UC-NRLF 1 UK 1 1 ! j ||M : I'll' B M MIT nfl c ^.^ \y ^^.^ '^f^.'^/!/>^<^. ^^ :X. ^ : ua^. AV t?-^ 4^^ \ /a/. THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID ;.7 ^3> r^p^ ^y^ %\ ^^ ^ ^ ^> ^" .^^ ->-y> >oOi>^ b .^' / y ; i'^'/j ;-, ;^ -^g^JN^'sli^'^, .^JdMJ^ ^^ ^^ y -5' 1^ '"#5 ^ -^ ^; .5 1-,^ ^ ^^ *■ £? •19 V / ■/ ^ 'Vwv, ,wv M41^ ^^ \':,\yy^\i^'^" A^v, f ' ^B yi^^xz,^^^ yc^^TQp HANDBOOK OF THE RIYER PLATE; COMPEISING BUENOS AYRES, THE UPPER PROVISOES, BAiiDA • ORIENTAL, AND PARAGUAY, BY M. G. & E. T. MULHALL, Editors of the Stmtdard. IK TWO VOLUMES. VOL. L BUENOS AYRES: STAJtI>A£D printing-office, 74 CALLE BELGRANO. 1869. Price 160 /)er Volmnf. TO HIS EXCELLENCY D. F. SARMIENTO, PRESIDENT OF THE AR3EXTIXK aKPVBLIC, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THE AUTHORS. '; PRESERVATION COPY ADDED ORIGINAL TO BE RETAINED JAN 2 1993 F ^^0 e PKEPACE The utility of a work like the present is so manifest as to need neither explanation nor apology. If possible, it would be desirable to publish a Handbook of these countries annually, for the use as well of residents ia the River Plate, as of our friends in Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, the difficulties and outlay are far beyond any profit that the editors can expect. In fact we lost money by our edition of 1863, the National and Provincial Governments failing to subscribe for a single copy, although we had the satisfaction of knpwing that the work was productive of some good to our adopted country. In the improved and enlarged form of the present Handbook there will be found very complete and detailed information of these countries, as we have spared neither labor nor expense to deserve the approval of the foreign community, which is the great object we always keep in view. It has been our particular study to give an exact picture of foreign enterprise and industry in the River Plate, and the task was, indeed, an agreeable one. At the same time we have labored to point out to readers in Europe the many advantages which these countries enjov, to attract a larger tide of immigration. TS'or must we omit here to bear evidence to the liberal spirit of the institutions of these iviaiQaso ^l PAEFAGE. ■Republics, and the kindly feeling and cordiality of all educated Argentines and Orientals. In fine, we have every hope that with an increase of population and industrial resources the River Plate will soon follow in the footsteps of its great model, the United States. The conclusion of the Paraguayan War and commencement of President Sarmiento's administration is a most opportune time for the publication of the present work, in the hope of drawing increased attention to the River Plate. Under a progressive and peaceful administration we may look forward to widespread improvement, new enterprises, and an increase of trade and industry. Popular education also bids fair to make much head- "way, and no branch of knowledge is more important, nor more neglected in Buenos Ayres, than the study of the resources of the Argentine Republic ! Let us hope that patriotic Argentines will join heart and hand with foreigners to advance this fine country. Volume I. of the Handbook contains three sections, viz.: A., the Argentine Republic, its colonies, railways, history, public men, &c. ; B., the City of Buenos Ayres, its buildings, institutions, and port; C, the Camps of Buenos Ayres, comprising the various partidos and every estancia in the province. Volume II. contains four sections: D., the thirteen Argentine Provinces; E., the Banda Oriental; F., Paraguay; and G., a 45oraplete Directory, official, foreign, and commercial, of Buenos Ayres and Montevideo, each apart. The maps of the Argentine Republic, Buenos Ayres city, and Montevideo, will be bound with the second volume. In giving the Handbook now to the public we feel confident that it will meet with a good reception : whatever inaccuracies may have unavoidably <;rept in will be corrected in the next edition. We have to thank the ^numerous kind friei is who contributed iuterestir g information abeut their PREFACX. ViS •wn particular district, and especially the Irish clergymen in the camp^ to whom we beg to offer a copy of the book, gratis for each of their Lending Libraries. We also offer a copy for each public and charitable institution of the English, Scotch, American, and German communities on either side of the River Plate. Volume IL will appear on the 1st of June, and the Directory of Buenos Ayres is being carefully compiled by Mr. Frank Mulhall, 74 Calle Belgrano, to whom communications may be directed. M. G. & E. T. MULHALL. March 17, 1869, Standard Office, Buenos Ayrn. ERRATA. Sectios a., page 3, liae 3, read «I4,000,000 sheep.» « « 16, « 2, « «Pjrenees.» « « 109, «15, a «I00 tons monthly,), « H Chap. VIII. Itineraries of the Republic. General Bemarks, . — .... 9B Northern Boute, 99 Western Boute, .... 101 Cii.4P, IX. Enterprises^ Projects^ and Concessions. Bailways, Telegraphs, &c ,• .... . . . . ' .... 105 Harbor Acconiuiodation, ... .... • • • • . • • • HI Drainage and Water Supply, .... .... .... 113 Export of Cattle, .... .... .... 1 1 i Chap. X. Treaties of Commerce and Navigation. Treiily with Great Britain, .... .... .... n5 Treaty with the United States, .... .... 120 Chap. XI. Biographies of Public Men. President Sarmiepto, .... •.•. • • •. • •••• '-^-^ Vice-President Alsina, .... .... .... 125 Ex-Prcsident Jlitre, .... 1 2G General Urquiza, Archbishop of Buenos Ayres, Governor Castro, 127 CTr. Velez Sarsfield, Dr. Mariano Varela, Dr. Gorostiaga, 128 Dr. Avellaneda, Colonel Gainza, General GcUy y Obes, 129 General Paunero, Don N. de la Biestra, 1 30 Don Mariano Balcarce, Seftor Posadas, Postmaster-General, Mr. O'Gorman, Chief of Police, .... .... 131 CO^TE^TS. xi Chap. XII. Mining in the Cwjo Provinces. San Juan, .... Klappeabacb's mines, .... Babie's & Fragueiro's works, Hilario Mining Works, .... Mendoza, .... .... San Luis, .... .... Chap. XIII. History and Literature of River Plate. Chap. XVII. Miscellaneous. Customs Law for 18G9, .... .... National Stamped Paper, 1869, .... Administpatiou of President 5Iitre (1862-8), The ]\'at!onal Government, Congress, .... Courts of Law, Hierarchy, .... Budget for 1869, Post-oCBce Returns, Comparative Table of Time, PAGE. 132 13.3 139 141 144. 147 Historical Record, .... 150 Works Published on the River Plate, .... 152 River Plate Newspapers, .... .... 15i Chap. XIV. Monetjs^ Weights^ Measures, and Distances. Buenos Ayres, .... .... .... .... 156 Montevideo, Paraguay, .... .... 157 Table of Distances from Buenos Ayres, .... .... 158 Meteorological Table, .... .... 160 Chap. XV. Advice to Emigrants. Who to come, and who to stay at bome, .... 161 Steam Service to the River Plate, .... .... . . . .• 1 63 Letters of Credit, 166 Instructions on Landing, .... .... .... .... 167 Chap. XVI. Itineraries from England and Sew York. Englandto Buenos Ayres, .... .... .... 169 New York to Buenos Ayres, ..... .... .... 176 177 179 181 187 188 189 192 Xll CONTEiSlS. SECTION B. Chap. I. City of Buenos Ayres. Early History and Present Condition, Chap. II. Hotels, Clubs, Theatres, and Plazas. Hotels, .... Clubs, Theatres, .... .... Plazas, .... Markets, .... Chap. III. Public Departments. Government House, Post Office, Policia, Provincial Departments, Library, Legislature, Topographic Office, Archives, Commissariat, Parque, Congress Hall, Capitania, .... Municipality, Law Courts, .... Board of Health, Lottery, City Prisons, Museum and University, .... .... Public Schools, .... .... Chap. IV^ Churches and Charitable Institutions Churches, .... .... The Irish Convent, .... .... ... English Church, Scotch Church, American Church, German Church, Cemeteries,. . Admiral Brown's Monument, .... English Cemetery, Hospitals, .... British Hospital, .... .... Irish Hospital, , .... Convalescencia, Poor and Foundling Asylums, . . Chap. V. Streets and Shop Calle Bivadavia, .... Streets Running North, Streets Banning South, Streets BunningWest, north end. Streets Running West, south end. 6 8 11 16 18 21 22 2i 26 28 30 32 34 37 38 39 40 41 43 44 46 49 50 54 56 58 CONTENTS. XIU Chap. VI. The Custom-house Import Traffic, Unloading, .... .... .... Goods in Transit, Direct Despatch, Passengers' Luggage, Goods for Deposit, Export Traffic, Shipment in Transit, Health Papers, .... Chap. VII. Bolsa, Banks, and Public Companies The Bolsa de Comercio, .... The Provincial Bank, .... .... Maua Bank, .... .... .... English Bank, .... .... .... The Argentine Bank, .... Wanklvn's Bank, Hart's Bank, the Bural Society, Insurance and Joint -Stock Companies, .... River Plate Telegraph Company, Commercial Rooms, British Clerks' Provident Association* .... The Cricket and Athletic Clubs, the Jockey Club, Chap. VIII. The Suburbs. Belgrano, Palermo, .... .... Flores, .... .... Barracas, .... The Boca, South Barracas, .... .... Chap. IX. Excursions by Railway. The Northern, to the Tigre, The Boca and Ensenada Railway, The Western, to Chivilcoy, The Southern, to Chascomus, .... Chap. X. Tariffs^ Taxes, Regulations. Provincial Stamped Paper, Law of Licences ( 1 869,) .... .... Property Tax, Tariff for Lighters, Municipal, Gas, and Sereno Tax, Parochial Division of the City, Bules of the Faculty of Medicine, .... .... 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 69 70 73 75 77 78 SO 82 83 84 85 87 88 90 95 97 99 104 107 114 119 121 124 127 128 XIV COJNTEliTS. Chap. XI. The Mouth of the River Plate, and Port of Buenos Ayres. The Approach to the River, Anchorage, .... The Port of Buenos Ayres, The Outer Roads, The Inner Roads, . ... Position of Buenos Ayres, Pilots, ' ... The Riachuelo, Pamperos, .... The Barometer, Temperature, Tides, The Route from. Monte video to Buenos The Channels, Point Indio, .... Advice to Mariners, Ayres, PAGE. 129 131 132 133 134 136 137 138 141 148 149 150 154 155 158 159 SECTION 0. Chap. I. The Province of Buenos Ayres. General Description . . . . . . . 1 Partidos and Towns, 4 Chap. II Life in the Camp. Cattle Farming, .... • • • • . • . • • • 9 Sheep Farming, 13 Chap. III. The Riverine Partidos. iBelgrano, .... .... .... 20 > San Isidro, .... .... 21 4 San Fernando, .... 23 Las Conchas, 24 ^ Zarate, .... 27 '^ Baradero, .... 28 j San Pedro, .... 31 '_>t Rincon de Ramallo, .... 33 >( San Nicolas, .... .... 34 COI^TE.NTS. xr Chap. IV. The JS'orthern Partidos. ,W.) Pilar, .... 37 Capilla del Seiior, . . . ; .... .... 39 X San Andres de Giles, • .... .... .... 41 / San Antonio de Areco, .... .... 42 T<:Carraen de Areco, .... 4i X Salto, 47 /Arrecifes, 49 Chap. V. North and West Frontiers. K Pergamino, .... .... • - .53 y Bojas, .... 56 X Junin, .... 60 Lincoln, .... .... .... 62 V^Chacabuco, 63 Bragado, • . * .... 65 y Nueve de Julio, .... 68 vVeinte Cinco de Mayo, .... 71 Chap. VI. The Western Partidos. y San Jose de Flores, / Malanzas, .... V San Martin, "^ Moron, .... /Merlo, Moreno, / Las Heras, Lujan, yc 3Iercedes, • • • • ^ "x Snipacha, Chivileoy, / y 77 79 80 83 85 91 96 Chap. VIL South Western Partidos. ' -f Canuelas, .... V>'avarro, V Lobos, .... Guardia del Monte, VSaladillo, • "^as Flores, ^ Tapalquen, lot 103 106 108 111 113 117 XVl CONTENTS. Chap. VIII, Southern Partidos. South Barracas, Lomas de Zamorra, San Vicente, Ranches, .... €hascomiis, .... Dolores, .... PAGB. 120 121 124 127 131 137 Chvp. IX. South Coast Partidos. Quilmes, Ensenada, .... Magdalena, .... Rivadavia, Castelli, Tordillo, Aj6, .... Tuyu, Mar Chiquita, Pila, Vecino, Monsalvo, Ayacucho, Arenales, Ranch, Azul, Tandil, Balcarce, Lobcria, Necochea, Tres Arroyos, Rahia Rlanca, Patagones, . . .... 140 .... 145 1 53 .... 15G . . .... . . 1 58 . . .... . . 1 59 . . . . . ; 161 162 r South Partidos. . . .... . . 165 .... 167 .... 168 .... 170 .... 171 . . ... 172 .... 174 .... 177 . . .... . . 181 .... 183 .... 185 . . .... 187 .... 1 89 . . .... . . 193 Chap. XI. The Islamls of the Parana. Description and first settlers, .... .... 198 34 '^/C,^-.^^^* SECTION A. CHAP. I. THE RIVER PLATE REPUBLICS. The River Plate Republics are three in number, viz. : the Argentine Nation (or La Plata, properly so called), Uruguay or Banda Oriental, and Paraguay. These immense territories, formerly comprehended in the vice- royalty of Buenos Ayres imder the Spanish regime, cover nearly 900,000 square miles, with a scanty population not exceeding three millions, or three inhabitants per square mile. The mineral and agricultural resources of these countries are perhaps equal to those of the United States, and the water system is almost unrivalled, the afiluents of the Plate ramifying one- lialf of the Continent. The climate is the healthiest on the face of the globe, the inhabitants are very friendly to foreigners, civil and religious liberty prevail in the fullest sense, and treaties of amity and commerce have been concluded with all the great Powers. Trade relations and new enterprises of importance have brought the River Plate into close contact ^ with Great Britain and the London capitalists, and there are few countries which offer more inducements to English emigrants than these, or few foreign nations viewed with more respect, by Argentines, than Great Britain. The Argentijse Republic is for the most part an unbroken plain, bounded (j on the ]\orth by Bolivia, on the West by the Cordillera of the Andes, on ySa the South by Magellan's Straits, and on the East by Brazil, Banda Oriental, >4.as'?^ the Atlantic. It is divided into fourteen provinces, some of which /Tanakiui*^*!® deserving of note, but others have attained a high degree of zation. 2 THE RIVER PLATE REPUBLICS. Tlie Province of Buenos Ayres is nearly equal to all the rest collectively, in importance, wealth, and population, being moreover the great centre of foreign immigration. The city of the same name is the seat of the National and Provincial Governments, and one of the principal sea-ports of South America. In the refinement of its society, progressive spirit of the people^ and activity of trade and industry, it yields to no other city in the Continent, and has earned the title of « Athens of South America.)) Entre Eios and Santa Fe have of late attracted much notice as sheep-farming countries. Cordoba, the heart of the interior, will soon receive a great impulse from the Central Argentine Railway. San Juan and Cataraarca are remarkable for their mineral wealth. Mendoza, at the foot of the Cordil- lera, formerly the chief city of the Cuyo provinces, is hardly emerging from the ruins of the earthquake of 1 86 1 . Santiago and the other northern provinces have been hitherto so isolated as to be almost valueless,, but the projected navigation of the Vermejo, and the openiug of a highway through the Gran Chaco, will unite them with the river Parana, the great artery of the Republic. The provinces called Literal, from being adjacent to this river, have an immense advantage over the rest, possessing cheap freight and easy transit to Buenos, Ayres and the commercial world. Tiie population of the Republic is usually set down at a million and a half souls, but is ; rather over than under that estimate. The established religion is Roman Catholic, and the language Spanish, from which nation the original settlers were descended. »< The Republic of Uruguay, or «Eanda Oriental,)) is separated from the last-mentioned country by the Rivers Plate and Uruguay : the La Plata, opposite Buenos Ayres, is twenty-eight miles wide. It is very different from the sister state, in being intersected with numerous chains of moun- tains, called here Cuchillas or Sierras. Its extent is 63,000 square miles, or larger than England by one-eighth. 3Iany of the general features are similar to those of La Plata, the country being eminently adapted for sheep and cattle farming, and, moreover, free from Indian incursions. The capital, ^lontevideo, is favorably situated near the mouth of the Plate, and its commerce is almost equal to that of Buenos Ayres, from which port it is distant 120 miles. The next towns of importance are — Salto and Paysandu, on the River Uruguay ; Canelones, TacuarembO, and Minas, in the interior ; Mercedes, on the Rio Negro ; Colonia, abreast of Buenos Ayres ;> and Maldonado, on the Atlantic. The country is thickly wooded in parts, and presents a beautifully diversified appearance. Of .late years there has been an immense inllux of immigrants, and several Bueuos Ayrean land-owners also possess cstancias on this side: the population was REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY. 5 quintupled in the forty years from 1824-G4, being now returned as 300,000. Tlie live stock is considerable, amounting to 8,000,000 head of horned cattle, /4,000,000 sheep, and 2,000,000 of other kinds. The Custom > regulations are much more liberal than those of Buenos Ayres ; the religion and language are the same. Dui'ing the past two years the country \sas desolated by civil war, but everything now seems satisfactorily settled, and the Government is really anxious to improve the means of internal transit, develop the riches of the Republic, and foster foreign immigration. Paraguay is not always counted one of the River Plate Republics, being over a thousand miles inland, but we have included it because formerly a part of the vice-royalty, besides being situated on the principal afauent of La Plata, and so intimately connected with Buenos Ayrfes. It is the country least known of this Continent, and yet had made great advancement in the years just preceding the 'present war. Up to 1840 it was entirely closed against foreigners', under the rule of the sanguinary tyrant, D. Caspar Traucia. Railways, telegraphs, arsenal, dry docks, and other splendid works sprung up of late, employing a large and eCBcient staff of English mechanics. The Republic covers about 70,000 square miles, but claims a much larger territory, the frontiers with Brazil, Bolivia, and La Plata not bemg yet clearly defined. The census of 1857 gives a popidation of 1,337,449. The climate is warm, the country hilly and pictiuesque, and the soil fertile. The inhabitants ace the most industrious in South America, the amount of land under cereals, cotton, and tobacco amounting to half a million of acres. The chief product of the country is yerba-mate or Paraguay tea, whicli, in time of peace, is annually exported (mostly to Buenos Ayres) to the value of £200,000. The cultivation of cotton was begun in 1863, but interrupted by the war. The capital, Asuncion, is a town of 25,000 inhabitants, formerly in weekly communication by steamer with the River Plate ; it has some fine buildings, but is much behind Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. Yilla Rica is the most important town in the interior, and those next in order are situated on the river Paraguay. The language of the country is Guaraui, most of the people being descended from that race of Indians by inter-marriage with the Spanish settlers. As yet few^ foreigners have settled in Paraguay, but the natives are very kind and affable, and the police organization is perfect. The unhappy war which broke out in the beginning of 1865 has been ruinous to Paraguay, but earned for the natives a high reputation for valor. THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC CHAP. II. THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. This Republic holds the second rank among South American nations, coming next after the Empire of Brazil in extent and importance, though com- paratively low in the scale of population and native industry. There is, probably, no country on the face of the earth so favored by Nature: being entirely situated in the South temperate zone, it enjoys a delightful climate, and the soil is so varied and fertile that it produces almost spon- taneously all the great staples of liome consumption and foreign commerce. Cotton, wheat, tobacco, yerba-mite, cochineal, wine, coffee, silk, sugar, wool, and fruits of every kind may be raised of a superior quality, and in such abundance as to supply less favored nations. The mineral resources of the country are hardly less important : copper, silver, lead, salt, marble, lime-stone, granite, and coal are found in various places, and only require proper management and improved means of transit to become sources of national wealth. The country is, moreover, magnificently wooded and watered : the Gran Chaco possesses more timber, suitable for every purpose, than the whole of Europe, and the number and extent of navigable rivers are quite equal to the natural greatness and future requirenrents of a Republic destined one day to rival the Colossus of North America. There is, unhappily, a sad contrast between what La Plata might be, and what it actually is. It does not export one bale of cotton ; its tobacco is unknown ; rice is a foreign commodity ; yerba-niilte from Brazil excludes that from Corrientes ; cochineal abounds in Oran, but is not worth the freight; 3Iendoza wine has no market for the same reason; coffee is considered too troublesome ; the spiders of Corrientes weave a fine silk, which no one thinks of gathering ; sugar is hardly cultivated ; fi'uits arc unprized, and our export returns show but three great staples in the Republic — wool, hides, and tallow. THE FOURTEEN PROVINCES. The Republic comprises fourteen provinces, besides the Gtitf dy^^i^ffig folio wing .table gives their names , extent and population :■ — ' '"*'' Square Miles. Inhabitants. Buenos Ayres, 70,000 500,000 Entre Rios, . 50,000 115,000 ^ Corrientes, , 60,000 110,000 '^ Santa Fe, .... , 20,000 50,000 Cordoba, .... , , 60,000 150,000 Santiago del Estero, , 35,000 115,000 Tucuman, . 28,000 98,000 Salta, . 50,000 101,000 Jajuy, . 30,000 42,000 Catamarca, . 35,000 105,000 Rioja, , 35,000 43,000 San Juan, . , 33,000 75,000 Mendoza, .... , , 65,000 62,000 San Luis, .... . 20,000 58.000 Gran Chaco, . . 250,000 40,000 Pampas and Patagonia, . . • 440,000 46,000 Total, 1,281,000 1,710,000 The cliief to^ns are : — • Buenos A\Tes, .... ] River Plate, 200,000 Cordoba, .... [ n 25 S. lat., 25,000 Rosario, ] \{i\ er Parand, 20,000 Corrientes, .... do.. 13,000 Tucuman, ! 27.10 S.lat., 12,000 Salta, 5 >4. 57, 11,000 San Juan, Rio San Juan, 12,000 The capital of each province (except Entre Rios) bears the same name, but the above are the only places worthy of note, and the rest have rather retrograded than improved, of late years, owing to the incessant civil wars and want of immigration. The form of government is very complicated and unwieldy, but shaped after the model of the United States. The ^^ational Executive is composed of — President, Domingo F. Sarmiento ; Yice-President, Adolfo Alsina; Home Minister, Dr. Dalmacio Velez Sarslield ; Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mariano Varela ; Finance, D. Benjamin Gorostiaga ; Instruction, Dr. Nicolas Avellaneda ; War, Colonel Gainza. The seat of government is Buenos Ayres, where Congress also assembles : there are two Chambers, the b THE ARGEJNTIJSE REPUBLIC. ^ Senators and the Deputies, elected in ratio by the various provinces. Eacli province has also its own Governor and Legislature, almost independent of the Supreme National authorities, and following no uniform rule. Buenos AjTes has two Provincial Chambers sitting- within a stone's throw of the National Parliament; the other provinces have but one. In Cordoba the Governor has three Ministers, in other places there are two, but several provinces boast only one ; and each Province has a separate Constitution. The religion is Roman Catholic. There are aboiit 10,000 Protestants among the foreign community, attached to the English, Scotch, American, and German congregations. Spanish is spoken throughout the Republic, but Guarani is much in use at Corrientes, Qaichua at Santiago, and French and English are becoming very general in Buenos Ayres. The military service of the Republic is performed by troops of the Line and National Guards or militia. The first consist of ten regiments of infantry, nine of cavalry, and two of artillery, numbering 6,650 men, and they are employed in the defence of the frontiers against the Indians. In the Province of Buenos Ayres, which has a very extensive frontier of 130 leagues, there are three principal cantonments — the town of Azul, south ; the Veinte y Cinco de Mayo, west ; and Rojas, north. These little towns carry on a brisk trade from the consumption of the troops, and the barter trade with the friendly Indians. Before the outbreak of the Paraguayan war the troops of the Line were distributed as follows : — Regiment. 1st, 2nd, .3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 5th, 8th, 8th, Total, CAVALRY. Station. . , strength Mendoza, 450 Fraile Muerto, 250 Rojas, 250 San Luis, 250 25 de Mayo, 200 Santa Fe, 200 Rio Cuarto, 450 Cordoba, 150 Melincue, 150 Azul, 100 • . • • . • • ... 2,450 ARMY AIN'D NATIOlfAL GUAM). 1 ; 1 INFANTRY. t Begiment. station. Strength 1st, Buenos Ayres, 350 2nd, do., 350 3rd, Azul, 350 4th, 25 de Mayo, 350 5th, Tandil, 350 6th, Rioja, 400 7th, Buenos Ayres, 350 8th, Salta, 350 Italian Legionj Buenos Ayres, 400 Italian Legion, Azul, 200 Total, 3,450 3Iartin Garcia, Mendoza, .... Frayle 3Iuerto, San Juan, Total, ARTILLERY. Rifles 400 250 100 750 RESUMED. In the Provinces, In Buenos Ayres, Total, 3,100 3,550 6,650 The National Guard is composed of citizens who are regularly drafted from the country districts, and they guard the intervening redoubts or forts ; their term of service is six months, and they are allowed during that period the pay of soldiers in campaign, e.e., §230 per month. No National Guards from the capital are ever drafted for this service, for they are not always presumed to be, like the country people in the province, first-class horsemen, a necessary qualification for Indian warfare. The National army is composed of the following officers : — 7 Brigadier-Generals (the highest rank obtainable in the country), 25 Generals, 217 Com- manding-officers, and 605 subordinate officers — total, 854; which is rather more than a due proportion for only 6,650 men. 8 TUE ARGENTINE BEPUBI^IC. The National Guards on frontier service last year numbered 1,870 meu^ and, besides, there were 387 friendly Indians in Government service. The friendship of these Indians is. of course exceedingly doubtful ; they often steal cattle from the neighboring estaucias. By law, every citizen of the Republic is a National Guard, and liable, under certain circuinstances, to be called into active service. The number is as follows: — Buenos Ayres, Entre Bios, Corrientes, San Luis, Santiago, Jujuy, .... Mendoza, San Juan, Tucuman, Salta, Cordoba, Catamarca, Total, The Provinces of Santa Fe and La Bioja are not included, in this oflflcial estimate, they are supposed to give— the first 6,000 and the second 3,000 men, thus making a grand total of 159,622, which is rather under than over the mark. But although presenting a respectable array in number, they are not nearly as powerful or effective as they should be, under proper organization. The National debt (including that of Buenos Ayres) is about £12,000,00a sterling, the interest of which is regularly attended to, taking a-fifth of the total revenue. The revenue and expenditure for 1869 will not be under $ 14,000,000s., which, for our population, averages ^8 per head, or three times the average of Chili, and our War-offlce costs over ^8,000,000 or g5 per head. Let us compar,e this with the revenue and population of the various states of Europe, from the oifficial Almanac of .the United States. 40,165 19,314 9,349 5,404 19,514 . . . . .... 2,851 5,708 6,990 14,450 15,091 8,000 3,786 150,622 »EVE>UE AND EXPENDITURE. Population. EeTcnne. Average per Head. Great Britain, 29,500,000 $322,000,000 S 10.95 France, 37,500,000 413,000,000 1 1 .00 Russia, 67,000,000 231,000,000 3.40 Austria, 35,000,000 171,000,000 4.88 Prussia, 18,500,000 96,000,000 5.32 Belgium, .... 4,750,000 26,000,000 5.40 Denmark, .... 2,750,000 11,000,000 4.00 Italy, 22,500,000 155,000,000 6.95 Holland, .... 3,500,000 33,000,000 9.40 Portugal, 4,000,000 15,000,000 3.75 Sweden and Norway, 5,250,000 14,000,000 2.65 Switzerland, 2,500,000 3,000,000 1.20 Spain, 16,500,000 97,000,000 5.88 Turkey, 16,500,000 65,000,000 3.95 General total, 265,750,000 $1,652,000,000 S^-'^^ For the financial year ending 3 1st March, 1868, the increase was in round numbers $2,470,000 s., or 26 per cent, on the previous year. The total expenditure — including 6,500,000 for the Paraguayan war, 1,500,000 for the Interior riots, and 500,000 for amortisation of the public debt— amounted to $13,920,164. The total income was slightly over $12,000,000. Thus, it will be seen that were it not for the Paraguayan ■war, the Government would be in possession of a splendid surplus. The National Bonds in circulation amount to 15,364,800, of which amount 5,000,000 are held by the Provincial Bank. With the trifling exception of a direct tax collected in the city of Buenos Ayres, amounting to about $200, 000s., the whole revenue of the National Government is raised by indirect taxation, more than nine- tenths of which are Customs duties, import and export, the proportion being about seven-and-a-half-tenths in import duties, and two-tenths export duties ; the small balance is derived from stamps, post-office, and miscellaneous taxes. In round numbers the four principal provinces of the Confederation contribute to the Customs revenue in the following proportions : — ^Buenos Ayres, 70; Santa Fe, 10; Corrientes, 5; Entre Bios, 5; the remaining ten being the quota of the other provinces. The increase in the Customs receipts in Buenos Ayres has been much less in proportion than that of the Provinces of Santa Fe and Corrientes, 10 THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. a proof that the direct trade with these provinces is augmenting. Taking the revenue in round numbers at 14,000,000, one-half is expended in military purposes. The 3Iinistry of Finance consumes rather less than one-tenth ; a large part is expended in collecting the Custom's revenues. As there is only one port of importance this expense is relatively not greater than in other countries, probably not more than 5 per cent, of the revenue collected. Justice, Public Worship, and Education require only one-twelfth, as each separate province has its own administration in these respects. Foreign Affairs and Legations consume only an eightieth part of the revenue. The 3Iinistry of the Interior consumes an eighth of the whole. Of this amount the National Congress and Public Credit figure for more than a third. Finally the interest on the National Debt takes one-fifth of the revenue. The increase of trade in late years has been unprecedented, as may be seen from the returns of National revenue. 1863, .... .... .... $6,478,682 1864, .... ...; .... 7,005,328 1865, .... .... .... 8,295,071 1866, .... .... .... 9,568,554 The value of imports and exports was, in 1862, $45,890,282; and in 1866, §66,358,551. The import and export trade returns with Great Britain in 1866 shewed an increase of 26 per cent, over the previous year; those with France 11 per cent.; with Brazil 45 per cent.; with Spain 11 per cent. The only falling off was in imports from the United States and Holland : the trade in American flour has entirely ceased, owing to the cultivation of wheat in the last few years. Value of Imports, 1865 .... 27,103,017 Do., 1866 .... 32,269,082 Of imports, we get one-third from England, one-fourth from France, one-eighth from Brazil, and the rest from Spain, United States, Montevideo, and Italy. The value of the imports in 1866 from England alone amounted to $10,240,2 10s., being an excess of 2,234,000 over the imports of the previous year, and more than double those of 1862. The export returns for 1866 shew an incriease of nearly 5 per cent, on the previous year, viz. : — Value of exports, .... 1865 .... 21,996,777 Do., .... 1866 .... 23,029,711 TRADE RETURNS. I! Of exports, Belgium takes one-third, France one-fourth. United States one-fifth, England one-eighth, and Spain, Italy, and Brazil the rest. The gross returns of 1866 compared with 1862, shew an increase of 50 per cent, in our commerce, but that with England was nearly doubled in the interval. The greatest increase in our exports is in wool — 1862 .... .... .... ^8,153,575 1863 73,592,425 1864 ..». 87,976,776 1865 .... 115,852,430 1866 116,494,970 This includes a small proportion (5 percent.) of washed wool. The shipping returns shiew that 1,036 sailing vessels, representing 267,213 tons, arrived here from foreign ports during 1866, being an increase of 374 vessels over the returns for 1862. The number of steam- boat arrivals for 1866 is put down at 487 ; but this does not include the smaller ones of passenger traffic. Immigration from Europe, up to 1862, averaged 5,000; it now exceeds 25,000 per annum — mostly Italians, French, English, and Spaniards ; of these, two-thirds are able-bodied men of the laboring classes, with a sprinkling of women and children, and 10 per cent, educated persons. There are six railways in the Bepublic, with 350 miles open to traffic, 190 in construction, and seven other lines projected. The business of the Buenos Ayres Post-office has increased enormously of late years : the number of letters and papers passing through the office in 1859 was 400,000, in 1862 it rose to 800,000^ and in 1865 it amounted to 2,000,000! This last was an increase of 33 per cent, on the previous year. The population of the city and province of Buenos Ayres in 1801 was set down at 72,000, in 1855 at 271,000 and at present it must be nearly double the last figure. Within the last three years no fewer than 3,550 houses have been built or re-built in the city: in the same period we have to note a similar activity in every branch of industry and progress. 12 THE ARGENTmE REPUBLIC. The farming-stock of the Republic is set down, according to statistic^ of 1866, as follows:— HORNED lASSES & PROVINCES. CATTLE. HORSES. 1 1 MULES. SHEEP. ' GOATS. SWINE. B. Ayres .... 6,000,000 1,800,000 30,OOo! 60,000,000 5,000 115,000 E litre Rios . . 2,500,000 600,000 7,500 6,000,000 .... .... Corrientes . . 2,000,000 375,000 60,000 1,000,000 10,000 4,500 Cataraarca . . 185,000 40,000 40,000 80,000 121,000 2,500 Mendoza .... 210,000 71,000 7,500 230,000 70,000 8,500 Salta 255,000 50,000 50,000 150,000 95,000 2,500 San Luis .... 300,000 96,000 14,000 160,000 285,000 Tucuman .... 