RIO DE LA PLATA.

Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus.

Finally, we are profoundly convinced, by long and large observation, that if the foregoing principles are attended to, the most formidable localities of southern climates may be encountered with impunity, and especially as regards that dreaded, but visionary enemy, Malaria or marsh poison.[75]

The sea-like Plata, to whose dread expanse,Continuous depth, and wondrous length of course,Our floods are rills. With unabated force,In silent dignity they sweep along;And traverse realms unknown, and blooming wilds,And fruitful deserts, worlds of solitude!Where the sun smiles and seasons teem in vain,Unseen, and unenjoyed. Forsaking these,O’er peopled plains they fair-diffusive flow;And many a nation feed; and circle safe,In their soft bosom, many a happy isle;The seat of blameless Pan, yet undisturbedBy Christian crimes and Europe’s cruel sons.Thus pouring on they proudly seek the deep,Whose vanquished tide, recoiling from the shock,Yields to this liquid weight of half the globe;And Ocean trembles for his green domain.But what avails this wondrous waste of wealth,This gay profusion of luxurious bliss?This pomp of Nature? what their balmy meads,Their powerful herbs, and Ceres void of pain,By vagrant birds dispersed, and wafting winds?What their unplanted fruits? What the cool draughts,The ambrosial food, rich gums, and spicy health,Their forests yield? Their toiling insects what?Their silky pride, and vegetable robes?Whate’er the humanizing Muses teach;The god-like wisdom of the tempered breast;Progressive truth; the patient force of thought;Investigation calm, whose silent powersCommand the world; theLightthat leads toHeaven;Kind equal rule; the government of laws,And all-protecting Freedom, which aloneSustains the name and dignity of Man;These are not theirs.—Thomson.

The sea-like Plata, to whose dread expanse,

Continuous depth, and wondrous length of course,

Our floods are rills. With unabated force,

In silent dignity they sweep along;

And traverse realms unknown, and blooming wilds,

And fruitful deserts, worlds of solitude!

Where the sun smiles and seasons teem in vain,

Unseen, and unenjoyed. Forsaking these,

O’er peopled plains they fair-diffusive flow;

And many a nation feed; and circle safe,

In their soft bosom, many a happy isle;

The seat of blameless Pan, yet undisturbed

By Christian crimes and Europe’s cruel sons.

Thus pouring on they proudly seek the deep,

Whose vanquished tide, recoiling from the shock,

Yields to this liquid weight of half the globe;

And Ocean trembles for his green domain.

But what avails this wondrous waste of wealth,

This gay profusion of luxurious bliss?

This pomp of Nature? what their balmy meads,

Their powerful herbs, and Ceres void of pain,

By vagrant birds dispersed, and wafting winds?

What their unplanted fruits? What the cool draughts,

The ambrosial food, rich gums, and spicy health,

Their forests yield? Their toiling insects what?

Their silky pride, and vegetable robes?

Whate’er the humanizing Muses teach;

The god-like wisdom of the tempered breast;

Progressive truth; the patient force of thought;

Investigation calm, whose silent powers

Command the world; theLightthat leads toHeaven;

Kind equal rule; the government of laws,

And all-protecting Freedom, which alone

Sustains the name and dignity of Man;

These are not theirs.—Thomson.

SIR WM. GORE OUSELEY, K.C.B.—LATE HER MAJESTY’S MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO THE STATES OF LA PLATA, AND FORMERLY CHARGE D’AFFAIRES AT THE COURT OF BRAZIL.

