Читать книгу Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat - Edmund Roberts - Страница 5

SCENERY—PUBLIC GARDENS.

The city has two public libraries; one of them contains between sixty and seventy thousand volumes, in all languages. The other is at the Convent of St. Benedict. I visited that institution when the librarian was absent, but was amply compensated for the tiresome walk up the steep hill, on a hot day, over a very rough pavement, by the beautiful views exhibited in every direction. There, were seen mountain, hill, and dale, cultivated and in a state of nature—an ocean, a bay, a river, and on their surfaces were floating noble line-of-battle ships, merchant vessels, and an abundance of little skiffs. At my feet lay the city, with its busy throng, and at every important point were fortresses and castles, showing forth rows of formidable cannon. The day shone forth with great brilliancy; not a cloud was seen hanging over the Payo d’Assucar, the Corcovado or the Tejuco; numberless vessels were seen far at sea, pressing for the port, under a cloud of white canvass, during the continuance of the breeze. On the left lay the palace of St. Christovao; and, in the far west, a noble range of hills, terminated by the spiked tops of the organ mountains, rendered the picture enchanting and unrivalled. At the foot of the hill is the arsenal; being deficient in room, the wall of the convent, on that side, was taken down, and the rocks being blown away, a secret entrance was discovered under the church, so ingeniously contrived as to be hid from observation—it appeared like the rocks in which it was formed.

Public Gardens.—On the bay shore, commencing near the Praya or Beach do Flamingo, is a pleasant garden, surrounded by a high wall, and guarded at its various entrances by soldiers. It is much resorted to by the inhabitants after sunset. The avenues are of good width, well gravelled, kept clean, and are finely shaded by native and foreign trees, and with hedges of flowers indigenous to the climate; but the pure and wholesome breezes, and a view of the bay, are obstructed by a mound, thrown up unnecessarily high, to protect this retreat against an ever-rolling surf.

Looking to the right at the further extremity of the beach, along which is a range of good houses guarded by a high granite wall, lies the beautiful Gloria hill, having a small white turreted chapel, Nossa Señora de Gloria, or our Lady of Glory. It is of an octagonal shape, lies partially concealed amid noble forest and fruit trees, and is adorned with hedges of myrtle, interspersed with jasmine: and there,

“Weak with nice sense, the chaste Mimosa stands,

From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands;

Oft as light clouds o’erpass the summer glade,

Alarmed, she trembles at the moving shade,

And feels alive, through all her tender form,

The whispered murmurs of the gathering storm;

Shuts her sweet eyelids to approaching night,

And hails with freshened charms the rising light.”

I was much gratified with two visits made to the Botanic garden, situated about eight miles from the palace. The first visit was by water, as far as Boto Fogo. From thence it is probably three miles by land over a tolerably good road, lying principally amid mountain scenery, the Corcovado being on the right.

This mountain, on its eastern side, is one immense mass of granite, rising perpendicularly to the height of two thousand feet. On either hand are plantations and gentlemen’s villas. The road was overhung with various fruits—the coffee-tree showing its red berries and the cotton-tree its yellow bulb; or, having burst its outward covering, displaying the contents of its little pod, as white and pure as the new-fallen snow; the hedges were beautifully decorated by the hand of nature with roses, myrtles and jasmines, intertwined with a great variety of creeping plants. On the left, we passed a small brackish piece of water, called Lake Frietas, formed by an encroachment of the sea; which, in heavy gales and during high tides, forces itself over the sandy barrier between the low lands and its waters.

We arrived at noon—an unpropitious hour, for the garden was shut until three, in the afternoon. Being desirous to employ our spare time to the best advantage, we strolled on several miles farther to the seabeach, through sandy plantations, covered entirely with pine-apple, then in a green state and very small. Our toil was unrewarded, as we did not obtain a single shell, (the shore being too sandy,) nor did we see any object worthy of note.

On our return, we visited the garden, and found it a delicious retreat and in fine condition. The broad wide avenues are kept in neat order and lined with trees of various kinds. A fine stream of water conducted from the adjacent mountains, along neat canals, over pebbly beds, passes through the garden and divides the compartments of exotics from the avenues. The servants in attendance explained the endless variety of trees, shrubs and plants, and permitted us to take specimens of every thing we fancied.

This delightful spot is situated at the base of the Corcovado, on a rich plain, fronting the little lake and comprises about seventy acres. Here are many square plots of ground, containing altogether about six acres of tea, both black and green, of which there are said to be ten or twelve varieties. The plant is in height about ten feet, and bears a small, delicate, white flower; it was in a healthy and flourishing condition. The dried tea may be obtained in the city. The amboyna and cayenne cloves grow here; the former being much more fragrant than the latter. We also found the nutmeg—cinnamon of several kinds, pepper, pimento, cardamoms, the camphor and sago palm, the bread-fruit in full bearing, many varieties of the anana or pine-apple, the orange, limes, sweet and sour lemons, citron, the mamoon, marrow or mamee apple, the mango and delicious mangusteen of Java, the jack and the shaddock, the banana, the plantain, the calambolla, &c., &c. The last is a sub-acid fruit, of an oblong form and light straw colour, when ripe; it is deeply grooved or ridged with sharp edges and is very refreshing and agreeable to the taste. A beautiful arbour of a square form, having vacant openings in imitation of doors and windows, stands in the centre of the garden, furnished with a table; it is a place of great resort for pic-nic parties and is ascended by artificial steps, made of the green-sward.

