erected on the shore or pipe lines were laid to the sources in the cordilleran piedmont. Thus Iquique first got its water from the Pozo Almonte wells to the east and from Pisagua, 45 miles to the north. After the Peruvo-Chilean war the distillation plants were supplemented by water piped from Pica (compare p. 20), 56 miles away. Agitation for an improved supply led to a contract made in 1913 for the construction of reservoirs in the lower part of Quebrada Quisma.[1]
The nearest local sources of food and fodder are the already described desert oases, but their resources are strictly limited inamount. In1§55 it was said that the oases did not produce enough alfalfa to support one-tenth of the mules engaged in transportation at the salitreras. Moreover, the new roads to the west have not entirely diverted the oasis trade from its old routes east. The mines of the cordilleran slopes take some of the oasis products; Matilla, for example, sends fruits to Hua- tacondo up the Chara valley.
For fodder and fresh provisions the nitrate zone looks chiefly to the valleys of through-flowing streams north of Arica and south of Copiapé. Formerly shipments from here were made only by water. The decks of the coast steamers (Fig. 28) resembled market gardens. The merchant proceeded on board at Valparaiso or Coquimbo with his stock of onions, squashes, cabbage, lettuce, asparagus, which he retailed at the desert ports as far north as Iquique or until his stock was ex- hausted. For the return trip he might lay in another stock at Arica to vend on the way south. The Jongitudinal railroad has, however, added a new means of transportation. The area tributary to the nitrate zone extends into central and southern Chile and into Argentina. On the rise of the industry the stream of cattle and mules coming over the cordillera to the mines of Atacama was in part deflected northward. For a time indeed the copper-producing district of Copiapé ex- perienced a shortage. The northward movement progressed steadily, though today it appears to have reached the turning point in respect of the mule traffic; the network of the nitrate railways is now fairly complete, and the introduction of the
- ↑ Fernando Lépez Loayza: La Provincia de Tarapaca, 1912-1913, Tquique, 1913-
