The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

442 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA.
feet feeds tbe irrigation rills whic-h ramify over the neiglibonring vineyards and
orchards. But the gold washings, carried on in the highest gorges of the
mountain near the Tomolasta peak, no longer yield adequate returns.
Villa Mercedes, founded in 1856 under the name of Fiieiie Coiisfitncional, has
unexpectedly risen to importance, thanks to its position on a fertile plain watered
by the Rio Quinto on the route of the inter-oceanic railway at the point where
it turns the Sierra de Cordoba on the south. Villa Mercedes thus occupies an
advantageous position as the converging point of the future trunk lines from
Cordoba, Rosario, Buenos Ayres, Bahia Blanca, and Mendoza. Founded in a
district lately wrested from the Pamjjas Indians, this place continues to thrive
and increase in population at the expense of Ar/iirns and San Jose del Morro,
stations which lie farther north on the old highway to Chili. Villa Mercedes is
surrounded by rich lucerne meadows.
Towns of the Province of Cordoba.
Rio Cuarto, another busy station of the Argentine railway system, lies, as
indicated by its name, on the " Fourth " of the rivers descending from the
eastern slopes of the Cordoba mountains. It lies within the province of Cordoba,
and, like San Luis, it was long a bulwark against the Pampeans on the extreme
frontier of the settled districts of Argentina. It was often besieged, the women
and children taking refuge in the churches, while the men fought in the streets.
Since the return of peace its agricultural resources have been developed by the
construction of irrigation works, and at present Rio Cuarto is the second city in
the province.
Another outlet for the produce of the district is afforded by the twin towns
of Villa Maria and Villa Nucra, the former on the left, the latter on the right
bank of the Rio Tercero, which is here crossed by a railway bridge.
Fraijle Muerto, the first agricultural colony in this district, was founded by
English settlers in 18G8 ; but it never prospered, and the colonists dispersed.
Since then peasants of other nationalities have arrived in large numbers, and the
country about Bell-vilk, as Frayle Muerto is now called, has been brought largely
under cultivation, yielding rich crops of lucerne and wheat.
This place is associated with the fortunes of the ill-fated Henley colony.
Some years ago there arrived from England " a strange crew of yoimg English
gentlemen, with the ostensible object of cattle-farming. If energy and skill in
cana-drinking and horse-racing are the sole requisites for a cattle-farmer, then
none could be better than these. These young men, unsteady, fresh from school
and college and regiment, without practical knowledge of anything, arrived at
Rosario in a batch, and considerably astonished the natives by their manners and
customs. The Henlcyites came down on the land in the fashion of a hostile
army. They had a uniform of which a plumed helmet was not the least con-
spicuous article ; each was provided with a regulation rifle, revolver, and sabre,
besides an arsenal of wondei'ful weapons he took on his own account in addition.