RIO DE JANEIRO.
_November 9th._—Saturday more than any other is a day trying to my
spirits. It is that which I appropriate to special preparation for my
professional duties on the Sabbath; and with it, the hardness and
seeming barrenness of my field of labor is, unavoidably, brought
painfully to view. The moral condition of our ship is equal, probably,
if not in advance of that of men-of-war in general, in our own or any
other service; and the discipline and general order on board good.
Indeed, we regard ourselves, and are regarded by others around us, in
these respects as a peculiarly favored and a happy ship. But mere
external propriety of conduct does not satisfy my expectation, or meet
my hopes. I look for evidences of higher results, from the preaching of
the Gospel and other means of religious influence established among us,
but look in vain; and instead, especially when in port, find daily
discouragements which would lead a spirit, less elastic than my own,
utterly to despair of being instrumental in any spiritual good.
During the last fortnight, the crew in successive detachments have been
on shore, on a general liberty of forty-eight hours. The drunkenness and
debauchery of many, incident to this, unavoidably obtruded on my notice
in a greater or less degree, have filled my heart with sadness, and my
lips—at the end of a ministry of six months—with the desponding language
of the prophet, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm
of the Lord been revealed?” This has not escaped the observation of the
men themselves, and yesterday, one of them as spokesman of a group with
whom I fell into conversation, said to me—“We are afraid, Mr. S——, that
you will become so disgusted with our wickedness that you will leave the
ship, and give us up to the devil altogether: but we hope not.” To do
this would be to act the part of a coward and a traitor; and knowing in
whom alone is the sufficiency for these things, I must still labor—bear
and forbear—preach with fidelity and love, pray without fainting, and
hope against hope.
The privileges of the shore over, all were settling down into customary
contentment and quietude when, by some means last evening, a large
quantity of strong drink was successfully smuggled into the ship. There
is ever in a man-of-war a greater or less degree of unmitigated
rascality which, on such occasions, does not fail to manifest itself,
giving the executive of the ship an abundance of trouble, and bringing
reproach upon the better portions of the crew. The consequence of the
successful strategy was a good deal of disorder last night among “the
baser sort” of the ship’s company, and a nervous headache and a
heartache this morning to me.
One result of the liberty on shore, was the incarceration for
drunkenness and riotous conduct, of a half dozen or more of our men, in
the calabouça or common jail of the city. An early intimation of the
dilemma in which these were placed reached me, with an appeal for aid in
procuring their release. A visit to them for this purpose, gave me the
opportunity of a personal inspection of the prison. While confessing and
lamenting the folly which had brought them there, they complained most
grievously, as well they might, of the horrible place. It is time indeed
for some Howard to arise in Brazil; and I rejoice to learn that the
state of her prisons and the subject of prison discipline, or rather the
fact of an utter want of all discipline, is attracting the attention of
some of her philanthropists and statesmen. Our fellows, at the end of
two or three days, were almost starved. No food is served to the
prisoners by authority. They are entirely dependent on their own
resources, the kindness of any friends they may happen to have, or the
supplies furnished gratuitously by some of the brotherhoods of
benevolence in the city. I found those from the Congress—chargeable only
with having broken the peace in a drunken brawl—in a filthy room of
horrible smells, crowded with eighty or a hundred felons, black, white
and colored of every hue. Among these were robbers, and murderers, and
criminals of the most desperate character: without classification in age
or crime—beardless boys, arrested for the most trifling and venial
offences, being placed side by side with gray-headed veterans in vice.
Our men had stripped themselves more than half naked, that their clothes
might furnish no ambush for the vermin with which the place was filled;
and gave pitiful accounts of the nights they had spent, in stifling
heat, amid clouds of mosquitoes and other insects, with no beds but the
rough plank of the floors, open in large crevices to the effluvia from
the common cesspool of the whole prison immediately beneath. A civil and
intelligent young man of their number told me that, till “this spree,”
he had not tasted strong drink for two years past; and had been well
punished, for the indulgence, by a week in this frightful and disgusting
hole. Giving them the means of relief from immediate hunger, I promised
to do what I could for their liberation; and the youngster referred to,
the last—from some mistake in his name—to gain a release, has just come
thankfully on board.
