Chapter VI: Part 6

Between the Guarany town De la Candelaria, and the city Corrientes, the Parana throws in the way of navigators another smaller rapid, full of projecting rocks. I have no doubt that in the long course of the Parana, there lurks many a hidden whirlpool; the credibility of which opinion I will endeavour to prove to you, by relating a recent event. In the year 1756, whilst I was residing in the town of Loretto, a number of Guaranies began to sail in boats up the river Parana, to gather the herb of Paraguay in distant woods. When they had got a very few leagues beyond the town of Cuerpo de Cristo, all perished, except one man, the announcer of this unfortunate catastrophe. "About noon," said he, "they briskly rowed the boat to the sound of pipes and drums. The sky was serene, the air tranquil, the river placid, when suddenly the prow of the ship was lifted straight upright, like a pillar, and the poop proportionably lowered; but it fell back into its former situation, and put an end to the sudden terror excited, but not to the danger. For soon after the prow was again elevated by some hidden impulse, and the ship and all the sailors were swallowed up in a moment." One alone escaped, as I told you, by swimming, and announced the sad fate of his companions. We know the fact, but are ignorant of the cause. Almost every body agreed with me in attributing it to a hidden whirlpool, which had remained till then undiscovered in this frequented river. Often in vast rivers, and still oftener in the wide ocean, places destructive to ships are discovered, which had, for many ages, escaped the observation of skilful navigators.

The Parana abounds in innumerable islands of various sizes. It often demolishes the old, and creates new ones. For the annual floods heap up the sands, which are liberally supplied with seeds of willows wafted thither by the wind; these soon take root and quickly grow up with the aid of abundant moisture. Wait a little, and you will see the island covered with willows, other trees, and turf, and haunted by birds, wild beasts, and amphibious animals. Other islands are gradually destroyed by the violence of the waves; we have seen some of them sunk under water, others rocked like a ship by the wind and the waves, and borne up and down till they are dissolved and swallowed up. The most considerable islands are Martin Garzia, Las dos Hermanas, the Island of St. Gabriel, La Isla de Flores, and La Isla de Lobos. The Parana overflows twice every year. The greater flood generally commences in the summer month December, continues during the whole of January, and sometimes does not subside till the end of February. The lesser begins about the middle of June, and lasts thirty days. In both floods all the islands, some of which are three leagues in extent, are so entirely covered that the tops of the very highest trees are alone visible.

Tigers and stags like those of our country, which are very numerous, come out upon the shores. When the river is not contained within its very high banks, it spreads to the space of many leagues. I remember sailing near the town of St. Ferdinand, in a ship, amid palm trees, on the plain which, at other times, I used to gallop over on horseback. The waters of the Parana are muddy; but if suffered to settle in a pitcher, not unwholesome for the natives of the town; though in strangers, they occasion diarrhœa, which proved fatal to fourteen of my companions, whilst we were awaiting an opportunity of sailing to Europe, in the city of Buenos-Ayres, whither we had assembled from different parts of the province. I, also, was confined to my bed, and placed in extreme danger by it. The tide of the sea spreads full a hundred leagues up the Parana, especially when the south wind blows violently; but its waters are fresh about six leagues from the mouth of the sea.

The Parana, now distinguished by the unmerited appellation of La Plata, has five havens for sea-vessels; but perfect security is to be found in neither of them. Ships rest in the port of Buenos-Ayres, three leagues from land, exposed to all winds and storms. The south wind, which rages most in those parts, threatens immediate destruction, unless the anchors and cables be very strong and firm. Long, light ships, called Lanchas, which are much used in this river, draw to land by the river Riachuelo, when it is augmented by the tide; for when the sea ebbs, it is too shallow to bear those vessels. Colonia do Sacramento, which lies on the eastern shore, opposite to the city Buenos-Ayres, and almost fifteen leagues distant from it, (for such the width of the river is reckoned to be,) affords a safer station for vessels, and one nearer to land, being somewhat defended against the wind by high banks on one side, and on the other by the neighbouring island of St. Gabriel, though this very circumstance of the island's being so near, as well as the hidden rocks, are great causes for apprehension, because mournfully signalized by not a few shipwrecks. The best, and, to say truth, the only port on the same shore, is that of Monte-Video, which is situated thirty leagues distant from the colony, and as many from the sea, and is commodiously defended by artillery, and by a castle which contains five hundred guards. This bay, which is about one league and a half long from the port, and almost circular, is protected against all winds, except the south, which is very formidable here, by high shores, and by a lofty mountain visible at eight leagues distance. It is also navigable to ships of war. The little island of rabbits, La Isla de los Conejos, occupies the port. The castle of the place is so small, considering the immense sums expended upon it by the court of Madrid, that it rather deserves the name of a castlet. The island Maldonado, about nine leagues distant from the mouth of the sea, and about as many from Monte-Video, betwixt La Isla dos Lobos, and La Isla de Flores, affords a convenient situation to ships of every size, and a defence against the S. E. wind. The Governour, Pedro Ceballos, fortified this bay as well as he could with new works. Men skilled in these matters have declared it as their opinion that this post is excellently well situated, and might be made very important to the security of the province, if nature were assisted by art. On the opposite shore, towards the west, the bay Barragan, twelve leagues distant from Buenos-Ayres, affords an opportunity for repairing ships, but little security for them. For it is every where surrounded by low banks, and lies exposed to all winds. The entrance itself is not devoid of danger. The harbour is indeed of wide extent, but, being rather shallow, the larger ships remain two leagues from land. The place has no fortifications of any kind, consisting of a very few wretched huts of hides and rushes.

