Star.
London, England, 1824-08-11 00:00:00

[NMI SEVFN.PRNOR•

was to make sailors. and prepare them for an expedi-
tion against South America.
It was reported to him from various quarters, that the
men on board the Spanish ships served with great re-
luctance, that they had been forced into the service, and
were severely treated : prisoners and neutrals agreed in
this statement. There were few if any Spanish troops
in Cadiz, the place was garrisoned by the French; and
all reports from the shore agreed in stating, that 40,000
additional troops from France were expecte.' to enter
Spain. There was a considerable number of merchant-
men in the harbour capable of being easily converted
into transports, to carry a large amount of troops ; but
so far as could be ascertained, there were no troops, ex-
cept French. The expedition spoken of was said to be
destined for the Pacific.

Information of much importance was obtained by
Captain Cottrell the day subsequent to leaving his sta-
tion off Cadiz, the whole of which we are not permitted
to publish ; but the following ape a few of the particulars:
—On the sth of May he came up with the Sardinian
brig Themistocles, bound from Havannah to Gibraltar
and Genoa; on nearing her, he observed a paper pack-
age floating a-stern, when he sent out a boat and secured
it. On examination, he discovered what was sufficient
to awaken his suspicions. He immediately boarded the
brig, and after a diligent search, found-himself in pos-
session of dispatches from the Havannah to he Spanish
Govembient, with official letters from General Morales,
and one from the General to his sister in Spain. This
was a prize more valuable than gold or silver. The
letters contained a detailed plan of a combined expedi-
tion from Havannah and Cadiz, proposed to be against
one of the South American States, enumerating such
points as the General conceived to be vulnerable, and
designating such persons on the proposed theatre of
war as the Spanish Government could confide in and
correspond with. We have not permission to go further
in the statement, but the importance of the fact we
have communicated is obvious.

wpm..
The following description of South America, its in-
habitants, means of defence, and prospects, is from the
pen of M. Make Brun, the well-known geographer. It
is the best account of the Spanish Colonies in a short
space we have seen.
" Does Spanish America possess the means of main-
taining its independeice? Nature seems to have de-
cided this question. Where can we 6nd countries more
isolated, and better guaranteed against invasion, than
the greater part of the Spanish Colonie•? Behind a
chain of mountains, higher and steeper than the Alps,
there are vast plains mingled with hills and valleys, _
where the temperature is cool and ;he climate damp,
and this elevated region is bounded on two sides by arid
and burning countries, or by low plains covered with
impenetrable forests and barren sands. This district,
suspended as it were in the air, is a little Europe sur-
rounded with an African belt. Health reigns through-
out it, while fever and death dwell wound it. A
single traveller passing throngh these unhealthy and
burning regions to reach the healthy spot suffers very
much, more than could be-endured by, soldiers loaded
with their baggage and arms, and obliged to carry with
them their artillery and food. The American armies
have only to defend the ascent, where every position is
in their favour, and the battalions of Europe would
perish there without a battle. A few years ago Euro-
peans did invade the plain of New Grenada, but then
the insurrection had neither experienced leaders nor
organized troops; what, however, did the vanquished
do? They took refuge in the burning uncultivated
plains of the Orinoco, and harassed the Spaniards in-
cessantly, and finally reconquered even the strong holds
on the side of Caraecas, now become the bulwark of

olombia. The river Plate, which seems to open an
easy entrance into the country, is, by its rapid current
and many sand-banks, dangerous to those who by its
means would invade Paraguay and Tucumen. The
coast of Mexico, also, towards Europe, is inaccessible
to large ships of war, and to land at Acapulco it is
necessary almost to circumnavigate the globe. The
high Table Land is not a continuous level of easy com-
munication between the different parts. Upper Peru
is a barrier between Lima and Buenos Ayres ; the de-
files between Quito and Bogota are only slippery foot-
paths among snow and dangerous precipices. and the
arid and burning isthmus of Costarica divides Colombia
from Guatimala. Is the population capable of profiting
by these natural advantages? This is another ques-
tion. The inhabitants are said to amount to 16 or 17
millions, but of different races. Mexico has seven ;
Guatimala, or the United Provinces of the Centre, one
and a half; Colombia, including Quito, three; Peru, one
and a half; Chili, one; the United Provinces of the
Table Land, two; and Paraguay (Proper), 500,000.
"It is supposed, that of the whole there may be two '
millions of Spaniards, three or four millions of Mestes, or
descendants of Spaniards and Indian-, nine or ten mil-
lions of Indians, and the remainder Negroes, or men of
dark colour of different races. The majority of In-
dians, of Mestes, and of Spaniards, we. e, t enty years
ago, the most peaceable people of the woild ; a peace
of three centuries had made them entirely forget the
use of arms; the incursions of Anson, Vernon, and
Morgan, having extended to the towns on the coast, the
descendants of the conquerors had lost that heroic spirit
which subdued the empire of the Incas and of Monte-
zuma. The Indians had preserved their native apathy,
the offspring of despotism, and which by a just law fa-
cilitated the ruin of the despotic thrones. They have
nothing of our sentiments of honour and of glory; and
of that love for danger, without which there can be-no
soldiers. In Colombia, however, in an African climate,
there were a large-number of people adapted to the mi-
litary life. There Bolivar formed and disciplined the
shepherds of the Elanos--there Paez collected his for-
midablis lancers, composed principally of stout negroes,
or of the sons of negro men and Indian women, more
intelligent, &ore ferocious, and not less robust than their
fathers ; to these may be added the mulattoes and the
Quarterons, with an ardent imagination, and sometimes
possessedman Irish of
acined a fewrseveringlrcioshurioined with the others,a.ge ; Spanish refugees,
have formed those armies which have hunted the Spa-
nish flag from the Continent of America. The Chiefs
and the Governments have attempted to introduce a
conscription, and to form armies of the flower of the