river.  Both sides of the river are guarded by stone quay walls of considerable height to prevent inundations, and a fine bridge connects the city with its suburbs.  St Jago is about 90 miles from the sea, and about 20 from the foot of the main ridge of the Andes, whose lofty summits clad in perpetual snow form a fine contract with the continual verdure of a beautiful surrounding district.  The streets are all in straight lines, thirty-six feet broad, and intersecting each other at right angles, and every house is amply supplied with excellent water by means of several aqueducts.  The great square is 450 feet in extent on all its sides, having a bronze fountain in the centre.  The north side of this square is occupied by the palace of the president and the public offices, beneath which is the prison.  On the south side is the palace of the Conde dell Sierra-bella.  The west side is occupied by the cathedral and the palace of the archbishop; and the east side contains the palaces of three noblemen.  The other most remarkable buildings are the church of San Domingo, and that formerly belonging to the college of Jesuits.  Though convenient and handsomely built, the private houses are generally of one story only, on account of frequent earthquakes.  On the south side of the city, from which it is separated by a street called the Cannada, 144 feet broad, is the large suburb of St Isidore.  On a hill in the eastern part of the city, called Santa Lucia, there formerly stood a fortress to guard against attacks of the Indians.  This city contained in 1770 a population of 46,000 inhabitants, which was rapidly increasing.  Besides the cathedral and three other parish churches, there are two convents of Dominican friars, four of Franciscans, two of Augustins, two of the order of Mercy, and one belonging to the brothers of Charity, with an hospital, seven nunneries, a female penitentiary, a foundling hospital, a college for the nobility formerly under the direction of the Jesuits, and a Tridentine seminary.  It contains also an university, a mint for coining gold and silver, and barracks for the soldiers who are maintained as guards to the president and royal audience.

7. Rancagua, is bounded on the north by the river Maypo and by the Chachapoal on the south, by the Andes on the east, and the Pacific on the west.  Besides the former rivers, it is watered by the Codegua and Chocalan, and some others of less importance; and contains the lakes of Aculen and Buccalemu, of no great importance.  This province is fertile in grain, and its chief town, Santa Croce di Trianna, otherwise called Rancagua, is in lat. 34 deg. 18’ S. long. 70 deg. 16’ W. Near Alque, a town recently founded about 24 miles nearer the sea, there is a very rich gold mine.