TO RIO DE JANEIRO. 



9 



which always fills with joy the breasts of those making a voyage to this part of 

 the world. And no wonder. For having launched out upon the wide immea- 

 surable ocean, where uncertainty and dangers always accompany him, man, at 

 this refreshing sight, feels reassured of his safety, and obtains a promise of the 

 eventual success of his voyage. Besides, he experiences a rich glow of mind at 

 viewing the natural element of his support and existence, and a feeling of deep 

 interest on beholding, if for the first time, a new portion of the world. From this 

 promontory, the coast swells in a north-east direction to Cape St. Roque, forming 

 the most easterly portion of territory in South America. Rio de Janeiro lies 

 exactly west from, and in the same latitude with. Cape Frio, at a distance of 

 about eighty miles. The coast betwixt them presents a continued appearance of 

 rugged mountains, and through every aperture they are seen undulating in accu^- 

 mulated alpines far back into the interior of this vast continent. Tremendous 

 precipices, at every opening of the nearer mountains, strike the imagination with 

 wonder, snowy clouds occasionally obscuring the contracted valleys at their 

 feet, and resting in detached and airy vapours upon their sides, whilst their 

 summits and other parts are brightened by the purest atmosphere and sunshine. 

 This scene conveys to the European traveller a grand idea and foretaste of the 

 peculiar magnificence of size and aspect, with which nature has displayed her- 

 self in the new continent. After proceeding about forty miles along this shore, a 

 view is commanded from Cape Frio to Gavea, or the Parrot's Beak, a distance of 

 near one hundred miles. The entrance, through a narrow inlet amongst the moun- 

 tains, to the bay of Rio de Janeiro, is pointed out by one of a singular shape, re- 

 sembling a sugar-loaf, the strata of which it is composed appearing to run per- 

 pendicularly. Here is presented one of the most picturesque and beautiful 

 scenes that can well be imagined. Abrupt and towering precipices of wild and 

 fanciful shapes, universally robed in verdant shrubs of various kinds, surround 

 this fine bay, containing nearly one hundred islands, to the circumference of which 

 the eye cannot extend. The bases of these mountains, consisting of granite, are 

 beautified with numerous sweeping crescents of more perfect cultivation, edged 

 with white cottages and houses, from whence narrow valleys, adorned with 

 orange trees, are seen winding amongst the mountains. The clear, sunny, and 

 smiling face of nature ; the verdant islands, which look in their loveliness as if 

 they were intended for the abode of beings more refined in intellect and more 

 pure in heart than weak and erring man ; the shipping dispersed about the bay, 

 the city seen at a distance, combined with an airy and elegant aqueduct, which 

 conveys from the mountains water for the supply of the town, all impressing the 



