Brazil, the River Plate, and the Falkland Islands; with the Cape Horn Route to Australia. Including notices of Lisbon, Madeira, the Canaries, and Cape Verde ... illustrated ... from the ... sketches of Sir W. G. Ouseley ... and Sir C. Hotham, etc

Front matter

m no m$ u . , BRAZIL, THE RIVER PLATE, AND THE FALKLAND ISLANDS; with TnE cape horn route to Australia. INCLUDING NOTICES OF LISBON, MADEIRA, THE CANARIES, AND CAPE VERDS l.V WILLIAM HADFIELD, MANY YEARS RESIDENT IX BRAZIL, AND SECRETARY TO THE SOUTH AMERICAN AND GENERAL STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY. ILLUSTRATED, BY PERMISSION, FROM THE SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES OF SIR W. GORE OUSELEY, K.C.B., LATE HER MAJESTY'S MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO THE STATES OP LA PLATA, AND FORMERLY CHARGE D'AFFAIRES AT THE COURT OF BRAZIL. AND, BY PERMISSION, FROM THE DRAWINGS OF SIR CHARLES HOTHAM, K.C.B., DURING HIS RECENT MISSION TO PAEAGUAY, OP WHICH COUNTRY MUCH NEW INFORMATION IS SUPPLIED ; AS ALSO OF THE REGION OF THE AMAZON. I'OUTKAITS, MAPS, CHARTS, AND FLANS. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 1854. LONDON *. JOHN CASSELL, PRINTER, LUDGATE-HILL. AGE CONTENTS. P. EXPLANATORY

Preface

. Steam requirements of Anglo South American commerce anterior to 1850. How supplied then. Inadequacy of means to the general end, and to Lancastrian ends in particular. Subsequent supply. Liverpool still left out Chartered liberty to help itself and the consequence thereof Paddle pioneer of the ocean feet to the Plate. Bates and distances in a new line. What may be done by putting on the screw j or three months. Fifteen thousand miles of steaming, with the Author's notes thereon, and suggestions for the same being continued by other people. Epilogue apologetic 1

Introduction

. Cursory retrospect of South American discoveries. Their difficulties then, how to be estimated at present. Their interest to this age as compared with that of ancient conquests. Cruelties of the early invaders. Retributive visitations. Columbus and his cotemporaries. Cortez and the conquest of Mexico. Subsequent position of the country. Santa Anna, his antecedents and prospects. Pizarro in Peru, and his Lieutenant, Ahnagro, in Chili. Condition of those republics since and now: their past gold and present guano. Modern commanders in those countries. Predominance of the Irish element in the fray. The OLearysand O Higginses in the Andes. San Martin and his aid-de-camp, O'Brien, and his auxiliary, M'Cabe. The Portuguese discoverers. Magellan and his Straits, and Peacock's steaming to the Pacific three hundred years afterwards.

Cabral and Brazil. De Gama and the Cape, and Camoens' celebration of the achievement. Enrichment of the Iberian Peninsula from these causes. Subsequent impoverishment of mother countries and colonies. Exceptional position of Brazil in this respect, and reason thereof. Different results in North America, and ichy. Imperfect knowledge in Europe of South America. Works thereon. Characteristics of the several authorities : Prescof, Southey, Koster, Gardner, Humboldt, Dr. Dundas, Woodbine Parish, M'Cann, Edwards, Maury, and others. Want of information still on Paraguay and the region of the Amazon. Object of this volume to supply that void. Aim of the Author not political, but commercial 8 CHAP. I. — LIVERPOOL TO LISBON. Illustrations — The Argentina on her Praca do Commercto, Lisbon. maiden voyage.

Cintra, near Lisbon. Belem Castle, mouth of the Tagus. Palace of Adjuda. The A rgentina on her maiden voyage. Capacity and capabilUy of the river boat at sea. From the Mersey to the Tagus in four days. Lord Carnarvon on Mafra and its marble halls. Aspect and Attributes of the Lusitanian Capital and its Vicinage. Portuguese Millers and the grinding process among the grain growers. Native memorabilia of the earthquake, and Anglo reminiscence thereof The hie jaceto/ Tom Jones, and eke of Roderick Random. Portuguese peculiarities. Personal and political economy. Fiscal fatuities. Market-place notabilia. Lisbon society. Clubs and Cookery. Tea and turn-out. Friars, females, and fashions. Lusitanian fddgos, or Portuguese peers in parliament. Portugal the Paradise of protectionists and poverty. Free Trade the only corrective of such calamities.

