DISTRIBUTION OP INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES. 59 



latin-4 his tf.-iins, iniiains in his shop, Mlmt and uniim \vd AH he quickens the circulation of the 

 gold, whose scarcely \vaslu-.l particles serve instead of money t'.r exchanges. 



Tli- province dors nt reach to the sea; and, as it has no port, its products are sent to 

 Talrahimno, or Tome, on the opposite side of the bay, where they find a market, or are 

 shipped to the north. 



Within the Andes, and to the E.S.E. from Chilian, there are the great sulphur baths of 

 the country, and the extraordinary deposits of that mineral may one day prove lucrative among 

 other column-rial resources of the province. In its vicinity, and all about the region of the 

 baths, in numerable fumarolaa render the air almost intolerable. 



In the statistics of the province of Maule, there are many data relating to its then depart- 

 ment San Carlos ; but of the department of Chilian, forming the other half of S'uhle, nothing 

 authentic has yet been published by the government which will serve as an index to it indus- 

 trial resources. Both departments, however, are extremely well watered, very fertile, and well 

 adapted to the cultivation of cereals, vines, most fruits, and to the rearing of cattle ; though 

 incursions of the Indians have somewhat impeded agricultural prosperity. As these warlike 

 neighbors have of late years yielded measurably to the influences of civilization, and have 

 themselves become settled and agriculturists to a limited extent, their marauding forays are 

 no longer held in such dread, and unoccupied lands are rapidly filling up. But the disposition 

 to accumulate real estate to which this comparative security has given rise, has also had an 

 unfavorable effect by exhausting the means with which these new possessions, or parts of them, 

 might have been brought under culture, and thus large tracts still remain to be redeemed 

 from a state of nature. The same reasons have operated to still greater extent in preventing 

 the increased rearing of cattle. These are the objects most coveted by the aboriginal hordes, 

 who collected and drove off every animal from slightly protected districts ; often murdering 

 every male whom they encountered, and forcing the women into captivity to form part of their 

 seraglios. Applying the laws of increase established by experience to the statistics of San 

 Carlos, for 1843, viz : 20 per cent, per annum for neat cattle, 15 per cent, for horses, 60 per 

 cent, for sheep, 120 per cent, for goats, and 600 per cent, for swine; and assuming Chilian to 

 have had an equal number of these animals at that time, if one third the annual augmentation 

 remain to multiply the stocks, at the commencement of 1850 the numbers in the province will 

 have been 33,931 neat cattle, 17,714 horses and mules, 220,769 sheep, 21,023 goats, and 

 778,000 swine. Except in the last, which was trebly in excess, these numbers coincide very 

 nearly with an estimate given me by one of the largest land-holders. Notwithstanding the 

 obstacles mentioned, and the super-added one of difficult transport, quantities of surplus grain, 

 cattle, wool, and wines, are annually sent out of the province. 



Its principal gold mines have already been alluded to. These were at first only lavaderos. 

 Subsequently, as the earth was excavated to "be washed, mines were detected, and the working 

 of these has gradually afforded increased profits. In August, 1850, the Intendente reported 

 to government respecting one of them, that each day's labor produced a greater quantity of 

 the precious metal than the preceding one. On the first day after striking the vein, only $34 

 could be obtained, and then by the aid of quicksilver ; at the end of nine days, it had augmented 

 to $150 ; and before the close of the month, the average of each hide-bag of ore, measuring 

 something more than half a bushel, afforded $75, without the use of mercury. There were 

 also several lavaderos and one gold mine in operation in the department of San Carlos, but 

 their products did not amount to much. All these mines need machinery and competent di- 

 rectors to develop their full value. 



CONCEPCION. The province of Concepcion, created by the law of division of the republic, 

 has recently been deprived of the larger portion of its territory, and now consists of the 

 tract lying between the rivers Itata and Biobio, the crests of the Andes and the Pacific. Its 

 greatest extent from S.E. to N.W. is 130 miles, and its average breadth 45 ; so that its 

 superficial area is 5,850 square miles. The departments arc Concepcion, Talcuhuano, Coelcmu, 



