START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNEYS AND EXPERIENCES IN ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, AND CHILE*** E-text prepared by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 44692-h.htm or 44692-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44692/44692-h/44692-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44692/44692-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/journeysexperien00step Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). [Illustration: Henry Stephens, Ph.D.] [Illustration: Locust Pest in Argentina Estancia, Santa Isabel, Province Buenos Aires] [Illustration: Snow in the Tropics Plaza PringlÃ©s, San Luis, July, 1913] [Illustration: Reflection of Aconcagua Volcano in the Clouds above Valparaiso This rare phenomenon is occasionally seen in April and September at dawn. The mountain itself is invisible from Valparaiso.] JOURNEYS AND EXPERIENCES IN ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, AND CHILE Including a side trip to the source of the Paraguay River in the State of Matto Grosso, Brazil, and a journey across the Andes to the Rio Tambo in Peru by HENRY STEPHENS Harvard, A.B., Vienna, Ph.D. FIRST EDITION The Knickerbocker Press New York 1920 Copyright By Henry Stephens 1920 TO MR. H. L. MENCKEN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND WHO IS CONSIDERED TO BE AMERICA'S FOREMOST CRITIC OF LITERATURE I GLADLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK OF TRAVELS CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE MONTEVIDEO 1 Experience in landing. Population of the city. Conservativeness of the inhabitants. Gambling establishment at Playa Ramirez. Train ride to Colonia. CHAPTER II BUENOS AIRES 21 Population of the city. Streets and architecture. High cost of living. Hotels. Beverages. Street beggars and vagabonds. Mariano Moreno College. Habit of not bathing. Jews. La Plata. CHAPTER III SAN LUIS 62 Appearance of the city. Capitol. Plazas. Hotels. Neighboring country. Character of the natives. Train ride to Mendoza. CHAPTER IV MENDOZA 78 Viticulture. Fruit growing. Wheat. Population and appearance of the city. Earthquake of 1861. Cerrito de la Gloria. Hotels. Aconcagua. Cacheuta. Across the Andes. Arrival in town of Los Andes. CHAPTER V SALTA AND TUCUMÃN 101 Train ride to Salta. Lerma Valley. Province of Salta. Chuchu fever. Population of the city of Salta. 20th of February Club. Churches and San Francisco Monastery. Population of the city of TucumÃ¡n. Capitol. Governor Padilla. Heat of the city. Hotel Savoy. Kirwin the photographer. Villa NouguÃ©s. CHAPTER VI CÃRDOBA 130 Province of CÃ³rdoba. Description of the city of CÃ³rdoba. Great number of consumptives. Breweries. Streets, religious edifices, and hotels. Sierra de CÃ³rdoba. Cosquin. Locust pest. Rosario; its hotels. Pergamino. Mercedes. CHAPTER VII ASUNCION 155 Train ride from Buenos Aires. Population of Paraguayan districts and towns. Don Eduardo Schaerer. Currency. Colonnades. Pavement of Asuncion's streets. Oratory of Lopez. Climate, rains, and reptiles. Madame Lynch. Hotels. Mangrullo Cemetery. Market-place. Cigars. Low cost of living. Asuncene womanhood. Unmorality. Ypacara-i. CHAPTER VIII TO THE SOURCE OF THE PARAGUAY RIVER 195 River scenery. Villa Concepcion. San Salvador. State of Matto Grosso. CorumbÃ¡. Lawlessness. By water to CuyabÃ¡. City of CuyabÃ¡. Huber. Detour to source of river. Bog and pool. Huber becomes ill; his death. Diamantino. Return to Buenos Aires by river. Yerba matÃ©. CHAPTER IX SANTIAGO 226 Republic of Chile. Central Valley. Longitudinal railways. Paucity of factories. Breweries. The Chileno. Illegitimacy. Fiesta of the Angelito. Reception in Santiago. Compactness of the city; its streets. Installation of the president. Military parade. American ambassador. Hotels. High death rate. General Cemetery. Apoquindo. CHAPTER X BATHS OF CAUQUENES. CHILOÃ ISLAND. LAKE NAHUEL. HUAPI 263 Rancagua. Baths of Cauquenes. Hostelry. Horseback ride to Los Lirios. Linares. PanimÃ¡vida. Araucania and its native inhabitants. Temuco. Valdivia. Osorno. Fire at Osorno. Ancud. Castro. Lake Llanquihue. El Tronador Puella. Puerto Blest. Lake Nahuel Huapi. San Carlos de Bariloche. CHAPTER XI CHILLÃN. ASCENT OF THE VOLCANO CHILLÃN 312 Description of the city. Hotel de France. Earthquake. ChillÃ¡n Viejo. Birthplace of O'Higgins. Journey to Las Termas de ChillÃ¡n. Establishment of Las Termas. Gambling. Episode of the administrator's brother. Snowfields and glaciers. Eruption of volcano. Don Vicente Mendez U. CuricÃ³. CHAPTER XII NORTHWARD TO ANTOFAGASTA BY RAIL. COPIAPÃ, ANTOFAGASTA, AND 347 IQUIQUE Greenberg's adventure. San Felipe. Jahuel. Palm groves. Choapa Valley. Illapel. La Serena. Vallenar. Oasis of CopiapÃ³. Retrogressant provincial capital. Professor Platner. Desert. Prosperity of Antofagasta. Strict prohibition laws. Bubonic plague. Pestilential Tocopilla. Description of Iquique. CHAPTER XIII ARICA TO ILO OVERLAND, VIA TACNA, TARATA, AND MOQUEGUA. MOLLENDO 387 Dr. Petit. Morro of Arica. Dispute between Chile and Peru over Tacna and Arica. Architect Pitaud. Description of Tacna. Peculiar architecture. Hotel Raiteri. Don Santiago Carmona. Caplina Valley. Ascending the Andes, Tarata. Parish priest. Tales of buried treasure. Hacienda Carmona. Ticalco and Sama Valleys. Stupidity of Peruvian jefe politico. Ilabaya. Dishonest cholo and Prat's spree. Don JosÃ© Vergara. Moquegua. Ilo. Stinking Mollendo. Arrival at Callao. CHAPTER XIV LIMA 434 Architecture of Callao. Mixed population of Lima and its seaport. Origin of Lima. Rimac River. Interesting city. Its population. Confusion of street names. Concepcion Market. Religious edifices and procession of El Milagro. Hotels and cafÃ©s. Difficulty in getting money changed. Crookedness of post office officials. General Cemetery. Viceroys of Peru. CHAPTER XV ACROSS THE CORDILLERA TO THE RIO TAMBO 470 Departure from Oroya. Across the Cumbre. Tarma. Valley of the Rio Palca. Huacapistana. Tropical vegetation. Swinging bridges. San Ramon. La Merced and the Chanchamayo River. Chuncho, Campas, and Cashibo Indians. PerenÃ© Colony. Down the Ucayali. Iquitos. Head hunting Indians. CHAPTER XVI BUSINESS PROSPECTS IN ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, AND CHILE 496 Knowledge of Spanish and of the Latin character a necessity. Companies should be fully capitalized. Wheat belt of Argentina. Argentina poor in fuel and in minerals. Zona del Riego. Flour mills and beef canning factories. Stock raising and great ranches. Tannic acid factories. Grafting politicians. Breweries and sugar mills. Yerba matÃ© industry in Paraguay. Bright outlook for Chile. Topography of the country. Nitrate, minerals, and viticulture. Breweries. Enamel works. Railroads of Chile. Great need of good hotels. ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Henry Stephens, Ph.D. Locust Pest in Argentina Snow in the Tropics Reflection of Aconcagua in the Clouds above Valparaiso _Frontispieces_ Colonia, Uruguay 19 Congress Building, Buenos Aires 23 Buenos Aires Types 25 Avenida de Mayo, Buenos Aires 27 Mr. Oliver H. Lane 29 Calle Bartolome MitrÃ©, Buenos Aires 31 Fireman and Policeman, Buenos Aires 33 ZoÃ¶logical Garden, Buenos Aires 35 Scene on the River at Tigre 53 Station of the Southern Railway, La Plata 55 Old Railway Station, La Plata 56 Bank of the Argentine Nation, La Plata 57 Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires, La Plata 58 Allegorical Statue of La Plata 59 Unfinished Cathedral, La Plata 60 Plaza San Martin, Mercedes 63 Street in San Luis 65 Bank of the Argentine Nation, San Luis 66 Capitol, San Luis 68 Matriz Church, San Luis 70 Estancia near San Luis 73 Statue of San Martin, Mendoza 84 Avenida San Martin, Mendoza 85 Monument to the Army of the Andes, Mendoza 89 Waiting for the Train at Cacheuta 94 On the Terrace at Cacheuta 95 Thermal Establishment at Cacheuta 97 One of the Diversions at Cacheuta that is neither Bathing nor Gambling 98 Steps at Cacheuta Leading from the Railroad Station to the Hotel 99 GÃ¼emes 107 Cathedral and Bishop's Palace, Salta 109 Tomb in Cemetery, Salta 113 Calle Mitre, Salta 116 Capitol, TucumÃ¡n 121 Calle Laprida, TucumÃ¡n 123 Residence of Dr. Juan C. NouguÃ©s, San Pablo 127 Country House at Villa NouguÃ©s 128 Northern Market, CÃ³rdoba 133 Cathedral of CÃ³rdoba 137 Residence of Martin Ferreyra, CÃ³rdoba 138 Church of Santa Teresa, CÃ³rdoba 139 ZoÃ¶logical Garden, CÃ³rdoba 141 Corner of Plaza San Martin, CÃ³rdoba 142 Bridge on Road to Dique San Roque 144 Courthouse, Rosario 147 Street Scene, Rosario 148 Plaza 25 de Mayo, Rosario 149 Street Scene, Rosario 150 Calle San Nicolas, Pergamino 151 Plaza 25 de Mayo, Pergamino 152 Street in Mercedes 153 Scene from Railroad Station at Villa Rica 162 Casa de Gobierno, or Capitol, Asuncion 167 Drawing Showing Construction of Colonnades on a Paraguayan Building 170 Cabildo, or City Hall, Asuncion 171 Plazoleta del Puerto, Asuncion 172 Calle Palmas, Asuncion 173 Calle 15 de Agosto, Asuncion 174 Street Scene, Outskirts of Asuncion 175 Mangrullo Cemetery, Asuncion 184 Street Scene, CuyabÃ¡ 205 Street Scene, Outskirts of CuyabÃ¡ 206 Source of the Paraguay River 213 House in Diamantino where Huber Died 220 Diagram Showing Idea of Central Valley of Chile in Relationship to the Andes Mountains and the Coast Range, with Course of Streams 227 Scenery, Central Valley of Chile 229 Village Scene, Central Chile 230 The Valdivia Breweries Company, Valdivia 233 Santa Lucia Hill, Santiago 239 General View of Santiago from Santa Lucia Hill 241 Alameda, Santiago 242 Calle Huerfanos, Santiago 243 Modern Residence on the Alameda, Santiago 244 Calle Ejercito Liberador, Santiago 245 Fountain in Santiago 247 President Don Juan Luis Sanfuentes of Chile with Cabinet 248 Monument of Don Pedro Montt, Cementerio Jeneral, Santiago 249 View Looking West on CompaÃ±ia Street from Estado at the Plaza de Armas, Santiago 251 Cathedral Street, Santiago 252 Mapocho River near Santiago 256 Street in NuÃ±oa, Chile 261 Plaza O'Higgins, Rancagua 264 Calle Bresil, Rancagua 265 Street in Rancagua 266 Gorge of the Cachapoal at BaÃ±os de Cauquenes 268 Main Street of Linares 277 PanimÃ¡vida 278 Bridge over the Malleco River at Collipulli 283 Street in Temuco 287 Plaza de la Republica, Valdivia 289 Calle-Calle River at Valdivia, Showing Flour Mills 291 Street in Valdivia 292 RiÃ±ihue Landscape, Southern Chile 293 Osorno 295 Scenery on the Railroad between Osorno and Puerto Montt 297 Indian Belles, ChiloÃ© Island, Chile 301 Lake Todos Santos from PetrohuÃ© 304 Puella 306 El Tronador, Chile 308 San Carlos de Bariloche 311 Plaza O'Higgins, ChillÃ¡n 314 Calle Roble, ChillÃ¡n, Looking East from Calle Arauco 315 Street in ChillÃ¡n 316 Market Place, ChillÃ¡n 317 Scene at the Station at Pinto 322 Post Station at La Dehesa 323 Harvesting Scene at La Dehesa 324 Mountain in the Renegado Canyon, Chile 325 Corral of Las Trancas 326 Forest in the Province of Ãuble, Chile 327 Scene on the Road to Termas de ChillÃ¡n 328 Termas de ChillÃ¡n 329 Casuchas at Termas de ChillÃ¡n 330 Mr. Henry Stephens 333 Mr. Hugo Gumprecht 333 View towards the Argentine Frontier from the Slopes of Volcano ChillÃ¡n 334 Glacier Covered with Fresh Snow on the Volcano 335 Rim of the Crater of Volcano ChillÃ¡n During Eruption 337 Snow Fields of Volcano ChillÃ¡n 337 From the Slopes of Volcano ChillÃ¡n 339 Savedra, Gumprecht, and Prat on Lava Fields of Volcano ChillÃ¡n 339 Mountain Scenery and Waterfall at Las Trancas 343 Church in San Felipe 348 City Hall, San Felipe 349 Street in San Felipe 352 Street in Almendraz 353 Jahuel 356 Ocoa 359 Street in Vallenar 362 Alameda in CopiapÃ³ 363 Monument Erected in Honor of Atacama's Illustrious Dead, CopiapÃ³ 364 Main Street of CopiapÃ³ 365 Main Street of CopiapÃ³ 366 Outskirts of CopiapÃ³ 367 Hovels on the Outskirts of CopiapÃ³ 368 Cemetery, CopiapÃ³ 369 Plaza Colon, Antofagasta 374 Provincial Capitol Building, Antofagasta 375 Street in Antofagasta 377 Street in Tocopilla 380 Cemeteries at Tocopilla 