The first division of the town is composed of brick houses of three, four, and even five stories in height; most of the streets are narrow, and some of the older houses in the minor streets are of only one story in height, and many of them consist only of the ground-floor. The streets of this part, with the exception of one, are paved. In the Square are the custom-house, in one corner, a long, low, and shabby building; the sugar-inspection, which bears the appearance of a dwelling-house; a large church, not finished; a coffee-house, in which the merchants assemble to transact their commercial affairs; and dwelling-houses. There are two churches in use, one of which is built over the stone arch-way leading from the town to Olinda, at which a lieutenant’s guard is stationed. The other church belongs to the priests of the _Congregaçam da Madre de Deos_. Near to the gate-way above-mentioned is a small fort, close to the water-side, which commands it. To the northward is the residence of the Port-Admiral, with the government timber-yards attached to it: these are small, and the work going on in them is very trifling. The cotton-market, warehouses, and presses, are also in this part of the town.[3] The bridge which leads to St. Antonio has an arch-way at either end, with a small chapel built upon each; and at the northern arch is stationed a serjeant’s guard of six or eight men. The bridge is formed in part of stone arches, and in part of wood: it is quite flat, and lined with small shops, which render it so narrow that two carriages cannot pass each other upon it. St. Antonio, or the middle town, is composed chiefly of large houses and broad streets; and if these buildings had about them any beauty, there would exist here a certain degree of grandeur: but they are too lofty for their breadth, and the ground-floors are appropriated to shops, warehouses, stables, and other purposes of a like nature. The shops are without windows, and the only light they have is admitted from the door. There exists as yet very little distinction of trades; thus all descriptions of manufactured goods are sold by the same person. Some of the minor streets consist of low and shabby houses. Here are the Governor’s palace, which was in other times the Jesuits’ convent; the treasury; the town-hall and prison; the barracks, which are very bad; the Franciscan, Carmelite, and Penha convents, and several churches, the interiors of which are very handsomely ornamented, but very little plan has been preserved in the architecture of the buildings themselves. It comprises several squares, and has, to a certain degree, a gay and lively appearance. This is the principal division of the town.