Chapter XVI: Part II: , p. 608.) (6)

A war steamer was, by the command of H.M. the Emperor of Brazil, placed at our disposal, to afford us an opportunity of viewing more closely the most beautiful points in the magnificent bay of Rio. There were on board with us the Captain of the Port, Dom Francisco de Perura Pinto, the captains of the Brazilian men-of-war lying in the harbour, as also several members of the Historico-Geographical Institute. A military band enlivened the party by playing national airs during the day. We first visited the south-east part of the bay at the villages of San Domingo and Ponta da Armacao, opposite to Ponta da Aréa, whence steamers, for navigating the bay and adjoining coast, are run by an English company, which employs 667 hands, (of whom 298 are foreigners, 207 natives, and 162 negro slaves). Except a part of the funds advanced by native capitalists, the whole undertaking is carried out by foreigners. England furnishes the engineers and machinery, whilst the requisite timber is brought from Norway and North America. The value of the labour employed during 1856 amounted to nearly £90,000.--We proceeded hence past the islands of Salinas and Honorio, and between the island of Baretto and the eastern shore of the bay, as far as the luxuriant island of Paquetá, on the lovely shores of which we landed. It has a circumference of five miles, and is inhabited by 16,000 persons, who convert shells into chalk; nearly all the houses on shore are chalk-kilns. During the dry season this island is the favourite Sunday resort of the _fluminenses_, as the Rio de Janeirians delight to call themselves. From this sweet spot the steamer carried us to the north side of the bay. In the back-ground, the Organos mountains now appeared in all the majesty of their imposing outline, whilst on one of the projecting ridges, the church San Francisco de Croara forms an extremely picturesque object.

The more the northern portion of the bay is approached, the more romantic becomes the panorama of the mountains: from this point stand out in their full grandeur the Serra da Estrella, the Serra da Tinguá (which is currently believed to be the highest mountain, not merely on the bay, but in Brazil), then the deep valley of Santa Cruz, next to which the mountain-chains of Suaratyba, and the Serra de Iguassoú, rise majestically, melting away into the charming Tejuca chain, the Gavia, and the world-renowned Corcovado, whilst the Sugar Loaf, that gigantic guardian at the entrance of the harbour, splendidly terminates this magnificent amphitheatre.

We passed the largest of the islands in the bay, the Ilha do Governador, which has a circumference of upwards of seven miles, and is inhabited by about a hundred persons chiefly employed in the chalk-kilns, sail-cloth and soap manufactories; and touched at some wild spots that promised a harvest for our naturalists. Here and there, from the deep blue waters, sprang up islands of the most luxuriant vegetation, like tropical idylls of rock and forest, such as the eye marvels to rest upon, but the pen refuses to describe. Indelibly impressed on our minds remains in this respect the lovely islet of Catalán, with its beautiful flowers and palms.

On approaching the capital, towards the east of the bay, passing the island Bom Jesus, with a magnificent Franciscan monastery, and the Ponta do Cajù, with charming country seats, a forest of masts, strikes the eye in bold contrast with the Sugar Loaf in the east, and the Morro de Viracao and the fort Pico in the west, which covers the position of Santa Cruz. Unfortunately we went down, just at this point, to a splendid banquet, etiquette requiring that we should exchange the quarter-deck for the state-room; for in Brazil also, upon such occasions, meals and speechifying play an important part, and greatly prejudice the special object of travel--the enjoyment of nature.

We were not yet done, however, with our excursion. Again we turned towards the beautiful Cove of Jurujuba, where on the shore lay pretty little cottages embowered in the richest foliage, while, through a deep depression, appeared the masts of ships which were still on the bosom of the ocean outside, on the point of entering the harbour. As the vessel steamed in, the scenery changed character at every moment, like a fairy landscape, full of the loveliest, most enchanting glimpses of the surrounding country. At Jurujuba, we landed to visit the _Hospital Maritimo de S. Isabel_, erected in 1853, for the reception of sailors in ill-health of all nations and creeds. It proved of immense utility during the prevalence of epidemics. In the five years of its existence at the period of our visit, there had been admitted nearly 6000 cases of yellow fever.[41] For the excellent management of this fine hospital the utmost credit is due to the physicians in charge, Dr. Bento Maria da Costa, and Dr. José Teixeira da Souza.

[Footnote 41: In the year 1856, 2452 patients were received into the hospital at Jurujuba Cove, of whom 175 died, 2195 were dismissed cured, and 82 remained under treatment. By comparison with former years, the number of sick seemed to have fallen off 13 per cent., while the expenses of management had increased 9 per cent.]

The ground immediately surrounding the hospital has been reclaimed by the hand of man, and transformed into a garden, in which flourish, in solitary majesty, the shady _Aleurites triloba_ and the _Anda Gomesii_, growing in avenues or other regular groups, after all wild vegetation had been cut down. But at the first step beyond, the foot of the wanderer through these solitudes strikes into paths leading through the richest, densest forest scenery Casuarinas (_Anacardium occidentale_), with its luscious pear-shaped fruits, the Indian mango-tree, the various species of Eugenia, so rich in ethereal oil, the Figuera Branca (_ficus doliaria_), the canoe-tree, a gigantic species of _Bombax_, protected by sharp spines, and other lofty forest-children, reach to the very buildings; while, amid the dense underwood that grows unchecked, and a few paces distant only from the dwellings of man, lurk dangerously poisonous snakes, who find here a secure haunt. Within our own experience, as one of the botanists of the Expedition was placing a ladder against a primæval forest tree, the progenitor of numberless scions, he stumbled upon a poisonous Jacaraca, ready to defend from intrusion his accustomed resting-place.

