reached the valley of Copiapo. I was heartily glad of it; for the whole
journey was a continued source of anxiety; it was most disagreeable to
hear, whilst eating our own suppers, our horses gnawing the posts to
which they were tied, and to have no means of relieving their hunger.
To all appearance, however, the animals were quite fresh; and no one
could have told that they had eaten nothing for the last fifty-five
hours.
I had a letter of introduction to Mr. Bingley, who received me very
kindly at the Hacienda of Potrero Seco. This estate is between twenty
and thirty miles long, but very narrow, being generally only two fields
wide, one on each side the river. In some parts the estate is of no
width, that is to say, the land cannot be irrigated, and therefore is
valueless, like the surrounding rocky desert. The small quantity of
cultivated land in the whole line of valley, does not so much depend on
inequalities of level, and consequent unfitness 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 without snow on
the Andes, desolation extends throughout the valley. It is on record
that three times nearly all the inhabitants 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.
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