Part 7

Marriage with the Buenos Ayres female takes place at an early age, frequently at thirteen and fourteen. Certain it is, they ripen into womanhood much sooner than those of our clime; and their beauties more quickly fade. An English female at forty looks as young as a Buenos Ayrean at thirty. How many charming and attractive women we find in England at the age of forty; and though I cannot quite agree with our gracious sovereign in his admiration of "fair, fat, and forty," yet I have known, at home, some ladies at that age with charms and acquirements sufficient to alarm a sensitive heart. In Buenos Ayres I have likewise seen females whose beauty seems to improve as years advance; but this is a rare occurrence.

In marriage, the custom of all the family living together seems strange to English ideas, and we cannot help picturing petty jealousies and quarrels amongst such a groupe. Custom, however, and their natural happy temper, free from the corroding cares of more populous countries, prevent these. I cannot help admiring their happiness in this respect, and I trust they may long enjoy it. I know the misery I should feel, were I a father, to see a beloved child depart for ever from the parental roof.

Married females still preserve their maiden name, conjoined with that of their husband's. The children by such marriage bear the surname of the father. The saint's-day on which they may be born provides them with a Christian name; and, as the Romish church has a saint for every day in the calendar, the difficulties that the Rev. Mr. Shandy had to encounter are avoided.

In the lottery of names, people of all classes take their chance. It is rather droll to hear the black girls addressing each other by the names of Eugenia, Marcela, Florencia, &c. Some fair ladies bear the pretty romantic names of Rosaria, Irené, Magdalena, Victoria, Martina, Fortunata, Celestina, Adriana, &c. whilst others, not so fortunate in their time of coming into the world, are obliged to be content with the ordinary ones of Juana, Tomasa, &c. But what is there in a name? a rose would smell as sweet under any other name.

John is unquestionably the most vulgar of all names; it is worse than Tom: every body applies it, when unacquainted with one's real appellation. In Buenos Ayres, a stranger is addressed as "Don Juan." The Toms and Jacks of the Spanish vocabulary are softened down into Tomas and Juan.

The Spanish custom, when speaking or writing to an individual, of using the Christian name instead of the surname, is very pleasing; and as I am a great lover of the romantic, it will necessarily follow, that I am more charmed with Don Carlos, Don Henrico, Don Guillermo, &c. than plain Mr. Smith, Mr. Wilkins, and Mr. Tomkins; and Doña Clara, Doña Dominga, and Doña Saturnina, than Miss Williams, Miss White, and Miss Brown.

Respectable families think it no disgrace to let lodgings, take in washing, make and mend clothes and linen: these occupations are not looked upon as belonging to the inferior orders, as with us. Their slaves perform the laborious part.[17] I was not a little surprised, when I first arrived, to have an application from the wife of an Alcalde to perform any jobs in needle-work that I might have. I concluded the lady meant to jest. The wife of an Alcalde, a sitting magistrate, to take in needle-work! thought I. What would the Sir Richard Birnies and the other sages of Bow-street, Marlborough-street, &c. say to this?

[17] The washerwomen of Buenos Ayres present a singular spectacle to a stranger. They pursue their avocation on the beach; and this soap-sud army extends for nearly two miles: all the washing of the town is performed there, by black women-slaves, and servants. At a distance upon the water, it looks like surf breaking upon the shore. They wash well, extending the linen upon the ground to dry. Robberies amongst them are punished by ducking. A wedding, or other joyous ceremony, is celebrated with African magnificence: a canopy is formed from the linen, and the heroine of the day placed under it; red handkerchiefs for flags are carried upon sticks, with saucepans, drums, &c. They dance pas-seuls, after the mode of Guinea and Mosambique, I presume. The music consists of singing and clapping of hands; thunders of applause follow--Parisot and Angiolini never received more; a general shout ends the entertainments. Their adherence to African customs is a peculiar trait. At the approach of rain, confusion seems at its height, and "chaos come again;" the ladies hurrying in all directions, to save their linen from "the pitiless storm."

