NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



501 



The edifices of state, office, and public amusement, are constructed 

 of stone, and are not without a claim to splendour; some of them have 

 a real air of grandeur, unknown in other cities and towns of Brazil. At 

 a -small distance, in front of the Governor's palace, is a group, of which 

 the Villaricans are particularly and justly proud, formed by the town- 

 house, the theatre, and the prison. The Palace itself commands a fine 

 view of almost the whole town : before it is an open space, surrounded 

 by a sort of parapet, on which a few brass swivels are mounted on 

 carriages, as cannon. In one of the lower parts of the town is the 

 Treasury, where, having letters to some gentlemen in office, I was 

 received with courtesy, and had an opportunity of observing that the 

 rooms are noble as well as commodious. Under the same roof are tlie 

 Mint and the Custom-house. 



There are ten Churches, of which a few of the older ones are built 

 in taipe. Several of them are richly ornamented, and display fine 

 paintings and images. One of the most richly furnished is singular in 

 having no windows ; and the effect upon the mind, from the light of 

 lamps alone, during a splendid day, with an almost vertical sun, is very 

 powerful. I entered and examined these sacred buildings with unmo- 

 lested freedom, and apparently Avithout exciting curiosity even as a 

 foreigner,— a proof that the people of Villa Rica are accustomed to see 

 strangers. 



The arrangement, furniture, and business of the Theatre do not 

 correspond with its external appearance. It stands on uneven ground, 

 and is entered from behind, the lobby and boxes being on a level with 

 the entrance. To the latter there was no admittance for a stranger of 

 another nation; I descended, therefore. to the pit, and shall not easily 

 forget the impression made upon my mind, when, looking down a long, 

 narrow, dark staircase, I beheld the glare below ; it seemed * 



" a fiery gulph ; 



A dismal situation, waste and wild : 



A dungeon horrible, on all sides round, 



As one great furnace flamed." — 



