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diff --git a/42482-0.txt b/42482-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f3f055 --- /dev/null +++ b/42482-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6601 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42482 *** + + A + FIVE YEARS' RESIDENCE + IN + BUENOS AYRES, + + DURING THE YEARS 1820 to 1825: + + CONTAINING + REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY AND INHABITANTS; + AND A VISIT TO + COLONIA DEL SACRAMENTO. + + + BY AN ENGLISHMAN. + + + _WITH AN APPENDIX_, + CONTAINING + RULES AND POLICE OF THE PORT OF BUENOS AYRES, + NAVIGATION OF THE RIVER PLATE, &c. &c. + + + _SECOND EDITION._ + + + LONDON: + PUBLISHED BY G. HEBERT, 88, CHEAPSIDE. + + 1827. + + + LONDON + Stirling, Printer, 20 Ironmonger Lane, Cheapside. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +At a time when the rich and fertile provinces of South America are daily +becoming increased objects of commercial consideration--when their +riches and advantages are constantly forming the bases of fresh +speculations--and when, under the security offered to person and +property by the liberal institutions of a free and independent +government, communication with them is every hour becoming more +extended,--an illustration of their local affairs, customs, manners, and +people, cannot but be interesting. + +Of these provinces, the one which forms the subject of the following +Remarks is far from being the least important. Without adverting to the +fertility of the soil, and the general healthiness of the climate, the +prospects which Buenos Ayres presents in a mercantile point of view, +forming, as she does, from her situation, the medium of communication +with the whole interior of this vast continent, must ever render her an +object of considerable importance to a commercial nation like England. +Nor is she less a source of interest to the politician and the +philanthropist. To Buenos Ayres is due the credit of setting the noble +example to the other provinces, of bursting asunder the shackles of a +despotic mother-country, whose selfish policy had long immured them +under the deepest veil of ignorance and degradation, debarring them from +any communication with the rest of the world, in order that she might +reap the exclusive advantage of those treasures with which Nature had +enriched them. Nor has Buenos Ayres confined herself to example merely, +but, from the moment of having secured her own independence, she has +never ceased to encourage and assist the other states in throwing off +the same degrading yoke. + +It is true, that preceding works have thrown much light on these +countries, and the subjects I have here handled have been treated by +abler pens than mine; but, besides the expensiveness of those works, +which renders them inaccessible to a great class of readers, the subject +is so new, and embraces such a wide field of research, that an abundant +harvest still remains for fresh labourers. Having confined myself to one +portion of this vast territory, I have been able to enter into a minuter +detail of many things that have been cursorily passed over by preceding +writers; and, finally, having resided in the country which is the +subject of these Remarks during the last five years, my means of +observation have been neither few nor limited. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + The Port--Custom-House Regulations 1 + Visit of the Health Boat 2 + Outer and Inner Roads 3 + Pilots 4 + Port of Ensenada -- + Barraccas -- + Navigation of the River Plate -- + _Balandras_, or lighters, for lading and unlading vessels -- + Carts used for embarking and disembarking -- + + Packets between Buenos Ayres and Monte Video 5 + + Climate 6 + + Diseases 9 + + Environs of the City -- + + Alameda, or Public Walk 10 + + The Beach, crowded with Sailors -- + + Coffee-Houses and Hotels 11 + + Public Buildings: The Fort--Consulado--Cabildo--Bank--House + of Representatives--Custom-House--Public + Library--Botanical Museum--Retiro--Residencia 14 to 16 + + Squares and Streets 16 + + Houses 17 + + Churches 18 + + Theatre 22 + + Circus 33 + + FOREIGN RESIDENTS. + + British: Merchants, Shopkeepers, Medical Men, &c. 33 to 35 + British Commercial Subscription-Room 37 + Establishment of Packets from Falmouth 39 + Dispute between Captain Willis and the Government 41 + Treaty with England 43 + English Females at Buenos Ayres 44 + Many Englishmen have married Buenos-Ayrean Wives 45 + Death of Mr. Dallas, and of Mr. Rowcroft 47 + Death of Jack Hall -- + Irish Yankies 48 + + North-American Residents 49 + Death of Mr. Rodney 51 + + Frenchmen 52 + + Portuguese 53 + + Germans, Italians, Prussians, &c. 54 + +NATIVE (OR CREOLE) AND SPANISH INHABITANTS. + + Persons, Dispositions, and Manners 55 + Compliments of Salutation 57 + Practice of giving Flowers to Visitors -- + Smoking Segars -- + Politeness 58 + Yerba, or Tea of Paraguay 59 + Time of Meals -- + _Siesta_, or Afternoon Nap -- + _Tertulias_, or Public Dances 60 + Sweetmeats much eaten 61 + Etiquette, when walking in public, and in the ball-room -- + Dancing 62 + Music -- + Consulado Musical School-Room 63 + Philharmonics, a Musical Subscription Society 64 + Mothers watch their Daughters with great strictness -- + Marriages take place early 65 + Washerwomen on the Beach 66 + Treatment of Slaves 67 + Superstition of the Negroes 68 + Orderly conduct of the lower orders -- + Beggars very annoying 69 + Savings Bank -- + Propensity to Gaming 70 + Bathing practised by all Classes -- + + Dress 71 + Females make their own Clothes 74 + + Travelling -- + Value and description of the Horses 75 + Arrival of some English Horses in the _Rhoda_ -- + Country Waggons 77 + + Sports and Amusements:--Horse-racing--Sailing-- + Cock-fighting--Hunting--Shooting--Fishing 78 + Throwing the Lasso -- + Annual Fair near the Recolator 79 + + Provisions: Beef--Mutton--Poultry--Wines--Beer 81 to 85 + Vegetables -- + Fruit 86 + Other Animal and Vegetable Productions -- + + Population 89 + + Trade and Manufactures -- + Exports 89 + Imports--List of Vessels that arrived in 1821, 2, 3, 4 90 + Shops in Buenos Ayres very numerous 92 + English Manufactures very cheap 93 + + Currency, &c.--Notes engraved in England 95 + Average of Exchange 96 + Bank of Buenos Ayres--Funds -- + + Education and Literature 97 + College School--Academy in the Merced Church -- + Mrs. Hyne's Seminary -- + Many Buenos Ayreans speak and write English 98 + College of Stonyhurst, near Liverpool 99 + Education of Females -- + Variedades et Mensagero de Londres 100 + Newspapers published in Buenos Ayres 101 + Printing Offices -- + + Religion 102 + Contrast of the Catholic and Protestant faith -- + Reception of an Archbishop, who arrived in 1824 -- + Times of Public Worship 103 + Oration-Time 104 + Music of the Masses -- + Confession 105 + Figures of the Virgin Mary kept in glass cases 106 + Priesthood not illiberal -- + Friars 107 + Suppression of the Monasteries -- + Convents for Nuns 111 + Religious Processions: St. Rosario, and St. Nicholas 113 + Feast of Corpus Christi 113 + Observances during Lent--Passion Week--Holy + Thursday--Good Friday--Burning of Judas 113 to 114 + Procession of the Holy Ghost 117 + + Funeral Ceremonies 119 + Masses for the repose of the Soul -- + Protestant Burying-Ground 120 + + Police, &c. 121 + Assassination very frequent among the lower orders 122 + Thieves ingenious 123 + Boys about the Theatre-door great thieves 124 + Modes of Punishment: Shooting--Public Whipping-- + Imprisonment--Working in the Streets, ironed 126 + A great increase of crime in 1824 -- + First execution for forgery 126 + Committals before Trial 127 + Law proceedings expensive and tardy -- + Passports required to leave Buenos Ayres 128 + + Army--Punishment of flogging resorted to 130 + Bands of Music -- + Custom to fire the Fort Guns on the 4th of July, the + Anniversary of Whitelock's Defeat 131 + + Government, and Public Events 133 + Governor and Public Officers--Junta, or Senate 134 + Æra of the Independence of Buenos Ayres--Celebration + of its Anniversary--Sports of the day 135 + Frequent Political Revolutions in 1820--Rodriguez + appointed Governor 138 + Administration of Rivadavia 139 + Two persons shot for state offences, in October, 1820 141 + Attempt at another Revolution--Execution of Garcia -- + Execution of Colonel Peralto and Urien 142 + Carrera shot at Mendoza 143 + San Martin embarked for England 144 + A day set apart for the Funereal Rites of Gen. Belgrano -- + Visit of a New-Zealand Chief 145 + Dinner on St. Andrew's Day 146 + Camden Packet took home the treaty with England 146 + Rejoicings for the Victory of Ayacucho -- + Arrival of a Brazilian Frigate 148 + Opinion of Foreigners with regard to his Majesty + George IV. of England 148 + Mr. Canning popular in Buenos Ayres 149 + A Triumphal Car paraded through the streets 152 + + Concluding Remarks -- + Great want of population, and consequent insecurity + of the country -- + Ravages of the Indians--Four officers detained and murdered + by them, in 1822--Description of the Indians 154 + Very little employment for Clerks in Buenos Ayres -- + Mechanics and Labourers sure of employment 155 + Farming not a profitable concern -- + Grazing farms more beneficial -- + Emigrants will not find the same comfort as at home 156 + French faction at Buenos Ayres -- + Contrast between Frenchmen and Englishmen -- + Inducements to Emigration 158 + + Colonia del Sacramento 159 + + Appendix.--Rules of the Port 167 + Anchorage Dues 168 + Police of the Port -- + Penalties to which those are subject who destroy the + line of Buoys established by Government 169 + Instructions for sailing from Buenos Ayres to Monte + Video 170 + ---- ---- ---- from Monte Video to Buenos Ayres 172 + Variation of Depth of Water between the Banks Ortiz + and Chico 174 + Positions of the Ten Buoys in the River Plate 175 + + + + +REMARKS DURING _A FIVE YEARS' RESIDENCE_ IN BUENOS AYRES. + + +The city of Buenos Ayres, when viewed from the outer roads at a distance +of about eight miles, has an imposing appearance. The domes of the +numerous churches, the public buildings, &c. give it an air of grandeur, +which a nearer approach diminishes. On landing, the dilapidated mole +(destroyed by the storm of the 21st August, 1820) and the mean streets +near the beach, do not augur well for the beauty of the town: it +requires an inspection rightly to appreciate it, for there are edifices +worthy of attention. When I landed, in October, 1820, two cannons, +forty-two-pounders, in very good condition, were mounted on the mole: +they had the Spanish royal arms engraven on them, and inscriptions, +purporting, that one was cast at Seville, and the other at Lima, some +sixty years since. + +A passenger is not exposed to any particular custom-house obstructions +when he comes on shore. Should he bring his trunks with him, he is +simply requested to open them, and a slight examination takes place. +Several obnoxious customs have lately been abolished. Formerly, a +sentinel was posted, to prevent any one passing to the water-side at +the mole without first asking permission at the guard-house on the +beach. The system of vessels being obliged to wait, upon their arrival, +in the outer roads, for the visit of the health boat from shore, has +also undergone reform. Masters may now leave their vessels immediately. +It is necessary to go on board the gun-brig, which is now stationed in +the inner roads, and there await the visit of the health boat, which +comes off by a signal from this brig, and very little delay occurs. Upon +the old plan, vessels often remained, through bad weather or neglect, +four or five days before they were visited; during which time no +communication was allowed with the shore. A manifest of the cargo, +the ship's papers,[1] letters, &c. are given to the visiting officer, +provided no consul or agent of the nation whose flag the vessel bears +resides in Buenos Ayres. + + [1] The unsettled state of the country formerly deterred masters of + vessels from giving up their registers, fearing they might be lost; + and various shifts were resorted to as substitutes, such as rendering + Mediterranean passes, apprentice indentures, any thing in the shape of + parchment or printing--all went current. Some years since, Matthews, + an adjutant of the port, who had been aid-de-camp to Admiral Gravina, + at the battle of Trafalgar, detected a trick of this sort, the parties + not being aware that he understood English. Matthews was a Spaniard + born, but educated in London. + +The removal of the brig of war from the outer roads has taken away the +occasion of much offence. Disputes were continually occurring, from her +firing at vessels and boats to bring them to. The boat of the Countess +of Chichester, the first packet that arrived from Falmouth, had +two shots fired at her, when going on shore with Mr. Pousset, the +vice-consul. Captain Little, who was on board the packet at the time, +not knowing what to make of this firing, ordered the guns to be +double-shotted, and the crew to get under arms. A representation was +made, and an apology promptly given. Serious misunderstandings, however, +I am persuaded, must, some time or other, have occurred, had the brig +continued outside, and pursued the same system. + +It is only since October, 1821, that the health boat has been regularly +established. The enforcement of the quarantine laws, and the prevention +of smuggling, were the reasons assigned for it; but there were probably +other motives, one of which might be, to prevent the boats of British +men-of-war from boarding vessels of their own nation before their +visit boat. It would, however, be difficult, strictly to enforce the +quarantine laws at Buenos Ayres. Vessels have frequently arrived at +night, or in a fog, and the captains have come on shore without being +visited, not being aware of the regulations. + +The outer and inner roads are, in fact, open roadsteads; neither of them +possessing good anchorage. A strong wind from the E. or S.E. blowing +almost direct on land, is always dangerous; and vessels often drive. +In the storm of the 21st August, 1820, in which sixty vessels of all +descriptions were lost, the wind was at S.E. The winter season is much +better for shipping than the summer; as in the latter, the wind blows +fresh nearly every afternoon from the eastward. Good anchors and cables +are very necessary in the river Plate; chain cables particularly. + +In the outer roads, the average depth of water is 18 feet, in the inner +roads, 18: at high tides, there is 25 feet in the outer, and 13 in the +inner roads. A Pampero wind, blowing off the land from the W. or W.S.W. +causes at times a very low river, leaving not more than 5 feet water in +the inner, and 8 in the outer roads. The banks that divide the roads are +then dry, and people ride on horseback upon them. This extreme low tide +does not often happen. The brig Candidate, salt-laden from the Cape +de Verds, was lost, on the 13th June, 1823, near the Ortiz bank, from +an occurrence of this sort: the water having suddenly left her, she +foundered at her anchors. The state of the tide sometimes causes great +delay to vessels leaving the inner roads; days, and even a week, being +lost at some periods. + +Pilots, appointed and paid by the government, conduct vessels to and +from the outer and inner roads: two of them are Englishmen, Lee and +Robinson; the others are Portuguese and Creolian, who speak a little +English. The charge for pilotage is about 10 dollars each way. Masters +piloting their own vessels, which is now and then the case, do not +thereby save the charges. + +The port of Ensenada, situated 30 miles S.E. from Buenos Ayres, has good +anchorage; and for vessels drawing much water, it is preferable to go +thither. They incur more experience of lighterage, if they require to +be hove down; but it is the only place appertaining to Buenos Ayres in +which it can be done, and the charge is great. Ensenada is only a small, +dull village. Mules are shipped with greater facility there, than at +Buenos Ayres. + +The Barraccas is a creek on the south of the town, in which schooners +and small craft repair their defects. + +The river Plate may well be called the "hell of navigators:" a survey of +it was made by Captain Heywood, in H.M.S. Nereus, and his chart, though +not exactly correct, is considered to be the best. Buoys have been +lately placed by the government upon the Ortiz and Chico banks;[2] and +they have long had in agitation, the building of a mole, a dock for +shipping, and other extensive works. In addition to a French engineer, +a Quaker gentleman, named Bevans, is engaged. He arrived from London, +with his family, in October, 1822; but, for want of means, nothing of +importance has yet been done. Raising moles and docks is no trifling +undertaking, in a country so destitute of labourers. To remedy the +latter defect, 200 Irishmen, it is said, are coming out under the care +of Colonel O'Brien, one of San Martin's officers. Mr. Bevans has been +traveling about the country, for the purpose of collecting information +of the requisites necessary for his undertaking: he has, however, to +encounter many obstacles. A trifling tax on shipping would be cheerfully +agreed to for an undertaking so important. + + [2] For Instructions for navigating the river Plate, see _Appendix_; + where also will be found the Rules of the Port, Dues to be paid by + Vessels, &c. + +Several pilot boats cruise about the river Plate, from which pilots may +be obtained. + +In addition to the difficulty of large vessels getting up the river, an +adequate freight cannot be procured for them in Buenos Ayres. The Lord +Lynedoch, a ship of 550 tons, with a numerous crew of Lascars, remained +sixteen months and at last took a cargo of mules to the Isle of France. +Vessels of 150 to 200 tons burthen are the most likely to get employed. + +Vessels discharge and take in their cargoes by means of lighters, called +_balandras_. An English gentleman, Mr. Cope, has several in his employ, +and does the chief part of the English and American business. Should +there be the least swell upon the water, these lighters cannot lie +alongside; it is only in fine weather that work can be performed. + +Boat-hire is dear: to the outer roads, 8 dollars 4 reals, to the inner, +in proportion. The boatmen are mostly Englishmen, strong, active +fellows. + +The landing-place, at what was once the mole, is very bad; heavy boats +cannot get near. Carts are used to embark and disembark, for which there +is no fixed charge; they get what they can, like our watermen at home. +Those whose business leads them often afloat, find it a great tax, and +some prefer riding on the backs of their sailors, to paying it. It is +seldom there is water sufficient for boats to come close in, and they +are at all times liable to damage, from the pieces of rock, wrecks, &c. +near the shore. + +Buenos Ayres, at the present period, may be said not to possess a navy; +neither, indeed, is so expensive an establishment necessary. The captain +of the port, Don Batista Azopardo, is an Italian by birth; he is said +to be a well-meaning man. He commanded an armed vessel in the last war, +and has been once or twice a prisoner to the English. There are likewise +a number of marine officers in the service of Buenos Ayres. The +_Aranzazu_, national brig of war, so long anchored in the outer roads, +has a crew chiefly English; some of them are refractory seamen from the +merchant vessels. The marines are black soldiers. + + * * * * * + +There are three regular packets which run between Buenos Ayres and Monte +Video; the _Pepa_, _Dolores_, and _Mosca_, schooners. Seventeen dollars +are charged for the passage each way, every thing being provided, except +beds. This passage, which is about 150 miles, is sometimes made in 12 or +14 hours; at others, it takes several days. The favourite packet is the +_Pepa_, an American-built schooner, with good accommodations, commanded +by Campbell, an Englishman, who, from his skill and attention, is +peculiarly fitted for such an employment. + + * * * * * + +The CLIMATE of Buenos Ayres, taken generally, is decidedly good, and +more congenial to English habits than that most places abroad. Its +salubrity, however, is overrated: a consumptive person must not think +of coming here; many of that class have been obliged to fly to Mendoza +and other climes, to escape the vicisitudes of this. + +The spring months of September, October, November, and the autumn +ones of April and May, are the most agreeable parts of the year. The +thermometer, at those seasons, averages about 60; and we have repeated +clear and bracing weather, intermingled, however, with inclement days. + +The summer is not so hot as the latitude would denote. A sea breeze sets +in, at times, towards the afternoon; but this is not regular. December +and January are the hottest months. On some days of oppressive heat, the +thermometer may average 80, and at others, the pleasing temperature of +70 and 75. In January, 1824, for nearly a week it was 96 in the shade: +the oldest inhabitant never remembered such a continuance of heat. +When the heat is at the greatest, a _pampero_ suddenly comes, with its +accompaniment of rain, thunder and lightning, and cools the air. These +Pampero winds from the W. and W.S.W. with nothing to impede their +progress across the extended Pampas, blow with great violence, raising +clouds of dust, and obliging every one to close windows and doors. Being +off the land, they are not dangerous to shipping; though vessels at +the mouth of the river have been blown in sea hundreds of miles, by +a Pampero. The thunder and lightning to an European is terrific: the +lightning is often dangerous. + +The dust, fleas, and musquitos, render the summer months very +disagreeable. The fleas are a great annoyance, the houses being filled +with them; the very dust breeds them; and they seem to have a great +partiality for foreigners. I don't observe that the natives heed them. +They laugh at the English mode of washing the rooms to get rid of these +vermin; their plan is, to strew the room with fennel, sweeping that +and the fleas altogether into the street. Musquitos are another of the +disagreeables. + +A north wind, in summer, is very unpleasant, the heated atmosphere +relaxing both mind and body. The combined effects of heat, dust, and +wind, make the enjoyment of an evening promenade extremely precarious. + +In summer, the pastures frequently catch fire, from the intenseness of +the heat. In 1821, Mr. Halsey, an American gentleman, who has a large +sheep farm, sustained a considerable loss by an event of this kind, +many of his sheep having been burnt. The same heat that occasioned Mr. +Halsey's loss brought on a violent Pampero; and, from the dust and +burning ashes that enveloped the city, one might have supposed that +the days of Herculaneum and Pompeii were about to return. + +The winter is mild, yet there are days of piercing cold in the months of +June, July, and August; and thin ice may be seen in the morning, but not +any snow. We have here the penetrating rains, mists, and November days +of England, without its comforts: from these circumstances, and the heat +of the summer, Englishmen feel the cold much more than in England, and +cling to their fire-sides, for they have introduced those luxuries, and +the natives in some cases follow our example; otherwise, the ladies wrap +themselves up in their shawls, and the gentlemen in their capotes, and +thus pass the severe days of winter. The thermometer in winter is +generally at 40 to 50, sometimes at 35. + +The roads, after heavy rains, are nearly impassable, forming _pantanas_, +or mud holes, which are dangerous to travellers; but, on the return of +fine weather; they quickly dry again. The dead horses and dogs, that lie +about the roads, quickly decay. + +The rich pastures afford food to the cattle all the year round. The +winter's general mildness prevents the necessity of housing them. + +That Buenos Ayres possesses a fine climate, no one can deny; but not +to the extent its panegyrists have stated. I speak as I have found it, +having in vain looked for that Italian sky, soul-breathing softness +in the air, that some pretend to have found: but it may be defined a +healthy, warm climate. + +The various and sudden changes to which the British climate is subject, +form a fruitful grumbling topic to many Englishmen and foreigners, who +can fancy nothing that is not foreign. According to their accounts, even +the moon shines better here than at home. I will venture to assert, that +we have in England more real fine days in May, June, July, August, and +September, than in the best months at Buenos Ayres. Of our delightful +summer evenings, they have nothing to compare. To make any contrast of +a winter, in latitude 34, and that of 50, is out of the question. + +In this part of South America, earthquakes are only heard of; we dread +not, here, the catastrophes of Peru, Chili, and Mexico. + + * * * * * + +The prevalent DISEASES of Buenos Ayres are fevers, sore throats, +rheumatism, and others common to Europe. Strangers are subject to +rheumatism from the dampness and searching winds. Sore throats, in +many instances, have been fatal. + +It has often been observed, that we feel the effects of free-drinking +here, more than in England. I have experienced this more than once, and +thought it peculiar to myself, till others complained of the same. + + * * * * * + +The country round Buenos Ayres is uninteresting; all is dreary sameness. +But where, indeed, shall we find the charming scenery of our dear +England,--its hills and dales, parks, thick-set hedges, and splendid +mansions? We miss, too, that endless chirping of birds, ever heard in +our thick-set hedges. Here, the equestrian takes his ride merely for the +sake of exercise, and not from any pleasure the country can afford. I +did not expect to find villas, parks, and cultivated grounds; but I +thought it would be more diversified. + +In a place where horses are so cheap, one might conclude that Englishmen +would be continually on horseback, but they soon get tired of a +recreation, in which nothing but exercise is concerned. The most +frequented ride is to the village of Isidro, fifteen miles from the +city, the Richmond of this place. On Sundays and holidays much company +resort thither. It has some attractions in point of scenery. + +The Barracca road is good--upon a par with those of England. +Horse-racing and other sports are practised there, both by Englishmen +and natives. + +A ride in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres is not, however, entirely +devoid of interest; especially in the fruit season, when the _quintas_, +or farm-houses, with the peach trees weighed down by delicious fruit, +the orange trees (though this is not their soil), and the wild aloe, so +common in this and the opposite continent of Africa, afford an agreeable +prospect. But the wild rose, blackberries, and the mass of roots and +plants of English fields and hedges, are not to be seen. The trees (if +they can be called so) are of a nature so dwarfish, that they seem like +apologies for trees, stinted in their growth by bad nursing. + + * * * * * + +The _Alameda_, or public walk of Buenos Ayres, is upon the beach, near +the mole. It is totally unworthy such a city, and in the neighbourhood +of all the rabble of the town. It is only about 200 yards in length, +with rows of trees the height of bushes on each side, and brick seats, +which are too much honoured by the fair forms that use them. A moderate +assemblage frequent this walk on Sunday evenings: the beauty and dress +of the females could alone tempt a stranger to visit it. On other days +it is deserted, except by some elderly gentlemen, who, as in our St. +James's Park and Kensington Gardens, are glad to escape from the +multitude, and commune with themselves. + + * * * * * + +The beach well deserves its nick-name of _Wapping_; being crowded with +sailors of all nations, grog-shops, stores, &c. The English sailors +idling about the beach would man a ship of war. A stranger, seeing so +many English faces, might suppose it an English colony. At night, the +sailors in the grog-shops dance, to the music of the fiddle and flute, +reels, and the College hornpipe in perfection, astonishing the Spanish +girls. At one of these _pulperias_, or grog-shops, on the beach, a +large picture was lately hoisted, of H.M.S. Boyne in full sail, flags, +signals, &c. streaming. The English sailors mustered in great numbers +upon this occasion, and rent the air with their cheers. + +The seamen upon the beach are, at times, disorderly; but not more so +than in other countries. American sailors have been the most refractory, +causing their captains infinite trouble. The captain of an American ship +going to sea, lately, made application to the captain of one of our +packets, for irons, to punish his mutinous crew; but he replied, that he +never had such articles on board his ship. + +In no part of the world are masters of vessels subject to such annoyance +from the desertion of their crews.[3] Men get into the hands of crimps, +who conceal them, and exact their own price from those who are in want +of sailors. This has been in some measure rectified lately, especially +since the suppression of privateering. Many sailors roam about the +country, working as labourers; but they soon get tired of that, and +hanker after their old employment, as an old coachman likes to hear the +smack of the whip. These "beach-rangers," as they are called, have often +wished to enter for his majesty's ships that have been lying off Buenos +Ayres; but few or none have been accepted. Sailors begin to find there +is no service equal to our's. + + [3] On the 4th December, 1823, the Dutch ship of war _Lynx_, of 30 + guns, arrived at Buenos Ayres, on her way to the Pacific; and thirty + of the crew deserted, during her stay of nineteen days. The boats came + on shore latterly with armed marines, and the men were not permitted + to land. + + The French brig of war _Faune_ arrived on the 11th, and sailed on the + 23d June, 1824: she lost six men by desertion. This brig brought to + Buenos Ayres the French Admiral, Rosamel. + + * * * * * + +There are two English COFFEE-HOUSES, or HOTELS; Faunch's, and Keen's. +The former is a very superior one, and provides the dinners given upon +our national days, such as St. George's, St. Andrew's, &c. besides +numerous private dinners of Englishmen, Americans, Creolians, &c. It is +situated near the Fort. Faunch, the master, and his wife, have had great +experience in their profession in London; and the style of his dinners +is hardly to be exceeded there. The king's birth-day dinner is kept +up with great _éclat_: the room is surrounded by flags of different +nations; and they have both vocal and instrumental music. From 70 to 80 +persons generally sit down to table, including the ministers of the +country, who are always invited. The government pay us the compliment of +hoisting the flag at the Fort, on that day. + +Another hotel, kept by a respectable North-American female, Mrs. Thorn, +a widow, is much resorted to by the Americans. + +In the above coffee-houses, they charge 40 dollars per month for board +and lodging. An abatement is made to those who agree to remain a certain +period. Dinner for one person, including a pint of wine, is a dollar; +breakfast, tea, and supper, from 2 to 4 reals each; and a bed per night, +4 reals. + +On the beach, near the Fort, is a tavern, or eating-house, called the +Commercial Hotel; the master of which is a Spaniard, but most of the +waiters and servants are French: they have, likewise, an English waiter. +Dishes of all sorts can be procured there. To dine well, the price +amounts to nearly the same as at other taverns. The large dining-room +will accommodate from 70 to 80 persons, and is neatly fitted up. +Pictures of the battle of Alexandria, the storming of Seringapatam; +portraits of the French Marshals, Bertrand, Drouet, Foy, &c.; and views +of Paris and other cities, are suspended round the room. + +The Café de la Victoria, in Buenos Ayres, is very splendid; we have +nothing of the sort in London. It may not perhaps vie with the Mille +Colonnes, or other Parisian coffee-houses. There are, likewise, in +Buenos Ayres, those of St. Marco, the Catalan, and Café de Martin. They +have all large court-yards, or _patios_, attached to them, and stand +upon a great space of ground, more than could be well spared in London +for such purposes, where land is so valuable. These _patios_, in summer, +are covered with awnings, affording an agreeable retreat from the sun's +heat. They have wells of good water. To each also is attached a billiard +table; and, as this is a pastime to which they are much addicted, the +tables are always crowded. The coffee-rooms are covered with shewy +French paper, representing scenes in India, Otaheite, Don Quixote, and +designs from Grecian and Roman history. + +A new coffee-house was opened in December, 1824, near the church of St. +Michael. The music, illuminations, and fireworks, in front of the +establishment, on the evening of its opening, attracted a great +concourse of people. + +About four miles from town is a public-house called the York Hotel, kept +by a native. Creolian masters and mates of vessels, upon their hired +horses, at one dollar per afternoon, generally stop there; and the +horses are so accustomed to it, that it is with difficulty they will go +beyond it. + +In the coffee-houses the charges are very moderate: a wine-glass of +liqueurs, brandy, or any other cordial, tea, coffee, and bread, half +a real; with toast, one real. The waiters do not expect fees, as in +England: a _capitas_, or head waiter, superintends the coffee-room.[4] + + [4] In the coffee-houses, the waiters are very inquisitive, and in a + manner that one cannot be angry with. A knight of the napkin got me + into conversation, asking me a host of questions about England and + Englishmen, declaring, that he liked them better than any foreigners; + and, after passing those compliments, which I received with due + reverence, he eagerly demanded the reason of the English having such + red faces? I knew he could not mean mine, as I am dark, and of a + sallow complexion; so I told him, that the rich people drank a great + deal of Port wine, and the poor equally so of beer, which accounted + for the bloom he had noticed. + +In the arrangements and decoration of coffee-houses, the French and +Spaniards far outstrip us. The English are not a coffee-house-going +people: that time which other nations spend in them, the Englishman +passes in business, or with his family. + +Many Englishmen, upon their first arrival, reside with Spanish +families, to improve themselves in the language: forty dollars per month +is the charge. The houses of Mrs. Cassamajor and Mrs. Rubio take in +boarders; these families are of the highest respectability, and they +have several accomplished daughters, whose society is very interesting; +but Spanish cookery, with its garlic and grease, no more pleases an +English taste, than does that of the French. + + * * * * * + +Of the PUBLIC BUILDINGS, the Fort is the seat of government, the +Downing-Street of Buenos Ayres: it is situated near the river, with +residences inside. Though surrounded by a ditch, with cannon mounted on +the ramparts, drawbridges, &c. it could make but little defence against +a serious attack. One would suppose, that those who chose the spot on +which the city is built, had in view the prevention of attack by hostile +fleets, the shallowness of the water being a defence against any danger +of this kind. + +The Consulado is a respectable-looking house; it contains a Court of +Justice, or Appeals, for persons cited for debt, of which they regulate +the payment according to the ability of the party summoned, very similar +to our Courts of Request. In cases of debt they are very lenient, +seldom committing to prison, except for a flagrant attempt at fraud, +and sometimes giving the debtor five years to pay his creditors, +which is almost tantamount to a release. Disputes are decided by the +magistrates, at the Consulado, with an impartiality that gives universal +satisfaction. The English disputants, it has been observed, are very +numerous, causing more trouble than those of all the rest of the town +put together. The Post-Office is held in this building; and on the first +floor (for the house is one story high) is a Music School, in the +morning for young ladies, and in the evening for gentlemen. + +The Cabildo, or Town-House, has nothing remarkable about it, but the +church tower, and a long balcony in front: it is built in the Plaza, of +which it forms the western boundary. The great powers possessed by the +Members of the Cabildo, according to the old Spanish law, have been +reformed within these three years. It has a prison for criminal +offenders; and the head Police-Office is near it. + +The Bank, and the adjoining range of houses, are lofty and handsome. + +The House of Representatives has been lately constructed; it follows +the model, on a minor scale, of the French Chamber at Paris, and forms +a perfect theatre. The members are seated in the pit, the president +and secretary on the stage, and the spectators in the boxes. A bell +announces the commencement and the close of business. The orators, when +speaking, remain seated; so that they have no opportunity to display the +graces of action. It is well lighted, by tasteful chandeliers. The armed +soldiery, both inside and outside the house, destroys the idea of +republicanism. + +The Custom-House has no pretensions to notice, on the score of +appearance, whatever it may merit for its convenience. It was proposed +to build another, in the extensive grounds and gardens of the suppressed +monastery of Le Merced; but this, like many other propositions, has been +abandoned. + +The Public Library is a credit to this infant state; it contains about +21,000 volumes. Every respectable person is allowed admittance, to +peruse the books. Mr. Moreno, who speaks English, is the librarian. +Some choice drawings of medals from France are in the library. + +There is a small Botanical Museum; but the country furnishes few +specimens of plants. + +The Retiro, occupied as barracks, is on the north extremity of the +city, and has nothing worthy of notice about it, but its theatrical +appearance, and daubs of paintings on the walls. There is a large space +in front, called the Bull Ring, in which bull-fights used to take place. +The band performs there, for a short time, in the afternoon. It is here +that criminals are shot, when the punishment is not for a state offence. +Being situated upon high ground, and near the river, the Retiro has +a pleasant prospect. In one of the streets near it, is a large brick +building, built for a distillery, twelve years since, by Mr. Thwaites, +an Englishman. The speculation did not answer, and the house is now in +a state of dilapidation. A windmill, west of the town, is a conspicuous +object; it is the only one in the country, and was erected by Mr. +Stroud, also an Englishman. It had, for some time, the fate of the +distillery; but I have heard that it now flourishes. + +The Residencia, on the south side of the Fort, is appropriated as an +hospital. There are two or three other public hospitals, including one +for foundlings. + + * * * * * + +The Grand Plaza is a large square, environed by buildings: on the east +is the Recoba, a piazza with shops; on the west, the Cabildo; on the +north, a part of the cathedral; and on the south, a range of shops. +There is a pyramid in the centre, which, on festival nights, is +illuminated. If paved, it would be an admirable place for the parade +of troops; at present, wet weather renders it almost impassable. + +A second Plaza has been made, adjoining the other, near the Fort, by +the removal of the market-place and some dirty sheds and stabling. + +The river, the fort, some neat buildings on the south, the handsome +arch, under which there is a passage to the two plazas, the towers of +St. Francisco's church, and the Cabildo, taken in perspective from +Faunch's Hotel, would form a good picture. + +At night, the streets are respectably lighted by lamps fastened to the +walls, which extend as far as the eye can reach in some of the principal +thoroughfares, in St. Francisco Street particularly. A stranger, on +viewing this street, would imbibe no mean opinion of the city. The +lamps do not afford any thing like the illumination of the gas lights of +London; they are equal, however, to those used before the introduction +of gas. + +From the state of the pavements, except in the principal streets, +walking at night is very disagreeable--in wet weather, dangerous; and +here are no accommodating hackney coaches to jump into. + +It is intended to pave all the streets; but, from the scarcity of +workmen and materials, it will be some time before this can be effected. +Those that have pavements, bating their narrowness, are similar to the +streets of London; the unpaved ones are very miserable. + + * * * * * + +The HOUSES of Buenos Ayres are mostly built of brick, and white-washed. +Very few of them are one story high: they are flat-roofed, with a high +parapet, and have a court-yard attached. The windows are protected by +iron bars placed lengthwise in the front, so that a Londoner might fancy +them lock-up houses. They form a complete fortification; and the loss +sustained in Whitelock's attack ceases to excite surprise, recollecting +that our troops had to run the gauntlet through an enemy they could not +get at. + +Many of the houses occupy a large extent of ground. The _sala_ is the +principal room. The roofs of the houses, denominated the _azotea_, are +very pleasant, especially near the river; and the party-walls are so +low, that a person can traverse whole streets upon the house-tops. The +inhabitants do not fear robberies, relying upon the strength of their +doors, iron-barred windows, and barking dogs: of the latter, two or +three are in a house. The bars in the window fronts are an excellent +contrivance, and quite necessary, in a climate requiring so much air, +and likewise for security, the street windows being close to the +foot-path, and no areas to protect them. They report that this fashion +is a remnant of Spanish jealousy; at any rate, it does their invention +credit. Many of the mansions are specimens of Moorish architecture; +those belonging to the richer class are splendidly furnished with +carpets, handsome mirrors, &c. So little wood is used in building, there +is no fear of fire. Extensive houses, formerly occupied by the first +families of the country, are now tenanted by British merchants; and the +salas that were once graced by beauty, music, and the dance, are now +stored with dry goods, and nothing is heard but the hum of business. + +House rent is very high: for a moderate-sized house, from 60 to 80 +dollars per month. + + * * * * * + +CHURCHES.