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 constantly have
their Toldos [2] on the outskirts of the town. The local
government partly supplies them with provisions, by giving 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 counterbalanced
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 lake 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.
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