TheRio Grande de La Platais the finest river of Santa Cruz; it rises in some small lakes on the south, and running through the province into that of Moxos, enters the Piray by a broad mouth, and forms a good port at Pailas, north of the capital.The province ofChiquitoslies to the north andeast of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and embraces an immense extent of territory, which reaches to the Brazilian frontier on the Paraguay.It was first colonized by the Jesuits who began their missionary establishments in this country towards the close of the seventeenth century, and their success was so great that in 1732 they had seven settlements, each containing more than 600 families. The Indians who inhabit Chiquitos are small-sized, active and brave, and have always resisted the endeavours of the Portuguese to carry off members of their community to slavery; many of them live peaceably in the missions, but others lead a wandering life amid the mountains and plains of their native land.The forests in this country produce the cinchona, or Jesuit's bark, and many other useful substances; and the great inundation of the Paraguay, calledLake Xarayes, extends through the western parts of this province, which is also celebrated for containing the third great branch of the Andes, that leaves the main body between 15° and 20° of south latitude, and crossing the provinces of the Sierra sweeps round Chiquitos, between 15° and 23°, stretching from La Paz, Potosi and Tucuman, through Moxos, Chiquitos and Chaco, towards the government of the mines, and of St. Pablo in Brazil. The highest summits of this chain appear to be between 15° and 20° of south latitude, giving rise to many rivers which flow either into the La Plata or the Maranon.San Josef de Chiquitos, the chief settlement of this province, is thirty-six miles north-west of Santa Cruz; and south of the Chiquitos Indians, are another tribe, named theChiriguanos, whom the missionaries have in vain attempted to convert; they are the terror of the western provinces of Buenos Ayres, and are continually at war with the Chiquitos. In their country flows the riverParapiti, which rising near Cochabamba in 18° south latitude,is first calledConderillo, and receiving smaller rivers, assumes the name ofParapiti, and passing through a large lake it turns to the north; having pursued hitherto a south-east course into this lake, which is in 19° 50' south latitude. It is now calledSt. Miguel, and still running north assumes the name ofSara, and being joined by the united streams of the Piray and Plata, as well as several others from the province of Santa Cruz, it becomes a broad river, and in 14° south latitude, is called theMamore, till 10° south latitude, when it leaves Peru or La Plata, and entering the Portuguese territories becomes theMadera, continuing under that name to south latitude, 3° 15', and 60° 40' west longitude, when it discharges its immense stream into the Maranon, after a course of 1400 miles.MoxosorMojosis an extensive territory bounded by the Portuguese government of Matto Grosso on the east, Cuzco and the Peruvian provinces on the west, and Chiquitos and Santa Cruz on the south. It extends on each side of the Mamore, and is chiefly inhabited by warlike and wandering tribes of Indians, who forbid access to its interior. This country contains the lakeRogagualo, a large body of water of an oval figure, formed by an arm of theRio Beni, which rises near La Paz on the west side of the Andes, in 18° south latitude, and flowing north, enters the Ucayale, their united streams joining the Apurimac. The banks of the Beni have many settlements of the missionaries. This lake empties itself into the Mamore by a channel calledDe la Exaltacion, thus forming an immense island of the country lying between the Maranon on the north, the Madera and Mamore on the east, and the Beni and Ucayale on the west. From lake Rogagualo three other rivers take their rise and flow into the Amazons on the north;viz.theJutay, theJuruayand thePuros.There are several missionary villages in the province of Moxos: but the country is still under the power of the aborigines.Chacosis another large territory, bounded by Chiquitos on the north; Paraguay on the east; the great plains of Manos on the south; and Tucuman and Tarija on the west. It is of immense extent, and chiefly inhabited by tribes of wandering Indians, having on its east the great chain of mountains on the banks of the Paraguay, and contains the greatRio Pilcomayo, which flows into the Paraguay near Asuncion.The Jesuits made several attempts to colonise Chaco, but did not succeed, and little is known concerning its products or features.The adjoining government to Los Charcas, which has now been described as fully as the nature of the work would admit, is,—THE GOVERNMENT OF PARAGUAY.Paraguay is a very extensive government of Buenos Ayres, which is bounded by Chiquitos, Chacos, and Tucuman on the north-west and west; on the north it extends to Lake Xarayes; north-east and east it bounds the Portuguese territories; and south-east and south it is limited by the Parana, which separates it from the missions of Guayra in Buenos Ayres, its jurisdiction ending in the south of the city of Asuncion, in 26° 48' south latitude, and it is divided from Tucuman, or the Llanos de Manso, by the river Paraguay.HISTORY, DISCOVERY, &c.The history of this province commences with its discovery by Sebastian Cabot, in 1526, who sailed up the Parana. This navigator was the son of a Venetian pilot, who was much employed in England, and by some accounts is said to have been born at Bristol, in 1477, and having been broughtup to the same profession, went with his father, John Cabot, to the discovery of Newfoundland, and from thence to Florida. They had the honour of being the first navigators who saw the continent of America, Columbus not having discovered it till a year afterwards. Sebastian, after this voyage, made another to Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, in the service of Henry VII. of England, and reached the coast of Brazil, but was hindered from exploring it by the timidity of his coadjutor Sir Thomas Pert.Owing to some opposition on his return to England, he went to Spain, and offered his service to the king; his request was graciously attended to, and on account of his great skill, he was appointed pilot-major of the kingdom, an office of great honour in those days. In 1524, the Spanish merchants entered into a treaty with Cabot, to command an expedition to the Moluccas, which was to pass through the newly-discovered streights of Magalhaens. He undertook this voyage, and proceeded to the coast of Brazil, coasting it southward from the bay of Todos los Santos, till he arrived at the river La Plata, where he landed three of his chief officers, who had mutinied, on a desert island, and being unable, from want of provisions and the bad behaviour of his crew, to proceed farther to the south, he sailed thirty leagues up the river, and discovered an island, which he calledSan Gabriel; three leagues higher up he saw a large river, and named itSan Salvador; here he landed his people, and built a fort, from which advancing in his boats he discovered another river, thirty leagues distant, calledZarcacanaby the natives, on the banks of which he constructed another fort, and named itSanti Spiritûs.He afterwards explored the river Parana, and sailing up it entered the Paraguay, where he found the natives tilling the ground. These people opposed his landing and in a skirmish with themhe lost twenty-five men who were killed and three who were taken prisoners. Cabot wintered, however, in this country, and was joined by another adventurer, Jayme Garcia, who had been sent from Europe to explore the river, and returning together to the fortSanti Spiritûs, they dispatched a vessel with an account of their discoveries to Spain.So long were the ministry in sending the necessary supplies to Cabot, that, tired of waiting, he returned to Spain, after an absence of five years, in the year 1531: but not being well received at court, he continued a few years in the Spanish service, and returned to England in the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII. In the following reign he was made grand pilot of England, with a pension of 166l.13s.4d.per annum; a sum in those times equal to 1000l.at present.During the reign of Edward, and that of Philip and Mary, many privileges were granted to Cabot; he was made governor of the Russian company, and had the management of the expedition which sailed under Sir Hugh Willoughby to the North Seas.The variation of the compass was first observed by this celebrated man, though Ferdinand Columbus in the life of his father, printed at Venice, in Italian, in 1571, asserts, that the admiral first noticed it on the 14th of September 1492. Cabot published a large map of his discoveries in North America, which was hung up in the gallery at Whitehall. He also wrote an account of his voyage in the North American seas, in Italian, which was printed at Venice in 1583 in one volume folio; and is very scarce.Juan de Ayolas followed up the discoveries of Cabot in Paraguay, having had a commission, troops, and stores given him, in 1536, for that purpose, by Don Pedro de Mendoza, the first governor of Buenos Ayres.By the orders of Ayolas, Juan de Salinas founded the city of Asuncion, but the conquest of the natives being attended with much difficulty, and Ayolas and his party having been murdered by them, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, the second governor of Buenos Ayres, undertook their subjugation in person. He had arrived with 400 men to take the chief command, in case of the death of Ayolas, and finding that this event had happened, he collected all the settlers in Buenos Ayres, and detaching Irala, who had acted as governor before his arrival, into the interior, with ninety men, to report on the state of the country, was so satisfied with what he had seen, that he set out with 200 Spaniards, and 1200 Guarani Indians, and entered Paraguay; but meeting with reverses, owing to the mutinous conduct of his troops, who were corrupted by Irala, he was forced to return, when he was deposed and sent to Spain; Irala then assumed the chief command, and by his conduct soon reduced the natives, and rendered the Spanish settlements secure.The Indians were parcelled out to the conquerors, and in 1547, the city of Asuncion was erected into a bishopric.Much cruelty was practised towards the unfortunate natives, till the arrival of the first bishop of Paraguay, in 1554, who brought with him laws and regulations for their protection; but however wise and humane these ordinances were, they did not totally restrain the colonists from ill using their vassals; and it being found that Paraguay and the territories then discovered, were not sufficient to supply Indians enough to work in the plantations, Parana or Guayra was conquered, and the city of Ciudad Real being founded, 40,000 of the natives were reduced to slavery; and in a few years after, the Spanish power was extended over Chiquitos, on the left of Paraguay, where 60,000of the natives were compelled to labour for the profit of their employers.The year 1556 was a new era for the aborigines, as in that epoch the Jesuits made their appearance in Paraguay, and taking a method directly contrary to that of the conquerors, they reduced the natives by the arts of persuasion alone. They showed them how industry would conduce to their comfort; and having, by an uniform course of mildness and conciliation, reclaimed them from their native woods and wandering way of life, they settled them in towns and villages, which soon increased and flourished under their guidance.The number of these settlements was astonishing, and so completely had these priests gained the affections of the natives, that their government and power was absolute and unlimited. The principal missions of the Jesuits, or rather the Jesuit government, was not however in Paraguay, but in Uruguay, an immense district of Buenos Ayres, on the south of the Parana; and in describing that country, some further account of their possessions will be given.Their order being expelled from the Spanish dominions, in 1767, the countries they possessed in South America were divided into governments, and priests of other orders were appointed to take charge of the ecclesiastical affairs.Climate, productions, features, &c.—The climate of Paraguay is in general moist and temperate, though in some parts it is cold, and white frosts are common in those places in July and August.The temperate parts abound with all kinds of grain, beans, pease, melons, cucumbers, and European vegetables; asparagus is found wild, and there is a remarkably fine sort of vine, of which good and healthy wine is made, magueys, sugar-cane, maize, from which the Indians make their favourite drink; potatoes, a fruit resembling thealmond, which produces an excellent oil; the European fruits; tobacco, and cinchona, or Jesuit's bark, sarsaparilla, rhubarb, jalap, sassafras, guiacum, dragon's blood, cupay, whose oil is used in medicine, nux vomica, vanilla, cacao, the timbabi, supplying a fine yellow gum, which is run into moulds, and formed into beads, necklaces, crosses, &c. Cedar, the curi or pine, from whose red knots, which contain a varnish, the Indians make images; the algarrobo, or carob tree, which is converted into bread, and the Paraguay tea or matté, a plant which rises about a foot and a half high, with slender branches, and leaves something like those of senna; of this there are two kinds, one called Paraguay, the other Caamina, or Yervacamini, which last sells for one-third more than the other.So useful is this western tea, that the mines would stand still, if the owners were to neglect to supply the workmen with it; and every person in Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres, consider themselves wretched, if not able to procure it; two millions of piastres worth of this herb, being sold from the province of Paraguay every year. It is infused and made nearly in the same way as Chinese tea, excepting that the branches are put in with the leaves, and that it is drank out of the vessel it is made in, through a silver or glass pipe, as soon as possible; as if it stays too long, it is supposed not to be good. The smell, and colour of this drink, is nearly as fine as that of the best Indian teas.The pomegranate, peach, fig, lemon and orange, flourish in Paraguay, as do the cocoa-nut and other palms. The native fruits have among them the jujuba, the chanar, the yacani, the quabira, from which candles are made for the churches; the quembe yielding a delicious pulp; the mammon growing on the trunk of a tree, and resembling a melon; the tatay, having a fruit like the mulberry; the alaba, with a delicious fruit; the anguay, whosepips are of a rich violet colour and triangular shape, are used by the Indian women for necklaces; the tarumay resembling the olive; the molle, yielding a fragrant gum; the bacoba, banana, anana, manioc, the cotton tree, which grows to a great size and is very common; the zevil, whose bark is used in tanning; the ceibo, with flowers of a purple colour; the izapa, whose leaves distil a copious supply of water; the ant-tree, which is the chosen resort of these insects; the umbu, with an immense and spreading head; the willow; the ambay, used in striking fire; the arucuy, a shrub yielding a strong scarlet dye; indigo, cochineal, nacalic, whose beautiful yellow is used by dyers and painters, and reeds of great size, besides an infinite number of other trees and plants, all useful in their kind, and an immense assemblage of beautiful flowers.The wild animals of Paraguay are chiefly found in the mountain regions bordering on the Great River, and on Brazil, where the forests are of impenetrable thickness. The jaguar, the puma or the cougar, and the black bear, are large and very fierce, destroying the cattle whenever they are exposed to their ravages. The ant-bear is a common animal, feeding principally on ants, which it catches, by placing its long tongue on their nests; and the tapir, the water-pig, or capibara, the river-cavies, and various other amphibious animals, frequent its numerous rivers. Mosquitos and other venomous insects are the great plagues of this fine country, and about twenty kinds of serpents, of which, the rattle-snake is the most common, and the boa constrictor the largest, frequent its woods and plains.In Paraguay, the bird tribes are also very numerous, and possess the charms of song and beauty of plumage, in a degree equal, if not superior to those of any part of South America. Of these, nine different kinds of the humming-bird alone have been enumerated.But the largest bird seen in the plains of Paraguay, is the great cassowary or American ostrich, remarkable for its immense size, fine plumage, and swift motion.The fertility of Paraguay is proverbial, and though no mines are worked in it, it is one of the most opulent governments of Buenos Ayres, on account of its various vegetable productions, and the immense herds of horses, mules, cattle and sheep, which pasture on its extensive plains.Of this government, the southern parts are those which are best known and most inhabited; the northern bordering on the Brazilian frontiers, and reaching to the great inundation of the Paraguay, have been little explored, and are tenanted only by the aborigines and wild animals.The great features of this country are the numerous rivers, swamps, lakes, plains and woods, with which it abounds. Its largest and most noted rivers being theParaguay, theParana, thePorrudos,Mbotely,Tobati,Ipane Pirayin the north parts, and in the south theCañabeandTibiquari, the latter of which, divides the government from that of Buenos Ayres.Commerce.