NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



35 



This is a silent but powerful ag-ent ; its operation is universal and perpe- 

 tual, renewed by every rising" sun, and aided by every refulgent moon. 

 It has here often withstood the stimulus of interest, and destroyed the 

 pithiness of arg'ument ; and is generally most effectual on minds the least 

 aware of its influence. It has contributed to render the Court of Portugal 

 almost ambitious to change its designation ; and foreigners indulge the 

 propensity, by speaking of the Court of Rio, and no longer of that 

 of Lisbon. 



My first landing at St. Sebastian's was at the Custom-house, on the 

 stairs of which I met with a Gentleman, to whom I was known, and 

 from whom I received the first marks of that ready and active kindness, 

 in which an English Merchant, wherever he is found, seldom falls short. 

 He had arrived a few days before me, and had already been initiated into 

 the scenes of carelessness and dirt, mixed with tedious and beggarly 

 parade, which occur daily at the place where we met. Gladly did I take 

 refuge from them in his house and hospitality, after having gone through 

 no small trial of my patience. 



A vessel sailing for England early the next day, presented an oppor- 

 tunity of announcing to friends at home my arrival and welfare. Having 

 performed this pleasing duty, I walked out, with two or three companions, 

 to see the city. 



It is situated chiefly on a low, flat piece of ground close to the 

 beach, and extends backward about half a mile. The streets are straight 

 and narrow, paved in the middle of the town with granite ; the holders 

 and slabs are mostly grey, and among them are sometimes found 

 specimens finely varied with quartz. There are no raised or 

 separate foot-paths, and a cfiannel for waste water generally runs in the 

 middle. The widest and principal of these streets is parallel with the 

 bay, terminating in a small square, a hundred and sixty yards long, by 

 eighty broad ; the West side of which is occupied by religious buildings; 

 the South by the palace, the North by plain houses filled with the royal 

 servants, the East is open to the water, and commands a view of the 

 anchorage, and the opposite coasts. A considerable degree of uniformity 



