466 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



CHAPTER XV. 



PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF RIO DE JANEIRO. — ORGAN MOUNTAINS. 



Voyage from CearA. — Freshets at Pernambuco. — Arrival at Rio. — 

 Collections. — Vegetation about Rio as compared with that on the 

 Amazons, — Misericokdia Hospital. — Charities connected with it. 



— Almsgiving in Brazil. — Insane Asylum. — Military School. — 

 The Mint. — Academy of Fine Arts. — Heroism of a Negro. — Primary 

 School for Girls. — Neglected Education of Women in Brazil. — 

 Blind Asylum. — Lectures. — Character op the Brazilian Audience. 



— Organ Mountains. — Walk up the Serra. — Theresopolis — Visit to 

 the "St. Louis" Fazenda. — Climate of Theresopolis. — Descent of 

 the Serra. — Geology of the Organ Mountains. — The Last Word. 



May 29th — We arrived in Rio more than a month ago, 

 having left Ceara on the 16th of April. There was nothing 

 worth recording in our voyage down the coast, except that 

 at Pernamhuco we found the country even more overflowed 

 by tlie recent rains than it had been at Cear4. Going to 



breakfast with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. R , only four 



or five miles from the city, we passed through portions of 

 the road where the water was nearly level with the floor of 

 the carriage ; and temporary ferries were established by 

 negroes, who were plying rafts and canoes between the 

 shores for the benefit of foot-passengers. A mile or two 



beyond Mr. R 's house we were told that the road, 



though one of the most frequented in the neighborhood of 

 the city, had become quite impassable. We saw many over- 

 flowed gardens and houses abandoned because the water 

 was already above the windows of the ground-floor. 



We had a warm welcome back to the beautiful bay of 

 Rio, on board the " Susquehanna," just then in the harbor. 



