Maack.] 420 



[June 1, 



very poor; only rich in Leguminous and Opuntiaceous plants. But 

 on the contrary the province of Tucuman, lying in the northwest 

 between Salta, Catamarca and Santiago del Estero, is one of the 

 most fertile and beautiful parts of the whole country; in conse- 

 quence of which it is called <: the garden of the Republic." 



The explanation of this, at first sight, striking and appar- 

 ently unnatural fact, is very easy and natural. The high mountains 

 of Aconquija, lying on the western and southern side of this province, 

 are covered, during the whole year, at their highest point, (fifteen 

 thousand feet above the level of the ocean) with snow, and con- 

 sequently condense the atmospheric moisture and so produce rain 

 enough to render the land fruitful. 



The river Parana forms the limit between that plain and those 

 eastern provinces of the Argentine Republic which are called, in 

 consequence of their great fertility, "la Mesopotamia Argentina," 

 namely Entrerios, Corrientes, and Missiones. The provinces Entre- 

 rios, Corrientes, Missiones and Santa Fe are called River-provinces 

 (provincias riberenas) because they lie on the Parana; which 

 river, after joining the Uruguay, coming from the southern Bra- 

 zilian province Santa Catharina, bears the name Rio de la Plata. 

 Cordova, La Rioja, Santiago del Esero, Tucuman, Catamarca, 

 Salta and Jujuy are the upper northern provinces, and San Luis, 

 Mendoza and San Juan, the northwestern provinces, or the " Prov- 

 incias de Cuyo," the word "Cuyo" belonging to the language of 

 the Indian tribe "Araucans," and signifying sand. 



When we arrive at Buenos Ay res, our first impression of the 

 country is that of a very large plain. The elevation above the level 

 of the ocean around the city is very slight, only about ten feet; but 

 as we go higher up the Parana the elevation is greater; namely, at 

 Rosario 53 feet, at Parana^ 90 feet, at Corrientes 200 feet, at Asun- 

 cion 265 feet, and at the limit of the Republic under the 2 2d degree 

 of south latitude, 300 feet. We see a similar rise if we turn to the 

 northwest ; this elevation is at first very slight, but the nearer we 

 come to the chains of mountains, the elevation increases, and reaches 

 at Mendoza an altitude of 2354 feet, and at Copacavana in the 

 province of Catamarca, an altitude of 3597 feet. Likewise the 

 other northern provinces, Tucuman, Salta and Jujuy, lie very high 

 above the level of the ocean, and join their chains more or less with 

 those of Bolivia. From these northern regions spring the three 

 most important and navigable river-branches of the Parana; the 



