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ITUAL BEIXGS WE AFRICA : THEIR CLASSES
~ A FUNCTIONS. *
BY
ROBERT HAMILL NASSAU.
Inequalities among the spirits themselves are so great that they
indicate simply differentiations of character or work. So radical
are these varieties, and so distinct the names applied to them, that
I am compelled to recognize a distinction into classes.
I. Zmina, or //ina. A human embodied soul is spoken of and
fully believed in by all the tribes. It is known in the Mpongwe
tribes of the Gaboon country as Zmina (plural, anina); in the
adjacent Benga tribe, Zlina (plural, alina); in the great interior
Fang tribes, Msisim. -
This animating soul, whether it be only one, or whether it
appear as two or three or even four, is practically the same and
the only one that talks, hears and feels, that sometimes goes out
of the body in a dream, and that exists as a spirit after the death
of the body. That it has its own especial materiality seems to be
indicated by the fact that, in the Fang, Bakele, and other tribes,
the same word, nsisim, means not only soul, but also shadow. The
shadow of a tree, or any other inanimate object, and of the human
body, as cast by the sun, is nsisim. -
In my first explorations up the Ogowe River, in 1874, as my vil-
lage preaching necessarily and constantly spoke of our soul—its
sins, its capacity for suffering or happiness, and its relation to its
divine Maker—I was often at a loss how to make my thoughtless
audience understand or appreciate that the “nsisim” of which I
was speaking was not the nsisim cast by the sun as a darkish line
* See BULLETIN No. 5, 1901.
115
|6.ºto wº|.
167733
*








116 Spiritual Beings in West Africa :
on the ground near their bodies. Even to those who understood
me it was not an impossible thought that that dark narrow belt
on the ground was in some way a part of or a mode of manifesta-
tion of that other thing, the nsisim, which they admitted was the
source of the body’s animation. So far defined was that thought
with some of them that they said it was a possible thing for a
human being to have his nsisim stolen or otherwise lost and still
exist in a diseased and dying state, in which case his body would
not cast a shadow. The story of “The man without a shadow ’’
in actuality.
2. Ibambo (Mpongwe plural, abambo). There are vague beings,
“abambo,” which may well be described by our word “ghosts.”
Where they come from is not certainly known, or what locality
they inhabit, except that they belong to the world of spirits.
Why they become visible is also unknown. They are not called,
they are only occasionally worshipped; their epiphany is dreaded,
not reverenced.
The ibambo may appear anywhere and at any time and to anybody.
But it has no message. It rarely speaks. Its most common effect
on human lives is to frighten. It flits; it does not stand or remain
in one spot, to speak or to be spoken to. Indistinctly seen, its
appearances are reported as occurring mostly in dark places—in
shadows, in twilight, and on dark nights. The most common
places are lonely paths in the forest by night.
To all intents and purposes these abambo are what superstitious
fears in our civilization call “ghosts.” The timid dweller in civil-
ization can no more tell us what that ghost is than can the ignorant
African. It is as difficult in the one case as in the other to argue
against the unreal and unknown. What the frightened eye or ear
believes it saw or heard it persists in believing against all proof.
Nor will ridicule make the belief less strong. However, the intel-
ligent child in civilization, under the hand of a judicious parent or
other friend, and relying on love as an expounder, can be led to
understand, by daylight, that the white bark of a tree trunk Shim-
mering in uncertain moonlight, or a white garment flapping in the
wind, or a white animal grazing in the meadow, was the ghost
whose waving form had scared him the night before. His supersti;
tion is not so ingrained by daily exercise but that reason and love
can divest him of it. But, to the denizen of Fetich-land, supersti
tion is religion; the night terror which he is sure he saw is too real
a thing in his life to be identified, by day time, as only a harmless
white barked tree or quartz rock.
7%eir Classes and Functions. 117
3. A third class of spirits is represented by the names Omēwiri,
AWAinda, and Olaga. The ombwiri (Mpongwe plural, awiri) is cer-
tainly somewhat local, and so far forth might be regarded as the
ancient fauns and dryads, with a suggestion of Druidic worship of
spirits resident in the dense oak groves and the massive stones of
the Druid circle. But the awiri are more than dryads. They are
not confined to their local rock, tree, bold promontory, or point of
land, where they resent trespass by human beings. The traveller
must go by silently, or with some cabalistic invocation, with bowed
or bared head, and with some offering—anything, even a pebble.
On the beach, as I bend to pass beneath an enormous tree fallen
across the pathway, I observe the upper side of the log covered
with votive offerings—pebbles, shells, leaves, etc.—laid there by
travellers as they stooped to pass under. Such votive collections
may be seen on many spots along the forest paths, deposited there
by the natives as an invocation of a blessing on their journey.
While the ombwiri is indeed feared, it is with a respectful rever-
ence, different from the scare of an ibambo. Ombwiri is something
fine and admirable in vision (when seen, which is rare); it is white,
like a white person. Souls of distinguished chiefs and other great
men turn to Awiri. Mkinda are spirits of the common dead. The
fear with which the native regards massive rocks and large trees—
the ombwiri homes—need not be felt by white people ; white peo-
ple being themselves considered awiri, their bodies being inhabited
by the departed spirits of the negro dead.
4. Mondi. There are beings, Myondi (Benga singular, mondi),
who are passive agents in causing sickness, or in either aiding or
hindering human plans. But they are not always simply passive ;
they are often active on their own account, or at their own pleas-
ure, generally to injure. They are invoked at the new moons; and
at any other times, particularly in sickness. The native oganga
decides whether or no they be myondi that are afflicting the
patient. This diagnosis being made, and myondi being declared
as present in the patient's body, the indication is that they are to
be exorcised.
A slight doubt must be admitted in regard to these myondi,
whether they do constitute a distinct and separate class, or
whether any spirit of any class may not become a mondi. The
name in that case would be given them, not as a class but as pro.
ducers of certain effects, at certain times and under certain cir-
Cum Stan CeS. -
5. Yaka. There seems to be another class, somewhat like the
118 Spiritual Beings in West Africa :
ancient lares and penates, belonging to the household, worshipped
by a family, and associated with a certain family-fetich called
yaka. This form descends by inheritance with the family. In its
honour is sacredly kept a bundle of toes, fingers, or other bones,
nail clippings, eyes, brains, etc., etc., accumulated from deceased
members of successive generations. This is distinctly an ancestral
worship.
The worship of ancestors is a marked and distinguishing characteristic of the
religious system of Southern Africa. This is something more definite and intelligi-
ble than the religious ceremonies performed in connection with the other classes of
spirits.— Wilson. s
What was described by Dr. Wilson as respect for the aged
among the tribes of Southern Guinea, forty years ago, is true still,
in a large measure even where foreign customs and examples of
foreign traders and the practices of foreign Governments have
broken down native etiquette and native patriarchal government.
Perhaps there is no part of the world where respect and veneration
for age are carried to a greater length than among this people. For
those who are in office, and who have been successful in trade, or
in war, or in any other way have rendered themselves distinguished
among their fellow-men, this respect, in some outward forms at
least, amounts almost to adoration ; and proportionately so when
the person has attained to advanced age. All the younger mem-
bers of society are early trained to show the utmost deference to
age. They must never come into the presence of aged persons or
pass by their dwellings without taking off their hats and assuming a
crouching gait. When seated in their presence it must always be
at a “respectful distance ’’—a distance proportioned to the differ-
ence in their ages and position in society. If they come near
enough to hand an aged man a lighted pipe or a glass of water, the
bearer must always fall upon one knee. Aged persons must always
be addressed as “father” (rera, lale, paia) or “mother” (ngwe,
ina). Any disrespectful deportment or reproachful language
toward such persons is regarded as a misdemeanour of no ordinary
aggravation. A youthful person carefully avoids communicating
any disagreeable intelligence to such persons, and almost always
addresses them in terms of flattery and adulation. And there is
nothing which a young person so much deprecates as the curse of
an aged person, and especially that of a revered father.
6. Possibly there is a sixth class. There may enter into any
animal’s body (generally a leopard's) some spirit or, even tempo-
rarily, the soul of a living human being. The animal then, guided by
Their classes and Functions. 119
human intelligence and will, exercises its strength for the purposes
of the temporary human possessor. Many murders are said to be
committed in this way—after the manner of the mythical German
wehr-wolf or the ſoup-garou.
The powers and functions of the several classes of spirits do not
seem to be distinctly defined. Certainly they do not confine them-
selves either to their recognised locality nor to the usually under-
stood activity pertaining to their class. These powers and functions
shade into each other, or may be assumed by members of any class.
