100 RIO NEGRO. 
afterwards understood that the doctor, having picked up a smattering 
of physic, and wishing to acquire a fortune, had gone to Buenos 
Ayres to seek one. There he accidentally heard of the want of Rio 
Negro in that respect; he embarked for that place with an ample 
store of drugs, and established himself as apothecary, surgeon and 
physician. He is reported as having done well for some time, 
notwithstanding the healthiness of the climate and place, until the 
troubles at Buenos Ayres with the French, when the communication 
with the city being cut off, had prevented him from obtaining his 
usual supplies, and the troops from receiving their pay. With the 
former he had lost the means of curing his patients, and with the 
latter the remuneration that was due him. He had therefore, to use 
his own term, » retired from business," and lived several miles from 
the town, husbanding his estate, which consisted of an estancia, as 
above described, and his demands upon the government and soldiers. 
Under his escort they arrived at the pueblo, consisting of a few 
rows of mud and brick huts, scattered without any regularity over a 
sandy declivity by the side of the river. 
On the opposite slope was the fort, an enclosure of some extent, in 
which were seen the house of the governor and the barracks. ' A 
presentation to the Governor-General, Juan Jose Hernandez, now 
took place. He, on being informed of our character, and the object 
of our visit, received our officers in a most courteous and friendly 
manner. He is a native of Buenos Ayres, of dignified manners, 
polite and courteous, and clothed with great authority. They were 
invited to dine with him, and received his hospitality. 
The doctor now undertook to show them the lions of the place 
and carried them to the part of the town nearest the river, in which 
were the only two houses built of red brick. There they were 
introduced to an old Portuguese, who kept the only mercantile 
establishment m the place. It was a small store, said to have a verv 
promiscuous assortment of goods, though the stock had become 
somewhat reduced, as an evidence of which, a few of the inhabitants 
applied to be furnished with pairs of pantaloons from on board ship 
lor their own were worn out, and the only articles of dry o- 00 ds at 
present in the store, were three or four yards of calico. 
An American by the name of Adams, who was absent at the time 
of our visit, has engrossed all the trade and business of this place 
and no other vessels but those in which he is interested had traded 
with it for the last two years, with the exception of two whale ships 
