Notes on Rio de Janeiro, and the southern parts of Brazil; taken during a residence of ten years in that country, from 1808 to 1818

Front matter

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Preface

THE Author of the following Notes resided in Brazil, with few interruptions, during the term of ten years, and enjoyed there as great advantages for varied observation, as any of his countrymen, in his own rank. Of the skill with which he used these advantages, and of the judgment and taste with which he has endeavoured to fit his descriptions of scenes and events for publication, he is no adequate judge. The praise of equity and impartiality he presumes to claim. His first object in writing Notes was confined to his own amusement ; in selecting and publishing those which he presents to the Public, nobler views are indulged, he ventures to hope, that he may interest and instruct.

The order of time forms the great outline of his plan, and while he was moving from one place to another, has been generally observed ; but a regular and lengthened Journal, would probably have been unacceptable. He thinks select descriptions most likely to afford general amusement, and to make the reader so acquainted with characters, scenes, events, and circumstances,

Vv PREFACE, as may most usefully engage his attention. It allows of throwing many things together, which would otherwise require repetition; and of making one fact and event illustrative of another, so that both may sometimes be rendered more clear and intelligible.

Perhaps in the very mode which he has adopted, it was not always possible to avoid repetition, but where the same subjects occur which have before claimed attention of the reader, they will, in general, be seen in a different light, and be better understood from additional circumstances.

It has been his aim to give a fair representation of the Country, of its natural advantages, and its defective Institutions and modes; not merely to gratify a reader, but with some small hope, that the former may in consequence be more wisely employed, and the latter improved. In the amelioration of Brazil, he contemplates the benefit of mankind, and more especially of the British Dominions.

But his chief purpose is to delineate the manners and character of the people; to this more than one part of the Work is professedly devoted; yet he has not scrupled with the same view to detail many accounts of events and circumstances in other places, whence a strict attention to connection and order might have excluded them. He is not aware that any former Work relative to Brazil enters very minutely into subjects of this kind, or treats them in a similar way. Readers who think with him, that the most correct as well as the most interesting views of character are given by anecdotes fairly detailed, will, he trusts,

PREFACE. v find the book not altogether unworthy of a place among the different accounts of a country to which recent events have strongly directed the thoughts of Britons.

He is sensible that many of his observations will be thought minute; some of them, it may be, trifling ; but nothing is really insignificant which directly bears, even in a small degree, on a professed design. Uf the charge of over-minuteness be applied to his commercial and nautical details, he deems it sufficient to reply, that he and his associates often found themselves in situations where such minuteness would have been highly aeceptable and useful to them.

Some will find his delineations on subjects of Natural History deficient; but he does not pretend to a capacity of representing such matters scientifically ; the pursuits of business are not favourable to acquirements in Philosophical Knowledge, and books are about to appear, he believes, professedly treating on such topics.

The paragraph relating to the intrinsic value of Gold Bullion in page 467, seemed to be important in a general point of view, and was therefore, during the last winter, presented to the Right Hon. the Earl of Harewood, then Lord Lascelles, with a request that he would transmit it to the Bullion Committee of the House of Commons.

In an Appendix, some few things are thrown together which, though useful to be known, would have interrupted the narrative if placed in the body of the work. The Signals for entering the Port of Rio Grande do Sul are such as were in use when the Author had last an opportunity of ascertaining them, vi PREFACE.

and he believes have not since been changed. The Glossary of Indian Words was thought to be desirable, because so many of them have been adopted by the Settlers in Brazil, as to form a Dialect of the Portuguese Language, very different from that which is spoken at Lisbon. Some of these words’ are mere names, and admit of no explanation; others are so corrupted by a mixture of syllables from different languages as to render it impossible to give their meaning without a tedious description; and the signification of many is unkown to the Author.

It was intended in other Chapters to have described the condition of Negro Slaves, and that of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of South America, but as the number of pages swelled beyond the appointed limits, it was found necessary to throw some of the leading facts relating to these topics into other parts of the work, and to be satisfied with marking the stations of the Indian tribes upon the Maps alone.

