70 
one dollar for a lady. There was dancing, not only in the ball¬ 
room, but also in the theatre itself, and on this occasion, the par¬ 
terre was raised to a level with the stage. The illumination of 
the house was very good, and presented a handsome view. Many 
of the ladies were in masks, and intrigued as well as they were 
able. I could not restrain my curiosity, and visited the quadroon 
ball in the theatre of St. Philippe. It however was too late when 
I arrived there, many of the ladies had left the ball, and the gen¬ 
tlemen, a moily society, were for the most part drunk. This be¬ 
ing the case, I returned after a quarter of an hour to the princi¬ 
pal ball. But here too, some gentlemen had dipped too deep in 
the glass, and several quarrels with fists and canes took place. 
The police is not strict enough here to prevent gentlemen from 
bringing canes with them to balls. The balls continue through 
lent, when they are but little frequented. 
On the 12th of February the intelligence of the death of the 
Emperor Alexander was spread abroad, which had been received 
by the ship Mogul, yesterday arrived from Liverpool, and by 
London gazettes of the 24th of December. I could not believe 
this to be a fact, and betook myself to the office of one of the 
public papers. I was here given the English gazette to read, 
and I found, to my no small terror, the detailed account of this 
sorrowful event. Consternation entered into my mind, on reflect¬ 
ing what effect this must have produced in Weimar, and increas¬ 
ed my troubled state of feeling! 
The volunteer battalion of artillery of this place is a handsome 
corps, uniformed as the artillery of the old French guard. It is 
above one hundred men strong, and presents a very military 
front. This corps manoeuvred about half an hour in the square 
before the cathedral, and then marched to the City Hall, to re¬ 
ceive a standard. Upon the right wing of the battalion, a detach¬ 
ment of flying artillery was placed. The corps had done essen¬ 
tial service on the 8th of January, 1815, in the defence of the 
line, and stands here in high respect. 
About four milesbelow the city Mr. Grymes has a country-seat, 
or habitation. The house is entirely new, and situated on a piece 
of ground formerly employed as a sugar-cane field. The new 
plantings made in the garden, consisted of young orange-trees 
and magnolias. Behind the house is an artificial hill, with a 
temple upon it, and within the hill itself, a grotto, arranged arti¬ 
ficially with shells. At the entrance stands a banana tree, and 
this, with several creeping plants, will conceal it very well in 
summer. I observed in the garden several singular heaps of 
earth, which are hollow within, and stand over a hole in the 
ground. They are said to be formed by a species of land-crab, 
for their residence. If a stone be thrown into the hole, you hear 
