NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



561 



dent that the Pernambucanos had provided themselves with balls, buttons, 

 nails, and other missiles, for the pm-pose of doing mischief. The troops 

 from Portugal were instantly ordered to their barracks, and being exam- 

 ined by their officers, frankly owned, that they were not unaware of the 

 mischief intended for them, and that if any one man among them was 

 hit, they had agreed to disobey orders, to charge with the bayonet, and 

 march over their opponents. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the 

 review did not take place, and that the circumstance produced a spirit 

 among the parties which it would be very difficult to control. In the 

 full exercise of such rancorous feelings, I left the troops in the 

 year 1818. 



Connected with Military Affiiirs, are the defences of Rio; and 

 while the Capital of Brazil remains near the Coast, the most import- 

 ant of these must be the Fleet. Since the year 1813, several very 

 valuable vessels had been added to it, most of them built in Bahia, and 

 one small frigate in Rio. Old vessels had been repaired, and recent 

 circumstances had sent them to sea well manned and sufficiently found. 

 The Admiralty had been advantageously re-modelled, the Arsenal greatly 

 enlarged and rendered more commodious, and a Royal Establishment 

 had been formed for the manufacture of sail-cloth and cables, in which 

 the flax and hemp of Brazil were exclusively employed, both excellent 

 in their kind. On the Eastern side of the Ilha das Cobras, a Gun 

 Wharf had been erected, where the Government kept ready for use a 

 sufficient quantity of heavy ordnance. The Forts of Santa Cruz and 

 Villegagnon had been repaired, and greatly strengthened ; the former 

 by blowing away a large quantity of rock, which commanded its rear^ 

 and forming there a glacis and a ditch ; the latter by placing guns upon 

 its Southern and South-Eastern faces. Other Batteries have likewise 

 been repaired and rendered useful, and new ones placed in concealed and 

 advantageous situations. The old fort of Concei^am had been converted 

 into an Armory. Barracks have been erected in commanding points, 

 particularly in the Campo da St\ Anna, Mata Porcos, and St. Chris- 



tophe, greatly strengthening the suburbs of the City. Light Artillery had 



4 B 



