34 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



entrances to the caves vary from 3| to 4J- feet 

 in height, are about 3 feet broad, and give ac- 

 cess to rooms of comfortable size, furnished 

 with windows, which were in some cases con- 

 nected with other smaller rooms, also fur- 

 nished with windows. The appearance of the 

 caves is hardly consistent with the conception 

 of the troglodytes as savages, which has been 

 drawn from Hanno's account of them. For 

 these abodes show signs of great labor, and in- 

 dicate that their builders, in making the floors 

 and ceilings perfectly smooth, and putting more 

 than one window in the same room if it was 

 a large one, had ideas of care and comfort. 



Russia. The Tomb of a Scythian Ring. Inter- 

 esting and important discoveries have been 

 made in the exploration by the Russian Im- 

 perial Archaeological Commission of the 

 mounds of that district of the western Cauca- 

 sus which is traversed by the river Kuban. 

 One of the most important of them the Great 

 Kurgan near Krymskaia consists of three 

 chambers, extending through a length of 67 

 feet. The walls are of missive, well-hewed 

 slabs of stone, stuccoed and frescoed, and the 

 floor, of stone slabs, is laid in cement. The 

 first of these chambers contained numerous 

 archaeological relics of earthenware, silver, en- 

 graved beads, remains of an iron wheel and of 

 two horses, and the skeleton of a young woman 

 of high rank, with a triangular golden plate 

 bearing figures in relief, which formed part of 

 her tiara, and other personal ornaments of gold. 

 The second room contained a few relics. In the 

 third, or principal room, was a skeleton, which 

 is presumed to be of a Scythian king, having 

 around its neck a thick golden unclosed hoop, 

 bearing figures at the ends; near it a golden 

 plate, which was probably part of head-dress, 

 and around it silver drinking-horns and drink- 

 ing-cups, a silver quiver overlaid with gold 

 and adorned with figures, copper arrows, and 

 iron spear-points. Remains of rotten boards 

 and nails indicated that both bodies had been 

 inclosed in coffins. The relics are assigned to 

 a date not much later than the Christian era, 

 and are believed to represent an age of Scythi- 

 an arts and customs of which little has hitherto 

 been known. 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, an independent re- 

 public of South America. (For details of area, 

 population, etc., see "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 

 1883.) 



Government. The President is Dr. Juarez 

 Celman, whose term of office will expire on 

 Oct. 12, 1892; the Vice-President.is Dr. Car- 

 los Pellegrini. The Cabinet was composed of 

 the following ministers: Interior, Dr. Eduardo 

 Wilde; Foreign AfRu'rs, N. Q. Costa; Finance, 

 Dr. W. Pacheco ; Justice, Dr. F. Posse ; War 

 and Navy, Gen. E. Racedo. The Argentine 

 Minister at Washington is Don Vicente G. 

 Quesada, and the Consul at New York, Seflor 

 Adolfo G. Calvo. The American Minister at 

 Buenos Ayres is Bayless W. Hanna, and the 

 Consul, Edward L. Baker. 



Finances. On March 31, 1888, the foreign 

 indebtedness of the republic amounted to $92,- 

 427,000; the domestic debt, at the same date, 

 amounted to $47,000,000; total, $139,427,000. 

 The provinces have besides a foreign debt of 

 $88,219,611, and a domestic debt of $25,000,- 

 000. The income in 1887 was $58,135,000, 

 and the expenditure, $50,019,000. 



The law making the authorized note-circu- 

 lation of banks a legal tender will expire on 

 Jan. 9, 1889, when it will forcibly have to be 

 renewed. On June 15, 1888, the Government 

 had in circulation $6,000,000 of fractional pa- 

 per money. In 1887 the gold premium at 

 Buenos Ayres averaged 35J per cent., as com- 

 pared with 38f in 1886, and 37 in 1885. Early 

 in May, 1888, the Government held $77,000,- 

 000 gold coin, ready to moderate the premium. 

 A bridle has been put on wild stock specula- 

 tion by limiting the delivery of stocks on time 

 sales to thirty days. Since 1880 the Argen- 

 tine Government, provinces, railroads, etc., 

 have contracted loans to the amount of $305,- 

 810,000 ; out of this amount only $43,080,000 

 went toward canceling matured bonds. Sev- 

 eral new loans were negotiated in Europe during 

 1888; one for 7,000,000 for the conversion 

 of outstanding Government bonds from 6 per 

 cent, interest to 4 per cent. ; 2,000,090 in 

 behalf of the city of Buenos Ayres : 2,000,- 

 000, city of Rosario ; 2,000,000, province of 

 Cordoba; 1,000,000, province of Santa Fe ; 

 600,000, province of Tucuman ; province of 

 Mendoza, 1,000,000; province of San Juan, 

 1,000,000; province of Entre-Rios, 1,200,- 

 000; and, province of Corrientes, 1,000,000; 

 together, 21,200,000. The bank of the prov- 

 ince of Buenos Ayres also floated a $20,000,000 

 loan in Germany. During 1887 the national 

 bunk increased its capital by $12,000,000, and 

 the following banks were founded : The Ger- 

 man and Rio de la Plata Bank, capital on shares, 

 $2,000,000 ; the French Bank, $2,000,000; the 

 new Italian Bank, $2,000,000; the Argentine 

 People's Bank, $1,000,000; and the Bnenos 

 Ayres People's Bank, $3,000,000; the Banco 

 de Cordoba increasing its capital $500,000. 



On June 15, 1888, the total note circulation 

 of banks was $87,925,000. On June 15, 1887, 

 it was $79,000,000. The banking and currency 

 of the Argentine Republic have been in an 

 extremely unsettled condition for several years. 

 A resolute attempt to put them upon a better 

 basis was made in the law of Nov. 3, 1887, 

 which made banking practically free, and pro- 

 vided a national currency guaranteed by na- 

 tional bonds bearing 4 per cent, interest in 

 gold. These bonds are delivered to any bank- 

 ing institution that submits to the required 

 Government inspection, for 85 per cent, of 

 their par value, and may be deposited as secu- 

 rity for an issue of bills up to the face value of 

 the bonds. 



Army and Navy. The army of the republic 

 exclusive of the National Guard, according to 

 official returns of June, 1887, was 6,256 strong, 



