CHAPTER XV.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

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.—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, and 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.

Buenos Ayres being the extent of my mission, and expecting the Brazileira so soon at Monte Video, I hastened my departure for Monday, the 27th September, when we embarked early, with a very heavy surf, caused by the northerly wind blowing right on shore. Few passengers would venture off, and it took me nearly an hour to reach the Argentina, in a good boat, pulled by stalwart rowers, than whom there are few better than the Buenos Ayreans, thanks to the perpetual practice required in their perilous roadstead of a harbour. For a place with shallow water, I never saw so heavy a surf, which renders it most uncomfortable to those who may be compelled to embark under such circumstances. We had a fresh breeze the greater part of the way, increasing to a strong one as we approached the mount of Monte Video, reaching it at dark, so as to get into that excellent haven. This, however, we did quite safely, and landed our passengers in buoyant spirits, and full of admiration of our craft’s performance, in the face of such difficulties. Next morning was wet and hazy, but on its clearing off at about eleven o’clock we were agreeably surprised to see our ocean steamer, Brazileira, close to the harbour. She soon came to an anchor, two days before her time, to the inexpressible confusion of many unbelieving individuals, who had been very prolific in their forebodings that she would be considerably in arrear of her promised undertaking. She was the first steamer that ever came direct to the River Plate with cargo and passengers, both which were landed, at Monte Video in thirty-five days, and Buenos Ayres in thirty-six days, thus completely establishing the practicability of such a communication, and adding another triumph to the wonders of steam. In such a country it is a boon that can only be understood and appreciated by degrees, but every practical writer on the affairs of the River Plate has pointed to steam as the alpha and omega—the one thing needful towards a successful development of its resources, and the only element by which these vast countries can be rendered available to mankind, or perform their part in the great work of their Creator. With steam and railways would come hands and emigration, so much required, and where there is a vast and lucrative field, perhaps the most lucrative in the world, for its operation.

Before quitting the La Plata, and its future destinies, I would say a few words on subjects connected therewith, although they may have no immediate bearing on the present narrative. I have before remarked how comparatively little is known in Europe of the past history of this part of South America, and of its internal resources. South of Buenos Ayres the curtain has been somewhat raised by guano researches on the coast of Patagonia, which have not resulted in any great gain to the adventurers. The climate is too humid, and the expense of drying the guano too great, to admit of much extension in that trade, which would scarcely have been opened but for the enterprize arising out of Ichaboe. Buenos Ayres has, therefore, lost nothing by this supposed encroachment on her territory, if it be rightfully hers—a point not altogether undisputed—which is, in other respects, wide enough, in all conscience, to admit of any multitude of industrious settlers, if they were disposed to come. Had similar deposits of guano to those on the coasts of Chili and Peru existed at Patagonia, then, indeed, there might have been a reasonable chance for the interest on Buenos Ayres Bonds being paid, considerably sooner than now seems likely. There is a spot to the southward, called Bahia Blanca, with a good bay, and a river running from a long distance westward, that promises well to become of much future importance. Parish makes allusion to military operations in that locality, and I found that at Buenos Ayres several parties had their attention directed there, as a place offering considerable advantages, in the centre of large cattle districts, and through which the shortest cut could be made to the south-west coast of this continent. There is little doubt that if a safe and easy route could be established across the country, it would be much frequented, and by many be preferred to Panama, with its sickly tendencies; a voyage of thirty or thirty-five days from England, and then a journey of ten or twelve days’ might enable the traveller to reach the territory of Chili through a fine country and healthy climate.

And speaking of Chili and Peru, the present may not be an inopportune place—at least I can now avail of no other—to state that a further link in the steam chain, wherein Brazil may be expected to play a prominent part, is that to the west coast of South America, through the Straits of Magellan, as already indicated in the introductory chapter in reference to Chili, whose government have granted a subsidy of £12,000 a year for a direct steam communication with England; and it is believed this can be best effected by having branch steamers from Rio to Valparaiso, making Rio, what it really ought to be, the port of transit for the southern ocean.[119] The mineral wealth of Chili and Peru is still, as all know, something almost fabulous, and the consumption of British manufactures in those countries very considerable; so that steamers would be sure of a paying freight both ways, with abundance of passengers, who would prefer such a route to the inconvenience and expense of crossing the isthmus. All that is required to secure to Brazil these important advantages, is a relaxation in its fiscal system, by which steamers can discharge and load in transit, without being subjected to local dues and restrictions, which are an extinguisher to progress in any country. If they decline to give these facilities, Monte Video and the Falkland Islands[120] will be only too glad of the opportunity, and wherever it takes root there it will remain. The question is important for Brazil, as a large number of vessels now put into Rio in transitu that would follow in the wake of steamers. Unfortunately, the facilities for dealing with cases of distressed vessels are no further advanced than they were fifty years back: not a graving dock, patent slip, or other convenient apparatus yet existing in the otherwise noble harbour of Rio Janeiro, although a floating sectional dock was in course of construction at Ponta d’Area.

It would appear that the formidable difficulties in navigating the Straits of Magellan exist only in name. Winter and summer the passage is quite easy and practicable, and settlements are taking place by which both sailing ships and steamers can be furnished with stores and provisions, whilst there is coal of the country ready to assist the movements of steam. But in reality, the dreaded peril of Cape Horn itself will soon be quite a matter of history,[121] if a halfway house hereabouts be established, as the proofs already adduced, and now quoted in a note, render a certainty. The coal is said to be a kind of bituminous anthracite, which gets up steam very well when mixed with English coal. Coal has been found on the coast of Chili of this description, and in places readily accessible for steam purposes. With the present high freights for coal shipped hence, the certainty of a supply of even inferior fuel of the kind is most important.

Other lines of steam communication are in process of formation along the South American, especially the Brazilian, coast, to connect the bye ports and rivers with the principal cities and towns; and two steamers, called the ‘Santa Cruz’ and ‘Continguiba,’ are shortly to leave for Bahia on this most useful errand; so that, in a few years, we may expect to find coasting steamers in Brazil as numerous almost as on our own coast, conveying to and fro passengers and produce, to the great advantage of the country and of our mercantile relations with it.

The Rio Company which has undertaken the contract with the Brazilian government for opening up the navigation of the Amazon has hardly yet been long enough in operation to show what can be accomplished. There are immense difficulties to overcome in pioneering a navigation of this kind through such wild, uncultivated, and almost unknown districts; and without a considerable subsidy, no association would undertake the task. Great credit is due to the Brazilian government for making a heavy sacrifice in order to insure so desirable an object. They are moreover negotiating with the Company with the view of correcting the clause of the contract which insures to the Company the exclusive privilege of navigating the river with steamers. These arrangements will doubtless be brought to a successful issue, for a more enlightened and patriotic citizen than Senhor Irenêo Evangelista de Souza, with whom the government contract was made, does not exist in any country. He has done more for the internal advancement of Brazil than any other man; witness the splendid establishment at Ponta d’Area, for foundry work, engineering, and ship building; the short railway to the foot of the Organ Mountains; lighting the city of Rio with gas, the establishment of a new bank which has lately merged into a national one; and, latterly, opening up the navigation of the Amazon; besides many other improvements that little is heard of. Only those personally acquainted with the indefatigable labours of Senhor Irenêo in such a country can judge of their real beneficial tendency, or of the gigantic mind required to cope with the difficulties entailed. Great stir is making by our Yankee friends in this part of the world; they have contracted with the Peruvian government for two small wooden steamers, which were sent out piecemeal, and put together at Pará. Report says very little in favour of the strength or speed of these steamers, qualities very essential to such a navigation, exposed to strong currents, and impediments from want of a proper knowledge of the channel of the river. I believe the Rio Company are building some fine powerful boats in this country, that will shortly be brought to bear on this increasing and, I venture to predict, wonderful traffic.

