1768. December. On Monday the 5th, it being a dead calm, we weighed anchor and towed down the bay; but, to our great aftonishment, when we got abreaft Monday 5. of Santa Cruz, the principal fortification, two fhot were fired at us. We immediately caft anchor, and fent to the fort to inquire the reason of what had happened: our people brought us word, That the commandant had received no order from the viceroy to let us pafs; and that, without fuch an order, no veffel was ever fuffered to go below the fort. It was now, therefore, become neceffary, that we fhould fend to the viceroy, to inquire why the neceffary order had not been given, as he had notice of our depar ture, and had thought fit to write me a polite letter, wishing me a good voyage. Our meffenger foon returned with an account, that the order had been written fome days, but by an unaccountable negligence not fent. We did not get under fail till the 7th; and, wWednef. 7. when we had paffed the fort, the pilot defired to be discharged. As foon as he was dismissed, we were left by our guard-boat, which had hovered about us from the first hour of our being in this place to the last: and Mr. Banks, having been prevented from going afhore at Rio de Janeiro, availed himfelf of her departure to examine the neighbouring iflands, where, particularly on one in the mouth of the harbour called Raza, he gathered many fpecies of plants, and caught a variety of infects. It 1768. December. It is remarkable, that, during the last three or four days of our ftaying in this harbour, the air was loaded with butteflies: they were chiefly of one fort, but in fuch numbers that thousands were in view in every direction, and the greatest part of them above our mast-head. We lay here from the 14th of November to the 7th of December, fomething more than three weeks, during which time Mr. Monkhouse, our furgeon, was on fhore every day to buy our provifions; Dr. Solander was on fhore once; I was several times on fhore myself, and Mr. Banks also found means to get into the country, notwithstanding the watch that was fet over us. I fhall, therefore, with the intelligence obtained from these gentlemen, and my own obfervations, give fome account of the town, and the country adjacent. Rio de Janeiro, or the river of Januarius, was probably fo called from its having been difcovered on the feast-day of that faint; 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 fea, for it did not appear to receive any confiderable ftream of fresh water: it ftands on a plain, close to the fhore, on the weft fide of the bay, at the foot of feveral high mountains which rife behind it. It is neither ill defigned nor ill built; the houses, in general, are of stone, and two stories high; every houfe having, after the manner manner of the Portuguese, a little balcony before its windows, and a lattice of wood before the balcony. I computed its circuit to be about three miles; for it appears to be equal in fize to the largest country towns in England, Bristol and Liverpool not excepted; the streets are ftraight, and of a convenient breadth, interfecting each other at right angles; the greater part, however, lie in a line with the citadel called St. Sebastian, which stands on the top of a hill that commands the town. It is fupplied with water from the neighbouring hills, by an aqueduct, which is raised upon. two stories of arches, and is faid in fome places to be at a great height from the ground, from which the water is conveyed by pipes into a fountain in the great square that exactly fronts the viceroy's palace. At this fountain great numbers of people are continually waiting for their turn to draw water; and the foldiers, who are posted at the governor's door, find it very difficult to maintain any regularity among them. The water at this fountain however is fo bad, that we, who had been two months at fea, confined to that in our cafks, which was almost always foul, could not drink it with pleasure. Water of a better quality is laid into fome other part of the town, but I could not learn by what means. The churches are very fine, and there is more religious parade in this place than in any of the Popish 1768. December. December. 1768. Popish countries in Europe; there is a proceffion of fome parish every day, with various infignia, all fplendid and coftly in the highest degree: they beg money, and fay prayers in great form, at the corner of every street. While we lay here, one of the churches was rebuilding; and to defray the expence, the pa rish to which it belonged had leave to beg in proceffion through the whole city once a week, by which very confiderable fums were collected. At this ceremony, which was performed by night, all the boys of a certain age were obliged to affift, the fons of gentlemen not being excused. Each of these boys was dreffed in a black caffock, with a fhort red cloak, hanging about as low as the waist, and carried in his hand a pole about fix or seven feet long, at the end of which was tied a lantern: the number of lanterns was generally above two hundred, and the light they gave was fo great, that the people who faw it from the cabbin windows thought the town had been on fire. The inhabitants, however, may pay their devotions at the shrine of any faint in the calendar, without waiting till there is a proceffion; for before almost every house there is a little cupboard, furnished with a glafs window, in which one of these tutelary powers is waiting to be gracious; and to prevent his being out of mind, by being out of fight, a lamp is kept constantly burning before the window of his tabernacle in the the night. The people indeed are by no means remifs in their devotions, for before these faints they pray and fing hymns with fuch vehemence, that in the night they were very distinctly heard on board the fhip, though fhe lay at the distance of at least half a mile from the town. The government here, as to its form, is mixed; it is notwithstanding very defpotic in fact. It confifts of the viceroy, the governor of the town, and a council, the number of which I could not learn: without the confent of this council, in which the viceroy has a cafting vote, no judicial act fhould be performed; yet both the viceroy and governor frequently commit perfons to prifon at their own pleasure, and fometimes fend them to Lisbon, without acquainting their friends or family with what is laid to their charge, or where they may be found. To reftrain the people from travelling into the country, and getting into any district where gold or diamonds may be found, of both which there is much more than the government can otherwife fecure, certain bounds are prescribed them, at the difcretion of the viceroy, fometimes at a few, and sometimes at many miles distance from the city. On the verge of thefe limits a guard constantly patroles, and whoever is found beyond it, is immediately feized and thrown into prifon and if a man is, upon any pretence, taken I 1768. December. |