INDUSTRIES AND NATURAL WEALTH (_continued_)
Minerals--Past obstacles to the proper working of
mines--Gold--Auriferous prospects--Situation of the goldfields of
Uruguay--Past and present workings of the mines--Influence of
politics on labour--The Corrales mines--Manganese--Districts in
which iron ore is met with--Mineral centres--Minas--Maldonado--
Silver--Copper--Marble--Gypsum--Slate--Sulphur--Asbestos--Precious
stones--Diamonds and rubies--Jasper--Agate--The amethyst and
topaz--The water-stone--A peculiarity of Uruguay--Viticulture--
Date of the introduction of the vine--Vicissitudes at the start--
Subsequent rapid progress--Vineyard area of the present day--The
introduction of suitable plants--Countries of origin--Production
of grapes and wine--Departments most suitable to the industry--The
seal fisheries--Originally carried on by the Indians--Habits of the
seals--Development of the industry--Government grants--Conditions
and concessions--Number of skins obtained since 1873--Islands
inhabited by the seals--Method of killing and curing--Waste of
seal life--Suggestions for the improvement of the industry--
Scientific measures necessary--A diplomatic incident in
connection with the seal fisheries.
It is quite possible that Uruguayan minerals may yet cause something
of a sensation throughout the world. In the past her deposits of the
kind have lain comparatively undisturbed, owing to similar reasons
that have hampered the industry in Peru and Bolivia--want of transport
facilities. With the rapid spread of the railways, however, these
disadvantages will shortly become minimised, when no doubt
considerably more will be heard of the mineral wealth of the country.
Let it be clear that I am not making the following remarks in the
character of a mining expert. The latter profession, according to
vulgar report, is at times not averse to fiction; but the gap that
separates an author from a goldfield is uncomfortably wide. This
apparently frivolous foreword is not altogether uncalled for, since to
speak with undue optimism of the presence of the yellow dross is
dangerous to the layman writer, and profitable only to the expert.
Nevertheless, the auriferous prospects of Uruguay, so far as such can
ever be assured, give no small promise of success.
The chief goldfields of Uruguay lie in the northern province of
Rivera, and are situated in the neighbourhoods of Corrales, Cuñapiru,
and Zapucaya. A district here of from thirty-five to forty miles in
length and of about seven miles in breadth is thickly interwoven with
auriferous reef. The knowledge of the wealth in this particular spot
is no new thing, as ancient superficial workings on the part of the
Indians prove. From that time the mines had apparently fallen into
disuse until comparatively recent years, when they were in a sense
rediscovered by a French company. The concern, it is true, met with a
consistent lack of prosperity. The actual working is said to have been
carried on in a fashion that was both half-hearted and old-fashioned.
The period, moreover, was a peculiarly disturbed one from a political
point of view, and the province of Rivera has always been famed as the
birthplace and chosen haunt of revolutionary movements. An English
company, however, has now assumed control of the mines, a modern plant
is at work, and gold is actually being yielded.
Such are the bare historical facts of the chief mines at Corrales.
According to the experts, reefs have been met with that will yield
five ounces to the ton, and, should the reefs prove deep, the
prospects are practically limitless. But this remains to be seen. In
the meanwhile the earth has promised! But its promises, like its crust
in parts, are sometimes of pielike material. In this case, should the
anticipations be realised, there will be no little stir in the
province of Rivera--and elsewhere.
In the neighbourhood of these mines are enormous deposits of manganese
that are just now beginning to attract special attention. The
quantities of iron, too, that are to be met with here are rather
exceptional. Rivera, however, constitutes by no means the sole mineral
district of Uruguay. The provinces of Minas, Artigas, Maldonado,
Salto, Paysandú, Montevideo, and San José are all more or less well
endowed with the various species.
Of these remaining centres Minas is probably the richest. Traces of
gold are to be met with here, although in a minor degree, and silver,
copper, marble, gypsum, slate, sulphur, and asbestos would probably
all repay organised handling. Minas also produces lead, but this, too,
has suffered from considerable neglect. Indeed, I believe that one of
the very few ransackings of the mines that have occurred was for the
purpose of manufacturing bullets for the armies during the
revolutionary and civil wars at the beginning of the nineteenth
century.
The province of Maldonado contains copper, iron, marble, gypsum,
sulphur, and slate, and here, too, the mineral field has remained
almost unexploited up to the present. Montevideo holds manganese and
iron, Salto copper, Florida iron, Paysandú copper, and San José
asbestos. These, at all events, constitute the principal centres of
the minerals specified, although there are others of comparative
insignificance in many other districts.
