PROVINCE OF LA RIOJA.
To the west of the province of Cordova, across the Sierra, lies La Rioja, formerly a dependency of that government, but now dignified with the title of an independent province, divided into four departments, viz., Arauco, Guandacol, the Llaños, and Famatina. It is nominally under the rule of a governor and a municipal junta of five members. The city from which it takes its name was founded in 1591, at the foot of the Sierra de Velasco, a granitic range, and is situated, according to a MS. in my possession, in latitude 29° 12´, though I know not upon whose authority. In 1824 the population did not amount to more than 3500 souls, though the whole province may contain from 18,000 to 20,000. Arauco, which is the most northern department, contains about 3000, chiefly occupied in the cultivation of vineyards, from which they make 8000 or 10,000 small barrels annually, of a strong sweet wine, which is sent to Cordova and the neighbouring provinces.
Guandacol, which lies to the westward, beyond the range of Famatina, and along the base of the Cordillera of Chile, contains about 1500 inhabitants,—chiefly congregated in the towns of Guandacol and Vinchina. They are employed in agriculture, and, at a particular season, in hunting the vicuñas in the Cordillera, the wool of which forms a valuable article of trade:—the flesh is an article of food.
The Llaños, which lie to the south of La Rioja, constitute a rich grazing district, in which about 20,000 head of cattle are annually bred. The inhabitants are calculated to be about 6000.
The department of Famatina, of which Chilecito is the principal place, lies to the west of La Rioja; it contains 5000 or 6000 inhabitants, who, like those of Arauco, are much engaged in the cultivation of their vineyards, from which they make 6000 or 8000 barrels of wine yearly. It takes its name from the famous mineral range of Famatina, distant from La Rioja about thirty leagues:—this range is described to extend for fifty leagues; in the centre is the Nevado, a lofty peak covered with perpetual snow,—its geological formation is chiefly gneiss and clay-slate; but it is specially celebrated for the richness of its silver ores, which are said to surpass in intrinsic value those of Potosi,—the extreme remoteness and inclemency of their situation, however, accessible only by rugged and difficult mountain paths, has been a constant bar to their being worked to any extent, and as yet they may be said to be only superficially known: nevertheless a mint was established at La Rioja, at which some gold and silver coins have been struck; and, in 1824 and 1825, during the rage for mining speculations in South America, companies were formed for the working of those of Famatina:—those schemes, however, only ended in disappointment to all concerned in them, not from any scarcity, I believe, of the precious metals, but from miscalculations and mismanagement, and an entire ignorance of the political state of the country. In such remote parts it has been but too sadly proved how little foreigners can calculate upon any effectual protection either for their property or their persons. It is idle to talk of contracts or title-deeds where the only real law is the will of some petty despot, whose necessities or interests, direct or indirect, will always overrule all other considerations. That such should be the state of La Rioja is not surprising, when its geographical position is considered, which cuts it off from almost all intercourse with the more civilised parts of the republic. The roads which lead to it, if roads they can be called, which are hardly passable by mules, are as bad as they can be, whilst the distances by these circuitous paths to the nearest of the other provincial towns are enormous. From La Rioja to Cordova it is 114 leagues, to Mendoza 159, and to Buenos Ayres by the nearest beaten route 287. To Guasco or Copiapo, the nearest towns in Chile, the length of the route by the Cordillera of Guandacol is 130 leagues:—this pass is said to be easy of transit, and has been often used to convey goods across the Cordillera from Chile, when the communication with Buenos Ayres has been closed.
The people, as might be expected, are in a lamentable state of ignorance. The governor himself, in sending me an account of his province, confessed that the only school in it was one established in the town of La Rioja, where the instruction was entirely limited to reading and writing, and that, for want of support, was often closed.
If the establishment of the present federal system be found of any real advantage, or gratifying to the ambition of some other provinces, the local situation and means of which may induce them to look forward with any confidence to improving their social condition; on the other hand I fear it must be fatal to those which, like La Rioja, are necessarily thrown by it upon resources which are palpably inadequate either to ensure them any tolerably efficient government for the present, or any likelihood of an improvement in their condition hereafter. It seems to me that the only means of saving them from lapsing into a state of semi-barbarism is to make them, as before, dependencies of their more powerful neighbours:—nor would they alone benefit by such an arrangement; a concentration of the Republic into half-a-dozen instead of twice the number of provincial governments (as was originally contemplated when it was divided into provinces in 1813 and 1814), would render each in itself infinitely more respectable, and better able to maintain its own independence, whilst it would vastly facilitate the management of all their national interests and affairs by the government of Buenos Ayres.
The provinces to the north of Cordova and La Rioja originally formed only two governments, according to the division established by the National Congress in 1814:—that of Tucuman, which included Santiago del Estero and Catamarca; and that of Salta with Jujuy, Oran, and Tarija; but these have since subdivided themselves, and instead of two now form five distinct governments,—viz., Santiago, Tucuman, Catamarca, Salta, and Tarija,—the latter of which has become united to Bolivia: of the others, the first, after leaving Cordova, is Santiago del Estero.