[15]Travels in the Interior of Brazil; principally through the Northern Provinces and the Gold and Diamond Districts, during the years 1836-41. By the lateGeorge Gardner, M.D., F.L.S., Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon.—London: Reeve and Co. 1853.[16]Sketches of Brazil; including New Views on Tropical and European Fever. With Remarks on a Premature Decay of the System, incident to Europeans, on their return from Hot Climates. ByRobert Dundas, M.D., Physician to the Northern Hospital, Liverpool; formerly Acting Surgeon to H.M. 60th Regiment; and for twenty-three years Medical Superintendent of the British Hospital, Bahia. 8vo., price 9s.—London: John Churchill, Prince’s-street, Soho. Liverpool: Deighton and Laughton, and Rockliff and Sons.[17]Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata: from their Discovery and Conquest by the Spaniards to the Establishment of their Political Independence. With some Account of their Present State, Trade, Debt, etc.; an Appendix of Historical and Statistical Documents; and a Description of the Geology and Fossil Monsters of the Pampas. By SirWoodbine Parish, K.C.H., F.R.S., G.S., Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and many years Chargé-d’affaires of H.B.M. at Buenos Ayres. Second Edition, enlarged, with a New Map and Illustrations.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1852.[18]Two Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces: being an Account of the Natural Products of the Country, and Habits of the People; with a Historical Retrospect of the Rio de la Plata, Monte Video, and Corrientes. ByWilliam Mac Cann, Author of the Present Position of Affairs on the River Plate. With Illustrations. In Two Volumes.—London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Smith, Taylor, and Co., Bombay. 1853.[19]1. A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an Account of the Native Tribes, and Observations on the Climate, Geology, and Natural History of the Amazon Valley. ByAlfred R. Wallace. With a Map and Illustrations.—London: Reeve and Co., Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. 1853. 2. The Amazon, and the Atlantic Slopes of South America. A Series of Letters under the Signature of ‘Inca.’ ByM. F. Maury, LL.D., Lieut. U. S. Navy; who, under date, Washington City, January, 1853, says: ‘These Letters were originally published by the National Intelligencer and the Union, of this City. They treat of one of the most important commercial questions of the age: they are eagerly sought after in all parts of the country; and though they have been extensively read, the demand for them in a more permanent shape than that of a newspaper is such that the Publisher has obtained leave of their Author to re-issue them in their present form.’ On the recent visit of Professor Silliman to Humboldt, at Berlin, the veteran explorer expressed his great gratification at the progress which enterprise was making throughout South America, especially in the region of the Amazon; and made particular mention of the Professor’s countryman, Lieutenant Maury, of whose work we are now speaking, and from which we shall draw copiously hereafter. In giving the gallant Lieutenant all praise, however, we should not omit to acknowledge how much the reading public of this quarter of the globe are indebted for their previous knowledge of the same region to another countryman of his, whose excellent little volume has lately been re-issued in England in a cheap form, by Murray, viz., A Voyage up the River Amazon, including a Residence at Pará, byW. H. Edwards; of which it was justly said that it was a work valuable for the information it gave on this very little known part of the world, and likely to excite many adventurous young men to explore the Amazon, so that going back on the traces of Orellana, and crossing to the Pacific, may probably become, ere long, as familiar to our countrymen as a voyage up the Rhine or the Nile. Mr. Edwards’ charming little volume has led to such exploration; and the interesting results will be found in our chapter upon the Amazon, which we are particularly desirous of drawing attention to.[20]According to the official returns for the twelvemonth ending March last, the amount of British tonnage entered inwards from Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 735 sailing-vessels; the total amount of both class of vessels being 71,536 tons. The amount of British tonnage cleared outwards for Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 716 sailing-vessels; the total amount of tonnage being 76,662. Great Britain receives nearly a half of all the exports of Portugal, and Portugal only receives one-fiftieth of all the exports of Great Britain.—It appears from M’Gregor’s ‘Synthetical View of Legislation,’ that in 1851, the total amount of the exportations of Great Britain and Ireland was about £75,000,000, of which only £1,048,356 was to Portugal! being less than the amount sent by Great Britain and Ireland to Chili and Peru! Whereas, in the United States the consumption of British goods has doubled since 1841, and now amounts to nearly one-fifth of all the British manufactures exported.[21]It is so needless to tell any one entering the Tagus, much less any one who has entered, how topographically accurate is the description in ‘Childe Harold,’ that the stanzas are quoted merely to save the reader the trouble of referring to the volume itself, in case he do not quite remember the lines:—The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,The mountain-moss by scorching skies embrown’d,The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,The tender azure of the unruffled deep,The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,The vine on high, the willow branch below,Mix’d in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.Then slowly climb the many-winding way,And frequent turn to linger as you go,From loftier rocks new loveliness survey,And rest ye at ‘Our Lady’s house of woe;’Where frugal monks their little relics show,And sundry legends to the stranger tell:Here impious men have punish’d been, and lo!Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a hell.[22]Next to Byron, the great modern English literary name associated with this part of Portugal, and not merely from his residence here, but from his delightful and extraordinary pourtrayal of the conventual life of the neighbourhood, in his almost posthumous work, the ‘Monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha,’ is he whom the noble bard alludes to in the well-known lines:—On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,Are domes where whilome kings did make repair;But now the wild flowers round them only breathe;Yet ruin’d splendour still is lingering there,And yonder towers the Prince’s palace fair:There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,Once form’d thy Paradise, as not awareWhen wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.Beckford, as is well known, soon after his return to England, built the fairy-like structure of Fonthill Abbey, gorgeous as his own Caliph Vathek, and, like it, as unsubstantial; for, on its being sold to Mr. Farquharson for some £40,000, about one-seventh of what it cost, [the catalogues describing its contents were in prodigious demand at a guinea a piece] it fell to the ground. He died in 1844, aged 84; and was father to the late Duchess of Hamilton, and father-in-law to the present Duke of Hamilton and Duchess of Newcastle.[23]At this convent was educated Don John VI., grandfather to the late ‘Lusian’s luckless Queen,’ who died in 1816 in Brazil, from the melancholy derangement from which Dr. Willis, who had attended George III. for a similar malady, was unable to recover her. The young prince was placed here with the idea of his wearing the cowl as abbot, prior to attaining the highest ecclesiastical honours; but the unexpected death of his elder brother made him heir to the throne, which he afterwards filled. Of the suitability of the structure for so august an inmate, the late Lord Carnarvon, who visited it in 1827, says:—I rode through a bleak but not unpleasant country to Mafra. The convent and palace united constitute an immense pile of building, which excites admiration rather from its vast extent than from any architectural merits, and forms a quadrangle, measuring 760 feet from east to west, and 670 feet from north to south. The church is situate in the centre, and three hundred cells are placed behind the choir; the palace might perhaps contain without inconvenience all the courts of Europe. The thermometer had risen to more than 90°, and it was indeed no common luxury to exchange such intolerable heat for the refreshing temperature of the convent galleries, which are built of stone, and are high, wide, dark, and apparently interminable. Within those massive walls the fluctuations of the external atmosphere are never felt; and rarely indeed do any external sounds pierce through those mighty barriers. The monks showed us the refectory, a spacious apartment, and the library, well stored with books.—Portugal and Galicia, with a Review of the Social and Political State of the Basque Provinces. By the Earl ofCarnarvon. Third Edition.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1848.[24]The mention of the English burial-ground, in Lisbon, induces us to correct an error into which the recent religious persecutions in Italy have betrayed some of our countrymen at home, as to the supposed existence of such practices in Portugal. Such a mistake is perfectly natural, but it is wholly unfounded; for, though the religion of the state is strictly Roman Catholic, of the most unmitigated character, still, like Brazil, though unlike Spain, there is toleration for all religions, and no impediment thrown in the way of their being observed. A Portuguese resident in London, writing to a leading journal on the point raised in consequence of the iniquitous treatment of the Madiai and others by the Duke of Tuscany, says:—‘The liberality and toleration of the Portuguese government towards Protestants, either resident or travelling, in Portugal, has existed for ages past. That line of conduct has never been altered, and for the truth of this assertion I appeal to the British Legation at Lisbon, and to the very numerous and respectable British commercial body connected with that country. A British subject has as much civil and religious liberty in Portugal as he can possibly enjoy in his own country. Christianity and civilization were first carried to Asia, Africa, and America, by that nation which his Lordship so much depreciates, and the door of that vast empire which Great Britain possesses in India was opened by the inhabitants of that soil.’ The imputation on the religious liberality of Portugal excites some indignation in that country, and a letter from Lisbon, in one of the papers, at the beginning of the year, says:—Not only since the establishment of the constitution, but even during the absolute regime, a large measure of toleration was always allowed to all other religions. The English and German Protestants have long had churches and cemeteries of their own, and, unlike their brethren in Spain, are allowed to bury their dead with as much ‘pomp and publicity’ as they please. The only restriction imposed upon people of other persuasions is, that they shall not, by word of mouth, or in writing, revile and insult the established religion of the country. This restriction, which was formerly operative, has now, however, become a dead letter, the real religion of the liberal party generally being materialism, against which nobody here seems disposed to declaim. At the beginning of the present year, (1854), a statement, signed by many of the principal British residents in Oporto, appeared in the London journals, setting forth that the most unreserved liberty for the performance of Protestant Service, with any degree of publicity, was allowed in that city, and had been for a great number of years.[25]Lo! Cintra’s glorious Eden intervenesIn variegated maze of mount and glen.Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,To follow half on which the eye dilates,Though views more dazzling unto mortal kenThan those whereof such things the bard relates,Who to the awe-struck world unlock’d Elysium’s gates?Sir Wm. Napier’s correction, in his History of the Peninsular War, of the blunder about the supposed site of the convention, is well known, but deserves to be repeated:—“The armistice, the negotiations, the convention itself, and the execution of its provisions, were all commenced, conducted, and concluded, at the distance of thirty miles from Cintra, with which place they had not the slightest connection, political, military, or local; yet Lord Byron has gravely asserted, in prose and verse, that the convention was signed at the Marquis of Marialva’s house at Cintra; and the author of ‘The Diary of an Invalid,’ improving from a poet’s discovery, detected the stains of the ink spilt by Junot upon the occasion.”[26]As when to them who sailBeyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pastMozambic, off at sea, north-east winds blowSabean odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.—Paradise Lost, Book iv.The voyage from Portugal to India was, in those days, more perilous than will easily be believed in these. The seas swarmed with pirates, shipwrecks were dreadfully frequent, and even when these dangers were escaped, the common mortality was so great, that Vieyra says—‘If the dead, who had been thrown overboard between the coast of Guinea and the Cape of Good Hope, and between that cape and Mozambique, could have monuments placed for them each on the spot where he sunk, the whole way would appear like one continued cemetery.’ Hyperbolical as this is, it shows how enormous the expenditure of life must have been, which could thus be spoken of in the pulpit! The ship in which Camoens sailed was the only one of the fleet which reached its destination.[27]The middle classes promenade with their families until the sun begins to have effect, when they return to breakfast and to business. Dinner is usually served from noon till 2 p.m., and consists of sopa, vaca cozida, e arroz, (soup, boiled beef, and rice,) with occasionally hum prato do meio (a dish of roast for the centre). Potatoes are seldom or never used, excepting in the kitchen. Fish is only eaten on fast-days, and the delicious sardine (because common and plentiful) shares the fate of the potatoes. The common vin ordinaire of the country is drunk at table out of small tumblers, being supplied from a neighbouring tenda (wine-store) daily or hourly, as it may be required, at a price never exceeding 2d. per pint. Fine old bottled wine (such as we are acquainted with) is altogether unknown in Portugal, and it would be almost as rare to find in any house a couple of dozen bottles of wine, as it would be to discover as many books. Fire-places have not yet become general in dwelling-houses. In cold weather, gentlemen in society wear capotes (large cloth cloaks), and ladies wrap up in thick shawls. Dinner-parties are quite uncommon; but social evening meetings, where tea and simple biscuits are the only refreshments, are of constant occurrence.—Forrester’s Essay.[28]These peculiar latine sails are exquisitely beautiful when seen in profile and, when beheld in front, resemble a butterfly perched on a dark ground with expanded wings.—Carnarvon.British naval architects will probably be surprised to hear that the Portuguese craft of every kind are all prime built and beautiful models, the elegance of their lines being a source of admiration to every critic. The Oporto fishing-boats, in particular, are fine specimens of the country’s capacity for this sort of excellence, and, when under sail, fly through the water at the rate of 12 to 14 knots an hour.[29]In the days of Pliny, we are told, the provinces of Minho, Galicia, and Asturias paid not less than a million and a half octaves of gold to the Roman Empire, as a tribute on the ore extracted from various mines then in active operation, and yet, in the present day, the revenues derived by the Portuguese Government from all their mines does not amount to more than £72 17s.The Romans worked mines of gold, silver, iron, lead, coal, antimony, copper, quicksilver, bismuth, arsenic, and tin, in Portugal: and Faria e Souza graphically remarks, ‘Hardly is there a river, or mountain-base that it laves, which does not cover precious stones and grains of gold.’ This language may be considered poetic, but there is no doubt that ‘le sol de Portugal est essentiellement metalifere,’—that metals abound throughout the whole country; but the mines are not worked; neither can their value be correctly ascertained, in the absence of every means of transport, and internal communication.—Forrester.[30]Hints to Travellers in Portugal, in Search of the Beautiful and the Grand. With an Itinerary of some of the most Interesting Parts of that Remarkable Country.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1852.[31]The Oliveira Prize-Essay on Portugal: with the Evidence Regarding that Country taken before a Committee of the House of Commons in May, 1852; and the Author’s Surveys of the Wine-Districts of the Alto-Douro, as Adopted and Published by order of the House of Commons. Together with a Statistical Comparison of the Resources and Commerce of Great-Britain and Portugal. ByJosh. James Forrester, Wine-Grower in the Alto-Douro.