Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Just now the whole country wears a golden tint from the bloom
of the espinosa, which seems to grow everywhere . . . The branches of
this shrub are so completely covered with little yellow balls of flowers,
which come before the leaves, and which have no separate stalk, but
grow along the shiny, horny branches that they look as if they were
made of gold . . . If I bore you by saying too much about the flowers,
forgive me. I want to make you all realise, if possible, what a lovely
flowery land Chili [sic] is.
13
But if every Chilean prospect pleased the fastidious traveller it
was also true that only man was vile. Annie Brassey complained bit-
terly of swindling hoteliers, importunate street salesmen and dis-
honest natives generally. The coming of the railways had led to the
rapid development of commerce and tourism. Every major town had
its resident European population, its exclusive clubs and at least one
hotel of a tolerable standard. In Santiago the boom years had, appar-
ently, already come and gone:
The Grand Hotel, which used to be considered the best in South
America, is now shut up, the company who owned it having recently
failed; so all the smaller hotels, none of which are very good, are
crowded to overflowing. The Hotel Ingles is considered the best,
though I cannot say much in its favour. The rooms are good, but the
situation is noisy, being at the corner of two streets; the servants are
attentive, but the cuisine and arrangements are bad.
14
Such a distinguished traveller as Mrs Brassey was, of course,
seldom at the mercy of the locals in South America or elsewhere.
Her main points of call were European settlements where she was
looked after by friends and business acquaintances of her husband,
or British consuls, or by other expatriates to whom she had letters of
introduction.
