Part 6

There are many gentlemanly and intelligent men amongst the French settled in Buenos Ayres; but the mass will not bear a comparison with the British in point of respectability. Frenchmen themselves allow this, and laugh at the billiard-markers and waiters of Parisian growth. The superior class are to be found in the best societies of the city. Their lively manners and conversation have ever been a contrast to the reserve of the English; and, as companions, they may be more sought after than my modest countrymen: a Frenchman is at home in all countries.

The English likewise visit the first families, and give at times splendid entertainments, or _tertulias_; yet, I have fancied, they appear more happy when amongst themselves. Their behaviour has been attributed to pride and many other causes: the French term "_mauvaise honte_," affords a better solution. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, I am convinced, the British character is esteemed; and, however the French may beat us in companionship, they cannot deprive us of that esteem.

The news of Napoleon's death caused great tribulation in French society at Buenos Ayres. It was some time ere they would believe it; it must be a trick, they said, of the English; and until the causes of his death became so well authenticated, expressions of foul play were more than whispered. Their love for this "man of blood" has ceased to astonish me: were I a Frenchman, it is probable I should love him too.[13] On Bonaparte's birth-day, in 1821, I observed the tri-coloured flag, waving from a French _pulperia_ near the beach. This flag, once so formidable, and which made every Briton prepare for "bloody fight," now floats harmlessly in Buenos Ayres, being used as a signal for merchant vessels.

[13] A translation of O'Meara's work, in French, has appeared in Buenos Ayres, with the consequent conclusion, that Sir Hudson Lowe must be a perfect brute. In Spanish, we have one or two diatribes against the British government, and their tyranny exercised on the seas; but the malignity so apparent in the observations destroys their effect.

* * * * *

A great many PORTUGUESE are residents of Buenos Ayres, as merchants, shopkeepers, &c.; they carry on a constant commerce with the Brazils.

The jealousy, bordering upon contempt, in which the Spaniards affect to hold the Portuguese, is very conspicuous here. At the theatre, when a Portuguese character is represented, the performer is arrayed fantastically, strutting about the stage with self-assumed importance, amidst vehement laughter and applause, as fervent and more boisterous than that bestowed upon Sheridan's "little cunning Portuguese," Isaac Mendoza.

* * * * *

GERMANS, ITALIANS, and, indeed, the natives of all countries, are to be met with in Buenos Ayres, as merchants, store and shopkeepers, &c.

Mr. Schmaling, agent to the PRUSSIAN _Linen Company_, has lately established an extensive mercantile house in Buenos Ayres. The Prussian cloths and flannels have been bought with much avidity, a preference being given to them from their being cheaper, and some say better than our's. Mr. S. sold his cloths 20 per cent. cheaper than the English could afford to sell. It is hard to be undersold in a foreign market, in what was once considered our staple commodity. British skill, however, I have no doubt, will surmount this temporary advantage: the repeal of the wool tax may be one step towards it.

* * * * *

PERSONS, DISPOSITIONS, and MANNERS of the NATIVE or SPANISH INHABITANTS.--It might be supposed, from the latitude in which Buenos Ayres is situated, that the faces and general appearance of the natives would partake of a dusky hue: as regards the male sex, this is certainly the case, though here and there the reverse is seen. Of the females, however, many can boast a countenance of roses and lilies, equal to those of a colder climate. Amongst the mulatto cast, there are some pretty girls. I have noticed that some distinctions are kept up, the word _mulatto_ being often used as a term of reproach: this is illiberal. One or two families of red-haired children are rather remarkable in a country where the darker hue predominates. I really thought they were of Scotch extraction, till I was informed to the contrary. Some scandalous wits have dared to be jocular on the occasion, asserting that they must be the offspring of Beresford's Scotch regiment, the 71st, who were here in 1806.

It is rarely we see, in Buenos Ayres, a person marked with the small pox, vaccination being generally practised;[14] and very few deformed people. Indeed, the generality of them may be called handsome. The young men are well grown, possess good figures, and their manners render them truly agreeable.

[14] Foreign nations duly appreciate this invaluable discovery. In England alone, the birth-place of its immortal author, a portion (I believe, a very small one) still persist in denying its efficacy: "A prophet is no prophet in his own country."

Faces may be seen here, of female beauty, worthy a painter's study;--the intelligent dark eye, polished forehead, and persons moulded by grace itself. England is called the land of beauty, and it deserves its name; but beauty is not peculiar to England alone. Buenos Ayres contains within its walls as much loveliness as imagination can dream of.[15]

[15] Conspicuous amongst the fair-haired beauties of Buenos Ayres, is the Senorita Dona Segunda Iglesia. This young lady (and she is not yet sixteen) is a perfect Hebe. Dona Isaaca, her sister, two years younger than herself, forms a charming counterpart of the fair Segunda.

