A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xii Part 24

In this situation I determined, rather than be made a prisoner in my own boat, to go on sh.o.r.e no more; for the officer who, under pretence or a compliment, attended me when I was ash.o.r.e, insisted also upon going with me to and from the ship: But still imagining, that the scrupulous vigilance of the viceroy must proceed from some, mistaken notion about us, which might more easily be removed by writing than in conversation, I drew up a memorial, and Mr Banks drew up another, which we sent on sh.o.r.e. These memorials were both answered, but by no means to our satisfaction; we therefore replied: In consequence of which, several other papers were interchanged between us and the viceroy, but still without effect. However, as I thought some degree of force, on the part of the viceroy, to enforce these restrictions, necessary to justify my acquiescence in them to the Admiralty, I gave orders to my lieutenant, Mr Hicks, when I sent him with our last reply on Sunday the 20th, in the evening, not to suffer a guard to be put into his boat. When the officer on board the guard-boat found that Mr Hicks was determined to obey my orders, he did not proceed to force, but attended him to the landing-place, and reported the matter to the viceroy. Upon this his excellency refused to receive the memorial, and ordered Mr Hicks to return to the ship; when he came back to the boat, he found that a guard had been put on board in his absence, but he absolutely refused to return till the soldier was removed: The officer then proceeded to enforce the viceroy's orders; he seized all the boat's crew, and sent them under an armed force to prison, putting Mr Hicks at the same time into one of their own boats, and sending him under a guard back to the ship. As soon as he had reported these particulars, I wrote again to the viceroy, demanding my boat and crew, and in my letter inclosed the memorial which he had refused to receive from Mr Hicks: These papers I sent by a petty officer, that I might wave the dispute about a guard, against which I had never objected except when there was a commissioned officer on board the boat. The petty officer was permitted to go on sh.o.r.e with his guard, and, having delivered his letter, was told that an answer would be sent the next day.

About eight o'clock this evening it began to blow very hard in sudden gusts from the south, and our long-boat coming on board just at this time with four pipes of rum, the rope which was thrown to her from the ship, and which, was taken hold of by the people on board, unfortunately broke, and the boat, which had come to the ship before the wind, went adrift to windward of her, with a small skiff of Mr Banks's that was fastened to her stern. This was a great misfortune, as, the pinnace being detained on sh.o.r.e, we had no boat on board but a four-oared yawl: The yawl, however, was immediately manned and sent to her a.s.sistance; but, notwithstanding the utmost effort of the people in both boats, they were very soon out of sight: Far indeed we could not see at that time in the evening, but the distance was enough to convince us that they were not under command, which gave us great uneasiness, as we knew they must drive directly upon a reef of rocks which ran out just to leeward of where we lay: After waiting some hours in the utmost anxiety, we gave them over for lost, but about three o'clock the next morning had the satisfaction to see all the people come on board in the yawl. From them we learnt, that the long-boat having filled with water, they had brought her to a grappling and left her; and that, having fallen in with the reef of rocks in their return to the ship, they had been obliged to cut Mr Banks's little boat adrift. As the loss of our long-boat, which we had now too much reason to apprehend, would have been an unspeakable disadvantage to us, considering the nature of our expedition, I sent another letter to the viceroy, as soon as I thought he could be seen, acquainting him with our misfortune, and, requesting the a.s.sistance of a boat from the sh.o.r.e for the recovery of our own; I also renewed my demand that the pinnace and her crew should be no longer detained: After some delay, his excellency thought fit to comply both with my request and demand; and the same day we happily recovered both the long-boat and the skiff, with the rum, but every thing else that was on board was lost. On the 23d, the viceroy, in his answer to my remonstrance against seizing my men and detaining the boat, acknowledged that I had been treated with some incivility, but said that the resistance of my officers, to what he had declared to be the king's orders, made it absolutely necessary; he also expressed some doubts whether the Endeavour, considering her structure and other circ.u.mstances, was in the service of his majesty, though I had before shewed him my commission: To this I answered in writing, That to remove all scruples, I was ready to produce my commission again. His excellency's scruples however still remained, and in his reply to my letter he not only expressed them in still plainer terms, but accused my people of smuggling. This charge, I am confident, was without the least foundation in truth. Mr Banks's servants had indeed found means to go on sh.o.r.e on the 22d at day-break, and stay till it was dark in the evening, but they brought on board only plants and insects, having been sent for no other purpose. And I had the greatest reason to believe that not a single article was smuggled by any of our people who were admitted on sh.o.r.e, though many artful means were used to tempt them, even by the very officers that were under his excellency's roof, which made the charge still more injurious and provoking. I have indeed some reason to suspect that one poor fellow bought a single bottle of rum with some of the clothes upon his back; and in my answer I requested of his excellency, that, if such an attempt at illicit trade should be repeated, he would without scruple order the offender to be taken into custody. And thus ended our altercation, both by conference and writing, with the viceroy of Rio de Janeiro.