These Maps are constructed chiefly from materials collected in different parts of the country, and have been compared with what Cazal has written upon Brazilian Geography, and though not absolutely correct, they will be found to convey, it is hoped, some useful information to the British student: they at least possess the merit of being free from that strange mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, Tupi, English, and even Dutch and French names, with which most European Maps of South America abound.

The work has been prevented from appearing earlier by a circumstance which has contributed to render it more worthy of

PREFACE. Vil public attention. It has passed through the hands of the Rev. Joseph Bowden, who has partly remodelled it, and removed sentences and paragraphs to situations whence they have derived greater perspicuity and interest. If there be any merit in the arrangement it belongs to that Gentleman.— All the faults of composition and style are the Author’s own, for he has refused to adopt many suggestions of improvement because they would have produced a slight shade of difference in the representation of facts. Truth has been invariably preferred to the harmony of a period and the chaste elegance of a metaphor.

At the commencement of his labours the Author intended to have dedicated the Volume to his Majesty the King of Brazil, as a testimony of gratitude for the protection and notice received from him while residing in his dominions; as a proof of sincere regard for his person and government; as a mean of promoting the prosperity of his Dominions ;—but, on mentioning this intention to a Brazilian friend, it was thought almost impossible to write such a dedication without giving rise to a suspicion of interested motives, and it was therefore laid aside; although, in the writer’s opinion, the freedom which he has used in the delineation of character might have been deemed a sufficient guarantee. The King, he is happy to repeat, is a good man, and a good sovereign, but it would not have been right to represent him as superior to human nature, entirely free from those weaknesses and failings of which all partake. He has been surrounded occasionally, it was thought, by men who did not merit his confidence, either for their talents or their integrity, and has been called to govern in a country where ignorance and vice prevailed in an unusual degree.

Vili PREFACE.

The rapidity with which improvement proceeds in Brazil is wonderful, and it requires a steady hand to steer the vessel of the state. Would to God that the King may have judgment enough to avoid the rock upon which many nations have split— a love of useless conquest—and the no less dangerous whirlpool which threatens to draw the country into the vortex of Revolution.

Chapter I. The Atlantic Ocean

Land-Birds driven to Sea.—Agility of a Monkey.—Cold felt in Lat. 29°. N.—Flores.— Madeira.—Teneriffe.—The Peak.—Coast of Africaa—Weedy Sea.—Course across the Line.—Trade Winds.—Fishes of the Ocean.—Luminous and Brown Appearances of the Sea.—Art of Fishing and Fishermen.—Sea-Birds.—Insects.—Form of the Southern Hemisphere.—Magellanic Clouds.—Depth of the Sea and Form of the Bottom.—Hint respecting Log-Books. Page 1.

Chapter II. Rio De Janeiro

Cape Frio.—Rich and beautiful Views.—Bay of Rio.—The City.—First Walk.—Streets.— Houses.—Jealousies. Extent and Growth of Rio.— Population.—Provisions.—Climate. —Health. Page 30.

x CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IIT.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS.

Cathedral. — Churches. — Baptismal and Funeral Ceremonies.— Chapel Royal. — Other Chapels. — Street Worship. — Hospicio. — Convents.—Nunneries. — Recolhimentos. — Misericordia.—Colleges.—Bishop’s Palace.—Custom-House.—Public Wharfs and Warehouses. —F ountains.—Aqueduct.—Military Affairs.—Troops of the Line.—Barracks.— Militia.—Necessaries of War.—Forts.—Military Hospital.— Navy.—Treasury.—Public Gardens.—Theatre.—Calabouca.—Prisons._ . Page 53.

Chapter IV. Ranks.—employment.—manners.—character

Vicereys.—The Queen.— Regent.— Royal Family.— Palace.— Equipage.—Conde’ de Linhares —Courtiers. — Ecclesiastics. — Lawyers. -—- Merchants. — Shopkeepers. — Artizans, — Porters.—Itinerant Dealers.—Beggars.—Women.— Their Dress.—Persons.—Employments. — Children. — Domestic Arrangements. — Furniture.—Visits.—Dinner Party.— Evening.—Visit at Ilha Dos Frades.—Education.—Ignorance.— Filth.—Vices,—Administration of Justice. Page 92.

Chapter V

VOYAGE TO THE PLATA; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PROVINCES OF PARANA AND URUGUAY.

