A .JERJES OF GEOGRAPHICAL READE ,i BOOR THE- SOUTH -AMERICAN REPUBLICS : II GIFT OF J.E. Rogers r\ J V THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. BOOK X. THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE. A series of geographical readers that describe the countries and the inhab- itants of all parts of the world ; graded to suit the needs of young people from primary to high school age; prepared by well-informed writers who combine entertainment with instruction ; and filled with a wealth of maps and illustrations: a series of recognized value as a preparation for the regular text-books, and a supplement to them. Book I. FIRST LESSONS. 36 cents. Book II. GLIMPSES OP THE WORLD. 30 cents. Book III. OUR OWN COUNTRY. By Minna C. Smith. 50 cents. Book IV. OUR AMERICAN NEIGHBORS. By Fannie E. Coe. 00 cents. Book V. MODERN EUROPE. By Fannie E. Coe. GO cents. Book VI. LIFE IN ASIA. By Mary Gate Smith. 00 cents. Book VII. VIEWS IN AFRICA. By Anna B. Badlam. 72 cents. Book VIII. AUSTRALIA AND THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA. By Eva M. C. Kellogg-. 08 cents. Book IX. HAWAII AND ITS PEOPLE. By Alexander S. Twombly. 08 cents. Book X. THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. By W. Fisher Markwick and William A. Smith, M.A. 60 cents. The prices above indicated are for introduction. THE WORLD AND ITS PEOPLE BOOK X. THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS BY W. FISHER MARKWICK, D.D. IV MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, ANSONIA, CONN. AM) WILLIAM A. SMITH, M.A. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, ANSONIA, CONN. SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO PRESERVATION COPY ADDED ORIGINAL TO BS RETAINED \oL(o r JAN2 1 Q COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY SILVEK, BUEDETT AND COMPANY. PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. SUPPLEMENTARY readers in all the varied lines of instruc- tion are acknowledged to be an important part of the scho'ol equipment. Through them the pupil's reading is made to prepare him for his studies and to contribute directly to their enhanced value and interest. The text-book in geog- raphy can give little more than the essential outline ; it cannot go into the details of the everyday life of the in- habitants of Cuba or of New Zealand such details as make people and places real. The school history can give scant space to the physical aspect of a country, to the surroundings that influence a nation's development, yet without such knowledge the study lacks its true basis. In one way or another one constantly finds need of knowing the world and its people. Under this title of "The World and its People" the pub- lishers are offering a series of readers intended particularly to supplement the geography, and, in general, to contribute to the broadest education of young people. Our near neigh- bors, our antipodes, and the peoples that live between these extremes are studied in turn, so that the series as a whole gives a comprehensive view of the world in its geographical aspect. The commercial and industrial side of each country that element which constitutes so large a part of the live 869048 vi PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. interest and practical value of geographical study has been given deserved attention throughout the series. The series has been carefully developed and graded from the "First Lessons," for the child who is just beginning to read, to the later books, which are not too elementary for the more mature high school student. Not only in schools, but in general libraries, in the favor of parents as well as of children, these books are making a notable place for themselves. The first eight volumes profited by the editorial super- vision of the late Larkin Dunton, LL.D., head master of the Boston Normal School, who was preeminently quali- fied for the task. The several volumes are prepared by writers of literary ability, thoroughly informed on their subjects; and the effort has been to make them accurate, instructive, and always interesting. No pains have been spared to make the illustrations an attractive and valuable feature of each book. By reason of its progressive plan and judicious grading, its educative qualities and its appeal to the inter- est, it is believed that this series is proving an aid to teachers and an inspiration to pupils, making for the enlarged intelligence and culture of all young people who read these volumes. SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY. PREFACE. GREAT care is taken that the pupils in our public schools shall be well grounded in all that pertains to their own country, yet it is none the less a fact that a large majority of those pupils know almost nothing of the sister republics which lie in the southern half of our American continent. The average boy or girl in these United States knows far more of London, Paris, or Berlin than of Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, or Valparaiso; far more of peoples on the banks of the Rhine, the Volga, and the Danube than of those who dwell in the valleys of the Amazon, the Orinoco, and the Rio de La Plata ; and far more of the manners, customs, superstitions, and modes of life of the in- habitants of India, China, and Japan than of those of Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil. This ought not to be ; and the one underlying pur- pose of this volume is to open to the view of our older boys and girls the charm of mystery and the wealth of life hidden away in the depths of the ten interesting countries which lie almost at our doors, and whose several governments have been so largely modeled and patterned after our own. In the preparation of these pages, the fullest use, with proper recognition, has been made of all avail- able material that would throw a clearer light upon vii viii PREFACE. the subject ; and especial acknowledgment is due to the Bureau of American Republics in Washington, D.C., whose valuable "Handbooks" have been placed at our disposal with "the fullest permission to use them for the laudable end in view." Much of the matter in the several historical sketches finds its source in these " Handbooks," and our thanks cannot be suf- ficiently expressed to the Bureau for their use. We are glad to acknowledge also the interest and assist- ance of the official representatives in this country of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. If this book shall succeed in awakening a deeper interest in the Republics of the South, we shall feel that we have done our boys and girls a real service, and shall be more than satisfied. THE AUTHORS. ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT, June, 1901. CONTENTS. I. THE MAX WHO FOUND AMERICA . II. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION III. GENERAL FEATURES OF SOUTH AMERICA IV. THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLICS V. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COLOMBIA VI. COLOMBIA AND HER PEOPLE . VII. IN CITY AND COUNTRY .... VIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF VENEZUELA IX. SOME VENEZUELAN CITIES X. A GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY XL LIFE IN VENEZUELA .... XII. INDUSTRIES OF VENEZUELA . XIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ECUADOR . XIV. QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL .... XV. ECUADOR'S NATURAL BEAUTIES . XVI. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PERU XVII. THE LAND OF GOLD AND SILVER . XVIII. "TiiE CITY OF THE KINGS" . XIX. EASTERN PERU XX. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOLIVIA . XXI. THE INLAND REPUBLIC .... XXII. GOLD-MINING IN BOLIVIA XXIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BRAZIL . XXIV. THE YOUNGEST REPUBLIC XXV. SOME BRAZILIAN CITIES ix 1 10 16 25 31 37 44 56 63 73 81 94 101 110 117 127 137 145 154 161 169 173 181 190 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XXVI. THE AMAZON VALLEY 200 XXVII. HERDSMEN AND HUNTERS .... 213 XXVIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARGENTINE RE- PUBLIC . . 221 XXIX. A GENERAL VIEW OF ARGENTINA . . . 231 XXX. BUENOS^ AIRES AND LA PLATA . . . 239 XXXI. SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE .... 248 XXXII. THE ARGENTINE PROVINCES . . . . 255 XXXIII. THE LEADING INDUSTRIES .... 265 XXXIV. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PARAGUAY . . 272 XXXV. THE LAND OF PLENTY 276 XXXVI. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF URUGUAY . . . 286 XXXVII. THE SMALLEST REPUBLIC .... 293 XXXVIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHILE . . .301 XXXIX. AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC .... 312 XL. FOREIGN COLONIAL POSSESSIONS . . . 327 VOCABULARY 335 TRANSLATIONS 341 INDEX 343 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA 2 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 8 COAT OF ARMS OF COLUMBUS 9 THE FLAGSHIP OF COLUMBUS 11 AMERICUS VESPUCIUS ........ 13 IN THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN ...... 16 A MOUNTAIN CHAIN IN THE ANDES 19 ROYAL PALMS IN THE CARACAS VALLEY, VENEZUELA . 23 SIMON BOLIVAR 29 ANCIENT SPANISH MILESTONE 33 THE HOME OF SIMON BOLIVAR 35 NATIVES CARRYING CINCHONA BARK . . . . .39 A BIRD CATCHER AND SELLER ...... 42 A FREIGHT BOAT 47 POTTERY TRADERS ON THE MAGDALENA RIVER . . 51 THE FEATHERY BAMBOO 54 STATUE OF BOLIVAR 59 THE CAPITOL AT CARACAS 61 UPPER CARACAS 65 MARKET DAY IN CARACAS 67 A STREET IN VALENCIA 70 THE BROAD ORINOCO 74 Tin: OVERSEER OF A RANCH 76 THE JAGUAR 80 A RUDE PLOW 82 NATIVE HUTS IN VENEZUELA 85 DRYING COFFEE 89 THE CACAO BERRY 91 COFFEE WASHING 93 xi xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE A NATIVE OF ECUADOR 96 THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE AT QUITO . . . . .99 A WATER CARRIER 104 THE RIVER MARKET AT GUAYAQUIL 106 A STREET IN GUAYAQUIL 109 THE CONDOR HI CHIMBORAZO 113 BANANAS GROWING . 116 PIZARRO 119 AN INCA BURIAL TOWER 122 THE CATHEDRAL AT LIMA 125 A BRIDGE IN THE MOUNTAINS 130 LLAMAS . . . . . . . . . . .132 AREQUIPA 135 A GUANO ISLAND . . 136 LIMA ON A HOLIDAY 138 A BREAD SELLER ......... 140 A MILKWOMAN 141 PERUVIAN BOYS AT PLAY 143 INDIAN RUBBER GATHERERS 146 RUINS OF AN INCA PALACE ON LAKE TITICACA . . 149 A PEON'S CABIN, WITH BOYS IN THE STOCKS . . . 151 IMPLEMENTS MADE BY THE INCAS 156 ON THE ROAD TO LA PAZ 159 GALERA TUNNEL 163 A BALSA ON LAKE TITICACA 164 THRESHERS 166 A VICUNA 167 A COPPER-MINING TOWN 172 THE EMPEROR'S PALACE AT PETROPOLIS .... 176 DOM PEDRO II 180 TREE FERNS . . .183 THE COFFEE TREE 186 A CART ON A SUGAR PLANTATION 189 A SQUARE IN Rio DE JANEIRO ...... 191 THE HARBOR OF Rio DE JANEIRO 193 RIPE BANANAS" 195 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xiii PAGE READY FOR CHURCH 198 A STREET IN PARA . . . " . . . . .201 AN INDIAN CHIEF 205 AN ALLIGATOR 207 TAPPING A RUBBER TREE 209 GAUCHOS AND THEIR HOME 214 A PUMA .217 AN IGUANA 218 AN ARMADILLO . . . 220 STATUE OF GENERAL SAN MARTIN 223 USPALLATA PASS 226 A BUSINESS STREET IN BUENOS AIRES .... 230 PATAGONIANS 233 THE RAILROAD OVER THE ANDES 235 A GAUCHO AND HIS HORSES 237 THE OLD WAY OF UNLOADING VESSELS .... 239 THE MILKMAN'S MORNING CALL 243 THH MUNICIPAL BUILDING AT LA PLATA .... 246 CROSSING THE TRACKLESS PAMPAS 248 THE PATIO 251 COMING FROM MARKET 254 THE ROCKING STONE 257 A HOME ON THE ARGENTINE PLAINS 261 EN ROUTE OVER THE ANDES 263 DRYING HIDES 266 BRANDING CATTLE 269 THE MATE AND THE BOMKILLA 271 THE NATIONAL PALACE AT ASUNCION .... 275 THE IMPENETRABLE TROPICAL FOREST .... 279 A RANCH ON THE PLAINS 284 THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE IN MONTEVIDEO . . . 289 A VIEW OF MONTEVIDEO 295 THE BAKER DELIVERING BREAD 298 ARAUCANIAN INDIANS 302 ARAUCANIAN WOMEN 304 THE CAPITOL AT SANTIAGO 307 THE HARBOR OF VALPARAISO . 311 XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE A NITRATE BED AFTER EXPLOSIONS 314 NITRATE READY FOR SHIPMENT . . . . . . 316 A STREET CAR . . . 321 THE RAILROAD STATION AT SANTIAGO . . . . 323 PUNTA ARENAS 326 CABBAGE PALMS ON THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD . . 333 MAPS. POLITICAL MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA . . . Frontispiece TOSCANELLI'S MAP 6 THE LINE OF DEMARCATION ...... 14 PHYSICAL MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA 21 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHAPTER I .... <. > >, o^ THE MAN WHO FOUND AMERICA. LATE in the afternoon of an autumn day in the year 1491, a tall, fine-looking man, leading by the hand a little boy of ten or eleven years of age, knocked at the door of the monastery of La Rabida, and begged that a piece of bread and a cup of water might be given to the child. This convent, which is still standing, is situated within sight of the little seaport town of Palos, on the southern coast of Spain. The man was Christo- pher Columbus, who afterward became the discoverer of the American continent, and the boy was his son Diego. While he was in conversation with the porter at the gate, the prior of the monastery, Juan Perez, happened to notice him, and, struck by the fine appear- ance of the man, invited him into the monastery for rest and refreshment. It is not surprising that his appearance should have attracted attention, for in one of the best descriptions we now have of him it is said : " He bore the signs of descent from a Teutonic stock, being light-haired and fair. He was tall and large of limb. His face was long, with an aquiline nose ; the cheeks rather full, 1 2 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 4 neither large nor lean ' ; he had a very clear and ruddy complexion, and eyes of a bluish gray." While partaking of refreshment in the monastery, Columbus frankly related the story of his life to the good monk, who became greatly interested both in his past struggles and in his plans for the future ; his story, as it has come down to us, being as follows : He was bcrn in the Italian city of Genoa, about the close of the year 1446, though the exact date of his THE CONVENT OF LA RABIDA. birth cannot now be discovered. His father was a wool- comber, whose business it was to take the tan- gled wool as it came from the backs of sheep, and comb it out straight and smooth, ready to be spun into thread and woven into cloth. Though some writers tell us that the boy Christopher spent his early life in THE MAN WHO FOUND AMERICA. 3 learning this trade, it is now more generally believed that he went to sea at the age of fourteen. Previous to this, he had been sent to a school where he could learn something of geography, of the drawing of maps, and of such other matters as would fit him to take command of a vessel later in life ; for he had expressed a strong desire to become a sailor almost from his earliest years. The maps which Columbus made were very different from those which are in use in the schoolrooms of to- day. At that time much less th.an one-half of the world had been discovered. Europe, a part of Asia, and a small portion of the western coast of Africa were practically all the countries then known, and the knowledge of the two latter continents was very lim- ited. The great majority of the teachers of that day believed that the earth was a flat surface, and would not accept the statement that it was shaped like a ball. This new theory was, however, accepted by Columbus, though he believed the world to be much smaller than it really is, and this led him into a series of very curious blunders. Many influences in the world around him attracted this lad to a seafaring life. During his school days he read a remarkable book written by Marco Polo, also an Italian and a native of Venice. This man made an overland journey to the far East more than a century before Columbus was born, and in the book referred to, he recounted the discoveries and adven- tures of the thirty years which he had spent in those distant lands. He gave such glowing descriptions of the wonders of India and China that the interest of all 4 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Europe was awakened. So deeply was Columbus im- pressed with what he read, that he set himself to the task of making a map of the world, based chiefly on Polo's discoveries ; and the desire to visit the lands to which his attention was thus called burned within him as a fire that would not be quenched. Then, again, his native city of Genoa was a busy seaport town. Many of its inhabitants were sailors, and large numbers of vessels were constantly arriving and departing at its docks. Genoa and Venice were the chief shipping ports of the Mediterranean Sea at that time, and were the great centers of trade with India and such other parts of Asia as were then known. There was a great deal going on in his native town to awaken a strong desire in the mind of an imaginative lad to see for himself the far-away countries of which such strange stories were constantly told by the sailors who came into port. We also learn that several relatives of Columbus led a seafaring life. One or two of them belonged to that class of adventurers who were servants of any state that would give them a roving commission to fight against its enemies ; or, if a commission were wanting, they sought and found a foe in any ship carry- ing a cargo worth taking. They did not differ much from the men who, in later times, were called pirates ; but in their own age they had the reputation which privateers have had in ours. It was with such sea rovers that the great captain learned the practice of navigation ; learned how to carry himself in fight when, sword in hand, he sprang over the bulwarks of a hostile vessel; learned how to con- THE MAN WHO FOUND AMERICA. 5 trol the rough and lawless men with whom he sailed, sometimes by the enforcement of an iron discipline, and at other times by those arts of persuasion of which, with his winning speech and commanding presence, he was a master. He made numerous voyages with these privateers, and is said to have gone, on one occasion, as far north as Iceland; but the outline of his career as a young man is by no means clear. We do know, however, that at thirty years of age he was living at Lisbon, in Portu- gal, where he married a daughter of a renowned navi- gator, late governor of Porto Santo, one of the Madeira Islands. The charts and journals of his wife's father thus came into the possession of Columbus. After- ward, when he went to Porto Santo with his wife, he was brought into familiar intercourse with Pedro Cor- reo, a navigator of some distinction, who had married an older sister of his wife. This family connection was both an incentive and a help to his studies; and it was at this period of his life that he became persuaded of the possibility of discovering a western passage to India. You may wonder why he should have been so anxious to find a way to India and the East by sea. The geographies we now possess give us abundant informa- tion about Asia. On our maps every important river, mountain range, and cape can be traced ; we know the cities and provinces and separate nations ; and we have books which tell us of the people, their modes of life, and their products and manufactures. It was not so in the time of Columbus. Asia was a vast, unknown land, at the extreme eastern part of which lay the 6 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. countries which we now know as China, Japan, and the East Indies, and beyond them flowed the ocean. From these countries came caravans bringing silk, pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, and spices. Genoa saw this map before he tailed. It explain* the general idea of the size of the World at that time and how he expected to find India where he found America. A MAP THAT COLUMBUS STUDIED. and other Italian cities grew rich through commerce, for their merchants sent ships to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean to trade with the Asiatics, who had brought their treasures across the continent. While Columbus was still a boy, the Turks, who had been living in Western Asia, swarmed into Europe and captured the great city of Constantinople. They soon controlled all the eastern part of the Mediter- ranean, and it became a perilous matter to send ships there. Thus it was of the greatest importance to find, if possible, some new route to the Indies. The Portuguese, under the lead of their prince, Henry the Navigator, had been slowly following the THE MAN WHO FOUND AMERICA. 7 coast of Africa, and had succeeded in reaching what is now known as the Cape of Good Hope, at its southern limit; but it was a long and toilsome journey, and India and China were still far away. Columbus believed that by sailing due west, he could reach India by a much shorter route. He made a map of this proposed route, talked about his plans, and declared that it was comparatively easy to put them into effect. But he was a poor man, and it was neces- sary for him to persuade some one who had money to join him. For nearly twenty years he carried his great purpose in his mind before he could bring it to pass. He tried in vain to interest the magistrates of Genoa in the undertaking. He then laid his plans before the king of Portugal, who called a council of his learned men to inquire into their merits. These men publicly ridi- culed Columbus as a crazy adventurer; but privately they told the king that there might be some truth in what Columbus said, and the king was base enough to send out a vessel secretly, in order to get all the advan- tage there might be for himself. The captain of this vessel put out from the Azores, but, meeting a storm, became frightened and turned back. Columbus heard of this underhand proceeding and indignantly left Portugal. Columbus next bent his energies toward persuading Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain, to give him aid; and, failing in that, he tried to bring some of the noble families to his side. Through his brother Bartholomew, he made an equally vain attempt to interest the English court. 8 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Several years were thus consumed. Thoroughly dis- appointed, reduced to poverty, ridiculed as a lunatic, and almost without a friend, Columbus set out with CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. As he appeared before Queen Isabella. his boy for Huelva, in Spain. He intended to leave Diego with a brother of his wife, who was now dead, and then to press on to England, in the hope that he might there obtain the assistance which both Portugal and Spain had refused him. It was as he neared THE MAN WHO FOUND AMERICA. 9 the town of Huelva that he paused to ask refreshment at the monastery of La Rabida, and made the acquaint- ance of Juan Perez, who had once filled the high position of father confessor to Queen Isabella. Perez became greatly interested and sent to Palos for two men of importance. One was a physician who was very much interested in geographical matters ; the other was a ship-owner and captain, Martin Pinzon. So deeply did Columbus impress them that the prior set off to see Isabella at the camp of the Spanish armies, for Spain was then waging war with the Moors, who had long before come over into the Spanish peninsula from Africa. He persuaded the queen to send money to Columbus, and invite him to appear before her. Columbus visited the queen without delay, and she and her counselors were so impressed by his argu- ments that she promised to take up the matter in earnest just as soon as the Moors had been conquered. He then returned to the monas- tery to await the progress of events ; and on the second day of January, 1492, the Moors having surrendered Granada, he was again sum- moned to the court. He, however, made such large demands of power and honor for himself that the king and queen refused COAT OF ARMS OF COLUMBUS. The royal lion and castle, for Arragon and Castile, are quartered with the ti vr anchors and gold islands in azure waves. 10 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. his request; and, once more baffled, he mounted his mule and set off for France. But the friends of Colum- bus who had influence at court, could not bear that Spain should lose the glory so nearly in her grasp. They redoubled their appeals to the queen, and she, moved by their zeal, sent a messenger after Columbus. She declared that she would herself bear a large part of the expense ; and a satisfactory agreement was at length concluded. CHAPTER II. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. IMMEDIATELY upon the close of his interview with the king and queen, Columbus returned to the monas- tery and discussed the whole matter with his friends. One of the conditions in the agreement required that he should bear one-eighth of the entire cost of the undertaking. This money was at once loaned him by the Pinzon brothers, and the chief difficulty was thus disposed of. These men were of the greatest service in other matters also. It was very difficult to find sailors ready to venture out upon the "Sea of Darkness," as they called the unknown Atlantic; and the Pirizons, by tak- ing command of two of the three vessels of the fleet, gave courage to their townsmen. Their ships were named the Pinta and the Nina. The Santa Maria, the largest of the three, was commanded by the admiral, as Columbus was now called. It was about sixty-three DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 11 feet long, twenty feet broad at the widest part, and ten feet deep ; indeed, no one of the three was larger than a small coasting schooner. Ninety sailors and thirty gentlemen and priests made up the whole expedi- tion, and they carried provisions for a year. The boy Diego was left at the monastery. After extended preparations ---_- this little fleet sailed from the ~_-r"~ port of Palos on August 3, 1492. At the Canary Islands, then the most westerly land known to Europeans, they made cer- tain necessary repairs to their ships and sails, and then started on their long journey to the west- ward. After much trouble and disap- pointment, they landed on an island to which Columbus gave the name of San Salvador, or Holy Redeemer. After raising the Spanish flag and taking possession of the island in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus continued his voyage and discovered Cuba and Haiti. This latter island he named Hispaniola, or "Little Spain." Still believing himself to be near the coast of Asia, he gave to the islands the general name of the West Indies, and the natives he called Indians. The Santa Maria was wrecked, and the crew THE FLAGSHIP OF COLUMBUS. 12 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. of the Nina deserted and went on an independent voyage of their own ; and Columbus, leaving about forty men on the island of Haiti, returned in the Pinta to Spain, where he was received with honors of the highest order, and took his place among the great heroes of the age. Columbus made three other voyages across the broad Atlantic ; and it was on the completion of his third voy- age to the westward that he entered the mouth of the Orinoco River and set foot upon the mainland of the American continent. He never found out his mistake, never realized that he had discovered a new world, but died firmly believing that he had solved the problem of a short and easy way to Asia. As soon as it became known that he had succeeded in crossing the Atlantic, others were quick to follow. John Cabot crossed over in 1497, landed at Cape Breton, and explored the coast of North America for some distance southward. As he was employed by the English government and sailed under the English flag, this voyage was not without influence upon the settlement and history of the United States, for it gave England a valid claim to North America. Sometime between the years 1500 and 1502 two Portuguese navi- gators, named Cortereal, went over much the same ground as John Cabot. For the time being, however, these voyages were fruitless. It was not a new world, but China and Japan, the Indian Ocean, and the Spice Islands, that Europe was seeking. When Vasco da Gama succeeded in reaching India by sailing around the coast of Africa, and returned to Portugal with his ship loaded down DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 13 with Eastern silks and spices, it was felt that his dis- covery was of far greater importance than that of Colum- bus, and much of the interest in travel to the westward died away. Two years after the Cabot voyage, an Italian by the name of Amerigo Vespucci, who was then living in Spain, started on a voyage of explora- tion, using the charts of Columbus as his guide. He is better known by his Latin name, Ameri- cus Vespucius. In due time he reached the northeastern coast of South America, at a point which could not have been far from what is now Dutch Guiana. This man made three voyages in all and suc- ceeded in reaching Bra- zil. When he returned home, in 1504, he wrote an account of his travels, which was published in a small pamphlet and was widely read. A treaty had been made between Spain and Portugal in regard to the division of such lands as might be dis- covered. In this treaty it was agreed that a meridian, AMERICUS VESPUCIUS. 14 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. to be known as " the line of demarcation," should be drawn three hundred and seventy leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. All heathen lands discovered, no matter by whom, to the east of this line were to belong to Portugal; all to the west of it were to be the property of Spain. THE LINE OF DEMARCATION. As Vespucius had explored the coast of South America as far as the mouth of the La Plata River, several important matters were settled by his voyages. In the first place, Brazil was secured to Portugal, and the great body of the continent to Spain. In the second place, the geographical ideas of the time were changed. The great length of coast line explored proved that the land was not a mere island, but that Vespucius had found a new continent in the Western hemisphere. This was, for a time, called the " fourth part " of the DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 15 world the other three parts being Europe, Asia, and Africa. A copy of the pamphlet published by Vespucius fell into the hands of a German professor, who became greatly interested in its story. In the year 1507, this professor published a little book in Latin, which he called "An Introduction to Geography." That book contains the following sentence, "The fourth part of the world having been discovered by Amerigo or Ameri- cus, we may call it Amerig6 or America." This name, which at first appeared only on maps of Brazil, was applied later to the whole of South America, and eventually to the entire American continent. The only other voyage to which we need call atten- tion is that of a Portuguese sailor named Magellan, who, in 1519, led a Spanish fleet across the Atlantic. He coasted along South America to Tierra del Fuego, entered the strait which now bears his name, passed well up the western coast, and, turning westward, sailed toward India. He was then on the great ocean which Balboa had discovered a few years earlier, lying to the south and west of America, to which he had given the name of the South Sea. Magellan found it so much smoother than the Atlantic that he called it the Pacific Ocean. This was the greatest of all the voyages of the period, and it was also the most costly. Five ships, carrying two hundred and fifty men, left Spain ; and only one ship and fifteen men returned. Magellan himself was killed by the natives on one of those Philippine Islands which have recently come into the possession of the United States. But the one ship which did return had 16 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. IN THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN. actually sailed around the world, for it returned to Spain by way of the Cape of Good Hope and the west- ern coast of Africa. Thus it was proved beyond ques- tion that the earth was round, and also that America was a great and separate continent, and not a part of Asia, as had been almost universally supposed. CHAPTER III. GENERAL FEATURES OF SOUTH AMERICA. SOUTH AMERICA occupies the southern half of the Western continent and is situated mostly within the torrid zone. It is nearly twice the size of the United States, and its general appearance is that of a triangle with the point or apex extending far down into the GENERAL FEATURES OF SOUTH AMERICA. 17 waters of the South Atlantic. Notwithstanding its immense length of coast line, it possesses very few har- bors, and some of these are scarcely worthy of the name. The principal mountain range, the Andes, extends along the western coast and is really a continuation of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The two ranges form an almost unbroken highland from the Bering Sea to Cape Horn. Many of the peaks of the Andes reach a great height. They follow the Pacific coast more closely than the mountains of North America and do not spread out so widely to the east and west. The mountain sides are very steep, and the spaces lying between them are mostly deep and narrow ravines, rather than broad and open valleys suitable for cultiva- tion. Travel in these mountain regions is extremely difficult, and yet there are many more cities and towns built upon the sides of the Andes than among the Rockies. The Andes everywhere exhibit evidences of volcanic action. Many of the loftiest peaks are extinct volcanic cones, and there are at present forty or fifty volcanoes in active operation. Five of these can be seen from the city of Quito in Ecuador; Cotopaxi, the largest and most symmetrical of the five, being considered the fiercest volcano in the world. The Andes form one of the grandest mountain sys- tems in the world. Following the western coast for a considerable distance in a single chain, and increasing in height and grandeur as they advance northward, they separate into two parallel ranges about midwa}' in their course, inclosing in their mighty arms the extended plateau of Bolivia. This plateau has an elevation of 18 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. about two and one-half miles above the level of the sea, and some of the peaks in this vicinity rise to a height of over four miles. North of this plateau the mountains continue in two ranges, and sometimes in three; but as they near the equator, they gradually merge into a single chain. North of the equator they break again into three distinct ranges, inclosing deep and narrow valleys, many of which are extremely difficult of access. The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego meaning the Land of Fire lies at the southern extremity of South America and is really an extension of the Andes. It is about the size of Great Britain and is separated from the mainland by a narrow waterway known as the Strait of Magellan. This narrow passage is much used by seamen, as it affords a shorter and safer way from the Atlantic to the Pacific than the voyage around Cape Horn. In this passage a very curious ocean post-office existed until recently. It consisted of a little box firmly fastened by a chain to a prominent headland facing Tierra del Fuego. This box was opened by every ship passing through the strait in either direction, to deposit or take out letters, and each ship performed its part by the delivery of such letters as were addressed to places on its course. It speaks well for these followers of the sea, that not a single instance of violated confidence was ever reported. The stormy climate of Tierra del Fuego makes it one of the most dreary and inhospitable regions in the world, though its even temperature and abundant moisture are particularly favorable to certain kinds of. plant life. The potato and the beautiful fuchsia are 20 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. native here, and large areas are well covered with wood. There are few land animals, insects, or birds ; but large shoals of fish are found along the shores. The inhab- itants, who are among the most degraded of the human family, live mainly by fishing and hunting. South America is as famous for its rivers as for its mountains, possessing three of the largest streams in the world. The Amazon, which rises in the foothills of the Andes, not more than sixty miles from the Pacific, flows directly across the continent and empties into the Atlantic at a distance of nearly four thousand miles from its source. This river and its tributaries are navigable for ocean steamers for over two thousand miles, and smaller vessels can sail almost to the moun- tains in which it takes its rise. Its mouth looks like an open sea, and its waters pour into the ocean in such an immense body as to be clearly traceable for over five hundred miles. The La Plata River, with its two great tributaries, the Parana and the Paraguay, is a stream fully equal to the Mississippi, and second only to the Amazon in the amount of water it carries to the sea. Its mouth is so broad that in sailing directly through its center neither bank is visible to the naked eye. This river is crowded with shipping, especially on the Parana branch, which is navigable for steamers for more than a thousand miles. It is of the greatest service in transporting the products of the interior to the coast. The Orinoco, which flows through Venezuela and empties into the Atlantic at the point where Colum- bus first sighted the mainland of the American conti- nent, is over a mile wide at its mouth, and carries to PHYSICAL MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA. 22 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the ocean a quantity of water only surpassed by the Mississippi, the Amazon, and the La Plata. Only one lake in South America is worthy of special mention. This is Lake Titicaca, located at the south- eastern extremity of Peru. It is situated high up among the Andes, about twelve thousand feet above sea level, and is, in fact, the highest lake on the American continent. It is about half the size of Lake Ontario and bears evidence of having once occupied a much larger area. Maracaibo, in Venezuela, is some- times spoken of as a lake, but it is really an arm of the Caribbean Sea. The smaller sheets of water, dis- tributed over all parts of the country, are not of sufficient importance to command attention. South America is also famous for its vast plains. The great central plain covers more than one-half of the entire area of the continent. Other extensive plains, such as the Brazilian highlands, the Bolivian plateau, and the Andean highlands, will be described as we proceed. These plains may be grouped into three general divisions: the llanos, the selvas, and the pampas. The llanos are found chiefly in the valley of the Orinoco. They are treeless, with the exception of the palms which grow along the banks of the water- courses or cluster in the swampy portions of the delta. During the rainy season they are submerged, and this accounts for the curious fact that the inhabitants of the swampy sections build their houses in the tree-tops. As the dry season advances, everything speedily changes. Tropical vegetation in a great variety of forms springs up as if by magic, for growth is more rapid here than GENERAL FEATURES OF SOUTH AMERICA. 23 in any other part of the earth. The life of this vegeta- tion is, however, very brief. The intense heat of the sun quickly dries up the smaller streams, leaving only muddy pools filled with reptiles. The grass withers, and the earth is parched until great cracks appear upon ROYAL PALMS IN THE CARACAS VALLEY, VENEZUELA. its surface. The horses and cattle are driven to the foothills of the Andes for pasturage, the toads and other reptiles bury themselves in the mud to await the return of the wet season, and the natives burn off all the dried herbage that remains, so as to secure better results when the new crop shall appear. The selvas, lying chiefly in the Amazon region, are 24 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. covered with forests. As rain is much more frequent here, everything possesses more of permanence. The trees are so lofty and their foliage so dense that the forest depths are always dark and gloomy, while the undergrowth is so thick and the vines so luxuriant and far reaching as to render this vast region almost impenetrable. Thousands of acres of this valuable land have probably never been looked upon by human eyes. The pampas, which lie along the valley of the La Plata River, are covered with coarse grass and afford fine pasturage for large herds of horses, cattle, and sheep. They have but few trees and bear a striking resemblance to the great prairies of our own land. South America has an even and agreeable climate. It is nowhere subject to such extremes of heat and cold as are experienced in North America. The lowlands of the torrid belt are always hot, those of the extreme south are often visited by stormy, disagreeable weather, and those of the central portion are always mildly tem- perate. The elevated plateaus of the Andes, even in the torrid zone, have such a delightful climate that this section is called the "Paradise of South America." Above this section is the land of perpetual snow and cold, which is, for the most part, uninhabited. The natives found here by Columbus were Indians, and at that time there were probably more Indians in South America than in North America. The tribes having the highest civilization were the Incas, in the western part. The Spaniards and the Portuguese made slaves of the conquered natives; but the Indians are now free, and those who inhabit the cities are partly THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLICS. 25 civilized and inoffensive, while those of the interior are still fierce and warlike. The whites are the ruling race, although they com- prise less than one-third of the population. They are descendants of the early Spanish and Portuguese colo- nists. The negroes, who constitute about one-tenth of the population, are descended from the slaves brought from Africa by the early Portuguese colonists. They are most numerous in Brazil, where their services are much needed on the large coffee, sugar, and cotton plantations. Portuguese is the official language among the whites of Brazil; but elsewhere, except in Guiana, the whites, being chiefly of Spanish descent, speak the Spanish language. North of Brazil and east of Venezuela, lie the three small provinces known as British Guiana, Dutch Guiana, and French Guiana. These, as their names imply, are still under foreign rule. With these excep- tions, the territory of South America is now divided into the ten republics of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecua- dor, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ar- gentina, and Chile. CHAPTER IV. THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLICS. THE South American republics are all of compara- tively recent origin. For nearly two and a half centu- ries after the country came into the possession of Spain 26 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. and Portugal, the whole of South America, with the exception of Brazil, was governed by Spanish viceroys residing at Lima, in Peru. These viceroys were invested with royal authority and served as substitutes for the absent king. Courts of justice were established in the several prov- inces, and their presidents exercised full authority in their own territories, but were subject to the general government in Peru. The court of what is now known as Bolivia sat at Charcas ; that of Chile at Santiago ; that of Ecuador at Quito ; that of Colombia at Bogota ; that of the united provinces of the Rio de la Plata, which included Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Argentine Republic, sat sometimes at Asuncion, but chiefly at Buenos Aires. . While Brazil was under Spanish domi- nation, from 1582 to 1640, it had a court at Rio de Janeiro ; but when the authority of Portugal was re- stored, it became a viceroyalty governed in the name of the Portuguese king. The policy of Spain was to restrain, rather than to promote, the development of her colonies in America ; to strip them of everything that would bring profit to the crown, and to enforce a monopoly of commerce with the mother country. All industries likely to compete with Spanish interests were prohibited ; no goods could be imported except from Spain, and no products exported to any other country. The natives were reduced to slavery, and even citizens of Spanish birth were com- pelled to pay heavy tribute to the crown and to the Church. As the population increased, it was found that this form of government was unsuitable, and the exclusive THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLICS. 27 policy pursued by Spain became a source of great dis- content. To meet these new conditions, a decided change was made in 1740, when the southern portion of the continent was divided and placed under the charge of two viceroys. In the same year a third viceroy was established at Bogota, to govern the northern provinces of Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela; and six years later a fourth viceroy was stationed at Buenos Aires, to assist in the government of the southern provinces. Throughout all these years there were frequent spas- modic attempts at resistance to Spanish tyranny; but they were chiefly directed against unpopular local rulers or oppressive edicts, rather than against the Spanish government as a whole. In the year 1756 a child was born at Caracas, in Vene- zuela, who was destined to become the leader of South American independence. His name was Francisco Mi- randa, and he had a most remarkable career. His family was of Spanish origin, prominent among the colonial nobility, and possessed large estates and great wealth. Like other young men of his class, Miranda was sent to Europe to complete his education. In Paris he met the Marquis de Lafayette, who had already been engaged in the war of the American Revolution, and had returned to France for funds and reinforcements. Miranda, then about twenty-two years of age, was one of the first to enlist, and on reaching Boston, he was given a position on the staff of General Washington. He fought through the war, and upon the organization of the government of the United States, having become inspired by the example of Washington, he decided to attempt the liberation of his own country. 28 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Collecting a small company of adventurers from among his comrades of the Continental Army, he sailed from New York and landed upon the coast of Vene- zuela. There he raised the standard of liberty and issued a proclamation calling upon his fellow-country- men to assert their independence. But public opinion had not been educated to a point favorable to such radi- cal measures. Miranda was easily overcome by the forces of the Spanish governor. Some of his compan- ions were shot, some were imprisoned, and his life was spared only through the intercession of his family and friends. Being banished, he returned to Europe and remained for a time in France, where he endeavored to raise money and men to renew the attack. Then, at- tracted by the splendors of the court of Catherine the Great, he went to St. Petersburg, and spent several years there as the favorite and acknowledged lover of that remarkable empress. Miranda was a man of great accomplishments, a poet, a wit, and a musician ; but behind the gay man- ners of a courtier he concealed the motive of his life. He failed to enlist the sympathy of Catherine in his plan to liberate Venezuela, and when the French Revo- lution broke out he returned to Paris, and was made a general of division. He was defeated in battle, and was deprived of his command. He next went to Lon- don, where he led a miserable existence in garrets and in gutters, writing songs and pamphlets, until he was rescued by Simon Bolivar, with whom he returned to Venezuela in 1810. Bolivar, who was thirty years younger than Miranda, was also a native of Caracas, a man of good family and THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLICS. 29 large estates. He, too, had gone to Europe to finish his education, but before leaving Venezuela, he had become infected with the revolutionary fever. During a tour SIMON BOLIVAR. through the United States, he visited the tomb of Washington, where, in a most dramatic manner, he dedi- cated his life to the cause of Venezuelan independence. These two men fought side by side for the freedom 30 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. of their native land and won some glorious victories. Miranda was made dictator in 1812, but serious reverses followed, and he again fled the country. He was caught and delivered to the Spaniards, and died a prisoner at Cadiz, in 1816. The movement thus started was destined to issue in success. The Argentine provinces declared their in- dependence in 1816 ; Peru in 1821 ; and, by the middle of 1824, the four independent states of Colombia, Vene- zuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia were founded, with the original colonial boundaries as their limits. Uruguay and Paraguay were separated from the Argentine Re- public about 1828, and became independent nations. The present constitution of Chile dates from 1883, and its independence from 1831. This left only Brazil in subjection to foreign rule. When Napoleon took possession of Portugal in 1808, the king fled to Brazil and remained there until 1821. Then, upon his return to Lisbon, the independence of the colony was declared, and Dom Pedro L, the eldest son of King Joam VI. of Portugal, was made emperor. In 1831 he was succeeded by his son, the late Dom Pedro II., who ruled until the republic was established in 1889. The states of the North American Union were founded by enlightened people, well versed in matters of government, comprising among their number many persons of liberal education and of high religious char- acter. They had, as the basis of their colonies, a moral capacity and habits of obedience to law and justice. Among such a people self-government was easily established. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COLOMBIA. 31 The Spanish-American countries, on the other hand, were founded by military men of the Middle Ages, who came from Southern Europe when the feudal system was in its full power. The soldier element, everywhere and at all times imprudent and venturesome, did not receive the support of European immigration ; and largely for these reasons, the growth of these republics has been extremely slow in comparison with that of the United States. CHAPTER V. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COLOMBIA. COLOMBIA occupies the extreme northwestern portion of the South American continent. It includes within its boundaries the Isthmus of Panama, by which it is joined to Central America and thus to the North Ameri- can continent as a whole. It has an area of about 514,000 square miles and an estimated population of nearly 4,500,000. We must, however, note the fact that its limits are still unsettled. The Costa Rican and most of the Venezuelan boundaries are established ; but large por- tions of the southeastern plain are claimed, with about equal justice, by Venezuela, Brazil, and Ecuador. These regions are unexplored, and it will be impossi- ble to settle the division of them for a long time to come. This, however, does not affect the statistics of population, the disputed lands being occupied only by "wild" Indians. 32 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The original inhabitants of Colombia form a strongly marked group, known as the Chibchas or Muiscas of Bogota, a civilized people, noted for their taste and skill in the execution of gold ornaments. Some of these works recently discovered and exhibited in London by a Mr. Powles, excited universal surprise and admira- tion ; and a fine collection is owned by the Field Colum- bian Museum of Chicago. The coast of Colombia was one of the first parts of the American continent visited by the Spanish navi- gators. Alonso de Ojeda touched at several points in 1499 and 1501, and Columbus himself visited Porto- bello and other places on his last voyage in 1502. In 1508 Ojeda obtained from the Spanish Crown a grant of the district from Cape Vela westward to the Gulf of Darien, and the rest of the country was bestowed upon one of his fellow-adventurers. Of these earlier years it is difficult to write with cer- tainty ; but in 1536 three distinct expeditions, unknown to each other, approached by different routes the rich domain of the Chibchas. The first, sent out by the governor of Santa Marta and commanded by Ximenes de Quesada, ascended the Magdalena River; the second, under the auspices of the governor of Venezuela and led by Nicolaus Federmann, a German, accompanied by the venerable Las Casas, marched across the country ; while the third, organized by Sebastian de Benalcazar, a lieutenant of the notorious Pizarro, came from Peru. All were famous war veterans, and after two years, during which they were often reduced to the most horri- ble extremities because of thirst, hunger, the natural obstacles of the country, and the fierce opposition of HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COLOMBIA. 33 its inhabitants, they met upon the present plain of Bogota. Benalcazar and his men, having marched direct from Quito, were finely armored and presented an imposing array ; Federmann's troops were clothed in the skins of wild beasts ; while Quesada's little army had been compelled to adopt the attire of the natives. Reports had reached their ears of the wonderful wealth of this land, whose ruler was said " to clothe himself in a simple coating of balsamif- erous resins, sprinkled with gold dust blown through a bamboo reed twice a day," the celebrated legend of El Dorado, in vain search for which were sacrificed count- less lives and untold treas- ure. The territory of the Chibchas is said to have com- prised six hundred square leagues, extensively culti- vated, and inhabited by a population of two thousand to the square league. They had attained a degree of civilization that assigned them the third place in America ; but without unity of action, they were powerless before the resistless march of this handful of Spaniards. Quesada, who had preceded his rivals, promised to divide among his followers more than a quarter of a ANCIENT SPANISH MILESTONE. 34 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. million of dollars and about two thousand emeralds a large sum in those days. But when he approached the rich temple of Suamoz, where the fabulous treasures were supposed to be stored, its priest fired the exterior, hid within its walls, and perished in the flames, destroy- ing, perhaps, " the traditions of a people and the history of a nation." On the 6th of August, 1538, upon the site of the sum- mer residence of the native chief, Quesada founded Santa Fe de Bogota, calling it Santa Fe, from its similarity of situation to the city of that name in the kingdom of Granada in Spain, and Bogota, after a native prince. It was built in twelve distinct parts, representative of the twelve apostles. To the highlands about Bogota he gave the name of New Granada, in remembrance of his native province. In the jealous rivalries of the times, Quesada was thrust aside and banished from the land he had secured. Later he was restored, and was made marshal of the kingdom of New Granada, of which Colombia was then a part. He lived to a good old age and died of leprosy, in the year 1572. By the middle of the sixteenth century the Spanish power was fairly established, and a number of nourish- ing communities sprang up in the territory which the Chibchas had formerly occupied. For the better govern- ment of the colony, the Spanish monarch erected a presi- dency of New Granada, which continued until 1718, when it was raised to the rank of a viceroyalty and was officially known as the "Kingdom of New Granada." In 1740 it was restored to the direct control of Spain, on the ground that the maintenance of a separate gov- HISTORICAL SKETCH OF COLOMBIA. 35 ernment imposed too heavy a burden on the settlers. At the time of its restoration, New Granada contained within its limits all the territory now possessed by Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. On July 20, 1810, the colony declared its intention of shaking off the yoke of the mother country, and a THE HOME OF SIMON BOLIVAR. bloody war ensued for thirteen years. At the close of this bitter conflict, which resulted in favor of the colo- nists, the national hero, Simon Bolivar, was elected to the presidency of the republic of Colombia, which, like the viceroy alty, embraced all that now belongs to Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. In the history of South American independence these Colombian states occupy the first place. 36 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Venezuela and Ecuador withdrew from this union in 1830, and the republic of New Granada was formed the next year, embracing what is now Colombia ; but a new civil war in 1861 led to the establishment of the United States of Colombia, which has since revived the earlier name of the Republic of Colombia. When the Republic of Colombia was formed, Bolivar, who has been surnamed the Liberator by reason of the prominent part he played in securing its independence, was elected the first president. He next liberated Peru from the Spaniards, and when the southern part of Peru was made a separate state, it was named Bolivia in his honor. He was again elected president of Colombia in 1826, and held that office until his death in 1830. In 1830 Bolivar died, and about one month before his death he wrote a letter to the late General Flores of Ecuador, in which the following remarkable passage occurs : " I have been in power for nearly twenty years, from which I have gathered only a few definite results: 1. America, for us, is ungovernable. 2. He who dedi- cates his services to a revolution, plows the sea. 3. The only thing that can be done in America, is to emigrate. 4. This country will inevitably fall into the hands of the unbridled rabble, and little by little become a prey to petty tyrants of all colors and races." This prophecy has been turned into history. Since Bolivar's death there have been seventeen presidents, and almost every administration has been marred by scenes of insurrection and civil war. The most notable of Colombia's presidents have been Santarider, Mos- quera, Murillo-Toro, and Nunez, first elected in 1885 and reflected for a fourth term in 1892. COLOMBIA AND HER PEOPLE. 