^60 A VOYAGE TO 



than their wars with the Incas, and with Montezutoa, 

 This nation^ which was then numerous, was reduced 

 at the close of the 14th century, to about four hundred 

 men; they are united to Artigas. The gauchos differ 

 from them in this, that they cannot be said to belong 

 to any distinct clan, or tribe, possessing few common 

 ties, their principal bond of union being their simi- 

 larity of habits, "their predisposition to an unrestrain- 

 ed roving life,^^ and their attachment to a leader who 

 happens to suit them. It is also to be understood, 

 that there are amongst these people a blue, and a 

 better blue; that is, some difference of grade in point 

 of respectability and intelligence, among the indi- 

 vidual gauchos, as well as among their chiefs. In 

 general descriptions, such exceptions are always to be, 

 understood; indeed, it is always difficult to avoid the 

 danger of raising the character too high, or of sink- 

 ing it too low. 



Before I bid adieu to Monte Video, I shall make 

 a few general remarks on the Banda Oriental, and 

 the province of Entre Rios. In order to convey a 

 more distinct idea to my countrymen, I have com- 

 pared the former to the Mississippi territory; the river 

 Uruguay, which separates it from the latter, is of 

 greater matgnitude than the Ohio; it is little short of 

 fifteen hundred or two thousand miles in length; and, 

 although interrupted by a cataract, and a number of I 

 rapids, it affords an extensive navigation. The Entre ; 

 Hios, (so called from its lying between the rivers \ 

 Uruguay and Parana,) is about four hundred miles in 

 length, by one hundred in breadth. The greater part 

 of it is well supplied with wood and water, but is, 

 in general, level. About the twenty-sixth degree of 