Court circulars, CONTENTS. PAGE Conventions, and Commanders. Few books about Portugal, and necessity for more. Hints from the newest, including the Oliveira prize essay. Diplomatic and consular memoranda 35 CHAP. II. LISBON TO MADEIRA. Illustration — The Laurel Tree. Two more days' pleasant paddling on the ocean. Approach to Madeira. Charming aspect of the island. Unique boats and benevolent boatmen. Pastoral progression in bucolic barouches extraordinary. Personal appearance of the inhabitants. Atmospheric attractions of Madeira, and absence of all natural annoyances. The vine-blight and its consequences, present and prospective, on the people at home and the consumption of their wine abroad. Funchal, and its urban and suburban et ceteras. Romance and reality of the history of the island. ' Once Upon a Time.7 Importance of English residents to the place.

Cost of living, and what you get for your money. Royal and illustrious visitors. Mercantile matters, and consular cordiality. Grave refections in the British burial-ground 65 CHAP. III. MADEIRA TO CAPE VERDS. Illustration — Interior of Hotel, Teneriffe. Oceanic sailing again. Halcyon weather, and modern steaming to the Fortunatæ Insulæ of the ancients. A stave on the saffron-coloured singing birds. Touching Teneriffe, and M'dtonic parallel to the Arch-Enemy. Approach to Porto Grande, and what we found there, especially its extensive accommodation for steamers. Deficiency of water the one drawback. Something concerning Ethiopic Serenaders under the line. Promethean promontory extraordinary. A memento of mortality midway in the world. Portuguese rewards honourably earned by an Englishman. Utility of Consuls in such places.

First acquaintance with an earthquake. Verd grapes soured by a paternal government. Interchange of news between the, Outward and the Homeward bound. A good propelling turn towards a brother of the CHAP. IV. — CAPE ST. VINCENT TO PERNAMBUCO. Progress from Porto Grande to Pernambuco. Steam triumphs against trade wind. Further superiority of screw over sail. Viie Argentina in a south-wester. Apropos of malaria, and something sanitary about Brazil. The yellow fever: whence comes it, and what has become of it. Quarrels about quarantine. Brazil in advance of the old country in these matters 82 CHAP. V. EMPIRE OF BRAZIL. Illustration — Entrance to Pernambuco Harbour. Rather prefatory and not very particular, though somewhat personal. Books on Brazil should be in the Mediani Viam for the present route, avoiding the Scylla of extreme succinctness and the Charybdis of needless diffuseness.

Object of the author to attain the golden medium. With what success, gentle reader, say? Discovei-y of the country by the Portuguese. Their subsequent disj)utes with, and final expulsion of, the Dutch. Extent and population ; variety of soil and produce. Difficulty of communication between the provinces and the capital, in consequence of the extreme distance and imperfect means of travelling. Extraordinary instance of the round-about nature of news circulating in Brazil some time ago. Steam corrective of such sluggishness. A glance at the Brazilian littoral, beginning with the Amazon, and ending with Rio Grande do Sul. Para and its productions. Rio Negro, and its recent political elevation. Maranham and its mercantile importance. Laird's steam leveller, on the singular stream of the Itapecuru.

Justice for England by Maranham magistrates. Piauhy and its products; also Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, and Paraiba. Pernambuco revisited by the ivriter, and welcomed with a rythmetical sentimental something concerning l Long, long ago /' S8 N CONTENTS. III PAGE CnAP. VI. PERNAMBUCO. Illustrations— Pernambuco. De Mornay's Patent Cane Mill. Chora Meninas. That strain again /' ' It hath a dying fall.'' * Auld Lang Syne, or 'tis thirty years ago.'' Aspect of Pernambuco from the sea. Tripartite division of the city, Recife, St. Antonio, and Boa Vista. Note on the old town of Olinda and its new namesake, the steamer No. 2 of this A 1 line. March of improvement by land and sea, in respect to ships and city. Such Brazilian progress a lesson for West Indians. Frugality and personal activity on the one hand, prodigtdity and vicarial mismanagement on the other, being the real difference between the position of the planters in either place.