Uruguay, too, is by no means without its precious stones. Odd rubies
and diamonds have been met with from time to time, and the jasper and
agate are fairly common. The stones, however, that obtain in really
considerable numbers, and that are consequently of the chief
commercial interest, are the amethyst and the topaz. Of both these
some magnificent specimens are to be met with in the Province of
Artigas. These very handsome stones are now attaining a distinct
popularity amongst the visitors to Montevideo. To those who have not
the opportunity of visiting the remote province of Artigas itself, it
may be mentioned that Agosto Wild, in the Calle Veinte Cinco de Mayo
in Montevideo, is a most trustworthy and reliable dealer.
A peculiarity of Uruguay is the water-stone that is met with in the
neighbourhood of Salto. This consists of a rounded portion of stone,
more or less knobbly and opaque or smooth and transparent as the case
may be. In the latter the water that is enclosed within it is almost
as plainly seen as though it were held within rather dull glass, and
with every movement of the crystal-like material the motion and
bubblings of the water are very clearly evident. There have been some
mental gymnastics ere now concerning the advent of the apple within
the dumpling: but the presence of this water within the stone suffices
to puzzle the more scientific minds. So far as I am aware, no adequate
explanation of the phenomenon has yet been vouchsafed.
Viticulture is one of the more recent industries of Uruguay. It has
now, however, obtained a firm hold, and the future of the commerce is
distinctly promising. It was as late as 1860 that the first tentative
plantings of the vine occurred, and it was not until 1875 that a
couple of really important vineyards were established, one at Colon
and the other at Salto, in the north-west of the republic. Even then
the undertaking did not meet with immediate success, and it was some
while ere the type of plant was discovered that would lead to the most
favourable results in the local soil.
This, however, once discovered, the progress of viticulture has
proceeded almost without a check. The rapidity of its increase may be
gathered from the following figures. In 1880 the number of vineyards
in Uruguay was 16; in 1890, 181; whereas in 1895 the total had swollen
to 748. Since that time the industry has continued to spread. Thus in
1897 the vineyards had increased in number to 824, while in 1905 the
viticultural census showed the very respectable total of 1,453.
It is only natural that this great increase in vineyards should have
been accompanied by the introduction of a greater variety of suitable
plants. The types of vines that now flourish in Uruguay hail from
France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany, the importance of the
various kinds being in accordance with the seniority rendered them in
order here. Of the French species introduced the most popular are the
Sauvignon, Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Castel, Merlot, Verdot, Semillon,
Sauvignon blanc, Clairette blanche, and some half-dozen others; of the
Italian the Piamonte, Grignolino Negro, Asprino, Docetto, Leonarda,
Lambrusca, Cipro Negro, and Verdea. The favourite Spanish varieties
are the Cariñana, Morrastel Bouchet, Murviedo, Malvosia Blanca, Pedro
Ximinez, while from Portugal have been introduced the black and the
white grape, and from Germany the Riesling.
The cultivation of the vineyards is attended by the greatest expense
in the south of the country, where the comparatively humid climate
lends itself more readily to the propagation of the various diseases
to which the vine is subject. Here the American grape, owing to its
immunity from phyloxera in a great degree, flourishes admirably. The
departments in which viticulture is chiefly carried on are at
Montevideo, that possesses a vineyard area of 1,426 hectares; Salto,
719 hectares; Canelones, 699 hectares; Colonia, 490 hectares;
Maldonado, 330 hectares; Paysandú, 177 hectares; Florida, 132
hectares; Soriano, 125 hectares; and Artigas, 97 hectares. In the
remaining departments the viticultural industry is of small account.
The later increase in the actual production of grapes and wine will be
evident from the following table:
-------------+---------------------+-------------------
| Kilos of Grapes. | Litres of Wine.
-------------+---------------------+-------------------
1904 | 16,387,738 | 10,458,119
1905 | 20,304,850 | 11,569,314
1906 | 16,408,077 | 9,469,674
1907 | 19,385,569 | 11,461,817
1908 | 28,753,259 | 18,563,496
-------------+---------------------+-------------------
The sealing industry of Uruguay is of considerably greater importance
than is generally supposed. Mr. C. E. R. Rowland, the British Consul
at Montevideo, is the leading English authority on the subject. The
following article, then, which he has kindly supplied, may be taken as
authoritative:
* * * * *
The aboriginal races of this part of South America were known to have
resorted to the coast-line during the summer months for their fishing
expeditions, the Indian race of the Charrúas occupying the coastline
from above the river town of Colonia to the borders of the Brazilian
frontier at al Chue, on the Atlantic.
Traces of their encampment grounds are still to be found along this
coast, principally from Maldonado to the Brazilian frontier, where
many of their primitive weapons and utensils are still to be met with,
and also the remains of what must have been their watch-fires, mounds
of burnt bones, containing amongst the rest bones and teeth of seals
which crumble under touch.
