in arms are indeed to be pitied, who, having lost their limbs in the service, are totally dependent upon the generosity of this ungrateful republic. As to myself I cannot so much complain, as I suffer little or no inconvenience now from the bayonet wound I received in the last action, my leg only swelling occasionally in cold weather.
" Nor is it easy to steer a safe course in a country so disposed to anarchy : a congress has been esta- blished in three different periods, and has always terminated its sessions in tumult and disorder. There is no stability in affairs, and the director, Freire, is totally destitute of political courage ; he dare not be absolute, and the mass of the people is much too ignorant to admit of other government than the iron hand of a despot.
" Chile contains about nine hundred thousand inha- bitants, exclusive of the Indians or aborigines ; it extends from the desert of Atacama to the borders of Patagonia, comprising about twenty degrees of lati- tude, and its extreme breadth, from the Andes to the sea, does not exceed one hundred leagues. The provinces of Coquimbo and Conception have lately declared indirectly their independence of Santiago, which is too weak to enforce their obedience. Co- quimbo is a pretty town of about eight thousand inhabitants, and the province is extremely rich in gold, silver, and copper mines. Conception has been a fine town, but it is now reduced to about six thou- sand residents ; the whole province is very rich and picturesque, abounding in wood and pastures. It has for many years been subject to the inroads of the Araucano Indians, and exposed to the depredations of a numerous banditti, as the lofty Andes, the trackless
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