Sent to Talcahuano....Description of the Bay and Anchorage....Plain
between Conception and Talcahuano....Prospectus of a Soap
Manufactory here....Coal Mine....Town, Custom-house, Inhabitants,
&c....Fish, &c. caught in the Bay....Colonial
Commerce....Prospectus of a Sawing Mill.
After staying a few days at Conception, I was sent for by the governor
to Talcahuano, a ship being there ready to sail for Lima. I took with me
a note to a resident in the port, and was received by him with the
greatest possible kindness; he requested me to make his house my home
until the ship should be ready to sail; a request with which I very
willingly complied.
The bay of Talcahuano is one of the largest on the western shores of
South America: from north to south its length is about ten miles, that
is from the main land on one side to the main land on the other; from
east to west it is seven miles. In the mouth of the bay lies the island
Quiriquina, forming two entrances; that on the east side is the safer,
being two miles wide with thirty fathoms water, decreasing gradually
towards the usual anchorage at Talcahuano, where, about half a mile
from the shore, there are ten fathoms water. It is well sheltered from
the north wind; but the swell is so great during a norther (as the north
winds are here called) that it is almost impossible to land, though at
any other time the landing is good on any part of the beach.
From Conception to Talcahuano, a distance of six miles, the surface of
the ground is composed of loose sand intermixed with sea shells; about
half a yard deep a continued stratum of marine shells is found, exactly
similar to those shell-fish with which the sea abounds at this place:
they are the _choro_, muscle, _pie de burra_, or ass's foot, the
_bulgados_, a species of snail, and the _picos_, barnacles. This stratum
is generally from twelve to fifteen feet thick; and a similar one is
found in the hills, three hundred feet above the level of the sea;
being, no doubt, the effect of some tremendous earthquake, which took
place before this country was known to the old world; for it is certain,
that what now constitutes the valley of Penco or Conception was at some
remote period a part of the Pacific Ocean. From these shells all the
lime used in building is procured. The land between Talcahuano and
Conception is not fit for cultivation; it presents rather a dreary
appearance; however, some cattle graze on the marshy or low parts, and
their meat is considered very delicate. Abundance of salsola grows in
this neighbourhood, from which kali might be procured in great
quantities for the purpose of manufacturing soap, which, as tallow and
other fat can be bought here at a low rate, would be a very lucrative
speculation. Soap bears a high price in Peru, and in almost every part
of the country, being seldom under forty dollars the quintal or hundred
pounds weight in Lima, and higher in the interior. The facility of
procuring good lime and plenty of fuel would be of importance to such an
establishment, besides which, the cheapness of copper, from the mines of
Coquimbo and Copiapo, for making the necessary utensils, is an advantage
of some consideration.
Of all the Spanish writers Herrera alone makes mention of the existence
of coal in the province of Conception. In Dec. 8, 1. 6, c. 11, he says,
"there is a coal mine upon the beach near to the city of Conception; it
burns like charcoal;" and he was not mistaken, for the stratum does
exist on the north side of the bay of Talcahuano, near the anchorage on
that side, and very near the ruins of Penco Viejo, which was destroyed
by the earthquake in 1730, and not rebuilt, because the present
anchorage was considered preferable. To what extent the coal reaches
has never yet been ascertained; all that has been used has been obtained
by throwing aside the mould which covers the surface. This coal is
similar in appearance to the English cannel, but it is reasonable to
suppose, that if the mine were dug to any considerable depth, the
quality would be found to improve, and that the work might be productive
of immense wealth to its possessor.
There is a custom-house at Talcahuano, and the necessary officers for
collecting the importation and exportation duties; barracks for the
garrison belonging to the small battery, a house for the residence of
the commanding officer, a parish church, also about a hundred houses,
with several large stores, _bodegas_, for corn, wine, and other goods.
The population consists of about five hundred inhabitants, principally
muleteers, porters, and fishermen.
