CHAPTER II. 



MENDOZA. 



PLAN OF THE TOWN. ALAMEDA. SANJON. BRIDGES. CHURCHES AND CONVENTS. STYLE OF BUILDING. 



CHEAPNESS OF LIVING. GOVERNMENT. HEALTH. GOITRE. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. NUMBER OF CATTLE 



SENT TO CHILE. CRIMES — DEMOCRACT OF THE BILLIARD ROOM. MARKET. MODES OF CROSSING THE 



COUNTRY. GALERAS. TWO-WHEEL CARTS. OX-C ARTS .— MULB TRAINS. POST HORSES. 



Mendoza contains a population of about nine thousand. It is laid off in squares of one 

 hundred and forty English yards each; the streets running nearly north and south, and east and 

 west. One or two of these appear to have been paved in former times, and all have very 

 narrow and uneven sidewalks. The western part of the city is bounded by the Alameda — a 

 fine walk shaded by poplars, and furnished with stone sofas at convenient distances for the use 

 of promenaders. On the evening of feast days a band of music plays here;- and this, with the 

 facility of getting ices — of which the Mendocinos are passionately fond — from two or three 

 cafes near by, attracts nearly the whole population. Horsemen are excluded from the walk, 

 but congregate in front of the cafes, and enliven the time by running short races down the road, 

 ■which is separated from the Alameda by a canal or ditch cut from the Eio de Mendoza. This, 

 and another canal called the Sanjon, are at nightfall the common bathing places of the popula- 

 tion. Sir Francis Head states that he saw here men, women, and children, in a state of nudity, 

 bathing in common. Such may have been the case when he passed, but I certainly saw no 

 indecent exposure except on the part of small boys, who I believe are the same in that respect 

 everywhere. 



The Sanjon is in the eastern part of the city, and separates it from a suburb called La Chimba. 

 Across it are two bridges, one square apart ; the smaller of which is of wood, on brick piers, 

 and was built by a governor by the name of Molina, whose fame is commemorated on its col- 

 umns in rather a singular manner. Near the top of each is one large letter of his name, and 

 below on tablets are records of some of his good qualities or acts, to read which the large letter 

 above is necessary, thus forming a kind of acrostic. The other bridge was built afterwards, in 

 a spirit of emulation, by one of Molina's successors. It is of masonry, very neat and firm, and 

 its columns also serve as monuments of departed heroes, whose particularly praiseworthy acts or 

 qualities are there recorded. 



The banks of the Sanjon are thickly covered with roses, whose fragrance on summer eve- 

 nings makes the bridges a favorite resort for the sentimental. 



There are two plazas in the city ; but they have nothing more to recommend them than most 

 plazas in Spanish towns^great extent and desolate appearance. In the centre of the principal 

 one is a dry fountain, guarded by four posts and a chain, to keep it, I suppose, from going to 

 the river for a little water. 



Of churches there are several, all of them unfinished exteriorly. There are also four con- 

 vents of monks and one of nuns. The inmates of the latter I believe teach female children. 

 The usual stories are told about the licentiousness of the friars ; but, whether with good founda- 

 tion or not I am not prepared to say, as I saw nothing of it. 



The houses, with one or two exceptions, are of one story ; the best of them being flat-roofed, 

 but the majority having peaked roofs, thatched, and covered over the thatch with a mixture of 