Preparations for Sailing.—Brazilian Seamen.— Uncommon Saltness of the Ocean.—Billows. Rio de la Plata.—Detention in the River.—Character of the Plata.—Fishes.—Newly acquired Brazilian Territory.—Etymology.—Province of Parand.—Rivers.—Lakes.— Soil.— Produce.—Matté.—Towns.—Province of Uruguay.— Boundaries.—Castelhos.— Nature of the Country.— Santa Tereza.—Maldonado.— Adventures there.—Character of the People.—Monte Video.—Other Towns.—Herds.—Rivers. Page 138.

CONTENTS. KA

Chapter VI

TOWN OF ST. PEDRO DO SUL, OR RIO GRANDE’ AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.

Coast of Rio Grandé.—Bar of St. Pedro.—Appearance of the Country.—Landing.—Town of St. Pedro.—Church.—Fort.—Custom—House.— Ferry.— Governor.—Police.—Assassination.—State of Medicine.—. Military Affairs—Commerce,— Occupations and Amusements.— Domestic Circumstances. — Dress. — Manners. — Ecclesiastical Philippic.— Tolerance. — Singular Benevolence. — Intrudo. — Visit to a Farmer; his Character, Family, Farm, and Comforts.—Strangers at St. Pedro; their Appearance, Dealings, Manners, and Equipage.—Slaves and free Negroes. Page 170.

Chapter VII

RIO GRANDE’.—JOURNEYS INTO THE INTERIOR.—GENERAL REMARKS ON THE SOUTH OF BRAZIL.—SOME ACCOUNT OF ST. CATHARINE’S.

Preparations for travelling. — Journey Westward.—Spanish Refugee.—Baiting.—Sports.— Docility of Horses.—Charqued Beef.—Wild Dogs.—Civility of the People-—Farms.— Hospitality.—Journey to the South.—Old St. Pedro.—Lake Mirim.—Voyage to Cangaza.—The Island.—An Ox Chase.—Lagoa dos Patos.—Porto Alegro.—Indians.— Journey Northward.—Indian Remains.--Face of the Country.—General Remarks on the Southern Provinces.—Manners of Horses and Mules.—Laguna.—St. Catherine’s.— Sulphureous Springs. — Extraordinary Crystal. — Military Establishment. — Singular Funereal Custom. Page 204.

Chapter VIII. Rio De Janeiro

Improvement of the City.—Buildings.—Population —Court.—Conduct and Popularity of the Regent.—Theatre.—Ecclesiastical Matters.—Their influence upon Manners.—Army, and Military Affairs.—Internal Condition of the Country.—Foreign Relations —Mar-

CONTENTS.

riage of a Princess—Commercial Improvements.—Domestic Comforts. —The Middle Harbour.— Hospital dos Enchados.—Rocks and Islands.—Party of Pleasure.—Lazaretto. Gambéa. — British Burial-Ground. — Desiccation.—Ponte Caja. — Maricana. — Nevas TIslands.—St. Lorenzo.—Praia Grandé.—Island of Villegagnon. Page 244.

Chapter IX. Journies From Rio De Janeiro Westward

Caatumbi.—Ensign of the Holy Ghost.—Royal Palace.—Campinhos.—Swedish Miners.—

Lamerén.—Santa Cruz.—Sepetiva.—Plumed Succoo.—Angra.—Indian Village.—Parahyba. —Taguahy.—Jesuits.—Attempt to cultivate Indigo.—Guarativa.—Jacaré-pua.— Beira da Lapa.—Bay of Bota Foga.—Its Neighbourhood.— Lagoa do Freitas.—Botanic Garden ; Geological Conjecture.--Gavia.—Tejica.—Pavina.—Farm of an Englishman. Grants.—Moradores.—Other Tenants.—Laws respecting Tenants.— Farming.—Way of Living.—Animals; Reptiles ; Insects.—Sacred Offices.—Effects of fine Scenery.— Pass of Boa-Vista.—Bootocudies. Page 264.