Note to the Portrait.—The sketch in the preceding page is copied from an early likeness, but can hardly be considered an accurate one now. In a book of this nature, which owes much of whatever attractiveness it may possess to his permission to avail of the pictorial and literary memoranda of his prolonged sojourn in South America, and especially in a chapter on the River Plate, in whose affairs he played so important a part in the chief crisis of its history, full biographical details of Sir W. Gore Ouseley’s career may reasonably be anticipated. For such purpose, however, the writer has access only to the ordinary data to be found in works of public reference; nor, if others of a private nature were open, would it, perhaps, be in the best taste to insert them here, as they would necessarily be supposed to be used with an unduly partial bias. Without entering at length into details more fitted for a genealogical work than for our pages, it will suffice to say that, previous to the sixteenth century, the Ouseley family was allied to several of the most ancient and honourable patrician names of this country, and thus their ancestry can be traced to a remote period. The Irving family, into which the late Sir W. Ouseley (father of Sir W. Gore Ouseley) married, is allied to the Douglases, the Rollos, and many other noble Scotch families. Referring to ‘Burke’s Baronetage,’ and ‘Landed Gentry,’ ‘Dod’s Knightage’ for 1854, and other cognate authorities, we find that Sir W. G. Ouseley is descended from an ancient Shropshire family who settled in Northamptonshire in 1571, the then head of the family, Richard Ouseley Ouseley, having received from Queen Elizabeth, under whom he was a judge, a grant of the estate of Courteen Hall, in that county, with many of the most eminent families in which the Ouseleys were connected, such as the Actons of Alderham, as also the Barons Giffard of Brinsfield, and Barons Lestrange of Blackmere.[76]Nicholas Ouseley, a relative of Richard Ouseley Ouseley, was envoy to the courts of Spain and Portugal, and some of his correspondence with Sir Francis Walsingham is preserved among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum. John, son of Richard Ouseley, was knighted by James I. in 1603, for his gallant conduct during the war in Ireland with the turbulent Earl of Tyrone. The diplomatic services of Sir John are mentioned in a subsequent note, and by Purchas in his ‘Pilgrims.’ Sir Richard Ouseley, his son, held the commission of major in the royalist army during the civil war between Charles I. and the Parliament, and in consequence of debts incurred in support of the royal cause he was obliged to sell Courteen Hall in 1650. The family then settled in Ireland, where they held Ballinasloe Castle, and afterwards Dunmore Castle, in the county of Galway, which latter remained in the family until the death of Major Ralph Ouseley, grandfather of Sir William Gore Ouseley. The major was a great antiquarian, and had a very fine collection of Irish antiquities, MSS., &c. His eldest son,Sir William Ouseley, served in the 8th Dragoons during the unfortunate campaign in Holland, where the British forces were commanded by the Duke of York; but after attaining the rank of major, he abandoned war for the more congenial pursuit of literature, and became a member of most of the learned and scientific societies of Europe. He published ‘Travels in Persia,’ (to which country he accompanied his brother, Sir Gore Ouseley, in 1810,) and many other works on Eastern antiquities and literature, in which he has left a mine of Oriental and classical learning that will always remain a monument of his great industry and talent. Sir G. Ouseley was the first ambassador accredited from the court of St. James’s to that of Persia, though Sir Harford Jones, Sir John Malcolm, and others, had previously been sent by the East India Company to that country. He was chairman of the Oriental Translation Society, to whose papers, and those of the Asiatic Society, he was a contributor. Sir William, who married the daughter of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Irving, (son of General Sir Paulus E. Irving, governor-general of Canada,) left a numerous family, the eldest of whom, Sir William Gore Ouseley, entered the diplomatic service at a very early age. He was attached to the mission at Stockholm in 1817, and in 1825 was appointed paid attaché at Washington. While in that capital, he married the daughter of Mr. Van Ness, formerly governor of the state of Vermont, and subsequently the United States envoy at Madrid. He was next appointed acting secretary of legation at Brussels during Sir R. Adair’s special embassy, and subsequently at Rio Janeiro, at which court he represented our government for several years as chargé d’affaires. In 1844 Sir William was named minister plenipotentiary at Buenos Ayres, and in 1845 special minister to the states of La Plata. In tardy acknowledgment of his important diplomatic services in South America, he received the Order of the Bath in 1852. He is the author of ‘Remarks on the Slave Trade,’ ‘South American Sketches,’ and several political pamphlets. We cannot forbear quoting a few lines from a critique on his ‘Remarks on the Statistics and Political Institutions of the United States,’ in the ‘Quarterly Review’ for December, 1832, which, although opposed to the views taken in that periodical of the United States and their institutions, had the fairness to say,—‘We have no desire to be severely critical on thecoup d’essaiof a young author—one, we believe, of a family in which diplomatic ability may be called an hereditary possession.’ Some facts in connection with Sir William’s memorable mission to the River Plate will be found a few pages further on, as also in the notice of Rosas, whose enmity our minister had the honour of provoking in an eminent degree, by firmly protecting the persons and interests of his countrymen, and acting up to the spirit of his instructions. How deservedly he did so will be seen when we come to speak of one, at least, of those transactions of which the guilt has been incontestibly fixed upon the ex-Dictator within the last few months, but for accusing him of which at the time, our unsuspecting innocents at home deemed the British representative very culpable indeed, or, at least, very troublesome. Doubtless, so he was, as compared with certain of his predecessors and successors in the same post, who quietly winked at the atrocities of the despot without appealing to England against their continuance.

Biographical memoranda on the late British minister to the Plate.—First impressions of the Uruguayan capital unfavourable.—The New Custom House.—An instance of enterprise without prudence.—Commercial advantages of Monte Video.—Prosperity obtained at the expense of Buenos Ayres.—Revisal of the Buenos Ayrean tariff.—Alluvial deposits of the Rio Plata.—Gas from mares’ grease.—Traces of a siege.—Unprofitable ploughing by Oribe’s projectiles.—Condition of the streets.—The Horses of La Plata, and the Lasso.—Commerce of London with Monte Video and Buenos Ayres.—Mules for the Australian Gold Diggings.—Diminution of the Customs.—Bitter fruits of British and French intervention.—Sir William Gore Ouseley and the British Loan.—The Market-place.—Italian boatmen.—Encouragement given to foreigners.—Aspect of the environs.—The English burial ground.—The latest revolution.—Sketch of the History of Monte Video.—Senhor Castellanos.—Immigration from Europe.—Abolition of slavery in Uruguay.—Formation of agricultural colonies.—Diplomatic and consular memoranda.

