114 NORTHERN CHILE. 



ease, some information might possibly be gained 

 by considering the circumstances under which it, 

 originates in distant cUmates ; for it is improbable 

 that a dog already bitten should have been brought 

 to these distant countries. 



At night a stranger arrived at the house of Don 

 Benito, and asked permission to sleep there. He 

 said he had been wandering about the mountains 

 for seventeen days, having lost his way. He start- 

 ed from Guasco, and, being accustomed to travel- 

 ling in the Cordillera,, did not expect any difficulty 

 in following the track to Copiapo ; but he soon be- 

 came involved in a labyrinth of mountains, whence 

 he could not escape. Some of his mules had fallen 

 over precipices, and he had been in great distress. 

 His chief difficulty arose from not knowing where 

 to find water in the lower country, so that he was 

 obliged to keep bordering the central ranges. 



We returned down the valley, and on the 22d 

 reached the town of Copiapo. The lower part of 

 the valley is broad, forming a fine plain like that 

 of Quillota. The town covers a considerable space 

 of ground, each house possessing a garden : but it 

 is an uncomfortable place, and the dwellings are 

 poorly furnished. Every one seems bent on the 

 one object of making money, and then migrating as 

 quickly as possible. All the inhabitants are more 

 or less directly concerned with mines ; and mines 

 and ores are the sole subjects of conversation. Ne- 

 cessaries of all sorts are extremely dear, as the dis- 

 tance from the town to the port is eighteen leagues, 

 and the land carriage very expensive, A fowl 

 costs five or six shillings ; meat is nearly as dear 

 as in England ; firewood, or rather sticks, are 



ii.,p. 524. Webster's Description of the Azores, p. 124. Voyage 

 a risle de France, par un Officier du Roi, tome i., p. 248. De- 

 scription of St. Helena, p. 123. 



