The coast. Game. 



RIO NEGRO. 



Vegetation. Trade. 

 El Carmen. 



himself in the saddle, quietly trotting off, lasso in 

 hand, to select his victim, and detach it from the 

 herd; then the eager chase, the furious speed of the 

 horse, the flying dress of the Guacho, with upraised 

 arm whirling his lasso, the terror of the animal, 

 the throw of the lasso, and instantaneous overthrow 

 of the bullock, all the work of an instant, excited 

 both our admiration and astonishment. Nothing 

 can exceed the animation of both horse and rider 

 on these occasions. 



Mr. Waldron, our purser, made an endeavour to 

 purchase some vegetables for the crews from an 

 estancia on the river-side, of which an old Spaniai'd 

 was the owner, thus affording him an opportunity 

 of disposing of many of them; but the conditions 

 were, that the articles must be on the beach in a 

 few hours, which was ample time to have dug up 

 an acre. As soon, however, as he learned these 

 terms, he shrugged his shoulders, and declared the 

 thing impossible, took down his guitar, seated him- 

 self in front of his house, and began to play a lively 

 air, which his two sons accompanied with their 

 voices. 



The coast and the banks of the Rio Negro are 

 composed of sand-hills, of from thirty to fifty feet 

 in height, covered with a scattered growth of 

 grass, which prevents the sand from blowing away. 

 These gradually rise to the height of one hundred 

 feet, except to the southward of the river, where 

 the bank is perpendicular ; at this height the 

 ground stretches away in a level prairie, without a 

 single tree to break the monotony of the scene, 

 and affords a view as uninterrupted as the ocean. 



The only verdure on the prairie is a small shrub, 

 which when the lower branches are trimmed off 

 serves a useful purpose. From an optical illusion 

 (the effect of refraction), they appear, when thus 

 trimmed, as large as an ordinary-sized apple-tree, 

 and one is not a little surprised to find them, on a 

 near approach, no higher than the surrounding 

 shrubs, four or five feet. Shrubs are trimmed in 

 this manner at distances of about half a mile from 

 each other, and are used as guide-posts on the 

 prairie. A similar optical effect is spoken of by 

 travellers on the steppes of Russia. 



Game is most plentiful, consisting of deer, guana- 

 coes, and cavias, cassowaries, partridges, bustards, 

 ducks, &c. Armadillos were common, and the 

 ostrich was frequently seen; porcupines are said 

 also to be found. The cavias were seen running 

 about in single file, with a sort of halting gait. 



The width of the river is less than a third of a 

 mile; it has a rapid current, and a large body of 

 water is carried by it to the ocean. The ordinary 

 tide is about eight feet rise, and the spring tides 

 fourteen feet. The current is mostly downward, 

 although the tide is felt about ten miles above its 

 mouth. The ebb sets off shore some three or four 

 miles, and may be known by the discoloration of 

 the water, which just without the bar is compara- 

 tively fresh. The depth at high water on the bar 

 is two and a half fathoms, and the bar is a changing 

 one, 



No springs were observed in the vicinity, or any 

 trace of running water, except in the river. The 

 water from the rains collects in the depressions, 

 and forms large ponds, covering acres of ground, 

 but only a few inches in depth. 



The time of our visit corresponded in season to 

 our midsummer months, and the mean temperature 



was found to be ^3. The winters are represented 

 as very mild; snow does fall, but it disappears in a 

 few hours. Ice is seldom seen, though frosts 

 appear to be frequent in the winter. January, 

 February, March, and April, are the least tempes- 

 tuous months. 



The vegetation of the uplands bears the marks of 

 long-continued droughts, in an absence of trees, and 

 the roots of plants penetrating vertically. The 

 stunted appearance of the shrubs, branching from 

 their base, their branches dense, rigid, and impene- 

 trable, usually growing into spines; the smallness 

 of the leaves, and their texture which is dry, 

 coriaceous, and hardly deciduous; together with 

 the general brown aspect of the landscape, all 

 denote a vegetation adapted to endure or escape 

 drought. 



There was formerly some trade here with Boston 

 and New York, in hides, horns, bones, and tallow, 

 in exchange for cotton and woollen goods of a warm 

 fabric, hardware, crockery, boots and shoes, a few 

 articles of furniture, spirits, and tobacco, all of 

 which are bartered at an enormous profit. Consi- 

 derable quantities of salt are shipped round to 

 Buenos Ayres. Vessels discharging or taking in a 

 cargo here, pay twelve and a half cents per ton. 

 Vessels stopping without discharging pay half duty; 

 vessels for refreshments are permitted to remain 

 twenty-five days free of duty, after that time they 

 pay half duty. This duty includes pilotage and all 

 other charges; but the governor seems to have 

 the power to exact the full duty whenever he thinks 

 proper. 



El Carmen may be termed a convict settlement; 

 for culprits and exiles are sent here from Buenos 

 Ayres. The garrison is composed of about two 

 hundred soldiers, principally African and Brazilian 

 slaves brought here during the Banda Oriental 

 war. Among them we found a person who called 

 himself an American, from Rhode Island, by name 

 Benjamin Harden, junior, who was desirous of 

 claiming our protection. He was of small stature, 

 slender make, and a light complexion, with a mild 

 expression of countenance, and about thirty years 

 of age. His story was, that he had been by chance 

 in Buenos Ayres at the time when the government 

 was in want of troops, and that he was seized and 

 compelled to enlist. On inquiring, however, of the 

 governor, it proved that he had been engaged in a 

 riot at Buenos Ayres, in which he had killed two 

 or three men, and committed other outrages, for 

 which he had been condemned to death, but on the 

 intercession of a friend, the sentence was commuted 

 to that of exile as a soldier at this place. His fur- 

 'ther history is, that not long since he formed the 

 plan of deserting with another convict, by seizing 

 an English trading vessel, in the absence of the 

 captain and part of the crew, and making off with 

 her, which he was fully able to accomplish, being 

 an excellent sailor. The night however before the 

 day fixed on for the execution of this plan, he got 

 intoxicated, discovered the whole design, and re- 

 ceived the severe punishment of twelve hundred 

 lashes, at three different times. 



On the morning of the departure of the schooner, 

 he effected his escape from the town, and swam off 

 to the schooner. He was recognised by an officer, 

 who knew his history in part, namely, that he had 

 become a robber and a murderer, and had been an 

 outcast from his father's house for fifteen years. 



