STATE OF SOCIETY. 201 



Tho character of the higher and more educated 

 classes who reside in the towns, partakes, but per- 

 haps in a lesser degi'ee, of the good parts of tho 

 Gaucho, but is, I fear, stained by many vices of 

 which he is free. Sensuality, mockery of all reli- 

 gion, and the gi-ossest corruption, are far from un- 

 common. Nearly every public officer can be bribed. 

 The head man in the post-office sold forged gov- 

 ernment franks. The governor and prime minis- 

 ter openly combined to plunder the state. Justice, 

 where gold came into jjlay, was hardly expected 

 by any one. I knew an Englishman, who went to 

 the Chief-justice (he told me, that not then under- 

 standing the ways of the place, he trembled as he 

 entered the room), and said, " Sir, I have come to 

 offer you two hundred (paper) dollars (value about 

 five pounds sterling) if you will ai'rest before a cer- 

 tain time a man who has cheated me. I know it 

 is against the law, but my lawyer (naming him) 

 recommended me to take this step." The Chief- 

 justice smiled acquiescence, thanked him, and tlie 

 man before night was safe in prison. With this 

 entire want of principle in many of the leading 

 men, with the country full of ill-paid turbulent of- 

 ficers, the people yet hope that a democratic form 

 of government can succeed ! 



On first entering society in these countries, two 

 or three featui'es strike one as particularly remark- 

 able. The polite and dignified manners pervading 

 every rank of life, the excellent taste displayed by 

 the women in their dresses, and the equality amongst 

 all ranks. At the Rio Colorado some men who 

 kept the humblest shops used to dine with General 

 Rosas. A son of a ma,jor at Bahia Blanca gained 

 his livelihood by making paper cigars, and he 

 wished to accompany me, as guide or servant, to 

 Buenos Ayres. but his father objected on the score 



