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Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
[Illustration: Henry Stephens, Ph.D.]
[Illustration: Locust Pest in Argentina
Estancia, Santa Isabel, Province Buenos Aires]
[Illustration: Snow in the Tropics
Plaza Pringlés, San Luis, July, 1913]
[Illustration: Reflection of Aconcagua Volcano in the Clouds above
Valparaiso
This rare phenomenon is occasionally seen in April and September at
dawn. The mountain itself is invisible from Valparaiso.]
JOURNEYS AND EXPERIENCES IN ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, AND CHILE
Including a side trip to the source of the Paraguay River
in the State of Matto Grosso, Brazil, and a journey
across the Andes to the Rio Tambo in Peru
by
HENRY STEPHENS
Harvard, A.B., Vienna, Ph.D.
FIRST EDITION
The Knickerbocker Press
New York
1920
Copyright
By
Henry Stephens
1920
TO
MR. H. L. MENCKEN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
WHO IS CONSIDERED TO BE AMERICA'S FOREMOST CRITIC
OF LITERATURE I GLADLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK OF TRAVELS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
MONTEVIDEO 1
Experience in landing. Population of the city. Conservativeness
of the inhabitants. Gambling establishment at Playa Ramirez.
Train ride to Colonia.
CHAPTER II
BUENOS AIRES 21
Population of the city. Streets and architecture. High cost of
living. Hotels. Beverages. Street beggars and vagabonds. Mariano
Moreno College. Habit of not bathing. Jews. La Plata.
CHAPTER III
SAN LUIS 62
Appearance of the city. Capitol. Plazas. Hotels. Neighboring
country. Character of the natives. Train ride to Mendoza.
CHAPTER IV
MENDOZA 78
Viticulture. Fruit growing. Wheat. Population and appearance of
the city. Earthquake of 1861. Cerrito de la Gloria. Hotels.
Aconcagua. Cacheuta. Across the Andes. Arrival in town of Los
Andes.
CHAPTER V
SALTA AND TUCUMÁN 101
Train ride to Salta. Lerma Valley. Province of Salta. Chuchu
fever. Population of the city of Salta. 20th of February Club.
Churches and San Francisco Monastery. Population of the city of
Tucumán. Capitol. Governor Padilla. Heat of the city. Hotel
Savoy. Kirwin the photographer. Villa Nougués.
CHAPTER VI
CÓRDOBA 130
Province of Córdoba. Description of the city of Córdoba. Great
number of consumptives. Breweries. Streets, religious edifices,
and hotels. Sierra de Córdoba. Cosquin. Locust pest. Rosario; its
hotels. Pergamino. Mercedes.
CHAPTER VII
ASUNCION 155
Train ride from Buenos Aires. Population of Paraguayan districts
and towns. Don Eduardo Schaerer. Currency. Colonnades. Pavement
of Asuncion's streets. Oratory of Lopez. Climate, rains, and
reptiles. Madame Lynch. Hotels. Mangrullo Cemetery. Market-place.
Cigars. Low cost of living. Asuncene womanhood. Unmorality.
Ypacara-i.
CHAPTER VIII
TO THE SOURCE OF THE PARAGUAY RIVER 195
River scenery. Villa Concepcion. San Salvador. State of Matto
Grosso. Corumbá. Lawlessness. By water to Cuyabá. City of Cuyabá.
Huber. Detour to source of river. Bog and pool. Huber becomes
ill; his death. Diamantino. Return to Buenos Aires by river.
Yerba maté.
CHAPTER IX
SANTIAGO 226
Republic of Chile. Central Valley. Longitudinal railways. Paucity
of factories. Breweries. The Chileno. Illegitimacy. Fiesta of the
Angelito. Reception in Santiago. Compactness of the city; its
streets. Installation of the president. Military parade. American
ambassador. Hotels. High death rate. General Cemetery. Apoquindo.
CHAPTER X
BATHS OF CAUQUENES. CHILOÉ ISLAND. LAKE NAHUEL. HUAPI 263
Rancagua. Baths of Cauquenes. Hostelry. Horseback ride to Los
Lirios. Linares. Panimávida. Araucania and its native
inhabitants. Temuco. Valdivia. Osorno. Fire at Osorno. Ancud.
Castro. Lake Llanquihue. El Tronador Puella. Puerto Blest. Lake
Nahuel Huapi. San Carlos de Bariloche.
CHAPTER XI
CHILLÁN. ASCENT OF THE VOLCANO CHILLÁN 312
Description of the city. Hotel de France. Earthquake. Chillán
Viejo. Birthplace of O'Higgins. Journey to Las Termas de Chillán.
Establishment of Las Termas. Gambling. Episode of the
administrator's brother. Snowfields and glaciers. Eruption of
volcano. Don Vicente Mendez U. Curicó.
CHAPTER XII
NORTHWARD TO ANTOFAGASTA BY RAIL. COPIAPÓ, ANTOFAGASTA, AND 347
IQUIQUE
Greenberg's adventure. San Felipe. Jahuel. Palm groves. Choapa
Valley. Illapel. La Serena. Vallenar. Oasis of Copiapó.
Retrogressant provincial capital. Professor Platner. Desert.
Prosperity of Antofagasta. Strict prohibition laws. Bubonic
plague. Pestilential Tocopilla. Description of Iquique.
