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San Miguel is the see of a bishop who resides at Cordova. The bishopric is that of Tucuman, and was erected in 1570. In the jurisdiction which surrounds it, is found a tree, named Quebracho, on account of its great hardness, which often breaks the axe, and becoming, when steeped in water, as solid as stone. The salt river, Sali is about a league south of this city.

Cordoba, or Cordova de la Nueva Andalucia, is in 31° 30' south latitude, 63° 15' west longitude, 156 leagues from Buenos Ayres, at the foot of the Andes, and was founded, in 1550, by Juan Nuñez de Prado. The river Primero, so called because it is the first of five, is in its vicinity, and a hill of some height adjoins it, so that, although in the plain, the water easily passes off.

This city approaches a square form, with many good houses, a large but irregular cathedral, three convents, and two colleges. Few places of the same extent display equal wealth, the Spaniards and Creoles being noted for their industry. The chief trade is to the fair at Salta, in mules, where they are sold for Peru, and the town of Cordova contains many slaves, who weave and make their own cloths.

The bishop and chapter also reside here.

Wine and grain are brought from Mendoza in Cuyo, brandy in leathern bags from St. Juan de la Frontera, and meat and fruits are abundantly supplied in the neighbourhood. Cordova is the capital of a province or district of the same name, extending about 100 leagues in length, and seventy in breadth, intersected by a chain of mountains, and celebrated for its woollen manufactures.

The mountains which traverse this province are covered with perpetual snow, and at Ramauso, sixty miles from Cordova, they branch out, and are so far from each other that a saline plain, seventy miles in length, extends to Tucuman, in which nothing grows but the salsola kali, nearly four yards in height, amid the white incrustations of fossil salt.

The decayed city of St. Jago del Estero is in this plain, 650 miles north-north-west of Buenos Ayres, in 27° 46' south latitude, and 65° 12' west longitude, on the banks of the Dolce, which is large and navigable, and affords great variety of fish. It contains about 300 houses, or 500 families, of mulattoes and mestizoes, of a dark yellow complexion and sickly appearance, from the great heat of the climate; as surrounded on one side with the plain, and on the other with deep forests; the place suffers from a stagnation of the air. The women are subject to goitrous swellings, which much disfigure them, though they are generally handsome when not afflicted with this disease; and the country near the woods produces wheat, rice, barley, and all sorts of fruits, particularly figs and raisins; the forests supplying game, but are infested with jaguars and beasts of prey.

Rioxa, or Todos Santos de Rioja, is a small city, founded, in 1591, by Juan Ramirez de Velasco, on a plain of great extent, bounded on the west by the mountains, in which the inhabitants breed some cattle.

Its territory produces cotton, grain and vines, but the soil is poor.

This city contains a parish church, three convents and an ancient college of the Jesuits, being in 29° 12' south latitude, and 70° west longitude, 240 miles west-south-west of St. Jago del Estero.

Xuxuy, or Jujuy, or San Salvador, is twenty leagues north of Salta, 174 miles north of Santiago del Estero, in 23° 5' south latitude, and 66° 2' west longitude, and is the chief place of a district of the same name on the frontier of Peru. This town is seated at the foot of a high mountain of the eastern Andes, contains about 300 houses, and is the most northerly city of Tucuman. Near it the river Xuxui, being joined by several others, flows towards the La Plata, after forming the Vermejo in Chaco.

Londres, or London is a village which was formerly founded by Juan de Zuriata, in honour of Mary Queen of England, in 1555, on the event of her marriage with Philip II.

It is in 19° 12' south latitude, but is at present of little importance.

Salta, or San Miguel de Salta, is a city and district of this government, from which the cattle trade with Peru is carried on.

This city stands in 24° 17' south latitude, and 64° 1' 30" west longitude, and was founded, in 1582, by Don Gonzalo de Obreu y Figueroa, under the name of San Clemente de la Nueva Sevilla, but was afterwards changed to its present scite in the beautiful valley of Lerma, which is five leagues in circumference, and through which passes a river, on whose shore the city stands, having a fine bridge over it.

