FANDANGO

H.M.S. Chatham, December 3, 1792

At dusk our cavalcade returned to Monterrey
where Señor Quadra hosted a fiesta
in honor of our visit. Society
is small here but it is made large by the addition
of the wives and daughters of the officers

invited almost nightly to the Governor's House.
These ladies know our English minuets
about as well as we know their borregos
and this increases the amusement. They wear their tresses
loose at the neck or in long braids, and short-sleeved dresses

leaving the arm bare. Last night's party was to start
at eight; at ten the ladies made their entrance
scurrying by us like the local quail
and settling in a covey on cushions strewn on carpets
over a curious dais facing the ballroom doors.

Sundry dances ensued before the floor was cleared
and a guitar accompanied one couple
in a fandango: sometimes they come close,
veer apart and approach again, wheeling about
and changing sides, smacking their fingers at every turn

with wanton attitudes and leering looks enough
to discompose the gravity of a Stoic.
Captain Vancouver asked our Sandwich Island
passengers to perform a dance and sing
according to their customs. This failed to entertain

one cletch of Spanish women, who seemed to think it meant
for ridicule and departed in a dudgeon.
After the commodore and our captain left
the dancing livened. Male voices joined the choruses
growing more boisterous and discordant as night advanced

from the repeated application of aguardiente.
Despite the pious Fathers, native girls
slip from their habitations, loitering
about the woody recesses to catch our notice.
Transparent beads allure and strike them with delight

and earrings gain the favor of the better part.
Rowing back to the ship we watched the stars
begin to pale above the hills and listened
to the guitars and voices carry across the water.
They will keep it up past daylight from the noise.

Edward Bell, Clerk