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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Publishers' Photo Service 



EXPORTING WOLFRAM ORE 



Wolfram, the ore from which tungsten is extracted, is also exported from northern Chile. 

 Tungsten is used in the manufacture of tool-steel and for the filament in incandescent lamps. 



Chile is merely scratched. Under the 

 drifting sands of the vast Atacama desert 

 lies the record of a pre-Incan race. In 

 the Valparaiso Museum I saw a mummy 

 recently unearthed in the Atacama region. 

 The director told me that it differs from 

 the mummies heretofore discovered on 

 the west coast of South America, being 

 more like the Egyptian type. In a col- 

 lection in the Chilean capital I saw im- 

 plements and pottery of this Atacama 

 culture differing widely from archeo- 

 logical remains in Peru and Bolivia. 



Continuing south from Copiapo, little 

 by little the desert flora grew from tufts 

 of grass and stunted bush to tall algarobas 

 and cacti of many varieties, one with a 

 great red bloom. At Vallenar we entered 

 a wide, irrigated valley, emerald green 

 with alfalfa, and vines heavy with those 

 luscious white grapes whose equal I have 

 found in no other part of the world. 



The vine, brought originally from 

 Spain in colonial days, is now cultivated 

 throughout an extensive range. The 

 French vine, popular in certain provinces, 



