Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/635

Rh CHILI G23 27,000 quarters. The potato is indigenous to Chili. The largest quantity and the best are grown in the rainy provinces of Chiloe and Valdivia, where the yield varies from 10 to 40 for 1. The average annual produce is 3,100,000 bushels in the whole of Chili. Of walnuts the average annual produce is 48,000 bushels. Although there are 14,560 bearing olive trees in the country, the extraction of the oil from the berries is only beginning to receive due attention. There are 890,000 mulberry trees, but the breeding of silkworms has as yet not succeeded. The vines number from eighteen to twenty millions ; and really good imitations of port and claret are made, although the great bulk goes to make a coai se brandy, a catelan-like wine called rnosto, and the great beverages of the poorer classes, called chicha and chacoli. The most important plant for the fattening of cattle is a lucerne, the Medicago satim, which flourishes throughout all the warmer regions of Chili. It is sown in winter, 2 bushels to the cuadra, under a sprinkling of earth, is cut from three to four times in the year, and irrigated from five to ten times, according to the nature of the soil, and yields of green food 49 tons the cuadra. Cattle brought from the mountains, and oxen that have been work ing in carts and in the plough, are speedily fattened on it, while cows fed on it yield rich milk and butter. The hills in the warm regions of Chili are sparingly covered with a short and wiry grass, which, after one winter of abundant rain, lasts for two seasons, even although the succeeding winter may have been dry. The sterile plains and mountains produce the carob tree (Cera- tonia) which, in defiance of a broiling sun, stretches out its spacious limbs, covered with foliage, forming an agreeable retreat to the weary traveller by day as well as by night ; the espino (Acacia Cavenia) inferior to the carob tree in size, hardness, and durability of its timber ; and the great torch thistle, whose long, smooth spines are used by the country people for knitting-needles, and whose interior woody substance, stripped of its fleshy bark, forms the beams and rafters of the cottages of the peasantry in the northern provinces. Timber is abundant in all the provinces S. of San tiago, but chiefly in Arauco, Valdivia, and Chiloe, which may be termed the forest region of Chili. There are altogether above a hundred different kinds of indigenous trees, of which not more than thirteen ever shed their leaves. Several have been found serviceable in ship-building, but for purposes of house-carpentry none afford an adequate substitute for pine. Ornamental woods are scarce, and too soft for the use of cabinet-makers. The principal timber trees are the roble or Chilian oak (Fuyus obliqua) which attains a height of 100 feet, and as the timber retains its soundness in water, it makes excellent stakes ; the lingue (Persea Lingue) 90 feet, which furnishes the best wood for furniture, while the bark is of great value in tanning; the peumo (Gryptocarya Peumus), the bark of which is used in Valdivia for tanning, the Germans exporting large quantities of first class sole leather, of which the largest quantity goes to England ; two species of cypress, both exceeding in height the loftiest trees in England, the timber.of a reddish hue, is used for beams, doors, pillars, and ornamental flooring. The cypress (Libocedrus chilensis) grows on the Andes of the middle provinces, while the Libocedrus tetragona is found on the southern Andes. The quillay tree (Quilkija Saponaria) grows north from the Biobio. A decoction of the bark is used for clearing the colours in dyeing and cleansing articles of silk and woollen cloth, and as a wash for the hair. The laurel (Lauretia aromatica) is a tall handsome tree, but its wood warps so much that it is suitable only for the coarsest work. The lumo (Myrtus Luma] produces timber liker the Eng lish oak than the Chilian oak. The Araucauian pine (Araucnria imbricata) 150 feet, flourishes on the mountains S. from the Biobio. When seen from a distance the trees look like gigantic umbrellas. The cone, which takes two years to ripen, contains from 50 to 100 oblong nuts 2 inches long, which, when cooked, form more delicate eating than chestnuts. Under the governorship of O Higgins their trunks were used for ship-masts ; but at present the expense of bringing them to the coast prevents their being employed in this way. The Chilian cedar or alerce (Fiteroya patagonica) is the largest and most important tree in Chili. The wood is reddish, soft and durable, and not liable to warp. The trunk is divided into pieces of 8 feet long, and then split up into boards 6 or 7 inches broad, and about half an inch thick, which is, on account of the straightuess of the fibre, very easily effected. An ordinary tree yields from 500 te 600 of these boards. The general height is from 150 to 180 feet. Yet some specimens have been met with 300 feet high and 60 in circumference, which yielded upwards of 5200 boards. The best grow in Llanquihue, Chiloe, and Valdivia. Indeed, the luxuriance of vegetation in these regions is as great as in the tropics. The forests are frequently quite impenetrable on account of the creepers and the &quot;quila,&quot; a rudely branched reed, which, however, affords a good food for the cattle. A creeper (Lardiuabala biternata) is used by the Araucanians instead of ropes. In the same districts grows likewise the coliguS or coleu (Chusquea Coleou), a bamboo- Uke reed, which attains a height of 30 feet, and furnishes the snafts