MONTE VIDEO—CAPITAL OF THE BANDA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY

Note to the Illustration.—Pursuing the plan adopted in several of the preceding chapters, we here follow, in great part, from the source drawn upon in the former instances, the description given of Monte Video, by the same hand to which we are indebted for the illustration. Monte Video, situate in latitude 35 degrees S., longitude 56 degrees W., is the capital of the ‘Banda Oriental’ (eastern shore or banks), or, as it is more formally designated, the ‘Republic of the Uruguay;’ it is on the left bank of the River Plate, but, in part, is a seaport, the river being here above 120 miles across, although this capital is about 100 miles from the ocean. Yet even near Monte Video, after the prevalence of certain winds, the water is not too salt for drinking, in case of necessity; indeed, when off the port, were it not for this freshness, the stranger could hardly credit he is not still at sea, instead of in a river, so immense is it. Monte Video is most advantageously placed for commercial purposes. It is not enough to say that Buenos Ayres is the capital of the Argentine Provinces, and Monte Video that of the Banda Oriental—the extent of territory of which latter is small in comparison with the former—for these two places are not only the chief ports of entry through which, says Parish, the trade of these countries is carried on with foreign nations, but it will be found that at whichever of them the largest amount of foreign goods is landed, they are for the most part destined for the consumption of the people of the countries watered by the Rio de la Plata and its tributaries. The amount of foreign goods—so greatly out of proportion to its population—which, a few years back, was landed at Monte Video, is chiefly to be ascribed to the blockade of Buenos Ayres, which temporarily diverted the trade from its ordinary course. Whenever Buenos Ayres has the misfortune to be so attacked, the advantageous situation of Monte Video, as a central port, will always give it importance as an entrepot for goods destined for the provinces in the interior. This was the case in a remarkable degree during the late beleaguerment of Buenos Ayres, by Urquiza, until the admiral of his fleet, the North American adventurer Coe, went over to the authorities of the City. During the whole of this time, Monte Video, being the only open port, prospered immensely in the amount of shipping entering it. There is no doubt, also, that its situation offers facilities for the supply at all times by indirect means of the adjoining provinces of Brazil and of the Argentine Confederation, of which the Monte Videans will probably avail themselves, to the detriment of their neighbours’ interests, unless, in self-defence, the latter so regulate their customs duties as to countervail all temptations to avoid them. Now this the Buenos Ayreans are wisely doing; for before the close of the past year (1853) they effected an important modification in their tariff, which, coupled with the opening of the great internal streams, is sure to be productive of infinite advantage.[77]The harbour at Monte Video, except during certain winds and violent gales, is good, and the river basin well sheltered. But the vast body of fresh water of the River Plate brings with it, especially after floods, immense quantities of earth, sand, &c., forming continual deposits, gradually filling up this and other harbours in La Plata, and diminishing the depth of water in many places. For instance, in the harbour of Monte Video—the best in the river—formerly large vessels of war, then called frigates (during the Spanish colonial government), used to lie quite close to the wharves in the inner part of the harbour, where none but merchant vessels, and those not of the largest size, now find sufficient depth. This gradual accumulation of alluvial deposit might easily be prevented in the harbour by the use of excavating and dredging machines. They were, in fact, successfully tried some years ago, but the invasion of the country and the late siege of its capital, which lasted above nine years, forced the government to employ all its resources in self-defence, and this, like many other useful measures, was suspended, but will be again resumed speedily, as also many other essential improvements prosecuted with vigour, now that the prospects of peace are assured, from the determination of the whole bulk of the population to abstain from siding with any of the disturbers of tranquillity. Lighthouses have been erected at the entrance of the river; its most dangerous parts are buoyed, and licensed pilots ply off its mouth to take vessels either into the harbour of Monte Video, or up to Buenos Ayres. With their help, and the excellent charts and sailing directions that have been published, the navigation, which would otherwise be difficult, on account of sand-banks, is made tolerably safe for the vast number of merchant vessels which are continually on their passage up and down the river.

