Rio de Janeiro.

CHAP. II.

Digression to the Brasil Coast-Harbour of Rio Janeiro, from Barrow's Travels-Town of St. Sebastian described by Mr. Tuckey-Streets, Houses, and public Edifices-Jealousy of the Portuguese-Character of the Inhabitants-Their Persons, Dress, &c.-Disparity in the Number of the Sexes-The Effects of Climate on the Females-Diseases-Vegetable Productions--Mines -Forts and Military Strength of the Harbour-Reflections on the Degeneracy of the Portuguese.

1803. WHILE the ship is pursuing her voyage, let us July. now make an ideal excursion to the Brasil Coast, along which we are ranging; in order to exhibit a sketch of the principal settlements where outward-bound ships occasionally touch for refreshBut as we ourselves had not an opportunity of visiting it, I must be permitted to give its description in the words of the latest and best informed travellers.

ment.

RIO DE JANEIRO.

(From Barrow's Travels.-1797.)

"THE first remarkable object, after passing Cape Frio, is a gap or rent in the verdant ridge of mountains, which skirts the sea shore. This chasm appears, from a distance, like a narrow portal, between two cheeks of solid stone.

"The cheek on the left, or western side, is a solid stone, of a sugar-loaf form; a solid mass of hard sparkling granite, 680 feet high above the

Romantic Prospect.

surface out of which it rises. The opposite cheek is of the same material; but has a regular and easy descent to the water's edge. A little island strongly fortified, just within the entrance, contracts the passage to the width of about three quarters of a mile. Having cleared the channel, one of the most magnificent scenes in nature bursts upon the enraptured eye. Let any one imagine to himself an immense sheet of water running back into the heart of a beautiful country, to the distance of about thirty miles, where it is bounded by a screen of lofty mountains, always majestic, whether their rugged and shapeless summits are tinged with azure and purple, or buried in the clouds; let him imagine this sheet of water gradually to expand from the narrow portal through which it communicates with the sea, to the width of twelve or fourteen miles; to be every where studded with innumerable little islands, scattered over its surface, in every diversity of shape, and exhibiting every variety of trait, that the exuberant and incessant vegetation is capable of affording; let him conceive the shores of these islands to be so fringed with fragrant and beautiful shrubs, not planted by man, but scattered by the easy and liberal hand of Nature, as to be completely concealed by their verdant coverings; let him figure to himself this beautiful sheet of water, with its numerous islands, encompassed on every side by hills of a moderate height, rising in gradual suc cession above each other, all profusely clad in lively green, and crowned with groupes of the noblest trees, while their shores are indented with numberless inlets, shooting their arms across

1803.

July

1803.

St. Sebastian.

the most delightful little vallies to meet their murJuly. muring rills, and bear their waters into the vast and common reservoir of all: in short, let him imagine to himself a succession of Mount Edgecombes to be continued along the shores of a magnificent lake, not less in circuit than one hundred miles, and having placed these in a clmate where spring for ever resides in all the glow of youthful vigour, he will still possess only a very imperfect idea of the magnificent scenery displayed within the capacious harbour of Rio Janeiro."

DESCRIPTION OF RIO JANEIRO.

(From Tuckey's Voyage to New South Wales.-1803.) THE town of St. Sebastian is built entirely of granite, which appears to be the only one found here, except a species of black and white marble. From the bay the appearance of the town is not inelegant, but the deception vanishes on a nearer approach. The streets, though straight and regular, are narrow and dirty, the projecting balconies sometimes nearly meeting each other; the houses are commonly two stories high, independant of the ground floors, which are occupied as shops or cellars; they are dirty, hot, and inconvenient: the stair-cases are perpendicular, and without light; and in the arrangement of the rooms, no regard is paid either to a free circulation of air, or to the beauty of prospect.

The furniture of the houses, though costly, disgusts the eye used to elegant plainness, by its clumsiness and tawdry decorations; while the spider weaves her web and pursues her sanguinary

Private Houses-Public Edifices.

trade in uninterrupted security, upon the walls
and ceiling
In the houses of the rich the win-
dows are glazed, which only serves to increase
the reflected power of the sun, and render them
intolerably hot but the generality of the houses
are furnished with shutters of close lattice work,
behind which the ladies assemble in the evenings;
and while their own persons are concealed, enjoy
the passing breeze, which is not however always
very aromatic. In the English settlements with-
in the tropics, art is exhausted to correct or
mitigate the ardour of the climate, and to render
a burning atmosphere not only supportable, but
pleasant to a northern constitution. In the
Brasils the defects of climate are increased by
the slothful and dirty customs of the inhabi-

tants.

The cause of this difference is to be ascribed to the climates of the mother countries; the climate of Portugal approaching to that of Brasil, the Europeans who emigrate hither feel little inconvenience from the change in our tropical settlements, the climate of the old, differing so much from that of their new residence, the emigrants leave no means unemployed to mitigate the fervour of the sun, whose ardent blaze is found to derange the nervous system, enervate the body, and render the mind a prey to listlessness and inanity.

There are eighteen parish churches, four monasteries, and three convents in the town of St. Sebastian, besides several smaller religious buildings in the islands and in the suburbs. Upon these edifices no expense is spared to attract the imagination of the weak and ignorant, by a pro

1803,

July.

1803. July.

Brasilian Bigotry.

fusion of gilding and other tawdry decorations. The " Hopital de Miseracordie," is also a religious institution, which receives patients of every denomination, and is principally supported by private benefactions. To these may be added a penitentiary house, where the incontinent fair are secluded from the world, to weep for, and atone their faults in solitude and silence. Hither jealous husbands, or cross parents, send their too amorous wives and daughters, and doubtless on no better foundation, than "trifles light as air." The admission to the nunneries is expensive; and I have heard a fond mother regret her want of fortune, only because it prevented her dedicating some of her beloved daughters to God! The clergy possess immense property in land, houses, and specie.

Their pious desire for the conversion of heretics still glows with all the ardour of bigotry; and the recantation of one protestant is considered of more value than the conversion of a hundred pagans An unfortunate foreigner of this persuasion, who by sickness or other causes, is obliged to remain here after his ship sails, is continually plagued by the impertinent intrusion of a dozen of these pious fathers, who, if he can find no means of leaving the country, in general tire his patience out in a few months, and for quietness sake he consents to be saved according to their receipt.

No foreigner is allowed to reside here, unless he subsists by some mechanical trade, or is in the service of the state; and if it appear that any idlers are inclined to remain in the colony by stealth, after sufficient warning, and opportu