Voyage to Cadiz and thence to the Rio de la Plata. Adventures at Monte Video.—Character of the Inhabitants.—Trade.—Climate.—Geological Remarks.—Recent Changes.—Monte Video under the Portugueze.—Agriculture and Trade at the Rio de la Plata.

IN the year 1804, I was induced to undertake a voyage of commercial experiment, on a limited scale, to the Rio de la Plata. On my arrival at Monte Video, the ship and cargo were seized; I was thrown into prison, and afterwards sent into the interior, where I was detained until the taking of that place by the British troops under Sir Samuel Auchmuty. I afterwards obtained leave to accompany the army under General Whitelocke, which was sent against Buenos Ayres, and I rendered such services to the expedition, as my two years’ residence in the country enabled me to perform. At the termination of that expedition, I went to Rio de Janeiro. A letter of introduction to the Viceroy of Brazil, which was given me by the Portugueze Minister at London, gained me the notice and protection of his brother, the CondÉ de Linhares, who had then just arrived with the rest of the Court, and who recommended me to the Prince Regent, as a person devoted to mineralogical pursuits, and desirous of exploring the ample field for investigation which his rich and extensive territories presented. His Royal Highness was graciously pleased to further my views, not only by granting me letters to the public functionaries of the various places I wished to visit, but by ordering an escort of soldiers, and every other necessary provision for performing the journey. I had the more reason to be grateful for this munificent patronage, because I knew that a decree existed, prohibiting all foreigners from travelling in the interior of Brazil, and that no other Englishman had ever begun such an undertaking with those indispensible requisites to its success, the permission and sanction of the Government.

Observations, made, in the course of these Travels, on the country and its inhabitants, constitute the main part of the volume now offered to the public. Whatever be their faults or their merits, they relate to a subject at present extremely interesting, both in a political and a commercial point of view; they profess to develope the physical resources of a colony, which, through recent changes, is likely to become an empire; and in part, to portray the character of a nation which is now the most ancient, and has ever been the most faithful, ally of Great Britain.

As the recital of a voyage is proverbially tedious and superfluous, I shall forbear to trouble the reader with any detail of mine, and shall merely state, that, after encountering many difficulties at Cadiz, in consequence of the rupture with Spain, I sailed for the Plata, and having narrowly escaped shipwreck from a tremendous storm near the mouth of that river, entered the harbour of Monte Video.

The hardships I experienced in reaching this ill-fated port, were a fit prelude to the misfortunes that awaited me there. We were bound for Buenos Ayres, but my captain, who in London and at Cadiz had assured me that he had the experience of a pilot in the Rio de la Plata, proved totally ignorant of its navigation, and urged this circumstance as his reason for putting into Monte Video. Happy should I have been, if this had been the only instance of his ignorance; he gave an ill-judged and blundering report of me to the governor, and the sailors affirmed that I was an Englishman, declaring at the same time that we had passed an English squadron under Spanish colors. This statement was enough to whet the avarice of the governor, who, notwithstanding I had served the colony, in bringing a cargo which was then much wanted, and every article of which had paid legal duty in Cadiz, ordered me to be thrown into prison. I was placed in close confinement on board a wretched sloop of war; and though my health was much impaired in consequence of exertion during the voyage, I was denied every comfort, except such indulgences, as the officers, who lived on shore, could at times clandestinely allow. Unprovided with letters of recommendation to any person in the town, and destitute of the means of making myself known, I had the mortification to see the property I had brought with me seized, and my papers taken away to be searched and examined. I was enjoined to make declarations, and to give evidence against myself, to men whose sole wish was to find a pretext for criminating me. After three or four examinations, it was found that I had sailed from Cadiz with a cargo of goods, marked, manifested, and duly registered, as Spanish; nor could any circumstance be discovered as a ground of accusation against me, but the strong suspicion that I was an Englishman, and on that account could not be too harshly treated. I had no lenity to expect from the governor, nor indeed from any of his advisers, who were, for the most part, men of the lowest order, refugees from Old Spain in consequence of criminal prosecutions. The rest of his associates were the captains and officers of two Spanish privateers, all Frenchmen, whose natural prejudices, no doubt, contributed to foment his antipathy against me. My sole reliance was on the consignee of the cargo, who at length arrived from Buenos Ayres; but, instead of clearing up the affair, he joined my persecutors, knowing that if he gave security he should have the cargo delivered to him. This favorable opportunity he failed not to embrace; he sold the property, and withheld the proceeds, under the pretext, that he could not pay them over to me while I remained a prisoner. This conduct to one who had depended on him for support, and who relied on his continually delusive promises of assistance, proved him to be one of those mean and spiritless beings whose station in society is mid-way between the simpleton and the knave.

