Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/547

Rh A R G ~ A II G 487 Lo died. His works consist of three tragedies, highly praised by Cervantes, and lyric poems, published along with those of his brother. Some historical writings of his have not been published. The younger brother, Bartolomeo Leonardo, was born in 1566 and died in 1631. He entered the church, and in 1588 received the rectory of Villahermosa. He afterwards acted as chaplain to the Empress Maria. Sometime after the death of his brother he succeeded to the office of historiographer. His principal works are a history of the Conquest of the Molucca Islands (Conquista de las Islas Molucas, 1609), which has been translated into English, a continuation of Zurita s Annals of Aragon, and a translation from the English, called Regla de Perfection. His fame rests chiefly on his poems, which are highly esteemed by competent critics. ARGENTAN, a town in the department of Orne, in France, situated in the midst of a fertile plain at the junction of the Ure and Orne, about 31 miles from Alencon. It is a sub-prefecture, and the chief town of an arrondissement, and has an ancient castle, now used as a court-house and prison, several important churches, and a handsome town- house. Its manufactures are a coarse kind of lace called after its name, gloves, leather, and fine cloth. Cattle and horses are reared. Argentan was a viscountship from the j llth century downwards; it has been often taken and i destroyed; and during the religious wars it remained attached to the Catholic party. Francois-Eudes de M^zeray, the i historian, was born at Hie, in the neighbourhood. Popula- j tionin 1872, 5725. ARGENTEUIL, a market-town of France, in the department of Seine-et-Oise, and arrondissement of Versailles, on the Seine, in lat. 48 56 N., long. 2 15 E. It gathered round a monastery, which, dating from 656 A.D., was by Charlemagne changed into a nunnery, after wards famous for its connection with Heloise, and on her expulsion in 1129, was again turned into a monastery. Francis I. surrounded the town with walls and a ditch. The Chateau du Marais was once possessed by Mirabeau, and the parish church dates in some portions from the time of Clovis. Vinegar and an indifferent kind of wine are manufactured, and in the neighbourhood there are fine quarries of gypsum. Population, 8176. AKGENTINE EEPUBLIC mHE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC comprises the greater ( I part of what was formerly.the Spanish viceroyalty of i Buenos Ayres. On the separation of the country from I Spain the remainder of the viceroyalty seceded from the ; authority of the government established at Buenos Ayres, and formed the three important republics of Bolivia, Paraguay, and the Banda Oriental del Uruguay, commonly called either the Oriental Republic or Uruguay. The city of Buenos Ayres, the capital of the province of the same name, then became the seat of the national government of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, so named in the treaty with England, by which their independence was recognised, and since termed the Argentine Republic. Including the Indian tribes, who are in almost undisputed possession of half its territory, the country does not con tain half so many inhabitants as the city of London, though it extends over an area as great as all Central and Western Europe combined ; and the fertility of its vast plains, together with the yet undeveloped wealth of its mineral resources, indicate that it is well able to sustain as numerous a population as that of the part of Europe just alluded to. Its extent in latitude is greater than that of any other existing country, if we except the comparatively useless foreign regions of British America and those of the Russian empire, though it only slightly exceeds that of the comparatively narrow slip of land which forms the neighbouring .Republic of Chili. It is bounded on the W. by Chili ; on the S. by the Strait of Magellan ; on the E. by the Atlantic Ocean, the Oriental Republic, the Empire of Brazil, and the Republic of Paraguay ; and on the N. by the Republic of Bolivia. The boundary to the W. is formed by the mountain chain of the Andes. The southern limit is at present a question in dispute with the Government of Chili, who claim the entire extent of the Strait of Magellan ; but it is probable that the Argentine Government will make good its claim to the eastern por tion. The broad stream of the Uruguay below its tribu tary, the Guarey, or Cuareim, divides it from the Oriental Republic, except that the small but important island of Martin Garcia, close to the Oriental shore of the Uruguay at its junction with the Parana, belongs to the Argentine Republic. The boundary with Brazil is then formed by the Uruguay and its tributary, the Pepiri Guazu, from the head waters of which it crosses the Sierra de los Missiones to the head waters of the San Antonio Guazu, the course of which it follows, and then that of the Iguazu, or Rio Grande de Caritiba, an important tributary of the Parana. The Parana, down to its junction with the Paraguay, and the latter upwards as far as the mouth of the Pilcomayo, form the boundary with the Republic of Paraguay. South of the 22d degree of latitude the country between the Pilcomayo and the Paraguay is disputed by the Argen tine Republic and Paraguay. The boundary with Bolivia lies along the 22d degree of latitude between the Pilcomayo and the Vermejo, and then, leaving important tributaries of the latter to Bolivia, it follows the course of that river to its source, whence it takes a devious course westwards among the mountains which form spurs to the Andes. On reaching the latter it follows the main chain south wards to latitude 25 30, where it passes to a more westerly ridge of the Andes on which the boundaries of the three neighbouring republics unite. The boundary we have described with Bolivia cannot be considered as permanently settled; and the boundary between Bolivia and Paraguay to the north of the Argentine Republic has not been deter mined. The boundary questions with all these republics are in an unsatisfactory state. The most remarkable feature of the country is its plains, Physical which may be said to extend over more than three-fourths of geography, it. The plains of Patagonia in the south, the Pampas across the extending central part of the country, and the Chaco in the north-east, have no very definite natural boun daries. The two latter are, in fact, the same continuous formation, in which a slight undulation divides the streams of the Chaco, which join the Parana, from those of the Pampas, which either flow into the Atlantic south of the mouth of the latter river, or disappear by absorption into the soil, and evaporation as they spread over the plains. The best parts of these plains are covered with a rich alluvial soil from 3 to 6 feet in thickness, formed by the constant decaying of the luxuriant vegetation which grows upon it, and this soil rests upon a sedimentary deposit of earth, which appears to have been scoured away from the Andes and the high lands of the central part of the continent. A great part of Patagonia and the western Pampas consists of gravel and coarse detritus from the Andes, and, though apparently sterile, only requires irrigation to become pro ductive. Other parts of the plains are dry, saline wastes or brackish marshes, which probably mark the former position of an inland sea. Excepting the hills in the south