The larger islands in the bay are occupied, and cultivated wherever possible; many of them are fortified, and several are surmounted by churches or chapels. The entrance to the bay is only two thousand feet wide, and defended by forts, one at the base of the Sugar Loaf and the other nearly opposite. Together they would make it very tropical for a hostile fleet, and just inside the entrance is another fort, which is intended to take care of anything that escapes the outer defences. As the steamer came to her anchorage she was surrounded by a swarm of boats, which kept at a respectful distance until the arrival of the health officer, without whose authority there could be no communication between ship and shore. If the doctor and the youths had been unaware of their latitude the merchandise of the boats would have told them, without the aid of the hot sun in the sky overhead. There were monkeys and parrots in great abundance; an assortment of snakes and other creeping things; bananas, pineapples, and other tropical fruits; yams, sweet potatoes, mandioca root, and other "garden truck" of the country; tobacco and cigars in all conditions of badness; and other merchandise only to be designated by native names. The boatmen kept up an incessant talk, mingled with many gesticulations, and the half-hour spent in waiting for the health officer was by no means lost. By and by that official came, the ship was pronounced "clean," and the passengers were free to land. From the anchorage the city does not present an imposing appearance, as it is only partially visible; portions of it are screened by the hills, which break its front and divide it into several quarters. In consequence of these hills it straggles over a considerable area, and is really made up of a series of suburbs; from the centre of the city to Botofago is a good three miles, and it is the same distance the other way to another suburb or district of equal importance. Like our Washington, it is a city of magnificent distances; in order to see it all at once you must climb the hills in the rear, and look at the metropolis nestling at your feet. Only till you do this can you realize its greatness. [Illustration: FRONT VIEW OF THE CITY.] Rio was evidently built with a view to permanence. At least Frank and Fred thought so, as they landed at the piers of solid granite, with steps leading down to the water and facilitating debarkation at every stage of the tide. Near the landing-place was a market, where they found groups of negroes waiting for work, or possibly waiting to avoid having work to do. There were heaps of fruit and vegetables, similar to what they had seen in Para and Pernambuco, and the same chatter and commotion prevailed among the venders and their patrons. We depended upon Fred for an account of the visit to Bahia, and will ask Frank to tell us about Rio de Janeiro.