334 NOKTHERN CHILE. [CHAP. xvi. 



born-hood. Five leagues higher up stands Freyrina, a long 

 straggling village, with decent whitewashed houses. Again, ten 

 leagues further up Ballenar is situated; and above this Guasco 

 Alto, a horticultural village, famous for its dried fruit. On a 

 clear day the view up the valley is very fine ; the straight opening 

 terminates in the far-distant snowy Cordillera; on each side an 

 infinity of crossing lines are blended together in a beautiful haze. 

 The foreground is singular from the number of parallel and step- 

 formed terraces ; and the included strip of green valley, with its 

 willow-bushes, is contrasted on both hands with the naked hills. 

 That the surrounding country was most barren will be readily 

 believed, when it is known that a shower of rain had not fallen 

 during the last thirteen months. The inhabitants heard with the 

 greatest envy of the rain at Coquimbo ; from the appearance of the 

 sky they had hopes of equally good fortune, which, a fortnight 

 afterwards, were realized. I was at Copiapo at the time ; and 

 there the people, with equal envy, talked of the abundant rain at 

 Guasco. After two or three very dry years, perhaps with not more 

 than one shower during the whole time, a rainy year generally 

 follows; and this does more harm than even the drought. The 

 rivers swell, and cover with gravel and sand the narrow strips of 

 ground, which alone are fit for cultivation. The floods also injure 

 the irrigating ditches. Great devastation had thus been caused 

 three years ago. 



June 8th. We rode on to Ballenar, which takes its name from 

 Ballenagh in Ireland, the birthplace of the family of O'Higgins, 

 who, under the Spanish government, were presidents and generals 

 in Chile. As the rocky mountains on each hand were concealed 

 by clouds, the terrace-like plains gave to the valley an appearance 

 like that of Santa Cruz in Patagonia. After spending one day at 

 Ballenar I set out, on the 10th, for the upper part of the valley of 

 Copiapo. We rode all day over an uninteresting country. I am 

 tired of repeating the epithets barren and sterile. These words, 

 however, as commonly used, are comparative; I have always 

 applied them to the plains of Patagonia, which can boast of spiny 

 bushes and some tufts of grass ; and this is absolute fertility, as 

 compared with northern Chile. Here again, there are not many 

 spaces of two hundred yards square, where some little bush, 

 cactus or lichen, may not be discovered by careful examination ; 

 and in the soil seeds lie dormant ready to spring up daring the first 



