The people of Mendoza are still very nervous about earthquake shocks, which occur frequently, but there has been nothing serious since 1861.
It is for this reason that the new Mendoza was laid out with very wide streets and roomy squares and almost all the houses were built of wood. This spaciousness adds greatly to the attractiveness of the town and is a great relief after Buenos Aires. The town, thus covering a large area, appears to be more considerable than it in reality is, but it is rapidly growing, and its forty thousand population will probably soon be doubled. Land in the outskirts is rapidly rising in value, and great credit is due to the State of Mendoza, which is planning the extensions on a very handsome scale. At the west end a large park and zoological gardens are being made, and at sunset there is a beautiful prospect from their pleasant walks, which seem to be under the very shadow of the Andes. Their grim and jagged forms appear to be within an easy walk. But Mendoza itself is like a large park; conduits of clear water run on each side of the streets and their banks are lined with trees. The principal street, the Calle San Martin, is quite as rustic as the others, and it contains nearly all the shops which are large and good for a provincial town. There is an excellent English Club with a large membership, and as the climate of Mendoza is genial, the town is by no means a bad place of residence. The chief peculiarity of the climate is the almost complete absence of rain. Mendoza stands at an elevation of nearly 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is thus, as might have been expected, temperate. The thermometer rarely touches freezing-point, and seldom or never 100° F., but the rainfall is only a few inches yearly, and this rich district is entirely dependent for its fertility on irrigation. In the industrial chapters something is said about the wine-growing at Mendoza. Here it will be sufficient merely to mention the system which covers the uplands with vine and grain--an ancient system which was bequeathed to the present inhabitants by the Guarpes, the peaceful and industrious people who lived here before the Spaniards came. The Zanjon Canal passes from the river Mendoza, near Luxan, traverses through the city and joins the Tunuyan River, which in turn is united by another canal to the Desaguadero River, far away to the east. The canals and their branches are 1,100 miles in length, and they are said to irrigate a quarter of the Province. Much fruit is raised, also tobacco, and in 1835 the mulberry was introduced, so the silk industry flourishes. As far as its fruit and streams are concerned, Mendoza may compare with Damascus, and in every respect is the only Argentine city, except Cordoba, which possesses any old-world charm. It is an old Spanish City, and the people have the leisurely ways and open-air habits of their forefathers. From the nature of the case it cannot possess fine buildings, because, in case of another earthquake, the inhabitants desire light houses that will either resist the shock, or, if they fall, do the minimum of damage. But the Cathedral, though plain, is an imposing edifice, and it attracts very large congregations of men as well as women. The people of Mendoza are intensely religious. In Spanish towns the charms of the streets are quadrupled on Sundays and Holy Days, for they are full of pretty women in mantillas hurrying to church. Why the ladies do not always give this beautiful headdress preference over ugly imported hats is a mystery to the masculine mind.