of, came into contact with 
 hundreds of persons, and were living constantly 
 hearing the lively discourses of many people. Thus 
 these poor people knew intimately more persons 
 than most people do who live in civilized com-
 
 332 CIVIUZATION, IN CHnj. 
 
 munities, and heard and took a share in much 
 more conversation than is common with a reading 
 and fully occupied society. Again, it is difficult 
 for us to imagine what these poor, despised people 
 could find to talk of in their monotonous, dreary 
 life, and yet their talk over their little matters was 
 as full of real interest and importance to them as 
 the most exciting news from Eiu'ope is to us. 
 
 "Some time back, a certain Sisanianjiz had made 
 up his mind to settle out at a beautiful place some 
 three miles from Tushcapalan, the name of our 
 settlement at at Ushooia, pronounced Ooshiooia. 
 Accordingly he went there with his wife and fam- 
 ily, and one or two friends. They built a wigwam, 
 and had plenty of wood and water at hand. But 
 late in the afternoon they heard a strange voice or 
 cry, whether from owl, hawk, bird, beast or evil 
 spirit, they knew not, and were too much frightened 
 to ascertain, saying: 'Sapiccoosh! Sapiccoosh!' 
 which means 'bloody arrow-head.' They forthwith 
 packed up and hastened back to Ushooia from the 
 fated spot, and made themselves a general laugh- 
 ing-stock. Thus ended the first attempt of our 
 home people to settle thsmselves abroad. 
 
 "In the great valley, some three miles from 
 Tushcapalan, there are certain deep, narrow pools, 
 called pools of dead men by the natives, in which 
 we have lost many head of cattle. The sides of
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 333 
 
 these pits of unascertained depth are clean -walls, 
 slightly converging as they rise, of compact and 
 growing peat." 
 
 Thus it appears, from the very best of evidence, 
 that the Fuegians are fully as wide awake and in- 
 telligent as most of the Indian tribes of North 
 America; and they certainly seem to offer a more 
 encouraging field for the missionary to disseminate 
 Christian civilization than is to be found among 
 many of the other nations of red men better known 
 to the world. It is time that the trash solemnly 
 recorded in our encyclopedias and taught in 
 schools and colleges concerning these people, who 
 "have large heads, large bodies and short limbs," 
 and "file their teeth like those of a dog," should 
 be superseded by the very interesting and whole- 
 some factf . Let us have a reform.
 
 Chapter xxiv. 
 
 Chili's Opinion of Polygamy — Good Ofi&cers and a Pure Gov- 
 ernment — Patriotic People — Promptness — The Election of 
 the Archbishop of Santiago — His Rejection by Leo XIII — 
 How the Nation Dealt with the Holy See — The Pope De- 
 nounced and his Envoy Sent Home — The Future of Chili. 
 
 'W'lF Chili had a Utah, she would blot it out of ex- 
 J^ istence in twenty-four hours. Boss Tweed 
 ^•■and like characters would be sent to the Hill of 
 Death — place of public execution — and anybody of 
 men attempting such frauds as are continually be- 
 ing practiced upon the United States Government 
 would be branded as traitors and driven from the 
 country. 
 
 The Chilian Government is officered by the best 
 and purest men in the nalion; and so jealous are 
 they of their national integrity, so proud of their 
 rapid strides in the scale of civilization, that all 
 matters of jurisprudence and civil service are 
 watched with a faithful and almost sacred interest. 
 That black-eyed, dark-skinned servant, who lives 
 in rags, and who is too ignorant to te'l you the 
 time of day, would drive a dagger to the heart of 
 any man who would dare to speak sneeringly of 
 his nation.
 
 PAST AND PKESENT. 335 
 
 Throughout all classes of society the same spirit 
 of loyalty is manifest. Congress hesitated not one 
 moment to declare war against the combined pow- 
 ers of Peru and Bolivia when the actions of those 
 countries threatened the nation's character. 
 