My mission being for the promotion of steam in South America, and the main aim and object of this volume being to make known here the desirability of, and the field for, such enterprise in that country, I trust the foregoing apparent digression in the midst of the return voyage will not appear irrelevant.

Leaving Monte Video on the morning of the 1st October, we steamed down the river, with a light breeze and sunny weather; soon passed Flores, which very much resembles some of our channel lighthouses, on a low island, a short distance from the land. Before sunset we had left the island of Lobos behind, and soon came into a nasty head wind and sea, which lasted for two or three days, causing the vessel to pitch a good deal, and making every one uncomfortable. At daylight on the fifth morning the mountains of Rio were in sight, the Corcovado towering over them. Passing Raza, the scenery is very fine, and will bear oft-repeated inspection with largely increased advantage, as it varies much with the particular period of the day when seen, the lights and shadows being so different, and changing with each succeeding hour. Early morning throws its sharp silvery touch over everything, tinting the sides and peaks of the mountains, which seem floating in mist, whilst the forts and buildings of the city have a sombre hue. At mid-day all this effect has cleared away; the hills stand out in bold relief—bright green is the distinguishing character of the landscape—and the glare of white houses and red tiles meets your eye in every direction. Towards evening the aspect again changes to a deep brown or purple, steeping all things in more glowing richness; and presently there is thrown over the whole that peculiar olive which is quite a reality in the tropics, but the painting of which looks more or less ideal to the vision accustomed only to the comparatively frigid atmosphere of our temperate zone. I merely allude to the general character of the scenery, which, of course, varies materially with the changes of weather, and needless is it to add that there are occasional sunsets which no description of language could adequately pourtray.

We regret to say that the hotel accommodation of Rio Janeiro is very deficient for the size of the place and the extent of traffic passing through it. The best hotels are those of Pharoux and De l’Europe, in the city, and the Hotel des Etrangers and Johnson’s Hotel, on the road to Botafogo, the latter being peculiarly adapted for English ideas of comfort, and also long known to English travellers passing through, as well as a comfortable home to many residents there. The Hotel des Etrangers is a large, spacious building, now kept by a Frenchman, and is quite a fashionable resort for deputies visiting Rio for the session, as also for foreign diplomatists. The accommodation at Johnson’s Hotel is limited, and quite of a select nature. Comfortable boarding-houses, in our meaning of the term, are very few and far between. The majority of new-comers to, or passers-through, Rio, have private friends, to whose houses they resort during their brief sojourn; but, undoubtedly, there is ample scope for much greater accommodation being afforded to ‘man and beast’ in this large city. The Emperor of Brazil is said to be coming to Europe on a tour of some duration. It is to be hoped that not only will he be accompanied by a large retinue, but that numbers of the affluent inhabitants of this capital will also visit the old world at the same time; for if so, they can carry back with them no experience that may be turned to more desirable account in Rio than that which they will derive from an acquaintance with first class British, French, or German hotels.

After four days’ detention at Rio, coaling, taking in cargo, &c., we left, on the morning of the 20th October, with some eighty passengers on board, for the northern ports of Brazil, Lisbon, and England. Again we encountered the head wind and sea which had so perplexed us previously, between Monte Video and Rio; but arriving, nevertheless, in three and a half days at Bahia, where we spent a miserably wet day coaling. In spite of the weather we got away in the afternoon, under a salute from the forts in honour of the President[122] of Pará, who was a passenger on board. Forty hours took us to Pernambuco Roads, which we left again on Sunday afternoon, the 16th, once more in direct route for home. The Olinda was due at Pernambuco, and strange enough, the next morning we met her as if a line had been drawn for us to do so. Saluting each other with two guns, and a reciprocal round of three hearty cheers, time being too valuable for either to stop to satisfy curiosity, we pursued our respective routes, not a little elated by reciprocal punctuality and success thus far in our mutual maiden voyage. She looked remarkably well, appeared to be steaming fast, and would be in Pernambuco early next day. Our passenger list comprised fifty, of all denominations, English, French, Brazilians, Portuguese, Argentine, &c.; but it is surprising how everything gets into shape and order under such circumstances. We sighted the Island of St. Paul’s, looking like the white sails of a vessel, and on Sunday afternoon, the 22nd of October, came to anchor in Porto Grande, St. Vincent, under seven days from Pernambuco, a distance of 2,000 miles, very good work it must be confessed, though, perhaps, nothing to boast of, considering what we had already achieved. Leaving St. Vincent the same night, we had to steam against the north-east wind and waves for seven consecutive days, with no aid from our canvass. Then we passed Porto Santo, and saw both the Desertas and Madeira at a good distance, basking in fine clear weather. The morning of the 3rd October broke splendidly on the coast of Portugal, Cape Espectrial and the distant hills in sight, the lower land being shrouded in mist; we stood towards Cascaes Bay, got a pilot on board, and once more entered the Tagus, in the short space of fifteen days from Pernambuco, and twenty-one from Rio. We were obliged to bring up at Belem, and undergo quarantine, although we brought clean bills of health, there being no cases of fever reported at any of the Brazilian ports. A certificate from four medical men on board attested this fact; as well as our having no invalids on board of any kind. Between twenty and thirty of our passengers left us here, having to endure the misery of eight days in the Lazaretto—a castellated looking building, situated on the south side of the Tagus—they were all transferred, with their luggage, to a large lighter. A more lovely day could scarcely be conceived than the one when we were at anchor at the quarantine station, coaling; most tantalising to be debarred from availing ourselves of the opportunity to land and have a run over the city, which many of our passengers had seen for the first time. As to preventing an importation of yellow fever by their quarantine regulations, it is a complete farce, as all kind of communication are kept up with the shore; the officers of the ship are allowed to go on shore to the health office, which is right on the main road passing Belem, and the shore is a common thoroughfare; caravans and people bathing where the boats land. It is difficult to conceive on what grounds these absurd regulations are introduced, unless it be to annoy and drive away people wishing to visit the place, and as part and parcel of a system of intolerant restrictions that are enough to paralyse the energies of any country. The inconvenience which such restrictions cause is indescribable, nor can anything justify the infliction in such cases as ours. If at any time there is really sufficient grounds for adopting quarantine regulations, they ought to be delighted to remove them so soon as the grounds were removed. In the present advanced state of civilization, and with the rapid intercourse between nations, quarantine is almost a barbarity, calculated to shut out the country that exercises it from the rest of the world, whilst it is impossible it can be efficacious in the manner it is carried on at Lisbon; besides, the yellow fever has never been known to travel out of the tropics, and surely a voyage of twenty or thirty days across the ocean, without a case on board, is sufficient security, even supposing the fever to exist in the country the vessel comes from. On the other hand, reports of cholera in England cause an enforcement of quarantine outwards, thus putting the crowning piece to this mass of absurdity and annoyance. The subject cannot be alluded to with common patience, especially when it is publicly stated that the medical men who have to determine these sanitary points have a strong pecuniary interest in the lazarettos, and numbers of people prey upon the unfortunate vessel and passengers subjected to these terrible inflictions. Since my return, however, the Lisbon officials seem to have become a little amenable to reason and decency, and their preposterous regulations are in a trifling degree relaxed.