Sugar-manufacturing improvements. De patent canecrushing mill, and its merits. Exports of Pernambuco to United States. Peculiarities of the soil, population, and produce. Hygienic hints to the consumptive and the yellow-feverish. Initiation of the railway era, by the De Mornays, in Pernambuco, and the immense importance of the proposed line. Mr. Borthwick's report on the project, and the writer's anticipation of its success 100 CHAP. VII. — ALAGOAS AND SEREGIPE. Area, products, and population of Alagoas. Maceio, the princial seaport. Rivers navigable only by boats, except the San Francisco. Primitive condition of the province of Seregipe, and prospects of rapid improvement through railways. ... 117 CHAP. VIII. — BAHIA. Illustrations — Entrance to the port Chapel of San Goncalo, Bahia. of Bahia.

Bahia, its old name retained in a new place : the province and the city; present condition and splendid prospects of both. Intra-mural peculiarities and extra-mural properties. Prolific sugar produce. Historic, artistic, and archæological attractions of Bahia. Souvenirs of the Jesuits. Relics of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. A Bahian church built in Europe. British Bahian clergyman and local railways. Health of the city. A Brazilian poet warbling native wood-notes very wild. Necessity for keeping a nautical eye in fine frenzy rolling towards the Abrolhos. Departure from Bahia, and approach to the Brazilian capital. Notes 120 CHAP IX. — RIO JANEIRO. Illustrations— Entrance to the Harbour. Aqueduct and Convent of St. Teresa. Organ Mountains and Sugar-loaf Rock. Falls of Itamarity.

Convent of Nossa Senora da Penha. Night upon the waters, and daybreak on the land. Beauty of the approaches. Apprehended retrogression, but real progression, in the city. The stag mania in the tropics, and some of its consequences. Notes on carriages, operas, snufftakuuj, polking washerwomen, blacks, whites, odds and ends, and things in general, original and imported. Social, sanitary, and governmental matters of divers kinds. Composition of the Brazilian Chambers, and business therein. State of parties. Abolition of the slave trade. Sittings of the senate. No necessity for Mr.Brotherton in the Brazils. Character of the present Emperor. Wreck of the Pernambucano. Heroism of a black sailor. Rigorous regulations of the Rio custom-house. Suggestions for the extension of Brazilian commerce, and the prevention of smuggling.

Revised of the Brazilian tariff Educational progress since 1808. French literature and fashion. Provisions in the Rio market. J\(onkeys and lizards articles of food. Oranges, bananas, chirimoyas, and granadillas. Difficulties of the labour question since the suppression of the slave-trade. Character of the Indians. State of feeling as regards the coloured people. Negro emancipation ' looming in the future." An experimental trip on the Rio and Petropolis railway CONTENTS. PAGE MEMOIR OF ADMIRAL GRENFELL. Illustration — Portrait of Admiral Grenfell 185 CHAP. 5. — THE AMAZON. Sources of the Maranon. Rapids and cataracts. Embouchures of the Amazon. It3 volume, compared with the Ganges and the Brahmapootra. Its discovery hy Pinzon. Expedition of Orellana. Gold-seeking expedition of Pedro de Orsua.

Settlement of Pard, and discovery of the Rio Negro. The missions of the Jesuits, and their expulsion. Discovery of the communication between the Amazon and the Orinoco. Revolution of 1835. Pard: its streets and public buildings. Explorations of M. Castelnau and Lieutenant Herndon. Tributaries and settlements of the Tocantix*. Lieutenant Gibbon's exploration of the Madera. His interview with General Belzu. What is wanted to turn the stream of tropical South American commerce eastward. Herndon's descent of the Huallaga. Tarapoto, and its future prospects. Chasuta: its trade with Lima and Pard. Yurimaguas, and the Cachiyacu. Steamboat communication between Nauta and Pard. Progress of apiece of cotton from Liverpool to Sarayacu. Estimated cost and profit of steam vessels on the Amazon. Trade of Eyas.

