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ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION. 



ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION. 



471 



of considerable burden as far as Corricntes, but the 

 i of the current renders the navigation very tedious for sailing 



Its capability for steam veeseU was sufficiently proved 



during the blockade of the La Plata by the British and French 

 squadron, when H. M. steamer Alecto, of 200 horse power, and 800 

 tons burden, ascended the river to Corricntos, making the voyage from 

 Monte Video to Corrientos and back, nearly 2000 miles, in 89 days. 

 This voyage strikingly illustrated the vast superiority of steam for 

 the navigation of this river; for the Alecto actually overtook and 

 iisssdil on her way to Corrientes a fleet of sailing vessels, which left 

 Moose Video while the Alecto was fitting at Woolwich. These 

 Bailing vessels took 112 days to reach Corrientes from Monte Video. 

 Captain Sullivan, H.N., made a very careful survey of the river 

 during the blockade, and the Board of Admiralty has caused a beau- 

 tiful series of Charts of the Parana to be engraved and published 

 from his drawings. According to Captain Sullivan, " when the river i- 

 high TBSSols drawing 16 feet of water may ascend as high as Sea 

 Juan, in 30* 86' 8. lat, and those drawing 12 feet may go up to 

 Corrientoa, with two feet to spare ; but when the Pamnit is at its lowest, 

 vesseli attempting to ascend it should not draw more than 6 feet" 

 By a decree of Urquiza, as Provisional Director of the Argentine 

 Confederation, dated August 31, 1852, the navigation of the Plata, 

 the Parana, and the Uruguay is opened to all foreign vessels under 

 120 tons burden. 



The Paraguay, the Urgent of the affluents of the Parana, originates 

 likewise in Brazil. Having passed through the Estrccho de S. Fran- 

 cisco (20* 8. lat), at the Fecho doe Morrow, it continues to flow with a 

 gentle current in a southern direction, dividing Paraguay from the 

 Gran Chaco, until, at 25 30' & lat, and about 20 miles below Asuncion 

 in Paraguay, the channel is narrowed at a place called Angostura by 

 protruding rocks, between which the current runs with great rapidity. 

 From this point it runs west by south to its junction with the Parana. 

 Vessels of considerable size may navigate this river within the boun- 

 daries of the republic, along which it rung about 400 miles. The 

 channel in these parts being confined between high banks, the water 

 rises 30 feet, but the inundations of the adjacent tracts are not exten- 

 sive. Its waters are increased by two large tributaries, the Pilcomayo 

 and Rio Vermejo. The PUcomayo rises in the Andes, in two branches. 

 The southern, called Rio de S. Junan and afterwards Pilaya, originates 

 in the Despoblado ; and the northern, the proper Pilcomayo, derives 

 its waters from the numerous rivers which descend from the Andes 

 between the Despoblado and the vale of the Desaguadero in Bolivia, 

 and partly also from those which originate in the mountains that 

 inclose that vale. These two rivers receive the drainage of the 

 eastern declivity of the Andes between 19 and 23 S. lat, and unite 

 after a course of about 850 miles, near 20 40' S. lat, and 62* 60' W. 

 long. After the union of these branches the Pilcomayo is a broad anc 

 deep river, and runs about 700 miles to iU junction with the Paraguay, 

 first easterly and afterwards to the south-east In this part of its 

 course it flows with innumerable windings through the Gran Chaco 

 where it is joined by no large river, and where its waters are gradually 

 absorbed by the arid country through which it runs. Thug it becomes 

 extremely shallow, and neither of the two arms into which it diridi 

 200 miles above its mouth is navigable, even for small boats, to a 

 distance exceeding 100 miles from the Paraguay. These two arms 

 are called Araguay Guazu and Mini The Vermfjo derives its' waters 

 from the Despoblado, the Abra de Cortaderas, and the table-land o 

 Yavi, descending from which elevated regions it forms two rivers, thi 

 Rio de Tarija on the north, and the Rio Lavayen on the south. Th( 

 first, turning southward, joins the second at the eastern base of th< 

 table-land of Yavi, and both form the Vermejo, which flows abou 

 700 miles through the Gran Chaco with numerous windings, until i 

 joins the Rio Paraguay nearly 40 mile* above its confluence with the 

 Parana. The Rio Vermejo is navigable for large boat, as far as the 

 union of He great branches. 



The largest effluent of the Parana, next to the Paraguay, is UK. 

 Saladt. The river rises on the southern border of the table-land o 

 the Despoblado under the name of Cachi, and runs southward until 

 meets the river Santa Maria, which comes from the Sierra de Aeon 

 quija, when it turns east by north, sad is called Ouachipas. Having 

 dimmed the valley of that name, it enters the plain of Salta, where I 

 is Joined by some smaller riven, and turns south-west, flowing through 

 the opening between the Sierra de Aconqulja and Sierra Lumbre 

 where it is called 'KIPaesage. 1 At this place it is traversed by th 

 road leadinf from Cordova to Halta, sad is fordable in the dry season, 

 but during the nine the passage is so dangerous that all communica- 

 tion between the southern and northern provinces is interrupted. 

 few mile, farther roth it enters the desert country, where the water* 

 imbibe a brackish taste, from which it* name is derived, sad which i 

 I"*""'** *e whole way to its junction with the Parana near Santa F<S. 

