At Sauce We Found A Very Civil Old Gentleman,
Superintendent Of 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
further 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. At the mouth there is the port, a
spot entirely desert, and without any water in the immediate
neighbourhood. Five leagues higher up stands Freyrina, a
long straggling village, with decent whitewashed houses.
Again, ten leagues further up Ballenar is situated, and above
this Guasco Alto, a horticultural village, famous for its dried
fruit.
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