DISTRIBUTION OP INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES. 61 



elevations of the ^reaf < -liain far above the line of perpetual consolation, in the central range 

 tin MI- is scarcely n hill 1,000 feet high. Adiniral.lv intersected hy rivers, no lens than iM-neficiallr 

 irrigated 1>\ natur.-, tin- l.r..ad valley is covered with vegetable mould, fertile in the highest 

 e. \\ hi Ut the sh.pes of its mountains afford excellent exposures for vineyards or abundant 

 pasturage for animals. Undrr Spanish mlc ipiite large portions of its domain were an well 

 cultivated as t hose of any other part of Chile. Then, each proprietor either lived on his estate 

 or in tin; iici^lilM.rin- best prot. -cted town; but subsequent years of war carried devastation 

 nearly everywhere : first, in the struggle for liberty ; next, in the contests between Chilenoa 

 and Aborigines; finally, in the fratricidal conflicts from which, unfortunately, the nation had 

 not been wholly exempt, and more than one of which has originated in this very province. 

 Sometimes one party have been masters of the country, sometimes the other; but it mattered not 

 to the peacefully-inclined haciendados which was successful, as both consumed or took away 

 their grain and cattle, and they were fortunate if life and dwellings were spared with which 

 to begin the world anew. Of late years, however, additional security has been given to life 

 and property. The unsubdued Araucanians are permanently beyond the Biobio; and though 

 nomadic tribes living on the opposite side have made occasional raids on the western slope of 

 the Andes, and a large body of revolted troops were for months in the northern part of the 

 province, the influences of peace, the markets opened to their products by the discovered wealth 

 of California, the increased riches of Atacama, and the examples set by foreigners who have 

 settled among them, have had wonderful effect towards the extension of agriculture and general 

 provincial prosperity. In 1850 the Intendente estimated its wheat crop at 395,000 bushels, 

 there being still 84,000 of the previous year's growth in the hands of producers, and a large 

 quantity in the mills about Concepcion. This estimate was probably derived from the diezmo 

 or catastro returns; which, as was shown respecting the province of Maule, are data that serve 

 only to mislead, as the exports will conclusively establish. But wheat is only one of many 

 lucrative crops: corn, beans, peas, potatoes, hemp, barley, vegetables of every description, 

 fruits, wine, cattle, sheep, and timber, all yield remunerative returns. When properly made, 

 the wine called mosto is very little, if at all, inferior to Burgundy. Then, there are literally 

 forests of apple-trees growing without culture, from whose fruit large quantities of chicha are 

 made ; and the Araucaria imbricata, with which the slopes of the Andes abound, yields the 

 " pinon," a nut so similar in taste and farinaceous properties to the chestnut, that it is no less 

 prized by the ladies of Santiago, than by the Araucanians and Pehuen-ches. To the former 

 they are delicacies to the latter, bread. Valuable, also, are the beds of wild strawberries, and 

 an indigenous tuber from which a fine quality of arrow-root is prepared. In short, Concepcion 

 has soil and climate capable of supplying all the wants of the entire population of Chile. 



Nor do its industrial resources end here. Gold, copper, and coal exist abundantly, and need 

 but enterprise and mining intelligence for their proper development to make the mines con- 

 tribute largely to provincial wealth. The positions and extent of some of them are given in 

 the chapter (A Visit to Atacama and Coquiinbo) which details the general mineral distribution 

 of the country, and no further allusion need be made here to this source of revenue than by a 

 quotation from Fre"zier and a statement of their produce shipped in 1850. 



Fre"zier says : "La Concepcion is seated in a country abounding in all things, not only to 

 supply the necessities of life, but also containing infinite wealth. All about the city there is 

 gold found, especially 12 leagues to the eastward at a place called * Estancia del Rey,' the 

 King's Station, where by washing they get those bits of gold which the Spaniards c&llpepitas 

 that is, grains ; there have been some found weighing eight or ten marks, (a mark is eight 

 ounces,) and extraordinarily fine. Formerly much was got about Angol, which is 24 leagues 

 off; and, if the country were inhabited by a laborious people, it might be had in a thousand 

 parts, where they are satisfied there are good washing places that is, lands whence it is taken 

 by only washing, as shall be observed hereafter. 



"If they penetrate as far as the long ridge of mountains called La Cordillera, there is an 