Washing is dear--four to ten dollars per month, according to the clothes washed.

Slavery has been abolished here, since the year 1810: those born prior to that time, remain slaves.[18] The humanity of the Spaniards to their slaves, compared with other nations, is well known: in Buenos Ayres they are treated with great kindness. The female slaves are often placed more on the footing of friends, than either slaves or servants. They attend their ladies when visiting, seating themselves on the ground in the room in which their mistress may be, and witnessing the dances that continually take place amongst the members of families. These slave girls, in consequence, become quite knowing and accomplished, in their way; and, from being so much in the fashionable world, imitate their superiors. I have observed them dance the minuet, and Spanish _contre-danse_, with great elegance. The men slaves, when deserving, are treated with equal kindness: it does honour to the humane hearts of their employers; and I almost adore them for it. In other countries, it has been my lot to see those unfortunate people treated with barbarity--even by my own countrymen. No ill effects in the end can possibly result from kind behaviour to the slaves: in Buenos Ayres, they appear affectionate, happy, and grateful. Of course, discontented spirits are to be found; but I speak in a general sense. Of an evening (though I believe it is not a constant rule), I have seen female slaves seated in the same chamber with their mistress and family, at needle-work.

[18] I heard a slave boy once complaining, that he was a most unfortunate fellow, in having been born only one day before the decree passed for the abolition of slavery: "Could I have remained unborn," said he, "only one day longer, I should have been a happy boy, and no slave."

Slaves can demand their paper, that is, the deed which binds them, and seek other employers; and, for cruelty, can allege a complaint with the _alcalde_. For serious misbehaviour, a proprietor can have them punished by flogging, &c. There are other chastisements for females.

The men slaves are not numerous; a great portion of them having enlisted as soldiers.

The English prefer having servants, to slaves, in their houses, and have purchased but few. Those black gentlemen, in the employ of Englishmen, have picked up a little of our language, which they are proud of displaying.

A great many North-American black men are about the town, and on the beach; crowding the _pulperias_.

The negroes have great confidence in the effect of charms for different diseases: they stick a small bean-shell to the forehead for the headache; another for the tooth-ache, &c. They wear, likewise, round the neck, a cross, with a piece of leather in the shape of a small morocco purse, like those sold in London: this is a religious badge.

The excellent and orderly conduct observed by the lower order of people in the streets, compared with other countries, is very remarkable: no obscene insulting jests meet the ear; and persons may accompany modest females in the street, without dread of molestation from the groups of all descriptions strolling about, who evince towards the stranger every respect: we cannot but esteem them, for thus contributing to render a foreigner's abode in this city so free from apprehension.

The riotous noise of the English lower orders is by some called one of the evils of liberty, and I could not consent to curtail that liberty even to purchase civility from them. I should, however, be glad if they would condescend to copy, in some degree, Buenos Ayrean manners. I do not wish them to be servile--good manners is not servility; but to moderate that effusion of liberty, descending sometimes to ferocity.

Drunkenness is not a vice of this country; the rabble of blacks and porters are at times so. The mechanic employs his spare hours with the guitar: on a summer's night, the doors and windows are open, when they are to be seen singing, and dancing, and smoking the segar. My countrymen of the same grade, at home, prefer the comforts of society in a public house, where they can, over their grog and song, damn the ministers and taxes, swearing that they are true-born Britons, back and bone.

From the orderly conduct observed in the streets of Buenos Ayres, a stranger would suppose it a most moral city; we have no drunken disorderly females, creating abhorrence and disgust. Intrigue is common enough, but then it is modestly managed: besides, a lady's frailty is not considered an offence so heinous as in our scrupulous England; more compassion exists for the lovely sinners. Here are no crim. con. actions to amuse some amorous judge and counsel, and inflame the passions.