My confinement would probably have been long, but for the good services of a Limenian, who attended me during my illness in Cadiz, and who had come over in the vessel with me. He was the only person I was permitted to see; and he interested himself so much in my behalf, that an old gentlewoman, with whom he had formed an acquaintance, determined, on hearing my story, to procure my liberation, and never rested until she had procured two bondsmen to answer for my appearance when called for.

The treatment I experienced, while in prison, was one of the many instances of oppression which disgraced the administration of the governor, Pasqual Ruiz Huidobro. It is well known that his political conduct was entirely subservient to the interests of the French, and that he lost no opportunity of evincing his attachment to their cause. As a further proof of this, I may state, that he caused all the captured English seamen to be confined in the prison, and, although its spacious court was doubly grated and guarded, he debarred them the use of it, and ordered them to be shut up, night and day, in a small room, the door of which was never opened except when victuals were given them. Aware of his severity, and knowing that I was the only prisoner at large, I was very circumspect, and strove to guard my conduct and discourse against artful misconstruction; but I had the misfortune to incur his displeasure at a moment when I least suspected it, by a very trivial, and certainly unintentional offence. Some written papers had been stuck up in various parts of the town, by order of Government, inviting foreign seamen to enter the service. Returning home at midnight from a visit, I observed one of these placards; the rain, which was pouring very fast, had partly detached it from the wall, and it was blown to and fro by the wind. Curious to examine the contents of a paper that had attracted the attention of many persons in the course of the day, I took it down and carried it home with me; this was observed by an old Spaniard of the name of Dias, who gloried much in having it in his power to injure me, though a perfect stranger to him, and unconscious of having done any thing to excite his malice. At the instance of this man an order was issued by the governor for my arrest; I was roused from my bed by the officers, and again hurried to prison. What charges were brought against me I could learn only by report; they were vague and indefinite, and no opportunity of answering them was allowed me. After a close confinement of six weeks, during which period my case was laid before the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres, I was again suffered to be at large, on payment of a fee of three hundred dollars. It was to the humane exertions of my advocate, seconded by those of the Limenian and the lady before-mentioned, that I owed this mitigation of my captivity, and I gratefully acknowledge that they made every provision in their power to render my situation comfortable.

During my stay at Monte Video another adventure befel me, which had well nigh cost me my life; I am induced to relate it, by reason of the insight it gives into the character of a certain class of the people. I had gone on a shooting excursion to the promontory opposite Monte Video, with my much-valued friend Captain Collet, owner of two or three large American ships, and M. Godefroy, a merchant, resident in the town. After some hours’ sport we met a party of four Spaniards, among whom were Mr. Ortiga, the consignee of Captain Collet, and a person called Manuel d’Iago. Our friend M. Godefroy had some conversation with them at a short distance from us, and on his return gave us to understand, that d’Iago had said it would not cost him above five hundred dollars to send a pair of bullets through me, and that had I been alone he would not have scrupled to do it. For this blood-thirsty insinuation I was at a loss to conjecture any motive, nor knew I the man, except by report, which designated him as a captain of militia, extremely rigorous in his treatment of the unfortunate English, whenever his turn to mount guard at the prison subjected them to his authority.

