NOTICES OF BOLIVIA. 169 



and between it and the coast, I am told, there is not a habita- 

 tion, a tree, nor a blade of grass, nor a spring of wholesome 

 water ! 



The latitude of Cobija is 22° 30' south. It is the only port 

 of the Republic of Bolivia ; whose limited coast, extending \ 

 from 21° 30' S. to 25° south, does not afford any site so con- 

 venient as this. It is placed in the desert of Atacama, one hun- 

 dred and fifty leagues from Chuquisaca, the present capital; 

 three hundred from La Paz, the former capital, and a hundred 

 and fifty from the far famed Potosi, and not less than seventy 

 leagues from any well cultivated lands. It was declared to be 

 the Port of Bolivia in 1827, but from the scarcity of water and 

 provisions, and from the interruption which the trade received 

 from the war with Peru, very few vessels entered it before 

 1829, since which time the place has increased to a population 

 of between six and seven hundred persons, including the miners 

 in the immediate vicinity — and from the number of new build- 

 ings going up, we should draw very favorable conclusions re- 

 lative to its prosperity. Though so recently declared the port 

 of entry for Bolivia, Cobija was resorted to as early as 1700, 

 by French merchant vessels, when a very rich commerce was 

 driven between it and the mining district of Potosi. At that 

 period water was in greater abundance, and of a better quali- 

 ty than at present. Previous to 1827, the Republic received 

 all its supplies of foreign goods through the port of Arica, in 

 Peru, by way of the interior town Tacna. 



A half million of dollars, in foreign productions, is estimated 

 to pass through this place annually for the interior. Packages 

 are almost all unpacked, and again put up in smaller parcels, 

 and of a certain weight, to accommodate them to the means of 

 transportation, which is entirely by mules and jackasses. They 

 are generally carried on jackasses as far as Calama, and from 

 thence on mules to the different points of destination. 



The imports consist of European dry goods, cottons, silks, 

 quicksilver, tobacco, teas, wines, American domestics, flour, 

 &c. These are frequently purchased on board at Valparaiso, 

 deliverable at this port. The duties are low now on every 

 thing, and the question of making it an entirely free port, 

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