Ritter von Karl Scherzer

“ As far as Caltura, where our amiable Father Miliani was in waiting for us with his neat single-horse equipage, to convey us to the beautiful parsonage of St. Sebastian Makùn, all went tolerably smoothly with us. We arrived, as had been concerted, to breakfast with this hospitable shepherd of souls. On our way to the parsonage, we noticed that great respect was paid to the worthy Father, by such of the Cingalese as met us. Their usual salutation was to bend themselves to the earth, veiling their eyes at the same time, and bending forward the outstretched head as though to implore a blessing. ”

“ The dreary, uncomfortable feeling left by the city, gives way to most enjoyable impressions so soon as one emerges from the suburbs of Rio, and seeks compensation for the absence of the appliances of European civilization in the eternal grace and majesty of Nature. Walks may be taken in every direction, each opening up a fresh point of view, while, if the visitor take horse or mule, he may in the course of an hour or two transport himself into the very midst of the most extraordinary features of tropical vegetation. ”

“ At the culminating point of the latter pass, which surpasses even Paine's Kloef in height and width, one stands as upon the ruins of a lofty tower, from which the eye can range at will over the entire country beneath. South-east and eastward towers the Hauw-Hoek Pass, while southwards and westwards the charming Lowry's Vale, and far in the distance the smiling settlement of Somerset-West come into view, while all around, farther than the eye can reach, are luxuriant pasturages, that only wait to be settled and cultivated in order to produce magnificent returns. ”

“ Slaves also are treated here with more humanity and less prejudice than in any other country visited by me, on which the curse of slavery yet rests; yet it must be confessed, without hesitation, that slavery, as beheld in Brazil, seems even a greater misfortune to the white population than to the black; for neither agriculture nor industry can thrive in a country where labour is not considered, as in free States, an honourable occupation—but rather as a disgrace—in consequence of its being performed by slaves. ”

“ At our feet lay stretched out the city itself, with the beautiful valleys of Larangeiras, Engenho Velho, and Catumbý Grande. On the other side of the bay, just opposite Rio, is Praya Grande, the capital of the province, and in the background the lofty, spectre-like mountain-chain of the Organos—so called from the rocky peaks projecting like so many organ-pipes. What a wondrous prospect! It is scarcely possible to have, from a single point of view, a grander or more varied natural picture. ”

“ The charms of beautiful walks, and a most enchanting neighbourhood, enhance the pleasantness of the climate of Funchal so much resorted to by invalids. In the interior of the town, not far from the sea-shore, splendid avenues of magnificent planes, large-flowered magnolias, and massive oaks, form delightful promenades, and afford repose and shade on numerous seats under the dense foliage of their wide-spreading branches. ”

“ There is a peculiar charm in national melodies, even though they awaken no political reminiscences like the Marseillaise, or the Rakoczy; they electrify alike the educated and the men of the people; a thousand pleasing recollections suddenly crowd into the memory, and when the well-known tunes strike the ear, the heart seems to live again in bygone times! As if touched by magic, the sailor from the Adriatic, as soon as the Monferina is struck up, seizes his neighbour by the arm with a noisy shout and hurls him about in wild hilarity ”

“ Nothing but English steadiness and English perseverance could succeed to build on this barren, inhospitable, and even most perilous coast, a vast, flourishing city, rivalling in size and the number of inhabitants the largest capitals in Europe! And what is still more pleasing and satisfactory, is the intellectual and physical condition in which one finds the Indians, especially if compared with the condition of the natives in North and Central America, &c. There he meets a population, rapidly dying away, in proportion as the axe of civilization is resounding from the backwoods. ”

“ The path, which consists simply of ravines, formed by the rush of torrents during the rainy season, is so steep that it seems like one uninterrupted flight of stairs, the steps of which seem partly constructed by Nature, partly by the hand of man. Frequently they are artistically chiselled in the solid rock; at one stupendous precipice a Cingalese monarch has had four flights, of 250 steps in all, hewn out of the living rock. ”

“ We passed the largest of the islands in the bay, the Ilha do Governador, which has a circumference of upwards of seven miles, and is inhabited by about a hundred persons chiefly employed in the chalk-kilns, sail-cloth and soap manufactories; and touched at some wild spots that promised a harvest for our naturalists. Here and there, from the deep blue waters, sprang up islands of the most luxuriant vegetation, like tropical idylls of rock and forest, such as the eye marvels to rest upon, but the pen refuses to describe. ”

“ The filth and unsavoury odours which prevail in the Black Quarter, and the noise and yelling of the natives, speedily drive visitors back to the European portion of the city, which altogether, with its gloomy, decayed aspect, makes anything but a favourable impression. The public buildings, the houses of the mercantile community, the warehouses, and fortifications, all bear the impress of the Portuguese settlement of bygone centuries ”

“ These penguins, so graceful and nimble in the water, as if it were their proper element, are very awkward on land, so as to be easily caught, or knocked down with a stick. Only in so doing it is necessary to be on one's guard against a blow from their long sharp bills, with which they can inflict on their pursuer a by no means trifling wound. In the course of centuries, during which they have paid undisturbed visits to this island, they have trodden a well-marked path from their breeding-place to the edge of the sea ”

“ There are, however, indeed few spots on earth which present such inexhaustible subjects for the study of the historian as well as the inquirer into physical science, of the poet and the political economist, as this romantically-beautiful island, which we have been taught to regard as the Garden of the World, as indeed the special site of the Garden of Eden, the first abode of the progenitors of the human race. ”

“ The whole south-western coast district is so populous that the huts of the natives were continually in sight, right and left, under the forest shade, and the scenery in consequence seemed as full of life and careless enjoyment as though the people had nothing else to do but walk about under palm-trees. This impression was the more strengthened, that we rarely perceived a man with anything else in his hand than a Talipot leaf, or a Chinese parasol, to protect himself against the burning rays of the sun, which shone almost directly overhead. ”

