CHAPTER XXVIII.

DESTERRO.

_May 24th._—Mr. Wells, an American gentleman of wealth, long

resident in Desterro, is a person of leading influence in the

commerce and society of the place. For many years he held the office

of American consul with honor and popularity; but was superseded two

or three years ago, through the political influence of a partisan

office-seeker at home. The new incumbent, disappointed in the

profits expected from the office, soon resigned it. Through private

pique against Mr. Wells, he left the papers of the consulate and an

acting appointment to the office with Captain Cathcart, though he is

in no way qualified for the duties or honor of the situation.

Among others to whom Mr. Wells, as the only representative of the

United States here, has at different times extended his hospitality,

are the present Emperor and Empress. Their majesties and suite were

entertained by him at a magnificent fête, in their progress through

this section of the Empire in 1845. I was furnished with letters to

him by Dr. C——, an old friend, and by F—— of the Congress. These I

delivered before making the excursion to San Pedro; and on my

return, became a guest beneath his roof. His house is on the palace

square, in the immediate neighborhood of the residence of the

President of the Province. It is one of the finest dwellings in the

place, and commands from the windows and balconies of the

drawing-roomy an extensive view of the town, bay, and surrounding

mountains. It has been my lot to occupy a great variety of sleeping

rooms, from those of the palace to the wigwam, but I think the bed

assigned to me here must have precedence, in its dimensions at

least, above all I have before met. It is truly regal, taking even

that of his majesty of Bashan in the days of his overthrow, as a

model. I have not measured it, and its area may not quite be, as his

was, “nine cubits by four;” but its elevation I suspect is quite as

great; the upper mattress, as I stand beside it, being nearly on a

level with my shoulders, and accessible only by a flight of mahogany

steps. The canopy is of proportionate altitude. The dignified

feeling with which one ascends to this place of rest, is not a

little increased by the remembrance that it was by these very steps

their Imperial Majesties, when in St. Catherine’s, mounted to their

couch.

Mr. Wells has been bereft of a wife and child, and is left alone;

but has borne his afflictions with the resignation of a Christian.

It was pleasing to discover, that though so long a resident of a

place “wholly given to idolatry,” and cut off from all the public

means of grace, he maintains the regular worship of God, morning and

evening, with his household of African servants.

The quietude and comforts of such an establishment are a great

luxury after the weariness of long confinement on shipboard; and I

feel that the visit at Desterro will constitute quite an episode in

the tedium of our cruise. The town itself presents every where a

pleasing mingling of city and country, giving to the whole a

village-like simplicity. The walks, in every direction, are varied

and beautifully rural; and whatever Desterro may be as a permanent

residence, it is certainly delightful for a sojourn of a few days.

Yesterday afternoon my attention was attracted by the sounds of

music in the Matriz, or mother church, at the head of the square;

and walking over, I discovered it to be that of a funeral service in

a mass for the dead. A beautiful catafalque, with richly festooned

draperies of pink satin and gold and silver tissue, occupied the

centre of the nave. Upon this, in a straight coffin of pink velvet,

trimmed with gold lace—so formed as when thrown open to expose the

entire figure—upon a satin mattress lay the corpse of a little girl

of three years, most tastefully and expensively arrayed in what may

be concisely described as a full ball-dress of pink and blue gauze,

with edgings of gold and silver fringe over a white satin robe: the

whole being wreathed with garlands of exquisitely finished

artificial flowers. The feet were in silk stockings and satin shoes,

and the head crowned with fresh roses. Death had evidently done his

work quickly and gently. There was no emaciation; no traces of

suffering; the face was full and perfect in its contour; and the

limbs round and symmetrical. A placid and smiling expression, in

place of the ghastly look of death, led to the impression of its

being only a deep and quiet sleep that we gazed on—an illusion

strengthened by the delicate tinge of rouge that had been given to

the cheeks and lips.

On all former occasions, when I have seen the corpse of a child thus

decked out—according to the usage here—I have felt as if it were a

mockery of death and the grave, thus to mingle the tinsel and

vanities of the world with the sad lesson they teach. But now,

however incongruous with the solemnity of such an occasion these

fanciful adornments may seem to us, there was nothing repulsive in

the spectacle presented. Indeed, I found myself insensibly impressed

with the extreme beauty of the child, and the exquisite taste and

artistic effect of the drapery in which she was laid out.

Ingeniously constructed wings of gauze are often appended to the

other adornments of an infant corpse, emblematic of the truth that,

“With soul enlarged to angel’s size,”

the spirit has taken its flight to a station of blessedness near the

throne of the Redeemer. All persons of wealth and position in

society, are thus, in Brazil, borne to the grave in full dress—the

soldier in his uniform, the judge in his robes, the bishop in his

mitre, and the monk in his cowl.

On this occasion, the officiating priest with the bearers of the

crucifix and censers, and other attendants, stood in the midst of

the blaze of wax lights by which the bier was encircled; while the

walls of the church were lined by hundreds of gentlemen of the first

respectability, in full black, and each supporting a candle of wax

of the length and size of an ordinary walking-stick. The child was

of the family of Andrada; a name pre-eminent in the Province and

Empire for patriotism, scientific attainment, and political

distinction.

Towards evening I took a long walk with Mr. Wells. The suburbs in

every direction are full of rural imagery and picturesque beauty.

The rising grounds command extensive views of undulating land, of

water and of mountains; and the roads and lanes are so walled in by

luxuriant hedges of the flowering mimosa, running rose, orange-tree,

and coffee bush, as to embower one, even within a stone’s throw of

the town, as if in the heart of the country. The flowers of the

mimosa hanging in thick pendants, cover the hedges with a mass of

whiteness, more entire and more beautiful than that of the

hawthorne, while those of the running rose, clustering closely like

the multiflora, make the roadside they border one bed of bloom.

There is too a repose and tranquillity in the evenings, and a

delicacy in the tintings of the colors at sunset, that make a stroll

at that time of the day peculiarly delightful.

After a circuit of two miles by an inland route, we approached the

town again by a suburb which constitutes the west end, both in the

topography and the fashion of the place; and exhibits a succession

of pleasant residences surrounded by tastefully arranged

flower-gardens. Just as we were passing the grounds of one of the

most attractive of these, a vehicle, the first I have seen, except a

Roman ox-cart, since I have been here, overtook us and drove through

an iron gateway into a court, beyond which appeared long vistas of

gravelled walks and embowering shade. The carriage was a caleche, or

old-fashioned chaise, of rather rude construction, painted

pea-green, with orange-colored wheels and shafts. It was drawn by a

single horse guided by a postilion, and contained a very stout

gray-headed gentleman of sixty, who entirely filled up a seat

designed for the accommodation of two. It was no less a personage

than Lieut. Gen. Bento Manuel, the highest military officer of the

southern section of the Empire, recently from Rio Grande, where he

was long chief in command, and where he did efficient service for

the government during great political agitation and threatened

revolution. He is so stout as to be readily excused from walking or

riding, and possesses, with a single exception, the only wheeled

carriage in the Island of St. Catherine’s.

The ringing of a cracked bell at the Matriz, and the gathering of

the population in that direction on the evening of the 21st, led me

to it again as a point of observation. It was the beginning of a

Novena, or daily service, of nine days’ continuance, in

commemoration of the descent of the Holy Ghost—the following Sabbath

being Whit-Sunday. This celebration is universal in city and

country; and is distinguished by an observance, the origin and

specific meaning of which I have been unable to trace, that of the

choice and induction into office for a year, of a lad under the

blasphemous title of Emperor of the Holy Ghost. He presides in mock

majesty at the festival, and is regarded with special honor at all

others during his continuance in office. The selection is usually

from a family of wealth, as the expenses attendant upon the honor

involve an outlay amounting at Rio and other chief places to five

hundred, a thousand, and fifteen hundred dollars. This is

appropriated to the furnishing of dress, music, lights, and

refreshments during the celebration. The empire over which he sways

the sceptre comprises the apartments of the church, in which the

gifts brought to him by the people in the name of the Holy Ghost are

deposited, and an enclosure adjoining, where auctions are held for

the disposal of these to the highest bidder. On this occasion, two

rooms opening from the church were gayly fitted up, one—a

side-chapel with altar and crucifix—as a throne-room for the

Emperor, and the other for the temporary deposit of the gifts. In

front of these, and communicating directly with them, a large

auction-room was erected, screened by canvas over head, and

furnished with benches for the accommodation of spectators and

purchasers. The gifts are brought gratuitously by the people, and

the proceeds of the sales go to the treasury of the brotherhood of

the Holy Ghost for purposes of charity.

