BUENOS AYRES.
_January 18th, 1853._—I am again in Buenos Ayres, and find it for
the fourth time within the two years past, in an entirely new
aspect. The contrast between its present condition and that in which
I first saw it, is peculiarly striking. Then, all that met the eye
gave evidence of peace, quietude, public order, safety, and seeming
prosperity. There was the bustle of active business every where—at
the crowded landing in boats and lighters plying rapidly between the
shipping and the shore, and in the thronged thoroughfares in the
trucks of the warehouses, and the ponderous carts with their long
lines of oxen from the interior. Pleasure, too, was heard and seen
on every side, in the gay chat of the promenaders on the sidewalks,
the dashing by of equipages through the streets, and in the laugh
and gallop of riders, both male and female, coursing along the
shore. Now, in place of peace, there is war; in place of quietude
and order, anarchy and confusion; in place of safety, danger; and of
seeming prosperity, apprehended ruin! All business, foreign and
domestic, is suspended; the mole is like a place of the dead, the
shops and houses are all closed, the street deserted; every native
male inhabitant, between the years of sixteen and sixty, under arms
and on daily duty, and the city begirt, within a dozen squares of
its centre, by hostile troops composed of its own people. By these,
all intercourse between the city and the country is prevented, and
all supplies of provision cut off; while they daily direct the
murderous fire of their muskets and cannon down the streets occupied
by their neighbors, relatives, and friends. And what, it will be
asked, is the cause of this state of things, and what the origin of
the civil war? Even the best informed on the subject here, whose
feelings and judgment have not been perverted by partisanship, reply
by saying, “Who can tell?” One thing is clear, the cause is not a
spirit of patriotism excited by oppression, or the origin a sense of
right under the pressure of wrong; nor are either traceable to the
conflicting policy of contending parties in regard to the public
good: patriotism, right, and public good, are but empty words here.
The highest principle seems to be that of personal ambition, in a
few military aspirants, sustained by ignorant and mercenary
followers; and the ruling motive the attainment of power—power over
“the receipt of customs,” and power over the “Paper Bank,” with the
opportunity of robbing the public, under the name of office and the
form of law. This may be thought a harsh and summary judgment in the
case, but it is sustained by facts.
The history of public affairs at Buenos Ayres for the last six
months may be briefly told. After Urquiza had found it necessary to
dissolve the House of Representatives in the manner described during
my last visit, and to assume the supreme authority, he gave full
evidence of the enlightened and public-spirited policy of the
government he purposed to exercise. His first measure was the
establishment of the public schools which Rosas had suppressed; and
the introduction into them of the Bible as the text-book of morals
and religion. Another project was the building of a breakwater and
mole, for the protection of ships and the benefit of the commerce of
the port; and a third the construction of a railroad into the
interior. This policy, in acts and purposes, begat confidence in him
among capitalists and the friends of progress; and high hopes were
entertained of future prosperity to the city and state. In
September, however, he was called from Buenos Ayres to the Congress
appointed by the different States, to convene at the city of Santa
Fé on the Parana, for the formation of a general constitution and
the consolidation of the Republics into one government. He left a
small body only of his own troops at Buenos Ayres, and embarked on
his mission. But the smoke of the steamer which carried him to his
destination had scarcely faded on the horizon before a revolution
was effected by his enemies, and a new government organized. The
first measure adopted by it, was a resolution to invade Entre-Rios,
the State of Urquiza. For this a force was despatched both by water
and by land: that by water was summarily defeated and dispersed by
the Entre-Rians, and that marching by land, informed of the
disaster, halted on the frontiers. Money was of course necessary for
the subsistence of the troops on this expedition; and the new
minister of war obtained the issue of a large amount of paper money
by the bank for this purpose. He forwarded it to the disbursing
officer, however, with instructions to keep it in safety till he
could arrive himself to attend the distribution of it among the
soldiers. He left the capital professedly on this errand, proceeded
to the camp, obtained possession of the money, crossed the frontier,
exchanged the paper for gold, and emigrated beyond the jurisdiction
of the government of which he was a member! The soldiers,
disappointed in their pay, were conducted by their leaders to Buenos
Ayres, to obtain redress by a new issue from the bank; but before
they reached their destination a second revolution took place. The
government which had enlisted and promised to pay them had been
overturned; and that now in power refused their demands. In
consequence of this the troops invested the city; and hence the
civil war—the parties being the ‘insiders’ and the ‘outsiders.’