But (1) it is clearly believed that spirits, even of a given class, differ
in power among themselves from the other members of that same
class. Some are strong, others are weak. (2) They are limited as
to the nature of their powers; not any spirit can do all things. (3)
A spirit's efficiency runs only on a certain line or lines. (4) All of
them can be influenced and be made subservient to human wishes
by a variety of incantations.
I. Functions of the first class, or Anina.
While embodied in a human form, they constitute the life-
principle that demonstrates itself through the various senses, and
that lives after the body is dead, continuing itself in the unseen
world, with all the same feelings and actuated by the same passions
as when embodied as a human soul.
So few are the special activities by which to distinguish them
from other classes of spirits that I might doubt whether they
should properly be considered as distinct were it not true that the
Anina are all of them disembodied spirits; none of them are of other
possible origin. As disembodied spirits retaining memory of their
former human relationships they have an interest in human affairs,
and especially in the affairs of the family of which they were lately
members.
2. Functions of the second class, or Abambo.
They are one of the two classes of spirits the worship of which
forms the most prominent feature in the superstitious practices of
the country.
The term abambo is in the plural form, and may, therefore, be regarded as forming
a class of spirits instead of a single individual. They are the spirits of dead men ;
but whether they are positively good or positively evil, to be loved or to be hated,
or to be courted or avoided, are points which no native of the country can answer
satisfactorily. Abambo are the spirits of the ancestors of the people, as distinguished
from the spirits of strangers. These are the spirits with which men are possessed,
and there is no end to the ceremonies used to deliver them from their power.
120 Spiritual Beings in West Africa :
3. The functions of the third class, Awiri.
These spirits are sometimes spoken of as AWAinda, Olaga
(Mpongwe plural, Inaga). They all come from the spirits of the
dead. These several names do not indicate a difference as to kind
or class of spirit, but a difference in the work or functions they are
called upon to exercise. The Inaga are spirits of strangers, and
have come from a distance.
The derivation of the word Ombwiri is not known. As it is used in the plural as
well as in the singular form, it no doubt represents a class or family of spirits. He
is regarded as a tutelar or guardian spirit. Almost every man has his own ombwiri,
for which he provides a small house near his own. All the harm that he has
escaped in this world, and all the good secured, are ascribed to the kindly offices of
this, guardian spirit. Ombwiri is also regarded as the author of everything in the
world which is marvellous or mysterious. Any remarkable feature in the physical
aspect of the country, any notable phenomenon in the heavens, or extraordinary
events in the affairs of men are ascribed to Ombwiri. His favorite places of abode
are the summits of high mountains, deep caverns, large rocks, and the base of very
large forest trees. And while the people attach no malignity to his character, they
carefully guard against all unnecessary familiarity in their intercourse with him, and
never pass a place where he is supposed to dwell except in silence. He is the only
one of all the spirits recognized by the people that has no priesthood ; his inter-
course with men being direct and immediate.
Sick persons, and especially those that are afflicted with nervous
disorders, are supposed to be possessed by one or the other of
these spirits. If the disease assumes a serious form the patient is
taken to a priest or a priestess of one or the other of these spirits.
Certain tests are applied, and it is soon ascertained to which class
the disease belongs, and the patient is accordingly turned over to
the proper priest. The ceremonies in the two cases are not ma-
terially different; they are alike, at least, in the employment of an
almost endless round of absurd, unmeaning, and disgusting cere-
monies which none but a heathenish and ignorant priesthood could
invent, and none but a poor, ignorant, and superstitious people
could ever tolerate. -
In either case a temporary shanty is erected in the middle of the
street for the occupancy of the patient, the priest, and such
persons as are to take part in the ceremony of exorcism. The time
employed in performing the ceremonies is seldom less than ten or
fifteen days. During this period dancing, drumming, feasting, and
drinking are kept up without intermission day and night, and all at
the expense of the nearest relative of the invalid. The patient, if
a female, is decked out in the most fantastic costume; her face,
bosom, arms, and legs are streaked with red and white chalk, her
head adorned with red feathers, and much of the time she prome-
Their Classes and Functions. .* 121
nades the open space in front of the shanty with a sword in her
hand, which she brandishes in a very menacing way against the by-
standers. At the same time she assumes as much of the maniac in
her looks, actions, gestures, and walk as possible. In many cases
this is all mere affectation, and no one is deceived by it. But
there are other cases where these notions seem involuntary and
entirely beyond the control of the person; and when you watch the
wild and unnatural stare, the convulsive movements of the limbs
and body, the unnatural posture into which the whole frame is
occasionally thrown, the gnashing of the teeth, and foaming at the
mouth, and supernatural strength that is put forth when any
attempt is made at constraint, you are strongly reminded of cases
of real possession recorded in the New Testament. •
There is no reason to suppose that any real cures are effected
by these prolonged ceremonies. In certain nervous affections the
excitement is kept up until utter exhaustion takes place; and if the
patient is kept quiet afterwards (which is generally the case) she
may be restored to better health after a while; and, no matter how
1ong it may be before she recovers from this severe tax upon her
nerves, the priest claims the credit of it. In other cases the
patient may not have been diseased at all, and, of course, there was
nothing to be recovered from.
If it should become a case of undissembled sickness, and the
patient become worse by this unnatural treatment, she is removed,
and the ceremonies are suspended, and it is concluded that it was
not a real possession, but something else. The priests have certain
tests by which it is known when the patient is healed, and the
whole transaction is wound up when the fees are paid. In all cases
of this kind it is impossible to say whether the devil has really been
cast out or merely a better understanding arrived at between him
and the person he has been tormenting. The individual is required
to build a little house or temple for the spirit near his own, to take
occasional offerings to him, and pay all due respect to his character,
or to be subject to renewed assaults at any time. Certain re-
strictions are imposed upon the person who has recovered from
these satanic influences. He must refrain from certain kinds of e
food, avoid certain places of common resort, and perform certain
duties; and, for the neglect of any of these, is sure to be severely
scourged by a return of his malady. Like the Jews, in speaking of
the actions of these demoniacs, they are said to be done by the
spirit, and not by the person who is possessed. If the person per-
forms any unnatural or revolting act—as the biting off of the head
122 Spiritual Beings in West Africa : t
of a live chicken and sucking its blood—it is said that the spirit,
not the man, has done it. *
But the views of the great mass of the people on these subjects
are exceedingly vague and indefinite. They attend these cere-
monies on account of the parade and excitement that usually
accompany them, but they have no knowledge of their origin, their
true nature, or of their results. Many submit to the ceremonies
because they are persuaded to do so by their friends, and, no doubt,
in many cases in the hope of being freed from some troublesome
malady. But as to the meaning of the ceremonies themselves, or
the real influence which they exert upon their bodily diseases, they
probably have many doubts, and when called upon to give explana-
tion of the process which they have passed through, they show that
they have none but the most confused ideas. -
4. The functions of the fourth class, Myondi.
These are much the same as those of the third class, except that
in power they seem to be more independent than other spirits.
They are active, self-willed, and generally malignant causers of
disease, and they are worshipped almost always only in a depre-
catory way. They often take violent possession of human bodies;
and for their expulsion it is that Inaga, Nkinda, and Awiri are
invoked.
5. Functions of the spirit of the family-fetish, Eyaka (Benga
plural, Byaka). The respect for parents and other aged persons :
already referred to in this chapter,
by a very natural operation of the mind, is turned into idolatrous regard for them
when dead. It is not supposed that they are divested of their power and influence
by death; but, on the contrary, they are raised to a higher and more powerful sphere
of influence, and hence the natural disposition of the living, and especially those re-
lated to them in any way in this world, to look to them and call upon them for aid in
all the emergencies and trials of life. It is no uncommon thing to see large groups
of men and women, in times of peril or distress, assembled along the brow of some
commanding eminence, or along the skirts of some dense forest, calling in the most
piteous and touching tones upon the spirits of their ancestors.
Images are used in the worship of ancestors, but they are seldom exposed to pub-
lic view. They are kept in some secret corner, and the man who has them in charge
especially if they are intended to represent a father or predecessor in office, takes
food and drink to them, and a very small portion of almost everything that is gained
in trade.
But a yet more prominent feature of this ancestral worship is to be found in the
preservation and adoration of the bones of the dead, which may be fairly regarded as
a species of relic worship. The skulls of distinguished persons are preserved with
the utmost care, but always kept out of sight. I have known the head of a distin-
guished man to be dissevered from the body when it was but partially decomposed,
ZTheir. Classes and Functions. 123
and suspended so as to drip upon a mass of chalk provided for the purpose. The
brain is supposed to be the seat of wisdom, and the chalk absorbs this by being - ºr
placed under the head during the process of decomposition. By applying this to the
foreheads of the living, it is supposed they will imbibe the wisdom of the person
whose brain has dripped upon the chalk. 4.
