The Parana is one of the most magnificent rivers in the world. It was in the earliest times the most valuable route for the Spaniards into the interior, as is shown by the fact that while they were struggling for a foothold at Buenos Aires, and several times abandoned the settlement altogether, they were in possession of a flourishing colony in AsunÇion. Up to recent times few immigrants thought of going to Entre Rios or Corrientes because of the difficulties of the journey, but now there is a train-ferry across the Parana, and there will soon be railway connection with the capital of Paraguay. The territory, highly favoured by nature, will in course of time be one of the richest parts of Argentina.

It is impossible accurately to estimate the total course of the river, but its length is between 2,100 and 2,800 miles. In its upper part it receives many large tributaries—the Pardo, Paranahyba, Tiete, Paranapanema, Ivahy, and Iguazu. In the north the falls impede navigation, but it is practicable for vessels of 300 tons as far as the Island of Apipe, which is 150 miles above its junction with the river Parana. Lower down its only important tributary is the Rio Salado. At Rosario its breadth is 20 miles, and it would present the appearance of the sea but for a group of islands which stand in the mid-channel and limit the view. The railways of Argentina are greatly indebted to the Parana, which brought down enormous quantities of quebracho lumber to be used as railway sleepers, and the various lines now take 2,000,000 hard-wood sleepers from the Chaco yearly. At Posadas 8,000 or 10,000 hands are needed to handle the yerba and lumber trade of the Alto Parana, and these are difficult to obtain, for the southern regions have not sufficient labourers to supply their own wants. Since 1902 more than 9,000 Russians and Poles have settled at Apostoles, near Posadas, and arrangements have been made to settle 3,000 Finns in the same neighbourhood. But at present the south attracts most of the European immigrants, and it is difficult to get the native, who inhabits the upper basins, to work, on account of his low standard of living and the exuberant fertility of the soil. Mr. Barclay thinks that this fine country will for an indefinite period be exploited only by traders, and does not expect to see them properly colonised within the limits of the present century. He suggests Chinese or Japanese colonists; but these people are already greatly disliked in Chile, nor is it likely that they would be more welcome in Argentina. It would be infinitely better that the vast forests should continue to be inhabited by savage Indians than that one of the noblest of European races should be tainted with yellow blood. It would be far preferable to imitate the excellent example of the Jesuits, and teach the Indians habits of industry, in which case they would multiply and rapidly become civilised.

Rosario is the second city in the Republic, and is certainly one of the most remarkable. Founded in 1725 by Don Francisco Godoy as a settlement for the subjugated Calchaqui Indians, it was in 1854 but an insignificant town. It was then made a port of entry by General Urquiza, and has prospered exceedingly. In 1870 it had a population of 21,000, in 1883 of 45,000, while in 1900 it stood at 112,000. At the present time it must contain considerably more than 180,000 inhabitants. In 1900 the imports were valued at £1,913,803 and the exports at £5,851,239, while in 1907 the figures were £6,397,579 and £7,301,398 respectively. It is the chief port for wheat, maize, and linseed,[143] but possibly, as the south is developed, it may be surpassed as a grain port by Bahia Blanca. On the other hand, as the north is colonised Rosario will receive the principal share of the increased trade. The great project now is to bring the noble waterways of the Plate into railway communication with the still more gigantic system of the Amazon. Then Rosario will undoubtedly rival the huge cities in the[267]
[268] northern continent, which have thriven by the trade brought down the Mississippi and the Missouri. Great sums have been spent on the harbour of Rosario and a fine electric lift has been erected, but the navigation of the Parana and its affluents suffers from floods and erosion, and it has been questioned whether elaborate and expensive appliances are necessary.[144] However, Rosario remains a favourite port, and large vessels load and unload there.

In one respect Rosario produces a much more pleasant impression than Buenos Aires, for its streets are wide and it has large parks. The Calle Cordoba is an extremely handsome thoroughfare with good shops. There is a busy Bolsa, many fine public buildings, and much-frequented cafÉs. Large hotels have sprung up, and, it may be hoped, will in course of time become comfortable. The people of Rosario have taken great pains in the laying out of their town and have provided for plenty of open spaces and boulevards. The new park is very beautiful, and handsome private dwellings are being erected in the vicinity, but although there appears to be no scarcity of sites, rents are said to be ruinously high. Rosario has suffered more than any other town from municipal imposts, and at the beginning of 1909 the traders went on strike, with beneficial results. Complaints are also made that this great provincial town has its interests subordinated to the small provincial capital of Santa FÉ.

Perhaps the most interesting sight in Rosario and one that best marks its progress on the stage to greatness is the workshop of the Central Argentine Railway. When it is considered that as yet only a beginning has been made with railway communications in South America, and yet here is a great industry engaged in repairing numberless engines and building vast numbers of carriages, imagination can hardly place a limit to the greatness of Rosario as a railway centre when Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia shall have through communica[269]
[270]tion with Buenos Aires and Rosario. These countries, with the greater part of the Argentine Gran Chaco, represent to the Province of Buenos Aires what the West represented to the Eastern States of North America seventy years ago, but instead of being chiefly wheat and cattle countries (all of which Buenos Aires already has in abundance) they contain the priceless tropical products which from time immemorial have been the main objects of trade. And, again, the mines of Bolivia and Brazil, the best of which are unworked, probably unknown, will pour their wealth down the basin of the Parana.[145] It is said that Brazil has coal equal in quality to that of Yorkshire, and if this could be brought cheaply into Argentina one main impediment to her manufacturing efficiency would be removed.