Those without are not in sufficient force to take the city by
assault; and those within have no power by which to drive the
besiegers from the suburbs. It is said that Urquiza has furnished
material aid to the outsiders, and on the adjournment of the
Congress of Santa Fé will join them in person with his Entre-Rian
troops.
One can scarcely give credit to the atrocities committed in the
guerillas, which almost daily take place—atrocities which would
disgrace a horde of savages. What think you of the execution of
prisoners by stretching them on the ground, making their wrists and
ankles fast with thongs of raw hide to four horses faced in four
different directions, and then, by starting these on the gallop, at
a single spring, to tear them into quarters! Yet this has been done
within a few days in public, and in the presence of an officer, from
whom, an eye-witness, Mr. Lore received the account. A few mornings,
since the coachman of Mrs. Z——, coming into the town from a quinta
or country-house near the lines, which the family had been obliged
suddenly to abandon, perceiving two horsemen of the outside party
riding furiously down the street towards him, stepped on one side to
let them pass; and in doing so he observed something attached to a
rope dragging behind them. A second look as they flew by, showed it
to be the body of a man, in the uniform of the national guard, who
had been either just lassoed or shot by them. At a short distance
these fellows met three or four of their comrades; and drawing up to
speak to one another, the whole party amused themselves by beating
the head of the dead victim with the butts of their carbines!
For an hour or two, almost every morning and every evening,
sharp-shooting is heard in various directions around the city. A
party of twenty or thirty outsiders, will, at such times, dash up to
the barricades at the ends of the streets, or a party of the same
number of insiders will rush out beyond them—without any object in
either case, but that of having a shot at each other—and blaze away
till tired of the sport; fortunately, for the most part, without
much bloodshed or a loss of life. Occasionally, one or two on either
side fall, or an innocent spectator or passer-by receives a fatal
shot. The people along the lines have now become so used to this, as
not to regard these skirmishes. Last evening Commodore McKeever, Dr.
C—— and I, went to the quinta of Mr. K—— to take tea. This is in the
midst of the battle-ground between the lines. As we arrived, a sharp
skirmish had just ended, during which musket-balls had struck the
house, and one, the drawing-room window, near which Mr. and Mrs. K——
were sitting. A few evenings ago we were at the parade-ground, at
the north end of the city, witnessing the evening drill. A skirmish
was at the time taking place about half a mile distant, along the
flat towards Palermo; and it was notable to see the perfect coolness
with which one and another—some singly and others two and three in
company—would catch up their muskets and walk or lope towards the
scene of the guerilla, laughing and chatting as they arranged their
arms for firing, as if it were a shooting-match for goose or turkey
they were about to try a hand at, in place of the life of a
fellow-being. The whole contest is boyish in its mode of operation,
as well as murderous in its motive and end. I am told by those who
have witnessed it at the lines, that the manner in which the parties
challenge each other to these skirmishes—their taunts and ribaldry,
shoutings and insults, are both amusing and ridiculous. Every two or
three days a sortie is made by a body of three or four hundred from
the inside, on a forage for grass. These generally lead to the loss
of lives on both sides. A few mornings ago, on such an occasion, an
officer from the inside performed quite a feat of valor and presence
of mind. He suddenly found himself cut off from the party he was
commanding by a mounted band, who had awaited him in ambush. The
first intimation he had of danger was in finding a lasso around his
neck. He freed himself expertly from this with his knife, just in
time to receive one of the attacking party, coming at full charge
upon him with a lance: this he not only parried, but wresting it
from the grasp of its owner, unhorsed and pierced him through with
it. By this time another lancer was upon him, but only to be run
through with the same weapon. He then drew a revolver, with which he
brought a third to the ground; and by wounding a fourth in another
shot, effected a return to his own party.
