6-7 August 1809
On the 6th.. of August we saw land, and on the 7th.. came to an anchor in the harbour of Rio Janeiro ---It appears to me that no description can convey to the mind of a person who has not seen this harbour, the wonderful beauty and grandeur of it. The Entrance is I believe the finest of any harbour in the world; we saw it to the greatest advantage, it was a fine clear evening, we had a steady leading Breeze to carry us in, & the sun was setting behind the Sugarloaf; which greatly added to the grandeur & beauty of the scene. The first remarkable object after passing Cape Frio, is a gap or rent in the ridge of mountains which skirt the sea shore. This chasm appears from a distance, like a narrow portal, between two cheeks of solid stone. The cheek on the left is of a Sugar-loaf form; a solid mass of hard sparkling granite, 680 feet high above the surface out of which it rises. The opposite cheek is of the same material; but has a regular and easy descent to the water's edge. A little Island strongly fortified, just within the entrance, contracts the passage to the width of about three quarters of a mile. Having cleared the channel, one of the most magnificent scenes in nature bursts upon the eye. A sheet of water of immense size running back into the heart of a beautiful country to the distance of above thirty miles where it is bounded by a screen of lofty mountains; expanding from the narrow entrance to the width of twelve or fourteen miles, every where studded with innumerable little Islands, in every deversity [sic] of shape -- the shores of these Islands fringed with shrubs, some of them cover'd with noble Trees, and altogether forming the greatest variety of beauty. --- The Town of St.. Sebastian with its numerous churches & spires adds greatly to the lieu [?], and in every direction from where our ship lay we saw convents, and noblemens houses scatter'd over the Country, which is also much adorn'd by the number of fortifications & bridges which in several places form the communication from one mass of rock to another, which have been seperated [sic] by some convulsion of nature, & now present a frightful chasm between. [S]o that Rio Janeiro is not only highly favor'd by nature, but also much adorn'd by the art of Man; indeed tho' the Portuguese have a character for great indolence, no one to see the many great works which have been carried on at this place could think it justly due. ----
28 June - 5 August 1809
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