FOOTNOTES[1]In reference to the preponderating interest of Liverpool in this trade, an influential metropolitan journalist, commenting on the treaty with Paraguay soon after its ratification in London, observes:—Liverpool is the very centre and focus of our foreign trade. There almost every man you meet is either engaged in commerce, or is in the service of those so engaged. Liverpool, like the seat of the Pope of Rome—but in a widely different sense—has its agents and its commercial missionaries in every climate and in every latitude, and there is not one among them who is not as intent and energetic in his work as those ‘soldiers of the faith,’ whom Rome sent out on the South American missions in the two centuries from 1535 to 1735. The fiery enthusiasm of Don Pedro de Mendoza himself, who offered Charles V. to complete the conquest of Paraguay and the Rio de la Plata at his own expense, is equalled by some of those indomitable agents of the counting-house, who are as zealous for commercial conquests as the Andalusian Hidalgo was for the aggrandisement of his Sovereign and master. We doubt that even Father Charlevoix himself, so often cited and praised by his brother Breton, Chateaubriand, and who has given us six volumes of a charming history of Paraguay—which he explored in person—exhibited more zeal for the interests of his order in the countries watered by the Rio de la Plata, the Rio Salado, the Rio Negro, the Catapuliche, and the Rio de la Encarnacion, than do those Liverpool junior partners, clerks, and supercargoes, who are charged with the interests of considerable commercial houses in such distant latitudes.… Through the rivers opened to us by the efforts of Lord Malmesbury, one-fourth, at least, of the produce of South America, must be brought to the market of the world, and of this commerce Liverpool will certainly have the largest, and Bristol, Glasgow, and London, a considerable share.[2]In the original prospectus of the company, whose calculations, apart from two wrecks, as to the performances of their vessels have since been so well verified by experience, it was stated that, ‘The importance and extent of our trade with Brazil and the River Plate, and the necessity which exists for a more perfect postal communication with these countries, mainly suggested this enterprise; and, accordingly, the first efforts of this company will be devoted, not only to supply the desideratum of a bi-monthly mail, but to afford to shippers of goods a cheap and speedy conveyance, which the acceleration of the mails over the old system of sailing packets renders most desirable; the tonnage at present employed in the Rio and River Plate trades, from the Port of Liverpool alone amounts to 30,000 tons annually, while the value of exports, principally consisting of Manchester and other similar fabrics, is upwards of three millions sterling per annum. The number of first class passengers was, until the establishment of the mail steamers, very circumscribed; but since that period it has materially increased, not less than one hundred per month, each way, being now the average. Of the second class of passengers and the lower description of emigrants the numbers who have gone from Great Britain and the continent, by sailing vessels, has been very great, more than is generally supposed, not fewer than 4,000 persons having emigrated to Rio Grande and the southern ports of Brazil during the last year, while to the River Plate the numbers for years past has been still more considerable; and the inducements held out to emigrants in both countries are so great, that, with the additional facilities afforded by a regular steam communication, a largely progressive increase may be fairly calculated on. Thus it will be seen that a large field is open for this company’s operations, and, as the rates of passage proposed to be charged are extremely moderate, being within what has hitherto been obtained by sailing ships, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the estimate of the number of passengers, upon which the requisite calculations are based, is under what may fairly be expected from this country, the continent, and Portugal. Three steam-ships, of from 1,500 to 1,700 tons, and about 300 horse-power, will, in the first instance, be built for the Rio line. The vessels will be modelled after the most approved principles, and, with the ample power proposed, it is confidently anticipated that an average speed of at least 10 knots per hour will be attained. The branch boat will be of smaller dimensions, suitable for the navigation of the River Plate. It is calculated that the passage to Rio will not exceed twenty-five days, and that the whole distance to the River Plate will be accomplished in thirty-five days, including the needful detention in Rio to transfer the cargo and passengers to the branch boat. The average passages of the best ships at present employed is not less than fifty days to Rio, and sixty to the River Plate.’ The branch boat, it will be seen hereafter, was lost, as likewise the Olinda, the second ship of the Ocean line, both, however, having been replaced.[3]Though the great Genoese came in sight of St. Salvador, Bahama Islands, on the 11th of October, 1492, it was not until 1497 that he found the continent, the same year that Cabot, the son of a Venetian pilot residing at Bristol, discovered Newfoundland, and named it Prima Vista; the year also (or, as some say, the year before), that Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine in the service of Spain, and subsequently of Portugal, and again of Spain, reached the east coast, and was fortunate in giving his name to the entire of the continent, north and south. The Bahamas were not known to the English for nearly 200 years (1667) after the discovery by Columbus, when Captain Seyle was nearly wrecked there while proceeding to Carolina, also discovered by Cabot in 1500. The Bahamas were long infested by pirates; but in 1718 Captain Rogers expelled them, and the islands became and have since remained the property of the Crown of England, with the consent of Spain, though the British had had a settlement there long previously.[4]He turned; but what strange thoughts perplexed his soul,When, lo! no more attracted to the Pole,The Compass, faithless to the circling Vane,Fluttered and fixed, fluttered and fixed again!At length, as by some unseen Hand imprest,It sought, with trembling energy, the West!‘Ah, no!’ he cried, and calmed his anxious brow;‘Ill, nor the signs of ill, ’tis Thine to show;Thine but to lead me where I wished to go!’Rogers’ Columbus.[5]Though his scope embraces no part of the West Coast, nor any portion of the East Coast beyond the line, the author hopes, by the introduction of a few of the more prominent facts connected with each republic, to render this volume somewhat useful to those of his readers who may be desirous of a slightprecisof the history and position of the various states of South America, but who would, nevertheless, be deterred from entering upon details of feuds and complications more unintelligibly perplexing than the records of the dynastic chaos of the Saxon heptarchy, or the septic entanglements of the earliest Celtic kings. To this end, therefore, there will be appended a note on each of the outlying districts, if we may so call them, as they occur in the text; and first in the foregoing order comesMEXICO.—After the usual experience of viceregal misrule, common to all the Spanish transmarine dependencies, this noble province threw off the yoke and asserted its independence in 1820, and virtually achieved it about a year afterwards, principally through Iturbide, a Spanish soldier of great valour and military skill, and who might probably have done for the land of his adoption what Washington had effected for the United States. Unlike that great character, however, he abused for his own selfishness the power he acquired; and, not content with being head of the state as regent on behalf of the people, he perfidiously caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, in 1822, and imperial revenues and honours to be decreed to himself and to his family. These measures, with many others of a like kind, produced such general defection, that he assembled the dispersed members of Congress in the capital, in 1823, and abdicated, agreeing to reside for the remainder of his life in Italy, on which condition a large allowance was made him. But, faithless to his word in this instance, as before, he returned from Leghorn, through England, attempted a revolution, miserably failed in raising any followers, and was ignominiously shot, at Padilla, in Santander, by La Garza, commander of that province, pursuant to instructions from the provincial legislature, in 1824. Vittoria, one of the ablest lieutenants of Iturbide in the war of independence, had been proclaimed president the year before; and the year after (’25) a treaty of commerce was ratified with Great Britain. Such proceedings, with the recognition that was soon to follow of the independence of the revolted country, had formed a topic of urgent interest at the Congress of Verona, in 1822, when, seeing what was looming in the future of South America, the Duke of Wellington, plenipotentiary from England, instructed by Mr. Canning, in continuation of the policy of Lord Castlereagh, to whom the Duke had just succeeded, presented a note, stating, that ‘The connection subsisting between the subjects of his Britannic Majesty and the other parts of the globe has for long rendered it necessary for him to recognise the existence,de facto, of governments formed in different places, so far as was necessary to conclude treaties with them. The relaxation of the authority of Spain in her colonies of South America has given rise to a host of pirates and adventurers,—an insupportable evil, which it is impossible for England to extirpate without the aid of the local authorities occupying the adjacent coasts and harbours; and the necessity of this coöperation cannot but lead to the recognition,de facto, of a number of governments of their own creation.’Austria, Russia, Prussia, and France (represented by M. de Chateaubriand), diplomatically ignored this overture to humiliate their royal brother of Spain by admitting that which they were soon afterwards compelled, for their own sakes, to acquiesce in. All the efforts of the successor of Ferdinand and Isabella ignominiously failed to win back or retain any portion of the glorious inheritance of the throne of the Indies. A vast expedition, sent against Mexico, surrendered to the now successful revolutionists in 1829, a few months after the expulsion of the Spaniards had been decreed. Unfortunately, however, democratic anarchy soon supervened upon monarchic despotism; for hardly was the old tyranny got rid of, than Guerrero, the president, was deposed; and Mexico has since been but another word for whatever is most unwise in foreign policy or most pernicious in domestic administration. In 1838 war was declared against France, and of course, ended in disaster to Mexico, after five months’ duration, the most memorable incidents being the capture of the strong fortress of St. Jean d’Ulloa, by Prince Joinville, who greatly distinguished himself; and the brave defence of Vera Cruz, by Santa Anna, who there lost a leg. This soldier of fortune, something of the stamp of Rosas, having been repeatedly elected to supreme power, deposed, exiled, imprisoned, and restored, is once more president, with what prospect of continuance it is impossible to tell. Neither misfortune, nor experience of the impolicy of excessive severity, seems to have mitigated the innate ferocity of the man’s character. With a defiance of opinion more in consonance with the era of the Borgias than of constitutional government, or even of a civilized government in the middle of the 19th century, only as late as November last the Dictator caused death to be inflicted, by shooting, without the pretext of a trial, and as though they were the veriest wild beasts, on Senhor Tornel, formerly President Arista’s Minister of War, and Senhor de la Rosa, who was minister for foreign affairs immediately after the capitulation of the city of Mexico, and was the immediate instigator of Santa Anna’s expulsion from the country on that occasion, being also the writer of the letter officially informing him of his disgrace. Their offence was, simply, being obnoxious to the dictator—nothing more. Like Rosas, however, he has evinced more consideration for the foreign creditor than might have been expected; and about the period of the barbarity just named, devoted a considerable sum in liquidation of the more pressing of these demands, his ability to do so arising, it was said, (though the authority is as apocryphal as the circumstance itself) from a donation by the pope, as an equivalent for the restoration of the order of the Jesuits in Mexico. Others say that his funds have accrued from a sale to the United States of territory adjoining the present Californian possessions of the Union; and that, with the proceeds, he means to repeat Iturbide’s experiment in imperial power and title. Be this as it may, the area of Santa Anna’s sway, is much less now than it was formerly; for, owing to a succession of decisive repulses sustained from the United States, with which war was declared in 1846, and carried on till the beginning of 1848, Mexico has lost California; Texas having been annexed to the States in 1846; Yucatan, &c., having also seceded; and now, of the once prodigious territory of the Montezumas, and known in Spanish colonial history as the vice-royalty of Mexico, there remains, according to the treaty of 1848, but the comparatively narrow strip of land between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.This, though only a fragment of what it once belonged to, is still most rich in minerals, and most fruitful in valuable products, and highly important from its position; but nearly all its natural advantages are destroyed by the insecurity and deficiencies of its political institutions, and the incapacity and selfishness of those administering them among a very numerous population, equal, at least, to that of Scotland, after all the curtailments we have spoken of. It is needless to acquaint any reader of the public journals, to whom the words ‘Mexican Bondholders’ must be a ‘horrid, hideous sound of woe, sadder than owl-songs on the midnight blast,’ that the finances of the state are in a condition the reverse of consolatory to creditors. For the precise nature of those obligations, in whose fulfilment England is so much interested, we must refer to the very numerous pamphlets published by the various committees appointed in London to advise upon this intricate and unsatisfactory subject. That there is every desire on Santa Anna’s part to meet English liabilities, there can be no doubt; one motive for his anxiety being, it is said, the achievement of a stock-jobbingcoupon his own account, or, rather, on account of the adventurers he is surrounded by. If internal peace could only be secured, the vast resources of the country, and its unparagoned geographical position, midway, as it were, in the very path of the commerce of both hemispheres, would soon permit of its financial difficulties being adjusted. The question is, whether Santa Anna, in putting down anarchy—if he can keep it down—will not commit excesses as bad as the revolutionists in an opposite direction? The latter is the tendency of his acts at the present; but it is impossible to predicate of such a country what may or may not turn up from one hour to another. The representative of Mexico, hitherto charged, until lately, with the difficult task of negociating in this country with the English creditors, has been Colonel Facio. The Mexican diplomatic staff in London consists of Senhor de Castillo y Lanzas, 10, Park-place, Regent’s-park, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary; Don Augustin A. Franco, first secretary; Don José Hidalgo, 2nd secretary; Don Ignacio Luijano, attaché; Don B. G. Farias, 32, Great Winchester-street, vice-consul.Though Consuls were sent, for commercial purposes, to nearly all the important ports of the new South American states, as early as October, 1823, it was not for several years afterwards that political or diplomatic representatives were despatched. The first was Mr. Alexander Cockburn, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Columbia, February, 1820; second, Sir R. Ker Porter, chargé d’affaires to Venezuela, July, 1835; third, Mr. Turner, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to New Granada, June, 1837; and fourth, Mr. W. Wilson, chargé d’affaires to Bolivia, 1837. These states will be severally noticed as they occur in the text. It was in March, 1835, that Sir Richard Pakenham, now British Minister in Portugal [see Lisbon] was accredited as plenipotentiary to Mexico. At present the same post is filled by Mr. Percy William Doyle (many years chargé d’affaires there) whose salary is £3,600, with £400 a-year house rent; secretary of legation, William Edward Thornton, salary, £600; paid attaché, Mr. A. H. Hastings Berkeley, salary, £200; and an unpaid attaché. The annexed list exhibits the names and salaries of the British consular corps in Mexico:—Mexico, F. Glennie, consul, £400; Vera Cruz, F. Giffard, consul, £500; Tampico, consul, Cleland Cumberlege, £500; San Bias, Eustace W. Barron, consul, £300; Mazatlan, S. Thomson, vice-consul, £150; Acapulco, Charles Wilthew, consul, £400.