LXXI.
Steamer Severn, Island of Teneriffe, Dec. 22, 1851.
From Alexandria, Egypt, I embarked on board of the steamer for Malta, with the privilege of continuing to Gibraltar or Lisbon, to await the arrival of the steamer from England, on her way to South America. The weather was heavy and boisterous for the first two days, which caused some delay, and required four and a half days to make the passage of eight hundred miles to Malta.
Our leisure time was passed in rowing about the harbor, viewing the English fleet; and I amused myself in the Lazaretto in visiting my old quarters where I was confined in quarantine twenty-one days, coming from Egypt during the prevalence of the plague. The fortifications are very strong, and the island is an agreeable place for sojourn in the winter; the rides to the bay where St. Paul was shipwrecked and landed, and where a chapel is erected on the spot; the so called Grotto of Calypso; the Church of the Knights of St. John; the ancient catacombs; and the general drives and views, make it well worth tarrying at; but having been all over the ground, there was no incentive to remain, so we proceeded to Gibraltar, one thousand miles further, with beautifully fine weather, coasting along the bay of Tunis, with Sicily and Algiers in view, and then branched off to the opposite coast of Spain, passing close to the bay of Malaga, with white-capped mountains in the distance, and the famous quicksilver mines of Adva at their base, until we approached the frowning rock of Gibraltar.
Those of our passengers who had never passed along the Mediterranean, enjoyed all the sights and various changing views; I, however, could not feel the same interest, except in the way of reminiscences of past scenes. Gibraltar, as you are aware, is considered invulnerable; its strength surpasses any fortification in the world, and as long as Great Britain retains her present ascendency, it would be useless to attempt its capture, as starvation of the garrison would be the only successful artifice. We were informed here that the French had just bombarded Tangier, on the opposite coast of Morocco, and knocked down the town about the ears of the Moors. On the opposite side of the straits is Ceuta, a strongly garrisoned fortress belonging to the Spaniards; the straits here are seventy-two miles wide. The current was setting into them at the rate of two miles per hour, and always running in the same direction. The nearest point to the African coast is St. Cruzes, towards Tarifa Light, on the European side; it is seven miles wide.
Gibraltar is considerably improved, many new buildings having been erected, but its contraband trade with the south of Spain is now much reduced, and the people complain of hard times. Trafalgar Bay, famous for the victory and death of Lord Nelson, lies only a short distance north. I don’t recollect, while travelling in the beautiful country of Malaga, Grenada, Seville, and Cadiz, to have said anything of Portugal, to which my travels were also extended, at that time, but at the risk of repetition I must remark that Lisbon is prettily situated on the Douro, about twelve miles from its mouth, and were it not for the dark aspect of the city, the effect of climate upon the sandstone, it would show to great advantage, situated as it is upon an undulating surface, with portions of its pinnacles looking like a tower of stairs. It is much cleaner than formerly, filthy streets then being its chief characteristic. The trade of Portugal has declined, and the government and people have become more and more impoverished. They have had no rain since last May, and the country is suffering. Processions were being held from the churches to invoke the Virgin for refreshing and copious supplies of the vivifying element. One of the most extraordinary mosaic pictures of large size is the Annunciation of the angel to the Virgin Mary; it is here in one of the churches, and is said to have cost a million of dollars. The stone aqueduct which rests upon several ties of arches, and supplies the city with water, is considered a stupendous work; it is much shattered by a former earthquake. The promenades and gardens are tolerable, as are also the quays and public squares, but the port seems deserted by merchant vessels. A part of the English fleet lay in the river, and among the number was one which, although small in comparison with the other craft, had given evidence of her sailing qualities to the world, and all eyes were directed to her. It was the little, low, raking-masted yacht, America.
I found myself once again on board the ship Severn, having made a passage with her in the West Indies, under the same commander, three years since. We had a mixed company of passengers, consisting of duchesses, countesses, not forgetting Lady Wortley, who visited the United States some time since, military and civil officers, South American Spaniards, Portuguese Brazilians, Frenchmen, Germans, and English, some twenty of whom we left at Madeira for the benefit of their health; the rest will continue to Teneriffe, Cape de Verde, Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio Janeiro, &c., where we land and take supplies of coal. The rigid formality of strict English society is confounded with the life and liberty of the different races thrown together, and five languages are continually heard at table.
