342 



thrSe years in the pacific. 



twenty houses ; and though two centuries and a half have since 

 elapsed, their number is not more than 300, and the population 

 does not exceed 2,000 souls. 



Refore the revolution, the valley produced cotton, wine, 

 olive oil, maize, and aji, (a kind of red pepper, extensively 

 used by the Indians,) amounting in all to ^602,500, for the 

 year 1791.* It was also rich in mules, employed in the traffic 

 of the interior. 



Prior to the birth of the Republic of Bolivia, all the trade 

 with that country, known then as Alto-Peru, passed through 

 Arica ; but since the opening of Cobija, the commerce has di- 

 minished in proportion as it advances in the latter place. The 

 prosperity of Arica depended very much on that trade, which 

 the policy pursued by the government of Peru has lost. All 

 goods intended for the Bolivian market, are charged according 

 to their class, with a transit duty of five, ten, and fifteen per 

 cent.; but as they can now be introduced directly through Co- 

 bija, at the same or less rates, Arica is ruined. The population 

 of the valley is too small to create a demand sufficiently great 

 to maintain wholesale dealers ; consequently, very few vessels 

 touch in the port. 



The principal exports are gold, silver, copper, tin, and some 

 few chinchilla skins, that pay a duty of four per cent, on a va- 

 luation of two dollars per dozen. To encourage the working of 

 mines in this district, gold and silver are allowed to be export- 

 ed, though in all other parts of the republic it is prohibited; 

 gold pays a duty of about eighty cents the ounce, and silver, a 

 dollar the mark of eight ounces. 



There is a coasting business carried on between this place 

 and Pabellon de Pica, and Iquique, which are some leagues to 

 the southward. Small vessels load at those places, with a sub- 

 stance called Guano, which is used as a compost in almost 

 every section of the coast of Peru ; in many places the soil 

 being entirely unproductive without it. 



«The ^< guano de Iquique," or <«de pajaros," according to 



* Mercurio Peruano, vol. 6. p. 132. 



