OF ATACAMA AND COQUIMBO. 273 



which the Minister of Finance had provided me respecting the instrument*, and, a* has been 

 siiiil, they were conveyed to u store unquestioned ; indeed a cargo of contraband good* might 

 have lirrn disposed of with no ^r.-att-r cognizance of (In- revenue guardians. Kight day* after- 

 war. Is, \\hen tin- letter liiid heen left with the Jntendeiite at Serena as of no further tine, and I 

 was about to re-embark them in hroad daylight, SOUK- of tin- underlings were <|iiit(; unwilling to 

 permit it wit hoiit inspection. Their demand was too absurd, even had I not evidence that a 

 written order lay at the office to facilitate instead of detaining me ; and as a compliance would 

 have subjected me to an hour's work among a mob of dirty boatmen and peons, their right to 

 have the cases opened was refused. There was some little detention by maintenance of the 

 principle; but as soon as the facts were communicated to the chief, he reprimanded his subordi- 

 nates for malicious interference. Formerly there was great venality at all the ports along the 

 coast. An anecdote of this nature occurring at Ooquimbo came freshly to mind at the time of 

 my detention on the mole ; though it was scarcely probable that any of the custom-house officers 

 who had borne parts in it still held places under government. The story was told me by one of 

 the parties most interested, now a man of great wealth, and was substantially as follows : After 

 loading a ship with copper ores, it was intimated to him that a douceur to the officer who had 

 superintended its weighing would expedite the clearance papers a consummation devoutly 

 wished ; and it occurred to him that this needy guardian of the customs might make a mistake 

 of a few hundred quintals in his return, if the consideration was sufficiently tempting. On this 

 return, or rather on the document given to the collector at Serena, depended the amount of 

 export duty to be paid. Eighteen doubloons C$310) changed hands ; and an error was detected 

 in the quantities of ores delivered on board, which abated the dues to the government $600. 

 But the process did not end here. From the next in rank to whom the papers passed there 

 came a like intimation with precisely similar results, and they were finally sent up to Serena for 

 the signature of the chief prior to payment of the duties. Days elapsed, and still there was no 

 clearance ; nor would there probably have been any for weeks, had not his purse been lightened 

 of other eighteen ounces on the same conditions as the other two. The chief had got wind of 

 the good luck of his subs, and was unwilling to be slighted ; and thus the treasury was robbed 

 by three men of export dues amounting to near two thousand dollars ! Such pilfering was 

 then of every-day occurrence. At present there is more system, and the risk of detection is 

 greater. Moreover, the standard of probity in public officers has been very considerably 

 elevated, and such crimes are rendered less frequent. 



On the morning after landing, the instruments were conveyed to Herradura bay, and the 

 magnetical elements determined near the spot occupied by Capt. Fitzroy sixteen years before. 

 At that time the declination of the magnet was 14 30' east, and on the 28th of July I found it 

 to be 15 41', showing an annual variation of nearly 4^'. The inclination observed by him was* 

 34 20', and on the 29th July it was 32 10', being a yearly decrease of 8'. Of the climate I 

 shall have occasion to say something when speaking of Serena presently, to which it is so near 

 that the same remarks will apply. 



As its name imports, the bay is in the form of a horse-shoe, rather more than a mile and 

 three quarters in diameter, with an entrance of only one eighth of a mile open to the northwest 

 winds. On both sides the shore is high and rocky, with many cacti and woody plants, pre- 

 senting a picturesque appearance. At the southeast extremity a sand-beach, with a shelf 

 above, like that of Coquimbo, slopes off into a continuation of the first terrace. On the south 

 and west sides there is deep water and good anchoring ground. Here vessels are exposed to the 

 wind and sea ; and where the north shore might protect them against these, the ground is rocky 

 and the water shallow. A profusion of shells washed up during every blow find their way to the 

 beach. Some of them are very beautiful, though generally they are defaced by abrasion. Per- 

 fect specimens may be had from the rocks at every reflux of the tide. Among them few are 

 more attractive than the Chiton magni/icus and C. chilensis, both found in great numbers, though 



June 4, 1835. 

 35 