The impression on landing here is unfavourable, or at least, was so when I visited it, though such is the rapidity of change in South American regions, that, I believe, matters have put on a very much improved aspect within the short period that has since elapsed. At that time, at all events, the place was very dirty, from rainy weather; ill-paved streets; great confusion with carts and horses; all kinds of queer-looking beings about; and a medley of nations, remarkable even in this focus of motley emigration. Things looked in a rough, unfinished state, such as you would hardly expect to find in the second important city of the La Plata; and the reality contrasted sadly with the gay houses, their fantastic turrets and look-outs, which present such a picturesque appearance from the sea. The poverty the place displays is too fully accounted for by the many years of siege, blockade, civil war, and disaster it has gone through, rendering it almost miraculous that so much should still exist in the shape of a city. You land at the ponte, or custom-house wharf, built out a short distance into the bay,whilst the custom-house itself is in a street some little distance off. On the right, near the entrance of the harbour, is the new custom-house, an immense pile, which, when finished, must prove a great convenience to commerce, so long as the latter is made to go through the ordeal of fiscal duties, which here comprise nearly the entire revenue of the state. Close to the new custom-house is a light-looking jetty, made chiefly of iron, with a good landing-place, and rails running along the wharf to bonded warehouses on shore. This wharf or pier was the work of an enterprising Englishman, who had more public spirit than prudence, and was unsuccessful in his views, owing partly to there not being sufficient water to enable vessels to come alongside the structure.The city of Monte Video is erected on a kind of promontory, running out into the sea, which washes one side, and the bay the other. Like most Spanish towns in South America, it is built insquares, with parallel streets, the houses all shapes and sizes, with square courts, from which you enter the different suites of rooms, many very handsomely arranged and furnished, the area of the court being adorned with plants and flowers. Since the siege was raised, parts of the old fortifications have been pulled down, and new streets are in process of building, as also a new theatre; so that with a continuance of peace, Monte Video would soon assume more importance, and many of its civic defects be remedied. Some spirited individuals have got up a gas company, and the town is now excellently lighted from a local commodity called mares’ grease, and certainly a clearer or better light I never saw anywhere. Country houses are also springing up since the desolation in which the outskirts were left by the nine years’ siege at the hands of Rosas and his creatures, of which it still bears the traces in all directions, particularly at that memorable point between the city and General Oribe’s camp at Cerrito, where every house was riddled or destroyed with cannon-shot, and the very ground ploughed up by the same unproductive metal. In a large square, at the extremity of the town, stands the cathedral, a huge unfinished building, which towers above everything else, and is emblematic of the old Spanish taste in churches. This square will be an acquisition when finished and put in order, planted with trees, &c., towards which there is already some movement; but the majority of the streets are scarcely passable in a conveyance, many being without any pavement at all, a few rough stones being here and there visible; the rest is a compound of mud and filth, and with holes that would astonish any well-educated European animal, however profound his gravity or elongated his ears, but apparently quite natural to the horses andmules of this country, and regarded by them with an exemplary equanimity which bipeds of philosophic pretensions in vain endeavour to emulate.

The difference of race between the inhabitants of Brazil and the River Plate is very remarkable, indicating at once the great change in climate, and those other physiological influences that contribute to determine variety of character among people. At the same time it must be observed that South America furnishes many almost irreconcilable anomalies of this kind; for instance, a feeble and peaceful people dwelt on the cold mountains of Peru; a hardy and warlike race wandered under the burning sun of Brazil. The Uruguayans partake largely of the attributes of the latter. The natives are generally athletic-looking men, mounted on horses that appear part and parcel of themselves; seemingly centaur-like, ‘demi-encorpsed with the brave beast;’ and dressed in a fashion savouring strongly of the Turk—minus the turban.

And tall, and strong, and swift of foot are they,Beyond the dwarfing city’s pale abortions.

And tall, and strong, and swift of foot are they,

Beyond the dwarfing city’s pale abortions.

EL LAZO—THROWING THE LASSO.

LA VACA ESTRAVIADA—THE STRAY COW.

