A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay | Page 8

north, 23
deg 8 min west. The south end of the Isle of May in 15 deg 11 min
north, 23 deg 26 min west; and the longitude of the fort, in the town of
Port Praya, to be 23 deg 36 1/2 min west of Greenwich.
By this time the weather, from the sun being so far advanced in the
northern tropic, was become intolerably hot, which, joined to the heavy
rains that soon after came on, made us very apprehensive for the health
of the fleet. Contrary, however, to expectation, the number of sick in
the ship I was embarked on was surprisingly small, and the rest of the
fleet were nearly as healthy. Frequent explosions of gunpowder,
lighting fires between decks, and a liberal use of that admirable
antiseptic, oil of tar, were the preventives we made use of against
impure air; and above all things we were careful to keep the men's
bedding and wearing apparel dry. As we advanced towards the Line,
the weather grew gradually better and more pleasant. On the 14th of
July we passed the Equator, at which time the atmosphere was as
serene, and the temperature of the air not hotter than in a bright summer
day in England. From this period, until our arrival on the American
coast, the heats, the calms, and the rains by which we had been so much
incommoded, were succeeded by a series of weather as delightful as it
was unlooked for. At three o'clock in the afternoon of the 2nd of

August, the 'Supply', which had been previously sent a-head on purpose,
made the signal for seeing the land, which was visible to the whole
fleet before sunset, and proved to be Cape Frio, in latitude 23 deg 5 min
south, longitude 41 deg 40 1/4 min west.
Owing to light airs we did not get a-breast of the city of St. Sebastian,
in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro, until the 7th of the month, when we
anchored about three quarters of a mile from the shore.

CHAPTER V
.

From the Arrival of the Fleet at Rio de Janeiro, till its Departure for the
Cape of Good Hope; with some Remarks on the Brazils.
Brazil is a country very imperfectly known in Europe. The Portugueze,
from political motives, have been sparing in their accounts of it.
Whence our descriptions of it, in the geographical publications in
England, are drawn, I know not: that they are miserably erroneous and
defective, is certain.
The city of St. Sebastian stands on the west side of the harbour, in a
low unhealthy situation, surrounded on all sides by hills, which stop the
free circulation of air, and subject its inhabitants to intermittents and
putrid diseases. It is of considerable extent: Mr. Cook makes it as large
as Liverpool; but Liverpool, in 1767, when Mr. Cook wrote, was not
two-thirds of its present size. Perhaps it equals Chester, or Exeter, in
the share of ground it occupies, and is infinitely more populous than
either of them. The streets intersect each other at right angles, are
tolerably well built, and excellently paved, abounding with shops of
every kind, in which the wants of a stranger, if money is not one of
them, can hardly remain unsatisfied. About the centre of the city, and at
a little distance from the beach, the Palace of the Viceroy stands, a long,
low building, no wise remarkable in its exterior appearance; though
within are some spacious and handsome apartments. The churches and
convents are numerous, and richly decorated; hardly a night passes
without some of the latter being illuminated in honour of their patron
saints, which has a very brilliant effect when viewed from the water,
and was at first mistaken by us for public rejoicings. At the corner of

almost every street stands a little image of the Virgin, stuck round with
lights in an evening, before which passengers frequently stop to pray
and sing very loudly. Indeed, the height to which religious zeal is
carried in this place, cannot fail of creating astonishment in a stranger.
The greatest part of the inhabitants seem to have no other occupation,
than that of paying visits and going to church, at which times you see
them sally forth richly dressed, en chapeau bras, with the appendages of
a bag for the hair, and a small sword: even boys of six years old are
seen parading about, furnished with these indispensable requisites.
Except when at their devotions, it is not easy to get a sight of the
women, and when obtained, the comparisons drawn by a traveller,
lately arrived from England, are little flattering to Portugueze beauty.
In justice, however, to the ladies of St. Sebastian, I must observe, that
the custom of throwing