344 OFF TO GUASCO. [chap. xvi. 



and grapes of this district are famous for their excellence, 

 and are cultivated to a great extent. This valley is, per- 

 haps, the most productive one north of Quillota : I believe 

 it contains, including Coquimbo, 25,000 inhabitants. The 

 next day I returned to the Hacienda, and thence, together 

 with Don Jose, to Coquimbo. 



June 2nd. — We set out for the valley of Guasco, follow- 

 ing the coast-road, which was considered rather less desert 

 than the other. Our first day's ride was to a solitary 

 house called Yerba Buena, where there was pasture 

 for our horses. The shower mentioned as having fallen 

 a fortnight ago, only reached about half-way to Guasco ; 

 we had, therefore, in the first part of our journey a 

 most faint tinge of green, which soon faded quite away. 

 Even where brightest, it was scarcely sufficient to remind 

 one of the fresh turf and budding flowers of the spring 

 of other countries. While travelling through these deserts 

 one feels like a prisoner shut up in a gloomy court, 

 who longs to see something green and to smell a moist 

 atmosphere. 



June 'Tyfd. — Yerba Buena to Carizal. During the first 

 part of the day we crossed a mountainous rocky desert, 

 and afterwards a long deep sandy plain, strewed with 

 broken sea-shells. There was very little water, and 

 that little saline : the whole country, from the coast to 

 the Cordillera, is an uninhabited desert. I saw traces 

 only of one living animal in abundance, namely, the 

 shells of a Bulimus, which were collected together in 

 extraordinary numbers on the driest spots. In the 

 spring one humble little plant sends out a few leaves, 

 and on these the snails feed. As they are seen only 

 very early In the morning, when the ground is slightly 

 damp with dew, the Guasos believe that they are bred 

 from It. I have observed In other places that 

 extremely dry and sterile districts, where the soil is 

 calcareous, are extraordinarily favourable to land-shells. 

 At Carizal there were a few cottages, some brackish 

 water, and a trace of cultivation : but It was with 

 difficulty that we purchased a little corn and straw for 

 our horses. 



Ju7ie ^tk.— Carizal to Sauce. We continued to ride 

 over desert plains, tenanted by large herds of guanaco. 

 We crossed also the valley of Chaneral ; which, although 

 the most fertile one between Guasco and Coquimbo, is 