37 During the year 1900 Colombia was engaged in a vigorous and bloody civil war, and the country is still in a condition of great unrest. There has been, however, much real progress. Slavery was abolished in 1852 ; the government has steadily increased in lib- erality and breadth of administration; and there are many hopeful signs for the country's future CHAPTER VI. COLOMBIA AND HER PEOPLE. THE present Colombians are descended, for the most part, from the Indians who occupied the land at the advent of the Spaniards. The natives were treated so badly that, according to Quesada, in thirty-nine years a population of two millions was reduced to a few wretched tribes. But from these humble remnants, crossed to a slight degree by European elements, has sprung the Colombian race. The civilized inhabitants of the plateaus and upland valleys, in whom the European and the Indian elements are completely blended, present certain marked char- acteristics. For example, the Andalusian Mestizos are noted for their clear vision, impulsive action, and lack of perseverance. The Pastusos, with some Quichua blood in their veins, have the same patient, long-suf- fering, cautious, but sullen and revengeful spirit as their southern kindred. On the other hand, the people of the Cauca valley, the most healthful and flourishing district of Colombia, are hospitable, open-handed, and 38 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. full of sympathy and pity for the weak. "Their country," says a writer in Harpers Magazine, "has received the quaint name of 4 the gentle land of yes,' being a people who can never say ' no ' to those who ask. But they are impulsive and passionate, flying to arms on the slightest pretext qualities due to a large strain of negro blood." The pure-blooded Indian, unless a soldier, is not usually a resident of Bogota, although he makes fre- quent pilgrimages to the city. In South America the Indian remains in his primitive state; while here in North America he has adopted not only the language and many of the customs, but to some extent the re- ligion of his conquerors. Two principal causes have combined to produce this condition of affairs ; namely, close intermarriage among the Indians, and the fact that the tribes occupying the country at the time of the conquest were not nomadic, as were those of the United States and Canada. Occasionally the visitor encounters Indians of a peculiar German physiognomy, and these are supposed to be descendants of the followers of Federmann. The Indians are hard-worked and poorly paid. They are veritable beasts of burden, often carrying loads of from one hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds, sus- pended from the forehead and resting upon the back. They deliver all the goods sold in the markets of Bogota, and bring their fruits arid wares over difficult mountain paths, often traveling a distance of one hundred miles. The heavier articles of commerce are brought upon their shoulders from the river terminus at Honda. COLOMBIA AND HER PEOPLE. 39 The natives of Antioquia are said to have some Jew- ish blood in their veins, coming from a number of Jewish converts who took refuge in the New World. These people are noted for their intelli- gence and busi- ness shrewd- ness. No other- part of the Co- lombian nation has increased more rapidly; for the popula- tion of this re- gion has risen from about one hundred thou- sand, at the close of the eighteenth cen- tury, to over one million, in 1900. Should they con- tinue to increase at the same rate, the Antioquians will soon constitute the chief section of the Colombian population. On the coast the negro element has held its own, and even increased at the expense of other races. Certain pursuits, as those of bargemen and day la- borers, are almost monopolized by the "Sambos," as 'ES CARRYING CINCHONA BARK. 40 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. all the half-breeds are called in whom black blood is dominant. Life is everywhere so easy in the tropics, and espe- cially in this delightful climate, that it is not surprising that little regard is taken of time ; and if you make an engagement with a native for five o'clock sharp, you may be sure he will not come before six, and perhaps not until the next day. Outside the great cities the roads are decidedly bad. One traveler tells us that he was three hours and a half in riding thirteen miles. Many of the so-called roads are only mountain tracks, and these seem to be regarded as all that is necessary. The scenery in general is gorgeous; the flowers, trees, and shrubs are exquisite, and some of the mountains are beautiful in the extreme. The rivers are full of islands, and scores of alligators take the air on the sandy banks with their awful jaws wide open. Sometimes more than a hundred are seen in a single day's travel, especially along the lower stretches of the Magdalena River. Honda is a pretty little place, something like a Welsh village, with mountains all around; and though it is not especially noteworthy, it gives promise of future growth and progress. The city of Medellin, the capital of the province of Antioquia, lies within the temperate zone, at an eleva- tion of 4860 feet, and is a place full of " hustle " and energy. It is an active center of the gold-mining industry, and in the surrounding region millions of dollars are invested by English capitalists. This one district presents the rare spectacle, in Colombia, of real COLOMBIA AND HER PEOPLE. 41 carriage roads radiating from Medellin in various direc- tions up and down the Porci valley, reaching out to the city of Antioquia on the banks of the Cauca River, from which point there is direct water travel to the coast. The seasons and the climate differ somewhat from the conditions in our temperate zone. March, April, and May, with September, October, and November, constitute the two wet seasons ; while June to August and December to February are the two dry seasons. Generally it is warmest in February and coldest in December, although it is never so cold as to require artificial heat in the houses. Both cereals and vege- tables are planted twice a year, in February and Sep- tember; and the two crops are harvested in July and January. Corn, wheat, barley, rice, potatoes, and all the principal vegetables of the temperate zone are grown, and in the market of Bogota may be seen, every day in the year, apples, peaches, pears, plums, and strawberries, side by side with crude sugar, choco- late in the bean, unthreshed coffee, plantains, pine- apples, oranges, lemons, cocoanuts, fresh figs, and all the choicest products of both zones in rich profusion. Their growth is merely a question* of altitude; and a day's ride, in almost any direction, is sufficient to carry the traveler through all gradations of climate, from extreme heat to extreme cold, or the reverse. One of the greatest drawbacks to life in the Colom- bian states is the abundance of insect pests that, at times, make life almost unbearable. The walking- stick insect also called "death to the horse," because if it gets into the horse's food it is fatal is about 42 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. six inches long, six-legged, greenish brown in color, with long antennae, the body no thicker than a piece of thin twine, and the legs not thicker than coarse thread. These insects are a constant nuisance, and, at certain seasons of the year, keep people busy brush- ing them from their clothing and driving them from the houses. But the ants are worse still. Food, to be kept from them, must be placed on top of cups set in soup plates full of water. The very tiny black ants swarm over every- thing sweet, in- fest the bread, and spoil the pleasures of the table to an extent which it is difficult for us to comprehend. The big red soldier ants bite severely, and their bite leaves a painful wound. An old resident in Bogota says : " There is another black ant, which, unlike its relations, may be consid- ered 4 a boon and a blessing to men ' ; but the first intro- duction to his kind was a little alarming. An army A BIRD CATCHER AND SELLER. COLOMBIA AND HER PEOPLE. 43 of them invaded the house one morning. They were apparently en route for somewhere, and could not break their line for such a trifling obstacle as a house. They came right through ; the walls and the floors were cov- ered. Clothes were hastily thrown into boxes, curtains turned up, furniture put into a heap in the middle of the room, and the inmates retreated, leaving the ants in possession. They were a couple of hours marching through ; but they not only did no damage, but proved of immense benefit, as they cleared out every scorpion, beetle, and cockroach in the place. One day an army on the march met a two-year-old laddie, who did not yield them the pass; so they went straight over him, to his extreme discomfiture, and he ,had to be hastily removed, undressed, and dusted, to shake off the invaders." It has been wittily said that, "If King Solomon had lived in Colombia, he would have thought it hardly necessary to bid the sluggard, 'go to the ant,' for the ant comes to him instead." The most important of the secular feasts held in Colombia, and especially in its capital, comes on the 20th of July, the anniversary of its independence. It is gratifying to know that our own "glorious Fourth," as well as the 22d of February, the birthday of the first American liberator, is invariably commemo- rated in both Houses of Congress by patriotic and friendly resolutions, by salutes of artillery, and evolu- tions by the garrison of Bogota in the plaza. For their own national celebration the plaza is handsomely deco- rated and surrounded by temporary grand stands, from which the entire population witness, during three or 44 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. four days, various public exhibitions, feats of horse- manship, maneuvers by the Colombian Guard, and bullfighting, which is still the favorite sport of the Colombian people. The national colors, yellow, blue, and red, said to be emblematical of the blue ocean separating the blood- thirsty Spaniard from the golden shores of Colombia, float from every private house and public edifice, during the great gatherings; and the hotels and the Jockey Club swarm with guests. At night the numerous gaming-houses, brilliantly illuminated, allure the peo- ple by the thousand; for gambling is a very common vice, and during this season everybody is expected to play as a mark of his patriotism. CHAPTER VII. IN CITY AND COUNTRY. THE capital city of Colombia is Bogota. It is finely situated at the foot of a spur of the eastern Andes, upon an inclined plane which forms the base of two mountains. These peaks, towering two thousand feet above the city, with summits covered with churches, make an imposing picture. To the west, north, and south extends one of the most beautiful, fertile, and elevated plateaus in the world, about thirty miles wide and sixty miles long. This is the celebrated Sabana of Bogota. It is fairly cultivated and contains several large lakes or lagoons, in which gold ornaments and images of aboriginal workmanship and exceedingly IN CITY AND COUNTRY. 45 curious design have frequently been found. These discoveries have revived traditions of the former con- secration of these lakes as natural temples, and have led to numerous but ineffectual projects for their drainage. To the traveler who with difficulty ascends from the parched banks of the Magdalena, the Sabana presents a scene of marvelous beauty, with its encircling chain of mountains and the extinct volcano of Tolima, snow- capped arid cloud-ridden, in the distance, with its culti- vated fields and green pastures dotted with beautiful homes, and the city of Ibague clustering about the mountain's base. Its breezes are deliciously cool and invigorating. So equable is the climate that one may say there is no change of season, or, rather, that here reigns perpetual spring. The snowy Sierra de Santa Marta, rising abruptly above the sea to a vertical height of over three miles, presents one of the grandest spec- tacles in the New World. The majority of the houses in Bogota are of one story, because of the prevalence of earthquakes, but many have two and three stories. Their exterior is not striking, as, with tile roofs, little architectural effect can be attempted. The material is generally adobe, or sun-dried brick, and the walls are from two to three feet thick. The better classes live as com- fortably as in other parts of the world, and many of the private residences are fitted with all the comforts of life. There is invariably an open interior court, called a patio, in the center of which is perhaps a fountain surrounded by varied and beautiful plants which bloom all the year round. 46 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The roofs project over the narrow sidewalks and furnish partial protection from the rain. The prin- cipal streets are paved or macadamized, and are built ut right angles to each other. They are, however, quite narrow, and in the center of each is a surface sewer, often poorly supplied with water, which conveys the refuse of the city to the plain below. The base- ments of the houses, in many parts of the city, are occupied by the poorer classes, who crowd in these dark arid close quarters together with poultry, cats and dogs, monkeys and parrots. They live, cook, eat, and sleep in the same apartment. The city is supplied with water from two mountain streams, the San Francisco and San Augustin, which flow through its limits, the water being conveyed to public fountains placed in the plaza. Gas and electric lights have been introduced, and the principal streets are well lighted at night and patrolled by police. Besides the university, founded in 1867 and already the best establishment of the kind in the Andean region north of Peru, Bogota possesses -a valuable library of over fifty thousand volumes, an observatory, a fine art institute, a picture gallery, an herbarium, and other public institutions. Colombia, as a whole, is but sparsely peopled, al- though certain regions of the plateau already resem- ble Europe in the density of their population. In 1898 the actual population was estimated at 4,617,000. The country presents exceptional advantages to colo- nists of every race. It offers, from sea level to the mountain summits, a regular succession of all climates, hot, moderate, temperate, cold, combined according IN CITY AND COUNTRY. 47 to the slopes and aspects, with varying degrees of dry ness or moisture. With the exception of the Santa Marta group, the Colombian ranges spread out like the ribs of a fan toward the north and northeast, and are so disposed as to present land capable of cultivation at all altitudes A FREIGHT BOAT. and in all the latitudes and longitudes of the counhy. The republic would therefore be in a position to wel- come multitudes of immigrants if accessible routes were constructed from the coast to the thinly settled regions of the temperate and cold zones. The difficul- ties of the approaches to the uplands have kept settlers at a distance, while the hot, low-lying coast lands are not suitable for white settlements. 48 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The commerce or trade of Bogota proper is estimated at about eighteen millions of dollars yearly, and would be much greater but for the inaccessibility of the city. From New York one takes the Atlas line of steamships to Barranquilla, the direct passage occupy- ing about twelve days; thence by steamboat up the Magdalena to Honda, a journey of from nine to twelve days, depending entirely upon the state of the water ; and from Honda to Bogota upon mules across the Cor- dilleras, a distance of only seventy-five miles, which requires from three to four days. However, there is now being constructed a railroad to the Magdalena River, and other interior lines are contemplated. Its inland and isolated situation has made Bogota one of the least progressive of the capitals of South America, and more than any other, perhaps, it retains its old Spanish aspects. The mineral wealth of the surrounding hills may be considered as inexhaustible, but it is largely unde- veloped. Coal beds have been discovered in the province of Veragua, where brown coal exists in great abundance and in ample quantity for the supply of the country around. This same coal formation is found on the Isthmus of Panama and the island of Muerto. The island of Santa Clara also furnishes coal of good quality ; and it has lately been found on the south side of the city of Bogota, and even within the limits of the city itself. The fuel is reputed to burn extremely well and to give out a great heat, and compares favorably with the coals of the upper Missouri valley. The northwestern part of the republic of Colombia embraces the southeastern portion of the Isthmus of IN CITY AND COUNTRY. 49 Panama. This part of the country is full of historical interest. It was here that the Spaniards first obtained gold in large quantities from the Indians ; and it was of Darien that Balboa wrote, when he reported to his king that he had "discovered a country with thirty streams carrying gold." The Spaniards early settled this region and were repaid for their toil and hardships by the rich gold fields. The importance of a navigable connection between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the isthmus which connects North and South America calls for a condensed view of the chief plans proposed at different dates, and of the natural obstacles baffling them all up to the present time. From the era of the Spanish con- quest of America, the search for the secret of the sup- posed natural strait was carried on along the whole coast line of the two continents ; and when this ceased, the possibility of the construction of an artificial route began to be discussed. Governments, companies, and individuals have devoted much time and money to the search for a practicable route for a ship canal. The total length of the Panama canal, as at present projected, is 46 miles ; the heaviest cutting, that in the Culebra, is 330 feet. The original estimate of cost made by the Panama Canal Congress was $120,000,000. At the close of the year 1888 the amount expended, not all on the actual work, however, was $200,000,000; and at that time not more than one-third of the whole work was completed. In 1890 it was estimated that it would require, to com- plete the canal at sea level, about $600,000,000 over and above all that had already been expended. Ameri- 50 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. can capitalists are now taking up the project, and there is a prospect that the work will yet be done. Panama, the capital and largest city of the prov- ince of the same name, is situated on the southern or Pacific side of the isthmus, at the head of the Bay of Panama. It is the oldest city of European origin in continental America, having been founded in 1519. The completion of the isthmian railway, in 1855, gave the city a new impetus, but it has suffered greatly from revolutions and from destructive fires. The mod- ern city is built on a rocky peninsula. There is no proper harbor for large vessels ; the anchorage, eleven miles from the city, is partly protected by reefs and islands, but during the prevalence of north winds it is inconvenient and sometimes dangerous. Owing to the force of the tides, which rise from twelve to twenty- two feet, landings can be effected with safety only at certain hours; and small steamers and lighters are used to transfer passengers and freight. The Magdalena is the chief river of Colombia, and is the fourth river of South America in volume. Its main direction is from south to north, between two ranges of mountains. Its tributary, the river Bogota, a little below the capital, is precipitated 475 feet into a rocky chasm, clothed with rich, tropical vege- tation and usually shrouded in mist. This forms what is known as the Tequendama Falls. It presents a wonderful spectacle, for at this point 4250 cubic feet of water per second are discharged in a single column over a fall three times higher than that of Niagara. Scarcely less wonderful is the natural bridge of Pandi, formed by three enormous bowlders sustaining IN CITY AND COUNTRY. 51 each other and spanning the perpendicular walls of a profound abyss, through whose depths flows the river Sumapaz. This chasm is fully three miles in length, and recent measurements give the height of the bridge above the water at 265 feet. POTTERY TRADERS ON THE MAGDALENA RIVER. Colombia contributes little to the general trade of the world. The coffee of Santander and the tobacco of the Tolima valley are the two main products of the soil. Vegetable ivory, bark, and gold are exported from its natural products. In fact, its gifts to the outside 52 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. world are scarcely worth mentioning when we compare them with those of the republics farther south. The Colombian flora rivals that of Brazil both in the variety of its plants and in the splendor of its flowers and foliage. Palms occur everywhere, but nearly always solitary or in isolated groups. There is such a variety that the botanist Andre found twenty-five different species in a three days' search. The wax palms, which are very numerous, shoot up straight and graceful as a reed to a height of two hundred feet. A single stem will yield from sixteen to twenty-four pounds of white or yellowish wax, which is sold at a high price for making wax matches. There is also another remarkable palm, called the cornete, which grows on the eastern slope of the Cor- dilleras facing the llanos. From six to eight feet above the ground rise long, slender shoots in the form of a pyramid. Upon these grow fruits resembling plums in size and appearance. These grow in clusters weighing from 120 to 200 pounds. The tagua palm grows abundantly on the banks of the Magdalena, and has the appearance of a young cocoanut tree. Its large fruit, or "negro head," of melon shape contains numerous grains too hard for the teeth of the peccary or monkey. This is the "vegetable ivory " of commerce. There is another useful variety of the palm, whose fan-shaped leaves furnish the ma- terial used for making "Panama hats." Scarcely less numerous than the palms are the tree ferns. Their, stems are used for making the so-called "palisaded roads," where, but for these "sleepers," the traveler would run the risk of disappearing in the quagmires. IN CITY AND COUNTRY. 53 Mr. Frederick Boyle, an American gentleman who spent many years in Colombia, writes of these giant ferns as follows : " Great tree ferns meet across the bubbling water, their fronds translucent as green glass where the sun- light flickers through a canopy of leaves. Every tree is clad and swathed in creepers, huge snakes of vegeta- tion, bare and ponderous, sunning their jeweled heads at a windy height above, or slender tendrils starred with blossoms. Here and there is a vast, hollow pillar, reticulated, plated, intertwined the casing of a para- site which now stands unaided, feeding on the rotten debris of its late support, and stretching murderous arms abroad in the world of leaves above to clasp another victim. Other trees are fading to a lovely death under shrouds of fern, which descend from the topmost branches in a gray-green cataract soft as a fall, three feet in thickness of tender sprays. Great sheaves of bamboo make an arch of verdant feathers overhead. A thousand tropic blossoms unknown to us clothe earth and brushwood in a veritable sheet of color." Perhaps we can also best explain the nature of the cotton trees, so famous in this country, by inserting the following description from the well-known English writer, Charles Kingsley: "The hugest English oak would have seemed a stunted bush beside it. Borne up on roots, or rather walls, of twisted board some 12 feet high, rose the enormous trunk full 40 feet in girth, towering like some tall lighthouse, smooth for 100 feet, then crowned with boughs, each of which was a stately tree whose topmost twigs were full 250 feet from the ground. 54 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. THE FEATHERY BAMBOO. And yet it was easy for the sailors to ascend, so many natural ropes had kind nature lowered for their use, in IN CITY AND COUNTRY. 55 the smooth lianes which hung to the very earth, often without a knot or leaf. Once in the tree, you were within a new world, suspended between heaven and earth, and, as Gary said, no wonder if like Jack, when he climbed the magic beanstalk, you had found a castle, a giant, and a few acres of well-stocked park, packed away somewhere behind that labyrinth of timber. Par- rots peeped in and out of every cranny, while within the airy woodland brilliant hybrids basked like living gems upon the bark, gaudy finches flittered and chir- ruped, butterflies of every size and color hovered over the topmost twigs, innumerable insects hummed from morn till eve ; and when the sun went down, tree-toads came out to snore and croak till dawn. There was more life round that one tree than in a whole square mile of English soil." The orchids, of which Colombia possesses some of the very finest varieties, are threatened with extinction, owing to the zeal with which they have been appro- priated by European and American collectors. The Colombian fauna, no less rich than its flora, is especially distinguished for the amazing variety of smaller animal forms, birds, fishes, and insects. The present mammals, such as apes, bats, and vampires, pumas, jaguars, bears, sloths, and ant-eaters, tapirs and peccaries, belong to the same species as those of Venezuela and Central America. The humming-bird is also very common here. An old French naturalist gives a pretty description of it, which it quite deserves. "Of all animated beings it is the most elegant in form and the most brilliant in colors our precious stones cannot be compared in 56 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. luster to this jewel of Nature, who has bestowed on it all the gifts which she has only shared amongst other birds. Lightness, swiftness, grace, and the most splendid clothing all belong to this little favorite. The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz sparkle in its plumage, which it never defiles with the dust of the earth, and scarcely ever deigns to touch to the green turf for a moment. It is always on the wing, fluttering from flower to flower, and possesses their freshness as well as their brilliancy; it lives on their nectar, and only inhabits those climates where flowers never cease to bloom. It is in the warmest regions of the new world that all the species known of these birds are found; for those which advance in summer to the tem- perate zones only remain there a short time. They seem to follow the sun, and advance and retire with him, and to fly on the wings of zephyr in the train of an eternal spring." Such, in brief, is Colombia; and we hope that many of our readers will have the privilege of visiting it for themselves. CHAPTER VIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF VENEZUELA. THE early history of Venezuela is inseparably con- nected with that of Colombia, of which it formed for many years a part; yet there are important points of difference to be noted, in order to gain a proper under- standing of the Venezuela of to-day. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF VENEZUELA. 57 In the year 1499 many wonderful stories regarding the third voyage of Christopher Columbus were circu- lated in Spain, and a number of bold sailors were led to follow his example. Among the more noted of these adventurers were Alonso de Ojeda, Juan de la Cosa, and Americus Vespucius. These men sailed for the New World, as it was then called, on May 20th of that year; and as Ojeda had accompanied Columbus on his second voyage, they followed the same course which he had pursued, and eventually reached the coast of the mainland which Columbus had already discovered. This land Ojeda named Venezuela, which means little Venice. His reason for thus naming the place appears to have been that he found an Indian village in the lake of Maracaibo, built on piles, the inhabitants communicating with each other by means of canoes. The name is certainly a pretty one, but it is not very appropriate, as Venezuela and Venice have scarcely anything in common. It is by no means certain that Ojeda and his party landed at this time, nor is it now believed that Colum- bus made any stay when he discovered the eastern coast during the preceding year. Historians assert with great positiveness that "there is no evidence of any landing prior to that made in 1510, on the small island of Cubagua, situated in the channel between the island of Margarita and the mainland, where was founded the first settlement, known as New Cadiz. In the course of time it became the rendezvous for a nest of pirates, who persecuted the natives and sold them as slaves on the neighboring islands. A short time afterward New 58 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Cadiz disappeared, and Cubagua was abandoned, remain- ing uninhabited to the present day." In 1520 the city of Cumana was founded on the southern coast of the Gulf of Cariaco, and this is one of the oldest cities on the American continent. Five years later Asuncion, the capital of the island of Mar- garita, was founded. This island received its name from the abundance of pearls found on its coast, " mar- garita " being a Spanish word for pearls. The eastern part of the Venezuelan coast, opposite to the island of Margarita where Cumana was established, was called New Andalusia by its first colonizers. It has been claimed by some that Coro and its port, La Vela, were the most ancient settlements on the main- land; but there is abundant evidence that when these places were settled, in 1527, there were at least three other settlements in the territory of New Andalusia, two of them dating from 1525. The colony of Coro was founded by Juan de Ampue's, a Spanish nobleman prominent in the affairs of the times, and was from its very beginning and through a long period of years the most important of the Spanish settlements. It was the starting-point for the numerous exploring expeditions that were sent to the interior of Venezuela and Colombia in search of gold and of " El Dorado," the fabled king of an equally fabulous Indian city. In its most definite form, the story told in those early times described a lake and an island on which was a city marvelously rich in gold, silver, and precious stones. But the much sought region has never been discovered. The conquest of Venezuela does not offer, like that HISTORICAL SKETCH OF VENEZUELA. 59 of Mexico and of Peru, material of great interest, as the Indians of that country had not reached such a high plane of civilization as the Incas and the Aztecs; nor did Spain send against them such captains as Pizarro and Cortes. STATUE OF BOLIVAR. In the year 1567 Diego de Losada founded the city of Caracas, which is to-day the capital of Venezuela. This city is situated in the beautiful valley that formed part of the domain of the heroic Caracas tribe of In- dians, whose obstinate resistance in their struggle for 60 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. independence forms the most glorious page in the history of that part of America. More than two cen- turies passed before the final conquest and settlement of Venezuela was accomplished by Spain. As soon as. Spanish rule was established in Caracas, the construction of highroads and other improvements were begun, the Indians being employed as laborers in all these enterprises ; but still progress was slow, and affairs in general remained in a most unsettled condition. The first efforts of the people to free themselves from the Spanish yoke were not successful. General Miranda landed at Coro in 1806, but he found that the people were not ready for war. He was obliged to withdraw and to postpone to a later date the war of independence, owing to a want of unity in the opposition to the Spanish power. The events which followed this failure sharpened the sense of oppression and increased the discontent. This feeling took form in the revolutions of 1810 and 1811, which began with the deposing of the Spanish governor. After one of the most ferocious and bloody wars imaginable, the republican arms triumphed on the memorable field of Boyaca, where the independence of Venezuela and Colombia was sealed forever. A short time after this, Ecuador, which was liberated by the efforts of Bolivar, was united with these two countries. For a time New Granada was retained as a collective name for the provinces which had composed the old viceroyalty, until they were merged into the republic of Colombia. Bolivar was a great statesman as well as a great gen- eral, and he was quick to see that the independence of HISTORICAL SKETCH OF VENEZUELA. 61 the republic of Colombia was by no means free from danger so long as Peru, Bolivia, and the other countries of the south remained under the rule of Spain. As president of the republic of Colombia, he entered into communication with these countries, and not long after- ward received a request for aid from the people of Peru. THE CAPITOL AT CARACAS. He at once sent out General Sucre with the soldiers necessary for the undertaking ; and then, having placed the affairs of Colombia in the hands of the vice presi- dent, he immediately followed to the scene of the struggle. On his arrival at Lima, he reorganized the army and assunfed the presidency, which he continued to hold while there were enemies to fight and conquer. He finally triumphed, arid thus the independence of the 62 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. two republics of Peru and Bolivia was permanently secured. There were a few matters that still needed attention in Venezuela, and to these Bolivar now turned. Al- though the independence of Colombia and Venezuela was secured, neither the castle of Puerto Cabello nor that of San Carlos at the entrance of Lake Maracaibo nor the city of Maracaibo was yet free from Spanish con- trol. These surrendered successively. Puerto Cabello, after a desperate struggle, capitulated to General Paez ; and Maracaibo was attacked and taken by the fleet under command of the great sailor, Jos Padilla, who forced the bar, entered the lake, and, opposite the plaza of Maracaibo, fought and vanquished the Spanish squadron, which was superior in number to his own. The independence of Venezuela being now considered as assured, the Liberator returned to Colombia, where he put forth the greatest efforts to maintain the " Un- ion " between the three sections composing it ; but he was unsuccessful and finally resigned his command. He died broken-hearted in November, 1830, at his country seat near the port of Santa Marta, at the mo- ment that Colombia, the creation of his genius and of his sword, was being dismembered and divided into the three republics known to-day as Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. The republics, having declared themselves independent countries, naturally sought to obtain from the mother country a treaty of peace and a formal recognition of the new order of things. All three succeeded in secur- ing this. The treaty of peace, on the part of Venezuela, was signed at Madrid on March 30, 1847. Her inde- SOME VENEZUELAN CITIES. 63 pendence was formally recognized, together with her possession of all rights of the crown to the territory previously belonging to Spain, within the jurisdiction of the captaincy general of Venezuela. The Venezuelan government of these later years is based upon the declaration of the rights of man made by the United States in 1776, and upon the same ideas of liberty and order which prevail in this country. CHAPTER IX. SOME VENEZUELAN CITIES. THE cities of Venezuela are worthy of special notice. Caracas, the capital, lies about 630 miles north of the equator, and in about the same longitude as Boston. It is situated in a beautiful valley not more than three or four miles wide. The scenery is magnificent. To the north beautiful wooded mountains, nearly 9000 feet high, stand outlined against the clear blue tropical sky, while along the southern side another ridge, about 3000 feet high, hems in the valley. Stretches of sugar cane fill the valley, and groves of coffee trees decorate the foothills. Up the valley to the west may be seen a narrow pass, through which runs the road to Valencia, the second city of importance in Venezuela. An aqueduct built through this valley brings an ample supply of water to the capital from the mountains above. To the east of the city, the slopes of the mountains are covered with long lines of coffee plantations stretching as far as the eye can see. Their 64 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. beautiful dark green covering presents a rich contrast to the fields of sugar cane. The climate of Caracas is delightful. The tempera- ture never rises above 82 F., nor does it fall below 65 F., save occasionally, and then only for a few hours, toward the end of December when the temperature is lowest. The highest temperature is felt from June to September. The name of Santiago de Leon, by which Caracas was first known, was long retained in its public documents. The growth of the city has been exceedingly slow, because for the last seventy years the people have been engaged in almost constant domestic strife. Men have been killed off faster than children have been born, and immigrants have avoided the country because of the lack of security for life and property. Caracas has also suffered severely from earthquakes. In 1812 the city was entirely destroyed by an earthquake, and 12,000 people are said to have perished in the ruins. Within recent years very little loss had come from this cause, until in 1900 occurred an earthquake which resulted in great damage. The houses are constructed of thick adobe walls, to render them as nearly earthquake proof as possible, and most of them are only one story high. The present population of about 80,000 souls occupies 10,379 dwellings, each family occupying a single house. The people of Caracas hardly know what a fire is. There is not a heating stove in the entire city, for there is no need of fires or other artificial heat at any season of the year. The only fuel is charcoal, of which a small supply is used in the kitchen. This charcoal is SOME VENEZUELAN CITIES. 65 IN UPPER CARACAS. put in the corner of an arrangement like a blacksmith's forge, with holes for pots and kettles, so that the cook can have as many or as few fires as he likes. The houses seem to be constructed with the one general purpose of securing the greatest possible amount of coolness. Caracas, like most South American towns, is laid out in regular squares of equal area and frontage, divided by narrow streets paved with small cobblestones. The streets are numbered from the Plaza Bolivar, a beauti- ful square in the center of the town, just as the streets of Washington are lettered and numbered from the Capitol. The cathedral, which fronts on the plaza, is really the center of the city as a whole. The Plaza Bolivar is one of the most beautiful places in the city. In its centre rises the bronze equestrian statue of Bolivar, considered one of the most notable examples of modern art. There are other statues of 66 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. prominent men among them the statue of Washing- ton in tho plaza of the same name, placed there in token, of the admiration and love with which Venezuela has always regarded the " Father of American Liberty," and of her sympathy with the United States. Caracas was the first of the capitals of Spanish America to con- secrate an imperishable testimony of the gratitude the people owe to the founder of the first free and independ- ent nation in the world of Columbus. Among the most notable buildings of Caracas is the Capitol, which occupies an entire square, or an area of more than two acres. Within this building are the two halls where the chambers of the national Congress hold their sessions, and rooms for the secretaries' oifices and committees. Here are hung the portraits of the presi- dents of the republic, with Simon Bolivar at the head, followed by the principal statesmen and heroes of the struggle for independence, and ending with the mili- tary champions who most distinguished themselves in defense of their country's liberty. The great battle of Carabobo, which secured the victory of the arms of the republic and its separation from the Spanish power, is beautifully represented in the rotunda of the great hall. It is the master work of the Venezuelan artist, Martin Tovar, who is also the author of an admirable painting representing the memorable session when the representatives of Venezuela signed and proclaimed to the world the Declaration of Independence. In the museum at Caracas is a room set apart to pre- serve all the records and relics that cling around the life of the beloved Bolivar. " All the orders issued when in command of the armies of the struggling republics, 68 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. every letter he wrote in his romantic and stormy life, are religiously preserved for the inspection of the people. Here may be found the very clothing that he wore, the dishes and plate he used, his camp-stool and writing desk, together -with all the weapons that he used in war." The house where Bolivar was born is near the center of the city, and in its day was one of the finest residences in the capital. It is marked by a tablet of marble inscribed : Here was Born SIMON BOLIVAR, July 24, 1783. There is an old building with thick adobe walls at Caracas which is as sacred in the eyes of South Ameri- can patriots as Independence Hall in Philadelphia is to the people of the United States. In this building, on the 5th of July, 1811, a\" junta," or convention of lead- ing citizens, assembled and formally proclaimed their Declaration of Independence. " The original document, in the handwriting of Fran- cisco Miranda, hangs upon the wall to-day, bearing his own signature and those of sixty or more of his fellow- patriots, representing the best families of Venezuela. It is faded and frayed, and some of the lines are almost illegible ; but it is the most precious historical relic in the country, and is preserved with religious care. At the end of the room hangs a large painting, perhaps the finest work of art in Caracas, representing the scene with approximate accuracy, although some of the many figures were painted from memory." SOME VENEZUELAN CITIES. 69 The National Pantheon is a building dedicated to guarding the mortal remains of the great men of Vene- zuela. The present edifice, which is raised on the site of the Old Trinidad temple, was dedicated on January 27, 1877. It has three naves, and at the head of the central nave stands a magnificent marble monument, which was erected to the memory of Bolivar and contains his ashes. The Masonic Temple of the city of Caracas is consid- ered the best of its kind in all South America. Foreign freemasons are well received by the Grand Lodge of Venezuela. Four railway lines start from Caracas. The line to La Guayra is a bold undertaking, because it must encir- cle the lofty peak of Mount La Silla. The Petare line has been carried only a few miles beyond the town of Petare, in the direction of the rich valleys of Tuy, though it has been contracted and paid for as far as Santa Lucia. The Valle line is built for only two or three miles. The longest line goes to Valencia and Puerto Cabello, crossing the high Cordilleras that surround Caracas, and dropping into the valley of Aragua. There are two telephone companies in Caracas, and the service is cheaper than in the United States. The government owns all the telegraph lines throughout the republic. The submarine cables connecting Vene- zuela with the Antilles, the United States, and Europe, respectively, belong to foreign companies having con- tracts with the Venezuelan government. The city is lighted with both gas and electricity. Valencia, the second city of Venezuela in point of importance, with a population of thirty thousand, was founded in 1555, twelve years before Caracas. It is two 70 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. miles from Lake Tacarigua; and has a temperature which, though warm, is nearly always equable and comfortable. It is well provided with excellent water brought from a distance through pipes. It is a great commercial center. Many business houses engaged in the exporting and importing trade of Puerto Cabello have transferred their warehouses to Valencia, leaving A STREET IN VALENCIA. agents at the port to receive imported merchandise and to ship the domestic articles sent in exchange to their foreign correspondents. In the environs of Valencia are to be found under cultivation the most fertile lands of the country. The layer of vegetable soil around Lake Tacarigua is very deep and productive, so that the use of the plow is barely necessary to clear the weeds, turn the soil, and fit it for modern methods of cultivation. SOME VENEZUELAN CITIES. 71 Puerto Cabello, perhaps the second port of the repub- lic, excepting Maracaibo, is situated on the Caribbean Sea, about forty-five miles from Valencia and sixty-five miles from La Guayra, and is a city of over fifteen thou- sand people. Its bay is calm and so safe that the dis- coverers gave it the name of Puerto Cabello (literally Port of the Hair), meaning that vessels were so safe against the dangers of wind and sea that a hair might be considered strong enough to hold them. The largest ocean steamers can come alongside the piers. Puerto Cabello is connected by rail with Valencia and Caracas. The city has some handsome buildings, among them the custom-house, the city hall, the theater, the hospital, the railroad depot, two fine churches, and several beautiful private residences. Its climate is warm and healthy, and the sea-bathing is excellent. La Guayra, the principal seaport of the republic, on the Caribbean Sea, was founded in 1588. The climate is rather warm. The view of the town from the sea is beautiful ; no other place in the world, perhaps, pre- sents the phenomenon of a mountain like La Silla, rising perpendicularly above the town to a height of over ten thousand feet. It is connected with the city of Caracas, by rail, by a highroad, arid by a mule-path. An excellent description of this city is found in Charles Kingsley's charming story, " West- ward Ho ! " About a mile west of La Guayra, on the Caracas railroad, is the town of Maiquetia, a health resort which affords facilities for sea-bathing. It is a popular resort for residents of the capital who need a change of air and climate, and many spend long periods of 72 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. recreation here. The panorama -from the sea is pic- turesque and most interesting, by reason of the variety of plants, palms, hills, and mountains presented to the view. Near to Maiquetia lies the town of Macuto, also a bathing and pleasure resort. Its climate affords those suffering with lung affections the best temperature known anywhere in South America. Maracaibo, capital of the state of Zulia, is one of the most important and progressive cities in the republic, with a population of over thirty -five thousand. It is situated on the western shore of Lake Maracaibo and was founded in 1571. Its harbor is extensive and safe, and is visited daily by a large number of steam and sailing vessels, that carry the products of the surround- ing districts to all quarters of the globe. The Red " D " Line Steamship Company of New York has a steamer making regular trips from its home port direct to Maracaibo. In a valley overlooked by high mountains lies La Victoria, capital of the state of Miranda. In all direc- tions, surrounding the city, are valuable plantations of coffee and sugar cane, which, with their various tones of green, give it a handsome setting. The city is connected by the Great Railway of Venezuela with Valencia and Caracas ; and its importance is thereby increased, as it is the natural center of the valley of Aragua, one of the most fertile regions of the republic. The city of Bolivar, the capital of the state of Bolivar, picturesquely situated in the valley of the Orinoco, seems, at the first glance, to sustain itself with difficulty A GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY. 73 on a rocky hillside. This important city bore for many years the name of Angostura, or the Narrows, so-called because opposite it the Orinoco becomes very narrow. It is a city that will become a great commercial empo- rium, for it commands the Orinoco and is the natural outlet for the rich agricultural products of the surround- ing territory. Other cities and towns of importance might be men- tioned, but these must satisfy us for the present ; and we will now glance at the open country, which is full of interest and charm. CHAPTER X. A GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY. VENEZUELA is about twice as large as Texas. It is well supplied with rivers and streams, having more than a thousand, of which nearly one-half are tribu- taries of the Orinoco. Six of these rivers can be navi- gated by large steamers. Only three rivers in the world surpass the Orinoco in size and in the volume of water that it carries into the sea. Six hundred miles back from its mouth the river has a width of three miles. The republic comprises twenty-two states, five territo- ries, one federal district, and two agricultural colonies. The states are organized and governed very much like those of our own country, having complete independ- ence in the management of their local affairs. A large portion of the country is still in an undeveloped condition. Little progress has been made within recent 74 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. THE BROAD ORINOCO. years, and the population has not increased to any material extent in the last half century. It has a coast line of more than two thousand miles, on which are situated thirty-two good harbors and fifty bays. About one-third of the entire territory is fit for agriculture, one-half is given over to pasture land, and the remainder is covered with forest. Most of the land that is under cultivation lies along the shore. On the grazing land in the interior roam vast herds of cattle, which are numbered by millions. The rivers of Venezuela run through the three great zones into which the country is naturally divided, the zone of agriculture, the pasture zone, and the virgin or forest zone. These three sections have so great a variety of climates that almost everything can be cul- tivated to advantage. The highland, or region of the Cordilleras, enjoys a delightful climate. The tops of A GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY. 75 the mountains are covered with snow, which, besides adding sublimity to the landscape, is an attraction to European immigrants accustomed to a temperate climate. " There is one remarkable fish peculiar to the Orinoco valley. It is a fierce little fellow called the carib, because of its resemblance to a savage tribe of Indians by that name. It is about the size- of our northern perch, but its teeth will penetrate a coat of mail, and natives who attempt to ford or bathe in the streams are often killed by it. The caribs are caught in a curious way by crushing the leaves of the barbaco, a highly narcotic plant, and then strewing them in the water. The juice stupefies the fish, although it does not injure them, and as they float about upon the surface the Indians pick them out with their hands." The tributaries of the Orinoco contain also the elec- tric eel. It is about the size and weight of the ordinary fresh-water variety. If touched, it will give a shock like a galvanic battery, often so violent that its victims have been temporarily paralyzed, and, losing control of their muscles, have been drowned. Horses and cattle suffer similarly, so that the herdsmen are careful to keep their animals out of streams that are known to be haunted by this curious creature. It is related that during one of the early wars in Venezuela, an entire army was almost disabled by running into a school of electric eels while fording a stream. " To a lover of nature, the trip from Caracas to the Orinoco valley is full of fascination, for the route leads through a region abounding with rare and curious forms of vegetable and animal life. In these wild mountain lands are many rare plants, flowers, and trees, birds 76 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. of gorgeous plumage, and animals and fish unknown to other latitudes." The largest of the Venezuelan lakes is Lake Mara- caibo, which covers an area over 125 miles in length by about 80 miles in breadth, and is surrounded by mountain ranges. The lake receives the waters of more than 500 rivers and rivulets, and communicates with the sea through 13 outlets, which allow the dis- charge of a large quantity of water from the lake, while permitting the inrush of salt water with the tides and the winds. By reason of this inrush into the lake, the water is brackish from its entrance to the city of Mara- caibo, and some- times farther in. The water of the rest of the lake is fresh, and, al- though not so sweet as river water, is used for domestic and for drinking pur- poses. From the At- lantic to the Andes there is an area as large as the valley of the Mississippi and similar in configuration, capable of producing im- mense crops of nearly everything the world feeds on, and affording grazing ground for millions of cattle. THE OVERSEER OF A RANCH. A GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY. 77 From the foothills of the mountains to the sea, 2000 miles distant, are great plains, or llanos, like those of Iowa and Illinois, almost entirely destitute of timber except along the courses of the rivers, where valuable trees are found. Concerning the interesting life of the llaneros, or herdsmen who occupy these great plains, a lifelong resident writes as follows : " Divesting myself, therefore, of all such superfluities as coat, cravat, and shoes, I adopted the less cumbrous attire of the llaneros, consisting mainly of breeches tightly buttoned at the knee, and a loose shirt, usually of a bright checkered pattern. Shoes are altogether dis- pensed with in a country like the llanos, subject to drench- ing rains, and covered with mud during a great portion of the year. . . . The leg, however, is well protected from the thorns and cutting grass of the savannas by a neat legging made of buffskin, tightly buttoned down the calf by knobs or studs of highly polished silver. " Another characteristic article of dress, and one in which the wearers take great pride, is the linen check- ered handkerchief loosely worn around the head. Its object is ostensibly to protect it from the intensity of the sun's rays ; but the constant habit of wearing it has rendered the handkerchief as indispensable a headdress to the llaneros as is the cravat to the neck of the city gentleman." Few people in the world are better riders than the llaneros of Venezuela, if we except perhaps the gauchos of the Argentine Republic, who equal their dexterity in the wonderful feats of horsemanship to which their occu- pations in the field inure them from childhood. Their 78 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. horses, moreover, are so well trained to the various evolutions of their occupation that animal and rider seem to be parts of a common whole. The life of the llanero, like that of the gaucho, his prototype, is wonderfully interesting, and resembles in many respects that of others who have their abode in the midst of extensive plains. They have been aptly styled the Cossacks and the Arabs of the new world, and with both of these tribes they have many points in common, though they more especially resemble the Arabs. " Born in a rude hut, the infant llanero receives little attention, but is left to swing from the roof in a bullock's hide, the corners of which are drawn toward each other by four strips of hide. As soon as he walks, his infantile amusements are those which prepare him for the occu- pations of his future life. With a lasso made of twine he tries to catch little birds or the dogs, as they walk in and out of the hut. By the time he is four years old he is on horseback, and immediately becomes useful by assisting to drive the cattle into the corral. " As he grows older and stronger, a more manly amuse- ment is afforded him with the breaking in of a wild colt. Here commences what we may term the public life of the llanero. From this moment all his endeavor and ambition will be to rival his companions in the display of physical force, which he shows to an admirable de- gree when, armed with his tough lasso, he pursues the wild animals of his domain." Next to the horse, the llanero esteems those weapons which give him a superiority over his fellow-creatures. These consist of a lance, a blunderbuss, and a fine sword. A GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY. 79 If he is unprovided with any of these, he considers himself a miserable and degraded being, and he will en- deavor to gratify this favorite vanity even at the risk of his life. Humboldt, the great naturalist, visited Venezuela and called attention to many of its curiosities. He gave the following description of the "cow tree" and its uses: " When incisions are made in the trunk of this tree, it yields abundance of a glutinous milk, tolerably thick, devoid of all acridity, and of an agreeable and balmy smell. It was offered to us in the shell of a calabash. We drank considerable quantities of it in the evening before we went to bed, and very early in the morning, without feeling the least injurious effect. The glutinous character of this milk alone renders it a little disagreea- ble. The negroes and the free people who work in the plantations drink it, dipping into it their bread of maize or cassava. " It is at the rising of the sun that this vegetable foun- tain is most abundant. The negroes and natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow and thickens at its surface. Some empty their bowls under the tree itself, while others carry the juice home to their children." Horses and oxen, buoyant with life and enjoyment, roam over and crop the plains. The luxuriant grass hides the beautiful spotted jaguar, who, lurking in safe concealment and carefully measuring the extent of his leap, springs, like the Asiatic tiger, upon his passing prey. At times, according to the account of the natives, the humid clay on the banks of a morass is seen to 80 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. rise slowly in broad flakes. Accompanied by a violent noise, as on the eruption of a small mud volcano, the upheaved earth is hurled high into the air. Those who .^, r are familiar with the phe- nomenon fly from it ; for a colossal water- snake, or a mailed and scaly crocodile, awakened from its trance by the first fall of rain, is about to burst from its tomb. Among the curiosities of this country is the celebrated Guacharo Cave, the most remarkable of its kind in the world. The cave is situated about three thousand feet above the level of the sea, and has several tunnels and three main galleries. One of these galleries, about six thousand feet in length, is inhabited by guacharo birds, a species of sea gull ; another gallery, about six hundred feet long, through which runs a beautiful brook, contains no animals. The guacharo feeds on certain fruits, called by the natives mataca and covadonga ; and it is said that the seeds of these fruits, after having undergone the process of digestion by the birds, acquire great medicinal properties. The natives preserve the fat of the young birds and make from it an excellent quality of lard. THE JAGUAR. LIFE IN VENEZUELA. 