The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-04-22

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-r,-ru,. rnoa SOUTH AHEnIcA.I
mo DIR yANEIRo-lTs sIsHrs-fhhsoSA AN!
&C., &c. &C.
srrop Wandering correspondent OF the bi'ps'ca'l
Rio DR. JANHrRo, BRAzlL,}
February Is, 1874.
~zx CITY OF RIO DB JASErHo, !;
,r raore properly St. Sebastian, 10 sitnasea
an the west side Of the bay, ana So a,,;tants.
reputation Of nearly zoo. 0oo ih. aha noliti.
IL in the commercial as wen as - the
cal ceutre Of the empire, a aaraest city
moot important il not the iA; h,,;It on
of South America. 1t ~ foot of
fhe table-land between .uv Il and
sa LIZ ,,.v and has q water front OF over SIX
.uS Owing to It's level locality, IL was
<or,ns-,v I'M most filthy condition; out Inc
ssnid march Of Improvement has enao,eu ~
20 comnare fayorably In this respect win any
scity Of its size. It is without exception lne
fnest lighted city of the world, and at n,gn.
ehe -reflsctiou OF its numberlcss gas iamps
over the quiet waters of the pay Is oeau'n Co
md nictnresuue beyond description. 30
.svreat ix this reflection that 1t may DC seSn
rnanv miles from the coast, and Is frequently
used asa guide BY vessels oouno ID 'no > n't
Dor. .,;,o.s rorts of the
s,ity are very narrow-not mucn uloauT,
Than an old Virginia hog-path ger a.nt,
mot wide enough to "s~ing cal III
lie. with entire security to the cat: .,,t
The numerous carriages and filburys that
ara Continually moving about, have 70 pass
mn certain streets and down others, as tneI !.
3snot room for two to pass abreast. 1nia
narrovness was Intentionally made Tor tne
v,urpose Of shading the sidewalks from Tue
burning rays of the sun, which pours do low d
svitb an intensity almost unbelrable. Inc
houses are generally uusightly masses OF
brick or stone, rooted down with q Pecu'
liar kind of tiIeing, OF semi Gym.
drical shape, which presents most
antique appearance. They are all Oh
a diugy yello,o hue, which IS tne
national color of the country. Almost eve
rything you see partakes Of that coior- Tue
houses, the people, the trees, are yellon tne
very streets are infested by that eVerisstlns
s'yaller dog". and his descendants, ana even
On the suburbs OF the city are many yer
handsome residences, belonging chicny 10
,she nobility and wealthier classes: Inese
houses are generally surrounded with TASTE.
fll!y-arrapged earden.plots and avenues OF
noble palm-trces, which is the king OF the
South American forests. They have all
the improvements which wealth and
Brazilian taste can give them; but this taste,
I imagine, was not instilled by Ruskin.
Many of these cottages are painted WITH
every color OF the rainbow, though there IS
a strong preponderance of the everlasting
yellow.
The principal public buildings are the
Chamber of Deputies and city palace OF the
Emperor, in one large, unattractiYe building
near the msn-of-war landing place and front.
ing the Palace Square. This building IS OF
stone, of o plain architecture, and looks
more like prison than palace. The mud |
holes and hilocks in the Square are being |
filled and leveled preparatory to paving |
with cobbie-stones, and in the course Of time
1t may assume presentabe appearance.
Next comes the Imperial Chapel. which also
fronts on this Square, and is fair sample of
all the catbedrals of the city; it is built OF
granite in the semi-Moorish style, so preya-
Gent in the south of Spain, and really looks
more like fnesubstantial building than any
4 have yet seen here.
On one of the principal streets, the Rua
Dsreita, stands the Post-oftice and the Mer-
chants Exchange. The former is a stand
ing disgrace to the city, both in appearance
and management. 1t is not much larger
than one Of our country village post offices,
and has very few more facilities for transact
ing business. The Merchants Exchange is
next door to the Post-ofice, and is low.
Equatty building, very much like Shockoe
warehouse in appearance. The floor is di. |
6ided off into desks, or stalls, and rented to |
brokers here the various business men Of |
the city meet from 10 A. n. to 8 P. n. to |
transact their business, make bargains, cheat
each other, and Cypress the real laborlng
community.
The custom-house, on this same street, is
another fraud in style OF architecture ana
external arrangements. AS to its internal
management, it is the baue Of all ship cap
tains, who, desiring to avail themselves of
fair breeze, are generally detained by any
amount Of cred tape" and multiplicity OF
forms which do not by any means tend TO
facilitate the dispatch OF commercial bust.
mess but this latter item, presume, Is not
peculiar to Rio.
The principal street Of the city Is the Rua
do Oupt6or, On it are all the first-class
stores, and q walk up this street, particu-
4arly at night, is we'll worth taking, as then 1t
1s most brilliantly lighted by the numerous
sgas-Iamps, which are stationed at every
twenty yards. This light, reflected from the
numerous windows, which are also plenti-
fully supplied with brilliant lights of various
colors, Is almost painful to the eyesight.
MANY OF the stores on this and the Fna
dos O,irivcs (street Of goldsmiths) are de-
.-yoted- to the saIe Of jewelry. A large bust
mess is carried on in this line, and the number
OF precious stones, diamonds, amethysts, &C.,
here displayed is almost inexhaustible. The
proprietors- Of these stores are very polite,
and never tire of showing their stock of
goods. They have the utmost confidence in
their customers and strangers, as the follow
ing incident will show: I went into one of
these stores q few days ago to look at some
OF their precious stones with view of pur-
chasing, as they are comparatively cheap
here. The gentlemanly proprietor placed
barge handful on the counter for my iuspec-
tion, and turning off busted himself In an
adjacent part. of the store. On his
return remarked to him that he
displayed very considerable amount Of
confidence in strangers, as could easily
have abstracted two or three stones from
such pile without his missing them. With
a smile and shrug Of the shoulder he said:
"Ah! am not afraid have never lostany
yet" could not help being amused at his