 In 1878 the office of Archbishop was made va- 
 cant by death, and in conformity with the Consti- 
 tution the President nominated and the Senate 
 confirmed a Mr. Tafaro to succeed to the office. 
 He was a man of great ability and worth. Forty 
 years of his life bad been spent in public service as 
 a priest. He was the founder and director of thi'ee 
 institutions of learning, one of which was for the 
 training and develoj^ment of the rising priesthood. 
 He was a member of the council for the control of 
 charitable institutions. He was a leader in the 
 societ}' for the gratuitous instruction of the poor 
 and unfortunate youth. He published at his own 
 expense a book adapted to the wants and conditions 
 of prisoners, and spent years of service in bringing 
 about a needed reform to better their moral and 
 physical condition. Everywhere his great worth 
 was acknowledged, and his zeal, his charity, his 
 toil, his piety had impressed civilians of the first 
 rank as well as the drunkard in the gutter. 
 
 But Mr. Tafaro's platform was too broad to suit 
 Rome; and the Government committed an unpar- 
 donable sin in nominating him for this high office
 
 336 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 without first consulting the Pope, as had always 
 been done on former occasions. 
 
 As a consequence the Holy See refused to ac- 
 knowledge the nation's choice, and demanded anew 
 man — one about whom it should be consulted be- 
 forehand, so as to keep up the farce of having been 
 the power that filled the important office. To com- 
 pensate Mr. Tafaro for his wounded feelings the 
 Holy Father proposed to elevate him to the dig- 
 nity of "Eousehotd Prelate and Apostolic Protho- 
 Tiotai'y." Promptly the answer went back by wire: 
 " Proposition refused — clashes with our organic law 
 — creates conflict with Congress and public opinion — 
 dishonors the candidate presented." 
 
 The Pope was not silenced ; on the contrary, he 
 kept up a vigorous correspondence, made many 
 threats, and finally sent over an envoy. Bishop of 
 Heiraerna, to rouse the people against their Gov- 
 ernment. The patience of the high-minded Re- 
 public, however, reached a climax, in the winter of 
 1883, even with his highness, the Pope. The Gov- 
 ernment rejected him as a tyrant and a bigot, sent 
 his envoy his passport, with orders to leave the 
 country inside of eight days, and thus, at one vig- 
 orous blow, drove to the head the great wedge 
 that will eventually effect a separation of Church 
 and State. 
 
 What may we not expect from such a vigorous.
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 337 
 
 young — young in the sense of having been recently 
 born into civilization — Republic ? Truly her future 
 is very bright. With agriculture still in its infan- 
 cy, and tens of thousands of acres of rich, alluvial 
 soil in virgin condition awaiting the plow; with 
 untold wealth hidden away in undeveloped mines; 
 with unbounded prospects awaiting oncoming 
 manufactures; with a climate so varied as to suit 
 all classes and conditions, and to insure the luxu- 
 ries of rich tropical fruits and the hardier gi'ains 
 and fruits of the temperate zones; with unknown 
 and unbounded forests of giant trees awaiting the 
 woodman's ax; with unexplored coal fields awaiting 
 the pick and the shovel; and, above all, with a de- 
 termined and high-minded people who love their 
 nation better than they love their lives — one can 
 easily predict that there is awaiting this little Re- 
 public a future both bright and glorious, and that 
 in time to come she will occupy a station both 
 high and gi'eat among the civilized nations of the 
 world.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Govern iviENT. 
 
 Including the newly acquired territory of Tarra- 
 paca, Cbili has an extreme length of more than 
 2,000 miles, while lis average width is only about 
 120 miles. Its boundaries mark the whole of the 
 western sloj^e of the Andes niountains, from sum- 
 mit to sea and from the Straits of Magellan on the 
 south to its farther limit on the north. This great 
 length of coast line is separated into nineteen prov- 
 inces, including Araucania; and the most of them 
 reach from the top of the mountains to the sea, and 
 are separated from each other either by mountain 
 spurs or by rivers. The provinces are themselves 
 separated into departments, some havicg two, 
 others three, four, and even six. Coquimbo has 
 six; Valdivia and Lanquihue only two; Santiago, 
 the most densely populated province, has five, and 
 Valparaiso four. The departments are again divided 
 into townships, which are very numerous, being 
 as many as four hundred. These townships, or 
 sub-delegations, are also divided into districts, 
 which are the smallest political divisions in the 
 country.
 
 f 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 339 
 
 The political constitution of Chili resembles that 
 of the United States. There are four distinct pow- 
 ers of government: the Executive, invested in the 
 President; the Legislative, invested in the two 
 houses of Congress; the Judicial, invested in the 
 various judges of the Court; and the Municipal, 
 whose influence is confined to the provinces. The 
 President, however, exerts a controlling influence 
 over all of these, so that the great tendency is cen- 
 tralization and unification of power. 
 
