HUNTING HORSES—CATCHING WILD COLTS—ENTER THE PROVINCE OF
MISSIONES—HEAD-QUARTERS ESTABLISHED AT SAN GABRIEL—LOVE
FOR MY PARENTS—I TURN CATTLE-DROVER —RESULTS—REACH
MONTEVIDEO—TEACH MATHEMATICS—WARLIKE PREPARATIONS—JOIN
THE ORIENTAL SQUADRON.
The corps of Free Lancers, being entirely dismounted, were obliged to
supply themselves with wild colts; and it was a fine sight which was
presented almost every day, to see a multitude of those robust young
black men, leaping upon the backs of their wild coursers, and rushing
across the fields like a thunderstorm. The animal used every exertion to
gain his freedom and to throw off his hated rider; while the man, with
admirable dexterity, strength and courage, continued to press him with
his legs, drawing in his feet against his sides like pincers, whip and
drive him, until he at length tired out the superb son of the desert.
In that part of America the colt comes from the field lassoed, and is
saddled, bridled, and rode by the domator, or horse-breaker, and in a
few days obeys the bit. Experienced men obtain many excellent horses in
a short time; but few come out well broken from the hands of soldiers,
especially when they are on a march, where neither the necessary
conveniences can be obtained, nor the necessary care taken to break them
well.
Having passed the Mattos Portuguez and Castellano, we descended into the
province of "Missiones," proceeding towards Cruz Alta, its chief town.
It is a very small place, but well built, situated on a high plain and
in a beautiful position; as fine, indeed, as all that part of the State
of Rio Grande. The troops marched from Cruz Alta to San Gabriel, where
the head-quarters were established and barracks were constructed for the
encampment of the army. I built a cottage, and spent some time in it
with my little family; but six years of a life of dangers and
sufferings, far from the company of old friends, my father and mother,
from whom I had no news, among that people, isolated by the war with the
empire, made me wish to return to some place where I might obtain
information concerning my parents. I now found that although, amidst the
scenes of bustle and trial through which I had passed, I had been able
to banish the recollection of their affection for a time, my love for
them remained lively and warm in my heart. It was necessary to improve
my circumstances, for the benefit of my wife and child, and I determined
to make a journey to Montevideo, even if but for a short time. I asked
and obtained permission from the President, who also allowed me to take
a small herd of young cattle, to pay the expenses of travelling.
And here I took up the business of a cattle-drover, or _trappiere_. In
an Estancia, called the Corral del Piedras, under the authority of the
Minister of Finance, I succeeded in collecting, in about twenty days,
about nine hundred cattle, after indescribable fatigue. With a still
greater degree of labor and weariness they were driven towards
Montevideo. Thither, however, I did not succeed in driving them.
Insuperable obstacles presented themselves on the way, and, more than
all, the Rio Negro, which crossed it, and in which I nearly lost all
this capital. From that river, from the effects of my inexperience and
from the tricks of some of my hired assistants for managing the drove of
animals, I saved about five hundred of the cattle, which, by the long
journey, scarcity of food and accidents in crossing streams, were
thought unfit to go to Montevideo.
I therefore decided to "_cuercer_" or "_leather_" them,—that is, to kill
them for their hides; and this was done. In fact, after having passed
through indescribable fatigue and troubles, for about fifty days, I
arrived at Montevideo with a few hides, the only remains of my nine
hundred oxen. These I sold for only a few hundred dollars, which served
but scantily to clothe my little family.
In Montevideo I spent some of my time in the house of my friend Napoleon
Castellani, to whose kindness, and the courtesy of his wife, I felt much
indebted. I acknowledge my obligations also to my dear friends, Giovanni
Battista Cuneo and Giovanni Risso. Having a family, but my means being
exhausted, I felt it necessary to provide for the subsistence of the
three individuals of whom it consisted. Other people's bread always
seemed to me bitter, whenever in my diversified life I have found it
necessary to partake of it; and I have been so happy as never to be
dependant on any friend. Two occupations, of small profit, it is true,
but which would afford me a subsistence, I assumed for a time. They were
those of a broker and a teacher of mathematics, given in the house and
to the pupils of the estimable instructor, Signor Paolo Semidei. This
manner of life I pursued until I entered the Oriental squadron.
The Rio Grande question was approaching a settlement, and there was
nothing more to be thought on that subject. The Oriental Republic soon
offered me employment, and I accepted it.
I was appointed to proceed on an expedition, the results of which,
through either ignorance or malignity, proved ruinous.
With the sloop Constitucion, of eighteen guns, the brig Terceira, of two
eighteen pounders, and a transport, the schooner Procida, I was ordered
to proceed to Corrientes, an allied province, to assist in their
military operations against the forces of Rosas.
The Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, like the greater part of the
Republics of South America, was a prey to intestine disputes; and the
occasion then was the pretension of two Generals to the Presidency, viz:
Rivera and Ouribes. Rivera, being more successful, succeeded after
several victories, in driving away Ouribes, and gained possession of the
power which he had held. The latter, being expelled, took refuge in
Buenos Ayres, where the Dictator, Rosas, received him, together with
many Oriental emigrants, and employed them against his enemy, who were
then under the command of General Lavalle. Lavalle being conquered, the
ferocious Ex-president of Montevideo undertook to regain his lost power
in his own country. In that Rosas found the object most agreeable to his
wishes; that is, the destruction of the Unitarians, or Centralists, his
mortal enemies, who were supported by the Oriental State; and the ruin
of a neighboring Republic, his rival, which disputed with him the
supremacy of the immense river, by throwing into her bosom the most
terrible elements of civil war.
At the time when I embarked on the river, the Oriental army was at San
Jose de Uruguay, and that of Ouribes at La Bajada, the capital of the
province of Entre Rios, both making preparations for a great conflict.
The army of Corrientes then made arrangements for uniting with the
Oriental. I was to go up the Parana to Corrientes, pass over a distance
of more than six hundred miles, between two banks occupied by the enemy,
where I would be unable to anchor, unless at islands and desert places.
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