At the north-west entrance of Jurujuba Cove, rises a lofty island, with the appropriate name of Bom Viajem ("a happy voyage"), with its church of the Virgin of the same name, situate on the extreme summit, 400 feet in height. As, during our visit to the hospital, the twilight had crept stealthily on, we returned without further stoppage to Rio; when the company, landing at the usual landing-place of the arsenal, separated, full of the most pleasing impressions, arising from the beautiful scenery enjoyed during the day, and a deep sense of gratitude for the noble hospitality shown us by our amiable hosts.

Another favour was conferred by Drs. de Lagos and Schüch, who formed a fishing-party on a grand scale, which was greatly enjoyed by all, though the gun proved more profitable to our naturalists than rod, line, or net.

As the number of days at our disposal in Rio Janeiro began to diminish, we applied ourselves to seeing the utmost possible with the smallest sacrifice of time. The morning after our excursion on board the Santa Cruz, we attended a sitting of the Chamber of Deputies. The hall, oval in shape, is plainly, but comfortably fitted up. The members sit on benches in a semicircle. Opposite the president stand tables for the ministers of state; at the upper and lower end of the hall are galleries for the public, and one is specially assigned to the diplomatic body. Each member speaks from his place. Their language is very free and their behaviour still more so,--they sometimes carry this so far as not to allow a speaker to proceed; and in screaming, brawling, and violence, they excel even certain members of the late French Chamber of Deputies. There are said to be some very able speakers amongst the Brazilians. The subject of debate was a petition presented to the House for an inquiry into the conduct of a late minister of justice, who was accused of having tyrannically dismissed a government officer in the province of Maranhao. The subject had created great interest in the public mind, and the galleries were crowded to suffocation; we did not remain till the conclusion of the debate, but the minister is said to have justified the proceeding by proving that the officer had allowed himself to be bribed.

On the same day we made an excursion to the Serra da Estrella and Petropolis, a place which has of late excited so much attention in the public journals, since the question of German emigration to Brazil, with its accompaniments of agitations by the Brazilian recruiting agents, began to assume its present remarkable proportions. Though the distance from Rio to Petropolis may be accomplished in four hours, yet three different vehicles are required:--in the first place, a steamer from Rio to the railway-station on the opposite side of the bay, then the railway to Fragosa, and lastly, a carriage to the final destination over an excellent road which runs through the mountains to Petropolis.

This fine work, which was opened in 1848, is unfortunately the only one of its kind in the whole empire,[42] as are likewise the five miles of railway between Mauá and Fragosa; and yet how highly important would railway communication prove from the metropolis to the northern provinces, by means of which the excessive cost of carriage by mules might be so considerably reduced, benefiting alike the landowner and the merchant! As an illustration, the fact may be mentioned, that the cost of transit for an arroba (32 lbs.) of coffee from the coffee district of Vassouras to Rio, a distance of about 50 miles, amounts to from 700 to 800 reis (about 1_s._ 8_d._). The trouble and expense connected with this miserable mode of conveyance, so much enhance the price of some kinds of natural produce, that it does not pay to transport them to the harbour of the capital. Several companies have latterly been projected, and money subscribed for constructing railways in the various provinces of the empire, and a few of these are already under weigh, as, for example, that of Dom Pedro Segundo, which will put the richest provinces in direct communication with Rio, and for which the amount of money required has been entirely subscribed. But in this, as in all other Brazilian enterprises, energy is wanting to make these good intentions bear fruit; and so long as there is not a greater admixture of foreign go-a-head-ativeness in the country, much must remain confined to the mere expression of patriotic wishes. And in this connection, foreign immigration, of which we shall treat further on, will prove of immense importance.

[Footnote 42: This road is to be continued from Petropolis as far as Parahyba; and in various other directions also the building of roads for commercial traffic is being fostered by Government. The Brazilian Government are at the same time turning their attention to improving the existing means of transport by importing dromedaries for use. As it withstands variation of temperature, and thrives on almost any kind of nourishment, the dromedary is certain to do well, especially in the northern provinces, and will prove exceedingly serviceable in the transport of the products of that section of the country. The great heat and drought which prevail in Maranhao, Piauhy, Matto Grosso, and that direction generally, is eminently suitable to the dromedary, which does not thrive in hot _damp_ weather. It is calculated that a dromedary, which can carry an average weight of 700 pounds, (being six times what a horse, and four times what a mule will carry on his back), costs, in his own country, from £12 to £16; and after paying cost of transport to Brazil, will be worth £48. With the introduction of the "ship of the desert," that of the date-palm must go hand in hand, as that fruit constitutes the chief food of the dromedary, and will probably simultaneously effect a great change in the articles of consumption by the lower orders.]

The journey by carriage through the Sierra from Fragosa to Petropolis is extremely beautiful. He who is not fortunate enough to enter deeper into the interior, at least obtains here an idea of what constitutes a primæval Brazilian forest. The wonders of tropical vegetation, as manifested not only by vastness of form but also by gorgeous and rank luxuriance, strike the eye at first-sight almost the same way as an overpowering chorus affects the ear. It requires time to collect the thoughts, so as to be able to appreciate and enjoy thoroughly the extraordinary beauties that impress the wondering mind.