This country has its portion of beggars, who are, at times, very annoying, besieging the court-yards, &c. The best way to get rid of them is to exclaim "_Perdone por Dios!_" (pardon for God's sake). This expression, singular as it may appear, seldom fails in its effect; but "_Perdone por Dios!_" would have but little chance amongst the sturdy beggars of Europe.

The operation of lousing, so common in old Spain, is followed here, in a degree, amongst a particular class. It is a most unseemly sight, for female fingers to perform the office of combs.

A great aversion used to exist to reside in a house in which a person had died of a fever, until it was thoroughly cleaned.

A savings bank has been established, upon the English plan; I doubt if it will suit the meridian of Buenos Ayres: they are too careless of to-morrow. If beef was one real per pound, their ideas would be different; the labourer would be more industrious, and not refuse to work on a rainy day, which is the case now. A tolerable sum has been collected for the savings bank.

A propensity to gaming exists with the Buenos Ayreans; I mean with the male part. The vices of London's fashionable dames, in this respect, are not followed by the fair that inhabit the banks of La Plata.

There are no houses publicly appropriated for gaming, the government having discountenanced this: but what can impede the infatuated gamester? A few nights after my arrival, I visited a gambling-house; they were playing a game like those of our E.O. tables. The police entered;--I thought they were going to take us all into custody, in the London mode; but they were more considerate, and only took the principals: several Englishmen were in the room. If I am correctly informed, Buenos Ayres contains individuals who, in the management of the dice-box, might cope with gentlemen in the parish of St. James, which some South American deputies, resident in London, can vouch for.

Even the boys of Buenos Ayres have a _penchant_ for gambling; especially the milk-boys, who often go home _minus_ the day's receipts.

Bathing in summer by all classes, particularly the ladies, is one of the fashionable recreations of the place; and as regards the latter, a stranger is not a little interested; for here are no Ramsgate, Margate, or Brighton machines, to shield them from prying eyes. They use bathing clothes, and the operations of undressing, dressing, &c. are managed with great dexterity.

They bathe in front of the town, attended by their female slaves. I have often smiled to see them splashing about the water, with their hair dishevelled, like a groupe of mermaids, wanting but the comb and glass to make the picture perfect. At dark, the scene continues, and not being exposed to the unhallowed eyes of man, they give a loose to joy and merriment. Many lanterns are lighted, and the quantity of them convey an idea of a Chinese festival. Bathing machines would be a great accommodation, as it is necessary to walk nearly a quarter of a mile to get out of depth; and, except in some parts, the bottom is stony and disagreeable. It is altogether a wretched place for bathing.

Some _soi-disant_ modest persons (foreigners) take occasion to censure this fashion of the females bathing, denominating it indecent. The assertion is hardly a fair one. It has long been the custom; and such is the circumspection used, that a bathing machine could scarcely add to the decorum of the scene. Some grotesque scenes sometimes occur, such as the lower orders of women bathing and smoking the segar at the same time. Umbrellas are at times used to shade off the sun. No respectable person ventures near the place occupied by the bathing females.

* * * * *

DRESS.--In their attire, the gentlemen of Buenos Ayres follow the English fashion, except that they have not had the folly to imitate us in our French short-tailed coats, which were only worn by porters and oyster-men when I was in England. From the summer's heat, jackets and light trowsers are worn, with straw hats, particularly those singularly shaped ones from Chili. It is not genteel to wear jackets at the theatre, or at parties. From November to March, light clothing is very agreeable, except now and then during some days of cold.

In England, they would smile to see the dress of the boys in Buenos Ayres; they have long coats, capotes, large hats, Wellington trowsers, and boots; and this for children of eight and nine years of age, who look like men of Lilliput.

