( 315 ) 



sumpcion, is Villa Rica, a large Spanish town, with much property 

 in cattle on its extensive plains. The river Vermelho enters the 

 west side of the Paraguay in lat. 26° 50' : on a remote upper branch 

 of this river is the town of Salto, near an accessible fall ; it is an im- 

 portant point to the Spaniards, who are transporting their goods from 

 Buenos Ayres, Tucuman, &c. to Upper Peru. 



The River Parana, 



or Great River, which the first discoverers considered as the chief, 

 on account of its abundant waters, unites with the eastern side 

 of the Paraguay in lat. 27° 25', and their united streams take the 

 name of the Rio de la Plata, which originated in the following 

 circumstance: — Martim de Sousa, the first donatary of the capi- 

 tania of St. Vicente, furnished Alexo Garcia with an adequate 

 escort to explore the hitherto untrodden wilds to the west of the 

 extensive coast of Brazil. This intrepid Portugueze, by the route 

 of the Tiete, reached the Paraguay, which he crossed, and pene- 

 trated considerably into the interior, from whence he returned, it 

 is said, loaded with silver, and some gold : but he halted on the 

 Paraguay, and waited for the coming of his son, a youth of ten- 

 der years, with some of his people, whilst he sent forward an 

 account of the discovery. He was surprised by a body of In- 

 dians, who killed him, took his son prisoner, and carried off all 

 his riches : the year following, sixty Portugueze, who were sent 

 in search of Garcia, shared the same fate. The Spaniards who 

 first settled on this river, seeing so much silver amongst these 

 Indians, and supposing it to be the produce of the country, called 

 the river La Plata. 



The Parana derives its principal sources from the west side of 

 the mountains of Mantiqueira, twenty-five leagues west of the town 

 of Paraty. 



s $ 2 



