Jose, where we stayed the next day. I then rode one day's journey
further, to see what were declared to be some petrified shells and
beans, which latter turned out to be small quartz pebbles. We passed
through several small villages; and the valley was beautifully
cultivated, and the whole scenery very grand. We were here near the
main Cordillera, and the surrounding hills were lofty. In all parts of
northern Chile, fruit trees produce much more abundantly at a
considerable height near the Andes than in the lower country. The figs
and grapes of this district are famous for their excellence, and are
cultivated to a great extent. This valley is, perhaps, the most
productive one north of Quillota. I believe it contains, including
Coquimbo, 25,000 inhabitants. The next day I returned to the Hacienda,
and thence, together with Don Jose, to Coquimbo.
June 2nd.--We set out for the valley of Guasco, following the
coast-road, which was considered rather less desert than the other. Our
first day's ride was to a solitary house, called Yerba Buena, where
there was pasture for our horses. The shower mentioned as having
fallen, a fortnight ago, only reached about half-way to Guasco; we had,
therefore, in the first part of our journey a most faint tinge of
green, which soon faded quite away. Even where brightest, it was
scarcely sufficient to remind one of the fresh turf and budding flowers
of the spring of other countries. While travelling through these
deserts one feels like a prisoner shut up in a gloomy court, who longs
to see something green and to smell a moist atmosphere.
June 3rd.--Yerba Buena to Carizal. During the first part of the day we
crossed a mountainous rocky desert, and afterwards a long deep sandy
plain, strewed with broken sea-shells. There was very little water, and
that little saline: the whole country, from the coast to the
Cordillera, is an uninhabited desert. I saw traces only of one living
animal in abundance, namely, the shells of a Bulimus, which were
collected together in extraordinary numbers on the driest spots. In
the spring one humble little plant sends out a few leaves, and on these
the snails feed. As they are seen only very early in the morning, when
the ground is slightly damp with dew, the Guascos believe that they are
bred from it. I have observed in other places that extremely dry and
sterile districts, where the soil is calcareous, are extraordinarily
favourable to land-shells. At Carizal there were a few cottages, some
brackish water, and a trace of cultivation: but it was with difficulty
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