As the river La Plata has but a few ports, and those not very safe ones, it consequently threatens navigators with an hundred dangers, on account of the sand-banks, and shoals which occur here and there. The most remarkable of these are two named El Banco Ingles, and El Banco Ortiz; both of which are many leagues both in length and in breadth. The danger is increased by some hidden rocks near La Isla dos Lobos, and La Isla de Flores, and still more by huge crags in the neighbourhood of the port of Monte-Video, called Las Carretas de Monte-Video, which are the more dangerous on account of their being less easy to be seen. If the pilot is not thoroughly acquainted with the river, or if he neglects to make frequent use of the sounding-line, a shipwreck is inevitable. The vessel will either be buried amid high heaps of sand, or will spring a leak from being dashed against the rocks. This may the more certainly be expected, if the river be so much disturbed by a strong south wind, as to render it impossible to make any use of the rudder; for during a tempest the waves rise mountains high, and the violence of them is incredible. Three or four anchors will scarce hold a ship at such times. Matteo Callao, an experienced man, captain of a war-ship named La Esmeralda, when he brought us back to Spain from Monte-Video, was often heard to exclaim in the river Plata, "Let me only get clear of this devil, and I shall think myself already at the port of Cadiz." Who would not have been terror-struck at the remembrance of so many vessels which had recently perished there? That very ship in which we sailed from Lisbon had nearly been added to the number of those unfortunate ones. I will relate the affair as briefly as possible.

In Portugal, a Brazilian mulatto was hired at a great price by Feliciano Velho, the captain of the ship, because he professed himself well acquainted with the river La Plata, though he was, in reality, extremely ignorant. At the entrance of the river the captain, Joseph Carvalho de Pereira, according to custom, committed the entire management of the ship to this man; but more ignorant than a brute, he made a dangerous error at the very threshold. He took the ship to such a distance from the east shore, which it ought to have kept in sight, that nothing but water and sky was to be seen. On perceiving which, "Holloa!" exclaimed the captain, "you will lose my ship before the sun sets!" This sudden speech proved prophetic: for leaning over the side of the vessel, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, I observed that the water in a certain place was unusually disturbed, and suspecting the truth of the matter, disclosed the circumstance to the captain, who, ascending a mast as quick as possible, perceived that we were steering directly towards the English Shoal, and immediately ordered the prow of the ship to be turned towards the east: for that repercussion of the waters arose, as I suspected, from the neighbouring quicksands. About evening we cast anchor in very shallow water, so that the ship hardly floated at all. After sun-set there came on a furious tempest. While the sky bellowed with thunder, a violent south wind raised huge billows in the river, and created much alarm lest the ship, which was fastened to a muddy bottom with a very bad anchor, should be either dashed upon the rocks of La Isla de Flores on one side, or upon the English Shoal on the other; for the former were on our left, and the latter on our right, at no great distance. Consequently, the sailors were forced to toil day and night in pulling away the anchors and strengthening the cables. This formidable storm lasted two days. On St. Stephen's day, about noon, the captain thought fit to remove from this dangerous neighbourhood. But after a few moments sail we were suddenly forced to cast anchor, for, by the sounding-line, sands were discovered to be close at hand.

We learnt from the Spaniards, who came by night in a skiff from Monte-Video to spy us, that we were in a dangerous situation, and near to the rocks named Las Carretas de Monte-Video. We all vainly wished for some one from the port, well acquainted with the river, to show us the way. They said there was no skiff for such a person to make use of, but that a Portugueze captain was going next day to the port of Colonia, and that this man might go before us in a skiff and conduct our ship. Him we expected next day to show us the way; but as he did not make his appearance, being probably afraid of the stormy wind, we pursued our journey, blindly wandering up and down. Thinking that we had now left behind us the shoal named El Ortiz, we sailed, even at night, without suspicion of danger. But, alas! the greatest danger is in security. About day-break the ship stuck so fast upon those very shoals from which we thought ourselves long since escaped, that for two days no industry or nautical skill was sufficient to remove it from that place. On the second night there arose a most violent tempest. The poop remained immoveable, being thrust into the sand, whilst the other parts of the ship were tost about with such violence, that it seemed every moment as if the joints of the planks would be loosened. About the same time a strong south wind, accompanied with continual thunder, drove such a force of water from the sea into the river Plata, that early in the morning the ship was extricated from that abyss of sands, and floated once again. Carried by the same wind, now favourable to us, we entered the port of Colonia, in safety, next day about noon. After remaining there for two days, and being much tossed about, we were removed to the city of Buenos-Ayres. In crossing this river, which is about fifteen leagues wide, many of us endured more apprehension, and felt more sickness, than in the whole ocean. For want of a better, we went in a skiff, which age had rendered rotten, worm-eaten, and ruinous. Scarcely did one part adhere to the other. The fury of the raging wind increased our fear and our danger, for as it blew against us, our sails were too much bent, and one whole side of the skiff lay under water. But all this was nothing. We gave ourselves up for lost when the rudder was thrust into the sand, and we stuck for some time with the prow lifted up in the air. But who can describe the joy we felt on beholding the shore, and entering the port which we had vainly sought for three whole months?

