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C H A P T E R X V I I I .
B e ll r a o u n t a u i -M i i i e r s -G r e a t lo ad s c a rr ie d b y th e A p i r e s -C o q u im b o
— E a rth q u a k e -G c o lo g y—Terraces— E.xcursion up valley—Road to
G u a s c o -D e s e r t c o u n t r y -V a l l e y o f C o p i a p o -R a in a n d e a rth q u a k e s ,
m e te o ro lite s — H y d ro p h o b ia - C o p ia p o — E x c u r s io n to C o rd ille ra—
D,.y v a lley— C o ld g ales o f win d— N o ise s from a h ill— Iq u iq u e , comp
le te d e s e r t — S a lt a llu v ium — N it r a t e o f s o d a— L im a— U n h e a lth y
c o u n try— R u in s o f C a llao , o v e rth row n b y e a r t h q u a k e - E l e v a t e d sh e lls
o n isla n d o f S a n L o r e n z o— P l a in w ith em b e d d e d fra gm en ts o f p o tte ry .
N O R T I IE R X C H IL E AND P E R U .
A p r i l 2 7 t h .—I set out on a journey to Coquimbo, and
thence through Guasco to Copiapo, where Captain FhzRoy
kindly offered to pick me up in the Beagle. The distance
in a straight line along the shore northward is only 420
miles; hut my mode of travelling caused me to find it a
very long journey. I bought four horses and two mules,
the latter carrying the cargo on alternate days. The six
animals together only cost the value of twenty-five pounds
sterling, and at Copiapb I sold them again for twenty-three.
We travelled in the same independent manner as before,
cooking our own meals, and sleeping in the open air. As
we rode towards the Vino del Mar, I took a farewell view of
Valparaiso, and admired its picturesque appearance. For
o-eological purposes I made a detour from the high road to
the foot of the Bell mountain. We passed through a highly
auriferous district to the neighbourhood of Limache, where
we slept. The country is covered with much alluvium, and
by the side of each little rivulet it has been washed for
wold This employment supports the inhabitants of numerous
scattered ho v e ls; but, like all those who gam by
chance, they are unthrifty in their habits.
28th.— In the afternoon we arrived at a cottage at the
foot of the Bell mountain. The inhabitants were freeholders,
which is not very usual in Chile. They supported
themselves on the produce of a garden and a little field, but
were very poor. Capital is so deficient in this part, that the
people are obliged to sell their green corn while it is standing
in the field, in order to buy necessaries for the ensuing
year. Wheat in consequence was dearer in the very district
of its production, than at Valparaiso, where the contractors
live. The next day we joined the main road to Coquimbo.
At night there was a very light shower of rain : this was the
first drop that had fallen since the heavy rain of September
11th and 12th, which detained me a prisoner at the baths
of Cauquenes. The interval was seven and a half months ;
but the rain this year in Chile was rather later than usual.
The Andes were now covered by a thick mass of snow; and
they presented, in the distance, a very glorious sight.
M a y 2 d .— The road continued to follow the coast, at no
great distance from the sea. The few trees and bushes which
are common in central Chile, decreased rapidly in numbers,
and were replaced by a tall plant, something like a yucca in
appearance. The surface of the country, on a small scale,
was singularly broken and irregular; abrupt little peaks of
rock rising out of small plains or basins. The indented
coast, and the bottom of the neighbouring sea, studded with
breakers, would if converted into dry land, present similar
forms; and such a conversion without doubt has taken place
in the part over which we rode.
3 d .—Quilimari to Conchalee. The country became more
and more barren. In the valleys there was scarcely sufficient
water for any irrigation; and the intermediate land was quite
bare, not supporting even goats. In the spring, after the
winter showers, a thin pasture rapidly springs up, and cattle
are then driven down from the Cordillera to graze for a short
time. It is curious to observe how the seeds of the grass
seem to know, as if by an acquired instinct, what quantity of
rain to expect. One shower far northward at Copiapo produces
as great an effect on the vegetation, as two at Guasco,
and as three or four in this district. At Valparaiso a winter
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