TOPOGEAPHY OF AEGENTINA. 421 



ToroGRAPHY — Towns of the Missions ïerkitory. 



Like the [Tinted States and other regions where trade and population are 

 rapidly increasing, the Argentine Republic is distinguished by a marked prepon- 

 derance of urban groups, and by a general tendency of the people to gravitate 

 towards the large towns. Buenos Ayres, capital of the State, contains over one- 

 eighth of the whole population, while vast inland regions far from the Atlantic 

 ports remain almost uninhabited. 



In the territory of the Argentine " Missions " the former reductions, or settle- 

 ments of converted Indians, have been transformed to rural villages with widely 

 scattered dwellings, while most of the ruined churches have supplied the materials 

 for modern structures. The Brazilians, who form the majority of the settlers in 

 this region, have established sugar-works and factories for the preparation of 

 manioc and maté. 



On the right bank of the Uruguay, where till recently the ruins of the Missions 

 covered a space of nearly 150 acres planted with palm and orange groves, the town 

 of Concepcion has become a busy agricultural centre surrounded by a broad belt of 

 " black " tobacco fields. Farther on the village of Santo Tome, also an old Jesuit 

 foundation on the same side of the river, exports much rice. San Martin (the 

 Yapeyu of the Guarani), birthplace of the revolutionary hero bearing this name, 

 is now a mere hamlet, although for many years the headquarters of the Missions, 

 the "Rome" of the great theocratic Republic. 



Libres — Paso de los Libres, formerly Restauraeion — where the "freemen" 

 crossed the river to rescue their country from the tyranny of Rosas, stands over 

 against Uruguayana, on the Uruguay side, with which it practically forms a 

 single town. A little farther south is the old mission where Aimé Boupland 

 passed the last twenty years of his life, and where he died in 1857. 



Lower down Monte Caseros, an important cattle market, faces the Uruguayan 

 town of Santa Rosa. At this point the railway constructed along the left bank 

 of the Uruguay throws off to the north-west a branch which is soon to be com- 

 pleted through Mercedes to Corrientes, capital of the province of like name. 



Concordia — Lorefo — Ttati. 



Southwards follow the modern settlements of Mocoreta, Libertad, founded by 

 Tyrolese peasants, Ederaeion and Concordia, the last-mentioned facing the 

 Uruguayan city of Salto. Although one of the busiest riverside ports of Argen- 

 tina, it is accessible to large steamers only during the floods. Even Colon, over 

 60 miles farther south, is approached with difiiculty at low water. Colon, which 

 dates from 1863, faces Paysandu on the Uruguay side, and serves as the outlet 

 for the agricultural produce of San José. This colony, established in 1857 by 

 some Swiss and Savoy immigrants, has prospered wonderfully, and from this 

 " mother hive " have issued numerous swarms, which have gradually transformed 

 the whole face of the land. Wheat, with which a beginning was made, has been 

 Gl 