382 Street in Iquique 384 Street in Iquique 385 Cemetery, Iquique 386 Custom House, Arica 388 Street in Arica 389 Capitol Building at Tacna 392 Street in Tacna Showing Earthquake Proof Houses 393 Calle Bolivar, Tacna 394 Fountain in Tacna 395 Unfinished Cathedral in Tacna 396 Style of Tacna Architecture 397 Old Residence, Tacna 398 Street in Tacna 399 Calle Miller, Tacna 400 Alameda, Tacna 401 Street in Tarata 406 Street in Ilabaya, Peru 423 Alameda, Moquegua 426 Street in Moquegua 428 Street in Moquegua 429 Callao Harbor 435 Puente Vieja, Lima, as Seen from the Bed of the Rimac 438 Calle Huallaga, Lima 440 Plaza Italia, Lima. Vendors of Bread 441 Plazuela de la Inquisicion, Lima 442 Boulevard in Lima 444 FaÃ§ade of San Augustin Church, Lima 447 Procession of the Milagro, Lima 449 Cercado Church, Lima 460 Tomb of the Goyeneche Family, in the General Cemetery, Lima 461 Mr. Kurt Waldemar Linn of New York 462 Mr. Linn of New York Rising out of the Tomb Erected in Honor of the Peruvian Heroes of the Pacific War, 1879-1882 463 Corpse Bearer, General Cemetery, Lima 464 Putting a Coffin into a Niche, General Cemetery, Lima 465 Llamas at Casapalca 474 Tarma, Peru 477 Cemetery, Tarma 479 Argentine Plazas. Plate No. I 521 Argentine Plazas. Plate No. II 523 Chilean Plazas. Plate No. III 525 Map Showing Route Taken by Author _At End_ Journeys and Experiences in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile CHAPTER I MONTEVIDEO In my former book, _South American Travels_, I made a statement relative to the pronunciation of the word "Montevideo" as follows: "Many foreigners make the mistake of pronouncing the name of the city with the accent on its penultima 'e'. Each syllable should be pronounced alike, with no distinction made as onto which syllable the accent falls." I have since found out that I was wrong, and am convinced so by my losing a ten-dollar bet with a gentleman relative to the pronunciation of the Uruguayan metropolis. Montevideo has its accent on the penultima. The word is derived from the Latin "_Montem video_" the final _m_ in _montem_ having been dropped to facilitate pronunciation. Its site was first discovered by Magellan in 1520, and as the 493 feet high dun-colored _cerro_, which dominates the western side of the harbor on whose shores the city is now built, appeared on the occidental horizon, somebody at the bow of the ship yelled out, "Montem video" ("I see a mountain"), which words gave the city its present name. It can be safely assumed that the man at the bow who uttered the Latin exclamation was a priest or a friar because who amongst a crew of sailors and adventurers would have a knowledge of Latin unless it was a man who had taken Holy Orders? The Spaniards and Portuguese in those days never embarked on any expedition without taking some of these gentry along. Montevideo is sometimes called "Queen of La Plata" on account of its cleanliness, haughty reserve, and aristocratic appearance; more often has it been styled "Modern Troy" due to decades of internecine strife, anarchy, revolutions, and a Ten Years' War. Now that there has been quietude for several years, with prospects of continued peace, it is unfair to its inhabitants to liken it to the prehistoric city at the southeastern end of the Hellespont. Several times during the years 1915 and 1916, I visited Montevideo, having made occasional trips from Buenos Aires, but an episode connected with my last advent on Uruguayan shores will take an indefinitely long time to erase it from my memory. It was like this: On February 17, 1916, I had embarked on the Lamport & Holt steamship _Vestris_ at La Plata for Montevideo to bid farewell to friends returning to the United States. The steamer was scheduled to sail from Montevideo at 2 P.M. the next day. When that time came I was in the dining room, and was so engrossed in a conversation that appealed to me that I never heard the ringing of bells and the blowing of whistles that denote that an ocean leviathan is about to get under way. Suddenly an acquaintance, Mr. Lynn B. Packer of Norwich, N. Y., ran into the dining room calling out: "The ship is in motion, Stephens, we are in for it!" We both ran up the stairs and onto the deck. True enough, the _Vestris_ was sailing but at a snail's pace, and the anchor was being pulled up. The lighter containing the visitors had left and was now but a black speck behind the breakwater. Not even a fishing boat was in sight. We ran to the port side, and saw a few hundred feet away a rowboat in which were two men pulling away. We yelled to them and waved our handkerchiefs; they stopped. We took off our coats and waved them also; they swung their rowboat around and rowed back towards us. A steward and a couple of sailors got a rope-ladder which they hung over the railing of the deck, and down this Packer and myself clambered, and jumped into the rowboat which had now reached the sides of the _Vestris_. The two men of the rowboat now pulled out to let the ocean liner pass by, so as not to get caught in the vortex of water caused by the propellers. The sea was rough; a leaden sky cast a gloomy canopy over the leaden water; to the left rose the dun-colored cerro crowned by its prison and lighthouse. In the background nearly two miles away, seemed to rise in tiers, the somber buildings of drab Montevideo, the twin towers of the cathedral, the Gothic steeple of a church, and a large rectangular pile at the water's edge, which was formerly the university, being silhouetted against the sky line. Black hulls of ships, merchantmen, and freighters flying the flags of most civilized nations, besides the interned German ships of the Kosmos Line, dotted the harbor and the open sea outside of the breakwater, but we were at least half a mile from the nearest one of them. We now began to size up the two boatmen. They were a villainous looking pair. The one who acted as the boss was an undersized man about thirty-five years old. He wore a black moustache, and about two weeks stubble