cia, preparatory to executing their final resolve. But having received credible information, that the Patriots were near at hand, and that the last of the guerillas had actually passed for the frontiers, they left their retreat, and returned to the estancia, where, having dined with more than usual satisfaction, they retired to take their siesta in peace and tranquillity.

Our rest,' says the young American, ' was of short duration. About three o'clock, we were awakened by the alarm of a guerilla, and on looking out, we discovered the soldiers galloping towards the estancia. The two young men of the family, confiding in their knowledge of the country and its intricacies, immediately fled. I trusted to my neutral character as a protection, and remained. In a few minutes, the guerillas came up; one half of the company was ordered to pursue the fugitives, the other took possession of the house. This they searched with a scrutiny which nothing that pleased their eye could possibly escape. Whatever was of the slightest value, was deemed lawful prize. About half an hour afterwards, the party sent in pursuit of the fugitives returned, but not empty handed. They came back loaded with trunks and baggage belonging to the estancia, much of which was my own property. My little box, containing papers, money, and trinkets, they had completely rifled.

They then proceeded to the examination of my papers, and as the commander of the guerilla could neither read nor write, a Spanish soldier, who pretended that he knew all the languages of Europe, was appointed to that office. After turning over many of my papers, his attention was at last fixed upon a policy of insurance, headed, in large letters," Fire and Marine Insurance Company," This he gravely translated into a marine commission in the service of the patriots, and the interpretation was eagerly adopted by the others. The commander now informed me, that his instructions obliged him to make me a prisoner, and that we must depart immediately to the frontiers. My conveyance was a mule for my trunks, and the skeleton of a horse, old and lame, with a wooden saddle, a sheep-skin, and a halter, for myself.

The frontier was upwards of 70 leagues distant. Thus mounted and thus guarded, I commenced my dreary expedition. The road for the first ten leagues, was little better than a continued succession of precipitous mountains, and dark and dismal forests. Ten leagues was the appointed stage for the night. During the long and dreary way, no cottage light gleamed through the foliage, the thickness of which frequently shut out, for miles together, the feeble rays of a waning moon. No symptom of man or human habitation was visible. More than once, the wretched animal on which I was mounted, sank exhausted to the ground: and on these occasions, the assistance that was ordered me, was afforded in the midst of curses and imprecations. More than once too, it was a subject of warm debate among them, whether, knowing me to be a patriot, it was not best to make away with me at once and thus avoid the delay and difficulties I

might occasion on the road. One man only among them, seemed to take a favourable interest in me. He was a peasant of the militia, who had lately joined the guerilla. To one who has never been reduced to a state so perilous and disconsolate, it is inconceivable how sweet the voice of kindness and sympathy sounds at such a moment, In whatever place, and in whatever circumstances, I might meet this man again, I should embrace him with the warmth and affection of a brother. He related to me afterwards, the full extent of the designs harboured against me.' pp 162-166.

We cannot follow our American adventurer through his interesting journey, many of the incidents of which are almost romantic, but are related with the most unaffected simplicity. In the meanwhile, the inactivity of the patriot army seems to remain a complete mystery. Nine months had now elapsed since Osorio's defeat. Had the Patriots followed up their success with spirit and expedition, and marched into the province, they might, with a mere handful of men, have taken unresisted possession of Talcahuano, preserved its fortifications entire, and intercepted several richly laden vessels in the harbour. Instead of this, they permitted Osorio to collect the remains of his scattered force, to send despatches to Lima, to demolish the fortifications of Talcahuano, and to embark the greater part of the artillery with all the population and wealth he could transport. Even after Osorio's departure, they allowed time to Sanchez to organize the militia of the province, to assemble the regular troops, to treat with the Indians, and to retreat to the frontiers with a strength sufficient to impede the advance of the Patriots, if not ultimately to prevent their occupation of the province.

It was not till January, that the patriot army, amounting to about 3000 men, left Santiago; they entered the province withoutopposition, and marched upon Chilian, about 20 leagues from Los Angelos, where they expected to meet Sanchez and decide the contest. Sanchez had advanced thus far, but had retired upon Los Angelos again, leaving 400 soldiers and a body of Indians to check the advance of the Patriots. These soon retreated; the Patriots pursued them, and arrived at Los Augelos before Sanchez could cross the Biobio. The Patriots came upon them in the act of crossing, and a dreadful carnage ensued. Sanchez retreated with a great loss of baggage and military stores towards the Indian territories. The Patriots entered Los Angelos, where they found abundance of provision, and numerous flocks and herds in the neighbouring pastures. Thus ended all resistance to the patriot cause in Concepcion.

The battle of Maypu appears to have been decisive of the

fortunes of the patriot cause in Chili. The victory was celebrated in Santiago with triumphal pomp, and the whole month was a continued jubilee. From that day may be dated the extinction of the royal cause in that important part of South America.

