SOUTH AMERICA. 



261 



south latitude, the two rivers approach very near each 

 other, and then separate. The Entre Rios is yet but 

 little known, the only settlements of any consequence, 

 are on the banks of the Parana; the principal settle- 

 ments are Corrientos, at the junction of this river 

 and the Paraguay, and the Baxada de Santa Fee, op- 

 posite to the city of Santa Fee.* There a number of 

 half Indian and Spanish villages along the river, but 

 the whole of the population does not exceed ten or 

 twelve thousand. The town of Corrientos, has re- 

 mained quiet and undisturbed since the revolution; it 

 has its cabildo and subordinate magistrates, free from 

 the control either of Paraguay or Buenos Ayres, and 

 is sufficiently remote from Artigas to be out of his 

 reach. Situated at the entrance into Paraguay, it is 

 the mart of the little trade that is still permitted on the 

 Parana. The matte, sugar, cotton, tobacco, &c. of 

 Paraguay, find the way here, but in very small quan- 

 tities, and European goods are introduced by the same 

 channel. The Entre Rios could furnish Buenos 

 Ayres with a sufficient supply of wood for all uses, 

 provided the navigation were free and uninterrupted. 

 The interior country, which is level, is but thinly in- 

 habited, even by Indians. f The Guaranys, the most 

 numerous, are distributed into small bands, without 

 any connection, and being unwarlike, hide themselves 

 in the recesses of the woods, or have been induced to 



* This confluence is said to be the most magnificent in the 

 world. Azara says, the Parana discharges a quantity of water 

 CquaJ to ten of the greatest rivers in Europe. 



t The Indians who chiefly infest the Parana, above Santa Fee, 

 are those who inhabit the Grav Chace, on the south side of the 

 Paraguay. 



