136 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



The shape of some of the hills and valleys resembles 

 very much that of the hills at the foot of the Alps, with 

 the difference that one is radiant with verdure and the 

 other very much the reverse. 



All the way from Ovalle to Coquimbo you see no- 

 thing but mines way up in the air, where the poor natives 

 dig away till they have managed to get together a little 

 ore which they then sell to the smelters. On my return 

 to Coquimbo I went off in the other direction to the end 

 of this mining district to see a few mines near Serena 

 which are worked by an Englishman, a Mr. Lambert, 

 who manages to make an excellent business from a not 

 very rich mine by combining farming, irrigation, smelt- 

 ing, and a good many other things. The way from Se- 

 rena to Coquimbo leads along the beach, and the tide 

 being high, with a heavy sea running, it was a fine sight 

 to see the huge phosphorescent rollers come in, but also 

 unpleasant as it was so dark that you could not tell if 

 it might not wash the carriage and horses back with it ; 

 for half the time you run inside the breakers; however, 

 we had good horses and got through at last to my sat- 

 isfaction safely to Coquimbo. I had about six hours the 

 following day before the steamer from the North came 

 in, which gave me a chance to collect a few fossils from 

 the ancient Sea Beaches which abound there. I wish I 

 could have time to remain here to study the uprising of 

 the land ; there is a good deal to do and quite interest- 

 ing work it could be if you had time to do it with a 

 surveying instrument and take careful sections of what 

 is exposed. I believe however Darwin has already done 

 something in this line. 



We had a very pleasant trip to the next place, Chan- 

 aral, which is the only other copper district I shall 