The Plata is indeed the land of the horse,par excellence, as will be inferred from the fact of this, the first town of importance on its banks, being lighted with mares’-grease gas. The animals are, generally speaking, described by connoisseurs as not exactly equalling the splendid Spanish parent stock they are descended from, and the first appearance of which in the country wherethey are now counted by millions, and are part almost of the very being of the natives, was regarded with an awe and astonishment that well nigh paralysed resistance to the invader. Those that swarm along the plains are rather more useful than handsome; heads not clumsy, though not elegantly shaped; body tolerably round, though croup often low; legs, though light, firm and well placed. They are caught with the lasso, in the use of which, as likewise of course in the bolas, the Uruguayan Guacho is fully equal, and is deemed by many even superior, if possible, to his brother of the Buenos Ayrean pampas, with which the European idea of the exercise of these captivating implements is chiefly associated; for the Banda Oriental being much intersected with streams, and trees, and hills, a greater degree of address is perhaps required in managing a herd of wild horses or oxen than in the vast table-land stretching, for hundreds upon hundreds of miles, in an almost unvaried flat, on the opposite bank of the river. But if the Plate be the land of horses, doubly is it the land of cows: the whole region may be said to be one vast horn-and-hoof fair; and the predominant bovine element in the air, the street, the field, proclaims itself overpoweringly to every sense. This, of course, strikes one more forcibly, because of its novelty, on landing at Monte Video, than subsequently at Buenos Ayres, and in the interior; for it is extraordinary how quickly one loses his fastidiousness, and looks with indifference upon sights, and inhales odours, that appear insufferably revolting at the outset ofone’s noviciate. The trade carried on by the Uruguayans in the flesh, and hides, and tallow, of cattle, and the skins of horses, is very great,[78]considering the extent of territory and population, and bearing in mind the many impediments of which we have already spoken, and to which we shall have further to advert presently. Latterly, a profitable trade is springing up in the article of mules for Australia; those animals being reared in great perfection in the fine pastures of the Banda Oriental, and being of infinite use in the gold fields, owing to their hardy constitution, strength, and docility. Passengers from Australia, calling at Monte Video, declare the neighbourhood greatly to resemble the vicinage of Melbourne; and there is little doubt that judicious explorations would reveal the presence of large quantities of gold, some having already been found. That the whole state abounds in metalliferous riches is the conviction of many competent judges; and, probably, in no part of the civilised world might small mining capitals be invested with greater certainty of success, or small ‘captains’ commence operations on their own account with stronger assurance of reward, especially as the climate, a most important consideration, admits of Englishmen pursuing their labours without the enervation experienced from the greater heat and drying winds that prevail on the opposite side of the river.

TAMBO A REAL EL VASO—MILK AT A RIAL A GLASS.

To judge from the number of vessels and small craft laying in the harbour, you would conclude a large trade was carried on; but such is not exactly the case, although matters are fast improving; the custom-house revenue, from being down to 700,000 dollars, is now doubled, or 1,400,000 dollars, against 3½ millions of dollars which it returned in 1842, previous to the siege. The work of destruction was industriously pursued during that disastrous period, and for hundreds of miles the Banda Oriental was not only shorn of its cattle but of its population. The land, in fact, was rendered a desert waste, and made only subservient to the wants of Oribe’s army. Future annalists will hardly believe it possible that the history of a second Troy could be illustrated in the duration of the aggression it was subjected to, under the protective cannon of the two most powerful nations of Europe, France and England; but such, alas! was the fact; and the recent melancholy position of Monte Video is the fruit of an intervention that was not rendered effective, as it might have been, if vigorously followed up in conformitywith the judicious advice of the resident English minister during a great part of the troubles, and whose wise suggestions are now reverted to with regretful but admiring respect, by all dispassionate men in Europe or America who have read the then requirements of the Plate by the light of subsequent experience.[79]Indeed, that this feeling has at length prevailed is shown by acts, more ofjustice than of favour, on the part of succeeding governments that, though tardy, are not the less honourable to those concerned. It will require many years of peaceful industry to restore this district to what it was in 1842, rich as the soil undoubtedly is, and reproductive as its affluence in cattle may be. In the meantime, a gooddeal of produce is brought hither from the neighbouring ports and down the rivers, in small craft, which occupy a long time onthe voyage; and some idea may be formed of the number of these conveyances, when I mention having seen one as high as No. 1,200 at Buenos Ayres, where they are all numbered, and, it is to bepresumed, at Monte Video likewise. It is hardly necessary to say that there is a strong rivalry between the two ports for this kind of trade, and also in numerous other respects; but Monte Videohas immeasurably the advantage as a harbour, and it might be rendered as commodious as any in the world by a little energy and judicious outlay. It is much to be regretted that this peaceful rivalry should not be the predominant incentive to mercantile action, instead of each country wasting its strength and energies in interminable political squabbles. But both have paid so bitterly for the indulgence of these internecine animosities, that they are at length beginning to learn charity and reciprocal indulgence of each other’s foibles; and there is a reasonable probability that this mutual comparative toleration is the precursor of joint stability of institutions, and of that solid and progressive prosperity of which each is so eminently capable. A most remarkable evidence of the growth of this better spirit was afforded on the occasion of some disturbances in the Banda Oriental, at the close of last year, when the authorities at Buenos Ayres actually offered to place their vessels of war at the disposal of the Uruguayan authorities, for the maintenance of peace and order. This the latter were fortunately able to preserve without extraneous aid; the proffer of which, from such a quarter, augurs the advent of an era when peace as well as plenty shall take up its abiding place in these luxuriant regions, from which it seems to have fled from the hour the white man set foot upon the soil. But the good time, so ardently desiderated, is not yet exactly arrived; for such is the fluctuating condition of things in these countries, that almost every alternate mail brings accounts that upset all one’s previous calculations, and hardly is the ink dry with which we record our felicitations on the seeming solidity of peace, when tidings of civil broils once more open the door of incertitude as to the present, and the worst apprehensions as to the future. But Brazil is now the great peace-maker, and, as long as she is so, outrage at least is impossible.

