MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



541 



■. 1 the country. To express a 

 decided opinion on this deli- 

 cate question, would scarcely be 

 expected of me, as my position 

 did not command a view of the 

 whole ground. I had not the 

 satisfaction to be derived from 

 a personal interview with General 

 Artigas, who is, unquestionably, 

 a man of rare and singular talents. 

 But if I were to hazard a con- 

 jecture, I think it not improbable 

 that in this, as in most family 

 disputes, there have been faults 

 on both sides. It is to be lamented 

 that they are in open hostility. 

 The war has been prosecuted with 

 great animosity ; and, in two late 

 engagements, the troops of Buenos 

 Ayres have been defeated with 

 great loss. By some it was said, 

 that the inhabitants of the eastern 

 shore were anxious that a recon- 

 ciliation should take place, whilst 

 the people in the country pre- 

 ferred their present state. 



I must not omit to take a 

 glance at the situation of Para- 

 guay. This province presents a 

 singular spectacle. It stands aloof 

 from the rest. The people, with 

 the aid of tiie few remaining royal 

 troops, repulsed an army sent to 

 compel them to join the common 

 standard. Very soon afterwards 

 they expelled the royalists, and 

 set up for themselves. Since this 

 period, they appear to have 

 adopted a partial non-intercourse 

 system. But Buenos Ayres, on 

 one occasion, succeeded in ob- 

 taining an understanding with 

 them. Some suspect that they 

 are secretly inimical to the exist- 

 ing order of things, and wish to 

 keep themselves within their shell, 

 that, in case of a change, they 

 may profit by future events; 



others calculate with some con- 

 fidence on their ultimate union 

 with Buenos Ayres, with which 

 at present they indulge a limited 

 and reluctant intercourse. Para- 

 guay is under the immediate 

 control of a person named Fran- 

 cia, who styles himself Director 

 of Paraguay. 



From the domestic concerns of 

 the provinces, we naturally turn 

 to their foreign relations. On 

 this subject the Commissioners 

 were informed, that they had no- 

 thing more than a friendly under- 

 standing with any foreign nation. 

 With the Portuguese government, 

 they concluded an arrangement in 

 1812, under the mediation, it is 

 said, of the British, with respect 

 to the Banda Oriental. They have 

 since had a correspondence with 

 them on the subject of their 

 entrance into that province, and 

 the forcible occupation by the 

 Portuguese army of the city of 

 Monte Video. The superior naval 

 force of the Portuguese, stationed 

 in the river La Plata, could have 

 effectually blockaded all the ports 

 of Buenos Ayres. By this means 

 they would have i<revented sup- 

 plies of arms and munitions of 

 war, and entirely destroyed the 

 great source of revenue to the 

 state, the duties on imports and 

 tonnage, at a season when money 

 was much wanted. 



For about this period Buenos 

 Ayres had a powerful army to 

 contend with on the side of Peru, 

 and had taken the burden of the 

 renewed contest of Chili with 

 Spain. Under such circumstances 

 they were in some measure obliged 

 to adopt a cautious and moderate 

 policy. Their conduct in this re- 

 spect seems to have been coerced. 



Their 



