32 



VOYAGE TO RIO. 



sun is shining^ the miraculous beauty of this 

 spot baffles description. It is quite im- 

 possible to imagine such a combination of 

 the sublime and the beautiful. The verdure, 

 not in patches, but spreading over the whole 

 scene ; the tropical woods ; the grandeur of 

 the spacious harbour ; the variety of shape in 

 the amphitheatre of mountains and winding 

 bays ; — then the white city of Rio itself, the 

 villas and villages : all these together present a 

 picture surpassing the power of the most poet- 

 ical imagination to conceive. I have seen Con- 

 stantinople, Naples, Smyrna, and many places 

 which make an indelible impression by their 

 beauty, on the mind of all admirers of the 

 picturesque; but no one, nor all of these 

 together, can bear comparison for an instant 

 with the charms of the harbour of Rio Ja- 

 neiro, 



