At Sauce we found a very civil old
gentleman, superintending a copper-smelting furnace. As an especial
favour, he allowed me to purchase at a high price an armful of
dirty straw, which was all the poor horses had for supper after
their long day's journey. Few smelting-furnaces are now at work in
any part of Chile; it is found more profitable, on account of the
extreme scarcity of firewood, and from the Chilian method of
reduction being so unskilful, to ship the ore for Swansea. The next
day we crossed some mountains to Freyrina, in the valley of Guasco.
During each day's ride farther northward, the vegetation became
more and more scanty; even the great chandelier-like cactus was
here replaced by a different and much smaller species. During the
winter months, both in Northern Chile and in Peru, a uniform bank
of clouds hangs, at no great height, over the Pacific. From the
mountains we had a very striking view of this white and brilliant
aerial-field, which sent arms up the valleys, leaving islands and
promontories in the same manner as the sea does in the Chonos
archipelago and in Tierra del Fuego.
We stayed two days at Freyrina. In the valley of Guasco there are
four small towns.
Pages:
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682