ENTRANCE TO PARQUE, SANTA LUCIA
Beyond one must proceed on foot. On attaining the summit, having viewed with admiration the lovely prospect, one may notice close at hand, a little below, a castellated gateway, above which is an ancient Spanish escutcheon here found buried. From the gateway a narrow flight of steps leads to a small chapel where Benj. Mackenna is interred and where services are held on the anniversary of his death. Looking over the parapet one may see below the remnants of an old gateway surmounted by two small Spanish guns. A little farther down is a monument to the first archbishop of Santiago. The statue of Pedro de Valdivia, on the spot where he built his fort, deserves especial heed. The inscription reads: “The valiant Captain of Estremadura, first Governor of Chile, who in this very spot encamped his band of 150 conquerors, Dec. 13, 1540. Giving to these rocks the name of Santa Lucia and forming of them a bastion he planned and founded the city of Santiago, Feb. 12, 1541.” To see all the points of beauty and interest one must ramble on foot by the pretty paths leading in every direction to charming nooks or delightful outlooks. At noon a cannon at the summit of the hill is daily discharged by electricity from the Observatory in the Quinta Normal on the other side of the city. A second and less picturesque entrance to the Park, affording a more gradual ascent is well enough to leave by, but is not a suitable introduction to this genuine fairy land.
Very different, and more like any other, is the Parque Cousiño several miles distant. To see this at its best, one should go in carriage or auto together with the fashionables, between the hours of 5 and 7.30 p.m., when, particularly in the months September to December inclusive, it is thronged with fine horses and carriages, bearing the beauty and fashion of Santiago. Woods, pleasant walks, well kept gardens, beautiful shrubs, weeping willows drooping over a pretty lake, adorn the park; a good restaurant provides almuerzo, afternoon tea, and dinner, the latter at four pesos, well patronized and usually accompanied by music. There are cheap cafés, merry-go-rounds, and stands for dancing, where on Sunday may be seen the peculiar national dance of the Indians, La Cueca, where the couples face each other, handkerchief in hand, and dance with swaying gestures. In summer a biograph is usually in operation and twice a week a military band plays from 9 to 11 p.m., when the park is often crowded. Near the entrance is a large open grass plot with a pavilion in the center, where a Military Review takes place Sept. 19. Bicycle races and football games are sports of the youthful Chilians, who take more kindly to athletics than the young men of some other countries. A lawn tennis club also is found here. The electric cars numbered 19 come to the restaurant in the park, number 18 to the gate only.
This Park was presented to the city by the famous Señora Isadora Cousiño, who was the richest woman in Chile before her marriage to the richest man in the country. He, dying, left all his property to her, as it was said that she had administered her estate better than he had his. The Señora, now deceased, being worth many millions in mines, railroads, steamships, cattle, and real estate, was a woman of so lavish expenditures as to cause much gossip even in Europe. Her residence in Santiago, of the Ionic order of architecture, is one of the finest in South America. It was decorated by the French artists who adorned the Paris Opera House. Her magnificent palace at Loti, unfortunately incomplete, would undoubtedly surpass anything at Newport. Outside Santiago she had an immense hacienda extending to the mountains.
Another large park of different character, at the west of the town, reached by Car No. 2 from the Plaza de Armas, is called the Quinta Normal: a particularly desirable place for a drive, as the buildings here are at a considerable distance apart. The fine trees in this section, the green fields of the Agricultural College, and the Botanical Garden are a pleasure to see. Some persons may be interested, after driving about, to visit the Agricultural College, the Astronomical Observatory, the Meteorological Station, and the Riding School. The College established in 1845 by President Bulnes has been of much benefit. A cattle show is held here annually. The Botanical Garden, though not large, deserves a visit. It has some fine specimens of the Victoria Regia and other aquatic plants, with a nice old German in charge. Apart from this garden is a nursery where flowers, shrubs, and plants of great variety are grown for the stocking of public gardens and parks. The Zoological Garden in this quarter does not amount to much beyond presenting many natives of Chile; condors, eagles, vultures, with others, in an aviary of Chilian birds; and domestic animals including some fine fowls. There are a few bears and monkeys.
The Natural History Museum, also in this Quinta (north side), contains a very complete collection of Chilian birds, fishes, insects, and plants, made chiefly by a celebrated German naturalist, Dr. Otto Philippi. Another section of greater interest to many, contains Indian mummies, specimens of pottery, weapons, and relics of colonial days. In 1911 the Museum was open Sundays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but was expected later to be open daily. A good restaurant pleasantly situated and well patronized is opposite the calle Catedral not far from the Museum. An entire day is not too much to devote to seeing the Quinta by persons with taste for these matters, in which case the restaurant would be serviceable. The School of Arts and Trades for the training of mechanics and tradesmen is located on the south side of the Quinta not far from the Central Station.
Beyond the Parque Cousiño is the Club Hípico or race course on the outskirts of the city, with fine views of the Coast Cordilleras and the Andes. Sunday afternoons and feast days races are held beginning at 1.30, but most persons do not arrive until four. From August to the end of December the whole city, meaning of course Society, is said weekly to assemble there. In the Diez y ocho week, from the 17th to the 20th of September, it is difficult to get near the Pavilion. There is a special enclosure for members, and behind the Pavilion are little gardens where people go to take tea and meet their friends. Tickets, three pesos to the pavilion, five more to enter the paddock, may be bought after 7 p.m. Saturdays at the Cigarria La France, Portal Fernández Concha, 18; in the Centro Hípico, Pasaje Balmaceda, an arcade running from Huérfanos to the Plaza; or at the entrance of the enclosure. Races on Saturday, frequented more by sporting men than by Society, are at the Hipódromo on the north side of the river.
Along the bank of the Mapocho is another park, long and narrow, called the Forestal, which with the embankment and bridges forms a very pretty section of the city. At one end, in the Plaza Italia or Colon, is a monument presented to the city by the Italian colonists as a centenary gift, and on the opposite side of the beautiful Palace of Arts, in the Plaza France, is one similarly presented by the French colony. The Palacio de Bellas Artes has a great Statuary Hall with some fine copies and the best original work of native Chilians. Nine spacious rooms contain a collection of paintings, including some originals of old masters and many by modern Chilian artists. The arrangement of the building is excellent and the whole is a great credit to the city. A smaller park is the Plaza de Montt-Varas in the calle Compañia between Bandera and Morande, on one side of which is the fine new Palace of Justice occupying a whole block. In the park is a statue of a scholar, a native of Venezuela, Don Andres Bello, a seated figure by Don Nicenor Plaza. Bello, 1789-1865, was so highly regarded by the Chilians that they declared him by works and public services to be a true Chilian, and by a special law of Congress declared him a citizen. Another statue is of two friends from college days, Don Manuel Montt, ten years President of Chile, and Don Antonio Varas, who worked together to promote the welfare of the country.
Housed in the old Congress Hall on Catedral street is the National Library which, with many books, contains a valuable collection of historical documents, some of these, spoils brought from Lima, and others, their own colonial archives: a place of much interest to the scholar and antiquarian.
The Market, seldom a show place in cities of the United States, everywhere in South America is an object of interest. Here it was one of the benefactions of Benj. Mackenna. Best seen early Sunday morning, it may be reached by following the 21st of May street from the northeast corner of the Plaza. Besides the usual and unusual profusion of fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc., may here be found tiny baskets made by nuns, and little jugs of earthenware and mates, some extremely minute. Another market on the north side of the river is especially for vegetables.