The form of the orange-tree, the cocoa-nut, the palm, the
mango, the tree-fern, the banana, will remain clear and separate;
but the thousand beauties which unite these into one perfect scene
must fade away: yet they will leave, like a tale heard in
childhood, a picture full of indistinct, but most beautiful
figures.
AUGUST 6, 1836.
In the afternoon we stood out to sea, with the intention of making
a direct course to the Cape de Verd Islands. Unfavourable winds,
however, delayed us, and on the 12th we ran into Pernambuco,--a
large city on the coast of Brazil, in latitude 8 degrees south. We
anchored outside the reef; but in a short time a pilot came on
board and took us into the inner harbour, where we lay close to the
town.
Pernambuco is built on some narrow and low sand-banks which are
separated from each other by shoal channels of salt water. The
three parts of the town are connected together by two long bridges
built on wooden piles. The town is in all parts disgusting, the
streets being narrow, ill-paved, and filthy; the houses tall and
gloomy. The season of heavy rains had hardly come to an end, and
hence the surrounding country, which is scarcely raised above the
level of the sea, was flooded with water; and I failed in all my
attempts to take long walks.
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