275,000 85,000 22,000 95,0*00 25,000 Cordoba, San • • • • .... .... Juan, Jujuy, • • • • ..... .... .... .... Rioja, Santa • • • • .... .... .... .... Fe, Santiago, • • • • .... .... .... .... no returns. .... .... .... It may give an idea of the industrial condition of the Republic, to submit a list of the articles forwarded to the Paris Exhibition, and the names of those who gained prizes. The Central Committee of Buenos Ayres forwarded seventy-four boxes, containing numerous interesting specimens. Cordoba sent a collection of minerals and samples of marble. Jujuy sent a variety of valuable woods, manufactured articles, cereals, brandy, iudigo, &c. Tucuman exhibited forty kinds of timber, and various works of handicraft such as tanned hides, plaited reins, an v*ii The Spaniards are with difficulty distinguished from the natives. They come mostly from Andalusia, Catalonia, and Galicia. The Catalans are wine merchants and first-rate business men. The Andalusians are cigar sellers and shop-keepers. The Galicians are street porters, night watchmen, newspaper messengers, and domestic servants : they are sober and honest, but not very enterprising. The Italians are the most numerous class of all, and may be found in every occupation of city life, and also scattered through every part of the vast territory. Finding here a similarity of language and climate to their own, the Italians make the River Plate their favored place of colonization. As masons and builders they are specially useful, and the various splendid piles of building .raised within the last ten years have given them an active business. In the humbler calling of market- gardeners they also supply the city with vegetables and earn a profitable livelihood. The monopoly of the river navigation and coasting crafts is in the hands of Genoese ; the crew are generally equal sharers in the venture, and appoint a «patrou)) or captain to command, and trade on their own account, puixhasing cheese, birds, skins, fruit, &c. in the upper markets, to bring to Buenos Ayres or IMontevidco. They construct their own ships in the suburb of the Boca, where they have formed a rapidly rising town of about 5,000 inhabitants. In the Upper Provinces the number of forigign settlers is very small ; still there are a few scattered here and there, viz. : — In Salta, chiefly Bolivians ; who come there for the purposes of trade, and on account of the political convulsions of their own republic : similitude of origin, climate, soil, and productions, as well as the IMMIGRATION RETURNS. 17 proximity to their own frontiers, accounts for tlieir preference of this province. The Colony of Esquina Grande, situated at the head -waters of the Vermejo, is almost exclusively composed of natives of Bolivia. In Mendoza and San Juan, there are not many Europeans, but a considerable number of Chilians, who are engaged principally in the mines. In Cordoba there are about a thousand foreigners, chiefly French, Germans, Italians, and Spaniards, and a few English ; their occupation is in the mines, flour mills, lime kilns, and as mechanics and goat-breeders. In Entre Rios and Corrientes there is a large number of foreigners. Many of them are Avealthy, and their occupations are so varied, that they are to be found in every branch of industry and trade. In Entre Rios there is a number of English estancieros. The Province of Santa Fe has three thriving colonies, tliat of Entre Rios two, and that of Buenos Ayres one. The Committee of Immigration have agents in various parts of Europe, viz. : — 3Ir. Beck Bernard, Berne ; for Switzerland and Germany. Mr. John Lelong, Paris ; for France. ]\Ir. Lloyd, of Messrs. Wright, Kelso, & Co., Liverpool. Mr, Hadfield, and Messrs. T. M. Mackay & Son, London. Mr. Perkins, Montreal, Canada. The Committee have a Home for Emigrants at >*o. 8 Calle Corrientes, where they get food and lodging gratis till they find employment. Free immigration is the rule : neither the Government nor the Com- mittee assist in paying passages from Europe. The current of emigration from Europe is rapidly increasing, as we see by the returns, as follows : — 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 186-2, The relative proportion of the various nationalities in 1837 was — Italians, .38 percent.; French, 13; Spaniards, 9 ; English, 6 ; Swiss, 4; Germans, 3 j other nationalities, 27 per cent. 4,658 1863, 10,400 4,715 1864, 11,680 5,656 1865, 11,770 6,300 1866, 13,9G0 6,716 1867, . . 23,500 18 FOREIGN POPULATION. The number of vessels and passengers from foreign ports in 1867 is given as follows : — Vessels. Passengers. Genoa, 61 8,314 Bordeaux, 55 2,409 Bayonne, 13 1,800 Havre, 25 627 Blarseilles, 30 1,156 Vigo, 3 500 Corunna, 5 563 Barcelona, 33 174 Tarragona, 6 45 Cadiz, 24 1,302 Liverpool, 64 815 Glasgow, 18 74 London, 6 25 Southampton, . 12 150 Antwerp, 17 1,688 Hamburg, 68 227 Bremen, 2 31 Transhipped at Montevideo 3,600 Total .... 441 23,500 In the report of the Immigration Committee the following scale of wages is given, and the figures are not exaggerated : — Farm servants, Monthly, wi th Board, ^3 5s. Gardeners, do., do., £4 to £5 House Servants, do., do., £-2 10s. to £3 Cooks, do.. do.. £3 to £4 Needle-women, do.. do.. £3 Milliners, do.. do.. £3 to £4 Laundresses, do.. do.. £3 . Brick-layers, .... Daily, without Board, 6s. Qd. Carpenters, .... do., do., Is. 6d. Blacksmiths, .... do., do.. 7s. 6f/. Tailors, .... do.. do.. 6s. to 10s. Shoemakers, do., do.. 7s. 6d. Railway navvies, do., do., 8s. Saladeto peons, do.. do., 12s..to £1 is. PROSPERITY OF IMMIGRANTS. 19 The cost of a mechanic's board and lodging does not exceed three shillings a day. Workmen of all kinds find immediate employment, and the new railways will require thousands of navvies. Any number of farm-laborers, married or unmarried, will find plenty of work on the estancias of Buenos Ayres. Domestic servants are much wanted in town, and women are preferred. Nothing can better shew the prosperity of immigrants than the official return of depositors in the State Bank of Buenos Ayres, Of 100 depositors the various nationalities were thus represented : — Italians, 30 French, 9 Argentines, 18 English and Irish, 4 Spaniards, 13 Germans, 4 Basques, 13 Various, 9 The proportion of moneys so lodged was distributed as follows — out of every 100,000,000 paper dollars deposited, the owners were : — Argentines, 27,000,000 Basques, 9,000,000 Italians, 20,000,000 French, 8,000,000 English and Irish, 1 4,000,000 Germans, .... 6,000,000 Spaniards, 10,000,000 Various, 6,000,000 It must be borne in mind that besides the depositor's in bank there are thousands of industrious Europeans who have invested their savings in land and farming stock. Many of the Irish settlers, as in Nortli America, send home sums of money to their relatives, to support them or pay their passage hither. The Irish housemaids in town have also accounts in the Savings-banks. The Italians, as a rule, practise the greatest economy, to accumulate a fortune of £500 or £1,000 ; and, this attained, they return to their native land. The French, on the contrary, as soon as they have made some money, start a mill or some such enterprise, and settle for good in the country. e2 20 AGRICULTURAL COLONIES. CHAP. lY. AGRICULTURAL COLONIES. Besides the numberless foreign settlers established as sheepfarmers, or in other occupations, there are six agricultural colonies founded by capitalists or Provincial Governments, on given concessions of land. In Santa Fe there are three colonies, in Entre Rios two, and in Buenos A J res one, viz. : — SA^'TA FE. Esperanza, . . . . 1627 colonists, Eight Leagues from Santa Fe. SanJeronimo, 800 do., Two Leagues from Esperanza. San Carlos, 735 do., .... Two Leagues from S. Jeronimo. Santa Fe is the province which has done most for colonisation, and its colonies are in a thriving way. The soil is fertile, watered by numerous rivers and «arroyos,)) which abound in fish. The Governor of Santa Fe gives a free passage by steamer from Buenos Ay res to all mechanics or settlers bound for Rosario or Santa F6 city, or other part of the province. The port for the colonies is Santa Fe, which has weekly communication w ith Buenos Ay res, Montevideo, Corrientes, and the smaller ports. The Esperanza Colony^ founded by D.Aaron Castellanos in 1856: the first settlers were Germans, who brought with them a clergyman, a director, and a schoolmaster. In 1858 the Argentine Government took the colony under its protection, indemnifying Sr. Castellanos with £24,000 sterling. The first years were unfortunate, owing to the locusts; but the colony is now flourishing. It is composed of 355 families, counting 1,627 69 23 20 In 1865 the colony had 85 births, 28 deaths, and 28 marriages. colonists, viz. : — Swiss, 852 Belgians, Germans, 456 Italians, French, 207 Various, Vegetables, dried, 754 fan. Butter, 653 cwt. Cheese, 600 do. THE SAIVTA FE COLONIES. 21 There are in the colony a Catholic chapel, another for Protestants, tAvo schools, and 474 dwelling-houses, each house having a^ell of excellent water. The number of farm-lots occupied is* 210, each containing 85 acres English. There is a vast extent of ground in this colony as yet unallotted. The yield for 1865 was as follows : — Wheat, 5,895 fan. (.350tt) Indian corn, 12,370 do. Barley, 240 do. Potatoes, 1,200 do. This produced, after deducting for home use, a market value of £30,000. The number of fruit-trees, mostly peaches, is put down at 100,000, and the vines have given such good results that new plantations are being made. The stock, in 1865, comprised : — Cows and oxen, 8,000 I Pigs, 710 Horses and mules, .... 1,700 Poultry, .... 2,500 Sheep, 708 1 Beehives, .... 20 The colonists exported during the year, 55 brls. of flour, 545 cow- hides, and 625li of hair. The occupations we find thus distributed — 19 groceries and draperies, 9 carpenter-shops, 6 brick-layers, 5 black- smiths, 4 midwives, 4 bootmakers, 4 mills, 3 tailors, 2 inns, 3 brick- kilns, 1 baker, 1 doctor, 1 brewer, 2 steam mills, 2 windmills, 1 sawing, 6 reaping, 2 threshing, and 10 winnowing machines, 220 dairies. The San Jeronimo Colony is two leagues from that of Esperanza, comprising 157 families, which count 753 colonists, settled on 181 farm-lots of 85 acres each. In the concession there is still a large tract of ground ready for any who may join the colony. The returns for 1865 were : — • Swiss, 644 colonists. Germans 67 do. French^ 13 do. Italicms, 10 colonists. North Americans, 3 do. IXatives, 3 do. Belgians, 13 do. Births 19, deaths 10, marriages 2. The colony boasts a church, school, and 165 dwelling houses. There are 5 shops, 3 mills, 3 blacksmiths, 4 carpenters, 1 brewer, 1 butcher, 3 shoe-makers, 1 mason, 1 gunsmith — but most of these artisans devote their chief attention to agriculture. The number of fruit trees is put down at 30,000. 22 AGRICULTURAL COLOSIES. The crops for 1865 gave : — Wheat, . . . Indian corn, Oats, Potatoes, . . . Vegetables, The stock comprised : CoAvs or oxen, Horses, Sheep, 2,000 fanegas. 3, -000 do. 10 500 48 do. do. do. 3,000 570 14 Butter, Cheese, Poultry, Eggs, 200 cwt. 200 do. 1,000 845,000 Pi""S I Iq^, .... Hens and ducks, 331 2,150 The San Carlos Colony is situate 8 leagues S.W. of Santa Fe, 6 south of Esperanza, and 5| N.W. of Goronda ; the last named is a port on a branch of the Parana. Only a small part of the concession (which comprises 330 lots) is yet taken up by settlers, but there are 130 farm-lots, of 85 acres, under cultivation. Every alternate lot belongs to the concessionaires, but they allow the use of same to the colonists for grazing purposes. There are 130 families, with 735 colonists : — Swiss, Italians, French, 393 204 95 Germans, IXatives, 19 24 Of these there Avere 266 men, 203 women, and 266 children. Births 35, deaths 4, marriages 8. The colony boasts a church, 3 schools, and 210 houses. There are 6 shops, 2 mills, 1 carpenter and 1 blacksmith. The industry of butter and cheese is rapidly increasing, the Swiss- and French families occupying themselves therein. The stock comprised — Cows and oxen, . . . . 3,908 Horses, 786 Sheep, 26 Swine, .... 270 Hens, . . . 3,000 Fruit trees. .... 83,753 The Santa Fe Government is always willing to extend the concession for any new settlers that may offer, and the alternate lots belonging to the concessionaires are sold at reasonable prices, the preference being given to the colonists. The colon)' has easy communication in all seasons Avith San Jeronimo, Esperanza, and the port of Coronda. Steam traffic is about to be established betAveen Santa Fe and Coronda ; but if the steamers Avould call at Maciel this Avould be only four and a half leagues from the colony. Wheat, 60,000 cwt. Battel Indian corn, 20,000 do. Eggs, Oats, 5,000 do. Fowl, Vegetables, 7,000 do. PERKms' REPORT ON THE COLONIES. 23 The gross returns .of produce sent into Santa Fe, in 1865, by the three colonies, were — i cheese, 3,000 cwt. 200,000 doz. ift)t stated. The butter was valued at =£8,000 sterling, the eggs at £12,000, and the cheese at an equally high figure. Meantime, the produce of the colonies increases every year in a wonderful manner, and the value of their lan(fe has been enhanced fully 25 percent, by the opening of the Rosario and €ordoba Railway. Mr. Perkins, formerly editor of the Ferro-Carril of Rosario, published a Taluable and interesting work in Spanish and English on this subject. At the invitation of Governor Cullen he started from Rosario, in November, 1863, to make a tour of the colonies, and his narrative bears the marks of truth. At Lake Guadalupe, close to Santa Fe, he visited the fish oil factory, where he estimates 5,000 barrels of oil may be produced annually, without seriously reducing the fish, which are sold at one real (6(/.) per arroba (25U). Here also is a small colony of wealthy Germans, who preferred purchasing this site to taking the free Government lands. In company with M. Henri, Mr. Perkins set out for the Esperanza Colony, distant twenty miles from the capital of the province. This was the first of all the colonies, and established by D. Aaron Castellanos. The settlers were at first rather unfortunate, being mostlv iunorant and indigent people ; but patience and experience have aided them, and the colony is now nourishing. There are — says Mr. Perkins — 345 families, making up a population of 756 Franco-Swiss and 805 Germans, of whom two-thirds are Roman Catholics, and one-third Protestants. The colony is a parallellogram of thirty-two square miles, divided into concessions of eighty acres each : the whole is bisected by a common for grazing, 400 yards broad and six miles long, the Germans being on one side, and the Franco-Swiss on the other. There are over 9,000 acres under crops, the amount sown being estimated as follows :— wheat, 3,150 bushels; barley, 250 ; Indian corn, 35,000 ; beans and peas, a little ; potatoes, none. The stock comprises — 1,569 horses, 396 oxen, 2,305 cows, 3,700 calves, 500 sheep, and 600 pigs. The plaza is well built, containing a Catholic chapel, and a Protestant one in construction, besides other edifices and three schools ; but tlie latter are badly attended, the children being made to work. 24 AGRICULTURAL COLONIES. Two American gentlemen named Evans and Shatter, lately settled in the colony, and brought reaping and threshing machines,, and other American improvements, into general use : one of these machines can grain 200 quintals per day. The woods being fifteen miles off, few of the concessions are fenced in, and some are so with wire. There are one ■vineyard and several gardens. The crops for this year^ — (1863) — are valued at gl 15,000 s. Cheese, butter, eggs, foAvls, and vegetables are raised ; but the supply would be much greater if cheap transport could be procured. One family has an income of §400 s. from butter alone, which they sell at 6(L to 9fZ. per 'ft, the same being worth 2s. in Rosario and 35. in Buenos Ayres. The annual produce in eggs is 160,000 dozen. There are two wind-mills, and several water-mills. The people live simply but substantially, consuming little animal food. Every family has a two-horse four-wheeled waggon, and some have two or more. There is a trifling disagreement in the colony about mixed marriages. It is remarked that the Franco-Swiss have thrived better than the Germans. The San Jeronimo Colony was founded so late as 1862, by a number of Swiss from the Canton of Valais, each of whom brought some money ; from £80 to £800 sterling. They paid all their own expenses, and only received from Government the usual land grant of eighty acres per family. The colony covers 9,000 acres, occupied by eighty-five families, counting 462 souls : of these, one half are new arrivals, and have as yet no wheat crops. Inhere are sown 284 bushels of wheat, and a good deal of barley. The people are sober and industrious, good Catholics, moral and respectful, and superior to those of Esperanza. They have already a fine church, built by subscription of 5,000 bricks each, and several good brick houses. Each family has about twenty cows and horses, but no sheep. They make excellent butter and cheese, the latter fetching §12 per cwt. The colonists pay the expenses of an agent, who goes backwards and forwards to Switzerland, bringing out new families for the colpny. A man formerly working at the Esperanza as farm-servant, has settled here, and is now worth £1,000. San Jeronimo is half way between Esperanza and San Carlos, and Mr. Perkins gives it the preference of all. The San Carlos Colony was founded in May 1859, by the commercial house of Messrs. Beck and Herzhog of Basle, assisted by a company, which purchased some of the shares and advanced the capital. The emigrants were of a lower order, like those of Esperanza, and all their expenses, maintenance, implements, stock, seeds, &c., were most liberally supplied and paid for by the company. Each family got a free passage, 160 acres THE SAN CARLOS COLO:!iY. 25 of land, horses, cows, &c., on condition of paying to the company every year (for five years) one-third of their crops, cultivating sixteen acres the first year, and so on. The half of each lot, I.e., 40 acres, is set apart for grazing, and after the fift!i year this remains the property of the company, the other half passing in fee to the settler. The colony covers thirty- seven square miles, or 26,000 acres, in 165 double lots, and is situate midway from Coronda to Santa Fe, and three leagues south of San Jeronimo. The population is 556 souls, in 100 families, of whom one-half are Protestants. • All bear an excellent character, except two or three drunkards. In the year 1862 there were nine deaths and thirty-two births. The colony is most prosperous and healthful. A SayIss named Goetchi landed in 1859, owing the company §500, and he has now paid all, and is worth £1,000 sterling : others sliow similar good fortune, the sheer fruit of industry. The stock amounts to — 2,531 horned cattle, 649 horses, 265 pigs. The company, on its own account, took up 800 sheep from Buenos Ayres in 1860, lost 200 after arrival, and still counted 1,600 in 1863. The wheat crop in 1863 yielded 37,000 bushels; the maize, barley, &c., is estimated at 8,000 quintals. There are public offices, church, model farm, gardens, and peach plantations. Mr, Perkins advises the adoption of traction engines for transport, and estimates the aggregate annual produce of the colonies as follows : — Wheat, 56,000 cwt. ; maize, 15,000; barley, 5,000; vegetables, 2,000 ; butter, 800 cwt. ; eggs, 1,000 cwt. ; cheese, 2,000 ; various, 5,000— total, 86,800 cwt. Respecting the San Carlos colony, we have some interesting particulars in the report of M. Jacques Stelzer, Justice of the Peace :• — wAmong the most comfortable families I may mention that of Sigel, ■with its handsome house on the right of the high. road. This family is of German origin, and arrived in 1859: it counts 7 persons, the youngest 12 years of age. Mr. Sigel is a laborious and intelligent man, assisted by his children, who are already able to guide the plough : from the beginning he has had good crops, especially that of 1866, when grain fetched 12 and even 16 dollars per «fanega.» In that jear he was enabled to pay off all he owed to the Company, and has thus been free of the 18 per cent. Tvhich less fortunate colonists still have to pay. Moreover he wrought at his trade of Avheelwright, Avhich gives him a good revenue. The Sigel family now owns 94 horned cattle, 21 horses, and 50 hens, besides laying down this year 14 «almudes)) of wheat, 50 acres of maize, and planting 5,000 fruit-trees. The Sigel concession is the best in the colony. «The Taverna family, comprising Michael Taverna, his wife, and 26 AGRICULTURAL COLONIES. 4 little children, the eldest 12 and the youngest 14 months old, and a partner named John Bonetti. This family owes its prosperity to the experi- ence of Taverna, the order and frugality of his wife, and the constant and careful labor of Bonetti: they arrived in 1859, and now possess a fine brick house, 40 head of horned cattle, 12 horses, 14 pigs, and 50 hens, besides a farm of 60 «almudes)) of wheat, 45 acres of maize and vegetables, and 2,000 fruit-trees. ((The Haemmerly family, of Swiss origin, arrived in 1859; at first comprised Albert Haemmerly, his wife, three sons, and two daughters, all of an age to work : the wife died in 18G2, and all the children have got married and purchased concessions for themselves, except the youngest son, who has remained with his father. Haemmerly has a neat house, 60 head of horned cattla, 20 horses, 4 pigs, 40 hens, besides cultivating 35 ((almudesw of wheat, 25 acres of maize, and 3,000 fruit-trees. ((The Beuteman family, Swiss-Geri]|ans, is composed of 9 members, including 7 children from 2 to 18 years of age: the concession is surrounded with poplars, paradise, and some 4,000 fruit-trees. This family owns 84 head of horned cattle, 10 horses, 1 pig, and 100 poultry, besides a farm of 65 ((almudesw of Avheat and 45 acres of maize and vegetables. ((The Beale family, of Italian origin, counts II members, with a fine house and out-offices, 60 horned cattle, 12 horses, 13 pigs, 60 poultry, and a farm of 40 ((almudesw of wheat and 80 acres of maize, but only a few fruit-trees. ((The Goetschy family, of SavIss origin, owns 83 horned cattle, 6 horses, 20 hens, and a farm of 48 ((almudes» of wheat, with 2,000 fruit-trees, and a fence of poplars and paradise trees. ((These are the families specially deserving honorable mention in my ofiicial report, without prejudice to the many other honest and hard- working people in the Colony. I have mentioned those most remarkable for their fine appearance, good houses, and superior cultivation, hoping you will permit me at another time to specify other families in prosperous condition, in all which details you may rely on my adhering strictly to the facts.)) The success of these colonies soon stimulated the Santa Fe Government to offer concessions in various parts of the Province for similar settlements, and Governor Orofio, during his term of office, labored strenuously to foment immigration. Unfortunately, the Paraguayan war checked the formation of new colonies, and the projects have either lapsed, or still EMIGRATION PROJECTS. 27 remain 'in statu quo.' Sor. Orouo, ^vhile Deputy to Congress, in July, 1864, introduced a bill as follows : — 1st. To emit £400,000 in G per cent. Bonds, negociable at 75 per cent. 2nd. To bring out 1 ,000 families of the farming class from Europe, to supply them Avith provisions, animals, and farming implements, during one year ; to build houses and a school for each colony. .3rd. Each immigrant family to comprise five individuals, and receive two oxen, one horse, three fanegas of wheat, two of potatoes, one of maize, two ploughs, and provisions for twelve months. Each family to get a grant of twenty-four cuadras (100 acrQs) of land for ever, and this as well as all produce to be free of taxes for twenty years. 4th. After four years the colonists to begin to re-imburse these expenses, paying to Government one-fifth of the amount until satisfied. The project was thrown out by Congress, but about the same time the Santa Fe Legislature, made a grant of 200 square leagues to a German Com- pany, which assumed the name of «The Argentine Land and Emigration Co., Limited,)) and published the following prospectus : — «The capital of the present company is £500,000, and the company is to secure the land grant made by Government, by sending out ten thousand families to form agricultural colonies within the period of ten years. «The lands granted by Government to the concessionaires are to be situated on the Parana, and Salado, theii* exact locality to be fixed by the company's surveyor. «The Government agrees to convey, on the arrival of every 200 families, six square leagues. <(The colonists are to be Germans and Irishmen. «The Government makes a free grant of 200 square leagues of land, of which 106^ leagues are to be distributed among the immigrants, and the balance, 193f leagues, becomes the free property of the company.)) jN'othiug has since been heard of the company, but it is possible that on the conclusion of the war the project may be revived. In September 18G6, a concession was given to Sor. Calvari for the intro- duction of a number of Italians to colonize the Gran Chaco. Sundry German and French enterprises of the same kind also sprung up, of wMcli we shall speak more fully in treating of the Gran Chaco. There is at present a project to establish a colony at the Guardia Esquina, situate on the Rio Tercero : this river may be made navigable, and the colony will be within easy reach of the Rosario and Cordoba railway. Another newly-projected colony, in the neigliborhood of the town of San Jose, has received the name of «San Josede la Esquina,)) where eighty 28 AGRICULTURAL COLONIES. acres of land will be given to any person, on the sole condition of its being cultivated, and of their bringing a couple of oxen, a pair of horses, and the necessary agricultural implements. An extra inducement to settlers is held out by a promise of four pounds of meat daily, to be given gratuitously to each family during the first year. The town of San Jose, near the banks of the Parana, has about 400 inhabitants. The colonists must fence in their lots, make a well, and plant fifty trees: for five years they will be exempt from all taxes. The distribution of the lands will be made by the following committee :r— Messrs. Aaron Castellanos, Pedro Ramayo, Colonel Rodriguez, Joaquin Lejarza, Santiago Recafio, Nicolas Sotomayor, arid Francisco Oliva. EiSTRE-RIOS. General Urquiza signalized his administration no less by his opening the rivers to the flags of all nations, than by his efforts for immigration. The province of Entre-Rios has two colonies, that of San Jose being.the largest in the River Plate. San Jose Colomj stands 7 leagues north of the town of Concepcion, on the banks of the Uruguay: it has a convenient port, of safe anchorage? and the town which is springing up there is to be called after the discoverer of the New World. The colony counts 200 Swiss, 125 French, 54 Italian, and 15 German families, comprising 2280 persons. The returns for 1863, were — 11.3 births, 33 deaths, 11 marriages. The professions of the colonists, were — 22 shop-keepers, 16 masons, 17 carpenters, 7 shoemakers, 6 tailors, 6 blacksmiths, 4 tinsmiths, 5 mechanics, 1 gunsmith, 1 boiler- maker, 1 sawyer, 2 mills, I steam-mill, 1 oil-press. The colony boasts a church, a school, and 257 brick houses, valued at £26,000 sterling : there is also a church in construction on the site of the intended toAvn. The concessions are 16 cuadras (70 acres) each. Uncultivated lots are sold at ^10 (30s.) the cuadra, the purchaser being charged IS per cent, interest per annum till the amount be discharged. There are 3,200 cuadras of land occupied, and 1 ,600 under cultivation ; fruit-trees 1 12,000. Tiie average annual yield is — Wheat and oats, 30, 1 50 fanegas. Indian corn, 15,000 do. Potatoes, .... 120 tons. Mani, 180 do. Tobacco, .... 5 tons. Sweet potatoes, 300 do. Rutter, 120 do. Eggs, 1 70,000 doz. Besides cheese, melons, peas, beans, &c., in abundance. COLO:VIES OF EXTRE RIOS. 29 The crops of 1865 were so prolific that wheat gave from 35 to 40 fold, barley 30 to 50, and Indian corn three to four hundred fold. The returns of stock were — Cows and oxen, 6,S60 ; Hens, 21,500 Horses, 1,141 i Beehives, 170 Swine, 629 I A «cuadra)) of mani will give a yield of 3^ tons, and the oil extracted from this nut is of excellent quality : hence this is a lucrative article. Ricino is a plant that grows in abundance almost w ithout cultivation ; it is now extensively planted, both for the raising of silk- worms and for the oil it contains ; a cuadra will give two to three tons. The cultivation of cotton w as tried, but without success ; the great danger is that of drought, and if the irrigation be improved this industry will be again tried : as much as 25'tt of cotton have been got from a single plant Avell-watered. The tobacco crop is highly satisfactory, w hile requiring much care : a «cuadra» gives, sometimes, a ton of very good tobacco. The milk, butter, and cheese of the colony are first-rate, and some of the colonists make X40 to o£60 sterling a year, out of these items, in supplying the towns of Coucepcion, Paysandii, &c. The colonists also find a ready market for their eggs, and the supply of honey promises, to be soon very considerable. The Colony of Villa Vrquiza is situate six leagues above the city of Parana, on the Parana river. The river bank here rises to a high hill. On ascending this hill we see a beautiful, undulating, country. The con- cessions are about 30 acres each, but there is no limit to the number that one man may own if he cultivate them. The houses are chiefly «ranchos,» though some better houses of brick, with azotea roofs, are already built. The chief produce is wheat. Every concession is fenced in, the forest affording the material ; sometimes many concessions form one single field of wheat. AVhen the year has been favorable the crop gives 20 to 25 bushels to the acre. It is reaped by machinery. Cotton has not done well, not for any defect in the soil or climate, but for the uncertainty of obtaining hands on the emergency, for picking. But for this, cotton would pay better than wheat. Land, cattle, and horses, are very low in price. Pasturage, a little way out from the Colony, is abundant. The colonists send to market in large quantities wheat, maize, potatoes, butter, and cheese. Mr. Forrest and3Ir. Russell have bought largely of these lands, and will reap this year some hundreds of acres of wheat. In the course of another year a large accession of immigrants is expected. 30 AGRICULTURAL COLOINIES. The official returns for 1865 are — ((Extent of concession, 6,700 acres: colonists, Swiss 20, Germans 32, French 8, Italians 5, and Belgians 6, families; in all comprising 355 persons, who occupy 232 chacra lots, and have plantations of peach, orange, plum, and fig trees. The colonists are made up of gardeners, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, shoemakers, and small dealers. The total stock do«s not exceed 2,500 head. The annual crop averages 3,000 fanegas wheat, besides maize, potatoes, vegetables, cotton, and tobacco. The tobacco is superior to that of Paraguay ; it gave this year a fine crop, -which was readily sold at ISd. per %, wholesale. This industry is increasing.)) The American preceptor, Mr. Rau, gives the following report (1867) :— ((It is a farming colony of about 560 persons, of whom 100 are natives, 200 European Roman Catholics, and the remaing 260 are Protestants, chiefly Europeans. A few^ Americans are also settled here, and arrange- ments are made for the settlement of many more American families. The colony is in its infancy, and most of the farmers are poor. During the last few^ years some of the crops have not been good, and the first houses built by the immigrants have, in very few instances, given place to better ones. ((We have received from the local Government a free concession of a building lot, 200 ' varas' in front, and 200 ' varas' in depth, making about eight English acres. Tliis ground is finely situated. It is already fenced, and on it we have erected a small house, suflicient for a temporary residence for the Minister. A well has also been dug, in which abundance of good water has been found. AVe have a contract with a responsible party for the erection of the church, which will cost £300 sterling, and the edifice, when finished, will be occupied for a school also. The minister, being supported as such, gives his labours free as a teacher.)) The enterprise at Villa de Urquiza is one of the ((misiones)) under the charge of the Rev. W. Goodfellow, D.D., of this city, and from the society that he represents the colony receives help in all these projects. Besides the above colonies. General Urquiza talks of establishing another on that part of his lands lying between his palace of San Jose and the tow n of Concepciou, the settlement to be bisected by a railway, with German settlers on one side, and Irish on the other. BUENOS AYRES. The Siviss Colony of Baradero is about tw^o miles N.W. of the port of that name on the Parana, standing on high and uneven ground in a bend of the river bluffs, and commanding a fine prospect. The Arrecifes river, which FORTITNATE SETTLERS AT BARADEHO. 31 abounds in fish, washes one side of the concession, giving T\ater at all seasons to the cattle ; as the stream is only sixty feet wide there is easy passage to a beautiful island which has excellent pastures even in the greatest drought. This island is public property, and measures ten leagues by three. In 1856 the first Swiss colonists arrived, and some of these hard-working men (according to the official report before Government) have been able to make as much as £800 to £1 ,000 sterling. They are intelligent gardeners, and the soil is so productive that they have raised sweet potatoes weighing as much as a pound and a-half each, while the melons, cabbages, and other vegetables are equally large, and grow in abundance. Potatoes constitute the most profitable of their crops. Some experiments in tobacco turned out so well that the growers were awarded a silver medal at the Agricultural Exhibition of Buenos Ayres in 1856. Mani and linseed have given good results, the first surprisingly so ; still, the colonists find potatoes to need less care, and this is their great staple, yielding two crops a year; they also raise sweet potatoes, maize, wheat, and barley. Trees come on admirably, especially peaches, and so favored is the soil of the locality that even palm trees (which are always found in hotter latitudes) are readily acclimatized. Some of the settlers make butter and cheese, for which there is a constant market, either at Baradero or San Pedro ; the latter port is six miles North of the colony. The boatmen of the coasting trade are also good customers of the colonists, buying their produce to take down to Buenos Ayres or elsewhere. The colonists know that the greater their produce the readier market they find. The Municipality of Baradero provide new comers with board and lodging till putting them in possession of their lots. Every able-bodied man receives a lot, 200 varas on each side, about eight acres in extent, on condition of ditching it round, planting a few trees, making himself a hut or (crancho,)) and cultivating the ground within a year; if a settler has grown-up sons, each of them may have a similar lot, merely applying to the Municipality for same. The colony counts 873 souls. Germans, 45 Men, 300 Swiss, .... . . . 260 Women, 293 French, . 67 Children, 280 Italians, 119 Catholics, . . . 692 Spaniards, 37 Protestants, 181 Argentines, . . . 345 The concession maybe put down at 10,000 acres, of which one-half is already allotted : there are 18 chacra lots of 12 acres, and 374 of eight 32 AGRICULTURAL COLONIES. acres, besides 236 garden lots of two acres each ; all these are fenced in with wood and wire, and have a ditch. The price is 800 paper dollars per cuadra (30s. per acre), or the rent ^90 (15s.) per chacra lot of eight acres, per annum. The colony has a school, 36 azotea houses, and 285 thatched ranchos ; the plantations comprise 63,300 fruit-trees. There are 2 mills, 6 dairies, 3 masons, 3 carpenters, 2 blacksmiths. The crops for 1864 were — Wheat, . . 1,091 fan. Peas, 50 tons. Barley, .. 1,000 do. Beans, 30 do. Maize, . . 