_November 12th._—A ball on board the Congress and a soiree at the
American Embassy have afforded, within the week past, our first
opportunities of mingling in the society of Rio. It required but a short
time to transform the quarter-deck of the frigate from a grim battery
into a brilliant ball-room. The guns having been run out of sight on the
forecastle, the awnings screened by the flags of all nations, in
flutings overhead and in festoons at the sides, and the decks
artistically chalked in colors, the interior soon presented the aspect
of a spacious and gay saloon. In this, at different points, muskets
arranged in thick clusters with a candle in each muzzle, formed
glittering and becoming candelabra; and pistols and bayonets similarly
arrayed and mounted, made brackets for lights along the sides and
chandeliers above, while a graceful amenity was thrown over these
implements of death, by wreaths of evergreen intermingled with bouquets
of flowers rich in color and perfume. The poop-deck overlooking this
dancing room, was transformed by similar decorations into a lofty,
tented pavilion, from which those not disposed to join in the amusement
below, might view the spectacle and enjoy each other’s society in
conversation.
The ship was illuminated outside, by lines of lights running up each
mast and by lanterns suspended from the yard-arms. While the company
were assembling, rockets were sent up, to add to the brilliancy, and
blue lights burned on the arrival of the most distinguished of the
guests. Thus the effect without, in approaching in the dark, was scarce
less striking and beautiful than the coup d’œil within, on crossing the
gangway. The only interest I took in the preparations was in having the
draperies, which separated these brilliant apartments from the forward
deck, so arranged as to allow the crew—who would be kept from their
hammocks till a late hour by the entertainment—to be spectators of the
scene. This indulgence was readily accorded; and, during the whole
evening, our hardy tars in a uniform dress of white and blue, clustered
in thick rows from the mainmast forward, formed by no means the least
striking feature in the spectacle. Indeed, their fine physical aspect
and becoming deportment attracted much observation; and elicited the
most complimentary remarks upon them, as a body of men, from the most
distinguished strangers on board.
The company on this occasion consisted principally of resident
foreigners, diplomatists, and their families, and the officers of the
national ships in port. There were few native Brazilians among them.
Under the impression that the entertainment given by Mr. and Mrs. Tod
would embrace the higher circles of the native society, I joined the
party from the ship attending it. The mansion occupied by the Legation
is at Praya Flamengo, where I was so much at home in 1829. It is
spacious and lofty, with a stately suite of reception-rooms on the
second floor, which command fine views of the bay and its chief features
near the sea. It was illuminated in front, and brilliantly lighted and
tastefully decorated with flowers within. According to Brazilian custom
on occasions of fête, the tesselated pavement of the vestibule and hall,
and the marble staircase leading to the reception-rooms, were strewn
with the fresh leaves of the mango tree and various aromatic plants
which, under the pressure of the feet, send forth a grateful perfume. A
garden in the rear, filled with myrtle and orange trees, and gay with
the blossoms of the pomegranate and oleander, was also illuminated, and
seen opening in perspective from the hall, with pretty effect. The
company was large; exhibiting a good deal of dress among the ladies, in
the latest modes of Paris, and some fine diamonds. There was, too, a
sprinkling of title and nobility, and a little beauty, but nothing more
distinctively Brazilian, or characteristic of nationality, than in the
party on board the Congress.
At an early hour after the civilities of the reception, and a general
interchange of salutations, dancing was commenced and continued to be
the chief amusement of the evening. There was nothing in the scene with
which I could sympathize, and I withdrew from the crowded and heated
rooms to the terraced-walk fronting the beach. Here, a land breeze,
deliciously fresh and fragrant, came fanning down the mountain’s side;
and I passed two hours and more in the enjoyment of it, in a promenade
back and forth of a quarter of a mile, beneath a gloriously lighted sky,
while every thing was hushed to a midnight repose, except the sounds of
the distant music of the dance, and the rush, and roar, and the thunder
at my feet of the foaming surf.
On returning to the house I met Mr. Tod in the lower rooms, the
supper-room being about to be thrown open. The banquet was profuse and
luxurious. A chief novelty among its delicacies, at either end of the
principal table, was the choicest fish of the adjoining seas—the
garoupa. It is very large, and, on the present occasion, was baked whole
and served cold. From the general demand for it, especially among the
ladies, I should have judged the dish to be in high estimation, without
the assurance of the fact. It is a rarity, and its market price very
high. Sums, I am told, are sometimes given for it which I dare not
venture to state, without further inquiry, lest either my veracity or
credulity, or both, might be put in question.
