10 



DESCRIPTIVE OUTLINE 



born together. Their history is really very 

 curious. 



As soon as by the fall of the Spaniards their in- 

 dependence was established, and they became free, 

 the attention of many individuals of the Provinces 

 of La Plata was directed towards the due constitu- 

 tion of governments which might maintain the free- 

 dom that was gained, encourage population, and 

 gradually embellish the surface of a most interestiiag 

 and beautiful country with the arts, manufactures, 

 and sciences, which had hitherto been denied it ; 

 but the singular situation of the country presented 

 very serious difficulties. 



Although immense regions of rich land lay un- 

 cultivated and unowned, yet something had been 

 done. Small towns and establishments (originally 

 chosen for mining purposes,) five hundred and 

 seven hundred miles distant from one another, were 

 thinly scattered over this vast extent of country ; 

 and thus a skeleton map of civilization had been 

 traced, which the narrow interests of every indi- 

 vidual naturally supported. 



But although a foundation was thus laid, the 

 building plan of the Spaniards was missing. It 



