There is but little skill displayed here in the mechanic arts. Although they have the finest wood in the world for cabinet work, their furniture is very badly constructed, and the defect is supplied by a profusion of gilding. They excel, however, in making ornaments of gold, such as chains, crosses, &c.; but precious stones are not well set by them; and in general, they display but little taste. As to the fine arts, they are extremely low. The king's library, of sixty thousand volumes, has been thrown open for the use of the public; but within this capital of a great empire, it will be long before there will be any thing that will deserve the name of literature. The rich native inhabitants have generally other tastes; there is nothing to call forth public discussions from the press; there is yet, in fact, no public. The art of printing, itself, which was restricted in the colonial state, is not yet sufficiently spread to satisfy the demand, small as it is. There is more printing in any one of our smallest cities, than in all Brazil. A botanical garden has been established in the neighborhood of the city, and is said to be respectable. There are but few of the usual accompaniments of European monarchy. The king has imported a company of opera performers from Italy, at an expense that would build a frigate. Several of our officers attended the theatre, and spoke highly of their performance. There is something truly ridiculous in such importations to a country, which stands so much in need of an increase of population. A royal amusement, for which Lisbon is particularly celebrated, the bull fights, has not been successfully introduced here. Repeated attempts were lately made in a circus erected near the country palace; but they

utterly failed, as the bulls were found good for nothing, in all probability to the great joy of the bull fighters.

The cattle of this province is small, and the market is supplied from Rio Grande or St. Catharines; but after being driven several hundred miles in this hot climate, over the worst roads in the world, they are miserably poor by the time they reach this place. The crops of coffee, or cotton, from the interior, are brought on the backs of mules; the former generally put up in raw hides. I could not learn whether the cotton gin has been introduced, but I am inclined to think it has not. While we were here, a cargo of wheat arrived from Chili. The market for this article, or flour, is extremely uncertain, from the smallness of the quantity requisite to supply it. The great body of the people use the mandioca, not merely as a substitute, but even in preference. This root is of great importance throughout all South America, and is cultivated with great care. It yields two crops a year, and is prepared by boiling and expressing the juice, which is poisonous; the sediment which remains, after pouring off the water, is the tapioca of the shops. There is no doubt but that the use of flour will increase, and of course, the demand from the United States, which can always supply it on better terms and of a better quality, than La Plata or Chili, or the southern provinces of Brazil. Grapes are raised at Rio, but not for the purpose of making wine. It is only in poor lands, and very populous countries, that the vine can be cultivated extensively; the culture of cotton, tobacco, sugar, and indigo, are so much more profitable, that it is not likely that wine will be

made for use or exportation. To the south, the vine flourishes much better than in this province.

The inhabitants are represented as being much devoted to the ceremonies of their religion. The inquisition was never established here, very fortunately for the Jews, who are numerous, and whose outward conformity has never been strictly scrutinized. The kings of Portugal obtained from the pope, nearly the same grant of ecclesiastical supremacy over their American possessions, as the king of Spain over theirs. There is a primate at St. Salvador, to whom all the churches of Brazil acknowledge obedience. The chief business of the colonists of a general interest, consists in the public ceremonies of their religion, such as processions in the streets, and masses. Devotion has become rather a matter of amusement, than a serious duty. At every hour of the day, rockets are let off, a singular accompaniment to religious exercises.* The clergy are said to be licentious, and even the nuns have been spoken of, as not possessing the sanctity enjoined by their vows. An occurrence took place some time ago, which scandalized the faithful, perhaps, much more than acts of a more reproachful kind. Two British officers, one a lieutenant, and the other a surgeon, of a ship of war, prevailed on two of the nuns to elope with them; the ladies fell upon the expedient of letting themselves down from the second story window of the convent, by means of their bed clothes. The enamorada of the lieutenant came safely to his arms,

* "The religious system which held its empire with such happy effects so long, has now some resemblance to a machine, of which the spring, by its own internal working, has slackened at length, and wearing out."-Macartney's Embassy.

but the other had the misfortune to fall, and was so severely hurt, that her lover, though a physician, could afford her no relief, and was obliged to leave her behind. The lieutenant carried his nun on board the ship, and was married by the chaplain.

An interesting description of the province of Rio Janeiro, is given by the author of the Corographia. The name was given to the bay in 1532, by the intrepid navigator de Sousa, in consequence of his mistaking it for a river, and the name was communicated to the province.* It was not settled until about the year 1567, and after a French colony of protestants sent by admiral Coligny, had been dispossessed by the governor of Bahia, or St. Salvador. Rio Janeiro did not become the capital of the province until 1663, when the colony had acquired some importance, and the value of this noble harbor was becoming better known. The province extends along the coast about sixty leagues, and is about twenty-five in width. It is divided into two parts by the Organ mountains. On the other side of these is the river Paraiba, which flows between them and the chain of Mantequera, in a valley not more than sixty miles across in its widest part. This river takes its rise in the district of St. Paul, and is navigable five or six hundred miles from its mouth. About eight leagues below the town of Lorenzo, where it has already acquired considerable volume, the whole of its waters are compressed into a channel of five fathoms wide, between two natural

* A number of small rivers discharge themselves into the bay from the sides of the Organ mountains which border on the western side, but none of them navigable more than two or three miles.

walls, upwards of seventy feet high, and several hundred long. From the narrowness of its valley, it receives few rivers of any magnitude, although it discharges a great body of water into the ocean. Its banks are highly cultivated; some of the most valuable sugar plantations of Brazil are situated on them. With the exception of the district of Goytacazes, the province is extremely mountainous. In the district just mentioned, there are some low lands, marshes, and swamps. In the mountain districts, it is natural to expect a number of cascades and water falls; no country can be more picturesque and romantic. The fall of Tejouco, in the vicinity of the capital, is particularly described as being worthy the attention of those who admire such objects.

The coronation, for which so much preparation had been made, was at last announced for the 6th of February. The morning was ushered in by salutes from all the forts, as well as ships of war in the harbor. As a mark of respect to the government of the country whose hospitality we enjoyed, the commodore joined the other commanders of foreign vessels in firing a salute. All the ships were dressed in the colors of the different nations of the world, and exhibited one of the most splendid appearances I ever witnessed; but whether to be attributed to accident or design we knew not, on examining the different flags, it was discovered that ours was not among them. The commodore on making this discovery, resolved to go no further in the demonstrations of respect for the occasion. The ceremony took place about noon, in the Grecian temple we had seen in the public square. With the nature of the ceremony I am unacquainted,