[Illustration: MAP OF
ARGENTINA
AND
ADJOINING STATES]
ARGENTINA
BY
W. A. HIRST
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
MARTIN HUME, M.A.
WITH A MAP AND SIXTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS
T. FISHER UNWIN
LONDON LEIPSIC
ADELPHI TERRACE INSELSTRASSE 20
_First Edition_ 1910
_Second Impression_ 1911
_Third Impression_ 1912
_Fourth Impression_ 1914
(_All rights reserved._)
PREFACE
In establishing the commercial and industrial greatness of Argentina my
countrymen have co-operated with her people for a longer time and more
efficiently than any other foreign nation. The land and the people are
therefore a subject of lively interest to Englishmen, and it is hoped
that this sketch, however inadequate, will help towards a closer
knowledge of Argentina. I have received much valuable assistance from
many sources, but I do not indicate them, because I do not wish to shift
the blame for any inaccuracies that may be found in these pages. For all
such mistakes I am solely responsible.
_April 22, 1910._
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION XV
CHAPTER
I. THE COUNTRY--ITS FOUR DIVISIONS--THE RIVERS--THE CLIMATE 1
II. EARLIEST HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY 16
III. THE EUROPEAN CONQUEST 24
IV. THE SPANISH DOMINION 33
V. THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM 49
VI. THE ENGLISH FAILURE IN ARGENTINA 65
VII. THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 76
VIII. ANARCHY AND DESPOTISM--THE WAR WITH PARAGUAY 87
IX. MODERN ARGENTINA--SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS 99
X. THE CONSTITUTION--THE ARMY AND NAVY--GENERAL
POLITICAL CONDITIONS 111
XI. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE--WAGES AND COST
OF LIVING--IMMIGRATION 125
XII. BUENOS AIRES 139
XIII. ARGENTINE LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY 152
XIV. RELIGION--EDUCATION--JOURNALISM AND LITERATURE 158
XV. INDUSTRIAL ARGENTINA--RAILWAYS AND MINOR ENTERPRISES 178
XVI. THE PASTORAL INDUSTRIES OF ARGENTINA 196
XVII. COMMERCE AND FINANCE 210
XVIII. AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL PRODUCTS 225
XIX. BAHIA BLANCA AND PATAGONIA 238
XX. ACROSS THE CONTINENT TO MENDOZA UNDER THE ANDES 254
XXI. THE PARANA, ROSARIO, AND SANTA FÉ 265
XXII. THE GRAN CHACO AND THE NORTHERN TOWNS 275
XXIII. INFORMATION FOR ENGLISH TRAVELLERS 284
BIBLIOGRAPHY 295
INDEX 303
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLAZA DE MAYO, BUENOS AIRES _Frontispiece_
Photo kindly lent by the Proprietors of _La Argentina_
FACING PAGE
PLATELAYERS, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY 5
Photo kindly lent by the Buenos Aires Central Railway
ACONCAGUA 9
Photo kindly lent by the Buenos Aires Pacific Railway
A LONELY SCENE, SIERRA DE LA VENTANA 12
Photo kindly lent by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway
ANDINE PASS 15
Photo kindly lent by the South American Missionary Society
TROOP OF MARES 27
_La Argentina_ photo
RIVER LANDING STAGE 29
Photo kindly lent by Bovril, Ltd.
BULL CALF 29
Bovril, Ltd. photo
PATAGONIANS 43
S. A. M. S. photo
THE RIVER URUGUAY 73
Photo kindly lent by Lemco & Oxo
BOUNDARY LINE IN THE ANDES 82
_La Argentina_ photo
A SHEEP RUN 87
_La Argentina_ photo
PASEO AL BOSQUE, LA PLATA (PROVINCIAL CAPITAL) 101
_La Argentina_ photo
ESTANCIA 102
B. A. G. S. R. photo
STATUE OF CHRIST 109
B. A. P. R. photo
RACECOURSE, LA PLATA 111
B. A. G. S. R. photo
CRUISER, _SAN MARTIN_ 120
_La Argentina_ photo
THE PERMANENT WAY, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY 129
B. A. C. R. photo
PALERMO PARK, BUENOS AIRES 145
B. A. P. R. photo
IMPORTED STALLION, "CYLLENE," WINNER OF THE ASCOT CUP 147
Photo kindly lent by Mr. Clarence Hailey, High-street, Newmarket
IMPORTED STALLION, "DIAMOND JUBILEE," LATE PROPERTY OF
H.M. KING EDWARD VII 150
Mr. Clarence Hailey's photo
CATTLE DRINKING 155
Lemco & Oxo photo
THE PAMPAS 157
B. A. G. S. R. photo
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CORDOBA 162
_La Argentina_ photo
MAR DEL PLATA 176
B. A. G. S. R. photo
FREIGHT TRAIN FOR ENTRE RIOS CROSSING NEW BRIDGE 178
B. A. C. R. photo
LOCOMOTIVE, BUENOS AIRES GREAT SOUTHERN RAILWAY 183
B. A. G. S. R. photo
RAILWAY STATION, BUENOS AIRES GREAT SOUTHERN RAILWAY 185
B. A. G. S. R. photo
RAILWAY CARRIAGE, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY 188
B. A. C. R. photo
ABERDEEN ANGUS CATTLE, SANTA MARIA, ENTRE RIOS 196
Lemco & Oxo photo
LINCOLN CHAMPION. EXHIBITED BY MR. M. J. COBO 201
_La Argentina_ photo
AN ESTANCIERO'S HOUSE 203
B. A. G. S. R. photo
LEMCO AND OXO PREMISES 205
Lemco & Oxo photo
PURE BRED HEREFORD BULL (OXO) 207
Lemco & Oxo photo
PEDIGREE COW AND CALF 208
Lemco and Oxo photo
ESTANCIA SANTA MARIA 210
Lemco and Oxo photo
GROUP OF HEREFORDS 210
Lemco & Oxo photo
LA CROZE TRAMWAY, NEAR BUENOS AIRES 221
B. A. C. R. photo
COUNTRY LIFE IN ARGENTINA 227
B. A. C. R. photo
THE PRINCIPAL STREET OF MENDOZA 229
B. A. P. R. photo
A MENDOZA VINEYARD 229
B. A. P. R. photo
BULLOCK-BREAKING IN JUJUY 234
S. A. M. S. photo
AN OSTRICH 234
Bovril, Ltd. photo
LA VENTANA 238
B. A. G. S. R. photo
TANDIL ROCKING-STONE 241
B. A. G. S. R. photo
CHUBUT VALLEY 245
Photo kindly lent by the Chubut Railway
AMONG THE CACTUS 250
S. A. M. S. photo
ST. DAVID'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, CHUBUT 250
S. A. M. S. photo
INDIAN CHILD 250
S. A. M. S. photo
A VIEW OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO 252
_La Argentina_ photo
GUANACOS IN THE PARK OF MR. HECTOR COBO 254
_La Argentina_ photo
RIVER MENDOZA 256
B. A. P. R. photo
THE HOTEL, PUENTE DEL INCA 258
B. A. P. R. photo
PUENTE DEL INCA 261
B. A. P. R. photo
VIEW OF MARSHY COUNTRY, BUENOS AIRES CENTRAL RAILWAY 263
B. A. C. R. photo
QUAY ON THE RIVER URUGUAY 266
Lemco & Oxo photo
COLON, ENTRE RIOS 266
Lemco & Oxo photo
ROSARIO, THE LAW COURTS 268
_La Argentina_ photo
CALLE CORDOBA, ROSARIO 271
_La Argentina_ photo
THE IGUAZU FALLS 274
_La Argentina_ photo
CHIRIGUANOS AND MATACOS 276
S. A. M. S. photo
CAMP TRAVEL 276
S. A. M. S. photo
TUCUMAN 282
_La Argentina_ photo
PACKET STEAM NAVIGATION CO.'S _ORCOMA_ 285
Photo kindly lent by the Pacific Steam Navigation Co.