—London: John Weale, 59, High Holborn. John Menzies, Edinburgh. Coutinho, Oporto. 1852.[32]There is scarcely any difficulty now in going to Portugal, for a steamer sails from Southampton for Lisbon on the 7th, 17th, and 27th of every month, or on the following day, when any of those days should fall on a Sunday, and generally enters Vigo Bay in three days; and, weather permitting, calls off Oporto, and arrives in five or six days at Lisbon, from which city a steamer occasionally sails for Oporto, at which place the traveller is recommended to commence his excursions, the province of Minho excelling all others in Portugal in whatever is fertile and picturesque, and being equal, if not superior, in grandeur to the district of the Estrella Mountains. The ordinary mode of travelling is on horses or mules, which can be hired for about 5s.6d.per day, including their food; but the arrieros who accompany them must be maintained at the cost of him who hires them, and he likewise expects to receive a gratuity. The money of the country is calculated in reis, and taking the mil rei, or 1,000 reis, to be equal to 4s.6d., the value of the current coin will be nearly as follows:—In Silver: The Cruzadonovo, or 480 reis = 2s.2d.; the 12 Vintem piece, or 240 reis = 1s.1d.; the 6 Vintem piece, or 120 reis= 6½; the 3 Vintem piece, or 60 reis = 3¼d.; the testoon, or 100 reis = 5½d.; the Half Testoon, or 50 reis = 2⅓d.—In Gold: Moidore, or 4,800 reis = £1 1s.8d.; the small gold piece, or 5000 reis = £1 2s.6d.; the gold piece, or 8000 reis = £1 16s.The English sovereign circulates in Portugal for 4500 reis. The copper coins in general circulation are the following:—The 5 reis, equal to little more than 0¼d.; the 10 reis, equal to little more than 0½d.; the 20 reis, or Vintem, equal to little more than 1d.; the 40 reis, or Pataca, equal to little more than 2d.Our political relationship with Portugal, from the personal family alliances between the two countries, and from other causes, has of late years been kept up at great expense; and, according to some critics, with very little good to any but the individuals at whose instance and on whose behalf British interference has taken place, the Portuguese population being understood to be as little pleased with its effects as English taxpayers are enamoured of its expense. Ostensibly our diplomatic and consular corps now in Portugal consists of the following members, and at the salaries annexed to their names:—Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Pakenham, K.C.B., salary £4000 per ann.; and house-rent £500; secretary of legation, W. R. Ward, salary £500; paid attaché, Jos. Hume Burnley, £250; unpaid attachés, Hon. W. G. Cornwallis Elliot, and Hon. Francis Pakenham. Consuls:—Lisbon, William Smith, £600; vice-consul, Jeremiah Meagher, £300; Oporto, Edwin Johnston, £500; Loanda, Geo. Brand, vice-consul, £50; St. Michael (Azores) T. C. Hunt, consul, £400; Fayal, J. Minchin, vice-consul, £100; Terciera, J. Read, vice-consul, £100. Of the officers at Madeira and Cape Verds, (Portuguese possessions) due mention will be made under those heads. The Portuguese diplomatic and consular staff in England consists of:—Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, Count de Lavradrio, 12, Gloucester Place, Portman Square; secretary of legation, Chevalier Pinto de Soveral; attachés, E. F. de la Figaniere, J. C. Stone, and Geo. Manders; consul-general, F. J. Vanzeller, 5, Jeffrey Square, St. Mary Axe; consuls: Liverpool, Almeida Campos; Bristol, Ant. B. de Mascarenhas; Cork, Geo. Manders.[33]A Sketch of Madeira; containing Information for the Traveller, or Invalid Visitor. ByEdward Vernon Harcourt, Esq. With Sketches by Lady Susan Vernon Harcourt.—London; John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1851.[34]You must not look for many pretty faces in Madeira after the age of thirteen: amongst the upper classes inertness, and amongst the lower, hard work, reduce the standard of beauty. The upper class of women are hardly ever seen in the streets, save on their road to mass, or when going to pay a visit; on these occasions all the jewels, plate, and ribbons, of apparently very ancient families, are to be seen in full display. The ladies generally live on their balconies, watching passers-by. The English ladies, going to church draw forth many fair beholders and critics, and on Sundays the balconies are lined with native fashion. The glory of the Madeira women is their hair, which is of the richest growth and blackest hue, and their eyes, which are dark and bright.—Harcourt.[35]One of these traditions is very gracefully and attractively told by Mr. Charles Knight, in his agreeable volumes, published by Murray, a couple of months back, and entitled ‘Once upon a Time.’[36]Lodgings in Madeira are plentiful and good. For a family, the most comfortable plan is to take aQuinta, that is to say, a house with a garden, standing in the suburbs of the town. The price asked for the season of six months varies according to their size, from £50 to £200. In such cases the tenant is supplied with everything but plate and house linen. For single persons the boarding-houses are least troublesome, as well as most economical: a bed-room, sitting-room, attendance, and board are obtained there for fifty dollars, or £10 8s.4d.a month. These houses are conducted on a liberal scale, and every English comfort is provided. If aQuintais taken, a supply of servants, board, plate and linen, may be procured at a given rate. It is inconceivable what annoyances you are saved by such an arrangement; besides the endless impositions practised upon the ignorance of foreigners by servants and tradesmen, it is no small luxury to be able to pay a given sum down monthly, instead of the interminable daily payments which the ready money system of Madeira requires. Plate, furniture, pianofortes, saddles, guns, and, in fact, any things that are brought out asluggage, are allowed to pass through the Custom House free of charge, on the bond of some resident householder being given that the owner of the property will export it in eighteen months. Portuguese servants may be hired for house and kitchen work at the rate of about from four to six dollars per month for the former, and from six to eight dollars for the latter, service. Those who are content with a plain table, average honesty, and moderate attention, have no reason to be dissatisfied. Provisions of all sorts are cheap. English bread, which is sold at 2½d.the pound, is the dearest article of food; the quality of it, however, is excellent. Mutton, which is an indifferent meat, fetches from 3½d.to 4d.a pound; beef, which is good, from 3½d.to 4d.; and veal, from 4d.to 5d.Fowls may be purchased at from 10d.to 1s.3d.a couple. The markets are held at daybreak, and all the meat, the best fish, and best fruits are brought at that time. Tea, soap, and tobacco are contraband, but the Custom House is not inexorable. A common English wardrobe, with the addition of a few lighter articles, and a waterproof covering for the mountains, suffice for clothing.—Harcourt.[37]Two distinct species of finch (Carduelis) appear to have afforded the different varieties of singing bird, familiarly known by this name. The one which is best known in its wild state is theCarduelis canariaof Cuvier, and is very abundant in Madeira, where its characters and habits have been observed with much attention by Dr. Heineken. ‘It builds,’ says this naturalist, ‘in thick, bushy, high shrubs and trees, with roots, moss, feathers, hair, &c.; pairs in February; lays from four to six pale blue eggs; and hatches five, and often six times in the season. It is a delightful songster, with, beyond doubt, much of the nightingale’s and sky-lark’s, but none of the wood-lark’s, song.’—‘A pure wild song from an island canary, at liberty, in full throat, in a part of the country so distant from the haunts of men that it is quite unsophisticated, is unequalled, in its kind, by any thing I have ever heard in the way of bird-music’ The canary-bird was brought into Europe as early as the 16th century, and is supposed to have spread from the coast of Italy, where a vessel, which was bringing to Leghorn a number of these birds, besides its merchandise, was wrecked. As, however, they were males chiefly which were thus introduced, they were for some time scarce; and it is only of late years that their education and the proper mode of treating them have been known.—Brande, 1853.[38]Brazil, as before stated, was originally so named from its valuable dye-wood, called Braziletto or ‘Cisaljuna Braziletto,’ or Pernambuco, Wood of Saint Martha, or Sipan, according to the place which produces it, and by Linnæus,Cæsalpinia custa, which was for many years the richest dye in Europe, and from which the famous Turkey red colours were produced, rivalling the ancient Tyrian purple, and, like it, passing into oblivion, after vast popularity; for other drugs having been substituted, Brazil wood became comparatively little used. It was a close monopoly of the government, who derived a large revenue from its sale, from £100 a ton upwards being the current price in London, and only 8 years ago 4,500 tons were imported into Great Britain. Brazil timber also possesses qualities not generally known, one of which is mentioned by Sir W. G. Ouseley, and accounts for the infrequency of conflagrations in some of the cities of South America, as compared with what happens in the northern portion of the continent, where fire brigades are among the most prominent institutions of the country, and yet do not by any means prevent the mischief they are meant to guard against. He says:—‘A proof of the incombustible nature of Brazil wood was afforded at this house (the Mangueiras) previous to my arrival at Rio de Janeiro, when it was occupied by Baron Palencia, at that time Russian Minister to the Imperial Court. One night an attempt was made to set fire to the outside door-like shutters of one of the windows, with a view, doubtless, to getting into and robbing the apartments. In the morning was discovered a heap of still smoking, combustible materials, partially consumed, applied to the outside of the shutter, the planks of which were little injured, although their surface was charred, as the fire had been in actual contact with the wood probably for some hours.’ Brazil wood (the dye now so called) is very small sized—sticks, comparatively speaking,—and is not used at all for building purposes, being much too valuable. The ordinary timber of the country is of quite another description.[39]Of the simultaneousness of these discoveries, Humboldt says:—‘The course of great events, like the results of natural phenomena, is ruled by eternal laws, with few of which we have any perfect knowledge. The fleet which Emanuel, King of Portugal, sent to India, under the command of Pedro Alvarez Cabral, on the course discovered by Gama, was unexpectedly driven on the coast of Brazil on the 22nd April, 1500. From the zeal which the Portuguese had manifested since the expedition of Diaz in 1487, to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope, a recurrence of fortuitous circumstances, similar to those exercised by oceanic currents on Cabral’s ships, could hardly fail to manifest itself. The African discoveries would thus probably have brought about that of America south of the Equator; and thus Robertson was justified in saying that it was decreed in the destinies of mankind that the new continents should be made known to European navigators before the close of the fifteenth century.’[40]It is after this beautiful quarter of the city of Pernambuco that the second vessel of the ocean line of the South American and General Steam Navigation Company was called. Olinda is situated on several hills, clothed with the most luxuriant tropical vegetation, from the midst of which the convents, churches, snow-white cathedral, and numerous private residences, mostly of the same colour, are seen to great effect, though, on a near approach, in a sadly decayed state. Olinda, however, may be regarded in something of the light of an East End to St. Antonio, the West End, or official quarter, where are situate the principal governmental departments and offices; while Recife is the actual place of business, and where all the foreign merchants are located. The value of the exports from Pernambuco annually exceeds a million and a half sterling; and that of the imports from England is about £800,000.[41]Few spots in the New World are more indebted to nature than the environs, all possible combinations of scenery being included in one magnificent perspective. One of the best views is from the Corcovado Mountain, which although upwards of 3,000 feet in height, can be ascended on horseback. Like most mountains around, it is rather a rock, or titanic monolith, than a mountain, and it may be compared with the gnomon of a gigantic sun-dial; and, in fact, its shadow in particular localities supplies the place of a parish clock. Its sides are still in great part covered with forest and ‘matta,’ or jungle, notwithstanding numerous fires by which it has been devastated, the immediate result of the last being a deficiency in the supply of water to parts of the capital, for the destruction of trees here, as elsewhere, causes a scarcity of the aqueous element, and the springs which rise on and around this mountain feed the conduits and aqueducts that convey that fluid into Rio. From the summit may be seen the whole extent of the harbour and city; the Organ Mountains in the distance, several lakes along the coast, a wide expanse of ocean, and innumerable ravines and spurs of the mountain clothed with richest foliage. The most remarkable, however, of all the mountains near the capital, is the Gavia, with a flattened summit, sometimes called by the English the Table Mountain, in Portuguese, the ‘square topsail,’ to which it bears a resemblance. It is reputed to be inaccessible, at least it has not yet, as far as can be ascertained, been ascended. Opening into the outer harbour is Botafogo Bay, a short distance from the capital, where many foreign merchants reside to enjoy the cool sea breezes, and where the buildings are of a superior description, with beautiful gardens attached, many being luxuriantly planted with oranges and lemons, bananas, pomegranates, palm trees, and a vast variety of shrubs and vegetables peculiar to Brazil, including the universal cabbage plant in great profusion. The aqueduct, which is passed in several places in the ascent of the Corcovado, is a well-built and striking object, crossing several streets of Rio, and conveying excellent water from the heights of that mountain to the different fountains in the town.[42]The only publication relative to Brazil that has appeared since I left England, or at least that I have seen since my return, is one which, though it touches but lightly on the country, as might be expected in ‘A Sketcher’s Tour Round the World,’ [by Mr. Robert Elwes], contains some of the best word-painting of Brazilian city life anywhere to be met with. The following description, for instance, will be readily recognized as most just by all who have been long in the capital; and the concluding passage in particular, I fear, is but too applicable:—‘The town of Rio Janeiro (its proper name is St. Sebastiano) is the largest and best in South America, and the population about equals that of Liverpool. It is laid out in regular squares: the streets are narrow, which, at first sight, seems objectionable to an Englishman, but he soon finds that it affords protection from the scorching sun; and the thoroughfares are tolerably well-paved and lighted, and havetrottoirsat the sides. To obviate the inconvenience arising from the narrowness of the streets, carriages are only allowed to go one way, up one street and down the next, and a hand is painted up on the corners to show which way the traffic is to flow. The best street, Rua d’Ouvidor, is nearly all French, so that one can almost fancy oneself in the Palais Royal; and nearly everything that is to be found in London or Paris may be bought in Rio. Many English merchants have houses in the city, but most of the shopkeepers are French; and this proves a perfect blessing to visitors, for a Brazilian shopman is so careless and indolent, that he will hardly look for anything in his stores, and will often say he has not got the article asked for, to save himself the trouble of looking for it. The best native shops are those of the silversmiths, who work pretty well, and get a good deal of custom, for Brazilians and blacks revel in ornament, often wearing silver spurs and a silver-hafted knife though perhaps they may not have any shoes to their feet. The Brazilians are very fond of dress; and though it seems so unsuitable for the climate, wear black trowsers and an evening suit to walk about the streets in. Strangers will find no curiosities in Rio Janeiro except the feather flowers, which are better here than in Madeira, and fetch a higher price. A Frenchwoman, who employs a number of girls of all complexions in her business, is the principal manufacturer. They are made (or ought to be) entirely of undyed feathers, the best being those of a purple, copper, or crimson colour, from the breasts and heads of humming-birds. One of these wreaths has a beautiful effect, and reflects different-coloured light. The wing cases of beetles are also used, and glitter like precious stones. Madame has her patterns from Paris, so the wreaths are generally in good style and newest fashion. The worst shops are kept by English, and this will be found a general rule in these foreign towns. The merchants are good and honest; but if one wishes to be well taken in, go to a shop kept by an Englishman.’