ply. Capital was difficult to secure, and there were metallurgi- cal problems to be met. It was not until the nineteenth century that the original handicaps were overcome and the mineral industry placed upon a sure foundation. Among all the handicaps, that of climate was probably most severely felt.
The Climactic Handicap
Farmer, muleteer, and miner were equally and vitally affected by the question of a water supply. During times of greater water supply new routes and new fields of exploration became possible, and there was more extensive travel and prospecting by muleteers and woodcutters as well as by the caleadors (prospectors) themselves. New indications of the presence of ore were revealed by rain wash on the hill slopes. Gilliss reports that of 495 silver mines denounced in Atacama in 1850, 381 were discovered between March and September, that is, in the rainy season, a time likewise favorable for pas- tures for the prospector’s mules. The years preceding the dis- covery of Chafiarcillo were marked by unusually heavy rains.
On August 19, 1845, the rain that had alternated with snows in the foothills in June and July at length reached the valley of Copiapó. Rain fell during a period of five hours, which was equal to a period of three hours of heavy rain. In fact, on the cultivated land the rain was equal to half an irrigation, As in so many other instances, the hills between Copiapó and the coast had a heavier rainfall than the valley. Directly after the rain an expedition was sent from one of the mines to the port of Obispito to explore the main track and all accessible tributary ravines and thus to see if the rainfall had been sufficient to start the vegetation again and enable the mines to transport to the coast a large quantity of ore that had been locked up for many years at great loss for want of forage to start the pack mules. The last pack train to reach the coast had made the journey in 1839, and it was natural that the directors of the mine should feel anxious as to the continuance of their venture.
In October, 1845, the manager of the Copper Mining Com- pany of Copiapó was able to report that he had finally con-
