8 
CAPE FRIO. 
On the 10th, being in 10° 39' S. Lat., and 32° 47' W. Long., the 
Alceste parted company from the Lyra and General Hewitt, which 
shaped their course for the Cape, whilst the former steered for the 
harbour of Rio de Janeiro. On the 20th, we were off Cape Frio, and 
all those who had never before visited the shores of South America 
anxiously speculated on the scenes they were about to witness in the 
New World. 
The affections of different minds on first approaching an interest- 
ing coast, might form a subject of curious and instructive specu- 
lation. When the land indeed appears but as a dark undefined 
speck in the distant horizon, first reflections cannot widely differ, 
although their vividness may depend on the sensibility of the indi- 
vidual, and their extensiveness on the number of his associations. 
But few educated men will approach a country for the first time of 
their lives, without reverting to the history of its conquest or 
discovery. On making the coast of the New World, so interesting 
in the history of man and of the earth, every thought must centre in 
Columbus. All the circumstances of his situation on the day of his 
discovery, all the attributes of his mind, and all the heroism of his 
conduct, array themselves in the imagination. But as the land 
developes itself, as its larger features become visible, speculation is 
extinguished in a general glow of undefined but delightful feeling. 
Never can I forget the pleasing, yet almost awful emotion of my 
mind, when rising early in the morning I first beheld the shores of 
South America expanded before me. To describe the scenery by 
words would be a vain attempt ; the pencil of a painter enthusiastic 
in genius and in feeling, could alone convey to those who have never 
beheld it an imperfect apprehension of its grandeur. 
As objects become still more defined and palpable, various trains 
of thought arise in different characters. In the commander of a 
British ship of war, the hope of finding refreshments for his 
crew, of meeting old friends, of carrying his ship into port in 
a skilful and gallant style, and of supporting the proud pre- 