 The chief executor is elected every five years, 
 and since 1871 is not eligible to re-election except 
 after an interval of one term. He has five secreta- 
 ries in his cabinet, and is otherwise assisted by a 
 Council of State, composed of eleven members, 
 five of whom he names himself, the other six being 
 named and elected by Congress. 
 
 The President receives a salary of $18,000 a year 
 in Chili cun-ency, equivalent to about $12,000 in 
 gold, and also has the privilege of residing in the 
 treasury building. The cabinet officers each re- 
 ceive six thousand dollars in the currency of the 
 country. The members of Congress serve for 
 nothing and furnish themselves. 
 
 The dift'erent jDrovinces are governed by Intend- 
 entes, who are appointed by the President, and who 
 are the heads of the municipal governments and 
 also mayors of the cities. Their powers are limit-
 
 340 CIVILIZATION IN CHILI. 
 
 ed almost exclusively to the will of the President. 
 Their salaries are $4,000 a year each, with resi- 
 dence. 
 
 The different departments ai'e presided over by 
 Governors, named also by the President. Some of 
 them receive a salary of $2,500 a year, others re- 
 ceiving as low as $1,000— owing to the wealth and 
 jDOwer of the department. The townships are pre- 
 sided over by sub-delegates appointed by the Gov- 
 ernors, and the districts by inspectors appointed 
 by the sub-delegates— all serving without pay. 
 
 The members of Congress are elected every three 
 years. In the Senate there are thirty-seven mem- 
 bers, elected by the people of the provinces, who 
 can read and write, and luho either have properly or 
 an income of $200 per annum — no other person be- 
 ing allowed to vote. In the House of Deputies 
 there are 108 members, elected from the depart- 
 ments. 
 
 The six Judges composiug the Supreme Court 
 reside in Santiago, and are occupied in most part 
 with cases of real estate, war claims, and criminal 
 offenses of great magnitude. 
 
 The municipal authority, composed of the city 
 councils and Intendenty , is so limited that they have 
 not the power to expend more than $100 without 
 the consent of the President. 
 
 Each department has a Justice of the Peace, dig- 
 
 I
 
 PAST AND PKE8ENT. 341 
 
 nified with the title of Judge, and some have as 
 many as five or six— owing to the population. 
 
 In all the land there are four Courts of Appeal, 
 two of which are in Santiago, one in Concepcion, 
 and one in Serana. 
 
 The Government is expending large sums of 
 money to encourage European laborers to colonize 
 in its frontier, and become citizens. Each head of 
 a family is given 200 acres of land, lumber to 
 build a house, a yoke of cattle, a cart, a plow, a 
 quantity of seed , and fifteen dollars per month for the 
 first year — the latter as a loan for eight years with- 
 out interest. Large numbers of energetic, indus- 
 trious German peasants are taking advantage of 
 this great liberality. In twenty years' time it will 
 effect great changes in the statistics of this coun- 
 try; and it is destined to revolutionize the labor 
 question and make it honorable. 
 
 The total income of the nation in 1883 was 
 $44,007,752; the outlay was §40,037,073— a saving 
 of nearly four millions. On the Ist of January 
 there was in the treasury the sum of $13,820,610. 
 The national debt is being reduced. 
 
 It has been charged by foreigners residing there, 
 that Chili, instead of being a republic, is an oli- 
 garchy, which, to a certain extent, is true. There 
 is no doubt but what the Government has been for 
 a number of years in the hands of a comparatively
 
 342 CIVILIZATION IN OHTLI. 
 
 few lich and influential men. But, on the other 
 hand, one cannot shut his eyes to the fact that they 
 are the only men capable of holding the reins of 
 government. 
 
