Around and about South America . s,and attended by much-decorated gentlemen in by far the greater number of ladies wore dark clothesand hats, and were escorted by gentlemen in ordinary after-noon costume. The number of glittering orders and plainerribbons and rosettes scattered about the house was perhaps the most noticeable feature to a stranger wasthe variety of complexion to be seen—ranging from the palewhite of the foreigner to the delicate brown of the Portu-guese and the tan of the Brazilian, and gradually darkeningthrough the Creoles to the mulattoes, and fin
Around and about South America . s,and attended by much-decorated gentlemen in by far the greater number of ladies wore dark clothesand hats, and were escorted by gentlemen in ordinary after-noon costume. The number of glittering orders and plainerribbons and rosettes scattered about the house was perhaps the most noticeable feature to a stranger wasthe variety of complexion to be seen—ranging from the palewhite of the foreigner to the delicate brown of the Portu-guese and the tan of the Brazilian, and gradually darkeningthrough the Creoles to the mulattoes, and finally to the black-est black of the negroes. All were mixed together—bothout of and in the boxes—on terms of the most perfect equal-ity. The blacks have crossed so much with the Portugueseblood, and miscegenation has gone so far, that many yearsago, when it was proposed, in taking the census of the empire,to classify the whites and blacks, it was found impossible todetermine the color line. It took me all the evening to get. Four Pretty Sisters. PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GARDENS. 239 accustomed to the novelty of the sight presented in the DomPedro II. Theatre. I asked a gentleman to keep my seat, and rushed to a bal-cony of the foyer just in time to witness the arrival of theEmperor. Thronged about the theatre, listening. to themusic, was a large crowd, who I supposed would hail hisMajestys arrival with wild huzzas and much waving of my surprise when I heard not a single cheer! Firstcame, at a tremendous pace, two brilliantly uniformed hus-sars, who cleared the way, then two more, and then the Em-peror in a close coach drawn by six gayly caparisoned mules,the leaders ridden by postilions, the wheelers driven by agorgeously liveried coachman and attended by footmen be-hind. A score of hussars, at the side and rear of the coach,completed the escort. His Majesty generally appears inpublic attended by the Empress or some ladies of the impe-rial family or household, but o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1895