As I arrived a procession was just approaching. It was led by a

negro, in a dirty coarse shirt and pantaloons, the common dress of a

slave, bareheaded and barefooted, who bore a large flag of red silk,

with a dove embroidered on one corner, and long streamers of ribbons

flowing from the top of the staff on which it was suspended. It was

the sacred banner of the Holy Ghost, a kiss of which, or the burying

of the face in its folds, insures all needed blessing. A little

fellow, eight or ten years of age, followed, beating a small drum

with all his might, then came a man in ordinary dress, thrumming on

a guitar the accompaniment of a monotonous ditty, sung at the top of

his voice as loud as he could bawl; the complement of the music

being made up by a fiddle on which a round-shouldered old Portuguese

was sawing and laboring, with fingers, elbow, and head, with an

earnestness, to give full effect to the squeaking and screeching

sounds he was sending forth, as if life itself depended on the zeal

he should display.

The Emperor elect now made his appearance, a lad of eleven or twelve

years, neatly dressed in the fashion of a man, as the usage with

boys here is, having a broad red ribbon across his shoulders, from

which was suspended on the breast a large silver star stamped with a

dove, emblematic of the Holy Ghost. Six or eight men robed in short

cloaks or mantles of red silk, the dress of the brotherhood,

bareheaded and carrying lighted wax tapers, followed him. A rabble

of noisy and excited boys and men, white, black, and yellow, made up

the cortège. They had been to escort the Emperor from his residence

with becoming honor, to open the festival.

Previous to his arrival the church had become densely filled,

principally with females, seated closely together on the

floor—mistress and slave, lady and beggar, without distinction of

rank or name, black, white, and every intermediate hue, the whole

number amounting to six or eight hundred. Through this crowd the

procession made its way up the nave, the musicians still drumming

and thrumming and scraping on their instruments, and bawling out

their song louder than ever. A priest met it at the high altar; and

the whole returned through the church to the depository in which

were the gifts. These he consecrated by prayer, the sprinkling of

holy water and fumigations with incense, after which, escorted in

like manner, he again entered the church. Hundreds of men in

addition to the women, now lined the walls and stood closely packed

together along the entrance to the church, and the service of the

Novena commenced. It was chanted throughout to the accompaniment of

a lively, and to me any thing but a devotional air. The whole

sounded very much like that of a song I recollect to have heard in

childhood, beginning with the line “Marlbro’ has gone to the war,”

as a theme, followed with variations. At different points in the

chanting the whole audience joined pleasantly in a lively chorus. At

the end of an hour this service closed. The Emperor made his way in

the manner in which he had arrived, to the throne-room, while the

audience hastened to fill to suffocation that for the auction-room

in front of it. Bonfires were kindled, rockets sent up, a general

illumination outside displayed, while any number of negroes and

negresses, venders of refreshments in cakes, candies, and orgeat,

rivalled one another in bawling out the superior qualities of their

individual stores, the whole scene much like that of a Fourth of

July night at home. A band of music struck up in an orchestra near

the throne-room, and the auctioneer issuing from the depository,

bearing a bouquet of crystallized sugar, began the sale by a

solicitation for bids, setting off the value of the article with the

merriment and sallies of humor which give reputation to the office.

A passage through the centre of the place was kept clear; in this he

walked backwards and forwards, giving exercise to his wit, as he

exhibited the article under the hammer. Most of the gifts, this

first evening, consisted of cakes and confectionery. Some of the

bouquets of sugar flowers were most artistically manufactured; and

one sold for ninety milreis, or forty-five dollars.

Additional gifts were constantly brought in. They were generally

borne in trays on the heads or in the hands of servants, accompanied

by the giver. Children too were often the bearers; and one of the

prettiest sights of the evening was that of a beautiful little girl

in the arms of her father, carrying in her bosom two young doves,

white as drifted snow, and as gentle and innocent in look as they

were white.

Each offering was made to the young Emperor on the bended knee, and

to each one thus kneeling before him, he extended a silver dove,

forming the end of his sceptre, to be kissed, and gave in return a

small roll of bread. At ten o’clock the auction closed for the

night, and the Emperor was escorted to his home by torchlight as he

had arrived, but with an additional rabble for his court, and a

higher effort in noise and screeching from his band.

_May 29th._—Commodore McKeever and Dr. C—— have been fellow guests

with me at the residence of Mr. Wells for some days. Previous to

their arrival I had taken two or three pleasant rides with our host,

and this afternoon our whole party enjoyed another. The Commodore

and I were particularly well mounted; our animals were at once so

spirited and willing, so playful and gentle, with a gait as easy to

the riders as if swaying on the springs of a well-poised carriage.

The weather too was charming; and our route after the first half

mile being one which we had not before taken, had the additional

attraction of novelty. It led southward along the curve of the

beach, and was thickly bordered on one side with the American aloe,

now in full flower, and on the other by a succession of neat

cottages embowered in orange groves, overtopped by palm trees, with

dooryards gay in the bloom of the scarlet geranium and the dazzling

brilliancy of the poinsetta. The road for a mile was a continued

hamlet, with greater evidences of thrift and general prosperity than

any suburb we had passed through. On leaving the water we struck

into a narrow valley, lying between two ranges of hills; and were

delighted with the homelike appearance of the well-cultivated fields

and rich pasture lands of the small farms scattered through it. But

for the tell-tale palm tree, the rustling banana, and the golden

orange, we might have fancied ourselves in some prosperous and

well-cultivated little valley in New England. There was nothing to

remind us of being in a slave country. All the labor in cultivating

the small plantations is done by the owners of the soil. The

district is well peopled, and the inhabitants are healthful,

prosperous, and seemingly light-hearted. We met and passed many

groups of men and boys, engaged in various rural employments. They

were invariably bright and cheerful in looks, and most civil and

courteous in manners. In general, they are light and slender in

figure, and elastic in movement; but apparently without much

stamina, and are far from good looking in feature. The females in

early youth are passably good looking, and having fine eyes and

teeth, might in some instances, be called pretty; but as mothers,

they soon become haggard and homely. The climate is salubrious and

not excessively hot, yet the complexions of the mass are like those

with us who are under the influence of the ague, or just recovering

from a bilious fever. This is true of the pure-blooded natives, if

any such there be, as well as of those who clearly are a mixed race.

The special object of our ride was to gain a point of view, on the

top of a mountain, said to be the finest on the island; and, after a

ride of two miles in the valley, we turned into a side road for the

ascent. We followed the meanderings of a stream as it babbled along

its course, and soon came among the cabins of the dwellers among the

hills, perched like birdsnests on terraced points, on either hand

above us, in the midst of groves of orange trees and coffee plants.

The road gradually changed into a mere bridle-path, till at the end

of an additional two miles it suddenly terminated altogether, at a

barn near which two men were standing. To these Mr. Wells mentioned

the object of our ride, and made an inquiry of them as to the best

way to reach it; when, for the first time since I have been in

Brazil, I heard a reply of ill-nature and incivility. The elder of

the two, in a most gruff and surly manner, said there was no way to

go up, and if there were, there was nothing to go for—wishing to

know what business we had there at all. Without regarding his mood

and manner, Mr. Wells again said, “Is there not a fine prospect from

the top of the mountain, and a path by which we may reach it?” to

which the man again said, “No! there is nothing but rocks, and I

don’t know what you can want with them!” Fortunately, at this

juncture, a third person made his appearance, whom our friend at

once recognized as a regular customer in the sale to him of coffee.

From him we readily learned that there was a fine prospect, at a

short distance further, but that the ascent to it would not be

easily made on horseback; and, volunteering to lead our animals to

his cottage close by, he said he would accompany us the rest of the

distance on foot. We soon discovered our conductor to differ as

widely from his boorish neighbor in taste for scenery as in

disposition. He was not only aware of the magnificence of the

prospect to which he was leading us, but said he very often went up

to the point commanding it, for the mere enjoyment of so fine a

scene. Its elevation we judged to be two thousand feet; and we were

well repaid for the ascent by the grand picture spread before us.

This embraced the greater part of the entire island; its mountains

and valleys, rivers and bays, bold promontories, low points and

curving beaches, with the whole of the straits, and the coasts along

the continent as far as the eye could reach.

On descending to the cottage of our guide, he urged us to partake of

a cup of coffee before leaving; and we entered his cabin, more for

the purpose of a peep at the domestic economy of the establishment

than with a view to the refreshment. If this home, in its aspects of

comfort, may be taken as a fair specimen of its class, it indicates

a very low state of civilization among the rural population. It

consisted of a single room with a floor of earth. The few articles

of furniture visible were of the rudest kind, the whole interior

exhibiting little more cleanliness and order than the wigwam of an

Indian. A slatternly-looking wife, surrounded by two or three dirty

children, did not promise much for the nicety of the coffee she

might prepare; and we availed ourselves of the near approach of

night and the length of the ride to the town, as excuse for

declining the proffered hospitality.

The habits of life among the people are simple, and their diet

unvarying and frugal. A cup of coffee and a biscuit made of the

farina of mandioca, are the only food of the morning, and there is

but one set meal during the day, served at noon. Preparation for it,

however, is the first duty of the household, in the morning; and

consists in putting a kettle of water over the fire. In this a small

piece of _carne seche_, or jerked beef, and black beans, in

proportion to the size of the family, are placed, and kept boiling

till the middle of the day.

