COLONEL RING'S TWENTY-FOUR YEARS IN THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.

THE author of this volume is a native of New York; who "foolishly" ran away from home at fourteen years of age, and, after trying without success to get a living, allowed his landlord to ship him on board the brig Wycoona, in the year 1817. The disclosure of concealed arms at sea, and the system of training and exercise on board, terrified young King with the notion that he had fallen into the hands of pirates : but the vessel was designed for the "Patriot" service of South America ; and on reaching Buenos Ayres, he was sent ashore as unfit for the service, and left to shift for himself. By the kindness of an Irishman and a French- man, young King got a situation in the Frenchman's store; • but, be- coming tired of the perfumery and fancy business, he resolved to fight in defence of freedom; and, through the acquaintance of his patrons' family with an officer of the Patriot army, and the moral influence of United States citizenship, he procured a commission as ensign. For a dozen years he was knocked about in the Spanish and civil wars which dis- tracted the Argentine Republic and Peru; and rose to the rank of Co- lonel; which unsubstantial honour seems to have been his chief reward. In 1829 he withdrew from the service, declining any further command ; and soon afterwards, marrying a lady of some property, he embarked in business as a merchant; till the death of his wife and the horrible atro- cities of Rosas induced him, in 1841, to withdraw from the country and return to the United States. He has now published the results of his ex- perience, in order to disseminate more correct views of the state of the Argentine Republic, and to moderate American indignation touching the interference of France and England with Roses.

Though not formally divided, the Twenty-four Years in the Argos. tine Republic really consists of two parts ; one embracing the personal narrative of Colonel King, the other, a general description of the state of parties in the country, and an account of souse of the most re, markable cruelties of Roses. The personal narrative chiefly deals with the dangers privations, battles, imprisonments, and escapes, in which Colonel King was engaged during his military career ; involving many sketches of the principal men with whom he was brought into contact, and a pretty full picture of South American warfare. The story is some- what deficient in chronological congruity,—passing with so much rapidity from one leading incident to another, that when an allusion to time occurs, the reader is surprised to find years instead of months have elapsed. With these deductions, it is a very interesting narrative, full of hair- breadth 'scapes and battle dangerous, and furnishing a striking picture of the dangers and privations of South American war, as well as of the ruthless cruelty with which it is carried on. "Taken prisoner and shot" would seem to be a standing epitaph for the officers engaged.

The general history of Row and the Federalist faction is of less interest than the personal narrative. This is partly owing to the writer's want of a comprehensive mind. The incongruity which is shown in the account of his personal adventures is still more visible in the history of larger events, where conclusions have to be drawn as well as a mere story to be told, and the reader ought to see cause and consequence, though be does not trace them very clearly in Colonel King's account. A further diminution of interest arises from the dramatic form in which the writer thinks proper to present some of the more atrocious examples of the cruelty of Roses. We have scenes and dialogues at large ; a thing which not only mars the impression of accuracy, since it is not likely and sometimes it is impossible that a report of the victim's conversation should have reached the world ; but, what is of more importance, Colonel King wants the dramatic qualities requisite to sustain this artificial kind of composition. The incident consequently becomes tedious from being overlaid with unessential matter of a poor kind. The author's own story is occasionally flattened by the introduction of dialogues ; but these may possibly be accurate, as they occurred in his presence, and he is himself often a speaker. No very definite idea of the state of society, or of the causes of the anarchy which reigns throughout the New World that poor Canning "called into existence," can be gleaned from Colonel King's pages. So far as we comprehend the subject, the whole cause of failure may be found in the total deprivation of the means of self-government under which the colonists laboured, and the imitative character of their revolt. That they had grievances enough to justify rebellion, is probably true ; but the mere grievances would never have made them rebels. They

were goaded into revolt by ambitious or patriotic schemers, incited by the examples of the United States and by the mere name of republic. The terrible wars they underwent in throwing off the yoke of the mother-

country, hardened their hearts, corrupted their political morals, and broke up such social power as really existed, till at the close, a strong govern- ment, or any government in an European sense, was impossible save in the hands of a despot, who could only rule by means of an army, or a rabble organized after the fashion of the Parisian Jacobins. This last seems to be the mode of Roses; many of his atrocities being, apparently, forced upon him in order to find means through confiscation to gratify his followers. At present the moral condition of the Argentine Republic seems to bear a strong resemblance, though upon a small scale, to the state of moiety dur- ing the decline of the Roman Empire. The victims are sufficiently refined to feel their miseries acutely; yet they have not power publicly to resist, or personal courage to compel respect by the use of the ultima ratio of the oppressed, the blow of the assassin. The fear of assassination—one of the modes by which Nature punishes tyrants—is indeed ever present 141 Roses ; but no one appears to have resolved to rid his country of this or any other oppressor, either from motives of vengeance or patriotism. Every one crawls on, hoping to escape, till he is overtaken by the fear or avarice of the tyrant.

The style of Colonel King, at once rhetorical and gossipy, is not well adapted to quotation, from its looseness ; but we will take a few of the more separable passages.

TRIA.TMENT OP PRISONERS BY ROSAS.

