February, 1719, and returned in 1722; the former to Galway in Ireland,
in the beginning of June, the latter to London, on the first of
August.
16. Roggewein, a Mecklenburger, in the Dutch service, sailed the 16th
of July, 1721, and returned the 11th of July, 1723.
17. Lord Anson, 1740-1744.
18. Commodore Byron, 1764-1766.
19. The Dolphin and Swallow sloops. The first 1766-1768. The second
1766-1769.
20. M. de Bougainville, 1766-1769.
21. The Endeavour sloop, captain Cooke, which sailed in August, 1768,
to observe the transit of Venus, came to Batavia the latter end of
1770, and returned to England in July 1771.
From this list, it appears that the English have undertaken the
greatest number of voyages, with a design to make discoveries,
unattended by that selfishness with which most of the Dutch voyages
were entered upon, merely with a view to promote the knowledge of
geography, to make navigation more safe, and likewise to throw further
lights on the study of nature. F.
Footnote 4:
The author is very solicitous to exclude le Gentil de la Barbinais
from the honour of being the first circumnavigator of the French
nation, in order to secure it to himself; though it is a real
circumnavigation. The famous Italian, Giovan Francisco Gemelli
Carreri, cannot with propriety be called a circumnavigator, though he
made the tour of the globe in the years 1693-1698, for he landed in
Mexico, and crossed America by land, and went again to the Manillas by
sea, and from thence to China and Europe on board of other ships. F.
Footnote 5:
Not from the discoverer, but from the ship Eendraght (Concord).
Footnote 6:
The mistakes and omissions of our author in regard to these navigators
of the South Seas, who did not sail round the world, are various and
multifarious; but it would take up too much time to point them all
out; and as there is a very complete list of all the navigators of the
Pacific Ocean, in the _Historical Collection of the several Voyages
and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean_, published by Alex.
Dalrymple, Esq. we refer our readers to it. F.
Footnote 7:
The officers on board the frigate la Boudeuse, were M. de
Bougainville, captain of the ship; Duclos Guyot, captain of a
fire-ship; chevalier de Bournand, chevalier d’Oraison, chevalier du
Bouchage, under-lieutenants (_enseignes de vaisseau_); chevalier de
Suzannet, chevalier de Kué, midshipmen acting as officers; le Corre,
super-cargo (_officier-marchand_); Saint-Germain, ship’s-clerk; la
Veze, the chaplain; la Porte, surgeon.
The officers of the store-ship l’Etoile, consisted of M. M. Chenard de
la Giraudais, captain of a fire-ship; Caro, lieutenant in an
India-man; Donat, Landais, Fontaine, and Lavary-le-Roi, _officiers
marchands_; Michaud, ship’s-clerk; Vivez, surgeon.
There were likewise M. M. de Commerçon, a physician; Verron, an
astronomer, and de Romainville, an engineer.
Footnote 8:
It would be improper to derogate from the merit of any nation, unless
that same nation intends to obtain it by destroying the character of
another. Had Mr. de Bougainville bestowed some encomiums upon the zeal
and courage of the officers under his command, it would be thought
that he were willing to do them justice: but since he, without the
least necessity, casts a reflection upon the English officers in
commodore Byron’s expedition, it is no more but justice to retort the
argument. It is an undeniable proof of the badness of the
constitution, and of the arbitrary government of a country, when a set
of worthy men, who have braved the most imminent danger, with an
undaunted courage, for the welfare of their fellow-citizens, remain
without any reward whatsoever, except that philosophical one, the
consciousness of good and laudable actions. But it is likewise the
best proof of the happiness of the government and constitution of a
country, when merit and virtue is rewarded. These propositions are so
evidently founded on truth, that they want no further confirmation:
and every true Englishman will congratulate himself on the happiness
to live under a government which thinks it a necessary duty to reward
zeal, courage, and virtue, in a set of men who go through their duty
with spirit and chearfulness; and what honour must not redound on an
administration which forces, even a rival nation, to give an
honourable testimony to its attention in justly and conspicuously
rewarding merit in its fellow-citizens, at the same time that these
rivals endeavour to quiet the uneasy minds of their poor dissatisfied
officers, with a vain and empty compliment. F.
