ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



1041 



chains of gold and pearls twisted ia 

 and out with their shining black 

 hair, which all the ladies have in 

 great profusion; and their bosoms 

 were covered with solitaires, com- 

 posed of every dilferent kind of 

 jewels, pearls, and gold, but no fea- 

 thers or flowers. 



" I danced a saraband with donna 

 Joscfina Theresia Iboriola, a young 

 lady of great beauty and accomplish- 

 ments ; she is a visitor with her 

 father and mother at the com- 

 mandant's. They are residents at 

 Cordovo, where Josefina was born. 



" Donna Louisa equalled in splen- 

 dour the richest lady present. She 

 is the most lively and entertaining 

 female 1 ever conversed with ; and 

 is, with her husband don Manuel, ad- 

 mired by all their acquaintance. 



" The paltry distin(5iions of rank 

 are here laid aside ; and from the 

 freedom of conversation I am inclin- 

 ed to think that French liberty and 

 equality have stolen into New Spain. 

 If so, and the contagion should 

 spread, I believe some very material 

 alterations will take place before 

 long." 



After remarking upon the few 

 things worth describing in Buenos 

 Ayres, which, although itself the 

 capital of so vast a country, and the 

 .see of a bishop, has but little in it 

 worthy the attention of a traveller, 

 Mr. Davie thus describes it : 



" Its site, indeed, is considerable 

 enough, if it were but better occu- 

 pied. The suburbs, which are prin- 

 cipally inhabifed by meslizes and 

 negroes, arc;, in appearance, some- 

 what similar to that part of London 

 uhirh lies about Shoreditch ami 

 Whitechapei- I mean the loicest 

 part of it — but a hundred times 

 more miserable and filfliy. The 

 middle of the city is better, and 



Vol. XLVn. 



some of the principal streets have a 

 show of opulence and taste that is 

 very agreeable; roost of the houses 

 that have been built within these last 

 fifty years are of stone, but none of 

 them exceed two stories in height, 

 the greater number are but one. 

 The calle del Santa Trinidada. or 

 street of the holy Trinity, and the 

 cdlle del San Benito, or street of St. 

 Bencdift, are by far the haTidsomest 

 of the whole. The former, which 

 faces the great door of the cathedral, 

 and runs almost the whole length of 

 the town, is very regularly built, 

 and occupied only by the better sort 

 of the inhabitants. Almost every 

 house has a garden both before and 

 behind ; and all those that can afford 

 it have balconies, with sun-shades 

 and lattice-work, adorned with the 

 most beautiful shrubs and flowers 

 that the earth produces. Here the 

 family sit best part of the day, and 

 night too when they are not visiting, 

 and take their coffee or chocolate, 

 and play on their guitars and man- 

 dolines ; most of the ladies have fme 

 voices, so that the man who strolls - 

 about the town in the evening may 

 enjoy the pleasure of a concert ^ra- 

 tis as he passes along. 



" The cathedral, which is built ia 

 a kind of Grecian architecture, is a 

 noble building, and deserves a better 

 metropolis : it has a cupola of very 

 excellent workmanship, and a por- 

 tico to the western door, the design 

 and execution of which would do 

 honour to the most celebrated artist ; 

 it resembles very strongly that of 

 our St. Martin's-in-thc-ficlds, which 

 is so universally admired. The ca- 

 thedral was, I understand, the work 

 of the Jesuits before their expulsion. 

 The interior of this edifice is, if any 

 thing, too richly ornamented with 

 <;arving and gilding, which gives it 



3 X rather 



