]>I:H IMITIVE GEOGRAPHY. 



31 



vessel SB attempt! tier through thin clijiiiii.-l, she in in great danger of being swept againet 



the almost verticil tin < of tin- rocks. When the islets are passed, there are no other obntrue- 

 tionH ; aii.l as four fatlioras of water will bo found within one cable's length of the seaward 

 -In. re. ami twice that space on the landward Hide of the liarbor, a ship may work into the 

 anchorage in all security. Aloiitf the latter, the Hurf. breaks quite constantly, and sometimes 

 with considerable violence; though at the anchoring ground, under the promontory, aa the 

 prevalent winds are off the lands, the swell is scarcely felt. Here the weather is almost 

 uniformly fine; the atnn sphere is clear for many successive months of the year, and the tem- 

 perature charming. Foreigners have generally been led to believe the town of Serena, which 

 is rather more than two leagues distant, owes its name to this delightful atmospheric condition; 

 but, in fact, the city was christened, in 1549, San Bartolome de la Serena, in honor of the birth- 

 place of Valdivia, when none professing the Christian faith knew whether its skies were clear 

 or cloudy. 



So tranquil is the sea at the little town of Coquimbo, that wharves to facilitate the loading 

 of ships may be built safely and advantageously. Then, if the proposed railroad to Serena be 

 extended up the valley of the river to the vicinity of the copper mines, the trade of the port 

 must greatly increase. Ores and bar-copper form the principal exports. There are some hides 

 and a few Chinchilla skins ; but the province is too poorly supplied with water to afford agricul- 

 tural products, and, indeed, is at times dependent on the South for a portion of its own wants. 

 Water may be had in abundance, though neither of very good quality, nor to be obtained with- 

 out considerable trouble. Fine fish, both vertebrated and testaceous, may be had at very low 

 prices, and Crustacea abound among the rocks/ 



Separated from Coquimbo bay by a terrace of sand and fossil shells, one mile in width, is 

 Port Herradura, a small and almost land-locked harbor, shaped, as its Spanish name imports, 

 like a horse-shoe. Its entrance is not more than three cable-lengths across, which is further 

 narrowed by a rock under water off the northern point. Within, the harbor is about three 

 fourths of a mile in diameter, with deep water until close in with the southern and eastern 

 shores. On the west side it is steep to the very rocks. With a leading wind vessels may enter 

 easily, and in the southwest angle they will find perfect shelter from all winds, and water so 

 smooth that they may carry on repairs with the utmost security. Here, an English company 

 under the direction of Kobert E. Allison, Esq., h'as an extensive smelting establishment for 

 copper ores, at which a large proportion of the workmen are Europeans. Availing himself of 

 two masses of rock called Whale islands, Mr. A. is forming a wharf near the works, alongside 

 which vessels may load and discharge their cargoes. A few fishermen and his workmen are 

 the only settlers here. 



Herradura is not a port of entry, and vessels must obtain permission to enter from the custom- 

 house at Coquimbo. In the two ports, the number of vessels and their tonnage, since 1848, have 

 been as follows : 