Footnote 9:
La flûte.
Footnote 10:
Though the name of this circumnavigator is frequently spelled
Magellan, it is, however, right to spell proper names as they are
written in their original language; according to this rule we shall
always write Magalhaens. F.
Footnote 11:
Land-fall, _atterage_, the first land a ship makes after a sea-voyage.
See Falconer’s Marine Dictionary. F.
-----
_CHAP. II._
_Account of the establishment of the Spaniards in Rio de
la Plata._
[Sidenote: 1767.]
Rio de la Plata, or the river of Plate, does not go by that same name
from its source. [Sidenote: Incertainty concerning the source of this
river.]It is said to spring from the lake Xaragès, near 16° 30′ south,
under the name of Paraguai, which it communicates to the immense extent
of land it passes through. In about 27° it joins with the river Parana,
whose name it takes, together with its waters. It then runs due south to
lat. 34°; where it receives the river Uraguai, and directs its course
eastward, by the name of la Plata, which it keeps to the sea.
The Jesuit geographers, who were the first that attributed the origin of
this great river to the lake of Xaragès, have been mistaken, and other
writers have followed their mistake in this particular. The existence of
this lake, which has been in vain sought for, is now acknowledged to be
fabulous. The marquis of Valdelirais and Don George Menezès, having been
appointed, the one by Spain and the other by Portugal, for settling the
limits between the possessions of these two powers in this country,
several Spanish and Portuguese officers went through the whole of this
portion of America, from 1751 till 1755. Part of the Spaniards went up
the river Paraguai, expecting by this means to come into the lake of
Xaragès; the Portuguese on their part, setting out from Maragosso, a
settlement of theirs upon the inner boundaries of the Brasils, in about
12° south latitude, embarked on a river called Caourou, which the same
maps of the Jesuits marked, as falling into the lake of Xaragès. They
were both much surprised at meeting in the river Paraguai, in 14° S.
latitude, without having seen any lake. They proved, that what had been
taken for a lake, was a great extent of very low grounds, which, during
a certain season, are covered by the inundations of the river.
[Sidenote: Sources of the river Plata.]
The Paraguai, or Rio de la Plata, arises between 5° and 6° S. latitude
nearly in the middle between the two oceans, and in the same mountains
whence the Madera comes, which empties itself into the river of Amazons.
The Parana and Uraguai arise both in the Brasils; the Uraguai in the
captainship of St. Vincent; the Parana near the Atlantic ocean, in the
mountains that lie to the E. N. E. of Rio Janeiro, whence it takes its
course to the westward, and afterwards turns south.
[Sidenote: Date of the first settlements of the Spaniards there.]
The abbé Prevost has given the history of the discovery of the Rio de la
Plata, and of the obstacles the Spaniards met with, in forming the first
settlements they made there. It appears from his account that Diaz de
Solis first entered this river in 1515, and gave his name to it, which
it bore till 1526, when Sebastian Cabot changed it to that of la Plata,
or of Silver, on account of the quantity of that metal he found among
the natives there. Cabot built the fort of Espiritù Santo, upon the
river Tercero, thirty leagues above the junction of the Paraguai and
Uraguai; but this settlement was destroyed almost as soon as it was
constructed.
Don Pedro de Mendoza, great cup-bearer to the emperor, was then sent to
the Rio de la Plata in 1535. He laid the first foundations of Buenos
Ayres, under bad auspices, on the right hand shore of the river, some
leagues below its junction with the Uraguai, and his whole expedition
was a chain of unfortunate events, that did not even end at his death.
The inhabitants of Buenos Ayres, being continually interrupted by the
Indians, and constantly oppressed by famine, were obliged to leave the
place and to retire to Assumption. This town, now the capital of
Paraguai, was founded by some Spaniards, attendants of Mendoza, upon the
western shore of the river, three hundred leagues from its mouth, and
was in a very short space of time considerably enlarged. At length Don
Pedro Ortiz de Zarata, governor of Paraguay, rebuilt Buenos Ayres in
1580, on the same spot where the unhappy Mendoza had formerly laid it
out, and fixed his residence there: the town became the staple to which
European ships resorted, and by degrees the capital of all these tracts,
the see of a bishop, and the residence of a governor-general.
