1839.] CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS. 61 



the southern shore of the majestic Rio de la Plata — the river 

 of silver. The manners and customs of the inhabitants, 

 and the style of building, do not differ very essentially from 

 those at Rio Janeiro. In the interior, there are several other 

 towns of importance. Mendoza, containing twenty thousand 

 inhabitants, and San Juan, about one third smaller, are sit- 

 uated near the great passes through the Andes. Cordova 

 and Tucuman are important trading towns, and Salta, on the 

 Rio Salado is a celebrated market for mules. 



The climate of the country is delightful ; the heavens are 

 serene ; the atmosphere is soft and refreshing, and remark- 

 able for its transparent purity. In the southern provinces 

 the air is so dry and pure, at certain seasons, that fresh meat 

 will keep for a long time without becoming tainted. 



Grain, fruit and vegetables, are raised with comparatively 

 little labor, and the soil is exceedingly fertile, with the excep- 

 tion of a narrow strip of sandy barren land along the coast, 

 like that near the mouth of the Rio Negro. But the inhabi- 

 tants seem generally disinclined to till the ground, and their 

 whole time and attention are directed to raising horses, 

 mules and cattle. Of these they have the finest breeds in 

 South America, and the mules exhibited every year at Salta, 

 are unsurpassed in the world. The prices are quite moderate. 

 Bullocks are sold at from five to ten dollars per head, accord- 

 ing to age ; and horses and mules, when broken to the saddle, 

 at from twelve to fifteen dollars. Buenos Ayres is not de- 

 ficient in mineral stores ; she has valuable mines of gold and 

 silver on the eastern slopes of the Andes, from which over 

 four million pounds sterling of the former metal, and twenty- 

 seven millions of the latter, were obtained, from 1790 to 

 1830 ; but, after all, the real, substantial wealth of the 

 country, consists in the flocks and herds that feed upon the 

 broad plains irrigated by the tributaries of the La Plata. 

 Numbers of horses and mules are driven over the mountains 

 to Chili, and quantities of hides, beef, tallow, horns and 

 bones, are annually exported. 



Salt is also an important product. North of the Colorado 



