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PAGE 



In the end of the year 1885 I went to Buenos Aires 

 and remained there for some months. It was at that 

 date an old Spanish city, consisting of houses of one 

 storey, enclosing patios and gardens exactly as they had 

 been built since the earliest days of the Spanish colonis- 

 ation. 



A few local railways connected the capital with 

 towns in the Province of Buenos Aires. In the early 

 part of 1886 the first railway across the Pampa was 

 completed to the city of Mendoza, at the foot of the 

 Cordillera, and I travelled over it to Mendoza a few days 

 after it was opened. 



Having remained some weeks in that city, I crossed 

 the Andes to Chili, as it had been crossed from time 

 immemorial, on mule-back. The ride occupied five 

 days; but no other five days of my life have been so 

 well filled. From start to finish they were crowded 

 with revelations of new experience, new incident, new 

 accident; fatiguing they were, it is true, but worth it 

 all and many times more. 



From Valparaiso I returned to England. 



In the year 1888 I returned to Buenos Aires and 

 again spent some months there. All was changed. 

 Buenos Aires had ceased to be a Spanish town and was 

 rapidly becoming a European city. Railways were* 

 being built in all directions, and an idea of the rate at 

 which this development was proceeding is given in the 

 text. 



It was impossible for me not to be struck with the 

 complete metamorphosis of the whole country, or to be 

 deceived in attributing it to the influence exercised by 

 the spread of railways. 



It was with this impression fresh in my mind that I 

 wrote the lecture and it is printed here exactly as it was 

 delivered. 



The word Geography means literally the description 

 of the Earth; therefore, it is necessary to limit its con- 

 ception, by some definite and circumscribed horizon . I 



Almost all sciences have a geographical significance. 

 This is especially the case with the descriptive sciences, 

 such as Geology, Botany and Zoology. History is 

 nothing if not treated geographically. Geographical 

 environment has an important share in the develop- 



