DR CLEARY'S RETURN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15032, 4 January 1911, Page 6

DR CLEARY'S RETURN

HIS SOJOURN IN SOUTH AMERICA. INSTRUCTIVE AND INTERESTING TOUR. Tho Rev. Dr Cloary, who left Duncdir. over 12 months ago to undertake a tour of tho workl, and who, since his departure, has been elevated to the position of Bishop of Auckland, ,-e turned here last night by the second express from the south, * having coii'c over from Australia by the Ulimaroa, which a.rrived at the Bluff on Monday. The reverend gentleman, as might bo expMtcd, is looking woll after his trip. He is a, triiie tanned, perhaps, but otherwise his appearance is unaltered, and nothing has detraotod in any way from his youn'. ful freshness, his athletic vigour, and his remarkable keenness of mind. His unfailing courtesy is also with him still, and last night, though the hour was lats, he willingly complied with a request by a representative of _ this journal for a brief interview with him respecting his trip. The following is t'lie account he ga.ve of his journey ings:— " I landed in Uruguay (South America), which was then suffering a mild' spasm of revolution 011 its western and north-western borders. However, there wore very few signs of disturbance in the capital or even in the west, except in the movements of troops and in a sort of anxiety which was visible ainong the population. I had an opportunity of visiting the interior, and saw WlO remarkable developments of pastoral life as evidenced in the large Swiss colony eottled in a place known as the Cokmia Suiza. I also visited the great beef-extract city of Fray Vintos. "In tho Argentine Republic a good pars of my stay was devoted to the capital (Buenos Aires), whore martial law was at tho time in force, owing to the recent Anarchist, asassination of the Commissary of Police. The city was under a very rigid press law. all reference to the trial and sentence of the delinquents being rigorously censored, and notices of Anarchist meetings i or alarming statements of any kind being forbidden publication; w'hile on certain days pickets of mounted police and,cavalry were stationed at the intersections of _ the principal streets throughout the city and suburbs. T. had interviews with some of fee Ministers of State and heads of departments, and through the great kindness and courtesy 6hown by thorn, I was enabled to see some of what'might be called the official life of the city, and rome also of its commercial life>, as seen in the great matadercs (slaughtering establishments in connection wit a the export of Argentine heef to Western Europe). Later on, during long journeys north and north-westward through the Republic, I was greatly struck with the vast extent of tho cultivation of alfalfa or lucerne—one of the staple foods of the enormous herds of cattle, tho breed of which is being steadily improved by private ownership, aided by Government subsidy, which is. rendering an important ssrvice to tho meat-productive capacities of the .Republic,

" lirmigration is pouring into thesouthern part of tho Republic at an enormous rate, cbiolly from Italy and Spain, hut there is a formidable admixture of tho German dement, which is, for the most part, settling' in the north-west. The west and tho south-west sometimes gather together in great colonics, and they are profoundly influencing the productiveness of the country in the matter of the wheat and meat supply. Great numbers of Italians are following the fruit and wine industry in the west, out towards the Andean foothills, which promise to be one of the greatest wine-growing countries on tho American continent.

