1835.] EFFECTS OF MOISTURE ON LAND. 339 



man, he remembers when he was a boy at school at 

 Coquimbo, a holiday being given to see the captain of an 

 English ship, who was brought to the city to speak to the 

 governor. He believes that nothing would have induced 

 any boy in the school, himself included, to have gone close 

 to the Englishman ; so deeply had they been impressed 

 with an idea of the heresy, contamination, and evil to be 

 derived from contact with such a person. To this day they 

 relate the atrocious actions of the buccaneers ; and especially 

 of one man, who took away the figure of the Virgin Mary, 

 and returned the year after for that of St. Joseph, saying it 

 was a pity the lady should not have a husband. I heard 

 also of an old lady who, at a dinner in Coquimbo, remarked 

 how wonderfully strange it was that she should have lived 

 to dine in the same room with an Englishman ; for she 

 remembered as a girl, that twice, at the mere cry of " Los 

 Ingleses," every soul, carrying what valuables they could, 

 had taken to the mountains. 



May i^th. — We reached Coquimbo, where we stayed a 

 few days. The town is remarkable for nothing but its 

 extreme quietness. It is said to contain from 6000 to 8000 

 inhabitants. On the morning of the 17th it rained lightly, 

 the first time this year, for about five hours. The farmers, 

 who plant corn near the sea coast where the atmosphere is 

 more humid, taking advantage of this shower, would break 

 up the ground ; after a second they would put the seed in ; 

 and if a third shower should fall, they would reap a good 

 harvest in the spring. It was interesting to watch the 

 effect of this trifling amount of moisture. Twelve hours 

 afterwards the ground appeared as dry as ever ; yet after 

 an interval of ten days, all the hills were faintly tinged with 

 green patches ; the grass being sparingly scattered in hair- 

 like fibres a full inch in length. Before this shower every 

 part of the surface was bare as on a highroad. 



In the evening, Captain Fitz Roy and myself were dining 

 with Mr. Edwards, an English resident well-known for his 

 hospitality by all who have visited Coquimbo, when a sharp 

 earthquake happened. I heard the forecoming rumble, but 

 from the screams of the ladies, the running of the servants, 

 and the rush of several of the gentlemen to the doorway, I 

 could not distinguish the motion. Some of the women 

 afterwards were crying with terror, and one gentleman said 

 he should not be able to sleep all night, or if he did, it would 

 only be to dream of falling houses. The father of thi.s 