If the eye of the astonished traveller has been but in the most cursory manner directed to the vegetable phenomena that surround him, it must have rested on a climbing plant, which constitutes one of the chief marvels of the native woods. This singular creeper is the _Cipo matador_, a climbing plant of a very peculiar aspect, at once the most powerful and most destructive of all the Cipo tribe. It twines round the stems of lofty trees, which its flattened coils gradually constrict with almost life-like cruelty! Its aërial roots run out from all parts and embrace the tree like artificial clamps, forming in some places complete rings, and in others growing into the very bark. The tree, in consequence of this parasitic embrace, dies away by degrees, whilst its destroyer continues to grow gaily on the corpse of its victim, and spreads its leafy crown until it falls and perishes simultaneously with the support that had hitherto upheld it. To what profound reflections does the contemplation of this spectacle give rise! Involuntarily our thoughts fly from the wild Brazilian forest to the plains of civilization,--to the modern society where, likewise, many a noble human nature is slowly undermined by a treacherous Cipo matador of flesh and blood, till too surely he falls prone on the ground!

Petropolis is, on account of its more temperate and healthy climate, a favourite residence of the wealthy Rio de Janeirians, and during the hot season, when the sultriness of the air, if not something worse, renders life almost unendurable, Petropolis is said to have the appearance of a European spa. It is at the same time the summer residence of the Emperor, and the only place in Brazil where an electric telegraph--uniting it with Rio de Janeiro--has been established. The town contains about 7000 inhabitants; the streets, when completed, will be broad and handsome,--but only one has as yet been finished, the others being merely marked out, while even among the clean and neat houses already erected, there are frequent and wide gaps.

The German colony, planned by a German engineer, Julius Friedr. Köhler, is at a little distance from Petropolis. The first colonists who arrived on the 30th of July, 1845, came mostly from Baden and the Rhenish provinces. The Government granted to each family a cottage, with a slice of forest near it, a cow, a dozen of chickens, and about £5 in money. Such at least was the information given us at Petropolis. Köhler soon afterwards met with a sad end at a newly-formed shooting ground. Many an emigrant family perished in misery; others, however, overcame the difficulties that beset them at the commencement; more emigrants arrived, and now one may walk, within a few hours, through the Rhine and Mosel valleys, Nassau, Darmstadt, Ingelheim, Bingen, the Palatinate and Switzerland, as the emigrants, in fond commemoration of their native homes, call their small settlements, which run some distance through the mountain valleys. The German origin of these settlements displays itself distinctly in the cleanliness and neatness of their log cabins, the affability of the people, the heartiness of their greeting, the fair hair, curly heads, and beautiful blue eyes of the children, as well as the language and music which is now and then heard.

Petropolis is, however, not an agricultural colony in the real sense of the word, the majority of the 2500 Germans settled there obtaining a livelihood as artizans and labourers. The Government has done much to promote the growth of the colony, by making roads, and establishing schools. Still the people never become agriculturists, on account of the sterility of the soil; but as the road to the province of Minas Geraes runs through the place, the settlement will always retain some importance. For the cargoes of coffee which are conveyed by mules from the interior to the harbour, Petropolis is the last station, and will remain so for a long time yet, for the large outlay required renders it unlikely that the projected railway will soon be completed.

Several attempts have been made to establish similar German colonies in various provinces of the empire, but, unfortunately, with as yet even less success than in the Serra da Estrella. However, the activity of the Brazilian emigration agents has much increased in different German ports; for the remarkable words of the Emperor, with which he opened the Chambers in May, 1854, at Rio,--"The necessity of a settled industrious population becomes more and more urgent,"--have become since then even more significant; in fact, the result of the endeavours on the part of the Government to increase the amount of labour by immigration, is now a question of life or death for the empire. Every disinterested person feels that, without an increase of labour, productive activity is impossible; nay, some even apprehend a considerable decrease in the producing capabilities of the country, in consequence of the effect to be anticipated in Brazil from the abolition of the slave-trade by the interference of England. Up to the year 1851, the importation of negro slaves continued undiminished, notwithstanding the treaty with England of 1826, in which the abolition of the slave-trade forms one of the conditions on which the recognition of the Brazilian crown by the Government of Her Britannic Majesty was made specially contingent. According to a statement of the Foreign Office, there were from 1842 to 1851 (despite the treaty) 325,615 negroes sold as slaves in Brazil, so that the amount of the slave population is now upwards of 2,000,000 souls.

The condition of the black population in this country is materially different from that of the United States and the West Indies. The colour of the skin, which renders the life of even free and prosperous negroes almost intolerable in the northern states of America, where they are subject to so many humiliations, makes in Brazil no difference whatever. The question here is not whether white or black, but whether free or a slave. Free negroes may here occupy the highest places in the State, and even exercise a certain influence on the destiny of the white inhabitants. Slaves also are treated here with more humanity and less prejudice than in any other country visited by me, on which the curse of slavery yet rests; yet it must be confessed, without hesitation, that slavery, as beheld in Brazil, seems even a greater misfortune to the white population than to the black; for neither agriculture nor industry can thrive in a country where labour is not considered, as in free States, an honourable occupation--but rather as a disgrace--in consequence of its being performed by slaves. Not merely the blacks, who have no interest in being industrious, but their masters also are lazy, and approaching ruin becomes more and more certain. Free labour alone, by obtaining the upper hand in the country, can remedy these things. Slave labour cannot long compete with it. The intelligence, activity, and perseverance of 100,000 free white labourers will promote the prosperity and the happiness of Brazil, much more than the compulsory labour of two millions of negroes in bondage.

