10 



TOWN OF RECIFE. 



The bridge is formed in part of stone arches, 

 and in part of wood : it is quite flat, and lined 

 with small shops, which render it so narrow- 

 that two carriages cannot pass each other 

 upon it. 



St. Antonio, or the middle town, is composed 

 chiefly of large houses and broad streets ; and 

 if these buildings had about them any beauty, 

 there would exist here a certain degree of gran- 

 deur : but they are too lofty for their breadth, 

 and the ground-floors are appropriated to shops, 

 warehouses, stables, and other purposes of a 

 like nature. The shops are without windows, 

 and the only light they have is admitted from 

 the door. There exists as yet very little dis- 

 tinction of trades ; thus all descriptions of ma- 

 nufactured goods are sold by the same person. 

 Some of the minor streets consist of low 

 and shabby houses. Here are the Governor's 

 palace, which was in other times the Jesuits' 

 convent ; the treasury ; the town-hall and pri- 

 son ; the barracks, which are very bad ; the 

 Franciscan, Carmelite, and Penha convents, 

 and several churches, the interiors of which are 

 very handsomely ornamented, but very little 

 plan has been preserved in the architecture of 

 the buildings themselves. It comprises several 

 squares, and has, to a certain degree, a gay 

 and lively appearance. This is the principal 

 division of the town. 



