23rd November 1832

Montevideo
At night there was a grand ball given in order to celebrate the reestablishment of the President. It was a much gayer scene than I should have thought this place could have produced. The desire which the inhabitants have on such occasions of appearing splendidly dressed is excessive: & to gratify it the ladies will spare no sacrifices. The music was in very slow time & the dancing, although most formal, possessed much gracefulness. The ball was given in the Theatre; nothing surprised me so much as the arrangements of the house; every part not actually occupied by the dancers was entirely open to the lowest classes of Society, so that all the passages to the boxes, back parts of the pitt, was filled by any people who liked to look on. And nobody ever seemed even to imagine the possibility of disorderly conduct on their parts. How different are the habits of Englishmen, on such Jubilee nights!