of beard. His hair was unkempt, and white mucus had collected at the corners of his mouth and eyes. He stunk of garlic, and his clothes were dirty and greasy. His companion was a tall and slender man, a few years his junior. His appearance was likewise unkempt, although his long face, covered with pimples, was clean shaven, except for an occasional straggling whisker on his chin which his razor had overlooked. The boss boatman, knowing me to be a North American, attempted to converse with me in English, but his knowledge of that tongue was so execrable that he soon had to desist; he knew but a few words of Spanish. By mixing lingoes we made ourselves understood and he informed me that he was a resident of Rio de Janeiro, of which city he was a native, and that he was at present employed as a doctor on a Brazilian passenger ship in Montevideo, and that his regular trips were from Manaos on the Amazon to Montevideo, touching at all the seaports; his comrade, he informed me, was a Paulista and was the Marconi operator on the same ship. Both had been making a visit to the different ships now anchored in Montevideo harbor, having had chats with the doctors and Marconi-men of said ships, and were returning to their own vessel when hailed by us. This yarn I refused to believe, for no man that I had ever seen had a more unmedical appearance than the boss boatman; moreover instead of attempting to row us to the docks, both men were rowing towards the Brazilian vessel, which we were approaching, and which belied its title of a passenger ship, having more the appearance of a freighter. The sea, as I said, was rough, and I yelled to the boatmen to swing around as I had no desire to be carried into the South Atlantic in an open boat; my misgivings were not so much on account of the elements, as for the thought that I became obsessed with, namely that these two vagabonds were trying to shanghai us, endeavoring to get us aboard the Brazilian ship. Montevideo, Valparaiso, and Callao are noted as tough ports, where shanghaiing is rife, and many of these stories were brought to my mind. To Packer, who lay reposing in the stern, I told my doubts. He replied that he had been thinking the same thing for some time. I told him the best thing for us to do would be to ask for the oars so that we could row back to shore ourselves; in case the boatmen refused, to rush them, and lay them out. He said he was game for a fight but refused to row, giving some excuse which I interpreted in meaning that he was too lazy. I had nothing but a pocket knife with me, and in case of a fight, meant to plant the blade in some vulnerable spot in the anatomy of the boss boatman, whom I took to be the boss villain. We had gradually been drifting out in the open sea, and the waves were becoming rougher. These were also unpleasant thoughts, especially since during the last few minutes the Brazilians had developed a streak of laziness. Packer gave me a wink which was the cue, and I asked for the oars. Great was my astonishment and also relief of mind, when instead of refusing my request which would have brought on a sanguinary fight with possible loss of life to one or more of us, the boss boatman handed me the oars. The Paulista, ready for a siesta, even though the sea was rough, dropped his oars beside his comrade, and turned over on his side for a snooze. All alone, with no help, I had to row the three occupants back, as each refused to labor any more. It took me two hours, hard pulling, before we again reached the dock at Montevideo. Believing that the "doctor" stunt was a lie, and that both were sailors from the Brazilian vessel, I offered the boatmen a piece of change for their aid in bringing us to terra firma, for unless they had taken us in their rowboat we would by this time be well under way for Santos. The boss boatman was indignant and informed me that I was insulting him. I then handed out some silver to the "Marconi" operator; he was on the point of accepting it, but withdrew his hand at a growl of disapproval from the "doctor." "You had better have some refreshment," I said to them, leading the way to a nearby bar. They followed me and seating themselves at the same table with us, ordered some raspberry soda. This was astonishment No. 2, for I could hardly conceive such villainous-looking rascals imbibing anything milder than one hundred proof whiskey. "See this ring," quoth the Fluminense, turning a finger to me so that I could see within the gold setting, a black stone in which was chiselled the image of a serpent: "It denotes the cult of Ãsculapius. Most Brazilian doctors wear them. I have been on the same ship for three years. Here is my card." The man pulled a book out of his pocket similar to a lodge pass-book at home, and true enough I saw that he was telling the truth, and that he really was a bona fide physician. We must have sat at the table for about fifteen minutes, when the Marconi operator got into a row with the waiter, whom he claimed overcharged him the day before on a dish of ice cream. The waiter called the proprietor and a big rumpus occurred. It wound up by the Paulista pulling a fist full of nickle-in-the-slot machine slugs out of his pocket and hurling them with great force into the face of the outraged proprietor. Before he could recover his astonishment, both Brazilians "beat it" in the direction of the docks. Packer and I, anticipating trouble, also "beat it," but up the hill. No man likes to chase another up hill. In case any reader of this article should go to Montevideo, and would like to know where this particular cafÃ© is, I wish to inform him that it is situated at the southwest corner of the streets, Rampla and Alzaibar. That same night as I was standing on the Plaza Matriz in front of the Hotel Lanata, I was accosted by a very clean-looking gentleman, immaculately dressed in black, wearing spats, and carrying a small cane. I thought it was a case of mistaken identity and was about to pass on, when to my amazement I recognized