Chapter VI: Part 6

This, however, was not permitted. In a few minutes, a smart little man, speaking tolerable French, came and told me the _government_ desired my company. I suspected a mistake of the word government for governor, and endeavoured to decline the honour; but no denial could be taken, and the little man, who told me he was secretary to government, accordingly assisted me to dismount, and showed me the way to the palace. The hall was filled with men and horses, like a barrack stable, excepting a corner which served as an hospital for those wounded in the late skirmishes, the groans of the latter mingling uncouthly with the soldiers' cheerful noisy voices. The stairs were so crowded, that we got up with difficulty, and then I found that I was indeed to be confronted with the whole strength of the provisional government. At the end of a long dirty room, that had once been handsome, as the form of the windows and carving of the panels on which there were traces of colour and gilding, indicated, there was an old black hair sofa, on the centre of which I was placed, with Mr. Dance on one side, and Mr. Glennie on the other; by Mr. Dance sat the little secretary, and next to him our interpreter, in old-fashioned high-backed chairs; the rest of the furniture of the room consisted of nine seats of different sizes and forms, placed in a semicircle fronting the sofa, and on each of these sat one of the members of the junta of the provisional government, who act the part of senators or generals, as the occasion may require. To each of these I was introduced; the names of Albuquerque, Cavalcante, and Broderod, struck me, but I heard imperfectly, and forget most of them: some wore handsome military coats, others the humbler dress of farmers. They politely told me they would not read the letter while I was waiting below, but as soon as we were seated, the secretary read it aloud. Instead of taking any notice of its contents, the secretary began a long discourse, setting forth the injustice of the Portuguese governor and government towards Brazil in general, and the Pernambucans in particular; that in order to resist that injustice, they had formed the present respectable government, pointing to the junta, without intending the least detriment to the rights of the king. That surely they could not be called rebels, as they marched under the royal flag of Portugal; but Luis do Rego might be reasonably stigmatised as such, for he had fired on that banner. He then went off into a long harangue upon the general principles of government; but as I understood little of the language, much of it was lost upon me, as well as on my companions; but I have no doubt that it served to impress the respectable junta with a higher idea of their secretary's understanding and eloquence: altogether, the speech reminded me of some of the best written of the Carbonari addresses of Italy; and there was something in the air, manner, and scene, not unlike what one imagines of the Barraca meetings of those ill-guided, misused people.[54] We then talked a great deal in French to the secretary, who repeated every word to the respectable junta, and at length got him to attend to a proposal for releasing our linen, and another for supplying the ship with fresh provisions. We had been paying forty dollars per bullock in the town; they agreed that their price should not exceed ten, if we sent boats to the Rio Doce, or Paratije[55] for them. This is the mouth of a small stream on the northside of Olinda. And I must not omit to mention, that they offered to allow us to take off fresh provisions for our English or French friends in the town.

[Note 54: I regret exceedingly that I was then so ignorant of the language. I have since learned that there were many causes of particular grievance in this province. I do not mean to speak disrespectfully of the popular meetings of Brazil; they had all in view the best objects, national independence and civil liberty under reformed laws. The first object has been secured to them by their constitutional emperor, the last is growing up under his government; time only can perfect it. Happy would it have been for Italy, if its popular meetings had possessed the mild character of those of Brazil, and still happier, had they found in their prince a defender and protector.]

[Note 55: At Rio Doce, Brito Freire and Pedro Jaques landed to assist Vieyra in the recovery of Pernambuco. See p. 25. of the Introduction.]

The junta was extremely anxious to learn if there was a probability of England's acknowledging the independence of Brazil, or if she took part at all in the struggle; and many were the questions, and very variously were they shaped, which the secretary addressed to us on that head. They are of course violent in their language concerning Luis do Rego, in proportion as he has done his military duty, in keeping them at bay with his handful of men: and like all oppositions they can afford to reason upon general principles, because they have not to feel the hindrances of action, and the jarring of private interests in the disposal and fulfilment of office.

I was sitting opposite to one of the windows of the council-room, and had been remarking for some time, that the sun was getting very low, and, therefore, rose to go, having received a note from the secretary, ordering the officers at their advanced posts to offer no hindrance to the passing of any thing belonging to His British Majesty's frigate, Doris. But we were not suffered to depart without a hearty invitation to sup and spend the night: and a stirrup-cup (a huge glass) was brought, and a bottle of wine, with about half as much water, poured into it; it was then handed to me to begin, and all fourteen received it in turn. By this time the guard was drawn out, the band played the national hymn, to which we all listened bare-headed, and so we mounted among those wild-looking men, in that strange, yet lovely landscape, just as the evening mist began to veil the lower land, and the bright red evening sun to gild the topmost branches of the forest.