The dress of the Buenos Ayrean ladies, I think, includes all that is charming in female attire. The street dress is enchanting, equal to that of our ball-room. White is the prevailing colour. The waist is neither so short as the French, nor so long as the English. Shawls of all descriptions are worn; some of them serve both for veil and shawl, covering the bosom, and hanging loosely over the back part of the head: the face is never concealed. In fine weather, they throw the shawl entirely from the head, and walk the streets in conscious beauty, heedless of the admiring eyes that will, in spite of resolution, turn to gaze at them, as fancied beings of another sphere. Many times I have done this, and found it impossible to withdraw my eyes, till distance, or the fear of being observed, has obliged me. Those provoking fair ones wear the frock and petticoat of that shortness, as just to expose enough of the leg and ancle to increase the temptation. The persons of some of them are symmetry itself.

So eager are the Buenos Ayrean ladies to display advantageously their pretty feet and ancles, that they wear such tight shoes, as must cause them infinite pain, which is evident from the limping manner in which they are often observed to walk.

The ball dress is similar to that worn in the theatre; there may be more of ornament, but some young ladies whom I could name want "no more diamonds than their eyes can give."

Some ladies change their dress three and four times in a day.

The greatest attention is paid to the hair, which is suffered to grow to a considerable length, and is fastened by a comb behind, with ringlets in the front. Caps or bonnets are never worn, even in extreme old age. The elderly lady has her white locks as carefully combed as when in youth; and the same peculiar style of managing the veil. They have not recourse to powder, or other disguises, to hide the approach of age. In company, they are exceedingly free and talkative, and very cheerful. It is a sight not devoid of interest, to see them gliding along, in their black attire, to church, at which they are the most constant visitants--the faded forms of what was once, perhaps, so lovely.

The sable dress worn by the ladies at church, and which I so much admire, is the ancient Spanish costume, the _basquina_.

The wearing of mourning does not continue so long as with us; neither are young and handsome widows disfigured by those close and melancholy-looking caps that we see in England.

I am so charmed with the costume of the Spanish ladies, that I begin to think my dislike of the cap and bonnet has something of prejudice in it. If fortune should conduct me again to England, it will be some time ere I shall fancy those articles of dress. In Buenos Ayres, the sight of them are my perfect abhorrence: at home, they are more applicable to the climate.

Fans are the ladies constant companions--in the street, theatre, ball, and chamber; and their style of using them is unique, and, I think, graceful. They are expensive: I have heard of sixty to seventy dollars being given for one. The French send a great many, with all the embellishments so peculiar to that nation.

The dress of the female children displays equal taste with that of their elders; from which, indeed, there is little difference--the short-sleeved frock, silk stockings, curled hair, and fan. They walk the streets with immense importance--the miniatures of those of maturer age.

The children of Buenos Ayres are handsome; many of the female part, perfect seraphs, bidding fair to fill up the void that time will soon occasion in those whose charms now so much delight us. I sometimes look at these little creatures with a feeling almost bordering upon melancholy, to think that, in a few years, they will replace those who at this period shine forth in all the heaven of beauty, to be themselves replaced, another and another race succeeding. Who can prize life, when our dream of happiness is so short; the vale of coming years so soon casting its blight upon all our ardent, youthful fancies?

The females are really industrious, making their own clothes, and, I am informed, the silk shoes they wear: a British lady is lost without the milliner's aid. One of that profession might answer here, if it were only for the novelty of the thing.

* * * * *

TRAVELLING.--Not many carriages or coaches are to be seen; but they increase in number. The _callé coché_, or street coach, is much used; it is drawn by two horses, or mules, with a postillion, and in shape very much resembles our bakers' carts: the passengers are seated sideways. Some English merchants and Creoles have carriages after the English mode; but the nature of the roads and streets does not afford them a great opportunity to "show off." Morris, an Englishman, carries on a profitable trade as coach-maker: he is, indeed, the only good one in the town.

The travelling carriages, that convey families to their estates, hundreds of miles distant, are heavy cumbersome machines, in the old Spanish style. A family going to the country is no ordinary sight; the mules and waggons following with the baggage, and the quantity of out-riders, slaves, and servants, in _ponchos_ and little dirty hats, surrounding the carriages containing the ladies and female slaves, appear like a banditti escorting their plunder.