[Sidenote: Situation of the town of Buenos Ayres.]
Buenos Ayres is situated in 34° 35′ south latitude, its longitude is 61°
5′ west from Paris, according to the astronomical observations of father
Feuillée. It is built regular, and much larger than the number of its
inhabitants would require, which do not exceed twenty thousand, whites,
negroes, and mestizos. The way of building the houses gives the town
this great extent; for, if we except the convents, public buildings, and
five or six private mansions, they are all very low, and have no more
than a ground-floor, with vast court-yards, and most of them a garden.
The citadel, which includes the governor’s palace, is situated upon the
shore of the river, and forms one of the sides of the great square,
opposite to which the town-hall is situated; the cathedral and episcopal
palace occupy the two other sides of the square, in which a public
market is daily held.
[Sidenote: This town wants a harbour.]
There is no harbour at Buenos Ayres, nor so much as a mole, to
facilitate the landing of boats. The ships can only come within three
leagues of the town; there they unload their goods into boats, which
enter a little river, named Rio Chuelo, from whence the merchandizes are
brought in carts to the town, which is about a quarter of a league from
the landing-place. The ships which want careening, or take their lading
at Buenos Ayres, go to la Ençenada de Baragon, a kind of port about nine
or ten leagues E. S. E. of this town.
[Sidenote: Religious establishments.]
Buenos Ayres contains many religious communities of both sexes. A great
number of holidays are yearly celebrated by processions and fireworks.
The monks have given the title of Majordomes or Stewards of the founders
of their orders, and of the holy Virgin, to the principal ladies in this
town. This post gives them the exclusive charge of ornamenting the
church, dressing the statue of the tutelar saint, and wearing the habit
of the order. It is a singular sight for a stranger to see ladies of all
ages in the churches of St. Francis and St. Dominique assist in
officiating, and wear the habit of those holy institutors.
The Jesuits have offered a much more austere mode of sanctification than
the former to the pious ladies. Adjoining to their convent, they had a
house, called Casa de los Exercicios de las Mugeres, i. e. the House for
the Exercises of Women. Married and unmarried women, without the consent
of their husbands or parents, went to be sanctified there by a retreat
of twelve days. They were lodged and boarded at the expence of the
community. No man was admitted into this sanctuary, unless he wore the
habit of St. Ignatius; even servant-maids were not allowed to attend
their mistresses thither. The exercises practised in this holy place
were meditation, prayer, catechetical instructions, confession, and
flagellation. They shewed us the walls of the chapel, yet stained with
the blood, which, as they told us, was dispersed by the rods wherewith
penitence armed the hands of these Magdalens.
All men are brothers, and religion makes no distinction in regard to
their colour. There are sacred ceremonies for the slaves, and the
Dominicans have established a religious community of negroes. They have
their chapels, masses, holidays, and decent burials, and all this costs
every negro that belongs to the community only four reals a year. This
community of negroes acknowledges St. Benedict of Palermo, and the
Virgin, as their patrons, perhaps on account of these words of
scripture; “Nigra sum, sed formosa filia Jerusalem.” On the holidays of
these tutelary saints, they chuse two kings, one to represent the king
of Spain, the other the Portugueze monarch, and each of them chooses a
queen. Two bands, armed and well dressed, form a procession, and follow
the kings, marching with the cross, banners, and a band of music. They
sing, dance, represent battles between the two parties, and repeat
litanies. This festivity lasts from morning till night, and the sight of
it is diverting.
[Sidenote: Environs of Buenos Ayres, and their productions.]
