472 



PATAGONIA, TERRA DEL FUEGO, &c. 



been enforced with a very few exceptions, by which all inhabitants of Buenos Ayres, Santa 

 Fe, and Corrientes, who shall enter his territories shall be punished with death, and those of 

 all other countries with perpetual detention. 



The Cabildo, or Municipal Government of the several towns, is chosen annually by the 

 people. Indians, as well as Creoles, and mixed breeds, are eligible to these offices. There 

 is perfect security for person and property. Each district is made responsible for every theft 

 committed within it. All the inhabitants, Indians as well as Creoles, know how to read, wrhe, 

 and keep accounts. Public schools are established everywhere, and children are required to 

 attend them, until, in the judgment of the Cabildo, they are sufficiently instructed. The Dic- 

 tator has established lyceums, and other liberal institutions. Everybody is required to labor, 

 and mendicity is prohibited. The people appear to be contented and happy under this strict 

 regime. 



Assumpcion is the capital, and the usual residence of the Dictator. It has 6,000 inhabit- 

 ants. Itapua, on the Parana, and New Coimbra, on the Paraguay, are towns on the frontiers 

 of Brazil, through which a limited foreign trade is permitted to be carried on, which is regula- 

 ted by treaty. Villa Rica is a town of 3,000 inhabitants, and Conception has 1,500. 



CHAPTER LXV. REPUBLIC OF URUGUAY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. The republic of the Uruguay is bounded on the N. and E. by 

 Brazil ; S. by the Atlantic, and W. by the Uruguay, which divides it from the States of 

 Corrientes and Entre Rios. It has an area of 80,000 square miles, and a population of 70,000 

 souls. This territory formerly belonged to the Spanish vice-royalty of the Plata, and was 

 called the Banda Oriental (Eastern Frontier) from its geographical position. It was afterwards 

 claimed by Brazil, but in 1828, after a bloody war between the Brazilians and Buenos Ayreans, 

 the two parties agreed to its being erected into an independent State. 



2. Towns. Monte Video, the capital of the republic, is situated on the Plata, and is regu- 

 larly built, but the houses are low and the streets are not paved. It has a good harbor, and 

 formerly enjoyed an extensive commerce. The prosperity of the city has been much affected 

 by the wars between the neighboring States, and its population has much diminished. It now 

 contains about 10,000 inhabitants. Maldonado and Colonia, are small towns on the Plata, with 

 good harbors. 



CHAPTER LXVI. PATAGONIA, TERRA DEL FUEGO, &c. 



1. Patagonia. Extent, &c. This name is applied to the vast region extending south from 

 the Cusu Leuvu or Rio Negro, to the Straits of Magellan. It is of indefinite extent, the 

 southern boundaries of Chili and Buenos Ayres being unsettled, and in fact the former extends 

 its claims, on the west of the Andes, to the southern extremity of the continent, and the 

 Buenos Ayreans, having established a post. El Carmen, on the Negro, claim the eastern por- 

 tion. Patagonia, however, may be considered as stretching from about 40° to 54° S. lat., 

 Avith an extreme length of 960 miles, and a breadth of about 400 in the north, and 200 in the 

 south. The western part of this country is bordered by a prolongation of the Andes ; but 

 these mountains, after passing Chih, no longer display that stupendous elevation which marks 

 so great a portion of their range. Their general height from thence to the Straits of Magellan, 

 is not supposed, by Captain King, the last and most thorough explorer of these shores, to ex- 

 ceed 3,000 feet, though some peaks rise to 5,000 or 6,000, when they wear a most dreary as- 

 pect, being covered with perpetual ice and snow. This part of the chain has no valley inter- 

 posed between it and the ocean, whose stormy waves beat direct against its cliffs, and have 

 furrowed the land into almost numberless islands, separated from the continent and each other 

 by long and narrow channels, which have been lately discovered and examined by the distin- 

 guished officer above mentioned. One continental peninsula alone, that of Tres Montes, is 

 directly exposed to the waves of the Pacific. Of these isles, the largest and most northerly, 

 called Wellington, is separated from the continent by the Channel of Mesier, 160 miles long, 

 whose shores are bordered by low hills, covered with thick woods. To the southward is the 

 archipelago of Madrede Dios or Mother of God, of which little is known. The Channel of 

 Conception, which divides it from the continent, is broad and safe, and the opposite coast, 

 deeply indented with bays, the principal of v.'hich, called St. Andrews, is terminated by ab- 



