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THE

Scots Magazine,

AND

EDINBURGH LITERARY MISCELLANY, FOR NOVEMBER 1806.

Description of the VIEW.

a

IN order to gratify the curiosity of our readers respecting our new conquest in America, we have, instead of the usual engraving, presented them, this month, with Map of the mouth of the River Plata, including all that part of the country to which the British arms have as yet penetrated. It is taken (with the names of places translated) from Volume XIV. of the Histoire Gen

erale des Voyages, in 19 vols. 4to.
a valuable collection, to which few
of our readers can have access.
We
have also given, on a reduced scale,
from a different part of the same
work, a plan of the town of Buenos
Ayres. The divisions are equally
distinct as in the original, but the
smallness of the scale has obliged us
to describe them by letters; of which
the following is an explanation:
A. The Fort

a. The Governor's house
b. The Guard house

c. The Chapel

B. The Great Square
C. The Town house
D. The Cathedral

E. The Convent of Mercy
F. The Jesuit's house
G. The Bishop's house

H. The Convent of St Francis

I. The Convent of St Dominic
K. The Hospital

L. Church of St John without the
City

Historical Account of the Settlement of BUENOS AYRES.

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was in 1716 that the Rio de la Plata was first discovered by John de Solis, a native of Castile. He had sailed from Spain, in order to continue the discovery of Brasil, which had been begun by Pinson, a companion of Columbus. He first entered the river of Rio de Janeiro, and then continued to sail along the coast, till he came to the mouth of a great river, to which he gave his own name; but finding the navigation difficult, he set out in his long boat, leaving the vessel behind him. As he continued to range along the western coast, some of the natives appear. ed, and, in the most friendly manner, invited him to land. Deceived by these appearances, he went on shore with a few of his companions, and was drawn into an ambuscade which

had

had been laid in the woods, whence la Plata. He sent home accounts of

the Indians rushed out, and pouring their arrows upon him, killed himself and all those who accompanied him. The sailors left in the boat then beheld, with astonishment and horror, a fire kindled, at which their unhappy companions were roasted and devoured by those ferocious savages.

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The apprehension of this terrible fate seems long to have deterred the attempts of future adventurers.. The Portuguese governor of Brasil indeed, on hearing reports of the immense wealth that was found in Peru, made some attempts to penetrate through Paraguay into that country. But the parties he sent were either cut off, or obliged to return with loss.

In 1525, however, Sebastian Cabot, the discoverer of Newfound land, encouraged by a rich cargo of spices and other commodities which had been brought home by the Victory, the only vessel of Magellan's squadron which returned to Spain, resolved to attempt penetrating to the East Indies, by the same path with that unfortunate navigator. He set out accordingly with five vessels; but when he arrived at the mouth of the Rio de Solis, as it was then called, finding his provisions like to fail, and being threatened with a mutiny from his men, he relinquished his plan of proceeding to the Straits of Magellan, and determined to sail up the river and take a survey of its coasts. He sailed so far as the Islands of St Gabriel, and thence by mistake proceeded up the Utuguay, but several of his men who ventured to land, being killed by the Indians, he returned to the Paraguay, and founded a fort, which he entitled, The Fort of the Holy Ghost. Meeting on the banks of the river with some Indians, who appeared to possess abundance of silver, he gave to the river the pompous title of Rio de

his discovery, accompanied by speci mens of those metals, which were at that time the great object of Spanish avidity.

Receiving no accounts, however, from Spain, he determined to set out himself, leaving the fort under the command of O'Lara, with a garrison of 120 men; but a fatal accident soon befel them.

Lara, in the view of strengthening himself against the hostility of the natives, had gained over the Cacique of a neighbouring tribe. But he soon found how little dependence could be placed upon this alliance. Mangora (the Cacique) in one of his vi sits to the fort, was smitten with the beauty of a lady of the name of Lucy Miranda, and having in vain endeavoured to prevail upon her husband to bring her to his habitation, fell upon the following stratagem, in order to get possession of her. Hecr tado, the lady's husband, having been dispatched somewhere with a party of 50 men, the treacherous Cacique came to the fort with a supply of provisions, which were then much wanted. Being cordially received, and lodged, he and his party got up in the night time, admitted 4000 of his men, who lay hid in a neighbour. ing marsh, and massacred the whole garrison, except the unfortunate Mitanda. He himself was slain in the contest, but his successor, Siripa, on seeing the lady, was immediately seized with the same passion, and carried her off with him. The story continues to relate, that the virtue of Miranda was equally proof against his solicitations as against those of his predecessor; that her husband came in person to demand her of the Cacique; that Siripa, moved by the entreaties of his fair captive, allowed them sometimes to converse together, on condition of not carrying their intimacy farther; but on learning that this condition was broken, inhumanly put them both to death. The whole

story

story has somewhat of a romantic aspect; but it is certain, that, on this occasion, the settlement, founded by Cabot, was completely destroyed.