In consequence of repeated and energetic remonstrances on the part of the British Government, the slave-trade has now ceased in Brazil, and "one of the grandest monuments of our century," as the celebrated declaration by the Congress of Vienna termed the entire suppression of the slave-trade,[43] may be considered by this circumstance approaching its termination.

[Footnote 43: Déclaration des puissances sur l'abolition de la traite des nègres, du 8 Février, 1815. L. Neumann, Recueil des traités et conventions conclus par l'Autriche (Leipzig, 1856. Vol. II., p. 502).]

As the Government became convinced that there was not the least hope of reaping any advantage from civilizing the aboriginal tribes, it had recourse to free immigration, and promoted it in every way.[44] It endeavoured, particularly in the warmer northern provinces, to replace the deficiency of negroes by Chinese Coolies, who were imported from different parts of China; but they could not stand the climate, and were not found capable of advantageously replacing the negro in his various and often very heavy labour. This partially arose from the indiscriminate selection of the immigrants, as the agents, when they could not obtain able-bodied men, did not scruple to make up their cargo with whatever came to hand.

[Footnote 44: It may be useful, however, on many accounts to observe, that the Brazilian Government take considerable pains to adapt this doomed race for a civilized mode of existence. A law of 19th September, 1855, assigned an annual sum of £6000 for the proper execution of this humane project. In order to remedy the very marked deficiency of suitable missionaries, the Government, through its representative in Paris, invited a number of Catholic priests from France--men, whose rearing and zeal for their faith had effected such marvels among the Indians of Canada. But the aborigines of Brazil seem hopelessly degraded, and are destined, after having filled their appointed place in the history of nations, to make room for a more energetically endowed race.]

The Government pays, therefore, the utmost attention to European immigration; it has agents in Portugal, France, Italy, Belgium, and especially in Germany; and endeavours to organize associations that have for their object the settlement of industrious labourers in the country, and to support colonies already in existence, till they are in a position to maintain themselves. In Brazil, the conviction is pretty general, that only an emigration _en masse_ of white labour can save this splendid country from ruin, though there are individuals who entertain a different opinion, and think--perhaps not altogether without reason--that the energy and industry of European settlers might eventually--considering the indolent and careless disposition of their countrymen--prove destructive to the national element!

The most striking proof of how thoroughly in earnest the leading members of the Brazilian Government are in their efforts to procure an immigration of foreign labour, may be found in the report of the Commission upon the new tariff, in which the following passage occurs, illustrative of the advantages which may be expected to be reaped from European emigration on a large scale:--"'These foreign labourers arrive here poor, and depart from the country laden with our gold and silver, and, like blood-suckers, absorb our natural riches!' is the remark of those who are ignorant of the true interests of Brazil. For to whom are we indebted for our capital, for the industry and commerce which we have? To whom belong those manufactories which the people want to protect, and in whose favour so much is said? Why, to foreigners! Foreign hands and foreign capital cultivate our soil, expand our trade and commerce, and promote the arts. The _results_ of their labour remain, though they may themselves quit the country! Foreigners man our ships, build our manufactories, and supply them with hands; foreigners buy our produce and carry it to distant markets; foreigners render our forests and rivers productive; they work our mines, uncover the metallic wealth of our country, and educate our children! Capital, practical science, instruments, and machines, with which we perform our labours, belong mostly to foreigners; and, consequently, these blood-suckers are just the very men who render our land productive, preserving, instead of, as some erroneously imagine, depriving us of our vitality. The money which they take back to their homes is amply replaced by the treasures they leave behind in the product of their labour, and in the branches of industry which they have introduced or improved."[45]

[Footnote 45: Of the sixty-four manufactories and workshops, twenty-eight belong to foreigners; and there is not a single industrial establishment in which foreigners are not employed, either as managers, engineers, or labourers.]

More explicitly and discerningly it was hardly possible for Government to speak, and to enumerate the glorious results which the country may expect from the introduction of foreign industry and foreign activity, although such an official avowal could not fail to wound the national pride of the Brazilians.

Notwithstanding this strong language of the Government, and all the enticements and zealous activity of the Brazilian agents in the various ports of Europe, the emigration to that country, in 1856, amounted to only 13,800 souls.[46] Among this number there were but 628 agriculturists, all the others coming merely with the view of obtaining a livelihood in the capital as artizans and labourers. There are probably in all the Brazilian agricultural colonies, at this moment, not more than 40,000 emigrants settled, that is to say, about as many as emigrate in the course of three months to the United States!

[Footnote 46: Namely: 9159 Portuguese, 1822 Germans, and 2819 of other nations.]

