The record-union., 1891-03-22

the landscape, while inside from Autofo-
gasta, in the great desert of Atacama, there
is not even a distant mountain to be seen
nothing but brown sand as far as the eye
can reach. There is no cloud on the bur-
nished sky to temper the rays of the ver-
tieal sun; the hot air distinctly yibrates,
and blue mirage lakes tantaliZe the thirsty
traveller. One can scarcely bear to touch
the scorching sand at 1902, and light
south wind continually raises whirlwinds
of dust In every direction. Neither bird OF
beast, plant of the lowest type, can live in
these barren wastes; and yet their hidden
wealth has led to the creation of several
villages, whose every necessary of life is
brought from long distance.
A few years ago water sold on the Alta
CANA desert for $50 the dyTobd, or about
81 so per gallon, and drink for mule
cost fifteen English shillings. Finally, at
place in the desert called Carmen Alto,
n sun condenser, with 50,000 square feet OF
glass, was employed to distill fresh water
from that of the sea. This was afterwards
wrecked by whirlwind; but smaller
apparatus, on the same principle, Is now
being worked at Sierra Gordo, and real
ICES handsome profit, though the water
sells for only thirty. cents the a,Tobd.
Most of the coast towns ana inland facto-
ries are now supplied by means of con-
densed 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 desert from springs at the foot
of the mountains. Iquique, Taltal, Anto-
fogasta and Mollendo are supplied in this
manner, and other similar aqueducts are
being constructed.
Vxf., L.
was almost uninhabited. Two or 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 anything of value in
their territory. In the district of Tarapa-
ca, and on the Tamarugal Pampa the Ay-
mara language is universally spoken, and
all the place-names are in that tongue
such as Paccha, JAZZ Pampa, Puntuncha-
ra, etc. In the Antoiogasta and Tai
tai regions, the Indians speak only Qui-
chua, though they lie further from the
home of that language. Most of the labor
ers are Bolivians, from the neighborhood
of Cochabama, where Quichua Is univer-
sally spoken. These men chew coca, and
entertain all the strange superstitions of
their brothers in Bolivia.
The portion of the pampa in which Eng
lish-speaking people are most interested,
lis that lying between Iquique and Pisa
gua--the celebrated "Tamarugal Pampa, -
where lie the Tarapaca beds. The en-
comprising Huatacondo have their bar
rem slopes intersected by qae6radas
(breaks), or narrow valleys, each of which
brings down a small stream of water, to
be eventually lost in the sandy desert.
BY the side of each little river irrigation
affords sustenance TO scanty population;
but there is only one village of import
ance-that of Tarapaca, in the valley of
the same name, which includes the prov
mce containing Iquique, where colony
of northern Nitrate Kings have accu-
mulated their millions. A high, chilly
upland, about twenty miles across, sepa-
rates the outer Sierra of Huatacondo from
the higher range of the Cordillera; then
the Andes slope sharply down to the pla-
teau of Bolivia l., 900 feet above the sea-
The crests of the seaward mountains re-
tain no snow during the summer months,
but those of the inner Cordillera remain
white throughout the year.
The tamarugal shrubs that grow in
places on the pampa owe their existence
to 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 rs the region Is
entirely rainless, there is no danger of
either. The surface of the desert is not
a certain proportion of sandy particles,
and irrigation would turn every rod of it
into fertile plain. Wherever wells have
been sunk alternate layers of gravel, sand
and mud are disclosed, each series of Law
ers representing the sequence of single
flood in former ages; hence il follows
that in times long past the pampa must
have been subject to periodical inunda-
tons. Water may be found almost any
where at the depth from 30 TO $50 feet: but
no place has yet been discovered where
the conditions necessary for artesian
wells are fulfilled. Strange to say, the
underground waters of the pampa do not
contain the slightest trace of either nitrate
of soda or iodine, though they hold a
greater proportion of mineral salts the
farther westward they run. In the mid
die of the desert the water contains too
much salt TO be drinkable; that near the
western margin (but not in the inter bed),
belongs to the calcareo-magnesian class
and is totally unfit for domestic and cul-
mary purposes.
1t is commonly promulgated fiction
that the subterranean water of the lamar
ugal plain is the overflow from far away
Lake Titicaca that has somehow filtered
under the great CordiIlera, The absurd
idea was originated more than three cent
uries ago by the celebrated bat unscien-
tific historian, Don Cieza de Leon, who
wrote, in 1850, his 'Chronica del Peru. !"
Titicaca's only outlet is the Rio Desagua-
dero. AT starting the water contains only
about one gramme of salt to liter; but
before the river has reached the shallow
Lake Aullagas il is so salt as to be un-
drinkable. A short distance farther on
the last remnant of the Desaguadero is
lost in the muddy salt-marsh called Ci-
enaga de Coipasa; and it is impossible to
believe that its brackish water can come
out fresh on the other side of the mount
aims.
South of Coquimbo, all the way down
to the tip end of the continent, the coun-
try is well cultivated, or wooded, and pos
sesses abundance of water; but the north
ern deserts are far more valuable because
of their mineral wealth. The entire
province of Atacama is one vast mine of
ores and alkaiies: among them being gold,
silver, iron, copper, lead, salt, borax,
gypsum, cobalt and saltpeter. The amaz-
ing number of mines in this desert may
be inferred from the fact that in the dis
trict of Caracoles alone upwards of four
thousand silver mines have already been
surveyed and assessed! The locality was
so named from caracol, a snail -shelD be-
cause the mountains thereabouts consist
mostly of fossiliferous shelly limestone.
abounding in ammonites. Formerly
Bolivian political troubles interfered with
the development of Caracoles' resources:
and since the territory has belonged to
Chile the heavy transit charges across the
desert, and high rate of wages demanded
by workmen, have been obstacles almost
insurmountable. FANNIE b. WARD.
JASON WAS A GOOD BOY.