Another accomplished and elegant girl, whom we Englishmen have named the Marchioness (from her likeness in face to the Marchioness of Hertford), attracts much admiration. She is an enthusiast in music: at the theatre, when the orchestra performs any of her favourite airs, her animated countenance evinces the emotion which this divine science inspires.

The stately elegance of walk, for which the Spanish ladies are so remarkable, is in no place more conspicuous than in Buenos Ayres; and it is not confined to the upper class--females of all descriptions possess it; one must therefore conclude it to be an acquired accomplishment. If my fair countrywomen would deign to imitate them in this respect, and get rid of that ungraceful postman-like pace they now have, I should love them all the better.

The inhabitants possess a happy medium between French vivacity and English reserve. An Englishman feels at home with them; for should he be deficient in the language, he need not fear that his blunders will be laughed at. In sickness, they are proverbial for their kind attention, as many of my countrymen have experienced, preparing every little delicacy they think will please. It is only to know these people, to esteem them.

Their happy disposition, and having so few real cares, protect them from suicide, that calamity which afflicts populous Europe. The future provision for a family, indeed, scarcely enters their thoughts, in a country where "a fathom of beef can be purchased for sixpence." This expression was used by an English "beach-ranger," when trying to prevail upon some of a Falmouth packet's crew to desert.

Although there may be families who, in the common acceptation of the term, are well off, yet I do not think there are many who are extraordinarily rich, that is to say, worth from 30 to £50,000 sterling. Houses, cattle, and land constitute the best property.

The enthusiasm with which the Spaniards regard the female sex, like most other things, has, doubtless, been exaggerated. In Buenos Ayres, if they have not exactly caught this enthusiasm, they have done better: their attentions are founded on real respect to the virtues of the sex, and are therefore more likely to last.

The character given to Spaniards of all descriptions for jealousy of their females, must have been either fabulous, or a great change has taken place; for nothing approaching to it can be observed in their descendants here. The gentlemen conduct themselves with the most marked politeness towards the females, paying them the greatest attention and respect. I have heard it asserted, that they make negligent husbands. In every populous city, no doubt, many of this class are to be found; but those Buenos Ayrean husbands, whom I have the pleasure of knowing, seem devotedly attached to their wives, behaving with a tenderness not every day found even in England, that land of domestic felicity.

The ladies appear equal in affection; and are kind and tender mothers. It is pleasing to see the care and fondness they bestow on their children. A stranger need not be a day in Buenos Ayres without discovering this; and such traits speak volumes. They do not follow the unmotherly practice of putting their infants out to nurse, thinking it no disgrace to suckle their own offspring. In my opinion, there is as fair a proportion of married happiness in this city, as can be found in those that bear a name of being more domesticated.

The compliments of salutation are much the name as in England with the gentlemen, _viz._ the good old hearty shake of the hand. The French embrace of the males, kissing each other, is not followed; for which I am better pleased. Much as I esteem my friends of Buenos Ayres, I wish no other than female lips to touch my cheek. The salutation of the females, on bidding adieu for long journeys, or on returning from one, is kissing and embracing each other: in this respect they differ but little from British females--perhaps a little more fervent. I have seen ladies, when returned from a voyage to Monte Video, hug their old black servant, who has come to meet them on the beach, with all the ardour of affection, so different from our notions of propriety.

Should a lady be seized with a fit of yawning, she crosses herself with the most burlesque sanctity. The style in which they cross themselves, requires a rehearsal to understand it: they touch the cheeks, chin, and bosom, quick, with the thumb, or, as a military man would denominate it, "in double quick time."

A very pleasing practice exists, of giving flowers to visitors, as a mark of respect: some fair lady hands a rose or tulip. I recollect, a charming girl gave me a rose, a few days after my arrival, and my vanity was not a little gratified by it; and I felt some mortification in finding it was only the common civility of the place.

Smoking segars is a general practice--I might almost add, with men, women, and children; the ladies of the better class always excepted, though report says, they will, in secret, take the luxury of a segar. I hope report has erred in this respect--indeed, I think it has; for such an outrage against my English feelings, as a Buenos Ayrean lady smoking, would abate much of the enthusiasm I feel for them. In the male sex I like to see it; and the pleasure it seems to afford, has repeatedly made me regret that I am no smoker. Here boys of eight, nine, and ten years of age, may be seen smoking.

The English soon get into the fashion; and most of them are as fond of the segar as the natives, who are smoking from the time they get up, until they go to bed. If they ride on horseback, a segar is in their mouths. Should they want a light in the streets, it is only to stop the first person they meet smoking, to obtain one. I have often smiled to see a first-rate Creolian dandy lighting his segar from that of some dirty black fellow.

Havannah segars are the favourites; but they are dear, and not at all times to be had in perfection. The paper ones, or segars de Hoja, made from the tobacco-leaf, are mostly used, and by many preferred. The manufacture of them affords employment to a great many people, including females.

