152 
BANDA ORIENTAL 
CHAP. 
Our passage was a very long and tedious one. The Plata 
looks like a noble estuary on the map ; but is in truth a poor 
affair. A wide expanse of muddy water has neither grandeur 
nor beauty. At one time of the day, the two shores, both of 
which are extremely low, could just be distinguished from the 
deck. On arriving at Monte Video I found that the Beagle 
would not sail for some time, so I prepared for a short excur¬ 
sion in this part of Banda Oriental. Everything which I have 
said about the country near Maldonado is applicable to M. 
Video ; but the land, with the one exception of the Green 
Mount, 450 feet high, from which it takes its name, is far more 
level. Very little of the undulating grassy plain is enclosed ; 
but near the town there are a few hedge-banks, covered with 
agaves, cacti, and fennel. 
November 14 th .—We left Monte Video in the afternoon. 
I intended to proceed to Colonia del Sacramiento, situated on 
the northern bank of the Plata and opposite to Buenos Ayres, 
and thence, following up the Uruguay, to the village of Mer¬ 
cedes on the Rio Negro (one of the many rivers of this name in 
South America), and from this point to return direct to Monte 
Video. We slept at the house of my guide at Canelones. In 
the morning we rose early, in the hopes of being able to ride a 
good distance ; but it was a vain attempt, for all the rivers were 
flooded. We passed in boats the streams of Canelones, St. 
Lucia, and San Jose, and thus lost much time. On a former 
excursion I crossed the Lucia near its mouth, and I was sur¬ 
prised to observe how easily our horses, although not used to 
swim, passed over a width of at least six hundred yards. On 
mentioning this at Monte Video, I was told that a vessel con¬ 
taining some mountebanks and their horses, being wrecked in 
the Plata, one horse swam seven miles to the shore. In the 
course of the day I was amused by the dexterity with which a 
Gaucho forced a restive horse to swim a river. He stripped off 
his clothes, and jumping on its back, rode into the water till it 
was out of its depth ; then slipping off over the crupper, he 
caught hold of the tail, and as often as the horse turned round, 
the man frightened it back by splashing water in its face. As 
soon as the horse touched the bottom on the other side, the 
man pulled himself on, and was firmly seated, bridle in hand, 
before the horse gained the bank. A naked man on a naked 