_November 15th._—Yesterday afternoon I accompanied Captain McIntosh,
Lieut. P—— of the British flag ship, and Lieut. T—— of the Congress, in
a drive of five miles to the country residence of Mr. R——, an English
gentleman, a partner in one of the wealthiest mercantile houses in Rio.
An invitation to an evening party had been received from Mrs. R——, a few
days before, and the call we now made was in acknowledgment of the
civility. The direction of the drive was westward, through the rich and
broad valley which extends seven or eight miles from the city, to the
foot of the mountains of Tejuca. High walls of brick and stone, or lofty
hedges equally impenetrable to the eye, cut off the view of the pleasure
gardens and grounds surrounding the residences in the suburbs, from
those seated in the low carriages at present in fashion, and I chose a
more elevated seat beside the coachman—though at the risk, in a black
dress and white cravat, of being taken for a servant out of
livery—rather than forego the advantage of this better point for
observation; especially as there was no inconvenience from the sun, the
afternoon being overcast and gray, such as do not often occur here
without rain. But for this position I should have lost much of the
enjoyment of the drive.
Half the distance is a continued suburb of the city; and the remainder a
succession of cottages, villas, and mansions in a greater or less degree
of proximity—the residences of the aristocratic and wealthy, both
natives and foreigners. A predominating fancy with these seems to be the
exhibition of showy entrances and gateways, little in keeping in their
stateliness, in many instances, with the inferior style and dimensions
of the dwellings themselves. Some of these last, however, are quite
palatial. One of this kind was pointed out, as an evidence of the talent
for business, and the prosperous fortunes of a colored man. The gardens
and grounds on every side are luxuriant in the display of flowers,
shrubbery and trees, and often tastefully embellished with vases, casts,
statuary and fountains of graceful and classic model. The rapidity of
vegetation in weeds and grass, as well as in more valuable growth is
such, however, as to make perfect neatness and good keeping in the
grounds difficult. One great defect in them, which cannot fail to arrest
the eye unaccustomed to it, is the entire absence of the close sod and
velvet turf, which give such smoothness and softness to lawns and
pleasure grounds in the United States and in England. The burning sun of
this latitude kills the roots of such growth, and there is no close set
grass here. All that is native is coarse, tufted, and straggling. The
site of the city was originally a marsh, and this interval land, between
the bay and the mountains, is low and wet. The soil, a stiff clay,
causes the roads in rainy weather soon to be so cut up as to become
almost impassable, and in dry, to be both rough and dusty.
The residence of Mr. R——, crowning a gently swelling hill in the midst
of a lovely valley, rises conspicuously to the view while yet a mile
from it. It is an old Brazilian house of unpretending and cottage-like
aspect, soon to give place to a new building: but looked rural and
attractive, and commands a splendid panorama. Here the gateway is of a
simplicity corresponding with that of the house. It opens, at the
distance of a quarter of a mile from this, into an avenue of young mango
trees, winding gradually up the ascent and bordered on either side by a
hedge of the double scarlet hybiscus, whose polished leaves of green
were studded with bright flowers.
A long and lofty saloon, so well furnished with windows as to be readily
converted almost into an open pavilion, occupies the whole front of the
house. A flight of stone steps at either end ascends from the carriage
drive to this. A similar apartment in the rear forms the dining-room;
while between these, and lighted only through them, is the drawing-room.
In a colder climate an apartment thus situated would, in the day time,
be dark and gloomy; but here, where for a great part of the year a
glaring and glowing sun pours down upon every thing, it forms a welcome
retreat into which the light comes only in subdued and grateful shade.
We had made the acquaintance of Mrs. and Miss R—— at the entertainments
mentioned under my last date; and, on being ushered into the saloon were
received by them in a most frank and courteous manner. Mrs. R——, though
a native Brazilian, has been much in England, and Miss R—— has but
lately completed her education there. Both are of pleasing address and
most gentle and amiable. After a half hour in conversation a walk in the
grounds was proposed, the freshness of the evening with a land breeze
from the mountains having set in. We had already discovered the views in
every direction to be lovely: embracing the rich valley through which we
had driven, the mountains bordering it on one side and the fantastic
peaks in which they terminate at its head behind; with cottages and
country houses scattered thickly around, and the imperial palace of San
Christovao encircled with plantations in full view. Glimpses of the city
were caught in the far distance in front; and, with a glass, the
tapering masts of the Congress, surmounted by her broad pennant, rising
high above the tallest of its towers and steeples.