 For a great many years — over three hundred — 
 education was confined almost exclusively to a 
 knowledge of the doctrines and dogmas of Eome, 
 and the country was in a deplorable condition of 
 ignorance and vice. Very happily, however, a few 
 rich men penetrated the overshadowing gloom, and 
 sought and found the light of liberty; and it was 
 but natural that they should become the rulers of 
 the land. Happily, also, they were all men of 
 great honor, who held the welfare of the nation far 
 above their individual interests; and the wonderful 
 improvements throughout the land, with "a school- 
 house on every hill," bear witness to their loyalty 
 and devotion. So that it can well be said that, if 
 Chili is an oligarchy, then the oligarchy has been a 
 vast improvement on wider principles of democ 
 racy, in the present instance. 
 
 Cluviate. 
 
 In point of temperature, a surface so rugged, and 
 having such an extreme length — about 29^^ of lati 
 tude — and an altitude of four miles within 2'^ 30 
 longitude, must present a great variety. The com- 
 bined action of the ti'ade winds and the Andes
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 343 
 
 Mountains graduates the rainfall from the parching 
 skies of the north to the drenching clouds of the 
 south. North of Valparaiso it rarely ever rains — 
 in fact, one good rainfall, continuing for twenty- 
 four hours, would destroy untold wealth of saltpetre 
 and other minerals. At Valparaiso showers of rain 
 fall frequently during the winter months; while 
 about one hundred miles further south there is 
 an abundance of rain for agricultural purposes. 
 From the beginning of this agricultural district, 
 extending southward for a distance of four hun- 
 dred miles, the climate and the productions are 
 similar to those of California. At Concepcion, less 
 than four hundred miles south of Valparaiso, the 
 rainfall is so great and the climate so cool, that 
 corn does not mature well. Still, in the same dis- 
 trict, figs, lemons, oranges and pomegranates 
 mature every year, and make good crops, and wheat 
 is sure and very protitable. Southward the rain- 
 fall, as well as the cold, gradually increases to the 
 almost constant storms of sleet and rain on the 
 Straits of Magellan. All this, of course, applies 
 only to the level ground; almost any variety 
 of climate can be had as we gradually ascend 
 the mountains. The extreme heat in the agricul- 
 tural district is 92*^ Fahrenheit, while the extreme 
 cold is only 24'', giving a mean temperature of 58°. 
 The annual rainfall north of Valparaiso is noth-
 
 344 oiviLrzATioN in ohili. 
 
 ing; at Valparaiso, about 19 inches; at Santiago, 
 22 inches; at Talca, 40 inches; at Concepcion, 
 from 48 to G8 inches; at Valdivia it is 100 inches, 
 which is the greatest on the whole Pacific coast of 
 South America. 
 
 F'KODUCXION s. 
 
 Agriculture in Chili is in its infancy. There are 
 more miles of railway than of good wagon roads . 
 The country, however, is rapidly being developed, 
 and a few years hence thousands of broad acres 
 that are now lying idle will be in cultivation. In 
 1883 there were 20,000,000 bushels of wheat grown. 
 In the same year the country produced 40,000 tons 
 of copper and 15,000,000 quintals of saltpetre. The 
 exports that year were $79,000,000 in currency 
 value, and the imports were $54,000,000, gold value. 
 Only one-seventh of all the exports are agricultur- 
 al productions; five-seventh are the products of the 
 mines — gold, silver, copper, saltpetre, guano and 
 iodine — the remaining one-seventh being made up 
 of hides, lace (made by hand), and woolen fabrics. 
 
 PvIlSCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Chili has 1,800 miles of railway, and two other 
 lines in process of construction. There are 5,000 
 miles of telegraph, and a cablegraph from Valpar- 
 aiso connecting with the United States and Europe
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. 345 
 
 bv way of Panaiua. There are twelve daily papers, 
 250 post-offices, and telephones and electric lights 
 in Valparaiso and Santiaj?o. 
 
 The population of Chili is 2,250,000, of whom 
 only 47,000 are allowed to vote.
 
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