difficulty, that the party preserved themselves from being run over and trampled to pieces. At other times, however, the same country has been passed over, and no horses have been seen.

1

'Near the Spanish settlements, and where these plains have been tilled, they yield excellent corn, and various other productions; whilst numerous flocks of sheep are also met with in the plains at the foot of the mountains of Cordova and Yacanto. Between these hills and the Cordillera of Chili, lie many spacious and fruitful vallies, watered by brooks and rivulets, and beautifully diversified with rising grounds. They produce many kinds of fruit trees, apples, peaches, cherries, and plumbs; and also corn where the land is cultivated; but they are more particularly famous for breeding cattle, sheep, and horses, and especially mules. Of the mules yearly sent from these provinces to Peru, the greatest part comes from the district just described. There are many farms here belonging to those industrious Spaniards who have been allured hither, by the fertility of the soil,. by the facility for breeding cattle, and by the security from the incursions of the Indians, who infest those only who live more to the south.'

The miserable defective policy of Spanish rule is elucidated by the curious itinerary from Buenos Ayres to Lima, which enriches this volume. The dangers of part of this journey,' and which it is here shewn might be avoided, are such as stagger belief:

When travellers pass over the lofty ridges of the Cordilleras, it is said, that from the rarefaction of the air, they can scarcely breathe, and are afflicted with nausea. This is one of the inconveniences they suffer, but it is of trifling import, when compared to the imminent danger they are exposed to in some of the narrow passes and steep declivities. The itinerary of the route from Buenos Ayres to Lima displays some of those dangers, which appear in tenfold array along the less frequented paths across the Cordillera. Their ruggedness is not easily described. In many places the road is so narrow that the mules have scarcely room to set their feet, and in others it is a continual series of precipices. These paths are full of holes from two to three feet deep, in which the mules set their feet, and draw their bel lies and the rider's legs along the ground. Indeed these holes serve as steps, without which the precipices would, in a great measure, be impracticable; but should the creature happen to set his foot between two of these holes, or not place it right, the rider falls; and, if on the side of the precipice, inevitably perishes. The danger is, however, greater, where these holes, or camelones as the Spaniards call them, are wanting. For the tracks are extremely steep and slippery, in general chalky and wet; and where there are no holes to serve as steps, Indians are obliged to go before with small spades, which they carry with them for that purpose, to dig little trenches across the path. This work is continual, every party requiring a repetition of it, for in less than a night, the rain utterly destroys all the trenches cut during the preceding day. In descending these places, where

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there

there are no holes or trenches, and which are sometimes several hüpdred yards deep, the instinct of the mules that are accustomed to pass them, is admirable. They are sensible of the caution requisite in the descent. On coming to the top of an eminence, they stop, and hav ing placed their fore feet close together, as in a posture of stopping themselves; they also put their hind feet together, but a little for wards as if going to lie down. In this attitude, having, as it were, taken a survey of the road, they slide down with the swiftness of a meteor. All the rider has to do is to keep himself fast in the saddle, without checking his beast; for the least motion is sufficient to disorder the equilibrium of the mule, in which case they must both unavoidably perish. The address of these creatures is here truly won derful, for in this rapid motion, when they seem to have lost all government of themselves, they follow exactly the different windings of the path, as if they had before accurately reconnoitered, and previously settled in their minds, the route they were to follow, and taken every precaution for their safety, amidst so many irregularities. There would indeed otherwise be no possibility of travelling over such places, where the safety of the rider depends on the experience and address of his beast.'

There are indeed some places where these declivities are not on the sides of precipices; but the road is so narrow and hollow, and the sides so perpendicular, that the danger is almost equal; for the track being extremely confined, and scarcely wide enough to admit the mule with its rider; if the beast falls, the man must be crushed, or, for want of room to disengage himself, have a limb broken. It is really wonderful to observe the mules, after they have overcome the first emotions of fear, and are going to slide down the declivity, with what exactness they stretch out their fore legs, that by preserving a due equilibrium they may not fall on one side, yet, at a proper distance, make with their bodies, that gentle inclination necessary to follow the several windings of the path; as well as their address in stopping themselves at the end of their impetuous career. The hu man species could not shew more prudence or conduct than the mules do; and some of them, after being long used to these journies, acquire a kind of reputation for their skill and safety, and are accordingly highly valued.'

