790 



URUGUAY. 



second sinking-fund payment on the Italian 

 debt was made, as well as that of the Higue- 

 ritas Railroad bonds falling due. In spite of 

 the promptness with which the Government 

 was meeting all demands on the treasury, the 

 market value of Uruguayan bonds in Jan- 

 uary, 1885, at Montevideo, was a fraction 

 above 50. 



Cummnnieations. Railroads. There are in op- 

 eration : 1. The Central Railway of Uruguay ; 

 Montevideo-Durazno line, 210 kilometres; the 

 section from Juan Ohaso to the city of San 

 Jose, 32 kilometres; and the line between 

 Juan Chaso and Higueritas. 2. The Upper 

 Uruguay Railway, from Salto Oriental to Santa 

 Rosa, 154 kilometres, and the line from Monte- 

 video to Pando, 39 kilometres. 



Telegraphs. There were in operation, in 1882, 

 1,062 kilometres, including a submarine cable 

 of 160 kilometres. The offices numbered 19, 

 the employes 64; 26,609 domestic messages 

 were sent in the year, and 19,918 abroad, be- 

 sides 7,030 in transit; together 53,557, against 

 39,536 the previous year. 



Postal Service. There are in the republic 234 

 post-offices. The items of mail-matter dis- 

 patched were as follow : 



The Pampas. A traveler who made a trip 

 through the pampas of the republic in 1884 

 reports as follows : 



The peculiar characteristics of these vast level 

 plains, which descend from the Andes to the great 

 river-basin in unbroken monotony, arc the absence of 

 rivers or water storage, and the periodical occurrence 

 of droughts. These conditions determine the singu- 

 lar character both of its flora and fauna. The soil is 

 naturally fertile and favorable for the growth of trees, 

 and they grow luxuriantly wherever they are pro- 

 tected. The eucalyptus is covering large tracts wher- 

 ever it is inclosed, and willows, poplars, and the fig 

 surround every estancia when fenced in. The open 

 plains are covered with droves of horses and cattle, 

 and overrun by numberless wild rodents, the original 

 tenants of the pampas. During the long periods of 

 drought which are so great a scourge to the country, 

 these animals are starved by thousands, destroying 

 in their efforts to live every vestige of vegetation. At 

 the time of my visit, 50,000 head of oxen and sheep 

 and horses perished from starvation and thirst, after 

 tearing deep out of the soil every trace of vegetation, 

 including the wiry roots of the pampas-grass. Large 

 tracts are still honeycombed by the ubiquitous bisca- 

 cho, a gigantic rabbit, and numerous other rodents 

 still exist, including rats and mice, pampas hares, 

 and the great nutria and ca-pincho on the river- 

 banks. That the dearth of plants is due to the un- 

 suitability of the sub-tropical species of the neigh- 

 boring zones does not hold good with respect to the 

 fertile valleys of the Andes beyond Mendoza, where 

 a magnificent hardy flora is found. 



Agates. The famous agate-quarries of Ober- 

 stein, Germany, were abandoned owing to the 

 discovery, fully half a century ago, of a rich 

 supply of those stones in the river-gravels of 

 Uruguay. Some German workers in agate, 

 who had emigrated to that region, noticed the 

 court-yard of a farm-house paved with pebbles 

 that reminded them of the agates of their na- 

 tive Oberstein. Specimens were accordingly 

 sent home and cut, and the surmise proved 

 to be correct. Since that time there has been a 

 regular export of agate nodules from Uruguay 

 to Oberstein. These "Brazilian agates" are 

 arranged in lots and are generally sold by 

 auction stones of ordinary quality usually 

 bringing not more than four dollars a hundred- 

 weight. 



Farming. Mr. C. P. Schultze, in January, 

 1885, read a paper before the German Colo- 

 nial Union, at Bremen, Germany, about coloni- 

 zation in Uruguay, from which we translate 

 the following: Cattle-raising and sheep-breed- 

 ing will prove in the long run in southern 

 Brazil and the northern La Plata states more 

 profitable for the colonist than agriculture. 

 As for wheat -grow ing, for example, it has 

 been carried on energetically in some prov- 

 inces for several years, but in view of over- 

 production elsewhere, and the great decline in 

 prices, it lacks a future. Even now flax has, 

 to a great extent, taken its place, but even this 

 product does not promise well. Other similar 

 products are not adapted for cultivation, the 

 rainy season being too short, the drought pre- 

 vailing, especially in the southern and western 

 portions, being such that while proceeding in 

 that direction you first traverse woodlands, 

 then isolated woods, grazing-grounds, steppes, 

 and finally deserts are reached. Another draw- 

 back is the grasshoppers. Between 1857 and 

 1874 this scourge seldom made its appearance, 

 since then they have afflicted the country in 

 immense clouds. The raising of potatoes, In- 

 dian corn, and other cereals is precarious. 

 Stock-farming enjoys many advantages, espe- 

 cially the mild winters and the three crops 

 that lucern produces, affording an excellent 

 fodder which even the grasshoppers can not 

 quite obliterate. Jerked beef is put up for 

 the Brazilian, Cuban, and even Mediterranean 

 trade. It commands on the spot $5 to $6 for 

 46 kilogrammes, and a net profit of $11 to $12 

 is cleared from every head of cattle in the 

 shape of beef, the hide, tallow, etc. The meat 

 is so cheap that it is profitably used for the 

 manufacture of beef-extract and meat-powder, 

 the so-called "came pura." Mutton in refrig- 

 erator steamers, fitted up for the purpose, is 

 also being profitably exported to England and 

 France. There is now an export demand for 

 horses from Uruguay for the French and Bel- 

 gian markets. 



Wool. The ensuing tabular statement shows 

 the wool production in Australia, at the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and in La Plata, reduced to 

 millions of pounds of scoured wool : 