The small party who survived, in consequence of their absence from the fort, found themselves unable to make head against the numerous and fierce tribes of barbarians by whom they were surrounded. They went therefore a good way farther up the river, till they arrived at a more tranquil spot, where they built a small fort. In consequence, however, of some differences with the Portuguese, they were under the ne cessity of relinquishing this also, and of taking refuge in the isle of St Catherine.

The court of Madrid seemed for some time to have dropt all thoughts of a settlement overwhelmed with so many disasters.

On a sudden, how

ever, after an interval of seven or eight years, a great armament was fitted out, equal to any which had hitherto been sent to the New World. It was under the command of Don Pedro de Mendoza, who received the title of Adelantado, and Governor General of all the countries which should be discovered so far as the South Sea. He engaged to equip, at his own expence, two expeditions of 500 men each, with horses, arms, provisions, and all other necessaries. With such a rage were the public seized for this expedition, that Men doza's first party, instead of five, consisted of twelve hundred persons, among whom were thirty men of for tune, most of them eldest sons. colony in America is said to have numbered so many illustrious names among its founders, and the posteri iy of some of these subsist to this day in Buenos Ayres.

No

the line; and though part arrived in safety at the islands of St Gabriel, athers were thrown upon the coasts of Brasil. When the whole were collected, the fleet was found to extend from the islands of St Gabriel, to the western bank of the river. This place appeared the fittest for their new settlement, and a proper situation being chosen, the name of Nuessa Senora de Buenos Ayres was given to it, from the uncommon healthfulness of the air.

The fortunes, however, of this expedition, did not at all correspond to these magnificent preparations. The fleet was dispersed by a tempest which came on after they had passed

Here, however, a dreadful calamity soon assailed them. Their provisions failed; and the neighbouring tribes, who were jealous of the new establishment, strenuously withheld any supply. The wretched colonists seldom tasted a morsel which they did not wrest from the inhabitants, sword in hand. In the continual combat to which this state of things gave rise, their small numbers soon wasted away. Three hundred troops, whom they had brought with them from Spain, were reduced to eighty. The governor, anxious to prevent the natives from becoming familiar to the shedding of Spanish blood, prohibited any one from leaving the fortress under pain of death, and stationed guards to enforce these orders. Yet one woman, impelled by hunger, is said to have braved the dangers both without and within, and to have made her escape. A wonderful story (into the particulars of which we shall not enter) is then told of her having been fed and defended by a lioness, whom she had assisted in the delivery of her young.

The Adelantado, meanwhile, sent three vessels farther up the river, in order, if possible, to procure a supply of provisions. In this object they succeeded, and the settlement experienced a temporary relief. The governor, however, seeing all his hopes of wealth and grandeur vanished, and no prospect but that of being cooped up in a little fort, where

he

he would be in perpetual danger of perishing by famine, was seized with chagrin, and determined without de lay to return to Spain. His voyage was disastrous; his provisions failed, and he was reduced to the necessity of eating corrupted victuals, which, joined to agitation of mind, brought on his death.

Meanwhile, some other Spaniards, who had a second time gone up the river, found a kind of harbour in a convenient situation, where they foun. ded the city of Assumption, now the capital of the province of Paraguay Proper. On their return, the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres, who were still pressed by frequent famines, and by the fierceness of the neighbouring tribes, were so overjoyed to hear of a quiet and plentiful situa tion, that they all determined to leave their present settlement, and remove thither. In 1538, therefore, Buenos Ayres was deserted, scarcely three years after its first foundation.

(To be continued.)

bout 50 minutes after one o'clock in the afternoon.

Wednesday, December 10th.

The Sun will be eclipsed invisible at Edinburgh. The conjunction will take place at 10..30" after 2 o'clock in the morning, in longitude 8..17..24′..30", the Moon's latitude being 9 minutes South. The Sun will be centrally eclipsed on the me ridian at 2..11..30", in the morning, to a point in New Holland west of Botany Bay, situated in Longitude 1430..52 East, and latitude 32°..27' South.

Thursday, December 11th.

The Planet Mercury will be sta tionary in longitude 9.5°..41'.

Friday, December 19th.

MARS will be in conjunction with • Leonis, a star of the 3d magnitude. The latitude of Mars being 2o..38' North, and that of Leonis 1°.. 41' North, the nearest approach of their centers will be 57 minutes, and the planet will pass to the North of the star.

