SANTA CRUZ, THE CENTRE OF A RICH AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT
[Illustration: COAT OF ARMS OF SANTA CRUZ.]
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the only Bolivian city of importance which
is tropical in climate as well as locality. Although it is situated
at about the same distance from the equator as La Paz and Oruro, it
bears little resemblance to these cities in natural scenery, because
of the great difference in altitude. Too distant from the Cordillera
Real to be influenced by its temperature, and lying in the midst of a
valley not more than one thousand five hundred feet above sea level,
Santa Cruz is essentially a tropical city, though the heat is never
insupportable, as pleasant breezes are constantly blowing from the
_serranias_ of Valle Grande on the west and those of Chiquitos on
the east. It is a typical Spanish city, with spacious plazas, shaded
by wide-branching trees and beautified by luxuriant gardens. Its long
_calles_ are, like those of Spanish cities everywhere, walled
on each side by solid-looking houses, and they present very artistic
features in their picturesque _miradores_ and quaint, barred
windows, where a pretty _señorita_ may sometimes be seen looking
out, as a handsome _caballero_ lingers near to pay homage to the
charm of her “adorable eyes.” For the Cruceña, as a lady of Santa Cruz
is called, is generally beautiful, graceful, and of a frank, happy
disposition, altogether charming. The city is not more Spanish-looking
than its people, who represent the pure Castilian type, and preserve,
with few changes, the customs and characteristics of their Iberian
ancestors, proud of their descent from the noblest families of Spain.
Foreigners who have visited the city of Santa Cruz and its neighboring
_estancias_, as the large cattle ranches are called, invariably
remark upon the Spanish type of the people, and the very slight
evidence of an admixture of races to be seen here. The population
of the city is about nineteen thousand, of which two hundred are of
foreign origin, belonging to German, Italian, and other nationalities.
The city of Santa Cruz was founded, as elsewhere stated, by Ñuflo
de Chavez, soon after the Spanish conquest, and was later removed
to its present site and given the name of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Everyone who is familiar with Bolivian history knows with what
courage and success the Cruceños sustained their part in the struggle
for independence, and that the famous victory of La Florida, one
of the most brilliant of the war, was due to their bravery. The
history of the republic bears record to the patriotism and genius
of many distinguished Cruceños who have achieved national fame as
statesmen, diplomats, jurists, littérateurs, and orators. Don Santiago
Vaca-Guzmán, a Cruceño, has written gems of prose and verse, and
represented his country abroad as minister plenipotentiary with honor
and distinction. Don Manuel Ignacio Salvatierra, one of the most
illustrious statesmen Bolivia ever had, was a native of Santa Cruz, and
loved the pretty city of La Sierra better than any other, though he was
received at all the courts of Europe and welcomed in the intellectual
circles of its chief cities; he was a member of the Cabinet in his own
country as minister of finance, and was _fiscal general_ of the
republic. Don Rafael Peña, also a Cruceño, has filled many offices of
distinction, and has rendered invaluable services to the government as
prefect of Santa Cruz, minister of the Supreme Court of the nation,
and _fiscal general_, and he has written books of great merit,
especially _La Flora Cruceña_, which is regarded as one of the
most important contributions to Bolivian literature. Don Juan Francisco
Velarde, Bolivian minister to Washington a few years ago, and several
times member of the Cabinet, is a noted journalist and writer. Don
Gabriel Réné Moreno, one of the most brilliant writers of South
America, and Don Ignacio Terán, the learned director of the University
of San Francisco Xavier, are proud to claim Santa Cruz as their native
city. These are only a few names selected to show how active the
Cruceño is in contributing his share to the national progress.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is situated in the central part of the
department of Santa Cruz, and in a well-watered region, marking the
divide which from this point eastward separates the tributaries of
the Madeira from those of the Paraguay. Although distant about three
hundred and fifty miles from Cochabamba, the nearest large city, Santa
Cruz is reached on horseback without difficulty, though sometimes, in
the wet season, with delays occasioned by bad roads. The citizens are
naturally desirous of seeing the early completion of the new railroad
system, which will put them in closer connection not only with other
cities, but also with the chief shipping port of the department,
Puerto Suarez. But though so remote from the popular highways of
travel, the city has many modern conveniences, fine public buildings,
and commodious residences. As the seat of a bishopric, it has a
cathedral of imposing structure; and the government palace, national
college, agricultural school, public library, and hospital occupy
well-constructed edifices. Manufacturing establishments are numerous,
including saw mills, silk and cotton factories, tanneries, and various
small enterprises devoted to the manufacture of _dulces_, or
preserved fruits, chocolate, and other confections. Panamá hats, which
are woven of _jipijapa_ fibre, are also made in this city. All
the commerce between Santa Cruz and foreign countries passes through
the ports of Villa Bella, Puerto Suarez, and Antofagasta. The city is
connected with the other department capitals by telegraph, and several
long-distance telephone lines connect it with neighboring towns and
with the provincial capitals of the department. Roads lead out of the
capital to all the principal cities of the department. In the vicinity
of the city are celebrated mineral springs and thermal baths of the
highest medicinal value.
