FOOTNOTES:
[46] With respect to the past, it is, I fear, useless to look for any very positive data as to the state of the river previously to the last century:—the only allusion to it which I can find is in the 'Argentina,' an historical poem by Barco Centenera, who went out in 1572 with the Adelantado Zarate, and who, speaking of its depth between Buenos Ayres and San Gabriel, off Colonia, on the opposite shore, says:—
"De ancho nueve leguas ó mas tiene
El rio por aqui, y muy hondable.
La nave hasta aqui segura viene
Que como el ancho mar es navigable."
The river's here nine leagues or more,
And very deep, twixt shore and shore;
So far the navigation's free,
As tho' twere on the open sea.
Argentina, Canto II.
And although, perhaps, a poet's authority to not the very best for a geological fact, I have the less hesitation in quoting his couplet, as it is, to a certain extent, corroborated by the circumstance that, amongst all the dangers and disasters recorded with so much minuteness by the historians of the first discoveries of those parts, there is no instance, that I am aware of, mentioned by them of a shipwreck in the river below San Gabriel, the port to which all vessels at that time directed their course after entering it:—from this I think any one who knows the dangers of the navigation of that part of the river now, will be disposed to infer that it really must have been in former times as Centenera describes it, much more free and safe than it is at the present day:—it is probable that the Ortiz bank especially has very much increased.
[47] In the proportion of an ounce of litharge to a quart of oil.
[48] The following comparative measurements of the bones of the megatherium and of an elephant eleven feet high, are furnished by Mr. Clift:—
| ELEPHANT. | MEGATHERIUM. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ft. | In. | Ft. | In. | |
| The expansion of the ossa ilia | 3 | 8 | 5 | 1 |
| Breadth of the largest caudal vertebra | 0 | 7 | 1 | 9 |
| Circumference of middle of femur | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Length of the os calcis | 0 | 7½ | 1 | 5 |
[49] Mr. Clift quotes a MS. memorandum in his possession, stating the measurement of the skeleton at Madrid to be, from the front of the nasal bones to the setting on of the tail, thirteen feet seven inches, and he is of opinion that, of the two, the specimen I brought home was the older and somewhat larger individual.
CHAPTER XI.
OF THE RIVERS PARAGUAY, PARANA, AND URUGUAY.
Importance of the rivers of the United Provinces. The Paraguay and its tributaries. The Pilcomayo. The Vermejo. Soria's expedition down it from Oran, proving it navigable thence to Assumption. Periodical inundations of the Paranã, similar to those of the Nile. The Uruguay and its affluents. Surveys by the Commissioners appointed to determine the Boundaries laid down by the Treaty between Spain and Portugal of 1777. Original Maps obtained.
Before proceeding to give any account of the Upper Provinces, a brief description will perhaps here not be out of place of the great rivers which form so remarkable a feature in the physical geography of this part of the South American continent, and from the navigation of which by steam-vessels hereafter such important political consequences may be anticipated.
Of these, the Paraguay is the first. This river, which from Corrientes takes the name of Paranã, has its sources between south lat. 13° and 14°, in those ranges which, though of very trifling elevation themselves, appear to connect the lofty mountains of Peru and Brazil, and to constitute the water-shed of some of the principal rivers of South America. From their northern declivities descend some of the most important of the eastern affluents of the Madera, the Tapajos, and other great streams which empty themselves into the Maranon, or Amazons; whilst, on the other hand, all those which pour down towards the south find their way into the bed of the wonderful river I am describing.
Many navigable streams join it from the eastward, as it passes through the rich Brazilian territories of Matto Grosso and Cuyabá. Its tributaries from the opposite side are, though perhaps more important, less numerous, the surface of the country being more level; of these the Jaurú is the first of any consequence, the sources of which are close to those of the Guaporé, which runs in the opposite direction into the Madera and Amazons. The short portage which intervenes between the heads of these rivers is all that breaks a continuous water-course from the mouths of the Amazons to that of the Plata, as will be seen on reference to the map. A little below the Jaurú commences a wide region of swamps called the lake or lakes of Xarayes; which, during the periodical inundations of the rivers that descend from the mountains to the north of Cuyabá, is flooded for a vast extent, the waters forming one great inland sea, to the depth of ten or twelve feet, extending between 200 and 300 miles east and west, and upwards of 100 from north to south. As the rainy season passes away, this mass of waters is finally carried off by the Paraguay, which even here, 1200 miles in a direct line from the sea, is navigable for vessels of 40 or 50 tons. The mouth of the Jaurú is in 16° 25´ long. 320° 10´ east of Ferro:—here a marble pyramid is erected to mark the boundary determined upon between the Spaniards and Portuguese by the treaty of 1750.
