481 



CHILI. 



CHILI. 



462 



is unfavourable to the growth of plants which require a long time in 

 coming to maturity. The sugar-cane waa tried some years ago, but 

 it has been abandoned. 



Vegetables are now largely cultivated. Potatoes are grown in 

 great abundance in the northern districts. Capsicum is raised in the 

 valley of Aconcagua, and forma a considerable article in the internal 

 commerce of the country. The quinoa (Chenopodium Quinoa) is pecu- 

 liar to Chili. In the southern provinces it is raised in abundance : it 

 somewhat resembles millet, and a pleasant beverage is made of it. 

 Melons and water-melons, as well as pumpkins, succeed very well in 

 the northern provinces, where they are raised in great quantities and 

 attain a surprising size. 



Figs, grapes, pomegranates, oranges, and peaches succeed best in 

 the most northern districts, whence they are exported to the other 

 parts of the state. Wine is made at different places, but not with 

 any great success. The best is made near Concepcion. The olive- 

 tree succeeds well, but the oil is bad for want of a proper method of 

 preparing it. Extensive forests of wild apple and pear-trees occur 

 along the foot of the Andes in the southern provinces. The fruits 

 are hardly eatable, but cider is made of them. The forests, which 

 cover so considerable a portion of the southern provinces, contain 

 many fine timber-trees, which form one of the more important articles 

 of export. In the Andes south of the Volcano of Antuco many valleys 

 are covered with forests of the A raucaria, whose fruits contain a great 

 number of nuts twice as large as an almond, which are very palatable, 

 and constitute the principal food of the Indian tribe of the 

 Pehnenches. 



Cattle are very abundant north of the Rio Maule, the declivities of 

 the mountains and high hills affording copious pasture for four or 

 five months, and some low tracts which are sown with lucerne, for 

 the remainder of the year. Single proprietors sometimes possess from 

 10,000 to 20,000 head of cattle. Live stock, jerked beef, tallow, and 

 hides are large articles of export. Cheese is made on the banks of 

 the Rio Maule and sent to Peru : butter is made in the neighbourhood 

 of the larger towns. Horses, though less numerous than formerly, 

 are still bred in considerable numbers : they are of a middling size 

 and strong, and are in much request for exportation. Mules and 

 asses are also largely bred ; they are said to be superior to auy other 

 for carrying burdens over the passes of the Andes. Sheep are not 

 numerous, and their wool is bad. Goats are more plentiful. Swine are 

 found in abundance in the archipelago of Chiloe, whence hams are 

 exported : on the continent they are less numerous, and their flesh is 

 not of good flavour. Pork is salted in the harbours as provisions for 

 ships. The island of Mocha, between Concepcion and Valdivia, 

 is overrun with wild hones and pigs, both of which are used as fresh 

 stock by the whaling and sealing ships in the Pacific. 



Commerce, <kc. Chili is probably the only American state formerly 

 subject to Spain whose commerce has increased since the separation 

 from the mother country. The importations, according to a rough 

 estimate, have averaged during the last five or six years about 

 2, 000,00(V., and the exportntions, including the transit commerce, 

 about 2,500,000<. The foreign trade is mostly carried on through 

 i VALPARAISO, under which title it will be further noticed. The larger 

 part of the imports are from Great Britain : they consist chiefly of 

 cotton and woollen goods, iron, hardware, earthenware, &c. The 

 United States have the next largest share in the import trade ; the 

 goods sent consist chiefly of tobacco, sugar, oil, soap, candles, and 

 rough manufactured articles, besides tea from China, and silks &c. 

 from the East Indies. France sends a large quantity of wine, brandy, 

 silks, paper, perfumery, and fancy goods. Germany sends linens, 

 iron-ware, glass, Ac. Coffee, cotton, rice, salt, mate 1 , spirits, sugar, 

 dyes, Ac. are imported from various ports in Central and South 

 America. 



The articles of export, besides the bullion sent to Europe and the 

 United States, are grain and vegetables to California and Australia, 

 and various parts of South America ; hides and copper to England 

 and the United States ; hides to France, Germany, and Belgium ; 

 copper to China and the East Indies ; and the various European and 

 Indian goods received at Valparaiso and sent to the principal ports of 

 South America this transit-trade constituting in fact a most import- 

 ant part of the commerce of the republic. 



The manufactures of Chili are chiefly of the ordinary articles of 

 domestic consumption, as hempen cloths, hats, ponchos, earthenware, 

 cordage, leather, soap, tallow, spirits, tc., and coarse iron and copper 

 utensils. 



The coins, weights, and measures used in Chili are the same as 

 those of Spain. 



Divinont, Tovna, <tc. Chili is divided into 13 provinces, which 

 are subdivided into 52 department*. These provinces, beginning 

 from the north, are as follows : 



1. Atacama comprehends the most northern and sterile portion of 

 the republic. It exporta gold, silver, copper, and dried fruits. The 

 principal town and port is Copiapd ; but Port Caldera is attracting to 

 itself much of the export trade of this rich mining district The 

 population of the province is 25,166. 



2. (.'.M|iiiinbo extends southward from Atacama to the Rio Chuapa. 