Our journey home was much more rapid than our journey out. The evening was cool, and the horses eager to return; but we did not reach Mr. S.'s till two hours after sunset, when we found that, after the party had waited till six o'clock, Captain Graham had insisted on their dining. The governor was uneasy, and offered to send a party of Caçadores in search, as he kindly said, of me,--but this, of course, was refused; the captain assuring his excellency, that if the patriots detained his lieutenant, he would take him back with his own men, and that as to me, while I was with my two companions, he had not the least fear concerning me. We were accompanied by the same officer, who had been our companion on the latter part of the ride to head-quarters, back almost to the town lines; and when we told this to the governor, he was sorry we did not know his name, that in case he should ever have it in his power to show him kindness, he might do so. A pleasant chat on the adventures of our ride, a hearty supper, and a little concert closed the day, which, upon the whole, was to me a most agreeable one.

_Thursday, 4th._--Received Madame do Rego, one of her daughters, Miss S., and several gentlemen, on board. Most of the party were sea-sick, from the rolling of the ship, caused by the heavy swell at the anchorage. They were, however, highly charmed with their visit, particularly with the fireworks with which we saluted the ladies, who had never been on board a British frigate before, on their departure.

_Friday, 5th._--According to the agreement made with the patriot officers, on Wednesday, one launch and the second cutter went to Rio Doce to receive bullocks and other provisions. The officers and men were most kindly received, and returned with many presents of fresh stock and vegetables, which the patriots forced upon them. A military band attended them on landing, and conducted them to the place of meeting with the chiefs.

Messrs. Biddle and Glennie, being on shore surveying, near Cabo de Sant Augustin[56], were detained as prisoners for a few hours, by a patriot detachment; but, as it appeared to be only for the purpose of obtaining money, and done by some subaltern, no notice was taken of it.

[Note 56: The easternmost land of South America. It has two little harbours, for small vessels, each of which is defended by a small fort, and has a celebrated chapel to our Lady of Nazareth.]

_Saturday, 6th._--The frigate got under weigh to take a cruize, and if possible find a quieter anchorage. Mr. Dance with a party went for more provisions, to Rio Doce. The surf at the landing place was so high, that they were obliged to get into canoes, and leave the boats grappled at some distance from the beach. A guard of honour and military band attended them, as on the former day, and they were, moreover, pressed to dine with the commander of the post, which they gladly did. The dining-room was a long hut, built of wood and plaited palm leaves. In the centre, was a long table spread with a clean and very handsome cloth. The few chairs the place afforded were appropriated to the strangers, and the rest of the company stood during the meal. To the strangers, also, were given the spoons and forks, but the want of them did not appear to incommode the Brazilians. To each person a small basin of good beef broth, _bien dorée_, was served, and for the rest every man put his hand in the dish. Two principal messes occupied the centre of the table, one, a platter, containing a quantity of mandioc flour, raw; and the other a pile of fish, dressed with oil, garlic, and pimento. Each person began by stirring a quantity of the flour into his broth, till it acquired the consistence of brose, and then helping himself to the fish, which was cut up in convenient pieces, dipped it into the brose, and eat it with his fingers. Around the two principal dishes, were others of a most savoury nature,--eels fried with sweet herbs, shellfish stewed with wine and pimento, and others of the same kind. Into these also each man put his hand indiscriminately, and dipping his morsel into his basin, set our officers the example of eating that substitute for wheaten bread, and of swallowing, without regard to neatness or order, all manner of messes, mixed together, and touched by all hands. After dinner, a slave handed round a silver basin, with water and towels, after which a number of toasts were given, and the entertainment concluded with vivas, when the guard and band attended the officers to the boats, where the bullocks were ready to embark, and slaves to carry the English through the surf to the canoes, which conveyed them to the boats. On their return, I saw for the first time, the pitanga, a berry of which an excellent preserve is made; it grows upon a beautiful shrub, scarcely to be distinguished, either in flower or leaf, from the broad-leaved myrtle; the berry is as large as a filbert, and divided and coloured like the large red love-apple. Mr. Dance brought me, also, a beautiful green paroquet, the tamest, loveliest thing, with his emerald coat, and sparkling eye, I ever saw.[57]

[Note 57: All the parrot tribe in Brazil is beautiful: but neither parrots nor parroquets talk well. However, no slave ship comes from Africa without a grey parrot or two; so that in the towns they are almost as numerous as the native birds, and much more noisy, for they talk incessantly.]

_Sunday, 7th._--We continued to cruize opposite to Olinda and Recife, and alarmed some of our friends on shore, by sailing round the English bank, a thing hitherto believed impossible, for so large a ship.

_Monday, 8th._--We find to-day, on anchoring, that terms have been entered into with the patriots, by which their deputies are to be in the council, and take an equal share in the administration, and on the other hand, they are to withdraw the investing troops, and leave Luis do Rego at the head of the military department, until the arrival of the next despatches from Lisbon. These pacific measures were brought about by the Paraiban deputies whom we met on Wednesday.

