diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:05:50 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:05:50 -0700 |
| commit | fc39c0d553ccf42ab6274718af99e580ee5a0b34 (patch) | |
| tree | 00279e3089c89e6ade863ab17ded5bc9214b44d5 /47264-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '47264-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/47264-h.htm | 14088 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 188322 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-004.jpg | bin | 0 -> 199339 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-025a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203335 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-025b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 199572 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-033.png | bin | 0 -> 70861 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-045.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203538 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-057a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 204048 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-057b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 204030 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-063.png | bin | 0 -> 153718 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-071a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203878 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-071b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 199412 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-085a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202018 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-085b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 200105 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-099a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203425 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-099b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201882 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-111a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202705 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-111b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202213 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-121a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201865 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-121b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 199732 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-135a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 204629 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-135b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203956 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-139a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203645 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-139b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201391 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-155a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201434 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-155b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202102 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-171a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 204352 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-171b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201657 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-185a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 200057 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-185b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201388 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-199a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 198742 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-199b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 198416 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-217a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202759 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-217b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202833 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-225.png | bin | 0 -> 135284 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-233a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203696 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-233b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201998 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-239.png | bin | 0 -> 91173 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-243.png | bin | 0 -> 130529 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-255a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 198963 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-255b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202037 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-267a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203974 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-267b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 204392 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-275.png | bin | 0 -> 73699 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-287.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203483 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-297a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202335 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-297b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 203776 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-305.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202665 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-311.png | bin | 0 -> 150580 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-321a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 202451 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-321b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 204424 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-329a.jpg | bin | 0 -> 197931 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 47264-h/images/illus-329b.jpg | bin | 0 -> 201860 bytes |
53 files changed, 14088 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/47264-h/47264-h.htm b/47264-h/47264-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d84eb8 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/47264-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14088 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Argentine Republic, by Pierre Denis</title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/jpeg" /> + <style type="text/css"> + body { + font-family: "Palatino Linotype", "Bookman Old Style", "Bookman", "URW Bookman L", serif; + padding: 0 7% 0 8%; + } + body > p { + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1em; + } + p { + line-height: 1.4em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 0; + } + h1 { + clear: both; + font-size: 2em; + font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; + font-weight: bold; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + text-align: center; + page-break-after: always; + } + h2 { + clear: both; + font-size: 1.25em; + font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; + font-weight: normal; + margin-top: 5em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + page-break-before: right; + text-align: center; + } + h3 { + clear: both; + font-size: 1em; + font-style: normal; + font-variant: small-caps; + font-weight: normal; + margin-top: 2em; + text-align: center; + } + h4 { + clear: both; + font-size: 1em; + font-style: italic; + font-variant: normal; + font-weight: normal; + margin-top: 1.5em; + text-align: center; + } + hr { + clear: both; + margin: 1em 27.5% 1em 27.5%; + width: 45%; + } + hr.chap { + margin: 2em 17.5% 2em 17.5%; + width: 65%; + } + hr.tb { + width: 45%; + } + .thumb { + clear: right; + float: right; + max-width: 60%; + overflow: auto; + padding: .25em .25em .25em 1em; + page-break-before: always; + page-break-after: always; + text-align: center; + } + img { + border: medium solid blue; + padding: 0; + width: 60%; + height: auto; + } + .figtitle { + font-size: 1.25em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: bold; + font-variant: normal; + text-align: center; + } + .figcaption { + display: block; + font-size: 100%; + font-style: italic; + font-weight: normal; + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + } + .figcaption em { + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + } + .credit { + font-size: 75%; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: right; + } + .click { + font-family: Arial, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif; + font-size: 1.25em; + font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; + margin-top: .5em; + padding-right: 2em; + padding-left: 2em; + text-align: center; + } + .plate { + font-size: 1em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: bold; + font-variant: small-caps; + text-align: left; + } + li { + line-height: 1.1em; + margin: .25em 0 0 0; + } + ul { + margin: 1.12em .5em 1.12em .5em; + padding: 0; + } + ul.toc { + list-style-type: none; + position: relative; + } + .pageno { + position: absolute; + right: 0; + text-align: right; + top: auto; + } + .toc li { + margin: 0 2.5em 0 0; + padding: 0 0 1em 5em; + text-indent: -2em; + } + .toc p { + font-size: 90%; + line-height: 1.1em; + text-indent: -2em; + } + .index { + font-size: 95%; + list-style-type: none; + line-height: 1.4em; + margin: 0 10% 2em 15%; + text-indent: -5%; + } + .indexjump { + border: thin solid black; + width: 75%; + } + .indexjump td { + border: thin solid black; + text-align: center; + } + .indexjump td:first-child { + border: thin solid black; + text-align: center; + } + .inverse { + background: #585858; + color: white; + } + table { + border-spacing: .13em; + caption-side: top; + empty-cells: show; + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + page-break-inside: avoid; + } + td { + font-size: 90%; + line-height: 1.1em; + text-align: right; + } + td:first-child { + text-align: left; + } + th { + font-size: 90%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; + } + caption { + font-style: italic; + } + em { + font-style: italic; + } + del { + display: none; + } + ins { + text-decoration: none; + } + .blockquot { + font-size: inherit; + font-style: normal; + line-height: 95%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + text-align: inherit; + } + .center { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; + } + .right { + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0; + } + .smcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + } + cite { + font-style: italic; + } + .bt { + border-top: medium solid; + } + .bl { + border-left: thin dashed black; + } + .large { + font-size: 1.25em; + } + .footnote { + font-size: .9em; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + } + .footnote .label { + clear: left; + float: left; + text-align: left; + text-indent: -2.5em; + } + .fnanchor { + font-size: .8em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + text-decoration: none; + vertical-align: super; + } + .pagenum { + background-color: inherit; + color: #666666; + font-size: .75em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + padding: 0 0 0 .5em; + position: absolute; + right: 0; + text-align: right; + } + .pagenum a { + text-decoration: none; + } + .pagenum a:hover { + background-color: white; + color: #cc0000; + } + .ad { + border: medium black solid; + display: block; + font-weight: bold; + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + padding: 1em; + page-break-after: always; + text-align: justify; + } + .a1 { + font-size: 1.25em; + font-style: italic; + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; + } + .a2 { + border-top: medium solid; + font-weight: bold; + font-size: 2em; + } + .titlepage { + clear: both; + margin: 2em 20% 2em 20%; + text-align: justify; + page-break-after: always; + page-break-before: right; + } + .t1 { + font-size: 2.5em; + font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; + font-weight: bold; + } + .t2 { + font-size: 50%; + } + .t3 { + font-size: 1.5em; + font-weight: bold; + padding: 2em 0 0 0; + } + .t4 { + font-size: 1em; + font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; + } + .t5{ + font-size: 1em; + font-weight: bold; + padding: 3em 0 0 0; + } + .t6 { + font-size: 2em; + font-weight: bold; + padding: 2em 0 0 0; + } + .floatr { + float: right; + text-align: right; + } + + .table1 { + border-top: thin dashed black; + border-bottom: thin dashed black; + margin: 2em auto 2em auto; + } + .table1 thead th { + border-bottom: thin dashed black; + border-left: thin dashed black; + } + .table1 thead th:first-child { + border-left: thin hidden black; + } + .table1 td { + border-left: thin dashed black; + padding: .5em 1em 0 1em; + } + .table1 td:first-child { + border-left: thin hidden black; + } + .frontispiece { + border: thin solid black; + clear: both; + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + max-width: 60%; + overflow: auto; + padding: 1em; + page-break-after: always; + text-align: center; + } + .transnote { + background-color: #E6E6FA; + border: thin dotted #007b00; + clear: both; + color: #007b00; + font-family: Arial, Geneva,"DejaVu Sans", sans-serif; + font-size: .75em; + margin: 4em auto 2em auto; + padding: 1em; + width: 60%; + } + .transcriber th { + border-style: none; + text-align: center; + } + .transcriber td { + border-style: none; + text-align: center; + } + .covernote { + display: none; + } + .romnum { + left: 0; + position: absolute; + text-align: right; + top: auto; + width: 3em; + } + .chapdesc { + font-size: inherit; + font-style: normal; + line-height: 95%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + text-indent: -10%; + text-align: justify; + } + :link { + text-decoration: underline; + } + :visited { + text-decoration: underline; + } + :focus { + outline: invert dotted thin; + } + [lang|=la] { + font-style: italic; + } + [lang|=es] { + font-style: italic; + } + @media handheld { + body { + font-family: serif; + } + .thumb { + max-width: 100%; + overflow: auto; + } + img { + border: none; + width: 90%; + } + .click { + display: none; + } + .pagenum { + visibility: hidden; + } + .pageno { + display:none; + } + .covernote { + background-color: #ccccff; + color: black; + display: block; + text-align: center; + } + .frontispiece { + max-width: 100%; + } + } + @media print { + :link { + background-color: inherit; + color: inherit; + text-decoration: none; + } + :visited { + background-color: inherit; + color: inherit; + text-decoration: none; + } + body { + padding: 0 0 0 0; + } + .click { + display: none; + } + .thumb { + max-width: 100%; + } + img { + border: none; + } + .pagenum { + display:none; + } + .pageno { + display:none; + } + ul { + page-break-inside: avoid; + } + .frontispiece { + max-width: 100%; + } + .indexjump { + display: none; + } + } + + div.pg { font-family: Times-Roman, serif; + padding: 0 0 0 0; } + + h1.pg { font-size: 190%; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + text-align: center; } + h4.pg { font-style: normal; + font-weight: bold; + margin-top: 1em; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div class="pg"> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Argentine Republic, by Pierre Denis, +Translated by Joseph McCabe</h1> +<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States +and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at <a +href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not +located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> +<p>Title: The Argentine Republic</p> +<p> Its Development and Progress</p> +<p>Author: Pierre Denis</p> +<p>Release Date: November 2, 2014 [eBook #47264]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4 class="pg">E-text prepared by Adrian Mastronardi, Martin Mayer,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="https://archive.org/details/argentinerepubli00deniuoft"> + https://archive.org/details/argentinerepubli00deniuoft</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +</div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC</h1> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<div class="ad"> + <p class="a1">BY PIERRE DENIS</p> + <p class="a2">BRAZIL</p> + <p> + Translated, and with an Historical Chapter by <span + class="smcap large">Bernard Miall</span>. With a Supplementary + Chapter by <span class="smcap large">Dawson A. Vindin</span>, + a Map and 36 Illustrations + </p> + <p class="center"><em>Cloth, 15/- net. Third Impression</em></p> + <p> + "Altogether the book is full of information, which shows + the author to have made a most careful study of the + country."—<cite>Westminster Gazette.</cite> + </p> + <p class="bt">T. Fisher Unwin Ltd <span class="floatr">London</span></p> +</div> + +<div id="frontispiece" class="frontispiece"> + <a href="images/illus-004.jpg" type="image/jpeg" id="falls_of_yguassu"> + <img src="images/illus-004.jpg" alt="The Falls of the Yguassu" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE FALLS OF THE YGUASSU</p> + <p class="figcaption"> + Thirteen miles above the confluence with the Paraná. + Like the Paraná at the Salto Guayra, the river cuts + through a layer of basalt intercalated in the red sandstone. + The forest of the province of Misiones has a tropical + character near the river. The araucarias cover only the higher + parts of the tableland. + </p> + <p class="plate">Plate I.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-004.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<div class="titlepage"> + <p class="t1"> + THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC · + <span class="t2">ITS DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS</span> + </p> + <p class="t3"> + <em>By</em> PIERRE DENIS, D. <span class="smcap">es</span> L. + </p> + <p class="t4">Agrégé d'Histoire et de Géographie</p> + <p class="t5"><em>Translated by</em> JOSEPH McCABE</p> + <p class="t6">T. FISHER UNWIN LTD<br />LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><em>First published in English in 1922</em></p> +<p class="center">(<em>All rights reserved</em>)</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</a></h2> + +<p>In the following chapters I have endeavoured to indicate the +essential aspects of colonization in modern Argentina: the conquest +of the soil by man, the exploitation of its natural resources, the +development of agriculture and cattle-breeding, and the growth of the +population and enlargement of the urban centres.</p> + +<p>For a new country like Argentina it is not convenient to adopt the +strictly regional plan which seems to be the best means of giving +a complete and methodical description of the historic countries of +western Europe, where it is the only way to keep in close touch with +the geographical facts. In western Europe each region is really an +independent unity. It has for ages lived upon its own resources; each +population-group has its horizon definitely limited; and the complex +action of the environment upon man, and of man upon the country, +has proceeded in each district rather on the lines of an isolated +and impassioned dialogue between the two. It is quite different in +Argentina. There, many of the facts which we have to record consist in +an expansion of the population, a spread of methods of exploitation +from zone to zone of the country, and the influence upon colonization +of commerce and of the varying needs of the markets of the world.</p> + +<p>It may be well to reply in advance to a criticism which my Argentine +friends are sure to make. They will complain that I have paid no +attention to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> + +people of Argentina, the creators of the greatness of the country. It +is true that I have deliberately refrained from any reference to the +political and moral life of the Republic, the national character and +its evolution, the stoicism of the gaucho, the industry of the colonist +and the merchant, or the patriotism of the Argentinians generally. +My work is not a study of the Argentine nation, but a geographical +introduction to such a study.</p> + +<p>I began the work during a stay in Argentina which lasted from April +1912 to August 1914. In the course of these two years I was able to +visit most parts of the country; and, as the information I gathered +during my travels is one of my chief sources, I give here a summary of +my itineraries.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + <p><em>October-November 1912</em>: Rosario—Region of the + colonies of Santa Fé—Forestry-industries of the + Chaco Santiagueño—Bañados of the Rio + Dulce—Salta—Jujuy—Sierra de la Lumbrera.</p> + + <p><em>November-December 1912</em>: Tucumán—Valley of + Tapi—Santa Maria to the west of Aconcagua—Cafayate + (Valley of Calchaqui).</p> + + <p><em>December 1912-January 1913</em>: + Catamarca—Andalgala—Valley of + Pucara—Córdoba—Villa Maria.</p> + + <p><em>January-February 1913</em>: Region of the Pampas (Province of + Buenos Aires, south of Córdoba and of S. Luis, district + of the Central Pampa).</p> + + <p><em>March 1913</em>: + Corrientes—Posadas—Asunción—Forest-industries + of the Chaco of Santa Fé.</p> + + <p><em>August 1913</em>: Region of the Pampas (Province of Buenos + Aires).</p> + + <p><em>March 1914</em>: Lake Nahuel Huapi—Valcheta—San + Antonio—The Rio Negro.</p> + + <p><em>April 1914</em>: Rioja—Sierra de los Llanos—San + Juan—Mendoza.</p> + + <p><em>July 1914</em>: Entre Rios.</p> + + <p>These journeys, by rail or on well-known roads, were not supposed to + be for the purpose of exploration +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> + + or discovery. Their one object was to enable me to make a + provisional classification of the chief types of country and + forms of colonization, and to draw up a methodical programme + for more thorough research. The work which I trusted to do in + a more leisurely way was, however, suspended in 1914, and, + in spite of my very strong desire to do so, I was unable to + resume it on the spot in 1919. I have therefore been compelled + to publish my first observations, completing them, as well + as I could, by a bibliographical study of the country. I + have made use of some fragments of a popular work which I + began, at the request of the Argentine Commission, for the + International Exhibition at San Francisco, of which several + chapters were published in my absence by the University of + Tucumán (Pierre Denis, <cite>Modern Argentina: Chapters of + Economic Geography</cite>. Publications of the University during the + Centenary of the Congress of Tucumán of 1816. Buenos + Aires, 1916).<a id="FNanchor_1_1" + href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a></p> +</div> + +<p>My knowledge of the publications on Argentina has two conspicuous +gaps. The first is deliberate. I declined to study at second hand the +documents and chronicles which are our sources, to the end of the +eighteenth century, for the history of the various provinces that were +to form Argentina. Hence the historical data on colonization which +will be found in the following chapters relate almost entirely to the +nineteenth century.</p> + +<p>The second gap I was, to my great disappointment, unable to +fill up. A large part of the local publications—official or +other—maps, statistics, etc., never reached Europe, and Buenos +Aires is the only place where one can make a thorough study of them. +These publications were available to me until 1914. Since then I have +been restricted to the resources of the Paris and London libraries, +which are very scanty; and less has been sent from Argentina since the +war. I have not the complete statistics up to date.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>I trust, however, that this picture of Argentina has much more +than a retrospective character; that it is not out of date before it +is published. I may add that no statistics would enable one to solve +the problem which Argentina in 1920 presents to an observer. Has the +European War merely retarded the economic evolution of the country, +or has it given that evolution a new direction? Will or will not the +relations which Argentina is now resuming with the rest of the world be +of the same character as the pre-war relations?</p> + +<p>The effects of the war upon the life of the country must not all be +put on the same footing. That some of the exporters to Argentina have +gained by the war and others lost—that the share of the United +States, and even of Japan, has greatly increased—is a fact that +may be regarded from the Argentinian point of view as of secondary +importance. The war has, moreover, had the effect of disorganizing +marine transport and bringing about a sort of relative isolation which +is not yet quite over. The reduction in the imports of English coal has +made the petroleum wells of Rivadavia of greater value to the country. +It has compelled the Argentinians to make a hurried inventory of their +natural resources in the way of fuel. Local industries have tried to +meet the needs of the Argentinian market, where they had no longer to +bear the competition of European goods. The grave disturbance of prices +has enabled them to export certain products which had hitherto been +confined to home markets. The war has, moreover, not interfered with +the existing streams of export on a large scale from Argentina. The +Republic continues to send its cereals, meat, hides and wool to Europe; +and there is no reason to suppose that +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> + +the competition of buyers is likely to diminish, or that the +cultivation of wheat and lucerne must become less profitable.</p> + +<p>The two essential effects of the war seem to have been the stopping +of the stream of immigration and the progressive reduction of the +support which Europe gave to the work of colonization in the form of +advances of capital.</p> + +<p>From 1914 to 1918 only 272,000 immigrants landed +at Buenos Aires, while 482,000 emigrants left the +country. In 1918 the figure of immigration and emigration +was only 47,000, less than a tenth of what it +was in a normal year before the war. The withdrawal +of European capital was felt from the very beginning +of the war, and it has gone on uninterruptedly, capital +from North America not being enough to supply the +deficiency entirely. At the same time the extraordinarily +favourable balance of trade has led to the storing +of an ample reserve of capital in the country. Argentina +has, in a very short time, won a financial independence +which, in normal conditions, would have +entailed long years of work and prosperity.</p> + +<p>However it may seem, these two facts—the interruption +of immigration and the accumulation of capital—cannot +be considered independently of each other. +The inquiry opened by the Social Museum of Argentina +(<cite>La <del>immigración</del><ins>inmigración</ins> +<del>despues </del><ins>después </ins>de la guerra</cite>, Museo Social +Argentino, "Bol. Mensual," viii, 1919, nos. 85-90) +show that a speedy restoration of immigration is expected +in the Republic. Certainly it seems clear that the +political and social insecurity in Europe, the misery +of the old world, will probably enhance the attractions +of Argentina. We must remember, however, that the +stream of emigration from Europe to the Republic in +the nineteenth, and the beginning of the twentieth, +century was provoked by a complex combination of +economic conditions which were closely related to each +other. High wages in Argentina were connected with +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> + +the high interest on money; that is to say, in other +words, with the scarcity of capital. The future will +decide whether immigration, and the rapid progress +of colonization and production, which characterize +pre-war Argentina can be adjusted to the policy of +accumulation of capital to which the war has condemned +the country.</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> + +<ul class="toc"> + <li><span class="pageno">PAGE</span></li> + <li> + <a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></span> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#ILLUSTRATIONS">ILLUSTRATIONS</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></span> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#MAPS">MAPS</a> <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></span> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> + THE NATURAL REGIONS OF ARGENTINA + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></span> + <p>The physical environment—Colonization and the natural + regions—The struggle with the Indians—Argentine + unity—Argentina and the world.</p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> + THE OASES OF THE NORTH-WEST<span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></span> + <p>The inhabited zones of the Andes in the + north-west—<span lang="es">Valles</span>, + <span lang="es">Quebradas</span>, <span + lang="es">Puna</span>—The irrigation of the + <span lang="es">valles</span>—The historic + routes—Convoys of stock—The breeding of mules + and the fairs—The struggle of the breeders against + drought—The Sierra de los Llanos.</p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> + TUCUMÁN AND MENDOZA <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></span> + <p>Tucumán and the road to Chile—The + climate and the cultivation of the sugar-cane—The + problem of manual labour—Irrigation at + Mendoza—Water-rights—Viticulture—Protection + and the natural conditions.</p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> + THE EXPLOITATION OF THE FORESTS + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></span> + <p>Manual labour on the <span lang="es">obrajes</span>—The land of + the <span lang="es">bañados</span> and the agricultural cantons of + Corrientes—The timber-yards of the Chaco and the + tannic-acid works of the Paraná—The exploitation + of the <span lang="es">maté</span>—The forestry industry and + colonization.</p> + </li> +</ul> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<ul class="toc"> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> + PATAGONIA AND SHEEP-REARING + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></span> + <p>The arid tableland and the region of glacial + lakes—The first settlements on the Patagonian + coast and the indigenous population—Extensive + breeding—The use of pasture on the lands of the Rio + Negro—Transhumation.</p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> + THE PLAIN OF THE PAMPAS <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></span> + <p>The limits of the prairie—The rains—The + wind and the formation of the clay of the Pampas—The + wind and the contour—The zones of colonization + on the Pampas—Hunting wild cattle and primitive + breeding—The sheep-farms—The ranches—The + region of "colonies"—The region of lucerne, + maize, and wheat—The combination of agriculture + and breeding—The economic mechanism of + colonization—The exchanges between the different zones + of the Pampas. </p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> + ROADS AND RAILWAYS <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></span> + <p>Roads on the plain—The salt road—The "trade + route"—Transport by ox-waggons—<span lang="es">Arrieros</span> and + <span lang="es">Troperos</span>—Railways and colonization—The trade + in cereals—Home traffic and the reorganization of the + system. </p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> + THE RIVER-ROUTES <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></span> + <p>The use of the river before steam + navigation—Floods—The river plain—The bed + of the Paraná and its changes—The estuary and + its shoals—Maritime navigation—The boats on the + Paraná.</p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> + THE POPULATION <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_260">260</a></span> + <p>The distribution of the population—The streams of + emigration to the interior—Seasonal migrations—The + historic towns—The towns of the Pampean + region—Buenos Aires.</p> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#BIBLIOGRAPHY">BIBLIOGRAPHY</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></span> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#NOTES">NOTES</a> <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_290">290</a></span> + </li> + <li> + <a href="#INDEX">INDEX</a> <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></span> + </li> +</ul> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="ILLUSTRATIONS">ILLUSTRATIONS</a></h2> + +<ul class="toc"> + <li>PLATE <span class="pageno">FACING PAGE</span></li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">I. </span> + <a href="#falls_of_yguassu">THE FALLS OF THE YGUASSU</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#frontispiece"><em>Frontispiece</em></a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">II.</span> + <a href="#punta_vacas">THE ARID ANDES—PUNTA VACAS, + ON THE TRANS-ANDEAN RAILWAY</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Quebrada_de_Iruya">QUEBRADA DE IRUYA</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">III.</span> + <a href="#patagonianandes">THE PATAGONIAN ANDES</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">IV.</span> + <a href="#vegetation">VEGETATION OF THE INTERIOR VALLEYS + (ANDES OF THE NORTH-WEST)</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#forest">FOREST ON THE OUTER SLOPE OF THE SUB-ANDEAN CHAINS</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">V.</span> + <a href="#Dry_Scrub_Central_Chaco">DRY SCRUB OF THE CENTRAL CHACO</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Marshes_of_the_Eastern_Chaco">MARSHES (ESTEROS OR + CAÑADAS) OF THE EASTERN CHACO</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">VI.</span> + <a href="#Valle_of_Santa_Maria">THE <span lang="es">VALLE</span> + OF SANTA MARIA, NORTH-WEST OF MOUNT ACONCAGUA</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Oasis_of_Andalgala">THE OASIS OF ANDALGALA</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">VII.</span> + <a href="#Oasis_del_Rincon">THE OASIS DEL RINCON, BELOW SAUJIL + (ANDALGALA LINE, PROVINCE OF CATAMARCA)</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Monte_at_El_Yeso">THE MONTE AT EL YESO</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">VIII.</span> + <a href="#Vineyard_at_San_Juan">A VINEYARD AT SAN JUAN</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Vineyard_at_Mendoza">A VINEYARD AT MENDOZA</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></span> + </p> + </li> +</ul> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<ul class="toc"> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">IX.</span> + <a href="#Land_of_the_Banados">THE LAND OF THE BAÑADOS</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Loreto_Farming_by_Inundation">LORETO: FARMING BY INUNDATION</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">X.</span> + <a href="#LORETO_THE_RIO_PINTO_IN_THE_DRY_SEASON">LORETO: + THE RIO PINTO IN THE DRY SEASON</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#La_Banda">LA BANDA (SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO)</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XI.</span> + <a href="#Quebracho_Trunks">QUEBRACHO TRUNKS LYING AT THE STATIONS</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XII.</span> + <a href="#Yoke_of_Creole_Oxen">YOKE OF CREOLE OXEN USED + FOR THE TRANSPORT OF TIMBER ON THE EASTERN CHACO, OR + CHACO OF <del>SANTE </del><ins>SANTA </ins>FÉ</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Works_at_Tartagal">WORKS AT TARTAGAL (EASTERN CHACO) + FOR MAKING TANNIC ACID</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum"> XIII.</span> + <a href="#Volcano_Puntiagudo">THE VOLCANO PUNTIAGUDO</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Cercas_on_the_Limay">CERCAS ON THE LIMAY (RISING IN + LAKE NAHUEL HUAPI), NEAR THE CONFLUENCE OF THE TRAFUL</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XIV.</span> + <a href="#Patagonian_Tableland">THE PATAGONIAN TABLELAND (NEUQUEN)</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XV.</span> + <a href="#Pampean_Plain">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN—TRES ARROYES + (BUENOS AIRES PRAIRIE BETWEEN THE SIERRA DE TANDIL AND THE + SIERRA DE LA VENTANA)</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Toay_on_the_Central_Pampa"> TOAY, ON THE CENTRAL + PAMPA (590 FEET)</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XVI.</span> + <a href="#Rio_Bamba">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN—THE RIO BAMBA + (IN THE SOUTH OF THE CÓRDOBA PROVINCE, 500 FEET + ABOVE SEA-LEVEL)</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Buena_Esperanza">BUENA ESPERANZA (SAN LUIS PROVINCE, + 1,166 FEET ELEVATION)</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></span> + </p> + </li> +</ul> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<ul class="toc"> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XVII.</span> + <a href="#Buena_Esperanza2">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN—BUENA + ESPERANZA (SAN LUIS PROVINCE)</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Junin">JUNIN (150 MILES WEST OF BUENOS AIRES, + 330 FEET ELEVATION)</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XVIII.</span> + <a href="#An_Ox_Wagon">AN OX WAGON</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Mail_Coach">THE MAIL COACH</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XIX.</span> + <a href="#Threshing_on_the_Pampa">THRESHING ON THE PAMPA</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Sacks_of_Wheat">SACKS OF WHEAT READY FOR LOADING + ON THE RAILWAY</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XX.</span> + <a href="#Yguassu_and_the_Parana">CONFLUENCE OF THE YGUASSU + AND THE PARANÁ</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_236">236</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XXI.</span> + <a href="#The_Parana_at_Corrientes">THE PARANÁ AT CORRIENTES</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#The_barranca_at_Parana">THE BARRANCA AT PARANÁ + (ENTRE RIOS), LEFT BANK</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XXII.</span> + <a href="#Parana_Above_the_Estuary">THE PARANÁ ABOVE THE ESTUARY</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XXIII.</span> + <a href="#Drying_Hides">THE OLDER INDUSTRIES OF THE PAMPA—DRYING + HIDES</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Drying_Salt_Meat">DRYING SALT MEAT</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">XXIV.</span> + <a href="#Herd_of_Creole_Cattle">A HERD OF CREOLE CATTLE</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#Herd_of_Durham_Cattle">A HERD OF DURHAM CATTLE</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></span> + </p> + </li> +</ul> + +<h2><a id="MAPS">MAPS</a></h2> + +<ul class="toc"> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">I.</span> + <a href="#map1">ARGENTINA: THE NATURAL REGIONS</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">II.</span> + <a href="#Irrigation_in_the_West"> IRRIGATION IN THE WEST + AND NORTH-WEST OF ARGENTINA</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">III.</span> + <a href="#Cattle-breeding_Areas">THE CATTLE-BREEDING AREAS</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">IV.</span> + <a href="#Density_of_the_Maize_Crop">DENSITY OF THE MAIZE CROP</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">V.</span> + <a href="#Density_of_the_Wheat_Crop">DENSITY OF THE WHEAT CROP</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">VI.</span> + <a href="#Map_VI">THE RAILWAYS</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></span> + </p> + </li> + <li> + <p> + <span class="romnum">VII.</span> + <a href="#Map_VII">ESTUARY OF THE RIO DE LA PLATA</a> + <span class="pageno"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></span> + </p> + </li> +</ul> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a><br /> +<a id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p class="t1 center">The Argentine Republic</p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a><br /> +THE NATURAL REGIONS OF ARGENTINA</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>The physical environment—Colonization and the natural + regions—The struggle with the Indians—Argentine + unity—Argentina and the world.</p> +</div> + +<p>The South-American continent is divided, from west to east, into +three great zones. The lofty chains of the Andes stretch along the +Pacific coast; at the foot of these are immense alluvial tablelands; +further east are the level plains of the Atlantic coast. The eastern +zone, the tablelands, ends southward at the mouth of the Rio de la +Plata. It enters Argentine territory only in the north-east corner of +the province of Misiones. Below 35° S. lat. the alluvial plains +open freely upon the ocean. The position of Buenos Aires, in the +threshold of the plain of the Pampas, is somewhat like that of Chicago +at the beginning of the prairies; if you imagine the north-eastern +States and eastern Canada struck off the map, and the sea penetrating +inland as far as the Lakes.</p> + +<p>The three essential aspects of Argentine scenery are mountain, +plain, and river. The Paraná, indeed, is a whole natural region +in itself, with its arms and its islands, and the ever-changing low +plain over which its floods spread, as one sees it from the top of the +clay <span lang="es">barrancas</span> (cliffs); though it is so broad +that one cannot see the opposite bank. It wanders over the plain like +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> + +a foreigner, an emissary from tropical America; for it has a flora of +its own and tepid waters which often cause a fog over the estuary +where they mingle with the waters of the sea.</p> + +<p>From the general mass of the Argentine plains, we must set apart the +region between the Paraná and the Uruguay, which Argentinians +call "Mesopotamia." While æolian clays form the soil of the Pampa +on the right bank of the Paraná, fluvial deposits—sands +and gravel, in which it is impossible to distinguish the contribution +of the Uruguay from that of the Paraná—cover a great part +of Mesopotamia. The earlier beds of the rivers may be traced here, +not only by the alluvial deposits they have left, but by the lagoons +which still mark their course. Running waters have shaped the landscape +and scooped out a system of secondary valleys, and these reflect the +history of the river itself and the variations of base-level which led +to alternate periods of erosion and deposit.</p> + +<p>On the right bank, on the contrary, the Paraná has no +tributaries of any importance except at the extreme north of the +country. The scarcity of running water is, in fact, one of the +characteristic features of the plain of the Pampas. Except in the +east, along the Paraná, where a network of permanent streams +develops on a comparatively impermeable and fairly humid soil, and +except at the foot of the mountains, where irregular torrents and +streams, swollen after a storm and scanty in the dry season, disappear, +as a rule, within sight of the hills that gave them birth, there is +no superficial organized drainage. As a whole, the alluvial covering +of the Pampas, the upper beds of which are cut through by the <span +lang="es">barranca</span> of the Paraná, is not of river origin; +it was brought and distributed by the wind, which took the place of +running water. The clay of the Pampas is a present from the winds. The +increasing dryness of the climate toward the west, as one approaches +the Cordillera, + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> + +explains the feebleness of the erosion by water and the extent of the +erosion by wind.</p> + +<p>It is aridity, too, that gives their particular character to the +Argentine Andes. They have little trace of perpetual snow, the lower +limit of which approaches to within about four miles of the Bolivian +frontier. There are no glaciers there; they reappear in the south +only in the latitude of San Juan and Mendoza, on the flanks of the +three giants of the southern Cordillera, Mercedario, Aconcagua, and +Tupungato. Below the small number of steep furrows which the glaciers +have carved, and usually up to the top of the mountain, there spreads +what has been called, very expressively, "the zone of rubbish." In this +the winter's snows, fretted by the sun in that clear atmosphere, form +those multitudes of narrow pyramids which the Argentinians compare to +processions of white-robed pilgrims. The underlying rock is rarely +visible. It is covered with a thick cloak of rubbish, split off by the +frost, which the slow-moving waters released by the melting of the +snows heap up at the foot of the slopes, at the bottom of depressions. +The half-buried summits are succeeded by basins of accumulation. In +the valleys round the mountains there are immense beds of detritic, +half-rounded shingle. The torrents have cut their way through the +alluvial mass, and they flow at the foot of high terraces which mark +the sites of former valleys.</p> + +<p>The spread of colonization toward the south during the last +generation has extended Argentine territory beyond the limits of +these classic scenes. The Patagonian Andes differ profoundly from the +Northern Andes; and the change is not more sudden than that of the +climate, to which it is due. Going toward the south, one passes, almost +without a break, from the Atlas Mountains to Scandinavia. The moisture +increases in proportion as the mean temperature falls. The mountains +are covered with snow, and the glaciers + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> + +lengthen. In one part of Patagonia they still form a continuous cap, +an "inland sea," concealing the rock over the entire central zone +of the Cordillera; though they are only the shrunken remainder of a +glacial cap which was once far more extensive. Here ice was the chief +sculptor of the scenery. It has made elevated tablelands, broadened +the deep valleys which cut the flank of the mountain, polished their +sides, and deposited at the point where they open out the amphitheatres +of the moraines, behind which the waters have accumulated and formed +lakes; and these lakes stretch back like fiords to the heart of the +Cordillera, and are the pride of Patagonia.</p> + +<p>The waters of these moisture-laden mountains have, to the east, +carved out the Patagonian tableland. It is crossed by broad and boldly +cut valleys, several of which, abandoned by the rivers which scoured +them, are now dead valleys. The rubbish from the wearing down of the +mountains and the glacial moraine has been spread over the whole face +of the tableland in the form of beds of gravel. But the rivers that +rise in the Andes cross a country of increasing aridity as they descend +eastward. There is no tributary to add to their volume. There is none +of that softening of lines, of that idle flow of a meandering stream +which characterizes the final stage of a river in a moist district. +Their inclination remains steep, and their waters continue to plough up +coarse sediment; and everywhere, up to the fringes of the valleys, the +fluting of the sandstone and steepness of the cliffs bear witness, like +the edges of the <span lang="es">hamadas</span> of the Sahara, to some +other form of erosion than that effected by running water—the +influence on the country of the westerly winds. On the tableland the +wind polishes the rounded pebbles, makes facets on them, and gives them +the colouring of the desert.</p> + +<p>Thus from the north to the south of Argentina there is a complete +contrast in the way in which the + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> + +controlling forces of the landscape are distributed. In the north the +moist winds come from the east; the rains lessen as they pass westward. +The clays, capped with black soil, of Buenos Aires are æolian +deposits, brought by the wind from the desolate steppes which close the +Pampa to the west, fixed and transformed by the vegetation of a moister +region. In the south, on the contrary, the rains come from the Pacific, +and the fluvio-glacial alluvial beds of the Patagonian tableland are +evidence of copious reserves of moisture in the Andes; but the arid +climate in which the waters have left them has made its mark upon their +surface.</p> + +<p>This diversity of the physical environment is only fully brought +out by colonization. It is colonization, the efforts and attempts +of human industry to adjust agricultural or pastoral practices to +the natural conditions, which enable us to assign the limits of the +natural regions. In this differentiation it is essential to notice the +historical element.</p> + +<p>The introduction of new crops gives a geographical meaning, which +had hitherto escaped observation, to climatological limits such, for +instance, as the line of 400 millimetres of rainfall which is the +western frontier of the region of cereals. These limits of crops remain +uncertain for a time, then experience and tradition gradually fix them. +They always keep a certain elasticity, however, advancing or receding +according as the market for the particular produce is favourable or +unfavourable.</p> + +<p>Improvement in the methods of exploiting the soil—the adoption +of better agricultural machinery, dry farming, etc.—usually leads +to the extension of the sphere of a particular type of colonization, as +it enables this type to overcome some natural obstacle which restricted +its expansion. Sometimes, however, it brings to light a new obstacle +and creates a new geographical limit.</p> + +<p>To this category belongs the northern limit of the + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> + +belt of selective breeding, which slants across the plain of the +Pampas from the Sierra de Córdoba to the Paraná. +The more or less degenerate cattle of the natives had spread over +the whole of the South American continent, except the tropical +forests, since the seventeenth century, adapting themselves easily +to very different climatic conditions, from the Venezuelan <span +lang="es">llanos</span> to the <span lang="es">sertao</span> of +Bahía and the plains of Argentina. But pedigree animals, more +valuable and more delicate, introduced on to the Pampas fifty years +ago, are not able to resist the malady caused by a parasite called the +<span lang="es">garrapate</span>. Hence the southern limit of the <span +lang="es">garrapate</span> suddenly became a most important element in +the economic life of the Republic. It would lose its importance if we +discovered a serum that would give the animals immunity against Texas +fever.</p> + +<p>The range of one and the same cause varies infinitely with the +circumstances. The limit of the prairie, as of the scrub (<span +lang="es">monte</span>) which surrounds it on every side, and keeps it +at a distance of 320 to 440 miles from Buenos Aires, had no decisive +influence on primitive colonization. Whether covered with grasses or +brushwood, the plain is equally suitable for extensive breeding. The +ranches are the same on both sides of the border. At the end of the +nineteenth century, however, when the area of cultivation increased, +the prairie was at once found to be superior. The labour required +for clearing the brushwood before the plough can work is enough to +divert from it, at least for some time, the stream of agricultural +colonization. While the population of the <span lang="es">monte</span>, +wood-cutters and breeders, are indigenous, the prairie has absorbed +the immigrants from Europe, and the border of the scrub has become +in many places an ethnographical frontier.<a +id="FNanchor_2_2" href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a></p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a href="images/illus-025a.jpg" id="punta_vacas" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-025a.jpg" alt="Punta Vacas" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE ARID ANDES. PUNTA VACAS, ON THE TRANS-ANDEAN RAILWAY.</p> + <p class="figcaption">The bottom of the valley is 8,000 feet + above sea-level; the sides buried under rubbish. It is + especially in this latitude, above a height of 10,600 feet, in + the zone where the moisture falls as snow even in summer, that + the rock is everywhere buried under its own rubbish. This is + Keidel's <em>Schuttzone</em>. It extends to the foot of the + Alpine peaks, carved by glaciers.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Moody, Buenos Aires.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-025a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a href="images/illus-025b.jpg" id="Quebrada_de_Iruya" + type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-025b.jpg" alt="Quebrada de Iruya" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">QUEBRADA DE IRUYA.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Eastern slope of the Sierra de Santa + Victoria, 65 miles from the Bolivian frontier, in the zone of + summer rain. The valleys have been filled with an enormous + mass of torrential alluvia. The water afterwards made a course + through the mobile deposits.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Keidel, Mines Division.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate II.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-025b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> + +<p>The changes which man has made in the floral landscape are, as a +rule, slight. The limits of the forest zone have scarcely been altered. +The beech forest of the southern Andes seems to be less tenacious than +the <span lang="es">monte</span> which surrounds the Pampa, and it has +been ravaged by fire along the whole edge of the southern steppe at +37° S. lat. The work of man is generally confined to changing the +primitive complexion of the natural formations, without altering their +general appearance. Thus valuable essences are disappearing from the +forest and the scrub, the larch and the cypress from the district of +the Patagonian Lakes, and the red <span lang="es">quebracho</span> from +Santiago del Estero.</p> + +<p>A change that is scarcely visible, but is of considerable economic +importance, thus takes place in the vegetation of the prairie owing +to the presence of herds. The <span lang="es">pasto fuerte</span>, +composed of rough grasses, which is the natural vegetation, is being +succeeded by the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span>, in which annual +species, soft grasses, leguminous plants, etc., predominate. It is +mainly composed of plants of European origin. The difference between +the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span> and the <span lang="es">pasto +fuerte</span> or <span lang="es">duro</span> is so important for the +farmer that there is hardly a single work on Argentina which does +not dwell on it. The idea, however, that the <span lang="es">pasto +dulce</span> has advanced steadily westward, starting from the vicinity +of Buenos Aires and constantly enlarging its domain, is not strictly +accurate. In 1895 Holmberg<a id="FNanchor_3_3" +href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> traced the western limit of +the zone of the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span> through Pergamino, +Junin, Bragado, Azul, Ayacucho, and Mar Chiquita. When we compare this +with earlier observations, we see that in the course of the nineteenth +century the zone of the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span> has extended +by about a hundred miles on the southern Pampa. When Darwin travelled +from Bahía Blanca to Buenos Aires in 1833, he found no <span +lang="es">pasto dulce</span> except round Monte, on the right bank of +the Salado. Further north, on the other +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> + +hand, the extent of the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span> does not +seem to have altered appreciably. The expedition to the Salt Lakes in +1778 found that there were already thistles beyond the line of the +ranches, and these are characteristic of the <span lang="es">pasto +dulce</span> in the Chivilcoy region on the Salado, which was then +abandoned to herds of wild cattle. "There was thistle enough to cook," +says the journal of the expedition. The difference is connected +with the history of colonization in the province of Buenos Aires, +where ground was gained only toward the south between 1800 and 1875. +Since 1895 the <span lang="es">pasto duro</span> has been eliminated +by agriculture rather than by the feet of the herds. Hence the +advance of the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span> is no longer in a +continuous line moving toward the west. It is sporadic, depending +upon the construction of new railways which open up the plain to the +plough.<a id="FNanchor_4_4" href="#Footnote_4_4" +class="fnanchor">4</a></p> + +<p>Colonization does more than emphasize the individuality of each +of the natural regions. It connects together different features, and +blends them in a complex vital organism which goes on evolving and +renewing itself.</p> + +<p>The occupation of the whole of the soil of Argentina by white +colonists is quite a recent event. The second half of the nineteenth +century was characterized by a rapid territorial expansion, and over +more than half the country the expression "new land" must be taken +literally. It is only one generation since it was taken from the +Indians. There can be no question here of tracing the history of the +relations between the white population and the free Indians of the +Chaco and the Pampa. The most formidable of these were, in the north, +the Abipones and the Tobas. On the Pampa, the foes of the colonists +were Indians of Araucanian descent, Ranqueles, Pehuenches, etc., who +came down from the mountains and took to horses. At the close of the +eighteenth century the frontier of Buenos Aires was on the nearer +side of the Salado, and was bordered on the south-east and north-west +by the fortresses of Chascomus, Monte, Lobos, Navarro, Areco, Salto, +Rojas, and Melincue. The proposal of D'Azara to extend it as far as +the Salado was not carried out, and it was not until 1828 that there +was a fresh advance westward.<a id="FNanchor_5_5" +href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">5</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>The new frontier, which would not be altered until 1875, passed +by Veinte Cinco de Mayo and Blanca Grande, at the north-western +extremity of the Sierra de Tandil. It included the entire region which +lies between the Sierra de Tandil and the lower Salado, where the +village of Tandil had been established in 1823. In addition, a line of +forts stretched from Blanca Grande in the south-west to Bahía +Blanca. The expedition sent in search of a port south of the mouth +of the Plata had not found any nearer site that was suitable. But +Bahía Blanca was to remain an isolated advance post until 1880, +sharply separated from both the colonized zone of the Pampas and the +establishments on the Patagonian coast.</p> + +<p>While the cultivated area was thus growing toward the south, it was +being reduced in the north of the province of Buenos Aires and the +south of Córdoba. The lands of the lower Rio Cuarto were not +occupied. About 1860 (Martin de Moussy) the farthest establishments +in this sector were S. José de la Esquina and Saladillo on the +Tercero. The road to Chile by the Rio Cuarto, Achiras, and San Luis +was threatened. The advance of colonization in this zone was at first +in the west to Villa Mercedes on the Rio Quinto. The line of the Rio +Cuarto by Carlota was reoccupied, and before 1875 the frontier had been +pushed back to the Rio Quinto, where it joined the forts of southern +Buenos Aires by way of Sarmiento, Gainza, and Lavalle.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>At last, in 1878, General Roca abandoned the classical methods +of fighting the Indians, and took the offensive. He deprived the +Indians of their refuges to the south of San Luis and the Central +Pampa, and threw them back toward the desert. The Argentine troops +followed in their steps as far as the Andes and the Rio Negro. +There are to-day few traces in the immense territory that was won +of the indigenous population. Its extreme mobility had masked its +numerical inferiority.<a id="FNanchor_6_6" +href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p> + +<p>The history of the northern frontier is much the same. At the +end of the eighteenth century the Spanish outposts ran along the +course of the Salado. To the north of Santa Fé, at Sunchales, +Soledad, and San Javier, they protected the direct route from Santa +Fé to Santiago del Estero. These outposts were abandoned during +the revolutionary period, and the Indians advanced as far as the +suburbs of Santa Fé. The roads both to Santiago and, by the +Quebracho Herrado, to Córdoba were cut.<a +id="FNanchor_7_7" href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> Urquiza +reorganized the Santa Fé frontier, first as far as San Javier, +then below 29° S. lat. between Arroyo del Rey on the Paraná +and Tostado on the Salado. The expedition of 1884 brought the Argentine +army as far as the Bermejo, and broke the resistance of the Tobas. The +forts which, more to the north, guarded the province of Salta, on the +further side of the Sierras de la Lumbrera and Santa Barbara, had been +dismantled at the beginning of the nineteenth century, as the tribes +in this part of the Chaco were not hostile.<a +id="FNanchor_8_8" href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">8</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>The memory of the fights with the Indians is so completely +blotted out to-day, and the menace of invasion by the tribes has been +so rapidly extinguished, that it is difficult to realize fully the +profound influence they once had on colonization. The line of forts +was a frail barrier that was constantly broken through. The Indians +of the Pampa stole cattle from the ranches of Buenos Aires, and sold +them in Chile. Colonel Garcia calculates in 1816 that about 40,000 +animals were stolen every year.<a id="FNanchor_9_9" +href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> Colonel Roca gives the +same figure in 1876. The Pampa put no natural difficulties in the +way of the movements of the Indians, no points which might serve as +bases for the frontier. D. Pedro Pablo Pabon points out that the +proximity of the Sierra, instead of giving protection to outposts in +the Tandil region, would be an additional source of insecurity, as it +increased the difficulty of keeping watch. In the north the Indian +incursions followed the clearings in the scrub, avoiding the dense and +impenetrable parts. The lagoon of Mar Chiquita, to the west of Santa +Fé, was a valuable rampart, in the shelter of which a fairly +large population had established itself round Concepción del +Tio.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<p>The enlargements of the frontier were sometimes due to expansive +movements of colonization, the breeders occupying new land beyond the +line of forts and demanding protection, and sometimes to the arbitrary +action of a Government which was eager to extend its territory, though +it was still without the means of exploiting it. Roca has well shown +the defects of this system of premature military occupation. "To go +far away from the populated districts in acquiring new territory +is, in my opinion, only an aggravation of the inconveniences of +defensive war, and it places a desert between the new lines and the +settled regions.... Invasions occur at once."<a +id="FNanchor_10_10" href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> +We should therefore be likely to make serious mistakes if we were to +identify the history of colonization with that of military occupation. +Moreover, the garrisons of the forts did not take a very active part +in the exploitation of the soil. The plan which D'Azara proposed, of +making <span lang="es">blandengues</span> (lancers) colonists and +rooting them to the soil by distributing it amongst them, seems to have +been purely Utopian. His description of the frontier shows clearly +how slight a hold the early colonization had on the Pampa, where the +only relatively industrious element was represented by the groups of +civilians (<span lang="es">paisanos</span>) who gathered about the +works and moats of the forts. It was different on the Santiago del +Estero frontier, where there was agriculture as well as breeding. +Here the fort was identical with the village, and each soldier had +his plot of wheat, maize, or water-melons.<a +id="FNanchor_11_11" href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">11</a></p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a href="images/illus-033.png" type="image/png" id="map1"> + <img src="images/illus-033.png" alt="Map" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MAP I.—ARGENTINA. THE NATURAL REGIONS.</p> + <p class="figcaption">The map shows the distribution of the + natural regions—the dry Andes in the north-west, with + irrigated cultivation; the monte, or brush, which is still + used for extensive breeding; and the Pampa, with its great + areas of cereals and lucerne. The line marking the frontier of + 1875 shows the speed at which colonization has developed in + the western half of the plain of the Pampas. The only regions + not given on the map are the plateau of Misiones, with its + tropical forests, and the wet Andes of Patagonia.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-033.png" type="image/png">Click + to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p>The provinces which were to combine in forming the Argentine +Republic had no economic unity. They were really two countries, two +separate worlds, the coast regions and the mountain regions (<span +lang="es">de arriba</span>), joined together, but not blended, by +the main road from Buenos Aires to Peru, by way of Córdoba, +Tucumán, and Salta. They represented two different branches of +Spanish colonization. "Two human streams," says Mitre, "contributed +to the peopling of the vice-royalty.... The first came directly from +Spain, the mother country. It occupied and peopled + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> + +the banks in the basin of the Rio de la Plata, in the name of the right +of discovery and conquest, and fertilized them by its labour. The other +stream came from the ancient empire of the Incas, already subdued by +the Spanish armies. This spread toward the interior of the country as +it passed from the Pacific to the Atlantic, occupied the land in virtue +of the same rights, and exploited it by means of a feudal system.... +The same year, 1535, saw the foundation of the two towns, Buenos +Aires and Lima, and was the centre of these two cycles of discoveries +and conquests. Thirty-eight years later, in the same year, 1573, the +Conquistadores who came from Peru founded the town of Córdoba, +two hundred miles away from the Paraná, while those who came +from the Rio de la Plata founded the town of Santa Fé on the +banks of that river."<a id="FNanchor_12_12" +href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">12</a></p> + +<p>Tucumán and Salta were established by conquerors from Peru, +while San Juan and Mendoza were built by the Chilean Spaniards. The +line of demarcation between the two zones of colonization crosses the +immense desert plains of the interior, not the elevated tablelands of +the Andes.</p> + +<p>The two types of Argentinians differed in every respect, in blood +as well as in environment. The indigenous race, which was eliminated +on the coast, mingled intimately with the conquering race in the +interior.</p> + +<p>The establishments on the Rio de la Plata had originally been +merely stages on the road to Peru, and had no value of themselves. The +elevated tablelands of the Andes long remained the economic centre of +Spanish America, and the provinces of the interior, which sold them +cattle and mules, depended very closely upon them. The end of the +eighteenth century was marked by more rapid progress in the region of +the Pampas. The vice-royalty of La Plata was created.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<p>Freedom of trade was secured between Buenos Aires and the Spanish +ports. The export of hides increased. The influence of Buenos +Aires spread over the interior and, in spite of the Córdoba +tariff, reached the regions of the north-west. "The creation of +the vice-royalty," says Dean Funes, "and the new direction taken +by commerce had the effect that Buenos Aires became the centre +of considerable and important business."<a +id="FNanchor_13_13" href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">13</a></p> + +<p>This commercial development, which seemed destined to bring closer +together the two halves of Argentinian territory, was interrupted +in the first half of the nineteenth century. This did not, however, +break the connections between the provinces to the north-west of the +tableland and those on the Pacific slope, and indeed, they became +more varied and more binding. Packs of mules, carrying the ore of +San Juan and La Rioja to the foundries of the Chilean side, added +life to the Cordillera. When Chile, transformed into an agricultural +country, could not meet its own demand for cattle, the oases of the +Argentine side were sown with lucerne for fattening the cattle which +were to cross the mountains. The provinces of Mendoza, San Juan, La +Rioja, Catamarca, Tucumán, and Salta were held within the orbit +of the Andes districts.<a id="FNanchor_14_14" +href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> There are historical +reasons for this set-back to the influence of Buenos Aires. The wars +of the revolutionary period and the conflicts between the Buenos Aires +Government and the maritime powers checked the commercial enterprise +on the banks of the Plata. This political isolation of the province of +Buenos Aires, under the Rosas Government, lasted until 1853. Poncel +gives us statistics of the imports of Catamarca which show the great +importance of this date in the history of Argentine commerce:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<table summary="imports to Catamarca"> + <tr> + <td></td><th>1850</th><th>1851</th><th>1852</th><th>1853</th><th>1854</th><td></td> + </tr> + <tr><td colspan="7">Imports into the Province of Catamarca:</td></tr> + <tr> + <td>From the Pacific across the Cordillera (in millions of piastres)</td> + <td>72</td> + <td>50</td> + <td>71</td> + <td>40</td> + <td>12</td> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>From the Atlantic (Buenos Aires or Rosario)</td> + <td>11</td> + <td>7</td> + <td>20</td> + <td>64</td> + <td>116</td> + <td> + <a id="FNanchor_15_15" href="#Footnote_15_15" + class="fnanchor">15</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>In 1854-5 the Cordillera route definitely ceased to be of commercial +importance to Catamarca, and it was afterwards used merely for the +export of cattle.</p> + +<p>But the attraction of Buenos Aires after 1853 was not merely due to +its commercial life and its intermediate position between the provinces +of the interior and Europe. It was chiefly based upon the economic +development of the region of the Pampas, which began about this date, +and altered the balance between the two halves of Argentina. The +exploitation of the Pampa, the improvement in breeding methods, and the +introduction and expansion of agriculture on the plain of the Pampa, +which fill all publications on modern Argentina, are in themselves +one of the great events in the economic history of the nineteenth +century. They had also an indirect but profound influence upon the +life of other parts of Argentina. The consuming capacity of the Pampa +increased simultaneously with its wealth and population. It absorbed +the products of the neighbouring provinces and in turn made customers +of them, distributing amongst them, according to the services they +rendered, part of the gold it obtained from beyond the Atlantic. One +after the other the provinces lost the relations which had hitherto +connected them with foreign lands. There was the same development all +over the zone of cereals and lucerne—the direction of the stream +of commerce + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> + +was reversed. In some places, as at Tucumán and Mendoza the +change was accomplished a generation ago. In other places, as at Salta +and San Juan, it is still going on. In yet other places, the more +remote valleys, like Jachal and Santa Maria, it will occur in the near +future. By a singular anomaly the Far West of North America, which +sprang up half a century ago, tends to withdraw more and more from the +influence of the eastern States, which provided it with capital and +immigrants, while the Far West of Argentina, which is just as old as +the east and by no means a creation of the east, since it developed in +isolation and freedom, and was already adult and rich when they came +into contact, has nevertheless fallen into complete dependence upon the +east in the course of a few years.</p> + +<p>The life of the whole country depended upon the great colonization +movement which transformed the plain of the Pampas. This brought about +an economic unity which was at once reflected in the political world. +The railway from Buenos Aires reached Tucumán before 1880; +Mendoza, San Juan, Salta, and Catamarca before 1890; and La Rioja +before 1900. The establishment of closer economic relations between the +coast and the provinces of the interior has nearly always inaugurated a +period of great prosperity for the latter. In every case the influence +of Buenos Aires vitalized them, put an end to their slumbers, and made +them rich.</p> + +<p>Not only did the coast take for itself the products of the western +provinces, which had hitherto found their way to other markets, but new +centres of production had to be created to meet its needs. The forests +of the Chaco received a great influx of wood-cutters, to provide the +sleepers for the railways. The valley of the Rio Negro was planted +with vines, to provide the wines of the colonies in the district of +Bahía Blanca. The attraction of the Pampa was felt as far as the +frontiers. Paraguay competed with Corrientes in + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> + +the supply of tobacco and oranges; with Misiones in the supply of <span +lang="es">yerba maté</span>. Each district chose the particular +crop which was best suited to its climate, in order to secure the +highest possible advantage from its relations with Buenos Aires.</p> + +<p>The two most brilliant satellites of the Pampa, the most important +productive centres of the interior, are Tucumán and Mendoza. All +the other important towns of Argentina belong themselves to the region +of the Pampas. Tucumán and Mendoza, which live by supplying the +Pampa with sugar and wine, have become in turn secondary centres of +attraction. They are a sort of regional capitals, and they have their +own spheres of economic influence. A network of commercial streams +has developed about them, and this has led to the formation of new +roads. These lines of local interest are easily recognized on a map +of the railways, where one sees them superimposed upon the regular +fan of lines which converges toward Buenos Aires. La Rioja provides +the props for the vines of San Juan and Mendoza. From the north of +Córdoba to Salta, a distance of about 250 miles, the wood is +cut for the fuel of the sugar-works of Tucumán. Santiago dries +the fodder for its troops of mules. The prairies of Catamarca, which +once fattened the cattle that were intended for Chile, and often came +even from Tucumán, now sell their beasts to the butchers of +Tucumán. The wines of San Juan find their best customers at +Tucumán. Even the nearest portions of the plain of the Pampas, +to the north-east of Santa Fé and the south of San Luis, supply +maize and wheat to Tucumán and Mendoza, instead of sending them +to the ports for export.</p> + +<p>While Argentina lives on the Pampa, the Pampa lives on export. It +has been developed through the inflow of European immigrants, and +Europe pays by sending its manufactured products and capital. Except as +regards emigration, the United States had, + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> + +before the war, much the same relation to Argentina as the countries +of Western Europe. Thus the economic prosperity of the Republic binds +it more and more closely to the life of the whole world. Its position +in the temperate zone of South America had retarded its entrance +into world-commerce, and this explains the slowness with which its +colonization proceeded at first. Its climate and products were too +similar to those of Spain. Not only the mining and metallurgical +centres of the Andes and of Mantiqueria, but even the sugar and cotton +regions of Brazil, the Antilles, and the Guianas, were developed before +the plains of the Pampas.</p> + +<p>The turn of the Argentine Republic did not come until the growth of +population in the industrial countries of Europe made them dependent +upon foreign lands for their food, and until the application of steam +to ships made it possible to export wool, meat, and cereals on a large +scale.</p> + +<p>When we compare the economic organization of Argentina with that of +the United States, we see that it is both less complex and less capable +of being self-contained. The difference is due to the architecture of +the country. I said at the beginning of this chapter that Argentina has +no equivalent for the zone of the Atlantic tablelands, which is now the +great industrial region of North America. The industrial prosperity of +eastern North America provides a safe home market for the farmers of +the west, and relieves them of the need of exporting their produce. +Moreover, the Atlantic tablelands, the original centres of population, +where the first generations of colonists lived on land that was often +poor, have seen the gradual formation of reserves of labour and capital +which were afterwards used in colonizing the west. The east sifted, in +a sense controlled, the influence of modern Europe in the colonization +of the United States. It classified and assimilated the new emigrants +who set out for the west, + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> + +mingled with the troops of native pioneers on their way to the +prairies. In the same way, when European capital flowed into the United +States, it found in the eastern cities a large treasury and a body of +financiers in whose hands it had to remain.</p> + +<p>In Argentina, on the contrary, everything speaks of the close and +direct dependence of the country upon oversea markets. The soil itself +bears the marks of this solidarity. It is seen in the network of the +railways, the concentration of the urban population in the ports, and +the distribution of the cultivated districts in concentric circles +which are often limited, not by a physical obstacle, but by the cost of +freightage between the productive centre and the port. Thus we get a +geographical expression of facts which seem at first sight to belong to +the purely economic or sociological order.</p> <hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a><br /> +THE OASES OF THE NORTH-WEST AND PASTORAL LIFE IN THE SCRUB</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>The inhabited zones of the Andes in the + north-west—<span lang="es">Valles</span>, + <span lang="es">Quebradas</span>, <span + lang="es">Puna</span>—The irrigation of the + <span lang="es">valles</span>—The historic + routes—Convoys of stock—The breeding of mules + and the fairs—The struggle of the breeders against + drought—The Sierra de los Llanos.</p> +</div> + +<p>The whole life and wealth of the arid provinces of north-western +Argentina depend upon irrigation; the water-supply definitively settles +the sites of human establishments. The water resources are irregularly +distributed. They are especially abundant in the south (San Juan, +Mendoza, and San Rafael), where the torrents of the Cordillera are fed +by the glaciers, and on the outer fringe of the hills above the Chaco, +at the foot of Aconcagua, which gathers masses of cloud and rain on its +flanks (Tucumán). In the intermediate district, on the contrary, +in the regions of La Rioja and Catamarca, and in the interior of the +hilly zone to the north-west of Tucumán, the amount of available +water is small; the oases shrink into small spots far removed from each +other.</p> + +<p>This natural inequality was not felt at first. For a long time the +spread of cultivation and the progress of wealth were restricted only +by the scarcity of population, the difficulties of transport, and the +inadequacy of the markets. The best endowed oases paid no attention to +the surplus supply of water, for which they had no use. We have to come +down to the close + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> + +of the nineteenth century to find men reaching the limits which nature +has set to colonization, and mapping out their domain. It is not until +then that La Rioja ceases to compete with Mendoza, or Catamarca with +Tucumán. While large industrial enterprises develop at Mendoza +and Tucumán, strong centres of urban life arise, the population +increases, and immigrants stream in, the oases of the interior +scarcely change. Their population does not keep its level. Life has +an archaic character that one finds nowhere else in Argentina. The +physical conditions have retarded, one would almost say crystallized, +the economic development. The living generation exploits the soil in +ways that to some extent go back as far as the indigenous tribes, +the masters of their Spanish conquerors in the art of irrigation. +The industry of fattening and convoying cattle, which was once the +chief source of wealth of the whole country, is still alive in those +districts.</p> + +<p>The zone of the elevated tablelands of the Andes without drainage +toward the sea—the Puna—has still, below 22° S. +latitude on the northern frontier of Argentina, a width of about 250 +miles. This breadth steadily contracts southward as far as 28° +S. latitude, where the Puna ends about the level of the road from +Tinogasta to Copiapo.</p> + +<p>To the east and south of the Puna the Argentine Andes are cut from +north to south by a series of long gullies and large basins, between +which there are lofty and massive chains with steep flanks. Some of +these lie in the heart of the mountains, while others often open like +gulfs upon the edge of the plain. These depressions with rectilinear +contours are a common feature of the topography of the Andes in this +latitude. The central plain of Chile is closely related to them. In +the Argentine speech they are called <span lang="es">valles</span>: +Valle de Lerma, Valle Calchaqui, Valle de Iglesias, de Calingasta, +d'Uspallata. They are, however, not "valleys" in + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> + +the sense of hollows made by erosion by running water. They owe +their formation to tectonic movements, subsidences of the surface. +The scanty rivers of the arid Anacs are not capable of doing work +of that kind. When they enter the already formed bed of a <span +lang="es">valle</span>, they seem to be lost in the immense space. +Often they dry up in it, leaving behind the sediment and salts with +which the water was laden. In other places they cut at right angles +across the <span lang="es">valle</span>, escaping by narrow breaches in +it, while the depression continues its course on either side, taking in +sections of a number of independent streams.</p> + +<p>Opposed to the <span lang="es">valle</span> is the eroded ravine, +carved out by water, the <span lang="es">quebrada</span>. It opens +upon a <span lang="es">valle</span> with a V-shaped mouth, which +widens out at the top, and one can recognise at sight the various +slopes and the successive stages of erosion. Narrow and winding, a +level bed of shingle filling the entire base of the valley, it rises +rapidly toward the mountains and provides a route from the <span +lang="es">valle</span> to the <span lang="es">puna</span>. These +<span lang="es">valles</span>, <span lang="es">quebradas</span> +and <span lang="es">puna</span> are the three inhabited zones of +the Andes. The first is the richest. The inhabitant of the <span +lang="es">valle</span>, proud of his comparative comfort, has for +his neighbour in the <span lang="es">quebrada</span> or the <span +lang="es">puna</span>—the <span lang="es">coyada</span>—a +contempt such as one finds the inhabitants of the good land in Europe +feeling for the people in poorer districts.</p> + +<p>The narrower the <span lang="es">valle</span>, the less rain +there is. The observations give 112 millimetres of rain per year +at Tinogasta, 290 at Andalgala, and 200 at Santa Maria. Salta and +Jujuy have a much moister climate, and have no less than 570 and 740 +millimetres of rain annually. This is because the eastern chain of +the Andes, which stretches from the Sierra de Santa Victoria on the +Bolivian frontier to Aconcagua, sinks lower at the latitude of Salta, +and lets in the moisture of the Chaco to the heart of the zone of the +Andes. The rains of Salta and Jujuy are suspended during the winter, +but they are so heavy during the summer months (November to March) that +maize, which needs only the summer rain, can be cultivated without +irrigation. But when we follow the Valle de Lerma southward from Salta +the maize harvest becomes more and more uncertain, and it is no longer +sown in dry soil when we get to about twenty miles from Salta, in the +latitude of the confluence of the Arias and the Juramento. However, the +summer rains, which are good for maize, are very injurious to the vine; +they spoil the grapes. Thus the southern limit of the cultivation of +maize in dry soil almost coincides with the northern limit of the vine. +At that point we have the real beginning of the typical scenery of the +<span lang="es">valles</span>.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a href="images/illus-045.jpg" type="image/jpeg" id="patagonianandes"> + <img src="images/illus-045.jpg" alt="The Patagonian Andes" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PATAGONIAN ANDES.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Mount Tronador (11,500 feet) on the Chilean + frontier, dominating the road from Lake Nahuel Huapi to Chile. + The glaciers still reach the bottom of the valley, which they + filled at one time. A burnt forest in the foreground.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate III.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-045.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + Click to view larger image.</a></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>The need of irrigation is due to the scarcity of rain, but +it is accentuated by a number of causes which tend to increase +the aridity. The <span lang="es">valles</span> are the scene of +scorching day-winds, the <span lang="es">zonda</span>, like the +<span lang="es">Föhn</span> of the Swiss Alps, which, there +being no snow, dry up the water of the springs and of the irrigation +trenches, or use the deposits left by the waters to form dunes, which +they push southward, sometimes like veritable glaciers of sand. +Moreover, the soil of the <span lang="es">valles</span> is generally +composed of coarse and permeable alluvial deposits, which absorb the +rain-storms immediately. There is at the foot of both sides of the +hills which enclose each <span lang="es">valle</span> an immense +and far-lying bed of imperfectly rounded shingle. This double zone +of detritus is strangely desolate, for the vegetation on it is +restricted to isolated bushes of <span lang="es">jarilla</span> and +<span lang="es">tola</span>. From the sheepfolds on the mountains +to the oases in the valleys one hardly meets a single house. The +bed of the valley is not so desolate. A broad ribbon of sand marks +the dry bed of a torrent, and on the clays of its banks, if the +sheet of water underground is not too deep, one finds, in spite of +the goats and asses and charcoal-burners, little forests of <span +lang="es">algarrobas</span>, which the foundries use for fuel.</p> + +<p>The modern alluvial beds, gravel and sand, represent + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> + +the upper stratum of a considerable series of continental deposits +which lie on the Paleozoic crystalline rock of the Andes.<a + id="FNanchor_16_16" href="#Footnote_16_16" +class="fnanchor">16</a> They chiefly consist of red sandstone and +coloured marls, which crop up here and there through the alluvial +covering and give the landscape a rugged character, worn by water and +wind. There is no trace of humus: nothing to soften the vivid colours +of the rock. Bodenbender, to whom we owe the first general attempt +to classify the series, points out the importance of distinguishing +the different strata in connection with the question of water +supply and the conditions of human life.<a +id="FNanchor_17_17" href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">17</a> +A complete geographical study would have to follow the geological +description in detail. In places—on the eastern edge of the +Sierra de los Llanos—the fine modern clays are in contact with +the granites of the hills and form above them a thick bed that is rich +in fresh water. In other places—south-westward of the Sierra +de la Famatina, as far as the Bermejo—the outcrop is of red +sandstone only. The tablelands of Talampaya and Ischigualasta, which +are cut across by the gorges of the tributaries of the Bermejo, form +one of the most conspicuously desert regions in the whole Republic. +Wherever the gypsiferous marls of the Calchaqui are near the surface, +the springs are saline. The undulations of the impermeable rocky +substratum bring to light the water that gathers in the alluvial +beds. Thus the streams which come down the Famatina range in the +west disappear in the alluvial beds on the fringe of the Sierra, but +re-appear presently in the oasis of Pagancillo.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hence the <span lang="es">valles</span> are by no means wholly +productive. The oases represent only a limited portion of them. +It would be impossible to imagine a more striking contrast than +that of the freshness and life of the oases compared with the +surrounding desert. Screens of poplars shelter them from the <span +lang="es">zonda</span>. The water runs along trenches paved with round +pebbles under the spreading vines, at the foot of which, to economize +water and space, lucerne is sown. Each garden feeds a family. Near the +raw-brick houses there are large earthenware vessels, as tall as a +man, in which the corn is kept. The hammering of the cooper fills the +air.