1832-3. 



MALDONADO. 



45 



curiously exhibited in the wake of the vessel^ where a line 

 of blue was seen mingling in little eddies^ with the adjoining 

 fluid. 



July 26th. — We anchored at Monte Video. The Beagle 

 was employed in surveying the extreme southern and eastern 

 coasts of America^ south of the Plata^ during the two suc- 

 ceeding years. To prevent useless repetitions^ I will extract 

 those parts of my journal which refer to the same districts^ 

 without always attending to the order in which we visited 

 them. 



Maldonado is situated on the northern bank of the Plata, 

 and not very far from the mouth of the estuary. It is a 

 most quiet, forlorn, little town ; built, as is universally the 

 case in these countries, with the streets running at right 

 angles to each other, and having in the middle a large plaza 

 or square, which, from its size, renders the scantiness of the 

 population more evident and more unsociable. It possesses 

 scarcely any trade ; the exports being confined to a few hides 

 and living cattle. The inhabitants are chiefly landowners, 

 together with a few shopkeepers and the necessary trades- 

 men, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, who do nearly all 

 the business for a circuit of fifty miles round. The town is 

 separated from the river by a band of sand-hillocks, about a 

 mile broad : it is surrounded on all other sides, by an open 

 slightly-undulating country, covered by one uniform layer of 

 fine green turf, on which countless herds of cattle, sheep, and 

 horses graze. There is very little land cultivated even close 

 to the town. A few hedges, made of cacti and agave, mark 

 out where some wheat or Indian corn has been planted. 

 The features of the country are very similar along the whole 

 northern bank of the Plata. The only difference is, that here 

 the granitic hills are rather more boldly pronounced. The 

 scenery is very uninteresting ; there is scarcely a house, an 

 enclosed piece of ground, or even a tree, to give it an air of 

 cheerfulness. Yet, after being imprisoned for some time in 

 a ship, there is a charm in the unconfined feeling of walking 

 over boundless plains of turf. Moreover, if your view is 



