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Show 418 NORTHERN CHILE. May, 1835. so dry as to injure most seriously the pasture, would. at Guasco produce the most unusual abundance. Travelli~g northward the quantity of rain does not appear to dec.rea~e in strict proportion to the distance. At Con.chalee, w~ICh IS only halfway between Valparaiso and Coqmmb.o (bemg 67 miles north of the former) rain is not expected till the end ?f May; whereas, at Valparaiso some .generally .falls early. m April. The annual quantity is likewise small m proportiOn to the lateness of the season at which it commences. MAY 4Tn.-Finding the coast-road devoid of i~ter~st of every kind we turned inland towards the mining d1stnct of Illapel. The town of that name is very regular and pr~tty · Its flourishing condition depen~s . on . nume:ous .~I~es, chiefly of copper, which occur m Its Immedmte v1c1mty. This valley like every other in Chile, is level, broad~ and very fertile': it is bordered on each side, either by chffs of stratified shingle, or by bare rocky moun~ins. A?ove the straight line of the uppermost irrig~ting d1tc~, all IS .brown as on a high road; while all below, 1s of as bnght a g~een as verdigris from the beds of alfarfa, a kind of clover· We p~oceeded to Los Hornos, another mini~g district, where the principal hill was drilled with ~oles, ~Ike a ~reat ants' nest. The Chilian miners are m theu ha?1ts a peculiar race of men. Living for weeks together m the most desolate spots, when they descend to ~he vill~ges on feast-days, there is no excess or extravagance mto whiCh they do not run. They sometimes gain a considerable sum, and then like sailors with prize-money, they try how soon they can 'contrive to squander it. They drink excessive~y, buy quantities of clothes, and in a few days return penniless to their miserable abodes, there to work harder than beasts of burden. This thoughtlessness, as with sailors, is evident~y the result of a similar manner of life. Their daily food IS found them, and they acquire no habitual care as to the means of subsistence: moreover, at the same moment that temptation is offered, the means of enjoying it is placed ~n their power. On the other hand, in Cornwall, and some other. May, 1835. MINERS. 419 parts of England, where the system of selling part of the vein is followed, the miners, from being obliged to act for themselves, and to judge with clearness, are a singularly intelligent and well-conducted set of men. The dress of the Chilian miner is peculiar and rather pictui: esque. He wears a very long shirt, of some dark-coloured baize, with a leathern apron; the whole being fastened round his waist by a brightly-coloured sash. His trousers are very broad, and his small cap of scarlet cloth is made to fit the head closely. We met a party of these miners in full costume, carrying the body of one of their companions to be buried. They marched at a very quick trot, four men supporting the corpse. One set having run as hard as they could for about two hundred yards, were relieved by four others, who had previously dashed on ahead on horseback. Thus they proceeded, encouraging each other by wild cries : altogether the scene formed a most strange funeral. We continued travelling northward, in a zigzag line; sometimes stopping a day to geologise. The country was so thinly inhabited, and the track so obscure, that we often had difficulty in finding our way. On the 12th I stayed at some mines. The ore in this case was not considered particularly good, but from being abundant it was supposed the mine would sell for about thirty or forty thousand dollars (that is 6000 or 8000 pounds sterling) ; yet it was bought by one of the English Associations for an ounce of gold (31. Ss.). The ore is yellow pyrites, which as I have already remarked, before the arrival of the English, was not supposed to contain a particle of copper. On a scale of profits, nearly as great as in the above instance, piles of scorire abounding with minute globules of metallic copper were purchased; yet with these advantages, the mining associations, as is well known, contrived to lose immense sums of money. The folly of the greater number of commissioners and shareholders, amounted to infatuation :-a thousand pounds per annum given in some cases to entertain the authorities; libraries of well-bound geological books; bringing out miners 2 E 2 |