The Distant Andes
Were Now Covered By A Thick Mass Of Snow, And Were A Glorious
Sight.
May 2nd.
- The road continued to follow the coast, at no
great distance from the sea. The few trees and bushes which
are common in central Chile decreased rapidly in numbers,
and were replaced by a tall plant, something like a yucca in
appearance. The surface of the country, on a small scale,
was singularly broken and irregular; abrupt little peaks of
rock rising out of small plains or basins. The indented coast
and the bottom of the neighbouring sea, studded with breakers,
would, if converted into dry land, present similar forms;
and such a conversion without doubt has taken place in the
part over which we rode.
3rd. - Quilimari to Conchalee. The country became more
and more barren. In the valleys there was scarcely sufficient
water for any irrigation; and the intermediate land was
quite bare, not supporting even goats. In the spring, after
the winter showers, a thin pasture rapidly springs up, and
cattle are then driven down from the Cordillera to graze
for a short time. It is curious to observe how the seeds of
the grass and other plants seem to accommodate themselves,
as if by an acquired habit, to the quantity of rain which
falls upon different parts of this coast. One shower far
northward at Copiapo produces as great an effect on the
vegetation, as two at Guasco, and three or four in this
district. At Valparaiso a winter so dry as greatly to injure
the pasture, would at Guasco produce the most unusual
abundance.
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