COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH AMERICA. 399 



ness of the port, which, is one of the chief hindrances to the devel- 

 opment of Argentine commerce. At present, in consequence of 

 the rapid silting up of the River Plate, large vessels have to 

 anchor ten miles from the city, and have not only to load and 

 unload with the aid of lighters, but in certain states of the river 

 large-wheeled carts have to he employed to convey goods and 

 passengers from the lighters to the wharves. Great harbor- 

 works are now, however, in progress with the view of providing 

 a navigable channel to large docks that are to be constructed 

 close beside the town. Lower down the estuary a new capital for 

 the province of Buenos Ayres has been founded under the name 

 of La Plata, and a port with docks and a navigable channel 

 nowhere less than twenty-one feet in depth has here been pro- 

 vided. 



Uruguay, a republic lying between the estuary of the La Plata 

 and Brazil, has a similar surface, climate, and population, and 

 similar industries to the neighboring provinces of the Argentine 

 Republic, and is now being as rapidly developed. Among the 

 railways there is one avoiding the rapids of the Uruguay River 

 above Salto, and there is one in progress connecting Salto with 

 the capital. Having a greater rainfall on the whole than the 

 more populous districts of the Argentine Republic, Uruguay rears 

 relatively to area more cattle than the latter country ; and of the 

 one million two hundred thousand animals that were annually 

 slaughtered in the two republics for the making of preparations 

 of meat, on the average of the ten years 1876-1885, about fifty-five 

 per cent were slaughtered in Uruguay. This industry has made 

 the small towns of Fray Bentos and Paysandu, on the Uruguay, 

 well known throughout Europe. Among the countries sharing 

 in the commerce of Uruguay, the United Kingdom has the first 

 place both in imports and exports, supplying on the average of 

 the years 1878-1885 nearly twenty-nine per cent in value of the 

 imports, and receiving about twenty per cent of the exports. 

 The capital of Uruguay is Montevideo, which has an excellent 

 harbor. 



Paraguay is an inland republic, lying mainly between the 

 Paraguay and Parana Rivers, with a very sparse population, 

 chiefly of native Indians. Its chief export product is the so-called 

 Paraguay tea, or mate. Tobacco, timber, and skins are also ex- 

 ported. 



The Falkland Islands, situated to the east of the Strait of 

 Magellan, belong to the British. They have a damp, foggy cli- 

 mate, and are largely covered with peat, but are inhabited by a 

 small number of settlers engaged in the rearing of sheep and cat- 

 tle. They are frequently visited for repairs and supplies by ves- 

 sels that have made the passage round Cape Horn. 



