2-995-765 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Arsenal and part of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1860. 'The first building on right is the Church of St. José...next to it...is the House of the National Deputies...The Royal Palace skirts the beach...The harbour can scarcely be excelled for capaciousness and security...Within the Palace Square [Largo de Paso] is a cab-stand, and on the other side are hotels and the houses of money-changers...The shipping on the right are the merchantmen discharging cargo...the land on the right is an island (The Island of Cobras)...on the city side of which are to be seen wharves and warehouses of the Custom House...The Naval Arsenal is seen immediately under the Convent of San Bento...on the left...the ships seen in the centre...are Government hulks and vessels of war...The distant mountains on the celebrated Organ Range tower 7000 feet; the practicable passes (serras) averaging 3000 to 3600 feet above the sea. The low lands seen at their foot is the island called "Ilha Governador"...The picture contains only one street (the Rua Direita) and the shore, there being in the old town eleven or twelve others parallel to it...The population of Rio and suburbs is estimated at 300,000 to 350,000 inhabitants, including slaves'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.