1834.] 
ARRIVAL AT RIO. 
517 
struggle, no record is left ; for the sailor, child of the tempest- 
tossed ocean, forgets the grandeur of the scene almost as soon as 
the white caps have ceased to run, or the v^^aters become smooth 
in the wake of his vessel ! 
The dangers of the icebergs passed ; we continued our course 
to the north until the morning of Wednesday, the twenty-sixth 
of March, when land was again announced, and the towering 
sugar-loaf of Rio was soon after .visible from the frigate's deck; 
and, favoured by the Seabreeze, we succeeded in coming to 
anchor at an early hour. The sloop-of-war Peacock, Captain 
Geisinger, late from her cruise to the East Indies, was lying at 
anchor, and on recognising the Potomac, saluted the broad pennant 
of Commodore Downes, which compliment was returned by the 
usual number of guns. The schooner Boxer, Lieutenant-com- 
mandant Farragut, was also at Rio. On the same day. Commo- 
dore Wolsey came from Montevideo, his broad pennant flying on 
the sloop-of-war Natchez. Salutes with the forts, and the other 
men-of-war in the harbour, were exchanged during the afternoon 
and the following day, Rio being a station of much naval etiquette. 
In addition to our former remarks on this interesting portion of 
South America we would here observe, that the whole empire of 
Brazil contains a population of not far from five milKons. Of 
these, three millions are slaves; one miUion are free people 
of colour; and one million are whites, or descendants of the 
Portuguese ; and even of this number we have heard it stated, on 
the best authority, that there were in reality not more than two 
hundred thousand in all Brazil, of unmixed blood ! — Our authority 
is Sylvester Rebelo, formerly minister from Brazil to the United 
States, to whom we are indebted for other valuable information^ 
which, we regret, our limits will not permit us to imbody. 
An interesting celebration occurred at Rio on the twelfth day 
after our arrival, it being Monday, the seventh of April. This 
day is celebrated as the anniversay of the departure of Don Pedro, 
on which occasion the young emperor, 'attended by the regents, 
receives visits from all the public functionaries. All our com- 
manders, and a suitable number of officers, were presented to his 
imperial majesty by our minister, Mr. Brown who, being the 
oldest diplomatic agent in Brazil, had the precedence ; and from 
him, also, custom required a short speech. In the evening, a 