In some cases all the bones of a beloyed father or mother, having been dried, are
kept in a wooden chest, for which a small house is provided, where the son or
daughter goes statedly to hold communication with their spirits. They do not pre-
tend to have any audible responses from them, but it is a relief to their minds in
their more serious moods to go and pour out all the sorrows of their heart in the ear
of a revered parent.
This belief, however much of superstition it involves, exerts a very powerful in-
fluence upon the social character of the people. It establishes a bond of affection
between the parent and child much stronger than could be expected among a people
wholly given up to heathenism. It teaches the child to look up to the parent not
only as its earthly protector, but as a friend in the spirit land. It strengthens the
bonds of filial affection, and keeps up a lively impression of a future state of being.
The living prize the aid of the dead, and it is not uncommon to send messages to
them by some one who is on the point of dying; and so greatly is this aid prized by
the living, that I have known an aged mother to avoid the presence of her sons, lest
she should by some secret means be dispatched prematurely to the spirit world, for
the double purpose of easing them of the burden of taking care of her and securing
for themselves more effective aid than she could render them in this world.
All their dreams are construed into visits from the spirits of their deceased
friends. The cautions, hints and warnings which come to them through this source
are received with the most serious and deferential attention, and are always acted
upon in their waking hours. The habit of relating their dreams, which is universal,
greatly promotes the habit of dreaming itself, and hence their sleeping hours are
characterized by almost as much intercourse with the dead as their waking hours are
with the living. This is, no doubt, one of the reasons of their excessive super-
stitiousness. Their imaginations become so lively that they can scarcely distinguish
between their dreams and their waking thoughts, between the real and the ideal, and
they consequently utter falsehood without intending, and profess to see things which
never existed.—See DR. WILSON, Western Africa.
All that is quoted above from Dr. Wilson is still true among
tribes not touched by civilization. What he relates of the love of
children for parents and the desire to communicate with their
departed spirits is particularly true of the children of men and
women who have held honourable position in the community while
they were living. And it is also all consistent with what I have
described of the fear with which the dead are regarded and the
dread lest they should revenge some injury done them in life. The
common people and those who had neglected their friends in any
way would be the ones who would dread this. The better classes,
especially of the superior tribes, would be the ones to hold their
dead in affectionate remembrance.
I have met with instances of the preservation of a parent's
124 Spiritual Beings in West Africa, &c.
brains for fetich purposes, as mentioned above by Dr. Wilson. As
honoured guest I have been given the best room in which to sleep
overnight. On a flat stone, in a corner of the room, was a pile of
greyish substance; it was chalk mixed with the decomposed brain
matter that had dripped on it from the skull that formerly had been
suspended above it. I then remembered how, on visiting chiefs in
their villages, they frequently were not in the public reception
room on my arrival; but I was kept awaiting them. They had been
apprized of the white man’s approach, had retired to their bed-
rooms, and when they reappeared it was with their foreheads and
sometimes with other parts of their bodies marked with that grey-
ish mixture. The object was that they be given wisdom and suc-
cess in any question of diplomacy or in a favour they might be ask-
ing of the white man.
6. Functions of what is possibly a sixth class.
This belief in demoniacal possession of a lower animal must not
be confounded with the equally-believed transmigration of souls.
It is widespread over at least a third of the African continent. In
Mashonaland
they believe that at times both living and dead persons can change themselves into
animals, either to execute some vengeance or to procure something they wish for;
thus a man will change himself into a hyena or a lion to steal a sheep and make a
good meal off it; into a serpent to avenge himself on some enemy. At other times,
if they see a serpent it is one of the Matotela tribe or slave tribe, which has thus
transformed himself to take some vengeance on the Barotse (Décle). -
， ！
ic Office Chart.
Hydrograph
S.
U
SLAND.
CULEBRA I

CULEBRA ISLAND.
BY
A. C. HAESELBARTH.
Culebra Island is a part of Porto Rico, and was ceded with
Vieques by the Treaty of Paris. It is 53 miles from San Juan, 17
miles from St. Thomas, and 19 miles from Vieques. Its exact situa-
tion is between latitudes 18° 15' and 18° 23' north and longitudes
65° 10' and 65° 25' west. It is a bunch of picturesque hills, rang-
ing in height from 150 to 650 feet. The island proper is approxi-
mately 7 miles long and 3 miles wide. Northeast island, 1 mile long,
is 2% miles from the mainland, and Culebrita, of the same size, is
3% miles from the mainland, and bears, on a bluff 3oo feet high, a
lighthouse in which is a fixed white light that can be seen 21 miles
at Sea.
Culebra proper has numerous harbours, of which the best are
Target Bay, Great Harbour, and Mosquito Bay on the south side ;
Swell Bay, Surf Bay, and Flamingo Bay on the north side, and
Mangrove Harbour at the east end. The village of Culebra and
the marine camp are at the head of Great Harbour, which is prac-
tically landlocked. On the highest hill of the island, at an eleva-
tion of 650 feet, is the Government signal station, from which the
t approach of a large vessel or fleet from any direction can be seen
thirty miles out at sea. A telephone line connects this station and
the marine camp. Thus far no attempt has been made to fortify
the island beyond mounting a 5-inch gun in a commanding position
and three smaller guns at the marine camp. The island, however,
Could quickly be made a formidable spot, being a natural fortifi-
Cation.
Great Harbour, which the Government is said to favour as a naval
station in preference to San Juan harbour, Porto Rico, was so
named by the British, but has long been called Ensenada Honda by
the Spanish and Porto Rican mariners, who have taken refuge in
the same many times. It is protected from the winds and defended
on all sides. Its waters are as tranquil as those of a lake, and the
largest fleet in the world can find accommodation therein, in view
of the depth and the fact that its bottom is free from all obstruc-
tions. A small canal could be cut through the little neck of land
in the Playa Sardinas so as to establish an outlet for the waters of
125 w * * , , , e
we w L *
* * * sº
*
o
126 Culebra Island.
the harbour. This bay, so favoured by nature, can be considered
the finest harbour in the Antilles, and the one that has suffered the
least from the havoc of cyclones. t
One and a half miles to the southwest of Culebra lies the isle
of Luis Peña or Southwest Island, which is about a mile long, and
is in a complete state of abandonment. This isle and the Punta
del Soldado form the harbour that has been used from time imme-
morial by the warships that visit the island for exercises, on
account of the fact that it is well defended and has two beautiful
shores, suitable for effective landings. -
On the north coast there is no port except the small open bay
called Flamencos or Flamingo, which can be entered at a great
risk by small boats only. *
The camp at Culebra, called Camp Roosevelt, is on a bluff near
the village, and is cooled by an ever-present breeze. Fresh water
is supplied from a big water barge in the bay, potable water being
extremely scarce in the island. There are no rivers, but in the
rainy season a stream is formed in a ravine running from the centre
of the island to the east of the village and emptying into Great
Harbour. ~.
It is a lack of water that is likely to prove the most serious
drawback to the future development of Culebra. The water is
mostly brackish. Copious wells have been dug in several places.
The waters of these wells are given to cattle and are used for
domestic purposes; there are, however, four or five of them whose
waters are drunk by the colonists. In the town there are two
public cisterns of regular size. One of these was built in 1889,
during the Spanish administration, with Government funds and
with the aid of the colonists ; the other one was built after the
occupation of the island by the Americans with moneys collected
for the relief of the victims of the cyclone of “San Ciriaco'”
(Aug. 8th, 1899), and donated by the Board of Charities to the
inhabitants of Culebra, There are also some private cisterns in
the town and in the country, in which rain water is collected.
There is a hamlet to which, when founded, was given the name
of San Ildefonso ; there are several streets in this hamlet, which
has sixty-two houses of fair construction, and in the four wards,
viz.: Pueblo, San Isidro, Fraile, and Playa Sardinas, there are
about eighty-five houses, twenty of which are fairly good, while
most of the others are mere huts ; the total number of inhabitants
is 704. - -
The products of the island are maize, beans, and other grains,
Culebra Island. * 127
plantains, bananas of various kinds, sweet potatoes and other
tubers, and fruits, such as cocoanuts, mangoes, etc. There are
good farms fit for cattle-raising ; and the raising of domestic fowls
is very easy. Several experiments have been made in sugar-cane-
raising, and the results have been very good. Quite a little
tobacco is raised on the island, and this is manufactured into
chewing tobacco on account of its juiciness. Cotton, also, is pro-
duced, and yields abundant crops of a very superior quality of
fibre. This plant grows in a semi-wild state, and the care of it
costs very little. e
The island suffers greatly from drought on account of its small
size, and because the strong winds keep the rains from falling five
or six months in the year. When the products of the island had
a market in St. Thomas, agriculture flourished; but since 1898,
when the island lost the privilege of taking its products to the
Danish West Indies, its only market, agriculture was abandoned,
and to-day yields but very little.
