Buenos Ayres.--Extent of the Argentine
Republic.--Population.--Narrow Streets.--Large Public
Squares.--Basques.--Poor Harbor.--Railway System.--River
Navigation.--Tramways.--The Cathedral.--Normal
Schools.--Newspapers.--Public Buildings.--Calle Florida.--A
Busy City.--Mode of furnishing Milk.--Environs.--Commercial
and Political Growth.--The New Capital.
The city of Buenos Ayres--"Good Air"--is well named so far as its
natural situation is concerned, but this condition of a pure atmosphere
has been seriously affected by unsanitary conditions, naturally arising
from the large influx of a very promiscuous population. A considerable
percentage are Italians, and so far as personal cleanliness and decency
go, they seem to be among the lost arts with them.
This thriving city is the capital of the Argentine Republic, which, next
to Brazil, is the largest independent state in South America, containing
fourteen provinces, each of which has its own local government, modeled
after those of the United States. The average reader will doubtless be
surprised, as the author certainly was, to realize that this southern
republic exceeds in extent of territory the united kingdoms of Great
Britain, together with France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Spain,
Portugal, Belgium, Holland, and Greece combined, the actual area being
something over twelve hundred thousand square miles. The province of
Buenos Ayres is just about the size of the State of New York, and
contains in round numbers a population of one million. Two hundred years
ago, the city of Buenos Ayres had a population of five hundred. Having
the statistics at hand, it is perhaps worth while to state that, of the
aggregate population of the province, a majority, or fully six hundred
thousand, are foreigners, classed as follows: three hundred thousand
Italians, one hundred and fifty thousand French, one hundred thousand
Spaniards, forty thousand English, and twenty thousand Germans. The
number of North American residents is very small, though they control a
fair percentage of the exports and imports. Authentic statistics show
that they number less than six hundred. Paris is not more crowded with
refugees from various countries than is this Argentine capital. Why such
a spot was selected on which to establish a commercial city is an
unsolved riddle, as it embraces about all the natural inconveniences
that could possibly be encountered on the banks of a large river. The
perversity of such a selection is the more obvious, because those who
made it must have passed by a score of admirable points eminently
superior in all respects to the one now occupied.
The first view of Buenos Ayres on approaching it by water is peculiar,
the line of sight being only broken by the church towers and a few
prominent public buildings; the horizon alone forms the background of
the picture. Unlike nearly all of the South American cities, there is no
forest or mountain range behind or surrounding the capital. From its
environs a continuous plain stretches away for nearly eight hundred
miles to the foothills of the Andes. Situated between the 34 deg. and 35 deg. of
south latitude, it enjoys a climate similar to that of the south of
France, and almost identical with that of New Orleans. The site upon
which the city stands is considerably above the level of the river, and
though the streets are far too narrow for business purposes in the older
portions of the town, they widen to a better size in the newer parts.
The roadways are poorly paved, so that it is very uncomfortable to walk
or drive over them. Boulevards are laid out to cut the older parts of
the city diagonally, as was done in Paris and Genoa, and is now being
done in Florence, so as to relieve the present insufficient capacity for
the transportation of merchandise. One is apt, however, when remarking
upon these particularly narrow and irregular streets in a foreign
country, to forget that there are, in the older portions of the capital
of Massachusetts, some quite as circumscribed and corkscrew fashioned.
If we do not find all the excellences of civilization predominating, and
admirable people in the majority here, we should do well to remember
that we have also left them in the minority at home.
The huge custom house of Buenos Ayres, with its circular form and high
walls facing the river, recalls in general appearance Castle Garden in
New York harbor, or the fort on Governor's Island. In its importance as
a commercial emporium, this city disputes the first place with only
three others in the southern hemisphere, namely, Rio Janeiro, Sydney,
and Melbourne, the latter of which has lately added greatly to its
harbor facilities by deepening and widening the Yarra-Yarra River.