The bay abounds with excellent fish; the most esteemed are the _robalo_;
this fish is from two to three feet long, nearly of a cylindrical form,
having angular scales, which are of a gold colour on the back, declining
to a very beautiful transparent white on the belly: it has a bluish
stripe along the back, bordered on each side with a deep yellow; the
flesh is delicately white, and has a delicious taste. The _corbina_ is
generally about the size of the robalo, though sometimes much larger;
its body is of an oval form, covered with broad semi-transparent white
scales, on which are some opaque white spots; it is encircled obliquely
with a number of brownish lines, the tail is forked, and the head small;
its flesh is white and well tasted. The _lisa_ is a kind of mullet; it
is found both in fresh and in salt water; the latter, however, is much
better than the former: it is about a foot long, its back is of a dirty
greenish colour, its sides and belly white, with large scales; its flesh
is white, very fat, and is excellent. The _peje rey_ is very similar to
a smelt, but when full-grown is of the size of a herring; it has not the
same odour as the smelt, but is equally nice when cooked.
In the vicinity of Talcahuano is the gold fish, about ten inches long,
flat and of an oval form, with small scales; it is of a bright gold
colour, and has five zones or bands surrounding it. One round the neck
is black, two others about the middle of the fish are grey, one near the
tail is black, and the fifth, at the juncture of the tail with the body
is grey; its flesh is very delicate. The _chalgua achagual_, called by
the Spaniards _peje gallo_, cock fish, is about three feet long; its
body is round, rather thicker in the middle than at the neck or near
the tail; it is covered with a whitish skin, but has no scales; on its
head it has a cartilaginous crest about three quarters of an inch
thick--its flesh is not good. The _tollo_, a species of dog-fish, is
about three feet long; it has two triangular dorsal spines, remarkably
hard, but no other bones; it is salted and dried, and sent to the Lima
market, being rarely eaten fresh, although it is then very good. On the
coasts the natives catch a variety of species that are common to other
seas, such as the skate, the dog-fish, saw-fish, old wife, conger eel,
rock cod, whiting, turbot, plaice, bonito, mackerel, roach, mullet,
pilchard, anchovy, &c.
Among the mollusca tribe the muscle is very fine; I have frequently seen
them eight inches long, and their flavour is excellent. They are often
salted and dried; after which they are strung on slender rushes, and in
this manner large quantities are exported. The white urchin is of a
globular form, about three inches in diameter, with a whitish shell and
spines; the interior substance is yellow, but very good to eat. The
_pico_ is a kind of barnacle, adhering to steep rocks at the water's
edge: from ten to twenty of them inhabit as many separate cells of a
pyramidal form, made of a cretaceous substance, with a little aperture
at the top of each cell; they receive their food at this hole, where a
kind of small bill protrudes, similar to that of a bird, and hence the
animal receives its name of pico, a bill. They are very white, tender,
and most delicate eating. The _loco_ is oval, and its shell is covered
with small tuberosities: it is from four to five inches long, and the
interior or edible substance is white, and very excellent. Of the
molluscas the _piuri_ is the most remarkable, in respect both to its
shape and habitation; the latter is formed of a coriaceous matter,
adhering to the rocks, and which is divided into separate cells, by
means of strong membranes. In each of these, in a detached state, is
formed the piuri; it is about the size of a large cherry, which it so
much resembles in colour, that the following anecdote is related: a
native of Chiloe had never seen any cherries until he came to
Conception, and observing an abundance there he exclaimed, "What a
charming country this is, why the piuries grow on the trees!" This
animal, if it deserve to be so called, is eaten either roasted or
boiled, and has a taste similar to that of the lobster: great quantities
are annually dried for exportation.
Of the crustaceous fishes, the _xaiva_, crab, has a shell that is nearly
spherical, about three inches in diameter, and two inches deep,
furnished with spines upon the edges. The _apancora_, another of the
crab species, has an oval shell, denticulated, and generally larger than
the xaiva; both are red when boiled, and their flesh is well tasted.
Crawfish, _camarones_, are sometimes caught of the enormous weight of
eight or nine pounds each, and are very good.
