by the firing of guns, our crew proceeded to enact the usual
ceremonies. A sailor, who took pride in having frequently passed the
Line, directed the performance with much solemnity and decorum. He
appeared as Neptune, attired in a manner that was meant to be terribly
imposing, accompanied by his consort, seated on a gun-carriage instead
of a shell, drawn by negroes, as substitutes for Tritons. In the
evening, the sailors represented, amidst general applause, a comedy of
their own composition. These sports, while they serve to keep up the
spirits of the men, and make them forget the difficulties they have to
go through, produce also the most beneficial influence upon their
health; a cheerful man being much more capable of resisting a fit of
sickness than a melancholy one. It is the duty of commanders to use
every innocent means of maintaining this temper in their crews; for in
long voyages, when they are several months together wandering on an
element not destined by nature for the residence of man, without
enjoying even occasionally the recreations of the land, the mind
naturally tends to melancholy, which of itself lays the foundation of
many diseases, and sometimes even of insanity. Diversion is often the
best medicine, and, used as a preservative, seldom fails of its effect.

Below the Equator, we met with a fresh south-east wind, and having also
fine weather, we soon reached the coast of Brazil.

RIO JANEIRO.

RIO JANEIRO.

On the morning of the 1st of November, consequently in the spring of the
Southern hemisphere, we perceived Cape Frio, and in the evening plainly
distinguished, by its well-known conical mountain, the entrance to the
Bay of Rio Janeiro. A dead calm deprived us of the pleasure of running
into the port that night, so that we were compelled to drop our anchor
before it; but we found some compensation for our disappointment, in
contemplating so much of this charming country as was visible from our
ship. The magnificent scenery of Brazil has often been described, but no
expression can do justice to its ravishing beauty. Imagination can
scarcely picture the exquisite variety of form and colouring of the
luxuriant and gigantic vegetation that thickly clothes the valleys and
mountains even to the sea-shore. A breeze from the land wafted to us the
most delicious perfumes; and crowds of beautiful insects, butterflies,
and birds, such as only the tropics produce, hovered about us. Nature
se