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.