SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES. CHAPTER I. VOYAGE TO RIO JANEIRO. START FROM SOUTHAMPTON - LISBON- FELLOW-PASSENGERS ARLY in the afternoon of April the 9th, 1861, I sailed EARLY from Southampton in the Royal Mail Company's steamer Magdalena, with a light north-easterly breeze to help us on our way towards the sunny South. A kind friend had accompanied me to the ship, and introduced me to Captain Woolward; and, surrounded by the comforts and luxuries of such a noble vessel, I soon found that there was nothing further to be desired. Many have recorded their impressions on leaving England for distant countries; for my own part, I may fairly say, that next to the natural regret caused by parting with my friends, the predominant feeling was intense satisfaction at having got rid of all the trouble and worry of preparing for a long absence; and I even derived a grim pleasure from reflecting that it was then quite useless to remember anything that had been forgotten. The cliffs of Old England were soon out of sight as we rushed through the dancing waves with 800 horsepower; the sun set with a clear sky, and when the first stars showed themselves, Great Orion' was exactly over the bowsprit. Having a fancy of my own for considering this a very favourable augury, I turned into bed with the full conviction that we should have a prosperous voyage. We ran through the Bay of Biscay with scarcely a ripple on the sea; saw a glorious sunrise behind the Spanish hills on the 12th; and about six o'clock in the morning of the 13th we were steaming up the Tagus into Lisbon. Four days had made a great change in the temperature: here the hills were covered with the verdure of full spring, and the heat during the middle of the day was too great for walking with any pleasure. I went on shore after breakfast with a fellow-passenger, and by keeping to the shady side of the streets, we managed to explore a good deal of the city; but about two o'clock we were very glad to get some shelter in a cool room of the Braganza Hotel. Two hours later the coaling was over; and, with some FELLOW-PASSENGERS. 3 addition to our passengers, and a famous supply of vegetables and eggs, for which Lisbon is justly celebrated, we left the beautiful Tagus behind, and said farewell to Europe for the present. I was not long in finding some agreeable companions among the passengers; several of them were young South Americans, who, after a few years of study and travelling in Europe, were now returning home in great spirits. The most remarkable looking man, however, was a many-scarred Garibaldian colonel, who had been a friend and companion of the chieftain from his early adventures at Montevideo to the events of 1860. With a tall commanding figure, of immense power, long irongrey hair, and the eye of an eagle, he looked a true leader of men. He was one of the many discontented after the affairs in Sicily and Naples, and falling into disfavour with Victor Emmanuel and Cavour, he had made up his mind to try his fortunes once more in the New World, where he had formerly been engaged in all kinds of operations, from fighting in the Banta Oriental to surveying the Patagonian frontier of the Argentine Confederation. There was also a pleasant Belgian count, who, not liking the political prospects of Europe in general, and of his own country in particular, had determined to settle with his family on an estancia which he owned on the banks of the Uruguay. The usual course of the mail steamers, after leaving Lisbon, is to run direct for St. Vincent, in the Cape Verde Islands; but, owing to a lucky chance, we were this time destined to have a peep at Madeira. The Empress of Austria was wintering in that lovely island, and the Magdalena was ordered to call there with a young officer of the Austrian Court bearing despatches, and charged with certain boxes which we shrewdly conjectured to contain the latest productions of Parisian taste for the Imperial lady. So when I came on deck early in the morning of the 16th, we were lying off Funchal, near enough to distinguish everything on land, in the light of a perfectly beautiful spring sunrise. The Captain had promised us a few hours on shore, but it was found that there were no moorings for us, and he was obliged to stay no longer than was necessary to land the Austrian. It was tantalising enough to see the beautiful hills and snow-white villas, all surrounded with exquisite vegetation, without being able to set foot among them; but we were compelled to confine our amusements to trading with the natives, who came off in a shoal of boats as soon as they ascertained that we were not from Brazil with the assumed proportion of yellow fever patients. 'Branches they bore of that enchanted stem,' the banana, with heaps of oranges, vegetables, fish, and flowers; mats, baskets, and Canary birds; featherflowers and shawls, sticks and inlaid boxes. Crowding round the ship's side and climbing the gangway, chattering and screaming in broken English and Portuguese, |