At Last The Authorities Interfered,
And Peace Was Established.
13th. - In the morning I started for the saltpetre-works,
a distance of fourteen leagues.
Having ascended the steep
coast-mountains by a zigzag sandy track, we soon came in
view of the mines of Guantajaya and St. Rosa. These two
small villages are placed at the very mouths of the mines;
and being perched up on hills, they had a still more unnatural
and desolate appearance than the town of Iquique. We did
not reach the saltpetre-works till after sunset, having ridden
all day across an undulating country, a complete and utter
desert. The road was strewed with the bones and dried skins
of many beasts of burden which had perished on it from
fatigue. Excepting the Vultur aura, which preys on the
carcasses, I saw neither bird, quadruped, reptile, nor insect.
On the coast-mountains, at the height of about 2000 feet
where during this season the clouds generally hang, a very
few cacti were growing in the clefts of rock; and the loose
sand was strewed over with a lichen, which lies on the surface
quite unattached. This plant belongs to the genus
Cladonia, and somewhat resembles the reindeer lichen. In
some parts it was in sufficient quantity to tinge the sand,
as seen from a distance, of a pale yellowish colour. Further
inland, during the whole ride of fourteen leagues, I saw only
one other vegetable production, and that was a most minute
yellow lichen, growing on the bones of the dead mules.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 560 of 776
Words from 150069 to 150325
of 208183
