The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-05-11
AMBASSADOR BRYCE y %osI1 or ls4Rs As9 5s4l s

lvoIcano. for the rocks are all volcanic
Of different ages and different colorss
black and gray lavas. yellow and pink
and whitish and blush beds OF tufa
and indurated ASH sometimes with
long etreaks Of gravel or dark sand
streaming down from the base OF the
precipices above.
At one place there Is seen just under
such q precipice a row Of sharp, black
pinnacles, not unlike miniature al
guilles, apparently the remains OF q
lava bed that has disintegrated, leav-
| ing it's harder parts to stand erect.
These are called the Penitentes. from
a. fancied resemblance to sinners In
black robes standing or kneeling to
do penance. AT one point where q
narrow glen comes down from the
south there is seen at the END OF
long vista, thirty miles. away, the
great, blunt pyramid of Tupungato.
Tupungato attains 22,Voo rect, the
upper six thousand of which are
draped in white, and is, among the
Southern Andes inferior only to Aeon
cagua and to Mercedario.
About thirty miles below the tun-
mel the valley opens into the little plain
of Uspallata, bounded on the opposite
or eastern side by range OF nat
topped hills, across which the old mule
track and carriage road ran to Men
doza. This range, running paraiiei
to the main chain of the Cordtilera
and therefore at right angles to the
valley down which we had come, turns
the course of the torrent, southwark,
forcing 1t to find Its way out to the
level country through a deep gorge
or canon. The railway follows the
river
Night descended before we had
emerged into the Argentine plain, and
when we drove through the friendly
lights Of Mendoza to our hotel In the
handsome Plaza, 1t was hard to be-
lieve that four hours before we had
been in the awesome Valley OF Desc
lation between Aconcagua and Tupun-
cato.
Mendoza OF the Melting Shows.
To these two mountains Mendoza
owes it's existence. 1t stands in an
oasis watered by the torrent which
brings down the melting OF their
SHOWS, the rest of this part OF Argen-
tina being an almost rainless tract,
J where coarse grass and sometimes low
scrub-wood cover ground that Is bare
ly fit for pasturage and hopeless for
tillage. At this spot. however, the
perennial flow of the glacier-born
river suffices to fill numerous channels
by which water Is carried through
fields and vineyards over wide area,
} giving verdure and fertility.
Mendoza stands on the great Pampa,
Just at the point where the last de-
} clevities of that low, fiat-topped range
} to which / have referred sink into the
vast and almost unbroken level, slight
) ly declining eastward, which extends
} six hundred miles from here to Buenos
: Aires. AS the fear of earthquakes
keeps the houses low. and the streets
are wide, 1t covers a space OF ground
large in proportion TO It's population,
: which is $4,000.
The principal business thorough
. fare is quite handsome with double
rows of lofty Carolina poplars and
} cool stream of reddish glacier water
coursing along beneath. In the ample
, Plaza planted with plane trees, there
is a colossal statue of San Martin, the
liberator of Argentina and Chile; and
quite recently a large park with an
artificial lake has been laid out on
the slope of the hill
The Vineyard of Argentina.
All these adornments are due to the
Mendoza river (the one which de-
Iscends from Aconcagua) and two other
smaller streams whose combined wa
ters have been skilfully used not only
to beautify the city, but to trrfgate
a wide space round. Most of the land
Is planted with vines. but all sorts OF
fruit trees, particularly peaches, pears
and cherries, are grown and dispatch
ed by rail to the Eastern cities. Vine
culture is In the hands OF the Italians,
who have settled here In large mum
bers, and brought with them their
skill in wine making.
The wine made here Is of common
quality, intended for the humber part
of the Argentine population. who have
happily not exchanged their South
European habits for the modern love
of ardent spirits. Nearly all the coun-
try Is supplied from Mendoza because
Eastern Argentina is Ill fitted for viii
culture.
The land both north and south out
side the range Of irrigation Is a sterile
wilderness, except along the banks OF
a few streams that descend from the
Andes, and to the east also 1t remains
barren for a long way, bearing moth
ing except the Aigaroba tree. which is
of use for flrewood. but for little else.
Travelling still farther eastward. one
reaches a region where q moister eli
mate gives grass sufficient for ranch
ing, and thereafter, the rainfall grow
ing more copious as one approaches
the Atlantic, comes the region of those
prodigious wheat fields which are now
making the wealth of this country.
A Bustling Desert City.
Here in Argentina we we're ION the
other side Of the HILL" in a social as
well as in a physical sense, and we
soon found ourselves trying TO note
the differences between Chileans and
Argentines, peoples of the same origin
dwelling side by side, but divided by a
. lofty mountain chain.
Two contrasts are evident. Chile is
, always excepting Santiago and Valpa-
raise, a quiet tranquil country, devel-
oping itself in leisurely way. But In
Mendoza, though it is one of the
smaller Argentine towns, there Is q
stir and hustle like that of England oil
Germany or North America Lane
lyalues are going up. Branch lines o.
railway are being run through the out
skirts of the city among the vineyards
The main streets are crowded. ant
there is a general air of expansion
and money making.
Then in Chile the population Is sta
BILE and comparatively homogeneous
THE Germans who are found In some
Of the small southern towns have set
tied down and become completely do
mesticated. But here in Argentina thu
Italians who flock in daily are con
spicuous as a growing element, which
is contributing effectively to the wealth