212 Notes written during a late Residence at Buenos Ayres. [Oct. 1, 
man to be a lawyer or a friar, which 
God knows is small enough. In all 
parts maybe seen olive trees,springing 
from the stumps, to which theyvhad 
been repeatedly reduced, by orders 
from Old Spain. The growth of vines 
too, was checked; they might eat grapes, 
but must not make wine. Pinkerton 
talks of passing amidst fertility and 
civilization, from Buenos Ayres to Po- 
tosi —ridiculous ! The old Spaniards 
are detested, and their power fallen for 
ever. 
The work of Mr. Pinkerton is ne¬ 
vertheless most excellent and worthy 
of the nation and the age, allowance 
being made for its imperfections. Spa¬ 
nish literature is by him excessively 
over-rated. Some works of imagination 
they have, but excepting Don Quixote, 
none of the first class. Of the scarcity, 
or rather non-existence, of works of 
philosophy, or real worth, in Spanish, 
I have often heard Creoles complain, 
who, from their knowledge of French 
literature, were able to judge. 
At the end of vol. I. of the geography, 
there is a strange note on Spanish pro¬ 
nunciation. Any Spanish grammar 
would have informed Mr. P. that their 
x is always guthural, excepting when 
followed by a consonant, or a circum- 
flexed vowel. 
Mr. Pinkerton seems to have a won- 
derous pre-possession in favour of 
slavery; he had not seen it. The Spa¬ 
niards are the mildest of slave-masters, 
yet even here, the misery and degrada¬ 
tion of human nature caused by it are 
incalculably great. Well may it be 
said, that the day which makes a man 
a slave, robs him of half his virtue; it 
annihilates him as a member of society; 
it takes from him the great sweetener 
of human life, hope. A slave has no 
proper motive to exertion: without 
blows, or the fear of them, the slave 
cannot be managed, and this punish¬ 
ment he must receive from one who 
has no right to his labour. Yet a 
slave-holder thinks it quite sufficient 
that he has bought a man, and that he 
is able to enforce his services. His ar¬ 
guments for slavery, are drawn from 
the expediency of the thing, or, in 
short, that any thing by which he is a 
gainer, is right. The re-action of 
slavery on the master has dreadful ef¬ 
fects ; from a child he is a despot with¬ 
out restraint, his worst passions are 
indulged unchecked. But every thing 
that can be said for slavery has been so 
frequently and convincingly answered, 
that it may appear useless to say 
more on the subject. Yet it is most 
strange that such a man as Mr. P. 
should be in favour of it, and should 
quote a paltry Portuguese bishop in 
support of his opinion. 
Bull fights, to the disgrace of Buenos 
Ayres, are in as high repute as ever. 
The streets are not broad; lime is not 
used in building, except in the churches. 
There is no wall to the north of the 
square, but a fort on the N.E.; there 
are no ombus near the square. In 1815, 
a few poplars were planted on the walk 
near the mole. As to the environs of 
Buenos Ayres, there are no inclosed 
fields, all’is open land; the market 
gardens and peach grounds alone are 
fenced. The cattle are never penned 
except to mark them. 
The foregoing notes on Buenos Ayres 
were taken on the spot, during a resi¬ 
dence of about two years. The writer 
possessed neither time nor the requi¬ 
site attainments to furnish a complete 
account of the country, but he has at¬ 
tempted to give a more correct idea of 
it, in some respects, than is generally 
entertained in England. Every part 
of South America still demands the 
attention of the enlightened traveller, 
and scientific naturalist: to the latter 
it offers an immense field. The greater 
part of the country is accessible to any 
one who has a moderate share of cou¬ 
rage and enterprize, sufficient funds, 
and a knowledge of Spanish, one of the 
easiest of languages. A Paraguay ser¬ 
vant, who would also serve as an inter¬ 
preter. might easily be engaged in 
Buenos Ayres, and, if well treated, he 
might be’ fully depended upon. In 
South America, Chili only is properly 
known, the full and accurate history of 
which by Molina , may serve as a model 
to future writers. Paraguay, which 
the missions, as they are called, of the 
Guaranig , pronounce Waranitli , Tucu- 
ba , and parts of Patagonia , &c. par¬ 
ticularly deserve attention. On the 
account of Buenos Ayres, by our ex¬ 
cellent geographer, Pinkerton, some 
observations have already been made. 
The work of Estella I have not 
seen, but suppose that Pinkerton has 
given his most important matter. 
The 44 Notes on the viceroyalty of La 
Plata ” are written by an accurate and 
candid observer. It is to be regretted 
that he did not see more of a country, 
of which he appears so well qualified to 
have written an account. 
Davie’s letters from Paraguay were 
" probably 