the doctor. The transformation was complete. He could now pass for a boulevardier while before he had the air of a cutthroat. He informed me that he had rowed back to his ship, changed his attire, and had returned to shore by a motor boat. The city of Montevideo has about four hundred thousand inhabitants exclusive of suburbs, and stretches over quite an area of land, due to the broad streets and lowness of its houses. It is built around the harbor and also along the Atlantic Ocean which is separated from the harbor by a hill in the shape of a whaleback. At the western end of the harbor is the cerro which marks the mouth of the La Plata and which is the only hill worthy of the name until that of LambarÃ© is reached one thousand miles up the river, the landmark for Asuncion. The whaleback is the business part of the city, although the shopping district has now a tendency to spread more eastward. The gradient to the top of the whaleback on which lies the Calle Sarandi, one of the principal streets of the city, is gentle, but yet I have several acquaintances who refused to walk it, preferring to go from the docks to the Plaza Matriz in a taxicab. One of these men is Mr. Oliver H. Lane, formerly of Washington before that city was made "dry," but who, because that calamity befell the National Capital, moved to Boston. One day in December, 1915, he, Packer, and I started from the docks uptown on foot. After we had gone two blocks, Lane planted his back against the wall of a building and said: "What do you take me for? Do you think I want to walk to Paraguay?" As there were no taxicabs around, Packer and I were obliged to walk about three-quarters of a mile to the Plaza Matriz to get one to return for Lane, whom we found in the same identical spot with his back still against the wall. Montevideo ranks according to the tonnage of vessels entering and clearing its harbor as the ninth port in the world, surpassing all South American cities in this respect. Until about fifty years ago, it was the metropolis of the La Plata watershed. About that time Buenos Aires passed it, and to-day the population of the Argentine metropolis is four times larger. Montevideo has a fine harbor; Buenos Aires has none. The Uruguayan back country is richer than the country behind Buenos Aires. Montevideo has a wonderful climate, cool, invigorating, with a fresh breeze always blowing; Buenos Aires has a humid, enervating, somewhat depressing climate. With these natural superiorities, one would think Montevideo would outrank Buenos Aires but not so. Buenos Aires has always had a spirit of progression, which has become contagious and has spread to Rosario, and to Bahia Blanca; Montevideo has always been conservative, entirely wrapped in herself, indifferent to other cities. Uruguay, which is the smallest republic in South America, has an area of only 72,210 square miles, not as large as the province of Buenos Aires alone. Of its population of 1,042,668 inhabitants, one half live within a radius of twenty miles from the center of the city of Montevideo. The difference between Buenos Aires and Montevideo is so great that it is difficult to realize that they are separated only by a night's run of 190 knots. The topography of the city is a succession of low hills which flank the harbor. They continue to the cerro, seven miles around the semi-circular harbor, and on their sides and summits are built a succession of villages not included in the incorporation limits of Montevideo. On the cerro rise the whitewashed houses of the town of Villa del Cerro, while at its bottom slopes near the La Plata mouth there is a large eucalyptus grove of dark green color, a landmark for many miles at sea. There was but little building done in Montevideo between the years 1912 and 1916; in fact I could see no change, although I have no doubt but that the population is increasing on a normal scale. The monotony of the appearance of the residential streets is impressing. Each street has the same cobblestone pavement; on each street there are sycamore trees between the pavement and the sidewalk; the houses are mostly the same, one and two stories high, built of the same material and offering absolutely no contrast in architecture, in size, or color to the thousands like them in the Uruguayan metropolis. This same condition must have existed since the Colonial times, because one writer, whose book written about 1830 I recently read, said in his description of Montevideo that on account of the great similarity of the houses and absence of street numbers, drunken men frequently mistook houses of other people for their own and entered them at different times of the day and night causing much embarrassment and confusion. The residences of the wealthier inhabitants do not have this monotonous uniformity. They are villas, set back from the street in large gardens and lawns, enclosed by low brick walls. In architecture they are light and resemble the houses of the aristocracy of Rio de Janeiro. Compared with the palatial homes of the Buenos Aires millionaires they are inexpensive. The Avenida Agraciada is the main residential street, but the Avenida Brazil in the suburb of Pocitos has many fine homes, some of which are the summer abodes of Argentinos who like to spend the hottest months of the summer by the seashore. The very finest mansion in the city is on the Plaza Zabala, the loafers' park, in the business section on the whaleback, and not far from the docks. It is owned by an Italian who wished to have his residence near to his place of business. The main shopping streets are Sarandi and Rincon. These are parallel and are but one block apart. The Avenida 18 de Julio, like the Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires, is the parade street. It is a beautiful broad avenue about a mile and a half long, and runs eastward from the Plaza Independencia. Seven blocks up it is interrupted in its course by the Plaza Libertad, formerly named Sagancha. It is one of the finest