_Tuesday, 9th._--Mr. Dance, Mr. Glennie, and I, were deputed to take charge of a large party of midshipmen, who had not been able before to take a run on shore, to spend the day on Cocoa-nut Island, which lies a good way up the harbour, and within the reef of Pernambuco. As we sailed along the rock, we observed that it is covered with echini, polypii, barnacles, limpets, and crusted with white bivalves less than oysters or cockles, yet containing a fish not unlike the latter in appearance, and the former in flavour. We had not exactly calculated the effect of the tide so far up the harbour as Cocoa-nut Island, consequently we got aground in the outer channel, at a considerable distance from the shore. The sailors pushed me over one flat bank in the gig, and then carried me to the beach; the midshipmen waded, and the officers and boats with the crews, went in search of a deeper passage, where they might approach with our provisions. Meantime the boys and I had full leisure to examine the island. It is perfectly flat and covered with white sand; the shore scattered with fragments of shells and coral. As its name imports, it is one grove of cocoa-nut trees, excepting where the present occupant has cleared space for a market-garden and fishponds. These last are very extensive; and as they secure a supply of fish at times when the rough seas of the outer roads prevent the canoes from going out, they have answered extremely well to the speculator. The garden produces European as well as Brazilian vegetables, in great perfection: Fruit-trees also thrive very well.[58] In the cuts for the fishponds I observed below the sand, a rich black earth, full of decayed vegetables, which probably renders this apparently sandy land, so fertile. The ponds were half covered with the white water-lily, and some other aquatic plants of the country. The whole island abounds in gay shrubs and gaudy flowers[59], where the humming-bird, here called the _beja flor_ or kiss-flower, with his sapphire wings and ruby crest, hovers continually, and the painted butterflies vie with him and his flowers in tints and beauty. The very reptiles are beautiful here. The snake and the lizard are singularly so, at least in colour. We found a very large rough caterpillar, each hair or prickle of which is divided into five or six branches; the rings of its body are scarlet, yellow, and brown; and the country people believe that it hurts the udders of cows, and prevents their giving milk, if it does not actually suck them. They are therefore very unpopular here, because the whole island that is not garden-ground is pasture, and supplies a great deal of the milk for the market of Recife.

[Note 58: All the orange and lemon tribe, papaws, cashew nuts, melons and gourds, pomegranates, guavas, &c.]

[Note 59: The Madagascar perriwinkle is the most common, many parasitic plants, and almost all the papilionaceous and the bell-shaped creepers: the passion flowers also are common.]

While we were endeavouring to forget our hunger by examining the island, and drinking cocoa-nut juice, and wondering at many an ordinary thing, though new to young untravelled eyes, and such were those of most of the party, our boats were taking a circuitous track, and at length at ten o'clock landed our provisions, when we made a hearty breakfast, sitting on a sail spread under the palm shade. The elder boys with their guns, then accompanied Mr. Dance and the captain of a merchant vessel, who volunteered to act as Cicerone, to shoot; and the younger ones staid with me to collect flowers, gather vegetables, and with the assistance of the boats' crews, to superintend the preparations for dinner. At four o'clock the sportsmen returned, bringing red-crested woodpeckers, finches of various hues, humming-birds, black and yellow pies, and others of gay plumage and delicate shape, quite new to us all. A merrier party certainly never met, but the best of the expedition was to come. The tide was now favourable; and we determined to do a spirited thing, and instead of going all the way down the harbour, which would have kept us out beyond the time allowed us, we ran through a passage in the reef called Mother Cary's passage, because few things but the birds think of swimming there. The merchant-boat went first, our gig next, and as I sat in the stern of the large boat that was to follow, it was beautiful, but something fearful, to see them dash through that boiling surf between the rocks and rise over the wave secure beyond it, nor was the sensation less mixed when we followed. There is at all times something triumphant in the sensation of sailing over the waters; but when they are roughened by storms, or rendered fearful by rocks or shoals, the triumph approaches to the sublime, and in it there is a secret dread, though not of ocean, and a raising of the soul to him who made the ocean, and gave man mind to master it. I am not ashamed to own, that as I looked round on my young charge, when Mr. Dance whispered "sit still and say nothing," and then stepping to the bow of the boat called aloud to the helmsman, "steady!" I had a moment, though but a moment, of exquisite anxiety. But we were through in an instant, and soon alongside of the frigate, where we were praised for doing what few had done before, and having shown the possibility of doing that safely, which at some future time it might be of importance to know could be done at all.

_Wednesday, 10th._--We went on shore early for the first time since the armistice. The guns are removed from the streets and a few of the shops are re-opened; the negroes are no longer confined within doors, and the priests have reappeared; their broad hats and ample cloaks give them an importance among the crowd, which now is busy and active, and seemingly intent on redeeming the time lost to trade by the siege. I was struck by the great preponderance of the black population. By the last census, the population of Pernambuco, including Olinda was seventy thousand, of which not above one third are white: the rest are mulatto or negro. The mulattoes are, generally speaking, more active, more industrious, and more lively than either of the other classes. They have amassed great fortunes, in many instances, and are far from being backward in promoting the cause of independence in Brazil. Few even of the free negroes have become very rich. A free negro, when his shop or garden has repaid his care, by clothing him and his wife each in a handsome black dress, with necklace and armlets for the lady, and knee and shoe buckles of gold, to set off his own silk stockings, seldom toils much more, but is quite contented with daily food. Many, of all colours, when they can afford to purchase a negro, sit down exempt from further care. They make the negro work for them, or beg for them, and so as they may eat their bread in quiet, care little how it is obtained.

