all other towns on the west coast save only Lima itself, the capital of the old Viceroyalty of Peru. From the time of the later Inca rulers who extended their empire into this remote desert valley and through the period of the great colonial governors it was a post of critical strategic value. In the period of modern industrial development it has at times held first place among the cities of Chile for its production of minerals. Its geographical situation has imparted to its settlement and history and to its social and economic structure alike, certain highly distinctive qualities.
I visited Copiapó in July. at the time of the so-called “winter” of the southern hemisphere, but the freshly irrigated alfalfa meadows near the town, the verdant willows and syca- mores that line the irrigation ditches, the wide-spreading pep- per trees and tall eucalypts that border the Alameda in the southern part of the town, and the deep green shrubs, flowers, and palms of the central octagonal plaza gave no hint of that dormancy that characterizes the winter of our northern cli- mate and of more southerly latitudes in South America. Com- pared with most South American cities of its size (its popula- tion in 1913 was but 11,000), it is beautifully kept, with clean streets, well repaired buildings, and a thoroughly businesslike air, whether we consider the management of its mines, the appearance and administration of its famous college and its still more famous school of mines, or the excellent administra- tion of land and water rights. It has one of the two deepest mines in South America and the deepest in Chile (Dulcinea), enjoys the distinction of having had the first railroad, tele- phone, and telegraph lines in Chile, and one of the oldest opera houses, and the first gas works. For a time it was the chief center of copper production in Chile when as in the decades 1851~1860 to 1871-1880, Chile was the leading copper produc- ing country in the world.
So distinguished a history is bound to be reflected in the tra- ditions of the place, the pride of the people, and their public spirit; and one finds them on every hand in this old historic town. I watched the children leave school in mid-afternoon and a group of them appeared so swarthy and dark-skinned