The leisure of the evening had begun, as we made our way down the

mountain; and the inhabitants were seen in groups around their

doors. Every cabin had its crowd of children, the ring of whose

joyous laughter in their varied sports and play, echoing from side

to side of the little valley, added fresh impressions of pleasure to

the scene. The ignorance in which they are brought up, however, is

lamentable. Ignorance not only of letters and books, but of almost

every thing. A bright-looking and handsome lad of twelve years, the

son of our civil guide, on being asked his age, said he did not

know, and seemed equally uninstructed in other commonplace matters.

Yet he was evidently as full of natural intelligence in mind as he

was active in body. He is one of the little milkmen I have

mentioned, who crowd the market square in the morning, and who, with

his can of milk on his shoulder, leaves his mountain home every day

before the dawn, for the walk of four miles at least, by the most

direct path: he is home again to his breakfast of coffee and farina,

by eight o’clock.

The Indians and the snakes of this section of the Empire have been

among our topics of conversation with Mr. Wells. The settlement of

the white man extends but a short distance inland from the coast:

not more than fifty or sixty miles at farthest. The interior is

still a wilderness in the possession of wandering bands of the

Aborigines. These cherish a deadly hatred against the whites; and,

prowling along the frontiers in small companies, rob and murder

them whenever they find opportunity. Sometimes they venture within

twenty and thirty miles of the coast. A party of seven, not long

since, made an attack at daybreak upon the shanty of an American,

who has put up a saw-mill on the borders of the forest. Though

single-handed, he hazarded a shower of their arrows, and

afterwards put them to flight by the show of a musket, that, from

the dampness of the priming-powder, missed fire.

Venomous snakes are said to be numerous on the island, and some are

found occasionally even in the town. Not long since, a German lady,

in returning from a party in the evening with her husband, trod upon

one whose bite is considered to be death. Fortunately, her foot was

placed near its head, and she escaped its fangs; and though it

coiled itself about her ankle, she succeeded in throwing it off

without injury. A remedy said to be a specific for the most virulent

poison of these reptiles is kept at the apothecary’s; and families

in the country make it a point to have a supply on hand. The mixture

consists of six drachms of the oil of amber, two of the spirits of

ammonia, and one of alcohol. The dose is twenty-four drops in a

wine-glass of brandy, or other spirit, three or four times a day;

the wound being also washed and kept wet with it. The ammonia is the

active agent in the cure; and should be given freely till a profuse

perspiration is induced. If the theory of some be true, that the

virus of all snakes is but a modified form of prussic acid, the

volatile alkali, ammonia, is the antidote, as that is known to

neutralize the fatal acid. Alcohol alone is thought to have effected

cures. A young German here was bitten not long since in the country,

and being without the prescribed antidote, and unable to obtain it,

unwilling to meet in consciousness the doom which he believed to

await him, he swallowed a whole bottle of the common rum of the

country, that he might be thrown into a state of insensibility. This

was soon the case, and remaining dead drunk for twenty-four hours,

on recovering his consciousness he was free from all effects of the

bite. Here too, there may have been philosophy in the cure. The

poison of a serpent being a powerful sedative, its effects may be

best counteracted by a powerful stimulant.

A sad case occurred some three weeks ago at Santa Cruz. A fine young

man of twenty, the proprietor of a small plantation, was at work

with his slaves preparing a piece of ground for a plantation of

sugar-cane. Coming to a spot in which the bushes and undergrowth

were particularly thick, he cautioned the negroes against working in

it with their naked feet and legs, as it had the appearance of a

piece that might be infested with snakes. Protected himself by

boots, he entered to open a way in advance, but had scarcely done so

before the fangs of a _jacaraca_, one of the most poisonous of

reptiles, were fastened in an unprotected part of his leg.

Neglecting to apply immediate remedies, he was in a short time a

corpse.

_May 29th._—I have been complying here with the injunction recently

received to “make hundreds of sketches;” and this morning, while

taking one, of the lower parts of the square and market-house, from

the balcony of the drawing-room, had an opportunity of introducing

the Commodore as a conspicuous figure. In a stroll in the square

before breakfast, he stopped for a little observation near the

groupings of men, donkeys, and milk-boys in front of the market.

Espying among them the bright little fellow we had seen at his

father’s cabin on the mountain, with the benevolence and good-will

of his nature, he bought the whole stock of boiled beans and farina

of an old negro woman seated on the grass near by, and gave the boys

in general a breakfast. They all seemed delighted, especially the

old negress in receiving the pay, and had quite a frolic. The

gratuity of a penny also fell to each boy. With characteristic

improvidence and a development of the national passion, the little

fellows, after having their stomachs well filled, set to and gambled

with each other for the next hour, till every penny they had thus

received had made its way to one pocket.

_May 21st._—The Novena and subsequent auction was in regular

continuance every evening of the last week. On Thursday our party

again attended the former to hear the music, and the latter to

catch the manners of the people. All the chief dignitaries of the

place were present, the President of the Province, the Chief

Justice, the Treasurer, and the Captain of the Port. To the

residence of the last we were invited to a supper at the close of

the auction, and the next morning waited on the President at the

palace, or Government House. This is a spacious and lofty

building, the ground-floor in front serving both as the

entrance-hall and as a guard-room for a company of soldiers, and

the corresponding rooms above being divided into a cabinet for

official business on one side of the staircase, and a grand sala

for reception on the other, with an intervening ante-room common

to both. When our visit was announced, the President was engaged

with official visitors in his cabinet, but soon made his

appearance. He is a small, black-eyed, intelligent-looking man,

careless and slovenly in dress, and most simple and republican in

his manners. As he spoke Portuguese only, the conversation was

necessarily carried on through interpretation by Mr. Wells, and

the interview was more brief than it otherwise would have been.

The Presidents of the Provinces are appointed by the Emperor, and

their salaries paid from the Imperial treasury. These vary in

amount, in proportion to the extent and importance of the Province.

That of the President of St. Catherine is four thousand milreis, or

two thousand dollars. The selection for the office is usually from

persons who are strangers in the Province for which the appointment

is made, that the influence of family connections and personal

friendships may not prove temptations to partiality in the

distribution of the gifts and emoluments under his control.

An anecdote related of a former incumbent of the office, throws

light upon the spirit sometimes induced by party politics here, and

shows the despotism in small matters which a high official may

exercise with impunity. The public square had been lined, at great

care and expense, with a closely planted row of date palms. Uniform

in height and size, in the course of a few years they became

sufficiently grown to furnish by their plumed tops a beautiful

screen against the sun, and were a great ornament to the place. The

individual referred to, whose name—Pariero Pinto—like that of

Erostratus, deserves for a similar reason to be perpetuated, was

unpopular as President. Ambitious, however, of becoming at the

expiration of his term the Deputy of the Province in the Imperial

Legislature, he offered himself to the people as a candidate. An

opponent was elected by acclamation. To avenge himself for the

slight manifested by his utter defeat, he deliberately set the

soldiers under his command at work in felling the palms; and in the

course of a single day, the stately trunks and graceful foliage of

the whole were laid in the dust.

_May 31st._—On Saturday the 29th, great preparation was seen to be

making around the principal church for the festival of Whit-Sunday,

which occurred yesterday. A row of palm trees were planted in front;

the verandah, in which the auction during the Novena had been held,

was draped and festooned anew with wreaths of evergreen and gay

flowers; and tar-barrels, filled with combustible materials, were

placed on the square for bonfires at night, though the moon is now

in her full. The dawn of the next day was ushered in with the

ringing of bells, the setting off of rockets, the beating of drums,

and the playing of bands of music. On looking out, every thing in

the vicinity of the church was seen to indicate a grand festival.

The temporary palm grove looked as if it had sprung up by magic. Gay

flags and streamers of all colors floated from their plumed heads,

from the roof of the church and its verandahs, and from various

other points. After a service of worship in the drawing-room of Mr.

Wells, Dr. C—— and I walked over to witness the scene. The

congregation, consisting chiefly of females, had just begun to

assemble. There are no seats or pews in the churches here, the whole

interior being an open area in which all seat themselves, or kneel

upon the bare pavement or floor, without the mat or rug which I have

seen elsewhere. Soon the whole space became closely crowded. Most of

the women were in full dress; the predominating materials being

black silks, satins, and velvets, with short sleeves and low necks,

and a half handkerchief of fancy-colored silk fastened round the

throat by a brooch. A black lace mantilla upon the head, and the

indispensable fan, completed the costume. The variety of garb,

however, was considerable; and varied according to the circumstances

and position in life of the wearer. Some, as penitents, were draped

in mantillas of black cloth, so folded over the head as to reach to

the eyes, and fall on either side over the whole figure to the feet.

Two or three colored women, whether veritable Arabs or not, wore the

thick white cotton veil of the women of the East, so arranged as to

leave little of the face except the eyes and nose exposed, while

long cloth cloaks reaching to the floor, enveloped their persons.

