in Panama that frills and flounces still linger. Smoking is quite common amongst the women all over Latin America, and the fair sex in Colombia are no exceptions. Their cigars are often carried in their hair. In Panama the ladies have a freedom that is quite notorious; far from being confined behind iron gratings, they are allowed the diversions of balls, dances, supper parties, and receptions, without any fear of the control of their husbands, who are not always in attendance. The Panamanian _señoras_ are extremely good-natured, and their bright smiles and dangerous glances are bestowed with a careless freedom that would shock their fair sisters in Buenos Ayres. The education of women in South America generally is not so far advanced as it is in the northern continent or in Europe, though they are generally proficient, and frequently excel in musical accomplishments. They are perhaps no worse than the women of other lands in their love of gossiping and scandal, and, accustomed to flattery from their earliest years, and with interests narrowed down to a limited range of subjects, it is little wonder that they are incapable of conversing long or interestedly upon any topic save love, and that when it gives out they should fall back upon scandal. They weary over books, and turn over the pages with but a languid interest, and to any exercise save dancing they are naturally averse. Their conversation is rather free and unrestrained, and they talk glibly of the secret lovers of their dearest friends. Their beauty is but skin deep and wears rather badly; their indolent habits cause them soon to assume a bulkiness of form quite inconsistent with grace or comeliness, and it is only their passionate devotion to dancing that prevents them from becoming positively unwieldy. Ministers and Consuls from other republics abound at the receptions and balls, and the many fashions in whiskers, beards, and moustaches provoke much comment and many smiles. Merchants, shopkeepers, doctors, lawyers, concessioners, their wives and daughters, all jostle one another in the crush. The rooms get stiflingly hot as the evening wears on; the balcony outside is invitingly cool, and the quiet beauty of the night contrasts strongly with the noise and glitter of the saloons. Across the bay lie the undulating hills, all but lost in a translucent opal pall; the myriads of stars overhead shine with a glory that evokes ejaculations of admiration, the more brilliant of them are reflected with many a tremor in the placid sea beneath. Lights on distant boats bob up and down, while the murmur of the waves as they break gently on the shore makes a music that can be heard above the sound made of all human speech that floats out of the open doors from the _salon_.