--In Catholic countries, the attention of the Protestant +traveller is ever attracted towards the churches. Their gorgeous +decorations, music, dress of the priesthood, &c. form so great a +contrast to the simplicity of the reformed religion, that we gaze, as +if viewing the splendid scenery of some theatrical spectacle, and, for +the moment, cease to be astonished at the influence which this imposing +church has exercised, and still continues to exercise, over a great +portion of the Christian world. If the Spaniards in Europe are supposed +to surpass all other Catholic nations in their strict adherence to the +rights and ceremonies of "holy church," they have not neglected to +transplant to South America this formidable engine of power. The charms +of its music, and its general magnificence, must have bewildered the +imagination of the natives, and insured to the Spaniards complete +authority. + +I have visited most of the churches of Buenos Ayres, with feelings I can +scarcely describe. My mind was ever strongly imbued with recollections +of those youthful readings of monastic institutions, of cowled monks +and nuns, which, in our Protestant land, we only read of; but to have +the reality before me, absorbed every faculty--I gave a loose to +fancy--every thought was engaged. + +I believe the following to be a tolerably correct list of the churches +and chapels in Buenos Ayres:-- + + The Cathedral. + St. Francisco. + St. Domingo. + St. Ignatio, or College Church. + St. Catalina (Convent of Nuns). + St. Juan (ditto). + St. Nicholas. + St. Miguel. + Residencia. + Montserrat. + La Merced. + La Conception. + Loccaro. + Recolator. + La Piedad. + + _Chapels._ + St. Lucia. + St. Roque. + Hospital. + +The Cathedral is a large domed building, built of brick, as indeed they +all are. Its outside presents nothing particular, with the exception of +its loftiness; and, in common with the rest, it has crosses placed upon +every prominent part. A new front is building towards the Plaza; but +it gets on very slowly, the scaffolding being so very expensive. The +interior is lofty and spacious; it is ornamented with figures of the +Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus, in glittering attire. Jesus on the +cross, and saints in strict costume, occupy places at the different +altars. Flowers, artificial and real, are plentifully bestowed, and +relics are strewed in all directions, informing the foreigner that he is +in a land where Catholicism once existed in all its pristine grandeur. +These emblems of peace, in the body of the church, are shaded by those +of war from above. Suspended from the ceiling are about twenty flags, +taken from the Spaniards on various occasions, as at Monte Video, Maypu, +&c. _Fernando VII._ is inscribed upon most of them. The grand altar is +adorned with costly gems; and when the large and numerous candles are +lighted, the effect is grand. The organ and choir are good: the tones +of the former vibrating through the aisles, and the kneeling females in +black attire, make an impression of no ordinary nature. The government +and municipal authorities attend at the Cathedral on state and feast +days, forming processions to and from the church. The Sunday mass, about +twelve o'clock, is attended by most of the fashion and beauty of the +town. + +Of the churches, that of St. Francisco seems most profusely ornamented. +Virgins and saints of all descriptions occupy every altar and nook of +the interior, clothed in rich and fanciful attire, which the devotion of +the faithful has bestowed. The grand altar is very brilliant; and when +fully lighted, it appears a sheet of gold. Some of the ornaments, I +should think, are valuable. This edifice is of considerable length, and +contains twenty friars of the order of St. Francisco, the only community +of the sort now existing in Buenos Ayres. The towers are paved with +tiling, which, at a distance, looks like marble. St. Francisco's church +is my favourite, for, child-like, I am attracted by glitter. + +The College church is one I rarely visit, from prejudice or revenge at +an insult offered to me by one of the servants, who told me Englishmen +had no business there, and absolutely took my arm to conduct me out. In +any other place I should have chastised him.--It is a gloomy structure, +both outside and inside, even with the usual decorations. The Holy Ghost +proceeds on its different missions from this church. + +St. Domingo church is large, with a spacious dome. It had, until the +suppression, in 1822, forty-eight friars of the Dominican order; amongst +whom was an Irish priest, Father Burke, who, from motives of kindness, +is still allowed to occupy his apartment. He is more than 70 years of +age, and much esteemed by the British as well as natives, being divested +of those prejudices which so often disgrace his cloth. The rooms of the +friars, and the garden, make it a comfortable retreat. The interior of +St. Domingo is light and airy, without much decoration; but it contains +objects that swell the beating hearts of Englishmen--British standards +ranged around the dome, the trophies of Beresford's and Whitelock's +expeditions. Crawford, with part of his division, it will be +recollected, took refuge in this church. I have viewed those flags with +the most painful recollections, obtained, as they were, not in open +fight, but by concealed and inaccessible enemies; and have felt for the +fate of my unhappy countrymen, slaughtered, without an opportunity to +retaliate, by those who could not have stood one half-hour before them +in a fair field of battle. This city is almost the only one in the world +that can boast the possession of such prizes. + +The church of Le Merced is a very pretty building, with a dome and +tower. The interior is compact, and, in splendour, very little inferior +to St. Francisco; containing virgins, Madonas, holy pictures, &c. &c. in +gorgeous abundance, with the usual quantity of confessional boxes. It is +much resorted to. Until lately, it held forty-five friars, of the order +of Le Merced; a peculiar order, allowing its professors, it is said, to +wear concealed arms. One of the regiments attends divine service, and +their band performs, in this church. + +The description of one may be said to include a description of all the +churches, as they partake of the same general character, excepting only +that some are more splendid than others. No impediment is offered to the +admission of foreigners into these sacred buildings; and they may roam +about _ad libitum_. The obstruction I received in the College church, I +am persuaded, was the unauthorized act of the fellow who offered it. To +avoid singularity, it is best to conform to their mode of devotion. The +eye of curiosity will, now and then, be directed towards a stranger; but +this is to be expected, though some gentlemen express a repugnance to +visit their churches for that reason, and a fear of intruding. + +The churches, with the buildings attached, gardens, &c. occupy a great +extent of ground; particularly those of St. Juan and Catalina, which +were erected at a time when religious enthusiasm was at its height. + + * * * * * + +The THEATRE, as an edifice, has nothing to boast. The exterior looks +like a stable; but the interior is better than the outside promises. It +has been much improved since my arrival. They sadly want a new theatre. +There is a plot of ground near the Plaza just adapted for it: but unless +the government take it in hand, the public spirit of individuals, I +fear, will not; and yet, with a people so theatrically inclined, it is +somewhat surprising. Almost the first inquiry of a foreigner is of the +Theatre: at present, they smile at its insignificance. + +The pit is large, extending a considerable length from the stage, with +backs to the seats, and partitions to each, which serve as a rest for +the arms: they are numbered, and let out under the appellation of +"_lunetas_;" every person proceeding to his own seat; thus the crowding +and fighting, for places, so common in our theatres, is avoided. No +females are admitted into the pit. + +In the dress circle, some blue silk spread over the panels of the boxes +is all that distinguishes it from the others. + +The dress boxes will contain about eight persons each. As they have not +any seats affixed to them, those who engage them send chairs; or the +theatre will supply them, by paying a trifle for their use. The price +of a box, for a night's performance, is three dollars. These boxes, and, +indeed, places for every other part of the house, may be taken for a +certain period called a "_function_," which lasts ten nights. Many +families engage their boxes this way, which makes them come reasonable. + +Under the dress circle, and even with the pit, are boxes called +_palcos_, at 2½ dollars per night. + +The _cazuela_, or gallery, is similar to the one at Astley's, except +that it is not so large. It is appropriated to females alone. The +keeping females thus crowded together in a theatre, and separated from +their natural protectors, seems an abominable practice. A stranger is +apt to form erroneous opinions of the fair occupants of the cazuela, and +can scarcely believe that the most respectable are to be found there: +but it is so; and husbands, brothers, and friends, wait for them at the +gallery door. This custom, it is said, they inherit from the Moors. The +_goddesses_ of the cazuela behave in the most orderly manner; much more +so, I suspect, than my countrywomen would, similarly situated. + +Over the stage is inscribed the words--"_Es la Comedia Espejo de la +Vida_." + +The Governor's box was close to the stage, on what in the London +theatres is denominated the Prince's side of the house; and the +_cabildo_, or box of the chief magistracy, was in front. But now the +Governor's box is removed to what was the _cabildo_, and the English +consul occupies the one lately the Governor's. The Governor, except on +national days, seldom attends the theatre. + +That important personage, the prompter, has his little tub, as usual, +in the middle of the stage, destroying all the illusion of the scene, +and, from necessity, obliging the audience to hear him as well as the +performers. Senor Zappucci, an Italian, intent, one evening, upon +impressing the audience with the drollery of a comic song, fell through +the prompter's hole; and the spectators began to consider whether this +was a part of his song. Fortunately he was not hurt. The superior +arrangement, in this respect, of the English theatres, might afford a +lesson to the most prejudiced foreigners. + +The admittance is two reals to all parts of the house: but this does not +include a seat. It is, therefore, necessary to take a whole box, or a +single place in the pit (which costs three reals), in addition to the +admission. + +Soldiers, who constitute every where the police of the city, were +formerly stationed both inside and outside of the theatre; but this +is no longer the case; and the eye of the republican citizen is not +offended by their presence at places of public amusement. + +No refreshments are sold in the theatre; we never hear the "Choice +fruit, ladies and gentlemen, and a bill of the play!" and the spectators +in the pit are saved the nuisance of having the peelings of oranges and +apples dropped upon them. But then they are not condemned to sit five or +six hours, as in our theatres; three hours and a half is the utmost. The +pit audience generally walk out between the acts, and reassume their +seats without disturbance or difficulty. + +Smoking in the theatre is not allowed; but such charms has the segar, +that they watch the opportunity of the absence of the police to smoke in +the lobbies. + +The theatre continues open all the year round, with the exception of +Lent; and then music is permitted. + +The regular nights of performance are Sundays and Thursdays; though +there are sometimes performances on Tuesdays, saints' days, &c. Sunday +nights are the most crowded, as in all Catholic countries. On rainy +nights there is no performance. + +The usual performances at the theatre consist of a play and farce; with +singing, sometimes, between the acts. + +"_Othello_" is at times performed--not that of our Shakspeare, but a +translation from the French. Its absurdities and tameness no Englishman +can endure with common patience; he looks in vain for those bursts that +overpower the imagination, and electrify the spectators. + +An ingenious English gentleman translated Cumberland's "_Wheel of +Fortune_," and "_The Jew_;" but they are too sentimental to please this +audience. "_Love laughs at Locksmiths_" and "_Matrimony_," from the +original French, are stock pieces; and "_The Scottish Outlaw_," and +"_Charles Edward Stuart_" are very successful. + +The performers are about equal to those of our country theatres. Of the +females, Doña Trinidad Guevra takes the lead. She has a good figure, a +tolerably expressive face, and a sweet, plaintive voice. In such parts +as _Letitia Hardy_, and _Maria_, in "_The Citizen_," she excels; and +likewise in the sentimental. + +Velarde is their first male performer, and plays tragedy, comedy, +farce--it would be unkind to say, with _Silvester Daggerwood_--and +"makes nothing of them;" for, in comedy, he has talent: his tragedy +is not first-rate. He has the merit of dressing his characters with +some regard to costume. I have seen him personate a British officer, +with a uniform coat nearly a copy of those worn by our Foot-Guard +officers.--The general manner of dress upon the stage, at times, +approaches to the burlesque. An English nobleman is always made to +wear the order of the Garter, and a star, whether in street, forest, +or drawing-room. Señor Rosquellas, in the part of _Lord Leicester_ or +_Essex_ (I know not which) in Rossini's "_Queen Elizabeth_," wears the +dress of a modern French field-marshal: his taste and experience should +reform this. + +Señor Culebras (in English, Mr. Snake) is made the butt of the juvenile +part of the audience--the _Claremont_ of this theatre. When he appears +to give out the play, they vociferate his name. Why they thus make sport +of him, I know not, except that he has a peculiarly spare person, and is +a sort of deputy manager, the Mr. Lamp of the company. He is said to be +a sensible man, speaking the Spanish language very correctly. As an +actor, he is both chaste and pleasing. + +In low comedy, they have a good actor, named Felipe David, the Liston +of the company; and one Señor Vera, who is a useful performer, as well +as singer, and has abilities of no mean order. His representation of +_Colonel Cox_, in the play of "_Charles Edward Stuart_," founded upon +an incident after the battle of Culloden, forcibly brought to my +recollection Lovegrove's _Rattan_, in the farce of "_The Bee-Hive_." + +Our English actresses, when they come on the stage, "prepared for woe," +have their white pocket-handkerchiefs pinned to their clothes: here they +are held in the hands. Both customs are ridiculous; and the constant +application they make of them in this theatre renders it more so. + +The orchestra consists of twenty-eight instrumental performers. The +symphonies between the acts are from Haydn, Mozart, &c. &c. as in the +English theatres. The performances are ushered in by an overture, +generally selected with great taste. + +The musical department has greatly improved; and they get through +difficult compositions with considerable spirit: constant practice, and, +above all, the great exertions of Señor Rosquellas has effected this. +This gentleman, a Spaniard by birth, made his first _debût_ before a +Buenos Ayres audience in 1822, as a vocalist. His science has enabled +him to surmount the imperfections of a very indifferent voice, and he is +always heard with pleasure. Mr. Rosquellas[5] may be called the founder +of the Buenos Ayres Opera; for, until he came, the orchestra was very +indifferent. Mr. Rosquellas speaks English, and is married to an English +lady. He has been in London, and, I believe, sung with Braham there. +He was ably seconded by Señor Vacani, also from Rio Janeiro, the best +_buffo_ I have seen (Naldi, perhaps, excepted). We had the music of +Rossini night after night to delighted audiences: the duet of "_Al' +idea di quell metallo_," from "_The Barber of Seville_," is as great +a favourite here as in Europe. + + [5] As Mr. R. is an important personage in Buenos Ayres, I cannot + forbear relating an anecdote of him:--In an excursion to Rio Janeiro, + he took away with him a slave girl, reporting (or scandal had done + so for him) that she was a present from the governor's lady, as a + trifling reward for the pleasure his musical talents had afforded her. + This coming to the ears of the lady made her highly indignant, saying, + that "she was not in the habit of giving away her slaves." Rosquellas, + upon his return, was sent to prison, and made to account for the + slave, by paying a round sum of money. + +The departure of Vacani left a blank in the musical world, which has +been since, in some degree, compensated by the appearance of Doña +Angelina Tani. She has a fine tenor voice; the lower tones are of great +depth, and some of them she elicits with great effect in a trio from +Rossini's "_Elizabeth Queen of England_." + +During the Lent of 1824, we had some delightful musical treats, +which rendered the representations of their regular drama very dull, +particularly to a foreigner. + +An English mechanic, by name Waldegrave, was tempted to make a trial +upon this stage as a singer. He sung "_The Beautiful Maid_," and "_The +Bewildered Maid_;" but he failed to make any impression. His voice was +good, but he wanted grace. + +In English singing, I doubt whether the inimitable Braham would please +them. They smile at the idea of our having a talent for music. The +finest compositions of Arne, Storace, Shield, Braham, &c. might stand +a chance of being suspected to be stolen from foreign composers; +for nothing goes down but Italian or Spanish music. Rosquellas, +from being a Spaniard, and singing their popular songs, such as the +"_Contrabandista_," &c. is just to their taste: for, though no longer +owning the Spanish sway, they still cling to that music which charmed +them in their youth. + +With a people so fond of dancing, one would expect to find a regular +corps de ballet at the theatre; but a dance was not to be seen, except, +now and then, dancers from the Rio Janeiro Theatre accepted engagements +for a limited period, until Monsieur and Madame Touissaint, from the +Paris and London Opera, arrived, who meet with great and deserved +encouragement. + +The bolero, fandango, and the pleasing castanets, seem peculiar only to +Spain: I had thought to have found them common here. The Touissaints +have introduced the bolero, and dance charmingly. + +An Englishman, at a foreign theatre, cannot help being struck with the +stillness and order, which form so great a contrast to what he has been +accustomed to at home. The theatre of Buenos Ayres, in this respect, +might serve as an example to those of more polished nations.[6] But, +notwithstanding Lord Byron's remark, that he would never write a play +for our winter theatres, whilst the one-shilling gallery was suffered to +remain; I prefer their boisterous mirth, and its many inconveniences, to +the monotony of the foreign stage. The magnificence and ingenuity of our +Christmas pantomime, which every body pretends to despise, and yet which +all go to see, with the joyous faces of so many children seated round +the boxes, convulsed with laughter at the drolleries of a Grimaldi, are +not to be paralleled elsewhere. A London theatre is, indeed, a world +within itself. + + [6] I once witnessed a most disgraceful scene at the Theatre Français, + at Paris. Talma was performing _Cinna_--the house was crowded, when + some English ladies entered the boxes, escorted by two of their + countrymen, military officers. It was at the time when the British + army occupied Paris. In taking off their shawls, the backs of the + ladies were, for a moment, turned towards the pit; when a yelling + commenced from that quarter, which would have disgraced savages. The + interference of the British officers increased the confusion; the + most insulting gestures were resorted to; and the ladies quitted the + theatre in tears, affording a noble triumph to those brave champions + of etiquette. + +Sometimes a straggling English sailor will wander into this theatre; but +not understanding it, he soon leaves it for the grog shop. A sailor is +always a troublesome inmate of a theatre. Two of them were passing their +remarks rather loudly, one evening: the audience laughed; but not so the +police, for they handed the two poor fellows into the street. Jack swore +that he had had many a row at the Liverpool and Portsmouth play-house, +without being molested; and damned such liberty as that at Buenos Ayres. +I got my weather-beaten countrymen away, seeing them inclined to resist; +for unarmed men stand but a poor chance with a police of bayonets and +swords. + +Managers and actors quarrel in the new as well as in the old world. +Velarde has had one or two disputes, and left the theatre. The audience +insisted upon his return, and the manager was obliged to yield. The +actor's appearance, after these squabbles, is made a triumph by his +friends; and the ladies in the cazuela throw bouquets, literally +strewing the stage with flowers. These disagreements give rise to formal +appeals to the public, from both parties, in the shape of printed +addresses. In Velarde's dispute, the manager had charged him with +getting drunk. The actor indignantly denied this; but allowed that, on +the 25th of May (the anniversary of their independence), he did get a +little merry, broke glasses, and quarrelled with the landlord, in honour +of the day, as every good patriot should do; and, in answer to a remark +that had been made upon the graces of his person, he stated, that he did +not possess Jacob's ladder, to climb to heaven, and ask God why he was +not made an Adonis. + +A certain priest, Castañeda, having, in a publication, attacked the +character of Doña Trinidad, for wearing upon the stage the portrait of +a married gentleman (as he asserted), the lady absented herself from +the theatre for some nights. On her re-appearance, she was greeted with +applause; the audience reasoning, like our's in the affair of Mrs. H. +Johnstone and Braham, that the public have nothing to do with private +character. + +Performers, at times, in Buenos Ayres, announce their own benefits--even +the females. A lady will address the audience with all the earnestness +so important an occasion demands, and will go round the house, +delivering bills of the intended performance, couched in high-flown +language, "To the immortal and respectable public of Buenos Ayres," &c. +&c. They know how to "bill the town," as well as any English country +manager. Previous to a benefit night, they have a custom of illuminating +the front of the theatre, and exhibiting a transparency of the proposed +representation;[7] with bonfires, rockets, and a band of music at the +door. This has been ridiculed by one of the newspapers, but it still +continues in a degree. + + [7] A performance was advertised for a benefit, founded upon the + battle of Salamanca. In the front of the theatre, on the evening + previous, a transparency was exhibited, representing the discomfited + French pursued by Wellington and his troop: they had, likewise, a + British flag hoisted. All this was too much for Monsieur to bear; and + a scuffle took place, in an attempt to haul the flag down. On the play + night, an O.P. row was expected, but all went off quietly. + +The British are not great patrons to the theatre: they assign, as a +cause, the want of attraction; but business, and their inclination +to society among themselves, are perhaps the chief reasons of their +neglect. There are, however, a number of Englishmen, who find relief +from the cares of business, and are constant attendants at the theatre; +some of them, without any fixed object, stroll about, earnestly gazing +at the pretty girls, whom they designate by particular names. I have +been much amused, when they have pointed out to me the different ladies, +under their fixed appellations; as, Imogen, Euphrosyne, Discretion, +Corinna, Zenobia, the Greeks, &c. One gentleman, Don Geronimo Salas, +they have named the King, from his great likeness to George the Fourth +of England. The resemblance is considerable; only that Don Geronimo is +not so corpulent as his Majesty. It is not every day we see men with +persons so corpulent as his Britannic Majesty and Don Geronimo: the +former (national prejudice apart) does indeed look like a king; the +latter is a very handsome man. + +It is not uncommon to see infants a few months old, in the arms of their +mothers, and slaves, at the play. + +The ladies attend the boxes in their most brilliant attire, combining +neatness with elegance, mostly in white; the neck and bosom partly +exposed, just enough to excite admiration, without alarming the most +fastidious modesty; a gold chain, or other ornament, is now and then +suspended from the neck; the dress, with short sleeves; the hair +tastefully arranged; a simple comb, and a few real or artificial flowers +braided about the hair. + +On a full night, the theatre presents a spectacle of lovely women, that +a stranger would hardly expect. I have often contemplated them, with +their dark expressive eyes and raven hair, adding, if possible, more +beauty to countenances already so beautiful. + +I think no city in the world, of the same population, can boast more +charming females than Buenos Ayres. Their appearance and brilliancy, at +the theatre, is not exceeded either at Paris or London; and I write from +a tolerable acquaintance with the theatres of both capitals. It is true, +the costly diamonds and waving plumes, that blaze from the persons of +the British and French fair, are not to be seen in Buenos Ayres: those +appendages, however, in my humble opinion, add not to female loveliness. + +The theatre was re-opened on the 16th January, 1825, under the +management of Messrs. Rosquellas and others, after having been +closed two months for the purpose of repairs and alterations. Great +improvements have been made: the seats in the pit are covered with +crimson velvet; the whole interior of the house has been cleaned and +painted; the stage thrown more forward, and the orchestra enlarged. A +new drop-scene is exhibited, with the arms of the country and other +devices painted upon it; and, from being better lighted, the theatre +has now a neat appearance. + +The operatic department constitutes the chief attraction of the theatre: +in this they have Rosquellas, Vacani (the renowned _buffo_), the younger +Vacani, Vera, the two Señoras Tanis, and Doña Angelina Tani, who sings +as exquisitely as ever. Vacani, upon his re-appearance, after a short +absence, was hailed with shouts of approbation, and bouquets of flowers +thrown upon the stage. + +In the dance, we have Touissaint, his wife, and a corps de ballet, +including some Portuguese comic dancers from Rio Janeiro. Regular +ballets of action now take place, in lieu of the pas de deux, and pas +seul, of one or two principal dancers. + +Under the old Spanish regime, the season of Lent was the most gloomy +part of the year; it is now the gayest: we have operas and ballets two +and three times a week, to delighted audiences; selections from _The +Barber of Seville_, _Figaro_, _Henry IV._ &c. the orchestra led by +Masoni, the skilful Masoni, whose talent draws forth raptures of +applause. + +It is in contemplation to get up regular operas, instead of detached +pieces: _Don Giovanni_ has been mentioned--Rosquellas to be the hero; he +would both look and perform it admirably, at least to those who have not +seen Ambrogetti. + +At the theatre door, on performance nights, several handsome carriages +are now to be seen, with lighted lamps and well-dressed servants, +belonging to English and other families. When I arrived, in 1820, +scarcely one was in existence. Were a Spaniard to revisit this place, +after an absence of a few years, he would feel surprised at the +alteration; the rigid fasts of the church laid aside for innocent +enjoyments, the hum of business greeting his ear, and European strangers +every where meeting his eye. Old Spain's ancient dominion of Buenos +Ayres is gone for ever: a few of the old school may yet cling to the +mother country; but the grand mass of the people, especially the younger +branches, are decidedly patriots. + +An amateur performance took place, on the 21st February, 1825, for +the benefit of the widows and orphans of those who had fallen in the +revolutionary wars. It was a full house, and profitable--the reverse +of Silvester Daggerwood's. Orders are not admitted to the Buenos +Ayres theatre. The play was _Virginius_; and the different parts were +sustained by gentlemen of the city, in a style so creditable, as to put +to the blush the regular actors. + +A North-American Frenchman, named Stanislaus, last from the Havannah, +has given several exhibitions at the theatre upon galvanism, +slight-of-hand, &c. aided by machinery, the best I have seen of the +sort. His performance was more than upon a par with our English +professors. The natives declared, he must have dealings with the devil; +or how could he transport handkerchiefs from the pockets of individuals +in the theatre to the lofty towers of the Cabildo, in the Plaza? and +this, they asserted, he had done. Stanislaus was rewarded with good +houses. His pronunciation of the Spanish language excited bursts of +laughter; it was a mixture of Spanish, French, and English. + +A Lecture on Astronomy was attempted; but it did not meet with the +success it merited, either from a want of taste for this instructive +science, or that the audience conceived the theatre an improper place. +The lecturer reading his part, diminished the effect. + + * * * * * + +An Englishman (Bradley) has a CIRCUS, which is sometimes open on Sunday +afternoons, and on saints' days. Bradley is a decent horseman and clown; +but he has to contend with many disadvantages. + + * * * * * + +BRITISH RESIDENTS.--Before entering into a detail of the manners and +customs of the native or Spanish part of the population, I shall take +some notice of the various FOREIGNERS who have become residents in this +city. Of these the most numerous are the ENGLISH: I have heard, that the +province of Buenos Ayres contains, of men, women, and children, 3500 +British individuals, according to a census taken in 1822. + +The British merchants are a respectable body in Buenos Ayres: the +commerce of the country is chiefly in their hands; and, taking the +clerks, servants, and others employed in their barraccas, or hide +warehouses, as well as in their houses, the numbers are very imposing. +Most houses have a Spanish clerk, who (as well as his English brethren) +generally boards and lodges in the house. + +The following is a list of the British mercantile establishments at +present existing in Buenos Ayres:-- + + Messrs. Brown, Buchanan, and Co. Agents for Lloyd's. + Dickson, Montgomery, & Co. + M'Crackan and Jamieson. + Miller, Eyes, and Co. + Miller, Robinson, & Co. + Winter, Britain, & Co. + Plowes, Noble, & Co. + Duguid and M'Kerrell. + Bertram, Armstrong, & Co. + Heyworth and Carlisle. + William P. Robertson & Co. + Anderson, Weir, & Co. + Tayleure, Cartwright, & Co. + William Hardesty & Co. + Joseph and Joshua Thwaites. + John Gibson & Co. + Hugh Dallas & Co. + Peter Sheridan. + John Appleyard. + Messrs. John Bailey. + C. S. Harvey. + Thomas Eastman. + Thomas Fair. + Thomas Nelson. + Green and Hodgson. + Richard and William Orr. + Jump and Priestley. + Stewart and M'Call. + John Ludlam. + James G. Helsby. + Henry Hesse. + John M'Dougall & Co. + John Harratt & Co. + R. B. Niblett. + Daniel Mackinlay. + Thomas Barton. + George Macfarlane. + Stephen Puddicomb. + Robert Utting. + +Most of the above houses have their corresponding firms at Rio Janeiro, +Monte Video, Chili, and Peru, forming an immense link, of no mean +importance, to the trade of Great Britain. + +Our merchants, in Buenos Ayres, are not only land and stock-holders; +but, since the establishment of the Bank, they have become Bank +Directors. In thus identifying themselves with the country, I am +persuaded, they will not forfeit one iota of their independence. + +In 1821, the British merchants in Buenos Ayres advanced to the Buenos +Ayrean government a sum of money, by way of loan, which was punctually +repaid, contrary to the expectations of many; for as this money was lent +only a few months after a revolution, when Ramirez and Carrera were in +the field, threatening the province, its return was problematical. + +The majority of the British merchants are natives of Scotland, +proverbial for their talent and activity in trade. Without being +accused of undue partiality, I may safely assert, that our merchants do +honour to the country in which they are domiciled. Quoting the language +of Don Valentin Gomez, at the King's birth-day dinner, of April 23, +1823, "The English citizens have shewn themselves worthy of the +distinguished character they have acquired. In Buenos Ayres, they have +always been good fathers of families, and good guests. The province owes +them every protection." + +The clerks in the mercantile houses are kept pretty closely to business, +from eight in the morning till near the same hour at night, holidays +excepted, which is fagging work. + +Besides the merchants, there are a host of English shopkeepers. The +street of La Piedad is full of them; and they retail almost every +article that can be mentioned. In all parts of the city, the eye +continually meets with English, and their inscriptions in front of the +shops; as, _Zapatero Ingles_ (English Shoemaker), _Sastre_ (Tailor), +_Carpenteria_ (Carpenter), _Roloxero_ (Watchmaker), &c. &c.; and +the quantity of British subjects dispersed all over the country, as +collectors of hides, agriculturists, &c. is more than would be believed. + +A trifling jealousy is, at times, to be observed amongst the natives, +at the numbers of the English resident here; the former supposing that +we have a monopoly of business, and drain the country of money. These +false reasoners in political economy cannot comprehend that, in trade, +obligations are mutual, and that for our goods we buy their produce, +often at a ruinous price. All increase of population to a new and +thinly-peopled country, like Buenos Ayres, just released from a +disgraceful thraldrom, ought to be viewed as a benefit: the well +informed know it to be so. + +The British medical practitioners at Buenos Ayres are--Drs. Leper, +Dick, Oughan,[8] Jenkinson, and Whitfield: the two last are +apothecaries. Drs. Leper and Dick are surgeons in his majesty's navy, +and are allowed to be men of talent, and have good practice. + + [8] Dr. Oughan has returned to England, in the _Kingfisher_ packet: + some eccentricities in the doctor's conduct occasioned the British + consul to make application for his being sent home. + +A physician here is not so profitable a concern as in England: the +guinea fee dwindles to a dollar per visit, though to a favourite doctor +they make presents. Once, in London, I remember seeing thirty single +guineas, for as many visits, lying upon a doctor's table, the result +of a morning's work; and this was thought but little, to pay for house +expences, carriage, &c. + +A Medical Board has been formed here, which, a short time since, +examined into the qualifications of the different medical men, +propounding questions which, I am told, would have puzzled Esculapius +himself to answer. Two unfortunate Irishmen were caught in the trap, +and forbidden to practise. Paddy, at no time, likes his talent to be +depreciated: accordingly, one of them took up the pen, and wrote a long +philippic; the other did not confine himself to this, but made use of +language, in the full senate of medical sages, that consigned him to a +dungeon for three weeks, and he was afterwards banished the country. A +French doctor was suspended, for an error in the accouchement of a lady. + +There is a North-American doctor (Bond), and plenty of native ones. + +I should think this would be an excellent place for quack doctors; +indeed, they are beginning the trade already. A medicine called +_Panquimagoge_, invented by a man named Le Roy, "the immortal Le Roy," +as the papers stated, was puffed up, as being a certain cure for +all complaints, equalling the miracles of Prince Hohenlohe. He who +doubted the efficacy of _Panquimagoge_, was rated an _ignoramus_. Its +discoverer, it was added, had a statue of gold erected to his memory in +the Havannah. During this infatuation, the medicine sold at an enormous +price; but the bubble soon burst: several persons became seriously +ill, and others absolutely lost their lives, by taking it. The former +enthusiasts looked quite "chop-fallen." Strange to say, several +Englishmen were the dupes of this quackery; indeed, the old and young, +healthy and infirm, all took _Panquimagoge_. + +Several English have purchased _estancias_, or farms for breeding of +cattle; but, I fear, they will find some difficulty in competing with +the natives, who have every advantage over them in this branch of +commerce. + +The British Commercial Subscription Room, in Buenos Ayres, is a concern +entirely British; and none but those of that nation are, by the laws +of the room, allowed to subscribe. The present subscribers are about +fifty-six; and it is supported at a moderate expence. It has been +established since the year 1810, and affords not only a relaxation, +but a source of continual information. A constant look-out is kept for +vessels arriving and departing; and entries are made of them, and sent +home. By means of excellent telescopes, national flags can be discerned +at a great distance. They have a constant supply of English newspapers: +the Courier, the Times, Morning Chronicle, Bell's Messenger, Liverpool +and other Gazettes, as well as those of Buenos Ayres, Price Currents, +Shipping List, Quarterly Review, Edinburgh Review, Navy List, and other +publications. The room contains the best maps of Arrowsmith, of the four +quarters of the globe; charts of the river Plate; a picture of Nelson's +death, finely executed, and another of the battle of Copenhagen. +A committee have the management of the room, but its general +superintendence devolves on the secretary. Correct mercantile +information can always be obtained there; and every stranger is at +perfect liberty to collect the news of the day, although, from the +nature of the institution, none but British subjects can subscribe. +To enjoy the privilege of reading in the rooms, the parties must be +regularly introduced by a subscriber.[9] All British residents of +respectability are expected to subscribe. + + [9] Clerks are no longer permitted to enter the reading-room, unless + they subscribe, or make application to their employers for a ticket: + this they have declined to do, and keep aloof from the room, depriving + themselves of their chief source of amusement. + +The members dine together once in every quarter, at Faunch's hotel, and +discuss the affairs of the society. + +The British Commercial Room is held in the house of Mrs. Clark,[10] Dona +Clara; and what person has visited Buenos Ayres without hearing of this +lady--the "Lady Bountiful" of the place? + + [10] Mrs. C. formerly possessed a handsome competence, gained by + keeping an hotel; but her fortune has been much reduced, by advances + made to her late husband, Captain Taylor, and by losses in different + speculations. She has now retired from business, and lives upon a + moderate annuity. Her adopted daughter, Dona Panchita, who is grown + a fine girl, resides with her. Captain Taylor was a visionary, yet a + good-hearted man; he died in October, 1822. I am informed that it was + he who first lowered the Royal Spanish flag, and hoisted the Patriot + flag, at the Fort, at the beginning of the revolution. + +There is a library of English books attached to the room, consisting of +600 volumes, and which is every day increasing. It is a distinct affair; +and natives of all countries can subscribe to it. Several Creole +gentlemen, who speak English, North Americans, &c. belong to it. The +secretary to the Commercial Room acts as librarian. + +Some individuals have attributed illiberality to the Commercial Room, in +not permitting those of other nations to become members; but, waiving +the right which the British have for an establishment of their own, if +they like to support it, Great Britain might be involved in war, and it +could not then be pleasant to come in daily contact with natives of +hostile countries. + +Letters arriving by British vessels were, until October, 1821, +forwarded to the Commercial Room, which collected and paid the +government the postage; but this arrangement always caused great +jealousy to foreigners, and they are now sent to the Post Office, where +every facility is afforded. Many English letters, however, to persons +up the country, never reach their destination, from the practice of +allowing any one to take letters from the office who will pay for them: +mean curiosity has caused the loss of many letters by this mode. + +The recent establishment of packets to Buenos Ayres (the first of which, +the Countess of Chichester, arrived on the 16th April, 1824) is an event +of some consequence. They bring the correspondence for Chili and Peru, +opening a direct and speedy communication with regions, which Spanish +jealousy, not many years ago, had shut out from the rest of the world. +The captains of these packets must not, for the present, expect to find +their employments to Buenos Ayres very lucrative: but little specie goes +home, and there are few passengers that can afford to pay the packet +price, which really is not exorbitant, considering the excellent +accommodations and fare provided; _viz._ For the cabin, £80 sterling; +steerage, £40. Their arrival is looked forward to with great anxiety +by all classes. At first, they made long passages; latterly, they +have improved in this respect: the _Lord Hobart_ packet came out in +forty-seven days; the _Eclipse_ brought thirteen passengers, chiefly +gentlemen connected with mining affairs. They will soon prove a +profitable employment to their commanders; and, certainly, the system +altogether reflects the highest credit upon the British government, the +only nation which has such an establishment. + +The inclination which Englishmen, engaged in business, have, when at +home, to live away from the scene of their pursuits, at a short distance +from town, is shewn here; and we have the Stockwells, the Kenningtons, +the Newingtons, the Camberwells, &c. of Buenos Ayres, with the attached +farm-yards, orchards, and gardens, similar to those in the vicinity of +London, wanting only the stages, and the eighteen-penny ride from the +Bank and Gracechurch Street. Their houses may be easily recognized, from +the degree of neatness and comfort attached. The house of Mr. Fair, +situated upon an eminence near the water-side, southward of the Fort, is +a good land-mark. Mr. F. has lately built it at a considerable expence. +Mr. Cope's house, near the Retiro, I think the most pleasantly situated +of all. + +The British have been engaged in numerous disputes with this government. +The last that occurred was in April, 1821, upon the decree ordering all +foreigners to take up arms; which the British very properly refused to +do, for it could not be expected they would submit to be made parties in +their quarrels. Captain O'Brien, of H.M.S. _Slaney_, then at anchor +in the outer roads,[11] was appointed British agent, and a long +correspondence took place. The affair was, however, settled by the +merchants, and Captain O'Brien felt displeased, conceiving that, having +been thrust forward officially, every arrangement ought to have come +through him. This quarrel caused some stir in Buenos Ayres. One or +two members of the Junta threatened us lustily; but those Tybalts +were silenced by the moderate party. Since then, Mr. Rivadavia's +administration has made every thing go on amicably and smoothly. + + [11] The _Slaney_ was stationed in the outer roads, from January, + 1821, to February, 1822. Captain Stanhope assumed the command in + October, 1821, Captain O'Brien having been promoted. A laughable event + happened during her stay in the outer roads:--She was accustomed to + signalize with the shore. One day, a black fellow was ordered to + whitewash the wall from which the signals were made on land: he was + mistaken by those on board for a signal ball; and, by a reference, + his position corresponded with the order, to bend sails. Accordingly, + the boatswain piped all hands, and never were sails bent with more + dispatch: the crew, tired of their monotonous life, felt eager to + leave, and with alacrity obeyed the command. During this time, Blackee + had taken another position on the wall: book opened again--it made + the number, to unmoor the ship. This corroboration of the first order + was hailed with joy. Another movement was imperfectly understood; it + seemed to convey--send a boat on shore for the captain; and a boat was + sent for explanation. Captain O'Brien was astonished: the wall was + examined; and there they found the black man harmlessly pursuing + his work, unconscious of the important part he had been performing, + exposed to the ardent gaze, and raising the beating hearts, of 150 + men. At a distance of eight miles from the shore, a mistake of this + sort cannot surprise. The crew were greatly disappointed, and, taking + hold of one of their shipmates, a black man, declared that, as they + amused themselves on land by making signals with one of his colour, he + should be the answering pennant. + +The dispute between Captain Willes, of H.M.S. _Brazen_, and the +government of Buenos Ayres, caused a considerable bustle. Captain W. was +ordered, by his instructions, to board all vessels of his nation upon +their arrival; in the execution of which, his boat was fired upon by the +gun-brig stationed outside. Other disagreements took place; and Captain +W. was ordered to quit the shore in two hours. He did so. When on board, +fruitless efforts took place to accommodate matters. The boats of +H.M. ship took possession of their brig, and sent her to the inner +roads. The public mind was inflamed by a string of falsehoods and +misrepresentations published in the _Centinella_ newspaper; the doors of +one or two English houses had threatening placards stuck upon them; and +a list was handed about for signatures, to avenge the insult offered +to their flag. I am not aware, if they meant to attack the _Brazen_; +volunteers for such an expedition, I should think, would have been +scarce. The British addressed a note to Captain W. soliciting, that, if +consistent with his duty, he would leave Buenos Ayres, as the present +irritation might lead to extremes. The _Brazen_ sailed for Colonia; her +captain stating, that nothing but consideration for his countrymen on +shore should have tempted him so to do: and thus the affair ended. + +The government had promised protection to British persons and property, +the quarrel being a private one; but retaliation would, no doubt, have +taken place, had Captain Willes remained, and seized any of their +vessels. The Buenos Ayres government were somewhat precipitate in their +proceedings, and wanting in their respect to the officer of a nation, +which, if not in alliance, was on terms of strictest friendship with +them. It was regretted by many, that Captain Willes refused to come on +shore, when solicited by Mr. Rivadavia. Our captain was sadly hampered +by what he conceived to be his duty, and the alarm on shore. Those +gentlemen who had been long settled in the country, with their wives and +families, wished, I have no doubt, that the Brazen had been a thousand +miles off, particularly the female branches; though none, I trust, +possessed spirits so mean, as to brook insult for the enjoyment of +present comfort. + +The outer roads had long been an object of dispute. I regret that, in +this instance, it should have deprived us of the society of an officer, +whose amiable manners and disposition delight all who have the happiness +of knowing him. At Monte Video, Captain Willes was literally adored. I +do not think the British would have been seriously molested, for they +had numerous friends in the town, and Captain Willes was not without his +advocates. A pamphlet, shortly after, appeared, said to be written by an +Englishman, exposing the malevolence of the _Centinella_. + +The appointment of consuls will prevent these disputes in future. Our +naval officers are not the best diplomatists; they would, as a member in +the House of Commons observed, "much rather fight than write." + +Some Germans, in Buenos Ayres, were in a terrible fright, lest they +should be taken for Englishmen, when the supposed work of retaliation +should begin. In complexion and appearance, they much resemble us, and +they nearly all speak English. Germans and Americans are all denominated +Englishmen by the natives; they cannot find out the distinction. +A Creole boy once told me, that he supposed every body to be my +countryman, that could say, _How do you do?