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CHAP. III. 



Expedition against Buenos Ay res. — Causes of its Failure. — Account 

 of the Population of the Country, and of the various Classes which 

 compose it. 



T^THEN the expedition against Buenos Ayres was ready to sail, 

 I obtained General Whitelocke's permission to go with the 

 army under the hope of recovering the property I had in that city, 

 and offered my service to the commissary-general, whom I accom- 

 panied. On our arrival at the place of disembarkation I was sur- 

 prized to learn that the army was totally destitute of guides, and 

 almost equally so of Peons, whose assistance was highly desirable 

 in catching and driving cattle for the subsistence of the troops. The 

 commander in chief, whom I met with on the beach, expressed great 

 chagrin at the false information he had received on this and other 

 particulars. He had been led to expect a landing-place where the 

 men would not wet their shoes; — here they were up to the breasts in 

 water : he had been told that guides would offer themselves in whole 

 troops on this side the river; — not one was to be seen. Early on 

 the morning after we had landed, I was requested by an officer to 

 assist in obtaining guides, and the difficulty we had in the search 

 fully exposed the oversight which had been committed in neglecting 

 to secure a number at Monte Video. Some useful persons there 

 had offered themselves, and only required to be ostensibly pressed 

 into the service in order to avoid the ignominy which might have 

 awaited them had they openly volunteered. After much trouble an 

 aged negro was found, who was compelled to guide the army on 

 its way to Buenos Ayres. The difficulties that occurred on the 

 marcl) in passing swamps,. fording rivers, &c. have been already 



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