. Around and about South America. theheads of the passers-by, who, as they stroll, may thus veryeasily get a good general idea of the imports and industriesof the country. In these commercial schedules I was alwaysreminded of the streets of the great Chinese cities, and nota-bly those of Canton, which are quite as wide as many ofthose of Rio Janeiro. Tramways, of both narrow and broadgauge, thread the streets of Rio in every direction. The carsare all open at the sides, and are drawn by strong and fleetmules. Many other public vehicles are drawn by mules orhorses. One of the conveyances is a s
. Around and about South America. theheads of the passers-by, who, as they stroll, may thus veryeasily get a good general idea of the imports and industriesof the country. In these commercial schedules I was alwaysreminded of the streets of the great Chinese cities, and nota-bly those of Canton, which are quite as wide as many ofthose of Rio Janeiro. Tramways, of both narrow and broadgauge, thread the streets of Rio in every direction. The carsare all open at the sides, and are drawn by strong and fleetmules. Many other public vehicles are drawn by mules orhorses. One of the conveyances is a sort of light, two-wheeled, single-seated gig or tilbury, with one horse, and an-other is like the conventional hackney-coach, with two seats,and drawn generally by two mules. The coachmen are oftenmulattoes, and those attached to private stables are very gor-geously liveried. Of the many public squares in Rio, mostare comparatively small. The hotel I found to be in thestyle of those in the East Indies, with a profusion of shower-. Statue of Dom Pedro I. RIO DE JANEIRO. 217 baths in great stone tanks, and rooms in detached cottages,opening upon fine gardens filled with odd-looking trees andbeautiful flowers. Many great trees were covered with enor-mous bunches of scarlet and yellow flowers, just as smallshrubs are with us at home. Always striking and interesting,too, were the noble columnar palms, with their smooth, gray-ish trunks, fifty feet in height, and topped by great tufts ofleaves twelve feet in length. It is midsummer here—thoughNew-Years in New York—and exceedingly hot (ther-mometer 100° Fahr.). The people in the streets are dressedin light linen clothes. Only those compelled by businessinterests reside at this time in Rio, and most of these havetheir sleeping quarters on one or another of the many beauti-ful outlying hills. All the hotels are situated in the south-ern extremity of the city, near the shores of the bay. Therooms are carpetless, but contain a cane-b
Size: 1234px × 2026px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisheretcetc, bookyear189