</p> + +<p>In places the oasis is watered by a stream. In those cases there is +on each side of the bed of the stream a narrow fringe, a continuous +ribbon, of smiling gardens, which hide the path. Above and below Santa +Maria a trench is opened every mile in the wet sands of the Rio. The +water rises in it and fills it, and is directed by it toward one of the +banks, where it is jealously collected and distributed. The water which +flows from the irrigated fields and returns to the river, as well as +that which the porous side of the trench has permitted to escape, goes +to fill another trench and supply other fields farther on. The region +of Los Sauces, in the northern part of the province of La Rioja, to the +south of Tinogasta, shows a different type of irrigated cultivation, +on account of the sandy course of the stream. The fields follow the +feeding artery for about fifty miles. It is bled at the beginning of +each bend, the waters remaining underground like hidden wealth.</p> + +<p>In most cases however, the <span lang="es">valle</span> +has no running water. What reaches it from the lateral <span +lang="es">quebradas</span> is lost in the alluvial beds accumulated at +the point where the <span lang="es">quebrada</span> enters the <span +lang="es">valle</span>. In order to make use of it the cultivated areas +are grouped on the cone of deposition; at least, that is the position +in the great majority of the oases. A <span lang="es">costa</span> is a +line of separate + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> + +oases with their backs to the same slope. When the <span +lang="es">valle</span> is narrow, the <span lang="es">costas</span> +on either side of the sterile depression face each other, like two +parallel roads. The water of the <span lang="es">quebrada</span> is +never sufficiently abundant to irrigate the whole of the cone of the +torrent. In order to create an oasis there, they have selected the most +easily cultivable zone, which is usually the foot of the cone, where +the deposits are finer and more fertile, retain the moisture better, +and require less watering. The summit of the cone is composed of +coarse stones, the first to be dropped by the torrent as it loses its +strength. These are bad lands, where the water is wasted.</p> + +<p>To meet the occasional drought and the danger of sudden floods in +this fluvial zone, which is entirely the domain of the torrent, there +is need of constant care and ingenuity. At Colalao del Valle the +cultivated fields are five or six miles from the summit of the cone. +After a number of successive years of drought the stream of water +which reached them on the flanks of the cone lost half its volume +and threatened to disappear altogether. They then built a stone dam +at the outlet of the <span lang="es">quebrada</span>, and the water +accumulates behind this during the night. At three o'clock in the +morning the sluices are opened, and the stream, having thus nursed +its strength, reaches the fields down below about seven o'clock. Then +the sun and the wind rise, just at the time when the reservoir is +empty, and by the middle of the day the stream ceases, and irrigation +is suspended. At Andalgala, above which rises the glittering crest of +Aconcagua, the waters of the melting snows which feed the torrent have +not time to be "decanted" before they reach the valley. They come down +laden with mud and sand. Above the points where the irrigation-channels +begin the people make, in the bed of the torrent, a dam of branches of +trees which filters the water. It is swept away by every flood that +occurs, and is at once restored.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>What is even more admirable than the ingenuity of the <span +lang="es">vallista</span> in utilizing the natural resources is +the minute detail of the water-rights. It seems as if the <span +lang="es">vallista</span> is even more cunning in protecting himself +from his neighbour than in dealing with nature. The water-customs of +these Andean valleys are worth an extensive study. The water does not +belong to the State, and is not used by concession from the State. It +is private property. The owner uses or abuses it as he pleases on the +lands which he has selected. A man may be poor in land and rich in +water, which he accordingly sells. There are frequent business deals in +regard to water-rights, just as in regard to the soil and its produce. +Appropriation of water often precedes appropriation of the soil. Many +oases are communities where the non-irrigated lands are common to the +whole population, and the irrigated fields alone are divided.</p> + +<p>A primary group of customs regulates the relations to each other of +communities higher up and lower down the same stream. At Catamarca the +water of a certain stream is shared by Piedra Blanca and Valle Viejo. +Piedra Blanca, in the upper part, absorbs the whole of the water for +a week, but it must then suspend its irrigation during the following +week and permit the stream to flow down the valley. The same evening, +or the next morning, according to the season, the water reaches Valle +Viejo. It is a custom known as the <span lang="es">quiebras</span> +in the southern valleys of the desert side of Peru, where it allows +different stages of cultivation to proceed simultaneously. In the same +way, above Santa Maria, where several communities (S. José, Loro +Huasi, etc.) receive the water brought by a channel from the Rio Santa +Maria, each of them has a right to the full output of the channel for +three days. At the end of that time the sluices are closed, and the +water passes to the next community. There is grave trouble for any +oasis that has its rights infringed or + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> + +does not compel the communities higher up to respect them.</p> + +<p>Amongst individuals the water-right is generally defined by a +measurement of time, a certain number of days or hours—during +which the owner controls the entire flow of the spring or stream. It +is only when the water is more abundant that we find another method +of fixing the right of water, defining it by bulk. The water is then +said to be <span lang="es">demarcada</span>, as the unit is customarily +the <span lang="es">marco</span>, or the volume which passes through +an opening about twenty-one centimetres in width and eight in height. +The <span lang="es">marco</span> has infinite divisions, and each +subdivision has its own name—the <span lang="es">naranja</span>, +the <span lang="es">bombilla</span>, the <span lang="es">paja</span>, +and so on.</p> + +<p>As all the water is utilized, and the rights of all are +equally entitled to respect, the division of the water into <span +lang="es">marcos</span> (<span lang="es">demarcacion</span>) is in +practice merely a proportional distribution of it amongst those who +have rights to it. If the sum total of rights expressed in <span +lang="es">marcos</span> represents something like the total flow of +a stream during an average season, in the time of low water it is +disproportionate, and the water no longer flows to the tops of the +<span lang="es">marcos</span>. In other words, the quantity of water +granted to each rises or falls with the rise or fall of the stream +itself.</p> + +<p>Theoretically, when the water-right is defined in <span +lang="es">marcos</span> it is permanent. Often, however, it is +impossible to grant each proprietor a permanent title to the +water. Even in oases where the water is "demarked," the <span +lang="es">turno</span>—that is to say, the turn of the +proprietors to have water—which is the absolute rule in the +poorest oases, reappears during the months of scarcity, in winter, when +there is no rain, and at the beginning of summer. It reappears also +when the right of ownership has been broken up into fractions that +are too small, and it is better to grant a larger volume of water for +several hours instead of a constant stream of water which would be too +scanty for profitable use. At + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> + +Andalgala the "turn" is sometimes obligatory, and regulated by custom, +in channels where the irrigating proprietors are too numerous; at +other times optional, and settled by convention amongst the owners +themselves, when water is scanty. At Valle Viejo (Catamarca), when +the water runs low, they set up the <span lang="es">mita</span>; that +is to say, the sluices remain closed in each channel during four +days out of eight, each proprietor in turn giving up his right to a +permanent supply in order to have a double allowance when his turn +comes. The <span lang="es">turno</span> is, therefore, a general +practice. Everywhere we can see the farmers on the watch along the +<span lang="es">acequias</span>, waiting for the moment to close their +neighbour's trench with a pellet of clay and to let the stream into +their own trenches with a blow of the spade.</p> + +<p>The most minute precautions are taken in order that no one shall +suffer injury. As the irrigation is always slower and less thorough +during the night, they take it in turns to have the day and the night +alternately. When the community receives the water from another +community higher up the stream, the succession of "turns" amongst its +members differs every time. The water comes down charged with sediment, +pushing in front of it a mass of liquid mud, as the flush of a torrent +does. It takes some time for the stream to become regular and clear. +The first irrigator therefore exercises his right under unfavourable +conditions. In the local phraseology the <span lang="es">volcada +de agua</span> is not as good as the <span lang="es">corte de +agua</span>, which means the irrigation that begins when the <span +lang="es">acequia</span> is full.</p> + +<p>Irrigation entails the services of quite a staff of arbitrators +and administrators. The head men, who have jurisdiction of a higher +order and secure the accurate distribution of the water amongst a +number of channels or communities, are now, as a rule, officials of +the administration, appointed by the provincial authorities (<span +lang="es">juez de Irrigacion</span> at Catamarca, <span lang="es">juez +de rio</span> at Rosario de Lerma). But the <span lang="es">juez de +agua</span> of each + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> + +community or each channel is a syndic elected by the interested +parties. At Santa Maria the <span lang="es">juez de agua</span> is +elected by the owners and confirmed by the Government. He controls +irrigation throughout the department, settling all differences, +submitting plans of work to a meeting of the owners, and assigning +their respective charges in labour and contributions according to their +rights.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>This land of customs and traditions is also a land of lively +movement. The briskness of the traffic is primarily due to continuous +exchange between the various zones of the mountainous district. +This large trade, so scattered that the railways could not dream of +satisfying its needs, is carried, in the old fashion, on the backs of +mules. The lively aspect of the roads between the tableland and the +lower valleys of the region, the brisk interchange of goods between +zones with different climates, is one of the common features of life on +the Andes.</p> + +<p>But the classic spectacle presents a different aspect in +different latitudes. In Peru, and in southern Bolivia, the +higher valleys—Jauja, Cuzco, the Pampas of Cochabamba and +Sucre—have centres of dense population and agricultural +wealth at a height of between 9,000 and 11,000 feet. They +raise cereals, and receive from the tropical districts (<span +lang="es">montañas and yungas</span>) sugar, cane-brandy, +cocoa, and coca-leaf. The valleys of the Argentine Andes are usually +at a less elevation than the <span lang="es">yungas</span> and <span +lang="es">montañas</span> of Bolivia and Peru. But they are +not hot districts, and have not tropical vegetation. Frost prevents +the harvesting of sugar-cane at Salta, at a height of 4,000 feet. As +to the coca-leaf, which is not as much used here as in the north, +the Argentine <span lang="es">valles</span> do not send it to the +tableland, but receive it indirectly from there, through the southern +<span lang="es">yungas</span>. In default of tropical crops, the +Argentine <span lang="es">valles</span> sow wheat and maize, which they +sell to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> + +Indians of the cold districts of the Puna for wool and salt.</p> + +<p>These commercial currents are of very ancient, probably +pre-Columbian origin. Boman has discovered ears of maize in the +prehistoric tombs of the Puna de Atacama.<a +id="FNanchor_18_18" href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">18</a> The +Puna, at a height of 11,000 to 12,000 feet, is permanently inhabited, +unlike the high valleys of the Cordillera de San Juan, which are +occupied only during the summer season by Chilean shepherds. It is +primarily a pastoral and mining region, but it has some tilled land, +at more than 6,700 feet above the level of the valleys. The higher +limit of annual cultivation in the cold districts, which is fixed +by the summer temperature, does not fall in the same way as that of +arboriculture in warm districts, because trees suffer from the winter +frosts. The Indians of Cochinoca and Susques sow lucerne and barley +for fodder, and the <span lang="es">quinoa</span> and potato for food. +Transport between the Puna and the <span lang="es">valles</span> +is carried on by the inhabitants of the Puna, and is not shared by +the <span lang="es">vallistas</span>. They are especially active +in the north, in the province of Jujuy. Belmar shows how important +the sales of the Puna woollen goods were by the middle of the +nineteenth century.<a id="FNanchor_19_19" +href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">19</a> These fabrics were used +by the mill-owners of the Rio Grande de Jujuy to pay for the work +of the Indians of the Chaco, whom they employed in the sugar-cane +harvest. The competition of the manufactured products of Europe now +menaces the domestic weaving of the Puna, just as the competition of +the flour of the Pampa menaces the cultivation of cereals in the <span +lang="es">valles</span>.</p> + +<p>Besides this traffic of local interest the <span +lang="es">valles</span> serve for a traffic of a higher, almost a +continental character. It seems certain that during the pre-Spanish +period + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> + +the road from the Peruvian tablelands to Chile avoided the inhospitable +desert of the Puna de Atacama, entered the region of the <span +lang="es">valles</span> to the east, and crossed the Cordillera in the +latitude of Tinogasta, or even a little further south. That was the +route of the armies of the Incas, which in the fourteenth century came +as far as Maule. The pre-Columbian roads, of which Boman has found +traces between the Valle de Lerma and the Valle Calchaqui, seem to +correspond with this direction of traffic. By this route the long <span +lang="es">quechua</span> passed amongst the Diaguites populations. The +conquerors followed the Indian guides. Almagro, in going from Peru to +Chile, passed through the <span lang="es">valles</span> at the eastern +edge of the Andes.</p> + +<p>Later the <span lang="es">valles</span> were incorporated in the +many variations of the historic high road, one of the first and +busiest of Spanish America, which goes from the Rio de la Plata to +Lima: a route both for armies and merchants. The plan proposed by +Matienzo (1566) to make a road from the silver mines to the estuary +of the Paraná, through the Valle de Calchaqui, seems to have +been intended merely to improve a line of communication that had +already been in use. Buenos Aires for a long time received European +goods by this road. About 1880 the Salta route recovered for a +time its continental importance, during the Pacific War and the +occupation by the Chileans of the maritime provinces of Bolivia.<a + id="FNanchor_20_20" href="#Footnote_20_20" +class="fnanchor">20</a> At that time it was the only outlet for +Bolivia.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a href="images/illus-057a.jpg" type="image/jpeg" id="vegetation"> + <img src="images/illus-057a.jpg" alt="Valleys" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">VEGETATION OF THE INTERIOR VALLEYS (ANDES OF THE NORTH-WEST).</p> + <p class="figcaption">Descent of Tafi del Valle, going to Santa Maria. + The ravine is excavated out of the mass of coarse deposits which forms + a fringe between the mountain and the valley. On this permeable soil + the vegetation is particularly thin. Cactus.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-057a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + Click to view larger image</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a href="images/illus-057b.jpg" type="image/jpeg" id="forest"> + <img src="images/illus-057b.jpg" alt="Forest" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">FOREST ON THE OUTER SLOPE OF THE SUB-ANDEAN CHAINS.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Sierra de San Antonio (Salta province). + Perennial foliage, creepers, ferns.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate IV.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-057b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>But of all the forms of traffic that have enlivened the <span +lang="es">valles</span> the most constant, and the form that has had +the most profound influence on their existence, is the movement of +cattle. The cattle trade has been of fundamental importance in the +history of the colonization of South America. Animals were the only +goods that could be conveyed any great distance. At the beginning of +the conquest the productive regions of the continent, which supplied +the export trade with Europe, were very limited in extent. Pastoral +colonization began at once, and spread over a very wide area. Herds of +oxen, for meat or draught, horses, and mules, made their way toward the +centres of consumption: towns like Lima, Bahía, and Rio, the +Peruvian mines, and the sugar-refineries of the north-east of Brazil, +and later toward the <span lang="es">yerbales</span> of Paraguay or the +seaports of the Caribs and the Rio Grande do Sul, where the jerked meat +industry developed. The cattle routes converge upon these centres.</p> + +<p>The export of cattle and mules from the Argentine plains to Peru +was fully established by the close of the sixteenth century, and it +seems to have continued without interruption ever since. Upper Peru +is, however, not the only market on which the Argentine breeders +lived. At the end of the eighteenth century D'Azara demanded that +they should permit the sale of horses and mules to Brazil, for use in +the mines. The cattle traffic with Portuguese territory had not then +assumed the form of a regular commerce, and the Brazilians made raids +on the north-eastern provinces for the animals they needed—60,000 +a year, D'Azara says.<a id="FNanchor_21_21" +href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">21</a> The export of cattle to +Paraguay and Misiones was, on the other hand, of substantial economic +importance in the eighteenth century. Before the Revolution, Rengger +says, as many as 200,000 head of cattle passed yearly from Corrientes +to Paraguay, which paid for them in <span lang="es">maté</span> +and tobacco.<a id="FNanchor_22_22" +href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">22</a> This trade was kept up +intermittently in the nineteenth century. The exports from Corrientes +were especially important at the time when the Paraguay stock was +reconstituted after the war (40,000 head of cattle in 1875).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<p>Finally, the Chilean market was opened to the Argentine breeders +about the middle of the nineteenth century. In the time of Martin de +Moussy the convoys of cattle to Chile were so numerous that the lucerne +fields of both slopes were stripped bare at the very beginning of the +season; and they were rented at a high price.<a +id="FNanchor_23_23" href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">23</a> Not +only the mining provinces of the north, but central Chile also, bought +Argentine cattle. The opening of the Chilean market was followed by a +remarkable expansive movement in the pastoral colonization of Argentine +territory. We can follow the progress of this not only in Martin de +Moussy's book, but in all contemporary works of travel. Its chief +theatres are the provinces of San Luis and of Santiago del Estero, +north of the Rio Dulce, where Hutchinson, in particular, describes the +activity of the ranches.<a id="FNanchor_24_24" +href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">24</a> Finally, after the +Pacific War (1880) the nitrate district, taken from Bolivia and Peru by +Chile, received a great influx of population, and works sprang up in +the midst of the desert. The nitrate fields, wholly barren and doomed, +under their shroud of grey dust, to an unalterable desolation, became +at once one of the chief centres of consumption for Argentine stock.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is difficult to give accurate details of the volume of trade in +cattle in colonial Argentine. However, the facts given by travellers +(though they often merely borrow from each other) suffice to show how +important this traffic was in the life of the country and the extent +of the zone that was occupied with it. As early as the middle of the +seventeenth century Córdoba seems to have exported to Peru +as many as 28,000 to 30,000 mules annually.<a +id="FNanchor_25_25" href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">25</a> At +the close of the eighteenth century, we read in D'Azara, 60,000 mules +were exported; and Helms gives the same figure.<a +id="FNanchor_26_26" href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">26</a> The +mules were bought young by Córdoba dealers at Buenos Aires, +Santa Fé, and Corrientes, reared at Córdoba, and then +sent to Salta, where they were sold in their third year to mule-dealers +from Peru.</p> + +<p>An article in the <cite>Telegrafo Mercantil</cite> of September +9, 1801 (reproduced in the <cite>Junta de Historia y Numismatica +americana</cite>, Buenos Aires, 2 vols., 1914-5) contains very valuable +information in regard to the mule trade. From 1760 to 1780 Salta sent +between 40,000 and 50,000 mules annually to Peru. At Salta they were +worth ten piastres each before they were broken in, and thirteen or +fourteen afterwards; and they were sold at the age of four years. +The <span lang="es">arrieros</span>, who conveyed European goods +and home products (<span lang="es">ropas y frutas</span>), bought a +large number of them. The <cite>Telegrafo</cite> complains that this +trade has been gradually transformed. The mules now came from Santa +Fé and Córdoba to Salta two years old, and after the +<span lang="es">invernada</span> they were still, at fair time, barely +three years old. They suffered much during the long journey to Lima, +and the losses of the caravans were heavy. They could not be loaded +for the journey, and, as the <span lang="es">arrieros</span> could no +longer secure adult and strong animals, the freight to the tableland +had risen, to the serious loss of merchants on the coast. The reply of +a Potosi mule-dealer (December 13th) clearly shows that the last years +of the eighteenth century had been marked by increasingly heavy demands +from Peru for Argentine mules. In order to meet these demands the +Córdoba breeders had developed production. The buyers, coming to +Salta from Lima, Cuzco, and Arequipa, took, without discussion + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> + +or examination, the batches that were offered them. The correspondent +of the <cite>Telegrafo</cite> complains bitterly of these <span lang="es">caballeritos</span> who came +from Peru with their 100,000 piastres, and raised the price at Salta, +alleging that their instructions were to get mules at any cost.</p> + +<p>Robertson gave in 1813 the recollections of a mule-dealer as to +the convoys of mules between Santa Fé and the Andes, which had +already ceased at that time. Each convoy or <span lang="es">arreo</span> comprised 5,000 +to 6,000 mules. They came from Entre Rios, or even from the Uruguay, +whence they were brought, after crossing the Paraná, to the +Santa Fé ranches. The Santa Fé breeders owned the best +part of the land on the left bank of the river. The expedition also +included thirty waggons of goods and 500 draught-oxen; and fifty +<span lang="es">gauchos</span> were in charge of it. The main expense was then tobacco +and <span lang="es">yerba</span>. One feature of this mule traffic that is emphasized in +all the descriptions is that it was divided into two stages, with an +interval between them, for breaking in. As we have already learned +from Azcarate, Córdoba<ins>,</ins> Santa Fé, Santiago, and Salta +kept the mules for two or three years before sending them to Peru. +Córdoba and Santiago del Estero seem to have been important in +connection with the industry of breaking in the mules.</p> + +<p>The sending of cattle on foot to Bolivia and Chile is now only a +subsidiary element of the national economy, but it is not yet quite +extinct, as the table on <a href="#Page_53">p. 53</a> shows.</p> + +<p>Whatever its point of departure, the traffic in stock always +passed through the <span lang="es">valles</span>. Transport of cattle was particularly +difficult in the Argentine Andes. The chief obstacles were not the +elevation of the passes or the steepness of the roads, but the scarcity +of water and the extent of the <span lang="es">travesias</span>, which were equally poor +in pasturage and water, and had to be crossed rapidly by doubling the +stages. The difficulties of the journey were very profitable to the +oases that lay along the route. The cattle-driver could not dispense +with the hospitality of the <span lang="es">vallista</span> or dispute the price he cared to +charge.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a href="images/illus-063.png" type="image/png" id="Irrigation_in_the_West"> + <img src="images/illus-063.png" alt="Map" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MAP II.—IRRIGATION IN THE WEST AND NORTH-WEST OF ARGENTINA.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Extent of the irrigations in the north + (zone of the great summer rains), and the south (glacier zone) + The historic industry of fattening cattle in the invernadas + and the export of cattle to the Andean regions only survive in + part. On the other hand large modern industries have developed + at Tucumán, Jujuy (sugar-cane), Mendoza, and San Juan + (vines), and they supply the Buenos Aires market.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-063.png" type="image/png">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>The length of the journey and the difficulty of keeping the animals +in good condition in the poor pastures of the breeding districts +made it advisable to stay longer in the oases. There thus arose +lucerne-farms—the <span lang="es">invernadas</span>—to receive and fatten the +cattle which passed through. Lucerne is the characteristic and most +profitable produce of the <span lang="es">valles</span>. It is grown wherever there is an +assured supply of water, and is invariably found in the upper section +of the system of irrigation-channels; the cereals are sown lower down, +and are the first to suffer from drought. In the <span lang="es">quebradas</span>, where +space is more limited, the lucerne-fields cover the entire oasis. +Every cattle track has a corresponding line of <span lang="es">invernadas</span>, which is +often completed on the opposite slope by a last group of lucerne-farms +where the beasts recover from the journey before they are sold and +dispersed.</p> + +<table class="table1" summary="exports"> + <thead> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>1910</th> + <th>1911</th> + <th>1912</th> + <th>1913</th> + <th>1914</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td colspan="6">Export of Cattle:</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>To Bolivia</td> + <td>3,600</td> + <td>6,600</td> + <td>6,200</td> + <td>6,300</td> + <td>4,800 </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>To Chile</td> + <td>61,200</td> + <td>87,500</td> + <td>68,400</td> + <td>58,800</td> + <td>28,300 </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="6">Export of Mules:</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>To Bolivia</td> + <td>2,700</td> + <td>4,600</td> + <td>7,900</td> + <td>8,300</td> + <td>2,500 </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>To Chile</td> + <td>2,300</td> + <td>3,200</td> + <td>5,000</td> + <td>2,600</td> + <td>3,500 </td> + </tr> + <tr><td colspan="6">Export of Asses:</td></tr> + <tr> + <td>To Bolivia</td> + <td>9,000</td> + <td>10,500</td> + <td>15,000</td> + <td>15,600</td> + <td>14,400<a id="FNanchor_27_27" href="#Footnote_27_27" + class="fnanchor">27</a> + </td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>Besides the official routes there have for a long time been +clandestine tracks, through more difficult ravines, by which stolen +cattle were conveyed with impunity. Guachipas was the gathering place +for cattle of suspicious origin, and, to avoid being seen in Salta +and Jujuy, they passed through the Quebrada del Toro or the Quebrada +d'Escoïpe. When Brackebusch visited Guachipas in 1880 the +inhabitants still kept something of their reputation as smugglers.</p> + +<p>A map of the cattle-tracks which are still used in the Argentine +Andes is a complicated network in which we can trace two main +directions, crossing each other at right angles. One set of tracks +leads to the west, toward the Pacific coast, the other set to the +north, toward the Bolivian tableland.</p> + +<p>The cattle traffic is now restricted to Chile. It survives at San +Juan, Jachal, Vinchina, and Tinogasta. The cattle descend to Chile +about Coquimbo, Vallenar, or Copiapo. But the trade is now busiest in +the region of the saltpetre-beds. The roads lead from the Valle de +Lerma and the Valle Calchaqui toward the tableland by the Quebrada del +Toro or the Quebrada de Cachi or de Luracatao, crossing lofty passes +at the foot of the Nevados of Acay and Cachi, and reuniting between +Santa Rosa de Pastos Grandes and San Antonio de los Cobres to cross the +Puna de Atacama. <span lang="es">Vegas</span> (pastures) and fresh water are scarce here. +The track passes interminably by depressions covered with a carpet of +glistening salt, dominated by volcanic crests. It is used in every +season of the year, but in winter the caravans are exposed to the cold +wind laden with snow, the <span lang="es">viento blanco</span>. San Pedro is the port in +this desolation. Here there are, on the flanks of the enormous cone of +Licancour, fields of lucerne and groups of figs and <span lang="es">algarrobas</span>. The +cattle are left there for a few days' rest, to prepare them for the +last stage, the Calama oasis on the Antofágasta railway.</p> + +<p>The centre of this trade is Salta, or, rather, the little +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> + +village of Rosario de Lerma, nine miles south of it, where most of +the caravans are formed. The saltpetre works make yearly contracts +in advance with the Rosario dealers, fixing the number and price of +the beasts to be delivered at Calama. The cost of transport includes, +besides the pay of the cattle-drivers—eighty to a hundred +piastres a journey—the shoeing of the mules, the rent of pasture +at San Pedro, and the value of the beasts which die on the way. In 1913 +the number of animals exported by this route was put at 30,000. The +saltpetre works buy also draught-mules for their waggons. Draught-mules +must be heavy, and only animals over five feet in height are sent to +Chile. Bolivia is now the only market for the smaller mules and for +asses.</p> + +<p>The trade in mules in its traditional form and the industry +of breaking-in still flourish at Santa Maria. The mule-dealer's +business is very different from that of the cattle-dealer. The +mules are so tough that it is possible to send them by roads +which would be unsuitable for cattle.<a +id="FNanchor_28_28" href="#Footnote_28_28" +class="fnanchor">28</a> The journeys are longer, and the contracts +are less settled in advance. Moreover, breaking-in is a delicate +operation that requires experience. The survival of the mule-trade at +Santa Maria is an example of the maintenance of an industry owing to +the presence of skilled handicraft. The men who break in the mules at +Santa Maria have a remarkable caste-pride. Their first job is to go to +Santiago or Córdoba to buy the mules. They bring them back to +Santa Maria by way of Catamarca or the valley of Tafi. At Santa Maria +the mules are broken in, then taken to the lucerne-farms at Poma to +be put into good condition. There they remain in pasture for several +months; and at length, when the season is suitable, the little band +of Santa Marieños gathers together and, driving the now docile +beasts in front of them, and putting no loads on them in order that +they may keep fresh, make for the fair at Huari in Bolivia, or even as +far as Sucre. There they sell at a hundred and fifty piastres each the +animals which they had bought for half that price before being broken +in. The number of mules hibernating at Poma is about 4,000.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>The business done in the fairs of the southern Andes is very +varied in character, but their main function was always as markets +for stock.<a id="FNanchor_29_29" +href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">29</a> They are held in March +or April, when the rains do not fall, but pasture is still abundant +and travelling easy. The fair at Vilque, north of Lake Titicaca, is +no longer visited by dealers in Argentine mules. The Salta fair which +was held at Sumala, near Rosario de Lerma, has ceased to be important; +at the close of the eighteenth century it was the chief centre of +the mule-trade. The fair held at Jujuy is still, like the annual +pilgrimage to the Virgen del Valle de Catamarca, one of the great dates +in the life of the Andes. In the eighteenth century it was mainly +a cattle-fair, but it is now frequented only by mule-dealers. The +development of the railways is gradually causing it to decline.</p> + +<p>The cattle-trade has long been really a form of barter. The +Argentinians who took their herds to Peru brought back with them +European goods that had come via Panama and the Pacific. At Jachal +direct communication with Argentina is still so costly that they +prefer to get many manufactured articles from Chile. Everywhere +else, however, the sellers of stock take payment in cash. The Santa +Marieños bring back from Bolivia only a few bags of coca and, +for chief payment, letters of exchange, which they cash in the Salta +banks when they return. Their gains swell the profits of the merchants +of Salta, Catamarca, and Jujuy, who get their goods at the large +importing houses of Buenos Aires. It is the first form under which the +influence of Buenos Aires reaches the <span lang="es">valles</span>. It gets their custom +before it begins to absorb their produce.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>A large proportion of the stock sent to Chile now comes from the +Andean valleys themselves. The most arid and desolate regions round +the oases breed only goats and asses; but as soon as the soil improves +sufficiently to give a better vegetation, it is found good enough for +a hardy and tenacious breed of horned cattle. The land is divided +into large ranches, and the owners have also lucerne-farms, either +individually or communally, the tillers of the oasis each putting in +their beasts, which wander about in small groups without control. +During the summer they go of their own accord up to the <span lang="es">cerros</span>, +where the rains have brought out the vegetation, and drinking-water is +found in the ravines for several months. In the winter they return to +the valley, within range of the reservoirs and permanent <span lang="es">acequias</span>. +Bodenbender gives us a few details about movements from place to place +owing to such differences, as they are in vogue in the western part of +the province of La Rioja, in the district of Guandacol. There the herds +are taken during years of drought up to the mountains of the west.</p> + +<p>Apart from the Andes, the zone which used to feel the influence of +the trans-Andean markets has been steadily reduced in the last forty +years. At one time it comprised the whole range of the scrub, and +even overflowed upon the prairie region, but it is now limited to the +nearest cantons to the fringe of the mountains. Over the greater part +of the <span lang="es">monte</span> the cattle are now sent in other directions; either to +Buenos Aires or to other Argentine towns with a growing population, +such as Córdoba, Mendoza, and Tucumán.</p> + +<p>The rupture of commercial relations with Chile has, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +however, not made any notable change in the pastoral industry. Pastoral +life in the scrub has very uniform characters. It is chiefly dominated +by the question of water-supply. Natural open water is scarce, and +the cattle can drink only where man's industry makes it possible. The +problem of taming the beasts, which the breeders on the prairies have +not always been able to solve, is simplified by the scarcity of water. +There is no need to hunt the cattle, no periodical <span lang="es">rodeos</span>, when the +herd is drawn in every night by thirst to the water-supply. Advance in +colonization means the provision of wells and reservoirs (<span lang="es">baldes</span> +and <span lang="es">represas</span>), without which the breeders cannot occupy the plain +permanently, but have to fall back during the dry season upon the few +streams that cross it. The word <span lang="es">balderia</span> means districts where the +presence of a sheet of water not far underground has enabled them to +form a system of wells. The best known is the Balderia Puntana, in the +northern part of the province of San Luis.</p> + +<p>Of the regions apart from the Andes which still depend on the +Chilean market it will be enough to mention two, which may be regarded +as typical. The first is the Chaco Salteño, on the eastern slope +of the Sierra de la Lumbrera. The Lumbrera is a lofty anticlinal range +of limestones and red sandstones, which pass to the west underneath the +clay of the Chaco plain, and separate it from the great longitudinal +sub-Andean corridor, which was followed by the old road, and is now +followed by the railway from Tucumán to Jujuy. Colonization +began beyond the Lumbrera in the eighteenth century by passing round +it, from south to north, by the valleys of the Juramento and the San +Francisco (which joins the Bermejo). The ranches, which employed +the Indians—the occupation of the Chaco at this point being +pacific—bordered the Bermejo and the Rio del Valle, which flows +from the Lumbrera range toward the former bed of the Bermejo, and +washes the foot of the range at the edge of the plain.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a href="images/illus-071a.jpg" id="Dry_Scrub_Central_Chaco" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-071a.jpg" alt="Dry Scrub" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">DRY SCRUB OF THE CENTRAL CHACO.</p> + <p class="figcaption">On the Añatuya line (province of Santiago + del Estero). Cactus. The leafless tree in the foreground is a red + <em>quebracho</em>. The leafy trees are white <em>quebrachos</em>.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-071a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a href="images/illus-071b.jpg" type="image/jpeg" id="Marshes_of_the_Eastern_Chaco"> + <img src="images/illus-071b.jpg" alt="Marshes" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MARSHES (ESTEROS OR CAÑADAS) OF THE EASTERN CHACO.</p> + <p class="figcaption">On the Tartagal line (province of Santa Fé). + It is by means of these marshes, which form in the forest, that + this part of the plain is drained.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate V.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-071b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>The cattle live in the scrub during the summer, when the rains have +brought out the grasses. In winter they go up to the moist forest, +with perennial vegetation, which covers the flanks of the range.<a + id="FNanchor_30_30" href="#Footnote_30_30" +class="fnanchor">30</a> The comparative abundance of water lessens +the labour of the breeders and, at the same time, the discipline of +the herds. When the time comes, the whole ranch is mobilized for the +purpose of collecting the adult cattle and making a convoy of them. +Horsemen, with the double leather apron which hangs at the saddle-bow +to protect them from the branches, ride up the range with their dogs +and plunge into the scrub. The savage beasts are rounded up and held +at bay. The procession is formed, and sets out, either by the rugged +paths across the forest and mountain or along the easier tracks over +the plain to Embarcación or Lumbreras, where they reach the +railway. If buyers from the sugar-refineries at Jujuy do not take them, +the cattle are put into trucks and sent to the Salta market, where +there are sales all the year round. At Salta the beasts are fattened on +the lucerne-farms before crossing the Cordillera. There is hardly any +tillage, either because the winter drought makes the result dubious or +because the breeders are not good at agricultural work.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Sierra de los Llanos in La Rioja is another centre for extensive +breeding. From the railway, which follows the range at some distance, +between Chañar and Puntá de los Llanos, before it reaches +La Rioja, no one would have the least suspicion of the importance +and life of the region. It is, nevertheless, one of the main foci of +Argentine history. It has proved a cradle of population and wealth. It +was there that Quiroga and, later, the strange adventurer who was known +by the nickname of the "Chacho" gathered the strength that enabled them +to dominate part of Argentina. Colonization is even older here than in +the Chaco Salteño. It occupied two distinct periods, separated +by a long interval. At first it advanced from north to south, passing +round the foot of the Sierra. It is marked by a line of springs, poor +but permanent, the waters of which are absorbed as soon as they flow +down to the porous alluvial beds of the plain. They appear much in the +names of the district—<span lang="es">agüitas</span>, +<span lang="es">aguaditas</span>, and so on, abound. The road from La Rioja +to San Luis passed these springs, and some population grew up about +them. Thus the two sides of the range—the <span lang="es">costa +baja</span> in the east and the <span lang="es">costa alta</span> +in the west—became inhabited. The estate of Facundo is one of +these <span lang="es">aguaditas</span> of the <span lang="es">costa +alta</span>.</p> + +<p>The two <span lang="es">costas</span> form the historic territory of the Llanos. +It was from there that colonization swarmed over the plain long +afterwards. This expansive movement began about 1850; that is to say, +at a time when the breeders enjoyed comparative peace and security, +and especially when the <span lang="es">invernadas</span> of San Juan and Mendoza were +developed, together with the export of cattle to the agricultural +provinces of Chile. The price of stock rose, and the unoccupied land +became of value. The occupation and exploitation of the plain was the +work of the last two generations. They pushed on to the very edge +of the salt lakes, leaving no vacant space. The <span lang="es">travesias</span> which +surrounded the narrow inhabited zone of the <span lang="es">costas</span> were filled +with life. The Sierra and its two <span lang="es">costas</span> are no longer an oasis in +the desert, as they were in the time of Sarmiento; though they still +differ from the remainder of the pastoral zone in the density of their +population and the variety of their resources.</p> + +<p>The early date of the colonization may be traced in a special system +of tenure, though this is also found in parts of the provinces of +Catamarca and Santiago del Estero. On the plain the right of ownership +was +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> + +obtained in the nineteenth century by purchase or by concessions +of public lands which belonged to the provincial Government. They +were allotted in very large estates, and these, intact or broken up, +are the actual ranches. In approaching the foot of the range one +passes estates in the <span lang="es">mercedes</span>. The name indicates concessions that +date from the colonial epoch, and they are, in all parts of South +America that were early colonized, the source of land-ownership. +But what is peculiar to the <span lang="es">mercedes</span> of the Llanos is that they +have never been divided amongst the heirs of the first owner.<a + id="FNanchor_31_31" href="#Footnote_31_31" +class="fnanchor">31</a> Sometimes the number of co-proprietors is +small. They are conscious of their relationship to each other and know +the value of the rights of each. The <span lang="es">merced</span> is in that case only an +undivided property held in common. Sometimes, however, the numbers of +<span lang="es">comuneros</span> is so great that they have lost count of the exact share of +the <span lang="es">merced</span> which belongs to each of them. The <span lang="es">merced</span> feeds a whole +population, legitimate heirs and usurpers mixed together. In these +cases it is a real communal property, and one might compare it, in +spite of its different origin, with the Indian communities which exist +in Argentine territory as well as that of most of the other Andean +States.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>The economy of the Llanos is less simple than that of the Chaco +Salteño. There is agriculture as well as breeding. There is +not much rain, and it is confined to the summer months. The mean +rainfall is, no doubt, higher than what we find at La Rioja (about 30 +centimetres), but it is not good enough to dispense with irrigation. +The <span lang="es">aguadas</span>, springs and brooks at the foot of the range, are the +only provision of permanent water, and it is very limited. The oases +watered by these springs and brooks cover only a few acres at the foot +of the steep cliffs of the range. It has not been possible to cultivate +the land far from the mountains. At Chamical a trench that was made to +convey water to the railway dried up. All that can be done is to follow +for a few miles with a line of wells a subterranean stream of fresh and +not very deep water. At Bella Vista a <span lang="es">comunero</span> has dug an <span lang="es">acequia</span> +several miles long, and he sells the water at a rate of five piastres +for forty-eight hours. But when it reaches the end of the <span lang="es">acequia</span>, it +is lost between the trench and the field to which they would conduct +it. At Ulapes, though it is one of the chief centres, it takes the full +outflow of the spring during sixteen hours to irrigate one <span lang="es">cuadra</span> (a +little over two acres), and each man's "turn" is for seventeen days. +The entire oasis measures about fifty acres. At Olta the thin stream of +water is surrounded by so many cupidities that the "turn" comes only +every fifty-eight days, so that each field has to live fifty-eight days +on one watering. At Catuna where a trickle of brackish water is eagerly +collected at the foot of a dejection-cone, the water-right is regulated +by an arrangement of turns that covers ninety days, so that plants die +of thirst in the interval. The plots vary according to the quantity, +quality, and regularity of the water. The orange-tree is the most +exacting, the fig the most tenacious, of the trees. The poorest oases +consist only of a few gardens of dusty fig-trees.</p> + +<p>However small it is, the oasis always stands for a rudiment of +communal life, a <span lang="es">poblado</span>, a centre round which life is organized in +this pastoral, anarchic, amorphous world. Land that has a water-right +is regarded as detached from the <span lang="es">merced</span> and never remains +undivided.</p> + +<p>Besides these properly irrigated lands there are the +<span lang="es">bañados</span>: cultivated plots in the hollows, where the moisture +left by the storms is concentrated and preserved. These are much more +extensive, and they +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> + +are very irregularly distributed. Inequalities of the alluvial ground +that almost escape the eye are sufficient to direct the streaming of +the water after rain, and it is quickly absorbed. Man assists nature +as well as he can, and one sees everywhere tiny ridges of earth across +the paths, for the purpose of diverting the water to the plots. These +are the <span lang="es">tomas</span>. When you follow a <span lang="es">toma</span> downward, you see it after +a time pass under a hedge of dry thorn, and this encloses a field, a +<span lang="es">cerco</span>. The crops have to be jealously guarded against the cattle +which roam in the scrub. The <span lang="es">cercos</span> are sometimes so numerous that +they give the impression of a regular agricultural district. Most of +them are planted with maize. The maize harvest rarely fails in the +summer, for it is then, on account of the regular rains, that the +maize grows and ripens. When the ears have been gathered, the cattle +are let into the <span lang="es">cerco</span>, as maize-straw is excellent fodder. But +wheat also grows well in the <span lang="es">bañados</span>. Provided the year has +had a few late showers, the wheat sown in autumn stands the winter +drought more or less well, and ripens after the early rains, at the +beginning of summer. The Llanos produce a hard wheat; it is not milled, +but eaten, like rice, in the grain. There have been times when the +Llanos have exported wheat. The census of 1888 gives the Department of +General Belgrano, on the eastern slope of the Llanos, an area of 900 +acres under maize and 1,900 under wheat. When the Chilecito railway +was constructed, this wheat competed with that brought on mules from +Jachal, in the mining district of the Famatina range. Like the gardens +in the oases, the <span lang="es">cercos</span> may be divided, and they are the personal +property of those who cultivate them.</p> + +<p>Sowing and reaping are, however, mere episodes in the life of the +<span lang="es">Llanero</span>. He is mainly occupied with cattle-breeding. The quality of +the pasture differs considerably according to the nature of the soil +and the good and bad character of the season. Sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> + +it forms a thick carpet under the brushwood, but in other places it is +poor and there is nothing but the leaves and pods of the <span lang="es">algarroba</span>. +If the herd is too large, the grass will not grow again; the breeder +recognizes at a glance the <span lang="es">campo recargado</span>—the field which +has had its capacity overstrained. The pasture has to be carefully +nursed. But the most urgent problem is to get a supply of water for +the cattle. Round the Sierra the underground water is often fresh, and +there are plenty of wells. Still, in order to avoid having to draw +the water, they dig large trenches at suitable spots in the clay, and +round these they arrange the earth that has been dug out, with an +opening toward the hills to catch the water when it is raining. These +are the <span lang="es">represas</span>. As in the case of the <span lang="es">bañados</span>, ridges +of earth direct the stream to the <span lang="es">represa</span>. It is surrounded by a +hedge as carefully as the field is. On the plain rain is rare, and +the <span lang="es">represas</span> are usually the only reserve. They have to last the +whole year; even two years if there is a particularly dry summer that +prevents re-filling. Thus they become sometimes veritable lakes. From +a distance you can see, above the top of the brushwood, the bald curve +of the mound of beaten earth which encircles them. The water flows over +it when there has been much rain. The mound is sometimes 4½ to +5½ yards high; as it is at Tello, between the Sierra d'Ulapes +and the Sierra de los Llanos, where the San Juan coach used to change +horses.</p> + +<p>The <span lang="es">represa</span> is the real centre of the estate. The house is built +near it, and guards the entrance. From early morning until dusk the +cattle come to it, singly or in groups. The rancher admits them, lets +them drink, and closes the gate behind them. If the thirsty cattle have +not his mark and belong to a neighbour, he sends them to drink at their +own <span lang="es">represa</span>; but he gives water to lost beasts, from a distance, +whose owner will presently come for them. Near the <span lang="es">represa</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> + +is the enclosure (<span lang="es">potrero</span>) for calves that have +just been born. The cows come there every morning, and they are milked +for a few months to make cheese. Like the <span lang="es">cerco</span>, +the <span lang="es">represa</span> is the personal property of the man +who made it, or of one who has inherited it and sees to its upkeep.</p> + +<p>The cattle of the Llanos move a good deal. There are certain +irregular migrations, and others that are periodic or connected with +the seasons. Everywhere on the fringe of the Sierra the cattle remain +in the ravine and on the foot-hills during the winter. In the summer +they return of themselves to their <span lang="es">querencia</span> +on the plain. The irregular migrations are due to scarcity of water +or pasture. Driven by hunger, the beasts travel a long distance of +their own accord. They mingle with other herds, sometimes so far +from the ranches where they were born that no one recognizes their +mark. Sometimes, again, the rancher himself goes, when his <span +lang="es">represa</span> is dry, to ask hospitality in some more +favoured canton. He is fortunate if the drought has not been general; +if part of the country has been spared and can offer a refuge.</p> + +<p>But it sometimes happens that the whole district has suffered, and +the land is naked and scorched everywhere. There is then no help except +a long journey, to San Luis or to the lucerne-farms of San Juan, for +the cattle. The misfortune of the Llanos sends up at once the rent +of the <span lang="es">invernadas</span> all round. A general evacuation of the cattle is +a desperate remedy, and is, in fact, often impracticable. During the +whole summer the men wait patiently, hoping for the end of the drought. +There is room for hope until April, when storms are still possible. If +the month ends without rain, it is too late to remove the exhausted +cattle; the stages across the desolated country are too severe.</p> + +<p>The memory of the worst years of drought—the "epidemics," as +the Llanero calls them—lives for a +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> + +long time. They make a deep impression on the popular imagination, and +legend makes plagues of them, in the Biblical way. The drought of 1884 +was particularly disastrous. The herds were destroyed, and families +that had been wealthy the day before set out on foot, "having nothing +to put a saddle on": a touching picture of misery for this race of +centaurs, people who feel themselves mutilated when they are not on +horse. The rain returns next year. The pasture grows all the better +because the herd is smaller, and the Llanos give the traveller who +crosses them an exaggerated impression of their natural wealth.</p> + +<p>Until quite a recent date the cattle reared in the Llanos were +destined exclusively for Chile. Dealers from Jachal or Tinogasta came +in the autumn, and the cattle passed the winter in the <span lang="es">invernadas</span> +at the foot of the Cordillera. From the Sierra d'Ulapes, which is a +southward continuation of the Llanos, the cattle destined for Chile +were first sent to San Juan. They took one or two weeks to reach it. +Five men were needed for a herd of a hundred beasts: eight for a herd +of two hundred. The caravan was directed by an <span lang="es">estanciero</span> (rancher) +or his <span lang="es">capataz</span>, or by dealers who came originally from the Llanos.</p> + +<p>Exports to Chile have not entirely ceased. In 1913 the dealers from +Tinogasta and Jachal, who had not appeared in 1912, came back. The +southern part of the Sierra d'Ulapes, which is some distance from the +railway, reserves its cattle for San Juan. The cattle are, however, +more and more sent by rail to the coast. In the Sierra d'Ulapes the +dealers from Villa Mercedes, which has become one of the great markets +of Argentina, come every year, rent an enclosure (<span lang="es">protrero</span>), and +collect in it, one by one, a herd of cattle, which they then take away +on foot. They are sold at the fair at Villa Mercedes, and they disperse +in every direction toward the fattening zones of the Pampa.</p> + +<p>This commercial revolution has led to a rise in the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> + +price of cattle, and this in turn has raised the value of land. +When the value of the land rises, the methods of working it are +necessarily improved, there is greater security, and thefts of cattle +(<span lang="es">cuatrerismo</span>) become impossible. The farmers are not content merely +to enlarge their <span lang="es">represas</span> or dig deeper wells. They divide the fields +by fences—cheap iron wire stretched on home-made posts, or hedges +of spines like those which protect the <span lang="es">bañados</span>. Thus pasture +can be reserved untouched for the difficult months.</p> + +<p>This subdivision of the land by fences began in the south, in the +Ulapes district, in touch with the richer districts of San Luis and +Córdoba. In the Llanos proper the practice has scarcely begun. +At Ulapes it is even done on the <span lang="es">mercedes</span>. Each <span lang="es">comunero</span>, without +opposition, encloses as much space as he can, and leaves his cattle +outside, on the common land, as long as possible. He only brings them +into his enclosed land when the common pasture is exhausted. This +will bring about the end of the <span lang="es">mercedes</span>; and, indeed, communal +ownership is not suited to modern conditions. The latest sign of +progress is the appearance of lucerne fields. Lucerne can be grown +on the <span lang="es">bañados</span> wherever anything else can be grown; and the +creation of lucerne-farms will give the pastoral industry a security +and stability it never had before, besides enabling the breeders to +collect stores of dry forage and exploit the full pastoral capacity of +the <span lang="es">monte</span>.</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a><br /> +TUCUMÁN AND MENDOZA THE GREAT INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>Tucumán and the road to Chile—The + climate and the cultivation of the sugar-cane—The + problem of manual labour—Irrigation at + Mendoza—Water-rights—Viticulture—Protection + and the natural conditions.</p> +</div> + +<p>The great industrial forms of cultivation, the sugar-cane and the +vine, gave a new aspect to the scenery of Tucumán and Mendoza +at the end of the nineteenth century. The increase of population and +wealth which they entailed was so sudden, the economic advance so +swift, that the owners of vineyards and the sugar-makers have now +lost all recollection of the primitive industries which gave life +to colonial Tucumán and Mendoza, and were maintained until +the last generation. Nevertheless, if one compares Tucumán or +Mendoza with some centre of irrigated tillage in north-west Argentina, +one quickly perceives the original features which three centuries of +history have given them. The system of land-tenure, water-rights, the +distribution of the cultivated zones, and a thousand other features, +show that the colonization is old. The exploitation of the soil and +utilization of the water have not proceeded on a methodical plan, +conceived in advance, which would make each piece of work—the +dams and channels of distribution, for instance—subordinate to +the whole. The engineers who constructed the great modern dams of +Mendoza, San Juan and Sali, had not to create a region of new estates, +but merely to +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> + +improve the water-supply, which was used wastefully by the existing +estates. There is nothing more suggestive than the contrast between +these stone dams, built according to all the rules of hydraulics, and +the network of irregular channels, following the accidental variations +of the land and the slope, which preceded them, and to which they have +been accommodated as far as possible. In some cases the primitive +<span lang="es">acequias</span> could not be altered so as to start from the dam. The +accumulations of water succeed each other down the slope, held up by a +simple barrier of branches and earth which is periodically destroyed +by floods. The modern flood-proof dam (<span lang="es">dique nivelador</span>), which cuts +the torrent in its entire width, and enables them to make use of its +whole volume, allows a certain amount of water to pass, for the use of +the <span lang="es">acequias</span> lower down. This falls back into the broad, stony bed, +exposed to evaporation and infiltration as it was before.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Long before the development of the sugar industry on a large +scale, there was a typically urban life, added to the common fund +of pastoral life, at Tucumán. The neighbouring cantons of +the scrub—Trancas, Burruyacu, and Graneros—sent cattle +and mules to Peru and Chile, like the other Argentine plains. But +Tucumán drew still greater profit from its position as chief +stage on the high road to Peru, at the point where the plain passes +into the mountain. Primitive Tucumán was an excellent type +of high-road village. The road determined its position at the point +where the Sali had to be crossed. The first site of the town, near +Monteros, was abandoned in the eighteenth century, when the high road +to Peru settled in the sub-Andean region and ceased to run through the +Calchaqui valley. The road sustained its chief industries, tanning and +harness-making for the muleteers of the Andes, and waggon-making for +the <span lang="es">troperos</span> of the plain. The road and the people travelling along +it afforded an +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> + +outlet for its wheat and flour, and facilitated the export of its +tobacco to the coast-provinces. The waggon-owners were really +contractors, conveying stuff at their own cost. Moreover, part of +Bolivia came to make its purchases at the shops (<span lang="es">tiendas</span>) of +Tucumán, and the merchants of the town took in exchange Bolivian +ore for export. Thus the road built up a nucleus of available capital +at Tucumán. This capital was invested, at the close of the +nineteenth century, in sugar; and it has increased a hundredfold. Most +of the works still belong to old families of the town.</p> + +<p>The sugar-region is comparatively small. It covers an area which +has exceptional climatic features, owing to the vicinity of Mount +Aconcagua. While the higher chains of the Andes further north are +separated from the Chaco plain by lower ranges, on which the east winds +leave their stores of moisture less freely, Tucumán has on its +west the great mass of Aconcagua. It rises, a giant landmark, at the +beginning of the plains, from which there is nothing to separate it, +and gathers the clouds round it.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Valle_of_Santa_Maria" href="images/illus-085a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-085a.jpg" alt="The Valle of Santa Maria" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE VALLE OF SANTA MARIA, NORTH-WEST OF MOUNT ACONCAGUA.</p> + <p class="figcaption">At the bottom of the valle one can see the + sandy bed of the river as a white line in the foreground. Zone + of torrential terraces, which follows the edge of the valle.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-085a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Oasis_of_Andalgala" href="images/illus-085b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-085b.jpg" alt="The Oasis of Andalgala" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE OASIS OF ANDALGALA.</p> + <p class="figcaption">At the western foot of Aconcagua, the snowy + crest of which can be seen.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate VI.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-085b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the eastern slope of Aconcagua is the limit of the crescent of +tropical forest, which begins about three thousand miles away, on the +flank of the Venezuelan and Colombian Cordilleras, and is connected +in the centre, in the equatorial zone, from Guaviare to Mamore, with +the forests of the Amazon region. At its two ends it is reduced to a +narrow belt which does not reach, in the east, the alluvial plains, +the savannahs of the Orinoco and the scrub of the Chaco. The humid +forest of the Argentine Andes is nowhere more luxuriant than near its +southern limit, above Tucumán. There are no palms or tree-ferns, +but the convolvulus abounds, and the evergreen trees are covered with +epiphytes. Aconcagua is one of the sharpest climatological limits +in the world. In the latitude of Salta one has only to go about 150 +miles to pass from the moist forests of the sub-Andean chain of the +Lumbrera to the arid valley of Cachi. On both sides of Aconcagua there +are less than fifty-five miles between the sugar-cane fields won from +the forest and the oasis of Andalgala, or that of Santa Maria, which +are right in the desert zone. According as one approaches Aconcagua +from the east or the west, one finds, from base to summit, either the +successive stages of vegetation of the humid Andes—from forest +to grain-sown prairie (<span lang="es">paramo</span> or <span lang="es">pajonal</span>)—or those which +are characteristic of the arid Andes, from the spiny scrub of the +valleys to the fields of resinous <span lang="es">tola</span> of the Puna. The contrast +of climates is repeated in the character of the soils. Aconcagua +contains in itself the entire Andes in miniature. At the foot of +the narrow zone of Alpine crests, in the few square miles of the +elevated valleys of Tafi and Pucara, there is a small agricultural and +pastoral world, in a temperate climate, that has nothing quite like +it elsewhere, narrowly confined between the forest and the desert.<a + id="FNanchor_32_32" href="#Footnote_32_32" +class="fnanchor">32</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sugar district of Tucumán is not, properly speaking, an +oasis; that is to say, it is not an irrigated canton in the midst of +a desert, but a moist patch in the heart of a less favoured region. +The traveller who comes from the Chaco finds that the dust disappears +from the moister air as he approaches Tucumán. The rainfall +approaches 974 millimetres at Tucumán. Irrigation is a valuable +aid to the farmer, but it is not indispensable. Maize is generally +raised without watering, and part even of the sugar-cane crop is +raised on land that is not irrigated. It is not the relatively heavy +rainfall that has led to the development of the sugar-cane estates +at Tucumán, but the evenness of the temperature, together +with the atmospheric moisture and the rareness of frost. The mists +which develop at the foot of Aconcagua form a protecting mantle above +Tucumán which prevents nocturnal radiation. The nearer one +gets to the mountain, the later, rarer, and lighter the frosts are. +If, on the contrary, one goes out some distance westward toward the +plain, the frost becomes more severe, and it is impossible to grow +sugar-cane. Not only the humidity, but the contour also, has some +influence on the changes of temperature and the distribution of frost. +The depressions in which the cold air accumulates, in virtue of the +well-known meteorological phenomenon of inversion of temperature, are +more exposed than sloping districts, where the air circulates regularly +and freely. The eastern limit of the zone spared by the frosts passes +about thirty-five miles from the foot of Aconcagua. It has only been +made clear by experiment, and one can still see there the traces of +abandoned plantations.</p> + +<p>The water-supply in the Tucumán district consists, primarily, +of numerous evenly flowing streams which come down the eastern flank of +Aconcagua (Lules, Famailla, Angostura, Gastona, Medinas, etc.). They +join the Sali to the south of Tucumán. The Sali is an irregular +torrent which rises in the sub-Andean depression to the north and +Tucumán, and, after squeezing Aguadita between the north-eastern +extremity of Aconcagua and the sub-Andean chain of Burruyacu, enters +the plain at Tucumán. It then flows southward, meandering over a +large bed of shingle in which it has not had force enough to excavate a +valley, and the inclination of the land on its left bank (to the east) +is toward the east and south-east. The lands on the right bank of the +Sali are consequently better provided with water than those on the left +bank. The difference is so marked that, as the estates on the right +bank get most of their supply elsewhere, the water of the Sali nearly +all goes to the left bank. In 1912 a siphon +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> + +was actually constructed underneath the bed of the Sali to convey the +unused water of the Rio Lules to the right bank. Lastly, to the north +of Tucumán the Sierra de Burruyacu provides a few intermittent +streams of water, which the <span lang="es">estancias</span> (ranches) formerly conducted, +with great labour, to their <span lang="es">represas</span>. These do not suffice for +irrigation on a large scale.</p> + +<p>The sugar-cane was first grown at the gates of the town and, +to the east, at Cruz Alta, on the left bank of the Sali. These +were some distance from the mountain because, as there was +less rain and the soil was fairly dry, the natural vegetation +was less luxuriant, and it cost less to prepare the ground.<a + id="FNanchor_33_33" href="#Footnote_33_33" +class="fnanchor">33</a> The Central Córdoba Railway, which +passes along the right bank of the Sali south of Tucumán, is the +axis of another zone of cultivation and of old factories. Colonization +afterwards went further west. A new provincial railway, describing +a section of a circle, was grafted at Tucumán (1888-90) and +Madria upon the Central Córdoba line. It keeps close to the +foot of the range, the <span lang="es">falda</span>, and enables farmers to settle on it. +The new estates have not confined themselves to the alluvial plain; +they have crept up the foot hills, and are constantly going higher. +In the latitude of Tucumán the mountain approaches within +eight or twelve miles of the Sali, and the possibilities of extension +westward are strictly limited; indeed, they are already exhausted. +Further south, on the contrary, the plain extends more than fifteen +miles to the east of the provincial railway. West of Monteros, +Concepción, and the existing line of works, there is a reserve +of available land; there is room for a fresh advance westward. There +is also room for expansion to the north-east, at the foot of the +sub-Andean chain of Burruyacu, where the frosts are slight. It is in +this direction that most of the clearing is now going on.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>These various districts do not offer quite the same conditions to +the farmer. The <span lang="es">Falda</span> is the most suitable, not only on account of +the rareness of frost, but because of the fertility of the soil, as +the tropical forest has accumulated inexhaustible stores of humus. The +sugar-cane returns are higher there than anywhere else. Irrigation +is not necessary, but, on the other hand, the humidity reduces the +proportion of sugar in the cane. Irrigation is the rule in the next +belt, between the local railway and the Central Córdoba line (on +the right bank of the Sali). On the left bank a large number of the +estates must still do without watering.</p> + +<p>The most original feature of the organization of the sugar industry +at Tucumán is the maintenance of a class of independent +cultivators, the <span lang="es">cañeros</span>, side by side with the large +enterprises. This survival of small and medium properties is a +fact to which we find no parallel in the other sugar districts of +tropical America.<a id="FNanchor_34_34" +href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">34</a> Everywhere else, +in Brazil and in the Antilles, the farms which worked up their own +produce, on primitive methods, have been absorbed by the central +works. The home-worker has lost his land as well as been ruined in his +industry by the competition of the modern factory. At Tucumán, +on the contrary, the sugar industry never passed through the stage of +domestic production. It was set up in full development, some devoting +their capital to building works, others to growing the cane. Irrigation +seemed from the first to dictate a concentration of ownership; the +refineries at Cruz Alta constructed costly special canals to bring the +water of the Sali. It is only large proprietors who have the resources +needed to carry out work of this kind, and sufficient influence to +secure permission to conduct the water over adjoining estates. However, +the law of 1897 reorganized irrigation and withdrew the water-supply +from the control of a few privileged big capitalists. Public works, +undertaken by the provincial authorities, brought the water within the +reach of every farmer. Since 1897 the number of water-concessions has +risen from 230 to nearly 2,000.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>The interests of the factory (<span lang="es">ingenio</span>) and the farmers +(<span lang="es">cañeros</span>) are not indissolubly connected. Their respective +parts in the final product of the sugar industry are not invariable. +The increase in the number of factories means an increase in the number +of cane-buyers, and so tends to raise the price. During the years +antecedent to 1895 the refineries improved their machinery, and their +productive capacity increased faster than the cultivated acreage. The +price of the cane then rose to about twenty piastres a ton. As this +figure is far above the net cost, the refineries endeavoured to profit +themselves by the advantages that accrued to the <span lang="es">cañeros</span>, +and they bought land for cultivation. It is to this period that the +big concerns of Cruz Alta belong. Afterwards the production of cane +increased, and nearly met the demands of the refineries, so that their +competition relaxed. They ceased to buy land, and the price of cane was +lowered.</p> + +<p>The refineries now deal with cane which they grow themselves, with +paid workers of their own; with cane that they buy at a reduced price +from tenants (<span lang="es">colonos</span>), who grow it on their own estates; and with +cane sold them by <span lang="es">cañeros</span> who own their own fields. The range +of the country absorbed by each refinery is often very extensive. +The Sugar Congress of 1894 estimated that half the cane-harvest was +transported by rail, and that freight from one canton to another in +the sugar district brought the railways more than a third of what they +got for conveying sugar from Tucumán to the coast. Each railway +company tries to keep along its own line the cane it carries to the +refineries, so that the transport of the sugar when it is made will +fall to itself. Thus the cane-market is +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> + +divided into two separate compartments, with very little exchange +between them. The first comprises the zone that depends on the Central +Argentine and the State Railway; the second is the zone of the +Central Córdoba and the old local line bought by the Central +Córdoba.</p> + +<p>Certain parts, such as Cruz Alta and the district round the town, +have too many works in proportion to their production of cane, and they +are centres of import. The price of the cane is always higher here +than in the agricultural districts. Each works has its customers. At +the stations it instals weighing machines for receiving and weighing +the cane. It is only the more important <span lang="es">cañeros</span> who have the +privilege of selling by the truck-load, or selling to distant works. +The small growers are compelled to deal with the local refinery. They +sell it their canes direct, or, sometimes, through agents and dealers. +In the days when the works were competing for cane it became the +custom to sign the purchase-contracts as early as possible; sometimes +at the beginning of October, as soon as the harvest of the year is +over. In order to make sure of the loyalty of the <span lang="es">cañero</span> the +manufacturers advance money to him, in proportion to their difficulty +in getting cane.</p> + +<p><span lang="es">Cañeros</span> and mill-owners have had to work together to +settle the problem of labour. There was not enough at hand, and it +had to be recruited elsewhere. Agents were sent all round—to +Catamarca and Santiago del Estero, and even to the province of +Córdoba—to collect and bring gangs of workers. They were +a mixed, unsteady, undisciplined lot. The owners of the works advanced +them money in order to keep them, and then, fearing to lose the money +advanced, would not dismiss them for laziness and irregularities. These +troubles are not felt as much now as they were at the time when the +industry was expanding. The population of immigrant workers has settled +down and taken +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> + +root. Besides creoles it includes a small number of Italians and +Spaniards; but while the creoles have been definitely incorporated in +the sugar industry, the European immigrants use their savings to buy a +bit of land and take to farming.</p> + +<p>In normal times Tucumán has all the labour it requires, but +the harvest always compels it to seek help in other provinces. In +May and June the agents, well supplied with money, set out for the +Salado, the districts round the Sierra d'Ancasti, etc. The temporary +attraction of Tucumán at this season is felt over a considerable +distance. At Santa Maria, on the far side of Mount Aconcagua, 600 +people—men, women, and children—emigrate for five months, +and live on the cane-fields. The merchants of Santa Maria make them +advances, in the name of the refiners, to the amount of about sixty +piastres per worker. Further north the Tucumán <span lang="es">enganchadores</span> +come into collision with those from Salta and Campo Santo, and they +divide the available labour between them. Some of the temporary +immigrants settle down permanently every year, and swell the normal +population of the sugar industry.</p> + +<p>Outside the Tucumán district an unfortunate attempt was +made to plant the sugar industry at Santiago del Estero, and large +works were constructed. But the frost is severe there. For some years +they tried to keep the Santiago works going with cane brought from +Tucumán, but the freight was too heavy, and the works had to be +abandoned, or else dismantled and set up elsewhere. The valley of the +Rio Grande, from Jujuy to 200 miles north of Tucumán, in the +sub-Andean depression between the Sierra de Zenta and the Lumbrera, +has, on the other hand, suitable conditions for the cultivation of the +cane. Frost is rare. The climate is warmer than at Tucumán, +the canes ripen more quickly, and the average return is higher. The +water-supply also is good. There have long been +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> + +plantations in this region. Their first market was the region of the +tableland and the valleys, where they chiefly sold brandy: a traffic of +long standing, which one always finds round the cold districts of the +Andes, from Colombia to the north of Argentina. The modern refineries +of Ledesma and San Pedro took the place of the primitive mills as soon +as the railway approached Jujuy, and even before it entered the valley +of the Rio Grande. They then sent their sugar by waggon in November and +December, between the close of the sugar season and the commencement of +the rains, which spoil the roads.</p> + +<p>The sugar district of Jujuy now has a very different economic and +social organization from that of Tucumán. Here there are no +farmer-proprietors. Each centre is a large estate, in the midst of the +forest, where the workers are lodged and fed by the works that employs +them. The contractors who clear the ground for them are obliged by +the terms of their contract to import their workers directly from the +south, so that they will not take any away from the farming. There is +no available labour, no free market, on the spot. Since the completion +of the Quebrada de Humahuaca line, however, there has been a good +deal of immigration, to settle or temporarily, of the mountaineers of +the tableland. The sphere of influence of San Pedro now extends as +far as Bolivia. For the harvest, which, like that of Tucumán, +requires a good deal of additional manual labour, the works look to the +wild Indians of the Chaco. This curious stream of seasonal migration, +which the sugar campaign of Jujuy provokes every winter outside the +zone of white colonization, is of very old date, going back more than +sixty years. Belmar notices it about the middle of the nineteenth +century. The recruiting agents of San Pedro and Ledesma set out from +Embarcación, where the railway ends, and enter the Chaco, from +which each of them brings a troop of some hundreds of natives between +March and June. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> + +The number of these temporary immigrants seems to be about 6,000. The +Chiriguanos of the north leave their families on the Chaco, and the men +come alone. The Matacos immigrate in whole tribes. They camp in huts +like those of their own villages, under the shelter of the works, and +are paid in maize, meat, and cigars. In October, when the <span lang="es">algarroba</span> +flowers and makes them dream of their own country, they receive the +remainder of their pay in money, and spend it in brandy, clothing, +knives, and firearms.</p> + +<p>The history of Mendoza resembles that of Tucumán in many +ways. In the province of Cuyo, as at Tucumán, urban life has +been precocious. In the middle of the eighteenth century Mendoza and +San Juan exported wines, dried fruit (<span lang="es">pasas</span> and <span lang="es">orejones</span>), and +flour to the coast and to Paraguay. Part of the so-called "Chilean +flour" consumed on the Pampa, really came from Jachal and Mendoza. +This trade ceased in the nineteenth century, but San Juan and Mendoza +found another source of wealth in fattening cattle and sending them +to Chile. Belmar, in 1856, estimates the extent of the lucerne +farms of Cuyo to have been 150,000 <span lang="es">cuadres</span>(440,000 acres). <a + id="FNanchor_35_35" href="#Footnote_35_35" +class="fnanchor">35</a> As at Tucumán, the present period is +characterized by a rapid expansion of cultivation and a rapid growth of +population. But, whereas at Tucumán the neighbouring provinces +have provided the whole of the manual labour required, and the actual +population is essentially creole, at Mendoza there has been a larger +number of foreign immigrants. In 1914, foreigners were 310 per 1,000 +of the entire population of Mendoza: a larger proportion than for +the whole country. The immigrants going straight to Mendoza from the +ports numbered 12,000 in 1911, and 15,000 in 1912; almost as much as +for the province of Santa Fé, and more than for the province +of Córdoba. Thus Mendoza plays a part of its own in the charm +which Argentina has for the imagination of Europe. When we examine a +chart of the population of South America, we notice that the oases of +Cuyo contain the only important groups of European population at any +distance from the coast.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + +<p>The prosperity of Mendoza to-day depends upon the cultivation of +the vine, just as that of Tucumán depends upon sugar. The +cultivation of the vine is possible in the greater part of Argentina. +In the early days of colonization there were vineyards as far as the +Paraguay. They still flourish at Concordia on the Uruguay and at San +Nicolas on the lower Paraná. But the wet summers of the eastern +provinces are not suitable for them. The climate for them improves as +one goes westward, and there is less rain. The dry zone of eastern +Argentina is the special field of the vine. There it has spread +over nearly twenty degrees of latitude, and it depends, like other +cultivation, upon irrigation. In the Andean valleys of the north-west +it rises to a height of 7,500 feet. South of Mendoza the higher +limit of the vine sinks rapidly, and there are no vineyards in the +mountainous district itself. On the other hand, its range increases; in +the east it spreads as far as the Atlantic coast, in the valley of the +Rio Negro.</p> + +<p>The former centres of viticulture in the north-west, in the oases +of the <span lang="es">costas</span> of La Rioja, Catamarca, and Salta, have scarcely +been affected by the advance; and, in any case, their extent is very +limited. The vine-district of the Rio Negro is only in process of +creation, and its output is still small. Thus the area of production +on a large scale is limited to the three oases of San Juan, Mendoza, +and San Rafaël, which in 1913 yielded 4,750,000 hectolitres, out +of the total Argentine production of 5,000,000 hectolitres. These +three centres differ from each other to-day rather in their economic +development than in their physical conditions. At San Juan, the +transformation of the earlier methods of production and the traditional +creole industries is +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> + +only now taking place. At Mendoza it is quite finished. The San +Rafaël centre, on the other hand, is of recent origin; it was +created on the site of a fortress which guarded the Indian frontier +until 1880. Cultivated areas have appeared on virgin soil, in the midst +of the desert. These different circumstances account for diversities +which, though they will disappear in the course of time, are still +obvious to the traveller. The general scene is the same everywhere. +Arid and desolate mountains close the horizon in the west; at their +feet spreads the immense alluvial deposit on which the vineyards, +surrounded by rows of poplars, grow wherever water is to be found.</p> + +<p>There are so few gaps in the lower slopes of the Cordillera that the +available water is gathered at a small number of points. The Rio San +Juan alone drains a belt of the Cordillera at least 140 miles broad. +Each of the two oases, Mendoza and San Rafaël, has two streams +of water to feed it. The Mendoza and the Tunuyan at Mendoza, and the +Diamante and the Atuel at San Rafaël, approach each other, when +they leave the mountains, so closely that the estates they water blend +into a continuous area. Then, however, instead of uniting, they diverge +and are lost, separately, in the plain. These streams have less fall +than the thinner torrents of the oases of the north-west, and the +average inclination of the dejection-cones which bear the vineyards is +slight. The upper slopes of the cone, where thin beds of clay lie upon +shingle, give clear wines of excellent aroma. Hence, in the Mendoza +district, the vineyards of Lujan and, further down, of Godoy Cruz, +Guaymallen, and Maipu produce choice brands. On the plain, to the east +of Mendoza, at San Martin and Junin, the harvest is larger, but the +wine is rough, and one can often taste the saltpetre of the clayey +soil. There is the same difference between the upper and lower district +at San Juan and San Rafaël.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>The oases of San Juan and San Rafaël spread evenly over the +most suitable parts of the alluvial talus, but the oasis of Mendoza +has a peculiar shape which can only be explained by historical causes. +The cultivated belt is a narrow strip along the Tunuyan, for more than +sixty miles, as far as the heart of the plain, out of sight of the +Cordillera. It is one instance, out of a thousand, of the influence of +traffic on colonization. As a matter of fact, the road from Mendoza +to the coast, by which the cattle convoys of San Luis went to the +<span lang="es">invernadas</span>, passes along the Tunuyan. The estates grew up by the +side of it. The villages of Santa Rosa, Las Catitas, and La Paz, which +mark the various stages of it, are all of ancient origin. Strangers +are rarely found there. One still sees in them very old houses, built +before the railway was made, dating from the days of the <span lang="es">carril</span> or +waggon-road. The importance of this line of water across the desert is +clearly seen on the Woodbine Parish map.</p> + +<p>The use of irrigation in this district raised different technical +problems from those of the north-western provinces. In this latitude +the torrents of the Andes are formidable when the snows <del>meet</del><ins>melt</ins>, at the +beginning of summer. The flood is all the greater and more sudden as +the heat is late. From all the ravines of the mountains the muddy +waters then converge toward the valley. The flood scours the bed of +the river, erodes its banks, and threatens to find a way amongst the +estates. Even the towns of Mendoza and San Juan have more than once +been in danger. The fear of diverting the flood and of bringing it +upon themselves compelled them to be content with raising only light +and frail dams in the path of the torrent. At San Juan they used, for +a long time, the waters of the Arroyo del <del>Eestero</del><ins>Estero</ins>, a small brook fed by +infiltration from the Valle de Zenda, and it was some time before they +ventured to draw upon the river itself.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Oasis_del_Rincon" href="images/illus-099a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-099a.jpg" alt="Oasis" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE OASIS DEL RINCON, BELOW SAUJIL (ANDALGALA + LINE, PROVINCE OF CATAMARCA).</p> + <p class="figcaption">The dejection-cone, at the foot of which is the + very small oasis, is seen resting against the Sierra d'Ambato.