The attempt to present a bird's-eye view of Argentina may well be called presumptuous, for the country is larger than Russia in Europe and offers every variety of climate--"hot, cold, moist, and dry." Nor would the utmost industry of the traveller suffice to glean anything like complete information, for large tracts, owing to the inhospitality of nature or man, are unexplored, and both north and south he would be checked by impenetrable forests, or rugged barriers of rock, or by savage Indians who are saved from extinction by the inaccessibility of their habitations. Further, even as regards the settled parts of those districts which, however desolate, are practicable to the traveller, there is more to be learnt (and the conditions are ever changing) than could well be absorbed in a lifetime, for Argentina is not, like several South American countries, a mere gigantic mass of potential riches, but is rapidly assuming a leading position among the commercial states of the world. From Buenos Aires to Mendoza, from Bahia Blanca to Tucuman, are to be seen all the signs of wealth and prosperity, all the unmistakable portents of coming potency usually apparent in a new country that has emerged from the stage of childhood and weakness and feels the vigour of lusty youth in its veins, impelling it to take its place in the system of world politics. If a single volume is all too short to represent Argentina in its manifold aspects, still less adequate is a single chapter to sketch its physical characteristics. In fact, its interest is at present more physical than moral, rather in its vast capacities for producing wealth and distributing it by means of magnificent waterways and ever-extending railroads, than in anything which Argentinians have done to ennoble life by arts or other services. Before, however, proceeding to the study of a country the learner must endeavour to set before himself its principal geographical features, and as those of Argentina are well defined and comparatively simple they lend themselves to broad and clear classification. Geographically Argentina falls into four divisions. Firstly, Patagonia, which stretches from the Rio Colorado to Cape Horn. Secondly, the Andine region, which runs from the southern frontier of Bolivia right along the Chilian border. Thirdly, the Gran Chaco, which embraces the whole of the north of Argentina except the Andine strip. Fourthly, the Pampa, which comprises the central and best known region.