The Central Argentine is an English company, and thus our traders have a great advantage in Argentina, as the English railways naturally buy engines and stores from home. The Rosario workshop turns out carriages and effects every kind of repair, but the locomotives are imported. An engine made at Hunslet in 1875 is still doing good work, whereas American engines go to the scrap-heap in three years. Those of Kitson, of Leeds, are of everlasting wear, and much of the work of Byer, Peacock, Manchester, and of George Stephenson, Darlington, is to be seen at Rosario. Some of the engines and machinery at the forge are American, but Butler and Co., of Halifax, are prominent. Of the carriages some come from Milwaukee, some from Birmingham, but now a very large proportion is made in the workshops. Most of the workmen appear to be Spaniards or Italians, but in better positions Irishmen are numerous; in fact, on St. Patrick's Day hotel accommodation can hardly be obtained at Rosario, and the Irish and Scotch language is spoken with perfect purity by men who have never been outside the boundaries of the Republic.

Santa FÉ, the capital of the Province, is a comparatively insignificant town with about thirty thousand inhabitants. It is an old place, dating from 1573, and thus is really more ancient than Buenos Aires. Padre Pedro Lozano[146] states: "Garay founded the city of Santa FÉ upon a delightful plain and by the same river,[147] three leagues from the Parana. This port afforded admirable shelter to vessels of all kinds and the soil was extremely fertile, rendering with bounteous increase all the seeds entrusted to it. There was abundance of game and fish and there was a large population round about consisting of many nationalities and of widely different languages, but these tribes are now quite extinct, and a genuine Indian of the country is hardly ever to be seen in these days. The latitude of this city was originally 31°, but owing to inconveniences for land trade which afterwards manifested themselves, and to the unfriendly attitude of the heathen, the site was shifted in the year 1660 to a more convenient position on the river Salado, and three leagues distant from the great river Parana. The latitude of the new site was 31° 58´ and its longitude 47°."

Santa FÉ is the seat of a Bishop and possesses a Jesuit Church and College, which dates back to 1654. Sixty years ago a traveller described it as a pleasant town with fifteen thousand inhabitants, and the population seems to have increased very little until quite recent years, for it has never had any prominent industries[148] and must always be greatly inferior to Rosario, although the older city is the capital. Like Head at Mendoza, the observer was struck by the practice of promiscuous river-bathing. He thus describes the town[149]: "The city occupies a large space of ground; for, like all the towns in this country, a considerable portion is planted as fruit gardens. The houses are either flat-roofed, or covered with tiles, and only one storey in height. A majority of them were built without any provision for glass windows; the light and air being admitted only through apertures fitted with an open framework of wood, having strong shutters inside; neither are there fireplaces in the houses. There are four large churches, one of which, built in 1834, is remarkable for its solidity and fine proportions. It consists of a nave and aisles, separated by square pillars supporting arches; light is admitted from the windows of a clerestory. It contains a beautiful baptismal font of silver, with four richly carved holy-water fonts. The high altar is in the Gothic style, and enriched with gilding."

As remarked before, Santa FÉ is not a city of remarkable prosperity. The building of small river craft is an industry of some importance, but the main occupation of its inhabitants is the export of quebracho wood. In 1907 the shipments were 174,126 tons. The river here gives considerable trouble and requires constant dredging, but a new port is rapidly approaching completion, when it will be possible for vessels with a draught of 20 feet to enter.

The great river country to the north is full of interest, but reference can only be made to one subject—the famous Falls of Iguazu. These Falls were known and described by Padre Lozano, but political troubles and the general backwardness of the north after the expulsion of the Jesuits caused them to be forgotten. Now the Government is alive to the possibilities of using them as a great national "lion," and a commission some years ago was appointed to survey the route and make it more accessible. As yet not much has been done in that direction, but the journey to and from Buenos Aires can be made in less than a fortnight, and a rest-house has been provided. The traveller starts from Buenos Aires in a steamboat and proceeds up the Plate and Uruguay Rivers to Concordia. There he leaves the river and takes train to Corrientes, where he re-embarks in a steamer, and, passing up the Rio Alta Parana to Posadas, makes his way far north to the confines of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, where the Falls are. The Rio Iguazu joins the Parana at the place of disembarkation, and there is a long ride through the forest to the Falls. Twelve miles from the junction with the Parana there is a sudden bend, and the river makes its mighty leap of 210 feet. These are the Brazilian Falls, but lower down there are two other magnificent cascades, each of 100 feet, which fall into a narrow gorge. These are the Argentine Falls and are about 10,000 feet distant from the Brazilian. At the highest point the width of the river is 3,000 feet, but the gorge into which the magnificent columns of water finally discharge themselves is no more than 400 feet wide, and the volume of the discharge is greatly increased in the rainy season. The spectacle is no less magnificent than that of Niagara. As a mere discharge of water in a single sheet the North American fall is more impressive, but the beauty of the Argentine scene is enhanced by the luxuriant forests, and the long-drawn-out course of the foaming stream amid its sylvan scenery is unmatched.

Some day, no doubt, there will be a fashionable watering-place within the sound of the roaring waters, with great hotels and a casino, but now the Falls are, like all the rest of the vast region, an almost unknown place. The great rivers offer the finest waterway, and nothing is required but men and energy to make this borderland a country of fabulous wealth.