THE GROWTH OF MENDOZA 79 



The number of these temporary immigrants seems to 

 be about 6,000. The Chiriguanos of the north leave 

 their families on the Chaco, and the men come alone. 

 The Matacos immigrate in whole tribes. They camp 

 in huts like those of their own villages, under the 

 shelter of the works, and are paid in maize, meat, and 

 cigars. In October, when the algarroba flowers and 

 makes them dream of their own country, they receive 

 the remainder of their pay in money, and spend it in 

 brandy, clothing, knives, and firearms. 



The history of Mendoza resembles that of Tucuman 

 in many ways. In the province of Cuyo, as at Tucuman, 

 urban life has been precocious. In the middle of the 

 eighteenth century Mendoza and San Juan exported 

 wines, dried fruit (pasas and or ej ones), and flour to the 

 coast and to Paraguay. Part of the so-called " Chilean 

 flour " consumed on the Pampa, really came from 

 Jachal and Mendoza. This trade ceased in the nine- 

 teenth century, but San Juan and Mendoza found 

 another source of wealth in fattening cattle and sending 

 them to Chile. Belmar, in 1856, estimates the extent 

 of the lucerne farms of Cuyo to have been 150,000 

 cuadres (440,000 acres). 1 As at Tucuman, the present 

 period is characterized by a rapid expansion of cultiva- 

 tion and a rapid growth of population. But, whereas 

 at Tucuman the neighbouring provinces have provided 

 the whole of the manual labour required, and the 

 actual population is essentially Creole, at Mendoza 

 there has been a larger number of foreign immigrants. 

 In 1914, foreigners were 310 per 1,000 of the entire 

 population of Mendoza : a larger proportion than for 

 the whole country. The immigrants going straight to 

 Mendoza from the ports numbered 12,000 in 1911, and 

 15,000 in 1912 ; almost as much as for the province 

 of Santa Fe, and more than for the province of Cordoba. 

 Thus Mendoza plays a part of its own in the charm 



1 A few convoys of cattle still use the Uspallata road, especially 

 over the Espinacito pass in the Cordillera de San Juan. 