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-099a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Monte_at_El_Yeso" href="images/illus-099b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-099b.jpg" alt="The Monte at El Yeso" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE MONTE AT EL YESO.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Zone of clay hills at the foot of the Sierra + de San Antonio, at the edge of the Chaco. Corral (cattle park) + made from tree-trunks.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate VII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-099b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another problem, which the smaller oases of the north-west hardly +know—the problem of drainage—is of paramount importance at +San Juan and Mendoza, as far as a large part of the irrigated surface +is concerned. The water infiltrating into the soil forms a subterranean +sheet which approaches more or less to the surface according to the +topography. It comes to the surface at the foot of the cone, where the +slope diminishes and the cone gradually passes into the plain. Hence +the cone has, at its base, a belt of marshes (<span lang="es">ciénagas</span>), and +sometimes a line of good springs (<span lang="es">barbollon</span>). At San Juan, if you +move far enough away to get a comprehensive view of the whole of the +estates, you see that they occupy the middle belt, half-way down the +cone, the top of which is composed of coarse shingle, while the bottom +is too wet. The advance of the plots upward and the steadily increasing +use of the available water tends to raise the level of the underground +sheet and enlarge the area of marsh.</p> + +<p>There is a fine black soil, very fertile when it is drained, and +no irrigation is needed; as it is possible, according to the depth +of the drainage-trenches, to regulate the level of the underground +water so as to make it reach and feed the roots. The draining of the +marshes, again, opens up a field for the further expansion of the +estates, especially at San Juan, where it has scarcely begun. Moreover, +the water that is obtained by draining the marshes enables them to +create new irrigated estates further on. At Mendoza there is already a +considerable area irrigated by drainage-canals (<span lang="es">desagüe</span>).</p> + +<p>The level of the water in the marshes sinks in the summer and rises +in winter, at the time when the irrigation of the upper districts is +suspended or greatly reduced, and when the surplus of the <span lang="es">acequias</span>, +which the fields no longer take, flows or infiltrates downward in any +way that it can. Thus, contrary to the torrent itself, it is in winter +that the drainage-canals are at +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> + +their fullest. At Barriales (Mendoza), and on the lower course of the +Zanjon canal, thousands of acres, watered by the drainage-canals and +exposed to drought in the summer, have the right to take water from the +river or the canal during the three summer months, from November to +January. During the remainder of the year they are restricted to the +use of the drainage-canals. This sort of concession seems to provide a +means of using the surplus of the river during the summer.</p> + +<p>With this exception there are no temporary rights limited to the +high-water season and enabling them to raise quick crops, that ripen +in a few months, round the area of perennials. At least, the expansion +of the estates and the wish to use the full water-supply have led to +the creation of eventual rights, besides the definitive rights. They +do not come into play, theoretically, until the definitive rights +have had their full supply, and then only in a fixed order. They +are subordinated to the ordinary rights, and the market value of +land with eventual water-rights is much lower than that of land with +definitive rights.<a id="FNanchor_36_36" +href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">36</a> At San Rafaël, +where colonization preceded the systematic inventory of the natural +resources, the concession of eventual water-rights was a means of +facilitating the development of estates; though they were very badly +informed as to the surplus of the Atuel and the Diamante and the area +that the new land might cover.</p> + +<p>In practice, the co-existence of eventual and definitive rights +presents many difficulties, and more than one pretext for fraud. +<del>Somtimes </del><ins>Sometimes </ins>the owners of eventual rights have access to the river +higher up than the older intakes, which ought to be served first. A +whole group of canals feeding land with eventual rights is in this +way grafted upon the Tunuyan above La Paz, the rights of which are +definitive and ancient.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>At Mendoza and San Juan the water-rights, codified in provincial +laws which date, like the dams, from the end of the nineteenth century, +are very different from the water-rights which hold in the Andean +provinces of the north-west. The variety of the physical conditions +is reflected in the institutions. Here water is not an object of +private ownership independently of the soil. The concession of water +is assigned to a definite estate, and it is formulated in superficial +measurements. The law fixes the volume of water that goes with each +unit of surface. If the output of the river is not large enough to +provide the volume stated in the law to the whole of the irrigated +district, all the lands with definitive rights receive at least an +equal amount, and the available water is shared by the canals in +proportion to the extent of the surface they irrigate.</p> + +<p>No law could secure for the farmers of Cuyo, even those with +definitive rights, a constant supply of water, or save them from +suffering in common from the variation in the volume of the torrents, +and it was not even possible to guarantee them water in any permanent +fashion. The <span lang="es">turno</span> is used everywhere when the water is low. Lower +down, where the drought lasts nearly the whole year, the <span lang="es">turno</span> is +the standing rule. At La Paz, on the fringe of the irrigated area, +it has to be applied rigorously. The turn of each owner comes every +eight, ten, or twelve days. In normal times he receives the <span lang="es">suerte de +agua</span>; that is to say, the output of a sluice of a fixed size during a +half-hour for each hectare (a little over two acres) of land. But if +the river runs low, it becomes impossible to supply several neighbours +simultaneously, and, in order to avoid making the interval between +supplies too long, the duration of the <span lang="es">suerte de agua</span> is reduced by +half or three-quarters.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p>The oases of Cuyo are like the small oases of the north-west as +regards the function of those who are engaged in the administration of +irrigation. The water-laws give the provincial functionaries general +directions. Below them, however, to arrange the distribution of the +water and the upkeep of the canals in detail, they have allowed to +survive, and have merely regulated, certain primitive democratic +organisms. At San Juan the superintendence of the irrigation is +entrusted to elected municipal councils and the governor of the +department. At Mendoza, the owners appoint a council of three delegates +and an inspector for each canal, and these settle the annual budget of +the canal, submit it to the provincial authorities, receive the taxes, +carry out the necessary repairs, and so on. The great subdivision +of property and the large number of electors make these little +republics very lively; and they are very jealous of their autonomy.<a + id="FNanchor_37_37" href="#Footnote_37_37" +class="fnanchor">37</a></p> + +<p>Even within the narrow limits of the Cuyo district the +climatological conditions, which control the growth of +the vine, are not everywhere the same. The opening of the +vineyards varies by several weeks, according to the locality.<a + id="FNanchor_38_38" href="#Footnote_38_38" +class="fnanchor">38</a> The northern slope of the cone, exposed to +the sun and protected from the southern winds, is more precocious. Some +districts, poorly sheltered from the southern winds, and very liable +to have late frost, have not been planted with vines (district of the +Tucuyan below San Carlos, to the south of Mendoza). Everywhere the +dryness of the atmosphere causes the ripe grapes to remain long on the +vine, so that the harvest may last two months or more without any harm. +It thus requires a relatively small supplement of manual labour, and +does not necessitate seasonal migrations. The length of the harvest, +moreover, facilitates the trade in grapes, which is one of the special +features of the Argentine vine-industry.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>The climate is not so suitable for making wine as it is for growing +vines. The temperature is high at the time of the harvest, and it +retards fermentation in the cellars. The grapes have too much sugar +and too little acid for the transformation of the must to proceed +of itself. Hence it is necessary to have an expensive equipment, +improved cellars, and skilled workers. This industrial organization +is beyond the reach of the small cultivators. The cultivation of the +vine and the making of wine are, therefore, not always associated. +They are taken up by two different classes of the population. +Tucumán has its <span lang="es">cañeros</span> and factories, and Mendoza, +by a division of labour which seems to the European visitor as +strange as the climate which partly explains it, has its vine-growers +(<span lang="es">viñateros</span>) and its manufactures (<span lang="es">bodegueros</span>).<a + id="FNanchor_39_39" href="#Footnote_39_39" +class="fnanchor">39</a></p> + +<p>Each of these two classes has had its share in the common work. The +<span lang="es">viñatores</span> have created the vineyard. The creole vine, imported +into Peru from the Canaries and spreading over the whole of the +southern Andes, yields great quantities of a sugary, but rough fruit, +which does not lend itself to imitating the wines of Europe. At Mendoza +it has almost entirely disappeared, though it survives at San Juan. It +is grown on trellis-work, wooden frames resting on forked branches of +<span lang="es">algarroba</span>; though sometimes the strong stems rise without support to +a height of about six feet and are crowned with shoots and leaves. The +new vine has been grown from French cuttings. While the creole vines +look like orchards, the French vines are grown in rows of iron wire.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>The plantations were first made by creole workmen, who were paid by +the day. Afterwards, as immigration from Europe increased, long-term +contracts came into vogue, in virtue of which the colonist received +the bare land and undertook to have it planted with vines at the end +of three, four, or five years. The owner supplied the material, and +at the end of the contract the colonist received a few <span lang="es">centavos</span> for +each vine, or sold the whole or part of the first harvest. On account +of these contracts there were always a great many foreigners in the +districts where vineyards were in course of formation. The proportion +is now less at Mendoza than at San Rafaël, where colonization is +more recent. Whenever they could, the owners left to the colonists, +not only the business of planting the vines, but the upkeep of adult +vineyards. In those cases the colonist receives a fixed sum per hectare +(100 piastres, for instance), and has to dig, prune, irrigate, etc. A +large number of these agricultural workers and small contractors have +saved a small capital, and purchased land of their own. This they have +planted, and they thus form a new class of working owners.</p> + +<p>While the <span lang="es">viñatores</span> were multiplying vineyards, the +<span lang="es">bodegueros</span> were transforming the methods of making wine. The weakness +of imperfectly fermented wines, which turn sour and evaporate quickly, +was all the worse for the growers of the colonial period because +transport was slow, and there was no protection against the sun, which +cooked the <span lang="es">algarroba</span> casks or the leather bottles on the backs of +the mules. The vineyard-owners often preferred to distil their wine +and export brandy, flavoured with aniseed, to the Andean tablelands +or the coast. The climate and the risks of transport had brought into +existence an astonishing variety of methods of treating the must. +Sometimes it was concentrated by boiling until it became a thick syrup +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> + +(<span lang="es">arrope</span>), something like, apparently, the thick wines of the +Mediterranean in former times. At other times the must was cooked +without thickening it, to prevent immediate fermentation, as is done +with the <span lang="es">chicha</span> in Chile to-day; or sour wines were mixed with boiled +must and ashes of the shoots, which masked the acidity.</p> + +<p>These traditions are now lost, but it is curious to see the +<span lang="es">bodegueros</span> still endeavouring to meet the taste of the creole +population of the north-west, which has retained the preference for +sweet and fruity wines. San Juan, which caters to these customers, +manufactures <span lang="es">mistelas</span>—fresh boiled must with an addition of +alcohol—which are mixed with mature wines in order the imitate +the imperfect fermentation of earlier days. Perhaps there is no part +of the world where the art of wine-making has been pushed so far as in +the <span lang="es">bodegas</span> of Mendoza. The correction of the must, and the analysis +and treatment of diseased wines, follow the most modern of methods. +The <span lang="es">bodegas</span> produce a very steady wine, which is guaranteed by their +trade marks. The wine of the Mendoza type, which they endeavour to +produce, is a strong red wine, of heavy colour, with twelve or thirteen +per cent. of alcohol. It may euphemistically be called a blended wine, +but is in reality diluted wine. Argentina does not produce very light +wines, and has no use for diluted wine.</p> + +<p>The number of wine-making cellars in 1913 was 997 at Mendoza and 336 +at San Juan. But they differ very much from each other in size. Most +of them have only a small equipment and modest capital. Some, on the +other hand, are large enterprizes which could produce enough to supply +a city: vast constructions of brick or <span lang="es">adobe</span>, with light roofs as a +precaution against earthquakes.</p> + +<p>The owners of the cellars almost always have their own vineyards, +but they also buy the harvests of cultivators who have not cellars. In +1908 it was calculated that 140,000 tons of grapes were sent to the +press +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> + +by the owners and 175,000 tons bought by the <span lang="es">bodegueros</span>.<a + id="FNanchor_40_40" href="#Footnote_40_40" +class="fnanchor">40</a></p> + +<p>The conflicts of the interests of the <span lang="es">viñateros</span> and +the <span lang="es">bodegueros</span> are the very woof of life at Mendoza. The price +of grapes is infinitely more variable than that of wine, and the +<span lang="es">viñatero</span> who has no cellar is at the mercy of the <span lang="es">bodeguero</span>. +If he does not want to see his harvest go to waste, he has to accept +unconditionally the price that is offered him. The <span lang="es">bodeguero</span> has, +moreover, the advantage of disposing of the grapes grown on his own +estates. If the circumstances do not encourage him to produce all he +can, he sends to the press merely his own harvest and will not buy +any other. Thus the whole burden of commercial crises falls upon the +vineyard with no cellar.</p> + +<p>The prices paid for the grapes differ a little for different +parts of the vineyard, but the variation is more due to the number +of <span lang="es">bodegas</span> in the district and their capacity +than to the quality of the grapes. Transport of the grapes to a great +distance is very expensive. In exceptional times grapes have been +brought from San Rafaël to the Mendoza cellars, but each <span +lang="es">bodega</span> gets its supply as far as possible from its own +district. At San Juan the capacity of the cellars is proportionately +less than at Mendoza, and the <span lang="es">bodegueros</span> have +imposed very hard conditions on the growers. The price fixed in the +purchase-contract does not of itself give a complete idea of the +benefits which the <span lang="es">bodeguero</span> enjoys. The grapes +are purchased by weight, but the <span lang="es">bodeguero</span> +reserves the right to say at what date they are to be delivered. He +begins to harvest his own vines when the fruit is scarcely ripe, but he +puts back the harvesting of the grapes he buys as far as possible, even +to April or May. These grapes exposed on the plant to the heat of the +sun, become overripe; they gain in sugar and lose in weight. They +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> + +make <del>vines</del><ins>wines</ins> with a higher percentage of alcohol, and with these he can +correct the lighter wines made during the preceding weeks. Finally, the +<span lang="es">bodeguero</span> does not advance money to the <span +lang="es">viñatero</span>, as the manufacturer does to the <span +lang="es">cañero</span> in the sugar industry.</p> + +<p>The only safeguard of the vine-growers is the lack of understanding +between the <span lang="es">bodegueros</span> and the competition +between them. Although there are conventions amongst the <span +lang="es">bodegueros</span> which lay down officially, before the +vintage, the basis of all transactions, they are not respected except +in so far as they serve a man's interest. If it is expected that +the wine will easily be sold, and that grapes will be short, buyers +are abundant, and contracts are signed before the fruit appears. +It is a sort of gamble, as in the case of wheat and cotton. Bulls +and bears struggle for the market. If the bulls win, the <span +lang="es">viñateros</span> grow rich.<a id="FNanchor_41_41" +href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">41</a></p> + +<p>When we compare the diagrams which show the production of wine +and sugar in Argentina during the last thirty years, we see that +they clearly illustrate the condition of dependence of the vineyard +industry and the sugar industry as <del>regrads </del><ins>regards +</ins>the home market. The prosperity of the region of the Pampas, +especially during the years before 1914, is reflected at Mendoza and +Tucumán. The expansive movement of the estates is similarly +bound up with the construction of railways to connect them with the +coast. Industry, on a large scale, began at Tucumán in 1876: +that is to say, at the opening of the Central Córdoba line. The +area planted with cane rose from 2,200 hectares in 1876 to 14,800 in +1886. The production of sugar was trebled +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> + +in four years, from 1876 to 1880. But the Central Córdoba was +a narrow-gauge line, expensive to use and necessitating a transfer of +goods at Córdoba. In 1891 the broad-gauge line from Buenos Aires +to Rosario was extended to Tucumán; and in 1892 the narrow-gauge +line from Rosario to Santa Fé, San Cristobal, and Tucumán +was also brought into use. The following years were marked by rapid +advances of the sugar industry. From 1891 to 1895 the area planted +with canes rose from 14,200 to 40,700 hectares, and the manufacture of +sugar from 31,000 to 135,000 tons. At Mendoza, also, the development +of the vineyards dates from the completion of the San Luis Railway in +1885. Plantations were at once started, and three years later they came +into touch. In 1887, the railway carried 27,000 hectolitres of wine +from Mendoza to the coast; in 1890-91 it carried 268,000 hectolitres. +Production had increased tenfold in that short space of time.</p> + +<p>As the home-production of wine and sugar increased, the imports +from abroad fell. As early as 1885 Tucumán was able to meet the +home demand for raw sugar, and refined only was imported. In 1888, a +refinery was erected at Rosario to deal with Argentine sugar which came +by rail, and foreign sugar which came up the river. Import ceased at +this date, or there have since only been occasional years of import, +to meet a scarcity. The imports of ordinary foreign wines continued +to increase until 1890 (800,000 hectolitres), or as long as the wine +produced at Mendoza did not suffice to meet the demand. They have +steadily declined since that date (350,000 hectolitres in 1913), and +are now only seven per cent. of the national production. We should add +that, even in regard to ordinary wines, the Mendoza and the imported +wine are not strictly comparable, that the competition between them +is not simply a matter of price, and that some customers continue to +prefer foreign wine.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Vineyard_at_San_Juan" href="images/illus-111a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-111a.jpg" alt="Vineyard" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">A VINEYARD AT SAN JUAN.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Trellissed creole vines.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Boote, Buenos Aires.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-111a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Vineyard_at_Mendoza" href="images/illus-111b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-111b.jpg" alt="Vineyard" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">A VINEYARD AT MENDOZA.</p> + <p class="figcaption">French vines on wire. An irrigation-trench + along the path. In the foreground (left) a wine-cellar (<em>bodega</em>).</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados, + Buenos Aires.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate VIII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-111b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<p>The elimination of foreign wines and sugar and the development of +Mendoza and Tucumán were facilitated by a Protectionist tariff. +The details of this are very curious, as they had to be adjusted to +the natural conditions. The need of protection is chiefly due to +the distance of the market from the productive centres. Mendoza is +650 miles from Buenos Aires, Tucumán more than 750 miles. +Freightage on the railways is dear. It is thirty-five piastres a +ton for wine between Mendoza and Buenos Aires, or nearly double the +normal maritime freight for the European wines sent from Bordeaux or +Genoa. The charge for sugar is about thirty piastres a ton between +Tucumán and Buenos Aires. Thus the cost of transport is nearly +one sixth the entire cost of production. In spite of this common +burden, the need of protection is not at all the same in Mendoza and +Tucumán. The climate of Mendoza is excellent for the vine. The +dryness of the atmosphere keeps down cryptogamic diseases, and the +risks of cultivation are slight. The crop is abundant, the frosts +late, and not serious. Hail is frequent, it is true, at the mouths of +the Cordillera valleys, but it is never general; it affects only a +small part of the harvest. The curve of production is very regular. +It rises every year very gradually, and in proportion to the increase +of the cultivated area. As a result of all this, the wine market has +a stability which the vine-growing countries of Europe, with their +less reliable climate, do not enjoy. The protective tariff, therefore, +remains fixed. The duty on foreign wines in the cask—eight +centimes (gold) per litre—has not been altered since the +introduction into Argentina of the wine-industry on a large scale.<a + id="FNanchor_42_42" href="#Footnote_42_42" +class="fnanchor">42</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>The curve of sugar-production is just as irregular as that of +wine-production is regular. From one year to another the output may +vary by as much as 100 per cent., and the changes cannot be predicted: +147,000 tons in 1912, 335,000 tons in 1914, 150,000 tons in 1915. The +reason is that the sugar output depends upon the season. Canes which +have been touched by frost go sour and ferment in the ground. They +have to be milled quickly, and the harvest must not be prolonged. Even +in good years the costly equipment of the works is active during only +three months (July to September, but at Jujuy, July to October).</p> + +<p>This irregularity of production, which makes protection inevitable, +also complicates it infinitely in practice. Sometimes the harvest +is not large enough to meet home demands, and imports have to be +permitted. Sometimes production is far beyond the home demand, and +the sugar-manufacturers have to export the surplus so as to prevent +a slump in prices on the overloaded home market. In order to meet +these very different situations, the protecting tariff has had to be +repeatedly modified and complicated. But it is impossible for us to +give the history of it in detail here. The duties on foreign sugar were +fixed, in successive instalments, between 1883 and 1891; and special +protective measures were taken in the interest of the refiners in 1888. +Over-production appeared for the first time in 1895. Export at a loss, +to relieve the home market, was at first organized by an association +of the producers themselves (in 1896). But in 1897 the Government +developed it by putting a premium on export. The export period lasted +from 1897 to 1904. The law of 1912, which gives its latest form to the +Protectionist regime, gives the Government +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> + +the right to suspend for a time the duties on imports and allow +foreign sugar to come in. As at Mendoza, the provincial Government +intervenes as well as the national. The alternation of bad and +exceptionally good harvests leads to the appearance of all sorts +of unforeseen laws, modifying the bases of taxation, regulating +production in the works, and restricting the acreage of cultivation.<a + id="FNanchor_43_43" href="#Footnote_43_43" +class="fnanchor">43</a> Thus Tucumán has lived in an +atmosphere of storm and uncertainty and unceasing discussion, of +discouragement and insecurity; the price of its geographical position +at the extreme limit of the area in which cane can be grown.</p> +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a><br /> +THE EXPLOITATION OF THE FORESTS</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>Manual labour on the <span lang="es">obrajes</span>—The land of + the <span lang="es">bañados</span> and the agricultural cantons of + Corrientes—The timber-yards of the Chaco and the + tannic-acid works of the Paraná—The exploitation + of the <span lang="es">maté</span>—The forestry industry and + colonization.</p> +</div> + +<p>From the Andes of Tucumán and Salta to the banks of the +upper Paraná in the province of Misiones the north of Argentina +is now a vast timber-yard for the exploitation of the forests. It +resounds everywhere with the axe. This exploitation of the forest is +of early origin on the river; in the eighteenth century Buenos Aires +was supplied with wood from the Paraná. In the western Chaco +the difficulty of transport by land retarded the development of the +forestry industry. The only market for the timber of Tucumán was +the Andean region. It was not sent to Mendoza after the beginning of +the nineteenth century, when the willow was acclimatized in the oases +of Cuyo. Below Rosas the wood of the <span lang="es">quebracho</span> was at first taken in +waggons from Santiago to Buenos Aires, but this traffic ceased when the +river-route was reopened, and we do not find it resumed until recent +times, when railways were constructed.</p> + +<p>The outer fringe of the forest and the scrub where the industry has +had to find labour, is inhabited by a very sparse pastoral population. +There are, however, besides the thinly populated districts of the +farms, certain busy hives which lend animation to the scrub. These +over-populated cantons are districts of cultivation by +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> + +<span lang="es">bañados</span>, or the cultivation of flood-lands. There is constant +intercourse between these ancient centres of creole life and the +timber-yards of the forest. The forestry industry recruits its workers +there, on temporary contracts. The wages paid are brought back to these +centres and spent there. They help to maintain social groups of an +archaic type, which the meagreness of their production would otherwise +doom to extinction.</p> + +<p>The <span lang="es">bañados</span> are scattered over the range of all the +sierras within the limits reached by the torrents from the mountains +before they are lost. They also stretch along the two rivers that are +considerable enough to cross the scrub, the Salado and the Dulce. +The course of the Bermejo, where the natural conditions are much the +same, lies outside the sphere of primitive creole colonization. The +tilled lands are not continuous on the Salado or the Dulce. There +are no <span lang="es">bañados</span> wherever the bed of the river is enclosed +by high banks which prevent flooding. The course of the Salado +threads together, in the manner of a rosary, three main groups of +<span lang="es">bañados</span> below 26° S. lat., (Matoque and Boqueron) between +27° and 28° S. lat. (Brea), and between 28° and 29° +S. lat. (Le Bracho and Navicha). But the classic country of the +<span lang="es">bañados</span>, where they cover the widest extent and sustain the +most considerable body of population, is the interior delta of the +Rio Dulce below Santiago del Estero, in the departments of Loreto, +Atamisqui, and Salavina.</p> + +<p>Santiago is situated almost at the top of it. In its upper part +the Rio Dulce is enclosed between high clay cliffs (department of the +Rio Hondo). Below Santiago the river seems to run to the top of a sort +of flattened alluvial cone, over which it wanders. Instances of the +migration of rivers during the historical period are plentiful in the +north of the Argentine plain. The scrub is scored east of the Salado +with a network of dry beds, the edges of which gradually disappear as +the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> + +vegetation extends over them. But there is no other part where +the erratic nature of the waters is so marked, the vagabondage so +considerable, as in this section of the basin of the Rio Dulce. The +small towns of Atamisqui and Salavina, which lived on the waters of the +Dulce, were suddenly ruined in 1825, when the river, in consequence +of a particularly violent flood, turned away to the south and lost +itself in the Salinas Grandes. A canal was dug in 1897 to irrigate the +district of Loreto, on the left bank of the Dulce, but the entrance +was badly protected, and the flood of 1901 swept into it, and, guided +by it, reached the bed it had abandoned a century before, going +south-eastward toward Atamisqui. That town and Salavina recovered their +prosperity, while it was necessary to abandon the farms on the Rio des +Salines, which now has water only during high floods. Actual beds, old +beds that are always ready to serve again, and traces of canals changed +and cut by the stream, form a great network in the midst of the plain; +and the flood rolls to one side or the other according to the road open +to it, and the facility with which the various elements of the network +lend themselves to the passage of the water. Such is the land of the +<span lang="es">bañados</span>.</p> + +<p>You enter it to-day at Loreto station, where the line from Santiago +to Frias approaches within a few miles of it. This station is erected +in the midst of the arid <span lang="es">monte</span>, and owes its existence to the +neighbouring <span lang="es">bañados</span>. Turning eastward from the railway, as +soon as one has crossed the broad, sandy bed of the Rio des Salines, +one finds oneself in the heart of the <span lang="es">bañados</span> farms. The +road passes between hedges (<span lang="es">cercas</span>), over the top of which one sees +the green of the wheat and lucerne. The plots are very small: gardens +rather than fields. In clearing the ground they have preserved the +best-situated trees, and the light foliage gives a useful shade to the +crops. The crown of the <span lang="es">algarrobas</span> rises everywhere above the top of +the hedges.</p> + +<p>The fields do not cover the whole area of the annual +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> + +inundations. They are confined to the part where the flood is +fertilizing; where it leaves behind it a fine, useful clay which keeps +the store of moisture for several months. In other places the current +is too rapid. It furrows the soil, leaves large holes in it like the +<span lang="es">lônes</span> in the flood-area of the Rhone, and sweeps away the +barriers; or the water brings sterile sand which it deposits in long +stretches; or again, if it is not drained away in time and evaporates +on the spot, it deposits the salts it contains, and the land, looking +as if it had a white leprosy, becomes unfit for vegetation.</p> + +<p>The floods begin in summer, during November or December. They are +caused by the rain-storms in the Tucumán district, and are very +irregular. Some of the houses are evacuated, and others are protected +by walls of earth, which are raised from hour to hour according to the +rise of the waters. Behind these walls the people await the abatement +of the flood. When the mud which is left behind has the proper +consistency, they till it and sow wheat. The wheat grows in the winter, +and is harvested in November quickly, so that the fresh flood may not +overtake it.</p> + +<p>The caprices of the flood compel them frequently to change the sites +of their houses and fields. The ancient village of Loreto was evacuated +after a flood, and is now merely a mass of deserted ruins. Round the +naked trunks of the <span lang="es">algarrobas</span>, killed by excessive deposits of +sand or salt, are uniform colonies of plants of the same age and the +same species, which invade the area where the adult scrub has been +destroyed. The mill has been rebuilt less than a mile away, and has not +lost its customers, who have raised their <span lang="es">ranchos</span> some distance away. +The insecurity of the plots has prevented the development of small +ownership. The farmers are tenants of the ranches, which stretch from +the river to a considerable distance in the interior.</p> + +<p>The use of <span lang="es">bañados</span> for agriculture is of long standing. It +probably goes back to the pre-Columbian period. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> + +Father Dobritzhoffer, who is the first to refer clearly to it, +compares the Rio Dulce to the Nile<a +id="FNanchor_44_44" href="#Footnote_44_44" +class="fnanchor">44</a>; and in point of fact, the <span lang="es">bañados</span> +have some resemblance to farming in Pharaonic Egypt, while there +is nothing like them in the irrigated zones of the Andean valleys. +The <span lang="es">bañados</span> were then devoted to the cultivation of wheat +and pumpkins. The pumpkin, which is of American origin, had not yet +been eliminated by wheat, which was introduced by the Spaniards. The +wheat produced in the <span lang="es">bañados</span> maintained a fairly active +export trade at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and the +<span lang="es">bañados</span> were at times called, with some exaggeration, the +"granary of the Vice-royalty." It is difficult to trace accurately +the movements of the population of the <span lang="es">bañados</span> because of +the constant changes of the administrative areas in the province +of Santiago. The total population of the province is not now more +than three per cent. of the total population of Argentina, but its +comparative importance was much greater in the middle of the nineteenth +century (nearly eight per cent. at the census of 1861). The departments +of Loreto, Atamisqui, and Salavina on the Rio Dulce, which live mainly +on the estates of the <span lang="es">bañados</span>, comprised 46,000 inhabitants in +1861, and only 43,000 in 1895. The Woodbine Parish map and Hutchinson's +description clearly give one an impression of a dense population in +the area of the <span lang="es">bañados</span>. I refer elsewhere to the antiquity +and constancy of the streams of temporary immigration which spread the +population of the <span lang="es">bañados</span> over a large part of the territory +of Argentina.<a id="FNanchor_45_45" +href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">45</a> The temporary +emigration of the Santiagueños is distributed amongst most of +the provinces of central and northern Argentina, but it is chiefly of +interest in connection with the frontier region. The Santiagueño +is a woodman above all else, and the forest area has the advantage over +the other labour-markets of wanting workers at all seasons, summer +or winter, whereas the sugar-cane harvest at Tucumán and the +harvest in the south only last a few months. They emigrate from the +<span lang="es">bañados</span> to Tucumán in May; to Córdoba and Santa +Fé in October, November and December; but to the forests of the +Chaco all the year round.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Land_of_the_Banados" href="images/illus-121a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-121a.jpg" alt="Land of the Bañados" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE LAND OF THE BAÑADOS.</p> + <p class="figcaption">On the Rio Dulce, near Loreto, in the dry season. + Its actual bed, excavated at a recent date by a flood in soft + clay, is not yet stable.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-121a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Loreto_Farming_by_Inundation" href="images/illus-121b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-121b.jpg" alt="Loreto" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">LORETO: FARMING BY INUNDATION.</p> + <p class="figcaption">In the zone of the scrub, where the floods + of the Rio Dulce spread. The interior delta of the Rio Dulce is + one of the earliest centres of population in Argentina.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate IX.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-121b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p>Apart from the <span lang="es">bañados</span> of the Dulce and the Salado, +the province of Corrientes contains the main reservoir from which +the timber industry drew its manual workers. Just as at Santiago +del Estero, one finds at Corrientes also the opposition between +agricultural and breeding districts which is so common in the older +colonized regions of South America. The <span lang="es">estancieros</span> (ranchers), +who are breeders, are the masters of Corrientes, but the line of low +hills of sand and red clay, punctuated by lagoons, which crosses +the north-western corner of the province, is not subject to their +domination. There the land is subdivided; there are once more fields. +Tobacco was an article of export for this fraction of Corrientes, +especially after the political isolation of Paraguay, the chief +producer of tobacco in the nineteenth century. During the whole of +the first half of the nineteenth century the tobacco-buyers travelled +all over Corrientes after the harvest, in January and February. The +fertile soil, moreover, with a mild climate in which tropical plants +flourish as well as those of the temperate zone, provides the elements +of a local comfort which is complete in itself. Here again agricultural +colonization has created a relatively dense nucleus of population, +capable of great increase. Although the administrative divisions do not +exactly correspond with the natural divisions, the unequal distribution +of the population in Corrientes is made plain by the figures given +in the census of 1895. The density rises in the agricultural areas +to eight inhabitants per square kilometre, in the department of +Bellavista; ten at San Cosma; fourteen at Lomas; thirty at San Roque. +It is only between one and two in the purely pastoral departments +(Concepción and Mercedes).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>Corrientes also has its forests, and in these we find most of the +species of the forests of the Chaco, in straight lines, along the +water-courses, and in somewhat larger patches on the tablelands which +separate the lower valleys near the Paraná. They at first +supplied the Curupai bark which was used in the Corrientes tanneries. +The yards for the construction of river-boats emigrated from Paraguay +to Corrientes at the beginning of the nineteenth century, at the same +time and for the same reasons as the tobacco trade. The exploiting of +the red <span lang="es">quebracho</span> did not begin until about 1850. In 1887 Virasaro +relates that fifty ships are engaged in loading with Nandubai timber +on the banks of the Rio Corrientes and transporting it to Rosario.<a + id="FNanchor_46_46" href="#Footnote_46_46" +class="fnanchor">46</a> Born on the left bank of the Paraná, +the forestry industry emigrated toward the end of the century to the +right bank, whither the workers of Corrientes followed it.</p> + +<p>We find the same movement further north, on the Paraguay. The +exploitation of the woods is in that case a very old industry on +the tributaries of the left bank. D'Azara draws attention to its +importance.<a id="FNanchor_47_47" +href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">47</a> Robertson found, when +he went from Corrientes to Asunción in 1814, a population of +wood-cutters in the marshy belt near the river. During floods they took +refuge in the agricultural cantons of the frontier on high ground, +where they were well received. It seems, then, that wood-cutting +was already a seasonal industry at this time. The exploitation of +the forests is now rapidly invading the right bank, which was long +abandoned to the wild Indians.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The Santiagueños and Correntinos do not mix. The two zones +of expansion and of forestry, of which they are the pioneers, are +independent of each other. The + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> + +<span lang="es">quechua</span>, which is the language of the +<span lang="es">bañados</span> of the Rio Dulce, is +spoken in the timber-yards of the Chaco de Santiago; the +<span lang="es">guarani</span>, the language of Corrientes and the +Paraguay, is most common along the river, in the Chaco de +<del>Santa</del><ins>Santa</ins> Fé. Their respective spheres +will not come into touch with each other until the Quimili branch of +the Central Norte Railway, which comes from the Santiago province, +joins the line of penetration at Resistencia, on the Paraná, in +the west.</p> + +<p>The forestry industry of the interior and that of the +river-districts differ not only in the character of the workers, but +in their organization and their market. The variety of red +<span lang="es">quebracho</span> which is exploited in the west is not quite +the same as the variety that is found in the east. Each has a name +of its own—<span lang="es">quebracho santiagueño</span> +and <span lang="es"><del>quebraco </del><ins>quebracho </ins> +chaqueño</span>. The former contains ten per cent. of tannin, +the latter thirty per cent. The former is cut down for timber, the +latter in order to extract the tannic acid. The one is sold in +Argentina, and the other sent abroad.</p> + +<p>The working of the timber at Santiago has remained in the hands +of a number of small capitalists and contractors who do not own the +land and do not work there. They are content to buy in small amounts +and according to the demand at the moment, the right to exploit the +forests (<span lang="es">derecho de monte or derecho de leña</span>). The trunks of +exceptionally large <span lang="es">quebracho</span> provide logs that are sold by cubic +measurement, but the district of the <span lang="es">quebracho santiagueño</span> +mainly exports sleepers. <span lang="es">Quebracho</span> sleepers have been used in +constructing the railways, both narrow and broad gauge, during the last +twenty years on the Pampa. Tall and thin trees make telegraph posts; +the smaller branches make stakes for wire fences. In parts of the +bush where there is no red <span lang="es">quebracho</span>, the <span lang="es">retamo</span> is used, to make +posts for enclosures, and also the white <span lang="es">quebracho</span>, which is sold in +round logs. Finally, the forests provide wood for fuel. The works at +Tucumán, and the locomotives over +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> + +a good part of the land, use wood-fuel. The wood of the red <span +lang="es">quebracho</span>, if left for some years in the yards where +the sleepers are made and is rid of the sap-wood, which rots and falls +out—the <span lang="es">leña campana</span>—is +excellent fuel. Charcoal is cheaper to transport than the wood, and +can therefore be sent farther over the whole prairie district. It is +made in the <span lang="es">monte</span>, along all the railways, and +especially in the thinner forests on the edge of the prairie.</p> + +<p>The forestry of the interior is unstable as well as scattered and +primitive. The equipment—saws that are easily taken down and set +up—is not costly, and does not require much capital. When one +canton of the forest has been exhausted, the saws are taken down and +removed. The cuttings are not made in such a way as to allow the forest +to recover, and so permit a continuous exploitation. Everything of any +value is taken. The <span lang="es">quebracho</span> is, moreover, +a tree of slow growth. The forestry industry has at times returned, +after an interval, to land that had been stripped, but that is not +because they had planted a new generation of trees. It is because it +became profitable, as the state of the market and the cost of transport +changed, to cut down the small trees which had not been considered good +enough on the earlier occasion.</p> + +<p>When the master <span lang="es">obrajero</span> removes, +he is followed by the greater part of the workers. But to +induce them to emigrate, or to recruit cutters in the <span +lang="es">bañados</span> who will agree to work in remote or +new districts, he has to be liberal and offer higher wages. Hence the +conditions of work and the rate of wage are not the same in every part +of the forest. The oldest area of working, which is crossed by the +Central Córdoba, between the provinces of Catamarca and Santiago +del Estero, has a surplus of good workers. On the other hand, the <span +lang="es">obrajeros</span> of the valley from San Francisco to Jujuy, +where the exploitation is more recent, have only a moderate amount of +labour at their command. The returns +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> + +are not higher there than in the south, though the forests are +incomparably denser and richer. It has been very expensive to bring +about a continuous stream of immigration toward the main region of +forest work, which is now called the Chaco, along the railway that +starts from Añatuya and goes about 130 miles further north. +As the worker is on piece-work, the price per sleeper when the work +was begun on the Chaco had to be double, on the Añatuya line, +what was paid in the older line from Santiago to Frias, close to the +<span lang="es">bañados</span>.</p> + +<p>The work is profitable only within a short distance from the +railways. Waggon transport raises the price rapidly. Moreover, +the forestry industry is just as dependent on the railways for +provisions as it is for the carriage of its wood. The <span +lang="es">obraje</span> has no source of food-supply on the spot. The +marshy estates which begin to spread in the area of irrigation-canals +at Banda, eastward of Santiago del Estero, supply only their customers +at Añatuya and the Chaco line. Sometimes the railway has to +bring water as well as food. Over a great part of the Chaco de Santiago +there is no running water, and the underground sheets are little known, +or inaccessible, or salty. The <span lang="es">obraje</span> is a land +of thirst. In order to meet the demand for water they dig reservoirs +like the <span lang="es">represas</span> on the ranches, which are +filled by the rains. But as soon as the dry season sets in they become +stagnant green pools, and the men have to rely on waggon-cisterns.</p> + +<p>While the Chaco de Santiago is now a democracy of <del>mall</del> +<ins>small</ins> <span lang="es">obrajeros</span> and contractors, the +eastern Chaco, <del>alongs</del><ins>along</ins> the Paraná, has +quite a different type of society. It is entirely in the hands of the +big tannic-acid factories, where the <span lang="es">quebracho</span> +trunks are stripped and boiled, and their sap is concentrated in a +viscous resin. The lofty chimneys of these works rise above the forest +at intervals. Here the work assumes a capitalistic and industrial +character which it has not in other places. It is controlled + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> + +by powerful concerns, highly organized, which conduct it on +a pre-arranged plan. It is true that the works do not deal +with the entire output of <span lang="es">quebracho</span>,<a +id="FNanchor_48_48" href="#Footnote_48_48" +class="fnanchor">48</a> but they almost control the market, even +as regards the unworked wood which is exported, and they reserve a +good deal of it for their branches in Europe. In order to secure the +heavy loans which the works represent, the companies that have built +them have been obliged to take over large forests, and they have come +to own these. The concentration of the area in their hands goes on +daily, and the number of companies is reduced by amalgamation or by the +purchase of rival concerns and their estates. On the territory of the +Chaco, where the administration of public lands was in the hands of the +Federal Government, some precautions were taken to prevent the monopoly +of the country; but the forests of the province of Santa Fé +belong entirely to two firms.</p> + +<p>The eastern Chaco has received from Europe, not only the capital +that was needed for the construction of works, but also a number of +workers, either for administration or for technical direction. These +have proved more exacting than the creoles of the Santiago saw-mills. +Beside most of the works there are now comfortable villas and brick +towns for the workers. The expense was quite prudently incurred, as +the industry is less erratic in this region. A tannic-acid factory +cannot be removed like a saw-mill. When the timber-supply is exhausted +in the district, the works gets its material from a distance, as long +as the freightage permits. It depends on the railway, not only for the +carriage of its products, as the saw-mills do, but for the supply of +raw material.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>The works are not all equally wealthy. They are scattered over about +ten degrees of latitude, north of 30° S. lat., within reach of the +river, which keeps them in communication with the world, and at the +same time has enabled them to tackle the full breadth of the forest. +The <span lang="es">quebracho</span> is particularly abundant north of Santa Fé and +south of the Argentine part of the Chaco, where it is the life and soul +of the forest. The works which have been set up there, in the midst +of the denser forests, have plenty of capital, and this enables them +to nurse their supplies and buy timber at a distance. The forest is +still almost virginal at their gates, so that they have a long future +in front of them. On the other hand, the oldest works, on the southern +fringe of the forest, and that of Corrientes, on the left bank of the +Paraná, are already paralysed for want of timber.</p> + +<p>The works are all at a short distance from the river; not only for +convenience of exporting their products, but because this is the only +part of the Chaco where one can find fresh water. And the tannic-acid +factory needs a great deal of fresh water. Along the river, in a belt +about thirty to sixty miles wide, we find a permanent hydrographic +network such as is found nowhere else on the plain. It consists of long +series of marshes covered with rushes (<span lang="es">cañadas</span>), and in places +they become at their mouths regular streams with well defined beds. The +underground water also is generally fresh and plentiful, whether it is +due to the abundant rain or to infiltration from the Paraná, +and many of the works have successfully bored for it. In these parts +one suffers from too much water as frequently as from thirst. On +these immense and almost horizontal surfaces the water spreads from +the <span lang="es">cañadas</span> over the whole forest. The railway, and even the +houses, then stand out of a sheet of stagnant water, which takes months +to disappear. Trunks which are badly placed, lying in the stations to +be removed—sometimes, according to the market, lying there for +years—are half buried in the mud. The waggons find it hard to +move in the roads. Mules, + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> + +which pay very well in the dry forests of the west, could not make +the effort that is required here, and they use oxen—the finest +beasts for a muddy country. The long-horned, lean creole cattle drag +the waggons with difficulty, and a <span lang="es">correntino</span>, with long slender +legs, shod with mud, guides and urges them, looking like a crane with +his slow and cautious steps. The work of these drivers is much harder +than that of the wood-cutters. They earn nearly twice as much, and it +is the difficulty of getting enough men for this work that keeps down +production.</p> + +<p>The importance and stability of the large works has fixed the labour +market on the right bank of the Paraná, and there is no need +to go to Corrientes to look for men. They come of their own accord. A +daily service of small steamers brings them to all the ports which +dispatch <span lang="es">quebracho</span>. The left bank, on Argentine territory, has also +no hiring centre, such as there still are at Asunción and +Concepción in Paraguay.</p> + +<p>Even on its own land the works leaves the working of the forest +to contractors, from whom it buys the timber. But the <span lang="es">obrajeros</span>, +whether they work in the company's forests or their own, are very +dependent upon the works. The contracts vary according as they are +owners or otherwise; according to whether they undertake to deliver the +timber at the stations or leave it where it is felled; and according +to whether they have the requisite oxen and waggons or have to loan +these from the company. They draw advances from the company, and, on +the other hand, they pledge themselves to purchase what they require +for their workers at the company's stores. The profit of these sales +increases the revenue of the works. The company monopolizes all trade, +both import and export. It exercises an absolute sovereignty over the +forest. It has merely deigned to grant the railway company space enough +to construct its lines and its stations.</p> + +<p>The last forestry centre in modern Argentina is in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> + +the province of Misiones on the upper Paraná. Posadas is +its chief station, and protects its southern outlet. Its influence +extends beyond the Argentine frontier, over a small part of Brazil +and Paraguay. In Misiones there are two types of forest, which differ +a good deal from each other, while neither resembles the <span lang="es">quebracho</span> +forest. One is the forest of araucarias (<span lang="es">pinos</span>) which covers the +elevated tablelands at a height above 2,000 feet. The other is the +tropical forest, rich in essences and of perennial vegetation, which +fills the bottoms and slopes of the valleys. The pine, which is +also much worked on the Brazilian tableland, yields an excellent +white wood, suitable instead of the northern pine. It would find +a ready market at Buenos Aires, but it has never been worked on +Argentine territory because of the great distance of the woods from +a navigable river. On account of its position on the tableland +the araucaria has to wait for the railways of some future date.<a + id="FNanchor_49_49" href="#Footnote_49_49" +class="fnanchor">49</a> As to the leafy tropical forest it includes +a number of useful varieties (<span lang="es">timbo</span>, <span lang="es">lapacho</span>, <span lang="la">etc.</span>), but the +most esteemed of all is the cedar. Its wood is rose-coloured, scented, +and fine-grained, and very suitable for furniture. At the time of +D'Orbigny's travels the inhabitants of Corrientes were looking out for +cedars from the mountains brought down the river when in flood. The +<span lang="es">obrajes</span> of cedar-wood now extend twenty miles or so on the Argentine +bank, and forty miles in the Paraguay bank, which is more even and +better for transport. The trunks are floated in rafts down to Posadas; +as the cedar, which is less dense than the <span lang="es">quebracho</span>, not only +floats, but is improved by parting with sap in the water. At Posadas +the rafts are taken to pieces, and the trunks are delivered to the +saw-mills.</p> + +<p>But timber is not the chief forest industry in Misiones, +as it is on the Chaco. Beside the <span lang="es">obraje</span> in the forest +there is the <span lang="es">yerbal</span>, a works for dealing with the <span lang="es">maté</span> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> + +(<cite>Ilex paraguayensis</cite>). It is well known that an infusion of +<span lang="es">maté</span> (a kind of tea) is an important element in the food +of the western States of South America. Gathering the leaves of the +<span lang="es">maté</span> has been a profitable occupation for centuries: a unique +instance, perhaps, in the forest industries of South America. It has +never been interrupted, though it has often changed its locality.</p> + +<p>The plantations made by the Jesuits were abandoned when the +missionaries were dispersed. After the close of the eighteenth century +Paraguay became the chief area of production. Villa Rica seems +to have been the most prolific centre of the <span lang="es">yerba</span>. After that +date, however, the Jujuy basin, further north, was exploited, and +the <span lang="es">yerbateros</span>, who came from Curuguati, advanced eastward as far +as the Falls of the Guayra on the Paraná. In the nineteenth +century the trade in Paraguay <span lang="es">maté</span> seems to have suffered +less than the tobacco trade from the policy of isolation adopted +by the Dictators of Paraguay. The descriptions given by Mariano +Molas, Demersay, and others, show that the business continued fairly +actively. It even extended northward, and reached as far as the Rio +Apa. Villa Concepción became a rival <span lang="es">yerba</span> market to Villa +Rica. The monopoly exercised by the Paraguay Government, however, and +the restrictions put upon the navigation of the river, led to the +development of the <span lang="es">yerba</span> industry in the eastern Misiones on the left +bank of the Uruguay. Itaquy served as port of embarkation. In the last +third of the nineteenth century the yards moved from the left to the +right bank of the Uruguay. Since 1870 the Paraná has supplanted +the Uruguay, and the <span lang="es">yerba</span> trade has concentrated at Candelaria. This +meant the resurrection of Misiones. In 1880 San Javier, on the Uruguay, +worked up 800 tons of <span lang="es">yerba</span>, and Candelaria more than 1,000 tons. The +<span lang="es">yerbales</span> round San Javier began to run out, and the <span lang="es">yerbateros</span> had +to go further and further up the Uruguay, toward the <span lang="es">yerbales</span> of the +tableland of Fracan and San Pedro. Candelaria +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> + +was mainly fed by the <span lang="es">yerbales</span> of the right bank of the +Paraná, on Paraguayan territory. Posadas has now succeeded +Candelaria, and the <span lang="es">yerbales</span> that depend upon it are scattered over +both banks up the Paraná.</p> + +<p>The <span lang="es">yerbales</span> of Misiones lie outside the tropical forest proper. +They are on the lower fringe of the pine-forest, and begin at some +distance from the river, with which they are connected by muddy and +difficult mule-tracks. <span lang="es">Maté</span> can bear a cost of transport that +would be fatal to timber. At the point where these tracks reach the +river, the river-steamers stop at the foot of a shed that is almost +hidden in the foliage. These are the "ladders" of the <span lang="es">yerbales</span>.</p> + +<p>Work in the <span lang="es">yerbales</span> lasts six months out of the twelve. The +pruners who collect the bunches of leaves and bring them to the +furnaces, where they are dried, include Brazilians, Paraguayans +and Argentinians. The Brazilians go to the <span lang="es">yerbal</span> to offer their +services. The Paraguayans and Argentinians, nearly all from the +province of Corrientes, are recruited at Posadas and the sister-town of +Encarnación, which is opposite to it on the Paraguay bank.</p> + +<p>The hiring at Posadas is done according to a traditional custom that +does not seem to have changed for more than a century. The description +given by D'Azara is not yet out of date. "The people of Villa Rica," +he says, "depend mainly on being hired for the <span lang="es">yerbales</span>. The <span lang="es">yerba</span> +industry is sometimes profitable to the masters, but never to the +natives, who work cruelly without any profit. Not only are they paid in +goods for the <span lang="es">yerba</span> they gather, but the goods are put at so high a +price that it is terrible. They have even to pay for the hire of a bill +for cutting the <span lang="es">maté</span>.... The natives contract as much debt as +they can before they start for the <span lang="es">yerbales</span>, and as soon as they have +done a little work, they say good-bye to the <span lang="es">yerbatero</span>, who loses his +money. And the <span lang="es">yerbatero</span> in turn is exploited by the merchants who +control him." Before he starts for the <span lang="es">yerbal</span>, says +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> + +Robertson, the contractor (<span lang="es">habilitado</span>) gets an advance of four +or five thousand piastres. With this he hires about fifty workers, +supplies their needs, and gives them two or three months' pay +in advance. The three essential and inseparable elements of the +<span lang="es">maté</span> business are the <span lang="es">yerbal</span> in the forest, a shop at +Posadas for hiring and paying wages in advance, and a <span lang="es">yerba</span> mill at +Rosario or Buenos Aires.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The forestry industry in its various forms is not a definite +occupation of the soil by man. After having stripped the forest, it +leaves, and the land is open for colonization. Nearly everywhere there +is a complete separation between forestry and permanent colonization. +They do not employ the same workers; the wood-cutter (<span lang="es">hachador</span>) and +the charcoal-burner are not the men who clear the soil. The clearing +away of the stumps, which must precede agricultural work, is not their +business, but the work of diggers. At Tucumán, where most of +the workers in the cane-fields are Santiagueños, Italians and +Spaniards are used for clearing the soil. The gangs of Mendocinos who +go to cut <del>props </del><ins>crops </ins>in the bush round Villa Mercedes will not sign on for +clearing the ground in order to plant lucerne.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="LORETO_THE_RIO_PINTO_IN_THE_DRY_SEASON" href="images/illus-135a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-135a.jpg" alt="Loreto" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">LORETO. THE RIO PINTO IN THE DRY SEASON.</p> + <p class="figcaption">One of the arms through which the flood of the Dulce flows.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-135a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="La_Banda" href="images/illus-135b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-135b.jpg" alt="La Banda" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">LA BANDA (SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO).</p> + <p class="figcaption">Irrigated lucerne fields on the left bank of + the Rio Dulce. Zone of modern colonization: a contrast with the + older farms of the flood-zone.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate X.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-135b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>The history of forestry and colonization is one of the most +diversified chapters in the general economic history of modern +Argentina. Round the region of the Pampas, the first point where +agricultural colonization came into touch with the forest belt is the +district of the older colonies of Santa Fé. There it found the +forestry industry already long established, on the banks both of the +Salado and of the Paraná. The export of timber and charcoal +to Buenos Aires and the lime-kilns of Entre Rios was at this time +one of the few elements of economic life which Santa Fé had +preserved. The colonists did not enter the forest, and did not mingle +with the charcoal-burners, but they profited indirectly from their +presence by selling them maize. Later, agricultural work spread over +the Central Pampa and the province of Córdoba, as far as the +edge of the scrub in all parts of the prairie. Wood-cutting is carried +on there, on a small scale, everywhere, at Toay as well as at Villa +Mercedes and Villa Maria. The price of the wood he sells is a small +supplementary income to the farmer, and clearing the soil helps to +fill up his time during the dead season for agriculture. The lands +covered with brushwood remained for a long time at a lower price than +cleared land. They thus formed a sort of reserve which partly escaped +the speculations in land, and on which small owners can find a footing +more easily than on the Pampa. There is to-day a movement of Santa +Fecinos eastward and southward in the belt of scrub to the south of Mar +Chiquita along the line from Lehmann to Dean Funes.</p> + +<p>The forest area of the Chaco, in northern Argentina, between the +Andes and the Paraná, seems on the other hand to be intended +for pastoral colonization. In point of fact, the forest of the Chaco, +as well as the lighter scrub which is its southern extension, can be +used for breeding without preliminary labour. The Indians have fed +cattle and horses on it since the seventeenth century. The herds find +food on every side, both in the very numerous clearings (<span lang="es">abras</span>) which +cross the forest and in the forest itself, where the underwood and the +herbaceous carpet grow fairly thick beneath the scanty foliage of the +mimosas and <del>quebrachas</del><ins>quebrachos</ins>.</p> + +<p>Over a good deal of the western Chaco pastoral colonization is +earlier than the forestry. In the district of Santiago del Estero the +farmers had advanced far beyond the wood-cutter and the railway; beyond +the Salado, almost as far as the existing line from Añatuya +to Tintina, where there are sheets and wells of fresh water. The old +ranches go as far as Alhuampa. The old pastoral population has taken +very little part in the forestry industry. It has been content to +profit by it by renting the scrub to the <span lang="es">obrajes</span>. It was a sheer gift +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> + +to them, as the felling of a few trees does not in the least lower the +value of the pasture. The forestry has not entailed any change in the +ownership of the land or in the breeding methods. The <span lang="es">obrajes</span> are +merely passing guests whose traces are quickly obliterated.</p> + +<p>In the eastern Chaco, however, the wood-cutters are real pioneers. +It is they who have made the conquest of the forest, often in direct +touch with the Indians, and the ownership of the land fell to them. +They have themselves played an essential part in the actual development +of breeding.</p> + +<p>Leaving the river and travelling toward the forest on the west, one +first crosses a narrow belt of estates which form an almost unbroken +line from San Javier to Resistencia. These are old colonies, mostly +founded about 1870, at the same time as the first colonies in the +centre of Santa Fé. They had the advantage of being within +reach of the river-route, the network of railways that serves the +colonies of <del>Sante </del><ins>Santa </ins>Fé not being constructed until after 1880. +They have not shown the same capacity for extension as the colonies +on the prairie, but they are firmly rooted, on high and well-drained +land, very different from the clays of the Chaco, where the alluvial +beds of the Paraná alternate with stuff that seems to come +from the left bank. They grow flax, earth-nuts, sugar cane, and +cotton. Behind this slight agricultural façade are the large +estates of the factories. In the division of the land the industrial +firms sought the districts which were richest in <span lang="es">quebracho</span>. Buyers +of land who had no industrial plans—foreign capitalists +and Porteños—and who obtained large concessions in +little-known regions, sold back to the factories the plots where there +was plenty of wood, after they had taken stock of their property. They +converted the remainder into <span lang="es">estancias</span> (ranches). The district to +the north of the Central Norte Railway, from San Cristobal to Tostado, +where the forest, which will presently yield to the plain, breaks +into patches and looks like a park, includes a number of these modern +<span lang="es">estancias</span>, in which lucerne is beginning to replace the grasses of +the natural vegetation.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Quebracho_Trunks" href="images/illus-139a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-139a.jpg" alt="Quebracho Trunks" /> + </a> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-139a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a href="images/illus-139b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-139b.jpg" alt="Quebracho Trunks" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">QUEBRACHO TRUNKS LYING AT THE STATIONS.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Eastern Chaco, on the Resistencia line (Santa + Fé province). Here the <em>quebracho</em> is exploited for tannic + acid, not sleepers.</p> + <p class="credit">Photographs by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XI.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-139b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<p>When one passes to the interior, the pastoral industry at once +assumes a more primitive character. The <span lang="es">quebracho</span> concerns themselves +go in for breeding, in order to make use of their large estates, +when the timber has been removed but the works have not yet been set +up. They need a large number of cattle, both for moving the timber +and feeding their workers, and they endeavour to meet their needs +themselves. In this district the forest is capable of feeding a far +heavier herd than is the more arid scrub of the eastern Chaco. There +are often a thousand head of cattle to 2,500 hectares. To the north +and west of that part of the forest where the big companies have taken +over the whole of the land, in the province of Chaco, a fairly large +number of estates has been created. Further still, on either side of +the Bermejo, cattle from Corrientes and the Paraguay have been put on +the public lands by men with no rights. As their future is uncertain, +they cannot do any expensive work, such as making wells, reservoirs, +and enclosures. Sometimes they are compelled by drought to fall back +upon the river.</p> + +<p>Conditions are quite different in the forests of Misiones. The +damp forest of Misiones does not lend itself to breeding. While the +forest-workers on the west of the Paraná eat fresh meat, thanks +to the proximity of the breeders, in the <span lang="es">yerbales</span> and <span lang="es">obrajes</span> of +Misiones, the use of dried or "jerked" meat (<span lang="es">carne seca</span>), which +is brought some distance, has remained the common practice, as +it is in most parts of tropical America. On the other hand, there +is now developing in Misiones an agricultural colonization of an +original kind, quite distinct from the ordinary Argentinian type. +This is because Misiones is a province apart in Argentina. It really +belongs, by its geological structure and its climate, to the Brazilian +tableland. The colonies in Misiones are merely an +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> + +extension into Argentine territory of the great belt of colonies of +southern Brazil, which stretches from the neighbourhood of Santa +Catalina and the Rio Grande do Sul to the River Paraguay. The Brazilian +type of colonization is based upon work with the hoe, in clearings that +have been made in the forest by the axe and by fire. Ordinary farming +would be impracticable between the large stumps which the clearers have +to leave in the ground, to rot there slowly. It would, moreover, be +useless, as the land, though rich in humus, is light and aërated. +The red soil, a decomposition-product of the diabases which are at the +root of all agricultural wealth in southern Brazil, covers a great part +of Misiones. The economic inferiority of this agricultural colonization +in the forest to the Pampean type which has conquered the grassy plains +of the Rio de la Plata, is twofold. On the one hand, the surface that a +man can develop is very small. The plots of the Brazilian colonies are +ten times smaller than the average estate on the Pampa. On the other +hand, it is difficult to get about in the forest, and this hinders the +export of the produce.</p> + +<p>The colonies in Misiones are still confined to the edge of the +great forest, into which they will advance as the agricultural +population grows. They form two groups: one on the river above +Posadas (Candelaria, Bonpland, Corpus, San Ignacio, and Santa Ana), +the other on the slopes of the hills, above the line from Posadas to +Uruguay (San José and Apostoles). Foodstuffs, tobacco, fowl +and eggs, which they now send by rail as far as Buenos Aires, are +their chief resources. As it is possible for them to reach the big +markets of the Pampas, by river or rail, they have a certain advantage +over the Brazilian colonies. On the other hand, the various elements +of their population are inferior. They are very mixed, comprising +aboriginals—relics of the ancient Indian or half-breed population +of Misiones who have got land but are in no hurry to cultivate +it—Poles (grouped in a few villages, such as Apostoles and San +José), and German-Brazilians +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> + +from the left bank of the Uruguay. At the present time there is a +constant stream of German-Brazilians through the province of Misiones, +to embark at Posadas, sail up the Paraná, and settle, further +north, in Matto Grosso. No doubt it would be possible to induce part +of them to settle on Argentinian territory by offering them suitable +land.</p> + +<p>These peasant clearers of the land rarely find means to sell their +timber. The tropical forest has an immense variety of species, but only +a few of these are of value. The <span lang="es">obrajero</span> does not cut down the whole +forest; he chooses his victims. In the waste land of the colonist it is +by no means possible to utilize everything. Even in the area where the +forestry industry flourishes, trunks with no faults, felled in order to +make room for farming, are pitilessly burned and destroyed.</p> + +<p>Yet the indirect advantages of the forestry to agriculture are +numerous. Just as in the whole of southern Brazil, it affords a good +market for agricultural produce. The crops from the colonies are stored +in the shops at Posadas, and from there they go to the <span lang="es">obrajes</span> and +<span lang="es">yerbales</span>. In addition, the industry finds work for more men. On the +Rio Grande do Sul, and later on the Paraná, the wages paid +for collecting <span lang="es">maté</span> have long been the surest resource of +the colonies, and it is this that enabled them to subsist during the +difficulties of their early period. In Misiones the attraction of +the <span lang="es">yerbales</span> is not so strongly felt by the inhabitants. There are +comparatively few colonists who are willing to leave their plots and +hire themselves for distant work. The <span lang="es">yerbales</span> find their recruits, +not amongst the immigrants from Europe, but amongst the ancient +<span lang="es">pobladores</span>; that is to say, men who hold land without a title, whose +position was recognized when the colony was formed—a floating +population, not deeply rooted in the soil.</p> + +<p>Agricultural colonization in turn will react upon the forestry +industry in developing the cultivation of <span lang="es">maté</span>. Large +plantations of <span lang="es">ilex</span> have already been established +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> + +above Posadas. Already they enter the common life. They are scattered +either over the estates of the national colonies or over the larger +estates of the richer colonists; for planting demands a considerable +expenditure. Some of them belong to dealers who also work natural +<span lang="es">yerbales</span> elsewhere. They are, if possible, set up in the forest, +or at least on the fringe of it, in order to have a good supply of +wood to dry the leaves. Thus the primitive industry of collecting +<span lang="es">maté</span> is undergoing transformation while the natural growths +are disappearing.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a><br /> +PATAGONIA AND SHEEP-REARING</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>The arid tableland and the region of glacial + lakes—The first settlements on the Patagonian + coast and the indigenous population—Extensive + breeding—The use of pasture on the lands of the Rio + Negro—Transhumation.</p> +</div> + +<p>The northern limit of the Patagonian region passes to the north +of the Colorado, in the latitude of the Cerro Payen and of the ridge +which leads from Malarüe to the Rio Grande in the sub-Andean zone +(36° S. lat)., and to the Sierra de Lihuel Calel in the southern +part of the Pampa province. South of this line, from the Andes to the +Atlantic, on the territory of the Neuquen, the Rio Negro, the Chubut, +and the Santa Cruz, is the region of the sheep farms, their refuge +since more profitable branches of farming have driven the sheep from +the Pampa. The extensive breeding practised on these poor lands is +not profitable enough to justify much expenditure, and is therefore +all the more controlled by the physical conditions. It is true that +cattle-breeding was once undertaken in the Spanish settlements of +the lower Negro, and still exists in western Patagonia at the foot +of the Andes, but one never finds there the particular combination +of cattle-breeding and sheep-breeding which is characteristic of the +Pampean region, in which the main function of the cattle is to improve +the pasture and make it ready for sheep.</p> + +<p>The climate is trying. The west winds are violent during the greater +part of the year, especially on the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> + +coast, and merely relax a little in the winter. The mean temperature on +the Atlantic coast falls nearly one degree for each degree of latitude +(14.6° at San Antonio, below 41° S. lat.; 8.5° at Santa +Cruz, below 50° S. lat.; and 5.3° at Ushuaia, below 55° +S. lat.). The summer temperature falls even more steeply, but the +difference is less notable in winter (21.4° at San Antonio, 14° +at Santa Cruz, and 9.2° at Ushuaia). The low summer temperature +does not allow cereals to ripen south of the Chubut. In the sub-Andean +valleys the summer is comparatively warm (16° in January at Diez y +seis de Octubre at a height of 1,800 feet), but there is severe frost, +especially at the beginning of the winter, and no month of the year is +quite free from it.</p> + +<p>Rain is plentiful in the Cordillera, and on its western border: 800 +millimetres at Junin, nearly two metres at San Martin (which the wet +westerly winds reach by the gap of Lake Lacar), and nearly a metre at +Bariloche, on Lake Nahuel Huapi. It diminishes rapidly, however, as +soon as one leaves the mountainous region and goes further east over +the tableland. The whole tableland has a rainfall of less than 200 +millimetres (Las Lajas 180, Limay 150, San Antonio 180, Santa Cruz +135). It is only south of the Rio de Santa Cruz that the rainfall rises +once more (Gallegos 400 millimetres, Ushuaia 500 millimetres). Hence +Patagonia as a whole is, with the exception of a narrow belt at the +foot of the Andes, a semi-arid region with a sub-desert climate. In the +Patagonian Andes the rain falls, as on the coast of Chile, mainly in +winter. Between Mendoza, which has the summer-rain feature of central +and tropical Argentina, and Chosmalal, in the Neuquen Andes, the +contrast is absolute. The summer months there (January and February) +are dry, and the rain is confined to the winter months, from May to +August. It is the same further south, at Bariloche and at Diez y seis +de Octubre. On the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> + +Atlantic coast the winter-rain feature is less regular and uniform. +At San Antonio the heaviest rains fall in autumn (April and May). +There is a secondary maximum in August, and a few more showers +in the spring (September and October). South of San Antonio the +winter maximum, which is always marked, is cut by a short dry period +(July and August at Camerones, June at Deseado and Santa Cruz).<a + id="FNanchor_50_50" href="#Footnote_50_50" +class="fnanchor">50</a> In the interior, on the other hand, the +winter-rain system remains unchanged. The predominance of the +precipitations of the cold season is of great importance to the +breeders. As a rule, they come down in the form of snow, which melts +slowly, and the small quantity of moisture is at least all absorbed in +the soil. South of the Santa Cruz the humidity increases, but the rainy +season alters. At Gallegos the wettest month is December; at Ushuaia, +the rains last from September to March. The snow-season (May-August) +is the dry season, and the snowfalls are not heavy enough to interfere +with breeding.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>The surface of the Patagonian tableland is very uneven, though it +bears traces of having been much worn by the agencies of its desert +climate, which seems to have lasted through the whole Tertiary Era. +Going up the Rio Negro, one sees the grey sandstones and Tertiary +tufas which form the cliffs, on both sides of the lower valley. They +give place higher up to the variegated marls and red sandstones of +the Cretaceous which form the tableland at the foot of the first +Andean chains. The core of ancient granites and porphyries crops up at +places from under the mantle of Cretaceous and Tertiary sandstones. +The horizon of the peneplain passes from the Tertiary and Cretaceous +tableland to level masses of crystalline rock, the contour of which +has been almost entirely effaced. Volcanic eruptions have occurred +until quite recent times, and so eruptive areas are the salient +features of the tableland, at Añecon and at Somuncurra, south +of the district of the Rio Negro, in the ridge on the left bank of the +middle Senguerr, in the Chubut province. The basalts have spread out +in sheets, the surface of which seems to have cooled not long ago. +Basalt flows are found as far as northern Patagonia, south of Valcheta +and Maquinchao; but their chief seat is in eastern Patagonia. They +cover the inhospitable tablelands to the east of Lakes Buenos Aires and +Pueyrredon. The Rio Chico and the Santa Cruz cross them for the upper +two-thirds of their course, South of Coile and Gallegos they spread +almost to the coast, and the Tertiary Pampas in this part are dominated +by an archipelago of small volcanic cones.</p> + +<p>The tableland is crossed from west to east by deep and broad +valleys, enclosed between high cliffs, often strangled by ridges of +basaltic or crystalline rock, and very little ramified. The ravines +(<span lang="es">cañadones</span>), which make breaches in their cliffs on both +sides, go only a little way into the sandstone Pampa or the lava +tableland. Only a certain number of these valleys are occupied by +important rivers (the Rio Negro and the Santa Cruz, for instance) which +are born in the Andes, but receive little addition from the light +rains of eastern Patagonia. Most of the valleys have only intermittent +streams (Sheuen, Coile) or are altogether dry and sown with salt lakes +(Deseado). The west wind is now the ruler of this network of fossil +valleys. It carves their slopes, and brings into them sand, with which +it makes dunes.</p> + +<p>We must not confuse with these dead valleys the long depressions, +with no outlet, which are scattered over the granite and sandstone +tableland (<span lang="es">bajos</span>, <span lang="es">valles</span>, +<span lang="es">cuencas</span>). Some have obstinately, but wrongly, +sought in these the traces of rivers that have disappeared; +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> + +and the <span lang="es">bajos</span> of Gualicho and Valcheta have wrongly been regarded as +the former bed of the Rio Negro and the Limay. Erosion by wind seems to +have had something to do with these depressions. Their persistence, at +all events, is one of the effects of the aridity which prevents normal +erosion from moulding the surface of the tableland. The chief of them +are centres for collecting running water. There is a group of valleys +all round them, and alluvial beds accumulate in them.</p> + +<p>The climate determines the character of the soil in Patagonia. +The rounded pebbles of granite and eruptive rock, so often described +since the time of Darwin, sometimes free and sometimes embedded in red +sand or limestone,<a id="FNanchor_51_51" +href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">51</a> are spread over +the tableland like aureoles round the masses of rock, and they are +particularly abundant in the coast region. On the Rio Negro they +seem to be confined to the vicinity of the valley; they disappear as +one goes away from it. The progressive reduction in the volume of +the Rio Negro gravels, as one goes downward, has been observed to +begin in the Andean zone, and it is from the Andes that they come. +South of Santa Cruz, in a moister climate, in which the circulation +of the water is less localized, the bed is more continuous, and it +covers the Tertiary sandstones and clays. It is of fluvio-glacial +origin, and comes from the destruction of the old moraines, before the +excavation of the actual valleys. But it is the wind that explains the +concentration of the gravel at the surface. It separates the pebbles +from the more mobile material about them. Wherever the outcrop-strata +contain pebbles, the wind eventually converts the place into a field of +shingle. It has done this with the terraces of the Limay. The Tertiary +marine deposits of the coast region also are rich in pebbles torn from +the rocky promontories of the shore; hence the extent of stony soils in +the coast region. The wind similarly strips naked the angular stones, +of local origin and incompletely worn, round the isolated rocks of the +desert tableland or on the flanks of the secondary ravines.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the other hand, the bedding action of the wind creates deposits +consisting of small and uniform elements from the sands of the dunes to +the finest dust. The lightest particles, caught up repeatedly by the +squalls and carried to a great height in the atmosphere, go beyond the +Patagonian region and reach the bottom of the Atlantic or the plain +of the Pampa. Some of this, however, is deposited in the depressions +of the tableland, where the moisture fixes it and prevents the wind +from regaining it. These æolian deposits in the depressions, +a dark-grey clay, which hardens when it is dry, but is softened by +water, form two entirely different kinds of soil. If the depression +is closed in, or if the circulation of the water is too slight, there +is a concentration of the mineral salts; this is the <span lang="es">salitral</span>, +either naked or sustaining a halophytic vegetation, which the saline +efflorescences cover with a white coat during the dry season. If +on the other hand, the underground waters have a free course, the +æolian clay forms the <span lang="es">mallin</span>. Bushes and fine grasses grow on +it, and, as they decay, gradually give it a darker shade and modify its +composition. The soil above the <span lang="es">mallin</span> is rich in organic elements. +It covers the bottom of the valleys between low terraces, covered with +faceted pebbles, and dominated by the vertical cliffs of tufa and +lava. The contrast between the verdure of the <span lang="es">mallin</span> and the arid, +dusty, yellow steppe of the tableland is one of the most characteristic +features of Patagonian scenery. The area in which <span lang="es">mallin</span> has been +formed coincides with the most humid districts +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> + +in the vicinity of the Andes and round the higher hills. On the +road that runs along the right bank of the Limay, at some distance +from the river, on the surface of the tableland, the limit between +the country of the <span lang="es">salitrales</span> and that of the <span lang="es">mallinas</span> passes +between Tricaco and Chasico, a hundred miles south-east of Neuquen; +it almost tallies with the curve of a 200 millimetres rainfall.<a + id="FNanchor_52_52" href="#Footnote_52_52" +class="fnanchor">52</a> Though the word <span lang="es">mallin</span> is not used at Santa +Cruz, similar æolian soils are found in the western part of the +tableland up to this latitude. Further south glacial deposits, clays +with moraine-blocks, fill the valleys, and from Gallegos onward, cover +the greater part of the tableland.</p> + +<p>On the eruptive flows of recent date the rock is naked. The +wind carries away the products of its decomposition, and the dust +accumulates only in the fissures. Traffic is difficult, sometimes +impossible.