ISas.] COAST-ROAD TO COQUIMBO. 337 



CHAPTER XVI. 



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

 Earthquake — Step-formed terraces — Absence of recent deposits — Con- 

 temporaneousness of the Tertiary formations — Excursion up the valley — 

 Eoad to Guasco — Deserts — Valley of Copiapd — 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 bill — Iquique — Salt alluvium — Nitrate of soda — Lima — Unhealthy 

 country — Ruins of Callao, overthrown by an earthquake — Recent sub- 

 sidence — Elevated shells on San Lorenzo, their decomposition — Plain with 

 embedded shells and fragments of pottery — Antiquity of the Indian Race. 



NORTHERN CHILE AND PERU. 



April 2*lth. — I SET out on a journey to Coquimbo, and thence 

 through Guasco to Copiapo, wliere 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 alter- 

 nate days. The six animals together only cost the value of 

 twenty-five pounds sterling, and at Copiapo I sold them again 

 for twenty-tliree. We travelled in the same independent manner 

 as before, cooking our own meals, and sleeping in the open air. 

 As we rode towards the Vifio del Mar, I took a farewell view of 

 Valparaiso, and admired its picturesque appearance. For geo- 

 logical purposes I made a detour from the high road to the foot 

 of the Bell of Quillota. We passed througli an alluvial district 

 rich in gold, to the neighbourhood of Limache, where we slept. 

 Washing for gold supports the inhabitants of numerous hovels, 

 scattered along the sides of each little rivulet ; but, like all those 

 whose gains are uncertain, they are unthrifty in their habits, and 

 consequently poor. 



28^/t. — In the afternoon we arrived at a cottage at the foot of 

 the Bell mountain. The inhabitants were freeholders, whicli is 

 not very usual in Chile. They supported themselves on the pro- 



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