The South American Tour

The South American Tour! “Como no?” “Why not?” as many Spanish Americans say when they wish to give hearty assent. Have you been around the world? Do you travel for pleasure or business? Whatever your object, whether your purse is full or you wish to fill it, the southern half of our hemisphere is a land which should not be ignored.

What is there to see? May the journey be taken in comfort? These things shall be revealed in detail after a few general facts have been presented.

Is the enjoyment of scenery the chief aim of your travel? With ease you may behold some of the finest in the world,—much more if you care to take a little trouble: snow clad mountains galore rising above 20,000 feet, dwarfing the Alps into insignificance, giants to be admired not only from afar as tourists in India gaze upon the Himalayas, but from nearer points, even from their very foot; smoking volcanoes, cliffs more lofty than those of the Yosemite, wonderful lake scenery including the highest sheet of water (12,500 feet) where steamboats ply; strange yet fascinating deserts; wondrous waterfalls, one of these surpassing Niagara in height, volume, and beauty; magnificent tropical vegetation and forests, the highest railroads, the most picturesque and beautiful harbor of the world. All of these, with the exception of the great cataract, are easily accessible, and form a combination of scenic attractions unsurpassed in any portion of the globe.

Do strange people and cities interest you more? You may wander in towns old and quaint, containing buildings of centuries past, and in cities quite up to date growing with the rapidity of our own. In a few places Indians in peculiar garb may be seen by the side of Paris gowns and English masculine attire, in others an Indian with sandals, hood, and poncho would attract as much attention as on Broadway. 

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Several cities have boulevards, parks, and opera houses finer than any of which North America can boast.

Do you care for ruins, antiquities? These also abound. Whole cities of the dead are there, and others where the new civilization rises above or by the side of the old. Temples, palaces, fortifications, ancient statues, mummies, and pottery may be cursorily admired or profoundly studied, and search may still be made for undiscovered monuments of a prehistoric past.

These countries rapidly advancing, with astonishing mineral and agricultural resources awaiting development, with railroads to be laid, with fast growing markets for almost every kind of merchandise, invite the trader and the capitalist to investigate hitherto neglected opportunities before it is too late.

Well informed as to what there is to see, the possible tourist is certain to inquire if the journey will be comfortable. Perhaps, indeed, the order of the questions should be reversed; for few, I greatly fear, would be tempted to say “Let us go!” if the tour involved any hardship. Happily this is not the case. Though the Imperator, the Mauretania, and the Olympic do not yet sail in that direction, the names of several steamship lines which serve the traveler to Panama, or Buenos Aires are a guarantee of comfort and of sufficient luxury. The steamers elsewhere are commodious, having for the most part state rooms provided with electric fans, and satisfying all reasonable requirements. The railroads in the various countries have the usual equipment. The hotels, if one does not depart from the ordinary line of travel, will in general be found satisfactory, providing excellent food, good beds, etc., and in those cities where some little time should be spent meeting the wants of all except the ultra fastidious tourist.

If we do not sympathize with the cry “See America first,” bearing in mind that America is the whole and not a fraction of the Western Continent, at least, when we have seen the Old World, instead of ever retracing our steps in familiar ways, let us seek the strange New World beyond the equator where a brief tour will reveal a multitude of scenes amazing and delightful, even to the experienced traveler.