TOPOGKAPHY OF CHILI. 



449 



and then returns in a prodigious wave, rolling in with irresistible force, and 

 sweeping away all obstacles. In 1868 it tore a frigate from its moorings, and 

 hurled it to a distance of over a mile inland. Then in 1877 another wave bore it 

 back to within half a mile of the sea, without drowning the numerous families that 

 had taken up their abode in the hull. 



These disasters have not prevented Arica from rising from its ruins. It occu- 



Fig. 169.— Aeica. 

 Scale 1 : 32,000. 



70° a 



70° 20 West oF Greenw ch 



Depths. 



0to5 

 Fathoms. 



5 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



5 Mile. 



pies too favourable a position at the natural issue of the Tacora pass to be neglected 

 by vessels plying in these waters. Before the completion of the Arequipa 

 and Antofagasta railways it was the chief inter medio, or port of call, between 

 Valparaiso and Callao, and it still carries on a brisk export trade in Bolivian wools 

 and metals. 



The surrounding plain is a mere waste of sands and stones ; but the village of 

 Lluta in the north-east collects sufficient water in its river bed to grow a little 

 30 