It contains 400 houses, and 500 men capable of bearing arms, who have hitherto defended the city against the Indians, though it has no walls. In it are one church, two chapels, four convents, and a college which belonged to the Jesuits, the inhabitants being chiefly Spaniards and their slaves. Its environs are very fertile, abounding in wheat, rye and vines, with pastures for the cattle exported from this place to Peru; and its commerce consists in corn, meal, wine, cattle, salt meat, fat hides and other commodities, which are sent to all parts of Peru. The cattle and mules of Tucuman also go from this place, which is situated on the high road from Buenos Ayres to Potosi.

It is computed that the number of mules fattened in the valley of Lerma amount, during the months of February and March, when the annual fair is held, to 60,000, and besides these, there are generally 4000 horses and cows.

The natives are subject to a species of leprosy, and nearly all the women, after they have attained the age of 20, have the coto, or goitrous swelling in the throat, which disfigures them very much, and which they take great pains to conceal.

Salta is fifty miles south of Xuxui, and the river which washes the town runs east, and enters the Vermejo.

THE GOVERNMENT OF CUYO OR CUJO

Cuyo was formerly a Chilian province; it is bounded on the north by Tucuman, on the east by the Pampas or deserts of Buenos Ayres, on the south by Patagonia or Terra Magellanica, and on the west by the Andes, which separate it from Chili; it is comprehended between the twenty-ninth and thirty-fifth degrees of south latitude, and extends about 111 leagues from north to south, its breadth being nearly 110.

Climate, Features, &c.– In this extensive tract, the climate is variable, during the summer months those parts which do not lie on the high Andes are excessively hot, and the winter is very cold. Storms of thunder and hail are also common, and in the parts nearest Chili, these storms are of short continuance, but very violent.

The soil consists of arid plains, fertile valleys, and desert highlands; but those parts, which are the most barren, become extremely fertile, if irrigated by drawing over them the waters of the numerous rivers in which it abounds.

Fruits and grains of Europe arrive at perfection much sooner in Cujo than in Chili, and the vines produce a rich and delicious wine.

The history of this province is uninteresting; the aborigines, of whom there are few remaining and who are called Guarpes, were conquered by the Peruvian Incas; and on the road over the Andes to Chili, are still to be seen some tambos or military stations of the Inca Yupanqui.

The Spaniards who explored Cuyo were under the command of Francisco de Aguirre, who was sent by Valdivia from Chili, but returned without effecting any thing of importance.

In 1560, Don Garcia de Mendoza sent Pedro Castillo to conquer this country; he subdued the Guarpes and founded two cities.

The principal rivers in this extensive province are the San Juan, the Mendoza, and the Tunujan. The San Juan rises in the Chilian Andes, and washes the walls of St. Juan de la Frontera. The Mendoza also rises in the same chain, and the two, after receiving several smaller streams, and running twenty-five and thirty leagues, lose themselves in the chain of lakes called Guanasache, which extends more than fifty leagues from north to south, and also receives the Tunujan.

In these lakes, according to some maps, the great Rio Colorado rises, which flows into the Atlantic, in about 40° south latitude.

The eastern part of Cujo is watered by several rivers, but of them very little is known, as these parts are mostly immense plains, in which the herbage is of such a height as to conceal the cattle and animals that feed in them. Unlike the savannahs of the Orinoco and the La Plata, they possess lofty and beautiful trees; of these a species of cocoa palm is the most singular, its leaves and branches commence from the ground, and though they bear some resemblance to those of the cocoa-nut, they are hard and sharp like the aloe, and the tree, which never exceeds eighteen feet in height, bears a fruit also resembling that of the cocoa, but containing no kernel or edible substance.

Its trunk is very large, and consists of several concentric layers, each of which to the heart, are finer as they approach the centre, and from a yellow decrease by shades to a perfect white. Of these fibrous coats, the natives make cloth which is strong and flexible, but not so soft as that of flax. The other trees of Cujo are those which are peculiar to the warm regions of Chili and La Plata; of them, the cactus family bear a large proportion, and the nopal or opuntia feeds the cochineal insect, of which, however, none are exported.

The animals of Cujo are similar to those of Buenos Ayres, or Tucuman, as jaguars, cougars or pumas, wild swine, deer, &c. The jaguars grow to a great size, even as large as an ass, and their skin, like that of the African tiger, is beautifully variegated with white, yellow and black. The natives hunt them for their skin, arming themselves in these encounters with long lances of hard wood; but they seldom attack the animal singly, three Indians usually composing the hunting party, and exerting all their address and courage to kill it. The cold parts of this province abound with vicunas, llamas, &c.

