[CHAPTER V.]
Weigh Anchor—Civility of the People of Rio—Temperance—An Altercation—Cold Weather—Cape Pigeons—Large Bird—Our Kitchen Establishment—Stewards and Cooks—Scouse—Inspection of Cooks' Galley—A Joke—A Squall—An Altercation—Captain J. and Mrs. L—t—Cape Pigeons—Oranges.
We did not weigh anchor until 2 p.m. As we were beating out of the harbor, we met the Portuguese brig, which we had spoken on the fourteenth instant, coming in. After getting out and passing the lighthouse and the islands, we squared away and stood on our course with a fair and moderate breeze.
We were now much improved in health, and all the hardships, privations, annoyances, and disappointments of the former part of our voyage were forgotten. We were now supplied with a rich fund of new and interesting subjects for conversation, we looked forward to a speedy and prosperous passage round Cape Horn, and we were in the very best of spirits. We had seen Rio Janeiro.
I had, as the reader may well suppose, but slight opportunity to acquire a knowledge of the institutions of the country, or the manners and customs of its inhabitants during my very short stay in Rio, and will not insult the reader with a long essay on subjects of which I know nothing. But I noticed a few traits in their character, with which I was much pleased. I found them very kind, polite and hospitable. In all my walks through the city, which I generally took alone, I did not meet with an instance of rudeness or incivility. It was the same whether I was crowding through the market or other public places, which were thronged by multitudes of people of all classes and complexions, white, brown and black, or threading the solitary and narrow streets and crooked by-lanes which, in many cities, would seem to offer every facility and inducement for the safe perpetration of deeds of violence. I one day passed some barracks, where several companies of soldiers were drilling. The gate was open, but guarded by a soldier. I stopped and looked in. "Passé," said the sentinel, and I walked in, saw the evolutions of the soldiers on drill, and passed through several groups of others off duty. Every thing was conducted without disorder, and I was as secure from any insult or annoyance as I should have been in the midst of a party of friends at home. There were many dark complexions among them, and I thought that quite half of them, officers as well as privates, were black.
There are a great many restaurants, cafés, and other drinking establishments in Rio, and one would expect to see a great amount of intemperance among the people; and yet the only instances of drunkenness I saw there were those which occurred among the passengers and crew of our bark.
May 25. Our latitude to-day is 24° 45' south, longitude 44° west. We have passed the Tropic of Capricorn, and are sailing in the southern temperate zone.