HISTORY OF ST. DOMINGO,
217
delicate converse did not always present itself, he was free from CHAP- rv.
the affectation of sentiment.
In traversing the once superb city of the Cape, though present-
ing a tolerable appearance from the shore, desolation every
where presented itself. On the site where elegant luxury had
exhausted its powers to delight the voluptuary, all was magni-
ficent ruin! and to mark the contrast stronger, of the wrecks
were composed temporary houses for the American merchants,
and petty shops inhabited by the natives. Several spacious
streets towards the centre, displayed the walls of superb edifices of
five and six stories, with gilded balconies, of which the beautiful
structure exhibited the devastation that had occurred, with ad-
ditional horror. Nor was this all, for in different parts of these
ruins the sad remains of the former possessors wrere visibly
mingled with the crumbling walls :
" There—heedless of the dead,
The shelter-seeking peasant rears his shed,
And wonders man could want the larger pile."
1799.
Black repub*
lie.
Manners,
&c.
Having been informed of a review which was to take place
on the plain of the Cape, the writer availed himself of the oppor-
tunity, accompanied by some Americans, and a few of his own
countrymen who resided there under that denomination. Of
the grandeur of the scene he had not the smallest conception.
Two thousand officers were in the field, carrying arms, from
the general to the ensign, yet with the utmost attention to rank;
2 F                                  without