Many of the most expensively and most tastefully dressed persons

were negresses. These entered with a self-possession in air and

movement, if not with a stateliness and grace, rivalling those of

the most aristocratic of the whites; and were followed, like them,

by one or more well-dressed servants. We were told that they were

the wives, and in some instances the mistresses, of some of the most

wealthy of the citizens. A few were in colored silks and dress

bonnets of Parisian make, but the black lace veil, with or without

the addition of a simple flower, either natural or artificial in the

hair, was the general head-dress. All the children were arrayed as

if for a dress party. By degrees there was a perfect jam on the

floor; the greatest order and propriety however prevailed, each

person sitting quietly with the face turned reverently towards the

high altar.

At length a movement and bustle in the crowd without—the whizzing

and explosion of rockets; the pealing of bells, the heathenish

beating of drums, the tinkling of a guitar, and scraping of a

fiddle, with the bawlings of the accompanying songs indicated the

approach of the young Emperor. He soon entered the church with the

cortège before described, and forced his way through the dense mass

of women up the nave to the chancel, where seats were in reserve for

his mock court and for the officiating priests. The boy was now

robed in imperial dress—white small-clothes, silk stockings, and

gold-buckled pumps; a flowing mantle of state of crimson velvet and

gold, lined with white satin, a ruff of broad lace around the neck;

and over all, the ribbon and decoration of the Holy Ghost

before-mentioned. A crown of silver of the imperial pattern richly

wrought, and a silver sceptre were carried before him on a cushion

of velvet. A little girl of five or six years, apparently his

sister, followed him. She was in full dress as an Empress, in

tissues of silver and gold over pink satin, with a train of green

and gold, and head-dress of ostrich feathers. The lad was seated on

a throne, at the right of the high altar, the mock Empress on a

chair of state beside him; the twenty or thirty gentlemen in

attendance stood on the left opposite, while the vicar and his

assistants in the richest of their priestly adornments, took their

stations in the centre at the altar. All this was done with the most

perfect stage effect. As if to give full opportunity to impress the

imagination with this, a kind of interlude was introduced in the

form of a procession from the vesting-room or sacristy, into a side

chapel near the chancel, from which the vicar, under a canopy of

crimson velvet, supported on four gilt staves by an equal number of

attendants, fetched some seemingly precious thing, the consecrated

wafer, a relic, or the anointing oil, and placed it on the altar

where the crown and sceptre were already laid. The full coronation

service was now commenced and performed in all its parts, including

the consecration, the anointing, the crowning, and the enthronement,

followed by the obeisance and kissing of hands, and ending with the

coronation anthem; the whole was gone through with, seriously and

solemnly, as it could have been at the coronation of Don Pedro

himself. Mass was then chanted, after which the vicar was escorted

through a side chapel to a concealed staircase; and making his

appearance in a pulpit projecting overhead from the wall, proceeded

to deliver a sermon of fifteen or twenty minutes’ length. It was for

the most part legendary and fabulous in matter; but throughout

impressive and eloquent in voice and manner. The eager and solemn

attention which was given, and the fixedness of every eye and every

ear upon the speaker, proved the readiness of the people to hear and

receive instruction; and I could but think with deep feeling of the

effect which the preaching of the Gospel in its simplicity might

produce, in speedily substituting the sacrifices of the heart for

the crossings and bowings, the genuflexions and prostrations, with

which the pantomime of the priests at the altar is now accompanied.

I was never before so deeply impressed with a sense of the profanity

and idolatry of what is here called religion, as while contrasting

in my mind this evidence of a “hearing ear,” among the people, with

the puerilities and impiety of the childish show which preceded the

discourse. It is seldom that a sermon is preached, and more seldom

still one that is calculated to edify or produce any practical

effects upon the morals, or true devotion in the heart. The people

are not bigoted, and are desirous of religious instruction; so much

so that, I am told, instances are known in which individuals have

sent fifty miles for a tract; and, it is thought that they would

here readily attend Protestant preaching in their own language.

The vicars of the churches are appointed by the Emperor, and paid by

the state. The salary of the incumbent at the Matriz is fifteen

hundred milreis, or about seven hundred and fifty dollars; a living

which, with the perquisites of marriage, burial, and baptism,

amounts to about two thousand dollars a year. In general the

character of these pastors is dissolute. Their vows of celibacy are

openly disregarded; they live almost without exception in a state of

concubinage. One of the priests here has a family of ten mulatto

children; and another, a former confessor in the royal family of

Portugal and long resident at St. Catherine, who recently died of

yellow fever at Rio, left also a large family. The Jesuits are more

exemplary in regard to their vows of celibacy, and the bishop of Rio

is among those who are above reproach in this respect.

After the sermon the young Emperor and Empress, attended by the

sacred banner, the noisy musicians, and the usual cortège of

dignitaries, proceeded to their stations in the auction-room, where

the sales, we were told, continued with increased animation and

mirthfulness till 10 o’clock at night.

To-day is a fête also, and an auction day. During it we made a call

at the residence of the Captain of the Port, in acknowledgment of

the civility of the supper-party to which we had been invited. This

dignitary was at the church. He was sent for, and apologized when we

took our leave, for not joining us in a walk, by saying that duty

required his attendance upon the Emperor.

The variety and the quantity of the confectionery made, presented,

and sold at these festivals is surprising. Every device of ingenuity

is put in requisition for the production of it in new forms. The

lady of the Captain of the Port showed us a very large tray of work

in sugar and flour, most elaborately wrought in its forms, and

tastefully finished in coloring and gilding. It had been purchased

at the auction for forty-two dollars, and presented to her by a

friend. The whole was the workmanship of an old lady of more than

three-score years and ten, who had given four months’ time to its

manufacture. The chief object seemed to have been to furnish the

greatest variety in man, beast and bird. Every article was true to

nature in figure and coloring; cottages and groves, fruits, flowers,

and vegetables, specimens in conchology, entomology, and the whole

range of natural history, with a wide margin in the catalogue for

what was purely imaginative. The whole presented a striking evidence

of the ingenuity, taste, and unwearying industry of the aged

devotee.

And now, you will say, “Why give so much time to the observation and

to the description of such puerilities, to say the least of them, as

constituted the chief services of the church here on Sunday?” I

answer, that I may certainly know by the “seeing of the eye,” as

well as by the “hearing of the ear,” the distance to which this

people are removed from the simplicity and purity of the Gospel; and

that you may judge of the causes of their ignorance and

superstition. These plays are acted, and these festivals prolonged

and varied for the amusement of the populace, and to keep the masses

content under the control of their spiritual guides. Lights and

music, dress and flowers, form and ceremonies, the waving of banners

and swinging of censers—the glare and glitter of the stage, are thus

made to excite the imagination, and satisfy the thoughtless and

ignorant mind with fleeting shadows, in place of enduring good. The

whole system of Romanism as exhibited here, is little else than

Paganism in disguise; a system in which old idols are presented

under new names, and heathen processions and ceremonies substituted

for that worship which is “in spirit and in truth.”

_June 18th._—We took leave of Mr. Wells and of Desterro the day

following my last date; and two days ago made an attempt to get to

sea; but a head wind set in, and still prevents our departure. All

hands are pleased with the delay; we cannot soon weary of such a

place, the scenery is so beautiful, the climate so fine, the walks

and rides so picturesque and rural, and the supplies for the

refreshment of all hands are so abundant and so cheap. In addition

to the fresh beef furnished to the ship’s company, any quantity of

pigs, turkeys, chickens, eggs, vegetables, and fruit is offered

alongside in canoes, for private trade with the different messes and

with individuals of the crew.

In the attempt to get to sea, we changed our anchorage two or three

miles northward from the forts, and were brought into the immediate

neighborhood of two beautiful little bays, encircled by gracefully

curving beaches of white sand. Both abound in picturesque and wild

scenery; and are in many places filled with orange groves

overburdened with fruit, now in full season. Far from any grog-shop

or means of dissipation to the crews, the boats ply backwards and

forwards from the ship to the shore at all hours of the day, filled

with officers and men in the enjoyment of a kind of saturnalia, in

search of fruits, and flowers, and every thing rare and curious in

nature. Some of the cacti, air plants, and parasites now in full

bloom, are superb in their beauty. A hundred delicious oranges can

be purchased for a penny; and, but for the presence of our ship,

would not be worth to their owners the shaking from the trees. It

is, too, the season of sugar-making. The apparatus and entire

process are most rude and simple: each small plantation being

furnished with a primitive mill of two rollers of timber to extract

the juice, and a rough trough or two to conduct it to a boiler. The

eating of the cane, and an occasional dip into the troughs and into

the half crystallized contents of the cooling-pans, offer to all

quite a tempting pastime. St. Catherine seems to be a province of

small proprietors, whose productions, derived from their own labors,

exceed but little the supply of their private wants. Each carries to

the market a few hundred pounds only of coffee and of sugar

annually—brought to the purchaser in small quantities, at different

times, when some foreign article is needed.