[43]The Bank, Exchange, Custom House, and Arsenal, (of late years greatly extended,) are in the Rua Direita. Besides these, the chief public edifices are, the Imperial Palace, a plain brick building; the Old Palace, on the shore, used for public offices; a Public Hospital, alluded to elsewhere, erected in 1841; a National Library, with 800,000 printed volumes, and many valuable MSS.; and a well supported Opera House, which has supplied Europe with some very popular performers, especially in the ballet line, as witness that general favourite, Madame Celeste, who came from Rio, in 1830, with her sister Constance, another danseuse, and appeared for the first time in England at Liverpool, in the divertissement in Masaniello, Sinclair being Auber’s hero. The educational establishments are, the Imperial College of Don Pedro II.; the College of St. José; Schools of Medicine and Surgery; Military and Naval Academy; and many Public Schools. It has also many Scientific Institutions; a Museum rich in Ornithology, Entomology, and Mineralogy; and a fine Botanic Garden. Of Churches there are upwards of fifty, not of much external elegance, but mostly sumptuously decorated in the interior.[44]The inhabitants of Rio Janeiro are fond of carriages, but the specimens generally seen would hardly do for Hyde Park, being chiefly old-fashioned coaches, drawn by four scraggy mules, with a black coachman on the box, and a postillion in jack-boots on the leaders, sitting well back, and with his feet stuck out beyond the mule’s shoulders. The liveries are generally gorgeous enough, and there is no lack of gold lace on the cocked hats and coats; but a black slave does not enter into the spirit of the thing, and one footman will have his hat cocked athwartships, the other fore and aft; one will have shoes and stockings, with his toes peeping through, the other will dispense with them altogether. But the old peer rolls on unconscious, and I dare say the whole thing is pronounced a neat turn-out. The Brazilians are great snuff-takers, and always offer their box, if the visitor is a welcome guest. It is etiquette to take the offered pinch with the left hand. Rapé is the Portuguese for snuff, hence our word rappee. They do not smoke much. The opera was good, the house very large, tolerably lighted, but not so thickly attended as it might be. The ladies look better by candle-light, their great failing being in their complexions, the tint of which may be exactly described by the midshipman’s simile of snuff and butter. The orchestra was good, many of the performers being blacks or mulattos, who are excellent musicians. The African race seem to like music, and generally have a pretty good ear. Both men and women often whistle well, and I have heard the washerwomen at their work whistling polkas with great correctness. I was amused one evening on going out of the opera when it was half over: offering my ticket to a decent-looking man standing near the door, he bowed, but refused it, saying that men with jackets were not allowed in the house.—Elwes.[45]The population of Rio, on the arrival of the royal family, did not amount to 50,000, but afterwards rapidly augmented; so that in 1815, when declared independent, the number had nearly doubled, and now is estimated at about 400,000, with the suburbs and the provincial capital of Nitherohy, on the opposite shore of the Bay. This increase is partly to be ascribed to the afflux of Portuguese, who have at different times left their country in consequence of the civil commotions which have disturbed its peace, as well as of English, French, Dutch, Germans, and Italians, who, after the opening of the port, settled here, some as merchants, others as mechanics, and have contributed largely to its wealth and importance. These accessions of Europeans have effected a great change in the character of the population, for at the commencement of the century, and for many years afterwards, the blacks and coloured persons far exceeded the whites, whereas now they are reduced to less than half the number of inhabitants. In the aggregate population of the empire, however, the coloured portion is still supposed to be treble the white.[46]Senhor Pereira de Andrade, the Brazilian gentleman referred to in the next note, in the course of his examination before the committee on the 19th of July, 1853, is asked by Sir George Pechell:—‘You stated what must have given very great pleasure to this committee, that you considered Brazil had done its duty with regard to the fulfilment of its treaties, and also that the feeling of the country was generally in favour of employing free labour?’—Andrade answered, there can be no doubt of it. Question.—Do you think that a candidate for election to the Parliament of Brazil would have any chance of being elected if he were in favour of the importation of slaves? Answer.—Certainly not; not a man in Brazil now would dare utter a single word in Parliament in favour of the slave trade. Question.—In short the popular cry would be all against it? Answer.—Yes. All his answers are to the same effect; and upon these answers, as well as those of the other witnesses, the committee made the report adverted to in the adjoining page.[47]Those who would fully understand the bearings of this most interesting subject, concerning which an infinite deal of misunderstanding was, I may almost say designedly, propagated in England, so perverse was the determination, in certain quarters, to disbelieve everything that redounded to the credit, and to swallow implicitly all that was supposed to tell to the discredit, of Brazil, will find it fully set forth in the evidence given before the committee on Slave Trade Treaties, which sat in the course of last session, under the chairmanship of Mr. Hume. On that committee were several gentlemen who had been most strenuous in their resistance to all remonstrance on the part of Brazil, against the too often wanton, and almost always violent and irritating, conduct of our cruisers; gentlemen who were incessant in their appeals for vigorous measures on the part of our squadron on the coast, and of our ambassadors at the court, of Brazil; yet the committee so composed reported as follows:—The importation of slaves into Brazil, in ’47, was 56,172: in ’48, 60,000; in ’49, 54,000; but in ’51, it had diminished to 3,287, and in ’52, to 700, of which last importation a considerable portion had been seized by the Brazilian Government. Mr. Consul Porter reported to Viscount Palmerston in ’48, that 74 slave-trade vessels had sailed from Bahia in the year ’47, and 93 in ’48;—that the slave traffic was carried on with great activity; and, as an example, he stated that one vessel, the ‘Andorinha,’ of 80 tons burden, which cost £2,000 sterling, had made eight successful voyages with slaves from the West Coast of Africa, having actually landed at Bahia 3,392 slaves, and received for freight 120 milreis per head, or £40,704 sterling, giving a profit of 800 per cent.; also that towards the end of ’50, and in ’51, stringent orders had arrived at Bahia for the suppression of the trade, and that when he left Bahia in the end of ’51, ‘the slave trade was perfectly suspended.’ He thinks that the British ships alone cannot stop the trade, but that if the Brazilian Government be sincere, it will certainly be put down. Your committee invite the attention of the House to the evidence of Senhor D’Andrade and others, and to the reports of the Brazilian Ministers, for an explanation of the manner in which so great a change has been effected in the Brazils. The speech of the Emperor to the assembly of this year, on the subject of the slave trade; the stringent laws that have been passed, and others that are in progress, by the Brazilian Government against the slave trade; and, above all, the seizure and banishment of some Portuguese merchants, who, were suspected of an intention to renew the trade, convince your committee that the Brazilian Government is sincere, and that the slave trade is actually abolished in the Brazils. Your committee refer to the correspondence of the Earl of Aberdeen with the Brazilian Government, in 1845, to explain the state of the slave question at that time, and the reasons that induced Parliament to pass the 8 and 9 Vict. c. 122. The favourable change which has taken place in the councils and conduct of the Brazilian Government respecting slavery, whether accelerated by the active services of Captain Schomberg or not, may induce Parliament to repeal that Act, as intimated in his Lordship’s letter of the 2d July 1845.—It is to be hoped that this recommendation of the committee will be carried out in the course of the present session.
[15]Travels in the Interior of Brazil; principally through the Northern Provinces and the Gold and Diamond Districts, during the years 1836-41. By the lateGeorge Gardner, M.D., F.L.S., Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon.—London: Reeve and Co. 1853.
[15]Travels in the Interior of Brazil; principally through the Northern Provinces and the Gold and Diamond Districts, during the years 1836-41. By the lateGeorge Gardner, M.D., F.L.S., Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon.—London: Reeve and Co. 1853.
[16]Sketches of Brazil; including New Views on Tropical and European Fever. With Remarks on a Premature Decay of the System, incident to Europeans, on their return from Hot Climates. ByRobert Dundas, M.D., Physician to the Northern Hospital, Liverpool; formerly Acting Surgeon to H.M. 60th Regiment; and for twenty-three years Medical Superintendent of the British Hospital, Bahia. 8vo., price 9s.—London: John Churchill, Prince’s-street, Soho. Liverpool: Deighton and Laughton, and Rockliff and Sons.
[16]Sketches of Brazil; including New Views on Tropical and European Fever. With Remarks on a Premature Decay of the System, incident to Europeans, on their return from Hot Climates. ByRobert Dundas, M.D., Physician to the Northern Hospital, Liverpool; formerly Acting Surgeon to H.M. 60th Regiment; and for twenty-three years Medical Superintendent of the British Hospital, Bahia. 8vo., price 9s.—London: John Churchill, Prince’s-street, Soho. Liverpool: Deighton and Laughton, and Rockliff and Sons.
[17]Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata: from their Discovery and Conquest by the Spaniards to the Establishment of their Political Independence. With some Account of their Present State, Trade, Debt, etc.; an Appendix of Historical and Statistical Documents; and a Description of the Geology and Fossil Monsters of the Pampas. By SirWoodbine Parish, K.C.H., F.R.S., G.S., Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and many years Chargé-d’affaires of H.B.M. at Buenos Ayres. Second Edition, enlarged, with a New Map and Illustrations.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1852.
[17]Buenos Ayres and the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata: from their Discovery and Conquest by the Spaniards to the Establishment of their Political Independence. With some Account of their Present State, Trade, Debt, etc.; an Appendix of Historical and Statistical Documents; and a Description of the Geology and Fossil Monsters of the Pampas. By SirWoodbine Parish, K.C.H., F.R.S., G.S., Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society of London, and many years Chargé-d’affaires of H.B.M. at Buenos Ayres. Second Edition, enlarged, with a New Map and Illustrations.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1852.
[18]Two Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces: being an Account of the Natural Products of the Country, and Habits of the People; with a Historical Retrospect of the Rio de la Plata, Monte Video, and Corrientes. ByWilliam Mac Cann, Author of the Present Position of Affairs on the River Plate. With Illustrations. In Two Volumes.—London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Smith, Taylor, and Co., Bombay. 1853.
[18]Two Thousand Miles’ Ride through the Argentine Provinces: being an Account of the Natural Products of the Country, and Habits of the People; with a Historical Retrospect of the Rio de la Plata, Monte Video, and Corrientes. ByWilliam Mac Cann, Author of the Present Position of Affairs on the River Plate. With Illustrations. In Two Volumes.—London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Smith, Taylor, and Co., Bombay. 1853.
[19]1. A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an Account of the Native Tribes, and Observations on the Climate, Geology, and Natural History of the Amazon Valley. ByAlfred R. Wallace. With a Map and Illustrations.—London: Reeve and Co., Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. 1853. 2. The Amazon, and the Atlantic Slopes of South America. A Series of Letters under the Signature of ‘Inca.’ ByM. F. Maury, LL.D., Lieut. U. S. Navy; who, under date, Washington City, January, 1853, says: ‘These Letters were originally published by the National Intelligencer and the Union, of this City. They treat of one of the most important commercial questions of the age: they are eagerly sought after in all parts of the country; and though they have been extensively read, the demand for them in a more permanent shape than that of a newspaper is such that the Publisher has obtained leave of their Author to re-issue them in their present form.’ On the recent visit of Professor Silliman to Humboldt, at Berlin, the veteran explorer expressed his great gratification at the progress which enterprise was making throughout South America, especially in the region of the Amazon; and made particular mention of the Professor’s countryman, Lieutenant Maury, of whose work we are now speaking, and from which we shall draw copiously hereafter. In giving the gallant Lieutenant all praise, however, we should not omit to acknowledge how much the reading public of this quarter of the globe are indebted for their previous knowledge of the same region to another countryman of his, whose excellent little volume has lately been re-issued in England in a cheap form, by Murray, viz., A Voyage up the River Amazon, including a Residence at Pará, byW. H. Edwards; of which it was justly said that it was a work valuable for the information it gave on this very little known part of the world, and likely to excite many adventurous young men to explore the Amazon, so that going back on the traces of Orellana, and crossing to the Pacific, may probably become, ere long, as familiar to our countrymen as a voyage up the Rhine or the Nile. Mr. Edwards’ charming little volume has led to such exploration; and the interesting results will be found in our chapter upon the Amazon, which we are particularly desirous of drawing attention to.
[19]1. A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro, with an Account of the Native Tribes, and Observations on the Climate, Geology, and Natural History of the Amazon Valley. ByAlfred R. Wallace. With a Map and Illustrations.—London: Reeve and Co., Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. 1853. 2. The Amazon, and the Atlantic Slopes of South America. A Series of Letters under the Signature of ‘Inca.’ ByM. F. Maury, LL.D., Lieut. U. S. Navy; who, under date, Washington City, January, 1853, says: ‘These Letters were originally published by the National Intelligencer and the Union, of this City. They treat of one of the most important commercial questions of the age: they are eagerly sought after in all parts of the country; and though they have been extensively read, the demand for them in a more permanent shape than that of a newspaper is such that the Publisher has obtained leave of their Author to re-issue them in their present form.’ On the recent visit of Professor Silliman to Humboldt, at Berlin, the veteran explorer expressed his great gratification at the progress which enterprise was making throughout South America, especially in the region of the Amazon; and made particular mention of the Professor’s countryman, Lieutenant Maury, of whose work we are now speaking, and from which we shall draw copiously hereafter. In giving the gallant Lieutenant all praise, however, we should not omit to acknowledge how much the reading public of this quarter of the globe are indebted for their previous knowledge of the same region to another countryman of his, whose excellent little volume has lately been re-issued in England in a cheap form, by Murray, viz., A Voyage up the River Amazon, including a Residence at Pará, byW. H. Edwards; of which it was justly said that it was a work valuable for the information it gave on this very little known part of the world, and likely to excite many adventurous young men to explore the Amazon, so that going back on the traces of Orellana, and crossing to the Pacific, may probably become, ere long, as familiar to our countrymen as a voyage up the Rhine or the Nile. Mr. Edwards’ charming little volume has led to such exploration; and the interesting results will be found in our chapter upon the Amazon, which we are particularly desirous of drawing attention to.
