[Illustration: GLYPTODON.]
BUENOS AYRES,
AND
THE PROVINCES OF THE
RIO DE LA PLATA:
THEIR PRESENT STATE, TRADE, AND DEBT;
WITH SOME ACCOUNT FROM ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS OF THE PROGRESS
OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY IN THOSE PARTS OF SOUTH
AMERICA DURING THE LAST SIXTY YEARS.
BY
SIR WOODBINE PARISH, K.C.H.,
F.R.S., G.S., VICE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON,
MANY YEARS HIS MAJESTY'S CHARGE D'AFFAIRS AT BUENOS AYRES.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1839.
LONDON:
Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS,
Stamford Street.
INTRODUCTION.
The greater part of the materials for this volume were collected
during a long official residence in the country to which they relate:
containing, as I believe they do, some information which may be
interesting, if not useful, I feel that I ought not to withhold them
from the public, in whose service they were obtained.
The chapters which give an account of the settlements made by the old
Spaniards on the coast of Patagonia, and of the explorations of the
Pampas south of Buenos Ayres, both by them and their successors in the
present century, will be found to throw some new light on the progress
of geographical discovery in that part of the world. Our occupation
of the Falkland Islands, in the first instance, and the work shortly
afterwards published by Falkner in this country, pointing out the
defenceless state of Patagonia, joined to the enterprising character
of the British voyages of discovery about the same period, appears
to have stimulated the Spaniards, in alarm lest we should forestall
them, to examine their coasts, to explore their rivers, and to found
settlements, of which every record was concealed from public view, lest
the world at large should become better acquainted with possessions,
all knowledge of which it was their particular care and policy to
endeavour to keep to themselves.
Thus, though Spain, at an enormous cost, acquired some better
information relative to countries over which she claimed a nominal
sovereignty, the results were not suffered to transpire, but remained
locked up in the secret archives of the viceroys and of the council of
the Indies; where probably they would have been hidden to this day had
not the South Americans assumed the management of their own affairs.
In the confusion which followed the deposition of the Spanish
authorities, the public archives appear to have been ransacked with
little ceremony, and many documents of great interest were lost, or
fell into the hands of individuals who, like collectors of rarities in
other parts of the world, showed anything but a disposition to share
them with the public at large. I will not say that this was always
the case, but the feeling prevailed to a sufficient extent to enhance
materially the value of those which were either offered for sale or
obtainable by other means.
Some few individuals were actuated by a different spirit, amongst whom
I ought especially to name Dr. Segurola, the fellow-labourer with Dean
Funes in his historical essay upon the provinces of La Plata, whose
valuable collection of MSS. (from which that work was principally
compiled) was always accessible to his friends, and to whom I have
to acknowledge my own obligations for leave to take copies of many
an interesting paper. Others, also, whom I do not name, will I trust
not the less accept my thanks for the facilities they afforded me
for obtaining such information as I required. The government, I must
say, was always liberal, in giving me access to the old archives, and
in permitting me to transcribe documents[1] which I could not have
obtained from other quarters.
With these facilities, and by purchase, I found myself, by the time
I quitted South America, in possession of a considerable collection
of MS. maps and of unedited papers respecting countries of which the
greater part of the world is, I believe, in almost absolute ignorance.
Amongst the most interesting perhaps of these I may mention--
The original Diaries of Don Juan de la Piedra, sent out from Spain, in
1778, to explore the coasts of Patagonia.
A series of papers drawn up by his successors the Viedmas, the founders
of the settlements at San Julian and on the Rio Negro.
The original Journal of Don Basilio Villariño, who, in 1782, explored
the great river Negro, from its mouth in lat. 41° to the foot of the
Andes, within three days' journey of Valdivia, on the shores of the
Pacific.
The Narrative, by Don Luis de la Cruz, of his Journey through the
territory of the Indians and the unexplored parts of the Pampas, from
Antuco, in the south of Chili, to Buenos Ayres, in 1806.
The Diary of Don Pedro Garcia's Expedition to the Salinas, in 1810,
given me by my most estimable friend, his son, Don Manuel.
Together with a variety of other unpublished accounts of the Indian
territories south of Buenos Ayres, principally collected by order of
that government, with a view to the extension of their frontiers.
The substance of these papers, all which relate to the southern and
least known parts of the New Continent, will be found in Chapters VII.,
VIII., and IX.
