362 
NORTHERN CHILE 
CHAP. 
such a conversion without doubt has taken place in the part 
over which we rode. 
Zrd .—Ouilimari to Conchalee. The country became more 
and more barren. In the valleys there was scarcely sufficient 
water for any irrigation ; and the intermediate land was quite 
bare, not supporting even goats. In the spring, after the 
winter showers, a thin pasture rapidly springs up, and cattle 
are then driven down from the Cordillera to graze for a short 
time. It is curious to observe how the seeds of the grass and 
other plants seem to accommodate themselves, as if by an 
acquired habit, to the quantity of rain which falls on different 
parts of this coast. One shower far northward at Copiapo 
produces as great an effect on the vegetation as two at Guasco, 
and as three or four in this district. At Valparaiso a winter 
so dry as greatly to injure the pasture, would at Guasco 
produce the most unusual abundance. Proceeding northward, 
the quantity of rain does not appear to decrease in strict 
proportion to the latitude. At Conchalee, which is only 6 y 
miles north of Valparaiso, rain is not expected till the end of 
May ; whereas at Valparaiso some generally falls early in 
April : the annual quantity is likewise small in proportion to 
the lateness of the season at which it commences. 
4 tk .—Finding the coast-road devoid of interest of any 
kind, we turned inland towards the mining district and valley 
of Illapel. This valley, like every other in Chile, is level, 
broad, and very fertile : it is bordered on each side, either by 
cliffs of stratified shingle, or by bare rocky mountains. Above 
the straight line of the uppermost irrigating ditch all is brown 
as on a high-road ; while all below is of as bright a green 
as verdigris, from the beds of alfarfa, a kind of clover. We 
proceeded to Los Hornos, another mining district, where the 
principal hill was drilled with holes, like a great ants’ nest. 
The Chilian miners are a peculiar race of men in their habits. 
Living for weeks together in the most desolate spots, when 
they descend to the villages on feast-days there is no excess 
or extravagance into which they do not run. They sometimes 
gain a considerable sum, and then, like sailors with prize-money, 
they try how soon they can contrive to squander it. They 
drink excessively, buy quantities of clothes, and in a few days 
return penniless to their miserable abodes, there to work harder 
