58 



THE LADIES OF SAN BLAS. 



people everywhere fastening up their windows, 

 locking their doors, and marching off with the 

 keys ; leaving the greater part of their property 

 behind them, unguarded by anything but the pes- 

 tilence of the climate. The better classes rode 

 away on horseback, leaving their baggage to fol- 

 low on mules ; but the finances of the greater 

 part of the inhabitants did not admit of this : and 

 we saw many interesting family groups, where 

 the very aged and the very young people were 

 huddled on mules, already loaded with goods and 

 with furniture ; while the men and the women, 

 and the stouter children, walked by their sides — 

 a scene from which a painter might have collected 

 innumerable subjects of interest. 



A city without people is, at any time, a strange 

 and anomalous circumstance ; but it seemed pe- 

 culiarly so to us, by our friends leaving us day by 

 day, till at length we found ourselves compara- 

 tively alone in the deserted town. The governor 

 and his family, and one or two other officers of 

 government, with a few shopkeepers, remained till 

 our departure ; but with these exceptions, the 

 inhabitants had nearly all gone before we sailed. 

 There are, it is true, always a few people, who, 

 for high pay, agree to watch valuable property; 

 and some families so miserably destitute, that they 

 absolutely have not the means of removing. The 

 population of the town, in the fine season, is about 

 three thousand ; but the number which remains 

 to brave the climate seldom exceeds a hundred 

 and fifty. 



The last family of my acquaintance, except that 

 of the governor, and almost the last of the town, 

 went off on the 31st of May. I have seldom be- 

 fore taken leave of my friends abroad, without 

 having some hopes of seeing them again ; but the 

 chances of my ever returning to so remote and 

 unfrequented a spot as San Bias, or of ever meet- 

 ing or hearing of these friends again, were so 

 small, that I felt, on losing sight of them this 

 morning, as if they had actually sunk into the 

 grave. The family consisted of a gentleman, his 

 wife, and his wife's sister, with two elderly female 

 relations. The sister was a very pretty young 

 woman of fifteen ; an age, in those countries, 

 corresponding to seventeen, or upwards, in Eng- 

 land. She was very dark, and strongly charac- 

 terised by the Mexican features ; elegant in her 

 manners, simple and unaffected in her behaviour; 

 and though much beyond all the people about her, 

 both in knowledge and judgment, no one seemed 

 to have been aware of it, till the attention of the 

 strangers attracted the notice of everybody to her 

 merits. Truth, however, bids me add, that this 

 young lady could neither read nor write, and had 

 probably never heard a book read out of church ; 

 but there was nothing uncommon in this. The 

 mistress of the house was a lively, conversible, 

 handsome person ; very hospitable and kind, espe- 

 cially to the strangers ; and she often made up 

 little parties in the evening, where the company 

 sat in the street, before her door, till a late hour ; 

 smoking, chatting, and flapping away the mosqui- 

 toes, and watching anxiously for the first puff of 

 the land-wind. The master of the house, who was 

 in office, had it sometimes in his power to be use- 

 fid to us. In this way I became intimate with 

 the family, and although there be very little to 

 describe about them, I insensibly felt interested 



in the whole party, and saw them go away this 

 morning with considerable regret. 



The ladies were in their riding dresses, which 

 consisted of a yellow-coloured beaver hat, with a 

 brim so broad as to serve the purpose of an um- 

 brella ; but with a low crown, scarcely two inches 

 and a half high ; tied round with a richly wrought 

 ribbon, between which and the hat was stuck a 

 tri-coloured cockade, the emblem of the Guarantee 

 mentioned in the account of the revolution. The 

 hat served to confine a handkerchief, doubled 

 corner-wise, and placed previously over the head ; 

 in such a way, that the two corners, which were 

 laid together, hung half way down the back, while 

 the other corners fell one on each shoulder. The 

 handkerchief was of white muslin, with a scarlet 

 border, four inches broad. Over the shoulders 

 was thrown the Mangas, or cloak, which has a hole 

 in the middle to receive the head. That which 

 was worn by the youngest of the ladies was a deep 

 purple cloth, ornamented round the neck with 

 tasteful, gold embroidery, eight or ten inches wide. 

 Below the Mangas, there peeped out a cotton 

 gown of English manufacture, and a pair of un- 

 tanned yellow boots, made on the spot. On the 

 table lay two pairs of French gloves, but the ladies 

 not being used to wear such things, soon tore 

 both of them to pieces, in vain attempts to get 

 them on ; upon which they called out to the 

 gentlemen to assist them in winding handker- 

 chiefs round their hands, to defend them, as 

 they said, from the chafing of the hard hide- 

 bridles. 



It is the frigid custom all over South America, 

 for the ladies, however well acquainted, not to 

 shake hands with gentlemen. As, however, I had 

 been unusually intimate with this family, I was 

 rather curious to see whether an exception might 

 not for once be made ; and stood in waiting, by 

 the side of the door, to see them off. First, the 

 master of the house mounted his horse ; then his 

 wife's mother ; next, a venerable aunt. The 

 most [courteous and formal Adioses were inter- 

 changed between us. The lady herself now 

 stepped out, and, to my surprise, held out both 

 her hands, and took her leave with a carino, as 

 they call it, far beyond my expectation. The little 

 girl was last ; and having such an example before 

 her, took upon her to forget the formalities of her 

 country, and, with a frank sincerity, came .up and 

 offered me her hand. 



On the 1st of June 1822, the day broke with an 

 unwonted gloom, overshadowing everything ; a 

 dense black haze rested, like a high wall, round 

 the horizon ; while the upper sky, so long without 

 a single speck, was stained all over with patches 

 of shapeless clouds flying in different directions. 

 The sun rose, attended by vapours and clouds, 

 which soon concealed him from our sight. The 

 sea-wind, which usually began gently, and then 

 gradually increased to a pleasant breeze, now 

 came on suddenly, and blew with great violence : 

 so that the waves curled and broke in a white 

 sheet of foam, extending as far as the eye could 

 reach. The whole sea looked bleak and stormy, 

 under the portentous influence of an immense 

 mass of dark clouds, rising slowly in the western 

 quarter, till they reached nearly to the zenith, 

 where they continued suspended like a mantle 

 during the whole day. The ships which, for 