Respecting the eastern or Littorine provinces of the Republic, as
I have ventured to call them, the most valuable data existing are,
first, those collected by the Jesuits, and next, the various reports
and memoirs drawn up by the officers employed to fix the boundaries
under the treaties between Spain and Portugal of 1750 and 1777. The
especial qualifications of the individuals, particularly of those
employed in the last case, the length of time spent upon the service
(more than twenty years), and the enormous expenses incurred by Spain
in the endeavour to complete that survey, led to a large accumulation
of invaluable geographical data respecting extensive ranges of country
never before properly examined, much less described.
Nor were the labours of the officers in question confined to the
frontiers. They fixed, as I have stated in Chapter VIII., all the
principal points in the province of Buenos Ayres, made surveys of
the great rivers Paranã and Uruguay, and of their most important
tributaries; and drew up many notices of great interest respecting the
countries bordering upon the higher parts of the Paraguay, which the
pretensions of the Portuguese in that direction rendered it requisite
for them to explore with more than ordinary care and attention[2].
M. Walckenaer's publication at Paris, in 1809, of the Travels of
Don Felix Azara, one of the King of Spain's commissioners on that
service, contains a general review of the labours of those officers,
and is perhaps the best work in print upon the countries which it
describes; still it can only be regarded as a very imperfect sketch of
the information collected by one of many able men employed upon that
particular service.
Another of the commissioners, Don Diego Alvear, drew up an historical
and geographical work upon the provinces of Paraguay and the Missions,
quite equal in interest, if not more so, than that by Azara, for a MS.
copy of which I have to thank his son, the present General Alvear.
Colonel Cabrer, the only surviving officer of all those employed on
this important survey, was living during the time I was at Buenos
Ayres, and for many years had, to my knowledge, been engaged in drawing
up an elaborate account of the whole progress of the survey from first
to last; in his possession I saw a complete set of all the beautiful
maps executed by the Spanish officers, the originals of which are
deposited at Madrid. He is lately dead, and I understand that the
authorities of Buenos Ayres have been in treaty for the purchase of his
papers, which will be of the greatest importance, not only to them, but
to the governments of the Banda Oriental, of Paraguay, and of Bolivia,
whenever the time comes, as it must ere long, for definitively fixing
their respective boundaries with Brazil. I considered myself fortunate
in obtaining copies of several detached portions of these surveys, and
particularly of an original map, drawn from them by Colonel Cabrer
himself for General Alvear, when commanding-in-chief in the Banda
Oriental in 1827.
There is no doubt that, so far as the Spanish frontiers extended,
these maps are the best existing data respecting the countries which
they delineate: on the other hand, we must look to the Portuguese
authorities for materials for the adjoining provinces of Brazil. The
most perfect map of that part of the continent perhaps ever made
was drawn at Rio de Janeiro in 1827, for the use of the Marquis of
Barbacena, when appointed to command the Emperor's army in the war
with Buenos Ayres, and was taken with his baggage at the battle of
Ituzaingo, and afterwards given to me. It comprises, on a large scale,
all the country lying east of the Uruguay, from the Island of St.
Catharine's to the River Plate. On my return to England I placed it
in the hands of Mr. John Arrowsmith, with the rest of my geographical
materials.
As regards the greater part of the interior provinces west of the
Paraguay, the information obtainable is very imperfect; indeed of some
vast portions of those regions, it may be said that nothing but the
general courses of the principal rivers is as yet known. The immense
tract called the Gran-Chaco is still in possession of aboriginal
tribes, and other extensive districts are inhabited by people who,
though of a different race, seem little beyond them in civilization.
It was not the policy of Spain to take the trouble of accurately
examining her colonial possessions, except when obliged to do so in
furtherance of measures of self-defence, or in the expectation of some
profitable return in the precious metals, the primary objects of her
solicitude: and, but that the high road from Potosi to Buenos Ayres
ran through them, I believe in Europe we should hardly have known,
till recently, even the names of the capital towns of the intermediate
provinces: it is only since their independence that they have brought
themselves into notice, and that any information has been acquired of
the nature and importance of their native products.
When I arrived at Buenos Ayres in 1824, in hopes of obtaining the
best existing accounts of their statistics, I addressed myself to
the governors themselves; and I have every reason to believe, under
the circumstances, that they were desirous to meet my wishes. I
received from them all the most civil assurances to that effect; but,
excepting from the Entre Rios, Cordova, La Rioja, and Salta, I found
the authorities themselves utterly unable to communicate anything of a
definite or satisfactory nature; and, although they promised to set to
work to collect what I asked for, I soon found they had most of them
other matters on hand which had more urgent calls on their attention.
