From the 16th century until the mid-18th century, we were aware of visits by English corsairs and pirates to our coasts. However, scientific curiosity was also a motivation for Anglo-Saxon travelers to study and explore our lands. Among others, we find the stories of John Byron, George Vancouver, and James Cook in the 18th century.
During the 19th century, due to trade between Chile, Europe, and other colonies, there was a great influx of English travelers, who usually arrived through Valparaíso. Some of them, endowed with a certain refinement and literary culture, were prolific in writing and publishing their accounts of their experiences in our latitudes.
Today, their writings are invaluable materials for analyzing our political and social history, as well as the vices and virtues of those years, considering that they lack local prejudices or partisan bias.
Vancouver, Samuel Haigh, Gilbert Farquhar Mathinson, and Maria Graham are among those who describe their passage through Casablanca, an inevitable stop along the road from the main port to the capital..
Journal of a residence in Chile, during the year 1822 and a voyage from Chile to Brazil in 1823 / by María Graham. London : A & R. Spottiswoode, 1824
The journey from Valparaíso to Santiago was arduous: “At last we arrived in Casablanca, a small village with a decent inn, ten leagues from the port, where we stopped for the night,” wrote Mathinson in March 1825.
However, he later continued in a less favorable tone, describing the lack of cleanliness and the laziness of its inhabitants. “…the houses, like all others, are painted white and look good from a distance…”
Thirty years earlier, in 1795, Vancouver recounted a similar experience. Likewise, in 1820, merchant Haigh wrote: “The village of Casablanca is small, with few inhabitants, but they are educated and pleasant people.”
Diary of My Residence in Chile by Maria Graham is another valuable testimony, full of details that caught the traveler’s attention in 1822: “It is famous for its butter… but its main importance lies in the fact that it is the only settlement along the road between the port and the capital.” She highlights Casablanca’s strategic importance for Chilean trade. On a more anecdotal note, she celebrates the rest she enjoyed at the inn of a Black Englishman.