[6]In the month of February, 1554, he addressed a long letter to the emperor,—it was the last he ever wrote him,—soliciting his attention to his suit. He begins, by proudly alluding to his past services to the Crown: ‘He had hoped, that the toils of youth would have secured him repose in his old age. For forty years he had passed his life with little sleep, bad food, and with his arms constantly by his side. He had freely exposed his person to peril, and spent his substance in exploring distant and unknown regions, that he might spread abroad the name of his sovereign, and bring under his sceptre many great and powerful nations. All this he had done, not only without assistance from home, but in the face of obstacles thrown in his way by rivals and by enemies, who thirsted like leeches for his blood. He was now old, infirm, and embarrassed with debt. Better had it been for him not to have known the liberal intentions of the emperor, as intimated by his grants; since he should then have devoted himself to the care of his estates, and not have been compelled, as he now was, to contend with the officers of the Crown, against whom it was more difficult to defend himself than to win the land from the enemy.’ He concludes with beseeching his sovereign to ‘order the Council of the Indies, with the other tribunals which had cognisance of his suits, to come to a decision; since he was too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought, rather, during the brief remainder of his life, to stay at home and settle his account with Heaven, occupied with the concerns of his soul, rather than with his substance.’ This appeal to his sovereign, which has something in it touching from a man of the haughty spirit of Cortez, had not the effect to quicken the determination of his suit. He still lingered at the court, from week to week, and from month to month, beguiled by the deceitful hopes of the litigant, tasting all that bitterness of the soul which arises from hope deferred. After three years more, passed in this unprofitable and humiliating occupation, he resolved to leave his ungrateful country and return to Mexico. He had proceeded as far as Seville, accompanied by his son, when he fell ill of an indigestion, caused, probably, by irritation and trouble of mind. This terminated in dysentery, and his strength sank so rapidly under the disease, that it was apparent his mortal career was drawing towards its close.—Prescott.[7]PERU.—Referring to what has been already said as regards Mexico for a general notion of the relationship between Spain and her colonies, when the spirit of revolt began to develope itself in the latter, it is only necessary to add here that, since its emancipation, Peru has, like all the congeries of republics of which it forms one, been a prey to civil dissension and military turmoil. Of late years its increasing commerce, the vast pecuniary means it has discovered, in its guano islands, of meeting its engagements with the European creditor, and the comparatively pacific spirit that prevails in its councils and in those of the neighbouring states, are producing their natural results; and, despite occasional exceptions, there is every reason to look for a prosperous future. The conquest of Peru having been effected with infinitely more ease than that of Mexico, as far as the mere military resistance of the natives was concerned, it continued for nearly 300 years subject to Spain, and formed its last stronghold in that quarter of the world. The history of the struggles for independence, from the time that the first Protector, San Martin, [see Chili, page 18] entered the country with the combined Chilian and Buenos Ayrean army, and proclaimed its freedom at Lima, the capital, in 1821, till the Spaniards were finally expelled, would embrace the biography of the commander just named, and the still more celebrated one, Bolivar, who, with his victorious troops from Columbia, to which he had given liberty in 1821, mainly contributed to the liberation of Peru, whereof he became President in 1825, San Martin retiring in 1822, with these memorable words:—‘I have proclaimed the independence of Chili and Peru; I have taken the standard with which Pizarro came to enslave the empire of the Incas; and I have ceased to be a public man.’ Bolivar ran through pretty much the same vicissitudes of popular caprice as we have recounted in the case of Santa Anna, though an incomparably superior character in every respect; and, after numberless feuds, and escaping plots against his life by those he had raised to power, was on the point of returning from voluntary seclusion, on his patrimonial estate, to assume once more the direction of affairs, in obedience to the voice of the public, who, too late, found out that he was the only man for the occasion, when he died in 1830, in his 47th year, leaving behind the highest reputation which South American history has afforded, not only as a commander and an administrator, but as a constitutional legislator. Repeated revolutions have since ensued, partly caused by rivalries of internal factions, and partly by the hostilities of neighbouring states, which, being themselves torn with dissension, and constantly changing their territorial status, have rendered war upon Peru, or on the part of Peru, almost unavoidable. This is the case at present; Bolivia, under its President, Belzu, having invaded Peru, and protracted hostilities being certain. Under such circumstances it is hardly necessary to add, that the finances of the country have been inadequate to its expenditure, and that, consequently, the foreign creditors have fared exceedingly ill. Of late, however, the prospects have greatly improved, owing to the immense demand for that peculiar manure which is found in the condition most approved by agriculturists on the Peruvian coast, and in the next greatest perfection on the neighbouring coast of Chili, whence, indeed, the first cargo, which created so much interest, was brought a few years back into Liverpool, causing small observation, however, for a long time. But, unluckily for the foreign creditor and the true interests of the Peruvian government, the latter fixed so high a price on the commodity, as to create a complete monopoly, attended with most of the mischiefs of which all monopolies are the parents. Until the close of the last year, it was imagined that the supply of this most essential ingredient in farming economy was literally inexhaustible, and that the cost to the consumer might be kept up at the original excessive rate. About that period, however, it was ascertained, through a survey instituted by Admiral Moresby, commanding the British squadron on the West Coast, that at the then rate of demand (and it has gone on increasing since) the whole stock (many millions of tons though it was) would be exhausted in the course of about twenty years. Moreover, as the discovery, first, of the unique virtues of guano, and, secondly, of its deposit in the finest known quality and greatest quantity here, were purely accidental, it is not improbable, indeed is regarded as certain, that there will also be discoveries of other excellent fertilizers of a like kind, and of other vast deposits of guano, if not quite so excellent, yet sufficiently so to deprive Peru of its principal customers at existing rates. Should either of these occurrences take place—should it be found, as Lord Clarendon anticipated, in answer to a deputation on the subject, that nitrate of soda is extractable from the immense heaps of fish refuse on the Newfoundland coast, and will supply, as chemists believe, the fructifying element of guano; or should it be found that those deposits of guano in more damp latitudes,—the Falklands, for instance—will admit of being profitably freed from the effects of moisture, of course the value of the Peruvian commodity will decline accordingly, and so will the prospects of the bondholders, who have probably been amongst the greatest of all the sufferers from themala fidesand impoverishment of South American debtors. A species of new bonds have recently been created, to the great detriment of the interest of the holders of the old ones, and the dissatisfaction is extreme, especially as the government, instead of being warned by the facts we have recounted in respect to guano, and by the discovery of valuable guano islands by North American citizens in the Caribbean Sea, have actually advanced the price of the commodity to the extent of the recently enhanced freights, as compared with the usual rates of shipping charges.Apart from the monetary, the diplomatic credit of Peru has always been respectably sustained at the Court of St. James’s. The corps at present consists of Don Manuel de Mendiburu, minister plenipotentiary; Don Francisco de Rivero, consul-general, 78, Grosvenor-street, Grosvenor-square; Don Emilio Altheus, D. M. Espantosa, and Major D. S. Osma, attachés. Consul’s-office, 6, Copthall-court. Consuls—J. E. Naylor, Liverpool; R. J. Todd, Cardiff; John G. Dodd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Edward Wright, Dublin.England is represented in Peru by Mr. S. H. Sullivan, chargé d’affaires at Lima; salary as such £1,700 a-year, besides the usual £1 per diem allowed to all functionaries of that class discharging consular duties. Until last year (1853) the diplomatic salary was £2,000. At Callao, the port of Lima, the salary of the consul (Mr. J. Barton) has also been reduced from £500 to £200, but the fees of office still make the post very lucrative. At Islay, the vice-consul, Mr. T. Crompton, receives £500; and at Arica and Payta, Mr. G. H. Nugent and Mr. Alexander Blacker, vice-consuls, £300 and £100 respectively.[8]CHILI.—Though probably none of the Spanish conquests in South America were effected with greater ease than that of Chili—a sort of dependency on the Incas of Peru, and faithful to their cause long after it was lost at head-quarters—nowhere were the natives impressed so much at first with the superiority of the invincible stranger, a sum equivalent to half a million of ducats being presented to Almagro, in recognition of his ‘divinity’ when he crossed the Cordilleras; yet none of their acquisitions, subsequently, cost the conquerors more trouble. Notwithstanding the scandalous cruelties of the invaders, it was not till 1546, ten years after Valdivia (a second lieutenant of Pizarro’s) had entered their country, that resistance was wholly put down. The Chilians, the last in being subdued, were also among the first to take advantage of the troubles of the mother country in her decrepitude and decline. On the invasion of Spain by the French, and the rout of the Spanish Bourbons in 1809, Chili, affecting to be solicitous for the sovereignty of Ferdinand VII., and to be desirous of administering the government of itself in his name, established a junta in the capital, St. Jago, in 1810, and ultimately avowed itself a decided separatist. Spain, however, was still able to make head against the revolutionists; and after a series of encounters, in which fortune alternated rapidly, she vindicated her authority by a very decisive victory at Rancagua, in 1817. This, however, did not prevent the popular party triumphing at Chacabuco, in the same year, and seizing on the capital. Again the king’s troops succeeded at Chancarayada; but, once more, and conclusively, the republicans carried all before them in the eventful battle of Maypu, in 1818, though it was not till the beginning of 1826 that the province was finally freed from the presence of the peninsular cohorts, and declared independent, the old country itself, however, refusing any such recognition till 1842, when a treaty of peace and friendship was signed at Madrid, and ratifications exchanged in 1845. Throughout these wars the most conspicuous revolutionary leader was General San Martin, a soldier of Irish origin, as his name imports,[9]being one of the many of his countrymen whom the struggles for independence brought forward in the Spanish colonies, in none more so than in Chili, the first Supreme Director, as the officer elected by the juntas was originally called, being Barnardo O’Higgins, with whom were associated Col. O’Leary, General Miller, and numerous others ‘racy of the soil’ of saints and shillelaghs. Of all the European celebrities, however, who figured on the stage of South American strife, none are to be compared to the heroic Lord Cochrane, now the venerable Admiral Earl Dundonald, who, having fitted out a ship of his own in England in the cause of the patriots, and being appointed to the command of the Chilian fleet, coöperating with the land forces of Bolivar, displayed that characteristic skill and enterprise which have so preëminently distinguished him throughout his chivalrous and romantic career, some few incidents of which will be found mentioned in our notice of a congenial and no less heroic spirit, Admiral Grenfell, of the Brazilian service, in which Dundonald played a conspicuous part.From what we have said already, both of Mexico and also of Peru, it will naturally be inferred that Chili has suffered greatly from internal disorders; but, unlike those countries, she has contrived to avoid a very onerous national debt; and consequently her credit abroad is comparatively very good; indeed, better probably than that of any South American state, save Brazil, whose securities rank next to those of Great Britain itself. The recent gold discoveries in California and Australia have immensely increased her export trade, and will continue to do so for an indefinite period; while a large source of domestic revenue has been opened up by the possession of guano islands (of which more hereafter), second only in extent, and scarcely second in richness, to those treasures of a like kind whereof we have spoken under the head of Peru, the example of which country is followed as to the maintenance of the price of the article at an exorbitant rate.The Chilian diplomatic and consular corps in England consists of Spencer N. Dickson, consul, 8, Great Winchester-street, London; W. W. Alexander, consul, Bristol, Cardiff, and Newport; William Jackson, consul, Liverpool; Thomas W. Fox, jun., consul, Plymouth; James H. Wolff, consul, Southampton; John W. Leach, consul, Swansea. The British diplomatic and consular corps in Chili consists of the Hon. E. J. Harris, chargé d’affaires at the capital, St. Jago, salary £1,600, and the usual consular allowance of £1 per diem; consul at Valparaiso, Mr. Henry Rouse, salary £300, reduced from £700; consul at Coquimbo, Mr. David Ross, salary £300; and vice-consul at Conception, Mr. Robert Cunningham, salary £250—all exclusive of fees.[9]His aid-de-camp was General John O’Brien, afterwards accredited by the Banda Oriental, or State of the Uruguay, as diplomatic representative to England, where he contributed greatly to familiarise the British public with the bearings of the Plate Question, and to popularise the cause of Monte Videan resistance to the aggression of Rosas. In this object he was essentially assisted by his learned and accomplished countryman, Mr. W. Bernard Macabe, a distinguished London journalist, and well-known author in historical and miscellaneous literature, who discharged the duties of acting consul-general for the Uruguay in London for some years, till the end of 1852, when he proceeded to Dublin, where he has since prosecuted his intellectual avocations with his customary assiduity and success. The General, we believe, is now residing in honoured retirement, in his old age, in the neighbourhood of Valparaiso, on a property allowed him by the Government of Chili, to whose original independence his exertions materially contributed.[10]The subject of this poem is the establishment of the Portuguese empire in India; but whatever of chivalrous, great, beautiful, or noble, could be gathered from the traditions of his country, has been interwoven into the story. Among all the heroic poets, says Schlegel, either of ancient or modern times, there has never, since Homer, been any one so intensely national, or so loved or honoured by his countrymen, as Camoens. It seems as if the national feelings of the Portuguese had centred and reposed themselves in the person of this poet, whom they consider as worthy to supply the place of a whole host of poets, and as being in himself a complete literature to his country. Of Camoens they say,Vertere fas; æquare nefas; æquabilis uniEst sibi; par nemo; nemo secundus erit.Few modern poems in any language, have been so frequently translated as the ‘Lusiad.’ Mr. Adamson, whose ‘Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Camoens’ must be familiar to the reader, notices one Hebrew translation of it, five Latin, six Spanish, four Italian, three French, four German, and two English. Of the two English versions one is that of Sir R. Fanshawe, written during Cromwell’s usurpation, and distinguished for its fidelity to the original; the other is that of Mickle, who, unlike the former, took great liberties with the original, but whose additions and alterations have met with great approbation from all critics—except, as indeed was to be expected, from the Portuguese themselves.—Dr. Cauvin.—In the course of the present year (1854) another English version, from the pen of Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and formerly on the staff in the Peninsula, has been issued by Messrs. Boone, of Bond-street, in one volume, with an engraving, said to be an excellent likeness, of the poet.[11]‘Eu sou aquelle occulto, e grande Cabo,A quem chamais vos outros Tormentario;Que nunca a Ptolemeo, Pomponio, Estrabo,Plinio, e quantos passaram, foi notorio:Aqui toda a Africana Costa acaboNeste meu nunca visto promentorio,Que para o polo Antartico se estende,A quem vossa ousadia tanto offende.’Camoens, canto 5, verse 50.‘In me the spirit of the Cape behold,That Rock by you the Cape of Torments named,By Neptune’s rage in horrid Earthquake framed,Where Jove’s red bolts o’er Titan’s offspring flamed.With wide-stretch’d piles I guard the pathless strand,And Afric’s southern mound unmoved I stand;Nor Roman prow, nor daring Tyrian oar,Ere dashed the white wave foaming to my shore;Nor Greece, nor Carthage, ever spread the sailOn these my seas to catch the trading gale.You, you alone, have dared to plough my main,And with the human voice disturb my lonesome reign.’Mickle’s Translation of this verse, the ‘Lusiad,’ p. 205.[12]STEAM THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN TO THE PACIFIC.