yune 20, 1889] 



NATURE 



187 



Deposits of nitrate of soda are known along the west coast of 

 South America for a distance of 500 miles at least, from a little 

 south of Taltal up to the River Camerones ; and it is reported 

 that beds have been discovered 150 miles further north, in the 

 province of Arequipa (see Fig. i). 



The physical structure of the coast is 

 identical throughout ail that great length. 

 Everywhere an arid range of hills 4000-6000 

 • feet high rises abruptly out of the sea ; while, 

 behind them, a flat, waterless desert Pampa 

 slopes gradually up for 50-100 miles to the 

 foot of the snowy Cordillera. Nitrates are 

 only found on this desert Pampa, but under 

 somewhat variable conditions. Un the Tama- 

 rugal Pampa— where all the great English 

 companies have their factories — the nitrate 

 is found exclusively on the western or sea- 

 ward edge of the Pampa, on the first slopes 

 of the coastiange ; in the Noria district, on 

 the lowest ])ortion of a district surrounded 

 by hills ; and above Antofagasta on the sides 

 of a dry river-bed. 



The aspect of the Pampa is always essen- 

 tially of the desert type. Above Iquique, 

 the plain is sparsely covered with Taoiarugal 

 bushes ; and the bold features of the Cor- 

 dillera above Tarapaca form a sufficiently 

 pleasing landscape. Inside from Antofa- 

 gasta, on the desert of Atacama, there is no 

 view of the mountains, and nothing greets 

 the eye but a sloping plain of brown earthy 

 sand, whose distant outlines can scarcely be 

 distinguished through the quivering air. No 

 cloud on the sky tempers the rays of a 

 nearly vertical sun, blue mirage lakes tan- 

 talize the thirsty traveller, the hand can 

 scarcely touch the scorching sand at 130", 

 the parched air may indicate 90", and a 

 light south-west wind raises whirlwinds of 

 dust in every direction. Not a bird, nor a 

 beast, nor a plant of the lowest type can live 

 on these barren wastes ; and yet the hidden 

 wealth below has led to the erection of 

 villa^^es which contain more than 500 people, 

 whose every necessary of life has to be 

 brought from a great distance. 



The absence of' water has always been a 

 great difficulty in the way of carrying on any 

 industry in these deserts. Fifteen years ago, 

 water sold on the Atacama de>ert for $20 

 the arroha — say lo.*-. a gallon — and a drink 

 for a mule cost 15^^. At Carmen Alto, in the 

 same district, a sun condenser, with 50,000 

 square feet of glass, was employed to distil 

 fresh from salt water ; and though this was 

 afterwards wrecked by a whirlwind, a smaller 

 apparatus, on the sauie principle, is now 

 woiking at a profit at Sierra Gorda, though 

 the water is sold at only 30 cents, the arr-oba, 

 or about l^(/. a gallon. 



Fresh water is now supplied to most of the 

 towns on the coast, and to the factories 

 inland, by means of condensed steam. Some 

 of the condensers can produce no less than 

 25 tons of good water for every ton of coal 

 burnt in the boilers ; and some are even re- 

 ported to have attained an efficiency of 30 

 tons of water for the same amount of fuel. 



More recently, schemes have been started 

 for the water supply of the towns on the 

 coast by pipes from springs at the foot of 

 the mountains beyond the Pampa ; and 

 Mollerdo, Iquique, Antofagasta, and Taltal 

 are either actually supplied with drinking- 

 water by this means, or works are in pro- 

 gress for the same purpo e. 



Very few Indians can have lived on the Pampa before the 

 arrival of Europeans. A few Changos still survive along the 

 seaward face of the coast range, who live by fishing, and who 

 till recently had no knowledge of metals. The Aymara language 

 is still spoken in Tarapaca, and all the place-names on the 



Tamarugal Pampa— such as Paccha, Jaz Pampa, Puntunchara, 

 &c.— belong to that idiom. In the Antofagasta and Taltal 

 districts, on the contrary, though further to the south, the place- 

 names, such as Cachinal, &c., are Quichua, and any Indians of 

 the Cordillera speak in that tongue. A good many of the feonsy 



Fig. I.— Map of the ni rue districts if S nth Amer'.c.i. The 

 thos; north of the R.vtr C'.imerones 



shaded par;s are nitrate grounds; 

 are uncertain. 



but 



or laboureis, who work in the inaquinas, are Bolivians fron> 

 Cochabamba, who talk Quichua, and some of the words used ia 

 the factories, such as cancha, &c. , are derived from that language. 

 These men chew coca, and though not so strong, are more 

 laborious than the Chillenos from the south. 



