are followed and observed. At the watering-places Vina do Mar and Miramar, not far from Valparaiso, the beach scenes might well be likened to those on the shores of retiring English watering-places, whilst the sturdy children who romp upon the sands display a healthy vitality that only temperate climates seem to develop. Valparaiso is a busy town, where the inhabitants are all on business bent; and although they live upon an earthquake zone, they have expressions free from the anxiety which one might expect to see upon their faces. Many of the buildings, both in the city and suburbs, have many scars and cracks, received during the great upheaval of 1906, and nervous persons prefer to live in structures that are light and low, than to trust to the higher though solidly built buildings that offer little chances of escape in the terrible moments of a shock. Horses are cheap in Chili; and the beautifully situated racecourse, near Vina do Mar, is well patronised by all classes. Though not so imposing or so ostentatious as the famous course at Buenos Ayres, it is more fortunate in its setting, and the beauty of the surrounding scenery, with the great background of the Cordillera towering into the sky, gives it a character which many race-courses lack. In some respects it might be compared with the one at Rio, but, if anything, it has a more distinguished loveliness. Many tennis courts and a golf course are well patronised by both sexes, and riding is an almost universal form of exercise. In Santiago the government classes make the society more brilliant in its display, and although the city still retains many characteristically Spanish buildings, its inhabitants are cosmopolitan in their tastes and education. The Alameda, an avenue over five miles in length and lined with beautiful trees, is a promenade much affected by the fashion of the capital, and the horses and carriages are only exceeded in elegance and beauty by the women, who are as beautiful as their distant cousins in Argentina. In the evenings the Plaza is a blaze of light and life, and no one can dispute the Chilians’ capacity for social enjoyment. Public monuments to illustrious natives are numerous, and one to O’Higgins, seated on his prancing steed and flourishing his sword, is strongly reminiscent of the numerous replicas of the San Martin monuments which are scattered through the neighbouring republic of Argentina. These two men had a large share in the emancipating of the continent from the degenerate government of Spain, and their deeds of valour, ever fresh in the minds of their countrymen, continue to animate the spirit of independence. [Illustration: AN ARAUCANIAN INDIAN.]