A Mistake Discovered and Corrected--Ill
Health--Scenery of the Coast and Harbor of Rio
Janeiro--We cast Anchor--Going Ashore--Rambles in
the City--Fountains--Markets--Parrots--Hammer-headed
Sharks--Monkeys--Slaves--Tropical Trees--Visit to a Hotel--English
Gentlemen--Public Gardens.
_One o'clock P.M._ We had just settled down into a sullen resignation
to our fate, and some of the passengers had been trying to amuse
themselves by making unsuccessful shots at the large sea birds that
were flying around us, when a discovery was made which caused great
excitement among us, and raised our spirits to a high degree. We had
floated along several hours at a short distance from the coast, when
one of the passengers who had been in Rio saw that we were now off
the entrance to the harbor, and that the captain was wrong in the
morning. Captain J., who was in his berth, was called immediately,
and acknowledged his mistake. He then engaged again to go in on the
conditions previously stipulated. So the ship is turned towards the
harbor, where we shall probably arrive in the evening. The money has
been collected and paid over. I cannot, however, but feel very anxious
as to the event. My health has been seriously declining for several
weeks, and my fellow-passengers have more than once discussed the
probability of my becoming food for the fishes before the ship arrives
at the end of her long voyage. I feel that I must have a short respite
on shore or die. But I will not croak about it. We shall know the worst
to-morrow. Let me go out and enjoy the splendid scenery that lies
before us.
And such scenery! I am gazing upon it with sensations as indescribable
as the scenery itself. Never before have I so felt the utter impotency
of language. I might say it is beautiful, grand, magnificent, rich
beyond any thing I ever saw or imagined. I might lavish upon it every
epithet which my delighted senses could suggest, but no words that
I can command can, by any possibility, convey the least idea of the
strangely enchanting beauty of the harbor we are entering. I have
seated myself upon the bowsprit, and as we sail slowly in impelled
by a gentle breeze, I have ample opportunity to feast my eyes on the
beautiful scene. Let me give you a short prosaic account of it. If I
fail to convey to the reader the impression which the scene makes on
me, I may at least fix it the more indelibly on my own mind.
An ocean of hills and mountains presents itself on either side of
the bay. Here at the entrance on the left, rises an immense rock in
the form of a sugar-loaf, to the height, perhaps, of six hundred or
eight hundred feet. Beyond, in close proximity, are a hundred other
hills, many of them conical, some running up into sharp pinnacles,
some nearly bare of vegetation, and others less steep covered to their
summits with a dense foliage. And there is one towering above the rest,
presenting to the view a black and perpendicular front, and a pinnacle
scarcely larger than the spire of a church. The opposite side of the
harbor presents nearly the same characteristic scenery, sharp, conical
hills and rocks rising abruptly from the bay, succeeded by other hills
thickly planted behind and beyond them. The shores of the bay are
formed into many broad, circular indentations, fringed with beaches of
fine white sand. A large fort mounting a hundred guns, and commanding
the entrance to the harbor, stands on a projecting rock overlooked
by a mountain from the summit of which--though I know nothing of
the science of fortifications--I fancy that a small battery might be
planted that would quickly demolish it. A smaller fort or battery
stands opposite on a small island near the sugar-loaf. Other forts
defend the inner portions of the harbor. Many fine buildings stand upon
the left shore at the foot of the hills, and form almost a continuous
street for several miles to the city. Far in the distance, and but
dimly descried, are the Brazilian Mountains. Though greatly superior in
height to the hills on the coast, the same peculiarities of cones and
pinnacles characterize them.
We passed the fort, and dropped anchor at a distance of two miles from
the city. Near us lay the North America, a large ship from New York
bound for California with nearly five hundred passengers. They gave us
twice three hearty cheers, which we answered in the usual manner.
Immediately on coming to anchor, we were visited by a health officer
and a custom-house officer, each of whom was dispatched with a very few
words. Captain Jackson then took a boat manned by two sailors, and went
ashore, and we made every preparation for an early visit in the morning.
_Friday, May 21._ About twenty boats were along-side this morning
manned by whites and blacks, masters and slaves, all clamorous for
passengers. They were unanimous in asking twenty-five cents for a
passage, which, though not very exorbitant, they soon reduced to ten
cents, and we speedily filled their boats.
The first thing that attracted my attention as we neared the shore, was
the singular appearance of the roofs of many of the buildings, which
I ascertained were covered with tiles. As few of my readers have ever
seen a roof covered in this manner, I am induced to describe it. The
tiles are pieces of pottery in the form of half a tube seven or eight
inches in diameter, half or three-quarters of an inch thick, and about
two feet long. They are unglazed, and burnt as hard as our pottery.
They are supported by a rough frame-work of poles, and laid in two
courses, the under course forming gutters to carry off the rain, which
is turned into them by the upper course, each upper tile being turned
over the edges of two of the under ones. The roof projects sixteen or
eighteen inches over the street, and the under side of the projections
or eaves is generally painted red. These roofs, of course, answer a
good purpose here, but in New England, where boys throw stones, they
would not last a fortnight. Nor would they, in my opinion, endure the
frosts of our winters for a single month.