At 10 A.M. on the morning of the 1st November we weighed anchor, and steamed past Belem, towing a pilot in his boat astern. Our late fellow passengers in the Lazaretto were assembled at the top of the building, waving flags and handkerchiefs, to bid us farewell, and one could scarcely help feeling melancholy to see so many worthy people stuck up in a kind of cage, for no earthly object but to gratify a morbid sensibility on points sanitary. The pilot would not come on board, as it would subject him to perform a given number of days’ quarantine afterwards. There was a fresh breeze from the southward, and the rope soon broke, leaving Mr. Pilot to find his way back to Lisbon, and the steamer to find her own way out as best she could. A heavy sea was breaking on the bar, in which the pilot could not possibly have been towed, so we were well rid of him; but it only shows the operation of things under such an iniquitous system, where a man is well paid for doing absolutely worse than nothing—being in the way; for how is it possible for a pilot to direct a vessel when he is towed astern of her, and any directions he might give are impossible to be heard? However, we crossed the bar safely, and soon passed the Rock of Lisbon, after which our fair wind vanished; came strong ahead, with a good deal of sea, against which we steamed until next day 2nd Nov., when it became calm, and the wind gradually veered to south-east. Saw Cape Finisterre, and from thence to St. Agnes Light (Scilly Islands); we were only thirty-five hours in doing 450 miles of distance. From Scilly we posted our way up Channel; went inside the Smalls; passed close to the Island of Grasholm, a very wild spot; missed Bardsey, but saw Holyhead Light; had a tug round the Skerries, blowing hard; at daylight got a pilot on board, and at 11 A.M. entered the Mersey, exactly twenty-six days from Rio Janeiro, including stoppages. My trip of 15,000 miles (including the run up the Parana) occupied me very little over three months, during which time I visited all the important sea ports of Brazil, Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, &c., spending a fortnight in Rio, and about the same time in the La Plata. The ‘Brazileira’s’ entire voyage occupied seventy-three days, including eighteen days’ stoppages, clearly proving that it is only a question of time for these valuable countries to be brought within the scope of a pleasure trip.

The performances of the Brazileira and of her sister ships of our fleet had, on the whole, been highly satisfactory, and promised to realize to the utmost every anticipation that had been entertained at the period of the formation of the company. But, alas, for bright visions! two of the flotilla unexpectedly, I may say unaccountably, are numbered with the departed, and under pretty nearly identical circumstances—both from shaving too close. The Olinda, wrecked hard by Holyhead, but fortunately without sacrifice of life, in one of those terrible storms that swept the British coast the beginning of this year, is a loss to the company as regards her keeping up the main ocean line. The Argentina had, for a time, been a shining light to the numerous passengers between the two great cities on the La Plata, and she is, emphatically, a national loss to them, as well as to the surrounding district, retarding, in fact, the work of civilization and improvement. On a fine, clear, and almost breathless evening, still daylight, she carried her temerity so far as to approach too closely some sunken rocks near the entrance to Monte Video harbour, going twelve miles an hour at the time, and in a moment her career of usefulness was ended! There was almost a general mourning over her, so great a favourite had she become, by the rapid and satisfactory manner in which she illustrated the blessings of steam navigation in a region where, of all others, such agency is most to be desired.[123]

In order to repair as speedily as possible the damages caused by the loss of the Olinda and Argentina, the company have purchased the paddle-wheel steamer Menai, well known for her quick passages between Liverpool, Beaumaris, and Bangor, to replace the Argentina on the station between Monte Video and Buenos Ayres, until such time as a larger and more efficient vessel, now in course of construction, and that will be in every way worthy of the passenger traffic between those two great cities, can be built. They have also sent out the La Plata, a fine new screw, built by Mr. John Laird, originally intended for the London and Oporto trade, and to be called the Bacchante; but now destined to run between Rio Janeiro, Monte Video, and Buenos Ayres, in connection with the ocean steamers, which will not proceed beyond Rio Janeiro. In conjunction with the above-mentioned vessels, the company intend placing on the line the Imperador and Imperatrice, two steamers also in process of construction, same size and power as the Bahiana. Our fleet will thus consist of the Imperador, Imperatrice, and Bahiana, all new ships; the Brazileira and Lusitania, now running; the La Plata, a branch boat; and the two River Plate passenger-boats. I doubt not the public, as well as the respective governments embraced in this line of steam communication, will consider the enterprise as deserving of their especial support.

A page of my allotted space remains to be filled, and I cannot better occupy it than with a brief summary of the news brought to the latest moment before going to press, viz., that by the Mail, which arrived on the 16th of April, with dates from Buenos Ayres, March 4; Monte Video, 6; Rio Janeiro, 17; Bahia, 22; Pernambuco, 25; St. Vincent’s, Cape Verde, April 4; Teneriffe, 8; Madeira, 9; and Lisbon, 12, as quoted in the leading journal of the 17th.

Tranquillity continued undisturbed on the Plate. Business in imported goods and manufactures was dull, owing to the total absence of dealers from the interior. Since the blockade of July last upwards of 2,000 houses had been erected in the city of Buenos Ayres, and buildings were still being raised with the greatest rapidity. Trade was expected to improve. Articles of consumption were very dear. The supplies of produce were very stinted, and at advancing prices. A large portion of the last clip of wool remained on hand. The following extracts from a letter, dated Buenos Ayres, March 4, give the latest particulars of political events:—

‘Here everything goes on quite smoothly: at least, there is nothing within the province to cause any uneasiness. Our attention at present is wholly directed to Monte Video, where the Brazilian policy is being carried out with rapid strides. The only important question for us is how their proceedings may be viewed by General Urquiza, as President of the Confederation, whether he may make friends with us to resist the Imperialists, or join with the Imperialists that he may attack this province? Mr Buchental, a wealthy Brazilian capitalist and speculator, has crossed over to Chili to consult as to the means of forming a railroad from Valparaiso to the Rosario. The latest news from the west coast represents nearly all the Republics to the north in a state of excitement, but we suspect there is a great deal of exaggeration. Mr. Gore, British Minister at Buenos Ayres, has gone up the Parana for the purpose, it is supposed, of exchanging the ratifications of the treaty, and, perhaps, to grace the installation of the Constitutional Presidency, which is to take place about this time, some say on this very day. If Urquiza is wise, he will do the best he can with his own domains, and leave us alone.’

From Rio there is nothing worth noticing, as regards political affairs. A considerable reaction had taken place in the coffee-market, and prices were lower. Supplies regular. From Pernambuco we learn that the South American and General Steam Navigation Company’s steamer Lusitania reached Pernambuco on the 18th ult. Great tightness exists in the money-market—more so than had been experienced for a long period.

On the 13th, the South American and General Steam Navigation Company’s steam vessel for the Plate, Menai, was off Cape Finisterre. Our Lisbon accounts are to the 12th instant. The passengers by the Mail had been placed in quarantine for eight days, in consequence of the reported appearance of yellow fever at Pernambuco. The little rain which had fallen in Portugal was not sufficient materially to improve the prospects of the grain harvest, while the cattle in some parts were suffering much from want of food.

ERRATUM.—In the hurry of passing the foregoing pages through the press, many errors have occurred, which unavoidable absence from London, and the nature of my duties in Liverpool, did not permit of being corrected in time. For these I must crave the reader’s indulgence, promising that they shall not be repeated, and that many short comings shall be supplied, in the event of another edition being called for, which I am in hopes, from the nature of the subject itself, though not from its present treatment, will soon be the case. One oversight, however, is of too conspicuous a nature not to require notice, namely, that in which the printers have confounded the sugar and cotton growing province of Paraiba do Norte with the coffee plantations on the River Parayba, in the province of Rio Janeiro, there being no coffee grown in the former province, and consequently it is to the latter the remarks in the text are intended to apply.