 T* h the plain* U more than 800 miles, of which abou 

 ne-half, a* far up as the small town of Matara, is said to bo 



in the western Pampas akin 



1 r and 8* a lat The water* whic 



-J parallels from the eastern declivity of the 

 __s are collected in three interns of lakes, united by channels 

 by wUoh tke enrplus water is earned from one system of lakes to the 



thehaeeof 



oT UM Andes, 

 Between these 



iher. As these Amnl. lie from north to south, it is obvious that 



10 northern system is the most elevated, and the southern the 



owest The most northern, called the lakes of Guanacache, occurs 



Mtween 31 40' cad 32'. Neither the number nor the extent of 



lakes is exactly known. Their margins are covered with salt 



ncrustations during the winter and spring. These lakes receive two 



rash-water rivers, the Rio de S. Juan and the Rio de Mendoza, both 



f which rise in the Vale of Uspallata between the two ranges of the 



Indes. The Rio de S. Juan drains the northern part of the vale for 



bout 100 miles, breaks through the Paramilla range near 81* S. lat, 



ows eastward about 50 miles, slid then southward a somewhat 



reater distance. Its waters in the plain are used for irrigation. The 



fto de Jfendota, or de Luxan, drains the southern districts of the 



ale of Uspallata for about 60 miles, then turns eastward, pausing by 



chasm through the Paramilla range, and then declining to the north, 



t likewise reaches the lakes of Guanacache. The waters of this river 



also are used for irrigation. It is supposed that the Rio Vrrmrjo, 



which waters the Vale of Guaudacol, also reaches the lakes of 



}uanacache by a southern course ; but the waters of this river, which 



are fresh in the vale, imbibe a brackish taste in the salt plains which 



t traverses after issuing from the vale. From the lakes of Guanacache 



river issues, which at first runs cant and then south, and after a 



course of about 250 miles falls into the second system of lakes, those 



if the Bevedero. This river is called the JJetayuadrro, and flowing 



hrough a level country slightly elevated above its banks, it expands 



m some places to a great width, converting the adjacent tracts into 



salt swamps. The water of this river is only fresh during the early 



season of the year (from December to March), when the snow on the 



Andes melts ; during the remainder of the year it is salt, and its banks 



are covered with saline incrustations. The lakes of the Bevedero are 



ikewise imperfectly known, both as to number and extent The 



name Bevedero properly applies only to the most northern of these ; 



he waters are salt for nine months of the year, and on its banks salt 



is collected for sale in that season. These lakes lie between 33 SO' 



and 34 30' S. lat, and between 66 and 67 W. long., and besides the 



Desaguadero receive the waters of the Tunvyan. This river drains 



Jie vale of the same name, which is inclosed by two ranges of the 



Andes, breaks through the eastern chain below the Portillo pans, then 



runs through the plain, first northward and afterwards eastward, 



falling into the lakes of the Bevedero after a course exceeding 200 



miles. Ite waters are used for irrigation. All the waters of the Rio 



Tunuyan do not reach the lakes, but a portion of them is carried 



southward by an arm called liio Nuevo, which falls into the Rio 



Diamante. The country between the lakes of the Bevedero and the 



Rio Nuevo being very low and level, the lakes, when swelled by the 



increased supply of water during the melting of the snow on the 



Andes, inundate this intermediate tract, and discharge their waters 



into the Rio Nuevo, which must therefore be considered as the drain 



of these lakes. The Rio Diamante rises on the eastern declivity of 



the peak of Cauquenes, a snow-capped summit of the Andes, and runs 



eastward for about 150 miles, when it is joined by the Rio Nuevo. 



Formerly it did not unite with that river, but joined the Rio Atuel : 



in the year 1812 it changed its course. After the junction with the 



Rio Nuevo, it flows southward under the name of the Rio Solatia, 



or Desaguadero del Diamante, and after a course of about 1 60 miles 



more it joins the Chadi Leubu. The last-mentioned river in 



little known. Ite principal affluent seems to be the Atuel, which 



rises couth of the volcano of Peteroa, and flows eastward. After its 



junction with the Desaguadero del Diamante it runs about 86 miles, 



and is then lost in the Urre Lauquen, a lake of considerable extent, 



but very imperfectly known, in 87 8. lat ; its waters are very wilt, 



whence it derives its name, which, in the language of the Ranqueles, 



signifies ' bitter lake.' 



Of the rivers falling into the Atlantic south of the La Plata, we have 

 mentioned the Rio Salado of Buenos Ayres, which is unfit both for 

 irrigation and navigation. The Rio Colorado, or Cobu Ixmbu, rinon in 

 the Andes, and flows without interruption to the sea. It is said Hint 

 it is navigable only about 100 miles from its mouth. Near the mouth 

 it divides into several arms, including an extensive delta. In December 

 it is much swollen and runs with great rapidity. The Rio Negro, or 

 Cusu Leubu, which constitutes the southern boundary of the Argentine 

 Confederation, rises within the range of the Andes in two branches ; the 

 Catapuliche, which runs south, and the Limsy Leubu, or Rio de la 

 Encamacion, which flows north. After a course of from 80 to 100 

 miles, these two rivers join and break through the eastern range of 

 the mountains by an easterly course, preserving the name Limny 

 Leubu. After running about 100 miles north-north-east, the river in 

 joined from the north by the Neuquen, a large affluent, which in said 

 to be navigable for small craft more than 200 miles : after thixjuiir1i.>n 

 the Limay Leubu takes the name of Cusu Leubu. The remainder of 

 to course lies hi aa eastern sad south-eastern direction for more than 

 400 miles. This river is navigable for large boats to the place where 

 the two principal branches unite within the ranges of the Ancle*. 



Respecting the means of communication it may be sufficient to 

 quote the account given by Mr. Mrf'ann, the Intent Kn;:lili \nit. r 

 who has traversed the country. HU authority in the more vain:.! ! 

 a* hi* information mi this head, where not the result of },', 

 observation, was obtained from Don Pedro de Angelia, well known aa 