We landed and proceeded immediately to a restaurant, where we refreshed
ourselves with a cup of coffee and a plate of toast, and then commenced
our rambles over the city. I soon found myself separated from my
companions and proceeded alone. I crossed a large square, in which
stood a stone fountain built in the form of a temple, from whose sides
the water fell into basins beneath. These fountains, though built in
different styles, I found in great numbers throughout the city. They
are supplied by an aqueduct.
Passing through a street containing several handsome churches and
other public buildings, I found myself in the market. This, I believe,
was square, surrounded by high walls against which within were shops
or stalls containing a great variety of articles of food, vegetable
and animal. The square was also crossed by several streets or walks
with stalls on each side of them. A fountain with a very large basin
occupied the center. My first search was for fruits. I found oranges
and bananas in abundance, and these with cocoa-nuts constitute all
the market affords at this season of the year. There were neither
watermelons nor musk-melons, no apples, nor pears, nor peaches, no
plums of any description, nor a berry of any sort. There were no dead
meats to be found in this market. Beef was sold in another part of the
city. Live pigs had their appropriate stalls, and chickens, turkeys,
and several varieties of ducks and of doves, besides many singing
birds, were kept in coarse cages or chained by the leg. Parrots were
abundant, and there was a large and exceedingly beautiful bird, whose
name I did not know; but I was rather desirous of buying one for the
purpose of preserving the skin. I asked the price. It was thirty
milreas--about sixteen or seventeen dollars. I did not purchase.
There was a great variety of fish, some very beautiful, and others
the most disgusting specimens I ever beheld. Among them were several
hammer-headed sharks, a curious fish from three to five feet long,
with a head twelve or fifteen inches long, attached to the body like a
hammer to the handle. An eye is placed at each extremity of the hammer,
but the mouth is below it in the body of the fish. There were monkeys
enough to make up a menagerie, the greater part of them being of one
species with long, prehensile tails. In the center of the square,
surrounding the fountain, was a variety of vegetables sold by slaves,
male and female, who kept such continual talking, laughing and singing
as I never heard before. It seemed as though they were enjoying a
holiday, and were in their happiest humor.
I did not stop long in the market, but continuing my walk, I threaded
several narrow streets and passages to the summit of a hill, where
I found a gate opening into grounds belonging to a large hotel. I
entered, and for the first time found myself in the shade of tropical
trees. I was delighted with the scene. Every tree, shrub, vine, and
flower, were new to me. I knew not the name of a single plant. The
sun was beating down intensely, and I was glad to seat myself upon an
embankment under the shade of a row of large trees. Several little
birds were singing in the branches, only one of which I knew, a wren,
though of a different species from any of ours, and smaller, but
possessing the same lively, restless, noisy characteristics. A long
shaded walk led to the hotel. I had not sat there long when I saw a
company of my fellow-passengers approaching. They had just left the
hotel, but giving me a gentle hint to treat them, they returned to
the house, and I followed. We entered at the rear of the house and we
passed through to the front, which afforded a splendid view of the
harbor. A little garden on the very verge of the steep hill was filled
with a variety of strange flowers and plants, and an arbor with seats
occupied one end of it. Standing here, one could look upon the beach
at the foot of the hill, and listen to the roar of the waves as they
rolled over the hard white sand. My companions having become pretty
mellow, sung two or three of their sentimental songs, and departed,
leaving me to enjoy a very pleasant interview with two young English
gentlemen, who gave me some information respecting the city, and
advised me to visit the Botanical Garden, situated at a distance of six
or eight miles in the country.
In the afternoon I walked to the Public Garden. This is a large garden,
surrounded by a high stone wall, and laid out in triangular plats,
each filled with beautiful trees and shrubs, and protected by an iron
fence. The ground was perfectly level and the walks broad and smooth.
At one extremity were two small ponds bordered by rough stones, and
surrounded with benches of hewn granite. From the center of each pond
arose a triangular column of hewn stone, consisting of a pedestal
about eighty feet broad and as many high, and a shaft about forty feet
high terminating in a sharp point; and from the sides of the pedestals
streams of water issued into the basins or ponds. A broad walk passes
between these fountains, at the extremity of which is an ornamented
stone basin elevated several feet above the ground. From the end of
this basin rises a mound of rough stones piled up against a very
handsome wall, and covered with a variety of cactuses and other plants.
At the foot of the mound two enormous alligators lie entwined, from
whose gaping mouths, streams of water flow into the basin. A flight of
stone steps ascend from each side of the fountain to a terrace thirty
feet broad, and extending the width of the garden. This terrace is
paved with tessellated marble, and protected by parapet walls, whose
sides are covered with porcelain. Two octagonal buildings stand at
the extremities of the terrace, each angle of which is crowned with a
porcelain vase containing plants, as is also every post in the parapet
walls. The waves of the bay dash against the base of the terrace, and
their roar is heard in the garden.
I found but few people here, and no one who could talk with me. There
were arbors shaded with vines and trees, and supplied with stone seats
and tables, where I sat and made my memoranda. I returned to the
landing by different streets from those through which I came, seeing
many new things--every thing I have seen here is new and strange--and
am heartily gratified with my first day in Rio. I found several of
the passengers ready to return on board the bark, where we passed the
night.