The dwelling-houses of Buenos Ayres are mostly built of brick, and are
of a far more substantial character than those upon the west coast of
the continent. They have much more the appearance of North American
dwellings than Spanish, except that the windows are strongly guarded
with iron bars, and the cool, shady patios present domestic scenes,
mingled with flowers and fragrance, strongly local in color. The city is
regularly laid out in squares of a hundred and fifty yards each, so when
one is told that such or such a place is so many squares away, he knows
exactly the distance which is indicated. The Plaza de la Victoria is
surrounded by handsome edifices, including the opera house and the
cathedral, the facade of the latter very much resembling that of the
Madeleine at Paris. This square has a fine equestrian statue of some
patriot, and a small column commemorating a national event. The city has
a population equaling that of Boston in number, and we do not hesitate
to say that it is more noted for its enterprise and general progress
than any other of the South American cities. It has been appropriately
called the Chicago of the southern continent. The republic, of which it
is the principal city, has seven thousand miles of telegraphic wire
within its area, a tangible evidence of enterprise which requires no
comment. One remarkable line connects this city with that of Valparaiso,
on the Pacific side of the continent, and is constructed with iron poles
nearly the whole distance, crossing the Andes by means of forty miles of
cable laid beneath the perpetual snows!
It may well be supposed that the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres are of a
cosmopolitan character, when it is known that the daily newspapers are
issued in five different languages. As shown by the statistics already
given, a considerable share of the people are Italians, who form much
the larger portion of the emigrants now coming hither from Europe, or
who have arrived here during the last decade. As additions to the
population, they form a more desirable class, in many respects, than
those who seek homes further north. After the Italians, the Basques are
among the most numerous of the new-comers. There are over fifty thousand
of this people settled in the province of Buenos Ayres alone, readily
adapting themselves to the country. They are a strongly individualized
race, whom no one is liable to mistake for any other. They maintain in a
great measure the picturesque style of dress which prevails in their
native land, no matter what their vocation may be here. As a rule, the
Basques come with their families, bringing some moderate amount of
pecuniary means with them, and at once devote themselves to agricultural
pursuits. They take especially to the department of the dairy, making
butter and cheese of excellent quality, for which they find a ready city
market. They have a natural inclination towards cattle tending, and are
looked upon by the authorities as among the very best of European
emigrants. To promote this immigration to Argentina, a per capita
premium has been paid heretofore by the government, who, indeed, are
still ready to furnish a free passage for responsible emigrants, both of
this and other nationalities. This generous offer has been so shamefully
abused by the beggars, lazzaroni, and criminal classes of Naples and
Sicily, that a check has necessarily been put upon it, particularly as
regards the generally objectionable people of Sicily.
As a shipping port, Montevideo has a decided advantage over this
Argentine metropolis. Large steamers are obliged to anchor eight or ten
miles, or even more, below the city, on account of the shallowness of
the river at this point. A channel has been opened to facilitate the
approach of vessels of moderate tonnage, but much yet remains to be done
before the experiment will be of any practical advantage. Tugboats land
passengers on the quay, who arrive by the large mail steamers. Vessels
of not over twenty-five hundred tons can lie at the shore and land their
cargoes by means of the limited conveniences of the new dock. One would
think that this want of harbor facilities was an insuperable objection
and impediment in the growth of a great commercial capital, but Buenos
Ayres goes straight onward, progressing in wealth and business,
apparently regardless of such disadvantages. The present aggregate of
its imports, in round numbers, is one hundred million dollars per annum.
Even to-day, while resting under so serious a financial cloud, with her
credit at the lowest ebb, and so many of her lately wealthy merchants in
bankruptcy, the city has a certain steady, normal growth, which it would
appear that nothing can seriously impair. As we have intimated, the tide
of immigration has been checked, though not entirely stopped, by the
depressed financial and business condition of the country; still, in one
closing month of the last year, October, 1891, over two thousand
passengers arrived by steamship in Argentina, seeking new and permanent
homes.