So refined are their ideas of politeness, that a person smoking invariably takes the segar from his mouth, when passing another in the street.

In another branch of politeness, Buenos Ayres is not outdone, even by Paris itself; _viz._ the constant custom of taking off the hat, when meeting each other in the street. The English mode of touching the hat is too groom and footman-like, to be followed here: their's is taken entirely from the head; and, when in compliment to ladies, they remain uncovered until the objects of their politeness have passed. It is managed gracefully--removing the hat from behind, similar to those who are accustomed to wear wigs; it may be, to save the fronts from dilapidation, which such continual calls on them would occasion.[16]

[16] I remember once meeting a Frenchman at Paris, whom I had known at London in rather indifferent circumstances. He had obtained an office in the palace of the Thuilleries; and, upon my congratulating him thereon, he said, that it was all very well, except the d----d hat business. On asking for an explanation, he stated, that, being a public officer, he was obliged to take his hat off so often, that it cost him £30 per annum for that single article.

The plant called _yerba_, the growth of Paraguay and the Brazils, is the tea of Buenos Ayres. They drink it out of a small globe, to which a tube is fixed, nearly as long as our tobacco-pipe; it is called the matté-pot, and the beverage drawn from the yerba, is the _matté_. These pots are generally of silver; and they hand them from one to the other, in drinking--a practice not the most cleanly. When I first saw the tubes in the ladies' mouths, I conceived they were smoking. Matté has not a bad flavour, but nothing equal to tea. It is reported by some to be pernicious to the teeth. In visiting parties it is always handed round. It carries such an idea of the tobacco-pipe, that I do not much admire seeing these matté-pots in the hands of ladies.

The general time of meals in Buenos Ayrean families is pretty nearly as follows:--They have _matté_ the first thing, which they often take in bed; at eight or nine, they have what we should call breakfast, beef-steaks, &c.; dinner at two and three; _matté_ at six and seven, followed often by a supper. The fashionable London hours of breakfasting at one and two in the afternoon, and dining at eight and nine in the evening, have not travelled to this quarter of the globe yet. They drink wine out of tumbler glasses.

The _siesta_, or afternoon nap, is not so regularly taken as formerly: they have got more into the habits of business, and cannot afford time for sleeping in the day; and it does away with the remark, that, during _siesta_ time, nobody is to be seen in the streets, but Englishmen and dogs. The _siesta_ has its regular season; it is supposed to begin with the summer season, in October, and end at the close of the summer, or passion week. The plodding and industrious world cry out against this practice, as encouraging sloth; but I think a nap after dinner, in warm latitudes, both refreshing and conducive to health.

Houses are not provided with the convenience of bells: their servants are summoned either by calling, or making a noise upon the tables. At meals, the servants and slaves are in attendance at the table.

They retire to rest, in winter, at ten or eleven; in summer, later, as at this season they enjoy the cool of the evening from the azoteas, or from seats near the windows.

A walk in the streets on a fine summer's night is not uninteresting, from the number of ladies walking and at the windows. Evening is the time devoted by ladies to shopping. A night previous to a holiday or Sunday, the shops are crowded.

In families of respectability, which have unmarried daughters, weekly _tertulias_, or public dances, are often held during the winter, which, they say, are for the purpose of shewing the young ladies off, and getting them husbands: as I am not in the secret, I only give it as I hear it.

These dances are got up at very little expence or preparation. One of the ladies presides at the piano; the refreshments are cakes, sweetmeats, and liqueurs: a few dollars provides for all; and I like their plan--it looks more like a friendly entertainment. The sumptuous repasts provided on such occasions in England, bespeak so much of ceremony as considerably to mar the pleasure.

On birth-days, compliments are sent and received, with presents of sweetmeats, &c. and dinners and tertulias are given. Those days are more kept up than with us; but the itinerant musicians, about the doors, has a little fallen off lately.

Sweetmeats are much eaten, and by the children in large quantities. In coffee-houses they sprinkle the toast with sugar: an English child would call them "sugar-babies." I am not dentist enough to decide whether this is one of the causes of decayed teeth, so often observed in young people, and the prevailing malady of the tooth-ache; but persons are continually seen with their faces tied up for this complaint: it is, indeed, a disease of the country. Bad teeth is a sad drawback, as they are both "useful and ornamental;" and the purchase of new teeth and gums, in Buenos Ayres, would be rather difficult: besides, all the world must know about it. In London and Paris, such things pass as nothing.

When walking in public, the female rarely takes the arm of a gentleman, except it be night. This seems to us an unsocial fashion. At dark, however, the restriction ceases, and ladies will then honour us by accepting our arm: with married persons this is more common. The Englishman and his wife, in spite of Spanish modes, are seen trotting comfortably along the Alameda, on a Sunday, arm-in-arm, as if at home.