A friar in the town having requested the a.s.sistance of our surgeon, Dr Solander easily got admittance in that character on the 25th, and received many marks of civility from the people. On the 26th, before day-break, Mr Banks also found means to elude the vigilance of the people in the guard-boat, and got on sh.o.r.e; he did not however go into the town, for the princ.i.p.al objects of his curiosity were to be found in the fields: to him also the people behaved with great civility, many of them invited him to their houses, and he bought a porker and some other things of them for the ship's company; the porker, which was by no means lean, cost him eleven shillings, and he paid something less than two for a Muscovy duck.

On the 27th, when the boats returned from watering, the people told us there was a report in town, that search was making after some persons who had been on sh.o.r.e from the ship without the viceroy's permission; these persons we conjectured to be Dr Solander and Mr Banks, and therefore they determined to go on sh.o.r.e no more.

On the first of December, having got our water and other necessaries on board, I sent to the viceroy for a pilot to carry us to sea, who came off to us; but the wind preventing us from getting out, we took on board a plentiful supply of fresh beef, yams, and greens for the ship's company. On the 2d, a Spanish packet arrived, with letters from Buenos Ayres for Spain, commanded by Don Antonio de Monte Negro y Velasco, who with great politeness offered to take our letters to Europe: I accepted the favour, and gave him a packet for the secretary of the Admiralty, containing copies of all the papers that had pa.s.sed between me and the viceroy; leaving also duplicates with the viceroy, to be by him forwarded to Lisbon.

On Monday the 5th, it being a dead calm, we weighed anchor and towed down the bay; but, to our great astonishment, when we got abreast of Santa Cruz, the princ.i.p.al fortification, two shot were fired at us. We immediately cast anchor, and sent to the fort to enquire the reason of what had happened: Our people brought us word, That the commandant had received no order from the viceroy to let us pa.s.s; and that, without such an order, no vessel was ever suffered to go below the fort. It was now, therefore, become necessary, that we should send to the viceroy, to enquire why the necessary order had not been given, as he had notice of our departure, and had thought fit to write me a polite letter, wishing, me a good voyage. Our messenger soon returned with an account, that the order had been written some days, but by an unaccountable negligence not sent.

We did not get under sail till the 7th; and when we had pa.s.sed the fort, the pilot desired to be discharged. As soon as he was dismissed, we were left by our guard-boat, which had hovered about us from the first hour of our being in this place to the last: And Mr Banks, having been prevented from going ash.o.r.e at Rio de Janeiro, availed himself of her departure to examine the neighbouring islands, where, particularly on one in the mouth of the harbour called Raza, he gathered many species of plants, and caught a variety of insects.

It is remarkable, that, during the last three or four days of our staying in this harbour, the air was loaded with b.u.t.terflies: They were chiefly of one sort, but in such numbers that thousands were in view in every direction, and the greatest part of them above our mast-head.

We lay here from the 14th of November to the 7th of December, something more than three weeks, during which time Mr Monkhouse, our surgeon, was on sh.o.r.e every day to buy our provisions; Dr Solander was on sh.o.r.e once; I was several times on sh.o.r.e myself, and Mr Banks also found means to get into the country, notwithstanding the watch that was set over us. I shall, therefore, with the intelligence obtained from these gentlemen, and my own observations, give some account of the town, and the country adjacent.

