Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume I (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy.

CHAPTER V.

Chapter 5150 wordsPublic domain

RIO DE JANEIRO.

Brazil the Land of Contrasts.--Appearance of the City of Rio and its Environs.--Excursion to the Peak of Corcovado, and the Tejuca Waterfalls.--Germans in Rio.--Brazilian Literary Men.-- Assacú (_Hura Brasiliensis_.)--Snake-bite as an Antidote against Leprosy.--Public Institutions.--Negroes of the Mozambique Coast.--The House of Misericordia.--Lunatic Asylum.--Botanical Garden.--Public Instruction.-- Historico-Geographical Institution.--_Palæstra Scientifica._-- Military Academy.--Library.--Conservatory of Music.--Sanitary Police.--Yellow Fever and Cholera.--Water Party on the Bay.-- Chamber of Deputies.--Petropolis.--Condition of the Slave Population.--Prospects of German Emigration.--Suitability of Brazil as a Market for German Commerce.--Natural Products, and Exchange of Manufactures.--Audience of the Emperor and Empress.--Extravagant Waste of Powder for Salvoes.--Songs of the Sailors.--Departure from Rio.--Retrospect.--South-east Trades.--Cape Pigeons.--Albatrosses--Cape Tormentoso.--A Storm at the Cape.--Various Methods of Measuring the Height of Waves.--Arrival in Simon's Bay. 121