I--, 



AROEXTIXB COWFTOERATION. 



ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION. 



of the autumn (April, May, and June). 68* ; that of the winter, 64* ; 

 that at the pring (October, November, and December), 654. *- 

 tonally the thermometer hai risen (M in January, 1824) to 66*, and 

 H ha* been known to fall a* lows* 2o" ; but these are rare occurrences. 

 At Parana in Kutrc Rio* the highest range between 1844-47 wa 96* 

 la January. 1846, the- lowwt 60 in June, 1844. 



A part of the Pampas it nibject to periodical drought of long 

 duration, especially the north-oastern corner of the Western Pampas, 

 which include* the northern part of the province of Buenot Ay re* 

 and the aouthern of Santa FA. For three yean (1827-30) so little rain 

 MI that even the thistles failed, and the whole country assumed the 

 no* of a duty high road. Vast number* of birds, wild 

 , cattle, and hone* perished for want of food and water. The 

 nUmnlit of the loss of cattle in the province of Buenoi Ayres 

 alone was one million head. Similar and acaroely Imi destructive 

 drought occurred in 1848. According to information collected by 

 Darwin from the native* theae drought! are periodical, and ooour at 

 interval* of about 16 yean. 



Production!. Respecting the principal object* of agriculture the 

 Argentine Confederation may be divided into two regions, which are 

 separated from each other by the Oran Halina. On the north of it 

 they partake of the intertrupical productions ; mandioc, rice, Indian 

 com, and the coca plant are cultivated in most of the lower valley*. 

 In the more elevated tract* tobacco and cotton succeed well, and are 

 cultivated on a large scale. South of the Qran Salina the agriculture 

 resembles that of southern Europe except that no rice is raised. 

 Wheat and Indian corn are the principal crops, but barley and lucerne 

 are also extensively grown, especially near Mendoza. The northern 

 region also produces some wild plants of great use, such as the aJgaroba 

 tree, from the fruit of which mixed with maise the Indiana make 

 oakea, and by fermentation ckica, an intoxicating spirit ; the quina- 

 quina, th* palm-tree, the plant from which the Paraguay tea, or matt*, 

 is taken, the cactus that bean the cochineal insect, the aloe from 

 which yarn and rope* are made, and the indigo and some other plants 

 used in dyeing. In the Oran Salina itself a kind of salsola grow* from 

 which soda a extracted. The fruit-trees which are cultivated are 

 mostly those of southern Europe, as the vine, orange, fig, olive, peach, 

 apricot, apple, and pear. On the banks of the Parana teda tylveitre 

 (wild silk) is collected, which is left in the woods by a certain 

 caterpillar. 



Though the cultivation of wheat has increased so much that it now 

 form* an article of exportation, the principal exchangeable wealth of 

 the confederation is derived from their herds of cattle, which increase 

 with remarkable rapidity, notwithstanding the unsettled state of the 

 country, the losses by the drought*, and the great quantities annually 

 killed. The annual increase is said to amount to 35 per cent Tbe 

 number of heads in 1837 was estimated by Sir Woodbine Parish at 

 4 millions, of which the province of Buenos Ayres alone was said to 

 possess S millions; in 1851 H was estimated at 12 millions, of 

 which Buenos Ayres still possesses by far the greater though not so 

 disproportionate a share. The increase in the quantity and value of 

 the sheep is still more extraordinary. Prior to 1823 the La Plata 

 sheep were a nearly wild and almost valueless race; since then, 

 mainly owing to the exertions of English settlers, merinos, South- 

 downs, and Leiceston have bean introduced, chietly in tie- province of 

 Boixos A T HE* ; the greatest attention has been given to the improve- 

 ment of th* breed, and wool has come to be one of the staple articles 

 of export from Buenos Ayrea, The climate appean admirably adapted 

 for sheep, which thrive well and increase prodigiously. They wander 

 about in the Pampas nearly in a wild state, and the largest item* in 

 the list of exports consist of hide*, and, after wool, hair, horns, tallow, 

 and jerked beef. Th* bones, mules, sod asses probaMy much exceed 

 *vo million. ; they an. exported to the West Indie* and the island of 

 Mauritius. Goat* and hogs an lees common. Most of the South 

 American wild animals are found in the confederation, as the puma, 

 the jaguar, the armadillo, th* tapir, the tajaaeoo, the bisoacho (an 

 animal with a long btuhy tail and twice th* use of a rabbit, which is 

 exceedingly numeral 

 England for fun), dr, 

 found in the plains 



vicuna., and alpacas only in the cold regions on th, 

 tends. Tbe water-bos;, or oarpinobo (Hydntkotnu Cepyoora), the 

 Urgest of the rodent animals in the world, is very common on the 

 banks of the Parana; Darwin shot on* which weighed 8 pounds. 

 Mendosa is the native place of that singular animal the chlamyphorua. 

 The most common birds are the emu, the condor, green parrots, 

 partridges, wild duck*, pifinn* and quails, the carrion-vulture, and 

 eevtiml other rapacious bird*. Ostriches are numerous 

 Ayret Th*tmocbaras and other small birds of the peeie 

 re also met with. The long-bend plover (tftemmta 



in Buenos 



. e ong-bend plover (tftemmtapu mgrmUu) 

 Pampas; a small owl (Alia* mmicvfarfa) abound. 

 """""^ Ayres ; the aeissor-beak (KAynenja nifra) is 

 banks of the Parana; Serpent* are not numerous, 

 are many kinds of noxious mssnU, venomous spiders, bug* 



5? "TLETT 1 '* ** ao<l %" "d *" B* 000 Olorado, a 

 inct which IA rt-ry annoying Locusts a* in all countrie* 



ort 



minute* r*d irawct whtcfa 

 wbera Arid plain* art found. 



y annoying 

 !r*,o2> destroy the crops. 