THE FALKLAND ISLANDS.

The Falklands recommended by the Colonial Land Emigration Commissioners, as a place of Re-fit, Naval Station, and Convict Settlement.—The Corporation of the Falkland Islands Company.—How it could assist Her Majesty’s Government in forming a Convict Settlement.—Proposal to demonstrate the superior eligibility of this Colony for a Convict Settlement.—Climate healthy.—Fresh Water abundant.—Cost of Transport less than that to other Colonies.—Safe Custody and Classification.—Geographical position and extent.—Distance from the Main.—Little Naval Force required.—Causes of insecurity at other Settlements not found at the Falklands.—Detached Islands provide against escape.—Guard required less than elsewhere.—Provisions cheap.—How supplied.—Cereals may be raised.—Employment.—Supply of Convicts need not be gradual.—How first comers are to be disposed of.—Preliminary outlay very small, and may be recovered.—Opinions of various Servants of the Crown.—Two Propositions.—1. What the Falkland Islands Corporation should undertake.—2. What national advantages would result from a Convict Settlement at this Colony.—Get rid of Convicts.—Relieve the Mother Country.—Redeem the pledge made to all Convicts.—Facilities for reformation.—Restoration of the penitent to society, without injury to the innocent.—Agricultural School for Juvenile Convicts.—Complete Depot for Naval Re-fit near Cape Horn.—Saving of Port Charges and of Freight.—All Ship’s Repairs could be done if Patent Slip laid down.—Secure Coaling Station for Steamers.—First-rate Naval Station.—In time of War ‘Key of the Pacific.’—Testimony of Governor Rennie, and of Capt. Matthews, Commander of the Great Britain Steamer.

Some years ago, the British Government was disposed to entertain the idea of placing a Convict Establishment on the Falkland Islands (a purpose to which they had been applied by their former occupants), and it appears that this idea was suggested by the representations of various persons employed in the service of the Crown, in and about the islands, and on the neighbouring continent, to the effect that the locality was highly eligible for the purpose; in fact, the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners have strongly recommended these islands as a place of re-fit for merchantmen, as a naval station, and as a convict settlement—and advised that the first operations to promote the settlement should be undertaken by a public company. It is because the attention of Government has been thus directed to the eligibility of these islands, that it is thought well to present, in this brief form, a statement of the advantages they naturally present, as well as of those that may be secured, should Her Majesty’s Government be disposed to resume the consideration of forming a convict settlement there, which was probably postponed at the date referred to because convenient means of carrying the project into execution did not then present themselves. There is no reason to suppose that any objection was raised to the locality itself, nor does it appear that any objection does actually exist; on the contrary, it may be satisfactorily demonstrated that no spot in Her Majesty’s dominions is better suited for a convict station.

A public company now exists, under the style of the ‘Falkland Islands Company,’ the primary object of which is to trade in the produce of the colony, and which has obtained from the Crown a royal charter, incorporating it for that purpose. This fact is premised, to render it apparent that, if her Majesty’s Government thinks well to avail itself of the company’s services in making arrangements for a convict settlement at the Falklands, the means needful to carry out the project are not wanting. The existing establishments in the colony, recently assigned to the corporation, are already in that state of forwardness, and the capital they have at call in this country is sufficient to enable them to assure Her Majesty’s Government of their capability to undertake the immediate supply of all necessaries for a large number of convicts as soon as they can arrive in the colony; moreover, they are prepared to provide every description of stores on terms as reasonable as those paid in any other colony, and in respect to the important items of beef, mutton, and fuel, at a cheaper rate than they can be supplied elsewhere. If, therefore, it be considered desirable to find a new locality for convicts (which it appears from public report Her Majesty’s Government have it in contemplation to select), this company can assist in carrying out the object, and it only remains to point out why the Falklands should be deemed most eligible in every point of view for the purpose in question. The proposition would seem to be sustained by the following facts:—

1. The climate is remarkably healthy. In proof of this assertion may be adduced the concurrent testimony of numerous respectable and honourable men:—amongst others, Captains Fitzroy, Sulivan, and Robertson, who conducted the nautical survey—of Dr. Darwin, who accompanied Captain Fitzroy’s expedition—of Weddell, and Captain Sir James C. Ross—of Captain Mackinnon, and Captain Eden, who, together with the late Governor, Captain Moody, and Mr. Hamblin, the colonial surgeon (now in England), all unite in attributing extraordinary salubrity to the climate of these islands. That it is considered agreeable may be inferred from the existence of the present settlers, some of them men of capital and station, who have formed establishments, and resided there for many years. The temperature is declared to be remarkably equable, the extremes of heat and cold, usual in England, being unknown there; then there is a prevalence of south-westerly gales, which render the air of a peculiarly bracing character, whilst it is considered far more enjoyable than that of European countries situate north of the 52nd or 53rd degree of latitude. Fresh water is everywhere found of excellent quality. From these authorized statements, it may be taken for granted, that such a temperature for active and healthy labour is far better suited to the constitutions of men born in the climate of Great Britain, than the hot and relaxing atmosphere of the equatorial latitudes, whereby the power and inclination to labour is diminished, whilst residence in such climates has the effect of fomenting the evil passions of men under little or no moral or religious constraint.

2. The cost of transport would be one half of that to any of the existing penal settlements. This fact being self-evident, requires no testimony for its support. The islands lie less than half way between Great Britain and Australia, California, and China, on the direct route to the Pacific.

3. This colony is peculiarly well adapted for the safe custody and classification of convicts. The Falkland group, situated in the same latitude, south, as the English midland counties are, north, consists of two large islands, comprising an area of 6,400 square miles, and several hundred smaller islands, from 20,000 acres each to islets of one acre, and the total extent of territory is equal to rather more than half that of the kingdom of Belgium. The numerous detached islands offer remarkably well-adapted positions for permanent stations, say for a penal settlement, whilst the western island combines those advantages that are requisite to insure the practical working of the forced labour, and subsequent reformed settlement, system, which might eventually render the East Falkland a flourishing free colony, entirely unconnected with the convict establishment. The situation of the islands is wholly isolated; the nearest land is Staten Island, distant 250 miles by chart—they are 350 miles from Terra del Fuego, and 400 from the coast of Patagonia in direct lines, countries either uninhabited, or peopled by savages, without port or shipping—and there is no small shipping trade in or about the Falklands. By means of the semaphore, a communication can be kept up every ten minutes between the extreme western point of the West Island and Port Stanley on the extreme east of the group—consequently the naval force stationed there need be very trifling. Then the vessels calling are all bound round the Horn, or returning from the Pacific, or whalers—none of these, wanting men, would take convicts, and there is none of that class of shipping on this track that are likely to take them off. There are no woods to conceal fugitives, and no means of constructing boats or rafts, should any contemplate so wild an adventure as to try to gain the main, where certain death by starvation, or at the hands of ruthless savages, would await them. These advantages cannot fail to be appreciated when the position of this settlement is compared with that of Van Dieman’s Land, Norfolk Island, or any of the islands of the northern groups in that hemisphere. Here are no native population or settlers to be corrupted by contact with convicts—no coasting traffic, affording constant opportunity for escape, and both of which render safe custody costly in other colonies. Norfolk Island, and more particularly New Caledonia and the Fidgee group, lie in the track of a host of independent traders, men who own and command their ships, and whose occupation is trading between these islands, Sydney, the Society Islands, the Marquesas and the Paumotu Islands, as well as with Valparaiso—whose expeditions frequently last two or three years, and who notoriously take part in the quarrels between the various petty Polynesian kingdoms; in which cases they not unfrequently undertake to provide the party, who is able to pay them for the service, with English soldiers, and in performance of such engagements, kidnap convicts as a matter of traffic. The existence of this trade, carried on to a considerable extent by men who have some of them been convicts themselves, must always render the custody of criminals at the islands named both hazardous and expensive. The numerous detached islands which form the Falkland group afford every facility for classification, and are most of them only approachable on the north-eastern side, the rest of the coast being fringed with sunken rocks, naturally buoyed by kelp, which render landing or getting off impossible. The peculiarities of form and position herein noticed would render the presence of a large military or civil guard quite unnecessary—and it will probably appear, that such part of the duty of an establishment there as appertains to their safe custody and to the maintenance of proper order amongst the prisoners, could be carried out more economically than at any other station.