8,104 do. Butter, 50 cwt. Potatoes, 868 tons. Cheese, 75 do. Sweet potatoes, . . 17 do. p.rrrrc .... 19 500 doz. The farming-stock comprises — 750 cows, 9,000 sheep, 100 swine, 1,050 horses, 2,990 hens. The practical proof of the success of this colony is given in a personal detail of the present condition of many of its members. Some of these poor, but persevering people, on their arrival had a little money, which they invested in cows, horses, bullocks, and fowl. For the first year, they lived in miserable mud ranchos, earning a subsistence by selling eggs and butter, and often having no meat to eat but biscacha flesh. The earliest comers were French-Swiss ; but the greater number of those who arrived from 1858 to 1861 were. German-Swiss. Out of the list of those given by Sefior Pifiero — to the number of 14 — we select a few examples: — John Tenoud, French-Swiss, a farmer m his native land, of the Roman Catholic religion, and 49 years of age on his arrival here, with eleven in family, possesses now a capital of 300,000 paper dollars, the greater part of which is put to interest or laid out in sheep. James Cardineaux, French-Swiss, Roman Catholic, farmer in his own country, 30 years of age on his arrival, with a family of six persons, has now a capital, of 150,000 paper dollars placed at interest and invested in sheep. Amongst the second lot of eight families came Claudio Jamer, a French- man, who had kept a small wine and flour store in France, 45 years old on his arrival, with one grown-up son, holds to-day a mill, worked by mules, in which he has invested 43,000 paper dollars, and is finishing the erection of a wind-mill, brought by himself during the past year from France. This mill cost 25,000 paper dollars ; he has two plots of farm- ground ; a house with one room of azotea roof, and two of straw. He is not in possession of money, but is entirely free from debt. THE SWISS AT BAR-IDERO. 33 Here comes a list of German-Swiss, many of whom were obliged to hire themselves out as labourers on their arrival. But see what German perseverance does : — John Schar, a German-Swiss, a brickmaker in his own country, a Protestant, 37 years of age, self and wife being his only family, exhausted his funds on reaching here, as did all hereafter mentioned, has now a capital of 100,000 paper dollars; one half lent out at interest, and the other half in the house, or invested in draught cattle. Felix Schaer, a German Swiss, day labourer in his own country, a Protestant, 28 years of age on his arrival, Avith four in family, has now a capital of 100,000 paper dollars ; two-thirds at interest, and the remainder invested in implements and cattle. iSicholas Hequi, German-Swiss, a butcher in his country, a Protestant, 38 years old on his arrival, his* wife and himself constituting his whole family, is actually in possession of 60,000 paper dollars, part of which is at interest, and the rest invested in an azotea house, labourers' tools, and cattle. The names of Andrew Schaes, a boy only 19 years old on his arrival, and now possessed of 20,000 paper dollars and a house ; of Fernando Schachbaum with 40,000 paper dollars ; of Alexiander Homber with 30,000 ; and Jose Matting 50,000, further prove what can be done by agriculturists in the Argentine Republic. The Municipality of San Pedro (3 leagues above Baradero) offer 30 chacra lots of 6 cuadras (25 acres each) for immigrants, on the following terms. The lots will be either sold at §800 per cuadra (30s. per acre), or rented at §100 or 16s. The tenant or purchaser must pay for survey, &c., the sum of $150 (24s.) There is also a suitable tract of land, 13,000 varas by 4,300, comprising about 10,000 acres, which may be bought in lots from the owner (a private party) for chacra cultivation. 34 COLOSIZATION OF THE CHACO. CHAP. Y. COLONIZATION OF THE CHACO. The Gran Chaco comprises an immense territory, for the most part unex- plored, lying between Paraguay, La Plata, and Bolivia. Tlie Argentine Republic claims all that part bounded on the North by the Rio Vermejo and on the S.W. by the Salado, comprising a superficies of 250,000 square miles. The soil and climate are equal to those of the most favored countries, and the natural features are, vast plains of luxuriant pasture, thick forests of various useful timbers, and numerous rivers and lagoons : Avith such facilities for irrigation, it would be easy to raise any quantity of maize, cotton, tobacco, sugar-cane, and rice. In the beginning of the 18th century, thanks to the efforts of the Jesuit missionaries, several flourishing settlements were springing upj whose ruined remains are still seen near San Javier, the Vermejo, and elsewhere ; but at present the interior of the Chaco is entirely abandoned to roving Indians and beasts of prey. After the expulsion of the Jesuits (1767) the Indians returned to a savage life, and so late as 1860 the Tobas tribe murdered some Italian Franciscan missionaries sent to convert them. Only five small « reductions)) of tame Indians still remain, according to the report of Padre Rossi, prefect of missions; viz. — Men. Women. Santa Rosa, 220 258 Cayastcl, 175 186 San Javier, 194 205 San Pedro, 132 142 SanGeronimo, 200 182 Children. Total .. 353 831 214 575 . . 20i . . 603 281 f ^ ■* OiiO 182 .. 564 THE VARIOUS IT^DLO TRIBES. 35' In February 1863, the Argentine Government commissioned Mr. P. C. Bliss to make a journey through the Chaco, and this gentleman reported five Indian nations, distinct in language, but alike in habits and physical appearance : the Mocovis and Abipones frequent the frontiers of Santiago del Estero and Santa Fe, while the Tobas, Ocoles, and Matacos, inhabit the valleys of the Yermejo and Pilcomayo. The three last tribes are said to number 20,000 souls. The Matacos are very industrious, being the best peons on the frontier estaucias of Salta, and in the sugar-fields of Salta and Jujuy. During much of the year the Indians live on the fruit of the algarroba and the «yuchan» or palo-boracho ; fish also supplies them Tvith food. They have no agriculture or farming implements. Formerly most of the tribes had cattle and sheep, but the animals seem to have been carried off by a pestilence. The Indians suffer great mortality from want of clothing and proper habitations : they are very superstitious, have a great fear of the Gualiche (or evil spirit), and some confused idea of a future life. Their barter trade is very limited : they sometimes bring to the frontier-settlements a few skins of pumas, jaguars, foxes, otters, &c. but they collect wild honey in considerable quantities, as also ostrich feathers and the resin of «palo-santo.)) The Matacos and Ocoles could easily be domesticated, if they were furnished with farming implements, seeds, and a few head of cattle. In May 1864 an expedition was got up by Government, to open up a highway through the Chaco, from Corrientes to Santiago del Estero, the distance being set down at 120 to 140 leagues. Sr. Arce, the Vermejo navigator, took a lively interest in the enterprise, and General Ferre marked out the road on a map. Passing through the «obrages)) or wood- cutting establishments in the Chaco, opposite Corrientes city, the route plunged into Indian tei ritory, broken by numerous woods and marshes. Here the want of water and provisions might constitute a greater difficulty than any to be feared from the Indians. Some caciques signed a treaty with the >'ational commissioner, agreeing to provide these necessaries at various points along the route. The chief profit to be derived from this new highway was that a great export trade of mules and horses would be opened for Corrientes with the Northern provinces. The report of the officer commanding the expedition was as follows : — « Bracho Yiejo, May 22, 1864. ((Dear Sir, «By the date of this letter you will perceive that notwithstanding alj the sufferings we have experienced in this painful journey across the Chaco, I, as well as my companion, Don Adolfo Reyes, am arrived safely at d2 36 COLONIZATION OF THE CHACO. our destination : the ways and means would form a very long subject for a letter, and I consequently reserve the details until my return. <(The few provisions that we carried were of an inferior description, and had an unfavourable influence on our health, but like true Germans we have already forgotten our past sufferings and laugh at them in the houses of the engineers, Messrs. William H. Cock and Auguste Lemelle, who have received us as if we had been old friends. We are now lodging in the house of the Salado Navigation Company. Major Martinez is rather ill in the Bracho encampment, with th« Indians w ho accompanied us, Avhose behaviour has been very bad. «0n the 1st of May an Indian ran away, back to Corrientes, with one of the horses. On the 17th another Indian and a boy ran away, stealing our beef and two of the best horses. «0n the 14th the Cacique Dachilique, with his brother, ran away, stealing some of our horses and the only hatchet we had with us. We lost our way during the night and passed 35 hours without water. The Cacique was familiar with the locality and could have found Avater, but .seeing that the majority of our horses were tired, he separated from us, to take the horses to his «tolderia.)) He is the same who, three years back, murdered the Franciscan friar at 3Iatara, and he communicated this fact to the Cacique Leoncito, adding that he accompanied us, merely to learn the state of the roads and cattle, so that he might be better enabled to carry on his depredations against the Province of Santiago. Such are the ((trustworthy agentsw given to us by General Ferre. ((On the 1 4th of May, at last, we came to the River Salado, and established ourselves in the 'canton Tostada,' now abandoned. Here we found the fine and well constructed ((azoteaw houses, erected by orders of our friend Dr., Archer, of which we have taken a plan and sketch to present to you on our return. «The road that we have travelled over is 175 leagues, and we are noAV awaiting instructions and horses from the Governor of Santiago. The road can be made transitable for cargo with very little expense. ((I believe that we will start for Santiago on the 26th, passing by Salavina, and from thence I will write further. I do not know yet Avheu and how we shall return to Corrientes, for this depends upon the measures taken by the Government of Santiago. «Fkancls Pankoini, ((Lieutenant Gommaudiug.» JOUR]SEY ACROSS THE CHA.CO. 37 An intelligent Indian interpreter and traveller, named Felipe Saravia, TV ho had previously crossed the Chaco, made a journey in January 1865, with complete success, and his diary from Esquina Grande to Corrientes is as follows : — « January 21st. Left Colony Hi vada via, crossed to the right bank of the Vermejo, following the stream (three leagues) as far as Selicano : good water, course S.E and E. «22nd. Started at sunrise, and reached Santa Rosa by noon (four leagues) : course E. Pushed on (three leagues) to Canada Angosta, course S.E., roads good. «2.3rd. Dined at Poso Escondido (five leagues): good water, road middling, course E. At one part we had to hew a passage of half a league. Advancing three leagues before nightfall we encamped near a large lake which I called Selicano Muerto : road very bad, course S.E. ey have a large supply, and their provisions bread, beans, rice, coffee, tea, and sugar, for, save the horses, Avorking oxen, and an odd milch cow, they haAe no other animals. «Houses are going up : the colony, which consists of men of every trade, are ftost enthusiastic, determined to hold their position, and have solicited Government for a further grant of tAventy leagues. The rifles of the colony, in quantity and quality, are beyond my description. We met the Coman- daute of San Javier, Don Antonio Alsogaray, Avho has large fields of Avheat, maize, and alfalfa : his services to the colony are innumerable. We were also Avaited on by Custodio, the cacique, who expressed his pleasure at our arrival, regretted that most of his Indians Avere on a hunting expedition, that if Ave came to trade, until their return Ave should find almost nothing, as every skin had been purchased by the three traders or store-keepers of the town — Don Benjamin Escudero, an Entre Riano ; Don Beltran Duran, . a Frenchman; and Don Lucas Caballo, a Spaniard, the Tattersal of San Javier.)) Fray Emitivio, the cura, is an Italian, about 35 years of age, very zealous in his calling and disinterested. 48 coLONizATio:^ of the chaco. A writer in the Tiempo of Santa Fe says — «No less than one hundred years ago, under the gentle sway of tlie Jesuits, these very plains were waving with maize, corn, and cotton, flanked by a large quinla ,well stocked with fruit trees and vegetables ; besides troops of carts, the Jesuits had a fleet of small river craft to convey their produce to this market, and these vessels were made in their OAvn dockyard and by their own ship- wrights and blacksmiths. In 1767 the mission had 23,000 head of horned cattle, 3,850 sheep, 3,000 horses and mares, and 380 mules.)) The progress of the colony could not better be described tlian in the annexed letters, dated January, 1867 :■ — ((Since we have been here we are doing well ; our crops are excellent, all except our early corn, that Avas sown in a hurry and the land only ploughed once. The regular crop, put in with greater care, is doing very well. I have a fine garden, from which I have just picked a squash from Californian. seed that measures sixty -two inches in circumference, and I have as fine water-melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other j^arden stuff as you would like to see. 1 have thirty head of cattle — cows and oxen. We have planted 150 acres of corn, and have done some ploughing for next season, which is not bad, considering we had such a late start. The Indians have not troubled us at all, in fact we have not seen one yet. The. tame Indians of San Javier have not meddled with us either ; if they were to do so we would take their whole town. The high water did not become visible to us. It would require a further rise of seven feet to overflow the bottom lands. There 'is excellent feed for the cattle all over these lands. The ofiBcers from the Santa Fe Government gave us a visit ; they came up to establish a new line of forts. They were very well pleased witlv our crop. What we want here are our own country seeds, and Americans to put them in the ground. I have six rows of cotton growing, and it is as promising as any I ever saAv in my life in the Southern States. I planted the seeds at different epochs, so as to ascertain the best date for planting. In a few days it will be in full bloom. — A. McLean.)) Mr. Moore, writes : — ((Myself and two sons have planted forty acres of corn, and about ten in garden stuff, and everything looks magnificent. My water -melons are as fine as any I ever saw, and my pumpkins, only half grown, weigh from 25 to, 30 lbs. The corn, although receiving no culti- vation, is very fine. Everything is looking so thrifty, tliat I am thoroughly convinced that I can raise as good crops here as in any part of the world. Our seeds have run out, but as soon as I can get a supply from home all will be well.)) THE CALIFORNIA COLOSY. 49 Another letter, a year later (January 1868), continues to report everything most favorably — «The Cahfornia Colony has proved a perfect success so far. Everything that has been planted has thriven well, equal to the best parts of California. The wheat crop has been harvested, and is splendid. The corn is in roasting ear, and is good for any country. Irish potatoes, garden stuff of all kinds, cabbages particularly, melons, pumpkins, &c., I consider very superior. The young orchards are doing finely. The only thing which has failed has been the sweet potatoes. There is a kind of bug (called in North America the lady bug), which destroys the vines. Everything that has been planted has done well. The live stock is equally successful. Cattle, horses, and hogs have done, and are doing well. The colony has never been disturbed by the Indians, and every family which arrives lessens the probability of its being so. The colonists have not lost an animal by Indians or tigers. They have lost a great deal of wheat by tlie rainy weather, as they have no threshing machine, and had to tramp it out with horses. Next season they will be provided with the best Yankee machi- nery. If they had had the most ordinary reapers, and threshed, they would not have lost a grain this year. They are preparing to sow a much larger crop this fall. The land in this section is level, but 30 feet above the low lands or 'bottom' of the Parand. The soil is a black loam about three feet deep, and resting on yellow clay. The grass and herbage grow with great luxuriance at all seasons. The grass is of the same quality as the * merquite ' grass of Texas, and I consider it equal in all respects to that. The ' paja,' or tall jungle grass, grows only on the Parana bottom or low land, which is at this point 18 miles wide, and intersected with numerous 'lagoons' and lakes. The cattle range in it to a sliort distance. As for land, there is certainly plenty of it. From this colony northward there is not a house for twelve hundred miles, and the vacant public domain stretches away for hundreds of leagues north and west. There is everywhere an abundance of good fresh water, and plenty of wood, both for fencing and firewood. We make it answer for building our cabins ; but it is short and crooked for that purpose. For picket fencing and firewood it has no superior, and there is plenty of it and well distributed. No clearing is required, as the country is prairie, with skirts or ranges of timber extending through it. The timber improves in quality as far up the country as I have been, which is about fifty miles. Tlie climate is healthy : there has been no sickness among the settlers. We have had more rain than we needed this summer. As to the price of land, I suppose the best land liere can be bought for §50 s. per acre, and from that down to nothing, and the seed 50 COLONIZATION OF THE CHACO. thrown in. For if any new comer should be too poor to buy, he would have land given hira to his satisfaction. AVliat is most wanted now is settlers, American or English, equipped for settling in the woods, and armed to defend themselves, as the colony looks to itself for protection. We have lately had three English families from Buenos Ayres, and two single men from California. If you see any American, English, Scotch, or Irish families, or single men who expect to engage in agriculture, I have no hesitation in saying that this is the best part of the Argentine Republic. For live stock the country is as good as could be desired, but for the present no large number of horses or cattle would be advisable. I say for the present, but the colonists expect to bring large droves next spring. The colony is much in need of a blacksmith's shop. A good smithy equipped for farm work, is a desideratum, particularly an American, or one who has worked in North America. Persons moving up to the colony at present, should come to the town of La Paz, in Entre Eios, which is on the Parana River, and there charter a boat to San Javier. The charter of a boat from La Paz to this place, San Javier, would be about £5 sterling. The passage to La Paz from Buenos Ayres is gI8 s. I omitted to mention that the ' mosquitos ' are bad at present, though there were none this summer until lately. I deem it superfluous to say that we have game in abundance, and lish in fabulous quantities. Cotton grows well, and also hemp and tobacco. Please forward any letters which may arrive for me to the same address : Colonia California, San Javier, Santa Fe.)) Mr. Perkins of Rosario, in April 1868, writes as follows : — «One of the Americans from the Calif ornian Colony is down here. He has informed the Secretary of the Immigration Commission that the crops have been excellent, and the people are happy and contented. The Welshmen and their families, from Chupat, under Mr. Davies, are settled now amongst the Americans, and have brought up the number of the colony to about forty individuals. The new , French Colony, two leagues this side of San Javier, has now fifteen families.)) At the close of 1868 we have the following accounts : — «The news from the North American Colony is cheering. Their wheat crops are splendid, and the Tiempo of Santa Fe says that relatively this colony will give double the products that any of the others will, on account of the intelligence and industry of the colonists. A sample of their wheat sent doAvn to Santa Fe was pronounced the first in the province. The colonists have received several additions to their number from California. It seems the Govern- ment considers the contract with Messrs. Wilcken and Vernet cancelled, as part of tliis concession has been given to the Welslunen, another part THE RIVADAMA COLO:!«Y. 51 sold to 31r. Grognet, and another to air. Laprade, both gentlemen of Eosario. A quantity of the lands of El Rey has also been solicited by purchasers.)) RIVADAVIA C0L03VY. This colony is situate on the]N\E. bank of the Rio Vermejo, about four leaf^ues below Esquina Grande, in the Province of Salta, up to which point there are no impediments to navigation. It is bounded on the north by the grant belonging to the missionary fathers, on the south and east by the Arroyo Tenco, and on the west by the Rio Vermejo. It covers a superficies of 200 square leagues (1,300,000 acres), extending six leagues in breadth from N.W. to S.E., and forty in length. The soil is mostly alluvial, being periodically inundated by the Vermejo. The colony -was established in December 1862, and in January 1864, it counted 54 families, with an aggregate of 550 souls. Since then, numerous «suertes)) have been allotted to new settlers, and the colony is now much larger. Each family receives for ever a donation of a asuertew of estancia, 2,500 yards front, by the same depth (about 1,200 acres), between the rivers Vermejo and Tenco, or double that area if the lands have not frontage on the above rivers ; also a building lot, 15 yards by 60, on the site of the proposed town; and a chacra of four acres for cultivation. The chief industry of the colony is in horned cattle, the stock amounting to 20,000 head. The soil is fertile, and large plantations have been made of cotton and tobacco ; but at present the difficulty of transport seems insuperable. President Mitre's Government was authorized by Congress to expend all necessary sums for the construc- tion of a road from Corrientes to Esquina Grande : the project has been allowed to fall into complete oblivion ; but the road, when made, will pass through the colony and meet the high road of the northern provinces somewhere on the frontier of Salta and Tucuman. Mr. Bliss speaks of his ■visit to the colony in July 1863, as follows : — <(The long delay of our expedition had given rise to serious fears for our safety, and our arrival at the colony of Rivadavia was hailed with the greatest demonstrations of joy. When the expedition left Buenos Ayres, its supposed destination was the port of Esquina Grande, four leagues above the colony of Rivadavia. The event proved that no one on board had any idea of the geographical and other changes which have taken place in that region within three or four years. Esquina Grande, so noted in all previous itineraries of voyages and explorations, does not now contain a single building of any description, and, in fact, does not now exist as a port. The river has, as in many other cases, changed its course, has dug a canal across s2 52 COLONIZATION OF THE CHACO. the peiiinsula, and has thus left the former Esquina Grande some distanee inland ! The port thus abandoned has, however, been more than replaced by the establishment, durmg the year 1862, of the new colony of Rivadavia. This colony is situated upon the northern bank of the Vermejo, four leagues below Esquina Grande, and has a grant from the Provincial Government of Salta of sixteen leagues of land upon the river and six leagues back. The colonists were mostly Bolivians of the poorer class, from the provinces of Tarija and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. This large grant of land was looked upon with a jealous eye by the estancieros of the frontier, who coveted that fine extent of territory for themselves. The Indians of the neighborhood were mostly employed as peons, either by the colonists or by the ^fronteristas,' and some of the latter stooped to the meanness and wickedness of prejudicing the Indians against the colonists, hoping thus to frighten them from their enterprise. With the arrival of our steamer the safety of the colony was thought to be secured, especially as three cannon from the old fort of San Fernando were brought to the colony at the same time.)) Mr. Bliss was five weeks making the overland journey from the colony to Buenos Ayres, via Bosario. The latest official report of the colony is only to January 1864. When the navigation of the Bio Yermejo becomes a fact, the colony will spring into great importance. PATAGOiMA, A FIELD FOR COLONISTS. 53 CHAP. yi. COLONIZATIOX OF PATAGONIA. Patagonia may be said to include all that vast territory lying between the Rio Negro (40 deg. S. Lat.) and the Straits of Magellan, and estimated to contain an area of 350,000 square miles. The climate is similar to that of England, and the soil fertile : hence the country is well suited for immigration, and various efforts have been made, within the last six years, for this purpose. In June 1863 the Government of Buenos Ayres made the following grant to Mr. Louis Bamberger : — 1. M. Louis Bamberger engages to bring out a German Colony, whose total number sliall be 10,000 families. 2. The Government of Buenos Ayres grants a free gift of public land in the following proportion : for every 100 families one square league, besides an equal quantity for the benefit of the concessionaire or joint stock company. 3. The Government will provide each family with farming implements, seeds, two milch cows, six heifers, a yoke of oxen, and twelve sheep. 4. The Government will support all the immigrants during six months after their arrival. The concession never came to anything, Mr. Bamberger failing to get up a joint-stock company. 54 COLONIZATION OF PATAGOKIA. In the following month (July 1863) the Argentine Government signed a concession for the establishment of a Welsh Colony at the Chupat, which was carried out two years later. In August 1863 a Frenchman, Dr. Brougnes, who had been connected with the French Colony in Corrientes, formed a project to convert the Indians into colonists, giving them land, seeds, &c., and the Cacique Baigorria promised him every co-operation. He also proposed introducing European settlers, to be scattered along the rivers Negro and Colorado, The scheme died in embryo. In 1863, 3Iessrs. Galvan, Aguirre, and Murga received a most advan- tageous concession from the Government of Buenos Ayres, viz. : — «Messrs. Galvan receive for each family a gift of 160 acres land, a bonus of ^12 s., and the loan 'of $160 or £32 sterling, to pay the necessary expenses. Messrs. Aguirre and Murga receive 1,600 acres for each family, in fee, but without any subvention in money. The concessionaires propose to pay the passage of the immigrants, providing each family, on arrival, with 300 sheep, six milch cows, one bull, four horses, and a large piece of land.)) As an immigration scheme it has never been carried out, but numbers of Englishmen have since settled on the lands of Aguirre and 3Iurga, some purchasing the land from them, others going into partnership with them in the care of sheep. In June 1864 General Paunero submitted an excellent project for a fixed line of frontier on the Rio Colorado, Avhich, but for the Paraguayan war, bade fair to be accepted by Government. The Bio Colorado rises in that part of the Andes contiguous to Mendoza, almost in direct line from Buenos Ayres, in 35 S. Lat,, and 69 W, Long, pursuing a winding course S.E. until it debouches into the Atlantic, a few miles below our settlement of Bahia Blanca, about 40 S. Lat. Paunero estimated its length at 197 leagues, say 600 miles, and proposed to erect a line of forts with small military picquets at certain distances, along its north bank. He required only 5000 men for so splendid an undertaking, instead of 13,000 troops of the Line and National Guards at present occupied in the straggling frontier service of these provinces. The advantages to be gained by this scheme Avere thus summed up : — 1st. An effective and uniform cordon of frontier posts. 2nd. The creation of an impassable barrier, which would prevent communication between the Indians of the Chaco and those of Patagonia. 3rd. The recovery of 20,000 square leagues (a territory three times as large as England) of the finest pasture lands. 4th. A saving of 60 per cent, in the expense of the present frontier forces. 5th. The total relief of civilians from military cox's EXPLORI>G EXPEDITION. 55 service. 6tb. The development of a new commercial artery by the navigation of the Rio Colorado. 7th. A safeguard for our sheepfarmers against the perils of drought, these men being formerly afraid to move their flocks towards the Indian territory. Moreover the lands adjacent to the Colorado might be made to produce wheat for the whole Republic, the freight to Bahia Blanca being easy, and therefore cheap. In September 1864 a German company with a proposed capital of three millions sterling sought a concession for the colonization of 30,000 square miles of tierritory between the rivers Colorado and Negro. The Company proposed to Government to introduce 20,000 European agricultural families Avithin five years, on condition of a cavalry force of 2,000 men, under Colonel 3Iachado, being placed for that period to defend the territory from the Indians. Each family was to receive free passage, a rancho, food for the first year, seeds and implements, one horse, two oxen, two cows, and 100 sheep. The emigrant would be required, in return, to sign bills for £200, payable in 40 yearly instalments. Each family was to receive 12 cuadras (50 acres) of land for tillage, and have the pasture lands of the colony in common with the rest. This enterprise shared the fate of those just mentioned. The Republic of Chile having always claimed a great portion of Patagonia, that Government commissioned Mr. Cox to explore the whole course of the Rio ^N'egro, as that gentleman held the conviction that fluvial communication existed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In 1859, making Port Montt (a German colony on the Pacific in S. Lat- 41.30} his starting point and base of operations, in company with a few determined companions, he passed the neck of the Cordillera at Mount Osorno, and reached the western shore of Lake Nahuel-huapi. But he had not calculated all the difficulties of the enterprise, and was obliged to desist and return to Valparaiso. The Government was pleased with his report, and the explorer only waited a favorable chance to carry out his design. On the 16th of December 1862, a complete expedition fully equipped by Government, and consisting of 18 persons under his command, again started from Port Montt, and reaching Lake Nahuel-huapi on >'ew-year's day 1863, undertook to cross the lake in a boat left there by Mr. Cox on his former journey. A steep hill on the eastern shore now barred their progress, but they resolutely cut their way through a virgin forest, climbed the perilous glaciers, and Mr. Cox was the first who arrived at the summit, and saw, to his infinite joy, the broad stream of the Rio Negro winding its xjourse eastward, till lost in the brown-colored Pampas of Patagonia. 56 COLONIZATION OF PATAGONIA. Having launched his boat in the Rio Negro, he determined to push down- •wards as far as the Argentine settlement of Carmen or Patagones, at the mouth, on the Atlantic. Fearing a shortness of provisions, he ordered the half of his party to return to Port Montt, and with the rest commenced to descend the river, which he found navigable, with about 10 or 12 feet of water. After some slight mishaps, in coming foul of the hidden obstacles, he had the misfortune to capsize the boat, and his men narroAvly escaped drowning : he owed his own safety to a life-belt, the water being here fourteen feet deep. The loss of all his charts and instruments was even less than that of the provisions, on which depended the lives of all the party. Luckily he fell in with a tribe of Pehuelches Indians, who at first determined to kill all the intruders, but the interpreter explaining that Mr. Cox was very rich, it was at length agreed that he should pay a large ransom, leaving four of his men as hostages, while he proceeded to Port Montt. He accordingly returned with the ransom, but instead of accompanying his men back to Chile, remained a voluntary companion of the Pehuelches, whose costume he even adopted, with the hope of accom- panying them at the usual time of year in their journey to Carmen, to sell skins and ostrich feathers. Some neighboring tribes, hearing of the Christian who went hunting guanacos and ostriches with the Pehuelches, threatened to make a «malon» with fire and lance if he were permitted to remain in Indian territory, and he saw himself forced to return to Chile, where an account of his explorations has since been published at the cost of Government. By a fortunate coincidence Mr. Cox was wrecked at the very same rapids mentioned by the Spanish pilot Villarin, who reached this point in a small vessel which ascended the Rio Negro from the Atlantic- Hence Mr. Cox considers his expedition realized, and declares the water- course navigable the whole way (excepting about a mile) from one ocean to the other. He speaks highly of M. Lenglier, a Frenchman who joined him in all his perilous adventures. He states that as the Argentines hold the line of the Rio Negro from Patagones to the Island of Choel-echoel, it would be easy for Chile to occupy the remainder as far as Lake Nahuel- huapi, and by this means a splendid country Avould be thrown open for immigration, and a navigable highway made available for commerce across the continent. It would seem, however, that more than thirty years previously the late Captain Smyley had gone the same route : in a letter dated 10th February, 1865, he stated— «In the years 1828 and 1829 I made a tour of the coast of Chile, from Copiap6 to San Carlos (in the island of Chiloe), and from there crossed the CHILIAN AND ARGENTINE PROJECTS. 