The Parana, now distinguished by the unmerited appellation of La Plata, has five havens for sea-vessels; but perfect security is to be found in neither of them. Ships rest in the port of Buenos-Ayres, three leagues from land, exposed to all winds and storms. The south wind, which rages most in those parts, threatens immediate destruction, unless the anchors and cables be very strong and firm. Long, light ships, called Lanchas, which are much used in this river, draw to land by the river Riachuelo, when it is augmented by the tide; for when the sea ebbs, it is too shallow to bear those vessels. Colonia do Sacramento, which lies on the eastern shore, opposite to the city Buenos-Ayres, and almost fifteen leagues distant from it, (for such the width of the river is reckoned to be,) affords a safer station for vessels, and one nearer to land, being somewhat defended against the wind by high banks on one side, and on the other by the neighbouring island of St. Gabriel, though this very circumstance of the island's being so near, as well as the hidden rocks, are great causes for apprehension, because mournfully signalized by not a few shipwrecks. The best, and, to say truth, the only port on the same shore, is that of Monte-Video, which is situated thirty leagues distant from the colony, and as many from the sea, and is commodiously defended by artillery, and by a castle which contains five hundred guards. This bay, which is about one league and a half long from the port, and almost circular, is protected against all winds, except the south, which is very formidable here, by high shores, and by a lofty mountain visible at eight leagues distance. It is also navigable to ships of war. The little island of rabbits, La Isla de los Conejos, occupies the port. The castle of the place is so small, considering the immense sums expended upon it by the court of Madrid, that it rather deserves the name of a castlet. The island Maldonado, about nine leagues distant from the mouth of the sea, and about as many from Monte-Video, betwixt La Isla dos Lobos, and La Isla de Flores, affords a convenient situation to ships of every size, and a defence against the S. E. wind. The Governour, Pedro Ceballos, fortified this bay as well as he could with new works. Men skilled in these matters have declared it as their opinion that this post is excellently well situated, and might be made very important to the security of the province, if nature were assisted by art. On the opposite shore, towards the west, the bay Barragan, twelve leagues distant from Buenos-Ayres, affords an opportunity for repairing ships, but little security for them. For it is every where surrounded by low banks, and lies exposed to all winds. The entrance itself is not devoid of danger. The harbour is indeed of wide extent, but, being rather shallow, the larger ships remain two leagues from land. The place has no fortifications of any kind, consisting of a very few wretched huts of hides and rushes.
As the river La Plata has but a few ports, and those not very safe ones, it consequently threatens navigators with an hundred dangers, on account of the sand-banks, and shoals which occur here and there. The most remarkable of these are two named El Banco Ingles, and El Banco Ortiz; both of which are many leagues both in length and in breadth. The danger is increased by some hidden rocks near La Isla dos Lobos, and La Isla de Flores, and still more by huge crags in the neighbourhood of the port of Monte-Video, called Las Carretas de Monte-Video, which are the more dangerous on account of their being less easy to be seen. If the pilot is not thoroughly acquainted with the river, or if he neglects to make frequent use of the sounding-line, a shipwreck is inevitable. The vessel will either be buried amid high heaps of sand, or will spring a leak from being dashed against the rocks. This may the more certainly be expected, if the river be so much disturbed by a strong south wind, as to render it impossible to make any use of the rudder; for during a tempest the waves rise mountains high, and the violence of them is incredible. Three or four anchors will scarce hold a ship at such times. Matteo Callao, an experienced man, captain of a war-ship named La Esmeralda, when he brought us back to Spain from Monte-Video, was often heard to exclaim in the river Plata, "Let me only get clear of this devil, and I shall think myself already at the port of Cadiz." Who would not have been terror-struck at the remembrance of so many vessels which had recently perished there? That very ship in which we sailed from Lisbon had nearly been added to the number of those unfortunate ones. I will relate the affair as briefly as possible.
