Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-07
The Mud Mountain.

From the engineering standpoint, as well
from the tourists viewpoint the interest
in the trip is al the beginning, for 1t is here
that the phenomenon known as the volcan
or mud mountain is encountered. From
Juiuy the course of the Rio Grande,
Grand river, is followed eadily upward for
twenty-five miles and until altitude of
600 feet above sea level is reached. A
sloping wall rises right across the course Of
the river. AT a distance it looks like a
steep hillside street paved with white peb-
bleS. The river seems to be damned with
no outlet, but following it's course l learned
that 1T made its way across In dozen
small streams. This is the dry season, and
the dam or wall being stationary, once the
river has made Its channels the waters can
follow smoothly. In the rainy season ev
erything is changed The great powders
and rocks which l saw, and which appar
emily only can be moved by force like
that of Niagara, next year will not be lying
where they now are. Some Of them will be
further down the river bed and some will be
further up the mountain sides. 1t Is the
mud that moves them. Volcan is mis-
homer. There Is nothing volcanic, unless
the movement of the mud carrying the
rocks with 1t may be compared to flow of
lava. 1t Is not slow like a glacier, nor rush
ing like an avalanche. 1 do not know what
the scientific explanation is, but the surface
of the mountains seems to be composed Of
soft layers of earth. and when the rains
come these layers appear to slide down the
size Oh one mountain and the size OF
another. This sliding wall does not close
the river course entirely, because when the
phenomenon occurs the stream has an i'm
mensely augmented volume, and is able TO
| force It's way through and across.
A Crooked River.
1t Is a short two days trip from volcan to
Humahacua, the last village in Argentine,
six or eight hamlets Of adobe or san-dried
bricks being passed. The way is known
as the quebrada or great ravine Of
Humahacua. Mountain walls shut in the
river channel on either SIDE. In some
places the channel is not more than 800
1eet VIDE; IN others 1t broadens to quar-
ter of mile or more. " The course of the
river is very crooked The first day
counted twenty seven times that We forded
| IL ana then, my attention wandering, lost
the count. Inc second day ! kept the rec
ord as far as thirty-one and then also for
| got. The river is fed by many branches
and the current is quite strong, but at this
| time of the year the waters are not deep
| and in fording they seldom came above the
| stirrupS.
! The quebrada, or raNine, els lined with
ranches and small farms. An American wo-
| man from Philadelphia Mrs Ana Sorich
| the widow of an Austrian, is one of the
most enterprising ''ranchmen'' or hacienda
| owners in the quebrada She has started a
| vineyard, but complains that the Argentine
| local authorities instead of encouraging the
! industry are taxing it out of existence
| Grape culture on the { des of these noun
| tains seems entirely possible. Other fruits
| are raised, apples, ounces. pears and
plums. The plum trees are just poisoning
Besides the grazing the hacienda owners
raise crops of barley and alfalfa, some corn
| and a little wheat.
Mineral Resources.
! How rich the mines are in this section
| do not pretend to know, but the further
| north toward Bolivia one advances the evil
| dences of mineral wealth are more pro-
nounced. English and Belgian companies
are working the borax deposits, which lie
| close to the surface, with profit. An Eng
Abra Pampa, close to the border, and an
other English company is dredging for gold