The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-01-14

" i100' lledhs oi cOliectlng information
Is about all we shall have to depend upon
Tor the future. The printing press itself
only gives utterance to the testimony Of
the traveller, as to some of his experience
Bayard Taylor, in the tropics and in the
polar regions, sees many things, and feels
them too, in his soul, which the pen can
not portray. So did Harodotus, the faith
er of history; and MS racy narrative is
beginning but recently to be more and
more believed.
But enough by way of introduction
perhaps too much.
CnlLI~ extends from the Tropic of
! Capricorn, on the north, along the Pa
clfc coast, to Cape Horn on the South
and between chat ocean on the west and
the highest crest of the CordilIera of the
Andes on the east. It reaches from per-
IpetuaI summer, in the Desert of Atacama,
up to the icy domains of the Polar Sea,
at 560 south. say up, for the sailor
says SO, and so would you, reader, if the
Norh Star was 800 to 400 below your
horizon, and the pole of the earth pointed
up to the same degree in the heavens
above you. We say down to the Eoua-
tor and up to the Poles all over the
world.
Chill claims, then, the whole southern
temperate region on the Pacific. But
there is disputed boundary line be-
tween her and Bolivia at 25O south. and
between her and the Agawcanian Indians
at 80 3V. Except fort (Valdivia) on
the coast, at 4U0, and small and wretch
ed German settlement in 400, Chill oc-
cupies no territory south of 80 30', save
the forlorn penal settlement at Port Fam
inc, in the Straits Of Magellan, and the
island Of Chloe, off tie coast, in AZ
! 43o.
! The length of territory chimed is not
/ less than 2,200 miles, having an average
breadth of about 70 miles. But Chill
really occupies less than 1000 miles on
the coast, and most Of her population lies
within an extent Of 500 miles (from 800
10 370) along the coast, and reaching
back 10 the Andes for about 100 miles
distant, and including an area of $4,000
square miles. Comprehended in this are
thirteen provinces, mostly named from
their principal cities, as Coquimbo, Val |
paraiso, Santiago, Conception, &c 9hese !
provinces are governed each by chief
officer, called Mtendcate, who is appoint /
ed b. the Chief Magistrate of the nation,
to whom alone he is responsible for the
discharge Of his trust Most Of these IB-
tendencies are military men or civilians
whom the President wishes 10 reward tor
political services. They are often go.nov-
ed from province TO province TO prevent
affiliations with the people, or to preserve
their loyalty to the government Some
of them are very worthy men. Such is
their character generally in the presence
Of large foreign population, as in Val
paraiso and Conception at present, where
any overt acts of injustice on the part OF
this officer would be severely reprehendcd
Numerous small rivers s-mostlv tor
rents, that is, dry in summer and full in
the rainy season. descend from the
slopes Of the Andes to the sea. These.
like the provinces, often take their names
from the city near them, as the Copiabo,
Imperial, &c. None of them are nayiga-
bic, although two or three have been i'm
agined by the Chilians to be so. At
tempts have been made to navigate, by
small steamers, the DIaule, at Constitu-
cion, and the Biobio, at Conception, in
the south of the inhabited part of the
country. but hitherto without success,
owing to the shallowncss Of the waters
The Imperial, in the Araucanian country,
is said to be navigable, but the ChiIian
government has never been permitted by
the natives by experiment to test the
fact.
But, for the present, close Hereaf-
ter, when treating of the manners, relig-
ion, education, arts and prospects Of the
Chilians, [ may hope to give you what
viii be Of more interest to your readers.
Chill is, without doubt, foremost Of the
Spanish States of South America in all
respects, as | shall aim to show before
cease writing. B.
This name is always spelled by natives
Chtle, and pronounced CheG-lay. Molina
(Italian) says it comes from the Araucos' word
for snSo, because of its snowy summit8 N.
Gay French) says it is so named from the
note of a bird but l never could find this
bird there, nor any one who knew him. Pur-
chas, in his Pilgrims, says, . Ii is rightly nam
ed Chilli, or Chilly, from its cold" The down
coast winds and uniformly cold nights there
might make one feel that Purchas was right
The Paris Courier says tlat Mrs
Reardon, a young American widow of al
most bOundless resources, who will here /.
after reside in that city, is the original of
Flora McFlimsey, in Buffers satirical po-
EN- Nothing to Wear"