170 BOLIVIAN DECREE BY PRESIDENT SANTA CRUZ. 



The ruins of the ancient Peruvians there stand as truthful memorials of 

 "the Past." Descending the steppe of Cochabamba, the climate is 

 temperate, the soil more productive, the inhabitants increasing in num- 

 bers, and the Spanish race in their strength. Here are found the most 

 intelligence and the greatest improvements. In the heart of the nation 

 are living examples of " the Present." 



Proceeding to the bottom of the Madeira Plate into Chiquitos, we 

 find the means of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures on the very 

 top of steamboat navigation, presenting to us elements of the blessings of 

 a peaceful " future." 



The nation of Bolivia now stands facing the Pacific coast. The ap- 

 pearance of one little steamboat on the Paraguay river, anchored on 

 the coast of Chiquitos, would turn the whole "right about." 



On the 27th of December, 1837, Andres Santa Cruz, President of the 

 republic of Bolivia, issued a decree by which foreign merchandise should 

 enter the province of Chiquitos and Mojos free from all duty or tax. 

 whatever, and that all the productions of these provinces should be ex- 

 ported upon the principle of free trade. 



On the 5th November, 1832, the Bolivian congress, as compensation 

 for revolutionary services, had granted to an enterprising citizen, Don 

 Manuel Luis de Oliden, a tract of land, twenty-five leagues " in all direc- 

 tions from a point on the river Otuguis " 



Senor Oliden sent me a short account of an exploration made by his 

 relative, Senor Don Jose Leon de Oliden, in the year 1836. Mr. Oliden 

 launched a canoe in the river Cuyaba, from the town of the same name, 

 in the province of Matto Grosso, in Brazil. It was during the dry sea- 

 son, in the month of October, when the river was shallow. Descending- 

 he found the banks low, and the country as level as a floor in some 

 places, while here and there the land swelled up like a smooth heave of 

 the ocean in a calm. During the wet season of the year, a portion of 

 the journey from Cuyaba to the frontier of Paraguay can be made in 

 canoes over the same road, travelled in dry weather on horseback — the 

 whole country being overflowed, except on the higher grounds. On the 

 seventh day after leaving the town, the canoe touched the waters of the 

 Paraguay river, the banks of which are inhabited by a nation of Indians 

 called " Guatos," who came off in a friendly way to offer fish for sale, 

 and were delighted to receive payment in a glass of rum. On the 

 Bolivian shore, opposite the mouth of the Cuyaba, the land is hilly, the 

 elevations range with the stream, and also stretch back into the Bolivian 

 territory. Among these hills is a large lake, called Gaiba. Descending 

 the stream of the Paraguay river for two days, brought the canoe oppo- 



