TRAVELS IN SOUTH AMERICA An Interview with Captain Baldwin

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 134, 26 December 1885, Page 5

TRAVELS IN SOUTH AMERICA An Interview with Captain Baldwin

(From the "Otago Witness" Deo sth, 1880 ) Fob the past two or three years reports have at various times reached us regarding the vast resources of the South American Continent, and it haa been frequently hinted that New Zealand will have great competa tion to contend against from that quarter during the course of a few years, owing-to the opening up of vast areas of pastoral land, principally in the La Plata country. Hearing that Captaia Baldwin, who has recently returned from a trip to Europe, has trovelled a good deal in South America an interview with one of our representatives was arranged, with the result that during a two hours' conversation a good deal of inteaesting information was obtained. Captain Baldwin's travels in South America extended over a period of four months, and during that time he travelled extensively in Brazil Buenoa Ayres, Paraguay, Monte Vidoe, and Chili. Tbe observations made and the impressions formed during his travels in these countries will be best given in narrative form due allowance being made on the part of the reader for possible slight Insccvracies that ma? have resuUed in the quotation of fignres purely from memory. Handed at Rio, said Captain Baldwin, on the way Home, and stayed there for about a fortnight. The first thing to he done was to pay a visit to the sugar and coffee plantations, which are carried on pretty extensively in Brazil. Generally speaking I found the planters in a very depressed co edition owing to two things the low prices for sugar and coffee, and the emancipation of the slaves, which was engaging a great deal of attention at the time of my visit. The plantations are carried on principally with coloured labourers and the result of the emancipation will probably be that three-fourths of the planters will be ruined. Thecountryhasenormousresources. The Hlver-raining industry alone supports a large population, and cattle-raising ie very profitably carried on in those districts neighbouring the Plate. The cattle are reared principally for their hides, which are exported to the Old Country. The cattle themselves are regular "scrubbers," and not worth more than £1 or 253 per head. They are generally sold to the proprietors of the aolideros, where they areslaughteredfor their hides and "jerked " beef. From Rio I travelled to Buenos Ayres in one of the steamers belonging to the Compagnie Mesaageries Maritimes. The boat was crowded. The living on board these steamers is pplendid ; indeed I think it is the best in the world There is one great drawback, however, and that ia the fact that owing to the very loose moral code on board, ladies of respectability are prevented from travelling on the boats. The journey occupies about four days. Buenos Ayres is a pretty large town, about the same size a? Hio, and probably contains a population of 300,000. The town is placed at a great disadvantage for want of a good harbour. The Messageries steamers, which are about 4.000 tons burthen, have to He about ten miles down the Rio de La Plata, which is here very wide, say about 130 mile 3. The passengers are transhippei to smail steamers, which convey them a little further on their way ', then they proceed in boats for another stage, and ultimately reach their destination in a carfc ! In consequence of this varied mode of transit, wool which is sent to England costs as much for conveyance to the steamers as it does to carry it across the Atlantic to its destination. The harbour, too, is becoming worse every year, for it is gradually silting up. The town itself, though large, i? poorly built, and the streets are wretchedly paved with small bculders, while on tbe side-walks there is scarcely room for people to pass. It haa somewhat the appearance of an Eastern town, and all the windows are guarded with strong iron bars. Notwithstanding all this the port is a scene of bustle and activity. At the time of my visit there were no fewer than 53 steamers in the river Plata loading and unrading. This will give you an idea of what the traffic is like. Railways, too, ■were being constructed in every direction, and at onn time there were between 40,000 and 50,000 navvies employed in the Republic. The railways are for the most part made by private companies, who receive a guarantee from the Government. On the river the steamers that compete with the railways are superb -regular floating palaces in fact, and superior to anything I have seen on either the Hudson or the Sacramento Rivers. I stayed about a fortnight in Buenos Ayres, getting as much information as I possibly could. There I met Sir John Hall, and we afterwards travelled a good deal in company off and on. Our first move together was up the river Uruguary to Monte Video, where we visited •several estanchios, or, as we call them here, stations. The Monte Videan country is very beautiful ; clumps of park -like trees rising here and there on the rounded knolls, but as a rule the pasture is not suitable for cheep. Sometimes a good deal of headway is made with the flocks, and just as they have attained prosperity some epidemic comes along and sweeps tbem off. Scab is among the troubles that assail them. Indeed it is very bad throughout the Republic, for there is no scab law as is the case here, and no matter what trouble a man may take to keep his sheep clean, they are liable to infection from the sheep of