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.
CHAPTER VI.
Voyage from Buenos Ayres to Santos—Tropical vegetation in Brazil—Visit to San Paulo—Journey from San Paulo to Rio Janeiro—Valley of the Parahyba do Sul—Ancient mountains of Brazil—Rio Janeiro—Visit to Petropolis—Falls of Itamariti—Struggle for existence in a tropical forest—The hermit of Petropolis—Morning view over the Bay of Rio—A gorgeous flowering shrub—Visit to Tijuca—Yellow fever in Brazil—A giant of the forest—Voyage to Bahia and Pernambuco—Equatorial rains—Fernando Noronha—St. Vincent in the Cape de Verde Islands—Trade winds of the North Atlantic—Lisbon—Return to England.
EMBARCATION AT BUENOS AYRES.
About midday on June 30, I took my departure from Buenos Ayres. The operation was not altogether simple or to be quickly accomplished. Jolting heavily over the ill-paved streets, a hackney coach carried me and a fellow-traveller with our luggage to the riverbank. The sight was very strange. It was a busy day, and there were literally hundreds of high-wheeled carts engaged in carrying passengers and goods out to the boats, which lay fully half a mile from the shore. When, after a delay that seemed excessive, we were installed in a boat, this was pulled in a leisurely fashion to the steam-tender, which lay more than a mile farther out. When the hour fixed for the departure of the tender was long past, we at length got under way, and finally reached the Neva steamship of the Royal Mail Company, about fourteen miles below the city, at five o’clock.
With iron punctuality dinner was served at the regular hour, although none of the passengers were ready, and the luggage was not brought on board till after dinner. There was, in truth, no reason for haste, as we were appointed to call at Monte Video on the following morning. My chief business at that place was to recover possession of the chest containing my botanical collections, which I had deposited at the custom-house.
Impressed with the attractions of Brazil, and feeling the strict limits of time to which I was bound, I asked myself if I should not have done better to have omitted a visit to the Plata region, and saved nine days by proceeding direct to Brazil in the Iberia, which started on the 22nd of June. I should certainly recommend that course to any naturalist travelling under similar circumstances at the same season; but I am sure that, if I had done so, I should have felt regret at having missed an opportunity, and should have fancied that I had lost new and interesting experiences.