128 Notes written during a lots Residence at Buenos Ayres. [March I, 



Spaniiutls declare that tlicy would not 

 leave one stone upon another nor a 

 Creole alive ; that they would reduce 

 them to such ohedience that not a 

 breath should be heard. Tliese Euro- 

 peans are cruel, perfidious, supersti- 

 tious, and bifjoteii ; and not more than 

 one in a thousand lias the least idea of 

 liberty or of any rational government. 



Most of the labour is ])erformfd by 

 negro slaves, but negro labour whether 

 by slaves or freemen, is unpleasant and 

 <leai-. 



Compared with other slave-holders, 

 the Spaniards are humane, yet tiie 

 slaves neither are nor (hiiik tliemselves 

 ■well off, the chain thougli light is still 

 a chain. Tliey are carefully instructed 

 in the Catholic religion, and this serves 

 strongly to bind them (o their masters. 

 To an African Negro, even more than 

 to a Spaniard, tiie ceremonies and 

 pomps of this religion appear divine. 



The Oeole labourers arc iew and 

 ■worthless, their pridf? and laziness are 

 increased by the luilf military educa- 

 tion they are re<'eiving, and by the 

 number of festival days. 



The best labourers in the country 

 are the civilized Indians of Paraguay, 

 who" come down to llnenos Ayres in 

 great numbers, wliere thej' earn three 

 <iuarters of a dollar and a dollar p(;r 

 day. In th<iir own counti'V (liey earn 

 about lid. per day, a Si)anish ([uar- 

 tillo. I'liey are the most honest, in- 

 dustrious and trusty people in tliispart 

 of South Amtjrica. They aie mild, 

 patient, and reserved, and always as- 

 sociate with their own countrymen, 

 never with {\u\ Creoles. I have never 

 met with one who was not able (o read 

 and write ; and believe there arc few of 

 them who have not that degree of in- 

 struction. •They speak their own lan- 

 guage and Spanish, but generally write 

 the latter. In their own language tiiere 

 are no numeralshigher than four, at five 

 they begin lo count in Spanish. It has 

 no gutteral sound ; most of (heir words 

 end in a slight h, which the Spaniards 

 cannot pronounce, as they make it 

 i;-iittural, like the c/; of the fiermans. 

 This, in Euglisli, might be written 

 /i/.72, combining the sounds of the A and 

 k. TJH'se poor fellows are impressed 

 conliunally for the military aad naval 

 sei'vice of the state. From Paraguay 

 are bnnight molasses, sugar, rum, to- 

 ba(;co, and Ilieir tea or cna^ besides 

 palms, for the roofs of houses, and 

 various kinds of timber. Similar ar- 

 ticles are brought from (iie Brazils. 



Parties of Pampas Indians frequently 

 come to town to sell horses, furs, and 

 f,ome ponchos, rugs, &c. which they in 

 part bring from Chili, and in part make 

 themselves. In the wintei' they bring 

 partridges, &c. to the market. They 

 are robust savages, generally of a good 

 height ; some very tall ; are clothed in 

 rugs, ponchos^ and furs; "their heads, 

 arms, and legs, remaining uucovered. 

 The dress of the women is the same, 

 except tliat, when on horsebiick, tliev 

 wear broad flat hats, and a kind of 

 boots, studded with brass buttons. 

 Like the men, they sit astride on horse- 

 back. They arc all extremely addicted 

 to spirituous li(juors ; their food is |)rin- 

 cipally hoi-se flesh. M-liieh they eat iu 

 j)reference to beef. They spend nearly 

 all their time in riding, and are saixl to 

 use their horses with the greatest kind- 

 ness. 



The form of government at Buenos 

 Ayres is, in theory,republican ; it con- 

 sists of an assembly, a cnbildo, and a 

 j)resideut. The assembly was intended 

 to consist of deputies from all the pro- 

 vinces, but these have never yet met, 

 except in part. 



The cabildii consists of the reprtisen- 

 tatives of tlie town, elected for one 

 yeiir; after the first time they supply 

 their own vacancies, so that this body 

 is become a complete aristocracy. 



The presider.t is elected by these two 

 bodies to serve four years. He is ge- 

 nerally a military oilicer. 



In practice, this government has 

 been, and is entirely military, because 

 they have had no time to eslablish 

 laws, and the laws of (he old Spaniards 

 are very little better than nothing. 

 They are poor, indeed ; their troops 

 are ill-clotlied and unpaid ; tiiey are 

 seen continually, both blacks and 

 whites, on guard, and parading bare- 

 foot, and sometimes without shirts or 

 breeches, biif instead, a chiripa, which 

 is like a Highlander's kilt. Twice a 

 day, that is, at dinner and supper, they 

 are allowed as much boiled beef as they 

 can eat ; occasionally they have; an al- 

 lowance of bread or biscuit, but this is 

 by no means constant. 



The whole army of the state, in dif- 

 ferent parts, has, iu general, amounted 

 to eight or ten thousand men. Blacks, 

 v.-hites, mulaftocs, and Indians consti- 

 tute tiie motley mass. In spite of tiie 

 discouraging circumstance of having no 

 pay, &c. tliey are a disciplined, obedi- 

 ent, and brave body of men, hardy and 

 robust in jM^rson. The Indians and 

 wiiites 



