In the
stretch of territory from the R. Copiapó to Cobija, between the ocean and
the Argentine provinces, lies the waste of Atacama. The Chilean government
and people are scarcely acquainted with it. The boundaries of Chile,
Bolivia, and the Argentine provinces are
not yet established there. Very commonly held is the belief that an
enormous wealth of precious metals is buried there. It was of some
importance to become acquainted with what the mineral resources offered
for mining and other commerce. On this and other grounds the Chilean
government commissioned me to explore the Atacama desert.
In
preparing for this trip I found nobody in Santiago with knowledge of the
area. I did not know whether to take mules or horses, where I would find a
guide, and so
on. I hoped that I could enlighten myself on these matters
in Copiapó. Dr.Segeth loaned me a travelling barometer. Prof. Domeyko
provided me with a psychrometer; in
Valparaiso
I found a sextant, but had no luck in obtaining a chronometer. My
travelling companion would be Herr W.Doll, a surveyor for many years
resident in Chile. …. All preparations being affected, an 22 November we
sailed out an the brigantine which the government had placed at my
disposal …. on 29 November we dropped anchor in the harbour of Caldera,
close besides the Portland, the English admiral‘s ship …. from Hueso
Parado towards Migual Diaz we reached Hacienda Paposo.... On 22 December
we finally got together a sufficient number of mules to take myself, Herr
Doll and a servant to El Cobre We camped overnight not far from
the ocean; the timber from Lecheros and cactus soon provided a fine
flickering fire. There was no water there. As soon as grey dawn appeared
we departed and after a sharp ride of almost 1 hours we reached the Panul
water....Towards midday we ascended to the Agua Migual Diaz, which lies in
a valley at 861 feet above sea level. The vegetation there was similar to
that near Paposo but much sparser; there was a berberis new to me.
[36 other species of plants are listed from 33 different families/genera
including "many
cacti“].
At 2.30
p.m. we left Agua Migual Diaz. On from here the vegetation decreased
strikingly. In the valley of Botijas which is about 2 leagues away from
Migual Diaz, lived the uncle of our guide and muleteer with his wife and
children. He was occupied in collecting the water which occurred there and
conveying it down to the beach for transport by boat twice a week to
Cobre, for the mules which are used to bring the ore down to the shore
there.
The
mountains here consist of Syenite, which crumbles into grit and buries the
major peaks in debris and coarse sand. The feldspar is prominent
throughout, greyish white, occasionally with small pale red flecks. The
quartz is smoke grey. The hornblende is black and occupies two or three
times the volume of the black mica; only rarely is there a leaf of white
mica. Beyond the odd
Echinocactus
there is not a trace of vegetation in this desolate grit and rubble. We
left there at 6 p.m. going uphill to look for a campsite for the night. We
passed a valley that had vertical sides 80ft high in which the strata was
laminated horizontally. The muleteer,
by great exertion,
climbed up an to the firm rocks
on
which grew some
Calandrina
discolor,
a few columnar cacti, and
Pitcairnia chrysantha.
Despite their spines the plump leaves of the last-named served the beasts
for sustenance for this night, and the wood of the cactus was our
firewood. Water was completely absent. The place is called Chagua de Jote;
it lies same 400ft above sea level, some half hour away from it and 15-16
leagues from Paposo.
The
following day, 24 December, we set off at daybreak on our track which was
similar to that followed the previous afternoon. On the way we met with
two females mounted on horseback, who came from Cobre. They were very
dark, burnt by the sun. After 3 hours sharp riding we caught sight of the
tip heaps of a copper mine; soon after that we saw a Chilean flag and as
we rounded the small foothill a little bay in which the barque lay at
anchor came into view, and finally the establishment El Cobre hidden under
crags.
The owner,
Don Jose Antonio Moreno, received me
most hospitably. I found here the weekly newspaper, a very good kitchen,
wine and good water from Valparaiso! For the first time since leaving
Chañaral I had bread to eat. Herr Moreno had often travelled over the
desert and certainly as an intelligent and alert observer; I acknowledge a
great deal of very valuable information from him about the area and have
later found all his views to be correct throughout. The small bay where he
is established has been called El Cobre from time immemorial and probably
even the Changos obtained copper from here. Herr Moreno reopened the
copper mine six months ago and currently employs 60 workers. The area
could not be more impoverished: no water, no fodder for man nor beast; the
animals carry ore down to the beach and transport water and provisions
back to the mine. Everything -
clothing,
tools, firewood, cooking utensils, harness, horseshoes, and so on, must
be brought in by ship.
