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Desert Trails of Atacama

greatly from place to place. In May, 1907, we found free pasture at the uninhabited grassy camp known as Caya, a tributary of the Chacarilla gorge; at the oasis of Chacarilla, a half-day’s journey west, forage was free if the natural growth

Fig. 20—Algarrobó tree near Calama. It produces a pod with seeds; and these are valuable for fodder, especially in the dry years.

was desired; a few shillings a quintal, if it consisted of barley from a cultivated terrace; while at Pica, 30 miles northwest, it was 8 pesos, or $2 gold, a quintal. Where there is none to spare, sometimes money cannot buy forage even of the worst kind; where there is plenty, it is very cheap; where there is a surplus, it is given away; and where there are no inhabitants,