—The trade of Paraguay consists in the export of its tea, tobacco, sugar, cotton, hides, tallow, wax, honey, cattle, horses, mules, wool, leather, &c. It is chiefly carried on by the river Paraguay; the journey to Buenos Ayres by land, being seldom performed excepting by couriers, who are then obliged to wade and swim over many rivers, and are exposed to the attacks of the wandering Indians, even the navigation of the Great River not being free from them; thePayaguastribe often collecting sixty or seventy canoes, with five or six men in each, armed with long lances and clubs, who attack any vessel unprovided with the means of making resistance.Peace has been made with these people, but they sometimes commit depredations, and thewhole government is surrounded by nations equally inveterate and ferocious; on the west are theTobasandMoscobies, on the south theAbipones, on the north theGuaycurusorMbayas, and thePanaguas; but the east is free from any immediate neighbours of this description, though on the distant mountains in this quarter calledYerva, are theMonteses, who give great trouble to the people employed to collect the tea, which grows spontaneously in their vicinity. The Monteses also greatly annoy the Portuguese, who are constantly at variance with them. This tribe pushed its way lately across Cuyaba, and part of Matto Grosso, in Brazil, to make an incursion into the head settlements of Moxos, in order to open a path to plunder the country of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and La Paz.These unsubdued Indians frequently attack the settlements of Paraguay, which has obliged the inhabitants to form a militia in order to repel their aggressions, which are always sudden, and at times when they are least expected. The forts of Paraguay are nineteen in number, and are generally near the river, which is also furnished with guard boats.The number of Indian villages of the missions is very considerable; they are governed by magistrates, chosen from among themselves, and generally consist of stone or mud houses covered with tiles, having a large square in which is the priest's house, and a good church, the number of inhabitants in each being seldom less than 600, and often exceeding 2000, and the total population of Paraguay is estimated at 97,480 Indians and Spaniards or whites, of which the latter do not form much more than a twentieth part.The only towns of importance are the capital, Asuncion, Villarica, Curuguaty, Concepcion and Neembucu.Asuncion, or Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, thecapital, is situated on an angle made by the eastern bank of the river Paraguay, eighteen miles above the first mouth of the Pilcomayo, and forty-eight above that of the second, in 59° 35' west longitude, and 24° 47' south latitude; it was originally a small fort, built in 1538, which soon became a town, and was erected into a bishopric in 1547. Its population consists of 500 Spanish families, and several thousand Indians and mestizoes.The adjacent country is rich and fertile, and the climate temperate; the trees around it are always in bloom, foliage, or fruit, and the rich pastures in its neighbourhood nourish abundance of cattle. It exports hides, sugar, tobacco and Paraguay tea; but the boats which trade to this place from the city of Buenos Ayres, take two or three months to ascend the river La Plata, though the only difficulty in navigating it is from the force of the descending current, as the winds generally blowing from the south are favourable for the passage.Villaricais 100 miles north-east of Asuncion, in 25° 48' south latitude, and 56° 31' west longitude, and was founded in 1576, and contains 3000 inhabitants.Concepcion, in 23° 23' south latitude, and 57° 16' west longitude, contains 1550 inhabitants, and was built in 1773.Curuguaty, in 24° 28' south latitude, and 56° 54' west longitude, contains 2250 inhabitants, and was founded in 1715.Neembucuwas built in 1779, in 26° 52' south latitude, and 58° 11' west longitude, and is peopled by 1730 souls.GOVERNMENT OF TUCUMAN.The third government of Buenos Ayres is that of Tucuman, which is bounded on the north-east by Chichas and Lipes in Charcas, north-west and west by Atacama, west and south-west by Cuyo,or Cujo, south-east by the Pampas or territories inhabited by the Aucaes, Huarcas, or Pampas, Pihuenches, Puelches, Uncos and other unconquered tribes which wander over the plains and mountains adjacent to Chili. On the south-east, it has the jurisdiction of Santa Fé in Buenos Ayres, and on the east it has the uncultivated Llanos de Manso and the country of Chacos or Chaco Gualamba.Its extent is from 22° to 33° 10' south latitude, its length 370 leagues, and its breadth 190 leagues from east to west.Tucuman was united to the empire of Peru, in the reign of Vira Cocha, the eighth Inca, by the desire of the inhabitants, who probably intimidated by the conquest of the adjacent country of Charcas, sent messengers to beg to be admitted under the Peruvian government.The Spaniards conquered this country after finishing the subjugation of Peru, and Diego de Roxas was the first discoverer in 1543, but it was not subdued till the president Pedro de la Gasca, sent Juan Nuñez de Prado in 1549, to establish settlements in Tucma or Tucuman. The inhabitants proving of a mild and peaceable nature, the expedition was unattended with any bloodshed, and four cities were immediately founded, namely, Santiago del Estero, San Miguel del Tucuman, Nuestra Senora de Talavera, and Cordova de la Nueva Andalucia; but these being found insufficient in so large a territory, Rioja, Santa, and Jujui or Xuxui were soon afterwards added; the Spaniards then divided it into three provinces, which they named after the nations they found in it,viz.Juries on the east, Diaguiras on the west, and Comichingones to the south; of which the Comichingones Indians dwelt in caves.Climate, Features, &c.—The climate of Tucuman is hot in those parts farthest from the main chain and branches of the Andes, but in generalthe seasons are regular and the soil prolific and good; and as an instance of the healthiness of some parts of the country, it is stated that Louisa Truxo, a negress, lived to the amazing age of 175, and was living on the 5th of October, 1780.It produces all sorts of grain, esculent plants and fruits in abundance, with plenty of excellent pasture for the innumerable herds of cattle, mules, and horses it contains.The forests, which overspread a great part of it, contain good timber for building, and which forms one great article of its trade, supplying Santa Fé, Buenos Ayres and its own towns with boards which are conveyed in carts drawn by oxen. It also supplies the timber so necessary in the mining operations at Potosi, and so dear is a peculiar hard wood of which axles for the wheels and engines are made, that 2000 dollars are given for a large axle, owing to the great labour and expence of transport. Box trees, laurels, pines, dragon trees, walnuts, palms and cedars, are a few of the useful plants of Tucuman; and cotton, vines, tobacco, cacao, cochineal, indigo and flax are also cultivated, but none of these articles enter into its export trade, which chiefly consists of cattle and timber; honey and wax are also plentifully produced in the forests.In Tucuman, the desert places and woods abound with all kinds of game and wild animals, as pumas, jaguars, ant bears, bears, wild hogs, elks, deer, hares, rabbits, armadillos, guanucos, vicunas, and many other kinds. The American ostrich or cassowary frequents the plains, and innumerable birds are seen in its woods, &c. The immense boa, called in this country ampolaba, destroys the smaller animals which come within its reach, and appears, when lying among the grass, like the huge trunk of an old tree; besides the boa, there are also rattle-snakes, vipers and other reptiles common to warm climates.In the rivers and lakes are found abundance of fish, tapirs, cavies, water-pigs, and other amphibious animals.The great chain of the Andes, which borders and sends forth branches into Tucuman, is so high in some parts as to reach the regions of eternal snow; in it there are several mines, which were formerly worked by the Spaniards, and there remain striking vestiges of the mining operations carried on by the Peruvians.The rivers of Tucuman are numerous, the principal ones being theVermejo, theSalado, theXuxuy, theDulceand theQuarto. TheVermejo, orRio Grande, rises near Casabinda, and flows with a stately stream into the La Plata, near Corrientes. TheSaladotakes its waters from many streams which flow down from the mountains of Tucuman, in south latitude 24°, and chiefly from those of the valley of Calchaqui, where it receives a large stream which comes from the south-west; it then runs into the valley of Huachipas, which name it takes, but soon changes it for that of Charomores, from a place so called; it then flows westward, and is called Pasage; as being in the road from Buenos Ayres to La Plata, it must be here crossed by travellers with some risk, owing to the rapidity of its current; it then is called De Balbuena, from passing through the settlement of that name, and is joined near this place by theRio Piedras, and passes down through the district of Santiago del Estoro, from whence it runs eighty leagues, under the name ofSalado, and loses itself eighty-six miles north-north-west of the city of Santa Fé, in a lake named El Mar Chiquito. TheChacos, orDulce, runs by the side of this river, after it passes through Salta, and at last falls into it. Its whole course is 200 leagues, and it formerly reached Santa Fé, where it formed a peninsula with an arm of the La Plata, but having opened itself new channels by its great swellings, it now loses itselfin the lake, which is the case with almost all the rivers of this province, as they generally form large sheets of water, from which they rarely issue.The numerous lakes in this province are generally shallow, and produced by the overflowing of the rivers: but they have the singular quality of being mostly saline, particularly those in the neighbourhood of the Rio Vermejo.There is in these vast plains through which the rivers pass an immense tract of land, the soil of which is saturated with fossil salt. It extends to the south of Buenos Ayres, and is about 700 miles in length by 150 in breadth. It is said that in this extent, which reaches to the Rio Vermejo, there is not a river, well or lake whose waters are not brackish. All the rivers which flow through it to the La Plata are fresh until they cross this waste, after which they become salt till they enter the great stream. Even the Pilcomayo and Vermejo, although they have a free course, have always a salt taste when the waters are low. This substance appears in the greatest abundance between Santa Fé and Cordova, and the salt quality of the soil reaches to St. Jago del Estero, where the whole ground is covered with a white incrustation even to the foot of the Cordillera.Natural saltpetre is also collected in this part of the country, after a shower the ground being whitened with it. Chaco contains many salt lakes, and to the south-west of Buenos Ayres, they are found at from 400 to 450 miles distance. To these, journeys are frequently made with carts, in order to collect the fine crystallized grains which cover their banks.The cattle of this country cannot subsist without this substance; they devour with avidity the salted clay they find in the ditches; and when this happens to fail, as is sometimes the case in Paraguay, they perish in the course of a short time.From Buenos Ayres, the great road to Potosi and Lima passes through Tucuman. In 1748, regular stages were built all the way, post-houses were erected, and relays of horses and carriages provided.The method of travelling is in covered waggons drawn by oxen or horses, in which the traveller can recline, and must necessarily exercise much patience: but the silver and gold from the mines, as well as all kinds of merchandize, are conveyed along this road on the backs of mules. Its extent from Buenos Ayres to Potosi, is 1617, or according to some accounts, 1873 miles, 400 of which are over the elevated chains of the Andes, and are impassable for the waggons; from Potosi to Lima the route continues 1215 miles more, and passes over the highest ridges of the mountains, where the traveller undergoes all sorts of danger and privations, and is exposed to the utmost extremes of heat and cold.About the distance of 500 miles from Buenos Ayres, the country is one plain, covered only with cattle, horses and mules, and stretching to the horizon; the land then begins insensibly to rise, and in 500 miles more, the road lies over the branches of the chain of Chiquitos, to the town of Salta, where the grand and snow-covered tops of the central Andes present themselves. The thick woods of Tucuman are then lost; but the swarms of locusts, crickets, ants, mosquitoes, toads, frogs, serpents, and alligators, also disappear, the traveller having now entered the temperate region; the road then winds amid abrupt and frightful precipices and chasms, and sometimes with so narrow a footway that the mules can scarcely move.The path is here indented with deep holes, in which the animals place their legs, and thus prevent the danger of slipping over the precipices; at other places where the road inclines at a great slope, these sagacious creatures place themselveswith their fore and hind feet close together, and inclining forward, as if about to lie down, they slide with inconceivable velocity to the bottom.These mountains in some parts are traversed at the bottom of narrow and perpendicular clefts, where, if the animal falls, his rider must infallibly be crushed.The passage of the many torrents and rivers is also another difficulty; across those which are shallow, very large and high horses are used, which are trained for the purpose; over the deeper ones, rope bridges are thrown; and it is only in summer that this journey can be attempted, as the swelling of the rivers and the winter torrents render them impracticable. Even in summer, when the snow in the higher regions suddenly melts, the torrents are swoln to such a degree, and dash with such force from the mountains, that many an unhappy traveller perishes.Mules constitute the great commerce of Tucuman; these animals are bought in Cordova, Santa Fé and Buenos Ayres, and being fattened during the winter in the valleys and plains, are driven to Peru, where they sell for twelve or seventeen dollars each, 50,000 being thus sold every year, and with them are driven from 14 to 16,000 cows. It also sends soap wrapped in hides to Peru; but the importation of all articles is subject to a toll, on passing the Peruvian frontier, the produce of which is applied to the pay of the troops, the repair of the forts, and the defence of the frontier against the unsubdued Indians; for there is not a government in all America so liable to the incursions of these tribes as Tucuman, as they surround it on the east and south; for which reason its population has not much increased, the settlers being continually liable to lose their property from these irruptions. Of the forts built for the protection of the government, there are at present thirteen;and the amount of the population, including the converted Indians, is 100,000.That singular order, the Jesuits, had some missions in Tucuman, and formed about 24,000 of the natives into a militia, to repel the invasions of the Chaco Indians, of whom theMataguayosare the most warlike; but the Indians of Tucuman at present are under the care of the monks of St. Francis, and are employed in cultivating maize, cotton, tobacco, &c., for their use, and those of the towns.The capital and chief towns of this government are Tucuman, Cordoba, Rioxa, Jujuy, Santiago, Londres, and Salta, with thirty-eight other towns and villages, and ten missions.Its capital,Tucuman, orSan Miguel del Tucuman, is in 26° 49' south latitude, and 64° 36' west longitude, 1170 geographical miles in a direct line from Lima, 462 south of La Plata, and 200 miles east of Copiapo, in Chili; it was founded by Diego