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>Toward the west the tableland is separated from the Cordillera by +a longitudinal depression, though the continuity of this has been +exaggerated. This depression, which outlines the contact between +the folded zone of the Andes and the flat zone of the tableland, is +very important from the point of view of colonization. Just at the +frontier of the steppe and the forest, it is the most hospitable part +of Patagonia, the richest in natural resources. Amidst the glacial +lacustrine deposits which are accumulated on it there rise masses of +different kinds of rock which break it up into compartments, granitic +ridges of laccolites exposed to view, eruptive structures that have +been dismantled. In the south the sub-Andean depression forms a broad +passage between Lake Maravilla and Puntá Arenas, about two +hundred miles long, enclosed between the basalt cliffs of the tableland +on the east and the mountains of the Brunswick Peninsula and William +IV Land. The bottom of it is a singular glacial landscape, sown with +lagoons, punctuated by scattered hills, with an impermeable soil of +drift and mud. From Lake Argentina to Lake Buenos Aires the elevated +tablelands, which rise to a height of 5,000 feet, back upon the +Cordillera, and the sub-Andean depression is interrupted. Similarly, +between Lake Buenos Aires and Lake General Paz the contour of the +Patagonian tableland is not very marked above the sub-Andean zone. The +glacial alluvia at the foot of the Cordillera rise to the level of +the tableland, which sinks steadily eastward toward the Genua and the +Senguerr. To the north, between Carrenleufu and Lake Nahuel Huapi, the +retreat of the lakes has left long narrow beds right in the Cordillera, +such as the Valle Nuevo del Bolson, the bed of which has been taken +over by the Futaleufu west of the Cerro Situación. Further east +the topographical features of the edge of the tableland (the valleys of +the Chubut, Tecka, and Norquineo) lie from north to south. Hence within +a space of little more than a hundred kilometres the sub-Andean zone +has a series of parallel roads, communicating with each other by means +of broad, transverse gaps, which at one time were occupied by the lower +lobes of the glaciers. The sub-Andean depression does not go north of +Lake Nahuel Huapi.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> +<p>The morphological features of the Patagonian Andes begin at +36° S. lat.<a id="FNanchor_53_53" +href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">53</a> The edge of the +Cordillera, in the Malargüe depression, below 35° S. +lat., still presents the typical scenery of the central Andes. The +dejection-cone of the Atuel resembles that of the Mendoza. The fringe +of torrential deposits, distributed in cones over which the waters +spread, is due to the rapidity of the disintegration of the rocks in a +desert climate. Keidel has pointed out the part played by the summer +rains in transporting mobile elements, which the water drops as soon +as the slope diminishes; the amount of precipitation being too slight +to permit the formation and spread over the plain of a regular network +of streams. From the Rio Grande onward the dejection cones disappear. +The streams tend to become permanent, and sink into narrow valleys. +The summer rains cease, and the water produced by the melting of the +snows has only a feeble capacity for transporting stuff. The soil of +the Cordillera is protected by a denser vegetation. The first thickets +of <span lang="es">molle</span> appear in the valleys, the first scattered cypresses on the +slopes, at the Rio Agrio, a tributary of the Neuquen. Then the forest +invades the mountain: at first, from 38° S. lat. to 39° 30′ S. +lat., a resinous forest of araucarias. At length, at Lake Nahuel Huapi, +the forest assumes the general appearance which it has as far as the +Magellan region. It is chiefly made up of different kinds of beeches. +The <span lang="es">coihue</span> (<cite>Notofagus dombeyi</cite>) is the most conspicuous for about +three quarters of a mile, rising above an impenetrable undergrowth of +bamboo. Higher up the domain of the <span lang="es">lenga</span> (<cite>Notofagus +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> + +pumilio</cite>) extends as far as the fringe of the Alpine forests. The +forest does not reach the eastern limit of the lakes. In the sub-Andean +depression it is reduced to thickets of <span lang="es">ñirre</span> (<cite>Notofagus +antarctica</cite>) and <span lang="es">mayten</span> and clumps of <span lang="es">calafate</span> (something like +myrtles).</p> + +<p>It is on the Alumine, about 39° S. lat., that we find traces of +glacial erosion, as they spread over the landscape. At present there +is no ice on the mountain except on the peaks of Lanin and Tronador, +but from the Rio Puelo onward (42° S. lat.), glaciers clothe all +the summits which rise above 6,500 feet. North of the Aisen they form +a narrow, but almost continuous, line. From the Aisen to the Calen +fiord, and beyond the gap of the fiord as far as 52° S. lat., the +ice spreads in a considerable sheet which in some places attains a +breadth of eighty miles. The tongues of the glaciers reach the Pacific +below 46° S. lat., and Lake San Martin on the Argentine slope below +49° S. lat. In Tierra del Fuego the snow-line is at 2,300 feet, and +the glaciers which the snows feed, reach as far as the fiords and Lake +Fagnano.</p> + +<p>Lake Carri Lauquen, on the Barrancas (36° 20′ S. lat.), which +was almost entirely drained in 1914 through the breaking down of +the natural dam of soft earth which confined its waters, is not a +glacial lake.<a id="FNanchor_54_54" +href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">54</a> The chain of glacial +lakes stretches from the Alumine to the Seno de la Ultima Esperanza, +and is continued southward by Skyring Water, Otway Water, and +Useless Bay—genuine lakes in communication with the Pacific +by means of narrow channels. The lakes sometimes lie in a narrow +and deep glacial valley, the bottom of which they fill; sometimes +they branch out into the neighbouring valleys; at other times +they advance eastward beyond the zone of the mountains and spread +into round basins surrounded by circles of moraines. The largest +of them include groups of ramified fiords, which represent their +western half, while the eastern half spreads between lower banks.<a + id="FNanchor_55_55" href="#Footnote_55_55" +class="fnanchor">55</a></p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Yoke_of_Creole_Oxen" href="images/illus-155a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-155a.jpg" alt="Yoke of Creole Oxen" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">YOKE OF CREOLE OXEN USED FOR THE TRANSPORT + OF TIMBER ON THE EASTERN CHACO, OR CHACO OF SANTA FÉ.</p> + <p class="figcaption">On the Central (or Santiago) Chaco mules are + used for transport.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-155a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Works_at_Tartagal" href="images/illus-155b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-155b.jpg" alt="Works at Tartagal" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">WORKS AT TARTAGAL (EASTERN CHACO) FOR MAKING TANNIC ACID.</p> + <p class="figcaption">These works, built by powerful firms, are permanent + centres, drawing timber from a great stretch of forest, while + the saw-mills of the Central Chaco move about freely, to be + near the felling sites.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-155b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>Pastoral colonization has now spread over almost the entire surface +of Patagonia. The parts that are not yet occupied are of slight +extent; they consist only of the most desolate regions in the south +of the Rio Negro district and north of Santa Cruz. The expansion of +white colonization began only about 1880. Until then the interior was +abandoned to the indigenous tribes and was almost entirely unknown. +The Atlantic coast alone had been explored. The travels of Villarino +along the Rio Negro and the Limay as far as Lake Nahuel Huapi had left +only a faded memory.<a id="FNanchor_56_56" +href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">56</a> North of the Rio +Negro, Woodbine Parish (1859), making use of the notes left by Cruz, +who had crossed the Andes and the Indian territory between Antuco +and Melincue in 1806, was the first to publish definite information, +to which no addition would be made during the next forty years.<a + id="FNanchor_57_57" href="#Footnote_57_57" +class="fnanchor">57</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> + +<p>The settlements founded on the coast by the Spaniards at the +close of the eighteenth century (S. José and P. Deseado) were +ephemeral. Only one of them maintained an obscure existence, Carmen +de Patagones, some miles above the mouth of the Rio Negro. One of its +chief resources was the export of salt. Expeditions for this purpose +began on the Patagonian coast about the middle of the eighteenth +century (<em>Journey from San Martin to Puerto San Julian about</em> 1753, +Coll. de Angelis, V). After the revolution, Buenos Aires finally +abandoned these costly expeditions by land to the salt districts +of the Pampa, and was supplied with salt by schooners from Carmen. +During the war with Brazil and the blockade of the Rio de la Plata, +Carmen, protected by the bar of the Rio Negro, and the Bay of San Blas +were the harbours in which Argentine, English and French privateers +concealed their prizes and did their repairs after the storms of +the Gulf of Santa Catarina. D'Orbigny visited Carmen during this +period of equivocal prosperity. One of the most curious effects of +the hospitality offered to the privateers was the unloading upon the +Patagonian coast of blacks, intended for Brazil, who were taken from +the slave-traders. Thus an unforeseen eddy brought to the south of the +Pampean region part of the current of the slave-trade intended for the +sugar-cane plantations in tropical America. A number of the Carmen +ranches had coloured workers at this time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>Breeding, in fact, was just beginning to spread in the neighbourhood +of Carmen at the time. The cattle had been brought by land from Buenos +Aires, and had multiplied along the coast and the river above Carmen. +South of Carmen, at San José, the cattle had run wild after +the fort was abandoned. The Carmen herds were estimated, before the +revolution, at 40,000 head. They disappeared during the revolutionary +period, but were reconstituted immediately afterwards, and even during +the war with Brazil there was an active export of hides and salt beef. +Carmen profited mainly by trade with the Indians. It lived in terror +of them, and had garrisons to give the alarm on the routes by which +they could approach. But this state of chronic warfare did not prevent +trade. Near Carmen there was a group of peaceful Indians who served as +intermediaries with the tribes of the interior, who were jealous and +hostile. Guides and interpreters were found in this colony, and through +it came the first news of the interior. The traffic with the Indians +continued for a long time to be of great use to the colonists. In 1865 +the Welsh colony established on the Chubut, which had many difficulties +at first, was saved from complete disaster by its trade with the +Indians.</p> + +<p>The indigenous population comprised two groups: the Tehuelches, +or Patagonians proper, men of tall stature, and the Araucans, +the Ranqueles, the Pehuenches and the Pampas. There was no fixed +geographical limit between them. The Tehuelches lived in southern +Patagonia; but the Araucans advanced eastward +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> + +as far as the Pampas region and southward beyond the Chubut. +The Indian population of the valley of the Genua and the +Sanguerr, south of the colony of San Martin, comprised in +1880,<a id="FNanchor_58_58" +href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">58</a> and still comprises,<a + id="FNanchor_59_59" href="#Footnote_59_59" +class="fnanchor">59</a> a mixture of Araucans and Tehuelches. The +Araucans were acquainted with agriculture, but, once they had tamed +the horse, they became mainly a pastoral and hunting people, like the +Tehuelches.</p> + +<p>In so far as they were hunters, the Indians of Patagonia were +nomadic. The taming of the horse only made it easier for them to shift +from place to place, and gave them a greater range. Their nomadism +has too often been regarded as an aimless wandering. They had laws, +settled by the physical conditions; and we can gather a few of these. +They kept away from the coastal districts except in winter; that is the +season when the rains provide water-courses there. It has been observed +that names of Indian origin are lacking on the coast of Patagonia. The +Spanish navigators who landed there during the summer found the country +deserted and the camps abandoned. On the other hand, the share of the +Indians in giving names is very considerable in the interior, as far +as the foot of the Andes. During the summer the Indians approached the +mountains, where they found good hunting grounds. In particular they +chased the young guanacos in the breeding season, December and January. +Popper has indicated similar migrations amongst the Onas of Patagonia; +they approach the coast in winter, and leave it in summer, to hunt +in the interior.<a id="FNanchor_60_60" +href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">60</a> The district of Lake +Nahuel Huapi and Collon Cura had some attraction from afar. The forest +of araucarias produced seeds (<span lang="es">pinones</span>) which the Indians went to +gather; and they also liked the wild apples which ripened on the former +estates of the old Jesuit missions. The clusters of bamboo on the +Cordillera provided the lances of the Aucas and Tehuelches.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lake Nahuel Huapi is the first stage of the busiest of the routes +used by the Indians. It came from the lower Santa Cruz, went up the Rio +Chico, and from there northward followed the foot of the Cordillera. +D'Orbigny was told about it: "All the Indians who live near the Andes +go along the eastern foot of the mountains in their journeys, because +they find water there, whereas they would find none if they went by the +coast; in that way they travel from the Straits of Magellan to the Rio +Negro." The Indian track only left the sub-Andean depression between +the Rio Chico and Lake Buenos Aires, in the district where the high +basalt <span lang="es">mesetias</span> extend as far as the Cordillera, and on the Pampa of +the Sanguerr.</p> + +<p>From Lake Nahuel Huapi the Indians of the south descended the Limay +and the Rio Negro, and reached the island of Choele Choel, some 230 +miles above Carmen, where they met the Aucas and Puelches. There they +exchanged their <span lang="es">guanacos</span> hides for woollen fabrics made by the Aucas. +Choele Choel was the only large, purely indigenous market; the whites +never visited it. Geographical reasons fixed the site of this market of +the nomads. In the latitude of Choele Choel the Rio Negro approaches +the Colorado and the archipelago of the Sierras of the southern Pampa, +which mark so many stages on the routes from the Pampa to the Andes. +To the south the coast-route, less exposed to snow than the sub-Andean +track, began from Choele Choel. The Indians followed this to reach the +Gulf of San Jorge and the Santa Cruz in winter, during the rainy +season. Darwin notes the importance of the site and the ford of Choele +Choel. Villarino had suspected it, and had, as early as 1782, pleaded +for the building of a fort there. By holding this point, he said, they +could prevent the tribes from +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> + +attacking Buenos Aires, or from approaching the Patagonian coast +in the district of San José.<a +id="FNanchor_61_61" href="#Footnote_61_61" +class="fnanchor">61</a></p> + +<p>As far back as we can go, the life of the Indians seems to have +been deeply influenced by their relations with the whites. The Aucas +brought to Choele Choel, not only the products of their industry, but +also objects stolen or bought from the Christians on the Pampa. The +report of Musters, who followed a Tehuelche tribe from Santa Cruz to +the country of the Manzanas ("land of apples"), shows clearly that the +attraction of the Nahuel Huapi region for the Indians was less due to +its natural resources than to the presence of the Chilean settlements +at Valdivia, from which came across the passes of the Cordillera +certain quantities of brandy.</p> + +<p>The Indian never took to cattle-breeding. His herd never consisted +of more than mares and a few sheep. But trade in stolen cattle quickly +became the chief occupation of the tribes. It would, however, be a +mistake to imagine that the thievish Indian was merely and always a +dreaded enemy of the ranches of Carmen. They sometimes had recourse to +his services and profited by his misdeeds. After the Revolution, it was +the Indians who helped to fill once more the ranches of the Rio Negro, +bringing runaway cattle which had remained in the San José +district. Later, Carmen bought the cattle stolen by the Indians at +Buenos Aires. From 1823 to 1826 the number of the cattle sold by the +Indians to the colonists on the Rio Negro is estimated at 40,000. Hence +the breeders of Carmen had, as regards the Indians, alternate periods +of armed conflict and complicity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<p>But Chile was always the great market for stolen cattle. Raids +(<span lang="es">malones</span>) and the crossing of the Cordillera by convoys began in the +eighteenth century, and continued throughout the nineteenth, until +1880, when the consolidation of Argentine authority on the eastern +side gave a more regular form to the cattle-trade. The convoys came to +a halt at Antuco and Chillan from which the Chilean buyers sometimes +accompanied the Indian tribes as far as the <span lang="es">tolderias</span> on the edge of +the Pampa. The trade in stolen cattle made use of all the passes of +the Cordillera, from the Planchon pass below 35° S. lat., which +Roca had covered in 1877 by the fortress of Alamito, to the source +of the Bio Bio. The one most used was the Pichachen or the Antuco +pass. On the tableland the cattle-tracks formed a regular network +with innumerable strands, spreading over a width of about two hundred +miles. The most northern route started east of the Poitague district +and, after fording the Salado and the Atuel, and passing the <span lang="es">aguadas</span> +of Cochico and Ranquilco, entered the Cordillera at the bend of the +Rio Grande. Another track ascended the Colorado and then reached the +high valley of Neuquen. A third crossed from the Colorado to the Rio +Negro, and, above the confluence of the Limay, to the Rio Agrio or the +Alumine.</p> + +<p>The first exact information about the range of the Patagonian +Indians is supplied by a group of bold travellers who followed their +tracks from 1870 to 1880: Musters, Moreno, Moyano, Ramon Lista, etc. +Their discoveries had already outlined the geographical survey of +Patagonia when the campaign of 1879-1883 opened it to colonization.</p> + +<p>The story of white colonization since 1880 shows us several distinct +streams of population. The first, starting from the region of the +Pampa, went from north to south along the Atlantic coast, and gradually +extended its sphere toward the interior. The breeders used the +sea-route, the ancient Indian track with recognized sources of water, +to convey their first herds. In 1884, the only spot inhabited on the +coast between the Rio Negro and the Deseado was the Welsh colony on the +Chubut. In 1886 Fontana reports ranches +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> + +in the Puntá Delfin district, south of the Chubut.<a + id="FNanchor_62_62" href="#Footnote_62_62" +class="fnanchor">62</a> About 1890 the whole district round +the Gulf of San Jorge was occupied; and a little later the +stream from the north met the stream from the south about San +Julian and Santa Cruz. The expansion of colonization was less +rapid in the interior. Ambrosetti tells us of the establishment +of the first ranches round the Sierra de Lihuel Calel in 1893,<a + id="FNanchor_63_63" href="#Footnote_63_63" +class="fnanchor">63</a> and at the same time Siemiradzki +still found few traces of colonization on the Colorado.<a + id="FNanchor_64_64" href="#Footnote_64_64" +class="fnanchor">64</a></p> + +<p>The second stream of colonization came from the Magellan region. It +started in Chilean territory, about Puntá Arenas. It was about +1878 that sheep-breeding spread round Puntá Arenas, and between +1885 and 1892 was the most rapid growth of the ranches of the Magellan +district. North of the Straits they occupied the lowlands round Skyring +Water and Otway Water, then the plateau south of Gallegos. They spread +along the Atlantic as far as the Santa Cruz. In 1896 the limit of the +sheep-region was on the Santa Cruz about forty miles from the coast.<a + id="FNanchor_65_65" href="#Footnote_65_65" +class="fnanchor">65</a> To the west, Puerto Consuelo was founded in +1892, and in 1896 colonization came up against the mountain barrier +which the Cerro Payen and the basalt tableland of the Cerro Vizcachas +interpose between Lake Argentine and Ultima Esperanza fiord.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>The spheres of primitive colonization in southern Patagonia on the +coast still differ from each other in regard to density of population. +But breeders in search of unoccupied land have not hesitated to push +beyond. In 1895 and 1900 they passed west of the Gulf of San Jorge +toward the basin of the Sanguerr and the Genua, (establishment of the +Sarmiento colony, south of Colhuapi, 1897: establishment of San Martin +on the Genua 1900). Since 1900 the population has also advanced up the +Santa Cruz and the Rio Chico as far as the zone of the Andes, and the +lagoon which still existed twenty years ago, between the district of +the Sanguerr and that of Lake Argentino, and is easily recognized on +the maps of the Frontier Commission, has been almost entirely filled +up.</p> + +<p>The story of colonization in the northern part of the Patagonian +Andes is more complicated. Immediately after the campaign of 1883 the +valleys of the Neuquen were invaded by Chilean immigrants, half-breeds +of the frontier, who cannot always be easily distinguished from pure +Araucans. A certain number of Chilotes, and even Germans from the +southern colonies of Chile, were mixed with the half-breeds. This +stream of immigration had begun before the conquest. As early as 1881 +Host notices that there are at Chosmalal various families of Chilean +farmers who held their lands from the Indian <span lang="es">cacique</span>. During the +summer they took care of the migratory herds from the Chilean plain. +Once the country was pacified, they grew rapidly in number. It was +they who provided the manual labour for the placer miners of the +Neuquen, where gold began to be worked in 1890. The area of Chilean +colonization extends from the Rio Atuel, where Villanueva found +Chilean immigrants in 1884, to the south of Lake Nahuel Huapi, where +Chileans were still met by Vallentin in 1906, on the Rio Pico, close +to 44° S. lat.<a id="FNanchor_66_66" +href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">66</a> South of Nahuel +Huapi there is no regularly used route across the Cordillera.<a + id="FNanchor_67_67" href="#Footnote_67_67" +class="fnanchor">67</a> The Chilean colonists of the southern zone +came from the north, therefore, along the eastern foot of the Andes. +Bailey Willis calculated that there were 2,000 Chileans in a total +population of 3,500 in the sub-Andean area from Nahuel Huapi to Diez y +seis de Octubre. The total number of Chilean immigrants may be about +20,000. It is not on the increase, as immigration from Chile was +suspended from 1890 to 1895. Since the reconstruction of the frontier +the Chilean Government has tried to bring back part of the emigrants +to its own territory. Many have gone to settle in the valley of the +Lonquimay. In 1896 Moreno saw traces everywhere in the valley of the +Collon Cura of the departure of Chilean colonists who had left the +country.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>At first it was only the Argentinians of the western +provinces, San Juan and Mendoza, who vied with the Chileans for +the soil. It is they whom Furque found in 1888 at Roca, on the +Rio Negro. But beginning with 1890-95, immigrants of various +nationalities have settled on the Neuquen and the Negro.<a + id="FNanchor_68_68" href="#Footnote_68_68" +class="fnanchor">68</a> Foreign capitalists organized their first +ranches there. In 1888, on the other hand, the Welsh of the lower +Chubut, led by Indian guides, went from the coast to the sub-Andean +region, and settled in the valley of Diez y seis de Octubre. Between +1895 and 1900 the neighbouring valleys began to be inhabited, +and the colonization areas of Nahuel Huapi and the Sanguerr came +into contact.<a id="FNanchor_69_69" +href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">69</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The most striking feature of colonization in Patagonia is the very +low density of population. The Census of 1914 gives 81,000 inhabitants +altogether for the territories of the Rio Negro, the Neuquen, the +Chubut, the Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego. A well-kept ranch of +25,000 square kilometres has only a staff of about a hundred men at +the most, counting strangers, settled on its land; three hundred +inhabitants, or scarcely more than one to ten square kilometres. +This population falls into two distinct classes. One is the class of +proprietors with regular titles: a rooted and stable class. At first +the Government granted enormous concessions, which were taken up +especially by English buyers, but it now seeks to break up the land, +and the plots which it puts on the market for new pastoral colonies +have not more than 625 hectares. This is too small for breeding, no +matter how good the situation may be, and there will inevitably be, +one would think, a concentration of estates in the hands of a few +proprietors. The other part of the population occupy lands which they +do not own. They are displaced steadily as the regular concessions +are sold to new ranches. They live, so to say, on the margin of +colonization, and are more and more restricted to the poorest lands. +Sometimes these <span lang="es">intrusos</span> or <span lang="es">pobladores</span> get hospitality for their +herds on the land of some ranch in return for their services. They +have little capital, and never make material improvements. They take +no care to nurse the pasture, and it matters little to them if it is +impoverished.</p> + +<p>The climate divides Patagonia into two distinct regions. In the +west, the moist Andean zone is suitable for cattle-breeding. About +1870 the Chileans of Valdivia hunted wild cattle in the Nahuel Huapi +district. Similarly the Frontier Commission met large herds of wild +cattle on the shores of Lake San Martin, which were not yet occupied. +Sheep do not get on well in the moist zone, where the rains have washed +out the soil and carried away the salts which seem to be indispensable +to the sheep. It is the arid tableland that +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> + +is the land of the sheep. There it has displaced cattle, even in the +area which the early breeders at the end of the eighteenth century +had filled with cattle. Between the sheep-area and the cattle-area +is a mixed region, where the two are combined. It extends more or +less according as the transition from a moist to a desert climate is +gradual or sudden. It is especially important in the districts where +colonization is already old, as in the Fuegian and Neuquen regions. +It is lacking in districts where the colonization is recent (Chubut +and Santa Cruz), where the sheep-breeders have had a free run as far +as the Andes. The ranches of the Cordillera, which specialize in +cattle-breeding, all have small flocks of sheep for their own use, +their staff being so small that it does not pay to kill the cattle.</p> + +<p>The sheep-area is by far the more extensive of the two. The patches +of agricultural colonization are very scattered and small on its +surface. They are restricted to the river-oases of the Rio Negro and +the Chubut. These small tilled districts have preserved a remarkable +economic independence as regards the pastoral zone, in which they seem +lost. Thus the farmers on the Chubut exported their wheat to Buenos +Aires until about 1900, and they still send their bales of dry lucerne +there. Some of the ranches have tilled small oases in suitable places, +but these are merely intended to increase their stores of fodder; not +for their flock of sheep, but for the saddle-horses used in watching +the estate and the draught-horses used for transport.</p> + +<p>The pastoral capacity of the Patagonian scrub is, on the average, +from 800 to 1,200 head of sheep to 25 square kilometres: less than a +tenth that of the prairies of the eastern Pampa. The ranch fixes its +residence in the best part of the estate, where there is least fear of +a shortage of water, and where pasture is most plentiful. To this the +sheep are brought periodically to receive disinfecting baths against +the scab, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> + +and for shearing. These incessant movements toward the centre of the +ranch cause an almost permanent strain on the pasture, and this is +one of the chief anxieties of the breeder. The area of the estate is +divided as soon as possible into sections (<span lang="es">potreros</span>) by steel-wire +fences, which enables them to watch over the reproduction and +improvement of the flock and make the best use of the pasture. Fencing +is more advanced near the Cordillera, as timber for the posts is found +there.</p> + +<p>Certain districts are still uninhabited on account of the lack +of water. Some of the sources of water are permanent. The water +issues at the base of the volcanic rocks, when the underlying rock is +impermeable, and above the various levels of the marl in the Patagonian +swamps; for instance, in the <span lang="es">cañadones</span> round the Gulf of San +Jorge. Besides this, the rain and melting snow leave on the surface +of the tableland a great number of pools, which evaporate in the dry +season. These are temporary supplies, the <span lang="es">manantiales</span>, to which the +breeders are reduced over large areas of the tableland. Most of the +stagnant sheets of water which are permanent are saline. The proportion +of salt in them is very variable, and changes in each case according to +the cycle of dry and wet years. The water of the Carilaufquen was fresh +in 1900, and in 1914 it had become brackish, though it could still be +used for the flocks.</p> + +<p>Finding permanent sources of water is the first concern of the +breeder. In some districts he has succeeded in tapping sheets of +fresh water by means of wells. There are none of these wells in the +crystalline zones, the closed hollows, where the sheets of water are +often large, but they are always saline. Neither are there any in the +red sandstone district, the dryest of all. In the western region the +wells are sunk in the arid valleys, along the track of the underground +stream. Thus the Picun Leufu, the visible course of which is +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> + +lost seventeen miles above its confluence with the Limay, may be +traced by a continuous line of wells. It is especially in the coastal +districts that the wells have transformed the conditions of breeding. +Water was first discovered at the foot of the dunes, along the coast +itself (district of Viedma, San José, etc.). Since then deep +borings have been made over the whole of the Tertiary platform on both +sides of the lower part of the Rio Negro, north of San Antonio. There +every ranch has its sheet-iron tank, sheltered by a clump of tamarinds, +with a windmill to fill it.</p> + +<p>All pastures are not equally available in every season. Those +which are at a height of more <del>that</del><ins>than</ins> 4,000 feet in the north, and +2,300 to 2,600 feet in the south, are covered in winter with a thick +mantle of snow. These are summer pastures. During the winter the +animals are brought down to the principal valleys or to sheltered +<span lang="es">cañadones</span> below the level of the tableland. The <span lang="es">mallin</span> +is, as a rule, a winter pasture. When it is too wet, however, it is +treacherous, and the animals are buried in it. They have to wait for +fine weather before going into it. The pastures, too, which have no +permanent water supply, or have only <span lang="es">manantiales</span>, which dry up at +the beginning of summer, can only be used during the winter. Hence +each ranch has to have, besides its assured water supply, a suitable +combination of summer and winter pasturage, and it is far from certain +that this will be found on every estate, cut up geometrically for +colonization, as they were, by the administration of lands.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Volcano_Puntiagudo" href="images/illus-171a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-171a.jpg" alt="The Volcano Puntiagudo" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE VOLCANO PUNTIAGUDO.</p> + <p class="figcaption">On the Chilean side, to the north of the road from Lake + Nahuel Huapi. The glaciers come down lower on the western + side, as the moist winds come from the west, and the rain + becomes less and less frequent as one goes eastward toward the + Patagonian tableland.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-171a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Cercas_on_the_Limay" href="images/illus-171b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-171b.jpg" alt="Cercas" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">CERCAS ON THE LIMAY (RISING IN LAKE NAHUEL HUAPI), + NEAR THE CONFLUENCE OF THE TRAFUL.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Here the Limay enters the sub-desert tableland. + Last trees (cypresses) in the valley in the foreground.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Bailey Willis.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XIII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-171b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>The constitution of the flock and the first occupation of the +land have compelled breeders to undertake difficult journeys, and +more than one of these proved disastrous. The earliest arrivals, +driving their sheep along little-known tracks, could not avoid losses +in crossing the arid parts of the tableland: parts which D'Orbigny, +translating literally the Spanish word <span lang="es">travesia</span>, calls "crossings."<a + id="FNanchor_70_70" href="#Footnote_70_70" +class="fnanchor">70</a> When the ranch is established, the breeding +does not necessitate any further movements of the flocks to a great +distance, apart from certain special migrations, or "transhumations," +which I will consider later. It is on each ranch, sometimes on +each group of ranches combined in a single estate, that they pass +alternately from winter to summer pasture. The only transport necessary +is that of wool. The fleeces, which the west wind has heavily laden +with dust, are collected in the sheds belonging to the ranch, or, in +the case of the <span lang="es">intrusos</span>, on the premises of certain small traders +(<span lang="es">bolicheros</span>) who are scattered over the tableland even at its extreme +limits. Convoys of wagons then take them to the ports on the coast.</p> + +<p>For some years now, however, wool has ceased to be the sole product +of the ranches. A little before 1895 the first slaughter-houses, for +killing the older sheep that were no longer fertile, were erected on +the Straits of Magellan. Refrigerators have succeeded these, and were +opened at Puerto Callegos and San Julian. A third refrigerator is being +constructed (1915) at Puerto Deseado. In southern Patagonia, also, part +of the flock is sent to the refrigerators or to the slaughter houses +of the Pampean region. The creation of the refrigerator has compelled +breeders to adapt their work to the new economic conditions. The merino +breed is being eliminated by the Lincoln in all districts which feel +the influence of the refrigerator; the Lincoln is of greater weight and +quicker growth, but the merino survives in arid northern Patagonia.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p>Besides this, the establishment of the refrigerators has caused +important movements of transport. The flocks which are to go to the +refrigerators or the northern railways are moved in the good season, +after the shearing, from November to April. The routes they take are +not invariable. One of the most frequented, leading from the sub-Andean +tablelands to San Julian, follows the Santa Cruz valley. When the land +was cut up, there was no reason to foresee these movements, and nothing +was done to facilitate them. The roads cross the ranches, which are +compelled to allow it. It is a serious burden for some of them, unless +they can make a profit out of their situation on the road by hiring +pasture for the flocks as they pass.</p> + +<p>The Andean zone itself is still mainly pastoral, but it is +nevertheless far more varied and richer in possibilities of development +than the tableland. Agriculture is already combined with breeding in +that area.</p> + +<p>The name <span lang="es">vegas</span>, which in the Puna and at San Juan means alpine +pasture, is applied here to tilled patches in the Andean valleys. +They are found in the north in the valley of the Neuquen, round +Chosmalal. In the south, the valley of the Rio Pico marks the limit of +cultivation. Irrigation is almost always necessary north of Lake Nahuel +Huapi, where the <span lang="es">vegas</span> have, as a rule, a soil of coarse alluvia or +permeable tufa, which dries up quickly. Water is plentiful, it is true, +and increases in quantity rapidly as one travels southward. The chief +obstacle to the extension of cultivation is the frequency of frost in +spring and summer. The deep hollows of the sub-Andean depression south +of Lake Nahuel Huapi, the height of which drops to 1,000 feet at the +Bolson, and 1,600 feet at Diez y seis de Octubre, have no frosts in +summer, and they sustain small agricultural communities. At higher +levels, in the basin of the lake or on the <span lang="es">vegas</span> of the Traful and +Lake Lacar, at an altitude of about 2,600 feet, the distribution of the +summer frosts is closely related to the contour and lie of the land, +which may facilitate or impede the circulation of the layers of cold +air, and the play of what has been called atmospheric drainage. The +valleys which are very open from west to east, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> + +at the outlet of the lakes, where the west winds have a free passage, +are little liable to frost. Wherever frost is frequent, cultivation +has to be restricted to fodder plants. The more favoured cantons, +which grow wheat, rye and potatoes, help to feed the local pastoral +population, and export part of their produce to some distance on the +tableland.</p> + +<p>Cattle-breeding is, like sheep-breeding on the tableland, practised +both by the <span lang="es">pobladores</span> on public lands and by ranchers who have +settled on regular concessions, which they have worked up and fenced +round. The high alpine pastures, above the fringe of the forest, are +partly used, from December to March, as summer-pasture. The forest also +serves for pasture; it is a sort of common land, available both in +winter and summer. Below the height of 3,500 feet the clumps of bamboos +in the underwood provide shelter during the winter and fodder which +is not buried under snow. The fires lit by the breeders have changed +part of the primitive forest into a scrub which has been invaded by a +leguminous climbing fodder, and it has superior pastoral capacity to +the forest. East of the forest, the prairie, which is too much exposed +to the winds, is not generally suitable for winter-pasture. The cattle +take refuge in sheltered valleys and in the <span lang="es">mayten</span> thickets which +follow the depressions. Bailey Willis puts the pastoral capacity of the +virgin forest at 400 cattle to each 2,500 hectares, 600 for the burnt +forest, and 350 for the sub-Andean prairies. The essential problem in +connection with the question of completely developing the pastoral +resources of the sub-Andean region is the problem of transit. There +are no roads from one district to another and to the higher prairies. +The fallen trunks which lie about the forest obstruct the way of the +cattle. Collecting the animals for sale and watching them are both +difficult.</p> + +<p>It seems that the profit of exploiting the timber must necessarily +be small. The forest, thinned by +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> + +fire and difficult of access, is partly composed of trees that are too +old. The <span lang="es">libocedrus</span> has disappeared from one-third of it. The larch, +which is the most valuable, passes into Argentine territory at few +places. Saw-mills are not so numerous on the eastern slope of the Andes +as they are in the Magellan area.</p> + +<p>The essential function of the forest is, according to Argentine +experts on forestry, to control the water-circulation. In this land +of glacial erosion and recent captures, where the water-courses have +always a great variety of form, and there are lakes to make their +output more regular, it is particularly easy to make use of hydraulic +power. "White coal" will, Bailey Willis says, make a great industrial +region of it, and plant an urban life in it. Bailey Willis, whose +optimism and prophetic gift will not fail to surprise the European +reader, has drawn the plans in detail of a future town of 40,000 +souls at the eastern end of Lake Nahuel Huapi. The Patagonian land +will supply the raw material of its industries; timber, leather, and +wool.</p> + +<p>One, at least, of the indispensable conditions of the development of +urban life is fully realized in the district of Lake Nahuel Huapi and +the Limay. It is a remarkable meeting-place of natural roads, and its +economic value will increase in the future. It is the point where the +road from eastern Patagonia by the sub-Andean depression, from the Gulf +of San Antonio on the Atlantic, and from the Rio Negro by the Limay, +and the roads that lead to Chile across the Cordillera, meet. The whole +zone of the Andes between 36° S. lat. and 42° S. lat., the +latitude of the southern part of the Chilean plain, has numerous and +easy passes. There has always been close communication between the two +slopes, and people have emigrated freely from one to the other. But +north of 39° S. lat. the passes are rarely lower than 5,000 feet. +They are covered with snow in the winter, and can be used for traffic +only in certain seasons. It is not the same +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> + +south of the volcano Lanin. That is the beginning of the glacial +valleys which go to the heart of the Cordillera, some of them crossing +the mountains from east to west. They have not yet been entirely +explored. The Bariloche pass, south of the Tronador, by which the +Chilean missionaries reached Nahuel Huapi in the eighteenth century, +is no longer used. The Cajon Negro pass, west of Lake Traful, through +which Bailey Willis traces the line of a southern trans-Andean railway, +was only recently discovered, and the valleys which run into it on the +Chilean side are not yet well known. The two best-known trans-Andean +routes to-day are the Perez Rosales road, which leads from Chile to +Nahuel Huapi by the north of the Tronador, and further north, the +road from Lake Lacar to San Martin. Both these have received some +attention, and the lakes are connected by telegraph or telephone. The +frequent need to unload and reload makes the traffic costly, but it is +permanent and is not interrupted in winter. The reduction of the export +of cattle to Chile has cut down the traffic for a time, but it is sure +to recover. The permanent importance of it is one of the facts most +clearly written by nature upon the soil of South America.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>It is not easy, in the absence of documents, to attempt to give for +Patagonia as a whole a detailed description of the pastoral industry, +and to follow step by step on the spot its efforts to adjust itself +to the natural conditions. But the analysis may be attempted in +regard to the region between San Antonio and Lake Nahuel Huapi south +of the Rio Negro,<a id="FNanchor_71_71" +href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">71</a> the valley of the Rio +Negro, and the tableland which stretches westward between the Neuquen +and the Limay. This part of Patagonia is now easily accessible, and it +is entered by two parallel railways. One starts from San Antonio on +the Atlantic, and goes westward to Lake Nahuel Huapi. It has (1914) +reached Maquinchao, on the tableland, mid-way across the Andes. The +other starts from Bahía Blanca. At Choele Choel it enters the +valley of the Rio Negro, and ascends it as far as the confluence of the +Neuquen. Then it goes 130 miles westward as far as Zapala, at the foot +of the first sub-Andean chains. Each of these lines is ambitious to +attract the trans-Andeans. At all events, they are in a hurry to reach +the humid zone at the foot of the Andes, which could maintain a busier +traffic than the desolate tableland.</p> + +<p>The railway from San Antonio, and the road which is a continuation +of it west of Maquinchao, cover a distance of 320 miles from the +Atlantic to the Andes, and cross five distinct regions. The first is +the coastal plain, composed of horizontal marine Tertiary sedimentary +rocks, both of sand and clay. The plain rises slowly toward the west, +and it attains a height of 650 feet at a distance of seventy miles +from the coast. This coastal platform divides, on the north-west, +the enclosed hollow of the Bajo del Gualicho from the Gulf of San +Antonio. Its surface is very even. The gravel on it has formed a sort +of conglomerate, and in spite of appearances, this gravelly soil is +not bad for vegetation. It quickly absorbs the rain-water, which thus +escapes evaporation. The vegetation is comparatively rich. There are +no springs, but the autumn rains sustain <span lang="es">manantiales</span> in the marly +surface, and these do not dry up until the spring. During the summer +the plain is deserted, and there is no water. But the flocks return in +the winter and remain there until spring. There is very little snow, as +the temperature is moderate. In spite of the density of the pastoral +population in winter, the pasturage is not injured. The grass grows +plentifully amongst the thickets. This is because the flocks leave the +district before the season when the grasses flower and reproduce, so +the next generation is secured. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> + +Part of the flocks which winter on the coastal plain pass the summer in +the south-west, on the high basaltic tablelands of Somuncura. However, +the whole of the surface of the tableland cannot be used permanently, +or during the entire summer. There is plenty of water in spring, when +the snows have melted. In the middle of the summer the flocks collect +round the permanent springs, and they scatter once more over the +mountain pastures during the autumn rains, before they return to the +plain.</p> + +<p>The second region is that of Valcheta. From Aguada Cecilia to Corral +Chico the railway follows for sixty miles the edge of the outpour of +lava from the south, which covers the Tertiary clays. In front of the +basalt cliff the land dips in the north toward a closed depression, the +Bajo de Valcheta, the bottom of which consists of clays impregnated +with salt. Tertiary marine strata surround this hollow in the west and +north, where they divide it from the Bajo del Gualicho, but here they +form only a thin skin which covers the crystalline platform. The line +of contact of the basalt and the Tertiary marls is marked by a series +of good springs, and these give rise to permanent streams, such as the +Arroyo Valcheta and the Nahuel Niyeu. At first they flow in a narrow +valley crowned by basalts, with peaty prairies at the bottom, then over +Tertiary marls, and, in the latitude of the railways, they pass into a +gorge cut through the granites before losing themselves to the north in +the <span lang="es">salitral</span>. A small agricultural oasis is sustained by the waters +of the Valcheta.</p> + +<p>The site of Valcheta has an exceptional importance in the story of +Patagonian colonization. It marks a necessary stage in the Indian track +from the Atlantic to Nahuel Huapi, which is now followed by the line +of the railway. Musters halted there. The track from Choele Choel, on +the Rio Negro, to the southern coast and the Santa Cruz also passed by +there. It was so much used, says Ezcurra, that the hoofs of the horses +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> + +had hollowed it.<a id="FNanchor_72_72" +href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">72</a> The Argentine village +dates from 1890. At first it lived by supplying fodder to the convoys +of wagons which carried the wool. The railway has suppressed this +traffic, and the only outlet of the oasis to-day is the small port +of San Antonio, where the wool is shipped, and where the district is +unsuitable for any kind of cultivation.</p> + +<p>Like the coast region, the Valcheta district seems marked out by +its moderate altitude to serve as winter pasture. In point of fact, it +is used during the whole year. The springs do not dry up in summer. +The streams which flow from the south toward the Bajo de Valcheta are +permanent. In addition, a few wells have been bored in the Tertiary +strata. Contrary to experience on the coast, therefore, cattle can be +kept here during the summer. There is less chance for the grasses to +reproduce, and the pasture tends to become impoverished.</p> + +<p>The third zone, 130 miles from the coast, is that of the tableland +of the Cerros Colorados, where low masses of red granite rise like +an archipelago amongst the Tertiary formations deposited in the +intervening depressions. In the west its altitude rises from 650 to +1,300 feet. It is one of the poorest parts of the tableland, and the +size of the flock is reduced to 600 head to the square league. The +naked rock crops up, not covered, as it is further east, by a bed of +gravel. In the valleys there is little water, and it lies very deep. +There are no periodical removals of the animals. Winter and summer they +remain within range of a few poor springs, which are caused by various +outcrops of lava of limited extent; and they leave these, and wander +over the tableland, only in the rainy season.</p> + +<p>Beyond the Cerros Colorados the line rises rapidly, and at +Maquinchao it reaches the basin of Lake Carilaufquen. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> + +This occupies the bottom of a closed depression, at an altitude of +3,000 feet, dominated on every side by a plateau of lava, toward +which, in the south, a number of important valleys run (Nahuel Niyeu, +Quetriquile, Maquinchao). These valleys rise in the south in the basalt +plateau, at a height of 4,000 and 4,700 feet, and have no running water +except at their upper ends. South of Carilaufquen they open upon a +broad plain, round which there is a sombre cornice of lava, about 350 +feet high. Water has collected on the plain, which consists of alluvial +beds redistributed by wind: angular pebbles from the terraces, fine +dust from the <span lang="es">mallinas</span>, and sand from the dunes round the lake.</p> + +<p>This region is much better than that of the Cerros Colorados. +There are many springs at the base of the lava-flows, on the sides +of the valleys, and it has as yet not been necessary to look for the +subterranean sheets which accompany some of the valleys. The elevated +basin of the Quetriquile, though it is only occupied by <span lang="es">intrusos</span>, +seems to have a particularly high pastoral density, and, I am told, +feeds 500,000 sheep. In the western part of the region the spring +is late, and there is risk of snow during the lambing season. There +are, however, no rams there; the lambs are brought from Maquinchao. +This arrangement of special zones for the multiplication of the flock +enables them rapidly to improve the breed. Here again there are no +removals of the animals to a great distance in order to use the +pasture. The vegetation of the valleys suffered from the continuous +presence of the flocks during the years of drought before 1914; the +reproduction of useful grasses was prevented. There is, however, less +danger here than on the Cerros Colorados, because the <span lang="es">mallinas</span> are +extensive, and they suffice for feeding the sheep during the periods +when the <span lang="es">manantiales</span> of the tableland dry up, and the animals are +confined to the valleys.</p> + +<p>The fifth region comprises the high ridge which divides +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> + +the basin of the Carilaufquen from Nahuel Huapi, the water of which +flows northward toward the Limay and southward toward the Chubut: +successive eruptions have covered the surface with lava and ash, which +at Añecon rise to a height of 6,700 feet. The granite platform +which emerges in the north, at the Cerro Aspero and the Quadradito, +rises to a height of 4,400 and 4,700 feet, and in some places presents +a bold and rejuvenated aspect. The whole has been cut up in all +directions by erosion, and it affords comparatively easy means of +getting about, which the Indian tracks have followed. Below the higher +slopes the valleys deepen into gorges, and these broaden out in the +soft tufa and are lost at the cross-streams of lava or the outcrops +of the granite. In so varied a land, with such marked differences of +altitude, the winter and summer pastures are always close together. +Precipitation is more plentiful than at a distance from the Cordillera; +the pasturage is richer, and the size of the flock rises to 1,600 sheep +to the league. The sheep pass the winter on the lower slopes, where +they are sheltered from the winds and the snow. They descend to the +<span lang="es">mallin</span> when the dry season sets in and makes the soil firm. In summer +they go on to the tablelands, where the pastures extend to a height of +5,000 feet.</p> + +<p>Bailey Willis, studying the improvements that might be made in the +pastoral processes, concluded that the essential point was to use each +pasturage in its best season, and establish a carefully considered +rotation on the various lands. This system, which alone would enable +them to nurse the natural resources of the scrub in the way of plants +for fodder, is used to-day in only a small number of districts—in +the east, where the flocks winter on the coastal plain and spend +the summer on the Somuncura tableland, and in the west, round the +Añecon, where the summer and winter pastures are not far from +each other. The custom +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> + +ought to be general. The area which ought to be reserved for winter +pasture comprises the coastal plains, the whole of the low-lying +district round Valcheta, and the lower part of the valleys to the +south of the Carilaufquen. They are less extensive than the available +summer pastures, but their capacity could be enlarged by developing +the irrigated areas in the Bajo de Valcheta, and sowing lucerne in the +<span lang="es">mallinas</span> of the basin of the Carilaufquen. The low valleys round the +Carilaufquen ought to be reserved for winter pasture. In the summer the +sheep would be taken south to the higher-level valleys, which afford +permanent pasture. From there they would spread after the melting of +the snow, and after the first rains in autumn, over the high tablelands +which surround them.</p> + +<p>This plan is obstructed in the first place by the actual terms of +ownership, which were imprudently fixed before the examination of +the country in detail had been concluded. Thus the Maquinchao ranch, +in the lower valley, does not own the upper valley with the summer +pastures that ought to belong to it. A more serious obstacle is that +it is extremely difficult to remove the sheep. It is not merely +roads that are wanting, but a water supply at the various stages.<a + id="FNanchor_73_73" href="#Footnote_73_73" +class="fnanchor">73</a></p> + +<p>Between the railway that runs from San Antonio to Lake Nahuel Huapi +and the Rio Negro, there is a desert region about seventy miles in +width. Red sandstone predominates in it, and it remains uninhabited. +North of this <span lang="es">travesia</span> the valley of the Rio Negro opens. Its width +between Neuquen and Patagones ranges from five to fifteen miles. Its +slope diminishes gradually toward the bottom (from 0.67 to 0.49 per +1,000 above Chelfaro; from 0.45 to 0.29 per 1,000 above Conesa).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sandstone and marl cliffs which enclose it become gradually +lower as one goes downward. They dominate the valley at a height of +650 feet at the confluence of the Neuquen, and are only 100 to 130 +feet high at Patagones. At the foot of them are broad terraces cut +by dissymetrical ravines, in which the beds of sandstone outcrop on +the western slope, exposed to the winds, while the eastern slopes are +covered with gravel. On the banks of the river there is a strip about +two miles wide with abundant herbaceous vegetation between lines of +willows. This is covered by the normal floods. The remainder of the +river plain, to the foot of the cliffs, has only a thin scrub, with +dunes at intervals. Saline clays here overlie the river gravels. The +level of the underground water, which is fed by the river, sinks +lower as one goes from the banks toward the cliffs. Few parts of the +tableland have so desolate an aspect as the bottom of these great +Patagonian valleys, when they have not been transformed by irrigation. +The pasturage is poor. At Conesa, however, the valley (<span lang="es">costa</span>) is used +as summer pasture when there is a shortage of water on the surrounding +tableland (<span lang="es">planeza</span>).</p> + +<p>The water-supply is good, the volume of the river ranging from 200 +to 900 cubic metres a second. Low water lasts from February to April +(end of the summer). From May to July the river has sudden and violent +floods—an effect of the autumn rains. The curve sinks again +in August and September, to rise once more in October and December, +when the snow melts on the Andes. The Limay, the upper basin of which +contains large, lacustrine sheets, is more regular than the Neuquen, +which has very pronounced low-water, as well as dangerous floods in +the autumn. The first attempts at irrigation date from 1885, when the +canal of the Roca colony was dug. Others were made lower down at a +later date. The co-operative groups organized for the administration +of the canals have not been quite as successful as might have been +expected. The advance of agricultural colonization has been slow. +Costly preparatory work is needed to level the ground and organize the +drainage, otherwise saline patches form and spread like leprosy at the +expense of the cultivable areas. Lastly, the centre of the valley is +exposed to floods.<a id="FNanchor_74_74" +href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">74</a></p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Patagonian_Tableland" href="images/illus-185a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-185a.jpg" alt="The Patagonian Tableland" /> + </a> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-185a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Patagonian_Tableland2" href="images/illus-185b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-185b.jpg" alt="The Patagonian Tableland" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PATAGONIAN TABLELAND (NEUQUEN).</p> + <p class="figcaption">Indigenous vegetation. Rocks eroded by wind.</p> + <p class="credit">Photographs by Windhausen, Mining Division.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XIV.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-185b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>The chief crops are lucerne, cereals, and the vine. All the efforts +and hopes of the colonists are now centred upon the vine. It is for the +purpose of extending the vineyards that they are endeavouring to secure +more workers. These are a singularly mixed lot, Chileans from the +Neuquen rubbing shoulders with Latin immigrants (Italian and Spanish) +from the region of the Pampas.</p> + +<p>The lucerne is made up in bales and exported by rail to Bahía +Blanca and Buenos Aires. The economic life of the agricultural oasis of +the Rio Negro is no more connected with that of the pastoral tableland +than is life on the Chubut. Neither sheep nor cattle are fattened on +the Rio Negro. It is a curious contrast to the spectacle offered by +the Andean regions of western and north-western Argentina, where for +generations there has been a close association between the breeding +industry of the scrub and the fattening on the lucerne-farms. This is +because the currents of the cattle-trade are not here as permanent and +stable as they are in the north. The time when the convoys of Pampean +cattle bound for Chile used the valley of the Rio Negro preceded the +agricultural colonization of the banks of the river. The conquest +of Patagonia put an end to this traffic. There was an interval of +twenty-five years between the period of the export of Pampean cattle +to Chile and the export of cattle from the Neuquen to Buenos Aires, +to which I will refer presently. As to sheep-breeding, it did not for +a long time rear the animals for the meat-market, and it is only a +few years since it found transport necessary. The farmers of the Rio +Negro, who have little capital, and who sell and are paid in advance +for their dry fodder, have not yet been able to take advantage of the +reorganization of the cattle-trade.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>West of the confluence of the Neuquen and the Limay the railway +ascends the sandstone tableland, from 1,700 to 3,000 feet high, and +goes as far as the foot of the first sub-Andean chain, the Zapala +ranch. The eruptive rocks here have thrown up the sandstone, and the +profiles raised north and south of Zapala, across the Sierra de la +Vaca Muerta and the Cerro Lotena, cut through folds of Mesozoic strata +which have been reduced by erosion to the level of the plateau. One +already feels the vicinity of the Cordillera. Pasture is plentiful, +the <span lang="es">mallin</span> is thick, and springs abound. The sheep-area stretches +westward of Zapala, as far as the Rio Cataluin and the Rio Agrio. +East of Zapala, on the other hand, the desolate condition of the +country gets worse and worse. The supplies of water dry up in the +summer, and the entire zone that lies east of 70° W. long. is +useless, on account of the lack of permanent water, except as winter +commonage. Hence, transhumation is here indispensable. It has been +practised for a long time on the Chilean slope of the Cordillera from +the latitude of Coquimbo and San Juan to the north of Lake Quillen. +At present it tends to disappear from the Andes of the Neuquen.<a + id="FNanchor_75_75" href="#Footnote_75_75" +class="fnanchor">75</a> But there is still transhumation on the +Argentine side. The sheep of the plateau, driven from their winter +pasture when the water dries up, ascend the Cordillera. Sometimes the +mountains are not yet free from snow. In that case the journey is +delayed, and the sheep feed on the way, to the great detriment of the +land they cross.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> + +<p>There are many routes, and frequently they coincide with those which +were formerly taken by the cattle of the Pampas in ascending to the +passes of the Cordillera. Groeber mentions a transhumation track south +of the Rio Barrancas and Lake Carri Lauquen. From the left bank of the +Neuquen the flocks ascend by Chosmalal and Butamallin to the pasture +of the Pichachen pass, or by Las Lajas to the Pino Hachado pass. From +Zapala and the tableland further south they go to spend the summer +in the Cataluin Cordillera, where the number of sheep in summer is +calculated to be 70,000. Others go still further, to the source of the +Alumine and the Arco pass. The volcano Lanin almost marks the southern +limit of the zone of transhumation. The chief group of migrating sheep +comes from the district of the Coyunco, the Cañadon Grande, and +the Picun Leucu.</p> + +<p>Transhumation is practised only by the <span lang="es">intrusos</span>. They go from the +unowned lands of the tableland to the unowned lands of the Cordillera. +The renting of winter pasture to owners is quite exceptional. The +concessions of land granted by the Argentine Government are steadily +reducing the area of the migrators in the Cordillera, and also the +ways of communication between the tableland and the mountains. The +proprietors do not care to receive the migrating flocks, and they +put obstacles in their way by enclosing the land. The routes of the +transhumation are now fixed by the spaces which remain open between the +enclosed ranches. Moreover, the migrating <span lang="es">intrusos</span> are haunted by +the fear of finding the winter pasture occupied by others during their +absence, and they +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> + +have no proprietary title. The splitting up of the land and the +organization of ownership will before long lead to the extinction of +the practice of transhumation, and the greater part of the winter +pasturage will be turned into permanent pasture by boring wells and +nursing the water-supply.</p> + +<p>The district round the Zapala ranch has become very busy since the +construction of the railway, which has deeply affected the conditions +of life there. It has made a sort of capital of Zapala. It is curious +to contrast the renaissance which has followed upon the appearance of +the railway in this district with the much less material changes which +it has made at Maquinchao. The life which the railway concentrates at +Zapala includes not only the wool trade, as at Maquinchao, but also the +cattle trade. The herds which are to be exported gather round the ranch +at the same time as the <span lang="es">tropas</span> of wagons, and a good price is paid +for the right of pasturage. While the Maquinchao line ends at the port +of San Antonio, which is merely fitted up for the export of wool, the +Zapala railway feeds the refrigerator at Bahía Blanca. It joins +up with the network of railways of the Pampa. Sheep arrive at Zapala, +not only from the surrounding district and from the Neuquen, but from a +good part of the Rio Negro, and even the Chubut. The convoys of animals +coming from the south find it best to keep near the Cordillera, where +the pasturage is better. Only a few of them descend the Limay as far +as Senillosa. From Zapala to Senillosa there is no suitable road in +connection with the railway, and further east it is necessary to go as +far as Choele Choel to find tracks which lead to it. The exporting of +the sheep lasts five months, from November to March.</p> + +<p>Zapala station is also a point of convergence of herds of cattle. +There are people at Zapala who still remember the time when the cattle +brought from the Pampa to go to Chile passed through their valley. +Although these +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> + +exports of Pampean cattle to Chile ceased after 1885, the whole Andean +region of the Neuquen still lived entirely on the Chilean market until +very recently. The attraction of the Chilean market is one of the +reasons for the survival of transhumation. It was to the advantage +of the Argentine breeders to keep near the Cordillera and the passes +through which the buyers came from Chile in the summer. The life of the +small centres in the upper valleys which developed rapidly after the +conquest (Chosmalal, Ñorquin, Codihue, Junin, and San Martin) +was bound up with the Chilean cattle trade, and was reflected on the +opposite side of the Andes in the prosperity of the corresponding +markets in Chile.</p> + +<p>In the years immediately preceding 1914, a sudden revolution upset +the cattle traffic on the Neuquen, and the attraction of Buenos Aires +took the place of that of the Chilean market. The commercial influence +of Buenos Aires was first felt in the wool-market. The <span lang="es">tropas</span> of +wagons which brought wool to Zapala loaded up, in exchange, with the +flour and salt that were needed for sheep-breeding in the pastures +of the Cordillera (<span lang="es">pastos dulces</span>). The import trade followed the +path traced by the export trade. The small Chilean wagons which still +cross the Cordillera now only bring to the Neuquen the coarse flour of +Chile, haricot beans, and wine. They return empty to Chile. After the +wool-buyers, the cattle-merchants of Buenos Aires next found their way +to the Cordillera. The centres where the sales of cattle for Chile used +to be held are now in decay, and have lost part of their population. +The cattle are sent to the fattening centres on the Pampa, or to the +Bahía Blanca and Buenos Aires markets. Thus we have under +our eyes, unexpectedly, in the north of Patagonia a transformation +that occurred gradually half a century ago in all the western and +north-western parts of Argentina. In its many forms it is the essential +fact in the modern history of Argentine +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> + +colonization. The more distant provinces are detached in succession +from foreign markets, and the whole national life is being organized +round the great economic focus which the region of the Pampas has +become.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a><br /> +THE PLAIN OF THE PAMPAS</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>The limits of the prairie—The rains—The wind + and the formation of the clay of the Pampas—The + wind and the contour—The zones of colonization + on the Pampas—Hunting wild cattle and primitive + breeding—The sheep-farms—The ranches—The + region of "colonies"—The region of lucerne, + maize, and wheat—The combination of agriculture + and breeding—The economic mechanism of + colonization—The exchanges between the different zones + of the Pampas.</p> +</div> + +<p>The Pampean landscape is doubtless one of the most uniform in the +world. Its monotony is tiring to the eye; it is partly responsible for +the mediocrity of most of the descriptions of the Pampas. But this +uniformity is an advantage for the purpose of colonization. Attention +has often been drawn to the rapidity with which plants and animals +introduced by Europeans spread in the Buenos Aires district, and, +pushing ahead of the breeders and farmers, colonized the Pampas. In the +second half of the nineteenth century, when the whole extent of the +plain beyond the ancient Indian frontier was occupied, the development +of it was so much easier because it was possible to use simpler and +more uniform methods of exploitation. It needed neither large capital +nor long personal experience on the part of the immigrant. Basques +and Italians who had only just landed could take an active part in +it almost without apprenticeship. The primitive groups of population +could advance from one zone of the plain to another and take with them +their own methods of farming and breeding, their own form of rural +economy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<p>A close study will, however, enable us to detect appreciable +physical differences in the Pampean plain. Neither climate nor soil is +the same all over it.</p> + +<p>The name "Pampa" chiefly means a vegetal growth, a prairie. Its +limits are the frontier of the scrub (<span lang="es">monte</span>), +and strange as it may seem, it is still difficult to trace them +exactly. North of Santa Fé, between the Salado and the +Paraná, the Pampa stretches as far as Fives-Lille, a little +beyond 30° S. lat.<a id="FNanchor_76_76" href="#Footnote_76_76" +class="fnanchor">76</a> On the Central Norte and the Central Argentine +lines the fringe of the <span lang="es">monte</span> reaches to Fuertin +Inca and Malbran, about 170 miles north-west of Santa Fé. It +then turns south-east and south, passing round the entire depression +of Los Porongos and Mar Chiquita; and the line from Santa Fé to +Córdoba crosses it at Francia and approaches the Rio Secundo. +South of the Rio Secundo it goes westward and joins the foot of the +Sierra de Córdoba south of the Rio Tercero (at the stream +Tequia). From this point to La Cambre, some sixteen miles east of +San Luis, the prairie extends as far as the edge of the sierras, and +penetrates into the southern half of the Conlara depression, between +the hills of Córdoba and of San Luis (Pampa de Naschel). The +mimosa forest enters the steppe in narrow belts along the Rio Quinto +to within a few leagues below Villa Mercedes, along the Rio Tercero +as far as the confluence of the Saladillo, and along the Salado to +the south of Santa Fé. There are, in addition, many isolated +clumps of <span lang="es">chañares</span> and more extensive +patches of wood in the north-west corner of the prairie (Santa +Fé province). The <span lang="es">monte</span> along the Salado +is continued south of Santa Fé along the Paraná, as +far as the point where the chief arm of the river reaches the cliffs +on the right bank, at San Lorenzo. This is the domain of the <span +lang="es">ombu</span>, a tree with thick trunk and naked roots which is +found scattered over the prairie in the Paraná region as far as +south of Buenos Aires.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the west, between San Luis and the mouth of the Colorado, the +transition from the Pampa to the <span lang="es">monte</span> is gradual. Just as at Santa +Fé, the approach of the <span lang="es">monte</span> is announced by the appearance +of <span lang="es">chañares</span>, in the south-west corner of the Córdoba +province and on the southern slope of the Sierra de la Ventana. The +<span lang="es">monte</span>, properly so called, though impoverished, invaded by the +<span lang="es">jarilla</span>, and mainly composed (as in northern Patagonia) of dwarf +mimosas, covers the area of the Pampean sierras on the left bank of +the Chadi Leuvu and the Colorado. Between this area and a line passing +through Rancul, Anguil, Atreuco, and Bernasconi, where the naked +prairie begins, there is a mixed zone which one may call the <span lang="es">calden</span> +zone. This mimosa, a near relative of the <span lang="es">algarroba</span>, which has a +wider range than the other plants of the <span lang="es">monte</span> in this latitude, +forms woods at intervals in the south of the San Luis province and +on the flanks of the parallel valleys of the central Pampa. Between +these woods the tableland is generally covered by the prairie, with +occasional patches of <span lang="es">chañares</span>. About twenty-five miles east +of Buena Esperanza the line from San Rafael touches the far corner of a +forest of <span lang="es">caldenes</span>, which stretches south-westward, and reaches the +Rio Salado about 35° 30′ S. lat. Beyond Buena Esperanza it keeps +on the prairie as far as the crossing of the Salado, which here marks +the limit of the <span lang="es">monte</span>. The Rio Negro line passes directly from the +prairie to the Patagonian scrub mid-way between Bahía Blanca and +the Colorado.</p> + +<p>Within these limits the prairie extends without a break. The sierras +of the Buenos Aires province have no arborescent vegetation.</p> + +<p>The zone of the prairie, intermediate between tropical Argentina and +the sub-desert regions of western +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> + +Patagonia, has a medium rainfall. It decreases gradually from +north-east to south-west. There is a rainfall of 1,200 to 1,000 +millimetres on the lower Paraná, and only 400 to 600 millimetres +on the western edge of the Pampa. The zone which lies between the 800 +millimetres and 600 millimetres average is more than 270 miles in +breadth. But what is most characteristic of the climate of the Pampa is +the equal distribution of the rain throughout the year, and the absence +of a real dry season. In this the Pampa differs from the surrounding +regions, both in the south-west and the north. At Buenos Aires the +six months of the (relatively) dry season yield, nevertheless, 44 +per cent. of the total rainfall, and at Bahía Blanca 40 per +cent. This regularity diminishes in proportion as one approaches the +coast. At Rosario the six months of the dry season only yield 30 per +cent. of the year's rain; at Villa Mercedes (San Luis province) 25 +per cent. When one goes beyond the limits of the prairies the ratio +of rain in the dry season decreases rapidly; it is only 20 per cent. +at Córdoba and 18 per cent. at San Luis. At Córdoba, +the curve of the rainfall indicates a typical tropical regime, with a +summer maximum and a very low minimum in winter. Passing south-eastward +from Córdoba, at Bellville, Villa Maria and especially Rosario, +the dryness of the winter diminishes, and at the same time a secondary +minimum appears in the middle of summer (January-February). At Buenos +Aires, the form of the curve changes completely. The summer minimum +is almost as low as the winter minimum, and most of the rainfall is +in the spring (September) and the beginning of the autumn (March).<a + id="FNanchor_77_77" href="#Footnote_77_77" +class="fnanchor">77</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> + +<p>These various shades of the Pampean climate are of essential +importance in the history of colonization and the spread of +cultivation. The belt of summer rain is the belt of maize-growing, +whereas the cultivation of wheat requires spring rain and a +comparatively dry summer.</p> + +<p>While the isohyetic curves, which represent the precipitation for +the whole year, are orientated from north-west to south-east, the +curves of rainfall during the cold season, from April to September +(dry season in the north), cut diagonally across the preceding, and +are oriented directly north and south. Bahía Blanca receives +in winter as much rain as Rosario, and General Acha (in the district +of the central Pampa) as much as Córdoba. Unless one attends +to this, one cannot explain the extension of wheat-growing, in the +south-west, as far as the 400 millimetre curve, and even beyond it on +the Atlantic coast.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The relief of the Pampean plain is known fairly accurately, thanks +to the observations made along the railways. The ground rises slowly +toward the west. The 100-metre curve describes a deep gulf some 300 +miles west-south-west of Buenos Aires. The belt comprised between 100 +and 150 metres above sea-level is more than sixty miles broad in the +latitude of Santa Fé, and 130 miles in the latitude of Buenos +Aires. Beyond the 150-metre curve the land rises rapidly toward the +west and north-west, and reaches 400 metres in the Córdoba +district and 500 in the Villa Mercedes district. It is at the altitude +of 150 metres, and the break in the inclination which this marks, that +the Rio Quinto is lost, near Amarga, south of General Lavalle.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>The ridge between the Pampa and the basin of the Salado in the south +of the San Luis province is about 450 metres above sea-level. South of +the province of Buenos Aires the Sierras de Tandil and de la Ventana +are joined together by a ridge which does not fall below 200 metres. +Certain irregularities of the surface, such as the depression of Mar +Chiquita to the east of Córdoba, the thrust of the plateau on +the right bank of the Paraná, south of Villa Constitución +and San Nicolas, can, apparently, only be explained by recent tectonic +movements.</p> + +<p>The Pampean deposits which cover the plain rest upon a rocky +base of which the salient representatives are the sierras of +the province of Buenos Aires and the hills at Córdoba +and San Luis. This base also appears east of the Pampean basin +in the granite island of Martin Garcia, in the middle of the +estuary of the Plata, and in the hills on the coast of Uruguay.<a + id="FNanchor_78_78" href="#Footnote_78_78" +class="fnanchor">78</a></p> + +<p>Underneath the even sheet of the alluvial deposits the surface +of the sub-Pampean platform is very irregular. Its shape has +been discovered by deep borings in search of arterial waters. It +has been warped and cut up by faults, some of these deformations +being probably synchronous with the formation of the Pampean +deposits which have concealed them as they have been produced. A +subterranean rocky ridge continues the Sierra de Córdoba +southward and joins it with the sierras of the Colorado. The granite +emerges at Chamaico, on the western railway, and on both sides +the borings have passed through great depths of clay and sand.<a + id="FNanchor_79_79" href="#Footnote_79_79" +class="fnanchor">79</a> This ridge isolates the eastern Pampa from +the sub-Andean chains, and marks the limit of the area with sheets of +underground water. In the north of the Pampean region, between the +Sierra de Córdoba and the Paraná, the loose continental +formations are more than 2,000 feet thick at Bellville, and more than +3,500 feet north-west of Santa Fé (fodder farms of San Cristobal +and El Tostado). At Buenos Aires the granite has been found 985 feet +below the surface.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Pampean_Plain" href="images/illus-199a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-199a.jpg" alt="The Pampean Plain" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN. TRES ARROYES (BUENOS AIRES + PRAIRIE BETWEEN THE SIERRA DE TANDIL AND THE SIERRA DE LA VENTANA).</p> + <p class="figcaption">Zone of wheat and oats on large scale. The + Pampa is a tableland here (400 feet above sea-level), with + clay overlying the limestone of the Tosca. The valleys are + well marked.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-199a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Toay_on_the_Central_Pampa" href="images/illus-199b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-199b.jpg" alt="The Pampean Plain" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN. TOAY, ON THE CENTRAL PAMPA (590 FEET).</p> + <p class="figcaption">The tableland, with a strong framework of limestone + Tosca, is cut across by well-marked dry valleys which sink + lower toward the east. At the edges of the valleys the sand + is the prey of the winds. Here we are near the limit of the + wheat belt.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XV.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-199b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Pampean formation consists almost entirely of loose +deposits, sand and clays of various sorts. There is no gravel.<a + id="FNanchor_80_80" href="#Footnote_80_80" +class="fnanchor">80</a> Even in the vicinity of the sierras the beds +of gravel, with round or angular pebbles, are almost always covered +by clay, and are exposed only in the banks of the streams. Olascoaga +mentions the surprise of the <span lang="es">gauchos</span> of General Roca's army when they +found Patagonian pebbles on the ground during their stay at Choele +Choel on the Colorado, in the course of the <del>compaign </del><ins>campaign </ins>on the Rio Negro. +Officers and soldiers dismounted to pick them up. Sand and clay form a +thick bed of continental alluvia. The Tertiary maritime transgressions, +which have left their mark in the clays and limestones of the left bank +of the lower Paraná, and the layers of shells at San Pedro on +the right bank, never penetrated far into the interior of the Pampean +region, and one finds no trace of them when one leaves the coast or the +river.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> + +<p>The source of the elements which compose the Pampean alluvia is +very uncertain. Their composition does not clearly show their origin. +The clays are comparatively rich in calcareous matter, which seems to +indicate that they do not come from tropical America or the upper basin +of the Paraná. Wright and Fenner insist upon the high proportion +of siliceous glass of volcanic origin which they contain, which points +to an intense eruptive activity during or before their formation.<a + id="FNanchor_81_81" href="#Footnote_81_81" +class="fnanchor">81</a> Doering had already noticed in the +Córdoba region the prevalence of beds of volcanic ash, which +become thicker as one approaches the sierra. It is certain that the +Pampean sierras have had their share in the formation of the Pampean +beds. But the main mass is probably of Andean origin. However that may +be, as soon as one gets away from the fringe of the mountains, the only +variety noticeable in the lands of the Pampa is that which they owe to +the conditions in which they have been deposited.</p> + +<p>River deposits strictly so called, estuary deposits, +lagoon deposits, æolian deposits, æolian deposits +redistributed by water, river deposits redistributed by +wind—all these different types are represented in the Pampean +formation, but their relative importance is still disputed.<a + id="FNanchor_82_82" href="#Footnote_82_82" +class="fnanchor">82</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<p>When we confine ourselves to studying the actual conditions in which +the deposits were formed, we are first struck by the poverty of the +hydrographic network of the Pampa. It is slight except in the vicinity +of the sierras, where the slope of the ground is pronounced, and in +the eastern area, on the right bank of the Paraná and Entre +Rios, where the climate is more humid, and the streams flowing over an +impermeable soil more numerous. The only one of the streams born in the +Pampean sierras that reaches the Paraná is the Rio Tercero or +Carcaraña. All the others dwindle as they descend, and disappear +in a low-lying district marked by lagoons which they only reach in time +of flood. The floods themselves never bring the Rio Cuarto and the Rio +Quinto and the Salado de Buenos Aires into touch with each other. The +waters of the northern slope of the Sierra de Tandil, and even those of +the Sierra de Curumalal, on the other hand, reach the Salado after the +rains, either by way of streams which drain the strings of lagoons, or +by flood-sheets, which spread over large areas.</p> + +<p>The watercourses of the plain are unstable in their direction. +The traces of their wanderings remain in the form of stretches of +alluvial sand crossing the fine æolian clays. These river sands +sometimes spread over extensive areas, the distribution depending upon +a hydrographic scheme which is now partially effaced. The sands of the +departments of General Lopez (south of the Santa Fé province) +and General Arenales (Buenos Aires province), where the Salado is now +developed, were probably brought by the Rio Cuarto, and mark an earlier +junction of the Cuarto and the Salado. These sands run along the Salado +as far as the confluence of the Saladillo, and the contrast between the +light soil and the clay of the bank of the Paraná is so +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> + +striking that the sand has long been regarded as a marine deposit, +indicating an ancient shore. Along the Saladillo also, north-west of +the Guamini lagoons, there is a sandy belt which corresponds with an +important direction taken by the actual flow of the river, crossing the +Bolivar and Veinte Cinco de Mayo departments.</p> + +<p>While the agency of running water in transporting alluvia is +confined to certain sections of the plain, the action of the wind +is seen over its entire surface. The wind everywhere supplements or +replaces running water. Like running water, it classifies the elements +it conveys, and selects them according to their weight and size, the +finest clays being deposited in the moist eastern zone and the coarsest +sands in the sub-desert zone of the west. The mechanism of erosion +explains this contrast. The grains of sand that are driven by the wind +travel at the surface of the ground as long as the vegetation is too +sparse to fix them. If one goes further east, to a moister district +with a thicker vegetal carpet, the grains of sand no longer move at +the surface of the ground, but the wind still carries fine particles +of clay, which it bears to a great height. The bed of clay does not +at all imply an arid climate, as is said sometimes, but corresponds +to the region of the steppes, with moderate rainfall. It is, however, +during dry seasons that the deposition of clay is at its greatest. +Darwin mentions that after the droughts of 1827-1830 in the area round +the Paraná, the marks were buried under dust to such an extent +that one could no longer recognize the limits of the various lands. +Apart, however, from these sorts of floods or storms of dust caused by +the <span lang="es">pampero</span>, the summer atmosphere is clearly laden with dust, which +colours the skies in the east of the Buenos Aires province, as far as +Entre Rios.</p> + +<p>The contour of the plain bears, like the soil, the double marks of +erosion by running water and æolian erosion. The rivers of the +Pampa, when they leave the sierras, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> + +flow between high cliffs, the height diminishing as one goes downward. +Presently these <span lang="es">barrancas</span> become low, approach each other, and at +last merely mark the banks of a larger bed which the floods fill. There +is no trace of valleys. Bailey Willis, surprised at this weakness of +watercourses that have, nevertheless, an appreciable fall, attributes +it to the fact that the cycle of erosion opened by the last upheaval +of the Pampa has not yet had time to penetrate into the interior. In +reality, it means that here we are at the limit of the zone of erosion +by running water, and that in this climate the essential factor in +shaping the landscape is the wind.