1824, SEPTEMBEE^OOTOBER. AT RIO 89 



private chapel and one adjoining it in the Palace Square, both of Gothic, 

 neat, and reflecting great credit on the architect. I heard service in the 

 latter at midnight ; the gorgeous tapestry hung round the saints, the 

 brilliancy of the lamps and candles, with the general neatness of the 

 edifice, impress on the mind of a stranger a pleasing sensation. The 

 palace forms three sides of a square, is of plain rubble- work, and would only 

 do for a potentate of America. 



Among those I became acquainted with was William Harrison, Esq., 

 of Liverpool (a brother of Arnold Harrison, Esq., of Aighburgh, who 

 is a Fellow of the Society), who is fond of plants and birds and has intro- 

 duced many interesting plants to the Botanic Garden of Liverpool ; he 

 has a fine garden five miles from town and a collection of African, European 

 and indigenous plants. On an old wall were about seventy species of 

 Efidendrum and Orchideae in general on a southern aspect, only the 

 branch or stump on which the plant originally grew was nailed on the 

 wall without any earth, many of them were thriving luxuriantly. The 

 number of his live birds in cages amounts to seventy, mostly Brazilian, 

 many of them very beautiful. This gentleman showed me many civili- 

 ties, and he informed me that most of his relations were Fellows of 

 the Society. On quitting town he gave me a letter of introduction to 

 his friends, Messrs. McCuUoch, &c., of St Barbara, New Albion, 

 lest we should put in there or visit it at any future period — ^tokens of 

 his friendship which at all times I shall think on with pleasure. To 

 have friends in such a remote spot of the globe is of great consequence. 

 Mr. D. made me acquainted also with Mrs. Maria Graham, who writes 

 travels in Chile and Brazil. She is a lady of much information, of very 

 amiable manners, and tolerably conversant in botany — of which she is 

 fond — and some other branches of natural history. Her verbal descrip- 

 tion of the plants around Valparaiso I heard with delight, and those on 

 Juan Fernandez with equal gratification. I sincerely hope to visit either. 

 Mrs. G. is tutoress to the young priiicess. The fish, butcher and vegetable 

 markets lie on the east side of the town on the edge of the bay. The 

 varieties of vegetables in the market were few in number and of bad 

 quality — Convolvulus Batatas,^ Yams (Dioscorea), both substitutes for 

 potatos, with two peppers. The only cabbage which I saw was purchased 

 by the captain of the Hudson Bay ship, for which he paid half a dollar. 

 Oranges, lemons, and coooanuts in great abundance were the only fruits. 

 The former finer than any I ever saw before. One hundred oranges or 

 the same number of lemons can be bought for a dollar. Gocoanuts were 

 also cheap, three halfpence each. The culinary vegetables were the 

 dearest, dearer than the same quantity of potatos in England. Beef and 

 pork are the only sorts of meat in the market, both of inferior quality. 

 Poultry is plentiful and much cheaper in proportion than the others. 

 In the fish market there was a very plentiful supply and a very great 

 variety of shell-fish, many of them singular and beautiful. All sorts 

 are had at a very moderate price. In my walks around the city I was 

 much delighted to see many of the plants cultivated in England and 

 1 I'pomoea Batatas, C. B. Clarke, in Hook. El. Brit. Ind. iv. p. 202. 