de Villaroel, in 1685, but placed in another situation, its present site, by the then governor, in 1680, on account of an inundation which swept away the church and houses. It is in a pleasant plain, though much in want of water, having a mild climate, producing abundance of fruits and grain, and containing a cathedral, a convent of Franciscans, one of La Merced, and a college, which was built by the Jesuits.It has a trade in mules, but its principal traffic consists in oxen for the travelling waggons, and in the waggons themselves; there are also some unworked silver mines in its neighbourhood.San Miguel is the see of a bishop who resides at Cordova. The bishopric is that of Tucuman, and was erected in 1570. In the jurisdiction which surrounds it, is found a tree, named Quebracho, on account of its great hardness, which often breaks the axe, and becoming, when steepedin water, as solid as stone. The salt river,Saliis about a league south of this city.Cordoba, orCordova de la Nueva Andalucia, is in 31° 30' south latitude, 63° 15' west longitude, 156 leagues from Buenos Ayres, at the foot of the Andes, and was founded, in 1550, by Juan Nuñez de Prado. The riverPrimero, so called because it is the first of five, is in its vicinity, and a hill of some height adjoins it, so that, although in the plain, the water easily passes off.This city approaches a square form, with many good houses, a large but irregular cathedral, three convents, and two colleges. Few places of the same extent display equal wealth, the Spaniards and Creoles being noted for their industry. The chief trade is to the fair at Salta, in mules, where they are sold for Peru, and the town of Cordova contains many slaves, who weave and make their own cloths.The bishop and chapter also reside here.Wine and grain are brought from Mendoza in Cuyo, brandy in leathern bags from St. Juan de la Frontera, and meat and fruits are abundantly supplied in the neighbourhood. Cordova is the capital of a province or district of the same name, extending about 100 leagues in length, and seventy in breadth, intersected by a chain of mountains, and celebrated for its woollen manufactures.The mountains which traverse this province are covered with perpetual snow, and at Ramauso, sixty miles from Cordova, they branch out, and are so far from each other that a saline plain, seventy miles in length, extends to Tucuman, in which nothing grows but the salsola kali, nearly four yards in height, amid the white incrustations of fossil salt.The decayed city ofSt. Jago del Esterois in this plain, 650 miles north-north-west of Buenos Ayres, in 27° 46' south latitude, and 65° 12' west longitude, on the banks of the Dolce, which islarge and navigable, and affords great variety of fish. It contains about 300 houses, or 500 families, of mulattoes and mestizoes, of a dark yellow complexion and sickly appearance, from the great heat of the climate; as surrounded on one side with the plain, and on the other with deep forests; the place suffers from a stagnation of the air. The women are subject to goitrous swellings, which much disfigure them, though they are generally handsome when not afflicted with this disease; and the country near the woods produces wheat, rice, barley, and all sorts of fruits, particularly figs and raisins; the forests supplying game, but are infested with jaguars and beasts of prey.Rioxa, orTodos Santos de Rioja, is a small city, founded, in 1591, by Juan Ramirez de Velasco, on a plain of great extent, bounded on the west by the mountains, in which the inhabitants breed some cattle.Its territory produces cotton, grain and vines, but the soil is poor.This city contains a parish church, three convents and an ancient college of the Jesuits, being in 29° 12' south latitude, and 70° west longitude, 240 miles west-south-west of St. Jago del Estero.Xuxuy, orJujuy, orSan Salvador, is twenty leagues north of Salta, 174 miles north of Santiago del Estero, in 23° 5' south latitude, and 66° 2' west longitude, and is the chief place of a district of the same name on the frontier of Peru. This town is seated at the foot of a high mountain of the eastern Andes, contains about 300 houses, and is the most northerly city of Tucuman. Near it the riverXuxui, being joined by several others, flows towards the La Plata, after forming the Vermejo in Chaco.Londres, orLondonis a village which was formerly founded by Juan de Zuriata, in honour ofMary Queen of England, in 1555, on the event of her marriage with Philip II.It is in 19° 12' south latitude, but is at present of little importance.Salta, orSan Miguel de Salta, is a city and district of this government, from which the cattle trade with Peru is carried on.This city stands in 24° 17' south latitude, and 64° 1' 30" west longitude, and was founded, in 1582, by Don Gonzalo de Obreu y Figueroa, under the name ofSan Clemente de la Nueva Sevilla, but was afterwards changed to its present scite in the beautiful valley of Lerma, which is five leagues in circumference, and through which passes a river, on whose shore the city stands, having a fine bridge over it.It contains 400 houses, and 500 men capable of bearing arms, who have hitherto defended the city against the Indians, though it has no walls. In it are one church, two chapels, four convents, and a college which belonged to the Jesuits, the inhabitants being chiefly Spaniards and their slaves. Its environs are very fertile, abounding in wheat, rye and vines, with pastures for the cattle exported from this place to Peru; and its commerce consists in corn, meal, wine, cattle, salt meat, fat hides and other commodities, which are sent to all parts of Peru. The cattle and mules of Tucuman also go from this place, which is situated on the high road from Buenos Ayres to Potosi.It is computed that the number of mules fattened in the valley of Lerma amount, during the months of February and March, when the annual fair is held, to 60,000, and besides these, there are generally 4000 horses and cows.The natives are subject to a species of leprosy, and nearly all the women, after they have attained the age of 20, have the coto, or goitrous swelling in the throat, which disfigures them very much, and which they take great pains to conceal.Salta is fifty miles south of Xuxui, and the river which washes the town runs east, and enters the Vermejo.THE GOVERNMENT OF CUYO OR CUJO.Cuyo was formerly a Chilian province; it is bounded on the north by Tucuman, on the east by the Pampas or deserts of Buenos Ayres, on the south by Patagonia or Terra Magellanica, and on the west by the Andes, which separate it from Chili; it is comprehended between the twenty-ninth and thirty-fifth degrees of south latitude, and extends about 111 leagues from north to south, its breadth being nearly 110.Climate, Features, &c.—In this extensive tract, the climate is variable, during the summer months those parts which do not lie on the high Andes are excessively hot, and the winter is very cold. Storms of thunder and hail are also common, and in the parts nearest Chili, these storms are of short continuance, but very violent.The soil consists of arid plains, fertile valleys, and desert highlands; but those parts, which are the most barren, become extremely fertile, if irrigated by drawing over them the waters of the numerous rivers in which it abounds.Fruits and grains of Europe arrive at perfection much sooner in Cujo than in Chili, and the vines produce a rich and delicious wine.The history of this province is uninteresting; the aborigines, of whom there are few remaining and who are calledGuarpes, were conquered by the Peruvian Incas; and on the road over the Andes to Chili, are still to be seen some tambos or military stations of the Inca Yupanqui.The Spaniards who explored Cuyo were under the command of Francisco de Aguirre, who was sent by Valdivia from Chili, but returned without effecting any thing of importance.In 1560, Don Garcia de Mendoza sent Pedro Castillo to conquer this country; he subdued the Guarpes and founded two cities.The principal rivers in this extensive province are theSan Juan, theMendoza, and theTunujan.The San Juanrises in the Chilian Andes, and washes the walls of St. Juan de la Frontera. TheMendozaalso rises in the same chain, and the two, after receiving several smaller streams, and running twenty-five and thirty leagues, lose themselves in the chain of lakes called Guanasache, which extends more than fifty leagues from north to south, and also receives theTunujan.In these lakes, according to some maps, the greatRio Coloradorises, which flows into the Atlantic, in about 40° south latitude.The eastern part of Cujo is watered by several rivers, but of them very little is known, as these parts are mostly immense plains, in which the herbage is of such a height as to conceal the cattle and animals that feed in them. Unlike the savannahs of the Orinoco and the La Plata, they possess lofty and beautiful trees; of these a species of cocoa palm is the most singular, its leaves and branches commence from the ground, and though they bear some resemblance to those of the cocoa-nut, they are hard and sharp like the aloe, and the tree, which never exceeds eighteen feet in height, bears a fruit also resembling that of the cocoa, but containing no kernel or edible substance.Its trunk is very large, and consists of several concentric layers, each of which to the heart, are finer as they approach the centre, and from a yellow decrease by shades to a perfect white. Of these fibrous coats, the natives make cloth which is strong and flexible, but not so soft as that of flax. The other trees of Cujo are those which are peculiar to the warm regions of Chili and La Plata; of them, the cactus family bear a large proportion, and the nopal or opuntia feedsthe cochineal insect, of which, however, none are exported.The animals of Cujo are similar to those of Buenos Ayres, or Tucuman, as jaguars, cougars or pumas, wild swine, deer, &c. The jaguars grow to a great size, even as large as an ass, and their skin, like that of the African tiger, is beautifully variegated with white, yellow and black. The natives hunt them for their skin, arming themselves in these encounters with long lances of hard wood; but they seldom attack the animal singly, three Indians usually composing the hunting party, and exerting all their address and courage to kill it. The cold parts of this province abound with vicunas, llamas, &c.Alligators, iguanas, and other amphibious animals, frequent the lakes and rivers, which are abundantly supplied with fish.Birds are as numerous in Cuyo as in Paraguay, from the great condor to the beautiful little picaflor, or humming-bird. Ostriches, or rather cassowaries, frequent the plains, and are so fleet in their half-running half-flying motion, that the swiftest horse is soon tired of the pursuit.The insect and reptile tribes are as numerous as in the other warm tracts of America, and only disappear as the land elevates itself towards the cold regions of the air. Large grass-hoppers, or locusts, are so abundant in the plains, that they frequently cover several miles of country, destroying every green thing they settle on.The northern parts of Cuyo furnish gold and silver, but the mines of these metals have been till lately unworked, owing to the poverty, or rather want of numbers of the inhabitants. Its mountains also yield lead, sulphur, coal and gypsum, while the lakes and plains furnish salt.In the neighbourhood of St. Juan de la Frontera, the hills are wholly composed of strata of white marble of a beautiful grain. It is used by the inhabitants in making fine lime, and in building bridges over the small canals, with which they irrigate their fields.In this country, through which the road from Buenos Ayres to Chili passes, besides the tambos or military posts of the ancient Peruvians, there are several singular monuments of a far more ancient date. These are however very imperfectly known; but one of them, on a low range of hills, between Mendoza and La Punta, has been repeatedly visited. It consists of a large stone pillar or obelisk, 150 feet in height, and twelve in diameter, on which are curious marks, supposed to resemble eastern characters; and near a river is another stone, containing the same characters, the figures of several animals, and the print of a foot, of which, the Spanish priests have availed themselves, to impress their converts with the idea, that it was the work of one of the Apostles, who left this mark as a token of his mission.The commerce of Cuyo is of little importance, consisting chiefly in wines, brandy, and dried fruits, which it sends to Buenos Ayres, Cordova, &c. Its European fruits, grapes, figs, pears and apples, are much sought after, and the wool of the vicuna is sent for exportation to Buenos Ayres; its beautiful fawn colour, gloss and softness, rendering it of great value in Spain.Whatever commercial relation is established between the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres and the kingdom of Chili, the goods must pass through Cuyo; the passage over the Andes being in this government, which, although exceedingly difficult, will one day render it an important district, especially should the trade of China or the east embrace the southern and western shores of America.The capital of Cujo is the city ofMendoza, in 33° 25' south latitude, and 69° 47' west longitude, in a plain at the foot of the Andes, the environsbeing adorned with plantations, which are watered by means of canals.It contains four convents, a college, formerly established by the Jesuits, and a church.A silver mine having been opened in its vicinity, namedUspallata, the number of inhabitants of Mendoza is constantly increasing; at present, they amount to about six thousand, who are employed in these works, or in carrying on a productive trade with Buenos Ayres, in fruits, wool, and wine. The river Mendoza flows by this town, which is fifty leagues from Santiago in Chili, and the district around it contains two silver, one copper, and one lead mines.The next town of note in Cujo, isSan Juan de la Frontera, forty-five leagues north of Mendoza, in 33° 25' south latitude, and 68° 55' west longitude near the Andes, from which circumstance it is also calledSan Juan de la Cordillera. The neighbourhood of this city, which is washed by the river San Juan, has some gold mines; but its principal trade consists in sending wine, brandy, fruits, and vicuña-wool to Buenos Ayres; the pomegranates of San Juan being greatly esteemed for their size and flavour.Its population is nearly the same as that of the capital, which it resembles in regard to the number of its public edifices.Besides these two cities, Cuyo contains the towns ofSan Luis de Loyola, orDe la Punta, Jachal, Vallofertil, Mogua, Concorto, Leonsito, Calingarta, and Pismanta.San Luis de Loyolais the great thoroughfare for the commerce between Chili, Cujo, and Buenos Ayres; it is situated sixty-two leagues east of Mendoza, and has a church, convent, and college, of the late order of Jesuits. The inhabitants amounting to about 200.The other towns are of little note or importance, and are at present mere villages.The fifth and last division of the viceroyalty of La Plata, is—THE GOVERNMENT OF BUENOS AYRES,Which is bounded on the north by the government of St. Paul, in Brazil; on the north-west by the river Parana, which divides it from Paraguay; on the west by the plains of Tucuman; on the east by the Portuguese frontier, which passes south through lake Mini; on the south-west, by the Atlantic Ocean, and the line of demarcation between it and the independent tribes; on the south-east by Cuyo, and on the south, by an imaginary line, passing through the Pampas or Patagonia.History, &c.