South America to-day

At last we reached a waterfall which was, it appears, the limit of our excursion. On our way back we came to a difficult crossing, and as my horse was even more exhausted than myself by the rough treatment he had given me, he was taken out of the shafts, and a swarm of some eleven negroes pulled and pushed me along, with bursts of laughter at their performance. But for their chuckles, I might have fancied myself some Roman victor arriving in triumph. It lasted only ten minutes, but I should have been covered with confusion had some chance cinematograph been on the spot to reproduce the scene. This misfortune was spared me. Thanks to the fact, I take the pleasure of holding myself up to ridicule.

The ceremony of inaugurating the Montmartre coffee-plant took place half-way. The operation is less difficult than might be thought. I climbed up a slope from whose top I could see rows of holes, with heaps of coffee-plants, their roots carefully wrapped up, and each in a small basket by itself, lying at intervals over the prepared ground. One of these baskets with its young green stem was offered to me, I stuck it in the first hole that came handy, and thus the glory of Montmartre, like that of Brazil, reached its apogee.

I do not know what will become of my coffee enterprise at Santa Alda. It is more certain that Señor Soarès has begun to manure his land instead of merely scattering the shells of the berries over it. It is possible that the Brazilian fazenderos will be a little worried by this example, seeing in it only a way of increasing expenses. But the established fact that Señor Soarès's coffees are in great demand seems a curious coincidence, for no one can suppose he amuses himself in this way for the fun of losing his money. When I left Santa Alda, I carried with me a pretty collection of canes made from the finest woods produced on the fazenda, and on board the Principe Umberto, which brought me back to Europe, I discovered a chest of coffee, which enabled me to give my kind hosts the authentic testimony of a consumer.

The Principe Umberto is in every way like the Regina Elena, as indeed she ought to be considering her origin. There are the same comfortable arrangements, the same excellent service, the same Latin courtesy from the officers. We had two adventures on the voyage. A madman threw himself into the sea one night. The siren shrieked the alarm. A boat put off but returned after a fruitless search. I was told that this was a typical "return" case. On the way out Hope holds us by the hand. To make one's way back, after disappointments, is for human weakness perhaps a sore trial. We do not all get to Corinth. Let us pity those who make this an excuse for never setting out. The commissary told me the story of one third-class passenger, all in rags, who deposited with him when he came on board the sum of 150,000 francs. There are evidently compensations.

The second adventure was more general in interest. It took the form of a strike among the coal-heavers of St. Vincent. The harbour, with its border of bare rock, lay still and deserted. A few saucy niggers dived for our edification after coins flung from the ship. But that was all, neither white nor black man appeared, for the order had been given that no one should come off to meet us and we on our side were forbidden to land. We need not be astonished if the first lesson learnt by the blacks from their white "superiors" is that of violence preached by grandiloquent politicians, trembling inwardly with fear, but, none the less, tenacious in their inglorious arguments. The negroes have the excuse of having reached our civilisation late in the day. Are we too exigent when we implore the whites to preach by example?

We coal at Las Palmas, the capital of the Grand Canary. As other boats are there ahead of us, we are obliged to spend an entire day in harbour. We land, therefore. The "Happy Isles" have inherited from the ancients such a reputation that some disappointment is inevitable. Seen from the sea, the Canaries show only a cluster of arid rocks devoid of vegetation. Las Palmas is a picturesque town whose palms can but inspire an amiable benevolence in people who have seen Brazil. The country is purely African in character. Square white houses without windows, banana-groves down in the valleys, hills of calcined stones. After an hour or two along a road that is thick with dust, you reach a pretty restaurant standing in a garden whose exotic vegetation would be charming if one had never seen the Riviera. The canary of the islands that is said to abound revealed itself to me in the guise of a vulgar chattering sparrow. Yet the boatmen who boarded our ship offered authentic canaries in cages hung from a long rod, but I was told they had been procured from Holland. These birds have a particularly sweet song, and they sing to order, oddly enough. It is enough to shout to the seller, "Your canary does not sing," for the birds to burst into a flood of trills and turns. It is the triumph of a songster with the imitative faculty. Buyer and seller both are taken in and the greatest serin (canary, also used to mean "duffer") is not the one you might think.

