In the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Mesopotamia, and Santa Fé the average temperature in January is 72°, the maximum 97°-107°; the annual at the Capital city is 62.6°, farther south 42°. In Buenos Aires it may rain at any time, but the greatest precipitation is in the summer and fall. In summer there is a land breeze by day and a sea breeze at night. The north winds are hot and unhealthful, ending in violent storms. Southwest winds, the _pamperos_, which are gales, sometimes hurricanes, are invigorating. The central region has greater extremes of daily heat and of annual temperature, the widest at Córdoba; Santiago is the warmest of the Provinces. In the city of Buenos Aires the mercury in summer may reach 107°; in winter it goes below freezing only a few times, but there is a peculiar chill in the atmosphere which causes strong men, who never did so in New York or Boston, to wear heavy woolen underwear. The country has 200 meteorological stations. CHAPTER XXXV ARGENTINA: THE CAPITAL, INDIVIDUAL PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES THE CAPITAL =Buenos Aires=, the metropolis of South America, the largest city on that continent, and fourth in all America, has also a wide reputation as the second Latin city in the world. Its population is well towards 2,000,000, its area is more than double that of Paris. All its splendors may not here be rehearsed. The attractions of its 74 beautiful parks and plazas, its fine avenues, its magnificent Capitol and other public buildings, its beautiful opera house, almost the finest in the world, the many artistic and sumptuous residences, the excellent hotels, with many other admirable features make it a city delightsome to tourist and resident. The city is spoken of as a very expensive place to live, but in ordinary times, some things were cheaper than in New York while others were much dearer. Rents were high, the prices of fruit and vegetables, etc. In general, in other places in Argentina prices were higher for poor accommodations than in Europe before the War for far better. As a business centre, Buenos Aires naturally is of prime importance for the southern part of the continent. From here it is easy to visit Uruguay, Paraguay, and since the opening of the Trans-Continental, Chile also; while in every direction railways radiate to the chief cities of Argentina, even to those that are accessible by boat. PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES We may perhaps get the geography of the Republic most accurately if we begin near the countries with which we are familiar at the northwest, and come from the outskirts to the commercial and political centre of the Republic.