ARCHAEOLOGY. 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



the top of the figure can be reached. The sec- 

 ond statue which is called the " female idol " 

 can also be ascended, and was ascended by 

 Capt. Maitland, of the Anglo-Indian army, 

 who, coming out by an opening over the head, 

 measured it with a tape-line, and found its 

 height to be 120 feet. The third statue has 

 been estimated to be about 50 or 60 feet high, 

 but it has almost entirely disappeared. The 

 fourth statue is that of a sitting figure, as is 

 represented in the accompanying illustration. 

 The fifth statue is about a mile from the others. 

 The cliff in which the niches and statues are 

 executed is pitted with caves, some of which 

 are shown in the engraving around the statue, 

 which are said to have been excavated by 



FOURTH (SITTING) STATUE OP BAMIAN. 



Buddhist monks during, probably, the first five 

 centuries of the Christian era. Many of these 

 caves are inhabited ; and some of them are 

 shown to have been bricked up in front. The 

 niches and caves are adorned with paintings 

 and ornamental devices which show considera- 

 ble artistic skill. The statues bear evidence of 

 mutilations, which are said to have been caused 

 by the soldiers of Timour, who shot arrows, and 

 by the troops of Nadir Shah, who fired artil- 

 lery at them. Their origin is not certainly 

 known. As they are not mentioned in any of 

 the accounts of Alexander's expeditions, it is 

 supposed that they were not in existence in 

 his time. Hwen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, 

 whp visited Bamian about A. D. 630, says that 



the statues were on " the northeast of the royal 

 city "probably Ghulghula, which was utterly 

 destroyed by Genghis Khan in the thirteenth 

 century and speaks of one of them as a figure 

 of Buddha. The presumption of their Bud- 

 dhist origin is supported by all the characteris- 

 tics of their style. 



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 Sefior 

 Carlos Pellegrini. The Cabinet was composed 

 of the following ministers : Interior, Dr. Posse ; 

 Foreign Affairs, Dr. Wilde; 

 Finance, Dr. Pacheco; War 

 and IjTavy, General Racedo. 

 The Argentine Minister at 

 Washington is Dr. L. L. Do- 

 minguez, and the Consul-Gen- 

 eral at New York, for the 

 Union, is Sefior C. Carranza. 

 The United States Minister at 

 the Argentine capital is Hon. 

 B. W. Hanna, and the Amer- 

 ican Consul at Buenos Ayres, 

 E. L. Baker. 



Army. According to official 

 returns bearing date of April, 

 1886, the army of the repub- 

 lic, exclusive of the National 

 Guard, was 7,599 strong, com- 

 prising 3,633 infantry, 2,788 

 cavalry, and 1,448 artillery. 

 The National Guard was 409,- 

 406 strong, 356,400 of whom 

 were enrolled for active serv- 

 ice, and 52,646 constitued the 

 reserve force. The artillery 

 was equipped with 250 guns, 

 the majority being Krupp guns 

 between 24 and 75 centimetres 

 caliber, and the others, guns of 

 7 to 15 inches caliber, made on 

 the Rodman, Armstrong, and 

 Parrot systems. 



Navy. The navy consisted, 

 in April, 1886, of three iron- 

 clads, six gunboats, seven torpedo-boats, six 

 steam transports, and twelve sailing-vessels, 

 carrying 1,366 men. 



Finances. At the close of the fiscal year 

 1885-'86 the public debt consisted of the fol- 

 lowing items : 



Foreigndebt $75,518,000 



Home debt ... 46,664.000 



Floating debt 26,601,000 



Total $148,718,000 



Argentine indebtedness and financial re- 

 sources have been closely canvassed in Europe 

 during the year, since, especially in Germany, 

 there is a sort of mania for investing in loans of 

 that country, chiefly because of the remark- 

 able current of emigration of agriculturalists. 



