Prospect from the Peak of Corcovado. 127 



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, com- 

 fort 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 Vermelhaj 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 j 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 

 Catumby 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 I It is 

 scarcely possible to have, from a single point of view, a 

 grander or more varied natural picture. We lingered here 