—The history of this government is that of the viceroyalty; the most extraordinary part of it being that which relates to the subjugation of the Indians by the Jesuits, who established their principal stations in the country, embraced by the Parana on the north, the Uruguay on the east; and the La Plata on the west and south.The road for these missionaries was prepared by Alvar Nuñez de Vaca, in 1541, who conquered the country, and named it Vera. Two monks of the order of St. Francis accompanied the governor in his expedition, and laboured very hard to convert the natives, which they succeeded so well in, that others of the same order were soon established in the country, in which they erected chapels and villages. Of these monks, Father Luis de Bolaños was the most zealous; he stayed fifty years among the Guaranies, and made himself master of their language; at last, bent down with age and fatigue, he went to welcome the arrival of some Jesuit brothers, who came to assist him in his labours; these were with difficulty admitted into the country, owing to the aversion of the natives to have any other pastor than the venerable Bolaños. From this time the Jesuits laboured so effectuallyto convert the Indians, that in a very short period, the greater part of the country was in their power; they extended their dominion over Paraguay, and organized the Indians into a well disciplined body of militia, by which means they kept all persons, whether Spaniards or Portuguese, out of their territories.From Paraguay and Parana, they drew such great revenues, by making their converts work at stated periods in the plantations, &c., that they were enabled not only to supply every thing necessary for the comfort of the people from Europe, but were also enabled to send immense sums to the superiors of their order. The Indians were studiously kept in ignorance of the Spanish language; they were instructed in all sorts of useful arts, and sedulously trained to the fatigues of a military life, being formed into large bodies of cavalry and infantry, and well supplied with arms and ammunition.Some hundred thousand of Americans were already under the power, and infatuated in their subjection to these fathers, when in 1750, the courts of Madrid and Lisbon, entered into a treaty for the purpose of definitively fixing the boundaries of their respective possessions in the western world.Commissions were appointed in 1752, to carry this treaty into execution, when on account of the representation of the Jesuits, who were unwilling to allow the new Portuguese limits, a war ensued between the two countries, and the Indians taking an active part against the Portuguese, the court of Lisbon began to entertain suspicions of the real motive of the Jesuits, in forming such extensive governments in America.From this time, their influence in Europe began to decrease; a trial was instituted against one of the order in France, by some of the merchants concerned in speculations at Martinique which had involved the society in debt; on this trial, theirconstitution and books were examined, and found to contain matter so dangerous to the interests of the kingdom, that it was declared necessary to suppress their order in France, and in the year following, the king of Portugal being assassinated, it was resolved to expel the Jesuits from that kingdom.This was followed by their expulsion from Spain and Naples, in 1767, and in 1773 Pope Clement XIV. totally abolished the society.They were exiled from America soon after, and the care of the nations they had converted was given to priests of other orders, but chiefly to the Franciscans, and their government placed in the hands of civil officers, in the same manner as in other parts of America.On their expulsion from the territories on the banks of the Parana there were discovered in thirty settlements alone, no less than 769,590 horses, 13,900 mules, and 271,540 sheep.Climate, Features, &c.—The climate of Buenos Ayres is variable according to the situation of the districts on the great Pampas or plains, the heat in summer being scorching, whilst at Buenos Ayres, and in the mountains of Parana or Guayra, the winter is cold.Nearly the whole of the southern, western, and some of the northern parts of this government consist of wide spread plains, on which immense herds of cattle are fed; the road from the capital to Cuyo lying over one of these levels, called thePampas, which are of an extent that would equal the size of a great European kingdom. On this plain the cattle range unowned and unvalued, being only hunted down occasionally for the sake of their hides and tallow; wild horses also abound in these deserts, and wander about in such troops that travellers are surrounded by them for three weeks together; sometimes they are observed in innumerable quantities passing over the road at full speed for hours at atime, and on these occasions it requires great exertion to prevent being trampled down by them; but the same road is often travelled without one of these creatures being seen.The plains also abound in cassowaries, partridges, geese, ducks, deer and other game, and are uninhabited by man.No stages are fixed upon the route to Chili, as it is impossible in parts of it which are covered with sands to preserve a regular tract, and it is also infested with the predatory incursions of the surrounding Indians, the method of travelling is therefore in covered carts, made as commodious as possible, drawn by oxen, and accompanied with horses and mules to carry the baggage and goods; merchants and others performing this journey, set out in companies, and generally in the evening two hours before sun-set, travelling all night till an hour after sun-rise in the morning, after which they rest during the heat of the day, to partake of the provisions they bring with them, or the game they procure on the journey.In this course their whole dependence is on the compass, which guides them across the vast steppe, and the travelers are exposed to the dangers of being murdered by the Indians, of sinking under the scorching noon-day heat, or of dying for want of water, of which none is to be had, but by mere chance, besides what they carry with them in skins.The rains which fall in this plain are of short continuance but in great quantity, and when these happen, the conductors never fail to replenish their water bags; but from these rains the caravan becomes drenched through, and not unfrequently the goods and property of the passengers are spoilt.The westerly winds or pamperos are another source of inquietude to the persons undertaking this fatiguing journey; they sometimes blow with such violence that it becomes utterly impossibleto proceed, as the carriages would inevitably be overturned.In this government the mountainous parts are chiefly those situated to the north-west of the river Uruguay, and which border on the Portuguese frontiers; they are little known, and are inhabited only by tribes of savage and warlike Indians, who set the missionaries at defiance.The rivers of Buenos Ayres are the greatLa Plataalready described, theParana, theUruguay, and many others of less note, but generally very large.TheParanarises in the province of Minas Geraes to the south of the city of Joas del Rey, in Brazil, in some lofty mountains, and runs from north-east to west for 300 leagues, when it joins the Paraguay, receiving in its course innumerable streams; at the distance of 125 leagues from its mouth it has two falls of a tremendous nature, which render it necessary for the boats that navigate it to be carried a short distance over-land. The Parana is a considerable river before it enters the Spanish territories, and after passing the frontiers of Brazil in about 24° 40' it flows in a south-west course through the colonies of the Jesuits, in a country of incomparable fertility and of a delightful aspect. It seldom overflows its banks, owing to the breadth and depth of its channel, and it is much more rapid than the Paraguay as it flows from higher ground: at its junction with the Paraguay it is nearly two miles broad, and incloses innumerable islands, which are overflowed in the annual inundations; but it is not navigable in its whole extent, on account of the two falls and several rapids.This river was always supposed (and is still conjectured by some geographers) to be the main stream of the great La Plata.The third great river of Buenos Ayres is theUruguay, which rises about the 28° of south latitude, in the Portuguese province of Rio Grande,among the chain of mountains that run along the coast of the Atlantic. Its course is at first to the west, along a high valley, which is separated from the Parana by an elevated ridge, and it receives so many smaller streams that at eighty miles from its sources it is a large river. The great declivity of the ground over which it has passed gives it so much strength, that after emerging from the mountains it overflows the plain to such an extent, that it requires half an hour's time to cross it in a ten-oared boat, though the current is not very strong. After leaving the mountains at the distance of 690 miles from its mouth it flows through a desert country for a considerable length, and then turning to the south it receives an increase from numberless streams, and enters the La Plata, in the 34° of south latitude.The banks of the Uruguay are romantic and fertile, after it quits the desert and turns southerly: but it is generally a rapid stream, though navigable for vessels two hundred miles from the La Plata; beyond this it can only be ascended by canoes or rafts, as it is interrupted by frequent falls and rapids.On the southern confines of Buenos Ayres, the plains are drained by theSaladillo, theHueyque LeuvaorColorado, and theDesaguaderowhich descend from the Andes of Cuyo: but of these rivers very little is known.The chief town of this government isBuenos Ayres, which, being the metropolis of the viceroyalty, has been already described.Monte Videois the next city of note in this province; it is situated on the north side of the La Plata, in a small bay twenty leagues west of Cape Santa Maria, in 34° 54' 48" south latitude, and 56° 14' 30" west longitude, and has its name from a mountain that overlooks the place, and on which is a light-house that has a good view to leeward. Monte Video is a very recent town, and waserected on account of its harbour being one of the best on the coast.It stands on a gentle elevation at the end of a small peninsula, and is completely enclosed with fortifications. The harbour, which is the best in the La Plata, is shoal, and exposed to the north-east winds.This city is tolerably well built, the houses being generally of one story. The great square contains the cathedral, which is a handsome edifice, the town-house, and the public prison: but the streets are unpaved, and consequently either always dusty or muddy, and the inhabitants experience great inconvenience from the want of water, the spring which furnishes the place being two miles distant.Its climate is moist; in summer the heat is very great, and the sky is frequently overcast by dreadful storms of thunder, lightning and heavy rain: but the winter is cold, and the air, during the months of June, July and August, keen and piercing.The vicinity of this city presents an agreeable landscape of hill and valley, interspersed with small rivers; but it wants trees, and so scarce, indeed, is wood, that almost all the houses of Monte-Video are floored with brick. The inhabitants do not attend to the cultivation of the fertile country that surrounds them, their principal property consisting in the numerous herds which feed in the plains towards the Portuguese frontier.The population of this city is between 15,000 and 20,000 souls, consisting of Spaniards, creoles and slaves.Its commerce consists in exporting hides, tallow and salted beef; the hides and tallow being sent to Europe, and the salt beef to the Havannah and the West Indies.Monte-Video was taken by the British in their expedition against Buenos Ayres, and was delivered up by treaty to its ancient masters; sincewhich time it has declared its adherence to the cause of the mother country, and its citizens have had several conflicts with the insurgent government of Buenos Ayres. At present it is garrisoned and held by the Portuguese.Santa Féis the third city of Buenos Ayres; it is seated at the confluence of the Salado with the La Plata, about ninety leagues north-west of the metropolis. It is of a square form, surrounded with a wall, and tolerably fortified, to preserve it from the attacks of the Indians, who have pillaged it several times, always massacreing the inhabitants. It contains a church and convent. The environs abound in game, and the soil being fertile produces corn, wine and fruits. It is the channel through which the Paraguay tea is sent to Peru, and is, on that account, of considerable importance.Maldonadoranks as the fourth town of this government. It is situated on the same shore of the La Plata as Monte-Video, in 34° 50' south latitude, and 55° 36' west longitude, 100 miles west of Buenos Ayres, and nine leagues west of Cape Santa Maria, at the entrance of the river, and is a small place, chiefly noted as having a harbour, in which vessels trading to Buenos Ayres sometimes refit.Las Corrientes, near the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay, on the east bank of the La Plata, 100 leagues north of Santa Fé and 250 of Buenos Ayres, is a small town well situated for the trade between Paraguay, Peru and Buenos Ayres. It contains a church, three convents, and a small population, who are formed into a militia, to defend the place against the Indians. This city is in 27° 32' south latitude, and 57° 50' west longitude. The trade carried on from this place with the capital is by means of the river, in fine tobacco, sugar, yellow wax, Paraguay tea, cotton, cloth and thread.Colonia del Sacramento, in 34° 22' south latitude, and 57° 52' west longitude, was formerly a place of some importance, as, the small tract of country surrounding it, which is thirty-three miles north-east of Buenos Ayres on the opposite bank of the La Plata, having been colonized by the Portuguese, in 1678, they built a city on it. It was taken from them in 1684, they however recovered it, but were again driven out in 1704, and it was not restored till the peace. In 1706, it was besieged a third time by the Spaniards, with 800 troops and 1500 Indians by land, and with four vessels by sea, but they could make no impression, so strongly was it fortified. It was however taken in 1762, but restored at the subsequent peace; the Spaniards still viewing it with a jealous eye, took it for the last time in 1777, when they destroyed the city and fortifications. Its only importance, at present, consists in its having a tolerable harbour or bay, formed by the river, and it is said, that the Portuguese have again recently occupied it.The above are the principal towns of this extended government, which contains many others, most of them are however either missionary or military stations; the former abounding on the banks of the Parana and Uraguay, while the latter are chiefly on the north-west, towards the Llanos de Manso and Tucuman, and on the east towards the Portuguese frontier.The provinces of this government have not been enumerated, they are little known, and many of them are only divisions of the missions, such asGuarania, which extends along the south shores of the Parana, and contains about thirty villages of the Guaranis Indians. On the south-east of Buenos Ayres, the country is namedTuyu; it however contains no Spanish settlements of any importance, and seems to be a tract crossed by a chain of mountains, which divide it from the coast of the Atlantic; much has been written concerning theAbipons, who occupy the north-west corner ofthis government; they appear to be a tribe consisting of about 5000 souls, who are of a very warlike disposition, frequently disturbing the settlements. Their language is distinct from that of the neighbouring nations, and they exist by the chase, preferring the flesh of the jaguar or American tiger to any other animal, and retire to the islands and high trees, when the annual inundations commence in their country. ThePatagonianson the southern frontier have also excited much curiosity; but it seems to be proved beyond a doubt, that they are merely a race of Indians of a stature rather above the middling size, and that they do not differ in their general habits from their neighbours.The limits of this work will not permit any farther description of the Indian nations who inhabit and surround Buenos Ayres. Of many of them, the Spanish settlers know nothing more than the names, and of the rest, it is observed, that the more the settlements spread, the less the Aborigines are seen, and the thinner their numbers become; most probably owing to the new diseases they acquire, and the more wandering and uncertain life they are obliged to lead; not so the Indians who settle in the missions, their life becoming one of peace and tranquillity, their wants being supplied by their own labour, and not being constantly exposed to the burning sun or chilling rains of the southern regions, their numbers continually increase; and though the Spaniards formerly used very harsh methods, to convert them either to their faith or their profit, it cannot be denied, that they have within the last century, wiped that blot from the historic page, and with a few exceptions, have conduced very materially to the welfare of a race, remarkable for their general inaptitude and unwillingness to assist in bettering their own condition.Having therefore detailed every subject concerning the extensive governments of the viceroyalty of La Plata, which has been deemed interesting or novel, with the exception only of particular descriptions of the animals which are peculiar to it, and to the other southern regions of America, it now remains for us, only to treat of the last great political division of the Spanish colonies in that country, and in so doing, we shall give a more extended account of some of the most singular zoological objects; as they are equally common to the territory about to be treated of, as to Buenos Ayres.
