194 



A VOYAGE TO 



that he would not think it advisable to stand in nearer 

 than twelve or thirteen fathoms soundings, as every 

 cast of the lead varies several fathoms; he ventured to 

 act differently, only from the circumstance of there be- 

 ing another vessel sounding ahead. 



We made Cape St. Mary's on the nineteenth, and 

 were abreast of the island of Lobos, at twelve o'clock 

 of that night. The next morning at eleven o'clock, 

 we were compelled to come to anchor in nineteen fa- 

 thoms, below this island, having been drifted at least 

 twenty miles during a calm which ensued, and which, 

 on account of the great draught of the Congress, ope- 

 rated more powerfully on her than on the Blossom; 

 this vessel was now out of sight. Having run down 

 twelve or thirteen hundred miles of the Brazilian coast, 

 I shall avail myself of the opportunity, of giving the 

 reader a few sketches of the provinces along which 

 we passed. 



Next to the province of Rio Janeiro, on the coast, 

 comes that of St. Paul, which stretches along it about 

 four hundred miles, and is about five hundred in depth. 

 It is bounded to the west by the great river Parana, 

 which separates it from the Spanish province of Para- 

 guay. On the south it is bounded by the Iguazu, anij 

 a line drawn from this river to the small river St^ 

 Francisco, and down to its mouth. It is one of the 

 most fertile and delightful provinces of South America. 

 The great range of mountains which here runs closei 

 along the coast, on the western side, is a vast inclined 

 plain, down which some of the largest branches of the 

 Parana flow into that immense river. The westera 

 slope is so gentle as scarcely to be perceptible, and 

 although not level, it can hardly be considered hilly 



