The Spanish Settlements in this Country, as well as in Mexico and Chili, are not so full of Indians as formerly; for many of ’em are gone to remote Parts, and live in Colonies by themselves, to avoid the Slavery and Taxes impos’d on them by the Spaniards, for they were oblig’d to pay from 8 to 14 Dollars per Ann. per Head to the King, which had it been duly collected and faithfully paid, would have amounted to the greatest Poll Tax in the World; but ’tis now lessen’d by the removal of so many Natives as abovemention’d, and the Impoverishment of the rest, who are sensible enough of their Oppression, but are so dispirited, that they can do nothing to assert their Liberty, and they are besides kept under by the Artifices of the Priests.
The Spaniards here are very profuse in their Clothing and Equipage, and affect to wear the most costly things that can be purchas’d; so that those who trade hither with such Commodities as they want, may be sure to have the greatest Share of their Wealth.
Chili describ’d.
Chili Described.
I come next to the Kingdom of Chili, which lies nearest to those who shall think fit to attempt a Trade from England into the South Sea. Father Ovalle, a Native of this Country, and Procurator for it at Rome, agrees with our Maps, that it lies farthest South of any part of America on that call’d the South or Pacifick Sea. He bounds it with Peru on the North, the Straits of Magellan on the South, Paraguay, Tucuman, and Patagonia on the East, and the South Sea on the West. He begins it at S. Latitude 25, and extends it to Lat. 59, which is near 500 Leagues. The Breadth of it varies, and the broadest Place from East to West he makes about 150 Leagues, tho’ Chili properly so call’d is not above 20 or 30 Leagues broad, from the Chain of Mountains named Cordillera to the South Sea; but when the King of Spain divided America into particular Governments, he added to Chili the vast Plains of Cuio, which are of an equal Length, and twice as broad as Chili it self. The Country in general Ovalle places in the 3d, 4th and 5th Climates; the longest Day in the 3d is 13 Hours, and in the 5th above 14.
The first European who took possession of it was Don Diego d’Almagro, a Spaniard, in 1535. He is said to march hither from Peru by Order of the King of Spain, with a Body of Spanish Troops and 15000 Indians and Blacks commanded by some Indian Princes, who had submitted to the Spaniards. I shall not trouble the Reader with the particular History of the Spanish Conquests till they reduced this Country, which they may find at large in Ovalle, Herrera, and others; but shall only say in general, that it was not totally in subjection to the Spaniards till the Year 1640, when the Inhabitants submitted to the Crown of Spain, on Condition that they should not be given in Property as Slaves. The Spaniards, who sufficiently experienc’d the Valour of this People, treat them with more Civility than they do the rest of the Americans, on purpose to keep them in Obedience, and for the most part they have submitted to the Church of Rome.
The Sansons say that Chili, in the Language of the Country, signifies Cold, which is so excessive in the Mountains call’d Sierra Nevada, a part of the Cordillera, that it freezes Men and Cattle to Death, and keeps their Corps from Putrefaction; so that Almagro lost a great many of his Men and Horses as he past those Mountains. But the Vallies toward the Sea are very healthful, the Climate temperate, and the Soil excellent and fruitful, tho’ with some difference, according as it lies nearer or further from the Equator; but the Coasts are subject to strong Gales of Wind.
The Country is divided into 3 Quarters, and those 3 into 13 Jurisdictions. The Quarter of Chili proper extends from the River Copiapo to that of Maule, and is hotter than Spain. The 2d Quarter call’d Imperial, reaches from the River Maule to that of Gallegos, and much resembles the Climate of Spain. The Proximity of the Mountains on one side, and of the Sea on the other, makes it colder than otherwise it would be; but it has Warmth enough to make it one of the best Countries in America. The Valley of Copiapo is so fruitful, that it frequently yields 300 for one single Measure, those of Guasco and Coquimbo fall very little short of it, and that of Chili proper is so excellent, that it gives Name to the whole Country by way of Eminence.
I come now to give a brief View of what Ovalle, a Native, says to it in general.
He tells us, that in Chili, properly so call’d, viz. the Country betwixt the Mountains and the Sea, the Soil and Climate exceed those of any part of Europe in Goodness, by the Confession of the Europeans themselves: He says it is like the best part of Europe in every thing, except the Opposition of the Seasons, it being Spring and Summer in the one, when it is Autumn and Winter in the other; but in the Vallies the Heat and Cold are not so excessive as in Europe, especially from Lat. 36, or thereabouts to Lat. 45, so that neither the Heat of the Day nor the Cold of the Night can be complain’d of, from whence it is that the Inhabitants make no difference between the Summer and Winter in their Bedding and Clothes. He adds, that they are not troubled here with Lightning, and seldom hear Thunder, except at a great distance. They have no Storms of Hail in the Spring, and seldom above 2 or 3 rainy Days together in the Winter, after which the Sky is serene without the least Cloud. The North Winds bring the Clouds and Rain, and the South Winds speedily make all clear. They have no poysonous or ravenous Creatures, except a small sort of Lions, which sometimes prey on their Flocks, but always fly from Men; nor are these Lions numerous, there being only a few of them in the Woods and Desarts. He observes as a peculiar Property of the Air of Chili, that no Bugs will live in it, tho’ they swarm in Cuio on the other side of the Mountains. From the whole he infers, that there is no Country in America so agreeable to European Constitutions as Chili, and Air and Provisions are so like their own, but rather better.