The European Portuguese, are extremely anxious to avoid intermarriage with born Brazilians, and prefer giving their daughters and fortunes to the meanest clerk of European birth, rather than to the richest and most meritorious Brazilian. They have become aware of the prodigious inconvenience, if not evil, they have brought on themselves by the importation of Africans, and now no doubt, look forward with dread to the event of a revolution, which will free their slaves from their authority, and, by declaring them all men alike, will authorise them to resent the injuries they have so long and patiently borne.

_Thursday, 11th._--As every thing seems quietly settled between the royalist and patriot chiefs, we are preparing to take leave of Pernambuco, and it is not without regret, for we have been kindly treated by the Portuguese, and hospitably received by our own countrymen. We went on shore to provide necessaries and comforts for our farther voyage. Among the latter I bought some excellent sweetmeats[60], which are made in the interior, and brought to market in neat little wooden kegs, each containing six or eight pounds. It is astonishing to see the weight brought from two and three hundred miles' distance, by the small and slight but very swift horses of the country. The baggage horses are not shod any more than those for riding: the latter are almost universally trained to a kind of running pace, easy in itself, but not very agreeable at first, to those accustomed to English horses. To-day I saw and tasted the jerked beef, _charqui_, of Spanish South America. It appears, when hanging in bales at the shop-doors, like bundles of thick ragged leather. It is prepared by cutting the flesh in wide strips, clean off the bones, slightly salting, pressing, and drying in the air. In this state it might well have served for saddle-cloths to the Buccaneers, as tradition says they dressed their meat under their saddles. However that may be, the beef is good. Here the common mode of using it is to cut it in small squares, and boil it in the mandioc pottage, which is the principal food of the poorer inhabitants and the slaves.

[Note 60: The convents are, generally speaking, the places where the more delicate preserves are made. Those I bought were of Guava, cashew apple, citron, and lime. The cashew particularly good. They go by the general name of _Doce_.]

After I had ended my marketing, I went to call on a Portuguese family, and as it was the first private Portuguese house I had been in, I was curious to notice the difference between it and the English houses here. The building and general disposition of the apartments are the same, and the drawing-room only differed in being better furnished, and with every article English, even to a handsome piano of Broadwood's; but the dining-room was completely foreign; the floor was covered with painted cloth, and the walls hung round with English prints and Chinese pictures, without distinction of subject or size. At one end of the room was a long table, covered with a glass case, enclosing a large piece of religious wax-work; the whole _præsepia_, ministering angels, three kings, and all, with moss, artificial flowers, shells and beads, smothered in gauze and tiffany, bespangled with gold and silver, San Antonio and St. Christopher being in attendance on the right and left; the rest of the furniture consisted of ordinary chairs and tables, and a kind of beaufet or sideboard: from the ceiling, nine bird-cages were hanging, each with its little inhabitant; canaries, grey finches with a note almost as fine, and the beautiful widow-bird, were the favourites. In larger cages in a passage room, there were more parrots and paroquets than I should have thought agreeable in one house; but they are well-bred birds, and seldom scream all together. We were no sooner seated in the dining-room, than biscuit, cake, wine, and liqueurs, were handed round, the latter in diminutive tumblers; a glass of water was then offered to each, and we were pressed to taste it, as being the very best in Recife; it proceeds from a spring in the garden of the convent of Jerusalem, two miles from town, and the only conduit from that spring leads to the garden of a sister convent here. From the lady, I learned, that the porous jars for cooling water, that we find here, are all made in the neighbourhood of Bahia, there being no manufactory here, except a few coarse cottons for clothing for the slaves. The air and manners of the family we visited, though neither English nor French, were perfectly well bred, and the dress pretty much that of civilised Europe, only that the men wore cotton jackets instead of cloth coats, and were without neck-cloths; when they go out of doors, however, they dress like Englishmen.

Returning from our visit, we met a monk, carried out to be buried by several of his brethren, with candle, book, and bell, and all the solemnities which human feeling has invented to solace its own fears and griefs, under the pretence of honouring the dead, and to which the Romish church has in such cases as these, added all her pageantry. I could not help contrasting it with the burials on the beach of Olinda, and smiling at the vanities that attach themselves even to corruption. "But man, vain man, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, as make the angels weep."

