A LONGITUDINAL JOURNEY THROUGH CHILE 



221 



wand of irrigation. Here firs and euca- 

 lyptus towered above bamboos and olean- 

 ders, and pomegranate and fig trees were 

 heavy with fruit. In the shade of the 

 grape arbor the breakfast table was laid. 

 Water is brought 250 miles by pipe-line 

 from the Bolivian Andes. One night the 

 Chinese gardener left the faucet open, and 

 by morning forty dollars' worth of the 

 precious fluid had been consumed by the 

 thirsty sand. 



MOUNTAIN PEAKS USED FOR SUN DIALS 



Irrigation in these lateral coastal val- 

 leys, lying between the Andes and the Pa- 

 cific Ocean, dates back to pre-Spanish 

 days. Then, as now, agriculture was de- 

 pendent on the streams flowing seaward 

 from the Andes. We learned from the 

 American consul at Tacna, in the prov- 

 ince still in dispute between Peru and 

 Chile, of the following ancient method 

 still in vogue : 



In some of these irrigated districts sun- 

 set is the time fixed for transferring the 

 water from one section to another ; but in 

 the valley, several hundred feet below the 

 inclosing hills, the instant of sunset occurs 

 earlier at the western rim than in the 

 other end of the valley. After the sun 

 has set in the lowlands it continues for 

 some time to illuminate the snowy slopes 

 above, which glow with ruby light, then 

 suddenly turn milky white and fade into 

 darkness. 



To avoid controversy, the ancient Pe- 

 ruvians brought common sense to bear 

 and agreed to consider it sunset at that 

 moment when the sun ceased to illumi- 

 nate the snow-clad mountain peaks. This 

 method, known as "calculating the sky 

 view," is still in vogue in the province of 

 Tacna. 



In Antofagasta we boarded the east- 

 bound train on its way to the Bolivian 

 highlands, changing to the Chilean longi- 

 tudinal sixty miles inland on the pampa. 

 The longitudinal's beginning is at Pisa- 

 gua, a port north of Antofagasta. Arica, 

 still farther north in disputed territory, is 

 not yet connected with the Chilean rail- 

 road system, being beyond the nitrate 

 zone. 



Uninterrupted rail communication from 

 north to south was finally completed eight 

 years ago. In the 1,863 miles of track 



from Pisagua to Puerto Montt, on the 

 Gulf of Ancud, three different gauges are 

 employed. The government owns most 

 of the road and is gradually taking over 

 the northern section, with its many feed- 

 ers, controlled by British and Belgian 

 capital and originally built in isolated re- 

 gions to bring nitrate and other minerals 

 to the coast. 



It takes a drab pencil to draw for you 

 a picture of the country crossed those first 

 two days out from Antofagasta. I looked 

 in vain on the monotonous, treeless plain 

 for so much as a cactus plant. We were 

 too far inland to glimpse the restless, blue 

 Pacific, whose tempestuous surf enlivens 

 even the most colorless of the desert ports, 

 while to the east bleak gray hills shut off 

 the snow-crowned Andes. 



This stupendous range, whose jagged 

 peaks soar skyward, has created the bar- 

 ren waste by wringing all the moisture 

 out of the trade-winds from the east. 

 Before the Andes rose to their present 

 height, this desert, nearly twice the length 

 of Syria, was a tropical forest. 



Just to the north, in Tarapaca, numer- 

 ous skeletons of gigantic ant-eaters, deni- 

 zens of the jungle, have been found em- 

 bedded in the sides of ravines. Chile was 

 an altogether different country when the 

 Andes were young. 



chile's chief source op revenue 



Near the railroad I saw deeply fur- 

 rowed patches of white earth resembling 

 old salt deposits. These mark the site of 

 former nitrate workings. Nitrate of soda, 

 Chile's chief source of revenue, of which 

 the country has virtually a world monop- 

 oly, is obtained from the rough rock 

 known locally as caliche. It is dug or 

 blasted from the earth, in some places 

 lying near the surface ; in others 20 to 30 

 feet below ground. The nitrate deposits 

 lie from 15 to 90 miles inland from the 

 coast, at an altitude varying from a little 

 over 3,000 to 13,000 feet. 



Scientists disagree as to the origin of 

 this valuable mineral. Some claim (and 

 Darwin among them) that it had its origin 

 in seaweed of an ancient period. 



One savant argues that the deposit re- 

 sulted from nitrogen contained in guano. 

 Others believe in its atmospheric origin, 

 advancing the theory that in a remote age 