CHAPTER XIII
ARICA TO ILO OVERLAND, VIA TACNA, TARATA, AND MOQUEGUA. MOLLENDO 387
Dr. Petit. Morro of Arica. Dispute between Chile and Peru over
Tacna and Arica. Architect Pitaud. Description of Tacna. Peculiar
architecture. Hotel Raiteri. Don Santiago Carmona. Caplina
Valley. Ascending the Andes, Tarata. Parish priest. Tales of
buried treasure. Hacienda Carmona. Ticalco and Sama Valleys.
Stupidity of Peruvian jefe politico. Ilabaya. Dishonest cholo and
Prat's spree. Don José Vergara. Moquegua. Ilo. Stinking Mollendo.
Arrival at Callao.
CHAPTER XIV
LIMA 434
Architecture of Callao. Mixed population of Lima and its seaport.
Origin of Lima. Rimac River. Interesting city. Its population.
Confusion of street names. Concepcion Market. Religious edifices
and procession of El Milagro. Hotels and cafés. Difficulty in
getting money changed. Crookedness of post office officials.
General Cemetery. Viceroys of Peru.
CHAPTER XV
ACROSS THE CORDILLERA TO THE RIO TAMBO 470
Departure from Oroya. Across the Cumbre. Tarma. Valley of the Rio
Palca. Huacapistana. Tropical vegetation. Swinging bridges. San
Ramon. La Merced and the Chanchamayo River. Chuncho, Campas, and
Cashibo Indians. Perené Colony. Down the Ucayali. Iquitos. Head
hunting Indians.
CHAPTER XVI
BUSINESS PROSPECTS IN ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, AND CHILE 496
Knowledge of Spanish and of the Latin character a necessity.
Companies should be fully capitalized. Wheat belt of Argentina.
Argentina poor in fuel and in minerals. Zona del Riego. Flour
mills and beef canning factories. Stock raising and great
ranches. Tannic acid factories. Grafting politicians. Breweries
and sugar mills. Yerba maté industry in Paraguay. Bright outlook
for Chile. Topography of the country. Nitrate, minerals, and
viticulture. Breweries. Enamel works. Railroads of Chile. Great
need of good hotels.
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Henry Stephens, Ph.D.
Locust Pest in Argentina
Snow in the Tropics
Reflection of Aconcagua in the Clouds above
Valparaiso _Frontispieces_
Colonia, Uruguay 19
Congress Building, Buenos Aires 23
Buenos Aires Types 25
Avenida de Mayo, Buenos Aires 27
Mr. Oliver H. Lane 29
Calle Bartolome Mitré, Buenos Aires 31
Fireman and Policeman, Buenos Aires 33
Zoölogical Garden, Buenos Aires 35
Scene on the River at Tigre 53
Station of the Southern Railway, La Plata 55
Old Railway Station, La Plata 56
Bank of the Argentine Nation, La Plata 57
Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, La Plata 58
Allegorical Statue of La Plata 59
Unfinished Cathedral, La Plata 60
Plaza San Martin, Mercedes 63
Street in San Luis 65
Bank of the Argentine Nation, San Luis 66
Capitol, San Luis 68
Matriz Church, San Luis 70
Estancia near San Luis 73
Statue of San Martin, Mendoza 84
Avenida San Martin, Mendoza 85
Monument to the Army of the Andes, Mendoza 89
Waiting for the Train at Cacheuta 94
On the Terrace at Cacheuta 95
Thermal Establishment at Cacheuta 97
One of the Diversions at Cacheuta that is neither
Bathing nor Gambling 98
Steps at Cacheuta Leading from the Railroad
Station to the Hotel 99
Güemes 107
Cathedral and Bishop's Palace, Salta 109
Tomb in Cemetery, Salta 113
Calle Mitre, Salta 116
Capitol, Tucumán 121
Calle Laprida, Tucumán 123
Residence of Dr. Juan C. Nougués, San Pablo 127
Country House at Villa Nougués 128
Northern Market, Córdoba 133
Cathedral of Córdoba 137
Residence of Martin Ferreyra, Córdoba 138
Church of Santa Teresa, Córdoba 139
Zoölogical Garden, Córdoba 141
Corner of Plaza San Martin, Córdoba 142
Bridge on Road to Dique San Roque 144
Courthouse, Rosario 147
Street Scene, Rosario 148
Plaza 25 de Mayo, Rosario 149
Street Scene, Rosario 150
Calle San Nicolas, Pergamino 151
Plaza 25 de Mayo, Pergamino 152
Street in Mercedes 153
Scene from Railroad Station at Villa Rica 162
Casa de Gobierno, or Capitol, Asuncion 167
Drawing Showing Construction of Colonnades on
a Paraguayan Building 170
Cabildo, or City Hall, Asuncion 171
Plazoleta del Puerto, Asuncion 172
Calle Palmas, Asuncion 173
Calle 15 de Agosto, Asuncion 174
Street Scene, Outskirts of Asuncion 175
Mangrullo Cemetery, Asuncion 184
Street Scene, Cuyabá 205
Street Scene, Outskirts of Cuyabá 206
Source of the Paraguay River 213
House in Diamantino where Huber Died 220
Diagram Showing Idea of Central Valley of Chile
in Relationship to the Andes Mountains and
the Coast Range, with Course of Streams 227
Scenery, Central Valley of Chile 229
Village Scene, Central Chile 230
The Valdivia Breweries Company, Valdivia 233
Santa Lucia Hill, Santiago 239
General View of Santiago from Santa Lucia Hill 241
Alameda, Santiago 242
Calle Huerfanos, Santiago 243
Modern Residence on the Alameda, Santiago 244
Calle Ejercito Liberador, Santiago 245
Fountain in Santiago 247
President Don Juan Luis Sanfuentes of Chile with
Cabinet 248
Monument of Don Pedro Montt, Cementerio Jeneral,
Santiago 249
View Looking West on Compañia Street from