A very particular and detailed account of all the principal mines, which are worked in this colony, will be found in the present volume; and we should be glad to quote some of the passages, if we could gratify all our inclinations amid such variety. We cannot, however, refrain from subjoining parts of Mr. Wilcocke's description of two places which were not long since the subjects of conversation among us :

Buenos Ayres was erected into a bishopric in 1620. Before its elevation into a viceroyalty, this city was only considered as the fourth in rank in South America; but it is now held as inferior to none but Lima. Since it thus became the seat of a new government, it has greatly increased in opulence and in population. It is regularly built, and its streets are broad, unpaved in the middle, and with footpaths

on each side. The houses are reckoned to be six thousand in number. Most of the buildings, both public and private, had formerly only mud walls, but a lay-brother of the Jesuits, who was employed to erect the church of his college about sixty years ago, made bricks and lime, and instructed the inhabitants in those useful arts, since which time the city has assumed a very different appearance. The architecture of the cathedral, and of most of the churches, is likewise ascribed to the lay-brothers of that community. The cathedral is spacious and elegant. It has a cupola of excellent workmanship, and a portico, the design and execution of which are much extolled. The interior is profusely, perhaps tawdrily, decorated with carved and gilt work. In the dome are paintings in copartments, representing the acts of the apostles. The churches of St. Francis, and that of the convent of Mercy, are next in estimation, and have cupolas and steeples nearly in the same style as the cathedral, In the church of the Franciscans, there is a picture of the Last Supper, painted by an Indian neophyte, of one of the Uraguay missions, which is considered as a very capital performance for a native artist: the frame of it is composed entirely of feathers of a bright gold colour, so artfully contriv ed as to appear to the nicest observer to be the most correct carving and gilding; nor can the difference be discovered till it is touched by the hand: this picture was a present to the Franciscans from the Je suits, not many years before their expulsion. The church of St. John, which is on the skirts of the town, is appropriated to the Christian Indians. The town-hall, which stands on one side of the great square or parade, is a large and handsome building, likewise erected on a plan of the Jesuits. There are several convents and nunneries; and all these edifices are built of a beautiful white stone, which is found in a small plain not far from the town. The white ness of the public buildings is much improved by the frequency of the Pampero, which is considered as an excellent bleacher. The principal streets are the Calle del Santa Trinidada, and the Calle del San Benito. The former, which faces the great door of the cathedral, runs almost the whole length of the town, and is occupied by the better sort of inhabitants. Many of the opulent inhabitants have villas in the country, and almost every house has a garden, both before and behind; and many have balconies with lattice-work, for the reception of odoriferous shrubs and flowers. The interior of the houses is, in general, however, very dirty, from the indolence of the inhabitants. In summer, the rooms are covered with fine Indian matting, and in winter with European carpets. Every garden is refreshed by water let in from the river Plata, by a kind of sluice made of osiers, woven very strong and thick. The water thus admitted, is sent by smaller channels round the beds, and a quantity of it is generally retained in a large basin or reservoir, of which there is one in every extensive gara den The water when thus retained, is very clear and sparkling, but by its great coldness, it is apt, when drank, to bring on dysen teries and other dangerous diseases. Part of the town, which is prin cipally inhabited by mestices and negroes, has a very miserable and filthy appearance, and strongly contrasts with the opulence and taste displayed in the other.

The

The inhabitants were usually estimated at about thirty thousand, but the calculation of Sir Home Popham carries them to the number seventy thousand. One fourth of the population are whites; the others are negroes, Indians, and people of mixed breed.