The new province of Amazonas. Exports of Barra. The Rio Negro and its tributaries. Communication by the C'assiquiari between the Amazon and the Orinoco. Productions of Amazonas. Santarem. The Tapajos, and its tributaries. Rapids of the Paru and the XingH. Climate and products of Pard. Benefits to be expected from the opening of the Amazon and European immigration 193 DR. DUNDAS ON BRAZIL: ITS CLIMATE AND PEOPLE. Salubrity of the Climate. Causes of proofs of objections to. Northern, southern, and central provinces. Equability of temperature. Heat, humidity, rain, winds, electricity, hail, ice. Tropical heat and light. Influence on Europeans. Acclimatization. Increase of certain diseases. Yellow fever; its probable disappearance. Physical, social, moral, and religious condition of the people.

Prophylactic measures. -1± CHAP. XI. — MONTE VIDEO. Illustrations- Portrait of Sir W. G. | The Stray Con-. Ouseley, K.C.B. View of Monte Video. The Lasso. Milk at a rial a glass. First impressions of the Uruguayan capital unfavourable. The New Custom House. An instance of enterprise without prudence. Commercial advantages oj Monte Video. Prosperity obtained at the expense of Buenos Ayres. Revised of the Buenos Ayrean tariff. Alluvial deposits of the Rio Plata. Gas from mares' grease. Traces of a siege. Unprqjitable ploughing by Oribe's projectiles. Condition of the Streets. The horses of La Plata, and the Lasso. Commerce of London with Monte Video and Buenos Ayres. Mules for the Australian gold diggings. Diminution of the Customs. Bitter fruits of British and French intervention. Sir William Gore Ouseley and the British Loan.

The market-place. Italian boatmen. Encouragement to Joreigners. Aspect of the environs. The lulest revolution. Sketch of the history oj' Monte Video 229 CHAP. XII. — BUENOS AYRES. Illustrations — View of Buenos Ayres. | May-day in Buenos Avres. Quinta, or country house. p., p*.lza Victoria. View from the terrace of the quinta. Negro laundresses at Buenos Ayres. View on the river. Palermo. Apothecary's shop. Going to mass. CONTENTS. V PAGE Departure from Monte Video. Streets and buildings of the Argentine capital. The climate and the people. Prohibition of the slave trade. Characters of the dictator and his successor, Urquiza. Argentine Confederation. Foreign intervention and capture of Rosas' fleet. Capitulation of General Oribe, and fall of Rosas. Fluvial obstructions to trade and navigation.

English residents. Railway projects. South American debate. Foreign shopkeepers and Irish servants. General Paz 260 MEMORANDA ON ROSAS, URQUIZA, AND THE PAMPAS. Illustration —Portraits of Generals Rosas and Urquiza 290 CHAP. XIII. UP THE PARANA Illustrations — Rosario. San Nicolas. Corrientes. Preparations for an experimental trip up the Parana. Captain Sullivan's descent of the river at a terrific pace. Island of Martin, Garcia. Note on the confluents of the Rio Plata. A Scotch experimental philosopher in Corrientes. Alluvial deposits at the delt r of the Parana. Signs of progress in the interior. An American, pioneer of civilization. The steamer aground, and fired upon. Moonlight on the river and the woods. Geographical note on the Parana and the Plata. Obligado and San Nicolas. Mr. MackinnorCs description of the scenery.

Arrival at Rosario. Multifarious applications of hides and horns. Descent of the river, and arrival at Martin Garcia. Corrientes and the guachos. Difficulties of the navigation, and a word about the Uruguay 305 CHAP. XIV. PARAGUAY. Illustrations — Portrait of Sir Charles View near Assumption. Church of the Recoleta. Portrait of General Lopez. Hotham, K.C.B. View of Assumption. Sources of information. General Pacheco. Inaccuracies of Sir Woodbine Parish. Navigability of the Parana by large vessels. Decrees of the government of Paraguay on the treatment offoreigners. Decrees relative to inventions and improvements. Mr. Drabbles commercial mission, and its results. Cidtivation of cotton. Drawbacks to its extension. Scarcity of labour. Provisions of the treaty between Great Britain and Paraguay.

