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JAMES RIVER. 



JAN-MAYEN ISLAND. 



an 



the British, and its internal peace has only been disturbed by the 

 rebellion of the Maroons in 1795. Though Jamaica has had an 

 assembly since 1663, its present constitution was only completed in 

 1728. The executive is in the hands of a governor, who is styled 

 Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief, and has a salary of 5000^. a 

 year. The governor, as well as the council, consisting of twelve 

 persona, is appointed by the sovereign of Great Britain. The 

 governor has the chief civil and militaiy authority. The council 

 constitutes .the Upper Hou.se. The Lower House, or the Assembly, 

 is composed of 45 membera chosen by the freeholders : two mem- 

 bers are sent from each of the 21 parishes ; Span^h Town, Kingston, 

 and Port Royal send one member each. The present governor, Sir 

 Henry Barkly, resides at Kingston. 



JAMES RIVER. IVibginia.] 



JAMES TOWN. [Helena, St.] 



JAMMA RIVER. [Abyssinia.] 



JANEIRO, RIO DE (San SebastiSo de Rio de Janeiro), commonly 

 called Rio, the capital of the empire of Brazil in South America, is 

 situated in 22' 54' S. lat., 43° 15' W. long., on the western shore of 

 the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, which is 24 miles in length from north 

 to south, from 4 to 15 miles wide, and, being inclosed by high hills, 

 forms perhaps the finest, safest, and most capacious harbour in the 

 world. The entrance to the bay is formed by two rocky and pro- 

 jecting tongues of land, whose extremities are hardly a mile distant 

 from one another. On the extreme point of the eastern tongue is 

 built the fortress of Santa Cruz, and on the western promontory are 

 the batteries of San Jos<! and San Theodosia ; to the south of the latter, 

 at the distance of about half a mile, is the remarkable eminence called 

 Sugar-loaf Hill, rising 900 feet from the water's edge. At no great 

 distance from, and opposite to the entrance, but within the bay, is a 

 low rocky island, Ilha da Lagem, on which also a fortress is built, so 

 that the entrance of the bay is very well defended. The average 

 depth of the entrance is 14 fathoms : good anchoring ground is found 

 everywhere within the bay, in which the tide rises 16 feet at full and 

 change. The bay is diversified by numerous islands and rocks, but 

 only one of them is of considerable extent, the Ilha do Qovemador, 

 lituated in the northern and wider portion of the bay. Numerous 

 rivers fall into the bay. Though all of them have a short course, 

 most of them are navigable for a few miles from their mouth, and 

 facilit.itc the transport of the produce to Rio de Janeiro. An amphi- 

 theatre of hills and mountains springing up one behind another and 

 8eparate<l by fertile valleys which eujuy a perpetual spring and yield 

 the choicest fruits and flowers, rises up all round the bay. 



Near the entrance of the bay, and where it is only from four to 

 eight miles wide, the town is built on its western shore, as already 

 observed. It extends along the shore about three miles on an undu- 

 lating plain, which contains a high hill with the church of Nossa 

 Senhora da Gloria on it. To the west of the plain rises a range of 

 high hills calle<l Corcovado, containing many picturesque valleys, 

 among which that of Laranjeiras, or of ' the orangei,' is distin- 

 guished by its beauty. The substance of the mass of the hills round 

 the town is gneiss, in which numerous quarries are opened near the 

 city. That part of the town which is south of the hill Da Gloria is 

 very narrow, consisting only of one or two streets which extend 

 south as far as the small bay of Botafogo. The city or principal 

 town is built a little north of the Uill Da Gloria, and on a rocky 

 shore opposite the small island called Ilha das Cobras, A fine pier of 

 stone projects a short distance into the bay, and i* ascended by a 

 flight of steps. It Uads immediately to the Pra^a de San Jos4, two 

 sides of which square are occupied by the Imperial palace. The 

 northern side of the square is occupied by a row of houses two stories 

 hi^h. The chapels of the emperor and empress in the square are 

 splendid churches. The street called Direita, the most crowded and 

 business-like street in the city, abuts on the square of San Josd ; and 

 out of it runs the street of Ouvfcdor, which is lined with fancy stores 

 and with shops of French goods, and is a very busy and fashionable 

 street. Another street near this, called Ourives, is entirely occupied 

 by silversmiths, jewellers, and lapidaries. The city itself stands on a 

 low level plain, and extends in the form of a rectangular oblong from 

 north-west to south-east ; on its northern border are five low hills. 

 It consists of straight and parallel but narrow streets, intersected by 

 many still narrower streets at right angles. A large square, called 

 Cumpo de Santa Anna, which joins it on the north-we<it, divides the 

 city from the Cidade Nova, or New Town, which extends westward 

 to the neighbourhood of the royal villa of San Christovilo. The 

 mtiaeum at the comer of the Campo de Santa Anna, or Acclama9ito, 

 contains fine collections of minerals and precious stones, American 

 ornithology, and native Indian curiosities, besides many foreign curio- 

 sities, specimens of natural history, some good pictures, and a few 

 sarcopbagL 



The (treets are paved, and they also have foot-pavements, which 

 however are narrow and (Urty, for the streets are hollow in the middle, 

 serving the purpose of open drains. In time of rain the whole street 

 is overflowed. The houses, generally built of stone and two stories 

 hii{h, are whitewashed or rough-cast, with red-tiled roofs and pro- 

 jecting eaves, and without chimneys, as fires are needless in the climate 

 of Rio. The lower story is generally a coach-house or stable. The 

 windows of the second story reach the floor, and open upon iron 



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verandahs, guai-ded by trellis-work shutters. The entrance is properly 

 a large gate, which is guarded by a black slave in livery. The market- 

 places are well supplied, but are not kept clean. 



