354 The Naturalist Brazilian Expedition. [Apri 
so great that some brain trouble ensued, and the man died that 
night. Other ship-captains under similar circumstances have 
pushed on in spite of the risk, trusting to good luck to scrap 
through the obstruction; half a dozen wrecks lying on the shal. 
lows show the results of such hardihood. 
Luckily for us the signals marked eight feet and three inches, 
just our draught, and we were able to pass without stopping. 
Led by the little pilot-steamer, ycleped Manoel o Diabo (Emanuel 
the Devil) we threaded the crooked channel, scraping a little in : 
the shallowest part, where the surf was lively enough. In 
Rio Grande the navigation is still somewhat difficult, and the | 
deeper portions are marked out with buoys. | 
Eight or nine miles from the sea, on the western side of the | 
channel, is the city of Rio Grande, the commercial metropolis ú 
the province. Itis built on a peninsula of the sand-dune region, 
but the main streets are well paved, and some attempts have bees 
made at arborization ; there is a fine public garden where willows 
and palm-trees are intermingled, and roses and dahlias grow sidt 
by side with splendid tropical camellias. Hedges neat thee! 
are formed of large shrubby mimosas, or of candelabra ar | 
(Cereus). In one place a grove of Eucalypti has been pl 
and the trees appear to thrive well. The only plants that ee : 
naturally on the peninsula are the marsh grasses and oe 
mangrove bushes and a few inconspicuous herbs. Yeur™ | 
that with the addition of a small amount of fertilizing ; 
the land may be made very productive ; in fact, the Rio ' 
market is abundantly supplied with vegetables which atè = 
grown on sand-islands near the city. ; i 
Rio Grande contains about 14,000 inhabitants, mostly s n 
Portuguese descent, though there are a good many foreig® b 
chants. The city is exclusively dependent on commerce 
existence, the country immediately around it pine a 
nothing. The principal articles of export are jerked P 
ides, with much tallow, horns, wool, tobacco and rice, wota 
fee, sugar or cotton. Rows of warehouses front the mee 
fine wide quay has been built; here large ships may oli 
their cargoes directly on the land. There are some good garl; 
buildings, including one of the finest custom-houses 1 arch 
this is covered with cement, in imitation of marble, and “an | 
tecture is much superior to that of most public works 