4. Provisions of all kinds would be plentiful at cheaper rates than in any other colony. Beef, mutton, and pork are in abundance, and could be supplied of the best quality at 2_d._ to 3_d._ per lb. Flour, biscuit, and clothing would have to be imported, probably from England and the Canadas (until they could be raised in sufficient quantity on the islands), and as vessels bound round the Horn can obtain fresh supplies of provisions and water at Stanley, these articles could be landed in the Falklands at a cheaper rate than elsewhere. Vegetables may be raised in any quantity required, and white celery and other antiscorbutic plants are indigenous. Labour is only needed to insure the raising of cereal crops, and therefore the supply of such produce would follow the location of convicts.

5. Employment would not be wanting. Good building stone and slate exists. Coal and limestone are reported to have been discovered, but this requires confirmation. Timber would have to be imported from our North American colonies for some purposes, though the quantity of drift from Staten Island and the neighbouring coasts is very great; and some of it large enough for ship’s repairs. Roads, buildings, public works, the collection and preparation of fuel, preparation of stores, &c., would afford ample occupation for a large number of unskilled labourers, whilst tradesmen and artizans could be occupied in providing for the other wants of the community. Convicts of the lowest class could be advantageously employed in the construction of slips, quays, a careening dock, barracks, enclosures for cattle, dwellings for government officers, stone portage, military works, levelling town allotments, road-laying, brick-making, drainage, well sinking, and cutting channels for the supply of water to the town and shipping. Whilst those of a superior class might have ample occupation found for them in the construction of dwellings for themselves, churches, working of salt-works, raising embankments and planting, horse-breaking and keeping, tending flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, curing beef and fish, opening streams for drainage, baking, butchering, cutting, washing, and consolidating turf, collecting guano, growing vegetable supplies, making shoes, clothing, cheese, butter, &c., for the consumption of the establishment and exportation; and procuring fodder for the Government troop of horses; with many other occupations which experience would suggest.

6. It is less necessary that the supply of convicts should be gradual in these islands than in any other of our colonies. The labour of the first comers would be mainly directed to providing for their own immediate wants. These, in the first instance, might be lodged on board of hulks, the same that conveyed them out, and their employment would be in the erection of a large stone barrack, church, gaol, and storehouses, with suitable dwellings for the overseers; all as regards the external walls sound and strong, and on a scale to receive at least double their number, with the needful attendants on the establishment. An old line-of-battle ship, jury rigged, could be prepared to receive on board 1,500 to 2,000 convicts; and such a vessel, after her arrival, would not be required for more than a year or two, but would last four or five years without needing repairs as a convict hulk. They might afterwards be broken up, and used as stores in finishing some of the buildings, and for other suitable purposes. Wooden barracks constructed in this country might of course be taken out with the convicts; but a hulk is suggested as a temporary dwelling that could more probably be readily found, and would not swell the preliminary estimate which it appears always desirable to avoid in the formation of a new establishment. It should not be lost sight of, that the stiff clay of the islands works up with the stone of the ‘streams’ into very sound and durable walls, as witness those of the old Spanish fort at Port Louis, built, it is said, in 1771, and now in a good state of preservation.

It results, then, that a convict establishment may be planted at the Falklands with a very small amount of preliminary outlay on the part of the Home Government, and that such outlay may speedily be returned. Such has been the expressed opinion of nearly all the men, who, being qualified to form an opinion on such a subject, have had an opportunity of examining the locality. Amongst these gentlemen, there appear the names of Captains Fitzroy, Ross, Mackinnon, and Sulivan, as well as of Mr., now Sir, Wm. Gore Ouseley, who, in his official correspondence some years ago, expressed a very decided opinion on this subject. In fine, these islands have been recommended by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, ‘as a place of transportation, perhaps more eligible than any other British possession,’ and these gentlemen have already forcibly suggested a notice to Parliament on the subject.

Having thus demonstrated that no more eligible spot could be found for convicts, it only remains to point out specifically what the Falkland Islands Company should undertake, provided Her Majesty’s Government decide to send such persons to the Falklands, and to avail themselves of the company’s services in so doing:—and then to set forth the highly important results _in a national point of view_ that would follow the adoption of this measure.

The company should contract to furnish all such supplies as the Government might require of them. They should also undertake to employ convict labour in the drainage and general improvement of their own territory, paying to government a fair rate of wages for such labour; and this would provide a considerable source of revenue, as doubtless the company would be only too glad to avail themselves of such a means of rendering their very extensive possessions really productive, in a far greater space of time than they could hope to accomplish it by importing free labour, and probably even at less cost.

Thus this colony, hitherto almost overlooked, notwithstanding its very remarkable geographical position, may become one of the most valuable possessions of the Crown: and, in times to come, or rather in the time that has come, rank in importance not second to Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Hong Kong, and such other places as are valuable in proportion to the power they confer on their possessors of maintaining friendly relations with the other nations of the earth, or protecting their own interests in the present rupture with Russia. The following national advantages would thus be secured.

First:—We should get rid of the vexed question of ‘What are we to do with our convicts?’ and that in a manner not obnoxious to any one of the objections raised against other localities.

Secondly:—Her Majesty’s Government would be relieved from the embarrassment that must always attend the attempt to retain convicts in this country. For the time must come when their terms expire, and then the real difficulty of disposing of them must be grappled with. It can hardly be supposed that the mother country will consent to receive among her highly moral people those whom the colonies have _una voce_ agreed to reject. And it would be an injustice and impolicy, that could not be contemplated, to condemn such men to constant isolation. In the East Falkland they may settle, and thence they may insensibly migrate whither they list, without the blazonry of their former guilt preceding them, and thus have really a fair chance of resuming an honest and respectable position; which it is, to say the least, extremely difficult for men to accomplish at the spot whereon they have undergone their punishment, and consequently amongst a people where they are branded with disgrace.

Thirdly:—The philanthropist will hail with infinite satisfaction the establishment of a settlement which, whilst it provides for the proper punishment of offenders against the laws, affords the best possible opportunity of promoting and encouraging genuine reform—a reform that would eventually restore the penitent to society, and moreover without the outward symbol of past crime that would cause it, by rejecting him, to drive him back on his evil habits. The process would be accomplished without the risk of any moral stain upon the innocent, and the locality proposed is physically adapted, by a very remarkable combination of circumstances, to the promotion of morality. A _juvenile_ Convict Agricultural School, on principles already tried elsewhere, might advantageously form part of the general system adopted in the Falklands; and, being entirely separate from the adult establishment, would prove a valuable aid in the progress of reformation.

Fourthly:—The most convenient place for re-fit for our merchantmen and foreigners, as well as for steamers, trading between Europe and the Pacific, would speedily be rendered perfectly available. The enormous port charges of the east and west coast ports of South America would be avoided. Freight would be saved to shipowners, and the comforts of passing emigrants promoted, by the facility of re-provisioning and watering half way. And all this at a port wholly unconnected with the convict settlement, where a small dockyard could be economically constructed, and would amply and speedily repay the expense incurred.

