ANDACOLLO — LIMA — PANAMA JAMAICA. 1^9 



The copper ores extracted liere are of a very superior 

 quality and ley. As we rode into tlie town we were 

 literally taken possession of by Don Gabriel Yidela, a 

 rich mine owner, who insisted on our taking up our 

 quarters with him during the fiesta, and for two days we 

 enjoyed the hospitality of this estimable gentleman. As 

 the hotel at AndacoUa is not quite equal to the Langham, 

 we were not sorry. 



Andacollo is celebrated chiefly for its Virjen, or Virgin. 

 This saint is supposed to possess marvellous powers both 

 for good and evil, and her shrine is visited from all parts 

 of the coast, even from Bolivia. Many of the miners 

 make a vow that if their mines turn out well they will 

 give so much to La Yirjen, and these vows are rarely, 

 if ever, broken. Photographs of her are sold all over 

 Chile, principally on board the coasting steamers, as a 

 protection from disease and danger. lu the olden times, 

 at Christmas, a miner or Indian out of luck could go and 

 borrow a small sum of the Virgin, for which of course 

 she charged him a trifle for interest, merely a hundred 

 times or so the original amount. Such, however, was 

 the terror of her name, that I was informed no one ever 

 failed to pay back, at all events, the original sum. I 

 went to see her of course; I found the church a 

 tumbledown concern, and La Virjen much like other 

 figures; she was completely covered with jewellery — 

 which, by the way, I was told was 'false, the real things 

 being stowed away by the priests. She is reported to be 

 immensely rich, but where the money goes to is rather 

 hard to discover. In the evening there was a display of 

 fireworks and a theatrical representation; the theatre 

 was a courtyard, and the stage merely a few boards and 

 pieces of red linen; the admission was 24d., and the 