The coffee of the island is of a superior quality, and the chief of

its products: as it also is of the whole empire, though introduced

into the country by the Franciscan Friar Villaso so recently as the

year 1774. The first bush was planted by him in that year in the

garden of the convent of San Antonio, at Rio de Janiero. It was not

till the revolt of St. Domingo that its price became such as to lead

to its general culture here. In 1809, when coffee was first imported

into the United States from Brazil, the whole produce of the empire

amounted only to 30,000 bags; this year it is estimated that it will

amount to 2,000,000, or a value of more than $16,000,000. The plants

blossom in August, September, and October; and the crops are

gathered in March, April, and May.

My last ride at Santa Cruz was with Captain Cathcart, in a visit to

an estate called “Las Palmas,” or the palms, recently purchased by

him. It lies on the coast, ten miles north of his present residence.

Mr. W——, Captain Pearson’s clerk, accompanied us, for the purpose of

making some correction in the “plot” of the plantation, drawn by a

surveyor. We were to have started at an early hour of the day, but a

pouring rain prevented. This state of the weather, however, changed

afterwards into occasional heavy showers; and, at the risk of being

drenched by these, we ventured to set off at eleven o’clock. The

road is a mule-track, and at places, for long distances, consists of

the hard sand of the beach. The frequent streams flowing into the

sea from the interior are so swollen by late rains, that we found

difficulty in fording them in safety. A second heavy shower after we

started, came hastening upon us just as we were entering upon the

longest stretch of beach on the route. This was smooth and hard, and

afforded us a good opportunity of trying to outstrip the storm, till

we could reach some place of shelter. Captain Cathcart is an

exceedingly stout and heavy man—fairly stuffed into his clothes, and

weighing 250 or 280 pounds. Mr. W—— is very long and very lean, with

legs and neck like a crane, and arms to correspond. My own

_physique_ is familiar to you; and you would have been amused at the

sight, could you have witnessed the manner in which we three

scampered over this part of the road, with the pelting rain and

rushing wind in full pursuit. A cotton umbrella and an overcoat kept

me from the wet: but it was the last of the old umbrella—before the

wind had well reached us, the outside had become the in, the top the

bottom, and the whole structure of whalebone, steel, and muslin, an

irremediable ruin.

About midway of the distance we came to a hamlet of two or three

miserable huts, the remains of a settlement of poor Germans, who had

been tempted from their distant homes by the flattering inducements

to immigration held out by the government of Brazil, but to whom, on

their arrival, the poorest sections of land in the region had been

allotted as the promised gratuity. These, the settlers had no means

of making profitable; and they are now left to disappointment and

neglect. They are wretchedly poor; and those of them whom we saw

looked pale and thin, careworn and ill. Immediately beside the steep

and worn-out lands assigned to them, there is a wide tract of level

country belonging to the government, upon which these poor

foreigners, had it been appropriated to them, would not only have

gained a living, but in all probability acquired an independence.

On leaving these cabins, at which we halted a moment for a cup of

water, we began to ascend the spur of a mountain which forms a

headland on the coast, separating the bay along the beach of which

we had come, from that on the opposite side, where the estate we

were to visit is situated. The hill is unwooded and steep, the path

was very slippery, and the ascent difficult; but we accomplished it

slowly, with fine views on our right over a widespread alluvial

plain covered with thick set forests:

“A habitation sober and demure

For ruminating creatures: a domain

For quiet things to wander in; a haunt

In which the heron should delight to feed

By the shy rivers, and the pelican

Upon the cypress, and the pine in lonely thought,

Might sit and sun himself.”

In place of the heron and the pelican, however, we had the

_Urapongo_—a large bird of the parrot tribe, which, like

“A flaky weight of winter’s purest snow,”

was clearly seen at a long distance in brilliant whiteness amid the

dark green of a tree-top—sending forth its peculiar and solitary

song, in notes as shrill and metallic as the gratings of a coarse

file upon steel, of which they forcibly reminded me.

Cathcart, from his Anglo-Saxon enterprise and energy, and consequent

thrift and increasing wealth, has become quite the great man of the

region; and seems to be in favor and on most familiar terms with all

the inhabitants, black and white. He gave to every dwelling we

passed by, whether near at hand or afar off, a hail of good will in

one form or another, calling forth a quick response from the unseen

occupants, and the speedy appearance of master, mistress, or slave.

After gaining the level of the mountain, we came upon a cluster of

mud houses surrounded by an orange grove, situated upon an elevation

on one side of the road, the owner of which, an old Portuguese, we

were told was worth a hundred thousand milreis, or more than fifty

thousand dollars. As he will be the next neighbor of our host on his

new estate, we turned aside for a moment to interchange salutations

with the family. The whole aspect of things, in huts and negroes, in

the mistress and an only child, a boy of ten or twelve years, was

very slovenly, very slip-shod, and very filthy. The wife is a

lively, black-eyed, chatty woman, scarcely yet in middle life; but

the husband a gray-headed and withered old man of more than

three-score years and ten. He is a great miser; and had on an old

jacket of many colors, with patch upon patch, till it appeared to be

of treble thickness. This he always wears both at home and abroad,

and never by any chance lays aside. It is said to be inlaid with

gold. The captain began at once to banter with him for the purchase

of it, offering a very large sum, and causing by his jests in regard

to it, great laughter among the negroes, and one or two white

laborers near by; but the owner seemed to have no notion to close a

bargain in the case. We did not dismount; but accepted the offer of

a drink of fresh cane-juice from a sugar mill near by. It was

brought to us in an old calabash, and tasted neither sweet nor

clean.

Before reaching this place, we had entered into a wood, and were

charmed with the variety and brilliancy of the bloom—scarlet and

yellow, pink, purple, and white—exhibited in air-plants and

parasites, creepers and flowery trees. Besides a great variety of

the palm, there were wild figs, laurels, myrtles, cassias, and a

kind of silk cotton tree—_chorisia speciosa_—with large rose-colored

blossoms. The climbers are superb; and give to the trees they

overrun an air of great magnificence. This is particularly the case

in the _Solandra grandifiora_, with its large trumpet-shaped

flowers; and a species of fuchsia—_fuchsia integrifolia_, which,

running up to the tops of the loftiest trees, falls down in graceful

festoons of crimson flowers. Among the undergrowth the scarlet

blossom of the _cana speciosa_ glared brightly on the eye. The

forest did not appear to be primitive; but here and there a monarch

of the wood was seen, which could have attained its height and

widespread dimensions only by the growth of centuries.

While yet high on the mountain’s side, we opened a full and

magnificent view of the new purchase of Captain Cathcart. It

embraces the entire superficies of a rich valley, ten miles at least

in circumference, encircled on three sides by lofty timber-covered

mountains, whose tops are the boundaries of the possession. These

terminate on either hand in bold promontories, jutting into the sea,

while between them sweeps a curving sand-beach, a mile and more in

extent. A fine stream meanders through this domain. A rocky islet,

in the centre of the bay formed by the projecting headlands, is

tufted with palm-trees, and gives name to the estate. Though but

partially reclaimed from its primitive condition, and for the most

part a luxuriant mass of woodland only, in its wide expanse,

manifest richness of soil, and evident capabilities of improvement

under the axe and the plough, it seemed to the eye as thus pointed

out to us, to be quite a principality. As an isolated possession I

have seen nothing like it in Brazil. The history of the property may

have added, perhaps, to the interest with which I looked upon it now

in the hands of a new possessor. The late proprietor, Señor De L——,

a man of good family, good education and good breeding, had been

reduced by his imprudence, mismanagement, indolence, and I may add

vice, to the necessity of disposing of it at a ruinous sacrifice. I

had seen him the day before on board the Congress, bearing the air

and address of a gentleman, mingled with the dejection of a

confessed bankrupt: one not able to work, and too proud to beg. In

the morning before setting off from the consulate, I had met, too, a

daughter of his, of eighteen, decidedly the finest-looking and most

attractive native female I have seen in Brazil: lovely, not only

from positive beauty, but from evident amiability and feminine

gentleness. And now, when I saw the exulting eye with which the new

purchaser, the rough and uneducated whaleman, surveyed the lordly

domain, I could not but think of the dispossessed and impoverished

gentleman and his children, and sympathise with them in the loss of

such an estate.

Shortly after commencing the gradual descent of the mountain, a

rustic gate was pointed out as the entrance to “the Palms.” The

distance from this to the house is about two miles; and a little

taste and labor would convert it into a parklike and lovely

drive—first through interlacing woods down the declivity, and then

over the green sward of a natural meadow, belted and dotted for a

mile with groves, and clumps, and single trees of natural growth.

The house is a substantial old mansion of brick stuccoed, with tiled

roof and encircling verandahs. It stands in the midst of a lawn

fronting the small river, which here empties with a serpentine sweep

into the sea. It commands the entire view of the valley and

encircling mountains, of the bay, its promontories and islets, and

the distant sea. These lands have been a seigniory from the earliest

settlement of the country; and the house was built a hundred years

ago, when the proprietor was in office under government. It is most

substantially constructed; and the window frames, door-posts and

doors, and the columns of the verandahs, though never painted, are

yet in perfect preservation; the close-grained wood of which they

are formed, on being slightly scraped, exhibits the soundness and

brightness of mahogany. In all things more perishable the

establishment is in a most neglected and dilapidated state. The

furniture has been removed, excepting that of a lofty and spacious

dining-room, where a long and heavy old table—a fixture, with

benches along each side, of corresponding fashion, still remains:

all else is the perfect picture of ruined fortunes and deserted

halls.

