3-021-749 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

War between Spain and Chili: the port of Valparaiso, Chili, South America, 1865. Engraving of a view taken with 'Johnson's pantoscopic camera'. 'Spain has declared war against Chili, and Chili has accepted the war. Valparaiso and all the principal ports are blockaded, and a bombardment is threatened. Trade has come to a standstill; every one who can manage to do so is leaving this place; money has disappeared; all the banks have stopped for want of funds; in fact, ruin the most complete has come upon us, like an earthquake or a flash of lightning; and Valparaiso, which but a fortnight since was teeming with life and activity, will, in a few days more, be all but deserted...Now, however miserable is the condition of some of the South American Republics, some of them are far ahead of Spain herself in every respect; and the very worst, Bolivia, is better off than when under Spanish rule. But...the ruin is there; and if the cause of it be not removed within a very few weeks, or even days, it will be complete and beyond restoration. In the beautiful bay of which I send you a View nothing will be left in a few days but a few foreign vessels, hulks, and foreign men-of-war, with the piratical squadron of Spaniards hovering in the distance'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.