Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/550

530 very large quantities by the miners of Dŭrāngŏ, Sŏmbrĕrētĕ, Zăcătēcăs, and Guănăjūātŏ, to whom it is sold at four reals the fanega, or one dollar the mule load, upon the spot. In a good year the lake yields 30,000 cargas, or 360,000 arrobas, (of 25 lbs. each,) and the produce is then worth between forty and fifty thousand dollars; as the price paid for the carga by soap-makers, and other manufacturers, from San Luis and Guadalajara, is always double the mining price, and, when the demand is great, rises to three, and even four dollars. But the quantity of tĕqŭesqūitĕ collected varies with the year, and depends almost entirely upon the rainy season. If too little rain falls, the "costre," or saline incrustation, which is the most valuable part of the crop, does not form, and nothing but "polvillos," (dust,) of a very inferior quality, is collected. If, on the other hand, the rains continue too long, the earth has not time to dry before the middle of April, which is the season for collecting the tĕqŭesqūitĕ, and the whole is lost. In 1826, the stock upon hand was very small, and the prospects for the ensuing year discouraging; it not having rained when we passed, on the 11th of December, since the 25th of the preceding July. In a favourable season, the "costre" varies from one to four fingers in thickness, and is of sufficient solidity to allow the workmen to walk upon it without giving way. The depth of water beneath is very inconsiderable. The stock of tequesquite is laid up for sale in large conical hillocks,