had made a large sum of money, as the auctioneer of the effects captured in the city by the British. He had afterwards been employed by the government of Buenos Ayres to purchase vessels for admiral Brown's squadron, and was accused of defrauding the state, was obliged to fly and take refuge on board a British ship of war, where he claimed protection as a British subject. He wished the commissioners to interfere in his business, and to procure an adjustment of his claims on the government of Buenos Ayres; asserting his right to protection as an American citizen. Mr. Rodney declined having any thing to do with them; he left his papers, however, with one of the other commissioners.

General Carrera had paid a visit sometime before to Artigas, and from what I gathered from him, his gratification was not high. He painted him as a kind of half savage, possessing strong natural mind, taciturn, but shrewd in his remarks when he chose to speak. He wore no uniform or mark of distinction, and took up his abode in a cart or wagon, caring little for the refinements or comforts of civilized life, to which, in fact, he had never been much accustomed. His life had been passed in the plains, and he had an aversion to living in towns, and to the constraints of polished society. His residence then, was at a small village on the Rio Negro, called Conception, consisting of a few huts constructed with mud, or ox hides; but his seat of government often shifted place. He lives on the same fare, and in the same manner, with the gauchos around him, being in truth nothing but a gaucho himself. When told of a pamplet published against him at Buenos Ayres, he spoke of it with the utmost indifference, and said, "my people cannot

read." He has about him a small body of men, who are considered regular soldiers, but his chief force consists of the herdsmen of the plains; its numbers, therefore, extremely fluctuating, as it cannot be kept long together. His followers are greatly attached to him. His fame and superior intellect, commands their respect, at the same time that he indulges them in a certain kind of familiarity, which wins their affections.* A few simple words, liberty, country, tyrants, &c. to which each one attaches his own meaning, serve as the ostensible bond of their union, which in reality arises from, "their predisposition to an unrestrained roving life." His authority is perfectly absolute, and without the slightest control; he sentences to death, and orders to execution, with as little formality as a dey of Algiers. He is under the guidance of an apostate priest, of the name of Monterosa, who acts as his secretary, and writes his proclamations and letters; for although Artigas has not a bad head, he is by no means good at inditing. Monterosa professes to be in the literal sense, a follower of the political doctrines of Paine;† and prefers the constitution of Massachusetts as the most democratic, without seeming to know that the manners and habits of a people are very important considerations. The men bearing arms under Artigas, probably amount to six or eight thousand, but the number at any time imbodied is much less; the want of commissaries and regular supplies, rendering it impossible to keep them to

* They address him by the familiar name of pepé, which may be translated daddy.

+ Paine's Common Sense, and the American constitutions, have been widely circulated in every part of South America.

gether. The neighboring Indian tribes are also de. voted to him, principally through the means of his adopted son, an Indian named Andres.* I give the impression left on my mind from the conversation of the general, it is possible I may have mingled in this statement, something of what I may have heard from others.

I shall take this opportunity of giving a sketch of the principal incidents in the life of this singular man, as far as I have been enabled to do it, from conversations with persons during my stay at this place and at Buenos Ayres, as well as from such documents as I could procure after the most diligent inquiry. He is a native of Monte Video, born of respectable parents, but when quite a youth, became enamored of the wild life of the herdsmen, and strayed away from the paternal roof. He joined a band of robbers and smugglers, who infested the country, and in the course of time became a noted leader. I have already remarked, the trouble which this class of men, so little under the restraint of law and government, and inhabiting boundless plains, have always given to the

*These Indians have excited great terror in the settlements on the Parana. I saw several families at Buenos Ayres, who had fled down the river in consternation, even from the neighborhood of Santa Fee. Mr. Bonpland, the celebrated naturalist, had intended to ascend the river for the purpose of pursuing his researches, but was prevented by the accounts he heard of the Indians around that place; the defeat of the troops of Buenos Ayres was chiefly effected by them in the thick woods of the Entre Rios. This philosopher, whose opinion is worth attending to, observed to me, “it is a fortunate circumstance that Artigas is very old, and cannot live long, otherwise it would be in his power to do irreparable mischief."

Spaniards and Portuguese, and especially in this quarter. So many depredations and murders, were committed by the idle and abandoned part, who formed themselves into montons,* or bands, that about ne year 1798, it was found necessary to establish a provincial corps, designated by the name of Blendingues, for the purpose of scouring the country, and repressing their lawless practices. At the earnest solicitation of the father of Artigas, who saw in this a mode of reclaiming his son, in which the government also found its interest, Artigas then received a commission and was pardoned, after having been nearly twenty years an outlaw. According to the old adage, he justified their expectations; he so effectually pursued and hunted down his old companions, that the country was restored to comparative tranquillity and security. At the commencement of the civil war between Monte Video and Buenos Ayres, he had risen to the rank of captain; but in the two invasions by the British, he seems to have been no way distinguished, at least, I have not been able to meet with his name in any of the numerous printed documents and papers of that time.

The reader will recollect, that in 1810, a junta was established by the patriots of Buenos Ayres, while the Spanish authority was triumphant at Monte Video. Hostilities ensued. Artigas was still in the service of the. royalists, but deserted them the year following, and came to Buenos Ayres. The immediate cause of this desertion, is stated to have been an insult offered him by the governor of Colonia; who, after repeatedly re

* Hence the word montoneros.

primanding him for not keeping his gauchos in a proper state of subordination, threatened to put him in irons. I will not vouch for the truth of the story, but I have not heard it contradicted; the probability is, that in serving under a regular officer, he found himself in a very different situation from that of a free and independent commander of a scouring party on the frontier. His habits had disqualified him for the observance of a rigid discipline, and, it is probable, he would have lost his influence over his gauchos by attempting to enforce it. He was gladly received by the government of Buenos Ayres, which was then meditating an invasion of the Banda Oriental, and which perceived at once that this man might be used to great advantage, from his known intrepid character, and his repute among the inhabitants of the plains. They accordingly furnished him with a quantity of arms and ammunition, and sent him over for the purpose of raising the gauchos. General Rondeau followed soon after with two thousand regulars. Under the command of this general, assisted by Artigas, with his guerillas, the war was carried on with rapid success; Artigas gained considerable reputation by defeating the Spanish troops under Elio, at Las Piedras; and Maldonado, Colonia, and the principal villages, fell into his possession. Rondeau next laid siege to Monte Video, and which was kept up until the close of the year. At this time, the situation of Buenos Ayres was extremely critical; its forces had been entirely defeated in the provinces of Peru; the royalists were in possession of the country as low down as Salta; while, at the same time, an army of four thousand Portuguese, under general Sousa, was marching