The situation of Boto Fogo impresses every one who visits it, most agreeably—it is a delightful retreat from the hot and unwholesome air of the city and is, like the Praya Flamingo and the Gloria hill, the residence of many respectable foreigners. The little bay, fronting the pretty sandy beach, seems like a tranquil lake embossed in magnificent mountain-scenery. Having replenished our partially-exhausted stock of sea-stores, and the commodore being with the squadron at La Plata, we were compelled, reluctantly, to proceed to that place and set sail accordingly, on the twentieth of May. The situation of our squadron at La Plata, arose out of difficulties which existed between the Argentine Republic and that of the United States, consequent upon the unlawful and unfriendly capture of American vessels, sealing among the Falkland islands, by order of Vernet, the governor; and from the proper and spirited conduct of Captain Duncan, commander of the Lexington, in removing the colony to Montevideo, and thereby, most effectually cutting off all further depredations upon our commerce.

MONTEVIDEO.

We received the customary assistance of boats, from the various men of war, in towing the ship out of the harbour. As we passed the British line-of-battle ship Plantagenet, the band of musicians struck up our national air of “Hail Columbia.” On the thirtieth, we made St. Marys, being the northern cape at the entrance of the river. A brisk breeze the day following, accompanied with misty weather, wafted us, at midnight, within four miles of the isle of Flores, on which we found an excellent revolving light—and the weather clearing up, we saw the dull light which crowned the hill called Montevideo. Sail was then shortened to maintain our position until daylight; but in the course of three hours, a strong current running out of the river, had forced us into four and a half fathoms of water, on the edge of the English bank. We anchored, on the second of June, in the roadstead of Montevideo, near the United States’ ship Lexington. On the next morning, we again sailed, with a strong easterly gale, for Buenos Ayres, and at noon anchored in three and a half fathoms of water, off Pinta de India, in thick weather and a bad sea. In the afternoon, it became sufficiently clear for us to obtain a glimpse of the tops of some trees; sail was again made and on the fifth, we came too, in the outer Balissas, near to the United States’ ship Warren, under the command of Acting-Commodore Cooper, and the schooner Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant-Commodore Downing. Having landed Mr. Baylies and family, and taken in provisions for our voyage across the South Atlantic and Indian oceans, we sailed on the nineteenth, and in four days arrived at Montevideo. As we passed to our anchorage ground, H. B. M. frigate Druid, A. R. Hamilton, commander, complimented our flag by her musicians playing “Hail Columbia,” which cheered our hearts and created a kindly feeling in us towards our English brethren. Many years previous to this visit to La Plata, I had resided many months at Buenos Ayres, and had become acquainted with a number of worthy men and lovely females, who then shone with great brilliancy at the Tertulias, in the Bolero and Pas-a-pie, but time had changed the faces and condition of the living—death had been busy among all classes and many a friend and acquaintance had gone to the eternal world, amidst the various revolutions. The splendid churches were shorn of their ornaments and a few solitary priests, superannuated and on the brink of the grave, were seen tottering through the deserted aisles and cloisters, where hundreds had once been, and where the resounding of my own footsteps now made me start, and look back to see if any of the departed had returned to wander within their former haunts, and deplore, though they were wont to be called holy, their numerous imperfections. A regal government has now given place to one of another stamp; but the great number of armed men in the streets and about the public buildings, have divested it of much of its republican character. A Protestant church is now erected, and English names are frequently seen over the doors of buildings where once a foreign merchant was not permitted to dwell. To me, it seemed like traversing a vast sepulchre—so many had closed their eyes in death, while others appeared like spectres of former days. It was like a city once in ruins, but which had been freed of its incumbrances, and was again ushered into light and life, peopled by a new generation.

Montevideo also had met with unparalleled sufferings from the time that it was besieged by the British to the present hour. The beautiful cathedral was disfigured by marks of cannon-balls—the walls were partly demolished—the gates broken down—the cannon removed, and not a solitary sentinel was on the lookout from the battlements; the streets were broken up, and full of unsightly and dangerous holes. Death, the all-consuming hand of time, and squalid poverty, had laid a whole city in ruins; it was like a vast cemetery; for all I once knew had been swept away; even their names had been obliterated for ever. I therefore left it, better satisfied to wander ten thousand miles over a trackless and stormy ocean, than to remain in a city whose former inhabitants were spread in dust amid its ruins.