CHILENOS.) We set out for the Portillo pass.

Leaving Santiago we crossed the wide burnt-up plain on which that city stands, and in the afternoon arrived at the Maypu, one of the principal rivers in Chile.

The valley, at the point where it enters the first Cordillera, is bounded on each side by lofty barren mountains; and although not broad, it is very fertile.

Numerous cottages were surrounded by vines, and by orchards of apple, nectarine, and peach-trees--their boughs breaking with the weight of the beautiful ripe fruit.

In the evening we passed the custom-house, where our luggage was examined.
The frontier of Chile is better guarded by the Cordillera than by the waters of the sea.