W. A. Hirst

Compared with Mexico and Peru the southern portions of the New World at first excited little interest, because they produced neither gold nor silver. Yet even here the discoverer was very early at work, and achievements less showy but on an almost equally grand scale have to be recorded. In 1515 Juan Diaz de Solis was sent out on a voyage of discovery by the King of Castile, who wished to counteract Portuguese influence on the east coast of South America, and Solis was the first European to sail up the River Plate, which he named after himself. But he trusted to the natives, who proved treacherous. They invited him to land, and when he had accepted their invitation they attacked and killed him and every man in the boat-crew, and afterwards roasted and devoured them in the sight of their companions. It was long before the Spaniards touched on that coast again, and the name of Solis had no permanence in the land which he discovered.

Some ten years later a more fortunate expedition was made by the Englishman Cabot. In the service of the King of Spain he left Seville with four ships, intending to make a search for the islands of Tarsis, Ophir, and Eastern Cathay by the newly discovered Straits of Magellan. The little fleet touched at Pernambuco and remained there for three months. The Spaniards still appear to have had a design to check the Portuguese in Brazil, but Cabot evidently found them too strong in that quarter, so, says Purchas,[20] "he thought good to busy himself in something that might be profitable; and entered the year 29 discovering the River of Plate, where he was almost three years; and not being seconded, with relation of that which he had found, returned to Castile, having gone many leagues up the River. He found plate or silver among the Indians of those countries, for in the wars which these Indians had with those of the kingdoms of Peru they took it, and from it is called the River of Plate, of which the country hath taken the name."

Here Purchas makes two mistakes. The discovery was not made in 1529, but several years earlier, and the river derived its name not from any metallic booty but from its silvery colour. Cabot went some distance up the Paraguay River, where he met with many adventures and lost many of his followers, and he made a serious endeavour to lay the foundations of Spanish power in Argentina, but the natives were unfriendly and he found the enterprise too formidable for his limited means. It is not surprising that he failed to secure the goodwill of the Indians. Cabot was a skilful and daring navigator and less ruthless than most of the Spanish adventurers, but he was rough in his methods and tainted by the prevailing inhumanity of the time. At San Vincente, for example, he bought fifty or sixty slaves of both sexes for the benefit of his partners in Seville. He had, in fact, disobeyed his instructions, which were to make for the Pacific, and when he returned to Seville in 1530 he was at once prosecuted and punished on various charges, though his disgrace was but temporary. His expedition has merely a geographical importance.

Charles V. had too many anxious concerns in Europe to take an active part in organising expeditions to the New World, and he found it convenient to commit the task to wealthy nobles. Pedro de Mendoza had enriched himself at the sack of Rome and had dreams of still greater wealth. Accordingly he obtained a grant of the whole country from the River Plate to the Straits of Magellan, with a salary of 2,000 ducats a year as Governor, a similar sum as an official allowance, and valuable privileges as to ransom and booty. In return, he engaged to take out an adequate force and to open up a land route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In August, 1534, he set sail from Cadiz with eleven ships and 800 men. This was the largest expedition which had ever sailed from Europe to the New World. Mendoza seems to have been an enterprising leader, but his lack of experience brought many unnecessary hardships upon his followers. The fleet entered the River Plate in January, 1535, and Mendoza landed on the right bank and founded the city of Buenos Aires, "so named in regard of the freshness of the air, and the healthfulness of his men, during their abode there."[21] The Adelantado, or Governor, was eager to push up the great rivers and discover a land fabulously rich in gold, such as was then enriching many of his more fortunate countrymen. But still the difficulties were insuperable; the Indians were implacably hostile and cut off all foraging parties; the Spaniards had come with inadequate provisions and were frequently in danger of starvation. Many died of their privations, and the site of Buenos Aires was abandoned within a year of its foundation. Mendoza's lieutenants made many adventurous expeditions up the vast waterways and the ill-fated Azolas founded Asuncion in 1536.[22] But their deeds belong more to the history of Spanish conquest than to Argentina proper. The estuary of the Plate was subject to sudden storms, and Mendoza, having lost eight ships and being thoroughly wearied by his misfortunes, decided to return home. On the voyage he fell ill and died, and of his large force not more than one hundred and fifty survived their privations and dangers. A highly interesting and important matter should here be mentioned. The Spaniards brought only thirty mares and seven stallions for breeding purposes, but a Portuguese mariner states thirty years later the country near the coast was full of horses.

