ST. LUIZ. 



263 



part of them is appropriated to the servants, to 

 shops without windows, to warehouses, and 

 other purposes, as at Pernambuco. The family 

 lives upon the upper story, and the windows of 

 this reach down to the floor, and are ornamented 

 with iron balconies. The churches are nume- 

 rous, and there are likewise Franciscan, Carme- 

 lite, and other convents. The places of worship 

 are gaudily decorated in the inside ; but no plan 

 of architecture is aimed at in the formation of the 

 buildings themselves, with the exception of the 

 convents, which preserve the regular features ap- 

 pertaining to such edifices. The Governor's pa- 

 lace stands upon rising ground, not far from the 

 water-side, with the front towards the town. It is 

 a long uniform stone building, of one story in 

 height; the principal entrance is wide, but with- 

 out a portico. The western end joins the town- 

 hall and prison, which appear to be part of the 

 same edifice ; and the oblong piece of ground in 

 its front, covered with grass, gives to it on the 

 whole a handsome and striking appearance. One 

 end of this is open to the harbour and to a fort in 

 the hollow, close to the water ; the other extremity 

 is nearly closed by the cathedral. One side is al- 

 most taken up with the palace and other public 

 buildings, and the opposite space is occupied by 

 dwelling-houses and streets leading down into 

 other parts of the city. The ground upon which 



the whole place stands is composed of a soft red 

 s 4 



