SOUTH AMERICA. 93 



on the isthmus, betwixt Olinda and Pernambuco, SEC <>"*> 



JOURNEY. 



and a pillar midway to aid the pilot. 



Pernambuco probably contains upwards of fifty Pemam- 



thousand souls. It stands on a flat, and is divided 



t 



into three parts ; a peninsula, an island, and the 

 continent. Though within a few degrees of the 

 line, its climate is remarkably salubrious, and 

 rendered almost temperate by the refreshing sea 

 breeze. Had art and judgment contributed their 

 portion to its natural advantages, Pernambuco, 

 at this day, would have been a stately ornament 

 to the coast of Brazil. On viewing it, it will 

 strike you that every one has built his house 

 entirely for himself, and deprived public con- 

 venience of the little claim she had a right to put 

 in. You would wish that this city, so famous for 

 its harbour, so happy in its climate, and so well 

 situated for commerce, could have risen under 

 the flag of Dido, in lieu of that of Braganza. 



As you walk down the streets, the appearance streets and 

 of the houses is not much in their favour. Some 

 of them are very high, and some very low ; some 

 newly whitewashed, and others stained, and 

 mouldy, and neglected, as though they had no 

 owner. 



The balconies, too, are of a dark and gloomy 

 appearance. They are not, in general, open, as 

 in most tropical cities, but grated like a farmer's 

 dairy-window, though somewhat closer. 



There is a lamentable want of cleanliness in the 