_ in English. + +In the little disagreements that take place on the beach between the +sailors and the natives, the term _English brute_ is always applied to +the former. These disputes are rare, for our sailors do not mix much +amongst them. + +Mr. Woodbine Parish, the British consul-general for Buenos Ayres, +seems well adapted for the station he fills: his manners are mild and +gentlemanly. The two vice-consuls, Messrs. Griffiths and Pousset, +share in the same praise; the latter, in countenance and figure, much +resembles the royal family; if he were a trifle more portly, one might +fancy him the Duke of York. + +The different states of this part of South America, such as Entre Rios, +Cordova, Santa Fe, Mendoza, &c. sent Members, to attend the congress in +Buenos Ayres, empowering the government to act for them in the treaty +with England; which, after considerable discussion, has been signed and +ratified. Mr. Parish, attended by the vice-consuls and other gentlemen, +went in state to pay his respects to the governor upon the occasion. The +reception of the consul was, of course, flattering: the flag was hoisted +at the fort, and a gun fired. The clause which caused most debate in the +congress, was that of religious toleration. Some of the members seemed +alarmed. It was, however, allowed, with free liberty for Protestants to +build their own places of public worship. This is something gained from +ancient prejudices. I have not, however, a high opinion of English +devoutness in Buenos Ayres. We have now a sort of prayer, or methodist +meeting, held in a private house. A captain of a Liverpool brig brought +out some religious tracts, which he circulated, and hoisted the Bethel +flag in his vessel: I fear he found Buenos Ayres an uncongenial spot for +those subjects. + +Another article in this treaty which has given general satisfaction, is, +that no British subject shall be compelled to military service. In any +disputes upon this topic, the British have been the only foreigners +who have stood forward to resist it; the others have remained passive +spectators. + +On Sundays and holidays, the British and American consuls hoist the +flags of their respective nations from the tops of their houses. The +Buenos Ayres flag floats by the side of the American: Colonel Forbes, +like a skilful manager, studies the taste of the town. + +I have noticed, that many of my countrymen, in their desire to visit +their native land, still talk of returning to Buenos Ayres. They +certainly must feel some attachment to a country in which they have +lived happily for a series of years. Eight or ten years of absence from +home makes a great alteration amongst our dearest friends; some are +dead, and others are absent, or indifferent. In England, too, every one +must be content to mix with the crowd. + +A great many of the English are perfect masters of the Spanish language, +having obtained their knowledge of it by a long residence in the +country, and by coming to it at a very early age. I have been surprised +at the quickness with which English children learn it: in a few months +they are able to carry on a conversation, whilst those of riper age take +years to attain it. When a man gets near thirty years of age, he feels +little inclination to study languages. + +In mentioning any thing of the English females in Buenos Ayres, I feel +a delicacy bordering on timidity, and ought to recollect the homely +proverb, "The least said is the soonest mended." Certain, however, it +is, that, with some exceptions, they are not a fair specimen of our +country. Those placed in the higher circles are few in number, and +appear to be amiable women, as are many whom I will take the liberty of +calling the second class; but with respect to the lower orders, I can +only say, that I have been more than once reminded of the neighbourhood +of St. Giles's. In reply to some remarks of a Spanish lady, I mustered +courage to tell her, that, in spite of all the charming women of Buenos +Ayres, we had those at home who equalled, if not far surpassed them; of +which I would speedily convince her, could I, with Harlequin's wand, +waft her to my country, where they may be seen in all their charms of +beauty and splendour; and that the few who traversed the ocean, formed +no criterion, a voyage to South America being rather a serious +undertaking for a lady. + +In commenting upon the dowdy appearance which some of the British +females make in this country, I am not singular;--all my countrymen +converse upon it, and join me in my opinion. + +Families should never think of bringing pretty unmarried servant girls +with them from Europe; they are almost sure of losing them. Be the girls +ever so determined, they will find a difficulty in resisting the offers +of marriage from the numerous English bachelor mechanics, who are at a +sad loss for wives:--a Spanish wife is not to their taste. Therefore, +those who wish to keep their servants, must choose the ugliest they can +procure--something that may be an antidote to the warm passions of +our English Damons. An importation of British females with tolerable +personal charms would answer here, as well as in many other places +abroad. I wish some adventurer would beat up for recruits amongst the +nursery maids at the west end of the town in London; it would be an +excellent speculation, and serve the poor girls into the bargain. + +Several Englishmen have married Buenos Ayrean ladies; and, from all +accounts, they do not repent having done so. The worst of it is, in +marrying into Spanish families, one may be said to marry all the family, +for they expect to reside under the same roof. The English resist this, +and with success: the good sense of their wives will make them conform +to our ideas; yet the parting of a beloved daughter from the paternal +roof must be a painful task for parents, whose only consolation is in +yielding her to the arms of the man she loves. + +Englishmen married to Spanish females have been, in a degree, obliged to +conform to the Catholic ceremonies of marriage. The over-scrupulous will +start at this; but, if they have ever been in love, they will readily +conceive that these oaths of form may be swallowed with as much ease as +many of the absurd ones of our Custom-House. The difference of religion, +in liberal minds, cannot in any way disturb domestic harmony: we differ +only in forms. + +So great were religious prejudices not many years ago, that a lady would +have hesitated, and her family interfered to prevent a marriage with one +of "heretic creed." The alteration is a credit to their understandings; +it evinces that they are neither bigots nor fanatics. A generation of +children are now springing up, half English, half Creolian, speaking +both languages; their fathers teaching them English, their mothers +Spanish. Could we look a few years forward, and see these youngsters +grown to maturity, loving the land of their birth, and having a yearning +towards that of their fathers, what important consequences may not +result, in cementing friendships between nations that once regarded each +other with a rooted dislike. + +Englishmen who have married in this country, I should presume, intend +making it their adopted land. It is an alternative that would cause +me to pause: I could not consent to lose the hope of again seeing my +paternal home. Now, if I could fancy such an event, as taking my Buenos +Ayrean wife with me to London, lodging her in some fashionable mansion +near Grosvenor Square, or in the Square itself--visiting the Opera and +all the Theatres--pointing out to her Rossini, Catalani, our Braham, +Stephens, Kean, and Macready, and explaining their different talents, +poor Rosquellas, and the Señoras Tani, would be quite forgotten; and, +instead of a ride on the Barracca Road, or to San José de Flores, San +Isidro, &c. conducting her along the Queen's Road to Putney, Richmond, +or Windsor--taking a stroll with her in Kensington Gardens--Heavens! +whither will my imagination lead me? and why cannot I persuade some +kind-hearted Creolian to give me his daughter, and two hundred thousand +dollars, in return for the fond love I should lavish on her? + +The marriages of English people have been performed by captains of +vessels of war, or in the presence of two or three merchants, whose +signatures are said to be sufficient acts of parliament. The residence +of a consul will obviate some of these difficulties. + +The British community, in Buenos Ayres, lost one of its chief ornaments, +by a melancholy suicide, which took place in December, 1824--that of +Mr. Dallas, who cut his throat with a razor: disappointment in business +is stated to be the cause. He has not left his equal in Buenos Ayres; +his character fully warranted that expressive term in the English +language--a perfect gentleman. + +The death of Mr. Rowcroft, in Peru, caused infinite regret amongst +the British in Buenos Ayres, by whom he was much respected. He was, +probably, the first alderman of the city of London that ever crossed the +Andes. It was hard to meet his death by the bullets of foreign soldiery. +It is some consolation, that accident alone caused the fatal affair. It +is said, that he was taken for a Spanish officer, Mr. R. being clothed +in his uniform as Colonel of the City Light Horse, a dress he appeared +particularly proud of. + +A son of Sir Robert Wilson arrived here, and went to Peru; but he soon +returned, and went to the Brazils, in order to join his father's friend, +Lord Cochrane. + +Amongst my countrymen in this city, may be found some very eccentric +characters, who would be accounted originals even at home. + +Who has visited Buenos Ayres without having heard of the noisy drunken +Englishman, Jack Hall, the Caleb Quotem of the town, and who, in +appearance and dress, looked as if he had just escaped from Newgate. +Poor Jack died in July, 1824, and was carried to the grave in his own +cart, which had, for a series of years, borne so many of his countrymen +to their last abode, and on that account was called "the English +hearse." Hall was a Jack of all trades, painter, glazier, whitewasher, +&c. &c. The Spaniards, when he first arrived amongst them, viewed him as +a prodigy. + +Irishmen naturalized into American citizens, or what are called "Irish +Yankies," from time to time pass through Buenos Ayres, on their route to +different parts: I have known several. It is heart-rending to think, +that political events should thus have estranged men from their native +country, and made them its bitterest enemies. It is true, they "rail +against a rock they cannot pull down." If an excuse can be found for +them, it is that the hopes of their youth have been blighted, and that +oppression has made them aliens to their native land. North Americans +remark, that those who abuse Great Britain most in the United States +are our own countrymen. I believe it; and in the falsification of their +long-told predictions of England's downfall, there is a wider field +opened for their hate, and to brood upon what is to happen to ill-fated +England. + +As regards some Irishmen whom I have known (or, if it must be so, "Irish +Yankies"), I sincerely regret that I cannot embrace them, take them by +the hand, and call them countrymen. I have noticed them to be men of +warm imaginations; and when listening to any detail of Irish intrepidity +in the French war--and where is it that Irish blood has not flowed in +torrents for the cause of Great Britain?--their hearts appeared elated, +and they knew every Irish officer who had distinguished himself; they +spoke of his deeds with rapture, and, for the moment, assumed their +natural character of British subjects;--for, say what they will, a man +feels little enthusiasm in the glories of any nation but his own. I +congratulated one upon the change in his ideas:--he started; "No," said +he, "I regret not the past; I am, and ever will remain, an American +citizen." + + * * * * * + +There are three NORTH-AMERICAN mercantile houses--Mr. Ford; Zimmerman +and Co.; and Stewart and M'Call. The residents are few, excepting +the casual visitors. I find a difficulty in distinguishing them +from Englishmen, though a Creole friend of mine pretended to do it, +describing the Americans as generally wearing white hats, spectacles, +and carrying a stick. This observation I afterwards found tolerably +correct. We laugh at their phrases--"I guess,"--"I calculate,"--"I +expect," &c.; and they retort upon our continual use of "You know," +in conversation. It will be well for the two nations, if their future +differences consist only in laughing at each other's peculiarities of +speech. + +The North Americans carry on a considerable trade in this river, and +have brought some valuable cargoes from China and India. Flour, lumber, +a few dry goods, soap, &c. are their general import; salt vessels also +arrive from the Cape de Verd, which article is at times very profitable. +Now and then the domestic manufactures of North America are brought to +this market; but the profit of them, if any, must be very small. The +immense capital, machinery, and talent of England, must for a long time +give her the advantage over every other nation; and as regards North +America, I should not suppose it would answer her purpose to divert +her population from the health-inspiring pursuits of agriculture to a +pernicious manufacture. Their chief commerce is in flour; and owing +to one or two bad harvests in this province, the advantages have been +great. It has been sold at thirty dollars per barrel; the cost in North +America being only seven or eight. During the year 1823, upwards of +70,000 barrels of flour was thus imported into Buenos Ayres. For a +country so luxuriant in soil to be dependent upon foreigners for bread, +appears strange; but agriculture is yet young in South America. + +The North-American trade is mostly carried on in ships with supercargoes: +the captains are a superior set of men. But few English ships arrive; +they are nearly all brigs, commanded by our roughest seamen: but these +brigs often contain valuable cargoes. The Americans manage to run about +the world with small cargoes. A number of their vessels come here for +the purpose of being sold and broken up; which seems to be a good +speculation, if we may judge from the number hauled upon the beach for +that purpose: those ships that cut such a dashing figure at first sight, +have only "a goodly outside, but are rotten within." + +The circumstance of North America having been the first to acknowledge +the independence of this province has not insured to her any particular +commercial privileges. In a coffee-house, one evening, I witnessed a +serious debate amongst some Creolians; one of them, in the heat of +argument, asserted that the acknowledgment by North America was of no +more consequence to the state, than if the province of Santa Fé had done +so. The acknowledgment by Spain and England is what materially interests +them: North America, however, has decidedly paved the way for this. + +Although there are a great many North-American mechanics, yet we find +very few of them have shops of their own in Buenos Ayres. In the +manufacture of boots, shoes, hats, &c. as well as dry goods, they must +yield the palm to us. In the stores, a preference is given to English +hams, cheeses, &c.; but I have tasted American articles of this +description, of good quality. The Americans, aware of the partiality, +pass off many of their goods as English; and I have purchased American +soap with the British crown impressed upon it. + +Perhaps in no part of the world has such a marked distance been kept +between Americans and Englishmen as in Buenos Ayres; but this, I rejoice +to observe, is subsiding. Both parties are to blame. The English are +said to be the most conceited nation on earth; it may be true, but our +North-American friends have a touch of that quality likewise. When told +of this; their reply, that "their vices they inherit from us; their +virtues are peculiarly their own." + +Mr. Rodney, the minister from North America, departed this life on the +10th of June, 1824. His death was sudden, from an attack of apoplexy. +The evening previous to his decease, he had a large assemblage of +visitors at his house. He was a plain republican of the old school, and +much esteemed by all parties: he has left a large family. The government +of Buenos Ayres evinced the most marked respect to his memory.[12] +Colonel Forbes is the Secretary of Legation: he has been in Buenos Ayres +since October, 1820, and acted as agent to the United States till the +arrival of Mr. Rodney. + + [12] The following are extracts from the decrees issued by the + government on the occasion:-- + + "A sepulchral monument, at the expense of the government, shall be + raised over the remains of the Honourable Cæsar Augustus Rodney, as a + memorial of gratitude. + + "In the funeral rites to be observed towards so distinguished a + citizen, the following orders shall be executed. A Battalion of + Infantry, with four pieces of Light Artillery, shall be stationed at + the place where the body is to be buried. As the corpse leaves the + house of his decease, the fort shall fire a national salute. Another + similar salute shall be executed by the Light Artillery, on the entry + of the corpse into the cemetery. On putting it into the grave, the + battalion being formed, shall fire a general discharge. + + "The general staff of the army, and the chiefs of all the departments, + shall be invited to meet at the house of the government, to accompany + the ministers during the said funeral rites." + + The funeral was the grandest thing of the sort ever seen in this + country. A great concourse of people of all nations attended, on + horse and foot; not the least remarkable of whom were the Catholic + clergymen. In the detail published of the ceremonies, we read the + following observations:-- + + "In addition to the civil authorities who attended, it was peculiarly + pleasing to all the Protestants, to observe the public respect shewn + by the attendance of the head of the church, and many of the most + distinguished Catholic clergymen, the Rector of the University, + &c.; proclaiming, in the most unequivocal manner, the increasing + liberality of this Catholic people. They had, before, kindly granted + the Protestants the privilege of a burial-ground; and on this + occasion they attended, with the greatest respect, to all the + exercises of the funeral, and mingled their sympathies with our's. + Their high-minded example in this instance is at once indicative + of the elevation and nobleness of their character, and worthy the + imitation of Christians of every name and country." + + Mr. Rivadavia made an oration over the grave; the concluding words + ran thus:-- + + "Illustrious soul of Cæsar Augustus Rodney! return to the bosom + of thy Creator, with the elevation and confidence to which you + are entitled. Being his image here on earth, separate not thy + compassionate regard from this country, which is so highly honoured + in preserving your remains. Yes, we will preserve them, as the most + precious treasure that this soil can receive." [_Taking some earth in + his hand._] "And thou earth! that art going to cover these venerable + remains, receive also the honour of being mingled with the most + fruitful seeds of virtue, and cause it to produce similar heroes, + that may immortalize the American name." + + * * * * * + +The FRENCH are numerous in Buenos Ayres; report says, they are equal in +number to the British, but I do not believe it. Their trade here, what +there is of it, must be advantageous: they bring every requisite for the +ladies' toilet; fans, silk stockings, perfumery, scented waters, gloves, +jewellery, and those nic-nacs in which the French so much excel. Some +shops make a great figure in French goods, as silks, shawls, and every +essential to gratify female taste. Roquin, Meyer, & Co. is the chief +mercantile French house; but there are numbers of Buenos Ayrean and +other firms, that import largely from France, as do also some English +houses. + +There are many gentlemanly and intelligent men amongst the French +settled in Buenos Ayres; but the mass will not bear a comparison with +the British in point of respectability. Frenchmen themselves allow this, +and laugh at the billiard-markers and waiters of Parisian growth. The +superior class are to be found in the best societies of the city. Their +lively manners and conversation have ever been a contrast to the reserve +of the English; and, as companions, they may be more sought after than +my modest countrymen: a Frenchman is at home in all countries. + +The English likewise visit the first families, and give at times +splendid entertainments, or _tertulias_; yet, I have fancied, they +appear more happy when amongst themselves. Their behaviour has been +attributed to pride and many other causes: the French term "_mauvaise +honte_," affords a better solution. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, I +am convinced, the British character is esteemed; and, however the French +may beat us in companionship, they cannot deprive us of that esteem. + +The news of Napoleon's death caused great tribulation in French society +at Buenos Ayres. It was some time ere they would believe it; it must be +a trick, they said, of the English; and until the causes of his death +became so well authenticated, expressions of foul play were more than +whispered. Their love for this "man of blood" has ceased to astonish +me: were I a Frenchman, it is probable I should love him too.[13] On +Bonaparte's birth-day, in 1821, I observed the tri-coloured flag, waving +from a French _pulperia_ near the beach. This flag, once so formidable, +and which made every Briton prepare for "bloody fight," now floats +harmlessly in Buenos Ayres, being used as a signal for merchant vessels. + + [13] A translation of O'Meara's work, in French, has appeared in + Buenos Ayres, with the consequent conclusion, that Sir Hudson Lowe + must be a perfect brute. In Spanish, we have one or two diatribes + against the British government, and their tyranny exercised on the + seas; but the malignity so apparent in the observations destroys their + effect. + + * * * * * + +A great many PORTUGUESE are residents of Buenos Ayres, as merchants, +shopkeepers, &c.; they carry on a constant commerce with the Brazils. + +The jealousy, bordering upon contempt, in which the Spaniards affect +to hold the Portuguese, is very conspicuous here. At the theatre, +when a Portuguese character is represented, the performer is arrayed +fantastically, strutting about the stage with self-assumed importance, +amidst vehement laughter and applause, as fervent and more boisterous +than that bestowed upon Sheridan's "little cunning Portuguese," Isaac +Mendoza. + + * * * * * + +GERMANS, ITALIANS, and, indeed, the natives of all countries, are to be +met with in Buenos Ayres, as merchants, store and shopkeepers, &c. + +Mr. Schmaling, agent to the PRUSSIAN _Linen Company_, has lately +established an extensive mercantile house in Buenos Ayres. The Prussian +cloths and flannels have been bought with much avidity, a preference +being given to them from their being cheaper, and some say better than +our's. Mr. S. sold his cloths 20 per cent. cheaper than the English +could afford to sell. It is hard to be undersold in a foreign market, in +what was once considered our staple commodity. British skill, however, I +have no doubt, will surmount this temporary advantage: the repeal of the +wool tax may be one step towards it. + + * * * * * + +PERSONS, DISPOSITIONS, and MANNERS of the NATIVE or SPANISH +INHABITANTS.--It might be supposed, from the latitude in which Buenos +Ayres is situated, that the faces and general appearance of the natives +would partake of a dusky hue: as regards the male sex, this is certainly +the case, though here and there the reverse is seen. Of the females, +however, many can boast a countenance of roses and lilies, equal to +those of a colder climate. Amongst the mulatto cast, there are some +pretty girls. I have noticed that some distinctions are kept up, +the word _mulatto_ being often used as a term of reproach: this is +illiberal. One or two families of red-haired children are rather +remarkable in a country where the darker hue predominates. I really +thought they were of Scotch extraction, till I was informed to the +contrary. Some scandalous wits have dared to be jocular on the occasion, +asserting that they must be the offspring of Beresford's Scotch +regiment, the 71st, who were here in 1806. + +It is rarely we see, in Buenos Ayres, a person marked with the small +pox, vaccination being generally practised;[14] and very few deformed +people. Indeed, the generality of them may be called handsome. The young +men are well grown, possess good figures, and their manners render them +truly agreeable. + + [14] Foreign nations duly appreciate this invaluable discovery. In + England alone, the birth-place of its immortal author, a portion (I + believe, a very small one) still persist in denying its efficacy: "A + prophet is no prophet in his own country." + +Faces may be seen here, of female beauty, worthy a painter's study;--the +intelligent dark eye, polished forehead, and persons moulded by grace +itself. England is called the land of beauty, and it deserves its name; +but beauty is not peculiar to England alone. Buenos Ayres contains +within its walls as much loveliness as imagination can dream of.[15] + + [15] Conspicuous amongst the fair-haired beauties of Buenos Ayres, is + the Senorita Dona Segunda Iglesia. This young lady (and she is not yet + sixteen) is a perfect Hebe. Dona Isaaca, her sister, two years younger + than herself, forms a charming counterpart of the fair Segunda. + + Another accomplished and elegant girl, whom we Englishmen have named + the Marchioness (from her likeness in face to the Marchioness of + Hertford), attracts much admiration. She is an enthusiast in music: + at the theatre, when the orchestra performs any of her favourite + airs, her animated countenance evinces the emotion which this divine + science inspires. + +The stately elegance of walk, for which the Spanish ladies are so +remarkable, is in no place more conspicuous than in Buenos Ayres; and it +is not confined to the upper class--females of all descriptions possess +it; one must therefore conclude it to be an acquired accomplishment. If +my fair countrywomen would deign to imitate them in this respect, and +get rid of that ungraceful postman-like pace they now have, I should +love them all the better. + +The inhabitants possess a happy medium between French vivacity and +English reserve. An Englishman feels at home with them; for should he be +deficient in the language, he need not fear that his blunders will be +laughed at. In sickness, they are proverbial for their kind attention, +as many of my countrymen have experienced, preparing every little +delicacy they think will please. It is only to know these people, to +esteem them. + +Their happy disposition, and having so few real cares, protect them +from suicide, that calamity which afflicts populous Europe. The future +provision for a family, indeed, scarcely enters their thoughts, in a +country where "a fathom of beef can be purchased for sixpence." This +expression was used by an English "beach-ranger," when trying to prevail +upon some of a Falmouth packet's crew to desert. + +Although there may be families who, in the common acceptation of +the term, are well off, yet I do not think there are many who are +extraordinarily rich, that is to say, worth from 30 to £50,000 sterling. +Houses, cattle, and land constitute the best property. + +The enthusiasm with which the Spaniards regard the female sex, like most +other things, has, doubtless, been exaggerated. In Buenos Ayres, if they +have not exactly caught this enthusiasm, they have done better: their +attentions are founded on real respect to the virtues of the sex, and +are therefore more likely to last. + +The character given to Spaniards of all descriptions for jealousy of +their females, must have been either fabulous, or a great change has +taken place; for nothing approaching to it can be observed in their +descendants here. The gentlemen conduct themselves with the most marked +politeness towards the females, paying them the greatest attention and +respect. I have heard it asserted, that they make negligent husbands. In +every populous city, no doubt, many of this class are to be found; but +those Buenos Ayrean husbands, whom I have the pleasure of knowing, seem +devotedly attached to their wives, behaving with a tenderness not every +day found even in England, that land of domestic felicity. + +The ladies appear equal in affection; and are kind and tender mothers. +It is pleasing to see the care and fondness they bestow on their +children. A stranger need not be a day in Buenos Ayres without +discovering this; and such traits speak volumes. They do not follow the +unmotherly practice of putting their infants out to nurse, thinking it +no disgrace to suckle their own offspring. In my opinion, there is as +fair a proportion of married happiness in this city, as can be found in +those that bear a name of being more domesticated. + +The compliments of salutation are much the name as in England with the +gentlemen, _viz._ the good old hearty shake of the hand. The French +embrace of the males, kissing each other, is not followed; for which I +am better pleased. Much as I esteem my friends of Buenos Ayres, I wish +no other than female lips to touch my cheek. The salutation of the +females, on bidding adieu for long journeys, or on returning from one, +is kissing and embracing each other: in this respect they differ but +little from British females--perhaps a little more fervent. I have seen +ladies, when returned from a voyage to Monte Video, hug their old black +servant, who has come to meet them on the beach, with all the ardour of +affection, so different from our notions of propriety. + +Should a lady be seized with a fit of yawning, she crosses herself with +the most burlesque sanctity. The style in which they cross themselves, +requires a rehearsal to understand it: they touch the cheeks, chin, and +bosom, quick, with the thumb, or, as a military man would denominate it, +"in double quick time." + +A very pleasing practice exists, of giving flowers to visitors, as a +mark of respect: some fair lady hands a rose or tulip. I recollect, a +charming girl gave me a rose, a few days after my arrival, and my vanity +was not a little gratified by it; and I felt some mortification in +finding it was only the common civility of the place. + +Smoking segars is a general practice--I might almost add, with men, +women, and children; the ladies of the better class always excepted, +though report says, they will, in secret, take the luxury of a segar. I +hope report has erred in this respect--indeed, I think it has; for such +an outrage against my English feelings, as a Buenos Ayrean lady smoking, +would abate much of the enthusiasm I feel for them. In the male sex I +like to see it; and the pleasure it seems to afford, has repeatedly made +me regret that I am no smoker. Here boys of eight, nine, and ten years +of age, may be seen smoking. + +The English soon get into the fashion; and most of them are as fond of +the segar as the natives, who are smoking from the time they get up, +until they go to bed. If they ride on horseback, a segar is in their +mouths. Should they want a light in the streets, it is only to stop the +first person they meet smoking, to obtain one. I have often smiled to +see a first-rate Creolian dandy lighting his segar from that of some +dirty black fellow. + +Havannah segars are the favourites; but they are dear, and not at all +times to be had in perfection. The paper ones, or segars de Hoja, made +from the tobacco-leaf, are mostly used, and by many preferred. The +manufacture of them affords employment to a great many people, including +females. + +So refined are their ideas of politeness, that a person smoking +invariably takes the segar from his mouth, when passing another in the +street. + +In another branch of politeness, Buenos Ayres is not outdone, even by +Paris itself; _viz._ the constant custom of taking off the hat, when +meeting each other in the street. The English mode of touching the hat +is too groom and footman-like, to be followed here: their's is taken +entirely from the head; and, when in compliment to ladies, they remain +uncovered until the objects of their politeness have passed. It is +managed gracefully--removing the hat from behind, similar to those +who are accustomed to wear wigs; it may be, to save the fronts from +dilapidation, which such continual calls on them would occasion.[16] + + [16] I remember once meeting a Frenchman at Paris, whom I had known at + London in rather indifferent circumstances. He had obtained an office + in the palace of the Thuilleries; and, upon my congratulating him + thereon, he said, that it was all very well, except the d----d hat + business. On asking for an explanation, he stated, that, being a + public officer, he was obliged to take his hat off so often, that it + cost him £30 per annum for that single article. + +The plant called _yerba_, the growth of Paraguay and the Brazils, is +the tea of Buenos Ayres. They drink it out of a small globe, to which +a tube is fixed, nearly as long as our tobacco-pipe; it is called the +matté-pot, and the beverage drawn from the yerba, is the _matté_. These +pots are generally of silver; and they hand them from one to the other, +in drinking--a practice not the most cleanly. When I first saw the tubes +in the ladies' mouths, I conceived they were smoking. Matté has not a +bad flavour, but nothing equal to tea. It is reported by some to be +pernicious to the teeth. In visiting parties it is always handed round. +It carries such an idea of the tobacco-pipe, that I do not much admire +seeing these matté-pots in the hands of ladies. + +The general time of meals in Buenos Ayrean families is pretty nearly +as follows:--They have _matté_ the first thing, which they often take +in bed; at eight or nine, they have what we should call breakfast, +beef-steaks, &c.; dinner at two and three; _matté_ at six and seven, +followed often by a supper. The fashionable London hours of breakfasting +at one and two in the afternoon, and dining at eight and nine in the +evening, have not travelled to this quarter of the globe yet. They drink +wine out of tumbler glasses. + +The _siesta_, or afternoon nap, is not so regularly taken as formerly: +they have got more into the habits of business, and cannot afford time +for sleeping in the day; and it does away with the remark, that, during +_siesta_ time, nobody is to be seen in the streets, but Englishmen and +dogs. The _siesta_ has its regular season; it is supposed to begin with +the summer season, in October, and end at the close of the summer, or +passion week. The plodding and industrious world cry out against this +practice, as encouraging sloth; but I think a nap after dinner, in warm +latitudes, both refreshing and conducive to health. + +Houses are not provided with the convenience of bells: their servants +are summoned either by calling, or making a noise upon the tables. At +meals, the servants and slaves are in attendance at the table. + +They retire to rest, in winter, at ten or eleven; in summer, later, as +at this season they enjoy the cool of the evening from the azoteas, or +from seats near the windows. + +A walk in the streets on a fine summer's night is not uninteresting, +from the number of ladies walking and at the windows. Evening is the +time devoted by ladies to shopping. A night previous to a holiday or +Sunday, the shops are crowded. + +In families of respectability, which have unmarried daughters, weekly +_tertulias_, or public dances, are often held during the winter, which, +they say, are for the purpose of shewing the young ladies off, and +getting them husbands: as I am not in the secret, I only give it as I +hear it. + +These dances are got up at very little expence or preparation. One +of the ladies presides at the piano; the refreshments are cakes, +sweetmeats, and liqueurs: a few dollars provides for all; and I like +their plan--it looks more like a friendly entertainment. The sumptuous +repasts provided on such occasions in England, bespeak so much of +ceremony as considerably to mar the pleasure. + +On birth-days, compliments are sent and received, with presents of +sweetmeats, &c. and dinners and tertulias are given. Those days are more +kept up than with us; but the itinerant musicians, about the doors, has +a little fallen off lately. + +Sweetmeats are much eaten, and by the children in large quantities. In +coffee-houses they sprinkle the toast with sugar: an English child would +call them "sugar-babies." I am not dentist enough to decide whether +this is one of the causes of decayed teeth, so often observed in young +people, and the prevailing malady of the tooth-ache; but persons are +continually seen with their faces tied up for this complaint: it is, +indeed, a disease of the country. Bad teeth is a sad drawback, as they +are both "useful and ornamental;" and the purchase of new teeth and +gums, in Buenos Ayres, would be rather difficult: besides, all the world +must know about it. In London and Paris, such things pass as nothing. + +When walking in public, the female rarely takes the arm of a gentleman, +except it be night. This seems to us an unsocial fashion. At dark, +however, the restriction ceases, and ladies will then honour us by +accepting our arm: with married persons this is more common. The +Englishman and his wife, in spite of Spanish modes, are seen trotting +comfortably along the Alameda, on a Sunday, arm-in-arm, as if at home. + +Neither is it the fashion for gentlemen to escort the ladies, but to the +theatre, or public places: their visits and shopping are in company only +with their own sex. If a fair lady should wave this rule, and allow +us to proceed by their side for a few streets, it would be the height +of vulgarity to offer the arm. In England we have other notions of +gentility. + +At the ball room, the females sit together, when not engaged in dancing. +During this pause, some gentleman will, with hesitating steps, approach +them, and solicit a lady to waltz, or dance a minuet with him. + +The Spaniards pride themselves upon the delicacy and respect with which +they treat the females; and though there are many Spanish customs which +I think "more honoured in the breach than the observance," this is one, +I trust, will last for ever. + +The Buenos Ayreans are passionately fond of dancing. Their evening hours +are given to this pastime: in their houses, daughters, mothers, nay, +grandmothers, will enjoy it with all the spirit of youth. To me it is +the most gratifying sight--a proof that age is not always accompanied by +moroseness. I have been delighted to see father, mother, daughters, and +sons, dancing with that apparent happiness, as if life had no other +object but enjoyment. + +Walking in the environs of the town, one evening, a family dance +attracted my attention; and I looked through the windows. The ladies saw +me, and the master of the house came out, entreating me to enter, with +the Spanish compliment, "that his house and family were entirely at my +service." He seemed disappointed at my declining the invitation. These +evening family dances are very fascinating. + +It is said, a Frenchman, from his gaiety, never gets old; the +observation applies with equal truth to this people. In our peculiar +England, education, climate, and the state of society, render its +inhabitants more thoughtful and care-worn: we regard as frivolity what +other nations consider the essentials of existence; yet, in general, we +are not the gloomy people foreigners would paint us. We can love, and +hate, too, with all or more of the fervour ascribed to warmer climes. + +Of the dances, some are pretty. The steps of the Spanish dances have a +great sameness. The ladies appear graceful; but, indeed, when is it they +do not? + +The _cielito_, or little heaven, is opened by the parties chaunting a +part of a song all the time in movement, and smacking their fingers +together; it then proceeds to the figure. + +The _contre-danse_ is involved in intricacies and positions rather +difficult to a stranger; twisting the arms, and running in and out, +like the game of Thread-my-needle, or, excepting the tumbling part, the +comic dance in Mother Goose. The English contre-danse has more life and +variety both in music and figure. + +Waltzing is a favourite: they have not read the lectures of our +moralists upon it, but indulge in the mazes of this luxurious dance. + +The minuet dance here is, I think, tame and ungraceful. + +The piano forte is the favourite musical instrument; and every +well-educated young lady is supposed to possess some knowledge of it. +I have heard them perform with great taste and skill. The young and +interesting daughter of Don Cornelius Saavedra, Doña Dominga, I thought, +excelled; and, with instruction, would be a proficient. This young lady, +with a countenance just "budding into beauty," has talents, which, if +properly cultivated, will adorn society. Her father, Don Cornelius, was +the first Director of the Province after the Revolution, and one of the +old and respectable families. His manners are very pleasing: in person, +he much resembles a British general officer. Like many others, he has +forsaken the sword for the ploughshare, and resides upon his estate, +ninety miles from town, on the banks of the Parana. + +A good piano will sell for 1000 dollars: the English, in this likewise, +take the lead, and those of Clementi, Stodart, &c. are found in many +houses; Miss Saavedra has a fine-toned one of Clementi's. The French and +German pianos do not readily sell. + +Male teachers of music (and, on mentioning these, the remark of +Anastasius occurs to me) find good employment in this city, where all +are so musical. An English lady, Miss Robinson, gives lessons on this +heavenly science. + +The Consulado musical school-rooms, with the young ladies warbling +there on a morning, repeatedly attract the attention of the passing +pedestrian. At one o'clock, attended by their mammas and slaves, with +music-book under arm, those little syrens trudge home. On one or two +occasions, there has been a public trial of musical skill, a sort of +show-off before their relations and friends. + +A musical subscription society, called The Philharmonics, has been +established, and the most respectable natives and foreigners are +subscribers. The vocal and instrumental performers from the theatre +attend there. It is a superior affair, and held in a spacious sala of +what was formerly a prison--the "Coona:" Orpheus has driven away the +ministers of justice. + +Using an English phrase, the mothers of Buenos Ayres keep "a sharp +look-out" after their daughters, attending them to public places, and in +the streets. Should the mother, by any chance, be absent, the care is +probably delegated to a slave or servant, who may have their secret +orders whispered to them, as well as other trusty centinels. But cannot +the slave be bribed? If report speaks true, they are so; and the ardent +lover has been ready to embrace the black messenger that has conveyed to +him tidings from a beloved mistress. + +Young ladies before marriage are, by some mothers, watched with great +strictness, not unlike austerity. I fear, females here, as well as in +other countries, have often given their hands without their hearts. +"Why did you marry?" said a friend of mine to a lady who seemed unhappy. +"To gain my liberty," she eagerly exclaimed, "as many others have done +before me." + +Marriage with the Buenos Ayres female takes place at an early age, +frequently at thirteen and fourteen. Certain it is, they ripen into +womanhood much sooner than those of our clime; and their beauties more +quickly fade. An English female at forty looks as young as a Buenos +Ayrean at thirty. How many charming and attractive women we find in +England at the age of forty; and though I cannot quite agree with our +gracious sovereign in his admiration of "fair, fat, and forty," +yet I have known, at home, some ladies at that age with charms and +acquirements sufficient to alarm a sensitive heart. In Buenos Ayres +I have likewise seen females whose beauty seems to improve as years +advance; but this is a rare occurrence. + +In marriage, the custom of all the family living together seems strange +to English ideas, and we cannot help picturing petty jealousies and +quarrels amongst such a groupe. Custom, however, and their natural +happy temper, free from the corroding cares of more populous countries, +prevent these. I cannot help admiring their happiness in this respect, +and I trust they may long enjoy it. I know the misery I should feel, +were I a father, to see a beloved child depart for ever from the +parental roof. + +Married females still preserve their maiden name, conjoined with that of +their husband's. The children by such marriage bear the surname of the +father. The saint's-day on which they may be born provides them with a +Christian name; and, as the Romish church has a saint for every day in +the calendar, the difficulties that the Rev. Mr. Shandy had to encounter +are avoided. + +In the lottery of names, people of all classes take their chance. It is +rather droll to hear the black girls addressing each other by the names +of Eugenia, Marcela, Florencia, &c. Some fair ladies bear the pretty +romantic names of Rosaria, Irené, Magdalena, Victoria, Martina, +Fortunata, Celestina, Adriana, &c. whilst others, not so fortunate in +their time of coming into the world, are obliged to be content with the +ordinary ones of Juana, Tomasa, &c. But what is there in a name? a rose +would smell as sweet under any other name. + +John is unquestionably the most vulgar of all names; it is worse +than Tom: every body applies it, when unacquainted with one's real +appellation. In Buenos Ayres, a stranger is addressed as "Don Juan." The +Toms and Jacks of the Spanish vocabulary are softened down into Tomas +and Juan. + +The Spanish custom, when speaking or writing to an individual, of using +the Christian name instead of the surname, is very pleasing; and as I +am a great lover of the romantic, it will necessarily follow, that I am +more charmed with Don Carlos, Don Henrico, Don Guillermo, &c. than plain +Mr. Smith, Mr. Wilkins, and Mr. Tomkins; and Doña Clara, Doña Dominga, +and Doña Saturnina, than Miss Williams, Miss White, and Miss Brown. + +Respectable families think it no disgrace to let lodgings, take in +washing, make and mend clothes and linen: these occupations are not +looked upon as belonging to the inferior orders, as with us. Their +slaves perform the laborious part.