50 POLITICAL DIVISIONS AND 



10,900 feet above the sea, on the south bank of the Maypu, and of San Lorenzo, also within the 

 Andes, but on the opposite side of the same river, are now the only ones wrought to much profit. 

 Lead has scarcely ever been thought worth taking care of, though abundantly found in all the 

 silver veins, and largely with those of copper. At the present day, this last metal occupies the 

 first rank among the mineral products of the province, the most valuable mines being near 

 good supplies of fuel for smelting. Unfortunately, there are no printed statistics from which to 

 learn either the yield of the mines or of the haciendas, and we can only roughly infer the ag- 

 gregate amounts from the fact that in 1851, about 28,000 tons of surplus passed into Valparaiso 

 from this province. The railroad between the capital and its port, which has already been 

 referred to, will pass along the valley of the Aconcagua river as far as Llaillay ; thence, for 

 rather more than eleven miles, rises 118| feet per mile to a tunnel through the central range 

 of the Cordilleras; after which there is quite a rapid descent into the great valley. . This 

 grand work of 110 miles in length was estimated to cost $7,500,000, and to be completed 

 within five years from its commencement, October 1, 1852. An extension of their surveys 

 southerly from the capital, satisfied the engineers that there were few countries in the world 

 which presented such unrivalled facilities for the construction of a railroad as this portion of 

 Chile. The only impediments they found to work of the cheapest kind were, the rivers that 

 intersect the plain; and to them it seemed inevitable that the construction of a road between 

 Valparaiso and Santiago must be followed by its extension towards Talca and Concepcion. 

 Santiago has already some of the great flour-mills ; here, too, are the only manufactories of any 

 note, and the residences of nearly all the wealthy miners and farmers ; and should these predic- 

 tions be realized of which there is scarcely a doubt as the road will pass through the most fer- 

 tile and populous districts of the country, the metropolitan city will become, within a quarter 

 of a century, the centre of commercial as it now is of political importance. 



VALPARAISO. On the north, east, and south, Valparaiso is separated from the provinces of 

 Aconcagua and Santiago by portions of the central ranges of the Cordilleras named in indica- 

 ting their boundaries. On the west is the ocean. Its length from north to south is about 52 

 miles, and its breadth, between the Cerro de la Viscacha and Punta Coronilla, is 45. Making 

 allowances for irregularities of outline, the superficial area is about 2,300 square miles ; of 

 which more than two thirds is useless, because of its mountainous character and want of water 

 for irrigation. Its departments are Valparaiso, Quillota, and Casa-blanca, which are divided 

 into 19 sub-delegations and 111 districts. Valparaiso, the provincial capital, having the con- 

 trol, and being the recipient of, nearly all the foreign commerce of the country, a special chap- 

 ter is devoted to an account of it. Quillota, the next in importance a city of nearly 10,000 

 inhabitants is near the south bank of the river Aconcagua or, as it is here called, the Quil- 

 lota and 30 miles northeast of Valparaiso. The beautiful valley in which it lies is very broad 

 and quite flat, with huge bare mountains on either side, and the famous Campana or Bell 

 mountain in the background. Abundance of water for irrigation is obtained from the river 

 flowing through its midst ; and, as the land is distributed among many proprietors, the view 

 of the cultivated fields from a hill to the southward of the town is one of remarkable artificial 

 luxuriance. First are fine ever-green forest-trees in the mountain ravines ; then green open 

 lawns, separated by small valleys with rivulets, cottages on the hill-sides, fields of corn and 

 grain ; and, lastly, little square gardens, crowded with fruit-trees and every variety of vege- 

 table, having in their midst the white walls and steeples of a town, wandering more than two 

 miles farther away. Valdivia having sent a colony here about three years after the foundation 

 of Santiago, this is, of course, one of the oldest settled districts of Chile. Casa-blanca, the 

 other departmental capital, is 27 miles southeast from Valparaiso, in the midst of a narrow 

 valley, watered by a small stream of the same name. Its elevation above the sea is 790 feet ; 

 that of Quillota, 405. Situated on the high road to Santiago, its increase has been along the 

 thoroughfare rather than by concentration, and its plaza to this day is adorned only by the 

 mud-walls of surrounding gardens. Large quantities of fruits, vegetables, and poultry are 



