Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume I Part 9

V.

Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil the land of contrasts.--Appearance of the city of Rio and its environs.--Excursion to the Peak of Corcovado, and the Tejuca Waterfalls.--Germans in Rio.--Brazilian literary men.-- a.s.sacu (_Hura Brasiliensis_).--Snake-bite as an antidote against leprosy.--Public Inst.i.tutions.--Negroes of the Mozambique coast.--The House of Misericordia.--Lunatic Asylum.--Botanical Garden.--Public instruction.-- Historico-Geographical inst.i.tution.--_Palaestra Scientifica._-- Military Academy.--Library.--Conservatory of Music.--Sanitary Police.--Yellow Fever and Cholera.--Water Party on the bay.-- Chamber of Deputies.--Petropolis.--Condition of the Slave population.--Prospects of German emigration.--Suitability of Brazil as a market for German commerce.--Natural products, and exchange of manufactures.--Audience of the Emperor and Empress.--Extravagant waste of powder for salvoes.--Songs of the sailors.--Departure from Rio.--Retrospect.--South-east Trades.--Cape Pigeons.--Albatrosses.--Cape Tormentoso.--A Storm at the Cape.--Various Methods of measuring the height of waves.--Arrival in Simon's Bay.

Brazil--situated on the ocean-highway to the South Seas and the sh.o.r.es of India, endowed by nature, over the greater portion of her territory, with a salubrious climate, and a soil of tropical fertility, very nearly as large as Europe, and ten times the size of France, and yet containing not above 8,000,000 souls--has, far beyond all other States of South America, concentrated on herself, during more than half a century, the interest of the naturalist, as well as of the political economist--of the merchant as well as of the emigrant. Indeed, we may say that there are few countries, beyond the limits of Europe, which in certain parts have already been more thoroughly explored than the Brazilian Empire, while at the same time it can boast the possession of a rich and valuable stock of literature, treating of its history, since its discovery by the Portuguese Admiral, Pedro Alvarez Cabral, on the 22nd of April, 1500, down to the present time.

After so brief a sojourn as ours, we can hardly offer more to the reader than a short sketch of our own few experiences, and some remarks regarding the alterations which took place in the appearance of the city and in its social and political condition, since the period when Martius and Spix, Rugendas, Prince Neuwied, Helmreichen, Natterer, Pohl, d'Orbigny, Wilkes, Castelnau, Burmeister, and others visited Brazil, and so accurately delineated it both by pen and pencil.[37]

[Footnote 37: Before we left Europe, the wish was repeatedly expressed to us that, during our stay in Rio, more accurate information should be obtained as to the fate of numerous scientific works and collections, by several German naturalists who died in Brazil in recent times, such as Frederick Sello, Dr. Muller (a companion of Castelnau), Dr. Engler, and others. Unfortunately, we can only give the little consolatory intelligence that, with the exception of the scientific memoranda left behind by Dr. Engler, chiefly relating to Itu in the province of St. Paul, there was nothing further to be hoped for. The collections have all been dispersed through want of care, and the ma.n.u.scripts nearly all destroyed through ignorance of their value.]

The magnificent scenery of the Bay of Rio de Janeiro still continues to possess the same absorbing interest for the new comer, wherever it has not suffered by the expansion of the rapidly-increasing city, or the axe of the emigrant settler; it is but little one can add to or alter in the picturesque description which travellers, alive to its natural beauties, had already given, half a century ago, of the wonderful haven of the Brazilian metropolis! Very different, however, is the impression, when the stranger, on disembarking, sets foot on the new world, and has to make his way through narrow, steep, filthy streets, greeted by yelling crowds of blacks and whites, poor negro slaves, and wealthy planters, into the interior of this bustling port. An entirely altered state of affairs has sprung up since the separation of Brazil from Portugal, and he who has not seen Rio within the last ten years would hardly recognize the capital of the Brazilian empire. Along with the most conspicuous deficiencies, in numerous particulars, one finds such inst.i.tutions as are not to be met with, in a similarly flouris.h.i.+ng condition, in any other State of South America, or among the republics of the Isthmus. But Brazil is emphatically "The Land of Contrasts."