—In a work like this, almost specially devoted to an exemplification of the achievements and the prospects of steam enterprise in South America, we take the earliest opportunity of placing on record the efforts of a gentleman, who, in those distant waters first explored by Magellan, and through the very straits named after that daring navigator, conducted a steamer to the West Coast long before the Royal Mail Company, as mentioned in our prefatory remarks, sent any of their paddle-wheels to the East Coast. The first steamers that ever navigated these straits were the Peru and Chili, belonging to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, under the orders of Captain George Peacock, a gentleman well known in connection with naval steam tactics, now superintendent of the Southampton docks, and vice-consul for the Uruguay at that port. Leaving England in command of the Peru, in July, 1840, and touching only at Rio de Janeiro for a supply of fuel, he anchored in Port Famine, Patagonia, on the 13th of September, after a passage at sea of only 43 days. These vessels, built by Messrs. Curling and Young, of Limehouse, were contracted and fitted out with great care, under the superintendence of Captain Peacock, being also rigged on a new plan proposed by him, whereby they were enabled to proceed under sail alone during a great part of the voyage, the steam only having been used for 21 out of the 43 days occupied between Plymouth and Port Famine. This was an unprecedented feat in the annals of steam navigation up to that period, and has scarcely been surpassed since, as these vessels carried out a large amount of general cargo to Valparaiso, besides their spare machinery, and a great quantity of stores, proving the importance of all steamships for long voyages, whether screw or paddle-wheel, being fully and properly rigged. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company was projected in 1833 by William Wheelwright, Esq., an enterprising American gentleman, who had passed many years on the West Coast of South America, and who obtained exclusive privileges, from the Chilian and Peruvian governments, for establishing steam in the Pacific, provided steamers were placed on the coast within a given period. On Mr. Wheelwright’s arrival in England he found great difficulty in forming a company, although no one doubted but that the navigation and requirements of the West Coast were, perhaps, better adapted for steam navigation than any other spot on the face of the globe. Unfortunately for the projector, the extreme pressure of the money-market at that time, coupled with the distance of the intended scene of operations, the want of confidence in the grants of South American states, and the political changes to which they were exposed, all conduced to impede the enterprise; and, after passing upwards of three years of untiring patience and suffering, numberless anxieties, heart-sickening vexations, and even personal privations (the fate of too many enterprising men in the prosecution of new and useful projects), and when his capital was nigh wrecked, and his favourite scheme about to be abandoned as hopeless, he had the good fortune to meet with the late Lord Abinger, who, together with the noble members of the Scarlett family, warmly espoused the undertaking, and with the aid of other kind friends, the company was at length formed, and, towards the close of the year 1839, two vessels, of 750 tons and 180 horse power each, were contracted for. The keels were laid Jan., 1840, and the ships built, launched, fitted out, and sent to sea in July, within a period of seven months, no expense being spared to effect this object, with a view of saving the privileges to be conceded by the Chilian government.This proved to be impracticable, notwithstanding the extraordinary exertions that had been made, owing to the vexatious annoyances of the port authorities at Rio de Janeiro, who exacted such stringent regulations and created such difficulties, that the steamers were delayed fourteen days, where 48 hours would have sufficed. The fine harbour of Port Stanley, at the Falkland Islands, was not then known to possess the facilities it now does for such repairs, nor were there at the time the necessary means of effecting them; otherwise Captain Peacock, who has the highest opinion of that harbour, and has urged it as a port of call and for coaling on the captains of all sailing or steam-vessels coming home from Australia by Cape Horn, would have at once resorted to it, and so saved the almost ruinous delay and vast expense occasioned him at Rio. The consequence of this detention was, that the vessels did not arrive at Port Famine, the southern-most harbour claimed by the republic of Chili, until the 13th of September, whilst the privileges, already alluded to, expired on the first of that month.By the 18th of September both ships were completed with wood and water, every man, from the captain downwards, assisting in sawing and splitting up drift-wood, found in abundance along the shores of the harbour, an American axe having been provided for each person on board, together with cross-cut saws and iron wedges, for such object, before leaving England. This day, being the ‘diesiocho,’ or great anniversary of the Chilian Independence, Captain Peacock caused a beacon, 30 feet high, with a large diamond-shaped head, to be erected on the heights of Santa Anna, the western point of the entrance; and, hoisting the Chilian flag upon it at noon, saluted the same from the guns of both ships, accompanied by three hearty British cheers; and having buried a parchment manuscript at the foot of the beacon, in a sealed jar, descriptive of this event and the particulars of the voyage, &c., together with a few new coins of the year 1840, the steamers proceeded into the Pacific, accomplishing the passage from ocean to ocean, a distance of 300 miles, in 30 hours’ steaming. Four years subsequently, the Chilian government sent a vessel of war, and took formal possession of this harbour, for a convict establishment, naming it Port Bulnes, after the President at that time in power, when a fort was built round the before mentioned beacon, the jar was dug up, and the manuscript, &c., taken to St. Jago, the capital, and there lodged in the government archives. Upon the arrival of the steamers at Valparaiso, by a representation to the government, the privileges of the company were immediately renewed for a period of ten years; and probably nothing has contributed so much to the advancement, welfare, and prosperity of the Chilian and Peruvian republics, as the successful establishment of steam navigation upon this coast, where the names of Don Guilliermo Wheelwright and Don Jorje Peacock, will perhaps never be forgotten, as they certainly ought not to be. The Chilian government, in the course of last year, (1853) renewed its relations with the Pacific Company for continuing steam communication with England, through the Straits, and also for extending steam intercourse to other parts of Europe, in connection with the vessels now rounding the Horn, granting liberal subsidies for that purpose. See end of chapter on Amazon.[13]Captain Denham, R.N., who has been sent on an exploratory cruise in the various Archipelagoes of the Southern Pacific, in hope of meeting with an eligible depôt for convicts, whom the cessation of transportation to Australia (or at least to all except the Western portion) has thrown on the hands of the home government, very much to the embarrassment of the executive, and to the consternation of the community; for, as was foreseen when the project was first mooted, not only do the British public dread the introduction among them of the class known in France aslibres forçats, but the former honest associates of these domesticated ‘emancipatists,’ to use an antipodean phrase, will not consort with them; hasten to denounce them to their employers as ‘black sheep;’ forcibly drive them from amongst them; and, in fact, surround them with such annoyances that their existence becomes intolerable in the society of any but those who are qualifying for, or have already graduated at, the hulks. The consideration of this subject will be found pursued at some length in treating of the Falklands. These islands are in every way admirably adapted, both to meet the difficulties just mooted, as to the disposal of our felonrie, and to supersede the labour of Capt. Denham, should he even be successful in discovering a spot in the southern hemisphere that is not open to innumerable objections on the score—1st, of propinquity to other islands; 2nd, being at double the distance of the Falklands from the mother country; and 3rd, the cost of conveyance being proportionably great; saying nothing of the expensiveness of founding a new settlement in a place that is already deserted, or from which the aborigines, if any, must be removed.[14]The History of Brazil—hisopus majus, a work on which he hoped to base the remembrance of his name—now appeared, the most conspicuous and elaborate of his works, and writtencon amore. It forms a branch of the more extensive History of Portugal, which he had no leisure to complete. The materials from which this work was constructed had been collected by his uncle, the Rev. Herbert Hill, were unrivalled in value, and accessible to him alone. No political bias interrupted the straightforwardness and breadth of his judgment; and his poetic fervour found scope in the character of the clime, the productions of the soil, and the features of savage life, which he describes in the most glowing colours.—Life of Southey, by Charles T. Brown.—London: Chapman and Hall. 1854.
[1]In reference to the preponderating interest of Liverpool in this trade, an influential metropolitan journalist, commenting on the treaty with Paraguay soon after its ratification in London, observes:—Liverpool is the very centre and focus of our foreign trade. There almost every man you meet is either engaged in commerce, or is in the service of those so engaged. Liverpool, like the seat of the Pope of Rome—but in a widely different sense—has its agents and its commercial missionaries in every climate and in every latitude, and there is not one among them who is not as intent and energetic in his work as those ‘soldiers of the faith,’ whom Rome sent out on the South American missions in the two centuries from 1535 to 1735. The fiery enthusiasm of Don Pedro de Mendoza himself, who offered Charles V. to complete the conquest of Paraguay and the Rio de la Plata at his own expense, is equalled by some of those indomitable agents of the counting-house, who are as zealous for commercial conquests as the Andalusian Hidalgo was for the aggrandisement of his Sovereign and master. We doubt that even Father Charlevoix himself, so often cited and praised by his brother Breton, Chateaubriand, and who has given us six volumes of a charming history of Paraguay—which he explored in person—exhibited more zeal for the interests of his order in the countries watered by the Rio de la Plata, the Rio Salado, the Rio Negro, the Catapuliche, and the Rio de la Encarnacion, than do those Liverpool junior partners, clerks, and supercargoes, who are charged with the interests of considerable commercial houses in such distant latitudes.… Through the rivers opened to us by the efforts of Lord Malmesbury, one-fourth, at least, of the produce of South America, must be brought to the market of the world, and of this commerce Liverpool will certainly have the largest, and Bristol, Glasgow, and London, a considerable share.
[1]In reference to the preponderating interest of Liverpool in this trade, an influential metropolitan journalist, commenting on the treaty with Paraguay soon after its ratification in London, observes:—
Liverpool is the very centre and focus of our foreign trade. There almost every man you meet is either engaged in commerce, or is in the service of those so engaged. Liverpool, like the seat of the Pope of Rome—but in a widely different sense—has its agents and its commercial missionaries in every climate and in every latitude, and there is not one among them who is not as intent and energetic in his work as those ‘soldiers of the faith,’ whom Rome sent out on the South American missions in the two centuries from 1535 to 1735. The fiery enthusiasm of Don Pedro de Mendoza himself, who offered Charles V. to complete the conquest of Paraguay and the Rio de la Plata at his own expense, is equalled by some of those indomitable agents of the counting-house, who are as zealous for commercial conquests as the Andalusian Hidalgo was for the aggrandisement of his Sovereign and master. We doubt that even Father Charlevoix himself, so often cited and praised by his brother Breton, Chateaubriand, and who has given us six volumes of a charming history of Paraguay—which he explored in person—exhibited more zeal for the interests of his order in the countries watered by the Rio de la Plata, the Rio Salado, the Rio Negro, the Catapuliche, and the Rio de la Encarnacion, than do those Liverpool junior partners, clerks, and supercargoes, who are charged with the interests of considerable commercial houses in such distant latitudes.… Through the rivers opened to us by the efforts of Lord Malmesbury, one-fourth, at least, of the produce of South America, must be brought to the market of the world, and of this commerce Liverpool will certainly have the largest, and Bristol, Glasgow, and London, a considerable share.
Liverpool is the very centre and focus of our foreign trade. There almost every man you meet is either engaged in commerce, or is in the service of those so engaged. Liverpool, like the seat of the Pope of Rome—but in a widely different sense—has its agents and its commercial missionaries in every climate and in every latitude, and there is not one among them who is not as intent and energetic in his work as those ‘soldiers of the faith,’ whom Rome sent out on the South American missions in the two centuries from 1535 to 1735. The fiery enthusiasm of Don Pedro de Mendoza himself, who offered Charles V. to complete the conquest of Paraguay and the Rio de la Plata at his own expense, is equalled by some of those indomitable agents of the counting-house, who are as zealous for commercial conquests as the Andalusian Hidalgo was for the aggrandisement of his Sovereign and master. We doubt that even Father Charlevoix himself, so often cited and praised by his brother Breton, Chateaubriand, and who has given us six volumes of a charming history of Paraguay—which he explored in person—exhibited more zeal for the interests of his order in the countries watered by the Rio de la Plata, the Rio Salado, the Rio Negro, the Catapuliche, and the Rio de la Encarnacion, than do those Liverpool junior partners, clerks, and supercargoes, who are charged with the interests of considerable commercial houses in such distant latitudes.… Through the rivers opened to us by the efforts of Lord Malmesbury, one-fourth, at least, of the produce of South America, must be brought to the market of the world, and of this commerce Liverpool will certainly have the largest, and Bristol, Glasgow, and London, a considerable share.
[2]In the original prospectus of the company, whose calculations, apart from two wrecks, as to the performances of their vessels have since been so well verified by experience, it was stated that, ‘The importance and extent of our trade with Brazil and the River Plate, and the necessity which exists for a more perfect postal communication with these countries, mainly suggested this enterprise; and, accordingly, the first efforts of this company will be devoted, not only to supply the desideratum of a bi-monthly mail, but to afford to shippers of goods a cheap and speedy conveyance, which the acceleration of the mails over the old system of sailing packets renders most desirable; the tonnage at present employed in the Rio and River Plate trades, from the Port of Liverpool alone amounts to 30,000 tons annually, while the value of exports, principally consisting of Manchester and other similar fabrics, is upwards of three millions sterling per annum. The number of first class passengers was, until the establishment of the mail steamers, very circumscribed; but since that period it has materially increased, not less than one hundred per month, each way, being now the average. Of the second class of passengers and the lower description of emigrants the numbers who have gone from Great Britain and the continent, by sailing vessels, has been very great, more than is generally supposed, not fewer than 4,000 persons having emigrated to Rio Grande and the southern ports of Brazil during the last year, while to the River Plate the numbers for years past has been still more considerable; and the inducements held out to emigrants in both countries are so great, that, with the additional facilities afforded by a regular steam communication, a largely progressive increase may be fairly calculated on. Thus it will be seen that a large field is open for this company’s operations, and, as the rates of passage proposed to be charged are extremely moderate, being within what has hitherto been obtained by sailing ships, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the estimate of the number of passengers, upon which the requisite calculations are based, is under what may fairly be expected from this country, the continent, and Portugal. Three steam-ships, of from 1,500 to 1,700 tons, and about 300 horse-power, will, in the first instance, be built for the Rio line. The vessels will be modelled after the most approved principles, and, with the ample power proposed, it is confidently anticipated that an average speed of at least 10 knots per hour will be attained. The branch boat will be of smaller dimensions, suitable for the navigation of the River Plate. It is calculated that the passage to Rio will not exceed twenty-five days, and that the whole distance to the River Plate will be accomplished in thirty-five days, including the needful detention in Rio to transfer the cargo and passengers to the branch boat. The average passages of the best ships at present employed is not less than fifty days to Rio, and sixty to the River Plate.’ The branch boat, it will be seen hereafter, was lost, as likewise the Olinda, the second ship of the Ocean line, both, however, having been replaced.
