ABSTRACT
Around the 35th degree of latitude a vast bay, shaped like a funnel, drives broadly into the Atlantic coast of South America: the Rio de la Plata. At the time of the Conquest, the country known as the Rio de la Plata comprised the present territories of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. In his lifetime Mendoza had designated Ayolas as his successor. The conquest of the Rio de la Plata was a long and exacting labour. Begun in 1536 at the moment when Pedro de Mendoza landed at the mouth of the Parana, it was scarcely completed by the beginning of the 17th century. The linking up of La Plata to the viceroyalty of Peru did not facilitate things: too many very difficult men were called upon to have their say in the affairs of La Plata.
