attention. It is very spacious, and is bounded on one side by the bay,
against the wall of which the surf beats and roars, in great contrast
with the scenery within. The walks are very neat, and some charmingly
shaded from the sun, cool and solitary. But it is in the country only,
outside the town, that the naturalist and admirer of untrammelled nature,
may enjoy her richest banquet, for here she spreads her boards with
boundless variety. The air, though at first rather too warm, is generally
refreshed by the pure breeze of the mountains, and every thing appears
bright and beautiful; the mind in the delightful region, unwittingly
glows in unison with the cheerful prospect, and insensibly imbibes the
serenity and the grandeur of the surrounding landscapes.
On a Sunday afternoon, I took an excursion up the bay; on landing, I
pursued the course of the beach, and was charmed with the stillness and
the cheerfulness of the scenery around me. Here the sweet scented lemon
tree, the orange, and the lime, extending even to the touch of the wave,
afforded a delightful retreat from the blaze of a tropical sun.
The beautiful and nimble lizards, which I had thought repulsive reptiles,
were playing about among the stones of the beach. The velocity of
their motions, their sudden change of attitude, and their elegant and
symmetrical forms—with their little green eyes, pointed noses, taper
tails and spotted bodies, afforded a deal of amusement. We then bent our
way into the interior. Here we travelled along at the foot of an immense
hill, whose sloping sides were covered, as far as the eye could reach,
with thick woods of oranges and other tropical fruits.
In a little time we fell in with a party of merry making blacks, of both
sexes, who were indulging, in all its glory, the jubilee of a Fandango.
This is a sort of African dance of the negroes, of which they are
excessively fond; it is performed by numerous evolutions, in which they
sometimes join hands and form a circle, in the centre of which, are the
indefatigable and sweating musicians, who, with their huge calabashes,
kettle drums and reed pipes, labor to make all the noise—if not the
most musical—they possibly can. The dancers, more especially the women,
are most fantastically arrayed, having on the head a cap or turban,
ornamented with beads, ribbons and small looking glasses; a short, gay
dress, a string of beads—negro fine—around their necks, and the wrists
and ankles encircled by a string of castanos, a nut shell, the rattle of
which, in the dance, keeps time to the music. No one can behold, with
unruffled face, or with any degree of gravity, the negro Fandango. The
ridiculous dresses, the expressive, though awkward pantomimic motions and
gestures, the contortion of features, and the horrid _music_, present a
strange and lively picture.
Proceeding a little further, we came in sight of a noble palace, which
had been lately built, and which was surrounded by an extensive stone
wall, having the grand gate-way, or entrance, arched, and bearing the
arms of Portugal and John VI. On arriving at the palace, we found it was
built of stone, surrounded by another solid wall. At a short distance, on
the right, buildings of brick were erecting for spacious barracks. The
situation was commanding and beautiful, and we little expected to enjoy,
in a solitary country ramble, where the silence was only interrupted by
the singing of birds, the view of so noble an edifice.
On returning, we fell in with a number of female slaves, who were busily
employed in washing. They stood in a large square basin of water, at
least three feet deep, and were jabbering and rubbing, with their trays
on the banks. The country appeared well watered, and the soil very
productive.
In the city, the water is supplied by several public fountains, which are
built of stone, in a pyramidical form, from the sides of which, through
four spouts, the water is forced out in spattering streams. The principal
one is at the head of the palace steps, near the square. The slaves, who
get water from this source, to sell about the city, make a great clamor
in their contentions about first getting their vessels under the stream.
Notwithstanding the vast crowds which throng the streets, not a woman is
to be seen. Although I was at one time on shore daily, for three weeks, I
could see no other females than the slaves.—They sometimes, however, take
a ramble in the evening, but are so enveloped in cloaks that entirely
conceal their form, that a stranger would pass them, and think them men.
They may be seen, also, at the gratings of the upper windows on some
days of parade and processions, and on Sundays may be seen leaving their
palanquins to enter the church; but otherwise are confined, by tyrant
custom, to their lone apartments. How different is their fate from that
of the perambulators of Broadway and Cornhill! The population, including
slaves, probably amounts to eighty thousand. Though there are guard
houses for soldiers in many sections, murders are very frequent; so
common, indeed, that the dead body of the unfortunate victim, weltering
in blood, is passed by in the street, with, perhaps, the exclamation of
‘poor fellow!’ but other wise unheeded and without concern.
There are many foreign merchants who reside here and in the vicinity,
several of whom have their families with them; but the state of society
must prevent the enjoyment of all social intercourse, and deprive them of
those pleasures so necessary to the happiness of domestic life.