[2]In the original prospectus of the company, whose calculations, apart from two wrecks, as to the performances of their vessels have since been so well verified by experience, it was stated that, ‘The importance and extent of our trade with Brazil and the River Plate, and the necessity which exists for a more perfect postal communication with these countries, mainly suggested this enterprise; and, accordingly, the first efforts of this company will be devoted, not only to supply the desideratum of a bi-monthly mail, but to afford to shippers of goods a cheap and speedy conveyance, which the acceleration of the mails over the old system of sailing packets renders most desirable; the tonnage at present employed in the Rio and River Plate trades, from the Port of Liverpool alone amounts to 30,000 tons annually, while the value of exports, principally consisting of Manchester and other similar fabrics, is upwards of three millions sterling per annum. The number of first class passengers was, until the establishment of the mail steamers, very circumscribed; but since that period it has materially increased, not less than one hundred per month, each way, being now the average. Of the second class of passengers and the lower description of emigrants the numbers who have gone from Great Britain and the continent, by sailing vessels, has been very great, more than is generally supposed, not fewer than 4,000 persons having emigrated to Rio Grande and the southern ports of Brazil during the last year, while to the River Plate the numbers for years past has been still more considerable; and the inducements held out to emigrants in both countries are so great, that, with the additional facilities afforded by a regular steam communication, a largely progressive increase may be fairly calculated on. Thus it will be seen that a large field is open for this company’s operations, and, as the rates of passage proposed to be charged are extremely moderate, being within what has hitherto been obtained by sailing ships, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the estimate of the number of passengers, upon which the requisite calculations are based, is under what may fairly be expected from this country, the continent, and Portugal. Three steam-ships, of from 1,500 to 1,700 tons, and about 300 horse-power, will, in the first instance, be built for the Rio line. The vessels will be modelled after the most approved principles, and, with the ample power proposed, it is confidently anticipated that an average speed of at least 10 knots per hour will be attained. The branch boat will be of smaller dimensions, suitable for the navigation of the River Plate. It is calculated that the passage to Rio will not exceed twenty-five days, and that the whole distance to the River Plate will be accomplished in thirty-five days, including the needful detention in Rio to transfer the cargo and passengers to the branch boat. The average passages of the best ships at present employed is not less than fifty days to Rio, and sixty to the River Plate.’ The branch boat, it will be seen hereafter, was lost, as likewise the Olinda, the second ship of the Ocean line, both, however, having been replaced.
[3]Though the great Genoese came in sight of St. Salvador, Bahama Islands, on the 11th of October, 1492, it was not until 1497 that he found the continent, the same year that Cabot, the son of a Venetian pilot residing at Bristol, discovered Newfoundland, and named it Prima Vista; the year also (or, as some say, the year before), that Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine in the service of Spain, and subsequently of Portugal, and again of Spain, reached the east coast, and was fortunate in giving his name to the entire of the continent, north and south. The Bahamas were not known to the English for nearly 200 years (1667) after the discovery by Columbus, when Captain Seyle was nearly wrecked there while proceeding to Carolina, also discovered by Cabot in 1500. The Bahamas were long infested by pirates; but in 1718 Captain Rogers expelled them, and the islands became and have since remained the property of the Crown of England, with the consent of Spain, though the British had had a settlement there long previously.
[3]Though the great Genoese came in sight of St. Salvador, Bahama Islands, on the 11th of October, 1492, it was not until 1497 that he found the continent, the same year that Cabot, the son of a Venetian pilot residing at Bristol, discovered Newfoundland, and named it Prima Vista; the year also (or, as some say, the year before), that Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine in the service of Spain, and subsequently of Portugal, and again of Spain, reached the east coast, and was fortunate in giving his name to the entire of the continent, north and south. The Bahamas were not known to the English for nearly 200 years (1667) after the discovery by Columbus, when Captain Seyle was nearly wrecked there while proceeding to Carolina, also discovered by Cabot in 1500. The Bahamas were long infested by pirates; but in 1718 Captain Rogers expelled them, and the islands became and have since remained the property of the Crown of England, with the consent of Spain, though the British had had a settlement there long previously.
[4]He turned; but what strange thoughts perplexed his soul,When, lo! no more attracted to the Pole,The Compass, faithless to the circling Vane,Fluttered and fixed, fluttered and fixed again!At length, as by some unseen Hand imprest,It sought, with trembling energy, the West!‘Ah, no!’ he cried, and calmed his anxious brow;‘Ill, nor the signs of ill, ’tis Thine to show;Thine but to lead me where I wished to go!’Rogers’ Columbus.
[4]
He turned; but what strange thoughts perplexed his soul,When, lo! no more attracted to the Pole,The Compass, faithless to the circling Vane,Fluttered and fixed, fluttered and fixed again!At length, as by some unseen Hand imprest,It sought, with trembling energy, the West!‘Ah, no!’ he cried, and calmed his anxious brow;‘Ill, nor the signs of ill, ’tis Thine to show;Thine but to lead me where I wished to go!’Rogers’ Columbus.
He turned; but what strange thoughts perplexed his soul,When, lo! no more attracted to the Pole,The Compass, faithless to the circling Vane,Fluttered and fixed, fluttered and fixed again!At length, as by some unseen Hand imprest,It sought, with trembling energy, the West!‘Ah, no!’ he cried, and calmed his anxious brow;‘Ill, nor the signs of ill, ’tis Thine to show;Thine but to lead me where I wished to go!’Rogers’ Columbus.
He turned; but what strange thoughts perplexed his soul,When, lo! no more attracted to the Pole,The Compass, faithless to the circling Vane,Fluttered and fixed, fluttered and fixed again!At length, as by some unseen Hand imprest,It sought, with trembling energy, the West!‘Ah, no!’ he cried, and calmed his anxious brow;‘Ill, nor the signs of ill, ’tis Thine to show;Thine but to lead me where I wished to go!’
He turned; but what strange thoughts perplexed his soul,
When, lo! no more attracted to the Pole,
The Compass, faithless to the circling Vane,
Fluttered and fixed, fluttered and fixed again!
At length, as by some unseen Hand imprest,
It sought, with trembling energy, the West!
‘Ah, no!’ he cried, and calmed his anxious brow;
‘Ill, nor the signs of ill, ’tis Thine to show;
Thine but to lead me where I wished to go!’
Rogers’ Columbus.
Rogers’ Columbus.
[5]Though his scope embraces no part of the West Coast, nor any portion of the East Coast beyond the line, the author hopes, by the introduction of a few of the more prominent facts connected with each republic, to render this volume somewhat useful to those of his readers who may be desirous of a slightprecisof the history and position of the various states of South America, but who would, nevertheless, be deterred from entering upon details of feuds and complications more unintelligibly perplexing than the records of the dynastic chaos of the Saxon heptarchy, or the septic entanglements of the earliest Celtic kings. To this end, therefore, there will be appended a note on each of the outlying districts, if we may so call them, as they occur in the text; and first in the foregoing order comesMEXICO.—After the usual experience of viceregal misrule, common to all the Spanish transmarine dependencies, this noble province threw off the yoke and asserted its independence in 1820, and virtually achieved it about a year afterwards, principally through Iturbide, a Spanish soldier of great valour and military skill, and who might probably have done for the land of his adoption what Washington had effected for the United States. Unlike that great character, however, he abused for his own selfishness the power he acquired; and, not content with being head of the state as regent on behalf of the people, he perfidiously caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, in 1822, and imperial revenues and honours to be decreed to himself and to his family. These measures, with many others of a like kind, produced such general defection, that he assembled the dispersed members of Congress in the capital, in 1823, and abdicated, agreeing to reside for the remainder of his life in Italy, on which condition a large allowance was made him. But, faithless to his word in this instance, as before, he returned from Leghorn, through England, attempted a revolution, miserably failed in raising any followers, and was ignominiously shot, at Padilla, in Santander, by La Garza, commander of that province, pursuant to instructions from the provincial legislature, in 1824. Vittoria, one of the ablest lieutenants of Iturbide in the war of independence, had been proclaimed president the year before; and the year after (’25) a treaty of commerce was ratified with Great Britain. Such proceedings, with the recognition that was soon to follow of the independence of the revolted country, had formed a topic of urgent interest at the Congress of Verona, in 1822, when, seeing what was looming in the future of South America, the Duke of Wellington, plenipotentiary from England, instructed by Mr. Canning, in continuation of the policy of Lord Castlereagh, to whom the Duke had just succeeded, presented a note, stating, that ‘The connection subsisting between the subjects of his Britannic Majesty and the other parts of the globe has for long rendered it necessary for him to recognise the existence,de facto, of governments formed in different places, so far as was necessary to conclude treaties with them. The relaxation of the authority of Spain in her colonies of South America has given rise to a host of pirates and adventurers,—an insupportable evil, which it is impossible for England to extirpate without the aid of the local authorities occupying the adjacent coasts and harbours; and the necessity of this coöperation cannot but lead to the recognition,de facto, of a number of governments of their own creation.’Austria, Russia, Prussia, and France (represented by M. de Chateaubriand), diplomatically ignored this overture to humiliate their royal brother of Spain by admitting that which they were soon afterwards compelled, for their own sakes, to acquiesce in. All the efforts of the successor of Ferdinand and Isabella ignominiously failed to win back or retain any portion of the glorious inheritance of the throne of the Indies. A vast expedition, sent against Mexico, surrendered to the now successful revolutionists in 1829, a few months after the expulsion of the Spaniards had been decreed. Unfortunately, however, democratic anarchy soon supervened upon monarchic despotism; for hardly was the old tyranny got rid of, than Guerrero, the president, was deposed; and Mexico has since been but another word for whatever is most unwise in foreign policy or most pernicious in domestic administration. In 1838 war was declared against France, and of course, ended in disaster to Mexico, after five months’ duration, the most memorable incidents being the capture of the strong fortress of St. Jean d’Ulloa, by Prince Joinville, who greatly distinguished himself; and the brave defence of Vera Cruz, by Santa Anna, who there lost a leg. This soldier of fortune, something of the stamp of Rosas, having been repeatedly elected to supreme power, deposed, exiled, imprisoned, and restored, is once more president, with what prospect of continuance it is impossible to tell. Neither misfortune, nor experience of the impolicy of excessive severity, seems to have mitigated the innate ferocity of the man’s character. With a defiance of opinion more in consonance with the era of the Borgias than of constitutional government, or even of a civilized government in the middle of the 19th century, only as late as November last the Dictator caused death to be inflicted, by shooting, without the pretext of a trial, and as though they were the veriest wild beasts, on Senhor Tornel, formerly President Arista’s Minister of War, and Senhor de la Rosa, who was minister for foreign affairs immediately after the capitulation of the city of Mexico, and was the immediate instigator of Santa Anna’s expulsion from the country on that occasion, being also the writer of the letter officially informing him of his disgrace. Their offence was, simply, being obnoxious to the dictator—nothing more. Like Rosas, however, he has evinced more consideration for the foreign creditor than might have been expected; and about the period of the barbarity just named, devoted a considerable sum in liquidation of the more pressing of these demands, his ability to do so arising, it was said, (though the authority is as apocryphal as the circumstance itself) from a donation by the pope, as an equivalent for the restoration of the order of the Jesuits in Mexico. Others say that his funds have accrued from a sale to the United States of territory adjoining the present Californian possessions of the Union; and that, with the proceeds, he means to repeat Iturbide’s experiment in imperial power and title. Be this as it may, the area of Santa Anna’s sway, is much less now than it was formerly; for, owing to a succession of decisive repulses sustained from the United States, with which war was declared in 1846, and carried on till the beginning of 1848, Mexico has lost California; Texas having been annexed to the States in 1846; Yucatan, &c., having also seceded; and now, of the once prodigious territory of the Montezumas, and known in Spanish colonial history as the vice-royalty of Mexico, there remains, according to the treaty of 1848, but the comparatively narrow strip of land between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.This, though only a fragment of what it once belonged to, is still most rich in minerals, and most fruitful in valuable products, and highly important from its position; but nearly all its natural advantages are destroyed by the insecurity and deficiencies of its political institutions, and the incapacity and selfishness of those administering them among a very numerous population, equal, at least, to that of Scotland, after all the curtailments we have spoken of. It is needless to acquaint any reader of the public journals, to whom the words ‘Mexican Bondholders’ must be a ‘horrid, hideous sound of woe, sadder than owl-songs on the midnight blast,’ that the finances of the state are in a condition the reverse of consolatory to creditors. For the precise nature of those obligations, in whose fulfilment England is so much interested, we must refer to the very numerous pamphlets published by the various committees appointed in London to advise upon this intricate and unsatisfactory subject. That there is every desire on Santa Anna’s part to meet English liabilities, there can be no doubt; one motive for his anxiety being, it is said, the achievement of a stock-jobbingcoupon his own account, or, rather, on account of the adventurers he is surrounded by. If internal peace could only be secured, the vast resources of the country, and its unparagoned geographical position, midway, as it were, in the very path of the commerce of both hemispheres, would soon permit of its financial difficulties being adjusted. The question is, whether Santa Anna, in putting down anarchy—if he can keep it down—will not commit excesses as bad as the revolutionists in an opposite direction? The latter is the tendency of his acts at the present; but it is impossible to predicate of such a country what may or may not turn up from one hour to another. The representative of Mexico, hitherto charged, until lately, with the difficult task of negociating in this country with the English creditors, has been Colonel Facio. The Mexican diplomatic staff in London consists of Senhor de Castillo y Lanzas, 10, Park-place, Regent’s-park, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary; Don Augustin A. Franco, first secretary; Don José Hidalgo, 2nd secretary; Don Ignacio Luijano, attaché; Don B. G. Farias, 32, Great Winchester-street, vice-consul.Though Consuls were sent, for commercial purposes, to nearly all the important ports of the new South American states, as early as October, 1823, it was not for several years afterwards that political or diplomatic representatives were despatched. The first was Mr. Alexander Cockburn, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Columbia, February, 1820; second, Sir R. Ker Porter, chargé d’affaires to Venezuela, July, 1835; third, Mr. Turner, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to New Granada, June, 1837; and fourth, Mr. W. Wilson, chargé d’affaires to Bolivia, 1837. These states will be severally noticed as they occur in the text. It was in March, 1835, that Sir Richard Pakenham, now British Minister in Portugal [see Lisbon] was accredited as plenipotentiary to Mexico. At present the same post is filled by Mr. Percy William Doyle (many years chargé d’affaires there) whose salary is £3,600, with £400 a-year house rent; secretary of legation, William Edward Thornton, salary, £600; paid attaché, Mr. A. H. Hastings Berkeley, salary, £200; and an unpaid attaché. The annexed list exhibits the names and salaries of the British consular corps in Mexico:—Mexico, F. Glennie, consul, £400; Vera Cruz, F. Giffard, consul, £500; Tampico, consul, Cleland Cumberlege, £500; San Bias, Eustace W. Barron, consul, £300; Mazatlan, S. Thomson, vice-consul, £150; Acapulco, Charles Wilthew, consul, £400.
