BUENOS AYRES. 



lipion of 

 Araeri- 



yet they have still maintained their independence. 

 They are now at peace, and carry on a kind of com- 

 mercial intercourse with the inhabitants of Buenos 

 Ayres. They bring hides and ostrich feathers, which 

 they exchange for brandy, Paraguay tea, sugar, 

 spurs, knives, &c. ; and their caciques sometimtrb 

 pay a visit to the viceroy, who receives them with 

 kindness, and generally dismisses them with a small 

 present. The men seldom wear any covering, ex- 

 cept when they come to visit the Spanish settle- 

 ments ; but the women are fond of ornaments. They" 

 have necklaces and ear rings, and a great profusion 

 of jewels, which, however, are seldom of any va- 

 lue, and their ponchos arc sometimes studded all over 

 with thin circular pieces of copper, of about four 

 inches in diameter. 



Much has been said about the religion of the A- 

 merican Indians, but nothing is known with certain- 

 ty on this point. Their languages have so little af- 

 finity to those of Europeans, that it is almost im- 

 possible to express, by any letters, their words and 

 sounds ; and equally difficult to define, with any de- 

 -gree of exactness, their absurd and incongruous ideas. 

 For information on this subject, however, we may 

 refer our readers to Wilcocke's history of this vice- 

 royalty ; and for a more particular account of the 

 manners, customs, &c. of the independent Indians, 

 we refer to Azara, who lived several years among 

 some of these nations, and who was an eye-witness of 

 many of the circumstances which he describes. In 

 his Travels in South America, will also be found 

 much valuable information respecting the natural 

 history and statistics of this country. 



We shall now proceed to give a short narrative of 

 the discovery and conquest of the viceroyalty, with 

 a hasty sketch of its modern history. 



The accidental discovery of Brasil by the Portu- 

 guese Admiral, Cabral, on his way to the East In- 

 dies, in 1500, was the first circumstance which led 

 to the exploration of the South American continent. 

 In the following year, Americus Vespucius coasted 

 along its eastern shore ad far as the 52d degree of 

 south latitude ; but was compelled, by the coldness 

 and tempestuousness of the weather, to return to Por- 

 tugal, without making any discovery of importance. 

 In 1516, Juan Dias de Solis, grand pilot of Castile, 

 who had been entrusted, by the court of Spain, with 

 an expedition, consisting of three vessels, for con- 

 tinuing the discovery of Brasjl, first entered the Rio 

 de la Plata, to which he gave his own name. Fearful, 

 however, of venturing far up the river with his squa- 

 dron, on account of the difficulty and danger of the 

 navigation, he sailed along its northern coast in his 

 long-boat ; and discovering some savages on the 

 beach, who, by their gestures and signs, seemed to 

 invite him on shore, he imprudently landed with a 

 few men, and without taking any precautions for his 

 [r lil ? as ~ safety. He and his followers were immediately mas- 

 ttoalivet 8acrt ' d and devoured by the Indians, within sight of 

 their companions, who remained in the boat, but 

 who were unable to afford them any assistance. The 

 expedition returned to Spain, and this discovery was 

 for some years neglected or forgotten. 



The first attempt of the Portuguese to explore 

 the interior of this continent, was equally unfortu- 



V. PART 1. 



&tory. 



I'Uu in 



nate. The reports of the immense riches which the Bueno* 

 Spaniards had gained in Peru, had reached the eart, 

 and excited the avarice, of the governor of Bra*:!. 



Hpatched Alexis do Garcia, a man of courage f u | 

 and ability, to penetrate, by an overland journey, oft 

 into that couritry. G ircia, with his son and only tugtr< to 

 throe Portuguese companions, constituted the expo- **" lt ' u * 

 dition. They reached the Paraguay, and engaging ct 

 a number of Indian*, whom they found upon its 

 banks, to follow them, they passed that river, and 

 entering the empire of Peru, collected some gold 

 and a considerable treasure in silver. Returning to 

 the Paraguay, Garcia, with a view of establishing 

 a settlement in the country, dispatched two of hie 

 companions to Brasil with an account of his jour- 

 ney, and some ingots of gold and silver at evidences 

 of his success. Sixty Portuguese, and a party of 

 Brasilians, were immediately sent, under the com- 

 mand of George Sedenno, to form the new colony; 

 but before their arrival, Garcia with his companion! 

 had been massacred by the natives, who had made his 

 son a slave, and taken possession of all his treasure. 

 These Indians had suspected his design, but determi- 

 ned to resist the intrusion of strangers into their coun- 

 try. The Portuguese were consequently so harassed 

 upon their march, that they found it impossible to 

 proceed ; and after losing their commander and several 

 men, they retreated towards the Parana, in attempt- 

 ing to cross which, most of them were drowned. 



These disasters prevented, for a time, any similar Expedition 

 attempts at conquest in this quarter, until 1 526, . f 

 when Sebastian Cabot, g/and pilot of Castile, who { 

 had been dispatched by the Emperor Charles V. 

 upon a voyage of circumnavigation by the Straits of 

 Magellan, anchored in the La Plata, then called Rio 

 de Solis, near the islands of San Gabriel. Having 

 received the most flattering description of the riches 

 and beauty of the country from some Spaniards 

 whom he found in the port of Patos, and who had 

 deserted from the army of Solis, he determined to 

 relinquish the original object of the expedition, and 

 to accomplish farther discoveries upon the Paraguay. 

 After an unsuccessful attempt of one of his captains 

 to explore the river Uraguay, which he took for the 

 true Rio de Solis, he proceeded up the Parana, and 

 built a small fort at the mouch of the Rio Tercero. Cabot 

 This fort he garrir-oned with sixty soldiers, and call- h : ''d* 

 ed it Santi Esp.ritu, or the Fort of the Holy Ghost, p^^ 

 He then followed the course cf the river as high as 

 274 degrees of latitude, where he met with some In- 

 dians, who wore in their ears small pieces of gold 

 and silver. These they exchanged uith the Spa- 

 niards for some European trifles, but could give them 

 no information where these metals were to be found, 

 except that they tiad received them from some of the 

 tribes upon the Paraguay. Cabot immediately m junt- 

 ed that river, but a party of his men being cut off 

 by the natives, who had deluded them on shore, with 

 the promise of shewing them their riches, he return- 

 ed to Santi Espiritu. Satisfied th.it the pieces of gold 

 and silver which he had obtained from the Indians 

 on the Parana, were the produce of the mines in the 

 neighbourhood, he gave to the river the name ot 

 Rio de la Plata, or River of Silver ; and dispatched 

 Ferdinand Calderon to Spain, to inform the emperor 