When the traveller, stepping on sh.o.r.e from the anchorage for s.h.i.+ps of war, (which is a little to the south of that for merchant vessels), has forced his way through the swarms of human beings at the landing stage, and in front of the hotel Pharoux, he finds himself on the Largo do Paco, or Palace Square. Here on his left rises the singular-looking Imperial Residence, and on his right, close to the sh.o.r.e, the Market Hall. A dense bustling crowd throngs the streets, while numerous vehicles, some drawn by horses, others by mules, as also omnibuses of all colours and dimensions, and crammed within and without, dash swiftly about, emulating the din and confusion of European capitals. Turning now to the right, into the Rua Direita, and thence a little further into the Rua do Ouvidor, the two most elegant but none the less most-neglected streets of Rio, there dazzles the eye, in the splendid, richly-decorated shops and arcades, the same profuse luxury as in Regent Street, or on the Boulevards. But how disagreeable the contrast with those cities, presented by the pools of stagnant water, which occur even in the most-frequented streets!

The city proper presents the figure of a square of about one mile and three quarters each way, between the sea beach and the Campo da Santa Anna, and is divided with tolerable regularity by narrow streets built at right angles to each other. Except the most important public buildings, such as the National Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Military Academy, the Naval a.r.s.enal, the Custom House, the Market Hall, the Imperial Palace, the Chamber of Deputies, and several of the churches, only shops and mercantile counting-houses are to be met with.

From the city stretch the suburbs like long tentacles in every direction, on one side along the beach as far as St. Christoph, the winter palace of the emperor, and, in the opposite direction, as far as the charming Cove of Botafogo, while backwards they extend to the valleys leading to the Corcovado, to the suburbs of Larangeiras, Catumb Grande, and in the direction of the Tejuca mountains, as far as Engenho Velho, and Andarah.

Elegant little villas, frequently built in the strangest and most _bizarre_ style of architecture, alternate in these suburbs with ordinary dwelling-houses, all having most beautifully laid-out gardens. The merchant, the manufacturer, in fact every individual in easy circ.u.mstances, remain in the city only long enough to transact daily business. Each has his residence in the suburbs, where his family lives, to whose quiet circle he returns every evening. Among these suburbs, those of Caminho Novo and Catete, along the road leading to the charming cove of Botafogo, are more specially the diplomatic quarter, and the residence of the moneyed aristocracy of the capital.

Amid so much that calls for censure in Rio Janeiro, and of which the aesthetic perceptions of the visitor will apprize him in the course of a stroll in any part of the city, there are two improvements which deserve grateful acknowledgment. The first of these consists in the lighting of the city by gas (prepared from English coal), which had been introduced shortly before our arrival, and is now extended to the extreme outskirts of the suburbs; the second is the magnificent aqueduct, which provides every quarter of Rio with a lavish supply of excellent drinking-water.

However ugly Rio may look in the daytime, the gas at night gives it a magnificent and splendid appearance, particularly from the harbour. When, the evening after our arrival, we gazed out upon the brilliantly-illuminated city that lay before us, we could not help thinking there must be some festive occasion for such a flood of light, ignorant as we then were of what we learned afterwards, that Rio is as fairy-looking by night as it appears gloomy by day.

Not less surprising, and forming a strong contrast with the deficiencies and requirements in other particulars, are the stately fountains that adorn the squares. Close by the corner of each street, gushes out through metal c.o.c.ks, a stream of clear, fresh spring-water, which has been conveyed by the great aqueduct a distance of 10 or 12 English miles from the slopes of the neighbouring Carioca or Tejuca mountain-chains. The water supply has been in existence for 120 years, but the present immense reservoir and various improvements in it have been introduced by the Brazilian Government. With the exception of the Croton aqueduct, near New York, which supplies that city with 40,000,000 gallons daily, we do not remember to have seen in any part of the world a similar work of such magnitude.

The dreary, uncomfortable feeling left by the city, gives way to most enjoyable impressions so soon as one emerges from the suburbs of Rio, and seeks compensation for the absence of the appliances of European civilization in the eternal grace and majesty of Nature. Walks may be taken in every direction, each opening up a fresh point of view, while, if the visitor take horse or mule, he may in the course of an hour or two transport himself into the very midst of the most extraordinary features of tropical vegetation.