The number of Germans emigrating to Brazil is strikingly small, when compared with the total annual emigration from that country. Of 61,413 individuals, who, in 1856, embarked from Hamburg and Bremen, only 1822 went to Brazil. The cause of this may be that, simultaneously with the large promises held out by the agents, warning voices were heard depicting in the most gloomy colours the terrible trials that await the unfortunate immigrant on his touching Brazilian soil.[47] Of late such excellent works have been published concerning Brazil, that we may advise all who take a special interest in the condition of that empire to study these works, the more so as the views therein expressed exactly coincide with our own impressions.[48]

[Footnote 47: Among these, the opposition of the late Consul-General for Brazil at Dresden, Mr. John Sturz, deserves special mention, as, despite the threats of losing his appointment, that gentleman was incessantly occupied in exposing the iniquities of the Parceria system (see _post_), and recommending the immigrant, so long as such a slavish system continued, to refrain from turning his steps towards Brazil. Mr. Sturz had recently the enviable misfortune of being sacrificed to his own strong sense of justice, and dismissed from all employment by the Brazilian administration, though not without carrying with him the respect and admiration of every friend of humanity. An excellent and circumstantial description of the present condition of the German colonies in southern Brazil will be found in Dr. Avé Lallemant's attractive "Travels through Southern Brazil in 1858." (Leipzig, 1859.)]

[Footnote 48: H. Handelmann's "History of Brazil" (Berlin, 1860), a remarkably profound and instructive work, devotes a special section (p. 933) to the subject of German emigration, and gives a very copious and complete insight into the various missions and works since 1819 to the present day, which treat of German emigration and colonization.]

So long as the unoccupied lands are not surveyed, laid out in lots, and sold at a small rate to the settler, as, for instance, in the United States; so long as the immigrant is unable to improve for himself his own plot of ground, but must remain a mere field-labourer, working for some foreign master, according to the iniquitous _Parceria_, or half-profits system;[49] so long as the expense of transport of the emigrant is to be worked off by future payments out of his labour, so long must every friend of humanity strongly dissuade the emigrant from proceeding to the great South American Empire.

[Footnote 49: The modern Brazilian system of _Parceria_ may be shortly stated as that by which a planter engages in Europe such of the poorer classes as are desirous of emigrating, and has them transported at his own cost to Brazil, where they are engaged as farmers, with half profits, upon the coffee and sugar plantations, and contracting to reimburse him, by their personal services and labour, for the outlay he has been at for their transport, maintenance, instruction, &c. Until all these have been repaid by the improvement in the rent or productive powers of the land, they must remain, as working out their emancipation from the lord of the soil, veritable "_adscripti glebæ_." After that has been attained they are free people, and may leave if they please, or may sink into the rank of "unattached labourers," which implies their assigning half of the net produce of the land to the ground landlord, the remaining half being their remuneration for labour. Proprietorship in the soil is never attainable by these farmers on half profits, inasmuch as the Parceria system can only exist where the soil is already exclusively vested in a planting aristocracy. (See Handelmann, etc., p. 568).]

For Brazil, beautiful, fertile, and abounding in undeveloped natural wealth, two alternatives are alone open at present--either ruin to the producing power of the population through deficiency of industrial power, or the throwing open the land to foreign emigration by means of the most extensive concessions. The longer this is deferred, the more oppressively will the want of manual labour manifest itself; and the more advantages will foreign emigration secure.

Once, however, these important stipulations are conceded, the German emigrants may forthwith bend their steps to the coasts of Brazil, where the glorious dawn of a magnificent future is surely breaking for them. While, in the United States, the problem to be solved by the German emigrants seems to be, to mingle German industry, German capacity, and German knowledge, with the keen spirit of enterprise and restless energy of the Anglo-Saxon race, and gradually to assimilate with it,--on the other hand, in the South American continent, it appears as though the German element were about gradually to gain the upperhand of the Latin stock, and permanently to conquer for German industry and German commerce, one of the fairest countries on the globe with the weapons of peace--the spade and plough.

Brazil is, however, of great interest to Germany not merely on account of the prospects she holds out for its overflowing population. A market, teeming with the most important colonial products, with an area[50] of 3,956,800 English square miles, and an annual consumption of nearly £10,000,000, must in the highest degree attract the attention and excite the most favourable anticipations of a country such as Germany, the majority of whose inhabitants are engaged in manufactures.

[Footnote 50: According to the computation of the Historico-Geographical Institute of Brazil.]

The chief article of Brazilian trade at present is coffee, the production of which, in consequence of the great profit of late years derived from it, has increased so much, that it has superseded the cultivation of all other produce; thus, notwithstanding the fertility and capability of the ground, even the commonest necessaries of life, as, for instance, potatoes, must be imported from abroad, the majority of the rural population being engaged in labour for the foreign market, and only very few for home consumption. This is the principal cause of the enormous prices which, even the most indispensable necessaries have reached in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil grows annually, in the provinces of Rio, Bahia, and Santa Catharina, 5,190,000 quintals of coffee, consequently more than three-fifths of the entire amount produced on the whole earth, and of this the province of Rio de Janeiro alone yields two-thirds.

The most important objects of export, besides coffee, are sugar, rice, cotton, hides, and dried meat, together with dye and cabinet woods. The progressive decrease of late years in these articles may probably be ascribed to the want of sufficient labour, as well as to the great extent to which the culture of coffee has been carried.