Quiroga, who accompanied Flores, the Spanish commissioner, to determine this point, in descending the Paraguay fixed the latitude of most of the numerous rivers which fall into it before its junction with the Paranã.[50] On the eastern side they afford the means of communication with the gold and diamond districts of Brazil, and lower down with those districts of Paraguay proper which abound in the finest timber, and produce the yerba maté, the article perhaps most in demand of all the rich productions of that favoured country.
From the west its most important affluents are the Pilcomayo and the Vermejo, which fall into it below Assumption:—both flow through a prodigious extent of country, having their sources in the rich districts of Upper Peru. The first passes not far from Potosi, and, after a thousand windings through the chaco, or desert, falls into the Paraguay by two branches, the one called the Araquay, in lat. 25° 21´ 29", according to an observation taken by Azara; the other, about nine leagues below it. M. de Angelis has I think clearly shown that the river to the north of Assumption, which Azara has laid down as the most northern branch of the Pilcomayo, is the Fogones of Quiroga.
In 1741 Father Castañares attempted an exploration of the Pilcomayo, in the expectation that it would facilitate a communication with the Jesuit missions in the province of Chiquitos; but after many hardships and difficulties, at the end of eighty-three days, he was obliged to give it up, from the river becoming too shallow for his canoes to pass on. In 1785 Azara attempted to ascend it by the Araquay, in a small vessel; but after proceeding about twenty leagues, was obliged to return, for the same reason,—want of water; although it was at the season of the floods, and the river was more than ordinarily full.
The Vermejo, on the contrary, which falls into the Paraguay still further down, has been more than once proved to afford a navigable communication with the province of Salta: First by Cornejo, in 1790; who, starting from the confluence of the rivers Centa and Tarija, reached the Paraguay in fifty-five days; the distance by the river being, according to his computation, no less than 407½ leagues. And more recently, in 1826, by Don Pablo Soria, the agent of some spirited individuals in Buenos Ayres, who about that time formed an association for the purpose of endeavouring to open a water-communication between the capital and the rich districts of the Upper Provinces. The vessel they built for the purpose was fifty-two feet long, and drew about two feet water; which, with but little more assistance than was necessary to keep in the mid-stream, was floated down from the neighbourhood of Oran by the current, and in fifty-seven days entered the Paraguay, without any other impediment than a feeble attempt on the part of some Indians, armed with bows and arrows, to annoy them as they passed through their lands.
Once in the Paraguay, the main object of the voyage was accomplished. Unfortunately, however, for the adventurers themselves, they were there seized upon by Dr. Francia, the despotic ruler of that country, who, worse than the savages, detained them for five years.[51] He also deprived them of their papers; and thus the details of a most interesting voyage were lost, although the great and highly important fact was established beyond dispute of the existence of a safe and navigable water-communication the whole way from Oran to Buenos Ayres; a result which must sooner or later be of immense consequence to the inhabitants of the Upper Provinces.
About thirty miles below the mouth of the Vermejo the Paraguay is joined from the east by the great river Paranã, which name it thence takes till it is finally lost in the Rio de la Plata. This river, rivalling in extent the Paraguay itself, rises in the mountain-chains to the north-west of Rio de Janeiro, in latitude 21°. Turning first westward, and afterwards towards the south, it is increased by several large rivers, amongst which the most noted are the Paranaiba, the Tieté, the Paranapané, and the Curitava. On reaching the Guarani Missions, near Candelaria, in about lat. 27° 30´, it turns again westward, and runs with little deviation from that parallel till it falls into the Paraguay. Thence these two mighty rivers, mingling their waters flow on in one vast and uninterrupted stream, gradually increased by many rivers of minor importance, which join it from either side, till they finally empty themselves through a well-defined delta into the estuary of La Plata.
The extent of the practicable navigation on the two great branches of this mighty river varies with the geological formation of the countries through which they respectively pass.