TheRio Grande de La Platais the finest river of Santa Cruz; it rises in some small lakes on the south, and running through the province into that of Moxos, enters the Piray by a broad mouth, and forms a good port at Pailas, north of the capital.
The province ofChiquitoslies to the north andeast of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and embraces an immense extent of territory, which reaches to the Brazilian frontier on the Paraguay.
It was first colonized by the Jesuits who began their missionary establishments in this country towards the close of the seventeenth century, and their success was so great that in 1732 they had seven settlements, each containing more than 600 families. The Indians who inhabit Chiquitos are small-sized, active and brave, and have always resisted the endeavours of the Portuguese to carry off members of their community to slavery; many of them live peaceably in the missions, but others lead a wandering life amid the mountains and plains of their native land.
The forests in this country produce the cinchona, or Jesuit's bark, and many other useful substances; and the great inundation of the Paraguay, calledLake Xarayes, extends through the western parts of this province, which is also celebrated for containing the third great branch of the Andes, that leaves the main body between 15° and 20° of south latitude, and crossing the provinces of the Sierra sweeps round Chiquitos, between 15° and 23°, stretching from La Paz, Potosi and Tucuman, through Moxos, Chiquitos and Chaco, towards the government of the mines, and of St. Pablo in Brazil. The highest summits of this chain appear to be between 15° and 20° of south latitude, giving rise to many rivers which flow either into the La Plata or the Maranon.
San Josef de Chiquitos, the chief settlement of this province, is thirty-six miles north-west of Santa Cruz; and south of the Chiquitos Indians, are another tribe, named theChiriguanos, whom the missionaries have in vain attempted to convert; they are the terror of the western provinces of Buenos Ayres, and are continually at war with the Chiquitos. In their country flows the riverParapiti, which rising near Cochabamba in 18° south latitude,is first calledConderillo, and receiving smaller rivers, assumes the name ofParapiti, and passing through a large lake it turns to the north; having pursued hitherto a south-east course into this lake, which is in 19° 50' south latitude. It is now calledSt. Miguel, and still running north assumes the name ofSara, and being joined by the united streams of the Piray and Plata, as well as several others from the province of Santa Cruz, it becomes a broad river, and in 14° south latitude, is called theMamore, till 10° south latitude, when it leaves Peru or La Plata, and entering the Portuguese territories becomes theMadera, continuing under that name to south latitude, 3° 15', and 60° 40' west longitude, when it discharges its immense stream into the Maranon, after a course of 1400 miles.
MoxosorMojosis an extensive territory bounded by the Portuguese government of Matto Grosso on the east, Cuzco and the Peruvian provinces on the west, and Chiquitos and Santa Cruz on the south. It extends on each side of the Mamore, and is chiefly inhabited by warlike and wandering tribes of Indians, who forbid access to its interior. This country contains the lakeRogagualo, a large body of water of an oval figure, formed by an arm of theRio Beni, which rises near La Paz on the west side of the Andes, in 18° south latitude, and flowing north, enters the Ucayale, their united streams joining the Apurimac. The banks of the Beni have many settlements of the missionaries. This lake empties itself into the Mamore by a channel calledDe la Exaltacion, thus forming an immense island of the country lying between the Maranon on the north, the Madera and Mamore on the east, and the Beni and Ucayale on the west. From lake Rogagualo three other rivers take their rise and flow into the Amazons on the north;viz.theJutay, theJuruayand thePuros.
There are several missionary villages in the province of Moxos: but the country is still under the power of the aborigines.
Chacosis another large territory, bounded by Chiquitos on the north; Paraguay on the east; the great plains of Manos on the south; and Tucuman and Tarija on the west. It is of immense extent, and chiefly inhabited by tribes of wandering Indians, having on its east the great chain of mountains on the banks of the Paraguay, and contains the greatRio Pilcomayo, which flows into the Paraguay near Asuncion.
The Jesuits made several attempts to colonise Chaco, but did not succeed, and little is known concerning its products or features.
The adjoining government to Los Charcas, which has now been described as fully as the nature of the work would admit, is,—
Paraguay is a very extensive government of Buenos Ayres, which is bounded by Chiquitos, Chacos, and Tucuman on the north-west and west; on the north it extends to Lake Xarayes; north-east and east it bounds the Portuguese territories; and south-east and south it is limited by the Parana, which separates it from the missions of Guayra in Buenos Ayres, its jurisdiction ending in the south of the city of Asuncion, in 26° 48' south latitude, and it is divided from Tucuman, or the Llanos de Manso, by the river Paraguay.
The history of this province commences with its discovery by Sebastian Cabot, in 1526, who sailed up the Parana. This navigator was the son of a Venetian pilot, who was much employed in England, and by some accounts is said to have been born at Bristol, in 1477, and having been broughtup to the same profession, went with his father, John Cabot, to the discovery of Newfoundland, and from thence to Florida. They had the honour of being the first navigators who saw the continent of America, Columbus not having discovered it till a year afterwards. Sebastian, after this voyage, made another to Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, in the service of Henry VII. of England, and reached the coast of Brazil, but was hindered from exploring it by the timidity of his coadjutor Sir Thomas Pert.
Owing to some opposition on his return to England, he went to Spain, and offered his service to the king; his request was graciously attended to, and on account of his great skill, he was appointed pilot-major of the kingdom, an office of great honour in those days. In 1524, the Spanish merchants entered into a treaty with Cabot, to command an expedition to the Moluccas, which was to pass through the newly-discovered streights of Magalhaens. He undertook this voyage, and proceeded to the coast of Brazil, coasting it southward from the bay of Todos los Santos, till he arrived at the river La Plata, where he landed three of his chief officers, who had mutinied, on a desert island, and being unable, from want of provisions and the bad behaviour of his crew, to proceed farther to the south, he sailed thirty leagues up the river, and discovered an island, which he calledSan Gabriel; three leagues higher up he saw a large river, and named itSan Salvador; here he landed his people, and built a fort, from which advancing in his boats he discovered another river, thirty leagues distant, calledZarcacanaby the natives, on the banks of which he constructed another fort, and named itSanti Spiritûs.
He afterwards explored the river Parana, and sailing up it entered the Paraguay, where he found the natives tilling the ground. These people opposed his landing and in a skirmish with themhe lost twenty-five men who were killed and three who were taken prisoners. Cabot wintered, however, in this country, and was joined by another adventurer, Jayme Garcia, who had been sent from Europe to explore the river, and returning together to the fortSanti Spiritûs, they dispatched a vessel with an account of their discoveries to Spain.
So long were the ministry in sending the necessary supplies to Cabot, that, tired of waiting, he returned to Spain, after an absence of five years, in the year 1531: but not being well received at court, he continued a few years in the Spanish service, and returned to England in the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII. In the following reign he was made grand pilot of England, with a pension of 166l.13s.4d.per annum; a sum in those times equal to 1000l.at present.
During the reign of Edward, and that of Philip and Mary, many privileges were granted to Cabot; he was made governor of the Russian company, and had the management of the expedition which sailed under Sir Hugh Willoughby to the North Seas.
The variation of the compass was first observed by this celebrated man, though Ferdinand Columbus in the life of his father, printed at Venice, in Italian, in 1571, asserts, that the admiral first noticed it on the 14th of September 1492. Cabot published a large map of his discoveries in North America, which was hung up in the gallery at Whitehall. He also wrote an account of his voyage in the North American seas, in Italian, which was printed at Venice in 1583 in one volume folio; and is very scarce.
Juan de Ayolas followed up the discoveries of Cabot in Paraguay, having had a commission, troops, and stores given him, in 1536, for that purpose, by Don Pedro de Mendoza, the first governor of Buenos Ayres.
By the orders of Ayolas, Juan de Salinas founded the city of Asuncion, but the conquest of the natives being attended with much difficulty, and Ayolas and his party having been murdered by them, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, the second governor of Buenos Ayres, undertook their subjugation in person. He had arrived with 400 men to take the chief command, in case of the death of Ayolas, and finding that this event had happened, he collected all the settlers in Buenos Ayres, and detaching Irala, who had acted as governor before his arrival, into the interior, with ninety men, to report on the state of the country, was so satisfied with what he had seen, that he set out with 200 Spaniards, and 1200 Guarani Indians, and entered Paraguay; but meeting with reverses, owing to the mutinous conduct of his troops, who were corrupted by Irala, he was forced to return, when he was deposed and sent to Spain; Irala then assumed the chief command, and by his conduct soon reduced the natives, and rendered the Spanish settlements secure.
The Indians were parcelled out to the conquerors, and in 1547, the city of Asuncion was erected into a bishopric.
Much cruelty was practised towards the unfortunate natives, till the arrival of the first bishop of Paraguay, in 1554, who brought with him laws and regulations for their protection; but however wise and humane these ordinances were, they did not totally restrain the colonists from ill using their vassals; and it being found that Paraguay and the territories then discovered, were not sufficient to supply Indians enough to work in the plantations, Parana or Guayra was conquered, and the city of Ciudad Real being founded, 40,000 of the natives were reduced to slavery; and in a few years after, the Spanish power was extended over Chiquitos, on the left of Paraguay, where 60,000of the natives were compelled to labour for the profit of their employers.
The year 1556 was a new era for the aborigines, as in that epoch the Jesuits made their appearance in Paraguay, and taking a method directly contrary to that of the conquerors, they reduced the natives by the arts of persuasion alone. They showed them how industry would conduce to their comfort; and having, by an uniform course of mildness and conciliation, reclaimed them from their native woods and wandering way of life, they settled them in towns and villages, which soon increased and flourished under their guidance.
The number of these settlements was astonishing, and so completely had these priests gained the affections of the natives, that their government and power was absolute and unlimited. The principal missions of the Jesuits, or rather the Jesuit government, was not however in Paraguay, but in Uruguay, an immense district of Buenos Ayres, on the south of the Parana; and in describing that country, some further account of their possessions will be given.
Their order being expelled from the Spanish dominions, in 1767, the countries they possessed in South America were divided into governments, and priests of other orders were appointed to take charge of the ecclesiastical affairs.
Climate, productions, features, &c.—The climate of Paraguay is in general moist and temperate, though in some parts it is cold, and white frosts are common in those places in July and August.
The temperate parts abound with all kinds of grain, beans, pease, melons, cucumbers, and European vegetables; asparagus is found wild, and there is a remarkably fine sort of vine, of which good and healthy wine is made, magueys, sugar-cane, maize, from which the Indians make their favourite drink; potatoes, a fruit resembling thealmond, which produces an excellent oil; the European fruits; tobacco, and cinchona, or Jesuit's bark, sarsaparilla, rhubarb, jalap, sassafras, guiacum, dragon's blood, cupay, whose oil is used in medicine, nux vomica, vanilla, cacao, the timbabi, supplying a fine yellow gum, which is run into moulds, and formed into beads, necklaces, crosses, &c. Cedar, the curi or pine, from whose red knots, which contain a varnish, the Indians make images; the algarrobo, or carob tree, which is converted into bread, and the Paraguay tea or matté, a plant which rises about a foot and a half high, with slender branches, and leaves something like those of senna; of this there are two kinds, one called Paraguay, the other Caamina, or Yervacamini, which last sells for one-third more than the other.
So useful is this western tea, that the mines would stand still, if the owners were to neglect to supply the workmen with it; and every person in Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres, consider themselves wretched, if not able to procure it; two millions of piastres worth of this herb, being sold from the province of Paraguay every year. It is infused and made nearly in the same way as Chinese tea, excepting that the branches are put in with the leaves, and that it is drank out of the vessel it is made in, through a silver or glass pipe, as soon as possible; as if it stays too long, it is supposed not to be good. The smell, and colour of this drink, is nearly as fine as that of the best Indian teas.
The pomegranate, peach, fig, lemon and orange, flourish in Paraguay, as do the cocoa-nut and other palms. The native fruits have among them the jujuba, the chanar, the yacani, the quabira, from which candles are made for the churches; the quembe yielding a delicious pulp; the mammon growing on the trunk of a tree, and resembling a melon; the tatay, having a fruit like the mulberry; the alaba, with a delicious fruit; the anguay, whosepips are of a rich violet colour and triangular shape, are used by the Indian women for necklaces; the tarumay resembling the olive; the molle, yielding a fragrant gum; the bacoba, banana, anana, manioc, the cotton tree, which grows to a great size and is very common; the zevil, whose bark is used in tanning; the ceibo, with flowers of a purple colour; the izapa, whose leaves distil a copious supply of water; the ant-tree, which is the chosen resort of these insects; the umbu, with an immense and spreading head; the willow; the ambay, used in striking fire; the arucuy, a shrub yielding a strong scarlet dye; indigo, cochineal, nacalic, whose beautiful yellow is used by dyers and painters, and reeds of great size, besides an infinite number of other trees and plants, all useful in their kind, and an immense assemblage of beautiful flowers.
The wild animals of Paraguay are chiefly found in the mountain regions bordering on the Great River, and on Brazil, where the forests are of impenetrable thickness. The jaguar, the puma or the cougar, and the black bear, are large and very fierce, destroying the cattle whenever they are exposed to their ravages. The ant-bear is a common animal, feeding principally on ants, which it catches, by placing its long tongue on their nests; and the tapir, the water-pig, or capibara, the river-cavies, and various other amphibious animals, frequent its numerous rivers. Mosquitos and other venomous insects are the great plagues of this fine country, and about twenty kinds of serpents, of which, the rattle-snake is the most common, and the boa constrictor the largest, frequent its woods and plains.
In Paraguay, the bird tribes are also very numerous, and possess the charms of song and beauty of plumage, in a degree equal, if not superior to those of any part of South America. Of these, nine different kinds of the humming-bird alone have been enumerated.
But the largest bird seen in the plains of Paraguay, is the great cassowary or American ostrich, remarkable for its immense size, fine plumage, and swift motion.
The fertility of Paraguay is proverbial, and though no mines are worked in it, it is one of the most opulent governments of Buenos Ayres, on account of its various vegetable productions, and the immense herds of horses, mules, cattle and sheep, which pasture on its extensive plains.
