INTRODUCTION. 



They were only made to amuse my mind 

 under a weight of responsibility to which 

 it had never been accustomed, and there- 

 fore they are necessarily in that incoherent, 

 unconnected state which makes them, I am 

 fully aware, but little suited to meet the 

 critical eye of the public ; still as it has been 

 my misfortune to see the failure of an Eng- 

 lish Association — to witness the loss it has 

 sustained— and for a few moments at Buenos 

 Aires and Monte Video to stand upon spots 

 where we have lost what no money can re- 

 pay us ; as I feel persuaded that these 

 failures have proceeded from our ignorance 

 of the country, I have resolved upon throw- 

 ing before the public the few memoranda I 

 possess, and although I am conscious that 

 they are of too trifling a nature to throw 

 much light upon the subject, yet they may, 

 perhaps, assist in making the darkness 