The environs of Buenos Ayres are well-cultivated. Most of the
inhabitants of that city have their country-houses there, called
Quintas, furnishing all the necessaries of life in abundance. I except
wine, which they get from Spain, or from Mandoza, a vineyard about two
hundred leagues from Buenos Ayres. The cultivated environs of this city
do not extend very far; for at the distance of only three leagues from
the city, there are immense fields, left to an innumerable multitude of
horses and black cattle. One scarce meets with a few scattered huts, on
crossing this vast country, erected not so much with a view of
cultivating the soil, as rather to secure the property of the ground, or
of the cattle upon it to their several owners. Travellers, who cross
this plain, find no accommodations, and are obliged to sleep in the same
carts they travel in, and which are the only kind of carriages made use
of on long journeys here. Those who travel on horseback are often
exposed to lie in the fields, without any covering.
[Sidenote: Abundance of cattle.]
The country is a continued plain, without other forests than those of
fruit trees. It is situated in the happiest climate, and would be one of
the most fertile in the world in all kinds of productions, if it were
cultivated. The small quantity of wheat and maize which is sown there,
multiplies by far more than in our best fields in France.
Notwithstanding these natural advantages, almost the whole country lies
neglected, as well in the neighbourhood of the Spanish settlements, as
at the greatest distance from them; or, if by chance you meet with any
improvements, they are generally made by negro-slaves. Horses and horned
cattle are in such great abundance in these plains, that those who drive
the oxen before the carts, are on horseback; and the inhabitants, or
travellers, when pressed by hunger, kill an ox, take what they intend to
eat of it, and leave the rest as a prey to wild dogs and tygers[12],
which are the only dangerous animals in this country.
The dogs were originally brought from Europe: the ease with which they
are able to get their livelihood in the open fields, has induced them to
leave the habitations, and they have encreased their species
innumerably. They often join in packs to attack a wild bull, and even a
man on horseback, when they are pressed by hunger. The tygers are not
numerous, except in woody parts, which are only to be found on the banks
of rivulets. The inhabitants of these countries are known to be very
dexterous in using nooses; and it is fact, that some Spaniards do not
fear to throw a noose, even upon a tyger; though it is equally certain
that some of them unfortunately became the prey of these ravenous
creatures. At Montevideo, I saw a species of tyger-cat, whose hairs were
pretty long, and of a whitish grey. The animal is very low upon its
legs, about five feet long, fierce, and very scarce.
[Sidenote: Scarcity of wood; means of remedying it.]
Wood is very dear at Buenos Ayres, and at Montevideo. In the
neighbourhood of these places, are only some little shrubs, hardly fit
for fuel. All timber for building houses, and constructing and refitting
the vessels that navigate in the river, comes from Paraguai in rafts. It
would, however, be easy to get all the timber for constructing the
greatest ships from the upper parts of the country. From Montegrande,
where they have the finest wood, it might be transported in single round
stems, through the river Ybicui, into the Uraguai, and from the
Salto-Chico of the Uraguai, some vessels made on purpose for this use,
might bring it to such places upon the river, where docks were built.
[Sidenote: Account of the natives of this country.]
The Indians, who inhabit this part of America, north and south of the
river de la Plata, are of that race called by the Spaniards Indios
bravos.—They are middle-sized, very ugly, and afflicted with the itch.
They are of a deep tawny colour, which they blacken still more, by
continually rubbing themselves with grease. They have no other dress
than a great cloak of roe-deer skins, hanging down to their heels, in
which they wrap themselves up. These skins are very well dressed; they
turn the hairy side inwards, and paint the outside with various colours.
The distinguishing mark of their cacique is a band or strap of leather,
which is tied round his forehead; it is formed into a diadem or crown,
and adorned with plates of copper. Their arms are bows and arrows; and
they likewise make use of nooses and of balls[13]. These Indians are
always on horseback, and have no fixed habitations, at least not near
the Spanish settlements. Sometimes they come with their wives to buy
brandy of the Spaniards; and they do not cease to drink of it, till they
are so drunk as not to be able to stir. In order to get strong liquors,
they sell their arms, furs, and horses; and having disposed of all they
are possessed of, they seize the horses they can meet with near the
habitations, and make off. Sometimes they come in bodies of two or three
hundred men, to carry off the cattle from the lands of the Spaniards, or
to attack the caravans of travellers. They plunder and murder, or carry
them into slavery. This evil cannot be remedied: for, how is it possible
to conquer a nomadic nation, in an immense uncultivated country, where
it would be difficult even to find them: besides, these Indians are
brave and inured to hardships; and those times exist no longer, when one
Spaniard could put a thousand Indians to flight.