Of this government, the southern parts are those which are best known and most inhabited; the northern bordering on the Brazilian frontiers, and reaching to the great inundation of the Paraguay, have been little explored, and are tenanted only by the aborigines and wild animals.
The great features of this country are the numerous rivers, swamps, lakes, plains and woods, with which it abounds. Its largest and most noted rivers being theParaguay, theParana, thePorrudos,Mbotely,Tobati,Ipane Pirayin the north parts, and in the south theCañabeandTibiquari, the latter of which, divides the government from that of Buenos Ayres.
Commerce.—The trade of Paraguay consists in the export of its tea, tobacco, sugar, cotton, hides, tallow, wax, honey, cattle, horses, mules, wool, leather, &c. It is chiefly carried on by the river Paraguay; the journey to Buenos Ayres by land, being seldom performed excepting by couriers, who are then obliged to wade and swim over many rivers, and are exposed to the attacks of the wandering Indians, even the navigation of the Great River not being free from them; thePayaguastribe often collecting sixty or seventy canoes, with five or six men in each, armed with long lances and clubs, who attack any vessel unprovided with the means of making resistance.
Peace has been made with these people, but they sometimes commit depredations, and thewhole government is surrounded by nations equally inveterate and ferocious; on the west are theTobasandMoscobies, on the south theAbipones, on the north theGuaycurusorMbayas, and thePanaguas; but the east is free from any immediate neighbours of this description, though on the distant mountains in this quarter calledYerva, are theMonteses, who give great trouble to the people employed to collect the tea, which grows spontaneously in their vicinity. The Monteses also greatly annoy the Portuguese, who are constantly at variance with them. This tribe pushed its way lately across Cuyaba, and part of Matto Grosso, in Brazil, to make an incursion into the head settlements of Moxos, in order to open a path to plunder the country of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and La Paz.
These unsubdued Indians frequently attack the settlements of Paraguay, which has obliged the inhabitants to form a militia in order to repel their aggressions, which are always sudden, and at times when they are least expected. The forts of Paraguay are nineteen in number, and are generally near the river, which is also furnished with guard boats.
The number of Indian villages of the missions is very considerable; they are governed by magistrates, chosen from among themselves, and generally consist of stone or mud houses covered with tiles, having a large square in which is the priest's house, and a good church, the number of inhabitants in each being seldom less than 600, and often exceeding 2000, and the total population of Paraguay is estimated at 97,480 Indians and Spaniards or whites, of which the latter do not form much more than a twentieth part.
The only towns of importance are the capital, Asuncion, Villarica, Curuguaty, Concepcion and Neembucu.
Asuncion, or Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, thecapital, is situated on an angle made by the eastern bank of the river Paraguay, eighteen miles above the first mouth of the Pilcomayo, and forty-eight above that of the second, in 59° 35' west longitude, and 24° 47' south latitude; it was originally a small fort, built in 1538, which soon became a town, and was erected into a bishopric in 1547. Its population consists of 500 Spanish families, and several thousand Indians and mestizoes.
The adjacent country is rich and fertile, and the climate temperate; the trees around it are always in bloom, foliage, or fruit, and the rich pastures in its neighbourhood nourish abundance of cattle. It exports hides, sugar, tobacco and Paraguay tea; but the boats which trade to this place from the city of Buenos Ayres, take two or three months to ascend the river La Plata, though the only difficulty in navigating it is from the force of the descending current, as the winds generally blowing from the south are favourable for the passage.
Villaricais 100 miles north-east of Asuncion, in 25° 48' south latitude, and 56° 31' west longitude, and was founded in 1576, and contains 3000 inhabitants.
Concepcion, in 23° 23' south latitude, and 57° 16' west longitude, contains 1550 inhabitants, and was built in 1773.
Curuguaty, in 24° 28' south latitude, and 56° 54' west longitude, contains 2250 inhabitants, and was founded in 1715.
Neembucuwas built in 1779, in 26° 52' south latitude, and 58° 11' west longitude, and is peopled by 1730 souls.
The third government of Buenos Ayres is that of Tucuman, which is bounded on the north-east by Chichas and Lipes in Charcas, north-west and west by Atacama, west and south-west by Cuyo,or Cujo, south-east by the Pampas or territories inhabited by the Aucaes, Huarcas, or Pampas, Pihuenches, Puelches, Uncos and other unconquered tribes which wander over the plains and mountains adjacent to Chili. On the south-east, it has the jurisdiction of Santa Fé in Buenos Ayres, and on the east it has the uncultivated Llanos de Manso and the country of Chacos or Chaco Gualamba.
Its extent is from 22° to 33° 10' south latitude, its length 370 leagues, and its breadth 190 leagues from east to west.
Tucuman was united to the empire of Peru, in the reign of Vira Cocha, the eighth Inca, by the desire of the inhabitants, who probably intimidated by the conquest of the adjacent country of Charcas, sent messengers to beg to be admitted under the Peruvian government.
The Spaniards conquered this country after finishing the subjugation of Peru, and Diego de Roxas was the first discoverer in 1543, but it was not subdued till the president Pedro de la Gasca, sent Juan Nuñez de Prado in 1549, to establish settlements in Tucma or Tucuman. The inhabitants proving of a mild and peaceable nature, the expedition was unattended with any bloodshed, and four cities were immediately founded, namely, Santiago del Estero, San Miguel del Tucuman, Nuestra Senora de Talavera, and Cordova de la Nueva Andalucia; but these being found insufficient in so large a territory, Rioja, Santa, and Jujui or Xuxui were soon afterwards added; the Spaniards then divided it into three provinces, which they named after the nations they found in it,viz.Juries on the east, Diaguiras on the west, and Comichingones to the south; of which the Comichingones Indians dwelt in caves.
Climate, Features, &c.—The climate of Tucuman is hot in those parts farthest from the main chain and branches of the Andes, but in generalthe seasons are regular and the soil prolific and good; and as an instance of the healthiness of some parts of the country, it is stated that Louisa Truxo, a negress, lived to the amazing age of 175, and was living on the 5th of October, 1780.
It produces all sorts of grain, esculent plants and fruits in abundance, with plenty of excellent pasture for the innumerable herds of cattle, mules, and horses it contains.
The forests, which overspread a great part of it, contain good timber for building, and which forms one great article of its trade, supplying Santa Fé, Buenos Ayres and its own towns with boards which are conveyed in carts drawn by oxen. It also supplies the timber so necessary in the mining operations at Potosi, and so dear is a peculiar hard wood of which axles for the wheels and engines are made, that 2000 dollars are given for a large axle, owing to the great labour and expence of transport. Box trees, laurels, pines, dragon trees, walnuts, palms and cedars, are a few of the useful plants of Tucuman; and cotton, vines, tobacco, cacao, cochineal, indigo and flax are also cultivated, but none of these articles enter into its export trade, which chiefly consists of cattle and timber; honey and wax are also plentifully produced in the forests.
In Tucuman, the desert places and woods abound with all kinds of game and wild animals, as pumas, jaguars, ant bears, bears, wild hogs, elks, deer, hares, rabbits, armadillos, guanucos, vicunas, and many other kinds. The American ostrich or cassowary frequents the plains, and innumerable birds are seen in its woods, &c. The immense boa, called in this country ampolaba, destroys the smaller animals which come within its reach, and appears, when lying among the grass, like the huge trunk of an old tree; besides the boa, there are also rattle-snakes, vipers and other reptiles common to warm climates.
In the rivers and lakes are found abundance of fish, tapirs, cavies, water-pigs, and other amphibious animals.
The great chain of the Andes, which borders and sends forth branches into Tucuman, is so high in some parts as to reach the regions of eternal snow; in it there are several mines, which were formerly worked by the Spaniards, and there remain striking vestiges of the mining operations carried on by the Peruvians.
The rivers of Tucuman are numerous, the principal ones being theVermejo, theSalado, theXuxuy, theDulceand theQuarto. TheVermejo, orRio Grande, rises near Casabinda, and flows with a stately stream into the La Plata, near Corrientes. TheSaladotakes its waters from many streams which flow down from the mountains of Tucuman, in south latitude 24°, and chiefly from those of the valley of Calchaqui, where it receives a large stream which comes from the south-west; it then runs into the valley of Huachipas, which name it takes, but soon changes it for that of Charomores, from a place so called; it then flows westward, and is called Pasage; as being in the road from Buenos Ayres to La Plata, it must be here crossed by travellers with some risk, owing to the rapidity of its current; it then is called De Balbuena, from passing through the settlement of that name, and is joined near this place by theRio Piedras, and passes down through the district of Santiago del Estoro, from whence it runs eighty leagues, under the name ofSalado, and loses itself eighty-six miles north-north-west of the city of Santa Fé, in a lake named El Mar Chiquito. TheChacos, orDulce, runs by the side of this river, after it passes through Salta, and at last falls into it. Its whole course is 200 leagues, and it formerly reached Santa Fé, where it formed a peninsula with an arm of the La Plata, but having opened itself new channels by its great swellings, it now loses itselfin the lake, which is the case with almost all the rivers of this province, as they generally form large sheets of water, from which they rarely issue.
The numerous lakes in this province are generally shallow, and produced by the overflowing of the rivers: but they have the singular quality of being mostly saline, particularly those in the neighbourhood of the Rio Vermejo.
There is in these vast plains through which the rivers pass an immense tract of land, the soil of which is saturated with fossil salt. It extends to the south of Buenos Ayres, and is about 700 miles in length by 150 in breadth. It is said that in this extent, which reaches to the Rio Vermejo, there is not a river, well or lake whose waters are not brackish. All the rivers which flow through it to the La Plata are fresh until they cross this waste, after which they become salt till they enter the great stream. Even the Pilcomayo and Vermejo, although they have a free course, have always a salt taste when the waters are low. This substance appears in the greatest abundance between Santa Fé and Cordova, and the salt quality of the soil reaches to St. Jago del Estero, where the whole ground is covered with a white incrustation even to the foot of the Cordillera.
Natural saltpetre is also collected in this part of the country, after a shower the ground being whitened with it. Chaco contains many salt lakes, and to the south-west of Buenos Ayres, they are found at from 400 to 450 miles distance. To these, journeys are frequently made with carts, in order to collect the fine crystallized grains which cover their banks.
The cattle of this country cannot subsist without this substance; they devour with avidity the salted clay they find in the ditches; and when this happens to fail, as is sometimes the case in Paraguay, they perish in the course of a short time.
From Buenos Ayres, the great road to Potosi and Lima passes through Tucuman. In 1748, regular stages were built all the way, post-houses were erected, and relays of horses and carriages provided.
The method of travelling is in covered waggons drawn by oxen or horses, in which the traveller can recline, and must necessarily exercise much patience: but the silver and gold from the mines, as well as all kinds of merchandize, are conveyed along this road on the backs of mules. Its extent from Buenos Ayres to Potosi, is 1617, or according to some accounts, 1873 miles, 400 of which are over the elevated chains of the Andes, and are impassable for the waggons; from Potosi to Lima the route continues 1215 miles more, and passes over the highest ridges of the mountains, where the traveller undergoes all sorts of danger and privations, and is exposed to the utmost extremes of heat and cold.
About the distance of 500 miles from Buenos Ayres, the country is one plain, covered only with cattle, horses and mules, and stretching to the horizon; the land then begins insensibly to rise, and in 500 miles more, the road lies over the branches of the chain of Chiquitos, to the town of Salta, where the grand and snow-covered tops of the central Andes present themselves. The thick woods of Tucuman are then lost; but the swarms of locusts, crickets, ants, mosquitoes, toads, frogs, serpents, and alligators, also disappear, the traveller having now entered the temperate region; the road then winds amid abrupt and frightful precipices and chasms, and sometimes with so narrow a footway that the mules can scarcely move.
The path is here indented with deep holes, in which the animals place their legs, and thus prevent the danger of slipping over the precipices; at other places where the road inclines at a great slope, these sagacious creatures place themselveswith their fore and hind feet close together, and inclining forward, as if about to lie down, they slide with inconceivable velocity to the bottom.
These mountains in some parts are traversed at the bottom of narrow and perpendicular clefts, where, if the animal falls, his rider must infallibly be crushed.
The passage of the many torrents and rivers is also another difficulty; across those which are shallow, very large and high horses are used, which are trained for the purpose; over the deeper ones, rope bridges are thrown; and it is only in summer that this journey can be attempted, as the swelling of the rivers and the winter torrents render them impracticable. Even in summer, when the snow in the higher regions suddenly melts, the torrents are swoln to such a degree, and dash with such force from the mountains, that many an unhappy traveller perishes.
Mules constitute the great commerce of Tucuman; these animals are bought in Cordova, Santa Fé and Buenos Ayres, and being fattened during the winter in the valleys and plains, are driven to Peru, where they sell for twelve or seventeen dollars each, 50,000 being thus sold every year, and with them are driven from 14 to 16,000 cows. It also sends soap wrapped in hides to Peru; but the importation of all articles is subject to a toll, on passing the Peruvian frontier, the produce of which is applied to the pay of the troops, the repair of the forts, and the defence of the frontier against the unsubdued Indians; for there is not a government in all America so liable to the incursions of these tribes as Tucuman, as they surround it on the east and south; for which reason its population has not much increased, the settlers being continually liable to lose their property from these irruptions. Of the forts built for the protection of the government, there are at present thirteen;and the amount of the population, including the converted Indians, is 100,000.
That singular order, the Jesuits, had some missions in Tucuman, and formed about 24,000 of the natives into a militia, to repel the invasions of the Chaco Indians, of whom theMataguayosare the most warlike; but the Indians of Tucuman at present are under the care of the monks of St. Francis, and are employed in cultivating maize, cotton, tobacco, &c., for their use, and those of the towns.
The capital and chief towns of this government are Tucuman, Cordoba, Rioxa, Jujuy, Santiago, Londres, and Salta, with thirty-eight other towns and villages, and ten missions.
