246 NORTHERN CHILE. [CHAP. xvl. 



distance from the sea. The few trees and bushes which are common 

 in central Chile decreased rapidly in numbers, and were replaced by a 

 tall plant, something like a yucca in appearance. The surface of the 

 country, on a small scale, was singularly broken and irregular ; abrupt 

 little peaks of rock rising out of small plains or basins. The indented 

 coast and the bottom of the neighbouring sea, studded with breakers, 

 would, if converted into dry land, present similar forms ; and such a 

 conversion without doubt has taken place in the part over which we 

 rode. 



May yd, Quilimari to Conchalee. The country became more and 

 more barren. In the valleys there was scarcely sufficient water for any 

 irrigation; and the intermediate land was quite bare, not supporting 

 even goats. In the spring, after the winter showers, a thin pasture 

 rapidly springs up, and cattle are then driven down from the Cordillera 

 to graze for a short time. It is curious to observe how the seeds of the 

 grass and other plants seem to accommodate themselves, as if by an 

 acquired habit, to the quantity of rain which falls on different parts of 

 this coast One shower far northward at Copiap6 produces as great 

 an effect on the vegetation, as two at Guasco and as three or four 

 in this district. At Valparaiso a winter so dry as greatly to injure the 

 pasture, would at Guasco produce the most unusual abundance. 

 Proceeding northward, the quantity of rain does not appear to decrease 

 in strict proportion to the latitude. At Conchalee, which is only 67 

 miles north of Valparaiso, rain is not expected till the end of May ; 

 whereas, at Valparaiso some generally falls early in April : the annual 

 quantity is likewise small in proportion to the lateness of the season at 

 which it commences. 



May tfh. Finding the coast-road devoid of interest of any kind, we 

 turned inland towards the mining district and valley of Illapel. This 

 valley, like every other in Chile, is level, broad, and very fertile : it is 

 bordered on each side, either by cliffs of stratified shingle, or by bare 

 rocky mountains. Above the straight line of the uppermost irrigating 

 ditch, all is brown as on a high road ; while all below is of as bright a 

 green as verdigris, from the beds of alfarfa, a kind of clover. We 

 proceeded to Los Hornos, another mining district, where the principal 

 hill was drilled with holes, like a great ants'-nest. The Chilian miners 

 are a peculiar race of men in their habits. Living for weeks together 

 in the most desolate spots, when they descend to the villages on feast- 

 days, there is no excess or extravagance into which they do not run. 

 They sometimes gain a considerable sum, and then, like sailors with 

 prize-money, they try how soon they can contrive to squander it They 

 drink excessively, buy quantities of clothes, and in a few days return 

 penniless to their miserable abodes, there to work harder than beasts 

 of burden. This thoughtlessness, as with sailors, is evidently the 

 result of a similar manner of life. Their daily food is found them, and 

 they acquire no habits of carefulness ; moreover, temptation and the 

 means of yielding to it are placed in their power at the same time. On 

 the other hand, in Cornwall, and some other parts of England, where 

 the system of selling part of the vein is followed, the miners, from 