Among the most charming of these is a ride to the rocky peak called Corcovado, 2300 feet high, the road to which runs through magnificent shady forests. On the highest pinnacle of this rocky cone, which rises rather abruptly on the side of the valleys of Clementi and Broca, a parapet has been erected within these few years, so that the traveller can gaze over the delightful panorama below with as much, or even more, comfort and security, than from the Righi or the great Winterberg in the Saxon Switzerland. In the south and south-east rise the two stern-looking mountains, Gavia and Dos Irmaos, both of considerable height, and encircled by the mirror-like lagoon, Rodrigo das Freitas, near which stands out, clothed in the most luxuriant verdure, a part of the botanical garden; thereafter follows the beautiful valley of Clementi and Broca, with the splendid Lunatic Asylum and the fort of Praya Vermelha; beyond which is the smiling cove of Botafogo, and the singular Sugar Loaf, which forms such a characteristic feature of the entrance of Rio harbour; close beside the latter is the fort of San Juan; and lastly, facing the entrance of the bay, that of Santa Cruz, the strongest in the empire. At our feet lay stretched out the city itself, with the beautiful valleys of Larangeiras, Engenho Velho, and Catumb Grande. On the other side of the bay, just opposite Rio, is Praya Grande, the capital of the province, and in the background the lofty, spectre-like mountain-chain of the Organos-- so called from the rocky peaks projecting like so many organ-pipes. What a wondrous prospect! It is scarcely possible to have, from a single point of view, a grander or more varied natural picture. We lingered here more than an hour, and tore ourselves away with reluctance from all those glories which Nature has shed with so profuse a hand over this enchanting landscape.

One of our companions was the veteran Brazilian naturalist, the venerable Dom Antonio Ildefonso Gomez, who pa.s.sed several years in Europe when a young man, and had, together with Humboldt, once attended the lectures of Cuvier at Paris. M. Auguste de St. Hilaire, during his visit to Rio, spent several months at Dom Ildefonso's hospitable abode. Although now a septuagenarian, the old physician is uncommonly hale in person, full of his pristine enthusiasm, indefatigable in the pursuit of knowledge, and able to pa.s.s an entire day on the back of his mule, so that he can ride to the most distant consultations without betraying any symptoms of exhaustion. He had brought with him a number of large oranges, some cheese and bread, and a bottle of excellent port wine, so that there was no want of wherewithal to recruit our strength; and there, on the summit of the Corcovado, our hearts swelling with rapture as the eye ranged over the marvellous landscape that lay unrolled at our feet, we drank to the prosperity of Brazil. Dom Ildefonso, a warm friend to all foreigners, remarked that within forty years Brazil will probably be more German than Brazilian or Portuguese, and expressed a hope it might be so, as only by that means, so far as his observation went, could his beloved native land hope for a prosperous future.

We returned through most charming forest scenery by way of Larangeiras and Andarah. Throughout the entire distance we rode amidst the most exquisite specimens of tropical vegetation, palms, ebony trees, bignonias, plantains, mangoes, papayas, and bread-fruit trees, mingling with which we could discern the various trees and shrubs of the Northern Hemisphere, and occasionally strange plants from China, j.a.pan, and Australia, which had been planted here by the enterprising hand of foreign settlers.

Not less charming is the excursion to the Falls of the Tejuca, to which a broad road leads through blooming flower-gardens, and past delicious country seats, extending far into the mountains, and surrounded and overshadowed by a wall as it were of verdure, consisting of the flowers of _Bignonia bella_, intermingling with the s.h.i.+ning leaves of the gigantic _Bougainvillea_. The coral tree (_Erythrina coralliflora_), the indigenous magnolia, the fan-shaped _urania_, numerous species of palms, and lofty, carefully-tended screw-pines, plantains with gigantic fruits, bread-fruit trees, eugenias, casuarinas, and melon trees--such are the blooming odoriferous attractions that here adorn garden and field. Ever threading his way among such charming plantations, the traveller finally reaches the path which, hemmed in between two mountain ridges of moderate height, leads direct to the Tejuca mountains, while to the right branch off numerous narrow paths conducting to the various adjoining eminences, from which a view can be obtained of the small cascade. The tropical richness and profusion of vegetation, has here crowded together upon a few square feet of soil hundreds of plants of all kinds. They strike into the soil, or struggle upwards to the light, or give out roots from the stems or branches, and all twine and tangle with each other to such an extent that often in these tufts and thickets one sees the top of a fern, without being able to distinguish any part of its stem, or a pa.s.sion-flower without any visible stalk or leaves, all suspended in mid-air, like so many elegant festoons.

A short distance from this singular, thoroughly tropical landscape, is the second, known as the Great Cascade, which, however, owes its special attractions rather to the character of the surrounding vegetation than to the volume of water. The trees here grow on a sort of amphitheatre of rocks, all of colossal size, and the most widely different forms, no two of the same species adjoining each other, their stems and branches adorned with the most beautiful parasites and the blood-red leaves of innumerable creepers, which in their lavish luxuriance now stretch like garlands from tree to tree, now hang perpendicularly down from the very highest branch of the tree like a network of green lace, till they sweep along the ground.