Although the trade carried on between Brazil and Europe, and its great importance, will form the object of a special work, we cannot help noticing in this place as a very interesting fact, that among the importations, that of wheat-flour holds a very conspicuous place, above 300,000 barrels of 200 lbs. each being annually consumed, of which seventeen twentieths are supplied by the United States, two twentieths from Trieste and Fiume, and the remaining one twentieth from Lisbon and Valparaiso. The flour from Trieste, by reason of its whiteness and superior quality, commands a high price, so as to necessitate its being mixed in baking with that from Baltimore. We were told it occasionally happens, that the best quality of the much-appreciated Trieste or Fontana flour reaches the price, altogether unapproachable by the finest American flour, of 64 to 66 shillings the barrel.

As in the interior of the country the flour chiefly used is that called Mandioca, prepared from the root of _Jatropha Manihot_, it follows that the chief consumer of wheaten flour is Rio itself, the monthly consumption amounting to upwards of 16,500 barrels. The reason for the small sale of the Austrian manufactures in Brazil must be sought for, not so much in the deficient supplies of the articles required, as in the circumstance that the Austrian manufacturers have not hitherto found it much their interest to study the Brazilian market, so as to make the requisite alterations in the method of producing their fabrics, and thus render them suitable for that purpose. What little of our Austrian manufactures is at present exported for Brazilian consumption, seems at present to follow the, to all appearance, much less natural route northwards, and instead of proceeding from Trieste direct, is exported from Bremen or Hamburg as fabrics of Northern Germany.

During our stay at Rio, Commodore Wüllerstorf, accompanied by Captain Pöck, and one of the members of the scientific commission, had the honour of being presented to the Emperor and Empress of Brazil, at a private audience. The reception took place at the winter residence of St. Christoph. It is an old unsightly building, and still unfinished, the central part especially having been for some years in a ruinous condition. The Emperor seems not to be partial to display, and a very characteristic anecdote in this respect, which does him great credit, is very generally reported. On the occasion of a visit to the splendid lunatic asylum of Botafogo, one of the ministers remarked to His Majesty that the inmates of the establishment were better and more elegantly lodged than himself. "It will always afford me great pleasure," was the reply, "to know that these unfortunate people are better provided for than I am."

At the entrance of the palace at St. Christoph, the gentlemen of the Expedition were received by an ecclesiastic, who led them into an exceedingly plain ante-chamber, the furniture of which seemed to belong to bygone centuries. Several of the ministers of state, whose servants carried large portfolios, exchanged compliments with the Austrian minister, and entered the contiguous apartments. Chamberlains and domestics of the court looked stealthily at the strangers, and disappeared as rapidly as they had come. It seemed as though these presentations were of infrequent occurrence. At last, about half-past 6 P.M. the door opened, when His Majesty and the ministers walked through the room into the hall of audience, into which the gentlemen of the Expedition were soon afterwards conducted by a chamberlain. The Austrian minister presented each separately to His Majesty Dom Pedro II., who is the son of an Austrian Archduchess, and received the gentlemen in the uniform of an admiral, surrounded by all his ministers. He is a fine-looking man, of some 30 years of age, of stately appearance, but with a voice somewhat too thin for so robust a person. The portrait on the Brazilian coinage is remarkably like. The conversation was carried on in French; it is said, however, that the Emperor speaks German fluently. He conversed very affably and graciously with every one, and had something agreeable to say to each, expressing much interest in the _Novara_ Expedition. After several questions, the Emperor wished us success on our future voyage, and retired, upon which the audience was at an end.

After the members of the Expedition had remained a short space in a corner of the audience chamber, they were conducted through a narrow boarded passage to the apartments of the Empress. In the ante-chamber we again encountered the Emperor, who had exchanged his admiral's uniform for plain clothes, and now stood before us in the undress black frock he usually wears.

We were now ushered into the small and very plainly furnished reception-room of the Empress, in which there was nothing to attract attention except a couple of highly-finished portraits. Her Majesty, a sister of the late King Ferdinand II. of Naples, and of Queen Maria Christina of Spain, was in mourning owing to a death in the family. She was only attended by one lady in waiting, and received us with infinite grace. She is rather short in stature, and although still young, looks aged; in conversation she becomes however very animated, and thereby gains in gracefulness; her favourite theme was Italy, on which she dwelt with childlike fondness. Speaking of Naples, its charming bay, of the Vesuvius, and the lovely walk of Santa Lucia, near the sea, the tone of her voice became involuntarily more lively. Notwithstanding the tropical splendour, and an Imperial throne, the Princess seems to have a great longing for her native land. Alas! even an imperial crown is no protection against the yearning for home!

During our stay here, the anniversary came round of the birth of our gracious Emperor, which was celebrated in the most festive manner. From early dawn the frigate appeared decked out in her gayest flags, which was similarly responded to by the English and French ships of war in the harbour. At 8 A.M., with the customary salutes of the ensign, a salute of twenty-one guns was fired, as also at mid-day and sunset. At 11 A.M., the crew were paraded and divine service was performed, to which our resident envoy and his family were invited, together with the acting Consul-General, the captain of an Austrian vessel, and a few Austrians who happened to be at that time in Rio. After service, the foreign guests and several officers of the staff were entertained by the commodore at breakfast. In the evening there was a banquet at the hotel of the envoy, at which were present several notabilities of the empire of Brazil, among others, Viscount Maranguapè, minister of foreign affairs, and the Senator Viscount de Uruguay. In the garden of the club the frigate's band of music played chiefly German and Austrian pieces, which awoke in the bosoms of many the most tender recollections.