A gentleman travelling has dirty white leather boots, large spurs, poncho, slouching hat, pistols, sword, dagger, and knife; he appears a complete robber captain--in fact, another Rugantino: he has generally one or two slaves to attend him.

There are post-houses on the road, and those leading to Chili are very regular. A constant supply of horses and guides are kept; but persons mostly go on horseback, for the sake of expedition. The journey is thus made to the Andes in about fourteen days. Crossing the mountains, and getting to Santiago, in Chili, will take about three weeks, from Buenos Ayres; but the horse must always be kept at a full gallop. Carriages are expensive, and very dilatory, but they save a great deal of fatigue.

There are persons in Europe who suppose that horses may be obtained in South America for the trouble of catching them: but that is not exactly the case in this province; here they have all owners.

Horses may be bought from 3 to 100 dollars, according to their quality; a very good one may be had for seventeen dollars. They average about 12 or 13 hands high, and have the tail mostly long. They will endure much fatigue. Their pace is the gallop, or canter; trotting, the horse's natural pace, appears quite unnatural here; but we must not include those trained for the carriage or gig. There are some fine horses in Buenos Ayres; and by those who have not seen the hunters, the dray, and the heavy horse of Europe, they will be admired. To tell a native that horses have been sold in England for 2, 3, 4, and 5000 guineas, would hardly gain belief.[19] If these animals are cheap here, the keep of them is dear--from 12 to 17 dollars per month. Hay is not much used: grass may be purchased from the country, every morning, from the grass carts that pass through the town.

[19] Great curiosity was excited by the arrival in the brig Rhoda from London, of three English draught horses and a mare, sent out by Mr. Rivadavia, as a present to the government. The animals were landed in good condition, notwithstanding their having endured a confinement of thirteen weeks on board ship. Their great size and muscular appearance excited universal admiration. What would the Buenos Ayreans say, could they see our regiments of Life-Guards, and heavy cavalry, and the cattle in the brewer's drays and coal waggons? An English groom attended the horses to the stables, and numbers went to view them there.

I am afraid, that the sanguine hopes of improving the breed of horses, in this country, by the introduction of English ones, will not be realized; for, in spite of their boasted climate and pastures, I am persuaded, neither will be found congenial to our horses, who, being accustomed to the ever-verdant plains of England, can ill bear the long drought and oppressive heat of this country. The people, too, are prejudiced in favour of their own cattle; and were they to pay attention to them, they would indeed be excellent; but their treatment of horses may be compared to the manner in which Esquimaux treat their dogs. Comfortable stabling and grooming are unknown here. Horses are so cheap and plentiful, they are little valued.

Some English blood horses, for Mr. W. P. Robertson, of this place, unfortunately perished during the passage from England. Had they arrived, the Buenos Ayreans might have witnessed the hunter and draught horse of Great Britain. Our countrymen in Buenos Ayres seemed highly delighted to see their country horses; and, as they passed the beach, the sailors eyed the animals with rapture, commenting upon their noble appearance.

A quantity of English sheep, stated to be Merinos, likewise came out in the Rhoda.

They have no convenience like the livery stables of England. The horses are put under a shed, or left in the open air; the mild climate requiring no other care. Those employed in drudgery with carts, at the custom-house, &c. are as hard worked as our post and hackney-coach horses.

English saddles are in vogue. The _ricado_, or saddle of the country, keeps its sway, being so constructed that on journeys it serves for saddle and bed. The Spanish bridle and bit are preferred both by the English and the natives. The Spanish fashion of having the stirrups long is invariably followed, and I think it more graceful than our mode.

Silver stirrups, spurs, &c. are not so much in use as formerly. Horses, bridles, and saddles were repeatedly stolen in the streets; but such events, from the regularity of the police, do not often happen now. Every horse has a burnt mark, by which its owner can be traced.