In Portugal, a Brazilian mulatto was hired at a great price by Feliciano Velho, the captain of the ship, because he professed himself well acquainted with the river La Plata, though he was, in reality, extremely ignorant. At the entrance of the river the captain, Joseph Carvalho de Pereira, according to custom, committed the entire management of the ship to this man; but more ignorant than a brute, he made a dangerous error at the very threshold. He took the ship to such a distance from the east shore, which it ought to have kept in sight, that nothing but water and sky was to be seen. On perceiving which, "Holloa!" exclaimed the captain, "you will lose my ship before the sun sets!" This sudden speech proved prophetic: for leaning over the side of the vessel, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, I observed that the water in a certain place was unusually disturbed, and suspecting the truth of the matter, disclosed the circumstance to the captain, who, ascending a mast as quick as possible, perceived that we were steering directly towards the English Shoal, and immediately ordered the prow of the ship to be turned towards the east: for that repercussion of the waters arose, as I suspected, from the neighbouring quicksands. About evening we cast anchor in very shallow water, so that the ship hardly floated at all. After sun-set there came on a furious tempest. While the sky bellowed with thunder, a violent south wind raised huge billows in the river, and created much alarm lest the ship, which was fastened to a muddy bottom with a very bad anchor, should be either dashed upon the rocks of La Isla de Flores on one side, or upon the English Shoal on the other; for the former were on our left, and the latter on our right, at no great distance. Consequently, the sailors were forced to toil day and night in pulling away the anchors and strengthening the cables. This formidable storm lasted two days. On St. Stephen's day, about noon, the captain thought fit to remove from this dangerous neighbourhood. But after a few moments sail we were suddenly forced to cast anchor, for, by the sounding-line, sands were discovered to be close at hand.
We learnt from the Spaniards, who came by night in a skiff from Monte-Video to spy us, that we were in a dangerous situation, and near to the rocks named Las Carretas de Monte-Video. We all vainly wished for some one from the port, well acquainted with the river, to show us the way. They said there was no skiff for such a person to make use of, but that a Portugueze captain was going next day to the port of Colonia, and that this man might go before us in a skiff and conduct our ship. Him we expected next day to show us the way; but as he did not make his appearance, being probably afraid of the stormy wind, we pursued our journey, blindly wandering up and down. Thinking that we had now left behind us the shoal named El Ortiz, we sailed, even at night, without suspicion of danger. But, alas! the greatest danger is in security. About day-break the ship stuck so fast upon those very shoals from which we thought ourselves long since escaped, that for two days no industry or nautical skill was sufficient to remove it from that place. On the second night there arose a most violent tempest. The poop remained immoveable, being thrust into the sand, whilst the other parts of the ship were tost about with such violence, that it seemed every moment as if the joints of the planks would be loosened. About the same time a strong south wind, accompanied with continual thunder, drove such a force of water from the sea into the river Plata, that early in the morning the ship was extricated from that abyss of sands, and floated once again. Carried by the same wind, now favourable to us, we entered the port of Colonia, in safety, next day about noon. After remaining there for two days, and being much tossed about, we were removed to the city of Buenos-Ayres. In crossing this river, which is about fifteen leagues wide, many of us endured more apprehension, and felt more sickness, than in the whole ocean. For want of a better, we went in a skiff, which age had rendered rotten, worm-eaten, and ruinous. Scarcely did one part adhere to the other. The fury of the raging wind increased our fear and our danger, for as it blew against us, our sails were too much bent, and one whole side of the skiff lay under water. But all this was nothing. We gave ourselves up for lost when the rudder was thrust into the sand, and we stuck for some time with the prow lifted up in the air. But who can describe the joy we felt on beholding the shore, and entering the port which we had vainly sought for three whole months?
