Rio de Janeiro

“ In view of what has been and is, can anyone call it a Utopian dream to picture the Pacific bordered by an advanced civilization with cities more brilliant than any of the ancient East, more opulent than any of the cultured West?
Rio de Janeiro! what have the Brazilians been doing these last decades? Decapitating politically dear Dom Pedro, true patriot, though emperor—he came to me once in my library, pouring out his soul for his beloved Brazil—they abolished slavery, formed a republic, and modernized the city. They made boulevards and water drives, the finest in the world. ”

“ Rio—Expedition up the harbour—Yarns spun—Higson and the midshipmen captured by slave-dealers—Imprisoned—Tried—A friend in need—Sent back to prison—Escape—Pursued—Jack as usual appears—Again at sea—Chase a slaver—Run over her at night.
Every one knows that Rio de Janeiro is one of the most magnificent harbours in the world, with its Organ mountains in the distance, its surrounding heights covered with the richest foliage, its curiously-shaped rocks at the entrance, and its stately city scattered along its shores. ”

“ There is a sharpness of teeth hiding in their cruel kisses, poison in the honey of their lips, and many a deluded lover starts up terrified as if he heard snakes hissing in their hair. Rio de Janeiro is damned with a debauchery which the natural beauty of its harbor can not redeem. ”

“ The want of cleanliness and thrift in the general aspect of Rio de Janeiro is very striking as compared with the order, neatness, and regularity of our large towns. The narrow streets, with the inevitable gutter running down the middle,—a sink for all kinds of impurities,—the absence of a proper sewerage, the general aspect of decay (partly due, no doubt, to the dampness of the climate) , the indolent expression of the people generally, make a singular impression on one who comes from the midst of our stirring, energetic population. ”

“ He was a very fine-looking young man with fair complexion. No doubt he was the most progressive ruler Brazil ever had. Now he is dead and Brazil is a Republic. Rio de Janeiro is the capital, and a most beautiful city it is. Viewing it from the bay in the night-time, it resembles the dress-circle [87] in an immensely large theatre, the street-lights forming the rows of seats. The language is Portuguese, much similar to Spanish. ”

“ Returning from such a delightful excursion to Rio de Janeiro, the stranger feels doubly uncomfortable and lonely in the dreary and sombre city. The Brazilians are in general neither very social nor hospitable, and only, after many years' acquaintance, is a familiar intercourse formed with strangers. ”

“ The night is not less beautiful; then the summits of the mountains show dark against the sky, myriads of lights outline the near bays, shine out from the islands and twinkle irregularly up the hillsides, while from the further shore another galaxy are reflected half-way across the still dark water. The whole gives the impression of some magic scene in the Arabian Nights lit up for a great fiesta. Rio is wonderful, marvellous; it leaves one like the Queen of Sheba; and yet—when I am dead I hope that I may return and visit the little bay of Santa Cruz, I know I shall pass by Rio de Janeiro. ”

“ When the early navigators sailed up the island-studded bay, which leads to the present site of the capital of Brazil, they thought it must surely be the mouth of a broad river, and, as it was in the month of January, they named it, for want of a better name, Rio de Janeiro, the River of January, and the name has clung to the bay and settlement, which has grown into a thriving city, during the succeeding four centuries. ”

“ In Rio de Janeiro evidence of this general interbreeding confronts the visitor at every step, in all classes of society, far more so than in São Paulo and the other southern states, where the flowing tide of Italian and other European immigration has given Caucasian blood the ascendency. Even at his best the average Brazilian is not prepossessing in appearance; in Rio’s most élite gatherings a fine face is a rarity; in her street crowds even a passable one is sufficient motive for an exclamation. ”

“ If among our Brazilian friends there are some who, familiar with the more progressive aspect of life in Rio de Janeiro, question the accuracy of my statements, I can only say that they do not know the condition of society in the northern cities and provinces. ”