57 Cordillera of the Andes with the Araucanian Indians. After that, I travelled with the Pampas, Chuhuelches, and Magellan Indians, from the head waters of the Kio Negro as far as the Straits of Magellan, and thenc9 back, over a more southern route, laying down the latitudes and longitudes of the principal places on both routes. I have several times since then travelled with the Indians on most parts of the coast of Patagonia. And I still claim to be the first white man who ever took this route ; and I firmly believe, from what the Indians teU me, that no one has ever accomplished it since. I beg leave to differ with Mr. Cox, or any others who find a carriage road across the Andes, or judge the whole course of the Rio Negro navigable as far as the South Atlantic. At the same time I must acknowledge the route to be easy, and, for most of the way, through a fine country. Nor do I think the day far distant when this territory will prove the richest part of South America, both in mineral products and for agricultural purposes.)) In the year 1864, 3Ir. Orestes Tornero, a native of Valparaiso, solicited from the Chilian Legislature a concession for all the territory lying between deg. 49, S. lat., and the Straits of Magellan, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This slice of land is 300 miles long (from Cape Virgin in the Atlantic to Cape Desiree in the Pacific), by 250 wide, which would give a superficial extent of 75,000 square miles, almost equal to the whole island of Great Britain. The concessionaire bound himself — 1st. To establish colonies on the territory ceded, the minimum number of settlers at the end of ten years to amount to 10,000 persons; and, 2nd. To establish two, four, or more steam tugs. The colonists were to be free of taxes for fifty years. Another project for colonization and steam tugs was got up by Don Anjel Palazuelos; but it is not clear if either of these enterprises wQl ever be realised. At present, the Chilian Government is paying much attention to the navigation of Magellan's Straits, having sent a war steamer to accom- pany H.B.M.'s ship Nassau in the surveys and soundings ordered by the British Admirality. In August 1865, a grand project was got up by Don Juan Cruz Ocampo and M. Brie dc Laustan (the latter gentleman had much colonial experience in Algiers) ; their prospectus was as follows : — «The petitioners propose to form a Joint-stock Argentine Credit Mobilier and Patagonia Colonization Company, within two years from date, with a capital of £1 ,000,000 to £i,000,000 sterling : such company to have power to emit Lettres de Gage guaranteed by Government. They propose to introduce 1 ,000 families (or 5,000 persons) within five years after formation tS COLONIZATION OF PATAGONIA. of this company, and 3,000 in tlie succeeding ten years, to colonize the country lying between the Rivers Colorado and Negro, the Government ceding to the company three-fourths of a square league (4,800 acres) of land for each family introduced from any neighboring or foreign country. They further propose to introduce, within five years as above, 800 families to settle south of the Rio Negro, and so on 22,000 families within fifty subsequent years (divided in proportions of live years each), for the coloni- zation of Patagonia proper, the Government ceding as before, at the company's choice, a square league (6,500 acres) for each family so settled. They propose to make these colonies pastoral, not agricultural, advancing to each family a sum of £400 sterling in passage money, house, maintenance for twelve months, and stock of 500 sheep, 50 cows, 3 mares, 2 horses, a ■waggon, seeds, farming implements, and grazing land: the amount of such advances, with interest and expenses, to be refunded by the colonists in yearly instalments not exceeding 12 per cent., which would be more than covered by the wool. They solicit from Government, besides a league of land for each family (in all 25,800 square leagues, or 155,000,000 acres), the following concession : — «lst. Authority to govern the colony during sixty years, with a code approved by Government. «2nd. Half the nett proceeds of import and export duties of the colony for said term. «3rd. Exemption from import duties on all instruments and animals introduced. «4th. Maintenance by Government of a proper military force. «5th. Permission to build docks, railways, schools, &c. «6th. Sanction for the Credit Mobilier Company's statutes, «7th. Guarantee for the Lettres de Gayo) Mr. Ocampo died of cholera in April 1867, and M. de Laustan went home to France. This was the last grand emigration scheme connected »itli Patagonia, only one of w hich was ever carried out, and the history thereof (the Welsh Colony) we shall now proceed to narrate. THE WELSH COLONY. In July 1863, the following concession was signed by the Argentine Government : — ((The Minister of Interior of the Argentine Republic, Dr. William Rawson, in name of the Government, on the one part, and a special committee of the Welsh Emigration Society, composed of the following IJersons:— G. H. Whalley, M. P., David Williams, High Sheriff of THE WELSH COLO>Y. 59 Carnarvon, and Robert John Parry, of Madrin Castle, Wales — on the other part, have agreed to conclude the following contract : — «Ist. The Welsh Emigration Society shall send out, during ten years, from 300 to 500 families of emigrants yearly, and establish them in the territory of Patagonia, in the Argentine Republic, South of the Rio Negro. «2nd. The Argentine Government grants to every 200 families a municipal fee in perpetuity of two square leagues of land, the half of such land to be devoted to edifices and public Avorks, such as schools, churches, town-hall, house of correction, and other public purposes ; the remaining half to be distributed in building plots, either to be given gratis to the first settlers, or sold afterwards for the rental support of the colony. «3rd. In addition to the 25 squares of land given by the law to each emigrant family, the National Government will grant an area of five square leagues for every 200 families, adjacent to the respective munici pality, to be divided among them. «:4th. In case the colonists require more land, they shall be permitted to buy or rent the same, of the Government, on the most moderate terms, in accordance with the laws of the country. a5th. Any mines of metal, coal, or minerals which may be discovered, shall belong to the finder, without any other impost than the * sovereignty ' as decreed by the law. «6th, The general management of affairs and government of the colony, shall be vested in a commissioner or governor appointed by the National Government, in the manner, and for the period, directed by the laws to be made and provided for territorial jurisdiction. «7th. The municipal administration shall belong exclusively to the colonists, in accordance with their own regulations. <'8th. The colonists shall be exempt from all military service or contri- butions for the term of ten years ; but they engage to defend themselves, unaided, against the Indians. ttOth. When the population of the colony shall have arrived at the number of 20,000 souls, it will enter as a new province, to form part of the nation, and, as such, shall be endowed with all the rights and privileges thereunto belonging : at the same time its territorial limits shall be definitively marked out. «10th. The National Government, seeing the distance and solitude of these localities, will furnish the first company of emigrants with 4 pieces of artillery, 50 fanegas Indian corn, 50 fanegas wheat, 50 tons lumber for building, 200 tame horses, 50 milch cows, and 3,000 sheep. «llth. The society will give timely notice to the Government of the 60 COLONIZATION OF PATAGONIA. probable date when the first batch of colonists may be expected to arrive at the port of Bahia Nueva, in order that the provisions, cattle, &c. mentioned in the previous article, may be sent to that, or any other point indicated, in time to meet them on their arrival. «12th. The colony shall be subject to the legislation to be dictated by Congress, for the government of national territories. — W.Rawson, J. Love, D. Jones Parry, Love Jones.)) The colonists sailed from Liverpool in the barque Mimosa, on April 25th, 1865, numbering 132 souls, and arrived safely at the River Cliupat on the 28th of July, the site chosen for the colony being in 43 deg. 15 m. S. Lat., and65deg. W. Long. There were 62 adult males, 41 adult females, 17 boys, and 12 girls. From the very outset the Colony has undergone severe vicissitudes, as appears to be the fate of all new settlements ; in fact, in the early part of 1867 the colonists determined to abandon the locality, and actually transported themselves and effects some 40 miles to a place of embarkation ready to leave. However, on further council, nearly all returned to their farms, and have been steadily working and progressing since. It appears the great drawback to the place, from its commencement, has been insufficient stock and implements. This has been recently remedied to some extent by the importation of some American ploughs, and 150 milch cows. There are no sheep on the settlement, although there are abundant pasture lands in the vicinity. So far, the colonists have devoted themselves to wheat growing, and, to the extent of their scanty live stock, to dairy produce. These will evidently form the staple agricultural industry of the settlement, but it is expected soon to have a few flocks of sheep in addition. Sealing, salt, and mining operations also, we hear, are in view. The Argentine Government have behaved handsomely towards the Colony. For three years it has supplied the settlers with provisions, it has spent about $10,000 s. in cattle and seeds, &c. for the place, it has supplied all the men with arms and ammunition, it gave half the purchase money for the first schooner of the Colony, and has again assisted in the purchase of another to replace the lost one. All this without any other interest than that of encouraging emigration and developing these territories. Each settler occupies a chacraof 25 squares (nearly 100 acres) on the banks of the river, aud receives the Government subsidies in proportion to the family. The Tehuelche Indians — the genuine aboriginal Patagonians — visit the settlement in tribes every year, for trade and to receive their rations from the Government. The ostrich feathers and skins which they bring are a mo CHUPAT AND BAHIA WUEVA. 61 profitable source of revenue to the colonists. Many horses and mares have been obtained from them in the same manner. The latest advices from the Colony give the following statistics : — Families, 33 Church, 1 Persons, .... 124 Milch cows. . 200 Brick houses, 24 Horses and mares. 100 Ranchos, 6 Wheat sown (acres) , . . . 250 The Committee of management (twelve in number) and Superintendent of the Colony are elected annually. Secretary, Mr. R. J. Berwzn. Government Agent, Mr. L. Jones. Five hundi-ed lots, of 100 acres each, have been measured out by a Government surveyor, and it is calculated that the region on which the settlement is placed is capable of supporting 20,000 souls. The ground at present occupied by the Colonists extends on each side of the River Chupat over an area of twelve miles. The climate is very good, a little colder, but drier, and more bracing than that of Buenos Ay res. Bahia ?fueva, which is in the vicinity of the settlement, abounds in fish ; and in the adjoining country game is very plentiful. Seals are met Avith in great numbers on the coast, and inland there are numerous herds of guanacos or wild llamas whose skins are highly prized, and are used by the Indians as their only garment. Stone in great variety, gj-psum and salt are met with, the latter article in great abundance. It is also reported that coal exists in the neighbourhood of the settlement. An interesting account of the colony and adjacent country is given by the Rev. Lewis Humphreys (who was chaplain at the Chupat during the first year of the settlement) in his report to the directors of the Welsh Colonising Company — ((New Bay, the place where we landed, extends twenty-two miles inland and is seven miles across the entrance. It forms a splendid port, perfectly sheltered from all except the east wind, which, however, very seldom blows ; and it is spacious and deep enough to accommodate the whole navy of Great Britain at anchor. Mr. Downes, the mate of the 3Iimosa, assured me that New Bay is the best port of South America for vessels to enter and remain in perfect security. ((The River Chupat flows through at least three distinct valleys, divided from each other by chains of hills. The settlement is at present confined to the lower valley, which is about forty-five miles long and about five miles broad on the average. On the whole the land is dry, though there are a few swampy parts, which dry up entii-ely when the river is low. The supply of timber in this valley is limited, for though there are trees of many 62 COLONIZATION OF PATAGONIA. kinds, they are all small, being generally not larger than the common hazel of this country. There is, nevertheless, a superabundance of brushwood, ■which will last us for fuel indefinitely, since it grows again after being cut. The second valley is similar to the first, and is very fertile, being covered thickly with cock plants. It contains abundance of sandstone, admirably adapted for building purposes, and the trees improve considerably in size and strength. Six hundred farms, of 100 acres each, have been measured out in this valley, in readiness for the second company of emigrants. The third valley has been only partially explored. It is narrow, and bounded on each side by rocks. What lies higher up the river is not yet known. The river water is pure and sweet, though its color is somewhat cloudy, and near the surface is frequently brackish. The unanimous verdict of every one of us is, that the climate is delightful and very healthy. A few Tvere ill some w eeks after landing, owing partly to the fatigue of carrying^ and arranging heavy goods, and partly to their frequently getting wet through and allowing their saturated clothing to dry upon their persons ; otherwise no cases of sickness occurred, whilst many instances might be given of the perfect restoration to health of invalids. Indigestion, head- ache, toothache, colds, and consumption are unknown there, although I and many others have frequently slept in the open air night after night in the depth of winter, which is so genial that no evil effects followed an amount of exposure which would certainly have proved fatal in any part of Great Britain. Owing, however, to our being compelled to subsist on salted meat during the passage out, and for the first few months after landing, the majority of us suffered more or less from scurvy, and some of us from boils. Still, all these inconveniences did not prevent our enjoying to the utmost the splendid atmosphere, which kept us constantly hungry, and was praised by every one as the ' healthiest a man ever breathed.' 1 believe that every person in the colony ate double what sufficed him at home. With such an excellent climate it is not surprising that the land should be extremely fertile. We discovered several kinds of edible wild plants, such as wild celery and turnips, and a sort of potato, all of which were very good. «Yarious unavoidable delays which took place at Liverpool and at New Bay prevented our settling ourselves ready for work until about two months after the proper season for sowing wheat, consequently all hopes of a crop for the first year had to be abandoned. We sowed small quantities of Indian corn, barley, potatoes, and garden seeds, all of which grew excellently, and yielded a gratif)'ing crop. It is absolutely necessary to sow wheat before the end of the winter, in order that it may fructify before the period of summer heat, which would otherwise scorch it rather than PROSPECTS OF THE WELSH COLONISTS. 63 ripen it. The wheat harvest takes place about Cliristmas, so that the news about the crop cannot reacli this country before the end of January next. We labored under the grave disadvantage of not possessing an adequate stock of implements of husbandry, and consequently were unable to sow as much as we ought to have done last season. We had two ploughs from England, and 3Ir. Lewis Jones obtained an American plough at Patagoues, We had also a few Argentine ploughs, but they were of very little use. We kept two men constantly at work ploughing, and succeeded in sowing about sixty acres with wheat ; and when I left they were busily engaged preparing ground for a second setting of potatoes, Indian corn, &c. We had at that time been supplied with many thousands of young trees for planting, among which wer^4,000 fruit trees. The people generally were in excellent spirits, and looked forward to success as a certainty. Those among us who at first took a desponding view, and neglected to cultivate their farms, now praise the climate and the land, and resolve to work in earnest. Nothing whatever was wanted but a crop in its due season, and every indication appeared to justify our expectations of a favorable harvest. The locality has shown itself to be highly satisfactory, and our faith has given place to the certainty resulting from the possession of tangible proofs. And I may be permitted to observe here that as the products of the Chupat valley correspond in all other respects to those of the Rio Negro valley, there is no reason to suppose that wheat and sheep will prove to be excep- tions. At the Spanish settlement on the Negro (Patagones) wheat has been largely grown during the last twenty years on the same ground, and the increase has been frequently as much as forty-fold. I learnt also that the increase in sheep at Patagones has been very pleasing this year. On one estancia alone there are 100,000 sheep, being an increase of no less than 30,000 in one year. The capital on that place last year was 70,000 sheep. Cattle are fat, and horses plenty. The sheep we had at New Bay were large and well-woolled, and no doubt they will have increased in the same proportion as the sheep just mentioned ; in fact, they were brought from the very flocks referred to. Our horses and cattle were remarkably fine and fat, even in winter, when they require no housing or other attention, as the pasturage is abundant and excellent all the year round. At the time I left we had about 100 cattle, sixty of which were milch cows, two full-grown bulls, and a number of younger ones. We had about forty horses, and each family possessed pigs and fowls, all of which were increasing rapidly. In some of the farm-yards the fowls were sufficiently abundant to recall to mind the homesteads of Caermarthenshire. None of us chose to kill cattle for food, owing to the paucity of their number, and 64 COLONIZATION OF PATAGONIA. the pigs and fowls had not increased sufficiently for us to commence eatin» them ; and, indeed, there was not the slightest necessity to interfere with them, for the whole territory literally swarms with game ; hares, guanacos, armadillos, ducks, geese, partridge, and ostriches, and the river and bay furnish an ample supply of fish. The hares are very large, and commonly weigh from 18tt to 20li, whilst the birds are very fat and frequently find their way into the cooking-kettle. «It is an act of the merest justice for me to state that the Government of the Argentine Republic has acted in a most liberal and praiseworthy manner towards the Welsh Colony. Our president, Mr. William Davis, visited Buenos Ayres near the end of 1865, and obtaii^d from the Government a monthly grant of ^700, to be paid until the colony becomes self-supporting, and supplies have been regularly furnished ever since through the agency of Mr. H. Harris, a merchant long established at Patagones. I must also not omit to mention gratefully the valuable assistance afforded us by the native Indians. The chief of the tribe sent us a letter asking for English saddles and rum, in exchange for skins, &c., and I understand that a treaty of peace and commerce lias since been made. Two families of Indians have been several months established in the colony, and to their assistance we owed the greater part of game we obtained. They bartered large quantities of fresh meat for small pieces of bread, and exchanged mares for horses. The colonists now possess about 40 dogs, and the consequence of both these circumstances, is, that they have begun to tire of a super- abundance of fresh meat. When I left, very few persons lived in the fort : the majority had built brick-houses, and many had gone to live upon their OAvn farms. «In the proper season, seal-fishery is carried on to a great extent along the coast of Patagonia, principally by English and North American sailors who know their haunts. On several occasions some of the settlers have seen multitudes of seals basking on the beach of New Bay, and have killed a few with sticks. New Bay is a general rendezvous for vessels engaged in this business, and a trade has sprung up between them and the settlers, which will become an important element in the well-being of the colony, as soon as we are in a position to supply them with fresh provisions, &c. Some of the settlers have visited a number of Guano islands, which lie within easy reach of the colony, and have seen the guano, but as it varies greatly in quality, even on the same spot, it will be necessary to employ men well acquainted with it to superintend the selection and loading of a cargo. ((Having thus touched upon all the points connected with the settlement THE WELSH COLO^iY. 65 that I can call to mind, I will relate two important and interesting episodes. On the 17th September, 1865, the Comandante of Patagones, accom- panied by several Argentine officials and a militar}^ guard, performed the ceremony of formally giving us possession of the territory and naming our first town the 'The Kawson,' in honor of Dr. William Raw son, the 31inister of the Interior, who has manifested a true and deep interest in the establishment of the colony. In March 1866, a sealer entered New Bay, and two of the settlers availed themselves of the opportunity to migrate to the Falkland Islands. This desertion suggested to others of a similar class the idea of sending a memorial to the Falkland Islands praying to be removed from the Welsh settlement. The memorial misrepresented the state of affairs, and was dispatched without the knowledge of the general body of the settlers. In consequence of that memorial Her Britannic Majesty's ship Triton visited the colony in June last, to remove the people in a body, if necessary. This offer caused the greatest astonishment in the settlement, and enquiries were made to ascertain who among them had been guilty of sending the memorial. The commander of the Triton produced the document for inspection, when it was found that*very few names had been appended, and the greater part of those individuals denied their complicity when taxed with it. We at once declined to leave the colony, and the Triton, having assisted us to repair our little schooner and presented us with a cask of lime-juice, left us where we chose to remain. » In 1868 a sad misfortune befell the colony in the loss of the little schooner and six of the colonists, viz.: — Robert F. Nagle, captain, from Liverpool ; George Jones, from Liverpool ; James Jones, from Caermar- thenshire, having a wife and family in the colony ; Thomas D. Evans, Manchester, also having a wife and family in the colony ; David Davies, from Aberdare, having his parents in the colony ; and Thomas Cadivor Woods, Secretary of the Welsh Colonising Company at home, who had recently arrived in the Colony to report upon it, and had taken a trip to see Patagones before returning home. The colony sustained another loss in the departure of ten settlers, who have joined the Californian colony in the Gran Chaco. Latest advices are, however, more cheering : — «The Colony is mai*ching steadily onward. The pjovisions,- clothes, and wheat, barley, and cattle were all safely landed, and caused universal joy and activity. Active Indian trade has been done, and was doing when I left.)) The success of the Welsh Colony may be said to rest on the future support it will meet with in regard to an augmentatica in its number. It is almost superfluous to remark that any new batch of emigrants would not C6 COLOmZATIOIf OF PATAGONIA. encounter the same misfortunes that befell the original settlers. Too great stress, however, cannot be laid on the following points as a guide to emigrants who may contemplate joining their countrymen : — 1 . That they should come out with some capital. ^2. That they should bring with them ploughs, hand-mills, seeds, and lumber, for the construction of huts, as there are few trees in the country. 3. That they should sail from England in the month of March, in order to arrive at the Chupat in time to prepare the ground they will be called upon to cultivate, before the season for sowing, which in this country is in the months of May and June. FREE LAND-GRAWTS AT BAHIA BLANC A. It will interest many Englishmen who come to this country witli the intention of settling, to know that camp can be taken out direct from the Argentine Government in «propiedad,» at Bahia Blanca to the extent of one ((suerto) (6,700 acres) in one name, on condition that a house or «rancho» js built upon the land, and a flock of sheep placed upon it, within one year after allotment. The cost of solicitatiou and surveying, &c., say .£40. By a flock of sheep is meant 1 ,000 head. After allotment of camp a deposit is required of g 10,000 mtc. or £80^ to be made with the Provincial Bank, which is returned when the above conditions have been complied with, but is forfeited should the depositor fail to comply. The Provincial Bank allows six per cent, per annum on this deposit. At the end of two years, when the Justice of the Peace of the district has certified that all conditions have been duly carried out, the title deeds are forthcoming. It must be distinctly understood that the land must be occupied during the whole of the term of two years. Land can still be obtained within twelve or fourteen leagues of the town and port of Bahia Blanca, and all the banks of the numerous rivers in the neighbour- hood have not been taken up, though with the increasing number of new settlers going down this will not long be the case. It is stated that vessels of any tonnage can enter the bay, and there seems no doubt that a good landing place might easily be found. The present settlement is composed chiefly of Englishmen, who would welcome any new settlers, and give them all the assistance in their power. The close proximity of the Indians is the chief drawback ; but so long as cattle is not reared, there is little to tempt them within range of the Snider rifles. Indians cannot carry corn on horseback, neither do sheep travel on foot fast enough for their purpose, so this is no very great impediment after all. The frontier is to be moved to within thirty leagues of Bahia Blanca^ LAND-GRAISTS AT BAHIA BLA>CA. 67' at the close of this unhappy war, Avhich will give greatly increased protection. The land and climate are both admirably suited for agriculture, and tlie natives grow a great deal of corn there already. It may be mentioned^ that scarcely three years ago laud could be obtained at Azul on the same terms as at Bahia Blauca, and it now fetches $100,000 or about £800 per ttsuerte.)) The latter place kas the great advantage of a seaboard, while all the produce of the former has to be conveyed to market in buUocE— carts at no small cost. Sheep — ^Picked flocks can be bought at $20 m^, orS^. 4 J. per head, and fatten wonderfully on these camps. There seems no reason why sheep- farmers should not boil down their own sheep, and thus net the profit of the saladero, and save the great loss of grease, which travelling any number of. leagues must always entail. This could the more easily be done here,, as the transit is comparatively easy. Intending settlers should secure the services of some good English laborers, as native labor is both scarce and dear. The usual wages are from $300 to $350, or say £2 lOs. to £3 per mouth. A steamer runs once a month between Buenos Ayres and Bahia Blauca, and as there is no- opposition at present, the charges are very high, but directly there is sufficient trade to make one pay, it will not be difficult to get one on the berth to make regular passages at moderate rates. There is also an Italian schooner which makes frequent trips to Bahia Blauca, bringing up the produce of the place. Bahia Blauca being situated so far from Buenos Ayres and Montevideo, will never be troubled by the many revolutions which so often occur here, which is of itself a great thing in its favor. In the face of the bad returns that sheepfarming has given during the last few years, coming settlers ought to turn their attention in the direction of this noted corn-growing district. An Englishman who recently made a trip to Bahia Blauca and Patagones, describes those places as well suited for new settlers ; his narrative is the following — «We started from Buenos A}Tes in the steamer Patagones, on the 1 0th. ult., and after three days of beautiful weather arrived at the port of Bahia Blauca. The entrance to this place must prove a great drawback to its future advancement, as the windings of tlie channel remind one of trying to follow the turns of a corkscrew. From the steamer's anchorage to the shore appears to be about a mile distant, but the windings of the creek are such that the boats have to be rowed at least a league. However, having overcome these little difficulties, we reached the mole (which is constructed r2 68 ' COLONIZATION OF PATAGONIA. of several old bullock carts), and Avere kindly received by Sefior Coronti, -vvho furnished us with horses to proceed to the town, which is about two leagues from the landing-place. Having taken a walk round in the evening we saw all that is to be seen about the tOAvn, which is not much, though there are some nice chacras and quintas in the vicinity. Next morning, Sefior Coronti had horses ready for us, and his son kindly accompanied us as a guide, to have a look at the camps on the Naposta, which is a small river rising in the interior, and running througli the town. For two or three leagues up the stream the valley of the Naposta is under cultivation, and the wheat crop looks very promising. The camps we found much better than ^e had anticipated, and Senor Coronti offers very fair terms to settlers, and great praise is due to him for the way in wliich he has exerted all his energy for the advancement of Bahia Blanca, and for his unbounded hospitality to strangers. In the evening we were introduced to the commandant, who showed us through the fort, which, in comparison with the others we have seen on the frontier, is certainly a model of neatness and order. The following morning we embarked for Patagones, and in eighteen liours found ourselves off the mouth of the Rio Negro ; the bar being in good order for crossing, we at once entered this finest of Argentine rivers, and steamed up to the town of Carmen or Patagones, lying about seven leagues from the mouth of the river. We were favorably impressed with the first appearance of the country. The banks on each side of the river (which at the town is about 150 yards wide), are beautifully laid out in chacras, quintas, &c., and the trees and range of hills beyond reminded us more of the old country than anything Ave have as yet seen in South America. Having effected a landing, which is much more easily accom- plished here than in most Argentine ports, the steamer lying within about ten yards from the north bank, Ave found that Patagones Avas far before the sister toAvn of Bahia Blanca in its accommodation for travellers, each family seeming to vie with the other in trying to make strangers feel at home. «But, to resume our journey. The next morning, having got horses from Senor Aguirre, who offers every assistance to parties Avishing to look at the camps, Ave started up the north side of the river, Avhich, for a distance of six or seven leagues, until you reach the Fortin, is thickly covered Avith a bushy scrub, the range of hills coming doAvn to the river's edge. But, after passing this, the country opens out into line level camp, lying betAveen the hills and the river, which we found covered with excellent pasture. The sheep and cattle Avere very fat, and the flocks remarkably clean. ToAvards evening Ave arrived at the China Muerta estancia, belonging to Scuorcs Heusscr and Clarez, where Ave stayed till next morning. This PATAGOINES i.>D RIO NEGRO. 69 estancia is one of the finest in this part of the country; the camp is excellent, and lias a large river frontage, besides permanent 'lagunas' in the back. •Next morning we resumed our journey, and arrived at the Guardia in time for breakfast. This is a stirring little place, there being no less than six stores, all of which seem to do a strong trade with the Indians ; several tame tribes of the latter live in the vicinity, and are constantly to be seen going about in their native costume of 'quillangos.' The same evening we arrived at the estancia of four Scotchmen, the first of our countrymen settled in this quarter, and who, with their proverbial hospi- tality, insisted on our making this our headquarters during our stay. We were happy to see that though but lately started they had made very fair progress, and were looking forward to good returns. , «We crossed the Rio Negro at the Guardia, and swam our horses over, and then rode up some four leagues to the ' tolderia ' of the Indian cacique Saihueque, who had just arrived from the Manzanas, with about 1.30 men. From Buenos Ayres accounts of these Indians we expected to meet a set of ferocious savages, and consequently felt rather doubtful what kind of reception we should get ; but we were agreeably surprised to find the chief a fine looking, intelligent, and altogether superior man, who received us very kindly. We spent a couple of hours withbim, squatted in front of his toldo, and before leaving we purchased a few skins, &c., from them, and returned highly delighted with our visit. To a stranger, an Indian * tolderia,' or encampment, with its huts of guanaco skins, and its swarthy inhabitants variously engaged — some cooking, some bringing firewood, others sleeping, and the women sewing the ' quillangos ' with ostrich sinews — the war lances stuck in the earth in front of the tents, and the immense number of horses feeding over the plains, is altogether an imposing and interesting sight. These Indians do not disturb the country, as in the northern provinces ; but come in, quarterly, for the rations allowed to them by the Government, and therefore it is to their interest to keep themselves quiet, «Eeturning to the north side, w^e rode up some eight leagues further on. Here, as lower down, the camps were in excellent condition. The 'rincons' formed by the river are very numerous, and well suited for agriculture ; this is carried on to a good extent in the district, both sides of the river being under cultivation, and the wheat crops looking very promising. The next day, having said good-bye to our countrjmen, we again crossed the river at the Guardia, returning to the town on the south side. Here the camp looked beautiful, and was of much larger extent than that on the north side, the hills being very far from the river. ^0 COLONIZATION OP PATAGONIA. «The Rio Negro is well wooded on both sides, and studded here and there Avith islands, some of which are under cultivation, and others covered with trees, adding much beauty to the scenery ; in fact, the view from some of the higher points of the hills, looking up the river, we have seldom seen equalled. The river seems to vary very little in breadth, and from good authority we learn that it has been navigated for forty leagues higher up by a pilot-boat drawing four or five feet of water ; but, unless propelled by steam, this navigation must be tedious, on account of the strong current running down.w ENGLISH SETTLERS ON THE RIO NEGRO. Advices from the Rio Negro to September 1868, are as follows : — ((The English settlers are going on very prosperously, and are planting wheat in large quantities, at the same time they have sheep and cattle. Messrs. Frazer and Co. have a league of excellent land on the banks of the Rio Negro, in a 'rincon' formed by a bend of the stream, about thirteen leagues above Patagones ; they have sown fifty fanegas of wheat, which at present looks beautiful, and nexA year they intend laying the whole of their land under the same crop. Three families formerly of the Chupat AVelsh Colony, are settled about twelve leagues higher up than f razor's ; their wheat is also in excellent condition. In fact, the whole country looks blooming with corn-fields at greater or lesser intervals, and the Rio Negro is rapidly becoming a wheat country. Englishmen arrive at Patagones by every steamer, to lay down wheat, as land is very cheap, and there is no fear of Indians. Government grants of land may be had higher up the river, and Messrs. xVguirre and Murga are sending down, at once, a little steamer drawing three feet of water, for the navigation of the Rio Negro. Messrs. Kincaid have also a fine estancia, nineteen leagues from Patagones, where they arc also planting wheat, and have some sheep and cattle, besides a splendid quinta. The government has resolved to place 1,500 men on the Rio Negro frontier, and the first batch of 150 goes down immediately. This sliows that our legislators attach due importance to the rising colony, in which Englishmen are becoming the chief settlers. We understand there is a project before the Chambers, for a railway from Patagones to Salinas, for the conveyance of salt to the seaboard. The flour-mill now building on the banks of the Rio Negro, about five leagues from Patagones, ]will be concluded before the end of the year, and will prove a great boon to the town, as hitherto the wheat had to be ground hy hand.» ENGLISHMEN" AT BAHIA BLANCA. 