[5]Though his scope embraces no part of the West Coast, nor any portion of the East Coast beyond the line, the author hopes, by the introduction of a few of the more prominent facts connected with each republic, to render this volume somewhat useful to those of his readers who may be desirous of a slightprecisof the history and position of the various states of South America, but who would, nevertheless, be deterred from entering upon details of feuds and complications more unintelligibly perplexing than the records of the dynastic chaos of the Saxon heptarchy, or the septic entanglements of the earliest Celtic kings. To this end, therefore, there will be appended a note on each of the outlying districts, if we may so call them, as they occur in the text; and first in the foregoing order comes
MEXICO.—After the usual experience of viceregal misrule, common to all the Spanish transmarine dependencies, this noble province threw off the yoke and asserted its independence in 1820, and virtually achieved it about a year afterwards, principally through Iturbide, a Spanish soldier of great valour and military skill, and who might probably have done for the land of his adoption what Washington had effected for the United States. Unlike that great character, however, he abused for his own selfishness the power he acquired; and, not content with being head of the state as regent on behalf of the people, he perfidiously caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, in 1822, and imperial revenues and honours to be decreed to himself and to his family. These measures, with many others of a like kind, produced such general defection, that he assembled the dispersed members of Congress in the capital, in 1823, and abdicated, agreeing to reside for the remainder of his life in Italy, on which condition a large allowance was made him. But, faithless to his word in this instance, as before, he returned from Leghorn, through England, attempted a revolution, miserably failed in raising any followers, and was ignominiously shot, at Padilla, in Santander, by La Garza, commander of that province, pursuant to instructions from the provincial legislature, in 1824. Vittoria, one of the ablest lieutenants of Iturbide in the war of independence, had been proclaimed president the year before; and the year after (’25) a treaty of commerce was ratified with Great Britain. Such proceedings, with the recognition that was soon to follow of the independence of the revolted country, had formed a topic of urgent interest at the Congress of Verona, in 1822, when, seeing what was looming in the future of South America, the Duke of Wellington, plenipotentiary from England, instructed by Mr. Canning, in continuation of the policy of Lord Castlereagh, to whom the Duke had just succeeded, presented a note, stating, that ‘The connection subsisting between the subjects of his Britannic Majesty and the other parts of the globe has for long rendered it necessary for him to recognise the existence,de facto, of governments formed in different places, so far as was necessary to conclude treaties with them. The relaxation of the authority of Spain in her colonies of South America has given rise to a host of pirates and adventurers,—an insupportable evil, which it is impossible for England to extirpate without the aid of the local authorities occupying the adjacent coasts and harbours; and the necessity of this coöperation cannot but lead to the recognition,de facto, of a number of governments of their own creation.’
Austria, Russia, Prussia, and France (represented by M. de Chateaubriand), diplomatically ignored this overture to humiliate their royal brother of Spain by admitting that which they were soon afterwards compelled, for their own sakes, to acquiesce in. All the efforts of the successor of Ferdinand and Isabella ignominiously failed to win back or retain any portion of the glorious inheritance of the throne of the Indies. A vast expedition, sent against Mexico, surrendered to the now successful revolutionists in 1829, a few months after the expulsion of the Spaniards had been decreed. Unfortunately, however, democratic anarchy soon supervened upon monarchic despotism; for hardly was the old tyranny got rid of, than Guerrero, the president, was deposed; and Mexico has since been but another word for whatever is most unwise in foreign policy or most pernicious in domestic administration. In 1838 war was declared against France, and of course, ended in disaster to Mexico, after five months’ duration, the most memorable incidents being the capture of the strong fortress of St. Jean d’Ulloa, by Prince Joinville, who greatly distinguished himself; and the brave defence of Vera Cruz, by Santa Anna, who there lost a leg. This soldier of fortune, something of the stamp of Rosas, having been repeatedly elected to supreme power, deposed, exiled, imprisoned, and restored, is once more president, with what prospect of continuance it is impossible to tell. Neither misfortune, nor experience of the impolicy of excessive severity, seems to have mitigated the innate ferocity of the man’s character. With a defiance of opinion more in consonance with the era of the Borgias than of constitutional government, or even of a civilized government in the middle of the 19th century, only as late as November last the Dictator caused death to be inflicted, by shooting, without the pretext of a trial, and as though they were the veriest wild beasts, on Senhor Tornel, formerly President Arista’s Minister of War, and Senhor de la Rosa, who was minister for foreign affairs immediately after the capitulation of the city of Mexico, and was the immediate instigator of Santa Anna’s expulsion from the country on that occasion, being also the writer of the letter officially informing him of his disgrace. Their offence was, simply, being obnoxious to the dictator—nothing more. Like Rosas, however, he has evinced more consideration for the foreign creditor than might have been expected; and about the period of the barbarity just named, devoted a considerable sum in liquidation of the more pressing of these demands, his ability to do so arising, it was said, (though the authority is as apocryphal as the circumstance itself) from a donation by the pope, as an equivalent for the restoration of the order of the Jesuits in Mexico. Others say that his funds have accrued from a sale to the United States of territory adjoining the present Californian possessions of the Union; and that, with the proceeds, he means to repeat Iturbide’s experiment in imperial power and title. Be this as it may, the area of Santa Anna’s sway, is much less now than it was formerly; for, owing to a succession of decisive repulses sustained from the United States, with which war was declared in 1846, and carried on till the beginning of 1848, Mexico has lost California; Texas having been annexed to the States in 1846; Yucatan, &c., having also seceded; and now, of the once prodigious territory of the Montezumas, and known in Spanish colonial history as the vice-royalty of Mexico, there remains, according to the treaty of 1848, but the comparatively narrow strip of land between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.
This, though only a fragment of what it once belonged to, is still most rich in minerals, and most fruitful in valuable products, and highly important from its position; but nearly all its natural advantages are destroyed by the insecurity and deficiencies of its political institutions, and the incapacity and selfishness of those administering them among a very numerous population, equal, at least, to that of Scotland, after all the curtailments we have spoken of. It is needless to acquaint any reader of the public journals, to whom the words ‘Mexican Bondholders’ must be a ‘horrid, hideous sound of woe, sadder than owl-songs on the midnight blast,’ that the finances of the state are in a condition the reverse of consolatory to creditors. For the precise nature of those obligations, in whose fulfilment England is so much interested, we must refer to the very numerous pamphlets published by the various committees appointed in London to advise upon this intricate and unsatisfactory subject. That there is every desire on Santa Anna’s part to meet English liabilities, there can be no doubt; one motive for his anxiety being, it is said, the achievement of a stock-jobbingcoupon his own account, or, rather, on account of the adventurers he is surrounded by. If internal peace could only be secured, the vast resources of the country, and its unparagoned geographical position, midway, as it were, in the very path of the commerce of both hemispheres, would soon permit of its financial difficulties being adjusted. The question is, whether Santa Anna, in putting down anarchy—if he can keep it down—will not commit excesses as bad as the revolutionists in an opposite direction? The latter is the tendency of his acts at the present; but it is impossible to predicate of such a country what may or may not turn up from one hour to another. The representative of Mexico, hitherto charged, until lately, with the difficult task of negociating in this country with the English creditors, has been Colonel Facio. The Mexican diplomatic staff in London consists of Senhor de Castillo y Lanzas, 10, Park-place, Regent’s-park, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary; Don Augustin A. Franco, first secretary; Don José Hidalgo, 2nd secretary; Don Ignacio Luijano, attaché; Don B. G. Farias, 32, Great Winchester-street, vice-consul.
Though Consuls were sent, for commercial purposes, to nearly all the important ports of the new South American states, as early as October, 1823, it was not for several years afterwards that political or diplomatic representatives were despatched. The first was Mr. Alexander Cockburn, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Columbia, February, 1820; second, Sir R. Ker Porter, chargé d’affaires to Venezuela, July, 1835; third, Mr. Turner, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to New Granada, June, 1837; and fourth, Mr. W. Wilson, chargé d’affaires to Bolivia, 1837. These states will be severally noticed as they occur in the text. It was in March, 1835, that Sir Richard Pakenham, now British Minister in Portugal [see Lisbon] was accredited as plenipotentiary to Mexico. At present the same post is filled by Mr. Percy William Doyle (many years chargé d’affaires there) whose salary is £3,600, with £400 a-year house rent; secretary of legation, William Edward Thornton, salary, £600; paid attaché, Mr. A. H. Hastings Berkeley, salary, £200; and an unpaid attaché. The annexed list exhibits the names and salaries of the British consular corps in Mexico:—Mexico, F. Glennie, consul, £400; Vera Cruz, F. Giffard, consul, £500; Tampico, consul, Cleland Cumberlege, £500; San Bias, Eustace W. Barron, consul, £300; Mazatlan, S. Thomson, vice-consul, £150; Acapulco, Charles Wilthew, consul, £400.
[6]In the month of February, 1554, he addressed a long letter to the emperor,—it was the last he ever wrote him,—soliciting his attention to his suit. He begins, by proudly alluding to his past services to the Crown: ‘He had hoped, that the toils of youth would have secured him repose in his old age. For forty years he had passed his life with little sleep, bad food, and with his arms constantly by his side. He had freely exposed his person to peril, and spent his substance in exploring distant and unknown regions, that he might spread abroad the name of his sovereign, and bring under his sceptre many great and powerful nations. All this he had done, not only without assistance from home, but in the face of obstacles thrown in his way by rivals and by enemies, who thirsted like leeches for his blood. He was now old, infirm, and embarrassed with debt. Better had it been for him not to have known the liberal intentions of the emperor, as intimated by his grants; since he should then have devoted himself to the care of his estates, and not have been compelled, as he now was, to contend with the officers of the Crown, against whom it was more difficult to defend himself than to win the land from the enemy.’ He concludes with beseeching his sovereign to ‘order the Council of the Indies, with the other tribunals which had cognisance of his suits, to come to a decision; since he was too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought, rather, during the brief remainder of his life, to stay at home and settle his account with Heaven, occupied with the concerns of his soul, rather than with his substance.’ This appeal to his sovereign, which has something in it touching from a man of the haughty spirit of Cortez, had not the effect to quicken the determination of his suit. He still lingered at the court, from week to week, and from month to month, beguiled by the deceitful hopes of the litigant, tasting all that bitterness of the soul which arises from hope deferred. After three years more, passed in this unprofitable and humiliating occupation, he resolved to leave his ungrateful country and return to Mexico. He had proceeded as far as Seville, accompanied by his son, when he fell ill of an indigestion, caused, probably, by irritation and trouble of mind. This terminated in dysentery, and his strength sank so rapidly under the disease, that it was apparent his mortal career was drawing towards its close.—Prescott.
[6]In the month of February, 1554, he addressed a long letter to the emperor,—it was the last he ever wrote him,—soliciting his attention to his suit. He begins, by proudly alluding to his past services to the Crown: ‘He had hoped, that the toils of youth would have secured him repose in his old age. For forty years he had passed his life with little sleep, bad food, and with his arms constantly by his side. He had freely exposed his person to peril, and spent his substance in exploring distant and unknown regions, that he might spread abroad the name of his sovereign, and bring under his sceptre many great and powerful nations. All this he had done, not only without assistance from home, but in the face of obstacles thrown in his way by rivals and by enemies, who thirsted like leeches for his blood. He was now old, infirm, and embarrassed with debt. Better had it been for him not to have known the liberal intentions of the emperor, as intimated by his grants; since he should then have devoted himself to the care of his estates, and not have been compelled, as he now was, to contend with the officers of the Crown, against whom it was more difficult to defend himself than to win the land from the enemy.’ He concludes with beseeching his sovereign to ‘order the Council of the Indies, with the other tribunals which had cognisance of his suits, to come to a decision; since he was too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought, rather, during the brief remainder of his life, to stay at home and settle his account with Heaven, occupied with the concerns of his soul, rather than with his substance.’ This appeal to his sovereign, which has something in it touching from a man of the haughty spirit of Cortez, had not the effect to quicken the determination of his suit. He still lingered at the court, from week to week, and from month to month, beguiled by the deceitful hopes of the litigant, tasting all that bitterness of the soul which arises from hope deferred. After three years more, passed in this unprofitable and humiliating occupation, he resolved to leave his ungrateful country and return to Mexico. He had proceeded as far as Seville, accompanied by his son, when he fell ill of an indigestion, caused, probably, by irritation and trouble of mind. This terminated in dysentery, and his strength sank so rapidly under the disease, that it was apparent his mortal career was drawing towards its close.—Prescott.