Of the information which I did so obtain, the most complete by far was
from General Arenales, the Governor of Salta, who not only forwarded
to me an interesting report upon the extent and various productions
of that province, but, what I less expected, a very fair map of it,
drawn by his own son Colonel Arenales; an individual who has since
distinguished himself amongst his countrymen by the publication of a
work[3] wherein he has with great pains collected all the information
he could obtain to elucidate the geography and capabilities of a
province which nature seems to have destined to be one of the most
important of the Argentine Republic. Were his good example followed
by equally intelligent individuals in other parts of the interior,
the natives, as well as foreigners, would be greatly assisted in
learning not only what are the productions of their own country, but
in what manner they might be rendered available in furtherance of its
prosperity.
He has done his duty, and rendered a service to his country, by
pointing out the great importance of the possibility, now proved beyond
a doubt, of navigating the river Vermejo throughout its whole course,
from Oran in the heart of the continent to its junction with the
Paranã, and thence to the ocean.
Mr. Arrowsmith has adopted his delineation of the course of that
river, as laid down from the diary of Cornejo, who descended it in
1790. Soria, who came down it in 1826, was deprived of all his papers
in Paraguay; and although, on reaching Buenos Ayres, five years
afterwards, he not only published a short account of his voyage, but
a map also to illustrate it, being entirely from memory, it is little
to be depended upon; neither is it reconcilable with the distance from
Oran to the Paraguay, as estimated either by himself or Cornejo.
Of Soria's voyage, besides his own account, I had a much more full
and curious narrative from an Englishman of the name of Luke Cresser,
who was one of the party, and whose personal adventures would form
an entertaining episode in any history of that enterprise. He was a
Yorkshireman by birth, and originally a watchmaker, in which trade,
after making a little money at Buenos Ayres, he had found his way into
the upper provinces, and had finally become a grower of tobacco in the
province of Oran. Having a large stock on hand about the time Soria
was about to descend the Vermejo, he was induced to ship it, and to
embark with him for Buenos Ayres. He was of the greatest service to the
party on the voyage, and was severely wounded, in the skirmish they had
with the Indians, by an arrow, which pierced his arm, and occasioned
him much and long suffering afterwards. On reaching the Paraguay, had
Soria listened to his urgent advice and entreaties, he never would have
placed himself in Dr. Francia's power; for which, indeed, there does
not appear to have been the slightest necessity. When the vessel was
detained by that despot's orders, Cresser, like the rest, was stripped
of all he possessed; and, after much suffering, was sent to Villa
Real,--a wretched establishment on the Paraguay, about 150 miles above
Assumption.
There, whilst his companions were bewailing their fate, the more
enterprising Englishman obtained leave to proceed into the interior
to the forests, where the yerba or tea is gathered, to work for his
livelihood; and with such success, that, from beginning without a
dollar of his own, by the time he was allowed to leave Paraguay, five
years afterwards, he found himself in comparative affluence; and,
though only permitted by the dictator to carry out of the country a
portion of the yerba he had by his industry collected, he had still
enough left when he sailed for Buenos Ayres to compensate him for the
loss of all the tobacco with which he had originally sailed from Oran.
The narrative of this person contains such curious details, not only
respecting his residence in Paraguay, but also regarding the country
about Oran, where he had passed some years previously to his voyage
with Soria down the Vermejo, that I have thought it worth communicating
to the Geographical Society for insertion, if they please, at length,
in one of their periodical journals.
If it was difficult to collect the most ordinary statistical data
relative to the interior, it may easily be supposed how much more so
it was to obtain information of any interest in a scientific point
of view; nevertheless, in this respect, I was not altogether without
resources; and the accidental residence of two or three observing and
intelligent individuals of our own countrymen in the remotest parts of
these widely-spread regions laid open to me sources of information even
upon such matters as I little expected. The results of that portion of
my correspondence will be found in various parts of this Volume, where
I have had the satisfaction of acknowledging my obligations to the
individuals from whom they were derived.
