A Tour Through South America

by A. S. Forrest

ON THE GUANO DEPOSITS.

employing many men who live in the villages belonging to the works—and stores, schools, and other useful institutions exist to make life upon these bare plains endurable. The “caliche” is worked locally in these factories, where it is first crushed, then dissolved in boiling water, the insoluble matter precipitated, the solution containing the nitre being allowed to crystallise, and the product after being roughly dried is exported in bags. Curious remains of birds and animals and human beings are frequently discovered in the “caliche” deposits, all well preserved, and many of these specimens of the earlier fauna of the country are found in the museum at Lima and elsewhere. The deposits of “caliche” are of course limited, and there is great difference of opinion as to when the beds will be exhausted. But some time ago the Collector of Customs at Valparaiso estimated that thirty-five million metric tons remain at present in private properties—and about thirty million metric tons in the Government properties—and, in his opinion, by 1923 the remaining deposits upon private properties will have been exhausted, whilst the Government properties may last fifteen years longer. Although the Government receive a large revenue from the sale of their stock of this valuable deposit, by the time it is exhausted other sources of wealth will have been developed, for the agricultural possibilities are practically unlimited. Chili also possesses the largest guano deposits in the world, and here is another source of wealth. The material, which consists of the droppings of pelicans, is the most valuable manure known. It is found along the hills that lie near the seashore, and helps to give those weird effects of dirty snow lying on brown earth. Precisely when its use was first discovered is not known, but there is evidence to show that its value was understood by the subjects of the Incas, and it helped to give them that expertness in agriculture which so astonished the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. Humboldt introduced it into Europe early in the nineteenth century, and since then its employment has increased among farmers everywhere, and has been greatly fostered by the improvements which chemists and inventors have brought about in the methods of preparing it for use. Unlike nitrates, there is little possibility of the supplies of this fertiliser ever becoming exhausted.

CHAPTER XV
Argentina

TO countless people South America is little or nothing more than a geographical expression, and to such the Argentine Republic is the representative State, typical of all the rest. There could be no greater error, for the natives of the great southern continent are sharply differentiated, alike in many traits of character, the vocations which they pursue, and the physiography of the territory which they inhabit. There are, it is true, certain ties between them all; they all boast a common ancestry in the Iberian Peninsula, and they are also united by a common religion, and, to a lesser extent, a common language. Still, the uninitiated person does not go so very far wrong in supposing that the Argentine dwarfs all its neighbours. It would be a veritable Triton among the minnows were it not for the juxtaposition of Brazil, which vastly exceeds it in the matter of size, if not in prosperity. The rivalry between the two countries is of long standing, but even Brazilians have to reluctantly admit that their neighbours are easily first both in the development of their resources and the extent of their commerce. There is yet another factor which gives the Argentina pre-eminence. In its capital, Buenos Ayres, it has the largest city south of the Equator, and, next to Paris, the largest Latin city in the world. The noise of its fame has reached the ears of thousands of people to whom Rio de Janeiro and Lima are mere abstractions. Nor is that predominant fame undeserved. Buenos Ayres is a mighty place of habitation boasting avenues and architecture which would grace any city in the Old World. The progress has been almost incredibly rapid. From an ill-paved, wretched settlement on the flat banks of the muddy River Plate, a splendid city has arisen. There is no “Colonial” atmosphere about it; it has instead all the impress of a European city, and in this respect it stands apart from every other town in South America.

The traveller who approaches Buenos Ayres, after having seen Rio and Montevideo, will probably experience a little disappointment, when he first catches sight of the city, for its fame far transcends its appearance when viewed from the deck of an incoming steamer. The journey up the muddy river is uninteresting, and, but for the buoys that mark the fourteen miles of dredged channel, has no features to distinguish it from the English Channel on a calm day. At night, when lit up by its innumerable lights, the city presents a more imposing spectacle from the river, for the vast area that it covers is then apparent. In the daytime the low-lying metropolis is relieved by only a few outstanding buildings, the lemon-shaped dome of the Congress Buildings being the most conspicuous. Its straight streets are set at right angles, and through the centre of the city runs the magnificent Avenida de Mayo, lined with magnificent buildings of many styles, shaded by tall trees, and at night brilliantly lighted by electric standards. It is in the “Avenida” that you receive the best impression of the city’s importance. Stand at any point of this great boulevard, your mind receives the impression that you have reached the centre of a State which has in a remarkably short space of time risen to be one of the most important countries of the New World.