[Illustration: GOVERNMENT PALACE, SANTA CRUZ.]
[Illustration: CALLE FLORIDA, SANTA CRUZ.]
The department of Santa Cruz comprises one of the most productive
regions of South America. It is so favored by climate and an abundance
of natural resources that travellers unite in pronouncing it a
wonderful land of promise, awaiting only the necessary industrial
enterprise and commercial facilities to convert it into the most
flourishing and prosperous of agricultural countries. Nature seems
to have bestowed unlimited wealth on this territory, in which gold
and precious stones are known to abound, forests of rubber trees
yield great wealth, all kinds of fruits and cereals grow with little
cultivation, and cattle raising is always a profitable enterprise. The
department covers about twenty thousand square leagues. Its western
boundary is marked by the headwaters of the Mamoré, which divide it
from the department of Cochabamba; on the east it extends to the
Paraguay River and to the Rio Verde branch of the Guaporé, by both
of which it is separated from Brazil; the department of the Beni
extends across its northern boundary, and to the south it adjoins
the department of Chuquisaca. The western section is close to the
foothills of the Cordillera Real, the provinces of Valle Grande,
Cercado, and Sara, which border the department of Cochabamba, being
traversed by _serranias_ that are rich in minerals and afford
unlimited pasturage for cattle on their fertile slopes. In the south
are grown peaches, oranges, lemons, figs, bananas, and pineapples,
while in the central and northern districts the more tropical dates,
_chirimoyas_, and _granadillas_ are cultivated. Medicinal
trees and plants of great value are found here, the best known
being the cinchona, from which quinine is extracted, the coca, the
sarsaparilla,--_smilax medica_,--and the jalap. Almost every
agricultural product known is cultivated in some section of the
department. Wheat, corn, and alfalfa grow in abundance in the hills of
the western districts, and in the rolling plains and more level tracts
of the central provinces of Velasco and Chiquitos are large plantations
of sugar cane, cotton, cacao, cocoa, mandioca, vanilla, tobacco,
rice, and coffee. The low lands which border the upper streams of the
Paraguay and the Guaporé are rich in rubber trees, an important source
of revenue to the department. The growth of all products is luxuriant,
corn being harvested three months after planting, sugar cane within
eight months, and rice every five or six months. Chiquitos produces
rice without cultivation. An example of the enormous undeveloped wealth
of eastern Bolivia is shown in the rice crop alone, which is hardly
sufficient to supply the market of a single province of the department.
Though rice can be planted at any season of the year, is cultivated
with the greatest facility, grows so abundantly that for every bushel
sown the harvest is forty bushels, and is of the very best quality,
yet millions of pounds of rice are imported every year. A planter
has been known to sow a _fanega_, about one and a half bushels,
at the beginning of the year, harvest forty fanegas in five months,
plant the forty fanegas immediately and gather at the end of the
year a harvest of one thousand six hundred fanegas, the year’s labor
having recompensed him by an increase of one thousand five hundred and
fifty-nine fanegas. There are two kinds of Bolivian rice, the white and
the pink variety. The soil and climate of Santa Cruz are peculiarly
suited to its cultivation, and it will no doubt be one of the principal
products of the department in the near future, as the attention of
progressive agriculturists has already been attracted to the great
possibilities of this industry.
