SOUTH AMERICA. 



119 



Malayes^ but their physiognomy bore a strong resem- 

 blance to the aborigines of our country. On ap- 

 proaching the queen's stairs, the usual landing place, 

 we passed a yatch superbly gilt, rigged like a sloop of 

 war, and armed with brass swivels. This childish 

 miniature, is kept for the use of the queen, or rather 

 for the sake of pageantry, for I could not learn that it 

 is ever used. Another object attracted our attention 

 and excited our disgust; some distance to the left of 

 the stairs, the quay terminates in a prodigious dung 

 heap, the accumulation of ages from the stables of the 

 city. A moment's reflection suggested to me that from 

 the extreme fertility of the soil, manure is not requir- 

 ed; but certainly one would think that a regard to the 

 police of the city, would require a different disposition 

 to be made of this offensive mass. 



A motley collection of people attracted by curiosity 

 were lounging about the quay, their looks directed 

 towards the American frigate as the principal object 

 of their curiosity. 1 shall not attempt to describe 

 their dress or looks; nothing could be more unlike our 

 countrymen. The English or French fashions do not 

 appear to predominate. Among these people I felt 

 myself indeed a stranger; their countenances made a 

 very unfavorable impression on me, though by no means 

 disposed to judge hastily, for I have been too often 

 taught by experience the danger of condemning peo- 

 ple by wholesale, merely on account of their looks » 

 The complexions of the middle and lower classes are 

 generally dark, their features coarse, and their per- 

 sons in general inclining to corpulency. A number 

 of them were distinguished by ribbons and baubles 

 attached to their button holes, many wore enormous 