Alligators, iguanas, and other amphibious animals, frequent the lakes and rivers, which are abundantly supplied with fish.

Birds are as numerous in Cuyo as in Paraguay, from the great condor to the beautiful little picaflor, or humming-bird. Ostriches, or rather cassowaries, frequent the plains, and are so fleet in their half-running half-flying motion, that the swiftest horse is soon tired of the pursuit.

The insect and reptile tribes are as numerous as in the other warm tracts of America, and only disappear as the land elevates itself towards the cold regions of the air. Large grass-hoppers, or locusts, are so abundant in the plains, that they frequently cover several miles of country, destroying every green thing they settle on.

The northern parts of Cuyo furnish gold and silver, but the mines of these metals have been till lately unworked, owing to the poverty, or rather want of numbers of the inhabitants. Its mountains also yield lead, sulphur, coal and gypsum, while the lakes and plains furnish salt.

In the neighbourhood of St. Juan de la Frontera, the hills are wholly composed of strata of white marble of a beautiful grain. It is used by the inhabitants in making fine lime, and in building bridges over the small canals, with which they irrigate their fields.

In this country, through which the road from Buenos Ayres to Chili passes, besides the tambos or military posts of the ancient Peruvians, there are several singular monuments of a far more ancient date. These are however very imperfectly known; but one of them, on a low range of hills, between Mendoza and La Punta, has been repeatedly visited. It consists of a large stone pillar or obelisk, 150 feet in height, and twelve in diameter, on which are curious marks, supposed to resemble eastern characters; and near a river is another stone, containing the same characters, the figures of several animals, and the print of a foot, of which, the Spanish priests have availed themselves, to impress their converts with the idea, that it was the work of one of the Apostles, who left this mark as a token of his mission.

The commerce of Cuyo is of little importance, consisting chiefly in wines, brandy, and dried fruits, which it sends to Buenos Ayres, Cordova, &c. Its European fruits, grapes, figs, pears and apples, are much sought after, and the wool of the vicuna is sent for exportation to Buenos Ayres; its beautiful fawn colour, gloss and softness, rendering it of great value in Spain.

Whatever commercial relation is established between the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres and the kingdom of Chili, the goods must pass through Cuyo; the passage over the Andes being in this government, which, although exceedingly difficult, will one day render it an important district, especially should the trade of China or the east embrace the southern and western shores of America.

The capital of Cujo is the city of Mendoza, in 33° 25' south latitude, and 69° 47' west longitude, in a plain at the foot of the Andes, the environs being adorned with plantations, which are watered by means of canals.

It contains four convents, a college, formerly established by the Jesuits, and a church.

A silver mine having been opened in its vicinity, named Uspallata, the number of inhabitants of Mendoza is constantly increasing; at present, they amount to about six thousand, who are employed in these works, or in carrying on a productive trade with Buenos Ayres, in fruits, wool, and wine. The river Mendoza flows by this town, which is fifty leagues from Santiago in Chili, and the district around it contains two silver, one copper, and one lead mines.

The next town of note in Cujo, is San Juan de la Frontera, forty-five leagues north of Mendoza, in 33° 25' south latitude, and 68° 55' west longitude near the Andes, from which circumstance it is also called San Juan de la Cordillera. The neighbourhood of this city, which is washed by the river San Juan, has some gold mines; but its principal trade consists in sending wine, brandy, fruits, and vicuña-wool to Buenos Ayres; the pomegranates of San Juan being greatly esteemed for their size and flavour.

Its population is nearly the same as that of the capital, which it resembles in regard to the number of its public edifices.

Besides these two cities, Cuyo contains the towns of San Luis de Loyola, or De la Punta, Jachal, Vallofertil, Mogua, Concorto, Leonsito, Calingarta, and Pismanta.

San Luis de Loyola is the great thoroughfare for the commerce between Chili, Cujo, and Buenos Ayres; it is situated sixty-two leagues east of Mendoza, and has a church, convent, and college, of the late order of Jesuits. The inhabitants amounting to about 200.