71 *P. Corronti, *J. Birtoli, *Fusoni Brothers, *George Claraz, *J. Arnold, *Johii Sinclair, *Richard Tillard, *S. J. Eyre, *John Mildred, *E. P. Goodhall, *Bryan Smith, P. de Montravel, J. Corbyn, J. Barber, William Perkins, F. Daniel, — Webb, E. Herbert, A. Huber, L. Jacob, J. Jaccar, J. Jockez. FOREIGN SETTLERS AT BAHIA BLANCA. The following are the names of the principal foreign settlers at Bahia Blanca. Those marked Tvith an asterisk (*) are already occupying the land : — * Arthur Mildred, and 2 English laborers, *J. H. Edwards, *R. J. Greuie, *H. Hentze, *Richard IN'ewton, J. Schuriz, H. W. GoodhaU, F. Smiles, Rev. Mr. Powell, T. Fallon, The greater number of the English portion of the above are settled on the banks of a river, known as the Sauce Grande, situated about ten leagues from Bahia Blanca, to the north. They have some tw enty-five squares of land under cultivation, sown with wheat, barley, and maize — this being their first year — and we may look forward to seeing three times this extent of camp turned up for next season. By the commencement of 1869 a large brick-built estancia-house will be finished, and before June next two other smaller ones. We have great hopes of the newly-elected President, Seuor Sarmiento, and trust he may afford us the protection that is alone Avanted to make this part of the Republic a most prosperous district. He may rest assured that European energy, combined with capital, will accomplish the work of civilisation, if it is only allowed to run its course unmolested, and in a very short space of time will change a comparatively waste corner of this province into a thriving and populated country. 72 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. CHAP. YII. BIO DE LA PLATA AND TRIBUTAEIES. The River Plate is one of the longest rivers in the world, including its two great tributaries, the Parand and Uruguay. Suffice it to say that the traveller can take steamer at Montevideo and ascend without interruption to the capital of Matto Grosso, a distance of over two thousand miles. At Montevideo the river is about 75 miles wide, but the water is brackish : at Buenos Ayres the water is quite fresh, and the river is 28 miles wide. Twenty miles above Buenos Ayres we arrive at the junction of the Parand and Uruguay. The lower Parana is about 900 miles long from its embouchure, near San Fernando, up to the Tres Bocas, above Corrientes : the upper Parand, from the Tres Bocas to the Salto de Guayra is only navigable for small boats. The Paraguay river, which debouches into the Parana at Tres Bocas, is navigable as far as the Guy aba : on this latter stream is built a city of the same name, residence of the Brazilian authorities of Matto Grosso, about 1,100 miles above the city of Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. The Uruguay is ordinarily navigable only as high as Salto, but in flood-times the steamers ascend the rapids and go up to Uruguayana and San Borja, in the Brazilian province of Rio Grande. The Rio Negro is one of the chief affluents of the Uruguay ; the Salado of the Parana ; and tlie Vermejo, Tebiquari, and Pilcomayo fall into the Paraguay. VOYAGE TO MATTO GROSSO. 73 THE PARAN.4. Buenos Ay res to Matto Grosso. Before the breaking-out of the Paraguayan war there was a regular Brazilian monthly mail-service from Buenos Ayres to Cuyaba, making the trip in ten to twelve days. The vessels were of light draught,' and the accommodations pretty good. At the same time the Paraguayan Govern- ment had a fine line of steamers plying twice a month between Asuncion and Montevideo. Various private companies also had steamers running from Buenos Ayres to Corrientes, and an ineffectual attempt was made to navigate the V'crmejo. The scenery from Buenos Ayres to Cuyaba has much of interest for the traveller, although at times the coast is low and marshy, and the wooded outline of the Chaco, at last grows monotonous and wearisome : there are sundry important towns and halting places. If we leave the roadstead of Buenos Ayres on a fine morning, nothing can be more charming tJian the panorama of the city and suburbs. We pass, in succession, Palermo with its plantations to the water's edge ; Belgrano, seated on a gentle acclivity , Point Olivos, a handsome promon- tory, where a new town has been projected ; San Isidro, with its delightful country-seats ; and San Fernando, at the head of the estuary of La Plata. We enter the Parand by one of its many mouths, the best known of which are the Guazii and Palmas : the latter is the shorter route, used by small steamers which touch at Zarate and San Pedro. The delta of the Parand comprises a multitude of fertile and picturesque islands, planted with fruit-trees ; and if the traveller halts at San Fernando or the Tigre, he can amuse himself for several days by boating in the Conchas and Lujan rivers, or making an excursion to the Carapachay islands. These islands are poetically termed the Argentine Tempo ; they teem with the richest fruits, and a number of Italian charcoal-burners are the principal inhabitants. We do not get a glimpse of the mainland till reaching Campana, the estancia of Dr. Costa, late Minister of Education, who has built a fine house on the bluff. Zarate is a straggling village of 1,000 inhabitants, with a smaU trade in grain, firewood, and vegetables. The principal shopkeeper is an Italian, Constancio Silvano. There is a new church, also a tolerable Basque inn, and two public schools which are attended by 106 children. The adjacent estancias of Latorre, Lima, Saavedra, and Fox, are worthy of mention. The cultivation of grain has greatly increased of late years. During^ 74 THE mo DE LA. PLATA. the Paraguayan war this has been the chief port for shipment of horses. The * barrancas' on our left are precipitous, and here and there crowned with a hut or ombii-tree, till we reach — Baradero: this is another small port, comprising 105 houses, a church, and an unfinished school-house. The place derives some importance from a flourishing Swiss colony. The department comprises ninety-two estancias, of which seven belong to Irishmen : the largest proprietor is D. Palricio Lynch. San Pedro is a better town than the preceding, and looks well from the river: it has a new church, fifty-six rateable houses, and two public schools. D. Martin Pagardoy keeps a good inn, and is favorably known to all the Irish slieepfarmers. A little above San Pedro is the pass of Obligado, where the English and French cut the chain placed across the river by Rosas. Higher up is the fine estancia of Llavallol, at a point of the river called Rincon de Las Hermanas, after which we pass the Rincon Ramallo. San Nicolas is the last town in tlie territory of Buenos Ayrcs ; it is a place of some importance, having received the rank of ' city,' with a population of about 8,000 souls. It has 300 rateable houses, besides Mr. Armstrong's valuable mill. It is the centre of a district which comprises sixty-five estancias, and a number of chacras under wheat. By daybreak we are coasting the territory of Santa Fe, and in less than twenty-four hours from our departure from Buenos Ayres we are in sight of Rosario : the steamer goes alongside a wharf, there being deep water close to shore. Rosario is the great outlet of the upper Provinces, and will shortly be connected by railway Avith Cordoba, the chief city of the interior : the trade of the port has much increased of late years, especially since the beginning of the Central Argentine Railway. The ' barranca ' is so high that there is no view of the place till you reach the Calle Puerto. It is a well-built town covering 150 cuadras or blocks, with a population of 20,000 souls. The plaza, parish church, custom-house, market-place, and Jardin de Recreo, are worthy of notice : the theatre was recently burnt doAvn. The railway terminus and workshops at the North end will repay a visit. The town also possesses two mills, three saladeros, two cemeteries (for Catholics and Protestants), a public hospital, an American chapel and school, and gas-works in course of erection, There are some good hotels and coffee-houses. Messrs. Keane and Soames, agents for tlie Standard^ will give strangers any information they may require. Mr. Hutchinson H.B.M. Consul, lives beyond the railway terminus. Excursions may be ROSARIO TO PARANA. /» made by rail to the English settlement at Fravle Muerto, or on horseback to the fine English estancias in the valley of Pavon. For further particulars of Rosario, see the chapter on Santa Fe province. On leaving Rosario, the first thing that calls attention is Mr. Wheel- wright's mole for landing materials for the Cordoba railway ; they have cut away the 'barranca' and erected works projecting into the river. We next pass Urquiza's saladero, and another a short distance higher up. The Parana is here very wide, at least 2,000 yards, and the current runs three miles an hour, the water being very deep in the channels. The islands on all sides are low and slightly wooded, and we can see the mainland oa either side. About six leagues above Rosario Ave si^ht the edifice of San Lorenzo, with its tapering belfry and large convent. This was erected by the Franciscan missionaries, years gone by, with the probable view of forming a nucleus of civilization on the frontier of the Indian territory, and is excellently adapted for a river port, having a small cove hard by. The cove alluded to, was the scene of the first struggle for South American independence; General San Martin (I8I0) here attacked a Spanish force which attempted to land, defeating them with a handful of cavalry. The high land on our left soon merges into a network of islands, the deep water channel skirting along the opposite coast, which presents a number of inlets, through which Ave get glimpses of wood and dale, perfectly charming, in contrast with the sloping ' barrancas ' of sand-stone or tosca. The soil of these, generally presents to the eye a superficies of luxuriant grass, or thick shrubbery, and casually a grove of trees, resembling the olive, at a distant vicAV. The section made in successive ages, by the river, shows a variety of geological strata. A thick, loamy, dark soil, of six or eight feet, covers a layer of sand, beneath Avhich latter, the hard tosca stretches down to the water's edge, the base being lined or interspersed with sand heaps, fragments of boulders, or trunks of up- rooted trees. Tlie approach to Parana, is highly picturesque : towering bluffs of red sand-stone, here and there relieved by a wild furze of deep green, the effect being very pleasing to the eye. There are several lime-kilns along- the Entre Riano coast, as the sand here makes excellent lime : it looks like tosca, ajid the lime appears of the best quality, its suoAvy heaps studding the beach. About a mile below Parana are some hulks, used for coal deposits. The town of Parana is not visible from the landing-place. The scenery of this part of the river, all the Avay from Rosario, is interesting, but there is a solemn stillness on these rivers that almost oppresses you. 76 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. When we lose sight of the bluff on which Rosario stands, the coast of Entre Rios is not visible, while that of Santa Fc gradually declines towards the ■water's level. Here and there a stray rancho indicates that pastor^ avoca- tions are not quite abandoned, in a province which has been reduced almost to destitution by being the theatre of so many wars. At times also we see a small group of horses or horned cattle, which have made their way down one of the fissures caused by rains or inundations to drink the mellifluous water, which possesses many grateful and salubrious qualities. Before long, the islands on our right will have disappeared, and the continuous line of a bold barrier, on either side, shows that tlie current here is uninterrupted, and consequently runs with tremendous force, the stream being about two miles wide. On arriving at Parana the steamer is usually boarded by the agent, Mr. Lorenzo Myers, a veteran Englishman of seventy-seven summers, resident in the River Plate since the year of Independence, 1^16. He is a hale, active, old man, and has been an eye-witness of the numberless vicissitudes of the Republic durhig the last half century. Parana was the capital of the Argentine Republic during nine years, from the fall of Rosas till the battle of Pavon (September 17, 1861). The Custom-house is at the foot of the «barranca,)> and a steep road leads up to the town. First is the Church of San Miguel, commenced fifteen years ago, but abandoned when half built, and now a refuge for all kinds of vermin. There are, however, two good churches in the town, and these are quite enough, as the population does not exceed 8,000. The grand plaza is very pretty, and the buildings on all its sides modern and tasteful, most of them having been constructed under Presidents Urquiza and Derqui. The old Government-house is now ceded to Dr. Fitzsimons for a college. The Legislative Chambers are a fme range, occupying the north side : the President's palace also merits attention. But the sceptre of metropolitan sway is gone. Parana is now all but deserted, the only sigus of vitality being a newspaper and a theatre sometimes visited by strolling players. The club house is, perhaps, th^ greatest monument of desolation : the ball-room has been cut into two bed-chambers and a kitchen, for a coffee house ; the billiard-room and reading saloon are- let out to a hair-dresser, and nothing remains of former greatness. A steamer plies across the river to Santa Fe city, remarkable for its antiquity and many fine churches. A number of islands intervene, com- pletely shutting it out from view. * Leaving ParanA we are forced to make a circuit of a couple of miles, to avoid the bank, which has already nearly closed up the port. The first PARANA TO LA PAZ. 77 object of interest is the saladero built by Messrs. Seilorans, with first-class steam-power attached. The main stream washes the banks of Entre Eios, and on our right is a vast archipelago, on whose islands there is little timber, but a strong luxuriant grass, which is sold in Parana for fodder. There is a marked improvement in the scenery : amid a succession of gentle undulations on the right, the eye wanders over a rich champaign country, presenting much tlie idea of an English park or demesne. Groups of noble trees, like oaks, break the surface of a verdant vegetation, and Nature has outdone the fancy work of a landscape gardener in the rich variation of tints and foliage, the graceful outlines of hill and vale, the stately forms of pine and algarroba, which every moment present themselves. Five leagues from Parana we sight a cluster of ranches, called wTlie Spaniards,)) the owners of which usually hoist their tlag to salute vessels passing by. Behind this little settlement, which is occupied in cutting timber, is the colony of Villa Urquiza, where great efforts w ere made to plant cotton in 1864. A little further we lueet a place where boats usually cross over to Santa Fe, taking horses in tow. These animals swim much better than in Europe, and it will be remembered that Urquiza has several times passed at the Diamante an army of cavalry, for which Hannibal would have required rafts or bridges. Diamante is some leagues below Parana, and is now deserted. Two hours' sail beyond Villa Urquiza brings us to a place called Conchillas, where we perceive an estancia-house almost surrounded by trees. Next appears a lonely hut, commanding a grand view from the barranca, and the adjuncts of a cattle corral and snicdl port show that animals are here embarked for the saladeros. At Cerrito was the fine estancia of an Englishman, the late Mr. Henry • Vidal. Here it was that during the campaign of Paz and Lavalle against Rosas, the Correntino army, under General Ferre, abandoned the liberating cause, and returned by land to Corrientes, owing to local dissensions in that province. The cliffs again approach the water ; but instead of sand or tosca we have argillaceous deposits of red and purple colors, which are said to be very valuable for dyes, although not turned to use, as no one seems to interest himself in the speculation. Happily, there is no jealous guardian of woods and forests, and several small skiffs in yonder island are loading timber, which is had for the cutting. These wood-cutters are Italians, who trade with Buenos Ayres, and the Genoese may be said to monopolise the small traffic of this river. The river now breaks into a variety of channels, and the pilot has sometimes to take soundings. We cannot see the Gran Chaco, from which we are separated by numerous 78 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. islands, teeming with tigers and small crocodiles ; the latter are called caymans, and resemble what naturalists term the 'iguana.' Times have changed wonderfully since twenty years ago, when the voyage from Buenos Ayres to Paraguay occupied half a year. The Italians first introduced an improvement, making two or three trips annually, and the introduction of steamers soon reduced the voyage to a few days. Still, the windings of the river, frequency of sandbanks, and force of the current, call for the most constant attention, and going «aguas arribaw is rather tedious for those who are not admirers of the beautiful and picturesque. Tradition says that the first Spanish expedition to Paraguay passed more than twelve months in exploring the long and tortuous course of the Parand, for although the direct distance is only 1,000 miles, the way is rendered very much longer by the necessity of crossing and re-crossing from one side to the other. Certainly the adventurous settlers of the sixteenth century "were men of surpassing energy and perseverance. It is impossible for us to form an idea of the hardships and dangers they must have gone through, penetrating to the very centre of the Continent to establish a metropolis amid the woods aitd wilds of an unkno \\n country. Such as they then looked upon these cliffs and islands they are to-day, for Nature, in her simplest and rudest garb, still holds undisputed sway in these silent regions. For thousands of ages this mighty river has flowed on to the sea, and yet it is exactly the same as when first Creation dawned upon the vmiverse. The arts or science of man are nowhere visible for hundreds of miles, and the various layers of soil forming the islands only show that during numberless generations the stream has continued to carry down its deposits till they have risen above the surrounding flood, decked out in all the charms of tropical Nature, with trees of various kinds, most of them, probably, yet unknown to botanists. A thick jungle of marshy grass and entangled underwood, Avhich almost defies the entrance of man, affords a secure and favorite asylum for tigers, serpents, and alligators, except when the current rises to the tops of the trees, and a broad sheet of water stretches from either mainland to the opposite side. Then may be seen the tigers swimming across, with powerful strokes, perfectly heedless of and unmoved by the rapid whirlpools. In many places the casual groupings of foliage, broken here and there by lovely rivulets which tempt you to follow their mysterious recesses, present a picture such as Salvator Eosa or Claude Lorrain never saw even in fancy. It is a pity to think that these islands are never to be turned to any purpose or defended against the torrent, for the soil is so loose that it will hold no structure. The bed of LA PAZ TO GOYA. 79 the stream has changed often, and some towns erected on its banks are now almost inaccessible, so many islands intervene. About twelve hours' sail from Parana is La Paz, near the borders of Corrientes : the town is a poor place, but some leagues inland is a fine estancia belonging to Mr. Haycroft, and managed by Dr. Gibbings. Leaving La Paz, Me have the same general features already described. For some distance the river spreads out to an amazing width, the coast being on each side very low, and lined with timber. About twenty-five leagues above La Paz we come to the mouth of the Arroyo Espinillo, which is the frontier line between Entre Rios and Corrientes. On Captain Page's map it "is marked Sarandi or Guayquiraro, which falls iuto the former : it is not navigable. Again there is a number of these delightful islands, revelling in all the beauty of tropical vegetation, with palmetto trees, and a plant bearing goldeu leaves, easily mistaken for oranges. But what do we see on the margin of the Gran Chaco, in yonder island ? Some huts of palm trees, scarce large enough to hold a man at full length. They are the abode of some daring wood-cutters, undeterred by the tigers, which swarm hereabout, or the distance from any trace of human life. The savages of the Chaco never come down here, as they have plenty of means to pursue their occupations of hunting, fishing, or wood-cutting on the mainland. Every few minutes we cross the river, which is here about a mile wide, and verv shallow. The coast of Corrientes is low, but well wooded, and yonder is a little hut, elevated on poles, and with a tile roof, which answers as the Capitania del Puerto for Esquina, this town being half a league distant on the mainland. Esquina is a well-built town, of t,200 to 1,500 inhabitants, situate on an eminence at a bend of the River Corrientes, near its confluence with the Parana. It possesses a good church, public schools, juzgado, and other edifices, extending along the crest of the hill for about a mile, most of the houses having azoteas, with wide verandahs for shelter against the rays of an almost tropical sun. The surrounding country is remarkable for its excellent pasture, and the inhabitants are wealthy cattle-breeders, sheep being comparatively few. Mr. Hayes, the son of an American, is the only foreign resident in the town. In the year 1838 Mr. Hayes's father killed a serpent which measured twelve feet in length and fifteen inches in circum- ference, and, on opening the monster, three hens, seemingly uninjured, w ere found in its stomach : he sent the skin to the United States, where it was stuffed, and is still to be seen. The bite of these reptiles is not fatal. There is an abundance of tigers about here, and some years ago a washer- woman was devoured near the river. The Custom-house, or Aduana, is 80 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. a small wooden hut elevated on poles, ten feet above the stream, in an island half a league distant from the town. Vessels call so rarely that sometimes no officials visit the place for several days. It happened some time back that a priest was left here by the Paraguay steamer, and being unable to thread his way through the thickets and cross the rivulets, he resolved to pass the night here: some hungry tigers prowling about smelled human flesh, and sacrilegiously resolved to make a meal of him. The priest taking alarm scrambled up on the roof, and sat on the tiles until daybreak. As there Avas no steamer expected to arrive, the usual passenger boat did not come down the ' arroyo,' and one of the wild beasts kept watch below, thinking the stranger might be driven by hunger to run the gauntlet and make towards town. In this manner the poor priest passed two awful days and nights before he was relieved from his perilous post. The Gran Chaco continues on our left, in its savage grandeur, and the scenery is much the same as we have passed, except that the thickets have grown into forests, the trees lifting their massive branches to a great height : they are mostly very straight and covered with a dark green or light brown foliage. At intervals the sandy beach is strewn with withered and uprooted trunks, highly useful for shipbuilding. Six le%ues above Esquina we pass Costa Tala, where the stream attains an enormous width. Carpinchos or sea hogs now shoAV themselves on the river-bank, disporting in the grass. Higher up on our left, a short distance inland, are the ruins of two Jesuit missions, Concepcion and S. Jeronimo, the second near a stream called Arroyo del Rey. By daybreak we are in sight of Goya, where a hut stands on the edge of an island, acting both as Custom-house and landing place for passengers. About the commencement of the present century, the site now occupied by the town of Goya was a cattle farm occupied by a Portuguese whose wife was named Gregoria, familiarly contracted into Goya. Here the ships passing used to call' for beef, and the position was so favorable that the Government resolved to build a town thereon. Goya is capital of the richest district in the province, and one of the finest towns on the Parana- The houses are of brick, and the population exceeds three thousand, including a large foreign element of Italians, Basques and French. The plaza is very handsome, with a pyramid in the centre, fifty feet high, on one side, and a church not yet finislied, of grand dimensions, the cost being estimated at ^ 1 50,000 s., contributed by local subscription. The chief autlrority is a Gefe Politico, and there is also a Judge of 1 . ^ Tnstancia; There are two priests, and seven doctors : Dr. Newkirk, a Canadian, is in good practice. There are national free schools for both sexes. Most of GOYA TO BELLA VISTA. 81 the inhabitants are rich estancieros. A public conveyance is hired out, for any part the traveller may wish to repair to. The country is thickly wooded in some parts, orange groves being numerous. There are two English carpenters in Goya ; one of them is called Don Pedro, and is one of the oldest inhabitants. There is a3Ir. Ramallon, native of Gibraltar. Both of the priests are Italians. The Basques have brick-kilns in the subiu-bs ; and many of the houses are two stories high. The streets are twenty yards wide. The police office is a handsome building. The public cemetery, about a mile distant, is well kept, with some fine monuments, and a hand- some chapel. Such is the general prosperity of this industrious town that the citizens of Corrientes jestingly term it «The little Buenos Ayres.» The principal trade of the place consists in hides, wool, cheese, and oranges. Orange groves are frequent, but the business is diminishing, while the excellent cheese is finding its way to the various ports «aguas abajo,)> a large quantity being sent to Buenos Ayres. Cotton would grow well here, the climate being warm and dry. Imports are received from Buenos Ayres. After a couple of leagues we pass a very picturesque locality, known as Rincon de Soto. Here is a large saladero, surrounded by a number of huts, and a fine bay admits vessels of some burthen to come close to the estab- lishment. It was built by 3Ir. Holterhoff, who bought the site from Govern- ment for $150. There is another saladero at work near Goya, belonging to a Mr. Otto. Not far inwards, about two leagues from Goya, is the ancient village of Santa Lucia, on a river of the same name : it was founded by the Jesuits, who built a stone church (the finest in the province) where the few neighbors still attend Divine service. A little further on is the ground marked out for a new town, Pueblo Lavalle, but as yet there is only a solitary house with an orange grove. We now coast along the mainland of Corrientes, which presents an elevation of perhaps 100 feet. The camps gradually become bare, and the familiar ombii, iu lonely grandeur, stands forth, the landmark of the Pampas. Wc pass the « embouchures)) of several rivulets with Indian names, none of which are navigable, although wide as European rivers, with luxuriant vegetation overshadowing their banks. Next comes the estancia of General Ferre, a tract of several leagues, which was granted to him mauy years ago on condition of planting it with coffee : he tried and failed, and then turned it into a cattle farm. The red sandstone bluff now ahead of us is a place called Las Cuevas, where the river at low tide is hardly a hundred yards wide. The Para- guayans erected a battery here in 1865, which inflicted serious injury oa 82 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. the Brazilian ironclads in forcing the pass. Here, in the year 1825, before the neighboring town of Bella Vista was formed, lived in utter solitude a Portuguese estanciero named Cueva, whose cattle tempted the rapacity of theHhaco Indians. A band of these deadly savages, on two occasions, swam across the narrow pass and attacked his house. The fearless old man and his son gave the Indians a galling reception from a skylight and window, through which they fired as fast as the daughters could load the blunderbusses, and thus succeeded in driving them off. During forty- three years they have never ventured another foray : the house and olive grove are distinctly seen from the river, crowning a headland, on doubling which we have Bella Vista in the distance. And well does Bella Vista merit its name, for the next hour's sail is one of the most delightful that can be imagined. A chain of steep cliffs, cut by the torrent, is broken at short and regular distances by numberless ^fissures caused by the rains. Yonder is the orange grove of Mr. Henry Hall, with its dark green outline against the horizon, and, as we approach, the files of trees are clearly discernible. Bella Vista, seated on a gentle slope, in the midst of tropical foliage, is a most charming picture. It was first peopled by a settlement of convicts, sent hither under General Ferre in 1826. It now contains about 1,000 inhabitants, having some azotea houses, a plaza, &c. Nestling in orange groves and palm trees are several small huts, thrown as if by chance on the hill-side, and commanding a grand view of the Parana and Gran Chaco. The natives may not have inherited the propensities of their forefathers, but, certes, they are wild-looking fellows. Bella Vista is eighteen leagues above Goya. We see, a little above the town, the scene of an attempted cotton plantation, started here by some enterprising Americans in 1853. Whether owing to a bad selection of soil, or mismanagement on the part of the mayordomo, the undertaking failed and was abandoned. A native family now resides there, who pulled up all the cotton to substitute oranges. We have to return two leagues to get the channel, and glide by the Gran Chaco. Now again islands, on which we can see carpinchos. We are now 800 miles from Buenos Ayres, in the heart of South American wilds. The river is still a majestic flood, two miles wide. Passing Empedrado, which is half-way between Bella Vista and Corrientes, we reach the mouth of the Biachuelo, famous for the great naval battle fought here on 1 1th June, 1865, between the fleets of Paraguay and Brazil. The former was much less than the latter in ships and weight of metal, but was aided by a shore battery of forty guns. The struggle lasted from daybreak till nightfall, and ended in the utter defeat of the CITY OF CORRIENTliS. 