[17] Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata: from their Discovery and Conquest by the Spaniards to the Establishment of their Political Independence. With some Account of their Present State, Trade, Debt, etc.; an Appendix of Historical and Statistical Documents; and a Description of the Geology and Fossil Monsters of the Pampas. By Sir Woodbine Parish, K.C.H., F.R.S., G.S., Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and many years Chargé-d’affaires of H.B.M. at Buenos Ayres. Second Edition, enlarged, with a New Map and Illustrations.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1852.
[18] Two Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces: being an Account of the Natural Products of the Country, and Habits of the People; with a Historical Retrospect of the Rio de la Plata, Monte Video, and Corrientes. By William Mac Cann, Author of the Present Position of Affairs on the River Plate. With Illustrations. In Two Volumes.—London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Smith, Taylor, and Co., Bombay. 1853.
[19] 1. A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an Account of the Native Tribes, and Observations on the Climate, Geology, and Natural History of the Amazon Valley. By Alfred R. Wallace. With a Map and Illustrations.—London: Reeve and Co., Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. 1853. 2. The Amazon, and the Atlantic Slopes of South America. A Series of Letters under the Signature of ‘Inca.’ By M. F. Maury, LL.D., Lieut. U. S. Navy; who, under date, Washington City, January, 1853, says: ‘These Letters were originally published by the National Intelligencer and the Union, of this City. They treat of one of the most important commercial questions of the age: they are eagerly sought after in all parts of the country; and though they have been extensively read, the demand for them in a more permanent shape than that of a newspaper is such that the Publisher has obtained leave of their Author to re-issue them in their present form.’ On the recent visit of Professor Silliman to Humboldt, at Berlin, the veteran explorer expressed his great gratification at the progress which enterprise was making throughout South America, especially in the region of the Amazon; and made particular mention of the Professor’s countryman, Lieutenant Maury, of whose work we are now speaking, and from which we shall draw copiously hereafter. In giving the gallant Lieutenant all praise, however, we should not omit to acknowledge how much the reading public of this quarter of the globe are indebted for their previous knowledge of the same region to another countryman of his, whose excellent little volume has lately been re-issued in England in a cheap form, by Murray, viz., A Voyage up the River Amazon, including a Residence at Pará, by W. H. Edwards; of which it was justly said that it was a work valuable for the information it gave on this very little known part of the world, and likely to excite many adventurous young men to explore the Amazon, so that going back on the traces of Orellana, and crossing to the Pacific, may probably become, ere long, as familiar to our countrymen as a voyage up the Rhine or the Nile. Mr. Edwards’ charming little volume has led to such exploration; and the interesting results will be found in our chapter upon the Amazon, which we are particularly desirous of drawing attention to.
[20] According to the official returns for the twelvemonth ending March last, the amount of British tonnage entered inwards from Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 735 sailing-vessels; the total amount of both class of vessels being 71,536 tons. The amount of British tonnage cleared outwards for Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 716 sailing-vessels; the total amount of tonnage being 76,662. Great Britain receives nearly a half of all the exports of Portugal, and Portugal only receives one-fiftieth of all the exports of Great Britain.—It appears from M’Gregor’s ‘Synthetical View of Legislation,’ that in 1851, the total amount of the exportations of Great Britain and Ireland was about £75,000,000, of which only £1,048,356 was to Portugal! being less than the amount sent by Great Britain and Ireland to Chili and Peru! Whereas, in the United States the consumption of British goods has doubled since 1841, and now amounts to nearly one-fifth of all the British manufactures exported.
[21] It is so needless to tell any one entering the Tagus, much less any one who has entered, how topographically accurate is the description in ‘Childe Harold,’ that the stanzas are quoted merely to save the reader the trouble of referring to the volume itself, in case he do not quite remember the lines:—
The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,
The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,
The mountain-moss by scorching skies embrown’d,
The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,
The tender azure of the unruffled deep,