Part 5 (2/2)

These lands twenty years ago were valued at about 500 to 600 per league, while to-day it is difficult to acquire land under cultivation or alfalfa at less than 30,000 per league. In the Northern part of this province are very valuable stone quarries.

Another province that is advancing very fast is that of San Luis. Here, again, it has been found that alfalfa is at home, and thrives splendidly. This, again, is a very sandy soil, and consequently is much sought after, but this land has not yet touched the value of that in the provinces already mentioned; it will not stand so much cropping, and will not carry the same amount of stock, but still the average price for virgin camp is from 5,000 to 10,000 per league. In this province there is a very large extent of very poor land, covered with a small shrub, which is not worth more than 2,000 a league.

Mendoza is a more northerly province, and mostly dedicated to the grape and wine industry, while a lot of fruit is also exported from there.

Wine is made in very large quant.i.ties, and a lot of very good quality.

The value of land varies very much. The greater portion is worth at present very little. The great point is to get the water concessions for irrigating; without irrigation the land is useless. A good vineyard in its prime, with good irrigation rights, is worth as much as from 40 to 50 per acre, while the ordinary camp land is at about 7s. per acre.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The Maker of Land Values._]

REMARKS ON STORMS AND THE CLIMATE OF THE ARGENTINE.

The Argentine Republic, like all hot countries, is subject to very great hurricanes and storms. They occur most frequently in the spring and summer, when very sudden changes of temperature take place. The thermometer has often been known to drop 25 degrees within half an hour.

A great deal of damage is always caused, trees which have taken years of care and trouble are ruthlessly uprooted, roofs blown off, windmills blown down, haystacks turned over, and valuable animals struck by lightning. The terrible closeness and stillness which generally precede a ”tormenta” are certain forerunners of bad weather and storms. A terrible hailstorm which took place some time ago will always be remembered by its spectators. The usual signs of it were evident; the atmosphere had become very close and it had been extremely hot for some hours before. Though only about 4 p.m., it got peculiarly dark and a strong gale began to blow, and distant sounds of thunder were heard. A sudden lull came, which meant that the storm was about to break; sheets of lightning of every description were followed by deafening peals of thunder, which made man and beast tremble. Then there came a downfall of huge hailstones; they were just like big lumps of jagged ice; some of them measured about six to eight inches round and weighed over half a pound. This storm did a fearful lot of harm; not a leaf was left on a single tree, and hundreds of birds lay dead all around. Though very violent, this hailstorm did not last more than ten minutes, in which time an incalculable amount of destruction took place.

In September, 1909, a very bad cyclone suddenly came on us. The sky turned black and blacker, and the clouds looked horribly wicked.

Suddenly a terrific gale got up, which caused every window and door to rattle in a most alarming manner, though they had all been as well secured as possible. The dust seemed to filter in just the same, and in five minutes the house was an inch thick in it. We heard a loud bang and then another over our heads, and on looking out of a window we saw the roof of one of the outer buildings lying on the ground; part of it had been blown over our house and had carried away the chimney, a big iron one, on its way. We were told afterwards that the cook had had to use all her force against the kitchen window to keep it from bursting open, as, if the wind had got in, it would have carried away that roof as well. This hurricane lasted for about an hour and a-half; as soon as it had abated somewhat we went out to see the result. Everywhere reigned havoc and confusion, the whole place looked an old ruin, brick-bats, tiles, broken branches, loose sheets of corrugated iron lying all around; three roofs had been blown away, several windmills knocked down and carried 100 yards away, and lovely old trees had been completely uprooted.

The natives, frightened of remaining in their own quarters, had, in their terror, deserted them and taken refuge, with their wives and children, in the open camp, where they fondly imagined they were safer.

Out in the camp the roofs of most of the ”puestos,” or huts, had been also carried away, leaving the occupants exposed to the cold rains and winds which followed.

A peculiar feature of this storm was that it was not at all general; at the neighbouring ”estancias” it was not felt at all, and some of the ”peons,” who were riding in the camp at the time, said they could see this whirlwind coming a long way off at a tremendous rate and that it looked like a column of red smoke; they could not feel the effects of the wind either, although they were not more than half a mile away.

This storm was followed by very heavy rains which lasted for about ten days, during which our house was flooded, as the wind had lifted the tiles and the rain was driven in through every possible place.

Another time, when driving home from the town of Vernado Tuerto, we were caught in a very bad dust storm. Things became so black that we could not see where we were going, so we had to halt. The wind was so strong that the men had to get out of the carriage, which was a heavy covered-in waggonette, and hold the wheels down to prevent it from being overturned. We all looked like seaside n.i.g.g.e.rs, as the dust and rain falling at once came down like mud on us all. One gets quite hardened to these severe storms. On one occasion a very rough wind began to blow, but, as it was a steady gale, no one took particular notice of it. It was after dinner, and everybody was busy playing cards. The wind made such a deafening noise that you could hardly hear yourself speak; presently some of the occupants of the house thought they would have a look outside to see if things were all right; when they were surprised to see an outer building, used for stores and machinery, roofless, and the roof nowhere to be seen; it was discovered afterwards on the top of their own house, and they had never heard it happen.

The climate in the Argentine is very variable; we have great extremes of heat and cold. It is healthy as a rule, except in the swampy districts or during a very wet season, when a great many residents suffer from rheumatism.

People talk about the sudden changes of English weather, but we are treated just the same; one day it will be brilliantly hot and fine, and another day cold and miserable.

One part of the country or another is generally suffering from drought, when in another part they are being flooded out.

In the winter there is much more suns.h.i.+ne than there is in England; in the early morning it is bitterly cold, at noon on a fine day it is blazing hot, and then, as soon as the sun goes in, it freezes hard.

In the summer, of course, the heat is very great, but, as it is generally dry, it is quite healthy.

SOME EXPERIENCES OF WORKING ON ESTANCIAS.

I came out with my brother on a tramp steamer from Penarth. We took thirty-one days. However, time pa.s.sed fairly quickly, chipping off rust and painting the decks, after we got over our sickness.

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