Coquimbo

“ Our stay at Coquimbo this season extended from the 4th of May to the 14th of June, having been somewhat prolonged owing to the occurrence of a case of small-pox on board. Our principal amusement consisted in shooting excursions after the golden plover, or "pachuros," as the Chilians call them. These birds frequent the sandy plains, which form an elevated table-land, fringing the bases of the coast range of hills. One of our shooting-grounds was on a rather bare plain, encircling the base of a pyramidal hill called the Pan de Azucar, which lay at a distance of about eight miles from Coquimbo. ”

“ The elevation on this western side of the continent has not been equable; at Valparaiso, within the period during which upraised shells have remained undecayed on the surface, it has been 1,300 feet, whilst at Coquimbo, 200 miles northward, it has been within this same period only 252 feet. At Lima, the land has been uplifted at least 80 feet since Indian man inhabited that district; but the level within historical times apparently has subsided. At Coquimbo, in a height of 364 feet, the elevation has been interrupted by five periods of comparative rest. ”

“ I learned from these friends that the northern passes that led to Copiapo and Coquimbo were buried in the snow, and that, on the first-named road, a party of [Pg 278] eight arrieros, while lately attempting to cross into Chili, had been frozen to death. The Coquimbo road was said to be equally as bad, for there eleven experienced guides had just fallen victims to a fierce snow storm in the valleys of the Andes. The two southern passes of Uspallata and Portillo were more elevated than the two northern ones, but were much shorter. The Portillo could not be passed by man. ”

“ He inhabits it, he governs it, he reigns in it! Not satisfied with giving his name to the island, he soon creates a special nomenclature for its various localities. To the shore upon which he landed, he gives the name of Swordfish Beach; the pile of white and red rocks, which he saw through the fog, is the False Coquimbo; he calls Toucan Forest, the wood where he saw that bird for the first time; the Defile of Attack, is that where Marimonda assaulted him with stones; upon these arid rocks, furrowed by deep ravines and abounding in precipices, he has imposed the odious name of Stradling! ”

“ Some steamers call at Caldera, 207 miles south of Antofagasta, with a sheltered harbor, and the oldest railway in South America connecting it with the town of Copiapó; the express boats call only at Coquimbo nearly 200 miles farther and 200 north of Valparaiso.
Coquimbo, at the end of the desert country, a busy port, shipping more copper than any other in South America, is situated at the foot and up the side of cliffs. The country around is very rich in fossils. At Herradura on Horseshoe Bay was found a petrified icthyosaurus 20 feet long, which visitors are taken to see ”

“ 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. ”

“ We took most of the money in gold uncoined, which is got out of the mountains in great quantities, and of which we shall have occasion to speak more hereafter.
Our next trading port was Coquimbo, a small town but a good port. Here we went in without ceremony, and upon the same foot, of being French, we were well received, traded underhand with the Spanish merchants, and got letters to some other merchants at Guasco, a port in a little bay about fifteen leagues north from Coquimbo. ”

“ Andes, on the west by the Pacific, south-east by Aconcagua, and south-west by Quillota. It is forty-five leagues in length, and forty in breadth.
This country is similar to Copiapo; it also is extremely rich in gold, copper and iron, and produces wine, olives, and every kind of European fruit, as well as several tropical plants. The rivers are the Coquimbo, Tongoi, Chuapa and Limari; and the volcanoes Coquimbo and Limari are on its western frontier.
The climate is mild, and the air pure and healthy. ”

“ This bird is an inhabitant of extremely sterile regions. I saw several at the Rio Negro, but at Port Desire they were, perhaps, more numerous. I did not observe it near Valparaiso, in Central Chile, but I procured specimens of it from Coquimbo, where the country is more desert. It frequents open places, in which a few bushes grow. It hops very quickly, and often flies quietly from one place to another. ”

“ These are plainest at Chiloe, where, in a height of about five hundred feet, there are three escarpments,—at Coquimbo, where in a height of 364 feet, there are five,—at Guasco, where there are six, of which five may perhaps correspond with those at Coquimbo, but if so, the subsequent and intervening elevatory movements have been here much more energetic,—at Lima, where, in a height of about 250 feet there are three terraces, and others, as it is asserted, at considerably greater heights. ”

“ It had by the census of 1907, 6998 inhabitants but I understand that it has increased considerably in population since then. It lies on the Limari River just below the junctions of the Grande and the Hurtado rivers which uniting form the Limari. For its port it has Tongoi on the bay of the same name to which place it is connected by rail, but now much of the freight goes to Coquimbo. At Coquimbo, which was reached a couple of hours later, I obtained my first unhindered view of the Pacific Ocean on this South [361] American trip. ”

“ Major Head thus describes the Biscacho, or Coquimbo, a curious species of Owl, found all over the [Pg 225] pampas of South America:—"Like rabbits, they live in holes, which are in groups in every direction. These animals are never seen in the day, but as soon as the lower limb of the sun reaches the horizon, they are seen issuing from the holes. The Biscachos, when full-grown, are nearly as big as badgers, but their head resembles a rabbit's, except that they have large bushy whiskers. In the evening they sit outside the holes, and they all appear to be moralizing. ”

“ We know at least that at Coquimbo, where five escarpments occur in a height of 364 feet, the successive elevations, if they have been sudden, cannot have been very great. It has, I think, been shown that the occasional preservation of shells, unrolled and unbroken, is not improbable even during a quite gradual rising of the land; and their preservation, if the movement has been aided by small starts, is quite conformable with what actually takes place during recent earthquakes. ”