Near his encampment were two or three country mansions; one of which, not more than three hundred yards from the scene was oocupied by Don —, whose lady chanced to be on the assote when three prisoners were brought into the camp. The natural sympathies of a woman's heart were at once excited in their behalf, and she watched with great anxiety the course pursued toward them. Each having been divested of his coat, vest, and hat, was brought out upon the plain and placed in what is called Stan; that is to say, they were placed upon their backs on the ground, their arms extended and secured in that position by thongs tied about the wrists, and fastened to stakes driven in the ground for that pur- pose, with their feet in the same manner; and the poor fellows were thus left in the sun with their faces upward. When the lady saw this, she hastened to inform her husband, and entreated of him to intercede for their liberation but he an- swered, that to interfere with a decree of Roses, would be to endanger his own life without the possibility of saving the victims. The lady's anxiety increased. Again and again during the day would she goto the house-toe in hopes of finding that they had been removed; but as often did she see them in their helpless po- sition broiling in the sun As the shades of night came on and found them still there, she became almost frantic: in vain had her husband urged and entreated her to remain below—there was a horrible infatuation that drew her, spite of her will, to look upon the scene until it had unfitted her for every other thought. At night she could not sleep; the vision of those miserable men was constantly before her eyes, and at the earliest dawn she was again at the house-top. They were 'till in view, stretched out as she had last seen them, and where they had now re- mained during the space of at least twenty hours. At last they were unbound; and the lady, clapping her hands, with joy ex- claimed, "They have taken them up! they have taken them up!" But her joy was of short duration: the poor fellows, blinded, and scarcely able to stand, were staggering about on their feet as Roses came from his tent; and in a few minutes after, a volley of six muskets brought them to the ground, and put an end to their mortal agony.

QUIROGA IN ACTION.

For a long time Paz's reserve remained imraoveable, but at last we saw them dash into the conflict It was a moment of intense excitement with us all; shouts and cheers ascended from the house-tops in every quarter, as though our fighting fliends could hear their encouraging tones. None could form the slightest opin- ion upon the chances of success; and, unable at last to bear the excitement and suspense, about twenty of us determined to go to the scene of action, yet without any direct object, except it was to quell the burning fever of anxiety. Passing hastily from the town, we ran towards the tatdada ; the roar of the battle growing louder and louder as we approached. Both armies had broken into detachments; and the men were fighting on all bands like bloodhounds.- We saw Quiroga: he had thrown off every vestige of his clothing save his drawers, which were rolled up, and fastened about his thighs. Both he and his horse were covered with blood; and altogether they presented an appearance that could be compared to nothing human. Goaded with the prospect of defeat, he dashed from place to place, cutting down with his own sword such of his troops as quailed or turned for their lives, and leading detachments into the hottest of the fight. Naked as he was, and streaming with the gore that had spirted from his victims upon him, he seemed a very devil presiding over carnage. His troops had already corn- mewed their flight, and were rushing in small bands from the battle in every direction; some halting, and at an auspicious moment dashing again into the fray ; some resting, and others again flying for their lives. In this manner our little party of neutrals became entangled in the mass of moving detachments; and at one time we were compelled to fight our own way out. But at sunset the battle was decided: Paz was victorious; and Quiroga, at length finding all efforts hopeless, turned, and, without a signal for retreat, fled from the spot.

NATURAL CHASM.

On the following morning, accompanied by two soldiers as attendants or ser- Tanta, I crossed the river Jujuy, and commenced my journey; which, after a ride of about six leagues, lay through the wonderful ravine known as the Cavrado de Numagnaca. This cavrado or chasm, which was formed by a convulsion of the earth, extends a distance of about ten leagues, varying in width from a space of eae hundred yards to that of a quarter of a mile, and presenting one of the most wild and singular curiosities of nature. The opening of the earth has left a ra- vine walled on either side with immense and lofty palisadoes of jagged rock, broken here and there with gaping chasms, through which the mountain-streams dash and foam, on their downward course, into what might be aptly termed the regions of Erebus, since all below is impenetrable darkness • and how far into the bowels of the earth these streams may dash and fret in their downward passage, is beyond the estimate of man.

Strange as it may seem man has: set his foot and built his habitation within this pass of gloom; and the occasional spots of earth, occupied and cultivated by Peruvian mametas and tatetas, formed a singular contrast to the natural wildness of everything about them.

CAMP EQUIPAGE.

At this place we were visited by Lieutenant-Colonel Roues, who owned and occupied a farm not far from us. He was a native of the province, and a sincere patriot at heart, but at that time living in retirement Perceiving that we were in a suffering condition this gentleman immediately sent us provisions of sheep, &c., from his own farm; which our people paid their respects to without ceremony. Dishes were unknown in our camp, kruves and forks we were not encumbered with, and camp-kettles were a thing unknown. Our mode of cooking our mutton was by forcing lengthwise through the whole side of a sheep, a stick about four feet long, of which we made a skewer, and driving the end of it into the ground near the fire. As the meat was turned and gradually roasted, each man helped him- self, by cutting, with his sword or clasp-knife, a long slice from the wt most cooked, eating it from his hand; and thus the process was continued until the meat was all gone. In this way, washing down our meat with water from the bold and clear stream beside us, we fareesumptuously. Roues cheered us too in mind as well as in body. • •

The company of wretches that be had found in the morning—dejected, bun- pred, and worn down with toil and sickness—he now left in a perfect aligre; for • more happy, comfortable, and jovial set of fellows, never were met together.