The commercial resources of that country little known in this. Navigability of the Paraguay and the Uruguay. Obligation of the Brazilian and Buenos Ayrean governments to remove impediments. Population of Paraguay. Public works undertaken by the Consular Government. Salubrity of the climate. Fertility of the soil. Pasturage illimitable. Character of the Paraguayans. President Lopez. Diplomatic mission of Sir Charles Hotham. General Lopez. State of the country at the death of Francia. First measures of the Consular Government. Revenue of Paraguay. Administration of justice. Revision of the tariff. Release of political prisoners at the termination of Francia s Reign of Terror. Anticipations of intercourse with Europe 328 MEMOIR OF SIR CHARLES HOTHAM, K.C.B. CHAP. XV. HOMEWARD BOUND. Illustration — The Brazileira on her homeward voyage.

Departure from Buenos Ayres. Arrival at Monte Video. Guano deposits of Patagonia. Bahia Blanca. Eligibility of the district for an overland route to Chili. Chilian grant for direct steam communication with England. Accessions to steam navigation on the Brazilian coast. Opening of the Amazon. Departure from Monte Video. VI CONTENTS. PAGE Rough wind and heavy sea. Aspect of Raza under various lights and shades. Hotel accommodation of Rio Janeiro. A wet day at Bahia. Consular memoranda on Venezuela, Bolivia, and Equador. Arrival at Pernambuco. Meeting with the Olinda. Arrival at Porto Grande. Seven days' steaming against the wind. Madeira in the distance. Arrival at Belem. Miseries and absurdities of the quarantine system. Towing the pilot astern. Passage up St. George's Channel. Arrival in the Mersey.

Loss of the Olinda and the Argentina. New ocean and river steamers. 359 THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. Advantages presented as a convict settlement, as place of re-fit for merchantmen, and a naval depdt. The Corporation of the Falkland Islands' Company. Healthiness of the climate. The abundance of fresh water. Cost of transport less than that to other colonies. Geographical position and extent. Distance from the Main. The small naval force required. Causes of insecurity at other settlement snot found here. Their detachment a provision against escape. Guard less required here than elsewhere. The cheapness of provisions : how supplied. Employment. The gradual supply of convicts not requisite. How first comers may be disposed of. Smallness of preliminary outlay, and its speedy return. Opinions of various servants of the Crown.

Two propositions. The riddance of convicts. Relief to the mother country. Redemption ofthepledge made to convicts. Facilities for reformation. Restoration of the penitent to society without i^isk to the innocent. Agricultural school for juvenile convicts. Complete depdt for naval re-fit near Cape Horn. Saving of port charges and of freight. Easy performance of ships' repairs, if patent slip laid down. Secure coaling station for steamers. First-rate naval station : e key of the Pacific' in time of war. Testimony of Governor Rennie and Captain Moithews of the Great Britain. Steam Requirements of Anglo South American commerce anterior to 1850. — How supplied then. — Inadequacy of Means to the General End, and to Lancastrian Ends in particular. — Subsequent Supply. — Liverpool still left out. — Chartered Liberty to help itself, and the consequences thereof.

Paddle Pioneer of the Ocean Fleet to the Plate. — Dates and Distances in a new Line. — What may be done by putting on the Screw for Three Months. — Fifteen Thousand Miles of Steaming*, with the Author's Notes thereon, and Suggestions for the same being continued by other people. — Epilogue apologetic. Until 18-50, the Eastern coast of South America, including tlie extensive and flourishing empire of Brazil, and the boundless regions watered by the La Plata and its tributaries, were entirely without European steam navigation. The old process of sailingships, and a monthly sailing-packet from Falmouth, conveying mails, were the only medium of communication. In that year, the Royal Mail Company entered upon the service they had undertaken with government, to run a monthly steamer from Southampton to Rio Janeiro, and a branch steamer to the River Plate.

The vessels placed on the station were drafted from their West India fleet ; and, although not possessed of extraordinary steaming or sailing qualities, they performed the voyage with regularity, and in a space of time which reduced to one half that ordinarily occupied by the sailing-craft. The consequence was an augmentation of traffic, both of goods and passengers, such as few persons contemplated, and the line proved speedily unequal to the task of dealing with either to the extent required. More over, it was found that one very important feature in the case, B a direct traffic with the River Plate, was quite unprovided for, and no provision whatever made by which goods and merchan dize could be forwarded thither, the branch steamer from Rio Janeiro only taking passengers. But, even had mercantile neces sities in this direction been supplied, there was a strong feeling that Liverpool, as the emporium of British trade with South America, ought to possess a steam-line of its own, and that goods and pas sengers should not be compelled to find their way to Southamp ton.

