the name of a very great river of South America, running through the province of Paraguay; whence the whole country is sometimes called Plata; though this name is usually bestowed only upon a part of Paraguay. In the latter sense it comprehends all that country bounded on the east and south-east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south, by Terra Magellanica; on the west, by Tucuman; and on the north, by the provinces of Paraguay Proper and Paraná. The great river La Plata, from which the country has its name, was first discovered, in 1515, by Juan Díaz de Solís; but denominated La Plata by Sebastián Gabato, from the great quantity of the precious metals he procured from the adjacent inhabitants, imagining it was the produce of the country, though in fact they brought it from Peru.

The country lies between 32° and 37° of south latitude. The climate is pleasant and healthy. Their winter is in May, June, and July, when the nights are indeed very cold; but the days moderately warm; the frosts are neither violent nor lasting, and the snows are very inconsiderable.

The country consists mostly of plains of a vast extent, and exceeding rich soil, producing all sorts of European and American fruits, wheat, maize, cotton, sugar, honey, &c., and abounding with such excellent pastures, that the beasts brought hither from Spain are multiplied to such a degree, that they are all in common, no man claiming any property in them, but every man takes what he hath occasion for. The number of black cattle, especially, is so prodigious, that many thousands of them are killed merely for their hides, every time the ships go for Spain, and their carcases left to be devoured by wild beasts and birds of prey, which are also very numerous. Sometimes, when they cannot vend their hides, they will kill them for their tongues; and those who care not to be at the trouble to fetch them from the plains, may buy them for a trifle. There is a curious account in Lord Anson's voyage of the manner of hunting them on horseback; and of catching and killing them, by throwing a noose on their horns at full gallop, the horses being trained to the sport. Horses are no less numerous, and in common like the other cattle; so that a man may have as many as he pleases for the catching; and of those that are already broke, one may buy some of the best, and of the true Spanish breed, for a piece-of-eight per head. Wild-fowl also is in great plenty here; partridges in particular are more numerous, and as large and tame as our hens, so that one may kill them with a flick. Their wheat makes the finest and whitest of bread; and, in a word, they seem to want for nothing here, especially the natives, but salt and fuel. The former the Spaniards have brought to them from other parts; and the latter they supply themselves with, by planting vast numbers of almond, peach, and other trees, which require no other trouble than putting the kernels into the ground, and by the next year, we are told, they begin to bear fruit. The return for European commodities is so great here, that it almost exceeds belief; an ordinary two-penny knife fetching a crown, and a gun of the value of 10 or 12 shillings 20 or 30 crowns, and so of the rest.

The river Plata rises in Peru, and receives a great many others in its course; the chief of which is the Paraguay. The water of it is said to be very clear and sweet, and to petrify wood; and contains such plenty and variety of fish, that the people catch great quantities of them without any other instrument than their hands. It runs mostly to the south and south-east; and is navigable the greater part of its course by the largest vessels, and full of delightful islands. All along its banks are seen the most beautiful birds of all kinds; but it sometimes overflows the adjacent country to a great extent, and is infested by serpents of a prodigious size. From its junction with the Paraguay to its mouth is above 200 leagues. We may form some judgment of its largeness by the width of its mouth, which is said to be about 70 leagues. Before it falls into the Paraguay it is called Panama. See PANAMA.