1833.] SALT-LAKES OR SALINAS, 65 
seen one behind the other on the northern boundary of the broad 
green valley, forms, by the aid of a bright sun, a view almost 
picturesque. The number of inhabitants does not exceed a few 
hundreds. These Spanish colonies do not, like our British ones, 
carry within themselves the elements of growth. Many Indians 
of pure blood reside here: the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee con- 
stantly have their Toldos* on the outskirts of the town. The 
local government partly supplies them with provisions, by gi ing 
them all the old worn-out horses, and they earn a little by 
making horse-rugs and other articles of riding-gear. These 
Indians are considered civilized; but what their character may 
have gained by a lesser degree of ferocity, is almost counter- 
balanced by their entire immorality. Some of the younger men are, 
however, improving; they are willing to labour, and a short time 
since a party went on a sealing-voyage, and behaved very well. 
They were now enjoying the fruits of their labour, by being 
dressed in very gay, clean clothes, and by being very idle. The 
taste they showed in their dress was admirable ; if you could have 
turned one of these young Indians into a statue of bronze, his 
drapery would have been perfectly graceful. 
One day I rode to a large salt-lake, or Salina, which is distant 
fifteen miles from the town. During the winter it consists of a 
shallow Jake of brine, which in summer is converted into a field 
of snow-white salt. The layer near the margin is from four to 
five inches thick, but towards the centre its thickness increases. 
This lake was two and a half miles long, and one broad. Others 
occur in the neighbourhood many times larger, and with a floor 
of salt, two and three feet in thickness, even when under water 
during the winter. One of these brilliantly-white and level ex- 
panses, in the midst of the brown and desolate plain, offers an 
extraordinary spectacle. A large quantity of salt is annually 
drawn from the salina; and great piles, some hundred tons in 
weight, were lying ready for exportation. The season for work- 
ing the salinas forms the harvest of Patagones; for on it, the 
prosperity of the place depends. Nearly the whole population 
encamps on the bank of the river, and the people are employed 
in drawing out the salt in bullock-waggons. This salt 1s crystal. 
* The hovels of the Indians are thus calied. 