83" Paraguayans, who, however, displayed great bravery : over 2,000 men perished in the battle, the Paraguayans losing four steamers and the Brazilians having three vessels hors de combat. The vicinity of tlie Riachuelo is said to produce good tobacco ; and now we come abreast of Don Domingo Latorre's famous quinta, with its 5,000 orange trees, and^ picturesque «montes)) of cypress, poplar, &c. This is distant fromtlie capital^ five leagues by land, but the windings of the river make it seven. ?fearer to Corrientes is the quinta of the late ex-President Derqui, finely situated on the river bank. At this place the Chaco looms in the distance, with its dark fringe of impenetrable forests. Very little of Corrientes can be seen before lauding, or passing «aguas arriba.)) Corrientes covers a plateau elevated sixty feet over the water level, so that we can see little but the church-towers and the few irregular edifices situate on the slope. On the extreme right is a graceful country-house, belonging to Dr. Yidal : a large shrubbery leads up to the door,- and a corridor all around the house has an effect of comfort and elegance. The line of beach is studded with dusky washerwomen, perfectly regardless of the fact that the thermometer stands over ninety in the shade. There are scattered fragments of a dark etone, said to be very good for building, though not much used ; it looks like tosca, but is hard as granite. Beyond Vidal's quinta is a saladero, the present owner of which is a Correntino. A tanning establishment and timber yard form the centre of our picture, "with the Custom-house, Casa de Gobierno, several palm ranchos, and a sprinkling of orange trees to fill up the whole, giving a strange and not unpleasant aspect. Most of the houses have corridors, which cover in the whole footpath, the windows being barred as in Buenos Ayres. No block can be called complete, for palm ranchos and orange gardens • alternate with tile roofs and azoteas. The streets are about fifty feet wide. The plaza is much the same as it was three centuries ago : on the north side is the Matriz or principal church, an old edifice eighty yards long, with a tile- roof, and at a short distance a bell tower, seventy feet high, in which is the town clock. The west side contains the Cabildo, where the law courts and prison are guarded by a bare-footed picquet of Federal troops of the Line.. In front are two antique houses, one of two stories, and the Merced Church, not yet whitewashed, with two belfrys, and a cloister attached for Franciscan friars. The house of Seiior Pampin, ex-Governor, with a few others of less note, make up the south side, and a column some sixty feet high stands in the centre of a multitude of weeds, around which are wooden posts but no seats : the column is surmounted by a diminutive female armed with a lance, and bears the inscriptions, 25 de Mayo 1810, and 9 de Julfo 1816. g2 84 THE RIO DE LA. PLATA. On the pedestal are the busts of four generals. The Cabildo is a handsome structure, two stories Avith arches, supporting a square tower of Moorish build, Avhich commands a \iew of the country around. At the Hotel Globe Ave can procure a clean, airy apartment wherein to take « siesta. » The windows are of stained glass, with Venetian blinds. The cuisine is faultless for those who are not squeamish about garlic. The city forms a parallelo- gram of sixty or seventy cuadras, but is wholly different from anything European. There are about 1,500 palm ranclios, 200 tile roofs, and 100 azoteasof one or two stories; also, four steeples, three miradores, six flag- staffs, a few slender palms, and an infinity of orange trees, amid which the houses seem to nestle for protection from the sun. Corrientes is distant 270 leagues, or 900 English miles, from Buenos Ayres. On leaving Corrientes we can distinctly count the seven currents, which give the city its name ; they are formed by as many projecting points of land, above a place called La Batcria, a little north of the town. We now approach the Tres Bocas, the confluence of the rivers Paraguay and Upper Parana. The scenery about here is very fine. The Parana turns off at a right angle, eastward, and is navigable for steamers as high as the island and falls of Apipe. At the Paso la Patria is a ferry for carrying over cattle into Paraguay, and the woods on the Corrientes shore were the scene of some hard fighting in January 1866. iN^early opposite stood the Paraguayan fort of Itapiru, which formerly commanded the navigation of these waters : it was destroyed by the Brazilians in April 1866. Higher up on the Corrientes bank are the villages of San Cosmo, Itati, San Antonio, and Loreto ; near this last is a ford called Tranquera de Loreto. On the Para- guayan shore the ground is low, marshy, and uninhabited. At Itapua the river gives another bend, almost due north, and this is the point where the Paraguayans invaded Misiones, in May 1865, previous to their descent on Rio Grande. Opposite to Itapua is the Paraguayan station called Candelaria. The Parana may still be ascended in small boats as high as the great cataract of Salto de Guayra; but this part of the country is comparatively unexplored. The ruins of a town called Ciudad Real are still seen near the falls : from this point to the Tres Bocas is a distance of about 500 miles. Entering the Paraguay river at the Tres Bocas, we pass the Guardia Cerrito, where the Paraguayans had a battery, and in a few hours we reach Curupaity, where the Allies sustained a great reverse on the 22nd of September 1866. Every inch of ground was here disputed with immense sacrifice of life during more than two years, till the Paraguayans finally abandoned Huinaytd in July 1868. A bend of the river reveals to us this formidable position, which was defended by casern ated batteries, torpedoes, HUMAYTi TO ASU>'CI05. '85 and chains across the river. This place was the key to the upper rivers, and the garrison, before the war, usually numbered 12,000 men: the fortress was constructed by French engineers in re54, under the regime of the first Lopez. A little above Humaita, on the Chaco sida, we coma to the mouth of the Rio Vermejo, which is about 300 yards wide, and bordered by a dense thicket. Some of the Chaco Indians may often be seen about here, spearing fish. Villa Pilar is a pretty little town, with numerous orange-groves and a handsome church, about a mile from the shore. It is the chief town of a district which shewed a census-return of 160,000 inhabitants. Under the rule of Francia it was the commercial emporium of Paraguay, the city of Asuncion being shut to all foreigners. An hour's sail takes us to the mouth of the Tebicuari, a large river which rises in the Yerbales or wa'fe-fields of Misiones, and after a course of 400 miles falls into the Paraguay at this place. Just before the war President Lopez had sent to Europe for two light steamers to navigate the Tebiquary. Yilla Franca is a village of no importance : the surrounding district has only 10,000 inhabitants. Villa Oliva is another small place, with a church and public schools : here the steamers often take beef and firewood. And now we may observe shoals of alligators on either bank : sometimes as many as a dozen basking together in the sun, a few measuring seven or eight feet in length. They lie motionless, like a log of wood, »vith their jaws extended shewing two alarming rows of teeth. The body is scaly like a tortoise, with four short fin-like legs, and they glide into the water with great ease. Carpiuchos may be seen in close proximity, apparently on good terms with the «Yacares,» for this South American crocodile confines his tastes to fish. Villeta is a difficult pass of the river, about seven leagues below Asuncion. At times the water is so low that no vessels drawing over eighteen inches can pass. Tlie banks on the Paraguayan side rise as we proceed up stream, and the Paraguayans used to have a battery of a few guns commanding a bend of the river. The scenery is very diversified and tranquil, with stately palm-trees that stand forth at intervals to remind us of the tropics. The peak of Lambare is enchanting, with its cone-like elevation clad in luxuriant foliage, raising its lofty form to the clouds. The adjacent village S6 THE mo DE LA PLATA. of Lambare is a suburb to the capital, remarkable for its church and cemetery. ^ On the left bank is the mouth of the Pilcomayo, which ibises in Bolivia, near the city of Chuquisaca, traverses the Gran Chaco, and after a course of 1 ,500 miles, here falls into the Paraguay. There are two batteries at the turn before we get view of the arsenal and city of Asuncion. Asuncion, the Paraguayan metropolis, is a town of some 30,000 inhabitants ; it was founded by a Spanish captain named Ayolas, on August t5, 1536. There are some splendid public buildings, and excellent hotel accommodation is found at t!ie Club. The shops are poor, and all imported articles very dear. The railway to Villa Rica runs through a country unsurpassed for scenery. The traveller will find many delightful rides in the environs of Asuncion, and he should take a bath before sunrise at the Chorro. A description of the city and people will be given at full in the secti'on of this work devoted to Paraguay. Ascending the river to Matto Grosso, the first place beyond Asuncion is Villa Occidental, on the Chaco side, where a French colony was established by Lopez, but resulted unfortunately. We next pass the towns of Rosario and San Pedro, and the mouths of the Confuse, Jejuy, and Ypape rivers, arriving at Concepcion, 180 miles from Asuncion, The depth of the river varies from twenty to seventy feet, its width being from lialf a mile to a mile, and the banks usually about fifteen feet high. Concepcion is a town ^f 2,000 inhabitants, and the great port of the yerba-mate trade. Salvador is seventy miles above Concepcion, and has a population of 1,000 souls. From Salvador to Rio Appa is nearly 100 miles, the scenery being very beautiful near the ranges of Itapucu Guazii, and the country inhabited by Avarlike Indians. Here begins the disputed territory, which extends eighty miles north, as far as Rio Blanco, and is claimed by both Brazil and Paraguay on account of the important position of Fort Olympo. Fort Olympo is 420 miles above Asuncion, standing 45 feet above the river, which is here 600 yards wide : it forms a square of 100 feet, witli bastions for cannon, the walls being fourteen feet high and two and a-half thick, without embrasures. It was built by the Spaniards in 1798, garrisoned by Francia in 1822, abandoned by Lopez in 1850, again occupied in 1856, and afterwards seized in turns by Brazil and Paraguay. Before reaching Olympo is the picturesque mountain called Pan-de-azucai:, and live miles above the fort is Bahia Blanca,atthe mouth of the Rio Blanco. "We enter Brazilian territory at Salinas, and here the left bank is claimed "by Bolivia, while the right forms part of the province of Matto Grosso. ASUNCION TO CUYABA. 87 Fort Coimbra, inLat. 19.55.43, aud Long. 57-52.32, stands oa a hill of the same name, which slopes to the river : it is forty feet above the water level, and is a solid stone structure, completely commanding the river which is here 600 yards wide. The officers' quarters within the fort consist of small stone houses. All supplies are obtained from Albuquerque or the neighbouring ludians. The low lands for some distance above Coimbra are subject to inundation, but there are also some pieces of firm land, covered with excellent woods aud never overflowed except in seasons of extraordinary rise. The mountains are still insulated peaks or short ranges, probably spurs of the Bolivian sierras. The surrounding country is held by the Guaycuru Indians, whom the Brazilian Government treats with much conciliation. Coimbra is thirty-three miles above Fort Olympo. Albuquerque is an insignificant village of seventy houses, only useful for supplies of provisions, and 47 miles from Coimbra. Passing the mouth of the Tacuari we reach Corumba, sixty miles from Albuquerque, and 560 from Asuncion. This place sprung into importance with the introduction of steam traffic : it produces some good cotton. From Curumba to Cuyaba is nearly 400 miles, the course changing in Lat. 18, Long. 57.30, from the upper Paraguay to the river Cuyaba. The city of Cuyaba is capital of the province of Matto Grosso, residence of the President, Bishop, and other Brazilian functionaries, and a place of much importance. Tiiis is the highest point navigable in a steamer. Captain Bossi, in 1862, attempted to crossover to the head-waters of the Amazooas, but failed. The distance overland toRio JanejTO is 1200 miles, practicable on mules in about sixty days, but much infested by Indians, passing through a country of woods and mountains. The early Spaniards are known to have made the journey. A Brazilian expeditionary force left Rio Janeyro in 1865 ; most of the men perished on the route, the rest deserted to the woods. UP THE URUGUAY. The scenery of the Uruguay is the finest in these countries, and there is almost daily communication between Buenos Ayres and Salto: the steamers are elegant and commodious, and make the trip in 36 houi'S. As we cross the La Plata to ascend the Uruguay, the fine estancias of Martin Chico and San Juan are pointed out to the traveller; they are beautifully situated, and must some day become immensely valuable. Passing the Cerro San Juan we sight the island of Martin Garcia, the Gibraltar of the River Plate, which has anything but an imposing appearance. Two new fortifications are seen on the S. E. point, but there 88 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. are no guns on them. Facing the Argentine coast is a battery of nine guns, with soldiers' quarters. The place almost looks deserted, and the old batteries used in the war of 1859 are dismiatled. Bat ween the island and the Oriental coast only small craft can pass. The Argentine Congress in 1867 voted a considerable sum for the fort fication of the island. Iq the time of Rosas many of the prisoners confined here escaped by swimming a grey mare over to the mainland of Banda Oriental, the mare regularly swimming back again, till Rosas took her and shot her as an enemy tcr the State. Carmelo is the first town we sight and looks very pretty, seated on a bend of the river, but a good view is not obtained till we pass upwards. A small steamer calls here in connection with Colonia or Higueritas. The next thing we see is an old convent now used for an estancia-house. The scenery improves as we advance, the Entre-Riano coast being much lower than the Oriental. Nueva Palmira or Higueritas is on the eastern bank ; it is a small place, and has few attractions, except that it offers a convenient landing-place for passengers for the interior. There is a ' graseria,' for melting down sheep, belonging to Mr. Henry Zimmermann. At the mouth of the Rio Negro the scenery is interesting : here a small steamer meets us to take the passengers for Mercedes. Higher up we meet the Gualeguaychii steamer, forming another branch-line of the Uruguay service. As we proceed up the river the nature of the last great geological changes, that have occurred in this valley, becomes apparent from the facts noticeable. The Argentine side of the river is generally low, often marshy, as if recently redeemed from a deep lake, while the Uruguayan side is generally high and rocky. Along the bold rocky border of that old, immense lake, the waters were drained, and, washing the base of the bluff on its eastern border, at length formed the River Uruguay. On the Uruguayan shore the bed of the river is generally of granitic rocks, the channel is deeper, and, from the more solid formation, the ports are better. The rocks are chiefly granite, though in some parts, as for example near Salto, the action of the fire is more marked, and quartz is seen under all the modification made upon it by heating and cooling, and by slight admixtures of other rocks. In the interior of the country, 'geodes» are found in great abundance and of great beauty of structure. In the streams and along the rocky coasts, the sand is richly interspersed with pebbles of cornelian, agate, chalcedony, onyx, and jasper, all more or less pure, and some of them of great beauty. There is, probably, but one place BUEROS AYRES TO PAYSA?(DU. 89 •where such pebbles are so abundant, or so beautiful, or so lai*ge, and that is at St. Anthony on the Jlississippi river. Fray Bentos is a new town on the same side of the river, containing about 1,000 inhabitants. It is called sLxty leagues from Buenos Ayres : it is not attractive to the traveller, v>ho only beholds it from the deck of the steamer, but is said to be a place of considerable business. It is chiefly notevv'orthy for the fauious Liebig Extractum Carnis Factory, under the direction of I\Ij\ Giebert, >vliich Avas established in 1864, at a cost of i^200,000. It gives constant employment to 600 or 800 persons, and can kill 500 head of cattle per day. The machinery was made in Glasgow, and cost £45,000: it is the most complete and elaborate that can be imagined. The beef extract is made up in boxes of lOOU each, for shipment to Europe, where it is sold at £1 sterling per % weighty chiefly for hospital use. Roman is the name of a landing place, and also of a saladero near it, about seventy leagues from Buenos Ayres. The saladero is owned by Don Felipe Iglesias, and the town is little else than a group of irregularly built houses to accommodate the workmen. - It is. usually midnight when the steamer calls at Concepcion, the chief town of Entre Rios, which we shall visit on our return down the river. By daybreak we are at anchor in the port of Paysandii. Paysandii, eighty leagues from Buenos Ayres, contained before the civil war in that country 7,700 inhabitants. So great has been the activity of business, since the restoration of peace, that it is believed that the population now exceeds 10,000. -Sew houses are going up in all directions, and these are of a better class than the old ranches battered down in the bombardment. In the Department of Paysandii are five saladeros, two of these are in the city, one at Casa Blanca, one at Roman, and one at Fray Bentos. At each of these there are killed annually 40,000 to 50,000 animals, making from this department 200,000 to 250,000 animals in the year. The beef is salted and dried in thin, large slices, and it finds a market in Brazil and the West Indies. Hides are salted and go to Europe, chiefly to Antwerp and Liverpool, and the tallow goes by cargoes, in pipes, to England. There are no manufactories in Paysandii but sundry stores, and shops of shoemakers, tailors, waggon-makers, blacksmiths, «fec. Hotels, La Paz and La Francia ; charge, Sl| per day. Labor is dear both for house and farm service, the poorest laborer receiving, at the lowest, $16s. per month. And so rapid is the increase of population by immigration that all kinds of marketing are as dedr as at Buenos Avtcs. Don Miguel Horta, the principal shopkeeper, is Spanish vice-consul, and his house is the 90 THE RIO DE LA. PLATA. rendezvous of all English estancieros. Some pleasant excursions may be made to the neighboring estancias of Col. Mundell, Plowes, Hughes, Green, and Bell, to the saladero at Arroyo Negro, to Messrs. Paris and Sloper's beef-packing establishment, to AVilliam's saladero, and by boat to the Swiss colony across tlie Uruguay. From Paysandii to Salto is the finest part of the river : the scenery is varied and beautiful. A league above the town is Mr. William's saladero, where they tried «the Morgan system,)) in 1866, with beef and mutton. At the Hervidero we pass a large establishment belonging to Mr. Richard Hughes, with the Union Jack flying from the battlements : it is a two-story house built over twenty years ago by a Company, of which Mr. Lafone formed part, and had a saladero, now in ruins, and an estancia with over 1 00,000 cows and sheep. The Mesa de Artigas is a bold headland just over the river. Here General xVrtigas encamped his army in the War of Independence, and tradition says he threw his Spanish prisoners hence, sewed up in hides, into the river. After passing the estancia Delicias and other valuable establishments belonging to foreigners, we reach the dangerous pass of Corralitos. This reef or archipelago of rocks has but one narrow and tortuous channel, and is impassable by night. Sailing vessels cannot pass but with the most favorable wind, and we see coasting craft at anchor in front of the old port of Concordia, which is nearly a league below that town. In high water the Corralitos are covered, but often the river is so low that the buoys are high and dry. You cannot see Concordia from here, but there is a «casilla)) at the new port, and coaches are in waiting to convey passengers to the town. We have now a fine view of Salto at the head of the river, about three miles above, covering three or four hills, with large white edifices, and apparently a town of great extent. Salto (Hotel Concordia) is 110 leagues from Buenos Ayres : it is a very flourishing place, with 9,000 inhabitants, one half of whom are Italians. The town has a bustling aspect, new buildings going up on all sides. The view is very picturesque in every direction. The city stretches out much to the north, the new town laid out by Mr. Coleman being already thickly settled. The situation is charming, the Uruguay bathing the declivities of the ' cuchillas ' which run down in almost parallel lines, the white buildings studding the hill-sides, and clumps of brushwood fringing the outskirts. It is the headquarters of all frontier trafiic to Bio Grande and Corrientes, and the Brazilian Government is in treaty with a London firm for a railway to Uruguayana and San Borja. The Salto Chico is about a mile above the town, and sometimes quite dry : the Salto Grande SALTO TO URUGUAYA5A. 91 higher up is a barrier to navigation in almost all periods. On the east side of the Plaza is the church, an unpretending structure with two towers, one of which has a town-clock (the weights are of sand) : inside, it is quite bare, and can hardly hold 800 persons. ]N'ext door is the Curia, a fine house with ornamental front. On the south side stands the Comandancia, imitation of Grecian architecture, and a few yards off is the Imprenta, from which issues, twice a week, the Eco de los Lihres. Some of the public works are a decided failure, viz., the wharf of granite which has already cost 60,000 hard dollars, and can never be of use except in extraordinary high tides, whereas an iron mole might have been run out into the river at a cost of 40,000. A little below the town is a tan yard, and further down was tlie Brazilian encampment in 1865. Salto is reputed a very healthy place, the only epidemic ever known being small-pox. The water here, as in all other parts of the Uruguay, has a mellifluous taste. Mr. Richard AVilliams, oue of the oldest British residents in the River Plate, has a handsome residence, commanding a view of the Uruguay, and Concordia on the opposite bank. He has a fine collection of pebbles and crystal- lizations : these stones come from the CeiTO de Catalanes near the river Cuareim, where agate is found in abundance, and some collections have been sent to England, and appreciated by lapidaries? A German explorer with a number of workmen collected quite a cargo, but died when about to return to Europe. There are not many English estancias, excepting those of Mr. Williams, near Salto. In times of very high water, a steamer (drawing three feet) goes up the falls to Uruguayana : the distance is about 150 miles, and the scenery "well repays the journey. After passing the falls we coast alternately the shores of Entre Rios and Banda Oriental, on both of which there are many large cattle estancias. Some leagues above Concordia is the Arroyo Yuqueri, where Gen. Mitre established his headquarters when the Paraguayan war first broke out. A range of hills called Puntas de Mandisobi, twelve leagues from Concordia, was subsequently Gen. Flores's rendezvous before the battle of Yatay. Not far hence is the village of Federacion, and nearly opposite, in Banda Oriental, is another, called Constitucion. A stream debouching on our left, called the 3Iocoreta, is the frontier line between Entre Rios and Corrieutes ; and ten leagues higher, on the right, we come to Santa Rosa, at the frontier of the Brazilian province of Rio Grande : this place is thirty leagues above Salto, and has vis-a-vis the Correntino village of Monte-Caseros. Twenty leagues further is the important town of Uruguayana, at a pass 92 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. of the river, called Paso de los Libres. A line of diligences formerly ran from this place to Concordia, and another on the Brazilian side, from Uruguay ana to Salto. At present railways are projected, one on each side of the river, as the falls at Salto are a bar to all commerce by water. Uruguayana was founded in 1843, and was a thriving frontier town previous to the war ; it had about 10,000 inhabitants: it was the centra of the trade of this part of Rio Graii:l2. In 1865 the Paraguayans took it and held it for some time, till the allied generals closely invested the place, and the Paraguayan commander surrendered to Dom Pedro in person. The town was found to be in a dreadful condition ; but it is now fast recovering its prosperity. The Uruguay is here half-a-mile across. Twenty leagues higher up is the Correntino village of La Cruz, and two leagues further, on the Brazilian shore, stands the town of Itaqui, Avhich ■was also taken by the Paraguayans in their descent on Rio Grande. A battle occurred near a rapid river above the town, in which the Brazilians were worsted, obliging them to abandon Itaqui. Twenty-five leagues further on, are the towns of Santo Tome and San Borja. The former is in Lat. 28.20, and Long. 58.10. : it is the chief town of the Misiones of Aguapey (Corrientes) . Exactly opposite is San Borja (Rio Grande) : the' country around is rich and populous. The distance across Misiones, to Itapua on the Upper Parana, is 38 leagues. We have now ascended 100 leagues from Salto, and the traveller may still continue his explorations in Misiones. The return voyage from San Borja to Salto will occupy a day and a-half . If we cross the Uruguay river below the falls from the eastern to the "western side, we shall find Concordia, an Argentine city of the province of Entre Rios, and nearly opposite Salto. The present war, during the months when Concordia was the headquarters of the army, added greatly to the business and Avealth of the city. There is at Concordia one saladero which uses about 50 ,000 animals in the 'faena' (cattle and horses). This is the property of A. Bcnites and Co. : the city counts about 5,000 inhabitants, and is a place of considerable business. Rents and wages are high, and good houses are not easily found to rent. Colonia de San Jose, twenty-four leagues below Concordia, is a colony of Swiss and German immigrants, numbering about ^,500 persons. The town itself is only the few houses needed at the landing, for tlie people are agriculturists, raising wheat, maize, potatoes, &c. Concepcion del Uruguay, nine leagues lower down the river, is at present the capital of the province of Entre Rios. The anchorage of steamers is near the shore, but the landing is so far away from the city as THE SAL ADO AND VERMEJO. 93 to leave but little opportunity to see the toTvn from the steamer. There are said to be 5,000 inhabitants. The princely residence of General Urquiza is seven leagues distant, at San Jose. At Concepcion are two saladeros, but there are no manufactories. The possessions of General Urquiza are immense. One-third part of the land of the province is called his. From the River Gualeguaychu to Victoria, eighty leagues, you may not go off the lands of the Captain General. The annual product from so much land, stocked Tvith cattle, horses, and sheep, must be very great. THE SAL.ADO AND VERMEJO. These two rivers belong to the Gran Chaco territory, and are generally considered navigable, although many obstacles have been met with in the expeditions sent for their exploration. The Bio Salado rises in the upper provinces, passes through Santiago del Estero, and falls into the Parana just above Santa Fe city. A Spanish gentleman named Esteban Rams Rupert devoted many years and a large amount of money to the scheme of canalising this river. His first expedi- tion was at the close of 1862, and he narrates it in these words — «We left the Colony of Esperanza on the 31st December, in the dii'ection of Concepcion del Tio, in the Province of Cordova : from this point we followed the road called De las Tropas, due north, until arriving at the town of Salavina, in Santiago. Then, striking out east, we reached Fort Bracho, on the banks of the Salado, on the 19th January. The engineer at once began his survey of the river, from Navicha to the Boca de Matara, tshich, along with the marshes, covers a superficies fifteen leagues in length by three or four in breadth. This is the only part of the river requiring heavy w orks to make the navigation clear, to Sepulturas. The engineer's reports, confirming and amplifying previous ones, are already nearly complete. The annual rise this time came as high as the Boca de Matard, on the night of the 30th December, and when I arrived at Matara, on the 23rd January, I found the river in front of this place fifteen feet deep for a Avidth of eighty-two feet. I left a meter there, in charge of the commander, and on my return on the 4th of February found that the water had, in the interval, suffered a maximum rise of four inches, and fall of foul' and a-half inches, making thus a difference of half an inch in twelve days, and its actual depth being fifteen feet and nine inches. This shows there is plenty of Avater to navigate the Salado, the sole difliculty being to run a canal from Boca de Matara to Navicha, a distance of fifteen leagues, as there is not the least obstacle between Navicha and Santa Fe. The 94 THE RIO DE LA PLATA. levels taken prove the possibility, nay, the facility, of avoiding Lhe marshes, and conveying the whole current down to Navicha.» Baron Aland provided funds, pending the formation of a company in England, and Mr. W. H. Cock began the works in 1863. The Baron, however, found it impossible to get up the company, owing to the Flore s revolution of April 1864, and, after a year (December 1864), Mr. Cock received orders to suspend operations: his report on the works is as follows :• — «The Cauce Viejo (old bed), whose course was hardly known before my arrival here, owing to its frequent windings through impenetrable thickets, is now quite cleared of trees from Bracho Viejo (La Fragua) as far as two leagues beyond Navicha, a distance of fifteen leagues, now rendered quite navigable, all the old roots and trees being completely removed. The rest only requires a few workmen, for a couple of months, to render it fit for navigation, by burning the trunks and boughs felled on the banks, which are now so dry as easily to ignite. Beyond Navicha (except two leagues, which I have already said are clear) there is little wanting to be done, and with the staff of navvies under my orders I could have finished it by the end of February — so that the Rio Salado would have possessed a continuous canal free from all obstacles, and requiring no further works, to permit the passage of a small steamer as high up as Bracho Yiejo. A little canal, eighteen feet wide (six and a-half varas) has also been opened from the Lagunas del Bracho to the bed of the river, with the view of giving tho river an additional flow of water, and draining the marshes so as to be enabled to commence the canalization works across the Estero del Bracho some months earlier than usual. During my stay in this place I have devoted all my attention to a careful study of the various projects feasible for making a canal through the Estero del Bracho to the Boca de Matara : my assistant Mr. Charles Albeck has also been busy in taking levels ,and drawing plans for the same purpose. I now possess all the necessary data for this important section of the works, so as on finishing the plans, to be able to point out the best and most economical route for the canal.)) But Mr. Rams never despaired : he contrived to carry on the work in a small way, and in July 1865 he obtained from Congress a renewal of his concession, for three years longer, to date from December 31 , 1866. The Government was to establish a port at any suitable point between Navicha and Bracho, guaranteeing Rams nine per cent, on the outlay of the enterprise, and allowing him an exemption from half-export duties during thirty years. In March 1866 he obtained a concession from the Santa Fe Government, NAVIGATION OF THE S.\LADO. 95 for the introduction of 5,000 immigrant families to be settled along the Rio Salado ; the Government giving him a square league of land for every four families. Mr. Rams had some iron lighters buUt by Marshal of Barracas, and was almost ready to start for the Salado, when he was cut off by cholera, in April 1867. The enterprise, however, was not suffered to faU through, but in the following month Mr. Seuorans started from Buenos Ayres. After a voyage of three months and a-half he returned to Santa Fe with his expetlition, having nothing to lament except the death of a young man named Piran. The expedition reached a point some hundi-ed and eighty miles above Monte Aguara, at which latter place the River Salado takes a great bend to the Avest, just before entering into the province of Santiago del Estero. Mr. Seuorans thus examined and went over that part of the river whick Captain Page was unable to explore, owing to his steamer drawing too much water. The river, during the whole time occupied by the expedition, was pretty high— sixteen feet of water often being found, so that the theory of the navigation of the Salado by small steamers towing «chatas)) was thus fully established, and even if this navigation be only practicable during six or seven months of the year, it is still of the very greatest importance, as it will facilitate the settlement of the lands on either side of the river. Mr. Seuorans was successful in gaining the good will of the various tribes of Indians on his route. All the caciques of the river came to visit him, and he made treaties with many of them. The principal cacique, Mariano, was not seen, as he lives a considerable way in the interior, but about a dozen other chiefs presented themselves, accom- panied by a vast number of their people. It appears that about Monte Aguara the Indian tribes are much more numerous than it has generally been supposed. Mr. Seuorans took with him a large quantity of presents, and distributed them very liberally — clothes being given to almost all. They were very much afflicted to hear that their old friend and ' padrino,' Mr. Rams, was dead. They all asked for his portrait, and brought up children by the score, whom they stated Mr. Rams was god-father to. A good trade can be made with these various tribes of Indians, and it is probable many of them could be made useful in cutting timber. The expedition reached Fortin Taboada w ithout any difficulty, and might have proceeded further on, but much time had already been expended, and provisions were running short, as they had not calculated on the necessity of furnishing food to the large numbers of Indians who conti- nually accompanied the expedition. The reason of this equivocal guard of honor was probably two-fold — first, curiosity and greed, and secondly, 96 THE BIO DE LA PLATA. suspicion of the whites and of their objects. They could not understand why all the people of the steamers invariably attended divine service fully armed. They said that the Padres never did it. There was evidently anything but good will at first, but it appears that Mr. Seilorans at last insinuated himself into their confidence, and gained their friendship. Although plenty of water was always found, the sharp turns of the river impeded the navigation to a large extent. Then the delays of cutting wood, and the conferences with the Indians, caused a vast time to be lost. Once thoroughly established, the navigation, with wood ready cut at stated points, the steamers can run up to Fortin Taboada in six or seven days. It is stated that the timber on the river is very abundant, and of a valuable quality. The «chatas)) returned loaded with various kinds, amongst which are specimens of excellent ebony. Two young Englishmen Avho accompanied the expedition returned well and hearty. Mr. Seilorans encountered in one place a number of dead men. He buried them decently. It was supposed that they belonged to 'the Salta contingent that mutinied in the Parana and fled into the "Ghaco. As nothing was ever heard of them it is probable they all perished either by hunger or by the Indians. Since the return of this expedition (September 1867) no other has gone up the Salado, and it. may be presumed that no efforts for its further navigation will be made till the termination of the Paraguayan war. The Rio Vermejo rises in Bolivia, and, after a tortuous course of 1 ,200 miles through the forests of the Chaco, falls into the River Paraguay near the fortress of Humayta. The first expedition to navigate its waters was in 182G, when some Englishmen and Buenos Ayreans 'successfully descended the river: they were, however, taken prisoners I)y Francia, tyrant of Paraguay, and kept in captivity for many years. In 1856, Jose Maria Arce, a Bolivian, accompanied by an Irish sailor named William Martin, safely descended from Oran to Corrientes . Seuor Arce made four voyages after- wards, the last in November 1863, on this occasion losing two men, killed by Indians. He brought 150 tons cargo and 10 passengers, including his brother, Dr. Arce (with two secretaries), who had credentials from the Bolivian Government as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine and Para- guayan cabinets: his principal business being to make treaties for the navigation of the Pilcomayo. President Lopez would not make any treaty on the subject, as he declared the Vermejo and Pilcomayo belonged exclu- sively to Paraguay. Arce, in his last voyage, found the Vermejo noNvhere less than five feet deep, his vessels drawing only twenty-seven inches ; but iR many places the boughs of trees obstructed the navigation. NAVIGATIO:X OF THE VERMEJO. 