But our horses were awaiting us, and we left our indignation and our pity for the follies of some, and the miseries of others, to enjoy, for the first time since the posts were free, the country air. When we went to Bibiriba, soldiers stopped us to question at every turn; piles of arms, and horses ready accoutred at the door of every considerable residence, showed that military posts had taken place of the pleasures of the country-houses, and accounted for the solitariness of the roads. Now the scene is changed--the paths are crowded with negroes, young and old, in their picturesque, though gaudy dresses, with baskets of fruit, fish, and other provisions, on their heads; little carts, of which we had not before seen one, begin to appear, and the fine oxen which draw them form no bad contrast to the half-starved bullocks of the town. 'Twas a cool evening, and the sun was just low enough to gild the edges of the palms and other tall trees, which shot up with their deep black shadows into the thin pure light, making an effect, that even Titian's landscape pencil has not reached. Our ride extended to Mr. S.'s country-house, which is, I believe, on the same plan with all the others hereabouts, and which I can only compare to an Oriental bungalow; one story very commodiously laid out, a veranda surrounding it, and standing in the midst of a little paddock, part of which is garden ground, and part pasture, generally hedged with limes and roses, and shaded with fruit trees, is the general description of the country sitios about Pernambuco; the difference arising from the taste of the inhabitant, or the situation of the ground, being allowed for. The low rent of these pleasant little gardens is surprising; but it arises in great measure from the indolence and consequent poverty of the holders of original grants of land here: as long as their negroes and estates maintained them, they paid no attention to the particular parts that, being near the town, might have been at all times productive. Now, that sugar and cotton are no longer in such demand, nearly half the fazendas or factories are ruined, and such is become the indolent temper of the people, that rather than seek to redeem their estates, they will take the smallest annuity for a portion.

On our way to the sitio, we stopped at a kind of public-house or venta; it is like an English huckster's, and contains a little of every thing, cloth and candles, fruit and lard, wine and pimento, which are retailed at no very extravagant profit to the poor; the draught wine is really good, being port of excellent quality, without the quantity of brandy which the English market requires. By the time we repassed it on our way home, many a negro was spending his day's savings, and becoming as happy as wine could make him; and many a traveller was regaling himself with bread, garlic, and salt, and preparing to spread his mat, and lie down in the open air for the night. Night within the tropics is always a gayer and more peopled time than with us; the heat of the day detains many within doors all day, and evening and night become the favourite hours for walking. As we returned through Boa Vista we passed many groups enjoying like ourselves the pleasant air, and gazing idly on the reflections of the white houses and waving trees in the water; while the fire flies flitting from bush to bush, seemed like fragments of stars come down to adorn the moonlight.

_Friday, 12th._--- The Prince Royal of Portugal's birth-day. There is a levee at the palace. The company bow first to the governor, then to the Prince's picture, which is placed in the middle of the audience-room, to receive its due honours; and then the _beja mano_, or kiss hands, takes place. The forts and ships saluted; we of course did the same; and the people all dressed and went to mass, as on a holiday. One thing contributed, however, in no small degree to the enjoyment of the day. The troops, which lately arrived from Bahia, re-embarked in order to return. Their whole behaviour had been disorderly, and their drunkenness and riot, during the ten days they were here, had quite disgusted the people; while the disposition they manifested to join the patriots, had rendered them but suspicious auxiliaries to the governor.

_Saturday, 13th._--I took leave of my amiable friends at the palace. Madame do Rego gave me several specimens of amethyst, and the stone called minha nova (like aqua marine), and also a fine piece of gold ore of the province. She told me that Luiz do Rego had sent home many fine minerals from the captaincy, and also some fossils. She described some enormous bones, which may have belonged to the elephant or the mammoth, found at no great distance from Recife in digging a well, and, as far as I could understand, in such soil as I had observed lay under the sand in Cocoa-nut Island.[61]

[Note 61: The Sugar-loaf Hill, in the ridge of Priaca, about eight leagues N.E. of the villa of Penedo, has a lake on its western declivity, where enormous bones have been found; and on the north side there is a fearful cavern.--_Chor. Brazil._]

A great dinner was given to-day, by the merchants, to the captain and officers. The governor, and other persons of dignity in the town, met them; I am told it was a very handsome dinner, that there was plenty of every kind of wine, and that nothing could exceed the friendly politeness of the governor and his party. I had remained at Mr. S.'s, where most of the company visited me after tea; and then we took leave of Pernambuco, where we had received much kindness, and had at least the enjoyment of novelty. The scene at our embarking was very pretty. Our friends went with us to the jetty, and our boats lying in the clear moonshine beneath it, with sailors going up and down preparing for us, the harbour and the shipping doubled by the clear reflection in the still water, heightened and set off the sparkling of the breakers that dashed against the outer fort and light-house. Through these we soon made our way and reached the ship, where I have once more taken possession of my cabin, and put it in order for sea.

We leave Pernambuco, with a firm persuasion that this part of Brazil at least will never again tamely submit to Portugal. Where the firmness and conduct of Do Rego have failed to hold the captaincy in obedience, it will be in vain for other governors to attempt it, particularly so long as the state of the mother country is such as that she can neither fight with nor for her colonies; and while she considers them only as taxable parts of her states, that are bound to support her in her weakness.[62]

[Note 62: We left Pernambuco on the 14th Oct. 1821. Before Nov. 18th of the same year, the Cortes of Lisbon had recalled Luiz do Rego and all the European troops; had repented of that recal, and had countermanded it, and sent reinforcements. But by the time they arrived, the captain-general had embarked on board a French ship for Europe; and the junta, after provisioning the ships with the troops, forbid them to land, and sent them towards Rio Janeiro.]

_Sunday, Oct. 14th._--We got under weigh after breakfast, and soon lost sight of Pernambuco. All Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we coasted along within sight of the shores of Brazil. They are hilly and very woody, the green of the sloping banks being often interrupted by bright white patches, which seem to be of sand. In the evening of Tuesday the 16th, we anchored in the bay of All Saints, opposite to the town of St. Salvador, commonly called Bahia. It was quite dark before we got in, so that we lost the first entrance-view of that magnificent harbour; but the scattered lights show us the great extent and high situation of the town.

