APPENDIX. 



343 



those in the service of the king, were almost all opposed to it, par- 

 ticularly at the time, and under the circumstances it took place. 

 Dissentions were the immediate result, and their long standing 

 jealousy and distrust of each other, have, by subsequent events, 

 been heightened into deadly hostility, which time alone can wear 

 away. These dissentions have been considered as one of the 

 causes that produced those which subsequently took place amongst 

 the patriots themselves, and which have been most serious obsta- 

 cles to the progress of the revolution. Other obstacles, however, 

 have been presented by the royal government in Peru, which has 

 hitherto not only been able to maintain itself there, but has found 

 means, by enlisting the native Peruvians into its service, to send, 

 at different times, considerable armies into the upper provinces 

 on the La Plata, where the war has been carried on from the com- 

 mencement of the revolution to the present day, with various 

 success; the great extent and peculiar character of the country, 

 and the want of resources having prevented either party from 

 making a blow, decisive of the contest. When we came away, 

 the advantage in that quarter was on the side of the Spaniards, 

 as they were in possession of the provinces of Upper Peru, which 

 had, to a certain degree at least, joined in the revolution, and some 

 of which are represented in the congress. Every where else, they 

 have been obliged to yield up the government, and abandon the 

 country, or submit to the ruling power. The peculiar situation of 

 Monte Video, on the east side of the river La Plata, open to the 

 sea, and strongly fortified, enabled the Spanish naval and military 

 fotces, at an early period in the revolution, to make a stand there; 

 they were ultimately obliged to surrender it, not, however, until 

 long protracted, and perhaps illy directed efforts on the part of the 

 assailants, had given rise to many jarring incidents between those 

 who came from the opposite shores of the rivers, probably the ef- 

 fect, in part at least, of ancient jealousies, kept alive by the indi- 

 vidual interests of particular leaders; these have been followed by 

 events calculated to produce a still greater alienation; and al- 

 though several attempts have been made to bring about a union, 

 they have hitherto been unsuccessful. The provinces of the 

 Banda Oriental, and the Entre Rios, on the eastern side of 

 the river, under the direction of general Artigas, are now at war 

 with those on the western side, under the government of the con- 

 gress at Buenos Ayres. 