Its capital,Tucuman, orSan Miguel del Tucuman, is in 26° 49' south latitude, and 64° 36' west longitude, 1170 geographical miles in a direct line from Lima, 462 south of La Plata, and 200 miles east of Copiapo, in Chili; it was founded by Diego de Villaroel, in 1685, but placed in another situation, its present site, by the then governor, in 1680, on account of an inundation which swept away the church and houses. It is in a pleasant plain, though much in want of water, having a mild climate, producing abundance of fruits and grain, and containing a cathedral, a convent of Franciscans, one of La Merced, and a college, which was built by the Jesuits.
It has a trade in mules, but its principal traffic consists in oxen for the travelling waggons, and in the waggons themselves; there are also some unworked silver mines in its neighbourhood.
San Miguel is the see of a bishop who resides at Cordova. The bishopric is that of Tucuman, and was erected in 1570. In the jurisdiction which surrounds it, is found a tree, named Quebracho, on account of its great hardness, which often breaks the axe, and becoming, when steepedin water, as solid as stone. The salt river,Saliis about a league south of this city.
Cordoba, orCordova de la Nueva Andalucia, is in 31° 30' south latitude, 63° 15' west longitude, 156 leagues from Buenos Ayres, at the foot of the Andes, and was founded, in 1550, by Juan Nuñez de Prado. The riverPrimero, so called because it is the first of five, is in its vicinity, and a hill of some height adjoins it, so that, although in the plain, the water easily passes off.
This city approaches a square form, with many good houses, a large but irregular cathedral, three convents, and two colleges. Few places of the same extent display equal wealth, the Spaniards and Creoles being noted for their industry. The chief trade is to the fair at Salta, in mules, where they are sold for Peru, and the town of Cordova contains many slaves, who weave and make their own cloths.
The bishop and chapter also reside here.
Wine and grain are brought from Mendoza in Cuyo, brandy in leathern bags from St. Juan de la Frontera, and meat and fruits are abundantly supplied in the neighbourhood. Cordova is the capital of a province or district of the same name, extending about 100 leagues in length, and seventy in breadth, intersected by a chain of mountains, and celebrated for its woollen manufactures.
The mountains which traverse this province are covered with perpetual snow, and at Ramauso, sixty miles from Cordova, they branch out, and are so far from each other that a saline plain, seventy miles in length, extends to Tucuman, in which nothing grows but the salsola kali, nearly four yards in height, amid the white incrustations of fossil salt.
The decayed city ofSt. Jago del Esterois in this plain, 650 miles north-north-west of Buenos Ayres, in 27° 46' south latitude, and 65° 12' west longitude, on the banks of the Dolce, which islarge and navigable, and affords great variety of fish. It contains about 300 houses, or 500 families, of mulattoes and mestizoes, of a dark yellow complexion and sickly appearance, from the great heat of the climate; as surrounded on one side with the plain, and on the other with deep forests; the place suffers from a stagnation of the air. The women are subject to goitrous swellings, which much disfigure them, though they are generally handsome when not afflicted with this disease; and the country near the woods produces wheat, rice, barley, and all sorts of fruits, particularly figs and raisins; the forests supplying game, but are infested with jaguars and beasts of prey.
Rioxa, orTodos Santos de Rioja, is a small city, founded, in 1591, by Juan Ramirez de Velasco, on a plain of great extent, bounded on the west by the mountains, in which the inhabitants breed some cattle.
Its territory produces cotton, grain and vines, but the soil is poor.
This city contains a parish church, three convents and an ancient college of the Jesuits, being in 29° 12' south latitude, and 70° west longitude, 240 miles west-south-west of St. Jago del Estero.
Xuxuy, orJujuy, orSan Salvador, is twenty leagues north of Salta, 174 miles north of Santiago del Estero, in 23° 5' south latitude, and 66° 2' west longitude, and is the chief place of a district of the same name on the frontier of Peru. This town is seated at the foot of a high mountain of the eastern Andes, contains about 300 houses, and is the most northerly city of Tucuman. Near it the riverXuxui, being joined by several others, flows towards the La Plata, after forming the Vermejo in Chaco.
Londres, orLondonis a village which was formerly founded by Juan de Zuriata, in honour ofMary Queen of England, in 1555, on the event of her marriage with Philip II.
It is in 19° 12' south latitude, but is at present of little importance.
Salta, orSan Miguel de Salta, is a city and district of this government, from which the cattle trade with Peru is carried on.
This city stands in 24° 17' south latitude, and 64° 1' 30" west longitude, and was founded, in 1582, by Don Gonzalo de Obreu y Figueroa, under the name ofSan Clemente de la Nueva Sevilla, but was afterwards changed to its present scite in the beautiful valley of Lerma, which is five leagues in circumference, and through which passes a river, on whose shore the city stands, having a fine bridge over it.
It contains 400 houses, and 500 men capable of bearing arms, who have hitherto defended the city against the Indians, though it has no walls. In it are one church, two chapels, four convents, and a college which belonged to the Jesuits, the inhabitants being chiefly Spaniards and their slaves. Its environs are very fertile, abounding in wheat, rye and vines, with pastures for the cattle exported from this place to Peru; and its commerce consists in corn, meal, wine, cattle, salt meat, fat hides and other commodities, which are sent to all parts of Peru. The cattle and mules of Tucuman also go from this place, which is situated on the high road from Buenos Ayres to Potosi.
It is computed that the number of mules fattened in the valley of Lerma amount, during the months of February and March, when the annual fair is held, to 60,000, and besides these, there are generally 4000 horses and cows.
The natives are subject to a species of leprosy, and nearly all the women, after they have attained the age of 20, have the coto, or goitrous swelling in the throat, which disfigures them very much, and which they take great pains to conceal.
Salta is fifty miles south of Xuxui, and the river which washes the town runs east, and enters the Vermejo.
Cuyo was formerly a Chilian province; it is bounded on the north by Tucuman, on the east by the Pampas or deserts of Buenos Ayres, on the south by Patagonia or Terra Magellanica, and on the west by the Andes, which separate it from Chili; it is comprehended between the twenty-ninth and thirty-fifth degrees of south latitude, and extends about 111 leagues from north to south, its breadth being nearly 110.
Climate, Features, &c.—In this extensive tract, the climate is variable, during the summer months those parts which do not lie on the high Andes are excessively hot, and the winter is very cold. Storms of thunder and hail are also common, and in the parts nearest Chili, these storms are of short continuance, but very violent.
The soil consists of arid plains, fertile valleys, and desert highlands; but those parts, which are the most barren, become extremely fertile, if irrigated by drawing over them the waters of the numerous rivers in which it abounds.
Fruits and grains of Europe arrive at perfection much sooner in Cujo than in Chili, and the vines produce a rich and delicious wine.
The history of this province is uninteresting; the aborigines, of whom there are few remaining and who are calledGuarpes, were conquered by the Peruvian Incas; and on the road over the Andes to Chili, are still to be seen some tambos or military stations of the Inca Yupanqui.
The Spaniards who explored Cuyo were under the command of Francisco de Aguirre, who was sent by Valdivia from Chili, but returned without effecting any thing of importance.
In 1560, Don Garcia de Mendoza sent Pedro Castillo to conquer this country; he subdued the Guarpes and founded two cities.
The principal rivers in this extensive province are theSan Juan, theMendoza, and theTunujan.The San Juanrises in the Chilian Andes, and washes the walls of St. Juan de la Frontera. TheMendozaalso rises in the same chain, and the two, after receiving several smaller streams, and running twenty-five and thirty leagues, lose themselves in the chain of lakes called Guanasache, which extends more than fifty leagues from north to south, and also receives theTunujan.
In these lakes, according to some maps, the greatRio Coloradorises, which flows into the Atlantic, in about 40° south latitude.
The eastern part of Cujo is watered by several rivers, but of them very little is known, as these parts are mostly immense plains, in which the herbage is of such a height as to conceal the cattle and animals that feed in them. Unlike the savannahs of the Orinoco and the La Plata, they possess lofty and beautiful trees; of these a species of cocoa palm is the most singular, its leaves and branches commence from the ground, and though they bear some resemblance to those of the cocoa-nut, they are hard and sharp like the aloe, and the tree, which never exceeds eighteen feet in height, bears a fruit also resembling that of the cocoa, but containing no kernel or edible substance.
Its trunk is very large, and consists of several concentric layers, each of which to the heart, are finer as they approach the centre, and from a yellow decrease by shades to a perfect white. Of these fibrous coats, the natives make cloth which is strong and flexible, but not so soft as that of flax. The other trees of Cujo are those which are peculiar to the warm regions of Chili and La Plata; of them, the cactus family bear a large proportion, and the nopal or opuntia feedsthe cochineal insect, of which, however, none are exported.
The animals of Cujo are similar to those of Buenos Ayres, or Tucuman, as jaguars, cougars or pumas, wild swine, deer, &c. The jaguars grow to a great size, even as large as an ass, and their skin, like that of the African tiger, is beautifully variegated with white, yellow and black. The natives hunt them for their skin, arming themselves in these encounters with long lances of hard wood; but they seldom attack the animal singly, three Indians usually composing the hunting party, and exerting all their address and courage to kill it. The cold parts of this province abound with vicunas, llamas, &c.
Alligators, iguanas, and other amphibious animals, frequent the lakes and rivers, which are abundantly supplied with fish.
Birds are as numerous in Cuyo as in Paraguay, from the great condor to the beautiful little picaflor, or humming-bird. Ostriches, or rather cassowaries, frequent the plains, and are so fleet in their half-running half-flying motion, that the swiftest horse is soon tired of the pursuit.
The insect and reptile tribes are as numerous as in the other warm tracts of America, and only disappear as the land elevates itself towards the cold regions of the air. Large grass-hoppers, or locusts, are so abundant in the plains, that they frequently cover several miles of country, destroying every green thing they settle on.
The northern parts of Cuyo furnish gold and silver, but the mines of these metals have been till lately unworked, owing to the poverty, or rather want of numbers of the inhabitants. Its mountains also yield lead, sulphur, coal and gypsum, while the lakes and plains furnish salt.
In the neighbourhood of St. Juan de la Frontera, the hills are wholly composed of strata of white marble of a beautiful grain. It is used by the inhabitants in making fine lime, and in building bridges over the small canals, with which they irrigate their fields.
In this country, through which the road from Buenos Ayres to Chili passes, besides the tambos or military posts of the ancient Peruvians, there are several singular monuments of a far more ancient date. These are however very imperfectly known; but one of them, on a low range of hills, between Mendoza and La Punta, has been repeatedly visited. It consists of a large stone pillar or obelisk, 150 feet in height, and twelve in diameter, on which are curious marks, supposed to resemble eastern characters; and near a river is another stone, containing the same characters, the figures of several animals, and the print of a foot, of which, the Spanish priests have availed themselves, to impress their converts with the idea, that it was the work of one of the Apostles, who left this mark as a token of his mission.
The commerce of Cuyo is of little importance, consisting chiefly in wines, brandy, and dried fruits, which it sends to Buenos Ayres, Cordova, &c. Its European fruits, grapes, figs, pears and apples, are much sought after, and the wool of the vicuna is sent for exportation to Buenos Ayres; its beautiful fawn colour, gloss and softness, rendering it of great value in Spain.
Whatever commercial relation is established between the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres and the kingdom of Chili, the goods must pass through Cuyo; the passage over the Andes being in this government, which, although exceedingly difficult, will one day render it an important district, especially should the trade of China or the east embrace the southern and western shores of America.
The capital of Cujo is the city ofMendoza, in 33° 25' south latitude, and 69° 47' west longitude, in a plain at the foot of the Andes, the environsbeing adorned with plantations, which are watered by means of canals.
It contains four convents, a college, formerly established by the Jesuits, and a church.
A silver mine having been opened in its vicinity, namedUspallata, the number of inhabitants of Mendoza is constantly increasing; at present, they amount to about six thousand, who are employed in these works, or in carrying on a productive trade with Buenos Ayres, in fruits, wool, and wine. The river Mendoza flows by this town, which is fifty leagues from Santiago in Chili, and the district around it contains two silver, one copper, and one lead mines.
The next town of note in Cujo, isSan Juan de la Frontera, forty-five leagues north of Mendoza, in 33° 25' south latitude, and 68° 55' west longitude near the Andes, from which circumstance it is also calledSan Juan de la Cordillera. The neighbourhood of this city, which is washed by the river San Juan, has some gold mines; but its principal trade consists in sending wine, brandy, fruits, and vicuña-wool to Buenos Ayres; the pomegranates of San Juan being greatly esteemed for their size and flavour.
Its population is nearly the same as that of the capital, which it resembles in regard to the number of its public edifices.
Besides these two cities, Cuyo contains the towns ofSan Luis de Loyola, orDe la Punta, Jachal, Vallofertil, Mogua, Concorto, Leonsito, Calingarta, and Pismanta.
San Luis de Loyolais the great thoroughfare for the commerce between Chili, Cujo, and Buenos Ayres; it is situated sixty-two leagues east of Mendoza, and has a church, convent, and college, of the late order of Jesuits. The inhabitants amounting to about 200.
The other towns are of little note or importance, and are at present mere villages.
The fifth and last division of the viceroyalty of La Plata, is—
Which is bounded on the north by the government of St. Paul, in Brazil; on the north-west by the river Parana, which divides it from Paraguay; on the west by the plains of Tucuman; on the east by the Portuguese frontier, which passes south through lake Mini; on the south-west, by the Atlantic Ocean, and the line of demarcation between it and the independent tribes; on the south-east by Cuyo, and on the south, by an imaginary line, passing through the Pampas or Patagonia.
History, &c.—The history of this government is that of the viceroyalty; the most extraordinary part of it being that which relates to the subjugation of the Indians by the Jesuits, who established their principal stations in the country, embraced by the Parana on the north, the Uruguay on the east; and the La Plata on the west and south.