[17] I was not a little surprised, +when I first arrived, to have an application from the wife of an Alcalde +to perform any jobs in needle-work that I might have. I concluded the +lady meant to jest. The wife of an Alcalde, a sitting magistrate, to +take in needle-work! thought I. What would the Sir Richard Birnies and +the other sages of Bow-street, Marlborough-street, &c. say to this? + + [17] The washerwomen of Buenos Ayres present a singular spectacle to a + stranger. They pursue their avocation on the beach; and this soap-sud + army extends for nearly two miles: all the washing of the town is + performed there, by black women-slaves, and servants. At a distance + upon the water, it looks like surf breaking upon the shore. They wash + well, extending the linen upon the ground to dry. Robberies amongst + them are punished by ducking. A wedding, or other joyous ceremony, + is celebrated with African magnificence: a canopy is formed from the + linen, and the heroine of the day placed under it; red handkerchiefs + for flags are carried upon sticks, with saucepans, drums, &c. They + dance pas-seuls, after the mode of Guinea and Mosambique, I presume. + The music consists of singing and clapping of hands; thunders of + applause follow--Parisot and Angiolini never received more; a general + shout ends the entertainments. Their adherence to African customs is + a peculiar trait. At the approach of rain, confusion seems at its + height, and "chaos come again;" the ladies hurrying in all directions, + to save their linen from "the pitiless storm." + +Washing is dear--four to ten dollars per month, according to the clothes +washed. + +Slavery has been abolished here, since the year 1810: those born prior +to that time, remain slaves.[18] The humanity of the Spaniards to their +slaves, compared with other nations, is well known: in Buenos Ayres they +are treated with great kindness. The female slaves are often placed more +on the footing of friends, than either slaves or servants. They attend +their ladies when visiting, seating themselves on the ground in the +room in which their mistress may be, and witnessing the dances that +continually take place amongst the members of families. These slave +girls, in consequence, become quite knowing and accomplished, in +their way; and, from being so much in the fashionable world, imitate +their superiors. I have observed them dance the minuet, and Spanish +_contre-danse_, with great elegance. The men slaves, when deserving, +are treated with equal kindness: it does honour to the humane hearts of +their employers; and I almost adore them for it. In other countries, +it has been my lot to see those unfortunate people treated with +barbarity--even by my own countrymen. No ill effects in the end can +possibly result from kind behaviour to the slaves: in Buenos Ayres, +they appear affectionate, happy, and grateful. Of course, discontented +spirits are to be found; but I speak in a general sense. Of an evening +(though I believe it is not a constant rule), I have seen female slaves +seated in the same chamber with their mistress and family, at +needle-work. + + [18] I heard a slave boy once complaining, that he was a most + unfortunate fellow, in having been born only one day before the decree + passed for the abolition of slavery: "Could I have remained unborn," + said he, "only one day longer, I should have been a happy boy, and no + slave." + +Slaves can demand their paper, that is, the deed which binds them, and +seek other employers; and, for cruelty, can allege a complaint with the +_alcalde_. For serious misbehaviour, a proprietor can have them punished +by flogging, &c. There are other chastisements for females. + +The men slaves are not numerous; a great portion of them having enlisted +as soldiers. + +The English prefer having servants, to slaves, in their houses, and have +purchased but few. Those black gentlemen, in the employ of Englishmen, +have picked up a little of our language, which they are proud of +displaying. + +A great many North-American black men are about the town, and on the +beach; crowding the _pulperias_. + +The negroes have great confidence in the effect of charms for different +diseases: they stick a small bean-shell to the forehead for the +headache; another for the tooth-ache, &c. They wear, likewise, round the +neck, a cross, with a piece of leather in the shape of a small morocco +purse, like those sold in London: this is a religious badge. + +The excellent and orderly conduct observed by the lower order of people +in the streets, compared with other countries, is very remarkable: no +obscene insulting jests meet the ear; and persons may accompany modest +females in the street, without dread of molestation from the groups of +all descriptions strolling about, who evince towards the stranger every +respect: we cannot but esteem them, for thus contributing to render a +foreigner's abode in this city so free from apprehension. + +The riotous noise of the English lower orders is by some called one of +the evils of liberty, and I could not consent to curtail that liberty +even to purchase civility from them. I should, however, be glad if they +would condescend to copy, in some degree, Buenos Ayrean manners. I do +not wish them to be servile--good manners is not servility; but to +moderate that effusion of liberty, descending sometimes to ferocity. + +Drunkenness is not a vice of this country; the rabble of blacks and +porters are at times so. The mechanic employs his spare hours with +the guitar: on a summer's night, the doors and windows are open, when +they are to be seen singing, and dancing, and smoking the segar. My +countrymen of the same grade, at home, prefer the comforts of society +in a public house, where they can, over their grog and song, damn the +ministers and taxes, swearing that they are true-born Britons, back and +bone. + +From the orderly conduct observed in the streets of Buenos Ayres, +a stranger would suppose it a most moral city; we have no drunken +disorderly females, creating abhorrence and disgust. Intrigue is common +enough, but then it is modestly managed: besides, a lady's frailty is +not considered an offence so heinous as in our scrupulous England; more +compassion exists for the lovely sinners. Here are no crim. con. actions +to amuse some amorous judge and counsel, and inflame the passions. + +This country has its portion of beggars, who are, at times, very +annoying, besieging the court-yards, &c. The best way to get rid of +them is to exclaim "_Perdone por Dios!_" (pardon for God's sake). This +expression, singular as it may appear, seldom fails in its effect; but +"_Perdone por Dios!_" would have but little chance amongst the sturdy +beggars of Europe. + +The operation of lousing, so common in old Spain, is followed here, in +a degree, amongst a particular class. It is a most unseemly sight, for +female fingers to perform the office of combs. + +A great aversion used to exist to reside in a house in which a person +had died of a fever, until it was thoroughly cleaned. + +A savings bank has been established, upon the English plan; I doubt +if it will suit the meridian of Buenos Ayres: they are too careless +of to-morrow. If beef was one real per pound, their ideas would be +different; the labourer would be more industrious, and not refuse to +work on a rainy day, which is the case now. A tolerable sum has been +collected for the savings bank. + +A propensity to gaming exists with the Buenos Ayreans; I mean with the +male part. The vices of London's fashionable dames, in this respect, are +not followed by the fair that inhabit the banks of La Plata. + +There are no houses publicly appropriated for gaming, the government +having discountenanced this: but what can impede the infatuated +gamester? A few nights after my arrival, I visited a gambling-house; +they were playing a game like those of our E.O. tables. The police +entered;--I thought they were going to take us all into custody, in +the London mode; but they were more considerate, and only took the +principals: several Englishmen were in the room. If I am correctly +informed, Buenos Ayres contains individuals who, in the management of +the dice-box, might cope with gentlemen in the parish of St. James, +which some South American deputies, resident in London, can vouch for. + +Even the boys of Buenos Ayres have a _penchant_ for gambling; especially +the milk-boys, who often go home _minus_ the day's receipts. + +Bathing in summer by all classes, particularly the ladies, is one of +the fashionable recreations of the place; and as regards the latter, a +stranger is not a little interested; for here are no Ramsgate, Margate, +or Brighton machines, to shield them from prying eyes. They use bathing +clothes, and the operations of undressing, dressing, &c. are managed +with great dexterity. + +They bathe in front of the town, attended by their female slaves. I have +often smiled to see them splashing about the water, with their hair +dishevelled, like a groupe of mermaids, wanting but the comb and glass +to make the picture perfect. At dark, the scene continues, and not being +exposed to the unhallowed eyes of man, they give a loose to joy and +merriment. Many lanterns are lighted, and the quantity of them convey +an idea of a Chinese festival. Bathing machines would be a great +accommodation, as it is necessary to walk nearly a quarter of a mile to +get out of depth; and, except in some parts, the bottom is stony and +disagreeable. It is altogether a wretched place for bathing. + +Some _soi-disant_ modest persons (foreigners) take occasion to censure +this fashion of the females bathing, denominating it indecent. The +assertion is hardly a fair one. It has long been the custom; and such is +the circumspection used, that a bathing machine could scarcely add to +the decorum of the scene. Some grotesque scenes sometimes occur, such +as the lower orders of women bathing and smoking the segar at the same +time. Umbrellas are at times used to shade off the sun. No respectable +person ventures near the place occupied by the bathing females. + + * * * * * + +DRESS.--In their attire, the gentlemen of Buenos Ayres follow the +English fashion, except that they have not had the folly to imitate us +in our French short-tailed coats, which were only worn by porters and +oyster-men when I was in England. From the summer's heat, jackets and +light trowsers are worn, with straw hats, particularly those singularly +shaped ones from Chili. It is not genteel to wear jackets at the +theatre, or at parties. From November to March, light clothing is very +agreeable, except now and then during some days of cold. + +In England, they would smile to see the dress of the boys in Buenos +Ayres; they have long coats, capotes, large hats, Wellington trowsers, +and boots; and this for children of eight and nine years of age, who +look like men of Lilliput. + +The dress of the Buenos Ayrean ladies, I think, includes all that is +charming in female attire. The street dress is enchanting, equal to that +of our ball-room. White is the prevailing colour. The waist is neither +so short as the French, nor so long as the English. Shawls of all +descriptions are worn; some of them serve both for veil and shawl, +covering the bosom, and hanging loosely over the back part of the head: +the face is never concealed. In fine weather, they throw the shawl +entirely from the head, and walk the streets in conscious beauty, +heedless of the admiring eyes that will, in spite of resolution, turn +to gaze at them, as fancied beings of another sphere. Many times I have +done this, and found it impossible to withdraw my eyes, till distance, +or the fear of being observed, has obliged me. Those provoking fair ones +wear the frock and petticoat of that shortness, as just to expose enough +of the leg and ancle to increase the temptation. The persons of some of +them are symmetry itself. + +So eager are the Buenos Ayrean ladies to display advantageously their +pretty feet and ancles, that they wear such tight shoes, as must cause +them infinite pain, which is evident from the limping manner in which +they are often observed to walk. + +The ball dress is similar to that worn in the theatre; there may be +more of ornament, but some young ladies whom I could name want "no more +diamonds than their eyes can give." + +Some ladies change their dress three and four times in a day. + +The greatest attention is paid to the hair, which is suffered to grow to +a considerable length, and is fastened by a comb behind, with ringlets +in the front. Caps or bonnets are never worn, even in extreme old age. +The elderly lady has her white locks as carefully combed as when in +youth; and the same peculiar style of managing the veil. They have not +recourse to powder, or other disguises, to hide the approach of age. In +company, they are exceedingly free and talkative, and very cheerful. +It is a sight not devoid of interest, to see them gliding along, in +their black attire, to church, at which they are the most constant +visitants--the faded forms of what was once, perhaps, so lovely. + +The sable dress worn by the ladies at church, and which I so much +admire, is the ancient Spanish costume, the _basquina_. + +The wearing of mourning does not continue so long as with us; +neither are young and handsome widows disfigured by those close and +melancholy-looking caps that we see in England. + +I am so charmed with the costume of the Spanish ladies, that I begin to +think my dislike of the cap and bonnet has something of prejudice in it. +If fortune should conduct me again to England, it will be some time ere +I shall fancy those articles of dress. In Buenos Ayres, the sight of +them are my perfect abhorrence: at home, they are more applicable to the +climate. + +Fans are the ladies constant companions--in the street, theatre, ball, +and chamber; and their style of using them is unique, and, I think, +graceful. They are expensive: I have heard of sixty to seventy dollars +being given for one. The French send a great many, with all the +embellishments so peculiar to that nation. + +The dress of the female children displays equal taste with that of +their elders; from which, indeed, there is little difference--the +short-sleeved frock, silk stockings, curled hair, and fan. They walk the +streets with immense importance--the miniatures of those of maturer age. + +The children of Buenos Ayres are handsome; many of the female part, +perfect seraphs, bidding fair to fill up the void that time will soon +occasion in those whose charms now so much delight us. I sometimes +look at these little creatures with a feeling almost bordering upon +melancholy, to think that, in a few years, they will replace those who +at this period shine forth in all the heaven of beauty, to be themselves +replaced, another and another race succeeding. Who can prize life, when +our dream of happiness is so short; the vale of coming years so soon +casting its blight upon all our ardent, youthful fancies? + +The females are really industrious, making their own clothes, and, I am +informed, the silk shoes they wear: a British lady is lost without the +milliner's aid. One of that profession might answer here, if it were +only for the novelty of the thing. + + * * * * * + +TRAVELLING.--Not many carriages or coaches are to be seen; but they +increase in number. The _callé coché_, or street coach, is much used; it +is drawn by two horses, or mules, with a postillion, and in shape very +much resembles our bakers' carts: the passengers are seated sideways. +Some English merchants and Creoles have carriages after the English +mode; but the nature of the roads and streets does not afford them a +great opportunity to "show off." Morris, an Englishman, carries on a +profitable trade as coach-maker: he is, indeed, the only good one in the +town. + +The travelling carriages, that convey families to their estates, +hundreds of miles distant, are heavy cumbersome machines, in the old +Spanish style. A family going to the country is no ordinary sight; +the mules and waggons following with the baggage, and the quantity of +out-riders, slaves, and servants, in _ponchos_ and little dirty hats, +surrounding the carriages containing the ladies and female slaves, +appear like a banditti escorting their plunder. + +A gentleman travelling has dirty white leather boots, large spurs, +poncho, slouching hat, pistols, sword, dagger, and knife; he appears a +complete robber captain--in fact, another Rugantino: he has generally +one or two slaves to attend him. + +There are post-houses on the road, and those leading to Chili are very +regular. A constant supply of horses and guides are kept; but persons +mostly go on horseback, for the sake of expedition. The journey is thus +made to the Andes in about fourteen days. Crossing the mountains, and +getting to Santiago, in Chili, will take about three weeks, from Buenos +Ayres; but the horse must always be kept at a full gallop. Carriages are +expensive, and very dilatory, but they save a great deal of fatigue. + +There are persons in Europe who suppose that horses may be obtained in +South America for the trouble of catching them: but that is not exactly +the case in this province; here they have all owners. + +Horses may be bought from 3 to 100 dollars, according to their quality; +a very good one may be had for seventeen dollars. They average about 12 +or 13 hands high, and have the tail mostly long. They will endure much +fatigue. Their pace is the gallop, or canter; trotting, the horse's +natural pace, appears quite unnatural here; but we must not include +those trained for the carriage or gig. There are some fine horses in +Buenos Ayres; and by those who have not seen the hunters, the dray, and +the heavy horse of Europe, they will be admired. To tell a native that +horses have been sold in England for 2, 3, 4, and 5000 guineas, would +hardly gain belief.[19] If these animals are cheap here, the keep of +them is dear--from 12 to 17 dollars per month. Hay is not much used: +grass may be purchased from the country, every morning, from the grass +carts that pass through the town. + + [19] Great curiosity was excited by the arrival in the brig Rhoda from + London, of three English draught horses and a mare, sent out by Mr. + Rivadavia, as a present to the government. The animals were landed in + good condition, notwithstanding their having endured a confinement of + thirteen weeks on board ship. Their great size and muscular appearance + excited universal admiration. What would the Buenos Ayreans say, could + they see our regiments of Life-Guards, and heavy cavalry, and the + cattle in the brewer's drays and coal waggons? An English groom + attended the horses to the stables, and numbers went to view them + there. + + I am afraid, that the sanguine hopes of improving the breed of + horses, in this country, by the introduction of English ones, will + not be realized; for, in spite of their boasted climate and pastures, + I am persuaded, neither will be found congenial to our horses, who, + being accustomed to the ever-verdant plains of England, can ill bear + the long drought and oppressive heat of this country. The people, + too, are prejudiced in favour of their own cattle; and were they to + pay attention to them, they would indeed be excellent; but their + treatment of horses may be compared to the manner in which Esquimaux + treat their dogs. Comfortable stabling and grooming are unknown here. + Horses are so cheap and plentiful, they are little valued. + + Some English blood horses, for Mr. W. P. Robertson, of this place, + unfortunately perished during the passage from England. Had they + arrived, the Buenos Ayreans might have witnessed the hunter and + draught horse of Great Britain. Our countrymen in Buenos Ayres seemed + highly delighted to see their country horses; and, as they passed the + beach, the sailors eyed the animals with rapture, commenting upon + their noble appearance. + + A quantity of English sheep, stated to be Merinos, likewise came out + in the Rhoda. + +They have no convenience like the livery stables of England. The +horses are put under a shed, or left in the open air; the mild climate +requiring no other care. Those employed in drudgery with carts, at the +custom-house, &c. are as hard worked as our post and hackney-coach +horses. + +English saddles are in vogue. The _ricado_, or saddle of the country, +keeps its sway, being so constructed that on journeys it serves for +saddle and bed. The Spanish bridle and bit are preferred both by the +English and the natives. The Spanish fashion of having the stirrups long +is invariably followed, and I think it more graceful than our mode. + +Silver stirrups, spurs, &c. are not so much in use as formerly. Horses, +bridles, and saddles were repeatedly stolen in the streets; but such +events, from the regularity of the police, do not often happen now. +Every horse has a burnt mark, by which its owner can be traced. + +The ladies ride on horseback; but they neither look so well in their +riding attire, or manage the horse so dexterously, as the British +ladies. + +The lower orders of countrymen ride with one toe in the stirrup, and +gallop for miles in that way. + +They strap the front of the horses' legs, to prevent their running away, +in the streets. Galloping is not permitted in the town. + +The country waggons are roofed with hides, and have large wheels: the +creaking of the latter is very disagreeable; but they will not take the +trouble to grease them. Whole families and parties, going long journeys, +live and sleep for weeks or months together in waggons drawn by oxen. +Six or eight of them are yoked, in pairs, to a log of wood at the back +of the horns, to which the rope harness is tied, and they are thus made +to draw the burthen from the head. They are urged on by poles with a +sharp substance at the end: the drivers have likewise a piece of lead, +in shape and size like our constables' staffs, with which they belabour +the poor animal about the horns. They sadly want a Mr. Martin here. From +being so constantly goaded, these animals have got a mischievous trick +of kicking; and, not being aware of them, I once received a favour of +this sort, which has since made me (to use the sailor's phrase) "give +them a wide birth." + + * * * * * + +SPORTS and AMUSEMENTS.--Near the Recolator is a decent even road, where, +on fine evening, are horse-races. The natives ride without saddle; and +the animals have great spirit. Englishmen sometimes get up a race, the +natives acting as jockeys. + +Exercise on the water is not a popular amusement. The inhabitants have +no taste for sailing-boats and rowing-matches: the river, it is true, +has no very great inducement for aquatic sports. + +A particular class of the people are very fond of cock-fighting, and +will give thirty to forty dollars for a good English game-cock. The +packet sailors have brought some out, and sold them well. The native +game-cocks are good, but not equal in strength and courage to the +English. + +Greyhounds and foxhounds would come to a bad market, for neither climate +nor country is adapted for hunting. My fox-hunting countrymen would +be out of their element here: foxes there are none; but deer are +plentiful. Athletic sports must be confined to countries more congenial +to them. + +The amateurs of shooting would be at home: birds abound so much as +almost to destroy the pleasure of the sport. A short distance from town, +there are lakes, with wild ducks, geese, swans, &c. In cold weather, and +in other periods, flocks fly over the town, and alight near the beach. +The black-necked swans are fine birds; and wild ducks, which are always +an excellent dish at table, are much better than the tame ones: the +market is well supplied with them. There are also excellent partridges, +of a larger size than our's; but there are no pheasants. English +sportsmen, habited in the mode of their country, with fustian jacket, +gun fastened to the horse, and the dogs behind, greatly enjoy this +recreation: they bring to my recollection our sporting farmers of +Gloucestershire and Norfolk, revived in South-America. The Frenchmen +in this country are fond of the sport: they go out, dressed in French +sporting costume, with cap and jacket, and on foot. I have observed +that this amusement is, in a great measure, confined to foreigners; the +natives take very little interest in it. The cockney sportmen of Buenos +Ayres sometimes amuse themselves by shooting gulls on the beach. + +The country affords little facility to follow fishing as a sport; +and the fish found in the river, with a few exceptions, is not worth +catching. They fish on horseback. Two horses are attached, one to each +end of the net,--a man standing on their backs, in the manner of one +of Astley's equestrians; and they go so deeply in the water, that the +horses are, at times, obliged to swim. I have expected to see the men +thrown off. The net is then hauled to the shore; the fish that is fit +for the market is taken out, and the rest thrown or given away. People +don't go out fishing at a distance, in boats. The sailors on board the +vessels in the roads catch great quantities of fish, but they are of a +very indifferent kind: one called the cat-fish is the most common. + +Throwing the _lasso_ is a favourite amusement of this country, and +is performed by the natives with great dexterity. A man on horseback, +holding the _lasso_ (a rope looped at the end) rides amongst a herd of +cattle, casting the rope towards the object he wishes to entrap; the +first attempt almost always succeeds, and the animal is fast secured by +the leg. They practice this _lasso_ from boyhood: it is a formidable +weapon, against a flying enemy. + +An annual fair is held on some open ground, before the Recolator church, +about two miles from the fort, and one mile north of the town. It +commences on the 12th of October (the nativity of Nostra Señora del +Pilar), and continues a week. The amusements are not very great: +there are a few booths for eating and drinking, swings, two or three +humourless clowns running about, and a military band. The national +British and American flags are hoisted from houses and booths devoted to +good cheer, rented for the occasion by individuals of those nations. At +night, the country people dance till a late hour in the booths; they may +be observed to perfection then. I wandered into several; and the Gaucho +ladies and gentlemen behaved with the greatest politeness, offering me +a seat, and entreating me to dance. The guitar was the music, with the +usual accompaniments of singing, and snapping the fingers during the +dance. On fine evenings a very elegant assemblage attend this fair, +which is a promenade for the beauties of the city; but being held +so near the equinox, the weather is generally unsettled. In 1822, a +tremendous storm took place, one night of the fair, overwhelming booths, +flags, and preparations; hundreds took refuge in the church. At the +theatre (in which I happened to be during the storm), the dust filled +the interior, obscuring the stage. The small stones and dust, rattling +against the walls and windows, had the effect of what one might suppose +of a shower of small shot. + +The fair at the Recolator, in 1824, as regarded amusements, was very +dull. The promenade, however, was well attended: the _elegantes_, and +others of Buenos Ayres, appeared in their best attire; and the dashing +mulatto girls, in silk stockings, white dresses, and veils, seemed +determined to rival the fair ones of higher birth. As usual, the +equinoctial gales vented their spite at this devoted fair.[20] + + [20] On the second day of the fair, it blew a gale of wind, in which a + boat, belonging to H.M. brig of war, _Plover_, was upset, between the + inner and outer roads, and five men were drowned. A subscription was + opened for their families, in England, and 500 dollars were collected. + Mr. Poussett, the vice-consul, generously exerted himself to forward + this charitable act. + +During Carnival they have a disgusting practice: in place of music, +masques, and dancing, they amuse themselves by throwing buckets and pans +of water from the tops of houses and windows, sousing every passenger +that passes, and following each other, from house to house, in regular +water attacks. Egg-shells filled with water are also thrown: these are +sold in the streets. The audience, on leaving the theatre the night +before Carnival, get a plentiful salute of them. It lasts three days; +and many persons go out of town to avoid it, as it is hardly possible to +walk the streets without a ducking. The ladies receive no mercy; neither +do they deserve any, for they take a most active part. Repeatedly, on +passing groups of them, at night, an egg of water has been adroitly put +into my bosom. Those whose occupations lead them into the street, must +expect a wetting. Strangers seem to join in the sports with great glee. +An English master of a vessel, just arrived, received a bucket of water. +Not being aware of the practice, he took up bricks, swearing he would +break every window in the house. He could scarcely be pacified. Many +persons have been seriously ill from the effects of Carnival playing. +The newspapers and police have interfered to suppress it, hitherto, +without effect, though it is somewhat lessened. They follow it as an +ancient custom of the country; and, like other absurdities, it will, I +suppose, die a natural death. If the ladies knew how much it detracts +from feminine softness, surely it would be discontinued by them. + +In 1825, government seized the opportunity of the victory in Peru, to +devote the three days of Carnival to public rejoicings. Handbills were +accordingly issued, requesting fathers and masters of families to assist +them, and prevent water-throwing, denominating it "disgraceful to a +civilized people." The appeal had, in some degree, the desired effect: +at night, however, the water-playing folks could not resist indulging in +their favourite amusement--sprinkling the pedestrians with water from +phials; especially in the Plaza, where, some mischief-loving girls +managed to accommodate me with some of their favours in this way. In +time, the good sense of the people will banish this, as they have many +other of their antique and absurd customs; for instance, the musical +exhibitions during Lent--a triumph gained by reason over bigotry and +priestcraft. + + * * * * * + +PROVISIONS.--The new market, in the centre of the town, is convenient, +and well supplied: soldiers are stationed in the outlets, to keep order. +Beef is sold at three reals the _arroba_, or 25 lb.; mutton, for the +whole sheep, six reals. Veal is not allowed to be killed; and pork is +very bad indeed, and seldom used at table. Turkeys cost from 5 to 7 +reals; ducks and fowls, 3½ reals each; partridges and pigeons, 1½ real +the pair: geese are moderate--3 reals each. Vegetables are very dear: +cabbages, one real; carrots, green peas, cauliflowers, spinage, &c. in +the same proportion. + +Although the chief articles of life are, at first cost, so cheap, the +expense of fire in cooking makes them come almost, if not quite, as dear +as in England. Coals are imported from England, and are dear. + +The beef is good, but much inferior to our's; and their fashion of +always baking it gives it a taste of the charcoal and wood, and renders +it insipid. They have no idea of roasting by the spit. Mr. Booth, an +Englishman, who keeps a store, is noted for having dinners in the +English style. + +In summer, meat will not keep beyond the day, and cattle are slaughtered +in the morning for the day's consumption; in winter, the night previous. +In England, meat kept two or three days is supposed to eat more tender; +here, it is the reverse--as report tells me, for I have never been +housekeeper enough to know from experience. + +Mutton is indifferent: from some farms, they tell me, good mutton can be +procured, but it has not been my lot to partake of any of this superior +sort. The natives have not much relish for mutton: sheep were, at one +time, of so little value, that, in the country, they were killed, and +used as fuel for brick-kilns. This has improved, and will continue +to do so, from the number of well-stocked sheep farms, that now send +large droves far into the interior for sale. Mr. Halsey, an American +gentleman, has a large concern of this nature. + +The poultry bought in the market are not of the best description; they +are in general, diminutive and tough. To have good poultry, it is +necessary for persons to fatten them themselves, or purchase them at +farms that can be depended upon. Ducks are better; the turkeys are +large, and, when properly reared, eat tender; the geese are indifferent. +Partridges are large and tender, and very excellent. The ordinary +poultry, in a manner, live upon beef, for which they seem to have a +peculiar _penchant_. I have seen beef and corn placed before turkeys, +and they preferred the former. In a place where so many animals exist +upon beef, the pig, it may be believed, comes in for his full share. +Indeed, all animals, in this country, appear to live upon beef. The +quantity that is wasted would be most acceptable to the poor in populous +Europe. + +This country is as famous for the quantity of beef produced, as the Cape +of Good Hope is for sheep. A bullock now costs eight dollars, without +the hide; formerly, they could be purchased at ten reals. The hide now +sells for six dollars. Some of the _estancias_ have from forty to fifty +thousand head of cattle of all classes. + +An order exists, that beef is not to be sold at more than three reals +the arroba, at market. The year of 1823 was one of great drought, and +the cattle perished by thousands: the beef market was in so terrible a +condition, that scarcely any were to be had, and what there was was very +bad; for cattle could not be brought to market, but at a very great loss +to the owners. The impolicy of a fixed price in an open market, except +when monopoly is apprehended, was fully proved. When any beef came to +market, there was perfect fighting for it with the slaves and servants +of families and others. The poor endured privations with patience: John +Bull would have been more riotous. + +Besides the principal market, there are others in different parts of the +town; and beef is sold in carts, that take their stations in yards and +outbuildings, holding a butcher's shop, the ground serving for block. +The first sight of this operation, so different to the cleanliness and +style of English butcher's shops, is sufficient to disgust a stranger. + +Salt, or corned beef, is only to be had good in winter, and then it is +nothing like that we get in England. It is only at English or American +tables this dish is to be seen: the natives pretend not to understand +it; I have seen them, notwithstanding, partake of a buttock of beef with +great relish. + +A beef-steak is so entirely an English dish, that it preserves in all +climates its original name: they may be had in the coffee-houses here, +but, like the French "_bif-tik_," are no great things. + +The Gauchos in the country exist upon beef: bread is a rarity with them. +Having no ovens, they are obliged to roast the beef upon sticks placed +lengthwise. I wish they were under the same necessity in Buenos Ayres; I +should eat it with much better appetite. The true roast beef is only to +be obtained amongst those Gauchos.[21] + + [21] These Gauchos are a peculiar race: some wear their hair long, + and plaited, Chinese fashion; and, in addition to their other + singularities of dress, they wear handkerchiefs tied under the chin, + and hanging loose behind. A group of them in a field, seated round a + fire, is all we can fancy of Macbeth's witches. + +_Carné conquiero_ (beef baked with part of the hide attached), and +_mater ambre_, or kill hunger (baked beef, with sauce _piquant_), is +relished by many here; but I am not one of the number. + +The sausages I should like, were it not for the abhorrent garlic in +them. + +The dainties of English hams, cheese, potatoes, &c. are bought at the +stores; the two former, at four reals the pound; the latter, one real: +the duties are rather high upon them. Bottled beer may be purchased at +four reals per bottle; and draught beer may sometimes be had. Articles +of the above description are almost wholly imported from England. The +length of the voyage will not permit our rich English cheeses to be +brought here; consequently, we are deprived of the luxury of a real +"Welch rabbit." The Penco cheese, brought from the district of that +name, in Chili, approaches nearest to our toasting cheese. + +Bread is dear: two small loaves (a trifle larger than our French rolls), +one madio. They decrease the size according to the price of flour. That +made of American flour is the best. They are, at present, entirely +dependent upon foreign importation; and the Americans have taken away +immense sums of money. The corn of the country, from some unaccountable +cause--a want of attention, or deficient harvests--is nothing equal to +the demand. They generally grind the corn at the bakehouses, which, by a +late order, are removed out of town. Mules are employed in the grinding. + +Tea is not much drank by the natives, though more so than formerly. In +English families, it is, as at home, an article of the first necessity; +it sells here from 1 to 1½ dollar per lb. Coffee is 3½ reals per lb. +Lump sugar, dear and scarce; that of Havannah and Brazils is used. +Chocolate, from 2½ to 3 reals per lb. + +Altogether, living in Buenos Ayres is much more expensive than in +England, without its various comforts. + +Here are wines of all sorts, "from humble Port to imperial Tokay," and +but little good. Port and Madeira are retailed at one dollar per bottle; +champaigne, a dollar and a half. Of French and Spanish wines, there +are great quantities. The cheapest and common drink is the wine of +Catalonia, or, as it is denominated, Carlon wine, which is sold at from +two to three reals per bottle, and is far from an unpleasant beverage. +Not much wine is made in the country; that of Mendoza has a sweet taste, +like our homemade wines. + +Beer is only used as a _bonne bouche_. Bottled beer has not that relish +to me, that the London draught porter has. Brandy, gin, and rum, are +abundant. The latter arrives from the Brazils, Havannah, and Isle of +France. The good old Jamaica rum is a scarce commodity. Caña, a sort of +white brandy, from the Havannah, Brazils, and Spain, and called Spanish +brandy, is much drank, and makes capital punch. + +The vegetables of this country, to my thinking, are not very enticing. +We miss the delicious flavour of the summer cabbage, large asparagus, +and peas, that we have at home. A good salad, with cucumbers and onions, +may be procured. Turnips are scarce and bad. Indian corn grows in +abundance. + +English potatoes are much sought after: the packet sailors have brought +a great many;[22] and so eager were the English potatoe merchants to +obtain them, that they quarrelled one with the other, and their disputes +were referred to the Consulado, who must have imbibed strange opinions +of the trading English. All efforts to raise potatoes on this soil have +failed: they are small and insipid. An Englishman, Mr. Billinghurst, has +been endeavouring, some years, to effect this object without success. +Those grown at Monte Video are something better. In Peru, they are +thought equal, if not superior, to our's: but our islands appear to be +their home. + + [22] The packet sailors are allowed a portion of trade; and the most + profitable of their imports have been potatoes and game-cocks. These + packet sailors are complete pedlars. + +The peaches in their season, from January to March, are excellent, and +the consumption great, being esteemed healthy: they are sold in all +parts--in the markets, shops, and hawked about the streets. From eight +to ten can be purchased for a _madio_ (three-pence English money). The +strawberries, apples, pears, cherries, &c. are, for their quality, not +worthy of notice. Grapes are tolerable. Oranges will not thrive in this +climate; and the lemons are very inferior. Gooseberries, currants, and +plums are unknown, except by name. After all the praises bestowed upon +the fruits grown in tropical and warm climates, they cannot, in the +gross, equal those of others. What have they to compensate for the +green-gage, gooseberries, currants, strawberries, cherries, apples, +pears, and plums of every description? Travellers must not believe all +they hear in Europe; they will not find the fields and boughs, in South +America, teeming with every species of fruit, free to those who choose +to gather them. + + * * * * * + +In addition to those already noticed, this country produces very few +OTHER ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. Indeed, persons who wish to send +presents to England are often at a loss what to forward, the country not +producing any great variety, either in the animal or vegetable world. + +The herds of cattle that exist in the Pampas are immense: of this we +can form a tolerably correct estimate from annual exports. In one year a +million of ox and cow hides were exported. + +Mules are numerous and cheap; they cost from two to four dollars each. +There is a traffic in them, but not very great, to the Isle of France +and West Indies. The expense of provender and fitting for such a +freight, and the numbers that die during a voyage, lessen the profits +considerably; and vessels will not venture upon each troublesome +shipmates when any thing else offers. + +A great many tigers are found up the country, and about the islands of +the river Parana; but they have nothing of the ferocity or terrific +grandeur of the East-Indian tygers: they are, in fact, more like +leopards; and those that I have seen are not larger than a common sheep +dog. They will, however, often attack individuals; and several have been +devoured by them. + +The tiger-cats are plentiful. + +Buenos Ayres swarms with dogs, and none of them very valuable. An +English bull-dog would beat fifty such. They had an abominable practice +of sending criminals, under a guard, into the streets, armed with heavy +clubs, for the purpose of killing the dogs they met with, leaving the +carcases in the street to rot. Many a pet has been slaughtered this way. +Some more humane method might be devised, to lessen the number of dogs, +than this cruel and disgusting mode: it has been lately discontinued. +Hydrophobia, I conceive, they only know by name, as I have never heard +of any accident from it. + +Of the small field animals the nutria, for the sake of its skin, it the +most valuable, and forms a valuable article of export. They are, in +shape, much like rats; but are larger, and have long front teeth +projecting: they are quite harmless. + +The _armadillo_ is the South-American hedge-hog, without the prickly +substances they have in Europe: the natives eat them. + +Here are, also, the _boscatcha_, or South-American badger; and a pretty +little animal, like a weasel, which is often tamed, and runs about the +house. + +Rats and ants are a great annoyance in this country: they swarm in the +houses, and are very active in their vocations. The former are not so +ferocious as the English ones, who often, when retreat is cut off, fight +most ratfully. The Buenos Ayres rats are better educated. + +The fire-fly, on summer nights, is seen gliding through the air. + +This not being a woody country, the feathered creation presents very +little variety. Here are the canary, cardinal, common sparrow, owls, &c. + +About Paraguay, and where it is more intersected, there are some +beautiful birds, including the parrot and parroquet; the latter are +likewise plentiful on the other side of the river, in Entre Rios, +&c.