Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/231

 There were nine whale-ships lying here, besides our squadron. Five of them were American. The next morning between five and six hundred American sailors,  all dressed in white frocks and trousers, black tarpaulin  hats and neckerchiefs, and their pockets well filled with  Spanish dollars, went on shore. Passing the American consul’s house, half-way up Main Street, we hove to, and  saluted the Star Spangled Banner, which was proudly  waving from his house. The consul, Mr. Brinsmade, and his wife, bowed very gracefully to us from the  veranda.

It astonished the natives greatly to see so many sailors let loose at once. The principal street of the town was Main Street. The first settlers lived on this street, in frame houses. Some of these were painted white, with green blinds, and were inclosed with neat picket-fences. The next street was about half a mile back, and ran crosswise. The buildings on this street had thatched roofs and sides, with glass windows and frame doors. Here were located the grog-shops, dancing-halls, billiard- rooms, cock-pits, sailors’ boarding-houses, and gambling- saloons. Some of these houses were inclosed by walls of brick, dried in the sun, and were whitewashed. These were occupied by the middle classes. European garments were worn by this class of people. On the next street the houses were rudely fashioned. They were built of sticks, vines, and half-formed sun-dried bricks,  and plastered with mud. The residents on this street were not quite half-dressed. Some of the men wore hat and shirt, and some wore trousers and no shirt. The dress of the ladies was made very much like a bag with