Estado at the Plaza de Armas, Santiago 251
Cathedral Street, Santiago 252
Mapocho River near Santiago 256
Street in Nuñoa, Chile 261
Plaza O'Higgins, Rancagua 264
Calle Bresil, Rancagua 265
Street in Rancagua 266
Gorge of the Cachapoal at Baños de Cauquenes 268
Main Street of Linares 277
Panimávida 278
Bridge over the Malleco River at Collipulli 283
Street in Temuco 287
Plaza de la Republica, Valdivia 289
Calle-Calle River at Valdivia, Showing Flour
Mills 291
Street in Valdivia 292
Riñihue Landscape, Southern Chile 293
Osorno 295
Scenery on the Railroad between Osorno and
Puerto Montt 297
Indian Belles, Chiloé Island, Chile 301
Lake Todos Santos from Petrohué 304
Puella 306
El Tronador, Chile 308
San Carlos de Bariloche 311
Plaza O'Higgins, Chillán 314
Calle Roble, Chillán, Looking East from Calle
Arauco 315
Street in Chillán 316
Market Place, Chillán 317
Scene at the Station at Pinto 322
Post Station at La Dehesa 323
Harvesting Scene at La Dehesa 324
Mountain in the Renegado Canyon, Chile 325
Corral of Las Trancas 326
Forest in the Province of Ñuble, Chile 327
Scene on the Road to Termas de Chillán 328
Termas de Chillán 329
Casuchas at Termas de Chillán 330
Mr. Henry Stephens 333
Mr. Hugo Gumprecht 333
View towards the Argentine Frontier from the
Slopes of Volcano Chillán 334
Glacier Covered with Fresh Snow on the Volcano 335
Rim of the Crater of Volcano Chillán During
Eruption 337
Snow Fields of Volcano Chillán 337
From the Slopes of Volcano Chillán 339
Savedra, Gumprecht, and Prat on Lava Fields of
Volcano Chillán 339
Mountain Scenery and Waterfall at Las Trancas 343
Church in San Felipe 348
City Hall, San Felipe 349
Street in San Felipe 352
Street in Almendraz 353
Jahuel 356
Ocoa 359
Street in Vallenar 362
Alameda in Copiapó 363
Monument Erected in Honor of Atacama's Illustrious
Dead, Copiapó 364
Main Street of Copiapó 365
Main Street of Copiapó 366
Outskirts of Copiapó 367
Hovels on the Outskirts of Copiapó 368
Cemetery, Copiapó 369
Plaza Colon, Antofagasta 374
Provincial Capitol Building, Antofagasta 375
Street in Antofagasta 377
Street in Tocopilla 380
Cemeteries at Tocopilla 382
Street in Iquique 384
Street in Iquique 385
Cemetery, Iquique 386
Custom House, Arica 388
Street in Arica 389
Capitol Building at Tacna 392
Street in Tacna Showing Earthquake Proof Houses 393
Calle Bolivar, Tacna 394
Fountain in Tacna 395
Unfinished Cathedral in Tacna 396
Style of Tacna Architecture 397
Old Residence, Tacna 398
Street in Tacna 399
Calle Miller, Tacna 400
Alameda, Tacna 401
Street in Tarata 406
Street in Ilabaya, Peru 423
Alameda, Moquegua 426
Street in Moquegua 428
Street in Moquegua 429
Callao Harbor 435
Puente Vieja, Lima, as Seen from the Bed of the
Rimac 438
Calle Huallaga, Lima 440
Plaza Italia, Lima. Vendors of Bread 441
Plazuela de la Inquisicion, Lima 442
Boulevard in Lima 444
Façade of San Augustin Church, Lima 447
Procession of the Milagro, Lima 449
Cercado Church, Lima 460
Tomb of the Goyeneche Family, in the General
Cemetery, Lima 461
Mr. Kurt Waldemar Linn of New York 462
Mr. Linn of New York Rising out of the Tomb
Erected in Honor of the Peruvian Heroes of
the Pacific War, 1879-1882 463
Corpse Bearer, General Cemetery, Lima 464
Putting a Coffin into a Niche, General Cemetery,
Lima 465
Llamas at Casapalca 474
Tarma, Peru 477
Cemetery, Tarma 479
Argentine Plazas. Plate No. I 521
Argentine Plazas. Plate No. II 523
Chilean Plazas. Plate No. III 525
Map Showing Route Taken by Author _At End_
Journeys and Experiences in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile
CHAPTER I
MONTEVIDEO
In my former book, _South American Travels_, I made a statement
relative to the pronunciation of the word "Montevideo" as follows:
"Many foreigners make the mistake of pronouncing the name of the
city with the accent on its penultima 'e'. Each syllable should be
pronounced alike, with no distinction made as onto which syllable
the accent falls." I have since found out that I was wrong, and am
convinced so by my losing a ten-dollar bet with a gentleman relative
to the pronunciation of the Uruguayan metropolis. Montevideo has its
accent on the penultima. The word is derived from the Latin "_Montem
video_" the final _m_ in _montem_ having been dropped to facilitate
pronunciation. Its site was first discovered by Magellan in 1520, and
as the 493 feet high dun-colored _cerro_, which dominates the western
side of the harbor on whose shores the city is now built, appeared on
the occidental horizon, somebody at the bow of the ship yelled out,
"Montem video" ("I see a mountain"), which words gave the city its
present name. It can be safely assumed that the man at the bow who
uttered the Latin exclamation was a priest or a friar because who
amongst a crew of sailors and adventurers would have a knowledge of
Latin unless it was a man who had taken Holy Orders? The Spaniards
and Portuguese in those days never embarked on any expedition without
taking some of these gentry along.
