In 1820 a cargo of nitrate was shipped to England, but the duty on it was high and it was thrown overboard. Other attempts also proved unsuccessful until 1831, when it found an English market and steady progress in exportation ensued. The first production centered round La Noria, where was built the first nitrate railway, a section of which was com- pleted in 1870.
For a time, however, nitrate yielded first place to guano. This product first appeared in the list of important Peruvian exports in 1840, It rapidly brought the government an en- viable source of revenue, and it was a main factor contributing to railroad construction in Peru.[1] From 1840 to 1867 the in- come from guano amounted to $20,000,000, after which year decline sct in with declining prices for the product. The chief source of guano was the Chincha and Lobos Islands, but some deposits were worked in Atacama, at Pabellon de Pica, for instance, where in 1874 new deposits were discovered along with those of other neighboring localities—Chipana and Huanillos. But at this time nitrate began to come to the fore.
The processes of extraction and refinement of the crude product, the caliche, and shipment from the salars, twenty to forty or more miles distant from the coast, involved problems of labor and human economy unknown in the simple exporta- tion of guano from the coast cliffs and islands. For the main- tenance of the people employed the locality, the immediate surroundings of the oficinas, produces nothing: water, food, houses—everything must be brought from a distance, and also means of transport for the distribution of such supplies.
Provisioning the Nitrate Settlement
First comes the question of water. Very few springs and wells exist on the coast or pampa; and such as are found, especially on the pampa, are too saline for use. Water was first carried on mule back from the nearest source of supply. Then, as the nitrate industry expanded, distillation works were
- ↑ On the guano industry see R. C. Murphy; The Sea Coast and Islands of Peru, Brooklyn Musenm Quart., 1920-1922, and authorities cited therein.