_March 12th._—The chief interest in public affairs still centres in
the civil war. The presence of Commodore McKeever continues to be
important and essential for the interest and safety of American
residents and their property. His flag is borne by the “Jamestown,”
on board which a detachment of marines from the Congress, under
Lieut. Holmes, is quartered, in addition to the guard belonging to
that vessel. The quarters of the Commodore and his suite are on
shore.
No important change in the attitude of the conflicting parties has
occurred; though the arrival of a deputation appointed by the
general Congress of the Provinces at Santa Fé, with proposals of
mediation on the part of Urquiza, has given rise to some hope of an
amicable adjustment of the difficulties. A corresponding deputation
has been appointed by the government of the city; an armistice
proclaimed; and a conference on neutral ground is now being held.
_April 30th._—All overtures for reconciliation between the
belligerent parties have failed, and guerillas are again taking
place, with the usual loss of blood and life to both parties. A
rigid blockade has been added to the investment of the city by land;
and the consequence is a limited supply of provisions among the
rich, and suffering and starvation among the poor. The skirmishes of
the last two or three mornings have been very heavy; but such
creatures of habit are we, that with cannon roaring all around us,
and constant volleys of musketry at the distance of a mile or two
only, bringing death with each discharge to some fellow-mortal, we
now hear the sounds for hours without scarcely a thought of the
fatal results. This morning as we sat down to breakfast at Mr.
H——’s, two or three gentlemen descended from the flat roof of the
house, where they had been watching with a glass the progress of a
guerilla. They reported that they had just seen many on both sides
fall from their horses, as the parties fired upon each other; but no
one present seemed to feel that it was a matter of more moment than
the issue of any common sporting-match. The besiegers have no
mortars or bombs; but frequently send cannon balls far into the
city. Two mornings ago, one of these took off the head of a poor
woman a short distance only from the neighborhood in which we were,
just as she had risen from her bed and was combing her hair. It is
thus that they scatter firebrands, arrows, and death, and say, are
we not in sport? My views of the reign of Rosas are much modified by
passing events, and the knowledge they give of the people. In the
various revolutions and counter-revolutions of years which preceded
his accession to power, thirty thousand of them perished from
bloodshed and violence at the hands of each other; and more lives
have been sacrificed here, in the same manner, within the last three
months, than during the whole of his despotic rule. His policy was
to put summarily to death, those whom he regarded as factionists and
dangerous citizens, and thus, by inspiring terror, to secure peace,
order, and safety to the mass. How far was he in error?
Commodore McKeever, after the detention here of four months by the
exigency of public affairs, during which he has rendered most
important public service, is obliged by duty elsewhere, to leave the
further protection of our countrymen and their interests to the
commander of the “Jamestown;” and will bid adieu to-morrow to Buenos
Ayres for the last time. We must therefore let the curtain drop on
the tragedy in performance here; and be content to learn its
uncertain issues in our own distant and blessed land. The last
mail-packet brought to us the welcome intelligence that the Congress
would return to the United States without waiting the arrival of ‘a
relief;’ and on taking our anchors at Montevideo in a few days we
shall be HOMEWARD BOUND!
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POSTSCRIPT.