_Wednesday, 17th._--This morning, at day-break, my eyes opened on one of the finest scenes they ever beheld. A city, magnificent in appearance from the sea, is placed along the ridge and on the declivity of a very high and steep hill: the richest vegetation breaks through the white houses at intervals, and beyond the city, reaches along to the outer point of land on which the picturesque church and convent of Sant Antonio da Barre is placed. Here and there the bright red soil shows itself in harmony with the tiling of the houses. The _tracery_ of forts, the bustle of shipping, hills melting in the distance, and the very form of the bay, with its promontories and islands, altogether finish this charming picture; then the fresh sea-breeze gives spirit to enjoy it, notwithstanding its tropical climate.

Early in the day we moved our anchorage closer in-shore; and then, on the invitation of Mr. Pennell, the British consul, we went ashore to spend the day with him. We landed at the arsenal, or rather dock-yard, where there is nothing of the neatness observable in such establishments at home. The first object we saw, however, was a fine 58-gun frigate on the stocks, the model of which I hear connoisseurs praise as beautiful. There is nothing besides the new ship, and some handsome pieces of old brass cannon, worth looking at. Every thing is visibly either suspended or on the decline, and there will probably be no improvement, until the political state of Brazil is a little more settled. We find things here, though not quite so unquiet as at Pernambuco, yet tending the same way.

The street into which we proceeded through the arsenal gate, forms, at this place, the breadth of the whole lower town of Bahia, and is, without any exception, the filthiest place I ever was in. It is extremely narrow, yet all the working artificers bring their benches, and tools into the street: in the interstices between them, along the walls, are fruit-sellers, venders of sausages, black-puddings, fried fish, oil and sugar cakes, negroes plaiting hats or mats, caderas, (a kind of sedan chair,) with their bearers, dogs, pigs, and poultry, without partition or distinction; and as the gutter runs in the middle of the street, every thing is thrown there from the different stalls, as well as from the windows; and there the animals live and feed! In this street are the warehouses and counting-houses of the merchants, both native and foreign. The buildings are high, but neither so handsome nor so airy as those of Pernambuco.

It was raining when we landed; therefore, as the streets leading out of the filthy lower town do not admit of the use of wheeled carriages, on account of the steepness of the ascent, we hired caderas, and found them, if not comfortable, at least commodious. They consist of a cane arm-chair, with a foot-board and a canopy covered with leather; curtains, generally of moreen, with gilt bordering and lined with cotton or linen, are contrived to draw round, or open at pleasure; and the whole is slung by the top to a single pole, by which two negroes carry it at a quick pace upon their shoulders, changing occasionally from right to left.[63]

[Note 63: When Frezier travelled, a cotton hammock with a canopy was used.]

As we ascended from the street, every step brought us in sight of some beautiful scene, generally terminated by the bay and shipping. There is something in the landscape here peculiarly agreeable. The verdure, the wood, the steep banks, and gently sloping lawns, generally opening to the sea or the lake behind the town, have a freshness and amenity that I scarcely remember seeing before. We saw but little of the upper city, but that little was handsome, in our way to the consul's. His house, like those of all the British merchants, is a little way out of town, and is in the suburb Vittoria, which occupies the greater part of a long narrow ridge extending from the town towards Sant Antonio: between it and the town is Fort Pedro, built, I think, originally of mud, by the Dutch. It was faced with stone, on the recovery of Bahia from the Dutch, about the beginning of the last century. We found the Consul and his daughter ready to receive us at their very pleasant garden-house, which literally overhangs the bay,--flowers and fruits mingle their sweets even down to the water's edge,--while

"Seaborn gales their gelid wings expand,
To winnow fragrance round the smiling land."

Eager to seize the opportunity of walking out after our voyage, we accepted Miss Pennell's kind offer, to show us some of the surrounding country before dinner, and accompanied her as far as the church dedicated to N.S. da Graça. It was the first offering of piety, I believe, to Christian worship by a native Brazilian.

When the famous Caramuru was wrecked, together with the Donatory Coutinho, on Itaparica, Coutinho was put to death; but, Caramuru, being beloved by the natives, was spared, and he returned to his old settlement of Villa Velha. His wife, Catherine Paraguaza, who had accompanied him to France, saw an apparition in the camp of the Indians, and believing it to be a real European female, Caramuru followed in the direction his wife pointed out: he discovered, accordingly, in one of the huts, an image of N.S. da Graça; and according to the directions his wife had received from the vision, built and dedicated the church, and bestowed it, and a house by it, on the Benedictines. It was at first of mud, but soon after was built of stone.

_Thursday, 18th._--We rode out before breakfast, through landscape so fine, that I wished for a poet or a painter at every step. Sometimes we went through thick wild wood into bushy hollows; then emerged on clear lawns, sprinkled with palm trees, through which country-houses, farms, and gardens were seen; and from every eminence, the bay, the sea, or the lake, formed part of the scene. Here and there the huge gamela tree[64] stands like a tower, adorned, besides its own leaves, with numberless parasite plants, from the stiff cactus, to the swinging air plant[65]; and the frequent tower of church and monastery soften and improve the features of the country.

