carefully covered with earth. The formation of these hillocks at the proper season is the only expence with which the disposal of the crop is attended, for the purchasers come with their mules to the Hacienda, and load them by the water-side. The produce of the lake might undoubtedly be increased, and rendered more regular at the same time, by irrigation, which would not be attended with any difficulty, even in the driest seasons, as there is a supply of fresh water close at hand, which might easily be directed into the hollow where the carbonate of Soda is produced. But the Count, who is of the old school, maintains that this would be to force Providence, and under this impression he will not allow nature to be even assisted in her operations.
The Hacienda of La Salada contains only two Sitios in land; the house is newly built and very pretty. There is a spring of beautifully clear water behind it, with some trees, the first, almost, that we had seen since leaving the Jărāl.
Dec. 11.—We commenced our journey early, and stopped to breakfast at Rancho Grande, a large village situated upon the banks of a stream, which rises in the mountains of Frĕsnīllŏ, and runs N.N.E. towards Parras, and from thence to the Gulf.
At the Rancho we procured excellent bread, (the first that we had tasted for three days,) and milk in abundance. From thence to Ătŏtŏnīlcŏ, a Hacienda belonging to the Dominican Friars, the distance is eleven leagues, the last five of which, through