“ Rio de Janeiro, or the river of Januarius, was probably so called from its having been discovered on the feast-day of that saint; and the town, which is the capital of the Portuguese dominions in America, derives its name from the river, which indeed is rather an arm of the sea, for it did not appear to receive any considerable stream of fresh water: It stands on a plain, close to the shore, on the west side of the bay, at the foot of several high mountains which rise behind it. It is neither ill designed nor ill built; the houses, in general, are of stone, and two stories high ”

“ No colonial port in the world is so well situated for general commerce as Rio de Janeiro. It enjoys, beyond any other, an equal convenience of intercourse with Europe, America, Africa, the East Indies, and the South Sea Islands, and seems formed by nature as the grand link to connect the [140] trade of those great portions of the globe. ”

“ The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is certainly a very good one: the entrance is not wide, but the sea breeze which blows every morning makes it easy for any ship to go in before the wind, and when you get abreast of the town it increases in breadth prodigiously, so that almost any number of ships might lie in five or six fathoms of water with an oozy bottom. It is defended by many works, especially the entrance, where it is narrow, and where is their strongest fortification, Santa Cruz, and another opposite it. ”

“ On the 11th of September, we made the coast of Brazil; and on the 13th, anchored in eighteen fathom, in the great road of Rio de Janeiro. The city, which is large, and makes a handsome appearance, is governed by the viceroy of Brazil, who is perhaps, in fact, as absolute a sovereign as any upon earth. ”

“ At Rio Janeiro, the lofty spires of innumerable churches arise in every point of view; the streets are crowded with priests of every denomination and habit; the air continually reverberates the solemn sounds of the cloyster bell, while the harmonious notes of the vesperal hymn, chaunted in slow cadence, breaks the silence of the evening, and forces reverence from the bosom of levity itself. ”

“ Rio de Janeiro (423) , capital and chief seaport of Brazil, charmingly situated on the E. coast of Brazil, on the W. shore of a spacious and beautiful bay, 15 m. long, which forms one of the finest natural harbours in the world; stretches some 10 m. along the seaside, and is hemmed in by richly clad hills; streets are narrow and ill kept; possesses a large hospital, public library (180,000 vols.) , botanical gardens, arsenal, school of medicine, electric tramways, &c.; has extensive docks, and transacts half the commerce of Brazil; coffee is the chief export ”

“ So far as its domestic economy is concerned, the appointments of the establishment are excellent; indeed, one is rather inclined to criticise it as over-luxurious for boys educated to be soldiers. The school-rooms and dormitories, as well as the dining-room, where the tables were laid with a nice service of crockery and glass, and also the kitchens, were clean and orderly. We cannot but wonder that the streets of Rio de Janeiro should be dirtier and more offensive than those of any other city we have visited, when we see the scrupulous neatness characteristic of all its public establishments. ”

“ It would hardly be expected that poleward-bent explorers would grow enthusiastic about any place in the torrid zone, but Rio de Janeiro, with all its heat, has people with warm hearts, who were to us a pleasant inspiration. ”

“ In fact, nearly nine-tenths of the commercial community of Rio de Janeiro is composed of foreigners. There are very few Americans there, however, and that is one reason why our trade with that country is so small. The native Portuguese are usually the land-owners, the planters, and professional men; and there is a very large body of officials, composed to a great extent of the decayed aristocracy. ”

“ Nictheroy, just across the harbor of Rio, on the east side of the bay, is a sort of faubourg of the capital, with which it is connected by a line of steam ferry-boats, as Chelsea is with Boston, or Brooklyn with the city of New York. It is the capital of the province of Rio Janeiro, and has broader streets, is more reasonably laid out, and is kept more cleanly than Rio itself. Space is found for a profusion of attractive gardens, and the senses are greeted by sweet odors in the place of needlessly offensive smells, which attack one on all sides in the metropolis so near at hand. ”

“ Among the Brasilians, though the general mass stand very low upon the scale of refinement, the proportion of these superior minds is, perhaps, equal to what any other country can boast; and I am happy in bearing testimony, that at Rio de Janeiro, refined hospitality, elegant taste, and politeness, devoid of formality, are the conspicuous characteristics of several individuals. ”

