NAVIGATION OF THE PARANA.

103

turned my visit, and was welcomed on board the first United States man-of-war that had touched at Corrientes. I explained. to him that, fitted up for an exploring expedition, we hesitated to call her a war steamer, but could show him some fire-arms of the latest improvement, in the examination of which he expressed great interest.

Corrientes has twelve thousand inhabitants, and is on the left bank of the Parana, twenty miles below its junction with the Paraguay. It has an extended water-front, and the anchorage admits of a near approach to the shore, where vessels are removed from the influence of the currents. The town is laid out in the usual style of Spanish American cities, with streets intersecting each other at right angles. There are several churches of some architectural pretension, but generally the buildings are one-storied, with "azoteas." The better class of private dwellings are of brick, very spacious, with open courts adorned with orange-trees and gay flowers. They are all neatly plastered and whitewashed on the exterior. The interior arrangements, without any effort at decoration, are comfortable. The rooms are constructed with a special regard to the climate, and, with the same consideration, simply but appropriately furnished. I shall again allude to this place, as the operations of the expedition obliged us subsequently to visit it.

Before proceeding farther, it may not be unimportant to note one or two facts connected with our passage up the "Parana," and to sum up the names and distances of the most prominent points, from its mouth at Martin Garcia to its junction with the Paraguay. It must be remembered that the Water Witch, with a draught of nine feet, ascended the Parana in the month of September, the season of low water, when the pilot pronounced the river lower than usual; that she encountered no shoal which she could not pass over with that draught, and that the least depth ever shown by the lead in the channel was nine feet. The navigation is attended with no danger; there are neither rocks nor sunken trees to impede the way, and, notwithstanding the shifting of the channel which annually takes place at some points, there is always one open with the usual depth of water. The velocity of the current is two and a half miles the hour. The rise of the water, which begins in December, is about twelve feet. It reaches its maximum in February and March, and its minimum in August. There is also a partial rise of six feet in October, which, rapid and

104

THE RIVER PROVINCES.

transient, continues one month, then falls to its former level in the same space of time. From Diamante upward there are fine woods, and much of it is excellent as fuel for steamers; beef and fruits may be purchased at all the towns, and game and fish had for the trouble of seeking them. But the Spanish Americans care little for this latter food-indeed, they are prejudiced against it; and above Buenos Ayres, where a large foreign population gives rise to a demand for it, the people, neither for trade nor amusement, employ themselves in fishing.

The confluence of the Parana and Paraguay is about one thousand miles from the Atlantic. The country on both sides is fertile, and above Buenos Ayres, on the firm lands, there are numerous estancias, extending from the river banks for many miles into the interior. I have been filled with amazement at the resources of these "riverine" provinces, and their availability, without the construction of roads, canals, or even the usual obstructions of river navigation, for direct trade with foreign countries. In this course of one thousand miles, the cereals, vegetables, fruits, woods, and flora of almost every zone may be grown to perfection, as is proved by the actual products under the present primitive system of culture. The horned cattle, horses, and sheep are remarkably fine, and their existing numbers, spite of the civil wars which have distracted the country, show the extraordinary adaptability of the climate and natural pastures to their increase. The population is sufficient to form the basis of an extended and immediate trade; and the Indians, with the exception of the warlike tribes of the Chaco, are quiet or semi-civilized. The climate is benign, even in low, marshy neighborhoods, as experienced by ourselves, and attested by many writers, particularly Azara, who was employed by the Spanish government to run the boundaryline between its possessions and those of Portugal, and spent twenty years of his life in this work. The Spanish Americans and Mestizos we met with were uniformly friendly and hospitable, and the cities and small towns offer some agreeable society. Beyond or above Buenos Ayres there are neither Protestant schools nor churches, but there is nothing forbidding them in the Constitution of the Argentine Confederation.

The distances of points alluded to in the ascent of the Parana, between its mouth or "Martin Garcia" and "Cerito," at the mouth of the Paraguay, are, in statute miles, as follows:

The Waters of the Paraguay and Parana.-Affluents of the Paraguay.-Enter the Territory of Paraguay.—Salute to the Admiral of the Navy of the Republic of Paraguay.-Visit from the Admiral.-Boundaries of the South American Republics.-Banks of the Paraguay.-Palm-trees and beautiful Scenery.-Guardias and Piquetes.-Tres Bocas.-Guardia Humaita.-President Lopez and the Brazilian Squadron.-Vermejo River.-Pillar.-Caña.-Caranday Palm.-The Tibiquari.-Salute of Musketry.-Villa Franca.-The Commandante.-The Lasso and Bolas.-Oliva.-Villa Villeta.-A Cigar with the Commandante.-San Antonio.-Mount Lambare.-Arrival at Asuncion.-Rise and Fall of the Para

guay.

