Of the many European merchants established here, who for the most part are English, few reside in the city, most of them having country houses in the suburbs. One of the most fashionable resorts is a lovely spot about two miles out, called Botafogo. There the houses are built along the semicircular shore of a quiet bay, which is nearly surrounded by high hills. Immediately behind the houses, and almost overhanging them, stands a very remarkable mountain called the Corcovado, which rises to upwards of two thousand feet above the level of the sea, about two-thirds of its eastern face being a perpendicular precipice. Many other European residences are situated in Catete and on the Praia de Flamengo, between Botafogo and the city; and in the Larenjeiras valley, which stretches up from Catete towards the mountains; others exist at the opposite extremity of the city, in the district of Engenho Velho. There is one thing wanting in the neighbourhood of Rio which no large city should be without—a public drive. This, I find in India, is a point particularly attended to, whenever, even a few, Europeans are located together. At Rio, those who wish to take a morning or an evening drive, can only do so on the public roads, which are only fit for carriages to run on for a few miles out of the city. There is, indeed, quite close to it what is called the Passeio Publico, a large garden with shady walks, but it is only intended for those who walk. Of an evening, when the weather is fine, it is much frequented by the citizens. The Botanic Garden, which is about eight miles distant from the city, is a place of great resort. On landing, I took up my residence at an Italian hotel, in one of the principal streets, but as this was not a place fitted to my pursuits, as soon as all my luggage was landed, I removed to the boarding-house of an old English lady, who had then been about thirty years in the country. It was about three or four miles from the city, situated in a beautiful valley which stretches from the suburb of Engenho Velho towards the Corcovado mountain, and called Rio Comprido, from a small stream so named which runs through it. Here I had my head-quarters for about five months, and during that period my excursions extended in all directions round the city. Frequent visits were made to the mountains, which are all covered with dense virgin forests—to the humid valleys—to the swampy tracts which lie to the north of the city—to the sea-shores—and to the islands in the bay. From these rambles there resulted a rich botanical harvest, besides numerous specimens belonging to other branches of natural history. But as an eternal spring and summer reign in this happy climate, and as almost every plant has its own season for the production of its flowers, every month is characterized by a different flora. It is, then, scarcely to be expected that a residence of but a few months can afford more than a very partial knowledge of its vegetable riches.