March, 1835. mendoza. 405 



the inhabitants, says, " They eat their dinners, and it is so 

 very hot, they go to sleep — and could they do better ?" I 

 quite agree with Captain Head: the happy doom of the 

 Mendozinos is to eat, sleep, and be idle. 



March 29th. — We set out on our return to Chile by the 

 Uspallata pass to the northward of Mendoza. We had to 

 cross a long and most sterile traversia of fifteen leagues. The 

 soil in parts was absolutely bare, in others covered by num- 

 berless dwarf cacti, armed with formidable spines, and called 

 by the inhabitants " little Uons." There were also a few low 

 bushes. Although the plain is elevated about three thousand 

 feet above the sea, the sun was very powerful ; this, and the 

 clouds of impalpable dust, rendered the travelling extremely 

 irksome. Our course during the day lay nearly parallel to 

 the mountains, but gradually approaching them. Before 

 sunset we entered one of the wide valleys, or rather bays, 

 which open on the plain : this soon narrowed into a ravine, 

 and a little higher up the house of the Villa Vicencio was 

 situated. As we had ridden all day without a drop of water, 

 both ourselves and our animals were very thirsty, and we 

 looked out anxiously for the stream which flows down this 

 valley. It was curious to observe how gradually the water 

 made its appearance : on the plain the course was quite dry ; 

 by degrees it became a little damper ; then puddles of water 

 were formed; these soon became connected, and at Villa 

 Vicencio there was a nice little rivulet. 



30th. — The solitary hovel which bears the imposing name 

 of Villa Vicencio, has been mentioned by every traveller who 

 has crossed the Andes. I staid here, and at some neigh- 

 bouring mines, during the two succeeding days. The geo- 

 logy of the surrounding country is very curious. The Us- 

 pallata range is separated from the true Cordillera by a long 

 narrow plain or basin, like those so often mentioned in Chile, 

 but with an altitude of about six thousand feet. The range 

 consists of various kinds of submarine lava, alternating with 

 volcanic sandstones and other remarkable sedimentary depo- 

 sits ; the whole having a very close resemblance to some of 