</p> + +<p>The region of the right bank of the Paraná (east of the +Salado), which alone has a complete hydrographic network, must be +considered apart. From the latitude of Rosario to that of Buenos Aires +it is cut by flat-bottomed valleys which are sometimes a hundred feet +deep. The excavation of these valleys is due to an upheaval which +raised this part of the Pampa above the base-level. The rapids of +the lower Carcaraña also bear witness to this resumption of +excavation. Farther on an inverse movement has put the bottom of the +valleys below this level, and led to their being filled up (lagoon +deposits of the Lujanense of Ameghino). South of Buenos Aires the +upheaval has been less important, and the valleys are not so deep. +Some of them (middle Salado and its tributaries on the left bank) are +now occupied by long lagoons with steep banks, branching along the +side-valleys, and these owe their origin to the same negative movement, +subsequent to the excavation of the valleys. The upheaval did not +extend to the eastern part of the province of Buenos Aires south of +the Salado, a low-lying flat area, badly drained, exposed to floods, +the contour of which has been minutely studied in connection with the +construction of a great network of drainage-canals. North of Rosario, +on the only slightly permeable clay, the water circulates, after rain, +not by means of valleys in the proper sense, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> + +but along broad and almost imperceptible depressions (<span lang="es">cañadas</span>) +where the current is slow, and the water dries up in the dry season. +Their general relations are not yet known.</p> + +<p>The loose deposits of the Pampean offer little resistance to +erosion. The cycles are run through rapidly, and the traces of earlier +cycles are faint, and are soon effaced.<a +id="FNanchor_83_83" href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">83</a></p> + +<p>An ancient erosion-surface, dissected by the existing valleys, +has survived in the south-west of the Pampean plain, thanks to the +presence on the surface of a sheet of hard limestone, the <span lang="es">tosca</span>. +The <span lang="es">tosca</span> is the result of the concentration of calcareous elements +contained in clay at the surface in a dry climate. The formation +of it implies a prolonged stability of the surface on which it has +accumulated. Like the deep decomposition-soils in moister regions, it +indicates a peneplain on which erosion has ceased. The bed of <span lang="es">tosca</span> +covers the whole district between the Sierra de Tandil and the Sierra +de la Ventana, the south-western slope of the Ventana, and most of +the area of the central Pampa. In the north it does not go beyond the +line from Buenos Aires to San Rafael. Its eastern limit goes almost +by Ingeniero Malmen, Monte Nievas, and Atreuco, where it joins the +southern bank of the lagoons of Carhue and Guamini in the east.<a + id="FNanchor_84_84" href="#Footnote_84_84" +class="fnanchor">84</a> In some places the tosca is about forty feet +thick.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<p>To-day the region of the <span lang="es">tosca</span> forms a plateau cut by narrow +valleys, sometimes 200 feet deep, west of the Sierra de la Ventana and +in the central Pampa. These parallel valleys, with few ramifications, +generally lying south-west to north-east, open to the east upon the +Pampean plain about the frontier of the Buenos Aires province. On +the other hand, the southernmost of them begin at the foot of the +Ventana, and seem to blend in the south-west with a general depression +that is still little known, though it appears to end at the bottom +of the estuary of Bahía Blanca. None of them has permanent +running water.<a id="FNanchor_85_85" +href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">85</a> The origin of the dry +valleys of the <span lang="es">tosca</span> is one of the most obscure problems of the +morphology of the Pampean plain. Perhaps they are due to æolian +erosion, like the depressions which are found on the plateau of the +Colorado and the Rio Negro further south.</p> + +<p>The action of the wind in shaping the landscape is more clearly +seen in the formation of the dunes. When one starts from Buenos Aires +or Rosario, and gets beyond the region of the level Pampas, the dunes +are the first feature to meet the eye on the surface of the plain. The +first fresh dunes are encountered at Carlota, on the line from the Rio +Cuarto; at Lavalle on the line from Villa Mercedes; and at Trenque +Lauquen on the line from Toay. The dunes spread northward as far as the +latitude of Mar Chiquita, but do not enter the Chaco. They are also +found in parts of the scrub on the west, but their proper domain is the +western border of the steppe, the upper part of the plain at the foot +of the Sierra de Córdoba, the south of the San Luis province, +and the central Pampa.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> + +<p>Any accident that causes the vegetal covering to disappear, such as +the tread of cattle near a drinking place or an enclosure, is enough to +set æolian erosion at work. The wind raises the sand in a sort +of tossing sea. Then the dune assumes a circular shape. A depression +appears in the centre, and it deepens until it reaches the average +level of the plain. Frequently there is a little lake in it. From this +point onward the deformations are less rapid. The vegetation again +creeps over the ground, and the dune falls a prey to the rains, which +slowly reduce its mass.</p> + +<p>In the central Pampa, where the elevation is considerable, the dunes +do not form separate circular patches, but stretch in lines parallel to +the valleys—sometimes in the heart of the valley, at other times +backing against one of its slopes.</p> + +<p>Far to the east of the zone of the quick dunes, in the south of the +Córdoba province and the centre of the Buenos Aires province, +there are certain soft undulations, covered with vegetation, with +a sandier soil than that of the plain around them. These are dead +dunes. The district of the dead dunes is characterized by the extreme +irregularity of the surface-soil, the humus, which gains in richness +and depth, as a general rule, as one goes eastward, because there it is +in some places covered by recent æolian deposits.</p> + +<p>The distribution of the dead dunes is connected with the stretches +of river sand across the Pampa, which have offered an easy victim to +the winds. A line of dead dunes follows the upper course of the Salado +in the district of Junin and Bragado. On the line from Buenos Aires to +San Luis one crosses it between Chacabuco and Vedia, and then one comes +again upon the horizontal plain, which has fresh dunes, only further +west, at 120 miles from Villa Mercedes. Its elevation is so conspicuous +on the level plain that the first breeders who used its pasturage gave +it the emphatic name of the <span lang="es">cerillada</span>. D'Azara correctly appreciated +the nature of it. "It is," he says, "only a dune of very fine sand." +It is only a few yards high. The dead dunes of the Bolivar and Veinte +Cinco de Mayo departments, which Parchappe described, have a more +conspicuous relief, and in their disposition sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> + +remind us of the fresh circular dunes with a central lagoon. The lines +of coastal dunes in the eastern part of the Buenos Aires province +obstruct the proper flow of the water there, and form a group apart, +which must be clearly distinguished from the dunes on the plain.<a + id="FNanchor_86_86" href="#Footnote_86_86" +class="fnanchor">86</a></p> + +<p>Thus the impression of monotony which the Pampa makes in us is +corrected to some extent by close observation. High and low land +alternate on it. Parchappe himself had noticed the contrast between +the area that stretches from Buenos Aires to the Salado, with its soft +undulations and its well-developed hydrographic network, the horizontal +plains on the right bank of the Salado, with their irregular dunes, and +the southern plateau of the <span lang="es">tosca</span> between the Sierra de Tandil and +the Sierra de la Ventana.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>We may now distinguish the following regions in the Pampa as a +whole:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>1. The central part of the Santa Fé province forms what is +called the district of the "colonies": that is to say, the domain +of the colonies established two generations ago, and the zone in +which the type of cultivation introduced by them took root. The chief +crops here are wheat and flax. Hedges of service trees (<span lang="es">paraisos</span>) +surround the fields. In contrast with the parts of the Pampa which have +remained naked, the region of the colonies seems a veritable grove. It +stretches westward beyond the frontier of the Córdoba province, +and it reaches the fringe of the <span lang="es">monte</span> between San Francisco and Mar +Chiquita. For the north, Miatello gives 30° S. lat. as the normal +limit of the wheat-growing area; beyond this it suffers both from the +low rainfall of winter and the excessive rainfall in summer. As a +matter of fact, the large estates only reach this latitude on the line +from San Francisco to Ceres. On the Resistencia line, north of Santa +Fé, they stop at 30° 30′ S. lat. In the intervening district +the limit of the region of the colonies almost coincides with that of +the department of Castellanos, about 30° 45′ S. lat. The area lying +between this line and the northern edge of the Pampa is given up to +breeding. In the south the region of the colonies stretches as far as +Las Bandurias and Irigoyen.</p> + +<p>2. South of the region of the colonies, the tableland on the right +bank of the Paraná, west of Rosario and San Nicolas, is the +maize region, the corn belt of Argentina. Flax is generally cultivated +as well as maize. It is the agricultural country <span lang="es">par excellence</span> of +Argentina. The soil, of fine clay, dark red in colour and retentive +of moisture, and the abundant summer rains, are very suitable for +maize. The limits of the maize region describe an arc of a circle round +Rosario with a radius of 60 to 100 miles. They do not quite reach the +frontier of Córdoba in the west, and they leave out the entire +south-western corner of the Santa Fé province. The maize belt +touches the Paraná between 32° S. lat. and the Baradero. +In the north it passes suddenly into the region of the colonies. In +the south, on the other hand, there is at the edge of the corn belt an +extensive transition-area, where maize and wheat occupy pretty much the +same surface; it stretches as far as the Rio Salado de Buenos Aires.</p> + +<p>3. The region of the lucerne farms is much larger. It comprises the +whole north-west corner of the Buenos Aires province, from the Salado, +in the district of Junin, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> + +to the southern limit of the Nueve de Julio and Pehuajo departments, +and as far as the latitude of Guamini. The limit of the lucerne farms +does not include the lands of the central Pampa, but advances westward +and takes in part of the Pedernera department in the San Luis province. +The lucerne farms run along the San Rafael line to Batavia, and at this +point they reach the limits of the colonized zone. In addition, the +zone of the lucerne farms includes the whole south-eastern part of the +Córdoba province, as high up as the line from Villa Mercedes to +Villa Maria, and the southern part of the Santa Fé province. In +the whole of this area, fifteen to twenty-five per cent. of the surface +is planted with lucerne. The conditions required for its cultivation +are a moderate depth of the underground water and a light soil that +allows the roots to penetrate easily. The eastern belt of clays is not +good for lucerne, which survives there for much less time than in the +west, where it may live fifteen or twenty years.</p> + +<p>The lucerne belt is above all a great breeding area for horned +cattle, as sheep-pasturage injures the lucerne. It is not nearly so +monotonous, however, as the preceding regions. In the south-east, +in the Buenos Aires province, the creation of the lucerne farms was +undertaken at a time when agricultural colonization had already +begun. We therefore find two types of exploitation side by side. The +cultivation of maize enters it in the south-west, in spite of the +comparatively unfavourable climatic conditions. The centre of the +lucerne area in the south of the Córdoba province is also a +great agricultural zone; but there agriculture is directly connected +with the creation of the lucerne estates. It is, in fact, entrusted to +colonists who till the ground for four or five years, and restore it +to the owners sown with lucerne at the expiration of their lease. The +crops consist almost exclusively of wheat and flax. Lastly, in the west +(San Luis province +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> + +and extreme south-west of Córdoba province) the soil gets +increasingly more sandy, and the climate drier. A single tillage +suffices to destroy the natural vegetation and clear the place +for lucerne. The lucerne fields have been created by the breeders +themselves, the sole masters of the region, without the aid of the +colonists.</p> + +<p>4. Beyond the lucerne belt, at the point where the plain rises +toward the Sierra de San Luis and the Sierra de Córdoba, the +subterranean water sinks deeper. This zone at the foot of the ranges, +unsuitable for lucerne, yet with a soil comparatively rich in humus, +has been taken up by agricultural workers. The wheat area extends, in +the San Luis province, as far as Fraga and Naschel, in the Conlara +depression. The maize area extends to Oncativo, in the Córdoba +province, between the Tercero and Secundo rivers, where the summer +rainfall is heavier. Thanks to the nearness of the mountains, this area +has a water-supply for irrigation, and this sustains several small +centres of good farms.</p> + +<p>5. The south of the Buenos Aires province and the central Pampa are +the wheat zone. The bed of <span lang="es">tosca</span>, which is not far below the soil, +does no harm to the wheat except in years of drought. The valleys, +where the <span lang="es">tosca</span> is interrupted, and the dunes, where the soil is +deep, are very carefully used for lucerne fields of limited extent. +Wheat-growing seems now, both in this and the preceding zone, to have +reached its limit, as the dryness makes it improbable that there will +be any extension westward.</p> + +<p>6. Lastly, the east of the Buenos Aires province, the centre of +which is fairly indicated by the little town of Dolores, is the only +part of the Pampean plain which has not been reached by agricultural +colonization. The land lies low, and is badly drained. The only change +that has taken place in the vegetation is a progressive improvement due +to the hoofs of the cattle during their long stays there. This pastoral +area is +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> + +clearly limited in the south by the Sierra de Tandil. In the north +it is continued in the more varied region that lies between Buenos +Aires and the lower Salado, where the alternation of winter pasture +on the dry lands and summer pasture in the valleys, encourages the +best methods of breeding, and has made it the region of the dairy +industry.</p> + +<p>In the Entre Rios province the limit of the large estates of wheat +and flax is marked by 32° S. lat. The part of Entre Rios which +extends north of 32° and the Corrientes province do not strictly +belong to the Pampean region.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Extensive breeding was the first form taken by white colonization on +the Pampa. The word breeding is, in fact, hardly the correct name for +an industry that mainly consisted of hunting, and was wholly distinct +from the patient and advanced methods used at the same time in the +northern provinces.</p> + +<p>"The real wealth of the province of Buenos Aires," says +Dean Funes, "was, and always will be, the trade in hides" (<span lang="es">la +pellejería</span>).<a id="FNanchor_87_87" +href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">87</a> A good part of +the hides exported came from the hunting of the wild cattle and +horses which had grown numerous on the area of the Pampa beyond +the Rio Salado.<a id="FNanchor_88_88" +href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">88</a> It was mainly after +1778, when trade with Spain had been authorized and there was an +increased demand for hides, that the hunting of these ownerless beasts +was taken up. Two thousand Spaniards from Buenos Aires, Santa Fé +and Mendoza hunted every day, says D'Azara, killing an animal for each +of their meals in addition to those they killed for hides. From 1775 +to the Revolution, the Spanish Government made continuous efforts to +regulate and reduce the massacre of the herds. It laid down penalties +for every person selling hides that did not bear his own mark; it +farmed out the right to hunt animals with no mark, and organized the +destruction of wild dogs, etc. The ranches developed under shelter of +this legislation. Still, the Revolution did not witness the end of this +cattle-hunting. D'Orbigny took part in 1828 in two hunts of wild horses +(<span lang="es">baguales</span>) in Entre Rios. The Argentine <span lang="es">gaucho</span> long retained the +ways of a hunter rather than those of a breeder in the strict sense; +witness Urquiza's soldiers who, says Demersay, during the campaign of +1846, when they could not find trees to which they could fasten their +horses, killed cattle and tied the reins to their horns.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<p>Passing from the hunting country to the zone of ranches, one notices +that the main work of the breeder is to prevent his cattle from running +wild. "The ranches of this country," said Dean Funes, "having been set +up on immense plains, on which it was not easy to confine the herds +within fixed limits, it sometimes happened that the animals went vast +distances in search of water or pasture, and ended by being regarded +as wild and ownerless," When D'Azara wants to show that the ranches +of Paraguay are superior to those of Buenos Aires, he is content to +say that there the animals are tamer (<span lang="es">mansos</span>). With the wild animal +(<span lang="es">alzado</span>) is contrasted the <span lang="es">de rodeo</span> animal: that is to say, the +cattle which are rounded up periodically in the centre of the ranch to +be taken to the pasture where they must live (<span lang="es">aquerenciar</span>). It is the +difficulty of preventing the dispersal of the herd that fixes the price +of the <span lang="es">rincones</span> (surrounded by inundated areas) of Corrientes, in +which the animals are captives.</p> + +<p>MacKann's description of pastoral life in the Buenos +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> + +Aires province in the middle of the nineteenth century give us a very +clear impression of the stage of transition between exploiting the +natural increase of a herd that multiplies without man's intervention, +and breeding in the strict sense. The value of a horse in the former +case is almost exclusively the cost of breaking it in. The breeder is +actually anxious when he sees his horses increase, as he fears he +may not have the resources for breaking them in. The most formidable +of the dangers that threatened the feeble discipline of the herd +was drought. That in the year 1827 was a disaster. The animals +left the ranches in a body to go southward, where they mixed.<a + id="FNanchor_89_89" href="#Footnote_89_89" +class="fnanchor">89</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>Revolutions and wars interrupted the work of taming the cattle. +When Galvez went from the Córdoba province to Buenos Aires +at the end of the Rosas Government, he was struck by the condition +of the ranches.<a id="FNanchor_90_90" +href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">90</a> Many of them had +been confiscated, or their owners driven into exile. Cattle were +no longer marked, and they had become wild. The troubles of the +emancipation-period were much less injurious to the Buenos Aires +breeders than to those of Entre Rios. The Entre Rios herd was almost +annihilated during the revolution, and some of the ranchers of the left +bank crossed to the right bank of the Paraná. After 1823 the +pastoral wealth of Entre Rios was rapidly restored, thanks to raids on +Brazilian territory. They were so profitable that the whole population +took part in them. In 1827 the inhabitants of Bajada went there in such +numbers that the town was half deserted. Every day thousands of cattle +were collected on the bank of the Uruguay, and crossed the river. +Some of them were even taken beyond the Paraná, to the Santa +Fé province. Woodbine Parish confirms this rapid restoration +of Entre Rios, of which D'Orbigny was a witness. But this period of +prosperity did not last long. The war with Uruguay, under Rosas, again +ruined the Entre Rios ranches, and the drought of 1846 helped to +scatter the remaining herds. Extensive breeding is only lightly rooted +in the soil. The chief centres of production change their locality, as +the political circumstances change, from one part of the Pampean plain +to another.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Rio_Bamba" href="images/illus-217a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-217a.jpg" alt="The Pampean Plain" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN. THE RIO BAMBA (IN THE + SOUTH OF THE CÓRDOBA PROVINCE, 500 FEET ABOVE SEA-LEVEL).</p> + <p class="figcaption">Small circular lagoons. The underground water, + which comes from the Sierras to the north-west, here reaches + the surface. Zone of lucerne farms.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-217a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Buena_Esperanza" href="images/illus-217b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-217b.jpg" alt="Buena Esperanza" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN. BUENA ESPERANZA (SAN LUIS + PROVINCE, 1,166 FEET ELEVATION).</p> + <p class="figcaption">The plain is sown with quick and dead dunes, + often shaped in a circle round a lagoon. A dune invaded by + vegetation.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XVI.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-217b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<p>Primitive breeding affords few examples of periodical migration +for the better use of pasturage. In 1822, in the course of a journey +amongst the Sierras de Tandil and de la Ventana, Colonel Garcia +noticed that the Indians kept their cattle round the temporary lagoons +of the plain in the winter, and went up to the mountain-streams in +summer. Transhumation movements of this kind were difficult for the +creole ranchers, whose fairly large herds could not be handled easily. +The Chascomus breeders, however, at the close of the eighteenth +century, drove their cattle to the low banks of the Salado during +the dry season.<a id="FNanchor_91_91" +href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">91</a> Garcia also notices +the importance of the Salado pastures for the ranches of Salto, +Areco, and Lujan.<a id="FNanchor_92_92" +href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">92</a> The need to remove +the herds in the dry season, and to find <span lang="es">invernadas</span> within reach of +the former ranches, was due to the change brought about in the natural +vegetation of the Pampa and the spread of the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span>. The +annual herbs which compose the <span lang="es">pasto dulce</span> die and disappear after +fertilization. Until the autumn rain they leave the ground quite naked, +whereas the tough grasses of the <span lang="es">pasto duro</span> afforded a thin but +permanent pasture.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The first improvements of the pastoral industry of the Pampa are +connected with the development of sheep-breeding. Exports of wool +began about 1840, and made great progress after 1855 (17,000 tons +in 1860, 65,000 tons in 1870). From 1850 to about 1890 the economic +returns on sheep-breeding were far better than on cattle-breeding. +During the whole of this period the multiplication of sheep farms was +only restricted by the supply of workers. The first shepherds had been +Basques, in the south of the Buenos Aires province, and Irish, in the +north. The owner settled them as small farmers in the <span lang="es">puestos</span> on the +edge of the ranch, the central part of which was devoted to cattle. +They could thus, while they guarded their sheep, see that the limits of +the estate were respected, and prevent the cattle from roaming.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + +<p>Wool was for a long time the only product of the sheep-rearing +industry. From 1866 onward it was decided to use the hides and tallow +also. As the material of the grease-works was cheap, they spread all +over the sheep zone. Many ranches had works of their own. From 1867 +to 1877 the <span lang="es">saladeros</span> that had been built long before for killing +cattle undertook the slaughter of sheep on a large scale. The number +of sheep sold to the <span lang="es">saladeros</span> rose to 3,000,000 a year. In 1880 the +first cargoes of frozen mutton were sent abroad. The creation of the +grease-works had made no difference to the breeding, but the building +of the refrigerators brought about a rapid transformation of the flock. +The Lincoln breed, heavier and more meaty, displaced the fine-wool +Merinos. This substitution of Lincolns for Merinos is now complete +throughout the Pampean region.</p> + +<p>Until 1880 sheep-rearing was concentrated east of the Salado, north +and south of Buenos Aires, beginning with a line that passes through +Quilmes, San Vicente, Pilar, and Campana, which marks the limit of the +suburban zone. In addition it had spread on the right bank of the lower +Salado as far as the foot of the Sierra de Tandil, in an area where the +first stations date from 1823, though the population did not make much +progress until after 1855. About 1880, after the pacification of the +Pampa, the sheep-farms began to expand westward. It was then that the +wool of the <span lang="es">pasto fuerte</span> appeared on the Buenos Aires market. It came +from the Azal district in 1870, from Olavarria in 1880, from Bolivar in +1885, and from Villegas in 1890. The Census of 1889 ascribes 51,000,000 +sheep to the province of Buenos Aires; that of 1895 gives much the same +figure (52,000,000). Detailed comparison of the two enumerations shows +that the expansive movement to the west continued, and was completed +during this period. The flocks in the north-west zone of the province +(Lincoln, Villegas, Trenque, Lauquen) more than doubled; the flocks of +the south-west area +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> + +(Alsina, Puan, Bahía Blanca, Villarino) continued to grow, and +increased by a third. Those on the lands of the central Pampa increased +threefold. On the other hand, in the departments north and south of +the Sierra de Tandil, where colonization is older, sheep-breeding +is stationary. The north-east and south-east areas, between the +Paraná and the Salado, have diminished: one losing a fifth, and +the other a half, of its flocks.</p> + +<p>From 1895 onward the number of flocks of sheep on the Pampean +plain decreased rapidly. The number of sheep had sunk from 34,000,000 +in 1908 to 18,000,000 in 1915 for the Buenos Aires province; from +2,800,000 in 1908 to 2,300,000 in 1914 for the central Pampa. The +reduction was general, and found in every district; but it was not +equally great everywhere, and did not begin at the same date in every +district. Sheep-breeding has almost entirely disappeared from the +eastern belt, east of the Salado, which was its cradle. South of Buenos +Aires the sheep are giving place to horned cattle, and they had almost +disappeared by 1908. North of Buenos Aires they survived long, but +the reduction of the flocks has only been the more rapid since 1908. +This corresponds with the advance of maize-growing. In six years the +Bartolome Mitre and Pergamino departments have lost, respectively, +four-fifths and five-sixths of their sheep. In the north-west of the +Buenos Aires province the sheep began to be reduced at the time when +the lucerne farms were founded, about 1900. The decrease has since +gone on uninterruptedly. The actual flocks represent one-fourth of +the flocks of 1895. In the south-west (wheat belt) there was a rapid +shrinkage before 1908, but it seems to have almost been arrested since +then, thanks to the combining of sheep-rearing with wheat and oats. The +actual flocks are about one-half the flocks of 1895. Finally, in the +area north of the Sierra de Tandil the sheep retreat before the cattle, +as they do +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> + +further north, but they are not so completely wiped out as in the +lucerne belt, and the flocks are still two fifths of the flocks of +twenty years ago.</p> + +<p>In the province of Entre Rios and south of Corrientes the number +of sheep continued to rise until 1908, but the increase is only in +the northern departments, outside the agricultural belt. The southern +departments, which are large growers of wheat and flax, lost one-third +of their flocks between 1895 and 1908.</p> + +<p>Cattle-breeding was restricted for a long time by the difficulty +of disposing of its products. The hides alone found ready buyers. The +making and export of salt beef dates from the eighteenth century, and +it was to help this industry that the expeditions to the salt-beds of +the Pampa and the journeys of salters to the Patagonian coast were +organized. From 1792 to 1796 no less than 39,000 quintals of jerked +beef were sent from the Rio de la Plata to Havana. But the market for +salt meat (<span lang="es">tasajo</span>) was always limited. It consisted only of the +Antilles and Brazil, and the <span lang="es">saladeros</span> never fully exploited the +meat-producing capacity of the Argentine herds. The crisis of the +<span lang="es">saladeros</span> occurred before the time when the refrigerators began to +compete with them. By 1889 there were only three left in the province +of Buenos Aires.</p> + +<p>Although the price of cattle was not very remunerative, and provided +no incentive to improve the breeding; although the <span lang="es">saladero</span> was not +at all exorbitant, merely asking for animals in good condition, the +improvement of the herd by introducing selected pedigree-breeders had +begun about the middle of the nineteenth century. The Basque dairies +established in the district near Buenos Aires sold pedigree-calves +to the ranches, and these were used for breeding purposes.<a + id="FNanchor_93_93" href="#Footnote_93_93" +class="fnanchor">93</a> About 1880 the advance of sheep-breeding +pressed the cattle-ranches back and disputed the space with them +more and more, within the ancient Indian frontier. The smallness of +the market for cattle and their slight mercantile value were very +favourable circumstances for the occupation of the new lands, thrown +open at this date by the submission of the Indians. The herds which +found no buyers were sent to the <span lang="es">campos de afuera</span>. The ranches +developed very rapidly. Daireaux has very accurately described this +period of pastoral colonization, and the starting of convoys that +were intended to give a population to the west of the Pampa. Cattle +were there several years before sheep. As a matter of fact, breeders +do not regard cattle as having a value of their own. They are merely +auxiliaries that must improve the pasture and prepare the ground for +sheep. The cattle themselves are preceded by troops of half-wild +horses which first take possession of the virgin field and begin the +transformation of it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>The number of cattle increases rapidly. In 1875 it was +estimated that there were 5,000,000 head of cattle in the province +of Buenos Aires. In 1889 there were 8,500,000. Since that date +the variations have been comparatively slight. The Census of +1895 gives 7,700,000; that of 1908 gives 10,300,000; that of +1914 gives 9,000,000; and that of 1915 gives 11,300,000.<a + id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" +class="fnanchor">94</a> But the value of the cattle has gone up +rapidly. The exports of live meat, which lasted from 1889 to 1900, were +the beginning of the rise. It was strengthened when the refrigerators +ceased to confine themselves to killing sheep and began to buy cattle. +The exports of chilled or frozen beef increased after 1898. The value +of them rose to 10,000,000 gold piastres in 1904, double that in 1909, +and more than quadruple in 1914.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> + +<p>The difference between the price paid by the refrigerators for +pedigree-cattle and the price of animals of creole blood, which the +local market takes, hurries up the transformation of the herd. In +order to watch reproduction and nurse the pasture, the ranches put +up wire-fences. But the breeding methods are especially modified by +the introduction of lucerne. It spread in the south of Córdoba +and west of the Buenos Aires province from 1895 onward, and from 1905 +onward in part of the San Luis province. There were already small +lucerne farms in the Buenos Aires province. A description that was +written at the end of the eighteenth century speaks of lucerne farms +round the town which were reserved for feeding draught cattle.<a + id="FNanchor_95_95" href="#Footnote_95_95" +class="fnanchor">95</a> But the area from which the cultivation +of lucerne started at the close of the nineteenth century is the +district of the Córdoba province that is crossed by the line +from Rosario to Córdoba, completed about 1870 to Bellville +and Villa Marina. The lucerne farms there were not created by the +breeders, and the lucerne was at first intended for export to Rosario +and Buenos Aires in the form of dry fodder. The trade in dry fodder +has remained good there. The 1908 Census gives 128 square kilometres +of lucerne for cutting in the Tercero Abajo department (Villa Maria) +and 267 square kilometres in the Union department (Bellville).<a + id="FNanchor_96_96" href="#Footnote_96_96" +class="fnanchor">96</a></p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Cattle-breeding_Areas" href="images/illus-225.png" type="image/png"> + <img src="images/illus-225.png" alt="map" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MAP III.—THE CATTLE-BREEDING AREAS.</p> + <p class="figcaption">The density of the herd is slight in the + maize belt. It is considerable in the centre and east of the + Pampean region, which supply the refrigerators with pedigree + stock of good weight. The density is considerable also in the + north of Mesopotamia, but the cattle there are less valuable + and are taken by the <em>saladeros</em> of the Uruguay. The presence + of the tick, which inoculates cattle with Texas fever, is the + chief obstacle to the improvement of the herd in the north of + Argentina.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-225.png" type="image/png">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>The lucerne spread southward and south-westward from this point; and +the improvement of the herds kept pace with it. I have shown elsewhere +how this improvement was checked north of a line along the course of +the Paraná, the northern frontier of the Constitución and +General Lopez departments, in the province of Santa Fé and on +the Rio Cuarto, and in the Córdoba province, by the presence of +the <span lang="es">garrapate</span>, which inoculates the cattle with a dreaded disease, +Texas fever. The creole cattle are immunized against the <span lang="es">garrapate</span>, +but pedigree cattle quickly succumb to it. In order to protect the +southern zone, where the <span lang="es">garrapate</span> does not reproduce, the Argentine +Government imposes severe restrictions on the transport of cattle +from north to south; the cattle have to have disinfectant baths at +the frontier-stations. This cuts pastoral Argentina in two. While the +Durham cattle of the south are intended for the refrigerators, the +creole cattle of the north still supply the <span lang="es">saladeros</span>, which have +disappeared from Buenos Aires, but survive on the Uruguay. Yet the +advantages of crossing with European breeds are such that the northern +breeders, in spite of the risk and the expense, have not given up all +hope of accomplishing it. The transformation of the herd, however, is +bound to be very slow. Pedigree breeders are brought from the south and +kept in the stable. Their progeny, born on the spot, resist Texas fever +better and can be put out to pasture. There has been more progress in +the contaminated zone on the right bank of the Paraná than in +Entre Rios and Corrientes. Pedigree animals have been introduced at +Santa Fé, not only in the region of the colonies, but further +north, in the extreme northern corner of the Pampa (San Cristobal +department), colonized by ranchers from the north of Buenos Aires and +the south of Santa Fé, who were ousted by the progress of maize. +They have brought with them to the new lands the cultivation of lucerne +and the methods they followed on their former property. At Corrientes, +on the other hand, breeding is an historic industry. The staff of the +ranches is indigenous. The pastoral traditions are unchanged.</p> + +<p>When we study the variations in the numbers of cattle in different +parts of the Pampa, by comparing +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> + +the results of recent Censuses we find that the number has risen +rapidly since 1895 in the whole of the eastern area, north of the +Sierra de Tandil. The increase is particularly conspicuous north of +the Rio Salado, in the dairy district. (Mean density in 1915, 40 to 60 +horned cattle per square kilometre.) In the south-west region (wheat +belt) the density has always been low (12 per square kilometre), and +it shows no tendency to increase. In the north and western region of +Buenos Aires (lucerne belt) there has been a rapid increase, especially +between 1895 and 1908 (creation of the lucerne farms), and it has not +been interrupted since (density 50 to the square kilometre). There +is the same increase in the whole area of the lucerne farms in the +Córdoba, Santa Fé, and San Luis provinces, where the +herds doubled between 1895 and 1908. Only two regions have suffered a +reduction: the agricultural area of the centre (Chacabuco, Chivilcoy), +where there has been a decrease since 1895, and the maize district +(north of Buenos Aires), where cattle-rearing did not diminish until +after 1908.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Agriculture had begun to develop by the end of the eighteenth +century in the district round Buenos Aires. D'Azara admits the enormous +preponderance of breeding, but mentions that the right bank of the +Paraná exported flour to the left bank, which was exclusively +pastoral. Barrero also observes that between the belt of orchards +and lucerne fields, about a league in width, which surrounded Buenos +Aires, and the area of the ranches, which did not begin for six or +eight leagues, there was an agricultural belt, the district of the +<span lang="es">chacras de pan llevar</span>. The main crop was wheat, and the tillage was +chiefly done in the rich soils at the bottom of the valleys, which are +called <span lang="es">cañadas</span> in the local dialect (cañada de Moron, +cañada de Rio Lujan, etc.).</p> + +<p>It was, however, not at Buenos Aires, but in the Santa Fé +province, that modern agricultural colonization +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> + +began in the nineteenth century. It goes back to the foundation (in +1854) of the colony of Esperanza, west of Santa Fé, from +which it was separated by the strip of forest which follows the +course of the Salado. European immigrants—Swiss, French, and +Piedmontese—had settled there. The early years of colonization +at Santa Fé were difficult, and the colonies did not begin to +develop rapidly until after 1870. About that date we can distinguish +three nuclei of agricultural colonization at Santa Fé. The +first group of colonies was settled in the north, on the bank of the +Paraná. In the centre the Esperanza group advanced steadily +westward. A third group of colonies lay along the Central Argentine +railway from Rosario to Córdoba.</p> + +<p>The Esperanza colonists had at first grown maize, but the +prosperity of the colonies was mainly due to wheat. Zeballos, who +visited the colonies in 1882, describes them as a vast lake of wheat. +Wheat predominates, not only in the department of Las Colonias, +west of Santa Fé, where it survives in full strength, but +further north, at Garay, whence it has since been displaced by flax +and earth-nuts, and in the south, round Rosario, in the belt which +is now given up to maize. It is for the wheat that the mills of +Carcaraña and the granaries of Rosario have been built. The +land sown with wheat at Santa Fé rose in 1882 to 102,000 +hectares out of a total of 127,000 hectares of cultivated land.<a + id="FNanchor_97_97" href="#Footnote_97_97" +class="fnanchor">97</a> By 1889 the area of wheat was quadrupled. It +spread like a drop of oil, reaching Rafäela and Castellanos on +the west. In 1895 the advance was still more rapid. Wheat-growing has +crossed the Córdoba frontier, and spread round San Francisco and +east of Mar Chiquita (departments of San Justo and Marcos Juarez). The +agricultural regions in the centre of the Santa Fé province +and those of the Central Argentine have met, and the wheat has invaded +the whole of the San Martin department. It extends even south of the +old colonies of the Central Argentine toward the south-west of Santa +Fé, in the General Lopez department.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>The 1908 Census shows a very different state of things. The density +of the wheat-cultivation has continued to grow appreciably in the whole +of the northern region, and also in the south-west of the province, at +some distance from the Paraná (General Lopez department). On the +other hand, it has been reduced in the adjoining district of Rosario +(departments of Iriondo, Belgrana, Caseros, and Constitución), +where maize-growing has developed. Maize has won part of the wheat +belt.</p> + +<table summary="crop areas" class="table1"> + <thead> + <tr> + <th rowspan="2">Departments.<a id="FNanchor_98_98" + href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">98</a></th> + <th colspan="3">Wheat Area (in kilometres).</th> + <th colspan="3">Maize Area (in kilometers).</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <th class="bl">1889</th> + <th>1895</th> + <th>1908</th> + <th>1889</th> + <th>1895</th> + <th>1908</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>Las Colonias</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 1,623 {</td> + <td>1,307</td> + <td>1,621</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 82 {</td> + <td>24</td> + <td>31</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Castillanos</td> + <td>1,845</td> + <td>3,425</td> + <td>4</td> + <td>7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>S. Jeronimo</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 664 {</td> + <td>854</td> + <td>849</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 65 {</td> + <td>15</td> + <td>264</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>S. Martin</td> + <td>964</td> + <td>1,884</td> + <td>22</td> + <td>35</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><em>Iriondo</em></td> + <td rowspan="2">} 971 {</td> + <td>929</td> + <td>442</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 65 {</td> + <td>81</td> + <td>641</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><em>Belgrano</em></td> + <td>1,137</td> + <td>638</td> + <td>37</td> + <td>296</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><em>S. Lorenzo</em></td> + <td rowspan="2">} 652 {</td> + <td>387</td> + <td>1,390</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 178 {</td> + <td>150</td> + <td>1,169</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><em>Caseros</em></td> + <td>1,139</td> + <td>468</td> + <td>83</td> + <td>970</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Gal. Lopez</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 12 {</td> + <td> 888</td> + <td> 1,370</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 51 {</td> + <td>373</td> + <td>1,558</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><em>Constitución</em></td> + <td>227</td> + <td>165</td> + <td>575</td> + <td>736</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>S. Justo</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 12 {</td> + <td>732</td> + <td>2,345</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 48 {</td> + <td>7</td> + <td>34</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>M. Juarez</td> + <td>1,504</td> + <td>1,442</td> + <td>53</td> + <td>92</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p>Restricted in the south by the extension of the maize belt, the +region of the colonies has now a very distinctive character amongst +the agricultural areas of the Pampa.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + +<p>This originality is not so much in virtue of its crops (hard wheat +and flax) as on account of the age of colonization and the division of +property. Most of the colonists are owners, and estates of 50 to 200 +hectares are the rule. The houses are comfortable; they are surrounded +by orchards and kitchen-gardens. Moreover, the rural economy has been +complicated, and it has assumed a familiar aspect for the European +observer, owing to the introduction of cattle-rearing on a small scale +by the farmers. The number of horned cattle doubled between 1908 and +1914 in the Castellanos department, and increased by a third in Las +Colonias. The area of lucerne has extended in proportion. The farms +have been multiplied on the low lands (<span lang="es">cañadas</span>), unsuitable +for wheat, which the older colonists had disdained; but they are +now regarded as the best bits of land. The recent rise in the value +of land in the region of the colonies is connected, not with an +increase of agricultural production, but a development of breeding. A +few co-operative <del>diary </del><ins>dairy </ins>societies have been established. In general, +however, breeding is solely for the meat-market. The cattle-trade +goes on very different lines from those of the large estates and +ranches. It has remained in the hands of small dealers (Jews of +Moïsesville).</p> + +<p>Agricultural colonization in the Buenos Aires province was at first +entirely independent of the Santa Fé colonization. The crops +of the adjoining region of Buenos Aires never disappeared altogether. +In the period to which Daireaux's description of the economic life of +the Pampa refers (1880-89), the farmers disputed with the breeders a +belt some ten leagues broad round the capital. But sheep-breeding left +no place for agriculture in the next belt, which enclosed the first +on every side, and extended almost as far as the Salado. Agricultural +colonization had found free land only beyond the sheep-farm area, 170 +miles west of Buenos Aires, round Chivilcoy, Chacabuco, and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> + +Bragado. As early as 1872 the Chivilcoy district produced 130,000 +hectolitres of wheat; or nearly half the total production of the Buenos +Aires province. In 1889 it formed a comparatively dense agricultural +patch, the cultivated area being devoted half to wheat and half to +maize.</p> + +<table summary="crop area"> + <tr><td></td><th colspan="2">Wheat.</th><th colspan="2">Maize.</th></tr> + <tr><td>Chivilcoy</td><td>307</td><td>kms.</td><td>399</td><td>kms.</td></tr> + <tr><td>Chacabuco</td><td>155</td><td>" </td><td>164</td><td>" </td></tr> + <tr><td>Bragado</td><td>147</td><td>" </td><td>261</td><td>" </td></tr> +</table> + +<p>At that date the whole west and south of the Buenos Aires +province was exclusively pastoral. There were only two isolated +nuclei of agricultural colonization. The first was round Olavarria, +on the old Indian frontier, where Russo-German colonies had been +established in 1878. The second was in the Suarez department, +at the extreme north of the Sierra de la Ventana, where a group +of French colonists settled five years later, at Pigüe.<a + id="FNanchor_99_99" href="#Footnote_99_99" +class="fnanchor">99</a> The opening of the line from Buenos Aires +to Bahía Blanca ought, one would think, to have prepared the +way for agricultural colonization in this section. However, the 1895 +Census shows a check to these first attempts at tillage in the south. +It fell by one half at Suarez, and by three-fourths at Olavarria. The +Pigüe colonists have succeeded in keeping to their lands, but +those of Olavarria have abandoned them, and most of them have emigrated +to the Entre Rios province.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Buena_Esperanza2" href="images/illus-233a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-233a.jpg" alt="The Pampean Plain" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN. BUENA ESPERANZA (SAN LUIS PROVINCE).</p> + <p class="figcaption">The first <em>chañares</em>.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-233a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Junin" href="images/illus-233b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-233b.jpg" alt="Junin" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PAMPEAN PLAIN. JUNIN (150 MILES WEST OF BUENOS + AIRES, 330 FEET ELEVATION).</p> + <p class="figcaption">The clays. A line of dead dunes crosses the + Junin district, following the course of the Salado. They are + indicated by light, sandy soil, very different from the clays + of the north of Buenos Aires province.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by the Author.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XVII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-233b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the other hand, colonization has kept the land won in the +district of the middle Salado, and it extends in a sporadic way toward +the south-west and west. (Nueve de Julio, 252 square kilometres of +wheat and 400 of maize: Veinte Cinco de Mayo, 84 square kilometres +of wheat and 218 of maize: Junin, 197 square kilometres of wheat +and 204 of maize in 1895). It has been maintained ever since, with +slow progress, but without being ousted by breeding. This is one of +the regions of the Pampa where the most different types of rural +exploitation are mingled together. Agricultural colonization has +been carried on both by small proprietors and farmers or tenants. +Wheat and maize seem to be permanently associated, and the climate +is equally good for both; the maize crop being the better if the +summer is wet, and the wheat crop when the summer is dry. The two +cereals follow each other on the same land, in rotation, the wheat +being helped by the constant weeding and clearing which the maize +requires. The colonists use oxen in the work, and fatten them +afterwards.<a id="FNanchor_100_100" +href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">100</a></p> + +<p>Agricultural colonization in the lucerne region dates +from 1895 to 1905:</p> + +<table summary="wheat and flax areas" class="table1"> + <thead> + <tr> + <th rowspan="2"></th> + <th colspan="2">Wheat Area (in kilometres).</th> + <th colspan="2">Flax Area (in kilometres).</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <th class="bl">1895</th> + <th>1908</th> + <th>1895</th> + <th>1908</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr><td>Buenos Aires:</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr> + <tr><td>Lincoln</td><td>152</td><td>819</td><td></td><td>100</td></tr> + <tr><td>Pehuajo</td><td>106</td><td>727</td><td></td><td></td></tr> + <tr><td> Guamini</td><td>20</td><td>528</td><td></td><td></td></tr> + <tr><td> Trenque Lauquen</td><td>100</td><td>1,439</td><td></td><td>59</td></tr> + <tr><td> Villegas</td><td>4</td><td>812</td><td>1</td><td>84</td></tr> + <tr><td> Pinto</td><td></td><td>469</td><td></td><td>60</td></tr> + <tr><td>Córdoba:</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr> + <tr><td> Gal. Roca</td><td></td><td>1,009</td><td></td><td>89</td></tr> + <tr><td> Rio Quarto</td><td>5</td><td>1,156</td><td></td><td>172</td></tr> + <tr><td> Juarez Celman</td><td>144</td><td>1,679</td><td></td><td>183</td></tr> + <tr><td> Union</td><td>373</td><td>2,548</td><td>12</td><td>316</td></tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>I have shown how this was bound up with the development of the +lucerne farms themselves. The extreme west of the lucerne belt +(Pedernera department and San Luis) is the only place where the +cultivated area was reduced. The contracts by which the ranchers +entrust their lands to the colonists, on condition of returning +them sown with lucerne, were gradually modified as the stream of +colonization developed. The land was at first left to the colonist rent +free, the rancher being paid by the creation of the lucerne fields. But +in proportion to the increasing volume of the stream of immigrants, +and the keener competition of the colonists, the rancher asked better +terms. There are similar contracts in regard to the restoration of +lucerne fields which have been worn out by pasturage, so that the land +has to be ploughed up periodically. The men who clear the land in the +lucerne belt have mostly been recruited in the district of the old +colonies of Santa Fé, where the new generation had begun to feel +the pinch. The crops which they raise during the four or five years of +their lease are chosen without any idea of sparing lands which they are +not to keep. Wheat succeeds wheat, and the first and last crop is often +flax. The proportion of flax is lower only in the southern part of the +lucerne belt. In the Buenos Aires province the colonist grows lucerne +on his own account, either to sell as dry fodder or for breeding or +fattening.</p> + +<p>Colonization does not in these parts correspond with the division +of property. Not only does the farmer not become the owner of the soil, +but he does not live on it permanently; he is a veritable nomad. His +house has a temporary look that strikes one at the first glance. The +area cultivated is almost stable, if the region is considered as a +whole. But cultivation passes periodically from one section to another, +and its removals cause sudden alterations or crises in the railway +traffic and the development of the urban centres.</p> + +<p>The lucerne belt has been peopled by Santafecinos, and it has in +turn sent colonists to the western agricultural +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> + +belt at the foot of the Sierras de San Luis and de Córdoba. +They have less suitable climatological conditions, but they have the +advantage of greater stability, as the breeders do not dispute the land +with them.</p> + +<p>While agricultural colonization has been an aid to pastoral +colonization in the north-west of Buenos Aires, it tends to displace +breeding, or restrict its sphere, in the north-east and the south. +Maize-growing started on the banks of the Paraná, where it was +already paramount in 1889, between Campana (north of Buenos Aires) and +San Nicolas. In 1895 it advanced up the Paraná as far as the +Santa Fé province (Constitución) and spread over the +interior for some sixty miles in the Salto department. In the next few +years it made rapid progress toward the west and north-west, covering +the departments of Pergamino, Rojas, and Colon, and part of General +Lopez, San Lorenzo, and Constitución in the province of Santa +Fé.</p> + +<table class="table1" summary="maize and flax areas"> + <thead> + <tr> + <th rowspan="2"></th> + <th colspan="3">Maize Area.</th> + <th colspan="3">Flax Area.</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <th class="bl">1889</th> + <th>1895</th> + <th>1908</th> + <th>1889</th> + <th>1895</th> + <th>1908</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>Campana</td> + <td>67</td> + <td>45</td> + <td>22</td> + <td>15</td> + <td>31</td> + <td>17</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Baradero</td> + <td>339</td> + <td>260</td> + <td>291</td> + <td>26</td> + <td>78</td> + <td>173</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>S. Pedro</td> + <td>398</td> + <td>353</td> + <td>420</td> + <td>5</td> + <td>73</td> + <td>235</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Arrecifes</td> + <td>124</td> + <td>126</td> + <td>155</td> + <td>15</td> + <td>50</td> + <td>265</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Salto</td> + <td>16</td> + <td>326</td> + <td>236</td> + <td>13</td> + <td>3</td> + <td>75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Gal. Lopez</td> + <td rowspan="2">} 51 {</td> + <td>373</td> + <td>1,538</td> + <td></td> + <td>70</td> + <td>752</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Constitución</td> + <td>575</td> + <td>736</td> + <td></td> + <td>270</td> + <td>404</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Pergamino</td> + <td>168</td> + <td>160</td> + <td>340</td> + <td>50</td> + <td>30</td> + <td>275</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Rojas</td> + <td>86</td> + <td>81</td> + <td>247</td> + <td>4</td> + <td>23</td> + <td>275</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Colon</td> + <td></td> + <td>44</td> + <td>126</td> + <td></td> + <td>14</td> + <td>78</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>S. Lorenzo</td> + <td>178</td> + <td>150</td> + <td>1,169</td> + <td>11</td> + <td>36</td> + <td>450</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Caseros</td> + <td></td> + <td>83</td> + <td>990</td> + <td></td> + <td>13</td> + <td>319</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p>Export of Argentine maize on a large scale began in 1895. +Flax-growing was not added to maize until 1900.</p> + +<p>The heavy land requires a good deal of harrowing, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> + +and the weeding and harvesting of the maize give employment to a +comparatively large staff. The estates are of moderate size, often only +50 hectares. Ownership was not divided at the period of colonization, +the land, thanks to the breeders, having already acquired so high a +value that the colonists could not buy it. On the lands which have been +farmed out there has developed a rural, and often far from docile, +proletariat. It is in the maize region that the worst agricultural +strikes have taken place. The struggles of the owners and the colonists +are the more prolonged because the sowing of the maize can be put back +to the end of the spring without much harm being done. The adjoining +zone of the Paraná produced some of the <span lang="es">maiseros</span> who have +scattered over the north-west. But the modern colonies include, +in addition, a large proportion of immigrants who have recently +landed from Italy and Spain. The maize growers do not mix with the +wheat-growers. Each group has its own area.</p> + +<p>The increase of wheat-growing in the south dates only from 1898:</p> + +<table summary="wheat area" class="table1"> + <thead> + <tr><th rowspan="2"></th><th colspan="2">Wheat Area (in kilometres).</th></tr> + <tr><th class="bl">1895</th><th>1908</th></tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr><td>Alsina</td><td>45</td><td>1,296</td></tr> + <tr><td>Puan</td><td>52</td><td>1,321</td></tr> + <tr><td>Suarez</td><td>104</td><td>978</td></tr> + <tr><td>La Madrid</td><td>75</td><td>249</td></tr> + <tr><td>Pringles</td><td>13</td><td>724</td></tr> + <tr><td>Darrego</td><td></td><td>885</td></tr> + <tr><td>Terr. de la Pampa</td><td></td><td>1,731</td></tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Density_of_the_Maize_Crop" href="images/illus-239.png" type="image/png"> + <img src="images/illus-239.png" alt="Map" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MAP IV.—DENSITY OF THE MAIZE CROP.</p> + <p class="figcaption">As it needs more heat and moisture than wheat, the maize + does not go so far to the west and south. It is concentrated + for export at the ports of the Rio de la Plata and the + Paraná, especially at Rosario. The Argentine "corn + belt," the chief maize area, extends back of Rosario and San + Nicolas to beyond Casilda and Pergamino.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-239.png" type="image/png">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>Wheat first spread along the line from Buenos Aires to Bahía +Blanca, west of the Sierra de la Ventana, then in the coastal district, +east of Bahía Blanca. These two wheat-areas became connected +after 1904, when the opening of the direct line from Olavarria to +Buenos Aires facilitated the development of the intermediate region +(Pringles-Laprida). From Bahía Blanca it spread to the west and +north-west along the Toay line, and southward as far as Colorado on +the coast. In the whole area of the Central Pampa it is still possible +to distinguish two strata of immigrants, of different dates, one +superimposed upon the other: the sheep-breeders and the farmers. Round +Toay the contrast between the two elements of the population is even +more striking, because the first pastoral colonization, which dates +from 1890, was to a great extent the work of creole <span lang="es">puntanos</span> (from +the San Luis province). The actual agricultural colonies, on the other +hand, include recent European immigrants and colonists from other parts +of the provinces of Buenos Aires and Entre Rios.</p> + +<p>The yield of the wheat grows less and less as one goes westward. The +harvest may be injured either by late frost or drought, or, especially, +by hot winds which scorch the plants and blight the half-realized hopes +of the farmers in the weeks just before the harvest. But the relative +poorness of the return is compensated by the extent of the farms and +the cheapness of labour. The harvest is often done with machines that +peel and pack the wheat, and the workers are not compelled, as they are +at Santa Fé, to wait for the threshing machine. The aridity does +not permit flax-growing, but oats can be grown, especially between the +Sierra de la Ventana and the Sierra de Tandil; and it is good to sow +oats when the land has been impoverished by consecutive crops of wheat. +Exports of oats through Bahía Blanca began in 1906.</p> + +<p>The displacement of breeding by farming is less thorough than in +the maize belt. Oats, sown about the beginning of autumn, serve for +fodder. The animals are kept in the fields during the winter, and +the oats are cut and put into the mill, without being threshed, as a +reserve fodder. Moreover, the wheat +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> + +farmers have themselves taken to rearing sheep, and the sheep feed in +the stubble and fallow.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>From this short account of the history of colonization we draw +certain important conclusions. At the time when agricultural +colonization began, it was admitted that farming was the best way +to exploit the soil, and that the Pampa would sooner or later pass +from the pastoral to the agricultural cycle; or, to use the local +phraseology, that the "colony" would replace the ranch everywhere. This +idea was wrong. The only area in which the facts seem to give it any +support is the corn belt. The general rule is, on the contrary, that +in its progress colonization develops a mixed type of exploitation, +combining farming and breeding; either one alternates with the other in +a sort of periodic rotation, as in the lucerne area, or both proceed +together, the farmers including breeding amongst their occupations, as +in the district of the Santa Fé colonies or in the wheat area in +the south of the Buenos Aires province.</p> + +<p>It seems, moreover, that the development of colonization depends not +only upon physical conditions, but upon factors of a purely economic or +social character, which the geographer must not overlook. It will be +enough here to indicate the chief of these.</p> + +<p>We have seen the part that has been played in the exploitation of +the soil by groups of colonists who swarm from one area to another. +Whether we think of the ranchers of the eastern part of Buenos Aires +transplanting themselves to Córdoba or north of Santa Fé, +the sheep-breeders moving westward, or the Santa Fé colonists +settling in the lucerne area, they all take with them their own habits +and methods of work, and they take time to adjust them to a new +environment.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Density_of_the_Wheat_Crop" href="images/illus-243.png" type="image/png"> + <img src="images/illus-243.png" alt="map" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MAP V.—DENSITY OF THE WHEAT CROP.</p> + <p class="figcaption">The wheat belt stretches in a broad + section of a circle from Bahía Blanca to Santa + Fé, which is now reached by maritime vessels. The + cultivation of wheat crosses the line of 600 millimetres of + rainfall and even the 400-millimetre line, in proportion as + one passes from the area of summer rain to that of spring and + autumn rain.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-243.png" type="image/png">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<p>The colonist, whether breeder or farmer, is not left to himself. +Colonization is sustained and directed by speculation in land, and +is influenced by it. Speculation discounts the work of the colonist, +and attaches to the land a value which is not based upon the revenue +it has produced, but upon that which the speculator calculates that +it may produce in the future. If the speculator is audacious, he does +not let himself be discouraged by initial bad experiences; it takes +repeated checks to exhaust his optimism. The colonist, even if his +farming accounts do not show a profit, may nevertheless gain something +if the value of his land goes up. The increase of his capital conceals +from him the smallness of his returns, especially as he can easily get +advances on the value of his property from the banks, and this enables +him to draw upon his wealth every year.</p> + +<p>Speculation is concerned with new lands on the fringe of the area +already colonized, where the soil is, as a general rule, already in the +hands of the exploiters themselves. The speculators, having paid a high +price for these lands, try to organize the development of them. It is +partly owing to their influence that colonization continuously enlarges +its domain, instead of concentrating its labour in the older districts +where it might sometimes be more productive. In fine, speculation in +land has a profound influence on the conditions of colonization, making +it more difficult for the colonist to buy the land he is developing. +The owner who grants him the use of the land means to keep for himself +any increment of its value. He rents, but he will not sell.</p> + +<p>Thus the history of colonization cannot be separated from the +traffic in land. The special features of this traffic in the Pampean +region—its concentration at Buenos Aires; the creation of a +land-market resembling a stock market; the practice of selling on the +instalment plan, which enables small capitalists to enter the market; +the repeated transfers of pieces of land which the buyers have never +seen and which they know only from plans—are one of the most +original aspects of modern Argentina. They are partly due to a fact of +a geographical nature—the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> + +uniformity of the Pampean plain, on which every piece of land is worth +about as much as the adjoining piece.</p> + +<p>Colonization is easy and rapid in proportion as it requires less +capital and labour. The expansion of breeding in the west between 1880 +and 1890 was facilitated by the low market price of cattle at that +time. Breeding has the advantage over farming of not needing so large +a staff, but it requires a larger capital. Of the crops, assuming that +the conditions of soil and climate are equally favourable, wheat is +better than maize for colonization, because the preparing of the soil +and the harvest can be done more speedily, and the same number of hands +can plant a larger area with wheat than with maize.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>The action of the Argentine Government and the provincial +authorities has been restrained, apart from the earliest period +of the establishment of the Santa Fé colonies, both as +regards the securing of immigrants, the distribution of lands, +and the administration of the colonies.<a +id="FNanchor_101_101" href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">101</a> +Colonization has been, on the whole, a private affair. The work +of organizing colonization has at times been undertaken by the +proprietors themselves; they leased pieces of land and got a good price +for them, at the same time increasing the surplus value of the plots +they kept for themselves by promoting the increase of population. +Sometimes it was undertaken by Colonization Companies, which bought +land to divide and sell. More frequently it was undertaken by merchants +who advanced credit to the colonists they settled, on condition that +the colonists bought what they needed of the merchants, and entrusted +them with the sale of their crops. The migration of the Santa Fé +colonists was partly due to, and sustained by, a corresponding +migration of merchants who had acquired wealth in the older colonies, +and who thus got a larger body of customers. The merchant who organizes +colonization often acts as the intermediary between the owner and +the colonist, guaranteeing the owner a fixed rent for his land and +receiving so much per cent. of his harvest from the farmer. This system +is very widespread in the corn belt, but it is found all over the plain +of the Pampas. It tends to disappear when the colony is older and +deeper-rooted, as the colonist gradually earns his independence; he +buys his lease, his equipment, and his furniture, and controls the sale +of his own crops. In the districts where he has not become owner, the +leases are generally variations of two types: farming leases, where the +colonist has capital enough for working, and renting leases, where the +capital is provided by the owner or the middleman.</p> + +<p>Lastly, colonization can make no progress unless it finds markets +on which it can put its produce. Up to the present western Europe has +been the chief market for the wool, leather, meat, and cereals of the +Pampean region; tropical America absorbs part of the output of the +<span lang="es">saladeros</span>, flour, and dry fodder; and North America has recently +begun to compete with Europe for wool, leather, and frozen meat. The +facility with which the products of the Pampa have found their way into +the world's markets, as is seen in the comparative stability of the +returns, explains the continuous advance of colonization and the short +duration of the crises which have disturbed it.</p> + +<p>The home market, however, has had an importance in connection with +colonization that must not be overlooked. When wheat-growing spread at +Santa Fé the crop was at first devoted to supplying Buenos +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> + +Aires, and as late as 1883 Zeballos thought that the essential result +of agricultural colonization was the fact that Chilean flour was beaten +off the Argentine market. Even to-day the districts on the outskirts of +the cereal area depend upon the home market. The Villa Mercedes mill +supplies Mendoza. Córdoba and Santa Fé send their flour +to Tucumán. The price of cereals still shows slight fluctuations +in these parts as compared with prices in Buenos Aires.</p> + +<table class="table1" summary="chief products of the pampean region"> + <caption> + Table of Exports of the Chief Products of the Pampean region + (in thousands of tons): + </caption> + <thead> + <tr><th></th><th>1901</th><th>1905</th><th>1910</th><th>1913</th><th>1914</th></tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr><td>Wheat</td><td>904</td><td>2,868</td><td>1,883</td><td>2,812</td><td>980</td></tr> + <tr><td>Maize</td><td>1,112</td><td>2,222</td><td>2,660</td><td>4,806</td><td>3,542</td></tr> + <tr><td>Flax</td><td>338</td><td>654</td><td>604</td><td>1,016</td><td>841</td></tr> + <tr><td>Flour</td><td>71</td><td>144</td><td>115</td><td>124</td><td>67</td></tr> + <tr><td>Wool</td><td>228</td><td>191</td><td>150</td><td>120</td><td>117</td></tr> + <tr><td>Salted hides</td><td>28</td><td>40</td><td>61</td><td>65</td><td>63</td></tr> + <tr><td>Dried hides</td><td>26</td><td>24</td><td>29</td><td>21</td><td>14</td></tr> + <tr><td>Chilled beef</td><td>44</td><td>152</td><td>253</td><td>306</td><td>368</td></tr> + <tr><td>Chilled mutton</td><td>63</td><td>78</td><td>75</td><td>45</td><td>58</td></tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<div class="blockquot"> + <p>The heading "cereals" appears in the statistics of + Argentine exports in 1882. In 1900 the value of the + agricultural produce exported is equal to that of the products + of breeding. In 1904 it is higher.</p> +</div> + +<p>Pastoral colonization, again, has not been entirely independent of +the home market. Martin de Moussy says, it is true, that the area which +sent the products of breeding to Europe in 1865 extended as far as the +Sierra de Córdoba. But this statement needs correction. The +hides from the whole of this zone were, in point of fact, sent down to +the ports on the Rio de la Plata, but live animals were sent to Chile +from the whole of the north-west of the Pampean region. It was for the +purpose of selling cattle to Chile that ranches were multiplied about +1860 in the neighbourhood of Villa Mercedes and lower down, on the Rio +Quinto. Jegou's +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> + +description shows that even in 1883 the breeders of the San Luis +province devoted themselves exclusively to supplying the Chilean +market.<a id="FNanchor_102_102" +href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">102</a> Buyers from Chile +and the Andean provinces still visit Villa Mercedes, and until a recent +date they came to Villa Maria, in the province of Córdoba. The +Santa Fé ranches found their customers, until the opening of the +Córdoba line (1870) amongst the <span lang="es">troperos</span>, who bought draught +oxen for their waggons. The loss of these customers and the crisis that +followed are one of the reasons why agricultural colonization met with +so little resistance on the part of the breeders, and was able to take +root so easily at Santa Fé. In the San Cristobal department +the breeders who settled there after 1890 found their first market in +the <span lang="es">obrajes</span> of the neighbouring forest. The opening of the railway +to Tucumán afterwards enabled them to send their cattle to the +provinces of the north-west. The Buenos Aires buyers were late in this +remote canton of the Pampean plain. They did not arrive until 1911.</p> + +<p>The importance of the Pampean region itself as a market of +consumption grew in proportion to the increase of its population. The +extent to which it absorbs the products of breeding and agriculture +varies a good deal. For some of them it is paramount. Horse-breeding, +for instance, which is still one of the great industries of the Pampa, +has never contributed to the export trade. It is the same with regard +to potatoes, which are concentrated in two strictly limited districts, +round Rosario and north of the Sierra de Tandil. Only a small part of +the dry fodder is exported. As regards cereals, a comparison of the +statistics of production with the statistics of export shows that the +home consumption is about one-third of the production. It is almost nil +for flax, and nearly fifty per cent for wheat.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + +<table class="table1" summary="production an export"> + <caption> + The average of production and export for the years 1912, 1913, + and 1914, in thousands of tons, is: + </caption> + <thead> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>Wheat.</th> + <th>Maize.</th> + <th>Flax.</th> + <th>Total (including Oats).</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr><td>Production</td><td>4,241</td><td>6,398</td><td>931</td><td>12,662</td></tr> + <tr><td>Export</td><td>2,140</td><td>4,227</td><td>790</td><td>8,038</td></tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p>As the chief centres of consumption are the ports themselves, it +follows that the commercial currents that have to supply them are +confused with the currents which maintain the exports. The exchanges +between the various regions of the Pampa are more interesting to the +geographer. In their tendency to specialize, these regions have ceased +to be self-contained, and they have to look to adjoining regions. The +feeding of the mills necessitates the transport of wheat in different +directions. The chief mills are at Buenos Aires, where they are +suitably located to work both for the home market and for export; and +the mills in the interior have some difficulty in competing with them. +Some of these, however, are still active. They mix hard wheat, bought +in the district of the Santa Fé colonies, with the soft wheat +that is grown in the middle and south of Buenos Aires province.</p> + +<p>But this inter-regional transport of cereals is a small thing in +comparison with the transport of cattle. The extension of the lucerne +farms has developed the fattening industry in many districts, while +others still confine themselves to breeding in the ordinary sense, and +they feed the other centres. The most specialized fattening district is +that of Villa Mercedes and the western part of the lucerne belt, while +the eastern part of the province of Buenos Aires and Entre Rios are +still areas of production. The differentiation of the pastoral zones +can be gathered from a study of the statistics. According to the 1908 +Census, milch +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> + +cows represent 53 per cent. of the whole of the cattle in all the +departments which form the heart of the breeding area east of Buenos +Aires, and only 45 per cent. in the departments of the north-west +of Buenos Aires and south of Córdoba and in the Pedernera +department of San Luis, where fattening is common.</p> + +<p>According to the 1914 Census oxen are 24 per cent. of the herd in +the same departments of eastern Buenos Aires; 24 per cent. also in +Entre Rios; and the proportion rises to 31 per cent. in the lucerne +area. Dolores department (eastern Buenos Aires) has 64 per cent. milch +cows and 21 per cent. oxen. Pedernera department (San Luis, in the +lucerne area) has 49 per cent. cows and 38 per cent. oxen. General +Roca department (Córdoba) has 48 per cent. cows and 34 per +cent. oxen. Arenales (Buenos Aires) has 39 per cent. cows and 46 per +cent. oxen.<a id="FNanchor_103_103" +href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">103</a></p> + +<p>Oxen intended for the refrigerators are bought either on the ranches +or at Buenos Aires, where beasts in good condition are consigned to +buyers, but oxen for fattening are bought at fairs which are held +periodically in the towns of the interior. Another transaction at +these fairs is the trade in pedigree breeders. The best known of them +is held at Villa Mercedes (province of San Luis), where 8,000 oxen +are sold every month. At the Mercedes fairs one may see Durham steers +from the east of Buenos Aires which are to be fattened and sent back +to the refrigerators or the slaughter-houses of Buenos Aires. There +are also creole cattle from the north of the San Luis province and +Rioja which will later be eaten in Mendoza or in Chile. There is, in +fact, on the western frontier of the Pampa no line of demarcation +corresponding to that set up in the north by the limit of the area +contaminated by the <span lang="es">garrapate</span>, separating the district of creole +breeding from that of selective breeding. There is free communication +here between the two zones, and the lucerne fields for fattening at +Villa Mercedes are used in common by the breeders of the Pampa and +of the bush.<a id="FNanchor_104_104" +href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">104</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + +<table class="table1" summary="cultivated areas"> + <caption> + Cultivated Areas in the Argentine Republic (in + square kilometres, almost exclusively in the Pampean + region). + </caption> + <thead> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>Wheat.</th> + <th>Maize.</th> + <th>Oats.</th> + <th>Flax.</th> + <th>Lucerne.</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>1896</td> + <td>25,000</td> + <td>14,000</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>5,600</td> + <td>8,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1900</td> + <td>33,000</td> + <td>12,000</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>6,000</td> + <td>15,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1902</td> + <td>36,000</td> + <td>18,000</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>15,000</td> + <td>17,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1905</td> + <td>56,000</td> + <td>22,000</td> + <td>700</td> + <td>10,000</td> + <td>29,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1910</td> + <td>62,000</td> + <td>32,000</td> + <td>8,000</td> + <td>15,000</td> + <td>54,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1912</td> + <td>69,000</td> + <td>38,000</td> + <td>12,000</td> + <td>17,000</td> + <td>59,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1913</td> + <td>65,000</td> + <td>41,000</td> + <td>11,600</td> + <td>17,000</td> + <td>66,000</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1914</td> + <td>62,000</td> + <td>42,000</td> + <td>11,400</td> + <td>17,000</td> + <td>—</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> +<table class="table1" summary="exports"> + <caption>Exports for 1913, 1914, and 1915 at each port.</caption> + <thead> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>Wheat.</th> + <th>Maize.</th> + <th>Flax.</th> + <th>Oats.</th> + <th>Totals.</th> + <th>Average.</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td rowspan="3">Rosario</td> + <td>782</td> + <td>1,757</td> + <td>275</td> + <td>13</td> + <td>2,829</td> + <td rowspan="3">2,716</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">242</td> + <td>1,952</td> + <td>248</td> + <td>1</td> + <td>2,445</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">717</td> + <td>1,790</td> + <td>366</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>2,875</td> + </tr> + <tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="3">Buenos Aires</td> + <td>441</td> + <td>1,389</td> + <td>246</td> + <td>240</td> + <td>2,318</td> + <td rowspan="3">2,051</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">297</td> + <td>906</td> + <td>55</td> + <td>78</td> + <td>1,537</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">511</td> + <td>1,349</td> + <td>342</td> + <td>96</td> + <td>2,299</td> + </tr> + <tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="3">Bahía Blanca</td> + <td>927</td> + <td>2</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>462</td> + <td>1,393</td> + <td rowspan="3">1,075</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">241</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>222</td> + <td>463</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">921</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>442</td> + <td>1,364</td> + </tr> + <tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="3">S. Nicolas</td> + <td>5</td> + <td>910</td> + <td>74</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>989</td> + <td rowspan="3">651</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">1</td> + <td>430</td> + <td>60</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>492</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">5</td> + <td>420</td> + <td>48</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>474</td> + </tr> + <tr><td colspan="7"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="3">La Plata</td> + <td>333</td> + <td>358</td> + <td>14</td> + <td>170</td> + <td>876</td> + <td rowspan="3">459</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">160</td> + <td>51</td> + <td>16</td> + <td>49</td> + <td>278</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">152</td> + <td>45</td> + <td>6</td> + <td>16</td> + <td>222</td> + </tr> + <tr><td colspan="7"></td></tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="3">Santa Fé</td> + <td>265</td> + <td>51</td> + <td>158</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>476</td> + <td rowspan="3">278</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">7</td> + <td>23</td> + <td>128</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>159</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="bl right">114</td> + <td>7</td> + <td>77</td> + <td>—</td> + <td>199</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a><br /> +ROADS AND RAILWAYS</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>Roads on the plain—The salt road—The "trade + route"—Transport by ox-waggons—<span lang="es">Arrieros</span> and + <span lang="es">Troperos</span>—Railways and colonization—The trade + in cereals—Home traffic and the reorganization of the + system.</p> +</div> + +<p>The chapter devoted to primitive breeding and the transport of +cattle contains a sketch of the network of routes over the Andes. One +cannot expect to find in the scheme of routes over the Argentine plains +the stern and obvious influence of natural conditions. The surface of +these plains is, as a whole, broadly open to traffic. Still, the map of +the roads bears much evidence of geographical exigencies.</p> + +<p>The hills which rise like islands out of the alluvial plain are not +all incapable of being crossed, and the roads do not always skirt them. +The road from Buenos Aires to Peru runs north of 30° 40′ +S. lat. on the very axis of the granite peneplain which forms the +northern part of the Sierra de Córdoba. The Dean Funes ridge, +which begins with an altitude of 2,500 feet between the Sierra Chica +and these tablelands, has always been used for communication between +Córdoba and the north-western provinces. There the railway has +taken the place of the primitive track. Another important track crosses +the Sierra de Córdoba in the north of the Pampa de Achala, and +used to join Córdoba with Villa Dolores and the north of the San +Luis province. The southern part of the Sierra de Córdoba and +the Sierra de San Luis are, on the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> + +other hand, an insurmountable obstacle, which diverts southward the +high road to Chile <span lang="es">via</span> Achiras, San José, del Morro, and San +Luis.</p> + +<p>The sierras of the Buenos Aires province are not so high and +extensive. They are, moreover, broken into isolated hills with the +plain passing between them. As early as 1822 Colonel Garcia pointed +out the importance, in connection with the migrations of the Indian +tribes, of the passage between the Sierra Amarilla and the Sierra de +Curaco, that is to say, the Olavarria ridge. It is there that the +first railway between Buenos Aires and Bahía Blanca crosses +the line of sierras. It then skirts the Sierra de la Ventana, to the +north, by the Pigüe ridge, between the mass of Curumalan and the +Puan hills. The dunes of the western Pampa also are an impediment +to traffic, not so much because of their height as because of the +looseness of the ground. The strip between General Acha and Toay +was very trying for the stage-coaches. Travellers had to cross the +dunes on foot during the winter season, when the horses were in a bad +condition.<a id="FNanchor_105_105" +href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">105</a></p> + +<p>Natural supplies of water increase in number as one gets away from +the Andean zone toward the east. Still, the chief work, often the only +work, to be done in making a road is the arrangement of permanent +supplies of water. Martin de Moussy mentions the digging of wells on +the new road from Córdoba to Rosario, which was opened about +1860. The <span lang="es">aiguade</span> was generally a <span lang="es">represa</span>, a reservoir, where the +water accumulated behind a barrier of earth raised across the course +of an intermittent stream. The upkeep of the <span lang="es">represa</span> is the chief +duty of the post-master. The edge of the sierras and the opening +point of the ravines which come down them is a good place for making +<span lang="es">represas</span>, and the roads frequently keep to these (variant of the +road from Córdoba to Tucumán <span lang="la">via</span> Totoral, Dormida, Rio +Seco and Sumampa, on the eastern edge of the Sierra de Córdoba, +etc.) Long stages with no water supplies, the <span lang="es">travesías</span>, are +not found on the made roads, as a rule, except west of the meridian, +of Córdoba. However, the direct road from Santa Fé to +Santiago del Estero by the lagoon of Los Porongos, which was used in +the eighteenth century, seems to have been abandoned afterwards, as +much on account of the difficulty of supplying water as because it was +exposed to attack from the Indians.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="An_Ox_Wagon" href="images/illus-255a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-255a.jpg" alt="Ox Wagon" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">AN OX WAGON.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-255a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Mail_Coach" href="images/illus-255b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-255b.jpg" alt="Mail Coach" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE MAIL COACH.</p> + <p class="figcaption">The horses saddled with the cincha.