164 



NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



should gladly have returned her civility if I could have done so with 

 truth, by ranking her, in point of beauty, among the handsomest of 

 my own countrywomen. She, however, was pretty, very frank, and 

 accomplished ; her children had been educated with care, for, having 

 ordered a little girl, who was playing with her sister near the door of the 

 room, to procure for us some milk, the child presented a tumbler full of 

 it, on a common plate, with a degree of politeness, freedom, and grace, 

 which I have seldom seen surpassed, and would have adorned a more 

 conspicuous situation. 



The inhabitants of this part of the country, generally speaking, 

 appear contented and civil, though poor. Some of their good qualities, 

 I believe, have been fostered by their recent intercourse with British 

 troops. Certain it is that our soldiers have left behind them pleasant 

 impressions, though one occurrence threatened a very different result. 

 In December, 1808, we found several houses in Maldonado in ruins, 

 and were told that, when our military embarked, some of them, in the 

 wantonness of intoxication, thrust firebrands into the thatch. The 

 people not only excused them on account of the state in which they 

 were, and the irritation they had suffered from the conduct of their 

 General, but warmly praised the humane exertions of the officers to 

 check it. Some, doubtless, respected our countrymen, on account of the 

 profit, derived from them, and some because they hoped for and antici- 

 pated a change in their political relations ; but most, I think, from a 

 conviction that the British character is of a superior cast. I have 

 often found such a persuasion strongly rooted among the native inhabi- 

 tants of South America ; while the emigrants from Spain and Portugal, 

 and even temporary residents from these countries, too generally dislike 

 us. The former love the French, tolerate the Portuguese, suspect the 

 Spaniards, and stand in a respectful awe of the British ; and withal, 

 incongruous as it may appear, entertain a mixture of contempt for the 

 people of every nation. 



In the track from Maldonado to Monte Video, we soon pass over 

 the only lofty gi'ound in the neighbourhood, which is part of a ridge. 



