CHAPTER IX.
RIO JANEIRO, CAPITAL OF BRAZIL.
Night upon the watery, and daybreak on the land.—Beauty of the approaches.—Apprehended retrogression, but real progression, in the City.—The stag mania in the tropics, and some of its consequences.—Notes on carriages, operas, snuff-taking, polking-washerwomen, blacks, whites, odds and ends, and things in general, original and imported.—Social, sanitary, and governmental matters of divers kinds.—Composition of the Brazilian chambers, and business therein.—State of parties.—Abolition of the Slave Trade.—Sittings of the Senate.—No necessity for Mr. Brotherton in the Brazils.—Character of the present Emperor.—Wreck of the Pernambucano.—Heroism of a black sailor.—Rigorous regulations of the Rio custom-house.—Suggestions for the extension of Brazilian commerce, and the prevention of smuggling.—Revisal of the Brazilian tariff.—Educational progress since 1808.—French literature and fashion.—Provisions in the Rio market.—Monkeys and lizards articles of food.—Oranges, bananas, chirimoyas, and granadillas.—Difficulties of the Labour Question since the suppression of the Slave Trade.—Character of the Indians.—State of feeling as regards the coloured people.—Negro emancipation ‘looming in the future.’—An experimental trip on the Rio and Petropolis railway.—Facts and figures on the commercial and monetary connexion between the Empire and Great Britain.—Comparative humanity of the Brazilians and Uruguayans.—The Slave Trade Question, and European intervention in South American politics.—Prospective glance at the advantages of steam communication between Brazil and the United States.—Authorities of all kinds on these heads; also on the territorial pretensions of Brazil, especially in reference to the disputes in the River Plate.—Portrait and Memoir of Admiral Grenfell.
Note to the Illustrations.—As in the case of Bahia, the illustrations in this chapter are from Sir W. Gore Ouseley’s ‘Sketches in South America,’ the original, however, containing no less than thirteen beautiful views of Rio Janeiro and its vicinity. In the ‘Key,’ accompanying the drawings, Sir William has embodied, in a very graphic manner, the result of his experiences in search of the picturesque in the neighbourhood of the capital to which he was accredited for several years as the representative of England. Describing some of the spots he has so faithfully delineated by his pencil, he says:—The Sugar-loaf Hills at the entrance of the magnificent harbour of Rio de Janeiro, (or simply Rio), literally ‘January River,’ are far off discernible, with the lofty Peak of the Corcovado, or ‘Hunchback,’ in the back-ground. On entering, the hill to the left, called par excellence, the Sugar-loaf, is a prominent object; then follows the wooded peninsular hill, on which is the Fort St. Juan, united to the base of the Sugar-loaf by the Isthmus of the Praya Vermelho, or ‘Red Beach;’ opposite this hill lies Fort Santa Cruz, commanding the narrow entrance of the harbour. Its formidable batteries of heavy guns are perhaps nearer the level of the sea than necessary caution, inspired by proximity of the vast Atlantic, would dictate. For, sometimes, even placed as they are, twenty or thirty feet above the water, the heavy gales from the south-west or south have caused the sea to break over these batteries, with sufficient force to dismount the cannon, as if they were reeds.
The harbour is among the finest in the world; no pilots required by night or by day, entering or leaving; no dangers not visible, or avoidable with prudence; of course a sailing vessel, venturing in or out in very light winds, or if it falls suddenly calm, may, by the enormous Atlantic swell, be cast on the rocks, when little or no steerage way is imparted by the wind.
More than one vessel has thus been lost, in the finest weather in mid-day; but from attempting to pass the narrow entrance of the harbour, without a steady breeze. Steam tugs would obviate such danger, and sea and land breezes, excepting at some seasons, afford a regular means of entrance or exit to those who await their commencement. There are boats with cables and anchors in readiness, sometimes inconveniently so, as the Argentina experienced at Fort Santa Cruz and Fort St. Juan, on the opposite shore, to be sent to vessels in danger. The bay is 17 miles in length, and 11 in extreme width, and contains many small islands, the largest, Ilha do Gobernador, or ‘Governor’s Island,’ six miles in length.
The city, whose original name was San Sebastian, now altogether lost, was founded not long after the discovery of Brazil by Cabral in the sixteenth century. It is of oblong shape, situated on an elevated tongue of land, the most easterly point of which is Punta do Calabouço, (‘Dungeon Point’), and the most northerly, opposite to which is the little Ilha das Cobras (‘Snake Island’), that of the Armazem do Sal (‘Salt Store’). The more ancient north-east part is traversed by eight straight, narrow, and parallel, streets, crossed by many others at right angles. In these the houses are high, though not quite so lofty as those in the metropolis of the mother country; but in the new town, built for the most part since the arrival of the royal family from Portugal in 1808, they are handsomer, being generally of granite. The two towns are separated by the Campo de Santa Anna, one of many large squares, agreeable to the eye, in consequence of the somewhat fatiguing regularity of the streets. Rio, the most important commercial city of South America, is naturally, from its position, the great mart of Brazil, and its advantages are such as to fit it for concentrating the commerce of the globe; but, as we have said above, comparatively little has been done to assist nature, so far as regards the convenience of the considerable quantity of shipping which frequents the port. Lighters are employed in loading and discharging all vessels as they lie at anchor in the harbour; but Government is now carrying out a plan, by an English engineer, for a quay or wharf, to extend between the Military and Naval Arsenals, at which sixteen vessels will be enabled to unload at once, as well as lighters. This is a step in the right direction, and, although even such accommodation will not be sufficient to meet the future requirements of Rio, there is no doubt that the enlightened spirit which at present animates the Brazilian government and nation will induce them to execute fresh improvements as their provincial resources increase.
ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF RIO JANEIRO.