OCR Text |
Show S6 APPENDIX TO PA HT III. men are genel'ally dressed in broad brimmed hats, short coats, large waistcoats, and small clothes alwnys open at the knees (owing, as I suposc, to the g rcatct· freedom it gives to the limbs on horseback), a kind of leather boot ot· wrapper, bound round the Je~ (somewhat in the manllet· of our frontier-men's leggings), and gartered on. The boot is of a soft, pliable le ather, but not colored. In tltc eastern provinces the dragoons wea l', over this wt·apper or boot, a sot·t of jack-boot made of sole-leath er·, to which ~refas tened tire spurs, by a r·ivct, the gnffs of wlsich arc sometime:; n eat· an inch in length ; but the spurs of the gentlemen and ofli cers, altheugh clumsy to om· ideas, ar·c frequently ornamented with t·aiscd silvc t· work on the shouldcr·s, and the strap embroidered with silver ilnd gold thread. They arc always ready to mount thci t· horse-;, on which the inhabitants of the internal provinces spend near·ly half the day. This descl'iption will apply genct·ally to the dress of all the mc11 of the provinces for the lowe1· class ; but in their cities, amongt tho more fashionable, they dress after the European or United Sta te~ modes, with not mor·e variation than we sec in our cities from one six mon ths tE> another. Both men ancl women have remarkably fine hair, and pl'i clc' themselves in the display of it. Their amusements arc music, siu g-ing, dancing, and g·amhlillg. The lntte t· is stri ctly prohibited, but th <' prohibition is not much attended to. The dance of --is danced by one man and two women, who beat time to the musir , which is soft and voluptuous, but sometimes changing to a li\·cly, r,ay ait·. 'I'hc dancers exhibit the motions of th e. soul, by f;estu l'cs of the body, snapping the fingers, and sometimes mecti 11 g- in a ~ t1·ctch cd embrace. The f~md an go is uanced to various figul'cs ami numbers. The minuet is stil l danced by the superior class only. Tltr music made us<: of is the guitar, violin, and . in g-e rs, who, in the fl l''>t described dance, a<'compally the music with th eit· hands and voice~, ktving always some words adapted to the music. The il' g-ames arc cards, billiards, horse racing, and cock fi ght inp,-, the first nnd last of which are carried to the most cxtrav:q~allt lcng·th s, losing and winning immen!3c sums. The present commanclant gencrnl is H:ry severe with }~is of1icers in th ese respect~, fl'~ quently sending them to some frontier post, i.11 conGuement for· months, for 110 other fuult th:.tll having lost lar!jc sums at play. At e vet·y town of consequence is a public walk, whe re the lad ies and o:cntlemen meet and sing son~s, whi ch arc always on th e subject ol 1, 1 , c or the: !.O( ial huard. T he females ha\ e fine voices, :mel o.;j11~~ APPENDIX TO PART lii. jn Fr·ench, Italian, and Spanish, the whole company joiniug in the chorus. In their house:; the ladies play the !-;Uit•u·, and gen ' t't\lly accompany it with th eir voi..:cs. They either sit down 011 tlH· carpet cross lc !~gcd, or loll on a sofa. To sit upright i 11 a chal l' ~1 p pea rc d to pu t them to ~ rcat incollvcnicncc, and, a l t h O tJ!~ h t he better c la~s would sometimes do it on our first introduction, thl'y soon took the liberty of fo llowin~ the it· old habits. In their cati n ~· and drinki tt g- tht:y are remar kably tcrnpet'<lte. E ar·ly in the morning ynu receive a dish of thocolatc and a cake, at twelve you dine on scvcr.d cl ic;hes of meat, fowl s, and tish, al'tc r· whi..:h you have a variety of co11 l ·ctions, ami, indeed, an e) c f~t\n t dcSCI't; thCil drink a few g lasses of' wi ll~: , '>in~ a few songs, 4\tHI retire to take the siesta, ot• afi.e rnoon's ll<lp, which is taken by 1·ich and poor. Abou t two o'clock the windows und door-; arc all closed, the streets <kscr tccl, and the ~ till tH.:ss of mi dni ~ hl reigns throughout. About four o'clock they rise, wa-;h and dress, and pt·eparc for the dissipation of the ni ght. About e leven o'clo1k some r c ft·e shmcnts arc o ffn(~ cl, but few take any, except a little winc and watct· and catHlied sug-a r·. The government has mnltipliccl the diflicul tics of Europeans intermarryin g- with the Creoles OL' \ lctif'> to such a degree that it is diflic ult fot· such a marr·iagc to tal'e place. An oniccr, wishing to marry u lady (uot from E ul'ope) is obli ~ ed to acquire certificates of the ptll'i ty of hct· descent 200 yeat·s back, and tt·an~n1it it to the comt, when the licence will be returned ; but should she be the da u r~hter or a man of the rank of e<iptain, or upwanh;, this nice ty va11 i~lt est as t•::mk plll'ifies the blood of the drsccndants. The g-eneral subjects of conve r'iation among tlte men arc wo · men, money, ~ltlcl h or ~ e s , whi ch app ·nr to be the only <,hjccts, ia their estimation, Wol'llty of C011 'iideratiOil, unit ing till; fem,\lc ~C~ with their money and th ·ir hr ast<;, and, from h aviu f~ u· •ated t hem too much aftct· the mannc1· of thr bttct·, they lmve c r.ldtcntcd fn>m their breast~ rvcry St ntimcnt or Vi!·tue or ambition, cithel' to )>Ut'S\Ie the acq uirements which would make thcn1 amiable companions, in'>tru cti vc mother!i, ot· rcspertt1blc members of -;ociet). T heir whole souls, with a ft~ W exceptions, like the Tttrki,, lt ladies, bcit l t~ taken up in music, drc·ss , and the little blandishnlents of vol11ptuo11s dissipation. Fi11 rl in g· th at the men only rcgnrd th em as objects of gratification to the sensual lKtssions, th t y h,\\C.' lo· l cv Ty idl'a or that feast or r ca-;un and flow or soul, which nri-- t• from the it lt•·r· conl'se oft .o re:firlt'd and \ h tuou-; ntind'i |