The hardships I experienced in reaching this ill-fated port, were a fit prelude to the misfortunes that awaited me there. We were bound for Buenos Ayres, but my captain, who in London and at Cadiz had assured me that he had the experience of a pilot in the Rio de la Plata, proved totally ignorant of its navigation, and urged this circumstance as his reason for putting into Monte Video. Happy should I have been, if this had been the only instance of his ignorance; he gave an ill-judged and blundering report of me to the governor, and the sailors affirmed that I was an Englishman, declaring at the same time that we had passed an English squadron under Spanish colors. This statement was enough to whet the avarice of the governor, who, notwithstanding I had served the colony, in bringing a cargo which was then much wanted, and every article of which had paid legal duty in Cadiz, ordered me to be thrown into prison. I was placed in close confinement on board a wretched sloop of war; and though my health was much impaired in consequence of exertion during the voyage, I was denied every comfort, except such indulgences, as the officers, who lived on shore, could at times clandestinely allow. Unprovided with letters of recommendation to any person in the town, and destitute of the means of making myself known, I had the mortification to see the property I had brought with me seized, and my papers taken away to be searched and examined. I was enjoined to make declarations, and to give evidence against myself, to men whose sole wish was to find a pretext for criminating me. After three or four examinations, it was found that I had sailed from Cadiz with a cargo of goods, marked, manifested, and duly registered, as Spanish; nor could any circumstance be discovered as a ground of accusation against me, but the strong suspicion that I was an Englishman, and on that account could not be too harshly treated. I had no lenity to expect from the governor, nor indeed from any of his advisers, who were, for the most part, men of the lowest order, refugees from Old Spain in consequence of criminal prosecutions. The rest of his associates were the captains and officers of two Spanish privateers, all Frenchmen, whose natural prejudices, no doubt, contributed to foment his antipathy against me. My sole reliance was on the consignee of the cargo, who at length arrived from Buenos Ayres; but, instead of clearing up the affair, he joined my persecutors, knowing that if he gave security he should have the cargo delivered to him. This favorable opportunity he failed not to embrace; he sold the property, and withheld the proceeds, under the pretext, that he could not pay them over to me while I remained a prisoner. This conduct to one who had depended on him for support, and who relied on his continually delusive promises of assistance, proved him to be one of those mean and spiritless beings whose station in society is mid-way between the simpleton and the knave.
My confinement would probably have been long, but for the good services of a Limenian, who attended me during my illness in Cadiz, and who had come over in the vessel with me. He was the only person I was permitted to see; and he interested himself so much in my behalf, that an old gentlewoman, with whom he had formed an acquaintance, determined, on hearing my story, to procure my liberation, and never rested until she had procured two bondsmen to answer for my appearance when called for.
The treatment I experienced, while in prison, was one of the many instances of oppression which disgraced the administration of the governor, Pasqual Ruiz Huidobro. It is well known that his political conduct was entirely subservient to the interests of the French, and that he lost no opportunity of evincing his attachment to their cause. As a further proof of this, I may state, that he caused all the captured English seamen to be confined in the prison, and, although its spacious court was doubly grated and guarded, he debarred them the use of it, and ordered them to be shut up, night and day, in a small room, the door of which was never opened except when victuals were given them. Aware of his severity, and knowing that I was the only prisoner at large, I was very circumspect, and strove to guard my conduct and discourse against artful misconstruction; but I had the misfortune to incur his displeasure at a moment when I least suspected it, by a very trivial, and certainly unintentional offence. Some written papers had been stuck up in various parts of the town, by order of Government, inviting foreign seamen to enter the service. Returning home at midnight from a visit, I observed one of these placards; the rain, which was pouring very fast, had partly detached it from the wall, and it was blown to and fro by the wind. Curious to examine the contents of a paper that had attracted the attention of many persons in the course of the day, I took it down and carried it home with me; this was observed by an old Spaniard of the name of Dias, who gloried much in having it in his power to injure me, though a perfect stranger to him, and unconscious of having done any thing to excite his malice. At the instance of this man an order was issued by the governor for my arrest; I was roused from my bed by the officers, and again hurried to prison. What charges were brought against me I could learn only by report; they were vague and indefinite, and no opportunity of answering them was allowed me. After a close confinement of six weeks, during which period my case was laid before the Viceroy of Buenos Ayres, I was again suffered to be at large, on payment of a fee of three hundred dollars. It was to the humane exertions of my advocate, seconded by those of the Limenian and the lady before-mentioned, that I owed this mitigation of my captivity, and I gratefully acknowledge that they made every provision in their power to render my situation comfortable.
