We therefore rode only two or three miles down the valley, and stayed there the ensuing day in hopes of recovering the mule, which the arriero thought had been hidden in some ravine.

The scenery in this part had assumed a Chilian character: the lower sides of the mountains, dotted over with the pale evergreen Quillay tree, and with the great chandelier-like cactus, are certainly more to be admired than the bare eastern valleys; but I cannot quite agree with the admiration expressed by some travellers.

The extreme pleasure, I suspect, is chiefly owing to the prospect of a good fire and of a good supper, after escaping from the cold regions above: and I am sure I most heartily participated in these feelings.
APRIL 8, 1835.
We left the valley of the Aconcagua, by which we had descended, and reached in the evening a cottage near the Villa de St.Rosa.

The fertility of the plain was delightful: the autumn being advanced, the leaves of many of the fruit-trees were falling; and of the labourers,--some were busy in drying figs and peaches on the roofs of their cottages, while others were gathering the grapes from the vineyards.

It was a pretty scene; but I missed that pensive stillness which makes the autumn in England indeed the evening of the year.