ere are also, at the distance of three leagues
to the westward of these, two other islands which lie near to each
other, a little without the bay on the east side, and very near the
shore. This harbour is certainly a good one; the entrance indeed is not
wide, but the sea-breeze, which blows every day from ten or twelve
o'clock till sunset, makes it easy for any ship to go in before the
wind; and it grows wider as the town is approached, so that a-breast of
it there is room for the largest fleet, in five or six fathom water,
with an oozy bottom. At the narrow part, the entrance is defended by two
forts. The principal is Santa Cruz, which stands on the east point of
the bay, and has been mentioned before; that on the west side is called
Fort Lozia, and is built upon a rock that lies close to the main; the
distance between them is about three quarters of a mile, but the channel
is not quite so broad, because there are sunken rocks which lie off each
fort, and in this part alone there is danger: The narrowness of the
channel causes the tides, both flood and ebb, to run with considerable
strength, so that they cannot be stemmed without a fresh breeze. The
rockiness of the bottom makes it also unsafe to anchor here: Put all
danger may be avoided by keeping in the middle of the channel. Within
the entrance, the course up the bay is first N. by W. 1/2 W. and N.N.W.
something more than a league; this will bring the vessel the length of
the great road; and N.W. and W.N.W. one league more will carry her to
the isle dos Cobras, which lies before the city: She should then keep
the north side of this island close on board, and anchor above it,
before a monastery of Benedictines which stands upon a hill at the N.W.
end of the city.

[Footnote 77: Mr Barrow, during his stay at Rio de Janeiro, had an
opportunity of ascertaining the height of the Sugar-loaf, as it is
called from its conical appearance. It is, he says, 680 feet high, above
the surface out of which it rises, and is a solid mass of hard sparkling
granite. On the eastern side of the chasm which forms the entrance into
the bay, there is a mountain of the same material, but so far different
in form, that it slopes easily and gradually from the water's edge to
the summit, which however is about as high as the cone. This side is
well defended by forts and batteries. Mr Barrow's description of the
magnificent scenery of this harbour, is perhaps somewhat poetically
conceived, but