COBIJA, or, as it is officially called in honour of the first president of the republic, Puerto La Mar, is the principal port of Bolivia, and the chief town of the province of Atacama or Cobija. It is situated on the coast of the Pacific, about 800 miles north of Valparaiso in Chili, in 22° 32' 50" S. lat. and 70° 2Γ 2" W. long.; and it occupies a low-lying position on the beach, at the foot of a lofty range of hills. The surrounding district is desolate in the extreme, and Cobija is totally dependent on importation even for the common necessaries of life. Water is very scarce; the wells only satisfy the wants of about 400 or 500 persons, and the rest of the population has to be supplied by the distillation of the salt water from the sea. At one time fish formed a valuable article of consumption; but since the rise of the mining industries the fishers have for the most part forsaken their nets. The town itself is poorly built, and consists of little more than one broad, long street. The harbour is comparatively safe; ‘but the landing-place is bad, and the danger from the surf considerable. As a free port and the principal means of communication with the interior, Cobija attracts a considerable amount of foreign trade. It owes its foundation in the course of last century to Charles III. of Spain; it was declared a free port iu 1827; and it attained the rank of capital of the department in 1837. In 1827 it consisted of little more than a few huts inhabited by Changas, or seafaring Indians; and in 1855 it only numbered 500 or 600 of a population. In 1858, however, the permanent inhabitants were no fewer than 2000, and the floating population amounted to 4000 souls. (See Tschudi, Reise von San Pedro de Atacama nach Cobija, 1860.)