in the interest of the Viceroy, and by the preponderance of the magistrates, who were afraid of losing their posts.

It is worthy of note, that this conspiracy was entirely the work of European Spaniards, all the Creoles siding with the party in power; and that the spirit of the latter was even so much averse from any proceeding repugnant to their scrupulous fidelity to the mother-country, that they rejected all the suggestions used by the metropolitans to incite them to this act of rebellion, which failed because they refused to co-operate. But although these seditious tumults were ineffectual, they brought to light a truth, which has proved very bitter to the Old Spaniards, namely, that the real strength of the country existed in the natives. At the same time, there arose between them a spirit of hatred and enmity so violent, as to be irreconcileable. The Viceroy, who owed his safety to the bayonets of the native troops, took care to flatter their patriotism, by congratulating them on their acknowledged superiority over their enemies; thus following the maxim of dividing in order to rule, he added fuel to a fire which had been already kindled to an inextinguishable degree.

While the Europeans of the colony, by their imprudent measures, were daily giving fresh motives for disgust to the natives, and temptations to devise means for eternally avoiding them, the metropolis was not more cautious in managing the intricate interests of the colonies, and in preventing that frequent collision which was detrimental to her own. The Central Junta was recognized and sworn to in Buenos Ayres with general enthusiasm; and the first act in which that body manifested its sovereignty, was the mission of a new Viceroy in lieu of Liniers, who was to be sent under arrest to Spain. The dispute between the Creoles and the Europeans was decided entirely in favour of the lat

ter; the prisons in which the insurgents had been seven months confined, were opened; and, in order that no doubt should remain as to the spirit of the decisions of the mother-country, Elio was raised to an employ, which gave him immediate authority over the troops. Nevertheless, the natives manifested a fresh proof of their ready deference to the will of their TransAtlantic lords, and admitted, without repugnance, the Viceroy Cisneros, who arrived among them in the beginning of the month of August 1809; but they resisted the promotion of Elio to the office of Inspectorgeneral; and the commandants of the different corps employed their influence to procure a relaxation of the orders respecting the transportation of Liniers, which was conceded, and he was allowed to go and reside at Cordova. There this man of enterprize might have leisure to lament his surprise, for it is impossible to ascribe to other reasons his readiness to give up the command to his successor. will, in the sequel, appear that he left this quiet asylum for which he was indebted to the love of the Creoles, for the purpose of fighting against them.

It

The posture of affairs, when Don Baltasar Hedalgo de Cisneros took the command, was by no means flattering; on the contrary, it presented the greatest difficulties that ever occurred since the conquest. The people began to abandon their habitual adoration of a government which was ever varying its form: their former sacrifices, and their bold defence, had been passed over without reward; they were laden with fresh grievances in various ways, and they were in a condition to avenge themselves. The coming of the chief calmed, for a short time, the heat of the parties, which had been excited by the former government: this, however, was but an apparent tranquillity, by which the ineptitude of Cisneros could not profit; it was like the extraordinary calm

preceding

preceding a tempest, which a skilful pilot can reason from, but from which the ignorant can anticipate nothing. The public discontent was augmented by the exhausted state of the treasury, which called for some economical reforms in the military establishment; a measure which could not fail of producing uneasiness. Embarrassed in so many various ways, the Viceroy asked the advice of men capable of informing him; one of them* who, by his talents, his activity, and his patriotism, will occupy a distinguished place in the history of America, made the most eloquent and energetic representations in favour of a free trade with England, as the surest means of restoring happiness to the country, and of improving its finances.

The earnest complaints of the European Spaniards, exaggerated to such a degree as to represent the colony on the eve of a general revolt, had caused an unreasonable alarm to the central government, and had excited so much prejudice against the natives, that the most rigorous and extravagant instructions were given to the chief who came to restore order. It is not possible to conceive more barshness, more arbitrary conduct, or more injustice, than what was displayed under that system of the nation which was denominated popular. The Viceroy, in conformity to his instructions, began to apprehend all the individuals who were accounted suspicious, and they were sent, without any form of trial, or the slightest public allegations, to the peninsula, where their common fate was, either imprisonment, or service in the ranks of the armies.Foreigners were persecuted in an equal

* Dr Mariano Mareno, whose decease, in the prime of life, while on a voyage to England as envoy from the Junta of Buenos Ayres, deprived his country of one of its brightest ornaments. His abilities, as an orator and a statesman, justly gained him the appellation of the Burke of South Ame

degree, although many of them claimed protection on the ground of their former public services, or on that of having married and settled in the territory a considerable time previous.

