"There are points of view in which this traffic wears a more cheering
aspect; for any one comparing the puny Portuguese or the bastard
Brazilian with the athletic negro, cannot but allow that the ordinary
changes and chances of time will place this fine country in the hands
of the latter race. The negro will be fit to cultivate the soil, and
will thrive beneath the tropical sun of the Brazils. The enfeebled
white man grows more enfeebled and more degenerate with each succeeding
generation, and languishes in a clime which nature never designed him
to inhabit. The time will come when the debased and suffering negroes
shall possess this fertile land, and when some share of justice shall
be awarded to their cheerful tempers and ardent minds.
"Quitting Rio on the 9th, we cruised for a day or two with
H.M.S. Calliope and Grecian; and on the 11th, parting company,
prosecuted our voyage for the Cape of Good Hope."
The next notice runs thus:--"The aspect of Tristan d'Acunha is bold
even to grandeur. The peak, towering upward of eight thousand feet
above the sea, is inferior only to Teneriffe, and the precipitous
cliffs overhanging the beach are a fitting base for such a mountain. I
regretted not being able to examine this island for many reasons, but
principally, perhaps, on account of the birds of the South Atlantic
I had hoped to collect there, many of which are so often seen by
voyagers, yet so little known and so vaguely described.
"On the 29th March, after being detained a fortnight [at the Cape of
Good Hope] by such weather as no one could regret, we sailed again
in a southeaster, and after a passage of six weeks reached Java Head.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account