[Illustration: OLD QUARTER OF SANTA CRUZ.]
Another product which grows in prolific abundance and of superior
quality in Santa Cruz is the sugar cane. This department should be one
of the greatest sugar-producing regions in the world, so favorable
are the conditions for its cultivation. At present only the most
primitive methods are used in the development of this industry, while
the expense of transportation is too great to make it as profitable
as it should be. When modern machinery is imported to take the place
of the antiquated apparatus which has been generally used, the sugar
industry will become one of Bolivia’s greatest sources of wealth. The
influence of the progressive conditions that have been governing the
country during the past few years is having a beneficial effect on
agricultural as well as other enterprises. The report for 1905 shows
a notable increase over the five preceding years in the quantity of
sugar exported, which amounts to more than a million pounds annually.
Little or none of the Santa Cruz sugar leaves Bolivia, most of it being
consumed in this and other departments, excepting in Chuquisaca and
Potosí, which grow their own sugar. The manufacture of alcohol and rum
increases every year, the quantity produced by Santa Cruz alone being
estimated at three hundred thousand gallons annually. The process
of setting out a sugar plantation is described by those who have
seen it as the simplest imaginable. First a space is cleared in the
_bosque_ by cutting down the trees and underbrush; and a few days
afterward, when the wood is quite dry, it is set on fire and burned, to
leave the land perfectly clean for cultivation. Then the planter, with
a wooden stick, digs holes in the ground, about three feet apart, and
in each of these he plants a piece of cane, pushing it down into the
soil with his hand. This is done in November, and in May the harvesting
begins. Such a plantation will continue to yield for four years, each
successive harvest producing a sweeter quality of sugar. The cane grows
to a height of from fifteen to twenty feet the first year.
[Illustration: PICTURESQUE PLAZA OF SANTA CRUZ.]
Cotton grows with so little cultivation that it receives hardly any
attention, though it will no doubt provide an important industry when
improved transportation facilities lead to the general development of
agriculture on a larger scale.
Although the cinchona tree grows in great abundance in the department,
this industry is, like nearly every other of eastern Bolivia, still in
the infancy of development. There are vast forests of these trees which
have not even been thoroughly explored, and the few _quinales_,
as the quinine-producing plantations are called, which are exploited
by large companies, chiefly belong to foreign syndicates. These
_quinales_ are usually situated on the slopes of the mountains,
at an altitude of from three thousand to seven thousand feet above sea
level, and have been raised from seed gathered in the springtime and
sprouted in hothouses. The trees grow within five years to a height
of eighteen feet, straight and slender in form, the trunk measuring
about twenty inches in circumference. After five years’ growth it is
sufficiently developed to yield bark for the market, a few strips about
two inches wide and five feet long being cut from the trunk and laid
out to dry before shipment. This is done twice or three times a year,
the bark growing anew within a couple of years, when the tree may be
stripped again, in other places. Older trees yield bark from their
largest branches, as well as from the trunk, and a mature tree will
produce on an average about five pounds of bark.
[Illustration: CALLE DEL COMERCIO, SANTA CRUZ.]
Petroleum is found in abundance in the department of Santa Cruz,
within ten leagues of its capital city, and yet this valuable product
remains unexploited, while four bolivianos per gallon are paid for
the imported article. In the provinces of Valle Grande and Sara iron
and mercury exist in large quantities, gold abounds in the mountains
and streams of Chiquitos province, and salt is a product of several
lakes of the department. Besides the celebrated mine of Santa Rosa,
which is situated in the province of Velasco about two hundred miles
north of the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, on the border of the San
Miguel River, and which, as stated elsewhere, has long been a famous
gold-mining centre, there are other rich and promising placer mines in
this province and in Chiquitos. Sorotocó, Quebrada Ancha, Clemente,
Limas, Pehichi, Brígida, and Naranjos are names well known to Bolivian
miners as belonging to districts that have yielded many thousands of
pounds of gold within the past half-century. Every explorer who visits
Chiquitos returns with wonderful stories of its mineral wealth and the
precious stones to be found there. San José, which lies on theroute
of the new railway to be built from Santa Cruz to Puerto Suarez, has
been worked only in the most primitive fashion, yet has produced large
quantities of gold, and the whole province of Chiquitos gives promise
of proving a rich storehouse full of the precious metal when once its
mountains and streams are thoroughly explored. Most of the rivers in
the department contain gold, and the river system is very extensive,
including affluents both of the Amazon and the La Plata waterways.