Rio de Janeiro, or the river of Januarius, was probably so called from its having been discovered on the feast-day of that saint; and the town, which is the capital of the Portuguese dominions in America, derives its name from the river, which indeed is rather an arm of the sea, for it did not appear to receive any considerable stream of fresh water: It stands on a plain, close to the sh.o.r.e, on the west side of the bay, at the foot of several high mountains which rise behind it. It is neither ill designed nor ill built; the houses, in general, are of stone, and two stories high; every house having, after the manner of the Portuguese, a little balcony before its windows, and a lattice of wood before the balcony. I computed its circuit to be about three miles; for it appears to be equal in size to the largest country towns in England, Bristol and Liverpool not excepted; the streets are straight, and of a convenient breadth, intersecting each other at right angles; the greater part, however, lie in a line with the citadel called St Sebastian, which stands on the top of a hill which commands the town.

It is supplied with water from the neighbouring hills, by an aqueduct, which is raised upon two stories of arches, and is said at some places to be at a great height from the ground, from which the water is conveyed by pipes into a fountain in the great square that exactly fronts the viceroy's palace. At this fountain great numbers of people are continually waiting for their turn to draw water; and the soldiers, who are posted at the governor's door, find it very difficult to maintain any regularity among them. The water at this fountain however is so bad, that we, who had been two months at sea, confined to that in our casks, which was almost always foul, could not drink it with pleasure. Water of a better quality is led into some other part of the town, but I could not learn by what means.

The churches are very fine, and there is more religions parade in this place than in any of the popish countries in Europe; there is a procession of some parish every day, with various insignia, all splendid and costly in the highest degree: They beg money, and say prayers in great form, at the corner of every street.

While we lay here, one of the churches was rebuilding; and to defray the expence, the parish to which it belonged had leave to beg in procession through the whole city once it week, by which very considerable sums were collected. At this ceremony, which was performed by night, all the boys of a certain age were obliged to a.s.sist, the sons of gentlemen not being excused. Each of these boys was dressed in a black ca.s.sock, with a short red cloak, hanging about as low as the waist, and carried in his hand a pole about six or seven feet long, at the end of which was tied a lantern: the number of lanterns was generally above two hundred, and the light they gave was so great, that the people who saw it from the cabin windows thought the town had been on fire.

The inhabitants, however, may pay their devotions at the shrine of any saint in the calendar, without waiting till there is a procession; for before almost every house there is a little cupboard, furnished with a gla.s.s window, in which one of these tutelary powers is waiting to be gracious; and to prevent his being out of mind, by being out of sight, a lamp is kept constantly burning before the window of his tabernacle in the night. The people indeed are by no means remiss in their devotions, for before these saints they pray and sing hymns with such vehemence, that in the night they were very distinctly heard on board the ship, though she lay at the distance of at least half a mile from the town.

The government here, as to its form, is mixed; it is notwithstanding very despotic in fact. It consists of the viceroy, the governor of the town, and a council, the number of which I could not learn: Without the consent of this council, in which the viceroy has a casting vote, no judicial act should be performed; yet both the viceroy and governor frequently commit persons to prison at their own pleasure, and sometimes send them to Lisbon, without acquainting their friends or family with what is laid to their charge, or where they may be found.

To restrain the people from travelling into the country, and getting into any district where gold or diamonds may be found, of both which there is much more than the government can otherwise secure, certain bounds are prescribed them, at the discretion of the viceroy, sometimes at a few, and sometimes at many miles distance from the city. On the verge of these limits a guard constantly patroles, and whoever is found beyond it, is immediately seized and thrown into prison: And if a man is, upon any pretence, taken up by the guard without the limits, he will be sent to prison, though it should appear that he did not know their extent.

The inhabitants, which are very numerous, consist of Portuguese, negroes, and Indians, the original natives of the country. The township of Rio, which, as I was told, is but a small part of the capitanea, or province, is said to contain 37,000 white persons, and 629,000 blacks, many of whom are free; making together 666,000, in the proportion of seventeen to one. The Indians, who are employed to do the king's work in this neighbourhood, can scarcely be considered as inhabitants; their residence is at a distance, from whence they come by turns to their task, which they are obliged to perform for a small pay. The guard-boat was constantly rowed by these people, who are of a light copper colour, and have long black hair.[74]