I have spoken the more fully on this subject, in order to show you that successful navigation in this river depends not upon skill alone, but upon great good-fortune. Should a violent south wind arise, skill, knowledge, and experience all of no avail, the ship will be driven into places where it will either perish, or at least undergo much danger. In the year 1766, the very best skiff in the port of Buenos-Ayres, commanded by the most excellent captains in that city, being dashed against a shoal by the force of a stormy south wind, had its keel split like a nut, was divided into two parts, and utterly perished, ten Jesuits destined for the province of Chili, many Spanish grenadiers, and all the rest of the crew being drowned, except one captain of the grenadiers, who, with a boy of ten years old, seized hold, by chance, of a little boat, and arrived in safety at the opposite shore, at full ten miles distance from the place of the shipwreck. Not a single person offered to accuse the pilot of stupidity, or want of skill. Every one was aware that the foul tempest which had arisen in the night alone occasioned the shipwreck. For it appears from nautical tables and documents, that the north channel of the river is narrower and deeper, and the south channel, on the contrary, wider but of a shallower bottom. All knew whereabouts El Banco Inglez and El Banco Ortiz, with the other well-known rocks, lay concealed. But who could even guess at these new shoals, fresh heaps of sand, which either the river with its inundations, or the sea rushing impetuously into the river, were wont to heap up? By continually making use of the sounding-line, these later shoals are indeed discovered, but often when it is too late, the waves baffling all art and industry. Wherefore the wider this river extends on each side, and the nearer it approaches to the sea, so much the more is it to be dreaded. In this one channel the river La Plata flows between the promontories of Sta. Maria and S. Antonio, which latter is also called Cabo Blanco. The priest Cyriaco Morelli speaks thus concerning the mouth of the river La Plata, in his work intituled _Fasti Novi Orbis_, "What we call the river La Plata, is in reality an immense bay of the sea, into which the waters of the Parana, the Paraguay, and the Uruguay flow." Different authors give different accounts of the width of this river where it enters the sea. Many Spaniards at this day give it sixty leagues, others fewer, and some say it is seventy leagues across. But Egidio Gonzalez de Avila, in the "_Ecclesiastical Theatre of the Indies_," vol. ii. affirms that the river La Plata enters the sea by mouths eighty leagues in width. I leave you to form your own opinion on the subject.

I have crossed this channel twice, but must own I never measured it. It is certain, that incautious or too credulous captains are often deceived by the wideness of this vast river, which prevents them from seeing both shores of it. Trusting too much to their own fallacious calculations, they think themselves sailing on the ocean, and boldly proceed with spread sails, and without consulting the sounding-line, but at length when the ship strikes upon shoals, perceive too late that they are in the river Plata, and frequently perish. I write this on my own experience. On St. Thomas's day the ship proceeded full sail, and with a wind as favourable as could be desired. We observed little birds, never at other times seen on the ocean, flying about, bits of grass floating, and the colour of the water changed, from all which it was easy to conclude that we were near land. We represented these circumstances over and over again to the captain, a Portugueze, who, though in other respects a worthy and prudent man, relied too much on his own observations, and was somewhat pertinacious and opiniated He insisted upon it that we were far from land, and openly declared that he should pursue his present course, full sail, till seven o'clock at night. We should have perished had he acted according to his word. For about sun-set, a short-lived but violent gust of wind sprung up. All sails were lowered as usual. We perceived that the ship was surrounded on all sides by seals, which were the means of saving our lives by proving that we were in the perilous river La Plata, or at least in the entrance of it. For you will never see these amphibious animals in the main sea, it being their daily custom to quit the water and go upon shore. The testimony of the seals was also confirmed by the sounding-line, by which we discovered that the bottom was but a very few cubits deep. The captain convinced of his former error, thought fit to put in practice the maxim _festina lente_! We stuck between the hammer and the anvil, when that first squall was succeeded by a tempest accompanied with thunder and a furious south wind. Lest the ship should be driven to the neighbouring promontory of Sta. Maria, or on to the shoals, the sails were placed in such a manner that the wind when it falls into one is repelled by the other, by which means the ship, floating in the same place, is prevented from proceeding. About the middle of the night, the wind abating a little, we proceeded very slowly with but one sail. At dusk in the evening unknown tracts of land presented themselves to our eyes. At length the sun being fully risen, it was not without terror that we beheld ourselves scarce a gun-shot from the lofty rocks of the promontory of Sta. Maria. Our alarm was increased when, after repeatedly casting the sounding-line, the sailors discovered that, to the imminent danger of the ship, the bottom was but six fathoms deep. For the sea being at ebb, and the waters momently decreasing more and more, we should have been becalmed, and consequently disenabled from receding from the neighbouring rocks, where, if the south wind returned, we should be dashed to pieces, but if the calm lasted we must stick fast in the shallows. We derived safety and incredible consolation from the sun, then at the meridian, from observation of which we at length discovered whereabouts we were. Two hours after noon a gentle gale arose, which enabled us to quit the shallows and that threatening shore, and to re-enter the main sea. The wind becoming more favourable after sun-set, we stole into the very channel of the river, and about dawning got sight of La Isla de Lobos. But this short-lived joy was saddened the same day with all those wanderings and perils which I have just related. From all this you may conclude how formidable the width of the river La Plata is to captains of ever so long experience.