[20]According to the official returns for the twelvemonth ending March last, the amount of British tonnage entered inwards from Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 735 sailing-vessels; the total amount of both class of vessels being 71,536 tons. The amount of British tonnage cleared outwards for Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 716 sailing-vessels; the total amount of tonnage being 76,662. Great Britain receives nearly a half of all the exports of Portugal, and Portugal only receives one-fiftieth of all the exports of Great Britain.—It appears from M’Gregor’s ‘Synthetical View of Legislation,’ that in 1851, the total amount of the exportations of Great Britain and Ireland was about £75,000,000, of which only £1,048,356 was to Portugal! being less than the amount sent by Great Britain and Ireland to Chili and Peru! Whereas, in the United States the consumption of British goods has doubled since 1841, and now amounts to nearly one-fifth of all the British manufactures exported.
[20]According to the official returns for the twelvemonth ending March last, the amount of British tonnage entered inwards from Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 735 sailing-vessels; the total amount of both class of vessels being 71,536 tons. The amount of British tonnage cleared outwards for Portugal consisted of 7 steam and 716 sailing-vessels; the total amount of tonnage being 76,662. Great Britain receives nearly a half of all the exports of Portugal, and Portugal only receives one-fiftieth of all the exports of Great Britain.—It appears from M’Gregor’s ‘Synthetical View of Legislation,’ that in 1851, the total amount of the exportations of Great Britain and Ireland was about £75,000,000, of which only £1,048,356 was to Portugal! being less than the amount sent by Great Britain and Ireland to Chili and Peru! Whereas, in the United States the consumption of British goods has doubled since 1841, and now amounts to nearly one-fifth of all the British manufactures exported.
[21]It is so needless to tell any one entering the Tagus, much less any one who has entered, how topographically accurate is the description in ‘Childe Harold,’ that the stanzas are quoted merely to save the reader the trouble of referring to the volume itself, in case he do not quite remember the lines:—The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,The mountain-moss by scorching skies embrown’d,The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,The tender azure of the unruffled deep,The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,The vine on high, the willow branch below,Mix’d in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.Then slowly climb the many-winding way,And frequent turn to linger as you go,From loftier rocks new loveliness survey,And rest ye at ‘Our Lady’s house of woe;’Where frugal monks their little relics show,And sundry legends to the stranger tell:Here impious men have punish’d been, and lo!Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a hell.
[21]It is so needless to tell any one entering the Tagus, much less any one who has entered, how topographically accurate is the description in ‘Childe Harold,’ that the stanzas are quoted merely to save the reader the trouble of referring to the volume itself, in case he do not quite remember the lines:—
The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,The mountain-moss by scorching skies embrown’d,The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,The tender azure of the unruffled deep,The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,The vine on high, the willow branch below,Mix’d in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.Then slowly climb the many-winding way,And frequent turn to linger as you go,From loftier rocks new loveliness survey,And rest ye at ‘Our Lady’s house of woe;’Where frugal monks their little relics show,And sundry legends to the stranger tell:Here impious men have punish’d been, and lo!Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a hell.
The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,The mountain-moss by scorching skies embrown’d,The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,The tender azure of the unruffled deep,The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,The vine on high, the willow branch below,Mix’d in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.Then slowly climb the many-winding way,And frequent turn to linger as you go,From loftier rocks new loveliness survey,And rest ye at ‘Our Lady’s house of woe;’Where frugal monks their little relics show,And sundry legends to the stranger tell:Here impious men have punish’d been, and lo!Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a hell.
The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,The mountain-moss by scorching skies embrown’d,The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,The tender azure of the unruffled deep,The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,The vine on high, the willow branch below,Mix’d in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.
The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown’d,
The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,
The mountain-moss by scorching skies embrown’d,
The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,
The tender azure of the unruffled deep,
The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,
The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,
The vine on high, the willow branch below,
Mix’d in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.
Then slowly climb the many-winding way,And frequent turn to linger as you go,From loftier rocks new loveliness survey,And rest ye at ‘Our Lady’s house of woe;’Where frugal monks their little relics show,And sundry legends to the stranger tell:Here impious men have punish’d been, and lo!Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a hell.
Then slowly climb the many-winding way,
And frequent turn to linger as you go,
From loftier rocks new loveliness survey,
And rest ye at ‘Our Lady’s house of woe;’
Where frugal monks their little relics show,
And sundry legends to the stranger tell:
Here impious men have punish’d been, and lo!
Deep in yon cave Honorius long did dwell,
In hope to merit Heaven by making earth a hell.
[22]Next to Byron, the great modern English literary name associated with this part of Portugal, and not merely from his residence here, but from his delightful and extraordinary pourtrayal of the conventual life of the neighbourhood, in his almost posthumous work, the ‘Monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha,’ is he whom the noble bard alludes to in the well-known lines:—On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,Are domes where whilome kings did make repair;But now the wild flowers round them only breathe;Yet ruin’d splendour still is lingering there,And yonder towers the Prince’s palace fair:There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,Once form’d thy Paradise, as not awareWhen wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.Beckford, as is well known, soon after his return to England, built the fairy-like structure of Fonthill Abbey, gorgeous as his own Caliph Vathek, and, like it, as unsubstantial; for, on its being sold to Mr. Farquharson for some £40,000, about one-seventh of what it cost, [the catalogues describing its contents were in prodigious demand at a guinea a piece] it fell to the ground. He died in 1844, aged 84; and was father to the late Duchess of Hamilton, and father-in-law to the present Duke of Hamilton and Duchess of Newcastle.
[22]Next to Byron, the great modern English literary name associated with this part of Portugal, and not merely from his residence here, but from his delightful and extraordinary pourtrayal of the conventual life of the neighbourhood, in his almost posthumous work, the ‘Monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha,’ is he whom the noble bard alludes to in the well-known lines:—
On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,Are domes where whilome kings did make repair;But now the wild flowers round them only breathe;Yet ruin’d splendour still is lingering there,And yonder towers the Prince’s palace fair:There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,Once form’d thy Paradise, as not awareWhen wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.
On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,Are domes where whilome kings did make repair;But now the wild flowers round them only breathe;Yet ruin’d splendour still is lingering there,And yonder towers the Prince’s palace fair:There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,Once form’d thy Paradise, as not awareWhen wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.
On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,Are domes where whilome kings did make repair;But now the wild flowers round them only breathe;Yet ruin’d splendour still is lingering there,And yonder towers the Prince’s palace fair:There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,Once form’d thy Paradise, as not awareWhen wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.
On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,
Are domes where whilome kings did make repair;
But now the wild flowers round them only breathe;
Yet ruin’d splendour still is lingering there,
And yonder towers the Prince’s palace fair:
There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,
Once form’d thy Paradise, as not aware
When wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,
Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.
Beckford, as is well known, soon after his return to England, built the fairy-like structure of Fonthill Abbey, gorgeous as his own Caliph Vathek, and, like it, as unsubstantial; for, on its being sold to Mr. Farquharson for some £40,000, about one-seventh of what it cost, [the catalogues describing its contents were in prodigious demand at a guinea a piece] it fell to the ground. He died in 1844, aged 84; and was father to the late Duchess of Hamilton, and father-in-law to the present Duke of Hamilton and Duchess of Newcastle.
[23]At this convent was educated Don John VI., grandfather to the late ‘Lusian’s luckless Queen,’ who died in 1816 in Brazil, from the melancholy derangement from which Dr. Willis, who had attended George III. for a similar malady, was unable to recover her. The young prince was placed here with the idea of his wearing the cowl as abbot, prior to attaining the highest ecclesiastical honours; but the unexpected death of his elder brother made him heir to the throne, which he afterwards filled. Of the suitability of the structure for so august an inmate, the late Lord Carnarvon, who visited it in 1827, says:—I rode through a bleak but not unpleasant country to Mafra. The convent and palace united constitute an immense pile of building, which excites admiration rather from its vast extent than from any architectural merits, and forms a quadrangle, measuring 760 feet from east to west, and 670 feet from north to south. The church is situate in the centre, and three hundred cells are placed behind the choir; the palace might perhaps contain without inconvenience all the courts of Europe. The thermometer had risen to more than 90°, and it was indeed no common luxury to exchange such intolerable heat for the refreshing temperature of the convent galleries, which are built of stone, and are high, wide, dark, and apparently interminable. Within those massive walls the fluctuations of the external atmosphere are never felt; and rarely indeed do any external sounds pierce through those mighty barriers. The monks showed us the refectory, a spacious apartment, and the library, well stored with books.—Portugal and Galicia, with a Review of the Social and Political State of the Basque Provinces. By the Earl ofCarnarvon. Third Edition.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1848.
[23]At this convent was educated Don John VI., grandfather to the late ‘Lusian’s luckless Queen,’ who died in 1816 in Brazil, from the melancholy derangement from which Dr. Willis, who had attended George III. for a similar malady, was unable to recover her. The young prince was placed here with the idea of his wearing the cowl as abbot, prior to attaining the highest ecclesiastical honours; but the unexpected death of his elder brother made him heir to the throne, which he afterwards filled. Of the suitability of the structure for so august an inmate, the late Lord Carnarvon, who visited it in 1827, says:—I rode through a bleak but not unpleasant country to Mafra. The convent and palace united constitute an immense pile of building, which excites admiration rather from its vast extent than from any architectural merits, and forms a quadrangle, measuring 760 feet from east to west, and 670 feet from north to south. The church is situate in the centre, and three hundred cells are placed behind the choir; the palace might perhaps contain without inconvenience all the courts of Europe. The thermometer had risen to more than 90°, and it was indeed no common luxury to exchange such intolerable heat for the refreshing temperature of the convent galleries, which are built of stone, and are high, wide, dark, and apparently interminable. Within those massive walls the fluctuations of the external atmosphere are never felt; and rarely indeed do any external sounds pierce through those mighty barriers. The monks showed us the refectory, a spacious apartment, and the library, well stored with books.—Portugal and Galicia, with a Review of the Social and Political State of the Basque Provinces. By the Earl ofCarnarvon. Third Edition.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1848.
[24]The mention of the English burial-ground, in Lisbon, induces us to correct an error into which the recent religious persecutions in Italy have betrayed some of our countrymen at home, as to the supposed existence of such practices in Portugal. Such a mistake is perfectly natural, but it is wholly unfounded; for, though the religion of the state is strictly Roman Catholic, of the most unmitigated character, still, like Brazil, though unlike Spain, there is toleration for all religions, and no impediment thrown in the way of their being observed. A Portuguese resident in London, writing to a leading journal on the point raised in consequence of the iniquitous treatment of the Madiai and others by the Duke of Tuscany, says:—‘The liberality and toleration of the Portuguese government towards Protestants, either resident or travelling, in Portugal, has existed for ages past. That line of conduct has never been altered, and for the truth of this assertion I appeal to the British Legation at Lisbon, and to the very numerous and respectable British commercial body connected with that country. A British subject has as much civil and religious liberty in Portugal as he can possibly enjoy in his own country. Christianity and civilization were first carried to Asia, Africa, and America, by that nation which his Lordship so much depreciates, and the door of that vast empire which Great Britain possesses in India was opened by the inhabitants of that soil.’ The imputation on the religious liberality of Portugal excites some indignation in that country, and a letter from Lisbon, in one of the papers, at the beginning of the year, says:—Not only since the establishment of the constitution, but even during the absolute regime, a large measure of toleration was always allowed to all other religions. The English and German Protestants have long had churches and cemeteries of their own, and, unlike their brethren in Spain, are allowed to bury their dead with as much ‘pomp and publicity’ as they please. The only restriction imposed upon people of other persuasions is, that they shall not, by word of mouth, or in writing, revile and insult the established religion of the country. This restriction, which was formerly operative, has now, however, become a dead letter, the real religion of the liberal party generally being materialism, against which nobody here seems disposed to declaim. At the beginning of the present year, (1854), a statement, signed by many of the principal British residents in Oporto, appeared in the London journals, setting forth that the most unreserved liberty for the performance of Protestant Service, with any degree of publicity, was allowed in that city, and had been for a great number of years.
[24]The mention of the English burial-ground, in Lisbon, induces us to correct an error into which the recent religious persecutions in Italy have betrayed some of our countrymen at home, as to the supposed existence of such practices in Portugal. Such a mistake is perfectly natural, but it is wholly unfounded; for, though the religion of the state is strictly Roman Catholic, of the most unmitigated character, still, like Brazil, though unlike Spain, there is toleration for all religions, and no impediment thrown in the way of their being observed. A Portuguese resident in London, writing to a leading journal on the point raised in consequence of the iniquitous treatment of the Madiai and others by the Duke of Tuscany, says:—‘The liberality and toleration of the Portuguese government towards Protestants, either resident or travelling, in Portugal, has existed for ages past. That line of conduct has never been altered, and for the truth of this assertion I appeal to the British Legation at Lisbon, and to the very numerous and respectable British commercial body connected with that country. A British subject has as much civil and religious liberty in Portugal as he can possibly enjoy in his own country. Christianity and civilization were first carried to Asia, Africa, and America, by that nation which his Lordship so much depreciates, and the door of that vast empire which Great Britain possesses in India was opened by the inhabitants of that soil.’ The imputation on the religious liberality of Portugal excites some indignation in that country, and a letter from Lisbon, in one of the papers, at the beginning of the year, says:—Not only since the establishment of the constitution, but even during the absolute regime, a large measure of toleration was always allowed to all other religions. The English and German Protestants have long had churches and cemeteries of their own, and, unlike their brethren in Spain, are allowed to bury their dead with as much ‘pomp and publicity’ as they please. The only restriction imposed upon people of other persuasions is, that they shall not, by word of mouth, or in writing, revile and insult the established religion of the country. This restriction, which was formerly operative, has now, however, become a dead letter, the real religion of the liberal party generally being materialism, against which nobody here seems disposed to declaim. At the beginning of the present year, (1854), a statement, signed by many of the principal British residents in Oporto, appeared in the London journals, setting forth that the most unreserved liberty for the performance of Protestant Service, with any degree of publicity, was allowed in that city, and had been for a great number of years.