From the end of the saloon opposite to that at which we had entered, an
embowered grapery leads to a stream at the foot of the hill, overhung
with trees and beautifully fringed with the lofty and graceful bamboo.
Along the green banks of this, the gardens, filled with the greatest
variety of shrub and flower, spread widely among fruit-bearing and
ornamental trees, including a succession of orange groves. Through these
we sauntered with great delight, tasting of the various fruits;
examining, in the fine display of the botanical kingdom around, things
old and new; resting upon a rustic seat here and there; and finally
becoming grouped in a picturesque bower of living bamboo, whose thickly
clustered stems at the sides and feathery tops interlaced overhead
effectually exclude the sun, and secure, even at mid-day, a retreat of
refreshing coolness. Among entire novelties to us were the Jaca or jack
fruit—_artocarpus Indicus_—or East India bread fruit, and the Brazilian
plum.
We were here joined by Mr. R—— and his sons, by Lieut. F—— of our ship,
and Mr. Lawrence McKeever, a son of the commodore, an attaché of an
American partner of the house in which Mr. R—— is the English principal.
Mr. R—— to the reputation of an able and successful merchant adds that
of a well-read man, thoroughly furnished with intelligence in regard to
all subjects of local and general interest in Brazil. His conversation
is thus both interesting and instructive.
As twilight began to gather round us, we returned to the house, and were
summoned to a tea-table in the dining-hall well spread as in the olden
times at home, not only with every delicacy appropriate to the repast,
but with such substantial dishes, also, as those who had been riding and
driving and walking, since an early dinner, might be disposed to
welcome. There was an air of genuine hospitality in the well-covered
length of the board, which carried me back to the tables of our friends
of Massena and of the Lakelands in former days, telling that like theirs
it was no unaccustomed thing thus to be drawn out to its full length by
the presence of some eight or ten unexpected guests, in addition to a
large family circle. With a number of well-trained and neatly-dressed
negro servants in attendance, the whole scene was more like that of an
ordinary exhibition of American hospitality, as I recollect it in
boyhood, even in the Northern States, than any thing I have for a long
time witnessed. It was half past nine o’clock before we took leave; yet,
such is the Jehu style of driving that we were not only at the landing
in the city, where the captain’s gig was in waiting for us, but safely
on board ship by ten.
The rainy season is not so strongly marked at Rio as in many tropical
regions, though at this period of the year more rain falls than at any
other. To-day it poured in torrents from the early morning, while an
impenetrable fog has been rushing from the sea, before a driving wind.
The worst of this state of things, to some of us on board the Congress,
was an engagement of several days’ standing to a dinner with Admiral
Reynolds, the English commander-in-chief on this station. We looked in
vain as the appointed hour approached, for any abatement in the wind and
rain, or the arrival of a messenger to say we would not be expected;
and, at a quarter to six, the barge was called away and Commodore
McKeever, Captain McIntosh and I, with such protection as our boat
cloaks could give, were in the midst of the storm pulling for the flag
ship. Fortunately the distance was scarcely more than a quarter of a
mile. We escaped getting wet, and in the shelter and elegant
appointments of the admiral’s cabins soon forgot the discomfort of the
pull on board.
The want of a higher grade of rank in the navy of the United States than
that of post captain, while in the British service and that of other
nations there is not only that of admiral, but six degrees of
advancement in that rank, often leads to embarrassment and an unpleasant
state of feeling between those bearing other flags and our
commanders-in-chief. The preposterous expectation and, in many
instances, pertinacious claim of equality in rank and reciprocity in
official honors, where there is confessedly an inferiority of
commission, and in contravention of the established rules of military
etiquette, not unfrequently limit the intercourse between American
commodores and European admirals to the cold formalities of an official
visit. Where this is the case, the association of the officers of the
respective squadrons is, in a greater or less degree, of the same
character. Happily for myself I have never been placed in this position.
On the contrary, in all the ships to which I have been attached, the
most friendly relations have been established with English ships of war,
on the same station. Such is the case with the Congress and the
Southampton. By mutual courtesy and good will, the official and social
intercourse of the two commanders-in-chief was on our arrival at once
placed on a desirable footing. The consequence is, that the officers of
the respective ships are left to an unembarrassed association. This has
proved cordial, and many in both ships visit each other with the
intimacy and informality of congenial neighbors on shore.