The water welling out from the granite rock, rushes into the abyss below after traversing a rocky declivity, somewhat resembling a sloping terrace of about twenty fathoms wide. Its track is indicated by the irregularly-shaped blocks piled upon each other, some of which at a little distance below, their huge wide ridges enclosed by retaining walls, serve as spots in which to dry in the sun the ripe berries of the coffee plant, which in many parts hereabout forms an almost impervious forest.

As we prosecute our wanderings further, we finally emerge upon the green hills of the vicinity, and obtain a charming glimpse of the ocean; we have now arrived in front of the gigantic outline of the Gavia, and directly facing us lies the salt-marsh, known as Tejuca-Lake, in the midst of which rises an island, thickly overgrown with mango-trees, standing on their distorted hundredfold roots; melancholy-looking examples of the inactivity and absence of all attention of the Brazilian authorities, who permit such a hot-bed of poisonous miasma to remain in the immediate vicinity of the city, and leave these plants unchecked to carry on their pestiferous vital processes!

Returning from such a delightful excursion to Rio de Janeiro, the stranger feels doubly uncomfortable and lonely in the dreary and sombre city. The Brazilians are in general neither very social nor hospitable, and only, after many years' acquaintance, is a familiar intercourse formed with strangers.

In this respect they bear a strong resemblance to the Spanish-Americans, whom they also greatly resemble in many of their habits of life.

Foreigners settled in Rio spend their evenings generally at their country seats, some distance from the town, so that the occasional visitor is deprived of the social intercourse that might otherwise be so accessible.

We met with a most hospitable reception at the houses of the Austrian Minister, Chevalier de Sonnleithner, and our Consul-General, as well as from some German families, and also from the "Germania," a Club founded by twelve Germans as far back as 1821. This Society numbers now about 200 members, and is well supplied with German newspapers and periodicals, besides possessing a well-selected library of several thousand volumes, and a reading-room, with _restaurant_, smoking, billiard, and dancing-rooms attached. Of the various nationalities represented at Rio, the Germans are the most respected by the Brazilians. They are about 3000 in number, and as the majority are Protestants they have their own church, founded by three Germans in 1827, which now numbers 600 members, and has an annual income of 5000 milreis.[38] The community is under the protection of the Supreme Ecclesiastical Council in Berlin, and accordingly, as often as public wors.h.i.+p is joined in, prayers are offered up for the King of Prussia, as head of the church. Despite its existence for more than thirty years, the position occupied by the Evangelical church with reference to the State, has never been accurately defined, so that differences are constantly occurring. In connection with the congregation are a school, and a society for aiding distressed Germans, which numbers 200 a.s.sociates, and has an annual income of from 6000 to 7000 milreis (600 to 700). The objects of the a.s.sociation are the advance of money, pensions, payment of pa.s.sage-money for transport, a.s.sistance to unemployed or sick German workmen, education of orphan children, and so forth. The German choral union had given a concert in aid of this humane society, which alone had realized 3100 milreis (above 300)!

[Footnote 38: One milreis = 1000 reis = about 2_s._ English. The Brazilian milreis is of this small value as compared with that of the Portuguese (3 to 7), in consequence of its being represented by paper-money of fluctuating value, which gradually became so depreciated that Government, when regulating the value in 1846, were not in a position to restore it to its par value of 3_s._ 4_d._ sterling.]

It is not alone, however, as merchants, engineers, and artisans, that the Germans in Rio occupy a conspicuous position; they likewise contribute their mite to the advancement of art and science. For example, the most important literary enterprise in the empire is in German hands, viz. the printing and bookselling business of the brothers Laemmert. Their publications embrace two hundred and fifty works, chiefly of Portuguese (not Brazilian) authors, original or translated, treating of Brazilian legislation, history, medicine, public instruction, poetry, popular literature, works on religion, novels, romances, kalendars, and theatrical pieces. One publication due to the founder of the firm, Mr. C. Laemmert, a Bavarian by birth, has already proved of immense utility, the "_Almanak administrativo, mercantil, e industrial_," compiled by himself, first published in the year 1843. From a most defective little pamphlet at its start, this periodical publication has, in the course of time, become developed into an elegant, simply-cla.s.sified octavo volume, 1400 pages thick, which, compiled carefully and kept constantly corrected to the latest moment, despite the most disheartening material difficulties, gives a very interesting insight into the entire internal organization of the empire, and at the same time supplies the most authentic information as to the scientific, commercial, and industrial activity of the city and province of Rio. Even more important as a medium for the diffusion of useful knowledge among the ma.s.ses is a sort of popular kalendar, which is published in duodecimo form, under the t.i.tle of "_Folinhas_" (Leaves), and for 320 reis (about 7-1/2_d._ English), gives upon 360 pages an immense amount of useful information. Of this publication 80,000 copies were sold throughout the empire in the year 1857. There are very few works of importance written by native authors, as they devote their energies chiefly to periodical literature. Of daily and monthly publications there are abundance, both in Rio and in the provinces, but they have only an ephemeral existence. The press enjoys the most unbounded freedom, and probably in very few continental cities would such language be tolerated as that of the _Courier du Bresil_, edited by a French refugee. If the influence of journalism in Brazil is as yet insignificant, it is in consequence of the prevailing ignorance, as four-fifths of the population are unable to read or write, and the papers published are consequently only in the hands of the upper cla.s.ses.

