Of the domestic animals, those most worthy of note are the lama and the pace, both natives of the mountainous parts of Peru, and inhabiting the higher districts of the Tucuman, and the- provinces of Los Charcos, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The lams is a most useful animal, and is capable of carrying hea vy burdens in the most rugged and dangerous roads. It is about four feet high ; the body, including the neck, is five or six feet long. This animal bears a great resemblance to a camel, excepting that it has no hunch en its back. The pace, or menus, is a species of subordinate animal to the lama, in the same manner the ass to the horse: Their wool is fine and long, and is a valuable article of merchan dise. The natural colour of it is that of a dried rose-leaf ; and while every kind of clothing manu factured of it possesses a peculiar degree of genial warmth, it is at the same time most beautifully silky and light. The lama and the paco inhabit the high est mountain-deserts amid perpetual ice and snow ; and the cold, far from being unfavourable to them, seems to invigorate and refresh them. The tapir, though more abundant in Brasil, is also found on the banks of the Parana and Paraguay. It is of the size of a small cow, but has neither horns nor tail.
Of birds, the emu, which is generally known by the name of the and the well-known bird of prey the condor, are the most remarkable. The emn is bred in the Pampas. It is generally six feet high; measuring from the head to the feet ; and it runs with such swiftness that the fleetest dogs are thrown not in the pursuit. Carrion vultures, which 'fly in large flocks, are also very common, and feed upon numerous carcases of the cattle slaughtered for the sake of their hides.
• The rivers abound in great varieties of fish ; and of amphibious animals, there are on the coast tur tles, seals, and sea-lions ; while alligators or cay mans, of a large size, and very voracious, swarm in all the rivers. The interior of the country is infest ed by innumerable tribes of reptiles and insects, which are brought into life in the damp forests, and on the rank soil on the borders of rivers. Serpenti also abound in these parts, among which the most remarkable is the enormous boa constrictor, which is chiefly found in the marshy places of the forests.
In regulating the colonial trade, Spain has uni formly proceeded upon the principle of sacrificing the colony for the sup advantage of the mother country ; and, with such restraints were imposed on the commerce of her South American provinces, as forced them to depend entirely on the parent state, both for the supply of their wants, and for the sale of their produce. They were not only entirely debarred from trading with Europe, or with any other country, in their own vessels, but their in tercourse with each other was either entirely prohi bited or obstructed by many severe restrictions. Under this system, the commerce of Spain with her colonies centered entirely in the port of Seville ' • and the cargo of every ship destined for the colonies was inspected by a board appointed for the purpose, before she could receive a licence to make the voyage. In 1720 this commerce was transferred to
Cadiz, as being a more convenient port ; and the commerce was carried on by means of annual fleets, which sailed periodically, and which consisted of two squadrons, known under the respective appella tions of the galleons and the flota. These expedi tions were made exclusively to the Gulf of Mexico ; and it was through the ports of Porto-Bello and Vera Cruz alone that the colonies of Spain were either supplied with European commodities or found a vent for their own productions. Owing to this li mited intercourse, the produce of America was exchanged for that of Europe on terms extremely disadvantageous. Her markets were always imper fectly supplied with the commodities of Europe, which bore, in consequence, a very high price ; while her own productions, being restricted to particular ports, were always liable to arrive at a market al ready overstocked. The Spanish colonies lan guished under those harassing restrictions ; and Buenos Ayres, whose territorial resources con sisted neither in gold, silver, indigo, cochineal, nor in any of thine precious products which are easily exported, but in bulky and perishable commo dities requiring the constant command of shipping, remained for a long time in a state of obscurity and depression.
But the operation of this system was eventually counteracted by its extreme violence and injustice; in consequence of which it was found impossible, in cases where it prohibited the colonies from being supplied with articles of the first necessity, to carry it into strict execution. Salutary evasions were, therefore, connived at, and, in process of time, a contraband trade was established, which was found so beneficial, that it flourished in spite of all the ex pedients adopted to urevent it. The legitimate commerce was proportionably diminished, and the anneal squadron gradually dwindled away from 15,000 to e000 tons of shipping.
Those encroachments on the monopoly of the co lonial trade plainly suggested the necessity of relax,- ' ing the restraints by which the colonies were op pressed, and of devising some method for ensuring to them a constant and adequate supply of European produce. In the year 1740, a considerable part of the American trade was permitted to be carried on by register ships, which, on purchasing a licence from the Council of the Indies, were allowed to sail at any time, and, which, in the year 1748, finally superseded the galleons and flota, after they had been in use for two centuries. By means of this in tercourse, the American market was more regularly supplied with the productions of Europe, and Buenos Ayres was benefited, along with the other colonies, by these regulations.