SOUTH AMERICA. 



and the other the army, but without placing themselves 

 in different ranks or orders of society. There was 

 something of militia in the manner of the officer, which 

 I cannot describe, which strongly associated itself with 

 recollections of my own country, and very different 

 from what I had witnessed in Brazil, where the mili- 

 tary constitute an order as distinct, as if of a different 

 race of men. There was no difficulty in making the 

 arrangements before spoken of. While the boat re- 

 turned to the vessel, I went in company with the gen- 

 tlemen before mentioned, in quest of lodgings. There 

 are several tolerable public houses, chiefly kept by 

 foreigners. We succeeded in obtaining comfortable 

 quarters, at about the same price as in the cities of the 

 United States. 



I had no sooner been comfortably settled in my lodg- 

 ings, than I felt impatient to take a stroll through the 

 town. The streets are straight, and regular, like those 

 of Monte Video, a few of them are paved, but hollow 

 in the middle. The houses are pretty generally two 

 stories high, with flat roofs, and, for the most part, 

 plaistered on the outside; wliich, without doubt, at 

 first, improved their appearance, but by time and ne- 

 glect, they have become somewhat shabby. There 

 are no elegant rows of buildings as in Philadelphia, or 

 New- York, but many are spacious, and all take up 

 much more ground than with us. The reason of this 

 is, that they have large open courts, or varandas, both 

 in front and rear, which are called patios. These pa- 

 tios are not like our yards, enclosed by a wall or rail- 

 ing; their dwellings for the most part, properly com- 

 pose three connected buildings, forming as many sides 

 of a square; the wall of the adjoining house making up 

 VOL. I. 36 