Before I take my leave of the reader, I want to say a word for the creation of a line of fast ships making the journey between France and South America. So little space remains to me that I cannot treat the subject as I should like. The case is simple; formerly the French line was very popular, but it has allowed itself to be entirely outdistanced by other companies who have built more rapid boats while we continue to send our old vessels over the sea. The contract held by the Messageries Maritimes expires in 1912. By some culpable negligence no steps have been taken to improve the service or even to continue it. The matter cannot rest there. If we are to enlarge our dealings with South America, it is of capital importance to France to have a service of rapid boats fitted up on the most comfortable of modern lines.

I shall venture to make a brief extract here from a report that I got my friend Edmond Théry to make out for me, since his authority in matters economic is universally known.

For the last twenty years there has been a prodigious increase of production and public wealth in the two Americas. This fact accounts for the enormously increased proportion of travellers to Europe drawn from North America, Mexico, Brazil, the Argentine, etc. The proof is that the luxurious hotels springing up anew almost daily in Paris and on the Riviera to cater for this class of customer are always crowded.

Brazil and the Argentine Republic have more especially profited by the rise in value of their land. In the course of the last ten years, from 1900 to 1909, their working railways have gone up from 14,027 kilometres to 19,080 in Brazil, and from 16,563 to 25,508 kilometres in the Argentine Republic.

These 13,998 kilometres of new lines (46 per cent. increase since 1900) have opened the door to agriculture, cattle-breeding, forestry, in immense and hitherto desert regions, and the results of this may be traced in the increase of their foreign trade:

Foreign Trade of Brazil and the Argentine Republic in Ten Years.

Thus during a short period of ten years the exports—i. e., the surplus of home-grown articles after supplying the needs of the country—have increased in value by 770 millions of francs, 90 per cent., for Brazil, and 1214 millions, or 157 per cent., for the Argentine Republic. As for the total value of the foreign trade of the two countries, it has risen 1071 millions of francs for the former and 2161 millions for the latter: in other words, an average of 107 millions of francs per annum for Brazil and 216 millions for the Argentine.

These startling figures show clearly enough the importance of the economic advance the two countries are making, and we may say that French capital has built up this prosperity.

We ought now to seek to retain the advantages to be drawn from our financial intervention in the new Brazilian and Argentine undertakings, and one of the best ways to attain this end is to make sure of rapid means of communication between France and the two great South American Republics, which shall be up-to-date in every way and luxurious enough to induce Brazilians and Argentinos to come to Europe and return to their own country in French boats rather than in English, German, or Italian vessels.

Such means of communication are already in existence between France and the United States, but are wholly lacking in the direction of Brazil and the Argentine Republic.

The French boats which call at these stations have been a long time in use, and their fittings are in no sense in conformity with modern ideas of luxury such as the class of travellers to which I have already alluded invariably expects. As for their average speed, it certainly never goes beyond fourteen knots, for they make the journey from Bordeaux to Rio de Janeiro, with the different scheduled stops by the way, in a minimum of seventeen days, and if they go on as far as Buenos Ayres, in twenty-two days.

The distance between Bordeaux and these two ports being 4901 and 5991 nautical miles respectively, it is only necessary to have boats capable of doing twenty knots as an average, or twenty-three miles an hour, for the journey to Rio de Janeiro to be performed in ten days and five hours, and that to Buenos Ayres in twelve days fifteen hours.

There is nothing to add to this clear statement of the case.

And now, how can I resist the temptation to draw some sort of conclusion from these rambling notes, made with the sole desire to make use of the knowledge acquired for the benefit of French extension, and this in the interest of humanity at large? In every calling there is but one road to success—work. When Candide returned from Buenos Ayres, he brought back from his travels the lesson that we must work in our gardens. Since his days our gardens have grown considerably, and since we are ourselves the first elemental instrument for all work, the first condition of improvement must be the improvement of the material. Therefore let us work.

INDEX

A

Aborigines of Patagonia, n. 52-54

Agricultural Society of Buenos Ayres, the shows of, 78-79

Agriculture:
Waste entailed by system in vogue in the Pampas, 364
Wasteful Brazilian methods, 364-66, 376-78
See Cattle, Cereals, Coffee, Horses, Pampas, etc.

