18'24.] Letter of an English Gentleman fiom Souili America. 



have visited every part of the country 

 seen by Mr. Barry, prior to our last 

 meeting, with the exception of Cor- 

 dova, and have, in addition, seen a 

 good deal of the city and surrounding 

 country of San Juan, I have l)cen 

 enabled to colIv-:ct together a good 

 deal of local information on the actual 

 state and capabilities of these coun- 

 tries. I may, therefore, in some de- 

 gree, be warranted in hazarding a few 

 opinions on these subjects. 



As I am well aware of the opinions 

 formed by our friend, Mr. Barry, on 

 such parts of the country as he had 

 Tisjted previous to our last meeting in 

 Chili, I feel considerable reluctance in 

 oflering any remarks at variance with 

 such accounts as he may have written 

 you on these subjects. With regard, 

 therefore, to Buenos Ayres, and Chili, 

 I shall say nothing at present, as my 

 sources of information and opportuni- 

 ties of judging of those countries have 

 been very limited ; but I must not con- 

 ceal from you my opinion, that his 

 remarks, even on tliese places, have 

 been delineated with a very considera- 

 ble degree of prejudice ; a feeling 

 which he evinced previi,ns to landing 

 in Soutli America, as well as in all liis 

 subsequent conversations and opinions 

 respecting those countries. 



AVith regard to the province of 

 Cuyo, however, I cannot altogether 

 jiersuade myself to observe the same 

 degree of delicacy, as I know iiis o\A- 

 nions were founded on a very short ac- 

 »iuaintance, and a very limited exa- 

 mination of their immediate vicinity : 

 with which, notwithstanding all his 

 previous prejudic(;, he could find 

 very little cause of complaint; but, on 

 the contrary, seemed to think favoura- 

 bly of both the country and its inhabi- 

 tants. Having from a variety of con- 

 curring circumstances been induced to 

 prolong my stay in this ])art of the 

 country, much longer than I at first 

 intended, I have now, after a residence 

 of nearly eight months, had an oppor- 

 tunity of becoming much more inti- 

 mately acquainted \\ ith the province of 

 Cuyo than I could possibly have be- 

 come during a cur^;ory visit ; and, it 

 gives me great pleasure to say, that 

 each succeeding day has alforded mc 

 additional reason to be pleased with, 

 and to feel attached to, the country. 



The few ibllowing remarks I am 

 about to otfer arc ciiielly referable to 

 Mcndoza ; but may, with a little 

 trillini; variation, be considered as ap- 



plicable to the whole of the province of^ 

 Cuyo. Mendoza is possessed of the 

 most genial and heavenij^ climate with 

 which I have ever had an opportunity 

 of becoming aciiuainted, and along 

 witli it offers to every one, in tlie great- 

 est abundance and luxuriance, all tiic 

 choicest productions of Southern 

 Europe ; enjoying, at the same time, an 

 almost entire exemption from all those 

 terrible and fatal maladies which 

 ravage so many of the fairest portions 

 of the globe; for here, consump- 

 tion, asthmas, agues, fevers, and a 

 variety of contagious and otiier dis- 

 eases, are either almost or altogether 

 unknown. The most singular peculi- 

 arity of this climate is the extreme 

 dryness of the atmosphere, there 

 being no perceptible dew at night, and 

 scarcely any rain throughout the year; 

 the air is rarely ever charged with 

 much moisture, and we enjoy an 

 almost uninterrupted succession of the 

 most serene weather, with a pure and 

 generally unclouded sky: throughout 

 the summer months, it is the general 

 practice to sleep at night in the open 

 air, and the same is frequently done 

 with impunity even in winter. With 

 such a state of the atmosphere, it need 

 not excite surprise to find in the pro- 

 vince immense tracts of the finest 

 lands doomed by nature to everlasting 

 sterility, or to the production of vege- 

 tables of little utility: consequently, 

 almost all useful vegetation is depend- 

 ant on the practice of artificial irriga- 

 tion, from the few rivers which, rising 

 in the Andes, traverse the provinces of 

 Mendoza and San Juan; by means of 

 this practice, however, the lands which 

 are naiiijr.!ly rich, produce the most 

 abundant crops of wheat, barley, 

 maize, grapes, olives, figs, pasturage, 

 and a great variety of the choicest 

 fruits and vegetables of tiie temperate 

 zone: here, in short, the necessaries of 

 life, and many of its luxuries, are ac- 

 cessible to all ; and any one, with 

 moderate industry and attention, may 

 have an oj>|)ortunity, in a few years, of 

 realizing a comfortable independence. 

 In daily observation of these most 

 interesting facts, J have not been able 

 to avoid occasionally recalling to mind 

 your favourite plan of colonization in 

 this part of the world, and of the con- 

 versations we had on the subject pre- 

 vious to my leaving llngiand. The 

 more I have been induced to think 

 favourably of the country, the more do 

 I feel inclined to prolong my stay in it, 



and 



