Every observation I was able to make, gave me a favorable idea of the general character of the people; they are tractable, prudent, and generous; and doubtless, had they been under a milder and more beneficent government than that of the Spaniards, they might have become a model to other colonies; but it is lamentable to add, that, in points of morality, they cannot be considered as much superior to the other inhabitants of America. This is attributable to the want of a proper system of education for youth, to the pernicious example afforded by the vices of the Europeans, and, in a word, to the prevalence of an intolerant system, which, by aiming to make men what they cannot be, causes them to become what they ought not to be. The intolerant rigor exercised by the ministers of worship as well as by the government, for the suppression of immorality, defeats its own end; it is like the unskilful practice of a physician, which, directed solely against the external symptoms, aggravates instead of removing the disease. Thus, while open profligacy is discountenanced in Buenos Ayres, libertinism of a more dangerous kind is connived at, if not tolerated; the peace of the most respectable private families is liable to be destroyed by votaries of seduction, who respect neither the purity of female virtue, nor the sacred rights of matrimony. This evil pervades all classes of society, and is the source of domestic disputes, which often lead to serious consequences.
In thus attempting to describe the state of Buenos Ayres, as I found it in the year 1807, I have purposely avoided all discussions of a political nature, and have declined entering into a detail of the events which led to the present struggles of the people for independence.
[CHAP. IV.]
Voyage to St. Catherine’s.—Description of that Island, and of the Coast in its Vicinity.—Arrival at Santos, and Journey thence to S. Paulo.
ON my return to Monte Video, I lost no time in putting in execution my purposed voyage to Rio de Janeiro; and as advices had arrived, stating that considerable difficulty might attend the entrance of an English ship into that port, I bottomried a Portuguese vessel, called the Vencedor, and was joined by a party of gentlemen, whose business required them to visit the capital of Brazil.
In the beginning of September 1807, we had just embarked our stock for this voyage, when an order for the immediate evacuation of Monte Video by our troops was unexpectedly issued. As it had been generally believed that a prolongation of the time for giving up the place had been agreed on, the greatest hurry and confusion prevailed in embarking the troops and stores, as well as the baggage of individuals. About mid-day the whole was on board; a signal-gun was then fired for the Spanish troops to enter, and about three in the afternoon we had the mortification to behold their flag hoisted on the ramparts of this important military post and commercial depôt, which the British forces had, a short period before, so bravely and so dearly won.
Having still some purchases to make, I returned on shore, with two of my friends, about four o’clock, but we had soon reason to repent of our temerity, for on passing the mole we were noticed as enemies and threatened severely, so that we found it necessary to pass into the more private streets, in order to avoid the malignant and hostile taunts of those very men who had of late expressed themselves our friends and well-wishers. Desirous of expediting our several affairs as much as possible, we separated, and I was not able to rejoin my companions until eight in the evening. I found them in great anxiety for my safety; the Spaniards had fired a feu-de-joie from the citadel and fort St. Joseph, and were now preparing for bonfires[9] and illuminations, and my friends, though they did their utmost to avoid the riotous crowds that paraded the town, had several narrow escapes from being plundered and stripped by the soldiery. We all got safely on board by ten o’clock, congratulating each other on having happily avoided the dangers to which our rash confidence in the amicable disposition of the inhabitants had exposed us.
On the 11th of September we sailed from the Rio de la Plata; the vessels bound for the Cape of Good Hope were then nearly out of sight, and as we beheld them we felt a melancholy but proud delight in reflecting that, after such grievous and unexpected reverses, our brave countrymen were once more within their wide undisputed empire, the ocean. After a voyage, in which nothing worth relation occurred, we made the island of St. Catherine’s, on the 29th, at sun-rise, and we were delighted with a grand and picturesque view of its conical rocks rising abruptly from the sea, embellished with the lofty mountains of Brazil, covered with wood, in the back-ground. This sublime scenery interested us the more from the contrast it formed with the extensive and woodless plains of Buenos Ayres. This island is situated in 27° 29′ south latitude, and is separated from the continent by a strait, in some places not half a league wide.