JB/012/096/001

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1823. Octr. 31 Mr. James Bevans to J.B. Sharpe esq. Buenos Ayres Feby.1823.

16th of the 2d. month since writing the above, I have
been to examine some of the islands in the Parvana;
Martin Gacia is inhabited by 25 prisoners, who are
kept at work breaking up granite for the paving
the streets of Buenos Ayres, and there are 25 soldiers
to take care of them, but no other inhabitants, except
one old woman, the mother of one of the prisoners. The
other four islands which I visited, have no inhabitants:
they are principally covered with most beautiful
shrubs— here and there may be a space of
half an acre with nothing but grass, and these spots
are very fascinating: they look like grass plats in
most beautiful plantations: many of the shrubs
are of the sensitive kind, and one of them has the
most minute leaves I ever saw. We met with
a fruit which was unknown to all the company
but one man from Paraguay, who said it was
good: it was a round fruit, smooth skin, a yellow—
ish white, about the size of the Siberian Crab; and
at much like the date— very sweet, with a large stone
in the middle: but the article which we went to look
for was stone, and we wanted such a Mann as thy—
self with us. We found Granite in all it's varieties; but
one of the islands is one solid rock of red granite, very
fine. The island of Martin Garcia seems to have
been chosen ti get stones from, because the surface
of the rock is fractured into small pieces: it is certainly
the worst island which we visited for the purpose: there
is much more soil over the rock in it, and it would
be a beautiful island for a few market gardeners to
settle in: they might supply the city with potatoes,
which are now imported from Liverpool, the soil
about Buenos Ayres being of too close a texture to grow
them, but the soul in the islands appears very suit—
able. We found potatoes growing spontaneously
in the islands. I intend sending some specimens of
the granite to H. G. Bennet, as the head of the geolo
gical society. There appears to be no quadrupeds in
the islands: many doves, cardinals humming birds

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Identifier: | JB/012/096/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 12.
Date_1	1823-02-10	Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	012	Main Headings
Folio number	096	Info in main headings field	mr james bevans to j. b. sharpe esq. buenos ayres 9th feby 1823
Image	001	Titles
Category	correspondence	Number of Pages	2
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	d7 / f8
Penner	john flowerdew colls	Watermarks	j whatman turkey mill 1822
Marginals		Paper Producer	jonathan blenman
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year	1822
Notes public		ID Number	4157
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