some careless selector adjoining. This Monte Videan country ia, however, very well adapted for cattle. It is better than Brazil, and the cattle, of the shorthorn breed, are much too, for they are being improved by the importation of good stock from Great Britain. The proprietors of the solideros complain of this improvement in the breed, for, as they pay, the hides of well- bred animals are thin, and do not fetch so much as those of the coarser animals. The runs generally ceneisfc of about 25,000 or 30,000 awes of freehold, and are occupied by peop\* from Great Britain and the Natives, who at* principally of Spanish descent. There are a good number o* Englishmen who have cou«j out with small capital and gradually worktd. themselves into a good position. A large extent of the country is released by the proprietors to young Englishmen who come ot*. w ith cay, £2000 or £3000 to make a start So* themselves. The buildings on these places %xc not very extensive. Mosquitoes are ver> troublesome. Occasionally several feeble attempt*, are made by the Natives at a revolution. When we were up in the country some 60 men and a few officers of the army of Monte Video revolted. I saw them crouching outside one of the retoncias, and a more miserable, abject lot of creatures I never saw, I believe five Englishmen could have beaten tbe lot of them without any tronble. A number of Government troops were sent after tbem, and hearing of this they crossed the river into Entre Rios, which wai as that spot about two miles wide. The troops then retreated, and the rebel,, crossed back again. At last they surretf- , dered themselves to tbe Government; and and the President treated them very liberally, granting tbem » free pardon and »

goodtdirroer. People of Spanish origin pro-" dominate in the republio, and Spanish is spoken everywhere. V ee, we took the pre«, caution of carrying revolvers ou oar travels. but had no occasion to. use them. The managers and cadets on the estancias, all ' carf y revolver*, but they, too, seldom, if lever, have occasion to use them- One ! manager told me he had been there 20 years, and never had occasion to fire a abot. Still they are carried about as a precaution, for the Natives aro sometimes vindictive, and very ready with their knives. - Leaving Monte' Video, I went with Sir John Hall up the river to Rosario. Here the country is also good for oattle, but not tor sheep Rosario is a town with about 30.000 inhabitants, and close to the agricultural settlements which we afterwards visited. Sir John Hall paid a good deal of attention to these settlements. From what I saw and heard I came to the conclusion that agricultural farming there did not pay. The settlers got the land from tbe Government and private owners at a very low price and on deferred payments, but generally took up the land for about four or five years and then left it. Maize, which is used a good deal for fattening cattle, is the principal product. There is no system ot rot*, tion of crops, and crop after crop of wheat la taken off the land till it is impoverished. The laud is so plentiful, the soil so rich, and the price ro little, that it does not pay to so in for a proper system of farming. Agricultural machinery, however, is now being largely imported. At the tune of our visit the railways were lined -with farm implements, such as reapers and binders, &c Rosario is a very prosperous place, and there was a good deal of activity noticeable when we passed through l \ The quays were blocked with wheat and maize, and numbers of vessels were loading for tbe Home Country. The hotels were very good, but so crowded that we could scarcely find room. It was a most extraordinary thing that wherever I went through tbe Argentine Republic every hotel in the place seemed to be full to the doors. There Seemed to be a great many 'people travelling Living in the hotels is very cheap -generally about 6a or 7s a day. I went on to Cordova and Mendoza, an inland town, and then across tbe Ades to Santiago. Part of this journey bad to be made on mules and over some very bad roads. From bor dova the coil is very barren, and not much of it is fit for use : but at Mendoza you come into the sugar-raising conntry, which is carried on by all nationalities^ Those eneaeed in this industry were doing remarkably well, and some of them were making hs high a« 20 per cent on the capital invested. The people seemed to have more energyed than those engaged in industry in Brazil, and as they worked it cheaper, and had a better market round about them, their profits were proportionately larger. Returning to Rassario I took steamer to San Nicholas, where I visited what is known as the Irish farmers' camps. These farmers occupy a tract of country between ban Nicholas and Buenos Ayres, 375 miles long and about 200 broad. I think this is the finest piece of country in tbe world - at any rate, it is the best that I have ever seen. ) t was settled principally by lush farmers from Longford and Meath about 50 years ago, and some of them have irade large fortunes in consequence of the increase m the value of land during that time, lbe soil is very fertile, and the native pasture carries on an average 25.000 sheep to the ?qure league, or about four or five sheep to the acre. It was purchased for almost nothing, but now it is worth about £2 10a per acre. Wool is tbe chief product of this fine district, and the sheep are nearly all a croea-bred between merinos and long wools. The land is rather a high elevation, and is sometimes subject to droughts, but not of