1^6 Lcller of an English Gtnlltmanfrom South America. [March I, 



wl;icli it has been proposed to give tbo 



and to partake with such of my friends 

 and Cdiintrynicn as niriy be so iii- 

 clincil, iii all the advaHtaE:cs and enjoy- 

 ments uliich it oircrs. I have, there- 

 tbre, al'ivays iiattercd myself, that a 

 more intimate acquainlaiicc with the 

 country, its capabilities and resources, 

 would eventually point out some cliRi- 

 l)le situations for the formation of a 

 colony from Great Britain, iniitually 

 advantageous to all concerned; and 

 circumstances have conspired to pro- 

 <luce tills wished-for opportunity much 

 sooner lli;in 1 anticipated. In April 

 Jast, I hiid the pleasure of a visit from 

 two ^enflenu II of San Juan ; the one a 

 most intelligent and respcclahlcnative, 

 tiie otlier un American gentleman, who 

 has been several years cs(;iblislied 

 there as a medical practitioner, mar- 

 ried titcrc into o!ie of liic (irst families; 

 and «ho, in consctiuenee of liis con- 

 ne\ioiis and abilities, is possessed of 

 veiy considerable influence in tlia\ 

 jirovince. In the course of our fre- 

 quent conversations relative to the 

 country, its productions, fertility, and 

 capabilities, he made mention of an 

 extensive lr;jct of excellent land, dis- 

 tant only a few leaffucs from San, I nan, 

 and which he believed might witii 

 little trouble and expense be rendered 

 extremely valuable and productive ; 

 and that it was his intention, as soon 

 as possible, to engage in the enter- 

 prize in combination with some friends. 

 On further enquiry, it occurred to me, 

 that perhaps this tract might probably 

 prove an eligible situation for csta- 

 Llishing an English colony : this I sug- 

 gested to him, and stated, that should 

 it equal his expectations, perhaps I 

 might prevail on some friends in Eng- 

 land to enter into the piojeet on a still 

 more extended scale than lie had pro- 

 posed, as I knew a gentleman whohad 

 already entertained views of forming a 

 colony in South America. It was ac- 

 cordingly agreed betwixt us, that as 

 soon as possible I should return him 

 the visit, and that both of us should 

 visit the land in question, and examine 

 it minutely in every particular. Ac- 

 cordingly, in the course of six weeks 

 afterwards, I was enabled to visit San 

 Juan, distant fifty leagues north of 

 IVIendoza ; when, in company with 

 Idm, and six others of the most respect- 

 able and intelligent gentlemen of San 

 Juan, we made an excursion of two 

 days to the land, and the result of our 

 enquiries were brielly as follows. 

 The tract of laud in question, to 



name of Columbiana, commences 

 about five leagues eastward of San 

 Juan, and extends in the same direc- 

 tion about twenty or twenty-five 

 leagues. At the beginning, or western 

 extremity, it is about three leagues in 

 breadth, being bounded on the north by 

 a moderately elevated range of moun- 

 tains, and on the south by the river of 

 San Juan : procL-eding eastward, it 

 increases in breadth to eight or nine 

 leagues, the mountain and river di- 

 verging considerably on both sitlcs; 

 towards the further or eastern extre- 

 mity, it is said again to diminish iii 

 breadth ; but of this I can form no opi- 

 nion, as our observations were prin-ei- 

 pally confined to the westerj'. extre- 

 mity. The whole tract presents a 

 gradual slope towards the eastward ; 

 and we found, at about one or two 

 leagues from its commencement, that 

 kind of land which every one agrees 1<» 

 prevail throughout the whole tract: it 

 is almost all level, and consists of a 

 yellowish-brown clayey loam, ren- 

 dered friable by the want of moisture 

 and constant exposure to the sun. It 

 is altogether destitute of pasturage, or 

 other shrubbery; and is more or less 

 studded with thorny, resinous, or 

 other shrubs, none of which exceed 

 twelve feet in height, and few of the 

 trunks being greater than the diameter 

 of a person's thigh. In many places 

 may be seen spaces of one or two 

 acres in extent, perfectly free from all 

 Tcgetation, level as the table, and 

 requiring no further labour to enable 

 it to produce a plentiful crop of wheat 

 than dragging over it a few branches 

 of trees to loosen the earth, then sow- 

 ing the seed, and supplying it with 

 wafer. The whole extent of land 

 included in this tract is supposed to 

 amount nearly to 1.50 square leagues, 

 or from 150 to 200,000 quadras, each 

 quadra containing 150 square vanas ; 

 the vana, of Mendoza, being an btli 

 per cent, less than the English yard. 



The next most important considera- 

 tion which occupied our attention, was 

 the facilities of supplying the whole 

 with water ; and the result of our 

 enquiries were such, as not only to 

 satisfy us of the practicability of the 

 undertaking, but that it might be 

 aeromplishcd at an expense very 

 trifling when compared to the extent of 

 land w hieh would thereby be rendered 

 capable of immediate cultivation. This 

 part of the undertaking has, indeed, 



bctiu 



