1833.] SALT-LAKES OR SALINAS. 65 



seen one behind the other on the northern boundary of the broad 

 green valley, forms, by the aid of a bright sun, a view almost 

 picturesque. The number of inhabitants does not exceed a few 

 hundreds. These Spanish colonies do not, like our British ones, 

 carry within themselves the elements of growth. Many Indians 

 of pure blood reside here : the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee con- 

 stantly have their Toldos * on the outskirts of the town. The 

 local government partly supplies them with provisions, by giving 

 them all the old worn-out horses, and they earn a little by 

 making horse-rugs and other articles of riding-gear. These 

 Indians are considered civilized ; but what their character may 

 have gained by a lesser degree of ferocity, is almost counter- 

 balanced by their entire immorality. Some of the younger men are, 

 however, improving ; they are willing to labour, and a short time 

 since a party went on a sealing- voyage, and behaved very well. 

 They were now enjoying the fruits of their labour, by being 

 dressed in very gay, clean clothes, and by being very idle. The 

 taste they showed in their dress was admirable ; if you could have 

 turned one of these young Indians into a statue of bronze, his 

 drapery would have been perfectly graceful. 



One day I rode to a large salt-lake, or Salina, which is distant 

 fifteen miles from the town. During the winter it consists of a 

 shallow lake of brine, which in summer is converted into a field 

 of snow-white salt. The layer near the margin is from four to 

 five inches thick, but towards the centre its thickness increases. 

 This lake was two and a half miles long, and one broad. Others 

 occur in the neighbourhood many times larger, and with a floor 

 of salt, two and three feet in thickness, even Avhen under water 

 during the winter. One of these brilliantly-white and level ex- 

 panses, in the midst of the brown and desolate plain, offers an 

 extraordinary spectacle. A large quantity of salt is annually 

 drawn from the salina ; and great piles, some hundred tons in 

 weight, were lying ready for exportation. The season for work- 

 ing the salinas forms the harvest of Patagones ; for on it, the 

 prosperity of the place depends. Nearly the whole population 

 encamps on the bank of the river, and the people are employed 

 in drawing out the salt in bullock-waggons. This salt is crystal- 



* The hovels of the Indians are thus called. 



P 



