BUENOS AYRES. 



53 



of a low flat green plain, without wood of 

 any kind, and, as far as the eye could 

 reach, quite level in appearance with the 

 water. This was the territory of the Banda 

 Oriental. We reached Monte Video, the 

 capital, the next day at about two o'clock, 

 just in time to escape a heavy gale from 

 the south-west. This wind is called a Pam- 

 pero, on account of its blowing over the 

 Pampas, whence it comes with the sud- 

 denness and violence of a hurricane. Many 

 vessels are lost every year by this wind ? and 

 by reason of the frequent shifting of the sand- 

 banks, the navigation of the Plata, from its 

 mouth to Buenos Ayres, a distance of about 

 two hundred miles, is often extremely ha- 

 zardous. I have been told that it is impossible 

 for small vessels under sail to withstand the fury 

 of these blasts, and that they are sometimes 



