who she is, and perhaps even his folks will aid him in his effort to make the acquaintance of his inamorata. [Illustration: THE OLDEST BUILDING IN SANTIAGO.] Within almost a stone’s throw of the Plaza is all of Chile—those who rule and those who own—the principal club, theatres, public buildings and residences of diplomats. The chief business streets converge at this plaza, and the leading business houses are near it. The great cathedral and archbishop’s palace occupy one entire side, the post office and a government building another side, and the portales, or corridors, under which are many booths and stores, fill up the remaining two sides. The stores around the plaza are small and like those of old Spain. This is the oldest business section in Santiago and was in existence two centuries before our own national capital. Some of the stores are like holes in the wall, with goods stacked up in the doorway and even on the street outside. They are far different from the larger and more modern establishments near the corner of Ahumada and Huerfanos, a block away. There one will find splendid stores where goods from all parts of the world can be purchased. A fine large department store has recently been opened up in the city, which is a great improvement over any of the old establishments. The prices in the windows look very high, but an article marked five dollars means only about one-fifth that amount in United States currency. During the day many shoppers may be seen. The women trip along two by two or roll up in their broughams, victorias or automobiles. In the morning the women wear black gowns and the _mantas_, which are shawls folded into a sort of bonnet which gives a very demure setting to the black-eyed, oval, and, oftentimes, beautiful faces underneath. This is the dress worn to the morning mass, and is not changed until after the breakfast hour. One may sometimes see the roguish eyes of the wearer peering at him from beneath this _manta_, even while the owner is fingering her beads and uttering her prayers in the cathedral. Some one has described the _manta_ as “that graceful euphemism which shields the poor and disarms the vain, hides bad taste and clumsy waists, and wrapped about the head and nipped in in some marvellous fashion at the nape of the neck, envelops all femininity in gracefulness and mystery.”