III. URUGUAY Monte Video Formerly enjoyed great commercial advantages which political causes have since materially injured; its commerce, however, is again reviving, its chief trade being in tallow, hides, and jerked or dried beef, the last of which is exported to the West Indies; its climate is damp,-in summer the heat is very oppressive, and storms are frequent; it possesses a fine natural harbour. * La Plata was so named from the Rio de la Plata, or river of silver. This river also gives name to the Argentine confederation, from the Latin argentum, silver. ↑ Buenos Ayres received that title from the Spaniards, who supposed its air to be very salubrious. ↑ Monte Video implies the hill with a view or prospect; the lighthouse on the mountain here commanding an extensive view. It is derived from the French mont (and that from the Latin mons), a hill, &c., and the Latin video, I see. Santa Fé signifies holy faith; Corrientes, currents; Santiago, St. James; Villa Real, royal city; and Villa Rica, rich city. MINOR NOTES. The CLIMATE of these states, which cover an area of nearly 34 millions of square miles, exhibits considerable variety. The northern parts are hot, excepting within the more elevated districts adjoining the Cordilleras, while, in the south, a cooler temperature prevails, the province of Buenos Ayres having a climate not very unlike that of many parts of southern Europe. The changes of temperature, however, are frequently abrupt and considerable, the winds exercising a powerful influence on the condition of the atmosphere. The northerly winds, which resemble in their consequences the sirocco of the south of Europe, are hot, while the south-west wind, or pampero, conveys with it the cold air from the snowtopped summits of the Andes. The latter are accompanied, very often, by terrific thunder and lightning. The rains are generally most abundant before the setting-in of the cold season. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.-Mineral: La Plata possesses some mineral wealth, and exports small quantities of gold, silver, and copper. The mining districts lie chiefly in the western and north-western states; and coal is said to be plentiful in the south-west. Vegetable: In the southern portions of this territory, wheat, maize, rice, barley, and numerous fruits are grown; and in some of the northern tracts-tobacco, sugar, indigo, cotton, and other tropical products, are capable of successful cultivation. In the latter region, also, wild plants of great value are produced; as the algaroba tree, from the fruit of which, mixed with maize, the Indians make cakes, and, by fermentation, chica, an intoxicating liquor; the palm-tree, yerba-maté, or Paraguay tea, which is extensively consumed in most of the countries of South America; the cactus, which bears the cochineal insect; the aloe, from which yarn and ropes are made; and numerous plants used in dyeing. Animal: The wealth of La Plata consists in its immense herds of horses and oxen, which are reared upon the vast plains of the pampas almost in a wild state. The puma, jaguar, armadillo, tapir, tajasso, biscacho (a kind of rabbit), deer, and some kinds of monkeys, are very numerous; and the carpincho, or water-hog,—the largest known rodent, -abounds on the banks of the river Paraná. The guanaco is found in the plains and on the mountains, but the wild viçunas, llamas, and alpacas, only in the cold regions on the elevated table-lands. Among the birds of La Plata the most common are the condor, emu, wild-duck, green parrot, quail, pigeon, and the carrion-vulture. Whales, sea-lions, and seaelephants abound along the coasts. COMMERCE.The exports comprise horse and ox-hides, and horns, which form the staple articles of the trade with foreign countries, upwards of a million of ox-hides being annually exported from Buenos Ayres, together with numerous cow-hides, horse-hides, and skins of the sheep, goat, calf, deer, &c. Besides these, tallow, wool, hair, jerked beef, horses, mules, and asses, are exported. In return for these most manufactured articles are imported, chiefly from Britain: besides cotton, and other textile fabrics, the imports consist of wine, brandy, earthenware, glass, jewellery, and hats; with sugar, coffee, tobacco, and large quantities of salt, used in curing the flesh of the vast numbers of oxen annually slaughtered for their hides. The manufactures of La Plata are few and insignificant, consisting principally of coarse woollen stuffs (including the short ridingcloaks, or ponchos), and morocco leather; while the Indians manufacture yarn, ropes, fishing-nets, and other articles from the fibres of the aloe. The Roman Catholic is almost exclusively the RELIGION of the white population; but all other denominations are tolerated. The GOVERNMENT is nominally republican; and the legislative power is, in theory, vested in a junta of forty-four deputies; but practically, the president assumes the power of a military dictator, carrying out his own absolute will in the most arbitrary manner. The ARMY of Buenos Ayres, in 1857, amounted to 6,370 men, and of the other states to 4,412 men; and the NAVY of the former embraced two steamers, two corvettes, and four smaller vessels. The RECEIPTS of the confederation in the same year amounted to 2,226,000 piastres; and the EXPENDITURE to 3,300,000 piastres. The receipts and expenditure of Buenos Ayres are double those of all the other states. |