The other towns are of little note or importance, and are at present mere villages.

The fifth and last division of the viceroyalty of La Plata, is —

THE GOVERNMENT OF BUENOS AYRES,

Which is bounded on the north by the government of St. Paul, in Brazil; on the north-west by the river Parana, which divides it from Paraguay; on the west by the plains of Tucuman; on the east by the Portuguese frontier, which passes south through lake Mini; on the south-west, by the Atlantic Ocean, and the line of demarcation between it and the independent tribes; on the south-east by Cuyo, and on the south, by an imaginary line, passing through the Pampas or Patagonia.

History, &c.– The history of this government is that of the viceroyalty; the most extraordinary part of it being that which relates to the subjugation of the Indians by the Jesuits, who established their principal stations in the country, embraced by the Parana on the north, the Uruguay on the east; and the La Plata on the west and south.

The road for these missionaries was prepared by Alvar Nuñez de Vaca, in 1541, who conquered the country, and named it Vera. Two monks of the order of St. Francis accompanied the governor in his expedition, and laboured very hard to convert the natives, which they succeeded so well in, that others of the same order were soon established in the country, in which they erected chapels and villages. Of these monks, Father Luis de Bolaños was the most zealous; he stayed fifty years among the Guaranies, and made himself master of their language; at last, bent down with age and fatigue, he went to welcome the arrival of some Jesuit brothers, who came to assist him in his labours; these were with difficulty admitted into the country, owing to the aversion of the natives to have any other pastor than the venerable Bolaños. From this time the Jesuits laboured so effectually to convert the Indians, that in a very short period, the greater part of the country was in their power; they extended their dominion over Paraguay, and organized the Indians into a well disciplined body of militia, by which means they kept all persons, whether Spaniards or Portuguese, out of their territories.

From Paraguay and Parana, they drew such great revenues, by making their converts work at stated periods in the plantations, &c., that they were enabled not only to supply every thing necessary for the comfort of the people from Europe, but were also enabled to send immense sums to the superiors of their order. The Indians were studiously kept in ignorance of the Spanish language; they were instructed in all sorts of useful arts, and sedulously trained to the fatigues of a military life, being formed into large bodies of cavalry and infantry, and well supplied with arms and ammunition.

Some hundred thousand of Americans were already under the power, and infatuated in their subjection to these fathers, when in 1750, the courts of Madrid and Lisbon, entered into a treaty for the purpose of definitively fixing the boundaries of their respective possessions in the western world.

Commissions were appointed in 1752, to carry this treaty into execution, when on account of the representation of the Jesuits, who were unwilling to allow the new Portuguese limits, a war ensued between the two countries, and the Indians taking an active part against the Portuguese, the court of Lisbon began to entertain suspicions of the real motive of the Jesuits, in forming such extensive governments in America.

From this time, their influence in Europe began to decrease; a trial was instituted against one of the order in France, by some of the merchants concerned in speculations at Martinique which had involved the society in debt; on this trial, their constitution and books were examined, and found to contain matter so dangerous to the interests of the kingdom, that it was declared necessary to suppress their order in France, and in the year following, the king of Portugal being assassinated, it was resolved to expel the Jesuits from that kingdom.

This was followed by their expulsion from Spain and Naples, in 1767, and in 1773 Pope Clement XIV. totally abolished the society.

They were exiled from America soon after, and the care of the nations they had converted was given to priests of other orders, but chiefly to the Franciscans, and their government placed in the hands of civil officers, in the same manner as in other parts of America.

On their expulsion from the territories on the banks of the Parana there were discovered in thirty settlements alone, no less than 769,590 horses, 13,900 mules, and 271,540 sheep.

Climate, Features, &c.– The climate of Buenos Ayres is variable according to the situation of the districts on the great Pampas or plains, the heat in summer being scorching, whilst at Buenos Ayres, and in the mountains of Parana or Guayra, the winter is cold.

Nearly the whole of the southern, western, and some of the northern parts of this government consist of wide spread plains, on which immense herds of cattle are fed; the road from the capital to Cuyo lying over one of these levels, called the Pampas, which are of an extent that would equal the size of a great European kingdom. On this plain the cattle range unowned and unvalued, being only hunted down occasionally for the sake of their hides and tallow; wild horses also abound in these deserts, and wander about in such troops that travellers are surrounded by them for three weeks together; sometimes they are observed in innumerable quantities passing over the road at full speed for hours at a time, and on these occasions it requires great exertion to prevent being trampled down by them; but the same road is often travelled without one of these creatures being seen.

