72 ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ 
Our days pass somewhat after this fashion. Break- 
fast at half-past eight, and we linger over it talking for 
an hour or so; then I study Portuguese for a couple of 
hours and then write out the lecture of the previous 
day. After that comes lunch; then the lecture at two 
o'clock. After that I indulge myself with a little light 
reading till dinner at five o’clock. This important 
matter over (and the table is excellent), we sit on the 
guards and watch the crimson and golden sunset and 
the moonlight on the water, and so the evening passes 
till ten o’clock when we all retire. 
I find our party very pleasant. Mrs. Thayer’s son is 
a very amiable boy and always most kind and atten- 
tive to me. He is not very fond of study, but he joins 
me in my Portuguese lesson every day, and I think he 
is inclined to make the time of our absence profitable 
as well as pleasant. William James has always been 
an interesting fellow to me, bright, thoughtful, well 
informed, and a perfect gentleman; his companion- 
ship will always be a pleasure. 
Rio de Janeiro, May 1, 1865 
I ruink I finished my last letter to you just when 
Agassiz had gone on shore Sunday, the twenty-third, 
for his first visit to the Emperor. Agassiz was very 
much impressed with his intelligence, his very various 
information and keen discrimination of the men and 
books and subjects they discussed. When he came 
home he said, in giving an account of the interview, 
“To speak of this sovereign in the ordinary terms in 
which good monarchs are spoken of would be trite 