Montevideo is sometimes called "Queen of La Plata" on account of its
cleanliness, haughty reserve, and aristocratic appearance; more often
has it been styled "Modern Troy" due to decades of internecine strife,
anarchy, revolutions, and a Ten Years' War. Now that there has been
quietude for several years, with prospects of continued peace, it is
unfair to its inhabitants to liken it to the prehistoric city at the
southeastern end of the Hellespont.
Several times during the years 1915 and 1916, I visited Montevideo,
having made occasional trips from Buenos Aires, but an episode
connected with my last advent on Uruguayan shores will take an
indefinitely long time to erase it from my memory. It was like this:
On February 17, 1916, I had embarked on the Lamport & Holt steamship
_Vestris_ at La Plata for Montevideo to bid farewell to friends
returning to the United States. The steamer was scheduled to sail from
Montevideo at 2 P.M. the next day.
When that time came I was in the dining room, and was so engrossed in
a conversation that appealed to me that I never heard the ringing of
bells and the blowing of whistles that denote that an ocean leviathan
is about to get under way. Suddenly an acquaintance, Mr. Lynn B. Packer
of Norwich, N. Y., ran into the dining room calling out: "The ship is
in motion, Stephens, we are in for it!" We both ran up the stairs and
onto the deck. True enough, the _Vestris_ was sailing but at a snail's
pace, and the anchor was being pulled up. The lighter containing the
visitors had left and was now but a black speck behind the breakwater.
Not even a fishing boat was in sight. We ran to the port side, and saw
a few hundred feet away a rowboat in which were two men pulling away.
We yelled to them and waved our handkerchiefs; they stopped. We took
off our coats and waved them also; they swung their rowboat around
and rowed back towards us. A steward and a couple of sailors got a
rope-ladder which they hung over the railing of the deck, and down
this Packer and myself clambered, and jumped into the rowboat which had
now reached the sides of the _Vestris_. The two men of the rowboat now
pulled out to let the ocean liner pass by, so as not to get caught in
the vortex of water caused by the propellers.
The sea was rough; a leaden sky cast a gloomy canopy over the leaden
water; to the left rose the dun-colored cerro crowned by its prison
and lighthouse. In the background nearly two miles away, seemed to rise
in tiers, the somber buildings of drab Montevideo, the twin towers of
the cathedral, the Gothic steeple of a church, and a large rectangular
pile at the water's edge, which was formerly the university, being
silhouetted against the sky line. Black hulls of ships, merchantmen,
and freighters flying the flags of most civilized nations, besides the
interned German ships of the Kosmos Line, dotted the harbor and the
open sea outside of the breakwater, but we were at least half a mile
from the nearest one of them.
We now began to size up the two boatmen. They were a villainous
looking pair. The one who acted as the boss was an undersized man about
thirty-five years old. He wore a black moustache, and about two weeks
stubble of beard. His hair was unkempt, and white mucus had collected
at the corners of his mouth and eyes. He stunk of garlic, and his
clothes were dirty and greasy. His companion was a tall and slender
man, a few years his junior. His appearance was likewise unkempt,
although his long face, covered with pimples, was clean shaven, except
for an occasional straggling whisker on his chin which his razor had
overlooked.
The boss boatman, knowing me to be a North American, attempted to
converse with me in English, but his knowledge of that tongue was
so execrable that he soon had to desist; he knew but a few words of
Spanish. By mixing lingoes we made ourselves understood and he informed
me that he was a resident of Rio de Janeiro, of which city he was a
native, and that he was at present employed as a doctor on a Brazilian
passenger ship in Montevideo, and that his regular trips were from
Manaos on the Amazon to Montevideo, touching at all the seaports; his
comrade, he informed me, was a Paulista and was the Marconi operator on
the same ship. Both had been making a visit to the different ships now
anchored in Montevideo harbor, having had chats with the doctors and
Marconi-men of said ships, and were returning to their own vessel when
hailed by us.
This yarn I refused to believe, for no man that I had ever seen had
a more unmedical appearance than the boss boatman; moreover instead
of attempting to row us to the docks, both men were rowing towards
the Brazilian vessel, which we were approaching, and which belied its
title of a passenger ship, having more the appearance of a freighter.
The sea, as I said, was rough, and I yelled to the boatmen to swing
around as I had no desire to be carried into the South Atlantic in an
open boat; my misgivings were not so much on account of the elements,
as for the thought that I became obsessed with, namely that these two
vagabonds were trying to shanghai us, endeavoring to get us aboard
the Brazilian ship. Montevideo, Valparaiso, and Callao are noted as
tough ports, where shanghaiing is rife, and many of these stories were
brought to my mind. To Packer, who lay reposing in the stern, I told
my doubts. He replied that he had been thinking the same thing for
some time. I told him the best thing for us to do would be to ask for
the oars so that we could row back to shore ourselves; in case the
boatmen refused, to rush them, and lay them out. He said he was game
for a fight but refused to row, giving some excuse which I interpreted
in meaning that he was too lazy. I had nothing but a pocket knife with
me, and in case of a fight, meant to plant the blade in some vulnerable
spot in the anatomy of the boss boatman, whom I took to be the boss
villain.