TROOP OF MARES.

As successor to Mendoza the Spanish Government appointed Cabeza de Vaca, an experienced adventurer, who sailed from Spain in 1540 with four hundred men. He landed at Santa Catherina in Brazil, and thence made a most adventurous march to Asuncion. He set out on October 18, 1541, and did not arrive till March 11, 1542, after suffering extraordinary hardships. At Asuncion he found that the Spanish settlers had chosen Domingo Irala as their chief. The two rivals, however, had enough work for both, and Cabeza de Vaca sailed down to the River Plate where the Spaniards had practically abandoned their settlements, and the few survivors were in great danger of destruction by the Indians. He refounded Buenos Aires towards the end of 1542; but the time was not yet ripe for the planting of colonies, and not many months later the city was abandoned for the second time. Nor was Cabeza de Vaca fortunate in his undertakings in Paraguay. His attempts to reform abuses made him unpopular with the settlers, who preferred Irala, and in 1544 Cabeza de Vaca was seized and sent a prisoner to Spain where, after the law's long delays, he was acquitted, but never compensated.

Irala, who was an able and daring leader, contrived to maintain his authority till his death, which occurred in 1557, and credit is due to him for keeping the Spanish flag flying in the isolated post of Asuncion, which was rapidly growing in importance, and in 1547 was made the seat of a Bishop by Pope Paul III. All this time, however, it should be remembered that we are dealing rather with the history of what is now Paraguay than Argentina, for the southern settlements on the River Plate were once more in the hands of the Indians. It was at this time that another important town was established in territory which now belongs to Argentina. Peru had been conquered by Pizarro, parts of Chile by Almagro, and in 1559 Hurtado de Mendoza passed over the Andes from the west and founded the pleasant city which bears his name. This work of building cities on the eastern side of the Andes was carried on by other Spaniards from Peru, and they founded Tucuman in 1565 and Cordoba in 1573.

In the meantime the Guaranies of Paraguay steadily resisted every advance of the Spaniards, but in 1560 they were defeated in a great battle at Acari, and the Spaniards began to push southwards with the determination of again colonising the Parana country—a step, indeed, which was almost essential to their safety, since it would secure their communication with the Atlantic. The necessary exploit was achieved by a man who deserves an honoured place among Spanish-American worthies—Juan de Garay.[23] He advanced slowly towards the south from Asuncion, and in 1573 founded Santa FÉ at the junction of the Parana and the Paraguay. In 1580 he took the still more important step of re-establishing Buenos Aires for the third time. With a true statesman's instinct he recognised that a mere military post would not be sufficient for the security of the rapidly growing colonies, and he took with him, besides Creoles and Spaniards, two hundred Indian settlers, and he laid out a town on a considerable scale, while farms and ranches were established in the neighbourhood. There was sharp fighting with the Indians, and Garay was unfortunately killed in a skirmish, but his work remained behind him. "The city," says Southey,[24] "immediately began to prosper, and the ship which sailed for Castile with tidings of its refoundation, took home a cargo of sugar, and the first hides with which Europe was supplied from the wild cattle which now began to over-spread the open country, and soon produced a total change in the manners of all the adjoining tribes."

In 1588 Corrientes had been founded, and the people began to acquire pastoral wealth, although the advantages which they drew from the rapidly increasing herds of horses and cattle were seriously discounted by the exactions and restrictions of officials. It was a piece of great good fortune for both settlers and Indians that neither gold nor silver was to be found in the River Plate country, and thus European marauders, whether Spanish or English, were without one great temptation to harry them. The next generation was one of steady progress, and by the year 1620 the city of Buenos Aires contained three thousand inhabitants. The indefatigable Jesuits established themselves in the country in 1590, and though their history properly belongs to Paraguay, they did much good in Argentina by protecting the Indians and spreading civilisation.

