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One of the most singular appearances the upper city has to a stranger is its apparent desertion. There were, until very lately, only about a dozen wheeled vehicles in the place, but the march of intellect has been here, and now there are omnibuses plying to the Victoria. All burdens are carried on the head, from an orange, a candle, or a bottle, to a barrel of fish. The larger kinds, such as pipes of wine, are slung between poles, whilst logs of wood are carried upon the shoulders of twenty or thirty, looking, for all the world, like an immense centipede. During the time of carrying a wild kind of chorus is kept up; one man makes observations as he goes along, and the rest come in with a chorus, which seldom varies, however much the recitative solo part may. Although large burdens are thus carried, one man will not take nearly so much as a European, and would rather lose his chance of a journey than carry more than he thinks proper.

The cupolas of the church towers are very frequently covered with pieces of earthenware, assorted according to their colour, and laid on stucco in patterns, which gives them a glistening appearance, as if they were enamelled. It appears to withstand the effects of time. Some of them are covered with Dutch tiles, and others are formed of marble. Part of the front of the Italian friars’ church, and the bell tower, are covered with the above curious stucco, but a near approach destroys the effect.

Little naked blacks are constantly seen in the street, with no more clothing than a pair of bracelets or ear-rings, and some are very fine-looking. Their appearance is not improved, however, by the protuberance of the abdomen caused by eating farinha, which swells extremely when any liquid is mixed with it. The shape, nevertheless, is soon regained. One peculiarity is the infrequency of a child crying: their food is simple, so that they do not often suffer from indigestion, and they are less encumbered with clothing than the higher classes, although, in the country, none are very particular in that respect. The manner in which the mother carries the child, slung across the back with her shawl, binds its legs in a curve, but they soon recover their straightness when able to walk. When thus tied, the child presents the very picture of resignation, its little head nodding about, when fast asleep, or when awake crowing, or beating a tattoo on its mother’s back, who frequently holds a conversation with it, its replies being in the only universal language now in use.

The huts of the blacks are very curious; they are built of stakes of bamboo &c., driven into the ground, and these intertwined with others; the whole, being filled up with clay, and thatched with palm-leaves. The interior presents the very acmé of wretchedness on a rainy day, and but little better in fine weather. All kinds of rubbish huddled together, a few daubs of saints hung on the walls, a ricketty table with some carved saint upon it, a coach dog, (a hideous animal, without hair, having only a few bristles on the head, back, and tail, and of a dull leaden colour,) or a long-legged scraggy cat, and a few fowls, quite as great curiosities in their way, are the usual characteristics of these primitive habitations.

The blacks of this place swim almost as if they were amphibious. You see numbers of children constantly dabbling at the water’s edge for hours together, and soon learning to strike out boldly. One mode of swimming is very singular; one arm is always out of the water, advanced in front, alternately with the other, sweeping or drawing the water towards them, and raising the body out of the water at each stroke. This method is considerably quicker than the ordinary style of swimming, but appears to be more difficult of attainment.

It is agreed by phrenologists that the head of the negro, above all others, presents the greatest development of Music, and certainly some of the blacks do play remarkably well. You hear little boys in the street, whom you might fancy could scarcely speak, whistle tunes with great correctness; and the negro dances show how admirably the science of time is appreciated.

O surely melody from heaven was sent

To cheer the soul, when tired of human strife,

To soothe the wayward heart, by sorrow bent,

And soften down the rugged path of life.—Kirke White.

It is to European ears, however, that taught combination music has the charm; the monotony of the negro chanting, and its never-ending repetition, convey no idea of the ‘melody of sweet sounds,’ and the dances that are exhibited to these tunes are anything but edifying.