Fifthly:—Her Majesty’s ships, and those of the merchant navy also, could undergo repair here cheaper than at any port in those seas—and, if a patent slip were laid down, more speedily; for at present there is not, strange to say, one patent slip south of the line, on all the coast round to Callao. This important advantage would effect an immense saving in the cost of Her Majesty’s squadron constantly kept afloat on the east coast, and that also on the west coast of South America, one item of which would be a fortnight to three weeks’ saving of wear and tear on every voyage home from the Pacific. This consideration becomes of double importance now that Russian men-of-war are known to be in the Pacific on the look-out for our merchantmen.

Sixthly:—As lines of steamers are established round the Horn, the Falklands are the point of all others most suitable for a coaling station, (as the documents in this work from the most competent authorities have abundantly proved,) and one that in time of war could be easily rendered impregnable.

And, lastly, now that war is in reality upon us, with the certainty of being a tolerably long one, it is difficult to exaggerate the advantage which the possession of these islands would afford to Great Britain in respect to their position, provided proper works were constructed, for which there are great local advantages. In this point of view, any protracted delay in rendering the Falklands thoroughly available as a first-rate naval station, on the footing of Gibraltar and other places, would appear to be an oversight.

The whole of the above objects may be speedily accomplished with the accession of convict labour; without it, the prospect of these advantages is very remote, and their realization might, at any moment, be frustrated by the colony passing (as heretofore) into the hands of some more enterprising nation, whose rulers may entertain a shrewd notion of the vast importance attaching to a naval station that may truly be called ‘the key to the Pacific.’ One position may be advanced as indisputable; namely, that now war has involved us with at least one of the great maritime powers, the entire Pacific fishery, and the whole trade on and about the Western Coasts of America, may come under the absolute control of the possessors of the Falkland Islands, should a _coup de main_ of our unscrupulous foe bring about the temporary transfer of the station to him.

P.S. Since the above was in type, Mr. Bentley has published a work from the pen of Earl Grey, entitled ‘The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell’s Administration,’ containing much valuable matter relative to the system of transportation, and a brief notice of the Falkland Islands. Respecting the Falklands, the noble Earl observes, that the object of the Government was—

‘To create a small settlement, where passing ships might re-fit and obtain supplies for which these islands, notwithstanding the inclemency of their climate, were considered to be peculiarly well adapted, from their possessing admirable harbours, and lying directly in the track of vessels returning to this country from Australia, or the Pacific, by Cape Horn. They also afforded considerable resources in the herds of wild cattle which are to be found upon them.’ His lordship goes on to remark, that ‘An arrangement was concluded by which a regular communication will be established between this country and the Falkland Islands, by means of a small vessel plying between these islands and Monte Video, where it will meet the mail steamer from England every alternate month.’ And that, ‘Hitherto this settlement has not advanced rapidly; probably it would hardly have been expected to do so, unless a larger expenditure had been incurred than was considered advisable in carrying out and establishing emigrants there; but it seems now to have taken root, and will, I trust, do well hereafter. Already, from the growing up of some little trade, and from land having been brought into cultivation, it has been found possible, in the last four years, to discontinue the issue of rations from the Government stores to the inhabitants, who can now purchase for themselves what they require. Those of the working-class can find ample employment at good wages, and ships which call there can depend upon obtaining the most necessary supplies. The advantages offered by this place of call on the long voyage home are beginning to be known, so that each year more vessels are stopping there on their way; and, from the great increase of the trade with Australia and California, it is probable that the port of Stanley (the name of the settlement) will be more and more resorted to. I am informed that a ship wanting, water or provisions, in the run home from Cape Horn, may save not less than from ten days to a fortnight by calling at Stanley, instead of Buenos Ayres, or Rio de Janeiro besides having no port charges to pay. In proportion as more vessels call for supplies, these will be furnished more abundantly and better, since private enterprise will be sure to meet the demand which the greater resort of shipping to the port will create. It is to be hoped, also, that the means of re-fitting ships that have suffered in the stormy passage round Cape Horn, which already exist to some extent, will be increased there in the same manner, and that the plan of establishing there a patent slip, which was at one time under consideration with a view of its being undertaken by the Government, will be taken up as a private speculation.’

The annexed official document has been presented to Parliament during the present session; and although its date is anterior to that of the valuable communication from Capt. Matthews, of the Great Britain, as already quoted, it so materially confirms the value of the settlement as to suggest that Government should lose no time in increasing the two-monthly mail service now existing between the islands and Monte Video, and in erecting a patent slip, as they have lately done a lighthouse; for it is obvious that the Falklands must now assume, in the consideration of England, the status to which their political, as well as their geographical, position entitles them:

_Copy of a despatch from Governor Bennie to the Right Honourable Sir John S. Pakington, Bart.—Government House, Stanley, Falkland Islands, January 8, 1853.—(Received March 17, 1853.)—Sir,—In transmitting the Blue Book of this colony for the year ending 31st December 1852, I have the honour to report a continuance of the same steady, though not very rapid progress, which has prevailed in this small community during the last four years. The resort of shipping to these islands for supplies and repairs, forming one of the chief sources of prosperity, it is gratifying for me to observe the progressive increase shown by the returns of the year just ended over that of the previous year. In the year ending December 1851, 17,538 tons of shipping from England and foreign parts entered this harbour; in the year ending December 1852, there were 22,024 tons, being an increase of 4,486 tons. This augmentation necessarily produces a demand for produce, labour, and stores of every description, affording remunerative profits to the storekeepers, and employment at good wages to the labouring classes, unskilled 3s. to 5s. per diem, and skilled 6s. to 10s. Provisions are abundant, and at reasonable prices. The transference to the Falkland Islands Company of the large interests held by Mr. Lafone, and the commencement by that corporation of a more comprehensive system of operation, supported by a large capital, gives me very favourable hopes of benefit to the colony, and I trust to the shareholders. It is, however, worthy of remark, that whilst a powerful company, invested with great privileges by Her Majesty’s Government (as regards its property in land and cattle) has likewise established a considerable mercantile warehouse in the town of Stanley, the general business is going on so satisfactorily that all the original storekeepers are now adding to their premises and extending their dealings. The master of a barque, the Record, lately in the harbour, publicly notified that he would take passengers to the gold diggings in Australia at 10l. per head, and it gives me much pleasure to add, that not a person could be found in the colony to accept his proposition. In the year 1849, I put up for sale 12 allotments of one acre each, of suburban land near the town, suitable for the working classes to build on or to cultivate as gardens, and the amount idealized averaged 6l. per acre, being three times the usual government price. A few weeks since, having been given to understand that other parties wished to have an opportunity of purchasing similar allotments, I selected 11 of the same extent, but not quite equal to the former in situation. The prices on this occasion reached 12l. per acre on the average, or six times the usual fixed sum, and twice that of 1849. The grumbling and discontent manifested by a portion of the enrolled pensioners settled here has subsided since the notification to them by the Secretary-at-War that they were at liberty to return to England if they preferred to do so, nor has even one of them up to the present time availed himself of the permission. Small, comparatively, as the instances are which I have the honour to communicate, I trust they may lead to a more just appreciation of the capabilities and utility of this colony, and of the favourable prospects which it affords to steady and industrious emigrants.—I have, &c. (Signed) GEORGE RENNIE.—The Right Hon. Sir John S. Pakington, Bart. &c., &c._

FINIS

FOOTNOTES

[1] 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 those so engaged. Liverpool, like the seat of the Pope of Rome—but 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 expense, is equalled by some of those indomitable agents of the counting-house, who are as zealous for commercial conquests as the Andalusian Hidalgo was for the aggrandisement of his Sovereign and master. We doubt that even Father Charlevoix 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 de la Encarnacion, than do those Liverpool junior partners, clerks, and supercargoes, who are charged with the interests 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 London, a considerable share.

