After leaving the travesia of Santiago, the road ascends a slightly inclined plane the whole way to Tucuman, the jurisdiction of which commences after crossing the river Santiago, there called the _Rio Hondo_, or deep river, which separates the two provinces, and is formed by the confluence of many streams which rise in the mountains to the west. To the eastward the Salado continues to be the general boundary-line separating it from the Chaco: to the north the river Tala divides it from the territory of Salta; and to the west and south-west the lofty mountains of Aconquija separate it from Catamarca. The highest peak of this range is covered with perpetual snow, and is said to be above 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. It abounds in mineral treasures, and contains ores of gold, silver, copper, and lead; but the toil and difficulty attendant upon mining operations in those parts of the sierra where they are to be found have caused them to be much neglected, and the mining, if mining it can be called, is now confined to a few wretched people scattered amongst the hills, who occasionally collect small quantities of silver, which they bring down to the city for sale. I have had some of the specimens of silver so collected, which are singularly rich and beautiful. The _mita_, and other oppressive enactments have will nigh destroyed the unfortunate race whose forced labour brought to light the mineral wealth of these regions. The _mamelucho_, as the gaucho of Tucuman is called, the horseman of the plains, with the help of his wife, who makes the greater part of his clothing, has almost everything he wants about him. He knows not, and therefore needs not, those comforts which become wants in less genial climes, and where civilization is more advanced. Free as the air he breathes, he gallops over boundless plains unfettered by the slightest restraint upon his own inclinations. He has no temptation to quit such a life for the fatigues and dangers of an occupation which he considers as degrading,[62] to bury himself under ground, and to seek by the sweat of his brow treasures of which he does not stand in need. His cattle are the finest in the republic; and the least possible cultivation and labour is sure to yield in return not only the necessaries, but what in his opinion are the luxuries of life.