81 The whole country is unique in its character and char- acteristics, and is full of an ever increasing interest to all who visit or study it. CHAPTER XL LIFE IN VENEZUELA. THE people of Venezuela, like the southern peoples in general, take life as easily as possible ; and a man who walks with vigorous step or displays quickness of movement of any sort may at once be set down as a foreigner, for anything of this sort is beneath the dignity of the natives. The laboring classes are still strongly prejudiced against innovations of every order, and particularly against machines and labor-saving appliances. Heavy loads are sometimes carried on the head, and furniture and trunks are transported for miles in this way. If they are too heavy for one person, assistance is of course obtained. Many native farmers still use the wooden plow with one handle, as in the earlier times, and are averse to the double-handled steel plow, though these have been introduced on some of the farms adjacent to the cities. General Guzman Blanco, one of their greatest states- men, made several attempts to introduce labor-saving machinery and modern methods, but all to little purpose. 82 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. In a recent article in Harper's Magazine, a lady wrote: "When a new servant is engaged, the employer must instruct her to the full extent of her duties on the first day. That is the sample of all days; and thereafter she will do exactly what she did then, and no more." A RUDE PLOW. An American relates the following experience, which is, perhaps, not typical of servants in general: "The morning after our arrival at the hotel in Caracas I called for a glass of milk while dressing. On every subse- quent morning during our stay a glass of milk was brought me at precisely the same hour, without in- structions ; and although the servant was told several times that it was not wanted, she did not appear to understand, and continued to bring it just the same. "In the hotel were electric bells. The first day I rang for something, and a certain boy answered the LIFE IN VENEZUELA. 83 summons. The next morning I rang again and again, and no one responded. Finally, I went into the dining room and found there half a dozen servants. "'Didn't you hear my bell ring? ' I asked. "'Yes, sir,' was the reply. "'Then why didn't you answer it?' "'The boy that answers your excellency's bell has gone to market with the manager.' "'But you knew he was not here, and you should have come in his place.' "'No, senor; it is his occupation to answer your bell. I answer the bell of the gentleman in the next room.' "And this provoking stubbornness lasted longer than my indignation. As long as I remained in that hotel my bell was only answered by that one particular boy. If he was not in, I could ring for an hour without receiving a response, although the house was full of other idle servants." Another traveler tells his story thus: "In one of the houses where I was a guest, the gentleman who cleaned the boots always came into my room with his hat on and a cigar in his mouth, and another gentle- man, whom I had engaged to assist Juan, left me the day after his arrival on being refused the custody of my keys and purse, which he candidly stated was the only duty he felt equal to. On my sitting down to play chess with the wife of the president of one of the states, half a dozen female servants, of every shade, from tawny twilight to black night, surrounded the table and began to watch the game. The first time I went to a tailor I was accompanied by a Creole friend, who undertook 84 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. to show me the best place. We had to wait some time before the gentleman of the shop appeared. When he did, he came in with the inevitable cigar in his mouth. He raised his hat politely to my friend, walked straight up to me, shook hands, and asked me how I did. He then sat down on the counter, put various questions to me regarding my coming to Venezuela, talked on general subjects, and, at the end of a quarter of an hour, intimated that he was ready to oblige me if I wanted a coat. This tailor was an officer in the army, and coming in on one occasion to measure a friend of mine wore his uniform and spurs." Most of the laundry work in the country is done by women on the banks of streams, to which they carry the clothing in baskets on top of their heads. The washing is done in the cold, running water. After a vigorous pounding upon the rocks, the clothing is spread out on the grass to dry. In the cities most of the houses have a tank of water in the back yard, made of stones and cement. In this the clothes are washed, and then they are spread to dry on a pile of stones. Washboards, clothespins, and clotheslines are not pop- ular in Venezuela and the native women cannot be induced to use them. Washing done by hand is greatly preferred. The inhabitants of Venezuela, though reputed among the most warlike peoples of America, are really very sober and industrious. Crime is of rare occurrence. Not a single case is recalled of any one being stopped on the public highway, even when carrying large sums of money. A story is still told, as something laughable, of an LIFE IN VENEZUELA. 85 Englishman, the agent of a London firm, who, on his arrival at the port of La Guayra in charge of $100,000 in specie that he had brought with him to invest, asked the English consul to obtain from the military author- ities an escort to take him to Caracas and to guarantee his treasure against risks. The English consul, who had long been a resident of the country, laughed in his NATIVE HUTS IN VENEZUELA. countryman's face, and, calling upon the first truckman that passed, gave him an order to take the boxes of specie to Caracas without any other precaution than obtaining the driver's name and the number of his wagon. The next day the English agent received his boxes safe and sound, and exclaimed, "Wonderful country!" The Venezuelan government is beginning to realize that the only way to change the existing order of 86 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. things, and to get out of the country that which it has to give, is to introduce more foreign enterprise by an increase of its foreign population. Congress has just passed a law concerning immigration, which is the most liberal the country has ever had. The govern- ment offers immigrants the following inducements: It pays their passage, expenses of landing, board, and lodging during the first fifteen days after arrival; and allows the entrance, free of duty, of the immigrant's wardrobe, his domestic utensils and his machines, tools, or the instruments of his profession. It pays the ex- penses of his transportation to any one of the govern- ment's agricultural settlements ; it gives each immigrant the title to a section of the government waste lands ; and gives also the right to purchase, for one-half its market value, any amount of waste land he may desire. The roads in Venezuela, away from the cities, are very poor. Nine-tenths of the transportation from the interior is done on the backs of donkeys. These are patient little fellows and are the strongest beasts of burden in the world, in proportion to their size. Foreign capitalists, together with some native ones, have thus far constructed eight short lines of railroad, and are projecting other lines, which will be built in the near future. The Venezuelan boundary was in dispute for a long time. In 1841 the Dutch ceded to Great Britain the colony which is now called British Guiana. Venezuela was then a part of the Spanish colony of New Guiana. The Dutch, on handing over the colony to Great Britain, laid claim to a large tract of land which was also claimed by Spain ; and disputes over the boundary LIFE IN VENEZUELA. 87 started at once. The land claimed by England was about one-third of the delta territory and one-half of the Yuruari territory. Valuable gold mines found in the disputed territory made the matter more difficult to settle. The question dragged along until 1896, when the Venezuelan government, fearing that Great Britain would assert her claim by force, asked the United States to intervene. Great Britain at first refused to submit the whole territory in dispute to arbitration, but finally consented to do so, after the United States asserted her right, under the Monroe Doctrine, to resist forcibly any attempt by a European power to extend its dominion over any part of American territory. The Board of Arbitration met at Paris and arrived at a decision which, by the world in general, is considered eminently fair. It decided that Great Britain had a right to nearly all the land claimed by Venezuela, and gave the republic only a very small portion of the dis- puted territory; but, in addition, allowed it to keep all the land at the mouth of the Orinoco. This gives Vene- zuela undisputed possession of both banks of the river. During the year 1899 Venezuela had one of its usual petty revolutions. President Andrade was put to flight, and General Castro, who was fighting to place his friend Hernandez in power, thought it for the best interests of the republic that he assume the office him- self. These revolutions are so frequent in the South American republics, that lack of confidence causes millions of dollars to be withheld by Northern and European capitalists, and the development of the several countries is greatly retarded. 88 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHAPTER XII. INDUSTRIES OF VENEZUELA. AGRICULTURE and cattle-breeding are the two in- dustries that form the most solid base for the wealth of Venezuela, although it has other industrial resources and rich mines. Agriculture and stock-breeding sus- tain the foreign commerce of the republic and attract the immigration which already begins to flow in, and which the government protects by special laws. The physical features of the country, its climate, and the richness of its soil afford conditions extremely favorable to these two lines of industry. As the agricultural interests may be said to center in the cultivation of coffee and cocoa, we must give these two industries special attention. The coffee plant was introduced into Venezuela about the year 1784, in the vicinity of Caracas, from which place the seed was secured for planting in the rest of the country. To-day it constitutes the principal wealth of the republic. Referring to the cultivation of this plant, a pamphlet entitled "The United States of Venezuela in 1893," published by order of the government, says : "The best coffee is grown in the temperate and the lower part of the torrid zones, where the vegetation is refreshed throughout the whole year by dense and cool morning fogs. Experience has proved that the coffee tree thrives best under the shade of other large trees. For this purpose, in the warmer parts of the country, the banana is used ; in the temperate belt the principal shade tree is the "bucare"; and in the colder region INDUSTRIES OF VENEZUELA. 89 the coffee tree is sheltered by trees of various species. Of all these shade trees the bucare is the best, as it makes a high, clear trunk with a rather light crown, and sheds its leaves in December and January, so that the coffee tree gets an abundance of air and light precisely in the time just before flowering. DRYING COFFEE. " The coffee tree gives a first crop when four to five years old, crop time beginning generally in September or October. The ripe coffee berries look very much like small cherries, and grow in clusters close to the bases of the leaf stalks. After being picked, they are thrown into the coffee pulper, in order to take off the fleshy outer part. This is done by pushing the fruits 90 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. through a wedge-shaped slit against a rotary cylinder sheathed with a plate of copper which has a great num- ber of little blunt bosses. After this manipulation the berries are left for about twenty-four hours in a brick- work tank with water, where the first fermentation helps to wash them more perfectly, and then they are spread out to dry in a large court, either paved with bricks or made very smooth with mortar. When per- fectly dry, they are taken to the trilla, which consists of a heavy wood or stone wheel, moved either by water power or animal force, and running in a circular bed or channel in which the parchment-like covering of the grains is crushed and broken, so that the clean grains can afterward be separated from the chaff by means of the fanning machine." In first-class coffee the grains ought to be of equal size, light green in color, and have a special and pleas- ant aroma ; they should, moreover, be all the same color after being roasted. All these properties are combined in coffee from Venezuela, which unquestionably belongs to the very best kind known to commerce. The total production at the present time (1901) is estimated to be over one hundred and thirty-two million pounds. The greater part of this product is shipped to Germany and France, and a considerable quantity to the United States. In earlier times much of the coffee was shipped to Europe by the way of the United States, but in these days shipment is made direct, and hence a much smaller amount of Venezuelan coffee enters our ports than formerly. Cocoa, or, as it is usually called in South America, "cacao," the berry from which the chocolate of com- INDUSTRIES OF VENEZUELA. 91 merce is made, is the seed of a tree indigenous to sev- eral countries in tropical America. The tree grows to an average height of eighteen feet, with a trunk from five to eight inches in diameter. It yields profit- ably for nearly forty years. A cacao plantation is laid out in about the same manner as an apple orchard. No particular preparation of the soil is neces- sary, and no fertil- THE CACAO BERRY. izer is applied. One acre of land will sustain about 150 trees, which must be protected from the sun by shade trees. The pamphlet quoted above says of cacao: "The fruits are oval-shaped, with longitudinal ribs, and similar in appearance to muskmelons. Some are of a yel- lowish color, but generally they assume a dark reddish hue on ripening. Each fruit contains some sixty or eighty seeds embedded in a slimy pulp. After being taken out they are either cleaned and gradually dried, or previously spread out on large courtyards covered with a kind of red earth or brick dust, which adheres to the seeds and gives them their red color. It is generally believed that cacao treated in this manner keeps longer and is much less exposed to the attacks of insects. " In properly prepared cacao the parchment-like seed coat will burst easily when the grain is broken, and 92 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the interior, consisting of the seed leaves, is of a uni- form, dark-brown color without any whitish spots. There are several varieties of cacao in cultivation, two principal ones being the Trinidad cacao and the native cacao. The former is more vigorous, yields larger crops, and resists better any unfavorable weather, as well as the attacks of insects. But the grains are smaller, harder, and more flattened than those of the native cacao, and have, moreover, a more bitter taste." Sugar cane stands next in rank in the agricultural wealth of Venezuela, where four kinds of cane are grown. Up to a short time ago, the importation of sugar into the republic was prohibited ; but it may now be introduced by paying a heavy duty. Sugar is manu- factured in the country for domestic consumption, and in the refineries, which have recently been erected, a good quality of granulated sugar is made. The cocoanut is also cultivated in Venezuela; there are many large plantations of this nut, which is con- sumed in the country and largely exported. In Barce- lona, Maracaibo, and Cumana there are mills for extracting the oil from the nut, and this oil forms the basis of considerable domestic trade. Cocoanuts are exported from Venezuela to the Antilles and the United States. All kinds of tropical fruits and vegetables grow in the country. Among the fiber plants is the pita hemp, whose fibers at times reach a length of over three feet, and are used for making bags, hammocks, and similar articles. In the forest zone, outside of the innumerable hard- woods and dyewoods, there exists an immense natu- INDUSTRIES OF VENEZUELA. 93 ral wealth which needs no cultivation. It consists of the tonka bean, copaiba, vanilla, sarsaparilla, quinine, COFFEE WASHING. rubber, resinous balsams, and other medicinal plants. With regard to the abundance of hard wood, some idea may be formed when one is reminded that at the 94 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. National Exhibition held in Caracas, in 1883, woods of over six hundred species were exhibited. Venezuela is very rich in mineral deposits. The richest mines are supposed to be south of the Orinoco, but there are successful mines in other portions of the republic, producing iron, copper, gold, silver, lead, coal, asphaltum, and petroleum. Some of the best ores are closely adjacent to the coast. With the exception of the Argentine Republic, no country of South America possesses greater advantages than Venezuela for the raising of cattle and domestic animals of all kinds. The grazing region, made up of immense fertile meadows, extends from the interior of the old province of Guiana to the borders of Colombia. The delta territory and the islands in the vicinity of the great Orinoco River are inviting colonizers to bring their enterprises, and are promising handsome returns to the promoters. There are in Venezuela numerous industries, produc- ing many articles of food, clothing, and other necessities of civilized life, from grain mills to the manufacture of pianos and mirrors. Steam is generally employed as the motive power, and industrial progress seems likely to be much more rapid in the future than in the past. CHAPTER XIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ECUADOR. ECUADOR is traversed by the equator, from which it takes its name. It is bounded on the north by Colom- HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ECUADOR. 95 bia, on the east by Brazil, on the south by Peru, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its area cannot be stated with any degree of accuracy, for large districts along the frontiers are claimed equally by Ecuador and by the neighboring powers, and even within the limits of undisputed possession, no systematic survey has ever been made. The population was recently stated at 1,108,082, and this estimate did not include 200,000 " wild " Indians. An official estimate for the same year makes the popula- tion only 881,943, exclusive of 150,000 "wild" Indians, and even this latter estimate is probably too high. The origin of the kingdom of the Quitos, the earliest Indian tribe in Ecuador, is lost in the obscurity of remote antiquity. They and their successors, the Caras, who subdued the country early in the Christian era, were worshipers of the sun and moon, to which they raised stone temples that, even in their ruins, are among the marvels of the world. For centuries the Caras rulers maintained a state of peace, and their dominions attained a comparatively high degree of civilization. But when they became engaged in quarrels with their neighbors, they proved an easy prey to the powerful Incas of the South, and their ancient dynasty fell to pieces. Their heroic struggles are worthy of comparison with the most famous battle-fields of history ; but at last their venerable kingdom was reduced to a mere province of the Inca sovereigns. This event happened toward the close of the fifteenth century, when their capital, Quito, fell into the hands of their southern foes. Capa, the Inca chief, inflicted a decisive defeat on the Quitonians, and secured his position by marrying 96 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Pacha, the daughter of the late ruler. By his will the conqueror left the kingdom of Quito to Atahualpa, his A NATIVE OF ECUADOR. son by this alliance, while the Peruvian throne was assigned to an older son named Huascar. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ECUADOR. 97 War broke out between the two kingdoms, owing to Huascar's pretensions to supremacy over his brother. It ended in the defeat and imprisonment of the pretender and the establishment of Atahualpa as master of both Quito and Peru. The fortunate monarch, however, had not long to enjoy his success, for Pizarro and his Spaniards were already at the door, and by 1533 the fate of the country was sealed. It has been well said that " no more picturesque scene in history can be pointed out than the famous meeting of this monarch with Francisco Pizarro, on the plaza of Cajamarca on November 16, 1532. There the fate of this beautiful land was decided, and the conqueror dic- tated the division of the spoil. Within two years, on December 6, 1534, after the tragic and treacherous death of Atahualpa, the Spanish general, Sebastian Ben- alcazar, entered the city of Quito with great ceremony and solemnly took possession of it and the entire king- dom in the name of his Majesty Charles V. and his suc- cessors on the Spanish throne. But it was not until May 24, 1822, three centuries later, that the battle-field of Pichincha settled forever the question of the right of Spain to misgovern this land of the sun, and at last made possible the republic of Ecuador." As soon as the confusion and rivalries of the first occupation were suppressed, the recent kingdom of Quito was made a presidency of the Spanish viceroy- alty of Peru, and no change of importance took place till 1710. In that year it was attached to the viceroy- alty of Santa Fd ; but it was restored to Peru in 1722. When, toward the close of the century, the desire for independence began to manifest itself throughout the 98 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Spanish colonies of South America, Quito dii not remain altogether indifferent. It was not till 1809, however, that the Quitonians made a real attempt to throw off the Spanish yoke ; and, both on that occasion and in 1812, the royal gen- eral succeeded in crushing the insurrection. In 1820 the people of Guayaquil took up the cry of liberty. Despite several defeats, they continued the contest till at length, under General Sucre, who had been sent to their assistance by Bolivar, and reenforced by a Peru- vian contingent, they gained a complete victory on May 24, 1822, in a battle on the side of Mont Pichin- cha, at a height of 10,200 feet above the level of the sea. Two days later, the Spanish president of Quito surrendered, and the independence of the country was secured. A political union was at once effected with New Granada and Venezuela, and the triple confedera- tion took the name of Colombia. A disagreement with Peru in 1828 resulted in the invasion of Ecuador, and the temporary occupation of Cuenca and Guayaquil by Peruvian forces ; but peace was restored in the following year, after an Ecuadorian victory. In the early part of 1830 Ecuador left the Colombian federation, and the country was proclaimed an independent republic. General Flores was the first president, and in spite of many difficulties, he managed to maintain a powerful position in the state for about fifteen years. Under the administration of its second president, which ended on the 31st of January, 1839, the country was in a condition of relative peace and prosperity. The government made great efforts to promote public HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ECUADOR. 99 instruction, to improve the means of communication, to inspire confidence in the stability of its institutions, and to elevate the country as far as was possible with the means it had at its disposal. The third constitutional period of the republic opened in 1839, with General Flores as president for the sec- ond time. Four years after his inauguration came the THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE AT QUITO. meeting of a convention at Quito, in 1843, which again changed the constitution of the country into a form which was called by the people the " charter of slavery." Under this new constitution, which permitted the chief magistrate to be reflected consecutively, General Flores was inaugurated again as president of Ecuador on the 31st of March, 1843. A revolt occasioned the resignation of President 100 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Flores two years later, and Roca, the leader under whose direction the revolution triumphed, became the next president. " He was," says Cevallos, " the soul of the movement, and a man of great ability and well- proved energy." President Garcia Moreno, elected president in 1861, undertook at once, with great earnestness, the develop- ment of the resources of the country, both material and moral, by opening roads, promoting commerce, attend- ing to matters of public instruction, and, above all, by preserving peace and public order. He was a great admirer of the United States, and was always ready to extend to the citizens of that government every pos- sible courtesy and proof of good will. Before the expiration of his constitutional term he was invested with extraordinary powers, and acted as dictator until his successor, Carrion, was regularly elected and inaugurated as president in 1865. Antonio Borrero, a native of Cuenca, became the chief magistrate of Ecuador in 1875. This election was almost unanimous ; but, although he proved to be a man of ability arid good ideas, it was impossible for him to conquer revolution, and he had to yield his place scarcely a year after his election. The victorious leader, Ignacio de Veintimilla, was elected president ; but four years later, in 1879, as the country at large did not approve of his course, he attempted to give strength to his authority by assuming dictatorial powers. The party of order at last succeeded in overturning him, and drove him from the country. He fled from Ecua- dor in 1888, and a period of peace and prosperity began again. QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL 101 Jose Caamano was called to act as president until proper measures for reconstruction could be taken. In 1884 he was formally elected. At the expiration of his term of office, Dr. Antonio Flores, a son of General Flores, became president. Senor Flores, on retiring to private life, had the satisfaction of knowing that, during his administration, the country had made advances on the road of progress and had secured the immense bene- fit of the reestablishment of its credit. He was suc- ceeded in 1893 by Dr. Luis Cordero, a native of Cuenca, and two years later by President Eloy Alfaro. Aside from a petty revolution which he put down with a firm hand, he had a quiet and prosperous term. General Leonidas Plaja, who succeeds him, takes office August 10, 1901. . > CHAPTER XIV. QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL. THE capital city of Quito is not an accessible place. To reach it from the sea one must ride several days on mule-back. The highway to the capital is not yet com- pleted, and only a bridle-path crosses the breast of Chim- borazo at a height of fourteen thousand feet, so that the journey is one of great hardship and discomfort. Freight for the interior of Ecuador is carried upon the backs of mules or men, who travel twelve or fourteen hours a day, and take two or three weeks for the journey. Quito is so far removed from the rest of the world that the inhabitants seldom leave it, and people from 102 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the outside do not often go there. There is small in- ducement for visitors, as the city is without a decent hotel, although there are fifty or sixty thousand inhabit- ants; and strangers are compelled to stop with mer- chants, officials, or others to whom they have letters of introduction, or else to patronize boarding-houses of a poor order, many of which are far from clean. There are no carnages or wagons in the place, and only a few carts of the most primitive pattern, which look like the pictures one sees in illustrated Bibles of those used in the time of Moses. The streets are nar- row, straight, and undulating with the inequalities of the city's ravine-riven site, and are generally well paved with small, oval, water-worn cobbles, after the ancient fashion which the Spaniards introduced throughout the colonies. The sidewalks a're'narrow, scarcely allowing two persons W pass, a'hd are' laid with small, rough-surfaced flags, jus as they come "frbm the neighboring quarries. The traffic is carried on by mules and burros, and by llamas from the Andean pastures, for these are the burden bearers of this strange land. With these we must also class the heavily laden native women and children, for they too are actual beasts of burden, car- rying enormous loads or cargoes on their backs and heads. Indians in bright costumes and long black hair, Indians with scarcely any costume at all, statesmen and students, priests and laymen, soldiers and peons, water carriers with immense jars on their backs, jostle butchers and bakers ; and the solitary stranger is confused with the medley of quaint sights and sounds. There are no newspapers, and the single printing- office is owned and conducted by the government for QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL. 103 the publication of official documents. The city had no telegraph line until a few years ago, and at first this was useless most of the time ; for the people cut down the poles for firewood, and stole the wire to repair their harnesses and panniers. Formerly Quito was unlighted as a municipality, ex- cept by home-made tallow candles encased in lanterns and hung in front of the houses at the expense of their several occupants. The effect was picturesque, for these numberless tiny lights twinkled like fireflies in the gathering gloom. All this is now superseded by a modern electrical plant and the city has thus been brought to the front rank in this respect. The stores are small and generally without windows; the doors admit light and air, and serve as well for entrance and for displaying the wares for sale within. Most of the houses have one or two large courtyards, with an entrance high enough to admit a horseman, and here the horses and mules are quartered. They have no other entrance, but from these interior patios admission is gained to the various rooms in the dwelling. Few houses have windows on the ground floor looking upon the street, but they are lighted from the inner courts. The second-story windows open upon balconies, which form delightful gathering places and are quite as largely used as are the more enclosed rooms. Quito has a population of some sixty thousand. Soldiers are everywhere, wearing uniforms of ordinary white cotton sheeting. Peons, or laborers, half naked, and children entirely so, sleep or play in the sun ; and Indian women, clad in somber black, pass silently along the streets with their mantas drawn over their heads, 104 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. or sit in the market place selling fruits and vegetables. Peddlers are numerous, and their shrill cries afford great amusement to strangers. Water carriers are always in evidence with great jars of clay, holding half a barrel, on their backs, going back A WATER CARRIER. and forth from the fountain in the plaza ; and some- times patient mules carrying barrels of water are driven from door to door. There are no pipes or wells to supply the houses, and all the water used by the fami- lies has to be brought by servants or purchased from the public carriers at so much a gallon. A modern police force, patterned after those of QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL 105 American cities, has replaced the order of policemen who formerly carried lanterns and long pikes, and called out " Sereno ! " as the clocks struck the hours. A decimal coinage has also been introduced, and this has done away with making change in rolls of bread, and other small articles of barter. Formerly a man on his way to market would stop at the baker's and fill his basket with bread to be used in making change, so' many rolls to the penny; for the smallest coin then in use was the quartillo, valued at three cents. The introduc- tion of a full decimal coinage is greatly valued by the people, who are loud in their praises of its convenience. The historian Cevallos says : "In Ecuador, all foreign coins are now admitted to circulation, except among the more ignorant classes of the people, who receive only the national. The coins of Colombia, Chile, Spain, Peru, the North American eagles, the napoleons, etc., are admitted at their respective values. The Spanish coins, if not mutilated, or perforated, sometimes sell at a pre- mium of twelve and a half per cent." A recent visitor to Quito says: " Very little water is used for drinking, for bathing, or for laundry purposes. There is a national prejudice against it. The people have a notion that water is unwholesome ; that it causes dyspepsia, if too much is taken into the stomach, and that fever will result from too free use of it upon the skin." In the city of Guayaquil matters are decidedly better than in the capital. Its busy docks, vehicles driving about in all directions, and flags waving over the bal- conies of the houses give it a much better appearance. Guayaquil depends almost entirely upon its import 106 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. and export traffic. The chief land industries are tan- ning and ship-building. Here were built the first ships constructed from native woods and launched in south- ern Pacific waters. At all times there may be seen in the harbor the flags of foreign nations, whose vessels THE RIVER MARKET AT GUAYAQUIL. engage in the carrying trade by which the manufactured goods of Europe are exchanged for the rich natural productions of the great equatorial garden, to which the city of Guayaquil forms the entrance. As a sea- port the city is, from its favorable situation, one of the most important on the western coast of South America. The climate is warm, rain falls almost constantly, and from one end of the year to the other the tempera- QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL 107 ture varies so little that one can hardly distinguish the changes in the seasons. The streets are well paved, lighted by gas, and traversed by tramways ; and there are many fine buildings, both public and private. The churches are numerous, and are adorned with rich gildings and with gaudily dressed saints. A cable belonging to a New York company connects the city with the outside world, and an interior tele- graph line places it in constant communication with Quito. The country around the city is famous, among other things, for its pineapples, which are claimed to be the finest in the world ; and also for the hats and hammocks which are made there. All the street-car lines of Ecuador are in Guayaquil, and have been built by individual enterprise, the first one being constructed by citizens of the United States. Although the city has a population of sixty thousand, it is so compactly built that all the lines are short. Of all the South American republics, Ecuador has been the least modified by the influence of European customs and ideas. On the elevated plateaus, always difficult of access, the Indians have scarcely changed their social habits in the presence of a mere handful of whites. The entrance of immigrants, except to Guaya- quil, remains insignificant. The lack of railroads has kept the provinces backward. In some of the remote southern districts the plow is unknown and the natives are said to thresh out the wheat by dancing on the ears with heavy clogs ; hence it is not surprising that wheat flour has to be imported from Chile and Colombia. Caste among Ecuadorians is decidedly pronounced. The white race, descendants of the Spaniards, dominates. 108 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. They are intellectual, wise, just in their dealings with their fellow-men, and liberal in all matters relating to government. But socially, the line is closely drawn, and the white race keeps quite to itself. The middle classes, be it said to their credit, are endowed with more than ordinary intelligence, but lack cultivation. The lower classes are very ignorant, but their con- dition will soon be improved, since schools are being established throughout the republic, and education has at last been made free and compulsory. The first Normal School was opened in 1900 under American direction. But an Ecuadorian school is not of a type with which the North American teacher is familiar. Here is a description of one taken from an article in the Chautau- quan : " Imagine some thirty little urchins, each one wearing a red poncho, and individually studying aloud in a sing-song drone, on the go-as-you-please plan ; each quite independent of any one else. The school- room was out of doors, sheltered only by some ragged straw thatching; and the scholars sat on the ground while the master strode up and down, swinging a long whip in his hand. He was very gracious, and evidently proud of his charge. It was not clear to us how the children could learn much from this sort of application ; but the effect was not unmusical at a little distance, the mingling of the childish voices softening into a harmo- nious cadence." The Indians constitute the laboring population. When on a journey they generally take a slow trot, which they can keep up for hours without tiring, even with a hundred pounds on their backs. They never QUITO AND GUAYAQUIL 109 laugh or sing, have no sports, no songs, no tales ; but are sullen, morose, stupid, and submissive to all sorts of cruelty and oppression. There is in Guayaquil a fair variety of manufactories, but none is of a very extensive character, for the people A STREET IN GUAYAQUIL. rely mainly on the outside world for manufactured supplies. The United States supplies nearly all of the sugar-making machinery, all the saw-mills, all the planing-mill machinery, nearly all the steam-engines, all the carts, all the sewing-machines, nearly all the best saddles and harnesses, all the street cars, some of the furniture, a large share of the axes, many billiard tables, and a large portion of the musical instruments. 110 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHAPTER XV. ECUADOR'S NATURAL BEAUTIES. No country in the world, probably, presents a more varied surface than Ecuador. The Ecuadorian Andes have the appearance of a gigantic ladder lying flat on the ground, provided with eight rounds, or steps, more or less crooked and at unequal distances from each other, which leave between them vast spaces, or pla- teaus, on which most of the inhabitants of the republic make their home. The great Quito basin, warmed by the vertical rays of the sun throughout the year, shut in on every side by sierras, and sentineled by some of the highest peaks on the globe, is the abode of per- petual spring, although it lies ninety-five hundred feet above the ocean level. When the locomotive has crowded out the Indian carrier and the plodding mule, and swift and cheap communication brings within touch of the outer world these garden spots, then Ecuador will lavishly yield its riches, second to no land beneath the heavens. Favored with the productions of every zone, fanned with cool- ing winds from icy heights that temper the torrid heat, the Quitonian plateau is salubrious, and has been likened to a sort of terrestrial paradise, with neither spring, summer, nor autumn, yet mingling the best of all. Many individual discomforts are to be encountered in traveling through this district, but these are more than compensated for by the loveliness of the country. On the one hand is to be seen the snowy mountain ECUADOR'S NATURAL BEAUTIES. Ill range, with the glittering peaks of Cotopaxi, Tungu- ragua, and Chimborazo ever visible; and on the other side the valley stretches out till shut in by the more distant sierras. There are many rough bridges crossing turbulent streams formed by the melting snows, scores of crystal cataracts fed by distant glaciers, and numerous long-drawn-out Indian villages. In the wild moun- tain heights one may see the great black condor, one of those birds of prey which attack even sheep and goats in their hunger. Theyare said to be the largest fly ing bird in the world. On the highway herds of llamas and caravans of mules, with their heavy cargoes, add to the interest; and now and then a cava- lier in picturesque attire lends a little color to the already brilliant scene. In speaking of Quito, Professor Orton of New York THE CONDOR. 112 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. " The traveler is charmed in looking at the carpet of perpetual verdancy on which Quito stands. The cli- mate is delightful. Neither cholera, nor yellow fever, nor consumption, is known there. The mild and healthy temperature which prevails at the capital is something admirable. " The hot, scorching air which continually surrounds the inhabitants of other places of the same latitude is never breathed there. The lands of Africa and the East Indies, which occupy on the globe the same geo- graphical position, are scarcely inhabited, owing prin- cipally to their parched condition. Those of Ecuador, on the contrary, enjoy a perpetual spring." Don Pedro Cevallos, the author of an admirable book on this republic, also says : "Nature, which generally in America shows herself majestic and full of beauty and sublimity, seems to have selected Ecuador, the land where the soil is higher and where the sun throws its rays vertically, to show her power and strength, even by appearing to defy her own laws. Side by side with the most gigantic summits, the deepest hollows and gorges can be seen. Close to perpetual ice and snow, fire, like- wise perpetual, is exhibited to the eye; and charming valleys, remarkable for their luxuriant vegetation and verdant freshness, alternate with the most desolate deserts and precipices. Everywhere appears, as if in unseemly confusion, winter mingled with summer; the dry sands of the desert with the green grass of the meadows ; the snowing season with the harvest season. At the same time, in the same month, and at compara- tively short distances the vegetation appears in all ECUADOR'S NATURAL BEAUTIES. 113 shades, from the tender green of the spring to the yellow-tinted shades of the fall." In a study of the beauties of Ecuador we naturally turn to the mountains, the loftiest of which is Chimbo- razo, which rises to an altitude of 21,422 feet. It was for a long time supposed to be the highest mountain in America, but modern surveys have shown that it has several superiors. CHIMBORAZO. Humboldt and his companions endeavored, in 1820, to ascend to the top of Chimborazo, but were obliged to stop short when they had yet two thousand and more feet above them. They were stopped by an immense chasm that stretched across the line they were ascend- ing, and by the inconveniences that are generally ex- perienced at high altitudes. Blood spurted from their 114 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. eyes and lips, and they breathed with great difficulty. According to barometrical observations, Humboldt was within 2138 feet of the summit when he turned back. Cotopaxi is the loftiest of the active volcanoes. Clouds of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night constantly rise from a crater that is more than three thousand feet beyond the reach of man. Many have attempted to scale it, but the walls are so steep and the snow is so soft, that ascent is impossible, even with scaling ladders. On the south side of Cotopaxi is a great rock, more than two thousand feet high, called the "Inca's Head." Tradition says that it was once the summit of the volcano, and that it fell on the day on which Atahualpa was strangled by the Spaniards. Ecuador may be said to be the center of the most vol- canic region of the globe. There are fifty-one volcanoes in the chain of the Andes, and of this number no less than twenty surround the valley where Quito stands. Three of the twenty are active, five are dormant, and twelve are extinct; they all lie within a space two hundred miles long and thirty wide. In addition to these volcanoes there are many other peaks not strictly volcanic. There are twenty-two mountains whose tops are covered with perpetual snow, and fifty that are each more than ten thousand feet high. The country is crossed in all directions by ninety-one rivers, of different size and importance, which form two well-marked systems. One system consists of the streams which flow toward the east and the southeast, emptying their waters into the gigantic Amazon ; and the other is formed by the streams which take their ECUADOR'S NATURAL BEAUTIES. 115 course toward the west and the southwest, and empty into the Pacific. On the Pacific coast and in the river valleys of both the eastern and the western sections of the country, the soil, when well cultivated, gives generous crops of cacao, sugar cane, cotton, rice, coffee, tobacco, bananas, and other tropical fruits; and along the inter-Andean plateau all the cereals and vegetables incident to a temperate and even to a cold climate are produced. Most of the lands of the western section are forest- covered, and furnish a great variety of excellent hard woods for building and cabinet purposes. The nearer one approaches the base of the Andes, the larger and taller the trees become, until, in the gorges of the western spurs, one finds the hothouses of nature, which, steaming under a tropical sun, force into existence a rank and prodigal vegetation. Each plant and tree has to wage desperate war for existence, and when some monarch of the forest lifts his crest above his fellows, tons of mosses and parasites tug at the trunk and branches until the exhausted giant is borne to earth. The eastern or Amazon section is also heavily Avooded, and the rank growth along the foothills of the Andes becomes dense and almost impenetrable, so much so, that man stands but little chance when he undertakes to do battle with the forces of nature in these equatorial districts The most beautiful thing in the tropics is a young palm tree. The old ones are more graceful than any of our foliage plants, but they all show signs of decay. The young ones, so supple as to bend before the winds, are the ideal of grace and loveliness, as picturesque in 116 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. repose as in motion. The long, spreading leaves of vivid green bend and sway with the breeze, and nod in the sunlight with a beauty which cannot be described. BANANAS GROWING. Ivory nuts are an important product. They were exported in 1897 to the amount of 31,400,848 pounds, which represented a value of $529,886. These figures, however, are very small in comparison with those of former years, particularly of 1879, when the value of the export amounted to $1,730,519 in gold. The HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PERU. 117 decrease has resulted chiefly from the fact that the foreign demand has fallen off. An article of great value to the republic, and abundantly found within its territory, is the Peruvian bark, called in Spanish quina or cinchona. Of this product Mr. Church says: "The world owes to the province of Loja, Ecuador, the first presentation of this valuable febrifuge, under the name of Jesuits' bark. It was, however, used long before the time of the Jesuits by the Indians all along the eastern slope of the Ecuadorian, Peruvian, and Bolivian Andes; and especially by the celebrated Indian doctors of the Bolivian province of Campolican, whom I have met in Bolivia, hundreds of miles from their homes, carrying their bags of roots and herbs, with which they have the reputation of performing wonderful cures. The Indian name for Peruvian bark is quina-quina, from which the modern name of quinine is derived." Just now the forests of Ecuador are being stripped of Peruvian bark in a very destructive way. Thou- sands of trees are being destroyed and none planted to replace them. The bark is all shipped from Guayaquil. CHAPTER XVI. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PERU. WHEN Pizarro discovered Peru, he found a great nation enjoying a second epoch in civilization. Of the first epoch but little has been told in the traditions of the Incas. 118 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. "Constant employment of the people in systematic labor and organized recreation, without oppression or hurry, with no rank of wealth, among a race too gentle to be ambitious and too docile to be vicious, produced a state in which the Spanish adventurer, who conquered the land, found industry, virtue, and contentment. It was the highest type of Indian civilization yet reached on this hemisphere, and probably the highest of which the aboriginal American was capable." The conquest of Peru was consummated by Pizarro's treacherous capture of Atahualpa, in November, 1532. This was effected without a battle, but with immense slaughter of the unsuspecting, unarmed retinue of the Inca who had come to welcome the strange visitors to his dominions a slaughter led by the priest Valerde. On the 29th of the next August, Atahualpa was strangled on the square of Cajarmarca. Not long afterward Valerde was made bishop of Cuzco, and Pizarro was created a marquis of Spain. The accounts of this slaughter vary so widely that the number slain is stated as low as 500,000 and as high as 40,000,000. Perhaps we may gain a fair idea of the matter from the statement following: "The present population of the three states which were wholly or in part included in the Inca Empire namely, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia does not exceed 8,000,000. It would be safe to estimate the population under the Inca rule at about double that number, or per- haps somewhere between 10, 000, 000 and 12, 000, 000, not- withstanding Las Casas, the good but not very accurate bishop of Chiapa, tells us that, in the province of Peru alone, the Spaniards killed about 40,000,000 of people." HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PERU. 119 On Monday, the 18th of January, 1535, Pizarro, with sixty of his followers, laid the foundation of a city which he determined should be the capital of the new nation of his conquest. He called it "The City of the Kings," in honor of the Spanish sovereigns, Juana and Carlos V., her son. Later its name became Lima, a corrup- tion of "Rimac," the name of the river on whose banks it stands, the beautiful city that is to-day the capital of the republic. Pizarro laid out and began building the Plaza de Armas of Lima, just as it has since been finished. He had already given the name of San Miguel to a city in the extreme north of the conquered province ; and, after the founding of Lima, he established a new city, halfway between the two, to which he gave the name of Truxillo, in honor of his native city in Spain. As he grew older he became somewhat unpopular, chiefly on account of his stern and overbearing disposi- tion ; and in 1541, when over seventy years of age, he PIZARRO. 120 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. was assassinated in his house in Lima by a revolu- tionary mob of citizens. After his death, governors and viceroys were sent over from Spain to manage the affairs of the province; and this form of government, which was extremely distasteful to the people, was continued down to 1821. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Peru had become the center of Spanish power in South America, and the viceroy had his strength concentrated at Lima. Consequently, the more distant provinces of Chile arid Buenos Aires were first able to throw off the Spanish yoke. But the destruction of the viceroy's power was essential to their continued independence. The conquest of the Peruvian coast depended on the command of the sea. Accordingly, in 1818, a fleet of six vessels was fitted out in Valparaiso, and sailed north under the command of Lord Cochrane, a dis- tinguished English naval officer. All the vessels were commanded by Englishmen except one, the commander of which was an American. It was two years before the invaders were able to effect a landing on the coast of Peru, but in 1820 an army of Argentine troops and some Chileans, under the command of San Martin, landed and marched on Lima, where they were enthusi- astically received. The viceroy fled, and on the 28th of July, 1821, the independence of Peru was declared. Fourteen months later the military commander, San Martin, withdrew, and the first Congress became the sovereign power of the state. After a short period of government by a committee of three, Congress elected, in 1823, Don Jose* Riva- Agiiero to be the first president of Peru. The second HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PERU. 121 president was General Lamar, who had command at the final battle for independence, which resulted in the complete rout of the viceroy and his army. General Gamarra was the third president of Peru. Between the years 1828 and 1839 numerous struggles took place, and three new constitutions were adopted. General Ramon Castilla restored peace to the coun- try and, in 1845, was elected president. Ten years of peace and increasing prosperity followed; in 1849 the regular payment of interest on the public debt was begun, steamship communication along the coast was established, and a railroad was built from Lima to Callao, its port. Castilla retired from office in 1851, and Echenique was elected his successor; but after three years of suc- cessful administration he was deposed by a revolu- tionary movement led by Castilla, at the end of a struggle that lasted six months. Castilla again became president, in 1855, and reestablished order. With the exception of a local insurrection, there was peace in Peru until the Chilean war broke out in 1879. The present constitution of the nation was framed in 1856 and revised by a commission in 1860. Slavery and the Indian tribute of the "mita," only another name for slavery, were abolished by its provisions. Notwithstanding the fact that she had signed a treaty acknowledging the independence of Peru, Spain sought to regain control of a land which had contributed magnificent treasures to her wealth. She demanded $3,000,000 indemnity for damages claimed to be due to certain Spanish immigrants who had settled in the country. President Pezet prudently temporized with 122 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Spain while he was putting himself in a position of defense. But his conduct was misunderstood by the people, and he preferred to resign the presidency rather than be the cause of civil war. AN INCA BURIAL TOWER. Colonel Prado was declared supreme chief, and made a treaty of defense with Chile that resulted in driving the Spanish from the coast. One of the important holi- days of the republic commemorates the battle of May 2, 1866, which has given a name to many public insti- HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PERU. 123 tutions. Through the medium of the United States a truce was arranged between the contending powers, and in 1879 a treaty of peace was signed between Peru and Spain. Manuel Pardo, who was elected to the presidency in 1873, did some excellent work. He founded a fine arts society, charged with the duty of administer- ing the buildings in the public garden of Lima. He intended the salons of these beautiful edifices for the establishment of a general museum, a school of painting and sculpture, and a music hall. It is difficult to es- timate what might have been the ultimate results of this wise administration, had not the terrible war with Chile interrupted the progress of the country and drawn the attention of the people away from the higher civil- ization toward which they were moving, to become centered on the more immediate duty of defense against foreign invasion. Pardo's term of office ended in 1877. He Avas succeeded by General Prado, during whose administration the war with Chile occurred. The unexpected declaration of war by her southern neighbor, in April, 1879, found Peru wholly unpre- pared, on land and sea, for such an emergency,, After the continuation of hostilities for four years, during which Peru exhibited great patriotism and devotion, a treaty of peace was signed by Iglesias, who was at the time acting president of Peru. In this war with Chile the nation was severely crippled. The purpose of the Chilean commander on the coast was utterly to destroy every enterprise within his reach that contributed to Peruvian wealth, and thus to annihilate the power of the republic. This 124 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. determination was carried out with a cool barbarism that has rarely been equaled. Undefended mills and factories, without consideration of their ownership, and great accumulations of material for the building and equipment of railroads, largely the property of Americans, were destroyed in fulfillment of the savage design to wipe Peru from the list of nations. A de- struction so terribly thorough might well have para- lyzed the energies of any people. During the war Prado went to Europe, leaving the government in the hands of the first vice president, General La Puerta. The departure of the president created an excitement in Lima that ended in the retire- ment of the vice president. General Pierola, who had been a prominent party leader, was then elevated to the presidency, which he assumed by tacit consent; but when he left the city, and the Chilean army appeared at its gates, Dr. Garcia Calderon, an emi- nent lawyer of the capital, was invited by leading citizens to assume direction of affairs. His govern- ment was recognized by the United States, Switzerland, and the Central American republics. He attempted to arrange a peace with Chile, but found that the demands were unacceptable, and asked that the United States be invited to arbitrate the questions in dispute. The proposition was refused, and Dr. Calderon was sent a prisoner to Chile. The invaders then placed the gov- ernment of Peru in the hands of Iglesias, and arranged with him for peace, the treaty being ratified by an assembly in 1884. A constitutional Congress met at Lima on the 30th of May, 1886, and Caceres was unanimously elected HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PERU. 125 president of the republic. President Caceres was called to a most distressing task. The country was utterly ruined ; the pall of death covered every house- hold; and the repeated massacre of Indians and the loss of the flower of the country's manhood on the battle- THE CATHEDRAL AT LIMA. field had greatly reduced the population. The treasury was empty. The country had been robbed of all visible means of recuperation. Caceres began, as Pardo had done before him, by re- ducing the expense of administering the government to the lowest possible point. The army was reduced to a little over three thousand men, and the navy was cut down to two small steamers, the Peru and the Santa Rosa. His administration was a constant struggle with 126 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. adverse circumstances. But while it was not possible to meet so much as the interest on the foreign debt, he succeeded in restoring perfect order in all parts of the republic and in every department of the government. On the 10th of August, 1890, General Caceres sur- rendered the office of president, which he had held for the legal term of four years, into the hands of his suc- cessor, Colonel Bermudez, as constitutional president of Peru. Caceres has since held the honorable position of minister t^ Great Britain and France. President Bermudez did splendid duty for his coun- try during the Chilean war, and his administration, like that of his predecessor, was one of patriotic devo- tion to his people. Peru, under him, had a firm and stable government, under the influence of prudent, far- sighted statesmen, who devoted themselves to the mate- rial development of their country and the elevation of the people. Nicolas de Pierola was elected president in 1895, to serve for the term of four years. During the year 1896 a revolution broke out in eastern Peru. A provisional government was established at Iquitos and fortifications were erected. President Pierola sent to the revolted province two overland expeditions, which had to make a march of nearly one thousand miles over difficult moun- tain roads. Iquitos is situated at the head of naviga- tion on the Amazon. In order to reach the rebels by water, the secretary of war set out with the transport Constitucidn to sail round by the Strait of Magellan and ascend the Amazon. How well this illustrates the almost complete isolation of eastern Peru ! The rebel- lion, however, soon failed, and President Pierola bent THE LAND OF GOLD AND SILVER. 