Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera. 89 
Arr. VIII.—A Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera, near Bo- 
gota, in New Granada; by J. H. Guspon, M. D. 
On the 11th of June, 1836, I accompanied the gentleman who 
has the management of the Salt Works at Zipaquera, to visit that 
place, a distance of thirty miles from Bogota; which distance we 
cantered over in five hours, passing along the skirts of the moun- 
tains at the foot of which the city is built, and through the rich plain, 
watered by the river of Bogota, whose banks were covered with 
fine cattle of various kinds, while lively patches of corn, wheat, bar- 
ley, potatoes, and artificial grapes, protected by Indian boys and 
girls from the depredations of the four footed creatures which gra- 
zed under their charge, were seen to surround the villages of low 
Indian huts ; some of which, situated in the midst of this cultivation, 
are nearly concealed by trees and flowers. A few large country 
seats, built by the Spaniards, appeared at intervals upon eminences 
at the base of the hills; they are now seldom frequented by the 
proprietors, who prefer to live in the city ; their estates are left to 
the care of managers, being principally employed for grazing ; the 
cattle are said to thrive and fatten very rapidly upon them, being re- 
strained from wandering by an enclosure of substantial stone walls. 
I had an opportunity of seeing the very slow and tedious process of 
repairing roads—an art itself altogether curious in that country ; - 
being apparently, to judge from experience of their condition, very 
seldom attempted, A pair of oxen were fastened by ropes to one 
corner of a Jarge hide; this being drawn to the side of a hill, was 
filled over with earth and stones ; the corners of the hide were then 
tied together, and the rubbish was dragged upon the ground in this 
strange vehicle to the spot where it was needed. 
Zipaquera is an old Indian settlement, and now contains about eight 
thousand souls. The salt works are managed upon the same general 
plan pursued by the natives before the conquest, for calcining and 
hardening the salt, that no injury or loss might be sustained by heavy 
rains, in its transportation to distant stations, or in passing rivers in- 
tercepting the roads. 
pon the mountain directly above the town is exposed a huge 
rock of salt, of a dark lustrous color, interspersed with crystals of a 
purer white, called palamos, bleached also in streaks by the filtration 
of water and heat of the sun. Between the main body of salt and 
Vou. XXXII.—No. 1. 1 