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XVIII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-255b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + +<p>The only difficulty which the caravans encountered on the roads over +the plain was the crossing of the rivers. They were forded. Fords with +a muddy bottom on the lower course of the rivers, such as that on the +Saladillo near the confluence of the Rio Tercero, were more difficult +for wagons than the fords with sandy bottoms in the upper course, near +the fringe of the mountains, such as those of the Rio Tercero on the +Córdoba road, or of the Rio Cuarto on the road to Chile. After +rain, certain parts of the plain are flooded and impassable. That is +the case in the district to the south of the lower Salado, at the very +spot where Père Cardiel notices the lack of water in the dry +season (1747). The direct road from Buenos Aires to the sierras was +at that point exposed, alternately, to drought and flood. The line +of the Southern railway, which crosses this low district, is still +cut periodically on both sides of Las Flores by floods. The lack of +an organized network of streams, the irregularity of the rains, the +difficulty of ascertaining the inclination, and the flow of the waters +over a plain which seems to the eye to be perfectly level, have led to +more than one miscalculation on the part of the railways, which were +constructed hurriedly, and before the general survey of the Pampa was +finished. Some lines, on the Pampa or on the Chaco, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> + +have had to be partially reconstructed, and raised higher, after a +series of rainy years.<a id="FNanchor_106_106" +href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">106</a></p> + +<p>The colonization of that part of the plain which actually +constitutes the province of Buenos Aires was late. It belongs to the +era of the railways. There is only one historic road crossing this +area, which remained until the last third of the nineteenth century +in the hands of the Indian tribes. This is the salt road. We do not +know exactly when it began to be used. In the eighteenth century, in +spite of the competition of salt from Cadiz and Patagonia, imported by +sea, the Pampa salt was the main part of the supply of Buenos Aires. +The salt road was not abandoned until after 1810. We still have the +diary of several journeys from Buenos Aires to the salt-pits. They +were military expeditions. Hundreds of wagons, with a strong escort, +collected at Lujan and Chivilcoy, and they reached Atreuco, west of the +Guamini and Carbuë lakes, after a fifteen to twenty-five days' +march.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>The itinerary was fixed in detail. In 1796 D'Azara noticed the +wells sunk by the salters, north of the Palentelen lagoon (Bragado), +when they found the lagoon dry. From Palentelen south-westward the +salt road followed the track used by the Indians of the south-west in +their expeditions against the ranches of the Buenos Aires frontier. +Near Lake Epecuen, north of Carbuë, it was joined by another +track which came from Olavarria, the stages of which were marked by +the streams that came from the Sierra de Curumalan. The Carbuë +district, the cross-roads of the tracks, was one of the places where +the tribes collected. "This place," says the diary of the 1778 +expedition, "is the first point where the hostile Indians meet and +rest when they leave the Sierra and on returning from their invasions. +They not only rest there, but have their winter pasture there" (in the +dry season).<a id="FNanchor_107_107" +href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">107</a> Zeballos has +described the Indian track, the <span lang="es">rustrillada</span>, between Epecuen, +Atreuco and Traru Lauquen, where the <span lang="es">travesia</span> on the road to +Chile began.<a id="FNanchor_108_108" +href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">108</a> It was not less +than 1,000 feet in width. At the foot of the dunes there were deep +parallel grooves made by the feet of the raided cattle, which were +taken away by the "Chileños."</p> + +<p>The two main roads of the colonial period are the roads to Chile +and Peru. On leaving Buenos Aires there was one road for a distance +of about 320 miles. The "trade road" passed through Lujan, Areco and +Sauce, and reached the Carcaraña, or Rio Tercero, at Esquina. +It therefore kept at some distance from the Paraná (32 to 16 +miles), on the tableland, crossing the valleys which were embedded in +it and represented so many bad parts. It then ascended the Tercero on +the right bank as far as the Paso Fereira, at the spot where Villa +Maria is to-day. At Esquina de Medrano (Villa Maria) the road to Chile +branched off to the south-east, reached San Luis by following the Rio +Cuarto, going through Achiras and San José del Morro, and, after +a <span lang="es">travesia</span> seventy-eight miles in length, came to the Rio Tunuyan at +La Paz, and ascended the river to Mendoza.<a +id="FNanchor_109_109" href="#Footnote_109_109" +class="fnanchor">109</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>From Esquina de Medrano the Peru road made for Córdoba in +the north-west. From the tablelands which continue the Sierra de +Córdoba northward it descended toward the Rio Dulce, which it +reached west of Atamisqui, and which it followed as far as Santiago +del Estero, where it crossed to the north bank. It crossed the Sali in +the latitude of Tucumán, and, passing through Tracas and Metan, +followed the depression which separates the Andes from the sub-Andean +chains. From Salta it went north to Jujuy, and passed through the +Quebrada de Humahuaca to reach the Puna.</p> + +<p>The influence of rivers is not much seen in the scheme of the +primitive roads. There were in the sixteenth century many routes from +Peru to the Paraguay, across the Chaco, but not a permanent road in the +strict sense. In the eighteenth century there was a direct road from +Santa Fé to Tucumán, by the north of the Los Porongos +lagoon and the course of the Rio Dulce. There was another from Santa +Fé to Córdoba. These roads were not exclusively used for +conveying cattle. The river route which they joined at Santa Fé +provided them with a certain amount of traffic coming from the higher +provinces. Paraguayan <span lang="es">maté</span> reached the Andean regions by +this road, and in return the boatmen at Santa Fé loaded up +with the wines and dried fruit of the Andean provinces to take to +Asunciôn.</p> + +<p>The question of joining the road on to a river was not of very great +importance until the time when the Paraná began to be used for +Argentine imports and exports, and to maintain the communication of +the interior provinces with Europe. This question of connection with a +river controls the history of the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> + +construction of the railway system. But the great importance of it +can be seen from the first half of the nineteenth century. D'Orbigny +had a presentiment of it. Speaking of the future of Santa Fé, +he says: "When peace is restored, it is certain that the wares of +Córdoba may, instead of going by land from that town to +Buenos Aires, be sent to Santa Fé, where shipping them to +the Argentine capital will reduce to one-third the journey by land, +which is always more costly than going by water." Martin de Moussy, +foreseeing the making of a road across the Chaco from Tucumán +to the Paraná, in the latitude of Corrientes, calculates that +Corrientes may later serve as port for part of the west and north +of Argentina. At the date of the publication of his book, however, +it was neither Santa Fé nor Corrientes, but the new town +Rosario, that began to play the part of interior port, and led to +the construction of a new system of roads. Traffic between Rosario +and Córdoba at first followed the old road from Buenos Aires +to Peru, which one struck after leaving Rosario and making a detour +to the south-west, on the right bank of the Carcaraña (at +Rio Tercero). But this itinerary was presently replaced by a direct +road to the west-northwest, following the line which the railways +would adopt.<a id="FNanchor_110_110" +href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">110</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the greater part of Argentina transport was by means of wagons +before railways were constructed. The limit between the area of +wagon-transport and the area in which goods were conveyed on the backs +of animals is quite stable. It is still of some significance, in +spite of the development of the railways; wagons and mules are used +at each station to collect and distribute goods. The area of farming +and of selective breeding on the Pampa, the sheep-area in Patagonia, +and the timber belt on the Chaco, still make use of wagons; and goods +are carried on the backs of mules in the Andean area. The Peru road +was, broadly speaking, fit for wagons as far as Salta, but it is rough +between Tucumán and Salta, and wagons that used it generally +stopped at Salta. In this way wagons avoided the ford of the Sali, +which was easier for mules. On the plain itself the water-sources were +often so distant from each other, and the stages so long, that mules +had to be used instead of wagons. Wagons could easily get to Mendoza by +the road along which the Tunuyan runs at its driest section, but all +the convoys from Córdoba to San Juan, or Rioja to Catamarca, +were composed of mules. Hence Córdoba was, like Tucumán, +a station for changing on the road from Buenos Aires to the north-west. +Lastly, while the scrub presented no insuperable obstacle to wagons, +they could not enter the humid tropical forest, where the soil never +dries. On the fringe of the Misiones forest, the wagons that came from +San Tome unloaded at San Javier, and mules took the goods on to the +<span lang="es">yerbales</span>.</p> + +<p>The two areas of different kinds of transport were not sharply +distinct. The muleteers (<span lang="es">arrieros</span>) sometimes avoided the domain +of the wagoners, and competed with them as far as the banks of the +Paraná. In 1860 (Hutchinson) the muleteers carried about a +fifth, in weight, of the goods from the interior to Rosario, and they +got more than a third of the transport from Rosario to the interior. +They had, however, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> + +to offer to carry goods at two-thirds the price charged by the +wagoners. It appears that this invasion by the muleteers is connected +with a transport-crisis in the Andean area, which left a number of the +San Juan muleteers without work. It did not last. By 1862 mule-back +transport between Rosario and the interior was almost over.</p> + +<p>The wagons of the Argentine plain have often been described by +travellers. They were heavy vehicles, carrying 150, sometimes 180, +<span lang="es">arrobes</span> (1,725 to 2,070 kgs.), covered with a leather hood stretched +on hoops. A long spur decorated with ostrich feathers was balanced +on a ring fixed in the roof, and was used to guide the front pair of +oxen. An earthenware pot containing water enough for each stage hung +between the rear uprights. As a rule, three pair of oxen were yoked to +it, one pair being in the shafts. At Corrientes it was necessary to +cross the marshes and <span lang="es">esteros</span>, and a special type of wagon had been +evolved. It had a sort of horizontal division forming an upper story, +and the driver sat in this. Everywhere, on the Pampa as well as at +Corrientes, the wheels were enormous; sometimes, as Darwin says, ten +feet in diameter. They were, therefore, able to get through the bad +parts. Mud was, as a matter of fact, the worst enemy of the convoys. +The soil of the Pampa is clayey and soft in the districts near the +river. As the road was not limited in width, the wagons turned to the +right or the left when the ruts became too deep, and the track in time +covered a broad belt of ground. This, however, could not be done in the +vicinity of towns, where the traffic was concentrated. Buenos Aires +came to be surrounded by formidable quagmires that dried up only in the +summer. The paving of the streets and environs was becoming a problem +of national importance when the construction of the railway began.</p> + +<p>Wagons did not travel singly. The <span lang="es">tropero</span>, or +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> + +contractor for transport, organized caravans. In peaceful districts, +where no military escort was required, the convoys could be split up; +they consisted, as a rule, of from fifteen to fifty wagons. Besides +the six oxen yoked to the wagon, there had to be others for relief +as well as horses for the staff. Usually they allowed ten oxen to +each wagon; in exceptional cases twenty.<a +id="FNanchor_111_111" href="#Footnote_111_111" +class="fnanchor">111</a> The convoy to the salt-lakes in 1778 had +no less than 12,000 oxen to 600 wagons. There was a driver to each +wagon, but there had also to be drivers for the starting animals, and +carpenters to make repairs. The leader of the caravan, the <span lang="es">capataz</span>, +was generally a master-carpenter. He looked after the interests of the +<span lang="es">tropero</span>. There were about three men to each wagon. The <span lang="es">carreros</span> +were an original type, nomadic, and very different in costume and +character from the <span lang="es">gauchos</span> (breeders) of the plain. At the close of +the eighteenth century Buenos Aires had more than a thousand wagons +employed in the traffic to Mendoza and Tucumán (Borrero).</p> + +<p>The stages were rarely more than four or five leagues of five +kilometres each (thirteen to sixteen miles). At this rate it took +a convoy forty to fifty days to go from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, +thirty days from Rosario to Tucumán, three months (with the +necessary rests) from Buenos Aires to Salta.<a +id="FNanchor_112_112" href="#Footnote_112_112" +class="fnanchor">112</a> When water ran short, the journey might +be greatly prolonged, as the animals could do less work, or not work +at all if the <span lang="es">aiguades</span> had dried up. The season was a matter for +consideration. In the Buenos Aires district the winter made the ground +sodden and traffic difficult. Farther north, winter is the dry season, +so that pasture was scarce, and it was difficult to feed the <span lang="es">tropas</span>. +The summer had difficulties of its own. In January and February the +floods of the Rio Dulce often made it impossible to cross the ford at +Santiago. The carriers preferred to start from the northern provinces +about the end of the summer, in April or May. The best season for +leaving Buenos Aires was the spring, from August to November. In this +way each <span lang="es">tropa</span> could make the double journey once a year.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>There had been attempts to speed up the transport before the +railways were made. The <span lang="es">galera</span> (diligence), with its swarm of horses +harnessed with the <span lang="es">cincha</span> (saddle to which the lasso was attached), +did not carry goods. It did not replace the convoy of wagons, but the +<span lang="es">tropilla</span> of spare horses which travellers on the plain drove before +them. The <span lang="es"><del>galeria</del><ins>galera</ins></span> went from Rosario to Córdoba in three +days and to Mendoza in ten days, and from Córdoba to Salta in +fourteen days. About 1860 a quicker goods service was organized, light +wagons drawn by mules replacing the ox-wagons. They made the journey +from Rosario to Córdoba in six days. Similarly, on the Pampa, +the ox-wagons had been replaced before 1889 by quicker wagons, drawn by +horses, to convey wool from the ranches to the railway stations.</p> + +<p>The cost of transport by wagon was, naturally, high. It also varied +a good deal, but we cannot possibly go into these variations here. +It will be enough to give, by way of illustration, the details which +Hutchinson gives for the year 1862. The freightage was fixed either for +a complete load of 150 <span lang="es">arrobes</span> (1,725 kgs.) or so much per <span lang="es">arrobe</span> +(11½ kgs.). Conveying a load from Rosario to Córdoba cost +forty to fifty piastres (eight to ten pounds). The +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> + +cost of carrying an <span lang="es">arrobe</span> from Rosario to Mendoza was five to six +<span lang="es">reales</span> (about two shillings to two-and-six); from Rosario to Tucuman +nine <span lang="es">reales</span> (three shillings and fourpence); from Rosario to Salta +eighteen <span lang="es">reales</span> (seven shillings and sixpence). The tropas were, +therefore, quickly ousted by the railways. In a few places they made a +very unequal fight against the railways. The <cite>Memoria del departemento +de Ingenieros de la Nacion</cite> of 1876, quoted by Rebuelto, mentions the +competition of the <span lang="es">tropas</span> with the Andino railway, opened from Villa +Maria to the Rio Cuarto in 1873 and to Villa Mercedes in 1875. The +merchants of San Juan and Mendoza continued to use them. The railway +had to sign a contract with the <span lang="es">troperos</span> by which wagons were to +bring goods as far as Villa Mercedes, where they could be entrained. +The total freight was fifty Bolivian <span lang="es">centavos</span> (about two shillings) +per <span lang="es">arrobe</span> from Mendoza to Rosario, and sixty <span lang="es">centavos</span> from San +Juan. Of this the share of the railway was fifteen <span lang="es">centavos</span>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The first Argentine railway was opened in 1859, between Buenos Aires +and Maron, a distance of about thirteen miles.</p> + +<p>In 1870 the Argentine railways formed two independent systems. The +first radiated fan-wise from Buenos Aires (Western line, open as far +as Chivilcoy in 1870, and Southern line, open as far as Chascomus +in 1865). Farther north a line (the Central Argentine) started from +Rosario, and reached Bellville in 1866 and Córdoba in 1870.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Threshing_on_the_Pampa" href="images/illus-267a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-267a.jpg" alt="Threshing" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THRESHING ON THE PAMPA.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-267a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="Sacks_of_Wheat" href="images/illus-267b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-267b.jpg" alt="Sacks of Wheat" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">SACKS OF WHEAT READY FOR LOADING ON THE RAILWAY.</p> + <p class="figcaption">There are elevators only in a few of the ports.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XIX.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-267b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>The political isolation of Buenos Aires between 1852 and 1862, +during the time when the first concessions were issued, made upon +the railway system an impression that would not be effaced until +twenty-five years afterwards. It was not until 1886 that Rosario +was connected by rail with Buenos Aires. The line to Mendoza and +Chile, begun in 1870 (F. C. Andino), joins the line from Rosario to +Córdoba. It reached Mendoza at the foot of the Andes before +going on to Buenos Aires; and it was in 1888 that the Pacific railway +was completed between Buenos Aires and Villa Mercedes, and established +direct communications between the capital and the province of Cuyo.</p> + +<p>The line from Rosario to Córdoba is, therefore, the chief +branch round which the Argentine system developed. It is remarkable +that at the time of the original concession in 1855 a westward +extension was contemplated, and that there was some idea of making it +a stage in a trans-Andean. The first concessionaire, Wheelwright, had +made the oldest railway in South America, from Caldera to Copiapo, in +Chile in 1851. The 1855 concession authorized Wheelwright to extend the +Córdoba line westward and link it with the Copiapo line. When he +opened the Córdoba station in 1870, Wheelwright, not suffering +himself to be discouraged at the slowness with which the line had +crossed the Pampa, still said that the goal was the Pacific, by way of +Rioja, Copacabana and the San Francisco pass. This ambitious programme +deserves to be recalled, if only as a reminiscence of the former +orientation of the trade of Rioja and Tinogasta toward the Pacific, +and as a proof of the importance, in the imagination of the men of +that generation, of the old trans-Andean roads from north-western +Argentina.</p> + +<p>Even before the Rosario line had reached Córdoba, it had +been continued northward as far as Tucumán. The work was +pushed vigorously, and Tucumán was reached in 1875. The +Córdoba-Tucumán line was the first to be constructed +entirely in the region of the scrub, and <span lang="es">quebracho</span> sleepers were +then used for the first time. The earliest lines of the Buenos Aires +province and the Argentine had, on the model of the Indian railways, +a gauge of 5 feet 8 inches, but the Central Córdoba, from +Córdoba to Tucumán, had a +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> + +narrow gauge of forty inches. Hence goods coming from Tucumán +had to be transferred at Córdoba. At the same time (1875) the +line from Concordia to Monte Caseros was opened, and this made it +possible to avoid the rapids of the Uruguay, which was to be a source +of supply to the whole Mesopotamian system. Its gauge was fifty-seven +inches. Differences of gauge are, and will continue to be, one of the +characteristics of the Argentine system.</p> + +<p>During the period from 1875 to 1890 were constructed the main lines +which took the place of the old roads from province to province. The +Andean railway reached San Luis in 1882 and Mendoza and San Juan in +1885. Branches of the Central Córdoba reached Santiago del +Estero in 1884 and Catamarca in 1889. In 1891 the Central Argentine +opened a new direct broad-gauge line from Rosario to Tucumán; +and almost at the same time the narrow-gauge line of the Central Norte, +from Santa Fé to Tucumán, was finished further north. The +Tucumán line was continued northward to the foot of the Andes as +far as Salta. In the province of Buenos Aires the Bahía Blanca +line was opened in 1884. Since 1900 the railways have pushed on to +the frontiers and are linked in various directions with those of the +adjoining countries. The Cumbre tunnel on the Mendoza trans-Andean was +completed in 1910, and traffic with Chile by rail is now permanent. +The Salta line was continued in 1908 to the Bolivian tableland. In +Mesopotamia, in fine, the north-eastern line reached Posadas in 1911 +and effected a junction with the Paraguay line.</p> + +<p>These details, however, give a very imperfect idea of the history of +the development of the Argentine railway system. It has not merely been +superimposed upon the old roads, but has, on the other hand, helped +to open up and develop new lands, which could not have been colonized +without it. As early as 1883 +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> + +Valiento Noailles, examining the general plan of the system, noticed +the profound difference between the railways of Argentine and those +of Europe. "In Europe," he said, "the railways are constructed to +serve existing centres of production and consumption.... Our Argentine +railways are to facilitate colonization." Corresponding to each +occupation of a new area of the Pampean plain by the farmer or the +breeder is the construction in that area of a new network of lines +which are fed by its traffic and in turn help it to increase its +production. The more productive the region is, the closer are the +meshes of this network. They are wider in the pastoral than in the +agricultural areas. The period of the development of the southern +lines in the province of Buenos Aires corresponds with the expansion +of breeding when the Pampa had been pacified. The railway reached +Azul in 1876. The Ayacucho branch was opened in 1880, and continued +as far as Tres Arroyos in 1887. The completion of the Bahía +Blanca line, via Azul and Olavarria, in 1884, is itself merely one of +the dates in this colonizing period. The great period of agricultural +colonization at Santa Fé and the construction of the system +of lines that serve it begin a little later, and last from 1880 to +1890 (extension of the Central Argentine system, the railways of the +province of Santa Fé, and the narrow-gauge railway from Rosario +to Córdoba).</p> + +<p>The part that the railway has played in colonization is plainly seen +in the present completion of the system which has developed freely on +the even surface of the Pampean plain. The lines radiate round the port +of Buenos Aires and, in a less degree, round the ports of Rosario and +Bahía Blanca. What seems at first sight to be the symmetry of +the railway map will be found on closer examination to be less perfect; +while the Atlantic coast between La Plata and Bahía Blanca has +no ports, the Paraná has quite a number of suitable +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> + +places for shipping cereals. La Plata, San Nicolas and Villa +Constitución are served by lines which cut across the lines +going to Rosario and Buenos Aires. This complexity of the system west +of the Paraná continues to the north of Rosario, where the lines +that go to Santa Fé cut across all the lines going to Rosario. +The lines which run along the southern frontier of the province of +Buenos Aires (at Juancho, Necochea, etc.) have, unlike the lines +serving the secondary parts of the Paraná, all their traffic +directed toward the interior, and they serve only to bring to Buenos +Aires and Bahía Blanco the crops of the districts they cross. +They are dependencies of the main lines of the southern system, and not +rival lines.</p> + +<p>When the most fertile part of the Pampean plain, on which there +is a regular rainfall to guarantee the crops, had been completely +colonized and covered with railways, the national Government took up +the policy of colonization by rail in the national territories. The +minister Ramos Mejia has attached his name to this work. It has been +suspended since the beginning of the war, but it filled the last period +of construction of the Argentine railways. Ramos Mejia's railways +include the lines penetrating the Chaco opened toward the north-west +from Resistencia and Formosa, and the lines leading to the interior of +Patagonia from the ports of San Antonio, Puerto Deseado, and Rivadavia. +We must add the line from Neuquen to the Andes, made by the Southern +Company, but with a Government subvention.<a +id="FNanchor_113_113" href="#Footnote_113_113" +class="fnanchor">113</a> These lines, serving districts with little +population and inadequate resources, will not for a long time make +any profit.<a id="FNanchor_114_114" +href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">114</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hence railway construction must be regarded in modern Argentina +as one of the aspects of the problem of developing the soil. The +railway companies have been compelled to intervene directly in the +work of colonization. In 1863 the Central Argentine received from the +Government a strip of land three miles wide on each side of the line +it was making, between Rosario and Córdoba, on condition that +it colonized the land. The company had its own immigration agents +and its colonizing staff, and it opened its first colonies west of +Rosario between 1870 and 1872. This kind of concession is exceptional +in Argentina. On the other hand, the irrigation law of 1909 obliges +the railway companies to undertake, on behalf of the Government, the +work that is necessary to develop irrigation in the areas they serve, +such work being immediately reflected in an increase of population +and traffic. In compliance with this law the Southern railway is +constructing a canal which will water the whole valley of the Rio Negro +below the confluence of the Neuquen. The Central Argentine and the +Pacific also have undertaken to construct dams on the Rio Tercero and +Rio Quinto, in the provinces of Córdoba and San Luis.</p> + +<p>As it is the essential function of a railway to convey the produce +of the area it serves to the exporting port, the problem of the +relations between the administration of railways and the administration +of ports is of primary importance. The chief ports served by different +companies, such as Rosario and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> + +Buenos Aires, may maintain their independence, but a secondary port +will be at the mercy of the single line which conveys goods to it. +In such circumstances the ports have become, in many cases, mere +dependencies of the railways. The port of Colastiné belongs to +the railways of the Santa Fé province. The port of Bahía +Blanca consists of a number of distinct ports constructed by the +different railway companies, and run by them. Each of them ships the +goods which it brings. The port Ingeniero White, which belongs to the +Southern Company, was constructed in 1885, immediately after the +opening of the line from Buenos Aires to Bahía Blanca. Puerto +Galvan belongs to the Pacific Company. Puerto Belgrano is the port +of the line from Rosario to Bahía Blanca. At Buenos Aires the +Southern Railway Company has acquired control of the Buenos Aires +Southern Dock Company. At La Plata it manages the docks.</p> + +<p>The spread of agricultural colonization was at first hampered by +the cost of freightage which cereals could bear over an area with a +radius of about 200 miles from the ports. That is the figure given +by Girola in the <cite>Investigación Agricola</cite> of 1904. The period +1895-1905 saw the birth of a series of plans for making canals in +the Pampean region for the purpose of transporting grain in the area +which the railway did not seem able to serve economically. Not one of +them was carried out, but the railways quickly enlarged their sphere +of influence in the interior. There is, however, a reminiscence of +this pause in colonization in what Argentinians call "the parabolic +tariffs." The Argentine railways practically, apart from cases of +competition with rival lines, use proportional tariffs up to a distance +of 218 miles, and degressive tariffs beyond that limit. In this way the +railways have helped in the conquest of the west. Degressive tariffs +have certainly played a part in the spread of colonization during the +years antecedent to 1912. They have helped to mask the inferiority of +the new land to the better land in the east.<a +id="FNanchor_115_115" href="#Footnote_115_115" +class="fnanchor">115</a></p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Map_VI" href="images/illus-275.png" type="image/png"> + <img src="images/illus-275.png" alt="Map" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MAP VI.—THE RAILWAYS.</p> + <p class="figcaption">It is impossible to give the entire system. Only the main + lines are given. Of the narrow-gauge lines of the Pampean + region only those which connect the system of northern + Argentina with Buenos Aires are given. The map shows the + double direction of the Pacific system from Villa Mercedes, + to Buenos Aires and Bahía Blanca. It gives only an + imperfect idea of the way in which the lines ending at the + ports of the Paraná and the Rio de la Plata (Santa + Fé, Rosario, San Nicolas, Buenos Aires and La Plata) + overlap and cross each other.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-275.png" type="image/png">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>The rise in the value of land and the advance of colonization led, +at each of those crises of development which characterize the recent +history of Argentina, to a multiplication of railway concessions +granted by the national Government and the various provincial +authorities. These have to be bought up by the leading companies, as +each of them wanted to keep exclusive control of the region in which it +had established itself. This concentration could not be accomplished +in a perfectly methodical way, and the various systems now overlap, +which is not to the interest of the companies. Thus Villa Maria, on the +Central Argentine line from Rosario to Córdoba, is also served +by a line belonging to the Santa Fé railways and by a line of +the Pacific Company which puts it in communication with Buenos Aires. +On the other hand, the Central Argentine penetrates to the very heart +of the area of the Pacific at Junin.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> + +<p>However, competition between the various companies has had the +effect of dividing the Pampean plain into three great spheres of +influence. The first, in the north, is that of the Central Argentine +and the Buenos Aires y Rosario line. In 1908 the Argentine Government +officially sanctioned the fusion of the two companies, though it had +really been accomplished a few years before. The second sphere, in +the south, is that of the Pacific, the attraction of which was the +line from Buenos Aires to Villa Mercedes, and which in 1907 bought the +line from Villa Mercedes to Mendoza and the Trans-Andean, a natural +continuation of its system. Moreover, in 1904 the Pacific absorbed the +line from Bahía Blanca to the north-west, which has been linked +up once more with its original system at Villa Mercedes. It thus has +two outlets, to Buenos Aires and Bahía Blanca, and completely +encloses the third sphere with its branches. The third sphere, which +comprises the centre and south of the Pampean plain, is the domain of +the Southern and Western Companies. In 1912 these two companies asked +the Argentine Government to authorize them to amalgamate. Although they +withdrew their proposal in 1914, in face of the conditions imposed upon +them, they are still closely associated. Part of the traffic of the +western lines of the Western passes over Southern lines at Carbuë, +and is shipped at the port Ingeniero White. At Buenos Aires also, and +at La Plata, part of the Western Company's traffic in cereals and +cattle uses the premises of the Southern Company. The Western and +the Southern, jointly, bought in 1908, before it was finished, the +narrow-gauge Midland of Buenos Aires line at Carbuë, which was to +cross their sphere of influence. It was opened in 1911.</p> + +<p>The importance of the transport of cereals in the life of the +leading Argentine systems will be seen from the following figures. +In percentages of the total of goods carried, both from the interior +to the ports and <span lang="la">vice versa</span>, the tonnage of exported cereals +was:—</p> + +<table class="table1" summary="tonnage of exported cereals"> + <thead> + <tr><th></th><th>1913</th><th>1914</th><th>1916</th><th>Average.</th></tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr><td>Southern</td><td>31.0</td><td>34.3</td><td>32.5</td><td>32.6</td></tr> + <tr><td>Western</td><td>58.3</td><td>61.7</td><td>55.1</td><td>58.4</td></tr> + <tr><td>Pacific</td><td>29.0</td><td>41.8</td><td>33.8</td><td>35.0</td></tr> + <tr><td>Central</td><td>36.5</td><td>46.6</td><td>34.8</td><td>39.5</td></tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p>The figures are rather less for the Southern, which covers an +area that has remained chiefly pastoral and, by means of its Rio +Negro line, serves for part of the transport of cattle from Patagonia +(cattle-transport on the Southern, average for the years 1913, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> + +1914 and 1916: 17.2 per cent. of the total tonnage, 19 per cent. +of total receipts; 1.4 per cent. of tonnage and 6.5 per cent. of +receipts). They are higher for the Western, the only system that lies +entirely in the Pampean region and has no continuations beyond it, as +the Pacific has to Mendoza and the Central to Tucumán.</p> + +<p>The share of each company in the total traffic varies from year +to year according to the harvest. Of the four to ten million tons +of cereals carried every year, the greater part—about a +third—falls to the Central Argentine, and one-sixth to the +Southern. The Central Argentine carries the greater part of the maize +and flax, the maize alone representing 26 per cent. of the total +tonnage carried by the line, and the flax 5.6 per cent. Of the other +lines the Western alone carries any appreciable quantity of maize, +which comes from the Junin district (19 per cent. of its tonnage, but +only 12 per cent. of its receipts, because of the slight distances the +stuff is carried). The transport of wheat is about equally divided +amongst the four leading lines, but the proportion of it to total +traffic is highest in the case of the Western (34.4 per cent. of total +traffic). The Southern is the chief carrier of oats (9.8 per cent. +of the total tonnage). The tonnage carried annually is particularly +irregular in the case of the Central, on account of the irregularity +of the maize crops, and the Pacific, because its lines north-west of +Buenos Aires serve a wheat-area that is exposed to drought (wheat +carried by the Pacific in 1913, 15.9 per cent. of the total tonnage; in +1914, 27.2 per cent.).</p> + +<p>The clearing of the cereals gives the Argentine railways a delicate +problem in the organization of traffic. The crops of flax, wheat and +oats must be cleared in the four to six months following the harvest +(December-January). The maize harvest, which is later, is also much +slower; it lasts the whole of the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> + +autumn. Hence the removal of the maize is spread over a long +period, and sometimes the work of one year runs into that of the +next. This gives the Central an advantage over the other lines. +The wool also must, on account of its great value, be transferred +to the ports speedily after the shearing; but this is only a +matter of about a hundred thousand tons.<a +id="FNanchor_116_116" href="#Footnote_116_116" +class="fnanchor">116</a></p> + +<p>Export, however, is by no means the one source of traffic on +the Argentine railways. Transport of goods for home consumption +is chiefly a question of a large part of the wheat crop. Building +materials also—bricks, lime and stone—are an important +item on the various lines which link Buenos Aires with the Sierra +de Córdoba and the Sierra de Tandil. In 1913 the Southern +line carried 1,134,000 tons of minerals, including 997,000 tons of +stone and 101,000 tons of lime from the Sierra de Tandil and 34,000 +tons of salt from the salt-mines of Lavalle, between Bahía +Blanca and the Colorado. In the same year, the Pacific, Central +Argentine, Central Córdoba and State railway carried +880,000 tons of minerals (half being lime) from the Sierra de +Córdoba.<a id="FNanchor_117_117" +href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">117</a> All the timber +carried on the lines of northern Argentina, except the <span lang="es">quebracho</span> from +the banks of the Paraná, is for home use: sleepers, fence-posts, +firewood and charcoal are the chief items on most of the lines in the +scrub. The war has checked railway construction and reduced the use of +sleepers, but it has also deprived Argentina of combustible minerals +and increased the transport of firewood. Even on railways like the +Pacific and Central Argentine, which have very few of their lines on +the scrub, the tonnage of wood carried is 6 per cent. of the whole +(average for 1913, 1914 and 1916), and the proportion rises to 30 per +cent. of the total tonnage on the Central Córdoba. For several +companies the sugars of Tucumán and the wines of Mendoza are +an important element of their receipts, not so much on account of the +tonnage as the high cost of freightage and the great distance to the +centres of consumption in the Pampean region. The carriage of wine and +casks brings the Pacific 38.3 per cent. of its receipts (1913-14-16). +The transport of sugar on the Central Argentine in a normal year +amounts to 5 per cent. of its receipts. On the Central Córdoba +the tonnage of sugar-cane and sugar carried amounted in 1914, a year +of exceptional harvest, to 42 per cent. of the total tonnage, and was +still 20 per cent. in 1916, a year of very poor crop. The supplying of +meat to the market of Buenos Aires and the Pampean area, with its dense +population, means a good deal of long-distance traffic in cattle; the +refrigerators taking the better cattle of the adjoining region for the +foreign market, and the slaughter houses of Buenos Aires being forced +to content themselves with inferior beasts reared in the provinces and +the adjoining districts.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + +<p>The importance of these currents of internal traffic has made +itself felt in the organization of the Argentine system. It has +made it necessary for each system to have not only an outlet to an +exporting town, but a direct connection with the chief centre of home +consumption, Buenos Aires. The narrow-gauge system, which until the +end of the nineteenth century had been restricted to the northern half +of Argentine territory, north of the latitude of Rosario, developed +in the province of Buenos Aires after 1900, and ventured to compete in +the carriage of cereals with the broad-gauge system (Company of the +Province of Buenos Aires and Provincial railway of La Plata). This +system connected with the narrow-gauge lines of the north. The Central +Córdoba, which had reached +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> + +Rosario in 1912 and so had escaped the need to transfer its +export-traffic at Córdoba to the broad-gauge, began immediately +afterwards to effect a direct communication with Buenos Aires (Central +Córdoba, extension to Buenos Aires, opened in 1913). The line +from Rosario to Buenos Aires of the Province of Buenos Aires Company +also serves to carry trains of the Province of Santa Fé +Company, which is closely associated with it. The medium-gauge lines +of Mesopotamia also have effected a communication with Buenos Aires by +means of a ferry-boat that plies on the Paraná between Ibicuy +and Zarate, and by using a section of the Buenos Aires Central.</p> + +<p>The concentration of narrow-gauge and medium-gauge lines seemed +to be issuing in a complete fusion of their interests in 1913. The +Argentine Railway Company got control of the lines of Entre Rios, +Corrientes and the Paraguay. It promoted the development and extension +of the Central Córdoba, and it also had large interests in the +French companies of the Buenos Aires and Santa Fé provinces. +All the narrow-gauge lines would have concentrated in its hands if +it had been able to get the State railway. The broad-gauge line from +Rosario to Puerto Belgrano had, as its interest conflicted with those +of the great broad-gauge English systems, joined the narrow-gauge group +engineered by the Argentine railway. But the amalgamation attempted +by the Argentine railways did not succeed, and, after its failure, +the companies it had temporarily brought together resumed their +independence.</p> + +<p>The river-route of the Paraná has sometimes been an +auxiliary, at other times a rival, of the railways.</p> + +<p>Until the line from Buenos Aires to Rosario was opened in 1886, the +navigation of the Paraná was the only link between the system of +northern Argentina and that of the Buenos Aires province. Before the +line was completed, the company had established a +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> + +service of boats on the Paraná, and in this way it kept up a +traffic in goods consigned to stations on the Central Argentine, to be +transferred at Rosario. These combinations of railway and river service +disappeared when the line from Buenos Aires to Rosario was finished.</p> + +<p>In regard to export traffic the railways have not attempted +to compete with the river anywhere where it is open to maritime +navigation; they have merely been concerned to connect with it. On +the other hand, the railway and the river are rivals for the home +traffic and the traffic of the upper districts which sea-going boats +do not reach. Before the time of the railways the river had taken all +the goods traffic, but had tolerated on its left bank a post-road +between Santa Fé, Corrientes and Asunción. The railway +still has the advantage over the river in regard to speed (in carrying +passengers between Rosario and Buenos Aires, and live cattle from +the Chaco and the Paraguay for Buenos Aires or the salting works +of the lower Uruguay). Even in regard to certain kinds of heavy +goods—<span lang="es">quebracho</span> timber—the river has not secured a +monopoly, and there is a good deal of transport by rail.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a><br /> +THE RIVER-ROUTES</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>The use of the river before steam + navigation—Floods—The river plain—The bed + of the Paraná and its changes—The estuary and + its shoals—Maritime navigation—The boats on the + Paraná.</p> +</div> + +<p>The problem of the use of the river-routes of the Paraná +and the Paraguay is not of interest to Argentina alone. It affects +the whole history of colonization in South America. The very name of +the Rio de la Plata is a reminiscence of the anxieties of the early +navigators who landed there, chiefly in search of a route to the +mineral districts of the Andes [Plata = silver]. It is remarkable +that the Amazon, which opens a more direct and better route to the +Andes, was never used for reaching Peru. It was at the most, and only +occasionally, used as a return-route, whereas expeditions to the +Cordillera were organized on the banks of the Paraná during the +whole of the sixteenth century. The routes linking the Paraná +and the Paraguay with the tableland furrow the whole plain of the Pampa +and the Chaco, from the latitude of the estuary to about 16° S. +lat. (expedition of Ñuflo de Chavez in 1557). An especially +close network starts from the river between 18° and 22° S. +lat. and ends at Santa Cruz, the most northern centre established +by the Spaniards on the plain, at the foot of the Andes, as a +consequence of the use of the Paraná.<a +id="FNanchor_118_118" href="#Footnote_118_118" +class="fnanchor">118</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>Spanish colonization, however, did not succeed in making permanent +settlements on the Chaco. The Indians, who were masters of it, disputed +their passage, and the only practicable route was the southernmost of +the roads to the tableland, south of the Rio Salado, which ends at the +estuary. From this time onward the prosperity of Buenos Aires eclipsed +that of Asunción. The river ceased to be a great continental +route.</p> + +<p>The division of the Paraná between the Spanish and the +Portuguese was a check upon the full development of the river-route. +The Portuguese held the upper part of its basin, which now belongs +to Brazil. They expelled the Spanish missionaries from the upper +Paraná about the middle of the seventeenth century, and made +themselves masters of the Paraguay north of 20° S. lat. Their +forts at Coimbre and Albuquerque prevented any from ascending. D'Azara +insists that it would have been Spain's interest to disarm these forts; +it would have enabled them to go up the river as far as the Spanish +missions to the Mojos and the Chiquitos. On their side, the Portuguese +only used the upper section of the river, where it is joined by the +Paulist road north of the Coimbre, as a means of access to the gold +mines of the Matto Grosso. Even now, although the Paraná is open +to every flag, the development of the river-route is not independent of +political conditions. In making the railway from Saint Paul to Corumba, +and so creating on its own territory a means of direct communication +with the upper Paraguay, Brazil diverts from the lower districts part +of the traffic which ought normally to go there. Again, the ports +of southern Brazil and the lines which go to them try to attract to +the Atlantic the produce of the basins of the Uruguay and the upper +Paraná, which would have followed the thread of the river to +foster the trade of Buenos Aires if the frontiers had been fixed +otherwise.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>Before the Revolution the river-trade was confined to exchanges +between the Misiones and Paraguay on the one hand, and Buenos Aires +and the Andean provinces on the other. After the extinction of the +missions Paraguay was the chief centre of traffic on the river. At +the close of the eighteenth century it had a fairly large population. +According to D'Azara, it amounted to 97,000, and 47,000 for the area of +the former Missions (Misiones), while Buenos Aires, Santa Fé, +Entre Rios and Corrientes had not more than 103,000 inhabitants +collectively. Paraguay exported tobacco, <span lang="es">maté</span> and timber by +the river. The Buenos Aires Estano received 800 tons of tobacco a +year. The exports of <span lang="es">maté</span> from Paraguay to Peru, Chile and +the interior provinces amounted to 1,725 tons, and 2,250 tons went to +Buenos Aires. The timber came mostly from the Tebicuary, where the +<span lang="es">angadas</span> (loads of timber) were formed. The chief constructive sheds +also were on the Tebicuary. Boats of twenty to 200 tons were launched +there; and they had armed boats, when they went down the river, to +detect ambushes of the Indians, who were masters of the right bank +north of Santa Fé.</p> + +<p>The development of navigation on the Paraná during the first +half of the nineteenth century was checked by the disturbances and wars +of the period of the emancipation and unification of Argentina. The +river was blockaded several times and traffic interrupted. Only a few +smuggling schooners succeeded in getting through the side branches, +which the ships stationed in the river could not watch. Robertson +escaped the Spanish vessels in this way. The picture which D'Orbigny +has given us of the life of the river belongs to the year 1827. At that +time the estuary was blockaded by the Brazilian fleet in the whole +area of the delta as far as San Pedro. Piracy was so rife, and the +insecurity so great, on the Uruguay and the Paraná, that few +ventured as far as Buenos Aires, the ships being linked in convoys. Up +stream, Corrientes was the limit of navigation. The dictator Francis +closed the Paraguay, and even the small boats no longer sailed on the +upper Paraná, along the frontier of Paraguay. The Correntinos, +who spoke <span lang="es">Guarani</span>, could merely get permission at rare intervals +to send a few boats up river. Armed boats convoyed these as far as +Neembucu, and they returned with hides and <span lang="es">maté</span>. Corrientes +thus became the market-centre of the upper river and replaced +Asunción in the trade. The flotilla on the Paraná +included flat-bottomed barges, which were only used in coming down, and +strong keeled ships—schooners, sloops and brigs—with their +ropes made of leather. Down stream there was a little more diversity in +the traffic. The island sent cargoes of firewood and charcoal to Santa +Fé and Buenos Aires. The orchards of the delta provided Buenos +Aires with oranges and peaches. Hides for export were shipped at Goya +and Santa Fé. But the chief freight was lime from La Bajada, +which was burned in the kilns on the Barranca, at the outcrops of the +beds of conchiferous limestone.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Yguassu_and_the_Parana" href="images/illus-287.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-287.jpg" alt="Yguassu and Paraná" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">CONFLUENCE OF THE YGUASSU AND THE PARANÁ.</p> + <p class="figcaption">In the foreground is the left bank of the Yguassu, + on Argentine territory. The right bank is Brazilian territory. + At the back, on the right bank of the Paraná, is Paraguayan + territory.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XX.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-287.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>The navigation was fairly easy, the journey from Corrientes +to Buenos Aires (675 miles) lasting, as a rule, from fifteen to +twenty days. Going up, the time was more irregular. They had +to stop when there was no south wind, or a little progress was +made by hauling (<span lang="es">silgar</span>). D'Orbigny took a month to travel +up.<a id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a +href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">119</a> In 1822, before +the war with Brazil, there were 651 boats entered at Buenos Aires for +coasting trade on the rivers and 1,035 at San Fernando or on the Tigre, +the advance port of Buenos Aires. In 1833 Isabelle put at one thousand +the number of vessels at work on the Paraná and the Uruguay.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>In 1841 Rosas forbade navigation on the river. There was then a +double blockade checking the trade of Argentina. The Franco-British +fleet closed the Rio de la Plata and blockaded Buenos Aires, where +the Government of Rosas was established. In addition, Rosas's troops +on the <span lang="es">barranca</span> of the right bank prevented any from going up the +Paraná, and cut off the interior provinces from the rest of +the world. The injury then done to interests which were already fully +self-conscious may be gathered from the agitation provoked by the +decision of France and England in 1845 to break the blockade of the +river. A convoy was at once organized at Montevideo, consisting of no +less than ninety-eight ships, of 6,900 tons in all (MacKann). It went +up the Paraná under the protection of war-ships, which removed +the chains slung across it by Rosas. The convoy dispersed up river as +soon as it was out of range of Rosas. But it had needed so great an +effort that the attempt could not be made again before the fall of +Rosas.</p> + +<p>The closing of the Paraná compelled a diversion of the trade +of Paraguay toward the south-east. It crossed the isthmus of Misiones, +between the Paraná and the Uruguay, and passed down the Uruguay. +At this time the whole commercial activity of Paraguay was concentrated +at Itapua, on the upper Paraná. The prosperity of the Uruguay +was some compensation for the misery that reigned on the Paraná. +The populations of Paysandu and Montevideo greatly increased.</p> + +<p>In 1852, at the fall of Rosas, the modern period began for the +Paraná. The river-population changed rapidly. It ceased to be +exclusively creole. Basques, and later Italians, had settled upon the +Uruguay ten years before, and they now spread along the Paraná. +In 1850 MacKann found fifty vessels, of 20 to 100 tons, belonging to +Italians at Santa Fé. This wave of immigration coincided with +the development of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> + +relations between the Paraná and the port of Montevideo. From +1852 to 1860 Buenos Aires was isolated, and it remained outside the +economic life of Argentina. Montevideo took its place. Urquiza's +administration sought, in addition, to establish direct maritime +communication between over-seas ports and the ports on the river: +Gualeguy in Entre Rios, and Rosario in Santa Fé. Under a system +of preferential duties (1857-59), which reduced the burden on goods +carried by the river, Rosario grew rapidly, and between 1853 and 1858 +increased its population from 4,000 to 22,700. The period from 1852 +to 1860 was also the time when steam-navigation was developing, and +this doubled the value of the river-route. From 1860 onward Buenos +Aires was connected by regular services of steamboats with Rosario, +Santa Fé, Corrientes, Asunción and Cuyaba. On the upper +Paraná goods (timber, tobacco and oranges) were still carried +by sailing boats between Corrientes and Apipé, where they +stopped at the commencement of the rapids. Steamboats did not sail +up the rapids of Apipé until 1868.<a +id="FNanchor_120_120" href="#Footnote_120_120" +class="fnanchor">120</a> From 1850 to 1860 there were repeated +explorations of the Salado and the Bermejo, as the interior provinces +hoped to be able to find a connection with the vivifying artery of the +Paraná (voyage of Page on the Salado from Salta in 1855, and of +Lavarello on the Bermejo in 1855 and 1863).</p> + +<p>In 1860 the entry of Buenos Aires into the Confederation +re-established the normal condition of free competition between Buenos +Aires and Rosario. From that time the life of the river reflects the +advance of colonization in the Pampean region. The Paraná became +the highway for the export of cereals.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>The two rivers, of which the Rio de la Plata forms the common +estuary, differ considerably in their features. The Uruguay has +irregular floods, especially in autumn (May) and at the end of the +winter (August-October). Low water is in summer (January-February). +Its basin belongs to the temperate zone, and does not extend northward +as far as the area of tropical summer-rain. The Uruguay also differs +from the Paraná in its low capacity for transport and alluvial +deposit. While the Paraná has built up a vast deltaic plain, +the Uruguay ends in an ordinary estuary, with rocky or sandy bed and +clear water. The estuary of the Uruguay is 130 miles long and five or +six miles wide. The eastern shore is rocky and broken. The Argentine +shore is low. It is formed in the south by the deposits of the delta +of the Paraná, while further north, from Gualeguacha to +Concepción, the hills of Entre Rios are hidden behind a screen +of flat islands covered with palms, formed by the stuff brought by the +streams of Entre Rios. The river-floods are lost in the great sheet of +the estuary. The tide in the estuary or a flood in the Paraná is +enough to turn the current.</p> + +<p>Maritime navigation goes beyond the estuary and beyond Paysandu, +as far as the rapids which prevent further advance at Salto. The +twin towns of Concordia (right bank) and Salta (left bank) mark the +limit of navigation on the inner course of the river. It begins +again above the falls, at Monte Caseros, from which the river-boats +go to San Tomé and occasionally to Concepción. Small +ships go higher, as far as Salto Grande in Misiones (27° 20′ +S. lat.).<a id="FNanchor_121_121" +href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">121</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>The navigable system of the Paraná is four times as +large. The first survey of the river was made about the middle of +the nineteenth century by the British Navy. At the beginning of +the twentieth century the Argentine Government took up the study +of the bed and the peculiarities of the Paraná, and the +Ministry of Public Works published a map, on the scale 1:100,000, +of the course of the river between Posadas and San Pedro, at the +beginning of the delta. A precise survey was made, and twenty-six +fluvio-metrical scales were established, the zero of which represents +mean low-water.<a id="FNanchor_122_122" +href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">122</a> Transverse +soundings were taken at equal distances of 670 and 1,000 feet, the +distance being reduced to 160 and even 80 feet at critical points. +Thanks to this work, the Paraná is now, no doubt, the best known +of all rivers of that size.</p> + +<p>Its output is estimated at 6,000 cubic metres a second at mean +low-water, in the latitude of Rosario, and 25,000 to 30,000 cubic +metres a second during flood at a height of six metres above +low-water.<a id="FNanchor_123_123" +href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">123</a> Its features bear +the mark of its tropical origin. The tropical character is typical on +the Paraguay, which is, by its situation in the central South-American +plain, the real continuation of the lower Paraná. The slightness +of the fall of the Paraguay, however, and the extent of the marshes +over which it spreads in Brazil and Paraguay, have the effect of +regulating and retarding the flood, which only attains its maximum at +Asunción in May. The flood of the Paraguay extends the period +of high water on the lower Paraná until the end of autumn. +The upper Paraná has most of its basin in the tropical zone +of summer rain. But its behaviour is also influenced by the spring +or autumn rains of the southern part of the Brazilian tableland. Its +floods are sudden and violent. They reach a height of sixty or seventy +feet in the region of the confluence of the Yguassu. They sweep rapidly +down stream, and reach the lower Paraná before the flood of the +Paraguay, which they hold back.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> + +<p>From Posadas the flood-waves reach Corrientes in five days (235 +miles). From Corrientes they reach Paraná in eight days (380 +miles), travelling about two miles an hour. That is one-third the speed +of the current, as the flood is retarded, and more or less absorbed, by +the ramifications of the broader bed in which it moves.</p> + +<p>At Bajada Grande the lowest water is in September. The flood appears +in December or January, though sometimes in October or November. The +maximum is in March or April. The rise is rapid at first, but it +gradually moderates, and the level of the water is raised about one +metre per month during three months. It then sinks in corresponding +order. The ebb is often interrupted in June, and sometimes as late +as August, by a sudden leap upward of the curve, representing an +ascensional movement of the water three times as rapid as that of the +main flood (one metre in ten days). The level reached in this late +flood is sometimes higher than that of the normal flood in April or +May. The range of the ordinary flood-movements is from ten to sixteen +feet. Exceptional floods rise to a height of twenty-three feet above +the low-water mark.</p> + +<p>The curves established for the years 1908 to 1910 by the Argentine +hydrographical service enable us to analyse the mechanism of the +flood with a good deal of confidence. The beginning of the flood at +Bajada Grande in October corresponds to the first flood of the upper +Paraná. During this first phase the curve +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> + +of the Bajada is parallel (thirteen days later) to that of Posadas. +There is the same parallelism in November, December and January. If the +summer rains are light on the upper Paraná, the flood is late on +the lower Paraná, and the water is still low there in December +(0.20 below the low-water mark on December 31, 1910). At the beginning +of March, before the maximum of the flood, the curve of Bajada Grande +differs from the curve of Posadas. It is the time when the flood of the +lower river is caused by the rise of the Paraguay. The secondary floods +of June and July again have their origin in the upper Paraná, +but, as they are added to the flood of the Paraguay on the lower +river, they reach a higher level there than at Posadas; the difference +gradually disappears as the flood of the Paraguay subsides. It is the +addition of the late floods of the upper Paraná to the flood of +the Paraguay that causes on the lower river the abnormal floods that +occur there at irregular intervals (in 1825, 1833, 1858, 1878, 1905 and +1917).</p> + +<p>Below the Bajada the height of the floods progressively declines. +On the estuary they are no longer perceptible; variations of level +are due entirely to the tides. In the channels of the delta of the +Paraná the tide does not reverse the current as it does in the +estuary of the Uruguay, but it causes a slight rise of the water; +and this has been observed sometimes, at very low water, as far as +Rosario.</p> + +<p>It is near Corpus, about forty miles above Posadas, that the upper +Paraná escapes from the restraint of the Brazilian tableland, +which imprisons its valley, from the falls of the Guayra, in a deep +fissure between lofty basalt cliffs. Below Posadas the river leaves the +region of hills and red earth. Below Corrientes it flows everywhere +over its own alluvia. Even above Corrientes its form has surprising +characteristics of youth. The precise survey done on its banks has +brought to light a very distinct break of its fall above +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> + +Villa Urquiza, about 400 miles from Buenos Aires. The fall, which +from Corrientes onward remains between sixty and forty millimetres +per kilometre, sinks suddenly to thirteen over a stretch of +twenty-five miles, and then rises again to thirty to forty-five +millimetres.<a id="FNanchor_124_124" +href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">124</a> Below Rosario the +mean descent is twelve millimetres to the kilometre, below San Pedro +only six.</p> + +<p>Above Corrientes the width of the main arm of the Paraná +varies, as a rule, from 2,600 to 6,500 feet. The width of the +river-plain over which the floods spread is still more irregular. +Between Santa Fé and Paraná, where it is especially +narrow, it is still ten miles wide. Lower down it gradually broadens to +a width of sixty-five miles at the head of the estuary. The scenery is +not the same in all sections of it. The vegetation on the islands is +richer and more varied up river, and tropical essences (laurel-timbo) +are found below the Bajada, forming clumps of trees covered with +creepers.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="The_Parana_at_Corrientes" href="images/illus-297a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-297a.jpg" alt="The Paraná" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PARANÁ AT CORRIENTES.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Banks and islands partially fixed by vegetation.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Widmayer.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-297a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <hr /> + <a id="The_barranca_at_Parana" href="images/illus-297b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-297b.jpg" alt="barranca at Paraná" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE <span lang="es">BARRANCA</span> AT PARANÁ (ENTRE RIOS), LEFT BANK.</p> + <p class="figcaption">It is composed of clays and of beds of conchiferous + terrestrial limestone, which have supplied the lime-kilns for + more than a century.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Boote.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XXI.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-297b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the different scenes of the river region are most of all due +to different conditions of erosion and formation. Above Rosario the +configuration is due to floods. Each succeeding flood alters it and +leaves some trace of itself in the topography. The beds of sand that +it lays down are fixed by rushes and floating weeds, then by willows +(<cite>Salix humboldtiana</cite>). This screen of vegetation encourages accretion, +and the edges tend to rise higher. In the middle of the island are low, +marshy lands. The irregularity of the alluvial deposits causes marked +undulations in the whole region of the river, and everywhere gives rise +to alternate beds of clay and sand. Below Rosario the river gradually +loses its power. The islands become more stable and flatter. Clumps +of willow and spiny <span lang="es">ceibos</span> (<cite>Erythrina cristagalli</cite>) still cover +the edges of them, and sometimes spread over the interior. But as the +climate is now less humid, the vegetation fixes the soil less firmly, +and the wind becomes the chief sculptor of the landscape. It heaps up +the sand during the low-water season, and makes dunes which rise above +the level of the greatest floods. These dunes form an unbroken line +along the land in the southern part of Entre Rios, in the north of the +main arm, with ridges at right angles, advancing toward the south, +which rest upon the river clay; like the one which the Ibicuy railway +follows across the floodable area. The cattle of the district take +refuge on the dunes during floods. During periods of drought, on the +other hand, they retain a quantity of water, and this is drawn from +surface-wells at their base.</p> + +<p>The limits of the zone of the river are clearly marked on the whole +of the lower Paraná. It is enclosed on both sides by high +<span lang="es">barrancas</span> (cliffs), vertical in places where the main current washes +their feet, but sloping slightly where there is only a secondary arm +with little erosive power. The cliff is broken only at the confluences +of small valleys, the flat, filled-up bottoms of which are on the +level of the alluvial plain of the Paraná. The cliffs are at +their highest in the district of Villa Paraná, where they rise +in places to a height of 300 feet. On the right bank the cliffs show +a section of the upper layers of the Pampean clays. On the left bank +there are æolian clays only at the top of them. Below these are +Tertiary marine strata (marls and sandstones with beds of shells). +The cliffs of the left bank stretch northwards, with a few breaks, +as far as Corrientes, and even into Misiones. Their height gradually +diminishes, and the Tertiary marine strata +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> + +are replaced by granitic red sandstone.<a +id="FNanchor_125_125" href="#Footnote_125_125" +class="fnanchor">125</a> On the right bank the height of the cliffs +gradually diminishes up river. They are still conspicuous at the +confluence of the Carcaraña, but at Santa Fé they rise +only about thirty-four feet. North of 31° S. lat., and for some +distance beyond Pilcomayo, the plain of the Chaco is very low, and it +is impossible to define exactly the limit of the alluvial zone of the +Paraná. The fine clays, grey and white, which form the soil of +the Chaco, reach the left bank north of Corrientes, in the <span lang="es">esteros</span> of +Neembucu. The red sandstone hills of the Asunción district rise +like an archipelago out of this level bed of lacustrine deposits.</p> + +<p>There is no obstacle to navigation in the entire stretch from +Posadas to the falls of the Guayra on the Paraná and the Salto +Grande on the Yguassa. Sixteen miles below Posadas the Paraná +passes through a series of graduated rapids for about sixty miles +(1,467 kil. to 1,558 kil. from Buenos Aires) wrongly called the Salto +de Apipé. The current then rises to a speed of eight knots, and +the depth is three feet at low water. These rapids are due to beds of +melaphyre, which emerge amongst the granitic sandstone, and the water +makes its way between large rocky islands. At Ituzaingo (1,455 kil.) +the current loses force. There is, however, still a rocky bottom lower +down, for ninety miles, at a depth of five feet. Below this the rock +only appears on the left bank, and in a few ridges near the bank, or in +isolated reefs which it has been easy to mark with buoys.</p> + +<p>From Corrientes to La Paz the river flows from north to south at +the feet of the Corrientes cliffs. These line the main stream between +Corrientes and Empedrado, and for thirty-five miles south of Bella vista. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> + +In the latitude of Riachucho, especially about Bellavista, the cliffs +form a series of creeks and capes, in which the west winds create a +heavy sea that was dreaded by ships of light draught coming down the +river. North of Bellavista, and for more than a hundred miles south +of Goya, the main stream is separated from the cliff by a series of +alluvial islands; behind these are lateral arms (<span lang="es">riachos</span>) into which +pour the rivers of Corrientes. These arms were much used by the early +navigators.</p> + +<p>Between Esquina and La Paz the main bed, which is not in touch +with the land on either of its banks, flows in a meandering path for +some seven miles, the scale of the bends being double that of the +meandering of the Paraguay north of the confluence. The islands are +very small, and are strung in a rosary at the top of each bend. The +depth is sixty feet at the top of the bend. The shallows are in a line +with the islands at the point where the current runs evenly again +before the next curve. The depth here is seven, and sometimes even +five feet.<a id="FNanchor_126_126" +href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">126</a> These shallows +change their places quickly, and it is not always the same bad spot +that determines the maximum draught for ships that are to be used in +this section. This migration of the shallows is very different from the +permanence of the rocky bottom of the stretch between Corrientes and +Posadas.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>From La Paz to Paraná the main course is outlined by the +Entre Rios cliffs. There is no further meandering. The cliffs of hard +rock offer far more resistance than the soft alluvia over which the +river wanders freely. The permanence of the bed in front of the cliffs +leads to a depth of as much as eighty feet. Only here and there a +fringe of alluvial stuff separates the channel for a time from the +cliff. These curves seem, as a rule, to coincide with the confluence +of rivers, which bring a heavy load of clay from the tableland; as, +does, for instance, the San Feliciano, north of Hernandarias. They +are marked by shallows, in strong contrast to the great depths of the +straight sections. The San Feliciano <span lang="es">paso</span>, which is twelve feet broad +to-day, was only six feet broad in 1908. It appeared on Sullivan's +map in 1847.<a id="FNanchor_127_127" +href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">127</a></p> + +<p>Below Paraná, as far as the estuary, the careful observations +that have been made since 1903 on the movement of the river have +enabled us to learn some of its laws.<a +id="FNanchor_128_128" href="#Footnote_128_128" +class="fnanchor">128</a> We can distinguish four sections of unequal +length. From Paraná to Diamante the river remains in touch +with the cliffs of the left bank. It is not straight; it describes a +series of linked crescents of equal radius, which seem to be traces +of so many meanders. Only one in two of the windings of the cliff is +followed by the channel. The wandering of the river is confined within +limits as in a fixed mould. The Paracao shallow, which for a long time +prevented ships from reaching Santa Fé (gradually deepened by +dredging from eight to nineteen feet between 1907 and 1911) is at the +angle where two of these curves meet. On the right bank the secondary +arms continue to follow the river (Paraná viejo, Riacho de +Coronda).<a id="FNanchor_129_129" +href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">129</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + +<p>Below Diamante the river leaves the cliff on the left bank and +slants across the alluvial plain to the cliff on the right bank, which +it reaches at San Lorenzo. Over the whole of its thirty miles width +it resumes the freedom and regularity of features which it had above +La Paz. A comparison of the successive maps of the river shows that +the scheme of its movements, which one would be tempted to draw up +with a regular migration of the islands and loops down river, would +not be accurate. The changes of the bed of the river are essentially +due to variations in the volume of the different arms, which are +constantly changing their size and adapting their shape to the body +of water that flows in them. The radius of the curve of each arm is +proportional to its volume. A long island is formed between two arms +of equal size which both describe symmetrical curves. If the volume of +one of them is reduced, its original curve is replaced by sinuosities +of smaller radius, and these nibble the edges of the island and give +it an irregular shape. If the volume increases again, the winding bed +is abandoned and becomes a dead bed, and a larger meander begins. The +track followed by the ships then breaks up into a series of meanders +over a course of about eight miles and a half, and this means the +concentration in a single channel of the greater part of the water of +the river, and in narrower bends in the sections where the current is +divided between several arms.</p> + +<p>From San Lorenzo to San Pedro the river flows by the cliff of the +right bank. It is remarkably regular, and has only one slight bend: an +exceptionally good site, on which the town of Rosario is built. At +almost equal intervals, differing by only about ten to thirteen miles, +the river leaves the cliff, and is separated from +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> + +it by an alluvial strand, or by an insular zone a few miles in +width.<a id="FNanchor_130_130" +href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">130</a> Below this bend +the current again touches the cliff and landing is easy. The small, +older ports of the Paraná—Constitución, San +Nicolas, Puerto Obligado and San Pedro—are built on similar +sites. It does not seem that the islands at the foot of the cliff +tend to extend downward in front of these ports; the points where the +river reaches the cliff are fixed. The depth is often considerable +at the foot of the cliff (138 feet opposite Puerto Obligado). The +shoals are distributed irregularly at the bends, where the channel +moves away from the cliff. They all have to-day a minimum depth of +twenty-one feet.<a id="FNanchor_131_131" +href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">131</a> On the left bank +the secondary arms sprawl over the alluvial plain for thirty-five miles +north of the river.</p> + +<p>The delta begins at San Pedro. The Paraná Guazu, or main arm, +leaves the cliff on the right bank and passes to the Uruguayan bank +opposite Carmelo. The Paraná de las Palmas, which branches off +from it to the south and passes before Campana and Zarate at the foot +of the tableland, is deep and easy to navigate, but it is closed at the +bottom of the estuary by a six-foot bar, which makes it a sort of blind +alley opened only above. The arms of the zone of the delta differ from +those of the river-zone proper in the irregularity of their course. +Flowing between long islands, they sometimes lie in straight stretches +and at other times in meanders or almost perfect buckles. The channels +of the southern part of the delta, near Buenos Aires, are called +<span lang="es">caracoles</span> (snails) on account of their winding shape. The weakness +of the current, which is held up by the tide, is seen also in the +distribution of the greater depths; they are no longer uniformly found +along the concave edge of the bends, but are scattered irregularly. On +the Paraná Guazu a depth of 130 feet has been ascertained. Its +minimum depth is twenty-two feet.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Parana_Above_the_Estuary" href="images/illus-305.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-305.jpg" alt="The Paraná" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE PARANÁ ABOVE THE ESTUARY.</p> + <p class="figcaption">Right bank. The river has moved away from the + <em>barranca</em>, leaving at its foot an alluvial plain of + imperfect spiral form.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XXII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-305.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> + +<p>The study of the estuary may be taken separately from that of the +river. It consists of three parts, unequal in size, which open with +increasing breadth toward the Atlantic. The upper Rio de la Plata, +above Colonia and Puntá Lara, has a width of about thirty-five +miles. The middle Plata, twice as wide, extends to the latitude of +Montevideo and Puntá de las Piedras. Then the outer harbour +opens between Maldonado and Puntá Rasa. The water is still fresh +in the middle estuary up to eighty miles below Buenos Aires.</p> + +<p>The bottom is alluvial except in the channels between Martin Garcia +and Colonia.<a id="FNanchor_132_132" +href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">132</a> Differently from up +the river, where the channels have sandy bottoms, while the banks are +of fine clay, the channels of the estuary have bottoms of mud and clay. +In the outer harbour the pilots recognize the approach of banks by the +sand which is brought up by the sounding-lead. The action of the waves, +which is not found in the river, accumulates stuff of comparatively +large size and weight on the banks.</p> + +<p>In spite of the conclusions embodied in the nautical instructions, +which describe the estuary as a theatre of rapid changes "occasioned by +the continual deposits of sand brought down by the Paraná and +the Uruguay,"<a id="FNanchor_133_133" +href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">133</a> the estuary is, +as a matter of fact, in a remarkable state of equilibrium, and there +is no trace of a gradual accumulation of alluvia, or of important +changes of channel. The shore of the delta north of the Paraná +de las Palmas, covered with rushes which protect it from the attack +of the waves, shows neither advance nor retreat. The broad lines +of the hydrography of the Rio de la Plata are plainly indicated on +Woodbine Parish's map. The English Navy map of 1869 (on the basis +of observations in 1833, 1844 and 1856) only differs in detail from +the present map. The stability of the channels is surprisingly +different from the changes in the bed of the river in the flood-zone. +The permanence of the bottom, in spite of the loose deposits of +the estuary, is explained by the regularity of the currents. These +currents, which determine the submarine topography of the Rio de la +Plata and the distribution of the banks, are not of river origin. They +are tidal currents.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>There are two groups of shoals in the estuary. The first, the Playa +Honda, occupies the whole western part of it up to a line drawn from +Buenos Aires to Colonia. These banks leave a narrow passage in the +north, opposite the Uruguayan shore, and this is followed by ships +going to Uruguay and the Paraná Guazu. The second group of +shoals is the Ortiz Bank, triangular in shape, which rests in the +north on the Uruguay coast below Colonia, while its point extends +south-eastward to eighteen miles north of the Puntá de las +Piedras. It keeps the zone of deepest water in the middle estuary to +the south, near the Argentine shore. In the latitude of the point +of the Ortiz Bank, on a line from Montevideo to Puntá de las +Piedras, the middle estuary is separated from the outer harbour by a +bar (<span lang="es">barra del Indio</span>) with thirty-eight feet of water, caused by the +transverse currents which circulate from point to point inside the +English Bank.</p> + +<p>The tide in the estuary is very irregular. The south-east winds +increase the flow and retard the ebb. When they are blowing, it often +happens that the level of the water in the upper estuary keeps up from +one +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> + +tide to the next, sometimes for several days. The tide, which is slight +at Montevideo, is greater at the bottom of the harbour on the Barra +del Indio, sometimes rising nearly forty inches there. From there it +advances with difficulty northward, over the Ortiz Bank, along the +Uruguayan shore, whereas it passes freely into the deeper zone on the +Argentine side.<a id="FNanchor_134_134" +href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">134</a> At Buenos Aires it +still has a depth of thirty inches. From there it advances northward by +the Martin Garcia channels beyond the Playa Honda. The channel of the +Pozos del Barca Grande, which crosses the Playa Honda bank from north +to south, parallel to the edge of the delta, is oriented in conformity +with the tidal currents and maintained by them. It is not attached to +the river, and it is separated from the mouths of the Paraná de +las Palmas or the Paraná Mini by shallows which are navigable +only to small boats. The <span lang="es">Rias</span> of the Uruguay, where the tide raises +the water twelve inches, forms a sort of reservoir which, at the ebb, +feeds a strong current round Martin Garcia and sweeps the channels +there.</p> + +<p>The work done for the improvement of the estuary includes the +deepening to thirty feet of the Barra del Indio and the dredging of a +straight channel from that point to Buenos Aires. Steamers of large +tonnage going up the Paraná leave this channel twenty-six +miles east of Buenos Aires, and turn north in order to pass east of +Martin Garcia, and enter the river by the Paraná Guazu or the +Paraná Bravo. Since 1901 the Argentine Government has considered +a plan of opening a direct route from Buenos Aires to the Paraná +de las Palmas, either by cutting an artificial canal at the foot of +the cliffs, across the Tigre archipelago, or by using the channel of +the Pozos del Barca Grande and cutting the narrow bar which closes the +Paraná de las Palmas below. If this were done, the ports of +the Paraná de las Palmas would have direct access to the sea. +Moreover, the new route from the Paraná to the Atlantic would +be entirely within Argentine territory, out of range of the Uruguayan +shore, and Buenos Aires would become a necessary port of call both on +departure and return.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> + +<p>Above the estuary, the work for the improvement of the Paraná +began in 1904 and 1905. Since 1910 the material dredged from the +bed of the river has risen to 3,500,000 cubic metres a year on the +average. The experience gained in the course of this work has enabled +the Argentine hydrographic service to adjust its methods to the +incomparable force of the river. It is impossible to maintain a general +rectification of the bed and the banks, as is possible with European +rivers. The only thing to do is to submit quietly to the plan which +the river sketches for itself, and be content to deepen the difficult +passages on the line of the main arm. Suction dredges, which work +easily in the sand, attack each ridge or <span lang="es">paso</span> from below, making a +channel into which the waters flow, so that it tends to enlarge itself +up stream. The dredges are shifted from bank to bank according as the +soundings tell of the formation of fresh obstacles to navigation. +They were at first concentrated below Rosario, where the Argentine +Government had to carry out certain engagements contracted with the +Port Company; then they were scattered as far up as Santa Fé. +The actual equipment suffices to carry out the programme that had been +drawn up—to maintain a depth of twenty-one feet as far as Rosario +and of nineteen feet as far as Santa Fé.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Map_VII" href="images/illus-311.png" type="image/png"> + <img src="images/illus-311.png" alt="Map" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">MAP VII.—ESTUARY OF THE RIO DE LA PLATA.</p> + <p class="figcaption">The channels of the estuary are parallel to + the direction of the tidal currents, which account for their + depth. Those which cross the shoals of the Playa Honda, at + the bottom of the estuary, finish as no-thoroughfares, and + do not give access to the southern arms of the river. From + Buenos Aires ships going up the river have to go round by Martin + Garcia and the mouths of the Paraná Guazu.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-311.png" type="image/png">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>As regards the section above Santa Fé, the engineer Repossini +advises that, instead of adopting a programme of expensive dredging +with uncertain results, they should first think of adjusting navigation +to the natural conditions, and they are such as would be considered +very favourable in Europe. The hydrographic service would, however, +still have two functions: in the first place, the topographical study +of the river and the constant placing of buoys, and, in the second +place, the observation of its behaviour and anticipation of variations +of level. The utility of the work of foreseeing floods, which has been +carried on since 1907, has been abundantly proved. It published a daily +bulletin of forecasts, based upon observation of the pluviometric +scales of the upper river, which is equally valuable to the navigators +and to breeders in the floodable area. It enables the breeders to get +their cattle into safety before the floods come. On the other hand, the +ship can, thanks to the bulletin, foretell what depth of water it will +find at critical passages, and calculate exactly the load it can carry, +and so complete its cargo lower down. The service of forecast of floods +has morally improved navigation on the Paraná by suppressing +every possible pretext for wilful stranding, which had become a current +form of speculation.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Nothing is more varied than the fleet which now serves the +Paraná. It includes tramps, and long, slim European ships, which +load up with cereals and meat; large river boats, luxurious and light; +barges and tugs, lighters and schooners, which have compensation for +their slowness in their cheapness.</p> + +<p>As regards navigation, the river is now divided into three sections. +Maritime navigation ascends as far as Santa Fé. At Rosario and +Santa Fé it goes right to the heart of the zone of cereals and +to the fringe of the forest area. The upper section, between Rosario +and Santa Fé, is less safe than the lower section, and this is +reflected in the cost of freightage from Santa Fé.</p> + +<p>The ports of the lower Paraná, between Santa Fé and +Buenos Aires, may be classed in three categories. The ports of the +first group are built on low land +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> + +that is liable to be flooded. Every year the floods threaten their +traffic. That is the character of Colastiné, east of Santa +Fé, which specializes in shipping <span lang="es">quebracho</span> timber, or +Ibicuy, on the Paraná Pavon, in the south of the province of +Entre Rios, which, however, is protected by excellent works. The +small ports of the <span lang="es">barranca</span> of the southern bank, on the main river +and on the Paraná de las Palmas, form a second group. They +ship meat (Campana and Zarate) and cereals (San Nicolas and Villa +Constitución), and they are admirably adapted for this by their +natural situation. Steamers come right up to the cliff without any need +of special works on the shore. The sacks of wheat are let into the +ships down sloping gangways from stores excavated in the cliff or from +wagons. None of these ports are equipped for receiving imports. The +third group comprises ports with complete apparatus for both export and +import. The chief of these is Rosario. It was the increase of imports +between 1850 and 1860 that stimulated its early progress. To-day the +tonnage of the goods unloaded at Rosario is nearly one-half the tonnage +of the cereals shipped there. Yet, in spite of appearances, it is the +imports that account mainly for the busy life of its quays. The port +company does the unloading itself, as well as the handling and storing +of the goods imported, but it is content to receive dues on all exports +within the area for which it has a monopoly. Only a small part of the +cereals exported uses its elevators. A deep-water port, equipped like +that at Rosario for import and export, has just been constructed at +Santa Fé. Already it competes with Colastiné for the +export of <span lang="es">quebracho</span>. Its import trade is still small, as such trade +requires large capital and a whole network of relations with the +adjoining country, and that is not the work of a day.