streets in South America. Many of the streets have old Indian names peculiar to the country such as Timbo, Yaro, Tacuarembo, Yaguaron, YÃ­, Cuareim, Ibicui, Ituzaingo, Guarani, etc. It is pleasant to see this change in street names after a sojourn in Argentina where in each city the nomenclatures of the streets never vary, with the omnipresent San Martin, TucumÃ¡n, CÃ³rdoba, Corrientes, La Rioja, and many others. Montevideo and its suburbs on the ocean are the great bathing resorts of South America and are visited annually by more people than Mar del Plata, the latter place being exclusively for the rich. On account of its proximity to Buenos Aires, it is resorted to daily by great numbers of tourists, who make the night trip across the La Plata River. Pocitos is the most popular bathing resort. The poor natives do their swimming from the rocks on the ocean front near the heart of the city. They are invariably garbed _Ã la_ Adam, and are visible by all the occupants of the electric tramcars that pass along that shore. The most aristocratic beach in Montevideo is the Playa Ramirez but people do not flock to that section as much for bathing as they do for gambling. Everything goes in Montevideo. The exclusive and expensive Parque Hotel at the Playa Ramirez, the show place of costly raiment, and of sparkling gems which embellish the figures of their wearers, has in connection the finest gambling house in America, roulette and baccarat being the attractions. The Parque Hotel, which was formerly under the management of a naturalized United States citizen, Edward Aveglio, is now under the same management as the Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, and is considered to be one of the best seashore hotels in South America. It is patronized largely by Argentine aristocracy. The gambling establishment, probably after those of Monte Carlo and San Sebastian the most luxurious edifice of its kind in existence, opens at 5 P.M. and closes at 7.30 P.M. It reopens at 9 P.M. and closes at 2 A.M. A fee of one peso ($1.04) is charged to enter. One peso is the lowest permissible play on any single number at roulette and one hundred pesos is the highest. Unlike the Argentine roulette wheels which have a 0 and a 00, this one has but a single zero which gives the player (or rather the victim) one nineteenth of a better show to win, if successful. The same class of crowd that graces most European casinos is seen here at its zenith. There is present the nervous individual, who wants the public to think he has a system. To make them believe it, he pretends to study a chart and makes pencil notations. When he loses, he mutters an unintelligible exclamation. There also grace the scene fat dowagers with paste diamond necklaces. Some women who have wasted their allowance on bridge and poker, and are now in the clutches of the moneylender, come here to attempt to retrieve their fortune on one final coup, in most cases their swan song. Bankers, diplomats, millionaires, and cabinet officers from Buenos Aires, a president of one of the Latin republics are to be seen. Young fops are in evidence, not to play, but to ogle the raft of glorious girls always to be found in propinquity to tables of chance. The casino does a great bar business in champagne cocktails to the tune of forty-one cents a glass. This champagne cocktail, regardless of its high price, seems to be one of the favorite strong drinks there. The soft drink that tickles the palate of the Montevideanos is a nauseating concoction named _palta_. It is made of orange juice, pineapple juice, sugar, and the yolk of an egg; to it is added siphon water. It is then stirred, and served in a large goblet. I tried some of it as an experiment and am sorry that I did not stick to beer, for the egg that the mixologist used in my palta was rotten. In R. Bibondo's Brazilian coffee house on Suipacha Street in Buenos Aires, I once received a piece of cake in whose making a rotten egg was likewise used. Although the Grand Hotel Lanata cannot be called first-class in any respect, excepting the restaurant which is the best in the city, it is far better for the unaccompanied male visitor to stop there than at the Parque, on account of its central location. It takes twenty minutes by electric car to reach the Parque from the Plaza Independencia. It costs $1.20 to reach it by taxicab. The Grand Hotel Lanata of Ximines and Santamarina is in the central part of the city on the Plaza Constitucion (formerly called the Plaza Matriz) and is convenient for shoppers and sightseers. The Oriental near the docks is a good hotel, but the glass-roofed parlor and lobby is malodorous from poor ventilation. Other good hotels are the Colon, Barcelona, and Florida Palace. Regarding the last-mentioned place, I must state that its proprietor is a Brazilian who does not draw the color line as to his clientele. Worthy of interest are the cathedral, the Solis theatre, the central market, the colonnaded buildings on the Plaza Independencia, the new university, the central cemetery, and the Uruguaya brewery. The cathedral is a twin-towered and domed majestic structure on the Plaza Constitucion with an elaborately decorated chapel. Four golden suns (the sun is the emblem of Uruguay) are painted on an azure background on the wall beneath the dome. The rays of the natural sun above, penetrating the yellow and blue skylights of the dome, cast weird and ghostly lights in the interior. The Uruguaya brewery is on the Calle Yatai, to the west of the center of the city, but nearly two miles from the downtown business section. It is best reached by electric tramcar. The reason for a visit to it is the large beer hall like the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, and whose replica is to be found nowhere else in the Western Hemisphere. There are large bare tables, with chairs and benches. The visitor sits at one of these. He need not give an order for no sooner is he seated than a full schuper of foaming elixir is placed in