The frequent arrival of men of war in the bay of Rio gives rise to an almost continual firing; each vessel entering fires a royal salute, which is answered by the fortress and the other ships of war in the harbour. During our stay we discharged not less than 432 salvos, while all the men of war together fired at least 1500 salvos, thus making, within three weeks, about 5250 rounds of gunpowder, used merely in salutes.

The 31st of August had been fixed as the date of our departure. During the latter days of our stay, there had been frequent collations on board to make some return to those who had shown us attention. Several of the sick, one midshipman and two sailors, had to be left behind in hospital, where they received the most careful treatment, while Dr. Avé Robert Lallemant, who, by the kind recommendation of Humboldt, had been permitted by the Archduke to accompany the Expedition with the rank of surgeon of corvette, for the purpose of prosecuting his studies of yellow fever, was, at his own request, put ashore at Rio, whence he afterwards undertook the journey through Southern Brazil already alluded to.

The night previous, three sailors had deserted from a boat sent on shore to bring back some officers. The system of kidnapping, as is well known, flourishes in Rio, and many a ship is said to have lost, in this way, from thirty to forty men. The crimps, who make their living by this traffic in man, entice young and robust sailors to desert by means of all imaginable allurements and promises, making advances in money, and leading them into a dissolute life, in order that, when afterwards they find themselves in a desperate state, and without resources, they may be sold by the scoundrels to the captains of vessels, as sailors, or, what is worse, as white slaves, to the planters in the interior. This abominable trade is said to be carried on, on a great scale, by an Italian, in Catumbý Grande, and though the Brazilian police is perfectly cognizant of the haunts of the fellow, yet it seems not to be powerful enough to put a stop to the nuisance.

These incidents did not, however, interfere with our departure at the specified hour, when we were towed out by the tug steamer _Perseverancia_, which we had hired for _£25_. Almost every large ship on leaving Rio is towed clear of the bay, so as to avoid having to tack between the islands, or perhaps have to anchor, so that the tug, which belongs to a private individual, and accompanied us eastward as far as the island of Razza, must be a source of considerable profit.

On 31st August, at six A.M., we bade farewell to the splendid harbour of Rio. We had fortunately reached Rio after the visit of the yellow fever, but the almost continual rainy weather had spoiled many an excursion, and deprived us of the opportunity of more closely examining the environs of the city. Nor were we more successful in making ourselves at home here, notwithstanding the kind reception with which we were favoured by the Government and some private individuals. There is, in short, a great want of sociability, and we may add, almost utter indifference to scientific pursuits, which indeed appeal in vain to the great majority of the Brazilian population. Of course there are numerous and agreeable exceptions; but slavery, the mixture of races, the egotism and indolence of the wealthier classes, are all reasons why a European, just arrived, cannot feel himself comfortable. The white Brazilians bear, in some respects, a strong resemblance to the Italians, but they are deficient in their pleasing, insinuating demeanour, in their cheerful humour, quickness of perception, and lively imagination. They occupy a lower scale in social culture, without depth of thought or feeling, and seem almost incapable of persevering activity. This perceptible deficiency of hearty, energetic temperament, in addition to the confused intermingling of other foreign nations, which seem to regard the country as booty, to be abandoned so soon as success has crowned their labours, imparts to each new arrival a feeling of depression, which, so far from being weakened, is yet more keenly felt by those who have lived some time in the country, so that not merely among foreigners recently arrived, but with those also who have spent years at Rio, the desire to leave these shores becomes rather increased than diminished by a longer acquaintance.

At nine A.M., we cast off from the tug, not far from the little island of Razza, with its lighthouse, and spread our sails to the breeze, which gradually freshened, but blew from the N.E., which was foul for our course. However, we could still derive some advantage from even this as it was our intention to steer southerly from Rio, so as to be able to make almost exclusively a great circle course to the Cape of Good Hope, after we should have got further south than the Antarctic limit of the S.E. trades.

The near termination of the winter quarter in this southern hemisphere, the approximation of the sun towards the south pole, and the consequent tendency of the zones of wind and currents of air to pursue the same direction, gave us reason to hope, that when approaching the limits of the trades, we should find a change of wind, which should shorten the voyage, or at all events keep us clear of storms.

In the open ocean, where there are no hills or extraordinary conformations of land to break the uniformity of the earth's surface, and where the expanse of water is unbroken by any extensive group of islands, the disturbances in the atmospheric belt must necessarily be much less strongly marked than where continents are interposed, or in the narrow seas. The winds themselves, under such circumstances, display even in their shifts a certain amount of regularity, which is usually dependent upon the universal laws of nature.

Once any one is so fortunate as to comprehend the latter in all their extent, so as to be cognisant of their results, it becomes a mere question of the study of local conditions in order to be able to declare how these universal laws operate, and to elucidate by the most simple explanations many of the phenomena of nature that have till now baffled science. Thus, when a wind hitherto steady shifts its direction, there must necessarily be, certain active causes for its doing so; if these causes perpetually recur in well-marked periodical intervals, the change of the wind must follow a definite law. Under certain circumstances the direction of the wind is well-defined; as, for instance, at certain seasons in the open ocean it remains always the same, or changes with a certain regularity, whence it becomes apparent that the causes must remain unchanging, and the recurrence of the phenomenon must accordingly admit of explanation.

