242 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



unable to get a good view of the whole of the bay, which 

 is very extensive ; but the various parts of the coast were 

 only visible piecemeal whenever there was a lull in the 

 heavy showers which, sweeping across the country, came 

 down incessantly till noon. 



The city itself is beautifully situated, and consists of an 

 upper and lower town, the means of communication being 

 principally by a lift, or by a well-constructed inclined road, 

 supported throughout most of its length on arches, with a 

 vertical rock face above and below. The principal part 

 of the lower town is commercial, and very dirty and 

 malodorous. High buildings stores, warehouses, and 

 shops and narrow streets are the rule, though there are a 

 few respectable thoroughfares. 



Walking up the incline we reached the upper town, and 

 there met a tram-car nearly filled with our fellow-passengers 

 from the Valparaiso, so joined them, and went out to Vittoria 

 along really good well-paved and wide roads, bordered by 

 neat and sometimes even grand houses in gardens, after the 

 manner of Botafogo ; but, alas ! we were unable to see any 

 of the lovely scenery from the heights of Vittoria, owing to 

 the torrents of rain. Returning from this suburb to the 

 upper town proper, we came to one or two places where 

 the gradient was so rapid that the mules were taken from 

 the car, and we descended by gravitation, the conductor 

 controlling the speed with his brake ; other mules were 

 ready at the foot of the incline to carry us further. I was 

 struck by the very dilapidated appearance of the chuiches, 

 and at length came to a square called the Praca do Conde 

 d'Eu, than which it is impossible to imagine a more 

 broken-down old place. In it are three old churches, and 

 the rest of the buildings consist of tumble-down houses, 

 generally two-storied, with grass and sundry weeds growing 



