Paka. 257 



end of romantic adventures, of privations and perils. We 

 were kindly met on the pier by Mr. James Henderson, an 

 elderly Scotchman, whom a long residence in Para, a bot- 

 tomless fund of information, and a readiness to serve an 

 Anglo-Saxon, have made an in^'aluable cicerone. We shot 

 through the devious, narrow streets to the Hotel Diana, 

 where we made our toilet, for our habiliments, too, had 

 reached their ultima thide. As La Condamine said on his 

 arrival at Quito: ^'Je me trouvai hors d'^etat de j)aroitTe 

 enjnihlic avec decence^ 



The same year which saw Shakspeare carried to his 

 grave beside the Avon witnessed the founding of Para, or, 

 speaking more respectfully, of Santa Maria de Belem do 

 Gram Para. The city stands on a low elbow of land 

 formed by the j miction of the rivers Guama and Para, sev- 

 qnty-five miles fi'om the ocean. The great forest comes 

 close up to the suburbs ; and, in fact, vegetation is so rapid 

 the city fathers have a hard struggle to keep the jimgle 

 out of the streets. The river in front is twenty miles wide, 

 but the vast expanse is broken by numerous islets. Ships 

 of any size will float within one hundred and fifty yards of 

 the shore. All passengers and goods are landed by boats 

 at the custom-house wharf. The city is regularly laid 

 out, there are several public squares, and many of the 

 streets, especially in the commercial part, are well paved. 

 Magnificent avenues, lined with silk-cotton trees, cocoa- 

 palms, and almonds, lead out to beautiful Tocinhas^ or coun- 

 try residences, of one story, but having spacious verandas. 

 The President's house, built in the Italian style, whose mar- 

 ble staircase is a wonder to Brazil ; the six large churches, 

 including the cathedral, after patterns from Lisbon; the 

 post-ofiSce, custom-house, and convent-looking warehouses 

 on the mole — these are the most prominent buildings. 

 The architecture is superior to that of Quito. The houses, 



K 