A servant had preceded us on foot with a basket of refreshments. To

the contents of this was added an abundance of fine oysters from the

mouth of the river, into which a heavy surf and daily tides pour

floods of salt-water over the oyster-beds. When called to this

repast, I was quite surprised to see, lying open on one end of the

table, a large mahogany case with lining of crimson velvet, filled

with a full dinner-set of heavy old plate of rich and massive

patterns—including knives, forks, and spoons, of all sizes. In

explanation, the captain told us it was the property of Señor De

L——, left here on his removal from the house; and now brought

forward in the hope of having it bought by him, adding, “but I was

born with an iron spoon in my mouth, and am used to one still; and I

have made up my mind, unless I can get the set for——,” naming a sum

not one third of its value, even as old silver, “I will never take

it.” Conscious, probably, from the knowledge he had of the

necessities of the poor señor, that they were sure to be eventually

his at his own price.

But why, you will ask, these details in a matter of no moment? I

answer, because I know not when my feelings have been more

interested, or my sympathy more excited than by an incident of the

day, directly associated with them. Every thing without was so wet

after the heavy rain, that we were confined on our arrival very much

to the house and verandahs. Knowing that the family of De L—— had

removed, and that a few slaves only of Captain Cathcart were in

charge of the place, I was surprised to see a fine-looking, and

strikingly handsome young man approach from a thicket near by. His

only dress was a white cotton shirt, open at the throat, and a pair

of pantaloons of blue nankeen, old and faded, but both perfectly

clean and neat. Though bareheaded and barefooted, he moved with the

self-possessed air and manner of a gentleman. Before I could ask, I

was told he was a son of the late proprietor; brother of the young

lady I had met at the consul’s in the morning, and between whom

there is a very strong attachment, as well as a very striking

resemblance. The father, like too many others in this country, was

never married; but as is extensively the custom here, he has several

sets of children by different women—the secret of his wasted

fortune. After an introduction to the young man, struck with his

Adonis-like beauty both in figure and face—so like his sister as to

lead to the supposition that they were twins, I felt some curiosity

to know his age, and after a little conversation asked him in

Portuguese how old he was? Though evidently bright and intelligent

by nature, his reply was, “I do not know—my father can tell!” The

captain immediately said to me in English, “There you have a sample

of the utter ignorance in which these people are brought up; they

know nothing, and are taught nothing worth knowing. This is a very

nice young man as you see; but his father has given him no

education. Poor boy! I felt very sorry for him the day I closed the

purchase of this place and ‘clinched’ the bargain. He knew I had

been some time in negotiation for it; was present at the moment, and

seemed very anxious about the result; and when he saw that the whole

was sold without any reservation, and the case settled, the tears

started to his eyes, and he said—‘So, father, you have sold all your

property, and I am left to be like a negro! You always told me I

should have a part of this land. Had you done any thing for me, had

you given me any education, or taught me to do any thing, the case

would have been different, and I would not have cared. But you have

done nothing for me, and have not taught me to do any thing for

myself; and now have sold all your land, and left me to work like a

negro!’ The father could only reply with tears, ‘I know it, my son,

but I cannot help it: I am in debt eleven thousand milreis, and have

nothing to meet it but the two thousand five hundred which Captain

Cathcart pays me for this property.’” I thus became acquainted with

the terms of the purchase—about twelve hundred and fifty dollars for

two or three miles square of the finest land in the region, parts of

which at least have been long under cultivation! Antonio, the name

of the young man, had himself, previously to the sale, planted a

piece of the land with cane and mandioca, and asked the consul

afterwards whether he might still work upon it, and gather the

crops. He says his reply was, “Yes, my son, and call upon my negroes

here to help you, and bid them work for you as if they were your

own.” He is now there with a single remaining slave of his father,

for this purpose. Captain Cathcart invited him to join us at

luncheon. He seems interested in him, and says that as soon as he

removes from Santa Cruz himself, which he intends to do almost

immediately, he will take the lad to live with him, and will be his

friend. I trust he will be true to his word, and faithful to the

promise in the case which I exacted from him. He is evidently

greatly elated by the purchase, as well he may be, if he can

reconcile his conscience to the price which the necessities of the

seller forced him to accept for it. While looking over and pointing

to a very small section of it, he said to me, “Mr. S——, if, when, as

a boat-steerer on board a whale-ship I first met you at the Sandwich

Islands, I had thought I should ever have been the owner of such a

hillside as that, I would have felt amazing proud!” the continuation

of the sentiment being of course—“judge then how I feel now, as the

lord of this widespread manor, and the monarch of all I survey!”

Wherever he turns his eyes, he sees and speaks of its varied

capabilities for sugar, mandioca, rice, corn, cotton, coffee,

cattle, hogs, timber—and if spared in life and health a few years,

it is probable his present visions of the wealth to be derived from

it, will be fully realized. While he was speaking thus, I again

begged him to befriend Antonio, whose sad and dejected looks during

our whole stay were in such strong contrast with the self-satisfied

air and high spirits of his dispossessor. The deep pensiveness

spread over the manly and handsome face of the young man as we bade

him adieu, and his attitude—till we lost sight of him in the

distance—leaning his head and shoulders against a pillar of the

verandah with folded arms, as if lost in sad abstraction, still

haunt me.

BUENOS AYRES.

_June 30th._—For a third time I date from Buenos Ayres. The

continued prevalence of the yellow fever at Rio de Janiero forbade a

visit of the Congress there, on leaving St. Catherine; and the

alternate was a return to Montevideo. On arriving at that place,

general liberty on shore was accorded to the crew; and a bearer of

despatches to the American minister here being required, I gladly

availed myself of the Commodore’s kindness in appointing me to the

duty.

When I left Buenos Ayres in February, the town and province were

under the rule of the Provisional Governor, appointed by Urquiza. As

speedily afterwards as possible, a constitutional election was held

for that office, and the same person was chosen by the people. Since

then, a Congress of the Governors of the Provinces has been held at

San Nicolas de Aroya, a city two hundred miles from Buenos Ayres up

the Parana. This was preparatory to a general convention of

delegates, for the formation and adoption of a federal constitution

for the United Provinces, after the model of that of the United

States; Urquiza being appointed for the interval Provisional

Director of the Argentine Confederation. The result of the

deliberations of the Governors has just been proclaimed, and the

articles of agreement have been published. These, though seemingly

wise and just, are unsatisfactory to the Portenos or Buenos Ayreans.

Claiming, from their larger population, greater wealth, and higher

civilization, a preponderating vote and influence among the States,

they are unwilling to confirm the act of the Governors, which will

limit them in the proposed general Congress, to the same number of

representatives or delegates, with each of the other Provinces. The

House of Representatives of Buenos Ayres, or Sala, as the body is

here styled, immediately denounced the proceeding by strong

resolutions; and great public excitement took place. On learning

this, Urquiza, who has returned from St. Nicolas, withdrew his

troops from their quarters in the city, planted a battery of guns on

the parade ground near the cavalry barracks, which commands the

town, and despatched a messenger to the President of the Chambers,

with orders for the immediate dissolution of that body under the

alternative of having it dispersed by his guns. The announcement of

this led each member quietly to take his hat and leave the hall,

notwithstanding the valorous resolution of the previous day, in

which the determination had been avowed of sacrificing their lives

rather than their liberty.

Two thousand or more of the citizens not long since organized

themselves into a national guard; each individual having equipped

himself at his own outlay, in a showy and expensive uniform. During

the agitation of the Chamber, under the action of the Congress of

San Nicolas, these sent a messenger to the house to assure the

representatives that they would repair to their sittings and stand

by them to the death. They were, however, at the time, much in need

of percussion caps for their muskets. Urquiza hearing of this, and

that diligent search was being made in the city for a supply, sent

his own orderly to their barracks, with a couple of packages; and,

it is said, called himself in the afternoon of the same day to

inquire whether they had been received, and to say he would be happy

to furnish them with a larger quantity if needed! Thus showing his

utter contempt for the bravado of the ‘shop-keepers,’ as he calls

them. On the dissolution of the Chamber this brave guard very

speedily disbanded; and the next day small parties of the soldiers

of Urquiza, in command of subalterns, went from house to house

throughout the city, and took possession, without resistance, of all

the arms they could find. Urquiza proclaimed himself Provisional

Chief, but continued in office under him the Governor who had been

elected by the people. All things are going on quietly under this

coup d’état.

The general judgment of those who have had the best opportunity of

knowing the people, is, that they are incapable of enlightened and

stable self-government. Urquiza is regarded by these as greatly in

advance of other chieftains of the Plata, in enlarged and patriotic

views and principles. Full confidence is placed in his integrity of

purpose, as well as in his firmness and daring of will.

