TOPOGRAPHY OF CHILI. 457 



Farther south the Huasco valley begins to assume a different aspect. Here 

 the running waters are copious enough to irrigate the upland valleys, and Vallcnar, 

 at the confluence of two streams, is an agricultural centre producing excellent 

 wines. The Indian half-breeds of Freirina, lower down the Huasco valley, also 

 depend on husbandry, forwarding grapes and other fruits through the port of 

 Huasco Bajo at the mouth of the river. 



In the Rio Elqui basin, which yields both minerals and agricultural produce, 

 the population becomes more dense ; here Elqui, or Vicuiia, the chief place in the 

 valley, is surrounded by rich lands growing vegetables and fruits, especially grapes 

 and figs, which are largely exported. Serena (Serena de Coquimho), at the mouth 

 of the river, has acquired considerable importance as a provincial capital. It is 

 the oldest Spanish settlement in the district ; but its harbour, if it ever existed, 

 has either silted up or been upheaved, so that the shipping has to stop five miles 

 farther south in the sheltered roadstead of Coquimho. Formerly this place 

 forwarded little except copper ores ; but at present it does a general export trade 

 in produce of all kinds, brought by the railways radiating eastwards up the Elqui 

 valley, southwards to Ovalle, chief place in the Limari valley, and south-westwards 

 to the ports of Rivadavia and Tongoy. But the line is still unfinished which is to 

 effect a junction with the Santiago system by the towns of Comharhala, Illapel, 

 and Petorca. 



Illapel communicates directly with the sea by the port of Vilas, while 

 Petorca forwards its produce through the lower Ligua valley, which is con- 

 nected by rail with the Hio Aconcagua basin. The Bay of Quintero, where 

 Cavendish landed, occupies, north o£ the Bio Aconcagua, a position analogous 

 to that of Valparaiso, south of the same river. Valparaiso, that is, " Paradise 

 Vale," the Quiniil of the aborigines, was so named by the Conquistador Saave- 

 dra, in memory of his native town, the Valparaiso of Old Castile. But the 

 aspect of the Chilian city scarcely justifies such a name. The red or greyish 

 slopes of the hills, with their scanty vegetation of scattered or stunted trees, 

 appear refreshing only in the ej^es of travellers coming from the sandy and 

 parched shores of Peru. 



Valpakaiso. 



Valparaiso, which now enjoys such a large share of the trade of the world, 

 long remained an obscure village exposed to the attacks of corsairs. In 1578, 

 when it had a population of only 250 souls, it was pillaged by Drake, and again 

 in 1594 by Bichard Hawkins. But its convenient position on the point of the 

 coast nearest to the capital and to the fertile inland plains, enabled it to benefit 

 by the general progress and prosperity of the country. But, despite this 

 geographical advantage, it suffers from the lack of a good harbour, for the bay 

 does not penetrate sufficiently inland to develop a natural haven. The headland 

 projecting seawards is not high enough to shelter the shipping from the south, 

 while the north winds, at times very dangerous, are intercepted by no obstacle. 



