OCR Text |
Show PERU. July, 1835. the port which is distant eighteen leagues. There is very little la;d cultivated below the town. The wide expanse of the valley supports a wretched wiry grass, which eve~ t~e donkeys can hardly eat. This poorness . of the. vegetatw~ ~s owing to the quantity of saline matter with whiCh the sml1s impregnated. Layers of sulphate and carbonate of soda, even several inches thick, occur in some parts. The port consists of an assemblage of miserable little hovels, situated at the foot of some sterile plains and hills. At present, from the river reaching the sea, the inhabitants enjoy the advantage of having fresh water within a mile and a half. On the beach there were large piles of merchandise, and the little place had an air of activity. In the evening I gave my adios with a hearty good will, to my companion Mariano Gonzales, with whom I had ridden so many leagues in Chile. The next morning the Beagle sailed for Iquique, lat. 20° 12' on the coast of Peru. JuLY 12TH.-We anchored in the port of lquique. The town contains about a thousand inhabitants, and stands on a little plain of sand at the foot of a great wall of rock, 2000 feet in height, which here forms the coast. The whole is utterly desert. A light shower of rain falls only once in very many years; and hence the ravines are filled with detritus, and the mountain sides covered by piles of fine white sand, even a thousand feet high. During t~is season of the year, a heavy bank of clouds extending par~llel to the ocean, seldom rises above the wall of rocks on the coast. The aspect of the place was most gloomy ; the little port, with its few vessels, and small group of wretched houses, seemed overwhelmed and out of all proportion with the rest of the scene. The inhabitants live like persons on board a ship ; every necessary coming from a distance. Water is brought in boats from Pisagua, about forty miles to the northward and is sold at the rate of nine reals (4s. 6d.) an eighteen-gallon cask: I bought a wine-bottle full for threepence. In like July, 1835. IQUlQUE. 443 manner firewood, and of course every article of food, is imported. Very few animals can be maintained in such a place : on the ensuing morning I hired, with difficulty at the price of four pounds sterling, two mules and a guide to take me to the saltpetre works. These are the present support of Iquique. During one year the value of one hundred thousand pounds sterling was exported to France and England. This saltpetre does not properly deserve to be so called; for it consists of nitrate of soda, and not of potash, and is therefore of much less value. It is said to be principally used in the manufacture of nitric acid. Owing to its deliquescent property it will not serve for gunpowder. Formerly there were two exceedingly rich silver-mines in this neighbourhood, but they now produce very little. Our arrival in the offing caused some little apprehension. Peru was in a state of anarchy ; and each party having demanded a contribution, the poor town of lquique was in tribulation, thinking the evil hour was come. The people had also their domestic troubles ; a short time before, three French carpenters had broken open the two churches, during the same night, and stolen all the plate : one of the robbers, however, subsequently confessed, and the plate was recovered. The convicts were sent to Arequipa, which, though the capital of this province, is 200 leagues distant : the government there thought it a pity to punish such useful workmen, who could make all sorts of furniture; and accordingly liberated them. Things being in this state, the churches were again broken open, but the plate this time was not recovered. The inhabitants became dreadfully enraged, and declaring that none but heretics would thus "eat God Almighty," proceeded to torture some Englishmen, with the intention of afterwards shooting them. At last the authorities interfered, and peace was established. JuLY 13TH.-In the morning I started for the saltpetre works, a distance of fourteen leagues. Having ascended the steep coast mountains by a zigzag sandy track, we soon came in view of the mines of Guantajaya and St. Rosa. These |