During my stay at Monte Video another adventure befel me, which had well nigh cost me my life; I am induced to relate it, by reason of the insight it gives into the character of a certain class of the people. I had gone on a shooting excursion to the promontory opposite Monte Video, with my much-valued friend Captain Collet, owner of two or three large American ships, and M. Godefroy, a merchant, resident in the town. After some hours’ sport we met a party of four Spaniards, among whom were Mr. Ortiga, the consignee of Captain Collet, and a person called Manuel d’Iago. Our friend M. Godefroy had some conversation with them at a short distance from us, and on his return gave us to understand, that d’Iago had said it would not cost him above five hundred dollars to send a pair of bullets through me, and that had I been alone he would not have scrupled to do it. For this blood-thirsty insinuation I was at a loss to conjecture any motive, nor knew I the man, except by report, which designated him as a captain of militia, extremely rigorous in his treatment of the unfortunate English, whenever his turn to mount guard at the prison subjected them to his authority.
We pursued our diversion; he and his party meanwhile arrived at the Signal-house, about three miles above us, where they took refreshment. Some space of time afterward we observed a horse-soldier ride down towards us, who on approaching eyed us with a look of great suspicion. I had some little talk with him, having frequently seen him there before. He returned directly to the Guard-house, and an hour afterwards five blandengues, or horse-soldiers, sallied from the place at full speed, and, surrounding us, demanded our arms at the peril of our lives. Each of us obeyed, by surrendering his fowling-piece, M. Godefroy at the same time enquiring the cause of this extraordinary treatment; but they ordered him to be silent, and to march on along with us, or they would tie him on horseback. We were conducted to the Guard-house, and delivered (the officer being absent) to the corporal on guard, a fiery old Spaniard, who ordered us into an inner room, and placed two centinels at the door. The fellow was so stifled by passion, that we could not get an answer from him; at every moment he was drawing a long sabre which hung at his side, and venting his fury in the most abusive language. After a full half-hour of expostulation on our part, and menace on his, M. Godefroy obtained a hearing from him, and, declaring he was a merchant, married and actually settled in Monte Video, begged to know by what authority and under what pretext he was imprisoned. The corporal, on learning this, sent a soldier to the officer on guard, and while waiting his return, related that D’Iago had described us as Englishmen belonging to a privateer, who had landed with an intention to blow up the powder-magazines, kill bullocks, and plunder the natives. It was evident from his manner that he was very willing to believe this account, and that by treating us with severity he hoped to display his zeal for the service, and obtain promotion. M. Godefroy’s testimony being at length attended to, another soldier was dispatched to D’Iago’s party, who were not yet embarked, with notice that one of us affirmed himself to be a resident in Monte Video. This they did not contradict, but persisted in their accusations of the rest of our party; Mr. Ortiga denied any knowledge of Captain Collet, probably imagining that, in case of our conviction, he should benefit by the cargoes which the latter had consigned to him; and for me, whom they denounced as a spy, no punishment in their opinion could be too ignominious. On the return of the soldier, the corporal thought proper to release M. Godefroy, who took our boat to cross the port to Monte Video, with the intention of procuring an order for our liberation; but they had scarcely sailed, when a gust of wind arose, and as he and two boys he had with him could not manage the sails, they were nearly overset, and after considerable danger were picked up by a ship in the road. Meanwhile Captain Collet and I remained in strict custody, and at every syllable of complaint we uttered, the corporal brandished his sabre over our heads, roared out for the guard, and vociferated the most opprobrious language against the English. Thus threatened at every moment with assassination, we withdrew into a corner of the room, and quietly waited until the officer on guard arrived, when we were conducted in great form, between two men with drawn swords, into the room where he sat to receive us. Nothing could exceed my joyful surprise at recognizing in the officer an excellent and worthy friend, whom I had often visited at his farm, and who had given me repeated proofs of his liberal disposition and intelligent mind. His surprise exceeded mine; for instead of plunderers or spies, such as report had described us, he found an American merchant and a prisoner at large under bail. He was deeply grieved and ashamed at the treatment we had met with, liberated us immediately, mounted us on his own horses, and appointed a trusty person to attend us to Monte Video, where we arrived at eight in the evening. The disappointment of the corporal appeared as deep as his rage had been violent; and the recollection of his conduct operated on us as a warning against persons of his class, who rarely see an opportunity of doing mischief to a stranger, without a strong inclination to avail themselves of it.