The plains also abound in cassowaries, partridges, geese, ducks, deer and other game, and are uninhabited by man.

No stages are fixed upon the route to Chili, as it is impossible in parts of it which are covered with sands to preserve a regular tract, and it is also infested with the predatory incursions of the surrounding Indians, the method of travelling is therefore in covered carts, made as commodious as possible, drawn by oxen, and accompanied with horses and mules to carry the baggage and goods; merchants and others performing this journey, set out in companies, and generally in the evening two hours before sun-set, travelling all night till an hour after sun-rise in the morning, after which they rest during the heat of the day, to partake of the provisions they bring with them, or the game they procure on the journey.

In this course their whole dependence is on the compass, which guides them across the vast steppe, and the travelers are exposed to the dangers of being murdered by the Indians, of sinking under the scorching noon-day heat, or of dying for want of water, of which none is to be had, but by mere chance, besides what they carry with them in skins.

The rains which fall in this plain are of short continuance but in great quantity, and when these happen, the conductors never fail to replenish their water bags; but from these rains the caravan becomes drenched through, and not unfrequently the goods and property of the passengers are spoilt.

The westerly winds or pamperos are another source of inquietude to the persons undertaking this fatiguing journey; they sometimes blow with such violence that it becomes utterly impossible to proceed, as the carriages would inevitably be overturned.

In this government the mountainous parts are chiefly those situated to the north-west of the river Uruguay, and which border on the Portuguese frontiers; they are little known, and are inhabited only by tribes of savage and warlike Indians, who set the missionaries at defiance.

The rivers of Buenos Ayres are the great La Plata already described, the Parana, the Uruguay, and many others of less note, but generally very large.

The Parana rises in the province of Minas Geraes to the south of the city of Joas del Rey, in Brazil, in some lofty mountains, and runs from north-east to west for 300 leagues, when it joins the Paraguay, receiving in its course innumerable streams; at the distance of 125 leagues from its mouth it has two falls of a tremendous nature, which render it necessary for the boats that navigate it to be carried a short distance over-land. The Parana is a considerable river before it enters the Spanish territories, and after passing the frontiers of Brazil in about 24° 40' it flows in a south-west course through the colonies of the Jesuits, in a country of incomparable fertility and of a delightful aspect. It seldom overflows its banks, owing to the breadth and depth of its channel, and it is much more rapid than the Paraguay as it flows from higher ground: at its junction with the Paraguay it is nearly two miles broad, and incloses innumerable islands, which are overflowed in the annual inundations; but it is not navigable in its whole extent, on account of the two falls and several rapids.

This river was always supposed (and is still conjectured by some geographers) to be the main stream of the great La Plata.

The third great river of Buenos Ayres is the Uruguay, which rises about the 28° of south latitude, in the Portuguese province of Rio Grande, among the chain of mountains that run along the coast of the Atlantic. Its course is at first to the west, along a high valley, which is separated from the Parana by an elevated ridge, and it receives so many smaller streams that at eighty miles from its sources it is a large river. The great declivity of the ground over which it has passed gives it so much strength, that after emerging from the mountains it overflows the plain to such an extent, that it requires half an hour's time to cross it in a ten-oared boat, though the current is not very strong. After leaving the mountains at the distance of 690 miles from its mouth it flows through a desert country for a considerable length, and then turning to the south it receives an increase from numberless streams, and enters the La Plata, in the 34° of south latitude.

The banks of the Uruguay are romantic and fertile, after it quits the desert and turns southerly: but it is generally a rapid stream, though navigable for vessels two hundred miles from the La Plata; beyond this it can only be ascended by canoes or rafts, as it is interrupted by frequent falls and rapids.

On the southern confines of Buenos Ayres, the plains are drained by the Saladillo, the Hueyque Leuva or Colorado, and the Desaguadero which descend from the Andes of Cuyo: but of these rivers very little is known.

The chief town of this government is Buenos Ayres, which, being the metropolis of the viceroyalty, has been already described.

