38 



MOTES ON BRAZIL. 



As we passed along the streets, we observed at each shop door a long 

 stool, which in the day time was covered with goods, and served as a 

 sort of show-board ; in the evening it became the seat of persons who 

 were playing at backgammon, upon a flat and unwieldy board. The 

 people, we were told, sometimes played high, and many of the spectators, 

 who stood around, seemed to enter into the business with all the ardour 

 of gamesters. 



In these scenes of petty dissipation, there appeared nothing favour- 

 able to commercial enterprise ; yet we finished our walk with more 

 cheering prospects than those, with which we began it. We found 

 the city full of inhabitants ; so full, indeed, that I did not know where 

 I should find accommodation for the night. All of these we calculated 

 would become consumers, and with such expectations, establishments 

 had already been formed for supplying their wants. There existed, we 

 found, the distinction between the wholesale and retail dealers, which is 

 of consequence to foreign traders ; and we saw, in the abundant stocks 

 of the former, a promise of reimbursement for our exertions. 



In a short time we became better acquainted with the detail, the 

 extent, and the progressive state of the city ; as well as with the inhabi- 

 tants, their occupations, and manners. When the Court first arrived 

 at the m.etropolis of Brazil, the city was circumscribed within very narrow 

 boundaries. It may not be amiss to trace them for the use of those, 

 who are acquainted with its present extent, and who hereafter may wish 

 to mark its growth. Commencing at the church of the Lapa, we went 

 down the Rua dos Barbonos to that of Guarda Velha, passed the 

 convent of St. Antonio, turned Westward to the Campo da Santa 

 Anna, proceeded along the Eastern side of it to the Ruas do St. 

 Joaquim and Vallonga, thence to the beach, and followed the water to 

 the convent of St. Bento, and along the Eastern side of the city. All 

 the ground within this narrow compass was not covered with buildings ; 

 there were some open patches of considerable size, the principal of which 

 were the hill of St. Sebastian, the Largo dos Seganos, a large plot near 

 the Campo, the rocks on which the bishop's palace is built, and the 

 Morro and gardens of St. Bento. 