“ It is surprising what comfort the traveller encounters among these new settlements, from which, even already, all traces have been eradicated of the difficulties that originally beset the colonist; so that at every turn one meets with evidences of the highest European civilization. Whenever, indeed, he finds himself at a settlement, he will remark that it is not merely provided with the necessaries of life, or the mere products of the soil, but that it sparkles with numerous objects of luxury and refined taste ”

“ Surely, it is always flattering to a man to be distinguished by his fellow-men; but such a distinction becomes the more honouring if those who concur to distinguish him are—as this is the case with you—a most estimable part of the British nation! Of a nation, which has done more than any other on the globe for the propagation of Christianity, the diffusion of knowledge, the advancement of science, for the progress of civilization, industry, and commerce. ”

“ Life on board, the various excitements at sea, the different countries and people seen during a voyage, all tend to arouse feelings and sensations which are reserved for the mariner alone, and which render his life, if he knows how to use it properly, happy and most enviable. At sea the mental and physical eye gains strength, man there seeks to unravel Nature in all her phases, and to know and to admire more thoroughly her works. The seaman owes his energy, his straightforwardness, and his piety, to a life spent in the midst of nature, to his direct intercourse with creation. ”

“ However beautiful, however inspiring the prospect of our task; however inviting the magnificent ocean that lay extended under our eyes, magically lit up by the silvery beams of the bright moon shining from a starry sky, yet the painful sensations of parting with that old world, with which so many pleasing associations—so many cherished recollections were bound up, had a powerful influence, and gave rise to melancholy impressions, of which we were only relieved by the comforting hope that we should one day return to all so dear to us. ”

“ We seemed as though driving through a park inhabited by thousands of men, and planted with cocoa-nut palms—amidst which occasionally the white dome of a Buddhist temple, or the minarets of a Mahometan mosque, shooting up above the summits of the palms, imparted an aspect of life to the landscape—while in the gay bazaars that fringed the road, the few necessaries of life required by the exceedingly frugal natives were exposed for sale, temptingly arranged on palm or plantain leaves. ”

“ For to whom are we indebted for our capital, for the industry and commerce which we have? To whom belong those manufactories which the people want to protect, and in whose favour so much is said? Why, to foreigners! Foreign hands and foreign capital cultivate our soil, expand our trade and commerce, and promote the arts.170 The results of their labour remain, though they may themselves quit the country! Foreigners man our ships, build our manufactories, and supply them with hands; foreigners buy our produce and carry it to distant markets; foreigners render our forests and rivers productive ”

“ All is sandstone or clay-slate, with occasional granitic knobs cropping out; no trees, but such as are planted in clumps around the sparsely scattered farms, conspicuous from an immense distance; while, on the other hand, in spring, an indescribable flush of blossoms and flowers, and instead of trees, millions of ant-hills, with their regularly shaped cones from three to four feet high, impart a peculiar character to the landscape of South Africa. But on the so-called Lowlands of Algoa Bay, beyond the River Samtoos, Nature assumes an entirely different character in her forest vegetation. ”

“ A dense bustling crowd throngs the streets, while numerous vehicles, some drawn by horses, others by mules, as also omnibuses124 of all colours and dimensions, and crammed within and without, dash swiftly about, emulating the din and confusion of European capitals. Turning now to the right, into the Rua Direita, and thence a little further into the Rua do Ouvidor, the two most elegant but none the less most-neglected streets of Rio, there dazzles the eye, in the splendid, richly-decorated shops and arcades, the same profuse luxury as in Regent Street, or on the Boulevards. ”

“ The journey by carriage through the Sierra from Fragosa to Petropolis is extremely beautiful. He who is not fortunate163 enough to enter deeper into the interior, at least obtains here an idea of what constitutes a primæval Brazilian forest. The wonders of tropical vegetation, as manifested not only by vastness of form but also by gorgeous and rank luxuriance, strike the eye at first-sight almost the same way as an overpowering chorus affects the ear. ”

“ While, in the United States, the problem to be solved by the German emigrants seems to be, to mingle German industry, German capacity, and German knowledge, with the keen spirit of enterprise and restless energy of the Anglo-Saxon race, and gradually to assimilate with it,—on the other hand, in the South American continent, it appears as though the German element were about gradually to gain the upperhand of the Latin stock, and permanently to conquer for German industry and German commerce, one of the fairest countries on the globe with the weapons of peace—the spade and plough. ”

“ Paul is everywhere especially adapted for scientific study, it nevertheless presents few objects with which to enrich collections of natural history. An island, on which not a single tree or bush is to be found, and on whose tufa soil, though well adapted for fruit, only a few grasses, ferns, and mosses thrive, must, so far as regards the value of his researches, prove as little interesting to the botanist as the zoologist, who, as we shall see more circumstantially further on, came across but few representatives here of the animated kingdom. ”

“ Indeed he who has ever spent a dark and stormy night on the ocean, when the ship, lashed by the fury of the waves, and borne resistlessly along, stands in constant peril of coming in violent collision with a vessel similarly circumstanced, or of being dashed to pieces on some iron-bound coast of rugged rock, easily comprehends and will excuse the sailor who ascribes to the moonlight somewhat of a supernatural and mysterious power. ”

“ One may almost determinate the day when the last of the red men will have disappeared from the North American Continent, the land of his ancestors! Here in India, on the contrary, the traveller meets with a thriving, industrious population. Who can see Hindoos, Malabar, Sentus, &c., occupy most important employments at the observatory, at the telegraph offices, at the railroad, in any branch almost of the public service, and still believe the Hindoo race like the Indians of North America to be a doomed people—to be a people that has no future? ”