The name of the river Plata being spread throughout Europe in former times, many of the Spaniards flew to Paraguay, and after all found nothing but poverty, where they expected riches. Paraguay is surrounded by the provinces of Chili, Peru, and Quito, which abound in gold, silver, gems, and precious stones, neither of which is to be found in Paraguay. Some of them might perhaps be discovered, you will say, if properly searched for, but this I do not believe, knowing how sagacious and quick-sighted the Spaniards are in seeking for treasures concealed in the bosom of the earth; as, therefore, they have never hitherto endeavoured to dig for gold and silver, or have been unsuccessful in the attempt, I am firmly persuaded that there are none to be found; and the longer I remained in this country, the more was my opinion on that head strengthened by convincing proofs and experiments. In many places signs of hidden metal were sometimes discovered, but they served rather to drain the purses of the more credulous Spaniards than to enrich them. I will fairly relate whatever occurs to my memory relative to the attempts that were made to discover metals, and the ridiculous ideas that were entertained on this head. I was intimately acquainted with a merchant in the city of St. Iago del Estero, who had formerly been opulent, but was at that time reduced to ruin. Hoping to become as rich as Crœsus, he directed his whole thoughts and faculties towards discovering mines. Emissaries were hired to search in those places which were thought to contain metals. At much expense he undertook a journey to the Governour of Tucuman, who lived at a great distance, to obtain from him a right to dig for gold. He spent immense sums upon workmen, mules, provision, and other instruments necessary for searching the bowels of the earth, with no reward for his pains, except spending the riches that he already possessed, without obtaining those which he promised himself under ground, and remained ever afterwards indigent and derided by all. Yet deluded by his hopes, he had still to learn wisdom. He knew that about eighty leagues distant from the city of St. Iago, was a place named Hierro, which runs out into an extensive plain covered with rich grass. Not a stone or even a pebble is to be seen in the whole vicinity. Here and there appears out of the turf a plank, or the trunk of a tree, having the appearance of iron, except that by its shining it bears some sort of resemblance to silver. The good man now thought he had reached the summit of his wishes, for he swore that silver mixed with iron lay concealed in this place, to the great amusement of all that heard him. He gave a little piece of this metal, which he had eagerly snatched up, to a smith to be melted in the city. The Spaniards who were present privily slipped some pieces of silver money into the furnace. When, therefore, he beheld the melted mass, consisting of silver and that kind of iron flowing from the furnace, he thought himself the happiest of mankind. But understanding that he had been cheated, and cajoled, he flew into a rage, and threatened the authors of the deceit with every thing that was dreadful. An European smith, after carefully trying that exotic metal with fire, informed me that it was a sort of iron, but so hard and so brittle, that no art would be sufficient to bend or reduce it to any kind of form, and consequently that it was of no use whatever. I will tell you another anecdote of the same kind.

A certain merchant of Cordoba was involved in very great pecuniary difficulties, to extricate himself from which he forsook his old calling, and took up that of a physician, in which he was never properly instructed;—a metamorphosis by no means uncommon amongst the Europeans who reside in America. Deserters from the army and navy, if they exercise any handicraft trade, will never find a wife in Paraguay. To obviate this objection they apply themselves to merchandise. Whoever has his shop filled with tallow-candles, cheese, knives, needles, scissors, linen or woollen neck-handkerchiefs, and some flagons of brandy, is styled a merchant, immediately becomes noble, is esteemed superior to the vulgar, and fit to make any marriage connection, or hold any magistracy. Reduced to ruin, from merchants they suddenly become physicians. These ignorant quacks, who in Europe hardly know how to shave a beard, breathe a vein, cut the nails, apply cupping-glasses to the skin, administer an injection, or spread a plaster, give themselves out for Galens in Paraguay, and slay the rich with impunity at all hours of the day. Such an one was Bartholomew. Finding his purse no way filled by the diseases and deaths of others, and being universally dreaded, he at length changed his mind, forsook his gallipots, and turned his thoughts towards metals, the last anchor of his hopes. A vague report had been spread that in the mountains near Cordoba, signs of hidden gold had manifested themselves. Having consulted those persons who were best informed on this subject, obtained leave of the royal Governours, hired men to dig, and purchased cattle to maintain them, solely on the promise of reward, he explored, for some time, the bowels of the earth, but with no success, with great loss, and terrible expense, as it was necessary to convey both wood and water many leagues on the backs of mules. Overwhelmed with debts, which his hopes of discovering gold had led him to contract, this wretched man served to teach others that it is safer to seek for gold on the surface of the earth, than in the subterranean caverns of the Cordoban mountains. And indeed no one, that I know of, from that time forward ever thought of seeking there for mines of gold. A report was spread amongst the common people, that the Indians, before the coming of the Spaniards, had dug gold out of the mountains which surround the city Rioja. But every attempt of the Spaniards to find this noble metal in those mountains was uniformly unsuccessful. That small pieces of gold had been discovered in our times in the mountains near the city of Monte-Video, I was informed by Andonaegui, Governour of Buenos-Ayres. Though the Catholic King was made acquainted with this circumstance, no pains were ever taken to examine and excavate those mountains, it being thought that there was little hope, and perhaps no reality in the matter. Some one reported that amethysts had been found in the river Rosario, near the city of Monte-Video; but I thought that they either were not genuine, or had been brought thither from some other place, as no one was known to have taken the pains to seek for more in the same river.