We know, for example, that in the case of hurricanes--those most terrific exemplifications of the tendency of the atmosphere to move in circles--the wind does not blow in straight lines, but rather in curves described round a central point, which again is not immovable, but has a regular progression along a definite curve. In that curved plane, however, which has been termed a _cyclone_, the wind always blows in one and the same direction, and in the Northern Hemisphere runs counter to the motion of a watch-hand, while in the Southern Hemisphere it, on the contrary, follows that motion.

These facts once granted as accounting for such phenomena, it follows as a natural consequence of the general principles laid down, that they hold good in minor cases, and must remain of the same efficacy, whether it be a hurricane or a dust-whirl which may be under consideration.

So, too, in conformity with those laws, light winds may be found subject to a variation in direction of a similar nature, such as may not perhaps be fully exemplified in every case, but simply serve to indicate the tendency of the wind to follow the same general direction as the hurricanes themselves.

The importance of ascertaining such curvilinearity in the direction of the winds will be especially manifest at the limits within which the regular winds prevail, and when they must necessarily become intermingled with other regular currents of the atmosphere.

Accordingly, as we neared the limit of the S.E. Trades, which always extend somewhat further south, as the sun's southern declination increases, we had to traverse regions where necessarily we encountered variable winds, owing to the increased area of the Trades. There are also found occasional spots at which a more rarefied atmosphere seems to fill the surrounding space, when there is seen a similar process to that in the case of hurricanes, first visible perhaps in the higher strata, but afterwards extending to those which are lower.

The winds, then, shifted with much regularity, and with them the atmospheric pressure, just as in the case of cyclones, except that neither the wind nor the sea ever presented the characteristics of a tempest. The wind, which began to blow from the North-East, drew gradually to North, thence West and South, and returned to S.E., after short intervals of calm. We could thus perceive, on referring to the ship's log, that the entire cycle was completed in five or six days; so that it became quite possible, by examining the central direction of the daily variation, to foretell the wind which must be blowing twelve hours later, when, upon taking into consideration the path described by such central direction from day to day, it appeared that the wind described very nearly a parabolic curve.

Even the aspect of the heavens, and the state of the weather, were only one degree less regular in their alternations than the hurricanes. With the S.E. wind, the sky was bright, but as soon as it began to veer round, towards afternoon, a few white belts of cirrhous clouds began to appear in the western heavens, constituting a well-marked division of the vault of the sky from one side quite to the other. As it drew still further round, and neared the line of centres, the weather grew foul, a driving scud covered the heavens, and a succession of splendid rainbows were seen, till the ship had reached the nearest spot to the storm-centre when there were sharp squalls of wind, accompanied by heavy showers of rain. The lower strata of clouds, mere vapour, drove before the wind, while those above moved in a directly contrary direction, generally that of the forthcoming wind. The atmospheric pressure, which at first would be considerable, gradually decreased as we approached the central line; as we drew away from that centre the barometer rose again, the weather improved, and the sky under the influence of southerly winds once more cleared.

Unfortunately it is not practicable with a single ship to ascertain whether the veering of the wind follows an exact curve, as we can only say what is the direction at the spot where the observation has been made, and it is impossible to determine what it may be at other points. But it is at all events certain that the shifts of wind are amenable to the same general laws as hurricanes. A number of ships sent out for the special purpose of this branch of investigation, could render immense services to science and navigation, and achieve most interesting results.

We availed ourselves of these general laws to traverse the ocean as speedily as possible, in order to reach early our next anchorage, and in so doing we experienced altogether three well-marked cycles of wind at short intervals. We cannot afford space to prosecute all the interesting consequences that result from these phenomena of nature, such investigations being more properly reserved for the meteorological section of the scientific portion of this work. Here, however, the facilities for observation of a sea-faring life have been directed towards an object of inquiry, which must prove of immense utility in navigation and commerce. And, perhaps, even landsmen may not find it uninteresting, that even that proverbially fickle element, air, obeys certain fixed laws, a more accurate acquaintance with which must be of the utmost importance to the denizen of _terra firma_, as well as those "that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters."

On this passage from the American to the African coasts, we were continually accompanied by our winged friends, the sea-birds, which, notwithstanding the unkind treatment they received at the hands of the zoological sportsmen, followed us with the utmost pertinacity, probably attracted by the numerous fragments of provisions thrown overboard.

The Cape pigeons (_Procellaria sp._), those prettily-marked sea-birds, about the size of doves, the albatrosses, (_Diomedea sp._) the largest of the ocean feathered tribe, with their quiet majestic flight, stormy petrels of all sorts and sizes, from the smallest swallow to the largest of its kind; all these winged inhabitants of the sea's surface followed the frigate in motley groups, and seemed never to weary in their active search for food.

Sometimes they alighted, rested on the surface of the water, and were left far behind; but they collected again with great rapidity as soon as anything eatable appeared, and overtook the frigate in a swift flight from the remotest point of the horizon. This singular attachment to ships very probably arises from their being accustomed to follow whalers, from which such a large quantity of garbage is thrown overboard, very much affected by these aërial parasites, whence they learn to expect from all vessels their favourite food.