Pampas

Pampas (Quichua, 'plains') is a term properly confined to the immense treeless plains of the Argentine Republic, which rise, almost imperceptibly, in a series of terraces from the coast to the base of the Cordilleras. Extending some 2000 by 500 miles, they differ greatly in various districts. The north-eastern portion, in the Paraná basin, is one of the most fertile regions in the republic; and stretching from this through Buenos Ayres and the south of Cordova and Santa Fé is the rich grassy pampa-land proper, supporting great herds of cattle, horses, and sheep. The rest is for the most part waterless and sterile. The soil, which is a diluvium composed of sandy clay, and abounds in the bones of extinct mammals, is more or less impregnated with salt, especially in the west, where strips of desert, known as travesias, are numerous. Within recent years great tracts of pasture have been converted into farm-land, but stock-raising is still the most important industry. The half-white herdsmen are called Gauchos (q.v.).—The name Pampas is also given to the level districts of Peru, where those of the Sacramento occupy an area estimated at 180,000 sq. m., covered with primeval forest.