FOOTNOTES

[1] The following table shows the length of the various lines of railway in Argentina, and the width of track, as they were at the close of 1909.

RAILWAY GAUGE MILES IN
OPERATION
Buenos Aires and Pacific broad 2,967
Great Southern ” 2,745
Central ” 2,528
Western ” 1,360
Entre Rios standard 688
Northeastern ” 560
Buenos Aires Central ” 165
Central Cordoba narrow 772
Cordoba and Rosario ” 180
Province of Santa Fé ” 1,028
Northern ” 567
Central Northern ” 1,409
14,969

[2] The author desires to acknowledge his obligation for a number of historical facts to the South American Republics, by Hon. Thomas C. Dawson, and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, of New York and London.

APPENDICES

I
AREA AND POPULATION

The population of Argentina to-day probably exceeds six and a half millions. This does not average quite six to the square mile, a very small population indeed, considering the great extent of fertile and productive soil. Only a very small proportion of the inhabitants are other than Caucasians, a marked distinction over the other republics of South America. The states are very unequal in size, and the population is very unevenly distributed, as the following table, furnished by the National Demographic Bureau for 1908, will show:

Provinces Area Population Capital
Buenos Aires 117,720 1,647,029 La Plata
Catamarca 47,500 106,891 Catamarca
Cordoba 62,130 546,844 Cordoba
Corrientes 32,560 319,386 Corrientes
Entre Rios 28,770 406,867 Paraná
Jujuy 18,970 59,075 Jujuy
Mendoza 56,470 216,196 Mendoza
La Rioja 34,530 86,851 La Rioja
Salta 62,150 142,937 Salta
San Juan 33,700 111,743 San Juan
Santa Fé 50,890 816,401 Santa Fé
Santiago del Estero 39,740 198,529 Santiago del Estero
San Luis 28,520 107,471 San Luis
Tucuman 8,920 293,211 Tucuman
Federal District 70 1,189,252 Buenos Aires
Territories Area Population Capital
Chaco 52,710 23,876 Resistencia
Chubut 93,380 24,317 Rawson
Formosa 41,380 13,995 Formosa
Los Andes 22,000 2,246 San Antonio
Misiones 11,820 42,933 Posadas
Neuquen 42,320 26,417 Chos Malal
La Pampa 56,290 76,393 General Acha
Rio Negro 75,890 24,312 Viedma
Santa Cruz 109,090 4,214 Puerto Gallegos
Tierra del Fuego 8,290 1,637 Ushuaia
1,135,810 6,489,023

II
SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS

It is no longer necessary for the person visiting Argentina to take the roundabout way via Europe. The Lamport and Holt Company runs some very comfortable boats between New York and Buenos Aires, making the round trip in from twenty-three to twenty-six days. Since the completion of the Transandine Railway one can go from New York to Buenos Aires by the way of Panama and the West Coast, in even a shorter time, if close connections are made. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company and Compañia Sud Americana de Vapores maintain a joint service between Panama and Valparaiso, stopping at a number of ports en route. It is advisable for any one visiting that country to go by one route and return by the other, and thus secure a comprehensive view of the greater part of South America. It requires from ten to fourteen days to make the trip between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso via the Straits of Magellan. The boats that make that trip do not go up the river to Buenos Aires, but it is necessary to transship at Montevideo.

One should not miss the opportunity to visit Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, which is a night’s journey from Buenos Aires down the Rio de la Plata, and on the opposite shore. Comfortable steamers make the trip every night, and the charge is $5.00, including berth. Montevideo is an attractive city of about four hundred thousand people, and contests with Santiago, Chile, for the position of third city in South America. Two or three days can be devoted to that city very profitably, even by the hurried traveller, and there are two or three very comfortable hotels. The money of Uruguay is on a gold basis, the peso being worth about $1.04 in United States currency.

It is well to remember that the Spanish language is universally used in Argentina. In the cities, however, there are numerous British residents, and quite a number of Germans, most of whom understand English; so that it is not difficult at all for one to visit the populated centres of that country without being able to speak the Spanish language. The railways are almost entirely under British management, so that it is generally possible to find some one speaking English at the stations in the important towns. At the hotels it is not so easy to find an English-speaking clerk or waiter, although there are quite a number who keep a clerk who understands English. Comfortable hotels will be found in most of the cities, as new ones have been erected within the past few years, owing to the increased travel and the growth of the cities. In the city of Buenos Aires there are many hotels of merit. The Phœnix, at which the writer stopped, is a very comfortable hotel and centrally located, with an English air predominating, and is a favourite stopping-place for English-speaking people. The hotel rates at most of the hotels are rather higher than for similar accommodations in the United States. The rates are generally inclusive, and provide for coffee and rolls in the morning, which is generally served in the bedroom, and two substantial meals which differ very little.

