The hides, wet-salted and packed in barrels, are shipped to the tanneries in England, the United States, and Germany; but London is the principal market for the frozen meat of the Argentine, its consumption of home-killed and foreign frozen meat exceeding one and a half million tons annually.
The Argentine has attained her present enviable position at the head of the list of beef exporting countries by giving an intelligent attention to the improvement of her herds of cattle. As far back as 1848 the importation of the best stock from England was commenced, and since then hundreds of prize animals from the British shows have been shipped to the grazing lands of the republic. In 1857 the first live-stock show was held in Buenos Ayres, and in 1875 the Rural Society of the Argentine held the first of the series which has continued annually since that date. The Rural Society has done much to justify its existence, organising, holding together and encouraging the stock-raising interest. Every well-known class of stock is exhibited at its shows, sheep of the Lincoln, Rambouillet, Blacknose, and other varieties, and cattle of the Shorthorn, Durham, Hereford, and Polled Angus breeds. The keen competition amongst exhibitors has led to a high standard of exhibits, of which there is always an abundant entry. This is equally true with regard to the horses which are now bred in the Argentine, the breeders being justly proud of the fine animals they can produce. The same care has been exercised in the choice of sires and mares which have been purchased in England and on the continent of Europe, with the object of obtaining the best breed possible. The thoroughbred race-horse is particularly popular, and many famous race winners have been purchased by the Argentine dealers, sportsmen, and breeders. “Diamond Jubilee” was purchased from the late King Edward for 30,000 guineas, “Val d’Or” from the French breeder, Edmond Blanc, for £12,000. It has been estimated that 400 thoroughbred stallions and 3000 brood mares are in service in Argentina, producing about 1500 foals annually. In the last fifteen years the sales of young stock have increased from 90 animals in 1895, realising on the average £126 apiece, to 483 animals in 1910, yielding an average price of £639. This gives some idea of the importance and growth of the industry of horse-breeding in the republic, and a glance at the list of well-known horses which have been produced, several of them winners of tens of thousands of pounds in prize money, indicates the excellence of the results attained and the profitableness of the occupation.
CHAPTER XVIII
On the Road to Paraguay
ON THE PARANA.
PARAGUAY is most easily reached by river. The long overland journeys from either Brazil or Bolivia are both of a nature to deter tourists, and the voyage up either the Uruguay or the Parana rivers is preferable to the long dusty train journey from Buenos Ayres to Corrientes. The steamship service of the Mihanovich line which plies upon the River Plate, as well as along the Argentine coast, is one of the best in South America. The vessels are large and adequately fitted for the tropical regions through which they pass. Leaving Buenos Ayres in the early morning, the River Uruguay is reached in about four hours. Great masses of green foliage float down the swiftly running stream, and low-lying islands clad with rich vegetation are passed. Strings of cattle boats or barges laden with their living freight and towed by strong steam tugs appear upon the scene, whilst the white sails of craft of all sizes, and many shapes, flutter over the broad, smooth waters. The river, which is both wide and deep, is the highway to a great many of the most prosperous
FREY BENTOS.
districts in the republics of Uruguay and Argentina. The towns upon either side of the river are small, and removed from one another by great distances. Small villages and insignificant collections of huts peep out from the luxuriant foliage, and glimpses of the life of the inhabitants are caught from time to time. Agricultural pursuits occupy the attention of the people, the raising and tending of cattle and live stock being by far the most important industry. Frey Bentos and Colon are both well-known ports upon this river, at which the steamer comes to anchor. At the numerous stopping places small tenders, row boats, and canoes come alongside, and put on or take off passengers and their baggage, small freight, and mails, very little time being occupied by the operations. Paysandu, famous for its ox tongues, is a small town opposite to Colon, and a railway connects it to the central Uruguay system, thus bringing it into direct communication with Montevideo. Colon is entirely occupied by the factories of the celebrated Liebig’s Extract of Meat Co., and the small villages that have sprung up around it amidst pastoral surroundings are inhabited by the factory workers. Concordia and Salto are the end of the journey as far as the Uruguay River is concerned, the further passage being closed to navigation by falls and rapids. These two towns are typical specimens of Spanish colonial settlements, and present very much the same appearance to-day as they did a century ago. Sleepy would describe them at ordinary times, but at midday the passenger landing from the steamer finds them veritable cities of the dead, for the streets are deserted, and even hotel-keepers are difficult to awaken. Concordia has wide streets but low houses, with roofs either flat or sloping away from the front to the back, so that a straight, unbroken sky-line is presented to the eye. The Plaza or principal square of the town possesses a church with two towers, which, although of comparatively recent date, has, owing to the unfinished brickwork, the aspect of an ancient building. The towers, covered with small green slates, are typical of the church architecture that prevails over nearly the whole of South America. Inside, the church has a plain barrel roof supported by engaged fluted columns of the Corinthian order, the floor is tiled, and highly coloured statues and images adorn the walls; much of the great altar is painted to imitate marble, and a profusion of gilding testifies to the native love of the gaudy. Seen at night its effect is rich enough, when the garishness of the decorations is softened by the mellow candlelight. During the services in honour of the Virgin crowds of women and girls are seated in the front seats of the nave, and notices are placed upon the pillars and in other conspicuous places, intimating that men and boys are forbidden to trespass on the part reserved for the women, while, to enforce a due observance of the order, policemen, in white helmets and brown holland clothes, are in attendance, and the crowds of amorous youths are restrained with some little difficulty from gaining a point of vantage from which to observe the fair. Processions of little girls clad in white pass through the building singing “Ave Marias”; a black-robed priest beating time and marshalling the regiment. Bouquets of flowers are thrown upon the altar steps by the children as they pass—a pretty ceremony enthusiastically observed. The service over, the congregation slowly disperse into the Plaza, and the straw-hatted beaux form up in