The road for these missionaries was prepared by Alvar Nuñez de Vaca, in 1541, who conquered the country, and named it Vera. Two monks of the order of St. Francis accompanied the governor in his expedition, and laboured very hard to convert the natives, which they succeeded so well in, that others of the same order were soon established in the country, in which they erected chapels and villages. Of these monks, Father Luis de Bolaños was the most zealous; he stayed fifty years among the Guaranies, and made himself master of their language; at last, bent down with age and fatigue, he went to welcome the arrival of some Jesuit brothers, who came to assist him in his labours; these were with difficulty admitted into the country, owing to the aversion of the natives to have any other pastor than the venerable Bolaños. From this time the Jesuits laboured so effectuallyto convert the Indians, that in a very short period, the greater part of the country was in their power; they extended their dominion over Paraguay, and organized the Indians into a well disciplined body of militia, by which means they kept all persons, whether Spaniards or Portuguese, out of their territories.
From Paraguay and Parana, they drew such great revenues, by making their converts work at stated periods in the plantations, &c., that they were enabled not only to supply every thing necessary for the comfort of the people from Europe, but were also enabled to send immense sums to the superiors of their order. The Indians were studiously kept in ignorance of the Spanish language; they were instructed in all sorts of useful arts, and sedulously trained to the fatigues of a military life, being formed into large bodies of cavalry and infantry, and well supplied with arms and ammunition.
Some hundred thousand of Americans were already under the power, and infatuated in their subjection to these fathers, when in 1750, the courts of Madrid and Lisbon, entered into a treaty for the purpose of definitively fixing the boundaries of their respective possessions in the western world.
Commissions were appointed in 1752, to carry this treaty into execution, when on account of the representation of the Jesuits, who were unwilling to allow the new Portuguese limits, a war ensued between the two countries, and the Indians taking an active part against the Portuguese, the court of Lisbon began to entertain suspicions of the real motive of the Jesuits, in forming such extensive governments in America.
From this time, their influence in Europe began to decrease; a trial was instituted against one of the order in France, by some of the merchants concerned in speculations at Martinique which had involved the society in debt; on this trial, theirconstitution and books were examined, and found to contain matter so dangerous to the interests of the kingdom, that it was declared necessary to suppress their order in France, and in the year following, the king of Portugal being assassinated, it was resolved to expel the Jesuits from that kingdom.
This was followed by their expulsion from Spain and Naples, in 1767, and in 1773 Pope Clement XIV. totally abolished the society.
They were exiled from America soon after, and the care of the nations they had converted was given to priests of other orders, but chiefly to the Franciscans, and their government placed in the hands of civil officers, in the same manner as in other parts of America.
On their expulsion from the territories on the banks of the Parana there were discovered in thirty settlements alone, no less than 769,590 horses, 13,900 mules, and 271,540 sheep.
Climate, Features, &c.—The climate of Buenos Ayres is variable according to the situation of the districts on the great Pampas or plains, the heat in summer being scorching, whilst at Buenos Ayres, and in the mountains of Parana or Guayra, the winter is cold.
Nearly the whole of the southern, western, and some of the northern parts of this government consist of wide spread plains, on which immense herds of cattle are fed; the road from the capital to Cuyo lying over one of these levels, called thePampas, which are of an extent that would equal the size of a great European kingdom. On this plain the cattle range unowned and unvalued, being only hunted down occasionally for the sake of their hides and tallow; wild horses also abound in these deserts, and wander about in such troops that travellers are surrounded by them for three weeks together; sometimes they are observed in innumerable quantities passing over the road at full speed for hours at atime, and on these occasions it requires great exertion to prevent being trampled down by them; but the same road is often travelled without one of these creatures being seen.
The plains also abound in cassowaries, partridges, geese, ducks, deer and other game, and are uninhabited by man.
No stages are fixed upon the route to Chili, as it is impossible in parts of it which are covered with sands to preserve a regular tract, and it is also infested with the predatory incursions of the surrounding Indians, the method of travelling is therefore in covered carts, made as commodious as possible, drawn by oxen, and accompanied with horses and mules to carry the baggage and goods; merchants and others performing this journey, set out in companies, and generally in the evening two hours before sun-set, travelling all night till an hour after sun-rise in the morning, after which they rest during the heat of the day, to partake of the provisions they bring with them, or the game they procure on the journey.
In this course their whole dependence is on the compass, which guides them across the vast steppe, and the travelers are exposed to the dangers of being murdered by the Indians, of sinking under the scorching noon-day heat, or of dying for want of water, of which none is to be had, but by mere chance, besides what they carry with them in skins.
The rains which fall in this plain are of short continuance but in great quantity, and when these happen, the conductors never fail to replenish their water bags; but from these rains the caravan becomes drenched through, and not unfrequently the goods and property of the passengers are spoilt.
The westerly winds or pamperos are another source of inquietude to the persons undertaking this fatiguing journey; they sometimes blow with such violence that it becomes utterly impossibleto proceed, as the carriages would inevitably be overturned.
In this government the mountainous parts are chiefly those situated to the north-west of the river Uruguay, and which border on the Portuguese frontiers; they are little known, and are inhabited only by tribes of savage and warlike Indians, who set the missionaries at defiance.
The rivers of Buenos Ayres are the greatLa Plataalready described, theParana, theUruguay, and many others of less note, but generally very large.
TheParanarises in the province of Minas Geraes to the south of the city of Joas del Rey, in Brazil, in some lofty mountains, and runs from north-east to west for 300 leagues, when it joins the Paraguay, receiving in its course innumerable streams; at the distance of 125 leagues from its mouth it has two falls of a tremendous nature, which render it necessary for the boats that navigate it to be carried a short distance over-land. The Parana is a considerable river before it enters the Spanish territories, and after passing the frontiers of Brazil in about 24° 40' it flows in a south-west course through the colonies of the Jesuits, in a country of incomparable fertility and of a delightful aspect. It seldom overflows its banks, owing to the breadth and depth of its channel, and it is much more rapid than the Paraguay as it flows from higher ground: at its junction with the Paraguay it is nearly two miles broad, and incloses innumerable islands, which are overflowed in the annual inundations; but it is not navigable in its whole extent, on account of the two falls and several rapids.
This river was always supposed (and is still conjectured by some geographers) to be the main stream of the great La Plata.
The third great river of Buenos Ayres is theUruguay, which rises about the 28° of south latitude, in the Portuguese province of Rio Grande,among the chain of mountains that run along the coast of the Atlantic. Its course is at first to the west, along a high valley, which is separated from the Parana by an elevated ridge, and it receives so many smaller streams that at eighty miles from its sources it is a large river. The great declivity of the ground over which it has passed gives it so much strength, that after emerging from the mountains it overflows the plain to such an extent, that it requires half an hour's time to cross it in a ten-oared boat, though the current is not very strong. After leaving the mountains at the distance of 690 miles from its mouth it flows through a desert country for a considerable length, and then turning to the south it receives an increase from numberless streams, and enters the La Plata, in the 34° of south latitude.
The banks of the Uruguay are romantic and fertile, after it quits the desert and turns southerly: but it is generally a rapid stream, though navigable for vessels two hundred miles from the La Plata; beyond this it can only be ascended by canoes or rafts, as it is interrupted by frequent falls and rapids.
On the southern confines of Buenos Ayres, the plains are drained by theSaladillo, theHueyque LeuvaorColorado, and theDesaguaderowhich descend from the Andes of Cuyo: but of these rivers very little is known.
The chief town of this government isBuenos Ayres, which, being the metropolis of the viceroyalty, has been already described.
Monte Videois the next city of note in this province; it is situated on the north side of the La Plata, in a small bay twenty leagues west of Cape Santa Maria, in 34° 54' 48" south latitude, and 56° 14' 30" west longitude, and has its name from a mountain that overlooks the place, and on which is a light-house that has a good view to leeward. Monte Video is a very recent town, and waserected on account of its harbour being one of the best on the coast.
It stands on a gentle elevation at the end of a small peninsula, and is completely enclosed with fortifications. The harbour, which is the best in the La Plata, is shoal, and exposed to the north-east winds.
This city is tolerably well built, the houses being generally of one story. The great square contains the cathedral, which is a handsome edifice, the town-house, and the public prison: but the streets are unpaved, and consequently either always dusty or muddy, and the inhabitants experience great inconvenience from the want of water, the spring which furnishes the place being two miles distant.
Its climate is moist; in summer the heat is very great, and the sky is frequently overcast by dreadful storms of thunder, lightning and heavy rain: but the winter is cold, and the air, during the months of June, July and August, keen and piercing.
The vicinity of this city presents an agreeable landscape of hill and valley, interspersed with small rivers; but it wants trees, and so scarce, indeed, is wood, that almost all the houses of Monte-Video are floored with brick. The inhabitants do not attend to the cultivation of the fertile country that surrounds them, their principal property consisting in the numerous herds which feed in the plains towards the Portuguese frontier.
The population of this city is between 15,000 and 20,000 souls, consisting of Spaniards, creoles and slaves.
Its commerce consists in exporting hides, tallow and salted beef; the hides and tallow being sent to Europe, and the salt beef to the Havannah and the West Indies.
Monte-Video was taken by the British in their expedition against Buenos Ayres, and was delivered up by treaty to its ancient masters; sincewhich time it has declared its adherence to the cause of the mother country, and its citizens have had several conflicts with the insurgent government of Buenos Ayres. At present it is garrisoned and held by the Portuguese.
Santa Féis the third city of Buenos Ayres; it is seated at the confluence of the Salado with the La Plata, about ninety leagues north-west of the metropolis. It is of a square form, surrounded with a wall, and tolerably fortified, to preserve it from the attacks of the Indians, who have pillaged it several times, always massacreing the inhabitants. It contains a church and convent. The environs abound in game, and the soil being fertile produces corn, wine and fruits. It is the channel through which the Paraguay tea is sent to Peru, and is, on that account, of considerable importance.
Maldonadoranks as the fourth town of this government. It is situated on the same shore of the La Plata as Monte-Video, in 34° 50' south latitude, and 55° 36' west longitude, 100 miles west of Buenos Ayres, and nine leagues west of Cape Santa Maria, at the entrance of the river, and is a small place, chiefly noted as having a harbour, in which vessels trading to Buenos Ayres sometimes refit.
Las Corrientes, near the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay, on the east bank of the La Plata, 100 leagues north of Santa Fé and 250 of Buenos Ayres, is a small town well situated for the trade between Paraguay, Peru and Buenos Ayres. It contains a church, three convents, and a small population, who are formed into a militia, to defend the place against the Indians. This city is in 27° 32' south latitude, and 57° 50' west longitude. The trade carried on from this place with the capital is by means of the river, in fine tobacco, sugar, yellow wax, Paraguay tea, cotton, cloth and thread.
Colonia del Sacramento, in 34° 22' south latitude, and 57° 52' west longitude, was formerly a place of some importance, as, the small tract of country surrounding it, which is thirty-three miles north-east of Buenos Ayres on the opposite bank of the La Plata, having been colonized by the Portuguese, in 1678, they built a city on it. It was taken from them in 1684, they however recovered it, but were again driven out in 1704, and it was not restored till the peace. In 1706, it was besieged a third time by the Spaniards, with 800 troops and 1500 Indians by land, and with four vessels by sea, but they could make no impression, so strongly was it fortified. It was however taken in 1762, but restored at the subsequent peace; the Spaniards still viewing it with a jealous eye, took it for the last time in 1777, when they destroyed the city and fortifications. Its only importance, at present, consists in its having a tolerable harbour or bay, formed by the river, and it is said, that the Portuguese have again recently occupied it.
The above are the principal towns of this extended government, which contains many others, most of them are however either missionary or military stations; the former abounding on the banks of the Parana and Uraguay, while the latter are chiefly on the north-west, towards the Llanos de Manso and Tucuman, and on the east towards the Portuguese frontier.
The provinces of this government have not been enumerated, they are little known, and many of them are only divisions of the missions, such asGuarania, which extends along the south shores of the Parana, and contains about thirty villages of the Guaranis Indians. On the south-east of Buenos Ayres, the country is namedTuyu; it however contains no Spanish settlements of any importance, and seems to be a tract crossed by a chain of mountains, which divide it from the coast of the Atlantic; much has been written concerning theAbipons, who occupy the north-west corner ofthis government; they appear to be a tribe consisting of about 5000 souls, who are of a very warlike disposition, frequently disturbing the settlements. Their language is distinct from that of the neighbouring nations, and they exist by the chase, preferring the flesh of the jaguar or American tiger to any other animal, and retire to the islands and high trees, when the annual inundations commence in their country. ThePatagonianson the southern frontier have also excited much curiosity; but it seems to be proved beyond a doubt, that they are merely a race of Indians of a stature rather above the middling size, and that they do not differ in their general habits from their neighbours.
The limits of this work will not permit any farther description of the Indian nations who inhabit and surround Buenos Ayres. Of many of them, the Spanish settlers know nothing more than the names, and of the rest, it is observed, that the more the settlements spread, the less the Aborigines are seen, and the thinner their numbers become; most probably owing to the new diseases they acquire, and the more wandering and uncertain life they are obliged to lead; not so the Indians who settle in the missions, their life becoming one of peace and tranquillity, their wants being supplied by their own labour, and not being constantly exposed to the burning sun or chilling rains of the southern regions, their numbers continually increase; and though the Spaniards formerly used very harsh methods, to convert them either to their faith or their profit, it cannot be denied, that they have within the last century, wiped that blot from the historic page, and with a few exceptions, have conduced very materially to the welfare of a race, remarkable for their general inaptitude and unwillingness to assist in bettering their own condition.
Having therefore detailed every subject concerning the extensive governments of the viceroyalty of La Plata, which has been deemed interesting or novel, with the exception only of particular descriptions of the animals which are peculiar to it, and to the other southern regions of America, it now remains for us, only to treat of the last great political division of the Spanish colonies in that country, and in so doing, we shall give a more extended account of some of the most singular zoological objects; as they are equally common to the territory about to be treated of, as to Buenos Ayres.