TOPOGEAPHY OF AEGENTIXA. 449 



There are also numerous artesian wells, some sunk in IS^iO to depths of 800 or 

 900 feet ; but the water is too brackish to be of any use for domestic purposes. 

 Since then the freshwater has been tapped which communicates with the Rio 

 Parana at depths of from 84 to 100 feet below the surface. In 1884 as many as 

 150 of these wells had already been opened, the most copious yielding over 

 1,400 cubic feet per hour. These underground reservoirs seem to be inex- 

 haustible. 



To meet the increasing demands of the shipping in a s<?aport concentrating 

 in itself three- fourths of all the trade of the Republic, more than one attempt has 

 been made to improve the approaches and create a good artificial harbour. At 

 first the mouth of the Riachuelo, where Mendoza had moor<d his caravals, was 

 embanked, and the entrance dredged deep enough to admit vessels drawing 

 16 feet; the dredging is still in jDrogress, and will ultimately attain a depth of 

 18 or 20 feet. 



Another project, on a much larger scale, begun in 1887, consists in construct- 

 ing along the whole frontage of the city four basins 23 feet deep protected by 

 a granite breakwater, and provided with warehouses, cranes, and railways. When 

 fully carried out, this scheme, which has already cost nearly £8,000,000, will 

 give to Buenos Ayres a harbour incomparably superior to that of Monte Yideo. 

 Instead of anchoring in the middle of the estuary 16 miles from the city, most 

 of the large vessels already avail themselves of three of the basins completed in 

 1893, or of La Boca, " the mouth," as the port of Riachuelo is called. In 

 the last century, the channel not having yet been buoyed, vessels sailed on 

 the estuary only during the duy, preceded by two pilot boats taking the 

 soundings, quaintly compared by Muratori to hounds on the scent ahead of the 

 sportsman. 



The imports not only comprise manufactured wares and other goods required 

 for the local demand and for the interior, but also the plant and raw materials 

 for distilleries, flour mills, foundries, tanneries, and other industries bolstered up 

 by prohibitive tariffs at the expense of the consumer. In exchange are forwarded 

 wools, provisions, cheese, maize, and other jDroduce. 



Although well supplied with theatres, music halls, and such-like resorts of 

 pleasure, Buenos Ayres, apart from a few little gardens and some promenades 

 planted with trees, has onlj^ one park, the Palermo, situated on the shore of the 

 estuary near the fashionable quarters on the road to the suburban districts of 

 Belgrano, San laidro, San Fernando, and Las Conchas. This magnificent public 

 garden, traversed by a superb avenue of palms, possesses some fine botanical and 

 zoological collections. 



The University, which occupies the site of the old Jesuit College, contains 

 the National Library of 60,000 volumes, and the Museum founded in 1823 by 

 Rivadavia, and for many years administered by the naturalist, Hermann Bur- 

 meister. This museum possesses a most valuable paleontological collection, and 

 amongst other remarkable objects a meteorite which fell in the province of Entre- 

 Rios in 1880, and which contains carbon substances. 



