Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1908-07-31
Cruise of the Lawrence.
Confined from page 6.

excursions for us and had meal tickets
for sale so that we wouldn't get 'stung'
on our meals.
] took a trip up to the top of the
highest mountain in the vicinity
Corcovad O. 1900 feet high. We started
up about 8 a. M, and reached the
summit about one o'clock, stopping
an hour for lunch. We went part of
the way up on street car, and then
changed to dinky little train, an en-
CINE and one car, and completed the
trip. The ascent was very steep in
some places, the little engine
being built on the bias so as to be
level all the time. We unloaded
about 100 feet from the summit, and
climbed up. 1t was very hard to
breathe up here after any exertion.
There is little pavilion on the top
where you scan sit and smoke and
look down on the city and bay spread
out beneath you like huge relief
map, and from this height the battle
ships down in the bay looked like
mere toys.
Rio is very up-to date and modern
place, everything bat the street cars.
1t is model of cleanliness, and the
Avenida Central, the main street,
compares very favorable with Broad
street in Philadelphia or Pennsylvania
Avenue in Washington, and for
beauty, neatness, and picturesqueness
it can't be beat, although everybody
seems to take things easy, and there
is no hustle and hustle, and elbowing
your way along as on Broadway. 1t
is very wide street, paved with
asphalt, parked in the center, and
brilliantly illuminated at night by
thousands of electric lights in
clusters of five, about every thirty
feet along both sides and down the
center. We took an autom obiIe ride
down it from one end to the other,
about ten miles, and then out the
speedway, by the lannon's Monroe
Palace, around the shores of the bay,
to beautiful little Moorish restaur-
ant out in the mountains, where we
stopped and had tea. cakes and cigars.
there are hundreds of the most
modern stores on either side of the
Avenida Central, although the prices
of everything seem rather high. The
Avenida Central is not the only nice
street in Rio by any means. OF
course they have their Fifth avenue,
etc. Another of the most interesting
sights | have seen on the cruise was
the Botanical Gardens here, the finest
in the world. spent one whole after
noon stroIIing through them, and l
must say they deserve the reputation
they have. There are over 900 varie-
ties of palms alone in them, besides
any other tropical plant or shrub in
the world. There is a very pretty
custom house here. 1t is built on
little island out IN the bay, and pre-
sents very unique appearance.
Took a trip across to Nichteroy one
afternoon and saw real old time,
Spanish bulIhght, and enjoyed it
very much, but | don't think the bull
had much of show because he was
too badly handicapped, but he put
up a game fight just the same. Met
several Americans while in Rio and
they we're all overjoyed to see the
blue jackets, and they all did every
thing they could to give us a good
time.
Left Rio about p. M, January u,
and started for Buenos Ayres, Argen-
tine Republic. We we're scheduled to
stop at Montevideo, Uruguay, but
the Argentine Government extended
us a special invitation to stop at
Buenos Ayres, so we went up there
instead.
Arrived off the mouth of La Platte
river OH the morning of January Goth,
after pleasant trip down, with moth
ing to mar it except the repeated
break downs of the gold brick
Lawrence. " She is getting to be the
shame of the FIotilla. Every thing OH
her is mis- managed, and she is getting
to be a first class 'mad house, " with
all the crew on the point of mutIny or
desertion. We entered the mouth
of the flatte about 10 b. M, and
were met by the Argentine Torpedo
FlotIlIa. and escorted up the river in
grand style. We passed close enough
to Montevideo to get a general view
of the place. We anchored in the
outer roads Oft Buenos Ayres about l
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