His personal bravery at all events cannot be doubted. During the

height of the excitement of the last week, while execrations loud

and long were poured upon him by designing partisans and their

followers, he rode fearlessly about the city attended by a single

officer; and is resolved, at all personal hazard, to carry out the

measures and policy which he thinks needful for the best interests,

not only of Buenos Ayres, as a city and province, but of all the

Argentine States. He believes the consolidation of the whole under a

constitutionally appointed chief executive, indispensable to their

permanent prosperity; and this it is his purpose to achieve.

_July 20th._—It is seldom that the Rev. Mr. Lore of the Wesleyan

Mission can avail himself of the assistance of a brother clergyman;

and I have cheerfully taken upon myself, at his solicitation, on

each Sabbath of my several visits here, two of the three services

held in the chapel on that day and evening. The ordinary number of

worshippers amounts to about four hundred, of whom fifty are church

members. The established religion of the State being that of the

Roman Church, and the civil regulations of the country not

permitting Protestant preaching to the natives in their own

language, the congregation and church consist exclusively of foreign

residents—American, English, Scotch and Irish: of these, the

greatest number are English. An interesting and flourishing Sunday

school of two hundred and fifty scholars, is attached to the church,

and in addition to the public services of the Sabbath, a weekly

lecture and prayer-meeting are held in the chapel. The Sabbath after

my arrival was that of the Communion. On the Thursday evening

previous, Mr. Lore preached a preparatory sermon, and on the Sunday

six new members were received into the church. They were all young

persons, and of both sexes. A more than ordinary proportion of the

church members are in their youth. It is a cheering sight to

perceive among them so many young men, thus openly and decidedly

choosing a life of piety in the midst of a city of general

indulgence in worldliness and pleasure, and almost universal moral

dereliction. In the full toleration of Protestant worship thus

allowed, and in the open example seen and acknowledged by all—even

of a few consistent and truly spiritual Christians, there is hope

for this land: there is light shed abroad which cannot be hid, and

seed sown which has already sprung up and borne fruit. Many things

seem to indicate that, in the providence of God, the ignorant,

superstitious and benighted population, is destined in the progress

of time to give place by immigration from foreign lands, to those

better fitted in mind and education, in energy and enterprise, and

in enlightened principles, political, moral and religious, to mould

the destinies of the nation and build up a free and prosperous

empire. One cannot fail in passing along the streets, to be forcibly

struck with the prevalence of the English language. You can scarcely

move a square in any direction without overhearing it; while French,

German, Portuguese and Italian—the patois of the Basques and the

Gaelic dialect of the Scotch and Irish, are liberally intermingled.

Mr. Lore is deservedly popular in his position, both as a man and as

a minister. He is an able and interesting preacher, and a faithful

and affectionate pastor: ready to every good work—the comforter of

the sick and afflicted, and the friend and benefactor of the poor

and destitute. Mrs. Lore too, is admirably fitted for her station,

and, full of gentleness and amiability, is universally beloved. The

history of Protestant worship in Buenos Ayres may be briefly given.

Its origin dates as far back as the year 1820. On Sunday, the 18th

of November in that year, Protestant religious worship was first

held here in a private house. The assembly numbered nine persons,

the worship being led by Mr. Thompson, a Scotch Presbyterian, who

had arrived in the city under the auspices of the “British and

Foreign School Society,” with the purpose of establishing schools on

the Lancastrian system; and had so far succeeded in his object as to

be then employed by the government as superintendent of a school of

this description. This lay worship was continued till the year 1822.

In 1823 the Rev. Dr. Brigham, now long the secretary of the American

Bible Society, and the Rev. Mr. Parvin, an associate, arrived as

agents of the Bible and Missionary Societies, and by them preaching

was established in a private house. Dr. Brigham, after a time,

carried his agency to Chili and Peru, and returned to the United

States; while Mr. Parvin continued resident here, as a preacher and

teacher, till the year 1827. In this year he was joined by the Rev.

Mr. Torrey, first as an assistant, and soon as successor, both in

teaching and preaching. Mr. Torrey continued in Buenos Ayres till

the year 1836; when relinquishing his position and returning to the

United States, worship according to the Presbyterian form ceased,

without any attempt having been made to organize a church.

The field was thus left open to the labors of the Methodist

Episcopal Church; the Rev. Mr. Pitts, a missionary of this

denomination, having arrived at Buenos Ayres about the time Mr.

Torrey left. He preached, however, but a short time, and returning

to the United States, was succeeded in the year 1837 by the Rev. Mr.

Dempster. Public worship was continued by him in the same house in

which Mr. Torrey had held his services; and his preaching was soon

followed with such success as to demand an enlarged place for the

congregation. In the ensuing year a lot in a very eligible situation

was purchased for the erection of a church and mission house; the

funds being provided for the purpose, partly by subscription in

Buenos Ayres, and partly by an appropriation from the Methodist

Missionary Society at home. The buildings subsequently erected are

the present chapel and parsonage, on the principal street of the

city, immediately opposite the stately church of the Merced. The

chapel, a neat and simple structure, sixty feet in length by forty

in width, with a façade in Grecian architecture, fronts upon the

street; while the mission house or parsonage, approached by a

passage on one side of the chapel, occupies the rear of the lot. A

court, ornamented with shrubbery and trellised grape-vines,

separates the two, giving to the premises a retired and rural

aspect, attractive, and appropriate to the character of the

occupants. The Rev. Mr. Dempster was succeeded in 1843, by the Rev.

Mr. Norris; and this gentleman again in 1848, by Mr. Lore. The

church and congregation are now not only self-sustaining, as to the

support of the pastor and all the incidental expenses of the

mission, but contribute liberally, according to their means, to the

general societies at home for the promotion of the cause of Christ.

Besides the Wesleyan congregation and church, there are now in

Buenos Ayres three of other Protestant denominations: one British

Episcopalian, one Scotch Presbyterian, and one Reformed German. All

these have much larger and finer buildings for worship, and much

larger and more wealthy congregations. The salary of the Rev. Mr.

Falkner of the British Church, amounts to $4000. The Scotch

congregation, under the pastoral charge of Rev. Mr. Smith, is of the

Established Church of Scotland, and also partly under governmental

support. The German Church, whose pastor is the Rev. Mr. Seigle, has

just completed a new place of worship; a beautiful specimen of

Gothic architecture, and an ornament to the city. These

congregations have each a large and flourishing day school under its

supervision and patronage, beside Sunday schools.

I have renewed my intercourse most agreeably with several families

here—particularly with that of Mr. H——, who is a fellow-Jerseyman.

Mrs. H—— is also from Jersey; and I have a standing invitation to

breakfast with them on buckwheat cakes, so favorite an article of

diet there. The L——s and the Z——s of Montevideo, too, are now here.

Among the acquaintances newly made, and to whom I am indebted for

hospitality, are the J——s; Mrs. J—— being the daughter of an old

friend, Captain M—— of the Navy. They occupy a tasteful and

pleasantly situated quinta in the eastern suburbs of the city, where

they entertain their friends with elegance; adding to a generous

hospitality, the charm of fine music, in which, both vocal and

instrumental, Mrs. J—— excels.

I have been desirous for some time, of making an excursion into the

“Camp,” as the flat country of the Pampas south of the city is

called, in a visit to the estancia, or cattle farm of an American of

respectability, but have not yet had it in my power to accomplish

the purpose. My opportunities for sight-seeing have consequently

been limited to the city. The room I occupy is on the second floor

of a house finely situated on the edge of the bluff upon which the

town lies. Its windows on one side overlook the quadrangular court

communicating with the street. In this there are some magnificent

specimens of cacti; among which are a prickly pear twenty feet in

height, with a trunk like a tree, now covered with primrose-colored

blossoms; and an octagonal plant of the same genus nearly as tall,

filled with those that are of brilliant crimson. There is in it also

a magnificent specimen of the “Uca Gloriosa.” The view from the

other side commands the whole length of the alameda or public walk,

the river, with the inner and the outer anchorage, and all the

movements of the roadstead and landing. When the tide is out, the

sands to the east, for a mile or more, are nearly or quite bare. At

all times, except when the water is at flood, the landing of

passengers and freight is by cart. Familiarity with the sight does

not take from its interest. Sometimes both horses and carts are seen

half submerged in the water—intermingled with boats, some under sail

and others pulled by oars,—the drivers, to keep themselves from

being wet, standing on the shoulders of their beasts, in the manner

of circus-riders. It is amusing to see them start from the shore on

the approach of a boat or boats with passengers. They rush off under

the shouts and lashings of the drivers, plunging and ploughing

through the water, over the rocks and into holes in the rough

bottom, in utter disregard of every thing except a first chance at a

customer. The horses are so well trained to the business, that the

carts are as readily turned and backed up to a boat on reaching it,

as a fish is moved in the water by its fins. The whole performance

is so droll and amphibious, that I never cease to be amused in

witnessing it. When the water is low, freight and passengers are

often taken on board these carts from small vessels at their

anchorage. At such times too, horsemen and dogs, and various other

animals, are seen scampering over the sands in the shoal water, as

if the mirror-like surface were the ice of a frozen river.

