the wonder, and doubt whether all-powerful time can grind down
mountains--even the gigantic Cordillera--into gravel and mud.

The appearance of the Andes was different from that which I had
expected. The lower line of the snow was of course horizontal, and to
this line the even summits of the range seemed quite parallel. Only
at long intervals a group of points or a single cone showed where a
volcano had existed, or does now exist. Hence the range resembled a
great solid wall, surmounted here and there by a tower, and making a
most perfect barrier to the country.

Almost every part of the hill had been drilled by attempts to open
gold-mines; the rage for mining has left scarcely a spot in Chile
unexamined. I spent the evening as before, talking round the fire with
my two companions. The guasos of Chile, who correspond to the gauchos
of the Pampas, are, however, a very different set of beings. Chile
is the more civilized of the two countries, and the inhabitants, in
consequence, have lost much individual character. Gradations in rank are
much more strongly marked. The guaso does not by any means consider
every man his equal, and I was quite surprised to find that my
companions did not like to eat at the same time with myself.

This feeling of inequality is a necessary consequence of the existence
of an aristocracy of wealth. It is said that some few of the greater
land-owners possess from five to ten thousand pounds sterling per annum,
an inequality of riches which I believe is not met with in any of the
cattle-breeding countries eastward of the Andes. A traveller does not
here meet that unbounded hospitality which refuses all payment, but yet
is so kindly offered that no scruples can be raised in accepting it.
Almost every house in Chile will receive you for the night, but a trifle
is expected to be given in the morning; even a rich man will accept two
or three shillings.

The gaucho, though he may be a cut-throat, is a gentleman; the guaso is
in few respects better, but at the same time a vulgar, ordinary fellow.
The two men, although employed much in the same manner, are different in
their habits and attire, and the peculiarities of each are universal in
their respective countries. The gaucho seems part of his horse, and
scorns to exert himself excepting when on its back; the guaso may be
hired to work as a laborer in the fields. The former lives entirely on
animal food, the latter almost wholly on vegetable. We d