At about ten a.m. we were again under steam and making for the mouth of the Uruguay on the northern side of the great estuary. The fog began to clear, and finally disappeared when, a little before noon, we were about to enter the waters of the mighty stream, which is, after all, no more than a tributary of the still mightier Paranà.38 Just at this point, signals and shouts from a very small steamer induced our captain to slacken speed. The strangers urgently appealed to him to take on board some cargo for a place on the river, the name of which escaped me. To this request a polite but very decided refusal was returned, the prudence of which we afterwards appreciated. The cargo in question doubtless consisted of arms, ammunition, or other stores for the use of the revolutionary force supposed to be gathered at Mercedes, not far from the junction of the Rio Negro with the Uruguay, and it clearly behoved the steamboat company to avoid being involved in such enterprises.
THE URUGUAY RIVER.
At its mouth the Uruguay has a width of several – probably seven or eight – miles, and at the confluence of the Rio Negro, some fifty miles up stream, the breadth must be nearly half as much. The water at this time was high, as heavy rain had fallen in the interior, and the current had a velocity of about three miles an hour. I believe that it is only exceptionally, during unusually dry seasons, that tidal water enters the channels of the Paranà or the Uruguay. I was struck by the frequent passage of large green masses of foliage that floated past as we ascended the river. Some consisted of entire trees or large boughs, but several others appeared to be formed altogether of masses of herbaceous vegetation twined together or adhering by the tangled roots. It can easily be imagined that, where portions of the bank have been undermined and fall into a stream, the soil is washed away from the roots, and the whole may be floated down the stream and even carried out to sea. The efficacy of this mode of transport as one of the means for the dispersion of plants is now generally recognized, and, considering that the basin of the Paranà covers a space of over twenty-one degrees of latitude, we must admit the probability that it has had a large part in the diffusion of many tropical and subtropical species to the southern part of the continent.
The Rio Negro, which drains about half the territory of the republic, is the chief affluent of the Uruguay. At the junction we met a small steamer which plies to and fro on the tributary stream, and some time was lost in effecting the exchange of passengers and cargo. From some new-comers we gathered rather vague reports as to the attempted revolution. The chief was a certain Colonel Maximo Perez, already well known in Uruguayan political life. I have already explained that the term in this country means the effort to use the soldiery to upset the existing administration, or, if you happen to be in power, to, employ the same agency to make short work of your rivals. It was generally thought that Perez had made the mistake of raising the standard too soon, and must fail. This anticipation was soon verified, and before I left the country two reports, each equally authentic, reached the capital – the one that he had made his escape, the other that he had been shot. To the community it was a matter of indifference which story might be true: in the one case, he would appear again to renew the revolt; in the other, some new adventurer would take his place.
A few miles above the confluence of the Rio Negro we reached Fray Bentos, the great factory where “Liebig’s Extract of Beef” is prepared and sent to Europe. Whatever prosperity exists in the Banda Oriental depends altogether on beef. To the raising of horned cattle the greater part of the soil of the republic is devoted, and in caring and guarding them most of the rural population is employed. The saladeros, where the animals are slaughtered and the various parts converted to human use, are the chief, almost the only, industrial establishments, and it is their produce that supports the trade and navigation.
ISLANDS OF THE URUGUAY.
Though the channel is narrower above the junction of the Rio Negro, the Uruguay was still a mighty river, from one to two miles in width, with numerous islands, all covered with trees and seemingly uninhabited. The trees on the islands and along the banks are mostly small, about thirty feet in height, but on some of the islands they must certainly surpass fifty feet. It was impossible for a passing stranger to identify the unfamiliar forms of these trees, which seemed to present considerable variety, the more so as the majority appeared to be deciduous, and but a few withered leaves remained on the nearly bare branches.
