Although I reached Rio some time before midday, so many matters required my attention that I found it impossible to return for a fuller visit to the Botanic Garden. Mr. Corbett had kindly offered to present me to the emperor, and, if time had permitted, I should have gladly taken the opportunity of making the personal acquaintance of a sovereign who stands alone among living rulers for the extent and variety of his scientific attainments, and for the active interest he has shown in the progress of natural knowledge. Irrespective of the qualities that appeal to the sympathies of men of science, Dom Pedro is evidently one of the remarkable men of our time. His exceptional energies, physical and mental, are incessantly devoted to every branch of public affairs, and it is said that he has even succeeded in inspiring some of his subjects with a share of his own zeal. But, so far as I could learn, he cannot be said to have achieved popularity. Among indolent and listless people, indefatigable industry produces an unpleasant effect. Improvements may or may not be desirable, but they are certain to give some trouble: it would be far pleasanter to let things remain as they are. Perhaps, whenever the time comes for Brazil to be deprived of the guidance of the present emperor, its people will become sensible of the loss they have sustained.
The steamer of the Royal Mail Company was to depart on July 24, so that no time was to be lost in making my visit to Tijuca. That place lies among the hills north-west of the city, about nine hundred feet above the sea, and the distance is quite inconsiderable; but the arrangements for visitors are inconvenient. A tramway runs over the flat country to the foot of the hill, and from the terminus the remainder of the way is accomplished by carriage or omnibus. But no luggage is taken by the tramway, and this has to be forwarded on the previous day. When I reached the station, about eleven a.m. on the 21st, I had an unpleasant quarter of an hour, during which it appeared that the case containing most of my Petropolis collections was lost or mislaid. At length it was found lying in an outhouse; no omnibus was available, but I soon succeeded in hiring a carriage to convey me to Tijuca.
The country between the city and the lower slopes of the hills is covered with the villas of wealthy natives, many of them large and handsome houses, each surrounded by a garden or pleasure-ground. In these grounds the mango, bread-fruit tree, and others, with large thick leaves giving dense shade, were invariably planted; and here and there palms, of which I thought I could distinguish four or five species, gave to the whole the aspect of completely tropical vegetation. Amidst the mass of trees, it was rarely possible to get a glimpse of the exquisite scenery surrounding Rio on every side, and it was only towards the top of the hill that I gained a view of the bay. Tijuca lies on the farther, or westward, slope, nearly surrounded by forest, and consists of only a few houses, of which the chief is White’s Hotel. As I afterwards learned, Mr. White, who is engaged in business in the city, was in the habit of hospitably entertaining his friends at a spot which naturally attracted frequent visits, and at length judiciously turned his house into an hotel, where a moderate number of guests find charming scenery, comparative coolness in the hot season, and far more of creature-comforts than are to be had in the hotels of Rio.
TREATMENT OF YELLOW FEVER.
Time allowed me no more than a short stroll in the immediate neighbourhood before the hour of dinner, at which I met several intelligent and well-informed gentlemen, and amongst them three English engineers, from whom I received much information as to the country which they have made their home.
Amongst other questions discussed was that, so important to Europeans, regarding the annual visitation of yellow fever and the best method of treatment. I was especially struck by the experiences of the youngest of the party, who had come out from England a few years before to superintend some considerable new works for the drainage of Rio. For two years he lived altogether in the city, constantly requiring to go below, and sometimes remaining for hours in the main sewers. During that time he was never attacked by the fever, and no fatal cases arose among the workmen engaged in the same work. Since its completion this gentleman had been engaged on other works of a more ordinary character, and had habitually slept in the country during the hot season; but, under conditions apparently more favourable, he had been twice stricken by the fever. The first attack, which was probably slight, was at once cut short by a large dose of castor oil and aconite administered by a friend. In the following year he experienced a more serious attack, and had been treated by a doctor of good repute, mainly with tartar emetic. It appears that professors of the healing art in Brazil regulate their charges, not by the amount of time or labour which they give, but by the estimated value of the patient’s life. If he survives, it is considered that the remuneration should be in the nature of salvage—a considerable percentage on the amount of his income. In the present case the young engineer had been required to pay a fee of £180. In some cases, where the doctor’s demand appeared utterly unreasonable, foreigners have attempted to appeal to the tribunals, but it appears that the results of litigation have not encouraged others to resort to the protection of the law.
In answer to my inquiries, most of my informants made light of the difficulties of exploring the interior of Brazil, but they agreed in the opinion that much time must be given by any traveller wishing to break new ground. Even in the more or less fully settled provinces, the spaces to be traversed are so great, and the means of communication so imperfect, that a large margin must be left for unexpected delays. One gentleman, who had travelled far in Goyaz and Matto Grosso, assured me that he had never encountered any difficulty as to provisions. Three articles of European origin are to be found, so he assured me, at every inhabited place in the interior—Huntley and Palmer’s biscuits, French sardines, and Bass’s pale ale.
VEGETATION OF TIJUCA.
July 22 was a day of great enjoyment, devoted to the immediate neighbourhood of Tijuca, where objects of interest were so abundant as to furnish ample occupation for many days. I have said that the place is almost surrounded by the forest which spreads over the adjoining hills. I now learned that less than fifty years before, at a time when coffee-planting in Brazil became a mania, and was counted on as everywhere a certain source of wealth, the aboriginal forest which covered the country was completely cleared, and coffee-planting commenced on the largest scale. Experience soon proved that the conditions either of soil or climate were unfavourable, and after a few years the land was again abandoned to the native vegetation. About thirty-five years had sufficed to produce a new forest, which in other lands might be supposed to be the growth of centuries. The trees averaged from two to three feet in diameter, and many were at least seventy feet in height. One of the largest is locally called ipa; it belongs to the leguminous family, has a trunk nearly quite bare, and the upper branches bore masses of cream-coloured flowers; but, finding it impossible to obtain flower or fruit, I have been unable to identify it. The vegetation here appeared to be even more luxuriant than that of Petropolis, and to indicate a somewhat higher mean temperature. The proportion of tree ferns was decidedly greater, and a good many conspicuous plants not seen there were here abundant. Some of these, such as Bignonia venusta, Allamanda, etc., may have strayed from the gardens; but many more appeared to be certainly indigenous. Of flowering plants the family of Melastomaceæ was decidedly predominant, and within a small area I collected fifteen species, eight of which belonged to the beautiful genus Pleroma. One of these (P. arboreum of Gardner) is a tree growing to a height of forty feet; but the species of this family are more commonly shrubs not exceeding ten or twelve feet in height.