When a pampero is blowing, it sometimes forces nearly all of the water
out of the harbor, leaving it high and dry, so to speak, though the
river is thirty miles in width opposite Buenos Ayres. Passengers,
baggage, and freight have in the past often been landed by means of
horse carts, hung on high wheels, and driven out into the water to such
a depth as would float small boats and lighters. Indeed, this was for
many years the common mode of landing freight and passengers at Buenos
Ayres. Two long and narrow piers which have been built partially obviate
the necessity of employing carts, unless the water becomes very low. It
has been said in all seriousness, and we believe it to be true, that the
cost of landing a cargo of merchandise at Buenos Ayres has often been as
great as the freight by vessel from New York, Liverpool, or Boston.
To construct a suitable harbor here for commercial purposes is a project
attended by almost insurmountable difficulties, but the attempt is
gradually being made. The water in front of the city is not only
shallow, but the bottom is extremely hard, while the increase of depth
down the river is so little that it would involve the dredging of soil
for a distance of ten miles, together with an indefinite width. It is
very doubtful if a channel in such a situation, liable to constant
changes, could be effectually established and maintained at any cost.
The city does not depend upon its foreign commerce alone for business,
having a boundless and productive territory in its rear, of which it
will always be the commercial capital. It is already a great railway
centre, the republic having over seven thousand miles of iron and steel
rails within its borders. Five railways radiate from Buenos Ayres at
this writing, and a sixth is projected. One route has been surveyed with
the idea of connecting this city direct with Valparaiso, the distance
between the two capitals being about nine hundred miles. It is designed
to take advantage of the road already completed to Mendoza, from whence
the addition would cross the Cordilleras at a height of ten thousand
feet, and pass through several tunnels, one of which would be two miles
long.
It should also be remembered, while on this subject of transportation
facilities, that the Parana River is navigable for light draught
steamers two thousand miles inland from Buenos Ayres, into and through
one of the most productive valleys in the world. From Montevideo to
Point Piedras, the river is uniformly sixty miles wide, and at Buenos
Ayres it has only narrowed to about half this distance. The two main
rivers which form the Plate are the Uruguay and the Parana, which in
turn unite to form the grand estuary called Rio de la Plata.
The city of Buenos Ayres has about as many miles of tramway as there are
in Boston. The various routes are well managed, and afford an infinite
amount of popular accommodation. This service is carried on by six
different companies. It is not in the hands of one big monopoly, as with
us in Boston. Competition in undoubtedly best for the public good, but
the business can be more advantageously conducted by a single company.
Experience has shown, however, that such a franchise is liable to great
abuse in the hands of a corporation having no rivalry to fear.
The citizens suffered long and patiently for want of good water for
drinking and domestic purposes. This trouble has been partially obviated
for a considerable time by the establishment of extensive water-works,
but they are not adequate to the demand. The means for obtaining a new
and additional supply are now under consideration. A system of drainage
has also been constructed, which was fully as much of a necessity as the
supply of water, but which, as usual, proves to be insufficient in
capacity to perform the necessary work,--at least it but partially meets
the requirements for which it was designed. People grow hardened by
association with danger, but the importance of good and sufficient
drainage for a capital in which malarial fevers prevail hardly requires
argument.
Unlike nearly all of the South American cities, Buenos Ayres has no
Plaza Mayor, or public square, as a grand business and pleasure resort,
a central point, par excellence, designed also for the recreation of the
general public. There are, however, several spacious squares, quite
large enough to represent such an idea,--nine or ten of them in fact,
all of which are surrounded by fine buildings. The Plaza Victoria, for
instance, already referred to, is some eight acres in extent, made
brilliant at night by electric lights, which supplement the old style of
gas-burners. The government house, the Palace of Justice, the cathedral,
and other effective buildings front upon the Plaza Victoria. Eight or
ten of the principal streets converge here, and this point is also the
place of departure for several lines of tram-cars. The cathedral is in
the Grecian style, the portico supported by twelve Corinthian columns,
composed of brick, mortar, and stucco, but the general effect is the
same as though each pillar was a monolith. The edifice is capable of
containing eight or ten thousand people at a time, being equal in size
and architectural effect to any ecclesiastical establishment on the
continent. As this cathedral is a very remarkable one in many respects,
we devote more than usual space to its description. It was rebuilt by
the Jesuits in the seventeenth century, but was originally founded in
1580, and is not much inferior to St. Paul's, London, as the following
dimensions will show. It is two hundred and seventy feet long by one
hundred and fifty in width, having an area of forty-five hundred square
rods, and stands next in size to Notre Dame, Paris. The interior of this
immense building, with its twelve side chapels, is dark, dingy, and
dirty, while the want of ventilation renders the air within foul and
offensive. It is only on some rare festal occasions that an audience at
all adequate to occupy its great capacity is seen within its walls. A
hundred persons do not seem like more than a dozen in such a place. Less
than a thousand only serve to emphasize its loneliness. One sees a few
women, but scarcely any men, present on ordinary occasions. The latter
are content to stand about the outer doors and watch the former when
they come from morning mass, or the ordinary Sabbath services. Here, as
in Havana, Seville, and Madrid, the Spanish ladies, who lead a secluded
home life, under a half oriental restraint imposed by custom inherited
from the ancient Moorish rule in continental Spain, do not resent being
stared at when in the streets. Probably this is the main attraction
which draws most of the senors and senoritas to the church services,
though undoubtedly many of them are devout and sincere in the outward
services which they perform. At least, let us give them the benefit of
such a conclusion.
