814 REPORT — 1892. 



Councils, backed by the approval of the various bodies whose function it is to 

 regulate and extend scientific instruction. In this -way a demand for teaching in 

 meteorology would be created, and the supply shjould come from some of the main 

 fixed centres of technical education, which should not only supply systematic 

 instruction, but should be in a position to deal with questions referring to the 

 relations of meteorology to agriculture, fisheries, &c., and to- discuss the data 

 collected by the teachers sent out bearing on local observations and prognostics. 



5. The Desert of Atacama. 5y Mrs. Lillie Grove, 



The desert of Atacama spreads over two Chilian provinces, Atacama and Anto- 

 fagasta. It lies between the Pacific and the Andes, and between the rivers Loa and 

 Copiapo to the north and south. It rises gradually to the Cordillera real, forming 

 a kind of amphitheatre, in the midst of which are arid plains and vast salt lakes. 

 One of the latter. Lake Askotan, is quite dried up, and its bed of salt is dotted 

 with a few islands and tepid water puddles called ' water-eyes.' It is surrounded 

 by hio-h mountains, many of which are volcanic. Above this amphitheatre is the 

 tableland of the Andes, 13,000 feet high, called Pima, which word is the origin 

 of the name given to mountain-sickness. 



Turning to the industrial history of the desert, we find that it was a terror to 

 all except the conquering Spaniards until the end of the last century; and while 

 the silver mines of Potosi were being successfully worked the treasures of this 

 region lay unexplored. In 1832 Juan Yodoi, a shepherd, found the silver mine of 

 Chauarcillo, and then a legion of courageous and hardy cateadores (mine-seekers) 

 laid siege, as it were, to the mountains. The discoveries of silver and copper 

 mines, of beds of guano, of nitrates, and borate of lime followed one another in 

 quick succession, and laid the foundation of great commercial prosperity. The 

 Government gave its countenance and help to the work, sending out scientific 

 commissioners and giving security to capitalists. 



The great work which requires special notice is the railway from Antofagasta 

 to Uyuni, which is a marvel of engineering skill. It scales a plateau 13,000 feet 

 high "and winds through a desert plain. The whole journey lasts three days, and 

 is not entirely a pleasant experience, as the sun, falling on the white soil, makes 

 a blinding glare, and the heat and thirst are almost unbearable. On the way that 

 strange phenomenon of the desert, the mirage, was seen by the traveller. The 

 plain, which stretches out to the horizon, was dotted over with the graves of the 

 victims of the desert. It is interesting to notice that the soil and the air are such 

 that bodies do not decay in the ground, and the inhabitants are in the habit of 

 removing the corpses of their friends from place to place. At night the cold is 

 intense, the changes of temperature being a great hardship. As the line rises the 

 prospect becomes more varied : the road winds round the Limou Verde, and below 

 is the basin of Atacama in the midst of the desert, while all around are the mighty 

 volcanoes, Licancour, San Pedro, and others. Then the line descends into the 

 valley of the Loa. Halt for the night is made at Calama, ' The Queen of tlie 

 Desert,' where the hotel is comfortable on the whole. The journey is continued 

 on the next day past Askotan, on the edge of the lake, and CeboUar, where there 

 are mines of ice. From Calama another hardship is added to the heat, namely, 

 mountain-sickness, which aflects nearly everyone. It is caused partly by the 

 pressure of the atmosphere, partly by the dryness of the air, wliich cuts the face 

 mercilessly. OUague is the stopping-place for the second night, and the next 

 evening the arduous journey is completed, and the terminus Uyuni is reached. 

 Here the Boliviau Government intends to build a town, which will be the centre 

 of silver mining in South America. 



G. Fhotography as a Means of Surveying. By Colonel H. C. 0. Tanneb. 