</p> + +<p>The second section of the river stretches from Santa Fé to +Corrientes, and is continued up the Paraguay. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> + +The transport of <span lang="es">quebracho</span> timber and tannic acid is the chief item +of its trade. The maximum draught of the vessels it admits at normal +low water is six feet. Some of the ports on the left bank (Esquina, +Goya) and all the ports on the right bank (Reconquista, Barranqueras, +etc.) are at some distance from the main bed, or lateral arms. The +Chaco works have generally a flotilla of steamers and barges. It is +the exporters of timber and extract of <span lang="es">quebracho</span> to Europe who most +strongly demand the deepening of the bed of the Paraná above +Santa Fé. Sailing ships share with the river steamers the +transport of the products of the Paraguay and of Corrientes (hides, +tobacco and <span lang="es">maté</span>). The transport of oranges alone from San +Antonio, Villeta, Pilar and Humaïta represents an item of tens of +thousands of tons.</p> + +<p>The third section of the river stretches from Corrientes to Posadas, +and beyond. Sailing ships have disappeared from this section, as they +cannot make the Apipé rapids. Steamers of four and a-half feet +draught and 150 tons are now used on it, but they cannot proceed at +low water. They provide a direct service between Buenos Aires and +Posadas, though the service is not very economical, because it does +not permit them to use to the full the transport-capacity of the +river below Corrientes. Most of the goods for Posadas are, therefore, +trans-shipped at Ituzaingo, below the rapids, or at Corrientes. The +steamboat companies which serve Posadas are obliged, in order to secure +the economical transport of goods shipped on the upper Paraná, +to maintain lines which go up the Paraguay as far as Asunción, +and take on at Corrientes the goods that come from Posadas. Higher up, +the falls of the Guayra and the Yguassu set an impassable limit to the +enterprise of Argentine vessels. Boats on the stretch above Yguassu on +the Paraná feed the railways of the Brazilian tableland. The +traffic of the upper Paraná consists chiefly of <span lang="es">maté</span> +from Misiones +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> + +and cedar-planks from the Posadas saw-mills. Rafts of timber are +stopped at Posadas and rarely follow the river further.</p> + +<p>The Argentine statistics of navigation are obscure. They confuse +under one heading the river-traffic between Posadas and Brazilian +territory, or between Corrientes and the Paraguay, and the exports of +the Pampean region to Europe. It is difficult to get from them an idea +of the real traffic, or to distinguish the tonnage loaded or unloaded +at each port from that which merely touches its quays in ships going +up or coming down the river. They credit a score of ports with a total +tonnage of (entries and clearances together) more than 500,000 tons.</p> + +<p>At all events, they do enable us to distinguish between ports +exclusively devoted to river traffic and those with direct relations +to oversea ports. Nearly all the boats destined for the Paraná +touch at Buenos Aires, which remains the chief importing centre, on the +way up, and unload there. They then go empty to Rosario, San Nicolas, +or Santa Fé to take on a full cargo of cereals or timber, and +set out down the Paraná for Europe without calling at Buenos +Aires. Clearances for interior navigation at the port of Buenos Aires +are far more numerous than entries. From 1912 to 1914 Buenos Aires +received on the average, coming from interior ports, 1,750,000 tons, +of which 1,635,000 were cargo. It cleared for the same ports ships +totalling 3,275,000 tons, of which 1,580,000 were in ballast. The +latter figure fairly represents the tonnage of sea-going ships sent +up river empty after discharging on the quays of Buenos Aires. At +Rosario, San Nicolas and San Pedro, on the other hand, the tonnage +of clearances for Argentine ports is much less than the tonnage of +entries.<a id="FNanchor_135_135" +href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">135</a> The total movement +of goods at the port of Rosario is 410,000 tons entries and 375,000 +tons clearances for interior navigation, and 1,100,000 tons entries +and 1,824,000 tons clearances for navigation abroad.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> + +<p>According to Repossini's calculations the tonnage of exports on the +lower Paraná south of Santa Fé rose in 1910 to 4,000,000 +or 4,500,000. The imports, almost entirely confined to Rosario, were +about a fourth of this figure. For the middle and upper Paraná, +Repossini estimated the volume of the traffic at 800,000 tons, of which +<span lang="es">quebracho</span> was two-fifths.</p> + +<p>The navigation of the Paraná is one of the chief sources +of the prosperity of Buenos Aires. Even if the development of the +import trade at Rosario or Santa Fé is partly at the expense +of the capital, and the boats laden with cereals do not stop at its +quays, still the coasting traffic on the river is in great part meant +for Buenos Aires. In returning, rather than go empty, the boats take +cargoes of European products bought from the Buenos Aires importers. +By means of the Paraná the import-trade sphere of influence +of Buenos Aires reaches beyond the frontiers of Argentina, as far as +Paraguay and part of Brazil. Buenos Aires is, moreover, the main centre +for equipping the steamboats of the river. Its capital dominates the +Paraná. Lastly, the Paraná supplies it with an export +freight which must not be overlooked. It is at Buenos Aires that the +hides, tobacco and timber and extracts of <span lang="es">quebracho</span> for oversea +markets, shipped on schooners in the upper reaches of the river which +are impassable for steamers, are trans-shipped for abroad.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a><br /> +THE POPULATION</h2> + +<div class="chapdesc"> + <p>The distribution of the population—The streams of + emigration to the interior—Seasonal migrations—The + historic towns—The towns of the Pampean + region—Buenos Aires.</p> +</div> + +<p>A large-scale chart of the mean density of the population for +each province—like those which were published in the latest +Argentine Census-reports—has no geographical value for the west +and north-west, where oases of slight extent are separated by vast +desolate stretches, deserted because of the lack of water. In the +Pampean region, on the other hand, the population is distributed in a +very regular manner, and the mean densities calculated fairly represent +the facts.</p> + +<p>To the several types of exploitation, of which we have studied +the distribution on the Pampa, there correspond unequal densities +of population. Cattle-breeding, for instance, requires only a thin +population. The early pastoral colonization of the plain on the west +of the Salado was carried out, between 1880 and 1890, with a very +small number of workers. A large ranch of 400 square kilometres on the +northern edge of the Pampa (the Tostado ranch) only employs about a +hundred men, or one for four square kilometres. The density increases +appreciably for sheep-breeding on the <span lang="es">pastos tiernos</span> of Buenos Aires +province, where a ranch of a hundred square kilometres, devoted to +producing wool, with fifty or sixty shepherds, sustains at least 200 +persons, or two to the square +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> + +kilometre.<a id="FNanchor_136_136" href="#Footnote_136_136" +class="fnanchor">136</a> The density is not appreciably greater in the +area of wheat-growing on a large scale, where the extent cultivated +by one family reaches, including fallow, 200 hectares. But it may, +even apart from the urban population, be more than ten to the square +kilometre in the maize belt.</p> + +<p>The growth of the population of Argentina can be followed closely +from the middle of the eighteenth century. A Census taken in 1774 +gives the Buenos Aires district within the first line of forts 6,000 +inhabitants. At the end of the eighteenth century (Census of 1797, +quoted by D'Azara) the population of the province of Buenos Aires, +without the town, was a little over 30,000 souls, the zone occupied +having been extended in the meantime, at least in part, as far as the +Salado. Woodbine Parish estimates the population at 80,000 in 1824, at +the time when the expansion southward, beyond the Salado, as far as the +Sierra de Tandil, began. It doubled between 1824 and 1855. The northern +departments then counted 45,000 inhabitants, the western 58,000 and the +southern 63,000. The density was still a little greater in the north, +along the road to Peru, but the advance of sheep-rearing in the south +was beginning to change the centre of gravity of colonization. The +first regular Census of the Argentine Republic in 1869 showed a still +more rapid advance. The population of the Buenos Aires province had +grown to 315,000 inhabitants. The increase was greatest in the west, +where tillage began to extend round Chivilcoy, beyond the pastoral +area, and in the south, where sheep-farms multiplied. The population of +the southern departments more than doubled in fourteen years (137,000 +inhabitants to 70,000 square kilometres in occupation, or two to the +square kilometre).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<p>However, the Pampean region—Buenos Aires (including +the capital), Santa Fé, and the southern part of +Córdoba—still had a smaller population than that of the +northern and north-western provinces: 626,000 as compared with 813,000. +The Mesopotamian provinces had then 263,000 inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The proportion was reversed twenty-five years later at the 1895 +Census. The population of the Pampas had increased threefold, and was +more than a half of the entire population of the country. That of the +western and north-western provinces was about a third of the whole, and +had only increased by fifty per cent.</p> + +<p>If one considers in detail the distribution of the population of +the Pampean plain in 1895, one sees that beyond the suburbs of Buenos +Aires the area of greatest density—five to eight per square +kilometre—was in the north-west, between San Andres de Giles and +Pergamino, a district of advanced methods, where the cultivation of +maize was beginning to occupy a good part of the land. The population +was confined to the west of the preceding zone, in the agricultural +area of Junin, Chacabuco and Chivilcoy. This area, where maize and +wheat were next each other, already embraced Viente Cinco de Mayo (five +to the square kilometre) on the west and Nueve de Julio (2.5). In the +south of Buenos Aires, the departments of the left bank of the Salado, +which were entirely given up to breeding, but long colonized, had a +density of three to five per square kilometre. The region lying between +the lower Salado and the Sierra de Tandil, a sheep-breeding area, then +giving good returns but of recent colonization, had not more than +three. The density falls rapidly as one goes westward. It sinks to less +than one in the north-west and west of the Buenos Aires province, in +the area where the cattle-breeders from the east had settled. At Santa +Fé, the region of the colonies, at the level both of Rosario and +Santa Fé, had five inhabitants per square kilometre. But beyond +the Córdoba frontier the density falls to two in the San Justo +department, and still less further south, at Marcos Juarez, Union and +General Lopez.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Drying_Hides" href="images/illus-321a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-321a.jpg" alt="Drying Hides" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">THE OLDER INDUSTRIES OF THE PAMPA: DRYING HIDES.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-321a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Drying_Salt_Meat" href="images/illus-321b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-321b.jpg" alt="Drying Salt Meat" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">DRYING SALT MEAT.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XXIII.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-321b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>In 1914 the density was more than fifteen in the whole of the +maize area in the Buenos Aires and Santa Fé provinces, and it +approached this figure in the departments of the old agricultural +colonies on the middle Salado. In the region of the lucerne farms it +was three to five, except in the south-east (departments of Veinte +Cinco de Mayo, Nueve de Julio and Bolivia), where it rose, thanks to +the co-existence of ranches and of wheat and maize. It sank to between +two and three in the wheat area in the south and south-east of Buenos +Aires. At Santa Fé the district of the colonies had seven to the +square kilometre.</p> + +<p>The growth of the population is partly explained by immigration +from Europe. Foreigners were, in 1914, 30 per cent. of the total +population.<a id="FNanchor_137_137" +href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">137</a> The proportion of +foreigners to the total population is one of the indications by which +we can best follow the advance of colonization. As soon as it relaxes +in any region, the number of immigrants diminishes. (The children +born of foreign colonists in Argentina are considered indigenous in +Argentine statistics.) In 1869 the proportion of foreigners rose to +417 per 1,000 in the province of Buenos Aires (without the capital). +This was the great period of pastoral colonization and the development +of sheep-breeding. It was then only 156 per 1,000 at Santa Fé. +In 1895 the proportion of foreigners sank to 309 per 1,000 at Buenos +Aires, but rose to 419 at Santa Fé, where the date almost +marks the end of the great period of agricultural colonization. In +1914 the proportion of foreigners at Buenos Aires rose to 340 per +1,000 (development of the maize region and the southern wheat area). +It sank at Santa Fé (350 per 1,000), in spite of considerable +immigration in the southern maize-growing departments. At the same +time there was a great influx of foreign population in the province of +Córdoba (200 per 1,000) and in the area of the Central Pampa +(360 per 1,000).<a id="FNanchor_138_138" +href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">138</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<p>The recent enumerations also enable us to follow the displacements +of the indigenous population on Argentine territory and the part this +has had in colonization. Outside the Pampean region the parts of the +country which have proved centres of attraction for the Argentine +population are the sugar provinces of Tucumán and Jujuy and the +province of Mendoza. In 1895 Tucumán had 40,000 inhabitants who +had been born in other provinces, Jujuy 15,000 and Mendoza 19,000. The +attraction of Tucumán was mainly felt in the adjoining province +of Santiago (12,000 immigrants) and Catamarca (12,000). At Mendoza the +immigrants came mainly from San Juan (7,000) and San Luis (3,000). The +attraction of the timber region is more difficult to estimate, because +most of the <span lang="es">obrajes</span> are in the province of Santiago, which found +the workers itself, and the enumerations have not taken into account +displacements within each province. Nevertheless, immigration into the +land of the <span lang="es">quebracho Chaqueño</span>, along the Paraná, can +be recognised from 1895 onward. It was maintained by the Corrientes +province. Santa Fé has 10,000 immigrants from Corrientes, of +whom 6,500 are in the forestry departments of Reconquista and Vera. +The Chaco region maintains 2,000 Corrientes wood-cutters and several +hundred from Santiago +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> + +and Salta. Corrientes has also sent 5,000 emigrants to Misiones.</p> + +<p>In the Pampean region the population of Buenos Aires in 1895 +included very few who came from other provinces. The population of +Santa Fé was more mixed. The attraction of the agricultural +colonies had brought 65,000 Argentine immigrants. They came mainly from +the left bank of the Paraná and Córdoba. The immigrants +from Córdoba are localized along the railway from Rosario to +Córdoba, in the Belgrano and Iriondo departments and the town +of Rosario. The migration of the Santa Fé colonists to the new +lands in the west had scarcely begun at that time. They were still +only 3,000 in the Buenos Aires province, and 5,000 at Córdoba; +most of them were in departments adjacent to the old colony area. The +colonization of Córdoba began simultaneously in the east, toward +Santa Fé, and in the south-west, in the Rio Cuarto department, +to which the breeders from San Luis went. Similarly, the Argentine +population of the Central Pampa includes elements from the east as +well as European colonists and elements from the north-west (10,000 +immigrants from the Buenos Aires province, 3,000 from San Luis).</p> + +<p>The 1914 Census has less complete details in regard to interior +immigration than its predecessor. The migrations had not ceased. The +attraction of Tucumán and Mendoza had, in fact, decreased. +The province of Tucumán had 55,000 Argentine immigrants, the +province of Jujuy 15,000, the province of Mendoza 34,000. The provinces +of Mendoza and Corrientes remained nuclei of considerable immigration +(38,000 and 63,000 immigrants). At Santa Fé the number of +emigrants who left the province to settle at Córdoba and in +the remainder of the Pampean region rose from 14,000 to 87,000. The +Patagonian territory also had a large excess of immigrants from other +provinces.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>Periodic migrations with no definitive change of residence are not +given in the official statistics. The importance of these migrations +in northern Argentina has been noted in the chapters we devoted to +Tucumán and the forestry industry. They occur also in the +Pampean region, where they are due chiefly to <del>he </del><ins>the </ins>need of labour for +the harvest and the threshing of wheat and flax, and for reaping the +maize. Miatello has given us a detailed analysis of the phenomenon for +the province of Santa Fé in 1904. The period when the wheat +and flax growers need help is from November to February. It begins +in March for the maize farmers, and lasts so much longer when the +harvest is good. The temporary immigrants come partly from Europe. +Not only is the stream of immigration to Argentina fuller during the +months which precede the harvests, while the stream of re-emigration +to Europe is greatest in the autumn, but it is not a rare thing for +Italians to go every year to Argentina merely to stay there during +the harvest, when wages are high. This seasonal immigration from +Italy is of long standing; it is mentioned by Daireaux in 1889. +These foreigners, however, are only part of the adventurous crowd +enlisted for the harvests on the Pampean plain. Seasonal migration is +everywhere a national practice. The labour employed in reaping the +maize includes elements borrowed from the towns near the maize belt. +But all the provinces round the Pampean region send their contingent of +temporary immigrants. Some even come from the valley of the Rio Negro +at Bahía Blanca, from San Luis, and even from Mendoza to the +Central Pampa and the Córdoba province.</p> + +<p>The oldest, and still the largest, stream is that which comes +from the Santiago province. D'Orbigny notices in 1827 the temporary +streaming of Santiagueños to the coast. In that year slow +progress was made with the wheat-harvest of Buenos Aires +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> + +because of the shortage of labour. "The forced levies for the army +prevented the Santiagueños from going to hire themselves, +as was their custom, in fear lest they should be compelled to +serve."<a id="FNanchor_139_139" +href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">139</a></p> + +<p>Temporary emigration began, no doubt, with the journeys +which brought the northerners to Buenos Aires as drivers of +convoys of wagons. Santiagueños were numerous amongst these +<span lang="es">troperos</span>. Lorenzo Fazio collected reminiscences of these journeys +in the land of the <span lang="es">bañados</span>.<a +id="FNanchor_140_140" href="#Footnote_140_140" +class="fnanchor">140</a> They go back to the first quarter of the +nineteenth century, the period before the diversion of the Rio Dulce +and the ruin of Salavina and Atamisqui. "My father," said one of his +informants, "drove wagons of wheat to Córdoba, and sometimes to +Buenos Aires, where he sold them and bought goods-stuffs in exchange. +He bought the wheat at Loreto, Atamisqui or Salavina. It was a year +before he got back, because it was necessary to wait for the rain and +the growth of the vegetation, otherwise his animals would have died of +thirst or hunger on the road." The journeys of the <span lang="es">troperos</span> meant a +long spell of idleness in the Pampean region, precisely at the harvest +season. Naturally, they would lend a hand in it.</p> + +<p>The temporary emigration of the Santiagueños continued +throughout the nineteenth century. It was maintained even during the +disturbances under the government of Rosas, which almost entirely put +an end to commercial relations between Buenos Aires and the northern +provinces. When Galvez passed through the villages on the Rio Dulce +he noticed that there were few men in them. They had scattered over +the roads or were, as he says, <span lang="es">andariegos</span>. Only the women remained. +The province of Buenos Aires received the Santiagueños in +crowds, offering their services. Chivilcoy and the whole region of the +<span lang="es">chacras</span> of maize and wheat received their caravans for the harvest, +and some were kept for the sowing. Even the ranchers took advantage of +this reinforcement, and hired the men for marking. In the autumn they +went back with their <span lang="es">tropillas</span>, much dreaded by the breeders whose +land they crossed, stealing any horses that were not well guarded.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>The province of Santa Fé, especially in the agricultural +departments of the north-west, is now the chief theatre in the Pampean +region for the immigration of the Santiagueños. It does not +always come by rail, but has to some extent preserved its primitive +and picturesque features. The immigrants arrive in troops on mules and +horses, and scatter in November over the colonies.</p> + +<p>The population of Argentina has also felt the attraction of the +urban centres. The growth of the towns is due to both foreign and +national immigration. The development of urban life, which is one +of the characteristic features of modern Argentina, is a recent +phenomenon. There was no indication of its coming in the eighteenth +century. D'Azara was, on the contrary, struck by the absence of +communal life (<span lang="es">pueblos unidos</span>). The scattering of the population +was a result of the predominance of breeding. "If these people +found profit in agriculture, one would see them gather together +in villages, instead of the whole population being dispersed in +ranches."<a id="FNanchor_141_141" +href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">141</a> It is this +scattering of the population rather than an absolute numerical +inferiority—the solitude, "the desert, the universal +horizon that forced itself into the very entrails of the +land"<a id="FNanchor_142_142" +href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">142</a>—that moulded +the fiery soul of the <span lang="es">gaucho</span>.</p> + +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Herd_of_Creole_Cattle" href="images/illus-329a.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-329a.jpg" alt="Creole Cattle" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">A HERD OF CREOLE CATTLE.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Widmayer.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-329a.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> +<div class="thumb"> + <a id="Herd_of_Durham_Cattle" href="images/illus-329b.jpg" type="image/jpeg"> + <img src="images/illus-329b.jpg" alt="Durham Cattle" /> + </a> + <p class="figtitle">A HERD OF DURHAM CATTLE.</p> + <p class="credit">Photograph by Soc. Fotografica de Aficionados.</p> + <p class="plate">Plate XXIV.</p> + <p class="click"> + <a href="images/illus-329b.jpg" type="image/jpeg">Click to view larger image.</a> + </p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> + +<p>The primitive urban sites were all either on the river or on the +historic roads to Chile and Peru. The only towns of the Paraná +region at the end of the eighteenth century were Buenos Aires, Santa +Fé and Corrientes. As to towns in the interior, Helms's +journey in 1778 gives us some idea of their size. Córdoba, +at the crossing of the Peru road and the tracks to the province of +La Rioja, had then 1,500 white inhabitants and 4,000 blacks. As it +was near the Sierra, which provided granite and lime, it had some +semblance of architecture, and had paved streets, which struck even +the traveller from Buenos Aires. The attraction of its schools +was felt over a wide area. We still have a list of students from +Paraguay who studied at Córdoba University in the eighteenth +century.<a id="FNanchor_143_143" +href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">143</a> Tucumán and +Salta, especially Salta, also were busy centres. Salta had 600 Spanish +families and 9,000 inhabitants in all, and its influence extended as +far as Peru and Chile. Jujuy, on the other hand, was a very small town. +Helms mentions the decay of Santiago del Estero. The trade which had +once flourished there had, he says, gone in a different direction. +The prosperity of Santiago was, as a matter of fact, connected with +traffic on the direct route from Santa Fé to Tucumán, +which ceased at the close of the eighteenth century. Santa Fé +also was a decaying town at the close of the eighteenth century, and +would remain such until the middle of the nineteenth. Its distress was +due, not merely to the suspension of its direct trade with Peru, but +also to the decay and isolation of Paraguay, which had provided most +of its trade and for which it acted as intermediary with the Andean +provinces.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>The great development of urban life in Argentina dates from the +time of the colonization of the Pampean region. The ratio of the urban +population has risen considerably during the last twenty-five years. +In 1895, 113 centres with more than 2,000 inhabitants comprised 37 +per cent. of the total population of Argentina; in 1914 the number +of urban centres was 322, and they comprised 53 per cent. of the +population. The population of towns with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants +has increased threefold in twenty years, rising from 312,000 in 1895 to +977,000 in 1914. Large new towns like Rosario and Bahía Blanca +were created. The relative sizes of the older towns changed rapidly. +Tucumán and Mendoza (121,000 and 92,000 inhabitants) shot beyond +Santiago and Salta (22,000 and 28,000 inhabitants). The towns of the +north-west, Catamarca and Rioja, are, on the other hand, scarcely +developed.</p> + +<p>When one examines a chart of the urban population of the Pampean +region, one finds that colonization has led to the creation in it of +ten chief centres, of from 15,000 to 25,000 inhabitants, and some fifty +secondary centres, of from 5,000 to 12,000 inhabitants, which all +have a distinctly urban character. This association of urban centres +and a scattered agricultural or pastoral population is one of the +original features of the way in which the Pampa was peopled. There is +no village, or purely rural group. The distribution of these centres +on the plain is fairly regular. They are a little closer together in +the districts near the Paraná, to the north of Buenos Aires, +where the population is older, and where the density, even of the rural +population, is at its highest. The territory of the Pampa is divided +between the spheres of influence of these various centres. Their radius +is as low as ten miles in the north-west, and is about twenty miles in +the south of Buenos Aires and twenty-five in the extreme west.</p> + +<p>A secondary railway nucleus has generally settled the sites of them +(San Francisco-Pergamino, Junin). Their population comprises all the +workers needed for the flow of the economic life of the Pampa: agents +for the exporters of cereals, merchants who supply the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> + +colonies with imported goods—especially agricultural +machinery—bankers and insurance companies, surveyors and +lawyers. Those which have the best service of trains have a certain +amount of industry—mills and breweries—the products of +which are absorbed locally. These towns derive all the elements +of their life from the Pampean region itself, and have no direct +relations either with foreign markets or with other parts of +Argentina.<a id="FNanchor_144_144" +href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">144</a></p> + +<p>But the towns of the Pampa which have grown +most rapidly are the ports. Rosario rose from 23,000 +inhabitants in 1869 to 91,000 in 1895 and to 245,000 +in 1914; Bahía Blanca from 9,000 in 1895 to 62,000 +in 1914. The actual population of the Pampa ports +is not at all in proportion to the part which each +plays in the export of Pampean products:—</p> + +<table summary="cereal exports"> + <caption>Export of Cereals in thousands of tons.</caption> + <thead> + <tr><th colspan="6">(Average for 1913-1915)</th></tr> + <tr> + <th>Rosario.</th> + <th>Buenos Aires.</th> + <th>Bahía Blanca.</th> + <th>San Nicolas.</th> + <th>La Plata.</th> + <th>Santa Fé.</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td class="right">2,716</td> + <td>2,051</td> + <td>1,075</td> + <td>651</td> + <td>459</td> + <td>278</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="6" class="right"> + <b>Population in 1914.</b> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">245,000</td> + <td>1,575,000</td> + <td>62,000</td> + <td>19,000</td> + <td>137,000</td> + <td>64,000</td> + </tr> + </tbody> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + +<p>Some centres, such as Campana, Zarate, San Pedro or San Nicolas, +which load up meat or grain in great quantities, have nevertheless +remained small towns. Neither the trade in meat nor that in cereals +is enough of itself to sustain a busy urban life. In point of +fact, the growth of the Pampa ports is mainly connected with their +function as importing ports and markets of capital. The close +dependence of Bahía Blanca upon Buenos Aires in both these +respects seems to forbid it all hope of ever becoming the equal of +Rosario. The prosperity of Rosario was founded during the time when +Buenos Aires was isolated, between 1853 and 1860; this enabled them +to organize an import trade there and to accumulate a nucleus of +independent capital.<a id="FNanchor_145_145" href="#Footnote_145_145" +class="fnanchor">145</a></p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The development of Buenos Aires must be studied separately. It +does not merely reflect the success of the colonization of the +Pampa; it is a phenomenon of a national order. The attraction +of Buenos Aires has been felt throughout the whole land. In +1895, of a total population of Argentine birth of 318,000 +souls, more than a half—167,000—were born in the +provinces.<a id="FNanchor_146_146" +href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">146</a> The way in which +the prosperity of Buenos Aires is bound up, not only with that of the +adjacent territory but with that of the whole country, is seen in the +stability of the figure representing the number of the inhabitants +who have come from foreign lands. While the proportion of foreigners +in each of the provinces varies from one census to another, according +to the displacements of the stream of colonization, it remains almost +the same at Buenos Aires: 496 per 1,000 in 1869, 520 in 1895, 493 in +1914.</p> + +<p>The population of the city of Buenos Aires was estimated by Helms +in 1788 to be between 24,000 and 30,000. D'Azara put it at 40,000 +in 1799. The Revolution did not interrupt its growth. According to +the estimate of Woodbine Parish the city had 81,000 inhabitants in +1824. On the other hand, the Rosas Government involved a period of +stagnation (90,000 inhabitants in 1855). But after 1855 Buenos Aires +resumed its progress, even before the political unity of Argentina was +re-established, and has never since relaxed. Its population has doubled +almost regularly at intervals of fifteen years: 177,000 in 1869, +433,000 in 1887, 663,000 in 1895, and 1,575,000 in 1914. The latter +figure, in fact, is inadequate. Greater Buenos Aires, including the +outlying parts, has really 1,990,000 inhabitants.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<p>The site on which the city is built is a regular plateau, sixty-five +feet above sea level, cut by flat-bottomed, marshy valleys. The +Riachuelo, at the mouth of one of these valleys, provided Buenos Aires +with its first port. The low and badly drained lands of the valleys are +occupied by the poorest quarters. Their sides, the <span lang="es">barrancas</span>, bear +the aristocratic residences, and the gardeners have been able to use +the sites to great advantage in their plans.</p> + +<p>As a whole, the growth of Buenos Aires presents the same feature of +regularity, on account of the uniformity of the soil, as the spread +of colonization over the plain of the Pampas. The city is distributed +in concentric zones, and it is thus a model on a small scale of the +distribution of the various types of exploitation on the Pampa which +surrounds it. The central nucleus, the business quarter, contains not +only the offices, but the warehouses of imported goods. Round this +centre, with a radius of one to three miles, are the residential +quarters in which the density is greatest (250 to 350 to the hectare). +Beyond this the density sinks to less than 200 per hectare and less +than fifty on the outskirts. The central quarters developed the maximum +density after 1900. Those of the first outer zone have gained greatly +between 1904 and 1909. Since the latter date, the progress of these +quarters has been arrested in turn, and the recent growth is mainly in +the remote working-class suburbs in the south and on the bank of the +Riachuelo.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>Buenos Aires has preserved in its central district, and reproduces +in all its outer districts, the primitive draught-board plan of a +Spanish colonial city. This plan is not suited to its needs to-day. The +rapid growth of the city and its expansion—the mean density is +not more than fifty-four inhabitants to the hectare, as against 360 at +Paris—complicate the problem of transport. At the present time +the city is considering plans for reconstructing its thoroughfares +and making diagonal streets, starting from the centre and following +the direction of the main streams of traffic. In this way the city +would reproduce the fan-wise distribution of railways over the Pampean +plain.</p> + +<p>Buenos Aires is the intermediary between the provinces and oversea +countries. It has three titles to this profitable part. In the first +place, it is the chief centre of the import trade. The merchants of the +cities in the interior are customers of the Buenos Aires importers, +and are closely bound to them by a system of long-term credit. Buenos +Aires is, secondly, the centre for the distribution of the European +capital which has been used in the development of the country. Lastly, +it divides immigrant workers amongst the provinces, just as it divides +capital. As an immigration port its position is unrivalled. The efforts +that were made to divert part of the immigrants to Bahía Blanca +failed, and direct immigration to the Santa Fé province ceased +at the close of the first period of colonization, about 1880. It is +also at Buenos Aires that immigrants who are not going to settle in +Argentina embark; re-emigration, which is regarded as a national +plague by Argentine economists, is another source of profit to the +capital. Hence the fortune of Buenos Aires is due in the first place to +the close contact between the economic life of Argentina and that of +Europe and North America.</p> + +<p>But its very growth has led to a gradual change in the part it plays +in the interior of the country. In +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> + +proportion as its population and wealth grew, it became a great +national market. The products of the provinces go to it, not merely to +meet its own needs as consumer, but in order to be distributed over the +entire country. The figures of the cattle trade on the Buenos Aires +market are instructive in this respect. From January to July 1919 there +were 1,130,000 head of cattle sold, 240,000 being for the supply of the +capital and 700,000 for the refrigerators.<a +id="FNanchor_147_147" href="#Footnote_147_147" +class="fnanchor">147</a> Of the remainder, 120,000 were bought for +fattening and 40,000 by the butchers of other towns. The capital of +its own which has accumulated at Buenos Aires is invested either in +real estate or in industry, which has found great profit both in the +development of local consumption and in the great stock of labour +provided by immigration. Buenos Aires is not now content to be merely +an intermediary between the country and foreign lands. It contributes +by its own resources and work to the task of colonization and the +supply of manufactured articles to the agricultural and pastoral +districts. It is, finally, a luxurious city, with every opportunity +for the men who have grown rich by the rise in the price of lands to +spend their income, and providing pleasure for the country folk who +come up occasionally, tired of their laborious, rough and solitary +existence.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a><br /> +<a id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="BIBLIOGRAPHY">BIBLIOGRAPHY</a></h2> + +<p>I give here only the most important and most recent works. A list of +the articles I have consulted would be long and uninteresting, while +a complete list of those which might have been consulted, and from +which information might have been gleaned, is impossible. For a work +of this character there is no account of travel, no study of the soil, +the climate, or the vegetation, no statistical document or journal or +purely historical text, that has not a perfect right to be regarded as +a source.</p> + +<h3>1. Periodicals.</h3> + +<p>Of the periodicals published in Argentina, and partly or wholly +devoted to the study of the land and its development, the principal +are:—</p> + +<p><cite>Boletin del Instituto Geografico Argentino</cite> (Buenos Aires, since +1879; vol. i, 1879, vol. ii, 1881; one vol. yearly from 1881 to 1901; +has appeared irregularly since).</p> + +<p><cite>Anales de la Sociedad Cientifica Argentina</cite> (Buenos Aires, 2 vols, +yearly from 1876).</p> + +<p><cite>Revista de la Sociedad Geografica Argentina</cite> (Buenos Aires, only +appeared from 1883 to 1889).</p> + +<p><cite>Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba</cite> +(Córdoba, since 1874, 23 vols. to 1918).</p> + +<p>The publications of the Buenos Aires and La Plata museums also +contain, besides copious anthropological, archæological, +palæontological, and historical material, a large number of +articles of interest to geographers:—</p> + +<p><cite>Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Buenos Aires.</cite> +Begins 1864, 25 vols., folio and quarto, to 1914.</p> + +<p><cite>Anales del Museo de la Plata.</cite> First series 1890-1900, second +series from 1907.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p> + +<p><cite>Revista del Museo de la Plata.</cite> From 1890-1891, 17 vols. to +1910-1911.</p> + +<p>All these reviews contain especially articles on the parts of the +country which were last explored—Patagonia, Chaco, Misiones. They +contain little about the parts that were early colonized, though these +are not always the best known.</p> + +<h3>2. Maps.</h3> + +<p>The maps published in the eighteenth century (D'Anville's map, 1733, +in the <cite>Lettres édifiantes</cite>, 19th collection, Paris, 1734: +Bellin's map in vol. ii of the <cite>Histoire du Paraguay</cite> of the R.P.P.F.X. +de Charlevoix, Paris, 1756, 3 vols., etc.) are based upon information +collected by the Jesuit missionaries.</p> + +<p>D'Azara's map (1809) shows a remarkable advance.</p> + +<p>Important corrections of D'Azara's map are found in Woodbine +Parish's map (1838).</p> + +<p>Brackebusch's two maps are essential documents: <cite>Mapa del interior +de la Republica Argentina</cite>, por el Dr. L. Brackebusch, 1:1,000,000 +(Gotha, 1835) and <cite>Mapa geologico del interior de la Republica +Argentina</cite>, 1:1,000,000 (Gotha, 1890).</p> + +<p>The results of earlier work have been used in the <cite>Atlas de la +Republica Argentina construido y publicado por el Instituto Geografico +Argentino</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1894), which includes a list of its +sources.</p> + +<p>Since that date many maps have been published: maps of the various +provinces and surveys drawn up by the railway companies, the Chile +Frontier Commission (see Patagonia), the Mines Division (see Natural +Regions), and the Ministerio de Obras Publicas (see River Routes). A +brief account of the history of Argentine cartography and a list of +maps of provinces will be found in Colonel B. Garcia Aparicio, <cite>La +carta de la Republica (Anuario del Instituto Geografico Militar</cite>, i, +1912, Buenos Aires, pp. 1-27).</p> + +<p>The Military Geographical Institute has itself published a large +number of maps, either on the basis of fresh surveys or by compiling +earlier work, chiefly:—</p> + +<p>About thirty sheets on the scale 1:25,000 (Pampean region) since +1904, interesting for studying the relief of the plain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Governacion de la Pampa," 1:500,000 (Estado Mayor, 3A Division, +Buenos Aires, 1909).</p> + +<p>Three sheets on the scale 1:1,000,000 (Buenos Aires, Concordia, +and Corrientes). Buenos Aires, provisional edition 1911 of a map of +Argentina on the scale 1:1,000,000, which is to comprise twenty-one +sheets.</p> + +<p>A convenient reference map, though of no scientific value, is +the map of the railways, on the scale 1:2,000,000, in three sheets, +published in 1910 by the Ministerio de Obras Publicas.</p> + +<h3>3. Statistics.</h3> + +<p>A summary of the chief statistics is published annually in <cite>The +Argentine Yearbook</cite> (from 1902 at Buenos Aires; from 1909 at Buenos +Aires and London).</p> + +<p>The <cite>Anuario de la Dirección General de Estadistica</cite>, which +has appeared since 1880 in one, two or three vols. quarto, gives the +figures of trade, immigration, agriculture, railways, navigation, etc. +(last volume consulted is for 1914, Buenos Aires, 1915).</p> + +<p>In the third volume of the <cite>Anuario</cite> for 1912 will be found a +list of the publications of the Dirección de Estadistica. +Besides the <cite>Anuario</cite> the Dirección publishes a bulletin with +commercial statistics (last number consulted 181, "El comercio exterior +Argentino en los primeros trimestres de 1918 y 1919," Buenos Aires, +1919). <cite>Boletin</cite> 176 contains a review of Argentine trade from 1910 to +1917.</p> + +<p>The statistical department of the Ministry of Agriculture, under the +direction of E. Lahitte, publishes the <cite>Boletin Mensual de Estadistica +Agricola</cite> (last volume consulted, xxi, 1919).</p> + +<h3>4. General Descriptions.<a +id="FNanchor_148_148" href="#Footnote_148_148" +class="fnanchor">148</a></h3> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + +<p>The scientific study of this part of South America may be traced +back as far as D'Azara. His observations are collected in Don Felix de +Azara, <cite>Voyages dans l'Amérique méridionale</cite>, published +by Walckenaër (Paris, 1809, 4 vols. in 12<sup>mo</sup> and atlas) +and <cite>Descripción e historia del Paraguay y del Rio de la Plata</cite>, +published by D. Agustin de Azara (Madrid, 1847, 2 vols. octavo).</p> + +<p>The <cite>Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale</cite> of Alcide +d'Orbigny contains his observations on the Paraná, the province +of Corrientes, the Pampa (Parchappe's voyages), and Patagonia (1828). +(Historical section, vol. i, Paris, 1835; vol. ii, Paris, 1839-43; vol. +iii, third part, geology, Paris, 1842).</p> + +<p>Darwin also visited the coast of Patagonia and crossed the Pampa +(1833): <cite>Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of H.M.S. "Adventure" +and "Beagle"</cite> ... vol. iii, as <cite>Journal</cite> and <cite>Researches</cite> (London, +1839).</p> + +<p>Sir Woodbine Parish's work, <cite>Buenos Aires and the Provinces of the +Rio de la Plata</cite> (London, 1838), is remarkably well-informed, and is +based upon a thorough study of previous publications and archives.</p> + +<p>W. MacKann's <cite>Ten Thousand Miles' Ride through the Argentine +Republic</cite> (London, 1855, 2 vols.) is interesting, and the work of a +close observer.</p> + +<p>Martin de Moussy, <cite>Description géographique et statistique de +la Confédération argentine</cite> (Paris, 1858, 3 vols. octavo +and atlas), is unequal, but full of information.</p> + +<p>The work of H. Burmeister, <cite>Description physique de la +République argentine</cite> (Paris, 2 vols., 1876), is of little +value, and has been overrated.</p> + +<p>Richard Napp, <cite>Die Argentinische Republik</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1876, I +vol. octavo), includes a valuable chapter by P. G. Lorentz on the flora +("Vegetationsverhaeltnisse Argentiniens," pp. 87-149).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + +<p>The second volume ("Territoire") of the <cite>Second recensement de la +République argentine</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1898) includes a joint +geographical study by a number of writers.</p> + +<p><cite>Géologie</cite>, by J. Valentin.</p> + +<p><cite>Climat</cite>, by G. G. Davis.</p> + +<p><cite>Flore</cite>, by E. L. Holmberg.</p> + +<p>Some attempt at a general consideration of our geographical +knowledge of Argentina has been made by E. A. S. Delachaux, "Las +regiones físicas de la Republica Argentina" (<cite>Rev. Mus. Plata</cite>, +xv, 1908, pp. 102-131).</p> + +<p>Our physical knowledge of Argentina has been greatly promoted by +the work of the Dirección de Minas. The results are summarized +in the <cite>Memorias de la Dirección general de Minas, Geologia, +e Hidrologia</cite>, published from 1908 onward (<cite>Anales del Ministerio de +Agricultura, Sección geologia, mineralogia, y mineria</cite>: last +volume published for the year 1915, Buenos Aires, vol. xii, No. 2).</p> + +<p>Special works are published in the same section of the <cite>Anales del +Min. Agric.</cite>, and in the <cite>Boletines de la Dirección de Minas, +Geologia, e Hidrologia</cite>. See, especially, series B (Geologia). These +reports and the accompanying maps are the basis of all work on the +geography of Argentina. They already cover a great deal of Argentine +territory. The work of Keidel, in particular, which is an essential +contribution to the geological history of the South-American continent, +and that of Windhausen, are largely concerned with physical geography, +the study of the relief, and the influence of the climate on the +landscape.</p> + +<p>A summary of the history of study of the soil of Argentina will +be found in E. Hermitte, <cite>La geologia y mineria Argentina in 1914</cite> +(<cite>Tercer Censo Nacional</cite>, vol. vii, pp. 407-494).</p> + +<p>As to climate: Buenos Aires Ministerio de Agricultura, <cite>Servicio +Meteorologico Argentino, Historia y Organisacion, con un resumen de los +resultados</cite>, preparado bajo la dirección de G. G. Davis (Buenos +Aires, 1914, quarto), dispenses one from consulting any previous +works.</p> + +<p>There is a very complete bibliography of works on the botany +and geographical botany of Argentina in F. Kurtz, "Essai d'une +bibliographie botanique de l'Argentine" (2nd edition, <cite>Bol. Acad. Nac. +Ciencias Córdoba</cite>, xx, 1915, pp. 369-467).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> + +<p>There is a convenient summary of our knowledge of the primitive +population in Felix F. Outes and Carlos Bruch, <cite>Los aborigenes de la +Rep. argentina</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1910).</p> + +<h3>5. North-West Argentina.</h3> + +<p>The most complete general work on irrigation is that of E. A. +Soldano, <cite>La irrigación en la argentina</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1910, +octavo). See also C. Wouters, "La irrigación en el valle de +Lerma" (<cite>An. Soc. Cient. Argentina</cite>, lxvi, 1908, pp. 117-145).</p> + +<p>The best description of the Puna de Atacama and the country of the +Valles is in Eric Boman, "Antiquités de la région andine +de la Republique Argentine et du désert d'Atacama" (<cite>Mission +scientifique G. de Crequi, Montfort, et E. Senechal de la Grange</cite>, +Paris, 1908, 2 vols.).</p> + +<p>L. Brackebusch, "Ueber die Bodensverhaeltnisse des nordwestlichen +Teiles der Argentinischen Republik mit Bezugnahme auf die Vegetation" +(<cite>Petermann's Mitteilungen</cite>, 1893, p. 153) is a general description of +the whole of north-western Argentina; but Brackebusch's description +of his journey, "Viaje a la provincia de Jujuy" (<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. +Argent.</cite>, iv, 1883, pp. 9-17, 204-211, and 217-226) is fresher and more +useful.</p> + +<p>I have mentioned in the note to p. 40 Bodenbender's work on the +province of La Rioja.</p> + +<p>Of the various articles, from all quarters, on North-Western +Argentina the following may be noticed:—</p> + +<p>J. B. Ambrosetti, "Viaje a la Puna de Atacama de Salta a Caurchari" +(<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite>, xxi, 1900, pp. 87-116).</p> + +<p>F. Kühn, "Descripción del camino desde Rosario de Lerma +hasta Cachi" (<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite>, xxiv, 1910, pp. 42-50).</p> + +<p>H. Seckt, "Contribución al conocimiento de la +vegetación del Nordeste de la Rep. Arg.—Valles de +Calchaqui y Puna de Atacama" (<cite>An. Soc. Cient. Arg.</cite>, lxxiv, 1912, pp. +185-225).</p> + +<p>Juan F. Barnabe, "Informe sobre el distrito minero de Tinogasta" +(<cite>An. Min. Agric., Seccion Geol. Mineralogia y Mineria</cite>, x, No. 4, +Buenos Aires, 1915).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the Puna de Atacama:</p> + +<p>L. Caplain, "Informe sobre el estado de la mineria en el Territorio +de los Andes" (<cite>An. Min. Agric., Seccion Geol. Mineralogia y Mineria</cite>, +vii, No. 1, Buenos Aires, 1912).</p> + +<p>On the sub-Andean chains:—</p> + +<p>Guido Bonarelli, "Las Sierras subandinas del Alto y Aguaragüe y +los yacimientos petroliferos del distrito minero de Tartagal" (<cite>ibid.</cite>, +viii, No. 4, Buenos Aires, 1913). See also Dirección General +de Minas, Geol., e Hidrol, <cite>Boletin</cite>, series B, No. 9 (Buenos Aires, +1914).</p> + +<p>On the Chaco Salteño:—</p> + +<p>L. Arnaud, "Expedición al Chaco" (<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite>, +vi, 1885, pp. 201-210).</p> + +<p>On the part of the San Luis province that lies in the zone of the +scrub:—</p> + +<p>Avé-Lallemant, "Datos orograficos e hidrograficos sobre +la Provincia de San Luis" (<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite>, v, 1884, pp. +191-196, and 222-224), and "Apuntes sobre represas y baldes en San +Luis" (<cite>An. Soc. Cient. Arg.</cite>, xi, 1881, pp. 178-188).</p> + +<p>A. L. Cravetti, "Investigación agricola en la Provincia +de San Luis" (Buenos Aires, 1904, <cite>An. Min. Agric.</cite>, Sección +Agric., Botanica, y Agronomia, vol. i, No. 5).</p> + +<p>On the scrub south of Mar Chiquita:—</p> + +<p>H. Frank, "La repoblación forestal en la region de la Mar +Chiquita" (<cite>Bol. Dep. gen. Agric. y Ganaderia</cite>, Prov. Córdoba, +ii, 1912, pp. 52-57), and "Contribución al conocimiento de la +Mar Chiquita" (<cite>ibid.</cite>, pp. 87-101).</p> + +<h3>6. Tucumán and Mendoza.</h3> + +<p>On Tucumán see Emilio Lahitte, <cite>La industria azucarera, +apuntes de actualidad</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1902).</p> + +<p>The best source of the economic history of the sugar industry is +the file of the <cite>Revista azucarera</cite> ("organa de los cultivadores de +caña y fabricantes de azucar," Buenos Aires).</p> + +<p>On Mendoza, "Investigación vinicola" (Buenos Aires, 1903, +<cite>Anales</cite>, Min. Agric., Sección Comercio, Industrias, y Economia, +i, No. 1).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<h3>7. Forestry Industries.</h3> + +<p>Rudolf Leutgens, "Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Quebracho-Gebietes +in Argentinien und Paraguay" (<cite>Mitteil. Geogr. Ges. Hamburg</cite>, xxv, +1911, pp. 1-70).</p> + +<h3>8. Patagonia.</h3> + +<h4>A. The Tableland.</h4> + +<p>Apart from Villarino's journey on the Rio Negro in the eighteenth +century, the first journey across the Patagonian tableland is that of +G. Chaworth Musters, <cite>At Home with the Patagonians</cite> (London, 1871).</p> + +<p>In the early volumes of the <cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite> will be found +the results of various explorations between 1878 and 1885 by Argentine +travellers.</p> + +<p>With this group of documents, which provided the first material +for his conclusions, we may associate the geological studies of +Florentino Ameghino, "L'âge des formations sédimentaires +de Patagonie" (<cite>An. Soc. Cient. Argentina</cite>, l, 1900, pp. 109-130, +145-160, and 209-229; li, 1901, pp. 20-39 and 65-90; lii, 1901, pp. +189-197 and 244-250; liii, 1902, pp. 161-181, 220-249 and 282-342) +and "Les formations sédimentaires du crétacé +supérieur et du tertiaire en Patagonie" (<cite>An. Mus. Nac. Buenos +Aires</cite>, series ii, vol. viii, 1906, pp. 1-568).</p> + +<p>On the southern part of Patagonia, south of 50° S. +lat.:—</p> + +<p><cite>Svenska Expeditionen till Magellanslaenderna (Wissenschaftliche +Ergebnisse der Schwedischen Expedition nach den Magellans Laendern</cite>, +1895-1897, unter Leitung von Dr. Otto Nordenskjoeld, Band I, Geologie, +Geographie und Anthropologie, Stockholm, 1907).</p> + +<p>On the Magellan region and that of the Santa Cruz:—</p> + +<p><cite>Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia</cite>, +1896-9, i, J. B. Hatcher, <cite>Narrative of the Expeditions, Geography of +Southern Patagonia</cite> (Princeton and Stuttgart, 1903).</p> + +<p>On the Rio Negro district:—</p> + +<p>S. Roth, "Apuntes sobre la Geologia y la Paleontologia de las +Territorios del Rio Negro y Neuquen" (<cite>Rev. Mus. Plata</cite>, ix, 1899, pp. +141-196).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of more recent works we must especially notice those of the +engineers of the Dirección de Minas:—</p> + +<p>R. Stappenbeck y F. Reichert, "Informe preliminar relativo a +la parte sudeste del Territorio del Chubut" (<cite>An. Min. Agric.</cite>, +Sección Geol. Mineral., y Minas, vol. ix, No. 1, Buenos Aires, +1909).</p> + +<p>Ricardo Wichmann, various studies of the eastern part of the plateau +of the Rio Negro (<cite>ibid.</cite>, xiii, Nos. 1, 3 and 4, Buenos Aires, 1918 +and 1919).</p> + +<p>A. Windhausen, studies on the Rio Negro and the Neuquen (<cite>ibid.</cite>, x, +No. 1, Buenos Aires, 1914). The geological results of Windhausen's work +are summarized in articles that appeared in the <cite>American Journal of +Science</cite> (4th series, xlv, 1918, pp. 1-53) and in the <cite>Bol. Acad. Nac. +Ciencias Córdoba</cite> (xxiii, 1918, pp. 97-128 and 319-364).</p> + +<p>We must add G. Rivereto, "La valle del Rio Negro" (<cite>Bol. Soc. +Geologica Ital.</cite>, xxxi, 1912, pp. 181-237, and xxxii, 1913, pp. +101-142).</p> + +<h4>B. The Andes.</h4> + +<p>Numerous articles in the <cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite> and the <cite>An. +Soc. Cient. Argentina</cite>, immediately after the military expedition of +1879-1880 (Host, Avé-Lallemant, etc.).</p> + +<p>A detailed study of the Andean region was undertaken at the time of +the frontier-quarrel between Argentina and Chile, and this led to a +number of publications. The work done by the Argentinians under F. P. +Moreno is used in <cite>Frontera Argentina-Chilena, Memoria presentada al +tribunal nombrado por el Gobernio de su Majestad Britanica</cite> (London, +1902, 2 vols. quarto, 1 vol. maps, and 1 vol. photographs), and in the +<cite>Breve Replica a la memoria Chilena</cite> (London, 1 vol. quarto, 1902). +See a summary of the results in L. Gallois, "Les Andes de Patagonie" +(<cite>Annales de Géographie</cite>, x, 1901, pp. 232-259).</p> + +<p>In the <cite>Revista</cite> and the <cite>Anales</cite> of the La Plata Museum will be +found part of the research made during this period (1897-1900) by +Argentine experts; especially the work of Burckhardt and Wehrli on +the Neuquen Cordillera. The Chilean work which served as the basis of +the <cite>Statement presented on behalf of Chile in reply to the Argentine +Report</cite> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> + +(London, 1902, 4 vols. and 2 vols. as appendices) is, on the whole, +less valuable.</p> + +<p>Of later travellers we must mention P. D. Quensel, "On the +influence of the Ice Age on the continental watershed of Patagonia" +(<cite>Bull. Geol. Inst. Univ. Upsala</cite>, ix, 1908-9, pp. 60-92), and +"Geologisch-petrographische studien in der Patagonischen Cordillera" +(<cite>ibid.</cite>, xi, 1912, pp. 1-114).</p> + +<p>Very important surveys in the Cordillera and on the plateau +of the Rio Negro were made under the direction of Bailey Willis +(<cite>Northern Patagonia</cite>, Ministry of Public Works, Bureau of Railways, +Argentine Republic; text and maps by the Comisión de Estudios +hidrologicos, Bailey Willis Director, 1911-1914, New York, 1914, 1 vol +and atlas).</p> + +<p>On the Patagonian forest (Argentine slope from 40° S. lat. +to Cape Horn) see Max Rothkugel, <cite>Los Bosques Patagonicos</cite> (Minist. +Agric., Dirección Gen. Agric. y Defensa Agricola: Officina de +Bosques y Yerbales, Buenos Aires, 1916).</p> + +<h3>9. The Pampean Region.</h3> + +<p>The occupation of the western part of the Pampa between 1875 and +1880 led to a fairly large amount of research. The most important work +is the <cite>Informe oficial de la Comisión cientifica agregada +al Estado Mayor General de la Expedición al Rio Negro</cite>, vol. +iii, <cite>Geologia</cite>, by Dr. Ad. Doering (Buenos Aires, 1882). We must +also notice G. Avé-Lallemant, "Excursión al Territorio +indio del Sud" (<cite>Bol. Inst. Geogr. Argent.</cite>, ii, 1881, pp. 41-49); +D. Dupont, "Notas geograficas sobre el païs de los Ranqueles" +(<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite>, 1790, pp. 47-56); and Est. Zeballos, +<cite>Descripción amena de la Republica Argentina</cite>, vol. i, <cite>Viaje al +païs de las Araucanos</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1881).</p> + +<p>Of general works on the Pampa and the Pampean deposits:</p> + +<p>Fl. Ameghino, <cite>La formación Pampeana</cite> (Paris and Buenos +Aires, 1881), and "Las formaciones sedimentarias de la región +litoral de Mar del Plata y Chapalmalan" (<cite>An. Mus. Nac. Buenos Aires</cite>, +series ii, vol. x, 1908, pp. 348-428).</p> + +<p>G. Bodenbender, "La cuenca del valle del rio Primero en +Córdoba: Descripción geologica del valle del rio Primero +desde la Sierra de Córdoba hasta la Mar Chiquita" (<i>Bol. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> + +Acad. Nac. Ciencias Córdoba</i>, xii, 1890, pp. 1-54); and "Die +Pampa Ebene in Osten der Sierra von Córdoba in Argentinien" +(<cite>Petermann's Mitteilungen</cite>, 1893, pp. 201-237 and 258-264).</p> + +<p>Santiago Roth, "Beobachtungen ueber Entstehung und Alter der +Pampasformationen in Argentinien" (<cite>Zeitschrift der Deutschen +Geol. Ges.</cite>, xi, 1888, pp. 375-464); "Beitrag zur Gliederung der +Sedimentablagerungen in Patagonien und der Pampas Region" (<cite>Neues +Jahrbuch für Min., Geol., und Paläont.</cite>, Beilage, Band xxvi, +Stuttgart, 1908, pp. 92-150); and "La construcción de un Canal +de Bahía Blanca a las provincias andinas bajo el punto de vista +hidrogeologico" (<cite>Rev. Museo de la Plata</cite>, xvi, 1909).</p> + +<p><cite>Nouvelles recherches sur la formation pampéenne et l'homme +fossile de la Republique argentine.</cite> A collection of scientific +articles published by R. Lehmann-Nitsche (<cite>Rev. Mus. Plata</cite>, xiv, 1907, +pp. 143-488), which contains, especially, one by C. Burckhardt, "La +formation pampéenne de Buenos Aires et Santa Fé," and one +by Ad. Doering, "La formation pampéenne de Córdoba."</p> + +<p>Ales Hrdlicka, <cite>Early Man in South America</cite> (Smithsonian +Institution, Bull. 52, Washington, 1912—geological part by Bailey +Willis).</p> + +<p>On the district of the Central Pampa, R. Stappenbeck, +"Investigaciones hidrogeologicas de los valles de Chapalco y +Quehuë y sus alrededores" (Min. Agric., Dir. Gen. Minas, Geol., e +Hidrol., Bol. No. 4, Buenos Aires, 1913).</p> + +<p>On various points in detail one may consult:—</p> + +<p>Lavalle y Medici, "Las nivelaciones de la Provincia" (<cite>Bol. Inst. +Geog. Argent.</cite>, vii, 1866, pp. 57-71).</p> + +<p>P. A. Bovet, <cite>El Problema de los Medanos en el Pais</cite> (Buenos Aires, +1910).</p> + +<p>R. Velasco, "Los Medanos de la Provincia de Córdoba" +(<cite>Bol. Dep. Gen. Agric. y Ganaderia</cite>, Prov. Córdoba, i, pp. +155-173).</p> + +<p>Among descriptions of an economic character, which are generally of +poor value, we must make an exception in favour of Emile Daireaux, <cite>La +vie et les moeurs à la Plata</cite> (Paris, 1889).</p> + +<p>A few useful notes on colonization will be found in Teod. +Morsbah, "Estudios economicos sobre el Sud de la Provincia +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +de Buenos Aires" (<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite>, ix, 1888, +pp. 143-151) and in E. Segui, "La provincia de Buenos Aires" +(<cite>Bol. Inst. Geog. Argent.</cite>, xix, 1898, pp. 419-440).</p> + +<p>A very useful summary of the results of a general inquiry into +agriculture will be found in "Investigación agricola en la Rep. +argent." (<cite>Anales Min. Agric. Agronomia</cite>, vol. i, No. 1, 2 and 3, Buenos +Aires, 1904: "Preliminares," by Carlos D. Girola, "Investigación +agricola en la region septentrional de la Provincia de Buenos Aires," +by Ricardo J. Huergo, and "Investigación agricola en la +Provincia de Santa Fé," by Hugo Miatello).</p> + +<p>With this inquiry is associated G. D. Girola, <cite>El cultivo del trigo +en la provincia de Buenos Aires</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1904).</p> + +<p>Agricultural censuses have been taken repeatedly. For 1888 F. +Latzina, <cite>L'agriculture et le bétail dans la République +argentine</cite> (Paris, 1889). For 1895 (<cite>Secundo censo</cite>, see Population) +the results are given in C. P. Salas, <cite>Bureau central de Statistique +de la province de Buenos Aires</cite> and <cite>L'agriculture, l'élevage, +et le commerce dans la province en 1895</cite> (La Plata, 1897; maps by +Delachaux). For 1908, <cite>Censo agro-pecuario nacional</cite>. <cite>La ganaderia +y la agricultura en 1908</cite> (Buenos Aires, 3 vols. quarto, 1909). Vol. +iii contains a series of monographs dealing not only with the Pampean +region, but the economic history of the whole country.</p> + +<p>For 1914 (<cite>Tercer censo</cite>, see Population) the publication of vol. +v, relating to agriculture, is unfortunately delayed. There is +also available a census of cattle made in 1915 for the Buenos Aires +province, <cite>Provincia de Buenos Aires, Min. Obras Publicas, Censo +Ganadero</cite> (1916).</p> + +<h3>10. The Railways.</h3> + +<p>For the history of the railways see Rebuelto, "Historia del +desarollo de los ferrocarriles argentinas" (<cite>Bol. Obras Publicas</cite>, vol. +v, 1911, pp. 113-172, vol. vi, 1913, pp. 1-48 and 81-110, and vol. +viii, 1913, pp. 1-32), and the entire series of the <cite>Boletin de Obras +Publicas</cite>.</p> + +<p>A sort of annual of the Argentine railways has been published every +year since 1906 under the title <cite>Killik's Argentine Railway Manual</cite> +(London, 1 vol. with map, last issue 1918).</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + +<h3>11. The Paraná.</h3> + +<p>E. A. S. Delachaux, "Los problemas geograficos del territorio +Argentino" (<cite>Rev. Univ. Buenos Aires</cite>, 1906, v), includes a study of +the floods of the Paraná.</p> + +<p>The chief source is the memoir of Repossini, "Memoria sobre el rio +Paraná" (<cite>Bol. Obras Publicas</cite>, vol. vi, 1912, pp. 141-168 +and 254-264, vol. vii, 1912, pp. 31-48 and 163-186, and vol. viii, +1913, pp. 33-99). It contains on a reduced scale the map issued by +the Ministry of Public Works, which is not available in France. The +defect is supplied by the English Admiralty Charts, "Rio de la Plata," +1869 (No. 2544 in the Catalogue of Admiralty Charts), and "River +Paraná," parts i, ii, iii, iv, v, and vi of 1905 (Nos. 1982/A +and 1982/B).</p> + +<p>There is an interesting economic summary in W. S. Barclay, "The +River Paraná, an economic survey" (<cite>Geogr. Journal</cite>, xxxiii, +1909, pp. 1-10).</p> + +<p>On the estuary:—</p> + +<p>Alej. Foster, "Regimen del Rio de la Plata y su corrección" +(<cite>An. Soc. Cient. Argent.</cite>, lii, 1901, pp. 209-234).</p> + +<p>G. Rovereto, "Studi di geomorfologia argentina," ii, "Il rio della +Plata" (<cite>Bol. Soc. Geol. Ital.</cite>, xxx, 1911).</p> + +<h3>12. Population.</h3> + +<p>Besides municipal and provincial censuses, there have been three +general censuses:</p> + +<p>First census made in 1869, one folio volume published in 1872. I +have only been able to consult <cite>Oficina del Censo</cite>. <cite>Informe sobre la +operación y resultado del Primer censo argentino</cite> (Buenos Aires, +1870, octavo).</p> + +<p>Second census of the Argentine Republic, May 10, 1895 (2 vols, +quarto, Buenos Aires, 1898).</p> + +<p><cite>Tercer Censo Nacional levantado el 1º de junio de 1914</cite> (10 +vols, quarto, Buenos Aires, 1916-1917). Only the fifth volume, on +agriculture, is not yet to hand.</p> + +<p>A geographical interpretation of the distribution of the population +was attempted by E. A. S. Delachaux, "La población de la Rep. +Argent." (<cite>Rev. Univ. Buenos Aires</cite>, iii, 1905).</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="NOTES">NOTES</a></h2> + +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_1_1" href="#FNanchor_1_1"> + <span class="label">1</span></a> I take the opportunity to + thank M. J. B. Teran, who undertook to edit these chapters, + and to express, with him, my satisfaction that events have + falsified his rather pessimistic predictions as regards the + author. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_2_2" href="#FNanchor_2_2"> + <span class="label">2</span></a> See E. A. S. Delachaux, "Las + regiones <del>fisicas </del><ins>físicas </ins>de + la <del>República </del><ins>República </ins> + Argentina," <cite>Rev. Museo Plata</cite>, + <span class="smcap">XV</span>, 1908, pp. 102-131. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_3_3" href="#FNanchor_3_3"> + <span class="label">3</span></a> Holmberg, "La Flora de la + <del>Republica </del><ins>República </ins>Argentina," + in the <cite>Secundo Censo de la <del>Republica</del> + <ins>República </ins>Argentina</cite>, vol. i. + (Buenos Aires, 1898). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_4_4" + href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">4</span></a> + <cite>Diario de la expedition de 1778 a las Salinas</cite> (Coll. de + Angelis, iv.). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_5_5" + href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">5</span></a> <cite>F. de + Azara, Diario de un reconocimiento de las guardias y fortines + que guarnecen la linea frontera de Republica Argentina</cite> (1796, + Coll. de Angelis, vol. vi.). The documents collected by de + Angelis show clearly that there had been some idea in the + middle of the eighteenth century of occupying the whole plain + to the east of the Sierra de Tandil. These ideas of expansion, + of which D'Azara's plan is another instance, were interrupted + by the Revolution (<cite>Diario de D. Pedro Pablo Pabon</cite>, Coll. de + Angelis, iv. etc.). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_6_6" + href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">6</span></a> M. J. + Olascoaga gives (<cite>La conquête de la Pampa: Recueil de + documents relatifs à la campagne du Rio Negro</cite>, Buenos + Aires, 1881) valuable documents concerning both the details + of the fight with the Indians and the distribution of their + <span lang="es">invernadas</span> (common lands) in the region of the Pampas. + Olascoaga translates it "winter quarters"; it was pasturage on + which they kept their cattle and from which they set out on + their expeditions. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_7_7" + href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">7</span></a> + See Thomas J. Hutchinson, <cite>Buenos Aires and Argentine + Gleanings</cite>. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_8_8" + href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">8</span></a> See + Geronimo de la Serna, "Expedición militar al Chaco," + <cite>Bol. I, Geog. Argentino</cite>, xv. 1894, pp. 115-79. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_9_9" + href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">9</span></a> <cite>Nuevo + plan de fronteras de la provincia de la Republica Argentina</cite> + (Coll. de Angelis, vol. vi). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_10_10" + href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">10</span></a> + Letter to the Minister of War, October 19, 1875. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_11_11" + href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">11</span></a> See + the curious picture, which Hutchinson gives us, of military + life on the Rio Salado de Santiago about the middle of the + nineteenth century. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_12_12" + href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">12</span></a> + Mitre, <cite>Historia de Belgrano</cite>, I, ch. i. pp. 4 and + 5. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_13_13" + href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">13</span></a> D. + Gregorio Funes, <cite>Ensayo de la historia civil del Paraguay, + Buenos Aires, y Tucumán</cite> (Buenos Aires, 3 vols., 1816). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_14_14" + href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">14</span></a> The + Woodbine Parish map (1839) puts Tinogasta eighty miles out of + its proper position, at the very foot of the Come Caballos + range, thus reducing by one half its distance from Copiapo, on + the Chilean slope. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_15_15" + href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">15</span></a> + B. Poncel, <cite>Mes itinéraires dans les Provinces du Rio de + la Plata, Province de Catamarca</cite> (Paris, 1864). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_16_16" + href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">16</span></a> + This series, stretching from the Permian to the Tertiary, also + includes, especially in the region of the sub-Andean chains, + on the fringe of the Chaco, a number of marine strata (see + Bonarelli, <cite>Las sierras subandinas del Alto y Aguaragüe y + los yacimientos petroliferos del distrito minero de Tartagal</cite> + "Ann. Min. Agric.," Seccion Geologia, Mineralogia, y Mineria, + viii. No. 4: Buenos Aires, 1913). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_17_17" + href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">17</span></a> + G. Bodenbender, <cite>Parte meridional de la Provincia de la Rioja + y regiones limitrofes</cite> (Ann. Min. Agric., Seccion Geol., + Minerol., y Mineria, vii. No. 3: Buenos Aires, 1912). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_18_18" + href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">18</span></a> + Eric Boman, <cite>Antiquités de la région andine + de la République Argentine et de la Puna de Atacama: + Mission scient. G. de Créqui-Montfort et E. + Sénéchal de la Grange</cite> (Paris, vols. i. and ii. + 1908). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_19_19" + href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">19</span></a> + Belmar, <cite>Les provinces de la Fédération + argentine</cite> (Paris, 1856). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_20_20" + href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">20</span></a> See + Brackebusch, "Viaje a la provincia de Jujuy," <cite>Bol. Instit. + Geog. Argent.</cite>, iv. 1883, pp. 9-17. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_21_21" + href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">21</span></a> + <cite>Memorias sobre el estado rural del rio de la Plata en 1801, + Escritos postumos de D. Felix de Azara</cite>, published by D. + Augustin de Azara (Madrid, 1847). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_22_22" + href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">22</span></a> + A. Rengger, <cite>Reise nach Paraguay in den Jahren 1818 bis 1826</cite> + (Aarau, 1835). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_23_23" + href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">23</span></a> + The fattening of cattle for Chile was no longer done in the + <span lang="es">invernadas</span> of Mendoza at the beginning of the nineteenth + century. See an article on Mendoza in the <cite>Telegrafo + Mercantil</cite>, January 31, 1802, which tells of the development + of ranches on the Tunuyan. Mendoza and San Juan were their + only markets, and they did not sell cattle to Chile. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_24_24" + href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">24</span></a> + T. J. Hutchinson, <cite>Buenos Aires y otras Provincias argentinas</cite> + (translated by L. Varela, Buenos Aires, 1866). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_25_25" + href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">25</span></a> + Azcarate de Biscay, quoted in H. Gibson, <cite>La evolucion + ganadera</cite> in <cite>Censo agropecuario nacional</cite>, Buenos Aires, 1909, + vol. iii. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_26_26" + href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">26</span></a> + A. Z. Helms, <cite>Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale</cite> + (Paris, 1812). The journey was in 1788. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_27_27" + href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">27</span></a> + Imperfect statistics given by Poncel for the province of + Catamarca give us some idea of the respective shares of the + various Andean districts in the export of Argentine cattle + about the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1855 the + province of Catamarca sold 2,700 head of cattle (1,300 to + Chile, 200 to Bolivia, 600 to San Juan and Mendoza), 3,200 + mules (2,500 to Bolivia 600 to Salta—which also were for + Bolivia), and 1,200 asses (700 to Bolivia and 400 to Salta). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_28_28" + href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">28</span></a> For + instance, herds of mules are taken from Abrapampa, on the line + of the Quiaca, to the saltpetre mines of Antofágasta, + whereas every effort to convey cattle by this route has failed. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_29_29" + href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">29</span></a> + There is an interesting study of fairs on the elevated + tableland by G. M. Wrigley, "Fairs of the Central Andes," in + the <cite>Geographical Review</cite> (New York), vii. 1919, pp. 65-80. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_30_30" + href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">30</span></a> On + Aconcagua also the moist forest serves as winter pasture for + the cattle from the ranches. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_31_31" + href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">31</span></a> The + title of the <span lang="es">merced</span> often shows clearly the attraction which + the springs at the foot of the Sierra had for colonists. The + land of the <span lang="es">merced</span> of Ulapes is defined thus: "The spring + and the land within two leagues of it in every direction." The + spring is the centre. There its protecting deities live. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_32_32" + href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">32</span></a> + The higher valleys of Aconcagua offer inexhaustible interest + to the visitor. At Sancho (Pucara valley) there is a group of + Italian colonists who grow maize and wheat: a unique fact, + I believe, in the whole of this part of Argentina. The Tafi + valley is mainly pastoral, the pastures of the valley being + used in summer and the forest for winter pasture. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_33_33" + href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">33</span></a> In + 1894 it was calculated that ground that was not yet cleared + was worth 100 to 150 piastres a hectare at Cruz Alta, and the + cost of clearing 150 to 200 piastres, whereas in the moist + forest at the foot of the Sierra the land was worth only 75 to + 100 piastres, the cost of clearing it was double (300 to 350 + piastres). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_34_34" + href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">34</span></a> + Except, perhaps, in Barbadoes. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_35_35" + href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">35</span></a> A few + convoys of cattle still use the Uspallata road, especially + over the Espinacito pass in the Cordillera de San Juan. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_36_36" + href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">36</span></a> + There are at present in the Mendoza province 275,000 hectares + with a definitive right, and 303,000 with an eventual + right. The concessions fed by the Diamante and the Atuel at + San Rafaël, which amount to 120,000 hectares with a + definitive right and 150,000 with an eventual right, are not + yet entirely developed. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_37_37" + href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">37</span></a> + There are more than 6,000 owners at San Juan to 91,000 + hectares, and more than 9,000 at Mendoza (zone of the rivers + Mendoza and Tunuyan) to 130,000 hectares (statistics compiled + in 1899). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_38_38" + href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">38</span></a> + The difference is much greater at a distance from the Cuyo + province. Catamarca, which specializes in the production of + grapes for the table, is invaded by buyers from Buenos Aires, + and begins to send grapes in December, two full months before + the harvest begins in Mendoza. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_39_39" + href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">39</span></a> + While the cultivation of the cane has, for the most part, + become dependent upon the sugar industry, which represents + large capital, wine-making is, on the contrary, usually + regarded as merely an annex of wine-growing. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_40_40" + href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">40</span></a> + More recent statistics are not to hand. The proportion differs + a little every year according to the prices of wine and + grapes. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_41_41" + href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">41</span></a> + Besides the causes of a geographical nature which I have + indicated, the separation of cultivation from wine-making has + other economic grounds, but they do not fall within the range + of this book. The large <span lang="es">bodega</span> is better situated than the + small cultivator for organizing the sale of his wines on the + distant market of Buenos Aires. Also, the <span lang="es">bodegueros</span> alone + are able to meet the competition of Buenos Aires merchants who + import European wines and make adulterated wines. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_42_42" + href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">42</span></a> + Mendoza is further protected by law against fraud. This + legislation is partly national and partly provincial. The + national law, which takes into account the interests of + the merchants of Buenos Aires, permits the manufacture of + artificial wines. The provincial law, in the special interests + of the productive districts, is more stringent. It prohibits + the manufacture of artificial wines. It also fixes the minimum + percentage of alcohol, and prevents the dispatch from Mendoza + to Buenos Aires of alcoholic wines to mix with must. Finally, + it defends the <span lang="es">viñatero</span> against the <span lang="es">bodeguero</span> + by fixing the quantity of grapes to be used in making a + hectolitre of wine and so prevents fraud at the <span lang="es">bodega</span>. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_43_43" + href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">43</span></a> + Especially during the crisis of 1902-3. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_44_44" href="#FNanchor_44_44"> + <span class="label">44</span></a> <cite>Historia de Abiponibus.</cite> +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_45_45" + href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">45</span></a> See + the chapter on population. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_46_46" + href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">46</span></a> + Val. Virasaro<ins>,</ins> "Los esteros y lagunas del Ibera" in <cite>Bol. + Instit. Geog. Argent.</cite> (vi. 1887; pp. 305-31). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_47_47" + href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">47</span></a> + <cite>Diario de la navegacion y reconocimiento del Rio Tibicuari</cite> + (Coll. de Angelis, vol. ii.). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_48_48" + href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">48</span></a> It + is more and more necessary to deal with the extract of the + <span lang="es">quebracho</span> on the spot the further north one goes toward + the interior of the continent because the freights to the + exporting ports rise higher and higher. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_49_49" + href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">49</span></a> In + Brazil the saw-mills for the araucarian pines are established + along the São Paolo-Rio Grande Railway. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_50_50" + href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">50</span></a> + This anomaly is doubtless due to the proximity of the sea and + the respite of the westerly winds in winter. The coast, with + its cold waters and the land-winds causing the deeper water + to rise, has a special climate of fogs and mists. These, + which remind us of the <span lang="es">garuas</span> of the coast of Peru, do not + penetrate into the interior. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_51_51" + href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">51</span></a> The + calcareous flag-stone of La Tosca, which is characteristic of + the south-west province of the plain of the Pampa, stretches + in the south as far as the Rio Negro in the coast-district. On + the other hand, it is almost entirely absent a hundred miles + to the west, between the Colorado and the Rio Negro, along the + line of the railway from Fortin Uno to Choele Choel. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_52_52" + href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">52</span></a> G. + Rovereto, "Studi di geomorfologia argentina: la valle del Rio + Negro," <cite>Bull. Soc. Geol. Ital.</cite>, xxxi. 1912, pp. 101-142 and + 181-237. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_53_53" + href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">53</span></a> The + great mass of the Patagonian Andes differs considerably in + geological structure from the Argentinian Andes. The Paleozoic + sedimentary rocks and the lofty chains of the pre-Cordillera + cease at 36° S. lat. The Mesozoic beds—variegated + breccie and porphyritic conglomerates, sandstones, limestones, + and marls—which form the western slope of the Andes + in central Chile, pass to the eastern slope at 35° S. + lat., where they develop in regular folds, in the direction + south-south-east, obliquely to the general line of the range. + These folds account for the orientation of the interior + valleys, which is remarkably uniform from the Rio Negro to the + Collon Cura. They pass in the south-west under the sandstones + of the tableland. West of this sedimentary zone, the zone of + the sub-Andean granites and diorites, which have not been + exposed further north except at the base of the western slope, + opens out in the Patagonian Andes, of which it is the main + body between Lake Lacar and the Gulf of Ultima Esperanza. + In fine, the Patagonian Andes are characterised by volcanic + formations. They are seen on the eastern slope about 36° + S. lat., in the lava-flows and ashes of Payen and Tromen. + Further south volcanoes with acid lava and characteristic + cones are restricted to the central zone (Lanin, etc.) and the + Chilean flank, but flows of fluid basic lava cover enormous + stretches at the eastern fringe of the Andes, and they have + spread over a good deal of the Patagonian tableland outside + the Andean region. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_54_54" + href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">54</span></a> + Pablo Groeber, <cite>Informe sobra las causas que han producido + las crecientes del Rio Colarado en</cite> 1914. Dir. Gen. de Minas, + Geol. e Hidrol., Bol. No. 11, series B, Geologia (Buenos + Aires, 1916). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_55_55" + href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">55</span></a> + Most of the lacustrine depressions are continued eastward + across the Patagonian tableland in the shape of distinct + valleys. The eastern part of the Straits of Magellan is merely + a submerged valley on the axis of Otway Water. Useless Bay + also is continued eastward by the hollow which ends in the + Bay of San Sebastian. Sometimes the waters of the lakes flow + eastward, toward the Atlantic, along these valleys. Generally, + however, the lakes of the western slope are drained on the + west by means of narrow defiles across the Cordillera, or on + the north and south by rivers which follow the sub-Andean + depression and thread them together in the manner of a rosary. + The valley which joins the lake to the Atlantic is in those + cases a dead valley, and the inter-oceanic dividing line + of the waters is marked by the frontal moraine of the old + glacier, which confines the lake on the east. This arrangement + is found, with surprising regularity, from the Alumine and + the Lacar to the Neuquen, and as far as Lake Buenos Aires and + the Seno de la Ultima Esperanza at Santa Cruz. The capture + of the waters of the eastern slope by the rivers of the + Pacific across the Cordillera is fairly ancient, and certainly + pre-glacial. But during the Glacial Period the glaciers + obstructed the transverse valleys of the Cordillera, and the + waters of the eastern slope found their way to the Atlantic + once more. With the retreat of the glaciers the valleys of the + Cordillera were successively cleared. The lakes, dammed by the + glaciers, were suddenly released and their level lowered. The + valleys of the Patagonian tableland were finally abandoned, + and the topographical accident of secondary importance, which + the ancient frontal moraine of the glacier represents, came to + mark the limit of the domain of the Pacific. The freshness of + the contours of the dead valleys of Patagonia bears witness + to the recent date of this conquest, which was too sudden + or rapid to be called a "capture" in the proper sense. It + has not been accomplished everywhere. From Lake San Martin + to Lake Buenos Aires all the lakes of the eastern slope are + drained into the Pacific by rivers which flow into the Culen + fiord. But further south, Lakes Viedma and Argentino are still + tributaries of the Atlantic. They correspond to the zone of + the Patagonian Andes which is still covered by inland ice. To + the north, in the basin of the Puelo and the Yelcho, where + the trans-Andean valleys long ago ceased to be obstructed by + ice, the lakes of the eastern slope which drain toward the + Pacific are small in size. Their level to-day is much lower + than it used to be, and a network of streams has developed + east of them, on the earlier lacustrine region, which is now + dry. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_56_56" + href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">56</span></a> + <cite>Diario de D. Basilio Villarino del reconocimiento que hizo + del Rio Negro en el año de</cite> 1782 (Coll. de Angelis, + vi). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_57_57" + href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">57</span></a> + It is Woodbine Parish who corrects Villarino's mistake in + confusing the Neuquen, at its confluence with the Limay, + with the Rio Diamante, known in the south of the Mendoza + province. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_58_58" + href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">58</span></a> + Carlos M. Moyano, "Informe sobre un viaje a traves de la + Patagonia," <cite>Bol. Instit. Geog. Argent.</cite>, ii. 1881, pp. + 1-35. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_59_59" + href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">59</span></a> W. + Vallentin, <cite>Chubut</cite> (Berlin, 1906). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_60_60" + href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">60</span></a> J. + Popper, "Exploracion de la Tierra del Fuego," <cite>Bol. Instit. + Geog. Argent.