THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 371 



fleas for irrigation, as on the small supply of water. The 

 river this year was remarkably full : here, high up the valley, 

 it reached to the horse's belly, and was about fifteen yards 

 wide, and rapid; lower down it becomes smaller and smaller, 

 and is generally quite lost, as happened during one period 

 of thirty years, so that not a drop entered the sea. The 

 inhabitants watch a storm over the Cordillera with great 

 interest; as one good fall of snow provides them with water 

 for the ensuing year. This is of infinitely more consequence 

 than rain in the lower country. Rain, as often as it falls, 

 which is about once in every two or three years, is a great 

 advantage, because the cattle and mules can for some time 

 afterwards find a little pasture in the mountains. But with- 

 out snow on the Andes, desolation extends throughout the 

 valley. It is on record that three times nearly all the inhab- 

 itants have been obliged to emigrate to the south. This year 

 there was plenty of water, and every man irrigated his 

 ground as much as he chose; but it has frequently been 

 necessary to post soldiers at the sluices, to see that each 

 estate took only its proper allowance during so many hours 

 in the week. The valley is said to contain 12,000 souls, but 

 its produce is sufficient only for three months in the year; 

 the rest of the supply being drawn from Valparaiso and the 

 south. Before the discovery of the famous silver-mines of 

 Chanuncillo, Copiapo was in a rapid state of decay ; but now 

 it is in a very thriving condition ; and the town, which was 

 completely overthrown by an earthquake, has been rebuilt. 



The valley of Copiapo, forming a mere ribbon of green 

 in a desert, runs in a very southerly direction; so that it is 

 of considerable length to its source in the Cordillera. The 

 valleys of Guasco and Copiapo may both be considered as 

 long narrow islands, separated from the rest of Chile by 

 deserts of rock instead of by salt water. Northward of 

 these, there is one other very miserable valley, called Paposo, 

 which contains about two hundred souls; and then there 

 extends the real desert of Atacama— a barrier far worse 

 than the most turbulent ocean. After staying a few days at 

 Potrero Seco, I proceeded up the valley to the house of Don 

 Benito Cruz, to whom I had a letter of introduction. I found 

 him most hospitable; indeed it is impossible to bear too 



