440 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



mineral waters, whicli have the reputation of being highly efficacious in the case 

 of rheumatic complaints and affections of the blood. 



But Uspallata itself, although presenting some advantages as an agricultural 

 centre, has hitherto failed to attract immigrants. It stands at too great an 

 altitude, about 6,350 feet, and consequently remains without importance, except 

 as a frontier custom-house. Nor have any great returns been yielded by the 

 mining operations carried on to utilise the copper and other mineral deposits of 

 the district. During the last century the PanuniUo mines, which stand at various 

 elevations between 9,000 and 10,600 feet, were actively worked. Enormous 

 excavations were made b}" the uufortunate Araucanian captives, who were 

 employed in the galleries, and perished by thousands. On these uplands the 

 wind, which takes the name of pa) ainiUero, from the district, blows at times with 

 tremendous fury. 



San Carlos — The San Rafael Coalfields. 



South of Mendoza the route passes San Vice nie, which may be regarded as a 

 suburb of the capital. Some 60 miles farther south it reaches San Carlos, the 

 chief station between Mendoza and San Rafael. San Carlos has never recovered 

 the disaster of 1868, when the Indians surprised and massacred its garrison, 

 plundered the houses, and carried off the women. At present the settlers in the 

 district, nearly all Chilians, live in isolated houses and farmsteads scattered over 

 the surrounding plains. 



Brighter prospects seem to be in store for San Hafael, which stands near the 

 banks of the Hio Diamante at the point where it issues from the mountains. 

 Thanks to tlie fertility of the soil, its numerous streams, and the relatively easy 

 passes by which it communicates with Chili, this place promises, in the near 

 future, to become one of the chief cities of Argentina. Most of its lirst inhabi- 

 tants were refugees from other provinces, exiles or criminals, who were known 

 by the half Indian name of yu((ijqaeros, or "ostrich-hunters." They acted as 

 guides to the military expeditions during the operations carried on in the region 

 of the Andes. 



So recently as 1872 the place was besieged, or at least blockaded, by the 

 surrountling nomad tribes. None of the garrison dared to venture any distance 

 from the fort, and the people had to keep their cattle carefully guarded in two 

 enclosures At present the artificially watered grassy plains stretch far from the 

 town, and convoys of mules, laden with fodder for the Chilian markets, are 

 constantly crossing the Cordilleras by the Planchon and Cruz de Piedra passes. 

 Near San Rafael the settlers have already introduced the cultivation of the vine, 

 for which soil and climate seem well suited. 



West of San Rafael, which has also suffered from the predatory Indians, the 

 Argentine foothills contain beds of coal, which certainly belong to the carboni- 

 ferous formation, and not to the triassic system, like those of the San Juan and 

 Mendoza districts. The coal burns with a clear flame, and is equal in quality to 



