Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/549

Rh The water of the Noria is abundant; but there is not a tree near the Hacienda, nor any thing like vegetation, with the exception of some maize-fields, upon which a few fanegas of Indian corn are grown. Upon the whole, I can hardly conceive a more melancholy residence, for the air is filled at night with the dismal howlings of the Cŏyōtēs, who are attracted by the offal from the casa de matanza, and who absolutely swarm in all the thickets around, although from two to three hundred are destroyed every year in the battues, for which the Rancheros assemble periodically, in order to keep down the breed.

Dec. 10.—From the Mezquite it was our intention to proceed to Rancho Grande, where we were to enter the great Northern road, between Frĕsnīllŏ and Sŏmbrĕrētĕ, but the administrador recommended us so strongly to pass the night at the Hacienda of Lă Sălādă, which he described as well worth visiting, and but little out of the road, that we were induced to change our plans, and to turn the heads of our horses in that direction.

The first view of the Hacienda is exceedingly curious, as it is situated upon the borders of a lake of tĕqŭesqūitĕ, or carbonate of Soda, which, from its brilliant whiteness, is visible at a great distance. This extensive deposit of mineral salt forms one of the most valuable possessions of the Pĕrĕz Gālvĕz family in the North; for tĕqŭesqūitĕ being a necessary ingredient in smelting, it is bought up in