Paisandu, the place of my destination, is about a hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of the river, and the steamer often accomplishes the distance in fourteen hours. I was led to hope that we should arrive soon after midnight, but as night fell a dense fog spread over the river. Further progress was impossible, and we dropped anchor in mid-channel. With sunrise the fog quickly melted away, and the turning of the screw soon announced that we had resumed our journey. Up to this point the banks of the river on either side had been absolutely flat, but at an early hour on the 26th we for the first time were relieved by the appearance of some rising ground on the east side of the river. There was nothing deserving to be called a hill, but so impatient is human nature of the monotony of dead-level, that even a rise of a couple of hundred feet is a welcome alleviation. A house on the summit, which must command a vast range of view, appeared to be the only desirable residence I had yet seen in this region. The dead-level soon resumed its place on the eastern bank; but a few miles farther we began to descry a range of low hills on the opposite, or Argentine, bank of the stream. We had hitherto held no communication with the territory on that side, but before noon we dropped anchor opposite to the landing-place for the town of Concepcion. This is one of the chief places in the state of Entrerios, which, as the name implies, fills the space between the two great rivers, Paranà and Uruguay, and extends northward about two hundred and forty miles from the estuary of La Plata. The town stands on a low hill about two miles from the river. Some passengers went ashore, a few were taken in their place, and after a short delay the screw was again in motion and the voyage was resumed.
About two p.m. we were at length opposite to Paisandu, a name known to most English readers only by the ox-tongues prepared at the neighbouring saladeros. One of the peculiarities of this region arises from the fact that in the estuary and along the lower course of the great rivers the banks shelve so gradually that boats are seldom able to approach the shore. Elsewhere the inhabitants would make provision by constructing long jetties carried far enough to enable boats to draw alongside. But suitable timber is said to be scarce and very dear, and, besides, such constructions would deprive a part of the population of their means of gaining a livelihood. Carts with a pair of enormous wheels, seven or eight feet in diameter, are driven into the water till it reaches nearly to the shafts, and passengers scramble as best they may into or out of the boats. In this novel fashion I reached the shore, with one or two other passengers.
PAISANDU.
Paisandu has the aspect of a thriving country town, with streets and buildings of plain aspect, but looking clean and well cared for. It stands on rising ground, which is not a hill, but merely the river-ward slope of the flat country through which the Uruguay has here scooped a broad trench about a hundred feet below the general level. I found a very fair country inn kept by an Englishman, and at once proceeded to deliver a note of introduction to Dr. French, an English physician who enjoys considerable local reputation. The days being short at a season corresponding to our European Christmas, it was already too late for an excursion to the neighbouring country, which was postponed till the following morning; and I passed the greater part of the afternoon and evening in the agreeable society of Dr. French, whose range of general information, and thorough acquaintance with the country which he has made his home, rendered his conversation interesting and instructive.
Many Englishmen seem to imagine that, at least as regards material progress, distant countries, with the possible exception of the United States, are much less advanced than we are at home. I was led to an opposite conclusion as far as the more advanced states of South America are concerned, and I was struck by one illustration of the fact that I encountered at Paisandu. In the course of my long conversation with Dr. French, we were three times interrupted by the tinkling of a little bell connected with telephone wires carried into his sitting-room. I learned that a wire was carried from each of the chief estancias and saladeros within a circuit of eight or ten miles from the town. On each occasion advice was sought and obtained as to some case of sickness or accident, and it was impossible not to be struck by the great addition thus made to the usefulness of a skilful medical adviser in country districts. With regard to this and other applications of the telephone and the electric telegraph, our backward condition may be explained by the extraordinary fact that the English people have tolerated the existence of a Government monopoly, which, in many cases, acts as a prohibition; but in other matters, such as electric lighting, our relative inferiority must be set down to the extreme slowness with which new ideas germinate and reach maturity in the English nature.
I was much interested by the information given to me by Dr. French as to the frequent occurrence of the fossil remains of large extinct mammalia in this district. Complete skeletons are, of course, not commonly found; but large bones in good condition are, as I learned, easily procured. My stay was necessarily so short that I could not expect to obtain any, but I entertained a hope, not yet realized, that through the kind intervention of Dr. French, some valuable specimens might be obtained for the Cambridge University Museum. But to complete our knowledge of the very singular extinct fauna of this region of America, prolonged research on the spot, conducted by experienced palæontologists, is a necessary condition. These plains are the cemeteries in which myriads of extinct creatures lie entombed. We probably have got to know the majority of the larger species, but it is probable that many others have as yet escaped the notice of naturalists.
FOSSIL REMAINS IN URUGUAY.
The steamer in which I had travelled ascends the river as far as Salto, about sixty miles above Paisandu; but at that place the navigation is interrupted by rapids, and travellers pursue their journey by land until they reach the steamers that ply on the upper waters of the Uruguay. I should have wished to visit Salto, but the steamer was to arrive at night and to depart on the return voyage next morning. By stopping at Paisandu I secured the opportunity for seeing a little of the country and the vegetation.