“ Rio was therefore the best adapted for the asylum of the illustrious house of Braganza, and, on the 26th February, His Royal Highness sailed from Bahia, and arrived in Rio de Janeiro on the 7th March. ”

“ At this place two great roads from the mining country unite, and form the main road to Rio de Janeiro. That to the westward leads from S. João d’El Rey, Sabará, and Cuiabá; the other from Villa Rica, Mariana, Villa do Principe, Tejuco, Minas Novas, &c. Being a sort of half-way station to the capital, and the last open place on the road, it is much frequented by people from different parts of the interior, and has a considerable traffic in various articles, particularly baizes, cotton goods, salt, and iron. Many of the shops were well stocked with English manufactures. ”

“ All the country-houses were abandoned, and the people crowded into the town. The heaviest contributions were levied on all natives and foreigners, and the misery of a siege was coming upon the city.
Rio de Janeiro presented a very different spectacle. The inhabitants were decorating their town with triumphal arches for the coronation of their Emperor, who, on the 1st of December, was solemnly crowned in the chapel of the palace, which serves as the cathedral; and it is no exaggeration to say, that the whole of southern Brazil presented one scene of joy. ”

“ This city with the long name is generally known as Pará, although Belem, meaning Bethlehem, is the proper name. It is perhaps the prettiest city in Brazil, except Rio de Janeiro, and has many parks and plazas filled [182] with the luxuriant vegetation and noble palms which grow so luxuriantly here. Statues ornament nearly all of their public squares and parks, and many of them are well done. The public buildings are numerous and tasty, as is most of the architecture of the country. ”

“ The Brazilians are an interesting people. I like them. They are always courteous and polite. Men often tip their hats to each other and kiss each other's hands. In Rio de Janeiro nearly everyone is well dressed. ”

“ Brazil is preparing to commemorate worthily the centenary of her independence. The world outside is bidden to the feast, and to beautiful Rio de Janeiro many nations are sending their envoys with felicitations and gifts. Our own country, the United States of North America, is mindful of her duty and her privilege on this occasion, and accredited delegates are bearing her congratulations to her ever-faithful associate in the promoting of peace and fraternity throughout the Western Hemisphere. ”

“ There is no danger in going up the harbour to Rio de Janeiro but what may easily be seen. The course up the harbour is north-west by north; you anchor before the town in seventeen fathoms water, over a muddy bottom; the middle of the town bearing west by north, west, or west by south, about a mile and an half distant from the watering place, and the Fort Saint Cruz bearing south-east. No pilot is necessary; the soundings a-breast of St. Cruz Fort are twenty-two fathoms, and shoal gradually to seventeen fathoms, where the ships moored a-breast of the town. ”

“ If he be a man of sufficient property, he will hire a few mules, load them with cotton, bacon, and other commodities, and proceed to Rio de Janeiro in regular form. On his arrival there, he enters some good house in which he has confidence, and disposes of his concealed treasure. ”

“ CHARLES. "You would find it not so easy to collect gold and diamonds as you imagine, and I expect you would come back poorer than you went."
MRS. WILTON. "Rio de Janeiro possesses one of the finest harbors known, having at its entrance a bar, at the extremes of which rise two rocks. This bay is twenty-four leagues in length, and eight in width, and has in it many islands; some are cultivated and possess sugar-works. The most celebrated of them is named De Cobra, off which island ships cast anchor. ”

“ The triumph of the engineer; Seeing Rio de Janeiro by tramway; Electric energy transforming Brazil; The racial melting pot; In the land of the Paulistas; The awakening of southern Brazil; Trade and transportation; Outdoor sports and lotteries; Rio de Janeiro, city of enchantment; Bahia, old and bizarre; Paranagua; Pernambuco and Central Brazil; Para and the rubber workers of the Amazon; The Brazilian Indian; Languages, libraries and literature; Brazil’s army and navy; The Latin American view of North Americans; The newspaper as an international medium; Brazil’s tomorrow. ”