92 Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera. 



exterior in a manner to render it capable of resisting rain, or the 

 water which reaches it when carried across rivers upon mules, its 

 form being well adapted to this mode of transportation ; the large 

 loaves of salt are slung upon each side of the pack saddle. When 

 the salt is sufficiently calcined and cooled, hundreds of poles or fag- 

 gots are placed underneath the pots to receive their weight, and 

 serve as subsequent fuel ; the arch is then broken down, and the 

 earthen ware, whirih adheres very closely to the salt, is cut off by a 

 crowd of Indian women with chisels and mallets. These women 

 are allowed as their perquisite, to take away tlie broken pottery, to 

 which some salt necessarily adheres ; they steep the earthen ware 

 in water, and the saline solution is sold by them for purposes of 

 cooking; they sometimes also attempt what is considered a contra- 

 band, by boiling and granulating it m their huts ; for salt is a mo- 

 nopoly of the government, which formerly rented out the whole sup-* 

 ply for a certain annual income, but now pay a company a fixed 

 price for manufacturing it, on account of the revenue. The springs 

 and mines are therefore carefully watched to prevent private inter^ 

 ference. 



When the " Salt Company" first undertook these works, there 

 was much illicit working at the springs, and the agents were obliged 

 to interfere with those who were employed in the contraband manu- 

 facture, breaking their pots and pans, and seizing the salt ; the con- 

 sequence was the murder of several foreigners engaged at the works; 

 and for several years the greatest animosity prevailed between the 

 parties. Some judicious alterations attaching the burthen of pro- 

 tection and seizure upon the government, and not upon the Com- 

 pany, and the encouragement of various industry connected with 

 the legal manufacture, have at length caused a cessation of the hos- 

 tile feelings. 



The Company is now allowed 2^ reals, (81 1 cents,) for manufac- 

 turing each arroba, (25 lbs.) of salt; to this amount the government 

 adds a charge of 4 reals, (50 cents,) per arroba, more. It costs 

 then the consumer, or trader at the works, $3 25 per one hundred 

 pounds, of the calcined salt ; the expense of transportation is very 

 great, and therefore the consumption is, as much as possible, econ- 

 omized. 



When the Company farmed the rents, it paid to the government 

 ^19,133 per month, nearly ^230,000 annually. Last year tho 

 government paid the Company ^118,000 for making four hundred 