The commerce of the island is in the hands of five merchants,
who do business on a small scale, and who import the goods they
handle from San Juan, Fajardo, and Vieques. There are no
industries, and the exports of the island consist of the minor pro-
duce, shipped to Vieques, Fajardo, and even to San Juan ; cattle,
shipped to Vieques, Fajardo, and San Juan, and in some years to
St. Thomas ; tortoise shells, which abound on the island, and are
shipped to the same markets as the cattle.
The cattle are as fine as any in the world; and I venture the
opinion that cattle-raising in Culebra will yet yield big profits to
men who engage in it. There are now on the island 2,215 head of
cattle, divided as follows: Horses, 2 or ; asses, 4 ; bovine cattle,
I,355 ; sheep, I 5 o ; goats, 325 ; Swine, 18o. These are valued at
$27,911. -
There are sixty-six country properties, with about 4, ooo “culti-
vated "acres, of which 2,639 acres are simply cleared lands devoted
to pasture. Tobacco, bananas, and minor products use about 300
acres, and there are 9oo acres of wood and brush land. By Presi-
dent Roosevelt's order of December 18, 1901, all the public lands
were put under the control of the Navy Department, excepting
Some in the interior of the island. The use of plots a little more
than sixty acres each can be obtained in return for labour for the
Government, but the holders are liable to eviction on brief notice.
The public buildings on the island are few. There are two
Schoolhouses, built with insular funds in 1892 ; a tiny Catholic
128 Culebra Island.
church, built in 1890 by the Catholics of Porto Rico ; a police sta-
tion, now used as a residence of school teachers; and the public
cistern. There is a tiny wharf, at very deep water, where, if a naval
station is established, the coal piles will be located. The Gover-
nor lives in the Casa Blanca, a two-story unpainted frame build-
ing near the wharf. There is a cemetery, to which an average of
but four bodies a year are added, and on the wall of which rests
the public coffin, in which all corpses are carried to the burying-
ground. 4 -
Up to the beginning of the last century this island was the lurk-
ing-place of pirates, whence a little key in this splendid bay derives
its name. This bay was called Great Harbour by the English, who
drew the first plan or map of the island, sometime about 1838.
The first name of the island was Isla del Pasage, which seemed
to indicate that it was the proper place to stop at in long inter-
oceanic navigations; but later on Porto Rican mariners and fisher-
men changed this name to Culebra, which means snake, on account
of the peculiar shape of the island.
Up to 188o the island was visited by none but small craft con-
veying persons engaged in fishing, charcoal-burning, and wood-
chopping ; the best timber, such as the Guayaco (Guaiacum offici-
male), being felled and taken to St. Thomas, St. Croix, or other
islands, without any permission; and it is to be supposed that this
was what led the Government of Spain to look upon colonizing
the island as a necessity. - g - •
Between 1870 and 1876 there lived on the island, at the place
called “Tamarindo,” one Stiven, a negro from Tortola (British
colony), who called himself the Governor of the island, and com-
manded the respect of even the Porto Rican fishermen. Stiven
was found murdered one day, and when the news of this assassina-
tion reached the Spanish authorities in Vieques they sent troops to
Culebra ; twelve small foreign boats were seized, and about forty
men engaged in fishing, charcoal-burning, and wood-chopping with-
out permission from the representatives of the Spanish Crown
were arrested. Much attention was drawn towards the coloniza-
tion of the island by this event ; and had it not taken place it is
nearly certain that the “Tortolefios,” or inhabitants of Tortola,
who are British subjects, would have taken possession of the island.
It also happened that foreign men-of-war, especially German, used
the water and shores of the island for naval exercises, and evi- *
dences of this are still found in many parts of the southern coast w
and in the most accessible parts of the island, where projectiles
Culebra /sland. 129
have been found which, on account of their shape, etc., are calcu-
lated to be at least fifty years old. In 1887 three German men-of-
war visited the island with the object of making naval exercises,
and a force of the Guardia Civil was sent to the island to afford
protection to the delegate, whose presence in Culebra, with many
colonists, proved that Spain had occupied the island.
A circular issued by the General Government of Porto Rico on
May 13th, 1879, opened the road to colonization of Culebra, and a
Royal Order of March 15th, 1881, granted, among other conces-
sions, that of freedom of the ports of the island.
It was not until 1884–1885 that the amounts necessary to defray
the expenses of the colonization of the island of Culebra were
included in the budget of Porto Rico.
In 1886 trafficking between St. Thomas and Porto Rico, con-
ducted in sailing craft, assumed such importance that it attracted
the attention of the Spanish Consul at St. Thomas, who communi-
cated with the General Government of Porto Rico on the matter.
It happened that the port of the island of Culebra was used as a
roadstead by the smugglers, who, evading the vigilance of the reve-
nue officials, introduced into Porto Rico from St. Thomas goods
subject to the payment of import duties. One of the principal
articles smuggled was Kentucky and Virginia leaf tobacco. The
result was that the traffic in vessels plying between St. Thomas and
Culebra was declared illegal, except when the vessels had secured
a written permit from the Consul of Spain at St. Thomas.
Official statistics show that in 1894 goods valued at $6,630.49
were imported into Culebra, and products of this island, valued at
$7, 184. 20, were exported. -
The most important articles were : cattle, sweet potatoes, plan-
tains, chewing tobacco, pumpkins, beans, domestic fowls, tortoise
shell, charcoal, Indian corn, and mangle bark.
Delegate Delgado says that great damage has been done to the
interests of the island by annexing, it to Vieques, in view of the
distance that separates the two islands. He thinks that Culebra
should continue as heretofore—never as a dependency of any other
municipality of Porto Rico. He says it is necessary, in view of
the exceptional condition of its coasts and ports, that the Governor
of Porto Rico have a special representative in the island, since it is
periodically visited by war vessels, and is called to be a stronghold,
naval station, coaling station, or a penitentiary.
It may be said that there are no roads in Culebra, travelling
being entirely over narrow trails, on sure-footed horses. These
I 30 Culebra Island.
horses are worth from $30.oo to $50.oo there. The natives ride,
as they do elsewhere in the West Indies, with huge wicker baskets
on either side of the little beasts, which patiently carry heavy
loads. Everywhere the undisturbed charm of the tropics remains.
The views are magnificent from the hills, and the gallops along the
stretches of beach by a rolling surf are never to be forgotten.
THE ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY OF THE ARGENTINE
REPUBLIC.
By -
J. RUSSELL SMITH.
General Description.—The Argentine Republic is, in a general
way, the southern counterpart for the region lying between the
Missouri-Mississippi River and the watershed of the Rocky Moun-
tains. Each of these sections begins near the tropics, with a region
of heavy rainfall and forests. From these centres of humidity the
rainfall decreases toward the interior, and is accompanied by cor-
responding changes in the vegetation. In the United States the
low-lying eastern part of the western half of the Mississippi Valley
is forest-covered; then to the westward are the open plains, where
corn and wheat are grown, the wheat going the farther westward,
and finally giving way in the region of increasing aridity, where
only pastoral industries can survive without irrigation. The supply
of water for this purpose is mainly derived from the mountain
streams at the western edge of the Great Plains, where thriving
agricultural settlements are growing up in New Mexico, Colorado,
and Montana. The Argentine Republic duplicates these zones.
She has in the northeast a rainy forest belt, a corn belt, a wheat
belt, then a wide stretch of semi-arid and arid plain, and finally at
the foot of the Andes a succession of agricultural settlements, de-
pending upon the water supply from the Andean snowfields. Both
of the regions under consideration are extended and usually level
plains that have been in great part deposited by erosion from the
continental axis to the westward; but the comparison must not be
carried too far, for there are minor differences that make Argen-
tina the least valuable of the two areas. The forested region is
smaller, and the wood less valuable; the grain-growing belt is nar-
72° 58° G4’ G() * 56°
V.
X LEGEND
-*. +++++ Boundary of Cordilleran Inland Drainage Basin
-- Sand Dunes in the Regions of Accurate Surveys
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*
AN ECONOMIC MAP & ºn tº ºr -y ºr tº º ºs Boundary of Inland Drainage Basin of Low Plain
-----|-- Boundary of Wheat Territory
lsohyetose Lines; Annual Rainfall in Inches
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. - - - * º Meat Freezing Establishments
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AriCºl
OF THE
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1500 to 4500 Meters
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Forests
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Z%e Aconomic Geography of the Argentine Republic. 131
rower, the arid belt is more arid, and the greater length from north
to South gives the Argentina a tropic section in the latitude cor-
responding to Yucatan, and a cold temperate section reaching a
higher latitude than the Saskatchewan River in Assiniboia. Despite
these drawbacks, the Argentine Republic has large production and
larger possibilities in both pasturage and agriculture, and con-
siderable promise in her forests and minerals.
