America, and an extended commerce with Brazil will secure to Germany relations with these states. The vast territories which form the basin of the Parana, the Paraguay, and the Uruguay, and their tributaries, contain the elements of a prosperity and wealth the most varied. What a future do these countries not offer!"

While benefiting these neighboring and weaker republics by developing their river system, we have opened a vast field for trade in all the products of temperate and tropical zones; and these, with the mineral treasures of the Andes, can find a rapid and safe river-transit to the Atlantic. Protected by the flags of the great maritime powers, this excess of wealth will be poured into the lap of nations. Will not our people seek a fair commercial intercourse with these states of our own hemisphere? We can apply to ourselves with equal force the arguments of Thiers and the German memorialists. We are not there menaced by the rivalry of a manufacturing people, and our flag may find a field of extensive development. If the government of the United States be true to its interest; if it desire to cherish and maintain a feeling of national friendship with those countries; if it desire to secure any benefits likely to arise from its commerce-destined to be of inestimable value-it must step in while the "waters are troubled," it must move ere alliances are made elsewhere.

The most flattering compliment has been paid this government by the people of the Argentine Confederation, through their representatives, that could possibly be bestowed by one nation upon another. They have adopted our Constitution as the model of theirs, in every particular, save some few where it would have been totally inoperative. They point to our progress as an example to their own people; they copy and circulate the writings of our statesmen; they desire to imitate us so far as it may be possible, and to this end they look for a continuance of peace.

I have carefully noted in my narrative the reception of the expedition and the courtesies extended to myself and officers by the inhabitants of La Plata as an evidence of their disposition to fraternize with our people. These countries are worthy of our highest consideration, and if, in diplomatic relations, we are not ably represented, then we are not fairly represented, and we do injustice to ourselves.

FIRST DISCOVERY OF LA PLATA.

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CHAPTER XXVI.

First Discovery of the River La Plata by Solis.-Death of Solis.-Sebastian Cabot. -First Settlement in La Plata.-Explorations of Cabot.-Indian Hostilities.Highway to El Dorado.-Don Diego Garcia.-Cabot's Dispatch to the Emperor. -Pizarro.-Cabot superseded.-Don Pedro de Mendoza.-His Expedition to La Plata. Founding of Buenos Ayres.-Hostility of the Indians.-Attack upon Buenos Ayres.-Ayolas.-His Expedition up the River.-Death of Mendoza.Destruction of the Spaniards under Ayolas.-Don Dominguez Yrala.—Founding of Asuncion.-Indian Conspiracy.-The Spaniards and the Natives.-Don Alvaro Nuñez de Vaca.-His Journey across the Continent.-Administration of De Vaca. He is sent back to Spain. -Yrala appointed Adelantado. - Asuncion erected into a Bishopric.-Disasters of the first Adventurers.-Successful Administration of Trala.—Commanderies.—Death of Yrala.-Zarate and Garay. -Victory over the Indians.-First export Cargo.-Death of Garay.-Final Conquest of La Plata.-Separation from Paraguay.

To the Narrative of the American Exploring Expedition I append a few chapters giving an abstract of the early history of La Plata and the proceedings of the Jesuits in that region.

The basin of La Plata is one of the three geographical divisions of the southern section of our hemisphere, and takes its name from the river discovered by Juan Diaz de Solis, great pilot of Castile, who, having received from the Spanish Crown command of an expedition to follow up the discoveries of Vincent Yannes Pinson upon the Brazilian coast and southward, started in the month of September, 1515, with three vessels, one of sixty and two of thirty tons, all provisioned for two and a half years.

Solis, in the same year, reached the entrance of a supposed estuary, which he ascended for some distance; discovering it to be a river, and finding the navigation intricate, he left his vessels, and in a boat ranged the western shores as high as the island of Mar- tin Garcia. Here, deceived by the submissive movements of Indians who placed at their feet provisions and other offerings, the explorer, with a few men, ventured to land without due precautionary measures to guard against the treachery of the savages, "who," says Charlevoix, "killed him and all his attendants..... and, stripping the dead carcasses, roasted and ate them in sight of those who had remained in the boat, or had taken refuge in it, and who had now no other course to take but to return to Spain." The right of Spain to one of the fairest regions of the earth was

thus sealed by the blood of the great pilot of Castile, who was, according to Herrera, one of the boldest navigators of the day; but for some years no steps were taken to follow up his discovery.

Sebastian Cabot, having left the service of England, entered that of Spain in 1512. He was received with every mark of consideration by Ferdinand, and in 1518 given the post of piloto major. It was reserved for this explorer to reveal the wonderful river system of La Plata. Ten years after the death of De Solis he was charged by Charles V. to pass through the Straits of Magellan and open a communication with the Spice Islands. This expedition, consisting of four small vessels and a caravel, sailed from San Lucar April 3d, 1526. Cabot lost his largest ship on the coast of Brazil, and observing among his crew a spirit of disaffection, which soon ripened into an open mutiny, headed by Martin Mendez and Michael Roxas, two officers next to himself in rank, he determined to abandon the voyage to the Moluccas.