While we found but few opportunities of intercourse with Brazilian families, the public authorities received and treated us in the most obliging and distinguished manner. In this respect, we were particularly indebted to Dr. de Lagos, Dr. Schuch de Capanema, Dr. F. de Paulo Candido, and Dom M. de Portoalegre.

These gentlemen took especial pains to make our stay in Rio as instructive as useful, and likewise gave us in reply to various scientific queries the most valuable information and practical hints. Thus, for example, we were favoured by Dr. de Lagos with the following particulars respecting the alleged efficacy of the milky sap of the a.s.sacu tree (_Hura Brasiliensis_), and of the bite of the rattlesnake as antidotes in cases of _Elephantiasis_, as also regarding the "Curare," that celebrated poison with which the Indians of Brazil tip their arrows.

The a.s.sacu had long been employed as a remedy for the frightful malady known as _Elephantiasis Graecorum_, and its use was occasionally followed by the happiest results, without any attempt having been made thoroughly to investigate the specific action of the juice, although, like that of so many other Brazilian plants, it would probably surrender, if scientifically a.n.a.lyzed, the therapeutical energies which enable it to overcome occasionally the most obstinate cases of disease. The a.s.sacu is a tree growing in the northern provinces of Para, on making an incision into which there exudes a resinous sap, of a brownish or reddish-white colour, which coagulates, and gradually hardens. This insp.i.s.sated substance is of a dark brown, rather resembling gum than resin, and readily soluble in water. When dissolved, it regains the colour and odour of the sap as it first trickles from the tree. A committee of physicians of Para long ago presented to the Brazilian Government a memorandum as to the practical efficacy and peculiarities of the a.s.sacu in cases of the above malady, according to which it appears, that the symptoms of the patient improve in the most marvellous manner from the very first day on which the remedy is used; the illness seems to be suddenly arrested, or, at all events to make but very slight progress. The milky sap is exhibited internally, in the form of pills, and a decoction of the bark is also administered by way of a beverage for the patient,--externally an infusion of the bark is used for bathing purposes. Some of those affected, to whom this remedy was applied, felt a sensation as of formication, immediately on taking it, while others experienced a feeling as though they had been submitted to a series of shocks of electricity, only weaker and more equable.

It is a well-established fact that in many parts of South America, a popular belief prevails that the bite of the deadly _Cobra de cascavel_, or rattlesnake, heals _Elephantiasis_, or pustular leprosy, in which disease, as is well known, the legs and feet of those attacked are covered with a scurf resembling the cuticle of the elephant. However, instances of the practical application of so terrible a remedy, which seems to be almost more dreadful than the disease it professes to cure, are in all probability of rare occurrence, and are therefore doubly important when, as in the case detailed to us, they occurred under the very eyes of a man of science, and are related by the observer himself.

A native, named Marianno Jose Machado, from Rio Pardo, in the province of southern Rio Grande, fifty years of age, had long been afflicted with morphea (_Elephantiasis Graecorum_), and had already pa.s.sed four years in the Lazarus Hospital at Rio, when one day, worn out with his loathsome malady, he resolved as a last chance of being delivered from his dread disease, to submit to the bite of a rattlesnake. All the warnings and representations of the physicians, who entertained well-founded doubts as to the remedial efficacy of so dangerous a remedy, were disregarded.

Marianno betook himself to a house in the Rua da Imperatriz, the occupant of which possessed a living rattlesnake, and there in the presence of numerous witnesses declared, signing at the same time a doc.u.ment to the same effect, that what he was about to do he did of his own free will, without any influence on the part of strangers, and that he a.s.sumed to himself the entire responsibility of his own deed. Marianno was of middling stature and athletic build; his entire skin was covered with rugosities, but without any appearance of ulceration, while his face was frightfully disfigured. The points of his fingers, moreover, had entirely lost their form, the skin readily peeling off from them.

