George Fracker

“ Rio Jeneiro, in English, the River January—probably so called from the month in which it was discovered—embraces the varied prospect of a bay incomparable in scenery, a smooth harbor, variegated with many pleasant little islands, which secure and embellish it; the shores on every side teeming in luxuriant vegetation, and where nature, dressed always in the robe of spring—gay as in her prime—sports in all her youthful vigor and beauty. ”

“ My leg, I felt, was powerless, and in stripping off my trowsers, the twisting of it gave a degree of pain, besides which, I had several scratches and bruises; through these, the chilling coldness of the water struck to the heart.
When a boy, I was an expert swimmer; and when arrived at manhood, could jump from the gunwale of a ship, fully clad, strip while doubling the keel, and come up the other side with my clothes under my arm. No one that I had met with, possessed the faculty of retaining breath, and withholding the respiration for so long a period. ”

“ At the vesper hour in the city, at sun set, the stranger who walks the streets is amazed at the sudden and simultaneous stop of the passing multitude at the solemn toll of the bell. Looking around him, he sees each uncovered passenger standing like a statue, and every sound is hushed to silence. ”

“ As her attendants unbound her hair, and the ample tresses fell upon her shoulders, and the profusion of jetty ringlets were severed from her reclining and finely formed head, there arose in the mind a throb of painful feeling, from the contemplation that this fair being was about taking a last look at the bright scenes around her; and that such youth and beauty should be immured for life within the cold walls of a convent, and the ends of creation be thus perverted by the iron sway of tyrant custom. ”

“ The passengers and seamen had all reached the deck, excepting the carpenter, who lay sick in his hammock in the steerage—some, in nothing but their shirts, and all half dressed, or with some clothes in their hands. On seeing their perilous situation, the clothes were dropped, and they secured their hold to the rigging—the ship continually striking. The captain ordered the steward to secure some articles in the cabin; he descended, but soon came up with the dismal tidings that every thing was adrift and the cabin full of water. ‘Cut away the masts! cut away the masts!’ he then cried out. ”

“ I had no outside covering, neither had the seamen, but labor compelled us to sleep. I awoke about day-light, and my feelings were indescribable; the morning was boisterous, the fires were wholly extinct, and had been so a long time. The men from fatigue had fallen into a deep sleep, and snoring around. I attempted to rise, but was surprised to find my limbs so stiff and nerveless; my senses too seemed almost as stiff as my bones, I felt light headed, and half crazy, the effect of sleeping on wet ground. ”

“ To the face of whom, from the face of naught for tedious months, but boisterous waves and frowning clouds, the seamen with most pleasure turns. But here he turns in vain, for none are seen. The sounds too, which stun him, are as varied as the objects around. The ceaseless clang of a hundred bells, ringing too, rapid as for life and death; the song and chorus of the laboring slaves, at the quay; guns firing, rockets mounting, drums beating, chains clanking, and rocks blowing, would lead a stranger to suppose that they made all this clamor to drive away ennui, and disperse evil spirits. ”

“ In jumping from the rail to gain the lee side, I fell among this ruin, but had hitherto felt only one or two severe bruises. A tremendous wave now broke over the quarter, and sweeping every thing before, carried me along with some large spars forward, when my right leg was struck by one of them, and jambed in between that and a deck beam, at the joint of the knee, which was instantly crushed, and held as in a vice, immoveable. ”

“ The slaves, who get water from this source, to sell about the city, make a great clamor in their contentions about first getting their vessels under the stream.
Notwithstanding the vast crowds which throng the streets, not a woman is to be seen. Although I was at one time on shore daily, for three weeks, I could see no other females than the slaves.—They sometimes, however, take a ramble in the evening, but are so enveloped in cloaks that entirely conceal their form, that a stranger would pass them, and think them men. ”