The railway equipment of the roads in Argentina is generally very good, with wide and comfortable coaches and good seats, although one wishes for the Pullman trains of our own country on the long journeys. The principal discomfort arises from the dust, which at times fills the cars and covers everything. The sleeping-cars are all of the compartment style and are quite comfortable. The dining-car service is very commendable, and an excellent meal of several courses is furnished at a uniform price of two pesos, so that with the tip and all it does not cost the traveller to exceed $1.00 in United States currency.

The money of Argentina is all arranged upon the decimal system. The standard of their currency is the peso, which is divided into one hundred centavos, and has a pretty fixed value of about forty-three cents in money of the United States. The money is nearly all paper, as very little gold gets into circulation. Rates of postage are about the same as everywhere in the postal union. A letter to the United States or England costs twelve centavos, and a postal card five centavos. The service is prompt and reliable.

The price of clothing and most articles of wear is rather high, because the import duties in many instances are excessive, but they are not, as a rule, so high as in Brazil. In Buenos Aires one will find some very fine stores where almost anything can be purchased, and the goods are well displayed. There is in that city one of the largest mercantile establishments in the world, which has a number of branches in the capital as well as in some of the other cities. There are several English bookstores where books and American magazines can be purchased, although the prices are rather staggering. Cab charges in most of the cities are very reasonable, and in some places extremely low. It is best to find out beforehand at your hotel, or some other place, what the local rates are. At the end of the journey give that amount to the driver, together with a small tip, and do not ask him the price, or enter into any controversy with him. Like his counterpart in almost every other country, the cab driver in Buenos Aires will take advantage of the stranger in his charges if the opportunity affords. Electric street cars reach every part of the city, and the fare is ten centavos. The routes are rather complicated, however. Each car bears a number, and the traveller should secure a book giving the various routes by numbers.

In planning a visit to Argentina the traveller must never forget that the seasons are reversed, and that summer time in the United States is winter time in Argentina. Buenos Aires is about the same latitude as Atlanta, Georgia, and Los Angeles, California. As you go north from there the temperature gets warmer, and when you go south it becomes colder, being just the reverse of conditions in northern latitudes. Furthermore, the temperature changes with the altitude, and as you go up the Andes, there is a perceptible change of temperature for each thousand feet of elevation, and the clothes to be taken along should be arranged in accordance with these suggestions.

III
BIBLIOGRAPHY

For the benefit of those interested in a further study of Argentina, the following list of books treating wholly or in part of that republic is herewith appended. It is not a long list, for the literature upon that country is not extensive, and some of those cited contain only a few chapters devoted to this large and virile republic.

Akers, Charles Edmond: A History of South America, 1854-1904. London, 1904.

Beerbohm, Julius: Wanderings in Patagonia; or, Life Among the Ostrich-Hunters. London, 1879.

Carpenter, Frank G.: South America: social, industrial, and political. Akron, Ohio, 1900.

Clark, Francis E.: The Continent of Opportunity. New York, 1907.

Curtis, William Eleroy: The Capitals of Spanish America. New York, 1888.

Dawson, Thomas C.: The South American Republics (an excellent history). New York, 1903.

Dixie, Florence: Across Patagonia. London, 1880.

Fitzgerald, E. A.: The Highest Andes. London, 1899.

Grant, Robert, & Co.: Handy Guide to the Argentine Republic. Buenos Aires, 1909.

Hale, Albert: The South Americans. Indianapolis, 1907.

Hutchinson, Lincoln: Report on Trade Conditions in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Washington, 1906.

Hudson, W. H.: The Naturalist in La Plata. London, 1903.

Koebel, W. H.: Modern Argentina; the El Dorado of To-day. London, 1907.

Martin, Percy F.: Through Five Republics of South America. London, 1906.

Mitre, Bartolomé: The Emancipation of South America and the History of San Martin. (Translation.) London, 1893.

Page, Thomas J.: La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, a narrative of exploration by the United States. New York, 1859.

Pelleschi, Juan: Eight Months on the Gran Chaco. London, 1886.

Pritchard, H. Hesketh: Through the Heart of Patagonia. London, 1902.

Ruhl, Arthur: The Other Americans. New York, 1907.

Shaw, Arthur E.: Forty Years in the Argentine Republic. London, 1902.

Spears, John R.: The Gold Diggings of Cape Horn. New York, 1895.

Turner, Thomas A.: Argentina and the Argentines. London, 1892.

Vincent, Frank: Around and About South America. New York, 1890.

White, Ernest William: Cameos from the Silverland. London, 1882.

Wiborg, Frank: A Commercial Traveller in South America. New York, 1905.

INDEX