BUENOS AYRES. 



69 



times driven up by the wind in large waves, 

 as far as the cliffs. The house stands in a 

 garden of orange-trees, with a large field of 

 grass beyond, where the boundary of this little 

 domain terminates by a high wall. There are 

 only two rooms above the ground floor, one of 

 which I occupy. From the window I can de- 

 scend to a platform for walking, formed by the 

 flat roof of the lower rooms. Above my apart- 

 ment is a small observatory. On the roof Cap- 

 tain Harcourt has fixed the Union Jack, and 

 signals are made to the North Star in the day 

 time, or rockets sent up at night for the purpose 

 of communication. This tower commands a 

 view of a great part of Buenos Ayres, with its 

 rectangular streets, its churches, and low flat- 

 roofed houses, all of which resemble those of 

 Monte Video ; but, as I observed before, the dirt, 

 neglect, and dilapidation of Buenos Ayres give 



VOL. I. D 