This coast in these former times evidently abounded in seal life, as
the natural conditions offered every attraction to these now timid
animals. A storm-beaten coast, with plentiful havens, in the mouth of
a large estuary abounding with fish, enticed the seals to the shore
and made them an easy prey to the Indians, but time has driven them to
the present rookeries which now afford them protection.
The first record of the sealing industry on the coast of Uruguay
having been put to practical purposes is that in the year 1834 they
were rented by the Government for the period of ten years to Señor
Francisco Aguilar for the sum of $80,000. The condition was imposed
that he should erect a suitable edifice to be used as a public school
in the town of Maldonado. This latter condition was altered insomuch
that the building, when completed, was used as a chapel, and has
remained so ever since.
[Illustration: A SEAL ROOKERY.]
[Illustration: BASKING SEALS.
To face p. 292.]
From the termination of this contract up to the year 1858 this
industry was worked by various tenants, but in this latter year the
Government passed a Law imposing a tax of 20 centavos per skin and 4
centavos per 10 kilos of seal oil, to be paid in equal proportions to
the municipalities of Maldonado and Rocha Departments, on whose coasts
the islands are situated. A further Law in the year 1896 doubled
these taxes, which were destined by the said Law to be applied by the
municipal authorities to the public works and the creation of
artificial parks.
The following tables will show the number of skins produced from these
islands since the year 1873:
Year. Skins.
1873 8,190
1874 9,449
1875 9,204
1876 11,353
1877 11,066
1878 14,493
1879 14,093
1880 16,382
1881 14,473
1882 13,595
1883 12,483
1884 14,872
1885 12,245
1886 17,072
1887 17,788
1888 21,150
1889 15,700
1890 20,150
1891 13,871
1892 15,870
1893 14,779
1894 20,763
1895 17,471
_____________|__________________
| |
Island Coronilla Island Lobos
1896 11,096 12,543
1897 9,091 10,143
1898 8,908 8,778
1899 9,339 7,796
1900 8,983 9,845
1901 8,023 8,215
1902 9,785 11,468
1903 5,899 7,929
1904 5,114 5,765
1905 2,246 3,387
1906 4,871 7,212
1907 2,880 7,612
The islands inhabited by seals on the coast of Uruguay are:
Castillos Rocks 4 small islands
Polonio 3 "
Paloma 2 "
Lobos 2 "
The Castillos Rocks are very difficult of access on account of the
heavy swell breaking on them. The Polonio group consists of three
small islands lying directly off the cape of same name, and are called
Raza, Encantado, and De Marco.
The sealers' huts and boiling-house are on the mainland in a small bay
to the north-east of the lighthouse. The seals when killed on these
islands are skinned with the inside lining of fat attached and are
brought on shore, when the inside lining of fat is taken off and
boiled down. The dead carcasses are left on the island, and in my
opinion the presence of so many dead seals destroyed by human agency
must have some effect upon those animals frequenting these islands,
making them wary and cautious in returning again to a place where the
remains of their companions are so visible.
Coronilla Islands consist of two large islands, covered with herbage,
and one small "_islote_," or reef, generally awash with the sea.
On the largest of these islands the sealers live during the season for
the purpose of salting the skins and boiling down the carcass of the
seals for oil. At the end of the season the skins and oil are brought
into Montevideo by tug-boats.
On Lobos Islands the killing is carried out in a different manner. A
large corral is erected on the middle of the island, and, when seals
are plentiful and the wind and weather are specially favourable, a
drive is made by about fifty men with clubs, who, getting between the
seals and the sea, drive them gently towards the corral. This is done
without much difficulty, and perhaps two thousand may be enclosed in
one day. Once enclosed they are allowed to wait until all preparations
for killing are complete. They are then driven out in batches of
twenty or thirty to the skinning-shed and boiler-house, where they are
dispatched at leisure.
By this mode of killing I am inclined to think that there must be a
great waste of seal life from an absence of a proper knowledge as
regards the animal killed. No selection is made from those driven
down, and every animal is killed even if the skin is worthless or
mangy. The majority of the animals slaughtered are females,
consequently the stock of production is gradually lessened. Were a
skilled sealer employed for the proper classification of the animals
before killing, it would do away to some extent with the extermination
of seals whose skins at that season were practically worthless.
On the Paloma Islands very few seals are killed.
The seizure of the Canadian schooner _Agnes G. Donohoe_ in the year
1905 on the alleged grounds of sealing in jurisdictional waters--that
is, within the three miles limit--caused the intervention of the
British Government. The master and men were under arrest for a period
of ten months, but the case, diplomatically handled at that time by
her Majesty's Representative, Mr. Walter Baring (Minister), and Mr.
Robert Peel (Chargé d'Affaires), was finally settled with satisfaction
to both Governments by the tactful procedure of his Majesty's present
Representative, Mr. Robert J. Kennedy, Minister Plenipotentiary and
Envoy Extraordinary.