42 PASSAGE FROM MADEIRA 
by careful observations to be 10° 30' W. We continued to pursue 
our course rapidly, experiencing the current setting more to the 
southward, and upwards of twenty miles a day. 
On the 22d we made Cape Frio ; here we fell in with and boarded 
the ship Louisiana, in fifty days from New York, and were much 
gratified by getting letters and papers. 
The progressive temperature on the passage from the Cape de 
Verde Islands to Rio, was as follows: it rose until it reached its 
maximum in 9° 24' N., water 83-5°, whilst the air was at 81-6°, 
from thence to striking soundings, it decreased to 75°, and on sound- 
ings 69°. 
The soundings obtained off the Cape were in fifty fathoms ouze and 
shells, the water changing its colour to a deep green, and as we 
approached the harbour, to a dark olive. On the afternoon of the 
23d of November, we took a light wind from the southeast, and with 
all sail set stood in for the magnificent harbour of Rio Janeiro. Our 
attention was drawn first to the high, fantastic, and abrupt peaks of 
Gavia, the Sugar Loaf, and Corcovado, on our left; whilst on our 
right, we had the bold point of Santa Cruz ; then before us the city of 
San Salvador, and the towns of San Domingo, with Praya Grande 
opposite, and the islands and fleet that lay between them, decking 
this beautiful expanse of water. These objects, with the pinnacles of 
the Organ Mountains for a background, form such a scene that it 
would be difficult to point out in what manner it could be improved. 
The life and stir created by the number of vessels, boats, and steamers 
of various forms and of all sizes passing to and fro, give great anima- 
tion to the whole. 
The mountains present a very peculiar appearance. Their tops 
and sides have a rounded or worn surface destitute of verdure, with, 
the exception of here and there a yellowish patch, produced by the 
Tillandsias, which in places cover the rocks. The abruptness of the 
Sugar Loaf Mountain, and those immediately behind Santa Cruz, 
strikes the spectator very forcibly. 
The shipping do not form as in other places a dense forest of masts. 
There being no wharves, they are obliged to lie at anchor, exhibiting 
their proportions and symmetry to great advantage. They are usually 
seen grouped together, with their different flags flying, forming a 
picture that a painter would delight in. 
As we proceeded up the harbour, our own flag was seen to wave 
over that magnificent specimen of naval architecture, the Indepen- 
