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 large spur, On the banks of the low-water channel and for a short distance back of the bank there is generally a wild, shrubby vegetation with coarse grasses and the like, such as grow in a zone of coarse material where there is little water supply. Still farther back from the dry river bed are the gar- dens and ranch houses, surrounded by tall, wide-spreading

, 46—A cross section of the Copiapó valley looking down from El Bramador, the Roaring Mountain of Toledo.

trees and courtyards, made of tramped earth or, in some cases, of brick or paved with flagstones. Back of the owner's house are the cottages of the laborers, and there may be groups of these still farther up and down the valley, with paths and sometimes paved streets running between the outlying groups and the owner’s house. Then come the irrigated belts, devoted principally to alfalfa but growing some corn and vegetables. The outermost zone of high terraces and foothills is given to patchy cultivation or to grazing. The higher slopes of the up- land are without important vegetation except a natural growth of drought-resisting grasses and shrubs or the light green cover of grass that springs up after rain if it falls in several showers.