[Footnote 74: Mr Barrow says, that it is with some difficulty so many as twelve Brazilians can be obtained to row the governor's barge on certain solemn occasions. The Portuguese apostles who went over to this country in order to convert the inhabitants to their faith, commenced their labours by endeavouring to reduce them as fast as possible to the condition of slaves, as if no other promised a suitable foundation for the fabric of superst.i.tion. These incorrigible and misguided pagans, it should seem however, disliked the process, preferring liberty and error, darkness and death, to the whips, the chains, and torches, so kindly held out to them by their zealous visitants. The consequence was plain and summary: These wretched creatures were soon almost totally extirpated, so that it became necessary to procure other beings to cultivate the soil: And who so proper a subst.i.tute, as the black crispy-hailed animals of the opposite continent? These, according to Mr Barrow, have been comparatively well treated; but, not-withstanding, he says, it requires an importation of no less than 20,000 negroes annually, to supply the loss of those who are worked out in the service of the very devout Portuguese! In Cook's time, it is likely, from what he mentions afterwards as to the number of negroes imported, that things were even worse then than they are now. It is scarcely conceivable indeed, that any people so closely connected with Europe as the lords of Brazil, should not have acquired humanity, or at least improved in its notions of good policy, in half a century.--E.]

The military establishment here consists of twelve regiments of regular troops, six of which are Portuguese, and six Creoles; and twelve other regiments of provincial militia. To the regulars the inhabitants behave with the utmost humility and submission; and I was told, that if any of them should neglect to take off his hat upon meeting an officer, he would immediately be knocked down. These haughty severities render the people extremely civil to any stranger who has the appearance of a gentleman. But the subordination of the officers themselves to the viceroy is enforced with circ.u.mstances equally mortifying, for they are obliged to attend in his hall three times every day to ask his commands; the answer constantly is, "There is nothing new." I have been told, that this servile attendance is exacted to prevent their going into the country; and if so, it effectually answers the purpose.

It is, I believe, universally allowed, that the women, both of the Spanish and Portuguese settlements in South America, make less difficulty of granting personal favours, than those of any other civilized country in the world. Of the ladies of this town, some have formed so unfavourable an opinion as to declare, that they did not believe there was a modest one among them. This censure is certainly too general; but what Dr Solander saw of them when he was on sh.o.r.e, gave him no very exalted idea of their chast.i.ty: He told me, that as soon as it was dark, one or more of them appeared in every window, and distinguished those whom they liked, among the gentlemen that walked past them, by giving them nosegays; that he, and two gentlemen who were with him, received so many of these favours, that, at the end of their walk, which was not a long one, they threw whole hatfuls of them away.

Great allowance must certainly be made for local customs; that which in one country would be an indecent familiarity, is a mere act of general courtesy in another; of the fact, therefore, which I have related, I shall say nothing, but that I am confident it is true.[75]

[Footnote 75: Mr Barrow allows the existence of the fact here stated, but is decidedly of opinion in favour of the s.e.x implicated by it. In his judgment, it is merely a harmless remnant of their earlier days. If so, and far be it from the writer to think otherwise, it betokens the innocency of fancy much more than the effrontery of licentiousness.

Besides, there is reason to think, that dissoluteness in the particular now alluded to, among a civilized and luxurious people, seeks concealment in its gratification, as congenial to its excessive and morbid sensibility. The opposite to this condition is to be found in some of the earlier stages of society, where the climate and fertility of the soil are naturally suitable,--as at Otaheite, when first known to Europeans. If, however, the terrifying pages of Juvenal may be allowed authority, there is too much ground for apprehension, that the extremity of animal indulgence is also one of the fearful symptoms of national corruption in its lethalio stage. But even this indignant and most exaltedly moral poet, in his relation of the infamous actions of n.o.ble and royal prost.i.tutes, does not fail to imply the advantages they sought in deception and secrecy--the night-hood, the yellow veil, and the cunning artifices of proficient mothers.--E.]

Neither will I take upon me to affirm, that murders are frequently committed here; but the churches afford an asylum to the criminal: And as our c.o.c.kswain was one day looking at two men, who appeared to be talking together in a friendly manner, one of them suddenly drew a knife and stabbed the other; who not instantly falling, the murderer withdrew the weapon, and stabbed him a second time. He then ran away, and was pursued by some negroes, who were also witnesses of the fact; but whether he escaped or was taken I never heard.

The country, at a small distance round the town, which is all that any of us saw, is beautiful in the highest degree; the wildest spots being varied with a greater luxuriance of flowers, both as to number and beauty, than the best gardens in England.