I have spoken the more fully on this subject, in order to show you that successful navigation in this river depends not upon skill alone, but upon great good-fortune. Should a violent south wind arise, skill, knowledge, and experience all of no avail, the ship will be driven into places where it will either perish, or at least undergo much danger. In the year 1766, the very best skiff in the port of Buenos-Ayres, commanded by the most excellent captains in that city, being dashed against a shoal by the force of a stormy south wind, had its keel split like a nut, was divided into two parts, and utterly perished, ten Jesuits destined for the province of Chili, many Spanish grenadiers, and all the rest of the crew being drowned, except one captain of the grenadiers, who, with a boy of ten years old, seized hold, by chance, of a little boat, and arrived in safety at the opposite shore, at full ten miles distance from the place of the shipwreck. Not a single person offered to accuse the pilot of stupidity, or want of skill. Every one was aware that the foul tempest which had arisen in the night alone occasioned the shipwreck. For it appears from nautical tables and documents, that the north channel of the river is narrower and deeper, and the south channel, on the contrary, wider but of a shallower bottom. All knew whereabouts El Banco Inglez and El Banco Ortiz, with the other well-known rocks, lay concealed. But who could even guess at these new shoals, fresh heaps of sand, which either the river with its inundations, or the sea rushing impetuously into the river, were wont to heap up? By continually making use of the sounding-line, these later shoals are indeed discovered, but often when it is too late, the waves baffling all art and industry. Wherefore the wider this river extends on each side, and the nearer it approaches to the sea, so much the more is it to be dreaded. In this one channel the river La Plata flows between the promontories of Sta. Maria and S. Antonio, which latter is also called Cabo Blanco. The priest Cyriaco Morelli speaks thus concerning the mouth of the river La Plata, in his work intituled Fasti Novi Orbis, "What we call the river La Plata, is in reality an immense bay of the sea, into which the waters of the Parana, the Paraguay, and the Uruguay flow." Different authors give different accounts of the width of this river where it enters the sea. Many Spaniards at this day give it sixty leagues, others fewer, and some say it is seventy leagues across. But Egidio Gonzalez de Avila, in the "Ecclesiastical Theatre of the Indies," vol. ii. affirms that the river La Plata enters the sea by mouths eighty leagues in width. I leave you to form your own opinion on the subject.
I have crossed this channel twice, but must own I never measured it. It is certain, that incautious or too credulous captains are often deceived by the wideness of this vast river, which prevents them from seeing both shores of it. Trusting too much to their own fallacious calculations, they think themselves sailing on the ocean, and boldly proceed with spread sails, and without consulting the sounding-line, but at length when the ship strikes upon shoals, perceive too late that they are in the river Plata, and frequently perish. I write this on my own experience. On St. Thomas's day the ship proceeded full sail, and with a wind as favourable as could be desired. We observed little birds, never at other times seen on the ocean, flying about, bits of grass floating, and the colour of the water changed, from all which it was easy to conclude that we were near land. We represented these circumstances over and over again to the captain, a Portugueze, who, though in other respects a worthy and prudent man, relied too much on his own observations, and was somewhat pertinacious and opiniated He insisted upon it that we were far from land, and openly declared that he should pursue his present course, full sail, till seven o'clock at night. We should have perished had he acted according to his word. For about sun-set, a short-lived but violent gust of wind sprung up. All sails were lowered as usual. We perceived that the ship was surrounded on all sides by seals, which were the means of saving our lives by proving that we were in the perilous river La Plata, or at least in the entrance of it. For you will never see these amphibious animals in the main sea, it being their daily custom to quit the water and go upon shore. The testimony of the seals was also confirmed by the sounding-line, by which we discovered that the bottom was but a very few cubits deep. The captain convinced of his former error, thought fit to put in practice the maxim festina lente! We stuck between the hammer and the anvil, when that first squall was succeeded by a tempest accompanied with thunder and a furious south wind. Lest the ship should be driven to the neighbouring promontory of Sta. Maria, or on to the shoals, the sails were placed in such a manner that the wind when it falls into one is repelled by the other, by which means the ship, floating in the same place, is prevented from proceeding. About the middle of the night, the wind abating a little, we proceeded very slowly with but one sail. At dusk in the evening unknown tracts of land presented themselves to our eyes. At length the sun being fully risen, it was not without terror that we beheld ourselves scarce a gun-shot from the lofty rocks of the promontory of Sta. Maria. Our alarm was increased when, after repeatedly casting the sounding-line, the sailors discovered that, to the imminent danger of the ship, the bottom was but six fathoms deep. For the sea being at ebb, and the waters momently decreasing more and more, we should have been becalmed, and consequently disenabled from receding from the neighbouring rocks, where, if the south wind returned, we should be dashed to pieces, but if the calm lasted we must stick fast in the shallows. We derived safety and incredible consolation from the sun, then at the meridian, from observation of which we at length discovered whereabouts we were. Two hours after noon a gentle gale arose, which enabled us to quit the shallows and that threatening shore, and to re-enter the main sea. The wind becoming more favourable after sun-set, we stole into the very channel of the river, and about dawning got sight of La Isla de Lobos. But this short-lived joy was saddened the same day with all those wanderings and perils which I have just related. From all this you may conclude how formidable the width of the river La Plata is to captains of ever so long experience.
