AT MONTEVIDEO—INCOGNITO—DEPARTURE FOR RIO GRANDE—MARCH
WITH THE ARMY OF THE PRESIDENT, BENTO GONZALEZ—HIS
CHARACTER, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS—AGREEABLE SOCIETY.
In Montevideo I found a collection of my friends, among whom the chief
were Rosetti, Cuneo, and Castellani. The first was on his return from a
journey to Rio Grande, where he had been received with the greatest
favor by the proud Republicans inhabiting that region. In Montevideo I
found myself still under proscription, on account of my affair with the
launches of that state, and was obliged to remain in concealment in the
house of my friend Pepante, where I spent a month. My retirement was
relieved and enlightened by the company of many Italian acquaintances,
who, at that time, when Montevideo was not suffering from the calamities
it has too often known, and, as is always the case in time of peace,
were distinguished by a refinement and hospitality worthy of all praise.
The war, and chiefly the late siege, have since embittered the lives of
those good-hearted men, and produced great changes in their condition.
After the expiration of a month, I set off for Rio Grande with Rosetti,
on horseback; and that first long journey I ever made in that manner I
highly enjoyed. On reaching Piratimin, we were cordially received by the
Governor of the Republic; and the Minister of War, Almeida, treated us
with great honor. The President, Bento Gonzalez, had marched at the head
of a brigade to fight Silva Tavares, an imperial chief, who was
infesting that part of the province. Piratimin, then the seat of the
Republican government, is a small village, but a peaceful place, in a
rural situation, and the chief town of the department of that name. It
is surrounded by a warlike people, much devoted to the republic.
Being unoccupied in Piratimin, I requested permission to join the column
of operations under S. Gonzalez, near the President, and it was granted.
I was introduced to Bento Gonzalez, and well received; spent some time
in his company, and thought him a man highly favored by nature with some
desirable gifts. But fortune has been almost always favorable to the
Brazilian Empire.
Bento Gonzalez was a specimen of a magnanimous soldier, though he was at
that time nearly sixty years of age. Being tall and active, he rode a
fiery horse with all the ease and dexterity of his young countrymen.
In Camarino, where we had our arsenal, and whence the Republican
flotilla went out, resided the families of Bento Gonzalez; and his
brothers and numerous relations inhabited most of the extensive tracts
of country lying along both sides of the river. And on these beautiful
pastures were fed immense herds of cattle, which had been left
undisturbed by the war, because they were out of the reach of the
troops. The products of agriculture were very abundant; and surely
nowhere, in any country on earth, is found more kind and cordial
hospitality than among the inhabitants of that part of the Province of
Rio Grande. In their houses, in which the beneficent character of the
patriarchal system is everywhere perceived in every family, and where
the greatest sympathy prevails, in consequence of a general uniformity
of opinions, I and my band were received with the warmest welcome. The
estancias, to which we chiefly resorted, on account of their proximity
to the Lagoon, as well as for the conveniences which it offered us, and
the kind reception which always awaited us, were those of Donna Antonia
and Donna Anna, sisters of Bento Gonzalez. The former was situated on
the Camones, and the latter on the Arroyo Grande.
Whether I was under the influence of my imagination, which at that early
age may have been peculiarly sensitive, and inclined me, with my little
knowledge of the world, to receive strong impressions from every thing
agreeable, or whatever else may have affected me, there is no part of my
life on which I look back with greater pleasure, as a period of
enjoyment, than that which I spent in that most agreeable society of
sincere friends. In the house of Donna Anna, especially, I took peculiar
interest. That lady was advanced in years, but possessed a most amiable
disposition, and was a very attractive acquaintance. She had with her a
family which had migrated from Pilotos, the head of which was Don Paolo
Ferreira. Three young ladies, all of them agreeable, formed the
ornaments of that happy home. One of these, named Manuela, I most highly
admired, regarding her with that pleasure which is natural to a young
man, who goes into the world with such a pure and exalted estimate of
female excellence as I had imbibed from my mother, and who, after
enduring great reverses, meets the sympathy of such a person in a remote
land of exile. Signora Manuela, as I well knew, was betrothed to a son
of the President. In a scene of danger that young lover displayed his
attachment to her, in a manner which convinced me of the sincerity of
the love which he professed; and I witnessed it with as much
satisfaction as if I had been her brother. I thenceforth regarded the
President's son as worthy of Manuela, and rejoiced in the conviction
that her happiness was in no danger, in being entrusted to such faithful
hands. The people of that district are distinguished for beauty; and
even the slaves seem to partake of the same characteristic.
It may be supposed that an occasional contrary wind, a storm, or an
expedition, whatever else it might produce, if it threw our vessel on
that friendly shore long enough to allow opportunity to visit their
friendly inhabitants, was not altogether disagreeable. Such an occasion
was always a festival. The Grove of Teviva, (a kind of palm growing on
the Arroyo Grande,) which was the landmark for the entrance of the
stream, was always discovered with lively pleasure, and saluted with
redoubled enthusiasm and the loudest acclamations. When the gentle
hosts, to whose kindness we felt so much indebted, wished to go to
Camacuan to visit Don Antonio and his amiable family, I seized the
opportunity with great pleasure, as it afforded me a way to make some
return for the many kindnesses they had shown us, while it gave new
occasions for the display of their amiable character and refined and
pleasing manners, amidst the varying scenes of the little voyage.
Between Arroyo Grande and Camacuan are several sand-banks, called
Tuntal, which extend from the west shore of the Lagoon, almost at right
angles and nearly across, touching the opposite side, except only the
narrow space occupied by the boat channel, called Dos Barcos. To go
round these bars would greatly prolong the time necessary for the
voyage: but that might be avoided, with some trouble. By throwing
themselves into the water and pushing the launches along by main force,
with their shoulders, the men could get them over the bars, and then
keep along the western side of the Lagoon. This expedient was almost
always adopted by us, and especially on the occasions referred to, when
the boats were honored with the presence of our welcome guests—that
precious freight! Whatever might be the wind, I was usually sure of
getting the launches over the bars; and, so accustomed were my men to
the task, and so prompt in the performance of that laborious service,
that the order to take to the water ["_Al aqua, Tatos!_"] was scarcely
pronounced before they were overboard and at their posts. And so, on all
occasions, the task was performed with alacrity and success, as if the
crews had been engaged in some favorite amusement on a day of jubilee,
whatever might be the hour or the weather. But when pursued by the enemy
in superior force, and suffering in a storm, we were obliged to pass
that way, sometimes in the water a whole night, and without protection
from the waves, which would break over us, while the temperature of the
Lagoon was cooled by the rain, and we were far from land, the exposure,
the labor and the sufferings were sometimes very great, and all the
fervor of youth was necessary to enable us to endure them.
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