untries, nations, languages, and manners, amidst which the
national character of the country is entirely lost. The trade in
European goods is very extensive, but almost exclusively in the hands
of a few great North American and English houses, who supply the whole
country with the articles they import. At times, such is the overstock
of importations, that goods are sold at lower prices in Valparaiso
than in Europe. The warehouses are so filled with some sorts of
merchandise, that without any fresh supplies there would be sufficient
for some years to come.

Among the clerks in the mercantile houses I met with a great number of
Germans, who all maintain an intimate association with each other. They
have formed themselves into a union, and they have a very commodious
place in which they hold their meetings. Following their example, the
English have united together and established several clubs. The French
have not gained any considerable footing in this part of South America,
in which there are scarcely two French mercantile houses of any
consequence. On the other hand, there is abundance of French
hairdressers, tailors, shoemakers, jewellers, confectioners, and
_Chevaliers d'industrie_. Neither is there any want of _Modistes
Parisiennes et Bordelaises_.

Valparaiso is yearly increasing in extent and in the numbers of its
inhabitants; but the town makes little improvement in beauty. That
quarter which is built along the Quebradas is certainly susceptible of
no improvement, owing to the unfavorable locality, and it is only the
newly-built houses on the heights that impart to the town anything like
a pleasing aspect. In laying out buildings in a place like Valparaiso,
the aid of art should make amends for the defects of nature. My visits
to Valparaiso did not produce a very favorable impression on me. The
exclusively mercantile occupations of the inhabitants, together with the
poverty of the adjacent country, leave little to interest the attention
of a mere transient visitor. The case may be different with persons
who, having longer time than I had to stay in the town, may enjoy
opportunities of entering into society, and occasionally visiting the
pleasant valley of Quillota and the interesting capital Santiago.

The latter is thirty leagues distant from the port; but a very active
communication is kept up between the two places, and better roads would,
no doubt, increase the intercourse. A few years ago the roads were ver