40 



RIO DE JANEIRO. 



diplomatist has observed, fish generally stinks 

 a little before it is caught. The heat was 

 excessive ; and it was increased by the position 

 of the house, which is built under a sandy cliff, 

 to the exclusion of the land breeze at night. I 

 believe there were cards and music, in a richly 

 carpeted room — (richly carpeted, I suppose, to 

 prevent people from catching cold, and to keep 

 them all warm and comfortable!) — but I fell 

 asleep immediately after dinner, on a sofa, to 

 the tune of the sea breaking on the shore, with- 

 out a breath of air to give any spirit to its lazy 

 splash. 



Sept. 26th. — Made an excursion to the Bota- 

 nical Garden, four miles beyond Botafogo. It is 

 prettily situated under lofty wood- clothed 

 mountains, and is laid out on the most exten- 

 sive scale. It loses some of the interest to an 

 European, by the attempt to introduce plants 