127 all his efforts toward the reestablishment of prosperity and progress. Pierola was succeeded in 1899 by Eduardo Romaiia, who is following closely in his steps. CHAPTER XVII. THE LAND OF GOLD AND SILVER. EVER since the world first heard the story of Peru, the simple mention of its name has been sufficient to conjure up visions of gold and silver, of precious stones and fragrant woods. The ransom of Atahualpa, a large room piled with the most elaborately wrought orna- ments and utensils of gold and silver as high as a man could reach, and the stories, by no means fabulous, of the immense treasure sent to the Spanish monarchs, have led us to think of the country as the center of health, wealth, and happiness, a little nearer paradise than any other land. Nor has this wonderful dream passed away from the hopes and beliefs of men. At the present time Peru is the object of more enterprise and substantial invest- ment, for the purpose of developing its well-proven natural resources, than any other country on the Western continent. Gold is found in every part of Peru. In the mari- time Andes, where the rocks are of a crystalline char- acter, it is found in veins of quartz, which are intruded into the granite and syenite. It is even said that the entire subsoil of Peru is an almost unbroken network 128 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. of gold-bearing lodes. The obstacles to working them are in many places discouraging, want of water, inac- cessible peaks, severe climate, and want of roads being among the chief of them. But silver mining is really the greatest industry of Peru. Like copper, silver is found in its greatest abundance in the maritime Andes. The lack of roads and of capital have led to the abandonment of many and important deposits, so that, while there are really two thousand silver mines already opened in Peru, comparatively few are being worked. The gold mines on the shores of Lake Titicaca, near Puno, which at one time yielded quite a million and a half ounces annually, have for many years produced little or nothing. The opening of the railway to Puno will, no doubt, put them in operation once more. There is no lack of mines in other parts of Peru ; but most of them lie beyond the vast barriers of the Cordilleras, in desolate regions where their development is almost impossible. The Peru of which we usually speak is a desert averaging sixty miles wide and extending a thousand miles along the Pacific coast. This desert contains the most important cities of the republic, and is supplied along its shores with numerous safe anchorages, some of which are excellent harbors. Rain falls on this vast plain at intervals of five to seven years, and then the aggregate of any year does not exceed four inches. Sometimes, but rarely, rain has fallen in two succes- sive years, when there is indeed rejoicing, for it means a continuance of crops beyond the ordinary- period. THE LAND OF GOLD AND SILVER. 129 Callao is the port of Lima, seven miles distant, and two lines of railroad connect the cities. The harbor of Callao is not of the best; but, as there is never a storm on this part of the coast, no further protection is needed than is afforded by the island of San Lorenzo, on the southwest side of the anchorage, which serves as a breakwater against the swell of the ocean rolling up from that direction all along the coast. On the sea- ward side of San Lorenzo is a lighthouse. Callao is in the sunshine when Lima is under a dense cloud of fog, and has, on that account, a vastly more agreeable cli- mate in winter than the capital. It is a handsome city of thirty thousand people, and possesses as perfect a system for handling cargoes of shipping as exists in the world. The boatmen who infest the harbor of Callao are licensed with a special privilege to pursue their call- ing, in return for which they constitute the naval reserve of the republic, and are subject to the call of their country at any hour. They are hardy, bold, industrious, and energetic in the pursuit of business ; and, in their clamor and pushing for a job, they resemble the hackmen at an American railroad station. At Villegas, two miles above Callao, is the tomb of Henry Meiggs, the builder of the famous Oroya Rail- road. Mr. Meiggs was a native of Catskill, New York, who met with business reverses and went to Chile in 1854. He there engaged in building bridges for the Valparaiso and Chile Railroad, and later on he built at least half a dozen railroads in Peru. His greatest work was the building of the Callao, Lima, and Oroya Railroad, a piece of work which ranks 130 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. among the most daring achievements of modern engineer- ing. The road ascends the mountain almost to its summit, winding around the rocky spurs which jut out at frequent intervals, or piercing them with tunnels, of which there are thirty-two. At one point is an iron bridge connecting two of these tunn&ls at a height of A BRIDGE IN THE MOUNTAINS. two thousand feet above the chasm which it spans. In the construction of this bridge the workmen had to be let down with ropes from above, and had to cut ledges in the sides of the mountain on which to stand while doing their work. The rock at this point is said to be hard enough to scratch glass. This railroad is worth all it cost, both in money and in skill, for it connects Callao with the head of navigation on the Amazon, and thus forms part of a great system which connects the THE LAND OF GOLD AND SILVER. 131 Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. It is therefore fitting that the people of Callao and the vicinity should have erected the beautiful mound and cross at Villegas which serve to perpetuate the fame of the builder. The valley at Matucana is a wide bottom-land, sup- porting a considerable town. To this place come droves of the pretty little llamas from the inner sierra, with their burdens for the railroad. This remarkable animal, which has been called "the camel of the Andes," was found by Pizarro among the Incas, who had domesticated it to carry burdens. It was the only beast so employed on this continent before the intro- duction of European civilization. Mr. F. G. Carpenter, writing in the St. Louis Times- Democrat of these interesting animals, says: "Much of the freight that is brought to Lake Titicaca is on llamas. The word is pronounced 'lyahmah.' These animals are, to a great extent, the freight wagons of the Andes. You see them by the hundreds everywhere on this Titicaca plateau. I found them loaded with silver ore at the mines in the mountains of central Peru, and saw thousands of them feeding upon the pampas over which I crossed on my way here. They are the most graceful beasts I have ever seen. They walk along the road with their little heads high up in the air, and seem to tread as though they owned the earth. They have heads like a camel, bodies like sheep, and feet and legs much like a deer. They are not sulky looking, like a camel, and are far more aristocratic in their actions. When you load a camel he cries like a baby. The tears roll down his cheeks, and, as he marches off, he pouts and groans. The llama carries 132 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. his burden with a proud air and pricks up his ears, for all the world like a Skye terrier, at every new thing he sees. He will carry only so much, and the usual load for a llama is one hundred pounds. If you put on more, he does not cry or groan, but calmly kneels down, and will not move until the load is lightened." LLAMAS. In the north of Peru flows the river Chira, and its valley is well cultivated throughout its whole extent. The only means of transportation at present are mules and donkeys, which carry freight between the planta- tions and the Paita and Piura Railroad, of which a short section of twenty miles runs along the side of the valley. There are no highway roads in Peru. In no section is the freight of the country hauled on wheels, and THE LAND OF GOLD AND SILVER. 133 nowhere are passengers transported in stages ; unless, indeed, we except the very limited district in the valley of the Rimac, near Lima. Everything in the way of supplies and exported produce is moved on the backs of mules and donkeys ; passengers travel in the saddle. The great and elaborate highways, or public roads, which the historians tell us were constructed by the Incas throughout their vast empire, have disappeared, leaving here and there only short sections or fragments, which hardly justify the praise that has been bestowed on them. "Between Cuzco and the sweet valley of Yucay there are numerous traces of an ancient road, some sec- tions of which are perfect. They consist of a pathway from ten to twelve feet wide, raised slightly in the center, paved with stones, and the edges defined by lines of larger stones sunk firmly in the ground. Where this road descends from the elevated puna, a sheer descent of almost four thousand feet into the valley of Yucay, it zigzags on a narrow shelf cut in the face of the declivity and supported here and there, where foothold could not otherwise be obtained, by high retaining walls of cut stone, looking as perfect and firm as when first built, centuries ago." The crossing of the numerous rivers has evidently been a perplexing problem to the Peruvians. As their land was destitute of timber, they resorted to sus- pension bridges, formed of cables of braided withes stretched from bank to bank and supporting a floor- ing of wood. Where the banks are high, or where the streams are compressed between steep or precipitous rocks, these cables are anchored to piers of stone. Two 134 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. smaller cables are sometimes stretched on each side, as a guard or hand rail. Over these frail and swaying structures pass men and animals, the latter frequently with loads on their backs. Returning to the south, we must take a passing glance at the city of Cuzco, of which Marshal O'Leary wrote to General Miller, during the war of Peruvian inde- pendence: "Cuzco interests me greatly. Its history, its fables, its ruins, are enchanting. It may with truth be called the Rome of the New World. The immense fortress, on the north, is its Capitol. The Temple of the Sun is its Coliseum." The city stands at the northern or most elevated end of the valley, on the lower slopes of three high hills, where as many rivulets, coming together like the fingers of an outspread hand, unite to form the Cachi- mayo, the stream that disputes passage with the narrow roadway in the Pass of Angostura. Here, according to the legend, St. James came down to earth seated on a white horse, with lance in rest, turned the tide of battle in favor of the Spaniards, and helped them to blot out forever the Inca power. Arequipa lies in the sierra, or high country between the coast range and the central Cordillera, and is 7600 feet above the sea level. On the mountain peak, El Misti, which overlooks the city, Harvard University has established an observa- tory, which has rendered good service to astronomy. Arequipa is the capital of a department of the same name, and is connected with the coast by a railroad. Its massive stone houses, spacious patios, projecting balconies, enormously wide carriage entrances, and THE LAND OF GOLD AND SILVER. 135 vaulted ceilings recall the days of Spanish rule, of which they are the monuments. It is the most pretentious city of Peru, outside of Lima, and is the only place in the republic, besides the capital, that knows the luxury of any wheeled vehicle for purposes of pleasure or pas- senger carriage. Like all Peruvian towns its houses are whitewashed, and its streets and sidewalks narrow AREQUIPA. and crooked, but it boasts the convenience of a street railroad. Its population of thirty-five thousand is ambitious and not altogether patient under the cus- tom of selecting the presidents of the republic from Lima. Off the coast of Peru lie the bleak, but very valuable, guano islands. These masses of rock are bare and desolate except for the shanties of the men who dig 136 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the beds of guano. This deposit makes an excellent fertilizer, and is exported in large quantities to Europe and the United States. Peru had to sacrifice to Chile this source of wealth, as well as her nitrate of soda deposits, to pay her enormous debt resulting from the war of 1879 and 1880. A GUANO ISLAND. Perhaps the most useful to mankind of all the nat- ural products of Peru is the cinchona, or Peruvian bark, from which the drug quinine is extracted. The tree can be found towering above all other trees in the most inaccessible spots in all the mountain wilderness, at an elevation of from three to five thousand feet above "THE CITY OF THE KINGS." 137 the sea. Petroleum also bids fair to be a source of wealth to Peru, compensating to some extent for the loss of her guano and nitrate deposits, unless it should form a new temptation to the greed of capitalists, and lead to another conquest by which her extensive fields shall be taken from her, as were the nitrate beds. Telegraphs and telephones are in general use through- out Peru for the transmission of news and business communications. The long-distance telephone is almost exclusively used and has largely superseded the telegraph. It has been introduced in the northern department on an extensive scale by Mr. Emilio Clark of Piura, who has already put up eight hundred miles of telephone lines and is extending them in several directions. This advantage is appreciated by the planters, who are thus enabled to put themselves into close communication with the rest of the country. Along the coast of Peru runs a submarine cable, which connects every important port with the rest of the world. CHAPTER XVIII. "THE CITY OF THE KINGS." FEW cities possess equal interest with Lima, " The City of the Kings, "which at one time had no rival in wealth or importance in America except the City of Mexico. Its name signifies "the oracle," and is a corruption of the name of the river Rimac, on whose banks it is built five hundred feet above sea level. It is popularly known as the "Paris of America." 138 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Its women are beautiful, graceful, and intelligent. They have the happy faculty of being both gay and dignified. The men are well educated and have a refinement that is largely due to extensive travel. LIMA ON A HOLIDAY. The houses in Lima are peculiar to the city. The lower stories consist of solid adobe walls from two to four feet in thickness. When it is necessary to add "THE CITY OF THE KINGS." 139 another story, which is not common with dwellings, the custom is to build with the light bamboo of Guayaquil or scantling from the northwest coast of North Amer- ica, which is treated with adobe and then stuccoed over with plaster, so as to present a handsome finish. What appear to be massive towers are like bird cages, when robbed of their outer coat. This system of construction has been evolved from the experience with earthquakes. The massive wall answers to a certain height, but above that it must be succeeded by the lightest structure consistent with proper strength. The furnishing of a Lima house belonging to the wealthy class is generally in brighter colors than the North American affects. Throughout the interior there is a great display of wealth, and the houses are splendid palaces. The women are among the most intelligent of their sex in South America, and are very charming companions in the drawing-room, where the desire to please supplements their natural hospitality. Club life is an institution of Lima, as of other civilized com- munities ; but the Lima gentleman is devoted to his home. Lima is rich in historic traditions of the Incas and Pizarro, and signs of its former prosperity and great- ness may be seen on every side ; but now it is poverty- stricken in appearance, and the population has fallen to one hundred and ten thousand. However, it is gen- erally admitted by travelers that Lima is one of the pleasantest cities south of the Isthmus as a place of permanent residence for foreigners. It is true that one's earliest impressions of it are usually disappoint- ing; but that is largely due to the imagination, which, 140 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. inspired by tales of the Incas and the Spanish conquest, has led one to expect too much. The public amusements of Lima consist mainly of the theater, the cockfight, and the bullfight. Its rank in theater and opera is of the highest order. Despite the opposition of the press, the bullfight retains the favor and may be styled the passion of the people. Sunday is chosen as the day for the exhibition. Cock- fighting was formerly practiced in the streets and public places. Many years ago an attempt was made to suppress it; but as this was found to be impossible, it was decided to regulate it by law and to confine the exhibition to a single building erected for the purpose. It is now forbidden al- together. In the markets of Lima there are stalls for the prin- cipal dealers, but the mass of ven- ders, who are women, squat on the pavement A BREAD SELLER. . i . with their fruits or fish or vegetables heaped in flat baskets, or on mats placed before them. They chatter and chaff with each other and their customers. Spare moments are given THE CITY OF THE KINGS; 141 to the care of their children, who tumble about among the baskets of fruit in a way not at all appetizing to purchasers of the goods among which they play. Mr. Carpenter, in an article in the Baltimore Herald, says: "The young women of Lima are a class nearer perfection in beauty of form than any girls I have ever seen. They are straight and shapely, arid their soft, round, beautiful faces, with their luxu- riant black hair combed high up from the foreheads, are lighted up with eyes which fairly shine with the souls of their owners. " All of the ladies of Lima dress in black when they go out to walk. They do not wear bonnets, but wrap fine shawls of black goods about their heads, pinning them fast on their backs, so that the face alone shows. [The more becoming lace mantillas have taken the place of the black shawls formerly worn.] One of the queer sights of Lima is a church congregation. The men sit by themselves ; and the women and girls, all wearing these black cloths on their heads, make you think of a congregation of nuns who are dead to the world. At A MILKWOMAN. 142 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. their own homes they are vivacious and charming, and dress much like their sisters of the rest of Christen- dom, and are as fond of gay clothes and the latest styles as our own American girls. The woman's-rights woman has, I am told, not yet made her way here, though there is a 'movement toward giving women employment in places which were formerly exclusively held by the men." Lima contains two valuable libraries. The National Library, founded in 1822, immediately after the estab- lishment of independence, contained in 1880 more than 60,000 printed volumes and 8000 manuscripts. It was reckoned by literary men who had visited it, as the best in South America. When the Chileans had possession of Lima, they destroyed the library, but immediatel} 7 upon the evacuation of the capital the Peruvians set about its restoration. It was rededicated on the 28th of July, 1884, with nearly 28,000 volumes, which number has since been increased to about 40,000. The library of the University contains more than 20,000 volumes. The valuable scientific library of the School of Mines, and the library of the national corps of engineers and architects at the National Palace, may also be mentioned. The cathedral, founded by Pizarro, cost 1600,000, and was ninety years in building. It has recently been restored at the expense of the government. It is on the general plan that characterizes all Spanish church archi- tecture. Its fagade, like those of the other churches of Lima, has challenged the approval of severe critics. The great bell of the cathedral, La Cantabaria, weighs 30,000 pounds, and is always tolled when an earth- "THE CITY OF THE KINGS.' 143 quake trembling is felt. It is one of the heaviest bells in the world, and one may well imagine the solemnity of its awful tone when in the middle of PERUVIAN BOYS AT PLAY. the night one is aroused from sleep to the terror of approaching destruction. The cathedral has also a chapel and altar devoted to Santa Rosa, the patron saint of Peru, the only American who has ever been canonized. She was born and died in Lima. 144 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. One of the chief beauties of Lima is its public garden, which, although despoiled by the Chileans, remains a most beautiful and elaborate pleasure ground. Its principal gate is an exquisite piece of work ; the grounds are made the sites of various palaces and pavilions ; and all the zones of the earth are repre- sented in its flora. A magnificent conservatory of ferns and orchids was spared by the enemy, who carried away the zoological collection. The place contains about forty acres, in which are pleasant shaded walks, seats, and gas lamps for evening entertainments. Montero's famous picture of the obsequies of Atahualpa is to be seen in the principal pavilion, whence it was taken by the Chileans, who afterward returned it. Both in the capital and throughout the country, schools are numerous and of a high order. The fash- ionable school for young ladies in Lima is the convent of San Pedro, an ancient institution, at which the daughters of wealthy families for many generations have been educated by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. There are various private schools for boys, also, and among the most successful is a commercial high school with a three years' course, under the direction of Rev. Dr. Wood of the Methodist mission. The University of Peru is a venerable institution, the oldest in America, having been founded by Pizarro shortly after the conquest of the country. Its schools of medicine and law hold their charters from Charles V. of Spain, and for many years young men from all parts of the continent came here for education. There are also general schools and theological semi- naries in connection with several of the monasteries. EASTERN PERU. 145 CHAPTER XIX. EASTERN PERU. IN eastern Peru we find that the silent solitudes and torpor of the tropical wilderness seem to have placed a spell over life in all its forms, while nature has almost made labor unnecessary by that lavish abundance which renders the problem of existence so easy of solution. With serene contentment the inhabitants of this re- gion may live without thought of to-morrow, for the opportunities of all days are the same to them. Mr. Courtney De Kalb lately published an excellent article in Harper's Magazine, from which we make the following extract: "Eastern Peru, though changing its political title at various periods, has been called the Montana, or wooded country, since the first colony was planted there 256 years ago. The experiences of the early settlers were an endless succession of romantic adventures. Towns were built and destroyed many times, and there is scarcely a single site which has not been bathed with, the blood of whites and Indians through centuries of conflict. Spanish and Peruvian possession of this ter- ritory has consequently been more nominal than real until within the last twenty-five or. thirty years, during which time several of the old mission stations have flourished forth into cities of from two to six thousand inhabitants, under the commercial stimulus given by opening the Amazon to the flags of all nations in 1866. " The inhabitants of eastern Peru belong, almost with- out exception, to the class of cholos, or half-breeds. 146 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The Indian element is strong in the features of this mixed race, although at times the Caucasian blossoms out in a clear-cut, arching mouth, a delicate face and chin, and thin, aquiline nose. The young women pos- sess the feminine instinct of neatness in dress and love of personal adornment. Simple pink or light-blue frocks, trimmed with a bit of lace or ribbon, make INDIAN RUBBER GATHERERS. cool, becoming costumes. The dark hair is secured behind by a ribbon, from which it falls loosely down the back. A few pinks and rose-buds half encircle the head like a broken wreath. Out of doors a Panama hat is worn well down over the eyes, and a thin blue and white shawl invariably envelops the shoulders. "The half-breeds exceed the Indians in number throughout eastern Peru, which fact alone serves as circumstantial evidence of the long and tedious EASTERN PERU. 147 endeavor of the whites to make this land their own, a struggle in which the adventurer must either become an exile or found here his home. There has not been in the past, nor is there to-day, any reluc- tance to intermarriage between whites and Indians. Indeed, a foreigner seldom remains here long without becoming married. The Montana of Peru is a lonely place. For a man who must live here for years, apart from friends and kindred, it certainly must become fearfully tiresome. The outer world almost loses its reality, and passes from the memory into the dimness of a dream. " The Indians are all and always heavily in debt to the owners of the huts in which they live, and, as the owners do not choose to prosecute them, they are really, though not nominally, enslaved. When the young Indian has grown large enough to do what may be regarded as a man's work, he enters service. He receives the habitual recompense of nine soles per month. On this sum he cannot live. The master knows it, the Indian knows it; but what is to be done when such is the established stipend throughout the length and breadth of the valley? The result is, receiving none of the commonest necessaries of life gratuitously, he overdraws from the first. A strict account is kept of all that he obtains from his master of food, clothing, implements, and knickknacks, and he is compelled to work on day after day in satisfaction of the debt, which, with each setting sun, has grown larger than ever. The Indian thus comes to think of himself as a fixture at the chacra [the great homestead]. The magnitude of his debt does not trouble him. The 148 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. more he can induce his master to let him owe, so many more of the comforts of this world does he enjoy, and so much the greater is his bliss." Speaking of the dons, or higher classes of eastern Peru, Mr. De Kalb says : " It is unsafe to presume upon the ignorance of these dons. Many a stranger who has thought to teach them how the outer world thinks and does, has ended by receiving additional information upon the same subject in return, coupled with reasons why such principles cannot at present be applied on latitude four degrees south. In Iquitos, a city of about ten thousand inhabitants, is one private library of over two thousand volumes, and several others numbering their books by the hundreds. At every hacienda is a treasured shelf full of the works of Cervantes, Quevedo, perhaps a translation of Shakespeare, of Alexandre Dumas, a history of Peru, and works of travel. No mere ornaments are these, but veritable companions of the long, lonely spaces of time. They are not only read, but studied, penetrated." Still farther east is the forest region of the country, inhabited by some thriving colonies of whites and by unfriendly savages. The Puna, as this section is called, is a cold and cheerless region ; yet here was the seat of the Inca civilization, the highest development this continent had known at the date of its discovery, and probably the highest of which the American Indian was capable. Here is the great Lake Titicaca, on the coasts and islands of which are still to be found the ruins of that giant architecture which will bear solemn, silent testimony to Indian intelligence so long as the world stands. EASTERN PERU. 149 RUINS OF AN NCA PALACE ON LAKE TITICACA. In this lake is the sacred island of Peru. To it the Incas traced their origin, and to this day it is held by their descendants in profound veneration. According to the current tradition, "Manco Capac and his wife and sister, children of the Sun, and com- missioned by that luminary, started hence on their errand of beneficence to reduce under government, and to instruct in religion and the arts, the savage tribes that occupied the country. Manco Capac bore a golden rod and was instructed to travel northward until he reached the spot where the rod should sink into the ground, and there fix the seat of his empire. He obeyed the behest, traveled slowly along the western shore of the lake, through the broad, level puna lands, up the 150 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. valley of the Pucura, to the lake of La Raya, where the basin of Titicaca ends and whence the waters of the river Vilcanota start on their course to swell the Amazon. He advanced down the valley of that river until he reached the spot where this region now stands, when the golden rod disappeared. Here he fixed his seat, and here, in time, rose the 'City of the Sun,' the capital of the Inca empire." Pedro de Leon, writing of this region, says : " Not far distant is the island of Coati, which was sacred to the Moon, the wife and sister of the Sun, on which stands the famous palace of the Virgins of the Sun, built around the shrines dedicated to the Sun and the Moon respectively, and which is one of the best-preserved, as well as one of the most remarkable remains of aborigi- nal architecture on this continent. The island of Soto was the Isle of Penitence, to which the Incas of the ruling race were wont to resort for fasting and humiliation, and it has also many remains of ancient architecture." At the head of a deep bay on the west side of Titi- caca is the cathedral city of Puno, with six thousand inhabitants living thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea. They are generally descendants of Inca ancestry, and they cherish the confident belief that the government of the house of Atahualpa will yet be restored. The climate about Lake Titicaca is cold and gloomy, and the people are miserably poor. Barley is their principal crop, and the potato grows well, but corn does not ripen. One of the great curiosities of this region is the famous bridge of Apurimac. The river Apurimac is EASTERN PERU. 151 one of the headwaters of the Amazon, a large and rapid stream flowing in a deep valley, or rather, gigantic ravine, shut in by high and precipitous mountains. Throughout its length it is crossed at only a single point, between two enormous cliffs which rise dizzily on both sides, and from the summits of which the A PEON'S CABIN WITH BOYS IN THE STOCKS. traveler looks down into a dark gulf. At the bottom gleams a white line of water, whence struggles up a dull but heavy roar, giving to the river its name, Apu- rimac, signifying in the Quichua tongue "the great speaker." The bridge, looking like a mere thread, is reached from above by a path which on one side traces a thin, white line on the face of the mountain, and 152 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. down which the boldest traveler may hesitate to ven- ture. This path, on the other side, at once disappears from the rocky shelf, where there is just room enough to hold the hut of the bridge-keeper, and then runs through a dark tunnel cut in the rocks, from which it emerges to trace a steep and weary zigzag line up the face of the mountain. It is usual for the traveler to time his day's journey so as to reach this bridge in the morning, before the strong wind sets in; for during the greater part of the day, the wind sweeps up the canon of the Apurimac with great force, making the bridge sway like a gigantic hammock, so that crossing is next to impossible. The bridge is 148 feet long, and at its lowest part 118 feet above the river. The floor is made of small sticks and canes, fastened transversely with rawhide strings. In the towns of eastern Peru, as in all other sections of the republic, are schools of considerable size, sup- ported by taxation, aided by small fees from the patrons. Of the schools of Peru, Mr. William E. Curtis in "Between the Andes and the Ocean" has recently written as follows : " While taking a trip over the famous Oroya road the other day, we visited a typical Peruvian country school at the little town of Chicla, in the heart of the Andes. It occupied a low-roofed mud hut adjoining the village church. There were about forty youngsters of both sexes, twelve years old and under, with bright, bead- like eyes, Indian features, stiff, coarse, coal-black hair, sturdy frames, and most of them had intelligent faces, particularly the girls, who were more neatly dressed than the boys. Their teacher, from her appearance, EASTERN PERU. 153 was evidently a superior person, for her complexion was white, her manners were good, and she seemed to be well educated. The teacher of the boys' school was a dull-looking fellow, with a low brow and a furtive eye, who wore a sarepa, or shawl, around his throat and face, and kept his hat on in the schoolroom, as if suffer- ing from cold. The alcalde of the village happened to be present superintending some repairs upon the build- ing, whose crumbling walls were being reen forced by fresh coats of mud, that was mixed under his direction in the courtyard. The schoolhouse was as rude as a 'dugout ' on the prairies of Kansas in early days. The only furniture was a long table in the center, and three or four long benches without backs'. The wall was decorated with large cards, upon which the alphabet, the diphthongs, ,and words of one syllable were printed for the benefit of pupils whose education had not yet reached the period of books. With glowing pride the teacher called up his prize pupils, and had them point out upon an illustrated chart the different forms of money, weights, and measures used in Peru. Then the children gathered in the patio and sang the national hymn for us, after which we took their photographs col- lectively, and threw pennies into the air for them to scramble after." 154 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHAPTER XX. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOLIVIA. BOLIVIA was the name given in honor of Simon Bolivar to a state formed, in 1825, from the province of Upper Peru, which formerly constituted a part of the viceroyalty of Buenos Aires. Probably the oldest civilized empire in America existed in the Titicaca basin ; but we know of it only by vague traditions and by the ruins of this ancient civilization which still ^remain. It appears to have been broken up about the eighth century. The Aymara Indians remained in the Bolivian highlands and retained some measure of civilization. They were subdued in the fourteenth century by the Incas of Cuzco. After the Inca empire had been overturned by Francisco Pizarro, he sent his brother, Hernando, to annex this southern region; and in 1559, it was formed into the district or high court of Charcas, or Upper Peru. It was governed by judges, who resided at a town that occupied the site of the modern city of Sucre, and was at first subject to the viceroy of Peru ; but in 1776 Charcas was made a province of the new vice- royalty of Buenos Aires. The rich silver mines gave this region a special importance with Spain ; but here, as elsewhere, the colonists and especially the Indians had much cause for discontent. Previous to the Spanish conquest, in 1532, when Peru and Bolivia were under the imperial sway of the Incas, gold was regarded as a sacred metal, and was used almost exclusively by the Incas in the adornment HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOLIVIA. 155 of their royal palaces, temples, and the sacred vest- ments of the royal household. Unconscious of its value, the Incas sought gold, not for gain, but out of loyalty to their rulers and from a deep devotion to their chief deity, the sun, to whose worship their gold was mainly consecrated. Traditions of the Quichua and Aymara Indians and the oldest obtainable records, reaching back to the begin- ning of the sixteenth century, as well as recent explora- tions, all agree that the northwest provinces of Bolivia, especially the province of Larecaja, are rich in gold deposits ; and that, though the Incas secured consider- able quantities of this metal from Peru, these provinces were the principal source whence came the gold that excited the greed of the early Spaniards. Long before the coming of the Spaniards the town of Llabaya, in the province of Larecaja, was the seat of certain nobles or chiefs of the empire, who were charged with the duty of forwarding the quarterly gold contribu- tion of that district to Chiquitos, Peru, where one of the receipt boxes of the empire was located. The record shows that on the day of the full moon of each quarter, the expedition intrusted with this remittance from Llayaba set out without fail for Chiquitos, and was received with demonstrations of joy in the several villages through which it passed. The amount of these quarterly contributions is unknown, but as the gold was carried in twelve llama bladders holding from *four to five pounds each, the amount can be esti- mated. Llama bladders are still used by the Indians in transporting gold. The early history of Bolivia is closely connected with HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOLIVIA. 157 that of Peru; so our attention will now be directed principally to the more recent conditions. After their conquest by the Spaniards in the six- teenth century, the people were subjected to a system of oppression which has few parallels in the history of the world. They were treated little better than beasts of burden. It was their labor that dug out the gold and silver from the mines, that cultivated the lands, that tended the large flocks and herds, and performed all domestic and menial services. The owners of mines and land claimed the right to the personal service of the Indian population that surrounded the district in which their property was located. A certain number of Indians were annually chosen from the district, by lot, to serve these landowners. Some idea may be formed of the effects of such a rule from the fact that 1400 mines were registered in Peru alone, and that every mine which remained unworked for a year and a day became the property of the first claimant. So greatly did the Indians, upon whom the lot fell, dread the labor in the mines that they con- sidered it equal to a sentence of death, and made all arrangements accordingly. No less than 12,000 Indians were annually required under this usage to work in the mines of Potosi alone; and it is estimated that in the mines of Peru about 8,000,000 Indians have perished in performing this work for their taskmasters. The government also required every Indian between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five to pay a poll tax of eight dollars. This was levied with rigor, and served often as the means of great injustice. 158 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. For this reason the war of independence was carried on by the people of Bolivia with the greatest zeal, and they were aided by the neighboring peoples of the Rio de la Plata and Peru. All of these had equal cause to avenge themselves on their oppressors, and an almost uninterrupted war was carried on between 1809 and 1825. A revolt in 1809 was speedily crushed, and patriot invading armies from Buenos Aires and from Peru through the next decade were repulsed by the Spaniards. Thus Charcas was the last region in South America to be freed from Spanish troops. This was effected only after the complete overthrow of the Span- iards in Peru. In 1824, after a battle in Lower Peru, Sucre, whose valor had been of great assistance to the patriots' success, marched with a part of the victorious army into Upper Peru. The news of his victory caused an uprising of the patriots, and in a very short time the entire province of La Paz was in their possession. In March, 1825, the Spanish general, mortally wounded in action, was obliged to surrender. General Sucre was given supreme command of Upper Peru until the country could form and accept a consti- tution. In 1825 it was decided that Upper Peru should constitute a distinct and separate nation, and the name of Bolivia was afterward given to the new country. At the same time a formal declaration of independence was issued. General Sucre was chosen president for life, but accepted the appointment for two years only, with the expressed condition that 2000 Colombian troops should be allowed to remain with him. The independence of the country, so dearly bought, did not secure for it a peaceful future. There were HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOLIVIA. 159 constant insurrections until the end of 1828, when General Sucre and his Colombian troops were driven from La Paz. These outbreaks on the part of the people were kept up at various intervals until 1871, when President Morales was elected. The military system of government has now been changed, and the ON THE ROAD TO LA PAZ. disordered condition of the republic has been straight- ened out; but these political changes and internal conflicts have kept Bolivia far behind its neighbors in developing its great natural wealth and resources. In April, 1873, Don Adolfo Ballivian was chosen successor to General Morales ; but he died in less than a year and was succeeded, without an election, by Dr. 160 ' THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Thomas Frias, at that time president of the council of state. In about two years a new insurrection occurred ; Dr. Frias was deposed by the troops, and General Daza, then commander of the army, was proclaimed president by the soldiers. An alliance had been formed with Peru, and late in 1878 the two countries became involved in a war with Chile. Bolivia and Peru combined were in no condition to cope with the resolute and well-equipped armies of Chile. After a year and a half of conflict, the Chileans had taken the valuable nitrate deposits and so much country along the coast that Bolivia was left without any access to the sea, and under the necessity of con- ducting her commerce through the territory of neigh- boring nations. Enraged at their losses, the Bolivians rose in insurrection and deposed Daza, and in 1880 Dr. Narciso Campero was elected president by Congress. Campero's government lasted through four years, but he found himself unable to continue the war with Chile. Peru being powerless to aid, Bolivia made a separate peace with Chile, giving up all her coast line and most of her nitrate of soda deposits in Atacama and Antofagasta. The territory thus rent from Bolivia has an area of 70,181 square miles and a population of perhaps 6000 inhabitants. This loss leaves the present area of the republic, according to the last official enumeration, made between 1890 and 1894, as 567,360 square miles a country of vast extent. THE INLAND REPUBLIC. 161 CHAPTER XXI. THE INLAND REPUBLIC. THE great inland republic of Bolivia occupies an area greater than that of any single country of Europe, with the exception of Russia, and greater than the combined area of Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Greece. The Bolivian Handbook says: "The population is fixed by the best Bolivian authorities, official and otherwise, at about 2,500,000 inhabitants. The popu- lation consists of native whites, chiefly descendants of the Spanish settlers; resident Europeans; Mestizos or Cholos (mixed white and Indian); and Indians of pure blood belonging to the Inca races, in about the following proportions: whites, 600,000; Mestizos or half-breeds, 700,000; Indians in a domesticated state, 960,000; Indians in a savage state, 240,000, making a total of 2,500,000. "The half-breed population of Bolivia numbers one- half that of the Irica Indians. They are part negro and part Indian, powerful in frame and intelligent, but cunning and unreliable. Then there is also the mulatto, or offspring of the Spaniard and the Inca; and the Cholos, the descendants of the Spaniards and the Inca Indians. The last class are chiefly occupied in mining. It is to the Cholos that Bolivia owes its political independence." Bolivia may be -divided into two distinct regions: the mountainous region of the western half of the republic, where the principal settlements are located, 162 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. and the vast low plain, covered with tropical forests and thinly settled, in the eastern part. The mountain country has a cold or a mild climate, according to the elevation. In Bolivia are some of the highest moun- tains of the American continent and one of the greatest continuous snow ranges in the world. The peaks of this range have an average altitude of about 20,000 feet. Between these lofty mountains may be found deep and fertile valleys with a half-tropical climate, which form the best farming and fruit-growing districts of the country. The beautiful and majestic peak called Illampu rises to an altitude of 25,000 feet. Its snow- covered sides and smoking crater make it one of the most conspicuous mountains of the western chain. From its base flow numerous streams of hot water, which are used by the natives for cooking purposes, to the saving of their labor and fuel. Perhaps the easiest way for a visitor to reach Bolivia is by way of Mollendo, a seaport town in Peru. From this place one may take a railway, which was built by the enterprising Mr. Meiggs. Many of the con- veniences of travel have been introduced on this line, and it is a great improvement upon mule-back riding over a thirsty desert and through the dizzy passes of the Andes. Mr. William E. Curtis says: "This railroad is re- markable for running nearer the stars than almost any other railway, for where it passes over the western range of the Andes, into the great basin of the southern continent, the track is 14,765 feet above the sea; and the only higher point at which a wheel was ever turned by steam is where another Peruvian rail- THE INLAND REPUBLIC. 163 way tunnels the Andes. No other long road can show an equal amount of excavation nor such massive em- bankments; and the engineering difficulties overcome in its construction were enormous. GALERA TUNNEL. The highest point reached by a railroad in the world. "To reach La Paz, the former seat of government and capital of Bolivia, one must cross Lake Titicaca, one of whose islands was the legendary Eden of the Incas, and around whose shores clustered the prehis- 164 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. toric cities which the Spaniards destroyed. Here one may take a steamer, at any rate that is what the people call it, although it would amuse a North American, and usually excites a nervous ap- prehension in the minds of timid trav- elers. " If one does not care to board this unique craft, or if he wishes to depart from the regular route of travel and make a cruise among the ruined cities of the Incas, he can hire what is called a balsa, a curious combination of raft, flatboat, and catamaran, which is propelled by a large sail and by long poles." The political and social capital is the city of Sucre, named in honor of General Sucre, the first president of the republic. The city is the seat of the archbishopric of La Plata and Charcas, founded in 1609, and contains a magnificent cathedral and several imposing churches and convents. Sucre was originally built in 1539, A BALSA ON LAKE TITICACA. THE INLAND REPUBLIC. 165 on the site of an old Peruvian town, and in 1609 it was made the seat of the supreme court of justice for all Spain's South American colonies. Its university is still of some importance as one of the great educational forces of the country. There are no better farming lands in the world than those of eastern Bolivia and the warm valleys of the mountain regions. The earth yields her fruits, both the cultivated and the spontaneous, in such rich abundance that Bolivia is not likely to become a profitable market for the surplus farm products of other nations. While it is true that considerable flour is at present imported from Chile and California, it is almost a cer- tainty that, within a few years, the supply of Bolivian wheat will be large enough to meet the local demand. On the other hand, although farming in Bolivia affords immense possibilities, and the soil is capable of yield- ing an enormous annual surplus of farm products, the primitive methods of farming, the indifference of the farming classes to the advantages of improved agricul- tural machinery, the inland position of the country, and the great cost of transportation under existing condi- tions, prevent the cultivation of products for export. It is equally certain that until the steam train displaces the mule train in the overland traffic of the country, and the balsa and the canoe of the Indian give way to the steamboat, Bolivia cannot hope to take a prominent place among the agricultural countries of America. Most of the farms of Bolivia are owned by the Indian communities or by wealthy townspeople. Nearly all the cultivation is done by the Indians. Oxen are yoked 166 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. by lashing a light crosspiece of wood immediately behind the horns. To this rude yoke is fastened the long beam of the wooden plow, which is almost exactly like those used by the people of Egypt thousands of years ago. It has but a single handle, and a flat piece THRESHERS. of iron is fastened with rawhide at the point of the crooked stick. This cuts the soil to a depth of about six inches. Clods are broken by hand, and the ground is further prepared by dragging a heavy tree over it until the soil becomes smooth. When the grain is harvested, it is threshed out with flails and cleaned by the action of the wind. THE INLAND REPUBLIC. 167 The products of the soil that, in the near future, are most certain to become important factors in the indus- trial wealth of the country are those of the forest, rather than the field. Many valuable forms of orna- mental wood, such as mahogany, rosewood, vegetable ivory, and tortoise-shell wood, are here found in great abundance. India-rubber and cocoanut-palm trees are innumerable. The chief cultivated plants, on the cleared plains of the selvas, are coffee, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, in- digo, and spices. The soft wool of the vicuna is a valu- able article of export from Bolivia. This animal, which is not unlike the domesti- cated llama, roams wild in the high mountain regions and is much sought after by hunters. Llamas are exten- sively used in Boli- via, because in these elevated regions it is difficult for either horses or mules to ex- ist, the air being too rare for them. Horses are not often seen ; mules are kept only for the accommodation of travelers, and their nos- trils are split so as to make it easier for them to breathe. A VICUNA. 168 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The physical features of the country are such as to admit of few wagon roads east of the high table-lands of western Bolivia. The best roads are constructed by the government and maintained by Indian labor. These are in the upper Andes, and are for the exclusive use of pack animals. Over these trails large numbers of mules and llamas toil daily up and down through deep and narrow passes and around sharp and dangerous turns in the mountain sides. Their loads consist of the products of the interior districts ; and in this way the commerce of Bolivia is carried on. Most of the drivers of the pack animals are Indians, and the chief materials in their burdens are precious metals, vicuna and alpaca wool, coffee, cacao, and cinchona bark. Some of the social customs of the country are pecul- iar. When a young man in Bolivia falls in love, he does not call at the home of the lady, but writes her a letter, or indites a poem to her, or buys a bunch of flowers done up in an elaborate horn-shaped package of lace paper, and sends them through one of the servants of her family. When he meets her in the plaza or the alameda, clinging to her father's arm, or under the vigilant chaperonage of her mother, he casts lingering glances of adoration into her coal-black eyes. In his letter he tells her that he will promenade the pavement opposite her father's house at three o'clock on the next afternoon ; and if she shows her approval of his attentions by presenting herself at the window, he confides his love to his father or some sympathetic rela- tive, who conveys a formal proposal of marriage to her parents. If he is accepted and the stipulations are satisfactory, he is allowed to call upon her; but her GOLD-MINING IN BOLIVIA. 169 mother, or some duenna, is always present during his visits; and the arrangements for the wedding follow as rapidly as possible. When a Bolivian desires to pay a social call upon a family of his acquaintance, he must first ask for the gentleman of the house, and if he is not at home, the visitor must leave cards and retire. If the host is in, the visitor asks permission to see the ladies, which is readily granted; but it would be the height of impro- priety to ask for them unless the husband or father is at home. CHAPTER XXII. GOLD-MINING IN BOLIVIA. FROM the references already made to the Incas and their skill in the working of precious metals, it will readily be seen that they must have had access to large sources of supply, or the articles which have created so much astonishment, both in the old world and the new, could not have been so numerous and so mag- nificent as they are. With their rude tools they were able only to skim the surface of the vast gold deposits of the country. Yet history furnishes no parallel to such treasures of gold as were found in the royal pal- aces, temples, and public edifices of the Incas at the time of the Spanish conquest. The traces of their works which still remain, together with their Vude mining tools of wood and stone, demonstrate that gold was gathered by the Incas almost exclusively from the deposits of the 170 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. mountain streams, or from shallow excavations made in the rugged sides of the Cordilleras. Their most ad- vanced apparatus for smelting consisted of small, cone- shaped furnaces, built at elevated points where they might be fanned by the mountain breezes. The sudden destruction of their empire in 1532, the sacking of their cities and temples, the assassination of their emperor Atahualpa, and the hardships to which they were subjected by their conquerors, led the Incas to attach a new importance to the precious metals, and to conceal their rich treasures with all possible haste. The amount of gold and silver thus buried in caves and forests far exceeded in quantity that which was taken by the Spaniards. Disheartened by the fierce intimidations to which they were subjected, and no longer permitted to gather gold for the decoration of their palaces and temples, the Incas practically abandoned all forms of gold and silver mining until the close of the seventeenth century, a period of more than one hundred and fifty years. About this time Sorata, the present capital of Larecaja, was founded, and it soon became the wealthiest city of what is now Bolivia. An expedition of Spaniards, mainly from Chile, and a few Portuguese adventurers who had ascended the Amazon from Brazil, visited the province of Larecaja not long after and discovered the famous gold deposits of the Tipuani River on the east- ern slope of the Andes, from whose sands the Incas had washed thousands of ounces of gold before their overthrow. This marked the beginning of the first or- ganized gold-mining venture ever undertaken in Bolivia. So rich were the deposits then discovered, that Seiior GOLD-MINING IN BOLIVIA. 