Chapter X. Journies From Rio De Janeiro Eastward

Caari/-—Tokai.—Wretched State of Invalids.—Fishing.—Beautiful small Lake.—St. Gonzales.—Its Hospitalities—The Gua/xendi/ba.— The Itapi’tiu.—Effect of a Setting Sun. America’.—Derivation of the Name given to the New World.—Ponta Negra.—Brazilian Inconsistency.—Plantation on Sale.—Ipecacuanha.—Sequaréma.—Iru4ma.— Engeitédo.—A Stratagem.—Brazilian Honour.—Indians of St. Pedro.—Low State of Business.—Benedictine Negroes.—A Man in Office.—St. Joan.—Bay of St. Ann. —Porcupine.—Navigation of the St. Joan and Dourado.—Conical Mountain.—No real Volcanic Appearances.—Horses Swimming.—Macahé.—Parahyba.—St. Salvador. Benefits derived from Jesuits—-Tzomé.—Tzoméos, now Tupinémba.—Restinga of Cape Frio. Page 303.

CONTENTS. Xi

Chapter XI

RIO DE JANEIRO.—EXCURSION TO THE UPPER BAY AND THE RIVERS FALLING INTO IT.

Preparation.—The Upper Bay.—A Storm.—Ilha do Governador.—Tarantula.—Palace of St. Bento.—Irasa.—Mud Bank.—The Iguazi.—Porto Dos Saveiros.—The Inhomerim. —Porto D’Estrella.—Broken Rocks.—Currents.—Serui.—St. Nicholas.——The Iriri.— Disappointment. — Majé.—Hospitality.— The Iguapezi.—Villa Nova.—Prospect.— Macaci.-—Piraseninga.—Estate on Sale.—Timber.—Sacred Auction.—Brazilian Tenderness.—Mica mistaken for Gold.—Rafts.—Simplicity—A Visit to the Orendé.— Forest on Fire.—Preparation of Farinha.—Forest Scenery.— The Guaxendiba —Cabaza. Rocks of Itadca.—Paqueté.—Perforated Stones.—Debasement of Merchandise.—Brassa- Forte.—-Negro Superstition.—Ilha d’Agoa.—Fogs, Page 334,

Chapter XII. Journey Northwards

Reasons for undertaking the Journey.—Preparation for it.—Soldiers at Porto D’Estrella.— Military System of Brazil.—Packing of Merchandise for the Interior.—Mode of conveying it.—Plains of Inhomerim.— Mandiéca.—Serro dos Organos.—Heads of the Piabina.-—-Itamareté —Ranchos.—Mode of Farming.—Manners of Travellers. —Character of my Companions.—Estates of Padres, Luiz, and Correio.—Water Mills.— Beating of Horse Shoes.—Scanty Supply of Luxuries.—Strangers from Matto Grosso. Snakes.—Sowing of Milho.—Large Trees.—Pegado.—Farm and Farmer there.—A Gamelleiro.— Cebolas.—Hunting Dogs.—Itinerant Blacksmiths.—Claying of Sugars.— Effect of Gartijpa.—Power of Vegetation.—Parahyba.— Occurrences and Remarks there. —Ants’ Nests.—Parahybina.— Richness of the River.—Bars of Gold.—Their Certifieates.—Modes of Searching for Gold Dust. Page 367.

Chapter XIII

MINAS GERAES.—ROUTE TO St. JOHN D’ EL REY.

Boundaries of the Province.—Ride to Vargem.—Patrulha.—Exquisite Scenery.—Register of Mathzus Barboza.—Treatment there.— Post-Office.—Distorted Mode of Thinking.—~

XIV

CONTENTS.

Taxes and Productions of the Province.—St. Vincenté.—Juiz de Fora.—Gold Washing there——Country to Antonio Moreira.—Agriculture of Minas Geraes.—Instance of Revenge.—Chapéo D’Ouvas.— New Companions.—Route to Curral Novo.—Tata Tree. —Culture of Barley.—- Poisonous Milk.—Wonderful Account of England by a Portuguese.— Domestic Circumstances.—Man of the Woods.—Caamboeiros.—Pigmies.— Ahy.—Saponaceous Stone.—Cruelty to Animals..—Campo.—Church there.—Extensive View.—Serro do Mantiqueira.—The Table Land of Brazil.—Corgos.—Herbage of the Downs.—Snakes.—Sheep.—Guide’s House, Family, and Religion.—Extreme Thirst. —Arrival at St. John D’ El Rey. Page 416.