The first Spanish inhabitants entertained a thorough belief that the province of Guayra was rich in metals; and there too, they promised themselves to find abundance of precious stones. They had not yet learnt that all that glitters is not gold nor diamonds either. On the shores of the Parana, they found some stones which they called _cocos de mina_. These stones in shape are sometimes round, sometimes oval; their surface is rough and hard, and of a dark colour. In size they are equal to a pomegranate, and sometimes to a man's head. Within the outer shell they contain little stones of various colours, and great value in the eyes of ignorant persons, who take them for crystal, amethysts, rubies, emeralds, &c. But they are deceived. Jewellers rate them about as high as Bohemian stones. They say that the _cocos de mina_, pregnant with these kinds of pebbles, burst with a noise as loud as that of a gun, when what they consider the noble burden which their womb contains is mature. This appearance and these properties are attributed to them by the vulgar, with what truth I know not, for though I have travelled over the greatest part of Paraguay, particularly the shores of the Parana, with eyes attentive to nature, I never saw a stone of this kind. I do not pretend to say that the _coco de mina_ may not have its value in the other provinces of America, which produce genuine jewels, but I boldly deny that any inhabitant of Paraguay was ever enriched with one. The foolish credulity of certain persons, who, from this fallacious resemblance of jewels, hoped to gain riches, was punished with extreme poverty, as we all know. Xerez, Ciudad Real, and Villa Rica, cities formerly accounted fountains of metals and of riches, have all proved seminaries of indigence and misery. What was called Villa Rica, or the Rich City, was never opulent in reality, but only so in name, and the hopes it held out of discovering metals.

Finding no gold and silver in those parts of Paraguay which their feet had traversed and their eyes beheld, they persuaded themselves and others that these metals were concealed in the native soil of the Guaranies, whom the Jesuits had undertaken to instruct in religion. From this false conjecture, how many lies have been coined, who many calumnies launched against us! By the royal authority and at the desire of the Jesuits, there were sent men commissioned to search diligently if any metal existed in the Guarany territories. These explorers were attended, in the capacity of guide, by a Guarany deserter, a man of bad character. This rogue had been induced, by the gifts and liberal promises of some enemy of the Jesuits, to declare that he had seen gold mines at the banks of the Uruguay, in the land belonging to Concepcion, a town of the Guaranies, and that this place was strengthened like a fort with strong holds, warlike machines, and a numerous garrison. Thither they directly hastened, and when they were a very few leagues distant from that _golden_ spot, the knavish Indian, fearing the punishment of his falsehood, which must be discovered next day, fled away in the night; but being taken in the town of Yapeyù, by the missionary himself, was sent back, chained and guarded, to the Spaniards from whom he had deserted. The cheat respecting those gold mines and fortifications was thus brought to light, and the phantoms raised by falsehood and calumny disappeared. The Spaniards examined every corner far and near; after which they unanimously and publicly declared that no mines existed in that place, nor indeed that any one, who considered the nature of the situation, could rationally expect them to be produced there. The Indian was punished for his perfidy. Certain Spaniards, who had thus falsely accused the Jesuits, were declared calumniators, punished with confiscation of their goods and public infamy, and pronounced incapable of holding any office in the state. By these royal fulminations calumny was for a little while repressed; yet the ridiculous suspicion that mines were buried amongst the Guaranies was not yet extinct; it was even propagated amongst the more credulous Europeans.

