332 NOETHEKN CHILE. [CHAP. xvi. 



another, that one of his men should rob him before his face. 

 The 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 furthest." 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 %3rd. We descended into the fertile valley of Coquimbo, 

 and followed it till we reached an Hacienda belonging to a relation 

 of Don Jose, where we stayed the next day. I then rode one day's 

 journey further, to see what were declared to be some petrified 

 shells and beans, which latter turned out to be small quartz peb- 

 bles. 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 surrounding 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 and grapes of this district are famous 

 for their excellence, and are cultivated to a great extent. This 

 valley is, perhaps, the most productive one north of Quillota: I 

 believe it contains, including Coquirnbo, 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, following 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 

 brighest, 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 3rd. Yerba Buena to Carizal. During the first part of 