[7]PERU.—Referring to what has been already said as regards Mexico for a general notion of the relationship between Spain and her colonies, when the spirit of revolt began to develope itself in the latter, it is only necessary to add here that, since its emancipation, Peru has, like all the congeries of republics of which it forms one, been a prey to civil dissension and military turmoil. Of late years its increasing commerce, the vast pecuniary means it has discovered, in its guano islands, of meeting its engagements with the European creditor, and the comparatively pacific spirit that prevails in its councils and in those of the neighbouring states, are producing their natural results; and, despite occasional exceptions, there is every reason to look for a prosperous future. The conquest of Peru having been effected with infinitely more ease than that of Mexico, as far as the mere military resistance of the natives was concerned, it continued for nearly 300 years subject to Spain, and formed its last stronghold in that quarter of the world. The history of the struggles for independence, from the time that the first Protector, San Martin, [see Chili, page 18] entered the country with the combined Chilian and Buenos Ayrean army, and proclaimed its freedom at Lima, the capital, in 1821, till the Spaniards were finally expelled, would embrace the biography of the commander just named, and the still more celebrated one, Bolivar, who, with his victorious troops from Columbia, to which he had given liberty in 1821, mainly contributed to the liberation of Peru, whereof he became President in 1825, San Martin retiring in 1822, with these memorable words:—‘I have proclaimed the independence of Chili and Peru; I have taken the standard with which Pizarro came to enslave the empire of the Incas; and I have ceased to be a public man.’ Bolivar ran through pretty much the same vicissitudes of popular caprice as we have recounted in the case of Santa Anna, though an incomparably superior character in every respect; and, after numberless feuds, and escaping plots against his life by those he had raised to power, was on the point of returning from voluntary seclusion, on his patrimonial estate, to assume once more the direction of affairs, in obedience to the voice of the public, who, too late, found out that he was the only man for the occasion, when he died in 1830, in his 47th year, leaving behind the highest reputation which South American history has afforded, not only as a commander and an administrator, but as a constitutional legislator. Repeated revolutions have since ensued, partly caused by rivalries of internal factions, and partly by the hostilities of neighbouring states, which, being themselves torn with dissension, and constantly changing their territorial status, have rendered war upon Peru, or on the part of Peru, almost unavoidable. This is the case at present; Bolivia, under its President, Belzu, having invaded Peru, and protracted hostilities being certain. Under such circumstances it is hardly necessary to add, that the finances of the country have been inadequate to its expenditure, and that, consequently, the foreign creditors have fared exceedingly ill. Of late, however, the prospects have greatly improved, owing to the immense demand for that peculiar manure which is found in the condition most approved by agriculturists on the Peruvian coast, and in the next greatest perfection on the neighbouring coast of Chili, whence, indeed, the first cargo, which created so much interest, was brought a few years back into Liverpool, causing small observation, however, for a long time. But, unluckily for the foreign creditor and the true interests of the Peruvian government, the latter fixed so high a price on the commodity, as to create a complete monopoly, attended with most of the mischiefs of which all monopolies are the parents. Until the close of the last year, it was imagined that the supply of this most essential ingredient in farming economy was literally inexhaustible, and that the cost to the consumer might be kept up at the original excessive rate. About that period, however, it was ascertained, through a survey instituted by Admiral Moresby, commanding the British squadron on the West Coast, that at the then rate of demand (and it has gone on increasing since) the whole stock (many millions of tons though it was) would be exhausted in the course of about twenty years. Moreover, as the discovery, first, of the unique virtues of guano, and, secondly, of its deposit in the finest known quality and greatest quantity here, were purely accidental, it is not improbable, indeed is regarded as certain, that there will also be discoveries of other excellent fertilizers of a like kind, and of other vast deposits of guano, if not quite so excellent, yet sufficiently so to deprive Peru of its principal customers at existing rates. Should either of these occurrences take place—should it be found, as Lord Clarendon anticipated, in answer to a deputation on the subject, that nitrate of soda is extractable from the immense heaps of fish refuse on the Newfoundland coast, and will supply, as chemists believe, the fructifying element of guano; or should it be found that those deposits of guano in more damp latitudes,—the Falklands, for instance—will admit of being profitably freed from the effects of moisture, of course the value of the Peruvian commodity will decline accordingly, and so will the prospects of the bondholders, who have probably been amongst the greatest of all the sufferers from themala fidesand impoverishment of South American debtors. A species of new bonds have recently been created, to the great detriment of the interest of the holders of the old ones, and the dissatisfaction is extreme, especially as the government, instead of being warned by the facts we have recounted in respect to guano, and by the discovery of valuable guano islands by North American citizens in the Caribbean Sea, have actually advanced the price of the commodity to the extent of the recently enhanced freights, as compared with the usual rates of shipping charges.Apart from the monetary, the diplomatic credit of Peru has always been respectably sustained at the Court of St. James’s. The corps at present consists of Don Manuel de Mendiburu, minister plenipotentiary; Don Francisco de Rivero, consul-general, 78, Grosvenor-street, Grosvenor-square; Don Emilio Altheus, D. M. Espantosa, and Major D. S. Osma, attachés. Consul’s-office, 6, Copthall-court. Consuls—J. E. Naylor, Liverpool; R. J. Todd, Cardiff; John G. Dodd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Edward Wright, Dublin.England is represented in Peru by Mr. S. H. Sullivan, chargé d’affaires at Lima; salary as such £1,700 a-year, besides the usual £1 per diem allowed to all functionaries of that class discharging consular duties. Until last year (1853) the diplomatic salary was £2,000. At Callao, the port of Lima, the salary of the consul (Mr. J. Barton) has also been reduced from £500 to £200, but the fees of office still make the post very lucrative. At Islay, the vice-consul, Mr. T. Crompton, receives £500; and at Arica and Payta, Mr. G. H. Nugent and Mr. Alexander Blacker, vice-consuls, £300 and £100 respectively.
[7]PERU.—Referring to what has been already said as regards Mexico for a general notion of the relationship between Spain and her colonies, when the spirit of revolt began to develope itself in the latter, it is only necessary to add here that, since its emancipation, Peru has, like all the congeries of republics of which it forms one, been a prey to civil dissension and military turmoil. Of late years its increasing commerce, the vast pecuniary means it has discovered, in its guano islands, of meeting its engagements with the European creditor, and the comparatively pacific spirit that prevails in its councils and in those of the neighbouring states, are producing their natural results; and, despite occasional exceptions, there is every reason to look for a prosperous future. The conquest of Peru having been effected with infinitely more ease than that of Mexico, as far as the mere military resistance of the natives was concerned, it continued for nearly 300 years subject to Spain, and formed its last stronghold in that quarter of the world. The history of the struggles for independence, from the time that the first Protector, San Martin, [see Chili, page 18] entered the country with the combined Chilian and Buenos Ayrean army, and proclaimed its freedom at Lima, the capital, in 1821, till the Spaniards were finally expelled, would embrace the biography of the commander just named, and the still more celebrated one, Bolivar, who, with his victorious troops from Columbia, to which he had given liberty in 1821, mainly contributed to the liberation of Peru, whereof he became President in 1825, San Martin retiring in 1822, with these memorable words:—‘I have proclaimed the independence of Chili and Peru; I have taken the standard with which Pizarro came to enslave the empire of the Incas; and I have ceased to be a public man.’ Bolivar ran through pretty much the same vicissitudes of popular caprice as we have recounted in the case of Santa Anna, though an incomparably superior character in every respect; and, after numberless feuds, and escaping plots against his life by those he had raised to power, was on the point of returning from voluntary seclusion, on his patrimonial estate, to assume once more the direction of affairs, in obedience to the voice of the public, who, too late, found out that he was the only man for the occasion, when he died in 1830, in his 47th year, leaving behind the highest reputation which South American history has afforded, not only as a commander and an administrator, but as a constitutional legislator. Repeated revolutions have since ensued, partly caused by rivalries of internal factions, and partly by the hostilities of neighbouring states, which, being themselves torn with dissension, and constantly changing their territorial status, have rendered war upon Peru, or on the part of Peru, almost unavoidable. This is the case at present; Bolivia, under its President, Belzu, having invaded Peru, and protracted hostilities being certain. Under such circumstances it is hardly necessary to add, that the finances of the country have been inadequate to its expenditure, and that, consequently, the foreign creditors have fared exceedingly ill. Of late, however, the prospects have greatly improved, owing to the immense demand for that peculiar manure which is found in the condition most approved by agriculturists on the Peruvian coast, and in the next greatest perfection on the neighbouring coast of Chili, whence, indeed, the first cargo, which created so much interest, was brought a few years back into Liverpool, causing small observation, however, for a long time. But, unluckily for the foreign creditor and the true interests of the Peruvian government, the latter fixed so high a price on the commodity, as to create a complete monopoly, attended with most of the mischiefs of which all monopolies are the parents. Until the close of the last year, it was imagined that the supply of this most essential ingredient in farming economy was literally inexhaustible, and that the cost to the consumer might be kept up at the original excessive rate. About that period, however, it was ascertained, through a survey instituted by Admiral Moresby, commanding the British squadron on the West Coast, that at the then rate of demand (and it has gone on increasing since) the whole stock (many millions of tons though it was) would be exhausted in the course of about twenty years. Moreover, as the discovery, first, of the unique virtues of guano, and, secondly, of its deposit in the finest known quality and greatest quantity here, were purely accidental, it is not improbable, indeed is regarded as certain, that there will also be discoveries of other excellent fertilizers of a like kind, and of other vast deposits of guano, if not quite so excellent, yet sufficiently so to deprive Peru of its principal customers at existing rates. Should either of these occurrences take place—should it be found, as Lord Clarendon anticipated, in answer to a deputation on the subject, that nitrate of soda is extractable from the immense heaps of fish refuse on the Newfoundland coast, and will supply, as chemists believe, the fructifying element of guano; or should it be found that those deposits of guano in more damp latitudes,—the Falklands, for instance—will admit of being profitably freed from the effects of moisture, of course the value of the Peruvian commodity will decline accordingly, and so will the prospects of the bondholders, who have probably been amongst the greatest of all the sufferers from themala fidesand impoverishment of South American debtors. A species of new bonds have recently been created, to the great detriment of the interest of the holders of the old ones, and the dissatisfaction is extreme, especially as the government, instead of being warned by the facts we have recounted in respect to guano, and by the discovery of valuable guano islands by North American citizens in the Caribbean Sea, have actually advanced the price of the commodity to the extent of the recently enhanced freights, as compared with the usual rates of shipping charges.
Apart from the monetary, the diplomatic credit of Peru has always been respectably sustained at the Court of St. James’s. The corps at present consists of Don Manuel de Mendiburu, minister plenipotentiary; Don Francisco de Rivero, consul-general, 78, Grosvenor-street, Grosvenor-square; Don Emilio Altheus, D. M. Espantosa, and Major D. S. Osma, attachés. Consul’s-office, 6, Copthall-court. Consuls—J. E. Naylor, Liverpool; R. J. Todd, Cardiff; John G. Dodd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Edward Wright, Dublin.
England is represented in Peru by Mr. S. H. Sullivan, chargé d’affaires at Lima; salary as such £1,700 a-year, besides the usual £1 per diem allowed to all functionaries of that class discharging consular duties. Until last year (1853) the diplomatic salary was £2,000. At Callao, the port of Lima, the salary of the consul (Mr. J. Barton) has also been reduced from £500 to £200, but the fees of office still make the post very lucrative. At Islay, the vice-consul, Mr. T. Crompton, receives £500; and at Arica and Payta, Mr. G. H. Nugent and Mr. Alexander Blacker, vice-consuls, £300 and £100 respectively.
[8]CHILI.—Though probably none of the Spanish conquests in South America were effected with greater ease than that of Chili—a sort of dependency on the Incas of Peru, and faithful to their cause long after it was lost at head-quarters—nowhere were the natives impressed so much at first with the superiority of the invincible stranger, a sum equivalent to half a million of ducats being presented to Almagro, in recognition of his ‘divinity’ when he crossed the Cordilleras; yet none of their acquisitions, subsequently, cost the conquerors more trouble. Notwithstanding the scandalous cruelties of the invaders, it was not till 1546, ten years after Valdivia (a second lieutenant of Pizarro’s) had entered their country, that resistance was wholly put down. The Chilians, the last in being subdued, were also among the first to take advantage of the troubles of the mother country in her decrepitude and decline. On the invasion of Spain by the French, and the rout of the Spanish Bourbons in 1809, Chili, affecting to be solicitous for the sovereignty of Ferdinand VII., and to be desirous of administering the government of itself in his name, established a junta in the capital, St. Jago, in 1810, and ultimately avowed itself a decided separatist. Spain, however, was still able to make head against the revolutionists; and after a series of encounters, in which fortune alternated rapidly, she vindicated her authority by a very decisive victory at Rancagua, in 1817. This, however, did not prevent the popular party triumphing at Chacabuco, in the same year, and seizing on the capital. Again the king’s troops succeeded at Chancarayada; but, once more, and conclusively, the republicans carried all before them in the eventful battle of Maypu, in 1818, though it was not till the beginning of 1826 that the province was finally freed from the presence of the peninsular cohorts, and declared independent, the old country itself, however, refusing any such recognition till 1842, when a treaty of peace and friendship was signed at Madrid, and ratifications exchanged in 1845. Throughout these wars the most conspicuous revolutionary leader was General San Martin, a soldier of Irish origin, as his name imports,[9]being one of the many of his countrymen whom the struggles for independence brought forward in the Spanish colonies, in none more so than in Chili, the first Supreme Director, as the officer elected by the juntas was originally called, being Barnardo O’Higgins, with whom were associated Col. O’Leary, General Miller, and numerous others ‘racy of the soil’ of saints and shillelaghs. Of all the European celebrities, however, who figured on the stage of South American strife, none are to be compared to the heroic Lord Cochrane, now the venerable Admiral Earl Dundonald, who, having fitted out a ship of his own in England in the cause of the patriots, and being appointed to the command of the Chilian fleet, coöperating with the land forces of Bolivar, displayed that characteristic skill and enterprise which have so preëminently distinguished him throughout his chivalrous and romantic career, some few incidents of which will be found mentioned in our notice of a congenial and no less heroic spirit, Admiral Grenfell, of the Brazilian service, in which Dundonald played a conspicuous part.From what we have said already, both of Mexico and also of Peru, it will naturally be inferred that Chili has suffered greatly from internal disorders; but, unlike those countries, she has contrived to avoid a very onerous national debt; and consequently her credit abroad is comparatively very good; indeed, better probably than that of any South American state, save Brazil, whose securities rank next to those of Great Britain itself. The recent gold discoveries in California and Australia have immensely increased her export trade, and will continue to do so for an indefinite period; while a large source of domestic revenue has been opened up by the possession of guano islands (of which more hereafter), second only in extent, and scarcely second in richness, to those treasures of a like kind whereof we have spoken under the head of Peru, the example of which country is followed as to the maintenance of the price of the article at an exorbitant rate.The Chilian diplomatic and consular corps in England consists of Spencer N. Dickson, consul, 8, Great Winchester-street, London; W. W. Alexander, consul, Bristol, Cardiff, and Newport; William Jackson, consul, Liverpool; Thomas W. Fox, jun., consul, Plymouth; James H. Wolff, consul, Southampton; John W. Leach, consul, Swansea. The British diplomatic and consular corps in Chili consists of the Hon. E. J. Harris, chargé d’affaires at the capital, St. Jago, salary £1,600, and the usual consular allowance of £1 per diem; consul at Valparaiso, Mr. Henry Rouse, salary £300, reduced from £700; consul at Coquimbo, Mr. David Ross, salary £300; and vice-consul at Conception, Mr. Robert Cunningham, salary £250—all exclusive of fees.