Alcorta, Señor Figueroa, President of the Argentine Republic, 180

Algeciras Conference, 67

Alienism, see Open Door, The

America, South:
Impressions of, iii
Cities of, vii, viii
Architecture, vii
Races of, viii
Early culture, ix
People of, unjustly ridiculed, 62-63
Produce of, 73-75

America, United States of, 64

Americans, South, characteristics of, 11-12

Anarchists, 85
Russian, 86
Oppressive measures against, 88-89

Argentine Exposition, 69-70

Argentine Republic, The, 18-20
Arrival in, 27-28
Maté, trade of, 45-46
Agricultural produce, 75-76
Foreigners in, 81
Patriotism, 91-93
Powers of assimilation, 94-97
Officials, 113-14
Types and manners, 142-74
Women of, 151-56
Exaggerated conventionality of society, 155-56
Girls of, 158-59
Fathers, 160
Gambling, 161-62
Land speculation in, 162
Cookery, 173-74
Politics, 175-203
Parliament, 184-86
The Executive, 188-89
The Press, 191-92
Society, 201-3
The Pampas, 204-32

Argo, Alpha of, 16

Aristocracy of Brazil, 355-56

Armadillo, The (tatou), 114

Army, The Brazilian, 342

Arrowheads, Primitive, n. 53-56

Arts, The, in the Argentine, 58-62

Asylums:
Excellence of, in the
Argentine, 114
For aged, 123
For widows, 124
For lunatics, 124-35

Avenida Central, Rio, 325


B

Bacteriological research, 345-47

Ball, Official, at Rio, 359

Band, Oriental, 18
See Uruguay.

Bangu, Factories at, 364-65

Battleships, Extensive purchases of, 291

Belgrano, General, n. 59

Betting in the Argentine, 166-67

Black Pot, The, 14

Bon Vista, 368

Botanical Gardens:
Of Buenos Ayres, 38-40, 44
Of Rio, 368

Bouvard, M., 57

Brazil, 144, (226-425)
Recent troubles in, 178
Domestic architecture, n. 318, 321
French culture in, 331
Products of, 333
Politics, 337
Federal Government, 342
Saint Paul, 341-42
Society, 352-63
Planters, 356
Women of, 358
Agricultural methods, 364-66
See Coffee, Rio de Janeiro, Saint Paul

Brazil, Dr., his antitoxins for snake-bites, 403-4

Buckle, his prophecy relating to Brazil, 143-44

Buenos Ayres, 26-141
Elevators of, 26-27
City, 28
Architecture, 29
Docks, 32-33
Slaughter-houses, 34-35, 74-79
Excessive population, 85
Schools, 115-16
Asylums and prisons, 98-140

Buenos Ayres, Fair of, 79

Butantan (Sero-therapeutical Institute), 403


C

Cabred, Dr., alienist, 128-29

Calval, 321

Campo, The Argentine:
Men of, 207-9
Drought in, 213-14
Fauna of, 220-21
Morals of, 225

Canaries, The, 420

Cape Verde Islands, 5

Cattle:
Exaggerated sums paid for, 74, 163
Herds of the Argentine Pampas, 206-9
Decimated by drought, 213-15, 246, 264

Cedar, False, 76

Cereals, 74, 75, 260

Cerro, The, 24-25

Church, The, in Brazil, 374

Cinematograph, The, 198

Clover, Giant, 75

Coal, Absence of, in the Argentine, 31

Coaling at St. Vincent, 10

Cobras, Las (island), Mutiny on, 335, 342

Coffee (389-94)
The shrub, 389-90
Harvest, 390
Valorisation of, 393
Plantations, 394-99

Columbus, iii-v

Conscription as affecting the French in South America, 97-99

Cookery in the Argentine, 173-74

Corcovado, 369-72

Creole balls, 231

Creole beauty, A, 279-82

Cruz, Dr. Oswaldo, Valuable medical services of, 343-48


D

Dances of the Pampas, 321

Dancing, 285

Democracy, M. Clémenceau's lectures on, 200

Divorce in Uruguay, 299

Dolphins, 13


E

Education:
In the Argentine, 114-18
In Uruguay, 312-14

Emigrants:
Italian, 2, 7
Yearly, 2
Syrians, 7

Emigration to Brazil prohibited on account of abuses, 366

England:
At International Exposition of Buenos Ayres, 69-70
Her industrial rôle in South America, 70

English:
In the Argentine, 100
In Patagonia, 105-6
As builders of railways, 183

Estancias:
Of the Argentine, 75
Of the Pampas, 224, 235-47

Estanciero, The, 237
His habit of enlarging his holdings, 237-38
His life, 238-44