The principal commerce between this port and some of the other Spanish
colonies consists in the exportation of wheat, with which article about
six ships, of not less than four hundred tons burthen each, are annually
laden, making an average of two thousand four hundred tons, which in an
infant country, and for colonial consumption, may be considered very
great. Nearly the whole of this wheat is carried to Lima. Of jerked
beef, charqui, about six thousand quintals, with a proportionate
quantity of tallow and fat, grasa; and of wine, on an average, two
thousand jars, containing eighteen gallons each, are annually exported.
The minor articles are raw hides, wool, dried fruits, salt fish and
pulse. The imports are a small quantity of European manufactured goods,
sugar, salt and tobacco; the taxes on which produce from one hundred and
two to one hundred and five thousand dollars per annum.
I have already mentioned the benefit which would result from a soap
manufactory being established at Talcahuano; another establishment,
however, of still greater importance, might be formed either on the
banks of the Bio-bio, or on those of the Maule: I mean a sawing mill.
Both of these rivers have a sufficient current for the purpose, and an
abundance of good timber in their vicinity. A dock yard on a trifling
scale has been established and small craft have been built at Maule; but
Guayaquil is the great dock yard on the western coast of South America,
and vessels of eight hundred tons burthen have been built there; beside
which the timber markets of Peru have been almost exclusively supplied
with wood from the forest of Guayaquil: this article is becoming scarce
in that district, and recourse must soon be had to some other parts, and
there are none that present the same facilities as the two I have now
mentioned. The forests of the province of Conception are as yet
untouched; the price of labour there does not exceed one-third of that
at Guayaquil; the hire of cattle for bringing the wood from any part of
the forests to the river side bears the same proportion as the price of
labour; the advantage of superiority of climate is also attached to this
province, as well as that of the total absence of ravenous beasts and
poisonous reptiles, which abound in the woods, rivers and estuaries of
Guayaquil. The conducting of timber to the port of Talcahuano for
embarkation, and its shipment in small vessels in the Maule, are
facilities of considerable importance; to which we may add the short
passage from either of these two places to the principal established
market of Lima, the passage from Guayaquil being of a treble duration.
Small vessels only can get out of the Maule, because a bar at the
entrance of the river would prevent the egress of large ships when
deeply laden. Another powerful reason why sawing mills might be
established with greater ease on those rivers than at Guayaquil is, that
they would increase the means of subsistence among the labouring
classes, and consequently would merit their protection; whereas at the
latter place sawing is the occupation of a great portion of the
inhabitants of the city, who make very high wages, in consequence of
which any establishment detrimental to so numerous a body of artizans
would be strenuously resisted, and probably attended with fatal results.
It will no doubt appear surprizing to persons in England acquainted with
this branch of the arts, that three quarters of a dollar, equal to about
three shillings and two pence, should be paid at Guayaquil for sawing a
plank from a log of wood ten or twelve inches square by eighteen feet
long, the timber not being harder than the English fir. The price for
timber brought down to the port of Talcahuano is very low. _Liñe_,
somewhat resembling ash, and applicable to the same uses, may be
delivered in logs twenty feet long and twelve inches square, for about
one dollar each, and all other kinds of wood at similar rates; while a
single inch plank from the same tree would be worth nearly double the
sum at Lima. Attached to an establishment of this kind, the carrying of
fire wood to Lima would be attended with considerable profit--a cargo of
fire wood weighing fourteen quintals is sold here for only one dollar,
while in Lima it often sells for from one to one and a half dollar per
quintal.
The ship _Dolores de la Tierra_ being ready to sail for Lima, I was
ordered on board, and obliged to leave with regret an enchanting
country, where I had been treated with unbounded hospitality by its
inhabitants. My kind host, Don Manuel Serrano, took care to recommend me
to the captain, beside which he sent on board, for my use, more
provisions than would have served me for three such voyages.
The foregoing is a brief description of Conception as I saw it in the
year 1803. I visited it again in 1820, and in the course of my narrative
I shall have occasion to mention it at my second visit, and to contrast
its appearance at those two periods.
If in my description of this part of South America I have sometimes
touched on the changes that have happened or are likely to happen, it
has been when speaking of places which I did not afterwards visit.