culinary vegetables of both hemispheres. The white houses of the town were scattered
through the greensward interspersed witli trees. The garden of one of these houses
inspected by Dr. Walsh “ was filled with the productions of both hemispheres, and all
climates. Bananas and apple trees, walnuts and calabashes, were growing luxuriantly
side by side ; vines and peach trees were loaded with fi-uit ; and the latter so abundantly,
that the branches were broken to the ground with their weight. Under this luxuriancy
of fruit above were plots of European vegetables below ; large flat Dutch cabbages, and
different kinds of lettuces, were iiourisliing among melons and pine-apples ; and the
whole presented a most graceful pictiue. Among the trees was a cactus, with stems as
thick as a man’s thigh, and ascending to the height of thirty feet, deeply ribbed, and from
the fiuTows burst an immense profusion of blossoms.” (Notices o f Brazil, vol. ii. p. 248.)
917. ^ Chilian country-house, belonging to a native Chilian, but of Spanish descent,
is described as containing an outer entrance ivith a mud floor, a rude unfinished roof,
a richly carpeted drawing-room, from the windows of wloieh could be seen the gravel
walks of a garden stretching under trellised vines, and shaded by a broad belt of lofty
walnut trees, (p. 144.) A t another country-house, the vines were planted in the
manner of those at tho Cape of Good Hope, in rows like goosebcny bushes, and supported
only here and there as occasion required. The olive gi-oves were covered with
fruit. (Hall’s Mexico, §-c.)
918. A Chilian fiower-garden. Wlien Captain Hall was at Santiago, he visited a lady
in the evening, who expressed great regret, owing to its being dark, that she could not
show him her garden, which, she said, was “ the pride of her life.” In a few days
afterwards he paid her a visit in the daytime, when the good lady was delighted, and
led the way with _ ^-cat glee to her favourite spot. “ It certainly,” Captam Hall observes,
“ was a brilliant spectacle ; for in these climates, where natm-c does so much,
the least assistance multiplies tho effect in a manner of which, in cold regions, we have
no conception. But our good dame, who thought of nothing less than letting nature
have her course, had planted her flowers, and cut her walks and borders, in the fonns
of beasts, bfrds, and fishes. Not only had she displayed the figm-cs of the animals in a
sort of relief,- by raising and depressing the soil, but she had attended minutely to the
appropriate colom-s of each, by the careful distribution of the proper flowers ; and, to
do her justice, the spot looked more like a menagerie than a garden.” (Cant. Hall’s
Chili, §-c., vol. i. p. 175.)
919. Puhlic walks and promenades. Tlic garden at Rio Janeiro, called Passcio
Publico, or public walk, is situated on the sca-sliore. Ifrom the front of the Calahouça
to that of N. S. da Gloria, is a fine sweep of strand ; and near the middle of the arch,
the public garden was laid out^by the viceroy Vasconccllos, a name to which Rio seems
much indebted. I t consisted, in 1830, of broad walks, bordered with large trees, some
n a tfre an d some foreign, forming a dense and delightful shade, and enclosing apartments
within planted with fruit or flowering trees and sluubs. Among the former arc mangoes,
yambos, and gramixams, yielding, in thcir seasons, a vast quantity of delicious fruit, which
every one is aUowed to gather and eat. Among the latter is the poiiiciana, a species of
Brazil wood,_ whose yellow and orange flowers are exceedingly beautiful ; the coral tree,
with long spikes of scarlet flowers, as large as those of the horsechestnut ; aud the magnificent
boinbax, covered at one time with a proftision of large pmifre flowers, like rich
tulips, and at another ivith huge pendent pods of silk. Near the middle of the garden
is an octagonal temple, intended for a botanical lectm-c-room, where the professor
explained the stmcturc and qualities of tlie various plants in the garden : it is now,
however, entirely out of repair. (Dr. Walsh’s Notices o f Brazil, vol. i. p. 477.) The
Alameda, or public walk, of Mendoza, is situated at tho foot of the Andes, and commands
a noble prospect. I t has two fine rows of poplars on each sitlc, with a stream
of water running between them. (Brande’s Journal o f a Voyage to Peru, p. 53.)
920. Cemeteries. The burying-ground attached to the English chapel at Rio lies
at the north extremity of the town, at the bottom of a small but beautiful bay called the
Gamboa. I t consists of three or fom acres of land, sun-ounded by a wall, with a few
trees still standing wifliin the area, and it is proposed to plant a great number. The
situation is extremely beautiful, on an inclined plane, sloping towards the sea, and commanding
an extensive prospect of the bay and islands. In the centre stands a small
chapel, used only on the occasion of funerals, in which is read a part of the biu-ial service.
The emperor proposed to establish similar cemeteries near Rio, on the extensive scale of
Père la Chaise-
Subsect. 2. Gardening in South America, in respect to Botanic Gardens, and as an A r t
o f Culture.
921. -S'orne o f ihe finest flowers o f British gardens arc natives of South America.