Mineral Æesources.—The present minerah production of Argentina
is slight. Lignite is found in several provinces, but it has not
been successfully utilized, and, owing to the lack of coal, there is
no iron manufacture. A small amount of petroleum is produced in
Mendoza. In the extreme northwest, in the high and desert
plateaux of the Andes, are extensive deposits of borates, which have
recently been worked in a small way, but there is as yet no ade-
quate outlet by which the product can reach the sea coast. Gold is
found in the Andes, but the operations have been insignificant, and
chiefly in the far south, where placer mines have been exploited
in the Island of Tierra del Fuego. In 1900, 212 ounces of gold
were produced. -
...Despite the meagre output of minerals, there is good geological
reason for the belief that there is considerable mineral wealth.
Western Argentina comprises the eastern slope of the Andean
mountain system. The western side of this range in Chile is rich
in deposits that are probably duplicated in some places on the other
side of the range. Ore finds are constantly being reported in
Argentina, but the great distance from a base of operations upon
the sea coast and the lack of transport facilities have thus far pre-
vented their development. The great agricultural and pastoral
resources of the country have provided employment for the scanty
supplies of labour and capital.
Aforest Resources.—The forest resources of the Argentine Re-
public lie at the extremes of the country—the tropic and sub-tropic
forests of the north and the evergreen forests of the south. Both
are so far away from the centres of population and industry, and in
locations so difficult of access, that the greater part of the lumber
supply has been imported. The southern forests of Araucanian
pine occupy considerable areas along the Andes in lower Patagonia
and in Tierra del Fuego. Some lumbering has been done in places
easily accessible from the sea, but this region is a remote and, until
recently, unsettled frontier, as far from Buenos Aires as the coast
of southern Labrador is from Boston.
132 The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic.
The northern forests are made to contribute more to the econo-
mic life of the Republic, yet the larger part of this section is as
little known as interior Patagonia. It is known as “El Gran
Chaco” (the Great Hunting Ground), and is held by a few wander-
ing tribes of hostile Indians, who have thus far resisted all efforts
to explore the interior. The tree growth begins with thorn thickets
as far south as the Rio Colorado, in about latitude 41°. These
thickets are replaced northward by groves of small trees suitable
for fuel and posts, and giving a park landscape to the eastern part
of Pampa Territory and much of Cordoba. This growth does not
go eastward into the Province of Buenos Aires nor into Santa Fé
until latitude 31° is reached. Here the increasing rainfall raises the
tree growth into a forest that extends northward into Bolivia, and
often presents impassable jungle. The most valuable product of
this zone is the wood of the red quebracho tree, commonly called
quebracho colorado (Quebrachia Zorentziá or Zoxopterigium Zo-
rentzii). It has great hardness, weight, and durability, and pro-
duces a valuable extract containing tannin. The wood lasts well
in air, water, or earth, and has been widely used in the construction
of Argentine railroads, serving as ties, bridge timbers, and telegraph
poles. The tannin content is usually from Io-20%, but the finest
grade of quebracho growing in a strip from fifteen to twenty miles
wide along the west bank of the Parana is said to yield from 22 to
28%. * The high quality of leather produced by this extract has
led to the exportation of the wood to Europe. The shipments f
were 29, 7'oo tons in 1892, 155, ooo tons in 1895, 225, ooo tons in
1900. It was all used for tanning purposes, and successful experi-
ments at extracting the tannin near the scene of production have
Caused a large increase in the business, which has attracted German,
British, French, and American capital.
The quebracho tree is from 35 to 45 feet in height, from 12 to
4o inches in diameter (rarely above 20), and is foundſ in abundance
in the region bounded by 30° and 22° south and 58° and 65° west
longitude. This area of 125, ooo square miles is larger than Georgia
and Florida combined, and, according to the estimate of a recent
German writer, § contains reserves of quebracho wood to the extent
* Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics. Vol. XI, p. 881.
+ Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics, Vol. XI, p. 881.
# K. Kaerger Landwirtschaft & Kolonisation im Spanischen Amerika, I Band.
Die La Plata-Staaten. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1902, p. 816.
§ Quoted in Annales de Géographie, No. 57, p. 258.
The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic. 133
of 168,750, ooo tons — enough to give secure basis for a large
development of the lumber and tannin industries.*
Zhe Pastoral Industries.—The pastoral industries furnish the
most important element in the wealth of the Argentine Republic.
This country, like the western part of the Mississippi Valley, began
its industrial history as a cattle range. This was the leading in-
dustry and the sole basis of the export trade from the founding of
the colony late in the 16th century until 1848, when regular exports
of wool began and increased with great rapidity.
About the middle of the 19th century efforts to introduce agri-
culture resulted in the successful growing of grain. The supply
was inadequate for the home market, and regular importations were
made from southern Brazil, Chile, and other countries till, in 1873, a
surplus of wheat was placed upon the world’s market. Since that
date the advance has been rapid, and Argentina is now an im-
portant exporter of grain. The development of agriculture has
not, however, caught up with the pastoral industries, which still
furnish over half of the total exports of the country.
The cattle and sheep reported by the census of 1895 were
respectively 21,702, ooo and 74,380, ooo. In 190o the cattle were
estimated at 28, ooo, ooo, giving Argentina the third rank—United
States having 44 million and Russia 3of million. In 1901 the esti-
mated number of sheep was 120 million, giving Argentina the first
rank, as Australia had 7o million in 1900 and the United States 42
million. The wool clip was 2.5o, ooo tons in 1901.
The exports of animal products were valued at 1 15% million
dollars in 1899, and 7.1% millions in 1900. Wool is the most
important item, but improvements in transportation are making
meat and live animals of increasing importance. Both are now
regularly shipped to Europe, more than 1 oo, ooo live animals hav-
ing been sent in a single year. In 190o (the latest statistics avail-
able) the shipments of frozen meat amounted to 261, ooo quarters
of beef and 2% million sheep. Other important articles are hides,
sheep skins, tallow, and jerked beef for consumption in tropical
countries. *.
The uneven distribution of the flocks and herds throughout the
country is, like the agriculture, dependent upon varying climatic
* The merchantable quebracho is all found north of a line running from the
Parana at 31 S. to El Recreo 65 W. 29%. S., thence along the slopes of the Andes.
+ Annales de Géographie, p. 252.
f Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics, July, 1901, p. 48.
, 134 The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic.
#
conditions. As barns for stabling or shelter for live stock are
practically unknown in Argentina, the questions of moisture and
temperature are doubly important, affecting as they do every con-
dition, both of food supply and physical survival. Cattle are not
well protected by nature against cold, and the herds do not thrive
south of the Province of Buenos Aires.* The winter temperature
is sometimes extreme, and the “pampero” or southwest wind-
storms blow from the Patagonian highlands with great severity.
The extremes of moisture and heat, however, are borne by cattle
better than by any of the other domestic animals of the temperate
zone. They can survive an annual rainfall of 8o inches, and the
cattle industry extends northward into Salta and Jujuy, the sub-
tropical provinces of the northwest, and, in a small way, even in the
rainy northeastern territories of Formosa and Misiones. The horse
is somewhat like the ox in his climatic requirements, but does not
thrive in a rainfall of more than 55 inches in the Argentine, and
therefore his northern limit is more restricted than that of the ox.
Moisture is even more disadvantageous to sheep, and they do not
thrive north of the line of annual precipitation of 40 inches. The
strong points of the sheep are resistance to cold and hunger. The
fleece enables them to endure the storms of Patagonia, and they
can fast for considerable periods when necessary, and they will also
paw through a foot of snow to obtain food. As a result of this
hardihood, the shores of Patagonia and even of Tierra del Fuego
are rapidly being taken up as sheep ranges. Many of the settlers
are British subjects coming across from the Falkland Islands,
where for a century they have carried on sheep-raising under some-
what similar climatic conditions, and developed a hardy breed of
Falkland sheep. The flocks of Patagonia increased from 30,8oo in
1881 to two million in 1895, and have had large increase since that
date. Parts of interior Patagonia are high, arid, and rocky, but
recent explorations have shown that, toward the foot of the Andes
and South of 40° latitude, there is a promising country of lakes, for-
ests, pastures, and fair rainfall. The climate here is said to resem-
ble that of Scotland, which is also pre-eminently a sheep country.
It is a curious fact that nearly all of the sheep of Argentina are
owned or controlled by Englishmen or Scotchmen, who have
brought hither their breeds of sheep and their knowledge of caring
for them. The cattle industry remains in the hands of the more
military Spanish and half-breed races."
* Annales de Géographie, p. 253.