The national religion of Argentina is that of the Roman Catholic Church,
but the power of the priesthood is strictly confined to ecclesiastical
affairs, as in Uruguay. Absolute religious freedom may be said to exist
here. No religious processions or church parades are permitted in the
public streets. This used to be very different in times past, almost
every other day in the Romish calendar being some saint's day, and it
was the custom to make the most of these occasions by elaborate parades
and gorgeous display. Besides some twenty-four Roman Catholic churches
and chapels, there are a score presided over by Protestants of various
denominations,--Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, and so on.
There is, as we were informed, a large and growing Protestant
constituency in the city.
It should be mentioned very much to her credit that Buenos Ayres has
supported, since 1872, a series of normal schools, in which regular
courses of three years' training are given to persons desiring to fit
themselves to become school-teachers. To assist those wishing to avail
themselves of these advantages, the government appropriates a certain
sum of money, and those persons who receive this public aid bind
themselves, in consideration of the same, to teach on specific terms in
the free schools for a period of three years. There are quite a number
of North American ladies employed in these schools, throughout the
several districts of Argentina, receiving a liberal compensation
therefor, and commanding a high degree of respect. The University of
Buenos Ayres, with about fifty professors and some eight hundred
students, stands at the head of the national system of education. It was
founded in 1821, having classical, law, medical, and physical
departments. There are also four military schools, two for the army and
two for the navy.
Buenos Ayres has more daily papers published within its precincts than
either Boston or New York. It has several elegant marble structures
devoted to the banking business, generally holding large capitals,
though the financial condition of several of them at this writing is
simply that of bankruptcy. This applies mainly to the state banks. There
are here an orphanage, a deaf and dumb asylum, four public hospitals,
and two libraries: the National Library containing some seventy thousand
volumes, the Popular Library having fifty thousand. There is also a free
art school, together with public and private schools of all grades. Last
to be named, but by no means least in importance, the city has a number
of fairly good hotels and restaurants, the latter much superior to the
former. Hotels are not only a strong indication of the social refinement
of a people, or of the want of it, but they are of great importance as
regards the commercial prosperity of a large community. Travelers who
are made comfortable in these temporary homes remain longer in a city
than they would otherwise, spend more money there, and are apt to come
again. If, on the contrary, the hotel accommodations are poor, travelers
complain of them, and strangers avoid a city where they are liable to be
rendered needlessly uncomfortable in this respect. Rio Janeiro is a
notable instance in hand, a city whose hotels we conscientiously advise
the traveler to avoid.
We well remember, at the great caravansary in Calcutta, the only hotel
there of any size or pretension, that a party of five Englishmen and
five Americans, who had come from Madras with the purpose of passing a
fortnight in the former city, shortened their stay one half, simply
because the hotel was so wretchedly kept, the accommodations were so
abominably poor, and the discomforts so numerous. Let us put this idea
in mercenary form. Ten guests, expending at least eight dollars each per
day, curtailed their visit seven days. It is safe to say that they would
have left six hundred dollars more in Calcutta had they been comfortably
lodged, than they did under the circumstances.
