Oct. 1835. SALT LAKE. 459 



trees. I measured several which were two feet in dia- 

 meter, and some even two feet nine inches. The upper 

 region being kept damp, from the moistiire of the con- 

 densed clouds, supports a green and flourishing vege- 

 tation. So damp was the ground, that there were large 

 beds of a coarse carex, in which great numbers of a very 

 small water-rail lived and bred. While staying in this 

 upper region, we lived entirely upon tortoise-meat. The 

 breastplate roasted (as the Gaudiios do came con cuero), 

 with the flesh attached to it, is very good; and the young 

 tortoises make excellent soup; but otherwise the meat to 

 my taste is very indifferent. 



During another day we accompanied a party of the 

 Spaniards in their whale-boat to a salina, or lake from 

 which salt is procured. After landing, we had a very rough 

 walk over a rugged field of recent lava, which has almost 

 surrounded a sandstone crater, at the bottom of which the 

 salt-lake is situated. The water was only three or four 

 inches deep, and rested on a layer of beautifully crystal- 

 lized white salt. The lake was quite circular, and fringed 

 with a border of brightly green succulent plants : the pre- 

 cipitous walls of the crater were also clothed with wood, 

 so that the scene was both picturesque and curious. A 

 few years since, the sailors belonging to a sealing-vessel 

 murdered their captain in this quiet spot; and we saw 

 his skull lying among the bushes. 



During the greater part of our week on shore, the sky was 

 cloudless, and if the trade-wind failed for an hour, the heat 

 became very oppressive. On two days, the thermometer 

 within the tent stood for some hours at 93°; but in the 

 open air, in the wind and sun, at only 85°. The sand 

 was extremely hot; the thermometer placed in some of a 

 brown colour immediately rose to 137°, and how much 

 higher it would have risen, I do not know, for it was not 

 graduated above that number. The black sand felt much 

 hotter, so that even in thick boots it was disagreeable, on 

 this account, to walk over it. 



