FROM LIMA TO VALPARAISO. 449 



lion of even those who feel in. int.i.-t n-"aidin'.r the causes which have modelled the surface 

 <>t' tin- lain!."* I5nt I'm- the<e, in-. ir land mi^ht he mil i\ at<-d, small as is the stream and 

 iiniVei|iient a-- arc rains. 



Though the anchi.i. iich exposed during northerly winds, and the sea is then violent, 



tlir.se are .piit. as- iinn.mmon as heavy ruin-KtorniH; and ships lie here in all confidence. It is 

 t're.|nented mostly hy tlie lln^lish, who are proprietors of several valuable copper mines in the 



nei^hhorh 1. Their whips bring out coal, and such necessities as miners purchase, and take 



In mie freights of copper bars and ores. For a long time the Huasco mines were considered the 

 richest in Chile; Carrisal, San Juan, La Higuera, and the Camerones yielding purer metal 

 and more abundantly than any others. Its silver veins have never rivalled those either of the 

 valley of the Copiapo or the Coquimbo; but as there is a supply of water, mills for reducing 

 such ores by amalgamation were established many years ago. As has been alluded to, the 

 richest ores of silver brought to these establishments are those stolen by laborers at Chanarcillo 

 and other nearer mines, and sold to persons who make a business of such traffic. It is well 

 known at the reducing mills that most of these have no property in mines; but it would be 

 impertinent to inquire too closely respecting the affairs of one's neighbor. Four bars of silver, 

 each of 400 marks, were brought on board here ; and so completely does pilfering appear to be 

 systematized and acquiesced in by proprietors, that the shipment from Copiapo is quite a sure 

 index of the sum that will be despatched from Huasco. 



October 24. Very soon after midnight an old-fashioned rain began falling, the first experi- 

 enced since the close of September, when we were more than 2,000 miles north of this. As 

 a proper sequel to such notable commencement of the day, the morning was very like a New 

 England autumn day cold and murky and the passengers on deck clustered about the smoke- 

 pipe, wrapped in cloaks and ponchos. From the darkness of the night it was considered most 

 prudent to go outside of the Pajaros and Choros islands ; the former consisting of two, and 

 the latter of three rocky islets, the largest of which is about two miles long. The outermost 

 of the Choros, in latitude 29 16', is about three miles from the main land; the Pajaros are 

 twenty miles farther south, and twelve from the coast. With its castellated crags, and alter- 

 nate patches of white and dark shaded rocks, at a little distance the northern Pajaro resembles 

 a compactly built city. We passed it at 9 A. M., and as we drew towards the land the first 

 object made out through the misty atmosphere was the city of La Serena. Shortly afterwards 

 the high lands to its right and left became discernible ; then the table-land at whose base it is 

 located ; and finally the valley of the Coquimbo river greeted the sight, with its gardens, roads, 

 and white embowered dwellings. Situated near the outlet of a fertile valley, with a verdant 

 terrace in its rear, clusters of trees amid its bright-looking houses and steeples, rows of tall 

 poplars bounding the roads and walls of country seats, the city has a most picturesque appear- 

 ance from the bay ; but, as it is more than two leagues distant from the anchorage, and the 

 steamer intended to delay but one hour, it was only possible to obtain this sea view of it. 



Coquimbo, a straggling collection of plastered stone and adobe houses, is in the S.W. angle 

 of the bay. Most of the copper of the province is shipped from here; the largest smelting 

 furnaces belonging to a passenger on board, who a few years previously is said to have kept a 

 pulperia in Valparaiso. Subsequently he became possessed of copper mines at points along the 

 coast from Valparaiso to Huasco, a distance of nearly three hundred miles, and his wealth is 

 now incalculable. So extensive have his operations become, that he found it economical to 

 possess a steamer for the conveyance of operatives and implements from point to point. Other 

 smelting establishments at Herradura and La Compania have been mentioned in Chapter X. 



There were six vessels at anchor: one laden, another discharging a cargo of salt, and the 

 others taking in or awaiting freights of copper. At Herradura bay there were but two. 



After we left the port a foggy mist hung about the land, and a raw southerly breeze swept 

 over the ocean, with very slight changes throughout the day. Whenever the sun penetrated 



Darwin : Journal, &c. 



57 



