328 NORTHERN CHILE. [CHAP. xvi. 



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

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

 taken to the mountains. 



14th. 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 most 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 high road. 



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 this person had lately lost all his property at Talcahuano, and 

 he himself had only just escaped a falling roof at Valparaiso, in 

 1822. He mentioned a curious coincidence which then happened: 

 he was playing at cards, when a German, one of the party, got up, 

 and said he would never sit mja room in these countries with the 

 door shut, as, owing to his having done so, he had nearly lost his 

 life at Copiapo. Accordingly he opened the door ; and no sooner 

 had he done this, than he cried out, " Here it comes again ! " and 

 the famous shock commenced. The whole party escaped. The 

 danger in an earthquake is not from the time lost in opening a 

 door, but from the chance of its becoming jammed by the move- 

 ment of the walls. 



It is impossible to be much surprised at the fear which natives 

 and old residents, though some of them known to be men of great 