INTRODUCTION
The most stupendous achievement ever attained by a nation in so short
a time was the discovery, conquest, and settlement of Mexico and South
America by Spain within the compass of a century. To fix indelibly and
for ever upon the peoples of a vast continent the language, religion,
customs, polity, and laws of a nation on the other side of the globe
called for qualities which could only be temporarily evoked by an
irresistible common sentiment. The sentiment which gave to Spain for a
time the potency to carry through simultaneously the tasks of imposing
religious orthodoxy upon Christendom and founding her great colonial
empire was pride: pride of religion, race, and person, deliberately
fostered by rulers for political ends. This origin of the delusive
strength that carried the Conquistadores through an untracked continent
regardless of perils and sufferings, and made South America Spanish,
rendered inevitable that the rewards, national and individual, should
disappoint the recipients. For pride and its concomitant covetousness
are never satisfied; and the frenzied thirst for rapid riches and
distinction that spurred the Spanish explorers and conquerors onward
rarely ended in the idle luxurious dignity that was their goal, and it
ultimately brought to the mother country nought but penury and
degradation.
It was ignorance of economic truth that led Spaniards in the
sixteenth century to regard the possession of the precious metals as
wealth, regardless of circumstances: and the error coloured the whole
domination of Spain in the New World. That the nation and the
individual should hope to become permanently powerful and rich by
obtaining vast stores of the metallic medium whilst discouraging
productive industry appears to modern ideas ridiculous, but to the
discoverers of America it was regarded as quite the natural course of
events. The effect is seen in the rapid subjection and development of
the regions believed to be rich in the precious metals, and the
comparative neglect of the vast territories where patience and the
labour of man were needed to win nature's abundant bounty from the
fertile soil.
The west side of the South American Continent, though furthest from
Europe, therefore took precedence of the eastern coast in the efforts
and regards of the conquerors. When the piled-up riches of the Incas
and the inexhaustible mines of the Peruvian Andes beckoned to the
greedy adventurers from the mother country, the endless alluvial
pampas and dense primeval forests of the east might call in vain. From
Panama down the Pacific Coast, therefore, the main tide of conquest
and empire flowed, drawn by the magnet gold; and on the northern
continent a similar course was taken. The Aztec empire with its
accumulated treasures absorbed an ever-increasing stream of Spaniards,
whilst the more northern territories now included in the United States
were left later to English settlers, whose hopes were not centred upon
wringing yellow metal from the earth, but upon founding a free new
agricultural England across the sea.
Thus it happened that to navigators in search of the short cut to Asia
rather than to the typical Conquistador was left the first exploration
of what we now know is the coming emporium of the South American
Continent and its permanent centre of productive prosperity. Domingo
de Solis, chief pilot of Spain, was sent by Charles V. to South
America not as a settler, or primarily as a gold-seeker, but as an
explorer; and when in 1508 he entered the noble Bay of Rio Janeiro it
seemed at last that the object of his quest was gained, and that here
was the coveted waterway to the East. But he soon found out his
mistake, and when, sailing further south, he crossed the wide estuary
of the River Plate, his hopes again rose that this tremendous volume
of water, a hundred and fifty miles wide at the mouth, was not a river
merely, but the ocean channel to the Pacific. Returning home with his
hopes still high Solis, was authorised by his sovereign to explore his
important discovery, and in 1516 he sailed into the delta of the great
network of streams that have brought down upon their bosoms from the
far Andes in the course of ages a large portion of the continent as we
now know it.
To the Spaniard's eyes the land was not inviting. Far stretching plains
of waving grasses, great expanses of marsh and swamp, league after
league. No palaces and temples of hewn stone, like those of Peru and
Mexico, met the eye here; no promise of gold in the fat alluvial soil;
no cities where the arts were practised and treasure accumulated. Such
Indians as there were differed vastly from the mild serfs of the Incas.
Nomad savages were these; robust, stout, and hardy, elusive of pursuit
and impossible of subjection in their wandering disunity. For three
hundred miles through the endless pampa-country Solis sailed onward up
the stream, his hopes that this way led to the Indies gradually fading
as he progressed, until he and his men fell into a trap laid for them by
the pampa Indians and were slaughtered.
Four years afterwards Magellan on his epoch-making voyage sailed up the
great river; but he too fell a victim to the perils of the way in the
Asiatic seas, and never returned to Spain to tell of his discoveries in
the heart of South America. Then Sebastian Cabot, the Englishman in the
service of Spain, was sent to explore, and if possible to take
possession of the land for Charles V.; for the Portuguese claimed
indefinite territory in this direction under the convention of
Tordesillas, and it behoved Spain to assert ownership before it was too
late. High up the river Paraguay Cabot found a country with different
features and peopled by another race. Silver ornaments, too, he found in
plenty amongst these Guaranies, to whom distant echoes of Inca influence
had reached across the wastes and mountains to the west. But here, many
hundreds of miles from the ocean and far from any base of supplies, it
was impracticable for Cabot with the resources at his disposal to effect
a settlement, and he also returned to Spain with his story of silver as
an incentive for further expeditions.
