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Indian origin, physical as well as moral. It is well known that in 

 the Spanish colonies little regard is now paid to purity of blood ; 

 the various regulations for preserving the races distinct have gradu- 

 ally become obsolete. This may be regarded as a momentary evil ; 

 but may it not be conducive in the long-run to the good of society, 

 by concentrating the interests of the various classes, which in re- 

 maining separate might one day endanger the stability of the govern- 

 ment, as has been the case in the French colony of St. Domingo ? 



In describing the orders of society in Buenos Ayres, it is neces- 

 sary to premise that I mean to class them, not by degrees of birth, 

 rank, or profession, but by the relative estimation in which they 

 stand in point of property or public usefulness. 



According to this scale, the first which comes under considera- 

 tion is the commercial class. Every person belonging to it, from 

 the huckster at the corner of the street, to the opulent trader in his 

 warehouse, is dignified by the appellation of merchant, yet few indivi- 

 duals among them can lay just claim to that title, as they are wanting 

 in that practical knowledge so essential in commercial dealings. They 

 are averse to all speculation and enterprise ; the common routine of 

 their business is to send orders to Spain for the articles they need, and 

 to sell by retail at an exorbitant profit ; beyond this they have 

 hardly a single idea, and it has been said that their great reason for 

 opposing a free trade with foreign nations is a consciousness of their 

 own mercantile inexperience. The more considerable houses are 

 almost all branches of some European establishment ; few of the 

 Creoles have any regular trade. Those among them however who 

 engage in it are much more liberal in their transactions than the old 

 Spaniards, and are observed to make less rapid fortunes, for their 

 manly and independent character makes them spurn a miserable 

 economy, and disdain to assume that church-going hypocrisy which 

 must be practised twice or thrice a-day by those who would enrich 

 themselves through the patronage of the opulent families. Among the 

 inferior tradesmen, those who gain most are the pulperos, the ware- 