Madeira is a pretty and picturesque island. Its vineyards, which are its only resource, have acquired for it a lasting name; its climate is renowned, and is much resorted to, particularly by English invalids, the number of whom amounts ordinarily to about three hundred, who are a source of great profit to the poor people, subjected to Portuguese rule. The harbor of Funchal is an open roadstead, and as there was a heavy rolling sea the night before our arrival, the landing was bad, especially for ladies, but once ashore, horses and palanquins were at command. The latter are so unlike the conveyances that bear the same name in the East Indies, that I must describe them. They are in the form of colossal shoes with the front part cut or pared down one-half, the heel being a support for the back, as you sit upon cushions with head erect; they are supported by rods attached to the pole, each end of which rests on the shoulders of a man, and in that way you are carried up and down hill, having a sort of top to protect you from the sun’s rays.
Madeira lies two days south from Lisbon, and Teneriffe one day and a half from Madeira. There are nine islands in the group; the people are generally poor. The chief town is Santa Cruz; it is pretty well built, and streets are clean; wine is its chief means of support. There are some fine views all through the islands; the peak of Teneriffe is the most remarkable, towering some twelve thousand feet high, and covered with snow.
1852.
LXXII.
Bahia, Brazil, Jan. 2, 1852.
From the island of Teneriffe, on the opposite side of the Atlantic, we proceeded south to the Cape Verde islands, and stopped one day to receive coal at St. Vincent, but had difficulty in getting a supply, as fever and starvation had destroyed one hundred and fifty out of the small population of six hundred, and laborers were procured from the island of St. Antonio, and fed and kept by the English consul, who is the agent of the Cape of Good Hope Steam Company. Several coal-vessels were waiting impatiently to be discharged. A small American whaler had lost her mate, and five of her crew, and the captain was not expected to survive. We were besieged for medicines, which we gave as liberally as we could, and also landed the contributions of flour, corn, &c., from Madeira. Our passengers were much alarmed, particularly the Brazilians, who imagined that they inhaled the pestilence with every breath, and brought forth large supplies of cologne and volatile salts. The purser, doctor, and myself were the only persons who landed, and we found the people dying from sheer exhaustion; many would not take the medicines which we offered them. Such squalid wretchedness I hope never to witness again. We had constant trade-winds from the N.E. for some days, with warm, delightful weather, and when we crossed the line, the sailors, not having forgotten the former visits of Neptune, amused themselves and the passengers, by dressing in couples, one on all fours under a sack, imitating a donkey, with long ears and false tail, mounted by a third, and beaten with sticks by the whole cavalcade.
The following day these jolly fellows listened with attention to the prayers and services of the Church of England, which were read by the officers. The first land we sighted towards the American coast, was the island of Fernando Norona, some three degrees south of the mouth of the river Amazon; we ran close under the rocky shore. It is used by the Brazilians for transportation of prisoners, and rarely visited. Whaling vessels sometimes touch, and for supplies of cattle and vegetables. The scenery of the island appeared enchanting. We arrived at Pernambuco, Lat. 8° south, sixteen hundred miles from Cape Verde, in advance of the usual time, which gave us a good opportunity of seeing the city, and riding several miles in the country. The view from the steamer, the natural reef of coral rocks, fifteen miles in length, forming the harbor; the town of Olinda on the hill to the north, with its white houses amid groves of green cocoa-nut trees, strike the beholder as exceedingly beautiful, and I found the town more cleanly than I expected, as the Brazilians, like their predecessors, the Portuguese, are renowned for filth. The city is prettily situated on three islands connected by bridges; it has some nine thousand population, one-third whites and two-thirds slaves; the buildings are high and well-constructed, but the interiors are poorly furnished; the narrow streets are offensive, but those of tolerable width are in better order. We found immense numbers of mules and horses, which come long distances from the interior, laden with cotton and sugar. The foreign population is small, some five hundred in all, French, English, and Germans; the latter predominate in the Brazils, as several colonies of them have been formed under the auspices of government. Of Americans there are only eight or ten; their numbers are usually small, but they are to be found at all commercial points of importance, and to them we are indebted for the great luxury of ice, which the people here had been deprived of for a long time; we could also obtain supplies of fruit.