 In general character it much resembles Atacama, but is somewhat 

 more fertile and populous. The copper-mines of this province are the 



richest in Chili ; there are also gold- and silver-mines. The exports 

 are the same as from Atacama, with the addition of some chinchilla 

 skins. Coquimbo town, near the bay of the same name, is the capital 

 and port. The population of the province is 85,349. 



3. Aconcagua contains the valley of the Rio Aconcagua and the 

 countries north of it to the Rio Chuapa. It exports cattle, grain, and 

 fruits, and has some rich mines of gold and copper. The capital is 

 S. Felipe, or Villa Vieja de Aconcagua. This province has been 

 already fully described. [ACONCAGUA.] The population is 91,674. 



4. Santiago comprehends the plains along the foot of the Andes on 

 both sides of the Rio Maypti, and part of the hilly and in some places 

 mountainous country between the plains and the Pacific. It contains 

 few mines, and their produce is small. Its wealth consists in wheat 

 and cattle. It contains Santiago, the capital of the republic. The 

 population is 207,434. 



5. Valparaiso is a small province comprehending the country 

 around the harbour of the same name, and is surrounded by the 

 provinces of Santiago and Colchagua. Large quantities of grain and 

 vegetables are raised for exportation. The capital, VALPARAISO, is 

 the most frequented harbour in the republic. The population of the 

 province is 75,962. 



6. Colehagua extends between the rivers Cachapoal and Maule, and 

 comprehends a country partly level and partly hilly. It is of great 

 fertility, and produces corn in abundance ; cattle are also very nume- 

 rous. In this province the immense forests begin which cover so 

 considerable a portion of the' south ; farther north there are no forests. 

 The capital, Sau Fernando, is a considerable town, and is situated in 

 a very fertile country. The population of the province is 173,073. 



7. Talca is an inland province, which has been formed out of the 

 provinces of Colchagua and Maule. It is for the most part mountain- 

 ous, and is covered with vast forests. Cattle are raised largely. A 

 good deal of copper is found. The population of the province is 

 71,381. 



8. Maule extends from the Rio Maule to the Rio Itata. It pro- 

 duces corn, wine, and tobacco. It is perhaps the most fertile part of 

 Chili, and consists mostly of an undulating country and some small 

 plains. Cattle constitutes the principal wealth of the inhabitants. 

 The chief town is Villa de Cauquenes, a small place situated in* 

 well-cultivated plain. The population of the province is 118,309. 



9. Nuble lies to the east of Maule, and comprehends the moun- 

 tainous country between the Andes and that province. A large part 

 of it is covered with lofty forest-trees. Copper abounds in some 

 places. The inhabitants are however chiefly dependent ori grazing. 

 The population is 89,955. 



10. Concepcion lies between the rivers Itata and Biobio, nnd 

 comprehends the sandy plain of Yumbel and the fertile plain of Ma 

 de Laxa, and in part the hilly country extending between the plains 

 and the sea. It is less fertile than Maule, a great part of its surface 

 being occupied by the Travesia de Yumbel and the sandy hills 

 between it and the sea ; but the remainder is very fertile, especially 

 the plain of Laxa. Corn and timber are the principal exports. Coal 

 of good quality is obtained, and carried for sale and export to Valpa- 

 raiso. The capital is Concepcion. The population of the province is 

 109,526. 



11. Valdivia comprehends the countries between the Rio Biobio 

 and the newly-formed province of Arauco ; but by far the greater 

 part of this tract is occupied by Indian tribes. Except the town of 

 Valdivia the European settlements are for the most part limited to a 

 small number of fortifications along the banks of the Biobio, among 

 which Nascimiento is the most important. Timber and a little corn 

 are exported. The capital is Valdivia. The population of the pro- 

 vince is 23,098. 



12. Arauco is a new province, comprehending the southern part of 

 the old province of Valdivia. Nearly the whole of this country is 

 still in the possession of the Araucanians, the most warlike and 

 perhaps the most civilised of ?he Indian tribes. [AUAUCANA.] The 

 population of the province is estimated at about 14,000. Fort Arauco, 

 on Ariuico Bay, one of the most important of the Chilian stations, is 

 described by Captain Fitzroy as merely a small square fort. Maulliu 

 Fort, near the western entrance of the Strait of Chacao, is the most 

 southern European settlement on the mainland of America. 



18. Chiloe (pronounced Chilo-e) comprehends the island of Chiloe 

 and the smaller islands in the Gulf of Ancud, which together con- 

 stitute the Archipelago of Chiloe. The island of Chiloe is the most 

 northern of that series of larger and smaller islands which skirt the 

 western coast of South America from Cape Horn northward. It is 

 divided from the continent by a wide strait called the Gulf of Ancud, 

 and at its northern extermity by the much narrower strait termed by 

 mariners the Chacao Narrows. It extends from north to south about 

 120 miles, and from east to west 60 miles, where widest ; but its eastern 

 coast being deeply indented the average width probably does not 

 exceed 40 miles. The whole island is a mass of rock, which iu no 

 part rises to a greater height than 2600 feet, and is covered with earth 

 and clothed with wood, chiefly consisting of a species of bastard cedar, 

 very durable, and affording excellent timber, which is largely exported. 

 In the island itself it is used for building vessels. The eastern coast, 

 which is much indented, has many excellent harbours, among which 

 the best are San Carlos, Chacao, Dalcahue, and Caatro, in all of which 