We should not omit to mention the Commercial Exchange, in speaking of
the public buildings of Buenos Ayres. It is a fine, large, modern
structure, admirably adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.
Until within a year, the edifice in Boston applied to the same purpose
would not compare with that of this South American capital.
There is no dullness or torpor in this city. All is stir and bustle.
Life and business are rampant, and yet, strange to say, no one seems to
be in any special hurry. Everything is done in a leisurely manner. The
number of handsome stores and the elegance of the goods displayed in
them are remarkable, while the annual amount of sales in these
establishments rivals that of some of our most popular New York and
Boston concerns in similar lines of business. One may count forty
first-class jewelry establishments in a short walk about town. There is
hardly a more attractive display in this line either in Paris or London.
Diamonds and precious stones of all descriptions dazzle the eye and
captivate the fancy. The Calle Florida is one of the most fashionable
thoroughfares, and presents in the afterpart of the day a very gay and
striking picture of local life, a large element being composed of
handsome women, attended by gayly dressed nurses, in charge of lovely
children wearing fancy costumes. The young boys affect naval styles, and
their little sisters wear marvelously broad Roman scarfs, and have their
feet encased in dainty buff slippers. What pleasing domestic pictures
they suggest to the eye of a restless wanderer!
On account of the narrowness of the streets, there is but one line of
rails laid for the tramway service, so that a person goes out of town,
say to Palermo, by one system of streets and returns by another. These
cars move rapidly. A considerable distance is covered in a brief time,
the motive power being small horses. An almost continuous line of cars,
with scarcely a break, is passing any given point from early morning
until night, and the citizens are liberal patrons of them. We saw some
statistics relating to the number of persons carried by the tramways of
this city annually, which were simply amazing, and which would make the
management of the West End Railway of Boston "grow green with jealousy,
or pallid with despair." Of course all this has been temporarily
affected by the present financial crisis. As we have tried to show,
Buenos Ayres is a wonderfully busy city, in which respect it resembles
our own country much more than it does the average capitals of the
south. There is none of the visible languor and spirit of delay which
usually strikes one in tropical centres. People get up in the morning
wide awake, and go promptly to business. There is no closing of the
shops at midday here, as there is in Havana, Santiago, the capital of
Chili, or some of the Mexican cities, so that clerks may absent
themselves for dinner or to enjoy a siesta. A much more convenient
course for both clerks and patrons is adopted, which does not block the
wheels of trade. The idea of closing stores at midday to steal a couple
of hours for eating and sleeping is a bit of Rip Van Winkleism entirely
unworthy of the go-ahead spirit of the nineteenth century.
The Plaza Retiro is as large as the Plaza Victoria, and occupies the
spot where in old Spanish days the hateful exhibitions of the
bull-fights were given. Indeed, this square was formerly known as the
Plaza de Toros. Many historical interests hang about the locality,
around which the rich merchants of the city have erected some palatial
residences, faced to a certain height with marble on the outside. These
domestic retreats have courtyards constructed one beyond another,
covering a considerable depth, and forming a series of patios, each
appropriated to some special domestic use,--the dining court, the
reception court, and the nursery. In this square, and also in the Plaza
Victoria, there are always plenty of hackney coaches to be found
awaiting hire, and it should be remarked that charges are very
reasonable for this service in Buenos Ayres.