The
vegetation is extremely insignificant. At a couple of hundred feet in
height were Cereus,
a species of Echinocactus,
Oxalis gigantea,
and the Opuntia
with the numerous long whitish spines which I had noted near Cachinal.
The
mountains to the east certainly rose up to about 3000ft, all their sides
were quite lacking in vegetation. Why do the clouds and mist persist only in
the neighbourhood of Paposo and not also further to the north?
Herr Moreno
firmly advised me against trying the land route to Mejillones, along
which I would be in danger of dying of thirst together with my animals on
the way, since he could obtain no reliable guide for me. The few watering
spots which occur over this long stretch of 30 leagues at Agua Buena and La
Chimba, lie not only off the route but significantly well away from it and
high in the valleys. They are virtually impossible to find for those not
conversant with them. Not long ago two Chileans from Cobija had attempted to
take this route; they were soldiers in the Peruvian army, deserters and only
wanted to go along the sea to their homeland. One of them succumbed to
exhaustion and thirst half way along the route and his companion arrived in
Cobre more dead than alive. Had he found no-one here, he too would not have
lived to tell the tale. Herr Doll would not be deterred by this and would at
least search over the 5 leagues as far as Agua Buena. After one and a
half days he came back extremely exhausted and half dead of thirst, without
having found it. He reported that the coast offered nothing of interest to
him and specifically not a trace of vegetation. Under these
circumstances I resolved to go on by ship again and to land only in the bay
of La Chimba and in that of Mejillones, to look for deposits of Guana.
Herr Doll,
who suffered severely from seasickness, decided to return to Paposa
by land whilst I proceeded by sea. We had a fresh wind as far as the Isla
Blanca, so called due to the layer of bird droppings which covers its
surface, so it appears white. There was no trace of plants or insects
there. On 29 December at 4 in the afternoon we lifted anchor to sail to
the Bay of Mejillones. By dawn the following day we were already north
of Morro Moreno and at 9 we turned the Punta de Angamos; right behind it an
the shore we saw huts, men, and a boat; evidently people go there for Guano.
A boat with four men rowed in front of us in the direction of Cobija they
informed us that they drew their water from a spring at the foot of Morro
Morena, same 12 hours away, but it was of poor quality. Their firewood was
the timber from Cereus
which they had to drag from a good two hours away on the crown of the Morro
Mejillones. I went off in the longboat but the surf was so high on the shore
that we did not risk a landing and returned to the ship
On 31
December I made an attempt to climb up the 2500ft high Morro Mejillones
which lay about 2 hours away in a SSW direction. Few excursions have been so
painful for me. On this day the sun was at its zenith, when the bare rock
and rubble was almost burning hot. Not a patch of shade was thrown and not a
breath of air; the time from 9 to 3 is unquestionably not suitable for
making a fatiguing trek. More than once I was so exhausted that I wondered
whether I could go on any further. And what was the result of the whole
effort? Very little. Far a time the track goes along the beach in a
southerly direction. The strata is horizontal. Then the footpath climbed a
steep rise parallel to the shore, over rubble which often gave way underfoot
and rolled down to the ocean. One spot appeared to me so nasty that I did
not dare cross it but preferred to climb a valley straight up to the top.
Finally it brought me to a pretty broad, level ridge about 1500ft high which
fell steeply to either side. There was not the slightest trace, of a plant,
nor insect, to be seen but thousands and thousands of empty shells of a land
snail. What had devoured the snails? and where did they live?
On this
ridge we followed the footsteps taken by the guano collectors an their
expeditions to the peak of the Morro for fire wood. This peak rose up like a
cone from a roughly 2000ft high level. At this height is same vegetation;
here and there an
Echinocactus
is to be seen, a Solanum,
a Frankiana,
a Dinemandra,
an Alona
or
Tetragonia,
usually withered. The cactus, mostly the eleven-angled
Eulychnia breviflora
starts at this height and then becomes frequent right on the peak. At its
foot I found an Alstrameria
in flower, a remarkable picture in the harsh surroundings. I was astonished
to find here many tracks and droppings of Guanacos. Is there more vegetation
here in winter? I was too exhausted to climb up the peak itself and
satisfied myself by going round to the east side of it. There I could
overlook the whole of the sandy desert that stretched as far as Chimba, 22
sea miles long and 3 sea miles broad. Then I turned back. I satisfied myself
that the plateau at same 1800 to 2000ft high, falling steeply to the west,
which forms the coast from Chañaral, continues uninterruptedly as far as
Cobija On 2 January we sailed away in the direction of Paposo.