This was in 1527, and in the following year the first attempt to
establish a permanent footing on the Plate was made by the building of
a fort at Rosario, but this was soon abandoned for a site on the sea
coast of what is now a part of Brazil to the north of the river. In
the meantime the Portuguese were busy advancing their posts to the
north of the delta in order to assert their claims; and in face of
this, rather than because remunerative metallic treasure from the new
territory was to be expected, Charles V. authorised an extensive
colonising experiment to be made and the great waterway and its banks
claimed for Spain. The stirring history of Mendoza's attempts to found
a settlement on the Paraná, the establishment of Buenos Aires and its
abandonment again and again, the fateful colonisation of Asuncion, far
up the river in the heart of the continent, the heroic adventures of
Irala, Ayolas, and Cabeza de Vaca, and the reconquest of the river
territories down to the sea from the isolated Spanish post of Asuncion
eight hundred miles up stream, is adequately told in Mr. Hirst's
pages, and need not be related here.
The permanent fixing of the flag of Spain on the territory east of the
Andes was not less heroic an achievement than the more showy conquests
of Peru and Mexico; for in the former case the incentive of easily won
gold was absent, and the object was more purely national than was the
case elsewhere. But, though it was necessary for Spain to assert her
ownership over these endless pampas and the unexplored wastes beyond,
the new territory was always subordinated to the gold-producing
viceroyalty of Peru across the Andes. A glance at the map will show
the almost incredible obstacles wilfully interposed by the home
authorities upon the River Plate colonies in forcing the latter not
only to be subject in government to the Viceroy of Peru, but to carry
on most of their commercial communications with the mother country
across the wide continent from the Pacific coast by way of Panama and
Peru. The law was, of course, extensively evaded, and the luxuriant
fertility of the pampa both for agriculture and grazing made the River
Plate colonies prosperous in spite of Government restrictions.
The English slave-traders and adventurers made no scruple of braving
the King of Spain's edicts; and the estuary of the Plate, within a few
weeks' sail of Europe, saw many a cargo welcomed upon a mere pretence
of force by the colonists whose lives were rendered doubly hard by the
obstacles placed in their way by their own Government. In 1586 the Earl
of Cumberland's ships on a privateering expedition to capture every
Spanish and Portuguese vessel they encountered sailed into the River
Plate and learnt some interesting particulars of the settlements from
one of the unfortunate shipmasters they had plundered. These give a good
idea of the difficulties under which traffic was then carried on. "He
told me that the town of Buenos Aires is from the Green island about
seventy leagues' standing on the south side of the river, and from
thence to Santa Fé is one hundred leagues, standing on the same side
also. At which town their ships do discharge all their goods into small
barks, which row and tow up the river to another town called Asuncion,
which is from Santa Fé a hundred and fifty leagues, where the boats
discharge on shore, and so pass all their goods by carts and horses to
Tucuman, which is in Peru." The commerce here referred to was probably
the contraband trade done in spite of the Spanish regulations, for it
was found that even to the far distant towns in the interior, like
Tucuman and Mendoza, it was easier and cheaper thus to convey goods from
Europe by the eastern coast than from the Pacific across the almost
impassable Andes.
The Earl of Cumberland's factor gives also an account of the Spanish
settlements then (1586) existing on the River Plate.[1] "There are in
the river five towns, some of seventy households, some of more. The
first town was about fifty leagues up the river and called Buenos
Aires, the rest some forty or fifty leagues from one another, so that
the uppermost town, called Tucuman, is two hundred and thirty leagues
from the entrance to the river.[2] In these towns is great store of
corn, cattle, wine and sundry fruits, but no money of gold or silver.
They make a certain kind of slight cloth, which they give in truck
for sugar, rice, marmalade, and sucket, which were the commodities
this ship (_i.e._, the prize) had."
Thus with everything against it except its irrepressible natural
advantages of soil and climate and its lack of mineral wealth, the
colony grew in prosperity in spite of man's shortsightedness. There
was no temptation here, even if it had been possible, for the
Spaniards to exterminate the aborigines by forced work in unhealthy
mines. The innumerable herds of cattle and horses that in a very few
years peopled the pampa from the few animals brought from Europe and
abandoned by the first settlers provided sustenance, even wealth, with
comparatively easy labour to the mixed race of Indians and Spaniards,
which took kindly to the half-wild pastoral life in harmony with the
nomadic traditions of the natives; and thus with much less hardship and
cruelty than in other South American regions the Argentines gradually
grew into a homogeneous people, whose pastoral and agricultural pursuits
brought them to a higher level of general well-being than populations
elsewhere in South America.
[Illustration: INDIAN CHILD.]
But great as is the actual and potential wealth of the Argentine from
its favoured soil, it is not that alone that has made its capital the
greatest in South America, and has brought to the development of the
Republic citizens and resources from all the progressive nations of
the world. It is also as the main highway to the remote recesses of
the vast continent that the Argentine region has appealed to the
imaginations of men. The noble waterways, navigable far into the
interior, provide cheap and easy transport for the products of distant
provinces possessing infinite possibilities as yet hardly known. The
unbroken plains, extending from the Atlantic sea-board to the foot of
the Andes eight hundred miles away, offer unrivalled facilities for
the construction of railways to convey to the ports food supplies for
the Old World from this, the greatest undeveloped grain and pasture
region in temperate climes. It is this character of a thoroughfare
offering easy access to the coming continent that ensures for Buenos
Aires its future position as a world emporium, and to the States of
the Argentine Republic readily accessible markets for their abundant
and varied natural products. And to add to this advantage the opening
of the Transandine tunnel, now at last an accomplished fact, makes the
Argentine the natural highway for passengers and fine goods to the
cities of Chile and the Pacific Coast, saving the tedious and costly
voyage round Cape Horn or through the Straits of Magellan.
