CHILE 



often under sail since their motors are unreliable. Commercial 

 craft rarely have pulpits and kegs are not in use. Sometimes 

 the fishermen will live out with their fish for days at a time 

 or go back and forth up and down the coast before putting 

 in to sell them. They are generally fine fellows who will 

 always give the rod and reel man a chance and he in turn 

 can repay them by calling them in to harpoon fish that fail 

 to strike. 



As in Peru, sporting harpooners have never been seen 

 here and would not be tolerated. Another advantage for the 

 visiting angler in Chile is the extremely favorable rate of 

 exchange. The charge for a boat and crew at Tocopilla is sixty 

 dollars a day U. S. currency and you pay your bill at the hotel 

 in Chilean money. As in Peru, extravagant tipping is frowned 

 upon. I usually give ten Chilean pesos for every fish spotted, 

 twenty for every strike, thirty if the fish is caught. In Peru 

 I tip at the same rate in soles. 



Chile is the longest and narrowest country in the world. 

 With a coastline of approximately 3000 miles, in only a few 

 places is it more than 100 miles wide. The Peru current, 

 erroneously called the Humboldt, flows up from the Ant- 

 arctic close by its shores and off the north coast averages 

 about 1 5 miles in width. The water here is unusually deep, 

 2000 fathoms or more in some places. The mean tem- 

 perature of the Humboldt Current is about 62° Fahrenheit 

 and the color of the water is a dirty dark brown. Beyond the 

 main current the temperature rises and the water appears 

 white— and two or three miles farther out it becomes a beauti- 

 ful azure blue and has a temperature of about 66°. This 

 fine clear water is not found in the vicinity of the Hum- 



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