F

Faction fights disappearing, 177

Family life in the Argentine, 150-51

Fauna of the Campo, 220-21

Fazenda, The Brazilian, 356, 408-17

Fazendero, The, 356

Ferri, Prof. Enrico, 107-8

Finger-print system, 89-90

Flax, 74

Flying-fish, 14

Fonseca, Marshal Hermès da, President of the Brazilian Republic, 328

Forest:
The South American, 276-78
The Brazilian, 366
Destruction of, 376-78, 414-15

Forestry, Need of competent, 77

France:
At the International Exposition of Buenos Ayres, 70
Failure of her capitalists to realise their opportunity in South America, 70
Military law of, as affecting the French in South America, 96-99

French colony, The, in the Argentine, 93, 94-97
As engineers, 183

French school at Tucuman, 287

French theatre at Tucuman, 286

French Military Mission to Saint-Paul, 329, 386


G

Game on the Pampas, 247-52

Gaucho, The, 73, 207-9, 223-24, 228-30

Genoa, scenes in harbour, 1, 3

Germans in the Argentine, 100

Gramophones, 225

Groussac, P., 57
His adventures, 100-3
As a Spanish author, 102
Founds the public library, 102
Personality, 102-5
Groussac, de, 101-3

Guanaco, The, 221

Guiraldès, Señor, City Lieutenant of Buenos Ayres, 112


H

Half-breeds, Life of, 271-75, 334

Harbour works, 183
See Rosario, Montevideo

Hares on the Pampas, 247

Harvesters, Italian, 84

Hilleret, M., sugar-planter, 270-71, 284

Horse-racing, 165-68

Horses:
At the Buenos Ayres Horse show, 74
Of the Pampas, 207-8, 217-18
Curious power of finding their way home after revolutions, 228-29
Methods of breaking, 241-43

Hospitals:
Excellence of, 114, 121
The "Open Door" for insane patients, 103, 124-32
Rivadavia Hospital, 122

Hotels, 170-71

House of Independence, The, 286

Huret, Jules, 257


I

Idealism, Latin, 63-65

Immigration, 84-85

Indian blood in the Argentine, 111, 145-47

Indians, South American, n. 53, n. 56

Individualism, characteristic of South American constitutions, 190

Insurrections, Danger of, in the Argentine, 179

International Exposition at Buenos Ayres, 69-70

Isabella, the Infanta, Visit of, 110-11

Italians in Brazil, 355, 396-97


J

Jacques, outlaw and educationalist, 101

Japanese in Brazil, 348-49

Jefferson, 64

Jettatore, Belief in, 181

Jockey Clubs of Buenos Ayres, 163-66


L

La Plata, 17, 25, 56-8

Lakaluf Indians, n. 55

Land:
Increase of value upon cultivation, 75
Speculation in, 161

Las Cobras, Island of, mutiny on, 335, 342

Larreta, E. R., novelist and Argentine Minister in Paris, 56

Law of Literary Property, 199-200

Law Schools, 120

Liguria, 4

Literature of the Argentine, n. 58

Llamas, 221

Locusts, 219

Lulès, 284


M

Manguinhos Institute (sero-therapeutical), 345-47

Mar del Plato, 37

Martinette, The, 248-52

Maté, 44-6
Secret of growth from seed, 45

Meat, frozen, 79

Medicine, 120-22
French culture of doctors, 123
Protective regulations, 123
Sero-therapeutical Institute, 345-47