Fruits of many kinds, such as oranges, lemons, limes, plantains, bananas,
cocoa nuts, &c., are very cheap and plenty. Sugar, rice and tobacco, they
raise and export in great quantities; but should some of our chewers of
the latter article witness the nauseous method of its manufacture and
packing, by the dirty blacks, they would, I think, as I have seen others,
eject the quid in disgust. The beef is bad and lean, the cattle being
driven before they are killed, a great distance from the interior.
Multitudes of the slaves gain a profit to their owners, by the conveyance
of passengers in their canoes, to and from the shipping and the landing
places. Their strife for employment is violent and clamorous; but it
sometimes happens, if their price of fare—which must be paid on the
passage—is not agreed to, the black rogue will dexterously capsize his
canoe, tow it quickly to the shore, and leave you to be picked up by the
first passing skiff that may take that trouble.
The king’s barge is very splendid. His majesty sometimes takes an
excursion round the harbor, attended by his suite, and is rowed by
eighty men, having twenty oars on a side, and two men to each. A band of
music precedes him, and the numerous barges which follow, all handsomely
decorated, form a magnificent spectacle.
On Sundays and other holidays, the church processions are extraordinary.
On a Sunday afternoon, soon after my first arrival in Rio Jeneiro, I
witnessed a grand example of the above fetes. The streets were thronged
with a gaping multitude, who were eager to pay their devotion to the
rites of mother church. First in advance appeared a guard of soldiers,
marching to slow music; these were followed by a number of citizens,
dressed in black, each bearing a long, lighted, wax taper; then came a
small guard of soldiers, followed by four beautiful females, dressed
in light muslin, having wings of gauze, extended by wires, and crowned
with a wreath of flowers, holding in their hands emblems of a harp; and
immediately following, under a superb canopy, upheld by eight soldiers,
appeared the grand object of all this ceremony, the reverend and holy
Father of the church, to whom, as he moved along in mighty pomp and
solemn show, the crowd on each side spontaneously dropped and bowed the
knee. Another file of soldiers and citizens next came up, followed by the
underlings of the church—some of various shades of color, even to sooty
black, but who were, notwithstanding, arrayed in clerical robes—brought
up the rear of this gorgeous pageant.
LA PLATA.
In thirty four degrees south latitude, equi-distant from the equator
as New York, is the grand and majestic La Plata. On approaching the
river from the sea, the low and level land appears wholly different in
appearance from the wild and towering front along the coast of Brazil.
This vast river is a hundred and fifty miles wide at the mouth, and
extends, with a gradual contraction and in a winding direction, along the
shores of Paraguay, in the heart of South America, a distance of twelve
hundred miles. At Monte Video the water is brackish, and cannot be drank,
but at a short distance above, though it appears at all times turbid
and discolored, as if with the yellow mud at the bottom; the taste is
sweet and palatable. A sealing ship was once cast away on the rocks of
Faulkland Island, and a few of the hands with difficulty saved themselves
in the long boat. Being on a barren land, they resolved, with one barrel
of beef, which they had fortunately recovered, and a scanty supply of
water, to commit themselves to the mercy of the waves in their frail
bark, and pushed for the river of Plate. After a miserable passage and
expending their entire stock of provisions, they arrived at last, even
to the inner roads of Buenos Ayres, ascended the deck of the first vessel
they saw, and implored, ‘in the name of God,’ a draught of water!—having
traversed over a surface of one hundred miles of good fresh water,
for twenty four hours, not apprehending that it was fresh, and sailed
dismally over it, perishing with intolerable thirst.
The tides in the river, as far up as Buenos Ayres, are, in general,
regular, except when influenced by strong and constant winds, and the
rise and fall is about eight or ten feet. The bed of the river is of hard
sand, and when the tides are low no boats can come near the shore, and
many persons gain a living by conveying goods and passengers from the
boats and craft to the shore, which is sometimes a quarter of a mile.
The following fact will illustrate the power of the wind upon the water
of this river. Many years ago, during the contest with Spain, a Spanish
sloop of war was lying in the outer roads, distant at least seven miles
from the city. A succession of strong pamperos,[3] in a few days laid
bare the whole ground of the inner harbor, and the vessels and craft
were left motionless and dry. The winds still continuing to roll back
the waters, even the proud Spaniard, it was discovered, was laid bare to
the keel. Preparations were immediately made by the patriots to attack
her, in this her stationary and perilous situation. A large body of
artillerists, with some pieces of heavy cannon, descended the banks
of the river, and were drawn along on the sand by horses, and all the
bustle of a march, and preparation for battle, as on the tented field,
were seen on ground which the winds had cleared for them, and over which
the waves were wont to roar. The astonished Spaniards saw with alarm
and consternation, the approach of an enemy on horseback, where a few
days before their ship had rode in ten fathoms of water. They, however,
prepared for a desperate conflict, being resolved to defend their
ship, rather now their castle, to the last. Their fate appeared almost
certain; but fortune, for once, favored them, and accomplished more in
ten minutes, than their own greatest bravery. The action had commenced,
when an unusual shout of triumph from the deck of the Spaniard, caused
the assailants to look beyond, when with a dismay like that of Pharaoh’s
host, they beheld the surge rolling in and roaring towards them! The
battle ceased instantly—the alarm was electric—the traces were cut
from the cannons—the guns were abandoned—and they gallopped off in
full retreat, with the sea in close pursuit at their heels, and were
precipitantly driven up again, by this new enemy, from the invasion of
her possessions.
