1831.] 
RIO DE JANEIRO^ 
47 
pened, on the first day of January, being the feast of St. Janua- 
rius. In honour of the day, he conferred the saint's name on those 
waters which had hitherto remained concealed from every eye but 
those of the natives ; who, as before stated, had given to this 
tranquil basin the significant appellation of Hidden Water. A 
thriving colony, in due course of time, surrounded the safe and 
capacious harbour, on the banks of which a city was founded, 
which grew rapidly in wealth and splendour. 
Still, however, for a long period, the seat of government and 
of commerce remained at iBahia de Todas Santos ; which, though 
one of the smallest provinces of Brazil, was yet one of the most 
fertile, populous, and luxuriant ; St. Salvador would probably have 
still been the capital of the empire, but for the fortuitous (we will 
not say fortunate) discovery of the rich gold and diamond mines 
within three hundred miles of Rio Janeiro, which gave a decided 
preponderance to the latter. The viceroy removed thither, and 
Rio became the seat of government. It now grew more rapidly ; 
and had it not been for the unjust and impolitic restrictions of the 
mother country, it would have still increased in trade, industry, and 
opulence, and in time become one of the largest and most wealthy 
cities of the world. But Portugal thought to retain her colonies 
by oppressing them. So thought England, thirty years before 
her. Both of these acted under this impression, and both of them 
lost the brightest jewels of their crowns. 
For a commercial city, a better location can scarcely be ima- 
gined ; surrounded as it is by a country, whose natural capacities 
and resources are equal to the highest expectations. The har- 
bour, as we have stated, is among the best on the whole surface 
of the globe. Vessels are never detained in the offing,- as the 
regular tradewinds facilitate their entrance ; while the land 
breezes of the morning favour their standing out from the anchor- 
age ; nor is a pilot needed, as seven fathoms is the shoalest water 
in the entrance to the harbour. The facilities for watering vessels 
are great, while provisions of all kinds may be had in abundance. 
But with all its natural advantages, capabilities, and resources, 
Rio still drooped wider the mistaken policy of the mother country, 
until one political event gave it a fresh impulse, and a new start on 
the race-course of commercial prosperity. 
The event here alluded to, which proved indirectly and inci- 
