He speaks English fluently; but alas! the ladies do not; so we must look up our old rusty armoury of Spanish, and take the field with what courage we may.

Kindness and good-will smooth all difficulties, and we feel astonished how well we get on; in short, if we stay here too long we shall get vain, and think we really can speak Spanish,--we must dine, we must stay, we must make the house our own, and truly I rejoiced that it was so.

The house had every comfort, the society every charm, and the welcome was as warm as it was unostentatious.

We--for you must know our party was four in number--most decidedly lit upon our legs, and the cuisine and the cellar lent effectual aid.

The proprietor is an elderly man, and the son, who has travelled a good deal in Europe, manages the properties, which consist of several plantations, and employ about twelve hundred slaves.