The manner of catching fish here is curious. At low water four or five large canoes will start; two of them divide the net, which is of great length, and has the lower edge loaded with lead, and the upper lightened with cork. On arriving at a given spot, they separate, and dropping the net with all speed, form as wide a circle as possible, and thus enclose the fish in a pen. The canoes are then ranged around the outside of the net, at some distance from each other, and a hand-net, the length of the canoe, is held by two blacks. This net is about six feet in height, and supported by two poles. The other men then beat the water and the sides of the canoes with paddles, making as much noise as they can, which frightens the fish, which, trying to escape, and finding themselves effectually prevented by the net, leap out of the water, and are caught by the hand-net, and fall into the boat. In a few minutes a large catch is made, though numbers of course escape. It is a curious sight to see them flying, as it were, in all directions, out of the enclosure.

The roasted grains of milho (Indian corn) form a dish of which the blacks, are very fond; it is called pipokas, and is thus prepared:—an earthen pot is partly filled with white sand, and placed over a small open stove until it becomes thoroughly heated, when the grains of new milho are stripped off the bunch, thrown in, and stirred amongst the sand with a long stick. The grains soon swell, and burst the skin, and the corn becomes white and light. These grains are eaten with pieces of cocoa nut. ‘Vai plantas pipokas,’ (go plant roasted milho,) is a phrase, rather more expressive than polite, used in bidding a person go and mind his own business.

It is a curious circumstance that the minds of the blacks should, for so many ages, have remained in a stationary condition; and although political and local circumstances may have greatly operated to retard their mental development, yet it seems much more probable that this state of darkness proceeds more from physical causes. Their stupidity, or rather want of intellectuality, is a most unaccountable fact, and one of those mysterious dispensations of Providence that man tries in vain to unravel. Individual, but almost solitary, instances occur of a contrary nature; and although cultivation of the intellect may thus have developed the black’s faculties, it only serves to show more clearly the wild and blank from which he has been separated.

A very singular, in fact almost a barbaric, custom exists here on gala days, such as the birth-day of the Emperor or Empress. The President issues invitations to a ‘Cortejo’ at the Palace, a large building in the upper town. The portion occupied by the President is older than the rest, which is new, and contains the Treasury, and other public offices. The attendance on one of these gala days consists of all the authorities, and many of the principal inhabitants of the city. The ceremony usually commences with a ‘Te Deum’ in the cathedral. The foreign consuls appear in their uniforms, a motley habited, but showy, group: the officers of the army and navy, with the President, all in full regimentals; the archbishop in his robes, and the priests in the habits of their respective orders; the judges in their robes of office, the corporation in their quaint dresses, and a crowd of civilians, all habited in black, and many of them decorated with ribbons and stars. The entry is up a dilapidated stair-case, on the top landing of which a military band is stationed playing national airs. Two large and scantily furnished rooms are entered, and a short time is spent in conversation, until the preparations for the Cortejo are complete. Then the President’s aid-de-camp pushes aside the heavy door curtain, and invites the company to enter. The assemblage enters a long room, papered with green and gold, and lighted by a line of windows overlooking the sea, curtained with green and gold damask, looped with bullion. At the further end of the room, under a velvet canopy, with a kind of dais in front, are portraits of the Emperor and the Empress, which constitute the sole furniture of the room. On one side of the portraits stand the President and the Archbishop, and on the other the General-at-arms, Commander of the National Guard, and other principal authorities. The procession advances down the centre of the room, in Indian file, the consuls going first, and according to precedence; and when within a few yards of the dais, each person makes a profound bow to the portraits, and then to the authorities. Foreigners generally omit the first obeisance, as being too savage, but those who come after most ceremoniously perform the rite. After bowing, each person takes his leave by passing out by a side door, and the Cortejo is over. When all have bowed their way out, the President invites the consuls he is friendly with to view the troops defile before him, as he stands at one of the front windows of the Palace. The military march past to martial music, and then we take our leave.

Caugica is a species of food of a peculiarly national character, and is made in various ways. One is simply taking the skin off the Indian corn, and boiling it in milk or water; this is eaten cold. Another method is to grind the corn, mix the meal with sugar and spices, and boil it with milk, when it makes a very agreeable food.

The butterflies of this country are most gorgeous; agile and graceful, they flutter in the sunlight, their magnificent robes glistening like scales of gold. These sylph-like inhabitants of the air, issuing from the dark cradle in which they exist as chrysalises, seem to rejoice in their new life, hovering from flower to flower, sipping the choicest nectar, and revelling in perpetual enjoyment, and the continued pursuit of novelty and pleasure.