Upon the trees and bushes sat an almost endless variety of birds, especially small ones, many of them covered with the most elegant plumage; among which were the humming-bird. Of insects too there was a great variety, and some of them very beautiful; but they were much more nimble than those of Europe, especially the b.u.t.terflies, most of which flew near the tops of the trees, and were therefore very difficult to be caught, except when the sea-breeze blew fresh, which kept them nearer to the ground. The banks of the sea, and of the small brook which water this part of the country, are almost covered with the small crabs, called _cancer vocans_; some of these had one of the claws, called by naturalists the hand, very large; others had them both remarkably small, and of equal size, a difference which is said to distinguish the s.e.xes, that with the large claw being the male.

There is the appearance of but little cultivation; the greater part of the land is wholly uncultivated, and very little care and labour seem to have been bestowed upon the rest; there are indeed little patches or gardens, in which many kinds of European garden stuff are produced, particularly cabbages, pease, beans, kidney-beans, turnips, and white radishes, but all much inferior to our own: Watermelons and pine-apples are also produced in these spots, and they are the only fruits that we saw cultivated, though the country produces musk, melons, oranges, limes, lemons, sweet lemons, citrons, plantains, bananas, mangos, mamane-apples, acajou or cashou apples and nuts; jamboira of two kinds, one of which bears a small black fruit; cocoa-nuts, mangos, palm nuts of two kinds, one long, the other round; and palm berries, all which were in season while we were there.

Of these fruits the water-melons and oranges are the best in their kind; the pine-apples are much inferior to those that I have eaten in England; they are indeed more juicy and sweet, but have no flavour; I believe them to be natives of this country, though we heard of none that at this time grow wild; they have, however, very little care bestowed upon them, the plants being set between beds of any kind of garden-stuff, and suffered to take the chance of the season. The melons are still worse, at least those that we tasted, which were mealy and insipid; but the water-melons are excellent; they have a flavour, at least a degree of acidity, which ours have not. We saw also several species of the p.r.i.c.kle-pear, and some European fruits, particularly the apple and peach, both which were very mealy and insipid. In these gardens also grow yams, and mandihoca, which in the West Indies is called ca.s.sada or ca.s.sava, and to the flower of which the people here, as I have before observed, give the name of _farinha de pao_, which may not improperly be translated, powder of post. The soil, though it produces tobacco and sugar, will not produce bread-corn; so that the people here have no wheat-flour, but what is brought from Portugal, and sold at the rate of a shilling a pound, though it is generally spoiled by being heated in its pa.s.sage. Mr Banks is of opinion, that all the products of our West Indian islands would grow here; notwithstanding which, the inhabitants import their coffee and chocolate from Lisbon.[76]

[Footnote 76: The Portuguese government, it appears, from Mr Barrow's representation, have taken effectual measures to preserve this colony in a state of dependance on the mother country: "It no sooner discovered,"

says that gentleman, "that sugar could be raised in any quant.i.ty, and afforded, in the markets of Europe, at reasonable prices, than it thought proper to impose on them an export duty of 20 _per cent._ which operated as an immediate check on the growth of this article. When the cultivation of the indigo plant had been considerably extended, and the preparation sufficiently understood, so as to enable the colonists to meet their compet.i.tors in the markets of Europe, this article was a.s.sumed as a royal monopoly." Salt, he says, is another royal monopoly, and yields the sum of L. 15,000 annually: But one of the immediate effects of its being so, is the entire destruction of the valuable fisheries. Does the reader remember the fable of the hen that laid golden eggs? Would not certain governments do well to study the moral of it?--E.]

Most of the land, as far as we saw of the country, is laid down in gra.s.s, upon which cattle are pastured in great plenty; but they are so lean, that an Englishman will scarcely eat of their flesh: The herbage of these pastures consists princ.i.p.ally of cresses, and consequently is so short, that though it may afford a bite for horses and sheep, it can scarcely be grazed by horned cattle in a sufficient quant.i.ty to keep them alive.

This country may possibly produce many valuable drugs; but we could not find any in the apothecaries shops, except pariera brava, and balsam capivi; both of which were excellent in their kind, and sold at a very low price. The drug trade is probably carried on to the northward, as well as that of the dying woods, for we could get no intelligence of either of them here.

