EUE'NOS AY'RES, a province of the Argentine Confederation in South America, of which the city B. A. is capital, extends itself along the Atlantic, from the mouth of the Plata to that of the Rio Negro on the 41st parallel; on the n.e., it is washed by the Plata and the Parana as far as the Arroyo del Medio; on the n. and the adjacent section of the w., it touches the province of Santa Fe. Elsewhere, its borders cannot be defined, constantly advancing, by slow and perilous steps, into the domain of the abo rigines, for here the contest is not with the wilderness itself, which is a boundless prairie, but with its tenants, who, having an unlimited supply of horses for all pur poses, are secured, in their every foray, alike against famine and fatigue. Its area is estimated at 63,000 sq.m., with a pop. of (1869) 495,107. Besides the existing province of the name, it at one time comprised or Banda Oriental, Paraguay, Bolivia, and the Argentine Confederation, being originally an appendage of Peru, under the immediate command of a capt gen., and becoming, in 1775, a separate vice-royalty of itself. Though the first three of these four divisions broke off chiefly in connection with the revolutionary struggle, yet the fourth continued, down to 1853, to recognize the city of B. A. as its head; and the inland states endeavored both by war and diplo macy to re-annex the maritime province to the republic, till, in June, 1860, their object was obtained, and B. A. became once more a province of the Argentine Confederation.
The country approaches so nearly to a plain, that most of the rain which falls is either absorbed or evaporated, or lost in salt-lakes, comparatively little drainage enter ing the Parana or the Plata. The climate, though on the whole healthy and agreeable, is Tet by no means steady or uniform. Every wind, in general, has, to a remarkable degree,. its own weather—sultriness coming from the n., freshness from the s., moisture from the e., and storm from the w.; and besides the periodical heats of every summer, suc
cessive years of more than ordinary drought occur. Agriculture, properly so called, is followed chiefly in the more temperate and humid districts of the eastern coast; while the interior presents almost uninterrupted pasturage to countless herds of horses and cattle. Under these circumstances, the business of grazing and hunting combined occu pies or interests the great bulk of the population—a business that renders the province, whether as to the disposal of its productions or as to the supply of its wants, peculiarly dependent on that external commerce. which, throughout the whole of Spanish America, has naturally been identified with political freedom. Let it be added that the Indians are intractable, and that the Africans, few in number at best, are principally menials; and it is seen at once why, in spite of national jealousies and sectarian prejudices, immi gration from Europe has been not only tolerated by public opinion, but also encouraged by legislative enactments. Moreover, a comparatively congenial climate, as a recom mendation to foreigners, has powerfully seconded the efforts of liberality and patriotism. It is perhaps mainly owing to this cause, which is common alike to Chili and to B. A., that these two districts, notwithstanding their full share of wars and troubles, have so decidedly outstripped the other fragments of the same colonial empire in all the elements of liberty and civilization. Hence their higher importance in the eyes of Europeans in general, and of Englishmen in particular. B. A. is the largest, most populous, and most flourishing of the provinces which comprise the Argentine Confederation. Numer ous railways traverse it, emanating from the city of B. A., and extending to other parts of the republic, The annual immigration into B. A. is from 15,000 to 20,000.