The city of Rio is more like an European city than either Bahia or Pernambuco; the houses are three or four stories high, with projecting roofs, and tolerably handsome. The streets are narrow, few being wider than that of the Corso at Rome, to which one or two bear a resemblance in their general air, and especially on days of festivals, when the windows and balconies are decorated with crimson, yellow, or green damask hangings. There are two very handsome squares, besides that of the palace. One, formerly the Roça, is now that of the Constituçaõ, to which the theatre, some handsome barracks and fine houses, behind which the hills and mountains tower up on two sides, give a very noble appearance. The other, the Campo de Santa Anna, is exceedingly extensive[81], but unfinished. Two of the principal streets run across it, from the sea-side to the extremity of the new town, nearly a league, and new and wide streets are stretching out in every direction. But I was too tired with going about in the heat of the day to do more than take a cursory view of these things, and could not even persuade myself to look at the new fountain which is supplied by a new aqueduct. [Note 81: It is 1713 feet square.] There is in the city an air of bustle and activity quite agreeable to our European eyes; yet the Portuguese all take their siesta after dinner. The negroes, whether free blacks or slaves, look cheerful and happy at their labour. There is such a demand for them, that they find full employment, and of course good pay, and remind one here as little as possible of their sad condition, unless, indeed, one passes the street of the Vallongo; then the slave-trade comes in all its horrors before one's eyes. On either hand are magazines of new slaves, called here _peices_; and there the wretched creatures are subject to all the miseries of a new negro's life, scanty diet, brutal examination, and the lash. _Tuesday, January 1st, 1823_.--I went to pay a second visit to an illustrious exile, Count Hogendorp, one of the Emperor Napoleon's generals: my first had been accidental. One morning last week, riding with two of our young midshipmen, we came to a pleasant-looking cottage, high on the side of the Corcovado, and at the door we saw a very striking figure, to whom I instantly apologized for intruding on his grounds, saying that we were strangers, and had come there accidentally. He instantly, with a manner that showed him to be no common person, welcomed us; asked our names, and on being told them, said he had heard of us; and, but for his infirmities, would have called on us. He insisted on our dismounting, as a shower was coming on, and taking shelter with him. By this time I perceived it was Count Hogendorp, and asked him if I had guessed rightly. He answered, yes; and added a few words, signifying that his master's servants, even in exile, carried that with them which distinguished them from other men.