SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES; OR A VISIT TO RIO JANEIRO, THE ORGAN MOUNTAINS, LA PLATA, AND THE PARANÀ. BY THOMAS WOODBINE HINCHLIFF M.A., F.R.G.S. AUTHOR OF SUMMER MONTHS AMONG THE ALPS.' LONDON: LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, & GREEN. 1863. icked PREFACE. IN visiting South America I had the satisfaction of fulfilling a long-cherished desire. As a school-boy I had wandered in imagination, among the forests of Brazil; my fancy had been fired by Sir Francis Head's description of the Pampas; and I had latterly conceived an eager wish to compare the Andes with the Alps. I started from England with the intention of seeing these three regions in the course of a year's absence; and though I was unfortunately compelled by circumstances to abandon the third division of my plan, yet I derived so much pleasure from all the novel `scenes of Brazil and the Republics of the River Plate, that I am anxious to call the attention of others to these comparatively unfrequented countries. My visit to Brazil was short, but it enabled me to a wander among the exquisite scenery of the Organ Mountains, the beauty of which can hardly be surpassed in any country of the world; to make many delightful expeditions from the neighbourhood of Rio Janeiro; and to see some of the results of modern skill and energy, in a journey to Juiz da Fora, in the province of Minas Geraes. Roads and railroads in many directions, are affording immense assistance to the material progress of Brazil, and the experiment of a Constitutional Empire in the Western Hemisphere has met with a success which must be highly interesting to a traveller. The grandeur of the forests, the infinite variety of ferns, and flowers and fruits, the beauty of the birds and insects, and the sublimity of the scenery, all exceeded my highest expectations: and I wish to point out for the benefit of other wanderers, that the limits of a Long Vacation are sufficient to admit of their spending five weeks in the cool season among the splendours of Brazil. I passed several months in Buenos Ayres and the neighbourhood, where the kindness of friends and relations introduced me to all that was most agreeable and interesting both in town and country life. The society of Buenos Ayres is remarkably hospitable and |