We had gradually been drifting out in the open sea, and the waves were
becoming rougher. These were also unpleasant thoughts, especially since
during the last few minutes the Brazilians had developed a streak of
laziness. Packer gave me a wink which was the cue, and I asked for the
oars. Great was my astonishment and also relief of mind, when instead
of refusing my request which would have brought on a sanguinary fight
with possible loss of life to one or more of us, the boss boatman
handed me the oars. The Paulista, ready for a siesta, even though the
sea was rough, dropped his oars beside his comrade, and turned over
on his side for a snooze. All alone, with no help, I had to row the
three occupants back, as each refused to labor any more. It took me two
hours, hard pulling, before we again reached the dock at Montevideo.
Believing that the "doctor" stunt was a lie, and that both were sailors
from the Brazilian vessel, I offered the boatmen a piece of change for
their aid in bringing us to terra firma, for unless they had taken us
in their rowboat we would by this time be well under way for Santos.
The boss boatman was indignant and informed me that I was insulting
him. I then handed out some silver to the "Marconi" operator; he was
on the point of accepting it, but withdrew his hand at a growl of
disapproval from the "doctor."
"You had better have some refreshment," I said to them, leading the way
to a nearby bar. They followed me and seating themselves at the same
table with us, ordered some raspberry soda. This was astonishment No.
2, for I could hardly conceive such villainous-looking rascals imbibing
anything milder than one hundred proof whiskey.
"See this ring," quoth the Fluminense, turning a finger to me so
that I could see within the gold setting, a black stone in which was
chiselled the image of a serpent: "It denotes the cult of Æsculapius.
Most Brazilian doctors wear them. I have been on the same ship for
three years. Here is my card." The man pulled a book out of his pocket
similar to a lodge pass-book at home, and true enough I saw that he was
telling the truth, and that he really was a bona fide physician.
We must have sat at the table for about fifteen minutes, when the
Marconi operator got into a row with the waiter, whom he claimed
overcharged him the day before on a dish of ice cream. The waiter
called the proprietor and a big rumpus occurred. It wound up by the
Paulista pulling a fist full of nickle-in-the-slot machine slugs out
of his pocket and hurling them with great force into the face of the
outraged proprietor. Before he could recover his astonishment, both
Brazilians "beat it" in the direction of the docks. Packer and I,
anticipating trouble, also "beat it," but up the hill. No man likes
to chase another up hill. In case any reader of this article should go
to Montevideo, and would like to know where this particular café is, I
wish to inform him that it is situated at the southwest corner of the
streets, Rampla and Alzaibar.
That same night as I was standing on the Plaza Matriz in front of
the Hotel Lanata, I was accosted by a very clean-looking gentleman,
immaculately dressed in black, wearing spats, and carrying a small
cane. I thought it was a case of mistaken identity and was about
to pass on, when to my amazement I recognized the doctor. The
transformation was complete. He could now pass for a boulevardier while
before he had the air of a cutthroat. He informed me that he had rowed
back to his ship, changed his attire, and had returned to shore by a
motor boat.
The city of Montevideo has about four hundred thousand inhabitants
exclusive of suburbs, and stretches over quite an area of land, due to
the broad streets and lowness of its houses. It is built around the
harbor and also along the Atlantic Ocean which is separated from the
harbor by a hill in the shape of a whaleback. At the western end of the
harbor is the cerro which marks the mouth of the La Plata and which is
the only hill worthy of the name until that of Lambaré is reached one
thousand miles up the river, the landmark for Asuncion. The whaleback
is the business part of the city, although the shopping district has
now a tendency to spread more eastward. The gradient to the top of
the whaleback on which lies the Calle Sarandi, one of the principal
streets of the city, is gentle, but yet I have several acquaintances
who refused to walk it, preferring to go from the docks to the Plaza
Matriz in a taxicab. One of these men is Mr. Oliver H. Lane, formerly
of Washington before that city was made "dry," but who, because that
calamity befell the National Capital, moved to Boston. One day in
December, 1915, he, Packer, and I started from the docks uptown on
foot. After we had gone two blocks, Lane planted his back against the
wall of a building and said:
"What do you take me for? Do you think I want to walk to Paraguay?"
As there were no taxicabs around, Packer and I were obliged to walk
about three-quarters of a mile to the Plaza Matriz to get one to return
for Lane, whom we found in the same identical spot with his back still
against the wall.
Montevideo ranks according to the tonnage of vessels entering and
clearing its harbor as the ninth port in the world, surpassing all
South American cities in this respect. Until about fifty years ago,
it was the metropolis of the La Plata watershed. About that time
Buenos Aires passed it, and to-day the population of the Argentine
metropolis is four times larger. Montevideo has a fine harbor; Buenos
Aires has none. The Uruguayan back country is richer than the country
behind Buenos Aires. Montevideo has a wonderful climate, cool,
invigorating, with a fresh breeze always blowing; Buenos Aires has
a humid, enervating, somewhat depressing climate. With these natural
superiorities, one would think Montevideo would outrank Buenos Aires
but not so. Buenos Aires has always had a spirit of progression, which
has become contagious and has spread to Rosario, and to Bahia Blanca;
Montevideo has always been conservative, entirely wrapped in herself,
indifferent to other cities. Uruguay, which is the smallest republic in
South America, has an area of only 72,210 square miles, not as large
as the province of Buenos Aires alone. Of its population of 1,042,668
inhabitants, one half live within a radius of twenty miles from the
center of the city of Montevideo. The difference between Buenos Aires
and Montevideo is so great that it is difficult to realize that they
are separated only by a night's run of 190 knots.
