is attended with much greater difficulty, as the
vast chain of mountains called the Cordelieras of the Andes has to be
passed, which can only be done during the three first months of the
year, the passes being impracticable at all other times. At that
season the merchants come from Mendoza, an inland town about 300
leagues from Buenos Ayres, and travel through the mountains to St
Jago. The passage of the mountains usually takes up six or seven days,
though only about sixty leagues, and the travellers have not only to
carry their own provisions with them, but also the provender of their
mules, as the whole of that part of the road is a continued series
of rocks and precipices, and all the country round so barren and so
exposed to snows in winter, that it is utterly uninhabitable. The
remainder of the journey, from St Jago to the mines, and from thence
to Valparaiso, is both safe and pleasant; and in this the merchants
have nothing to fear, except staying too long, and losing their
passage home through the mountains for that season, in which case they
would have to remain in Chili at least nine months longer than they
intended.

[Footnote 7: In these estimates, Betagh has been very unfortunate, as
the direct distance from Buenos Ayres to Potosi does not exceed 1100
miles, and the distance from Valparaiso, also in a straight line, is
hardly 800 miles.--E.]

On the whole, though a very great part of the enormous extent of
the Spanish dominions in South America be absolutely desert, and the
people in some of the inhabited parts do not acquire large fortunes,
yet the Spanish settlers in Chili certainly procure immense riches
yearly, as the country is but thinly inhabited, and all the gold
drawn from the mines and lavadores must be divided among them. It
is evident, however, that the greater part of the inhabitants do not
abound in wealth. Those among them who deal in cattle, corn, and the
other productions of the country, only acquire moderate fortunes;
and those who are concerned in the mines are frequently ruined by
launching out into unsuccessful speculations, and by expensive living.
Those who are easy in their circumstances, and retire to the city of
St Jago, Jago, live in such a manner as sufficiently demonstrates
the riches of Chili; as all their utensils, even those of the most
ordinary sort, are of pure gold, and it is believed that the wealth
of that city cannot fall short of twenty millions.[8] Add to this,
the