But the majority of the streets of this vast city are still the long, narrow lanes which the early designers laid out, and they offer dreary vistas of interminable length. Although most of the buildings that line them are new and stately, and have fronts which betoken the wealth of the builders, they are rather ostentatious, and become wearying after a short time. But there are many notable buildings in the city which are worthy of the city’s importance. The Government buildings in the Plaza de Mayo, the Houses of Congress, the numerous hotels, the Cathedral, the Bolsu, and the sumptuous quarters of the Jockey Club compare favourably with similar institutions in other parts of the world. Moreover, the homes of the wealthy landowners, merchants, are veritable palaces, sumptuously furnished, and even persons of lesser estate reside in houses of great beauty and luxury. Clubs are plentiful, and provide for the various nationalities who form colonies in the city. When one considers the fact

that the city has a population of about one million, which is about a fifth of the entire population of the country, it is not surprising to find that there are many places of entertainment, which are run upon similar lines to those in Paris, London, and New York. Companies from Europe tour South America, and Rio, Buenos Ayres, Valparaiso are favoured with the best talent the world possesses. The opera house at Buenos Ayres is quite a sight on gala nights, and the toilets of the beauties of fashion are not less extravagant or tasteful than those of the fairest Parisiennes. The women of Argentina are famous for their beauty, and although they begin at an early age to put on flesh, they long retain their good complexions and love of showy dress. The men are not far behind the womenfolk in their love of display, good looks, and luxuriant habits, although of late there is a disposition among the younger men to go in for the sports and pastimes generally associated with Englishmen and Americans. The Jockey Club owns and runs the racecourse, and its enormous wealth is derived largely from that institution. Horses and motor-cars are the passions of the rich, as the long line of automobiles of latest types that line the boulevard outside the racecourse testify. There are many horses on the streets of the city that must arrest the attention of the visitors, not on account of their beauty, but of their sorry appearance. The cab horses in particular are badly treated by their drivers, and it is one of the stains upon this city, that has in so many respects emulated the ways of northern capitals, that its authorities allow the brutes who ill use the poor beasts to go unpunished. So far as its maritime situation is concerned, Buenos Ayres is not very fortunate, for the channel of the estuary being so shallow has, notwithstanding the many improvements that have been made in the docks of recent years, forced much of the shipping to other ports more accessible. Rosario has been growing in importance as a grain exporting town, and being well placed in the Parana, large vessels can go alongside and load much of the grain grown in the fertile province of Santa Fé. Bahia Blanca has even a greater importance, and is growing so rapidly that it has not inaptly been called the “Liverpool of the South.” Magnificent graving docks have been built, as well as harbour works, and the Government, recognising the strategical value of its position on the Atlantic, have made it a military and naval depot.

The growth of Rosario and Bahia Blanca is a good thing for the country, for it helps to counteract the tendency towards concentration in the capital, which is about the only real menace to the republic’s continued and increased prosperity. La Plata, the other port which lies about fifteen miles farther down the estuary of the Plate than the capital, has proved a dismal failure. Much money has been wasted in the attempt to make a port for the capital at this spot; but, in spite of its wide streets and imposing buildings, the city has a neglected, desolate aspect, few persons cross its grass-grown streets, and the whole place is a good instance of the Nemesis which overtakes extravagant hopes. The projectors of the city showed a singular lack of foresight in imagining that there was need for another grand city within such easy distance of the capital. The museum at La Plata is a magnificent building, with much to interest the anthropologist, but it proves rather gruesome to the average visitor, who is rather appalled by the enormous collection of skulls and skeletons of American Indians that occupies many rooms and hundreds of cases.