[25]Lo! Cintra’s glorious Eden intervenesIn variegated maze of mount and glen.Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,To follow half on which the eye dilates,Though views more dazzling unto mortal kenThan those whereof such things the bard relates,Who to the awe-struck world unlock’d Elysium’s gates?Sir Wm. Napier’s correction, in his History of the Peninsular War, of the blunder about the supposed site of the convention, is well known, but deserves to be repeated:—“The armistice, the negotiations, the convention itself, and the execution of its provisions, were all commenced, conducted, and concluded, at the distance of thirty miles from Cintra, with which place they had not the slightest connection, political, military, or local; yet Lord Byron has gravely asserted, in prose and verse, that the convention was signed at the Marquis of Marialva’s house at Cintra; and the author of ‘The Diary of an Invalid,’ improving from a poet’s discovery, detected the stains of the ink spilt by Junot upon the occasion.”
[25]
Lo! Cintra’s glorious Eden intervenesIn variegated maze of mount and glen.Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,To follow half on which the eye dilates,Though views more dazzling unto mortal kenThan those whereof such things the bard relates,Who to the awe-struck world unlock’d Elysium’s gates?
Lo! Cintra’s glorious Eden intervenesIn variegated maze of mount and glen.Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,To follow half on which the eye dilates,Though views more dazzling unto mortal kenThan those whereof such things the bard relates,Who to the awe-struck world unlock’d Elysium’s gates?
Lo! Cintra’s glorious Eden intervenesIn variegated maze of mount and glen.Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,To follow half on which the eye dilates,Though views more dazzling unto mortal kenThan those whereof such things the bard relates,Who to the awe-struck world unlock’d Elysium’s gates?
Lo! Cintra’s glorious Eden intervenes
In variegated maze of mount and glen.
Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,
To follow half on which the eye dilates,
Though views more dazzling unto mortal ken
Than those whereof such things the bard relates,
Who to the awe-struck world unlock’d Elysium’s gates?
Sir Wm. Napier’s correction, in his History of the Peninsular War, of the blunder about the supposed site of the convention, is well known, but deserves to be repeated:—
“The armistice, the negotiations, the convention itself, and the execution of its provisions, were all commenced, conducted, and concluded, at the distance of thirty miles from Cintra, with which place they had not the slightest connection, political, military, or local; yet Lord Byron has gravely asserted, in prose and verse, that the convention was signed at the Marquis of Marialva’s house at Cintra; and the author of ‘The Diary of an Invalid,’ improving from a poet’s discovery, detected the stains of the ink spilt by Junot upon the occasion.”
“The armistice, the negotiations, the convention itself, and the execution of its provisions, were all commenced, conducted, and concluded, at the distance of thirty miles from Cintra, with which place they had not the slightest connection, political, military, or local; yet Lord Byron has gravely asserted, in prose and verse, that the convention was signed at the Marquis of Marialva’s house at Cintra; and the author of ‘The Diary of an Invalid,’ improving from a poet’s discovery, detected the stains of the ink spilt by Junot upon the occasion.”
[26]As when to them who sailBeyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pastMozambic, off at sea, north-east winds blowSabean odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.—Paradise Lost, Book iv.The voyage from Portugal to India was, in those days, more perilous than will easily be believed in these. The seas swarmed with pirates, shipwrecks were dreadfully frequent, and even when these dangers were escaped, the common mortality was so great, that Vieyra says—‘If the dead, who had been thrown overboard between the coast of Guinea and the Cape of Good Hope, and between that cape and Mozambique, could have monuments placed for them each on the spot where he sunk, the whole way would appear like one continued cemetery.’ Hyperbolical as this is, it shows how enormous the expenditure of life must have been, which could thus be spoken of in the pulpit! The ship in which Camoens sailed was the only one of the fleet which reached its destination.
[26]
As when to them who sailBeyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pastMozambic, off at sea, north-east winds blowSabean odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.—Paradise Lost, Book iv.
As when to them who sailBeyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pastMozambic, off at sea, north-east winds blowSabean odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.—Paradise Lost, Book iv.
As when to them who sailBeyond the Cape of Hope, and now are pastMozambic, off at sea, north-east winds blowSabean odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.—Paradise Lost, Book iv.
As when to them who sail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozambic, off at sea, north-east winds blow
Sabean odours from the spicy shore
Of Araby the blest.—Paradise Lost, Book iv.
The voyage from Portugal to India was, in those days, more perilous than will easily be believed in these. The seas swarmed with pirates, shipwrecks were dreadfully frequent, and even when these dangers were escaped, the common mortality was so great, that Vieyra says—‘If the dead, who had been thrown overboard between the coast of Guinea and the Cape of Good Hope, and between that cape and Mozambique, could have monuments placed for them each on the spot where he sunk, the whole way would appear like one continued cemetery.’ Hyperbolical as this is, it shows how enormous the expenditure of life must have been, which could thus be spoken of in the pulpit! The ship in which Camoens sailed was the only one of the fleet which reached its destination.
[27]The middle classes promenade with their families until the sun begins to have effect, when they return to breakfast and to business. Dinner is usually served from noon till 2 p.m., and consists of sopa, vaca cozida, e arroz, (soup, boiled beef, and rice,) with occasionally hum prato do meio (a dish of roast for the centre). Potatoes are seldom or never used, excepting in the kitchen. Fish is only eaten on fast-days, and the delicious sardine (because common and plentiful) shares the fate of the potatoes. The common vin ordinaire of the country is drunk at table out of small tumblers, being supplied from a neighbouring tenda (wine-store) daily or hourly, as it may be required, at a price never exceeding 2d. per pint. Fine old bottled wine (such as we are acquainted with) is altogether unknown in Portugal, and it would be almost as rare to find in any house a couple of dozen bottles of wine, as it would be to discover as many books. Fire-places have not yet become general in dwelling-houses. In cold weather, gentlemen in society wear capotes (large cloth cloaks), and ladies wrap up in thick shawls. Dinner-parties are quite uncommon; but social evening meetings, where tea and simple biscuits are the only refreshments, are of constant occurrence.—Forrester’s Essay.
[27]The middle classes promenade with their families until the sun begins to have effect, when they return to breakfast and to business. Dinner is usually served from noon till 2 p.m., and consists of sopa, vaca cozida, e arroz, (soup, boiled beef, and rice,) with occasionally hum prato do meio (a dish of roast for the centre). Potatoes are seldom or never used, excepting in the kitchen. Fish is only eaten on fast-days, and the delicious sardine (because common and plentiful) shares the fate of the potatoes. The common vin ordinaire of the country is drunk at table out of small tumblers, being supplied from a neighbouring tenda (wine-store) daily or hourly, as it may be required, at a price never exceeding 2d. per pint. Fine old bottled wine (such as we are acquainted with) is altogether unknown in Portugal, and it would be almost as rare to find in any house a couple of dozen bottles of wine, as it would be to discover as many books. Fire-places have not yet become general in dwelling-houses. In cold weather, gentlemen in society wear capotes (large cloth cloaks), and ladies wrap up in thick shawls. Dinner-parties are quite uncommon; but social evening meetings, where tea and simple biscuits are the only refreshments, are of constant occurrence.—Forrester’s Essay.
[28]These peculiar latine sails are exquisitely beautiful when seen in profile and, when beheld in front, resemble a butterfly perched on a dark ground with expanded wings.—Carnarvon.British naval architects will probably be surprised to hear that the Portuguese craft of every kind are all prime built and beautiful models, the elegance of their lines being a source of admiration to every critic. The Oporto fishing-boats, in particular, are fine specimens of the country’s capacity for this sort of excellence, and, when under sail, fly through the water at the rate of 12 to 14 knots an hour.
[28]These peculiar latine sails are exquisitely beautiful when seen in profile and, when beheld in front, resemble a butterfly perched on a dark ground with expanded wings.—Carnarvon.British naval architects will probably be surprised to hear that the Portuguese craft of every kind are all prime built and beautiful models, the elegance of their lines being a source of admiration to every critic. The Oporto fishing-boats, in particular, are fine specimens of the country’s capacity for this sort of excellence, and, when under sail, fly through the water at the rate of 12 to 14 knots an hour.
[29]In the days of Pliny, we are told, the provinces of Minho, Galicia, and Asturias paid not less than a million and a half octaves of gold to the Roman Empire, as a tribute on the ore extracted from various mines then in active operation, and yet, in the present day, the revenues derived by the Portuguese Government from all their mines does not amount to more than £72 17s.The Romans worked mines of gold, silver, iron, lead, coal, antimony, copper, quicksilver, bismuth, arsenic, and tin, in Portugal: and Faria e Souza graphically remarks, ‘Hardly is there a river, or mountain-base that it laves, which does not cover precious stones and grains of gold.’ This language may be considered poetic, but there is no doubt that ‘le sol de Portugal est essentiellement metalifere,’—that metals abound throughout the whole country; but the mines are not worked; neither can their value be correctly ascertained, in the absence of every means of transport, and internal communication.—Forrester.
[29]In the days of Pliny, we are told, the provinces of Minho, Galicia, and Asturias paid not less than a million and a half octaves of gold to the Roman Empire, as a tribute on the ore extracted from various mines then in active operation, and yet, in the present day, the revenues derived by the Portuguese Government from all their mines does not amount to more than £72 17s.The Romans worked mines of gold, silver, iron, lead, coal, antimony, copper, quicksilver, bismuth, arsenic, and tin, in Portugal: and Faria e Souza graphically remarks, ‘Hardly is there a river, or mountain-base that it laves, which does not cover precious stones and grains of gold.’ This language may be considered poetic, but there is no doubt that ‘le sol de Portugal est essentiellement metalifere,’—that metals abound throughout the whole country; but the mines are not worked; neither can their value be correctly ascertained, in the absence of every means of transport, and internal communication.—Forrester.
[30]Hints to Travellers in Portugal, in Search of the Beautiful and the Grand. With an Itinerary of some of the most Interesting Parts of that Remarkable Country.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1852.
[30]Hints to Travellers in Portugal, in Search of the Beautiful and the Grand. With an Itinerary of some of the most Interesting Parts of that Remarkable Country.—London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1852.
[31]The Oliveira Prize-Essay on Portugal: with the Evidence Regarding that Country taken before a Committee of the House of Commons in May, 1852; and the Author’s Surveys of the Wine-Districts of the Alto-Douro, as Adopted and Published by order of the House of Commons. Together with a Statistical Comparison of the Resources and Commerce of Great-Britain and Portugal. ByJosh. James Forrester, Wine-Grower in the Alto-Douro.—London: John Weale, 59, High Holborn. John Menzies, Edinburgh. Coutinho, Oporto. 1852.
[31]The Oliveira Prize-Essay on Portugal: with the Evidence Regarding that Country taken before a Committee of the House of Commons in May, 1852; and the Author’s Surveys of the Wine-Districts of the Alto-Douro, as Adopted and Published by order of the House of Commons. Together with a Statistical Comparison of the Resources and Commerce of Great-Britain and Portugal. ByJosh. James Forrester, Wine-Grower in the Alto-Douro.—London: John Weale, 59, High Holborn. John Menzies, Edinburgh. Coutinho, Oporto. 1852.
[32]There is scarcely any difficulty now in going to Portugal, for a steamer sails from Southampton for Lisbon on the 7th, 17th, and 27th of every month, or on the following day, when any of those days should fall on a Sunday, and generally enters Vigo Bay in three days; and, weather permitting, calls off Oporto, and arrives in five or six days at Lisbon, from which city a steamer occasionally sails for Oporto, at which place the traveller is recommended to commence his excursions, the province of Minho excelling all others in Portugal in whatever is fertile and picturesque, and being equal, if not superior, in grandeur to the district of the Estrella Mountains. The ordinary mode of travelling is on horses or mules, which can be hired for about 5s.6d.per day, including their food; but the arrieros who accompany them must be maintained at the cost of him who hires them, and he likewise expects to receive a gratuity. The money of the country is calculated in reis, and taking the mil rei, or 1,000 reis, to be equal to 4s.6d., the value of the current coin will be nearly as follows:—In Silver: The Cruzadonovo, or 480 reis = 2s.2d.; the 12 Vintem piece, or 240 reis = 1s.1d.; the 6 Vintem piece, or 120 reis= 6½; the 3 Vintem piece, or 60 reis = 3¼d.; the testoon, or 100 reis = 5½d.; the Half Testoon, or 50 reis = 2⅓d.—In Gold: Moidore, or 4,800 reis = £1 1s.8d.; the small gold piece, or 5000 reis = £1 2s.6d.; the gold piece, or 8000 reis = £1 16s.The English sovereign circulates in Portugal for 4500 reis. The copper coins in general circulation are the following:—The 5 reis, equal to little more than 0¼d.; the 10 reis, equal to little more than 0½d.; the 20 reis, or Vintem, equal to little more than 1d.; the 40 reis, or Pataca, equal to little more than 2d.Our political relationship with Portugal, from the personal family alliances between the two countries, and from other causes, has of late years been kept up at great expense; and, according to some critics, with very little good to any but the individuals at whose instance and on whose behalf British interference has taken place, the Portuguese population being understood to be as little pleased with its effects as English taxpayers are enamoured of its expense. Ostensibly our diplomatic and consular corps now in Portugal consists of the following members, and at the salaries annexed to their names:—Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Pakenham, K.C.B., salary £4000 per ann.; and house-rent £500; secretary of legation, W. R. Ward, salary £500; paid attaché, Jos. Hume Burnley, £250; unpaid attachés, Hon. W. G. Cornwallis Elliot, and Hon. Francis Pakenham. Consuls:—Lisbon, William Smith, £600; vice-consul, Jeremiah Meagher, £300; Oporto, Edwin Johnston, £500; Loanda, Geo. Brand, vice-consul, £50; St. Michael (Azores) T. C. Hunt, consul, £400; Fayal, J. Minchin, vice-consul, £100; Terciera, J. Read, vice-consul, £100. Of the officers at Madeira and Cape Verds, (Portuguese possessions) due mention will be made under those heads. The Portuguese diplomatic and consular staff in England consists of:—Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, Count de Lavradrio, 12, Gloucester Place, Portman Square; secretary of legation, Chevalier Pinto de Soveral; attachés, E. F. de la Figaniere, J. C. Stone, and Geo. Manders; consul-general, F. J. Vanzeller, 5, Jeffrey Square, St. Mary Axe; consuls: Liverpool, Almeida Campos; Bristol, Ant. B. de Mascarenhas; Cork, Geo. Manders.