The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic. 135
The pastoral industry is scattered over a wide area, yet the
greater part of it is concentrated near the lower course of the
Parana River.” The alluvial pastures of southern Entre Rios and
northern and northeastern Buenos Aires are the pasto tierno (soft
annual grasses), and especially famed for producing the finest fat
cattle, sheep, and wool. This district has all the advantages of fer-
tile soil, good climate, satisfactory rainfall, and nearness to the
markets. Going inland in any direction is a rapid decrease in the
number of animals that can be supported per unit of area, because
the pasture is harsh perennial bush grass (pasto fuerte, “pampas
grass”), beginning at the edge of the 40-mile alluvial strip along
the river. The value of this pasture has been greatly increased by
the planting of alfalfa in places as far west as Victoria, in eastern
Pampa. Beyond the alfalfa limit the land supports less than one
sheep per acre. ?
Agriculture.—The real beginnings of Argentine agriculture were
in the decade 1870–80. Following the almost contemporaneous
example of Kansas and Nebraska, railroads were built out into the .
cattle and sheep ranges, the improved reaping machinery was intro-
duced, and agriculture on a large scale was begun. In 1883 the rail-
road from Buenos Aires to Mendoza was completed and a market
opened for this district, which had been settled from the Pacific
coast, and which had had an economic existence much like that of
the Mormon settlements on Salt Lake before the opening of the
Union Pacific Railway in 1869. The new outlet gave an impetus
to a fruit and wine industry that now goes far to supply the wants
of the country. The opening of a railway to Tucuman has pro-
duced a similar development of the sugar industry in that province.
The agriculture of the western districts has been in the main only
an attempt to supply food products to the home market. The
agricultural exports—wheat, Indian corn, and flaxseed—are all pro-
duced in the eastern district. The census of 1895 showed that, in
* Punta Arenas, in Chilean territory on the Straits of Magellan, has already
become the centre of a large meat industry, and is a regular port of call for Euro-
pean steamers. Even the Island of Cape Horn has been found to have water supply
and pasture, and an expedition has been dispatched to establish a lighthouse there.
The Census of 1895 returns I 7,614,OOO cattle, 68,444, Ooo sheep, and 3,422, Ooo
horses in the five eastern provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Rios, Cordoba, Santa Fé
and Corrientes. The same census gave the total figures for the entire country as fol-
lows: Cattle, 21,690, Ooo ; sheep, 74,380,000 ; horses, 4,447.oOo. The area marked
upon the accompanying map as the possible wheat area, along with a narrow strip to
the north of it, contains 80 per cent. of the cattle and 95 per cent. of the sheep.
+ Kaerger, p. 232.
136 The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic.
a total wheat acreage of 5,061, ooo acres, 4,915, ooo acres were in
the provinces of Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Entre Rios, and Santa Fé.
In 1901 * the same States had # of the wheat acreage and a larger
share of the flax and corn.
As in the new grain-growing sections of the United States, the
Argentine farming operations began on a large scale, and with no
regard to methodical agriculture. The breaking up of the large
estates into farms has not followed, as in this country. The Argen-
tine agriculture is still in the plantation stage. The farmer is the
European peasant, usually Italian, who rents land as best he can,
frequently on short terms, from the representatives of absentee
landholders. His house is a temporary structure; he piles his grain
upon the ground; he often wanders from place to place; and the
methods of culture are crude and primitive. The wheat and corn
acreage fluctuate from year to year, according to the crop condi-
tions and price prospects. If wheat has done poorly and corn
prices are high, corn is planted, and the reverse conditions are true.
The uncertainty of Argentine grain-growing is indicated by the
irregularity in acreage, product and exportation. -
The irregular rainfall produces droughts and floods, and the
plague of locusts has many times worked great destruction to
crops, at times even threatening to annihilate agriculture in pro-
vinces north of Buenos Aires Province. Persistent effort has reduced
the loss from this source. *
GRAIN PRODUCTION. (From Statesman's Year Book.)
WHEAT. MAIzE. FLAx.
. ACRES. Tons.# ACRES. TONS. ACRES, TONS. '
1895–6. #| 5,500, ooo I, 400, OOO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I896–7. . 5,500, OOO I,500,000 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I897-8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * | * - - - - - j . . . . . .
I898–9. . 7,904,000 || 2,500,000 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I899—OO. 5,476,000 | I,850,000 | . . . . . . I, OOO,OOO 646, OOO I70;OOO
I90O-OI. 8,449,372 2,871,440 | . . . . . . . 2, OOO,OOO | I,518, Ooo 390, OOO
* Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics, October, 1901, p. 674, and States-
man's Year Book.
f Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics, August, 1901, p. 216.
f Two years must be given because the southern summer, the growing season, is
from November to April. -
§ Metric ton, 2,204 lbs., or 36.73 bushels of wheat.
The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic. 137
GRAIN ExpoRT.* (Tons.)
WHEAT. MAIZE. FLAX.
1895. . . . . . . . . . I, or o,269 . 772,318 . . . . . . .
I896. . . . . . . . . . 532, oo I I, 57 O, 5 I 7 . . . . . .
1897 . . . . . . . . . . IoI,845 347, 942 I62,477
I898. . . . . . . . . . 645, 161 7 I 7, I O 5 I58,954
1899. . . . . . . . . . I, 7 I 3, 424 I, I 16, 276 2 I 7, 7 I 3
I9CO . . . . . . . . . . 1,929,676f 7 13, 248 223, 257
I9C I . . . . . . . . . . 9oa, 289 I, II 2, 29O 338,828
I902 . . . . . . . . . . Est. 7oo, ooo | . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The wheat area of the Argentine is limited by the conditions
of rainfall and water supply. With the exception of southern Pata-
gonia and certain parts of the Andes, the soil and temperature are
suitable for wheat, but the rainfall is inadequate, or at the wrong sea-
son, over the greater part of this area. From 39° S. to the Bolivian
boundary there is a zone near the Andes where the average annual
rainfall is less than eight inches. Successful wheat-growing re-
quires this much as a minimum, and it must fall during the grow-
ing season of winter and spring. Wheat can only grow here with
irrigation.
In the north of Argentina there are districts (as in the Province
of Santiago del Estero) having 28 to 32 inches of rain per year; but
irrigation is necessary here also, because the heaviest rainfall is in
summer, when it is unavailable for wheat. In going northward
from the latitude of Buenos Aires and westward from the Parana,
the rains of summer tend more and more to predominate over the
winter rains. With this distribution, wheat requires in the warmer
districts a minimum of at least 4o inches per year. In the south,
where the winter rains predominate and the loss from evaporation
is less, 16 inches per annum will suffice for wheat. This condi-
* Figures from Statesman's Year Book, excepting those for 1901, Igo2, and those
or flax, which came from Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics.
+ Amounting to more than 70 million bushels. Exports of wheat from the United
States were as follows in million bushels:
I897. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 79
1898. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I45
I899. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I39
I90O. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IO2
138 The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic.
tion does not prevail south of a N.W.-S.E. line connecting Villa
Mercedes and Bahia Blanca; and from Bahia Blanca southward
irrigation is necessary in the seashore region also. The north,
west, and south are thus debarred from wheat culture. The north-
east, with rainfall of 40–75 inches, is also debarred, because the
heat, combined with excess of moisture, renders the wheat liable
to disease, makes the grain of bad quality, and is liable to spoil it
in the harvest. The wheat district is, therefore, confined to a
rough parallelogram in the eastern central part of the country,
comprising all of the Province of Entre Rios, nearly all of Buenos
Aires, more than half of Santa Fé and Cordoba, and a corner of
the Territory of Pampa.” - -
This is a splendid territory. It is nearly all level plain and
unencumbered with forest, except for 60 miles in the north and
some bush lands in the west. Much of it is alluvial soil, and the
rest is of exceptional fertility in potash and phosphoric acid. The
area is as large as that part of Missouri beyond the Missouri River,
all of Arkansas and Indian Territory, and the arable parts of Okla-
homa, Kansas, and Nebraska, Í 247, ooo square miles, or 158, ooo, ooo
acres. Owing to the exceptional smoothness of the land, it is
probable that 14, ooo, ooo acres will cover the inarable part, leaving
144, ooo, ooo acres for the plough. Assuming a three-year rota-
tion, such as is successfully practised in the best farming districts
of the United States, there will be 48, ooo, ooo acres per year for
wheat—eight times the present acreage. § -
Such a system would preserve or increase the fertility of the
soil, enable production to continue indefinitely, and, with the two
intervening crops, probably support as many cattle and sheep as
it does at present. Such methodical agriculture is as yet remote,
but the extension on new lands of the present extensive system
* These boundaries (from Kaerger, p. 408–I5 and 873-6) are approximate only, .
especially on the west. Some writers claim a larger territory in that direction, and
there seems to be a tendency for rainfall to increase with cultivation.