The great manufacturing* districts which have Liverpool for their seaport supply at least seven-eighths of the entire trade to South America,* and it seemed an anomaly that no direct steam communication should exist between them. Accordingly, in 1851, parties connected with the district, having organized a company, went before the Board of Trade for a royal charter, alleging, as a reason for such concession, the importance of our interests in the quarter named, the necessity of more frequent intercourse since steam had been established, and that once a month was not suffi cient for wants so extensive and pressing. These arguments, * In reference to the preponderating interest of Liverpool in this trade, an influential metropolitan journalist, commenting on the treaty with Paraguay soon after its ratification in London, observes : — Liverpool is the very centre and focus of our foreign trade.

There almost every man you meet is either engaged in commerce, or is in the service of theese so engaged. Liver pool, like the seat eef.the Pope of Rome — hut in a widely different .sense — has its agents and its commercial missionaries in every climate and in every latitude, and there is not one among* them who is not as intent and energetic in his work as those ' soldiers of the faith/ whom Rome sent out on the South American missions in the two centuries from 1535 to 1735. The fiery enthusiasm of Don Pedro de Mendoza himself, who offered Charles V. to complete the conquest of Paraguay and the Rio de la Plata at his own ex pense, is equalled by some of those indomitable agents of the counting-house, who are as zealous for commercial conquests as the Andalusian Hidalgo was fen* the aggrandise ment of his Sovereign and master.

We doubt that even Father C'harlevoix himself, so often cited and praised by his brother Breton, Chateaubriand, and who has given us six volumes of a charming history of Paraguay — which he explored in person — exhibited more zeal for the interests of his order in the countries watered by the Rio de la Plata, the Rio Salado, the Rio Negro, the Catapuliche, and the Rio lie la Encarnacion, than do those Liverpool junior partners, clerks, and supercargoes, who are charged with the in terests of considerable commercial houses in such distant latitudes. * * * * Through the rivers opened to us by the efforts of Lord Malmesbury, one-fourth, at least, of the produce of South America, must be brought to the market of the world, and of this commerce Liverpool will certainly have the largest, and Bristol, Glasgow, and Lon elon, a cousieieral ele share*. backed, as they were, by memorials from Liverpool, Manchester, and other places, had weight with Her Majesty's Government. and a charter of incorporation was obtained.

The directors imme diately proceeded to contract for the building of suitable steamers ; but delay, caused by unusual pressure of work, somewhat retarded intended operations.* On the 27th of August, 1853, the company's first, or pioneer, steamer intended for the River Plate station, sailed from Liver pool, and was followed on the 24th of September by the ocean steamer, Brazileira, Captain Daniel Green, who had long com- * In the original prospectus of the company, whose calculations, apart from two wrecks, as to the performances of their vessels have since been so well verified by experience, it was stated that, 'The importance and extent of our trade with Brazil and the River Plate, and the necessity which exists for a more perfect postal communication with these countries, mainly suggested this enterprise ; and, accordingly, the first efforts of this company will be devoted, not only to supply the desideratum of a bi-monthly mail, but to afford to shippers of goods a cheap and speedy conveyance, which the acceleration of the mails over the old system of sailing packets renders most desirable ; the tonnage at present employed in the Rio and River Plate trades, from the Port of Liverpool alone amounts to 30,000 tons annually, while the value of exports, principally consisting of Manchester and other similar fabrics, is upwards of three millions sterling per annum.

The number of first class passengers was, until the establishment of the mail steamers, very circumscribed ; but since that period it has materially increased, not less than one hundred per month, each way, being* now the average. Of the second class of passengers and the lower description of emigrants the numbers who have gone from Great Britain and the continent, by sailing-vessels, has been very great, more than is generally supposed, not fewer than 4,000 persons having emigrated to Rio Grande and the southern ports of Brazil during the last year, while to the River Plate the numbers for years past has been still more considerable ; and the inducements held out to emigrants in both countries are so great, that, with the additional facilities afforded by a regular Bteam communication, a largely progressive increase may be fairly calculated on.

