La Plata
RIO DE (rēō dā), a wide estuary of South America, between Uruguay on the N. and the Argentine Republic on the S., through which the waters of the Paraná and the Uruguay sweep down to the ocean; length about 200 miles. The N. shore is somewhat steep and lofty, but that along the prov- The estuary has no shelter from the tempestuous storms that come from the S.
W.; and even the only good harbor, that ince of Buenos Aires is low and flat. at Montevideo, is open to the S. E.' The affluents of the La Plata drain an area estimated at 1,600,000 square miles , and the outflow of the estuary is calculated at about 52,000,000 cubic feet per minute-a volume exceeded only by that of the Amazon. The estuary was discovered in 1515 or 1516 by Diaz de Solis , who was shortly afterward roasted and eaten by the Indians on its bank.