By way of seeing something of the natives, Dr. French took me to one of the best houses in the town, and introduced me to one of his patients, an old lady ninety years of age. She did much credit to the skill of her medical adviser, as I found her full of life and activity, conversing freely and intelligently on the topics of the day. In the garden surrounding her house were a number of orange trees in full bearing, and, amongst other exotics, the largest tree of Eucalyptus globulus that I have yet seen, though planted, as the old lady assured me, only twenty years before.
It was announced that the return steamer was due at two p.m. on June 27, so I arranged, in the language of this region, to go for an excursion to the camp as early as possible in the morning. In company with a young Englishman to whom Dr. French had introduced me, I started in a carriage, and, after passing through the belt of gardens and fields surrounding the town, soon reached a rather wide stream running between muddy banks. I now understood why all the vehicles here are hung upon such extremely high wheels. The horses take to the water as easily as if they were amphibious, and we got across the stream without taking in water, but not without a severe tug to get the carriage through the deep mud. We next approached a large saladero; but I had no curiosity to see the process of slaughter, nor the various stages by which a live animal is speedily converted into human food. We made a circuit round the saladero and the adjoining enclosures, and before long reached the open country.
The general aspect reminded me of what I have seen at the corresponding season in the less inhabited parts of Northern Africa, especially near Tunis, although the plants, as might be expected, are not only different, but in great part belong to different natural families. Open spaces covered with herbaceous vegetation alternate with patches of low bushes, mostly evergreen, and here and there with shrubs under ten feet in height; but there was nothing deserving to be called a tree. The indigenous trees of this region seem to be confined to the banks and islands of the great rivers. Among the bushes were four species of Baccharis, a Composite genus characteristic of South America, three species of Solanum, a Lycium, etc. But the commonest bush, which extends from the Tropic of Capricorn to Patagonia, is Duvaua dependens, with crooked branches beset with stout thorns, which has no near ally among European plants. I found several plants still in flower – two or three pretty species of the mallow tribe, a Buddleia, an Oxalis, and a Verbena (V. phlogifolia), nearly allied to the ornamental species of our gardens.
FLORA OF THE CAMP.
I returned to the town just in time to have all in readiness for the steamer, which arrived punctually at two o’clock, and, after bidding farewell to Dr. French, embarked with the impression that life in a country town on the Uruguay is very much like life in a country town anywhere in Europe – somewhat dull, but not devoid of interest to one who is content to feel that he has been of some use to fellow-creatures.
The weather had become brighter, and we were spared the annoyance of waiting at night for the clearing of the fog. We held on our course down the stream, and at sunrise were again at anchor opposite to the city of Buenos Ayres, now for the first time become visible. Seen in the bright morning light, it presented a somewhat imposing aspect, as befits the most populous and important port of the South American continent. The advance of the Argentine Confederation has been so rapid since public tranquillity has been assured that the returns of a few years ago are doubtless considerably below the truth. Those of the five years from 1870 to 1874 show a yearly average of about ten millions sterling of imports, and nearly seven and a half millions of exports; but these figures, especially the latter, should now be much increased. Of the whole commercial movement more than eighty per cent. belongs to Buenos Ayres, and the extension of railways must further increase its supremacy.
I went to the Hotel de Provence, a French establishment fairly well kept, and, after confinement in the little den on board the river steamer, enjoyed the novel sense of occupying a spacious room. A good part of the day was spent in wandering about the town. It is built on the regular chess-board plan, with quadras of equal dimensions. The streets are narrow and ill-paved, most of them traversed by tramcars, which are the only convenient vehicles; but the whole place is pervaded by an air of activity which seems strange in Spanish America, reminding one rather of the towns of the United States.
I was directed to an exhibition of the natural products and manufactures of the states39 of the Argentine Confederation, which appeared to make a creditable show, but of which I felt myself to be no competent judge. I was chiefly interested by the large collections of native woods from Corrientes and the mountain regions of Tucuman, Salta, and the adjoining states. We know at present very little as to the extent of the Argentine forests, and still less as to the proportion in which the more valuable species are distributed; but it is obvious that in these forests there exist important sources of wealth, which, however, must require good management for their future development. Many of the largest and most valuable trees belong to the family of Leguminosæ, and may be found to rival in importance those of Guiana.
ARGENTINE FORESTS.
