d to preserve a happy current of friendly feeling among the
youth of both sexes. There is no staid form or ceremony: people meet for
pleasure in the dance or love-making--'tis all the same--everything is
frank and companionable.

Once get the entree and make friends with the kind Senora--sip scalding
_mate_, and never forget her at supper at the balls, or _dulces_ for the
_ninas_--you have the game in your own hands, and on velvet with the
dear young _doncellas_, may whisper all the pretty speeches imaginable
to downcast eyes at the piano or guitar, or blushing cheeks in waltz or
polka! I do not believe Spanish girls often break their hearts--they
ache sometimes, perhaps, but are easily consoled--and I advise all who
set up graven images, and who wish to be in good repute with dark-eyed
Creole maidens, to send anonymous bouquets unceasingly, and of course
divulge the donors' names afterwards--'tis a sure passport to the smiles
of fair ladies everywhere, but these dear, little Chilians will
positively adore you.

In a former sketch of Valparaiso, I touched upon the quiet, cool
retreats perched on the salient crests of the adjacent hills. One of
these terraces, Monte Allegro, is the beauty-spot of Valparaiso. Ah! the
agreeable dinners, tea-parties, promenades and dances, given there by
the charming residents, from the little balconied house in the rear, to
the entire cottage-range in front! Heaven help us! we owe them many a
debt of gratitude we may never be able to repay, save in kindly
remembrance to all. There was one, too--

"Of all that sets young hearts romancing,
She was our queen--our rose--our star;
And when she danced--O! Heaven! her dancing!"--

Ah! Dona Pepe! I may never forgive the malicious delight you exhibited
at the Filharmonica, where the thin lady took a first lesson in the
polka--may Terpsichore and all the Graces of the light fantastic toe
befriend her!--but yet, although a few months have borne me thousands of
leagues away, I still preserve your little flower, and shall ever
remember our parting among the brightest of lingering things in
Valparaiso.

Aside from the lovely living attractions of this little _cielo_, it has
much else to recommend it. In the calm nights you can stand on its lofty
esplanade, towering above the heart of the city, and look down upon the
world below. The faces of the tops, with the steep sides of the
_quebradas_, are twinkling with myriads on myriads