Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-21


| smaller apparatus, on the same principle. ia
now being worked at Sierra Gordo, and
| realizes handsome profit, though the water
| sells for only 30 cents the arroba. Most of the
coast towns and inland factories are now sup
piled by means of condensed steam. some of the
| condensers producing no less than twenty five
| tons of good water for every ton of coal burned
| in the boilers. More recent schemes have been
| started for supplying the coast towns with
water by means of pipes running across the
| tains. 1quiqui. Taltal Autofogasta and Moll-
endo are supplied In this manner. and other
similar aquedncts are being constructed.
| Before Europeans came here this region was
almost uninhabited. Two three hundred
Changes Indians. who live by fishing. still
prowl along the face of the coast range. but
| until recently they had no idea there was any
| thing OF value in their territory. In the dis
trict of Tarapaca and on the TaInarugal pampa
the Aymara language is universally spoken and
all the place names are in that tongue--such as
Paccha. JAZZ Pampa. Puntunchara. DC. In the
Autofogasta and Taltal regions, the Indians
speak only Quichua. though they lie further
from the home d that language. Most of the
laDorers are Bolivians, from the neighborhood
of CochabaElba. where Quichua is univetsallv
spoken. These men chew cocoa and entertain
all the strange superstitions of their brothers in
Bolivia.
ONLY ONE VILLAGE OF IMPORTANCE.
The portion of the pampa in which English
speaking people are most interested, is that
lying between Iquiqui and Pisagua-the cele-
brated ''TamaruSal Pampa'' where lie the
Tarapaca beds. The encompassing Sierra
Huatacondo have their barren slopes inter-
sected by quebradas (brcaks). or narrow val
leys. each OF which brings down n small stream
OF water, to be eventually lost in the sandy
desert. By the side OF each little river, irriga-
ton affords sustenance to a scanty popula ton:
but there is only one village Of Importance.
that OF Iarapaca in the valley OF the same
name, which includes the province containing
Iquiqui, where colony of Northern Nitrate
Kings have accumulated their millions. A
high, chilly upland. about twenty miles across,
separates the outer Sierra of Huatacondo from
the higher range of the Cordillera, and then
the Andes slope sharply down to the plateau of
Bolivia. 1000 feet above the sea. The crests
of the seward mountains retain no snow dur
ing the summer months. but those of the in
ner Cordillera remain white throughout the
year.
HOW THE BEDS GROW.
The tamarugal shrubs that grow in places on
the Pampa owe their existence 20 the floods
which every few years rush down from the
Andes and run almost to the edge of the nitrate
grounds. OF course one good overflow or
shower bath would ruin all the nitrate, but as
the region Is entirely rainless. there is no dan
ger of either. The surface of the desert is not
sharp sand. but dry earth mixed with a certain
would turn every rod Of 1t into fertile plain.
Wherever wells have been sunk alternate layers
OF gravel. sand and mud are disc closed, each
series OF layers representing the sequence of a
single hood In former ages. hence it follows
that In times long past the pampa must have
been subject to periodical foundations. Water
may be found almost anywhere at the depth of
from 30 to $50 feet, but no place has vet been
discovered where the conditions necessary for
artesians wells are fulfilled. Strange to saw
nd rlfa of <ha n
contain the slightest trace of either nitrate or
soda. or iodine, though they hold a greater pro-
portion OF mineral salts the farther westward
they run. In the middle of the desert the
water contains too much salt to be drinkable:
that near the western margin (but not in the
inter bedsi, belongs to the calcareo-magnesian
class and Is totally unfit for domestic and Gull
nary purposes.
FICTION EXPLODED.
1t is commonly promulgated fiction that the
subterranean water of the Tamarugal plain is
the overflow from far-away Lake Titicaca that
has somehow filtered under the great Cordil-
lera. The absurd idea was originated more
than three centuries ago by the celebrated but
unsclentlfc historian. Don CieZa de Leon, who
wrote. In 1859. his ''Chronica del Peru" Tit
caca only outlet is the Rio Desaguadero. At
starting the water contains only about one
gramme of salt TO litre. but before the river
has reached the shallow Lake Aullagas it is so
farther on the last remnant of the Desaguadero
Is lost IN the muddy salt marsh, called Cienaga
de Colpasa. and 1t Is impossible to believe that
It's bracklsh water can come out fresh on the
other side OF the mountains.
south OF CoqulmbO, all the way down to the
tip end OF the continent the country is well
cultivated Or wooded and possesses abundance
OF water, but the northern deserts are far
more valuable because OF their mineral wealth
The entire province of Atacama is one vast
mine OF ores and alkalies-among them being
gold. silver, iron. copper. lead, salt. borax
gypsum cobalt and saltpetre. The amazing
number OF mines In this desert may be inferred
from the fact that i'll the district of Caracoles
alone upwards of 1000 silver mines have al
ready been surveyed and assessed. The local
ny was so named (from caracol. snail she'll
because the mountains whereabouts consist
mostly OF fossillterous shelly limestone abound
ing IN ammonites. Formerly Bolivian political
troubles lnterfered with the development of
Caracoles resources; and since the territory
has belonged to Chill the heavy transit charges
across the desert and the high rate of wages
demanded by workmen have been obstacles
almost insurmountable. FANNIE b. WARD.