66 



MENDOZA. 



court, round the four sides of which the house 

 extends. 



The houses are built of mud, and are roofed 

 with the same. The walls are white-washed, which 

 gives them a neat appearance, but the insides of 

 the houses, until they are white-washed, look like 

 an English barn. The walls are of course very 

 soft ; occasionally a large piece of them comes off, 

 and they are of that consistency, that, in a very 

 few moments, a person, either with a spade or a 

 pick-axe, could cut his way through any wall in 

 the town. Several of the principal houses have 

 glass in the window- sashes, but the greatest num- 

 ber have not. The houses are almost all httle 

 shops, and the goods displayed are principally 

 English cottons. 



The inhabitants are apparently a very quiet, 

 respectable set of people. The Governor, who is 

 an old man, has the manners and the appearance of 

 a gentleman: he has a large family of daughters, 

 who are pleasing-looking girls. The men are 

 dressed in blue or white jackets, without skirts. 

 The women are only seen in the day sitting at their 

 •windows; in complete dishabille, but in the evening 



