DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF RAIN. 93 



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. 



3d. — Quilimari to Conchalee, The country be- 

 came more and more barren. In the valleys thei-e 

 was scarcely sufficient water for any irrigation ; 

 and the intermediate land was quite bare, not sup- 

 porting 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 giass and other plants seem 

 to accommodate themselves, as if by an acquired 

 habit, to the quantity of rain which falls on differ- 

 ent parts of this coast. One shower far northwai'd 

 at Copiapo produces as great an effect on the ve- 

 getation 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 pro- 

 duce 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 Valpa- 

 raiso, 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. 



ith. — Finding the coast-road devoid of interest 

 of any kind, we turned inland towards the mining 

 district and valley of Illapel. This valley, like ev- 

 ery other in Chile, is level, broad, and very fertile : 

 it is bordered on each side either by cliffs of strati- 

 fied shingle or by bare rocky mountains. Above 

 the straight line of the upperinost irrigating ditch 

 all is brown as on a high road, while all below is 



