After passing some hours there with my hospitable friends, I returned to town, and spent an hour with my friend Dona Carlota de Carvalho e Mello, and met a number of the ladies of her family; and among the rest, her aunt, the wife of Manoel Jacintho, the new minister of finance, one of the most pleasing women I have seen in Brazil. I had the pleasure of complimenting Dona Carlota's father, on having just received his commission as member of the assembly for Bahia, now it is free: I might, with truth, have complimented Bahia on so judicious a choice. I returned home early, notwithstanding the entreaties of my young friend that I would stay, as she considered the evening scarcely begun: the family is so large, that, at the house of one or the other, there is always a pleasant evening society. The men converse apart till tea-time, after which music or dancing brings at least the younger part to join the ladies; and it is seldom that they separate before midnight. _July 25th_.--Our society at Botafogo is enlivened by the arrival of Commodore Sir T. Hardy, who occupies the house of the disembargador França, and who is not only cheerful and sociable himself, but causes cheerfulness around him. The officers of his own ship, and those of the rest of the squadron, are of course great acquisitions to the parties at Rio; but I see little of them: my dull house, and duller self, offering nothing inviting except to the midshipmen of my old ship, who visit me very constantly. I have bought a small horse[115] for the sake of exercise, and sometimes accompany the boys on their evening rides. Last night I went with two of them to the Praya Vermelha; and finding the officer of the guard at the gate of the fort, we asked leave to go in, which being granted, we entered, and walked about admiring the views. It was the first time I had seen the little bay Vermelha from the land side, the fort being built quite along the isthmus that unites the Sugar-loaf with the mainland. We remained without thinking of the time till the sun was fairly set; and then, on returning to the gate, we found it shut, and that the keys had been carried to the governor. So I had to go to the officer of the guard, who understanding what had happened, ordered the guard under arms, and went himself for the keys, and conducted us out of the fort with great politeness. Wherever I have met with Brazilians, from the greatest to the meanest, I must say I have always experienced the greatest politeness: from the fidalgo who calls on me in full court costume, to the peasant, or the common soldier, I have had occasion to admire, and be grateful for, their courtesy. [Note 115: For this beast, which is really fit for nothing but the riding of an invalid like myself, I gave 35 milrees; a price for which, in Chile, one might buy a very fine horse.]