front of him. When he has had enough, he turns his empty mug bottom up, otherwise it is a sign that his thirst has not been quenched and that he is in line for another one, which is immediately set in front of him. The specialties of Montevideo are the polished agates and stones common to Uruguay. These are found in abundance in the department of Minas, and although expensive are fine souvenirs. No tourist should visit the city without taking some away as they make admirable gifts to friends at home. They are made into paper weights, paper cutters, stamp holders, buttons, etc. The best ones are dark blue; next come the smoky gray. Also beautiful, but cheaper, are the brick red ones, and those that are a combination of black and white. A beautiful pink lily graces the lawns of the Avenida Agraciada. In shape it is like our common orange red milk lily but unlike the milk lily which grows in racemose clusters on a single stalk this Uruguayan lily has but one blossom. It is hardy and should thrive in the United States. A gastronomic delicacy of Montevideo is the lobster which is caught on the Uruguayan littoral, and which is seldom to be procured in Buenos Aires restaurants. Montevideo vies with Rio de Janeiro as being one of the cleanest cities in the Western Hemisphere; like Rio de Janeiro, its taxicabs and public automobiles for hire are the best in the Western Hemisphere. The Montevideano drivers are reckless, and one day while out driving in the suburbs in a hired motor car, the chauffeur tried to drive his machine through a narrow place with the result that he drove into a five-mule-power wagon and smashed the left headlight and dented the hood for his pains. Returning by the same road shortly afterwards, he met the same wagon, and angered drove into the mules for revenge. This caused much annoyance as the mule driver, not knowing that the automobile was a public vehicle; believed that it belonged to me and that I had set the chauffeur up to this nefarious trick. The latter, being a cur, stood safely to one side while I and the teamster had the altercation. Although we nearly came to blows on account of the chauffeur's scurvy stunt, the latter never opened his mouth to help me out of the difficulty. The Uruguayan metropolis is the congregating place of desperadoes, ruffians, and other gentry of similar character from Argentina, and other nations. They loiter about the entrances of the disreputable saloons and sailors' dives and by their drunken actions and foul speech make it impossible for a respectable woman to pass down any of the streets near the docks without an escort. Argentina, glad to be ridden of this class of social outcast, makes no effort to extradite them unless they have committed some major crime. Here in Montevideo, they "raise hell" and scarcely a day goes by without the newspapers mentioning some murder, assault, or burglary that has taken place. One of these gentry, a Cockney, evidently mistaking me for one of his kind, approached me one day as I sat in front of a cafÃ© under the colonnades in the Plaza Independencia, and asked me for a job. He said: "I ham not a bit particular what kind of a job it be," and drawing near to my ear, he let his voice drop as he spoke: "I hax no questions. If there be hanybody you'd like to put out of the way, Hi'm the man to do it." Not many people traveling between Montevideo and Buenos Aires ever think of making the trip otherwise than on one of the palatial steamers of the Mihanovich Line which ply between the two ports in a night's run. The luxurious steamers _Ciudad de Buenos Aires_ and the _Ciudad de Montevideo_, and the smaller but admirable _Londres_ and _Lisboa_, are in the height of the season jammed with passengers nearly to overcrowding. Tired of gazing upon the sluggish and muddy La Plata River and eager to see the Uruguayan landscape, I decided to make the trip by rail as far as Colonia and thence make the twenty-five mile crossing to Buenos Aires on one of the smaller boats. Colonia, capital of the department of the same name, is 153 miles distant by rail from Montevideo. Trains run thrice a week only, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, making the return trip the next day, and their running time is seven hours and fifteen minutes, the speed including stops being slightly over twenty-one miles an hour. I left Montevideo on the Central Railroad one morning at 6.15 A.M., and thirty-five minutes later entered the department of Canelones at the large village of Las Piedras. The landscape during that short distance and even as far as 25 de Agosto, where the department of San JosÃ© is entered was a monotonous succession of low rolling hills, with low, long red brick and whitewashed _estancia_ buildings set back from the country roads, at the edge of eucalyptus and pepperberry groves. Herds of fat cattle and sheep browsed in the pastures tended by shepherd boys with long-haired dogs. Between Las Piedras and 25 de Agosto a small city was passed. Its name is Canelones and was formerly called Guadelupe. It is the capital of Canelones and lies to east of the railroad between it and a river named the Canelon Chico. The rivers, Canelon Grande and Canelon Chico give the name to the province. 