Middle classes, Abstention of, from politics, 188

Military service, French and Argentine, 96-98

Minas Geraes, battleship, mutiny on, 335, 342

Miscegenation, 147-48, 334

Monroe Doctrine, 66-67

Montevideo, 18
Docks, 20
City, 21
Architecture, 21-22
Harbour, 292

Moreno, Moriano, n. 59, 102

Morra, 14-15

Motor-cars:
In the Campo, 245
Shooting from, 248-49

Mussurana, a cannibal snake, 404


O

Ombu-tree, The, 40-42, 219-20

Onas Indians, n. 55

Onelli, Señor, Director of Buenos Ayres Zoölogical Gardens, 48-53

"Open Door," The, asylum for insane, 124-35

Ornevo (cardinal bird), 221

Ostrich, The, 51, 221

Owl, The prairie, 223, 255


P

Palermo (racecourse), 38, 53-54

Pampas, The:
Life on, 204-32
Enormous herds of, 210-12

Pampero, The, 17, 73

Pan-American Congress, 65-67

Parana, the, 26, 260

Partridges, 248-51

Patagonians, Account of, by Señor Onelli, n. 52-56

Peçanha, President, 332

Pellegrini, President, an insoumis, 99

Peña, President, 107, 182

Penguins, 50

Petropolis, 373-74

Photographers in the home, 198-99

Police, Argentine, 89

Politics, 176-77, 189
In Uruguay, 300-1
In Brazil, 336-39

Polyvalent serum for snake-bite, 403

Prado fazenda, The, 394-95

Press, Power of the, 191-92, 193-98, 304

Prisons, 137-41

Protectionism in the medical world, 123


Q

Québracho, 32, 40

Quintana, the late President, 181


R

Rabat, a method of hunting hares, 248

Race-course, Palermo, 38

Railways, 183, 422

Rastaquouère, The, 62

Reds of Uruguay, The, 178
Garibaldi's shirt borrowed from, n. 300

Refrigerator industry, The, 79, 216

Revolution, The French, x.

Revolutions:
South American, things of the past, 179
Method of raising men, 227, 266
In Uruguay, 300

Rio Bay, 321-27

Rio Branco, Baron de, 328

Rio de Janeiro, 322-51
Aspect of city, 325-29
From Corcovado, 371

Roca, President, 102

Rosario:
Cattle show at, 79, 259
Docks, 262
Deficiency of schools, 263

Rosas, dictator, n. 59


S

St. Lazare, prison, 113

St. Paul (Saõ Paolo), 379-81
Government of, 382
City, 384

St. Paul (Saõ Paolo), battleship, mutiny on, 335, 342

St Vincent, coaling station, 8, 9, 418

St. Vincent, Brazil, 320

San Martin, 59

Santos, Shipments of coffee at, 319, 398-407

Santos Bay, 407

Santos River, 317

Sarmiento, n. 59, 101

Schools:
In the Argentine, 115-18
Secondary, 119
Training College of St. Paul, 385-87

Sculpture, Abundance of mediocre, in Buenos Ayres, 58-60

Sera:
Preparation of, 345-46
Snake antitoxins, 402-3

Sheep, in Patagonia, 106

Shipping, lines to South America, 421, 423-24

Siesta unknown to Brazil, 320

Slavery:
In Brazil, Abolition of, 353-54
Evils and advantages of, 358

Snakes, of Brazil, 401-4

Soarès, Señor, his model fazenda, 408-9

Southern Cross, The, 16

Spain, influence of her traditions, 109-11

Sport in the Pampas, 248-55

Stone Age, The, n. 53-54

Sugar-cane, Fields of, 273


T

Tchuleches Indians, 53

Telegraphy, Wireless, 9

Thays, M.:
Director of Parks, etc., at Buenos Ayres, 38-39
His proposal for national park, 39, 44-55

Theatre at Rio, 361

Theresopolis, 375

Tierra del Fuego, Natives of, n. 55

Timber:
Lack of, in Argentina, 32, 76
Improvident destruction of, 76

Trade of Argentina and Brazil, 422-23

Training College, St. Paul, 385-87

Tucuman, 268, 286-87
The French at, 286-88


U

Uruguay, 18, (289-315)
Revolutions in, 19
President of, 20, 23-24
Morals of, 22
Whites and Reds of, 178
Curious domestic architecture, 295
Laws (reformed), 298-99
Revolutions, 300
Whites and Reds, 300
Insecurity of life during political disputes, 301
The Press, 304
Idealism, 308-9

Uruguay Club, The, 303

Uruguay River, The, 26


V

Valorisation of coffee, 393

Viana, Island of, 348-50

Voltaire, played 900 miles from the coast in 1780, ix., 333

Voyage, Impressions of the, 5-10


W

White, Mr. Henry, 57

Whites, The, of Uruguay, 178, 300

Williman, Señor, President of Uruguay, 23-24, 297


Y

Yellow fever, at Santos, and extirpation of, 319
The work of Dr. Cruz at Rio, 343-45

Yerba-maté, 44-46


Z

Zoölogical Gardens, Buenos Ayres, 48-49