1 98 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



Mountains on the north. Nichteroy, on the east side of 

 the bay, looks quite close, and very picturesque with its 

 background of steep undulating hills. At the foot of the 

 morro are the brown-tiled roofs of the city, and from this 

 vantage-point one can obtain some idea of its vast area ; 

 endless towers, spires and domes of the different churches, 

 break the monotony by rising above the roof level. The 

 view, as I saw it to-day, towards the Organ Mountains is 

 really sublime. A cloudless sky above, the scarcely rippled 

 and glass-like bay beneath, dotted with ships and islands, 

 and apparently extending in every direction. To the north, 

 beyond the Ilha do Governador, the bay is bounded by 

 ridges of misty mountains ; while towering far above them, 

 and rising from a chain of fleecy white clouds, which 

 extends in a broken line along the whole range, are seen 

 the tremendous, fantastic, and jagged indigo peaks of the 

 said Organ Mountains, some fifty or sixty miles off, which, 

 though misty at their base and partly hidden by the 

 stratum of cloud, stand out in bold relief against the 

 bluish-white heat-laden sky. 



It was simply perfection to sit and gaze on the lovely 

 scene, with the sun's warm rays pouring down, and a soft 

 breeze from the Atlantic lapping round one. I sat for half 

 an hour enraptured, occasionally turning my eyes to the 

 specks of people in the Praga Dom Pedro II. below (near 

 the palace, the market, and the ferry), watching the 

 Nichteroy ferry-boats gliding backwards and forwards, 

 and hearing the endless crackers and rockets which are 

 sent off by day as well as by night. Then I went round 

 to the south side of the old battlements, which crown the 

 top of the hill, to see the view towards the entrance of the 

 bay. It is pretty, but nothing like the other lovely pano- 

 rama. One sees the various morros scattered over the 



