Whether it be the romantic novelty of many places in South America, the
salubrity of the climate, the free unrestrained intercourse of the more
polished classes, or whether there be some undefinable charm in that
state of society which has not passed beyond a certain point of
civilization, certain it is that few foreigners have resided for any
length of time in Chile, Peru, or in the principal towns of the Pampas,
without feeling an ardent desire to revisit them. In this number might be
named several European naval officers who have served in the Pacific, and
who nave expressed these sentiments, although they move in the very
highest circles of England and France. Countries which have not reached
the utmost pitch of refinement have their peculiar attractions, as well
as the most highly polished nations; but, to the casual resident, the
former offers many advantages unattainable in Europe. The virtue of
hospitality, exiled by luxury and refinement, exhibits itself in the New
World under such noble and endearing forms as would almost tempt the
philosopher, as well as the weary traveller, to dread the approach of the
factitious civilization that would banish it.
* * * * *