We pursued our diversion; he and his party meanwhile arrived at the Signal-house, about three miles above us, where they took refreshment. Some space of time afterward we observed a horse-soldier ride down towards us, who on approaching eyed us with a look of great suspicion. I had some little talk with him, having frequently seen him there before. He returned directly to the Guard-house, and an hour afterwards five blandengues, or horse-soldiers, sallied from the place at full speed, and, surrounding us, demanded our arms at the peril of our lives. Each of us obeyed, by surrendering his fowling-piece, M. Godefroy at the same time enquiring the cause of this extraordinary treatment; but they ordered him to be silent, and to march on along with us, or they would tie him on horseback. We were conducted to the Guard-house, and delivered (the officer being absent) to the corporal on guard, a fiery old Spaniard, who ordered us into an inner room, and placed two centinels at the door. The fellow was so stifled by passion, that we could not get an answer from him; at every moment he was drawing a long sabre which hung at his side, and venting his fury in the most abusive language. After a full half-hour of expostulation on our part, and menace on his, M. Godefroy obtained a hearing from him, and, declaring he was a merchant, married and actually settled in Monte Video, begged to know by what authority and under what pretext he was imprisoned. The corporal, on learning this, sent a soldier to the officer on guard, and while waiting his return, related that D’Iago had described us as Englishmen belonging to a privateer, who had landed with an intention to blow up the powder-magazines, kill bullocks, and plunder the natives. It was evident from his manner that he was very willing to believe this account, and that by treating us with severity he hoped to display his zeal for the service, and obtain promotion. M. Godefroy’s testimony being at length attended to, another soldier was dispatched to D’Iago’s party, who were not yet embarked, with notice that one of us affirmed himself to be a resident in Monte Video. This they did not contradict, but persisted in their accusations of the rest of our party; Mr. Ortiga denied any knowledge of Captain Collet, probably imagining that, in case of our conviction, he should benefit by the cargoes which the latter had consigned to him; and for me, whom they denounced as a spy, no punishment in their opinion could be too ignominious. On the return of the soldier, the corporal thought proper to release M. Godefroy, who took our boat to cross the port to Monte Video, with the intention of procuring an order for our liberation; but they had scarcely sailed, when a gust of wind arose, and as he and two boys he had with him could not manage the sails, they were nearly overset, and after considerable danger were picked up by a ship in the road. Meanwhile Captain Collet and I remained in strict custody, and at every syllable of complaint we uttered, the corporal brandished his sabre over our heads, roared out for the guard, and vociferated the most opprobrious language against the English. Thus threatened at every moment with assassination, we withdrew into a corner of the room, and quietly waited until the officer on guard arrived, when we were conducted in great form, between two men with drawn swords, into the room where he sat to receive us. Nothing could exceed my joyful surprise at recognizing in the officer an excellent and worthy friend, whom I had often visited at his farm, and who had given me repeated proofs of his liberal disposition and intelligent mind. His surprise exceeded mine; for instead of plunderers or spies, such as report had described us, he found an American merchant and a prisoner at large under bail. He was deeply grieved and ashamed at the treatment we had met with, liberated us immediately, mounted us on his own horses, and appointed a trusty person to attend us to Monte Video, where we arrived at eight in the evening. The disappointment of the corporal appeared as deep as his rage had been violent; and the recollection of his conduct operated on us as a warning against persons of his class, who rarely see an opportunity of doing mischief to a stranger, without a strong inclination to avail themselves of it.

During the time I was at large, I had leisure to acquire some knowledge of Monte Video. It is a tolerably well-built town, standing on a gentle elevation at the extremity of a small peninsula, and is walled entirely round. Its population amounts to between 15,000 and 20,000 souls. The harbour, though shoal, and quite open to the pamperos, or south-west gales, is the best in the Rio de la Plata; it has a very soft bottom of deep mud. When the wind continues for some time at north-east, ships drawing twelve feet water are frequently a-ground for several days, so that the harbour cannot be called a good one for vessels above three hundred or four hundred tons.

