The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-02-01
Ghiaes abroad.
LIFE IN BUENos AYREs.
BY THE REV. THOMAS CARTER, a. \


would be an attraction TO thousands who
suffer the rigors Of a northern winter.
Lying in the same latitude us the island Of
Juan Fernandez, which De Foe has made
famous by the adventures of Robinson
Crusoc, the pure air and buoyant atmos-
phere are continual feast. A ride
through the country is absolutely exhilara-
ting. In the province of Santa Fe, the
year round, it is almost constant sunshine,
except few weeks in the fall. There are
regular rains in spring, but when they
come it rains in torrents for few hours,
and then clears up. The heat in summer
is dry, and not as sultry and exhausting as
that of our own summers The thermome-
ter seldom rises above ninety, and during |
the night the fresh wind from the pampas
comes up like the ocean-breeze. The
winters, which are in june, July and
August, are so mild that fire in churches
and school-houses is unknown. Neither
do the natives in their dwellings waste fuel
in drawing the oxygen from the air, except
in the kitchen, which is so separated from
the other apartments of the house that its
fire is worthless for heating.
never saw snow, and the frosts are so
slight that they do not penetrate the
ground. You must rise early in the morn
ing to witness such phenomenon at ALL
Consumption and fever and ague are al
most unknown. So sustaining to the
vitality of the system is the atmosphere
that the native laborer usually takes his
cup Of Paraguayan tea, with biscuit or
roll in the morning, and without other
food, goes out and works until twelve
O'Clock at noon, when he returns for his
breakfast. The heavens at night shine
with briliancy exceeding that of our
northern hemisphere. There are the South
ern Gross, and the Magellan or Cape Horn
clouds two clusters of nebuln,) and the
Milky Way, so bright in one particular
spot that it seems almost on fire,
You leave the city, and the mirage is
r before you every clear day aud every hour
Sometimes it seems to be wide cxpansc
!. of water impeding your progress some
, times beautiful sylvan lake, in which
camcs and elephants are cooling their limbs
and beside it gorgeous palace glitters il
the sunlight As you ride on, the waite
disappears, and the camels and elephant!
imperceptibly fade, like dissolving view
= aud change to horses and oxen, which hat
" been magnifed by the atmosphere. TIL,
palace itselfis but an ordinary estdncid
- house. So perfect is the deception, tha
= when you are actually approaching shce
of water, it is impossible to distinguish
from the mirage unless you are previousl
" acquainted with its location. Sometime
" this singular property of the atmospher
will reveal itself in another form. House,
- trees, and other objects, which are man
" leagues distant and far beyond the reach 9
" vision, will be seen painted on the sky bC
fore you, and disappear as you advanc
:" toward their real location.
- The soil is rich as our Western Prairie
The black mold is about two fl. in depth, an
" produces wheat without enriching year aft(
:. year, for period which never heard lin
y" ted Fertilizers, of all kinds, are useles
~ for there is no necessity for them. n
'' forests are to be cleared away The onl
v tree that is ever found growing wild is IL
90 stately oaJoo, magnificent in its foliae
!, - and shape, but so scattered that if you ha
''' farm of thousand acres with five omJ0o
-" that would be more than your proportion
!" Wherever thrifty man builds house, |
- sets out, at once, number of peach-tree
~ = These grow rapidly, and soon supply hi
n' with fuel and delicious fruit There Al
nc no stones, from the moment you leave Il
y" banks of the Parana.
- The wild grass of the plains is excellel
e, food for cattle, and gradually changes,
" they Craze upon it, in two or three yeal
~ to finer herbage, and is then suitable &
~ -. the sheep-farmer. The pampas of Sou
" America, with their soil, level almost
ie, the unruffled sea, without stones to impe,
VI the working of the plough, the mower, al
-, y the reaper, seem created to become d
granary of the world.
VI Let us return to the town and look
!" the market. Here is excellent mutton
'"' abundunce--mutton for which South Am,
:" lea is famous. Your native servant "
~ buy you fine leg for about fifteen Gel
~ in gold. You cannot purchase it at Il
'" price yourself, because the butcher and t
"" cook have secret understanding. If Y
nc want to hire cook, he will charge you
'"e extra ten dollars per month, if you und
"' take to do your own marketing, and in
estimation, you will be neither Christi
rms nor gentleman. But cut of the ten d
,nts lars from his wages, and allow him to 60
fish market he will buy your meat and vei
tables cheaper than You can do it yours
and at the same time cabbage enough
ith, make a nice profit over and above the
by duction in his wages.
Here is beef The porter.house ste
and sirloin are cut out without bone a
ions sold by the lump. This piece before ,
yto weighs about eight pounds, and you
for the whole twenty cents in COLDS
you can live on meat alone, like natives
liant the lower class, you can support yourfi
,lass ily cheaply here But in the vegetable