As to manufactures, we neither saw nor heard of any except that of cotton hammocks, in which people are carried about here, as they are with us in sedan chairs; and these are princ.i.p.ally, if not wholly, fabricated by the Indians.

The riches of the place consist chiefly in the mines which we supposed to lie far up the country, though we could never learn where, or at what distance; for the situation is concealed as much as possible, and troops are continually employed in guarding the roads that lead to them: It is almost impossible for any man to get a sight of them, except those who are employed there; and indeed the strongest curiosity would scarcely induce any man to attempt it, for whoever is found upon the road to them, if he cannot give undeniable evidence of his having business there, is immediately hanged up upon the next tree.

Much gold is certainly brought from these mines, but at an expence of life that must strike every man, to whom custom has not made it familiar, with horror. No less than forty thousand negroes are annually imported, on the king's account, to dig the mines; and we were credibly informed, that, the last year but one before we arrived here, this number fell so short, probably from some epidemic disease, that twenty thousand more were draughted from the town of Rio.

Precious stones are also found here in such plenty, that a certain quant.i.ty only is allowed to be collected in a year; to collect this quant.i.ty, a number of people are sent into the country where they are found, and when it is got together, which sometimes happens in a month, sometimes in less and sometimes in more, they return; and after that, whoever is found in these precious districts, on any pretence, before the next year, is immediately put to death.

The jewels found here, are diamonds, topazes of several kinds, and amethysts. We did not see any of the diamonds, but were informed that the viceroy had a large quant.i.ty by him, which he would sell on the king of Portugal's account, but not at a less price than they are sold for in Europe. Mr Banks bought a few topazes and amethysts as specimens: Of the topazes there are three sorts, of very different value, which are distinguished by the names of pinga d'agua qualidade primeiro, pinga d'agua qualidade secundo, and chrystallos armerillos: They are sold, large and small, good and bad together, by octavos, or the eighth part of an ounce; the best at 4s. 9d. All dealing, however, in these stones, it prohibited to the subject under the severest penalties: There were jewellers here formerly, who purchased and worked them on their own account; but about fourteen months before our arrival, orders came from the court of Portugal, that no more stones should be wrought here, except on the king's account: The jewellers were ordered to bring all their tools to the viceroy, and left without any means of subsistence.

The persons employed here to work stones for the king are slaves.

The coin that is current here, is either that of Portugal, consisting chiefly of thirty-six shillings pieces; or pieces both of gold and silver, which are struck at this place: The pieces of silver, which are very much debased, are called petacks, and are of different value, and easily distinguished by the number of rees that is marked on the outside. Here is also a copper coin, like that in Portugal, of five and ten ree pieces. A ree is a nominal coin of Portugal, ten of which are equal in value to about three farthings sterling.

The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is situated W. by N. 18 leagues from Cape Frio, and may be known by a remarkable hill, in the form of a sugar-loaf, at the west point of the bay;[77] but as all the coast is very high, and rises in many peaks, the entrance of this harbour may be more certainly distinguished by the islands that lie before it; one of which, called Rodonda, is high and round like a hay-stack, and lies at the distance of two leagues and a half from the entrance of the bay, in the direction of S. by W.; but the first islands which are met with, coming from the east, or Cape Frio, are two that have a rocky appearance, lying near to each other, and at the distance of about four miles from the sh.o.r.e: There are also, at the distance of three leagues to the westward of these, two other islands which lie near to each other, a little without the bay on the east side, and very near the sh.o.r.e. This harbour is certainly a good one; the entrance indeed is not wide, but the sea-breeze, which blows every day from ten or twelve o'clock till sunset, makes it easy for any ship to go in before the wind; and it grows wider as the town is approached, so that a-breast of it there is room for the largest fleet, in five or six fathom water, with an oozy bottom. At the narrow part, the entrance is defended by two forts. The princ.i.p.al is Santa Cruz, which stands on the east point of the bay, and has been mentioned before; that on the west side is called Fort Lozia, and is built upon a rock that lies close to the main; the distance between them is about three quarters of a mile, but the channel is not quite so broad, because there are sunken rocks which lie off each fort, and in this part alone there is danger: The narrowness of the channel causes the tides, both flood and ebb, to run with considerable strength, so that they cannot be stemmed without a fresh breeze. The rockiness of the bottom makes it also unsafe to anchor here: Put all danger may be avoided by keeping in the middle of the channel. Within the entrance, the course up the bay is first N. by W. 1/2 W. and N.N.W.

something more than a league; this will bring the vessel the length of the great road; and N.W. and W.N.W. one league more will carry her to the isle dos Cobras, which lies before the city: She should then keep the north side of this island close on board, and anchor above it, before a monastery of Benedictines which stands upon a hill at the N.W.

end of the city.

