GEOGKAPI1ICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



315 



return to Europe with large ethnological col- 

 lections. 



The Government of the province of Cor- 

 dova, in the Argentine Republic, has granted 

 funds for establishing a network of meteoro- 

 logical stations over the province, and ap- 

 pointed Prof. Doering head of the service. 

 The value of the undertaking is enhanced by 

 the great diversity of position among the sta- 

 tions, on pampas, wooded plains, mountains, 

 and salt lakes, and in their varied elevations 

 ranging from 240 to 9,425 feet above the sea. 



An international commission is at work sur- 

 veying the boundary between Brazil and the 

 Argentine Republic ; and the question of 

 boundary between the Argentine Republic and 

 Paraguay threatens to come np if it should 

 prove that the Araguay-Guazu is the main 

 lower stream of the Pilcomayo, for the line is 

 defined to be the Great Chaco to the Pil- 

 comayo ; and in that case the Argentine Re- 

 public would Lay claim to the territory between 

 the Pilcomayo and the Araguay-Guazu. Ac- 

 cording to older Spanish geographers, the latter 

 stream is the largest arm of the lower Pilco- 

 mayo, but recent attempts to establish the fact 

 have not been fully carried out. 



By an ordinance of March 12, 1887, two 

 new provinces were formed in Chili, Malleco 

 and Cautin, thus bringing what remains of 

 Araucania into administrative relations with 

 the rest of the country. The chief town of 

 Malleco is Angol ; it is divided into three de- 

 partments, Angol, Collipilli, and Traiguen, 

 named by their principal towns. The chief 

 town of Cautin is Temuco, and it is divided 

 into two departments, Temuco and Imperial. 

 These towns have 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants 

 and will soon be reached by railway. 



According to the report of Captain Serrano, 

 who was sent out by the Chilian Government, 

 the Palena is a much larger stream than it has 

 been supposed and represented on the maps, 

 having a breadth in its lower reaches ot 800 

 metres, and being navigable for a long distance. 

 Many new species of plants and a few of insects 

 were found by the expedition. It also con- 

 firmed the report that the high chain of the 

 Andes is not here the water-shed between the 

 Atlantic and Pacific ; but that this is formed 

 by a table-land about 500 metres in height 

 lying east of the Andes. The streams upon it 

 rise in small lakes and pass through narrow 

 defiles in the Cordilleras, and thus reach the 

 Pacific. The land on the eastern slope of the 

 mountains west of this water-shed is well 

 adapted for grazing. This makes necessary a 

 new settlement of the boundary between Chili 

 and the Argentine Republic, which, according 

 to the treaty of 1881, is to follow the water- 

 shed, and, in case of any difficulties arising 

 from this line being indistinct or not under- 

 stood, to be settled by a commission appointed 

 by the governments of the two countries. 



Lieut. C. Moyano reports to the Argentine 

 authorities the results of a recent journey to 



the sources of the streams south of the Santa 

 Cruz. He finds that the waters of the Pacific 

 penetrate forty-five nautical miles eastward of 

 the Cordilleras and form harbors in East Pata- 

 gonia, and that the Argentine lake is connected 

 with the lake lying south of it. This agrees 

 with the observation of Moreno and Moyano in 

 1877, but was disputed by Rogers and Ibar 

 after their journey in 1880. Lieut. Moyano 

 finds reason to believe that all the Patagonian 

 lakes are connected. As to the fitness of the 

 country for colonization, he says : " The coast 

 region has scanty but peculiar vegetation, 

 which can be utilized for the feeding of cattle, 

 sheep, horses, and goats. A few tracts in the 

 lowlands and river-valleys are adapted for 

 farming. The central region is less suitable 

 for these purposes; for, besides the poverty 

 of vegetation, it seems to be impossible to 

 maintain cattle there during the winter, which 

 is uncommonly severe, owing to the height of 

 the table-lands and the distance from the sea. 

 The mountain region, beginning at the first 

 spurs of the Cordilleras, is marked by vast, 

 dense forests of antarctic beeches, and is rich 

 in plants adapted for grazing. I think it well 

 suited for that purpose ; the presence of thou- 

 sands of wild horses indicates that the protec- 

 tion of the forests offsets the cold produced by 

 the elevation. As to the prospects for mining, 

 though I have found traces of coal and iron at 

 many points, yet they were so far from the 

 highways as not to be of any value at present. 

 I have not found other minerals, but 1 believe 

 the mountain region is rich in many that a 

 specialist could discover." The lieutenant 

 named three mountains, " Monte Andrade," 

 5,808 feet high, after the poet of that name ; 

 " Monte Guido," 4,200 feet, after the poet and 

 scholar ; and u Monte Guerrico," 4,495 feet, 

 for Colonel Martin Guerrico, to whom many 

 young marine officers are greatly indebted for 

 instruction. 



Lieut, del Castillo undertook an expedition 

 to examine the harbors mentioned by Moyano. 

 He says that with comparatively little expense 

 the Gallegos can be connected with the har- 

 bors of the Pacific; that the pampas of the 

 Gallegos are habitable in winter, and in every 

 respect adapted to the raising of cattle , and 

 that there are coal-beds of immense value in 

 that region. 



More favorable views of the fitness of Terra 

 del Fuego, also, for cultivation are expressed 

 by recent travelers among them Ramon Lista 

 and Julius Popper and that it is particularly 

 suitable for a grazing country. The discovery 

 of gold on the shore of the Strait of Magellan 

 has awakened a sudden interest in the island. 

 M. Lista says that the mountain-chain in the 

 Argentine part of the island should bear the 

 name of its discoverer, Bartolom6 Nodal. The 

 Indians encountered were timid, but not un- 

 friendly when reassured. Some of them were 

 painted, or had their hands and arms colored 

 white with clay, and all had their hair cut and 