During the time I was at large, I had leisure to acquire some knowledge of Monte Video. It is a tolerably well-built town, standing on a gentle elevation at the extremity of a small peninsula, and is walled entirely round. Its population amounts to between 15,000 and 20,000 souls. The harbour, though shoal, and quite open to the pamperos, or south-west gales, is the best in the Rio de la Plata; it has a very soft bottom of deep mud. When the wind continues for some time at north-east, ships drawing twelve feet water are frequently a-ground for several days, so that the harbour cannot be called a good one for vessels above three hundred or four hundred tons.
There are but few capital buildings; the town in general consists of houses of one story, paved with bricks, and provided with very poor convenience. In the square is a cathedral, very handsome, but awkwardly situated; opposite to it, is an edifice divided into a town-house, or cabildo, and a prison. The streets, having no pavement, are always either clouded with dust or loaded with mud, as the weather happens to be dry or wet. In seasons of drought the want of conduits for water is a serious inconvenience, the well, which principally supplies the town, being two miles distant.
Provisions here are cheap and in great abundance. Beef in particular is very plentiful, and, though rarely fat or fine, makes excellent soup. The best parts of the meat may, indeed, be called tolerable, but they are by no means tender. The pork is not eatable. Such is the profusion of flesh-meat, that the vicinity for two miles round, and even the purlieus of the town itself, present filthy spectacles of bones and raw flesh at every step, which feed immense flocks of sea-gulls, and in summer breed myriads of flies, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants, who are obliged at table to have a servant or two continually employed in fanning the dishes with feathers, to drive away those troublesome intruders.
Of the character of the inhabitants of Monte Video, I am perhaps not qualified to speak impartially, having been treated with unmerited harshness, deprived of my property, and repeatedly persecuted on the most groundless suspicion. These abuses, however, are solely chargeable on the governor and on the persons immediately under his influence; and I am bound in fairness to avow, that I did not perceive any disposition in the generality of the people to injure or oppress me. From individuals in the town I received all the assistance which disinterested benevolence could afford to a person in my critical situation; and were I, from the impulse of gratitude, to judge of the whole by a part, I should say, that the inhabitants of Monte Video, particularly the Creolians, are humane and well-disposed, when not actuated by political or religious prejudices. Their habits of life are much the same with those of their brethren in Old Spain, and seem to proceed from the same remarkable union of two opposite but not incompatible qualities, indolence and temperance. The ladies are generally affable and polite, extremely fond of dress, and very neat and cleanly in their persons. They adopt the English costume at home, but go abroad usually in black, and always covered with a large veil or mantle. At mass they invariably appear in black silk, bordered with deep fringes. They delight in conversation, for which their vivacity eminently qualifies them, and they are very courteous to strangers.
The chief trade of Monte Video consists in hides, tallow, and dried beef; the two former of these articles are exported to Europe, and the latter is sent to the West Indies, especially to the Havannah. Coarse copper from Chili, in square cakes, is sometimes shipped here, as well as an herb called Mate from Paraguay, the infusion of which is as common a beverage in these parts as tea is in England.