Note (return) — Chapter XII · VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY CAPTAIN GEORGE SHELVOCKE, IN 1719-1722. (continued 2)

There is a great trade carried on to all parts of Chili from the Atlantic ocean, by way of Buenos Ayres, whence the Chilese receive some European goods, together with large sums in silver, in return for their commodities. This is perhaps the largest route of Indian commerce in the world, as the road from Buenos Ayres to Potosi is 1500 miles; and though the distance from Valparaiso be not above 160 miles more,7 yet it is attended with much greater difficulty, as the vast chain of mountains called the Cordelieras of the Andes has to be passed, which can only be done during the three first months of the year, the passes being impracticable at all other times. At that season the merchants come from Mendoza, an inland town about 300 leagues from Buenos Ayres, and travel through the mountains to St Jago. The passage of the mountains usually takes up six or seven days, though only about sixty leagues, and the travellers have not only to carry their own provisions with them, but also the provender of their mules, as the whole of that part of the road is a continued series of rocks and precipices, and all the country round so barren and so exposed to snows in winter, that it is utterly uninhabitable. The remainder of the journey, from St Jago to the mines, and from thence to Valparaiso, is both safe and pleasant; and in this the merchants have nothing to fear, except staying too long, and losing their passage home through the mountains for that season, in which case they would have to remain in Chili at least nine months longer than they intended.