had hitherto held them in confinement, and, spurning farther restraint, forced a passage to the ocean. In the same manner, the Blue Ridge of Virginia was evidently rent in twain by the two united rivers, whose mingled waters now form the Potomac; and some suppose that the highlands of the Hudson once exhibited the same phenomenon. The fragments created by this convulsion of nature at Rio, are supposed to have been thrown into the sea, where they still remain, before the entrance of the harbour, in the form of a bar, on which there is never more than ten fathoms of water, while, just within it, there is not less than eighteen. However this may be, the chasm itself, as it now exists, presents a most picturesque appearance, opening as it does between two lofty mountains-Signal Hill on the right, the Sugarloaf cone on the left. These two remarkable piles of almost naked granite, present a striking contrast with the rest of the broken ridge, to which they now form abutments, as every other prominent part is covered with luxuriant vegetation.

On extending the view a little farther inland, the frowning batteries of Santa Cruz castle, with the Brazilian banner floating above them, are seen on the right, based on a solid rock of granite, thirty feet in height, projecting westwardly from the foot of Signal Hill. Opposite to this, on the left, eastwardly of Sugarloaf cone, another fortress is discovered, of inferior strength; while between the two, but nearest to the latter, is a little island, strongly fortified, known by the appellation of Fort Lucia, which reduces the width of the passage to about three quarters of a mile. The Sugarloaf is said to be nearly seven hundred feet in height, and every accessible spot on that side the entrance is occupied by batteries, lines, and forts, or rather bears the evidence of having thus been occupied.

After passing all these naturally strong-holds, the harbour suddenly expands, and extends itself into a circular, or rather elliptical, inland lake, which is sprinkled over with islands which

"Stand dress'd in living green;"

and surrounded by mountains rising in many ridges behind each other, like a vast natural amphitheatre. The tide rises in the harbour between four and five feet, and there is always sufficient depth of water to float vessels of the largest size.

The natural scenery which surrounds the harbour and city of Rio, has been frequently described, and often highly coloured by travellers. It is, indeed, beautiful to the eye; but, for our own part, we do not think that the meandering streams and gently murmuring rivulets of Brazil, pursue a more tortuous or fanciful course than those of the United States; nor can we perceive that their murmurings are, in the least degree, more "musically plaintive," or excite more tender emotions of the heart, than a creek of the Alleghany, or a small stream at the foot of the Stony Mountains, gurgling over the limestone pebbles, to pay its tributary mite to the majestic Missouri. Yet, among the objects that must arrest the attention on entering this majestic harbour, is the noble sheet of water, filling an oval basin of thirty miles in length and nearly fifteen in breadth, sufficiently capacious to contain all the fleets in the world-protected by a chain of mountains rising from its narrow mouth, and extending back, one above another, until the eye loses them amid white and fleecy clouds, which play in graceful curls around their airy summits. This view is certainly pleasing and exhilarating, and it is diversified, in many places, by cultivated spots, even to the highest elevation; while the valleys beneath are filled with the rich and rare fruits peculiar to the tropics. The shores of this "emerald gemm'd" basin are also indented with numerous inlets, many of which are the mouths of rivulets that dash down the declivities of the mountains, as if eager to mingle with the tranquil waters of this great bay. Almost every eminence around it, as well as many of its islands, is crowned with a fort or a castellated parapet -a church-a convent-or a picturesque ruin.

Although the fortifications already alluded to completely protect, by their positions, the entrance of the harbour, the whole of which is commanded from within, by works long since erected on nearly all the surrounding heights and many of the islands, but now in ruins or ill repair; still, the defence of the place is thought to depend principally on a very strong fort, on the Ilha dos Cobras, or Snake Island, directly in front and near the north angle of the city, from which it is separated only by a deep channel of moderate width. This island is a solid rock, of about nine hundred feet in length, three hundred in breadth, and, at the point where the citadel stands, eighteen feet in height. All around, and

close alongside of this strongly-fortified rock, which gradually declines, at one end, to within a few feet of the water, vessels of the largest burden may lie in perfect security. Here, also, are found wharves, dock-yards, magazines, arsenals, naval stores, a sheer-hulk, and many facilities for heaving down and careening vessels. Between Fort Lucia and the citadel is another fort, which commands the anchorage.

The site selected for the town by the early settlers, is, perhaps, the best that could have been chosen out of many excellent ones that everywhere present themselves. The city of Rio, otherwise called St. Sebastian, is situated on the southwest side of the harbour, or basin, about four miles from its entrance, and stands on a quadrangular peninsula, or square tongue of land, extending, on an inclined plane, a short distance into the bay. The town itself, which also exhibits the form of a parallelogram, and rises between four fortified eminences, which flank it at each corner, presents a northeast aspect of the basin, whose waters wash three sides of the square promontory on which it is built.

On a height flanking its eastern angle is a square fort, commanding and protecting stores of light ordnance, when deposited on the point below. Between this and the north angle of the peninsula, is a beautiful quay, built of solid blocks of chiselled granite, and forming an elegant façade in front of the city, and an eligible line for musketry and light cannon, to oppose the landing of an enemy's force, in case they should get possession of the harbour. On the north angle is another conspicuous eminence, on which stands the Benedictine convent, overlooking the island Dos Cobras on its east, from which it is separated only by a deep narrow channel, as before mentioned. On this side of the peninsula, near the water's edge, is a range of storehouses, overlooked by another square fort, flanking the west angle of the city, and commanding the imperial dock-yard beyond it. On the south angle of the town is the fourth eminence alluded to, on which is built the reservoir for receiving from the great aqueduct the water which supplies the city, and of which we shall speak presently. Between the last-mentioned eminence and the waters of the basin which wash the southeast side of the peninsula, is a public garden called the Passeo Publico, which is handsomely laid out in shrubberies, lawns, walks, and parterres.