There are but few capital buildings; the town in general consists of houses of one story, paved with bricks, and provided with very poor convenience. In the square is a cathedral, very handsome, but awkwardly situated; opposite to it, is an edifice divided into a town-house, or cabildo, and a prison. The streets, having no pavement, are always either clouded with dust or loaded with mud, as the weather happens to be dry or wet. In seasons of drought the want of conduits for water is a serious inconvenience, the well, which principally supplies the town, being two miles distant.

Provisions here are cheap and in great abundance. Beef in particular is very plentiful, and, though rarely fat or fine, makes excellent soup. The best parts of the meat may, indeed, be called tolerable, but they are by no means tender. The pork is not eatable. Such is the profusion of flesh-meat, that the vicinity for two miles round, and even the purlieus of the town itself, present filthy spectacles of bones and raw flesh at every step, which feed immense flocks of sea-gulls, and in summer breed myriads of flies, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, who are obliged at table to have a servant or two continually employed in fanning the dishes with feathers, to drive away those troublesome intruders.

Of the character of the inhabitants of Monte Video, I am perhaps not qualified to speak impartially, having been treated with unmerited harshness, deprived of my property, and repeatedly persecuted on the most groundless suspicion. These abuses, however, are solely chargeable on the governor and on the persons immediately under his influence; and I am bound in fairness to avow, that I did not perceive any disposition in the generality of the people to injure or oppress me. From individuals in the town I received all the assistance which disinterested benevolence could afford to a person in my critical situation; and were I, from the impulse of gratitude, to judge of the whole by a part, I should say, that the inhabitants of Monte Video, particularly the Creolians, are humane and well-disposed, when not actuated by political or religious prejudices. Their habits of life are much the same with those of their brethren in Old Spain, and seem to proceed from the same remarkable union of two opposite but not incompatible qualities, indolence and temperance. The ladies are generally affable and polite, extremely fond of dress, and very neat and cleanly in their persons. They adopt the English costume at home, but go abroad usually in black, and always covered with a large veil or mantle. At mass they invariably appear in black silk, bordered with deep fringes. They delight in conversation, for which their vivacity eminently qualifies them, and they are very courteous to strangers.

The chief trade of Monte Video consists in hides, tallow, and dried beef; the two former of these articles are exported to Europe, and the latter is sent to the West Indies, especially to the Havannah. Coarse copper from Chili, in square cakes, is sometimes shipped here, as well as an herb called Mate from Paraguay, the infusion of which is as common a beverage in these parts as tea is in England.

Sugar, coffee, and sweetmeats, are supplied from Rio de Janeiro and other parts of the Brazilian coasts by small traders. Some articles of jewellery are also brought from thence, and the returns are made in dollars, hides, and tallow, which are forwarded generally to Europe.

The inhabitants were by no means opulent before the English took the garrison, but through the misfortunes of the latter at Buenos Ayres, and the losses of our commercial adventurers by ill-judged and imprudent speculations, they were considerably enriched. The great prospects indulged in England, before the expedition to the Plata, of immense profits by trade to that river, have generally ended in ruin; very few, indeed, of the speculators have escaped without considerable loss. Property, once litigated, might be considered in a fair way for confiscation; and in case of its having been deposited until certain questions were decided, restitution was generally obtained at the loss of one half. It frequently happened that goods detained in the Custom-houses, or lodged in private stores in the river, were opened, and large quantities stolen. The party on whom suspicion seemed most reasonably to fall was the consignee, who, even with a few cargoes, was generally observed to get rich very rapidly. Not contented with the profits accruing from his commission, he seldom scrupled to take every advantage which possession of the property afforded him, to further his own interests at the expence of his correspondent. The dread of a legal process could be but a slight check upon him, for in the Spanish courts of justice, as well as in others, a native and a stranger are seldom upon equal terms. Other circumstances have occurred to enrich the inhabitants of Monte Video. It is a fact, which I afterwards ascertained, that the English exported thither, goods to the amount of a million and a half sterling, a small portion of which, on the restoration of the place to the Spaniards, was re-shipped for the Cape of Good Hope and the West Indies; the remainder was for the most part sacrificed at whatever price the Spaniards chose to give. As their own produce advanced in proportion as our’s lowered in price, those among them who speculated gained considerably. The holders of English goods sold their stock at upwards of fifty per cent. profit immediately after the evacuation of the place.