Chapter XIV

MINAS GERAES.—VILLA OF ST. JOHN D’ EL REY.

View of the Town.—Description of it.—Churches.—Government-House.—Jail.—Misericordia.—Character of the Governor.—People and Occupations,—Mining and Mines.— Smelting-House.— Estimated Value of Gold.—Intrinsic Value.—-Bullion Market.— Provincial Notes of Minas Geraes,—Commerce.—Means of Living.—-Clothing.—Customs.—Manners and Character.—Military.—Country-Houses and Gardens.—Farms.— Markets.—Climate-—Papas or Goitre.—Remedies.—Medical Men.—Geogiaphical Remarks. Page 453.

CHAPTER XV. MINAS GERAES.—JOURNEY TO VILLA RICA, anp MARIANNA

Tamandua.—Ride to Capitaon Joan Ribeiro’s.—Mode of Enlarging an Estate.—Palmeiros.

Farming.—Queluz.—Ornithology.—A dead Jararadca.—Mass of Iron Ore.—Ouro

Branco.—Gold Searching there. Meyo Serro.—Alto do Morro.—Boa Vista.—

Minerals.—Chapon.—Topaz and Gold Mines.—False Jewels.—Villa Rica.—First Impressions of the place.—Public Buildings.—Formation and Mode of Working its Mines.—Different Kinds of Gold.—Calx of Iron.—Commerce.—Manufactures.— Carriages.— Genius of a Workman.—System of Colonization.—A resident Englishman. —Character of the People.—Religious Ceremonies.—Neighbourhood.—Other Modes of Mining. —Marianna.—Indians.—State of Society.—Climate.—Birds. Page 481.

CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XVI. Return To Rio De Janeiro.—congonha And Barbazena

Travellers from Pitangui.—Contraband Gunpowder.—Blacksmiths.—Rodeiro.—Chapaom. —Congonha, or Caancunha.—Splendid Church there.— Miraculous Interposition of the Virgin.—Lepers.—Sua-sui.—Brazilian Admiration of the Taste and Manners of Foreigners.—Reflections on the Form of the Country.—St. Joze.— Barbazena,—Registro- Velho-—Borda do Campo.—Juruoccea.—The Rio Grandé.—Mantiqueira.— Pedro Alves. Singular Snakes.—St. Vincente.—Patrulha.—-Rocinha do Negro.—Parahibina.—

Governo. Page 516.

Chapter XVII. Domestic Affairs, Commerce, And Foreign Relations. 4

Increase of Population.—Improvements in Rio and the Condition of the People.—Police.— Military.—War of Rio Grande’ do Sul.—Revolt at Pernambuco.—Its Effects upon Rio de Janeiro and neighbouring Provinces.—Talaverians and Pernambucanos.—Forts.— Internal Policy and Management.—Public Justice.—Regnal Honours bestowed upon Brazil.—Acclamation of the King.—Increase of Schools, Knowledge, and Taste.— Commerce.—Its former State.—Roads and Ports.—Present Internal Trade of Rio.— Bank of Brazil.—Treasury.—Coasting Trade South and North of Rio.—Colonial Trade to Africa and Portugal.—Foreign Trade in Portuguese or Brazilian Vessels, to the Plata, Asia, and Europe.-—Commerce purely Foreign, British, North American, Spanish, belonging to Sweden and other States.—Political Relations and Prospects of Brazil. Page 546, APPENDIX.

Signals by which Vessels approaching to enter the Port of Rio Grande do Sul, show to the

Pilot Boat the Water which they draw. Page 604.

Tables of Commerce. Page 605.

A Glossary of Tupi Words. Page 629.

DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.

Plan of the City to face . . . ie oy Pagerse

Map of the Southern Lowlands of Brazil to face Page 138

Do. of the Table Land to face . . . . . . Page 264 ERRATUM.

Page 481 for Armadillo read Ant-Kater.

NOTES ON BRAZIL.