The Paranã, whilst running through the mountainous districts of Brazil, is broken by many falls above the Guarani Missions, especially one called the Salto Grande, in lat. 24° 4´ 58" (as fixed by the officers of the Boundary Commission in 1788), where the river, which immediately before is nearly a league across, becomes suddenly confined by a rocky pass not more than sixty yards in width, through which it rushes with inconceivable fury, and forms a splendid cataract, between 50 and 60 feet high, dashing down with such thundering noise that it is said to be heard at a distance of five or six leagues. For a hundred miles afterwards, as far as the mouth of the river Curitiba, in lat. 25° 41´, the river is nothing but a succession of falls and rapids.
The Paraguay, properly so called, on the contrary, may be passed up by vessels of some burthen the whole way[52] to the Jaurú, in latitude 16° 25´, presenting the extraordinary extent of an uninterrupted inland navigation of nearly nineteen degrees of latitude, calculating the straight distance north and south, throughout the whole of which there is not a rock or stone to impede the passage, the bottom being everywhere of clay or fine sand. The least depth of water is in the channels through the delta by which it discharges itself into the Plata, but in the passage called the Guazú (the great canal) there is seldom less than two and a half fathoms.
The upper part of the river is extremely picturesque, and its shores abound in all the varieties of an intertropical vegetation. The palms particularly are remarkable for the magnificence of their growth. Below the junction of the Paranã it is thickly studded with islands covered with wild orange-trees, and a variety of beautiful shrubs and parasitical plants, new to European eyes.
It has been remarked that there is a great resemblance in the periodical risings and inundations of the Paraguay and those of the Nile, and there is certainly a striking analogy between the two rivers in many respects. Both rise in the torrid zone, nearly at the same distance from the equator, and both, though holding their courses towards opposite poles, disembogue by deltas in about the same latitude; both are navigable for very long distances, and both have their periodical risings, bursting over their natural bounds, and inundating immense tracts of country.
The Paranã begins to rise about the end of December, which is soon after the commencement of the rainy season in the countries situated between the tropic of Capricorn and the equator, and increases gradually till the month of April, when it begins to fall something more rapidly until the month of July. There is afterwards a second rising, called by the natives the repunte; but this, though regular, is of no great consequence, the river never overflowing its banks. It is probably occasioned by the swelling of the rivers from the winter rains in the temperate zone.
The extent of these periodical risings is, of course, in some degree, regulated by the quantity, more or less, of rain which may fall during the corresponding season; but, in general, the inundation takes place with great regularity, the waters rising gradually about twelve feet in the bed of the river in four months; this is the ordinary average of the increase of the river after its junction with the Paraguay; though above it, at Assumption, where the river is much confined, the rise is said to be sometimes as much as five or six fathoms.
The year 1812 was remarkable for the greatest flood in the memory of the natives. Vast quantities of cattle were carried away by it, and when the waters began to subside, and the islands which they had covered became again visible, the whole atmosphere for a time was poisoned by the effluvia from the innumerable carcases of skunks, capiguaras, tigers, and other wild beasts which had been drowned on them. On such occasions it frequently happens that the animals, to save themselves, swim off to the floating masses of canes and brushwood (called by the Spaniards "camelotes"), and are thus carried down the river, and landed in the vicinity of the towns and villages upon the coast. Many strange stories, are told of the unexpected visits of tigers so conveyed from their ordinary haunts to Buenos Ayres and Monte Video. One in my time was shot in my own grounds near Buenos Ayres, and some years before no less than four were landed in one night at Monte Video, to the great alarm of the inhabitants when they found them prowling about the streets in the morning. In the swampy region of Xarayes, where the inundation commences, the ants, which are in vast numbers there, have the sagacity to build their nests in the tops of the trees, far out of reach of the waters; and these nests are made of a kind of adhesive clay, so hard that no cement can be more durable or impervious to the weather.
During the inundation the river is exceedingly turbid, from the great quantity of vegetable substances and mud brought down by it:—the velocity of the stream in the higher and narrower parts of the river at first prevents their deposition, but as it approaches the lower lands, or pampas, where it overflows its bed, these substances are spread over the face of the land, forming a grey slimy soil, which, on the abatement of the waters, is found to increase vegetation in a surprising degree.
A calculation has been made by Colonel Monasterios, author of an excellent paper on this river, printed in the Statistical Register of Buenos Ayres for 1822, that no less than 4000 square leagues of country are annually covered by the waters during the periodical inundations of the Paranã.
