12 
RIO JANEIRO. 
On reaching the ship, I prepared every thing for making collections 
of plants, and set off in company with some friends on an excursion 
to the Braganza shore.* We landed at the foot of a small fort, which 
was in a state of as complete disservice as it is possible to imagine. 
The guns, from their rust and the rottenness of their carriages, could 
be formidable only to those who should attempt to discharge them. 
Yet as the war had but recently terminated, and this fort commanded 
an important part of the harbour, it might have been expected to be in 
a tolerable state of repair. From the fort we divided ourselves into 
different groups, and ascending the rocky hills that surrounded 
us, entered the woods which every where covered their summits. 
Taking a road which led through one of the thickest, I soon found 
myself encompassed by all the beauties of Flora. Sensations never 
before experienced, for some minutes, entirely overwhelmed me. 
It was the first time that I had ever seen the glorious productions 
of a tropical climate in their native soil. Plants, which in England 
are reared at great expense, and obtain under the best management 
but a puny and uncharacteristic form, flourished around me in all the 
vigour and luxuriance of their perfect being. A thick coppice was 
formed by numerous species of cassia caesalpinia and bauhinia, whose 
gay colours and elegant forms were curiously contrasted with the 
grotesque characters of the aloe and the cactus. The trunks of the 
forest-trees were covered with beautiful creepers, and parasitic ferns 
occupied their branches. Emerging from the wood, I entered groves 
of orange-trees, bearing fruit and flowers in the greatest profusion. 
I approached them in wonder, and scarcely dared to taste their abun- 
dant produce, when I was astonished by receiving permission to gather 
them in any quantity ; and this permission was not confined to myself, 
but granted to all my companions, who successively visited the place of 
their growth. Indeed, nothing could surpass the liberality of the 
proprietors of orange-groves, or of the Portuguese peasantry whom I 
* The shore on the opposite side of the harbour to that on which the city of St. Sebas- 
tian stands. 
