Río de la Plata

“ It will hardly be credited that water is an expen [Pg 41] sive article within fifty yards of the Plata, but so it is; nothing can be worse than the ordinary supply of it. That obtained from the wells is brackish and bad, and there are no public cisterns or reservoirs, although the city is so slightly elevated above the river, that nothing would be easier than to keep it continually provided by the most ordinary artificial means. ”

“ There are no roads that can be utilized by commerce, and only the waterways exist to give access to the outside world.
Brazil is a land of great water-courses. It not only has within its borders the greatest river in the world, but it also possesses several rivers which form the chief tributaries of the Rio de la Plata, another of the most extensive fluvial systems in the world. ”

“ De Garay founds Santa Fé, and meets with Spaniards from Peru. His subsequent Deeds and Death. The Government of the Rio de la Plata separated from that of Paraguay, and Santa Fé annexed to Buenos Ayres. Its former prosperity, and great capabilities, especially for Steam Navigation. The Entre Rios—constituted a Province in 1814, its Extent, Government, and Population—chiefly a grazing Country. Corrientes—its valuable natural Productions—mistaken ideas of the people as to Foreign Trade. The Lake Ybera—Pigmies, Ants, Ant-Eaters, Locusts, and Beetles. ”

“ Two Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces: being an Account of the Natural Products of the Country, and Habits of the People; with a Historical Retrospect of the Rio de la Plata, Monte Video, and Corrientes. By William Mac Cann, Author of the Present Position of Affairs on the River Plate. ”

“ In old times, not only were the rich and populous provinces of Bolivia exclusively supplied through the Rio de la Plata with all such articles as they wanted from Europe, but they took from the lower provinces a variety of useful productions of their own, for all which they paid in gold and silver. Of mules alone upwards of 60,000 were annually sent to Potosi from the provinces of Tucuman and Santa Fé. ”

“ Its principal tributaries afterwards are the Gualeguaychú, from the province of Entre Rios, and the Negro, the largest river of the Banda Oriental, soon after the junction of which it falls into the Plata with the Paranã, in about 34° south latitude. Flowing through a country the geological formation of which totally differs from that through which the Paraguay takes its course, its navigation is broken by many reefs and falls, only passable when the waters are at their highest, during the periodical foods, or by portages in the dry season. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It cannot be expected that, in a country so uniformly level as the pampas, sections of sufficient depth will frequently occur to exhibit the underlying strata. They must be looked for at the outlying extremities of the formation, where the upper bed thins out,—to use a geological term. Now there is nothing that I know of to interrupt the uniformity of the stratum between the southern shore of the Plata on the one side, and the eastern base of the Andes on the other, and at both these extremes marine remains are strikingly exhibited. ”

“ South of the San Juan range, and somewhat isolated, is the noble La Plata group of mountains. They are volcanic, like the rest, and, of course, of Alpine appearance, while their slopes, lying far south, produce so many varieties of foliage, that they often present real bits of beauty—a word having rare application in Colorado’s scenery. These mountains were prospected eight or ten years ago, and a placer bar of supposed extraordinary value was found near the head of the Rio La Plata by a company of California miners. ”

“ Though edited with notes and explanations by the gallant Captain, afterwards Sir Richard Burton, [2] these have not thrown the necessary light to show the motive of Stade’s voyage, nor other circumstances essential to form a clear and precise idea how this other German adventurer is entitled to a place in the history of the Province of the Rio de la Plata as well as in that of the conquest of Brazil. ”

“ As far as we are yet acquainted with it, the whole of that vast level called the pampas, reaching [Pg 164] from the eastern terminations of the Andes to the shores of the Plata, appears to be one immense bed of alluvium tranquilly deposited during the imperceptible lapse of ages; the delta perhaps, not of one, but of numerous rivers, originating in a once more general diffusion of the waters from the Andes before their courses were defined by their present channels. ”

“ Its tributaries from the opposite side are, though perhaps more important, less numerous, the surface of the country being more level; of these the Jaurú is the first of any consequence, the sources of which are close to those of the Guaporé, which runs in the opposite direction into the Madera and Amazons. The short portage which intervenes between the heads of these rivers is all that breaks a continuous water-course from the mouths of the Amazons to that of the Plata, as will be seen on reference to the map. ”

“ Upon the whole, the River Plate has been decidedly the most important of all the markets which have been opened to us for the sale of British manufactures in Spanish America. It takes off a much larger quantity of them than either Mexico, Columbia, or Peru; and although it would appear on the face of the official returns that of late years [Pg 353] an equal or rather larger amount has been sent to Chile, the truth is, that a considerable part of those shipments were in reality destined for the southern ports of Peru, and the west coast of Mexico. ”