171 Tomas Rada, writing of their new discoveries to a friend of his, an expert miner of Chile, said : " We have found abundant gold in these kingdoms on the other side beyond the snows, where foot traveling is difficult. If you should wish to come here, you will get gold to your heart's content." Mining operations in northwestern Bolivia were rapidly multiplied, and through the richness of the mines and the unpaid labor of the Indian miners vast fortunes were quickly accumulated. It was at this period that the annual sale of gold was established, and became the one great feature of the fairs or feasts held at several of the Indian villages of the province of Lare- caja. So much gold was offered on these occasions that it was sold at fifteen pesos per ounce, a sum equal to a little over ten dollars of our money, or to about one- half the current market price. The Indians, smarting under the oppressive rule, destroyed Sorata in 1781, killed the Spanish proprietors and miners, and practically put an end to the business that made them slaves. It was not until 1805 that work was again undertaken in this district. Senor Yriondo, a Spaniard, then led a new expedition into this field and began work at a point called Ancota. Despite the primitive methods employed, Ancota yielded steadily, for the next sixty years, a net annual profit of from forty to sixty per cent on the capital invested. The fabulous stories of the results obtained during this period have given to Tipuani a world- wide fame ; but it may be well to add that, al- though the amount of gold secured by Senor Villamil, who operated the mines during a period of ten years, is 172 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. generally placed at five thousand pounds, the fact is that the yield was but fifteen hundred pounds an amount equal, however, to an enormous annual profit. Rich as Bolivia is in gold, it is far richer in silver. But it is well understood by those acquainted with the A COPPER-MINING TOWN. country and its environments, that its situation, five hundred miles from the Pacific coast, makes the cost of transporting machinery and other materials necessary to successful mining operations so great that these rich deposits offer inducements only to large capital HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BRAZIL 173 and the best possible management. All the silver mines of Bolivia now worked under favorable conditions are paying handsomely, while all others are unprofit- able. The famous mountain of Potosi produced, in twenty years, nearly three billion dollars' worth of silver. The copper mines of La Paz are among the richest in the world; and the annual copper production is now about four thousand tons. Tin ore is also found along the eastern portion of the Bolivian table-land, from the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca to the southern bound- ary of the republic. The total exportation of tin ore from Bolivia, at the present time, is about five hundred tons per month. Rich deposits of bismuth, mercury, platinum, lead, zinc, nickel, and iron have also been discovered ; and precious stones, such as the emerald and the opal, have been found in large numbers and of fine quality. Bo- livia is destined to add much to the wealth of the world in these particulars in the not far distant future. CHAPTER XXIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BRAZIL. PINZON, one of the companions of Columbus, sailing under the Spanish flag, had the honor of first discover- ing the Western hemisphere south of the equator. On the 26th of January, 1500, he discovered what is now known as Cape St. Augustine, a headland just south of 174 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the present city of Pernambuco. On the same voyage he found the mouth of the Amazon ; but this vast country of Brazil was destined to be the only South American territory to escape the greedy grasp of Spain. Only ninety days after this discovery by Pinzon, a Portu- guese fleet of thirteen vessels on its way to India by the Cape of Good Hope, under the command of Cabral, accidentally sighted the South American shore about eight degrees south of Cape St. Augustine. By a previous agreement all heathen lands that might be discovered in the Western world east of "the line of demarcation," which was located 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, were to belong to Portugal. All heathen lands west of this line became the property of Spain. When Cabral discovered this strange land, he believed that it lay east of this line; and he was right in his conclusion. In this way Brazil became a Portuguese country, while all the rest of South America fell to the share of Spain, so far as she was able to occupy it. Cabral called the new country Vera Cruz. He at once sent a small vessel back to Lisbon to announce his discovery, and, without making any settlement, proceeded on his way to India. On the arrival of the news in Portugal, Emanuel, king of Portugal, invited Americus Vespucius to enter his service, and sent him with three vessels to explore the country. This navigator's first voyage was unsuc- cessful, but in a second he discovered a safe port, to which he gave the name of All Saints. He remained there five months and maintained a friendly intercourse with the natives. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BRAZIL 175 On his return Vespucius carried a cargo of brazil- wood. This was a well-known dye wood three centuries before the time of Columbus, and was one of the most valuable articles brought from India by the traders of southern Europe. When this same dyewood was found abundant in these tropical forests, the name of Brazil soon became fastened upon the country. In June, 1503, Vespucius sailed again from Lisbon with six ships. The object of this voyage was to dis- cover a certain island called Melcha, which was sup- posed to lie west of Galicut, in the Indian Ocean, and to be as famous a mart in the commerce of the Indian world as Cadiz was in Europe. They reached the Cape Verde Islands, and then, contrary to the judgment of Vespucius and of all the fleet, the commander persisted in standing for the African coast. The commander's ship was lost, and Vespucius, with one vessel only, reached the coast of the new world, finding a port which is thought to have been Bahia. Here "they waited about two months in the vain expectation of being joined by the rest of the squadron. Having lost all hope of this, they coasted on for 260 leagues to the southward, and there took port again in 18 S. 35 W. of the meridian of Lisbon. Here they remained five months, upon good terms with the natives, with whom some of the party penetrated forty leagues into the interior; and here they erected a fort, in which they left twenty-four men who had been saved from the com- mander's ship. They gave them twelve guns, besides other arms, and provisions for six months ; then loaded with brazil-wood, sailed homeward, and returned in safety." 176 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. THE EMPEROR'S PALACE AT PETROFCLIS. The first permanent settlements on this coast were made by Jews, exiled by the persecution of the Inqui- sition; and the government supplemented these by sending out criminals of all kinds. But gradually the importance of Brazil became recognized, and as after- ward happened in New England, the nobility at home asked to share the land among themselves. The king would not countenance such a claim, but after his death in 1521, his successor, John III., extended to Brazil the same system which had been adopted in Madeira and the Azores. The whole seacoast of Brazil was par- celed out by feudal grants. It was divided into cap- taincies, each fifty leagues in length, with no limits in the interior; and with these were given absolute power over the natives, such as at that time was held over the serfs who tilled the soil in Europe. The native Brazilians were neither so easy a conquest as the Peruvians nor so readily induced to labor, and HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BRAZIL. 177 the Portuguese began to bring negroes from the Guinea coast. The settlers of Brazil sold their possessions at home and brought their families with them to the new country. Thus they gradually formed the heart of a new nation, and were, properly speaking, the first European colonists of South America. In the Spanish colonies the chief Spaniards always returned home after a certain tenure of their offices, and those who remained fell to the level of the conquered natives. The Portu- guese soon discovered that many of the products of the East could be raised in the new land, and hence Brazil early became an agricultural colony, its prosper- ity being largely due to the culture of sugar cane. The Dutch, made bold by their great successes in the East, now sought to win the trade of Brazil by force of arms. Encouraged by the success of the East India Company, the merchants subscribed funds for the West India Company, incorporated in 1621. Here, as in the East, the profit of the company was the whole aim of the Dutch, and the spirit in which they executed their design was a main cause of its failure ; though the prof- its of the company rose at one time to one hundred per cent. The vision of the speculators of Amsterdam became wider, and they resolved to become masters of all Brazil. They dispatched, in 1637, Prince John Mau- rice of Nassau to execute this design, and in a short time he had greatly extended the Dutch possessions. The affairs of the Dutch were subject, however, not to the wise and learned men who sat in the States-General, but to the merchants who composed the courts of the company. They thought of nothing but their divi- dends; they considered that Maurice kept up more 178 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. troops and built more fortresses than were necessary for a mercantile community, and that he lived in too princely a fashion for one in their service. Perhaps they suspected him of an intention of slipping into that royal dignity which the feudal frame of Brazilian society seemed to offer him. At any rate, in 1643, they forced him to resign. A recent revolution had terminated the subjection of Portugal to Spain, and the new king of Portugal con- cluded a truce for ten years with Holland. War was therefore supposed to be out of the question. But the recall of Maurice was the signal for an independent revolt in Brazil. Though the mother countries were at peace, war broke out between the Dutch and the Portu- guese of Brazil in 1645. A wealthy merchant of Per- nambuco led a general uprising of the Brazilians ; and although the Dutch made a stubborn resistance, they received no assistance from home, and were driven from one post after another until, in 1654, the last of the company's servants quitted Brazil. The Dutch declared war against Portugal; but in 1661 peace was made, and the Dutch sold their claim for eight million florins, keeping only the right of trading. After the expulsion of the Dutch, however, the trade of Brazil came more and more into the hands of the English. While anarchy and ruin overspread the greater part of the beautiful continent of South America, the empire of Brazil won an independent existence without blood- shed, and kept it with credit. Dom Pedro, the second son of John VI. of Portugal, was born near Lisbon, October 12, 1798. He was taken with the royal family to Brazil when nine years HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BRAZIL 179 old. There he received a somewhat limited education, and, in 1818, was married to the Archduchess Leo- poldina of Austria. His father was crowned king of Portugal at Rio de Janeiro, and when he returned to Lisbon, in 1821, left Dom Pedro as regent. The prince was now heir to the throne, owing to the death of his elder brother. At this time the movement for the separation of Brazil from Portugal assumed active form, and the prince regent favored it more or less openly. His father sent peremptory orders for him to return to Portugal, but he refused; and in 1822 he definitely declared for independence, and became the first emperor of Brazil. A modern historian has said, "Pedro I. governed Brazil with the same whip with which he drove his carriage horses." So harsh and tyrannical did his rule become, that the people at length arose in their might, and, assembling in the public square of Rio de Janeiro, on April 7, 1831, forced him to remove from his head the imperial crown. His reign thus ended in public disgrace. His son, Dom Pedro II., became the second emperor of Brazil. As he was a child of six years when his father abdicated in his favor, Brazil was governed by regents until 1840, when his majority was proclaimed at the request of the parliament. He was crowned in 1841, and from the first he proved himself an intel- ligent, liberal, and humane ruler. During his reign Brazil made great advances in civilization and material prosperity; he was the hon- ored protector of science, art, and literature, for which he had marked tastes; and he was universally respected 180 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. at home and abroad. On the other hand, he some- times neglected important questions for smaller affairs, .and he showed, perhaps, a want of strength in great crises. He was strongly attached to constitutional forms, and governed entirely through his ministers. DOM PEDRO II. One of the Brazilian officials has said: "There are three things in the political conduct of Pedro II. which are worthy of mention, the liberty of the press, the abolition of slavery, and the willingness with which he yielded in favor of the republic. His consent to give up the throne undoubtedly saved the country from a civil war. Were the republic as bad as its worst enemies painted it, it is to be preferred to any monarchy THE YOUNGEST REPUBLIC. 181 which could be set up on its ruins. The old order of things is now impossible in Brazil." When, on the 15th of November, 1889, the telegraph announced to the world that a republic had been pro- claimed in Brazil, " in the empire of good old Dom Pedro," many persons were greatly astonished. There was a vague knowledge, it is true, that the first emperor of Brazil had been compelled to abdicate by a forcible expression of the popular will ; but the ideas generally entertained of Pedro II., based on his really high moral qualities, had surrounded his name and his country with a halo so brilliant that the world in general regarded the monarchical government of Brazil as a success. A statesman, enthusiastic over the new order of affairs, says: "Republicanism in Brazil has its heroes and its martyrs worthy of historic mention when the annals shall be written of that nation to which was apportioned a territory as vast as that of the great North American Union ; and which, in the next cen- tury, is destined to play in South America the same part as that which in this portion of the continent has been taken by the United States." CHAPTER XXIV. THE YOUNGEST REPUBLIC. BRAZIL has an area a little larger than that of the United States. It measures 2600 miles from its north- ern to its southern extremity, and its greatest breadth is 182 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. about 2700 miles. Even at the present time the north- ern and part of the western boundary is uncertain. In this one republic is comprised about two-fifths of the area and of the population of South America. It has nearly as much coast line as the United States, and its inland boundaries touch every state on the continent except Chile. The population of this vast country has been esti- mated to be about 20,000,000. Of these one-third are classed as whites, one-third a general mixture of vari- ous races, with about 1,000,000 negroes and as many Indians, of whom one-half are uncivilized. The ma- jority of the population is in the southern part, the great Amazon valley being very thinly settled and only partly explored. The five largest cities in the order of their size are Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Pernambuco, Bahia, and Para. Brazil may be divided into three main divisions: first, the Brazilian plateau, which includes the coast and central mountains ; second, the great depression of the Amazon and the Paraguay ; and third, the strip of land to the north of the Amazon, forming part of the Guiana plateau. Taken as a whole, the country of Brazil has a delight- ful climate. It is true that many people living in the wild valleys of the great rivers that annually overflow suffer much from intermittent fever, but this is because they are poorly housed and fed. Along the northern coast the heat is severe and the climate unhealthful. Mrs. Agassiz, writing at Para, has said: "We are very agreeably surprised in the climate here. I had expected, from the moment of our arrival in the region THE YOUNGEST REPUBLIC. 183 of the Amazon, to be gasping in a fierce, un intermit- ting, intolerable heat. On the contrary, the mornings are fresh, a walk or ride between six and eight o'clock is always delightful, and though, during the middle of the day, the heat is certainly very great, it cools off again toward four o'clock. The evenings are delightful, and the nights always comfort- able. Even in the hottest part of the day the heat is not dead ; there is always a breeze stirring." "It is difficult to write of Brazil without the ap- pearance of exag- geration," says J. C. Redman. "Its surface is so wide, its rivers so large, its forests so vast, its flora so varied and grand, its fauna so strange, that he who writes of that country must speak of great and wonderful things. Nature is there so superlative in its manifestations, so grandiose in its creations, as to exclude the common- place. A great part of the land is just as it has been evolved by the forces of nature, by the all-creative sun. Some of its tribes are in almost the same condition as TREE FERNS. 184 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. when they excited the wonder and fear of the first discoverers. Even cannibalism is said still to prevail among certain tribes. For the greater part of the country's vast extent the white man has only fringed the aboriginal expanse of forest and plain with a nar- row border of civilization, or sprinkled it with military and trading posts, long journeys apart. "Vegetation, in the northern portion, stimulated by tropical heat and moisture, resists the encroachments of the settler. Every foot he gains is disputed ; every incK he abandons is at once recovered by nature. The garden neglected for a season becomes a jungle. The giant ferns and canes stand in serried ranks to resist the advance of cultivation. The gigantic trees dull the woodman's ax with their ironlike fibers, and refuse to fall before his wearied arm, upheld by the clinging vines that bind them to their forest kindred. Fevers hide in the forests and lurk along the streams. The tiger [jaguar] kills the settler's cattle and carries away his sheep. Nature exerts all her powers to preserve her riches from the hand of man; and the battle is fierce, the struggle long, and the conquest incomplete." Throughout all the vast region of mountain and plain lie undiscovered mineral treasures to feed the future manufactures of the nation. It is not necessary to mention the gold and diamond deposits, as upon them, however abundant, no national wealth can be built; but it may be worth while to speak briefly of the coal, iron, and other mineral resources of the country. The deposits of coal, though widely scattered, have not yet been found in quantities to compare with those of iron; and, unfortunately, they are not near to the THE YOUNGEST REPUBLIC. 185 latter. Antimony and bismuth are found in scattered localities, marbles of great beauty and hardness exist in various districts, and a mine of the pure white marble of Carrara has just been discovered at Cruz Alta in the state of Rio Grande. Asbestos and various ochers have been discovered in Minas and Santa Catarina; and per- haps the finest specimens of quartz in the world, for the manufacture of lenses, are found in the state of Minas. Agates abound in Rio Grande do Sul; topazes and amethysts are found in Minas. In the same state exist important deposits of saltpeter and graphite, the latter containing eighty-three per cent of pure carbon. Several railways run out of Rio de Janeiro, the longest and probably the most important being the Central Railway, formerly known as the Dom Pedro. The first section of this line was opened in 1857. It was started by a private company, with a government guarantee of seven per cent interest; but the capital of the company was speedily absorbed, owing to the enor- mous extent of the outlay beyond the estimates. In 1865 the government bought out the stockholders, and since then the railway has been run as a government road, like many of the railways on the continent of Europe. Some railroads in Brazil pay large dividends, but others are unprofitable and would be given up alto- gether but for the aid received from the government. Freight and passenger rates are very high, as the lim- ited amount of business makes it impossible to fix low rates. The passenger fares are from four to five cents a mile, first class, and about half as much for second class. Every pound of baggage beyond that carried in 186 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the traveler's hand is charged extra; and the transpor- tation of a fair-sized trunk costs as much as a passen- ger's ticket, as is also the case in some parts of Europe. THE COFFEE TREE. These railroads lead to some of the largest coffee plantations in the world. The great coffee region is along the banks of the Rio Parnahiba, in the state of THE YOUNGEST REPUBLIC. 187 Sao Paulo. The coffee tree is not a native of South America. Its original home is supposed to have been in Ahyssinia; from there it was taken to Arabia about the fifteenth century, and then to the island of Mocha, in the East Indies. Coffee from that part of the world early attained a celebrity which it has never lost. The honor of planting the first coffee tree in Brazil belongs to a Franciscan friar, who, in 1754, placed one in the garden of the San Antonio Convent at Rio de Janeiro. The first cargo to the United States was exported in 1809. The coffee seed is planted in a nursery, and seedlings are transplanted to the field when they are about a foot high. They must be kept free from weeds and have a good deal of water ; a coffee plantation without irriga- tion facilities is worthless. After the bushes are fully grown, they do not require much care or expense. The cacao tree grows and produces abundantly, not only in the Amazon basin, but also on the Atlantic slope. It grows for the most part in a wild state, but recent attempts to cultivate it on a large scale have been followed with excellent results. The vanilla plant grows throughout the tropical part of Brazil. It belongs to the orchid family and is not only very valuable, but very beautiful. The pods are from six to twelve inches in length, and con- tain many minute black seeds which have a pleasant odor. From them are produced other useful substances besides the flavoring extract in common use. The region where sugar can be profitably cultivated is much larger, for the cane will grow vigorously and produce profitably in any part of Rio Grande do Sul. 188 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. It is no exaggeration to assert that Brazil could cheaply sweeten the markets of the world if all other sources of supply were cut off. Had the reciprocity treaty with Spain failed, the production of Brazilian sugar would have been greatly stimulated under the advantages secured by the reciprocity agreement with this country. Cotton also produces well throughout the greater part of Brazil ; and in consequence of the erection of facto- ries in the central states, its production and manu- facture have largely increased. The cloths made are strong and firm, and in Brazil are preferred to some of British manufacture. The most important of these factories are located at Petropolis, the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, which is situated about three thousand feet above the sea level. It is reached by a cog railroad, which makes the necessary ascent in a distance of four miles ; and up this heavy grade all the raw material consumed by the factories is conveyed. The advantages of the location lie chiefly in the supply of water power and the beauti- ful climate. The woods of Brazil are not the least important among its varied resources. On the Amazon and its tributaries, and in other sections of the country, are dense forests of hard and soft woods, adapted to orna- mental and practical use in the manufacture of fur- niture, trimmings, and other commodities, as well as in house and ship building. Brazil-wood, which is the principal dye wood exported, is put on board ship at Bahia at a cost of about one cent a pound. There are many woods of great value, but the most wonderful of all is the carnahuba, which grows uncul- THE YOUNGEST REPUBLIC. 189 A CART ON A SUGAR PLANTATION. tivated in several of the states. From a single carna- huba tree an enormous quantity of clear lumber is said to be obtained. The descriptions given of it seem in- credible. Take the following as an example : "Perhaps in no other region is a tree to be found that can be employed for such varied and useful pur- poses. It resists intense and protracted drought, and is always green and vigorous. Its roots produce the same medicinal effects as sarsaparilla. Its stem affords strong, light fibers, which acquire a beautiful luster, and serve also for joists, rafters, and other building materials, as well as for stakes for fences. From parts of the tree wine and vinegar are made. It yields also a saccharine substance, as well as a starch resem- bling sago. In periods of famine, caused by protracted droughts, the nutritious substances obtained from it are of immense benefit to the poorer classes. Its fruit 190 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. is used for feeding cattle. The pulp has an agreeable taste ; and the nut, which is oleaginous and emulsive, is sometimes used as a substitute for coffee. "Of the wood of the stem, musical instruments, water-tubes, and pumps are made. The pith is an excellent substitute for cork. From the stem a white liquid, similar to the milk of the cocoanut, and a flour resembling maizena, may be extracted. Of the straw, hats, baskets, brooms, and mats are made. A consider- able quantity of this straw is shipped to Europe, and a part of it returns to Brazil manufactured into hats. The straw is also used for thatching houses. Moreover, salt is extracted from it, and likewise an alkali used in the manufacture of common soap. But from an indus- trial and commercial point of view, the most valuable product of the carnahuba tree is the wax obtained from its leaves. From this wax candles are made, which are extensively used in the northern Brazilian states." The Brazilian people are intelligent, progressive, and enthusiastic in the reception of new ideas. They are exceedingly fond of the imaginative in literature, of poetry and the drama, and of music and painting. CHAPTER XXV. SOME BRAZILIAN CITIES. BRAZIL is so vast a country that it is impossible in a book like this to do full justice to its cities and city life, although these form important themes for study. SOME BRAZILIAN CITIES. 191 The most we can do is to select a few of the principal places, and use these as illustrations of the larger whole. It is natural, perhaps, that we turn first of all to the capital, the beautiful and far-famed city of Rio de Janeiro. Its principal interest lies in its wonderful bay and harbor, said to be the largest and one of the finest in the world. The bay was, at the first, mistaken for the mouth of a giant river, and from this blunder the A SQUARE IN RIO DE JANEIRO. city received its inappropriate name. It is doubtful whether Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires, in Argentina, has the larger population, as the statistics furnished by different authorities vary widely; but the population of Rio de Janeiro may safely be set down at not less than seven hundred thousand. The city itself is not specially attractive, its chief beauties lying in its suburbs, which are nestled amid the richly wooded hills by which it is surrounded. 192 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Here are hundreds of beautiful residences in almost every style of architecture, many of them being luxu- riously furnished. The city proper occupies the flat lands spreading out directly from the bay. The older streets are narrow and crooked, and have but few buildings of sufficient importance to attract attention ; but the newer streets, lying farther back from the sea, are wider and better kept, and have many substantial houses and places of business. The principal business street, the Rua da Ouvidor, is lined with retail stores, cafes, and restau- rants. It is a favorite promenade, and during the early evenings no carriages are allowed upon it. Rio de Janeiro has several public parks, and the Botanical Gardens are especially worthy of mention. Most of the trees and plants of the continent of South America, and rare exotics from all parts of the globe, are cultivated in these gardens. Cinnamon and clove trees may be found in close relation to a collection of tea plants from China and Japan ; the breadfruit tree grows side by side with cacao and camphor trees ; while not far off are maples and pines, that seem like old friends to the visitor from New England. Many trees from tropical Asia have found a home in Brazil through the instrumentality of the Botanical Gardens, where their fitness for the climate of South America was first ascertained. Near these gardens stands the Candelaria, said to be one of the handsomest churches in South America. There are seven or eight hospitals in the city, and the one known as the Misericordia is a particularly large and richly endowed institution. 194 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Shipbuilding is extensively carried on, and many other lines of business flourish on the margin of the bay. Several forts loom up in silent strength as points of attraction; but they are not equipped with ordnance sufficiently modern to count for much in the warfare of to-day. Rio is the great coffee emporium of the world, and from this one fact alone is sure to maintain its hold upon the world's attention. Its exports equal those of all other Brazilian ports combined, and it is in daily touch with ships from every quarter of the globe. Bahia takes its name, which means bay, from All Saints Bay on which it stands. It ranks next to Rio de Janeiro both in importance and in population. It is situated about 740 miles north of Rio, and has a charming location and attractive surroundings. It is a terraced city, the upper part being several hundred feet higher than the lower, and it presents a fine appearance as approached from the sea. The elevated portions of the town are most thickly populated; and here are located the public buildings, including the cathedral, the governor's palace, an immense theater, the mint, and several churches and convents. A public library, founded in 1811, is much prized and generally used; and the literary standing of the people is excellent. The principal interest of Bahia centers in its port, which is able to receive the largest steamers, and is a scene of great maritime activity. It is defended by several forts, and possesses one of the best lighthouses on the coast. Sugar, coffee, tobacco, rum, cotton, dye- SOME BRAZILIAN CITIES. 195 woods, hides, horns, and tallow are piled on the docks and in the warehouses in large quantities, and are shipped to all parts of the world. The commerce, however, is largely in the hands of Englishmen. Bahia was founded in 1549, and was the capital of the country until 1763. With a population of over 200,000 and an annual growth of nearly 6000, it forms the commercial cen- ter of that portion of Brazil in which it is located, arid can- not fail to increase in importance and in wealth. In 1814 diamonds were found in the moun- tains near by, and the city became, for a while, the head- quarters of the dia- mond trade. But although they have yielded some of the finest single speci- mens known, the mines are not worked now to any consider- able extent, being greatly overshadowed by the superior output of the mines in Southern Brazil and in South Africa. RIPE BANANAS." 196 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. With the exception of Para, which will be noticed in the chapter on the Amazon valley, the next city in the order of importance is Pernambuco. One of its pecul- iarities is that it really consists of three cities in one, namely, Recife, Santo Antonio, and Boa Vista. Two of these are on islands, and one is on the mainland ; but they are connected by bridges, and all parts are easy of access, as the land is extremely flat. Pernambuco has a population of more than 150,000, and is full of business activity. If its harbor were only capable of admitting larger vessels, its business would quickly increase. It occupies the same position in regard to the sugar trade of Brazil that Rio does to its coffee trade. As it is connected by several railways with large sections of the interior, and is nearer to Europe than any other Brazilian port, its future pros- perity may safely be predicted. Parahiba, a few miles north of Pernambuco, holds the distinction of being one of the oldest towns in Brazil, having been founded in 1579. The College of the Jesuits and the ancient cathedral are among the most striking features of the city, but the government buildings are so unpretentious as to be scarcely worthy of mention. The shallowness of its harbor interferes seriously with its business, and as a result of this, it is rapidly being superseded by the thriving little town of Cabedello, which lies nearer to the mouth of the Para- hiba River and can accommodate vessels of a much larger draught. Farther north along the coast is Aracate, a town of over 6000 people, important as a commercial center. It has three churches and several schools, but they are SOME BRAZILIAN CITIES. 197 small and devoid of architectural adornment. Hides and cotton are largely exported; but a dangerous bar at the entrance to the harbor forms a serious menace to the future trade of the place. Of the coast towns south of Rio de Janeiro few are of importance. We notice first Parati, a port from which many of the dyewoods of Brazil are shipped; but it has no special points of interest and no other important business. Paranagua is a seaport town still lower down the coast, which derives its principal importance from the fact that it forms the eastern terminus of a railway which crosses the mountains of Curitiba. This road opens up a large section of the country in which yerba- mate is gathered, and this product forms the principal article of export. The harbor here is excellent, and the climate is cool and health}'. The town has a few good buildings, but the streets are poor and badly lighted. The general impression is not attractive, and there is not the business activity one might expect to find. Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, is beautifully situated on the river Guahiba. It is flat and low, but is one of the cleanest, prettiest, and most thrifty cities of the region, and is considered one of the most healthful of South American ports. It has a population of 100,000, largely composed of for- eigners, and it forms the port of entry for several German and Italian colonies lying farther up the river. Much of the trade of the city is in the hands of German merchants. It exports large quantities of agricultural produce from the colonies of foreigners, and forms a trading center for the surrounding towns and villages. 198 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Steamers load directly at its wharves. It is growing rapidly in wealth and population, and promises to de- velop into a place of great importance. Rio Grande do Sul is built on the broad channel through which the Lagoa dos Patos discharges into the Atlantic. A railway connects it with a large interior region. It is surrounded by swamps and marshes on the landward side, and toward the sea by shifting banks of sand, which some- times block the en- trance to the harbor and make dredging a constant necessity. Mr. I. N. Ford, in his "Tropical America, " says : "Each coast town has its characteristic colors and its own costumes for the READY FOR CHURCH. s warming black popu- lation. From the equator to the tropic there is a process of evolution in dress. At Para and Maranhao the negro children are stark naked. At Pernambuco and Bahia they wear calico dresses. At Para the men begin with a pair of trunks, without hat, shoes, shirt, or coat; at SOME BRAZILIAN CITIES. 199 Maranhao they have a loose-fitting shirt flapping over the trousers; at Pernambuco a ragged coat is slipped over the shirt, and a torn straw hat covers the head; and at Bahia shoes and stockings nearly complete the costume of a negro laborer. " The costumes of the women are developed in the same progressive way. In the beginning there is a chemise, or what the ancients would have called a long tunic, with head and feet bare. Farther down the coast a calico skirt and waist is thrown over the chemise, and shoes are worn. At Bahia a light wrap is carelessly worn over calico suits of the gayest colors and patterns, and there is a lavish display of cheap bracelets, brass earrings, and amulets. These are the costumes of the lowest classes of blacks. With education and social equality the dress of the negroes and mulattoes changes until it is hardly distinguishable from that of the Portuguese." A few inland towns and cities, such as Cuyaba, and Matto Grosso, still farther to the westward, with Ouro Prato, Cayenne, and a few places farther north, have come into notice during the last quarter of a century. But in point of fact, outside of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Bahia, Pernambuco, and the cities of the Ama- zon valley, there are few places of striking interest in Brazil. 200 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHAPTER XXVI. THE AMAZON VALLEY. No other country in the world possesses a river sys- tem approaching in extent and importance that which is formed by the Amazon and its affluents; for the Amazon and its branches furnish a total length of about 8000 miles fit for steam navigation. The Ama- zon itself is 2335 miles long in Brazil alone, and as it also penetrates 1210 miles into Peru, its total length is 3545 miles. It is a river in comparison with which the Mississippi and the Nile appear small. It drains the greater part of the northern and interior tropical region, receiving the waters of the highlands that separate Brazil from Guiana and Venezuela on the north, and of the immense interior plateau that reaches from Bolivia to the Brazilian Pyrenees. It furnishes a great highway for commerce. Besides the national product, india-rubber, the products of neighboring republics are carried on its surface, in transit to the United States and Europe. The principal mouth of the Amazon is not now used by vessels ascending the river. It is dangerous to navi- gate, because the banks are constantly changing; so for years past the way of approach has been from Para, through the estuary of that name. All vessels of any size bound up the Amazon touch at Para to obtain the pilots who are rendered necessary by the defective charts and frequent changes in the channel. For the run of about 900 miles from Para to Manaos, two pilots are THE AMAZON VALLEY. 201 necessary if the vessel is to run day and night, which is the general rule of steamer lines. Para is the commercial center for the trade of the Amazon valley. It is situated at the edge of a swamp, A STREET IN PARA whose luxuriant vegetation is constantly encroaching on its outskirts. The city is situated about seventy- five miles from the open sea, and is reached through the Para River, which is so wide that both banks are not visible at the same time. It has regular communi- cation with Europe and America by several lines of 202 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS steamers, and is rapidly becoming an important sea- port. It is nearer to Europe and North America than is Rio de Janeiro, and therefore possesses great com- mercial advantages. The average temperature of Para is about 80 F. , with very little variation. Five days out of six there is an afternoon shower, and as the air is laden with moisture taken up from the sea, the streets are never dry and dusty. The wealthy and the commercial classes of Para include Portuguese and native Brazilians, together with English, German, French, Italians, and a few Americans. But the great mass of the inhabitants are Indians, negroes, and a general mixture of vari- ous races. No one visits the city of Para without viewing its magnificent theater, which is said to be one of the fin- est theaters on the American continent. The building was erected just after the close of the war with Para- guay, and, to commemorate that event, it was named the "Theater of Our Lady of the Peace." "The best place to study the lower classes," says a traveler, " is at the market, which is an active place in the early hours of the day. We went there on our second morning, and our attention was at once drawn to the piles of bananas, pineapples, oranges, lemons, and all other tropical fruits you could think of, besides a great number you could not possibly name. Then there were garden vegetables and tobacco, baskets of flowers, heaps of fish, cages of chickens and other fowls, and a lot of monkeys and parrots that made noise enough for a menagerie." THE AMAZON VALLEY. 203 No account of Para would be complete without an allusion to its snakes. In many houses they have snakes of the boa-constrictor family to keep the place clear of rats and mice. They do their work very well, and live on terms of quiet friendship with the inhab- itants. The island of Marajo lies on the northern side of the river directly opposite to Para. It is about 150 miles long and nearly 100 miles wide. Half of its surface is covered with forest, and the other, the northeastern half, is an extensive prairie, dotted here and there with clumps of trees, among which rubber trees are found in abundance. Para rubber is considered to be the very best in the world. " The advantages of the island for raising cattle and horses were recognized by the early settlers, who founded ranches there, some of them of immense extent. At the end of the last century there were a million horses, and half as many oxen and cows, on the island; the horses were wild and drove the cattle to the swamps, where many of them died. About the year 1825 the settlers complained so much about the ravages of the horses that the government gave licenses permitting enterprising men to slaughter the animals for their hides, and the work of destruction went on rapidly. In a few years hundreds of thousands of horses had been killed off; the bodies were left to rot on the ground, and bred a pestilence which destroyed most of the remaining horses and cattle. Horses are now scarce, and a good riding animal brings a high price." A few unimportant villages, hundreds of miles apart, and a few hamlets, occupied only during the season of 204 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the rubber gathering, are the only evidences of a doubt- ful civilization that are visible between the busy port of Para, near the mouth of the river, and Manaos, 900 miles above. The city of Manaos lies on the left bank of the Rio Negro, and is the seat of government of the state of Amazonas. With a population of from thirty to forty thousand, it is second in importance only to Para. It is the distributing point of the business and the people along the rivers Madeira, Purus, Japura, Rio Negro, and, to some extent, the Javari. Here the rubber hunt- ers transship their articles of barter and necessary food- stuffs. All articles of export must be entered here or at the customhouse at Serpa. The exports afford the states in Brazil their chief income ; duties on imports are supposed to go to the federal government. The city of Manaos is lighted by electricity, has an electric railway and waterworks, all resulting from American enterprise, and possesses a good telephone service. An American company recently completed a telegraph line between Manaos and Para. The ciiy has an ice plant, the streets are being paved with. Hastings brick, and there are many other signs of progress. Under wise administration Manaos seems to have a brilliant future before it, should present trade conditions continue or improve. One great advantage to the port of Manaos is the almost entire absence of current in the Rio Negro. This permits the rapid handling of freight, coal, and other articles of ocean commerce at the smallest cost of both money and time. The sea-going steamers plying here have mooring buoys, at which they lie when in THE AMAZON VALLEY. 205 port. A line of steamers, owned by the Booth Steam- ship Company, runs from Manaos to New York. "The Indians that dwell upon the banks of the Amazon gain a large part of their livelihood from the river itself. One of their principal arti- cles of food is the turtle. These are often three feet long and broad in propor- tion. The eggs of the turtle are used for making oil or butter, and are found in the banks and sandbars along the river. One kind of turtle alone will lay from 150 to 250 eggs. These eggs the turtle lays by night, in a hole in the sand which it digs with its hind feet. It then covers them with sand, and leaves them to be hatched out by the sun, or to be taken by the natives. "When a turtle is caught on the shore, the hunters turn him on his back and leave him there until the next day, when they return and take him away. In this way a band of hunters can capture several turtles in one night. , It is estimated that not fewer than 50,000,000 turtles' eggs are taken every year out of the AN INDIAN CHIEF. 206 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. sandbars along the Amazon. It is a wonder that any turtles remain, for they are shot in the water and caught on the land; while thousands of young turtles become the food of alligators and large fish. It is a sure con- clusion that the turtles of the Amazon will soon follow the fate of the buffalo on our Western plains." Mr. Franz Kellar, in an interesting article entitled "Canoe and Camp Life on the Madeira," writes of the Indians of this region as follows: "Most of those who are not busy cooking spend their time preparing new bast shirts, the material for which is found almost everywhere in the neighborhood of our halting-places. Soon the woods are alive with the sound of hatchets and the crack of falling trees; and, even before they are summoned to breakfast, they return with pieces of a silky bast of about four and a half yards long, and somewhat less than one and a quarter yards wide. " Their implements for' shirt-making are of primitive simplicity, a heavy, wooden hammer with notches, called a maceta, and a round piece of wood to work upon. Continuously beaten with the maceta, the fibers of the bast become loosened, until the originally hard piece of wood gets soft and flexible and about double its former breadth. After it has been washed, wrung out to remove the sap, and dried in the sun, it has the appearance of a coarse, woolen stuff of a bright, whitish yellow or light brown, disclosing two main layers of wavy fibers held together by smaller filaments. A more easily prepared and better working garment for a tropi- cal climate is hardly to be found than this. Its cut is as simple and classical as its material. A hole is cut in the middle of a piece about ten feet long, to pass the THE AMAZON VALLEY. 207 head through, and the depending skirt is sewn together on both sides, from below up to the height of the gir- dle, which usually is a piece of cotton string, or liana. " Bathing in the river immediately after meals is a luxury invariably indulged in by all the Indians ; and I never noticed that it was attended by any evil consequences to them. "When the last steak of alligator has been con- sumed, one of them is sure to ask leave to have some fun, and to provide at the same time for their next dinner. Of course the permission is always granted, as the sport keeps up their spirits and spares our provisions. "Without loss of time, one of them, having carefully fastened a strong loop of rawhide at the end of a long pole, and having dexterously slipped off his bast shirt, creeps slowly though the shallow water, pole and sling in hand, as near as possible to the alligator, which looks on at these preparations with perfect apathy, only now and then betraying a sign of life by a lazy movement of its powerful tail. But it does not take its eyes off the Indian as he crawls nearer and nearer. The fatal sling is at arm's length from its muzzle, and yet it does not see it. As if under the influence of witchcraft, it con- -- AN ALLIGATOrl. 208 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. tinues to stare with its large, protruding eyes at the bold hunter, who, in the next moment, has thrown the loop over its head and suddenly drawn it to with a strong pull. " The other Indians, who have been cowering motion- less on shore, now rush into the water to the help of their companion, and four or five of them land the ugly creature, that struggles with all its might to get back into the water, lashing the sand with its tail and show- ing its long teeth; but a few vigorous blows with an ax on the tail and skull soon render it tame enough. If, instead of dragging back, the alligator were only to rush forward boldly to the attack of the Indians, they would, of a certainty, leave pole and sling and run for their lives ; but this bright idea never seems to occur to the uncouth animal, and the strife always ends with its death." Mosquitoes are the worst pests of the entire valley. They are found wherever the rain falls, from the foot of the Andes almost to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The middle Amazon, in particular, is alive with them. Here the traveler gets no rest, for the several varieties of mosquitoes seem to take turns, some working at night and others in the daytime. Their victim leads a miserable existence. The mosquitoes greet one in such swarms, that a recent traveler in these parts said, " The mosquitoes fairly danced with joy at the arrival of our party." In the great Amazon basin, from the mouth of the river to the confines of Peru and Bolivia, throughout the forests that line the banks and cover the islands, grows the siphonia elastica, from which the greater part of the THE AMAZON VALLEY. 209 india-rubber of the world is procured. The annual production has sometimes reached a total of more than forty million pounds. With- out cultivation the tree yields its precious sap. A simple incis- ion with the ax, a clay cup fixed beneath it into which the milky juice exudes, a few rough utensils for the gathering and coagulation of the liquid, and the collection of the rough product at cer- tain centers of delivery these constitute al- most the whole means and pro- cess of gather- ing the crude rubber. The rubber tree is usually tapped four times during the first year of its maturity, and the intervals of rest are gradually diminished until it can be tapped monthly. TAPPING A RUBBER TREE. 210 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The tree requires the growth of about twenty-five years before it produces its full measure of the milky sap, arid it grows to the height of from eighty to a hundred feet. The slightest cut in the bark causes the gum to flow. The morning is the time for tapping the trees, as they cease to flow freely about eleven o'clock. Most of the rubber is gathered during the dry season from September to April, and the months from May to Sep- tember are specially devoted to the preparation of rub- ber for the market. The gathering of this sap, and working it over into rubber in the form in which it is exported, is princi- pally in the hands of an uneducated, half-civilized Indian population. Little has been done to improve the crude method of the Indians. The following is a recent description of the process of rubber-making: " The Indian has a small fire made of palm nuts, and over the fire is an inverted jar with a hole in the bottom, through which the smoke ascends. He dips a paddle into the cream, and then holds it over the hole in the jar until it is dried by the heat, which must always be gentle, through fear of spoiling the rubber. When the gum is hardened, he dips the paddle again, and again dries it; he repeats the process until the desired thickness is secured. " When the rubber is thick enough, it is cut off and is ready for market. Instead of a paddle, he some- times uses a mold of clay. Formerly they made molds resembling the human foot, and thus fashioned the rubber shoes that were worn in America forty or fifty years ago. Fantastic figures were traced on the shoes with the end of a hot wire, and the mold was generally THE AMAZON VALLEY. 211 soaked in water till it fell to pieces and the clay could be washed out. The modern methods of working rub- ber have driven these shoes from the market, and very few of them are made at present." Charles Goodyear, of New Haven, Connecticut, dis- covered, in 1843, the method for vulcanizing rubber. This process consists in mixing rubber with sulphur and magnesia, fashioning the articles to be made from the plastic material, and then heating it to a tempera- ture of from 265 to 275 F. Combs, penholders, jew- elry, and hundreds of other useful articles now in common use are made from rubber thus treated, and new articles are constantly being put on the market. Early in the year 1899 the United States gunboat Wilmington made a voyage from the mouth of the Ama- zon to Iquitos in Peru, for the purpose of making maps of the course of the stream, photographing the main points of interest, observing the animal and bird life, studying the native races, and especially in order to gather information respecting the products of the re- gion and new openings for American commerce. From that portion of the Report relating to the upper branches of the river we take the following: "There are no towns of any importance along the whole stretch from Manaos to Iquitos, a distance of 1300 miles. Those marked on the map are but villages at the best, the largest being Ovilenca, forty miles below the Brazilian border. Only four navigable rivers empty into the Amazon between Manaos and Iquitos, the Jurua and Javari from the south, the Japura and Napo from the north, the last just below Iquitos. There is a vast number of less important ones flowing 212 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. into the main stream from both north and south, but little is known about them except by the natives, who paddle their canoes in every direction in the hunt for rubber. All of these smaller streams are sluggish, little or no current existing. " Along the river banks between Manaos and Taba- tinga are to be found occasional patches of land some twenty-five feet above high- water mark, where the timber has been cleared away and cattle were grazing. The character of the cattle food could not be ascertained, but appeared to be a kind of grass growing in abun- dance. In other places, cattle were observed to be wad- ing up to their knees in water and feeding upon the tender branches of small growth, and the river had yet to rise some ten feet. A removal of these cattle seemed imperative, as the highest visible ground did not appear to be over six feet above the then stage of the water. "Upon crossing the boundary between Brazil and Peru and entering Peruvian territory, as soon as day- light appeared, a marked change was observed along the banks, so far as the people and their habitations were concerned. Here, as if in a moment, was met the true type of Peruvian Indians. The houses were much more comfortable, more substantial in build, and an improved social condition was everywhere evident. There were more signs of thrift, more cattle and sheep, cocoa plantations closer together, villages more fre- quent, and population greater than on the river below ; and this increased as progress was made by the Wil- mington. " While no marked elevation occurred in the banks, there appeared to be more frequent places for groups of HERDSMEN AND HUNTERS. 213 families to establish themselves. This improved state of the common people was observed by all, and came in as a most agreeable surprise. Nothing of incident occurred until a stop was made to procure fresh beef for the crew, which, for a while, caused a stampede of the natives until reassured by the owner that our errand was only a peaceful one. Proceeding thence, the Wil- mington anchored off the city of Iquitos on the 13th of April, eight days from Manaos, having steamed nearly 2400 miles up the Amazon." From Manaos to the sea the most important towns are Serpa, Villa Bella, Obidos, Santarem, Prainha, and Breves. The population of these places averages about seven hundred. With the exception of Breves, where rubber constitutes the sole industry, these towns export cocoa, Brazil nuts, rubber, and cattle. There are also several settlements of from twenty to a hundred houses, and many single huts at points along the river; but much of this territory is still silent and desolate in the extreme. CHAPTER XXVII. HERDSMEN AND HUNTERS. THERE is, in Brazil, a body of men to whom special attention must be directed, as they form a class by themselves, and are so entirely unique in their habits and modes of life as to have no real parallel elsewhere, although they resemble somewhat the llaneros of Vene- zuela and the gauchos of Argentine. These are the gauchos or herdsmen. Their occupation is the herding 214 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. and raising of cattle, and their life is spent entirely out of doors. In general, they are men of middle height, thick-set, broad-chested, and muscular; and they pos- sess a physical strength and powers of endurance equal to any body of men in the world. The gaucho wears a jacket of coarse cloth or sheep- skin, and pantaloons of the same stuff, which are open GAUCHOS AND THEIR HOME. from the knee down. His poncho is a square piece of cloth, with an opening in the middle for the head, and, especially on Sundays and holidays, it is of very gay pattern. The lower garment is a curious combination of bedgown and Turkish trousers. It is bordered by a fringe, sometimes of lace from two to six inches in depth. His ornaments are spurs with silver rowels, and a large knife with the handle inlaid with silver, which HERDSMEN AND HUNTERS. 