and pleasant; and in the hottest time of the year, it is from six in the evening till two or three in the morning that the people of this country meet to divert themselves with music and other entertainments, at which there is plenty of cooling liquors, as they are well supplied with ice from the neighbouring Cordilleras. At these assemblies many intrigues are carried on: for they think of nothing else throughout the year.

Their fandangoes are very agreeable; the women dance inimitably well, and very gracefully. They are all born with an ear for music, and most of them have delightful voices, and all play upon the guitar and harp. The latter, at first, appears a very awkward instrument for a woman, yet that prejudice is soon got over, and they far excel any other nation upon it. They are extremely complaisant and polite; and when asked either to play, dance, or sing, they do it without a moment's hesitation, and that with an exceeding good grace. They have many figure-dances, but what they take most delight in, are more like our hornpipes than any thing else I can compare them to; and upon these occasions they shew surprising activity. The women are remarkably handsome, and very extravagant in their dress. Their hair, which is as thick as is possible to be conceived, they wear of a vast length, without any other ornament upon the head than a few flowers; they plait it behind in four plaits, and twist them round a bodkin, at each end of which is a diamond rose. Their shifts are all over lace, as is a little tight waistcoat they wear over them. Their petticoats are open before, and lap over, and have commonly three rows of very rich lace of gold or silver. In winter, they have an upper waistcoat of cloth of gold or silver, and in summer, of the finest linen, covered all over with the finest Flanders lace. The sleeves of these are immensely wide. Over all this, when the air is cool, they have a mantle, which is only of bays, of the finest colours, round which there is abundance of lace. When they go abroad, they wear a veil, which is so contrived that one eye is only seen. Their feet are very small, and they value themselves as much upon it as the Chinese do. Their shoes are pinked and cut; their stockings silk, with gold and silver cloaks; and they love to have the end of an embroidered garter hang a little below the petticoat. Their breasts and shoulders are very naked; and, indeed, you may easily discern

their whole shape by their manner of dress. They have fine sparkling eyes, ready wit, a great deal of good nature, and a strong disposition to gallantry.

By the description of one house you have an idea of all the rest. You first come into a large court, on one side of which is the stable: you then enter a hall; on one side of that is a large room, about twenty feet wide, and near forty feet long that side next the window is the estrado, which runs the whole length of the room. The estrado is a platform, raised about five or six inches above the floor, and is covered with carpets and velvet cushions for the women to sit on, which they do, after the Moorish fashion, cross-legged. The chairs for the men are covered with printed leather. At the end of the estrado, there is an alcove, where the bed stands; and there is always a vast deal of the sheets hanging out, with a profusion of lace to them, and. the same on the pillows. They have a false door to the alcove, which sometimes is very convenient. Besides, there are generally two other rooms, one within another, and the kitchen and other offices are detached from the house, either at one side, or at the end of the garden.

The ladies are fond of having their Mulatto female slaves dressed almost as well as themselves in every respect, excepting jewels, in which they indulge themselves to the utmost extravagance. Paraguay tea, which they call matte, as I mentioned before, is always drunk twice a day this is brought upon a large silver salver, with four legs raised upon it, to receive a little cup made out of a small calabash or gourd, and tipped with silver. They put the herb first into this, and add what sugar they please, and a little orange juice; and then pour hot water on them, and drink it immediately through the conveyance of a long silver tube, at the end of which there is a round strainer, to prevent the herb getting through. And here it is reckoned a piece of politeness for the lady to suck the tube two or three times first, and then give it the stranger to drink without wiping it. They eat every thing so highly seasoned with red pepper, that those who are not used to it, upon the first mouthful would imagine their throats on fire for an hour afterwards; and it is a common custom here, though you have the greatest plenty at your own table, to have two or three Mulatto girls come in at the time you dine, bringing, in a little silver plate, some of these high-seasoned ragouts, with a compliment

a compliment from Donna such-a-one, who desires you will eat a little bit of what she has sent you, which must be done before her Mulatto's face, or it would be deemed a great affront. Had this been the fashion at Chiloe, we should never have offended; but sometimes here we could have wished this ceremony omitted.

The president never asked any of us a second time to his table. He expected us once a fortnight to be at his levee, which we never failed, and he always received us very politely. He was a man of a very amiable character, and much respected by every body in Chili, and some time af, ter we left that country was appointed viceroy of Peru,

CHAPTER IX.

Account of the Bull Feasts and other Amusements.-Occurrences during nearly two Years Residence.-In December, 1744, we embark for Europe in the Lys French Frigate.The Vessel leaky.-Dangerous Voyage.-Narrow Escape from English Cruizers.-Arrival in England.-Conclusion.

