up in the most
primitive fashion imaginable, all the viands being heaped up in one dish;
beans and rice, potatoes and roast beef, onions and paradise apples,
forming a curious medley. The appetites of the guests are keen, and no
time is wasted in talking. At the end of the repast, a goblet of wine or
water passes from hand to hand; after which every tongue is loosened. In
the evening a guitar strikes up, and dancing becomes general.

A singular custom prevails among the Chilians on the death of a little
child. This incident, in most European families, is attended by much
sorrow: the Chilian parents make it the occasion of a great festival. The
deceased _angelito_, or little angel, is adorned in various ways. Its
eyes, instead of being closed, are opened as wide as possible; its cheeks
are painted red; then the cold rigid corpse is dressed in the finest
clothes, crowned with flowers, and set up in a little chair in a flower-
garlanded niche. The relatives and neighbours flock in, to wish the
parents joy on the possession of such an angel; and, during the first
night, they all indulge in the most extravagant dances, and feast with
sounds of wildest merriment before the _angelito_.

Madame Pfeiffer heard from a merchant the following story:--A
grave-digger, on his way to the churchyard with one of these deceased
angelitos, tarried at a tavern to refresh himself with a cup of wine. The
landlord inquired what he was carrying under his cloak, and on learning
that it was an angelito, offered him a shilling for it. A bargain was
soon struck; the landlord quickly fitted up a flowery niche in the
drinking-saloon, and then took care that his neighbours should know what
a treasure he had acquired. They came; they admired the angelito; they
drank copiously in its honour. But the parents hearing of the affair,
interfered, carried away their dead child, and summoned the landlord
before the magistrate. The latter gravely heard the pleadings on both
sides, and as no such case was mentioned in the statute-book, arranged it
amicably, to the satisfaction of both parties.

[Scene in Tahiti: page57.jpg]

* * * * *

Wearying of Valparaiso, our restless and adventurous traveller, who was
bent upon accomplishing a voyage round the world, took her passage for
China in the Dutch barque _Lootpurt_, Captain Van Wyk Jurianse.

They sailed from Valparaiso on the 18th of March, and on the 26th of
April came in sight of that gem of th