1835.] PROFITS ON MINING. 343 



not be fully appreciated in England, namely, the absence of 

 fleas ! The rooms in Coquimbo swarm with them ; but 

 they will not 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 Copiap6, 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. Th* 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 2yd. — We descended into the fertile valley of 

 Coquimbo, and followed it till we reached an Hacienda be- 

 longing 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 surround- 

 ing 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 