From the almost uninterrupted level of the country which intervenes between the eastern ranges of the Cordillera and the Paraguay, many rivers which descend from them are either partially or entirely lost, after long and tortuous meanderings, in swamps and lakes, the waters of which are absorbed by evaporation during the heats of summer. This is strikingly exemplified in the river Pasages, or Salado, which, from the great extent of its course, and the many other streams it collects in its long course from the province of Salta to Santa Fé, would be a river of the first importance, were not the greater part of its waters lost in the level plains through which it runs. The Dulce, which, passing by Tucuman and Santiago, runs parallel to it, is lost in the great lake called the Porongos, in the pampas of the province of Santa Fé. The Primero and Segundo, which rise in the province of Cordova, disappear in the same plains. The Tercero, the most important river of that province, with difficulty finds its way during part of the year to the bed of the Carcaraña, which falls into the Paranã, near San Espiritu, below Santa Fé. The Quarto and the Quinto, and, still further south, the waters of the rivers from Mendoza and San Luis, are lost in the swamps and lakes which form so striking a feature in the maps of that part of the continent.
The Uruguay, which contributes with the Paranã to form the great estuary of La Plata, takes its name from the numerous falls and rapids which mark its course. The whole extent of its course is little less than 300 leagues. It rises in latitude 27° 30´, in the mountains on the coast of Brazil, opposite the island of St. Catharine's, and for a long distance runs nearly due west, receiving, besides many rivers of less importance, the Uruguay-Mini (or Little Uruguay) from the south, and the Pepiry-Guazú (or Great Pepiry) from the north. As it approaches the Paranã it changes its course, inclining southward through the beautiful territories of the old Jesuit Missions. Opposite to Yapeyú, the last of those establishments, it receives, in latitude 29° 30´, the Ybicuy, a considerable stream from the east. In 30° 12´ the Mirinay pours into it from the west a great part of the drainage of the great lake or swamp of Ybera. Its principal tributaries afterwards are the Gualeguaychú, from the province of Entre Rios, and the Negro, the largest river of the Banda Oriental, soon after the junction of which it falls into the Plata with the Paranã, in about 34° south latitude. Flowing through a country the geological formation of which totally differs from that through which the Paraguay takes its course, its navigation is broken by many reefs and falls, only passable when the waters are at their highest, during the periodical foods, or by portages in the dry season. Of these the Salto Grande and Chico (the great and small falls), a little below the 31° of latitude, are the first and worst impediments met with in ascending the river. The former consists of a rocky reef running like a wall across its bed, which at low water is at times crossed by the gauchos of the country on horseback, though during the floods it is passable in boats, by which, and canoes, the river is navigable without further danger as high up as the Missions.
Beautiful specimens of silicified wood and variegated pebbles are found in the upper parts of the bed of this river, of which I brought many to this country.
The Negro, which runs into it from the Banda Oriental, derives its name (the black river) from the sarsaparilla plant, which, at a particular season, rots upon its banks, and falls into the stream in such immense quantities as to discolour its waters, which are found to be highly medicinal, and much in request in consequence. The little village of Mercedes, near its mouth, has of late years been much resorted to by invalids from Buenos Ayres to drink these waters.
The river Paraguay, as high as the Jaurú, was carefully laid down after the treaty of 1750; and the Spanish officers appointed to determine the boundaries, in virtue of that subsequently signed in 1777, surveyed the Paranã as high as the Tieté, as well as the whole of the Uruguay, and determined the courses of all their most important affluents in the course of the eighteen years during which they were employed in laying down the southern division only of this survey. The results of their labours, which were only stopped by the renewal of war, may justly be ranked amongst the most beautiful and perfect geographical works ever produced. Copies of the whole existed at Buenos Ayres during my time in the hands of Colonel Cabrer, one of the officers originally attached to the commissioners; and the Government of Buenos Ayres were in treaty for the purchase of them for the use of the topographical department of the state, where, it is to be hoped, they will not be buried in unprofitable obscurity.
When the war with Brazil for the Banda Oriental broke out, in 1826, Colonel Cabrer drew a MS. map from these materials for the use of General Alvear, the Buenos Ayrean Commander-in-chief, which he was afterwards kind enough to present to me. By a curious coincidence, about the same time, I obtained possession of one upon a large scale of the southern provinces of Brazil, drawn, by the Emperor's order, from the best data to be collected at Rio de Janeiro, for the Marquis of Barbacena, who commanded the Brazilian army, and lost it at the battle of Ituzaingo. They have, I believe, afforded Mr. Arrowsmith data for materially improving his last maps of that part of South America.