CHAPTER XVI 

 Northern Chile and Peru 



Coast-road to Coquimbo — Great Loads carried by the Miners — Co- 

 quimbo — Earthquake — Step-formed Terraces — Absence of recent 

 Deposits — Contemporaneousness of the Tertiary Formations — 

 Excursion up the Valley — Road to Guasco — Deserts — Valley of 

 Copiapo — Rain and Earthquakes — Hydrophobia — The Despoblado 

 — Indian Ruins — Probable Change of Climate — River-bed arched 

 by an Earthquake — Cold Gales of Wind — Noises from a Hill — 

 Iquique — Salt Alluvium — Nitrate of Soda — Lima — Unhealthy 

 Country — Ruins of Callao, overthrown by an Earthquake — Recent 

 subsidence — Elevated Shells on San Lorenzo, their decomposition- 

 Plain with embedded Sheik and fragments of Pottery — Antiquity 

 of the Indian Race. 



PRIL 27th. — I set out on a journey to Coquimbo, and 



thence through Guasco to Copiapo, where Captain 



Fitz Roy kindly offered to pick me up in the Beagle. 

 The distance in a straight line along the shore northward is 

 only 420 miles; but my mode of travelling made it a very 

 long journey. I bought four horses and two mules, the 

 latter carrying the luggage on alternate days. The six' 

 animals together only cost the value of twenty-five pounds 

 sterling, and at Copiapo I sold them again for twenty-three. 

 We travelled in the same independent manner as before, 

 cooking our own meals, and sleeping in the open air. As 

 we rode towards the Vino del Mar, I took a farewell view 

 of Valparaiso, and admired its picturesque appearance. For 

 geological purposes I made a detour from the high road 

 to the foot of the Bell of Quillota. We passed through an 

 alluvial district rich in gold, to the neighbourhood of Li- 

 mache, where we slept. Washing for gold supports the in- 

 habitants of numerous hovels, scattered along the sides of 

 each little rivulet; but, like all those whose gains are un- 

 certain, they are unthrifty in all their habits, and con- 

 sequently poor. 



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