[23] + + [23] The parrots brought from the Brazils, Paraguay, &c. to Buenos + Ayres, differ in nothing from those we every day see in England; and + they chatter as loudly, generally in the following strain--"_Lorito + Real_," (Royal Poll); "_Pare la Espana y no para la Portugal!_" (Spain + for ever and no Portugal); "_Est casada?_" (Are you married?) "_Aye, + Jesus!_" (O, Jesus!) + +Ostriches are very numerous in the Pampas. + +The beautiful and scarce little humming-bird, now and then, makes its +appearance among the lowers. I have made several efforts to catch them, +but without success. + +This portion of South America, in the summer of 1824-25, was most +seriously annoyed by locusts; the memory of the oldest inhabitant cannot +recollect such a swarm. The air was darkened, and the ground strewed, +with the millions of those devouring insects: a north wind brought them +down from the Parana, like a snow-storm. The fruit trees, plants, &c. +dreadfully suffered. The inhabitants have an idea, that, by ringing +bells, beating tin saucepans, and other noises of this description, +locusts can be frightened away. An easterly wind, rain, and cold +weather, are, I believe, their only destroyers. The months of December, +1824 and January, 1825, were foggy, dry months, the wind constantly +from the north; and, for want of water, a great mortality took place in +the country among the cattle. + +Mushrooms and water-cresses are not very plentiful: they are more found +in the neighbourhood of Ensenada; as are also leeches, for which doctors +give a good price. + +The flowers reared in this country must likewise yield, in beauty and +sweetness, to our own: we do not see the polyanthus, moss rose, and many +others that strew their beauties over the British isles. + + * * * * * + +POPULATION.--The province of Buenos Ayres, which extends nearly 500 +miles in length, with a breadth undefined (perhaps equal to its length), +has only a population of about 150,000 souls; and Patagonia, which is +under the same government, 1000. + +It is estimated, that in the population of Buenos Ayres, there are five +females to one male. If this be correct, some ladies are likely to come +under the horrid list of old maids. That more female births take place +in comparison with those of Europe cannot be doubted. I know families of +eight, nine, and ten daughters, and perhaps one son. The causes of such +disproportion, I must leave the natural philosophers to develope. + + * * * * * + +TRADE and MANUFACTURES.--From its extensive produce, Buenos Ayres will +ever command attention in a mercantile point of view. + +The exports consist of ox hides of all descriptions, horse hides, horse +hair, wool, tallow, nutria skins, horns, chinchilla skins, salted beef, +and silver in hard dollars and bars. + +The quantity of European goods annually imported is very great: I +am surprised how they find vent for them. The cargoes brought from +Liverpool, of manufactured goods, of Manchester, Glasgow, &c. are of +considerable value, often from 70 to 80, and £100,000. + +The following is a list of square-rigged merchant vessels that entered +the port of Buenos Ayres in the years 1821, 1822, 1823, and 1824:-- + + In 1821. In 1822. In 1823. In 1824. + + British[24] 128 183 113 110 + American 42 75 80 143[25] + French 19 21 24 21 + Swedish 7 11 6 14 + Sardinian 3 7 6 6 + Danish 1 1 5 10 + Dutch 2 4 6 8 + + [24] Of the British vessels, the following were from London and + Liverpool; the remainder from Gibraltar, Rio Janeiro, the Havannah, + &c. &c. + + In 1821. In 1822. In 1823. In 1824. + + From Liverpool 33 35 23 + From London 10 7 8 + + [25] The number of American vessels in 1824, compared with former + years, is very great. They were chiefly laden with flour, which, + although now a losing speculation, has, lately, been beneficial. + +Under the Portuguese, Brazilian, and Buenos Ayrean flags, brigs and +small craft are daily arriving and sailing from and to Rio Janeiro, and +all parts of the Brazils, Patagonia, and trading in the River Plate, and +up the rivers of the interior. + +A number of American vessels are sold, as well as broken up, in Buenos +Ayres, which, assuming the flag of the country, trade with Rio Janeiro, +Rio Grande, Patagonia, &c. Many of them are under the command of +Englishmen and North Americans, who, at no great distance of time will +carry the Buenos Ayrean flag to every part of the world. This country +must for some time rely upon foreigners for their shipping. The +population are not maritimely inclined. + +Several persons gain a livelihood by leaving notices, or _avisos_, of +vessels arriving, and their cargoes. + +A long report upon the trade of this country has been drawn up by a +committee of British merchants, and presented to the Consul, extracts +from which have appeared in the English newspapers. Great talent has +been exhibited in the detail and writing of this report, although I +think the picture has been too highly painted. + +Should the trade of Paraguay be thrown open to Buenos Ayres, it will be +of great advantage. The present Governor, Francia, follows the Jesuits' +system; and Pekin is not more secluded from the inspection of strangers. +Some unfortunate Englishmen, who ventured there with goods, had both +their persons and property detained, and no satisfactory intelligence +has been received of them. In February, 1823, a memorial was sent +to Sir Thomas Hardy, by their friends in Buenos Ayres, entreating +his interference. This memorial has been forwarded to the British +government. It is surprising that the people of Paraguay, a country +so rich in its natural productions should be quiet under such severe +restrictions. One is led to suppose, from their passiveness, that they +are content with the system. Francia, however, has lately permitted +communication and trade with the Portuguese in Brazil; Itapua, on the +frontiers, being the depôt town. + +They have no regular exchange for the merchants to meet in, at Buenos +Ayres. A new general Commercial Room is about to be established, to +which persons of all nations will be allowed to subscribe. Some late +regulations of the British Room have given offence; the committee of +which, in derision, have been named "the Holy Alliance," and have had +several anonymous letters addressed to them, upon their aristocratical +notions in a foreign country. The refusal to allow any but British +subjects to subscribe to the Commercial Room, has been much commented +upon; some years back it might have been advisable, but at this period +a more liberal system would perhaps be better. + +The Creoles of the country now engage in mercantile pursuits with great +avidity; and commerce has spread into so many hands, that money does not +roll in quite so fast as formerly. + +The competition amongst the store-keepers materially diminishes their +profits, and reduces the concern upon a level with English chandlers' +shops. + +The number of shops in Buenos Ayres is very great; they abound in the +streets leading from the Plaza. Every shop and house has a proportion of +taxes levied upon it: and there is also a species of property tax upon +the English plan. The taxes now imposed considerably diminish the +profits they used to make. + +The linen-drapers have a choice assortment from all countries, neatly +arranged. Their shops are well lighted; and although they fall very +short of the splendour of the London ones, yet they are equal to some +of those of our best country towns: they are open till nine and ten at +night. They call the Buenos Ayreans a lazy people: the shopkeepers, at +least, do not merit this epithet. + +The shopmen are mostly young men, who appear to have all the persuasive +arts of their brethren in London, prevailing upon their fair customers +to get rid of their money, and subjecting them to a good scolding from +husbands and mammas, for extravagance, leading to pouting and sulks for +a week. Those gentlemen of the shop have a great deal to answer for. + +Every article of apparel, both for male and female, can be purchased at +the retail shops, of which there are many: they have coats, waistcoats, +trowsers, &c. hanging in front, in the mode of Monmouth Street. Mr. +Niblett was the first Englishman that opened a shop of this description. +A great many Englishmen have their clothes sent from England: but the +duty and incidental expences make them come as dear as if made here. + +Buenos Ayres contains several English tailors, whose work is tolerably +well, considering they have not English workmen; although not with that +exquisite finish which is to be seen in London. A coat will cost thirty +dollars, trowsers twelve; the rest in proportion. The town swarms with +Creolian and other tailors. + +Manufactories for hats exist in Buenos Ayres: one of them, Varangot's, +has a considerable trade, and they are really good, from seven to eight +dollars each, far superior to our second-rate hats; the misfortune is, +that on the approach of rainy weather they act as a perfect barometer, +and get limp. + +Of the hats imported into Buenos Ayres the English are preferred; but +the heavy duty has brought out those of an inferior description. At +present, there are some good ones at ten or twelve dollars each, which +at that price meet with a ready sale. The French import a quantity of +hats; but the quality of them is much inferior to our's. + +English manufactured goods are cheap; the market has been overstocked, +and, I fear, does not yield much profit to the adventurers. I have +bought English stockings cheaper than I could buy them in London, +leather gloves (a good pair) for a dollar. It is cheaper to purchase a +stock of linen here than at home. I have purchased good white cotton +neckcloths, after the rate of sixpence each. In summer, cotton shirting +is preferred. + +English saddles and bridles are imported largely; we thus return them +their own hides, manufactured into choice and costly goods. Of the many +saddlers' shops, several are kept by Englishmen; as also watch-makers, +with loads of English watches. + +All sorts of hardware, as knives and forks, and scissars, are imported +from England, and can be obtained at a cheap rate; also furniture, such +as tables, chairs, &c. Of the latter, the North Americans bring great +quantities. + +India goods are sought after, particularly the China crape shawls. + +Articles of stationery arrive from every quarter: Spanish writing-paper +from Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, and I think it of better quality +than ours, at least more pleasant to write upon. + +Barbers' shops are in great abundance. + +At the _pulperias_, or grog-shops, they sell almost every article of +life; they are, indeed, perfect chandlers' shops. + +The pastrycooks neither cut a figure in their shops, nor in the articles +they sell; here are no hot buns or tarts on a morning, nor stale pastry +for the ragamuffin boys to purchase. Sweetmeats are the order of the +day. + +A pastrycook's shop in the English style, I am confident, would +succeed--with the addition of hot rolls in the morning: none of those +luxuries are known here. + +A good portrait-painter, I conceive, would meet with encouragement in +Buenos Ayres: at any rate they would have a fine field for study. An +English artist, named Hervé, practised some months: indisposition forced +him to leave. + +It had occurred to me, that a pawnbroker would be a good business in +Buenos Ayres; but I find every shopkeeper, or monied person acts in that +capacity, and that respectable persons do not hesitate to send silver +spoons, matté-pots, and other valuables, to pledge from day to day--at +what interest (or if any) I know not, though I am apprehensive some of +them are guilty of what we should call usury. Poverty is a crime in +England; here they dread not exposure: but such is my delicacy in money +affairs, I should prefer being under an obligation to the gentlemen +with three balls, and to slide in at one of their secret doors, to the +publicity practised here. + +An Englishman has lately undertaken a speculation which has cost him +a considerable sum, to have the exclusive privilege of taking cattle +in the Falkland islands--in fact, to be sole proprietor for a term +of years. He has forwarded to his new sovereignty a small colony of +settlers, servants, &c.; the chances of his success are very doubtful. +Buenos Ayres claims the jurisdiction of these islands, and those claims +will not cause such a dispute as in the year 1770. The voyage to them +from Buenos Ayres is made in about fourteen days. + + * * * * * + +CURRENCY, &c.--In the year 1822 silver became so scarce, that, it was +impossible to get change of a doubloon without allowing a consideration +for it. Foreigners, of course, bore the blame of draining the country +of the money. To remedy the evil, small notes were issued; and, shortly +after, a large supply of copper coin arrived, that had been contracted +for in England. This currency of paper and copper was something so new, +that not a few sneers and forebodings took place. The facility that +paper money affords to business, however, soon began to be experienced +in Buenos Ayres. Previous to its issue, if a person had to receive a +hundred dollars, it was necessary to hire a porter to carry it, and +for larger quantities a cart; besides the endless trouble of counting +thousands of dollars, often in reals and madios, and the detection of +bad money: hours and days of valuable time were consumed by it. The +collecting clerks are no longer tormented with counting piles of silver, +before they take it from the house. Saturdays are the days appropriated +for money collecting. + +Notes, engraved in England, are now issued on a grand scale, from 5 to +1000 dollars, upon the security of the government and bank; the people +are reconciled to it, and begin to find that a currency of gold and +silver is not at all times a proof of the credit or riches of a +nation.[26] + + [26] Englishmen, on their first visit to France, soon after the peace + of 1814, were eager to receive French gold; but they soon tired of it, + and asked for paper. I was at Peregaux and Lafitte's banking-house at + Paris, when an application of that nature was made: the clerk replied, + that France must first get credit, before she could venture upon + bank-notes. + +Besides the above notes, the present currency consists of the doubloon +of 17 dollars; the half, quarter, and half-quarter doubloon; the dollar, +half dollar, and quarter dollar; with reals, madios, and quartillos. The +hard dollars are scarce, being bought up for exportation. + +In exporting money, there is a small duty of two per cent. to pay. Being +so trifling, it prevents smuggling, which was formerly the case. Making +returns in produce, however, is at all times preferred to money, when it +can be obtained at any thing like a moderate rate; but it is at times so +scarce and dear, that it renders the purchasing ruinous. + +The average exchange for the last three years has been forty-five pence +the Spanish dollar. + +The Bank of Buenos Ayres opened in 1822, the first thing of the sort in +this province. Its capital is one million of dollars, in 1000 shares, of +1000 dollars each. The number of directors are ten, _viz._ six Creolian +gentlemen, and four British. It has hitherto proved a profitable +concern. The Bank shares rose from par to 170, but quickly declined to +90 and 100 per cent. premium, at which price they seem stationary. The +last dividend paid on Bank stock was after the rate of 30 per cent. + +The reported establishment of a National Bank, has created some alarm, +amongst the present Bank proprietors; numerous controversies have taken +place in the newspapers, upon the occasion. The affair, however, seems +at rest for the present. + +The government funds of Buenos Ayres have lately had a considerable +rise, from 28 to 100. The bulls carry all before them; and the bears +have had to pay pretty handsomely. Who knows but a Stock Exchange may be +established here some years hence? + +Considerable sums of money have been made by the advance in the public +funds in Buenos Ayres; and, from the eagerness of all classes to +speculate in them, it is probable that lame ducks will not be confined +to Capel Court. Every shopkeeper now dabbles in the funds; and, in a +market so confined, the mischief may be very serious. + + * * * * * + +EDUCATION, and LITERATURE.--The government expresses the most laudable +anxiety to forward education, by patronizing schools upon the +Lancasterian system; and the numerous seminaries in this city are a +credit to the people. + +The College School consists of 125 youths, from the age of 15 to 16 or +17 years of age. In their walks, they wear black clothes, with a light +blue ribbon over their coat. Their behaviour is better than that of the +boys at our public schools: a person may mix amongst them, without being +subject to those insolent remarks so common at home, and which makes a +stranger dread to enter their precincts. + +At the Buenos Ayres College, pupils are taught every branch of +the classics. They have not the advantage of professors, as at +Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, Westminster, and the rest of our public +schools--professors, whose talents not only confer honour upon their +country, but on the human species generally. Some students have elicited +considerable talents. A younger branch of the Belgrano family, Manuel, +wrote a play founded on _The Virgin of the Sun_, which was performed +with success; he has likewise acquired a knowledge of the English +language, and is at present employed in the British Consul's office. + +In the Merced Church, an academy is held for the instruction of 30 +youths in the study of divinity. + +Among the numerous seminaries here, is one kept by an English lady, Mrs. +Hyne, which receives great encouragement; she has had 70 scholars at a +time, who are taught, with other requisites, the English language. From +the anxiety expressed by parents, that their children should attain this +language, the next generation will become completely anglicised. In +placing them under the care of a Protestant lady, they are not so +narrow-minded as to fear that their religion will be tampered with. +One of the stripling scholars conversed with me the other day in good +English, which he had learned in a very short period. + +A number of Buenos Ayrean gentlemen speak and write the English language +with much fluency and correctness. Don Manuel Sarratea, late a governor +of the province, and who resided some time in London as their minister, +is a proficient, and a man of talent. To the British he is very +attentive, and is much respected by them. Don Miguel Riglos is another +instance: this gentleman has made the tour of Great Britain, and speaks +English with so little of foreign accent, that, on my introduction +to him, I supposed him to be an Englishman: his manners are very +prepossessing and amiable. Some self-taught young men have also an +excellent idea of it, and others express a great desire to learn it. It +has now become a branch of education in their public schools; and, from +the continued intercourse they are likely to have with the British and +North Americans, and others who speak the English tongue, the utility +of learning it will become every day more apparent, and, as regards +business, it will be of greater importance than the French. + +The prejudices of ages is fast wearing away: the South-Americans, +and, Spain herself, no longer view us as renegades, heretics, +"God-abandoned." Twenty years back, England and Englishmen were as +little known or understood by the Buenos Ayreans, as is the interior of +the Chinese empire now to the rest of the world. For centuries past, +care was taken to inflame the passions of the Spaniards against us and +our country; and it is not strange that a remnant of this animosity yet +remains. Their best poets have stigmatised us: I recollect hearing, in +Buenos Ayres, that part of Lope de Vegas' popular ballad-- + + "My brother Don John to England's gone, + To kill the Drake, the Queen to take, + And the heretics all to destroy; + And he shall bring you a Protestant maid + To be your slave, &c." + +It is gratifying to observe, that those Creolians who have been in +England evince the greatest attachment to us. + +In the college of Stonyhurst, near Liverpool, are several Buenos +Ayrean youths, who have been sent thither to be educated. The +British government deserves praise for the countenance given to this +establishment; silencing at once the complaints of our own Catholics, in +not having a proper place to educate their sons, and bringing the youth +of foreign nations in contact with our's, from whence it is natural +to expect they will feel an attachment to a country where they have +received almost their first impressions. So far from its infecting our +population with Catholicism,[27] the reverse would seem more probable. +It will give strangers an opportunity of judging, from actual +observation, of the institutions of our country, and the advantages +arising from a liberal system of government. + + [27] A book entitled _A History of the Jesuits_, but which is + chiefly filled with attacks upon the Roman Catholic faith, holds out + Stonyhurst College as pregnant with danger, asserting that it has + already increased the number of Catholics in its immediate vicinity. + Lancashire has always been a catholic county, and it is to be expected + that people will crowd to a neighbourhood that contains edifices + devoted to their manner of worship. I cannot believe that any + considerable number of Proselytes has been made: we are too sensible + of the happiness enjoyed under our own, to be caught with the glare of + another church. + +The education bestowed upon females is far from being solid: reading, +writing, music, and dancing, are all that is thought necessary. In the +two last they are enthusiasts, and some of the proficients; the study +of languages, or deep reading, is not thought of consequence. Spanish +husbands, they say, have an antipathy to blue-stocking wives: from the +natural talent of the females, they would soon be adepts in more +abstruse studies. + +If the Buenos Ayrean ladies do not possess the higher branches of +learning, they have an indescribable sweetness of manners, free from +affectation, at once giving confidence to the timid stranger, and +delightful to all who have the happiness to know them. They seldom +address a person but with a smile, listen attentively to conversation, +without that listless indifference, and answering with the monosyllables +of _yes_ and _no_, that I have witnessed in some societies. + +The time may arrive, when South America may have to boast her Madame de +Staels and a host of female literati; and another Corinna may conduct +her lover over Southern scenery, the snow-topt Andes, and Imperial +Cusco, with as much soft enthusiasm as belongs to her Italian rival. At +present, however, their natural talent is thrown into the shade, for +want of cultivation. + +The letter-writing between female friends is very energetic: I caught +a glimpse of one, which ran thus--"Farewell, my idolized and beloved +friend! receive the heart of your devoted, constant, faithful, &c." +Notwithstanding this fervour, we never hear of those fatal love +attachments that end so tragically with us: is it that, south of the +line, the female heart is so tenderly moulded, they will not bid the +despairing lover die? or, are they convinced, "that men have died, and +worms have eaten them, but not for love," and therefore doubt the truth +of man's protestations? Alas! I fear that, in this love-inspiring city +of Buenos Ayres, it is possible to find Violas and Rosalinds, but not +many Juliets, and of the other sex still fewer Werters. + +The Spanish language is certainly delightful; its very sounds bring to +recollection the Don Guzmans and Don Antonios of chivalric days. I wish +they would make it the fashionable study in England, as in good queen +Elizabeth's reign, instead of the trifling French. From the great +changes in the Spanish world, and our South-American connections, it +must ever be an object of importance. + +A work published in London, by Mr. Ackerman, in the Spanish language, +with plates, called _Variedades et Mensagero de Londres_, has numerous +purchasers here. It is published quarterly, and reflects great credit +on its author. This publication will afford to the South Americans an +excellent idea of Great Britain and Europe generally;[28] it contains +selections from our best authors. + + [28] Many of the Buenos Ayreans, of the second and third grade, have + most confused notions of London. They think that all England is in + London; and in speaking of the arrival of a vessel from Liverpool, + Falmouth, or any other port, they add Liverpool in London, Falmouth in + London; and when speaking of English passengers arriving, no matter + from what part, they are all from London. Seeing so many Englishmen in + their country, gentry of the above description have the most exalted + notions of themselves, and of the superiority of Buenos Ayres over the + rest of the world. We must not blame their self-importance; for we + have a tolerable share of it ourselves, else the world has terribly + belied us. + +The NEWSPAPERS published in Buenos Ayres are, the _Argus_, _Teatro del +Opinion_, _Republicano_, and _State Register_. There was, likewise, a +Sunday paper, called the _Centinella_, which has been discontinued--for +what reason I know not, for it was managed with ability. The freedom of +the press may be said to exist in a degree here; to the same extent as +in England, would be dangerous at present. + +The _Mercantile Gazette_, edited by Mr. Hallet, a North-American +gentleman, is very useful; it has every sort of commercial information. +A newspaper of the same description, the _Diario_, carried on by a +Portuguese, failed for want of requisite attention. + +A number of ephemeral productions appear from time to time, "to fret and +strut their hour upon the stage, and then are heard no more." + +In the almanack of 1824, there is a selection of English puns and Joe +Miller's jests, to amuse the Buenos Ayreans, and give them a specimen of +English low wit. + + * * * * * + +The PRINTING-OFFICES are spacious, and furnished with every requisite, +from London. An English printer, Mr. Cook, is employed in one of the +offices, and report states his professional talents to be of the first +order. + + * * * * * + +RELIGION.--Previous to the late treaty with Great Britain, no other +place of public worship was allowed in Buenos Ayres, except those of the +Romish church; and it was only after much discussion, that the article +allowing religious toleration was obtained. + +The Catholic faith has been denominated a religion of the fancy; the +Protestant, one of the mind. A book I have lately read, Blunt's _Italy_, +ingeniously endeavours to prove that most of the Catholic ceremonies +are remnants of Paganism; and the author illustrates his arguments by +comparing the Roman with the Popish festivals. The great similarity +would certainly incline one to give credence to the assertion. The +reformed church, however, has its incongruities likewise. In Buenos +Ayres I have not witnessed any thing like the superstition that reigns +in Belgium; bigots there are, but not more than in some of our sects at +home. The rising generation of Buenos Ayres have gone from one extreme +to another, and are quite Voltairians: at the theatre, during a portrait +exhibition of different public characters, that of Voltaire ran away +with all the applause. + +In January, 1824, an archbishop, named Don Juan Muzi, arrived from Rome +with a large suite, in a Sardinian brig, which hoisted the Papal flag in +addition to her own, and fired a salute. Some time ago, such an event +would have put the whole town in commotion; as it was, few attended to +see him land, and his reception by the government was any thing but +cordial: he shortly after departed for Chili. During his abode, he +lodged at Faunch's Hotel, and there gave his benedictions to the +crowds that visited him, who were mostly females, attracted, I thought, +more from curiosity than from any other motive. The manifest of the +archbishop's effects raised a smile:--there were beads, crosses, and +every trifling appendage of the church. The archbishop himself, from his +venerable aspect and mild manners, engaged the esteem of all; but the +Papal power is on the wane here now, whatever it might have been in +other times. The Catholic church, however, under the care of a liberal +priesthood, and shorn of its superstitions, will insure the respect of +all countries. + +A church, in Catholic countries, ever possesses something to strike the +eye, though there may not be service going on. There are generally to +be seen numbers of poor old women, before their saint, counting their +beads, the low murmurings of their prayers alone breathing the silence +of the place: many times have I advanced with cautious steps, fearing +to interrupt their devotions. The absence of a congregation gives one, +likewise, an opportunity of a closer inspection of the glittering +altars, virgins, saints, and Madonas. No fear exists that sacrilegious +hands would dare purloin any thing from the sacred walls; alas! in +England, our thieves would not be so scrupulous. + +The churches, on a Sunday, or feast day, are worthy a stranger's +attention; and he must be cold indeed, that can view such an assemblage +of beauty unmoved: the dress, the veil, and prostrate persons; indeed, +we might picture other Lauras besides Petrarch's: it is almost enough to +make one turn renegade, forsake the religion of our fathers, and rush +into the bosom of a church so enchanting. + +Public worship takes place at various hours: one mass, as early as six +in the morning, and the sweet girls and their mothers are seen hurrying +to church at that early hour. + +Families going to mass are attended by slaves and servants carrying the +carpeting upon which they kneel. Of books they have few enough; and +would, I dare say, stare to see our London footmen, in gorgeous +liveries, looking like Austrian field-marshals, walking behind their +mistresses, with a load of books, to church, and the host of carriages +that attend a fashionable chapel. + +Upon entering or leaving a church, many of the congregation are content +to receive the holy water at second hand; that is to say, one who is +near the vessel which contains it will dip his fingers in, and furnish +to three or four other persons drops of the sacred element, to make the +sign of the cross. The ladies often condescend to mark with this water +the foreheads of their female slaves and attendants. + +At "oration time," in the dusk of evening, a small bell tingles from the +churches, when, it is presumed, every true Catholic whispers a prayer. +In Buenos Ayres, I am afraid, this is not always the case. + +Some of the music sung in the masses is very pretty: friars and boys +are the vocalists, selected from the best voices. Friar Juan, at the +Cathedral, has a fine bass voice. The Portuguese hymn they sing with +science; but, as I had heard this hymn at the Portuguese Ambassador's +Chapel in London, in which several of the first-rates of the Opera took +parts, the effect here was diminished: they select, too, from profane +music, and I applaud them for it, following the remark attributed to our +Rev. Rowland Hill, on the introduction of "Rule Britannia," and "Hearts +of Oak," into his chapel--"It is really a great shame the devil should +have all the pretty tunes to himself." If music be the "food of love," +it is equally so of religion, insensibly leading the mind to an +enthusiasm, and that softness, that compensates for "a dull age of +pain." I wish they would reform the dismal hum-drum music of our English +churches. I do not wish the lively dance; but something a little less +gloomy than the present mode. My English friends will be shocked to hear +that in a Buenos Ayres church they have played and sung to the charming +air that opens our petit opera of _Paul and Virginia_, "See from ocean +rising." At Monte Video, I heard the Tyrolean war song, or our "Merrily +O," upon the organ, in a church. Music and religion have, and will, +raise these people to war and desperation; other causes must combine to +have the same effect upon Englishmen. + +Persons of both sexes go to confession very young--even at the early age +of ten years. At church confessions, the priest is seated in the box, +to which there is an iron-grating on one side, and through this he hears +the confession of the parties upon their knees outside. I have seen +several women confess;--somehow or other the sex have more devotion than +us men. Doubtless, it is a relief to the overcharged heart to unbosom +itself, and receive the consolations of religion; and I can fancy the +happiness experienced from the gentle expostulations of an amiable +priest, who, in censuring the errors, bids the sinner not despair of +mercy. We, of Protestant creed, appeal to God alone, disdaining earthly +interference. This system of divulging our inmost thoughts has, at all +times, been an argument with the opponents of the Romish church, who +instance, that the peace of families or nations are at the mercy of a +mortal man; and if breaches of confidence are rare, still some villain +might betray his trust, and ruin his unsuspecting victims. To the honour +of the Catholic priesthood, such probabilities are very remote. I am +afraid that I should make a sad father confessor: loveliness upon the +bended knee before me would destroy all my philosophy; I should at once +accord them absolution, remission, and every thing else; and, forgetful +of my oaths and sacred calling, turn suppliant at the feet of those who +came to me as their pastor and guide. + +Females are at times seen in the streets habited as nuns, in flannel +vestments, crosses, beads, &c. the effect of a vow made during sickness +or penance. The sins of some of these young creatures cannot have been +very flagrant: I should have pardoned them for the pleasure of receiving +their confessions again. There is likewise a house in which females pass +weeks in penitence and prayer. + +It is observed of the Spanish female, that she will give herself up +to all the voluptuousness of pleasure, haste to the church, and, +prostrating herself before her favourite saint, return to sin again. +I will not venture to be so severe a censurer as to hazard an opinion +upon this: but, as my eye wandered over the countenances of many a +fair creature of Buenos Ayres, kneeling in graceful beauty before the +inanimate saint, I fancied all and more than books had ever told me; +for, "with faces that seemed as if they had just looked in Paradise, and +caught its early beauty," I fancied that many of earthly mould shared in +those contemplations so seemingly devoted to heaven. + +Small figures of the Virgin Mary, in glass cases, are kept in the +apartments of various homes. In apothecaries' shops I have particularly +noticed them, to bespeak a blessing, doubtless, upon their physic. In +the mansions of the poorer class they are more frequently seen; the +costly saint and miserable dirty furniture of the rooms contrasted. A +full-length figure of a saint, in a wire cage, with lamps on each side, +is in the street of Le Cuyo, placed in accordance with a vow made in +a period of danger; but, in general, there are less externals of the +church in the public streets and roads than might be expected. + +On passing a church, it was a constant custom to take off the hat; +but few do it now. The beggars about these holy edifices clamour for +charity, for the love of God and St. Rosario, or any other apostle +favourite. These beggars are great thieves; I have lost several articles +by their professional visits to my lodgings. They do not shoulder +crutches and wooden legs, either to fight or run, as their London +brethren, upon the approach of the police. One of my friends told me of +an old woman, in Buenos Ayres, that spits upon every person she supposes +to be an Englishman. Not having had the fortune to receive this lady's +favours, I cannot vouch for the truth of the story. + +The priesthood are not so illiberal as report makes them out; they are +painted to us as having a fixed hatred to Protestants, conceiving them +to be the authors of all the obloquy the Catholics have endured from +time to time. It must be recollected, that we have our errors on the +score of prejudice likewise. + +The friars of Buenos Ayres have amongst their body men of considerable +learning; and, whatever hostility exists towards the system, they, as +individuals, do not generally share in it. There may be one or two black +sheep in the flock; and scandal takes care to blazen forth their deeds, +particularly all that relates to their amours, but the common frailty +of our nature should teach us to be merciful judges where love is +concerned. The people have much respect for them; and, from what I have +heard, they deserve it. Formerly, it is related, that on any offender +being flogged in the public streets, the appearance of a priest calling +for mercy would stop the infliction. If this was the case in England, +our unflogged thieves would be bound to pray for them. + +Four years since, two Englishmen having quarrelled, one of them ran into +Le Merced church for protection from his opponent, who followed, and +beat him under the very robes of the priest; a guard was called, and +the offender taken into custody. Having an excellent character, he was +liberated from prison on bail; and the affair ended in an expensive law +suit. Some years back, he would have been severely punished for his +inconsiderate conduct. + +Some of the friars are handsome men: I have remarked one of them a +counterpart of Young the actor. Their dress, shaven crown, and dark +hair, added much to their appearance: the ugly attire they now wear, is +a sad drawback. In my casual rencontres with them, I ever found them +polite and attentive, effacing that diffidence which a stranger feels in +venturing upon their hallowed precincts. The inquisition has never been +established in Buenos Ayres; but I have often been cruel enough to +fancy, that such and such a priest had a countenance like an inquisitor. + +The suppression of the monasteries, in 1822, caused a great deal of +discussion. There were those of the well-inclined who were not without +apprehensions, and seemed disposed to let the presumed evil continue, +rather than risk a change. The government must have felt their own +strength, when they determined to reform so influential a portion of the +church, having to encounter the prejudices and fanaticism of those grown +grey in the old order of things, who regarded meddling with the church +as little short of heresy. The friars were, in a manner, domesticated +with the first families of Buenos Ayres, and ever received as welcome +guests. They must (at least, some of them) have felt great reluctance +to quit the convents, in which they had expected to remain for life, +and regret at parting with the attire of their order. Discontent was +engendered, at times, almost amounting to threats, which found vent in a +conspiracy, ending in the banishment of Taglé, its author; and another +more serious one, of the 19th March, 1823. The result of these abortive +attempts served to confirm the power and influence of the existing +government. The majority of the people, I should conceive, thought an +alteration necessary in the clergy: many of that majority had visited +Europe, and became divested of the narrow policy the Spaniards had +taught them. + +Elderly ladies, of all countries, are allowed to be more pious than the +rest of society. The friars in Buenos Ayres found them staunch advocates +of their cause. + +To counteract the strong feeling that existed for the friars, the +press of the day had recourse to ridicule, as well as to argument: +a publication called the "_Llobera_," teemed with paragraphs and +anecdotes, often so indecent that it injured the cause it proposed to +serve. This print was soon laid aside. In the mean time, the suppression +gradually went on; and all that now remains of the monasteries of Buenos +Ayres are the Franciscans. The buildings will soon perhaps be converted +to other uses. The ejected friars, throwing off their habit, assumed +a clerical half-dress, very similar to that of our clergymen; and the +Dominicans, Mercedites, &c. are now met in the streets, as simple +citizens, no longer wearing the livery of the founders of those orders. +Three years ago, groupes of friars were continually about the church +doors, in coffee-houses, and the streets, segar smoking, apparently +under no church restrictions: when a reform was agitated, they were +more strict, and the convent gates were closed at a certain hour. The +Franciscans, who yet keep together, are rarely to be seen abroad, except +the messengers, or lay brothers, who are, in dress and figure, no bad +copy of their prototype, in _The Duenna_. + +If the original rules of monastic institutions were put in full force, +few claimants would be found for the honour of entering them. A suitable +provision has been made for those who have left their convents; the +government appropriating the lands attached for the benefit of the +state. Time appears, in some measure, to have healed the wounds of the +discontented, though there are some who pretend the flame is smothered, +and not burnt out; "Give it vent," they say, "and 'twill blaze again." + +There are two convents for NUNS, St. Juan and St. Catalina, each +containing about thirty. The regulations of St. Juan's are very rigid: +they wear clothing of the coarsest nature, and the beds, and every other +accommodation, are of the same description. No one is permitted to see +them, except their nearest relations, and that very rarely. Heavens! how +ardent must be that devotion, that can voluntarily embrace such a life! +A female, on her first entrance, may leave at the end of a year; but, +after that time, she is professed, and must conform to the rules. Very +few, I believe, take advantage of this option. Such is the force of +religious enthusiasm, that they gladly bid farewell to the world, +wishing no father, mother, lover, friend, but their God and Saviour. + +At St. Catalina's they are not so strict, being allowed indulgences +unknown to the self-immolated of St. Juan. + +I have never seen any of the fair inhabitants of these convents; but +when the nuns of Buenos Ayres have formed the subject of conversation, I +have eagerly listened, expecting to hear something of disappointed love, +or confidence betrayed. Alas it was in vain: the ladies of St. Juan and +Catalina are nuns from the dull routine of religion, with one exception +only, if my information is true; and advantage was not taken to quiz +my avidity for nunnery news. The tale runs, that St. Juan's convent +does contain, a victim of "despised love." Her lover, an officer, of +course--for what men in trade ever think of love?