Monte Video is the next city of note in this province; it is situated on the north side of the La Plata, in a small bay twenty leagues west of Cape Santa Maria, in 34° 54' 48" south latitude, and 56° 14' 30" west longitude, and has its name from a mountain that overlooks the place, and on which is a light-house that has a good view to leeward. Monte Video is a very recent town, and was erected on account of its harbour being one of the best on the coast.

It stands on a gentle elevation at the end of a small peninsula, and is completely enclosed with fortifications. The harbour, which is the best in the La Plata, is shoal, and exposed to the north-east winds.

This city is tolerably well built, the houses being generally of one story. The great square contains the cathedral, which is a handsome edifice, the town-house, and the public prison: but the streets are unpaved, and consequently either always dusty or muddy, and the inhabitants experience great inconvenience from the want of water, the spring which furnishes the place being two miles distant.

Its climate is moist; in summer the heat is very great, and the sky is frequently overcast by dreadful storms of thunder, lightning and heavy rain: but the winter is cold, and the air, during the months of June, July and August, keen and piercing.

The vicinity of this city presents an agreeable landscape of hill and valley, interspersed with small rivers; but it wants trees, and so scarce, indeed, is wood, that almost all the houses of Monte-Video are floored with brick. The inhabitants do not attend to the cultivation of the fertile country that surrounds them, their principal property consisting in the numerous herds which feed in the plains towards the Portuguese frontier.

The population of this city is between 15,000 and 20,000 souls, consisting of Spaniards, creoles and slaves.

Its commerce consists in exporting hides, tallow and salted beef; the hides and tallow being sent to Europe, and the salt beef to the Havannah and the West Indies.

Monte-Video was taken by the British in their expedition against Buenos Ayres, and was delivered up by treaty to its ancient masters; since which time it has declared its adherence to the cause of the mother country, and its citizens have had several conflicts with the insurgent government of Buenos Ayres. At present it is garrisoned and held by the Portuguese.

Santa Fé is the third city of Buenos Ayres; it is seated at the confluence of the Salado with the La Plata, about ninety leagues north-west of the metropolis. It is of a square form, surrounded with a wall, and tolerably fortified, to preserve it from the attacks of the Indians, who have pillaged it several times, always massacreing the inhabitants. It contains a church and convent. The environs abound in game, and the soil being fertile produces corn, wine and fruits. It is the channel through which the Paraguay tea is sent to Peru, and is, on that account, of considerable importance.

Maldonado ranks as the fourth town of this government. It is situated on the same shore of the La Plata as Monte-Video, in 34° 50' south latitude, and 55° 36' west longitude, 100 miles west of Buenos Ayres, and nine leagues west of Cape Santa Maria, at the entrance of the river, and is a small place, chiefly noted as having a harbour, in which vessels trading to Buenos Ayres sometimes refit.

Las Corrientes, near the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay, on the east bank of the La Plata, 100 leagues north of Santa Fé and 250 of Buenos Ayres, is a small town well situated for the trade between Paraguay, Peru and Buenos Ayres. It contains a church, three convents, and a small population, who are formed into a militia, to defend the place against the Indians. This city is in 27° 32' south latitude, and 57° 50' west longitude. The trade carried on from this place with the capital is by means of the river, in fine tobacco, sugar, yellow wax, Paraguay tea, cotton, cloth and thread.

Colonia del Sacramento, in 34° 22' south latitude, and 57° 52' west longitude, was formerly a place of some importance, as, the small tract of country surrounding it, which is thirty-three miles north-east of Buenos Ayres on the opposite bank of the La Plata, having been colonized by the Portuguese, in 1678, they built a city on it. It was taken from them in 1684, they however recovered it, but were again driven out in 1704, and it was not restored till the peace. In 1706, it was besieged a third time by the Spaniards, with 800 troops and 1500 Indians by land, and with four vessels by sea, but they could make no impression, so strongly was it fortified. It was however taken in 1762, but restored at the subsequent peace; the Spaniards still viewing it with a jealous eye, took it for the last time in 1777, when they destroyed the city and fortifications. Its only importance, at present, consists in its having a tolerable harbour or bay, formed by the river, and it is said, that the Portuguese have again recently occupied it.