The market of Valparaiso is well supplied with meat, poultry, fish, bread, fruit, and vegetables at very moderate prices and of good quality. The climate is agreeable except when the strong winds prevail. In the months of June and July the winds from the northward are at times very heavy; on this account the anchorage is insecure, because the bay is not sheltered in that quarter.
From the time of the discovery to the year 1810 this port was only visited by vessels from Lima, bringing sugar, salt, tobacco, a small quantity of European manufactured goods, and some other articles of minor importance; shipping in return wheat, charqui, dried fruits, and other produce of Chile and Peru. The population amounted to about five thousand souls; the commerce was in the hands of four or five merchants, Spaniards, and the annual duties at the custom-house amounted to about twenty-five thousand dollars. After the victory obtained by the Chileans at Chacabuco almost two-thirds of the population of Valparaiso abandoned their homes, or were forced on board Spanish vessels and taken to Peru, and the town was nearly depopulated; but since the revolution it has been constantly increasing in size, population, and riches. In 1822 it contained about fifteen thousand souls, three thousand of whom were foreigners. From 1817 to 1822 upwards of two hundred houses were built; at the latter date there were thirty-one established wholesale merchants, besides an incalculable increase of retail dealers: there were also twenty-six inns, coffee-houses, &c. Besides the vessels of war belonging to the state, forty-one traders bear the national flag; and the bay, formerly empty more than half the year, contains on an average fifty foreign vessels either of war or commerce during the whole year.
The hospital of San Juan de Dios has been transferred from the centre of the town to the suburbs, and a Lancasterian school is established in the old building.
A general cemetery for catholics is building by subscription, and upwards of two thousand dollars have been collected for another for the dissenters. As a proof of the increase of trade and speculation, a daily post is established between the port and the capital.
| DOLLARS. | |
| The receipts at the custom-house in 1809, Chile being then a Spanish colony, were | 26738½ |
| Do. in 1821, being a free port | 464387¾ |
| Number of vessels that entered and left Valparaiso in 1809, all Spanish | 13 |
| Do. that entered and cleared out in 1821 | 142 |
| That is:—Vessels of war | 21 |
| That is:—of commerce | 121 |
It is quite unnecessary to dwell on the advantages of commerce to any nation; but here the result is peculiarly apparent, not only among the higher and middle classes, but among the lowest: the peasant who at the time of my residence in Chile, 1803, if possessed of a dollar, would bore a hole through it, and hang it to his rosary—the same peasant can now jingle his doubloons in his pocket. Those who in 1803 wore only the coarsest clothing, of their own manufacture, are now dressed in European linens, cottons, and woollens; those who were ashamed to present themselves to a stranger or who dared not even speak to a master, now present themselves with confidence, as if conscious of the importance of their civil liberty; they boast too of Christian patriotism, generosity, and valour. The monopolizing Spanish merchants who purchased the wheat and other produce before it was ready for market at almost any price, especially if the owner were necessitated, or who lent the farmer money, to be paid in produce at his own price—such merchants have disappeared, and a regular market is substituted, where the natives of every class enjoy an opportunity of speculating and of reaping the advantages of experience. Labourers of every class have a choice of work and of masters, and this secures to them a just remuneration for their labour. The higher and middling classes now know their importance as citizens of a free and independent country, in the prosperity of which they are interested, because they are aware, that with it their personal prosperity is connected; they can express and discuss their political opinions, and in short, from the lowest order of colonial vassals they have become the subjects of an elective government and citizens of the world.
The road from Valparaiso to the capital, Santiago, crosses the first range of mountains at the northern extremity of the Almendral, and after passing over very uneven ground for about five leagues, a dismal looking plain presents itself; the grass is entirely parched in summer, and in winter the water forms itself into several small lakes or swamps; and scarcely a tree is to be seen in the vicinity. A small number of horned cattle is fed, but the prospect is cold and dreary. After crossing this plain more uneven ground presents itself, but being covered with grass, brushwood, and trees, forming several small ravines, quebradas, with a few cottages straggling in different directions, the country appears beautifully romantic.
The plain of Casa Blanca next presents itself, having the town of the same name nearly in the centre.[5] The plain is perfectly level, about two leagues broad, and two and a half long; it has the appearance of having been at some remote period a large lake, but as the race of Promaucian indians, who inhabited this part of the country before the conquest, has become extinct, all oral traditions have been extinguished with them. The soil is a hard clay, scantily covered with grass, and the only trees are a considerable number of espinos. The town contains about two thousand inhabitants, who are generally employed in the cultivation of the surrounding farms. Having slept here I proceeded on the following day to Bustamante, passing the cuesta de Prado, and the small town and river of Curucavé. Some parts of the road are remarkably picturesque; in the ravines or valleys the view of the mountain scenery is grand; from the mountains the prospect of the ravines and valleys, as well as the distant view of the snow-topped Andes, is magnificent. The myrtle, of three or four varieties, the different species of cactus, the arrayan, the peumos, the boldos, and the beautifully drooping mayten adorn the sides of the ravines, offering a shade and rich pasture, on which a considerable number of horned cattle, horses, and mules, are seen feeding.