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CHILI. 



formed the subject of official reports ; but, as any 

 interest they might possess was of a temporary 

 nature, I shall confine myself at present to a ge- 

 neral sketch of what we saw on the voyage. 



The ship being required, by a certain day, for 

 other services, we were much restricted in time, 

 which was the more to be regretted, as accidental 

 circumstances put it in our power to have visited 

 many of the mines under considerable advantages. 

 Hurried as we were, it was impossible to do more 

 than take a superficial glance at that interesting 

 part of the country : we were, therefore, more so- 

 licitous to mark the effects of the recent political 

 changes on the mining system, than to investi- 

 gate minutely the nature of the ores, or to in- 

 quire into the details of working them. 



We sailed from Valparaiso on the 15th of No- 

 vember, and on the 16th, a little before sunset, 

 steered into the Bay of Coquimbo ; and having 

 anchored the ship, landed at a point, near some 

 huts, in order to inquire our way to the town of 

 La Serena, or Coquimbo, lying two leagues to 

 the northward. 



On entering a remote foreign port, which no 



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