Tuesday, October 24th.—­This is a wonderful place, built entirely of wood.  The centre part is a square, seventy yards in extent, surrounded by a single row of one-storied rooms, with doors opening into the courtyard, and windows looking over the river or up into the mountains.  In the middle of the square are a pavilion containing two billiard-tables, a boot-blacking arbour, covered with white and yellow jessamine and scarlet and cream-coloured honeysuckle, plenty of flower-beds, full of roses and orange-trees, and a monkey on a pole, who must, poor creature, have a sorry life of it, as it is his business to afford amusement to all the visitors to the baths.  He is very good-tempered, does several tricks, and is tormented ’from early dawn to dewy eve.’  I remonstrated with our host on his behalf; but he merely shrugged his shoulders and said, ’Mais il faut que le monde se divertisse, Madame.’  From the centre square, marble steps lead to a large hall, with marble baths on either side, for ladies and gentlemen respectively.  A few steps further bring one to a delightful swimming-bath, about forty feet square, filled with tepid water.  The water, as it springs from the rock, is boiling hot, and contains, I believe, a good deal of magnesia and other salts, beneficial in cases of rheumatism and gout; but the high temperature of the water makes the air very muggy, and we all found the place relaxing, though perhaps it was because we indulged too freely in the baths, which are a great temptation.

[Illustration:  Up the Valley towards the Andes.]

In the afternoon we went for a ride, to see a celebrated view of the Andes.  Unfortunately it was rather misty, but we could see enough to enable us to imagine the rest.  Some condors were soaring round the rocky peaks, and the landscape, though well clothed with vegetation, had a weird, dreary character of its own, partly due to the quantity of large cacti that grew in every nook and corner, singly, or in groups of ten or twelve, to the height of twenty or thirty feet.  Though they say it hardly ever rains in Chili, a heavy shower fell this afternoon, and our landlord thoughtfully sent a boy on horseback after us with umbrellas.

Wednesday, October 25th.—­The bath was so delightful this morning, that we felt quite sorry it was to be our last.  One could very well spend a week or two here, and find plenty to do in the way of excursions into the valleys of the Andes, which look most inviting in the distance.

At half-past ten, we set out on our return journey to the railway, changing horses at the same place where we had stopped at coming up, and which we reached half an hour before the train was due; when it arrived we were allowed to get in with our belongings in rather a less hurried fashion than we had alighted.  Luncheon was procured at Rancagua, and we finally reached Santiago at about 4.50 p.m.  No sooner had we got fairly into the station than the car was