97 111 February 1863, Lavarello's expedition started from Buenos Ajres, on board the steamer Gran Chaco. After some delays to repair she at last entered the River Vermejo on April 18th. One of the party writes as follows : — «Our progress was very slow, for several reasons. We were obliged to stop rather more than half the time for the purpose of cutting and loading wood for fuel. The course of the river changes five or six times every league, so that Captain Lavarello reckons one thousand bends from Esquina Grande to the mouth of the Vermejo. Owing to this tortuous course, and the danger of missing the channel at night, added to the strong currents of the river, and the small power of the engine, we could only navigate by daylight, and came to anchor early every evening. We were soon delayed several days by heavy rains, preventing the crew from cutting ■wood, and causing nearly all on board, officers and men, to fall sick of a tercian fever or ' chucho,' induced by moisture and exposure. The steamer was converted iuto a hospital, and from lack of medical knowledge many suffered severely and for several weeks. Of thirty persons on board, more than twenty were sick at once, and we were detained more than twenty days from lack of hands to man the vessel. At last our provisions became exliausted, one article after another, so that we should actually have suffered from hunger, had we not succeeded occasionally in obtaining a sheep, a kid, or a pair of chickens, from the Indians. The Indians also rendered us most essential services by assisting us to cut and load wood, and by hauling us loose, with ropes, when we occasionally became stuck upon sand banks. We saw great numbers of Indians, thirty or forty different bands, in number ranging from ten or twenty up to one hundred.)) At last they reached Rivadavia colony in July, and the expedition returned to Buenos Ayres early in 1864. Just then President Lopez sent to Europe for two small steamers, to navigate the Vermejo and Pilcomayo, but the war soon after ensuing the enterprise was prevented. At present (November 1868), there is a petition before Congress from Messrs. Lezica and Lanuz, in connection with the Vermejo, which they propose to open to navigation as soon as the war terminates. 98 ITINERARIES OF THE REPUBLIC. CHAP. YIII ITINERAT^IES OF THE REPUBLIC. The highways of the Argentine Republic are pretty much as Nature made them, consisting merely of a beaten track across the Pampas. They were formerly much better as regards post-houses and relays of horses than at present. General Urquiza devoted much attention to tliis matter ; but since the Paraguayan war the Indians have made such frequent incursions that the overland route from Rosario to Chile, or the upper provinces, is attended with much inconvenience, for want of horses at the post-houses along the roads. In the Province of Buenos Ayres the Northern, Western, and Southern railways offer speedy and commodious transit, in connection with «diligences)) ramifying the campafia in all directions. In Entre Rios there is also easy communication by the river steamboats, and a regular line of ttdiligences.)) In Corrientes there is no other way of travelling in the interior but on horseback. The Central Argentine Railway, from Rosario to Villa Nueva, is the great highway to the upper provinces. At Villa Nueva two main routes strike out north and west ; the first goes to Cordoba, Santiago, Tucuman, and Salta ; the second to San Luis, Mendoza, and San Juan. The railway from Rosario to Cordoba will be 247 miles long when finished : at present the section open to traffic, to Villa Nueva, is about 170 miles. The first thirty- three miles from Rosario are slightly undulating and destitute of timber, till we approach the English settlement of Frayle Muerto, when the country assumes a wooded aspect, with picturesque park vistas and an abundance of algarroba and other line trees. The line crosses two rivers ; the CarcarailA, about ten leagues from Rosario, and the Tercero, about twenty- three leagues further. (This route will be described at length in the chapter on the Central Argentine Railway). TO TUCUMAX AND SALTA. 99 NORTHEIC!? ROUTE. The ((diligences)) from Villa IVueva to Salta traverse a route of 215 leagues, the number of days employed varying, according to the weather, the state of the roads, post-houses, horses, &c. The itineraryis as follows, in Spanish leagues : — Villa >'ueva, . H Tio Pugio, 4 Chauares, 2* Espinillo, . 2i Desgraciado, . 2i Uncativo, .... 5 3Iendez, 3 Moyano, . 2| Eio Seguudo, . 2i Geromito, 3 Cordoba, .... 4 Bajo del Rosario, 3 Guerra, H Salitre, . 5i Tala, 3i Divisadero, 5i Qntiquan, .... 3f Santa Cruz, 3* San Pedro, 4 Carril, 2i Piedritas, .... H Pozo del Tigre, 4 Portezuela, .... . . . . 2i Horquetas, 2i Aquila, .... . . . . H Guardia, H Paesto del Monte, 3i Chilue, 5f Lago Chaquin Nodri, . . . 2 Altamique, H Canada, 3 Loreto, .... H Machani, .... 2i Alpapuja, 2i Mano Gasla, 2f Cardoso, .... 3f Santiago, .... 2i Bella Vista, .... 2i Tipiro, .... 3| Chauchillo, .... 2i Sotelitos, 3| Pozuelos, 4i Bagual, 2 Tres Pozos, .... .... 2f Favorina, .... 4f Tucuman, .... 3i Chailar, .... 3i Ramada, .... 4i Puesto, .... If Borriaco, 3 Chileu, 3 Laguna de los Rot des, I| Ojos de Agua, bi Cauas, 21 Madriaga, .... ^ Mojaras, 4 Santas, 3 Conchas, .... 3f Piedras, .... 6i Pasaje, .... 8 Simbolar, H Ramada, .... .... 5f Salta, 21 From Villa ]N'ueva to Cordoba is about seventy-eight miles, through dense forests of (calgarroba.)) At Chauares there are excellent springs of water, 'iOO ITINERARIES OF THE REPUBLIC. and a mile further on we reach the magnificent lake of El Aguada. About two miles from here are the well-known springs of Ojo de Agua. For several leagues the lands are now very inferior, owing to the abundance of wbiscachos,)) which have burroAved about in all directions. The Rio Seguudo is a river 250 yards wide, from one (cbarrancaw to the other ; but in dry seasons the stream is only thirty yards across. Two horses and twelve bullocks are often used to drag the «diligence)) through*the river. After passing through another «algarroba» Avood, Ave at last reach the city of Cordoba. Cordoba is the heart of the Republic ; it is famous for its delightful climate, and is situate in the midst of an amphitheatre of hills. Tlie popu- lation is estimated at 20,000;' the best inn is the Hotel de Paris. The traveller Avill find much to interest him in the old churches, the university, and other public buildings. If he make an excursion to the Sierras he Avill iind capital shooting. From Cordoba the route offers little of interest, till Ave reach Santiago : it passes through the villages of Chafiar, Altamisque, and Loreto, skirting the desert of Salinas : the only rivers met Avith are, the Rio Primero after leaving Cordoba, and the Rio Dulce before arriving at Santiago. Santiago del Estero is a delapidated town of 8,000 inhabitants, Avitli a privileged climate: it stands in lat. 27.46, and long. 64.22. Tlie Govern- ment-house and three churches are worth visiting. This town is ninety leagues north of Cordoba. From Santiago to Tucuman is tAventy-eight leagues, the route crossing ■the Rio Dulce. Nothing can exceed the fertility of the Province of Tucu- man, the garden of South America, rich in every product of the tropical or temperate zones. The city of Tucuman stands on a Avell-Avooded plain, 358 leagues N.W. of Buenos Ayres, Avith a population of 12,000 souls: it is situate on a branch of the Rio Dulce, and is famous for the declaration of Independence, 9th July, 1816. From Tucuman to Salta is sixty-nine leagues, through a diversified country of hill ranges and rivers, for we are noAV in the region of the Andes. This Avas formerly the highway from Buenos Ayres to Lima. The townof Salta Avas founded in 1582, and its present population is about 10,000. The traveller may still go tAventy leagues further north, to Jujuy , which is the last Argentine province, and borders on Bolivia. The tOAvn is insignificant ; but some salt is produced from the neighboring «salinas,)) and the discovery of petroleum seems to be an acknoAvlcdged fact. The navigation of the Yermejo Avill open up the resources of this remote province. TO SAN LUIS AISD MENDOZA. 101 WESTERN ROUTE. The Western route goes due west from Villa Nueva to Mendoza, thea strikes off due north, skirting the foot of the Andes, to San Juan. The itinerary is as follows : — Villa Nueva, 3 Cerrillos, . 4i Cabral, .... ... 3i San Luis, . 4i Cauada de Luque, ... n Tisera, . H Totoral, 4 Chosraes, .... , . . . H Guanacho, .... H Cabra, . Ui Tarabito, 6 Villa de la Paz, .. i\ Chucull, 4 Dorraida, . 4i Eio Cuarto, .... 6i Santa Rosa, .... f 6i Ojos de Agua, . . . . 3i Retamo, 9 Barranquita, 3i Mendoza, 6 Achiras, .... H Jujuli, .... . n\ Portezuelo, .... H Guanacache, . . . 8i Morro, .... ... 3i Posito, .... . 3i Lorro, .... ... 4i Rio Quinto, 5| San Juan, .... . . 149 ?roni Villa Nueva to Rio Cuarto is twenty-seven leagues, and now we enter on a territory very much exposed to Indian forays ; the road from Rio Cuarto traversing a wild and desolate tract of forty leagues, till reaching the town of San Luis. San Luis has almost disappeared from the map, partly owing to its constant civil Avars, and partly to the Indians. The whole province has only a handful of inhabitants ; the city of San Luis is mostly composed o^ mud huts. It has its governor, legislature, (fcc. From San Luis to Mendoza is 50 leagues, still through the desert. The road crosses the Desaguadero, before reaching the village of La Paz, and at last reaches Mendoza, at the base of the giant Cordillera. Mendoza Avas destroyed by earthquake, March 20th, 1861, but is now partially rebuilt. Its chief importance arises from its passes over the Andes into Chile, and its communication Avith San Juan and Rosario. The journey from IMendoza across the Cordillera of the xVndes, to Santa Rosa, the first toAvn met Avith on the Chilian side, can be done in four to six days mounted on a good mule, which may be hired from 3^ to §10. In summer it is a most pleasant journey, and to those Avho have not seen the Cordillera scenery in all its grandeur it must prove a very interesting trip, but the traveller must not attempt it betAveen the 1st of ]^Iay and 1st J 02 ITINERABIES OF THE REPUBLIC. of November following, as the pass ((La Cumbre» is generally closed and the entire road covered with snow to a depth of several yards. The «temporales» are most frequent in that season, and come down with terrific force. There is a weekly coach to San Juan, fare §13 ; the distance is 32 leagues, through a very wild and mountainous country. A gentleman who recently made the trip from Rosario to San Juan gives the following notes of his journey : — «The distance from Rosario to San Juan is computed about 280 leagues, the towns through which the coach passes being as follows :^— Leagues. Days, i Guardia Esquina, 24 1 San Luis, Saladillo, § 16 Mendoza, Frayle 3ruerto, 10 1 San Juan, Eio Cuarto, .... 50 2 Achiras, .... 19 1 Total, Morro, 13 1 ((From Rosario to Rio Cuarto the country Leagues. 25 Days 1 75 3 48 2 .... 280 12 is mostly level, the camps good and abounding in pasture termed 'pasto fuerte.' Ret ween Saladillo and Rio Cuarto timber is very plentiful. Passing the last- named place the surface becomes broken and the views on all sides mountainous. In succession we skirt along the Sierras de Cordoba, Morro, and San Luis. Nothing can be more picturesque than the situation of Achiras, Morro, and SanXuis, but the constant fear of the Indians effectually prevents any improvement in these towns. The river separating the provinces of San Luis and Mendoza is called Desagua- dero, and there is a village of the same name. The road from San Luis thither is remarkable, traversing in its whole length large forests of algorroba, quebracho and other species o£ timber, all hard wood. It is as straight as an arrow for twenty leagues of its length, and is forty yards "Wide. It is without exception the finest road in the Republic, and if a little care were bestowed on it, would be at once a wonder and a model. From Desaguadero to Mendoza is fifty-five leagues. Here tlie aspect of the country is different from anything, yet seen, the land on all sides being cultivated. The road is lined on either side by poplars, far as the eye can reach, and the cultivation being by means of artificial water drains well distributed, the surrounding vegetation is quite astonishing, and only comparable to that of the islands of the Parana. The extent of land under agriculture in Mendoza is found to exceed 60,000 cuadras (200,000 acres) chiefly occupied by alfalfa, vines, and cereals. The principal industry ME>DOZA TO SA.>' JUA^. 103 consists in fattening cattle for the Chilian markets : they enclose the animals in a field of alfalfa, which Avhen eaten down, they turn them into another. What appears almost incredible, though true, is that an alfalfa field once sown, requires no further labor thai irrigation, and will yield abundant crops of pasture for forty years or more. The amount cultivated in San Juan is 35,000 cuadras (120,000 acres) sown, as in Mendoza, for the most part with alfalfa, vines, and cereals, and here also the chief business is fattening cattle f^r Chile. The mountains on all sides abound in minerals : lead, silver, copper, and gold. There are also three coal mines in Huerta,Pie de Palo, and Jachal, which have not yet been worked, but are proved to contain rich and plentiful deposits : the abundance of timber has almost rendered the consumption of coal unnecessary. The city of San Juan is well built and presents a pleasing aspect. Many of its streets are w ell paved, and each house has its own supply of water by means of a canal communicating with the Rio San Juan. The outskirts are charming, the city being surrounded by small mountain chains descending from the great Andes. » From San Juan the traveller may make excursions to the silver mines of Marayes and Hilario ; or continue his course further north to Rioja and Catamarca. Rioja is about forty leagues from San Juan. The province has been made a howling wilderness by the incessant civil wars ; it contains much mineral wealth undeveloped. The town of Rioja is at the foot of the Andes. Catamarca is about forty leagues beyond Rioja : the province is rich in mineral and agricultural products. Messrs. Lafone and Carranza are the chief miners. There is a good business in fattening cattle for Chile. Tobacco, wine, and fruits are raised in great quantities. In 1864 the Congress authorized an emission of eight per cent Ronds'for the construction of roads and bridges through the Republic. The eminent firm of Docwra, Wells, and DaAvson, of London had made proposals, but subsequently declined to take the Ronds for security. Nevertheless some roads were commenced by Government, th^ local contractors taking the bonds at fifty percent., viz: — Concordia to Restauracion, San Luis to Cerrillos, San Luis to San Juan, San Juan to Rioja, San Juan to Tontal and Chile, Cordoba to Rioja, Cordoba to Famatina, Salta to Tucuman, Salta to Jujuy, Salta to the Rio Vermejo, Cordoba to Catamarca. Besides these there are thirty-one roads projected, as follows ; — Jujuy — A road to Bolivia, with two or three bridges over rapid rivers. Another to unite the chief town with some port on the Rio Vermejo. lOi ITINERARIES OF THE REPUBLIC. Salta — Continuation of the road to Palo Santo, and those of Jujuy and Tucuman. Tucumati — Continuation of the great Northern route to Santiago. A new road direct to Catamarca by the Cuesta Totaral. Catamarca — Branch to Santiago, and road to Copiapo, with houses of refuge, to ensure constant communication with Chile even in winter. The Totoral to be prolonged to Rioja, and a direct line drawn to Cordoba. Rioja — AVaggon-roads to Cordoba and San Juan ; aijother across the Llanos to San Javier in Cordoba, for junction with the grand western route. Post-houses and fresh water must be provided along these roads. San Juan — Roads to Rioja and Copiapo, with houses of refuge in the Cordillera. The Mendoza road to be deviated, and the Cordoba one improved. Mendoza — The Uspallata pass to Chile to be provided with the proper number of houses of refuge for transandine travellers. San Luis — ^Road to Rioja, forming junction with that of the Llanos. Cordoba — Deviation and improvement of the great North highway to Santiago. Carriage-way across the Sierra, to meet that of the Llanos to Rioja. Santiago — Improvement of Sunchales route, and the central road through the Gran Chaco coming out in front of Corrientes. Santa Fe — Junction with the Santiago road, and direct road to Cordoba, •with a bridge over the Carcaraila. Corrientes — Road from Restauracion to Misiones, and from the latter district to the city of Corrientes. Entre-Rios — Highway to Corrientes, passing through La Paz. Buenos Ayres — One or two bridges over the Arroyo Medio en route for the province of Santa Fe. A complete postal system on the West and South frontiers. ^ PROJECTS A>'D CONCESSION'S. ' 105 CHAP. IX. ENTERPRISES, PROJECTS, AND CONCESSIONS. Consequent on the pacification of the Republic in 1861, a number of important enterprises sprung up, many of which were protected by Government guarantee and monopoly. Some have been already completed or are in train, others fell through, either owing to want of capital or to the renewal of hostilities in these countries in 1865. Others still remain as projects, waiting only a favorable occasion for realization. The Central Argenti.ne Railway, from Rosario to Cordoba, 247 miles, was first projected in 1853, under General Urquiza's administration. On the 5th September 1862, a concession was made by Congress in favor of Mr. Wheelwright, which, as subsequently amended, stood thus — 1. The cost of the line not to exceed £6,400 per mile. 2. The land necessary for the line to be given by Government; also, a grant of a league of land on each side along the line. 3. Government guarantee of 7 per cent, interest for forty years on cost ef construction. .4. The line to be finished within six and a-half years. The works were inaugurated in April 1863, and although some delay was caused by the Paraguayan war the line is noAV running to Yilla Nueva, 170 miles, and will be finished to Cordoba in 1869. There is a project to continue the railway to Tucuman and across the Andes, for which purpose Seuor Moneta, Government engineer, made surveys in June 1868. 106 PROJECTS AND CONCESSIONS. The Southern Railway, from Buenos Ayres to Chascomus, is 72^ miles long, the concession from the Buenos Ayres Legislature to Mr. Edward Lumb bearing date 1 1th June 1862. 1 . The cost of the line was put down at £10,000 per mile. 2. The Buenos Ayres Government guaranteed 7 per cent, for forty years on the cost. 3. If the line be prolonged to Dolores (eighty miles further south) the same guarantee will be given. 4. The railway to be exempt from all tax for forty years. The Legislature refused to admit the cost of construction at more than X700,000, whereupon the guarantee on the additional sum of £25,000 was collectively given by the following merchants : Messrs. Thomas Armstrong, John Fair, George Drabble, Edward Lurab, Henry Harratt, Henry A. Green, Gregorio Lezama, Ambrosio P. Lezica, and Federico Elortondo. The works were commenced by Messrs. Peto & Betts on 8th March 1804, and the line was completed before the close of 1865. Last year the net profits gave 5 per cent, on the capital; but, every year the traffic is improving, and the guarantee Avill soon be unnecessary. The Northern Railway, was begun in 1860, the concessionaire being Mr. Edward A. Hopkins, but the works were destroyed the following year by a high tide. The enterprise was continued in 1861 by Messrs. Croskey & Murray, who again inaugurated the works in February 1862. The c Oncession stipulated : — 1 . The cost of the line £150,000, for sixteen miles. 2. Government guaranteed interest seven per cent, for twenty years. The line was opened to San Fernando on 5th February, 1864. In October of the same year the Legislature of Buenos Ayres gave a concession for prolonging the line to Zarate, with a guarantee of seven per cent, for .twenty years, but limithig the cost to £7,100 per mile. This concession lapsed, as the prolongation works were to be commenced within twelve months and concluded in three years. The line was, however, prolonged two miles to the Tigre, which is used as a port for the steamboat traffic of the upper rivers. The Boca and Exsenada Railway, Avorks were begun by Mr. Wheel- wright on 23rd February, 1863, and the concession granted in the following July, viz. : — 1. The Government concedes permission to William Wheelwright to construct and run for ever a railway, which shall start from the Paseo Julio, where the Northern Railway terminates, to the Boca del Riachuelo, Barracas, and Ensenada. E?»SE>ADA RAILWAY. 107 2. The road to Ensenada must be concluded before the 1st March, 1867, unless in view of the great importance of making a previous survey of the capabilities of that port to adapt it to the necessities of Buenos Ayrean commerce, it should be agreed on between the Government and the concessionaire, to make of this a practical experiment. 3. In case that Ensenada v/ill admit of being made to meet the necessities of the commerce of Buenos Ayres, such as a port of loading and discharging vessels, and that the Government approves of the plans, it is agreed that the concessionaire of the railway shall take charge of the w ork, having first arranged with the Government. 4. The Government guarantees to the concessionaire that for the term of twenty years no other railway from the Custom-house to the Boca, Barracas, and Ensenada, whether propelled by steam or otherwise, shall be permitted. On 8th September, 1865, the liue was opened as fer as Barracas, three mdes ; and in November of same year a surveying expedition proceeded to Ensenada to examine its condition as a port, and the difficulty offered by the bar : the report was favorable, but no further steps were taken in the matter. The line now runs to Barracas, and the bridge over the Riachuelo is being constructed, to push on the works to Ensenada. The Bio Salado navigation concession was given to Don Esteban Rams in 1863 : the history of the enterprise has been fully explained in the chapter on the Rio de la Plata and its tributaries. The Artesiaij Well of Barracas was begun by Messrs. Bordeaux & Co., on 1st June, 1859, with the object of carrying away the offal of the saladeros, the saladeristas and Government defraying the expense. After two months' labor the bore reached a depth of 96 feet, viz. : sand, 40ft. ; slime and dark-blue ochre, 1 3ft. ; tosca, 7ft. ; lluid yellow and grey sand, 36ft. In December, 1861, the works were renewed, and by February, 1862, the bore reached 234 feet, having traversed a bed of marine shells. On 14th March, 1862, the water rose through the tubes and poured out in a • jet d'eau ' : on July 6th the Artesian Well was inaugurated by President Mitre, and since then it has been much in use as a bath. The water is unfit to drink, but possesses saline medicinal qualities. The Electric Telegraph (Buenos Ayres to 3Iontevideo} concession was granted on 9th June, 1864, viz. : — 1. Exclusive privilege conceded to Messrs. Proudfoot & Grey for fifteen years, from conclusion of works. 2. Permission to erect posts on highroads or elsewhere. 108 PROJECTS AND COIVCESSIOIVS. 3. Government to protect the wires by all possible means. 4. Government messages half price. 5. In case of misunderstanding between the Republics, the Argentine Government not to stop the wires, nor to have right to inspect messages unless private correspondence be prohibited. The cable was laid from Punta Lara to Colonia, twenty-six miles, in October 1866, and the wires opened for traffic a few weeks later. Telegraph Wires to Chile.— In December 1866, Messrs. Hopkins & Gary obtained a concession to lay down wires from Buenos Ayres to Chile, as follows : — 1. The line shall be completed within two years from the date of concession. 2. The Government, on conclusion of the line, shall pay the contractor a subvention of 8 per cent, per annum for twelve years, on a cost of ^200 s. per mile. 3. The Government shall cede to the company fifty squares of public lands for every fifteen miles of telegraph. 4. If the whole of the line be not completed within the term specified in clause 2, the Government shall reduce 1 per cent, on the subvention for every four months so delayed in finishing the line. This project lapsed, owing to the death of Mr. Street, the eminent contractor of San Francisco. Traction Engines. — In August 1863, Messrs. Rossignol, Beare, & Puyrredon obtained a concession for traction engines throughout the Bepublic ; the first line to be established in eighteen months, and others to Eosario, Cordoba, Tacuman, and 3Iendoza in three years. The construction of roads and bridges was to be at the cost of the company, whose capital was fixed at £200,000, the Government guaranteeing 7 per cent, on actual outlay. In 186i Mr. Beare brought from England an engine called El Buey, Avhich made an unsuccessful experiment from Barracas to town, and the project was abandoned. The soil seems too soft and light for such locomotives. Roads and Bridges. — In September 1863, Congress passed the follow- ing law : — , 1 . The President is authorised to emit §1 ,000,000 in shares, which shall be denominated Roads and Bridges Stock. 2. These sliares shall be of $20, g50, $500, and g 1,000s., with an interest of 8 per cent., payable half yearly, and with 3 per cent, amortization. SA]X JUAN MINES. •lOQ 3. These shall be only issued at par, and shall be paid out only T\hen new enterprises shall require it. For a list of the roads made and projected the reader is referred to Chap. vii. , San Juan 31ining Company. — In >'ovember 1862, Governor Sarniiento of San Juan, and President Mitre, aided Major Rickard in getting up a joint- stock company, capital £22,000, for the working of silver ores at Hilario. Mr. Rickard went to England for machinery and miners, retui'niug in 1863, and proceeding at once to build an extensive factory at Hilario. Troubles began with the shareholders in August 1864, and the works were paralysed. A new company was, however, formed in London in November 1867, and it is hoped the works will shortly be resumed. Klappenbach's Mining AVorks, situate at La Huerta, thirty-five leagues from San Juan, were begun in September 1864, and are now completed: they can smelt 100 tons of ore daily. The result of the smelting in 1865 was — 1,446 marks of pure silver; in the first eight months of 1868 it Avas 6,589 marks. In September 1868, Messrs. Klappenbach formed a joint- stock company of ii46,000 capital, in £200 shares : some shares not subscribed for were taken up by the Argentine Government. Carriage Road over the Andes. — In February 1865, a project was set on foot by M. Carpentier, a French resident in Chile, to make a highway from Rio Teno in Chile to Valle Hermoso in the Argentine Republic ; the road to be sixteen feet wide and practicable for carriages. M. Carpentier obtained a concession from the Chilian Government of a right of toll for twenty years. He estimated the cost at £50,000, and engaged to finish it in three years. If the project be ever carried out it will be a great gain for travellers crossing the Cordillera. Eastern Argentine Railway. — In February 1863, Minister Rawson instructed Smith, Knight, & Co., London, to prepare surveys for a line from Concordia in Entre Rios to Mercedes in Corrientes. The following con- cession was granted in August 1864 : — 1 . The cost shall not exceed £13,353. 2. The National Government guarantees 7 per cent, interest on the capital invested. 3. The line to have three sections : 1st. From Concordia to Federacion ; 2nd. From Federacion to 31onte-Caseros ; and, 3rd. From Monte-Caseros to Mercedes. 4. The first section may be commenced at once ; but the second not until fio PROJECTS AISD COINCESSIOIVS. the first yields 3| per cent, net on the capital ; and the third Avhen both first and second give the same (3^ per cent.) net returns. 5. All lands necessary for the line, stations, &c., shall be ceded gratis to the company. 6. At least eighteen miles shall be open to traffic ^vithin two years,»and the rest of the first section in twelve months later. 7. Government may interfere in the traffic when the dividends exceed 15 per cent. There is every likelihood of this enterprise being revived, and the Governments of Entre JRios and Corrientes will perhaps give a land-grant along the line, similar to that of the Central Argentine. LuxAN AND Salto TIailway. — This was a project by M. Lacroze, to run a branch from the Western Railway northwards, the Government of Buenos Ayres finding the funds, to be reimbursed in part by municipal taxation in the (cpartidos)) benefited by the line. It was judged impracticable. Parana and Nogoya Railway. — The surveys for this line were made in October 1865 by Neville Mortimer, C. E., who estimated the cost at X32I.536 sterling; or £5,024 per mile, the length being 64 miles. Nothing has since been done in the matter. LoBOS Railway. — In June 1867 several land-holders of Lobos and neighbouring partidos prevailed on Governor Alsina to order the surveys of a branch-line from the Western to Lobos. The idea of Government consisted in proposing to the Legislature of Buenos Ayroe the emission of twenty millions currency (£160,000 sterling) in 6 per cent, funds, saleable at 85, with an annual sinking-fund of 1 per cent. Vice-President Paz and Dr. Acosta assured Governor Alsina that most of the said funds would be taken up in Lobos, Navarro, Saladillo &c. : they even promised to get all the land gratis, along the route. The branch-line would start from Moreno or Rodriguez station ; the cost would be about £5,000 per mile, but it is difficult to suppose the funds could be provided by subscription among the estancieros. Rio LuxAN Port and Railway. — In October 1867, a project was started, to run a branch railway from Floresta, on the Western line, to the River Lujan. The cost was estimated at £100,000, and the projectors sought no guarantee but a monopoly for twenty years, the great object being to make a port on the Rio Lujan, for the city of Buenos Ayres, at a place where the water is said to have a depth of twelve feet. Sain Fernando Canalization. — The concession, bearing date 20th July, 1863, is as follows : — HARBOR ACCOMMODATIOrf. Ill 1. Mr. Edward. A. Hopkins is hereby authorized to form a joint-stock company for the canalization of the Arroyo Capitan, between the Parana de las Palmas and Lujan river, opposite the town of San Fernando, with a mole, warehouses, and deposit stores, suitable to the requirements of the coasting craft of the upper rivers. 2. The capital of the company shall not exceed one million five hmidred thousand silver dollars. 3. The company may charge the tolls, mole, and deposit dues which it shall judge fit, for the term of twenty years, provided that the receipts do not exceed the sum of eighteen per cent nett profit on the capital. 4. The Arroyo del Capitan shall be canalized and improved : and shall have at least eighteen metres in breadth throughout the whole length at surface, and three metres in depth at mean tide. 5. The dues payable for the use of the canal shall only be recoverable in proportion to its cost, w hich must not exceed the sum of three hundred and seventy-eight thousand four hundred and twelve silver dollars, according to the estimates of the concessionaire. 6. At the expiration of the twenty years mentioned in article 3, the canal shall be free from all the company's dues. 7 . At any time during the period of this concession the Government shall have the right of expropriating the canal works for the benefit of the public, at the value of their cost, and 23 per cent extra as indemnification. 8. The company shall have the requisite number of tug-boats for the service of the moles and canal. 9. The works shall commence within the period of eighteen months. In 18G5 Congress gave a prolongation of the concession, and Mr. Hopkins began the w orks in the following year. A company was formed in Buenos Ayres in 1867, since when the works go on favorably. The iron- work is ordered from England, the machinery from the United States ; among the latter is a dredge capable of throwing 100 tons an hour. Port for Bue^vos Ayres. — In 1859, 3Ir. Coglilan, C.E., prepared a complete survey, with plans, for the construction of a harbor, the estimated cost being £800,000 : the plans still decorate the ante-chamber of the Provincial Legislature. In 1864 the project was taken up under another form by Seiior Garay. There is now some talk of Congress devoting the extra duties hitherto used for war purposes in this more useful manner. In 1866 Mr. Petty, the pilot, submitted a project to clear the roadstead of the many wrecks and lost anchors lying about ; he asked no other remuneration . than the anchors, &c., to be recovered, whereupon the authorities called 112 PROJECTS AND COIVCESSIONS. for tenders to clean the port, and nothing has since been done in the matter. • Harbor at the Boca.— In July 1863, Don Manuel Lynch submitted to Congress the subjoined project, -which died, like so many others, in embryo — 1 . The company shall construct, at their own risk and expense, a harbor for this city. 2. The entrance to such harbor Avill be near Quilmes, with a depth of water fourteen feet at low tide, with a proper sluice-gate. 3. This entrance will be prolonged as far as the Riachuelo de la Boca, by means of a canal. 4. The company shall erect, at their own cost, warehouses and depots. 5. When the section shall be finished to the Biachuelo, all vessels shall be obliged to enter the canal and Biachuelo for unloading or loading. • 6. The company shall recover, in such cases, on unloading, 12 reals s. per ton register, and the same for loading. 7 . The company shall have one or more tug-boats to take vessels ^n or out of the port, the fee for which shall not exceed 4 reals s, per ton register. 8. This concession shall be for a term of thirty years, after which the Government shall enter into full possession of the canals and lighthouse. Gunpowder Manufactory.— In September 1865, this company was formed, with a capital of £10,000, in shares of £50 each, under the direction of Mr. Liesenberg, who had had ten years' experience in Europe. An unlucky explosion occurred in July 1867, the day before the proposed inauguration: Mr. Liesenberg was seriously injured; but the enterprise was not abandoned. The works are situate at Palermo. Steam Communication with United States. — In August 1865, Congress voted £4,000 per annum as a subsidy for a branch line of the United States and Brazilian mail service : up to the present no branch lias been established. Buenos Ayres Water-works. — In August 1863 a proposal was sent in by Messrs. Easton, AmOs, & Co., London, to provide water-works for the city. The supply was to be 30,000 pipes daily, the water being taken from above the Gas-house. The cost was estimated at £102,000, for which the Municipality would give 7 per cent, bonds. Several other projects were initiated from time to time, but the Municipality paid no attention to the wants of the city, till, in January 1868, the cholera caused such ravages Governor Alsina and the Legislature took the matter in hand. SEWAGE A>-D WATER-WORKS. 