298 To the River Plate and Back 



works about it, and prepare it for defence, before the 

 Spaniards in Buenos Aires had gotten wind of what was 

 taking place. When at last the Commandant at Buenos 

 Aires received intelligence of what had been done 

 across the river, he gathered a small army and, crossing 

 the stream, overpowered the Portuguese, drove them 

 from the settlement, and razed their defences. Portu- 

 gal formally protested against this act, and the 

 authorities at Madrid disavowed it, without, however, 

 retracting their claim to the territory north of the river. 

 In 1683 the Portuguese resumed possession of Colonia. 

 Thereafter for many years the place became the center 

 of a great contraband trade with the Spanish colonies 

 on the River Plate. In 1705 war having broken out 

 between Spain and Portugal, the Spanish troops in 

 Buenos Aires were again sent over the river and took 

 possession of Colonia and held it for eleven years until 

 at the end of the war it was restored to the Portuguese 

 by the Treaty of Utrecht. 



In 1723 the Portuguese decided upon a further occu- 

 pation of the country, and seizing the site of Monte- 

 video, began to entrench themselves there. When 

 information of the fact reached Buenos Aires, the Gov- 

 ernor dispatched a strong force to the place, compelled 

 the Portuguese to withdraw, took possession of their 

 uncompleted works, strengthened them, and prepared 

 himself to hold the place against all comers. In 1726 

 the town of Montevideo was laid out and five years 

 afterward it had a population of one thousand souls. 

 In 1730 Maldonado was settled by the Spanish. Soon 

 after this a Portuguese expedition arrived, and made 

 an attempt to dislodge the Spanish, but, fail ng in this, 

 established themselves in what is now the Brazilian 

 State of Rio Grande do Sul. For the next fifty years 



