STRAITS OF MAGELLAN.

5

I have made this passage several times, and should at any season of the year, get well to windward, say to 90 deg. west longitude, before attempting to get to the northward, north-west winds generally prevailing on the coast of Patagonia, and the current setting constantly in a south-easterly direction on that of Tierra del Fuego. I should always attempt to go through the Straits of Le Maire. The only risk is being becalmed there, in which case, currents might drift a vessel near the shore. This, however, is a rare occurrence in these high latitudes, where there is generally rather more wind than is at all times agreeable; although, in a strait fifteen miles wide, and hardly so long, between the main land and an island, it would scarcely be possible, without the exercise of some ingenuity, to make a lee-shore with any wind. The passage through the Straits of Magellan, from the eastward, in a square-rigged vessel, is generally admitted, by those who have made it, to be attended with as much labor and anxiety as that around Cape Horn; and, in the majority of cases, is longer. It would not, therefore, be advisable to attempt it in any other than steam-vessels, and small fore-and-afters. This was the unanimous opinion of the officers of H. B. M. Frigate Fisgard, which ship I met in the Pacific, after she had been nearly two months in the Straits; and this opinion agrees with that of all experienced masters of merchant-men with whom I have conversed on the subject, but who advocated going through these straits in passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Now that we possess extensive and accurate charts of that part of the world-(thanks to the labors and scientific accomplishments of Captain Fitzroy, of H. B. M. surveying vessel Beagle, and his officers)-the passage through Magellan's Straits, from the west, is made perfectly easy, and will soon be the common route. It was accomplished by the British bark, Cape Horn, while I was on the station, in sixty hours, twelve of which were spent at anchor. It was the first time the master had made the passage, and

he stated, that, with an experience of four voyages around the Cape, he should altogether prefer the new route.

The relentless Storm Spirit, who presides over the Atlantic, pursued us even beyond the legitimate bounds of his sovereignty; for, not until we arrived in the latitude of the Archipelago of Chiloé, did the kind and beneficent fairy, who rules the pleasant breezes and smooth sea of the charming Pacific, take us under her protection. But once secure in her embraces, our weather-beaten ship was thenceforth bathed in her balmy breath, and while her favorite southeast trade was especially detailed to wait upon us——————our wet pea-jackets were hung up in the rigging to dry!

We arrived at Valparaiso in fifty-three days from Rio, which was only nine days less than the entire passage of the U. S. sloop-of-war Portsmouth, in the preceding spring, from the Capes of Virginia to the same port, touching at Rio-but the Portsmouth went through the Straits of Le Maire. I presume I may hazard the remark, without being accused of originality, that this is a forcible example of the uncertain duration of voyages to distant parts of the world, in vessels propelled by the wind alone.

From Valparaiso we had a short and agreeable trip to Callao; and a visit to Lima, partly restored us from the fatigues of Cape Horn. The glories of this once famed "city of the kings," have sadly departed since I first saw it, some eighteen years since, shortly after the war of Independence. Then its beautiful architectural ornaments, its aqueducts, bridges, and fountains, bore evidence of the wealth which had been lavished upon it by the Spanish Viceroys. But now everything presented the appearance of neglect and decay. The fine paved road, raised above the level of the plain through which it runs nearly in a straight line from the Castle of Callao to the handsome gateway of the city, flanked on each side by the extensive Alameda, with its shade trees and pleasant promenades, is now in ruins. The Castle itself, which was the scene of

AN ATTRACTIVE GROUP.

7

the obstinate defence of the royalist General Rodil, and which I remember in fine order, is now dismantled and decayed. In that delicious climate these admirable public works might have been kept in good repair at little expense and trouble; but the republican system which works so admirably with us, seems to engender sloth, anarchy and desolation, among the Spanish race.

