252 ' A VISIT TO THE PROVINCES 



are probably not a dozen roofs of shingle, or other materials than those mentioned, in the whole 

 place. Many of them being of great size, the rooms of those on the original street have 

 very generally been rented for stores. In each of these may be found goods of almost every 

 variety, as well as mining and agricultural implements. As there is very little mud at any 

 time, and few suitable pebble-stones nearer than a mile and a half, only a street or two has 

 been paved, nor has the municipal council given much thought to the necessity of sidewalks. 



As to the people, they are a darker race than that in central Chile. This is attributable in part, 

 perhaps, to heat reflected from the sand whilst journeying to and from the mines and port ; though 

 among the lower orders the depth of color is artificially increased, from the rare occasions 

 when the external skin is brought into contact with water. The men are well formed and robust, 

 taller than the majority of the same classes about Santiago, and retaining more of the 

 aboriginal cast of feature. As much cannot be said of the women, who are decidedly homely 

 and untidy, as well as wanting in that ease of carriage which even the lowest of the Santiaguinas 

 possess. As my friends told me it was not very customary to visit ladies in their own houses, 

 I went to the opera one evening, hoping to see something of the better classes, as well as of 

 the style of Copiapo. If the samples present were an average, the city has little to boast of; 

 and their musical taste will be estimated by the fact, that at the commencement of the last act 

 of Bellini's ICapuleti ed i Montecchi (Rossi being the prima donna) there were just thirty persons 

 in the house, of whom three were females, and two of these members of the operatic company ! 



There is only one inn for the accommodation of strangers, and no one would recommend this. 

 Therefore, those who determine to visit Copiapo must be provided with such letters as will 

 obtain them relief from its discomforts. My fellow-traveller had been left at the house of a 

 friend who enjoys a most enviable reputation for intelligence, liberality of sentiment, wealth, 

 and hospitality ; and as a letter had been sent to me for him, Mr. Wheelwright urged that I 

 should not even prove the privations of the hotel an hour, but stop there with the instruments 

 and luggage at once. Such liberty was inexcusable in my estimation ; and though earnestly 

 hoping some of the letters with which friends had supplied me would facilitate a rescue before 

 the next day passed, I started at once for the much decried Fonda. Succor, however, was 

 nearer than anticipated ; for the carriage had scarcely gone half a square before its driver was 

 summoned to return, and the hospitalities of the mansion insisted on with a cordiality not less 

 pleasant than acceptable. The friend who gave me the letter had also written to his relative 

 by mail, and my arrival had been expected for some days. 



On the third day after, I left Copiapo for the silver district of Chanarcillo, in company with 

 a German friend long resident in Chile one for whose assistance in the observations at the 

 latter place, and instructive information during more than two years, I am under lasting obli- 

 gations. On this occasion he took upon himself all the trouble of preparations for the journey, 

 obtaining good mules and a careful arriero, as well as proper saddle-horses for our own use. 

 Though the distance is only fifty miles, and their several packing cases formed a very light 

 load for one animal, the cost of transportation of the magnetical instruments to the mines and 

 back was thirty dollars a sum which did not include the expenses of the arriero or animals. 

 For freight of the same packages from Santiago to Valparaiso and back a distance nearly 

 double the charge is very little more than one eighth, and one has nothing to do with the 

 maintenance of animals, either biped or quadruped. We rode out of town by a road 

 leading in a southeast direction up the course of the stream, and through a valley, or, more 

 appropriately, through a ravine, which became perceptibly narrower every few hundred yards. 

 So far as the meagre supply of water could be made available, there was verdure on either hand, 

 and here and there attempts to cultivate trees and shrubbery ; but the road itself, like that 

 below Copiapo, is a mass of almost impalpable sand, ground up by constantly passing carts and 

 mule trains. Within the first five or six leagues, three other ravines debouch on this ; and the 

 inclination of their beds, the rolled pebbles on the surface, and marks in the banks, warrant 

 the belief that they were formerly occupied by streams, confluents of the Copiapo when it 