The name of the river Plata being spread throughout Europe in former times, many of the Spaniards flew to Paraguay, and after all found nothing but poverty, where they expected riches. Paraguay is surrounded by the provinces of Chili, Peru, and Quito, which abound in gold, silver, gems, and precious stones, neither of which is to be found in Paraguay. Some of them might perhaps be discovered, you will say, if properly searched for, but this I do not believe, knowing how sagacious and quick-sighted the Spaniards are in seeking for treasures concealed in the bosom of the earth; as, therefore, they have never hitherto endeavoured to dig for gold and silver, or have been unsuccessful in the attempt, I am firmly persuaded that there are none to be found; and the longer I remained in this country, the more was my opinion on that head strengthened by convincing proofs and experiments. In many places signs of hidden metal were sometimes discovered, but they served rather to drain the purses of the more credulous Spaniards than to enrich them. I will fairly relate whatever occurs to my memory relative to the attempts that were made to discover metals, and the ridiculous ideas that were entertained on this head. I was intimately acquainted with a merchant in the city of St. Iago del Estero, who had formerly been opulent, but was at that time reduced to ruin. Hoping to become as rich as Crœsus, he directed his whole thoughts and faculties towards discovering mines. Emissaries were hired to search in those places which were thought to contain metals. At much expense he undertook a journey to the Governour of Tucuman, who lived at a great distance, to obtain from him a right to dig for gold. He spent immense sums upon workmen, mules, provision, and other instruments necessary for searching the bowels of the earth, with no reward for his pains, except spending the riches that he already possessed, without obtaining those which he promised himself under ground, and remained ever afterwards indigent and derided by all. Yet deluded by his hopes, he had still to learn wisdom. He knew that about eighty leagues distant from the city of St. Iago, was a place named Hierro, which runs out into an extensive plain covered with rich grass. Not a stone or even a pebble is to be seen in the whole vicinity. Here and there appears out of the turf a plank, or the trunk of a tree, having the appearance of iron, except that by its shining it bears some sort of resemblance to silver. The good man now thought he had reached the summit of his wishes, for he swore that silver mixed with iron lay concealed in this place, to the great amusement of all that heard him. He gave a little piece of this metal, which he had eagerly snatched up, to a smith to be melted in the city. The Spaniards who were present privily slipped some pieces of silver money into the furnace. When, therefore, he beheld the melted mass, consisting of silver and that kind of iron flowing from the furnace, he thought himself the happiest of mankind. But understanding that he had been cheated, and cajoled, he flew into a rage, and threatened the authors of the deceit with every thing that was dreadful. An European smith, after carefully trying that exotic metal with fire, informed me that it was a sort of iron, but so hard and so brittle, that no art would be sufficient to bend or reduce it to any kind of form, and consequently that it was of no use whatever. I will tell you another anecdote of the same kind.
A certain merchant of Cordoba was involved in very great pecuniary difficulties, to extricate himself from which he forsook his old calling, and took up that of a physician, in which he was never properly instructed;—a metamorphosis by no means uncommon amongst the Europeans who reside in America. Deserters from the army and navy, if they exercise any handicraft trade, will never find a wife in Paraguay. To obviate this objection they apply themselves to merchandise. Whoever has his shop filled with tallow-candles, cheese, knives, needles, scissors, linen or woollen neck-handkerchiefs, and some flagons of brandy, is styled a merchant, immediately becomes noble, is esteemed superior to the vulgar, and fit to make any marriage connection, or hold any magistracy. Reduced to ruin, from merchants they suddenly become physicians. These ignorant quacks, who in Europe hardly know how to shave a beard, breathe a vein, cut the nails, apply cupping-glasses to the skin, administer an injection, or spread a plaster, give themselves out for Galens in Paraguay, and slay the rich with impunity at all hours of the day. Such an one was Bartholomew. Finding his purse no way filled by the diseases and deaths of others, and being universally dreaded, he at length changed his mind, forsook his gallipots, and turned his thoughts towards metals, the last anchor of his hopes. A vague report had been spread that in the mountains near Cordoba, signs of hidden gold had manifested themselves. Having consulted those persons who were best informed on this subject, obtained leave of the royal Governours, hired men to dig, and purchased cattle to maintain them, solely on the promise of reward, he explored, for some time, the bowels of the earth, but with no success, with great loss, and terrible expense, as it was necessary to convey both wood and water many leagues on the backs of mules. Overwhelmed with debts, which his hopes of discovering gold had led him to contract, this wretched man served to teach others that it is safer to seek for gold on the surface of the earth, than in the subterranean caverns of the Cordoban mountains. And indeed no one, that I know of, from that time forward ever thought of seeking there for mines of gold. A report was spread amongst the common people, that the Indians, before the coming of the Spaniards, had dug gold out of the mountains which surround the city Rioja. But every attempt of the Spaniards to find this noble metal in those mountains was uniformly unsuccessful. That small pieces of gold had been discovered in our times in the mountains near the city of Monte-Video, I was informed by Andonaegui, Governour of Buenos-Ayres. Though the Catholic King was made acquainted with this circumstance, no pains were ever taken to examine and excavate those mountains, it being thought that there was little hope, and perhaps no reality in the matter. Some one reported that amethysts had been found in the river Rosario, near the city of Monte-Video; but I thought that they either were not genuine, or had been brought thither from some other place, as no one was known to have taken the pains to seek for more in the same river.