I have often laughed at beholding the eagerness and solicitude with which the Spaniards, who visited the Guarany towns, gathered up all the little worthless stones they met with on the way, and which, on account of their various colours, they thought to be emeralds, amethysts, or rubies. Every thing that was found on the Guarany soil they took for gold and jewels. Diamonds, which nature has denied to every part of Paraguay, were reported to abound in the land of the Guaranies. In the Gazeta de Madrid, I read this article, dated London. "They write from Brazil that the Jesuits of Paraguay have brought their diamond mines to such a degree of perfection, that it is greatly to be apprehended the diamonds of Brazil will decrease in value." I submitted this paragraph to the perusal of Charles Murphy, Governour of Paraguay, and I cannot tell whether it excited his laughter or his indignation the most. I would have bought the smallest particle of a diamond at any price, to cut the glass for the various uses of the church, but could never meet with any one who possessed such a thing, and was, consequently, always obliged to make use of a flint instead. If the savages at the straits of Magellan have any metal, they must have got it from the mountains where every one knows that metals are found. But the province of Chili differs as much from Paraguay, as Austria does from its neighbour Hungary. The one abounds in gold and silver, the other is absolutely destitute of both. The Portugueze in Cuyaba, in Matto Grosso, and in the fortlet of Sta. Rosa, collect sands from various rivers, out of which they pick very small particles of gold, formerly with the connivance of the Spaniards, and since the last declaration of peace with their open consent. For the Portugueze always contended that the above-mentioned territories were comprehended within the limits of Brazil, whilst the Spaniards annexed them to Paraguay, or their own Peru. That you may perceive the truth of what I say, I will fairly describe the liberality of nature towards Paraguay. You shall see and laugh at its treasures.

At the close of the last century, Father Antony Sepp found out a method of extracting a small quantity of iron from stones named _ytacurù_, by dint of a very hot fire kept up for twenty-four hours. But he had scarcely any imitators, for the quantity of iron obtained was so inconsiderable, in proportion to the labour and firewood spent upon it, that it was not thought worth the trouble. These stones, which are composed of a number of very small pebbles, are of a dusky colour, mottled with black spots. In our times, somewhat more iron has been brought in the Spanish ships, but even now it is sold at a price incredible to Europeans. All the Guarany youths, on their marriage-day, and the married people at the beginning of January, receive from the Jesuit, the priest of the town, a common knife to use at table. This donation is more expensive than Europeans may imagine, as some of the towns contain four thousand inhabitants, some six or seven. Yet, notwithstanding the dearness of iron, none of us ever thought of procuring a trifling quantity of it, with immense labour, from the stones named _ytacurù_.

Out of the Cordoban mountains, they sometimes dig _talc_, a sort of softish white stone, very light, and of no firmness. It consists of slender laminæ, so that it may be divided with a knife into small plates, and is sometimes dipped in water. When slightly burnt, it assumes the softness of paper and the colour of silver, and is used to make little images and other figures to adorn poor churches. Out of the numerous leaves of which this stone is composed, you will find few entirely white and transparent, for most of them are darkened with black or yellow spots. The better ones supply the place of glass in windows and lanterns; for that article was extremely scarce and dear, in 1748, when I arrived in Paraguay. I could not see one glass window in the chief colleges of the province, nor in the towns of the Guaranies. Every one made his own window of the stone talc, (which is difficult to procure,) of paper, or linen cloth; and as these substitutes were torn away by every shower or boisterous wind, was continually under the necessity of making repairs. But in the last years of my residence in Paraguay, a quantity of glass was brought thither in the Spanish ships, and the price being reduced, the houses and churches shone with glass windows. In the churches, where they look towards the south, instead of a glass window, they place a hard, white, and transparent stone, which is a kind of alabaster, and is brought at a great expense from Peru, its native soil. For the south wind, which is excessively violent in South America, at the first gust breaks all the glass that opposes its fury, often levelling whole houses, breaking enormous masts of large ships, and tearing up lofty cedars by the roots. Stones fit for making lime are to be met with in almost any part of Paraguay, but they are not found in the territories of the Abipones and Guaranies. The shores of the Paraguay and other rivers afford gypsum. The Guaranies, who dwell at a distance from these shores, make use of burnt snails' shells, or of a chalk like fuller's earth, which they call _tobaty_, in whitening their houses. At the banks of the greater Tebiguarỹ, I sometimes saw marble of a black colour, spotted with green, but of very small dimensions. I know not whether any other marbles or remarkable stones are concealed in the bosom of the earth elsewhere. Red and black flints, containing plenty of fire, and extremely fit for muskets, may be seen in many places, especially at the banks of the Uruguay; but instruments to cut them, and fit them for the use of muskets, are wanting. Whether Paraguay produces alum, sulphur, and mercury, I do not know.

Many have committed mistakes who have written concerning Paraguay, in that country itself. They have liberally bestowed treasures upon it, not because it really possesses them, but because they have dreamt of them in a country utterly destitute of all metals. The blind man dreamt that he saw, as the Spanish proverb goes, and he dreamt of what he desired. _El çiego soñaba que veia, y soñaba lo que queria._ To this number belongs Martin del Barco, Archdeacon in the city of Buenos-Ayres, who, in his poem intituled _Argentina, y Conquista del Rio de la Plata_, affirms that pearls are formed in some lake, near which the Abipones inhabit. The oldest of the Indians, the most distinguished for experience and veracity, who were born in that neighbourhood, and had dwelt there for many years, all answered, with one accord, that they had never seen any pearls, nor heard any thing about them from their ancestors. Would not these savages, who continually adorn their necks, arms, and legs, with glass beads brought from Europe, with little round globes made of cockle-shells, with the seeds and kernels of various fruit and the claws of birds, would not they have grasped eagerly at pearls, which are naturally so bright, had they ever met with any? We may therefore safely pronounce this lake, said to produce pearls, a mere fable, long since expunged from history by all sensible persons.