“ Every thing eatable, and every living animal was devoured—horses, cats and mules—and rats, with the immense numbers of which, the city was once overrun, either alive or dead, sold for a dollar each! The Patriots did not long hold possession of the city, for the Portuguese, who had always laid claim to the lower or eastern side of the river, as the southern bounds of the Brazil dominions, soon took possession of it, and are still its masters. ”

“ Living in this delightful clime, and possessing this fruitful soil, with their devoted love of country, and their ardent thirst for knowledge, the speculative and contemplative mind of the philosopher and philanthropist may look forward—piercing the veil of futurity—and behold the native of Paraguay and the rough Patagonian, enjoying with the Chilian and the Peruvian, the invaluable blessing of an enlightened government ”

“ Finding it impossible to stand this suffocating drenching any longer, and my arms weak from such powerful stretching, I watched my chance, after a prodigious surge roared over me, loosed my hold, seized the mizen backstay, climbed over the heads of some who were clinging to the rigging, and happily gained the mizen top, advising the rest to follow, as I was certain no man could stand the force of such terrific seas five minutes longer. Here, in the mizen top, in the interval of the ship’s striking, I fell to thrashing myself, and preparing for the waves. ”

“ It had been reported in the papers of the day, at New York, previous to our sailing, that the Portuguese had declared war against the patriots of the La Plata, had seized on Monte Video, and were blockading the port of Buenos Ayres. On Sunday morning, eighty two days out, we passed Monte Video, in full sight, with a stiff breeze. The day was bright and beautiful, and the appearance of this [9] walled city as we were borne along upon the bosom of the majestic La Plata, was to us, who so long had seen nothing but the ocean and the sky, highly gratifying. ”

“ I told him I presumed it was one of the stoutest of the seamen, who had fortunately cleared himself from the ship, without much damage, and had resolutely continued ‘breasting the lofty surge,’ till he reached the middle of the breakers; when, being there overpowered, he expired and sunk; and the force of the waves then propelled the body to the shore before it descended to the bottom.
It is surprising that human bodies will, when dead, sink and continue at the bottom, unmoveable; while other substances, of much greater proportionate weight, will be thrown on shore by the sea. ”

“ Whew! this is a snorter; and we must keep well aft, or else a sea from over the bows there, will throw us off our legs, or a spray give us a drencher to freshen our eyelids. D—n her, how she jumps and pitches; well, for my part, give me a ship under sail, with the wind a-beam to steady her, instead of lying here at anchor, where she tumbles about like a chip in a frog pond.’ The moon was now about half an hour high. From the feeling of the lead, I was fearful that the ship had been, and was still fast drifting. ”

“ The bull made at the first horseman, who received him on the point of the spear, held in the middle tight to his side, and passing under his arm pit, which making a wide gash in the bull’s shoulder, occasioned him to draw back, the blood running in torrents; the force with which the bull ran at the man, was so great, that the shock had nearly overset him and his horse. ”

“ The beautiful and nimble lizards, which I had thought repulsive reptiles, were playing about among the stones of the beach. The velocity of their motions, their sudden change of attitude, and their elegant and symmetrical forms—with their little green eyes, pointed noses, taper tails and spotted bodies, afforded a deal of amusement. We then bent our way into the interior. ”

“ In the warm months of summer, between the hours of two and four, a person may walk through the city and not meet any moving object, a deathlike stillness pervading the once bustling and crowded streets. ”

“ On first beholding this coast, the mind of a stranger is struck with wonder and pleasure—he beholds mountains piled on mountains, of every shape and posture—some bending their enormous heads, as if to awe the lesser hills below, or rising in majestic pomp far above the highest range of clouds, which float and curl, like misty veils, around them. ”

“ During the warm months of summer, it is the practice in which all ranks partake, to enjoy, after a sultry and dusty day, the charming refreshment of bathing. From an hour before sunset till dark, may be seen, in the place before occupied by the washers, a mixed multitude of many hundreds of both sexes, and of all classes and ages, old men and children, young men and maidens, promiscuously, and apparently with much pleasure, performing their daily and healthy ablutions. ”

