1026 



ANNUAL REGISTER, JS05. 



with too great a share of American 

 philosophy to feel greatly interested 

 in the beauties of nature ; and wo 

 set about making ourselves as com- 

 fortable as our situation would ad- 

 roit. Our friendly entertainer, who 

 ■was extremely anxious to render my 

 confinement agreeable, amused me 

 yery much with the history of the 

 contraband trade constantly carry, 

 ing on at this settlement, in spite of 

 every effort on the part of govern- 

 ment to the contrary ; and this is 

 one cause of tiie siij'ncss of the 

 Spaniards towards strangers, who 

 ^re never permitted to peran>bulate 

 the town until licence has first been 

 obtained from the governor : indeed 

 it seems admirably calculated for 

 such kind of traffic as silver, drugs, 

 hides, &c. and very conveniently 

 situated. It would, 1 am of opi- 

 nion, if oncein the possession of the 

 English, be found a very valuable 

 key to the riches of the southern 

 world ; and the proximity of the 

 Portuguese would greatly facilitate 

 our obtaining it. The only obstacle 

 I can discover, is the difficulty there 

 would be for our ships of war to pe- 

 netrate thus far up the Plata with 

 any degree of safety, the natural 

 defects of the river affording a much 

 better protection to the country 

 than any artificial bulwarks the 

 Spaniards could erect ; but, the ar- 

 ticle of navigation alone excepted, 

 I believe the conquest of the Plata 

 might be effected with very little 

 danger on the part of the inva- 

 ders. 



"In ourway up the river, I noticed, 

 as we passed, an island that glowed 

 with all the colours of the rainbow, 

 Leing decked with, I think, every 

 flower that art or nature hath pro- 

 duced in any part of the terrestrial 

 globe. Such a prospect siust be ex- 



tremely grateful to the eye ; and the 

 sweet scents they emit when a fresh 

 breeze ?j;itafcs them, and bears their 

 fragrance towards the land. Mould 

 induce one to imagine that all the 

 odours of Arabia were transplanted 

 to this beautiful spot, w hicli is with 

 singular propriety called the Islo of 

 Flowers. 'J'here is likewise another 

 island of a very difierent description 

 in the Plata, which is called the Isle 

 of Wolves, from being inhabited 

 only by those animals ; but of that I 

 saw nothing, for I was below deck 

 when wc passed it." ' 



hi addition to what has been 

 said above of Monte Video, little 

 more can be gleaned, from the 

 subsequent and only other letter 

 written from that quarter by Mr. 

 Davie. This scarcity of infornu- 

 tion proceeded from the habitual 

 jealousy of the Spaniards, " who 

 are never, at the best of times, dis- 

 posed to grant any kind of indHiI- 

 gence to an Englishman. They re- 

 gard every individual of our nation 

 with suspicion and dislike, and now, 

 from the circumstance of our being 

 at war viith them, they are morp 

 tiresomely vigilant than ever." 



The vessel, in which Mr. Davie 

 was a passenger, was now refitting, 

 but was in the utmost danger in the 

 harbour of Monte Video, w here the 

 tremendous gale of wind, called the 

 Fa])!pcro^ rages in its utmost force, 

 in that unruly river, the Plata. It 

 blows from the w est, and is so called 

 partly from its violence, and partly 

 from its crossing the plains of Las 

 Pampas, which lie to the south-west 

 of Paraguay, and extend thence to 

 Chili, in an almost uninterrupted 

 level of waving grass, for near nine 

 hundred miles ! 



In the three weeks, which our 

 traveller rcuiaiued at this settlement, 



he 



