June, 1835. 



VALLEY OF COQTJTMBO. 



425 



and the useless stone thrown on one side. A couple of the 

 miners who were thus employed, pitched, as if by accident^ 

 two fragments away at the same moment, and then cried out 

 for a joke, Let us see which rolls furthest/^ The owner, 

 who was standing by, bet a cigar with his friend on the 

 race. The miner by this means watched the very point 

 amongst the rubbish where the stone lay. In the evening 

 he picked it up and carried it to his master, showing him a 

 rich mass of silver ore, and saying, "This was the stone on 

 which you won a cigar by its rolling so far.^^ 



May 23d. — We followed up the fertile valley, till we 

 reached an Hacienda, belonging to a relation of Don Jose, 

 where we stayed the ensuing day. I then rode one day^s 

 journey further, to see what were declared to be some petri- 

 fied shells and beans. The former turned out to be so ; the 

 latter were small quartz pebbles. We passed through several 

 small villages ; and the valley was beautifully cultivated, and 

 the whole scenery very grand. We were here near the main 

 Cordillera ; and the surrounding hills were very lofty. In all 

 parts of northern Chile, fruit-trees produce much more 

 abundantly at a considerable elevation near the Andes than 

 in the lower country. The figs and grapes of this part are 

 famous for their superiority, and are cultivated to a great 

 extent. This valley is, perhaps, the most productive one 

 north of Quillota : I believe it contains, including Coquimbo, 

 25,000 inhabitants. The next day I returned to the Ha- 

 cienda, and thence, together with Don Jose, to Coquimbo. 



June 2d. — We set out for the valley of Guasco, fol- 

 lowing the coast-road, which was considered rather less 

 desert than the other. Our first day's ride was to a solitary 

 house, called Yerba Buena, where there was pasture for our 

 horses. The shower mentioned as having fallen a fortnight 

 ago, only reached about halfway to Guasco ; we had, there- 

 fore, in the first part of our journey a most faint tinge of 

 green, which soon faded away. Even where brightest, it 

 was scarcely sufficient to remind one, of the fresh turf and 

 budding flowers during the spring of other countries. While 