Thus it will be seen that a large field is open for this company's operations, and, as the rates of passage proposed to be charged are extremely moderate, being within what has hitherto been obtained by sailing ships, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the estimate of the number of passengers, upon which the requisite calculations are based, is under what may fairly be expected from this country, the continent, and Portugal. Three steam-ships, of from 1,500 to 1,700 tons, and about 300 horse-power, will, in the first instance, be built for the Rio line. The vessels will be modelled after the most approved principles, and, with the ample power proposed, it is con fidently anticipated that mi average speed of at least 10 knots per lmur will B2 manded clipper vessels in the Brazil trade. As secretary to the company, and possessing a local knowledge of Brazil, it was thought desirable that the author should proceed in the Argen tina, for the purpose of seeing that proper arrangements were made at the ports of call for their vessels, and to obtain from foreign governments the facilities and assistance requisite to carry on a steam company of this magnitude with any success.

The voyage was accomplished in a little more than three months, the writer having returned to Liverpool, by the Brazileira, on the 5th of November, during which time he had gone over nearly 15,000 miles of distance (including a trip up the Parana), spent a fortnight at Rio Janeiro, and three weeks in the River Plate, besides calling at all the stations both ways, namely, outwards — Lisbon, Madeira, St. Vincent. Pernambuco, and Bahia ; and, homewards — Bahia, Pernambuco, St. Vincent, and Lisbon, which latter is to be the track of the regular ocean line, subject to modifications, &c. Thus, it will be seen, from this brief recapitulation of dates and distances, that in the space of two months a merchant can visit his Brazil establishment, and another, under three months, can look after his River Plate affairs, often savin? himself much anxictv and O te loss of time.

The manufacturer can, without great trouble, make himself practically acquainted with the markets he wishes to trade to ; the botanist and naturalist can quickly be transported to the virgin ground of Paraguay, or, now that the Brazilian government have placed contract steamers on the greatest of all great rivers, may ascend the Amazon, with like certainty of reward as novel and varied, and depend on a prompt return of his newly acquired specimens. Whilst, which is equally important. be attained. The branch boat will be of smaller dimensions, suitable for the navigation of the River Plate. It is calculated that the passage to Rio will not exceed twenty-five days, and that the whole distance to the River Plate will be accomplished in thirty-five days, including the needful detention in Rio to transfer the cargo and passengers to the branch boat.

The average passages of the best ships at present employed is not less than fifty days to Rio, and sixty to the River Plate.' The branch boat, it will be seen hereafter, was lost, as likewise the Olinda, the second ship of the Ocean line, both, how ever, having been replaced. EX PLAN ATI IRY

PREFACE.

. the natives of those countries have an opportunity of visiting Europe, and forming, by personal contact, those relations of amity and good will which tend so much to soften prejudices, and bring about a right understanding on all points mutually advantageous. Hence the ramifications of such enterprises as steam are most interesting in their results to mankind ; and, if once the tide of emigration begins to set in fairly towards that immense agricultural field watered by the rivers of South America, there is no foreseeing the extension of wealth and prosperity that must as suredly follow ; for population is the sole requirement to fit these limitless and teeming regions to work out the destiny which it is impossible to doubt that Providence, in the fulness of time, has designed for that portion of the earth, where the majesty and the luxuriance of nature invite the presence of man through high ways at once the mightiest and most facile in the world.

A desire to place these objects forcibly before the public is the origin of this work. Though conscious of its imperfections and short-comings, the writer would guard against the imputation of impertinence in offering it as the result merely of the experience derived from the rapid run out and home indicated in the remarks just preceding. He is no book-maker ; though he ven tures to hope that his book will, in some degree, fill a vacuum left by certain recent accomplished professors of that branch of the fine arts in this department of travellers' information for the untravelled public. The several topics discussed in the ensuing pages have been the subject-matter of his earnest consideration for many years. Long resident in South America, and familiar with its commercial necessities, his attention had naturally been directed to all the mercantile points embraced in the old circle of communication with Europe ; while the circumstances of his posi tion, in connection with a new enterprise, enabled him to contem plate matters in a somewhat novel light : and he was peculiarly fortunate in deriving his knowledge of the recent interesting diplomatic and commercial incidents in the Upper Parana and the Paraguay on the spot, and from the most competent sources.