The public promenades of Valparaiso are not very pleasant, as most
of the side-walks and roads are covered almost a foot deep with sand
and dust, which the slightest breath of wind is sufficient to raise
in thick clouds. After 10 o'clock in the morning, when the sea-
breeze begins blowing, the whole town is very often enveloped by it.
A great many persons are said to die here from diseases of the chest
and lungs. The most frequented places of resort are Polanka and the
lighthouse. Near the latter, especially, the prospect is very
beautiful, extending, as it does, on a clear day, as far as some of
the majestic snow-covered spurs of the Andes.
The streets, as I have already mentioned, are tolerably lively:
peculiar omnibuses and cabriolets traverse them frequently. The
fare from one end of the town to the other is one real (2.5d.)
There are also a great number of asses, mostly employed in carrying
water and provisions.
The lower classes are remarkably ugly. The Chilians have a
yellowish brown complexion, thick black hair, most unpleasant
features, and such a peculiarly repulsive cast of countenance, that
any physiognomist would straightway pronounce them to be robbers or
pickpockets at the least. Captain Bell had told me a great deal of
the extraordinary honesty of these people; and, in his usual
exaggerated manner, assured us that a person might leave a purse of
gold lying in the street, with the certainty of finding it the next
day on the same spot; but, in spite of this, I must frankly confess,
that for my own part, I should be rather fearful of meeting these
honest creatures, even by day, in a lonely spot, with the money in
my pocket.
