The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-11-18
A SALT ISLAND.
THE WONDERFUL ISLA DEL CAR
MEN OFF MEXICO.
It Contains the Only Pure White
Natural Salt Deposit in tho
World-Mined by Va
qut Indians.

4ut 4A0IauS.
One hundred and twenty miles south
west of Guaymas, Mexico, and five miles
east of the mainland of Lower Califor.
mia, in the Gulf of California, lies a
small island known to the Mexicans as
the Isla del Carmen.
Carmen Island, although only nineteen
miles in length and six miles in width at
its broadcast part, is noted as one of the
most remarkable islands on the Ameri-
can continent. At this place is found
the only pure white natural salt deposit
Known, and the value of such a mine is
secondary only to the tabled gold mines
of King Solomon. The island is owned
by a Spanish-American named James
Viosca, who went to Lower California
thirty years ago and married a daughter
of the Governor. He lived at La Paz,
the capital of the lower half of the State,
where he has been American Consul for a
number of years.
Carmen Island is fortunate in having
a fine harbor in Salinas Bay where large
vessels find an anchorage in four fathoms
of water. Within q mile of this anchor
age the salt is mined. Just how long
since this saline deposit was discovered
no n can state with any accuracy. Two
hundred years ago there. was q Jesuit
mission at Loreto on the mainland west
of the island, and it is known that the
fathers obtained the salt they used for
domestic purposes from Isla del Carmen,
but among the Yaqui Indians there is a
legend that their forefathers knew of the
deposit long before the mission was es-
tablished and that it was one of their
number who first acquainted the pious
brethren of the existence of the mine.
But it was not until 1865 that the salt
deposit was utilized for commercial pur-
poses. In that year a Mexican, who di-
vined the value of the mine, bought the
island from the Government, but after
owning it only two years he sold his title
to Ben Holiday, of famous overland
stage.line notoriety, for $9O, 900. The
new proprietor engaged James Viosca to
manage his acquisition, but after Holli-
day died the bankrupt estate was glad to
realize ready cash for the salt treasure,
and Viosca became the owner of Carmen
Island. To him it has become veritable
gold mine.
The salt deposits cover a surface of
1000 acres. About one.third of this
acreage is a mass of pure, clean white
salt; the remainder is covered simply
with a layer of soil, brought there by
rains from the adjacent mountains, and
also in places with a thin coating of coral,
all of which when removed show the
pure white salt beneath. The salt de-
posts in this basin have proved by actual
Investigation to be fourteen feet in thick
ness, but it is hard to work at any depth
below the surface, as the briny water
sweeping through creates a new layer of
salt of from five to eight inches in thick
ness in fifteen days. The most remarka-
BILE thing about this deposit is the fact
that although the salt has been taken
from this basin for ages, the surface of
the lake has never been lowered, but al
ways retains the SANE level.
The method of obtaining the salt is
very simple. A man armed with an iron
bar breaks of chunks of the crystalline
mass, which are then loaded into carts
and hauled to dry land, from 800 to 800
feet distant. Here the stuff is dumped,
reloaded and taken to the wharf, half a
mile away, where lighters receive the salt
and convey it to the vessels lying in the
bay. Crude rs this system is, the cost
of mining the salt and conveying it to tie
wharf averages a tribe less than twenty
five cents o ton.
The entire salt basin is always covered
with a briny solution averaging four
inches in depth. The workmen, who
are mostly Yaqui Indians, wade around
all day long in their bare feet in this
pickle deposit, and the result of their ex-
posure is seen in numerous cases of sore
ankles to which the Indians are SUBJ
jected. Before they became hardened
to the work the poor fellows suffer ex-
cruciating torrents the moment their
joints come in contact with the salt
water, but, like everything else, the sys-
ten finally gets accustomed to the expos
ure, and, once thoroughly seasoned, the
Indians cease to complain. But i%rritat-
ing as this is, it does not compare with
the agony suffered by the poor fellows,
who, while pounding the briny crystals,
receives a splash of salt water in his eye.
Half a dozen of the Yaquis have partial
ly lost their sight in this way and one In
dian on the island has become totally
blind. The brine is 80 strong that If q
particle gets into the optic the sight is
destroyed unless the saline substance can
be removed at once by vigorous appli-
cation of fresh water. As pure water can
only be obtained at a distance it often
happens that the sufferer prefers to take
his chances rather than go to the trouble
of reaching the remedy. Hence one-eyed
werkmen are quite prevalent on the
island.
Many theories have been advanced &C.
counting for the presence OF this wonder
full salt deposit, but the n most gener.
ally accepted is that the surrounding hills
and mountains contain Immense sodium
deposits, which are dissolved by natural
courses of water, either rain or under
ground, veins, and then carried to the
lowest ground which in this case is the
basin that contains the salt deposits. All
creeks in this vicinity discharging their
water into this lake have salt water be-
fore getting to a point even several feet