of the lances of the Araucanians and Pehuenches. Fruit is plentiful. Besides the kinds already mentioned, in Valdivia there are large apple orchards, and further north pears, cherries, and quinces. The strawberries of the south of Chili have long been famous, and are still unrivalled, especially those of Tome. Animals. The most formidable animal in Chili is the puma. Zoology. On account of its ravages in the farm-yard, it is frequently hunted with dogs, or caught by the lasso. The guanaco roams about among the lower regions of the Chilian Alps in herds numbering from 20 to IC9. The vicuna is more rare ; it inhabits the Andes of the province of Atacama. The huemul is found in the territory of Magellan, and in other districts the otter, wild cat, fox, and chin chilla. The horses of Chili are inferior in strength and height to those of England, but greatly superior in point of endurance. The mule is the beast of burden, and will carry on an average a load of 355 Ib. a distance of 20 or even 30 miles a day. The beef is excellent ; meat is mostly cured by drying, making it into charqui. In this manufacture several hundred head of cattle are killed at a time, the flesh rapidly stripped off the bones, cut into long thin shreds, and then dried in the sun. Birds. Among the birds of Cliili the most remarkable is i!ie condor, which is easily recognised by the white ruff encircling its neck. As its wings on an average extend 8 or 9 feet, its flight has a very majestic appearance. Humboldt mentions having seen one flying at the height of 22,000 feet above the level of the sea. They scent an exposed carcase for a great distance, but seldom earn- off live prey. The turkey-buzzard is also common in the northern districts ; white eagles, hawks, and owls are more numerous in the south. The only song-birds worthy of notice are, the tenca, the thrush, the tordo (a kind of blackbird), and the lloica (a kind of red breast) ; but none of these can rival the notes of our English birds. The teuca is said to emulate the mocking-bird in imitative power. The tapaculo (Pteroptochus albicollis), a bird about the same size as the thrush, rarely flies, but runs about with great agility, emitting an odd but cheerful note. The chingol, or sparrow, has gayer plumage than his European representative. Besides these, parroquets, flamingoes, partridges, and woodpeckers abound in several localities, likewise the black-headed swan, and several varieties of crane. Patagonia has an ostrich much hunted by the Indians. The pelican, the penguin, and the shag inhabit the sea and the salt-water lakes. Fish. Great varieties of fish are found off the coast of Chili, and of these the pichihuen, which is caught chiefly in the Bay of Coquim- bo, is regarded as a choice delicacy. There are small sweet oysters oft Chiloe ; huge mussels, barnacles, and fissurella?, off Coucepcion; and large clams off Coquimbo ; besides sea-urchins, cockles, and limpets, which are found along the whole coast. Of the reptiles, which are all harmless, the most numerous ara lizards ; the snakes vary from 12 to 30 inches in length. Scorpions and large spiders are common, but not dangerous. Of beetles there are upwards of 4000 species not found in Europe. Chili is never infested by the clouds of locusts which from time to time devastate the neighbouring plains of the Argentine Republic. Small ants enter houses and attack provisions. In 1844, J. P. Larrain made an unsuccessful attempt to iutro- Bees, duce bees; however, about two years afterwards he succeeded. Since then they have multiplied so fast that there are now upwards of 100,000 hives, producing on an average 50,000 worth of honey and wax annually, of which by far the greatest part is exported. Manufactures. The wealth of Chili consists in the development of Manufac- its great and abundant resources, for which its scanty population is tures. insufficient ; hence manufactures which require many skilled hands and much cheap labour have as yet not prospered, the cost of pro duction being to great. But such works as flour mills, smelting works, tanneries, breweries, roperies, and soap works have long proved successful. &quot;Vine-making is progressing rapidly. At Tome there is a cloth mill, and at Valparaiso a large sugar refinery. Numerous banks and insurance and other companies are conducted on the principle of limited liability. Both Santiago and Valparaiso are in this way furnished with street tramways, and the plan has of late been applied to mining. Commerce. The commerce of Chili has vastly increased since the Experts. time when the country lay torpid under the yoke of Spain. In 1855 the total value of the exports was under 4,000,000 ster ling, now it averages 8,000,000. The imports were in 1855 a little above 3,500,000, now they average 7,000,500. The prin cipal exports are copper in bars and ores, averaging 3, 050, 000 ; silver in bars and ores, averaging 560,000 ; wheat, flour, and biscuits, averaging 1,507,000; barley, 300,000; hay of Lucerne (Medi cago sativa), 51,600 ; potatoes, 48,000 ; walnuts, 40,000; butter and cheese, 20,500 ; eggs, 22,000 ; hides, 22,000. Of the imports 17 to 18 per cent, are for nutrition, such as sugar, luiportt rice, and cattle ; 20 to 21 per cent, are necessaries of social life, as clothing, domestic utensils, crockery, drags, machinery, tools, books, paper, &c. ; and 13 to 14 percent, are articles of luxury, such as rich carpets, satins, silks, and drapery, toys, cards, tobacco, perfumery, musical instruments, pictures, statues, jewellery, tea, coffee, and yerbamate This yerba, the dried leaves of the &quot;ilex par aguayensis.