Speaking of the forests of the northern states, the late Professor Lorentz writes that they are exclusively confined to the eastern slopes of the mountains on which the winds from the Atlantic deposit their moisture, while the western slopes remain dry and bare of trees. He dwells on the need for an efficient forest law, as the result of the carelessness of the sparse population is that in the neighbourhood of inhabited places much valuable timber is ruthlessly destroyed. It may be feared that, under a constitution which, for such purposes, leaves practical autonomy to fourteen different states, it may be very difficult to obtain the enactment of an efficient law, and still more difficult to secure its enforcement.
The chief architectural boast of Buenos Ayres is the Plaza Mayor, one side of which is occupied by the cathedral, a very large pile in the modern Spanish style, which is not likely to serve as a model for imitation. The day being a festa, there was a ceremony in the afternoon, which attracted a crowd of the female population. The great church was ablaze with thousands – literally thousands – of wax candles, and the entire pavement was covered with costly carpets of the most gaudy colours. The behaviour of the congregation did not convey to a stranger the impression of religious feeling. It is doubtful, however, to what extent we are right in applying in such matters the standard derived from a different race and different modes of feeling. A severer style of worship would have no attractions for a people who thirst for satisfaction to the eye and ear; and they would certainly not be the better, in their present condition of progress, if the scepticism of the age were to close this avenue of escape from the sordid cares of daily life.
On June 29, my second day at Buenos Ayres, I made a short excursion to the Boca, on the shore of the Rio de la Plata, only about three miles from the city. I had an illustration of the careless way in which, from want of sympathy or want of imagination, most people give directions to strangers. Being informed that the tramcars plying to La Boca were to be found in a certain street, I proceeded thither to look out for a vehicle going in the right direction. After a few minutes a vehicle appeared, coming from La Boca. After ten minutes more a second arrived from the same direction, and after ten minutes more a third, but not one in the opposite sense. At last I went into the shop of a German chemist near at hand, when the mystery was explained. The cars enter the town by one street, make a short circuit, and return by a different street.
The Boca does not offer much to interest a stranger. I could have fancied myself somewhere in the outskirts of Leghorn, so frequent were the familiar sounds of the Italian tongue, save that in Italy it would be difficult to find a spot where the horizon is unbroken by a near hill, or by the distant outline of Alp or Apennine.
SAGITTARIA MONTEVIDENSIS.
Having paid a short visit to Mr. Schnyder, the newly appointed Professor of Botany, I strolled through the adjoining fields with the hope of finding some remains of the autumnal vegetation. The low flat country is intersected by broad ditches, and much reminded me of Battersea fields as they existed half a century ago, when I first began to collect British plants. Seeing in a ditch the remains of a fine Sagittaria, I filled a bit of paper with the minute seeds, and from these has sprung a plant which has for several seasons been admired by the visitors to Kew Gardens. It is the Sagittaria Montevidensis, which is not uncommon in Argentaria and Uruguay, but, so far as I know, does not extend to Brazil – a singular fact, considering that the seeds must be readily transported by water-birds. In its native home it grows to a somewhat larger size than the European species, but is not very conspicuous. Cultivated at Kew, in a house kept at the mean temperature of about 78° Fahr., it has attained gigantic proportions, rising to a height of over six feet, and the petioles of the leaves attaining the thickness of a man’s arm.
I had arranged to take my passage to Brazil in the steamer Neva, of the Royal Mail Company, and at this season I felt no regret at quitting this region of South America, which offers comparatively slight attractions to the tourist. I was led, however, from all the information that I collected, to form a high estimate of the advantages that it offers to European settlers. At the present time the chief source of profit is from the rearing of cattle; but, though long neglected, agriculture promises to become the most important element of national prosperity. Until the middle of this century there were none but wooden ploughs of the type used by the aborigines, and corn was imported from abroad to feed the townspeople. There are now numerous agricultural colonies formed by foreign settlers, especially in the state of Santa Fé, and the results have been eminently successful. Large crops of grain, especially wheat, of excellent quality, are easily raised. The vine prospers, even as far south as Bahia Blanca, and in the northern states cotton, olives, tobacco, and other subtropical products appear to thrive. These agricultural colonies have been chiefly formed by Italian, Swiss, and German immigrants, and one of the most recent, composed of Welshmen, has been established so far south as the river Chubat in Patagonia. It may be feared that, owing to the deficient rainfall of that region, the prospects of the settlement are somewhat uncertain.
