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SOUTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.

Observations on the Geography and History of the United Provinces.

INCLUDING

NCLUDING Patagonia, the viceroyalty of La Plata was the most important in extent of territory of any of the Spanish governments in America. The provinces of Upper alone (added to it in 1778,) are as extensive as New Grenada, and more so than Lower Peru or Lima, and equal, at least, to the whole of the United States east of the Mississippi. La Plata stretches from the northernmost part of the province of Moxos, in twelve degrees south, to Cape Horn; it extends to the Pacific between Lower Peru and Chili, in the province of Atacama; it is bounded by the Portuguese dominions on the north and east, and separated from Peru by the river Desaguadero, or drain of lake Titicaca; on the east it is washed by the Atlantic, and on the west separated from Chili by the Cordilleras. The only portion of this vast territory which is generally believed to be unfavourable to a numerous population, is what is called the pampas of VOL. II. B

Buenos Ayres: the interior of Patagonia is but little known, and respecting it, different opinions are entertained. After deducting about one-tenth for these plains, the remainder is equal in fertiliy to the Brazils, or any other part of South America; but, at least, one half enjoys a much more delightful climate; lying in temperate latitudes, or from elevation, possessing the same advantages. If peopled in the same proportion as Great Britain, it would contain at least one hundred millions of souls.

From its great length in proportion to its breadth, this country is not to be compared to the Brazils, or the United States, or even to New Spain, as respects the dependence and connection of one part with another; and thus, therefore, not so well suited to the establishment of one entire government. Some of its great rivers open communications with immense tracks of country; an advantage hitherto but little regarded. The three greatest of these on the north, are the Paraguay, whose navigation is equal to that of the Mississippi; the Parana, which may be compared to the Missouri as to its length, and the quantity of water gathered by its numerous branches in Brazil; the Pilcomayo, which may be compared to the Ohio, but a larger river, and watering a country still more extensive and fertile; and although known for three hundred years, and its navigable branches flowing through the richest provinces of Peru, it was never ascertained, until a few years ago, whether it afforded a good navigation to the main stream. It is destined, at some future day, to be the channel of an immense inland trade. To the south of the pampas of Buenos Ayres, the Colorada and Rio Negro will afford the means of transporting, by water, the products of the countries which lie along the eastern base of the

Andes, and which, at present, feel the want of a market, from the expence of transportation by land to Buenos Ayres. In the northern part of the viceroyalty, the great southern branches of the Amazon, seem designed by nature to open a communication to the greater part of Upper Peru with the rest of the world; and a century hence, it will be worth disputing the passage down the great river at present closed by Portugal.

In glancing at the map of this country, it will appear to be naturally divided into six different sections: 1. The part which lies on the east side of the Paraguay; 2. That which lies opposite, on the west side of the same river; 3. The track which stretches along the base of the Cordilleras; 4. The pampas of Buenos Ayres; 5. Patagonia; 6. The provinces of Upper Peru. Under the Spanish government, the viceroyalty was divided into eight intendencies, (a term, for which that of the province has been substituted since the revolution;) but one of these, Paraguay, was situated on the east side of the river; on the west side, there were three, Cordova, Salta, and Buenos Ayres; but some of the districts on the east side of the river, were included within the jurisdiction of the latter; the remainder, Potosi, La Paz, Charcas, Cochabamba, are the upper provinces of Peru.* Several of the subordinate districts are now called provinces, and are represented in the congress, according to their population. There were also two audiencias, or courts of appeal, for the other intendencies, that of

The number of intendencies is variously stated; some speak of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, or Puno, Moxos and Chicquitos; but in the Guia de forasteros, a kind of court calendar, these are only subordinate districts.

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Charcas for the provinces of Peru and that of Buenos Ayres. Each of the intendencies had their train of officers; civil, ecclesiastical, and military. The ecclesiastical, however, did not follow the political divisions; there was the archbishop of Charcas, and six bishops, or suffragans.

Before entering on the description of the first of these sections, I shall say something of the Paraguay river. It takes its source in the mountains of Matto Grosso; a vast number of streams flow from these towards the main channel, but entering the vast plains which stretch across the continent from the Cordilleras of Peru and Chili, its current suddenly diminishes. In latitude seventeen, there is found the celebrated lake Xarayes; if it can be called a lake, which is nothing more than a periodical inundation of the adjacent country, similar to some of the lakes west of the Mississipi;* but it is of extraordinary magnitude; according to Azara, twenty-five leagues in width and one hundred in length. The heavy rains which fall from the month of November to February, in that quarter, fill the channel in such a manner as to overflow its banks. According to the writer just mentioned, this great river, between sixteen and twentytwo degrees south, has not more than a descent of one foot per mile. From this latitude, until its junction with the Parana, the water is sufficiently confined by its banks; which are in some places tolerably high. Here is a singular instance of a river inundating the adjacent country near its head, and afterwards being confined within its channel. There are other smaller

* In my

"Views of Louisiana," I have described the Catahoula Jake, which is precisely similar.