362 NORTHERN CHILE 



such a conversion without doubt has taken place in the part 

 over which we rode. 



2,rd. — QuiHmari to Conchalee. The country became more 

 and more barren. In the valleys there was scarcely sufficient 

 water for any irrigation ; and the intermediate land was quite 

 bare, not supporting even goats. In the spring, after the 

 winter showers, a thin pasture rapidly springs up, and cattle 

 are then driven down from the Cordillera to graze for a short 

 time. It is curious to observe how the seeds of the grass and 

 other plants seem to accommodate themselves, as if by an 

 acquired habit, to the quantity of rain which falls on different 

 parts of this coast. One shower far northward at Copiapo 

 produces as great an effect on the vegetation as two at Guasco, 

 and as three or four in this district. At Valparaiso a winter 

 so dry as greatly to injure the pasture, would at Guasco 

 produce the most unusual abundance. Proceeding northward, 

 the quantity of rain does not appear to decrease in strict 

 proportion to the latitude. At Conchalee, which is only 6y 

 miles north of Valparaiso, rain is not expected till the end of 

 May ; whereas at Valparaiso some generally falls early in 

 April : the annual quantity is likewise small in proportion to 

 the lateness of the season at which it commences. 



^th. — Finding the coast- road devoid of interest of any 

 kind, we turned inland towards the mining district and valley 

 of Illapel. This valley, like every other in Chile, is level, 

 broad, and very fertile : it is bordered on each side, either by 

 cliffs of stratified shingle, or by bare rocky mountains. Above 

 the straight line of the uppermost irrigating ditch all is brown 

 as on a high-road ; while all below is of as bright a green 

 as verdigris, from the beds of alfarfa, a kind of clover. We 

 proceeded to Los Hornos, another mining district, where the 

 principal hill was drilled with holes, like a great ants' nest. 

 The Chilian miners are a peculiar race of men in their habits. 

 Living for weeks together in the most desolate spots, when 

 they descend to the villages on feast-days there is no excess 

 or extravagance into which they do not run. They sometimes 

 gain a considerable sum, and then, like sailors with prize-money, 

 they try how soon they can contrive to squander it. They 

 drink excessively, buy quantities of clothes, and in a few days 

 return penniless to their miserable abodes, there to work harder 



