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Show 416 CHAPTER XVIII. Bell mounta· m-M'm e rs - Great loads carried by the A pires-Coquimbo -Earthquake-Geology-Terraces-Excursion up valley-Road to G -Desert country-Valley of Copiap6-Rain and earthquakes, uasco . C d'll meteoro It. tes- H Yd rophobia- Copiap6- Excurs10.n to .o r 1 era- Dry valley-Cold gales of wind-Noises from a htll-:-Iqmque, com-plete desert- Salt alluvium- Nitrate of soda- Ltma-Unhealthy country-Ruins of Callao, overthrown by earthquake- Elevated shells on island of San Lorenzo-Plain with embedded fragments of pottery. NORTHERN CHILE AND PEltU. APRIL 27TH.-I set out on a journey to Coquimbo, and thence through Guasco to Copiap6, where Captain F~tzRoy kindly offered to pick me up in the Beagle. The distance in a straight line along the shore northward is only ~20 miles ; but my mode of travelling caused me to find It a very long journey. I bought four horses and two mule.s, the latter carrying the cargo on alternate days. The siX animals together only cost the value of .twenty-five pounds sterling, and at Copiap6 I sold them agam 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 geological ~urposes I made a detour from the high ro~d 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 ~as b~en washed for gold. This employment supports the mhabitants of ~umerous scattered hovels; 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 free- May, 1835. NORTHERN CHILE. 417 holders, 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 th~t th people are obliged to seil their green corn while it,is stand~ ing in the field: in order to buy necessaries for the ensuing ye~r. Whea~ m 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 mght 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. ' MAY 2n.-The road continued to follow the coast at no great distance from the sea. The few trees and bushe; 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 ~orms; and such a conversion without doubt has taken place m the part over which we rode. 3n.-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 b~re, not supporting even goats. In the spring, after the wmter showers, a thin pasture rapidly springs up, and cattle are then driven down from the Cordillera to O'raze for a short . 0 bme. It is curious to observe how the seeds of the grass se~m to know, as if by an acquired instinct, what quantity of ram to expect. One shower far northward at Copiap6 produces as great an effect on the vegetation, as two at Guasco, and as three or four in this district. At Valparaiso a winter VOL, IU, 2 E |