The greatest admirers of the old Spanish colonial system will hardly
deny that the prodigious development effected since the declaration of
Argentine independence, of the resources of the country, thanks
largely to the influx of foreign immigrants and capital, would have
been impossible under the Spanish domination. That a new people,
unaccustomed to, and perhaps as yet unprepared for, self-government
and political emancipation should have had to work out its own
problems during a period of turbulence was inevitable. It is no
reproach to the Argentine people that this natural process, necessary
to fit them for a stable political existence, has in the past caused
violence and lawlessness. The constant introduction of men of other
races into the Argentine is giving to the population new features and
qualities which will render the racial stock of the future one of the
most interesting ethnological problems in the world; and this abundant
admixture of foreign blood, readily assimilated as it is by the native
stock, certainly makes for increasing stability.
The same may be said of the large amount of foreign capital invested
in Argentine enterprises. Argentine statesmen, taught by experience as
they have been, and keenly awake to the need for foreign aid in
developing their country, are not in the least likely in future to
frighten away capital by dishonest finance or revolutionary methods.
Responsibility has already brought sobriety into Argentine politics,
and although the official procedure and Governmental ethics of the
Spanish races vary from those usually prevalent in Anglo-Saxon
countries, they are in most cases better suited to the character of
the people than those that commend themselves to us. When we for our
own purposes go to a foreign country, it is unreasonable to expect, as
many Englishmen do, that we can carry with us and impose upon our
hosts our own traditions and standards.
No country known to me impresses upon a visitor from Europe so
forcibly as the Argentine the unlimited possibilities of its soil.
Travelling hour after hour by a railway straight as a line over gently
undulating or perfectly flat plains, stretching on all sides as far as
the eye can reach, the observer is struck by the regular ripple of the
rich grass, like the waves of the sea, as the breeze blows over it.
Here and there little clumps of eucalyptus slightly break the monotony
of the landscape, and a gleam of a bright green alfalfa field
occasionally relieves the eye. Far away at rare intervals gleaming
white walls and turrets surrounded by eucalyptus groves mark the
position of an estancia, and innumerable herds of cattle, sheep, and
almost wild troops of horses everywhere testify to the richness of the
pasture.
[Illustration: A SHEEP RUN.]
From Buenos Aires to Mendoza, almost at the foot of the Andes, some
six hundred miles away, the scene hardly changes. Far to the south the
pampa is poorer and more sparse, but still splendid pasture for
certain sorts of cattle, whilst in Entre Rios, the great tract between
the rivers Paraná and Uruguay, the country is wilder and more broken,
especially towards the north. Scattered amongst the vast flocks of
sheep upon the open veldt are many ostriches, now a profitable
investment, whilst great numbers of running partridges seek cover in
the pampa grass from the dreaded hawks that hover above them. The
native grass is flesh-forming but not fattening, and, to an English
grazier, looks poor food enough for the millions of head of cattle
that thrive upon it. It does not, as does the best English pasture,
entirely cover the surface, but grows in distinct tufts. The native
grass, however, is now rapidly being supplanted in the rich plains of
Central Argentina by new forms of pasture, mostly English, infinitely
richer, perennial in its luxuriance, and forming upon this favoured
soil the best cattle-grazing in the world.
[Illustration: AN OSTRICH.]
Of late years, as Mr. Hirst shows in his book, enormous tracts of
land, especially to the south of Buenos Aires and high up the Paraná,
are being broken up for wheat-growing, and Bahia Blanca, the ambitious
port south of Buenos Aires, bids fair soon to become a great centre of
grain export. Vast quantities of maize are also raised in the country
on the banks of the Paraná, and are mainly exported from Rosario.
Whichever way one turns fresh evidences of fertility are forced upon
the attention. Cattle standing knee-deep in pasture, sheep growing fat
at fifty to the acre, leagues of ripening corn, equal to any on earth,
growing upon virgin soil; flowers to which we are accustomed in
England as tender shrubs developing here into robust blossoming trees;
and fruit orchards flourishing, solid miles of them, prolific beyond
belief, within a short distance of Buenos Aires, where only a few
years ago nothing but wild scrub and tangled forest existed.
The extension of railways in every direction has now to a great extent
destroyed or modified the old free life upon the pampas of Argentina. The
estancias, except in remote districts, are often large establishments
where all the comforts and some of the luxuries of life are to be found,
instead of the walled semi-fortresses of olden times. The white-domed
well, with its shady ombú-tree, still stands near the principal entrance
to the courtyard, and the high palenque, the hitching-post for horses,
still flanks the gateway, but the picturesque gaucho who goes loping
over the plain, his lasso at his saddle-bow, his naked feet thrust into
his big leather horseskin brogues, and his poncho fluttering in the
breeze, is no longer the monarch of the pampa as he once was, for
civilisation has touched even him. The silver ornaments that once
covered his accoutrements are less abundant than they used to be; he is
fortunately less free with his knife, for he was never much of a hand
with a gun, loving the bolas better; and the rural railway station in
which he likes to dawdle about in the intervals of his life in the
saddle is the symbol of his discipline and decline.
The great waterways that characterise Argentina, although they are now
less used for passenger traffic into the hinterland than formerly,
must still in the future be a great, if not the principal, highway for
the produce of the distant interior. Rosario, some two hundred miles
above Buenos Aires on the Paraná, is a progressive and improving port,
serving the rich maize and grain-growing expanses of the province of
Santa Fé; and far up the stream, almost to the Paraguayan border at
Corrientes, river ports are rapidly growing into importance as centres
of export as the surrounding country is developed.
But wonderful as is the apparently boundless promise of this country
of favoured plains, Argentina is not only pampa. The Gran Chaco, a
great country still for the most part a wilderness, is a region of dim
tropical forest, where the parrots, birds of paradise, and brilliant
butterflies vie with those of the Amazon; a hot, moist region, where
the monkey and the land crab flourish exceedingly, and where savage
Indians still hunt down with primitive weapons the jaguar and the
puma. From this sultry country of forest and flood to the almost
treeless, arid steppes of Patagonia is a change rather to another
world than to another province of the same Republic, and hardly less
difference exists between the rolling plains of the pampa country and
the magnificent regions of towering peaks, stern uplands, and vast
lakes that form the Andine portions of Argentina.