There are thirteen theatres in the city, and an admirable museum. The
latter, rich in antiquities, is noted for its prehistoric remains of
animals which once lived in the southern part of this continent, but
whose species have long been extinct. This particular museum is
advantageously known to scientists all over the world. The Colon Theatre
is a large, well-equipped, and imposing place of entertainment, as much
so as the Theatre Francaise, Paris, and takes a high position in
representations of the legitimate drama and the production of the better
spectacular plays. This house adopts what is called here the _cazuela_
in the division of its auditorium, an excellent system, very general in
South American theatres, and we believe, nowhere else. It consists in
giving up the entire second tier of boxes or seats to the exclusive use
of unattended ladies, an arrangement which seemed to us strongly to
recommend itself. To this division of the auditorium there is a separate
entrance from the street, and no gentlemen are admitted under any
pretext whatever. So those who desire to come to the entertainments
quite unattended can do so with perfect propriety, and are safe from all
intrusion in this isolated position. The ladies of this city, when they
appear in public, dress very elegantly, following closely North American
and European styles, while displaying the choicest imported materials
well made up. Perhaps comparisons are invidious, but we feel inclined to
accord precedence in the matter of personal beauty to those of
Montevideo. In dress, however, the ladies of Buenos Ayres certainly
excel them. Each city has its local "Worth," but many dresses are made
in Paris and imported, regardless of expense.
There may be somewhere a noisier city than Buenos Ayres, as regards
street life in the business section, but London or New York cannot rival
it in this respect. Undoubtedly this is owing in a measure to the fact
that the traffic of so large and busy a metropolis is crowded into such
narrow thoroughfares, barely thirty feet in width, and often less than
that, a portion of which space is taken up by the tramway tracks. The
noisy vehicles which run on these rails make their full share of the
racket and hubbub. Here, as in the cities of Mexico and Puebla, the
drivers of the cars are supplied each with a tin horn, hung about his
neck, or suspended from the car front, upon which he exercises his
lungs, producing ear-piercing and discordant notes. Wheels and hoofs
upon the uneven pavements increase the din, supplemented by shouts and
language more forcible than proper, uttered by enraged teamsters because
of the frequent blocking of the roadway. Add to these dulcet sounds the
cries of itinerant fruit venders, fancy-goods sellers, and the shouts of
persistent newsboys, and one has some idea of the irritating uproar
which rages all day long in the older streets of Buenos Ayres.
Cows and mares are driven singly or in groups through the streets of
this city, and milked at the customers' doors, so that one is nearly
certain of getting the genuine article in this line, though we were
assured that some roguish dealers carry an india-rubber tube and flat
bag under their clothing from which they slyly extract a portion of
water to "extend" the lacteal fluid. "Is there no honesty extant?"
Adulteration seems to have become an instinct of trade. Asses are still
driven through the streets of Paris, in the early mornings, and the milk
obtained from them is distributed in the same manner, whether with a
slight adulteration of water or not, we are unable to say. It is not
uncommon at Buenos Ayres to see a person served on the street with fresh
milk just drawn from the animal, which he drinks on the spot. A very
refreshing, modest, and nutritious morning tipple. Mares, as before
mentioned, are not used for working or riding in this country, but are
kept solely for breeding purposes and to furnish milk. This article is
considered to be more nourishing for invalids and children than cow's
milk, and is often prescribed as a regular diet by the physicians.
The grand driving park of the capital, known by the name of Third of
February, is situated at Palermo, some distance from the city proper,
and covers between eight and nine hundred acres. On certain days,
especially on Sundays, a military band gives a public outdoor concert
here, when all the beauty and fashion of the city turn out in gay
equipages to see and to be seen, forming also a grand and spirited
cavalcade of fine horses and carriages. The races take place at Palermo,
and, as in all Roman Catholic countries, on Sundays.
The neighborhood of Buenos Ayres is generally under good cultivation,
the soil and climate uniting to produce splendid agricultural results.
The suburbs of Flores and Belgrano each present a very pretty group of
quintas and gardens, wherein great skill and refinement of taste is
evinced. The alfalfa, a species of clover used here in a green condition
as fodder for cattle, and which is as rich as the red clover of New
England, to which family of grasses it belongs, grows so rapidly and
ripens so promptly that three crops are often realized from the same
field in a single season. The immediate environs of the city are
occupied by private residences, many of which are very elaborate and
imposing, surrounded by charming gardens and pleasure grounds. Grottoes,
statuary, and fountains abound, while orchards of various fruits are
common, interspersed here and there with picturesque graperies. Some of
the highways are guarded by hedges of cactus,--_agave_,--much more
impenetrable than any artificial fencing. Trees of the eucalyptus family
have heretofore been favorites here, originally imported from Australia,
but they have ceased to be desirable, since it appears that nothing will
grow in their shadow. They seem to exercise a blighting power on other
species of vegetation. Figs, peaches, and oranges grow side by side,
surrounded by other fruits, while the low-lying fields and open meadows
nearest to the river are divided into large squares of three or four
acres each, enameled with the deep green of the thick growing alfalfa,
and other crops varying in color after their kind. Richest of all are
the intensely yellow fields of ripening wheat still farther inland,
whose softly undulating surface, gently yielding to the passing breeze,
produces long, widespread floating ripples of golden light.
