334 OFF TO COQUIMBO. [chap. xvi. 



were busy in drying figs and peaches on the roofs of their 

 cottages, while others were gathering the grapes from 

 the vineyards. It was a pretty scene ; but I missed that 

 pensive stillness which makes the autumn in England 

 indeed the evening of the year. On the loth we reached 

 Santiago, where I received a very kind and hospitable 

 reception from Mr. Caldcleugh. My excursion only cost 

 me twenty-four days, and never did I more deeply enjoy 

 an equal space of time. A few days afterwards I returned 

 to Mr. Corfield's house at Valparaiso. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



NORTHERN CHILE and PERU. 



Coast-road to Coquimbo — Great loads carried by the miners — 

 Coquimbo — Earthquake — Step-formed terraces — Absence 

 of recent deposits — Contemporaneousness of the Tertiary 

 formations — Excursion up the valley — Road to Guasco — 

 Deserts — Valley of Copiap6 — Rain and earthquakes — 

 Hydrophobia — The Despoblado — Indian ruins — Probable 

 change of climate — River-bed arched by an earthquake — Cold 

 gales of wind — Noises from a hill — Iquique — Salt alluvium — 

 Nitrate of soda — Lima — Unhealthy country — Ruins of 

 Callao, overthrown by an earthquake — Recent subsidence — 

 Elevated shells on San Lorenzo, their decomposition — Plain 

 with embedded shells and fragments of pottery — Antiquity 

 of the Indian Race. 



April 2'jth. — I set out on a journey to Coquimbo, and 

 thence through Guasco to Copiap6, where Captain Fitz 

 Roy kindly offered to pick me up in the Beagle. The 

 distance in a straight line along the shore northward is 

 only 420 miles ; but my mode of travelling made it a very 

 long journey. I bought four horses and two mules, 

 the latter carrying the luggage on alternate days. The 

 six animals together only cost the value of twenty -five 

 pounds sterling, and at Copiap6 I sold them again for 

 twenty - three. We travelled in the same independent 

 manner as before, cooking our own meals, and sleeping 

 in the open air. As we rode towards the Vino del Mar, 

 I took a farewell view of Valparaiso, and admired its 

 picturesque appearance. For geological purposes I made 

 a dStour from the hi gh road to the foot of the Bell of 