Silver vessels are seen in the houses of the Spaniards, and silver utensils in the churches of the cities. In the Guarany colonies, not only the altars, but sometimes the very ceilings are gilded. This I do not deny. But all that gold and silver was not created in the bowels of Paraguay, but brought from the provinces of Chili or Peru. The Guaranies make very large brass bells for their own churches, or for those of the Spaniards; but the people of Chili supply them with brass. No money is coined in any part of Paraguay in the name of the King, or of any other person.

Excepting a few cities, which carry on commerce with European ships, or with the neighbouring people of Peru, and Chili, and the Portugueze, money is used very rarely, if at all, its place being supplied by the exchange of commodities, as amongst the ancients. Horses, mules, oxen, sheep, tobacco, cotton, the herb of Paraguay, sugar, salt, various kinds of grain, fruits, vegetables, the skins of animals, &c. are used instead of money in Paraguay; with these all necessaries are purchased, and the usual stipends and taxes paid to the bishops, priests and governours, especially in the district of Asumpcion. The prices of all natural productions are regulated by the magistrates, and are diligently learnt and observed both by the seller, and the purchaser. In a very few towns, where money is used, we find only three kinds of silver coins, namely, the _peso fuerte_, _peso de plata_, or _patacon_, which is equal in value to a Spanish crown, or to two German florens: the _real de plata_, and the _medio real de plata_; the first of which is equivalent to five German _groschen_, the other to seven _cruitzers_ and a half. You never see any gold or copper money. The Indians in the towns entrusted to our charge are entirely unprovided with money, and the Jesuits likewise, except that we had fourteen silver pieces, or as many rials, or _medios reales de plata_, in every town. For these pieces of money, according to the custom of the Spanish church, in public weddings, are given by the parish priest to the bridegroom, and by him to the bride, as a dowry, but are afterwards returned again to the priest, that the same money, and the same nuptial rings, may serve over and over again. I think that you may aptly apply to Paraguay what was said of Germany by Tacitus, De Moribus Germanorum: _Argentum et aurum propitii, an irati Dii negaverint, dubito_. If liberal nature had there created gold and silver, if art and industry had discovered those metals, the Spaniards would long since have left off breeding cattle, and cultivating the celebrated herb, both irksome employments. The Indians, who must then have been occupied in digging metals, would have shunned both the religion and friendship of the Spaniards, since they found them coupled with slavery; and we Jesuits should never have induced so many savages to embrace our religion; so that the want or ignorance of metals may be reckoned amongst the divine blessings and advantages of Paraguay.

Though Paraguay is entirely destitute of metals, yet it can by no means be called a poor country. It abounds in things necessary for human subsistence, and especially in all kinds of cattle. The whole world does not contain a country more numerously supplied with oxen, horses, mules, and sheep; which were formerly brought to Paraguay, and in the course of two hundred years increased marvellously, both on account of the richness of the pastures, and the unbounded liberty they possessed of wandering up and down the plains, both by day and night, at every time of the year. The quantity of kine which exists there is scarce credible to a European. Fifty years ago, when all the plains were covered with wild oxen, travellers were obliged to send horsemen before them to clear the way, by driving away the beasts which stood threatening them with their horns. It is, therefore, no wonder that at that time a full grown ox was sold for five _groschen_, (a _real de plata_,) as appears from the old books of valuations. Every Spaniard who intended to enlarge his estate hired a troop of horse, who brought him eight, ten, or more, thousands of cows and bulls from the country, within a few weeks. Do you desire to be made acquainted with the shape of the Paraguayrian oxen? In height they equal those of Hungary, and generally surpass them in the size of their bodies, though not of the same, but of various colours. With a sort of ferocious arrogance they imitate stags in the manner of holding their lofty heads, and almost equal them in swiftness. Unless a long drought have impoverished the pastures, every ox yields such a weight of fat, that two robust men are sometimes scarce able to carry it. The fat of oxen is always used instead of butter in culinary preparations; for the cows are very seldom milked, on account of their ferocity; the taming of them is a long and laborious process, and consequently odious to the slothful Spaniards and Indians. When tamed, they will not suffer themselves to be milked, unless their feet are tied and their calf is standing beside them. Sometimes the mothers are sent with their calves to the pastures, return home at evening of their own accord, and are separated at night, unless their milk has been exhausted by the calves—on which account milk and cheese are very seldom used in Paraguay, butter scarcely ever. A butcher and shambles are words unknown to the Paraguayrians. Every one slays his oxen at his pleasure. The poorer sort do not buy pounds of meat, as is customary in Europe, but a part of a slaughtered ox, which they generally owe to the liberality of the rich. Two or three young men are sufficient to kill the most furious bull. One throws a noose of leather over his neck, another casts one round his hind legs, and cuts the nerve of one of them, then, leaping on his back, fixes a knife in his neck; thus the ox falls, despatched at one blow.