This volume has already been enlarged beyond the intended number of
pages. In closing it, I would very briefly state that the experiment
in naval discipline, with which the cruise of the Congress was
commenced, previously to the abolition of the lash by law, was
carried out with marked and satisfactory success. This is mainly to
be attributed to the unwearied efforts, and the indefatigable
devotion to duty, of the officers most interested—equally from
motives of philanthropy towards the sailor, and a jealous regard for
the honor of the navy—in the result. This is especially true, in
regard to Mr. Turner the first lieutenant. During the last eighteen
months of the cruise, good order, activity in duty, quickness and
skill in the military exercises and naval evolutions of a
man-of-war, and a general spirit of contentment were characteristic
of the crew, in an extraordinary degree. The frigate entered the
port of New York under the happiest auspices; and the conduct of the
men at the time the manner in which they left her, and their
deportment afterwards, were such as to challenge the admiration of
those most familiar with such scenes. Intelligence which from time
to time has since reached me, in regard to individuals of their
number, has been most gratifying; while there has not been wanting
proof, in the cases of some, of the highest results of the preaching
of the Gospel, in a life of professed and consistent piety.
In regard to the countries to which so much of the preceding record
refers, little of material importance has occurred since it was
closed. Thirteen of the States of the Plata, bordering on the rivers
Parana and Paraguay and their tributaries, have become consolidated
under a constitutional government, to the Presidency of which
General Urquiza is elevated. Buenos Ayres has pertinaciously refused
to enter into this union; and left to pursue her own course, has
fallen into a state of anarchy, to which there appears at present to
be little prospect of a speedy termination. The same is the case
with the Republic of Uruguay.
The condition and prospects of the Empire of Brazil are in wide
contrast with these republics of the South. Political quietude and
order pervade her widespread dominions, and a striking proof is
presented by the stability of her government and her consequent
prosperity, of the advantage she possesses in a well-balanced
constitutional monarchy. Till the half-civilized people of South
America become more enlightened, intellectually and morally, and
better instructed in the true principles and right exercise of
republicanism, a fixed and hereditary Executive in government is the
only safeguard against the evils to which the struggles, among
ambitious and unscrupulous military aspirants, constantly give rise.
The few years past have witnessed extraordinary progress in the
material wealth, prosperity, and power of this Empire; a progress
attributable to the stability of her government; to the
necessities of commerce; and to the advancing and controlling
civilization of the times. The greatly increased demand for her
principal staple, coffee, as well as for many of her other
important products—India-rubber, sugar, cotton, tobacco,
dye-woods, and minerals—has led to a wise, liberal, and widespread
system of internal improvements and inland and ocean steam
navigation, for the development of the varied and vast physical
resources of the empire. Don Pedro II. has imbibed and obeyed the
spirit of the times as fully, during the few years of his actual
reign, and advanced the material and social prosperity of his
country as safely and rapidly, as any ruler living.
The importance to the United States of the trade of Brazil will
hardly be credited by those not particularly informed on the
subject. We derive from that empire a large number of articles of
commerce indispensable to us; and send to it many of the most staple
and valuable products of our agriculture and manufactures. We
receive from Brazil our largest supply of coffee, India-rubber,
hides, cocoa for chocolate, sarsaparilla, and other articles; and in
exchange supply her with nearly all her bread-stuffs—with beef,
pork, lard, and butter; with corn, cotton fabrics, the implements of
agriculture and the arts, with machinery, and the manufactures of
iron and wood. This trade amounts to nearly nineteen millions of
dollars annually; the balance against the United States being six
millions paid in cash. It is believed by those best informed on the
subject, that the establishment of a regular line of mail steamers
to Brazil, with a suitable subsidy from the government for postal
service, would be the means of doubling the amount of trade in the
course of five years; and by the increased demand for our
productions arising from the facility of communication and
correspondence, would equalize the exchange, if not turn the balance
in our favor. It is a reproach to us, that for the want of direct
communication by steam, our correspondence, both commercial and
diplomatic, with Eastern South America, is carried by English mail
steamers, by the way of England, a distance of near eight thousand
miles. From the same cause the disbursements of our government to
its public agents there, are made only at a heavy percentage. To
place the salary of nine thousand dollars in the hands of a chargé
d’affaires at Rio, costs the government at home usually one thousand
dollars, and the naval disbursements on that station are made at a
corresponding loss.