[8]CHILI.—Though probably none of the Spanish conquests in South America were effected with greater ease than that of Chili—a sort of dependency on the Incas of Peru, and faithful to their cause long after it was lost at head-quarters—nowhere were the natives impressed so much at first with the superiority of the invincible stranger, a sum equivalent to half a million of ducats being presented to Almagro, in recognition of his ‘divinity’ when he crossed the Cordilleras; yet none of their acquisitions, subsequently, cost the conquerors more trouble. Notwithstanding the scandalous cruelties of the invaders, it was not till 1546, ten years after Valdivia (a second lieutenant of Pizarro’s) had entered their country, that resistance was wholly put down. The Chilians, the last in being subdued, were also among the first to take advantage of the troubles of the mother country in her decrepitude and decline. On the invasion of Spain by the French, and the rout of the Spanish Bourbons in 1809, Chili, affecting to be solicitous for the sovereignty of Ferdinand VII., and to be desirous of administering the government of itself in his name, established a junta in the capital, St. Jago, in 1810, and ultimately avowed itself a decided separatist. Spain, however, was still able to make head against the revolutionists; and after a series of encounters, in which fortune alternated rapidly, she vindicated her authority by a very decisive victory at Rancagua, in 1817. This, however, did not prevent the popular party triumphing at Chacabuco, in the same year, and seizing on the capital. Again the king’s troops succeeded at Chancarayada; but, once more, and conclusively, the republicans carried all before them in the eventful battle of Maypu, in 1818, though it was not till the beginning of 1826 that the province was finally freed from the presence of the peninsular cohorts, and declared independent, the old country itself, however, refusing any such recognition till 1842, when a treaty of peace and friendship was signed at Madrid, and ratifications exchanged in 1845. Throughout these wars the most conspicuous revolutionary leader was General San Martin, a soldier of Irish origin, as his name imports,[9]being one of the many of his countrymen whom the struggles for independence brought forward in the Spanish colonies, in none more so than in Chili, the first Supreme Director, as the officer elected by the juntas was originally called, being Barnardo O’Higgins, with whom were associated Col. O’Leary, General Miller, and numerous others ‘racy of the soil’ of saints and shillelaghs. Of all the European celebrities, however, who figured on the stage of South American strife, none are to be compared to the heroic Lord Cochrane, now the venerable Admiral Earl Dundonald, who, having fitted out a ship of his own in England in the cause of the patriots, and being appointed to the command of the Chilian fleet, coöperating with the land forces of Bolivar, displayed that characteristic skill and enterprise which have so preëminently distinguished him throughout his chivalrous and romantic career, some few incidents of which will be found mentioned in our notice of a congenial and no less heroic spirit, Admiral Grenfell, of the Brazilian service, in which Dundonald played a conspicuous part.
From what we have said already, both of Mexico and also of Peru, it will naturally be inferred that Chili has suffered greatly from internal disorders; but, unlike those countries, she has contrived to avoid a very onerous national debt; and consequently her credit abroad is comparatively very good; indeed, better probably than that of any South American state, save Brazil, whose securities rank next to those of Great Britain itself. The recent gold discoveries in California and Australia have immensely increased her export trade, and will continue to do so for an indefinite period; while a large source of domestic revenue has been opened up by the possession of guano islands (of which more hereafter), second only in extent, and scarcely second in richness, to those treasures of a like kind whereof we have spoken under the head of Peru, the example of which country is followed as to the maintenance of the price of the article at an exorbitant rate.
The Chilian diplomatic and consular corps in England consists of Spencer N. Dickson, consul, 8, Great Winchester-street, London; W. W. Alexander, consul, Bristol, Cardiff, and Newport; William Jackson, consul, Liverpool; Thomas W. Fox, jun., consul, Plymouth; James H. Wolff, consul, Southampton; John W. Leach, consul, Swansea. The British diplomatic and consular corps in Chili consists of the Hon. E. J. Harris, chargé d’affaires at the capital, St. Jago, salary £1,600, and the usual consular allowance of £1 per diem; consul at Valparaiso, Mr. Henry Rouse, salary £300, reduced from £700; consul at Coquimbo, Mr. David Ross, salary £300; and vice-consul at Conception, Mr. Robert Cunningham, salary £250—all exclusive of fees.
[9]His aid-de-camp was General John O’Brien, afterwards accredited by the Banda Oriental, or State of the Uruguay, as diplomatic representative to England, where he contributed greatly to familiarise the British public with the bearings of the Plate Question, and to popularise the cause of Monte Videan resistance to the aggression of Rosas. In this object he was essentially assisted by his learned and accomplished countryman, Mr. W. Bernard Macabe, a distinguished London journalist, and well-known author in historical and miscellaneous literature, who discharged the duties of acting consul-general for the Uruguay in London for some years, till the end of 1852, when he proceeded to Dublin, where he has since prosecuted his intellectual avocations with his customary assiduity and success. The General, we believe, is now residing in honoured retirement, in his old age, in the neighbourhood of Valparaiso, on a property allowed him by the Government of Chili, to whose original independence his exertions materially contributed.
[9]His aid-de-camp was General John O’Brien, afterwards accredited by the Banda Oriental, or State of the Uruguay, as diplomatic representative to England, where he contributed greatly to familiarise the British public with the bearings of the Plate Question, and to popularise the cause of Monte Videan resistance to the aggression of Rosas. In this object he was essentially assisted by his learned and accomplished countryman, Mr. W. Bernard Macabe, a distinguished London journalist, and well-known author in historical and miscellaneous literature, who discharged the duties of acting consul-general for the Uruguay in London for some years, till the end of 1852, when he proceeded to Dublin, where he has since prosecuted his intellectual avocations with his customary assiduity and success. The General, we believe, is now residing in honoured retirement, in his old age, in the neighbourhood of Valparaiso, on a property allowed him by the Government of Chili, to whose original independence his exertions materially contributed.
[10]The subject of this poem is the establishment of the Portuguese empire in India; but whatever of chivalrous, great, beautiful, or noble, could be gathered from the traditions of his country, has been interwoven into the story. Among all the heroic poets, says Schlegel, either of ancient or modern times, there has never, since Homer, been any one so intensely national, or so loved or honoured by his countrymen, as Camoens. It seems as if the national feelings of the Portuguese had centred and reposed themselves in the person of this poet, whom they consider as worthy to supply the place of a whole host of poets, and as being in himself a complete literature to his country. Of Camoens they say,Vertere fas; æquare nefas; æquabilis uniEst sibi; par nemo; nemo secundus erit.Few modern poems in any language, have been so frequently translated as the ‘Lusiad.’ Mr. Adamson, whose ‘Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Camoens’ must be familiar to the reader, notices one Hebrew translation of it, five Latin, six Spanish, four Italian, three French, four German, and two English. Of the two English versions one is that of Sir R. Fanshawe, written during Cromwell’s usurpation, and distinguished for its fidelity to the original; the other is that of Mickle, who, unlike the former, took great liberties with the original, but whose additions and alterations have met with great approbation from all critics—except, as indeed was to be expected, from the Portuguese themselves.—Dr. Cauvin.—In the course of the present year (1854) another English version, from the pen of Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and formerly on the staff in the Peninsula, has been issued by Messrs. Boone, of Bond-street, in one volume, with an engraving, said to be an excellent likeness, of the poet.
[10]The subject of this poem is the establishment of the Portuguese empire in India; but whatever of chivalrous, great, beautiful, or noble, could be gathered from the traditions of his country, has been interwoven into the story. Among all the heroic poets, says Schlegel, either of ancient or modern times, there has never, since Homer, been any one so intensely national, or so loved or honoured by his countrymen, as Camoens. It seems as if the national feelings of the Portuguese had centred and reposed themselves in the person of this poet, whom they consider as worthy to supply the place of a whole host of poets, and as being in himself a complete literature to his country. Of Camoens they say,
Vertere fas; æquare nefas; æquabilis uniEst sibi; par nemo; nemo secundus erit.
Vertere fas; æquare nefas; æquabilis uniEst sibi; par nemo; nemo secundus erit.
Vertere fas; æquare nefas; æquabilis uniEst sibi; par nemo; nemo secundus erit.
Vertere fas; æquare nefas; æquabilis uni
Est sibi; par nemo; nemo secundus erit.
Few modern poems in any language, have been so frequently translated as the ‘Lusiad.’ Mr. Adamson, whose ‘Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Camoens’ must be familiar to the reader, notices one Hebrew translation of it, five Latin, six Spanish, four Italian, three French, four German, and two English. Of the two English versions one is that of Sir R. Fanshawe, written during Cromwell’s usurpation, and distinguished for its fidelity to the original; the other is that of Mickle, who, unlike the former, took great liberties with the original, but whose additions and alterations have met with great approbation from all critics—except, as indeed was to be expected, from the Portuguese themselves.—Dr. Cauvin.—In the course of the present year (1854) another English version, from the pen of Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and formerly on the staff in the Peninsula, has been issued by Messrs. Boone, of Bond-street, in one volume, with an engraving, said to be an excellent likeness, of the poet.
[11]‘Eu sou aquelle occulto, e grande Cabo,A quem chamais vos outros Tormentario;Que nunca a Ptolemeo, Pomponio, Estrabo,Plinio, e quantos passaram, foi notorio:Aqui toda a Africana Costa acaboNeste meu nunca visto promentorio,Que para o polo Antartico se estende,A quem vossa ousadia tanto offende.’Camoens, canto 5, verse 50.‘In me the spirit of the Cape behold,That Rock by you the Cape of Torments named,By Neptune’s rage in horrid Earthquake framed,Where Jove’s red bolts o’er Titan’s offspring flamed.With wide-stretch’d piles I guard the pathless strand,And Afric’s southern mound unmoved I stand;Nor Roman prow, nor daring Tyrian oar,Ere dashed the white wave foaming to my shore;Nor Greece, nor Carthage, ever spread the sailOn these my seas to catch the trading gale.You, you alone, have dared to plough my main,And with the human voice disturb my lonesome reign.’Mickle’s Translation of this verse, the ‘Lusiad,’ p. 205.
[11]
‘Eu sou aquelle occulto, e grande Cabo,A quem chamais vos outros Tormentario;Que nunca a Ptolemeo, Pomponio, Estrabo,Plinio, e quantos passaram, foi notorio:Aqui toda a Africana Costa acaboNeste meu nunca visto promentorio,Que para o polo Antartico se estende,A quem vossa ousadia tanto offende.’Camoens, canto 5, verse 50.
‘Eu sou aquelle occulto, e grande Cabo,A quem chamais vos outros Tormentario;Que nunca a Ptolemeo, Pomponio, Estrabo,Plinio, e quantos passaram, foi notorio:Aqui toda a Africana Costa acaboNeste meu nunca visto promentorio,Que para o polo Antartico se estende,A quem vossa ousadia tanto offende.’Camoens, canto 5, verse 50.
‘Eu sou aquelle occulto, e grande Cabo,A quem chamais vos outros Tormentario;Que nunca a Ptolemeo, Pomponio, Estrabo,Plinio, e quantos passaram, foi notorio:Aqui toda a Africana Costa acaboNeste meu nunca visto promentorio,Que para o polo Antartico se estende,A quem vossa ousadia tanto offende.’
‘Eu sou aquelle occulto, e grande Cabo,
A quem chamais vos outros Tormentario;
Que nunca a Ptolemeo, Pomponio, Estrabo,
Plinio, e quantos passaram, foi notorio:
Aqui toda a Africana Costa acabo
Neste meu nunca visto promentorio,
Que para o polo Antartico se estende,
A quem vossa ousadia tanto offende.’
Camoens, canto 5, verse 50.
Camoens, canto 5, verse 50.
‘In me the spirit of the Cape behold,That Rock by you the Cape of Torments named,By Neptune’s rage in horrid Earthquake framed,Where Jove’s red bolts o’er Titan’s offspring flamed.With wide-stretch’d piles I guard the pathless strand,And Afric’s southern mound unmoved I stand;Nor Roman prow, nor daring Tyrian oar,Ere dashed the white wave foaming to my shore;Nor Greece, nor Carthage, ever spread the sailOn these my seas to catch the trading gale.You, you alone, have dared to plough my main,And with the human voice disturb my lonesome reign.’Mickle’s Translation of this verse, the ‘Lusiad,’ p. 205.
‘In me the spirit of the Cape behold,That Rock by you the Cape of Torments named,By Neptune’s rage in horrid Earthquake framed,Where Jove’s red bolts o’er Titan’s offspring flamed.With wide-stretch’d piles I guard the pathless strand,And Afric’s southern mound unmoved I stand;Nor Roman prow, nor daring Tyrian oar,Ere dashed the white wave foaming to my shore;Nor Greece, nor Carthage, ever spread the sailOn these my seas to catch the trading gale.You, you alone, have dared to plough my main,And with the human voice disturb my lonesome reign.’Mickle’s Translation of this verse, the ‘Lusiad,’ p. 205.
‘In me the spirit of the Cape behold,That Rock by you the Cape of Torments named,By Neptune’s rage in horrid Earthquake framed,Where Jove’s red bolts o’er Titan’s offspring flamed.With wide-stretch’d piles I guard the pathless strand,And Afric’s southern mound unmoved I stand;Nor Roman prow, nor daring Tyrian oar,Ere dashed the white wave foaming to my shore;Nor Greece, nor Carthage, ever spread the sailOn these my seas to catch the trading gale.You, you alone, have dared to plough my main,And with the human voice disturb my lonesome reign.’
‘In me the spirit of the Cape behold,
That Rock by you the Cape of Torments named,
By Neptune’s rage in horrid Earthquake framed,
Where Jove’s red bolts o’er Titan’s offspring flamed.
With wide-stretch’d piles I guard the pathless strand,
And Afric’s southern mound unmoved I stand;
Nor Roman prow, nor daring Tyrian oar,
Ere dashed the white wave foaming to my shore;
Nor Greece, nor Carthage, ever spread the sail
On these my seas to catch the trading gale.
You, you alone, have dared to plough my main,
And with the human voice disturb my lonesome reign.’
Mickle’s Translation of this verse, the ‘Lusiad,’ p. 205.
Mickle’s Translation of this verse, the ‘Lusiad,’ p. 205.