The Solidade Convent is the great locale where they make those beautiful feather flowers without dye, which are so much esteemed in Europe. On my first visit to this place, all the romance of nuns and nunneries was revived in my mind. The lady abbess, or superior, or whatever else she may be, was a stately woman: but the nun who acted as saleswoman was most beautiful—a Carlo Dolci countenance, pale, but with glorious eyes; and far more flowers were bought from her than would have been from any other. Visitors are ushered into a small room, whither the flowers are conveyed in large baskets through a double grating, and the attendants of the different nuns are there to look after their own. None of our party were very proficient in Portuguese, and we had great fun in the purchases, though we probably paid double what we ought to have done. On our departure, the lovely nun came to the door, and as we passed out, courteously bade us ‘adios,’ and requested us, if we came again, to ask for Maria.

A beautiful species of duck is found at Maronia, to the north of this place, of the manner of catching which a description has been given me. The lakes which they frequent are very much choked with vegetable matter, and near their haunts a large gourd is floated, having two small holes bored through the side. After a few days, when the ducks have become accustomed to the presence of the gourd, a man wades into the water with it on his head, and catching a duck by its legs, breaks its neck, and fastens it to his girdle. In this manner, several are quietly killed, and the fowler wades ashore with a well-filled pouch.

The Botocudo Indians make an incision in the under lip, which becomes so distended that they insert in the orifice a round piece of wood, as large as the top of a common-sized tumbler-glass; the lobe of the ear is also perforated and elongated, in order to receive a similar ornament. In height they are about 5 feet 6 inches, and have quite an independent bearing and ar de franqueza.

The Indians, like the Greeks of the Homeric age, deem it the greatest of evils to be unburied, and therefore they delight in making flutes and trumpets of their enemies’ bones. I have seen some of these flutes of the present day: they contain about four or five holes; and are sometimes ornamented with tufts of red and yellow feathers attached to the bone by strings.

The market is a most curious place, and I am told by persons who have travelled in Africa, that it has a thoroughly African appearance. Amongst heaps of fruit, vegetables, &c., shaded by mats, some of which are formed into huts, and others merely propped up by sticks, are seated the black women, in dresses of many diversified colours, but all of the same fashion. Some with their infants slung across their backs, and tied by the pano da Costa; others with heavy baskets of fruit or vegetables on their head; little children, whose only articles of clothing are bracelets, ear-rings, and bands of coral beads round the body, squat on a wooden dish, like an Indian god, or sprawl amidst fowls, ducks, &c. Here and there you see a black girl in her holiday attire, her hands covered with rings, and her neck adorned with chains of solid gold, which she is constantly displaying by arranging her shawl. In this part of the market the boxes of papadura, attended by the taberoá, in his leather jacket and hat; the half-naked qaubadomes busy with unloading and loading, and the different and absolutely gorgeous colours of the fruit, vegetables, and dresses, form a most brilliant picture. The constant chatter of talking, the screaming of parrots, the laughter of the women, and sometimes the serious talk, added to which the procession of the Espiritu Santo, accompanied by its band of music, the ringing of the church bells, and the constant firing of rockets, constitute a perfect Babel of sounds. The dark shades are the dusky sons of Ethiop themselves, the dirty buildings, and the still dirtier streets; but a busier, gayer, or more amusing scene will seldom be found.

This is the land of parasite plants; a thousand different kinds of these vagaries of nature are here. Some, attached to the branches of trees, derive sustenance therefrom and from the air; others form a nucleus with their roots for dead leaves, decayed wood, &c., and flourish; others, again, merely rest upon the branches, and live on air alone. Every curiosity of form is to be seen: some of the flowers like flies; others of indescribable shapes; many with their flowers filled with water, which thus becomes scented; a dozen different varieties on one tree; some of most brilliant colours, others shades of green alone; some long and pendant, one variety of which has received the name of the ‘rat’s tail;’ some without leaves, like nothing but a string, wave with every wind until they reach the ground, where they become fixed and rooted.