The topography of the city is a succession of low hills which flank
the harbor. They continue to the cerro, seven miles around the
semi-circular harbor, and on their sides and summits are built a
succession of villages not included in the incorporation limits of
Montevideo. On the cerro rise the whitewashed houses of the town of
Villa del Cerro, while at its bottom slopes near the La Plata mouth
there is a large eucalyptus grove of dark green color, a landmark for
many miles at sea.
There was but little building done in Montevideo between the years 1912
and 1916; in fact I could see no change, although I have no doubt but
that the population is increasing on a normal scale. The monotony of
the appearance of the residential streets is impressing. Each street
has the same cobblestone pavement; on each street there are sycamore
trees between the pavement and the sidewalk; the houses are mostly the
same, one and two stories high, built of the same material and offering
absolutely no contrast in architecture, in size, or color to the
thousands like them in the Uruguayan metropolis. This same condition
must have existed since the Colonial times, because one writer, whose
book written about 1830 I recently read, said in his description of
Montevideo that on account of the great similarity of the houses and
absence of street numbers, drunken men frequently mistook houses of
other people for their own and entered them at different times of the
day and night causing much embarrassment and confusion.
The residences of the wealthier inhabitants do not have this monotonous
uniformity. They are villas, set back from the street in large gardens
and lawns, enclosed by low brick walls. In architecture they are light
and resemble the houses of the aristocracy of Rio de Janeiro. Compared
with the palatial homes of the Buenos Aires millionaires they are
inexpensive. The Avenida Agraciada is the main residential street, but
the Avenida Brazil in the suburb of Pocitos has many fine homes, some
of which are the summer abodes of Argentinos who like to spend the
hottest months of the summer by the seashore. The very finest mansion
in the city is on the Plaza Zabala, the loafers' park, in the business
section on the whaleback, and not far from the docks. It is owned by an
Italian who wished to have his residence near to his place of business.
The main shopping streets are Sarandi and Rincon. These are parallel
and are but one block apart. The Avenida 18 de Julio, like the Avenida
de Mayo in Buenos Aires, is the parade street. It is a beautiful broad
avenue about a mile and a half long, and runs eastward from the Plaza
Independencia. Seven blocks up it is interrupted in its course by
the Plaza Libertad, formerly named Sagancha. It is one of the finest
streets in South America. Many of the streets have old Indian names
peculiar to the country such as Timbo, Yaro, Tacuarembo, Yaguaron, Yí,
Cuareim, Ibicui, Ituzaingo, Guarani, etc. It is pleasant to see this
change in street names after a sojourn in Argentina where in each city
the nomenclatures of the streets never vary, with the omnipresent San
Martin, Tucumán, Córdoba, Corrientes, La Rioja, and many others.
Montevideo and its suburbs on the ocean are the great bathing resorts
of South America and are visited annually by more people than Mar del
Plata, the latter place being exclusively for the rich. On account
of its proximity to Buenos Aires, it is resorted to daily by great
numbers of tourists, who make the night trip across the La Plata River.
Pocitos is the most popular bathing resort. The poor natives do their
swimming from the rocks on the ocean front near the heart of the city.
They are invariably garbed _à la_ Adam, and are visible by all the
occupants of the electric tramcars that pass along that shore. The most
aristocratic beach in Montevideo is the Playa Ramirez but people do
not flock to that section as much for bathing as they do for gambling.
Everything goes in Montevideo. The exclusive and expensive Parque
Hotel at the Playa Ramirez, the show place of costly raiment, and of
sparkling gems which embellish the figures of their wearers, has in
connection the finest gambling house in America, roulette and baccarat
being the attractions. The Parque Hotel, which was formerly under the
management of a naturalized United States citizen, Edward Aveglio, is
now under the same management as the Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, and
is considered to be one of the best seashore hotels in South America.
It is patronized largely by Argentine aristocracy.
The gambling establishment, probably after those of Monte Carlo and
San Sebastian the most luxurious edifice of its kind in existence,
opens at 5 P.M. and closes at 7.30 P.M. It reopens at 9 P.M. and closes
at 2 A.M. A fee of one peso ($1.04) is charged to enter. One peso is
the lowest permissible play on any single number at roulette and one
hundred pesos is the highest. Unlike the Argentine roulette wheels
which have a 0 and a 00, this one has but a single zero which gives the
player (or rather the victim) one nineteenth of a better show to win,
if successful.
The same class of crowd that graces most European casinos is seen
here at its zenith. There is present the nervous individual, who
wants the public to think he has a system. To make them believe it, he
pretends to study a chart and makes pencil notations. When he loses,
he mutters an unintelligible exclamation. There also grace the scene
fat dowagers with paste diamond necklaces. Some women who have wasted
their allowance on bridge and poker, and are now in the clutches of
the moneylender, come here to attempt to retrieve their fortune on
one final coup, in most cases their swan song. Bankers, diplomats,
millionaires, and cabinet officers from Buenos Aires, a president of
one of the Latin republics are to be seen. Young fops are in evidence,
not to play, but to ogle the raft of glorious girls always to be found
in propinquity to tables of chance.
