MALDONADO Is Situated On The Northern Bank Of The Plata,
And Not Very Far From The Mouth Of The Estuary.
It is a
most quiet, forlorn, little town; built, as is universally the
case in these countries, with the streets running at right
angles to each other, and having in the middle a large plaza
or square, which, from its size, renders the scantiness of the
population more evident.
It possesses scarcely any trade;
the exports being confined to a few hides and living cattle.
The inhabitants are chiefly landowners, together with a few
shopkeepers and the necessary tradesmen, such as blacksmiths
and carpenters, who do nearly all the business for a
circuit of fifty miles round. The town is separated from the
river by a band of sand-hillocks, about a mile broad: it is
surrounded, on all other sides, by an open slightly-undulating
country, covered by one uniform layer of fine green turf,
on which countless herds of cattle, sheep, and horses graze.
There is very little land cultivated even close to the town.
A few hedges, made of cacti and agave, mark out where
some wheat or Indian corn has been planted. The features
of the country are very similar along the whole northern
bank of the Plata. The only difference is, that here the
granitic hills are a little bolder. The scenery is very
uninteresting; there is scarcely a house, an enclosed piece of
ground, or even a tree, to give it an air of cheerfulness
Yet, after being imprisoned for some time in a ship, there is
a charm in the unconfined feeling of walking over boundless
plains of turf. Moreover, if your view is limited to a small
space, many objects possess beauty. Some of the smaller
birds are brilliantly coloured; and the bright green sward,
browsed short by the cattle, is ornamented by dwarf flowers,
among which a plant, looking like the daisy, claimed the
place of an old friend. What would a florist say to whole
tracts, so thickly covered by the Verbena melindres, as, even
at a distance, to appear of the most gaudy scarlet?
I stayed ten weeks at Maldonado, in which time a nearly
perfect collection of the animals, birds, and reptiles, was
procured. Before making any observations respecting them,
I will give an account of a little excursion I made as far
as the river Polanco, which is about seventy miles distant,
in a northerly direction. I may mention, as a proof how
cheap everything is in this country, that I paid only two
dollars a day, or eight shillings, for two men, together with
a troop of about a dozen riding-horses. My companions
were well armed with pistols and sabres; a precaution which
I thought rather unnecessary but the first piece of news
we heard was, that, the day before, a traveller from Monte
Video had been found dead on the road, with his throat
cut. This happened close to a cross, the record of a former
murder.
On the first night we slept at a retired little country-house;
and there I soon found out that I possessed two or
three articles, especially a pocket compass, which created
unbounded astonishment. In every house I was asked to
show the compass, and by its aid, together with a map, to
point out the direction of various places. It excited the
liveliest admiration that I, a perfect stranger, should know
the road (for direction and road are synonymous in this open
country) to places where I had never been. At one house
a young woman, who was ill in bed, sent to entreat me to
come and show her the compass. If their surprise was great,
mine was greater, to find such ignorance among people who
possessed their thousands of cattle, and "estancias" of great
extent. It can only be accounted for by the circumstance
that this retired part of the country is seldom visited by
foreigners. I was asked whether the earth or sun moved;
whether it was hotter or colder to the north; where Spain
was, and many other such questions. The greater number of
the inhabitants had an indistinct idea that England, London,
and North America, were different names for the same
place; but the better informed well knew that London and
North America were separate countries close together, and
that England was a large town in London! I carried with
me some promethean matches, which I ignited by biting; it
was thought so wonderful that a man should strike fire with
his teeth, that it was usual to collect the whole family to
see it: I was once offered a dollar for a single one. Washing
my face in the morning caused much speculation at the village
of Las Minas; a superior tradesman closely cross-questioned
me about so singular a practice; and likewise why on
board we wore our beards; for he had heard from my guide
that we did so. He eyed me with much suspicion; perhaps
he had heard of ablutions in the Mahomedan religion, and
knowing me to be a heretick, probably he came to the conclusion
that all hereticks were Turks. It is the general custom
in this country to ask for a night's lodging at the first
convenient house. The astonishment at the compass, and
my other feats of jugglery, was to a certain degree
advantageous, as with that, and the long stories my guides
told of my breaking stones, knowing venomous from harmless
snakes, collecting insects, etc., I repaid them for their
hospitality. I am writing as if I had been among the inhabitants
of central Africa: Banda Oriental would not be flattered by
the comparison; but such were my feelings at the time.
The next day we rode to the village of Las Minas. The
country was rather more hilly, but otherwise continued the
same; an inhabitant of the Pampas no doubt would have
considered it as truly Alpine. The country is so thinly
inhabited, that during the whole day we scarcely met a single
person.
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