</cite>, viii. 1887, pp. 74-93. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_61_61" + href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">61</span></a> + <cite>Informe de D. Basilio Villarino à Fr. de Viedma</cite>, + Coll. de Angelis, v. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_62_62" + href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">62</span></a> + L. J. Fontana, "Exploracion en la Patagonia austral," <cite>Bol. + Instit. Geog. Argent.</cite>, vii, 1886, pp. 223-239. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_63_63" + href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">63</span></a> J. + B. Ambrosetti, "Viage a la Pampa central," <cite>Bol. Instit. Geog. + Argent.</cite>, xiv. 1893, pp. 292-368. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_64_64" + href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">64</span></a> + J. V. Siemiradzki, <cite>Eine Forschungsreise in Patagonien</cite>, + Petermann's <cite>Mitteilungen</cite>, xxxix. 1893, pp. 49-62. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_65_65" + href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">65</span></a> J. + B. Hatcher, <cite>Reports of the Princeton University expeditions + to Patagonia</cite> 1896-9 (<cite>Narrative of the Expeditions</cite> and + <cite>Geography of Southern Patagonia</cite>, Princeton, 1903). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_66_66" + href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">66</span></a> + C. Villanueva, "De Mendoza a Narguin," <cite>Bol. Instit. Geog. + Argent.</cite>, v. 1884, pp. 171-4. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_67_67" + href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">67</span></a> + Chilean woodcutters have sometimes got as far as the eastern + valleys in search of larch, but these were nomads who did not + settle. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_68_68" + href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">68</span></a> + Furque, "Descripción del Pueblo General Roca," <cite>Bol. + Instit. Geog. Argent.</cite>, ix. 1888, pp. 124-132. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_69_69" + href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">69</span></a> In + spite of their importance we must regard as mere episodes in + the story of Patagonian colonization the influx of population + caused on the eastern coast by the discovery of placer-gold at + Cape Virgenes and on the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego + (1884), and the discovery of petroleum at Rivadavia (1907) + in the course of drilling in search of water. Rivadavia is + already, with its 3,000 inhabitants, one of the chief centres + in Patagonia. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_70_70" + href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">70</span></a> + The search for possible routes for cattle in the districts + that were not yet colonized helped in the study of Patagonia. + Moyano was doing this when he explored the route from Santa + Cruz to Lake Nahuel Huapi. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_71_71" + href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">71</span></a> This + was the area studied by the Commission of which Bailey Willis was + chairman. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_72_72" + href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">72</span></a> + Pedro Ezcurra, "Camino indio entre los rios Negro y Chubut: + la travesia de Valcheta," <cite>Bol. Instit. Geog. Argent.</cite>, xix. + 1898, pp. 134-38. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_73_73" + href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">73</span></a> The + district of the Rio Negro is not the only part of Patagonia + which faces the problem of increasing the winter pasture. + Attention has been drawn to the possibility of enlarging the + lucerne farms in the district of Colonia Sarmiento, south of + Lake Musters, and making this a great wintering area for the + Santa Cruz flocks. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_74_74" + href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">74</span></a> + The work now (1914) in hand will reduce the risk of floods, + and will enable them to enlarge considerably the extent of + the tilled land. The Cuenca Vidal, which opens amongst the + sandstone, below the level of the valley, on the tableland to + the north of the Neuquen, will be arranged so as to absorb the + flood-water, and it will feed a canal which will serve the + left bank over an area of 100 miles. The waters of the Limay + will be available for the lower valley. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_75_75" + href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">75</span></a> As + a matter of fact, of recent years there has been a practice + on this slope of disguising the smuggling of animals under + the name of "transhumation," as the removal of the sheep + facilitated it and helped to maintain it. The shepherds got + certificates exaggerating the number of their sheep from the + Chilean officials before they crossed the frontier, and under + cover of these they came back to Chile with additions to their + flocks which they had bought on Argentine territory. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_76_76" + href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">76</span></a> On + the left bank of the Salado, west of the Resistencia railway, + a great gulf of low prairie penetrates into the forest of the + Chaco in the north, almost as far as 28° S. lat., but it + has rather the character of one of the floodable clearings of + the Chaco (<span lang="es">esteros</span>) than of the temperate Pampa. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_77_77" + href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">77</span></a> + Argentine Mesopotamia, which is a continuation of the Pampean + region from the climatological point of view, is also, even + in its northern part, without the rigorous dry seasons of + the Chaco. Ascending the Paraná, from Corrientes to + Posadas, just as in passing from Córdoba to Buenos + Aires, one notices that the winter minimum decreases, and a + secondary maximum appears in the spring. The predominance + of the spring rains, which is a characteristic of southern + Brazil, is conspicuous on the middle Uruguay. On the lower + part of that river the rain-system approaches that of Buenos + Aires, with maxima in spring and autumn, a principal minimum + in winter, and a secondary minimum in summer. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_78_78" + href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">78</span></a> + While the Pampean deposits lie immediately on the crystalline + and Paleozoic formations in the sierras of the lower Colorado + and of the central Pampa, in the south of the province of + Buenos Aires and in Uruguay, they are, on the eastern edge + of the Sierra de Córdoba, separated from it by red + sandstones and conglomerates of uncertain age, perhaps + synchronous with the continental red sandstones of Corrientes + which outcrop east of the Paraná and have been known + since D'Orbigny's time as "granitic sandstones." +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_79_79" + href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">79</span></a> + At Rancul, in the east, 660 feet of loess overlying red + sandstone: at Telen, in the west, 2,800 feet of sand, marl, + sandstone and gravel. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_80_80" + href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">80</span></a> Roth + claims to have found gravel in the San Nicolas <span lang="es">barranca</span> on + the Paraná. I have myself found small rounded flints in + the clay of the Chaco at Tartagal. But these deposits probably + come from the left bank of the Paraná, where the beds + of river gravel are considerable. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_81_81" + href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">81</span></a> + In Ales Hrdlicka, <cite>Early Man in South America</cite> (Smithsonian + Instit. Bull., 52, Washington, 1912). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_82_82" + href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">82</span></a> + Many attempts have been made to classify the Pampean lands, + but the results cannot be regarded as final. Ameghino, who is + first and foremost a palæontologist, has done a service + in showing the futility of these geological divisions based + upon the actual surface of the deposits (colour, fineness, + etc.). But even palæontology gives rather uncertain + results, as it is impossible to recognize and follow step by + step the various stages of the movement of the fossils. All + the classifications of the Pampean are based upon a study + of two groups of sections. The first group comprises the + cliff on the right bank of the Paraná from Rosario to + Buenos Aires and the coastal cliff which is a continuation + of it, with a break from Enseñada at Mar Chiquita + to Bahía Blanca. Ameghino has recognized there a + thick series of æolian deposits separated by several + discordances, the oldest elements of which, at Bahía + Blanca, belong to the Miocene. The second group comprises + the cliffs which enclose the valley of the Rio Primero above + and below Córdoba. Doering and Bodenbender in this + case describe two stages of æolian loess, each covered + by torrential gravel. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + From the study of these sections geologists have drawn + certain conclusions as to the movements which have affected + the soil of the Pampa and the changes which the climate has + experienced. These conclusions have in each case only a local + value, and they have not yet been co-ordinated. The majority + of the observers, from Doering to Bailey Willis and Rovereto, + seem not to have taken into account sufficiently the fact + that in the continental formations the most diverse deposits + may come next to each other in the same series, according + to the particular process of deposition, and that their + alternation does not imply a general change in the conditions + of erosion. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_83_83" + href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">83</span></a> + Certain features of the hydrographic network clearly have the + character of having been superimposed: that is to say, the + path of the watercourses has been bequeathed to the actual + plain by former erosion-surfaces, which have now disappeared, + on which the valleys were originally imposed. That is why + in the district of the confluence of the Colorado and the + Chadi-Leuvu the valleys pass from Pampean deposits to the + crystalline sierras, which were at one time entirely covered + with water. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_84_84" + href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">84</span></a> In + the vicinity of San Luis and Córdoba the hard strata + which are called <span lang="es">tosca</span> are beds of eruptive ashes. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_85_85" + href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">85</span></a> + The surface of the <span lang="es">tosca</span> tableland is further punctuated by + a great number of closed depressions of various depths: long + tunnels (<span lang="es">dolines</span>) which can only be explained, apparently, + as an effect of the dissolving of the limestone by water. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_86_86" + href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">86</span></a> + Outside the districts with quick and dead dunes, a frequent + type of landscape on the Pampa is a plain thinly sown with + very small lagoons, generally circular, between which + develop a series of barely perceptible undulations. The + inequality is at times so slight that one only notices it + by the contrast between the vegetation of the lower and the + higher ground. This type of landscape, which is especially + seen in the district of Lincoln or of Nueve de Julio, is due + to the action of the wind on a plain where the level of the + underground water is near the surface. This level marks a + limit below which æolian erosion does not take place: a + sort of base-level. The periodic variations of level of the + underground water reduce or enlarge<del>s</del> the undulations of the + surface. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_87_87" + href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">87</span></a> + <cite>Ensayo de la historia civil del Paraguay, Buenos Aires, y + Tucumán</cite> (3 vols, in 16<sup>mo</sup>) Buenos Aires, + 1816, t. iii, p. 214. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_88_88" + href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">88</span></a> The + number of wild animals and the area over which they roamed + have often been exaggerated. It does not look as if they ever + covered the whole of the Pampean plain. A salter who crossed + Patagonia and the whole of the Pampa in 1753 (<cite>Voyage du San + Martin au fort de San Julian</cite>, Coll. de Angelis, v.) only + found wild herds near the Salado frontier, and he knew by this + that he was close to the ranches. At the beginning of the + nineteenth century there were no wild cattle left on the right + bank of the Paraná. There were still some in Entre + Rios. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_89_89" + href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">89</span></a> + The water problem is not as important for the history of + colonization in the Pampean region as in the north. Primitive + breeding was confined to natural supplies of water, lagoons + or streams, and to shallow wells (<span lang="es">jagueles</span>) dug down to + the superficial sheet, which is generally not deep, but is + liable to dry up. As colonization improved, the breeder, and + subsequently the farmer, were better equipped for boring + wells, and no longer feared drought. They got down to the + deeper waters, semi-artesian (Buenos Aires district) or + artesian (west of the Santa Fé province, round San + Francisco). In other places the superficial waters, which are + fresher than the deeper layers, were used by adapting new + types of filters to the wells (Buena Esperanza district). + The only two districts where the quest of water offered any + difficulty are the south-west corner of the Pampean region and + the northern extremity of the prairie in the <del>Sante </del><ins>Santa </ins>Fé + province. The sheets of water are very irregular there, often + saline, and it was a long time before the ranches got an + assured supply. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + One remarkable circumstance is the importance of the dunes in + connection with the distribution of the underground water. The + rain-water accumulates in the dunes and flows slowly through + the sand to the sub-soil. The level of the underground sheet + in the clay on which the dune rests is always nearer the + surface in the neighbourhood of the dune. The dune itself has + often a greener vegetation than the land around it. Nothing is + more surprising than to find at Medanos (west of Bahía + Blanca), in the middle of a plain of arid aspect, fields of + lucerne and orchards lodged in the hollows of dunes that are + still fresh. In the whole of the Buenos Aires province the + dead district of the dunes is, on account of its water-supply, + a good place for habitation. D'Azara notices the numerous + water-spots which ran along the foot of the dead dunes of the + Cerillada. All round were the white bones of the <span lang="es">baguales</span>. + In the valleys of the central Pampa, where the sheet of water + in the centre of the valley is often saline, the underground + water improves gradually as one approaches the line of the + dunes. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_90_90" + href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">90</span></a> + V. Galvez, <cite>Memorias de un viejo</cite> (Buenos Aires, 3 vols, in + 16<sup>mo</sup>, 4th ed, 1889). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_91_91" + href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">91</span></a> + <cite>Diario de un reconocimiento de las guardias y fortines que + garnecen la linea de frontera de Buenos Aires</cite> (1796), by D. + Felix de Azara (Coll. de Angelis, vi.). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_92_92" + href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">92</span></a> + <cite>Nueva plan de fronteras de la Provincia de Buenos Aires por + el Colonel Garcia</cite> (1816, Coll. de Angelis, vi.). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_93_93" + href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">93</span></a> + This is, in a special form, the first instance of + specialization, in the cantons of the Pampean region, in the + breeding industry, properly so called (producing breeders). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_94_94" + href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">94</span></a> + The variations in number are less considerable for the + Pampean region than for the whole of Argentina. It is better + supplied with capital than the other breeding districts, and + can rapidly replace the losses caused by excessive export by + buying cattle in the adjoining provinces. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_95_95" + href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">95</span></a> + Fernando Barrero, <cite>Descripción de las provincias del + Rio de la Plata</cite> (published by the Argentine Ministry of + Foreign Affairs, Buenos Aires, 1911). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_96_96" + href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">96</span></a> + Amongst the specialized industries connected with the + development of the lucerne farms we must mention the growing + of lucerne for seed, which has settled in the dry zones, + where the lucerne is not so much invaded by other species; + for instance, the district of Madanos, west of Bahía + Blanca. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_97_97" + href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">97</span></a> The + population of the Santa Fé colonies in 1882 was 52,000, of whom + 12,000 were in the colonies of the San Javier, north of the town of + Santa Fé. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_98_98" + href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">98</span></a> + The names of departments which belong in their entirety to + the maize region are given in italics. The department of San + Jeronimo straddles the maize region and the region of the + colonies. The General Lopez territory also extends, in the + south-west, far beyond the limit of the maize belt. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_99_99" + href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">99</span></a> + Wheat-area in 1889 in the Olavarria department, 319 + square kilometres; in the Suarez department, 118 square + kilometres. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_100_100" + href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">100</span></a> + Draught animals in 1908: at Chivilcoy, 17,000 cattle and + 10,000 horses; at Junin, 15,000 cattle and 6,000 horses; at + Nueve de Julio, 15,000 cattle and 6,000 horses. In the region + of the Santa Fé colonies: at Castellanos, 17,000 cattle + and 54,000 horses; at Las Colonias, 6,000 cattle and 35,000 + horses. In the wheat belt (South of Buenos Aires): at Puan, + (no cattle) 29,000 horses. At the sierras (no cattle), 14,000 + horses. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_101_101" + href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">101</span></a> + The Agricultural Centres Law, passed in 1887 by the province + of Buenos Aires to encourage colonization, has not had good + results. By the terms of this law, owners who professed + themselves willing to devote their lands to colonization + received an advance on the value of the lands in the form of + mortgages, the interest and repayment of the mortgage being + charged to the colonists. Many owners took advantage of the + law, but, after a pretence of colonization, kept the ownership + of their lands. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_102_102" + href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">102</span></a> + A. Jegou, "Informe sobre la provincia de San Luis," <cite>Ann. Soc. + Cientifica Argentina</cite>, xvi. 1883, pp. 140-152, 192-200, and + 223-230. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_103_103" + href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">103</span></a> + For Argentina as a whole the percentage is: milch cows, 55 per + cent.; oxen, 26 per cent. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_104_104" + href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">104</span></a> + A large number of the cattle which are to be fattened are + bought at the market in Buenos Aires; but these do not, as a + rule, come from the Pampean region. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_105_105" + href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">105</span></a> + J. B. Ambrosetti, "Viàje a la Pampa central," <cite>Bol. + Instit. Geog. Argent.</cite>, xiv. 1893, pp. 292-368. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_106_106" + href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">106</span></a> + Certain duplications in the actual scheme of the railways + are due to this need to correct a line that had been planned + hastily and was useless. The line from Justo Daract to La Paz + (1912), on the Pacific railway, avoids the steep inclinations + of the first line, which followed the course of the wagon-road + <span lang="la">via</span> San Luis. The interpretation of the relief is + particularly difficult in a country which has not been shaped + by normal erosion. Blunders detected by later topographical + inquiries were similarly committed in constructing the + Patagonian railways. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_107_107" + href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">107</span></a> + Coll. de Angelis, v. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_108_108" + href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">108</span></a> + Est. Zeballos, <cite>Descripción amena de la Republica + Argentina</cite>, vol. i, "Viàje al païs de los + Araucanos" (Buenos Aires, 1881). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_109_109" + href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">109</span></a> + Martin de Moussy says that a more direct route, avoiding the + detour to the north by the Rio Tercero, was followed in the + eighteenth century between Buenos Aires and San Luis, by way + of Salto and the Rio Quinto as far as the latitude of fort + Constitución (Villa Mercedes). Woodbine Parish's map + (1839) and Napp's map (1876) both show a road by way of Salto + and Melincue to the Rio Cuarto, where it joins the ordinary + road. However that may be, these roads were never used + regularly, from fear of the Indians or—which comes to + the same thing—because the area they cross, in the south + of the actual territory of the provinces of Santa Fé + and Córdoba, was not yet colonized. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_110_110" + href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">110</span></a> + Between 1852 and 1862, during the period when relations were + suspended between the Argentine Confederation and Buenos + Aires, there was a beginning of a general reorganization + of the roads in harmony with the new political conditions. + The road from Santa Fé and Paraná to + Concepción (in Uruguay) across the Entre Rios + tablelands, and from there to Montevideo, had owed its initial + importance to the closing of the lower Paraná under + Rosas, and Woodbine Parish records that there was already a + good deal of smuggling there. This road became an essential + artery when Paraná made itself the federal capital + under Urquiza. He intended to connect Paraná with the + western provinces, and he created a mail service from Santa + Fé to Córdoba. Ephemeral as the good fortune + of Paraná was, its influence on the organization of + the roads of Argentina was too material to be ignored by the + geographer. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_111_111" + href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">111</span></a> + According to the details given us by De Angelis (1837, + Introduction to the <cite>Diario del viaje al Rio Bermejo de Fray + Francisco Moritto</cite>, Coll. de Angelis, vol. vi) a convoy of + fourteen wagons from Salta to Tucumán required three + relays of oxen. The first, comprising a hundred animals, went + from Salta to Tucumán; the second, of 130 animals, + went from Tucumán to the Buenos Aires frontier; the + third (84 animals), went on to the capital. The first and last + relays were hired animals, the second alone being the property + of the <span lang="es">tropero</span>. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_112_112" + href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">112</span></a> + Thirty days from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, and seventy days + from Buenos Aires to Jujuy, says Barrero (F. Barrero, + <cite>Descripción de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata</cite>, + end of the eighteenth century, published by the Ministry of + Foreign Affairs, Buenos Aires, 1911). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_113_113" + href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">113</span></a> + The line from Bahía Blanca to the Rio Negro, of which + the Neuquen line is a continuation, was constructed in + 1896. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_114_114" + href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">114</span></a> + The continuation of many of these lines was contemplated + for the future, so as to secure for them at a later date + a long-distance traffic. The Resistencia and Formosa + lines, which reach the Andes, may compete for traffic with + the Rosario and Tucumán lines. In Patagonia, the + continuation across the Andes of the line from San Antonio to + Lake Nahuel Huapi has been considered. A pass has been found + at a height of 4,000 feet. When this plan is carried out, + the Trans-Andean from Nahuel Huapi would be in a position to + compete successfully with the Trans-Andean from Uspallata, + which is condemned by its elevation to remain a passenger + line. These plans, still far from realization, do not deprive + the Ramos Mejia lines of their character as colonization + lines, entirely devoted at present to conveying the timber of + the Chaco and the wool of Patagonia. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_115_115" + href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">115</span></a> + J. Lopez Mañan, <cite>El actual problema agrario</cite> (Buenos + Aires, 1912, Ministerio de agricultura, Dirección + General de agricultura y defensa agricola). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_116_116" + href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">116</span></a> + The war and the difficulties of marine freightage have + lessened the seriousness of the problem of carrying goods + rapidly by rail in Argentina. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_117_117" + href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">117</span></a> + The transport of mineral stuff, apart from salt, has been + greatly reduced by the war. In 1916 it was only 637,000 tons + for the Southern and 157,000 tons for the whole of the lines + of the Central Argentine, Pacific, Central Córdoba, and + State. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_118_118" + href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">118</span></a> + There is still a certain amount of goods traffic in this + latitude between the river and the Santa Cruz district by the + Puerto Suarez and Puerto Pacheco tracks. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_119_119" + href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">119</span></a> + The local south winds which help the voyage upward below + Rosario may be due to the high temperature of the water of + the river; this also gives rise on the lower Paraná to + thick fog of which warning is given. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_120_120" + href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">120</span></a> + According to Rengger, sailing ships sometimes succeeded in + crossing the Salto d'Apipé. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_121_121" + href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">121</span></a> + At one time the boats on the upper Uruguay saved transport by + going from Salto to Arapehy, midway between Monte Caseros and + Concordia (see Isabelle). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_122_122" + href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">122</span></a> + It is as well to notice that the profile determined by the + altitude of the zero of these different scales, or the + low-water profile, is of a purely theoretical character. The + river is never at low-water over its whole course. The real + profile is always varied by slight movements of flood and + ebb. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_123_123" + href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">123</span></a> + Observations of the sediment held in the water have been + made at Campana, 32 miles from the estuary. At this point + the Paraná only holds in suspension fine particles + of clay, but sand travels slowly along its bed. The weight + of the clay in suspension varies from 179 grammes per cubic + metre in March during the flood, to 42 grammes at low-water in + July. The stuff mostly comes from the Bermejo, which carries + 5 kilogrammes of sediment per cubic metre. The load of the + Paraná is much heavier than that of the Uruguay, but + far lower than that of the Mississippi. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_124_124" + href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">124</span></a> + The district on the right bank of the Paraná, above + Santa Fé and Paraná, seems to be due to a recent + subsidence. The river is, on the other hand, compelled to + effect active erosion in crossing the high lands between Santa + Fé and Buenos Aires. It is curious that the break or + fall at Villa Urquiza occurs precisely above the bend of the + Paraná. A less marked break has been recognized further + north, in the latitude of Lavalle, above the Goya bend. It + seems that the diminution in the excavation of the valley is + due to the erosion which the current effects laterally on the + cliffs of the left bank. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_125_125" + href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">125</span></a> + In the space between the frontier of Entre Rios and the Rio + Empedrado, south of Corrientes, the cliffs expose, above the + red sandstone, beds of sand and clay, fluvial alluvia left + by former beds of the Paraná, the traces of which can + be followed from the north-east to the south-west diagonally + across the province of Corrientes. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_126_126" + href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">126</span></a> + In point of fact, the ridge is lower at the time of low water, + when the current is concentrated in the main channel, so that + one always finds one or two feet greater depth there at low + water than soundings taken at high water would lead one to + expect. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_127_127" + href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">127</span></a> + A little above its actual position. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_128_128" + href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">128</span></a> + In studying the variations of the bed of the Paraná + it is necessary to avoid comparing maps drawn at dates + separated by long intervals. The differences of such maps are + such that they do not enable us to follow the processes by + which the actual forms have been derived from earlier forms. + The analogies which they show are sometimes due, not to the + permanence of the topography, but to the return of a complete + cycle of changes, or of conditions analogous to the earlier + conditions. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_129_129" + href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">129</span></a> + The secondary arms of the right bank, north of Santa + Fé, were not explored until 1870. Sullivan's map (1847) + only mentions the Riacho de San Jeronimo, which is visible for + a short distance below 20° S. lat. The right bank was the + domain of the Indians, and the Correntinos would not venture + near it. In 1870 ships began to use the San Javier arm, on + which many colonies arose. Further north the Paraná + Mini has been used since 1890 for exporting <span lang="es">quebracho</span> + timber. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_130_130" + href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">130</span></a> + As between La Paz and Paraná, it seems possible to show + some relation between these alluvial stretches at the foot + of the cliff and the confluence of the small valleys of the + Pampean plain. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_131_131" + href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">131</span></a> + The Paso Paraguayo, which has cost the Argentine hydrographic + service most work, did not exist at the middle of the + nineteenth century. It seems that the channel then kept to the + cliff as far as Benavidez, and was continued as far as the + source of the Paraná Pavon by a very pronounced buckle, + of which the Monriel lagoon is a scar. In 1895 the Paso was + only fifteen feet deep. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_132_132" + href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">132</span></a> + The granite which outcrops at Martin Garcia also forms the + platform of the English Bank in the outer harbour. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_133_133" + href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">133</span></a> + The water in the estuary, worked up by waves and tide, + contains more sediment than the water of the river. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_134_134" + href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">134</span></a> + The current at high tide is stronger than at low tide, and it + has shifted to the north-east the streams which find an outlet + on this side. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_135_135" + href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">135</span></a> + Movement of internal navigation at Rosario (average + 1912-1914): entries, 1,108,000 tons, of which 690,000 in + ballast; clearances, 580,000 tons. At San Nicolas: entries, + 400,000 tons, of which 440,000 in ballast; clearances, 4,000 + tons. The difference between the entries and the clearances + represents ships starting straight for Europe. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_136_136" + href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">136</span></a> + The density is twenty times less in the ranches which use the + meagre pastures of the Rio Negro. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_137_137" + href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">137</span></a> + All Europeans, except a few tens of thousands of Bolivians in + the Salta and Jujuy provinces, a few thousand Brazilians in + Misiones, and a few thousand Chileans at Neuquen. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_138_138" + href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">138</span></a> + I have referred elsewhere to the magnitude of the stream of + European immigration at Mendoza. In Patagonia (territory + of the Rio Negro, the Neuquen, the Chubut, the Santa Cruz, + and Tierra del Fuego, of which the total population is only + 104,000) sheep-breeding has attracted a considerable number of + immigrants (428 foreigners per 1000 in 1914). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_139_139" + href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">139</span></a> + D'Orbigny, <cite>Voyage dans l'Amérique méridionale</cite>, + vol. i. p. 528. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_140_140" + href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">140</span></a> + Lorenzo Fazio, <cite>Memoria descriptiva de la provincia de + Santiago del Estero</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1889). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_141_141" + href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">141</span></a> + F. de Azara, <cite>Memorias sobre el estado rural del río de + la Plata en 1801</cite>, p. 10. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_142_142" + href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">142</span></a> + Sarmiento, <cite>El Facundo</cite>, p. 19. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_143_143" + href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">143</span></a> + Published by the <cite>Revista del Instituto Paraguayo</cite> (vol. iv. + p. 334). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_144_144" + href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">144</span></a> + Only two of them, Villa Mercedes and Villa Maria, are on the + edge of the Pampa. We have seen elsewhere the part which the + extensive breeding of the north-west plays in the business of + the Villa Mercedes cattle-market. Villa Maria also derives + some advantage from its nearness to the scrub. Its limekilns + receive limestone from the Sierra de Córdoba, but + they get their fuel locally, from the men who clear the + scrub. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_145_145" + href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">145</span></a> + Buenos Aires and Rosario alone have independent grain markets, + though it is differently organized in each case. At Buenos + Aires the exporters have entered into direct relations with + the producers and eliminated intermediaries. At Rosario they + have to use the services of a strong body of agents. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_146_146" + href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">146</span></a> + The 1914 Census does not give reliable details on this + point. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_147_147" + href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">147</span></a> + During the same period the Argentinian refrigerators killed + 1,490,000 head of cattle. Therefore, about half of these were + bought at Buenos Aires. +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <a id="Footnote_148_148" + href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">148</span></a> + Besides the publications of the Jesuits, which can easily be + consulted, a fairly large number of texts bearing upon the + history of colonization have been published or re-published in + the nineteenth and the twentieth century. See especially: +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <cite>Relaciones Geograpicas de Indias</cite> (vol. i, 1881; vol. ii, + 1885, Madrid). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + <cite>Anales de la Biblioteca National, Buenos Aires, + Publicación de documentos relativos al Rio de la Plata</cite> + (from 1900). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + Publications of the <cite>Junta de Historia y Numismatica + Americana</cite> (Buenos Aires, 7 vols., octavo, from 1905 to + 1915). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + Valuable notes on some of the most important historical + documents will be found in E. Boman, <cite>Antiquités de la + region andine</cite> (see North-West Argentina). +</p> +<p class="footnote"> + The most curious collection of all for the geographer is: + Pedro de Angelis, <cite>Colección de obras y documentos + relativos a la historia antigua y moderna de las provincias + del Rio de la Plata</cite> (Buenos Aires, 1837, 6 vols, octavo, + containing many itineraries, journals of expeditions, etc., + together with notes by D'Azara). +</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="INDEX">INDEX</a></h2> + +<table class="indexjump" summary="index"> + <tr> + <td><a href="#aix">A</a></td> + <td><a href="#bix">B</a></td> + <td><a href="#cix">C</a></td> + <td><a href="#dix">D</a></td> + <td><a href="#eix">E</a></td> + <td><a href="#fix">F</a></td> + <td><a href="#gix">G</a></td> + <td><a href="#hix">H</a></td> + <td><a href="#iix">I</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#jix">J</a></td> + <td class="inverse">K</td> + <td><a href="#lix">L</a></td> + <td><a href="#mix">M</a></td> + <td><a href="#nix">N</a></td> + <td><a href="#oix">O</a></td> + <td><a href="#pix">P</a></td> + <td><a href="#qix">Q</a></td> + <td><a href="#rix">R</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#six">S</a></td> + <td><a href="#tix">T</a></td> + <td><a href="#uix">U</a></td> + <td><a href="#vix">V</a></td> + <td><a href="#wix">W</a></td> + <td class="inverse">X</td> + <td><a href="#yix">Y</a></td> + <td><a href="#zix">Z</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<ul class="index" id="aix"> + <li>Abipones, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + <li><cite>Acequia</cite>, the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + <li>Aconcagua, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + <li>Æolian deposits, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + <li>Agricultural Centres Law, the, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Aguadas</span>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Algarrobas</span>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + <li>Alhuampa, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + <li>Alumine, the, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + <li>Ambrosetti, J. B., <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + <li>Ameghino, F., <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + <li>Andalgala, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + <li>Andes, the Argentine, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> + <li>Andes, the Patagonian, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + <li>Añecon, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li>Antofágasta, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> + <li>Apipé rapids, the, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + <li>Apostoles, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + <li>Araucanians, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> + <li>Argentine hydrographic service, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Arrieros</span>, the, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + <li>Arroyo del Rey, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + <li>Asses, trade in, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + <li>Atamisqui, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + <li>Atuel, the, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + <li>Azcarate, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="bix"> + <li>Bahía Blanca, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> + <li>Bajada Grande, the, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + <li>Bamboo, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Bañados</span>, the, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + <li>Barra del Indio, the, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Barrancas, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> + <li>Basalt, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li>Basques in Argentina, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + <li>Bellavista, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + <li>Bellville, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> + <li>Bermejo, the, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Bodegueros</span>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> + <li>Bodenbender, G., <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + <li>Bolivia, relations with, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + <li>Boman, E., <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + <li>Brackebusch, L., <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> + <li>Brazil, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + <li>Breeding, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + <li>British Navy in Argentine waters, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_248">24<ins>8</ins></a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + <li>Buenos Aires, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>-<a href="#Page_275">275</a></li> + <li>Burruyacu, Sierra de, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> +<ul class="index" id="cix"> + <li>Calchaqui, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Caldenes</span>,<a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Cañadas</span>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Cañadones</span>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>-<a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + <li>Candelaria, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Cañeros</span>, the, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + <li>Carcaraña, the, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> + <li>Carilaufquen, the, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> + <li>Carmen, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> + <li>Carri Lauquen, Lake, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + <li>Catamarca, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + <li>Cattle, creole, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + <li>Cattle, pedigree, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + <li>Cattle fairs, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + <li>Cattle trade, the, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + <li>Catuna, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + <li>Cedar-forests, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + <li>Central Argentine Railway, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + <li>Central Córdoba, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + <li>Central Norte Railway, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Cerco</span>, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li>Cerro Payen, the, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + <li>Cerros Colorados, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li>Chaco, the, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + <li>Chaco, Salteño, the, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + <li>Chamical, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Chañares</span>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + <li>Charcoal-burners, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + <li>Chicago and Buenos Aires, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + <li>Chile, relations with, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li>Chile road, the, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + <li>Chilean flour, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + <li>Chiriguanos, the, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + <li>Chivilcoy, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> + <li>Choele Choel, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li>Chosmalal, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + <li>Chubut, the, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + <li>Climate, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Coilrue</span>, the, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + <li>Colalao del Valle, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> + <li>Colastiné, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Colonia, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + <li>Colonies, the, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + <li>Colonization Companies, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Colonos</span>,<a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + <li>Colorado, the, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + <li>Conlara, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + <li>Cordillera, the, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + <li>Córdoba, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + <li>Córdoba, Sierra de, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + <li>Corrientes, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Costa</span>, the, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> + <li>Cruz Alta, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + <li>Cuarto, the Rio, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + <li>Cuenca Vidal, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> + <li>Cumbre Tunnel, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + <li>Cuyo, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + <li>Cypresses, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="dix"> + <li>Daireaux, E., <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> + <li>Dairies, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> + <li>Dams, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + <li>Darwin, C, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li>D'Azara, F., <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li>Dead valleys, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Demarcación</span>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> + <li>Diamante, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + <li>Diamante, the, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> + <li>Diez y seis de Octubre, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + <li>Doering, A., <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li> + <li>Dolores, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + <li>D'Orbigny, A., <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li>Drainage, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> + <li>Drought, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> + <li>Dulce, the Rio, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> + <li>Dunes, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + <li>Durham cattle, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="eix"> + <li>English Bank, the, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + <li>Entre Rios, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + <li>Epecuen Lake, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + <li>Exhibition, San Francisco, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="fix"> + <li><span lang="es">Falda</span>, the, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> + <li>Famatina, Sierra de la, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + <li>Fiords, the Patagonian, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + <li>Flax, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> + <li>Floods, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + <li>Floods on the rivers, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> + <li>Forests, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> + <li>Forts, the early, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + <li>Frontiers, early, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> + <li>Funes, Dean G., <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="gix"> + <li><span lang="es">Galeria</span>, the, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + <li>Gallegos, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> + <li>Garcia, Colonel, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Garrapate</span>, the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Gauchos</span>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + <li>Gauge, differences of, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + <li>General La valle, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li> + <li>Geological formations, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> + <li>Glaciers, the Patagonian, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + <li>Gold, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + <li>Goods, traffic, analysis of, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> + <li>Granite, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li>Guapichas, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + <li>Guayra, the, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> +<ul class="index" id="hix"> + <li>Harvest, labour and the, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> + <li>Helms, A. Z., <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + <li>Hides, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>-<a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + <li>Holmberg, E. L., <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + <li>Hrdlicka, A., <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> + <li>Huari, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + <li>Hutchinson, F. J., <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="iix"> + <li>Immigration, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> + <li>Indians, relations with the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + <li>Indians, the Patagonian, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> + <li>Ingeniero White, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Intrusos</span>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Invernadas</span>, the, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + <li>Irrigation, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>-<a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + <li>Itinerary of author, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> + <li>Ituzaingo, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="jix"> + <li>Japan, trade with, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + <li>Jegou, A., <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + <li>Jerked meat, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + <li>Jesuit missions, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + <li>Jujuy, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + <li>Junin, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="lix"> + <li>Labour-supply, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>-<a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + <li>Lacar, Lake, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + <li>Land-ownership, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> + <li>Land, speculation in, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + <li>Lanin, Mount, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>-<a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + <li>Larch, the, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + <li>La Rioja, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + <li>Ledesma, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Lenga</span>, the, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + <li>Lima, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li>Limay, the, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + <li>Lincoln sheep, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + <li>Los Sauces, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> + <li>Lucerne-farms, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> + <li>Lumbrera, Sierra de la, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="mix"> + <li>MacKann, W., <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li>Maize, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>-<a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Mallin</span>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Manantiales</span>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + <li>Maquinchao, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + <li>Mar Chiquita, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> + <li>Markets, Argentine, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>-<a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li>Martin Garcia, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Matacos, the, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Maté</span>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> + <li>Matto Grosso, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Mayten</span>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> + <li>Mejia, Ramos, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> + <li>Mendoza, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Merced</span>, the, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + <li>Mercedario, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + <li>Merino sheep, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + <li>Mesopotamia, the Argentine, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> + <li>Miatello, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> + <li>Migrations of cattle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>-<a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> + <li>Migrations of indigenous population, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>-<a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> + <li>Misiones, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Molle</span>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Monte</span>, the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + <li>Montevideo, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + <li>Moussy, Martin de, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li>Muleteers, the, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + <li>Mule-trade, the, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>-<a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="nix"> + <li>Nahuel Huapi, Lake, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + <li>Navigation, statistics of, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + <li>Negro, the Rio, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + <li>Negroes captured, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + <li>Neuquen, the, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> +<ul class="index" id="oix"> + <li>Oases, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + <li>Oats, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Obrajes</span>, the, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + <li>Olavarria, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> + <li>Olta, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Omber</span>, the, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li> + <li>Ortiz Bank, the, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> + <li>Otway Water, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="pix"> + <li>Pagancillo, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> + <li>Pampa, the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>-<a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + <li>Pampa, extent of the, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + <li>Parabolic tariffs, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + <li>Paracao, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + <li>Paraguay, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + <li>Paraguay, the river, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Paraisos</span>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> + <li>Paraná, the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> + <li>Paraná de las Palmas, the, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Paraná Guazu, the, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> + <li>Paraná Mini, the, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Parish, Sir Woodbine, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> + <li>Paso Paraguayo, the, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Pasto dulce</span>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Pasto duro</span>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Pasto fuerto</span>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> + <li>Patagones, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> + <li>Patagonia, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>-<a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + <li>Pehuenches, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + <li>Peru, relations with, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> + <li>Peru road, the, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> + <li>Piedra Blanca, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> + <li>Pine forests, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + <li>Plata, Rio de la, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + <li>Playa Honda, the, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Poma, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + <li>Poncel, B., <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + <li>Population, growth of, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>-<a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> + <li>Ports, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + <li>Portuguese, relations with the, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> + <li>Posadas, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + <li>Potatoes, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> + <li>Pozos del Barca Grande, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Protectionism, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> + <li>Puerto Belgrano, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> + <li>Pumpkin, the, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Puna</span>, the, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> + <li>Puna de Atacama, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li>Punta Arenas, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="qix"> + <li><span lang="es">Quebracho</span>, the, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + <li>Quebracho Herrado, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Quebradas</span>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> + <li>Quetriquile, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li> + <li>Quinto, the Rio, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + <li>Quiroga, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="rix"> + <li>Railways, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>-<a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + <li>Railway tariffs, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + <li>Rainfall, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>-<a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> + <li>Ranqueles, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + <li>Refrigerators, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + <li>Repossini, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Represa</span>, the, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li>Riachucho, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> + <li>Rincones, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> + <li>River-floods, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + <li>River-traffic, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>-<a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> + <li>Roads, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>-<a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> + <li>Roca, General, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> + <li>Rosario, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Rosario de Lerma, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + <li>Rosas, General, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> +<ul class="index" id="six"> + <li><span lang="es">Saladeros</span>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + <li>Salado, the, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + <li>Sali, the, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Salitral</span>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + <li>Salt Lakes, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + <li>Salt Road, the, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> + <li>Salta, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + <li>San Cristobal, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + <li>San Feliciano, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li> + <li>San Javier, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + <li>San José, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> + <li>San Juan, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + <li>San Lorenzo, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> + <li>San Luis, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> + <li>San Pedro, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> + <li>San Rafaël, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> + <li>Sancho, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> + <li>Santa Cruz, the, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + <li>Santa Fé, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> + <li>Santa Maria, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> + <li>Santiago del Estero, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> + <li>Saw-mills, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + <li>Scrub, the, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + <li>Seasonal migrations, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> + <li>Selective breeding, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + <li>Sheep-breeding, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> + <li>Shipping, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_240"><del>740</del><ins>240</ins></a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>-<a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + <li>Sierra de los Llanos, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>-<a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> + <li>Sierra d'Ulapes, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li> + <li>Somuncura, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> + <li>Spaniards, the early, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li>Stage-coaches, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + <li>Straits of Magellan, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> + <li>Sugar-industry, the, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Suerte de agua</span>, the, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="tix"> + <li>Tablelands, the alluvial, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> + <li>Tandil, Sierra de, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> + <li>Tannin, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> + <li>Tehuelches, the, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> + <li>Texas fever, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + <li>Teran, M. J. B., <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> + <li>Tercero, the Rio, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + <li>Tierra del Fuego, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li> + <li>Tinogasta, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li>Tobacco, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> + <li>Tobas, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Toma</span>, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Tosca</span>, the, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> + <li>Tostado, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + <li>Trans-Andean railway, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> + <li>Transhumation, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> + <li>Transport, evolution of, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>-<a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + <li>Travelling, early difficulties of, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>-<a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Travesias</span>, the, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> + <li>Tronador, Mount, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Troperos</span>, the, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + <li>Tucumán, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> + <li>Tunuyan, the, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> + <li>Tupungato, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Turno</span>, the, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="uix"> + <li>United States, comparison with <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> + <li>United States, trade with, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + <li>Urban centres, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> + <li>Urquiza, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> + <li>Uruguay, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + <li>Uruguay, the river, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> + <li>Useless Bay, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="vix"> + <li>Valcheta, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> + <li>Valle de Lerma, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> + <li>Valle Viejo, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Valles</span>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Vegas</span>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + <li>Veinte cinco de Mayo, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> + <li>Ventana, Sierra de, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> + <li>Villa Concepción, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> + <li>Villa Maria, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + <li>Villa Mercedes, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + <li>Villa Paraná, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> + <li>Villa Rica, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> + <li>Villarino, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + <li>Villa Urquiza, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> + <li>Vilque, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Viñatores</span>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + <li>Vineyards, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Volcada de agua</span>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> + <li>Volcanic eruptions, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="wix"> + <li>Wagons, travel by, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + <li>War, the European, effect of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> + <li>Water-power in Patagonia, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + <li>Water-rights, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>-<a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> + <li>Water-supply, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>-<a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + <li>Welsh in Patagonia, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> + <li>Wheat, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> + <li>Wheelwright, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> + <li>Wild cattle, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + <li>Willis, Bailey, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> + <li>Wind, action of the, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + <li>Wine-industry, the, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> + <li>Wool, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> +</ul> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> +<ul class="index" id="yix"> + <li><span lang="es">Yerbales</span>, the, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> + <li>Yguassu, the, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> +</ul> +<ul class="index" id="zix"> + <li>Zapala, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> + <li>Zeballos, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> + <li><span lang="es">Zonda</span>, the, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> +</ul> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><em>Printed in Great Britain by</em></p> + +<p class="center">UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, LONDON AND WOKING</p> + +<div class="covernote"> + <p>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is + placed in the public domain.</p> +</div> + +<div class="transnote"> + <p>Transcriber's note:</p> + <p>Apparent printer's errors have been corrected.</p> + <p>The following table lists changes made by the transcriber.</p> + + <table class="transcriber" summary="transcriber's changes"> + <tr><th>PAGE</th><th>ORIGINAL</th><th>CHANGED TO</th></tr> + <tr><td>9</td><td>inmigración</td><td>immigración</td></tr> + <tr><td>9</td><td>despues</td><td>después</td></tr> + <tr><td>14</td><td>Sante</td><td>Santa</td></tr> + <tr><td>22</td><td>fisicas</td><td>físicas</td></tr> + <tr><td>22</td><td>Republica</td><td>República</td></tr> + <tr><td>23</td><td>Republica</td><td>República</td></tr> + <tr><td>23</td><td>Republica</td><td>República</td></tr> + <tr><td>52</td><td>Córdoba</td><td>Córdoba,</td></tr> + <tr><td>82</td><td>meet</td><td>melt</td></tr> + <tr><td>82</td><td>Eestero</td><td>Estero</td></tr> + <tr><td>91</td><td>vines</td><td>wines</td></tr> + <tr><td>84</td><td>Somtimes</td><td>Sometimes</td></tr> + <tr><td>91</td><td>regrads</td><td>regards</td></tr> + <tr><td>103</td><td>Sante</td><td>Santa</td></tr> + <tr><td>103</td><td>quebraco</td><td>quebracho</td></tr> + <tr><td>105</td><td>mall</td><td>small</td></tr> + <tr><td>105</td><td>alongs</td><td>along</td></tr> + <tr><td>112</td><td>props</td><td>crops</td></tr> + <tr><td>113</td><td>quegrachas</td><td>quebrachos</td></tr> + <tr><td>114</td><td>Sante</td><td>Santa</td></tr> + <tr><td>136</td><td>Farschungsreise</td><td>Forschungsreise</td></tr> + <tr><td>142</td><td>that</td><td>than</td></tr> + <tr><td>157</td><td>are</td><td>are are</td></tr> + <tr><td>167</td><td>compaign</td><td>campaign</td></tr> + <tr><td>175</td><td>enlarges</td><td>enlarge</td></tr> + <tr><td>181</td><td>Sente</td><td>Santa</td></tr> + <tr><td>193</td><td>diary</td><td>dairy</td></tr> + <tr><td>219</td><td>galeria</td><td>galera</td></tr> + <tr><td>266</td><td>he</td><td>the</td></tr> + <tr><td>291</td><td>24</td><td>248</td></tr> + <tr><td>287</td><td>Hrdlicker</td><td>Hrdlicka</td></tr> + <tr><td>295</td><td>740</td><td>240</td></tr> + </table> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div class="pg"> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 47264-h.htm or 47264-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/7/2/6/47264">http://www.gutenberg.org/4/7/2/6/47264</a></p> +<p> +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive +specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this +eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given +away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks +not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the +trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. +</p> + +<h2>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<br /> +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</h2> + +<p>To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license.</p> + +<h3>Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works</h3> + +<p>1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8.</p> + +<p>1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.</p> + +<p>1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others.</p> + +<p>1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country outside the United States.</p> + +<p>1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:</p> + +<p>1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed:</p> + +<blockquote><p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United + States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost + no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use + it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with + this eBook or online + at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this + ebook.</p></blockquote> + +<p>1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.</p> + +<p>1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work.</p> + +<p>1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.</p> + +<p>1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License.</p> + +<p>1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.</p> + +<p>1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.</p> + +<p>1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that</p> + +<ul> +<li>You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation."</li> + +<li>You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works.</li> + +<li>You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work.</li> + +<li>You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.</li> +</ul> + +<p>1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The +Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.</p> + +<p>1.F.</p> + +<p>1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment.</p> + +<p>1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE.</p> + +<p>1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem.</p> + +<p>1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.</p> + +<p>1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions.</p> + +<p>1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. </p> + +<h3>Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm</h3> + +<p>Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life.</p> + +<p>Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org.</p> + +<h3>Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation</h3> + +<p>The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.</p> + +<p>The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its +volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous +locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt +Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to +date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and +official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact</p> + +<p>For additional contact information:</p> + +<p> Dr. Gregory B. Newby<br /> + Chief Executive and Director<br /> + gbnewby@pglaf.org</p> + +<h3>Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation</h3> + +<p>Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS.</p> + +<p>The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/donate">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>.</p> + +<p>While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate.</p> + +<p>International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.</p> + +<p>Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate</p> + +<h3>Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.</h3> + +<p>Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support.</p> + +<p>Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition.</p> + +<p>Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org</p> + +<p>This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.</p> + +</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/47264-h/images/cover.jpg b/47264-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..674a9f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-004.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-004.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..64a45bf --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-004.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-025a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-025a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1af384 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-025a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-025b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-025b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..00fc2b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-025b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-033.png b/47264-h/images/illus-033.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d19641b --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-033.png diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-045.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-045.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b3cd89 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-045.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-057a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-057a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3939adb --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-057a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-057b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-057b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1339adc --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-057b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-063.png b/47264-h/images/illus-063.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..883275b --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-063.png diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-071a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-071a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..93e720e --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-071a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-071b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-071b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e2041d --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-071b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-085a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-085a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9111347 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-085a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-085b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-085b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f6c3d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-085b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-099a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-099a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd69452 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-099a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-099b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-099b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ad72a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-099b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-111a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-111a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..103a689 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-111a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-111b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-111b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..832f668 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-111b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-121a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-121a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85f7043 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-121a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-121b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-121b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3590220 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-121b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-135a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-135a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f54a6c --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-135a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-135b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-135b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f79d460 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-135b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-139a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-139a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7096d80 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-139a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-139b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-139b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..441e220 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-139b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-155a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-155a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9544f12 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-155a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-155b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-155b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6f4c9a --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-155b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-171a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-171a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1f21e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-171a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-171b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-171b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b96d196 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-171b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-185a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-185a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ce5be2 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-185a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-185b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-185b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..79547c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-185b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-199a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-199a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f021f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-199a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-199b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-199b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e13968c --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-199b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-217a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-217a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e15cb3 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-217a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-217b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-217b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2056381 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-217b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-225.png b/47264-h/images/illus-225.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e029f9f --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-225.png diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-233a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-233a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..71af937 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-233a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-233b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-233b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..93ab7f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-233b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-239.png b/47264-h/images/illus-239.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..709ca04 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-239.png diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-243.png b/47264-h/images/illus-243.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d25c58 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-243.png diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-255a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-255a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..97bb46c --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-255a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-255b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-255b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..93059b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-255b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-267a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-267a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e11f962 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-267a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-267b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-267b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a37a8f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-267b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-275.png b/47264-h/images/illus-275.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af820b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-275.png diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-287.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-287.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea8f829 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-287.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-297a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-297a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a96662 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-297a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-297b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-297b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec000ed --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-297b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-305.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-305.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4080e2e --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-305.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-311.png b/47264-h/images/illus-311.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1fcd682 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-311.png diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-321a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-321a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..408f56c --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-321a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-321b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-321b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8151b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-321b.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-329a.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-329a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..49517a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-329a.jpg diff --git a/47264-h/images/illus-329b.jpg b/47264-h/images/illus-329b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e37e676 --- /dev/null +++ b/47264-h/images/illus-329b.jpg |