[Illustration: VIEW OF SANTA CRUZ, SHOWING LAKE IN THE
VICINITY.]
The western part of Santa Cruz department is watered chiefly by the
Rio Grande or Guapay, which after traversing the provinces of Valle
Grande and Sara, turns northward to join the Mamoré. This large river
is navigable throughout nearly its whole length, and its tributaries,
the Piray and the Yapacaní, which flow through the province of
Sara, are also navigable for _callapos_ and _balsas_. The
province of Velasco is watered by the river San Miguel, which rises in
Lake Concepcion on the border of Chiquitos province and crosses the
department in a northwesterly direction, joining the Guaporé, after
traversing the eastern section of the department of the Beni. It is an
important river and receives many tributaries throughout its course,
chief among them the Rio Negro. Dense forests of rubber are found along
the route of these rivers, as well as in the neighborhood of the Rio
Blanco, the Serre or Paragua, and the Rio Verde, all of which rise in
Velasco province and, after crossing the Beni, join the Guaporé. The
Rio Verde is especially rich in rubber trees, and has the additional
importance of marking the source of navigation on this branch of the
Madeira system of waterways. The recently established port of Iténez
at the junction of the Rio Verde with the Guaporé, on the northeastern
boundary of Santa Cruz department, is an important acquisition to the
transportation facilities of this region.
[Illustration: CACIQUE AND HIS FAMILY, SANTA CRUZ.]
Of the river system which fertilizes the southern provinces of
Chiquitos and La Cordillera, the principal affluent is the Otuquis, or
Rio Negro, a tributary of the Paraguay, formed by the confluence of
the Tucabaca and the San Rafael Rivers. The Tucabaca is a small stream
which receives its waters from the periodical torrents that sweep down
from the _serranias_ of Santiago and Sunsa, and it flows through
an almost uninterrupted stretch of virgin forest, and between level
banks free from undergrowth, though the river is impeded at intervals
by the débris which usually collects in the channels of forest streams.
The San Rafael is formed by the uniting of many small affluents from
the _serranias_ of Santiago, and in its course to the Otuquis
it receives the thermal waters of Florida and Topera, entering the
main river under the name of Agua Caliente, “hot water,” at a point
called Santo Corazón. The Otuquis is navigable for thirty-six miles
from its mouth, and may be made a serviceable waterway for a distance
of two hundred and fifty miles when the work of clearing its channel
from tree trunks and other obstacles is completed. The Pirapiti, which
rises in the _serrania_ of Pomabamba, department of Chuquisaca,
is variously given as a tributary of the Otuquis, which it is said
to join near the headwaters of the latter, as an independent river
emptying into Lake Concepcion, and as a tributary of the San Miguel,
which is generally described as having its source in Lake Concepcion,
in the province of Chiquitos. This lake is one of the most important in
the department, having a circumference of about twenty leagues, though
there are several lagoons, called _curiches_ and _bañados_,
along the courses of the various rivers which water the department.
The Salinas de Santiago and Salinas de San José, in the province of La
Cordillera, are similar in appearance to those of Poopo and Coipasa on
the Titicaca plateau, and are noted for their saline properties.
