24 BEAZILIAN CHAEACTEE. 



windows in the line of procession were hung with 

 rich hrocade in all the colours of the rainhow. 



A short stay, such as ours, aflTorded very limited 

 opportunities of judging of the national character ; 

 and my impressions on this point were, prohably, 

 often erroneous. The Brazilians and EngHsh did 

 not then reciprocate very cordially, on account of 

 the existing state of international relations. Of late 

 years great advances appear to have been made 

 upon the mother-country, judging jfrom the increas- 

 ing liberahty of their institutions, the establishment 

 . of commercial relations abroad, the freedom of dis- 

 cussion and influence of the press, the attention paid 

 to pubHc education (especially of the middle classes), 

 the support granted to literature and science, and 

 the declining influence of the priesthood in secular 

 matters. The national character, however, can 

 scarcely be considered as fully formed : the Brazi- 

 hans have been too recently emancipated from the 

 thraldom of a modified despotism to have made, as 

 5'et, any very great progress in developing the ele- 

 ments of national prosperity and greatness which the 

 vast empire of Brazil so abundantly possesses, and 

 the foul blot of slavery, with its debasing influence, 

 still remains untouched. 



On February 2nd we sailed from Rio for the Cape 

 of Good Hope. The morning being calm, we were 

 towed out by the boats of the squadron until a hght 

 air, the precursor of the sea-breeze, set in. While 

 hove-to outside the entrance, a haul of the dredge 



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