116 



CHILI. 



rock* which had been precipitated upon the 

 line. The shocks were quite perceptible aa 

 far tooth as Curioo. The Governor of IV- 

 torea informal the Minister <>1 tho Interior 

 that much damage bad been done in that 

 town on the 7tb of the same month ; the walls 

 of the parish church, the jail, tho market- 

 house, and of a school, had been ghatt 

 and the building* left in rains. Severn! p -r- 

 on* were killed, and others sustained 

 urea of the arms or legs. At La Serena t!io 

 severity of tho shock caused great alarm ; in 

 Quillota many edifices were destroyed ; tlio 

 damage at Ligna was estimated at $50,000, 

 and that at Limnche at $187,000. 



In Chilo6 a bed of coal was reported to 

 have been discovered, exceeding in width any 

 of the coal-beds of England, and 40 yards in 

 ,.,-.:.. 



Machines for agricultural and mining pur- 

 poses, and for use in the arts and sciences, in- 

 tended for the exhibition of 1875, were to bo 

 admitted duty free. 



iver-raine was discovered in Oerro 

 Negro, the vein of which is nearly five feet in 

 width, and can be traced to a distance of up- 

 ward of 800 yards. It is full of native silver. 



The French residents in Valparaiso sent a 

 handsome gold medal to bo presented to M. 

 Thiers, in recognition of the eminent services 

 he had rendered to his country. 



Early in November, a petition, signed by a 

 large number of the leading property-holders 

 in Valparaiso, was presented to the Central 

 Government, demanding its protection against 

 the arbitrary acts of the local authorities. 



A great discovery of silver deposits was 

 made in the vast desert of Atacama, some 

 45 miles from Cbaflaral. The ore is said to 

 yield from 8,000 to 10,000 marks per eajon. 

 At Copiapo much excitement was produced 

 by the news, and all the towns of that region 

 were likely to be deserted. Indeed, tho 

 crowds setting oat for the new mines were so 

 numerous thnt at Copiapo as much as $150 

 had been paid for a single draught-mule. 



Five of the Caracoles mines alone paid, 

 during the first six months of the year, 8,598 

 laborer*, who worked 1,705 metres, and ob- 

 tained 45.782 kilogrammes of ore. 



On September 5th. tenders for colonization 

 were opened at Santiago, and were referred to 

 a commiMion. In a reform measure, then under 



' ' . . ,.:'. 



cabling foreigners, after a residence of one 

 year in the republic, to apply for letters of 

 Mttmlliation. 



Bone twenty Swiss families were about to 

 ettle in the Magellan Straits colony. 



The losses caused to British insurance com- 

 pttiM by the disastrous fires in Valparaiso 

 are reported to have reached $85,000. 



Onlike most other aknilar regions, the 

 Chilian desert* contain (uures at on., i n - 

 JniU IB variety, and inAanMiU,- in miality. 

 The discovery of nitre -.was followed by the 



CHINA. 



discovery of borax ; next came the vast motal- 

 lit'i-rnu* deposits, particularly as nudtitadiwnu 



- of silver-lead ores; and then the s 

 mines of Caracoles. Rich and abundant veins 

 of copper are now reported to have been t'onml 

 within a few leagues of Salinas, and stnr 

 parallel layers of pebbles suitable t'oi 

 mamifuetiire of cameos. A species of alabaster 

 has also been discovered near Caracoles, sus- 

 ceptible of a high polish, and well adapted for 

 parlor ornaments. Not long ago a stone was 

 extracted from the Merceditas mines, contain- 

 ing embedded in it a shell of perfect form, in 

 a matrix of chloride of silver. From other 

 veins ore obtained impressions of ammonites 

 and bivalves (Ecomphalut j/etangulutut, and 

 Cardium poralotum). 



From the Blauca Torre more wonderful 

 relics still, of a former world, have been 

 brought to light. At a depth of sonn 

 feet, shells have been met with, presenting all 

 the lustre of a bright pearl-shell. Round 

 balls, somewhat resembling billiard-balls in 

 size and shape, have been pronounced to bo 

 the eggs of antediluvian birds, winded re^ 

 and toad-liko monsters, that repaired to that 

 locality for the purpose of laying their eg 

 a period when tho stratum now forming tho 

 bottom of the mines was tbo upper: 

 stratum of that part of the terrestrial surface. 



CHINA, an empire in Asia; reigning Ivn- 

 peror, T'oung-che, formerly called Ki-t-i:!ii_'. 

 "High Prosperity," born April -2\. 

 eldest son of the Emperor Ilicng-fimg, "JVn'cct 

 Bliss;" succeeded to the throne at the death 

 of his father, August 22, 1861, became of ago 

 and assumed the government in 1873. The 

 present sovereign is tho eighth ruler of the 

 Tartar dynasty of Ta-tsing, "the Sublimely 

 Pure," which has ruled in China since, 1644. 

 Each Emperor has tho right of appointing his 

 successor. Tho Emperor llicng-fimg, on des- 

 ignating his son, a minor, as his successor, ap- 

 pointed eight high officials as guardians, but 

 they were overthrown ^.n after the death 

 of Ilieng-fung, and the supremo power was 

 token possession of by the mother of i he > 

 Emperor, and the first wife of the late Empe- 

 ror, who appointed Jih-sti. Prince of Ko: 

 the head of the council of ministers, and as re- 

 gent of tho empire. 



The area and the population of China cannot 

 at present be accnratelv Mad-d. MS parts of the 

 western dependencies have MicccsM'nlly estab- 

 lished their independence, while other port ions, 



especially the district of Kooltsha. have been in- 

 corporated with Hii.ssia. Although tho new 

 frontiers cannot, as yet, be accurately defin, d. 

 it is assumed, that at'least 600, ooo square miles 

 of tho former possessions of China were, in 

 1878, entirely lost for the imperial (;<. 

 ment. Another large tract of land, in the 

 southwestern part of China proper, which fur 

 many years had been in the hands of the 

 Mohammedan Panthays, was, in the 

 months of tho year 187::, and in the beginning 