“ On being informed of this unfortunate accident, calculated to weaken the exalted notion which he wished to inspire into the natives of the character of his soldiers, Almagro hastened his march for Coquimbo, where he immediately ordered Marcando the head ulmen of the province, his brother, and twenty others of the principal inhabitants to be brought before him; all of whom he committed to the flames; This act of cruelty appeared extraordinary and unjust to every one; for even among these adventurers, inured to rapine and bloodshed, there still were some men of humanity and justice. ”

“ On this, the Governor of Coquimbo forbade the practice, as the wind might waft an unpleasant smell to Coquimbo, though the trade wind never blew in that direction. The Americans were therefore compelled to abandon the pursuit, and with it several sperm whales which were lying in the bay ready for boiling. ”

“ The old underlying tertiary formation at Coquimbo, appears to be of about the same age with several deposits on the coast of Chile (of which that of Navedad is the principal one) , and with the great formation of Patagonia. Both at Navedad and in Patagonia there is evidence, that since the shells (a list of which has been seen by Professor E. Forbes) there intombed were living, there has been a subsidence of several hundred feet, as well as an ensuing elevation. ”

“ It is the seat of a court of appeal for Atacama and Coquimbo, and has an excellent lyceum and other schools, including a school of mines. It has a good water supply, well-paved streets, gas illumination, tramway service and several small industries, including brewing and the making of fruit conserves. The annual rainfall is only 1·6 in. and its mean annual temperature is 59·2°. Its railway connexions include a line to Coquimbo (9 m.) ”

“ Some rude pottery is manufactured, and their huts of palm leaves are neatly constructed. Like the Jivaros, they prepare the heads of the dead, and sometimes a man will kill one of his wives if he takes a fancy that her head would look particularly ornamental thus preserved. [292]
The southern limit of the Kechua tongue, before the Spanish conquest, has been variously put by different writers; but I think we can safely adopt Coquimbo, in south latitude 30°, as practically the boundary of the stock. ”

“ The burrows on which we saw the prairie dog were, on the contrary, neat, always in repair, and evinced the operations of industrious tenants. This contrast, added to the form and magnitude of the dwelling, leads us to the belief that the coquimbo owl does not, in this region, excavate its own burrow, as it is said to do in South America and in the West India islands; but rather that it avails itself of the abandoned [224] burrows of this species of marmot, for the purposes of nidification and shelter. ”

“ After that he was enabled to found the town of Coquimbo on the coast about two hundred and fifty miles north of the capital, and visit Peru to arrange for the sending of more colonists and supplies. While there he assisted in the suppression of Gonzalo Pizarro’s revolt, and had no difficulty in inducing a large body of adventurers to go back with him, for Lima now was swarmed with men who were eager enough to win lands and slaves or take their chance of making their fortunes in the mines. ”

“ The Triumph having been detained in Chilian waters many weeks longer than was then expected, I was afterwards forced to forego the agreeable prospect of a voyage in company with an officer whose varied accomplishments and extensive observation of nature under the most varied136 conditions make his society equally agreeable and instructive.
Leaving Caldera soon after midday, the Ayacucho reached Coquimbo early on the following morning. With only the exception of Talcahuano, this is the best port in Chili, being sheltered from all troublesome winds, and affording good anchorage for large ships. ”

“ The rooms in Coquimbo swarm with them; but they will not live here at the height of only three or four thousand feet: it can scarcely be the trifling diminution of temperature, but some other cause which destroys these troublesome insects at this place. The mines are now in a bad state, though they formerly yielded about 2000 pounds in weight of silver a year. It has been said that “a person with a copper-mine will gain; with silver he may gain; but with gold he is sure to lose.” This is not true: all the large Chilian fortunes have been made by mines of the more precious metals. ”

“ From more recent observations, it would appear that this is not strictly true as regards the higher coast hills near Coquimbo, but it seems to hold as regards the tract of coast to the northward, between the neighbourhood of Taltal and that of Iquique, a distance of about four degrees of latitude. It may be that the coast hills are lower here than further south, and that as the desert region inland rises very gradually, and has a higher temperature inland than near the coast, the formation of fog is prevented. ”

“ Wherever the civilized man and the savage have come in contact, in the East or in the West, the story has been too often written in blood.
From the wild chaos of mountain scenery the Spaniards emerged on the green vale of Coquimbo, about the thirtieth degree of south latitude. Here they halted to refresh themselves in its abundant plains, after their unexampled sufferings and fatigues. Meanwhile Almagro despatched an officer with a strong party in advance, to ascertain the character of the country towards the south. ”

“ The inhabitants heard with the greatest envy of the rain at Coquimbo; from the appearance of the sky they had hopes of equally good fortune, which, a fortnight afterwards, were realized. I was at Copiapo at the time; and there the people, with equal envy, talked of the abundant rain at Guasco. After two or three very dry years, perhaps with not more than one shower during the whole time, a rainy year generally follows; and this does more harm than even the drought. The rivers swell, and cover with gravel and sand the narrow strips of ground, which alone are fit for cultivation. ”

“ The natives every where crowded round them on the march, to examine the wonderful strangers, and to present them with such things as they thought might prove agreeable to beings whom they conceived of a superior order to other men. In the mean time, two soldiers who had separated from the army, proceeded to the river Huasco which forms the boundary between the provinces of Copaipo and Coquimbo, where they were well received at first by the inhabitants ”