Note 97 — Chapter XIII · UP THE PARANA.

The author on whom we have so frequently drawn for facts and illustrations, seems to attach greater moment to Corrientes, speaking of which he says, ‘There is more of a military authority combined with usual duties of a Captain of the Port in South America than is exercised by our Harbour Master, giving him some of the powers of a commandant. The existence of regularly organized ports of entry for foreign vessels so far up the river (and there are others much higher up the Parana and Paraguay) is not generally known. It has been the not unnatural, but injurious, policy of the government of Buenos Ayres (Rosas) to seek to monopolise the trade of the states of La Plata, and to prevent direct intercourse between the other maritime, or rather fluvial, provinces and foreign countries. Europeans have been in the habit of looking on Buenos Ayres and Monte Video as the sole ports fitted for foreign commerce in the states of La Plata, whereas there is no doubt that the best ports are in the river Parana itself, which affords excellent positions for depôts of produce, and for loading or discharging vessels. Many such ports exist on the banks, not only of the Parana, but of the rivers Uruguay and Paraguay. In the Parana there is deep water, generally from five to twenty, and sometimes forty, fathoms, with good anchorage. The current runs three or four knots, often more, when floods increase the large body of water coming down from the river Paraguay and the numerous smaller rivers which empty themselves into the Parana from various quarters, and are swollen by the melting snow of the Andes. The soil about Corrientes is sandy: trees thrive, but there is more brushwood than timber. The inhabitants, having hitherto had but little intercourse with the rest of the world, are naturally ignorant respecting Europe and its usages. Many of them know but little Spanish, using the Indian dialect, the ‘Guarani,’ which prevails more or less throughout all this part of the interior of South America, including Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil. Of their little knowledge of things considered as the everyday comforts or necessaries of life in other countries, an eye-witness related a somewhat amusing proof. ‘An old Scotchman, who had been settled at Corrientes for the greater part of his life, begged some coal from a British war-steamer on her way up. His sole object in making the request was to be enabled to vindicate his reputation for veracity. It seems that he had often told them that in England they had a kind of black stone that could be used as fuel, an assertion which was scouted as absurd and incredible, and he was considered as a Scotch Munchausen. He obtained the coal, however, and on the day fixed for the experiment half the town assembled, and, seated in a large circle, with their cigarritos in their mouths, watched the smoke arising from the coal with silent incredulity. It did not readily ignite, so the Dons began to shrug their shoulders and intimate their contempt for the whole affair; but when the fire blazed up, a total change came over them, and it was highly amusing to witness the enthusiastic delight they evinced, shouting energetically, vivaing, &c.’ He adds, speaking of the Corrientines, ‘As a race, the men of this country seem much finer in stature and appearance than the women, who are generally small, fair, and delicate, and it is said that further in the interior and in Paraguay they are still more fair and northern looking.’ Some travellers assert that what they call their religion is often little else than superstition, and that their morality is far from strict, but this may be a false impression, adopted on slight grounds. In dress they are perfectly innocent of any superfluity, for which the great heat is a valid reason. But whatever are their shortcomings resulting from their isolated position, they are most hospitable and kind towards strangers. ‘Travelling through the country one is well received at every house one rides up to; refreshment is always promptly offered, especially water melons, which are particularly grateful in these climates. Payment when offered is almost invariably declined, and never demanded.’ In consequence of the gradual filling up of the Parana by alluvial deposits towards the Delta at its mouth, the navigation is much better higher up in the river than where it spreads into many small channels, emptying themselves into the upper part of the River Plate; still a vessel drawing sixteen or seventeen feet of water can go over all the passes when the river is moderately high; although during the prevalence of certain winds from the north and west there is less water, and near the island of Martin Garcia generally not more on the banks than fourteen feet. Thus from Colonia to the Bajada, and further up to the pass of San Juan, without any extraordinary rise in the water, a large vessel can ascend. From San Juan to Corrientes there is only a depth of thirteen feet on the worst passes, and about the same depth may be had all the way to Assumption, watching opportunity. There are neither ‘snags’ nor ‘sawyers’ [trunks of trees carried down by the current and fixed in the bottom, very dangerous in the Mississippi and other great rivers of North America, where they are known by these names], rocks, nor other obstructions, but steamers may go at full speed up or down by keeping the right channel. In the broad parts the stream runs at the rate of about three, and in the narrow channels, four knots, or even more.’