The castle or fort is very insignificant, in point of military importance; it contains a house for the military governor, and a royal chapel. At the time of the capture, there were about forty cannon of various calibres, mounted; and two thousand stand of arms were found in it. The usual garrison was seven hundred men, and about three thousand of the militia of the country were supposed to be always in readiness to co-operate with the regulars.

Buenos Ayres is well supplied with provisions, particularly with fish in great abundance, and variety, from the river. There is no place in Europe or America, where butcher's meat is more plentiful, better in quality, or cheaper in price; it is frequently distributed gratis to the poor, as it is the usual custom to buy the hide alone, the carcase being in some measure a gratuitous addition; and the meat is always fat and very palatable. Poultry, considering the price of other provisions, is very dear; a couple of fowls generally sell for as much as a whole ox. The river-water is rather muddy, but soon be comes clear and drinkable by being kept in large earthen vessels made for the purpose, or in the garden-reservoirs, as before mentioned. Wheat bread is sold at a rate, which makes it equal to about 7d. per English quartern loaf; and the price is fixed and permanent; the loaves are made to correspond in size with the different small coins of the country.'

• Montevideo is the best, and indeed the only good port in this river. The Spaniards are sensible of the importance of this place, and have taken great pains to fortify it; having made it much stronger than Buenos Ayres. The entrance of the port is not very broad. The harbour derives its name from a high mountain on its western point," which may be seen at the distance of twelve, or even sixteen leagues.

It is dangerous to sail too near to the western point, as there are many rocks under water. On the east side the entrance is deeper and safer. Beyond the western point there is a square battery built close to the water's edge. The bay is almost circular, and within it, on the east side, there is a small island abounding with rabbits. The surrounding land is very high, and protects the bay from all winds. The water is always as smooth as a mill-pond, and there is sufficient depth for ships of the first rate. The bottom is soft clay.

The town of Montevideo occupies the whole of a peninsular promontory, that forms the eastern point of the harbour. The fortifications are to the north; they are regular works, built of stone, inclosing the whole of the peninsula, and have a pretty strong fort, with four bastions and mounted with brass cannon, in the centre; the barracks are bomb-proof. The garrison is generally about four or five hundred men. The other side of the bay is without any for. tification, nor has the high mountain even so much as a watch-tower The town makes a handsome appearance from the harbour, as it is built upon an ascent, and the houses appear interspersed with gar

dens

dens and trees. The houses are of stone and brick, only one story high, except a few; the roofs are flat, and the floors of brick, though some have only earth. The governor's residence, which has been compared to a range of livery stables in England, is of such construction. Few houses have glass windows. There are some, however, that belong to people of distinction, which are two and three stories high, and have balconies in front. None have any chimnies; fire is generally kindled in the yard, or a separate kitchen, and in wet or cold weather it is brought into the rooms in fire-pans. The streets run strait, and cross each other at right angles, but with one or two exceptions are very incommodious, being composed of large loose stones and sand.'

The readers of this work will be highly gratified and instructed by the details which it contains respecting the famed settlements of the Jesuits in this colony, their origin, extent, and subversion. Howsoever mischievous may have been the agency of this society in Europe, we find that in South America its power arose from the tendency of its proceedings to advance the interests of humanity, and the extension of civili

zation.

If we pass over the statements and observations with which we are presented in these pages, relative to the civil and ecclesiastical administration of the Spanish colonies, the different classes of the inhabitants, the commercial regulations of the parent state, and their effects, it is not because we deem them to be unimportant, but because we have recently descanted on them in our review of Mr. Brougham's performance on colonization*; which they so much resemble, as to induce in us a belief that they have been taken from that able work, or that the two authors have drawn from the same sources. We are also precluded by our limits from entering on the curious de tail of natural history, which adds to the interest and value of the volume; and some particulars of this kind were communicated from another publication, in our 53d Vol. N. S. p. 148. The author modestly admits and apologizes for the literary defects of his performance: but these are neither numerous nor considerable; and they are more than compensated by the value of the information which it communicates, and the good sense of the observations by which it is accompanied.

See Rev. Vol. L. N. S. p. 1.

MONTHLY