370 NORTHERN CHILE chap. 



live here at the height of only three or four thousand feet : it 

 can scarcely be the trifling diminution of temperature, but some 

 other cause which destroys these troublesome insects at this 

 place. The mines are now in a bad state, though they formerly 

 yielded about 2000 pounds in weight of silver a year. It has 

 been said that " a person with a copper-mine will gain ; with 

 silver, he may gain ; but with gold, he is sure to lose." This 

 is not true : all the large Chilian fortunes have been made by 

 mines of the more precious metals. A short time since an 

 English physician returned to England from Copiapo, taking 

 with him the profits of one share in a silver-mine, which 

 amounted to about 24,000 pounds sterling. No doubt a 

 copper- mine with care is a sure game, whereas the other is 

 gambling, or rather taking a ticket in a lottery. The owners 

 lose great quantities of rich ores ; for no precautions can prevent 

 robberies. I heard of a gentleman laying a bet with another, 

 that one of his men should rob him before his face. The ore 

 when brought out of the mine is broken into pieces, and the 

 useless stone thrown on one side. A couple of the miners who 

 were thus employed, pitched, as if by accident, two fragments 

 away at the same moment, and then cried out for a joke, " Let 

 us see which rolls farthest." The owner, who was standing by, 

 bet a cigar with his friend on the race. The miner by this 

 means watched the very point amongst the rubbish where the 

 stone lay. In the evening he picked it up and carried it to 

 his master, showing him a rich mass of silver-ore, and saying, 

 " This was the stone on which you won a cigar by its rolling 

 so far." 



May 2T,rd. — We descended into the fertile valley of 

 Coquimbo, and followed it till we reached an Hacienda 

 belonging to a relation of Don Jose, where we stayed the 

 next day. I then rode one day's journey farther, to see what 

 were declared to be some petrified shells and beans, which 

 latter turned out to be small quartz pebbles. We passed 

 through several small villages ; and the valley was beautifully 

 cultivated, and the whole scenery very grand. We were here 

 near the main Cordillera, and the surrounding hills were lofty. 

 In all parts of Northern Chile fruit-trees produce much more 

 abundantly at a considerable height near the Andes than in 

 the lower country. The figs and grapes of this district are 