One of the old defences of Monte Video is a Spanish wall, ofwhich only a portion remains, with a Moorish-looking gateway, which has a very picturesque air about it, contrasting with the modern appearance of the houses near it. Through the gateway is visible a large quadrangular building, apparently used as a barrack in former times, but now appropriated to a much more useful purpose, that of a public market; and early in the morning may be seen dozens of people going to and fro with their purchases for the day—meat, fish, and fine vegetables. The latter appear to be in profusion; and some cauliflowers were far the largest I ever saw. Things of this sort are dear, owing to the limited cultivation, which is carried on chiefly by the Basque population, whilst the boatmen who ply for hire about the port are Italians to a man.[80]Some ideamay be formed of the scarcity of labourers, when the commonest cannot be got on board ship for less than 2 dollars each (eight shillings) per day, and this must be a great drawback to the progress of the place; otherwise, what may be seen of the soil, even close to the walls of Monte Video, proves that anything could be grown there under proper cultivation. Hedges of immense aloes, cactus, clover, and other spontaneous vegetation, are everywhere visible; whilst near the edge of the bay there is splendid granite rock, in any quantity, for building purposes and paving the streets. True, you see no trees about, as they were all levelled for firewood, &c.; but that the soil close to the town can grow thousands of them, there cannot be the shadow of a doubt, and the territory of the Uruguay itself, in many parts, is famous for its timbered affluence. The citizens are now planting some trees, and with peace for a few years, the outskirts of Monte Video would present a very different appearance indeed to what they do at present. The walls of the English burial-ground were also levelled during the siege; and there is now only a hedge of aloes, which does not hide even the tombstones. Owing to that and other circumstances, there is some talk of the site being removed. Before our arrival, a revolution, attended with some bloodshed, had again broken out, and things appeared in a very unsettled state, finally coming to a head by a total upset of the then existing president, Giro, and his foreign minister, Berro, who took refuge in a French vessel of war.[81]A provisional government was soon formed, whichcertainly seemed to carry with it the sympathies of the people, who, it is to be hoped, will settle down again quietly—a consummation to which everything that has happened, as far as is known in Europe, since our departure, would seem to be steadily tending. Hitherto, as is notorious to every one, the great curse of these countries is personal ambition; for no man considers it necessary to consult the interests of his fellow-citizens beyond what will serve his own purpose. Such a principle as that of true patriotism, or dispensing legislation for the good of the many, was a mere chimera, and no wonder the masses should at length kick against a system by which they are always sufferers.

Fortunately, however, a most marked change in this respecthas recently occurred. The love of anarchic excitement has well nigh subsided, even amongst the most volatile and hitherto inflammable portion of the population; while the sentiment conveyed in the Shakspearean malison, ‘A plague on both your houses,’ is that uppermost in the mouths of the really intelligent and respectable classes of every way of thinking, when appealed to by contending chiefs, panting for public embroilment for the sake of personal aggrandisement. A most striking, and, it is to be hoped, conclusive, evidence of this was furnished in the case of the recent ejection of the President Giro, or, rather, his own renunciation of office and attempted exercise of its functions afterwards; for, rather than join any standard, at least any that involved the disruption of the public peace, certain classes, who had hitherto been at the beck of every incendiary in turn, actually fled into the country and hid themselves, for fear of being compelled to participate in scenes they had previously so often rejoiced to riot in. The adherents of the Giro government have since made an attempt to seize upon the power they have so capriciously abandoned, and succeeded in producing some confusion for a while, especially at Colonia, whence the authorities had to fly in a whale-boat to Buenos Ayres; but the provisional executive, strong in the pacific disposition of the whole people, as already advertedto, quickly succeeded in restoring order, and maintained it with firmness and temper, till Brazil has insured enduring peace.

