A LONGITUDINAL JOURNEY THROUGH CHILE 



235 



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»h by Publishers' Photo Service 



THIS FRUIT VENDER S PACK ANIMAL IS EQUIPPED WITH COWHIDE PANNIERS 



After the journey through the northern desert, it is refreshing to reach those irrigated valleys 

 where the finest grapes and melons are grown. 



mines and work them on a grand scale 

 with modern methods. 



Under the jurisdiction of the Depart- 

 ment of Caldera, in which Copiapo is 

 situated, is an isolated Chilean island, 

 2,000 miles west in the Pacific — Pascua, 

 or Easter Island. It is 1,400 miles from 

 Pitcairn, its nearest inhabited neighbor. 

 The Chileans have a disconcerting way 

 of speaking of this far-away oceanic 

 possession as they would of a near-by 

 province. A meteorological station is 

 located on the island. 



With its immense stone terraces and 



colossal monolithic images, Easter Island 

 is one of the threads in that tangled 

 skein, yet to be unraveled, of prehistoric 

 Pacific migrations. Are these South 

 Pacific isles the top of a submerged 

 continent ? Were they the stepping-stones 

 of an ancient Asiatic civilization which 

 migrated eastward to the New World, 

 leaving its imprint on a primitive Americ 

 people.* 



The archeological field of northern 



* See "The Mystery of Easter Island." in 

 the National Geographic Magazine for De- 

 cember, J921. 