[32]There is scarcely any difficulty now in going to Portugal, for a steamer sails from Southampton for Lisbon on the 7th, 17th, and 27th of every month, or on the following day, when any of those days should fall on a Sunday, and generally enters Vigo Bay in three days; and, weather permitting, calls off Oporto, and arrives in five or six days at Lisbon, from which city a steamer occasionally sails for Oporto, at which place the traveller is recommended to commence his excursions, the province of Minho excelling all others in Portugal in whatever is fertile and picturesque, and being equal, if not superior, in grandeur to the district of the Estrella Mountains. The ordinary mode of travelling is on horses or mules, which can be hired for about 5s.6d.per day, including their food; but the arrieros who accompany them must be maintained at the cost of him who hires them, and he likewise expects to receive a gratuity. The money of the country is calculated in reis, and taking the mil rei, or 1,000 reis, to be equal to 4s.6d., the value of the current coin will be nearly as follows:—In Silver: The Cruzadonovo, or 480 reis = 2s.2d.; the 12 Vintem piece, or 240 reis = 1s.1d.; the 6 Vintem piece, or 120 reis= 6½; the 3 Vintem piece, or 60 reis = 3¼d.; the testoon, or 100 reis = 5½d.; the Half Testoon, or 50 reis = 2⅓d.—In Gold: Moidore, or 4,800 reis = £1 1s.8d.; the small gold piece, or 5000 reis = £1 2s.6d.; the gold piece, or 8000 reis = £1 16s.The English sovereign circulates in Portugal for 4500 reis. The copper coins in general circulation are the following:—The 5 reis, equal to little more than 0¼d.; the 10 reis, equal to little more than 0½d.; the 20 reis, or Vintem, equal to little more than 1d.; the 40 reis, or Pataca, equal to little more than 2d.
Our political relationship with Portugal, from the personal family alliances between the two countries, and from other causes, has of late years been kept up at great expense; and, according to some critics, with very little good to any but the individuals at whose instance and on whose behalf British interference has taken place, the Portuguese population being understood to be as little pleased with its effects as English taxpayers are enamoured of its expense. Ostensibly our diplomatic and consular corps now in Portugal consists of the following members, and at the salaries annexed to their names:—Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, Rt. Hon. Sir Richard Pakenham, K.C.B., salary £4000 per ann.; and house-rent £500; secretary of legation, W. R. Ward, salary £500; paid attaché, Jos. Hume Burnley, £250; unpaid attachés, Hon. W. G. Cornwallis Elliot, and Hon. Francis Pakenham. Consuls:—Lisbon, William Smith, £600; vice-consul, Jeremiah Meagher, £300; Oporto, Edwin Johnston, £500; Loanda, Geo. Brand, vice-consul, £50; St. Michael (Azores) T. C. Hunt, consul, £400; Fayal, J. Minchin, vice-consul, £100; Terciera, J. Read, vice-consul, £100. Of the officers at Madeira and Cape Verds, (Portuguese possessions) due mention will be made under those heads. The Portuguese diplomatic and consular staff in England consists of:—Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, Count de Lavradrio, 12, Gloucester Place, Portman Square; secretary of legation, Chevalier Pinto de Soveral; attachés, E. F. de la Figaniere, J. C. Stone, and Geo. Manders; consul-general, F. J. Vanzeller, 5, Jeffrey Square, St. Mary Axe; consuls: Liverpool, Almeida Campos; Bristol, Ant. B. de Mascarenhas; Cork, Geo. Manders.
[33]A Sketch of Madeira; containing Information for the Traveller, or Invalid Visitor. ByEdward Vernon Harcourt, Esq. With Sketches by Lady Susan Vernon Harcourt.—London; John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1851.
[33]A Sketch of Madeira; containing Information for the Traveller, or Invalid Visitor. ByEdward Vernon Harcourt, Esq. With Sketches by Lady Susan Vernon Harcourt.—London; John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1851.
[34]You must not look for many pretty faces in Madeira after the age of thirteen: amongst the upper classes inertness, and amongst the lower, hard work, reduce the standard of beauty. The upper class of women are hardly ever seen in the streets, save on their road to mass, or when going to pay a visit; on these occasions all the jewels, plate, and ribbons, of apparently very ancient families, are to be seen in full display. The ladies generally live on their balconies, watching passers-by. The English ladies, going to church draw forth many fair beholders and critics, and on Sundays the balconies are lined with native fashion. The glory of the Madeira women is their hair, which is of the richest growth and blackest hue, and their eyes, which are dark and bright.—Harcourt.
[34]You must not look for many pretty faces in Madeira after the age of thirteen: amongst the upper classes inertness, and amongst the lower, hard work, reduce the standard of beauty. The upper class of women are hardly ever seen in the streets, save on their road to mass, or when going to pay a visit; on these occasions all the jewels, plate, and ribbons, of apparently very ancient families, are to be seen in full display. The ladies generally live on their balconies, watching passers-by. The English ladies, going to church draw forth many fair beholders and critics, and on Sundays the balconies are lined with native fashion. The glory of the Madeira women is their hair, which is of the richest growth and blackest hue, and their eyes, which are dark and bright.—Harcourt.
[35]One of these traditions is very gracefully and attractively told by Mr. Charles Knight, in his agreeable volumes, published by Murray, a couple of months back, and entitled ‘Once upon a Time.’
[35]One of these traditions is very gracefully and attractively told by Mr. Charles Knight, in his agreeable volumes, published by Murray, a couple of months back, and entitled ‘Once upon a Time.’
[36]Lodgings in Madeira are plentiful and good. For a family, the most comfortable plan is to take aQuinta, that is to say, a house with a garden, standing in the suburbs of the town. The price asked for the season of six months varies according to their size, from £50 to £200. In such cases the tenant is supplied with everything but plate and house linen. For single persons the boarding-houses are least troublesome, as well as most economical: a bed-room, sitting-room, attendance, and board are obtained there for fifty dollars, or £10 8s.4d.a month. These houses are conducted on a liberal scale, and every English comfort is provided. If aQuintais taken, a supply of servants, board, plate and linen, may be procured at a given rate. It is inconceivable what annoyances you are saved by such an arrangement; besides the endless impositions practised upon the ignorance of foreigners by servants and tradesmen, it is no small luxury to be able to pay a given sum down monthly, instead of the interminable daily payments which the ready money system of Madeira requires. Plate, furniture, pianofortes, saddles, guns, and, in fact, any things that are brought out asluggage, are allowed to pass through the Custom House free of charge, on the bond of some resident householder being given that the owner of the property will export it in eighteen months. Portuguese servants may be hired for house and kitchen work at the rate of about from four to six dollars per month for the former, and from six to eight dollars for the latter, service. Those who are content with a plain table, average honesty, and moderate attention, have no reason to be dissatisfied. Provisions of all sorts are cheap. English bread, which is sold at 2½d.the pound, is the dearest article of food; the quality of it, however, is excellent. Mutton, which is an indifferent meat, fetches from 3½d.to 4d.a pound; beef, which is good, from 3½d.to 4d.; and veal, from 4d.to 5d.Fowls may be purchased at from 10d.to 1s.3d.a couple. The markets are held at daybreak, and all the meat, the best fish, and best fruits are brought at that time. Tea, soap, and tobacco are contraband, but the Custom House is not inexorable. A common English wardrobe, with the addition of a few lighter articles, and a waterproof covering for the mountains, suffice for clothing.—Harcourt.
[36]Lodgings in Madeira are plentiful and good. For a family, the most comfortable plan is to take aQuinta, that is to say, a house with a garden, standing in the suburbs of the town. The price asked for the season of six months varies according to their size, from £50 to £200. In such cases the tenant is supplied with everything but plate and house linen. For single persons the boarding-houses are least troublesome, as well as most economical: a bed-room, sitting-room, attendance, and board are obtained there for fifty dollars, or £10 8s.4d.a month. These houses are conducted on a liberal scale, and every English comfort is provided. If aQuintais taken, a supply of servants, board, plate and linen, may be procured at a given rate. It is inconceivable what annoyances you are saved by such an arrangement; besides the endless impositions practised upon the ignorance of foreigners by servants and tradesmen, it is no small luxury to be able to pay a given sum down monthly, instead of the interminable daily payments which the ready money system of Madeira requires. Plate, furniture, pianofortes, saddles, guns, and, in fact, any things that are brought out asluggage, are allowed to pass through the Custom House free of charge, on the bond of some resident householder being given that the owner of the property will export it in eighteen months. Portuguese servants may be hired for house and kitchen work at the rate of about from four to six dollars per month for the former, and from six to eight dollars for the latter, service. Those who are content with a plain table, average honesty, and moderate attention, have no reason to be dissatisfied. Provisions of all sorts are cheap. English bread, which is sold at 2½d.the pound, is the dearest article of food; the quality of it, however, is excellent. Mutton, which is an indifferent meat, fetches from 3½d.to 4d.a pound; beef, which is good, from 3½d.to 4d.; and veal, from 4d.to 5d.Fowls may be purchased at from 10d.to 1s.3d.a couple. The markets are held at daybreak, and all the meat, the best fish, and best fruits are brought at that time. Tea, soap, and tobacco are contraband, but the Custom House is not inexorable. A common English wardrobe, with the addition of a few lighter articles, and a waterproof covering for the mountains, suffice for clothing.—Harcourt.
[37]Two distinct species of finch (Carduelis) appear to have afforded the different varieties of singing bird, familiarly known by this name. The one which is best known in its wild state is theCarduelis canariaof Cuvier, and is very abundant in Madeira, where its characters and habits have been observed with much attention by Dr. Heineken. ‘It builds,’ says this naturalist, ‘in thick, bushy, high shrubs and trees, with roots, moss, feathers, hair, &c.; pairs in February; lays from four to six pale blue eggs; and hatches five, and often six times in the season. It is a delightful songster, with, beyond doubt, much of the nightingale’s and sky-lark’s, but none of the wood-lark’s, song.’—‘A pure wild song from an island canary, at liberty, in full throat, in a part of the country so distant from the haunts of men that it is quite unsophisticated, is unequalled, in its kind, by any thing I have ever heard in the way of bird-music’ The canary-bird was brought into Europe as early as the 16th century, and is supposed to have spread from the coast of Italy, where a vessel, which was bringing to Leghorn a number of these birds, besides its merchandise, was wrecked. As, however, they were males chiefly which were thus introduced, they were for some time scarce; and it is only of late years that their education and the proper mode of treating them have been known.—Brande, 1853.
[37]Two distinct species of finch (Carduelis) appear to have afforded the different varieties of singing bird, familiarly known by this name. The one which is best known in its wild state is theCarduelis canariaof Cuvier, and is very abundant in Madeira, where its characters and habits have been observed with much attention by Dr. Heineken. ‘It builds,’ says this naturalist, ‘in thick, bushy, high shrubs and trees, with roots, moss, feathers, hair, &c.; pairs in February; lays from four to six pale blue eggs; and hatches five, and often six times in the season. It is a delightful songster, with, beyond doubt, much of the nightingale’s and sky-lark’s, but none of the wood-lark’s, song.’—‘A pure wild song from an island canary, at liberty, in full throat, in a part of the country so distant from the haunts of men that it is quite unsophisticated, is unequalled, in its kind, by any thing I have ever heard in the way of bird-music’ The canary-bird was brought into Europe as early as the 16th century, and is supposed to have spread from the coast of Italy, where a vessel, which was bringing to Leghorn a number of these birds, besides its merchandise, was wrecked. As, however, they were males chiefly which were thus introduced, they were for some time scarce; and it is only of late years that their education and the proper mode of treating them have been known.—Brande, 1853.
[38]Brazil, as before stated, was originally so named from its valuable dye-wood, called Braziletto or ‘Cisaljuna Braziletto,’ or Pernambuco, Wood of Saint Martha, or Sipan, according to the place which produces it, and by Linnæus,Cæsalpinia custa, which was for many years the richest dye in Europe, and from which the famous Turkey red colours were produced, rivalling the ancient Tyrian purple, and, like it, passing into oblivion, after vast popularity; for other drugs having been substituted, Brazil wood became comparatively little used. It was a close monopoly of the government, who derived a large revenue from its sale, from £100 a ton upwards being the current price in London, and only 8 years ago 4,500 tons were imported into Great Britain. Brazil timber also possesses qualities not generally known, one of which is mentioned by Sir W. G. Ouseley, and accounts for the infrequency of conflagrations in some of the cities of South America, as compared with what happens in the northern portion of the continent, where fire brigades are among the most prominent institutions of the country, and yet do not by any means prevent the mischief they are meant to guard against. He says:—‘A proof of the incombustible nature of Brazil wood was afforded at this house (the Mangueiras) previous to my arrival at Rio de Janeiro, when it was occupied by Baron Palencia, at that time Russian Minister to the Imperial Court. One night an attempt was made to set fire to the outside door-like shutters of one of the windows, with a view, doubtless, to getting into and robbing the apartments. In the morning was discovered a heap of still smoking, combustible materials, partially consumed, applied to the outside of the shutter, the planks of which were little injured, although their surface was charred, as the fire had been in actual contact with the wood probably for some hours.’ Brazil wood (the dye now so called) is very small sized—sticks, comparatively speaking,—and is not used at all for building purposes, being much too valuable. The ordinary timber of the country is of quite another description.