Landing the mutineers at the island of St. Catharine, he, with about two hundred brave followers, among them three brothers of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, sailed for the Parana Guazu, which he ascended to the scene of Solis's disaster. Leaving here his two largest vessels, thirty men, and twelve soldiers, Cabot, on the 8th of May, 1527, with a brig and caravel, passed through the channel which still bears the name he gave it-Las Palmas-and entered the mouth of the Uruguay; from thence a boat party was sent up the river under the command of Juan Alvarez de Ramon, who, after a navigation of three days, ran aground on a sand-bank, where he was attacked by the savages. Ramon was killed, but a few of the men escaped by swimming, and succeeded in rejoining their ships. The expedition next entered the central river—the Parana-and off the mouth of the Carcaraña, or Zacarania, now known as the Tercero, latitude 32° 50', came to anchor. Finding the natives, who throughout his ascent flocked in crowds to the shore, disposed to be friendly, and enchanted with the beauty of the country, Cabot ordered up the remainder of his ships, and commenced the first settlement of La Plata, San Espiritu, which was, when completed, garrisoned by an officer and sixty men.

On the 22d of December, 1527, Cabot recommenced his exploration of the Parana, which he ascended for nine hundred miles to latitude 22° 27' 20", longitude 59°, at which point navigation was obstructed by the Falls of Apipé. Here the expedition remained for thirty days, during which time its commander fre

quently communicated with the Indians of the bordering country, who exhibited an amicable spirit, and gave in exchange for articles of little value pieces of gold and silver, which were brought, they said, from lands to the west. The explorers next retraced their steps to the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay, entered the latter river, and ascended to the mouth of the Vermejo, where they were attacked by several thousand Payaguas Indians, who bore down upon them in three hundred canoes, and were only repulsed with considerable loss on the part of the Spaniards. The second in command, Michael Rifos, and the treasurer of the expedition were both killed. Seeing the resolute spirit of the invaders, the savages next made pacific overtures by bringing to them provisions and ornaments of precious metals, which, like the Parana Indians, they described as coming from the west. Herrera says they were the spoils of war taken by the Payaguas in a recent inroad into the dominions of Huana Capuc. Charlevoix believes them to have been part of the effects of the unfortunate Portuguese adventurer, Alexis Garcia, who a short time before this date had traversed the continent from Brazil to Peru, obtained a considerable treasure, and in returning reached the borders of the Paraguay, where he was put to death by the Indians.

Cabot was at this time unaware of the journey of Garcia, but Balboa's letters from the Pacific mentioning a region in the south teeming with the precious metals, had reached Spain before the sailing of this expedition, and he probably received from the savages some definite information of the existence of the Peruvian empire. Undoubtedly believing the great river he was exploring to be a highway to El Dorado, he named it "Rio de la Plata." The jealousy of the conquerors, and the avarice of the merchants of Seville and Lima, who afterward obtained a monopoly of the trade of the Pacific provinces, the want of enterprise, and the distracted state of the Plata republics since their separation from Spain, have left the problem unsolved. It may be among the developments of the nineteenth century to prove that Cabot's conjectures were correct. The Paraguay may yet be established as the most direct communication between Europe and the finest districts of the Peruvian empire.

A rival now appeared in the field. At the mouth of the Vermejo the explorers met Don Diego Garcia, who, uninformed of the course taken by the expedition of Cabot, had intended to follow up the discovery of Solis. Agreeing to continue their work in

amity the two commanders returned to San Espiritu; but having afterward a misunderstanding, and Garcia's party being greatly inferior in numbers, he left the river. Ferdinand Calderon and George Barlowe (the latter an Englishman) were dispatched to Spain with rich specimens of the precious metals and several Guarani Indians, whom they were instructed to present to his Spanish Majesty, and solicit aid and authority for Cabot to extend his explorations westward.

The messengers, with their human and metallic credentials, were well received by the Emperor; the course of their commander was approved, and promises were given of assistance. But their arrival was immediately followed by that of Francisco Pizarro, who reached Spain in May 1528. Cabot had only offered conjectures of a golden region west of the Paraguay. Pizarro, after incredible hardships, the very recital of which moved his Majesty to tears, had reached the borders of Dorado. One asked both authority and means to continue his explorations; the other sought only the royal permission, relying upon his own resources. He had brought with him material proof of his discoveries. Balboa had sent home drawings of the lama; Pizarro now exhibited to the Spaniard the wonderful animal itself, with fine fabrics of its wool. There were also valuable and artistically-wrought specimens of the precious metals. The golden empire of the south was no longer a chimera of the imaginative adventurers, for they had entered the temple of Tumbez and could testify to its exceeding riches; its coating of gems, gold, and silver; they had visited the gardens of the Inca's brides, resplendent with the precious metals; had actually seen and watched the artisans engaged in the formation of its costly decorations.

Charles was on the eve of starting for Italy to receive the imperial crown from the Roman Pontiff. Before his departure he commended the cause of Pizarro to the General Council of the Indies; the promises made to the messengers from La Plata were forgotten. Impatient for their return, uncertain even as to their fate, Cabot determined to submit in person his cause to the emperor, and, leaving a garrison of one hundred and ten men at San Espiritu, under the command of Nino de Lara,* he sailed for Spain,

* A cacique of one of the neighboring tribes, having conceived a passion for the young and beautiful wife of a Spanish officer, carried her off in the absence of her husband and a large part of the garrison of San Epiritu. This led to conflicts with the Timbres, and San Espiritu was finally abandoned.