[Footnote 77: Mr Barrow, during his stay at Rio de Janeiro, had an opportunity of ascertaining the height of the Sugar-loaf, as it is called from its conical appearance. It is, he says, 680 feet high, above the surface out of which it rises, and is a solid ma.s.s of hard sparkling granite. On the eastern side of the chasm which forms the entrance into the bay, there is a mountain of the same material, but so far different in form, that it slopes easily and gradually from the water's edge to the summit, which however is about as high as the cone. This side is well defended by forts and batteries. Mr Barrow's description of the magnificent scenery of this harbour, is perhaps somewhat poetically conceived, but may be advantageously consulted by the reader.--E.]

The river, and indeed the whole coast, abounds with a greater variety of fish than we had ever seen; a day seldom pa.s.sed in which one or more of a new species were not brought to Mr Banks: The bay also is as well adapted for catching these fish as can be conceived; for it is full of small islands, between which there is shallow water, and proper beaches for drawing the seine. The sea, without the bay, abounds with dolphins, and large mackerel of different kinds, which readily bite at a hook, and the inhabitants always tow one after their boats for that purpose.

Though the climate is hot, the situation of this place is certainly wholesome;[78] while we stayed here the thermometer never rose higher than 83 degrees. We had frequent rains, and once a very hard gale of wind.

[Footnote 78: Mr Barrow seems to think otherwise; according to him, it is by no means healthy, and the interminable annoyance of the musquitoes renders it as injurious to intellectual, as it is on other accounts to bodily welfare. Perhaps, however, he a.s.signs too much agency to these very vexatious insects, when he says it is impossible for any man to think at all profitably in their company. His description then, it may be inferred, was written at a very respectful distance from the din and venom of the noisome pest.--E.]

Ships water here at the fountain in the great square, though, as I have observed, the water is not good; they land their casks upon a smooth sandy beach, which is not more than a hundred yards distant from the fountain, and upon application to the viceroy, a centinel will be appointed to look after them, and clear the way to the fountain where they are to be filled.

Upon the whole, Rio de Janeiro is a very good place for ships to put in at that want refreshment: The harbour is safe and commodious; and provisions, except wheaten-bread and flour, may be easily procured: As a succedaneum for bread, there are yams and ca.s.sada in plenty; beef, both fresh and jerked, may be bought at about two-pence farthing a pound; though, as I have before remarked, it is very lean. The people here jerk their beef by taking out the bones, cutting it into large but thin slices, then curing it with salt, and drying it in the shade: It eats very well, and, if kept dry, will remain good a long time at sea. Mutton is scarcely to be procured, and hogs and poultry are dear; of garden-stuff and fruit-trees there is abundance, of which, however, none can be preserved at sea but the pumpkin; rum, sugar, and mola.s.ses, all excellent in their kind, may be had at a reasonable price; tobacco also is cheap, but it is not good. Here is a yard for building shipping, and a small hulk to heave down by; for, as the tide never rises above six or seven feet, there is no other way of coming at a ship's bottom.

When the boat which had been sent on sh.o.r.e returned, we hoisted her on board, and stood out to sea.

SECTION III.

_The Pa.s.sage from Rio de Janeiro to the entrance of the Streight of Le Maire, with a Description of some of the Inhabitants of Terra del Fuego._

On the 9th of December, we observed the sea to be covered with broad streaks of a yellowish colour, several of them a mile long, and three or four hundred yards wide: Some of the water thus coloured was taken up, and found to be full of innumerable atoms pointed at the end, of a yellowish colour, and none more than a quarter of a line, or the fortieth part of an inch long: In the microscope they appeared to be _fasciculi_ of small fibres interwoven with each other, not unlike the nidus of some of the _phyganeas_, called caddices; but whether they were animal or vegetable substances, whence they came, or for what they were designed, neither Mr Banks nor Dr Solander could guess. The same appearance had been observed before, when we first discovered the continent of South America.[79]