Neither is it the fashion for gentlemen to escort the ladies, but to the theatre, or public places: their visits and shopping are in company only with their own sex. If a fair lady should wave this rule, and allow us to proceed by their side for a few streets, it would be the height of vulgarity to offer the arm. In England we have other notions of gentility.

At the ball room, the females sit together, when not engaged in dancing. During this pause, some gentleman will, with hesitating steps, approach them, and solicit a lady to waltz, or dance a minuet with him.

The Spaniards pride themselves upon the delicacy and respect with which they treat the females; and though there are many Spanish customs which I think "more honoured in the breach than the observance," this is one, I trust, will last for ever.

The Buenos Ayreans are passionately fond of dancing. Their evening hours are given to this pastime: in their houses, daughters, mothers, nay, grandmothers, will enjoy it with all the spirit of youth. To me it is the most gratifying sight--a proof that age is not always accompanied by moroseness. I have been delighted to see father, mother, daughters, and sons, dancing with that apparent happiness, as if life had no other object but enjoyment.

Walking in the environs of the town, one evening, a family dance attracted my attention; and I looked through the windows. The ladies saw me, and the master of the house came out, entreating me to enter, with the Spanish compliment, "that his house and family were entirely at my service." He seemed disappointed at my declining the invitation. These evening family dances are very fascinating.

It is said, a Frenchman, from his gaiety, never gets old; the observation applies with equal truth to this people. In our peculiar England, education, climate, and the state of society, render its inhabitants more thoughtful and care-worn: we regard as frivolity what other nations consider the essentials of existence; yet, in general, we are not the gloomy people foreigners would paint us. We can love, and hate, too, with all or more of the fervour ascribed to warmer climes.

Of the dances, some are pretty. The steps of the Spanish dances have a great sameness. The ladies appear graceful; but, indeed, when is it they do not?

The _cielito_, or little heaven, is opened by the parties chaunting a part of a song all the time in movement, and smacking their fingers together; it then proceeds to the figure.

The _contre-danse_ is involved in intricacies and positions rather difficult to a stranger; twisting the arms, and running in and out, like the game of Thread-my-needle, or, excepting the tumbling part, the comic dance in Mother Goose. The English contre-danse has more life and variety both in music and figure.

Waltzing is a favourite: they have not read the lectures of our moralists upon it, but indulge in the mazes of this luxurious dance.

The minuet dance here is, I think, tame and ungraceful.

The piano forte is the favourite musical instrument; and every well-educated young lady is supposed to possess some knowledge of it. I have heard them perform with great taste and skill. The young and interesting daughter of Don Cornelius Saavedra, Doña Dominga, I thought, excelled; and, with instruction, would be a proficient. This young lady, with a countenance just "budding into beauty," has talents, which, if properly cultivated, will adorn society. Her father, Don Cornelius, was the first Director of the Province after the Revolution, and one of the old and respectable families. His manners are very pleasing: in person, he much resembles a British general officer. Like many others, he has forsaken the sword for the ploughshare, and resides upon his estate, ninety miles from town, on the banks of the Parana.

A good piano will sell for 1000 dollars: the English, in this likewise, take the lead, and those of Clementi, Stodart, &c. are found in many houses; Miss Saavedra has a fine-toned one of Clementi's. The French and German pianos do not readily sell.

Male teachers of music (and, on mentioning these, the remark of Anastasius occurs to me) find good employment in this city, where all are so musical. An English lady, Miss Robinson, gives lessons on this heavenly science.

The Consulado musical school-rooms, with the young ladies warbling there on a morning, repeatedly attract the attention of the passing pedestrian. At one o'clock, attended by their mammas and slaves, with music-book under arm, those little syrens trudge home. On one or two occasions, there has been a public trial of musical skill, a sort of show-off before their relations and friends.

A musical subscription society, called The Philharmonics, has been established, and the most respectable natives and foreigners are subscribers. The vocal and instrumental performers from the theatre attend there. It is a superior affair, and held in a spacious sala of what was formerly a prison--the "Coona:" Orpheus has driven away the ministers of justice.

Using an English phrase, the mothers of Buenos Ayres keep "a sharp look-out" after their daughters, attending them to public places, and in the streets. Should the mother, by any chance, be absent, the care is probably delegated to a slave or servant, who may have their secret orders whispered to them, as well as other trusty centinels. But cannot the slave be bribed? If report speaks true, they are so; and the ardent lover has been ready to embrace the black messenger that has conveyed to him tidings from a beloved mistress.

Young ladies before marriage are, by some mothers, watched with great strictness, not unlike austerity. I fear, females here, as well as in other countries, have often given their hands without their hearts. "Why did you marry?" said a friend of mine to a lady who seemed unhappy. "To gain my liberty," she eagerly exclaimed, "as many others have done before me."