:

The natural result of all this was, that the authority of the Viceroy was overthrown at the first shock. The 19th of May, 1810, was the day which put to the proof that old system which had rendered itself so odious: very dismal accounts had been received of the state of the mother country, and principally of the Andalusias, the provinces that had made most stir in America Cadiz was said to have surrendered, and the Central Junta dispersed, not only with ignominy, but under suspicions of treason. conjuncture, the Viceroy knew not what road to take; and his perplexity was manifested to the people by a proclamation, in which he expressed his concern respecting the precarious state of their peninsula, and, far from quieting the apprehensions, gave the most evident proofs of his own doubts and dejection. The Cabildo saw the necessity of immediately assembling to deliberate on the measures to be taken for preventing the multitude from forming a party of themselves to seize the government, for the continuation of which, as the fountain of authority was stopped, the men who held it could establish no claim. It is evident that, according to every principle of right, the magistrates could no longer exercise their functions, and that, the Central Junta being dissolved, Cisneros had no more title to the supreme administration of these provinces than the meanest citizen of Buenos Ayres. So far was this ferment from originating in any desire of independence which might be supposed to exist among the natives, that not a thing was done without the assent and concurrence of the chiefs with whom all the individuals of the

Cabildo, the majority of whom were European Spaniards, consulted, and,

in conformity with him, convoked a congress on the 22d of the same month, at which the principal inhabitants assisted, in compliance with a citation made to that effect.

To the proceedings of this day, the Provisional Junta of Government now reigning in those provinces owes its origin: it was installed legitimately, and under the best auspices, for restoring tranquillity to the people, and for withdrawing them from that dangerous state into which they might at every step be thrown by the vicissitudes of the metropolis. Not a single instance of violence can be found to have taken place during that momentous crisis; and the magistrates, under the old system, have had no reason to complain of any vexation, except that of being supplanted in their authority. Shortly afterwards, however, a great conspiracy was disclosed, that threatened to destroy a proceeding which the agents of despotism and corruption could not bring themselves to sanction. The passions of the functionaries from the metropolis began to take effect; these men could not easily condescend to regard as free men, those who had heretofore been slaves. Monte Video was the first town which refused to conform to the established alterations; and, notwithstanding that the first negociations which were opened for securing the conformity of that people with the system of the capital, took effect for some time, yet on the arrival of a post at a subsequent period, announcing the installation of a Council of Regency, was sufficient to induce them to condemn the project, and even to insist that the restoration of the Viceroy was the only means of avoiding a rupture.

The Government of Buenos Ayres, who knew nothing of the Council of Regency but by report, not having received official dispatches to accredit its existence, and to justify its assumption of the rights of sovereignty,

refused to acknowledge it under the pretext of these informalities; or, at least, deferred doing so, until they could satisfactorily examine the title by which that Council had placed itself at the head of the nation, after supplanting the Central Junta. And, indeed, if we are to regard the matter with the circumspection it merits, this reserve on the part of the New Government cannot be blamed; nor is it strange, that, after having admitted two reigns in the course of two years, they should rather hesitate at receiving a third, for otherwise there might have been danger, that, after blindly submitting, first to one and then to another, they would be driven at length to acknowledge the claims of Joseph Buonaparte.

On the side of Peru, the innovators beheld no clearer a prospect; Liniers had headed the opposition which was to destroy their projects; but of all the forces that could be collected in the interior provinces, only two small armies were formed, one under the command of that chief, and another in Potosi, under the orders of Marshal Nieto. Both were completely beaten by a military force which the Junta of Buenos Ayres dispatched against them, and the leaders in this disgraceful contest forfeited their lives for their rash enterprize. Liniers, Concha, Allende, Rodriguez, and Moreno, were executed in the vicinity of Cordova, pursuant to a formal sentence awarded against them as conspirators; and Nieto, Sanz, and Josef de Cordova, were put to death in the principal square of Potosi, with the public solemnity usual in such cases.

To the north, the province of Paraguay had adopted the example of Monte-Video, and had also united with the opposition, through the advice of Velasco the governor: a force of five hundred men, under General Belgrano, was sent by the Junta in the month of October, 1810; but this interference was of little efficacy,

and

and the inhabitants persisted, without adhering to the new system, until the intrigues and imprudent measures of their own chiefs obliged them to change their sentiments. The Paraguayans seized Velasco, and sent him as a present to the people of Buenos Ayres, in order to regain their friendship.

be seen, yet some of the tracts would certainly maintain sheep in great numbers. Having halted at a place about half way, we descended a very steep mountain, full a mile in the declivity, and entered a ravine where we crossed a very good wooden bridge over the river Jigitonhonha, which is larger than the Derwent at Derby. We rode along its margin, where the land appears much richer, presenting a good vegetable

BRAZIL.

(From Mawe's Travels in Brazil.)