The change is noticed as the road approaches Mendoza, where the pampa
gradually gives way to a country strongly resembling parts of Southern
Spain; a land of poplars, willows, and acacias shading endless lines
of irrigation channels; for rain falls but seldom on this eastern side
of the Sierra, and on all hands, climbing the lower laps of the hills
and lining the valleys, are miles of vineyards, which provide a stout
red wine for the rest of the Republic. Further west still the land
becomes more broken and barren as the hills rise higher and higher,
until the ruddy sides, white glaciers, and snow-crested mountains of
the Sierra appear, the giant Aconcagua monarch of them all. Further
south than this the wonderful series of lakes that are almost inland
seas high up in the Andes exist, as yet only partially explored to
decide the frontier dispute between the Argentine and Chile, the
remote valleys and austere uplands where the giant sloth is still
believed by many to linger, a sole survival of the world before the
great flood that destroyed life upon the nascent continent unrecorded
ages ago.
[Illustration: ACONCAGUA.]
This marvellous country of Argentina is destined to be one of the
great nations of the world. Nature is just, and in giving it a
prodigious extent of flat fertile soil has more than compensated it
for withholding the gift of abundant gold that has made the history of
other portions of South America. With a climate that varies, as does
that of Chile, from the tropical to the antarctic, with pasture and
arable land unsurpassed in the world, and with facilities for
transport by land and water enabling the fruits of the soil to be
conveyed easily from remote districts to eager markets for them, no
bounds can be set to the wealth that awaits enterprise in the country.
As a highway, too, the possibilities of Argentina are immense. The
connection of Buenos Aires by rail with Santiago and Valparaiso opens
up a new and shorter route to New Zealand and Australia; whilst the
rapidly progressing extension of the railway into Bolivia--another
link, it is intended, of the line to run eventually from New York to
Buenos Aires--will provide a new and welcome outlet for the treasures
of her mines to Bolivia, a vast country without a port of its own.
The possession of a temperate climate has made the Argentine and Chile
the two South American nations of most promise for the future, owing
to the fact that both countries have attracted and assimilated a great
admixture of the robust peoples of Europe. The immigrants have been to
a large extent drawn from the countries where life is hard and the
fare frugal; from North Italy, from Galicia and Russia; whilst in
stern Patagonia the Scotsman and the Welshman find an environment
after their own hearts. In the second generation the immigrants of all
nations usually become sturdy Argentines, and this easy assimilation
of new ethnological elements is one of the most striking signs of the
energy of the nation as a whole, and the most promising fact as
regards the future political stability of the country. That a
composite race will result from this admixture, possessing much of the
patient laboriousness of the Ligurian and the practical hardheadedness
of the Teuton, to temper the keen vehemence of the Ibero-American, may
be confidently hoped: and if such be the case the advantages that
nature has showered upon the Argentine will be complete, and a
splendid future for the country secure.
MARTIN HUME.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Hakluyt.
[2] It need hardly be mentioned that Tucuman, which had been founded
by the Spaniards from the Peru side some twenty years before, is not
on the river at all, but nearly five hundred miles distant across the
still almost unknown Gran Chaco. Tucuman is now reached by railway
from the south by way of Cordoba.
ARGENTINA
CHAPTER I
THE COUNTRY--ITS FOUR DIVISIONS--THE RIVERS--THE CLIMATE
The attempt to present a bird's-eye view of Argentina may well be called
presumptuous, for the country is larger than Russia in Europe and offers
every variety of climate--"hot, cold, moist, and dry." Nor would the
utmost industry of the traveller suffice to glean anything like complete
information, for large tracts, owing to the inhospitality of nature or
man, are unexplored, and both north and south he would be checked by
impenetrable forests, or rugged barriers of rock, or by savage Indians
who are saved from extinction by the inaccessibility of their
habitations. Further, even as regards the settled parts of those
districts which, however desolate, are practicable to the traveller,
there is more to be learnt (and the conditions are ever changing) than
could well be absorbed in a lifetime, for Argentina is not, like several
South American countries, a mere gigantic mass of potential riches, but
is rapidly assuming a leading position among the commercial states of
the world. From Buenos Aires to Mendoza, from Bahia Blanca to Tucuman,
are to be seen all the signs of wealth and prosperity, all the
unmistakable portents of coming potency usually apparent in a new
country that has emerged from the stage of childhood and weakness and
feels the vigour of lusty youth in its veins, impelling it to take its
place in the system of world politics.
If a single volume is all too short to represent Argentina in its
manifold aspects, still less adequate is a single chapter to sketch
its physical characteristics. In fact, its interest is at present more
physical than moral, rather in its vast capacities for producing
wealth and distributing it by means of magnificent waterways and
ever-extending railroads, than in anything which Argentinians have
done to ennoble life by arts or other services.
Before, however, proceeding to the study of a country the learner must
endeavour to set before himself its principal geographical features,
and as those of Argentina are well defined and comparatively simple
they lend themselves to broad and clear classification. Geographically
Argentina falls into four divisions. Firstly, Patagonia, which
stretches from the Rio Colorado to Cape Horn. Secondly, the Andine
region, which runs from the southern frontier of Bolivia right along
the Chilian border. Thirdly, the Gran Chaco, which embraces the whole
of the north of Argentina except the Andine strip. Fourthly, the
Pampa, which comprises the central and best known region.
Patagonia received its name, _patagon_, or large paw, from the
enormous footprints which the Spanish explorers remarked in the sand.
Till recently it was almost a _terra incognita_, roamed by Indians and
herds of guanacos, but of late years the beginnings of settlement have
been made, and sheep-farming has become a considerable industry. The
southern portion is cold and inclement all the year round, but in the
north the summers are hot. The country is well watered by six
considerable rivers--the Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, Deseado, Coyly,
and Gallegos--but scarcity of rain has caused it to be neglected by
agriculturists. The whole of the plateau, indeed, has been called the
Great Shingle Desert; it is of Tertiary formation, and the endless
waste of sand and gravel was chiefly contributed by glacial action.
This inhospitable desert is arranged in terraces which slope gently
eastward, first from heights of 2,000 feet to 500, and then from this
lower elevation to the sea-level.
In old days wonderful tales were told about the Patagonian
giants--their enormous size, strength, and ferocity, but here it need
only be said that the accounts were at least exaggerated. "In height,
although very much above the average--some, indeed, reaching the
height of 6 feet 4 inches, and all being broad and muscular--they have
been greatly exaggerated, for, being very long in the body, they seem
to tower above the European while sitting on horseback. They are short
in the legs, and when standing on the ground do not on an average come
over about 5 feet 11 inches."[3]
The Andine region, which in some of the South American States is the
overwhelming characteristic, does not set a distinctive mark upon
Argentina--essentially a plain country--but the western frontier of
the Republic is guarded by a colossal range of mountains. These begin
with Cerro de las Granadas in the extreme north, and extend beyond the
Upper Colorado basin, where the Sierra Auco Mahinda of 16,000 feet is
one of the most southerly of the important peaks. After this, although
there is still a chain of moderate height, the mountains are not
distinctively Andine. The highest of all the Argentine mountains is
probably the Nevado de Famatina.
