class="sec">Contrast between Frenchmen and Englishmen

— Inducements to Emigration 158 Colonia del Sacramento 159 Appendix.—Rules of the Port 167 Anchorage Dues 168 Police of the Port — Penalties to which those are subject who destroy the line of Buoys established by Government 169 Instructions for sailing from Buenos Ayres to Monte Video 170

———— from Monte Video to Buenos Ayres 172

Variation of Depth of Water between the Banks Ortiz and Chico 174 Positions of the Ten Buoys in the River Plate 175

REMARKS
DURING
A FIVE YEARS’ RESIDENCE
IN
BUENOS AYRES.

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THE city of Buenos Ayres, when viewed from the outer roads at a distance of about eight miles, has an imposing appearance. The domes of the numerous churches, the public buildings, &c. give it an air of grandeur, which a nearer approach diminishes. On landing, the dilapidated mole (destroyed by the storm of the 21st August, 1820) and the mean streets near the beach, do not augur well for the beauty of the town: it requires an inspection rightly to appreciate it, for there are edifices worthy of attention. When I landed, in October, 1820, two cannons, forty-two-pounders, in very good condition, were mounted on the mole: they had the Spanish royal arms engraven on them, and inscriptions, purporting, that one was cast at Seville, and the other at Lima, some sixty years since.

A passenger is not exposed to any particular custom-house obstructions when he comes on shore. Should he bring his trunks with him, he is simply requested to open them, and a slight examination takes place. Several obnoxious customs have lately been abolished. Formerly, a sentinel was posted, to prevent any one passing to the water-side at the mole without first asking permission at the guard-house on the beach. The system of vessels being obliged to wait, upon their arrival, in the outer roads, for the visit of the health boat from shore, has also undergone reform. Masters may now leave their vessels immediately. It is necessary to go on board the gun-brig, which is now stationed in the inner roads, and there await the visit of the health boat, which comes off by a signal from this brig, and very little delay occurs. Upon the old plan, vessels often remained, through bad weather or neglect, four or five days before they were visited; during which time no communication was allowed with the shore. A manifest of the cargo, the ship’s papers,[1] letters, &c. are given to the visiting officer, provided no consul or agent of the nation whose flag the vessel bears resides in Buenos Ayres.

The removal of the brig of war from the outer roads has taken away the occasion of much offence. Disputes were continually occurring, from her firing at vessels and boats to bring them to. The boat of the Countess of Chichester, the first packet that arrived from Falmouth, had two shots fired at her, when going on shore with Mr. Pousset, the vice-consul. Captain Little, who was on board the packet at the time, not knowing what to make of this firing, ordered the guns to be double-shotted, and the crew to get under arms. A representation was made, and an apology promptly given. Serious misunderstandings, however, I am persuaded, must, some time or other, have occurred, had the brig continued outside, and pursued the same system.

It is only since October, 1821, that the health boat has been regularly established. The enforcement of the quarantine laws, and the prevention of smuggling, were the reasons assigned for it; but there were probably other motives, one of which might be, to prevent the boats of British men-of-war from boarding vessels of their own nation before their visit boat. It would, however, be difficult, strictly to enforce the quarantine laws at Buenos Ayres. Vessels have frequently arrived at night, or in a fog, and the captains have come on shore without being visited, not being aware of the regulations.

The outer and inner roads are, in fact, open roadsteads; neither of them possessing good anchorage. A strong wind from the E. or S.E. blowing almost direct on land, is always dangerous; and vessels often drive. In the storm of the 21st August, 1820, in which sixty vessels of all descriptions were lost, the wind was at S.E. The winter season is much better for shipping than the summer; as in the latter, the wind blows fresh nearly every afternoon from the eastward. Good anchors and cables are very necessary in the river Plate; chain cables particularly.

In the outer roads, the average depth of water is 18 feet, in the inner roads, 18: at high tides, there is 25 feet in the outer, and 13 in the inner roads. A Pampero wind, blowing off the land from the W. or W.S.W. causes at times a very low river, leaving not more than 5 feet water in the inner, and 8 in the outer roads. The banks that divide the roads are then dry, and people ride on horseback upon them. This extreme low tide does not often happen. The brig Candidate, salt-laden from the Cape de Verds, was lost, on the 13th June, 1823, near the Ortiz bank, from an occurrence of this sort: the water having suddenly left her, she foundered at her anchors. The state of the tide sometimes causes great delay to vessels leaving the inner roads; days, and even a week, being lost at some periods.

Pilots, appointed and paid by the government, conduct vessels to and from the outer and inner roads: two of them are Englishmen, Lee and Robinson; the others are Portuguese and Creolian, who speak a little English. The charge for pilotage is about 10 dollars each way. Masters piloting their own vessels, which is now and then the case, do not