362 CHARLES DARWIN 



mines about the number of foreigners now scattered over 

 the whole country, he told me that, though quite a young 

 man, he remembers when he was a boy at school at 

 Coquimbo, a holiday being given to see the captain of an 

 English ship, who was brought to the city to speak to the 

 governor. He believes that nothing would have induced 

 any boy in the school, himself included, to have gone close 

 to the Englishman; so deeply had they been impressed with 

 an idea of the heresy, contamination, and evil to be derived 

 from contact with such a person. To this day they relate 

 the atrocious actions of the bucaniers; nd especially of 

 one man, who took away the figure of the Virgin Mary, and 

 returned the year after for that of St. Joseph, saying it 

 was a pity the lady should not have a husband. I heard 

 also of an old lady who, at a dinner at Coquimbo, remarked 

 how wonderfully strange it was that she should have lived 

 to dine in the same room with an Englishman; for she 

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

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

 had taken to the mountains. 



iqth. 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 I7th 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 sur- 

 face 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 



