Suspension Bridge of hide thongs (but repaired with chain) over the Maypu, five leagues south of Santiago, Chile, Jany 11th 1851

Mounted in album with PAI4605-PAI4653, PAI4655-PAI4670.; No.47. No. 47 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849-1852. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. This is the second of seven drawings (PAI4653-PAI4659) which record Fanshawe's inland excursion to see the Andes, while his ship 'Daphne' was at Valparaiso over the winter of 1850-51. For the general circumstances see PAI4563. This drawing records his crossing of the River Maypu on his 50-mile overnight trip south from Santiago to Lake Aculeo, which was done 'in a hired "birlocho", or cab of the country'. His daughter explained further in his 1904 biography: ' They went in a light carriage drawn by three horses, and accompanied by four or five others driven loose alongside by a boy; whenever a horse in harness seemed tired, the driver exchanged him for one of these loose animals, letting him "rest" by trotting alongside.' In this way they covered the100-mile return journey in two days 'quite as a matter of course and as ordinary work for the horses' (p.265). Here hired men manhandle the birlocho across the bridge, with some of the horses following. The last is being led, possibly by the boy or driver. Mr Young, the 'naval instructor' of the 'Daphne' accompanied Fanshawe on the trip.
Edward Gennys Fanshawe

Original size: 226 mm x 324 mm