Washington sentinel., 1854-02-02
masbingtnn gentinsl.
From the London Times.
The RIver~Plate and its tributaries.

from the recent opening of the rivers Parana,
Paraguay, and Uruguay to vessels Of all ma
tions, and from the conclusion, Of the recent
commercial treaty with the republic of Para
quay, will be read with much interest by onr
commercial readers: essl
The advantage which trade can expect to de-
. rive from the permission recently accorded to.
vessels of all nations to proceed by the above
named great rivers to the centre of South
America is very obvious but, at the same time,
is very likely to be much exaggerated or misrep-
resented. It appears to be necessary, first, to
show how trade was carried on with these in
terror countries before, and then to consider
what change will take place from these recent
acts of the Argentine and Paraguayan govern
ments, # q8tffg gss i! t.fa8 g- ss.
All goods from Great Britain destined for the
Argentine confederation, the republic Of Para
quay, and even the southern part Of Brazil,
were formerly sent to Montevideo or Buenos
Ayres; and appear in the English returns of the
board Of trade under the head of shipments
to the river Plate; thence they were re-shipped
into smaller vessels, carrying the Argentine
colors, but manned in general by French or
Italian seamen and thence ascended the rivers
to where they were destined, bringing back
country produce in return, which was again re-
shipped into larger vessels destined to Europe,
at the ports of either Montevideo or Buenos
Ayres. speak of when these countries en-
joyed internal peace. A civil war, of course,
interrupted these commnnications.
have made particular inquiries of the mer-
chants if there were any complaints or illegiti-
mate interruptions of trade under this system;
and the answer has been invariably: "No."
These river craft and crews were quite good
enough for the purpose; British merchants
could own them, and therefore appoint their
own men.
Freights were very moderate, and the towns
in the interior fully supplied with all the man.
afactures they required.
Ascension, city 500 miles in the interior, is
at the present moment glutted with British
goods The value of the importations for 1852
Ia year Of over-supply) was supposed to be
about E80000; the average wants ofthe people
estimated at 100000 All the other cities in
the interior consumed full proportion Of
British goods; and we know from official
sources that, while in 1851 100000 tons Of
shipping was sufficient to convey the whole of
the productions Of Europe to Buenos Ayres, no
less than 1000 vessels, Of All average Of 36
tons each, or an aggregate of ~, 600 tons, were
employed from Buenos Ayres on the riYer
coasting trade--an amount which can be seen
at a glance to be amply sufficient to carry the
proportion OF, foreign manufactures which the
interior provinces required, as well as to meet
the requirements of their own internal trade.
In the month Of August, 1852, General Ur-
Il quiza, the provisional director, opened the
navigation Of the rivers Parana and Uruguay
to vessels of all nations; and, although the
country has undergone revolutions since, the
y decree remains unchanged.
A general impression seems to have taken
place in England, arising from an ignorance
Of the actual existing state of the trade, that
an immediate and rapid expansion of trade
would take place, in that Central South Ameri-
ca, long excluded from British manufactures
would become a new and large purchaser.
But this paper shows such expectations are
entirely fallacous, for the country prior to that
was glutted with British manufactures.
The necessity which, however, politically en-
listed POLITICALLY, because foreign flags could
not ascend the riversl of changing cargoes
from British vessels into Argentine, entailed
of course loss of time, additional charges of
freight, additional port dues and insurance;
tending, therefore, to make the goods dearer,
and therefore, in some degree, to restrict their
sale This political necessity is by General
UrquiZa's decree removed; but it remains for
us to ascertain whether practically, from the
shallowness Of the water, and from the general
(. difficulty Of making large ships ascend the
river, it will not answer better for the merchant
to re-ship his cargoes into river craft just in
his sea-built vessels up long and tedious river
navigation. To enter upon this question, it is
necessary to take map of the Parana, and
trace the river upwards and will give the
particulars required, as to the depth of water,
current, prevailing winds, and so forth, taken
from actual observation, ascending and de-
scending the river, corrected by charts, conver
sations with naval officers and pilots, and the
general opinion of merchants and others who
understand the subject. s5
At the entrance Of the rivers Parana and
Uruguay is the island of Martin Garcia, and
here we enter what is called the Martin Garcia
channel.
A long and wide expanse of shoal water,
not unlike the More, is here. The channel you
have to find has from fourteen feet to sixteen
feet of water, and is difficult to light upon from
want Of buoying but if buoyed would be easy
enough but vessels drawing more than four
teen feet water are in general excluded from
entering the Parana or the Uruguay.
This difficult passage passed, there is no i'm
pediment whatever to the navigation of the
Parana for one hundred and fifty miles. The
channel is very deep and easy to find. Ships
can sail up In clear nights, and if they get
ashore it is their own fault. One hundred and
fifty miles bring them to the city of Rosario, the
most important spot on the Parana.
It is the most important because it is the
most western, and therefore nearest the mar
kets of western South America. The anchor
age is excellent. Ships can lie close to the
shore and discharge and load with ease; and,
rs mentioned before that ships drawing four
teen feet water can get there at all seasons OF
the year, there can be no doubt that direct
trade with Europe can be established for large
Z class of brigs or corvettes, and with advantage,
from Rosario.
Ascending the river higher, we find the Pa
rama, like all rivers flowing from the tropics,
has high and low season. Six months in the
year (from December to June) the river may
be considered high and six months low. Where
the river is wide, three feet may be the rise;
where narrow, eight; taking the whole, perhaps
an average Of four will be near the mark. OF
course larger ships can ascend in the.high sea-
son than in the low. But one point Is clear to
me, that taking into consideration the nncer-