Across South America

Across South America is an account of a journey from Buenos Aires to Lima by way of Potosí, with notes on Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, by Hiram Bingham. The text says Bahia is not quite so old as Pernambuco, its foundation dating only from the middle of the sixteenth century, but it early became the religious and intellectual centre of Portuguese-America. The text says that for over two centuries Bahia monopolized the slave trade of Brazil.

The text says people frequently confuse Chilean nitrates with guano, one being a mineral and the other an animal product. The text says that, as there is a heavy export duty on the nitrates, Chile has been, and will continue to be, as long as the supply holds out, in the very enviable position of making foreigners pay the bulk of her taxes. The writer says he does not agree with the criticism that the ease with which the Spanish-American says Mañana is the great difficulty, having heard the expression very seldom in South America.