AT an early hour I arose; and, tho' so unwell as to be scarcely more than half alive, I could not resist the favourable opportunity now offered me of gratifying the curiosity which had so long occupied my mind, by visiting the diamond mines, in company with the principal officer in the administration of them, who was therefore qualified to furnish me with the amplest information. A fine horse was waiting for me at the door, and I rode up to the house of the governor, who introduced me to his amiable lady, daughters, and family, with whom I had the honour to take breakfast. Several officers of the diamond establishment arrived on horseback to accompany us, their presence being required on this occasion. At nine o'clock we set out, and crossed the ravine, watered by the small rivulet of St Francisco, which separates Tejuco from the opposite mountains. The road was very rough and uneven, continually ascending or descending mountains of considerable extent, the strata of which were grit alternating with micaceous schistus, and presenting an immense quantity of rude masses, composed of grit and rounded quartz, forming a loose and friable kind of pudding-stone. The country appeared almost destitute of wood, presenting occasionally a few poor shrubs; there were no cattle to

proceeding about a league, arrived at the famed place called Mandanga.The habitations, which are about one

hundred in number, are built detached, and are generally of a circular form, with very high thatched roofs, like African huts, but much larger. The walls are formed of upright stakes, interwoven with small branches, and coated with clay inside and out. The houses of the officers are of the same materials but of a much more convenient form, and whitewashed within. Near some of the houses we observed inclosures for gardens, which, in some degree, enlivened the prospect, and gave an air of comfort to these rude and simple dwellings.

I remained here five days, during which I was occupied in viewing and examining various parts of the works, of which I shall here attempt to give a general description.

This rich river, formed by the junction of a number of streams which will be hereafter noted, is as wide as the Thames at Windsor, and in general from three to nine feet deep. The part now in working is a curve or elbow, from which the current is diverted into a canal cut across the tongue of land round which it winds, the river being stopped just below the head of the canal by an embankment formed of several thousand bags of sand. This is a work of considerable magnitude, and requires the cooperation of all the negroes to com

plete

plete it; the river being wide and not very shallow, and occasionally subject to overflows, they have to make the embankment so strong as to resist the pressure of the water, admitting it to rise four or five feet.

The deeper parts of the channel of the river are laid dry by means of large caissons or chain-pumps, worked by a water-wheel. The mud is then carried off, and the cascalhao is dug up and removed to a convenient place for washing. This labour was, until lately, performed by the negroes, who carried the cascalhao in gamellas on their heads; but Mr Camara has formed two inclined planes about one hundred yards in length, along which carts are drawn by a large water-wheel, divided into two parts, the ladles or buckets of which are so constructed that the rotatory motion may be altered by changing the current of water from one side to the other; this wheel, by means of a rope made of untanned hides, works two carts, one of which descends empty on one inclined plane, while the other, loaded with cascalhao, is drawn to the top of the other, where it falls into a cradle, empties itself, and descends in its turn. At a work called Canjeca, formerly of great importance, about a mile up the river on the opposite side, there are three cylindrical engines for drawing the cascalhao, like those used in the mining country of Derbyshire, and also railways over some uneven ground.This was the first and only machinery of consequence which I saw in the diamond district, and there appear many obstacles to the general introduction of it. Timber, when wanted of large size, has to be fetched a distance of one hundred miles at a very heavy expence; there are few persons competent to the construction of ma chines, and the workmen dislike to make them, fearing that this is only part of a general plan for superseding

manual labour.

The stratum of cascalhao consists of the saine materials with that in the gold district. On many parts, by the edge of the river, are large conglomerate masses of rounded pebbles cemented by oxide of iron, which sometimes envelope gold and diamonds. They calculate on getting as much cascalhao in the dry season as will occupy all their hands during the months which are more subject to rain. When carried from the bed of the river whence it is dug, it is laid in heaps containing apparently from five to fifteen tons each.

Water is conveyed from a distance, and is distributed to the various parts of the works by means of aqueducts, constructed with great ingenuity and skill. The method of washing for diamonds at this place is as follows: -A shed is erected in the form of a parallelogram, twenty-five or thirty yards long and about fifteen wide, consisting of upright posts which support a roof thatched with long grass. Down the middle of the area of this shed a current of water is conveyed through a canal covered with strong planks, on which the cascalhao is laid two or three feet thick. On the other side of the area is a flooring of planks, from four to five yards long, imbedded in clay, extending the whole length of the shed, and having a slope from the canal, of three or four inches to a yard. This flooring is divided into about twenty compartments or troughs, each about three feet wide, by means of planks placed on their edge. The upper ends of all these troughs, (here called canoes,) communicate with the canal, and are so formed that water is admitted into them between two planks that are about an inch separate.Thro' this opening the current falls about six inches into the trough, and may be directed to any part of it, or stopped at pleasure by means of a small quantity of clay. For instance, sometimes water is required only from

one