48 



LA FONDA. 



thus they too often waste the treasures which 

 ought to have been poured out for the 

 public good in the exigencies of the state : 

 a practice little less censurable than that of 

 burying them in the ground, which is fre- 

 quently resorted to l^y selfish and timid 

 cupidity. ^ 



I did not visit the Alameda, which is the 

 usual ride of the English from three to seven 

 o'clock, on account of the shortness of my 

 stay. There, in the happier days of Carac- 

 cas, its whole population used to assemble 

 every evening to enjoy the cool breeze. I 

 dined and slept at the Fonda, where I found 

 the accommodations little like those of a 

 London hotel. My bed-room had no win- 

 dow; a deal table held the vessel of water 

 supplied me to wash with, and the rest of the 

 furniture was proportionably mean. Iti the 

 course of the day I met with several Eng- 

 lish officers, who had served in the cam- 



