,324 NORTHERN CHILE. [CHAP. xvi. 



very usual in Chile. They supported themselves ou the produce 

 of a gardeu and a little field, but were very poor. Capital is here 

 so deficient, that the people are obliged to sell their green corn while 

 standing in the field, in order to buy necessaries for the ensuing 

 year. "Wheat in consequence was dearer in the very district of its 

 production than at Valparaiso, where the contractors live. The 

 next day we joined the main road to Coquimbo. At night there 

 was a very light shower of rain : this was the first drop that had 

 fallen since the heavy rain of September llth and 12th, which de- 

 tained me a prisoner at the Baths of Cauquenes. The interval was 

 seven and a half months ; but the rain this year in Chile was rather 

 later than usual. The distant Andes were now covered by a thick 

 mass of snow ; and were a glorious sight. 



May 2nd. The road continued to follow the coast, at no great 

 distance from the sea. The few trees and bushes which are common 

 in central Chile decreased rapidly in numbers, and were replaced 

 by a tall plant, something like a yucca in appearance. The surface 

 of the country, on a small scale, was singularly broken and irre- 

 gular ; abrupt little peaks of rock rising out of small plains or 

 basins. The indented coast and the bottom of the neighbouring 

 sea, studded with breakers, would, if converted into dry land, pre- 

 sent similar forms; and such a conversion without doubt has 

 taken place in the part over which we rode. 



3rd. Quilirnari to Conchalee. The country became more and 

 more barren. In the valleys there was scarcely sufficient water for 

 any irrigation; and the intermediate land was quite bare, not sup- 

 porting even goats. In the spring, after the winter showers, a thin 

 pasture rapidly springs up, and cattle are then driven down from 

 the Cordillera to graze for a short time. It is curious to observe 

 how the seeds of the grass and other plants seem to accommodate 

 themselves, as if by an acquired habit, to the quantity of rain 

 which falls on different parts of this coast. One shower far north- 

 ward at Copiapo produces as great an effect on the vegetation, as 

 two at Guasco, and as three or four in this district. At Valparaiso 

 a winter so dry as greatly to injure the pasture, would at Guasco 

 produce the most unusual abundance. Proceeding northward, the 

 quantity of rain does not appear to decrease in strict proportion to 

 the latitude. At Conchalee, which is only 67 miles north of Val- 

 paraiso, rain is not expected till the end of May; whereas, at 

 Valparaiso some generally falls early in April : the annual quantity 