We have some disaffection on board among passengers of different races and tastes, as to the supplies, and a committee was formed to wait upon the commander, who is a worthy and excellent person. But the system of the West India and South American Steam Co. which allows the captain equal to one dollar and eighty-seven and a half cents per day per head, wines, sodas, and other refreshments being ticketed, and settled for weekly, is found obnoxious by many passengers, who pay monopoly fares, and is entirely different from the liberality displayed by the Peninsula and Oriental Company, who, notwithstanding the mail contract and monopoly systems, are much more liberal in their provisions and accommodations. But with the increase of American steamers, their influence will be felt, not only in this respect, but more particularly in point of speed. The English mail contract throughout the East exacts only eight knots running time, and the West India and South America nine knots per hour, which is slow work for one accustomed to American steamers. Necessity is driving the English to a higher rate of speed, and the company is now constructing new and faster boats to run to Chagres, in order to prevent the tide of travel from setting to New York. We found two American whalers in quarantine at Pernambuco, which had touched at St. Vincent, and had some fever on board; we had obtained a clean bill of health, and having no sickness, we were permitted to pass. It was a great relief to get a drive of six miles, in the country where nature appears so beautiful even during the heat of this, their summer, with the thermometer at eighty-five, passing through groves of cocoas, palms, breadfruits, tamarinds, oranges, and other tropical trees, with melons and other fruits to satisfy thirst. We first learned here that war had been actually declared between Brazil and Buenos Ayres, and that the government had granted a loan and part of the fleet to blockade the port of the latter, while the Banda Oriental attack with the land forces. The son of Gen. Manzilla, and nephew of Rosas, the Dictator of the Argentine republic, is a fellow passenger; he promised to accompany me in the interior of Buenos Ayres, but the shock is rather astounding, and we can only learn the facts at Rio Janeiro.
The entrance to Bahia, or Bay of All Saints, is really beautiful; it lies four hundred miles south of Pernambuco, and the entrance is seven miles broad; its fine harbor is protected from all winds, and the rich country about it receives the waters of several small rivers. Americus Vespucius discovered it in 1503, under the patronage of the King of Portugal, and his carrying home a species of dye-wood, which, when cut, resembled coals of fire, gave Brazil its name, from Brazas, or coals. Bahia owes its foundation to the fact of the captain of a shipwrecked vessel in 1510 having his life spared by the Indians, after most of the crew were killed. The town is divided into two parts, the Praya, or Citada Baxa, under the hill, and Citada Alta, above, which appears quite antique. The descent is difficult, but by well paved roads and cadeiras or ornamented chairs supported by two negroes, which are in general use, it is quite practicable. The streets are clean, as Yellow Jack has improved the habits of the filthy Portuguese. New Year’s day is kept here as holiday, and our passengers enjoyed themselves in visiting the public gardens and riding about the suburbs, while a party of sixteen dined together at the hotel on the summit of the hill, with a fine view of this magnificent bay, which in some respects recalls the harbor and site of Naples in miniature. The hedges are of lime trees; grapes are in season, bananas and melons abound; the seedless orange here is superior to that of any other part of the world. The public garden is situated on the boldest and most commanding height of the old town, one side looking upon the ocean, and the other upon the bay, with iron railings to prevent falling down the precipice.
The large Jaca tree which furnishes fruit larger than the cocoa, and affords fine shade, is found here. Formerly the privilege of the whale fishery was sold for a considerable sum, but at present it is reduced. The island of Itaporica, in the bay, has some oil establishments, and whales are occasionally killed; the flesh is much admired by the negroes, and is found in the market for sale. There are extensive plantations in the country, with two or three hundred slaves, and large quantities of sugar, cotton, and tobacco are produced. It is the Havana of Brazil for the manufacture of cigars. Large quantities of American flour are imported, but the food of the common people is farina made from the root of the mandioca. There is a fine race of negroes here, and they appear better dressed than I had expected to find them; but from what I can learn, their condition will not compare favorably with the negroes of our Southern States, whose enhanced value in the absence of the slave-trade induces kind treatment aside from motives of humanity.