he city, while on the other, between the foot of the mountain of the
Corcovado, with its surrounding hills, and the sea, every station was
occupied by delightful country-houses, and the beautiful bay of Boto
Fogo, where there were before only fishermen and gipsies, soon became a
populous and wealthy suburb.

[Note 27: 28th January, 1808.]

It is not in my power to give a detailed account of all the transactions
of this important year. The trade had naturally rapidly increased; the
money brought by the emigrants from Portugal, had called forth greater
exertions and speculations in commerce; and in October a public bank was
chartered in Rio, with a capital of from seventy to eighty thousand
pounds sterling.

The establishment of a regular gazette naturally took place, for the
speedier dissemination of whatever tidings might arrive from Portugal,
where lay the possessions and the interest of the court and the new
people of Brazil; and though the press, of course, did not boast of much
freedom, nor indeed would its freedom at that time have been of any
consequence, it formed the first step towards awakening rational
curiosity and that desire for reading, which has become not only a
luxury, but even a necessary, in some countries, and which makes a rapid
and daily progress here.

On the arrival of the court many of the old Creole families hastened to
the capital to greet their sovereigns. The sons and the daughters of
these married into the noble houses of Portugal; the union of the two
nations became intimate and permanent; and the manners and habits of the
Brazilians more polished. With the artificial wants that sprung up, new
industry was excited, especially near the capital; the woods and hills
were cleared, the desert islands of the bay became thriving farms,
gardens sprung up every where, and the delicate table vegetables of
Europe and Africa were added to the native riches of the soil and
climate.

The numbers of the royal family furnished birth-days for frequent galas,
the foreigners vied with the Portuguese in their feasts, so that Rio
presented a scene of almost continued festivity. On the 17th of
December, the birth-day of the queen, six counts were created, that is,
Luiz de Vasconcellos e Souza was made Conde de Figuerio, Don Rodrigo de
Souza Continho, Conde de Linhares, the Visconde d'Anadia, Conde
d'Anadia, D. Joao d'Almeida de Mello e Castro, Conde das Galveas, D.
Fernando Jose de Portogal, Conde d'Aguia