"uni

Let us pass the gateway, and observe the interesting group assembled there. Here is a dirty little fellow who represents that universal nuisance, the dreaded corps of Custom-House Officers, who infest every civilized shore, and are the especial aversion of travellers. The day must come when their valuable services will be dispensed with, and the sooner the better. The specimen before us evidently takes the world easy, as he complacently puffs his cigarito beneath his huge sombrero. But he is "not a circumstance to the military heroes around him. The City Guards of Lima, like those of New York, are a formed corps," but the resemblance is not striking, and indeed it would take Fluellen to detect it at all. The fact is, these Peruvian soldiers were very much in the plight, so far as regarded externals, of our own brave volunteers, when they returned from Mexico. The evident attempt to ape the French was ludicrous in the extreme, and one might fancy that they had decorated themselves with rags picked up at Austerlitz or Jena. The grotesque "bonnets de police," manufactured of what was once red flannel, were particularly conspicuous, and impressed the spectator the more forcibly on account of their peculiar adaptation to a tropical sun. Such a lazy, loafing, ragged, worthless set of vagabonds, have not been seen since the days of Falstaff. One of them, literally "at ease," stood sentry, while the rest amused themselves with hunting, the game being found in great abundance, and with little effort, on their own persons. To complete this pleasing family group, a large assemblage of fragrant buzzards graced the

8

APPEARANCE OF LIMA.

scene with their presence, and indeed I could not help thinking them the most respectable part of the company.

The population of Lima has decreased since the overthrow of monarchy, and the Peruvians, like all the Spanish colonists, have proved themselves unequal to the task of ameliorating the condition of the masses, and have satisfied the world of their inability to conduct a republican government. It is melancholy to observe how heavily the hand of desolation has been laid upon the beautiful city of Lima. Here, in the heart of the new world, where everything should naturally possess the vigor of youth, we behold those vestiges of ruin and decay which mark the decline of ancient nations which have flourished for centuries, and having had their day of greatness and glory in its full length, have finally yielded to a natural process of dissolution. But Lima, like many of her sister cities, totters in a premature old age; ruinous and deserted buildings are scattered through her suburbs; great architectural works of public utility, left unfinished by the viceroys, have been wholly neglected under republican sway. The whole city presents a melancholy aspect of past magnificence; peace is not within her walls, nor plenteousness within her palaces; but anarchy and idleness, those master architects of ruin, have already more than half achieved their labors. If you would see the proximate causes of the demoralization of the people, and the consequent decline of prosperity, you have only to walk the streets. "He who runs may read, and the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein." The Church, the State, the Camp, each furnishes its hordes of canker worms to eat out the very heart of the republic. This crowd of priests of all degrees, in shovel hats and various clerical costumes, must be maintained in idleness and dissipation at the expense of the people, who in return are taught to be superstitious, bigoted, and devoted to the interests of the priesthood. I would not be understood as assailing the Catholic religion in particular, for I am not

CHURCH AND STATE.

ignorant of the many good things it has accomplished, nor unacquainted with the history of many holy and philanthropic men, whose noble qualities have become developed and expanded under the influence of its teachings. But wherever priestcraft prevails, whether it be Catholic or Protestant,.Hindoo or Mohammedan, there the people are enslaved, besotted, and dissolute. Where there is no established religion, the people are in little danger from the sacerdotal authority, because the competition of the various sects for proselytes leads to a minute exposure of all the weak points, errors, and dangers of the rival systems; and indeed the worthy "padres are not slow in drawing upon their imaginations to disparage those whose theology is not cut after their favorite pattern. But where a national religion, excluding all other forms of faith, lies at the foundation of the civil government, and, as in the Spanish republies, forms the "first article" of the political constitution, the "drum ecclesiastic" beats no alarum to awaken the conscience and reason of the people, but keeps up an everlasting and monotonous tattoo, to lull suspicion, prevent inquiry, and preserve implicit faith and obedience. So much for the hierarchy. Now let us glance at the oligarchy; for the sham republic of Peru is governed by a few, as compared with the mass of the inhabitants, and yet, Heaven knows, the privileged classes are sufficiently numerous to "eat out the substance of the people." In fact, the great men of Peru are a set of rank aristocrats, and all the petty officials who depend upon their patronage and favor, ape their superiors as closely as possible. The bearing of the higher classes in Lima reminds one of the titled fools in the petty despotisms of continental Europe. Perhaps the Lima aristocrats are not so particular as those of Germany about their quarterings, and do not care to trace their genealogy beyond Adam; but they have the same contempt for the common people, and look down with the same haughty condescension and scorn upon those engaged