215 is carried in the belt. The women are dressed almost exactly like the men, except that they have the neck and arms bare. The rancho, or hut, of the gaucho consists of a trellis- work of brushwood covered with mud. The roof is covered with straw or cowhides, and in place of a door is a horsehide. The food of the gaucho consists almost entirely of meat and water. Strong, sturdy, and vigorous from their outdoor life, they are also stubborn and unyielding in disposition, and have, on more than one occasion, been the cause of war and bloodshed, ending in national revolution. They mix but little with their neighbors. They are first-rate people to let alone, as they resent every inter- ference with what they regard as their rights, and do not hesitate to defend these rights, even at the cost of human life. They do almost all their work on horseback, and practically live in the saddle. Indeed, it has been said that the gaucho's horse is a part of himself; and in an important sense this is really true. The gauchos are not much given to hunting the wild animals of the region, except in so far as these animals tamper with their flocks and herds. The real huntsmen of Brazil are the Indians, and the vast forests furnish hunting grounds that are practically unlimited. These forests are the home of countless wild animals, which are said to be more numerous in kinds or orders than in any other region of the world; but only a few of these can here be mentioned. Of all the beasts of prey in Brazil, the most formi- dable and the most common is the jaguar, or South 216 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. American tiger, usually called the onsa in Brazil. These onsas are of three kinds, the red, the spotted, and the black, the last two kinds being the largest. The length of a large specimen is from six to seven feet, but an ordinary one measures about four feet from the nose to the root of the tail. This animal does not stand as high as the Asiatic tiger, but is very powerfully built, and carries off cattle with ap- parent ease. It springs upon its victim and strikes it to the earth, dead, with a single blow of its power- ful paw. It seldom attacks human beings unless interfered with or wounded. The spotted onsa is handsomel} 7 marked, and the skin of one sells at Rio for ten dollars. The English naturalist, Wallace, while out with his rifle alone in the forest solitude of the Amazon, saw a black onsa cross his path a little way ahead of him, walking leisurely along. The animal stopped a few moments and looked at him. Mr. Wallace, who was an excellent shot, relates that he was so astonished and impressed by the magnificence of the beast, that he never thought to fire at it; and while he stood in admiration, the onsa disappeared. Mr. Wallace tells us that "people do not hunt the orisa for amusement, as a rule. They prefer to go a-gunning for almost any other sort of game. It is only when a planter or farmer has lost sheep after sheep, or other kinds of live stock, and the circum- stances point about conclusively to the onsa as the depredator, that he assembles his neighbors, with their guns and dogs, and they sally out to bring the dreaded beast to destruction." HERDSMEN AND HUNTERS. 217 The puma, or American lion, is from four to five feet long, but more commonly of the former size. It has a tail of half that length, which has no terminating brush of hair like that of the ordinary lion ; neither has the puma a mane. Indeed, the name of lion could have been given to it only by careless or unscientific observ- ers, as its uniform color is the sole point of resemblance which it has to the king of beasts. It has a small, round head, a broad and rather obtuse muzzle, and a body which, in proportion, is slenderer and less elevated than that of its more dignified namesake. As it pos- sesses much timidity and little swiftness, and fre- quents the open plains, it generally falls a victim to the hunter's unerring lasso. The puma is easily tamed, and in captivity becomes tractable, and even attached. It loves to be noticed and caressed, expresses its pleasure by purring, will follow its owner about like a dog, and has been known to suffer children to ride upon its back. 218 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The peccary, perhaps the most extensively hunted animal of this region, is a curious kind of wild hog, and is generally found singly or in pairs, or at most in small herds of from eight to ten. It is a comparatively harmless creature, not being inclined to attack other animals or human beings. Its color is dark gray, with a white band passing across the chest from shoulder to shoulder. The length of the head and body is about thirty-six inches. The white-lipped peccary is rather larger, being about forty inches in length, of a blackish color, with the lips and lower jaw white. These animals are generally met with in large droves of from fifty to a hundred or more. They are of a more pugnacious disposition than the smaller species, and are capable of inflicting severe wounds with their sharp tusks. A hunter who encoun- ters a herd of them in a forest has often to climb a tree as his only chance of safety. Iguanas are much sought after by hunters. They are timid, defenseless animals, depending for safety on their hiding-places in the treetops, and on their dull, pro- tective coloring, which is rendered even more effec- tive by their re- maining still at the approach of danger. Otherwise they exhibit few signs of animal intelligence. Mr. Bates, in his "Naturalist on the Amazon," says: AN IGUANA. HERDSMEN AND HUNTERS. 219 "The iguana is one of the stupidest animals I ever met. The one I caught dropped helplessly from a tree just ahead of me ; it turned round for a moment to have an idiotic stare at the intruder, and then set off run- ning along the path. I ran after it, and it then stopped, as a timid dog would do, crouching down and permitting me to seize it by the neck and carry it off. The natives consider its flesh a great delicacy, and capture it easily, as it sits in fancied security on the branch of a tree." Armadillos are chiefly distinguished by the peculiar nature of their external covering, which consists of a bony case, composed partly of solid, horny plates, and partly of movable transverse bands. These movable bands differ in number with the species, and, to a cer- tain extent, with the age and sex of the individual, and they give to the entire body a considerable degree of flexibility. The under parts are destitute of bony cov- ering, but are more or less thickly covered with hair. The legs of the armadillo are short, and its movements are usually slow, although, when pursued, it is said to be able to outrun a man. In times of danger, however, it chiefly depends for safety on its long, powerful claws, by means of which it can bury itself, in a few minutes, several feet below the surface of the ground. Most of the species are nocturnal in their habits, and have small, weak eyes, but highly developed organs of hear- ing and smelling. These animals are eaten by the na- tives and by the Portuguese and Spanish inhabitants. The armadillo is hunted with small dogs, which soon overtake it; but the animal stops and contracts itself before they reach it, and in this condition it is taken 220 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. and carried off. If the armadillo finds itself on the brink of a precipice, it can escape the dogs and hunters by rolling up and dropping like a ball, without injury to its scales. AN ARMADILLO. The agouti, the tapir, several species of monkeys, and various other orders of smaller animals are hunted either for their flesh or for their skins. The birds of the forest fare little better than their animal neighbors. In hunting birds the Indians use a curious kind of blow-gun, through which small arrows are discharged with remarkable effect. Professor Orton says : " These Indians will kill more birds in a day with the blow-gun than the most experienced hunter could bring down with a rifle. When they go out for birds, they use arrows only a few inches long. Taking a posi- tion in the top of a tree, an Indian will often empty his quiver, bringing down bird after bird as fast as he can load and shoot. The weapon is noiseless, and the man remains in concealment till he has finished his work and is ready to pick up his game," HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 221 CHAPTER XXVIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. IN 1516, twenty-four years after the first landing of Columbus on the island of San Salvador, Juan Diaz de Soils, pilot-in-chief of the king of Spain, made the dis- covery of the Rio de la Plata. He called it Mar Dulce, or fresh sea, thinking himself in the waters of a sea instead of a river, since the banks are so widely sepa- rated as to be invisible to the eye of the mariner who sails at an equal distance from each side. Both Solis and Sebastian Cabot believed that silver could be found on the banks of the river, and from this fact it came to be known as the Rio de la Plata, or river of silver. Although the king of Spain, as well as his mariners, thought that silver could be found in the newly dis- covered country, nineteen years elapsed before the first attempt was made, by Don Pedro de Mendoza, to establish a colony. The site was where the city of Buenos Aires now stands, but the colony was soon destroyed by the surrounding Indians. It was in 1580, sixty-four years after the coming of Solis, that Buenos Aires was really founded by Don Juan de Garay, with only sixty followers, who were left to form the nucleus of a European settle- ment, and of a population that has now reached 663,000. In the meantime, some intrepid explorers had succeeded in marching into the heart of the country, and had founded cities that afterward became the capitals of Drovinces. 222 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The conquering Spaniards had subjugated so much territory by 1661, and established so many colonies, that the king of Spain found it necessary to create an audiencia, or high court, in Buenos Aires, and to appoint a governor and captain general for the prov- inces of the Rio de la Plata. A century afterward the colonies were raised to the rank of a viceroyalty, and the first viceroy, Don Pedro de Cevallos, was appointed. England, when at war with Spain in 1806, decided to take possession of Buenos Aires, and for this pur- pose sent to the river La Plata a small army of two or three thousand soldiers, under command of Lord Beres- ford. The city then had about 40,000 inhabitants, wholly devoid of military experience, and it was easily taken. It was not, however, easily kept. Two months after entering, Beresford was compelled to withdraw, with a loss of half his men killed or made prisoners by General Liniers, who organized and commanded the natives. It happened that the Spanish viceroy fled when Beresford attacked Buenos Aires, leaving it at the mercy of the English, and the natives won their deliverance from the British by their own efforts. This may justly be considered as the first step toward independence. Then occurred another event of still greater importance. England sent an army of 10,000 men, which landed near Buenos Aires, in 1808, and proceeded immedi- ately to retake the city. But this time the natives were prepared; the 10,000 soldiers were completely routed, and their commander, General Whitelock, capitulated on the day of the attack. The flag of the famous Seventy-first Regiment of the British army, HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 223 which gave so much trouble to Napoleon in Egypt, with many others of almost equal note, is in the cathedral of Buenos Aires as a souvenir of this vic- tory. It was after these stirring events that the patriots began to whisper about ridding themselves of the Spaniards, as they had done of the English. Whis- pers grew louder as news was re- ceived of the oc- cupation of Spain by the armies of Napoleon ; and on the 25th of May, 1810, the first cry of independence was raised. The people assembled in the public square under the leadership of noted patriots, and demanded and obtained the resignation of the viceroy. He was replaced by a Junta, composed of nine members, which was to govern in the name of the king of Spain. But the king of Spain was a prisoner of Napoleon ; and very soon the Junta began to govern in its own name, and the struggle for independence began. STATUE OF GENERAL SAN MARTIN. 224 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The task of achieving independence was not an easy one. Opposite Buenos Aires, in the fortress of Monte- video, was a strong Spanish garrison, which could be conveyed to the city to dissolve the Junta. In what is now the republic of Bolivia, was another Spanish army, and from Chile and Peru, also, troops could be sent to quell any attempt at insurrection. The Junta found itself in a great dilemma, surrounded by enemies, and with small means of defence at its disposal. Happily the garrison of Montevideo could not abandon that place without running the risk of its being taken by the Portuguese, who were anxious to extend their territory toward the south of the present republic of Bra- zil. This circumstance permitted the Junta to dispatch several revolutionary expeditions to arouse the people of the interior to a spirit of independence, and to give battle to the Spaniards wherever they might be found. The first of these expeditions was sent to Paraguay under the command of General Belgrano, one of the most noted generals of the Revolutionary war. The Paraguayans did not respond with the enthusiasm that was expected, and after several useless fights Belgrano had to return. He was then sent to the northern prov- inces, where he was more successful, and defeated the Spanish general in important battles. These and other victories gave the Junta reason to believe that the armies sent to the north would eventually succeed in reducing the power of Spain in Bolivia, but in Decem- ber, 1813, Belgrano suffered a serious defeat from the Spaniards in that territory. From 1813 to 1817 several battles between the Spaniards and the Argentines resulted in defeats to HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 225 the latter, who lost all the advantages previously gained by Belgrano. Meanwhile, the government had made strenuous efforts to take the fortress of Montevideo. They constructed a small navy and put it under the command of William Brown, who after- ward rose to the rank of admiral. Attacked by sea and by land, Montevideo was at last taken in 1814. This important capture did not fail to inspire the government and the people with that enthusiasm of which they were so much in need. Every eye was turned now to the new general-in-chief of the army, Don Jos de San Martin, of whom great things were expected. San Martin, although born on Argentine soil, was educated in Spain, where he had joined the army and distinguished himself in the campaign against Napo- leon. He was a colonel in the Spanish service when he decided to resign in order to help his native country in the war with Spain. He perceived immediately that it was necessary to risk all in a decisive move that would surprise as well as crush the Spanish forces. He conceived the idea of crossing the lofty Andes and giving battle to the Spanish soldiers who kept Chile in bondage, thus liberating that country, and also Peru, from the Spanish yoke. The obstacles were almost insurmountable, and the enterprise needed a great general aiid a great organizer. Fortunately San Martin was both. He spent considerable time in recruiting, organiz- ing, and drilling his army, composed largely of gauchos, who may be described as the " rough riders " of that region. After a congress of representatives from the 226 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. different provinces had solemnly declared their formal separation and independence from Spain, General San Martin left the city of Mendoza, at the head of his small army of five thousand soldiers, on his errand of freedom. USPALLATA PASS, THROUGH WHICH SAN MARTIN MARCHED TO CHILE. Impossible as the enterprise seemed to many, it suc- ceeded; and later history proves that this was the turning-point in the fortunes of the Argentines. It took San Martin only tweny-five days to cross the Andes with his army, and give battle to the Spanish general, whom he defeated. This battle, called the battle of Chacabuco, was fought on the 12th of Febru- ary, 1817, and is commemorated by the Chilean people as the battle that gave them their independence. In HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 227 grateful acknowledgment of the services rendered, two statues have been erected in Santiago, Chile, one of General San Martin, and the other in honor of the city of Buenos Aires. The achievements of San Martin gave the death- blow to the power of Spain in Argentina, Chile, and Peru. His name will ever rank with those of Wash- ington and Bolivar, the other two great American liberators. Unlike them, however, he never served in a civil capacity any of the countries he liberated, hav- ing, as he often declared, no other ambition than to be successful in the field. Following the great revolutionary struggle, the Argentine Republic became involved in war with Brazil, in 1825, because it would not permit that empire to annex Uruguay. This war lasted three years, and many battles were fought on land and sea. The conflict was terminated by an agreement that Brazil and Argentina should guarantee the independence of Uruguay. A few years later came the so-called "night of tyranny," with the government of Don Juan Manuel de Rosas, which lasted twenty -three years, from 1829 to 1852. During this period occurred the ten years' blockade of Buenos Aires, first by the French, and afterward by the French and English combined. Rosas was a despotic ruler, and many were the attempts made to drive him from power. At last General Urquiza managed to collect a sufficient force to wage successful war against him; and in 1852 he defeated the army of Rosas, thus putting an end to the most dictatorial government that the Argentine Republic has ever had. 228 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. General Urquiza proceeded to organize the country upon a solid basis. The government of Rosas had shown how imperfect were all the previous political constitutions of the country, and how necessary it was to arrive at some definite organization. In 1853 the national Congress put in operation the present consti- tution of the republic, which is practically the same as that of the United States. Since then, the country has successfully maintained its freedom. During the administration of General Bartoleme Mitre, from 1862 to 1868, the Argentine Republic, allied with Uruguay and Brazil, had to sustain a war against Paraguay, General Lopez of Paraguay having seized two Argentine gunboats and invaded Argentine territory. This was terminated by the death of Lopez in the field, and the almost entire annihilation of Para- guay. Notwithstanding the fact that the Argentine army remained in possession of Paraguayan territory at the termination of hostilities, an agreement was made to submit to arbitration the difference which had arisen between the two countries out of their respective claims to the territory called El Chaco. The President of the United States of America, Mr. Rutherford B. Hayes, was chosen to be arbitrator, and his decision was in favor of Paraguay. General Mitre was succeeded by Domingo Sarmiento, who was elected president while representing the Argentine Republic at Washington. He was a great admirer of the United States, and showed his admira- tion by the introduction of many measures whose bene- fits he had observed during his stay in this country. Several new institutions of learning were founded by HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 229 his efforts, and the education of the masses received his special attention. Only the most important of the measures taken dur- ing the administrations of the different presidents can here be mentioned. During the administration of Don Nicolas Avellaneda, General Julio A. Roca, minister of war, made his famous expedition to the south, carrying civilization to the banks of the Rio Negro, reclaiming a vast area of land from the Indians, and opening it to agricultural uses. To-day the whole of Patagonia is free from Indian control, having in its very center the prosperous colony of Chubut. This is connected by railroad with its nearest seaport on the Atlantic, whence products are shipped to Europe. It has seven churches and several schools. General Roca became the next president. Up to this time the important question of the location of the capital of the republic had not been settled by law, although Buenos Aires had been the seat of the national government. Buenos Aires was also the seat of gov- ernment for the province of the same name. This con- dition of affairs was ended by a law which declared the city of Buenos Aires to be the capital of the republic. The legislature then decided to build a new capital for the province. The corner-stone of this new city, La Plata, was laid on barren ground in 1882, and in 1886 its population was 50,000, and has now risen to 61,000. The material development of the country received a great impetus during General Roca's administration. Railroads were constructed in all directions, vast areas of land were opened to coloniz-ation, and the country was more prosperous than ever before. The cause of 230 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. popular education was not neglected. In 1884, Gen- eral Roca inaugurated fourteen public school buildings in the city of Buenos Aires, and two years later forty more were established. These buildings can be advan- tageously compared with any used for the same purpose in Europe or America. A BUSINESS STREET IN BUENOS AIRES. President Celman, who succeeded General Roca, in 1886, had many difficulties to overcome. A financial crisis swept over the country, and the people held him responsible for the hard times which followed. A revolution was started to overthrow him, but the move- ment failed. The pressure of public opinion, however, A GENERAL VIEW OF ARGENTINA. 231 forced him to resign. He was succeeded by the vice- president, Don Carlos Pelligrini, whose administration was marked by tact and firmness. Confronted by a financial and political crisis, he was able to carry the country successfully through most trying times. General Roca has now been returned to the presi- dency, and the country is the most prosperous and progressive of the South American republics. The Argentine constitutional system, in its outward form, corresponds closely to that of the United States. The states have elective governors of their own, and are each represented in the upper house by two senators, chosen for nine years. The members of the lower house are elected on the basis of population, for four years. The president is chosen by an electoral college. He appoints his own cabinet and wields unrestricted executive authority, and his term of office extends over a period of six years. CHAPTER XXIX. A GENERAL VIEW OF ARGENTINA. ARGENTINA, the second state of South America in size, occupies all the southern part of the continent, ex- clusive of Chile. Its area is about one-third as large as that of the United States. It has developed very rapidly of late, and will probably surpass in commercial impor- tance all the other countries of South America. The immense length of Chile and Argentina may be understood by a glance at the map. It will be seen that 232 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. in latitude Argentina has an extent almost equal to the distance from the southern point of Florida to the north- ern part of Labrador. It is bounded on the north by Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil ; on the west and south by Chile; and on the east by Brazil, Uruguay, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its area is 1,118,000 square miles, and its population is between four and five millions. Excepting the northern and Andean provinces, which are mountainous, the country may be regarded as an unbroken plain, stretching from the foot of the Andes to the Atlantic coast. It has been said that the longest straight railroad line of the world can be laid in the Argentine Republic. In the interior are large tracts covered with volcanic ashes. Upon the pampas, or southern plains, great herds of horses, cattle, and sheep are raised; and it is one of the few lands of the world in which horses still run wild. For nearly two hundred miles west of La Plata River the soil produces a luxuriant growth of herbage, which is choked, however, in many places by extensive forests of gigantic thistles which grow to such a height that men passing through them on horseback are hidden by the lofty stems. So heavy is this growth that, at times, the thistle fields are impassable to man, and serve the wild animals of the pampas as an undisturbed lair. These thistles are fired, from time to time, by the gauchos ; and after the ground that they covered has been burnt over, a fine sweet crop of grass starts up, on which the cattle feed. Although the mountainous west is unfit for agricul- tural pursuits, there are many fertile valleys, particularly in the province of Jujuy, where wheat, tobacco, sugar cane, rice, and other products are abundantly cultivated. A GENERAL VIEW OF ARGENTINA. 233 This region is noted for its immense forests and its great abundance of water. The southern part of Argentina, from the Rio Negro to the Strait of Magellan, is known as Patagonia. The land directly bordering on the strait and a large part of PATAGONIANS. the island south of it, called Tierra del Fuego, belong to Chile ; but the eastern part of Tierra del Fuego forms part of Argentina. This section of South America is but little known. The Patagonians, so called from their large feet, or rather from the large footprints which guided the early 234 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. explorers to their haunts, are migratory Indians, of sturdy frame and immense bodily strength, many of them being over six feet in height. They have large heads and high cheek-bones, like the North American Indians, whom they also resemble in their complexion, though it is a shade or two darker. Their foreheads are broad but low, with the hair covering them nearly to the brows ; the eyes are full, generally black or of a dark brown, and brilliant, though expressive of but little intelligence. They are now greatly reduced in number, and are more friendly to the whites than in former times. Indeed, numerous trading stations have been established among them, and the prospect for further advancement in this direction is excellent. Both the federal and the several provincial govern- ments have attracted colonists to the country by offer- ing great inducements, such as liberal grants of land and temporary loans of money at a low rate of interest. The province of Santa F, in particular, has passed numerous laws donating lands for the establishment of colonies ; but now that these colonies are in a prosper- ous condition, it leaves to individual effort the easy task of establishing others. The federal government is richer than the provincial governments, and has been more liberal. Not only has it given free grants of land, but it has advanced to each colonist capital, to the extent of $ 1,000, in oxen, instruments of labor, and food, to be paid back in five years. Great attention is paid to education in the Argentine Republic, and the system of schools is based on that A GENERAL VIEW OF ARGENTINA. 235 of the United States. Education is free to all, and boys and girls between the ages of six and fourteen must attend school. There is at present one school for every thousand inhabitants. Buenos Aires and the city of Cordoba have each a university. There are also mili- tary and naval academies ; and in San Juan there is THE RAILROAD OVER THE ANDES. an academy of mining engineers. Several trade schools have been established, and they are said to be of a very high order. Over twenty daily newspapers are published in Buenos Aires. The leading paper, La Prensa, has a circulation of about 50,000, and the others are very well patronized. The importance of public libraries has been fully rec- 236 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. ognized by the Argentines, and there are at present more than two hundred in the country. They are chiefly due to private gifts, but the government in every case adds an equal sum to any endowment. A special commission exists for the administration of libraries. The national observatory at Cordoba was erected in 1871, under the direction of B. A. Gould, who has here constructed an atlas of all the stars visible to the naked eye from the south pole to the tenth declension, with their apparent magnitudes. The observatory has an eleven-inch refractor by Fitz, with photographic object- glass, which has been extensively employed for taking photographs of southern star clusters. The results of this work are now being published. Argentina has a magnificent railway system. There are in actual working order at least twenty-two lines of railway, with a total extension of 9000 miles and an aggregate capital of $300,000,000. Thirty new lines, in course of construction, make about 9700 miles, and employ a proportionate amount of capital. The Buenos Aires Great Southern line is, in most respects, the best line in the country. It has a greater mileage and a larger amount of capital, and is better equipped, than any other railway in the republic. Its terminus in Plaza Constitucion is the finest railway sta- tion in South America. The Buenos Aires and Rosario line ranks next in importance. It possesses no ter- minus of its own in the federal capital, but uses the Central Station in Paseo de Julio in common with sev- eral other roads. Passenger accommodations on Argentine railways are of a superior order. The cars are built principally on A GENERAL VIEW OF ARGENTINA. 237 the Pullman plan, but are more solidly upholstered, and adapted, of course, to the needs of the climate. The Rosario is the best line for travelers, as its long- distance trains are well equipped with the conven- iences of travel. The southern railway coaches, though superbly fitted up, are less comfortable for long journeys. The passengers are confined to one particular compart- A GAUCHO AND HIS HORSES. ment, and there are no arrangements of any sort for refreshments. On several lines the sleeping accom- modations are excellent, and at a trifling extra cost private compartments may be secured. Nearly all the saloon cars on the Argentine railways are built in England. This great system of railways is important, both in the development of the country and in furnishing a 238 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. route across the continent from Buenos Aires to Val- paraiso. Thirty years ago Argentina was a pastoral country exporting only wool, hides, and tallow ; but its fine system of railroads, together with the use of Ameri- can machinery, now enables it to compete with the great agricultural and manufacturing countries. Many of the gauchos, or herdsmen, who dwell upon the plains -of Argentina are descended from the best blood of Spain, and, in spite of their rough ways, they frequently display a great deal of courtly dignity. They salute each other with much formality, and are always polite to strangers passing through their country, though often quite the reverse to those who come to settle among them. The Argentine people have wasted torrents of blood in revolutions and national wars ; but they are an indus- trious, active, and hard-working people. They pursue a policy of conciliation in the conduct of their domestic affairs, and of peace by means of arbitration in interna- tional matters. They afford conclusive proofs of an assured progress, and their country provides, after the United States, the favorite field for European invest- ments and immigration. The transformation has been as complete as it has been rapid. Such are the fruits of forty years of constant and energetic labor for the instruction of the masses. Popu- lar education has been the safeguard of the Argentine nationality, and it is to-day the unchangeable basis of its independence. BUENOS AIRES AND LA PLATA. 239 CHAPTER XXX. BUENOS AIRES AND LA PLATA. NOTHING so quickly and so completely reveals the energy and progress of the Argentine nation as a view of the capital city of Buenos Aires. The new harbor, even in its unfinished state, is a magnificent piece of THE OLD WAY OF UNLOADING VESSELS. engineering. So great was the wash of sand inshore, before the building of the artificial harbor, that the heaviest ocean steamers were forced to anchor from twelve to twenty miles from the city, landing passen- gers by steam tenders and sail-boats, and discharging their cargoes by lighters. Now, however, with three miles of modern docks, extending along the city front, costing about $25,000,000, all this is changed. Buenos Aires will soon have one of the finest harbors in the world. 240 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The city is situated on the right bank of the La Plata River, which is twenty-four miles wide at this point. A little stream flows through the city and empties into the larger one. The city has a frontage of four miles on the river, and from that base has shot out north, south, and west over a level plain, vastly increasing its population and developing an immense volume of busi- ness. It is the most important railway center of South America, and forms the outlet for the continental wheat belt. It is the chief center for killing and mar- keting the cattle of the stock-raising pampas. It com- mands a river system exceeding in volume that of the Mississippi, and its commerce has expanded into enor- mous compass. It is fairly pulsating with vitality, enterprise, and ambition, and has absolute faith in its destiny as one of the chief commercial centers of the world. Buenos Aires is rich in public buildings. Its theaters and places of public resort are numerous. Other not- able buildings are the governor's mansion, the House of Representatives, the Hall of Justice, the Tribunal of Commerce, the Artillery Arsenal, the Museum of Natu- ral History, the Public Library, and the Mint. The stock exchange is a vast structure with a spacious hall surrounded by a gallery, where scenes of excitement and reckless speculation have been enacted, rivaling those of Wall Street in the most feverish times. The picturesque beauties of Bahia, and the majestic mountain scenery of Rio de Janeiro, are lacking here. The streets are uniform in narrowness, and the shops and houses have a sameness that is monotonous. Excep- tion must be made in favor of the churches, which are BUENOS AIRES AND LA PLATA. 241 the handsomest to be found on the Atlantic coast of South America. The cathedral was begun in 1580 and rebuilt in 1752, and the imposing facade was subse- quently added by General Rosas, a tyrant who needed to do something for religion to atone for his crimes against liberty. Buenos Aires has lost, to a greater extent than any other of the South American cities, the Spanish aspect which characterized it for three centuries. A long time ago it broke the chains that bound it to Seville and Cadiz. The Sevillians seem to have forgotten the time when they furnished every commercial commodity to the cities of Spanish America. So completely has all this been changed that the Argentine Republic now takes nothing from Spain. It is now difficult to find in Buenos Aires the old- fashioned Spanish house. Even the houses built by the natives thirty or forty years ago have almost dis- appeared and been replaced by modern buildings. The government house is modern, being a mixture of Ital- ian and French architecture. One half of it, whicli for a time was used as a post-office, is a reproduction, on a small scale, of the Tuileries at Paris ; and the other half, built afterward, resembles an Italian palace of the sixteenth century. The plaza or square, which was laid out in 1580, con- tinues to serve the purpose of beautifying the city and forming a pleasure resort for the people. Many public buildings face upon it; among others, the government house, the Custom House, the City Hall, Congress Hall, the cathedral, the palace of the archbishop, the Colon theater, and the bank. 242 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The great traffic of this part of the city overflows into the adjacent streets. At every step, evidences of busi- ness activity are apparent ; and the noise produced by innumerable carts, tramways, and carriages of every description reminds one of the reality, here as else- where, of the great struggle of life. The portion of the city occupied by private residences surrounds the business part, and the farther one gets from the business center, the more numerous are the modern houses. New streets are being opened all the time ; and grounds which not long ago were used for the raising of food-stuffs are now covered with fashionable dwellings. Everywhere are seen new build- ings entirely different from the antique style of archi- tecture. Many rich families have set the example by building beautiful homes, in which they display a luxury unknown before. Many residences are designed from Parisian private houses, the chalets of Norway, Moorish alcazars, Italian palaces, or the great castles of France, while others are modeled after Spanish castles. A large part of the furniture for these residences comes from Paris. Splendid tapestries, paintings of the best masters, and other objects of art are to be found ; and several Pari- sian business firms have sent their own men to superin- tend the furnishing of these dwellings. The state does not provide residences for officials. The President and his ministers go each morning to the government house to transact the business of the day ; but they all live in their own houses, more or less ele- gant according to their private means. A man occupy- ing a high position in the government is not required to BUENOS AIRES AND LA PLATA. 243 have a grand establishment, and salaries are not suffi- cient to allow them to live in luxury, apart from other sources of income. As the soil is impregnated with nitrate of potash, water from wells and similar sources is rendered unfit for table use. Until recently the wealthier citizens THE MILKMAN'S MORNING CALL. had deep cisterns at their residences, in which rain water was preserved; but the poorer classes had no other beverage than the river water, which was carried around the city in barrels upon horses and mules, and re- tailed at a moderate price. Modern water works are now in operation, and the water carriers are no longer seen. 244 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The principal driving park of Buenos Aires is La Palermo, with an area of 840 acres. Its two fine drive- ways are bordered with palms and firs, and illuminated at night with a glare of electric light. Here large numbers of carriages are to be seen on Sundays and Thursdays, the favorite days of the wealthy classes. Of this park an English writer says : " Successive mayors have done their best to add to the embellish- ment of this beautiful park, but it was left to an Eng- lishman to give it the crowning beauty by establishing arches of electric lights, by which the gayety of the day might be prolonged into the night. Coming suddenly by train out of the darkness into the broad belt of brilliant light crossing the avenue of palms, catching a rapid glimpse, as you rush b}^ of the endless string of carriages and figures on horseback, is like taking a momentary peep into fairyland. When one is among the gay throng, however, the weird shadows of the trees, and the dazzling electric light, throwing over everything a glamour as of moonlight, leave an impression on the mind like the first reading of 4 A Midsummer Night's Dream.' " No city in the world of equal size and population can compare with Buenos Aires for the number and extent of its tramways. The urban railroads stretch beyond the city boundaries to the outlying districts, north, south, and west, for distances of twelve or fifteen miles ; and tracks are started which, when completed, will extend for hundreds of miles into the provinces, connecting many of the most important colonies and, in a great measure, superseding steam roads. There are seven tramway companies in the city, and the BUENOS AIRES AND LA PLATA. 245 combined length of their roads amounts to no less than 179 miles. The number of passengers carried in a recent year was over 55,000,000, or an average of 152,000 per day. The foreign population of the city numbers over 200,000 ; and the customs of the people have been so completely Europeanized that little trace is left of the early Spanish customs. The people as a whole are of high intelligence, and take a great interest in the education of their children. They are great lovers of amusements, and the numerous theaters and the race tracks are liberally patronized. La Plata was a city built to order in an incredibly short period, and was at once a success and a failure. It was laid out on paper, in 1881, by the Governor of Buenos Aires, and designed to be, like Washington, a city of magnificent distances. Buenos Aires, from his- toric times the capital of the province, had been made the capital of the Argentine nation after a protracted political and sectional struggle. President Roca deter- mined to build a new capital for the province, which would be at once spacious, handsome, and modern. The provincial government was moved here from Buenos Aires in 1884. La Plata lies to the south of Buenos Aires, a two hours' journey distant by railway. The train draws up into a large and well-appointed depot. A broad avenue, lined with palaces, stretches in either direction for a considerable distance. These stately structures, with their marble colonnades and imposing facades, are the finest to be found in the southern hemisphere. The corner-stone of La Plata was laid in a^ barren 246 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. waste on the 19th of November, 1882. An idea of the wonderful growth of the city can be gathered from the fact that, in less than three years from the date of its foundation, its population reached 30,000. The actual population of La Plata at the present time is over 60,000. THU MUNICIPAL DUILD.N3 AT LA PLATA. An English traveler wrote of this city, a year or two ago, in the following glowing terms : " We shall not soon forget our own astonishment when we first beheld the lights of La Plata. We had been shooting all day in the neighborhood of Punta Lara, and were making our way, toward evening, in the direction of Pereira station on the Ensenada line. There was no moon, and almost sud- denly night overtook us ; and then, more suddenly still, as we turned a bend in the road, there burst upon our astonished gaze a dazzling blaze of light, and we thought BUENOS AIRES AND LA PLATA. 247 we must at least have stumbled upon fairyland. We turned our horses' heads toward the light, entered the enchanted city, stayed all night and the next day, and were never afterward tired of visiting and studying this wonderful city this dream of marble halls and boule- vards. "Nothing in the history of Argentina is more remark- able than the creation of this city. Within the short space of two years, in a tract of the wilderness, arose, as if by magic, a city of palaces, plazas, broad avenues, and parks. The tribunales at La Plata are as fine as any law courts in the southern hemisphere. There is a judgment room which they show the visitor, more like a monarch's throne room than a judiciary bench. It has a raised dais, and is gorgeously upholstered in rich crim- son plush and gold ; has curtains, cushions, and carpets equal to those in Windsor's state apartments." La Plata has its port at Ensenada, which is in com- munication with the city by means of a railroad and a canal. But every attempt to convert the port into a commercial center has failed. La Plata lacks business and industrial resources. The provincial government does not further the commercial interests of the city ; but time will doubtless bring to this problem the neces- sary .solution. 248 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHAPTER XXXI. SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. THE following description, by a Scotch lady, gives an excellent idea of domestic life in Argentina : " Housekeeping at home, within easy reach of shops and stores, with gas and water laid on, and the milk- men more punctual in appearing than the sun, is child's CROSSING THE TRACKLESS PAMPAS. play in comparison with housekeeping abroad, where you must have under your own roof sufficient resources of your own providing for every need likely to arise. Our estancia (farm) is forty miles from a railway sta- tion; the ground was broken up and fenced, and the house built only three years since, and we consider ourselves fortunate in being on the route of a mail- coach which drives across the literally pathless plain twice a week. It is impossible to describe the bare flat- ness of the camp (prairie) around us. Not a tree, not SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 249 a stone, not a hillock, not a road. Short grass, filled with delicate wild flowers, grows in tufts here and there on the plain, which stretches away, hard and level as a table, from our fences to the horizon, under a dome of the clearest blue sky, each farm lying like a solitary island in a boundless sea. "In the Argentine Republic servants of all nation- alities are to be found, but Irish women are preferred, as they are clever, good-tempered, and hard-working; but they easily find places in the towns, and for camp life one has to be content with Spaniards or Italians. A man and a girl carry on all the work of the house. The man is an excellent cook, able to send up, with the help of a Spanish cookery book, what our old cook in Scotland called 'pairty dishes,' whenever the spirit moves him. The girl helps me in many ways, and does all the washing and ironing and rougher house- work. Washing is carried on in the patio with cold water, soap, and plenty of sunshine, making the linen whiter and sweeter than any steam laundry can do. "The patio is ordinarily a feature of Spanish and South American houses. It is an open court exposed to the sky, round which the house is built, and into which the doors of the various apartments lead. The floor is usually tiled; tangerine and almond trees, in tubs, will frequently be ranged a short distance from the walls, and sometimes a fountain will play in the center. The surrounding rooms, besides having doors into the patio, always have intercommunication, so that the circuit of the house can be made without cross- ing this part. Instead of a central patio, or in addition to it, there is often a gallery, the latter differing from 250 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the former only in being roofed in and open in front. It generally fulfills the function of a cool and pleasant sitting room. "Another feature of Argentine country houses is that there is very seldom an upper floor. All the rooms, whether for purposes of eating or resting, are on the ground. The reason for this is that the violence of the pampero that mighty wind which, rising in the far southwest, gains in strength as it sweeps unchecked across the treeless and level pampas would render lofty houses unsafe, however well they might be built. The roof, which is nearly flat, is care- fully kept clean, as on it is collected the supply of rain water, which is conducted by pipes to the capacious cistern at the back of the house. The general aspect of the interior is, according to our notions, usually bare, but really well suited to the climate. " Let me give you an idea of how our day passes. Spring is now (November) far advanced, and the days get hot; so we are all up soon after sunrise, arid have, at six o'clock, a cup of tea and a biscuit. The servants use mate, or native tea. The first work is churning, before the day grows hot. At eight the bell on the meat-house rings for breakfast. The meat-house is a small brick building in the farmyard, somewhat like a chapel, with a bell hung above the gable. A steaming dish of porridge is welcome, and so good that no one would guess the oatmeal was from a tin. At noon, the bell rings again for lunch, a substantial meal, for the hard work in this strong fine air makes every one hungry. We begin with soup, then invariably the national dish, puchero-mutton boiled with vegetables SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 251 of all sorts an excellent dish. Then comes a dish of eggs, cooked variously. Fish, alas, is only to be had in tins, and is too expensive for everyday use. Some- times Juan surprises us Avith a novelty, as when, the THE PATIO. other day, he sent in a young armadillo cooked in its shell, and standing with a painfully lifelike air, on the points of his dainty little toes. I made myself eat a little, and it was really very good. " Luncheon ends with biscuit and a cup of coffee. I should explain that this camp biscuit takes the place 252 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. of all bread. It is round as a ball, perfectly crisp and hard, good, but, from its hardness, tiresome to eat." Sunday is always a holiday in Argentina. In the country districts especially, the people spend the day in visiting friends, drinking mate, and talking by the hour. Many loaf around the country stores, where races take place and raffles are gotten up, and where they get drunk on cana, the native drink, made from sugar cane. The native Argentine frequently has a prejudice against trees, believing their proximity to be unhealthy ; so he will often cut down all those near the house, and lay out a garden after the French fashion, in geometri- cal patterns. Sometimes, however, the vegetation is allowed free scope, and trees and flowers, fruit and vegetables, grow luxuriantly under the directing hands of the gardeners, who are almost invariably Italians. In such gardens one may observe the giant eucalyptus tree, which sheds its bark in winter and keeps its leaves, and for several months looks like a beggar clothed in rags, standing proudly alongside of the yellow-flowered acacia. Roses abound everywhere, spreading abroad their sweet fragrance all the year round. In the spring the perfume of violets is almost overpowering, so plentiful are these usually unobtru- sive flowers. Living creatures, too, announce their presence on every hand. The air is filled with the twittering of birds and the buzzing of insects. As one walks through these gardens, innumerable canaries fly rustling from the trees, and dragon-flies and humming-birds dart about in surprising numbers, riot singly, but in swarms. SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 253 In the kitchen gardens strawberries are ripe through a large part of the year, and tomatoes, sheltered from the sun by their broad leaves, are cool in hottest sum- mer. The vines in their season are loaded with grapes ; melons and pumpkins strew the ground, and nearly all the common vegetables are raised in large quantities. Peach, apricot, nectarine, and plum trees are abun- dant, and apples and figs are also grown. But gar- dening is rendered somewhat difficult by the immense swarms of ants and locusts, which destroy flowers and fruits alike. A market gardener in Buenos Aires, writing on this subject, tells us that " a common way of destroying the ants is by means of a small metal cylindrical furnace, half filled with any kind of dry, inflammable rubbish, and in the top a pan suspended containing sulphur. When lighted a lid is screwed down over this, so that the smoke can only issue from a bent metal tube, which conducts it to the ant hole. A pair of bellows, worked by a handle, is attached to the lower part of the furnace, thus making the fire burn and forcing the sulphurous smoke along the ant passages. The whole apparatus is suspended on. wheels, and can be conveniently moved from part to part of the quinta [garden]. With this instrument such volumes of suffocating smoke can soon be produced that it will often be issuing thickly from holes two or three hundred yards distant. So you may imagine the ants have a somewhat lively time of it or, perhaps, rather a deadly one. "In spite, however, of waging war against them, they multiply so rapidly that it is only where the gar- deners fight them very energetically that they can be 254 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. kept down ; and the amount of damage they do is often appalling." Despite the mosquitoes and various other trouble- some insects, the evening forms the pleasantest part of COMING FROM MARKET. the twenty-four hours. The air is cool and refreshing after the broiling heat of the day. After dinner, seats are taken out and placed where the gentle, intermittent breeze can be most felt. The buzz of insect life fills THE ARGENTINE PROVINCES. 255 the air with music, and some of the birds continue to sing until evening darkens into night. The writer quoted at the opening of this chapter says : " Fireflies of extraordinary brilliance fill the air like shooting stars, or crawl through the grass beetle- like, with the lantern beneath their tail illumining their way, and making their insect prey visible. So bright is their light that by holding the face of a watch near to one caught in a spider's web, the time can easily be seen on the darkest night. Argentine girls, when they have a dance, catch fireflies and place them under their lace head-dress, where the insects look like the small incandescent lamps worn by dancers in the theaters." Social visiting is very much enjoyed by the Argen- tines. Even in the country regions life is by no means so dull and uninteresting as many of our northern people have supposed; and in the cities, social gaye- ties are carried to a point to which we are entire strangers. CHAPTER XXXII. THE ARGENTINE PROVINCES. THE province of Buenos Aires usually monopolizes the attention of visitors to Argentina, on account of its possession of the only maritime port in the country, and the predominating influence which this advantage has secured to it in peace as well as in war. The province contains an area of 63,000 square miles, and 256 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. is, consequently, but little larger than the state of New York. Its population is set down at 1,500,000. Throughout the province the soil is richly alluvial to a depth of two feet or more. Beneath this lies a stra- tum of clay, differing in kind and quality according to its location. Strata of white, yellow, and red clays have been discovered in different regions of the same province, furnishing the population with abundant material for the manufacture of tiles, bricks, and innu- merable articles of pottery. With the exception of a few hills in the southern part, the province of Buenos Aires presents the aspect of a plain with many small lakes, and is crossed and recrossed by streams that con- stitute a natural system of irrigation. The majestic river entrance to the three republics of the south is the Rio de la Plata, with its confluent, the Parana. For the first two hundred miles of its course the Parana is a labyrinth of islands and channels. These are so numerous that even the old pilots say they are often perplexed by the multiplicity of ways open to them. The islands are covered with fruit trees, from which the markets of Buenos Aires and Montevideo are supplied; and these trees overhang the water so that, in some places, a boat may be loaded without its occupants stepping on shore. The forests are gay with flowers in bloom, the air is filled with fragrance, little pools and nooks in the islands are covered with aquatic plants, and the luxuriance of vegetation is amazing. Several streams unite to form the Parana. The river rises in the mountains back of Rio de Janeiro, and its head springs are not more than one hundred THE ARGENTINE PROVINCES. 257 miles from that city. Where it leaves the mountain region it has a fall which is said, by many travelers, to be inferior to no other in the world. Here is the way it is described: " After collecting the waters of several rivers on both banks, the Parana increases in width until it attains nearly 4500 yards, a short distance above the falls ; then the immense mass of water is suddenly confined within THE ROCKING STONE, A NATURAL WONDER OF ARGENTINA. a gorge of 200 feet, through which it dashes with fury to the ledge, whence it is precipitated to a depth of 56 feet. It is computed that the volume of water per minute is equal to 1,000,000 tons; the velocity of the flood through the gorge is 40 miles an hour; and the roar of the cataract is distinctly audible at a distance of 30 miles." The province, taken as a whole, is flat and uninter- esting, and is almost entirely laid out in great cattle farms, though the soil is capable of producing almost 258 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. all the cereals in common use. Most of the large farms are owned by British settlers, and are worked by Brit- ish laborers. The natives almost live on horseback, and do not take kindly to any form of work which cannot be done from the saddle. Large slaughter-houses are also to be found in vari- ous parts of the province, and immense quantities of salted beef, tallow, and hides are exported. The extent of the stock raising may best be gathered from the fact that recent returns give an average of 200 sheep, 20 cows, and 6 horses to every inhabitant of the province, while the yield of unwashed wool is set down at an average of 125,000,000 pounds per year. From its advantageous position this province con- trols the foreign commercial relations of the entire republic, and is, therefore, ranked first in importance. Its principal cities are now connected with the capital by railroads or by the river, and its future prospects are excellent. The province of Cordoba is situated in the heart of the republic, and is second in size and population. Its area is 54,000 square miles, and its population is 400,000. The general aspect of this province is that of a plain, slightly inclined from west to east. Its soil is equally adapted to agricultural, mining, and grazing indus- tries. The southern part of the province is especially given to breeding cattle, horses, and mules; in the center and north large flocks of sheep and goats are raised. In the valleys of the west, and along the courses of the different rivers and streams, excellent wheat and fruits are grown; and the mountainous THE ARGENTINE PROVINCES. 