In speaking of the overthrow or dissolution of the recent government of President Giro, it may be necessary to state, in justice to a deserving and distinguished public servant, Sen. Don F. Castellanos, that he had no hand whatever in the circumstances which led to that occurrence, having many months before resigned the office of Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the duties of which he discharged with exemplary assiduity, ability, and success, under the exceedingly difficult obligations imposed upon the State of the Uruguay, subsequent to the siege being suddenly raised by the defeat and flight of Rosas. M. Castellanos, whose personal acquaintance I had the honour of making, is a gentleman of European as well as American repute, being well versed in the constitutional laws of the New World, and familiar with the institutions and literature of the old, speaking French and English with facility and correctness. During his administration everything possible was done to supply that great desideratum of the Uruguay and of all the South American states—immigration from Europe. To this end Senr. Castellanos, shortly after he accepted office, addressed a despatch to the Consul-General for the Republic of the Uruguay in London, commanding him to make known to all whom it might concern, that the whole of the fertile territory of the Banda Oriental was in a condition of perfect tranquillity, in which it has virtually since remained, notwithstanding the sudden cessation since of the government of which he was at the time the Foreign Minister. He stated that the authorities were anxious to receive any number of peaceable, well-disposed European emigrants, to whose industry they were prepared to guarantee all the protection extended to native citizens, together with peculiar exemptions because of their introduction of skill and capital. Complete toleration in all matters of religious observance was insured; and, in a word, every inducement held out to the redundant population of the Old World to avail itself of the fruitful soil and genial climate of a constitutionally governed country, admirably adaptedin every respect to Europeans of the Saxon and German stock, the climate being temperate and healthy in an eminent degree, and its numerous rivers, extensive sea-coast, and noble harbours, affording every facility for commerce. In the present condition of our Russian trade in tallow, for whose production this region has unlimited capabilities, as it has for another staple—cotton—whose supply is by no means encouragingly ‘looming in the future,’ the announcement here made is likely to have the effect of directing towards the La Plata a considerable stream of emigration, which circumstances of various kinds—moral, sanative, and social—may repel from quarters more alluring to the inconsiderate millions. Indeed, we understand that a formidable ‘exodus,’ as the phrase is, may be looked for shortly from the Rhenish provinces on the Swiss border, to the Banda Oriental; and that an organization on a very large scale is being matured for colonizing with Germans several hundred thousand acres of the beautiful undulating tract on the borders of the Rivers Arapey Grande, Arapey Chico, and the Curaeim. There is no doubt that the causes which attract the industry and energy of the prudent Germans in this marked manner will also draw a great number of English agricultural settlers to the neighbourhood of a city in which so much English capital and enterprise are being commercially employed as in Monte Video; and a very potent stimulus to the wishes of the Uruguayan government in this respect must be afforded by the new Liverpool line of steamers, running monthly to Brazil and the Plata, under circumstances very different from those that formerly characterised the Anglo steam communication with that part of South America.

Some twelve years since, slavery was abolished in the territory of the Republic. Many hands, then obliged to devote themselves to tillage, abandoned it in order to occupy themselves in some other branches of industry which appeared to them more lucrative. Agriculture, which even then was not engaged in to any great extent, felt the blow; but what appeared fatal to it was converted into a benefit. For slaves was substituted free labour, becausethe government at once comprehended the necessity of favouring, by all possible means, the principal branch of industry which supports states; and agriculture, instead of dwindling away, comparatively flourished. The abandonment of the most fertile plains, and the prices of their produce, encouraged strangers to come to cultivate them; and not only did agriculture gain in extent, but the soil likewise in production, which was doubled by industry. Attracted by the certainty of profit, and encouraged by the government, the emigration to the Uruguay was daily increased, and vessels, loaded with 200 to 300 emigrants, continually arrived at Monte Video. More than one company has been formed, in order, in conjunction with the government, to promote emigration to the interior of the country and its colonization. One, under the name of ‘Pastoral and Agricultural Company of Merinos,’ (Sociedade Agricola Pastoral de Merinos) is establishing a colony near the village of Carmelo, to which it destines a large tract of land. In its centre will be formed a city, under the name of Pueblo de la Estrella; and the same colony will have a normal school of agriculture, and a garden of acclimatization and practical essays of this science. On the banks of the Uruguay, an agricultural colony of European families of the same class is also being established. In the same manner a town will be constructed there, the plan of which is being formed. Another agricultural society of the colony has promoted an association among the inhabitants of the city of Colonia, for the colonization of the country. Some time ago it issued the greater portion of its shares, and, as I learned, intended to import from the Canary Islands 50 agricultural families, of four persons each, to whom to distribute lands, seeds, instruments, &c. In the department of Soriano, other societies intend to introduce 800 to 1,000 European families, who are to devote themselves to agriculture; lastly, the necessity for the encouragement of colonization is everywhere recognized, and its promotion is sought in every possible way.

