=Press.= As to the Press, Buenos Aires can boast of two of the wealthiest and best newspapers in the world, the _Prensa_ and the _Nación_. Not many years ago, the _Prensa_ contained as many pages of telegraphic and cable dispatches as any New York paper had columns, and articles superior in literary and intellectual ability. It was pronounced by some Europeans the best newspaper in the world. Buenos Aires has other papers of almost equal merit, besides several in English and in other foreign languages. =Religion.= In Religion there is entire freedom, but the President must be of the Roman Catholic Church. One in Buenos Aires no longer sees women with _manta_ or lace veil over their heads for church going as on the West Coast. =Telegraph.= Argentina has about 45,000 miles of telegraph lines, ample cable connections, and a dozen or more wireless stations. Telephones are in general use in all the large cities and in many smaller places. =Money= current in Argentina is paper, with coins for small change. A paper peso is equal to .44 of a gold peso, which is a little less than an American dollar, 96.48 cents; but for practical purposes except in large transactions a paper peso may be reckoned as 44 cents. CHAPTER XXXIV ARGENTINA: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS Argentina is oftenest thought of as a country of broad plains, but while a large portion of the country is of this character there are three distinct sections: the Mountains, the Plateau, and the Plains, with several subdivisions. MOUNTAINS We know that the Andes form the western boundary of the country for the entire distance from north to south, and that some of the loftiest summits including the highest, Aconcagua, are in Argentine territory; but east of the great Cordillera, which as already noted is less steep on this than on the Chilian side, are other ranges of the same and other systems. Two or three extend from the Bolivian plateau, and farther down spurs run out from the main chain. In Córdoba are three ranges separate from the Andes, with one peak above 9000 feet; a peak in San Luis is over 7000. Near the sea in the Province of Buenos Aires, are low mountains, mere hills in comparison, one reaching a height of 4000 feet; and in Misiones are spurs from the Brazilian Coast Range, the highest a hill about 1300 feet. PLATEAUS There are plateaus in the north among the mountains, but the distinctive Plateau Region is in what used to be called Patagonia, a name not so much employed in Argentina as formerly. This section is arranged in terraces, falling from the Andes to the east, the western part called the Plateau, having an altitude of 2000-500 feet; near the sea it goes from the latter figure to sea level. The Plateau has many sterile plains, some strewn with boulders, others with dunes of sand; also good grazing and forest land, and some suitable for farming.