The daring sufferer opened the box in which lay the deadly reptile, and roughly seized it; but it at first attempted to escape, as though it too was disgusted at the horrible object before it. When, however, it felt itself once more squeezed, the snake turned round in self-defence, and bit the man on the finger. Marianno was sensible neither of the puncture of the teeth, nor of the instantaneous activity of the injected poison, but it became ere long apparent that he had been bitten, from the blood making its appearance, coupled with a slight swelling of the hand. Several physicians watched by the bedside of the sufferer; almost every half-hour the observed results were circ.u.mstantially reported. When, however, the symptoms rapidly became worse, antidotes were applied, and every effort made to save the patient. Nevertheless, the result of the experiment was as antic.i.p.ated--within twenty-four hours after the bite of the rattlesnake Marianno was a corpse.

Several members of the medical society of Vienna laid great stress on our procuring a considerable quant.i.ty of the celebrated poison, "_curare_,"

used in South America for tipping arrows, with the view of inst.i.tuting fresh experiments--similar to those already made, so as to elucidate its chemical and physiological properties. As the curare is not to be procured in Rio, but comes thither from the northern province of Para, where the natives procure it from the sap of the _Strychnos toxifera_, Dr. de Lagos promised he would take care to procure some, so as to transmit samples direct to the Vienna _savans_, and at the same time gave us much information as to the latest researches touching this substance, with whose remarkable properties Alexander v. Humboldt had made the scientific world acquainted, more than half-a-century previously, in his cla.s.sic "Travels through the Equatorial Countries."

One special peculiarity of the curare consists in the fact that, like most other organic poisons, it is only active when absorbed into the circulating system, and proves entirely innoxious, nay in some cases even beneficial, when introduced into the body by other means.

The more the faculty became acquainted with the terrific activity, and invariably fatal results of this poison, the more zealously did science bestir itself to discover some means of neutralizing the operation of the curare. Quite recently the preparations of iodine-natron, when administered in certain proportions, have been recognized as antidotes; dissolved with the curare they seem entirely to obviate its evil effects.

Careful observation and a gradual acquaintance with the properties of the curare, have further led to the conclusion that it may be regarded as a remedy in certain cases, and it has actually been administered with good results to animals affected with tetanic convulsions. May it be reserved to the physicians of our native country, to elicit from the quant.i.ty of this subtle and singular poison, which they may expect to receive through the kindness of Dr. de Lagos, such results as shall make its remedial properties available for man, instead of leaving its baleful energies as at present solely directed to the destruction of organic life!

In the company of our Brazilian friends, already mentioned, we also visited the most interesting of the public charities and educational inst.i.tutions of Rio.

On the occasion of a visit we paid to the in part newly-erected Casa de Correcao, which is managed on what is known as the Auburn system, we were shown three Mozambique negroes, who, in 1852, had been smuggled in a "slaver" from the east coast of Africa into Brazil, there to be sold as slaves, despite the interdicts against the introduction of slaves, then actually in force. The vessel was, however, captured by the Brazilian cruisers, and the negroes forthwith restored to liberty, when, in their own interest, and with the view of preventing their being a second time sold into bondage, they were removed to a quarter of the prison away from the rest, and specially set apart for what are called "free Africans,"

where they had been carefully educated and instructed in various handicrafts, all at the expense of the State. As a vocabulary of the idioms spoken by the Mozambique negroes, was an especial desideratum of the cla.s.s of philosophic history in our Imperial Academy of Sciences, and there seemed to be but little prospect of our expedition visiting the eastern coast of Africa, we gladly availed ourselves of this unexpected opportunity to compile the wished-for vocabulary, in which Professor Portoalegre, Director of the Academy of Fine Arts, materially a.s.sisted us.

Two of these negroes, Camillo and Ventura, were born in Quillimani, and belonged to the Mananpi race; the third, Jeremias, was born about sixty days' journey from the coast, of the Maqua race, and spoke a dialect of the Mozambique idiom. Ventura, a youth of, at the outside, seventeen years of age, related that he could perfectly remember having been stolen one night from his parents in Quillimani, when he was brought to a slave-dealer named Jones, after which he was s.h.i.+pped off in a wretched leaky vessel to the coast of Brazil. On our asking these three swarthy fellow-labourers, hearty of aspect and neatly clothed, who had been so carefully tended by the State, and earned, one as a house-servant, the other two as stonemasons, thirty milreis (3 3s.) a month, whether they did not feel themselves better off in Rio than in their own home,--they, with one accord, answered that they longed to return to Quillimani, where it is hardly requisite to work above six months, and the rest of the year may be consumed in a genuine "_dolce far niente_" existence, instead of being compelled, as in Rio, to work the whole year round!