From the materials to which I have above alluded, and other papers
in my possession, my original intention was to have attempted a work
of a more extensive nature; but any necessity for this has been since
superseded by the publication, which has been commenced by M. de
Angelis, at Buenos Ayres, under the auspices of the Government, of an
extensive collection of unedited historical documents relative to the
provinces of La Plata.
In the course of the last three years five folio volumes, and portions
of two more, have already appeared, in which not only many of the most
interesting of the papers in my own collection are given, but a variety
of others throwing great light upon the history and geography of the
countries to which they relate[4].
I cannot hesitate to say that it is infinitely the most important and
interesting publication which has as yet appeared in any of the new
states of Spanish America, to the great credit of the enlightened
editor, who has illustrated it with his own learned notes and
observations, the fruits of a long study of the history of his adopted
country.
Upon the appearance of the first volumes I gave up my own design, as a
work of supererogation where one so much more valuable was attainable.
It became however manifest, as M. de Angelis' work proceeded, that its
extent would rather render it available as a book of reference and
authority than for general purposes; and, as it was in the Spanish
language, particularly so for the general purposes of English readers.
I was again, therefore, induced to resume my task, though with the
essential change in its character from my original plan, to the brief
and general sketch of the Republic, and of the progress of geography
in that part of the world during the last 60 years, which now appears;
referring those who desire more detailed information to the invaluable
collection of original memoirs now in course of publication by Don
Pedro de Angelis: it has been of great use to me in enabling me to
complete my own chain of information, as indeed it must be to any one
who pretends to give any account of the part of the world of which the
documents it contains may be said now to constitute the original and
authenticated historical records.
To M. de Angelis I am also indebted for the copy of a MS. map, by Don
Alvarez de Condarco, in which are laid down not only a recent journey
of his own in 1837, to examine the mines in the Indian territory south
of the Diamante, but the several marches of the troops, detached from
Mendoza, in 1833, to co-operate with the forces from Buenos Ayres under
General Rosas, in the general attack made upon the native tribes. I had
already received, as I have mentioned in Chapter IX., through my friend
Don Manuel Garcia, a map drawn by General Pacheco, showing the march
of the principal division of that army, along the banks of the River
Negro, from the Islands of Choleechel to the junction of the Neuquen.
The routes in question have been very material to the laying down of
the true courses of some of the many rivers which constitute the most
important, though hitherto undescribed, features of that part of the
continent:--and it is satisfactory to find that they are strikingly
corroborative of the accounts, as far as they go, which I had already
cited as given both by Villariño, by Don Luis de la Cruz, and our own
countryman, Dr. Gillies.
Thus far I have spoken of my geographical materials:--they will be
found embodied in the accompanying map of the Republic by Mr. John
Arrowsmith, who has spared no time or labour in its construction. In
this he has also availed himself of the invaluable recent survey of
Captain FitzRoy, to give the whole of the line of coast upon the very
best authority. In the interior the various routes, which appear now
for the first time collected together, have been all re-protracted from
the original sources of information, whilst a careful re-examination of
the labours of the Boundary Commissioners and of other authenticated
authorities has enabled him to correct many errors of position which
had crept, I hardly know how, into the latest maps, not excepting those
compiled in the topographical department of Buenos Ayres.
Upon the whole, although we have yet a vast deal to learn before
any perfect map can be drawn of this extensive portion of the new
continent, I trust that the present attempt will be regarded as no
slight improvement upon our old geography of that part of the world[5].
I regret that I lost, during my residence at Buenos Ayres, the
opportunity of making what too late I learnt would have been very
acceptable additions to our zoological collections; but I never
imagined that our public museums were so entirely destitute, as I
found them upon my return, of specimens of the commonest objects of
natural history, from a country with which we had been so many years
in, I may say, almost daily intercourse. Mr. Darwin, and the officers
of His Majesty's ship Beagle, have since done much to supply these
deficiencies; but we still want, I believe, specimens of by far the
greater part of the birds and beasts of which Azara gave us the
description nearly forty years ago. The collections of some of the
museums on the Continent are, I believe, much more complete; especially
those of Paris, to judge from the accounts of the acquisitions made by
M. Alcide d'Orbigny, the fruits of many years spent in those countries,
to which he was sent in 1826, expressly, I believe, to collect
information and specimens for the Museum of Natural History.
