- Now we've jumped back in time to eighteen months prior to Don Vincente's unceremonious booting from the country, when he was in Sulaco to celebrate breaking ground on the National Central Railway.
- We meet yet more characters, including Mrs. Emilia Gould, the wife of Charles (aka Don Carlos), who runs the San Tomé silver mine. Also, Sir John, the chairman of the railway board, was there, visiting from London.
- We also get some background on Moraga (the agent of the mine) and the Montero brothers.
- The narrator then describes how Don Vincente's tour plugging the national railway came about. General Montero accompanied Don Vincente on this trip.
- Finally, the narrator describes Sir John's trip to meet with the chief engineer of the railway before heading into Sulaco with the assistance of (and under the protection of) Nostromo. Okay, now we have a handle on the chief characters in this novel.