Kentucky Gazette

RESPECTING BUENOS AYRES.

Private letters, of late date, received in this city from Buenos Ayres, state that the Portuguese troops are making considerable progress against the forces of general Artigas, in the Banda Orientale, and have taken possession of Colonia, opposite to Buenos Ayres, and also of Purification, higher up the river, where Artigas had his seat of government. The Portuguese, we had before heard, have a powerful force in that country; and it is now said, that, having been so successful against Artigas, they even threaten Buenos Ayres.

The Portuguese got possession of Colonia on the first of May; whether by conquest or treachery is not known, but by the latter, it is believed; in which place, at the date of our information, (the latter end of June) there were a thousand men garrisoned. About the same time, the Portuguese general Curre. took Purification and Paysander, with 3500 men. A corps of cavalry crossed the Uruguay. and after plundering the Arrayo de la China, repassed the river. The Portuguese afterwards abandoned Purification. and took a position between the Uruguay and Paysander. The uncertainty of all news received at Buenos Ayres was such, that it was not known how things actually stood, at the date of our advices. The contest, however, was considered very unequal, Artigas being thus cut off from the resources afforded on the sea coast, and being, withal, deprived of any aid from Buenos Ayres.

The government of Buenos Ayres, it is said, permitted the Portuguese to send their vessels of war up the river, to co-operate with their land forces, which amounted to about 10,000 men. The success of the Portuguese had had the usual effect of making them confident; and they openly threaten to take possession of the Island of Martin Garcia, which commands the entrance to the Uruguay and some of the entrances to the Parana, and which is garrisoned by the troops of Buenos Ayres. If they succeed in this attempt, it requires no great forecast to predict that their next attempt will be on the Western Shore.

Of the safety of the provinces of Buenos Ayres, of their ability to maintain their independence, if united, there can be no doubt; there is no saying to what the violence of their internal divisions may not bring them—though it is believed they have little to apprehend from any force the Portuguese can bring against them.