[Note 64: The gamela, like the banyan, easily takes root in other trees, and its branches meet together in the same manner. It is the tree of which the canoes of Brazil are made, and serves besides for troughs of various kinds.]

[Note 65: Air-plant or Tillandsia, of which there are several sorts. The Tillandsia Lingulata is the largest, and agrees with Jaquin's plate; the others are different from those described by him, and are much more beautiful.].

Mr. Pennell has most kindly given our young men a general invitation to his house; and accordingly, to-day several of them dined with him, and we had a party in the evening, when some of the ladies played quadrilles, while others danced.

_Friday, 19th._--I accompanied Miss Pennell in a tour of visits to her Portuguese friends. As it is not their custom to visit or be visited in the forenoon, it was hardly fair to take a stranger to see them. However, my curiosity, at least, was gratified. In the first place, the houses, for the most part, are disgustingly dirty: the lower story usually consists of cells for the slaves, stabling &c.; the staircases are narrow and dark; and, at more than one house, we waited in a passage while the servants ran to open the doors and windows of the sitting-rooms, and to call their mistresses, who were enjoying their undress in their own apartments. When they appeared, I could scarcely believe that one half were gentlewomen. As they wear neither stay nor bodice, the figure becomes almost indecently slovenly, after very early youth; and this is the more disgusting, as they are very thinly clad, wear no neck-handkerchiefs, and scarcely any sleeves. Then, in this hot climate, it is unpleasant to see dark cottons and stuffs, without any white linen, near the skin. Hair black, ill combed, and dishevelled, or knotted unbecomingly, or still worse, _en papillote_, and the whole person having an unwashed appearance. When at any of the houses the bustle of opening the cobwebbed windows, and assembling the family was over, in two or three instances, the servants had to remove dishes of sugar, mandioc, and other provisions, which had been left in the best rooms to dry. There is usually a sofa at each end of the room, and to the right and left a long file of chairs, which look as if they never could be moved out of their place. Between the two sets of seats is a space, which, I am told, is often used for dancing; and, in every house, I saw either a guitar or piano, and generally both. Prints and pictures, the latter the worst daubs I ever saw, decorate the walls pretty generally; and there are, besides, crucifixes and other things of the kind. Some houses, however, are more neatly arranged; one, I think belonging to a captain of the navy, was papered, the floors laid with mat, and the tables ornamented with pretty porcelain, Indian and French: the lady too was neatly dressed in a French wrapper. Another house belonging to one of the judges was also clean, and of a more stately appearance than the rest, though the inhabitant was neither richer nor of higher rank. Glass chandeliers were suspended from the roof; handsome mirrors were intermixed with the prints and pictures. A good deal of handsome china was displayed round the room; but the jars, as well as the chairs and tables, seemed to form an inseparable part of the walls. We were every where invited, after sitting a few moments on the sofa, to go to the balconies of the windows and enjoy the view and the breeze, or at least amuse ourselves with what was passing in the street. And yet they did not lack conversation: the principal topic, however, was praise of the beauty of Bahia; dress, children, and diseases, I think, made up the rest; and, to say the truth, their manner of talking on the latter subject is as disgusting as their dress, that is, in a morning: I am told they are different after dinner. They marry very early, and soon lose their bloom. I did not see one tolerably pretty woman to-day. But then who is there that can bear so total a disguise as filth and untidiness spread over a woman?

_Saturday, 20th._--As the charts of this coast hitherto published are very incorrect, the captain asked permission from government to sound and survey the bay: it is refused on the ground of policy; as if it could be policy to keep hidden rocks and shoals, for one's own as well as other people's ships.

I walked through the greater part of the town. The lower part extends much farther than I could see the day I landed; it contains a few churches, one of which, belonging to the monastery of _A concepçaô_, is very handsome, but the smell within is disgusting; the flooring is laid in squares with stone, and within each square there is a panelling of wood of about nine feet by six; under each panel is a vault, into which the dead are thrown naked, until they reach a certain number, when with a little quick-lime thrown in, the wood is fastened down, and then another square is opened, and so on in rotation. From that church, passing the arsenal gate, we went along the low street, and found it widen considerably at three quarters of a mile beyond: there are the markets, which seem to be admirably supplied, especially with fish. There also is the slave market, a sight I have not yet learned to see without shame and indignation[66]: beyond are a set of arcades, where goldsmiths, jewellers, and haberdashers display their small wares, and there are the best-looking shops; but there is a want of neatness, of that art of making things look well, that invites a buyer in England and France. One bookseller's shop, where books are extravagantly dear, exists in the low town, and one other in the ascent to the upper.