Mrs. Reynolds accompanied the admiral from England and lives on board
ship. She is a person of intelligent and cultivated mind and of frank
and pleasing address; and the birds and flowers, the drawings and
cabinets in natural history which, in addition to a choice library,
adorn the apartments of the Southampton, at once bespeak the presence
and taste of an accomplished woman. In addition to the military family
of the admiral, which consists of the captain of the ship, the
flag-lieutenant and the secretary who are regularly at his table, we had
the company of two or three other officers, including the Rev. Mr. P——,
the chaplain. Besides this gentleman, I was happy to meet in the party
others whom I found to be enlightened and spiritual Christians, as well
as agreeable and well-bred men. It is unnecessary to say that the
entertainment was sumptuous: served in plate, with all the appointments
of the table in the elegant keeping of English aristocratic life. The
summons to the dining cabin was by music from a fine band; and with the
removal of the cloth and her majesty’s health, we had “God save the
Queen,” followed by “Hail Columbia” and a succession of passages from
the choicest operas. Our reception was the more cordial, perhaps, from
the badness of the weather; and the whole evening marked with such free
interchange of thought and feeling that it seemed a family party at
home. The effect to me of such an impression in this far off land, has
been an irresistible fit of the “_mal du pays_.”
_November 20th._—The Praya San Domingo and Praya Grande on the eastern
side of the bay, continue to be favorite resorts with us, especially
when Captain McIntosh is leader of the party. He holds in abhorrence the
filth of the city side. The interest of our visits has been much
increased by the acquaintance accidentally formed with a Portuguese
family, shortly after the return of the Congress from the Plata. In a
stroll we were taking there, we passed a plantation, the extent and
thriftiness of which had before attracted our notice. The principal
gateway now stood open, exhibiting, in long vista, an avenue of young
palms, whose interlacing branches completely over-arched the walk
beneath. A group of slaves were at work just within; and coupling our
admiration with a question as to the privilege of entering, we had
scarcely received an affirmative reply, before the proprietor, Don Juan
M——, made his appearance from a wilderness of luxuriant growth on one
side, courteously bidding us welcome, and becoming himself our guide.
There is nothing artistic or particularly tasteful in the manner in
which the grounds are laid out; but they are in high cultivation, and
the variety and exuberance of the growth, and the novelty to us of many
of its forms, made them very attractive. Fruits, flowers, and
vegetables—shrubs, plants, and trees are so closely intermingled, as to
shut out all view, except in each immediate path, or at the intersecting
angles of the larger alleys. In other places endless beds, so arranged
as to be easily irrigated, are filled with every kind of vegetable in
the greatest profusion; while above wave the broad leaves of the banana
and plantain, the feathery palm, and the closely set, and pinnated
foliage of the mango. Many of the paths are bordered with coffee trees,
now in full bloom. These are allowed to grow to a height of ten or
fifteen feet, and are in the form of a bush. The blossoms, of the purest
white, appear in general effect like those of the double jessamine. They
cluster thickly over the branches, and contrast beautifully with the
dark green of the polished leaves. Among the exotics are the cinnamon,
clove, and nutmeg, and the climbing vine of the black pepper.
In the course of our ramble we came upon the wash-house of the
establishment—an open, tile-covered lodge or verandah, supported by
pillars of brick, and furnished with a wide and deep tank or reservoir
of water, troughs, tubs and slabs of stone for the various operations of
the laundry. Three or four negresses were engaged in the appropriate
work of the place, with their children at play around. Near one of the
mothers, in a flat basket on the ground, lay, kicking and crowing as if
ready to spring out of its skin, an entirely naked and shining little
negro, six or eight months of age—one of the brightest and cleanest
looking little rogues I ever saw. It was black as the purest ebony, and
in a perfection of form fitting it for the model of a cupid, or infant
Apollo, or Adonis. It looked so healthy, and so wholesome, and so
perfectly pure, as to be provocative almost of a kiss; and one of our
party—who, in strong remembrance of his own little ones at home, has a
perfect passion for every child he meets, whether black or white—was so
delighted that I thought he would scarcely rest satisfied in his
caressing, short of such an evidence of admiration.