[Illustration: ANDINE PASS.]
In general this region is excessively dry and the mountains are
almost bare of vegetation. The annual rainfall at Mendoza is but 6
inches and at San Juan it is only 3.
The Gran Chaco may be taken as a rough denomination for the whole of
the Republic lying north of the Pampa, excluding the Andine fringe.
This is a land of luxuriant vegetation with a warm and moist climate
and, as might be expected, the products vary greatly from those of the
temperate plains. Rice and the sugar-cane, castor-oil, sesame, and the
poppy are all cultivated, but this part of the country is as yet
scantily populated and quite undeveloped; there are therefore few
surplus products to export. It is a region of great beauty, and
travellers praise the silent tropical nights, whose darkness is
relieved by myriads of fireflies, the primeval forests, and the
magnificent rivers. But it is mostly virgin land and in many parts is
peopled by savage inhabitants who make travel dangerous.
[Illustration: A LONELY SCENE, SIERRA DE LA VENTANA.]
The real Argentina is the Pampa; it is that vast and fertile champaign
which makes the great Republic what she is, and to which she owes all
her wealth and prosperity. Erroneous as is the popular idea that
Argentina is merely a land of grassy steppes and rich cornfields, this
is due to the fact that all except specialists have confined their
travels to the Pampa. It extends from Cordoba to the Rios Negro or
Colorado. In it are contained the great and growing towns, and from it
these towns draw their prosperity. It is a country to delight the
heart of the agriculturist. In many countries of South America the
traveller passes through interminable jungles sparingly scattered with
patches of cultivation where a few bony cattle scour for a livelihood.
In the Pampa there is rich tilth and fine pasture; magnificent red and
white beasts graze and fatten, standing knee-deep in the fresh grass,
and sheep innumerable are raised. The dead level of the land is not
quite unbroken, for south of the Plate estuary there are two small
mountain ranges, the Tandil and Ventana. They never exceed 2,800
feet. In the east the rainfall is generally satisfactory, but it
becomes scanty in the western districts. The winter is cold, the
summer decidedly hot, but the climate is not intemperate, and might be
called pleasant but for the fierce hot and cold winds which disturb
enjoyment and are in some cases prejudicial to health. This brief
summary must, for the present, suffice for the four regions; as we
survey the country more in detail, we shall have opportunities of
describing their characteristics more fully. It remains, however, to
take a brief survey of several features which can better be described
while we look at the country as a whole. The geology of Argentina
greatly interested Darwin. He says:[4] "The geology of Patagonia is
interesting. Differently from Europe, where the Tertiary formations
appear to have accumulated in bays, here along hundreds of miles of
coast we have one great deposit, including many Tertiary shells, all
apparently extinct. The most common shell is a massive, gigantic
oyster, sometimes even a foot in diameter. These beds are covered by
others of a peculiar soft, white stone, including much gypsum, and
resembling chalk, but really of a pumiceous nature. It is highly
remarkable, from being composed, to at least one-tenth part of its
bulk, of infusoria: Professor Ehrenberg has already ascertained in it
thirty oceanic forms. This bed extends for 500 miles along the coast,
and probably for a considerably greater distance. At Port St. Julian
its thickness is more than 800 feet! These white beds are everywhere
capped by a mass of gravel, forming probably one of the largest beds
of shingle in the world: it certainly extends from near the Rio
Colorado to between 600 and 700 nautical miles southward; at Santa
Cruz (a river a little south of St. Julian) it reaches to the foot of
the Cordillera; half-way up the river its thickness is more than 200
feet; it probably everywhere extends to this great chain, whence the
well-rounded pebbles of porphyry have been derived: we may consider
its average breadth as 200 miles, and its average thickness as about
50 feet. If this great bed of pebbles, without including the mud
necessarily derived from their attrition, was piled into a mound, it
would form a great mountain chain! When we consider that all these
pebbles, countless as the grains of sand in the desert, have been
derived from the slow-falling masses of rock on the old coast-lines
and banks of rivers, and that these fragments have been dashed into
smaller pieces, and that each of them has since been slowly rolled,
rounded, and far transported, the mind is stupefied in thinking over
the long, absolutely necessary lapse of years. Yet all this gravel has
been transported, and probably rounded, subsequently to the deposition
of the white beds, and long subsequently to the underlying beds with
their Tertiary shells." His observations upon the Cordillera are
equally noteworthy. He says:[5] "No one fact in the geology of South
America interested me more than these terraces of rudely stratified
shingle. They precisely resemble in composition the matter which the
torrents in each valley would deposit if they were checked in their
course by any cause, such as entering a lake or arm of the sea; but
the torrents, instead of depositing matter, are now steadily at work
wearing away both the solid rock and these alluvial deposits, along
the whole line of every main valley and side valley. It is impossible
here to give the reasons, but I am convinced that the shingle terraces
were accumulated during the gradual elevation of the Cordillera by the
torrents delivering, at successive levels, their detritus on the
beach-heads of long, narrow arms of the sea, first high up the
valleys, then lower and lower down as the land slowly rose. If this
be so, and I cannot doubt it, the grand and broken chain of the
Cordillera, instead of having been suddenly thrown up, as was till
lately the universal, and still is the common opinion of geologists,
has been slowly upheaved in mass, in the same gradual manner as the
coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific have risen within the recent
period. A multitude of facts in the structure of the Cordillera, on
this view, receive a simple explanation." His conclusion is: "Daily it
is forced home on the mind of the geologist that nothing, not even the
wind that blows, is so unstable as the level of the crust of this
earth."
[Illustration: LA VENTANA.]
