This city is situated in about 33 degrees and 30 minutes south latitude, at the west foot of the immense chain of mountains called the Cordilleras.  It stands on a most beautiful plain of above thirty leagues extent.  It was founded by Don Pedro de Baldivia, the conqueror of Chili.  The plan of it was marked out by him, in squares, like Lima; and almost every house belonging to people of any fashion has a large court before it, with great gates, and a garden behind.  There is a little rivulet, neatly faced with stone, runs through every street, by which they can cool the streets or water their gardens when they please.  The whole town is extremely well paved.  Their gardens are full of noble orange-trees and floripondies, with all sort of flowers, which perfume the houses and even the whole city.  Much about the middle of it is the great square, called the Placa Real, or the Royal Square; there are eight avenues leading into it.  The west side contains the cathedral and the bishop’s palace; the north side is the president’s palace, the royal court, the council house, and the prison; the south side is a row of piazzas, the whole length of which are shops, and over it a gallery to see the bull-fights; the east side has some large houses belonging to people of distinction, and in the middle is a large fountain with a brass bason.  The houses have, in general, only a ground floor, upon account of the frequent earthquakes; but they make a handsome appearance.  The churches are rich in gilding as well as in plate:  That of the Jesuits is reckoned an exceeding good piece of architecture, but it is much too high built for a country so subject to earthquakes, and where it has frequently happened that thousands of people have been swallowed up at once.

There is a hill, or rather high rock, at the east end of the city, called St Lucia, from the top of which you have a view of all the city and the country about for many leagues, affording a very delightful landscape.  Their estancias, or country houses, are very pleasant, having generally a fine grove of olive trees, with large vineyards to them.  The Chili wine, in my opinion, is full as good as Madeira, and made in such quantities that it is sold extremely cheap.  The soil of this country is so fertile, that the husbandmen have very little trouble, for they do but in a manner scratch up the ground, and without any kind of manure it yields an hundred fold.  Without doubt the wheat of Chili is the finest in the world, and the fruits are all excellent in their kinds.  Beef and mutton are so cheap, that you may have a good cow for three dollars, and a fat sheep for two shillings.  Their horses are extraordinary good; and though some of them go at a great price, you may have a very good one for four dollars, or about eighteen shillings of our money.