At the end of a half hour we came again into the principal avenue,
leading from the gate to the base of a steep hill, or rather cliff,
overhanging the gardens, from the brow of which the dwelling of Don Juan
looks down as upon a map. Detained already, it appeared, from an
appointment of business by his attentions to us, he here apologized for
the necessity of taking leave, but begged us to continue our walk up the
hill, from which we would have a magnificent view; and called a negro
lad to guide us. We willingly complied, and advanced by a winding path
up the steep. Among the growth not before noticed, we here observed the
peach, apple, and pomegranate, interspersed with grove after grove of
orange trees, heavily laden with golden fruit. The house is a long,
tile-roofed cottage of one story, surrounded by broad piazzas, opening
upon flagged terraces. The pointed top of the hill has been cut down to
a platform, sufficient only in extent for the area of the dwelling, with
a shrubbery and flower garden on one side, and a dovecote and quarters
for the house-negroes on the other. The whole is perched upon the
angular point of a precipitous promontory overlooking the bay of St.
Francis Xavier, from which a heavy surf rolls beneath, breaking, in
part, amid a cluster of fantastic and columnar rocks, and in part upon a
white sand beach. To reach the best point for a panoramic view at the
end of the flower garden, we were conducted through the reception rooms,
in the centre of the cottage, furnished with some showy articles of
French manufacture—a piano, sofa, vases of painted china. The landscape
and water view at every point are superb—especially on the garden front,
with the wild surf beneath, and the islet of Boa Viagem for a
foreground—its fantastic cliffs of strongly colored earths draped with
bright verdure, and crowned by its picturesque little chapel. The varied
movements of sail in the lower harbor; the bright gleamings of the city
along the shores of Flamengo and Botafogo; with the Sugar-loaf and
adjoining hills, and the Gavia and Corcovado in sublime groupings in the
distance, formed together a picture of unrivalled beauty. The coloring,
and effective shades of a sunset of crimson and gold, exhibited the
whole with gorgeous effect; and we stood fascinated by it, till the
gathering twilight hastened us to our boat.
Commodore McKeever and Mr. G—— accompanied us in a second visit which we
were invited by Don Juan to make, a few evenings afterwards. We were
welcomed with the cordiality of old friends, and after a walk through
the grounds, were conducted to the house, introduced to Madame M——, and
served with coffee, sweetmeats and liqueurs. We soon discovered the
mistress of the establishment to be of the order of women, so
graphically described by the wise man—“she seeketh wool and flax, and
worketh willingly with her hands. She looketh well to the ways of her
household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise and
call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her.” Through the
open windows of the verandah, as we entered, we saw her busily engaged,
amid a group of female slaves, old and young, in the cutting and fitting
of garments which they were sewing; and learned from her husband that
her agency, as well as supervision, was thus exercised in the whole
economy of the establishment. In dress, she was in the dishabille common
among the females, and males too, in this climate, at least till a late
hour of the day; a loose wrapper with a colored silk pocket-handkerchief
over the head. On the summons of Don Juan, she joined us without apology
in regard to her toilette; and after the refreshments were served, while
we were enjoying the view at the point of the promontory, gathered and
arranged for each of us a choice and beautiful bouquet.
In acknowledgment of the kindness of thus throwing open their grounds
and house to us, an invitation was given for a visit to the Congress.
This was readily accepted, and they have since passed a morning on
board. It was their first visit to a man-of-war, and they professed to
take more interest in it, and to feel themselves more highly honored
from its bearing the stripes and stars of the United States, than they
could under any other flag. We scarcely recognized the Doña at first,
under the aspect of a visitor. In place of the Portuguese negligè, in
which we were received by her at home, she now appeared in the latest
style of Parisian promenade costume: with silks and laces and expensive
embroideries, in a correctness of taste and good-keeping, that proved
her by no means unaccustomed to the elegancies of the toilette. Don Juan
is a man of intelligence and of much practical good sense and
observation. Among many things on board, which attracted his attention,
aside from the equipment and peculiar character of our ship in military
appointment, was a small homœopathic medicine chest in the captain’s
cabin. He is a warm advocate of this system, and a practitioner of it in
his own family; and he informed us that in forty cases of fever, among
his slaves, during the late epidemic, he allowed of no other treatment,
and did not lose a single patient, though many negroes around him died
of the pestilence under allopathic practice.
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