[38]Brazil, as before stated, was originally so named from its valuable dye-wood, called Braziletto or ‘Cisaljuna Braziletto,’ or Pernambuco, Wood of Saint Martha, or Sipan, according to the place which produces it, and by Linnæus,Cæsalpinia custa, which was for many years the richest dye in Europe, and from which the famous Turkey red colours were produced, rivalling the ancient Tyrian purple, and, like it, passing into oblivion, after vast popularity; for other drugs having been substituted, Brazil wood became comparatively little used. It was a close monopoly of the government, who derived a large revenue from its sale, from £100 a ton upwards being the current price in London, and only 8 years ago 4,500 tons were imported into Great Britain. Brazil timber also possesses qualities not generally known, one of which is mentioned by Sir W. G. Ouseley, and accounts for the infrequency of conflagrations in some of the cities of South America, as compared with what happens in the northern portion of the continent, where fire brigades are among the most prominent institutions of the country, and yet do not by any means prevent the mischief they are meant to guard against. He says:—‘A proof of the incombustible nature of Brazil wood was afforded at this house (the Mangueiras) previous to my arrival at Rio de Janeiro, when it was occupied by Baron Palencia, at that time Russian Minister to the Imperial Court. One night an attempt was made to set fire to the outside door-like shutters of one of the windows, with a view, doubtless, to getting into and robbing the apartments. In the morning was discovered a heap of still smoking, combustible materials, partially consumed, applied to the outside of the shutter, the planks of which were little injured, although their surface was charred, as the fire had been in actual contact with the wood probably for some hours.’ Brazil wood (the dye now so called) is very small sized—sticks, comparatively speaking,—and is not used at all for building purposes, being much too valuable. The ordinary timber of the country is of quite another description.
[39]Of the simultaneousness of these discoveries, Humboldt says:—‘The course of great events, like the results of natural phenomena, is ruled by eternal laws, with few of which we have any perfect knowledge. The fleet which Emanuel, King of Portugal, sent to India, under the command of Pedro Alvarez Cabral, on the course discovered by Gama, was unexpectedly driven on the coast of Brazil on the 22nd April, 1500. From the zeal which the Portuguese had manifested since the expedition of Diaz in 1487, to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope, a recurrence of fortuitous circumstances, similar to those exercised by oceanic currents on Cabral’s ships, could hardly fail to manifest itself. The African discoveries would thus probably have brought about that of America south of the Equator; and thus Robertson was justified in saying that it was decreed in the destinies of mankind that the new continents should be made known to European navigators before the close of the fifteenth century.’
[39]Of the simultaneousness of these discoveries, Humboldt says:—‘The course of great events, like the results of natural phenomena, is ruled by eternal laws, with few of which we have any perfect knowledge. The fleet which Emanuel, King of Portugal, sent to India, under the command of Pedro Alvarez Cabral, on the course discovered by Gama, was unexpectedly driven on the coast of Brazil on the 22nd April, 1500. From the zeal which the Portuguese had manifested since the expedition of Diaz in 1487, to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope, a recurrence of fortuitous circumstances, similar to those exercised by oceanic currents on Cabral’s ships, could hardly fail to manifest itself. The African discoveries would thus probably have brought about that of America south of the Equator; and thus Robertson was justified in saying that it was decreed in the destinies of mankind that the new continents should be made known to European navigators before the close of the fifteenth century.’
[40]It is after this beautiful quarter of the city of Pernambuco that the second vessel of the ocean line of the South American and General Steam Navigation Company was called. Olinda is situated on several hills, clothed with the most luxuriant tropical vegetation, from the midst of which the convents, churches, snow-white cathedral, and numerous private residences, mostly of the same colour, are seen to great effect, though, on a near approach, in a sadly decayed state. Olinda, however, may be regarded in something of the light of an East End to St. Antonio, the West End, or official quarter, where are situate the principal governmental departments and offices; while Recife is the actual place of business, and where all the foreign merchants are located. The value of the exports from Pernambuco annually exceeds a million and a half sterling; and that of the imports from England is about £800,000.
[40]It is after this beautiful quarter of the city of Pernambuco that the second vessel of the ocean line of the South American and General Steam Navigation Company was called. Olinda is situated on several hills, clothed with the most luxuriant tropical vegetation, from the midst of which the convents, churches, snow-white cathedral, and numerous private residences, mostly of the same colour, are seen to great effect, though, on a near approach, in a sadly decayed state. Olinda, however, may be regarded in something of the light of an East End to St. Antonio, the West End, or official quarter, where are situate the principal governmental departments and offices; while Recife is the actual place of business, and where all the foreign merchants are located. The value of the exports from Pernambuco annually exceeds a million and a half sterling; and that of the imports from England is about £800,000.
[41]Few spots in the New World are more indebted to nature than the environs, all possible combinations of scenery being included in one magnificent perspective. One of the best views is from the Corcovado Mountain, which although upwards of 3,000 feet in height, can be ascended on horseback. Like most mountains around, it is rather a rock, or titanic monolith, than a mountain, and it may be compared with the gnomon of a gigantic sun-dial; and, in fact, its shadow in particular localities supplies the place of a parish clock. Its sides are still in great part covered with forest and ‘matta,’ or jungle, notwithstanding numerous fires by which it has been devastated, the immediate result of the last being a deficiency in the supply of water to parts of the capital, for the destruction of trees here, as elsewhere, causes a scarcity of the aqueous element, and the springs which rise on and around this mountain feed the conduits and aqueducts that convey that fluid into Rio. From the summit may be seen the whole extent of the harbour and city; the Organ Mountains in the distance, several lakes along the coast, a wide expanse of ocean, and innumerable ravines and spurs of the mountain clothed with richest foliage. The most remarkable, however, of all the mountains near the capital, is the Gavia, with a flattened summit, sometimes called by the English the Table Mountain, in Portuguese, the ‘square topsail,’ to which it bears a resemblance. It is reputed to be inaccessible, at least it has not yet, as far as can be ascertained, been ascended. Opening into the outer harbour is Botafogo Bay, a short distance from the capital, where many foreign merchants reside to enjoy the cool sea breezes, and where the buildings are of a superior description, with beautiful gardens attached, many being luxuriantly planted with oranges and lemons, bananas, pomegranates, palm trees, and a vast variety of shrubs and vegetables peculiar to Brazil, including the universal cabbage plant in great profusion. The aqueduct, which is passed in several places in the ascent of the Corcovado, is a well-built and striking object, crossing several streets of Rio, and conveying excellent water from the heights of that mountain to the different fountains in the town.
[41]Few spots in the New World are more indebted to nature than the environs, all possible combinations of scenery being included in one magnificent perspective. One of the best views is from the Corcovado Mountain, which although upwards of 3,000 feet in height, can be ascended on horseback. Like most mountains around, it is rather a rock, or titanic monolith, than a mountain, and it may be compared with the gnomon of a gigantic sun-dial; and, in fact, its shadow in particular localities supplies the place of a parish clock. Its sides are still in great part covered with forest and ‘matta,’ or jungle, notwithstanding numerous fires by which it has been devastated, the immediate result of the last being a deficiency in the supply of water to parts of the capital, for the destruction of trees here, as elsewhere, causes a scarcity of the aqueous element, and the springs which rise on and around this mountain feed the conduits and aqueducts that convey that fluid into Rio. From the summit may be seen the whole extent of the harbour and city; the Organ Mountains in the distance, several lakes along the coast, a wide expanse of ocean, and innumerable ravines and spurs of the mountain clothed with richest foliage. The most remarkable, however, of all the mountains near the capital, is the Gavia, with a flattened summit, sometimes called by the English the Table Mountain, in Portuguese, the ‘square topsail,’ to which it bears a resemblance. It is reputed to be inaccessible, at least it has not yet, as far as can be ascertained, been ascended. Opening into the outer harbour is Botafogo Bay, a short distance from the capital, where many foreign merchants reside to enjoy the cool sea breezes, and where the buildings are of a superior description, with beautiful gardens attached, many being luxuriantly planted with oranges and lemons, bananas, pomegranates, palm trees, and a vast variety of shrubs and vegetables peculiar to Brazil, including the universal cabbage plant in great profusion. The aqueduct, which is passed in several places in the ascent of the Corcovado, is a well-built and striking object, crossing several streets of Rio, and conveying excellent water from the heights of that mountain to the different fountains in the town.
[42]The only publication relative to Brazil that has appeared since I left England, or at least that I have seen since my return, is one which, though it touches but lightly on the country, as might be expected in ‘A Sketcher’s Tour Round the World,’ [by Mr. Robert Elwes], contains some of the best word-painting of Brazilian city life anywhere to be met with. The following description, for instance, will be readily recognized as most just by all who have been long in the capital; and the concluding passage in particular, I fear, is but too applicable:—‘The town of Rio Janeiro (its proper name is St. Sebastiano) is the largest and best in South America, and the population about equals that of Liverpool. It is laid out in regular squares: the streets are narrow, which, at first sight, seems objectionable to an Englishman, but he soon finds that it affords protection from the scorching sun; and the thoroughfares are tolerably well-paved and lighted, and havetrottoirsat the sides. To obviate the inconvenience arising from the narrowness of the streets, carriages are only allowed to go one way, up one street and down the next, and a hand is painted up on the corners to show which way the traffic is to flow. The best street, Rua d’Ouvidor, is nearly all French, so that one can almost fancy oneself in the Palais Royal; and nearly everything that is to be found in London or Paris may be bought in Rio. Many English merchants have houses in the city, but most of the shopkeepers are French; and this proves a perfect blessing to visitors, for a Brazilian shopman is so careless and indolent, that he will hardly look for anything in his stores, and will often say he has not got the article asked for, to save himself the trouble of looking for it. The best native shops are those of the silversmiths, who work pretty well, and get a good deal of custom, for Brazilians and blacks revel in ornament, often wearing silver spurs and a silver-hafted knife though perhaps they may not have any shoes to their feet. The Brazilians are very fond of dress; and though it seems so unsuitable for the climate, wear black trowsers and an evening suit to walk about the streets in. Strangers will find no curiosities in Rio Janeiro except the feather flowers, which are better here than in Madeira, and fetch a higher price. A Frenchwoman, who employs a number of girls of all complexions in her business, is the principal manufacturer. They are made (or ought to be) entirely of undyed feathers, the best being those of a purple, copper, or crimson colour, from the breasts and heads of humming-birds. One of these wreaths has a beautiful effect, and reflects different-coloured light. The wing cases of beetles are also used, and glitter like precious stones. Madame has her patterns from Paris, so the wreaths are generally in good style and newest fashion. The worst shops are kept by English, and this will be found a general rule in these foreign towns. The merchants are good and honest; but if one wishes to be well taken in, go to a shop kept by an Englishman.’
[42]The only publication relative to Brazil that has appeared since I left England, or at least that I have seen since my return, is one which, though it touches but lightly on the country, as might be expected in ‘A Sketcher’s Tour Round the World,’ [by Mr. Robert Elwes], contains some of the best word-painting of Brazilian city life anywhere to be met with. The following description, for instance, will be readily recognized as most just by all who have been long in the capital; and the concluding passage in particular, I fear, is but too applicable:—
‘The town of Rio Janeiro (its proper name is St. Sebastiano) is the largest and best in South America, and the population about equals that of Liverpool. It is laid out in regular squares: the streets are narrow, which, at first sight, seems objectionable to an Englishman, but he soon finds that it affords protection from the scorching sun; and the thoroughfares are tolerably well-paved and lighted, and havetrottoirsat the sides. To obviate the inconvenience arising from the narrowness of the streets, carriages are only allowed to go one way, up one street and down the next, and a hand is painted up on the corners to show which way the traffic is to flow. The best street, Rua d’Ouvidor, is nearly all French, so that one can almost fancy oneself in the Palais Royal; and nearly everything that is to be found in London or Paris may be bought in Rio. Many English merchants have houses in the city, but most of the shopkeepers are French; and this proves a perfect blessing to visitors, for a Brazilian shopman is so careless and indolent, that he will hardly look for anything in his stores, and will often say he has not got the article asked for, to save himself the trouble of looking for it. The best native shops are those of the silversmiths, who work pretty well, and get a good deal of custom, for Brazilians and blacks revel in ornament, often wearing silver spurs and a silver-hafted knife though perhaps they may not have any shoes to their feet. The Brazilians are very fond of dress; and though it seems so unsuitable for the climate, wear black trowsers and an evening suit to walk about the streets in. Strangers will find no curiosities in Rio Janeiro except the feather flowers, which are better here than in Madeira, and fetch a higher price. A Frenchwoman, who employs a number of girls of all complexions in her business, is the principal manufacturer. They are made (or ought to be) entirely of undyed feathers, the best being those of a purple, copper, or crimson colour, from the breasts and heads of humming-birds. One of these wreaths has a beautiful effect, and reflects different-coloured light. The wing cases of beetles are also used, and glitter like precious stones. Madame has her patterns from Paris, so the wreaths are generally in good style and newest fashion. The worst shops are kept by English, and this will be found a general rule in these foreign towns. The merchants are good and honest; but if one wishes to be well taken in, go to a shop kept by an Englishman.’