The bread-fruit tree is very beautiful; but is not very common in this place, its use being superseded by farinha. The leaves are very large, of a bright green colour, and much indented at the edges. The fruit is green, and the surface has the appearance of network. There are two varieties: in one kind the divisions of the fruit’s surface are raised pyramidally, in the other they are smooth. The latter is the sort used for food, it having no seeds. Roasted and eaten with butter and salt it is palatable, but insipid; and here it is usually planted for ornament, as it grows quickly, and makes a pleasing variety among other trees. The coffee is another very beautiful plant; when in blossom, the long, glossy, dark green leaves present a pleasing contrast to the clusters of white flowers round the stem, and it exhales a delicious fragrance. When the berries arrive at maturity, they are of a dusky red colour; each contains two grains of coffee, surrounded by a soft pulp, which soon dries after being plucked, and is then removed. The labour of picking is very slight, and children can with great ease be thus employed. The cultivation of the coffee-plant is much more attended to in this province than formerly, and is gradually taking the place of sugar. Towards the south a good deal is cultivated for exportation.

The mantis is a very curious insect, which Rondelet, the naturalist, says is called indifferently devin and prega diou, or preché dieu, in consequence of having their fore-feet extended as if preaching or praying. The Latin name of mantis signifies ‘diviner,’ and supposed to have been so designated from the motion they make with their fore-feet; and it was imagined that they could divine or indicate events. The fore-feet are used by the insect to carry food to its mouth; it is of a beautiful green colour. In one of the Idylls of Theocritus the term mantis is used to designate a thin young girl with slender and elongated arms.—See Griffith’s Edition of ‘Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom.’

The banana is a plant about twelve feet high, having a stem similar to bulbous plants in general, and the leaves, many of them two feet wide, and from twelve to fourteen feet long, springing from the top. The new leaf rises from the centre, and is rolled up straight; as it increases in length, it gradually unfolds, and gives way for another. The fruit is green, and grows round the stem in regular semi-circular groups. The blossoms are protected by a thick fleshy leaf-like covering, which rises to allow the sun to have its full influence in maturing the fruit. When the blossoms drop off, the half-circles remain, but it is seldom that more than six or eight rows of bananas are produced, and each smaller than the preceding. The juices of the plant gradually lose their nutritious qualities, and there are numerous rows of abortive flowers, which produce nothing; and the stem is terminated by a mass of the fleshy leaves enclosing embryo bananas never to be matured. The plant is generally cut down when the fruit has attained its full size, to make it shoot for the next season, and the fruit is hung up to ripen, which it soon does, when it becomes of a fine yellow colour.

The sunsets here are sometimes very fine, and I have noticed that when the twilight is hastening on, a brighter glow will appear, with very vivid and distinct bands of blue and pink, alternately shaded off into each other, and radiating from the spot when the sun has gone down. The difference in the apparent sunset is about half-an-hour between winter and summer. Bright as the sky is by day, it is brighter far by night, when the spangled heavens are spread out like a curtain. The air is so pure that the stars seem to shine with an increasing brightness. The Southern Cross is a beautiful object, and so different are the heavens from the northern hemisphere, that nothing seems to produce the effect of the long distance from home so much as the difference of the starry constellations. The Milky Way seems to have received fresh refulgence; and all is magnificence.

The small black ants found in gardens, generally in great numbers, are the most annoying of the species; their bite produces a burning pain, which must be partly the effect of poison, and continues for some time. The red ants very soon strip the foliage off trees, which they are constantly ascending and descending, one party empty, the other loaded; a third party remains in the tree, cutting away whole leaves, so that it is no unusual thing to be passing under a tree, and to see the leaves falling as it were miraculously. A fourth party is employed cutting them up into proper sizes for carrying to their nests. Most of these ants, if squeezed between the fingers, emit a strong smell of lemon. Rose-buds seem to be their most favourite food, and gardens here suffer extremely from their ravages.