+ See analyses in Kaerger, p. 9. At the Colony of Esperanza, near Santa Fé, the
same land has produced an undiminished yield of wheat for 40 years.
f The limit of successful agriculture in these States nearly coincides with the
Iooth meridian west of Greenwich.
§ It would be possible between the longitude of Buenos Ayres and San Luis and the
33rd and 37th parallels to have a wheat-field with the furrows 300 miles long and the
headlands 200 miles wide, with no further incident to break its monotony than an
occasional narrow streamlet and here and there the cluster of one-storied houses
forming the local townships.-[From a letter from Herbert Gibson, Esq., an English
writer owning extensive sheep ranches in the Argentine.]
The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic. 139
of grain-growing could produce a much greater yield for a limited
period. The best of agricultural systems will not prevent the
serious fluctuations resulting from the irregularities of rainfall,
which occasionally flood or parch the crops, and the present sta-
tionary wheat average is not indicative of an agricultural revo-
lution. º -
Maize, or Indian corn, requires for successful growth summer
rains and a higher annual average than will suffice for wheat. It
also survives, uninjured, the humidity that is fatal to wheat, and a
hot summer is favourable to its perfection. The Argentine pos-
sesses a corn belt of large but uncertain area in the eastern part of
the wheat region, and in the more humid northeast. The produc-
tion is not so important or so promising as the wheat crop. The
greater part of the possible corn land is covered with forest, which
can only be cleared at considerable expense, and the sub-tropic and
tropic climate is uninviting to settlers. The market conditions
have not been satisfactory. The pork industry furnishes the most
natural home market for corn, and thus far the raising of swine
has made small progress.
Flax cultivation is at present rapidly on the increase. It is
grown for the seed only, the yield being about the same as that of
wheat, and sometimes greater. The area of cultivation is limited
almost entirely to the alluvial valley of the Parana, north of Buenos
Aires.* -
The agriculture of western Argentina is of an entirely different
character from that of the east. Instead of herdsmen and the
roving laborers of one-crop grain farming, the Andean valleys are
populous with tillers of the soil who follow the more intensive
methods of irrigation farming. The area that can be supplied with
water is comparatively small, but is as yet far from being fully
developed. The dependence upon high mountains for the water
supply limits the irrigation belt to the neighbourhood of the Andes
and the Mountains of Cordoba, where a second irrigation commun-
ity has grown up on the east side of the north and south Sierra de
Cordoba.
The building of two railroads across the Great Plains to the foot
of the Andes has caused the development of two western provinces,
and has given the people of Argentina a domestic supply of three
commodities which had before been imported—wine, fruits, and
Sugar. - *
The planting of cane and the manufacture of sugar are confined
* Kaerger, 455. • -2
v c 0 & cº.
* e • * <
• •,
.
• * *
* *
• , &
* * &
:
:
s
140 Zhe Economic Geography of the Argentine A'epublic.
almost exclusively to the small province of Tucuman. There are
at the same time other districts with climatic conditions as well or
better suited to the growth of cane. The northeastern part of the
country—the territories of Formosa, Chaco, Misiones, and northern
Corrientes—have a warmer summer, a suitable rainfall, and less
danger of winter frost; but Tucuman has the security of irrigation,
and the more wholesome climate made it one of the early districts
settled, while the northeast remains almost a wilderness, with very
small increase in population. In 1830 the culture of cane was
begun in Tucuman; the industry has remained there, and in spite
of the low percentage of sugar and the poor yield per acre, * it has
increased since the opening of the railroad, and now supplies the
entire country with a surplus for export. The industry would pro-
bably decline, but for the protection of a favorable tariff, which
the Country appears willing to continue. In 1895 the acreage was
82, ooo; and in 1899, I 20, ooo, with Io.3, ooo tons of sugar. According
to a calculation made in 1894, the industry employed 6o, ooo
laborers, who had come from provinces adjacent to Tucuman,
6, ooo wagons and carts, and 6o, ooo work animals; 5oo, ooo tons of
wood were brought from Santiago del Estero, and a considerable
mileage of railroad depends upon sugar for its freight. The pro-
vince of Tucuman is the most densely populated in the country, +
and furnishes a market for wheat and corn from Santa Fé, alfalfa
from Cordova, wine from Mendoza, and cattle from Jujuy and
Salta.j: In recent years the sugar industry has passed through a
crisis due to over-production (for the home market) and the neces-
sity of selling a surplus abroad in competition with European
bounty sugar. The result has been the organization of the manu-
facturers, who have succeeded in controlling the prices and limit-
ing the production nearly to the demands of the country. $.
The wine industry has made an advance similar to that of sugar.
The grape grows throughout the central part of the country, both
east and west. The humidity and heat of parts of Buenos Aires
cause disease, but the vine does well in Entre Rios, in the south,
in the new settlements on the Rio Negro, and in the west. It is
*The cane in Tucuman yields 7-8% sugar; in Mauritius, 18–19%; in Mexico, 18–
19%. The sugar yield per hectare (2% acres) is 2 tons in Tucuman, 3 tons in Natal,
4 tons in Egypt, 5 tons in Louisiana, and none of the latter countries is especially
favoured for sugar production. Annales de Géographie, p. 255.
f In 1900 the population per square mile was 27.9 in Tucuman, 9.6 in Buenos
Aires, Io. 5 in Santa Fé, II.9 in Entre Rios, 8.5 in Corrientes.
# Annales de Géographie, p. 255. *
§ Annales de géºgraphie, No. 57, p. 256.
4.
• , • . . * * *
* • , 9 ° tº
gº * g ºn
Z'he Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic. 141
only in the dry and stony slopes of the Andes in the provinces of .
Mendoza” and San Juan that wine-making is extensively carried on,
and here irrigation is a necessity.
In 1895, 71, ooo acres were in vines. There have been exten-
sions since that date, and the heavy wine importations of 20 years
ago have been reduced to less than 20% of their former volume,
and consist of the finer grades that cannot be grown at home.
Nevertheless, Argentina wine production leaves much to be desired.
The wine does not have good keeping or shipping qualities. The
manufacturing plants are not of the best pattern, and the lack of
refrigerating apparatus makes it impossible to control the tempera-
ture and regulate the fermentation. The vines are usually of French
varieties and ripen their fruit much too early, necessitating the
making of wine in the period of greatest heat. These difficulties
are greater in San Juan than in Mendoza, because the cooler cli-
mate in the latter lets the vines remain dormant longer in the
spring. *
The early ripening of the fruit can only be remedied by the
introduction of new varieties adapted to the climate. It is even
possible that the desired varieties may have to be developed in the
country, as they were in the eastern part of the United States.
Under any conditions the replacing of the old vines with new will
be a slow process, as it means the loss of income for several years.
The successful development of a wine export trade seems to await
these improvements in varieties and refrigeration. † In the mean-
time the only wines imported are some of the high-priced European
specialties.
The irrigated region of the west is also the scene of a rising
fruit industry somewhat similar to that of California. The natural
conditions for drying fruit are excellent, and some grades are
already grown in quantities sufficient for the home, demand. In
1895 the raisin production was Io,582 tons.
TRANSPORTATION AND POPULATION.—The extent of railroad
development is one of the best indices of the development of an
agricultural country. In this respect Argentina is far behind the
western half of the Missouri-Mississippi Valley. This part of the
United States has over 4o, ooo miles of railway, the whole of the
3% Mendoza has 60,000 acres in vines, and produced over 26 million gallons of wine
in 1901. Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics, October 1901, p. 676.
+ Annales de Géographie, p. 257.
142 The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic.
Argentine Io,213,” but 200 miles more than the combined mileage
of the State of Kansas and the Indian Territory. **
The distribution of the Argentine railways reflects the industrial
development of the different parts of the country. There is some-
thing of a network in the grain-growing region of the east and in
the sugar districts of Tucuman, while long lines reach across the
plains to the distant western settlements. The Government en-
courages immigration and agriculture, and there are extensive
railroad plans for the future, including three lines across the
Andes; as yet the first line, from Mendoza to Santiago in Chile,
requires a difficult tunnel to complete it. The Government owns
1,200 miles of unprofitable railway, and all the other lines are
owned by English capitalists.
The Parana River is navigable to the northern boundary of the
Country and is an important commercial highway. The Rio Colorado,
in the southern frontier region, has also been found to be navigable
for 3oo miles. The Parana is navigable for ocean steamers as far
as the port of Rosario (population II 2,461 in 1900). The river is
deep, and vessels can load directly from the warehouses upon the
shore. The location of this port near the agricultural centre is
such that the city must acquire an increasing importance in the
export of agricultural commodities. The shipments of this class
of articles amounted to 9oo, ooo tons in 1901. -
At the southern end of the agricultural region the Bahia Blanca
reaches far inland, and at its head is the port of Bahia Blanca, a
railway centre now rising into commercial importance, and having
a promising future as the outlet for the pastures and grain fields
of the southwest. Buenos Aires, the largest city among the Latin
races, is the metropolis, the greatest market, and it therefore con-
tinues to be the predominant port for imports and the leader in
exports, although the harbor is naturally very shallow.