25 de Agosto is nothing but a railroad junction with some repair shops. The main line of the Central Railroad runs north to the Brazilian frontier at Rivera, and is here joined by the branch that goes westward to Colonia. The department of San JosÃ© which is now entered, presents a different aspect than Canelones for the trees which had hitherto been present in abundance around the estancias, had now disappeared. The country had become more rolling, and to the westward a low range of hills appeared on the horizon. As far as the eye could see, a canopy of yellow dried prairie grasses bedecked the parched and blistered soil, sweltering beneath the scorching rays of the hot February sun. All over this seething landscape, roamed at will, half wild cattle, long and gaunt. It is as much as a man's life is worth to venture on foot amidst a herd of these Uruguayan cattle. They seldom attack a horseman, knowing that he has them at an advantage, but the foot traveler should be wary, for the quadrupeds know the tables are turned, and will charge and gore him to death on sight. Birds of the genus Struthio, spoken of as ostriches, but which in reality belong to the branch named cassowaries, as they have three toes instead of two like the ostrich, and no tufted tail feathers like the latter, mingle with these nomadic cattle; so does the timid deer, unafraid and on terms of comradery, for it is only against man that these beasts have animosity. The city of San JosÃ©, one of the largest in Uruguay, whose population I imagine is about fifteen thousand inhabitants, is reached at 9.11 A.M. It is pleasantly situated on a river of the same name at the base of some high hills, which rise at the west of the city. The town itself is intersected by the railroad which in a Uruguayan city is unusual as most are generally at quite a distance therefrom. At Mal Abrigo, which is reached about an hour after leaving San JosÃ©, the railroad branches out again, the other one going to Mercedes, a pleasant city on the Rio Negro, and the capital of the department of Soriano. Continuing on the Colonia line, we enter the department of Colonia and keep on till we reach a small place named Rosario which is the junction for another branch line to a La Plata port named Puerto del Sauce. Colonia is reached at 1.30 P.M. Connection is made with small boats of the Mihanovich Line which sail one hour later, making the crossing to Buenos Aires in three hours to the tune of $2.89. Colonia is a fine little town with about eight thousand inhabitants lying directly across the La Plata River from Buenos Aires from which city I imagine it to be about twenty-five miles distant. It is cool, with a fresh breeze generally blowing and, owing to this, is much visited by the inhabitants of the Argentine metropolis as a health and summer resort. It has two good hotels, the Esperanza and the Ruso. Besides the boats that ply daily between Buenos Aires and Colonia, there are excursion steamers Sundays; also those that make nightly trips returning at an early hour of the morning. The reason for this last mentioned service is that in Uruguay gambling is permitted, and at San Carlos, near Colonia and reached by a narrow gauge railway, is another casino where the click of the ball as it revolves on the disk of the roulette wheel disturbs the nocturnal air. My friend Packer had an obsession for this kind of pastime, and many were the nightly visits he made to San Carlos. On one of these trips, while watching the game in the casino, an Englishman had made a considerable winning, but owing to his inability to converse in the Spanish language, the croupiers were endeavoring to cheat him out of his winnings. He appealed to Packer, who helped him out and got his money for him. On the trip back to Buenos Aires that same night, he and Packer were seated opposite to one another in the dining-room. Packer tried to enter into conversation with him. The Englishman puckered up his lips and said: "I no speeka Engleesh." He deserved to be thrashed. It is a very common occurrence in most countries of South America, especially in Argentina for Englishmen to try to hide their nationality and pass off as a native. Why they do this odious act, I do not know, but any foreigner no matter how ignorant he is, can always spot an Englishman by his mispronunciation of the language he is trying to hide himself under. [Illustration: Colonia, Uruguay] A syndicate was formed with $800,000 capital to start a bull ring at San Carlos. It would have undoubtedly been a great money-making transaction drawing innumerable people from Buenos Aires, but the socialistic government of the Banda Oriental, as Uruguay is frequently spoken of, very wisely put a ban on this cruel sport. CHAPTER II BUENOS AIRES Buenos Aires which should have been named Malos Aires, on account of the enervating, depressing humidity of its summer climate when the thermometer sometimes registers as high as 104Â° Fahrenheit, and when not a breath of air is stirring, is a city of nearly 1,750,000 inhabitants and rivals Philadelphia towards being the third in population in the New World. This capital of Argentina, built upon the west bank of the muddy La Plata River in latitude 34Â° south is the entrepÃ´t and distributing point for all merchandise and goods that enters and leaves the vast territory which comprises the La Plata system and in fact of all southern South America east of the Andes. It is a city of marble statues, of elegant public buildings, of sumptuous palaces, of parks and boulevards, and is often spoken of as the "Athens of America." It is also a city of narrow streets, of _conventillos_ (poorer class tenements) teeming with Hebraic and Sicilian life, of confidence men, lottery ticket vendors, Greek and Syrian peddlers, fugitives from North American justice, bewhiskered Irish bums, and Galician Jews reeking of garlic, adorned with corkscrew sideburns. Down its avenues parade the same sort of crowd seen in Naples, also the pompous banker, the bespatted fop with slender cane, the staid business man, the artizan, beggars galore, and a galaxy of prostitutes, both Iberian and _criolla_. The most remarkable thing about Buenos Aires is how fast one can get rid of one's money with so little received for it in return. Everything costs half as much again as what it should, with the possible exception of clothes and shoes. Meals, hotel rooms, beverages, lingerie, photographic material, drugs, theater admissions, and in fact nearly everything under the sun is sky high. The entertainments for a stranger to indulge in are but few and mediocre. It is every
{'title': 'Journeys and Experiences in Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile by Henry Stephens', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}