113 » Mr. Coghlan was authorised to construct water-works near fbe Recoleta, :at jam estimated cost of £48,000, and an engineer was despatched to England for machinery. Mr. Coghlan states,, in a report to Don Emilio Castro, dated May 15, that the original design has been considerably extended, being now calculated for the distribution of 1,300,000 gallons daily. All the machinery being provided in duplicate the quantity may be at any time extended by addi- tional reservoirs and filters. The addition of a third engine similar to the two already contracted for, would be sufficient for increasing the supply to 2,500,000 gallons daily. The works were inaugurated with great pomp on the 1 5th September, the machinery is already shipped from England, and it is expected the whole project will be carried out early in 1869. The pipes will suffice for twelve miles of ground. Drafnage, Water Supply, and Pavlng. — There are several projects under consideration, some one of which will probably be carried out before long. The works undertaken by Mr. Coghlan are in a manner temporary, as they do not include drainage and paving, and the new proposals include the purchase of said works. The proposals of Robinson & Co., and Gotto & Neate, are the most important. Thomas Robinson and Co.^s Praposah. Draina(je. — Will construct all *necessary sewers, two disiufectiug stations, gullies for street water, junction pipes to facilitate house drainage. • Water-works. — Will supply 2,000,000 gallons filtered water daily, con- stant pressure, fire-plugs at every cross street, hydi*ants, air valves, water tower, and cistern. Will execute at least twelve squares (1 ,700 yards) of both works every two months, and complete all in four vears. Will commence works immediately on signing contract. -^ Terms. — To be paid for 400 manzanas (blocks 425 feet square) £820,000 in Provincial Bonds bearing 7 pec cent, interest, and 3 per cent, sinking fund, payable in London or Buenos Ayres at choice of contractor. For every additional manzana £ 1 ,350. Gotto and Neate' s Proposal: Capital, £1,200,000. Sewerage. — Pipes to carry off sewage and rain water. Junctions to houses. Water-works. — Supply of 6,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours, constant pressure. 114 PROJECTS AlVD COJS'CESSIONS. Paving. — Of 136 squares (58,000 lineal feet) with granite blocks, in- concrete. Will maintain and work water supply and drainage for term of conces- sion, and keep paving in repair for one year. Terms. — Monopoly for ninety-nine years. Exemption from duties, import and export. Payment by Provincial Government of §48 s. (£9 1 5s.) per annum for each house within the city. The Municipality to pay ^25,000 s. (£5,100) per annum for water for fountains, fires, and watering the streets. Export of Cattle. — In August 1868, Messrs. Alexander F. Baillie and P. Barry, on the part of a London company, petitioned the Argentine Government for a concession to export live stock to Europe. The capital of the company was stated at £500,000, and a fleet of seven first-class steamers w^ould be constructed, with the double purpose of bringing out emigrants, and taking home cattle in the return voyage : the annual export of stock to be at least 5,000 head of horned cattle and 3,000 sheep. They solicited a monopoly for seven years, and a total exemption from Customs'- duties. Mr. Baillie returned to England in October, and states that he has obtained the concession prayed for, as far as regards all exportation of live stock to England and France. New Gas Compat^y. — In the beginning of 1867, Mr. James Bell of Montevideo, associated with some men of influence and capital in Buenos Ayres, projected a new gas companyfn Buenos Ayres, in opposition to the original company established in 1856. The capital of the old company is^ $18,000,000, or £144,000 sterling, and the dividends in recent years have varied from 20 to 30 per cent, per annum : the shares are still over 50 per cent, premium. The present price of gas is about £ I 3s. per 1,000 cubic feet, and the proposed new company promises to make a great reduction ; as yet, however, it remains merely a project, the only step taken being the submission of tlie statutes to the Argentine Government, which has approved of same. The term o^monopoly granted to the old company has. long since expired. It is intended to erect the works of the new company at the south end, in Barracas. , TREATIES OF COMMERCE. H^' CHAP. X. TREATIES OF COMMERCE A>'D NAVIGATION. The treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between the Argentine Republic and Great Britain bears date 2nd February 1825, and is as follo^>s : — TREVTY WITH GREAT BRITAIN. Extensive commercial intercourse having been established for a series of years between the dominions of His Britannic Majesty, and the territories of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, it seems good for the security, as well as encouragement of such commercial intercourse, and for the maintenance of good understanding between His said Britannic Majesty and the said United Provinces, that the relations now subsisting between them should be regularly acknowledged and confirmed by the signature of a Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation. For this purpose they have named their respective Plenipotentiaries, that is to say :— His Majesty, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Woodbine Parish, His said Majesty's Consul-Generalj in the Province of Buenos Ay res and its dependencies ; and the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, Sr. D. Manuel Jose Garcia, Minister Secretary for the Department of Government, Finance, and Foreign Affairs, of the National Executive Power of the said Provmces. i2 fl6 TREATIES OF COMMERCE AVlio, after having commimicated to each other their respective Full Powers, found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles : — Art. 1. There shall be perpetual amity between the dominions and subjects of His 3Iajesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata and their inhabitants. Art. 2. There shall be, between all the territories of His Britannic Majesty in Europe, and the territories of the United Provinces of Bio de la Plata, a reciprocal freedom of commerce. The inhabitants of the two countries respectively, shall have liberty freely and securely to come with their ships and cargoes to all such places, ports, and rivers in the territories aforesaid, to which other foreigners are or may be permitted to come, to enter into the same and remain and reside in any part of the said territories respectively ; also to hire and occupy houses and warehouses for the purposes of their commerce ; and generally the merchants and traders of each nation, respectively, shall enjoy the most complete protection and security for their commerce ; subject always to the laws and statutes of the two countries respectively. Art. 3. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, engages further, that in all His Dominions situated out of Europe, the inhabitants of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata shall have the like liberty of commerce and navigation stipulated for in the preceding article, to the full extent in which the same is permitted at present, or shall be permitted hereafter to any other nation. Art. 4; iNo higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the territories of His Britannic Majesty, of any articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, and no higher or other duties shall be imposed on the importation into the said United Provinces, of any articles of tlie growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's dominions, than are, or shall be payable on the like articles, being the growth, produce, or manufacture, of any other foreign country ; nor shall any other, or higlier duties or ehargcs be imposed in the territories or dominions of either of the contracting parties, on the exportation of any articles to the territories or dominions of the other, than such as are or may be payable on the exportation of the like articles to any other foreign country : nor shall any prohibition be imposed upon the exportation of any article, the growth, produce or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's dominions or of the said United'Proviaces, which shall not equally extend to all other nations. TREATY WITH ENGLAND. 117 Art. 5. No higher, or other duties or charges on account of tonnage, "light, or harboiu- dues, pilotage, salvage in case of damage or shipwreck, or any other local charges, shall be imposed, in any of the ports of the said United Provinces, on British vessels of the burthen of above one hundred and twenty tons, than those payable in the same ports, by vessels of the said United Provinces of the same burthen ; nor in the ports of any of His Britannic Majesty's territories on the vessels of the said United Provinces of above one hundred and twenty tons, than shall be payable in the same ports, on British vessels of the same burthen. Art. 6. The same duties shall be paid on the importation into the said United Provinces of any article the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's dominions, whether such importation shall be in vessels of the said United Provinces or in British vessels ; and the same duties shall be paid on the importation into the dominions of His Britannic Majesty of any article the growth, produce or manufacture of the said United Provinces, whether such importation shall be in British vessels, or in vessels of the said United Provinces. The .same duties shall be paid, and the same drawbacks and bounties allowed, on the exportation of any article of the growth, produce, or manufacture of His Britannic Majesty's dominions to the said United Provinces, whether such exportation shall be in vessels of the said United Provinces, or in British vessels, and the same duties shall be paid, and the same bounties and drawbacks allowed on the exportation of any articles the growth, produce, or manufacture of the said United Provinces to His Britannic Majesty's dominions, whether such exportation shall be in British vessels, or in vessels of the said United Provinces. Art. 7. In order to avoid* any misunderstanding with respect to the regulations which may respectively constitute a British vessel, or a vessel of the said United Provinces, it is hereby agreed, tliat all vessels built in the domimons of His Britannic Majesty and owned, navigated, and registered according to the laws of Great Britain, shall be considered as British vessels ; and that all vessels built in the territories of the said United Provinces, properly registered and owned by the citizens thereof, or any of them, and whereof the master and three fourths of the mariners, at least, are citizens of the said United Provinces, shall be considered as vessels of the said United Provinces. Art. 8. All merchants, commanders of ships, and others, the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, shall have the same liberty in all the territories of il8 TREATIES OF COMMERCE. the said United Provinces, as the natives thereof, to manage their own affairs tliemselves, or to commit them to the management of whomsoever they please, as broker, factor, agent, or interpreter ; nor shall they be obliged to employ any other persons for those purposes, nor to pay them any salary or remuneration, unless they shall choose to employ them ; and absolute freedom shall be allovi^ed, in all cases, to the buyer and seller to bargain and fix the price of any goods, wares, or merchandize imported into, or exported from, the said United Provinces, as they shall see good. Art. 9. In what relates to the loading or unloading of ships, the safety of merchandise, goods, and effects, the disposal of property of every sort and denomination, by sale, donation, or exchange, or in any other manner >vhatsoever, as also the administration of justice, the subjects and citizens of the two contracting parties shall enjoy, in their respective dominions, the same privileges, liberty, and rights, as the most favoured nation, and shall not be charged,' in any of these respects with any higher duties or imposts than those which are paid, or may be paid, by the native subjects or citizens of the Power in whose dominions they may be resident. They shall be exempted from all compulsory military service whatsoever, whether by sea or land, and from all forced loans, or military exactions or requisitions ; neither shall they be compelled to pay any ordinary taxes, under any pretext whatsoever, greater than those that are paid by native subjects or citizens. Art. 10. It shall be free for each of the two contracting parties to appoint Consuls for the protection of trade, to reside in the dominions and territories of the other party ; but before any Consul shall act as such, he shall, in the usual form, be approved and admitted by the government to which he is sent ; and either of the contractiag parties may except from the residence of Consuls, such particular place as either of them may judge fit to be so excepted. Art. 1 1 . For the better security of commerce between the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, and the inhabitants of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, it is agreed that if at any time any interruption of friendly coiumercial intercourse, or any rupture should unfortunately take place between the two contracting parties, the subjects or citizens" of either of the two contracting parties residing in the dominions of the other, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing their trade therein, without any manner of interruption, so long as they behave peaceably, and commit no offence against the laws ; and their effects and property, TREATY WITH ENGLA:'AVIGATION OF TllVERS. 121 Who, after having comraunicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the folloAviug articles : — Art. 1 . The Argentine Confederation, in the exercise of her sovereign rights, concedes the free navigation of the rivers Parana and Uruguay* wherever they may belong to her, to the merchant vessels of all Nations, subject only to the conditions which this treaty establishes, and to the regulations sanctioned or which may hereafter be sanctioned by the National authority of the Confederation. Art. 2. Consequently, the said vessels shall be admitted to remain, load and unload in the places and ports of the Argentine Confederation which are open for that purpose. Art. 3. The Government of the Argentine Confederation, desirous to provide every facility for interior navigation, agrees to maintain beacons and marks for setting out the channels. Art. 4. A uniform system shall be established by the competent authorities of the Confederation for the collection of the Custom-house duties, harbour lights, police and pilotage dues along the whole course of the waters which belong to the Confederation. Art. 5. The high contracting parties, considering that the island of Martin Garcia may, from its position, embarrass and impede the free navigation of the continents of the River Plate, agree to use their influence to prevent the possession, of the said island from being retained or held by any State of the River Plate or its confluents which shall not have given its adhesion to the principle of their free navigation. Art. 6. If it should happen (which God forbid) that war should break out between any of the States, Republics, or Provinces, the rivers Parana and Uruguay shall remain free to the merchant flags of all nations, excepting in what may relate to munitions of war, such as arms of all kinds, gunpowder, lead, and cannon balls. Art. 7. Power is expressly reserved to His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and the Governments of Rolivia, Paraguay, and the Oriental State of Uruguay, to become parties to the present treaty in case they should be disposed to apply its principles to the parts of the rivers Parand, Paraguay, and Uruguay, over which they may respectively possess fluvial rights. Art. 8. The principal objects for which the rivers Parana and Uruguay are declared free to the commerce, of the world, being to extend the mercantile relations of the countries which border them, and to promote immigration, it is hereby agreed that no favour or immunity sliall be 122 TREATIES OF COMMERCE. granted to the flag or trade of any other nation which shall not equally extend to those of the United States. Art. 9. The present treaty shall be ratified on the part of the Govern- ment of the United States within fifteen months from its date, and within two days by His Excellency the Provisional Director of the Argentine Confederation, who shall present it to the first Legislative Congress of the Confederation for their approbation. The ratifications shall be exchanged at the seat of Government of the Argentine Confederation within the term of eighteen months. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this treaty, and affixed thereto their seals. Done at San Jose de Flores on the tenth day of July in the year of our Lord one tliousaud eight hundred and fifty-three. — Robert Sche^nk — John S. Pendleto];^ — Salvador Maria del Carril — Jose B. Gorostiaga. In 1858, General Urquiza's Government concluded a convention Avith H.B.M.'s Minister, Mr. Christie, at Parand, for payment of damages caused to British subjects during the civil wars, the claimants receiving 6 per cent, bonds. ( PUBLIC MEN. 123 CHAP. XI. BIOGRAPHIES OF PUBLIC 3IEN. PRESIDENT SARMIE^•TO, DoMisGo Faustiko Sarmiento was born in the town of San Juan at the end of February 1811, nine months after the glorious 25th of 3Iay that marks the birthday of the Argentine nation. His father, though uneducated, w as an enthusiastic patriot, and took an active part in the revolution which emancipated his native country from the Colonial regime. Finding, at every step, the disadvantages of his ignorance, he determined that his son should not share them, and, fi'om the early age of five years, sent him to school. There young Sarmiento, by his application and talent, gave already signs of his future greatness. Being originally destined for the Church, he was sent, in 1824, to the Loreto Seminary at Cordova ; but the revolution of Carita, having deprived him of his Latin master, he began in 1825 to study mathematics and land surveviug under Mr. Barreau^ the engineer of the province. In the same year he went to San Luis with his relation, the Clerigo Oro, to continue the studies which the revolution of the previous year had interrupted. In 1826, returning to his native town, he hired as clerk in a store, but his nights were devoted either to reading or to discussions with his uncle. Father Albarracin, on the Bible. He took an active part in the campaign that followed against Facundo Quiroga in San Juan, and that against Fraile Aldao in Mendoza, which ended in the catastrophe of Pilar, where he rose to the rank of Captain, and where his courage and presence of mind saved him from many 124 PUBLIC MEN. dangerous chauces. The victory of Facuiido Qiiiroga, in Chacon, in 1831, obliged him and most of his companions to emigrate to Chile, where he was successively schoolmaster in the Andes, bar-keeper in Pocuro, clerk in a commercial house in Valparaiso, and major-domo of mines in Copiapo. In 1836 he returned to San Juan, poorer than he had left, and suffering from severe illness. He then, in society with Drs. Rosas, Cortiuez, and Aberastain, devoted his energies to promote several institutions of great utility for the province cf San Juan, such as a college for girls, another for boys, a dramatic society, and last, though not least, the Zonda^^ weekly publication, that tended to improve and instruct the masses. General Benavides, who was then the absolute ruler of San Juan, took umbrage at the influence and position young Sarmiento was acquiring, and, not only suppressed the Zonda^ but left no stone unturned, by vexatious persecution, to oblige him once more to emigrate. In this he at last succeeded ; and in IXovember 1840, Sarmiento again crossed the Cordillera, doomed to eat for a long time the hard-earned bread of exile. On his second visit to Cliile he began to take an active part in the politics of his adopted country, and, both as editor of several papers, and as a writer of literary works, more especially of education, he acquired for himself a fame which found echo even in the Old World. In 1846 and 1847 he was sent to Europe on a commission by the Chilian Government, to inspect and report upon schools and educational institutions ; and on his return Avrote an account of his travels, which he published. By his powerful writings in the periodical press, and in his other works, he contributed to the overthiow of the tyrant Rosas, and also took an active part in the final scene that was enacted on the plains of Caseros, where he held the rank of Chief of the Staff of the Grande Ejercito Libertador, and as such compiled the famous bulletin giving the official account of that celebrated action. Having, however, fallen out with Urquiza, he took up his residence in Buenos Ayres, and continued taking an active part in the troubled politics of those days, principally as editor of the Nacional. He was then appointed Inspector- General of Schools, and was able by his great experience and profound knowledge to effect vast improvements in the educational system of the country. After the battle of Cepeda he took office with Governor Mitre as Ministro de Gobierno, until the sad news arrived of the tragical death of his school-fellow and friend, Aberastain, and of the invasion of Juan Saa in tlic province of San Juan. He disagreed with his colleagues as to the action that the Government of Buenos Ayres was called to assume, and resigned. He subsequently took part in the campaign that was decided on the banks of the Pavon, and at tlie end of December re-entered San Juan, after* PRESIDENT SARMIE>'TO. 125 twenty-two years exile, at the head of a victorious army. Having been unanimously elected Governor of the province, he devoted for two years and a-balf all his energy and ability to the moral and material pjj-ogress of his native province, and had the glory of bringing to a successful issue the ditlicult campaign against the great «caudillo)> of the west, General Pefialoza, commonly called the Chacho. In April 1864, at the entreaty of President Mitre, he consented to go as Minister Plenipotentiary to Washington. During a residence of foiu* years in the United States he became imbued with the progressive ideas of Americans, especially admir- ing their system of popular education. In August 1868, he was elected President of the Argentine Republic, for the usual term of six years, the voting being as follows : — For President. Votes. Domingo F. Sarmieuto, 79 General Urquiza, 26 Rufino de Elizalde, .... 22 Guillermo Rawson, .... 3 Dalmacio Yelez Sarsfield, 1 For Vice-President. Votes. Adolfo Alsina, .... 82 Wenceslao Paunero, .... 45 Manuel Ocampo, 2 Francisco de las Carreras, I Juan B. Alberdi, .... 1 On the 12th October 1868, he entered into office. VICE-PRESIDENT ALSINA. Adolfo Alsina was born in Buenos Ayres on the 13th of February 1829. His father having been driven into exile to Montevideo, young Adolfo began there his studies. In 1852 he, came back to Buenos Ayres with his father, and continued his studies in the Buenos Ayres University, where he received his degree of Doctor of Laws. He took up arms in 1 852, and shortly afterwards was made captain, and during the siege of 1853 commanded an important «canton,» where he distinguished himself for great bravery. He took an active part in political life, as member of the Club Libertad, and made himself notable by his energy and eloquence. Cepeda found him promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and on that day he earned great praise for military tact and courage displayed amidst adversity. He Avas present at Pavon, where he commanded a battalion of National Guards. After a journey to Europe, in 1866, the influence he held in the Club Libertad secured his election as Governor of Buenos Ayres, from which post he has been raised to the Vice-Presidency. He is of a jovial character, and very popular among his friends. To all the fine qualities of his father, the much-respected Dr. V. Alsina, he adds an energy of character which is 126 PUBLIC MEN. rarely met with among our public men, and Avliicli lie inherits from his mother, Dofia A. Maza, daughter of Dr. Manuel Vicente Maza, who took a busy part in public affairs during the time of Rosas, and whose tragic end is notoridlis. His administration as Governor of Buenos Ajtcs ivas remark- able for two important measures, either of which is sulKcient to throw over it a lustre of imperishable glory : they are the foundation of the Oficina de Cambios, for fixing the value of the currency, and the city water- works. GENERAL MITRE, EX-PRESIDENT. Brigadier-General Bartolome Mitre, the late President of the Republic, is a native of Buenos Ayres. He commenced his career as cadet of artillery in Montevideo in 1839, rose to the rank of captain fighting against the armies of Oribe and Urquiza until 1845, when he left for Chile, where he was appointed Colonel and fought against Bolivia, commanding a field battery; after the war he edited several papers, and came in 1852 commanding the Oriental artillery of the allied army against Rosas, in Caseros. Was elected deputy to the local legislature, which, having made strong opposition to the Government, was forcibly dissolved, and he with several others went into exile. He was recalled after the revolution of 18 52, appointed commander of the forces in Buenos Ayres in the siege of 1853, and was made Minister of War ; was promoted to the rank of General in 1859, and commanded the army of Buenos Ayres at the battle of Cepeda, which he lost. Was elected Governor of the Province in 1860, promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and won the battle of Pavon against the army of the Confederation, after which he pacified the country, and was unanimously elected President', in October 1862. During his administration Buenos Ayres made great progress in industry, commerce, and public enterprises. The Cordoba railway, electric telegraph, and other notable works are associated with this period ; but it is also true that the state of the Upper Provinces was deplorable, the Indians devastating the frontiers with impunity. But for the war with Paraguay, the Argentine Republic must have advanced with rapid strides in all the arts of peace. General Mitre always evinced great friendship for Englishmen, and is an admirer of our literature, having translated some of Longfellow's poems. He stands high as a Spanish writer, for his life of General Bclgrano, and is a member of several European literary associations. On the conclusion of his term of office, October 12th 1868, his friends and admirers purchased a house for him. He is fond of playing chess, and is a thorough republican m sentiment. GENERAL URQUIZA. 127 GET>iERAE URQUIZA. Justo Jose de Urquiza, Captain-General, ex-President, and Governor of Eutre-Rios, was born near Concepcion about the beginning of the present century. He began life behind a (|raper's counter, but soon took to a military career, in which he was eminently successful. He expelled Rosas in 1852, was elected President, gave a Constitution to the Republic, threw open the rivers to the flags of all nations, and restored order in the upper provinces. In 1859 he obliged Buenos Ayres to re-enter the Argentine Confederation, but was defeated by General Mitre in 1861. Since then he has lived in retirement at his princely estancia of San Jose, near Concepcion, where he treats all visitors, especially Englishmen, Avith the warmest hospitality. His cattle and sheep-farms are as large as some of the smaller European monarchies, and give him a splendid income. He encourages immigration, railways, &c., and has subscribed £20,000 to the Central Argentine Company. He was again elected Governor of Entre Rios in 1867, and was next after Sarmiento .in the list of candidates for the Presidency. His last service to the Republic was the pacification of Corrientes, in union with the veteran diplomatist. Dr. Yelcz Sarsfield. THE ARCHBISHOP OF BUENOS AYRES. His Grace, Dr. Jose 3Iaria Bustillos y Zeballos de Escalada, is descended cf an old Spanish family, and was born in this city, A. D. 1800. He was raised to the episcopal dignity as co-adjutor to the late Bishop Medrano, under the title 'Bishop of Anion, in partibiis.^ In 1854 a Papal bull created him Bishop of Buenos Ayres, and in 1866 the see was elevated to an Archbishopric. Dr. Escalada is a man of portly and patriarchal appearance, and is much esteemed for his unassuming manners. His palace, in the Plaza Victoria, adjacent to the Cathedral, was erected for him by the State, in 1861. He has a secretary* a chaplain, and three clerks for the despatch of business. His salary is about £1,000 a year. Out of his private fortune he has built a chapel near the English cemetery^ connected with the diocesan clerical college. GOVERISOR CASTRO. Erailio Castro, Governor of the Province of Buenos Ayres, is a native of this city, and about fifty years of age. He has rendered long and varied services in many public capacities, and enjoys general confidence. In 1859 lie was Chief of Police ; in 1861 as commander of a battalion of National Guards he saw some military service : Being elected Senator in the Provincial Legislature, he held his seat in the Chamber till chosen its President. 12B PUBLIC MEN. Under the last administration lie filled the office of Government Inspector of Railways. On the elevation of Governor Alsina to the Vice-Presidency of the Republic, Mr. Castro, as President of the Senate, became Governor ex-officio. Having been educated in Scotland, he has strong sympathies for everything English, and is of course conversant with our language. DR. SARSFIELD, PRIME-MI]\ISTER. Dalmacio Velez Sarsfield was born in Cordova about the beginning of the present century, and received his education in the university of that city. He has long been reputed the first jurisconsult in the country, and his Civil Code, compiled at the request of Congress, is just published. During various administrations he held Office successively, and his name is associated with Bank-reform and other important measures. In the last Congress he sat as Senator for his native province. The new President on assuming office gave him the direction of the Cabinet as Minister of Interior. Dr. Sarsfield claims to be descended from a distinguished Irish family : he is well read in the judicial literature of England and North America, and his name is not unknown in high legal circles in Germany. He is an able speaker and writer. DR. VARELA, FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Mariano Varela, Minister for Foreign Affairs, is son of the late Florencio Varela, a distinguished writer, who was assassinated in Montevideo by order of General Oribe, on account of his writings in the Comercio del Plata. The brothers Hector and Mariano Varela served their time as printers in Rio Janeyro ; after -the fall of Rosas they came to Buenos Ayres and established the Tribuna newspaper, which soon acquired the foremost place in the press of these countries. Dr. Varela distinguished himself no less in Congress than as a journalist, and entered the Ministerial career under Governor Alsina, as Minister of Finance for the Province of Buenos Ayres. The foreign merchants presented him with a gold medal for his labors in establishing a fixed currency. He has taken a diploma as Doctor of Laws, and is a good English scholar. He is only thirty-two years of age. SR. GOROSTIAGA, FINANCE. Benjamin Gorostiaga, even before his appointment to the portfolio of Finance, was favorably known as a political economist, having gained an early reputation under the old regime at Parand . During his parliamentary career in the Congress convened by General Mitre, he was always remarkable for his clearness of views, and his mastery of statistical returns. He is about sixty years of age, and has a fine estancia near Chivilcoy. THE TSATIONAL MINISTERS. 129 DR. AVELLAiSEDA, INSTRUCTION. Nicolas Avellaueda is the sou of a respectable citizen of Tucuman, who w as Governor of that Province, until beheaded bv Rosas. He was educated in Cordova, and came to Buenos Ayres in 1857 to study law. He had scarcely attained his 20th year when he was employed as editor of the A'acional, and named professor of civil law at the University. His work on Public Lands, in 1865, attracted favorable notice, and Governor Alsina appointed him Minister of Government for Buenos Ayres. His practise as a lawyer was considerable until he embraced political life. His views on popular education are as advanced as those of President Sarmiento. He is conversant with Trench and Latin classics, and is studying English. He is only thirty years of age, and is a better writer than orator. COLONEL GALNZA, WAR AND MARINE. Martin Gainza spent his early years in Montevideo. His father was a Colonel under Lavalle, and fought in all the c^impaigns against Rosas, from 1840 till the fall of the tyrant in 185-2. The subject of our notice first distinguished himself as a cavalry officer in the civil wars aud the Indian frontier service. He owns large estancias near Zarate, and was for some years Commander-in-chief of the ?>ational Guards of the Province. He served under the last administration as Inspector of Arms, and was subsequently a candidate for the post of Governor on the termination of Governor Saavedra's period of .office. GENERAL GELLY-OBES. John Andrew Gelly-Obes, Brigadier-Geueral aud Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine army, is said to be a native either of Buenos Avres or the Bauda Oriental, although the family appears of Paraguayan descent. His father was. for a time Prime-Minister to the first Lopez (1852} in Paraguay, and when the young Lopez, since President, was sent to Europe on a diplomatic mission near the courts of St. James and the TuiUeries, Mr. Gelly-Obes, senior, accompanied him. The subject of our notice Avas commander of the Argentine Legion in the defence of Montevideo (1842-51), and subsequently Secretary in the AVar-office. During the campaign of Cepeda, 1859, he abandoned, for a time, his profession of auctioneer, to assume the command of the National Guards of Buenos Ayres. In 1861 he was made a Major-General, and gave up business. He aided General Flores in the invasion of Banda Oriental, in 1863, and, on the outbreak of the Paraguayan war, Avas removed from the portfolio of War jud Marine, to act as Chief-of-staff to General Mitre. He has since seen some active service in the campaign of Paraguay. 130 PUBLIC MEW. GENERAL PAUJ