Saturday, December 20th. About 17 minutes after 12 o'clock

CELESTIAL PHENOMENA for December noon, the planet Mercury will arrive

1806.

Monday, December 1st.
HE planet MARS will be in qua.

nutes after 12 o'clock in the evening. The longitude of the Sun is then 85., 9%.13'..6", and therefore the longitude of Mars will be 55..9°..13'..6".

Tuesday, December 2d.

The Planet Mercury will arrive at his greatest elongation from the Sun, and may be seen in the evening after sunset. His declination is 251 degrees South, and therefore his amplitude will be only a little more southerly than that of the Sun.

Sunday, December 7th.

The longitude of Jupiter is at present 9s..12..3'..0"; and his latitude 10 minutes South. His declination is 23°..11' South, and he Souths a

at his inferior conjunction with the

Sun.

Monday December 22d. pricorn, sun was miter es alger 10 The Sun will enter the sign Cao'clock in the forenoon.

Thursday, December 25th.

The longitude of SATURN is at present 75.80..0..12", and his latitude 2. 20" North. His declination is11°..59′ South, and he willcome to the meridian at 57 minutes after 8 o'clock in the morning.

Sunday, December 28th. The Moon will eclipse the star marked 2 ad a Cancri. The star will immerge behind the enlightened limb of the Moon, at 39 minutes af ter 4 o'clock in the morning, when it is situated about 13 minutes to the South of the Moon's center.After continuing eclipsed for the

space

space of 48 minutes, the star will emerge from behind the obscure limb of the Moon at 27 minutes after 5 o'clock in the morning, when it will be situated about 9 minutes South of the Moon's center. About the middle of this occultation, the Moon's horizontal parallax is 1o..0′ 19′′ her horizontal diameter 32'..52", and she will come to the meridian at 13 mi. nutes after 2 o'clock in the morning. On the same day, about 45 mi nutes after 10 o'clock in the evening, the planet VENUS will arrive at her superior conjunction with the Sun.

Wednesday, December 31st. The planet MERCURY will be stationary in longitude 8$..19°. 34′.

On the same day, the GEORGIUM SIDUS will be situated in longitude 6$..29° .48', and latitude 33 minutes North. The declination is 10°.54' South, and be Souths at 7 o'clock in the morning. Mount Annan, Nov. 19. 1806.

}

D. B.

Memoirs of the Progress of MANUFACTURES, CHEMISTRY, SCIENCE, and the FINE ARTS.

A New tuning instrument has been invented by the Earl of Stan hope. It consists of thirteen slips of plate glass, each of which is exactly six inches long, and two inches broad, with different degrees of thickness, according to the pitch of the differ. ent notes. Each slip yields a sound, which is extremely pure. The same brass support, which terminates in three pointed corks, serves for each slip in succession. On this support, each slip being similarly placed, is struck by the same cork hammer, with the same elastic force, and on the corresponding spot each time.By means of this simple apparatus, which is pitched to his Lordship's New and improved Temperament, any

person, with a moderate ear, may tune an instrument perfectly, and in a superior manner, perhaps, to what the best tuner could do without its aid. The common mode of doing this by tuning forks, though perfectly good in theory, is liable to an er ror in practice, of which those that use them are not generally aware.There is, perhaps, not one fork in a hundred which has not a beating in it when it is struck, and therefore it cannot send forth a pure and single sound. This beating may sometimes be got rid of, by carefully filing the two legs, so as to make them exactly alike throughout. But this, requires much more attention than, practical tuners are likely to bestow.

The following beautiful experi ment, connected with musical sounds, has been given by the Earl of Stan-. hope. He stretched two wires twenty inches long, between the bridges, and with a degree of tension so precisely equal, that no beating was audible between them. By means of a fine micrometer screw, he could move the slider on one of the bridges to such a minute degree, as to lengthen, or, shorten, that wire the eighteen thou sand part of an inch, without altering its tension. This small change in

the length of the wires invariably produces a beating between them, which may not only be heard, but distinctly felt. In order to feel it,. support a small piece of steel wire, about 2 inches long, on the sounding board of the monochord with one of the finger nails. If the lower end of that piece of wire be semispherical; if its upper end be pointed, and if that upper end be applied to the new or tender part of the nail; then the beating will be felt very sensibly.--This experiment clearly shews how perfectly unisons may be tuned, since the smallest deviation in an unison is thus distinctly perceptible.

JOHN NICHOLAS GARDEUR, an artist at Paris, has invented a method

of

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