130 
Acccunt of Pernambucoj by a late Pesidenf, [Sept. T, 
of either of these places, I shall be 
more explicit in my description, which 
cannot fail of being interesting, especially 
as it is composed from my own obser¬ 
vations during a stay of six w'ceks. 
Pernambuco is a large town, con¬ 
taining 60,000 people, and carrying 
on a great foreign and domestic trade. 
The coast near it is very low', and 
the country w'ell clothed with w-oods, 
in perpetual verdure, which, contrasted 
with the white cottages scattered along 
the shore, the Indians fishing in their 
jungadas, or canoes, and the beautiful 
serene sky, affords to the European as he 
approaches it, a most pleasing prospect.* 
The town stands on a great extent of 
ground, and many of the houses are well 
built, chiefly of stone. The streets are 
wide and spacious, the churches are 
truly magnificent, and the images they 
contain are immensely valuable. It is 
supposed that the religious form one- 
eighth part of the population; and of the 
continual crowd passing through the 
streets, they make no small portion. 
These people are dressed according to 
the order they profess, whether Carthu¬ 
sians, Grey Friars, or whatever it may be. 
One of these orders is particularly dis¬ 
tinguishable, not only by being externally 
clothed very well, but by their fair round 
bellies, which appear to be in general 
well lined, and much of the same cut 
with that of Sir John Falstaff. These are 
the Carmelites. 
Nearly half of the inhabitants are slaves, 
who are humanely treated by the Por¬ 
tuguese, and make good and faithful 
servants. There is a market appropri¬ 
ated purposely for these unfortunate be¬ 
ings, where two or three hundred are 
commonly seen huddled together, squat¬ 
ted on their hams, like raonkies, a'nd 
completely in cuerpo. They are thus 
exposed for sale, having.been previously 
rubbed over with a species of oil, which 
gives them a glossy, shining appearance ; 
and, in addition, are decorated w'ith bead 
necklaces and bracelets, to set them off 
to advantage. They seem to regard 
white people as a superior sort of beings, 
and look on one as he passes with a most 
vacant stare. I thought to myself, one 
day, whilst observing three hundred of 
them landing from a vessel just arrived, 
surely the day will come when these 
people will be as polished as we are, and 
ourselves become like the'' ancient Ro¬ 
mans, only known in history. 
Pernambuco stands on two islands, and 
is connected together by two bridges, one 
of which is a most beautiful structure, built 
by the Dutch when they took this place 
from the Portuguese, in 1670. It con¬ 
sists of fifteen arches, under which runs 
a strong and rapid river, that comes 
many hundred miles down the country. 
On eacii side of this bridge are shops 
full of European merchandize, parti¬ 
cularly English manufactures, or as they 
are called by the Portuguese, “ fazendas 
inglesas.” It is only in the middle that 
a person knbws he is on a bridge, he then 
beholds an opening, which during the day 
is often full of passengers, enjoying the 
cool refreshing breeze that comes down 
the river, and gratifying themselves with 
the prospect, which from this spot is 
truly delightful. The river seen wind¬ 
ing up as far as Olinda, which is seated 
on a hill; on either bank beautiful 
white cottages, intermixed with man¬ 
grove and cocoa trees, and fruitful 
vineyards; the Indians paddling dow’n 
the river with their unwieldy canoes, 
the fishermen on the beach drying 
their nets, and nature displaying her 
gayest verdure, form altogether a coup 
d'ail, which it is impossible to conceive 
much more to describe. The other is a 
very long wooden bridge, in which there 
is nothing at all remarkable, more than 
being quite open to the breeze which 
comes down the river. It is on that ac¬ 
count much resorted to in the evening, 
especially by the English, who, seated on 
each side, often amuse themselves by 
criticising, with the characteristic liberty 
of their country, the numerous passen¬ 
gers. 
Most of the houses in Pernambuco 
are lofty, and, instead of glass win¬ 
dows, have green lattices, which has a 
pretty effect, especially as all their houses 
are white, and frequently . surrounded 
with beautiful evergreens. All these 
windows are prominent, not unlike the 
Elizabethan windows, seen in some of 
Gur old country towns. During the 
morning, the better sort of Portuguese 
are seen leaning out of them, muflfled up 
in their long cloaks, and exhibiting a ge¬ 
nuine picture of indolence. They never 
live on the ground floor, which is com¬ 
monly used for cellars or shops. The 
ladies are only seen towards the evening, 
peeping through the lattices; very few 
ever appearing in the streets, and then 
closely veiled, and in a kind of harnmock 
with curtains, carried by two slaves on a 
long pole. They are remarkably partial 
to the English, which occasions mucli 
jealousy, though I do not think the Por¬ 
tuguese are so much addicted to this 
passion as they are represented to be. 
I have 