The first Spanish inhabitants entertained a thorough belief that the province of Guayra was rich in metals; and there too, they promised themselves to find abundance of precious stones. They had not yet learnt that all that glitters is not gold nor diamonds either. On the shores of the Parana, they found some stones which they called cocos de mina. These stones in shape are sometimes round, sometimes oval; their surface is rough and hard, and of a dark colour. In size they are equal to a pomegranate, and sometimes to a man's head. Within the outer shell they contain little stones of various colours, and great value in the eyes of ignorant persons, who take them for crystal, amethysts, rubies, emeralds, &c. But they are deceived. Jewellers rate them about as high as Bohemian stones. They say that the cocos de mina, pregnant with these kinds of pebbles, burst with a noise as loud as that of a gun, when what they consider the noble burden which their womb contains is mature. This appearance and these properties are attributed to them by the vulgar, with what truth I know not, for though I have travelled over the greatest part of Paraguay, particularly the shores of the Parana, with eyes attentive to nature, I never saw a stone of this kind. I do not pretend to say that the coco de mina may not have its value in the other provinces of America, which produce genuine jewels, but I boldly deny that any inhabitant of Paraguay was ever enriched with one. The foolish credulity of certain persons, who, from this fallacious resemblance of jewels, hoped to gain riches, was punished with extreme poverty, as we all know. Xerez, Ciudad Real, and Villa Rica, cities formerly accounted fountains of metals and of riches, have all proved seminaries of indigence and misery. What was called Villa Rica, or the Rich City, was never opulent in reality, but only so in name, and the hopes it held out of discovering metals.
Finding no gold and silver in those parts of Paraguay which their feet had traversed and their eyes beheld, they persuaded themselves and others that these metals were concealed in the native soil of the Guaranies, whom the Jesuits had undertaken to instruct in religion. From this false conjecture, how many lies have been coined, who many calumnies launched against us! By the royal authority and at the desire of the Jesuits, there were sent men commissioned to search diligently if any metal existed in the Guarany territories. These explorers were attended, in the capacity of guide, by a Guarany deserter, a man of bad character. This rogue had been induced, by the gifts and liberal promises of some enemy of the Jesuits, to declare that he had seen gold mines at the banks of the Uruguay, in the land belonging to Concepcion, a town of the Guaranies, and that this place was strengthened like a fort with strong holds, warlike machines, and a numerous garrison. Thither they directly hastened, and when they were a very few leagues distant from that golden spot, the knavish Indian, fearing the punishment of his falsehood, which must be discovered next day, fled away in the night; but being taken in the town of Yapeyù, by the missionary himself, was sent back, chained and guarded, to the Spaniards from whom he had deserted. The cheat respecting those gold mines and fortifications was thus brought to light, and the phantoms raised by falsehood and calumny disappeared. The Spaniards examined every corner far and near; after which they unanimously and publicly declared that no mines existed in that place, nor indeed that any one, who considered the nature of the situation, could rationally expect them to be produced there. The Indian was punished for his perfidy. Certain Spaniards, who had thus falsely accused the Jesuits, were declared calumniators, punished with confiscation of their goods and public infamy, and pronounced incapable of holding any office in the state. By these royal fulminations calumny was for a little while repressed; yet the ridiculous suspicion that mines were buried amongst the Guaranies was not yet extinct; it was even propagated amongst the more credulous Europeans.