1835.] VALLEY OF GUASCO. 349 
the abundant rain at Guaseo. After two or three very dry years, 
perhaps with not more than one shower during the whole time, 
a rainy year generally follows; and this does more harm than 
even the drought. The rivers swell, and cover with gravel and 
sand the narrow strips of ground, which alone are fit for culti- 
vation. The floods also injure the irrigating ditches. Great 
devastation had thus been caused three years ago. ; 
June 8th—We rode on to Ballenar, which takes its name 
from Ballenagh in Ireland, the birthplace of the family of 
O’Higgins, who, under the Spanish government, were presidents 
and generals in Chile. As the rocky mountains on each hand 
were concealed by clouds, the terrace-like plains gave to the 
valley an appearance like that of Santa Cruz in Patagonia. After 
spending one day at Ballenar I set out, on the 10th, for the 
upper part of the valley of Copiapé. We rode all day over an 
uninteresting country. JI am tired of repeating the epithets 
barren and sterile. These words, however, as commonly used, 
are comparative ; I have always applied them to the plains of 
Patagonia, which can boast of spiny bushes and some tufts of 
grass; and this is absolute fertility, as compared with northern 
Chile. Here again, there are not many spaces of two hundred 
yards square, where some little bush, cactus or lichen, may not 
be discovered by careful examination ; and in the soil seeds lie 
dormant ready to spring up during the first rainy winter. In 
Peru real deserts occur over wide tracts of country. In the 
evening we arrived at a valley, in which the bed of the streamlet 
was damp: following it up, we came to tolerably good water. 
During the night, the stream, from not being evaporated and 
absorbed so quickly, flows a league lower down than during the 
day. Sticks were plentiful for firewood, so that it was a good 
place of bivouac for us; but for the poor animals there was not 
a mouthful to eat. 
June 11th.—We rode without stopping for twelve hours, till 
we reached an old smelting-furnace, where there was water and 
firewood ; but our horses again had nothing to eat, being shut up 
in an old courtyard. The line of road was hilly, and the dis- 
tant views interesting from the varied colours of the bare moun- 
tains. It was almost a pity to see the sun shining constantly 
over so useless a country; such splendid weather ought to 
