Brazil and La Plata: The personal record of a cruise

by C. S. Stewart

A long and lofty saloon, so well furnished with windows as to be readily converted almost into an open pavilion, occupies the whole front of the house. A flight of stone steps at either end ascends from the carriage drive to this. A similar apartment in the rear forms the dining-room; while between these, and lighted only through them, is the drawing-room. In a colder climate an apartment thus situated would, in the day time, be dark and gloomy; but here, where for a great part of the year a glaring and glowing sun pours down upon every thing, it forms a welcome retreat into which the light comes only in subdued and grateful shade.

We had made the acquaintance of Mrs. and Miss R—— at the entertainments mentioned under my last date; and, on being ushered into the saloon were received by them in a most frank and courteous manner. Mrs. R——, though a native Brazilian, has been much in England, and Miss R—— has but lately completed her education there. Both are of pleasing address and most gentle and amiable. After a half hour in conversation a walk in the grounds was proposed, the freshness of the evening with a land breeze from the mountains having set in. We had already discovered the views in every direction to be lovely: embracing the rich valley through which we had driven, the mountains bordering it on one side and the fantastic peaks in which they terminate at its head behind; with cottages and country houses scattered thickly around, and the imperial palace of San Christovao encircled with plantations in full view. Glimpses of the city were caught in the far distance in front; and, with a glass, the tapering masts of the Congress, surmounted by her broad pennant, rising high above the tallest of its towers and steeples.

From the end of the saloon opposite to that at which we had entered, an embowered grapery leads to a stream at the foot of the hill, overhung with trees and beautifully fringed with the lofty and graceful bamboo. Along the green banks of this, the gardens, filled with the greatest variety of shrub and flower, spread widely among fruit-bearing and ornamental trees, including a succession of orange groves. Through these we sauntered with great delight, tasting of the various fruits; examining, in the fine display of the botanical kingdom around, things old and new; resting upon a rustic seat here and there; and finally becoming grouped in a picturesque bower of living bamboo, whose thickly clustered stems at the sides and feathery tops interlaced overhead effectually exclude the sun, and secure, even at mid-day, a retreat of refreshing coolness. Among entire novelties to us were the Jaca or jack fruit—artocarpus Indicus—or East India bread fruit, and the Brazilian plum.

We were here joined by Mr. R—— and his sons, by Lieut. F—— of our ship, and Mr. Lawrence McKeever, a son of the commodore, an attaché of an American partner of the house in which Mr. R—— is the English principal. Mr. R—— to the reputation of an able and successful merchant adds that of a well-read man, thoroughly furnished with intelligence in regard to all subjects of local and general interest in Brazil. His conversation is thus both interesting and instructive.

As twilight began to gather round us, we returned to the house, and were summoned to a tea-table in the dining-hall well spread as in the olden times at home, not only with every delicacy appropriate to the repast, but with such substantial dishes, also, as those who had been riding and driving and walking, since an early dinner, might be disposed to welcome. There was an air of genuine hospitality in the well-covered length of the board, which carried me back to the tables of our friends of Massena and of the Lakelands in former days, telling that like theirs it was no unaccustomed thing thus to be drawn out to its full length by the presence of some eight or ten unexpected guests, in addition to a large family circle. With a number of well-trained and neatly-dressed negro servants in attendance, the whole scene was more like that of an ordinary exhibition of American hospitality, as I recollect it in boyhood, even in the Northern States, than any thing I have for a long time witnessed. It was half past nine o’clock before we took leave; yet, such is the Jehu style of driving that we were not only at the landing in the city, where the captain’s gig was in waiting for us, but safely on board ship by ten.

The rainy season is not so strongly marked at Rio as in many tropical regions, though at this period of the year more rain falls than at any other. To-day it poured in torrents from the early morning, while an impenetrable fog has been rushing from the sea, before a driving wind. The worst of this state of things, to some of us on board the Congress, was an engagement of several days’ standing to a dinner with Admiral Reynolds, the English commander-in-chief on this station. We looked in vain as the appointed hour approached, for any abatement in the wind and rain, or the arrival of a messenger to say we would not be expected; and, at a quarter to six, the barge was called away and Commodore McKeever, Captain McIntosh and I, with such protection as our boat cloaks could give, were in the midst of the storm pulling for the flag ship. Fortunately the distance was scarcely more than a quarter of a mile. We escaped getting wet, and in the shelter and elegant appointments of the admiral’s cabins soon forgot the discomfort of the pull on board.