Chapter I. The Atlantic Ocean

LAND-BIRDS DRIVEN TO SEA.—AGILITY OF A MONKEY.—COLD FELT IN LaT. 29°, N.—FLORES.—MADEIRA.—TENERIFFE.—THE PEAK.—COAST OF AFRICA.— WEEDY ‘SEA.—COURSE ACROSS THE LINE.—TRADE WINDS.—FISHES OF THE OCEAN.—LUMINOUS AND BROWN APPEARANCE OF THE SEA.—ART OF FISHING AND FISHERMEN.—SEA-BIRDS.—INSECTS.—FORM OF THE SOUTHERN HEMIS- PHERE.—MAGELLANIC CLOUDS.—DEPTH OF THE SEA AND FORM OF THE -BOTTOM.—HINT RESPECTING LOG-BOOKS,

THE passage to South America affords to the reflecting traveller, many objects of attention; if he be a landsman, a novice at sea, and possess an inquisitive turn of mind, the water, the winds, the vessel and its management; the fishes, the birds, and the plants of the ocean; the coasts along which he sails; the islands which he approaches, or passes, or leaves behind in his daily progress, will furnish subjects for constant inquiry and amusement. If accustomed to such scenes, they will lead him to examine his former notes, to compare them with present observations, and increase his stock of knowledge.

The Atlantic has been so thoroughly examined and so correctly represented, as to leave little new for remark on this side the line. The course to Madeira is almost as well known as the road from London to Falmouth ; and the island as minutely described as the county of Cornwall. A few land-birds, driven off by the winds from their natural abodes, attract attention and exercise our compassion. They are found far out at sea “ weary and way-worn.” Hunger, fatigue, and anxiety, the great instruments by which nature reduces the most fierce, and calms the most restless and volatile, have rendered them quiet and confident. It is almost impossible to imagine how forlorn these poor wanderers look. A

One of them, not yet exhausted, caused a monkey, which we had on board, to exhibit a striking instance of muscular activity. The animal was from Africa, and allowed to run freely about the ship. He saw the bird in the rigging, climbed with cautious cunning toward it unperceived, and seized without harming it. Returning to the quarter-deck, he seated himself quietly upon his haunches, holding the prey loosely in his left hand, while he examined and played with it. In an instant the bird escaped, was completely clear of his grasp and at some distance, with wings fully expanded. By a sudden spring he seized it again with his right hand, and calmly reseated himself. The whole transaction was so instantaneous as, in the opinion of those who stood by and were observing him, scarcely to allow time for volition, much less to produce its peculiar effects upon the muscles of the arm with such precision. He had evidently learned wisdom, for he proceeded to kill the bird by pressing his thumb upon the throat; dexterously stripped off the skin, and eat the body, after having sucked the blood, and devoured the entrails, with apparently superior relish.

In another voyage we passed between Madeira and the Western Islands, and about two hundred miles from any land; two wild ducks approached the vessel, and flew several times close round us, but were not sufficiently exhausted to be confident. ‘The question which every one asked was, whence did they come? The nearest land, was Madeira, but neither that nor any island about it, that we knew of, was adapted for fresh water fowls. When they left us, they went westward, and must fly at least 200 miles farther, before they could find a solid resting place. Perhaps in extreme necessity, they might alight upon the water; but the sea affords no nutriment suited to their nature and habits.

In this neighbourhood too, i. e. in latitude 29° N. long. 38° W., I felt the greatest degree of cold which I ever experienced ; or to express myself more correctly, I never knew a ship’s company so susceptible of the change of temperature as there. It was the 3d of April, 1816. We had passed the equator on the preceding 20th of March. In our run to the northward, the wind had been easterly and the weather hot. The N. E. trades were undoubtedly blowing between us and the coast of Africa, and we were now approaching their northern verge. It was natural, therefore, to suppose that we had suddenly entered into that section of the stream of air which had recently passed over the mountains of Atlas, probably at that early period of the year still covered with snow. If this conjecture be right, it shows that the frosts of these African mountains produce a very perceptible degree of coldness at the distance of 1300 miles from them; that the scorched desert also has warmed the atmosphere to the same extraordinary distance from the coast, and that the two lines of the current have run parallel to, and almost without inter-mingling with each other.