An ox-hide, which measures three ells from the head to the tail, and is called by the Spaniards a legal hide, is bought by merchants at six German florens, though a whole live ox is sold for only two florens amongst the Guaranies, and for four amongst the Spaniards; for the labour employed on hides, even before they are dressed, increases their price. They are carefully fastened to the ground, to be dried, with wooden pegs, under shelter, in a place where the fresh air is admitted; and lest moths should gnaw or strip them of their hairs, for thirteen or, at least, eight days, the dust which ingenders these insects must be diligently beaten from them with a stick. This labour, which was often continued for many months, whilst some thousands of them were disposed of, is rated very high by the Spaniards who sell them. It is incredible what art and industry are employed in stretching hides, which come a little short of three ells, to the usual size, though when made as thin as paper they are totally useless to European curriers, on account of whose complaints this stretching of hides has long since been prohibited. The Spaniards, finding that the trade in hides was by far the most profitable to them of any, were possessed with a blind rage for killing all the oxen they could lay hands on. For this purpose, troops of horse were perpetually traversing those plains which abounded most in wild cattle. The horsemen employed have each separate tasks assigned them. Some furnished with swift horses attack a herd of oxen, and with a long spear, to which is added a sharp semicircular scythe, disable the older bulls by cutting the nerve of the hinder foot; others throw the halter on them whilst they are staggering, and others follow behind to knock down and slay the captive bulls. The rest are employed in stripping the hides off the slaughtered animals, conveying them to an appointed place, fixing them to the ground with pegs, and taking out and carrying away the tongues, suet, and fat. The rest of the flesh, which would suffice to feed a numerous army in Europe, is left on the plain to be devoured by tigers, wild dogs and ravens; and indeed one might almost fear lest the air should be corrupted by such a quantity of dead bodies. In an expedition of this kind, lasting several weeks, the person at whose expense it is undertaken is supplied with some thousands of hides. This custom of hunting and slaughtering oxen, being continued for a whole century, exhausted almost all the plains of wild cattle. You no longer saw those public and immense herds of innumerable oxen, which belonged to no one in particular, but might be appropriated to the use of any. It must be attributed to the extensiveness of the plains, and the fertility of the soil, that in the Paraguayrian estates the number of oxen is still so great that Europe may envy, but cannot hope to equal them. At this day a fat ox may be bought for four florens amongst the Spaniards, and two amongst the Guaranies. In the first years that I spent there one floren was the universal price, but as the number of herds was daily decreasing, the price increased in proportion. I have known Spaniards who possessed about an hundred thousand oxen in their estates. The town Yapeyù, which was dedicated to the three kings, contained fifty thousand; that of S. Miguel many more, but not one superfluous. At least forty oxen were daily slaughtered to satisfy the appetites of seven thousand Guaranies. Add to these the oxen which are privily slain by the Indians, either in the town or the estate, and those which are daily consumed by hostile savages, by tigers, wild dogs, and worms which are bred in the navels of calves. Every merchant's ship transports thirty, and sometimes forty, ox-hides into Europe. Who can reckon the number of hides daily employed in manufacturing ropes, building hedges and houses, and making trunks, saddles, and wrappers for the herb of Paraguay, tobacco, sugar, wheat, cotton and other things? The common people amongst the Spaniards have no other bed than an ox-hide stretched upon the ground, which is also the case with an innumerable crowd of negro slaves. Beef is the principal, daily, and almost only food of the lower orders in Paraguay. Moreover that quantity of meat which would overload the stomach of a European is scarce sufficient to satisfy the appetite of an American. A Guarany, after fasting but a very few hours, will devour a young calf. An Indian, before he lies down to sleep, places a piece of meat to roast at the fire, that he may eat immediately when he wakes. Place food before him, and the rising and the setting sun will behold him with his jaws at work and his mouth full, but with an appetite still unsatisfied. Such being the voracity of the inhabitants, and so continual the slaughters of innumerable oxen, you will agree with me that Paraguay may be called the devouring grave, as well as the seminary of cattle.

Besides this incredible multitude of oxen, Paraguay breeds an infinite number of horses, all sprung from seven mares which the Spaniards brought with them. The whole of that plain country, extending from the river Plata full two hundred leagues in every direction, is covered with droves of wandering horses, of which any person may catch as many as he likes, and make them his own property. Some horsemen, within a few days, bring home more than a thousand horses from the plain. A hunt of this kind is performed in various ways. Some catch every horse they come near with a leathern cord. Others construct a hedge with a wide entrance like the sleeve of a garment, through which they drive a herd of horses, separated from the rest, into the inclosed space, where, after they have been confined for some time, hunger and thirst render them gentle, and they are easily led away wherever the owner chooses, in company with other tame horses. Sometimes a part of the plain is burnt. The horses crowding eagerly to crop the new grass, are surrounded on all sides, and forced away by the hunters. There were some who secured the mares that were taken in this manner, by slightly cutting the nerve of the hinder foot, to prevent their running away. A horse of this kind of either sex, when brought from the country, and before it is accustomed to the saddle and bridle, is sometimes bought for ten or thirteen cruitzers. The colts of the mares are given gratis to the purchasers.