In Arica, as well as Tarapacá, nitrate exists in large quantities; and this product, the exports of which had already, in 1875, reached a quarter of a million tons annually, was then rapidly making Tarapacá the richest province of Peru, and its capital, Iquique, a flourishing centre of commercial prosperity. When war brought disaster to the country a few years later, and the indemnity demanded by Chile meant the dismemberment of the republic, the Littoral Province of Tarapacá, ceded unconditionally, became a part of Chile at the same time that Tacna and Arica passed into the temporary possession of that country, in accordance with the treaty of Ancón, in 1883. Thus, by the mere accident of being a border province, Tarapacá—whose people had fought for their country in all its battles; had been taught from their cradles to worship the national heroes and to emulate their patriotic deeds; had been among the first to join their fellow-countrymen when a call to arms brought the nation into the field against a common foe—Tarapacá, the victim of circumstances, was condemned to recognize the government that had issued a declaration of war against its people, and, in the hour of victory, had demanded its territory as payment for the costs of war. The conquering nation made what has been regarded by many as an exorbitant claim; but Chile acted on precedent and within the law of nations. The deplorable fact is not that a country should have taken the full measure of its reward for victory, but that, after nearly two thousand years of Christianity, it should still be permitted among Christian nations for one government to demand, and another to grant, the dismemberment of a united nation, whose sons have stood together as compatriots through all its vicissitudes, have labored for its well-being and gloried in its progress; and that they and their property should suddenly be placed under foreign jurisdiction, because the decisions of a war council will it so. It is believed by some pessimists that the dominion of military force is as strong to-day as ever, and that only the necessity for preserving “the balance of power” prevents wars of conquest in the twentieth century as relentless as those of the fifteenth—but who, that has seen the “Christ of the Andes,” or read the Constitution of the United States, can believe this to be true? [Illustration: BRIDGE ACROSS THE SAMA RIVER, PROVISIONAL BOUNDARY BETWEEN PERU AND CHILE.]