Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/553

Rh ARGENTINE REPUBLIC 493 whereupon Generals Mitre and Arredondo, with their forces, surrendered at discretion, and were made prisoners (Dec. 2). The revolution had lasted but seventy-six days. On the 17th December a state holiday was declared, and dedicated to rejoicings on the restoration of peace. The complete and absolute crushing of this revolution has great significance, as it has brought about the dissolution of a powerful and ambitious party, whose movements might have seriously affected the onward march of the country. Those who know the country believe that it will be long before any similar revolutionary attempts can be made with the slightest hopes of success, or the welfare of one of the most favoured countries in the world jeopar dised by internal commotion. The following table gives the names of the fourteen provinces which form the Argentine Republic, together with the superficial area of the country as given by the Statistical Department of the National Government, and the population according to the census of the year 1869, the numbers given as the population of the Indian territory being the official estimate of that year. As regards the area, it must be observed that, according to the Almanack de Gotha, an estimate by the Geographical Institute of G. Perthes at Gotha, reduces that given in this table by about one-fourth : Area in square miles. The RIVERINE PROVINCES Buenos Ayres 80, 400 Santa Fe 43,700 Entre Rios 43,100 Corrientes 47,700 The UPPER PROVINCES Cordova 83,500 Santiago 42,000 Tucuman 59,900 Salta 24,000 Jujuy 36,000 Catamarca 92,900 La Rioja 42,000 The PROVINCES OF CATO San Luiz 48,500 llendoza 59,900 San Juan 39,600 Population in I860. 495,000 89,000 134,000 129,000 211,000 133,000 109,000 89,000 40,000 80,000 50,000 53,000 65,000 60,000 743,200 1,737,000 INDIAN TERRITORIES *&quot; The Chaco 240,000 The Central and Western Pampas, ) .,, and Patagonia ... j G36 &amp;gt; 300 45,000 48,000 1,619,500 1,830,000 &quot;he lu.lian The most remarkable features of the present state of the 3 countrv &amp;gt; as ^own by the foregoing table, are the vast extent of the Indian territory and the small number of its inhabitants. Excepting a comparatively narrow tract of land stretching from the southern part of the province of Santa F6 into that of Cordova, and dividing the Indians of the Chaco from those of the Pampas, the dominions of the Indians may be said to extend from the extreme south of the republic, over all the plains of Patagonia, the central parts of the Pampas, and through the Chaco, into the terri tories of Paraguay and Bolivia. The civilised districts of the west and north-west, which we have seen were settled, the former by way of Chili, and the latter by way of Peru, have now established means of communication with those of the east, except through the district just mentioned. In that district civilisation, of which the Central Argentine Railway is the chief representative, is rapidly establishing and extending itself ; but even during the last few years warfare with the Indians on both sides of the line of railway has been almost incessant. In the neighbourhood of Frayle Muerto or Belleville, many Englishmen possessed of some amount of capital established themselves some years ago as cattle farmers, under the protection of modern rifles; but they have been obliged to turn their attention to sheep and agriculture, as offering less tempting plunder to the Indians. It is interesting to record that the city of Cordova, on the west of the Chaco, was founded on the same day, in 1573, as the city of Santa FC&quot;, on the east of that region ; and an exploring party from the latter city was saved from being exterminated by the Indians by the timely and unexpected assistance of another party of explorers from the city of Cordova. To the north of Belleville, the land lying between the cities just mentioned is now being peopled by families of Swiss, German, French, Italian, English, and Anglo- American immigrants, who are encouraged by liberal grants of land and assistance from the Provincial Government of Santa FC&quot;; and they appear to be gradually establishing themselves in the country, notwithstanding the hardships they have suffered from the ravages of locusts and the hostility of the Indians. Some of the tribes of the Chaco are among the most savage and intractable in the territory of the republic, though even before the arrival of the Spaniards they supported themselves to some extent by agriculture, and were not so nomadic as the hunting tribes of the south. On the Pampas the Indians appear to be in larger tribes, and their warfare is more formal, since power ful chiefs of the different tribes have considerable control over them, and they in general conform themselves to the policy of peace or war determined on by their chiefs. For many years past the border lands between the Indians and the European settlers in the province of Buenos Ayres have been a scene of constant bloodshed ; and some of the Indian invasions have been made on a very extensive scale by a combination of the different tribes. The relations of the Argentine Government with the Indians, it will thus be seen, are in a very unsatisfactory state ; and in the midst of all this the condition of the Argentine peasant, or Gaucho, is most deplorable. He has constantly been subject to conscription for service in the army engaged in foreign or civil wars, leaving in the frontier districts his home defenceless against the depredations of the savages. It is true that the Gauchoes may be said to be the primary cause of the civil wars which have devastated the country; for, despising, or at least not appreciating, their constitu tional influence, they have been accustomed to regard war as a normal means of subsistence, and to be used as such for its own sake. Nevertheless, in face of the peculiar hardship of the condition of these men, even though in the aggregate self-inflicted, it is scarcely surprising that immi grants are occasionally subjected to annoyances and dangers through a spirit of hostility engendered by feelings of envy, as the Gaucho is subjected to the conscription, whilst the foreigner is undisturbed in his industrious occupations. Families have fallen victims to the sudden outburst of animosity on the part of the Gauchoes, who when once roused have been as cruel as the Indians ; and, though the arguments which might be pleaded in extenuation for the latter cannot be applied to the former, their condition is a practical evil, and enlightened legislation for these frontier districts is one of the most urgent necessities of the country. The war with Paraguay, and subsequently the war in Entre Rios, have exhausted the resources of the Government, leav ing the Indian frontier almost undefended. The tribes of tho Pampas have established settlements, from which they scour the country in pursuit of game ; and it is not improbable that some of their recent raids upon the civilised districts have been forced upon them by the immediate necessities of their position, resulting from their improvident mode of living and the absence of agricultural pursuits among them. On the slopes of the Sierra Ventana, north of Bahia Blanca, many Englishmen have established themselves aa