It is wonderful how secluded some of the islands in the Atlantic are; and how slowly the inhabitants are affected by the prosperity or the disasters of Europe. In the voyage just mentioned, we touched at Flores, where the last political fact which the people were acquainted with, had occurred nearly two years before ; the transmission of Napoleon Bonaparte to Elba. ©The Governor and all about him were extremely astonished, when we told them of his subsequent re-appearance in France, of his defeat at Waterloo, and final deportation to St. Helena. They appeared as if awakened from a state of insensibility, and envied the pleasures which others derived from the knowledge of events as they arise. They felt an irrefragable proof that they were a sort of exiles by nature from the society of men, and though perhaps reasoning upon false principles, they judged themselves less fortunate than the inhabitants of more widely spread districts.

Flores is a lively spot: it slopes to the East, and shows small inclosures, neatly walled and well managed ; white cottages are every where scattered; the people are well made, ruddy, and healthy. They possess some of the social virtues; but even these lose their charms when accompanied by an unnatural simplicity and inanity of character. This and its sister island, Corvo, when seen from the N. E. about 25 miles distant, exhibit a singular appearance. The first resembles a large lizard A 2 lying upon the water; the latter a tortoise; and the outlines and ly tions of both are agreeable to nature.

Soon after the French army had entered Lisbon, we passed Madeira, having a Portuguese Judge on board, bound for Brazil. He had just taken his final farewell of his last compatriot, and looking at the land, as it rapidly receded from our view, was heard to exclaim in an under tone of voice—“* Ah! Portugal was.” At the same moment a fellow-passenger, who for the first time had seen a Nautilus, and learned the name by which it is distinguished among sailors, cried out—‘ Oh! here is a Portuguese man-of-war!” The gentleman of the long robe heard him, and though there was not the slightest idea of reflecting upon his country or its navy, the expression was so totally at variance with the high-wrought tone of his feelings, that he sharply replied—“ Sir, Portugal had men of war when England wanted a cock-boat.” We admired the sensibility whence this sally flowed, but the comic position in which the parties suddenly found themselves, excited a smile in all, and exchanged between them the cheerful good humour of one for a portion of sombre regrets from the other. ‘

Upon the same spot, during a subsequent voyage, a very different scene occurred. Our vessel, the Queen Charlotte Packet, Captain Mudge, happened to be at Funchal, when the fleet, going out to attack Guadaloupe, was standing off and on. I had spent two days on shore with my fellow-passengers, among our friends and several. military officers. It was evening when the packet left the Roads; and having blown hard during the afternoon, some of the vessels were driven further to leeward than could be convenient or pleasant, for those who had not yet got on board. While we were taking the azimuth, at sun-set, a country boat passed under our starboard bow, with some ladies and gentlemen, and sea-stores, going to one of the ships, and we remarked that it was deeply laden to be out in such a sea. A few minutes afterward, hearing some one call to the helm’s-man—* take care of the boat under your lee,” I went aft, and found it going round our stern, the ladies wringing their hands and begging to be taken on board. No danger was apprehended,

NOTES ON BRAZIL. a)

and we endeavoured to sooth them; yet it seems the boat had shipped a quantity of water, and the moment the painter was made fast swamped completely. Oh! what a piercing shriek was there! but it appealed to the hearts of British seamen, and in them nature works promptly. In a moment all who could be useful were over the side, engaged in the pleasing work of saving. Very soon six persons were safe upon deck, but a lady and gentleman, who sat aft, remained in the water. On the first apprehension of danger, the main-sheet had been thrown over as a mean of assisting them; the gentleman had seized and put it between his teeth, in order to secure his hold, while he endeavoured to support the lady in his arms. Unfortunately, in the almost insensible struggles of such a moment, he threw one arm round the lady, and the other beneath the thwart of the boat, securing his grasp with the most distressing pertinacity. The power of speech had been long gone in both; but the exertions to relieve them so frequently brought their heads above water, as to prolong the power and effects of respiration. It was only when this ceased, that the bodies could be separated from each other and the boat. When the lady was brought on board pulsation was quite gone; the gentleman’s heart still had a feeble motion, In about an hour and a half, both were so far recovered as to be sensible. ‘Two foreign passengers had beheld the scene with silent, but interested surprise, and afterwards expressed great astonishment at the instances of resuscitation which they witnessed. One of them, when he noticed the lady habited in such dress as could be furnished from the fragments of her own clothes and the wardrobe of sailors, with a poor hairy cap on her head, took his own and presented it with a grace almost inimitable. It touched every one present, and exhibited a fine specimen of what may be done by mere manner alone, when directed by a generous and benevolent heart. About midnight we delivered over the whole party, in a state which gave hopes of complete recovery, to the Africaine frigate, then cruising off the island.