[43]The Bank, Exchange, Custom House, and Arsenal, (of late years greatly extended,) are in the Rua Direita. Besides these, the chief public edifices are, the Imperial Palace, a plain brick building; the Old Palace, on the shore, used for public offices; a Public Hospital, alluded to elsewhere, erected in 1841; a National Library, with 800,000 printed volumes, and many valuable MSS.; and a well supported Opera House, which has supplied Europe with some very popular performers, especially in the ballet line, as witness that general favourite, Madame Celeste, who came from Rio, in 1830, with her sister Constance, another danseuse, and appeared for the first time in England at Liverpool, in the divertissement in Masaniello, Sinclair being Auber’s hero. The educational establishments are, the Imperial College of Don Pedro II.; the College of St. José; Schools of Medicine and Surgery; Military and Naval Academy; and many Public Schools. It has also many Scientific Institutions; a Museum rich in Ornithology, Entomology, and Mineralogy; and a fine Botanic Garden. Of Churches there are upwards of fifty, not of much external elegance, but mostly sumptuously decorated in the interior.
[43]The Bank, Exchange, Custom House, and Arsenal, (of late years greatly extended,) are in the Rua Direita. Besides these, the chief public edifices are, the Imperial Palace, a plain brick building; the Old Palace, on the shore, used for public offices; a Public Hospital, alluded to elsewhere, erected in 1841; a National Library, with 800,000 printed volumes, and many valuable MSS.; and a well supported Opera House, which has supplied Europe with some very popular performers, especially in the ballet line, as witness that general favourite, Madame Celeste, who came from Rio, in 1830, with her sister Constance, another danseuse, and appeared for the first time in England at Liverpool, in the divertissement in Masaniello, Sinclair being Auber’s hero. The educational establishments are, the Imperial College of Don Pedro II.; the College of St. José; Schools of Medicine and Surgery; Military and Naval Academy; and many Public Schools. It has also many Scientific Institutions; a Museum rich in Ornithology, Entomology, and Mineralogy; and a fine Botanic Garden. Of Churches there are upwards of fifty, not of much external elegance, but mostly sumptuously decorated in the interior.
[44]The inhabitants of Rio Janeiro are fond of carriages, but the specimens generally seen would hardly do for Hyde Park, being chiefly old-fashioned coaches, drawn by four scraggy mules, with a black coachman on the box, and a postillion in jack-boots on the leaders, sitting well back, and with his feet stuck out beyond the mule’s shoulders. The liveries are generally gorgeous enough, and there is no lack of gold lace on the cocked hats and coats; but a black slave does not enter into the spirit of the thing, and one footman will have his hat cocked athwartships, the other fore and aft; one will have shoes and stockings, with his toes peeping through, the other will dispense with them altogether. But the old peer rolls on unconscious, and I dare say the whole thing is pronounced a neat turn-out. The Brazilians are great snuff-takers, and always offer their box, if the visitor is a welcome guest. It is etiquette to take the offered pinch with the left hand. Rapé is the Portuguese for snuff, hence our word rappee. They do not smoke much. The opera was good, the house very large, tolerably lighted, but not so thickly attended as it might be. The ladies look better by candle-light, their great failing being in their complexions, the tint of which may be exactly described by the midshipman’s simile of snuff and butter. The orchestra was good, many of the performers being blacks or mulattos, who are excellent musicians. The African race seem to like music, and generally have a pretty good ear. Both men and women often whistle well, and I have heard the washerwomen at their work whistling polkas with great correctness. I was amused one evening on going out of the opera when it was half over: offering my ticket to a decent-looking man standing near the door, he bowed, but refused it, saying that men with jackets were not allowed in the house.—Elwes.
[44]The inhabitants of Rio Janeiro are fond of carriages, but the specimens generally seen would hardly do for Hyde Park, being chiefly old-fashioned coaches, drawn by four scraggy mules, with a black coachman on the box, and a postillion in jack-boots on the leaders, sitting well back, and with his feet stuck out beyond the mule’s shoulders. The liveries are generally gorgeous enough, and there is no lack of gold lace on the cocked hats and coats; but a black slave does not enter into the spirit of the thing, and one footman will have his hat cocked athwartships, the other fore and aft; one will have shoes and stockings, with his toes peeping through, the other will dispense with them altogether. But the old peer rolls on unconscious, and I dare say the whole thing is pronounced a neat turn-out. The Brazilians are great snuff-takers, and always offer their box, if the visitor is a welcome guest. It is etiquette to take the offered pinch with the left hand. Rapé is the Portuguese for snuff, hence our word rappee. They do not smoke much. The opera was good, the house very large, tolerably lighted, but not so thickly attended as it might be. The ladies look better by candle-light, their great failing being in their complexions, the tint of which may be exactly described by the midshipman’s simile of snuff and butter. The orchestra was good, many of the performers being blacks or mulattos, who are excellent musicians. The African race seem to like music, and generally have a pretty good ear. Both men and women often whistle well, and I have heard the washerwomen at their work whistling polkas with great correctness. I was amused one evening on going out of the opera when it was half over: offering my ticket to a decent-looking man standing near the door, he bowed, but refused it, saying that men with jackets were not allowed in the house.—Elwes.
[45]The population of Rio, on the arrival of the royal family, did not amount to 50,000, but afterwards rapidly augmented; so that in 1815, when declared independent, the number had nearly doubled, and now is estimated at about 400,000, with the suburbs and the provincial capital of Nitherohy, on the opposite shore of the Bay. This increase is partly to be ascribed to the afflux of Portuguese, who have at different times left their country in consequence of the civil commotions which have disturbed its peace, as well as of English, French, Dutch, Germans, and Italians, who, after the opening of the port, settled here, some as merchants, others as mechanics, and have contributed largely to its wealth and importance. These accessions of Europeans have effected a great change in the character of the population, for at the commencement of the century, and for many years afterwards, the blacks and coloured persons far exceeded the whites, whereas now they are reduced to less than half the number of inhabitants. In the aggregate population of the empire, however, the coloured portion is still supposed to be treble the white.
[45]The population of Rio, on the arrival of the royal family, did not amount to 50,000, but afterwards rapidly augmented; so that in 1815, when declared independent, the number had nearly doubled, and now is estimated at about 400,000, with the suburbs and the provincial capital of Nitherohy, on the opposite shore of the Bay. This increase is partly to be ascribed to the afflux of Portuguese, who have at different times left their country in consequence of the civil commotions which have disturbed its peace, as well as of English, French, Dutch, Germans, and Italians, who, after the opening of the port, settled here, some as merchants, others as mechanics, and have contributed largely to its wealth and importance. These accessions of Europeans have effected a great change in the character of the population, for at the commencement of the century, and for many years afterwards, the blacks and coloured persons far exceeded the whites, whereas now they are reduced to less than half the number of inhabitants. In the aggregate population of the empire, however, the coloured portion is still supposed to be treble the white.
[46]Senhor Pereira de Andrade, the Brazilian gentleman referred to in the next note, in the course of his examination before the committee on the 19th of July, 1853, is asked by Sir George Pechell:—‘You stated what must have given very great pleasure to this committee, that you considered Brazil had done its duty with regard to the fulfilment of its treaties, and also that the feeling of the country was generally in favour of employing free labour?’—Andrade answered, there can be no doubt of it. Question.—Do you think that a candidate for election to the Parliament of Brazil would have any chance of being elected if he were in favour of the importation of slaves? Answer.—Certainly not; not a man in Brazil now would dare utter a single word in Parliament in favour of the slave trade. Question.—In short the popular cry would be all against it? Answer.—Yes. All his answers are to the same effect; and upon these answers, as well as those of the other witnesses, the committee made the report adverted to in the adjoining page.
[46]Senhor Pereira de Andrade, the Brazilian gentleman referred to in the next note, in the course of his examination before the committee on the 19th of July, 1853, is asked by Sir George Pechell:—‘You stated what must have given very great pleasure to this committee, that you considered Brazil had done its duty with regard to the fulfilment of its treaties, and also that the feeling of the country was generally in favour of employing free labour?’—Andrade answered, there can be no doubt of it. Question.—Do you think that a candidate for election to the Parliament of Brazil would have any chance of being elected if he were in favour of the importation of slaves? Answer.—Certainly not; not a man in Brazil now would dare utter a single word in Parliament in favour of the slave trade. Question.—In short the popular cry would be all against it? Answer.—Yes. All his answers are to the same effect; and upon these answers, as well as those of the other witnesses, the committee made the report adverted to in the adjoining page.
[47]Those who would fully understand the bearings of this most interesting subject, concerning which an infinite deal of misunderstanding was, I may almost say designedly, propagated in England, so perverse was the determination, in certain quarters, to disbelieve everything that redounded to the credit, and to swallow implicitly all that was supposed to tell to the discredit, of Brazil, will find it fully set forth in the evidence given before the committee on Slave Trade Treaties, which sat in the course of last session, under the chairmanship of Mr. Hume. On that committee were several gentlemen who had been most strenuous in their resistance to all remonstrance on the part of Brazil, against the too often wanton, and almost always violent and irritating, conduct of our cruisers; gentlemen who were incessant in their appeals for vigorous measures on the part of our squadron on the coast, and of our ambassadors at the court, of Brazil; yet the committee so composed reported as follows:—The importation of slaves into Brazil, in ’47, was 56,172: in ’48, 60,000; in ’49, 54,000; but in ’51, it had diminished to 3,287, and in ’52, to 700, of which last importation a considerable portion had been seized by the Brazilian Government. Mr. Consul Porter reported to Viscount Palmerston in ’48, that 74 slave-trade vessels had sailed from Bahia in the year ’47, and 93 in ’48;—that the slave traffic was carried on with great activity; and, as an example, he stated that one vessel, the ‘Andorinha,’ of 80 tons burden, which cost £2,000 sterling, had made eight successful voyages with slaves from the West Coast of Africa, having actually landed at Bahia 3,392 slaves, and received for freight 120 milreis per head, or £40,704 sterling, giving a profit of 800 per cent.; also that towards the end of ’50, and in ’51, stringent orders had arrived at Bahia for the suppression of the trade, and that when he left Bahia in the end of ’51, ‘the slave trade was perfectly suspended.’ He thinks that the British ships alone cannot stop the trade, but that if the Brazilian Government be sincere, it will certainly be put down. Your committee invite the attention of the House to the evidence of Senhor D’Andrade and others, and to the reports of the Brazilian Ministers, for an explanation of the manner in which so great a change has been effected in the Brazils. The speech of the Emperor to the assembly of this year, on the subject of the slave trade; the stringent laws that have been passed, and others that are in progress, by the Brazilian Government against the slave trade; and, above all, the seizure and banishment of some Portuguese merchants, who, were suspected of an intention to renew the trade, convince your committee that the Brazilian Government is sincere, and that the slave trade is actually abolished in the Brazils. Your committee refer to the correspondence of the Earl of Aberdeen with the Brazilian Government, in 1845, to explain the state of the slave question at that time, and the reasons that induced Parliament to pass the 8 and 9 Vict. c. 122. The favourable change which has taken place in the councils and conduct of the Brazilian Government respecting slavery, whether accelerated by the active services of Captain Schomberg or not, may induce Parliament to repeal that Act, as intimated in his Lordship’s letter of the 2d July 1845.—It is to be hoped that this recommendation of the committee will be carried out in the course of the present session.
[47]Those who would fully understand the bearings of this most interesting subject, concerning which an infinite deal of misunderstanding was, I may almost say designedly, propagated in England, so perverse was the determination, in certain quarters, to disbelieve everything that redounded to the credit, and to swallow implicitly all that was supposed to tell to the discredit, of Brazil, will find it fully set forth in the evidence given before the committee on Slave Trade Treaties, which sat in the course of last session, under the chairmanship of Mr. Hume. On that committee were several gentlemen who had been most strenuous in their resistance to all remonstrance on the part of Brazil, against the too often wanton, and almost always violent and irritating, conduct of our cruisers; gentlemen who were incessant in their appeals for vigorous measures on the part of our squadron on the coast, and of our ambassadors at the court, of Brazil; yet the committee so composed reported as follows:—The importation of slaves into Brazil, in ’47, was 56,172: in ’48, 60,000; in ’49, 54,000; but in ’51, it had diminished to 3,287, and in ’52, to 700, of which last importation a considerable portion had been seized by the Brazilian Government. Mr. Consul Porter reported to Viscount Palmerston in ’48, that 74 slave-trade vessels had sailed from Bahia in the year ’47, and 93 in ’48;—that the slave traffic was carried on with great activity; and, as an example, he stated that one vessel, the ‘Andorinha,’ of 80 tons burden, which cost £2,000 sterling, had made eight successful voyages with slaves from the West Coast of Africa, having actually landed at Bahia 3,392 slaves, and received for freight 120 milreis per head, or £40,704 sterling, giving a profit of 800 per cent.; also that towards the end of ’50, and in ’51, stringent orders had arrived at Bahia for the suppression of the trade, and that when he left Bahia in the end of ’51, ‘the slave trade was perfectly suspended.’ He thinks that the British ships alone cannot stop the trade, but that if the Brazilian Government be sincere, it will certainly be put down. Your committee invite the attention of the House to the evidence of Senhor D’Andrade and others, and to the reports of the Brazilian Ministers, for an explanation of the manner in which so great a change has been effected in the Brazils. The speech of the Emperor to the assembly of this year, on the subject of the slave trade; the stringent laws that have been passed, and others that are in progress, by the Brazilian Government against the slave trade; and, above all, the seizure and banishment of some Portuguese merchants, who, were suspected of an intention to renew the trade, convince your committee that the Brazilian Government is sincere, and that the slave trade is actually abolished in the Brazils. Your committee refer to the correspondence of the Earl of Aberdeen with the Brazilian Government, in 1845, to explain the state of the slave question at that time, and the reasons that induced Parliament to pass the 8 and 9 Vict. c. 122. The favourable change which has taken place in the councils and conduct of the Brazilian Government respecting slavery, whether accelerated by the active services of Captain Schomberg or not, may induce Parliament to repeal that Act, as intimated in his Lordship’s letter of the 2d July 1845.—It is to be hoped that this recommendation of the committee will be carried out in the course of the present session.