a very serious character. Water is obtained by sinking wells I stayed With a Mr Brown, one of the largest of the sheep farmers, and was very hospitably entertained, Everywhere I went the hospitality of the people was remarkable. After a bripf sojourn in this country, we returned to Buenos Ayres and attended the wool sales, The sales are held every morning, and generally close about 10 o clock. The market is crowded with French buyers, and the bidding is done very quickly. Besides carrying the- wool at a very low price, the railway companys also supply the bags -holding about 251 beac h-in which it is brought to market, and give storage free of charge for a week. Most of the wool is bought fcr the Antwerp market, and is as a rule of very inferior quality. " I next travelled southward to the estancias owned by Mr David Shennan, brother of Mx Watson Shennan, of the Conical Hills station, near Tapanui. Mr Shennan left New Zealand when quite young, and has prospered exceedingly out there. His Negrette property is about 80 miles fronr Buenos Ayres bv railway, and is one of the show places of South America. Fis cattle and sheep are the finest in the Argentine Republic. This Negrette property contains, I think, about 25,000 acres, and carries 28,000 crossbred sheep, besides 10,000 nearly purebred. Shorthorn cattle, and 1,500 well-bred horses, many of them the progeny of splendid draught sires imported from the old country. He has a property adjoining, which he has let. It consists of about 70,000 acres quite as good as Negrette. The hospitality of Negrette is proverbial, and the place is generally full o visitors from all parts of the La Plata, and even from England— ladies and gentlemen. Polo, tennis, shooting, and many other kinds of amusements are gone into with great zest. Mr Evans, the manager, was at one time a partner of Mr Musgrave, formerly of this province. About 12 miles further on we catre to Mr Fair's property. This and Mr Shennans are among the two best properties in the Argentine Republic. Mr Fair s property is managed by Mr Tefcloy, a New Zealander by birth, whose parents resided in Canterbury for some time. Mr Tetley, Mr "Evans, Mr Brett (nephew of the Hon. Colonel Brett, of Canterbury), and Mr Featherston (a son of the late Dr. Featherston) are amongst some of the' New Zealand settlers who are well known as efficient managers in tbe La Plata. Many of the managers own property as well.^ Mr Krabbe's property was the next I visited. It is about 300 miles from Buenos Ayres and 150 miles fromßahiaßlanca, and the railway runs through it. The property consists of 13 square leagues of country, or between 80,000 and 90,000 acres of fine land, which carries a large stock. At the time of ray visit the property was still undergoing the process of * refining '— that is, of being brought into good condition for depasturing stock. The modus op&randiia as follows ;— In its original state the grass stands several feet high, and is very coarse, and the country is stocked with a very low grade of animals, which may be said to be quite Tbe grass is intermixed with, long reeds and scrub, so that it is almost unfit for rksturage. The first step that has to be taken towards the process of refining is to set a match to this rank vegetation and burn, off portioria^of it every year. Then the country is stocked with sheep and cattle, and tbe burning process is repeated at< intervals, till^ after a course of three years, the giass becomes like a fine English sward, and carries about two sheep to the acre and one bullock to every four acres, but *pne New Zealand sheep gives as muoh profit' as two in Buenos Ayres. At Curumalan' 'l, I passed through 700,000 acres of some of the

anest sheerj laud in $he* world. , It beldnga to Mr Edward- Casey;pf^BjienoB^Ay,reBi;:an* has, tlearn since my been floated into a bind of^ompauy. J lt> more like the pickvof New Zealand pastoral ooun|ryithan any other poultry I liave seen. . Tfchad a very large*sfcook on it— some' hundreds of thousands of 'sheep and c.attle and 60,0D0 horses. It is managed by Mr before mentioned. There are three railway -stations oh the property, part of whioh has been set aside for the establishment of a Frenoh colony. ' Since my visit I .have heard that 50,000?aores of it have befen sold to an English capitalist - a celebrated yachting man, whose name^has escaped .mymemory. ' , I remained > some time m this locality ' then proceeded to Bahiajßlanca, the most southern towo of any pretensions in Buenos Avrea. It borders on Patagonia and is reached' by the southern broad- gauge railway, whioh, te owned by English capitalists. At Bahia Blanca I met one of those typical Englishmen of whom one occasionally hears. He was a fine broadchested young fellow, who owned the esrancia that was managed by young Feathorstone. When I visited his plaoe he had a shooting party composed of some 20 young fellews of congenial spirits, who came to his extancbia from all parts of the country. But that is apart from the story. ' When I left him he eaid he would probably see me in England in a few months. Not long afterwards I saw him on the mail steamer Neva at Monte Video, but did not get close enough to speak with him However afterwards at Bio a friend of mine asked me if I had seen M. Yes. I said I lud seen him on board the Neva. Did I know whvhehad left? No. well he had seen in the telegrams that war had been deolared between England and Russia, so he had at once sold his eetaucia, and taken passage Home in order to volunteer his services to fight against the Russians f Yf a. thera was quite a scare when the telegrams announced that war had been declared, and people took passage home by the fastest vessels they cou?d get. Two Eussian cruisers had been hovering about, and this addf dto the general alarm. 