d; but since that accident, orders were given that a
commissioned officer should attend all foreign officers, and a soldier
the privates; and all strangers, on landing, are conducted to the main
guard for their escort. This answers a double purpose, as they are much
afraid of strangers smuggling or carrying money out of the country, under
the mask of personal protection, every motion is watched and scrutinized,
nor can you purchase any thing of a merchant, till he has settled with
the officer of the police how much he shall exact for his goods; so you
have always the satisfaction of being rob'd as the act directs.

The trade of this country is much cramped by the improper policy of the
mother country; for although it abounds with every thing that the earth
produces, wealth is far from being diffusive, and a spirit for revolt
seems to prevail amongst them; but they were rather premature in
business, a conspiracy being detected whilst we were there, many of the
first people in the country thrown into dungeons, a strong guard put over
them, and all intercourse denied them. But in order to check that spirit
of rebellion among the colonists, a regiment of black slaves is now
embodied, who will be very ready to bear arms against their oppressive
masters; but should a revolution in South America take place, which
sooner or later must eventually happen, some of our South Sea discoveries
would then prove an advantageous situation for a little British colony.

All public works are done here by slaves in chains, who perform a kind of
plaintive melancholy dirge in recitative, to sooth their unavailing toil,
which, with the accompanyment of the clanking of their irons, is the real
voice of wo, and attunes the soul to sympathy and compassion, more than
the most elaborate piece of music.

The troops are remarkably well cloathed, and in fine order, both infantry
and cavalry; the horses are small, but spirited, and tournaments
frequently performed as the favourite amusement of the inhabitants, at
which the cavaliers display a wonderful share of address.

The town is large, built of stone, and the streets very regular; there
are several handsome churches, monasteries, and nunneries, and contains
about forty thousand inhabitants; but, like the old town of Edinburgh,
each floor contains a distinct family, and of course liable to the same
inconveniencies, cleanliness being none of its most shining virtues.

The officers of the army shewe