Aware of the vast public and commercial interests to us as a nation
of this matter, it is with great satisfaction I have learned that an
association of capitalists of the city of New York, bearing the name
of the “North and South American Steamship Company,” has brought the
subject before Congress in a memorial for aid, in consideration of
mail service, in the establishment of a line of steamers between New
York and Para. It is proposed to intersect the several European
lines running to Brazil at the Island of St. Thomas, and to form a
junction at Para, with the Brazilian mail and passage steamers which
now regularly coast the empire a distance of four thousand miles,
from the mouth of the Amazon to the Rio La Plata. Dr. Rainey, one of
the gentlemen engaged in this enterprise, has by personal research
informed himself fully of the practicability, under the suitable
patronage of the government, of making this initiatory line of steam
communication with Brazil and with the Plata, through the
intervention of the Imperial lines, of incalculable value to the
commerce and general interest of the United States. The committee to
whom the memorial was referred, have reported unanimously in favor
of granting the subsidy solicited; and there is reason to hope, that
by the early action of Congress on the report, an abiding channel of
friendship, commerce, and reciprocal good, will be opened directly
between the United States and BRAZIL AND LA PLATA.
THE END.
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Transcriber’s note:
Variations in hyphenation have been retained.
Formatting of the table of contents has been regularised.
All instances of ‘Dona’ changed to ‘Doña.’
All instances of ‘Guacho’ changed to ‘Gaucho.’
All instances of ‘unitarian’ changed to ‘Unitarian.’
All instances of ‘cortege’ changed to ‘cortège.’
All instances of ‘fuschia’ changed to ‘fuchsia.’
Second frontispiece, ‘CATETTE’ changed to ‘CATETE,’ “O.
CATETE New York G. P. Putnam & C^o.”
Page v, ‘acomplished’ changed to ‘accomplished,’ “easily
accomplished. In attempting”
Page ix, ‘Miseracordia’ changed to ‘Misericordia,’ “Hospital of the
Misericordia”
Page x, ‘locomotion’ changed to ‘Locomotion,’ “Disinclination to
Locomotion”
Page xi, ‘Senor’ changed to ‘Señor,’ “Señor de L——”
Page 10, ‘physcically’ changed to ‘physically,’ “The crew,
physically, are”
Page 15, double quotes changed to single quotes around ‘All hands,
Ahoy!’
Page 18, ‘trivialty’ changed to ‘triviality,’ “of the triviality of
the alleged”
Page 38, ‘cabalero’ changed to ‘caballero,’ “Here a caballero
admirably”
Page 48, full stop inserted after ‘Lieut,’ “beautiful, that Lieut.
R——, the officer”
Page 52, ‘Farenheit’ changed to ‘Fahrenheit,’ “with the mercury by
Fahrenheit”
Page 66, em-dash inserted before ‘The,’ “September 10th.—The first”
Page 66, full stop inserted after ‘Lieut,’ “Captain McIntosh and
Lieut. T——”
Page 67, ‘Portugese’ changed to ‘Portuguese,’ “the old-fashioned
Portuguese Calesa”
Page 84, ‘Vilegagnon’ changed to ‘Villegagnon,’ “grant to
Villegagnon two vessels”
Page 102, ‘moluscæ’ changed to ‘molluscæ,’ “are molluscæ with long
feelers”
Page 109, double quote inserted after ‘majesties,’ “presentation to
their majesties.””