The most distinguished buildings are the cathedral and the churches 

 De Candelaria and San Francisco de Paula. There are 39 churches in 

 the city : some of them are splendidly decorated. The church of 

 San Francisco de Paula, just mentioned, is one of the largest; it is 

 lighted through stained-glass windows, and has catacombs beneath. 

 The college, which once belonged to the Jesuits, is a fine building. 

 An exchange in a good style has been erected. To the rear of the 

 emperor's chapel is the public library of above 60,000 volumes. The 

 Car^alada, or prison, in which both debtors and felons are confined, 

 is ill regulated, dirty, .-md very unhealthy. The principal theatre is 

 the Italian Opera, which is lai-ge and well arranged. 



From the Corcovado Mountain (which is 2307 feet above the sea, 

 and on the summit of which is an observatory and watch-tower) the 

 city is supplied with good water, which rushing down the mountain 

 id collected into the Casa de Agua, or reservoii-, about 4 miles from the 

 city. From this the water is conveyed by an aqueduct (the greatest 

 work in Rio), which enters the city across a valley 200 yards wide, 

 supported on two rows of arches one above another, and reaching a 

 total height of about 90 feet. The water thus brought to th^ town 

 is distributed into several fountains. 



The Botanic Garden of Rio, which is admir.^bly laid out and very 

 rich in exotics, lies about two miles beyond a lake which is separated 

 fi'om the head of the bay by a narrow strip of Uud. It covers a 

 space of about four acres. The tea-plant and spice-shrubs have been 

 successfully cultivated here. In the climate of Rio the operations of 

 nature in the seasons of spring, summer, and autumn, may be wit- 

 nessed every day in the yeai-, the bud, the bloom, and the fruit in every 

 plantation. 



Rio de Janeiro contains a population of more than 200,000. The 

 number of whites and blacks seems to be nearly equal ; the people of 

 colour are comparatively few in number. Most of the inhabitants are 

 engaged in the different branches of commerce. The trade of Rio is 

 extensive, and increasing rapidly. It exports as much, if not more 

 coffee than all the ports in the world. In 1830 the shipments of 

 coffee amounted to 396,735 bags of 154 lbs. each ; in the year ending 

 June 30th 1843 there were shipped 1,176,138 bags (or 181,125,252 

 lbs.); and in the first six months of 1849 the quantity shipped was 

 780,764 bmga. The production of sugar in this part of Brazil has been 

 long decreasing: in 1844 about 10,000 cases (of 10 cwt, each) were 

 exported ; in the first six months of 1 849 only 3043 cases were shipped. 

 Other great ai-ticles of export from Rio are hides, rice, tobacco, rum, 

 tapioca, ipecacuanha, manioc-flour, &c Cotton, gold, and diamonds 

 have now almo^it disappeared from the list of exports. The imports 

 comprise chiefly cotton goods ; next are linen, woollen, and silk manu- 

 factures, port wine, jewellery, ironmongery, flour, meat, fish, butter, 

 provisions, spirits, salt, earthenware, paper, &c. The value of the 

 cotton goods (supplied almost entirely by Great Britain) is full oue- 

 thii-d of the total value of the imports. About 1000 vessels from 

 foreign ports arrive in the harbour yearly. The railway lately opened 

 from a point of the bay opposite Itio to Petro^ioUs is likely to increase 

 the export ti-ade of Rio. 



There are several manufactories, sugar-houses, tanneries, cotton- 

 factories, rum-distilleries, and train-oil factories. Several persons are 

 occupied with cutting diamonds and other precious stones. Charitable 

 institutions are scanty in proportion to the population. There is an 

 academy of arts, a military academy, and several other educational 

 establiwments. 



A more efficient police, and the abolition of the slave trade, have 

 of late years rendered Rio less unhealthy than it used to be. The 

 harbour is a stopping-place for foreign men-of-war and for merchant- 

 men trading to the Pacific. The neat village of Fraya Grande on the 

 eastern shore of the bay, opposite Rio, is a place of great resort with 

 the citizens ; it contains several potteries, and is famous for its sweet- 

 meats. White chateaux, numerous country-houses, and two or three 

 large convents are seen high up on the hills and rocks to the noi-thward. 



(Cazal, Coroijrafia Bnuilica ; Henderson, Ilulory of Brazil ; Spix 

 and Martins ; M'Culloch ; Three Years in the Pacific.) 



JAN-MAYEN ISLAND is an island in the Arctic Sea, lying 

 between 70° 49' and 71° 9' N. lat., 7° 26' and 8° 44' W. long. It 

 extends from south-west to north-east about thirty miles, and is in no 

 place above nine miles in breadth ; at some places it is less than two 

 miles wide. On the uoi-them extremity, where the island is widest, 

 stands Beeren Mountain, a snowy peak flanked with glaciers, and rising 

 to 0870 feet above the sea-level. In other parts the rocky masses appear 

 to attain an elevation of between 1500 and 2000 feet. A large portion 

 of the island is composed of lava and other volcanic matter, and two 

 craters have been discovered on the eastern side ; smoke and fire have 

 been observed in these parts. Even in the beginning of August all 

 the high lands are found covered with snow and ice, and the lowlands 

 retain part of their covering to the very border of the sea. The coast 

 has several roadsteads with good anchorage in five to ten fathoms 

 water, but no harbour. The whole island is generally surrounded 

 with ice in spring; but in autumn, and even in summer, the ice 

 sometimes sets so far to the westward that it is not visible from any 

 part of the land. 