The Argentine population numbered 3,954,91 I in the census
of 1895; and in 190o the estimated number was 4,749, 149. The
increase was general throughout the country, except in the north-
eastern territory of Misiones, where there was a slight decline.
The city and province of Buenos Aires increased one-quarter, the
province of Santa Fé one-third, the newly-opened territory of
Pampa nearly doubled, and the few hundreds in Tierra del Fuego
were increased four-fold. The total population equals that of
* Figures for the end of 1901. Bulletin of Bureau of American Republics, March,
I902, p. 57 I. - g
*
The Economic Geography of the Argentine Republic. 143
Kansas, Nebraska, and the part of Missouri + lying to the south-
west of the Missouri River. The Argentine population is a mix-
ture of the three Iatin races of Europe, with some Indian blood,
but the proportion of Caucasian is far greater than in any of the
tropic countries of South America, Since wool-growing became
profitable in the middle of the nineteenth century there has been
a considerable European immigration, chiefly from south Europe.
From 1895 to 1900, inclusive, the arrivals ranged from 84, ooo to
135, ooo per year; but the unsettled character of the population is
shown by the returning immigrants, who numbered during the
same period from 37, ooo to 62, ooo per year, leaving the average
annual gain by immigration during the six years 55,852. In 1895,
of the foreign-born population 5oo, ooo were Italians, 2 oo, ooo
Spanish, Ioo, ooo French, 22, ooo English, 15, ooo Swiss, 17, ooo
Germans, I 3, ooo Austrians.
ON THE NORTH WEST PASSAGE AND THE CIRCUM-
- NAVIGATION OF AMERICA.
By
ANDREW J. STONE.
Early Arctic exploration was nearly always undertaken in the
interest of commercial affairs. Scientific work, though extensively
conducted, was almost always a secondary consideration; very
especially was this the case in the many attempts to make the North
West Passage.
Interest in the natural sciences has greatly influenced a tendency
toward strictly scientific work, and most expeditions fitted out in
recent years for exploration in the Arctic have made scientific
work their first and most important object, and of such popular
interest has this work become that it is doubtful if an expedition
for any other purpose could find support.
Expeditions in the interest of science ever have been and will
be largely directed by those who prosecute the work rather than by
the people who support it.
Rarely, if ever, do the supporters of such work really dictate
where and how it must be performed. This is easily understood
when we take into consideration that such an expedition is gene-
* Estimated at 2,000, Ooo.
144 On the AVorth West Passage and the
rally headed by some one whose efforts have influenced support
in the undertaking that he advocates and the work which he is
ambitious to prosecute—often a work to which he has already de-
voted years of labour and study. If the theory and work as out-
lined inspire the confidence and sympathy of the public, and they
support it, they virtually support him, believing that in so doing
they support a worthy enterprise, and that in this way they assist
in giving to the world a very great deal of good. The nearest ap-
proach to any general and systematic work in the interest of
science yet conducted in the Arctic was in the establishing of the
International Polar Stations, 1881–3.
No thorough and systematic research has ever been undertaken
by any nation, people, or society for the purpose of an extended
series of explorations. Thus it is that some sections are being
traversed year after year, until there is not a stone left unturned;
while others, large in area, rich in animal and plant life, inhabited
by interesting races of people, geologically and otherwise im-
portant and entirely accessible, are completely overlooked.
In the supporting of natural science work, in the founding of
great schools and other institutions of public interest, it can be
said to the credit of many of our wealthiest men and women that
they are building to themselves monuments that are imperishable,
and that will be visible to a world, not a neighbourhood.
While the circumstances under which such work is done pro-
hibit the possibility of systematic research in a general way, as the
work of each and every expedition is generally conducted on a basis
independent of that of any other, and while too many of these expe-
ditions follow in the paths of predecessors, often influenced by an
interest created by public sentiment, or, more likely, a desire to
pass beyond the limits of their predecessors, yet there are those
interested in such work whose independence of spirit and thought
will lead them into the much-neglected regions purely for the good
to be accomplished in the bringing to light new and rare material,
and the final result must be the same.
I advocate the circumnavigation of North America because
northern North America comprises a very great area of country,
the most neglected of any in the Arctic; because it contains more
of real interest to the natural sciences per square mile than any
other part of the Arctic; because more and better work can be per-
formed there for the cost than in any part of the Arctic; because
there is more real new material to be gathered there than in any
part of the Arctic.
Circumnavigation of America. 145
To do this work would really involve the making of the North
West Passage. But the one great object should be the acquisition
of a vast and all-important fund of scientific data, the extent and
value of which should far surpass that which it is possible to obtain
now from any other part of the Arctic. The field is a great one;
it is accessible; it will be worked, and through this work its
advocates, supporters, and executors will be made known through-
out the world.
Some of the most prominent efforts to make the North West
Passage have been,
From the East:
that of John Ross and Lieut W. E. Parry, in the Isabella and
Alexander, in 1818;
W. E. Parry with the Hecla and Griper, 1819–20; W. E. Parry
in the Fury, and Capt. Geo. F. Lyon in the Hecla, 1821–2–3; W. E.
Parry, in command of the Hecla and the Fury, 1824–5; -
John Ross in the Victory, 1829–30–32–33; Sir Geo. Back in the
Terror, 1836–7; Sir John Franklin, commanding the AErebus and
Terror, 1845.
From the West:
That of Capt. James Cook in the Resolution, and Capt. Clerke in
the Discovery, 1778; Beechey, 1826; Franklin search from the
west, Capt. Richard Collinson in the Enterprise, Capt. Robt. Mc-
Clure in the Investigator, 1850–1–2–3–4–5.
With the loss of the Franklin party of one hundred and twenty-
nine souls ended all attempts at making the North West Passage.
For fifty years all interest in the North West Passage has been
smouldering, and all interest in the great stretch of coast and
islands at the north of our continent, with its wealth of natural
history resources, has been buried. People, like sheep, follow a
leader; some day this work will be resumed, and all the nations of
the civilized world will be aflame with interest.
Every one of these expeditions was sent from England, and,
although much good came to science through their efforts, they
were prompted largely by commercial enterprise. That these ex-
peditions should have failed in their main object is not strange.
That the circumnavigation of America can and will be accom-
plished is quite plain. Neither Cook nor Beechey ever reached
Pt. Barrow, but the whalers, even in sailing vessels, now pass
around it and far to the east every year.
The expedition that circumnavigates America and makes the
North West Passage will rival the honours of the expedition that
146 on the North West Passage and the
reaches the North Pole, and would far surpass all Arctic expedi-
tions of modern times in its scientific results. \, . . . ;
In order to create an interest in any scientific expedition, that
expedition must have a well-defined purpose, and that purpose must
be one that appeals to the most intellectual and learned people.
Very little effort has ever been made by America or by Americans
in the exploration of northern North America, and very little credit
is due them for what knowledge we have of this great region.
I believe that an American expedition can and should do what
those from Europe have failed in their attempts to do.
I believe that it is highly important that Americans should
make complete investigations of the geographical and natural
history resources of their own country. I believe that such an
undertaking, rightly presented, would find a warm place in the
hearts of the best American people, and would not be lacking in
support. I favour an all-American expedition, and I would, for
many reasons, favour private rather than public patronage.
"The members of the expedition should be English-speaking,
American-born. Men for every position, from the coal stoker up,
should be selected with precise and careful consideration for their
fitness for the work demanded by their position, and their capability
to withstand the deprivations likely to be encountered. *
The man in charge of the expedition should be a man of
resources, and perfectly familiar with the physical conditions"to be
encountered in such a country. He should be familiar with every
kind of travel in such a country. He should know what is possi-
ble to accomplish and what is not. He should be a man of experi-
ence, in the prime of life, and capable of great endurance. He
should be a man capable of inspiring his party with courage, of
knowing their needs, and of so managing the affairs of the expedi-
tion in general as to make possible the accomplishment of the best
results from the scientific corps. He should be familiar with the
country to be travelled and capable of withdrawing his party to a
place of safety in case of accident, to prevent the useless loss of
life that so often occurs.
He should have a knowledge of the proper foods and proper
clothing and of the equipment of sledding parties and what to
expect of them. He should understand how to keep his party
active and know the essential features in keeping them healthy and
in good spirits. *
Under him should be the navigator of the ship. The navigator
of the ship should be a man of strong physique, in every way a
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