Note 96 — Chapter XIII · UP THE PARANA.

Speaking of the descent of the river, at a terrific pace, by the Alecto, Commander M’Kinnon, in his work ‘Steam Warfare on the Parana,’ to which reference has already been made, says:—There was only one person in South America who had either the nerve, knowledge, or ability to do it. It is natural to suppose that this person must have been a native of the country, brought up on the river, and who had spent a long and active life in getting such a thorough and precise knowledge. With pride do I say it, this was not the case. The pilot was a brother officer, Captain B. J. Sullivan, who coolly stood on the paddle-box, and conned the vessel by a motion of his hand to the quarter-master. The whole of the river, up to Corrientes, is now surveyed by the above-mentioned officer, and better known, by his means, in London, than at Rosas’ capital, Buenos Ayres.