[Note 66: Frezier says of Bahia, "Who would believe it? there are shops full of those poor wretches, who are exposed there stark naked and bought like cattle, over whom the buyers have the same power; so that upon slight disgust they may kill them, almost without fear of punishment, or at least treat them as cruelly as they please. I know not how such barbarity can be reconciled to the maxims of religion, which makes them members of the same body with the whites, when they have been baptized, and raises them to the dignity of the sons of God--_all sons of the Most High_.

"I here make this comparison, because the Portuguese are Christians who make a great outward show of religion."--_Voyage to the South Sea_.]

The upper town is most beautifully situated on the ridge between the sea and the fresh water lake, and from its height, and the great slope of most of the streets, it is incomparably cleaner than the port. The cathedral dedicated to St. Salvador is a handsome building, and stands on one side of a square, where the palace, prison, and other public buildings are placed. The finest of these, the Jesuits' college, the marble columns of which came from Europe ready cut, is now converted into a barrack. The most useful is the hospital of Nossa Senhora da Misericordia[67], founded by Juan de Matinhos, whose statue in white marble, with a wig like Sir Cloudesley Shovel's in Westminster Abbey, stands at the first landing-place, and is the ugliest piece of carving I ever saw.

[Note 67: Part of the funds for supporting this and other hospitals is derived from lotteries. See advertisements in the different Bahia newspapers.]

This hospital, besides its use as a refuge for the sick, of whom there are generally about 120, maintains 50 young girls of decent parentage, to whom a suitable education is given, and a dowry of 200 crowns bestowed on them when they marry.[68] The building of the Misericordia is a fair specimen of the style of the convents, public buildings, and more noble houses,--rather handsome than elegant. It surrounds a large area, subdivided into smaller courts; the staircase is of marble, inlaid with coloured stucco, and the sides are lined with tiles of porcelain, so as to form arabesques, often of very pretty design. This is both a cool and a cleanly lining to a wall, particularly for an hospital. The principal rooms are also decorated in the same manner; and many of the fronts and cupolas of the churches are covered with similar tiles, the effect of which is often exceedingly agreeable, when seen among the trees and plainer buildings of the city. The chapel belonging to the hospital is handsome, a little gaudy, however. The ceiling is respectably painted, and was probably the work of an amateur monk of the seventeenth century. The treatment of the sick is humane, and they are well provided with food and other necessaries; but the medical practice, though much improved of late years, is not the most enlightened.

[Note 68: Joaõ de Matos Aguiar, commonly called Joaõ de Matinhos, from his diminutive size, was the founder of this Recolhimento. He bequeathed 800,000 crusadoes for the retired women, 400,000 for the patients, one to each on leaving the hospital, and 400,000, dowry to 38 girls every year, at the period of the foundation, 1716.]

There is a great deal of jealousy of foreigners in the present government, hence I was not able to enter many of the public buildings. The government treasury was one I was desirous to see, but there were objections. The treasury here was formerly considered as subordinate to that of Rio de Janeiro, and accordingly paid a portion of its receipts to bills drawn monthly by the treasurer in the capital, upon this, and those of the other provinces. But since the revolution of the 10th of February, the provisional government has taken upon itself to refuse payment, on the grounds that it is entirely independent of Rio, until the pleasure of the cortes at Lisbon shall be known. The revenue is derived from direct taxes on land and provisions, excise upon exports and imports, and harbour dues. Land is subject to a tax of one-tenth of the whole of its produce, and since the revolution, church lands are under the same law, and the clergy are paid by the government.

The taxes on provisions are annually farmed out to the highest bidder: they are imposed on beef, fresh fish, farinha, and vegetables. Each parish has its separate farmer, who pays the amount of his contract into the treasury, and then makes the most he can of his dues.

The import and export duties are paid at the custom-house, between which and the treasury a monthly settlement takes place.

The port dues for foreign ships are 2000 reals per day, a trifle for the light house, and rather heavy charges for entering, clearing, &c. Portuguese and Brazilian ships pay no anchorage, but are subject to a tonnage.

We ended our perambulation of the town, by going to the opera at night. The theatre[69] is placed on the highest part of the city, and the platform before it commands the finest view imaginable. It is a handsome building, and very commodious, both to spectators and actors. Within it is very large and well laid out, but dirty and in great want of fresh painting. The actors are very bad as such, and little better as singers; but the orchestra is very tolerable. The piece was a very ill-acted tragedy, founded on Voltaire's Mahomed. During the representation, the Portuguese ladies and gentlemen seemed determined to forget the stage altogether, and to laugh, eat sweetmeats, and drink coffee, as if at home. When the musicians, however, began to play the overture to the ballet, every eye and voice was directed to the stage, and a loud call for the national hymn followed, and not till it had been played again and again, was the ballet suffered to proceed. During the bustle occasioned by this, a captain in the army was arrested and hurried out of the pit; some say for picking pockets, others for using intemperate language on politics, when the national hymn was called for. Meantime one of the midshipmen of our party had his sword stolen, adroitly enough, from the corner of the box, yet we perceived nobody enter; so that we conclude a gentleman in regimentals in the next box thought it would suit him, and so buckled it on to go home with.

[Note 69: It was begun by the Conde da Ponte, and finished by the Conde dos Arcos after the arrival of the king in Brazil. It was opened May 13th, 1812.]