Monte Video is so called from the hill near the entrance of the harbor.
It is on the eastern side, or ‘Banda Oriental,’ of the river. It has a
good appearance from the water; but on traversing the streets, there
is nothing in the buildings to interest or admire. The houses are low,
covering a great extent of ground; generally two stories in front, and
but one in the rear, forming a square and a court or yard, in the centre.
It is strongly fortified, and the citadella or castle well garrisoned.
The city is now in possession of the Portuguese. In 1813 it was taken
by the Patriots, who invested it by sea and land for a long period, and
cut off all supplies. The famine was at last most distressingly severe,
and means at which humanity shudders, were employed to gain a pitiful
morsel to protract a miserable existence. With true Spanish obduracy,
they refused all terms, till they sold for food all they possessed, and
parents even bargained their daughters’ honor for a handful of bread.
Every thing eatable, and every living animal was devoured—horses, cats
and mules—and rats, with the immense numbers of which, the city was once
overrun, either alive or dead, sold for a dollar each! The Patriots did
not long hold possession of the city, for the Portuguese, who had always
laid claim to the lower or eastern side of the river, as the southern
bounds of the Brazil dominions, soon took possession of it, and are still
its masters. During these occurrences, the Patriot General Artigas,
of Buenos Ayres, taking offence at some measures of the government,
ambitious and well informed, deserted the common cause, and crossed the
river to Colonia, where he soon mustered a formidable body of adherents,
whom he urged to assert their independence of all other powers, and form
a separate government, though they were before considered as equally
concerned in the common cause of the country. Various detachments of
troops were sent at different times from Buenos Ayres, to subject them,
but without success, and but few returned. Artigas’ army being all
mounted, would fly when success was doubtful. Thus affairs remained till
a short time since, when this people, now called _gente_ of the ‘Banda
Oriental,’ declared war against the encroaching Portuguese, and attacked
Monte Video. The other provinces of the La Plata, deeply concerned in the
event, and being now on good terms, assisted them, at first secretly,
and at last openly, against the common enemy. The Portuguese declared
war against the Patriots in toto, and the privateers of the latter will
greatly annoy the Brazilian commerce, and probably be gainers by the
struggle.
Ensenada is a small village, situate on the same side with Buenos Ayres,
and about forty miles below. Several vessels generally lay here to take
in the jerk beef, which they carry mostly to the West Indies. The manner
of preparing this is simply by cutting off the flesh of the slaughtered
ox, and hanging it in the air to dry. No salt is used, such is the purity
of the atmosphere in this delightful climate. The entrance from the river
to the village is, as before related, through narrow, winding creeks,
on the sides of which, innumerable varieties of the feathered tribe,
twittering from grove to grove and from spray to spray, and expanding
their brilliant plumage to the sun, pour out their melodious strains of
praise to the great God of nature, whose goodness is over all, and who
delights in the happiness of all his creatures. The people are sociable
and kind, and fond of the company of strangers, particularly Americans,
whom they often amuse by their absurd and ludicrous questions respecting
the customs of other countries. The houses are low, and built of earth
and cane. The villagers are of a dark complexion, but many of the women
are fair and have peculiarly sweet voices.
Buenos Ayres, the capital of the provinces of the Rio de La Plata, has
an ancient and gloomy appearance from the water; but the traveller, on
landing, finds much to be pleased with. The streets cross each other
at right angles, and are mostly paved, with good side-walks. A street
runs along the beach, parallel with the river, nearly the whole extent
of the city, from which there is nothing to shade the prospect of the
pedestrian, who can enjoy, in his early rambles, the pure and balmy
breath of the morning, (which are here, in this southern latitude,
particularly fine) and behold the great king of day rising in the east,
as from the bed of the ocean. At the edge of the water, and below the
banks, he may see, too, from the earliest dawn till noon, an immense
number of black washer women, who line the whole extent of the shore,
for all the washing is performed in this manner. They bring down upon
their heads, large trays of clothing to the river, and select a hole or
natural excavation in the tuskers of sand, which the ebbing tide has
filled with water, and which is covered with grass; and kneeling upon
the ground, with their pipes or cigars in their mouths, commence their
labor, which is by beating instead of rubbing. They are, however, called
excellent in their business, and clean clothing is considered by all
ranks as an indispensable requisite.