--joined the army +in Peru, and married another. At the age of seventeen, the fair, +betrayed girl fearlessly took the veil, chiding her weeping mother +for her cruelty, nay, sinfulness, at shewing such affliction for what +constituted her daughter's only happiness. An account of the ceremony +was given me;--but who shall take the field in description, after the +glowing details we have read in romances? and especially at second-hand. + +The majority of the nuns in these two convents are aged, having received +very few additions, lately, of the youthful class. Has man, false man, +become more constant, no longer striving to break the heart of the +doting fair one or, are the ladies less sensitive, preferring, at all +hazards, this bustling world to the cloister's gloom, exclaiming with +Sheridan's _Clara_, + + "Adieu, thou dreary pile, where never dies + "The sullen echo of repentant sighs!" + +In the most minute affairs of the Romish church, there is a formula, +which, having antiquity for its basis, imposes upon the mind of its +followers; and, as regards a conventual life, the first dawn of such a +wish, even before the parties quit their parents' house, amounts to a +ceremony. In the year 1822, my curiosity was gratified by an exhibition +of this sort. I was invited to a house, in which a lady, about to become +a nun, was receiving the last farewells of her friends. It was evening; +and it was with difficulty that I gained admittance from the crowd +outside. The lady was seated in the _sala_; arrayed in her best attire; +her head and neck decorated with jewellery; such is the fashion, this +being a contrast to the dress she was about to assume. Music was heard; +and it seemed more like a party met for gaiety, than one in which +the afterpiece was to be so serious--the taking from the world a +fellow-creature. The lady--I was going to write, victim--was all smiles; +no regrets were apparent in her bosom; she received the adieus of her +friends with calm composure. A friar, attached perhaps to the convent, +was in the room: in taking her final leave, she was escorted by him and +her relatives. With a firm step, bowing to all around, she quitted the +room. In passing our party (consisting of several Englishmen), I thought +she eyed us particularly; we bowed to her; and the door closed upon us. +That same night, I am informed, she was conducted to the gloomy walls of +St. Juan, and has since taken the veil. The lady appeared about nineteen +or twenty years of age; she was not handsome, but the occasion rendered +her very interesting. + +The first RELIGIOUS PROCESSION I had ever seen, was that of St. Rosario, +in Buenos Ayres; and it is not possible I can forget the impression it +made upon me. Those details which, when a school-boy, I dwelt upon with +such delight, were now, in my manhood, brought full before my eyes, +losing nothing of their interest; on the contrary, I found that +imagination does not always come up to the reality. The churches of +France and Belgium I had visited with far different emotions: Spain, and +Spanish connexions, thought I, contain all that can fix the attention of +the Protestant inquirer, who wishes to see the Catholic church the same +in the nineteenth as in the fourteenth century. Spain clings to it; with +its many imperfections, as a fond lover to an idolized mistress; else +they would not have suffered foreigners to overrun their soil. What +would the heroes of Roncevalles and Pavia have said to those events? + +The figure of St. Rosario, full-robed, was carried by soldiers, on a +stage. The Virgin, on another stage, followed, flanked by numbers of the +faithful carrying large lighted candles; these were chiefly old men, +and boys. The host, and attendant priests wafting incense towards +this sacred emblem, formed a conspicuous part; with groups of friars +chaunting their prayers, in which they are joined by the crowd. A huge +cross, apparently of silver, and borne by friars, precedes the whole. +A small band of violinists attend, and accompany the singing: they +reminded me of our itinerant musicians, that serenade us of an evening +in London. The military band has a better effect. A halt is made, at +intervals, at the corners of streets, or opposite temporary altars, +which the devotion of the pious has raised in front of their houses: +they consist of tables, covered with white linen, with small images of +Jesus, the Virgin, crosses, &c. &c. and a mirror, garnished with flowers +and other decorations. Soldiers march in front and rear. They, as well +as every one else near the procession, are uncovered; and when the +ceremonies of the host are going on, all must kneel. The houses display +silks, tapestry, and other finery, arranged in front, in the streets +through which the cavalcade passes; and the balconies are filled with +spectators. The saints and his dumb attendants (the images), are finally +deposited at their head-quarters, the church. A great quantity of +females are always to be seen at those exhibitions, fervently +ejaculating their "Ave-Marias." + +These processions vary but very little, except that I thought there was +more of preparation, banners, &c. in that of St. Nicholas, on the 6th +December. The streets were profusely adorned, road and foot-path strewed +with flowers, leaves, and boughs. Small cannon were placed on the +pavement near the church, the firing of which, and the discharge of +rockets and other fire-works, gave notice that the saint and his holy +attendants were about to leave the church. Gentlemen, both civil +and military, of the first families, at times, bear banners in the +procession. These days being kept as holidays, a vast concourse stroll +about the decorated streets before the attraction of the day begins. The +windows, house-tops, and benches ranged near the houses, are occupied by +females, the lovely persons of some of whom might move an anchorite. A +scene so new has almost upset my sober reasoning; and I have looked at +the host, friars, crosses, music, and all the et ceteras, till I could +nearly fancy that time had rolled back, and found me living when the +Catholic church knew no rival. + +The feast of St. Nicholas, in December, 1824, was but a mockery of its +former splendour: however, the church of San Nicholas was illuminated, +and looked very pretty; and we had some bonfires, music, and fire-works. +A procession was to have taken place, but the government would not pay +the expense, and the church, in its present reduced state, cannot afford +it. The devotees muttered their Ave-Marias and maledictions; but, as St. +Nicholas did not interfere in their behalf, all went off quietly. + +The feast of Corpus Christi is another grand day. The whole body of +friars, with banners and flags of their different orders, mustered on +the occasion, and, before the suppression of the monasteries, they +constituted a decent battalion. The dress of the friars differs in +nothing to what we find represented in England,--the cowl and crown, +with the small cross suspended. The processions, in the course of the +year, used to be very numerous. Since the dispersion of the friars, they +are somewhat shorn of their beams; and, by-and-by, the sight of a friar +may be a curiosity. To decorate the churches on these occasions, the +priests borrow candlesticks, silks, &c. of their neighbours. + +During Lent, sermons are preached on an evening, in various churches. +The congregations are numerous, and the females always kneel. The custom +of allowing males to be seated in church, while the other sex are upon +their knees, appears strange. + +As the theatre is situated opposite the Merced church, during the +sermons of the Lent evenings, some of the congregation may be seen +wandering from the church to the theatre. + +In passion week, there are various masses and sermons. + +The afternoon and evening of Holy Thursday bring forth all the world +into the streets: every house appears deserted. The concourse is +astonishing: the great proportion are females. A rule of Catholic +creed enjoins them to visit seven churches on this day; and this they +religiously perform, stopping but a few minutes in each church, just +time enough to kneel, and utter a short prayer. The governor and his +aides-de-camp, likewise, go to seven churches. A crowd of both sexes +assemble round the doors, especially of the Cathedral, absolutely +blocking up the road way, kneeling, counting beads, and in earnest +prayer. + +In 1821, I saw images and other insignia of the church at the corners of +the principal streets; prisoners ironed, with their guards, soliciting +charity; small tables, with virgins, Jesus, and crosses: but these +customs have much fallen off. Near a church, those altars are still +raised on Holy Thursday, and people press around, to kiss the garments +of the "mother of God." Near St. Juan's church, in 1824, I observed a +pretty design of this nature upon a small scale, and envied the kisses +it received from some charming girls. On this night, too, the military +bands muster in their best dresses, with drums muffled, and other marks +of mourning. They advance across the Plaza, and through the streets, at +a solemn pace, playing music even more melancholy than the Dead March +in Saul, preceded by one of the soldiers carrying, on a pole, a balloon +with transparencies, and a light inside, which makes them look a +counterpart of those that paraded London streets, a few years ago, from +the lottery offices. During this period of mourning, both sexes are +clothed in black. This continual crowd in the streets, and the peculiar +church attire, serve to attract one's attention; it is so much the +reverse of our English mode: we go to church in all the colours of the +rainbow. + +In addition to other observances of Holy Thursday the flags of vessels +belonging to Catholic nations are half-masted, yards crossed, and at the +Fort, likewise, they remain till near twelve o'clock on the Saturday, at +which hour cannon are fired, yards squared, the flag run up, bells rung, +and shops are opened, for the joyful resurrection. But the bells do not +give us those inspiring peals that we hear from our churches of St. +Martin's, St. Clement's, and from the far-famed Bow bells: here, they +are an inharmonious jangle. Our churches, so superb in architectural +splendour, would astonish those gentlemen who fancy an Englishman's +taste only leads him towards vending merchandize, and receiving the +proceeds. + +Good Friday passes as a solemn day of prayer and mourning. + +The burning of Judas is a grotesque affair. Stuffed figures, like our +old Guys, are suspended from ropes in the middle of the street, charged +with combustibles and fire-works. On the night of Saturday, they are +fired, and Mr. Judas is blown up, amidst the shouts of the multitude. +This, like our Guy Fawkes, has much fallen off, and may soon drop +altogether. The newspapers have designated it barbarism. I am not for +meddling with the sports of the lower orders, if they do not offend +decency. The quarrel with Captain O'Brien happened about Easter, 1821; +and one of the Judases of that period was observed in something of the +dress of a naval officer: report said, it was meant for Captain O'Brien. +It was ordered to be taken down. The people took very little interest +in that dispute. When it was at its height, the Captain passed through +a crowd opposite the College church, and they treated him with great +respect, making way for the "English Commandant" to pass. "We may all +suffer in this business," said our captain to one of his countrymen; +"but we shall, if extremes are resorted to, be gloriously revenged." + +The holy or passion week in 1825 passed off much as usual. On the +Thursday evening the ladies crowded the churches and streets in their +black attire; and being a fine moonlight night, the scene (to me at +least) was very interesting; and although I did not follow the custom +of visiting seven churches on this evening, I went to four. At the +Cathedral I remained a considerable time, listening to the music of the +vespers. The fine bass voice of Friar Juan was sadly missed. He was +banished for being concerned in the conspiracy of the 19th March, 1823. +Valentin Gomez, one of the canons of the church, sat in full pontifical +robes. Some of the Spaniards were jesting, in the church, upon his +portly appearance, so different from the figure he cut at nearly the +same period last year, when shipwrecked upon the English bank in the +river Plate. I felt much impressed with my visit to the Cathedral: every +thing combined to make me so;--the music, lights, and glittering altars, +with the prostrate females attended by their slaves and servants. + +The sermons at the churches, on the evenings of Lent, were well +attended. The friar who preached at the church of Le Merced always +attracted great crowds. At the porch of this church was placed an image +of Christ, as large as life, in the act of being scourged; many devout +females kissed the ropes which tied the wrists of the image. + +Till late in the evening of Holy Thursday, people were kneeling before +the church doors, counting beads, and saying their Ave-Marias. At nine +o'clock at night, three military bands of music, of the artillery, +Caçadores, and Legion de la Patria, each preceded by the globe, or +balloon, with transparencies, carried upon a pole, entered the Plaza +with drums muffled, and playing solemn airs. The artillery band was +much admired; Masoni, and other professors, performed in it. I followed +two of the bands to their barracks, at the Retiro. The night was lovely; +and it was late ere I returned home, my thoughts entirely absorbed in +the scenes of the day. + +On the afternoon of Good Friday, the mass at the cathedral was well +attended. + +The custom of burning Judas has fallen off. On the Saturday, this year, +the rain fell in torrents; but, a few nights after, Judas was burnt near +the Victoria coffee-house, amidst fire-works and music. + +Another great object of attention to us Protestants is the Holy Ghost +proceeding through the streets, to administer the last offices of +religion to those who are presumed to be in a dying state. The holy +father, and one attendant, both richly attired, are seated in a coach +drawn by white mules. They go at a walking pace, with a few soldiers for +escort; negresses, boys, and others, carrying lighted lanterns, both by +night and day. A bell warns passengers of its approach, when all within +view must be uncovered, and, when they are near the carriage, kneel. +This last operation, not being very agreeable in dirty weather, +foreigners try to avoid his holiness altogether, by going up other +streets. Equestrians descend from their horses, and kneel. At night, +lights are placed in the windows of the houses they pass, and their +inmates kneel. Why do you kneel? said I, to a slave boy, at a house in +which I resided. "Because God is in the coach," he replied. A brutal +soldier, of the escort, once knocked an Englishman down, for not +kneeling in time. The magistrates took cognizance of it; and, I hear, +that strangers are not now obliged to kneel, though common respect will +always teach them to be uncovered. In passing the guardhouses, the +guards turn out, drums are beat, &c. They have now a large bell, +the small one having been mistaken for those belonging to the +water carts:[29] a Londoner might mistake it for the bell of the +six-o'clock-afternoon postman. + + [29] Carts, with a bell affixed, go about the streets vending water. + The city is but ill provided with water, that in the river being + considered unwholesome. Mr. Bevans, the engineer, has sunk the ground + at the Recolator to a great depth, for the purpose of forming a well + to supply the town with water. The work still goes on; but, hitherto, + the desired water is not to be found. + +Great veneration is paid to all that concerns this ceremony of the Holy +Ghost: the very mules, it is said, were formerly looked upon as sacred. +In passing coffee-houses, billiard-players, and gamblers of all +descriptions, leave their profane games, to kneel. At the theatre, the +performance is stopped; actors and actresses kneel on the stage, and the +audience upon their seats. I have several times been present at scenes +of this sort, and regarded them with great curiosity; though I have been +very angry with the holy father, and impious enough to wish he had taken +another route. I recollect, during an opera, one evening, the cavalcade +passed no less than three times, and interrupted a delightful duet +between Rosquellas and Señora Tani. + +The summer of 1824-5, judging from the frequent appearance of the Holy +Ghost in the streets, must have been rather a sickly one. Great respect +is still paid to this holy visitant, who generally selects the evening +to pay his visits. A smile will now and then take place, when the +procession suddenly appears in a crowded neighbourhood, forcing all to +bend the knee. The contrast of such Catholic customs with those of our +sober England often occurs to me. + +I am informed that great preparations take place in the sick chamber, +where the sacrament is to be given. I do not admire this. The patient, +enfeebled by disease, concludes there is no hope left; and often yields +to despair. In England, on such occasions, a clergyman comes without +pomp or attendants: his attentions are more like those of a friend, and +he insensibly prepares the mind of the sufferer for the purposes of his +visit. But we have much to correct in the dismal funeral bell, closing +shops and windows, usual with us at burials. Life hourly presents enough +to remind us of death, without those auxiliaries. + + * * * * * + +FUNERAL CEREMONIES.--The room in which a corpse is deposited is lighted; +large candles are placed round the coffin; and the wainscoting, tables, +&c. are covered with white furniture, crosses, &c. The windows are often +thrown open, for passengers to view the scene of death, as a warning +that "to this complexion we must come at last." I remember my surprise +on first seeing a spectacle of this sort. The corpse of a female about +thirty lay shrouded in her coffin, the lid of which was taken off, with +her hands folded over her breast, and a small cross placed between them. +The gaudy coffin, and the lights around it, gave it the appearance of +wax work; indeed, I had an impression that it was so, for some minutes, +not being aware of the country's fashion in this affair. + +Deceased persons are interred twenty-four hours after their decease; a +necessary precaution in a warm climate. From the crowded state of the +church-yards, they are now taken to the New Burial-Ground, at the +Recolator; and corpses were removed thither from the church-yards, after +having been buried some time. Scenes of confusion, in consequence, +took place; with various imprecations from near relations, as mothers, +husbands, and wives, upon recognizing the bodies of those whom they +never expected to have seen again in this world. + +The hearses are modelled after the French fashion, and are not followed +by mourners. The relatives of the deceased attend the burial-ground to +receive the body, and the church ceremonies of mass, &c. take place some +days after. + +The death of a friar, or any priest, is announced by a particular +tolling of the bell. + +The masses for the repose of the soul are performed at various churches, +according to the wish of the relatives, who issue printed notices, +inviting the friends of the deceased. Any one is at liberty to attend. +Those of respectability, who can afford to pay, have several masses: but +it is rather an expensive affair. The ceremony lasts from one to two +hours. An imitation coffin is placed near the altar, surrounded by +lights. If it be for a military or public man, the sword and hat are +placed on the coffin, and a company of soldiers fire a volley at the +church door. Towards the end of the mass, candles are put into the hands +of the male part of the congregation, and in a few minutes taken from +them again, and extinguished. At the close, the priests and friars, +headed by their superior, take their station, in two lines, near the +door, and receive and return the obeisances of the congregation. +The relations and particular friends adjourn to the dwelling-house +(sometimes to the refectory of the church), where a repast is prepared, +of cakes, fruit, wine, liqueurs, beer, &c. the room being lighted, and +hung with black and white decorations. I have heard some charming music +in these masses, and it is far from being an unimpressive scene: the +holding a light at the requiem of those we loved, carries with it a +pleasing idea. There is, however, more real feeling in the simple +country church-yard funerals in England, than in all this appeal to +the senses. + +A fantastic ornamented hearse, for carrying the bodies of children +to their last home, has lately come into use. It has plumes of white +feathers streaming from the top, and is drawn by two mules; the rider, +a boy, is clothed after the manner of Astley's equestrians. + +Until the year 1821, the Protestants had no allotted place of burial; +and, to satisfy the jealousy of the church, various subterfuges were +obliged to be resorted to, in order to obtain something like a christian +funeral. The government gave permission, and a piece of ground was +bought, near the Retiro, for a cemetery, which has been inclosed, and +a small chapel, with a neat portico of the Doric order, erected. The +expence amounted to 4800 dollars, which was defrayed by Protestants of +all classes: the British, were, of course, the chief contributors. The +number buried there, from January 1821, to June 1824, was 71; of which +60 were British subjects. The service is read by some of the parties +present. + +At the funerals in the Protestant Burial-Ground, I have seen many Buenos +Ayreans, both male and female, attracted thither by curiosity; they paid +great attention, and expressed their approbation of our method of making +the graves so deep. + +Before this ground was opened, Protestants were buried without any +service being read, and the shallow ground was hastily filled up. It was +a favour that their fellowman was allowed to take up his "everlasting +rest" in holy Catholic earth. I saw an English sailor interred in the +Cathedral church-yard: a police-man attended, to see that no unfair +means had been used, and three or four friars were strolling about. The +sailor mourners eyed them askance, declaring it was shameful that they +did not offer to perform the funeral service: "But what can you expect," +they added, "in such an unchristianlike land?" Their resentment was +increased by seeing the mutilated body of a dead black child, which, +from the nature of their graves, had made its appearance above the +surface. + + * * * * * + +POLICE, &c.--To every barrier or parish an _alcalde_, or sitting +magistrate, is appointed, who takes cognizance of the offences and +disputes in his jurisdiction, and superintends the night-patrole. Every +male is liable to be called out to act as watchman for the night; and he +must attend, or provide a substitute, which costs six reals; and as this +happens very often, strangers find it a tax. The patrole are armed with +musquets and bayonets, and proceed through the streets at intervals +during the night, visiting public houses, &c. + +The most inferior officer connected with the police, or any public +office, carries a rusty dragoon sword with him as his staff of office. +The very messenger that delivers the summons for the nightly patrole +comes thus armed, and upon the least provocation out goes the sword: +this has been of late years a little corrected. + +Buenos Ayres can boast of a well-disposed and orderly population. +Robberies are sometimes committed, but nothing to the extent that might +be supposed; many more are committed in an English city of the same +magnitude, notwithstanding the expensive police. I have been out at all +hours of the night, and have felt myself as secure as though I were in +London, and perhaps more so. + +The only time that I ever met with any thing like annoyance or +interruption in the streets, was from a soldier on guard at the Cabildo, +who made an attempt to push me from the pavement. I did not wish to +notice the affair; but a Creole friend insisted that I should do so, +stating, that in London he presumed Englishmen protected strangers when +insulted. He went with me to the guard-house, alleged a complaint before +an officer, and the soldier was confined: he appeared to be drunk. + +The great blot of this country is, that amongst the lower orders, upon +the least quarrel, knives are out; and what in England would vent itself +in black eyes and bloody noses, here ends in murder; and until certain +and speedy punishment follows these deeds, it will ever be so. The +crime has decreased since the administration of Mr. Rivadavia, and +the enactment of the law prohibiting the wearing of knives; still +it continues in a degree. Justice is tardy, and the chance that the +criminal may again be at liberty deters people from prosecuting, +dreading his future vengeance. In England, where the law is strong, +every one assists to apprehend an offender; but here a lukewarmness +exists. + +Several have, within these three years, suffered death for murder. I am +inclined to think, that a law upon the plan of Lord Ellenborough's act +would do much to stop it. A Portuguese, some months since, stabbed to +death the servant of Mr. Bevans, the Quaker engineer, in open day. The +opponents of boxing, in England, should pause ere they so decidedly +condemn it; its suppression might lead to more fatal results in deciding +quarrels. + +It was a common event, long after I arrived, to see bodies of persons +who had been stabbed in some broil, exposed in the Plaza, to be +recognized by their relatives or friends, with a saucer placed at their +side to collect money to pay the expences of burying them. + +These murders are confined to the very lowest orders of the people, +and are generally the effect of a drunken quarrel. I must do them the +justice to say, that I have not heard of any deliberate assassination, +committed either upon a native or foreigner. Their annals are free from +the refined murders of polished Europe, even, I regret to add, of our +own England; we must not always cite the latter as an example, when we +censure the abuses of other countries. + +This stabbing system was thought so little of in Buenos Ayres, that no +one cared to seize the murderer. If by chance he was apprehended, a +short imprisonment sufficed, and he was then set at liberty to commit +more crimes. Six or seven murders have been related to me, as known to +have been committed by one man with apparent impunity; and that these +things should be so, excites the astonishment of all strangers. + +Foreigners newly arrived were accustomed to carry pistols about their +persons at night; but this is very seldom the case now--they have more +confidence. + +The thieves, in some of their feats, may rank in ingenuity with the +second-rate ones with us. One of their operations is hooking out +clothes, linen, &c. from rooms, by means of a long pole with a hook at +the end; and if the windows are not fastened at night, a risk is run of +being robbed, though the iron bars should prevent any one from entering. +Some friends of mine, lodging at the American Hotel, were plundered by +those pole gentlemen one night, although sleeping three in a room, and +they knew not of their loss until the morning, when they missed coats, +trowsers, &c.; a writing-desk had also been hauled towards the window, +the valuables taken out, and the loose papers scattered about the street +and room. The comparing notes in the morning of their losses, and +cursing the marauders, was laughable enough. Another friend was awoke at +break of day, and observed his waistcoat dangling in the middle of the +room from the top of a pole, and a man's arm extended through the iron +bars of the window guiding it. My friend having a sword could with ease +have cut off the thief's arm, but his humanity prompted him rather to +make an alarm; upon which the pole and waistcoat were dropped, and the +vagabond made his escape. Very serious losses of papers have been +sustained by this mode of robbery. + +The boys about the theatre door begging for the return tickets, or +"contre-signs," were a great annoyance; they were perfect thieves, +and very impudent. I have lost several pocket handkerchiefs by their +talents. Having refused to give my pass-check one night, they secretly +followed me, and when near the wall of the Merced church, to my great +surprise, saluted me with a shower of stones and bricks: I pursued +the young rascals, but it was without effect. The soldiers prevent +occurrences of this sort now, and two or three that were caught in the +fact have been punished. + +The boys in the streets of Buenos Ayres are as saucy a set of ragamuffins +as those of London, without that daring and instant battle of the English +boys. Many of their juvenile sports are similar to our's; as kite flying, +pitch in the hole, &c. They have a system of managing their kites, which +may be called privateering: a knife is affixed to the tail of the kite, +with which they endeavour to entangle other kites, and cut the string; +should they succeed, knife, kite, string--all become lawful prize. +Cricket, trap-ball, hoops, tops, and skipping, they do not practise. +Riding on the backs of sheep, harnessed as horses, is another amusement; +and those mutton cavalry are very expert. + +The boys of the upper class are exceedingly well-behaved, and have very +pleasing manners: they excel our's in this respect. The greatest care is +bestowed upon them; and we do not meet with that roughness among them, +which is observable in my young countryfolks. The Buenos Ayres boy +addresses a stranger in the street hat in hand, and with the greatest +respect. + +Since my abode in Buenos Ayres, I have been lucky enough to keep clear +of all law proceedings; and never, until lately, visited a judicial +court, except from curiosity. I was, however, requested to appear, in +order to speak to the character of an English sailor, who was imprisoned +at the Cabildo for a row, on the beach. I visited the prison, and found +poor Jack roaming about a spacious yard, with lots of other prisoners; +he spoke highly of the kind treatment he had received in prison. The +presiding judge, or magistrate (a most gentlemanly man), after hearing +the depositions read, discharged the sailor, no witnesses appearing +for the prosecution. Mr. Poussett, the vice-consul, attended upon this +occasion, and received every attention from the judge. + +The mode of punishment by death is shooting; many think that hanging +would be more appropriate for murder, and that the soldier's death ought +to be reserved for a soldier: however, death cancels all crimes. + +In a public whipping, the offender is placed on a horse or mule, with +his back bared, and his hands tied, and at the corners of streets he +receives his punishment: those disgusting scenes I always avoid, if I +can. I came once in contact with one: the poor wretch did not seem to +suffer much; I fancied I had been as severely flogged at school. They +appeared to strike him about a dozen quick blows at a time, with a piece +of wood like a scrubbing-brush with some sharp substance attached. + +Those ordered for imprisonment, are made to work in the streets, heavily +ironed. + +Sailors are punished by being put in the stocks; and for criminal +offences, they are made to work in the streets in irons. + +The close of the year 1824 witnessed a great increase of crime in Buenos +Ayres. An atrocious murder was committed by two black fellows, upon a +Genoese, who kept a tin shop near the College church. The murderers +were apprehended, and shot at the Retiro, and their bodies afterwards +suspended upon a gallows. A boy, accessary to the fact (having let the +villains into the house), escaped capital punishment, being under the +age regulated by law: he was, however, present at the execution. Two +fellows broke into the house of Mr. Nelson, an English merchant, and +stabbed his man-servant in several places; an alarm being given, they +effected their escape. The servant recovered from his wounds. Numerous +other robberies have taken place; amongst which, Mr. Parvin, an American +clergyman, and three of his friends, were stripped of their clothes, a +short distance from town. + +The first execution in this country for forgery took place in February, +1825, upon the person of Marcelo Valdivia, who was shot at the Retiro. +By the old Spanish law, a person convicted of forgery was condemned to +lose his hand. This young man had been before sentenced to death for the +same crime, but his punishment was commuted to exposure in the Plaza, +imprisonment for eight years, and banishment for life. In July, 1824, he +underwent the first part of his sentence, being seated in the Plaza for +four hours, with the notes he had forged suspended from his breast. +In prison, he committed other forgeries, including a forged order for +his own release. The government have been highly applauded for their +firmness in punishing this criminal. His friends applied to the British +consul for his intercession, which was declined. Colonel Forbes, the +American agent, was much censured for having, in 1821, interfered and +saved a murderer from justice. + +A black woman was shot, for attempting the life of her mistress. The +execution of a female is a rare thing in this country. + +Much as Buenos Ayres has improved in her jurisprudence, she has still a +great deal to amend--that part which relates to committal before trial +for civil offences particularly. The two following circumstances passed +under my observation. + +Upon the first issue of paper money, some forgeries were detected. An +English captain, West, of the brig _Fortune_, conversing on this subject +at a tavern, remarked, that a forgery might easily be effected; and that +the gentlemen in that line at home would not be long about such a thing. +This was reported to the police; and he was sent to prison without +examination, upon suspicion of knowing of the forged notes, and was not +released for some days. + +In another case, Captain Harrison, of the brig _Asia_, was imprisoned +nearly a month, for bringing a false report of Monte Video being +blockaded; which was indeed partly true, Brazilian schooners of war +having been off there, and sailed for Colonia. + +If such regulations were followed in England, we must build more prisons +as well as churches, and I know not what would become of the gentlemen +of the Stock Exchange. + +The trial by jury, which alone is worth fighting for, may yet reach +South America. Every abuse cannot at once be rectified; they have, +already, done wonders in this country. + +Law proceedings are as expensive and tardy here, as in other parts of +the globe. What with depositions, answers, &c. the suit goes on for +years to the great benefit of lawyers; but they have reformed a great +deal of the old obnoxious Spanish laws, particularly as they related to +foreigners and their property. By the old law, when a foreigner died, +their property in the country went to the state. + +To leave Buenos Ayres, if it is only for a neighbouring town, passports +must be obtained, which cost two dollars to quit the country, and four +reals for any neighbouring town. Surprise is expressed that we can +manage without those ceremonies in England; some passengers arriving +from thence were once asked by a visiting officer for their English +passports. + + * * * * * + +ARMY.--The standing army of the province consists of from 2500 to 3000 +men in six regiments, _viz._ three of infantry, and three of cavalry. Of +the infantry, there is one regiment of artillery, one Caçadores, and one +of the line. There are also two regiments of Civicas, or militia. + +The troops have lately improved, both in appearance and discipline; and +indeed, there was great need of it: at present, a great deal cannot be +said in their praise. Their manoeuvres are few, such as forming line, +companies, &c. and some minor movements, as firing volleys, street +firing, &c. sufficient, probably, for the warfare in which they are +likely to be engaged. The sudden change of front, close column, solid +squares, the quick deploying into line, close firing, and rapid bayonet +charge, are not to be seen among the troops of Buenos Ayres. Against +veterans they could make but a feeble resistance; but in defending +the town, with the assistance of the inhabitants and their house +fortifications, they would be invincible; and to this mode of fighting +I would advise the Buenos Ayreans to trust, should their city ever again +be attacked. + +The artillery corps are better: they work the guns with smartness, and +have a good train of artillery, of six, eight, and twelve pounders, +taken from the Spaniards at Monte Video and other places. Repeated +exercise and firing take place with those great guns, early in a +morning, on the beach. + +The uniform coat of the soldiers is blue, with different facings of red, +white, and green: they have caps like our infantry. The undress is a +foraging cap, with a loop hanging on one side, trowsers of all colours, +and some without shoes or stockings. The recruits are not immediately +clothed in the soldier's uniform, but drilled in all their dirt and +native raggedness. The population will not admit of the mode of +recruiting practised in Europe; they take every one they can: the +equipments and material of their army are not, in consequence, very +imposing. + +If the men, in their attire, look sometimes like Sir John Falstaff's +famed regiment--not so the officers; they have fine showy uniforms, and +cocked hats with the national cockade. The subaltern part are young men; +the colonels make a good soldier-like appearance. Colonel Ramirez, in +his blue coat and gold epaulets, always puts me in mind of a British +naval officer; and Colonel Alvarez, who was wounded in our storming of +Monte Video, reminds me of Raymond of Drury-Lane theatre. + +There are some French and German officers in the service: the former, in +blue coats and white facings, still look like the soldiers of Napoleon. + +The only English officer at present in the military service of Buenos +Ayres, is a gentleman named Charles Bowness; who, from having been +nearly fifteen years in this country, is, in appearance, more like a +Spaniard than an Englishman. He left England when very young, and has +not heard of his family since his departure. + +It was seldom that military officers were seen out of uniform; they wore +it in the theatre, in the coffee-house, and in the assembly. But this +fashion has changed; and when not on duty, the dress of the citizen is +now preferred. On the continent of Europe, we are in constant contact +with the military, and as constantly reminded of military despotism. + +The infantry soldier is armed with a musquet and bayonet: the musquets +have the Tower of London mark, and, as well as the cavalry swords, would +look all the better for cleaning. The sergeants of infantry do not +carry halberts. The regular cavalry are few in number, and not quite +so brilliant as the Marquis of Anglesea's crack regiment, or the Tenth +Hussars. + +The punishment of flogging is resorted to: I have often heard the cries +of the sufferers belonging to a black regiment, quartered near my abode. +I fear it is impossible to keep discipline without it, or public opinion +would, long ere this, have suppressed it in England. + +The bands of music attached to the regiments have made great progress +in their profession: three years ago they were hardly bearable. +Unfortunately, now, the ruling military authorities will not give us +much opportunity of judging of their talents. They were accustomed, on a +fine evening, to leave the Fort, in the summer at nine, in the winter at +eight o'clock, and crossing the Plaza, take their station in one of the +streets adjoining, generally the street of Victoria, or, as we named it, +Bond Street, from its being the fashionable one, and filled with shops: +here they would entertain us for an hour or more, and I have been +gratified in hearing many tunes that charmed me in Europe, such as the +overture to _Lodoiska_, &c. Another attraction was the number of girls +that nightly attended: many a lover ("how silvery sweet sound lovers' +tongues by night") has taken this opportunity to address his fair one. +On a moonlight night, I have frequently viewed the countenances and +elegant figures of the sweet creatures, no envious bonnet intercepting; +and now some unmusical being has deprived me of this pleasure--I wish he +would read Lorenzo's observation in the _Merchant of Venice_ upon those +who lack taste in music. + +About four times in the week, however, at eight or nine in the evening, +one of the military bands parade from the Fort to their barracks at the +Retiro, and at times we have heard some good music. On a fine night much +company attend. From constant practice, the regimental musical bands +have become proficients in their art; they perform some fine pieces of +music, including the overture to _Lodoiska_, and the _Polacca_ from the +opera of _The Cabinet_. Braham ever occurs to my memory, when I hear the +latter performed, and the enthusiasm with which a London audience always +hail this song. + +The dresses of the bands are of the Turkish costume, and though not so +splendid as our third regiment of foot-guards, are equal to those of the +line. They have instruments of English manufacture, all that constitutes +a military band--triangle, cymbals, and bells, similar to our first +regiment of Guards. + +In 1820, some English shopkeepers and mechanics, in the excess of their +zeal, determined to form a corps of cavalry, to act as body-guard to the +governor. Twenty or thirty equipped themselves in a light blue jacket, +and nondescript cap, and attended the procession as the life-guards of +the state. The St. George assault, and vulgar exercise of the sword, +made no part of their discipline. Now, whether Englishmen make but a +poor figure when armed in the service of a foreign people, or that +opinion is against it, from Coriolanus downwards, I know not; certain it +is, that this regiment has decreased from its full complement to some +five or six rank and file. + +It was the custom until lately, to fire the fort guns on every 4th of +July, the anniversary of our expedition under Whitelock. If they have +discontinued it to spare us the mortification of being reminded of such +an event, from my very soul I thank them;--it is a subject that makes +the heart ache to think upon. No one can view the houses of Buenos Ayres +without being struck with the impossibility of taking a town by such +a mode of attack as it was our fate to pursue, against an inflamed +population who were, from the highest to the lowest, our enemies. +Well-informed men know that 5 or 6000 troops, with an adequate +artillery, might have taken the town without scarcely entering it, and, +what is more, by proper precautions might have kept it. The Spaniards +had no troops of any consequence to oppose us; and if all the population +of the town had ventured out of their fastnesses to combat us, the +issue would not have been for one moment doubtful; for, as the lamented +General Ross observed, when inquiring of an American friend of mine, his +prisoner, the force near Baltimore, "I ask you, sir, of the regulars; it +may rain militia." + +Our wounded, they tell me, were treated with kindness, especially by the +female part of the population, who had been amongst the most inveterate +of our foes. The heretic Englishman is not looked upon with that horror +now, as it was formerly the fashion to paint him. + +In the Annual Almanack, the following paragraph is tacked to the fatal +4th of July:--"Service in St. Domingo church: thanks to our Señora and +St. Rosario, for the triumph, under their protection, in the year 1807, +in having vanquished 12,000 English who attacked us." With Macbeth, I am +ready to exclaim, "May that pernicious hour stand aye accursed in the +calendar!" + +That such unlooked-for success should have inflated their imaginations +is to be expected; but, in justice to this kind people, I must mention, +that in English company they never in any way allude to the affair. They +are well aware of the disadvantages we had to encounter, and that our +troops were exposed to an absolute massacre. + +I could fill pages with the anecdotes that have been told me of +Beresford, Pack, and other officers; but it is a theme I care not to +dwell upon. + + * * * * * + +GOVERNMENT, and PUBLIC EVENTS.