Page 117, ‘tho’ changed to ‘the,’ “party left the ship for”
Page 121, ‘it’ changed to ‘if,’ “appears, as if there really”
Page 122, ‘Catètè’ changed to ‘Catete,’ “Hill, Flamengo, Catètè,
Larangieras”
Page 134, ‘hibiscus’ changed to ‘hybiscus,’ “the double scarlet
hybiscus”
Page 144, full stop changed to comma after ‘lake,’ “glassy as a
lake, one vast”
Page 150, ‘entree’ changed to ‘entrée,’ “to the entrée; and at
night”
Page 151, ‘quarelling’ changed to ‘quarrelling,’ “no intoxication,
no quarrelling, no”
Page 153, ‘epaulets’ changed to ‘epaulettes,’ “officer in epaulettes
and chapeau”
Page 155, ‘recolhiemento’ changed to ‘recolhimento,’ “recolhimento,
or female orphan asylum”
Page 170, ‘cabilda’ changed to ‘cabildo,’ “cabildo, or town hall
and”
Page 176, ‘Alemeda’ changed to ‘Alameda,’ “from the Alameda, or
public”
Page 177, ‘Alemeda’ changed to ‘Alameda,’ “through the Alameda
fronting”
Page 181, ‘chirepas’ changed to ‘chiripas,’ “and petticoat-like
chiripas were”
Page 208, double quote inserted after ‘world,’ “for ever in this
world.””
Page 218, ‘azalia’ changed to ‘azalea,’ “branch of an azalea”
Page 222, ‘Cateté’ changed to ‘Catete,’ “open street of the Catete”
Page 233, ‘abreviated’ changed to ‘abbreviated,’ “and much
abbreviated, we”
Page 251, ‘marquee’ changed to ‘marqueé,’ “we perceived the marqueé
of the”
Page 255, full stop inserted after ‘Lieut,’ “encampment. Lieut. T——
and I”
Page 268, full stop inserted after ‘trial,’ “a severe trial. Every
officer”
Page 269, double quote inserted before ‘All,’ “or “All hands wash
hammocks!””
Page 269, ‘ancle’ changed to ‘ankle,’ “wade ankle-deep, in search”
Page 273, ‘ommnibus’ changed to ‘omnibus,’ “if the omnibus suddenly
starts”
Page 282, ‘constrution’ changed to ‘construction,’ “but to material
and construction”
Page 300, ‘commited’ changed to ‘committed,’ “has been committed.
This examination”
Page 300, full stop inserted after ‘us,’ “as with us. One custom”
Page 307, colon inserted after ‘prisoner,’ “made prisoner: a
foreboding shadow”
Page 314, ‘musquitos’ changed to ‘mosquitoes,’ “oppressive heat,
fleas, and mosquitoes”
Page 330, full stop inserted after ‘principle,’ “moral principle.
Rosas did not”
Page 336, ‘peacable’ changed to ‘peaceable,’ “a quiet and peaceable
life”
Page 337, ‘carred’ changed to ‘carried,’ “stray line carried away”
Page 342, comma changed to full stop after ‘José,’ “of San José. He
is a kind”
Page 349, ‘Josè’ changed to ‘José,’ “from the bay at San José”
Page 355, ‘cabellero’ changed to ‘caballero,’ “sat her horse à la
caballero”
Page 363, ‘caléche’ changed to ‘caleche,’ “The carriage was a
caleche”
Page 377, ‘civilty’ changed to ‘civility,’ “the civility of the
supper-party”
Page 388, ‘Ayrians’ changed to ‘Ayreans,’ “the Portenos or Buenos
Ayreans”
Page 397, full stop inserted after ‘inst,’ “to this port on the 13th
inst.”
Page 399, ‘epedemic’ changed to ‘epidemic,’ “raged for months as an
epidemic”
Page 414, ‘wellbroken’ changed to ‘well-broken,’ “is full-blooded
and well-broken”
Page 419, ‘diferent’ changed to ‘different,’ “appointed by the
different”
Page 423, ‘reslts’ changed to ‘results,’ “the fatal results. This
morning”
Page 426, ‘Uraguay’ changed to ‘Uruguay,’ “the Republic of Uruguay”