S)M oflMf flams 



RIO N1XRO. 



VfjfetiitlnTi.— Trade. 

 FJ Carmen. 



himself in the saddle, quietly troUin» off, la — • in 

 hand, to select his victim, and detach it from the 

 herd; ( licit l lie eager chase, the furious speed of the 

 lini>u\ tin 1 Hying dress of the Ouacho, with upraised 

 arm whirling his la^", the terror of the animal, 

 the throw of ihc lusso, ami instantaneous overthrow 

 of the bollock, all llie work of an instant, excited 

 both our admiration and astonishment, Nothing 

 can exceed the animation of both horse and rider 

 on these occasions. 



Mr. W a Id ron, our purser, made an endeavour to 

 purchase Hume vegetables for the crews from an 

 estaueia on the river-side, of which an eld Spaniard 

 was the owner, thus affording him an opportunity 

 of disposing of many of them; hut the conditions 

 were, that the articles must he on llie beach in a 

 few hours, which w;is ample lime to have dug up 

 an acre. As soon, however, as he learned these 

 tonus "c shrugged his shoulders, and derlat. .1 no- 

 thing impossible, took down his guitar, seated him- 

 self in front of his house, and began to play a lively 

 air, which his two sons accompanied with their 

 voices. 



The coast mid the banks of the Rio Negro are 

 composed of sand-hill*, of from thirty to fifty feet 

 in height, covered with n seam-red growth of 

 grass, which prevents the sand from blowing away. 

 These gradually rise fo the height of one hundred 

 feet, except to the southward of the river, where 

 the hank is perpendicular : at this heiehl the 

 ground stretches away in a level prairie, without a 

 single tree to break the monotony of the scene, 

 and affords a view as uninterrupted as the ocean. 



The only verdure on the prairie in a small -shrub, 

 which when the lower branches are trimmed off 

 serves a useful purjmse. From an optical illusion 

 (the effect of refraction), they appear, when thus 

 trimmed, as large an nil ordinary -sized apple-lrec, 

 and one is not a little surprised to find them, on a 

 near approach, no higher than the fiurroundiny 

 shrubs, four or live feet. Shrubs are trimmed in 

 this manner at distances of about half a mile from 

 each other, and are used as guide-posts on the 

 prairie. A similar optical effect is spoken of by 

 travellers on the steppes of Russia. 



Game is most plentiful, consisting of deer, guana- 

 coea, and cavias, cassowaries, partridges, bustards, 

 ducks, &c. Armadillos were common, and the 

 ostrich was frequently seen; porcupines ar© said 

 also to be found. The cavias were seen running 

 about in single file, with a sort of halting nail. 



The width of the river is less than a third of a 

 mile; it has a rapid current, and a large body of 

 water is carried by it to the ocean. The ordinary 

 tide Ls about eight feet rise, and (lie spring tides 

 fourteen feet. The current is mostly downward, 

 although the tide is fell about ten BUM ahove its 

 mouth. The ebb sets off shore some three or four 

 miles, and may be known by the discoloration of 

 the water, which just without the bar is compara- 

 tively fresh. The depth at high water on the bar 

 is two and a Italf fathoms, and the bar isa changing 

 one. 



No springs were observed in the vicinity, or any 

 trace of running water, except in the river. The 

 water from the rains collects in the depressions, 

 ami forms large ponds, covering acres of ground, 

 but only a few inches lit depth. 



The time of our visit corresponded in season to 

 our midsummer months, and the mean temperature 



was found l-> he "J'A'. The winters are represented 

 as very mild; snow docs fall, but it disap|H-:i rv in a 

 few hours. Ice is seldom seen, though frosts 

 np|»ear to be frequent in the winter. January. 

 l-Yhrnarv, March, and April, are the least tempes- 

 tuous mouth*. 



The vegetation of the uplands hears the marks of 

 long-continued droughts, in an abHcm-e of trees, anil 

 the roots of plants penetrating vertically. The 

 stunted appearance of the shrubs, branching from 

 (lo ir hase, their branches dense, rigid, and impene- 

 trable, usually growing into spines; the smalltiess 

 of the leaves, and their texture which is dry, 

 coriaceous, and hardly deciduous; together imiIi 

 ill*' general brown aspect of the landscape, all 

 denote a vegetation adapted to endure or escape 

 drought. 



There was formerly some trade h< re with I! 

 and New York, in hides, horns, bones, and tallow, 

 in exchange for cotton and woollen goods of a warm 

 fabric, hardware, crockery, boots and shoes, a few 

 articles of furniture, spirits, and tobacco, all of 

 which are bartered at an enormous profit. Consi- 

 derable i|uautilies of salt are shipped round to 

 Buenos Ayres. Vessels discharging or taking in a 

 cargo here, pay twelve and a half cents per ton. 

 Vessels stopping without discharging pay half duty; 

 vessels for refreshments are permitted to remain 

 twenty live days free of duly, after that time they 

 [iay half duty.' This duty includes pilotage and all 

 other charge*; but the governor seems to have 

 the power to exact the full duty whenever he thinks 

 proper. 



EJ Carmen may be termed a convict settlement; 

 for culprits and exiles are sent hero from Buenos 

 Ayres. The garrison is composed of about two 

 bun In il soldiers, principally African and Brazilian 

 slaves brought here during the Danda Oriental 

 wax. Among thein we found a person who calkd 

 himself an American, from Rhode Island, by name 

 Benjamin Harden, junior, who was desirous of 

 claiming our protection, lie was of small stature, 

 slender make, and a light complexion, with a mild 

 expression of countenance, uml about thirty years 

 of age. His story was, that he had been by chance 

 in lhn nos Ayres at the time when the government 

 was in want of troops, and that he was seized and 

 compelled to enlist. On inquiring, however, of the 

 governor, it proved that he had been engaged in a 

 riot at Buenos Ayres, in which he had killed two 

 or three men, and committed other outrages, for 

 w hich he had been condemned to death, but ou the 

 intercession of a friend, the sentence w as commuted 

 to that of exile as a soldier at this place. His fur- 

 ther history is, that not long since be formed the 

 [dan of deserting with another convict, by seizing 

 an English trading vessel, in the absence of the 

 captain and part of the crew, and making off with 

 her, which he was fully able to accomplish, Is-ing 

 an excellent sailor. The night however before the 

 day fixed on for tho execution of this [dan, he got 

 intoxicated, discovered the whole design, and re- 

 ceived the severe punishment of twelve hundred 

 lashes, at three different times. 



On the morning of the departure of the schooner, 

 he effected Irs escape from the town, and swam ■ ii 

 to tin sehoom r. He was recognised by an officer, 

 who knew his history in part, namely, that ho had 

 become a robber and a murderer, and had been an 

 outcast from his father's h"iisc for fifteen years. 