--The government of Buenos Ayres is an +attempt at republicanism, without its simplicity. However, if the people +are contented, we must not quarrel about forms, or expect an Utopia. I +am no particular friend to republics; I have seen and enjoyed so much +real liberty and happiness under the limited monarchy of my own country, +that I can fancy no other form of government better. + +The present governor, Don Gregorio Heras, is a military man: he served +in several campaigns against the Spaniards, and is reported to be a man +of decided character. In his opening speech to the junta, he observed, +that, "being determined to obey the laws himself, he expected every +one else to do the same." Señor Heras is tall and personable, about +forty-five years of age, with rather an expressive countenance. His +title is Governor and Captain-General of the Province of Buenos Ayres. +His prerogatives are very limited. + +The governor, when taking the air in his carriage, has an escort of +two dragoons; when on horseback, he is generally accompanied by his +aides-de-camp. + +Every public officer is allowed a soldier, who acts both as guard and +servant, and is called the _Ordenanza_. The French Engineer cuts a great +figure, with his soldier riding behind him: our humble Quaker prefers +walking.[30] + + [30] One cannot help smiling at the contrast which the two state + engineers of Buenos Ayres present--our Quaker with his broad brim and + plain clothes, and the dashing Frenchman in large cocked hat; the + only point of similarity is in their both wearing large hats, though + differently shaped. Upon the installation of the new governor, the + usual notice was given for public officers to attend the procession in + full uniform; Mr. Bevans did attend--not in military attire, but in + full conventicle dress, as became the man of peace, and looked a + comfortable respectable gentleman. He was seated in a carriage with + a military officer, and, but for that, I could have fancied him a + wealthy miller from Uxbridge, Quaker Town, proceeding to hear the + price of corn. The singularity of Quaker costume attracted much + notice, upon the first arrival of Mr. Bevans: they stared at him in + the streets, but offered no insult; now and then a vagabond boy would + call out "_Lobo!_" Mr. B. is a very good-tempered man. + +Señor Garcia fills the office of secretary of state, having succeeded +Mr. Rivadavia. + +The Junta, or senate, consists of forty-eight members, who are elected +annually: Señor Don Manuel Pinto is the president. The last election +brought in several of the radical party; one or two of whom are the +Humes of the Buenos-Ayres House of Commons. Since the secession of Mr. +Rivadavia, Señor Gomez leads the ministerial side. + +Señor Dorrego, who now distinguishes himself as an opposition speaker, +is a colonel. In 1820, when the town was threatened by some armed +countrymen, called Monteneros, he, on the spur of the moment, collected +porters and carmen, and drove the enemy away, proving himself a dashing +soldier. For a short period he assumed the "imperial purple," until +Rodriguez and his Colorados, in October, 1820, displaced him. + +On the evening of the day on which the election for the members of the +Junta terminates, a military band, with the balloon, or globe, preceding +it, and attended by a crowd of young men, parades through the streets. +The band stops opposite the houses of the members, and performs an air +or two; the mob--if there is such a thing as a mob in Buenos Ayres--all +the time shouting, "Viva la Patria!" "The representatives of the people +for ever!" &c. If the Buenos Ayreans were to see our last day of +an election--the thousands of mobility and patriots, hoarse with +bawling--the banners--the rough music of marrow-bones and cleavers, +tuned from counter-tenor to double bass--the sight, I think, would +astonish, if not frighten them.[31] + + [31] Sir Murray Maxwell, of H.M.S. _Briton_, lying at Monte Video, + honoured us with a visit, in June, 1824. The last time I saw this + veteran seaman, previous to his arrival here, was under a shower of + cabbage stumps, carrots, turnips, mud, &c. upon the hustings at Covent + Garden, when a candidate to represent Westminster. Sir Murray's + unaffected and amiable manners greatly pleased the British in Buenos + Ayres; and the remembrance of his Chinese exploits rendered him an + object of considerable interest. It was a singular coincidence that + the French Admiral, Rosamel, who had been Sir Murray's prisoner, in + the war with France, should, at the same time, be on a visit to Buenos + Ayres. The French admiral, who, in person, looks a complete John Bull, + attended the theatre, with his officers, in full uniform. His is the + nation for effect. Our officers seldom visit the theatre; and when + they do, it is in plain clothes. The French naval uniform appears more + like a military one--the blue coat, buttoned close to the neck, and + tassels. + +The 25th of May, 1810, is the æra of the independence of Buenos Ayres; +the period when, the French armies having overrun Spain, the people +of this city deposed the viceroy, and appointed a junta of nine as +a provisional government. This event is annually commemorated by a +festival of three days. It commences on the evening of the 24th, +when the Plaza is illuminated, by means of a lofty circle, formed of +wood-work, erected round it. At sunrise on the 25th, the national hymn +is sung by boys, &c. opposite the pyramid in the Plaza: to hail the +rising sun is a Peruvian custom. In the day-time, various sports take +place: greased masts are erected, at the summit of which are shawls, +watches, and purses of money; and whoever can reach the top, may take +any one of the above prizes. An English sailor, in 1822, brought down +all the stock in trade, wrapping the shawls about his body, and putting +the watches, money, and other articles, in his pockets and mouth. On his +descent, he was surrounded by soldiers, who took away his booty; and +on Jack making a shew of resistance, they marched him to prison. The +bystanders, however, were indignant at this, and he was soon released, +and allowed to retain one of the prizes. These masts cause great +diversion, as very few succeed in mounting them; and our sailor was +highly applauded. There is also an ingenious machine, called _rompe +cabeza_, or break head, consisting of a pole placed lengthwise on +pivots, elevated from the ground, with a cord on which to rest the feet. +The difficulty is in getting along this pole; in doing which, hundreds +are thrown off: the successful candidate obtains a piece of money. +Military music plays at night in the galleries of the Cabildo; and +fire-balloons and fire-works are let off, the latter emitting their +balls of fire among the people. From the careless manner in which the +fire-works are used by boys in the streets, I am surprised that no +accidents happen. + +The theatre is open every night of the holidays, and is always crowded; +the anthem is sung; and they have extra lights, &c. The governor and his +suite attend. + +In the College church, on the 25th of May, prizes are distributed to +those young females who have excelled in any particular branch of their +studies. The ladies of the town take great interest in this, and attend +the church in crowds. The organ performs during the ceremony, as well as +other music. + +In 1821, the rejoicings went off gloomily, with little or no +preparations. + +The arrangements in May, 1822, were the best that I have seen. The +weather--indeed, every thing combined in its favour. Children of both +sexes, dressed in fanciful costume, danced upon a stage in the Plaza, +and at the theatre, and were drawn through the streets upon ornamental +cars, by persons disguised as lions, tigers, and leopards. The music of +the Plaza dance even now dwells upon my mind, producing remembrances I +can scarcely account for. Its soft and pretty music ought to make it a +standard dance for the 25th May. In this May, of 1822, I was delighted, +and, for the moment, relieved from worldly cares. I strayed, at evening, +about the Plaza: the mimic angels I could almost fancy real; and the +sweet dark-eyed girls that every moment met my eye were, to me, Houris +of Mahomet's Paradise. The illusion was complete: but, alas! like all +other earthly pleasures, it has passed away--would that I could add, as +a "dream slightly remembered." A troop of equestrians rode through the +streets, dressed like Astley's horsemen, and masqued: they proceeded to +the Alameda, and fixing a small ring to a cord in the middle, they each +endeavoured to pull it down at full gallop. + +In 1823, the weather was cold and wet. The Quaker made an effort to +light the Police-Office with gas; it only partially succeeded: the words +_Viva la Patria_ blazed out at intervals. Considering the obstacles, I +am astonished he did so much. + +In 1824, the weather was fine; but, to me, the affair appeared +altogether inferior to 1822. There was no dancing, or Astley's troop; +the fire-works were something better, and were judiciously placed on the +arch, instead of the Cathedral, as heretofore. + +On the 25th of May, the governor and the public officers, with the +dignitaries of the church, walk in state to the Cathedral church, at +which there is a solemn service. + +In 1824, the new governor, Don Gregorio Heras, gave a grand dinner at +the Fort: 120 sat down, including the American minister, the English +consul and two vice-consuls, and many foreigners. The dessert was +superb; not like those we have, but chiefly of sweetmeats; sugar +castles, fortifications, and other designs made up of this latter +article. + +Velarde gave a very comic description of the Fiestas, at the theatre, in +blank verse, in the character of a Gaucho, seated with his companions +round a fire, smoking, to whom he is relating the events of the day, +and, among the rest, of the English sailor climbing the mast like a cat. +This actor displays abilities of no ordinary merit in this style of +acting. + +These four days passed without a single robbery, or even the dread of +such an event. Few cities in Europe can boast as much, with a population +of 60,000 persons. + +It is said, that the diversions of the 25th of May, from the expense, +and uncertainty of the weather, are to be discontinued, or at least +postponed to another part of the year. I hope they are not to be done +away with. Some few hours may surely be taken from the cares of life, +and devoted to enjoyment, in spite of the heartless censure of the few. + +It is not my intention to enter into an historical detail of the +political events that have agitated this country since the declaration +of its independence: they would alone occupy more space than I have +proposed to myself for these Remarks. The notice of a few events, +however, connected with public affairs, since my residence in this +city, and of public men, may not be uninteresting in this place. + +The year 1820, in which I arrived, was remarkable for its frequent +political changes. Scarcely any of the several chiefs, who rapidly +succeeded each other at the head of government, retained their power +more than a few weeks, till Don Martin Rodriguez, at the head of his +Colorados,[32] or Red Men, (so named from the colour of their _ponchos_, +or cloaks), having succeeded in an attack upon the town, put down the +Civicas, or militia, who, although appointed to preserve the peace of +the city, by their frequent insurrections, kept it in a constant state +of agitation. A battle was fought in the streets of the town, and many +lives were lost. He was finally confirmed Governor, on the 6th October, +1820, and continued in office for three years, the period prescribed +by law. Since that time the government has assumed an appearance of +stability, and improvements have taken place in every department of the +administration. + + [32] These Colorados are all cavalry. I saw them drawn up in the + Plaza; and, whilst gazing at the singularity of their appearance, one + of them claimed me a countryman of his. He spoke to me in English, and + told me he had been fourteen years in the country. He was, probably, + one of Beresford's men; many of whom, as well as deserters from + Whitelock's army, are to be found in the province. Some of them, + from having been so long accustomed to the Spanish language, have + absolutely forgotten their own; of this I have known several + instances. + + These British deserters find various employments. Hearing an Irish + cobler, one day, in a miserable stall, bewailing his sad lot, and + regretting that he had left the army; I asked him what army? "By + Jasus," said he, one of "Whitelock's regiment; and if I was in it + now, I should have a comfortable pension by this time."--"Why did you + leave it?"--"They embarked without me."--"Or, in other words, you + deserted."--"By the powers! you have hit it; and a bad day's job I + made of it," said he. + +Don Martin Rodriguez is a tall, well-looking man, and a good soldier. +Without the possession of any very shining abilities, he has done more +for the benefit of the state than any of his predecessors, and retired +from office with the esteem of all parties. He was succeeded by Don +Gregorio Heras, the present governor, in April, 1824. + +During his government, Rodriguez owed much to the able administration +of Don Bernadino Rivadavia, who may be considered the William Pitt of +Buenos Ayres. He entered office, as minister, in 1821, and left it with +Señor Rodriguez; the law requiring that ministers should resign, or be +re-elected, with the new governor. Mr. R. was strenuously entreated to +continue in his situation; but he steadily refused, and his friends +deplored the determination. One of the first acts of his administration +was to annihilate privateering.[33] By him the revenue was simplified +and increased; public plunderers could no longer escape detection; and +his firmness awed the disturbers of public peace, and made the province +respected by foreigners. In the suppression of the monasteries, he +encountered every species of obloquy from a certain class. Now that +passion has in some degree subsided, his opponents, and even the +priesthood, must allow, that he had no other motive but his country's +good; and they cannot deny him the merit of disinterestedness and +unshaken resolution. Strangers of all descriptions are grateful to +him for the protection and attention he has shewn them, and the +encouragement given to their pursuits, which add to the capital and +prosperity of the country. The greatest eulogium that can be bestowed +upon Mr. Rivadavia's government is a comparison of Buenos Ayres in 1821 +and 1824, the periods when he accepted and when he retired from office. +His administration forms an æra in the political annals of the state, +and will rank him as an able--nay, more--an honest minister. His system, +it is said, will be strictly followed by his successors: I trust it may, +for the good of their country. + + [33] A great deal of money was made and lost by speculators, at the + time privateering was allowed in Buenos Ayres. The last vessel that + sailed was the _Heroine_ (formerly the French _Braak_), commanded by a + North American, named Mason, and which was captured by the Portuguese + frigate _Perola_. Mason has been confined at Lisbon, more than two + years. His wife, an English lady, and large family, reside in Buenos + Ayres. + +Mr. Rivadavia was bred to the law. He has been represented to me as a +man of strong passions, with nothing of the courtier in his manners, +which, at times, approach to abruptness. The three years he was in +office have proved that he possesses first rate talents as a statesman. +Political as well as personal enemies every man must expect, in a +situation like his; and though such a consideration might not have +intimidated him from again accepting office, very possibly it might have +had some influence, conceiving, that, as the foundation was laid for a +good system of government, they should not reproach him with clinging to +office for the sake of power and emolument. + +Mr. Rivadavia has visited both France and England in a public capacity, +and has again sailed for Europe, in the _Walsingham_ packet, in part +to superintend the education of his son, who is now, I believe, in the +college of Stonyhurst. He will carry with him a distinguished name; +before, he was in a manner unknown. He speaks a little English, and very +good French. + +In person, Mr. Rivadavia has some peculiarities; and were he much before +the public in London, I fear, he would not long escape the wicked +pencils of our caricaturists: should it be so, he cannot complain; he +will find the king, and the first people in the realm, not spared by +them. His figure is short and thick, with a dark complexion; and he +generally walks with one arm behind him. He wears black clothes, with +tight pantaloons, displaying Herculean limbs. + +As an orator, Mr. Rivadavia is not very imposing; he has a deep sonorous +voice, and is eloquent--but not exactly a Cicero. + +In October, 1820, two persons were shot in the Plaza, near the Fort, +for state offences connected with the revolution of the period--one a +military officer, and the other a drum-major. The former was executed +in a _poncho_, in which disguise he was taken. They were conducted from +the Fort in heavy irons, each holding a small cross, and accompanied +by friars on each side, to whom the criminals eagerly listened. At the +fatal spot their sentence was read: they were placed on seats, and tied; +the priests slowly withdrew, still whispering comfort to the unhappy +men; an officer waved his handkerchief--and they were no more. The band +struck up the tune of "The Downfall of Paris," as the troops marched +past the bodies. A number of females witnessed the appalling sight from +the neighbouring balconies. + +On the night or morning of the 19th March, 1823, an attempt was made at +another revolution, upon the plea that the religion of the country was +in danger. Gregorio Taglé, a lawyer, and a man of some talent, was +the chief of this conspiracy: he had been formerly one of the state +ministers; and, after its failure, he escaped to Colonia. The +disturbance began by some hundreds of Gauchos from the country galloping +into the town, shouting "_Viva la religion!_" &c. &c. They overpowered +the guard at the Cabildo, released the prisoners, and began to toll the +bell; and at that hour (two o'clock in the morning) it did certainly +frighten the town "from its strict propriety." In the Plaza they were +received by a discharge of musquetry from a few troops, who had advanced +out of the Fort, and who, after killing and wounding several, put the +rest to the rout. Garcia, a Colonel, implicated in the plot, was shot a +few days afterwards: he met his fate with firmness. + +This execution was followed by two more, those of Colonel Peralto +and Urien. The latter had been an officer both in the Buenos-Ayrean +and Peruvian services, and now suffered for a participation in the +conspiracy, and a murder committed some years ago. He was in confinement +at the Cabildo, awaiting his sentence for the latter offence, and being +a relation of Mr. Rivadavia, interest was making to save him, when +the conspirators released him. Strict search was made for the escaped +criminal; and in a few days, he surrendered himself, upon a promise of +pardon on condition of his making discoveries of those concerned in the +late conspiracy. Several were arrested upon his depositions; amongst +them, an English shopkeeper named Hargreaves, whom he accused of selling +fire-arms to the rioters at one and two in the morning of the 19th +March. An examination proved that all the accusations were false: the +accused were released, and Urien desired to prepare for death. + +Urien was well known in the coffee-houses of Buenos Ayres; he was much +in debt, and some of his creditors were Englishmen. The murder of which +he was convicted, was committed in conjunction with a female, the wife +of the murdered man, and the body had been cut in pieces, and buried at +different times. Since the murder, he had been in Peru, and had also +lived in Buenos Ayres, unsuspicious of discovery. Having a fine person +and countenance, he was a favourite with the ladies, and a complete "man +upon town." + +The execution of Urien and Colonel Peralto took place between ten and +eleven o'clock in the morning: they were conducted from the Cabildo +prison, ironed, and under a strong guard. They moved slowly along the +Plazas to the appointed spot, near the Fort, where they were both +uncovered, each holding a cross, and attended by priests: the person +of Urien attracted much attention, on account of his tall figure, and +dark expressive countenance. He was dressed in a silk _levita_, or +frock-coat, and walked unsupported, and with great firmness; a smile now +and then appeared upon his face, as he conversed with the priests. He +would have gained universal sympathy, but for his great crimes; as it +was, disgust was mingled with pity, that such a man should be so guilty. +The other wretched man, Peralta, covered with a large great coat, with +his head bound up, and supported by his friends and the priests, seemed +the picture of misery. At the arch which parts the Plazas, the sentence +was read to the prisoners; and again near the fatal place, at which +it was some time ere they arrived, from the slowness with which the +procession moved. Near the Fort, Urien eyed the artillerymen at their +guns, upon the ramparts: his resolution appeared to falter, and he +apparently wished to prolong the time at the place of execution by +conversation with those about him. At length he was seated. His +companion, during this delay, had taken his seat, and, at this last +trying moment, was more composed than Urien. The soldiers fired: Peralta +fell dead; but Urien still kept his seat, appearing only slightly +wounded. The drums, which began to beat, were stopped, and a horrible +scene ensued. Several soldiers placed their musquets at the head of +Urien: they missed fire, one after the other; at last, one exploded, +which, from the report it made, could only have been slightly charged. +The poor wretch fell upon the ground, but was not dead; and he +endeavoured to raise himself up upon his elbow. Other musquets were +discharged, and Urien moved no more. The feelings of the spectators, +during this appalling spectacle, may well be conceived. The hearse and +coffin were in attendance; and, after the troops had passed, the bodies +were placed in them, and taken for interment. A great concourse attended +the execution. Peralta was much pitied, having borne an excellent +character. The ceremony altogether was terrible; and the part in which +the magistrate reads the sentence appears singular to a stranger: a man +repeats every word after him in a loud voice; he is selected, I presume, +for this qualification. + +José Miguel Carrera, so conspicuous in the revolutions of this part +of South America, was shot, at Mendoza, in 1821. He was a Chilian by +birth, and belonged to one of the first families there: he was a man of +considerable abilities. The execution of his two brothers, Antonio and +Luis, in that same city, and other political affairs, had made him vow +eternal enmity to the government of Buenos Ayres; particularly to San +Martin, whom he much disliked. In his vengeance, he had raised the +Indians to assist him. This act lost him many of his friends, who +now viewed him with a kind of horror, as chief of barbarians. He was +betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and immediately put to death, +which, it is almost needless to observe, he underwent with courage, and +was buried, it is said, in the same grave with the brothers he so dearly +loved. + +Carrera was in the prime of life, tall, and elegantly formed: his +desperation and courage rank him as one of Lord Byron's heroes, though +not exactly "with one virtue linked to a thousand crimes." His widow +(who has been a fine woman), and infant family, I afterwards saw at +Buenos Ayres. One of the latter, a little girl not five years of age, +was imprudently asked, in my presence, what had become of her father? +"Murdered by the Mendoceans," she quickly replied. + +San Martin, having retired from public life, embarked at Buenos Ayres +for France and England, attended by his daughter. His wife, one of the +daughters of the late Señor Escalada, died a short time since in this +city. San Martin is a tall, stout man, about forty-five years of age: +he is said to be rich. He has his detractors; however, they cannot deny +him one great military qualification, that of a determined mind. In his +dispute with Lord Cochrane, the latter had decidedly the best of the +argument, judging from a pamphlet which his lordship has published. + +The late General Belgrano, a native of this province, and who +distinguished himself in several actions against the Spaniards, has +a day set apart for funereal rites: it takes place in June, the +anniversary of his death. + +In the month of October, 1824, the visit of a New-Zealand chief to +Buenos Ayres, by name Tippahée Cupa, attracted much curiosity; he +arrived in the British ship _Urania_, Captain Reynolds. Tippahée came +alongside this ship in Cook's Straits, with a war canoe filled with +his people, and, in spite of the remonstrances and even force used by +Captain R. refused to quit the vessel, expressing his determination +to proceed to England. He bade his followers an affectionate adieu, +enjoining obedience to his successor during his absence. The _Urania_ +sailed for London with her passenger the 8th December, 1824. + +Tippahée, when he first arrived in Buenos Ayres, was clothed in an old +red coat, formerly belonging to a London postman. The English paid him +many attentions, inviting him to dine at their houses, and new clothing +him. His behaviour at table was easy and unembarrassed; and, when +requested, he would perform the dances and war songs of New Zealand. He +understood a little of the English language, and spoke a few words of +it; his intelligent manners, and circumspect conduct, rendered him an +universal favourite. On the map he could trace the ship's course from +New Zealand to Lima and Buenos Ayres. He knew an Englishman immediately; +the Spaniards he did not much admire, fancying they viewed him with +contempt, and was glad to get among Englishmen. His age is about forty; +he possesses amazing strength; his tattooed face and appearance always +attracted a crowd after him in Buenos Ayres. On board ship he was found +very useful, doing all sorts of work, but he positively declined to go +aloft. The fate of Captain Thompson, and the crew of the British ship +_Boyd_, ought to bespeak caution in using coercion with these savage +chieftains of New Zealand. In Cruise's book of New Zealand, Tippahee was +shewn a picture of a chief of his country, with which he was greatly +delighted. The object of his journey to England is to solicit arms and +ammunition, to place him upon a par with a rival chief, who possesses +those requisites. + +At the dinner given on St. Andrew's day, in December, 1824, by the +Scotch gentlemen, Mr. Parish, the British consul, hinted at the speedy +acknowledgment of the independence of Buenos Ayres by his government. +This intimation was received with great enthusiasm by a numerous +company, among whom were the principal members of government. + +The _Camden_ packet took home the treaty between the British and +Buenos-Ayrean governments, with several passengers, including Mr. +Griffiths, one of the vice-consuls, and Mr. Nunez, a Creolian gentleman, +secretary to Mr. Rivadavia. The _Lord Hobart_ packet took home passenger +Mr. M'Crackan, many years a merchant in this country, and a worthy man. + +Don Carlos Alvear, and Don Felix Castro, have proceeded to England from +Buenos Ayres: the former makes it on his way to the United States of +North America, to which he is appointed minister. Their mission to +London is supposed to have reference to the loan about negotiating. +The security to British capitalists is surely as good, if not better +than in many other cases in which they have lent money. There are no +restrictions upon interest: the average has been 12 per cent.; but this +is decreasing. + +Alvear was formerly a director of Buenos Ayres, and is a very active +man. In the early part of his life, he narrowly escaped destruction, +when going to Spain in one of the Spanish frigates captured, in 1804, by +Captain Graham Moore. The frigate in which he had taken his passage was +one that blew up, and he had only left it prior to the action, to pay a +visit on board another ship: some of his nearest relatives perished in +the explosion. + +Should Alvear harbour any dislike to our country, it may be attributed +to this shocking catastrophe; but, I am persuaded, his good sense has, +long ere this, made him view it as one of the accidents inseparable from +the quarrel of nations. + +At eight o'clock in the evening of the 21st January, 1825, an express +entered Buenos Ayres with news of the battle of Ayacucho, in Peru. +A victory so decisive and unexpected caused a tumult of joy: people +crowded round the coffee-houses, listening to the different orators +describing the victory; it brought to one's recollection the crowds at +the newspaper offices in London, upon similar occasions. At ten o'clock +at night, a triple salute was fired from the Fort, which was answered by +another from the _Aranzazu_ brig of war, anchored in the inner roads, +and a Brazilian brig of war. Partial illuminations and fire-works took +place the same evening. + +On the 22d January, there was a performance at the theatre, when the +national hymn was sung, amidst loud _vivas_ for Bolivar, Sucre, &c.; +and Colonel Ramirez read the official detail to the audience from the +boxes. The theatre was decorated with silks and national emblems, and +illuminated with extra lights: an ode upon the victory was sold at the +doors, and a military band stationed there. + +The rejoicings continued for three nights, with bonfires, illuminations, +and military music in the gallery of the Cabildo; the pyramid in the +Plaza was illuminated, and surrounded by transparencies, &c. The people +seemed mad with joy; I could scarcely have believed them capable of such +enthusiasm; and though, perhaps, these ebullitions are not at all times +to be taken as a test of patriotism, yet I am persuaded, the mass of the +people sincerely rejoiced. + +The Coffee-house de la Victoria was thronged both inside and out; +and wine and beer were drank in profusion. Various toasts were given, +amongst which was "Religious Toleration." There was abundance of +speechifying, describing the past and the future, with the happiness in +reserve for the inhabitants of the province of the Rio de la Plata. Some +hundreds formed themselves into military array, and, with banners and +music, proceeded through the streets, singing the national hymn, and +shouting opposite the houses of known patriots with loud _vivas_. At the +residence of the British Consul they cheered for England, the King of +England, and liberty. At the American minister's, similar compliments +were bestowed on North America. Colonel Forbes invited them inside, +and pledged them in bumpers of wine. During the whole of the night the +assemblage continued in the streets, with music and singing; yet but few +irregularities took place. Some violent spirits declaimed against the +Brazilians, and, it is said, windows were broken at the Brazilian +Consul's house;[34] but this act was quickly discountenanced by the +rest. In fact, they have nothing here which can put one in mind of a +mob, especially an English mob. The bands that paraded the streets were +composed of the most genteel young men of the town. A young man named +Saravia is looked up to as a sort of leader and manager on these popular +occasions; possessing abundance of wit, activity, a tolerable share of +oratory, and staunch patriotism, Saravia plays no insignificant part in +the politics of Buenos Ayres. + + [34] The arrival of a Brazilian frigate _Maria de Gloria_, of + thirty-two guns, Captain Beaurepaire, on 7th March, 1825, caused much + conversation and speculation upon their errand; such as coming to + demand satisfaction for insults offered to their consul, &c. A + burlesque letter appeared in the _Argentina_ newspaper upon the + subject. Considerable animosity exists against the Brazilians, in + consequence of their continuing to occupy the other side of the river. + The frigate departed on 16th March. The officers appeared well-behaved + men. + +Public dinners were given at Faunch's Hotel. Eighty Creolian gentlemen +sat down to an entertainment of this description. The dining-room was +decorated with flags of all nations, portraits of Bolivar, Sucre, &c.; +and military music was in attendance, which played "God save the King!" +upon the King of England's health being proposed.[35] + + [35] It is amusing to hear the opinion which most foreigners entertain + of his majesty George IV. of Great Britain. They fancy him another Don + Giovanni. I was riding with a Portuguese officer, near Colonia, one + evening in December, 1821, when we heard the discharge of minute guns + fired from H.M.S. _Slaney_, in the outer roads of Buenos Ayres, upon + the death of the Queen. I explained to the Portuguese the cause of the + firing: he smiled, and exclaimed, "Is it possible that your libertine + King has ordered a mourning salvo upon such an occasion? surely it + must mean a rejoicing." The people in Colonia, I found, harboured + pretty much the same opinion; so I thought it behoved me, as a good + and loyal subject, to take up the cudgels in defence of his majesty, + of whom I am a great admirer; and I took great pains to impress upon + them, that the chief failings laid to his majesty's charge were + nothing more than those so common with our countrymen, _viz._ a too + enthusiastic devotion at the shrines of Venus and Bacchus. + +Another dinner was given by Don Gregorio Heras, the governor, at the +house of the Consulado, in the same style and splendour, and rivalling +even London itself. The bumper toasts were numerous and appropriate.[36] + + [36] Among the toasts given at one of the banquets held in honour + of the victory of Ayacucho, Mr. Canning's health was drank in the + following terms:--"_El Sabio Ministro de Inglaterra, el primer + Estadista del mundo, el Honorable George Canning, fiel amigo de la + libertad! la justicia preside en sus deliberaciones; su nombre sera + un motivo de placer para nostros, y para las generaciones que nos + sucedan._" Translation: "The learned Minister of England, the first + Statesman in the world, the Honourable George Canning, the faithful + friend of liberty! justice presides in his deliberations; his name + will be an honour to place amongst our's, and the generations which + succeed us." + + Mr. Canning is highly popular in Buenos Ayres, especially with the + Creolian part of the inhabitants: a report that he had resigned + office, created much uneasiness, as he is looked up to as the firmest + friend of South American liberty. The _éclat_ of his ministerial + career throws into the shade the Castlereagh quarrel, and his alleged + desertion of the King in the affair of the Queen. Such appears to be + Mr. Canning's popularity, that his enemies may now "scoff in safety." + +A subscription ball and supper was likewise given by some of the Buenos +Ayrean gentlemen, at the Consulado. English and other foreigners +attended in considerable numbers. The _patio_, or court-yard, covered +by an awning, and brilliantly decorated, was devoted to dancing: the +concourse of ladies was very great, who, by their style of dancing and +charming attire, rendered the scene exceedingly fascinating, upon a par +with any such amusements in Europe. The dancing continued all night, and +until nearly seven o'clock on the Sunday morning, not having any Bishop +of London or sanctified gentry to interfere. Unfortunately, the night +proved intensely hot. The supper table was laid out in the grand saloon. + +The North-American gentlemen resident in Buenos Ayres, on the 23d +February, 1825, gave a similar entertainment at the same building, the +Consulado, in honour of the victory of Ayacucho, and of Washington's +birth-day. Having more time for preparation, and the evening being cool +it was the most superb affair ever seen in this country; and as regarded +effect, it could hardly be surpassed. The awning was arranged in the +form of a dome; and the walls of the court-yard in which the dance was +held were covered with flags: Buenos Ayrean, Peruvian, Chilian, British, +and American, were most conspicuous. The glare of light falling on these +colours, with the sylph-like movements of the ladies mingling in the +dance, made all appear enchantment, realizing the fables of Eastern +romance. "London cannot beat this!" exclaimed a John Bull just arrived +from England, as he entered the scene of festivity: the graceful +attitudes and appearance of the female part of the company evidently +surprised him. The music was of the first description; Masoni and other +professors presiding. It was the first entertainment given in this +country by the North Americans to the Buenos Ayres public; and they +certainly succeeded to the utmost, reflecting the highest honour upon +their liberality and patriotism. It may be said that "all the world" of +Buenos Ayres was there, and they did not separate until seven o'clock +the next morning. The exterior of the Consulado was illuminated, with +the names of _Washington_, _Bolivar_, _Sucre_. + +The substantial part of these different entertainments was superintended +by Faunch, the English hotel keeper, the only man in this country +competent to the undertaking: his arrangements would not disgrace +Messrs. Gunter and Debatt. + +The town was illuminated during the three nights of Carnival. In the +Plaza, the names of the South-American heroes blazed from the "Casa de +Policia." The _rompe cabeza_ (or break head), greased masts, and other +sports, took place; two military bands of music playing alternately. The +weather being fine, added to the pleasure; the streets and Plaza were +filled with people. I viewed the scene as an event, perhaps, never +to occur again--I mean as to such a continuance of enthusiasm and +festivals; and, like Noodle and Doodle, "as we never saw the like +before, 'tis fit we make the most of it." I had, too, my forebodings, +and was not quite so sanguine as to the future moral happiness of the +country: for as population increases, its attendants, crime and misery, +follow. + +The theatre was open the three nights; the national hymn was sung, the +house decorated, &c. The British consul, with his suite, attended on one +of the nights of Carnival; and on the Sunday, went in state from the +Fort to the Cathedral church. All the public officers were in the +train, including the foreign consuls. It was a walking procession; and +Mr. Poussett, the British vice-consul, walked with Mr. Slacum, the +North-American consul. Some forty or fifty years back, who could have +dreamt of such an event--a British consul joining in a procession with a +consul of her colonies, now independent, to celebrate the independence +of another part of the American continent. + +Buenos Ayres illuminations are of a very inferior description, a candle +or two placed in each window; no tasteful transparencies. The house of +Mr. Losana was an exception: he had a transparency of the British and +North American national arms, and an incessant rattling of fire-works +(crackers) from the roof and windows of his mansion. + +On the 24th February, a triumphal car was paraded through the streets, +followed by a piece of artillery, and another car containing arms of +all descriptions, the whole preceded by persons bearing torches, and +military music. The grand car was adorned with flags: the British flag I +did not observe amongst them. When the cavalcade reached the Plaza, it +was overtaken by a Pampero wind, with the usual accompaniment of dust, +obscuring the atmosphere, and obliging shops and windows to be instantly +closed. The London pickpockets, during these squalls would find ample +field for their talents. + +During the rejoicings for the Ayacucho victory, the _Aranzazu_ brig of +war had the flag of old Spain floating under that of Buenos Ayres. + + * * * * * + +CONCLUDING REMARKS.