Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/434

 426 CHILI shell fish, and are well supplied with wood and water. (See CHILOE.) Southward of these are the Guaytecas group and Huafo, similar in their general character. On the coast above Chiloe are several smaller islands, the principal of which are Mocha, lat. 38 23', Santa Maria, lat. 37 3', and Quiriquina, in the mouth of Concep- cion bay, all of which have within the past 100 years met with extraordinary physical changes, from the earthquakes so common on the coast. The most famous of the Chilian islands is the group called Juan Fernandez. (See JUAN FER- NANDEZ.) The climate of Chili is one of the finest on the globe. Being in the south tem- perate zone, its summer answers to our winter, December, January, and February being the hottest months. During three months little or no rain falls, and the thermometer sometimes rises to 90 or 95 F. ; but the sea breeze at night cools the earth, and renders the temper- ature refreshing. The mean temperature of the winter months at Valparaiso is 54, at La Serena 54'8, at Santiago 49, at Valdivia 46*8. The highest temperature known at Santiago is 90, the lowest 47'5. At Valpa- raiso the highest mean point in summer in three years' observation was 78, the lowest 62, and the annual mean 70'8. At Coquim- bo the mean summer temperature was 63-6, and the entire range only 16 '8. At Concep- cion the mean summer temperature at 3 P. M. was 73-5, the mean for the year about 56. In Valdivia the mean summer tempera- ture is 60, that of the year 65. At Santiago the average number of hours during which rain fell in the year, during 26 years' obser- vation, was 215, or about 9 days. Further south the quantity of rain is some what greater. Toward the north, on the contrary, the rain diminishes in quantity, and on the desert of Atacama seldom or never falls. As a result of this equable and uniform climate, trees, fruits, and flowers of both tropical and tem- perate regions flourish well. "The native Kalm and pine of Araucania," says Lieut. Gil- ss, " the cherimoya of tropical America and the medlar of Japan, the magnolia of Florida and the olive of Asia, may all be found within the compass of a garden, not less luxuriant in their proportions and ever verdant foliage than under the climes of their origin." The atmos- phere is remarkably clear, especially at night. It is estimated that a 6i-inch achromatic tele- scope at Santiago is fully equal to a 12^-inch one at the Cape of Good Hope. The crescent of Venus was more than once seen with the naked eye by Lieuts. Gilliss and Macrae. There are two drawbacks to this delightful climate, the violent winds and hurricanes which occur at some seasons, and the earth- quakes. During the summer months northerly winds, known as temporales, occasionally blow in violent gusts, sometimes for two or three days, and are then followed by several weeks of pleasant weather. There is usually a fresh breeze from the S. W. between the hours of 10 and 3 in the day during the summer, and the force of this breeze on the mountains is terrific. The climate, though so delightful, seems to predispose the inhabitants to apathy and indolence. The Chilians are not a long- lived people; pulmonary diseases, affections of the heart and liver, and epidemic dysentery prove fatal to great numbers, and reduce the average duration of human life there to a lower point than in more variable climates. How tar these diseases may be dependent on other causes than climate is difficult to ascertain. Chili may with propriety be called the land of earthquakes, for it is probably visited by more than any other known region of the earth. The inhabitants have two words by which they designate the phenomena : tem- Mores, slight and partial agitations of the sur- face, and terremotos, or violent upheavings and oscillations. The temblores are so frequent as to pass unnoticed. The record of 25 months' observation at La Serena, in the province of Coquimbo, between 1849 and 1852, shows 156 shocks in that period, though the great earth- quake of April, 1851, and the repeated shocks which followed, were not included. Of these not more than two or three could be put down as terremotos. At Santiago, in 32 months, there were 130, of which four were very severe. The number increases in a rapid ratio as the observer proceeds northward, though in general those of central Chili are most severe. Of the great earthquakes, 16 of peculiar severity are recorded, in nearly all of which there was considerable destruction of life and property. In that of 1570, which de- stroyed Concepcion, 2,000 persons perished ; and in that of 1647, which destroyed Santiago, 1,000 persons and 60,000 head of cattle. The great earthquake of 1730 destroyed Valpa- raiso, La Serena, Concepcion, Coquimbo, and every village on the coast between Concepcion and Coquimbo, and in Santiago over 100 per- sons lost their lives. In 1835 Concepcion was a fourth time destroyed, and Talcahuana, Los Angeles, Yumbel, Cauquenes, and Constitu- cion were levelled, and about 200 persons were killed ; in 1837 the city of Valdivia was de- stroyed ; and in 1851 a great number of per- sons and churches were injured at Santiago, Valparaiso, and many of the intervening vil- lages. In 1871, March 25, occurred a very severe shock, by which much property was destroyed at Valparaiso and Santiago, but no lives were lost. The topographical structure of Chili implies the continuation of similaf geological formations in a N. and S. direction, following the range of its mountain chains. The belt of country between the Andes and the coast, ranging from 80 to 100 m. in width, is traversed, S. of lat. 32, by numerous longi- tudinal ridges, called the Cordilleras of the coast, which are granitic. Further N. these spurs are more irregular in their direction, and are covered in great part with barren sands, showing no trace of vegetation. This northern