Cylchgronau Cymru

bloodshed have been enacted amongst that devoted people which have no parallel in the history of the South American revolution. All the respectable male inhabitants have fled abandoning their families and homes and seeking refuge here and in Chili. The property of the emigrants has been confiscated, their wives and children turned out of doors to seek the charity of their friends and relations. Those individuals who took an active part in the war against the enemy and who have fallen into their hands have either been shot or had their throats cut by a band of lawless and bloodthirsty ruffians called Mushorqueros. By a general order the bodies of the victims are left where murdered to rot or to be devoured by beasts of prey. Such is the fate of Tucuman. I am now as you will perceive in La Paz, the largest and most commercial city in Bolivia of about 40,000 inhabitants, situated in a deep dell at the foot of the Andes and having in its immediate neighbourhood the Illimani, one of the highest mountains of the globe covered with perpetual snow. I arrived here but ten days ago from Cochebamba. In the supposition the £ 100 left me by Father's will is still in your hands, I now send you a list of articles on which I will beg of you to lay it out. In the first place, I will state the books etc. which I want. 'What to observe or the traveller's remembrancer' by Col. J. R. Jackson, 'Geology' by H. T. De la Beche, a treatise on preserving the sight by W. H. Curtis. My sight from too much reading by candlelight has become weak so that I require spectacles. In a printed paper of W. & S. Jones, No. 30 Lower Holbom, London which you sent me, persons abroad who first require to use spectacles are told to state at how many inches distant they can best discern the smallest print of that paper with the naked eye. Please to order a pair of two double jointed steel ones informing them at the same time that the distance at which I can best discern the print before mentioned is 121 inches-12 pair of cork soles. 'The present state of aural surgery' by J. H. Curtis, 1/ -Two bottles of Oldridges' Balm of Columbia at 6/- the intellectual calculation with key-a gross of watch glasses. Brass butt hinges from I I to 4 inches, 2 gross--cast iron castors for tent beds-a gross of sets-brass socket castors for table and sofa legs, i gross, lion paw castors for sofas, i gross, brass Corinthian capitals and bases for feet of chests of drawers or bureaus, i gross-brass inlaid escutcheons for key holes of drawers, 6 gross, brass nails for sofas and trunks; these are sold I believe in packets of 1000 nails each; if not above 2/6 or 3/- a packet, send a gross of packets. Hand saw files assorted, i gross-brass ring handles for drawers, a gross-cabinet makers' rasps and files a gross-common and cheapest iron and chest locks a gross-20 sets of hair cloth sofa covers with a flower in the centre, the ground of various colours-a dozen sets of quadrant hinges for secretaries and six dozen catches for tiles. If, after making the above purchases, there should be a surplus of money remaining, add to them 50 to 100 cast iron tea kettles of different sizes. These must be packed in strong casks, each cask to weigh, when filled, 150 lbs and no more. If the casks allow it add from 20 to 30 quicksilvered glass plates for looking glasses, that is without the frames, of various sizes from 2 to 5 feet in length. All the hardware must be packed in boxes of about a yard long, a foot and a half deep and about two feet broad, each to weigh 150 lbs and no more as they will have to be conveyed from the coast hither on mules. I should like to know at how much per yard good felt for making silk hats is selling wholesale. Direct these goods to Messrs Taylor & Co., Arica for J. O. Finck, La Paz. Arica is a sea port on the coast of the Pacific but not many vessels arrive there in the year direct from England. Unfortunately at this point in his quite adventurous career his letters end. It would seem that he returned to Wales in 1846 and again in 1854 but he died soon afterwards in May 1855 of fever at Arica in northern Chile. He remains very much a shadowy figure despite his letters, some of which are of quite inordinate length but he does provide a glimpse by an educated rolling-stone of the tempestuous early days of South America. ALAN CONWAY. University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.