When the wind is fresh, a heavy sea rolls over the sands. Then the

vocation of the carts is at an end, and they seek the security of

the shore. The boats too, securely anchored outside the rocks, are

left to toss upon the water by themselves, and for the time-being, a

non-intercourse occurs between the shipping and the shore.

The construction of a mole to extend beyond the sands is entirely

practicable, and would be of immense importance, and a great saving

of expense in the trade of the place. So essential a work should

have been accomplished a century ago. Had the amount lavished by

Rosas in redeeming the marshes of Palermo, and in rearing upon them

his country palace, been thus appropriated, it would long since have

secured a convenient and safe landing both for goods and passengers,

and have been a lasting and honorable monument of his public spirit

and patriotism. A day or two since a detachment of the troops of

Urquiza embarked from this landing on their return to Entre-Rios. It

is the winter season; the weather was wet, cold, and piercing, and

the whole number, amounting to some hundreds, were kept for hours,

shivering in the exposure incident to the slow means of getting off

to the transports in which they were to sail; first in squads of

eight or ten in a cart, and then in equal numbers in small boats.

The _lecheros_ and _panderos_—the milkmen and bakers—form striking

features in the scenes of the street in the early morning. Both

grades are invariably mounted on shabby, rough-coated little horses

or mules. They seat themselves very longitudinally on the

shoulder-blades of the beasts, their legs being stretched out almost

at full length; while the supplies they carry for distribution are

balanced on either side from neck to tail—the milk in long tin cans

of different sizes, stowed in different compartments of leather

fixtures, something in the form of old-fashioned saddle-bags. The

bread is distributed from immense panniers of ox-hide, cured with

the hair on, made oval, in bandbox form, burying the animal beneath

their ponderous shapes, and half blocking up the street as they

pass. There is nothing especially peculiar in the dress of the

bakers, they being, dwellers in the city, and generally French,

German, or Spanish by birth and in costume; but the milkmen from the

country, at distances from five to fifteen miles, furnish

illustrations of the grotesque and comical worthy of the pencil of a

Cruikshank or Wilkie. None but an artist could do justice to their

slouched hats of every form, the cotton handkerchief of divers

figures and colors in which their necks and faces are bundled up,

their ponchos of every hue—their cheripas of various materials from

scarlet broadcloth and gayly-figured merinos, to horse-blankets, and

fire-rugs; while half-yard wide pantalets of white cotton tamboured

and fringed and worn over heavy boots or leggings of calfskin, make

up the sketch.

On entering the plaza about seven o’clock a few mornings ago, I saw

some hundreds or more of these figures, with their horses and

milk-cans, grouped before the police office at the Cabildo or town

hall. The spectacle was one of the most singular I have met, and led

to an inquiry as to the cause of the unusual gathering. In answer, I

learned that the extent to which the watering of the milk had been

carried had led to the interference of the police. On that morning,

every milkman as he entered the city found himself unexpectedly

under arrest, and was hurried to the office of the chief, to have

the product of his cows put to a test. All were now busy lugging

their cans into the town hall to be thus cleared from the imputation

of defrauding their customers, or, if found guilty, to pay the fine

imposed by the laws of the municipality. I did not wait to learn the

result, but believe few escaped the penalty.

To one informed of the extent of vexation and labor required in

securing the milk, it is scarcely a wonder that it should be well

watered before being brought to market. The cows of the native breed

are impracticable to all domestic training or discipline. They not

only require to be lassoed every time they are milked, but must be

also tied head and foot, and during the operation have their calves

by their sides. These must be permitted to draw the milk alternately

with the use of the hand by the milkman, or nothing can be obtained

from the animal. Much time is thus taken up in the operation; and

the result is only about a quart of milk a day from each cow, and a

pound of butter a week. The consequence is that milk commands from

twelve to fifteen cents a quart; and butter from sixty-two to

seventy-five cents a pound. The supply is furnished chiefly by the

German and Basque settlers. The natives are for the most part too

indolent to take so much trouble for the returns made, either for

their own use or for sale.

RIO DE JANEIRO.

_September 20th._—We returned to this port on the 13th inst.:

bringing passengers with us, Mr. Schenck, Chargé d’Affaires at the

Court of Brazil, and a nephew, his private secretary. In addition to

the diplomatic office he holds here, he was recently appointed by

our government Envoy Extraordinary to the Republics of the Plata,

for the purpose of negotiating, in conjunction with Mr. Pendleton,

treaties of friendship and commerce. The unsettled state of affairs

in the Argentine Provinces, however, interfered with the completion

of this mission, and he has returned for a time to Rio de Janeiro.

Mr. Pendleton accompanied him as far as Montevideo; and during a

brief sojourn there, the two diplomatists, with the aid of Mr.

Glover as interpreter and secretary, formed a treaty with the

Republic of Uruguay, by which the United States are placed here upon

a footing with the most favored nations. The promptitude, industry,

and despatch of the ambassadors in the negotiation quite astonished

the ceremonious, indolent, and procrastinating ministers of

Spanish-American blood. After it was once initiated, they allowed

themselves scarcely the relaxation of an hour till the parchments

were engrossed; and the ink in their signatures was not well dry

before the Chief Envoy was on his way with us to this place.

I will let an incident occurring at Buenos Ayres speak his general

character. While last there, I occupied furnished rooms in the

establishment of a shrewd, sharp-eyed, talkative Englishwoman. The

window of her private apartment commanded the well-guarded portal,

opening from the street into the pateo or quadrangle of the house;

and from it she kept a watchful lookout on the movements of her

lodgers and their visitors. A short time after I had taken up my

quarters there, Mr. Schenck called upon me. My landlady soon became

informed, by some means, of his name and position; and with the

notions of rank common among those in humble life in her own

country, was quite excited by the distinction conferred upon her

lodger, and seizing the first chance afterwards of waylaying me,

gave vent to her feelings on the subject by the exclamation—“And

indeed, sir! so you have had the honor of a visit from your

minister, the new ambassador! La me! I said to myself as I saw him

come in, ‘Why who can that very genteel, delicate-looking, strange

gentleman be?’ But I knew him at once for a diplomat. I can always

tell them. I have had a great deal to do with them—Sir Charles

Hotham, Sir William Ousely—and I know them at once, they are so

clever—so very, very clever! Oh! rely upon it, sir! your ambassador

is a very clever man: I could see it in his eye, sir! and then it

was so kind in him to call. I knew him for a diplomat—so very

genteel, and so clever,” adding, “Clever, sir, clever—very, very

clever!” as she bowed herself backwards into her little room, as if

retreating after a presentation at court. And clever, indeed, Mr.

Schenck is, both in the English and American use of the term. In

regard to the last, he has given very decided proof in his great

kindness to the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, seamen’s chaplain here, who with

Mrs. Fletcher arrived from the United States shortly after the

Congress left, eight months ago. They early became settled in a

hired cottage, but when Mr. Schenck received the diplomatic

appointment to the Plata, he constrained them to leave it, and with

their family to take possession during his absence, of the embassy

and all its appointments, in furniture, servants, carriages and

horses; and as it will be necessary for him to return to Buenos

Ayres at the end of two or three months, wrote to them before

leaving the river, that he came now only to be their guest till he

should be recalled there by duty for an indefinite time. They are

thus permanently at home with him.

Mr. Fletcher on his arrival, entered at once zealously upon the

discharge of the duties of his position; and, while the yellow fever

has again raged for months as an epidemic among the shipping and on

shore, has been indefatigable in preaching the Gospel to the well,

in nursing and comforting the sick and dying, and in consoling the

afflicted, of whom there have been many among American and English

shipmasters, who have had members of their families in greater or

less numbers on board their ships with them, some of whom have died

under very affecting circumstances.

The Rev. Mr. Graham, rector of the English Episcopal Church, has

service in a neat chapel in the city on the morning of the Sabbath;

Mr. Fletcher at the same time preaches to the seamen in port, on

board some ship in the harbor, and in the afternoon holds worship in

the drawing-room of the American Consulate. I have assisted him in

this service since our arrival, and have felt it a privilege and a

blessing to join the “two or three,” who assemble there for praise

and prayer, and to hear the preached word. The music is led by Mrs.

Fletcher at the piano; and she is assisted vocally by Mrs. K——. This

excellent person is a good representative abroad of her

fellow-countrywomen of New England at home—sensible, intelligent,

practical: ever decided in her expression of moral principle, and

ever constant in the exhibition of her religious character. She has

been greatly afflicted by the bereavements which have befallen her

here in a strange land; but resigned in spirit, seems by them to be

the better fitted for the duties of a Christian in this life, as

well as for the inheritance which is to be the reward of such in the

life to come. Mrs. F—— is not less strikingly the type of her class

in Europe. She is a daughter of the distinguished and apostolic

minister of Geneva, Cæsar Malan; and highly educated and

accomplished, seems fitted alike

“to shine in courts,

Or grace the humbler walks of life.”

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