Locusts, a* in all countrie* 

 Bees are 



is collected in several district*. The cochineal insect is reared on the 

 banks of the Belado. Along the coast south of the La Plata, whales, 

 sea-lions, and (lea-elephant* are numerous. Among the insects is one 

 called clavillo from its resemblance to a little nail ; it i smaller than 

 the cochineal, and occurs only in Catamaroa and Tucuman, where it 

 is used for dyeing green the vicuna and alpaca wool. 



Qold and silver occur in the Andes, and also in the Sierra de 

 Cordova, but they are generally situated at such au elevation above 



the plains that there is neither food nor fuel in their neigfabourli 1, 



and as the ore is not rich they cannot be worked with adrafttage. 

 Some of the mines are worked on a small scale. It is said th 

 and lead are found in the confederation. Salt is abundant in the Oreat 

 Salina and south of it with the exception of the Eastern Pampas, and 

 rock-salt is said to occur along the eastern declivity of the A 

 south of the Diamante River. In the same locality coal is also said 

 to abound. 



Iniuibiianti. The population of the Argentine Confederation con- 

 sists of descendants of Spaniards and of Indiana, Tbe whites have 

 not settled here as masters as in other countries farther north, where 

 they have exempted themselves from agricultural labour. They are 

 here cultivators of the ground, and chiefly look after cattle and hones. 

 Those who look after the horses and are called ijanrlxu live a wild 

 life, and can hardly be said to be superior to the Indians. Their 

 dress is a cloak (poncho), and they live exclusively ou beef and mate', 

 an infusion of the Paraguay tea. 



The Indians who are subject to the dominion of the white* are far 

 from being numerous : the number probably falls short of 30,000 

 individuals. They are only found in the provinces north of the Ureat 

 Salina. On the Despoblado and in the valleys surrounding it they 

 seem to belong to the Peruvian nation, and to speak the Quichua 

 language. In the valleys of Caxamaroa and Kioja they form distinct 

 tribes, and live in villages distinct from the whites ; their language is 

 not the Quichua. Several families of the Ouarani are still settled in 

 the Misaiones, and others established themselves in Corrientes and 

 Entre Rios after the expulsion of the .Jesuits in 1767. The Indians 

 who are not subject to the whites, and who are frequently at war 

 with them, may be divided into the Northern and Southern Indians. 

 The former inhabit the Qran Chaco between the Rio Salado and the 

 Paraguay and 1'aranit. and the latter the countries south of 35 8. lat 

 Only one independent nation has maintained its ground Bunxmn.l. .1 

 by settlements of the whites, the Quayourus, who inhabit the country 

 between the towns of Cordova and Santa F<5, and as far north as the 

 great lake called Laguna Salados de loa Porongo*. Some thirty years 

 ago this tribe was composed of only 800 or 900 individuals, and since 

 that time they have probably been reduced to a still smaller number 

 by the civil wars in the provinces. They have great numbers of 

 horses, and dwell in low houses constructed of hides which they 

 move about with great facility. The attempts made to settle them in 

 fixed places have hitherto proved abortive, as they are much attached 

 to a wandering life. 



The number of Indians in the southern districts of the Oran Chaco 

 is small, and it seems that there are only a few families in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the rivers. But on the banks of the Rio Vormejo and 

 between it and the Parani there is a great number of wandering 

 tribes, some of which are powerful. The nior-t mnneniu* of these 

 tribes are the Tobas, Hataguayos, and Matacos on the banks of the 

 Vermejo, and the Guanas, Ouaycurus, Yagas, Leuguas, and Ivirayaras 

 between the Pilcomayo and Parana 1 . AU these with the exception of 

 the Guanas and Matacos adhere to a nomadic life, and live on tin- 

 produce of their flocks and of the chace. They have also many 

 horses. The men go naked with the exception of a girdle of cotton 

 round their loins, the women cover themselves with a large c-olt.m 

 cloth. The men are always on horseback. Most of theae nations 

 seem to belong to the race from which the Guaycurus have sprnm.', 

 and all their languages are only dialects of one. They raise some 

 Indian corn. The Matacos, who had been for some time under the 

 care of the Jesuits, have fixed habitations, cultivate the ground, and 

 a considerable number of them go every year in harvest-time to the 

 province of Salts, where they are employed in getting in the crops. 

 Though these northern tribes have generally not a friendly intercourse 

 with Die whites who nre settled near them, they are not in a state of 

 continual war with them as is the case with the southern Indians. 

 Though in most other respect* they resemble the southern tribes they 

 are not so tell, and on the average not taller than the inhabitant* of 

 southern Europe. 



The southern tribes had their pasture-grounds south of the Hio 

 .Salado of Buenos Ayres, and of 86 S. lat, which line was established 

 in 1740 between them and the Spanish government This line was 

 secured on the side of the Spaniards by a few military post*, and, 

 though the Indians from time to time made predatory incursions into 

 the settlements, the whites lived in a state of comparative security. 

 Hut during the confusion with which the establishment of the political 

 independence of these provinces was attended, uml during the war 

 with Kray.il, tin- Indians, becoming bolder, laid waste tin- . "iintry as far 

 Sierra de Cordova, killing the mm, unit making women 

 ..i..l rliil.h. 11 captive*. After several attempt* to bring "I > a peace- 

 ful arrangement had failed, the government of Buenos Ayres sent a 

 strong foree against them, under the command of Rosas, the dictator 