[2] 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 steam 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 confidently anticipated that an average speed of at least 10 knots per hour will 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, however, having been replaced.

[3] Though the great Genoese came in sight of St. Salvador, Bahama Islands, on the 11th of October, 1492, it was not until 1497 that he found the continent, the same year that Cabot, the son of a Venetian pilot residing at Bristol, discovered Newfoundland, and named it Prima Vista; the year also (or, as some say, the year before), that Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine in the service of Spain, and subsequently of Portugal, and again of Spain, reached the east coast, and was fortunate in giving his name to the entire of the continent, north and south. The Bahamas were not known to the English for nearly 200 years (1667) after the discovery by Columbus, when Captain Seyle was nearly wrecked there while proceeding to Carolina, also discovered by Cabot in 1500. The Bahamas were long infested by pirates; but in 1718 Captain Rogers expelled them, and the islands became and have since remained the property of the Crown of England, with the consent of Spain, though the British had had a settlement there long previously.

[4]

He turned; but what strange thoughts perplexed his soul, When, lo! no more attracted to the Pole, The Compass, faithless to the circling Vane, Fluttered and fixed, fluttered and fixed again! At length, as by some unseen Hand imprest, It sought, with trembling energy, the West! ‘Ah, no!’ he cried, and calmed his anxious brow; ‘Ill, nor the signs of ill, ’tis Thine to show; Thine but to lead me where I wished to go!’

ROGERS’ COLUMBUS.

[5] Though his scope embraces no part of the West Coast, nor any portion of the East Coast beyond the line, the author hopes, by the introduction of a few of the more prominent facts connected with each republic, to render this volume somewhat useful to those of his readers who may be desirous of a slight _precis_ of the history and position of the various states of South America, but who would, nevertheless, be deterred from entering upon details of feuds and complications more unintelligibly perplexing than the records of the dynastic chaos of the Saxon heptarchy, or the septic entanglements of the earliest Celtic kings. To this end, therefore, there will be appended a note on each of the outlying districts, if we may so call them, as they occur in the text; and first in the foregoing order comes

MEXICO.—After the usual experience of viceregal misrule, common to all the Spanish transmarine dependencies, this noble province threw off the yoke and asserted its independence in 1820, and virtually achieved it about a year afterwards, principally through Iturbide, a Spanish soldier of great valour and military skill, and who might probably have done for the land of his adoption what Washington had effected for the United States. Unlike that great character, however, he abused for his own selfishness the power he acquired; and, not content with being head of the state as regent on behalf of the people, he perfidiously caused himself to be proclaimed emperor, in 1822, and imperial revenues and honours to be decreed to himself and to his family. These measures, with many others of a like kind, produced such general defection, that he assembled the dispersed members of Congress in the capital, in 1823, and abdicated, agreeing to reside for the remainder of his life in Italy, on which condition a large allowance was made him. But, faithless to his word in this instance, as before, he returned from Leghorn, through England, attempted a revolution, miserably failed in raising any followers, and was ignominiously shot, at Padilla, in Santander, by La Garza, commander of that province, pursuant to instructions from the provincial legislature, in 1824. Vittoria, one of the ablest lieutenants of Iturbide in the war of independence, had been proclaimed president the year before; and the year after (’25) a treaty of commerce was ratified with Great Britain. Such proceedings, with the recognition that was soon to follow of the independence of the revolted country, had formed a topic of urgent interest at the Congress of Verona, in 1822, when, seeing what was looming in the future of South America, the Duke of Wellington, plenipotentiary from England, instructed by Mr. Canning, in continuation of the policy of Lord Castlereagh, to whom the Duke had just succeeded, presented a note, stating, that ‘The connection subsisting between the subjects of his Britannic Majesty and the other parts of the globe has for long rendered it necessary for him to recognise the existence, _de facto_, of governments formed in different places, so far as was necessary to conclude treaties with them. The relaxation of the authority of Spain in her colonies of South America has given rise to a host of pirates and adventurers,—an insupportable evil, which it is impossible for England to extirpate without the aid of the local authorities occupying the adjacent coasts and harbours; and the necessity of this coöperation cannot but lead to the recognition, _de facto_, of a number of governments of their own creation.’

Austria, Russia, Prussia, and France (represented by M. de Chateaubriand), diplomatically ignored this overture to humiliate their royal brother of Spain by admitting that which they were soon afterwards compelled, for their own sakes, to acquiesce in. All the efforts of the successor of Ferdinand and Isabella ignominiously failed to win back or retain any portion of the glorious inheritance of the throne of the Indies. A vast expedition, sent against Mexico, surrendered to the now successful revolutionists in 1829, a few months after the expulsion of the Spaniards had been decreed. Unfortunately, however, democratic anarchy soon supervened upon monarchic despotism; for hardly was the old tyranny got rid of, than Guerrero, the president, was deposed; and Mexico has since been but another word for whatever is most unwise in foreign policy or most pernicious in domestic administration. In 1838 war was declared against France, and of course, ended in disaster to Mexico, after five months’ duration, the most memorable incidents being the capture of the strong fortress of St. Jean d’Ulloa, by Prince Joinville, who greatly distinguished himself; and the brave defence of Vera Cruz, by Santa Anna, who there lost a leg. This soldier of fortune, something of the stamp of Rosas, having been repeatedly elected to supreme power, deposed, exiled, imprisoned, and restored, is once more president, with what prospect of continuance it is impossible to tell. Neither misfortune, nor experience of the impolicy of excessive severity, seems to have mitigated the innate ferocity of the man’s character. With a defiance of opinion more in consonance with the era of the Borgias than of constitutional government, or even of a civilized government in the middle of the 19th century, only as late as November last the Dictator caused death to be inflicted, by shooting, without the pretext of a trial, and as though they were the veriest wild beasts, on Senhor Tornel, formerly President Arista’s Minister of War, and Senhor de la Rosa, who was minister for foreign affairs immediately after the capitulation of the city of Mexico, and was the immediate instigator of Santa Anna’s expulsion from the country on that occasion, being also the writer of the letter officially informing him of his disgrace. Their offence was, simply, being obnoxious to the dictator—nothing more. Like Rosas, however, he has evinced more consideration for the foreign creditor than might have been expected; and about the period of the barbarity just named, devoted a considerable sum in liquidation of the more pressing of these demands, his ability to do so arising, it was said, (though the authority is as apocryphal as the circumstance itself) from a donation by the pope, as an equivalent for the restoration of the order of the Jesuits in Mexico. Others say that his funds have accrued from a sale to the United States of territory adjoining the present Californian possessions of the Union; and that, with the proceeds, he means to repeat Iturbide’s experiment in imperial power and title. Be this as it may, the area of Santa Anna’s sway, is much less now than it was formerly; for, owing to a succession of decisive repulses sustained from the United States, with which war was declared in 1846, and carried on till the beginning of 1848, Mexico has lost California; Texas having been annexed to the States in 1846; Yucatan, &c., having also seceded; and now, of the once prodigious territory of the Montezumas, and known in Spanish colonial history as the vice-royalty of Mexico, there remains, according to the treaty of 1848, but the comparatively narrow strip of land between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific.

