They are placed upon a simple wooden armchair, with one band fastened in front of them to prevent their falling off, and another beneath for them to place their feet on--a most horrible sight when the sick person is so weak that he can no longer hold himself in an upright posture.
I was not a little astonished on hearing that, in this country, where there is yet no post, or, indeed, any regular means of conveyance from one place to another, that a railroad was about being constructed from here to Santiago.

The work has been undertaken by an English company, and the necessary measurements already begun.

As the localities are very mountainous, the railroad will have to make considerable windings, in order to profit by the level tracts, and this will occasion an enormous outlay, quite out of proportion to the present state of trade or the amount of passenger traffic.

At present, there are not more than two or three vehicles a day from one place to the other, and if by chance ten or fifteen passengers come from Santiago to Valparaiso, the thing is talked of over the whole town.

This has given rise to the belief that the construction of a railroad has merely been seized on as an excuse, in order to enable those concerned to search about the country undisturbed for gold and silver.
Persons discovering mines are highly favoured, and have full right of property to their discovery, being obliged merely to notify the same to the government.