“ I quickly went below, and awoke the captain, who was in a secure and profound sleep! by violently shaking him; and with a loud cry of ‘breakers!’ aroused the passengers. I then went forward to get ready another anchor, and several men were clearing the cable tier below. The captain had just gained the deck, when, at quarter past twelve, the vessel struck. The shock sunk upon the hearts of those on board, like the summons for sudden death—and with reason. All knew that while the ship rode clear of the ground, they were in safety ”

“ The country carts, in which they transport their produce from the interior, deserve notice. They are the most awkward, heavy and singular vehicles ever seen; and one of them passing through our streets, would attract as much notice as a moving menagerie. The cart is, in fact, about the height of a two story house, the sides and roof formed of flags and cane, but the bottom of hard and solid wood, which, with the wheels, are monstrously clumsy. ”

“ The people are sociable and kind, and fond of the company of strangers, particularly Americans, whom they often amuse by their absurd and ludicrous questions respecting the customs of other countries. The houses are low, and built of earth and cane. The villagers are of a dark complexion, but many of the women are fair and have peculiarly sweet voices.
Buenos Ayres, the capital of the provinces of the Rio de La Plata, has an ancient and gloomy appearance from the water; but the traveller, on landing, finds much to be pleased with. ”

“ The multitude of padres, priests, friars, clericos and church dependents, is incredible, and compose a large portion of the population. They may be seen in all places, with full, contented faces, under their broad brimmed hats, reverenced and bowed to by all; living upon the fat of the land, and one may enter without ceremony all parts of any house at any hour, without fear of interruption, on leaving his hat and cane in the passage—‘he is confessing the females, and must not be disturbed.’
There is one of the canine species here, as also in Brazil, of a mouse color and without hair! ”

“ At Monte Video the water is brackish, and cannot be drank, but at a short distance above, though it appears at all times turbid and discolored, as if with the yellow mud at the bottom; the taste is sweet and palatable. A sealing ship was once cast away on the rocks of Faulkland Island, and a few of the hands with difficulty saved themselves in the long boat. Being on a barren land, they resolved, with one barrel of beef, which they had fortunately recovered, and a scanty supply of water, to commit themselves to the mercy of the waves in their frail bark, and pushed for the river of Plate. ”

“ At any feat of dexterity from the gladiator, handfuls of dollars are sometimes thrown by the rich spectators, which he deliberately picks up and pockets, amid the shouts of ‘bravo!’ and the waving of handkerchiefs.
A party will sometimes be seated and regaling themselves at a table opposite the doors in the lists, and a bull will be let out upon them, at which they [112] take to flight, with their bottles; except one bold fellow, who leaps from the table, vaulting over the bull’s horns, and lights straddling upon his back, facing his tail, while chairs, table, &c., are tossed about his head. ”

“ The milk is brought in and cried about the city by country boys, from seven to fourteen years old, on horseback, who have a peculiar song of their own, which I never could interpret, by which they give notice of their approach. The milk is contained in earthen jugs, placed in panniers made of hide, on each side of the horse, holding three jugs each. Notwithstanding the infinity of horses, I never saw a mare in the streets of Buenos Ayres; and a person riding one would be subject to derision [119] and abuse, as much as if he were mounted on a cow, mares being kept only for breeding. ”

“ As the wind was fair up the river, he should directly weigh and set sail, stating that if once rid of the troublesome Frenchmen he had nothing to fear.
The remaining party was soon collected and seemed unwilling to go on shore through fear of falling into Portuguese hands. These we likewise landed on the beach, being all the French passengers. The ship immediately threw out her sails and was soon out of sight. Most of these officers had been troublesome guests, and were discontented, insolent, and heartily disliked by the ship’s company; but one of a captain’s rank, was of a different mould ”