450 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



maize and lucerne. Formerly the district must have been far more thickly peopled, 

 as is evident from the remains of buildings and of numerous tombs full of mum- 

 mies, whose large yellow eyes are formed by the shells of a species of mollusc 

 fished in the neighbouring waters. 



Pisagua, Jiinin, Mejillones del Norte, Caleta Biiena, Iquique and PatiUoa, all 

 trading and industrial centres, almost without families, and peopled mainly by rude 

 adventurers and dealers, follow along the coast in the direction from north to 

 south. All owe their origin or their prosperity to the development of the industries 

 connected with the export trade in the nitrates and other chemical substances 

 mined in the Pampa de Tamarugal east of the coast range. 



Iquique — Tarapaca. 



Of all these places Iquique, the largest, has the best anchorage, thanks to the 

 shelter afforded by three rocks formerly covered with guano. Nevertheless large 

 vessels are unable to approach the quays, so that all freights have to be landed or 

 shipped by means of barges plying to and fro. In the middle of the century 

 Iquique was a mere group of mud and roofless huts, there being no need of shelter 

 ao-ainst the rain which so seldom falls on this seaboard. The various structures 

 now introduced from North America and England have all terraced roofs, while 

 the wooden or corrugated-iron walls are so put together as to leave free play to the 

 eea breezes. 



Iquique lies, like Arica, in the earthquake zone, and has been frequenth'- de- 

 stroyed ; it is also far removed from any potable water or cultivable land, and 

 had formerly to import all its supplies from Arica. Now it receives sufficient 

 water by an aqueduct running from Pica in an upland valley of the Andes. 

 Thanks to a costly system of irrigation, a few Norfolk pines and other trees have 

 also struck root in the public squares and along the promenade skirting the beach 

 southwards in the direction of CavancJin. 



At Iquique English influence is dominant; here the English own all the work- 

 shops, factories, trade, shipping, warehouses and harbour works. They have also 

 constructed the network of railways, some 250 miles long, connecting Iquique with 

 La Koria and the surrounding nitrate works. Beyond this point the lines ramify 

 northwards, touching at all the nitrate beds stretching along the eastern slopes of 

 the coast range in the Pampa de Tamarugal, and then returning in sharp curves 

 to the coast at the port of Pisagua. 



The mining industry has been completely transformed in this province of 

 Tarapaca, which takes its name from an obscure village lying east of the saline 

 Tamarugal plateau, at the issue of a valley in the cordillera. Formerly silver was 

 the chief source of attraction, and the centre of business was the village of Huanfa- 

 jaya, about 10 miles east of Iquique, some 3,000 feet above the sea, in the midst 

 of mountains abounding in metalliferous veins. Since the year 1556, M-hen the 

 deposits were discovered, the Huantajaya mines have yielded a quantity of silver 

 estimated at about £70,000,000, or very nearly as much as Cerro de Pasco. At 