WE had leave, whenever we asked it, to make an excur sion into the country for ten or twelve days at a time, which we did sometimes to a very pleasant spot belonging to Don Joseph Dunose, a French gentleman, and a very sensible well-bred man, who had married a very agreeable lady at St Jago, with a good fortune. We also sometimes had invitations from the Spaniards to their country houses. We had a numerous acquaintance in the city, and in general received many civilities from the inhabitants. There are a great many people of fashion, and very good families from Old Spain settled here. A lady lived next door to us, whose name was Donna Francisca Giron; and as my name sounded something like it, she would have it that we were parientes. She had a daughter, a very fine young woman, who both played and sung remarkably well: she was reckoned the finest voice in St Jago. They saw a great deal of company

company, and we were welcome to her house whenever we pleased. We were a long time in this country, but we passed it very agreeably. The president alone goes with four horses to his coach; but the common vehicle here is a calash, or kind of vis-a-vis, drawn by one mule only.

Bull-feasts are a common diversion here, and surpass any thing of that kind I ever saw at Lisbon, or any where else. Indeed, it is amazing to see the activity and dexterity of those who attack the bulls. It is always done here by those only who follow it as a trade, for it is too dangerous to be practised as a diversion; as a proof of which, it is found, that though some may hold out longer than others, there are few who constantly practise it that die a natural death. The bulls are always the wildest that can be brought in from the mountains or forests, and have nothing on their horns to prevent their piercing a man at the first stroke, as they have at Lisbon. I have seen a man, when the bull came at him with the utmost fury, spring directly over the beast's head, and perform this feat several times, and at last jump on his back, and there sit a considerable time, the bull the whole time attempting every means to throw him. But though this practitioner was successful, several accidents happened while I was there. The ladies, at these feasts, are always dressed as fine as possible; and, I imagine, go rather to be admired than to receive any amusement from a sight that one should think would give them pain.

Another amusement for the ladies here, are the nights of their great processions, when they go out veiled; and in that dress, they amuse themselves in talking to people much in the manner that is done at our masquerades. One night in Lent, as I was standing close to the houses while the procession went by, and having nothing but a thin waistcoat on under my cloak, and happening to have my arm out, a lady came by, and gave me a pinch with so good a will, that I thought she had taken the piece out; and, indeed, I carried the marks for a long time after. I durst not take the least notice of this at the time, for had 1 made any disturbance, I should have been knocked on the head. This kind lady immediately after mixed with the crowd, and I never could find out who had done me that favour. I have seen fifty or sixty penitents following these proces sions; they wear a long white garment with a long train

to

to it, and high caps of the same, which fall down before and cover all their faces, having only two small holes for their eyes, so that they are never known. Their backs are bare, and they lash themselves with a cat-o'-nine-tails till the long train behind is covered all over with blood. Others follow them with great heavy crosses upon their backs, so that they groan under the weight as they walk barefooted, and often faint away. The streets swarm with friars of all the different orders. The president has always a guard at his palace regularly clothed. The rest of their forces consists of militia, who are numerous.

All European goods are very dear. English cloth of fourteen or fifteen shillings a yard, sells there for ten or eleven dollars, and every other article in proportion. We found many Spaniards here that had been taken by Commodore Anson, and had been for some time prisoners on board the Centurion. They all spoke in the highest terms of the kind treatment they had received; and it is natural to imagine, that it was chiefly owing to that laudable example of humanity our reception here was so good. They had never had any thing but privateers and buccaneers amongst them before, who handled their prisoners very roughly, so that the Spaniards in general, both of Peru and Chili, had the greatest dread of being taken by the English; but some of them told us, that they were so happy on board the Centurion, that they should not have been sorry if the commodore had taken them with him to England.

After we had been here some time, Mr Campbell changed his religion, and of course left us. At the end of two years, the president sent for us, and informed us a French ship from Lima, bound to Spain, had put into Valparaiso, and that we should embark in her. After taking leave of our good friend Mr Gedd, and all our acquaintance at St Jago, we set out for Valparaiso, mules and a guide being provided for us. I had forgot to say before, that Captain Cheap had been allowed by the president six reals a day, and we had four for our maintenance the whole time we were at St Jago, which money we took up as we wanted it. Our journey back was much pleasanter than we found it when we were first brought hither, as we had now no mules to drive. The first person I met, upon our entrance into Valparaiso, was the poor soldier whom I mentioned to