50 MALDONADO. 



When witliin the mouth of the river, I was inter- 

 ested by observing how slowly the waters of the 

 sea and river mixed. The latter, muddy and dis- 

 coloured, from its less specific gravity, floated on 

 the surface of the salt water. This was curiously 

 exhibited in the wake of the vessel, where a line of 

 blue water was seen mingling in little eddies, with 

 the adjoining fluid. 



July 2Qtli. — We anchored at Monte Video. The 

 Beagle was employed in sui^veying the extreme 

 southern and eastern coasts of Ainerica, south of 

 the Plata, during the two succeeding years. To 

 prevent useless repetitions, I will extract those 

 parts of my journal which refer to the same dis- 

 tricts, without always attending to the order in 

 which we visited them. 



Maldonado is situated on the northern bank of 

 the Plata, and not very far from the mouth of the 

 estuary. It is a most quiet, forlorn little town ; 

 built, as is universally the case in these countries, 

 with the streets running at right angles to each oth- 

 er, and having in the middle a large plaza or square, 

 which, from its size, renders the scantiness of the 

 population more evident. It possesses scarcely any 

 trade ; the exports being confined to a few hides 

 and living cattle. The inhabitants are chiefly land- 

 owners, together with a few shopkeepers and the 

 necessary tradesmen, such as blacksmiths and car- 

 penters, who do nearly all the business for a circuit 

 of fifty miles round. The town is separated from 

 the river by a band of sand-hillocks, about a mile 

 broad : it is surrounded on all other sides by an 

 open, slightly-undulating country, covered by one 

 uniform layer of fine green turi", on which count- 

 less herds of cattle, sheep, and horses graze. There 

 is very little land cultivated even close to the town. 

 A few hedges, made of cacti and atyave, mark out 



