The falls of the Yguassu, on the upper Parana, some 230 miles above Corrientès, on the confines of Brazil, Paraguay and the Argentine, have been described as a marvel of nature. It would seem that these falls represent a force three times greater than Niagara; their width is 12,000 feet, or more than two miles, with a fall of 212 feet. Unfortunately this cataract is on the border of the Argentine territory, in a region of forests accessible only with difficulty, and will probably flow for many years yet before any one profits by this enormous natural source of power.
_Mines._——Although the industrial future of the Argentine is as yet by no means clear, we must admit that during the last four years there has been a livelier movement in favour of gold, silver, and copper mining, which has resulted in the flotation of several important limited companies. It was to support these first steps that the Government built an aerial railway——one of the boldest works ever attempted in the whole world——to exploit the rich mines of Famatina.
“Over the whole stretch of the eastern slopes of the Andes,” says an important official publication[84] which we take for guide, “from Bolivia to Tierra del Fuego, the existence of numerous mineral-bearing regions is proved; notably in the Provinces of Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja, Catamarca, Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman, Córdoba, and San Luis, where traces of ancient mineral workings have been discovered.”[85]
[Footnote 84: _Description sommaire de la République Argentine comme pays d’immigration, 1904._]
[Footnote 85: The Argentine lost much of its mineral wealth when Potozi and La Paz were lost to Bolivia.——[TRANS.]]
There are many villages which ever since the Spanish Conquest have drawn their sustenance from the gold and silver which their inhabitants obtain, by rudimentary processes, from the beds of stream or river, and by plain mining. Also, despite the difficulties of transport, various well-organised companies have obtained very fair results from their workings, since they obtained their concessions a few years ago. Now that the feelers of the railway systems have reached these districts, and the mining companies have established aerial cable-ways to connect them with the mines, we can already perceive a greater vitality in this industry.