In 1772, geographer and mariner Francisco Millau wrote his Descripcion de la Provincia del Rio de la Plata, the result of his travels and trips in the River Plate territory, during an assignment given to the Marquis of Valdelirios. Although he was extremely surprised by the fertility of the land, he indicated that the products derived from the abundant River Plate livestock were sold at an extremely low price.' Three decades later, at a time when Felix de Azara was writing his famous Memoria sobre el estado rural del Rio de la Plata, leather and other cattle products had acquired such a price that this celebrated Aragonese writer did not doubt that the future of this region would lie in its livestock.2 The calculations that he made of the comparative yields of investing in agriculture and livestock (although, as we will see, these are based on excessively pessimistic assessments of agricultural productivity) seem to support his opinion clearly. At least for a number of decades, the Litoral would grow on the basis of its livestock wealth.