Note 35 — Chapter VIII · SURVEYS AND DISCOVERIES IN THE INTERIOR.
Reading edition
If coal really exist at the sources of the Neuquen, which he says is navigable to the sea, it is impossible to calculate on the extent of its future influence upon the prosperity of the neighbouring provinces whenever the people shall open their eyes to the power of steam-navigation. As yet, it would appear as if the people of Mendoza and San Luis had as little idea of the use even of a canoe as the Indians themselves, otherwise it seems hardly credible that the Spaniards should never have made the slightest attempt to send a boat down any one of these rivers.