‘Teneriffe presents to the curious passenger the most singular object, perhaps, in the northern hemisphere. 'The island appears, as he sails along the coast from north to south, to have been once a complete cinder ; and presents to view a great deal of the brokenness and irregularity of a half consumed coke. This resemblance, however, contrary to expectation, becomes less perfect as we approach the Peak, the great chimney of the fiery cauldron boiling beneath. Oratava stands upon a gentle slope at the foot of the mountain, and is surrounded by fields of corn, gardens, and vineyards. ‘The culture of the soil is promoted to a very extraordinary degree, particularly in some patches so elevated and so secluded as to appear inaccessible to the husbandman. But the plain is very forbidding; the beach is composed of naked, pointed, and cinerous rocks: the whole island is any thing but picturesque. I first saw the Peak from the north end of Palma, after a hot and calm day. The ship’s company had been looking out, from the earliest dawn, for this giant of the ocean; this pillar of the firmament; but a billowy white cloud hung the whole day upon the eastern part of the horizon, and hid the island of Teneriffe from our view. Determined, if possible, to behold an object so interesting, which I might never have another opportunity of seeing, I ascended the mast; still the cloud intervened, and I was coming down in despair. Having reached the main shrouds, something about the top-mast excited attention, and looking up at it I saw the summit of the mountain at an unthought of elevation. It was clothed in the richest garment of snow, and glittered in the reflected glory of the evening sun. The cloud rested, indeed, upon the mountain, but it formed only the flounce of the mantle; it was the month of February, and winter stood finely contrasted with a deep blue ether.

The mountain is still an active volcano, whose only crater is said to be quite at the summit; an elevation incomparably above that of any other part of the island or neighbouring shores ; and as every thing in the country indicates its heated origin, it is generally supposed to have been discharged from the bowels of the earth through this aperture. If then this conjecture be correct, there must have been a period when the liquid lava flowed over the edge of the crater, when the chimney which connects it with the cauldron, must have been full of it. That this internal furnace is not situated in the upper part of the mountain is evident from the quantity of matter which has been discharged ; incomparably more massy than the mountain itself, perhaps than the whole island; for its shores exhibit, even to the water’s edge, layers of lava, some of them decomposed indeed, which seem, when ejected, to have flowed far into the ocean, and now form its bed. ‘That the cauldron is much below the base of the mountain and the level of the sea is probable, because the dome which covers it must be strong enough to support the whole weight of the mountain; and so far as I could learn, the fiery mass collected there produces no perceptible effect upon the waters of the ocean, nor upon the springs on shore. The length of the chimney, too, cannot be less than the height of the mountain, and if we estimate the weight of fluid lava at only three times that of water, it will yield us a pressure upon the dome, tending to break it up, and expose the furnace, of not less power than eighteen thousand pounds to every square inch; a pressure, however, which it must formerly have sustained, or the crater could not have been raised so high.

If allowed to guess at the magnitude of that mass of matter which has been discharged, I should say that it cannot be less than thirty cubic miles. Making every allowance, therefore, for the increase of bulk by the action of fire, and for the absorption of water, we still find a chasm, beneath the surface of the island, which almost confounds the imagination. We cannot, indeed, suppose, although the word “ dome” has been used to describe its covering, that this chasm resembles a hollow sphere, containing in its lower section the mass of liquid fire which may still exist, while the upper one stretches above like a canopy ; it probably consists of galleries, running between substantial buttresses, capable of sustaining securely the whole weight of the mountain, which indeed appears to be one of the most solid among isolated volcanos. Is it unreasonable to suppose, that some of these galleries, in their ramifications, may unite with those belonging to the Pico of Fayal, or with that mass of fire which has manifested its existence near to St. Michael’s? ‘The question is interesting, and may attract attention.