The geological character of Argentina is tolerably uniform. The surface
is a coating of sandy soil, not usually more than 2 feet thick, which is
alluvial and, from a geological point of view, quite modern. In the
western districts it is usually bare of vegetation, but in the east it
is covered with green herbage more or less thick. Underneath this
superficial covering, however, lies the true geological formation, and
this consists of argillaceous earth or mud of a reddish colour and
interspersed with marly rock called by the inhabitants Tosca rock. It
extends to latitude 38° or thereabouts, and is the famous Pampean
formation, which Darwin calls Pampean mud. The thickness of this stratum
varies considerably; it may average about 40 feet, and geologically it
belongs to the Quaternary epoch, otherwise called Diluvian or
Post-Pliocene. Its most remarkable feature is the enormous number of
mammiferous remains which are to be found embedded in this Pampean mud,
and naturalists believe that it would be impossible to dig a deep trench
in any direction without disinterring some of these extinct giants.
Frequently perfect skeletons are discovered. These ossiferous remains
are richest in the province of Buenos Aires and become somewhat less
frequent in the north and west. Some observers have marvelled that such
huge creatures in such vast numbers were ever able to find nourishment,
but that question is not a serious difficulty, for the largest animals
are by no means the most voracious, and doubtless, like elephants of
to-day, their struggle for existence was not so much against hunger as
against the depredations of other animals or natural catastrophes. A
much greater puzzle is their disappearance. It has been suggested that
they were killed off by the Glacial cold, but it is not obvious, as has
been pointed out, why this visitation carried off the mastodons and
spared the parrots and hummingbirds. Another theory, put forward by a
savant named M. Bravard, opines that a vast simoon overwhelmed them, but
such a belief, inadequate and full of difficulties, is refuted by the
fact that most of the skeletons are mutilated. Had they been overwhelmed
by sand storms, they would have been preserved in almost perfect
condition. The notion of drought is also inadequate. Darwin remarks that
it is absurd to suppose that the most terrible calamity of this sort
could destroy every species from Patagonia to Behring Straits. It is
impossible to suppose that prehistoric man hunted down and slew these
great creatures. The simplest hypothesis and the one which surmounts the
greatest number of difficulties is that a mighty deluge overwhelmed man
and beast in common ruin. A great geologist[6] says: "I argue that this
destruction was caused by an invasion of the continent by water--a view
which is completely _en rapport_ with the facts presented by the great
Pampean deposit, which was clearly laid down by water. How otherwise can
we account for this complete destruction and the homogeneousness of the
Pampas deposits containing bones? I find an evident proof of this in
the immense number of bones and of entire animals whose numbers are
greatest at the outlets of the valleys, as Mr. Darwin shows. He found
the greatest number of the remains at Bahia Blanca, at Bajada, also on
the coast, and on the affluents of the Rio Negro, also at the outlet of
the valley. This proves that the animals were floated, and hence were
chiefly carried to the coast."
But D'Orbigny seems to have erred in attempting to push his theory too
far, for he insists that the great deluge not only destroyed the
mammoths but at the same time created the Pampean plain. Nothing,
however, can be more certain than that the lapse of countless ages was
necessary to accumulate "the dust of continents to be." It is
incredible that a great fragment of a continent was created _per
saltum_. Darwin believes (and, it appears, rightly), "that the Pampean
formation was slowly accumulated at the mouth of the former estuary of
the Plata and in the sea adjoining it."[7] As we shall see, when we
come to deal with Patagonia, the country was once a lake or sea, and
the water system of South America was very different from what it now
is, nor is there any difficulty in believing that the stupendous
volume of the Parana waters (then even mightier than now) was able to
wash down an accumulation of mud capable of making the sea into dry
land.
So much, then, for the Quaternary Pampean mud interlaced with the
bones of giant animals.
The Patagonian plain, however, is, in appearance at any rate, a
different and much older formation, namely the Tertiary, an extensive
gravel bed which possibly extends under the whole Quaternary deposit of
the Pampa. But exposures occur of both varieties of this formation,
_i.e._, the Patagonian and the Guaraman, in the banks of the Parana and
elsewhere. It is supposed to have been contributed chiefly by Glacial
action.
[Illustration: THE RIVER URUGUAY.]
The river system of Argentina, which is perhaps the most remarkable
physical feature of the country, next demands our attention. All the
Argentine rivers find their way into the Atlantic, but all are
insignificant compared with the marvellous confluence of mighty streams
in the Plate estuary. The Parana rises in far-away Brazilian mountains,
and is already a noble stream when it reaches the north-eastern confines
of Paraguay. Flowing southward it then, for more than 100 miles, serves
as the boundary between Paraguay and Brazil, and from the point where it
is joined by the Iguazu River it becomes an Argentine stream, and,
inclining more and more to the west, it is now the boundary between
Argentine and Paraguay. At Corrientes it unites with the Paraguay River
and flows almost due south, running into the Plate estuary at the same
point as the Uruguay. Few rivers can match the Parana in majesty; at
Rosario it is 20 miles wide, and would give the impression of the broad
sea were it not for the cluster of poplar-clad islands which intercept
the view. In thus tracing the course of the Parana we have mentioned
only a few of the innumerable streams of the system in which it takes
the most conspicuous part; the waters drain the south of Brazil, the
whole of Uruguay and Paraguay, the fertile districts of Argentina, and
even portions of Bolivia. The Parana--the Nile of the West--debouches
through fourteen channels; it has a drainage area of 1,198,000 square
miles, and the discharge of each twenty-four hours is sufficient to
create a lake a mile square and 1,650 feet deep.[8] Subordinate to
the Parana are several Argentine systems which deserve mention.
The provinces of Corrientes and Entre Rios, called the Argentine
Mesopotamia, are drained by the Corrientes, the Saranai, and the
Gualeguay, which last falls eventually not into the Parana but the
Pavon, a curious channel which runs parallel with the lower course of
the great river for a considerable distance.
[Illustration: RIVER LANDING STAGE.]
The northernmost part of the country is drained by the Pilcomayo and
the Vermejo, which both fall into the Paraguay. The Vermejo has a
course of 1,300 miles. The Salado meanders through the Gran Chaco, and
is the only perennial river in that region. Owing to the western
dryness and the curious contour of the Gran Chaco and the Pampa, many
of the rivers are unable to make headway and find a channel to carry
them to the sea. Thus the Rio Dulce which, with innumerable small
tributaries, drains a large area round about Tucuman, ends in a morass
named Porongos, which is connected in flood-time with the great lake
of Mar Chiquita--Little Sea. In like manner the Mendoza river loses
itself in arid country.
Having dealt with the giant, we now turn to the pygmies; for pygmies
are the Patagonian and South Argentine streams in comparison with the
Parana of the upper region. The Colorado basin presents a very curious
phenomenon, in that it has lost the whole of its upper tributaries.
