Notes of a naturalist in South America

by John Ball

NIGHT IN THE ESTUARY.

I had arranged to start on the 24th of June, in the steamer which plies between Monte Video and the Lower Uruguay. That day being one of the many festas that protect men of business in South America from the risk of overwork, banks and offices were closed, and but for the kindness of Mr. E—— I should have found it difficult to carry out my plan. I went on board in the afternoon, and found a small crowded vessel, not promising much comfort to the passengers, but offering the additional prospect of safe guidance which every Briton finds on board a ship commanded by a fellow-countryman.

The sun set in a misty sky as we left our moorings and began to advance at half speed into the wide estuary of La Plata. As night fell the mist grew denser, and during the night and following morning we were immersed in a thick white fog. It was in reality a feat of seamanship that was accomplished by our captain. The great estuary of La Plata, gradually narrowing from about sixty miles opposite Monte Video to about sixteen at Buenos Ayres, is almost everywhere shallow and beset by sand or mudbanks, between which run the navigable channels. According to their draught, the ships that conduct the extensive trade between Buenos Ayres and Europe are spread over the space below the city, the larger being forced to anchor at a distance of fourteen miles. To avoid the banks, and to escape collision with the ships in the water-way, in the midst of a fog so dense was no easy matter. It is needless to say the utmost caution was observed. We crept on gently through the night, and at daybreak approached the anchorage of the large ships. Our captain seemed to be perfectly acquainted with the exact position of every one of them, and, as with increasing light he was able to recognize near objects, each in turn served as a buoy to mark out the true channel. Soon after sunrise we reached the moorings, about two miles from the landing-place, and lay there for a couple of hours, while the Buenos Ayres passengers and goods were conveyed to us in a steam-tender. It was a new experience to know one’s self so close to a great and famous city without the possibility of distinguishing any object.

At about ten a.m. we were again under steam and making for the mouth of the Uruguay on the northern side of the great estuary. The fog began to clear, and finally disappeared when, a little before noon, we were about to enter the waters of the mighty stream, which is, after all, no more than a tributary of the still mightier Paranà.[39] Just at this point, signals and shouts from a very small steamer induced our captain to slacken speed. The strangers urgently appealed to him to take on board some cargo for a place on the river, the name of which escaped me. To this request a polite but very decided refusal was returned, the prudence of which we afterwards appreciated. The cargo in question doubtless consisted of arms, ammunition, or other stores for the use of the revolutionary force supposed to be gathered at Mercedes, not far from the junction of the Rio Negro with the Uruguay, and it clearly behoved the steamboat company to avoid being involved in such enterprises.

THE URUGUAY RIVER.

At its mouth the Uruguay has a width of several—probably seven or eight—miles, and at the confluence of the Rio Negro, some fifty miles up stream, the breadth must be nearly half as much. The water at this time was high, as heavy rain had fallen in the interior, and the current had a velocity of about three miles an hour. I believe that it is only exceptionally, during unusually dry seasons, that tidal water enters the channels of the Paranà or the Uruguay. I was struck by the frequent passage of large green masses of foliage that floated past as we ascended the river. Some consisted of entire trees or large boughs, but several others appeared to be formed altogether of masses of herbaceous vegetation twined together or adhering by the tangled roots. It can easily be imagined that, where portions of the bank have been undermined and fall into a stream, the soil is washed away from the roots, and the whole may be floated down the stream and even carried out to sea. The efficacy of this mode of transport as one of the means for the dispersion of plants is now generally recognized, and, considering that the basin of the Paranà covers a space of over twenty-one degrees of latitude, we must admit the probability that it has had a large part in the diffusion of many tropical and subtropical species to the southern part of the continent.

The Rio Negro, which drains about half the territory of the republic, is the chief affluent of the Uruguay. At the junction we met a small steamer which plies to and fro on the tributary stream, and some time was lost in effecting the exchange of passengers and cargo. From some new-comers we gathered rather vague reports as to the attempted revolution. The chief was a certain Colonel Maximo Perez, already well known in Uruguayan political life. I have already explained that the term in this country means the effort to use the soldiery to upset the existing administration, or, if you happen to be in power, to, employ the same agency to make short work of your rivals. It was generally thought that Perez had made the mistake of raising the standard too soon, and must fail. This anticipation was soon verified, and before I left the country two reports, each equally authentic, reached the capital—the one that he had made his escape, the other that he had been shot. To the community it was a matter of indifference which story might be true: in the one case, he would appear again to renew the revolt; in the other, some new adventurer would take his place.

A few miles above the confluence of the Rio Negro we reached Fray Bentos, the great factory where “Liebig’s Extract of Beef” is prepared and sent to Europe. Whatever prosperity exists in the Banda Oriental depends altogether on beef. To the raising of horned cattle the greater part of the soil of the republic is devoted, and in caring and guarding them most of the rural population is employed. The saladeros, where the animals are slaughtered and the various parts converted to human use, are the chief, almost the only, industrial establishments, and it is their produce that supports the trade and navigation.

ISLANDS OF THE URUGUAY.

Though the channel is narrower above the junction of the Rio Negro, the Uruguay was still a mighty river, from one to two miles in width, with numerous islands, all covered with trees and seemingly uninhabited. The trees on the islands and along the banks are mostly small, about thirty feet in height, but on some of the islands they must certainly surpass fifty feet. It was impossible for a passing stranger to identify the unfamiliar forms of these trees, which seemed to present considerable variety, the more so as the majority appeared to be deciduous, and but a few withered leaves remained on the nearly bare branches.