The want of a higher grade of rank in the navy of the United States than that of post captain, while in the British service and that of other nations there is not only that of admiral, but six degrees of advancement in that rank, often leads to embarrassment and an unpleasant state of feeling between those bearing other flags and our commanders-in-chief. The preposterous expectation and, in many instances, pertinacious claim of equality in rank and reciprocity in official honors, where there is confessedly an inferiority of commission, and in contravention of the established rules of military etiquette, not unfrequently limit the intercourse between American commodores and European admirals to the cold formalities of an official visit. Where this is the case, the association of the officers of the respective squadrons is, in a greater or less degree, of the same character. Happily for myself I have never been placed in this position. On the contrary, in all the ships to which I have been attached, the most friendly relations have been established with English ships of war, on the same station. Such is the case with the Congress and the Southampton. By mutual courtesy and good will, the official and social intercourse of the two commanders-in-chief was on our arrival at once placed on a desirable footing. The consequence is, that the officers of the respective ships are left to an unembarrassed association. This has proved cordial, and many in both ships visit each other with the intimacy and informality of congenial neighbors on shore.

Mrs. Reynolds accompanied the admiral from England and lives on board ship. She is a person of intelligent and cultivated mind and of frank and pleasing address; and the birds and flowers, the drawings and cabinets in natural history which, in addition to a choice library, adorn the apartments of the Southampton, at once bespeak the presence and taste of an accomplished woman. In addition to the military family of the admiral, which consists of the captain of the ship, the flag-lieutenant and the secretary who are regularly at his table, we had the company of two or three other officers, including the Rev. Mr. P——, the chaplain. Besides this gentleman, I was happy to meet in the party others whom I found to be enlightened and spiritual Christians, as well as agreeable and well-bred men. It is unnecessary to say that the entertainment was sumptuous: served in plate, with all the appointments of the table in the elegant keeping of English aristocratic life. The summons to the dining cabin was by music from a fine band; and with the removal of the cloth and her majesty’s health, we had “God save the Queen,” followed by “Hail Columbia” and a succession of passages from the choicest operas. Our reception was the more cordial, perhaps, from the badness of the weather; and the whole evening marked with such free interchange of thought and feeling that it seemed a family party at home. The effect to me of such an impression in this far off land, has been an irresistible fit of the “mal du pays.”

November 20th.—The Praya San Domingo and Praya Grande on the eastern side of the bay, continue to be favorite resorts with us, especially when Captain McIntosh is leader of the party. He holds in abhorrence the filth of the city side. The interest of our visits has been much increased by the acquaintance accidentally formed with a Portuguese family, shortly after the return of the Congress from the Plata. In a stroll we were taking there, we passed a plantation, the extent and thriftiness of which had before attracted our notice. The principal gateway now stood open, exhibiting, in long vista, an avenue of young palms, whose interlacing branches completely over-arched the walk beneath. A group of slaves were at work just within; and coupling our admiration with a question as to the privilege of entering, we had scarcely received an affirmative reply, before the proprietor, Don Juan M——, made his appearance from a wilderness of luxuriant growth on one side, courteously bidding us welcome, and becoming himself our guide. There is nothing artistic or particularly tasteful in the manner in which the grounds are laid out; but they are in high cultivation, and the variety and exuberance of the growth, and the novelty to us of many of its forms, made them very attractive. Fruits, flowers, and vegetables—shrubs, plants, and trees are so closely intermingled, as to shut out all view, except in each immediate path, or at the intersecting angles of the larger alleys. In other places endless beds, so arranged as to be easily irrigated, are filled with every kind of vegetable in the greatest profusion; while above wave the broad leaves of the banana and plantain, the feathery palm, and the closely set, and pinnated foliage of the mango. Many of the paths are bordered with coffee trees, now in full bloom. These are allowed to grow to a height of ten or fifteen feet, and are in the form of a bush. The blossoms, of the purest white, appear in general effect like those of the double jessamine. They cluster thickly over the branches, and contrast beautifully with the dark green of the polished leaves. Among the exotics are the cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, and the climbing vine of the black pepper.

In the course of our ramble we came upon the wash-house of the establishment—an open, tile-covered lodge or verandah, supported by pillars of brick, and furnished with a wide and deep tank or reservoir of water, troughs, tubs and slabs of stone for the various operations of the laundry. Three or four negresses were engaged in the appropriate work of the place, with their children at play around. Near one of the mothers, in a flat basket on the ground, lay, kicking and crowing as if ready to spring out of its skin, an entirely naked and shining little negro, six or eight months of age—one of the brightest and cleanest looking little rogues I ever saw. It was black as the purest ebony, and in a perfection of form fitting it for the model of a cupid, or infant Apollo, or Adonis. It looked so healthy, and so wholesome, and so perfectly pure, as to be provocative almost of a kiss; and one of our party—who, in strong remembrance of his own little ones at home, has a perfect passion for every child he meets, whether black or white—was so delighted that I thought he would scarcely rest satisfied in his caressing, short of such an evidence of admiration.