These and many other schemes of a somewhat similar kind are yet a very long way indeed from fruition; and some considerabletime must elapse before they can be anything but dreams. Doubtless the disturbed state of Europe will lend a great impetus to the immigration we have spoken of, and the mere talk of the improvements we adverted to bespeaks a yearning after social good that must ultimately realize its own object. For one who knows the people well, says:—

Of natural or unschooled talent there is a great deal there. A vivacious imagination is almost universal in the inhabitants; and in the fine language which they possess, they express themselves with a fluency, if not an eloquence, at which we seldom aim, and to which we much seldomer attain. This facility has grown out of their tertulia, or conversazione habits. Among the lawyers, the constant practice of dictating to an amanuensis, the definitions, reasonings, and refutations in the various cases in which they are retained, enable them often to write, and to write with fluency and elegance, upon subjects, the theory and bearing of which they study for the occasion. Of course all such writings are more plausible than profound, more replete with declamation than sound reasoning. The imagination of the South American is constantly at work; and unconsciously, perhaps, he is ever showing forth, among his countrymen, things as they ought to be, not as they are. When we hear him descant, in glowing and eloquent terms on civil liberty, freedom of the press, liberal education, privileges of the constitution, we fancy there must be a tolerably good foundation laid of all these blessings before so much could be said about them.

This naturally leads me to speak of social life in Monte Video, which, as far as I had an opportunity of judging, is frank, cordial, and agreeable, there being a much greater admixture of the citizens with foreigners, and especially with English, than I observed at Lisbon, and than I know exists in Brazil. English society in itself is also much more extensive than I could have well believed, and is of a very superior order—refined, intelligent, and hospitable. There is full freedom for religious worship of every kind; and Mr. Samuel Lafone, of the firm of Lafone Brothers, of Monte Video and Liverpool—a name preëminent in British trade with the Plate—having, at the expense of several thousand pounds, constructed a handsome and commodious church for the use of his Protestant fellow-countrymen, presented it, and the ground on which it stands (convenient to the anchorage for men-of-war), to them in perpetuity, without the slightest reserve or expectancy of remuneration, save the reward conveyed by the consciousnessof having done a noble act, for the best of purposes, and with the purest motives. There are also considerable numbers of British mechanics in Monte Video, and agriculturists and shepherds in the Republic, the climate being humid, temperate, and bracing, like our own. The Uruguay adjoins that fine healthy province of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, to which some hundreds of Irish emigrants, more especially from the Barony Forth, in the county of Wexford—admirable specimens indeed of ‘the finest peasantry in the world’—have proceeded, within the last few years, from Liverpool, under the auspices of Admiral Grenfell, the Brazilian Consul-General at that port; and all the accounts they have hitherto sent home, whether by themselves, or the pastor who accompanied them, the Rev. R. Walsh, represent their circumstances and situation as prosperous and happy, an admirable loamy land being obtainable, in an unlimited quantity, at a dollar an acre. Some Anglo-South American houses also have a good many Welch on their properties in the same province, and their reports are all to the like effect. At still cheaper rates may yet finer land, and in a still better climate, be obtained in the Uruguay; and from all I have been able to see, hear, or read, I am inclined to believe that there is no more eligible spot in the world for an intending emigrant than the Banda Oriental, whether capitalist or labourer, whether an agriculturist, a grazier, a wool grower, or even a cotton grower, a horse or cattle breeder, or one skilled in the preparation of hides, horns, or tallow for the home market; or whether he be a rural mechanic or farm servant, or small yeoman desirous of bringing up a family in any or every branch of husbandry. On all subjects connected with agricultural pursuits in this region of the world, but more especially as regards the breeding of horses, cattle, and sheep, and their preparation for the several markets they are suited to, the excellent work of Mr. M’Cann (‘Two Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces’), may with great confidence be recommended, as furnishing on these points a mass of information nowhere else to be found, and valuable especially as being the result of the author’sactual experience. My own observations were naturally confined to the capital and its immediate vicinity; and my opinion, therefore, on such extensive matters as those embraced by Mr M’Cann would be of about the same value as those of a Cockney who should pronounce on the territorial condition of England from a Sunday afternoon’s contemplation of a suburban tea-garden. And, speaking somewhat in the latter sense, I should say that the neighbourhood of Monte Video would be pronounced by the sentimental gentleman in Pickwick to be the very paradise of market gardeners, with or without gazelles, as the case might be.

The mention of gazelles is naturally suggestive of some remarks about certain other and biped proprietors ofbeaux yeux; but we must reserve such matters for the next chapter, merely premising that the observations therein offered are in every respect perfectly applicable to the fair Monte-Videans, who are, indeed, even fairer, or at least less embrowned, than the Buenos Ayrean belles, being, if possible, more distinctive types of Spanish beauty, or what used to be such; for according to the recent[82]pronunciamentoof a most competent and accomplished critic, the syrens of Southern Europe are no such great charmers after all—an assurance that must be consolatory to the British mammas of young Hopefuls quartered at Gibraltar. But, be that as it may, few of the worser half of humanity will question the right of the Transatlantic descendants of Castillian dames to the suzerainty of all beholders, especially when to the Moresque complexion is added that distinctive optic attribute of the Goth which the Celts so much admire, as shown in the familiar Portuguese ditty:—

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