The climate of Monte Video is humid. The weather, in the winter months (June, July, and August), is at times boisterous, and the air in that season is generally keen and piercing. In summer the serenity of the atmosphere is frequently interrupted by tremendous thunder-storms, preceded by dreadful lightning, which frequently damages the shipping, and followed by heavy rain, which sometimes destroys the harvest. The heat is troublesome, and is rendered more so to strangers by the swarms of mosquitoes, which it engenders in such numbers that they infest every apartment.

The town stands on a basis of granite, the feldspar of which is for the most part of an opaque milk-white color, in a decomposing state; in some places it is found of a flesh-red color and crystallized. The mica is generally large and foliated, in many places imperfectly crystallized. It is obvious that the excessive quantity of mud in the harbour and throughout the banks of the river cannot have been formed from this stratum. The high mount on the opposite side of the bay, which is crowned with a Light-house, and gives name to the town, is principally composed of clay-slate, in laminÆ perpendicular to the horizon. This substance appears much like basalt in texture, but its fracture is less conchoidal; it decomposes into an imperfect species of wackÉ, and ultimately into ferruginous clay, from beds of which water is observed to flow in various parts of the mountain.

The vicinity of Monte Video is agreeably diversified with low gently sloping hills, and long valleys watered by beautiful rivulets; but the prospects they afford are rarely enlivened by traces of cultivation; few enclosures are seen except the gardens of the principal merchants. The same defect appears in a north-east direction from the town, where similar varieties of hill, valley, and water prevail, and seem to want only the embellishment of sylvan scenery to complete the landscape. Some wood, indeed, grows on the margin of the Riachuelo, which is used for the building of hovels and for fuel. There is a pleasant stream about ten leagues from Monte Video, called the Louza, the banks of which seem to invite the labor of the planter, and would certainly produce abundance of timber[2]. It is to be remarked that the almost entire want of this article here, occasions great inconvenience and expense: wood for mechanical purposes is extremely scarce, and planks are so dear that hardly one house with a boarded floor is to be found.

In this vicinity the farms are of great extent; few are so small as six miles in length, by a league in width. Such is the scarcity of wood, that the land-marks, when not already designated by nature in a chain of hills, a rivulet, or a valley, are made by ranges of stones of a peculiar form. The quintas (or farms owned by gentlemen), with the country houses built upon them, as rural retreats for their proprietors, resident in Monte Video, were extremely pleasant and agreeable; the gardens were full of fine flowers and fruits, and every thing about these establishments indicated so much peace, harmony, and good neighbourhood, as to make an impression on the mind of a stranger equally pleasing and indelible. But the scene, alas! has been changed through the intestine discords produced by a revolutionary war; and the colony has been reduced from a state of happiness to one of distress and wretchedness. The inhabitants of the interior, having been instigated to plunder each other until nothing remained, ranged themselves under the banners of the predatory chieftain Artigas, and formed a desperate banditti, who robbed and frequently murdered all they met; drove the peaceable inhabitants from their farms, plundered their houses, took away their cattle, reduced the rich to poverty, and the poor to wretchedness, almost so as to desolate this once florishing colony. A man, who but a few months before possessed 100,000 head of cattle, was driven from his estate, and obliged to purchase, at the price of one shilling per pound, the meat which he had formerly left in the slaughter-house, having killed his beasts merely for their hides; so that the necessaries of life which were once to be procured almost gratuitously, became extravagantly dear; and the horrors of approaching famine were superadded to those of anarchy and spoliation.