The river system of the eastern part of Bolivia is somewhat
complicated, there being some sections of the great _divortia
aquarum_, or water divide, between the Amazon and La Plata system,
which are so slightly marked that a heavy flood is sufficient to alter
the direction of the currents. The Rio Aguaclara, which flows into the
Alegre and is known a few miles below as the Guaporé, rises in the
same _cerro_ as the Pezca which is a branch of the Jaurú, as the
Paraguay River is called for the first few miles of its course. The
Guaporé and the Paraguay are only five miles apart, and it has been
suggested that the two waterways could be profitably joined for the
purposes of commerce. At Bahia Negra, which is the name given to that
region of the Upper Paraguay which marks the junction of the Paraguay
with the Otuquis, the main river is bordered by very low banks hardly
more than five or six feet above the water at high tide and subject to
inundation during the rainy season. Puerto Pacheco, which is situated
south of Bahia Negra, in the region popularly known as the Chaco
Boreal, and at a distance of one thousand five hundred miles from
Buenos Aires, is the chief river port of this part of Bolivia. To the
north of Puerto Pacheco, the Paraguay River has sufficient depth for
the navigation of small steamers as far as Lakes Gaiba and Uberaba,
where the Jaurú enters a broader channel and becomes known as the
Paraguay. The Gaiba is deep enough to admit boats drawing from six
to eight feet of water. This is one of the richest zones of eastern
Bolivia; and once it is opened to industrial development, pasture
lands of the first order will be established here, an increasing
demand will be made for the forest lands on which valuable timber
grows in abundance, and the advantages of this region for the purposes
of agriculture, such as coffee growing and rice culture, will be
recognized. When one considers how desperate is the competition in
industry and commerce in the overcrowded countries of Europe, and what
a constant struggle the masses have to endure in order to get their
daily bread, it is not surprising that enthusiasm should be awakened at
the spectacle of the abundance which is to be had by little effort in
these vast forests and fertile plains, and the prediction is naturally
forced upon one that the day is not far distant when the steamers that
ply up and down the Paraguay will bring multitudes of immigrants to its
shores, and that the thousands of square leagues which now lie idle
will provide for the comfort and well-being of many happy colonists.
As in all tropical countries, the climate of the department of Santa
Cruz is marked by only two seasons, the winter being known as the dry
and the summer as the wet season. Winter usually begins in April and
lasts until September or October, and is characterized by alternating
north and south winds, the north wind being very pleasant, but the
south wind bringing such an abrupt lowering of the temperature that the
inhabitants are obliged to wear heavy clothing during the two or three
days that it lasts. The warm season becomes more marked each month
from September until February or March; and the rains, which begin in
December or January, continue until April, diminishing gradually. In
the southern part the seasons are modified, and in Chiquitos, where the
_serranias_ mark an altitude of four or five thousand feet above
sea level, the four seasons are very clearly defined.
[Illustration: LAS BARRERAS, A HACIENDA NEAR SANTA CRUZ.]
Hunting is one of the pastimes afforded by the abundance of wild
animals in the forests of Santa Cruz, the game being of the species
usually found in tropical countries. Handsome tiger skins are
frequently brought into the city for sale, as well as huge cobra skins,
the largest to be found anywhere, some of them measuring thirty feet
in length. Foxes, rabbits, tapirs, wildcats, and monkeys abound. The
sloth is a native of these _bosques_, and is seen everywhere in
the great tropical forests of Velasco. It is very interesting to watch
this animal, the symbol of laziness, slowly making its two or three
feet of progress a day. It has protection from attack in long talons,
which it fixes so securely in the flesh of the enemy that they can be
removed only by being cut out. So deliberate are its movements that a
hare can run miles while it is turning its head. The sloth is about the
size of a cat, though it bears no resemblance whatever to the feline
species. Its coat is of coarse gray hair. Fishermen find good sport in
the streams, though there are not many varieties of fish, but turtles
are found of every kind. The forests abound in every variety of the
feathered species from the magnificent macaw with its glorious plumage
flashing in the sunlight, where golden rays pierce the deep shadows
of tropical woodland, to the tiny humming bird that sparkles like a
brilliant gem as it sips the sweetest blossoms of groves that are
laden with perfumed flowers. Hunters seldom disturb these beautiful
birds, and they enjoy unlimited freedom.
The charm of the tropics is acknowledged by all who have lived under
its spell for a time. There is a beauty in the great, towering monarchs
of the forest, in the luxuriant verdure, in the rich greens of the
valleys, and in the gorgeous hues of a thousand blossoms. The birds are
so happy in perpetual summer land, and even those which do not sing are
enchanting in their gay plumage and graceful flight. Murmuring streams
and flashing cascades have a beauty that is irresistible, and there is
no voice so alluring as the whisper of the tropical breeze borne upon
the still air of Nature’s ideal dreamland.
[Illustration: THE CACTUS OF SANTA CRUZ.]
[Illustration: OPENING THE ROAD FROM PUERTO PACHECO, ON THE
PARAGUAY RIVER.]