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.