--The great want of this country is population; and +until it is increased by an industrious race, agriculture will remain at +its present low ebb; and they will have no sure defence against distant +enemies, powerful neighbours, and the ravages of the Indians. It would +be advantageous to encourage emigration from the over-peopled countries +of Europe, give them protection and an interest in the country; +then Buenos Ayres may reach those high destinies which her sanguine +politicians pretend to see in perspective; but it is not by simple +talking, that this is to be done. England reached her present greatness +by degrees, and by various sacrifices. I am aware that many in Buenos +Ayres view the influx of strangers with jealousy, and talk very highly +of their powerful means, &c. But, setting aside the old adage, that +"boasters do the least," what could protect them, if an alteration +should take place in European politics, and any one of the states of +Europe, without fear of obstruction, should determine to appropriate +the province of Buenos Ayres to itself? The 150,000 men, women, and +children, that now inhabit it, would stand a miserable chance against +the hordes that would be then let loose upon them. Therefore, an +increase of population, having all the rights of citizens, would be an +increase of power; and, in defence of their property and homes, they +would all join heart and hand to drive the spoilers from their adopted +land. + +If, however, an attack from any European power be considered an event +too distant or improbable to create any apprehension, Buenos Ayres has a +more immediate danger to provide against, from an enemy whose attacks +are neither problematical nor easily to be parried. This province is +unfortunately exposed to the ravages of the Indians, who murder the +inhabitants, and carry off the cattle, spreading desolation and terror +around. They are frequently within a hundred miles of the city, and in +1823 they approached much nearer. They advance in general, from the S. +or S.E. quarter, in bodies of 3, 4, 5, and 600, armed with spear +and lasso. In using the last, they are almost sure to entrap the +unfortunates within their reach. The forces opposed to them appear +inadequate; the horses, unable to endure the hardships of such a +campaign, have not been found equal to those of the Indians; and +as prisoners taken by them seldom meet with mercy, it has inspired +timidity. When likely to be hard pressed, the Indians disperse in all +directions, flying to their inaccessible retreats. The late Governor +Rodriguez headed several expeditions against them, but without any +marked success. + +Four officers of Buenos Ayres, in 1823, were sent with a message to +the Indians, who were detained and murdered. One of them, a Polish +gentleman, named Bullicusque, had been in Napoleon's army, and was much +esteemed. He had some talent at caricature: one which he made of Mr. +Rivadavia attempting to climb the _Rompe Cabeza_, in allusion to the +suppression of the Friars, caused some mirth. + +That any portion of the civilized part of South America should, at +this period, be held in terror by Indians, is a disgrace to Spanish +management, after 350 years of possession. The East Indies, and its +hundred millions of people subject to British sway, present rather a +different spectacle: they are in peace, and under the protection of +the laws; the once powerful Mahratta nation, the Pindarees, and other +warlike tribes having been subdued or conciliated within our time. The +suppression of the predatory Indians about this province is a legacy +left by the Spaniards to their late colonists. + +The Indians of South America are, in persons and countenance, a striking +contrast to those of Africa. They have long black hair, flat faces, +short thick persons, and complexions of the mulatto cast, without any +thing in their countenances to denote ferocity, judging from those I +have seen in the streets of Buenos Ayres as prisoners. They have a +slight clothing, but it is very filthy. The woolly hair and tawny skin +are not seen amongst them. They are much attached to their _caciques_, +or chiefs. + +In the present state of the province, it is a question whether it would +not be sound policy to take into pay 3 or 4000 foreign troops, and, by +placing them in cantonments on the exposed frontiers, awe the Indians, +and give the state a greater respect with other nations. + +Every Buenos Ayrean who really loves his country, will view the arrival +of a settler emigrant amongst them more as a benefit than an injury. + +Some of my countrymen are of opinion, that the acknowledgment of the +independence of Buenos Ayres by the British government will induce many +to emigrate from home, and thus add to the strength, industry, and +capital of this province. I should rejoice at such an occurrence; our +England, Ireland, and Scotland, can well spare from their too numerous +population. + +But, unless a person has some settled object of business, Buenos Ayres +will not prove the most eligible place to speculate upon for employment. + +Clerks, unless they possess strong recommendations, or come expressly +engaged, had better not venture upon the voyage: they will, in all +probability, meet with great disappointment. The mercantile houses +have their clerks sent from the firms at home; little chance in that +capacity, therefore, remains for others. Many have returned to England, +finding that to continue here was only making bad worse. + +It is professions of the first necessity that succeed. Mechanics are +sure of employment, and with prudence can save money. A journeyman +carpenter may earn, by piece-work, four to five dollars per day; their +regular wages from the English masters are from forty to forty-five +and forty-eight dollars per month. Braziers, blacksmiths, &c. do +well: Englishmen have shops in all those branches. Labourers of all +descriptions are in request. + +Farming I do not conceive a profitable concern: labour is high, and the +foreign farmer, from the sort of men he must employ, is continually +exposed to petty thefts, the punishment of which causes great annoyance +and trouble. English labourers generally manage to leave their master +the moment they become useful. Several Englishmen have tried the system +of farming, without much success; it is more adapted to the natives, +and, from what I have heard, they make nothing extraordinary of it. It +is possible that a man with a capital of 800 to 1000_l._ may more than +live; but it ought to be a strong temptation to induce an individual +with that property to leave his country, and to be well assured of the +probable advantages of such an experiment. At the present moment a rapid +fortune is not to be made as a farmer; he must be content to plod on for +years, with great anxiety, and labour to boot. The soil, rich as it is, +requires artificial aid. + +It is in holding _estancias_, or grazing farms, that money has been +made; and from the high price of hides, and the continual demand for +them, this affords every prospect of advantage. + +Emigrants will not find the conveniences they have at home, but as many +comforts as they can possibly expect in a foreign land, including the +favourable climate. + +An English female, upon her first arrival in this country would not find +herself very comfortable; it must take some time to reconcile her to +the loss of home, dress, mode of living--every thing so different; the +only alleviation is in the society of her country folks, and the kind +behaviour of the people, which will soon soften those feelings, and +when somewhat conversant in the language, she would become attached to +Spanish society, from whom she may be assured of receiving the most +delicate attentions that hospitality can prompt. + +A person will not be long in Buenos Ayres without picking up +acquaintances with its inhabitants; amongst whom are some very +intelligent young men. I have sometimes thought it would give me +pleasure to conduct one of them to England, to be--not exactly a Mentor +(needing that myself), but a sort of escort to him in the modern +Babylon, London; to explain its many varieties, from the mansions of the +nobility, down to the _fondas_ of St. Giles's, where plates, knives, and +forks, are chained to the tables, to prevent the customers walking off +with them. + +Common report asserts, that a strong French faction exists in Buenos +Ayres. I will not pretend to offer an opinion upon this. Three years +ago, I thought there was a decided leaning towards France: but I do not +think there is so much now. If it were only for the sake of consistency, +they must be ashamed of French politics, and the war in Spain, +undertaken, as "an experiment to try the fidelity of the French army," +according to Monsieur Chateaubriand, who asserted that a few months +campaigning had done more good for France than years of peace. That a +portion of the inhabitants may be attached to the French, is probable; +their manners and religion assimilate more than ours. An Englishman +is looked upon as a strange creature, different from the rest of the +world. Other nations have not that characteristic of country (excepting +the North Americans): a Frenchman, Italian, &c. mixes in the crowd as +one of the country in which he resides, and is scarcely recognized as a +foreigner; but nature seems to have placed her peculiar mark upon us, +and, in conjunction with our law against expatriation, seems to assert, +that "once an Englishman, always an Englishman." It would appear that +strangers can almost discover us blindfold: often, on the darkest night, +I have been accosted by boys and others as an Englishman. + +The old Spanish part of the population, I dare say, dislike, and can +never forgive us; we are ever the subject of their sneering remarks, and +must expect to be so. That we can act from principles of pure honour, +appears to them impossible; and they affect to trace self-interest at +the bottom of all our professions, particularly as to the proceedings +of the British government toward South America, which have gained us so +much popularity with those states; and given British politics the lead, +which indeed never stood more high in Buenos Ayres than at the present +moment. + +Englishmen are aware that very few like them as a nation, however they +may respect them as individuals; and should our country be once on the +wane, there would be plenty of helping hands to press us further down. +It requires no extraordinary sagacity to account for this animosity. +I am certain, however, we have numerous friends in Buenos Ayres. The +rising generation have, in a manner, grown up with us. Time will wear +away antiquated prejudices, and it will be seen that the calumnies which +have been heaped upon our nation for ages, have not been deserved. Many +fine young Englishmen reside in Buenos Ayres in mercantile and other +employments: this portion associate a great deal with the inhabitants, +with whom they have formed a perfect intimacy. + +I do not expect emigration from England yet, to any great extent. The +English people, in general, have a repugnance to live under foreign +laws, and where the influence of a religion prevails which from +childhood they have been taught to believe is inimical to their own. +But, waving these considerations, they would have little else to +complain of. Here is a rich soil, without any dread of sands and +blights, as at the Cape of Good Hope; and if they cannot amass +a fortune, they are sure to live, and that comfortably. Of the +kind-hearted inhabitants I have already spoken: my countrymen may be +assured, there are no foreigners with whom he will find himself so much +at home as with the Buenos Ayreans. Therefore, I again repeat, that +farmers with a small capital may gain a livelihood--perhaps, more; +labourers are sure of constant employment; and mechanics are ever +in request. The climate is congenial; the government are their sure +protectors; and the people, in spite of every prejudice, esteem our +nation. The age of revolutions, I think, is past; and, during their +utmost violence, strangers were never molested. British vessels from +Liverpool are continually arriving: and the cost of the passage is +moderate. + +Whenever fate conducts me from this country, I shall quit it with regret +for any other place but my native home, and must always feel the most +sincere esteem and gratitude towards the fine and generous people +amongst whom I have so long resided, and where I have enjoyed happiness +I little thought to experience out of Great Britain. I came to Buenos +Ayres somewhat prejudiced, expecting to observe illiberality and +bigotry, in place of the many amiable qualities of which I have found +them possessed; and although I am as complete an home-sick Englishman as +ever quitted his paternal shores, yet such is my attachment to Buenos +Ayres, that I look up to it as my second home, and feel the deepest +interest in its welfare. + + + + +COLONIA DEL SACRAMENTO. + + +I visited Colonia del Sacramento for a short period. It lies east of +Buenos Ayres, distant across the river thirty miles, and may sometimes +be seen from the latter city: when this is the case, it denotes a change +of weather to wind or rain. + +Colonia is fortified both on the land and sea side: heavy guns are +mounted on the lines, and it is capable of making a good defence. It is +now in the possession of the Brazilian government. In December, 1821, +during my abode there, it was occupied by the Portuguese, and 600 +European troops constituted the garrison; they were all light infantry, +and had served in the Peninsular war. I should suppose them a "crack +regiment," for in appearance they fully equalled British troops: the +uniform, brown jackets with black facings, and caps similar to our's. +Most of the officers wore orders for services in Europe. The music +consisted of bugle trumpets. Parade every morning: officers marched +to their guard, colours trooped, and all the evolutions of the parade +in St. James's Park. On Sundays they mustered in their best uniform, +governor attending, for church. I could not but express my admiration, +at the fine order and discipline of the troops, to a Portuguese officer. +He answered, that whatever improvement had taken place, was entirely +owing to British example and instruction; that we had found them a mob, +and transformed them to decent soldiers. It will be long ere Spain can +put forth such troops. + +The officers, in Colonia, were good-looking gentlemanly men, speaking a +little French and English, picked up in campaigning. Many of them had +married, and preferred remaining in the country, when the regiment was +ordered away, turning farmers, cattle dealers, &c. + +The governor (Rodriguez) is a veteran of the Peninsula. Strangers, upon +their arrival, are introduced to him. I found him working in his garden, +at a cottage, near the town: he received me with great civility. How +strangely the Spanish and Portuguese character has been represented +to us at home! I cannot discover that assumption of dignity and pride +attributed to them; on the contrary, they are of very amiable manners. + +In Colonia, the soldiers were much esteemed, and industrious men. A +comparison with those of Buenos Ayres would be invidious. + +The officers must have had a monotonous life, in so dull a place as +Colonia. They were great favourites with the ladies; and, in riding +about the country, visiting, and dancing, whiled away their spare time. + +The soldiers were quartered in different houses: their behaviour +reminded me of the domestic character of our troops; I observed them +nursing children, and busily employed about the house, with nothing of +that swaggering consequence so usual with foreign troops. The Duke of +Wellington discovered and rightly appreciated their merits, which have +brought such renown upon the military annals of Portugal. + +The world are accustomed to speak very slightingly of the Portuguese +character as a nation; and when the deeds in the Peninsula have been +mentioned, it has been said, "they have fought well, because British +bayonets were at their backs." Those same British have done the +Portuguese army the justice their bravery deserves; and the pitiful +sneers of their calumniatos will fall harmless. + +Our saucy sailors, too, in the plenitude of their impudence, must have +their joke at the Portuguese: I remember, upon my first trip to sea, I +was called from the cabin to look at a Portuguese man-of-war, which, +they told me, had just hove in sight: I did look, but no vessel was to +be seen. At last, the sailors pointed out to me a nautilus, with all +sail set, skimming along the water which they asserted, was a Portuguese +ship of the line. + +Colonia has about 800 inhabitants. There are very few good houses: the +greater part may be called huts, and are occupied by a mixture of South +Americans, old Spaniards, Portuguese, and some half-dozen of Englishmen +married to South-American ladies. + +The governor's house is a very ordinary building. The streets are +irregular; and the town altogether presents a most miserable appearance. + +The town cannot afford a tavern; there is only a paltry billiard-room, +in a public house, to which the Portuguese officers resorted. + +The inhabitants of Colonia are very hospitable. I attended a birth-day +feast, at one of their _quintas_; forty persons sat down to a dinner +of beef, fowls, turkey, pastry, &c. The wine went merrily round, under +a continual call for _bompas_ (bumpers); and after dinner, there was +dancing. Some Portuguese officers were present, with their young Spanish +wives. + +At those dinner parties, they have a practice of throwing bits of bread +at each other; and I felt some degree of surprise at first receiving +those bread shots. + +The captain of the port, Mr. Short, is an Englishman, belonging to the +Portuguese navy, and is very attentive to his countrymen, whom business +may call there: the same may be said of Mr. Bridgman, who has been many +years resident in the town. + +Colonia has but little trade. Small craft from Monte Video and Buenos +Ayres, bound up the river to Paysan Lee, &c. and sometimes British and +other vessels call in, to ship produce. A vessel can anchor within a +quarter of a mile from the shore, in 3½ fathom water. The harbour is +good, considering the bad anchorage of this river. There is a constant +communication overland with Monte Video; the distance is about 150 +miles. To load vessels of any burthen, craft are sent from Buenos Ayres. +There is a dangerous reef near the harbour, on which a British brig (the +_Euxine_) was wrecked, in March, 1824. + +Our ships of war, stationed in the outer roads of Buenos Ayres, send +their boats for brush-wood to the Island of St. Gabriel, near Colonia. +The church is a conspicuous land-mark, and looks very much like an +English country church, in its exterior; the interior has nothing of +splendour to boast--no organ, or decorations; the service is confided to +some poor old priests, who are fast approaching their earthly end. + +If Colonia in itself has nothing attractive, the country around makes +ample amends, being interspersed with small hills, dales, lakes, and +agreeable rides--affording a fine field to the sportsman. The prospect +of the river is uninterrupted, assuming the appearance of a perfect sea. +Here is every facility for bathing: the water is clear and bracing. This +side of the river, in point of scenery, is far beyond the Buenos Ayrean: +an Englishman, however, regards it with almost equal indifference. If +any particular view is pointed out, Sussex, Kent, Devonshire, crowd +upon his thoughts; in comparison with which, the flat coast and few +diminutive hills of this part of South America appear insignificant. + +In the environs of Colonia are many comfortable _quintas_, or +farm-houses. Provisions are dearer than in Buenos Ayres, and the beef +is not so good. + +In the neighbourhood are found the birds called cardinals, from having +a tuft of feathers upon their heads shaped like a cardinal's hat. Their +plumage is pretty; and they sing. Care is required to convey them safe +to Europe. + +The air plant is a singular production of this place; it grows on +bushes, and will thrive in the open air, without the aid of mould. + +I think it possible, a few years hence, that Colonia may start from its +present inferiority, and take a station commensurate with the advantages +it possesses as a port in the river Plate. It was occupied by a division +of our army in 1807. History reminds us of our countryman, Penrose, and +the mishaps he encountered here in 1762. + +Lately, the church and several houses have been damaged, and some lives +lost, by the blowing up of a magazine of gunpowder. + +The occupation of the Banda Oriental by the Portuguese, and now by the +Brazilians, has been the subject of a strong remonstrance from the +government of Buenos Ayres. The original plea of the disturbed state of +the country, and danger thereby to the neighbouring Brazilian provinces, +no longer existing, Don Valentin Gomez[37] was sent to Rio Janeiro, but +returned without accomplishing his object. The Brazilian flag still +waves, and is likely to do so, from the fortresses of Monte Video, +Colonia, Maldonado, and the adjacent country. I am not aware upon +what arguments the Brazilians determine to keep their hold, excepting +possibly that of "might constituting right." Buenos Ayres would seem +its more natural protector. A portion of the inhabitants, it is likely, +prefer that the country should remain under its present masters, +satisfied with the manner in which authority has been exercised, and +dreading revolutions. + + [37] Senor Don Valentin Gomez belongs to the clergy: he has talents + and eloquence, and is withal a handsome man, with a face as rosy as an + English fox-hunter. As he was returning from Rio, in the British brig + _Agenoria_, the brig struck upon the English bank in the river Plate, + on the 11th March, 1824: there were eleven passengers on board. + The captain left the vessel to get assistance, which was promptly + dispatched from Buenos Ayres; but before any thing effectual could be + done, eleven persons had quitted the wreck, on four rafts: one was + picked up by a Portuguese vessel, containing five persons, who, after + enduring great misery, arrived at Rio Janeiro; of the other three + no tidings have since been heard. Those that remained on the wreck, + amongst whom was Mr. Gomez, and Mr. George Brittain, an Englishman, + were preserved: they, too, encountered great privations. This + misfortune caused great anxiety in Buenos Ayres, from the extensive + connections of Senor Gomez, and his secretary, Lucca, a young man of + considerable acquirements, and who was one that perished. The brig of + war, in the outer roads, was ordered to signalize, should she gain + information from vessels arriving; and, on doing so, the Fort fired a + gun, and hoisted a flag; crowds went to the beach. Upon Padre Gomez's + arrival, he was met by relations and friends, the females crying + for joy. The sufferings of the Padre had not blanched the roses in + his cheeks: he came on shore as blooming as ever. Blame has been + attributed to the captain: he had often navigated this river, and, + perhaps, was too confident. A Danish and American ship passed at the + time of the wreck, and have been much censured for not rendering + assistance. + +The old Spanish part of the population bear no particular love to the +Patriots: of the two, it is doubtful which they hate most, the Patriots +or the English. + +Buenos Ayres would find it difficult to dislodge the Brazilians by +force, though there are advocates for this measure. Prudence, I trust, +will guide their resolves; and if injustice has been perpetrated, let +revenge be deferred until it can be securely taken. The separation, +after centuries of fellowship, and falling under foreign dominion, must +be galling. + +If Buenos Ayres held the Banda Oriental, she would be a powerful state, +which it is the policy of the court of Rio de Janeiro to prevent. Its +fortresses, fine climate and country, improving population, influx of +emigrants, under a strong government, would make even the empire of +Brazil to look about them. However, such an event is distant; every +thing leads me to think its present occupants will long keep possession. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + + RULES of the PORT of Buenos Ayres; DUES to be paid by Foreign and + National Vessels; PENALTIES to which those are subject who violate + the Laws of the Police, or who attempt to destroy in any manner + the line of Buoys established on the Ortiz and Chico Banks, Mount + Santiago, and Point Lara, or those which the Government may + hereafter establish on other points of the river for the safety + of navigators. + + +RULES OF THE PORT. + +Article 1. The guard ship, in the inner roads, on observing a vessel +anchor in the outer roads, will hoist a red flag at the mizen mast, as +a signal to the captain of the vessel which has arrived, to proceed +towards the shore in his boat. + +2. The said captain, taking with him his papers, will go on board the +guard ship. + +3. On the arrival of the boat, the commandant of the guard ship will +desire her to anchor astern, and will then hoist a yellow flag, for the +health boat to come and pass the visit. + +4. The commandant of the guard ship must not permit any communication +between his crew and those of the boat, until after the health visit. + +5. The captain will be interrogated by the health and war visit; and if +he does not answer truly, he will be tried by the laws of the country. + +6. If the weather will not permit the health-boat to pass the visit, the +commandant of the guard-ship will wait till they make signals from the +shore. Those signals will generally be, to permit the boat of the vessel +which has arrived to disembark on the quay. If, nevertheless, the +weather be too boisterous, and the boat cannot come on shore, the +commandant of the guard-ship may permit the crew to go on board him, and +then the guard-ship herself will be considered in a state of quarantine, +and must not communicate with any person, be who they may, until after +the health visit has passed. + +7. When the health visit has fulfilled her office, the commandant of +the guard-ship will strike the red and yellow flags, mentioned in the +Articles 1st and 3d. + +8. Having permission to communicate with the shore, captains will +present themselves at the Captain of the Port's office, where they will +fully inform him of the police of the port. + +9. On arriving at the anchorage of Point Lara, captains who wish to +enter the port of Ensenada, will hoist a flag at the mizen-mast, proceed +to the vicinity of the fortress, and there wait the health and war +visit. They are expressly forbidden to communicate with any person, +under the penalties established by the quarantine laws. + +10. Ships of war are an exception; they are not required to conform to +the above articles. + +11. All ships of war, in which the crew may be attacked by a contagious +disorder, will hoist a yellow flag, and be subject to the laws of +quarantine. + + +ANCHORAGE DUES. + +For foreign vessels, by the ton, four reals. + +For national vessels, from foreign parts, two reals. + +The dues mentioned in the two preceding articles must be paid, half on +arrival, and half on the departure of the vessel. + +National and foreign vessels, which neither take nor receive cargo, will +only pay half the dues mentioned above. + +Foreign vessels will pay, besides, on their entry, twelve dollars for +the health visit, and twelve dollars more upon their departure for the +health certificate. + +National vessels only pay half for the visit and the health certificate. + +The charges for pilots are included in the anchorage dues. + + +POLICE OF THE PORT. + +Article 1. Every vessel anchored in the port of Buenos Ayres must +mutually render each other assistance, in case of drifting, or other +risk of average. Those who refuse will be subject to the sentence and +penalties prescribed by law. + +2. In consequence of the little depth of water, it is expressly +enjoined to every vessel anchored in the port to have on its anchors +correspondent buoys, as vessels coming in and going out, not seeing +the buoys, run a risk of striking on the anchors. Those who fail using +precaution in this respect will be responsible for the averages and +losses that may result from it. + +3. Vessels which have not buoys will give notice to the Captain of the +Port, who will send some, with a pilot to place them. The anchor must +not be raised without a permission to that effect. + +4. At the moment of anchoring, the regular pilots will take care to +inform the captains, that they may provide themselves with every thing +necessary for the anchorage of their vessels; and if the pilot discovers +an infraction of this article, he will immediately inform the Captain +of the Port, under the penalty of being himself punished with all the +rigour prescribed by law, as negligence in this respect may cause the +greatest losses and averages. + +5. If, in consequence of bad weather, the anchors and cables of a vessel +fail to hold, and it can be proved that those same cables and anchors +do not correspond with the size of the vessel, or that the cables were +in bad condition, then the said vessel shall be responsible for the +averages that may be occasioned thereby. + +6. Every vessel from foreign parts, who moor themselves in the port, +without asking for a pilot at the Captain of the Port's office, will +be, by this proceeding, responsible for all the averages which may be +occasioned thereby, and will have no right of claim, in case they suffer +damage themselves. + +7. Every vessel anchored, who may have its long boat or boat astern, +and, seeing another vessel under sail, neglects to haul them up out of +the way, not only will forfeit the right to claim in case of average, +but will even be responsible for that which such negligence may +occasion. + +8. It is expressly forbidden to every vessel in the port to throw any +thing into the water, of their ballast, or any other object that does +not float, under the penalties prescribed by law. + +9. It is forbidden to each vessel, under any pretext whatever, except at +the moment of her arrival, to fire salutes, in the inner roads at least, +without having first obtained permission of the Captain of the Port. The +captain of a vessel who infringes upon this article, will be placed at +the disposal of the government. + +10. Boats belonging to vessels anchored in the outer and inner roads +must go on board one hour after sun-set. + +11. All boats found on shore after the evening gun, and until the +morning gun has been fired, will be dismantled, and the crew punished +according to the case and circumstances. + + +PENALTIES TO WHICH THOSE ARE LIABLE WHO DESTROY IN ANY MANNER THE LINE +OF BUOYS ESTABLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT. + +Article 1. To throw a kedge anchor, or hold on in any manner whatever to +the said buoys, the punishment of the galleys. + +2. Those who take them away, or change their places, unless it be by the +authority of government, will be punished with all the rigour of the +law, even to the penalty of death. + +3. They will punish equally those who make a fire on the said buoys, or +by any other means attempt to destroy them. + +4. Every captain will receive, on his arrival, a copy of these +regulations; the cost of which will be included in the dues of the port. + + +The Government approves the above regulations, orders them to be +printed, and fixes the price of each copy at two reals, to be +distributed according to the tenor of the last article. + + (Signed) HERAS. + By order of the Government, + (Signed) IGNACIO ALVAREZ. + +_Buenos Ayres, July,_ 1824. + + * * * * * + + + INSTRUCTIONS for sailing from the Outer Roads of Buenos Ayres to Monte + Video, by the North and South of the Chico Bank. + +_By the North, or Main Channel._ + +1. From three fathoms in the outer roads, steer E. by S. by the compass, +until Point Santiago of the Ensenada of Barragan bears S.W. by the +compass. Off this point, you will find from 5½ to 6 fathoms of water, +according to the state of the river. + +2. When the above-mentioned point bears S.W. steer E.N.E. until you make +the Ortiz Bank, which will be when you lessen your water to 3 or 3½ +fathoms. This bank may be approached, on the South side, without danger, +as the water diminishes gradually. It is a very good guide to navigate +in the night, or in thick weather. + +3. From 3 fathoms on the Ortiz Bank, steer S.E. by the compass, until +you make Point Indio. In this track, you will deepen your water to 5 or +5½ fathoms, crossing the middle channel, according to the state of the +river. Passing the middle of the channel, the water diminishes +gradually, according as you near the land. + +4. When you think you are about 7, 8, or 9 miles from the land, which +will be in 3¼ or 3½ fathoms of water, steer E.S.E. and coast it along. + +5. When Point Indio bears S.W. by the compass, steer N.E. by E. until +you see Monte Video, which may be seen about 30 or 33 miles distant from +the top of a common-sized vessel. Keeping your course N.E. by E. you +will continue in 3½ fathoms of water, until you find yourself 6 or 7 +leagues from Monte Video. + +6. When you find 5 fathoms of water, you will be 9 or 10 miles from the +harbour of Monte Video. + +From the said 5 fathoms to the harbour, it will lessen to 2½. + + +_By the South of the Chico Bank._ + +1. From 3 fathoms in the outer roads, steer E. by S. as before, until +you have 6 fathoms off Ensenada. + +Before you lose sight of the town of Quilmes, you can see Point Lara, +which is easily known by a grove on the side of the river. + +S.E. of Point Lara, there is a large _ombu_ tree on Mr. Wright's +_stancia_, distant about 2½ miles. + +E.S.E. of Point Lara is the Point and Mount of Santiago, easily seen at +the distance of 7 miles. + +2. Having passed the bank of Ensenada, which runs out about 5 miles from +Point Lara to the N.E. by N. steer S.E. by compass, until you find +yourself 5 or 6 miles from land. + +3. When 5 or 6 miles from land, steer E.S.E. by compass, to keep along +the shore. + +Before you lose sight of Point Santiago, you will see the _ombu_ tree of +the Balandra to the E.S.E. distant about 14 miles, and is one of those +nearest the river. + +From this _ombu_, the N.W. point of the Chico Bank bears N. 30° E. +Keeping an E.S.E. course, after you have run a short distance, you will +see Point Atalaya, resembling two mounts. Keeping still on the same +course, you will see many _ombu_ trees; and when you have run about +six miles, you will see a large grove of them, where lies the town of +Magdalene. The church of Magdalene is easily discovered, having two +steeples, the largest at the east. + +From this church, the S.W. point of the Chico Bank bears N. 15° E. by +the compass. + +Between the Chico Bank and the land, the least water you find is between +the S.E. point and the coast; when the river is low, you have generally +about 17 feet. + +Having passed the church, you may keep farther from the shore, as you +have likewise passed the Chico Bank; and keeping on your course E.S.E. +you will see four _ombu_ trees, being the last you will see. + +After passing the last _ombu_ trees, the shore is level, with shrubs, +grass, turfs, and junks, until you make Point Indio, about 15 miles +distant. + +Point Indio is low level land, with only one tree on it; and to the S.E. +you can see two large groves of tallow wood and espinillos. + +These mounts are near Point Piedras and Point Indio. + +From Point Indio, the S.E. part of the Ortiz Bank bears N. 30° E. by +compass, distant about 14 miles. + + * * * * * + + + INSTRUCTIONS for sailing from Monte Video to Buenos Ayres, when + passing by the Channels to the North and to the South of the Chico + Bank. + +_By the North side of the Chico Bank._ + +1. Being athwart the points which form the Port of Monte Video, steer to +the S.W. of the compass for the space of thirty miles. + +2. Then change to the W.S.W. of the compass, until you can make out la +Punta del Indio, or Point Indian. + +3. Having made Cape Indian, steer to the W. of the compass, until the +bearing of the said Cape be at S.S.W. distant 7 or 8 miles. + +4. As soon as you have the Cape Indian to the S.S.W. of the compass, +steer to the N.W. in order to make the two first buoys of the Ortiz +Bank, which you will approach at the distance of about one or half a +mile, being cautious to have 15 feet water, in case there should be +little water in the river. + +5. Here, you will change your course to the W. of the compass, taking +care to pass to the distance of the two last buoys, which are to the +N.W. of Chico Bank; for if the river should ebb with rapidity, and there +should be a strong current on the larboard-tack, you would run the risk +to pass too near. Continue to steer to the W. by which means you will +make out Ensenada, and the Point Lara, which last you will recognise by +a tufted tree, called the _ombu_, which is to the S.E. of this point; +and on the brink of the river, before you are out of sight of Point +Lara, you will perceive a small wood of _ombus_, situated on the hill +of the village of Quilmes; afterwards you will see the towers of Buenos +Ayres, and the vessels anchored in the roads, towards which you will +direct yourself. + + +_From Punta del Indio, or Cape Indian, passing to the Southward of the +Chico Bank._ + +_Observation, to know La Punta del Indio, or Cape Indian._--Making +sail to the N.W. at a distance of about 7 or 8 miles from La Punta de +Piedras, or Point Piedras, you observe, to the N.W. of this Point, two +woods of _talas_ (American trees), visible at a distance of about 7 +miles from the said Cape. + +To the N.W. of this wood of _talas_, there is a plain, which extends +about 4 miles. You will perceive then a small wood, or copse, remarkable +by a tree of _tala_, which forms the Point of Cape Indian. + +When you have made the Cape Indian to the S.S.W. distance about 7 to +8 miles, steer to the W.N.W. of the compass; you will discover three +_ombus_ (tufted trees) upon the hills, upon the land of the Magdalene, +distant about one league from the river. Continuing your course, you +will observe six _ombus_, situated in the Village of Magdalene, and +which appear to be on the same line; at the fifth _ombu_ you will +perceive the Church, with its two little towers; that of the E. is +larger than that of the W. Observe, that the first buoy, placed to the +S.E. of the Bank Chico, is to the N. 15° E. of the compass from this +church. + +In making the first _ombu_ S.S.W. of the compass, at a distance from +land of about 6 miles, you will see, with a spy-glass, to the N.W. in +running over the horizon, and of the elevation of an ordinary-size +vessel. When the weather is clear, and a smooth sea, you will see just +5 miles distance, the buoy which is placed upon the Bank Chico, and upon +a bottom of 3 fathoms. To the W.N.W. of this buoy, distance of 3 miles, +there is only 1½ fathom. In passing one mile to the S. of this same +buoy, you will discover another to the W. ¾ N.W. distant 4 miles. When +you have passed the second buoy, you can sail without any fear to the +W.N.W. at a distance from land of about 7 or 8 miles; because the Bank +Chico pointed out by the second buoy remains to the N.N.W. of the +compass. + +Passing the two buoys situated to the S.E. of the Bank Chico, and +continuing to sail W.N.W. you will distinguish several _ombus_ situated +upon some hills. When you close in the two small woods of _talas_, upon +the side of the river, then you close in to the Point of the Atalaya, +and arrive to the small wood, or copse of _talas_, you will have passed +the Bank Chico. + +Leaving the copse of _talas_, the coast is very low, and presents small +regions of sand, to a distance of about 6 miles; that which follows, and +which is more raised, is the Forest of Santiago of the Ensenada: to the +end of this Forest, there is three leagues of length; it is the Point, +or Cape de Santiago of Ensenada of Barragan: arrived there, follow the +same directions that have been given in the first course from Monte +Video to Buenos Ayres. + + +_Observations._ + +In the passage from Monte Video to the Southern Coast, the bottom is +bad, as well as in the environs of Cape Indian. + +From Cape Indian, as far as the first _ombu_, situated upon the land of +the Magdalene, you must not anchor nearer than 6 or 7 miles from the +shore, because there is a ridge of rocks, which extends itself to more +than 5 miles, and on which anchors will not hold. + + +_Variation of Depth of Water from Monte Video to Buenos Ayres, between +the Banks Ortiz and Chico._ + +Leaving Monte Video, having the Cape to the S.W. you will find 2½ or 3 +fathoms of water; at 9 miles, you will find 5 fathoms; at 18 miles from +thence, you will not find more than 3½ fathoms; at 30 miles farther, you +will have a quarter of a fathom less; proceed 33 miles farther, and the +sounding lead will give you once more 3½ fathoms; in short you will find +the same depth of 3½ fathoms, until you find yourself within six miles +of the Southern Coast. + +From Cape Indian, with the 3½ fathoms, steering to N.W. towards the Bank +Ortiz, the sounding lead will give you from 4½ to 5 fathoms, according +as the river flows or ebbs; when you do not find more than 3 fathoms, +then you will be on the brink of the Bank Ortiz. + +From the 3 fathoms from the brink of the Bank Ortiz, steer to the W. +towards Buenos Ayres; your soundings will increase progressively from 5½ +to 6 fathoms, according as the river is either low or high. + +At the commencement of the 6 fathoms, you will make the Point of +Santiago of Ensenada to the S.W. of the compass. + +This same depth of water continues, until you find yourself N. & S. with +the Point or Cape Lara. Keep always steering to the W. of the compass, +as before mentioned, and the soundings will diminish to 3 fathoms. If, +during this passage, the river ebbed, you would have 3 fathoms from the +Village des Quilmes. + +By the course, and the differences of soundings above-mentioned, you +will be able to navigate by night, or when the weather will not permit +you to make out the marks. + +Between the two Buoys which are placed to the N.W. of the Bank Chico and +Ortiz, you will find 5½ and 6 fathoms, according as the river is high or +low. + +Between the Banks Chico and Ortiz, the anchorage is good, and the +anchors hold tolerably well. + +In the environs of the Bank Ortiz, vessels are less subject to part from +their anchors, because the bottom is mud and sand. + +From the Cape Indian to Buenos Ayres, the currents flow from the E.S.E. +to the W.N.W.; their rapidity is much about from 1½ to 2 miles an hour. + +In tacking, when the wind is contrary, a great deal of way can be made +by means of the currents. + +From the S.E. extremity of the Bank Ortiz, to the S.E. extremity of +the Bank Chico, as you gradually proceed up the river, you will find +yourself nearer the Bank Ortiz than the land; you will keep taking from +3 fathoms along the chain of rocks which run along the coast, until 3 +short fathoms on the side of the Bank Ortiz. Observe, that during this +tack, when you find yourself in 4 or 4½ fathoms, you are then nearer the +bank than the land. + +Having doubled the Bank Ortiz, you can safely proceed until you have 3 +fathoms of water; for the depth diminishes gradually. + +In tacking about between the Bank Chico and Ortiz, you can, as before +said, run your tacks upon all the points of the Bank Ortiz as long as +you are in 3 fathoms water. But in the tacks which you run upon the Bank +Chico, you must put about ship as soon as the sounding line does not +give you more than 4 fathoms, because this bank is full of pointed +rocks, particularly at the place where the second buoy is placed, upon +the point from the N.W. to the S.E.; it is also equally rocky from the +first buoy to the S.E. as far as three miles to the W.N.W. because on +the two points you find no more than 1½ fathom water. + + * * * * * + + +POSITIONS of the TEN BUOYS placed on different Banks in the River Plate. + +_Upon the Bank Chico there are Four Red Buoys._ + +1st. Is placed at the S.E. extremity of the Bank Chico, on a bottom of 3 +fathoms. From this Point, you make the Magdalene Church at the S. 15° W. +of the compass. + +2d. Is placed at the S. extremity of the Bank, on a bottom of 3 fathoms. +It is situated at the W. ¼ N.W. of the first, distant 4 miles: you make +the Church, at 15° E. + +3d. Is situated to the N. ¼ N.W. of the second, distant 4 miles, upon a +bottom of 1½ fathom; it is in the middle of the Bank. You make the Point +of Atalaya to the S.W. of the compass. + +4th. Is placed at the N.W. extremity of the Bank, on a bottom of 3 +fathoms, to the W.N.W. of the third, distant 4 miles. You make the Point +of Atalaya to the S. 24° W. of the compass, distant 10½ miles. + + +_Upon the Bank Ortiz are placed Four Black Buoys._ + +1st. Is at the S.E. extremity of the Bank Ortiz, on a bottom of 3 +fathoms. From the buoy, you make Cape Indian to the S.W. ¼ S. of the +compass: you will, at the same time, see, from the deck of a vessel of +an ordinary size, and on a clear day, the buoy, and the coast of Cape +Indian. + +2d. Is at the S. extremity of the Bank Ortiz, on a bottom of 3 fathoms, +and to the N.N.E. of the buoy of the S.E. of the Bank Chico. + +3d. Is placed upon the side of the Bank Ortiz, on a bottom of 3 fathoms, +to the N.N.E. of the middle of the Bank Chico. + +4th. Finds itself upon the Bank Ortiz, by 3 fathoms, and to the N. of +the one of the N.W. of the Bank Chico. + + +_To the Ensenada de Barragan, on the Banks of Santiago and Lara, are +placed Two Black Buoys._ + +1st. Black Buoy is upon the Bank of Santiago, in 3 fathoms: the bearing +of this buoy has the Point of the Santiago to the S. 28° E. and Point +Lara to the S. 53° W. of the compass. + +2nd. Black Buoy is placed upon the Bank Lara, on a bottom of two +fathoms, on the bearing of Point Lara to the S.E. ¼ S. and the Point +of Santiago to the S. 63° E. + +These two buoys are placed to warn Navigators to pass to the Northward. + + +_Observations._ + +The Bank Chico is not parallel with the S. coast, because, from the +first buoy of S.E. you take the bearing of the third buoy to the N. 42° +W. of the compass. This bank is nine miles in length. + +This Bank forms to the N. a pretty considerable bay; it extends itself +from the buoy of the S.E. to a distance of 4 miles to the N.W. In the +middle of this bay, you have 3½ fathoms; but in steering to the S.S.W. +of the compass, at a distance of 150 fathoms, you will only find 1½ +fathom. + +In the S. part, this bank forms another bay; it extends itself from the +buoy of the N.W. as far as that of the Point of the S. in the direction +of the S.E. ¼ S. distance about 6 miles; and in all this bay, in +following the edge of the bank, there is 3½ fathom water. + + + + +THE END. + + +Printed by R. Macdonald, 30, Great Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, London. + + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber's Note: Some page numbers listed in the Table of Contents + have been changed to more accurately denote the appropriate page. No + attempt has been made to standardize spelling inconsistencies within + this text. However, a few printing errors have been amended and noted + within the following table. + + Page | Original Word | Amended Word + -----+---------------+------------- + vii | Processsion | Procession + 11 | Saliors | Sailors + 20 | Dominician | Dominican + 38 | subscriber. | subscriber.[9] + 48 | bilghted | blighted + 130 | musc | music + 139 | Gregogorio | Gregorio + 163 | orignal | original + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Five Years' Residence in Buenos Ayres, by +George Thomas Love + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42482 *** |