At this period a missionary net was spread over the South-American Continent, its meshes extending in every direction. From _Quito_ the Spanish missionaries, as we have seen, encountered those of _Maranham_ on the upper tributaries of the _Amazons_. Those on the _Rio Negro_, another tributary of that great river, met the missions on the _Orinoco_; whilst the _Moxo_ and _Madeira_ settlements, in Upper _Peru_ and Western _Brazil_, respectively, continued the connection. The _Moxo_ missions adjoined those of the _Chiquitos_, which again communicated with the “Reductions” in _Paraguay_, whence the Jesuits extended the net to the _Gran Chaco_ and the _Pampas_. It seemed as if the whole of South America were on the way to become Christian and civilized; but an unexpected check occurred to the activity of the Jesuits, and South America was thrown back into a state of confusion and barbarism from which many portions of the continent have not yet emerged. CHAPTER XIII. _FOUNDATION AND PROGRESS OF BUENOS AYRES._ 1580-1800. [Sidenote: 1580.] In the year 1580 the foundations of a lasting city were laid at _Buenos Ayres_ by De Garay on the same situation as had twice previously been chosen--namely, by Mendoza, and by Cabeza de Vaca, respectively. The same leader had before this founded the settlement of _Santa Fè_ on the _Paraná_. The site selected for the future capital of the _Pampas_ is probably one of the worst ever chosen for a city--a fact which is at once palpable to every one who has visited the place. That the same site should have been selected three times in succession is only to be accounted for by the tendency which exists in human nature to follow precedent, whether it be good or whether it be bad. “With a perversity of judgment,” says Mr. Washburn, in a passage in which there is not a word to alter, “which seemed to characterize all his acts, Mendoza moved up the broad and noble estuary, passing by the most suitable places for a town site, until he came to a place that combined all the inconveniences that could possibly exist, on the banks of a large navigable river. The point thus selected, and where now stands the principal city of the _Plata_, has probably the worst harbour in the world for a large commercial town. Large vessels must always lie off some two or three leagues from the shore, and those of lighter draft that venture within the inner roads are liable to be left high and dry on the hard bottom, or _tosca_, when a _pampero_, or strong wind, from the west sets in. But if the wind blows strongly from the south-east, then they are liable to drag their anchors, and be carried up so high inland that, when the wind veers again, they are left many rods from the water, and can only be broken up for firewood. The cost of lightening a vessel of her cargo is much more than the freight of it from New York or Liverpool. The country in the vicinity, for as far as the eye could