In spite of long-continued efforts, the vocabulary turned out much less complete than we wished, in consequence of the limited capacity of these negroes. We did not content ourselves, however, with merely transcribing the answers to our questions, but also endeavoured to obtain a more accurate idea of the precise meaning attached to each, by repeating each of the words of the Mozambique language, and translating into it from the questions put in Portuguese. This method seemed to be the most effectual for ensuring the correctness of the p.r.o.nunciation, so as to permit of its being afterwards reduced to writing. In the arrangement of the vocabulary, we availed ourselves of what is known as Gallatin's method, as it appeared to us more complete and comprehensive than that sent to our academy by the celebrated naturalist and traveller, Dr. Martius, of Munich, with a request that it should have his list of Latin words translated into the various languages. .h.i.therto unknown, or such idioms as have been as yet but little examined and investigated.

The race, to which these three negroes belonged, seems to have been already converted to Christianity. At least, they all had Christian names, but could give us no information either as to certain heathenish rites in their own country, or concerning an idol of carved ivory which we showed them, brought from the east coast of Africa, and the method of wors.h.i.+pping it.

Two of the most elegant edifices of Rio Janeiro, worthy indeed of being placed side by side with the largest charitable establishments in Europe, are the immense palace-like Hospital of the Santa Casa da Misericordia, in which between 8000 and 9000 patients are received and treated annually, and the really splendid Lunatic Asylum (_Asylo dos Alienados_), in the cove of Botafogo. The latter inst.i.tution, founded in 1841, which, whether as regards the tastefulness of its architecture or its munificent endowment, can hardly be rivalled anywhere, owes its existence to one of the most estimable benefactors of his native country, Don Jose Clemente Pereira, Minister of the Interior at the time of its erection. This genial, benevolent soul, deeply acquainted with the human heart and its weaknesses, hit, as we were told, upon the following eminently original and ingenious method of raising the sums required. All grades of the various Brazilian orders, as well as the t.i.tles of Baron, Count, and Marquis, were put up for sale at fixed prices, the proceeds resulting from which purposes were applied to the erection and endowment of the asylum! And thus arose, at the south end of the cove of Botafogo, a splendid palatial edifice--a monument less of humanity and love of our afflicted neighbours, than of the vanity and frailty of poor human nature, the tributes to which erected it. Unfortunately, in this establishment, mere succour is all in all, and the cure seems entirely lost sight of, the sanative treatment of the patients lagging far behind their careful supervision; in short, it being rather a place for the safe confinement than the recovery of those deprived of their reason.

One of the most instructive examples of how little the inhabitants of Rio make use of the natural capabilities of the site of their capital, is incontestably furnished by a piece of ground immediately adjoining the Lunatic Asylum, which has been dignified with the name of the Botanic Garden. With the exception of a very fine alley of hundreds of graceful king-palms (_Oreodoxa regia_), which present a magnificent spectacle, growing as they do with such admirable regularity as to appear rather artificial columns than planted trees, the eye encounters nothing but uncultivated land, abounding with the commonest vegetation, alternating with badly-selected nursery plantations, although both in the climate and the soil every facility is at hand for enabling this garden to be made a means of representing the vegetation of every zone of the globe. Even a large tea plantation, for the cultivation of which 10,000 Chinese were imported at the cost of Government, and from which, if the experiment had proved successful, the most important results might have been antic.i.p.ated, stood there uncared-for and untended, a melancholy witness of how things are inaugurated in Brazil, and then suffered to fall through. When we enquired how long the garden had been laid out, our guide, a witty Portuguese, replied with a sarcastic smile; "Since the beginning of the world!" In that part of the garden which adjoins the Lagune, called Rodrigo das Freitas, stands a common mud hovel, with broken windows, and doors hanging by the hinges. This was pointed out to us by a labourer as the spot at which the Emperor alights and reposes when he visits the Botanical Garden.

