equalled except by the filing of a saw, or the boisterous singing of the performer. This I was told was a _bolero_. They danced about five minutes, and were relieved by two others. In this manner the diversion was kept up until after midnight, with the assistance of cider, _chicha de mansana_, _chicha de mutilla_, bad wine, and some brandy made from the wild grape of the country. A hot supper closed the scene, and we retired to the beds prepared for us at the different houses. The following morning after breakfast we mounted our horses, and having crossed the river at a ford, pursued our route to Nacimiento, which is a small village surrounded by a wall with four brass guns. The greater part of the inhabitants are indians, and apparently very poor. We spent the night at the house of the curate, but not so agreeably as we passed the preceding one at the mills. On the next day we went on to Santa Juana, another frontier town, standing on an island formed by the river dividing itself into two branches for the space of about half a mile and again uniting. This river is the Bio-bio, and may with propriety be called the northern boundary of Chile. The towns on the south side of the Bio-bio are under great risk of being sacked by the indians, and are merely kept as advanced posts by the Spaniards. We rested one day at Santa Juana, and returned by a different road to Nacimiento, from thence to the Carampangue mills, and the day after to Arauco, having spent seven days in this most agreeable excursion. I was exceedingly surprized at being informed that war had been declared between England and Spain; and in a few days afterwards I received orders to proceed to Conception. I remained at the house of my friend Don Nicolas del Rio, until my departure, enjoying every day more and more the kind hospitality of this worthy South American and his excellent family, whom I left with the most sincere regret, impressed with the idea that I should never see any of them again. I was, however, deceived, for after a lapse of seventeen years we met under circumstances which enabled me to repay a part of their kindness. CHAPTER III. Account of Cultivation of Farms, &c. in Araucania....Thrashing, &c....Produce ....Cattle....Locality....Topographical Divisions....Government (Indian)....Laws and Penalties....Military System....Arms, Standards, &c....Division of Spoil....Treaty of Peace....Religion....Marriages....Funerals....Spanish Cities founded in Araucania....Ideas on New Colonies....Commerce.