In the harbour were the screw steamers Maipú and Esmeralda, and the paddle screw steamer Maule, belonging to the very insignificant navy of the Chilean Republic. From the barracks we passed up several Quebradas to the ancient "Cuartel" and Fort Rosario, two buildings remarkable enough in their way, the erection of which dates back to an early age, as they in fact belong to the period when Valparaiso had only 400 population, and was part of the assize-circuit of Casa Blanca. The latter, however, which we pass on the road to Santiago, is still an insignificant settlement, while Valparaiso has become the wealthiest and most important commercial emporium along the whole west coast of South America, and boasts a population of above 60,000 souls. There are also in this vicinage numbers of small filthy one-storeyed huts or ranchos built of cane, which seem as though hanging to the acclivities, and are not intended to last any time. As it rarely rains at Valparaiso, and then but little, and the temperature being tolerably mild throughout the year, the poor have little occasion to provide themselves shelter against cold or boisterous weather, or to build strong and solid habitations. Moreover, there is perceptible among the Chilean populace, as among all other Spanish Americans, an innate trait of character, in the shape of indolence and indisposition to labour, as they usually strike work for the day as
soon as they have earned enough for the daily necessaries of life, which they can supply for a trifle. Nay, we are told that it is by no means unusual for day-labourers, as soon as they have earned their day's wage for their principal want, to reply in an indifferent tone to the offer of farther work, "Tengo mis dos reals" (I have my two reals)![103]
Not all the Quebradas, however, round Valparaiso are infested with wretched huts; some are occupied by tasteful and comfortable residences, especially the Cerro Algre, where at present a considerable number of Germans reside, and which is conspicuous for the number of elegant little villas, as also by the cordiality and hospitality there lavished upon strangers. Cerro Algre is one of the most charming, delightful, and salubrious spots in the neighbourhood of Valparaiso, with a magnificent panorama, although not so fashionable a resort as the Almendral, which, since the recent appalling conflagration of 1858, reducing within a few hours the finest portion of the city to ashes, has been rebuilt with numbers of handsome edifices, and has at the same time been widened and extended.
The frequency of fires, and the totally inadequate means and appliances for their extinction at the disposal of the authorities, led to a number of foreigners settled in Valparaiso organizing a Fire-brigade (Pomperos), in which the élite of the community shortly after were enrolled. The founders and first company were the English, after whom came the
Germans, French, Spaniards, Italians, and lastly the Chilenos following suit. A hook and ladder company, consisting of English, Germans, and North Americans, was set on foot in 1850. All the arrangements are modelled after the Fire Companies of the United States. The engines were imported from New York, and cost over £800 a piece. The French displayed the greatest luxury in the splendid uniforms of their company and the elegant fittings of their very beautiful engine; the Germans, on the other hand—not always the case with them—show but a very simple attirement, but are behind no other nation in the zeal and courage with which their fire company performs its self-imposed duties.
Valparaiso is sadly deficient in suitable promenades, and consequently strangers must not be surprised, should they be invited to take a walk to the Cemetery (Campo Santo), in order to promenade there among cypress alleys, and pretentious-looking memorials of the departed.
The Campo Santo is situated on one of the rising grounds behind the city, and with its clumps of trees and flower-plots, looks in fact much more like a promenade-garden than a grave-yard. Each Catholic fraternity (hermandad) has its own place assigned it for interment of the dead. Beautiful and costly monuments are raised over some of the recent graves, like so many testimonies in marble of the influence exercised even upon the resting-places of the dead, by the accumulated wealth of the last twenty years. Close beside the Catholic
cemetery is that of the Protestants, which, like the other, is neatly laid out and kept in excellent order, but on the whole impresses the visitor less by the splendour of the monuments and the elegance of the inscriptions, than by its air of solemn simplicity.
Not far from the spot where repose their dead is the place of worship of the Protestant community, a slight but neatly-finished edifice of wood, somewhat like the "chapels" of the English colonies. This is a pleasing evidence of the tolerant spirit of the Chilean Government, in strong contrast with most other Catholic states in South America, where religious intolerance of heterodoxy goes the length of prohibiting all public profession of their faith.
Valparaiso is as badly off for fine open squares and monumental erections as for promenades. The Government Square, with its neat Exchange, and Victoria Square, with its Theatre, are neither by their antiquity, nor their general appearance, calculated to make any impression upon the traveller. There is great need of large, good hotels upon the European plan; and as there are no cheerful, comfortable cafés, to serve as a rallying-point for the male sex after the business of the day is over, the traveller is usually dependent for society upon being introduced at the different clubs, founded by the various nationalities. Of these the German was the finest; but, in consequence of their beautiful, spacious club having fallen a sacrifice to the recent conflagration, the members had to seek temporary accommodation in rather confined apartments,