" I spent some days in and around the City of Mendoza, in full view of tho Andes. There a vast and steadily increasing oasis has been created out of the western desert by turning the water of several of its rivers through irrigation channels. This has made tho desert 'blossom as the rose,' and it is one of the finest examples of intense cultivation of the vine and other fruit trees I have yet seen in any country. The wine industry is largely carried out by large limited liability companies, and these have built long series of gre-t bodegas, or wine cellars, constructed on the most recent and up-to-date principles, while the introduction of the latest devices in machinery have enabled them to handle the wine in a way -which cannot be oxcclled even in the greatest wine-producing parts of France and 1 I spent some time in the two chief centres of commercial life in Peru-rnamely, in) Santiago, tho capital, and in Valparaiso. Then, with a view to seeing the western slopes of the country at closer langc, Ivisited in succession every port, many of them mere mud and iron hamlets between Valparaiso and the great nitrate port of Antofagasta. After a brief stay in the noted hesidquartera of the great nitrato region, won by Chili at the point of the bayonet in a war with Peru, I plunged into the heart of Bolivia, winding up the very pjculiar 2ft guage railway with, its .wide overhanging rolling-stock, which zig-zags and circles ever up and up until the traveller is brought into regions of rarefied air at hoights varying from 11,000 ft to more than 14,000 ft above the level of the sea. Tho road up this interesting and even fascinating oountry passes through vast tracts of country quite devoid of vegetation and studded with the deposits of nitrate which formerly constituted the chief wealth of Peru, and which now forms, perhaps, the richest part of the exports of the conquering Chilean. " A ourious feature of the trip through Bolivia is the long succession of the beds of vanished takes, through or beside which the train passes along tho great altiplanioie, or high tableland of Bolivia. Many of tihese arc rich in minerals, especially borates of lime, which are chiefly in the hands of French concessionaires. Day after day the train winds past curious features of high tableland scenery, ever in sight' of richly-coloured mountains, in which metak such as silver, copper, etc., are found in great abundance. Notablo among these lakes are two which still retain a considerable but diminishing bedy of water—namely, Lake Poopo and Lake Titicaca, the latter the highest navigated lake in the world. Both are shrinking rapidly as tho ages run along. '' One of the most picturesque of tho cities I visited in the courso of my travels was the capital of Bolivia—La Paz,—where I spent a considerable time. The train runs along the usual flat country, comes to a standstill, tho traveller alights at the edge of what seem? to bo a precipice of enormous depth, and away beneath him, far down in tho purple haze of a glorious sunset, he sees rising up. before him, like a scene in fairyland, the domes and towers and streets of tho city of La' Paz, backed by rugged and broken mountain ranges. The stroet-s resemble hits of the purple East rather than those of a quiet and 1 nnrcmanticcity far away in tho midst of the Sierra, decked as they aro with bright patches of local colour in the shape of the scarlet and yolltrtv and purple and green garments of the native race, while troops of llamas, the curious little camel of tho Andes, go in solemn procession through tj.io streets, carrying upon their backs their little burdens of 1001b or so each of the products of tho Montana (forest country east of the Andes), or products that havo been brought over the seas.

"I passtxl over Lako Titicaca and examined some of the ruins of ancient civilisation near its iba-nks and upon the islands within its waters, and passed down through t,lie region of arid mountains, staving for a time at Arcquipu, and' thon going on to Mollondo, and thence to Cailao and Lima. After a Stay of some time in Lima, which I made mv headquarters for visits to the surrounding country, I went on to Panama, being unable to land in Ecuador owing to tlio bitter course of legislation in that country, as in one or two other minor Republics, forbidding foreign Catholic ecclesiastics landing there. "In my trip up the Caribbean Sea and through Costa Rica I had! an opportunity of witnessing the enormous development of the fruit trade, which is now very largely controlled by what is known as the United Fruit Company, whose plantations are to be found in every part of that region from Mexico down to the mouth of the Amazon, and whoso finely-arranged cargo and passenger ships are to t>e seen all over the waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, bearing their rich cargoes to Now Orleans and to the markets of Great Britain and other parls of Western Europe.

" My trip through Spanish America concluded with an extended tour in Mexico. During my stay in Mexico Oily I saw and conversed with President Diaz, now so much in the public view—a magnificent old man, tall, erect, stately, every inch a soldier,— the dictator who has been one of the great builders of the prosperity which has fallen upon Mexico during the last few decadcs. I bad many opportunities there of secjng the enormous immigration that is pouring into Mexico from tilio neighbouring States of America. Train-loads of speculators and of settlers are entering day by day by the various northern gates of the country, and pioeceding, some to the ricli mining fields of Upper Mexico,, but the greater part of them interested in the fruit lands that extend from ii'orth of Vck> Cruz to the peninsula of Yucatan." Djc deary's knowledge of the Spanish

language was a groat holt) to him in 'lis journeyings through Spanish America, and everywhere, lie adds, he met with the most charming courtesy from a people who are noted for their exquisite manners.

Continuing his trip, the reverend gentleman visited the United States, ond passed through Continental Europe and other parts, chiefly over well-beaten paths of travel.

Dr Clcary was, on his return to Dunedin last night, warmly welcomed by a host of friends. It is his intontion to leave for the north on Friday.