692 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



with oxen over those plains ; at 30 leagues from Santa Fe on the 

 road there is an Indian parish called Los Chanas ; these are peaceable 

 and in service. All this country is covered with cattle. 



Chapter XLVII [2,7] 



Of the City of Trinidad and the Port of Buenos Ayres. 



1828. The city of Trinidad and port of Buenos Ayres is 60 leagues 

 from the sea up the river, which is another 60 leagues wide at that 

 point. The city has more than 200 Spanish residents ; it is built on 

 a high plateau on a bluff over this same Rio de la Plata. The Cathedral 

 is situated in this city, with a Bishop and Prebendaries who reside 

 there and serve it ; it has a Governor appointed by His Majesty in 

 consultation with the Royal Council of the Indies ; there are Domini- 

 can, Franciscan, Mercedarian, and Jesuit convents, a hospital, and 

 other shrines ; there are Officials of the Royal Patrimony. This 

 city and port is the usual goal of ships from Angola with Negroes, 

 from Brazil and elsewhere ; speaking generally, they have to put 

 in here, for in that part of the world there is no other spot where 

 they can take refuge and stay. And so for the relief and good 

 administration of all those far-flung provinces and for that port, 

 it would be highly desirable that a Circuit Court be established here, 

 either by taking one Justice from each court, or by transferring here 

 or to the city of Cordoba the Circuit Court of Santiago de Chile, 

 since it is not essential in that Kingdom, and the distance here is 

 so great from the Charcas. That step would remedy many evils and 

 put an end to great abuses which the poor suffer because they cannot 

 afford such a long journey to appeal for justice ; and under the pro- 

 tection of the Circuit Court that country would be better settled and all 

 the tribes to be subdued would be converted and that country would 

 be very rich and tranquil. 



In that district they raise much wheat, corn, and all kinds of 

 Spanish fruit ; there are vineyards from which some wine is pro- 

 duced, but it is also imported from the Province of Cuyo. The 

 country is full of game — partridges, rabbits, quail, pheasants, turkeys, 

 guinea hens, deer, ostriches, and many other animals and birds. 



1829. On the other side of the Rio de la Plata, which is called in 

 the Indian language the great Parana, and the Indians themselves 

 Paranas, they border on the Charruas tribe. This is very large and 

 widespread ; they go naked, some covering themselves with deerskins. 

 Sometimes they are at peace and other times at war, as best suits 

 them. When a ship drives on the coast and is wrecked, they capture 

 the people on board, and with great caution and secrecy (so that 