Instigated first by Dr. Buckland, I made those inquiries for fossil
remains, the results of which I flatter myself have been of no
common interest both to the geologist and comparative anatomist. The
examination of the monstrous bones which I sent to this country, by
the learned individuals who have taken the pains to describe them,
assists us to unravel the fabulous traditions handed down by the
aborigines respecting a race of Titans, whilst it proves indisputably
that the vast alluvial plains in that part of the world, at some former
period, the further history of which has not been revealed to us, were
inhabited by herbivorous animals of most extraordinary dimensions, and
of forms greatly differing from those of the genera now in existence.
To the account of the Megatherium, and other extinct animals, I am now
enabled, by a delay which has unavoidably occurred in the publication
of this volume, to insert the representation of another extinct
monster, the Glyptodon, which has been very recently discovered at no
great distance from the city of Buenos Ayres, apparently in a very
perfect state, and which I trust ere long will be in England. Mr. Owen,
of the College of Surgeons, has been good enough to draw up for me the
description of it, which I have added in a note at the end of the tenth
chapter.
It is, perhaps, not unworthy of a passing observation here, that,
amongst all the remains of extinct animals which we have now obtained
from the Pampas, most of which too seem to have been singularly
provided with a structure for self-defence, no instance, I believe,
has as yet been satisfactorily proved of the occurrence of any portion
of a _carnivorous_ animal.
It only remains for me to allude to the third and last part of my
book, upon the trade and public debt of the provinces of La Plata; and
of which I can only say that I have spared no inquiry to render it
as correct as is compatible with so brief and general a notice. The
accounts officially published by the Government of Buenos Ayres, and
the papers laid before Parliament, have enabled me to complete the
Returns of Trade to the close of 1837. They show that the River Plate
to the British manufacturer has been the most important of all the
markets opened to him by the emancipation of the Spanish Americans; and
that the value of the British trade there alone exceeds the aggregate
of all other foreign countries put together. Spain herself has not
taken for many years past so large a quantity of British manufactured
goods as, it appears, have been sent to the River Plate.
The particulars of the debt have only been brought down to the
commencement of 1837; for, although the accounts have since been
published for another year, I confess I do not sufficiently understand
them at this distance to attempt to explain them, further than to
say that they show increased difficulties, from the lamentable and
unexpected circumstances which have again disturbed the peace of the
Republic.
On the party questions which have hitherto agitated the people of these
countries, I have purposely said as little as possible; much less have
I thought of writing the history of a country which has not been a
quarter of a century in existence; the institutions of which are quite
in their infancy, and must necessarily require a long period ere they
can assume a more definite character.
The generality of my readers, I take it for granted, are acquainted
with the nature of the old colonial government of Spain, with the
events which led to the emancipation of the South Americans, and with
the fact of their having declared for a democratic form of government
in all the new states.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Amongst other documents which I obtained through the kindness of
the government were some large topographical maps of the province of
Buenos Ayres, drawn expressly for me by desire of General Rosas, the
present governor, comprising all the data respecting that province,
collected by the topographical department up to the year 1834.
[2] A re-calculation by M. Oltmanns, of some of the observations of the
Boundary Commissioners, has slightly altered a few of their positions:
his corrections will be found in the volume for 1830, of the Memoirs of
the Academy of Sciences of Berlin.
[3] Noticias Historicas y Descriptivas sobre el gran pais del Chaco y
Rio Vermejo, por José Arenales.--Buenos Aires, 1833, 8vo.
[4] Collección de Obras y Documentos relativos à la Historia antigua y
moderna de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata, ilustrados con Notas y
Disertaciones, por Pedro de Angelis.--Buenos Aires, 1836, folio. The
completion of this work has been suspended for want of paper to go on
with, owing to the French blockade of Buenos Ayres, since March, 1838.
[5] For the convenience of those who may desire to have it separately,
the map may be had from Mr. Arrowsmith without the book.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION Page iii.
CHAPTER I.
DIVISIONS AND PRESENT STATE OF THE REPUBLIC.
Extent, Divisions, and General Government of the
Provinces of La Plata. Jurisdiction of the old
Viceroyalties:--Necessity of dividing and subdividing such
vast Governments:--Embarrassments arising out of this
necessity. The backwardness in the Political organization
of these Provinces, common to all the new Republics of
South America; and attributable to the same cause; the
Colonial system of the Mother Country. Mistake in comparing
the condition of the Creoles with that of the British
Colonists of North America. Natural ascendency of Military
Power in the new States. Their progress in the last
twenty-five years compared with their previous condition Page 1