PREFACE. xi 



practice, attempted to brazen it out in the pub- 

 lic newspapers, but the tide of public reproba- 

 tion was too strong to be stemmed by Franklins,^ 

 of this description. They now study silence 

 and concealment 



The sphere of my personal observations, I 

 own was extremely limitted; the reader must 

 judge whether my opportunities were neglected. 

 It is not by remaining a few months in a strange 

 city, or running full speed over uninhabited 

 plains, that much profound knowledge is to be 

 obtained; such a traveller can only speak with 

 confldence of the mere surface of things; he can 

 see but little, and must take his accounts from 

 the few whom accident, or their own officious- 

 ness, throws in his wav. It is true the traveller 

 may interrogate those who are well acquainted 

 with different parts of the country, but he must 

 do this skilfully, and receive with caution every 

 thing he hears. "Do sir, write me down what 

 you have just stated," is the usual request of in- 

 experienced travellers; on their return, should 

 they publish, their works are chiefly made up 

 of these indigested scraps. I carefully sought 

 out persons who had been in different parts of 

 South America, and endeavored to extract from 

 them all the information I could; at the same 

 time I carefully cultivated the acquaintance of 



, * The name of this venerable sage was made use of to justify 

 the practice — 'the author is not unknown. 