“ My trip of 15,000 miles (including the run up the Parana) occupied me very little over three months, during which time I visited all the important sea ports of Brazil, Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, &c., spending a fortnight in Rio, and about the same time in the La Plata. The ‘Brazileira’s’ entire voyage occupied seventy-three days, including eighteen days’ stoppages, clearly proving that it is only a question of time for these valuable countries to be brought within the scope of a pleasure trip. ”

“ The province of Chayantas begins fifty leagues north-west of La Plata, extending for about forty leagues. This district is famous for its silver mines, of which it contains three, with one of copper, one of tin, and two of lead; and the Rio Grande which flows through it deposits auriferous particles in its bed. The cattle in this province are barely sufficient to feed the inhabitants, who are not numerous. ”

“ SE. of Buenos Ayres city; rapidly built, it has continued to grow, and has now some handsome buildings, a college, and cotton and woollen manufactures; a canal connects it with the La Plata River.
La Plata River, a broad estuary in South America, from 28 to 140 m. broad and 200 m. long, with Uruguay on the N. and the Argentine Republic on the S., through which the Uruguay and Paraná rivers pour into the Atlantic; it is much exposed to storms; its best harbour is at Monte Video. ”

“ There is little maize in this country on account of the cold, but there is no want of other provision by which the people are sustained. There are some islands and rocks in the lake, where the Indians form garrisons in time of war, and are thus safe from their enemies. Concerning the water which flows from this lake, it is held for certain that it forms the source of the famous river of La Plata, because it becomes a powerful river in the valley of Xauxa, and further on it is joined by the rivers of Parcos, Vilcas, Abancay, Apurimac, and Yucay. ”

“ Many smaller streams discharge into the Paraguay and Paraná from the west, some of them wholly dependent upon the rains, and drying up during long droughts. The Argentine “mesopotamia” is well watered by a large number of small streams flowing north and west into the Paraná, and east into the Uruguay. The largest of these are the Corrientes, Feliciano and Gualeguay of the western slope, and the Aguapey and Miriñay of the eastern. None of the tributaries of the La Plata system thus far mentioned is navigable except the lower Pilcomayo and Bermejo for a few miles. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A few days' further steaming and they arrived at the harbor of Buenos Ayres, where the two great rivers, the Uruguay and the Parana, unite to form the wide sheet of water called the river La Plata. It was night when the Barbadoes dropped her anchor, and it was not until the morning that they obtained their first view of their future home. ”

“ La Plata is essentially a thing of the New World. It is not a town that has grown. It has been made, or, more correctly, it has been nearly made, and stopped short temporarily for lack of funds. It is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Ayres, which in 1881, under the policy of President Roca, became a distinct entity from the newly created federal district of Buenos Ayres. ”

“ La Plata, the other port which lies about fifteen miles farther down the estuary of the Plate than the capital, has proved a dismal failure. Much money has been wasted in the attempt to make a port for the capital at this spot; but, in spite of its wide streets and imposing buildings, the city has a neglected, desolate aspect, few persons cross its grass-grown streets, and the whole place is a good instance of the Nemesis which overtakes extravagant hopes. ”

“ It had been reported in the papers of the day, at New York, previous to our sailing, that the Portuguese had declared war against the patriots of the La Plata, had seized on Monte Video, and were blockading the port of Buenos Ayres. On Sunday morning, eighty two days out, we passed Monte Video, in full sight, with a stiff breeze. The day was bright and beautiful, and the appearance of this [9] walled city as we were borne along upon the bosom of the majestic La Plata, was to us, who so long had seen nothing but the ocean and the sky, highly gratifying. ”

“ The Bajada is the capital of Entre Rios. In 1825 the town contained 6000 inhabitants, and the province 30,000; yet, few as the inhabitants are, no province has suffered more from bloody and desperate revolutions. They boast here of representatives, ministers, a standing army, and governors: so it is no wonder that they have their revolutions. At some future day this must be one of the richest countries of La Plata. The soil is varied and productive; and its almost insular form gives it two grand lines of communication by the rivers Parana and Uruguay. ”

“ The features of the country are very similar along the whole northern bank of the Plata. The only difference is, that here the granitic hills are a little bolder. The scenery is very uninteresting; there is scarcely a house, an enclosed piece of ground, or even a tree, to give it an air of cheerfulness. Yet, after being imprisoned for some time in a ship, there is a charm in the unconfined feeling of walking over boundless plains of turf. ”

“ THE ISLANDS OF JUAN FERNANDEZ, WHERE ALEXANDER SELKIRK WAS FOUND
Account of the River La Plata. the Water, that tho drunk in great quantities even after raw Fruit, helps Digestion, and never does any hurt. The Plains about this River are so large and even, without any Obstruction to the Sight, that the Sun seems to rise and set in them. Their way of travelling in those Plains is by high Carts cover’d with Hoops and Cows-Hides like our Waggons, with Conveniency for Travellers to sleep in the bottom; which is so much the better, because they travel most by night to avoid the Heat. ”