259 part of the northwest is rich in copper, silver, and gold, but especially in marble and a very good quality of lime. The most northerly province, Jujuy, is already con- nected with the capital of the republic by railroad, and is only awaiting the beneficial action of money and immi- gration to develop into one of the most prosperous divi- sions of the republic. The capital of the province is Jujuy, a city of about 10,000 inhabitants. It has a national college, a normal school for girls, seven public schools, two banks, a customhouse, and other institu- tions of importance. Jujuy had 110 mines at the close of the year 1897, of which 70 were of gold, 30 of silver, 5 of copper, 1 of mercury, and 4 of silver and copper mixed. Salt, asphalt, and petroleum are also found in great quan- tities. The gold-producing sands are so rich in fine metals and precious stones that an offer of a premium of six dollars per ton has recently been made to the government for the privilege of washing the sand and securing its valuable contents. The province of Salta is situated to the south of Jujuy, and has an area of 45,000 square miles and 200,000 inhabitants. Like Jujuy, it is mountainous in some parts, and has also some very fertile regions in which the pastoral and agricultural industries flourish. Great, too, are the mineral resources of Salta. Gold, silver, and copper are found in different parts of the province; also salt, sulphate of lime, kaolin, coal, asphalt, and petroleum. But the mining industry is not very largely carried on ; the people prefer to devote themselves to raising cattle and sheep, and to cultivat- ing the products of the soil, such as wheat, maize, rice, 260 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. tobacco, and sugar cane. The cultivation of sugar cane is the most important and extensive agricultural industry. South of Salta is to be found the most picturesque province of the Argentine Republic, the most densely populated, and one of the richest. It is the small province of Tucuma, with an area of only 13,000 square miles and a population of 150,000. It is called the " Garden of the Republic," on account of its beautiful scenery. It exports to the other provinces large quan- tities of timber, leather, cheese, oranges, and lemons. The city of Tucuma is the seat of government for the province and has over 40,000 inhabitants. It has one national college, a normal school for young men, and thirty elementary schools, two banks, two hospitals, a theater, several public libraries, and several hotels. This city is, in one respect, the Philadelphia of the Argentine Republic, the declaration of independence having been made in that city on the 9th of July, 1816. The house in which the Congress convened is kept in perfect order, and no alterations have been made in the hall where the declaration was signed. The province of Santiago del Estero, situated to the south of Salta, is more than double the size of Tucuma, its area being 31,500 square miles, and its population only 250,000. With the exception of one hill, which is about a thousand feet in height, the whole province is a vast plain, sloping slightly from west to east. One of the principal industries is the sawing of its magnificent woods. Over eighty per cent of the area of the province is covered with rich forests, and more than two hundred steam sawmills are engaged in making lumber. 262 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. The province of Catamarca, which lies to the east of Chile, has a small population compared with some of the neighboring provinces. Among its resources the gold, silver, and copper mines deserve special mention. Salt, coal, malachite, kaolin, sulphate of lime, alum, and other valuable mineral products are abundant. Very similar to Catamarca, both in general features and in products, is the province of La Rioja, which is situated to the south and west of Catamarca. Its area is 31,500 square miles, and its population numbers over 100,000. It is rich in coal, and many cattle are fattened here and exported to Chile. The province of Entre Rios is said to produce the best wheat in the world. It is bounded on the east by Uruguay, on the south by Buenos Aires, and on the west by Santa Fe", which it resembles in many respects. Its area is 45,000 square miles and its population 300,000. In 1898 there were in Entre Rios 4,100,000 cattle, 4,900,000 sheep, and 720,000 horses. In the same year about 400,000 cattle were slaughtered in the nineteen cattle-dressing establishments of the province. The capital city of Parana, which was the capital of the republic from 1852 to 1861, has a population of 20,000. This city is well built, and has one national college, a normal school, and a number of elementary schools. All ships that ply on the Parana River stop here. In the northeast part of the republic is the province of Corrientes, with an area of 54,000 square miles and a population of 300,000. Corrientes abounds in lakes and streams that make its soil especially adapted to agricultural and grazing purposes. Among other prod- THE ARGENTINE PROVINCES. 263 ucts, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, wheat, and maize are extensively cultivated. The province is also rich in hard woods, of which it has immense forests. The city of Corrientes, the capital, is situated on the left bank of the Parana River, and is a port of consider- able activity. In the neighborhood of the city are sev- EN ROUTE OVER THE ANDES. eral private shipyards, where sailing ships are built of wood brought from El Chaco. These ships last many years on account of the great resistance of the wood employed in their construction. The province of San Juan lies next to Chile and south of La Rioja. It is rich in mineral resources, which have not yet been worked to the extent that they 264 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. deserve. The principal industry is agriculture. Wheat and maize are raised, but the most profitable product is lucerne, a fodder plant necessary to fatten the great number of cattle exported to Chile. The cultivation of grapes is also a remunerative industry, the wines of San Juan being sold throughout the republic. The long and narrow province of San Luis is moun- tainous in its northern part, but level in the south. Mining is its principal industry, the province being very rich in both metals and minerals. Wheat, maize, bar- ley, potatoes, lucerne, and grapes are raised, but only for home consumption. The prosperous province of Santa Fe* is situated east of Cordoba and north of Buenos Aires. Its area is 18,000 square miles, and out of a population of 300,000 at least 100,000 are foreigners. Santa Fe's soil is es- pecially adapted for agricultural and grazing purposes. The greater portion of the land is used for the culti- vation of wheat and maize; and lucerne, limes, and peanuts come next in amount of production. The capital of the province is the city of Santa Fe, situated on the banks of a river of the same name, which is a branch of the Parana; but the principal city of the province is the port of Rosario, on the Parana River. Rosario now has a population of over 1 Op, 000. Being in river and railroad communication with all parts of the republic, it controls most of the export and import trade of the provinces situated to the north of Buenos Aires. It is easily reached by all sea-going ships, as the Parana River is navigable for them. Rosario has all the modern improvements, and is a prosperous city. THE LEADING INDUSTRIES. 265 The province of Mendoza is mountainous only in its western part, being level in the middle and east, where the soil is very rich. In addition to the ordinary cereal crops, peaches and grapes are extensively cultivated. The wines of Mendoza, its olives, dried grapes, and dried figs, are sold throughout the republic. The city of Mendoza, the seat of the provincial gov- ernment, has now about 25,000 inhabitants. It was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1861, and over 10,000 persons perished under the ruins. This happened during Holy Week, and a great part of the inhabitants were at mass when the earthquake came. The ruins of the old city are yet visible, as new ground was taken for rebuilding the city. Mendoza has several tramway lines; its streets are wide and well paved; it has some very pretty parks; and the city presents, in general, a most pleasant aspect. It has a national college, two normal schools, an agri- cultural school, and twenty public schools. It can be reached by railroad from Buenos Aires in about thirty hours. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE LEADING INDUSTRIES. No other country in the world, perhaps, has witnessed within the past twenty-five years such remarkable in- dustrial changes as the Argentine Republic, which is beginning to be spoken of as " the Yankee-land " of South America. 266 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. A Handbook recently issued by the Bureau of South American Republics, in Washington, D.C., says: "It is only necessary to look at the statistics of international commerce to obtain the proof of this remarkable trans- formation. The exports of 1875 were limited to hides, wool, grease, jerked beef, and other minor products of DRYING HIDES. the pastoral industry; while the imports comprised even the most rudimentary articles belonging to the manu- facturing industries, plainly showing the incapacity of this country to produce, at that time, anything beyond the products of the soil. "Recent statistics show a very different state of affairs. In the column of exports appear a great many THE LEADING INDUSTRIES. 267 articles which before were in the column of imports; while from the latter have disappeared a great many articles which before figured conspicuously in it. All this shows the progress made by the country in the short space above cited. Of the importance of the prod- ucts, their class, quality, and variety, the reader can form an idea by studying with care the long list of products now manufactured in this country. It will be seen that nearly all the important branches of human activity are represented in this new period of industrial progress." We summarize the further statements of the Hand- book as follows: Within the limits of the city of Buenos Aires alone there are 986 establishments for the working of metals; 1210 for preparing hides; 1178 for timber; 748 for cereals; 1657 spinning establish- ments; 289 establishments for the manufacture of arti- cles of glass and wax; 51 for the manufacture of chemical products ; 26 for manufacturing grocery prod- ucts; 168 distilleries; 268 cigar and cigarette manu- factories; and 1044 other kinds of manufactories, making in all a total of 7619 industrial establishments. There are also, in various parts of the country, a number of factories for the making of chocolate, and these are furnished with first-class machinery, and are capable of producing over 2,000,000 pounds per year. The chocolate made is of such excellent quality that it has almost stopped the importation of the European article. The city of Buenos Aires has 811 establishments devoted to the manufacture of furniture of all kinds; and the importations of furniture have, in consequence, 268 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. almost ceased. Over 50,000 men are employed in the country in the profitable industry of wood-working. It is calculated that the number of persons employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes throughout the country amounts to 25,000, and that the value of the annual production of these articles reaches the figure of 150,000,000 paper money. Almost every known arti- cle of leather and skin is manufactured, the importation of such articles being very small. The yearly production of tobacco is calculated to be 26,400,000 pounds at present; but, as the industry is assuming greater proportions every day, this production may be doubled in a very short time. Within the last few years several mills for the manu- facture of cloths and underwear have been established, with profit to the owners. The annual importation of dry goods amounts to 140,000,000 in value, so that capital employed in the textile industry is sure to obtain abundant return. There are, in the city of Buenos Aires, eighty-one establishments where shirts are made, the importation of ready-made clothing into the coun- try having practically ceased. Seventeen factories are engaged in the manufacture of hats, and this branch of business also promises to be a success. The greatest of all industries is the raising of cat- tle and sheep. In round numbers there are about 100,000,000 sheep and 30,000,000 cattle in the Argen- tine. Near the cities many large farms are occupied by the dairymen, who provide the city with milk and butter. They have some very fine breeds of cattle, which they milk at all times of the day. The cattle wander over a large area of grazing ground, and remain THE LEADING INDUSTRIES. 269 in the open air day and night, summer and winter. It is nothing uncommon for one of these large dairy establishments to have from 4000 to 5000 cows. Farming is also steadily increasing. The cultivation of the soil is of recent growth in the Argentine. Before BRANDING CATTLE. the war with Paraguay, the people imported nearly all their flour from Chile; hut during this war the Argen- tine farmers found a good market for their products; and when the war was over it was discovered that the supply of grain was sufficient to satisfy the demand of the whole region of the Rio Plata. After a while the country began to export grain, and now wheat is one of the chief articles of export to the European market. 270 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Regarding the conditions of life of farmers in the Argentine Republic as compared with those of Europe, and the methods employed in their work, Monsieur Daireaux says: " His house is in the midst of his land, and he grows but one class of grain on his farm of 125 or 250 acres. While one farmer grows wheat, another grows maize, another barley, and another flax, etc. In a word, the farmer works like a business man, seeking to make his business pay. In this manner he obtains better results than the French farmer, and is able, besides, to devote more of his time to rest and study. " In autumn the Argentine farmer prepares his land. The rich nature of the soil makes this operation an easy one, being reduced to a few turns of the plow to pre- pare it; a difficult and costly operation not being at all necessary. Two months suffice to do this and to sow the seed. He spends the winter in those mild regions, where it never snows, in looking after his garden, pot herbs, and his oxen and horses. In the spring nature works for him. "At last summer arrives, or at least is near, because in the month of November, which corresponds to the month of May in the northern hemisphere, the wheat commences to get yellow, and it is time to prepare the reaping machines. It might be said that the murmur of the ripe ears of corn and wheat calls the farmer from his tranquil life. So it happened in times gone by, when the farmer had to reap with his own hands, and was forced to lose most of the harvest for lack of laborers. To-day things have changed. The farmer who finds it impossible to buy the machine or machines he requires, THE LEADING INDUSTRIES. 271 makes an agreement with one of the many contractors of the district, who, in a week, reaps the harvest, thrashes it, and leaves it ready to be exported, some- times even buys it himself ; so that the farmer has only to exchange his crop for a check, and the business is done." Reference has already been made to the yerba, some- times called yerba mate, from which the Paraguay tea is made. It is to South America what the tea of China is to Europe and the United States; and its qualities are not very different from those of the Asiatic herb. The yerba trees grow in forests, called yerbales, bor- dering on the rivers of Paraguay, and attain a con- siderable size. At the time of gathering, a party of THE MATE AND THE BOMBILLA. laborers is sent into the forests to collect the branches, sprigs, and leaves. After being thoroughly scorched, the leaves and twigs are packed in a rawhide, which con- tracts as it dries, compressing the yerba into an almost solid mass. In this condition it is sent to market. " The mate is a small gourd which forms the general drinking cup in all these regions. An infusion of the yerba having been made, with accessories of milk and sugar, as in our own country, it is sucked from the mate through a tin or silver tube, called the bombilla, 272 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. which is provided at its lower extremity with a strainer, which prevents the fine particles of the yerba from ris- ing to the mouth. The name of the gourd, or cup, is quite frequently coupled with that of the tea in men- tioning the article." The industries of this interesting country are steadily on the increase, and the prospects for the industrial future of the republic grow brighter day by day. CHAPTER XXXIV. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PARAGUAY. IN a recent report made to our government in Wash- ington, Consul Hill aptly says : " In order to appreciate properly the present condition of Paraguay, the char- acter of its institutions, and its future prospects, a cursory glance at its past is absolutely necessary. No nation has so barely escaped utter extinction through the adverse fortunes of war, as has this interesting republic; and yet, to-day, scarcely a score of years since the close of the late disastrous war, the country is on a firmer basis than ever before, and can look to the future with complacency and some degree of con- fidence." Following the excellent suggestion of this report, we first glance at the far-away past; and as we do so, we soon discover that scarcely anything is known of the primitive inhabitants of Paraguay. Sebastian Cabot was the first white man to navigate the Parana and the HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PARAGUAY. 273 Paraguay rivers, and in 1526 he sailed by the site of the present city of Asuncion. The first settlement in Paraguay was made ten years later by a company of three hundred Spanish colonists, under the command of Juan de Ayolas. They established a fort on what was supposed to be a route to the gold fields and silver rivers of Peru ; and this fort, in the course of time, became the city which is now the capital of the republic. It was given the name of Asuncion because the work of its construction was begun on the 15th of August, a day set apart by the Church for the commemoration of " the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of our Lord." Spanish governors were appointed from Spain until 1591, when Hernando de Saavedra was made governor of the colony, the first native of the country ever intrusted by Spain with supreme authority. He believed that the policy of extermination, by war or otherwise, which thus far had been the only one adopted in regard to the native races, could be set aside and abandoned to the great advantage of all concerned, and replaced by a policy of moderation and fair treatment, through religious influences. It was at his suggestion that King Philip III., in 1608, intrusted the Jesuits with the duty of carrying out the new policy. The first Jesuits arrived in Asuncion in 1609; and the influence of the Society of Jesus continued in Paraguay until the famous decree of King Charles III., issued in 1767, expelled all members of that order from the dominions of Spain. The invasion of Spain by the French, the abdication of Charles IV. in favor of his son, Ferdinand VIII., the captivity of the latter, and the accession of Joseph 274 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Bonaparte to the throne of Spain loosened the grip of Spain on her colonies and so helped to pave the way to independence in Paraguay as in the rest of Spanish America. An assembly of Paraguayan deputies, which inaugu- rated its sessions on the llth of June, 1811, passed a resolution by which all allegiance to Spain was renounced. A subsequent Congress, in 1813, ratified this declaration of independence; resolved that Para- guay should thereafter be a republic; devised and adopted a national flag ; and vested the government in two consuls, to be elected annually. The first consuls, elected in 1813, were Francia and Yegros. Difficulties having arisen between these two officials, a new Congress decided the next year to make Dr. Francia dictator for three years. After the expira- tion of this term another Congress, in 1817, proclaimed that Dr. Francia's dictatorship was perpetual. He governed the country until his death, twenty-three years later. A provisional government was then created at Asun- cion, consisting of four military officers of high rank under the presidency of the mayor of Asuncion. Shortly afterward this board, or junta, as it was called, was superseded by a triumvirate, which, in turn, was abol- ished by order of Congress two months later, and replaced by the old consulate. The consuls chosen were Don Carlos Lopez and Don Mariano Alonzo, the latter a soldier of high rank who had commanded the national army. In 1844, at the expiration of the term of office of the two consuls, the form of government was again changed HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PARAGUAY. 275 THE NATIONAL PALACE AT ASUNCION. by Congress. The executive authority was vested in a chief magistrate, under the title of President of the republic, who was to serve for ten years. Lopez, who was elected to this position, completed his term of office in 1854, and then he was reflected, first for three years, and in 1857 for ten more. He died, however, on the 10th of September, 1862, and the government fell into the hands of his son. The ambition of the younger Lopez plunged the country into war with Brazil. The Argentine govern- ment refused to allow the transportation of troops through her territory, so the Paraguayan Congress issued a declaration of war against that country. This brought about an alliance between Brazil, the Argen- tine Republic, and Uruguay, by whose united action Paraguay was almost annihilated. Lopez died on the field of battle on the 1st of March, 1870. A committee of prominent citizens undertook the reorganization of the country; and the administra- tion of the government was temporarily intrusted to 276 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. a triumvirate. The three men thus elected worked faithfully and fulfilled their delicate mission to the satisfaction of all. The difficulties of their work were rendered graver by the fact that the enemy had riot yet evacuated the Paraguayan territory; but arbitration by the United States resulted in favor of Paragua}'. The old electoral districts were reestablished, as far as practicable ; and a constitutional convention of sixty members, elected by the people, was called together. This convention met in August, 1870, and the consti- tution which was framed and proclaimed on the 24th of November following is still in force. There have been ten presidents since the present order was established; the government now (1901) being in the hands of Presi- dent Emilio Aceval. Although some unsettled bound- ary disputes may possibly lead to further trouble, the country is flourishing under his administration, and bids fair to take its old place among its sister republics. CHAPTER XXXV. THE LAND OF PLENTY. PARAGUAY is an inland state, entirely shut in by Brazil, the Argentine Republic, and Bolivia; it is reached by water through the La Plata, the Uruguay, and Parana rivers. The Paraguay River runs from north to south across the whole republic, dividing it into two sections, which may be called eastern Paraguay and western Paraguay. Eastern Paraguay embraces THE LAND OF PLENTY. 277 all the vitality in the republic; the western section is only beginning to be developed. The climate of Paraguay is warm and dry. There are two seasons, usually called summer and winter, though the winter is so mild that there is scarcely a day in which the sun is not warm enough to cause people to seek the shade. The general appearance of Paraguay is far more attractive than either Uruguay or the Argentine Repub- lic. The left bank of the river Paraguay presents an uninterrupted fringe of dense forests, which stretch across to the eastern boundaries of the country, and embrace a hundred different varieties of timber trees. On the opposite shore are open meadows of immeasurable extent, widening out into immense groves of palm and cocoa trees. In the extreme southern limits low prairies, covered with a rank vegetation, alternate with swamps which extend northward for a considerable distance. Western Paraguay, or El Chaco, as it is generally called, was for many years almost entirely in the pos- session of wandering tribes of Indians, who were hos- tile to the white men. They preferred to keep their forests, which are full of wild game, to themselves. Until within a few years this immense territory has been considered worthless; but recent surveys have shown that the soil is very fertile. The trees of the forest are mostly evergreens, and much of the wood is hard and heavy, so heavy that it will not float. Here and there are rich pasture lands and open places where all kinds of grain, sugar cane, tobacco, and fruits can be grown ; but at the present time comparatively little land is under cultivation. 278 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. With reference to western Paraguay, Mr. John E. Bacon, an official of the United States in Paraguay and Uruguay, recently reported to the Secretary of State of the United States as follows : "This Chaco, or Gran Chaco, as it is called, is an immense territory lying to the west and northwest of the rivers La Plata, Paraguay, etc., and has been, until the last ten or twenty years, regarded as comparatively worthless, owing to its supposed impenetrable swamps, dense morasses, and uninhabitable territory. The recent tide of immigration, however, to the Plata valley gave rise to surveys of portions thereof, and disclosed astound- ing developments of its fertility, salubrity, and other desirable qualities. These qualities, as gradually developed, have given rise to great contentions as to proprietorship thereof by the neighboring states, espe- cially those of the Argentine Republic, Uruguay, and Bolivia. The limits, so far as the Argentine and Paraguay were concerned, were left to arbitration by President Hayes, who decided in favor of Paraguay. This decision has been of far greater importance in every way, especially financially, than was anticipated. Indeed, there has poured into the Paraguay treasury, from the sale of lands accorded to the government by said arbitration, a large amount of money; and it has been greatly instrumental in the rapid improvement, financial and otherwise, of the republic." An Englishman, who had been cattle farming at San Ignacio for three years, recently said that since he had been there he had never got a stroke of work out of the natives dwelling on this land. They live on oranges, mandioca, and mate, and will not work. On THE IMPENETRABLE TROPICAL FOREST. 280 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. his extensive farm he has twenty thousand orange trees; but, for want of means of transportation, the fruit has no market value. Under the trees the oranges lie on the ground a foot deep, and the cattle eat them and fatten. He suggested that it might be a good thing for Paragflay if the government caused the orange trees to be cut down as the government of Costa Rica at one time had the bananas destroyed with a view to stamping out the universal laziness and oblig- ing the people to work for their bread. Eastern Paraguay, or Paraguay proper, is by no means a mountainous country, but in contrast with the monotonously level pampas of the Argentine Republic its diversified surface may well seem so. From the banks of the Paraguay River to the eastern frontier stretches one continuous panorama of gently undulating plains, bordered by verdure-clad hills. The interior of the country is not yet well known. Its vast virgin forests interpose barriers which have driven back the hardiest explorers. There are few routes of communication by land out- side of the valley which extends from Asuncion to Encarnacion, the terminus of present railroad proj- ects, and certain well-frequented roads leading to the rich agricultural regions of the country. Such geo- graphical knowledge as we have of Paraguay is mainly derived from following the course of its principal rivers. Asuncion, situated on the left bank of the Paraguay River, is the largest city in the country, and is the seat of government. Its population is about 44,817. The appearance of the city in general is very neat and THE LAND OF PLENTY. 281 pleasing, and the government has erected some beau- tiful buildings. The houses are generally one story high, and they are constructed so as to be practically fireproof. The city has a customhouse, a cathedral, and many fine churches, a hospital, a public library, and a university. It is noted for its high degree of civilization and refinement, and the country is famed for its hospitality and kindness to visitors and strangers. Two structures in Asuncion which excite consider- able interest were both started by Lopez. One of these, the old theater, built after the style of the cele- brated La Scala at Milan, occupies an entire block. The other is the Mausoleum, an imitation of the tomb of Napoleon in Paris. The city is not rich in monu- ments. Although it is the oldest settlement on the South American continent, it has no relics of the con- querors, whose aim, it is to be feared, was always to enrich themselves rather than to create a healthy and noble civilization. Asuncion is well guarded and patrolled by police, and there is very little crime and lawlessness. The city is lighted by electric lights, and rapid transit by five lines of street cars is a great convenience; but we must also add that in some of the side streets cows may be seen grazing. An evidence of the poor con- dition of the streets is found in the fact that there are no public or private carriages; the only vehicles used are ox-carts and lighter wagons drawn by three or four mules. Pack-mules, donkeys, and riding horses are also used ; but for light goods and passengers, the great and indispensable conveyance is the tramway, which bears the name of Conductor Universal, 282 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. For the visitor the chief interest of Asuncion is in the street life, and particularly the central market, where may be seen almost all types of persons living in the republic. A recent visitor has said : " Inside the market, besides the various stalls for the sale of vegetables, provisions of all kinds, and dry goods, there are several restaurants, where smoking caldrons of stew are presided over by active matrons ; and along the alleys, the pavement is occupied by women of all ages squatting in groups, mostly Guarani Indians, interspersed with a few negresses and mulattoes, all looking sad, thin, arid miserable, and, with very few exceptions, exceedingly ugly. Occasionally, however, you see a Guarani girl with a serene face, fine eyes, well-formed and even beautiful features. But, on the whole, it would be difficult to find a more complete collection of ugly and lean old women than that to be seen in the market of Asuncion. "They sit there comparatively silent, abandoned to their fate, with their merchandise spread out on the floor in front of them a few cobs of maize, a few bundles of rough cigars tied up with sewing cotton, little piles of mandioca, sweet potatoes, oranges, pea- nuts, sugar cane, some vegetables and salad, two or three cheeses badly made, a bunch of bananas, or what not. Some of them sell charcoal tied up in little sacks about six inches long, that look like toys. All these speak in a whining, deprecatory tone. If you ask the price of a thing, they answer almost whimperingly, as if it pained them to tell you. Outside the market, under the colonnade, you see similar groups of young and old women squatting in front of little heaps of THE LAND OF PLENTY. 283 produce and waiting for customers, and other groups of women gliding along barefooted and noiselessly, indolent and ruminative, each one with a cigar between her lips." Of the state of the provincial towns and villages, the traveler can judge by a trip of 250 miles up the river to Villa Concepcion, or by a railway journey toward Villa Rica; but, except from the point of view of the lover of landscape and tropical nature, there is not much to make the journey worth one's while. Villa Concepcion is somewhat less advanced than Asuncion and less picturesque, and the other towns and villages offer nothing of interest. As for visiting parts of Paraguay not on the two routes mentioned, the want of roads and ways of communication renders the task long and toilsome. The Paraguay River is in reality an affluent of the Parana in much the same manner as the Missouri River is an affluent of the Mississippi. It takes its rise in a chain of lakes called the Seven Lagoons, in Brazilian territory, and its total length is about 1800 miles. Its average width is 360 yards, and its mean depth is 20 feet. Below the mouth of the Apa, the navigation of the river becomes difficult because of numerous reefs and sand bars. This portion of the river is described as extremely picturesque, by Dr. E. Dardye, the eminent French geographer and explorer, in his recent work, " Le Paraguay." He says: "Grand terraces of gray marble, honeycombed with deep grottoes peopled by an infini- tude of birds, such as one finds only in Paraguay, fringe the main channel of the stream, or remain half hidden in 284 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the undergrowth of some abandoned arm of the river. Giant cacti and tree ferns cling to all the interstices of the rocks, relieving their ruggedness. In the distance lofty hills form the horizon. The trees, at certain sea- sons of the year, are covered by glorious flowers, some resembling enormous bouquets of violets, others pre- A RANCH ON THE PLAINS. senting translucent masses of yellow and crimson and every conceivable tint, set in the gray background of the marble rocks. It is one perpetual scene of enchant- ment, which commences at Itapucu and continues till the environs of the ancient city of Divino Salvador are reached." Some miles below Salvador the banks become lower, and the country resumes its monotonous features. Below Concepcion the river's banks are high on the left and low on the Chaco side. A number of colonies are established in these regions. Prior to the late disastrous war, the coast for many miles was covered with rich cattle farms. They were all destroyed during that THE LAND OF PLENTY. 285 terrible struggle ; but they are now being repeopled, and are resuming their former prosperity. The two staple products of Paraguay are yerba mate and oranges. The yerba mate was employed in the form of an aro- matic drink by the Indians, who taught the Spanish conquerors to appreciate it. The consumption of mate is now quite general throughout South America, not only among the Creoles and the old settlers, but also among the new immigrants. It is preferred to Chinese tea, coffee, or cocoa; and it is pronounced by certain scientists to be a waste-preventing stimulant of real value. The orange tree, it is supposed, was introduced into Paraguay by the Jesuits, and the seeds were distributed by birds. Paraguay is the land of orange trees more truly than Florida or California. Both wild and cultivated orange trees abound, and spread over the landscape a warm golden tinge of singular intensity. The Paraguayan oranges are said to possess a delicacy that those of Spain and Italy have never attained. One of the principal industries of the country consists in the exportation of this fruit. The great orange sea- son is from May to August, when the ports of the Para- guay River dispatch enormous quantities by steamers and schooners. Some 60,000,000 oranges are exported annually; about the same quantity is consumed by the natives; and perhaps treble that quantity is devoured by monkeys and birds, or left to rot on the ground. Consul Baker, in his report cited above, says: "The most remarkable industry in Paraguay is the manufac- ture of lace. It is a specialty of the country, entirely 286 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. in the hands of the Paraguayan women, and finds sale in all parts of South America. The skill which they display with the needle is wonderful, the art being another remnant of the lessons taught by the Jesuits. The pieces of edging, insertion, lace handkerchiefs, worked chemises, headgear, mantillas, curtains, shawls, tidies, sofa backs, and even hammocks, which these women sell at very moderate rates, would, in any other country in the world, command exorbitant prices." CHAPTER XXXVI. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF URUGUAY. IN 1515 Juan Diaz de Solis sailed with three caravels, from the port of Lepe, in Spain, and early in the fol- lowing year he reached the coast of Brazil, which by that time had been visited by several explorers. Con- tinuing down the coast, he came to Cape Santa Maria within the limits of the present republic of Uruguay, and, doubling its extremity, entered the large bay beyond, which he is said to have visited previously, in 1508. From this place he continued his voyage along the coast to the west until he reached an island, sup- posed to be that which is now called San Gabriel, not far from the present city and port of Colonia. Leaving two of his vessels anchored at this island, he set sail with his smallest ship and arrived at the island in the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, to which he gave the name of his pilot, Martin Garcia, which it has HISTORICAL SKETCH OF URUGUAY. 287 retained to this day. Determined to take possession of the country in the name of the Crown of Castile, and to explore the coast region, he disembarked with nine companions. A band of natives from a place of conceal- ment had watched their landing, and, attacking them unexpectedly, killed Solis with eight of his men, and captured the remaining one, who was badly wounded. Three years later Ferdinand Magellan, following the same course as Solis, entered the Rio de la Plata. This river he explored for some distance in an attempt to penetrate westward in search of a route to the East Indies, which was the constant object of the explorers of that time. He soon abandoned this purpose, how- ever, and continued his voyage down the coast of Pata- gonia, until driven back by one of the cold storms so frequent in that region. Sebastian Cabot in 1526 sent an expedition to explore the country along the Uruguay, but the band was at- tacked by the natives and its leader killed, with many of his followers. Cabot himself ascended the Plata, entered the Parana, and pushed his expedition as far as the great falls called Salto de Agua. He established military posts and settlements along the streams, against the fierce and determined opposition of the savages, who resisted desperately every advance of the strangers. In 1527 he directed the erection of the first fort constructed in the "Banda Oriental," or belt of country east of the Uruguay. It was situated on the river San Salvador as a protection against the attacks of the natives, and was held until 1580, when it was abandoned by its garrison. These were the first at- tempts at the occupation of the region. 288 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Two later attempts of the Spaniards to settle Uru- guay, one in 1550 and the other in 1574, were failures. In the meanwhile, they had established themselves firmly in Paraguay, and were pushing their settlements into the country now known as the Argentine Republic. They kept up their efforts to gain a foothold in the region east of the Uruguay, where the rich pastures attracted the raisers of cattle. The opposition of the natives was, however, so fierce and so successful that little or no progress toward occupation was made for a long time; and even as late as 1603 a veteran Spanish force was routed in pitched battle. So it was not until 1624 that the first permanent settlement was founded. The Banda Oriental belonged nominally to the gov- ernment of Buenos Aires, but the jurisdiction was dis- puted by Spain and Portugal. As it was almost entirely unoccupied by the Spaniards, the Portuguese, who had already established themselves firmly in Brazil, attempted the occupation of the country by establish- ing, in 1680, the colony of Sacramento, nearly opposite Buenos Aires. A lively trade sprang up between the two places, and the inhabitants of Buenos Aires were enabled to obtain, at a much lower price, various arti- cles which they had previously been compelled to get from Peru under an exorbitant tax. Extending their possession in 1723, the Portuguese seized and fortified the heights surrounding the bay of Montevideo, and thus greatly strengthened their hold upon the sur- rounding territory. The Spaniards, menaced in their possessions and revenues, dispatched an expedition in 1724 against HISTORICAL SKETCH OF URUGUAY. 289 the Portuguese, who surrendered to the attacking force without resistance. In January, 1726, a settlement of six families made the beginning of the city of Monte- video. These families came from Buenos Aires, and were joined, during the same year, by twelve more, brought from the Canary Islands. Then followed a long struggle between the Spaniards and the Portu- THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE IN MONTEVIDEO. guese for the possession of the country, which resulted in establishing the claim of Spain. The effort made by England to extend her territory in South America is interesting. In 1806 an English fleet, under Commodore Popham, appeared before Monte- video, but finding the place prepared for attack, pro- ceeded to Buenos Aires, which it captured without much resistance. The whole English force consisted 290 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. of five vessels and only 1500 men, and the slight resist- ance offered by the viceroy has been imputed to cow- ardice. The indignation excited by the surrender made it easy for Captain Liriiers to collect a body of about 3000 men for the recapture of the place. He attacked the English in Buenos Aires, and after a fierce struggle forced them to surrender. When the news of the cap- ture of Buenos Aires by Popham reached England, it was determined to complete the conquest of the coun- . try, and a fleet was dispatched to the Plata with a force of 5300 men. On their arrival, however, affairs were completely changed by the recapture of the city by the Spaniards, and they made no attempt to carry out the object of the expedition. England, however, was persistent. Popham remained in the river, threatening the eastern shore, but was repulsed in an attempt to capture Montevideo. In January, 1807, a fleet with reinforcements having arrived from England, a second attack was made on Montevideo; and on the night of February 2, after a vigorous assault by land and sea, the city was taken by the English forces. Soon after this, the combined English forces in the river made an attack on Buenos Aires, but were disastrously defeated. They withdrew from Montevideo and abandoned the Rio de la Plata. Having successfully defended their soil from inva- sion, the people of the country had learned their strength, and were prepared to take the government into their own hands. On the 25th of May, 1810, the people of Buenos Aires chose a council to carry on the government. This step was the beginning of the struggle that put an end to Spanish rule in South HISTORICAL SKETCH OF URUGUAY. 291 America. After varying fortunes, and a succession of victories and defeats, the Uruguayans succeeded in expelling the Spaniards from the country, and a con- federation of the provinces of Uruguay was formed under Artigas, who was called the Protector. Uruguay, however, was not long to enjoy its hard- earned independence. The Portuguese had never renounced their claim to the country up to the Plata; and at the invitation of certain malcontents, they sent a force from Brazil to overthrow Artigas. After a cam- paign of hard fighting, they succeeded in capturing Montevideo. Maldonado was taken by a Portuguese fleet, but the country, for the greater part, still remained true to Artigas. He continued the struggle against the invaders and against the revolting leaders in his own country, until, overcome by the superior force of his adversaries, he was forced to take refuge in Paraguay, where he remained until his death, in 1850. The Portuguese controlled affairs in Uruguay until, in 1825, a band of thirty-three Uruguayan refugees left Buenos Aires and entered Uruguay, with the hope of provoking a revolt against its rulers. Many of the inhabitants joined them, and they eventually became strong enough to defeat a Brazilian force at San Salvador. The insurgents proceeded to elect mem- bers to an assembly, which issued a declaration of inde- pendence. The revolution gained strength. The Brazilian cav- alry was twice defeated, and the Brazilians were reduced to the garrisons of Montevideo and Colon ia. The Argentine government now intervened, declaring that the province of Colon ia belonged to them; and the 292 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Brazilians retaliated by declaring war on that republic, and sent a fleet to blockade Buenos Aires. In several attacks the Argentine forces were repulsed, but they, in turn, practically annihilated a Brazilian expedition into the Uruguay River. Many years were consumed in warfare, and the full independence of Uruguay was not secured until 1865, when the republic was estab- lished, and General Flores was elected its first presi- dent. In 1866 the republic of Uruguay became allied with Brazil in the war declared by the latter country against Francisco Lopez, dictator of Paraguay. In this war, which continued until March, 1870, the Uruguayan forces numbered about 2000 men ; and General Flores distinguished himself by a complete victory over a division of the Paraguayans at Yatay, on the 17th of August, 1865. A number of petty revolutions occurred between the years 1866 and 1875, but since that time the country has enjoyed comparative quiet. The political agitations have lost much of their bitterness, and the people seem less inclined to sacrifice themselves and their welfare to the ambitions of military leaders. The republic appears to have entered upon the path of constitutional progress and the regime of law and order. The presi- dents, of late years, have exhibited wisdom in govern- ing under difficult circumstances, and have shown a patriotic ambition to advance their country's welfare rather than their personal interests. As the nation emerges from the cloud of a great financial storm which had gathered over it, it can look to a future bright with prosperity. THE SMALLEST REPUBLIC. 293 CHAPTER XXXVII. THE SMALLEST REPUBLIC. URUGUAY is the smallest independent state in South America; but still it is a country about as large as the six New England states, with New Jersey and Dela- ware added. It has a population of nearly 920,000, of whom 90,000 are foreigners. It is said that there is not an acre of unproductive land in all Uruguay, and that it is capable of support- ing a population as large as that of Great Britain. The soil and climate are of such a character that any grain or fruit in the list of the world's products can be pro- duced in abundance. Coffee will grow beside corn, and bananas and pineapples beside wheat. Sugar and po- tatoes, apples and oranges, in fact, all things that man requires for food and clothing, can be raised within the boundaries of the republic at a minimum of labor. There are also medicinal plants, forests of useful timber, and grass of the most nutritious quality for cattle, so abundant that ten times as many animals can be fed upon the same area as in the Argentine Repub- lic. The supply of water for mechanical purposes is plentiful; and geologists say that coal-beds underlie much of the surface of the northern provinces. The climate is moist, mild, and healthy ; and there are really only two seasons, summer and winter. The physical aspect presents a strong contrast to the flat, treeless, and often arid pampas of the Argen- tines. The hill chains are numerous, and spread over the whole country, forming many streams, rivers, and 294 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. lakes. The important rivers number seventeen, of which the chief are the Plata, the Rio Negro, and the Uruguay. The Rio Negro runs through the center of the territory. Nearly all sections of the republic may be reached by navigable rivers, and natural harbors are frequent along the coast. From the mouth of the Plata is seen a single high hill close to the water's edge. It is the landmark from which Montevideo derives its name, for that name means "I see a mountain." It guards the entrance to a deep cove, which forms the inner harbor. The city will soon have the finest artificial port in the south Atlantic Ocean, contracts for its construction having already been awarded and ratified by Congress. It will take some three years to complete the work, the cost of which will be about $12,000,000. The city stands on a peninsula perhaps half a mile in width, with its streets sloping toward the river-front on one side and toward the bay on the other. Thirty years ago only a portion of this peninsula w r as occu- pied. Now the city stretches outward for miles along the river, and back of the bay there are beautiful sub- urbs with lovely gardens. The population probably exceeds 270,000, and is increasing with remarkable rapidity. Immigration within the last decade has reenforced the Uruguayan stock with large contingents from Italy and Spain. The Italians take the place of the negroes of a Brazilian coast city as the working population. A writer in the New England Magazine says, " Monte- video is neither quaint like Bahia, nor picturesque like Rio, but it is modern and handsome. The streets are 296 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. wide, well paved and lighted, and compactly built up. The architecture is modern and massive. Granite and Italian marbles are used in the handsome building fronts. Portuguese tiles are seen only in the oldest quarters of the town. Plaster fronts, so common in Brazil, are replaced with fine building stone, much of which is quarried in the Uruguay hills. The leading thoroughfare, the Paseo de Julio, recording a date of patriotic memory, is approached from Plaza Constitu- cion, where stands the cathedral, a massive building with two towers. On another side is the showy Uru- guay clubhouse. Close at hand is the chief opera house and theater of the town. A few blocks farther on is a plaza, surrounded on four sides by government and other buildings, with continuous lines of colonnades and arcades: a unique and striking effect. A third plaza, with a graceful column surmounted with a statue of Liberty, is in the heart of the city. All the way from the Plaza Independencia, the Julio is lined with handsome shops, in which European goods are attrac- tively displayed. It has the airy effect of a cool, tasteful, Parisian boulevard." Montevideo is as modern in its manner of life as in its architectural aspects. Bustle and activity pervade its streets. There are street cars trundling in every thoroughfare, and the musical horns of the conductors are heard long past midnight and in the earliest hours of the morning. Handsome carriages and cabs are in the streets. The wide sidewalks are thronged with a busy, energetic, and thrifty population. The city has a wide-awake and prosperous air that reminds one strongly of Boston or New York. But Montevideo THE SMALLEST REPUBLIC. 297 is European rather than American in its aspects and customs. It is claimed that Montevideo is the most healthy city in the world. This seems reasonable, as the natural drainage is perfect and the climate is much like that of Tennessee, the cold weather of winter being moderated by the warm ocean current, and the heat of summer by the sea breeze that seldom fails to perform its grateful service. Such a thing as a stove is not to be found in the whole country, but some of the foreigners have fireplaces in their houses. All the languages of the civilized world are heard in the streets and social circles of the capital ; no city on the continent has a more cosmopolitan character. The streets are straight and wide, and generally well kept. The city proper contains upward of 12,000 houses, of which about one-fifth are of three or four stories, and many handsome residences are in process of construction. The city has at present a constant and steady growth. The most beautiful suburb of the city is Paso del Molino, where are situated the Prado, a public park, and line upon line of tasteful villas surrounded with gardens. These suburban houses are utterly unlike the old-fashioned Portuguese mansions of Brazil, and belong to the modern class of spacious, well-designed, and thoroughly comfortable country residences. It is seven degrees nearer the equator than New York, and the climate is more equable. The gardens are lovely. Roses are grown in endless varieties and require no protection in winter. Uru- guay is called the land of roses. Many other flowers 298 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. bloom all through the year. Fine lawns are not often seen, as the grass is not suitable for good landscape effects ; but the displays of trees and flowering shrub- bery of all kinds are exceedingly beautiful. Agricultural development in Uruguay has been rather unsatisfactory. There has been progress, but it has been feeble. However, the establishment of agricultural colonies, which is being pushed with much activ- ity, promises bet- ter results. This small re- public is becom- ing famous for the abundance, excel- lence, and variety of its fruits ; and of late years the exportation of pears and apples to Buenos Aires and Brazil has become of great importance. Fine strawberries of this country are to be seen in the markets of Rio de Janeiro, together with peaches and plums from the same source. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, lemons, limes, pomegranates, and grapes thrive throughout the entire territory ; and in the northern part, near the Brazilian border, grow the THE BAKER DELIVERING BREAD. THE SMALLEST REPUBLIC. 299 banana, the cocoanut, the pineapple, the orange, and many other tropical and semi-tropical fruits. Quince trees are so numerous as to form forests ; and the making of preserves from this fruit constitutes a valuable industry. The flora of the country is abundant and varied. The flowers are the admiration of all strangers ; and the for- ests abound with cabinet and building woods of great beauty and durability, which are unknown in Europe even by name. An important industry is that of the saladeros establishments where animals are killed, and their hides are dried and salted. The flesh and bones are prepared for export or otherwise utilized. The model establishment, and the most famous, is that of Fray Bentos, where Liebig's extract of beef is made. This saladero, founded in 1864, kills 1000 animals a day during the summer season, and employs 6000 men. Sheep farming is receiving increased attention of late years, and, apart from the value of the wool, it is becoming as important as the cattle industry. Frozen carcasses are shipped in large quantities to Europe. The improvement of the breeds of sheep will largely increase the value of the wool-clip in the future. An American, who has recently visited the La Plata region, writes: "In the Argentine the ranches appeared miserable enough, but in Uruguay I saw many even more primi- tive: mere huts of black mud, with roof of maize straw, a floor of beaten earth, a doorway, but not always a window. The cabins of the Irish peasantry give some idea of the Uruguayan rancho. It is a comfortless, unhealthy, rheumatic dwelling. ... As for the towns, 300 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. after Montevideo, the most important is Paysandu, which differs in no respect from a dozen Argentine towns similarly situated. " In that blending of races that accompanied the con- quest of the country, the pure native element has almost disappeared, and even the 'gaucho,' who represented the cross of the European and the aboriginal, has begun to adopt the civilized customs and garb, and to lose him- self in the growth of the modern and distinctive national type formed by the infusion of European blood, through immigration, into the population of mixed Spanish and native origin." The people of Uruguay have shown considerable energy and enterprise, and, but for the numerous politi- cal dissensions and civil wars, would have already reached a higher stage of progress. They are hospitable to excess, welcoming strangers with unaffected kind- ness. They are also liberal and tolerant toward reli- gious and political opinions different from their own ; gay in disposition, and fond of festivities ; eager for instruction, and appreciative of excellence in the arts arid literature. The ladies of Uruguay are considered to rank next to their sisters of Peru in beaut}^ and there is some- thing about the atmosphere which gives their com- plexion a purity and clearness that is not found among the ladies of any other country. That the race possesses elements capable of building up national greatness is indisputable. The proof lies in the constant progress it has made against the uncom- mon obstacles of its earlier years, and in spite of the civil and international wars that have so often swept over the young nation. