NOTICES OP BRAZIL. 



59 



when the glasses were filled, he said, in a most gracious tone, 

 smiling and bowing at the same time, ^^Will you say some- 

 thing, or shall I 



You, if you please, Sir !" 

 ^<Then, the President of the United States!" 

 We joined the ladies at an early hour, and spent the after- 

 noon agreeably, in dancing, music, and conversation. The 

 ^^Miudinho," the music of which is the composition of DoM 

 Pedro, and " a nine handed reel," were exhibited to us as 

 the dances of the country. They are both animated and amus- 

 ing- 

 After tea, and a pleasant drive by moonlight, we arrived in 



town about nine o'clock. 



Foreigners generally tell us that the natives of Rio are cold 

 and inhospitable ; it must be granted, on one hand, that the 

 Brazilians are somewhat formal, and require gentlemen to be 

 properly introduced ; and on the other, foreigners visit the city 

 without letters to any of the natives, and few of them speak 

 the language ! Under such circumstances, how can they know 

 each other? 



I am told by those who have long resided here, that the la- 

 dies are amiable and kind ; and in the higher circles, elegant 

 and polished in their manners. They are deficient in the essen- 

 tials of a polite education, but are accomplished musicians and 

 dancers. Their style of beauty would not please us. They 

 are generally very dark brunettes, have fine black eyes, and 

 hair, and are rather beyond embonpoint — in fact, the whole 

 population appears to be disposed to grossness and obesity. As 

 in all tropical climates, the ladies are marriageable at a very 

 early age — they are not unfrequently mothers at twelve and 

 fourteen years old ! 