The casino does a great bar business in champagne cocktails to the tune
of forty-one cents a glass. This champagne cocktail, regardless of its
high price, seems to be one of the favorite strong drinks there. The
soft drink that tickles the palate of the Montevideanos is a nauseating
concoction named _palta_. It is made of orange juice, pineapple juice,
sugar, and the yolk of an egg; to it is added siphon water. It is
then stirred, and served in a large goblet. I tried some of it as an
experiment and am sorry that I did not stick to beer, for the egg that
the mixologist used in my palta was rotten. In R. Bibondo's Brazilian
coffee house on Suipacha Street in Buenos Aires, I once received a
piece of cake in whose making a rotten egg was likewise used.
Although the Grand Hotel Lanata cannot be called first-class in any
respect, excepting the restaurant which is the best in the city, it
is far better for the unaccompanied male visitor to stop there than at
the Parque, on account of its central location. It takes twenty minutes
by electric car to reach the Parque from the Plaza Independencia. It
costs $1.20 to reach it by taxicab. The Grand Hotel Lanata of Ximines
and Santamarina is in the central part of the city on the Plaza
Constitucion (formerly called the Plaza Matriz) and is convenient
for shoppers and sightseers. The Oriental near the docks is a good
hotel, but the glass-roofed parlor and lobby is malodorous from poor
ventilation. Other good hotels are the Colon, Barcelona, and Florida
Palace. Regarding the last-mentioned place, I must state that its
proprietor is a Brazilian who does not draw the color line as to his
clientele.
Worthy of interest are the cathedral, the Solis theatre, the central
market, the colonnaded buildings on the Plaza Independencia, the new
university, the central cemetery, and the Uruguaya brewery.
The cathedral is a twin-towered and domed majestic structure on the
Plaza Constitucion with an elaborately decorated chapel. Four golden
suns (the sun is the emblem of Uruguay) are painted on an azure
background on the wall beneath the dome. The rays of the natural sun
above, penetrating the yellow and blue skylights of the dome, cast
weird and ghostly lights in the interior.
The Uruguaya brewery is on the Calle Yatai, to the west of the center
of the city, but nearly two miles from the downtown business section.
It is best reached by electric tramcar. The reason for a visit to it is
the large beer hall like the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, and whose replica
is to be found nowhere else in the Western Hemisphere. There are
large bare tables, with chairs and benches. The visitor sits at one of
these. He need not give an order for no sooner is he seated than a full
schuper of foaming elixir is placed in front of him. When he has had
enough, he turns his empty mug bottom up, otherwise it is a sign that
his thirst has not been quenched and that he is in line for another
one, which is immediately set in front of him.
The specialties of Montevideo are the polished agates and stones common
to Uruguay. These are found in abundance in the department of Minas,
and although expensive are fine souvenirs. No tourist should visit
the city without taking some away as they make admirable gifts to
friends at home. They are made into paper weights, paper cutters, stamp
holders, buttons, etc. The best ones are dark blue; next come the smoky
gray. Also beautiful, but cheaper, are the brick red ones, and those
that are a combination of black and white.
A beautiful pink lily graces the lawns of the Avenida Agraciada. In
shape it is like our common orange red milk lily but unlike the milk
lily which grows in racemose clusters on a single stalk this Uruguayan
lily has but one blossom. It is hardy and should thrive in the United
States.
A gastronomic delicacy of Montevideo is the lobster which is caught on
the Uruguayan littoral, and which is seldom to be procured in Buenos
Aires restaurants.
Montevideo vies with Rio de Janeiro as being one of the cleanest cities
in the Western Hemisphere; like Rio de Janeiro, its taxicabs and
public automobiles for hire are the best in the Western Hemisphere.
The Montevideano drivers are reckless, and one day while out driving
in the suburbs in a hired motor car, the chauffeur tried to drive his
machine through a narrow place with the result that he drove into a
five-mule-power wagon and smashed the left headlight and dented the
hood for his pains. Returning by the same road shortly afterwards,
he met the same wagon, and angered drove into the mules for revenge.
This caused much annoyance as the mule driver, not knowing that the
automobile was a public vehicle; believed that it belonged to me and
that I had set the chauffeur up to this nefarious trick. The latter,
being a cur, stood safely to one side while I and the teamster had
the altercation. Although we nearly came to blows on account of the
chauffeur's scurvy stunt, the latter never opened his mouth to help me
out of the difficulty.
The Uruguayan metropolis is the congregating place of desperadoes,
ruffians, and other gentry of similar character from Argentina, and
other nations. They loiter about the entrances of the disreputable
saloons and sailors' dives and by their drunken actions and foul
speech make it impossible for a respectable woman to pass down any of
the streets near the docks without an escort. Argentina, glad to be
ridden of this class of social outcast, makes no effort to extradite
them unless they have committed some major crime. Here in Montevideo,
they "raise hell" and scarcely a day goes by without the newspapers
mentioning some murder, assault, or burglary that has taken place.
One of these gentry, a Cockney, evidently mistaking me for one of
his kind, approached me one day as I sat in front of a café under the
colonnades in the Plaza Independencia, and asked me for a job. He said:
"I ham not a bit particular what kind of a job it be," and drawing near
to my ear, he let his voice drop as he spoke: "I hax no questions. If
there be hanybody you'd like to put out of the way, Hi'm the man to do
it."