One of these is the aforesaid errant Mendoza, which, with the Salado
(the second river of that name) fail to reach the parent stream and
end in the Laguna Amarga, a group of salt lakes situated at no great
distance from the Rio Colorado. It is certain that, like Central Asia,
Patagonia has experienced an immense increase of aridity--probably in
comparatively recent times. The Colorado proper is perennial, and when
swollen by melting snows from the Andes it is as broad as the Thames
at London Bridge.
[Illustration: AMONG THE CACTUS.]
South of the Colorado we have the Rio Negro. It runs a solitary course
through the desert unaided by any tributaries. It is formed by two
other streams, the Neuquen and the Rio Limaz, which has its source in
the picturesque lake of Nahuelhuapi. Patagonia, it may be added, has
numerous lakes, some of great beauty. Other solitary streams, wholly
dependent upon the Andes, may be enumerated--the Chubut, the Desire, the
Chico, the Santa Cruz, and the Gallegos. On these rivers Burmeister[9]
confesses that his information is very imperfect. They are now somewhat
better known, but they are still difficult to explore. His remarks upon
the Rio de Santa Cruz, concerning which he had gathered more facts than
the others, may be given. He says: "Near the ocean it has a breadth of
from 5 to 10 English miles, and is bordered by terraces in flights which
rise on either side to a height of 500 feet. The surface of these
terraces is occupied by broad plains covered with dry pebbles, and among
them grow stunted plants and thorny bushes. It is a savage and gloomy
land. Further inland, near the source, basaltic rocks appear which
approach close to the river, and its bed is strewn with their fragments,
which are about the size of a man's head. Huge blocks of granite and
palæologic schists are met with only in the neighbourhood of the
Cordillera." Darwin made an adventurous voyage of 140 miles up this
river in 1834, and describes it with his accustomed acuteness and
accuracy.[10]
When we come to deal with Patagonia we shall have another opportunity
of reverting to its scanty and little-known river system.
The climate of Argentina varies greatly, as might be expected in a
country with a length of nearly 2,300 miles from north to south. In
the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fé, San Luis, Mendoza, parts of
Cordoba, and parts of one or two adjoining provinces, the climate is
temperate with mild winters and moderately hot summers, while in the
north the climate is hot and moist. Towards the south the cold becomes
more and more severe, and the winters last from May to the beginning
of October. Snow frequently falls. In Buenos Aires the spring begins
in September and lasts to mid-December, followed by summer, which
extends into March. Autumn lasts till the end of May, and winter
occupies the rest of the year. The following table will show that in
the city of Buenos Aires itself the extremes are not rigorous:--
At 2 p.m. At 9 p.m.
December 77·6 66·8
January 82·0 71·2
February 80·7 68·9
March 81·1 69·0
April 72·0 59·9
May 61·3 55·0
June 59·7 52·5
July 55·2 47·0
August 60·8 51·7
September 67·2 56·0
October 67·1 59·6
November 75·4 62·8
The annual rainfall is about 34 inches. But the above table gives only
the average temperature. The thermometer in Buenos Aires often rises
as high as 100, and in the early mornings of June and July sometimes
touches freezing-point. In Mendoza, Cordoba, and Tucuman, and many
other places, the mercury frequently falls below 32, while in
Patagonia the cold of winter is intense.
The following figures will give a rough idea of the general climate of
the Republic:--
Mean
Temperature. Maximum. Rainfall.
Ushwiya (Fuegia) 42 81 120 inches
Bahia Blanca 60 105 19 "
Buenos Aires 64 100 34 "
San Luis 61 103 24 "
Rosario 63 101 40 "
Mendoza 60 100 6 "
San Juan 65 108 3 "
Cordoba 61 111 26 "
La Rioja 67 109 12 "
Catamarca 69 109 10 "
Santiago del Estero 70 113 19 "
Tucuman 68 104 39 "
Salta 63 109 23 "
On the whole, the climate of Buenos Aires is good, and does not
interfere with the comfort or pursuits of a healthy and vigorous
man. Its worst feature is the _sonda_, or north wind, which blows
tempestuously chiefly in the winter, and causes rapid fluctuations in
the temperature. The winds from the north are always considered
unhealthy. In the summer the heat is greatly aggravated by the
_pamperos_--the strong winds from the south-west. But the general
climate of the country is dry and invigorating.
It will be noticed that the rainfall is scanty. Unfortunately, nearly
all the valuable parts of Argentina have barely sufficient rain, and
Mendoza is almost rainless. Irrigation, therefore, is largely used,
and when it is extended over the south many millions of additional
acres will be brought under the plough. Droughts are by far the most
formidable foe of the agriculturist. The _Gran Seco_ of 1827-1832,
during which period scarcely any rain fell in the Pampa, destroyed all
the vegetation down to the thistles, and caused enormous loss.[11] It
is feared that the dry area is extending; but it is fortunate that the
magnificent rivers of Argentina would suffice to irrigate every part
of the country, and even arid Patagonia has perennial streams. In
general, it may be said that the climate of Argentina is far from
disagreeable, and highly favourable to health and work.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] W. O. Campbell, "Through Patagonia," p. 6.
[4] "Voyage of the _Beagle_," chap. viii.
[5] "Voyage of the _Beagle_," chap. xv.
[6] D'Orbigny _apud_ Howorth, "The Mammoth and the Flood," p. 352.
[7] Darwin, "Geological Observations on South America," p. 99.
[8] It is estimated that during the floods the Parana rolls down
1,650,000 cubic feet per second, while the Uruguay volume amounts to
500,000.
[9] "Description Physique," i. 310-11.
[10] "We found the river course very tortuous, and strewed with
immense fragments of various ancient slaty rocks, and of granite. The
plain bordering the valley had here attained an elevation of about
eleven hundred feet above the river, and its character was much
altered. The well-rounded pebbles of porphyry were mingled with many
immense angular fragments of basalt and of primary rocks" ("Voyage of
the _Beagle_" chap. ix.).
[11] "Very great numbers of birds, wild animals, cattle, and horses
perished from the want of food and water. A man told me that the deer
used to come into his courtyard to the well, which he had been obliged
to dig to supply his own family with water; and that the partridges
had hardly strength to fly away when pursued. The lowest estimation of
the loss of cattle in Buenos Ayres alone was taken at one million
head" (Darwin, "Voyage of the _Beagle_," chap. vii.).