Page:Isaiah Bowman - Desert Trails of Atacama (1924).pdf/188

 house of loose stones and a tent. In 1871 it began to be a village, chiefly of tents of wretched appearance. In 1872 there were 2000 inhabitants, and houses were being built of wood or galvanized iron; streets were well aligned. In 1873 commercial houses on the coast established branches here, hotels were erected, and the streets paved. In 1874 it was a well-ordered town of 2500 in the center of a fast-growing district. Yet in nothing was the town self-supporting. The nearest source of drinking water was the wells of Aguadas Dulces 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the northeast, whence it was brought daily by cart. San Pedro de Atacama and other towns of the western slope of the cordillera provided firewood and fruits and some meat; cattle and fodder came over the cordillera from Argentina. Calama also sent fodder. Other things came by Antofagasta, the nearest port and the one whence the ore was shipped.

The cost of transportation was tremendous in any direction. It is said that from the coast to the mines the freight charges were double those by steamer from the port to Europe. The scale of trathe under these circumstances can be appreciated from the fact that at the height of prosperity 1500 carts, each drawn by 5 to 6 mules, were regularly employed between Caracoles and Antofagasta. There was a notable distinction between the journeys on the uphill and downhill grades: whereas the former took 4 to 6 days the latter took only 3 to 4.

The mining men at Copiapó refer facetiously to a place at some distance as 25 leagues up the valley and 4 leagues down. Uphill and downhill rates differ greatly in almost all countries where there is primitive transportation. It is estimated that the cost of downhill traffic to Puquios, where the Dulcinea Mine ships its copper ore, is to the uphill trafhe cost as two is to three, The flux being near the station to which they ship their matte, there is provided cargo both ways.

The first copper mining in Chile, apart from pre-Spanish mining, was for the purpose of supplying artillery for coast defense. In 1600 Garcia Ramén was not permitted to carry