Not many people traveling between Montevideo and Buenos Aires ever
think of making the trip otherwise than on one of the palatial steamers
of the Mihanovich Line which ply between the two ports in a night's
run. The luxurious steamers _Ciudad de Buenos Aires_ and the _Ciudad
de Montevideo_, and the smaller but admirable _Londres_ and _Lisboa_,
are in the height of the season jammed with passengers nearly to
overcrowding. Tired of gazing upon the sluggish and muddy La Plata
River and eager to see the Uruguayan landscape, I decided to make the
trip by rail as far as Colonia and thence make the twenty-five mile
crossing to Buenos Aires on one of the smaller boats.
Colonia, capital of the department of the same name, is 153 miles
distant by rail from Montevideo. Trains run thrice a week only, on
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, making the return trip the next day,
and their running time is seven hours and fifteen minutes, the speed
including stops being slightly over twenty-one miles an hour.
I left Montevideo on the Central Railroad one morning at 6.15 A.M., and
thirty-five minutes later entered the department of Canelones at the
large village of Las Piedras. The landscape during that short distance
and even as far as 25 de Agosto, where the department of San José is
entered was a monotonous succession of low rolling hills, with low,
long red brick and whitewashed _estancia_ buildings set back from the
country roads, at the edge of eucalyptus and pepperberry groves. Herds
of fat cattle and sheep browsed in the pastures tended by shepherd
boys with long-haired dogs. Between Las Piedras and 25 de Agosto a
small city was passed. Its name is Canelones and was formerly called
Guadelupe. It is the capital of Canelones and lies to east of the
railroad between it and a river named the Canelon Chico. The rivers,
Canelon Grande and Canelon Chico give the name to the province.
25 de Agosto is nothing but a railroad junction with some repair shops.
The main line of the Central Railroad runs north to the Brazilian
frontier at Rivera, and is here joined by the branch that goes westward
to Colonia. The department of San José which is now entered, presents a
different aspect than Canelones for the trees which had hitherto been
present in abundance around the estancias, had now disappeared. The
country had become more rolling, and to the westward a low range of
hills appeared on the horizon. As far as the eye could see, a canopy of
yellow dried prairie grasses bedecked the parched and blistered soil,
sweltering beneath the scorching rays of the hot February sun. All
over this seething landscape, roamed at will, half wild cattle, long
and gaunt. It is as much as a man's life is worth to venture on foot
amidst a herd of these Uruguayan cattle. They seldom attack a horseman,
knowing that he has them at an advantage, but the foot traveler should
be wary, for the quadrupeds know the tables are turned, and will
charge and gore him to death on sight. Birds of the genus Struthio,
spoken of as ostriches, but which in reality belong to the branch named
cassowaries, as they have three toes instead of two like the ostrich,
and no tufted tail feathers like the latter, mingle with these nomadic
cattle; so does the timid deer, unafraid and on terms of comradery, for
it is only against man that these beasts have animosity.
The city of San José, one of the largest in Uruguay, whose population I
imagine is about fifteen thousand inhabitants, is reached at 9.11 A.M.
It is pleasantly situated on a river of the same name at the base of
some high hills, which rise at the west of the city. The town itself
is intersected by the railroad which in a Uruguayan city is unusual as
most are generally at quite a distance therefrom. At Mal Abrigo, which
is reached about an hour after leaving San José, the railroad branches
out again, the other one going to Mercedes, a pleasant city on the
Rio Negro, and the capital of the department of Soriano. Continuing
on the Colonia line, we enter the department of Colonia and keep on
till we reach a small place named Rosario which is the junction for
another branch line to a La Plata port named Puerto del Sauce. Colonia
is reached at 1.30 P.M. Connection is made with small boats of the
Mihanovich Line which sail one hour later, making the crossing to
Buenos Aires in three hours to the tune of $2.89.
Colonia is a fine little town with about eight thousand inhabitants
lying directly across the La Plata River from Buenos Aires from which
city I imagine it to be about twenty-five miles distant. It is cool,
with a fresh breeze generally blowing and, owing to this, is much
visited by the inhabitants of the Argentine metropolis as a health and
summer resort. It has two good hotels, the Esperanza and the Ruso.
Besides the boats that ply daily between Buenos Aires and Colonia,
there are excursion steamers Sundays; also those that make nightly
trips returning at an early hour of the morning. The reason for this
last mentioned service is that in Uruguay gambling is permitted, and
at San Carlos, near Colonia and reached by a narrow gauge railway, is
another casino where the click of the ball as it revolves on the disk
of the roulette wheel disturbs the nocturnal air.
My friend Packer had an obsession for this kind of pastime, and
many were the nightly visits he made to San Carlos. On one of these
trips, while watching the game in the casino, an Englishman had made
a considerable winning, but owing to his inability to converse in the
Spanish language, the croupiers were endeavoring to cheat him out of
his winnings. He appealed to Packer, who helped him out and got his
money for him. On the trip back to Buenos Aires that same night, he and
Packer were seated opposite to one another in the dining-room. Packer
tried to enter into conversation with him. The Englishman puckered up
his lips and said: "I no speeka Engleesh." He deserved to be thrashed.
It is a very common occurrence in most countries of South America,
especially in Argentina for Englishmen to try to hide their nationality
and pass off as a native. Why they do this odious act, I do not know,
but any foreigner no matter how ignorant he is, can always spot an
Englishman by his mispronunciation of the language he is trying to hide
himself under.
[Illustration: Colonia, Uruguay]
A syndicate was formed with $800,000 capital to start a bull ring
at San Carlos. It would have undoubtedly been a great money-making
transaction drawing innumerable people from Buenos Aires, but the
socialistic government of the Banda Oriental, as Uruguay is frequently
spoken of, very wisely put a ban on this cruel sport.