Proceeding northward, the quantity of rain does not appear to decrease in strict proportion to the latitude.

At Conchalee, which is only 67 miles north of Valparaiso, rain is not expected till the end of May; whereas at Valparaiso some generally falls early in April: the annual quantity is likewise small in proportion to the lateness of the season at which it commences.
MAY 4, 1835.
Finding the coast-road devoid of interest of any kind, we turned inland towards the mining district and valley of Illapel.

This valley, like every other in Chile, is level, broad, and very fertile: it is bordered on each side, either by cliffs of stratified shingle, or by bare rocky mountains.

Above the straight line of the uppermost irrigating ditch, all is brown as on a high-road; while all below is of as bright a green as verdigris, from the beds of alfarfa, a kind of clover.

We proceeded to Los Hornos, another mining district, where the principal hill was drilled with holes, like a great ants'-nest.