TOWNS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 



295 



do not apprehend would be very difficult of 

 accomplishment. 



The short time I spent at the different South 

 American towns I passed through, did not give 

 me sufficient leisure to make such observations, 

 as I could have wished. A stranger on first 

 entering any of them, would be sadly disap- 

 pointed at seeing the houses, for they possess 

 all the gloomy appearance of prisons; instead of 

 being struck by dazzling glass windows glitter- 

 ing in the rays of the sun, nothing but gloomy 

 iron bars meet his eye, and the doors which 

 lead into a large court-yard, or patio, are huge 

 and massive, reminding one of the gates of a 

 prison. Notwithstanding both these unsightly 

 appearances, they are highly requisite in such a 

 country ; the former for coolness and free ad- 

 mission of air during the oppressive heat of 

 summer, and the latter for security during the 

 troublesome times of revolutions or invasions, 

 for when the outer door is closed, the house 

 within itself forms a little citadel. The sight of 