During the warm months of summer, it is the practice in which all ranks
partake, to enjoy, after a sultry and dusty day, the charming refreshment
of bathing. From an hour before sunset till dark, may be seen, in the
place before occupied by the washers, a mixed multitude of many hundreds
of both sexes, and of all classes and ages, old men and children, young
men and maidens, promiscuously, and apparently with much pleasure,
performing their daily and healthy ablutions.
But start not my fair reader! Though this mixed assemblage, so employed,
would appear to the refined citizen of the north to savor of a want of
propriety, yet this luxury is enjoyed without any deviation from decency
or good breeding. Such is the force of custom. Whole families, even the
clergyman, with his household, come down and enter the water together.
The females of all ranks generally form separate parties, and are each
attended to the water side by a female slave, who carries a change of
dress and a bathing habit. Then seated on the grass and enveloped in a
sheet, they disrobe beneath their ample covering, slip on the _camisa_,
and trip into the water. There is no appearance of impropriety, but all
seem only bent on refreshing themselves, and improving this ready and
cheap bath, after the heat and the dust of the day. Let the following
anecdote corroborate. I was one afternoon, after my disaster, indulging
in my favorite recreation of swimming, at a time when the tide was fast
flowing and the waves beating to the shore. I had reached some distance
from the beach, and had gained and stood resting upon a small eminence
at the bottom, with my head only above water. I was desirous of trying
my former feats under water, and partly forgetting my disabled leg,
I plunged beneath the surface and swam a great distance farther from
the bank. On rising, I perceived the tide was fast conveying me up the
river, and it would require my strongest efforts to recover the shore,
for the waves ran quick and short. I wanted breath, and on the ability
of my lame limb I had placed too much dependence. I attempted in vain to
reach the Mole Head, and the lone sentry at the end stood wondering at
the motions of an object so far within the stream. Finding my situation
extremely hazardous, and wishing no impediment, I stripped off my nankin
pantaloons, threw them to the waves behind me, and made a last, anxious
and resolute push to the land. I succeeded so far as to reach a tusker
or sand bank, at the bottom, and on tiptoe I could keep my chin above
water, and balancing myself to the undulating swell of the waves, I
sufficiently rested myself, and luckily regained my pantaloons, which
came drifting along by me. Taking a leg of this garment in my teeth,
I ventured another stretch, which brought me breast high on the sand.
I there drew on my covering, and searched along for my dress. Various
groups had assembled on the beach during my aquatic excursion, and I was
concerned for the loss of my clothes. A black, female slave at last came
towards me, whose mistress she said had sent her to inform me that ‘she
had removed my articles of dress higher up the banks, to a safe deposite,
as the rise of the tide had threatened to sweep them away.’ I sent back
for answer, that ‘I felt infinitely obliged to her, and would cheerfully,
on a similar occasion, reciprocate the favor.’
At the extremity of the city, on an elevated plain, is the Plaza de los
Toras, in the midst of which appears a vast amphitheatre for exhibiting
the barbarous amusement, or rather cruel spectacle, of a Bull Bait. These
take place in summer, of the afternoons of Sundays, and sometimes on
other holidays. Their description must be shocking to the feelings, but
the relation of the revolting scenes certainly may be perused, when many
of the softer sex are there the applauding witnesses.
The bulls are taken from the wild herds in the interior, and they capture
those of the most fierce and wild character; in other words, those that
will give the most sport. These are driven by force and stratagem into
the adjoining stables, where their natural ferocity is increased for
several days, by starving and goading, and otherwise tormenting them.
These exhibitions are generally fully attended, and by a third part
ladies. The circular and rising seats of this amphitheatre, will contain
and will afford an equal view of the fight to ten or twelve thousand. On
one of these sights, I remember to have seen ten bulls, six horses and
one human being killed, and another wounded, in the space of three hours.
Every thing being ready, the bulls remained to be driven across the
area from the stables where they were, to a smaller stable behind the
amphitheatre, where each was to be kept apart. The first stable was not
far from the amphitheatre, and a wall of boards six feet high was put
up the whole way the bulls were to pass. At a quarter past four the
ten bulls were let into the area, in order to be put into the stables
at the opposite door; a man on foot led a tame ox, which had been bred
with the bulls, before, to decoy them into these: they followed the ox
very quietly; but they do not always do so. The three horsemen placed
themselves at some distance, one on each side of, and the other opposite
to the door at which the bull was to enter; the tap of a drum was the
signal to let a bull in, and the man who opened the door got behind it
immediately.
During this last quarter of an hour the bulls had been teazed by pricking
them in the backs; this is done by persons placed on the ceiling of the
stables, which was low, and consisted only of a plank laid here and
there, and between those planks was space enough to use any instrument
for that purpose. The bulls were distinguished by a small knot of ribbon
fixed to their shoulders, the different colors of which shew where they
were bred, which is known by the advertisements.