Reverting to the former order of things, I could name more than fifty individuals of Monte Video, whose estates were from twenty to fifty miles in length, by ten or twenty in breadth, with cattle in such numbers as are almost incredible. An estate of this kind, consisting of a varied extent of hill, plain, and valley, is called a fazenda, as distinguished from the quinta, which bears a closer resemblance to the English farm, being a portion of land, generally selected near the house, for the culture of wheat, beans, Indian corn, melons, fruit trees, &c.

The farm house is almost destitute of furniture; the couch consists of a raw hide, stretched and suspended, on which is placed a flock bed; strangers most commonly sleep on a mat, or dried hide, spread upon the ground.

At a small distance from Monte Video, herds of deer, and flocks of ostriches are to be met with; the eagle is often seen, and sometimes the tiger. Soon after the time when the troops of Artigas drove the cattle from the mountain opposite, two tigers swam across the bay, penetrated at night into the town, and killed two or three of the inhabitants ere they were attacked and destroyed. They were supposed to have been driven by hunger in search of food.

The country which was formerly so peaceable and so safe, that a traveller might go to almost any distance, and meet with nothing but hospitality, has been latterly so infested with banditti, that to wander a mile or two from the town exposes a man to the danger of being robbed and murdered; so that while anarchy and confusion prevail within, there is nothing but plunder and destruction without the walls of Monte Video. It has however fallen into the possession of the Portuguese, who cannot be dislodged from so strong a fortress by any force which their neighbours are able to bring against them. Indeed, the Potuguese, availing themselves of the advantages afforded by the disorganized state of Buenos Ayres, will, no doubt, incorporate the northern part of the Plata with the captaincy of Rio Grande, and thus extend to that distracted country the blessings of their own mild and beneficent government. Artigas being at length taken prisoner, public confidence will be restored in Monte Video, and the reign of peace and security be there re-established.

The operation of ploughing, consists here of little more than forming a small furrow, by running a sharp pointed stick through the soil. There are no dairy farms, and scarcely is any butter or cheese made. Mining is unknown; and little notice is taken of the small quantity of lead ore which appears in limestone at Maldonado.

An estate, however large, seldom contains more than from ten to twenty men, who are employed in domesticating cattle; and scarcely a woman is to be seen, except the domestic negresses. Sheep are kept solely for their wool, and pigs for their fat, an article much in request for culinary preparations. The usual mode of travelling is on horseback, and there are very few carriages in Monte Video.

The breeding of horses is less attended to than that of cattle, as their hides sell at an inferior price. Herds of 500 or 1000 horses are not often seen in this district, though those of oxen sometimes amount to ten times the latter number. Cows are but seldom domesticated, and then very few, and it is by mere stratagem in managing the calf that any milk can be procured. Every kind of handicraft trade is ill conducted. Though the Monte Videans have hides, they procure their leather from Europe, as that which they make themselves is comparatively worthless. Their carpenters and other artisans are bad workmen; but I am told their barbers are men of superior skill in their calling, and this distinction may, perhaps, be attributed to the great beards of the Spaniards; the men of Paraguay having a stinted portion of that natural ornament. The silversmiths are of so inferior a stamp, that they might with greater propriety be called coppersmiths. The common people excel most in catching cattle, either with the noose, or the balls.

In the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, wheat alone is grown. It is stored, until wanted, in hides; and when there is a great demand for grain in Brazil, it is sometimes exported to Rio de Janeiro. But of late years the inhabitants of the provinces of La Plata have paid less attention than ever to this branch of agriculture; and the supplies to Brazil have been chiefly derived from the Cape of Good Hope.