ave ae 
er gilt eandlesticks, ‘rising row above 
rew, alounting to upwards of an hundred, 
and terminated at the top by an image of 
the Virgin or our Saviour. When. these 
are lighted up, they have a very grand 
effect, and the whole has more the ap- 
pearance of a rejoicing than of a religious 
ceremony, especially on particular even- 
ings when the outside ot these edifices, 
with allthe avenues leading to. them, are 
spleudidly illuminated with lamps of va- 
rious colours, and a great display of fire 
works. In niches that ‘Surround the 
ehureh, are images of different saints ; 
the roufs represent some story in Holy 
Writ; but are nat painted in a masterly 
manner. The fiovis are divided into 
smali cells separated by a wall about 
eighteen inches thick. In these the 
higher ranks are buried without any cof 
fin, only wrapped in a shroud and sprink- 
ted over, with a little quick-lime to hasten 
putrefaction. One stone, covers the 
place, andthe seamsare closely cemented. 
The burials of the poorer sort of peo- 
ple and blacks, are truly shocking to those 
who have not been accustomed to an 
sights of ihe kind. One day I observed 
two blaeks go ito a church carrying 
something in a kind of hammock. J 
followed and found it tobe a corpse. Jn 
a short time a priest. came with a num- 
ber of attendauts: haying said the bu- 
rial-service, mn which they use the sprin- 
Kling of water; he also sprinkled what I 
supposed to be the, image of a child lying 
-an’a’ basket upon a table. It was finely 
dressed and decorated with flowers and 
ribbons, and in its clasped hands held 
cross; the blacks tock up their burthern 
as did likewise au old woman the basket: 
they then went intothe church yard,where 
there was a place dugin the ground about 
twenty feet long, three deep, and.as ma- 
hy broad. In one end of this trench were 
lying four,or ive dead bodies with scarcely 
so much cloth upon them as covered their 
nakedness, , One of them appeared to be 
a female of 2 swart! hy complection, and 
the lowermost was in a. state of putre- 
faction, ‘Phe corpse whith the blacks car- 
ried was added to the number; and it 
was only when [ saw the woman lay the 
child upon the heap, that | was unde- 
ceived of its being avimage. They then 
went away ‘without further ceremony, 
leaving the body thus exposed, without a - 
covering to the face or iegs; and from 
there not being avy grave-diyger, and from 
the appearance of the lowermost, I should 
suppose thev are allowed to remain so 
till the place is filled up. 
Account of Rio-Janeiro. 
[June 1, 
Monasteries and nunneries are numes 
rous. In most of the latter are young _ 
ladies not intended for the veil, but 
merely placed for their education. Those 
who are there for that purpose, though se- 
cluded from public gaieties, are ‘not de- 
barred the visits of their relations, nor of 
strangers. These visitsare often attend- 
ed with a great deal of cheerfulness and 
even merriment, notwithstanding. the 
place where the company meets is di- 
vided by a double row of iron gratings, 
These are in piazzas under the building, 
no male being ever permitted to go with- 
in the doors. ‘The rows are near enough 
and sufficient room, left betwixt the bars 
to shake hands and tolielp the guests to 
a glass of wine, a dish of cotfee, a plate 
of fruit, orany other refreshment. Here 
the. young ladies whuse male relations 
wait upon them are frequently accompa» 
nied by such of the other young ladies in 
the convent as are theirimtimates. This 
naturally produces acquaintance, and in 
course of ume, friendship and a liking. of 
each other’s company in the youths who 
visit, and the young ladies who are visited : 
it is needless to say, that love oiten steals 
into these societies, perhaps oftener than. 
into any other; dithculties always en- 
hancing the value of what we desire to 
obtain. For this reason courtships that 
are carried on through obstacles are 
much warmer than those that pass 
with smoothness and facility. “An 
instance of this kind occurred to my 
knowledge; an officer belonging to a 
corpse on a foreign station, and which he 
was upon his way to join, had frequently 
visited one of the convents, and was vio- - 
lently smitten with the charms.of one of 
its lovely inhabitants. She, from his at- 
tention to her and sundry presents, had 
conceived an equal passion for him. 
Matters were carried so far that he got 
himself introduced to her parents, and 
was actuaily on the point of making a 
final settlement for her release, when i 
was uncer the necessity of quitting her, 
or losing his passage and perhaps.his post ; 
the ship sailing much sooner than he ex- - 
pected, to his \ very great disappointment, 
‘Some of the ladies who are not permitted - 
the hberty of visitingat the gratings under 
the piazza, are admirably dexterous at Con- 
veylng sweetincais,fruits, and flowers, from 
their lofty prison-windaws. ‘The case of 
these is certainly cruel, Figure to your 
self on one side youth, i innecence, and 
beauty, cloistered’ aud- separated fram 
them for whose homage and felicity they 
were designed ; on the other side, view 
4 . those 