[12]STEAM THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN TO THE PACIFIC.—In a work like this, almost specially devoted to an exemplification of the achievements and the prospects of steam enterprise in South America, we take the earliest opportunity of placing on record the efforts of a gentleman, who, in those distant waters first explored by Magellan, and through the very straits named after that daring navigator, conducted a steamer to the West Coast long before the Royal Mail Company, as mentioned in our prefatory remarks, sent any of their paddle-wheels to the East Coast. The first steamers that ever navigated these straits were the Peru and Chili, belonging to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, under the orders of Captain George Peacock, a gentleman well known in connection with naval steam tactics, now superintendent of the Southampton docks, and vice-consul for the Uruguay at that port. Leaving England in command of the Peru, in July, 1840, and touching only at Rio de Janeiro for a supply of fuel, he anchored in Port Famine, Patagonia, on the 13th of September, after a passage at sea of only 43 days. These vessels, built by Messrs. Curling and Young, of Limehouse, were contracted and fitted out with great care, under the superintendence of Captain Peacock, being also rigged on a new plan proposed by him, whereby they were enabled to proceed under sail alone during a great part of the voyage, the steam only having been used for 21 out of the 43 days occupied between Plymouth and Port Famine. This was an unprecedented feat in the annals of steam navigation up to that period, and has scarcely been surpassed since, as these vessels carried out a large amount of general cargo to Valparaiso, besides their spare machinery, and a great quantity of stores, proving the importance of all steamships for long voyages, whether screw or paddle-wheel, being fully and properly rigged. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company was projected in 1833 by William Wheelwright, Esq., an enterprising American gentleman, who had passed many years on the West Coast of South America, and who obtained exclusive privileges, from the Chilian and Peruvian governments, for establishing steam in the Pacific, provided steamers were placed on the coast within a given period. On Mr. Wheelwright’s arrival in England he found great difficulty in forming a company, although no one doubted but that the navigation and requirements of the West Coast were, perhaps, better adapted for steam navigation than any other spot on the face of the globe. Unfortunately for the projector, the extreme pressure of the money-market at that time, coupled with the distance of the intended scene of operations, the want of confidence in the grants of South American states, and the political changes to which they were exposed, all conduced to impede the enterprise; and, after passing upwards of three years of untiring patience and suffering, numberless anxieties, heart-sickening vexations, and even personal privations (the fate of too many enterprising men in the prosecution of new and useful projects), and when his capital was nigh wrecked, and his favourite scheme about to be abandoned as hopeless, he had the good fortune to meet with the late Lord Abinger, who, together with the noble members of the Scarlett family, warmly espoused the undertaking, and with the aid of other kind friends, the company was at length formed, and, towards the close of the year 1839, two vessels, of 750 tons and 180 horse power each, were contracted for. The keels were laid Jan., 1840, and the ships built, launched, fitted out, and sent to sea in July, within a period of seven months, no expense being spared to effect this object, with a view of saving the privileges to be conceded by the Chilian government.This proved to be impracticable, notwithstanding the extraordinary exertions that had been made, owing to the vexatious annoyances of the port authorities at Rio de Janeiro, who exacted such stringent regulations and created such difficulties, that the steamers were delayed fourteen days, where 48 hours would have sufficed. The fine harbour of Port Stanley, at the Falkland Islands, was not then known to possess the facilities it now does for such repairs, nor were there at the time the necessary means of effecting them; otherwise Captain Peacock, who has the highest opinion of that harbour, and has urged it as a port of call and for coaling on the captains of all sailing or steam-vessels coming home from Australia by Cape Horn, would have at once resorted to it, and so saved the almost ruinous delay and vast expense occasioned him at Rio. The consequence of this detention was, that the vessels did not arrive at Port Famine, the southern-most harbour claimed by the republic of Chili, until the 13th of September, whilst the privileges, already alluded to, expired on the first of that month.By the 18th of September both ships were completed with wood and water, every man, from the captain downwards, assisting in sawing and splitting up drift-wood, found in abundance along the shores of the harbour, an American axe having been provided for each person on board, together with cross-cut saws and iron wedges, for such object, before leaving England. This day, being the ‘diesiocho,’ or great anniversary of the Chilian Independence, Captain Peacock caused a beacon, 30 feet high, with a large diamond-shaped head, to be erected on the heights of Santa Anna, the western point of the entrance; and, hoisting the Chilian flag upon it at noon, saluted the same from the guns of both ships, accompanied by three hearty British cheers; and having buried a parchment manuscript at the foot of the beacon, in a sealed jar, descriptive of this event and the particulars of the voyage, &c., together with a few new coins of the year 1840, the steamers proceeded into the Pacific, accomplishing the passage from ocean to ocean, a distance of 300 miles, in 30 hours’ steaming. Four years subsequently, the Chilian government sent a vessel of war, and took formal possession of this harbour, for a convict establishment, naming it Port Bulnes, after the President at that time in power, when a fort was built round the before mentioned beacon, the jar was dug up, and the manuscript, &c., taken to St. Jago, the capital, and there lodged in the government archives. Upon the arrival of the steamers at Valparaiso, by a representation to the government, the privileges of the company were immediately renewed for a period of ten years; and probably nothing has contributed so much to the advancement, welfare, and prosperity of the Chilian and Peruvian republics, as the successful establishment of steam navigation upon this coast, where the names of Don Guilliermo Wheelwright and Don Jorje Peacock, will perhaps never be forgotten, as they certainly ought not to be. The Chilian government, in the course of last year, (1853) renewed its relations with the Pacific Company for continuing steam communication with England, through the Straits, and also for extending steam intercourse to other parts of Europe, in connection with the vessels now rounding the Horn, granting liberal subsidies for that purpose. See end of chapter on Amazon.
[12]STEAM THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN TO THE PACIFIC.—In a work like this, almost specially devoted to an exemplification of the achievements and the prospects of steam enterprise in South America, we take the earliest opportunity of placing on record the efforts of a gentleman, who, in those distant waters first explored by Magellan, and through the very straits named after that daring navigator, conducted a steamer to the West Coast long before the Royal Mail Company, as mentioned in our prefatory remarks, sent any of their paddle-wheels to the East Coast. The first steamers that ever navigated these straits were the Peru and Chili, belonging to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, under the orders of Captain George Peacock, a gentleman well known in connection with naval steam tactics, now superintendent of the Southampton docks, and vice-consul for the Uruguay at that port. Leaving England in command of the Peru, in July, 1840, and touching only at Rio de Janeiro for a supply of fuel, he anchored in Port Famine, Patagonia, on the 13th of September, after a passage at sea of only 43 days. These vessels, built by Messrs. Curling and Young, of Limehouse, were contracted and fitted out with great care, under the superintendence of Captain Peacock, being also rigged on a new plan proposed by him, whereby they were enabled to proceed under sail alone during a great part of the voyage, the steam only having been used for 21 out of the 43 days occupied between Plymouth and Port Famine. This was an unprecedented feat in the annals of steam navigation up to that period, and has scarcely been surpassed since, as these vessels carried out a large amount of general cargo to Valparaiso, besides their spare machinery, and a great quantity of stores, proving the importance of all steamships for long voyages, whether screw or paddle-wheel, being fully and properly rigged. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company was projected in 1833 by William Wheelwright, Esq., an enterprising American gentleman, who had passed many years on the West Coast of South America, and who obtained exclusive privileges, from the Chilian and Peruvian governments, for establishing steam in the Pacific, provided steamers were placed on the coast within a given period. On Mr. Wheelwright’s arrival in England he found great difficulty in forming a company, although no one doubted but that the navigation and requirements of the West Coast were, perhaps, better adapted for steam navigation than any other spot on the face of the globe. Unfortunately for the projector, the extreme pressure of the money-market at that time, coupled with the distance of the intended scene of operations, the want of confidence in the grants of South American states, and the political changes to which they were exposed, all conduced to impede the enterprise; and, after passing upwards of three years of untiring patience and suffering, numberless anxieties, heart-sickening vexations, and even personal privations (the fate of too many enterprising men in the prosecution of new and useful projects), and when his capital was nigh wrecked, and his favourite scheme about to be abandoned as hopeless, he had the good fortune to meet with the late Lord Abinger, who, together with the noble members of the Scarlett family, warmly espoused the undertaking, and with the aid of other kind friends, the company was at length formed, and, towards the close of the year 1839, two vessels, of 750 tons and 180 horse power each, were contracted for. The keels were laid Jan., 1840, and the ships built, launched, fitted out, and sent to sea in July, within a period of seven months, no expense being spared to effect this object, with a view of saving the privileges to be conceded by the Chilian government.
This proved to be impracticable, notwithstanding the extraordinary exertions that had been made, owing to the vexatious annoyances of the port authorities at Rio de Janeiro, who exacted such stringent regulations and created such difficulties, that the steamers were delayed fourteen days, where 48 hours would have sufficed. The fine harbour of Port Stanley, at the Falkland Islands, was not then known to possess the facilities it now does for such repairs, nor were there at the time the necessary means of effecting them; otherwise Captain Peacock, who has the highest opinion of that harbour, and has urged it as a port of call and for coaling on the captains of all sailing or steam-vessels coming home from Australia by Cape Horn, would have at once resorted to it, and so saved the almost ruinous delay and vast expense occasioned him at Rio. The consequence of this detention was, that the vessels did not arrive at Port Famine, the southern-most harbour claimed by the republic of Chili, until the 13th of September, whilst the privileges, already alluded to, expired on the first of that month.
By the 18th of September both ships were completed with wood and water, every man, from the captain downwards, assisting in sawing and splitting up drift-wood, found in abundance along the shores of the harbour, an American axe having been provided for each person on board, together with cross-cut saws and iron wedges, for such object, before leaving England. This day, being the ‘diesiocho,’ or great anniversary of the Chilian Independence, Captain Peacock caused a beacon, 30 feet high, with a large diamond-shaped head, to be erected on the heights of Santa Anna, the western point of the entrance; and, hoisting the Chilian flag upon it at noon, saluted the same from the guns of both ships, accompanied by three hearty British cheers; and having buried a parchment manuscript at the foot of the beacon, in a sealed jar, descriptive of this event and the particulars of the voyage, &c., together with a few new coins of the year 1840, the steamers proceeded into the Pacific, accomplishing the passage from ocean to ocean, a distance of 300 miles, in 30 hours’ steaming. Four years subsequently, the Chilian government sent a vessel of war, and took formal possession of this harbour, for a convict establishment, naming it Port Bulnes, after the President at that time in power, when a fort was built round the before mentioned beacon, the jar was dug up, and the manuscript, &c., taken to St. Jago, the capital, and there lodged in the government archives. Upon the arrival of the steamers at Valparaiso, by a representation to the government, the privileges of the company were immediately renewed for a period of ten years; and probably nothing has contributed so much to the advancement, welfare, and prosperity of the Chilian and Peruvian republics, as the successful establishment of steam navigation upon this coast, where the names of Don Guilliermo Wheelwright and Don Jorje Peacock, will perhaps never be forgotten, as they certainly ought not to be. The Chilian government, in the course of last year, (1853) renewed its relations with the Pacific Company for continuing steam communication with England, through the Straits, and also for extending steam intercourse to other parts of Europe, in connection with the vessels now rounding the Horn, granting liberal subsidies for that purpose. See end of chapter on Amazon.
[13]Captain Denham, R.N., who has been sent on an exploratory cruise in the various Archipelagoes of the Southern Pacific, in hope of meeting with an eligible depôt for convicts, whom the cessation of transportation to Australia (or at least to all except the Western portion) has thrown on the hands of the home government, very much to the embarrassment of the executive, and to the consternation of the community; for, as was foreseen when the project was first mooted, not only do the British public dread the introduction among them of the class known in France aslibres forçats, but the former honest associates of these domesticated ‘emancipatists,’ to use an antipodean phrase, will not consort with them; hasten to denounce them to their employers as ‘black sheep;’ forcibly drive them from amongst them; and, in fact, surround them with such annoyances that their existence becomes intolerable in the society of any but those who are qualifying for, or have already graduated at, the hulks. The consideration of this subject will be found pursued at some length in treating of the Falklands. These islands are in every way admirably adapted, both to meet the difficulties just mooted, as to the disposal of our felonrie, and to supersede the labour of Capt. Denham, should he even be successful in discovering a spot in the southern hemisphere that is not open to innumerable objections on the score—1st, of propinquity to other islands; 2nd, being at double the distance of the Falklands from the mother country; and 3rd, the cost of conveyance being proportionably great; saying nothing of the expensiveness of founding a new settlement in a place that is already deserted, or from which the aborigines, if any, must be removed.
[13]Captain Denham, R.N., who has been sent on an exploratory cruise in the various Archipelagoes of the Southern Pacific, in hope of meeting with an eligible depôt for convicts, whom the cessation of transportation to Australia (or at least to all except the Western portion) has thrown on the hands of the home government, very much to the embarrassment of the executive, and to the consternation of the community; for, as was foreseen when the project was first mooted, not only do the British public dread the introduction among them of the class known in France aslibres forçats, but the former honest associates of these domesticated ‘emancipatists,’ to use an antipodean phrase, will not consort with them; hasten to denounce them to their employers as ‘black sheep;’ forcibly drive them from amongst them; and, in fact, surround them with such annoyances that their existence becomes intolerable in the society of any but those who are qualifying for, or have already graduated at, the hulks. The consideration of this subject will be found pursued at some length in treating of the Falklands. These islands are in every way admirably adapted, both to meet the difficulties just mooted, as to the disposal of our felonrie, and to supersede the labour of Capt. Denham, should he even be successful in discovering a spot in the southern hemisphere that is not open to innumerable objections on the score—1st, of propinquity to other islands; 2nd, being at double the distance of the Falklands from the mother country; and 3rd, the cost of conveyance being proportionably great; saying nothing of the expensiveness of founding a new settlement in a place that is already deserted, or from which the aborigines, if any, must be removed.
[14]The History of Brazil—hisopus majus, a work on which he hoped to base the remembrance of his name—now appeared, the most conspicuous and elaborate of his works, and writtencon amore. It forms a branch of the more extensive History of Portugal, which he had no leisure to complete. The materials from which this work was constructed had been collected by his uncle, the Rev. Herbert Hill, were unrivalled in value, and accessible to him alone. No political bias interrupted the straightforwardness and breadth of his judgment; and his poetic fervour found scope in the character of the clime, the productions of the soil, and the features of savage life, which he describes in the most glowing colours.—Life of Southey, by Charles T. Brown.—London: Chapman and Hall. 1854.
[14]The History of Brazil—hisopus majus, a work on which he hoped to base the remembrance of his name—now appeared, the most conspicuous and elaborate of his works, and writtencon amore. It forms a branch of the more extensive History of Portugal, which he had no leisure to complete. The materials from which this work was constructed had been collected by his uncle, the Rev. Herbert Hill, were unrivalled in value, and accessible to him alone. No political bias interrupted the straightforwardness and breadth of his judgment; and his poetic fervour found scope in the character of the clime, the productions of the soil, and the features of savage life, which he describes in the most glowing colours.—Life of Southey, by Charles T. Brown.—London: Chapman and Hall. 1854.