“Having waded through these, I mounted upstairs, and I saw a multitude of persons hard at work, as if it had been a large factory. These were the stampers: every article, even to a single pair of gloves, stockings or shoes, when the duty is paid, must be distinguished by this stamp. Three or four hundred persons were engaged in this work. One ran the thread through the corner of the stockings or shoes; another looped it to a little perforated pellet of lead; and a third pressed it flat by striking on it a stamp of the Imperial Arms. Any article, however minute, that has not this attachment to it, is liable to be seized as contraband. The process of stamping every article, however, is so tedious and troublesome that it is found to impede business very much, and the fees on the leaden stamp come to twice as much as the duty on the goods in the cost of pieces of tape and other smaller things.”
There are many villages large and small, around the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, but few of them are worth the visiting. Nictheroy, however, a twenty minutes’ ride across the bay, is an exception, for the ride is pleasant and this city is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The national capital is situated in a Federal District very similar to the District of Columbia. Ferries run every few minutes, and the trip is a pleasant diversion. The city contains some thirty thousand or more inhabitants, but there is nothing grand or distinctive about it. It has several public squares after the usual fashion, the streets are fairly broad but badly paved, and some of the public buildings are quite respectable. There is a good system of street railways, and a trip can be made out to the rather picturesque suburb of Sacco do San Francisco, or Itajahý, which is also on the shores of the bay. Perhaps the principal reason that takes travellers there is to say that they have been in one of the state capitals, for it is too near the larger and far more attractive city to have much charm when compared with the other. There is a good beach, and it is possible that at some time, perhaps “to-morrow,” a thriving resort may be built up on that side of the blue bay of Rio de Janeiro.
During the empire, because of the many and almost constant scourges of yellow fever, the diplomatic corps became solicitous about their own health and sought a more healthful residence. Receiving the consent of their various governments, and the approval of the Emperor, a new diplomatic residence was established at Petropolis, a two hours’ journey from the capital. This is the only instance known to me where the diplomatic representatives live elsewhere than in the capital of the country to which they are accredited.