Singular to say, Brazil possesses no regular university! The jealousy with which any one city invested with certain privileges and prerogatives is regarded by the rest, is the reason that induced the Government to separate the medical and juridical cla.s.ses, so that each of the four chief cities of the Empire benefits by the presence of a certain portion of the students. Thus the medical schools are in Rio Janeiro and Bahia, while those of jurisprudence are held in St. Paul and Pernambuco. The entire number of students attending these establishments amounted of late years, on an average, to upwards of a thousand. Great prominence has been a.s.signed by Government, especially of late, to the extension of public instruction. In March, 1857, there were throughout Brazil, 2452 schools, (765 private, and 1687 public,) in which instruction was given to 82,243 children of both s.e.xes.[39] A school of industry, having for its object the instruction of able-bodied persons, was opened in 1856, and cla.s.ses for teaching natural philosophy and political administrative science, are in process of being introduced. Amongst the scientific establishments of the country, the Historico-Geographical Inst.i.tute occupies the first place, the meetings of which are generally attended by the Emperor as honorary president. This inst.i.tution, which occupies in Brazil about the same position as the Academy of Sciences in Vienna, directs its special attention to the publication of old doc.u.ments and ma.n.u.scripts relating to the history of Brazil and the aboriginal population; but investigations relating to natural history are also included in its domain of enquiry.

The sittings are held every alternate Friday. The naturalists of the _Novara_ attended one of these meetings, which took place in one of the wings of the palace. At half-past 6 P.M., the Emperor entered the hall, in plain clothes, attended by two chamberlains. All the gentlemen present approached one after the other and respectfully kissed the hand of their sovereign. On this occasion we remarked that even ladies, when presented to the head of the State, were accustomed to kiss his hand. The Imperial Honorary President, whose simple apparel was relieved only by the star of some order worn on the breast, took his seat at the upper end of a long, wide table, covered with green cloth. The a.s.sociates, with the exception of the Vice-President and Secretaries, seemed to have no fixed seats, but sat in the order of their arrival. During the sitting there was the most marked absence of ceremony, and the business was transacted in the freest and easiest manner.

[Footnote 39: Among the higher cla.s.s of educational inst.i.tutions, the College of Pedro Segundo ranks foremost, and is at present attended by about 900 students.]

The proceedings were uninteresting, the greatest portion of the time being occupied in reading over the minutes of the last sitting, and replying to certain strictures upon the incapacity of land-surveyors in Brazil. Sir Robert Schomburgk had, in one of his works published in 1843, upon the subject of New Guinea, made some disparaging observations as to the method of admeasurement pursued in Brazil, and one member of the society, Dr.

Schuch de Capanema, seemed to consider it his duty in his double capacity as a Brazilian and an engineer, to protest--somewhat tardily it must be owned!--against these, according to his opinion, unjust remarks. After the discussion was over, a ma.n.u.script was next brought forward concerning some of the native tribes; His Majesty expressed a wish to have this treatise read. The secretary accordingly made the attempt, but the writing was so illegible, that he was obliged to abandon the task. At the conclusion of the meeting, which lasted upwards of three hours, His Majesty conversed very affably with the Austrian gentlemen, and presented each with a copy of a national poem, "Conferacao dos Tamoyos," by a native poet, Goncalves de Magalhaes, and recently printed at His Majesty's expense, which relates the wars of the Tamoyos with the Portuguese residents of San Vincente-- the last struggle of that heroic Indian race, the founding of Rio, and the subjugation of the entire force, under Nictheroy, by the Portuguese.

The _Palaestra Scientifica_ is a branch of this inst.i.tution, the members being chiefly naturalists. The gentlemen of the _Novara_ Expedition were invited to one of the meetings, which was inaugurated by the secretary reading aloud an ancient ma.n.u.script upon the natural resources of various provinces in Brazil, according to explorations, which had been undertaken in 1798, by the directions and at the cost of the then Portuguese Government. There was also read a memoir upon the culture of linseed, formerly carried on in the province of St. Catharina, which, however, is now entirely discontinued. Dr. Schuch presented to the Society vocabularies of the Croado and Puris languages, compiled by M. R. F. de Senestes, a retired Belgian s.h.i.+p captain, now resident at Minas, who had long traded with these two Indian races. Dr. Schuch also exhibited a pigment, or dye-stuff, extracted from the wood of the Ipe-tree, a species of bignonia, extensively used in the manufacture of axles. State Councillor and Senator Candido Baptista de Oliveira, [formerly Minister and Amba.s.sador at St. Petersburg, and at that time publisher and editor of the _Rivista Brasileira_ (Brazilian Review)], brought forward some meteorological tables, and explained his new method for measuring alt.i.tudes. The proceedings are usually conducted in the Portuguese language; but out of courtesy to the foreigners, French was princ.i.p.ally spoken, and the President kindly proposed that Dr. Schuch de Capanema, who is thoroughly versed in German, should translate into that idiom the proceedings as carried on in Portuguese. At the close of the sitting, the commander of our Expedition and the various members of the scientific commission were named a.s.sociates of the _Palaestra Scientifica_.