The love of flowers is a passion among all classes of the people, and
their cultivation as a business by experienced individuals gives
profitable employment to many florists, whose grounds are pictures of
accumulated beauty, fragrance, and variety of hues. There is as true
harmony to the eye in such blendings as there is to the ear in perfect
music. The reader may be sure that where the children of Flora so much
abound, bright tinted humming-birds do much more abound, dainty little
living feathered gems, rivaling rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.
To insure the good health of her large and increasing population, the
system of drainage in Buenos Ayres requires prompt and effectual
treatment. The natural fall of the ground towards the river is hardly
sufficient to second any engineering effort to this end. That typhoid
fever should prevail here to the extent which it does, at nearly all
seasons of the year, is a terrible reflection upon those in authority.
This is a fatal disease which is quite preventable, and in this instance
clearly traceable to obvious causes. Rio Janeiro, with its yellow fever
scourge, is hardly more seriously afflicted than Buenos Ayres with its
typhoid malaria. Indeed, it is contended by some persons living on the
coast that the number of deaths per annum in the two cities arising from
these causes is very nearly equal, taking into account the results of
year after year. Sometimes, unaccountably, Rio escapes the fever for a
twelvemonth, that is to say, some seasons it does not rage as an
epidemic; but we fear, if the truth were fairly expressed, it would be
found that the seeds are there all the while, and that the city of Rio
Janeiro, like that of Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico, is never
absolutely exempt from occasional cases.
The Argentine Republic contains more than a million square miles, as
already stated; indeed, immensity may be said to be one of its most
manifest characteristics. The plains, the woods, the rivers, are
colossal. To be sure, all of her territory is not, strictly speaking,
available land, suitable for agricultural purposes, any more than is the
case in our own wide-spread country. No other nation equals this
republic in the value of cattle, compared with the number of the
population, not forgetting Australia with its immense sheep and cattle
ranches. It is believed, nevertheless, that the agricultural interest
here, as in Uruguay, is gradually increasing in such ratio that it will
erelong rival the pastoral. The average soil is very similar to that of
our Mississippi valley, yielding a satisfactory succession of crops
without the aid of any artificial enrichment. The pampas have a mellow,
dry soil, the common grass growing in tussocks to the height of three or
four feet, and possessing a perennial vigor which mostly crowds out
other vegetation. A few wild flowers are occasionally seen, and in the
marshy places lilies of several species are to be met with; but taken
all together the flora of the pampas is the poorest of any fertile
district with which we are acquainted. A few half-developed herbs and
trefoils occasionally meet the eye, together with small patches of wild
verbenas of various colors. At long distances from each other one comes
upon areas of tall pampas grass as it is called, so stocky as to be
almost like the bamboo, eight or ten feet high, decked with fleecy,
white plumes. Birds are scarce on the pampas. There is a peculiar
species of hare, besides some animals of the rodent family, resembling
prairie-dogs--_biscachos_--or overgrown rats, together with an
occasional jaguar and puma, found on these plains, as well as that
meanest of all animals, the pestiferous skunk. Animal life, other than
the herds of wild cattle, can hardly be said to abound on the pampas.