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHILE. 301 CHAPTER XXXVIII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHILE. THE name " Chile " is derived, probably, from an ancient Peruvian word "Tchili," which means snow, a name taken, doubtless, from the snow-capped Cor- dilleras, which rise along the country on the east. All through the year, this covering of pure white smooths out the rugged outlines of the mountain peaks, and presents a most refreshing spectacle to the dwellers in the valleys. Of its 2600 miles of length from the province of Tacna to Cape Horn, fully one-half of Chili the north- ern is desert, devoid of vegetation and rarely moist- ened by a drop of rain. The southern half is wooded and capable of producing rich crops of grain ; while the central section, in the valleys, presents as fine an agri- cultural landscape as one can see anywhere in the world. Lying in the southern hemisphere, Chile's seasons are the reverse of ours ; our winter becomes its summer, and vice versa. There are few hotter places in the world than the city of Iquique in the month of January. The southern winters are characterized by rains, but it would be difficult to find a more delightful climate anywhere than that of central Chile in March and April. The nights are always cool ; after the sun sets, a cold air creeps down from the mountain-tops, that makes a blanket not only desirable, but necessary. Chile first became known to Europeans in the six- teenth century. Prior to the conquest of Peru by Pizarro, even., as early as the middle of the fifteenth 302 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. century, one of the Inca chiefs had tried from time to time to gain a foothold in the south, but had invari- ably been compelled to retire after a brief stay, owing to the indomitable spirit of the aborigines, the famous Araucanian Indians. The Incas finally conquered, however, and at the time of the invasion by Pizarro, the renowned Inca chief, Atahualpa, dominated the country. He was a wise ruler, and had advanced the standard of Inca civilization to the highest point, when the Spaniard appeared arid began his course of rapine and destruction. Not content with the conquest of Peru, Pizarro dis- patched an expedition to conquer Chile. This was in 1535. The invaders, however, met with such deter- mined resistance from the Araucanians that they were compelled to retire in order to save their lives. This failure only made Pizarro more ambitious to succeed. The opposition stirred his fiery temperament; and the reports which his lieutenants brought back, of fertile valleys, gold and silver, and the delightful climate, made him decide to lead an expedition in person. His personal attention, however, was required elsewhere, and he sent the second expedition in charge of Valdivia. It was his intention to follow, but he was assassinated in 1541. Valdivia reached the Mapocho River and fortified himself on the famous hill of Santa Lucia, where San- tiago now stands. A few years later he founded the town of Valdivia, some 400 miles farther south. His life was one continual battle with the natives, who seldom gave him the chance to reap a peaceful harvest, and he was finally obliged to retreat. The history of HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHILE. 303 the next 180 years is a repetition of similar experiences. Attempt after attempt was made by the Spaniards to conquer the country, but always without success. These expeditions, however, have had an important bearing on the Chilean natives of to-day, in making them a mixed race, the product of the adventurous, ARAUCANIAN INDIANS. cruel, and unscrupulous Spaniards, and the indomi- table Araucanians, who for courage have no superior in the world. In 1722 the Araucanians finally consented to a treaty whereby the river Bio-Bio was agreed upon as a boundary between their territory and the Spanish country. They preserve their identity to this day, and in some of the 301 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. isolated parts of the southern provinces are still in a savage state; but alcohol is proving a more subtle foe than the Spaniard, and it is safe to predict their entire disappearance as a race within a few years. ARAUCANIAN WOMEN. After the treaty of 1722 the country north of Bio-Bio was divided into thirteen provinces, under the control of a governor appointed by the viceroy of Peru. This continued until 1810. The history of Spanish rule in Chile is but a repe- tition of its history in Peru and Mexico, a systematic series of oppressions for the personal aggrandizement of HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHILE. 305 the governor. This finally led to a revolution in 1810, in which the Spanish governor was deposed and a coun- cil of seven men, chosen by the native Chileans, was put in his place. They still recognized the sovereignty of Spain, but instituted reforms to which Spain could not agree, so that it was practically a revolution. In the follow- ing year a collision occurred between Spanish sol- diers and the patriots, which resulted in a defeat of the soldiers and the discarding of all semblance of allegiance to Spain. Spain was at that time entirely taken up with the invasion of her own soil by the French, and could not spare the forces necessary to assert herself in her provinces ; but as soon as she could turn her attention to Chile, she again attempted to resume her supremacy. A powerful Spanish army invaded Chile in 1813, but was twice defeated by the republican troops. The Spaniards, however, speedily received reinforcements ; and, after a severe contest, Chile was once more obliged to own the sovereignty of Spain. For three years the people submitted to the old system of tyranny and misgovernment, until at length the patriot refugees, having levied an army in La Plata, marched against the Spaniards, and in 1817 completely defeated them at Chacabuco. The Chileans then proceeded to establish a govern- ment, and made Don Bernardo O'Higgins supreme dic- tator. The Spaniards did not give up the struggle by any means, but gathered reinforcements and began their attacks anew, at first with some success. The Chilean patriots rallied for a final effort, and on the plains of 306 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. the river Maipu, on April 5, 1818, they attacked and utterly routed the Spaniards. General O'Higgins held the office of supreme dictator until 1823, when a popular tumult obliged him to resign. From 1823 to 1828 was an unsettled period. The arbitrary character of the rulers, and the lack of familiarity with the principles of self-government, re- sulted in much confusion, and caused many changes in the office of chief magistrate; but the outcome was a national constitution, embodying many of the princi- ples of our own constitution. This document was revised in 1833, and became the corner-stone of the Chilean nation. The political condition of Chile between 1886 and 1892 is of peculiar interest because of the difficulty in which the United States Government became involved. For many years after the adoption of the republican form of government the country was strongly conserva- tive. As time passed, however, modern ideas and liberal views came to be entertained. The Liberal party grew in power and soon became divided by struggles for leadership and office. The most radical section of this party had its nucleus in a reform club in Santiago, which was composed, for the most part, of young men of university education, of whom Balmaceda was the most conspicuous. He had entered Congress in 1868, and rose to great distinction as a congressional leader and debater. As one of the founders of the Lib- eral party that had demanded important changes in the constitution, he acquired great popularity and strength ; and he added to his reputation by service as minister to the Argentine Republic during the Peruvian war. In HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHILE. 307 1885 his popularity carried him into the presidency by an overwhelming majority. The early part of his administration was characterized by great wisdom, liberality, and success. He introduced the complete separation of Church and State, a thorough THE CAPITOL AT SANTIAGO. system of popular education, and a system of normal schools with modern buildings and advanced methods of instruction. He caused a civil marriage law to be adopted. He also entered upon an elaborate system of internal improvements, building railroads, con- structing harbors, providing dry docks, wharves, and piers. 308 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. In the midst of extensive plans for full representa- tion of the arts and industries of Chile at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, with the avowed object of establishing closer commercial relations with the great republic of the North, the prosperity of this remarkable administration came to an abrupt end. Some of the Liberal members, thinking the president was going forward too rapidly, united with the old Conservative leaders, and Congress was soon broken up into five separate factions. What were thought to be arbitrary characteristics of the president led to hostility and revolt, which before many months took the form of a war between Balmaceda, on the one hand, and the representatives of Congress, known as the Junta, on the other. This war was carried on actively for seven months, in different parts of the republic. Balmaceda, after many bloody battles, was over- whelmed with defeat, and the insurgents entered Valpa- raiso in triumph. Foreign interests and residents were well protected by detachments of marines from the numerous men-of-war collected for that purpose in the bay of Valparaiso. Among these were the Baltimore, commanded by Captain, now Admiral, Schley, and the San Francisco, the surgeons of which were very active in caring for the enormous number of wounded. Most of the government officials, fearing that their persons would be as little respected as their property, took refuge in the various foreign legations of the city, Balmaceda choosing that of the Argentine. There arrangements were made by a few devoted friends, among whom were several Americans, for his escape to the Argentine by way of the Andes; but Balmaceda HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHILE. 309 refused to avail himself of the opportunity, utterly rejecting the idea of flight. He offered to deliver him- self up to the Junta for trial. But the popular excite- ment was so great that the Junta could not, or would not, give the least assurance that he might not become the victim of mob violence the moment he abandoned the Argentine legation. Finally, after waiting a month, in a fit of desperation he took his life with his own hand, on September 19, 1891. During the whole of this struggle the partisans of the Junta were extremely hostile to the government of the United States, claiming that Patrick Egan, our minister, had conducted himself in a manner unfriendly to their cause. This hostility was felt most keenly by resident Americans and by the officers and men of the United States cruisers in the harbor of Valparaiso. It culminated when two boats' crews from the Baltimore, while enjoying leave on shore, got into a dispute with some Chilean marines in a drinking saloon. The testi- mony subsequently taken proved that a man from the Baltimore, resenting some insulting remarks made by the Chileans, knocked one of them down, whereupon knives and other weapons were drawn, and finally the affair grew into a riot. The quarrel was not limited to the saloon, but was taken into the street and aug- mented by an excited mob. Several of the United States marines, while fighting their way back to their boats, received dangerous wounds, from which three died. Minister Egan at once reported the indignity to the government at Washington. The attack on sailors wearing the uniform of the United States was regarded 310 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. in Washington as a national insult, and redress was firmly but courteously demanded. The provisional authorities in Chile not only refused satisfaction, but also declined to grant safe-conduct to the men who had been assaulted, and demanded their surrender on the ground that they were criminals. The government of the United States, in reply, took vigorous measures by sending the Yorktown and the Boston to strengthen the demand for satisfaction. The reply of the Chilean minister had been couched in lan- guage so offensive that no answer was returned. On the appearance of the men-of-war, however, President Montt directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to with- draw the offensive note and to tender apologies ;and compensation was also made to the injured men and the families of the killed. Thus the demands of our government were satisfactorily complied with. Chile has not yet recovered from the effects of this disastrous revolution. Her foreign credit, previously, and still, perhaps, higher than that enjoyed by any other South American republic, received a rude and almost paralyzing shock. During these later years the government has been administered with the utmost firmness, regularity, and wisdom. The influence of the presidents has been strong for the reform of abuses, for the advancement of civil and religious liberty, and for the promotion of everything which could tend to increase the pros- perity of the country. There is every prospect that before many years have passed Chile will again take her place as the most conservative, prosperous, and advanced of the South American republics. 312 THE SOUTH. AMERICAN REPUBLICS. CHAPTER XXXIX. AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. ONE of the first evidences of the enterprise and public spirit of the people of Chile is the number and character of their railroads. It comes as natural to a Chilean to count on a railroad for transportation of his produce as it does for a Bolivian Indian to look to a mule. Beginning in the north, there is a railroad from Arica to Tacna, and one from Pisagua through the nitrate region to Iquique. This system is known as the Nitrate Railways, and was largely owned by Colonel North, the nitrate king, and the corporations in which he had interests. Another railroad, which will be world famous when completed, is the Trans-Andine to Buenos Aires. When the tunnel through the Cordilleras is finished, the road will connect Valparaiso with Mendoza in the Argentine Republic, and thence with Buenos Aires. The tunnel is a most difficult piece of engineering, and much work remains to be done. The Chileans will build it, beyond a doubt, but their unfortunate revolution delayed the work, and we cannot expect to hear of its completion as soon as we otherwise might. The ports of Chile, excepting Coquimbo and Tal- cahuano, are all open roadsteads. Valparaiso, the largest seaport, was until recently open to the south- ward, and often had its shipping swamped at its moor- ings or piled up on the rocks, under the fierce wintry AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. 313 gales called northers; but artificial docks have been constructed, and the conditions are now vastly im- proved. In all other ports the surf rolls tremendously ; all cargoes have to be hoisted out into lighters, and then to the piers, and oftentimes it is impossible either to discharge or to receive them, owing to the violent motion of the ships. Chile is divided into twenty-two provinces, and these again are cut up into seventy-two departments, to say nothing of some odd territories. Each department is entitled to a deputy for every 20,000 persons. Each province is entitled to one senator, and, in addition, an extra one for every three deputies elected within its boundaries. The country is rich in both mineral and agricultural products. The northern provinces contain untold wealth in mines of gold, silver, and copper, besides manganese, iron, antimony, bismuth, and sulphur. In the south are inexhaustible beds of coal that is found to answer for steam and domestic purposes. But it is in copper and silver that Chile stands preeminent. The province of Atacama is especially rich in these metals; and the croppings which render it famous are from the same formation which extends throughout northwestern Bolivia, and along the shores of Lake Titicaca. Most of the copper is sent to England and France, and the value of the annual export is fully $5,000,000. The true source, however, of Chile's wealth and excellent credit is to be found in the nitrate works of the north. The vast desert, once considered only a worthless waste, is now regarded as a great natural chemical laboratory; for here various kinds of salts 314 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. have been deposited in immense quantities. The value of the fertilizing product derived from the nitrate of soda deposits is almost beyond computation. The deposits of nitrate are situated in the desert just below the surface, in the old dried-up lake beds. On the sides of these, the richest beds are found. They are detected by fissures in the surface and by A NITRATE BED AFTER EXPLOSIONS. small, natural holes, caused probably by the action of water at some period of the formation. They vary in richness ; those near Antofagasta contain from fifteen to twenty per cent of nitrate, those of Tarapaca as much as seventy per cent. The beds have been pre- served in their present condition for ages, because of the fact that rain seldom falls on this part of the coast. Moisture would dissolve and destroy the product. AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. 315 Blasting powder is put under the raw nitrate, and the ground is thus broken up for a considerable distance. Then the nitrate is separated from the rock and rubbish, and loaded into sheet-iron mule carts, in which it is trans- ported to the crushing mills. It is then bruised between rollers, dissolved and deposited in tanks, crystallized in vats, and packed in sacks for transportation. In the Tarapaca fields alone over 13,000 men find employment. The export of nitrate of soda annually amounts in weight to more than 20,000,000 Spanish quintals, of 100 pounds each. This is valued at 130,000,000, and the state receives from this export an amount exceeding all the general import duties. The great Rainless Desert has been described thus : "In sailing northward from Valparaiso along the Chilean coast, the traveler is confronted with a stu- pendous natural phenomenon. He enters a rainless zone, without vegetation or resources for sustaining human life. At Coquimbo, the first anchorage in the voyage from Valparaiso, he is well within the southern edge of this arid district. Thence for over 2000 miles he is to follow a mountainous coast where rain is vir- tually unknown. This zone extends inland to the slope of the Andes, and varies in width from twenty to eighty miles. It includes one-third of the Chilean seaboard, and the entire coast of Peru to the Gulf of Guayaquil. There the seaboard Sahara ends abruptly with the sharp- est possible transition from bleak mountain headlands to a coast clad with verdure and nourished by a vapor- laden atmosphere." The agricultural products and possibilities of Chile are enormous. Twenty-one million bushels of wheat 316 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. are produced yearly, and 24,000,000 gallons of wine. The wheat is fine in appearance, with long stalk and large grain, and makes good flour; but, like the grain of the Argentine, it lacks something to make it keep well in warm weather. Still, Chilean flour commands a high price on all the west coast. NITRATE READY FOR SHIPMENT. The horses, cattle, and sheep of Chile are of the very best. No money was spared by the rich farmers in importing the finest-bred animals of each species; and the result has been a magnificent breed of working, car- riage, and road animals, cattle for beef and dairy pur- poses, and sheep. Referring to sheep farming in South America, Mr. F. G. Carpenter, in an article in the Atlanta Consti- tution, says: AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. 317 " Sheep farming has now become the great industry of this part of the world. The management of one of these large sheep farms is interesting. Take that of the company which has 2,500,000 acres in Tierra del Fuego. Its 100,000 sheep are divided up into flocks of 2000 each. Each flock has a pasture tract about six miles square allotted to it. This is just the size of many of our American townships, and if you will imagine a township as one field, you will have an idea of the ordinary Tierra del Fuego pasture. This, to many of our farmers, would seem a large amount of land for this number of sheep, but the grass here is short, and from two to three acres of pasture are required for each sheep. "Every flock has its own shepherd, who watches the sheep on horseback. He has a number of dogs which he so trains that they will obey his signs. Most of the dogs are Scotch collies, which are very intelligent and understand their masters almost as well as though they could understand a language. The shepherds are usu- ally Scotchmen, who come here on five-year contracts, at from $25 to $35 in gold a month, with the understanding that they are to have meat, fuel, and houses free. The meat is mutton, the fuel they cut themselves, and their houses are little two- or three-room shanties scattered over the farm. They do not have very hard work for most of the year. They have to feed the sheep. This is not hard, for all the feeding that the sheep get is from the pasture. The grass is always green on the Magellans, and the sheep can graze in Tierra del Fuego all the year round." The Chileans are the most active commercial nation 318 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. in South America, and are shaping the industrial for- tunes of the west coast. For this reason Europe recog- nizes the importance of cultivating the closest possible relations with them. The United States has not mani- fested the interest it should have done in the wonderful development of Chilean industries and political power. The commerce of Chile with the United States is very limited, and varies annually from $5,000,000 to $6,000,000, which is almost equally divided between imports and exports. Of all the nations in South America, Chile has the deepest affection and the noblest enthusiasm for its flag. The Chileans possess an intense love of country. They are proud of their maritime supremacy, and of the achievements in war on land and sea. The victorious war with Peru is a heroic period, which feeds both an exalted loyalty and a strong national pride. Monu- ments to admirals and generals are seen in the streets and plazas of the cities. There is hardly a village where prints and photographs of the naval fight at Iquique cannot be found in the shop windows. In educational matters Chile is far in advance of her sister republics. There are over 1000 schools, a nor- mal school, institutions for the deaf and dumb, lyceums, and colleges. The schools are now of a high grade; many teachers have been brought from Europe and are employed at large salaries ; and the government takes great interest in all educational matters. There are fine public libraries in the larger cities, and a national li- brary of 70,000 printed and 25,000 manuscript volumes. It is seldom that you find in Chile a lady who cannot converse fluently in at least one foreign language, and AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. 319 some can speak two or three languages besides their own. The fashions of Paris reach Santiago as soon as they reach New York, and the alameda and parks of Santiago are as brilliant of an afternoon as Rotten Row in London or Central Park in New York. The highest degree of luxury is demanded by all who can afford it, and they will buy the best they can obtain, no matter where it comes from, or what it costs. There are more comforts among the people of Chile than elsewhere on the continent; and a higher degree of taste is shown in the houses of the residents, and in the articles offered for sale in the shops. This is largely owing to the example of the large foreign population. The Rev. Dr. Trumbull, who lived in Chile forty-five years, said that he had noticed a marked change in this respect within the last decade. Valparaiso is a bustling city, with a population of 120,000. It was originally built on the steep hillsides overlooking the harbor, but the modern town follows the winding shore, where the narrow margin has been greatly extended by ground reclaimed from the sea. Its curving streets and irregular outlines offer a refresh- ing contrast to the checkerboard squares of the newer Spanish-American cities. The modern town is adorned with monuments and statues, wherever a plaza or a cluster of trees offers an opportunity for patriotic memorials. The chief attrac- tion of Valparaiso is the climate, which is tempered by ocean and aerial currents from the Antarctic. The winters are about as warm as those of corresponding latitudes on the Atlantic coast, but the summer heats are from eight to ten degrees lower. 320 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. Mr. Curtis, in his Spanish- American Republics, says that: "The oddest thing to be seen in Valparaiso is the female street-car conductors. The street-car managers of Chile have added another occupation to the list of those in which women may engage. The experiment was first tried during the war with Peru, when all the able-bodied men were sent to the army, and it proved so successful that their employment has become perma- nent, to the advantage, it is said, of the companies, the women, and the public. The first impression one forms of a woman with a bell-punch taking up fares is not favorable; but the stranger soon becomes accustomed to this as to all other novelties, and concludes that it is not such a bad idea after all. The street-cars are double-deckers, with seats upon the roof as well as within, and the conductor occupies a perch on the rear platform, taking the fare as the passenger enters. "The conductors, or conductoresses, are usually young, and sometimes quite pretty, being commonly of the mixed race of Spanish and Indian blood. They wear a neat uniform of blue flannel, with a jaunty Panama hat, and a many-pocketed white pinafore, reaching from the breast to the ankles, and trimmed with dainty frills. In these pockets they carry small change and tickets ; while, hanging to a strap over the shoulders, is a little shopping-bag in which is a lunch, a pocket-handkerchief, and surplus money and tickets. Each passenger, when paying his fare, receives a yellow paper ticket, numbered, which he is expected to destroy. The girls are charged with so many tickets, and when they report at headquarters are expected to return money for all that are missing, any deficit being de- AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. 321 A STREET CAR. ducted from their wages, which are twenty-five dollars per month." Mr. Curtis also says : " The women of Chile are not so pretty as their sisters in Peru. They are generally larger in feature and figure, have not the dainty feet and supple grace of the Lima belles. In Valparaiso, half the ladies are of the Saxon type, and blond hair looks grateful when one has seen nothing but midnight tresses for months. Here, too, modern costumes are worn far more generally than in other South American countries, and the shops are full of Paris bonnets. But the black manta, with its fringe of lace, is still common enough to be considered the costume of the country, and is always worn to mass in the morning. The manta is becoming to almost everybody." Another oddity of Valparaiso is the milk stations. Every few blocks along all but the principal business streets is a platform where a cow is tied, and a dairy- 322 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. maid stands ready to milk to order whenever a customer calls. On a table near by are found measures, cans, glasses, and often a bottle 6f brandy, so that a thirsty man can mix a glass of punch if he chooses. In the morning these stands are surrounded by servants from the aristocratic houses, women and children with cups and buckets, awaiting their turn; and as fast as one cow is exhausted another is driven upon the platform. Santiago, the Chilean capital, must needs be an im- posing city, in order to be worthy of its scenic setting. It is in the center of a lovely valley, encompassed by lofty mountains. With so grand and inspiring a view always to be seen from the alameda and from the rocky hill of Santa Lucia, Santiago has not neglected its opportunities. It is a handsome city, with fine parks, striking architectural effects in its public build- ings and churches, and orderly, well-kept streets. The population of the city ranges between 225,000 and 250,000. As the telephone is very popular in Santiago, the principal streets of the town are planted with tall, white posts and crossbars carrying innumerable wires, which do not add to their beauty. However, fine Bel- gian pavements and electric lights make the streets attractive. As for the houses, the majority are built of adobe, or sun-dried bricks, with the second story, if there be one, of Guayaquil cane; and the whole is plastered over with mud and stucco, and colored and ornamented in a greater or less degree. Recently some three-story houses have been erected. Many of the private houses in Santiago are of large proportions, covering 400 or 500 square feet of ground, with accom- AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. 323 modation for three generations of a family, and dining rooms where fifty or sixty people can sit at ease. From Santiago south to Concepcion the country is a succession of rich farms, with an occasional sandy waste, due simply to a lack of means of irrigation, for THE RAILROAD STATION AT SANTIAGO. there are here no dews and no rivers, except during the winter. The soil is usually deep and fertile, and wherever water can be procured fine crops are grown. Concepcion was rebuilt on a new site in the valley of Mocha, after the earthquake of 1730. In 1835 the city was again destroyed by a great earthquake and tidal 324 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. wave. The wave swept up the bay, destroyed the shipping in the harbor, and, leaping over the land, flooded the country for miles around, ruining every- thing in its path. A line of debris alone marked the location of the rows of houses that had been the city. Concepcion now numbers over 25,000 people, and promises to be one of the chief cities of Chile. It has an active and energetic class of inhabitants. The three main streets running parallel with each other are well paved, and lined with business houses. It has a fine large railway depot, tramways, telegraphs, telephones, and electric lights. The city is situated on a charming spot at the head of Concepcion Bay, twenty minutes by rail from Talcahuano, its port. This is one of the best seaports in Chile, and bids fair to become a for- midable rival of Valparaiso. Tome and Penco are also ports of Concepcion. From them are exported vast quantities of wheat, wool, wines, barley, oats, linseed, and honey. The trans- portation facilities are excellent. Railways connect these ports with the capital and towns to the south, and the steamers of five European lines stop there regu- larly on their trips north. Farther south, around the old Araucanian cities, are the vast wheat fields of the country. Here rains are abundant, and over the low, undulating hills the yellow grain waves in billowy oceans. Here also range large herds of cattle. Angol, Traiguen, and Osorno are great wheat centers; and at the latter place there are exten- sive tracts of valuable timber. In Valdivia tanneries have long been established, and tanned bark is an important article of commerce. AN ENTERPRISING REPUBLIC. 325 The forests of southern Chile have a certain beauty peculiar to themselves, the foliage being of great variety and exquisite coloring. The trees grow to a consider- able height, and are intertwined with vines and creepers. One of these parasites is called "angel's hair," and hangs from the trees like threads of lace. There is an undergrowth of ferns, bamboos, shrubs, and canes, the latter attaining a height sufficient to interlace the tree- tops and form roofs of green over the forest avenues. Many kinds of sweet-scented and beautiful flowering plants and rose bushes flourish, particularly along the rivers. Tropical plants, such as sugar-cane, pineapples, bananas, and sweet potatoes, grow well enough in the northern states. There are also many wild plants peculiar to Chile. In the southern section maize and all the cereals grow. Here the Indians cultivated Indian corn and species of rye and barley before the arrival of the Spaniards. The potato seems to have found in Chile its native soil; two species of it, with over thirty varieties, grow wild. Chile is singularly free from ferocious animals and poisonous reptiles. There are eleven species of reptiles, live of the lizard order, four of the snake kind, and one each of frogs and toads. The serpents are per- fectly harmless. In the timbered districts of the south the sportsman finds plenty of game, but not of the sav- age kind. Pumas, or Chile lions, are occasionally met with in the Andes ; on the heights is found the wild guanaco, which somewhat resembles the llama; and a small silver fox and a peculiar bastard chinchilla abound in the south. But there are no jaguars or wolves, such as infest the neighboring states. 326 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. There are 125 rivers in Chile, nearly half of which flow directly into the sea. They form a vast natural system of irrigation, bringing the melting snows of the mountains down into the valleys. Eight or ten of them are navigable for some distance, among them the Maule and the Biobio, the latter being over two miles PUNTA ARENAS, THE SOUTHERNMOST TOWN IN AMERICA. in breadth. As Chile really forms the western slope of the Andes, these rivers are all short and rapid, the waters are shallow and broad, the banks low, the beds rocky; and their waters render irrigation a simple matter. Chile lays claim to more than one hundred islands, about half of which are well settled and possess excel- FOREIGN COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 327 lent harbors. Chiloe, the most important of the islands, is a beautiful spot. It has an exceedingly rich soil, a moist atmosphere, and a spring-like temperature, where frost or snow is seldom known. Fine crops of wheat, barley, potatoes, and other grains and vegetables are raised. The fertile land is covered with large herds of domestic cattle, and the waters are full of fish. But to the south, the islands for the most part are moun- tainous, and the climate is cold, wet, and disagreeable. The Indians that roam over the islands of the extreme south are a miserable lot of human beings. The island Juan Fernandez, which has become famous as the traditional home of Robinson Crusoe, also belongs to Chile. It lies about 400 miles from the coast, and is surrounded by a number of smaller islands. They were first discovered in 1563 by Juan Fernandez, a Spanish navigator who made frequent voyages along the South American coast. In time they became the favorite resort of South Sea pirates. In the early part of- the present century political exiles were banished to these islands; but within recent years the Chilean government has tried to colonize them with a better class of citizens. CHAPTER XL. FOREIGN COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. THE three Guianas remain as the only evidence of many attempts on the part of the British, the French, and the Dutch to gain a foothold on the South American 328 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. continent. They are situated to the north of Brazil and to the east of Venezuela, and lie side by side, with British Guiana on the west, French Guiana on the east, and Dutch Guiana in the center. Great Britain has recently secured a large slice of Venezuelan territory, and France is still laying claim to territory in Brazil. The Dutch are said to have made the first settlement in this region as early as 1580. This part of South America should have a peculiar interest to New Englariders, for it came near being the home of the Pilgrim Fathers. Before they sailed from Holland in the Mayflower, in 1620, inducements were offered them by the Dutch to settle on their lands in South America. The project was at first entertained, but it was finally abandoned. Georgetown, the capital of British Guiana, "the Venice of the West Indies," as it has been called, is certainly a strange place, and one calculated to excite the interest and admiration of every one. The streets are rectangular, and the city is intersected in all direc- tions by open canals and drains, which are crossed by innumerable bridges. The city, which lies beneath the level of the sea at spring tides, is defended from the waves of the Atlantic by a granite breakwater two miles long, stretching from the mouth of the Demerara River to Plantation Kitty on the east coast. Great granite groins run out from the breakwater into the sea, every sixty yards or so, to break the force of the waves. The top of this wall, which is twenty-five feet wide, is used in the after- noons and evenings as a promenade and health resort. The construction of the wall was begun in 1858, and FOREIGN COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 329 was not completed until 1892. It was built principally by convict labor, and all the granite was brought from a penal settlement on the Massaruni River. Mr. Henry Kirke, for many years in charge of British interests in this colony, says : " The principal recollec- tions that one has of British Guiana are of its heat and dampness. It is one of the hottest places in the world ; that is, as regards mean temperature all the year round, night and day. The temperature is never excessive, as in some parts of India and Africa, in the summer, but there is no compensation in the shape of a cool season, such as those places enjoy in the winter. Without change, the shade temperature remains the same for weeks and months, varying from 82 to 88. " As to rain, I cannot say that it always rains, but I will say that there are very few days in the year when it does not rain in some parts of the country. The rainfall of the colony on the coast varies from 90 to 140 inches, so it cannot be called a dry country, although droughts lasting for several months occasionally occur. One thing is satisfactory. When it does rain there is no doubt about it; the water comes down with a rush and a pelt, which leaves no anxiety in the mind as to whether it is raining or not." British Guiana ought to be a paradise for the poor inhabitants. No fires are required, except for cooking, and clothes are used only for decency or ornament. Any shanty which will keep off the rain is a sufficient dwelling; walls are a superfluity, as they only shut out the cooling sea breeze. The earth, under the most simple cultivation, produces food in abundance; and a bunch of plantains, which will keep a man in food for 330 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. a week, can be bought for a shilling or a quarter of a dollar. The gold industry of the colony has not realized thus far the expectations of the colonists. It is true that the exports of gold have risen from 250 ounces, in 1884, to about 127,000 ounces, in 1897, but the increase during the last three years has not been large. The results of quartz-crushing at the Kanaimapo and Barima mines have not been sufficient to attract European capi- talists. That gold exists in paying quantities over a large area of the colony no one can doubt ; but it is a country where prospecting is carried on with great diffi- culty, owing to the dense forests with which it is cov- ered. It may be that the richest deposits have, so far, evaded the quest of the miner. Diamonds have been found accidentally in the search for gold. It is possible that large deposits of these precious stones may sometime be discovered, seeing that Guiana resembles, in geological formation, the neigh- boring country of Brazil, which was formerly renowned for its diamonds. Dutch Guiana is separated from the British colony on the west by the river Corentyn, and from the French colony on the east by the Maroni. It is a colony of the Netherlands, with a governor appointed by the crown and a colonial government acting under his general direction. Paramaribo, the capital of Dutch Guiana, with a population of about 28,000, is an attractive-looking place. It is built upon a plateau, and has clean, shaded streets, large squares, a government house sur- rounded by a beautiful garden, and numerous canals. FOREIGN COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 331 A large portion of the country is covered with pri- meval forests; but the lack of labor and the cost of transportation have prevented the utilization of the vast supplies of timber and cabinet woods. These wooded sections are chiefly inhabited by bush negroes, who are descendants of runaway slaves, and are a people of an exceedingly low type of civilization. They still retain some traces of their former connection with Christianity, though they are now pagans, and worship idols. Their chief idol is Gran Gado, or the great god, and next to him, in the order of greatness, come Ampuka, the bush god, and Toni, the water god. Gold, silver, lead, and iron ores have been discovered in Dutch Guiana in quantities which are beginning to attract attention. The colony has a small trade in sugar and cocoa, and a larger trade in bananas, yams, and sweet potatoes; but the imports vastly outmeasure the exports, and the country is not of great interest to the outside world. French Guiana is also low and swampy, and has several extensive peat-bogs, on which large drafts are being made for fuel. The population consists of a few pure whites, negroes from Africa, mulattoes, coolies, a decreasing number of Indians, convicts from France and its colonies, and a few Chinese and Hindus. There are few attractions to draw to its shores immigrants of the better class. Cayenne, the capital, was founded in 1634, and has a population of about 10,000, of whom 4400 are convicts residing there on ticket-of-leave. There are five smaller towns in the colony, but none of these is of impor- tance. The island of La Mere off the coast, and 332 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. directly opposite to Cayenne, is reserved for the aged, the infirm, and the convalescent, but the care they receive in this retreat is not of the best. Two other foreign possessions, both in the hands of Great Britain, remain to be mentioned. These are the island of Trinidad, at the mouth of the Orinoco near the coast of Venezuela, and the Falkland Islands, lying 300 miles east of the Straits of Magellan, near the southern extremity of the continent. Trinidad is really a fragment of the continent, worn away and separated from the mainland by the action of the water of the Orinoco River. Its chief towns are San Fernando and Port-of-Spain. Port-of-Spain, with about 25,000 inhabitants, has a poor harbor. Ships have to anchor fully a mile from the shore, and the freight that reaches and leaves the port has to be trans- ported in lighters. The city itself is not an inviting place, but nature made the island a paradise. It is literally covered with luxuriant foliage and gorgeous flowers. The Botanical Gardens, on the outskirts of the town, contain nearly every tropical plant known. The royal palm stands like a guardian over all. Its leaves, like ostrich plumes, twenty or thirty feet long, nod in the breeze with move- ments of grace that no artificial thing can be made to imitate. The trees of this garden, and all the forests of the island, are alive with monkeys and birds of brilliant plumage. Mr. Curtis, in his book on Venezuela, says: "The most interesting place in Trinidad is the famous Pitch Lake, from which comes the world's supply of asphaltum. It covers ninety-nine acres, and contains millions of FOREIGN COLONIAL POSSESSIONS. 333 tons of pitch, which never grows less in amount, for that taken out during the day is renewed by nature over night. In the neighborhood of this Stygian pool the air is heavy with the sickening odors, and the sur- rounding country is covered with its overflow, so that the earth is as hard as the pavements of Washington ; but neither the steam and fumes that arise from the CABBAGE PALMS ON THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD. pitch roasting in the sun, nor the asphaltum in the soil, seem to injure vegetation ; for flowers and fruits actu- ally grow in the midst of them, and pineapples are there brought to the greatest perfection. The lake is a float- ing mass of asphaltum, seamed by narrow channels of clear water, with a few straggling islands covered with thin, low shrubs. At the center, the fountain of all the foulness, the pitch is at boiling heat, and covered 334 THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS. with yellow and white sulphurous foam, upon which are floating innumerable bubbles filled with loathsome gas." The Pitch Lake is a mystery which scientists have discussed for many years. Sir Walter Raleigh wrote the first account of it when he landed there, in 1595, on his voyage in search of the El Dorado and the land of the Amazons. Humboldt made an extensive study of the phenomenon, and declared that the Pitch Lake is a "constantly aggregating mass formed from the cosmical gaseous fluid " which statement seems to settle it. The Falkland Islands number over 100, but only two, known as East Falkland and West Falkland, are of importance. The chief town and capital is Port Stanley in East Falkland. Its population at the last census was 694, and that of the island as a whole was 1789. The colonists are nearly all of Scotch descent. They are industrious and prosperous, and crime is almost unknown among them. Scarcely any land is fit for cultivation; but the pasturage is excellent, and sheep farming is the principal and almost the only in- dustry. Wool, sheepskins, tallow, and frozen mutton are exported, chiefly to England; and the imported goods, for the use of the people, are received almost entirely from England and from Uruguay. VOCABULARY. KEY : fat, fate, far, fall, fast, fare ; met, mete, her; pin, pine ; not, note, move, nor; tub, mute, pull; leisure; sing; thin, then. A. agouti, a-go'-ti. Alegre, a-la'-gra. Alvarez Ramon, al'-va-reth ra- raon'. Ainalgro, a-mal'-gro. Amerigo Vespucci, a-ma-re'-go ves- po'-che. Amparan, am-par-an'. Ampues, am-po-us'. Ampuka, am-po'-ka. Ancota, an-ko'-ta. Andalusia, an-da-lo'-se-a. Andrade, an-dra'-da. Angostura, an-gos-to'-ra. Antioquia, an-te-5'-k6-a. Antofagasta, an-to-fa-gas'-ta. Apurimac, a-po-re'-mak. Aracate, a-ra-ka'-ta. Aragua, a-ra'-gwa. Araucanians, a-ro-ka'-ni-ans. Arequipa, a-ra-k6'-pa. Arica, a-r6'-ka. armadillo, ar-ma-dil'-l6. Artigas, ar-te'-gas. Asturias, as-to'-re-as. Asuncion, a-son-thg-on'. Atacama, a-ta-ka'-ma. Atahualpa, a-ta-hwal'-pa. Augero, au'-ger-6. Avellaneda, a-va-lya-na'-fha. Avila, a'-ve-la. Aymara, i-ma'-ra. Ayolas, a-yo'-las. B. Bahia, ba-e'-a. Balmaceda, bal-ma-tha'-da. Barima, ba-re'-ma. Barranquilla, bar-ran-kel'-ya. Belgrano, bel-gra'-n5. Benalcazar, ba-nal-ca-fliar'. Bio Bio, be'-o b6'-o. Boa Vista, bo'-a ves'-ta. Bogota, b5-g5-ta'. bolas, b5'-las. bombilla, bom-bil'-ya. Bombona, bom-bo'-na. Boyaca, b5-ya-ka'. Breves, bra'-v6s. bucare, bo-ka'-re. Buenos Aires, bwa'-nos I'-ras. C. Caamafio, ka-a-ma'-nyo. Cabadello, ka-ba-da'-lyo. 335 336 VOCABULARY. Cabral, ka-bral'. Caceres, ka'-tha-res. Cachimayo, ka-che-ml'-yo. Cajarmarca, ka-ha-mar'-ka. Calderdn, kal-dar-oii'. Calicut, kal'-i-kut. Callao, kal-la'-6. Carapero, kam-pa'-ro. Candelaria, kan-del-a'-re-a. Carabobo, ka-ra-bo'-bo. Caracas, ka-ra'-kas. Caran, ka'-ran'. Caras, ka-ras'. Careos de Alvear, ka-ra'os'da al-ve-ar'. Cariaco, ka-re-a'-ko. Carrasco, ka-ras'-ko. Carrillo, kar-rel'-yo. Carupano, ka-ro-pa'-no. Caseros, ka-sa'-ros. Castilla, kas-tel'-ya. Castio, kas-te'-o. Cataldino, ka-tal-de'-no. Catamarca, ka-ta'-mar'-ka. Cauca, kou'-ka. Caupolican, kou-po'-le-kan'. Cauta, kou'-ta. Cayenne, kl-yen'. Cerro de Pasco, tha'-ro da pas'-ko. Cevallos, tha-val'-yos. Chacabuco, cha-ka-bo'-ko. chalets, sha'-les. Charcas, char'-kas. Chiapa, che-a'-pa. Chibchas, cheb'-chas. Chicla, che-kla'. Chiloe, che-16-a'. Chimborazo, chim-bo-ra'-fho. Chiquitos, che-ke'-tos. Chira, che'-ra. Cliolos, cho'-los. Chubut, cho-bot'. Coati, ko-a'-te. Cobija, ko-be'-ha. Collou Cura, kol'-yo ko'-ra. Concepcion, kon-thep-the-6n'. Copaiba, ko-pl'-ba. Coquimbo, ko-kem'-bo. Cordilleras, kor-dil-ya'-raz. Cordoba, kor'-do-ba. Correo, kor-ra'-o. Corrientes, kor-re-en'-tes. Costa Rica, kos'-ta re'-ka. Cotopaxi, ko-to-paks'-i. Cubagua, ko-ba'-gwa. Cucuta, kb'-ko'-ta. Cuenca, kwan'-ka. Cumana, ko-ma-na'. Curitiba, ko-re-te'-ba. Cuyaba, ko-ya-ba'. Cuzco, koz'-ko. D. Daireaux, di-ro'. Dardye, dard'-ya. Davila, da-ve'-la. Daymeric, dl-mer'-ik. Daza, da'-za. Delphin, del'-fin. Demerara, da-ma- ra'-ra. Diego, de-a'-go. Doni Pedro, dom pa'-dro. E. Egusquiza, a-gos-ke'-fha. El Chaco, el cha'-ko. Elzevir, el'-ze-ver. VOCABULARY. 337 Ensenada, en-san-ya'-da. Entre Rios, en'-tra re'-os. Espajo, es-pa'-ho. Estero, es-ta'-ro. eucalyptus, eu-ka-lyp'-tus. F. Fajardo, fa-har'-do. Federmann, fa'-der-man. Flores, flo'-ras. Formosa, for-mo'-sa. Francia, fran'-se-a. G. Galicia, ga-le'-the-a. Gamarra, ga-mar'-ra. Garay, ga-ri'. gaucho, gau'-cho. Genoa, jen'-O-a. Gracia, gra-the-a'. Gran Gado, gran ga'-d6. Guahiba, gwa-e'-ba. guanaco, gwa-na'-ko. Guarani, gwa-ra-n6'. Guayaquil, gwi-a-kel'. Guayra, gwi'-ra. Guiana, ge-a'-na. Guzman Blanco, goth-man' blan'-ko. H. Hatuntaqui, a-ton-ta'-ke. Hernandez, er-nan'-defh. Himalaya, him-a'-la-ya. Hispaniola, is-pa-n6-o'-la. Honda, on'-da. Huascar, was'-kar. Huelva, wel'-va. I. Iglesias, e-gla'-se-as. iguana, e-gwa'-na. Independencia, m-da-pen-den'- the-a. Iquique, e-ke'-ka. Iquitos, e-ke'-tos. Ishuaia, is-wa'-e-a. J. jaguar, jag'-u-ar'. Japura, zha-po-ra'. Javari, zha-va-re'. Joam, jo-am'. Joan, jo-an'. Jose Padilla, ho-sa pa-fhel' ya. Juan, ho'-an. Juana, ho-an'-na. Jujuy, ho-hwe'. Juncal, hon'-kal. junta, hbn'-ta. K. Kanaimapo, ka-ni-ma'-p5. La Cantabaria, la kan-ta-ba-re'-a. La Guayra, la gwi'-ra. La Paz, la path'. La Plata, la pla'-ta. La Puerta, la pwar'-ta. La Rabida, la ra'-be-da. La Raya, la ri'-ya. La Rioja, la re-6'-ha. La Vela, la va'-la. Lamar, la-mar'. 338 VOCABULARY. Larecaja, la-ra-ka'-ha. Las Casas, las ka'-sas. Las Piedras, las pe-a'-dras. Las Vacas, las va'-kas. Lasada, la-sa'-da. Latzina, lat-ze'-na. Leonora, la-on-o'-ra. Leopoldina, la-o-pol-de'-na. Lepe, la'-pa. Libero Badaro, le-ba'-ro ba-da'-ro. Lima, le'-ma. Llai-Llai, lyi-lyi. Llabaya, lya-ba'-ya. llama, lya'-ma. llaneros, lya'-ner-os. llanos, lya'-nos. Lobo, lo'-bo. Loja, lo'-ha. Lopez, lo'-path. Luis Cordero, lo-is' k6r-da'-ro. Luis Saenz Pefia, lo-is' sa-anth' pan'-ya. M. Maceta, math-a'-ta. Macuto, ma-ko'-to. Madero, ma-da'-ro. Maia, ml'-a. Maiquetia, ml-ka'-te-a. Maldonado, mal-do-na'-do. Manaos, nia-na'-os. Manco Capac, man-ko' ka-pak'. Mapocho, ma-po'-cho. Maracaybo, ma-ra-kl'-bo. Marajo, ma-ra'-ho. Maranhao, ma-ran-ya'-o. Maroni, ma-ro'-ne. Matto Grosso, mat'-to gros'-so. Medellin, ma-del-yen'. Medoya, ma-do'-ya. Mendoza, men-do'-fha. Mestizos, mas-te'-thos. Milan, me-lan'. Minas, me'-nas. Miranda, me-ran'-da. Mita, me'-ta. Mitre, me-tra'. Montero, mon-ta'-ro. Montevideo, mon'-ta-vid-a'-6. Montufar, rnon-to-far'. Morales, mo-ra'-les. Moreno, mo-ra'-no. Moyano, mo-ya'-no. Muerto, mwer'-to. Muiscas, mo-es'-kas. N. Nahuel Huapi, na-hwel' ho-a'-pe. Narino, na-re'-no. Neuquen, na-o-ken'. Nina, nen'-ya. O. Obidos, o-be'-dos. Ojeda, o-ha'-fha. onca, on'-ka. Oroya, 6-ro'-ya. Ouro Prato, o'-ro pra'-to. Ovilencia, 6-ve-len'-se-a. P. Pacha, pa-cha'. Paez, pa-eth'. Paita, pi'-ta. Pandi, pan'-de. Para, pa-ra'. Paraguay, par-a-gwi'. VOCABULARY. 339 Paramaribo, par-a-mar'-i-bo. Parana, pa-ra-na'. Paranagua, pa-ra-na'-gwa. Parati, pa-ra'-te. Parnahiba, par-na-he'-ba. Paso del Molino, pa' -so del mo le'-no. Pastusos, pas-to'-sos. Paysandu, p!-san-do'. Peguela, pa-gwa'-la. Pellegrini, pal-ya-gre'-ne. Penco, pan'-ko. Pereira, pp-ra'-ra. Perez, pa reth. Pernambuco, per-nam-bb'-ko. Petare, pa-ta'-ra. Pezet, pa-that'. Pichincha, pe-chen'-cha. Pico, pe'-ko. Pieroia, pe-a-ro'-la. Pinta, pgn'-ta. Pinzon, pen-thon'. Pio Tristan, pe'-o tris-tan'. Pisagiia, pe-sa'-gwa. Piura, pe-O'-ra. Pizarro, pi-za'-ro. Portobello, p6r-to-bal'-y5. Potosi, po-tO-se'. Prainha, pra-en'-ya. Pucura, po-ko'-ra. Punta, pb'n'-ta. Purus, po-ros'. Q Quesada, ka-sa'-fha. Quevedo, ka-va'-fho. Quichua, kech'-wu. quina, ke'-na. Quito, ke'-to. R. Rada, ra'-da. Rafael Maroto, ra-fa-el' ma-ro'-to. Recife, ra-se'-fe. Ricardo Palma,re-kar'-tho pal'-ma. Rimac, re'-mak. Rio de Janeiro, re'-6 da ha-nay '-ro. Rio Grande do Sul, re'-6 gran'-da do sol. Roca, ro'-ka. Rocafuerte, ro'-ka-fwer'-ta. Rosario, ro-sa'-re-o. Rosas, ro'-sas. Rua da Ouvidor, ro'-ada 6-ve-dor'. S. Salonio, sa-lo'-ne-6. San Ignacio, san eg-na'-se-o. San Juan, san ho'-an. San Luis, san lo-is'. San Miguel, san me"-gel'. Santa Catarina,san'-ta ca-ta-re'-na. Santa Cruz, san'-ta krb'th. Santa F6, san'-ta fa. Santa Lucia, san'-ta lo-se'a. Santa Maria, san'-ta ma-re'-a. Santander, san-tan-dar'. Santarem, san-ta-ram'. Santiago, san-te-a'-go". Sao Paulo, san pou'-lo. Sarmiento, sar-me-en'-to. Scala, ska'-la. Senor, san'-y6r. Senorita, san-yo-re'-ta. Serpa, sSr'-pa. Seville, se-vil'. Sinero, se-na'-ro. Soldado, sol-da'-do. Solis, so'-les. 340 VOCABULARY. Sorata, so-ra'-ta. Sucre", so-kra/. Sumapaz, so-ma-pafh'. T. Tabatinga, ta-ba-teiig'-ga. Tacarigua, ta-ka-re'-gwa. Tacna, tak'-na. Talcalmano, tal-ka-wa'-n5. Tarqui, tar-ke'. Tequendama, ta-kan' -da-ma. Tierra del Fuego, te-ar'-ra del fwa'-go. Tiete, te-a-ta/. Tipuani, te-po-a'-ne. Titicaca, te-te-ka'-ka. Tolima, to-le'-ma. Tomas Frias, torn -as' fre'-as. Tomas Rada, tom-as' ra'-da. Tome, to-ma'. Toni, to-ne'. Tovar y Tovar, to-va'r' e to-var'. Tribunales, tre-bo-na'-las. Truxillo, tro-hel'-yo. Tucuma, to-ko-ma'. Tucuman, to-ko-man'. Tuileries, twe'-le-riz. Tunguragua, ton-go-ra'-gwa. Tuy, to-e'. U. Urquiza, 6r-ke'-tha. Uruguay, b'-ro-gwi'. V. Valdivia, val-de'-v6-a. Valerde, va-ler'-de. Valle, val-ya'. Valparaiso, val-pa-rl'-so. vanadium, van-a'-di-um. Venezuela, ven-e-zwe'-la. Veragua, va-ra'-gwa. Vespucius, ves-po'-she-us. vicuna, ve-con'-ya. Vidal, ve-dal'. Vilcanota, vel-ka-no'-ta. Villa Encarnacion, vel-ya en-kar- na-se-on'. Villa Rica, vel'-ya re'-ka. Villamil, vel-ya-mel'. Vivanco, ve-van'-ko. W. Whymper, hwim'-per. Y. Yaros, ya-ros'. Yegros, ya-gros'. yerbales, yar-ba-les'. yerba mate, yar'-ba ma'-te. Yriondo, e-re-on'-do. Yucay, yo-ki'. Yurimaguas, yo-re-ma'-gwas. Yuruari, yo-ro-a'-re. Z. Zea, tha'-a. Zeballos, tha-bal'-yos. Zephyr, zef'-er. Zulia, zo-le'-a. TRANSLATIONS. Alameda (a-la-me'-da), a public walk. alcalde (al-kal'-da), mayor of a city. alcazar (al-kath'-ar), a castle, or fortress. T)ola (bo'-la), a ball. bombilla (bom-bil'ya), a tube used for drinking tea. calichera (kal-e'-cha-ra). a composite mineral deposit. chacra (cha'-kra), an Indian plantation. cholo (ch5'-lo), an Indian half-breed. estancia (es-tan'-the-a) , a grazing farm. hacienda (ath-e-en'-da), a farm or homestead. junta (hon'-ta), an assembly. llanero (Iya'-n6-r6), a herdsman. llano (lya'-n<5), a plain, or level field. lucerne (16-sern'), a kind of clover. maceta (math-a'-ta), a wooden hammer or mallet. mestizo (mas-te'-fh5), a half-breed. mita (me'-ta), a law governing Indian labor. pampa (pam'-pa), an extended plain. pampero (pam-pa'-r5), a storm-wind. patio (pa'-te-O), an open court-yard. peon (pa-on'), a day laborer. plaza (pla'-tha), a public square, or park. poncho (pon'-cho), a garment, a native cloak. quartillo (kwar-tel'-yo), a small coin. selva (sel'-va) , a forest. sole (so'-le), a small coin, value 3 cents. trilla (trel-ya), a threshing machine. 341 INDEX. Aceval, President, 276. Agouti, the, 220. Alligators, 40, 207. Amazon River, 20, 200. voyage on, 211. Americas Vespucius, 13, 174. Andes Mountains, 17. Ants, 42, 43. Apurimac River and bridge, 150. Araucaniau Indians, 302, 304. Arequipa, 134. Argentine Republic, 221. area, 231. boundaries, 232. dwelling houses, 250. exports, 238. farms and farmers, 270. financial crisis, 230. industries, 266, 267. insect life, 254. railroads, 221), 235-238. schools, 230. social and domestic life, 248. universities, 235. war with Brazil, 227. Artigas, General. L'iil. Asuncion, 274, 280, 281. Bahia, 174, 194, 1!C,. Balboa, 15. i;aliu;ic(M|;i, 306, 309. ISamlxK), 53. " Banda Oriental," the, 287, 288. Belgrano, General, 224. Benalcazar, 32, 33. Bio-Bio River, 303. Bogota, 34, 44, 46. Bolivar, Simon, 28, 35, 36, 62, 66, city of, 72. (iS. Bolivia, 154. area, 160. coffee, 167. farm products, 165. general divisions, 161. gold mining, 157, 169. history, 155. Indians, 155. mountains, 162. population, 161. precious stones, 173. railroads, 162. silver and copper, 172. social customs, 168. sugar and tobacco, 167. war of independence, 158. war with Chile, 160. Brazil, 17.'.. area, 182. climate, 182. coal deposits, 184. coffee, 186. costumes, 191). cotton, 188. diamond mines, 195. Dom Pedro L, 178. Dora Pedro II., 179. Dutch war in, 178. fauna and flora, 183. feudal grants, 176. general divisions, 182. herdsmen, 213. history, 173. Indians, 205, 220. monkeys, 220. population, 182. precious stones, 185 railroads, 185. woods, 175, 188. 343 344 INDEX. British Guiana, 327. capital, 328. climate, 329. gold industry, 330. products, 329. Buenos Aires, city of, 221, 239. cathedral, 241. harbor, 239. industries, 268. newspapers, 235. parks, 244. plaza, 241. population, 221. province of, 255, 258. public buildings, 240. residences, 242. seized by British, 222. street railways, 245. Cabadello, 196. Cabot, John, 12. Sebastian, 287. Cacao, 90, 91. Callao, 129, 130. Canary Islands, 11. Cape Verde Islands, 14. Carabobo, battle of, 66. Caracas, 28, 59, 63, 64, 66. Carib, fish, 75. Carnahuba tree, 189. Catamarca, province of, 262. Cauca valley, 37. Cayenne, 331. Celmau, President, 230. Chacabuco, battle of, 226. Chaco, the, 277, 278. Chibchas, the, 32. Chile, 301. agricultural products, 315. animals, 325. area, 301. climate, 301. history, 301. horses and cattle, 316. Indian races, 302. islands, 326. minerals, 313. nitrate beds, 313. patriotism, 318. Chile (continued). provinces, 313. railroads, 312. rivers, 326. schools, 318. sheep farming, 317. treaty with Peru, 304. trouble with United States, 309. women of, 321. Climate of South America, 24. Coal beds, 48. Coati, island of, 149. Coffee, 51, 63, 88, 186. Colombia, 31. area, 31. fauna, 55. flag, 44. flora, 52. population, 46. Columbus, 1, 3, 12. Concepcion, 324. Cordoba, city of, 235. province of, 258. Coro, 58. Corrientes, city of, 263. province of, 262. Cortereal, 12. Cotopaxi, 17, 114. Cotton, 118. trees, 53. Cow tree, 79. Cuba, 11. Cubagua, 57. Cumana, 58. Demarkation, line of, 14, 174. Dom Pedro I., 30, 178. Dom Pedro II., 30, 179. Dutch Guiana, 330. forests, 331. idol worship, 331. natives, 331. Earthquakes, 64, 265. Eastern Paraguay, 280. Eastern Peru, 145. Indians of, 146. rubber gatherers of, 146. Ecuador, 94. INDEX. 345 Ecuador (continued). boundaries, 95. forests, 115. fruits, 116. independence, 98. Indians, 95, 107. manufactures, 108. name, 94. native races, 107. natural beauties, 110. population, 95. schools, 108. volcanoes, 114. Egan, Patrick, 309. El Dorado, 33. Electric eels, 73. Eutre Rios, province of, 202. Falkland Islands, 334. Federmann, 32. Ferdinand and Isabella, 7. Feudal grants, 17*!. Flores, General, 98, 292. French Guiana, 331. Frias, Tomas, 159. Gama, Vasco da, 12. Gauchos, 211, 215, 238. Genoa, 4. Goodyear, Charles, 211. Guacharo Cave, 80. Guano Islands, 135. Guarani Indians, 282. Guayaquil, 1 <>.". climate, 100. streets and churches, 107. Haiti, 11. I/III-JIIT'S M4. province of, 234, 2<>4. Santa Marta, 45. Santa Rosa, 143. Santiago de Chile, 303. Santiago del Estero, 2(X). Sao Paulo, 199. Sarmiento, President, 228. Sea of Darkness, the, 10. Seasons, tin-. H. Selvas, the, 23. Shirt, a curious, 206. Soils, Juan de, 28(5. South America, climate of, 24. countries of, '_'.". Sucre, city of, 1(55. General, 01, 98, 159. Sugar cane, 03. Sugar making, 92. Tapir, the, 220. Tierra del Fuego, 15, 18, 233. Titicaca, Lake, 22, 128. Tobacco, 51. Toscanelli's map, 6. Tovar, Martin, 66. Tree ferns, 53. Trinidad Island, 332. Pitch Lake of, 333. Tucuma, city of, 260. province of, 260. University of Peru, 144. Urquiza, General, 227. Uruguay, 286. agricultural colonies, 298. cattle raising, 288. coffee, 293. fruits, 293. history, 286. independence, 292. modern progress, 300. ranches, 299. rivers, 294. sheep farming, 299. slaughter houses, 299. war with Brazil, 291. Valencia. 0.. Valparaiso, city of, 319. ladies of, 321. milk stations, 321. Yalvidia, city of, 324. Valvidia, General, 303. Vasco da Gama, 121. Vegetable ivory, 51. Venezuela, boundary question, 86. early history, 50. honesty of people, 85. immigration laws. Sii. independence, 63, 68. industries, !>4. laundry work in, 84. mineral deposits, 94. National Pantheon, 69. natives, 81. railroads, 69, 72. revolution of 1899, 87. servants, 82. 348 INDEX. Venezuela (continued). sugar making, 92. Vera Cruz, 174. Vespucius, 13, 174. Vicuna, the, 167. Volcanoes, 17. Vulcanizing rubber, 211. Washington, George, 27, 29. Western Paraguay, '277. West India Company, 177. West Indies, 11. Wilmington, Voyage of the, 211. Yerba mate, 271, 285. Stepping Stones to Literature* A Unique Series of Eight School Readers upon an entirely New Plan, Brilliantly Illus- trated with Masterpieces and Original Drawings. By SARAH LOUISE ARNOLD, Supervisor of Schools, Boston, Mass., and CHARLES B. 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