TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 141 



of the crew of our frigate, the Austria, who were 

 called in to assist, could save only part of the 

 goods, because the vessel was dashed to pieces on 

 the rocks in a few hours. The sea, when it is 

 high, particularly at the equinoxes, fills up the 

 sandy hollows and lagoons, in several places round 

 the city, which are planted with rhizophora, cono- 

 carpas, and avicennia trees ; thus the sandy plain 

 between the suburb of S. Anna, where we lived, 

 the bay of Sacco d' Alferes, and the principal street 

 towards S. Christopher, was sometimes changed 

 into a lake, and limited our excursions through the 

 valley. The saltness of this sea-water is rather less 

 than that of the ocean on the outer coasts, and for 

 this reason, and also because too many heterogeneous 

 impurities are mixed with it, no salt is prepared in 

 the vicinity of Rio ; the greater part of that con- 

 sumed here is imported from the rich salt lagoons 

 of Setuval. It is preferable in this hot climate to 

 the Spanish and Sardinian, because it has less ten- 

 dency to deliquescence ; a small part comes to the 

 capital from the neighbourhood of Cabo Frio. 



It will be readily imagined that with the exten- 

 sive trade carried on here, the traveller every where 

 meets the bustle of active industry. The harbour, 

 the exchange, the market-places, and the streets 

 nearest the sea, where the principal magazines of 

 European merchandise are situated, are constantly 

 filled with a throng of merchants, sailors, and 

 negroes. The various languages of the mingled 



