His chief difficulty arose from not knowing
where to find water in the lower country, so that he was obliged to
keep bordering the central ranges.
We returned down the valley, and on the 22nd reached the town of
Copiap?. The lower part of the valley is broad, forming a fine
plain like that of Quillota. The town covers a considerable space
of ground, each house possessing a garden: but it is an
uncomfortable place, and the dwellings are poorly furnished. Every
one seems bent on the one object of making money, and then
migrating as quickly as possible. All the inhabitants are more or
less directly concerned with mines; and mines and ores are the sole
subjects of conversation. Necessaries of all sorts are extremely
dear; as the distance from the town to the port is eighteen
leagues, and the land carriage very expensive. A fowl costs five or
six shillings; meat is nearly as dear as in England; firewood, or
rather sticks, are brought on donkeys from a distance of two and
three days' journey within the Cordillera; and pasturage for
animals is a shilling a day: all this for South America is
wonderfully exorbitant.
JUNE 26, 1835.
I hired a guide and eight mules to take me into the Cordillera by a
different line from my last excursion.
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