CHAPTER XVII. 



Argentina. 



OTH in extent and population the Argentine Hepublic ranks amongst 

 the foremost states of South America. It is surpassed by Brazil 

 alone in superficial area, and by Brazil, if not also by Colombia in 

 the number of its inhabitants. But Colombia must in this respect 

 soon be distanced, thanks to the stream of immigration settling 

 towards the Platean regions. In 1893 the population appears to have exceeded 

 4,000,000 in an area of about 1,125,000 square miles. 



In all attempts to forecast the probable destinies of the Argentine region, 

 the chief geographical factor to be considered is its relative proximity to the 

 European world. Despite the appearances and despite the evidence afforded by 

 the maps, the shores of the Plate estuary lie, for all practical purposes, nearer to 

 Europe than the northern seaboard, which de facto is situated half as near again 

 to that Continent, for the Plate estuary beyond all doubt exercises a greater 

 attraction on the European populations, and has consequently hitherto received 

 the larger share of their trade, capital, and emigrants. In such international 

 movements mere distance, so largely neutralised by rapid steam navigation, is far 

 less important than remoteness from the equator, similar conditions of climate, 

 vegetation, and social habits, in all which respects the Argentine lands contrast 

 favourably with Amazonia nnd most parts of the Brazilian seaboard. 



Pkogress of Discovery. 



This southern section of the Continent remained unvisited by Europeans for 

 seventeen years after the discovery of the New World by Columbus, In 1509, 

 Vicente Pinzon and Diaz de Solis entered the Plate estuary, and in 1520, Magel- 

 lan, accompanied by Pigafetta, historian of the circumnavigation, passed through 

 the strait between the mainland and Fuegia, which bears his name. The estuary 