Until a few years since, Buenos Ayres enjoyed the distinction of being
the capital of the province of the same name, as also of the Argentine
Republic; but the present capital of the province of Buenos Ayres,
called La Plata, is situated about forty miles south-east of Buenos
Ayres, with which it is connected by railway. The site of the new
capital was an uninhabited wilderness ten years ago, the foundation
stone of this city having been laid in 1882. To-day La Plata has a
population of about fifty thousand, although over seventy are claimed
for it, a comprehensive system of tramways, broad, well paved streets,
two theatres, thirty public schools, a national college, and six large
hotels. There are many monuments and fountains ornamenting the
thoroughfares, and what is now wanting is a population commensurate with
the grand scale on which the capital is designed. An immense cathedral
is being built, but has only reached a little way above its foundation,
as work upon it has for a while been suspended. If the original plan is
fully carried out, it may be half a century or more in course of
construction. La Plata is suffering from the pecuniary crisis perhaps
more seriously than any other part of the country. The city is lighted
by both electricity and gas, issues five daily newspapers, has a very
complete astronomical observatory, a public library, five railroad
stations, and some very elegant public buildings. Its large
possibilities are by no means improved, however. Of the buildings, the
edifice of the provincial legislature, that of the minister of finance,
and the legislative palace are all worthy of mention. The government
house is a long, low structure, the front view of which is rendered
effective by an added story in the centre, which projects from the line
of the building, and is supported by high columns. The "Palace," as it
is called, forming the residence of the governor of the province, is an
elaborate and pretentious building, three stories in height, with two
flanking domes and a dominating one in the centre. Of course La Plata
has gained its start and rapid growth from the prestige of being the
provincial capital, but it is now slowly developing a legitimate growth
on a sound business basis, and though it can hardly be expected to ever
equal Buenos Ayres in population and commercial importance, it
nevertheless promises to be a prosperous city in the distant future; its
citizens already call it the "Washington" of South America. A close
observer could not but notice that many houses were unoccupied, and the
streets seemed half deserted.
While the most of our maps and geographies remain pretty much as they
were a score of years ago, and a majority of the kingdoms of the Old
World have changed scarcely at all, the Argentine Republic has been
steadily growing in population, progressing rapidly in intelligence,
constantly extending its commercial relations, and marching all the
while towards the front rank of modern civilization. A detailed
statement of its extraordinary development during the last twenty years,
in commerce, railway connections, schools, agriculture, and general
wealth, would surprise the most intelligent reader. It is believed by
experienced and conservative people, particularly those conversant with
the South American republics, that Buenos Ayres will be the first city
south of the equator in commercial rank and population, within a quarter
of a century. The increase of this republic in population during the
last two decades has been over one hundred and fifty per cent., a
rapidity of growth almost without precedent. The increase of population
in our own country, during the same period, was less than eighty per
cent. Twenty-four lines of magnificent steamships connect the Argentine
Republic with Europe, and twice that number of vessels sail back and
forth each month of the year, while its railway system embraces over six
thousand miles of road in operation, besides one or two yet incomplete
routes, though the opening of its first line was so late as thirty-four
years ago. Add to this her system of inland river navigation, covering
thousands of miles, which has been so systematized as to fully
supplement the remarkable railway facilities.
That Argentina rests at the present moment, as we have constantly
intimated, under a financial cloud is only too well known to every one.
It is a crisis brought about by an overhaste in the development of the
country, especially in railroad enterprises. _Festina lente_ is a good
sound maxim, which the people of this republic have quite disregarded,
and for which they and their creditors are suffering accordingly. It is
seldom that any newly developed country escapes the maladies attendant
upon too rapid growth, but this is a sort of illness pretty sure to
remedy itself in due time, and rarely impedes the proper development of
maturer years. If this republic has been unduly extravagant, and
borrowed too much money in advancing her material interests, she has at
least something to show for it. The funds have not been foolishly
expended in sustaining worse than useless hordes of armed men, nor in
the profitless support of royal puppets.
Nations no less than individuals are liable to financial failure, but
with her grand and inexhaustible native resources, backed by the energy
of her adopted citizens, this republic is as sure as anything mortal can
be to soon recover from her present business depression, and to astonish
the world at large by the rapidity of her financial recuperation. Her
present annual crop of wool exceeds all former record in amount, and is
authoritatively estimated at over thirty million dollars in value. To
this large industrial product is to be added her prolific harvest of
maize and wheat, together with an almost fabulous amount of valuable
hides.