CHAPTER XVI. 



Uruguay. 



RUGIT AY, smallest of the South American Republics, often takes 

 the name of " Banda Oriental," which indicates its former state 

 of political dependence on Argentina. Of itself the expression has 

 no meaning except as used by the people of the " Banda Occi- 

 dentale," that is to say, the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres and the 

 Argentine " Mesopotamia." Under the colonial rule this territory formed part 

 of the Spanish possessions, and even after the separation it continued to constitute 

 a province of the Argentine Confederation till the year 1815. 



But the Portuguese and their Brazilian heirs also regarded this peninsular 

 region, bounded by the ocean, the Plate estuary and the Rio Uruguay, as the 

 natural complement to their vast domain. Hence the post of Colonia, facing 

 Buenos Ayres, was hotly contested by them at the end of the S3venteenth and 

 during the following century, and it was to outflank the Portuguese that the 

 Spaniards founded in 172-1 tbe town of Monte Video, which has since become the 

 capital of Uruguay. 



But in 1821 the Brazilians, taking advantage of the internal dissensions 

 of the Platean Republic, succeeded in annexing Uruguay, constituting it the 

 Cisplatine province, and for six years they remained masters of the whole sea- 

 board between the Amazons and Plate estuaries. Then for another period of 

 three years Uruguay formed part of the Argentine Confederation, after which 

 followed the " great war," which lasted sixteen years, from 1836 to 1852, and 

 which left the country a vast solitude. 



During the war with Paraguay the little Republic retained only a nominal 

 autonomy, for it had to accept the President imposed upon the country by the 

 Brazilians. Even now its independence is entirely due to the rivalry of its two 

 powerful neighbours. Yet, despite its unstable political position, it has made 

 considerable progress since the great war. During the nineteenth century the 

 population has increased more than tenfold, and trade has even made still more 



