The world are accustomed to speak very slightingly of the Portuguese character as a nation; and when the deeds in the Peninsula have been mentioned, it has been said, "they have fought well, because British bayonets were at their backs." Those same British have done the Portuguese army the justice their bravery deserves; and the pitiful sneers of their calumniatos will fall harmless. Our saucy sailors, too, in the plenitude of their impudence, must have their joke at the Portuguese: I remember, upon my first trip to sea, I was called from the cabin to look at a Portuguese man-of-war, which, they told me, had just hove in sight: I did look, but no vessel was to be seen. At last, the sailors pointed out to me a nautilus, with all sail set, skimming along the water which they asserted, was a Portuguese ship of the line. Colonia has about 800 inhabitants. There are very few good houses: the greater part may be called huts, and are occupied by a mixture of South Americans, old Spaniards, Portuguese, and some half-dozen of Englishmen married to South-American ladies. The governor's house is a very ordinary building. The streets are irregular; and the town altogether presents a most miserable appearance. The town cannot afford a tavern; there is only a paltry billiard-room, in a public house, to which the Portuguese officers resorted. The inhabitants of Colonia are very hospitable. I attended a birth-day feast, at one of their _quintas_; forty persons sat down to a dinner of beef, fowls, turkey, pastry, &c. The wine went merrily round, under a continual call for _bompas_ (bumpers); and after dinner, there was dancing. Some Portuguese officers were present, with their young Spanish wives. At those dinner parties, they have a practice of throwing bits of bread at each other; and I felt some degree of surprise at first receiving those bread shots. The captain of the port, Mr. Short, is an Englishman, belonging to the Portuguese navy, and is very attentive to his countrymen, whom business may call there: the same may be said of Mr. Bridgman, who has been many years resident in the town. Colonia has but little trade. Small craft from Monte Video and Buenos Ayres, bound up the river to Paysan Lee, &c. and sometimes British and other vessels call in, to ship produce. A vessel can anchor within a quarter of a mile from the shore, in 3½ fathom water. The harbour is good, considering the bad anchorage of this river. There is a constant communication overland with Monte Video; the distance is about 150 miles. To load vessels of any burthen, craft are sent from Buenos Ayres. There is a dangerous reef near the harbour, on which a British brig (the _Euxine_) was wrecked, in March, 1824.