r left. There are two strong forts on the isthmus,
betwixt Olinda and Pernambuco, and a pillar midway to aid the pilot.

Pernambuco probably contains upwards of fifty thousand souls. It stands
on a flat, and is divided into three parts--a peninsula, an island, and
the continent. Though within a few degrees of the line, its climate is
remarkably salubrious, and rendered almost temperate by the refreshing
sea-breeze. Had art and judgment contributed their portion to its
natural advantages, Pernambuco at this day would have been a stately
ornament to the coast of Brazil. On viewing it, it will strike you that
every one has built his house entirely for himself, and deprived public
convenience of the little claim she had a right to put in. You would
wish that this city, so famous for its harbour, so happy in its climate,
and so well situated for commerce, could have risen under the flag of
Dido, in lieu of that of Braganza.

As you walk down the streets, the appearance of the homes is not much in
their favour. Some of them are very high, and some very low; some newly
whitewashed, and others stained and mouldy and neglected, as though they
had no owner.

The balconies, too, are of a dark and gloomy appearance. They are not,
in general, open, as in most tropical cities, but grated like a farmer's
dairy window, though somewhat closer.

There is a lamentable want of cleanliness in the streets. The impurities
from the houses, and the accumulation of litter from the beasts of
burden, are unpleasant sights to the passing stranger. He laments the
want of a police as he goes along; and when the wind begins to blow, his
nose and eyes are too often exposed to a cloud of very unsavoury dust.

When you view the port of Pernambuco, full of ships of all nations; when
you know that the richest commodities of Europe, Africa, and Asia are
brought to it; when you see immense quantities of cotton, dye-wood, and
the choicest fruits pouring into the town, you are apt to wonder at the
little attention these people pay to the common comforts which one always
expects to find in a large and opulent city. However, if the inhabitants
are satisfied, there is nothing more to be said. Should they ever be
convinced that inconveniences exist, and that nuisances are too frequent,
the remedy is in their own hands. At present, certainly, they seem
perfectly regardless of them; and the Captain-General of Pernambuco walks
through the streets wit