After an excursion of three weeks, I returned to Conception with my friend, Don Santiago Dias, to whom I brought letters of introduction from my good host at Arauco, Don Nicolas del Rio, which were most willingly attended to, and rendered my detention as a prisoner of war a delightful series of excursions into the country, and of parties of pleasure in the city.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] I have made particular mention of the form of the Cabildos, because they have been preserved since the revolution just as they existed before it.
CHAPTER VI.
Sent to Talcahuano. … Description of the Bay and Anchorage. … Plain between Conception and Talcahuano. … Prospectus of a Soap Manufactory here. … Coal Mine. … Town, Custom-house, Inhabitants, &c. … Fish, &c. caught in the Bay. … Colonial Commerce. … Prospectus of a Sawing Mill.
After staying a few days at Conception, I was sent for by the governor to Talcahuano, a ship being there ready to sail for Lima. I took with me a note to a resident in the port, and was received by him with the greatest possible kindness; he requested me to make his house my home until the ship should be ready to sail; a request with which I very willingly complied.
The bay of Talcahuano is one of the largest on the western shores of South America: from north to south its length is about ten miles, that is from the main land on one side to the main land on the other; from east to west it is seven miles. In the mouth of the bay lies the island Quiriquina, forming two entrances; that on the east side is the safer, being two miles wide with thirty fathoms water, decreasing gradually towards the usual anchorage at Talcahuano, where, about half a mile from the shore, there are ten fathoms water. It is well sheltered from the north wind; but the swell is so great during a norther (as the north winds are here called) that it is almost impossible to land, though at any other time the landing is good on any part of the beach.
From Conception to Talcahuano, a distance of six miles, the surface of the ground is composed of loose sand intermixed with sea shells; about half a yard deep a continued stratum of marine shells is found, exactly similar to those shell-fish with which the sea abounds at this place: they are the choro, muscle, pie de burra, or ass's foot, the bulgados, a species of snail, and the picos, barnacles. This stratum is generally from twelve to fifteen feet thick; and a similar one is found in the hills, three hundred feet above the level of the sea; being, no doubt, the effect of some tremendous earthquake, which took place before this country was known to the old world; for it is certain, that what now constitutes the valley of Penco or Conception was at some remote period a part of the Pacific Ocean. From these shells all the lime used in building is procured. The land between Talcahuano and Conception is not fit for cultivation; it presents rather a dreary appearance; however, some cattle graze on the marshy or low parts, and their meat is considered very delicate. Abundance of salsola grows in this neighbourhood, from which kali might be procured in great quantities for the purpose of manufacturing soap, which, as tallow and other fat can be bought here at a low rate, would be a very lucrative speculation. Soap bears a high price in Peru, and in almost every part of the country, being seldom under forty dollars the quintal or hundred pounds weight in Lima, and higher in the interior. The facility of procuring good lime and plenty of fuel would be of importance to such an establishment, besides which, the cheapness of copper, from the mines of Coquimbo and Copiapo, for making the necessary utensils, is an advantage of some consideration.
Of all the Spanish writers Herrera alone makes mention of the existence of coal in the province of Conception. In Dec. 8, 1. 6, c. 11, he says, "there is a coal mine upon the beach near to the city of Conception; it burns like charcoal;" and he was not mistaken, for the stratum does exist on the north side of the bay of Talcahuano, near the anchorage on that side, and very near the ruins of Penco Viejo, which was destroyed by the earthquake in 1730, and not rebuilt, because the present anchorage was considered preferable. To what extent the coal reaches has never yet been ascertained; all that has been used has been obtained by throwing aside the mould which covers the surface. This coal is similar in appearance to the English cannel, but it is reasonable to suppose, that if the mine were dug to any considerable depth, the quality would be found to improve, and that the work might be productive of immense wealth to its possessor.
There is a custom-house at Talcahuano, and the necessary officers for collecting the importation and exportation duties; barracks for the garrison belonging to the small battery, a house for the residence of the commanding officer, a parish church, also about a hundred houses, with several large stores, bodegas, for corn, wine, and other goods. The population consists of about five hundred inhabitants, principally muleteers, porters, and fishermen.
The bay abounds with excellent fish; the most esteemed are the robalo; this fish is from two to three feet long, nearly of a cylindrical form, having angular scales, which are of a gold colour on the back, declining to a very beautiful transparent white on the belly: it has a bluish stripe along the back, bordered on each side with a deep yellow; the flesh is delicately white, and has a delicious taste. The corbina is generally about the size of the robalo, though sometimes much larger; its body is of an oval form, covered with broad semi-transparent white scales, on which are some opaque white spots; it is encircled obliquely with a number of brownish lines, the tail is forked, and the head small; its flesh is white and well tasted. The lisa is a kind of mullet; it is found both in fresh and in salt water; the latter, however, is much better than the former: it is about a foot long, its back is of a dirty greenish colour, its sides and belly white, with large scales; its flesh is white, very fat, and is excellent. The peje rey is very similar to a smelt, but when full-grown is of the size of a herring; it has not the same odour as the smelt, but is equally nice when cooked.
In the vicinity of Talcahuano is the gold fish, about ten inches long, flat and of an oval form, with small scales; it is of a bright gold colour, and has five zones or bands surrounding it. One round the neck is black, two others about the middle of the fish are grey, one near the tail is black, and the fifth, at the juncture of the tail with the body is grey; its flesh is very delicate. The chalgua achagual, called by the Spaniards peje gallo, cock fish, is about three feet long; its body is round, rather thicker in the middle than at the neck or near the tail; it is covered with a whitish skin, but has no scales; on its head it has a cartilaginous crest about three quarters of an inch thick—its flesh is not good. The tollo, a species of dog-fish, is about three feet long; it has two triangular dorsal spines, remarkably hard, but no other bones; it is salted and dried, and sent to the Lima market, being rarely eaten fresh, although it is then very good. On the coasts the natives catch a variety of species that are common to other seas, such as the skate, the dog-fish, saw-fish, old wife, conger eel, rock cod, whiting, turbot, plaice, bonito, mackerel, roach, mullet, pilchard, anchovy, &c.
Among the mollusca tribe the muscle is very fine; I have frequently seen them eight inches long, and their flavour is excellent. They are often salted and dried; after which they are strung on slender rushes, and in this manner large quantities are exported. The white urchin is of a globular form, about three inches in diameter, with a whitish shell and spines; the interior substance is yellow, but very good to eat. The pico is a kind of barnacle, adhering to steep rocks at the water's edge: from ten to twenty of them inhabit as many separate cells of a pyramidal form, made of a cretaceous substance, with a little aperture at the top of each cell; they receive their food at this hole, where a kind of small bill protrudes, similar to that