[Sidenote: Race of robbers, settled on the north side of the river.]
A set of robbers united into a body, a few years ago, on the north side
of the river, and may become more dangerous to the Spaniards than they
are at present, if efficacious measures are not taken to destroy them.
Some malefactors escaped from the hands of justice, retired to the north
of the Maldonadoes; some deserters joined them; their numbers encreased
insensibly; they took wives from among the Indians, and founded a race
of men who live upon robberies. They make inroads, and carry off the
cattle in the Spanish possessions, which they conduct to the boundaries
of the Brasils, where they barter it with the Paulists[14], against arms
and clothes. Unhappy are the travellers that fall into their hands. They
are now, it is said, upwards of six hundred in number, have left their
first habitation, and are retired much further to the north-west.
[Sidenote: Extent of the government de la Plata.]
The governor-general of the province de la Plata resides, as I have
already mentioned, at Buenos Ayres. In all matters which do not concern
the marine, he is reckoned dependent upon the viceroy of Peru; but the
great distance between them almost annuls this dependency, and it only
exists in regard to the silver, which he is obliged to get out of the
mines of Potosi; this, however, will no longer be brought over in
shapeless pieces, as a mint has been established this year at Potosi.
The particular governments of Tucuman and Paraguai (the principal
settlements of which are Santa-Fé, Corrientes, Salta, Tujus, Cordoua,
Mendoza, and Assumption) are dependent, together with the famous
missions of the Jesuits, upon the governor-general of la Plata. This
vast province contains, in a word, all the possessions of the Spaniards,
east of the Cordilleras, from the river of Amazons to the straits of
Magalhaens. It is true, there is no settlement south of Buenos Ayres;
and nothing but the necessity of providing themselves with salt, induces
the Spaniards to penetrate into those parts. For this purpose a convoy
of two hundred carts, escorted by three hundred men, sets out every year
from Buenos Ayres, and goes to the latitude of forty degrees, to load
the salt in lakes near the sea, where it is naturally formed. Formerly
the Spaniards used to send schooners to the bay of St. Julian, to fetch
salt.
I shall speak of the missions in Paraguay when I come to the second
voyage, which some circumstances obliged us to make again into the river
of la Plata; I shall then enter into the account of the expulsion of the
Jesuits, of which we were witnesses.
The commerce of the province de la Plata is less profitable than any in
Spanish America; this province produces neither gold nor silver, and its
inhabitants are not numerous enough to be able to get at all the other
riches which the soil produces and contains. The commerce of Buenos
Ayres itself is not in the same state it was in about ten years ago; it
is fallen off considerably, since the trade by land is no longer
permitted; that is, since it has been prohibited to carry European goods
by land from Buenos Ayres to Peru and Chili; so that the only objects of
the commerce with these two provinces are, at present, cotton, mules,
and maté, or the Paraguay-herb[15]. The money and interest of the
merchants at Lima have obtained this order, against which those of
Buenos Ayres have complained. The law-suit is carried on at Madrid, and
I know not how or when it will be determined. However, Buenos Ayres is a
very rich place: I have seen a register-ship sail from thence, with a
million of dollars on board; and if all the inhabitants of this country
could get rid of their leather or skins in Europe, that article alone
would suffice to enrich them. [Sidenote: Colony of Santo Sacramento.]
Before the last war, they carried on a prodigious contraband-trade with
the colony of Santo Sacramento, a place in the possession of the
Portuguese, upon the left side of the river, almost directly opposite
Buenos Ayres. But this place is now so much surrounded by the new works,
erected by the Spaniards, that it is impossible to carry on any illicit
trade with it, unless by connivance; even the Portuguese, who inhabit
the place, are obliged to get their subsistence by sea from the Brasils.
In short, this station bears the same relation to Spain here, as
Gibraltar does in Europe; with this difference only, that the former
belongs to the Portuguese, and the latter to the English.
[Sidenote: Account of the town of Montevideo.]