For the next five years, Chili, under the directorship of O'Higgins, enjoyed with little interruption a state of tranquillity, although the defects in the new constitution, led to evils which at length produced an overthrow of the government. The senate named by the Director, instead of concurring in his enlightened views, formed a junction with the secretaries of the departments, and bade defiance to his too limited power. Heavy duties were laid on foreign merchandize, the proper administration of justice was neglected, and the complaints of the people on these and other grounds, became angry and loud. The exertions made in favour of Peru, and the heavy taxes necessary to make good the expenses, together with the little outlet for Chilian productions, pressed severely on all classes, and made them desirous of some change. The finances were so much reduced, that the pay of the troops, as well as the salaries of the public functionaries, was many months in arrear. Such was the state of things when General Freire, who held the chief command of the troops in the southern province of Concepcion, was induced, by the distressed state of the army, to grant a license to an English merchant to embark a large cargo of wheat,a measure strictly forbidden by the Government, with a view to harass the Spanish force under La Serna, at that moment greatly suffering in Peru for want of provisions. This transaction excited the greatest indignation at St. Jago, and Freire was accused of assisting the enemy. A warm correspondence ensued, and on the 18th of December 1822, O'Higgins made a feeble show of reducing the general to obedience by putting some troops in march towards the South. Freire, on the other hand, issued a proclamation complaining of the proceedings of the secretaries of state whom he charged with intending to starve the army, and instantly marched to the capital, where the vacant directorship, O'Higgins having in the interim resigned, was placed in his hands as commander in chief. This took place early in February 1823. At first, Freire is represented to have lent himself to a fanatical party, at the head of which was a bishop who had been banished by the former government; but the influence of his prime minister, Benevente, at length prevailed, and led to a surprising revolution in the state of things. Hitherto, the monastic orders bad largely shared, as in Guatemala, in political power. Freire

seized all the property belonging to the monasteries, including some of the richest estates in Chili, and ordered the whole of the monks to be banished. These seizures not only supplied the immediate exigencies of the Exchequer, but invested the State with a permanent revenue; and so adroitly were they managed, that the decrees were sanctioned by the full approbation of the resident Nuncio from the Pope, which silenced all show of opposition. Most of the heads of the convents, it is said, acquiesced in them without a murmur. Promises were indeed made, to convert the despoiled monks into secular clergy, but these will never be performed. Freed from the benumbing influence of an enormously rich and exceedingly numerous priesthood, there is reason to hope that Chili will eventually become a free, enlightened, and happy country.

Art. III. Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan, in the Years 1821 and 1822. Including some Account of the Countries to the North-east of Persia. By James B. Fraser. 4to. pp. 797. (Map.)

1825.

2. Voyage en Turcomanie-Travels in Turcomania and to Khiva, in 1819 and 1820; by M. N. Mouravier. Translated (into French) by M. de Laveau; and revised by, Messrs. Eyriés and Klaproth, 8vo. pp. 400. Paris. 1823.

N

OTWITHSTANDING the enterprise and perseverance with which the business of geographical investigation has been carried on in different directions, the central countries of both the Asiatic and the African portions of the Old World are as yet very imperfectly known, though the barriers which forbid approach seem to be gradually receding. The wild and far-stretching tracts, for instance, which occupy the mid-region of Asia, have for centuries been nearly inaccessible to scientific travellers; and many interesting questions connected with their past history and present condition, still remain for solution. Recently, however, attempts have been made, and with partial success, to gain information on most of these points. Mr. Elphinstone, whose researches in illustration of Oriental geography cannot be too highly rated, gave a new aspect to the map of many interesting sections of these countries. Indefatigable in his inquiries, his sound judgement was eminently displayed in the management of materials which, although the best that could be procured, were frequently at variance in their statements, questionable in their authority, and unsatisfactory in their results. Mr. Moorcroft, after having, in one adventurous journey, ascertained the solution

of several important problems connected with the map of Higher India, is now engaged in an enterprise equally important and yet more daring. He is said to have reached the city of Leh, on that part of the great river Scind, which lies north of the Hindoo Koosh; and his intended course will, if successfully prosecuted, lead him into the heart of some of the least known among the states of central Asia. We are led to expect further information on these points. The kingdom of Ferghauna, known at present by the name of Kokaun, is said to have been visited by one of our restless countrymen; and an account of a Russian embassy to Bockhara is, probably, by this time, published at Paris. We have also been assured, though without specific detail, that a journey has been recently made of a somewhat extraordinary kind: it was described to us as a sort of circuit among the Trans-Oxian regions, taking in, with singular felicity, many of those points on which information is more peculiarly desirable.

Mr. Fraser is advantageously known as the author of an interesting Tour in the Himala Mountains; and the volume before us will add to the high reputation ensured to him by his former publication, as an intelligent observer and indefatigable inquirer. The objects which he proposed to keep in view, while leaving himself in some respects to the guidance of events, were, first, the examination of the Persian provinces eastward of Tehran, and, secondly, an attempt to penetrate, through Khorasan, as far as Bockhara and Samarcand, with the intention, should circumstances prove favourable, of making still further progress to the east. In his anxiety to make his journey as completely subservient as possible to the promotion of science, he supplied himself with the best instruments that could beprocured in India. It must, indeed, have been at the expense of no little inconvenience, that he contrived to carry with him, an excellent sextant, by Berge, on a gravitating balance-stand; two chronometers; a small surveying compass with sights and a reflecting lens; and a large telescope, with magnifying powers of from 80 to 140 degrees. Of these valuable aids, he made an effective use, and the result has been, a considerable change in the localities of many important points. Tehran, for instance, is placed thirty miles eastward of its former position; Lemnoon and Damghan have undergone a still greater dislocation; Nishapore is moved to a distance, in longitude, of nearly two degrees; and while Mushed has been shifted in the same direction almost three degrees, its latitude was found erroneous to the extent of not less than a degree. The importance of these changes is not confined to the mere points of specific calculation, since they affect the