CHAPTER VII 



RAMBLES ABOUT RIO DE JANEIRO 



"Father, thy hand 



Hath reared these venerable columns. Thou 

 Didst weave this verdant roof. Thou didst look down 

 Upon the naked earth, and forthwith rose 

 All these fair ranks of trees." 



W. C. Bryant. 



THE days of my stay in Rio de Janeiro, which suc- 

 ceeded that first day, passed so pleasantly in the 

 company of Dr. Derby, were devoted in part to sight- 

 seeing in the town, and in part to long rambles among 

 the tropical woodlands and mountains. 



Accompanied by friends I visited the Annual Exposi- 

 tion in the Academy of Fine Arts. There were a few 

 good pictures by Brazilian artists, but most of the 

 canvases were not such as to attract prolonged attention. 

 Art is still in its infancy in Brazil; nevertheless several 

 of the pictures showed a fine sense of color and vigorous 

 handling. There is some talent in the land which is 

 worthy of being encouraged. 



The impression made upon the traveler by the life 

 of the streets in Rio de Janeiro, in fact in all South 

 American cities, is such as to recall the lands of the 

 Mediterranean, rather than those of northern Europe, 

 or the United States of North America. The manners 

 and customs are those of southern Europe. The 

 street-merchants and market-women, the porters and 



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