1835.] CHILIAN MINERS. 339 
which i is s only 67 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 pro- 
portion to the lateness of the season at which it commences. 
4th.—Finding the coast-road devoid of interest of any kind, we 
turned inland towards the mining district and valley of Ilapel. 
This valley, like every other in Chile, is level, broad, and very fer 
tile: it is bordered on each side, either by cliff 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 squan- 
der it. They drink excessively, buy quantities of clothes, and 
in a few days return penniless to their miserable abodes, there to 
work harder than beasts of burden. This thoughtlessness, as 
with sailors, is evidently the result of a similar manner of life. 
Their daily food is found them, and they acquire no habits of 
carefulness ; moreover, temptation and the means of yielding to it 
are placed in their power at the same time. On the other hand, 
in Cornwall, and some other parts of England, where the system 
of selling part of the vein is followed, the miners, from being 
obliged to act and think for themselves, are a singularly intelli- 
gent and well-conducted set of men. 
The dress of the Chilian miner is peculiar and rather pic- 
turesque. He wears a very long shirt of some dark-coloured 
baize, with a leathern apron; the whole being fastened round his 
waist by a bright-coloured sash. His trowsers are very broad, 
and his small cap of scarlet cloth is made to fit the head closely. 
We met a party of these miners in full costume, carrying the 
body of one of their companions to be buried. They marched 
at a very quick trot, four men supporting the corpse. One set 
having run as hard as they could for about two hundred yards, 