1 took passage by the Cotopaxi, which would have made a fine prize for the enemy, as besides the ordinary cargo there was £25,000 worth of silver and copper on board. The vessel was overcrowded with passengers, but wo had no fear, for we knew there was nothing afloat in those waters to touch her Imagine, then, our consternation when on reaching Bahia we learned that the machinery had broken down, and we had to steam slowly along at eight or ten miles an hour, thinking that at any moment we were liable to be collared by a Russian cruiser. However, after a few days' suspense we reached Cape Verde, and found to our joy that war bad not after all been declared. From Bahia Blanca I journeyed to Rio Negro, in Patagonia, by coach and on horseback. The country traversed did not appear to be of much account, and it seemed that from the province of Buenos Ay res proper you leave the sheep-farming country behind. Rega-ding the export of wool and mutton from this country and its effect on New Zealand, Sir John Hall was of opinion that it would make a considerate difference in the profits of New Zealand stockownera. I took a different view of the case. My reasons are these : In the first place the sheep are herded in small mobs of about 2000, and have to be yarded every night, as the dew is so heavy that unless the sheep are on dry ground over ntgbt they are almost certain to be attacked with foot rot, and die in large numbers. Under these circumstances I do not think the wool will ever be able to complete in the market with our fine long combing wool, though it will no doubt do so with our second' Class wool. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, and some pieces of country will produce fine wool. For instance, Mr Shennans clip for the last year fetched 8d per 1b at the wool sheds. Then, again, it appears to me that it will be a very loiv time before the native eheepfarmers will do anything to improve the breed of their sheep, while another great drawback is the'absence of a scab law. The result of all this is that, generally speaking, the wool Us of Jvery poor quality. With regard to"fat stock, I have noticed that both the sheep" and^cattle get too fatj in fact, the cattle sometimes get so fat that they will not breed. The fat is of a flabby nature, and not possessed of that Bolidity which characterises the fat of our New Zea land mutton and makes it so acceptable to the English palate. So far the mutton tnat has been sent Home from La Plata hay been a failure, aod it is stated that the meatfreezing company who have established works not many miles from the city of Buenos Ayres have lost £28,000. A trial has been machrin the direction of sending Home live stock. The day before I left London 4500 lambs were landed from the Plate, so I was told, and before long I think it is quite probable that sheep and cattle will be sent over by some of the fast vessels, such as the Stirling Castle, which run across in 16 days. I don't think that extra slocking would make the desired difference in the quality of the mutton, because the fattening properties seem to be in the nature of the grass, and they cannot grow turnips or English grasses as we can in New Zealand. At present there is a great influx of population to the La Plata. The immigration is estimated at between 80,000 and 100,000 a year, The immigrants are principally ! Basques and Italians. The Basques make the better colonists, and are eagerly engaged as shepherds and servants. They are open and frank, very respectful and polite. Financially speaking, most of the provinces are not in a very enviable positionDuring my visit there was a sort of finan. cial disturbance, add gold was at a 40 or 50 per cent, premium. Several reasons we^re assigned for this, and one of them was the scarcity of gold, on account of the banks having shipped such a great deal of it Home to England. The consequence was that gold " went up " and a man landing with £1,000 in sovereigns would find himself worth £1,500 of the money of the conntry. In Chilli the 4s-dollar was worth 2s 6d, and in Buenos Ayres, one of our gold sovereigns was worth 28 of thair silver shillings. In Monte Video the 4a dollar was about par, but in Brazil again again the milreis, which may be considered equal to our two-shilling piece, was worth only Is 6d. During late years the Argentine Republic has borrowed heavily, and a good deal of money has been squandered, with the result that the country is now in debt to the tune of £40,000,000 The elections were just coming on when I left. The President of the Republic is considered a great fool if he does not, during bis term 'of office, making all his relatives rich In Buenos Ayres over-specu-lation has made the^land run up in price from shillings to ponnds per acre, and, of course numbers of those who bought' the land in the earljrdaya, have since amassed i large fortunes in consequence of the rise! Regarding, the profits to be made by cheep farming accounts differ. ,, The Majority of person?- 1 fTpbke^o'gay. about i ,20 per cent. My own estim s a|e*'wfi[B^tbat jig, a .property, managedio^ybdydutmight reasonably ex.p^tiCpeicen.y^ileif ym.manaffe^itf yluraelf you in^Pglt M 'high as 16 per

of 6bursd,-?woiild nbt Mwpe^ted auriHg tM ftrafc two or.tHree youwould beHumttßA' develSßingt the grazing, re;