In 1620 a step of extreme importance was taken. The office of Adelantado, or Governor, was abolished, and the River Plate country was formed into two separate provinces. Thus we get a rough beginning of Argentina, which now consisted of Buenos Aires, Santa FÉ, Entre Rios, Corrientes, and the tract now called Uruguay. This last, however, was still uninhabited. Buenos Aires became the seat of a bishop. But the whole of the settlements remained under the Viceroyalty of Peru.

More important than any measure of partition was the personality of Hernan Darias de Saavedra, the ruler at that time. Of pure Spanish blood, he was born in South America in 1561, early distinguished himself in wars with the Indians, and took as his model the able Garay. In 1602 he was appointed to act as Governor of Buenos Aires, and during his term of authority, which did not really end when a new Spanish Governor was placed over his head, he distinguished himself at once by his severity to refractory Indians and his energetic measures to protect those who followed peaceful pursuits. In 1615 he became substantive Governor, and it was by his advice that the division of 1620 was made.

His whole heart was in the peaceful development of the country; he encouraged the Jesuits to teach industries to the natives and to settle virgin tracts, and at the same time he set his face against all forms of slavery. Few Spanish Americans have exercised more beneficent rule, and he was the founder of Argentine prosperity—a tradition which the country never wholly lost in the worst days, and which in recent times it has renewed in a wonderful manner. Not long after the partition this noble-minded statesman died, full, as the historian says, of glory and virtues. Funes[25] remarks: "From tender years he performed military service, earning fame for valour. His valour was rendered the more illustrious by that consummate prudence which in war gives glory to warriors. He distinguished himself by his ability both in the arts of peace and war. He was a staunch protector of the Indians and, in fine, being one of the heroes to whom the New World has given birth, he deserved to have his portrait placed in the Chamber of Commerce in Cadiz. We regret that time has destroyed the records which might have enabled us to draw a more accurate likeness."

With his death it may be said that the history of Argentina as a Spanish colony has fairly begun. It is true that the Governorship of Buenos Aires was both smaller and larger than the present Argentine Republic—larger as comprising Uruguay, and considerably smaller in the absence of Patagonia and much other territory. In fact, there were three Governorships—Buenos Aires, Paraguay, and Tucuman—and these were looked upon as a single colony, although each one was an administrative entity, dependent upon the Crown and independent of its neighbours. Our narrative will necessarily ignore the interesting history of Paraguay and embrace the other two provinces. The above narrative has few of the exciting episodes which marked the history of the conquest of Mexico or Peru, but the history, though less dazzling, is less sullied by crimes, and the two figures of Garay and Hernan Darias afford examples of disinterested toil for the common welfare which in that age was rare indeed except among a small proportion of the clergy. And as the earlier years of Argentina were less turbulent, so have the latter years been more blessed with prosperity than has been the case with other South American States.

The colonisation of South America proceeded upon lines very different from those pursued in the northern continent. The latter was the objective of men who belonged, for the most part, to the Anglo-Saxon race, and who came not for adventure or any kind of gain, but to escape from uncongenial institutions and live their own life. As far as possible they avoided contact with the natives, and neither desired, nor, in fact, maintained, intimate relations with the mother country. But in spite of the circumstances of their exile, they carried with them most of the institutions of their own land, and continued to develop on the lines of their brothers on the other side of the Atlantic. The Spaniards did not, indeed, treat the natives in South America with humanity; on the contrary, in the mining regions their cruelty was notorious, and they were frequently at war with the old inhabitants. But in Argentina and many other places they showed no disinclination to intermarry; they made, as we have seen, systematic settlements of Indians, which assumed that the conquered race was an integral part of their own body politic, and in some respects their policy was statesmanlike and even humane according to the standards of the time. The result was a fusion of races, and the various nations which sprang up were as much Indian as Spanish. How the Argentine nation was evolved it will be the business of the succeeding historical chapters to show, as it will be that of the remainder of this volume to display the country and the people as they actually are after four centuries of growth.