BUENOS AY'BES, a city of South America, on the right bank of the Plata, which here, at a distance of 150 in. from the open sea, is 36 in. across. It stands in ]at. 34° 36' s., and long 58° 24' west. Its disadvantages as a maritime town are great; the flood tides of the ocean, when backed by easterly winds, being apt to make the estuary over flow its banks; and again, when westerly winds prevail, the estuary loses both width and depth. Monte Video, on the opposite shore, possesses a better harbor, and is nearer to the Atlantic, nor can it be doubted that, but for the greater facilities of 13. A. in carry ing on an inland trade, the former town would have proxed a dangerous rival. Steam is rapidly placing both upon more equal terms. Of the trade, however, with Chili by Mendoza and the Andes—a trade which must always be carried on by land—B. A. must still command the monopoly. So familiar had 1-3. A. become with land-carriage on an extensive scale, that its merchants, when blockaded in front during a war with Brazil, established, as it were, a new port of entry in, the mouth of the Salado or Saladillo, at a distance of at least 150 miles. As a city, 13. A. labors under some peculiar disadvan tages. Its supplies of fresh water are received from the Plata in rudely constructed carts, though a thorough scheme of water-supply and drainage is now being carried out. Its immediate territory, purely alluvial, is almost as destitute of timber as of stones— the latter being brought either as ballast from Europe, or as freight from Martin Garcia, an island on the opposite side of the estuary; and the former from the province of Entre Rios, and from the islets of the Uruguay and the Parana. Fuel is almost as scarce as building material—peach-trees and the withered thistles of the prairies yielding the only indigenous supplies. B. A., which appears to deserve its name of good airs, con
tains (1869) 177,787 inhabitants—about a third of w-lioni are of European birth or descent. Among the Europeans the vast majority are Spanish, Italian, French, and British. 13. A. publishes newspapers in French, English, Italian, and German, as well as in Spanish. The city is partitioned into blocks of about 150 yards square, by granite paved streets. New houses are everywhere springing up; tramways traverse it in every direction; and the value of property has enormously increased. The principal build ings are the cathedral and its dependent churches. Episcopalian and Presbyterian chapels, a foundling hospital, an orphan asylum, the university, a military college, sev eral public schools, and the government offices; there are also printing establishments, and manufactories of cigars, carpets, furniture, and boots and shoes. The exports con sist of precious metals, hides, beef, wool, skins, tallow, and horse-hair; and the imports of cottons, linens, woolens, jewelry, perfumery, and deals. The custom-house dues, which in 1860 were $3,000,000, in 1870 had increased to $13,000,000. The value of imports in 1873 was £11,886,861, and of exports, £6,886,506. B. A. was founded in 1535; but having subsequently been twice destroyed by the Indians, it ought, in reality, to date only from 1580. In the beginning of the present century, it achieved, with very little aid from home, two triumphs over England. In 1806, one British force, which had just captured the city, was obliged to surrender; and in 1807, another which attempted to recover the place, was repulsed with heavy loss; and these successes over so formi dable a foe emboldened the colonists, three years afterwards, to throw off the yoke of Spain.