^ Letters from J. MacGillivray, Esq. 



and seeks iu vain for grandeiu* or architectural beauty in the 

 palace, the churches, and the other public buildings. He may 

 occasionally smile at such oddities as an omnibus drawn by six 

 mules, and be amused by observing the motley hue of the pas- 

 sengers in the crow^ded streets ; but he turns away in disgust 

 when he sees gangs of negro slaves performing the work of 

 beasts of burthen, and that they are treated worse than such is 

 shown by the frequency of iron uiasks and collars. When one finds 

 that the Brazilians have degenerated from the parent stock — 



*' Lusian slave, the lowest of the low," — 



he cannot place them very high in the list of nations. For the 

 state of morals among the '^ Bravo gente Braziliero," one fact 

 speaks volumes. Vvlien a bill for the legitimation of all natural 

 children throughout the empire was introduced, it was opposed 

 on the ground that, if carried, it would completely break up 

 many of the principal families by giving publicity to the great 

 frequency of incestuous intercourse among them. The force of 

 the objection being admitted the bill was at once withdrawn. 



We left llio on February 2nd, and while hove to outside the 

 entrance I got a haul with the dredge in thirteen fathoms, which 

 produced a small Terebratula [R. 103] *, and a minute univalve 

 [R. 105], the genus of which I could not determine. Dm'ing 

 our passage to the Cape of Good Hope, which, from unfavourable 

 winds, occupied a period of seven weeks, I was surprised at the 

 entire absence of Dapiion capensis and Diomedea melanophrys, 

 two of the commonest oceanic birds which I had on former oc- 

 casions met with abundantly in the South Atlantic. Of the three 

 albatroses which occurred, D. eoculans was seldom absent, but 

 D. fuliginosa and D. chlororhyncha (both on one or two occasions 

 very numerous) left us in the meridian of Greenwich. One young 

 bird of the first-named species followed the ship for twenty-four 

 days, during which time we had gone over a distance of 2700 

 miles. Procellaria conspicillata was met with two days after 

 leaving the coast of Brazil, and continued with us until within a 

 day^s sail of the Cape, when it was replaced by its analogue P. aqui- 

 nocfialisj which even enters False Bay and attends upon the 

 fishing-boats. P. Atlantica and P. mollis occurred throughout, 

 and were occasionally seen in great numbers ; P. leucocephala paid 

 us an occasional visit ; and Prions were sometimes seen at a di- 

 stance, but I could not identify the species. Of the storm petrels, 

 Th. leucogaster occurred nearly every day, sometimes in consi- 

 derable numbers, and solitary individuals of Th. Wilsoni were 



* Terebratula rosea; the first time its true locality has been noiicel. 'I'lie 

 univalve seems new. 



