The valley of Copiap?, forming a mere ribbon of green in a desert,
runs in a very southerly direction; so that it is of considerable
length to its source in the Cordillera. The valleys of Guasco and
Copiap? may both be considered as long narrow islands, separated
from the rest of Chile by deserts of rock instead of by salt water.
Northward of these, there is one other very miserable valley,
called Paposo, which contains about two hundred souls; and then
there extends the real desert of Atacama--a barrier far worse than
the most turbulent ocean. After staying a few days at Potrero Seco,
I proceeded up the valley to the house of Don Benito Cruz, to whom
I had a letter of introduction. I found him most hospitable; indeed
it is impossible to bear too strong testimony to the kindness with
which travellers are received in almost every part of South
America. The next day I hired some mules to take me by the ravine
of Jolquera into the central Cordillera. On the second night the
weather seemed to foretell a storm of snow or rain, and whilst
lying in our beds we felt a trifling shock of an earthquake.
The connexion between earthquakes and the weather has been often
disputed: it appears to me to be a point of great interest, which
is little understood.
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