The Argentine Government has shown its wisdom in promoting immigration by the extraordinary liberality of the terms offered to agricultural settlers from Europe. With a territory as large as the whole of continental Europe, exclusive of Russia, and a population of scarcely two millions, immigration is the indispensable requisite for the development of resources that must render this one of the most important nations of the earth. The law, which, as I believe, is still in force, offers to settlers wishing to cultivate the national lands which are under the control of the Central Government the following terms: – An advance of the cost of the passage from a European port to Buenos Ayres, with conveyance from that city to the location selected; a free gift of a hundred hectares (about 247 acres) to each of the first hundred families proceeding to a new settlement; an advance, not exceeding a thousand dollars per family, to meet expenses for food, stock, and outfit, repayable without interest in five years; the sale of additional Government land at two dollars per hectare, payable in ten annual instalments; and, finally, exemption from taxes for ten years.
EMIGRATION TO ARGENTARIA.
To the class of settlers who hold themselves above farming work other careers are open. Many young Englishmen who enjoy life in the saddle have done well as managers of estancias, for the raising of horses and cattle. The chief advice to be given to those who have some capital at their disposal is not to purchase property until they have gained practical experience. The Argentines show a laudable anxiety for the spread of education, and there is a considerable demand for teachers and professors, which has been mainly supplied from Germany, many of the professors from that country being men who have established a merited reputation.
One of the attractions of this region for European settlers is the excellence of the climate. Though not quite so uniform as that of Chili, it is free from the extremes of temperature that prevail in the United States. In the low country the difference between the mean temperature of the hottest and coldest months is from 22° to 25° Fahr., while in the middle states of the northern continent the difference is nearly twice as great – from 40° to 45°. The mean summer temperature is here about the same as in places six or eight degrees farther from the equator in eastern North America. The rainfall, which is of such vital importance to agriculture, appears not to be subject to such great annual irregularities as it is in the United States and Canada. The average at Buenos Ayres is about thirty-five inches annually, and in ascending the Paranà this increases to fifty-three inches in Corrientes, and eighty inches in Paraguay. It is only in some parts of the interior —e. g. about Mendoza – and in Patagonia, that the cultivator is, in ordinary seasons, exposed to suffer from drought.
Apart from the economic results of the great influx of immigration, the large recent admixture of European blood is effecting important salutary consequences. I have seen no recent returns, but it appears40 that in the six years ending 1875, the number of immigrants from Europe exceeded 284,000, or about 47,500 annually; and I believe that this average has been exceeded since that date. Of the whole number fully one-half are Italians, and I found unanimous testimony to the fact that they form a valuable element in the population. With the exception of a small proportion from the Neapolitan provinces, it is admitted that, whether as agricultural settlers or as artisans in the cities, the Italians are an orderly, industrious, and temperate class. The Germans and Swiss are not nearly so numerous, but form a useful addition to the orderly element in their adopted country. It may be hoped that experience and education have not been thrown away on the native Argentine, and that the memory of the forty years of intestine disorder which followed the final establishment of independence may serve as a warning against renewed attempts at revolution; but assuredly the foreign element, which rapidly tends to become predominant, will be found an additional security against the renewal of disorder.
PROGRESS OF ARGENTARIA.
Although a majority of the large commercial houses at Buenos Ayres are English, and the trade with this country takes the first place in the statistical returns, the predominance is not so marked as it is on the western side of South America. Next to England, and not far behind, France has a large share in the trade, and although Germany has only lately entered the field, it appears that the business operations with that country are rapidly extending. Here, and at several other places in South America, I heard complaints that German traders palm off cheap inferior goods, having forged labels and trade-marks to imitate those of well-known English manufacturers. It is true that charges of a similar nature have been recently brought against some English houses. One asks if the progress of civilization is to lead us back to caveat emptor as the only rule of commercial ethics. If so, some further means must be discovered to enable the innocent purchaser to protect himself.
The most serious difficulty in the way of the increasing foreign trade of Argentaria is that arising from the shallowness of the great estuary of La Plata, which prevents large vessels from approaching the ports. In the course of ages nature will remedy the defect, when the present shoals are raised by deposits of fresh silt so as to confine the volume of water brought down by the great rivers, which would then scour out navigable channels. Whether the process may not be hastened by human skill and enterprise is a question which I am unable to answer. At present I believe that the only point where vessels of moderate burthen can approach the shore is at Ensenada, about fourteen miles below Buenos Ayres. It is now connected by railway with the capital, and promises to become an important trading port.