AFTER remaining three days at Corrientes, we obtained observations for determining its geographical position and variation of the compass. I also commenced here a series of observations, to be pursued at suitable points, for determining the characteristics of the waters of the eastern and western affluents. While those from the east are generally pure, those flowing from the west, through the Chaco, are, with few exceptions, saline. Azara says that in summer, at the season of low water, nearly all the springs, lakes, and streams of that region are "more or less brackish." According to Father Patino, a Jesuit, who in 1721, accompanied by several of his order and sixty Guarani Indians, made a partial exploration of the Pilcomayo, with the hope of discovering a water communication between the missions of Chiquitos and those of the

* Mouth of the Parana.

106

ENTER THE TERRITORY OF PARAGUAY.

east, the lands through which this river courses are in many places strongly impregnated with salt, "sal comun bueno, en varias partes de las barrancas"—"Good common salt in various parts of the banks."

Much to my surprise, I found that the graduation of the hydrometer sunk entirely below the surface of the water, thus giving no reading. I was unwilling to believe that the mingled waters of the Parana and Paraguay were of less specific gravity than distilled or pure rain water. The standard temperature of the instrument was 60° Fahrenheit, some degrees below that of the water we were now endeavoring to test: in that lay a solution of the difficulty.

To the junction of the Parana and Paraguay, twenty miles above Corrientes, the course of the former river is interrupted by low islands. Here it takes a general direction east, and the Paraguay a tortuous course north. Three miles above Corrientes are the islands Medio and Mesa, on the left. There the water, hitherto comparatively clear, becomes turbid from commingling with that of the Vermejo, or Red River, so called from the discoloration caused by the detritus borne along by it during the periodical floods. Some distance above, the Vermejo flows into the Paraguay. Opposite the upper end of the island Mesa is the mouth of a small arm of the Paraguay, Riacho Atajo, which branches off from the main river three miles above its confluence with the Parana.

A continuous chain of low islands now skirt the west bank of the Parana up to that of Atajo, at the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay. This island is claimed as the territory of the Argentine Confederation, but Paraguay has possession, and maintains it, not by diplomacy or argument, but by the establishment of a military post upon it-"Guardia Cerito," latitude 27° 17' 32", longitude 58° 37' 32".

If it had not been the established rule of our work to anchor and take observations at all important points, custom, or, indeed, the laws of Paraguay, made it obligatory to stop here and communicate with the commandante before continuing the ascent of the river. Immediately on anchoring, the Water Witch was visited by two officers with the compliments of the admiral. This was a naval station, and the officer in command, with the imposing title of "Admiral of the Navy of the Republic of Paraguay," had a squadron of five small vessels. We had heretofore, on all public occa

THE ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET.

107

sions since entering La Plata, avoided firing salutes on account of our chronometers, upon which the accuracy of the work depended. I considered it now useless to offer explanations or excuses, and fearing that my motive might be misinterpreted, we took the usual precautions to protect the instruments, and saluted the admiral (the Paraguay flag" at the fore") with thirteen guns, which was immediately returned with a corresponding number. Salutes having thus been exchanged, the admiral came on board, and expressed much pleasure at our arrival, assuring me that a cordial welcome awaited the expedition at Asuncion. He had received, a month previously, instructions from the President to offer me every facility for ascending the river; to supply us with any provisions we might need, and an experienced pilot. This first reception in the waters of Paraguay was certainly cheering; for, from what we had heard, we knew that President Lopez was here the government supreme, from whose orders there could be no appeal or deviation.

We found the river full at its highest point, verifying what I had heard, that the seasons of high and low water in the Parana and Paraguay were the reverse.

Observations having been taken, the ascent was continued, the admiral and some of his officers being on board, and their canoe in tow. He wished to witness the working of our steamer, the first United States man-of-war that had ever entered the waters of the Paraguay. After ascending a mile, our friends took leave of us, and returned to Cerito Guardia.

The appearance of the Paraguay offers some striking contrasts to the Parana. Its general width rarely exceeds half a mile; it has comparatively few islands, a tortuous course, and a more open channel. The current is from two to two and a half miles the hour. The country on the left bank is undisputed Paraguay territory; that on the right is "El gran Chaco." The Argentine Confederation claims the latter for a distance covering the mouth of the Vermejo, but Paraguay does not recognize this right, and maintains her jurisdiction over that part of the river by a naval and military force, established not only at Cerito Guardia, but at various other points. It is very difficult to obtain any reliable information as to the grounds upon which these territorial limits in the Chaco are based. All the republics of La Plata have among them unsettled questions of boundary, but those relating to this country are founded upon original treaties made when the entire southern hemisphere was divided between Spain and Portugal.