The earth and its inhabitants .. . > I 33 TOPOGEAPHY OF CHILI. 451 present they are almost abandoned, and Iquique, which owed its existence to thesemines, has now turned its attention to the treatment and transport of the chemicalsubstances which, although known to abound in the pro\ince, had hitherto beennedected. The guano of the neighbouring islets was first attacked and exhaustedby the year 18i7. When Frezier visited the place at the beginning of theeighteenth century, the planters of Peru were receiving a yearly supply of fromten to twelve small cargoes. A chain of workshops supplied w
The earth and its inhabitants .. . > I 33 TOPOGEAPHY OF CHILI. 451 present they are almost abandoned, and Iquique, which owed its existence to thesemines, has now turned its attention to the treatment and transport of the chemicalsubstances which, although known to abound in the pro\ince, had hitherto beennedected. The guano of the neighbouring islets was first attacked and exhaustedby the year 18i7. When Frezier visited the place at the beginning of theeighteenth century, the planters of Peru were receiving a yearly supply of fromten to twelve small cargoes. A chain of workshops supplied with the best modern plant skirts the railwaywest of the Pampa de Tamarugal, and communicates by branches with the ojicinas Fig. 170.— 1 : 96, ivancha^ 1% :; West or GreenwicJi Depths. 0to5Fathoms. 5 to 50 Fathoms. 50 Fathomsand upwards. 2 MUes. where the caliche is reduced. The operations are carried on without interruptionday and night, the electric light alternating with the sun, and the quantity ofnitrates extracted from the soil is steadily increasing. In 1889 it had alreadyreached the enormous quantity of 921,400 tons, valued at £6,000,000. According to the engineers engaged on the works, the still untouched depositswould hold out against this prodigious rate of production for half a century, duringwhich the capitalists and the Chilian Government would share betweenthem immense profits. But, as in the case of the guano beds, these anticipationsmay perhaps not be realised, and the deposits may be exhausted sooner than has 452 SOUTH AMEBICA—TUE AXDES REGIONS. been annouiK^ed by the founders of the iadustrj-. Meanwhile, however, these aridregions, which seemed condemned to solitude, have developed a movement
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