This, though only a fragment of what it once belonged to, is still most rich in minerals, and most fruitful in valuable products, and highly important from its position; but nearly all its natural advantages are destroyed by the insecurity and deficiencies of its political institutions, and the incapacity and selfishness of those administering them among a very numerous population, equal, at least, to that of Scotland, after all the curtailments we have spoken of. It is needless to acquaint any reader of the public journals, to whom the words ‘Mexican Bondholders’ must be a ‘horrid, hideous sound of woe, sadder than owl-songs on the midnight blast,’ that the finances of the state are in a condition the reverse of consolatory to creditors. For the precise nature of those obligations, in whose fulfilment England is so much interested, we must refer to the very numerous pamphlets published by the various committees appointed in London to advise upon this intricate and unsatisfactory subject. That there is every desire on Santa Anna’s part to meet English liabilities, there can be no doubt; one motive for his anxiety being, it is said, the achievement of a stock-jobbing _coup_ on his own account, or, rather, on account of the adventurers he is surrounded by. If internal peace could only be secured, the vast resources of the country, and its unparagoned geographical position, midway, as it were, in the very path of the commerce of both hemispheres, would soon permit of its financial difficulties being adjusted. The question is, whether Santa Anna, in putting down anarchy—if he can keep it down—will not commit excesses as bad as the revolutionists in an opposite direction? The latter is the tendency of his acts at the present; but it is impossible to predicate of such a country what may or may not turn up from one hour to another. The representative of Mexico, hitherto charged, until lately, with the difficult task of negociating in this country with the English creditors, has been Colonel Facio. The Mexican diplomatic staff in London consists of Senhor de Castillo y Lanzas, 10, Park-place, Regent’s-park, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary; Don Augustin A. Franco, first secretary; Don José Hidalgo, 2nd secretary; Don Ignacio Luijano, attaché; Don B. G. Farias, 32, Great Winchester-street, vice-consul.

Though Consuls were sent, for commercial purposes, to nearly all the important ports of the new South American states, as early as October, 1823, it was not for several years afterwards that political or diplomatic representatives were despatched. The first was Mr. Alexander Cockburn, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Columbia, February, 1820; second, Sir R. Ker Porter, chargé d’affaires to Venezuela, July, 1835; third, Mr. Turner, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to New Granada, June, 1837; and fourth, Mr. W. Wilson, chargé d’affaires to Bolivia, 1837. These states will be severally noticed as they occur in the text. It was in March, 1835, that Sir Richard Pakenham, now British Minister in Portugal [see Lisbon] was accredited as plenipotentiary to Mexico. At present the same post is filled by Mr. Percy William Doyle (many years chargé d’affaires there) whose salary is £3,600, with £400 a-year house rent; secretary of legation, William Edward Thornton, salary, £600; paid attaché, Mr. A. H. Hastings Berkeley, salary, £200; and an unpaid attaché. The annexed list exhibits the names and salaries of the British consular corps in Mexico:—Mexico, F. Glennie, consul, £400; Vera Cruz, F. Giffard, consul, £500; Tampico, consul, Cleland Cumberlege, £500; San Bias, Eustace W. Barron, consul, £300; Mazatlan, S. Thomson, vice-consul, £150; Acapulco, Charles Wilthew, consul, £400.

[6] In the month of February, 1554, he addressed a long letter to the emperor,—it was the last he ever wrote him,—soliciting his attention to his suit. He begins, by proudly alluding to his past services to the Crown: ‘He had hoped, that the toils of youth would have secured him repose in his old age. For forty years he had passed his life with little sleep, bad food, and with his arms constantly by his side. He had freely exposed his person to peril, and spent his substance in exploring distant and unknown regions, that he might spread abroad the name of his sovereign, and bring under his sceptre many great and powerful nations. All this he had done, not only without assistance from home, but in the face of obstacles thrown in his way by rivals and by enemies, who thirsted like leeches for his blood. He was now old, infirm, and embarrassed with debt. Better had it been for him not to have known the liberal intentions of the emperor, as intimated by his grants; since he should then have devoted himself to the care of his estates, and not have been compelled, as he now was, to contend with the officers of the Crown, against whom it was more difficult to defend himself than to win the land from the enemy.’ He concludes with beseeching his sovereign to ‘order the Council of the Indies, with the other tribunals which had cognisance of his suits, to come to a decision; since he was too old to wander about like a vagrant, but ought, rather, during the brief remainder of his life, to stay at home and settle his account with Heaven, occupied with the concerns of his soul, rather than with his substance.’ This appeal to his sovereign, which has something in it touching from a man of the haughty spirit of Cortez, had not the effect to quicken the determination of his suit. He still lingered at the court, from week to week, and from month to month, beguiled by the deceitful hopes of the litigant, tasting all that bitterness of the soul which arises from hope deferred. After three years more, passed in this unprofitable and humiliating occupation, he resolved to leave his ungrateful country and return to Mexico. He had proceeded as far as Seville, accompanied by his son, when he fell ill of an indigestion, caused, probably, by irritation and trouble of mind. This terminated in dysentery, and his strength sank so rapidly under the disease, that it was apparent his mortal career was drawing towards its close.—_Prescott._

[7] PERU.—Referring to what has been already said as regards Mexico for a general notion of the relationship between Spain and her colonies, when the spirit of revolt began to develope itself in the latter, it is only necessary to add here that, since its emancipation, Peru has, like all the congeries of republics of which it forms one, been a prey to civil dissension and military turmoil. Of late years its increasing commerce, the vast pecuniary means it has discovered, in its guano islands, of meeting its engagements with the European creditor, and the comparatively pacific spirit that prevails in its councils and in those of the neighbouring states, are producing their natural results; and, despite occasional exceptions, there is every reason to look for a prosperous future. The conquest of Peru having been effected with infinitely more ease than that of Mexico, as far as the mere military resistance of the natives was concerned, it continued for nearly 300 years subject to Spain, and formed its last stronghold in that quarter of the world. The history of the struggles for independence, from the time that the first Protector, San Martin, [see Chili, page 18] entered the country with the combined Chilian and Buenos Ayrean army, and proclaimed its freedom at Lima, the capital, in 1821, till the Spaniards were finally expelled, would embrace the biography of the commander just named, and the still more celebrated one, Bolivar, who, with his victorious troops from Columbia, to which he had given liberty in 1821, mainly contributed to the liberation of Peru, whereof he became President in 1825, San Martin retiring in 1822, with these memorable words:—‘I have proclaimed the independence of Chili and Peru; I have taken the standard with which Pizarro came to enslave the empire of the Incas; and I have ceased to be a public man.’ Bolivar ran through pretty much the same vicissitudes of popular caprice as we have recounted in the case of Santa Anna, though an incomparably superior character in every respect; and, after numberless feuds, and escaping plots against his life by those he had raised to power, was on the point of returning from voluntary seclusion, on his patrimonial estate, to assume once more the direction of affairs, in obedience to the voice of the public, who, too late, found out that he was the only man for the occasion, when he died in 1830, in his 47th year, leaving behind the highest reputation which South American history has afforded, not only as a commander and an administrator, but as a constitutional legislator. Repeated revolutions have since ensued, partly caused by rivalries of internal factions, and partly by the hostilities of neighbouring states, which, being themselves torn with dissension, and constantly changing their territorial status, have rendered war upon Peru, or on the part of Peru, almost unavoidable. This is the case at present; Bolivia, under its President, Belzu, having invaded Peru, and protracted hostilities being certain. Under such circumstances it is hardly necessary to add, that the finances of the country have been inadequate to its expenditure, and that, consequently, the foreign creditors have fared exceedingly