Buenos Ayres

Buenos Ayres, the federal capital of Argentine Republic, on the right bank of the Plata, which here, at a distance of 150 miles from the open sea, is 28 miles across, but so shallow that ships drawing 15 feet of water are obliged to anchor 7 or 8 miles from the shore. It has other great disadvantages as a maritime town: the flood-tides of the ocean, when backed by easterly winds, are apt to make the estuary overflow its banks; and again, when westerly winds prevail, the estuary loses both width and depth. Monte Video, on the opposite shore, possesses a better harbour, and would, but for the greater facilities of Buenos Ayres in carrying on an inland trade, have proved a dangerous rival. Of the trade, however, with Chili by Mendoza and the Andes—a trade which must always be carried on by land—Buenos Ayres must still command the monopoly. Moreover, an elaborate system of harbour works was carried out between the years 1887-95, at a cost of £4,000,000; it includes an advanced river wall, a north and south basin, and a series of four docks, which connects two channels of the Plata, and so brings large vessels up to the wharfs. The city has had to contend against some peculiar disadvantages. Until recently, its supplies of fresh water were received from the Plata in rudely constructed carts; and although some granite is now forwarded from Jandil, 180 miles to the south, its immediate territory, purely alluvial, is almost as destitute of stones as of timber—the former being principally brought either as ballast from Europe or as freight from Martin García, an island on the opposite side of the estuary, and the latter from Entre Ríos and the Gran Chaco, and from the islets of the Uruguay and the Paraná. Fuel is almost as scarce as building material—peach-trees, charcoal brought from the coast, and the withered thistles of the prairies yielding the only indigenous supplies. The city, including suburbs, contains (1894) 592,328 inhabitants—about a third of whom are of European birth or descent. Among the Europeans the vast majority are Italian; the rest are principally Spanish, French, and British. Newspapers are published in French, English, Italian, and German, as well as in Spanish. The city is partitioned into blocks of about 150 yards square, with muddy, uneven roads, and pavements under chronic repair. In 1887 plans for a grand boulevard through the heart of the city were adopted; there are about a dozen plazas of from 8 to 12 acres in size; new houses, generally of brick faced with marble or stucco, are everywhere taking the place of the old comfortless Spanish-American erections, and the value of property has enormously increased. The principal buildings are the cathedral, second in South America to that of Lima alone, the chapel of Santa Felicitas, with elaborate frescoes, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, the university, the congress-hall, a military college, the new post-office, the residence of the governor, the archbishop's palace, the mint and government offices, and some of the banks and palatial railway depôts. There are also printing establishments; manufactories of cigars, carpets, cloth, furniture, and boots and shoes; some small dockyards; and an Emigrants' Home, where about 7000 immigrants annually are received. The city is the seat of an archbishopric, and possesses several public libraries and museums, eleven hospitals, and numerous other charitable institutions. The terminus of six railways, it has some 100 miles of tramway lines; there is cable communication with Europe and the United States; and one telephone was in 1888 in use for every 173 of the population. The drainage is well planned, and the water and gas supply excellent, only the suburbs being still lit with oil-lamps, and supplied with water by the carriers. The exports (one-sixth to England) and imports (about one-half British) are practically those of Argentine Republic (q.v.), and there is besides a considerable trade by the river. The debt of the city amounts to over £15,000,000. In 1890-95 the annual revenue, about £1,000,000, did not nearly meet the expenditure. There was a Continental Exhibition held here in 1882. Buenos Ayres was founded in 1535, but was subsequently twice destroyed by the Indians. In 1806 a British force, which had just captured the city, was obliged to surrender; and in 1807 another, which attempted to recover the place, was repulsed with heavy loss; and these successes over so formidable a foe emboldened the colonists, three years afterwards, to throw off the yoke of Spain.