“ There is, perhaps, no pm-t of the world,” observes Dr. Gardner, wliere in an equal
extent of country a greater variety of vegetable forms is to be met with than in the
province of Rio Janeiro. Situated on the verge of the southern tropic, and consisting
principally of deep valleys and high mountain ranges, some of which reach to an
elevation of nearly 7000 feet above the level of the sea, it necessarily iiresents a variety
of soils and situations favourable to different races of plants, and possesses the two great
requisites indispensable for thcir growth, heat and moisture. The ncigliboiu-hood of
Rio itself has been oftcner visited by botanists than any other part of the empire ; but
its botanical riches arc even now far fr-om being cxliimsted. The ffrst five months of
my residence in tlic country were devoted to the investigation of this d istric t; and having
worked up my collections since my rctmn to England, I found them to contain about
twenty per cent, of new species; but as an eternal spring and summer reign in this happy
climate, and as every plant has its own season for the production of its flowers, every
month is characterised by a different flo ra ; and it can scarcely be expected that tlie
whole of its treasures should be made known for a long time to come.” (Dr. Gardner
in The Journ. Hort. Soc., vol. i. p. 191.) Among the beautiful plants which have been
introduced from this country, may be mentioned several bignonias and fuchsias, several
kinds of Begonia, numerous orchideous plants, and various kinds of Tropaj'olmn. Dr.
Gardner found several beautiful kinds of Cápparis, Búddlea, and Melástoma; and he
says that the “ hedges by the road side, which are mostly fonned of acacias, mimosas,
opimtias, and pcreskias, arc festooned with innumerable climbers, the many-tinted
blossoms of which, while they gratify the sight, equally regale the sense of smell by the
delicious odour they exhale.”
922. The Organ Mountains o f Brazil, Dr. Gardner observes, “ arc situated to the
nortli of Rio de Janeiro, and about sixty-three miles distant. They rise to the height of
about 7000 feet, and take thcir name from a fancied resemblance which thcir peaks have to
the tubes of an organ when seen from a distance.” These mountains are particularly
rich ill orchideous plants ; and on them Dr. Gardner found the beautiful Fuchsia integri-
folia, which has a climbing stem, and attaches itself to all Idnds of trees, often reaching
to a height of from forty to a hundred feet. Various Idnds of passion-flower were found
both on these mountains and in other parts of Brazil. Numerous kinds of Achimenes
and other splendid plants arc also natives of this country.
923. The botanic garden of Rio is situated about eight miles from the town ; though,
as Dr. Walsh remarks, it is more properly a garden of recreation than of science.
There arc very few of the immense variety of indigenous plants to be found here, and
not the smallest attempt is made at classification. In 1809, a great number of plants
were brought to this garden from the Isle of France. Among these were camphors,
cloves, mangoes, and other fruits and spices, till then unknown in Brazil. They soon
grew vigorously; and, as every person is invited to take plants from the garden, these trees
were speedily established throughout the counti-y. In 1810, a number of plauts were
brought from the celebrated gardens of Gabriclla, in Cayenne; and, shortly afterwards,
the tea plant was introduced from Cbina, and a colony of natives invited over to superintend
its cultivation. In order to encourage and extend the growth and cultivation of all
tiiese foreign plants, thcir produce is exempt for ten years fr-om all tithes and taxes. Tlic
road to this garden from Rio, Dr. Walsh describes as vci-y delightful. “ I t passes along
the beautiful bay of Bota Fogo, and by the fine lake of Rodrigo dc Freitas, where one
side is bounded by the magnificent ridges of the Corcovado, and the other by the romantic
scenery of the bay and lake. The garden is a rich flat, comprising about fifty acres, divided
into compartments by avenues of exotics, among which the Sumatra nut is the most conspicuous.
It is of rapid growth, yields abundance of shade with its ample leaves, and
such a profusion of fr-uit that the walks were covered with large nuts, which give an
immense quantity of oil for various useftil puiqioscs. Next in abundance is the brcad-
finit, which tlirives with equal luxiu'iance, bearing among- its immense foliage a
spherical ft-uit, in size, shape, and colom-, like pendulous loaves of bread. But the compartments
which arc the most interesting arc the tea plantations. These occupy several
square plots, of about half an acre each, but do not seem to have answered the expectations
formed of them. Tho shi-ubs are stunted, cankered, and moss-grown, and the
Chineso, to whose carc they were originally intrusted, have abandoned them.”
924. The botanic garden at Buenos Ayres was established in 1826, chiefly through
the influence of Jo h n Ilallct, Esq., the consul-general of the South American states in
London. M. Sack, a German gardener of superior acqufr-cmcnts, was appointed curator ;
and took out with him an extensive collection of European plants and seeds. The
unsettled state of Buenos Ayi'cs, M, Sack informs us in the Gardener’s Magazine, has
hitherto prevented this garden from eftecting much good cither for America or Europe.
925. The botanic garden o f the Caraccas was established in 1828, by Mr. Fanning,
for the coIlGCtion of native plants, with a view to thoir transmission to Em-ope in exchange
for others which may be deemed suitable for the southern hemisphere. The
garden is small, but it is neatly laid out in squares ; the walks arc well proportioned, and
some of them arc beautifully shaded with the b an a n a ; the towering stems and expanding