Identifier: aroundaboutsouth00vinc (find matches)
Title: Around and about South America
Year: 1895 (1890s)
Authors: Vincent, Frank, 1848- (from old catalog)
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton & company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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,and few attempted to act the characters assumed. At nearlyall the theatres a sort of fandango or cackuca, a lively na-tional dance, was extremely popular. It consisted of wrig-gling and suggestive posturing rather than of dancing, andits evolutions were extremely vulgar, not to say indecent;but so strong is custom that those in the boxes, who wereevidently ladies, watched without flinching, and with greatinterest, those upon the floor, who certainly were not ladies.Negroes and mulattoes everywhere predominated. Thechildish delight and extraordinary gayety of these partici-pants, unprompted by liquor, and unflaggingly kept up allnight, were undoubtedly the most striking characteristic ofthis Rio Carnival. Yet every one was lamenting that it wasnot what it used to be—that the pomp and mummery wereonly a dim reflection of the mirthful, happy days gone by.But is not the whole Carnival scheme quite out of place inthe civilization of to-day ? It would seem more at home inthe middle ages.
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A Part of the Avenue of Royal Palms. CHAPTER XXYIL PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND GARDENS. The famous Botanical Gardens are reached by tramway,at a distance of about six miles in a southwesterly directionfrom the central part of the city. You pass for a long dis-tance along the shore of the bay, through streets of the ele-gant country-houses owned by Rio merchants, each of a dif-ferent style of architecture, and all surrounded by beautifulinclosures of trees, fruits, and flowers, with ornamental stat-uary and fountains. Some of the houses are faced withpretty tiles in various patterns, others are covered with thered tiles similar to those generally used upon the roofs, butall are ornamented with raised stucco-work of medallions,tracery, and arabesque borders, in diversified gay tints. Thegreat Sugar-Loaf Peak, near the entrance of the harbor, aswe approached seemed composed of solid granite, with novegetation save a little grass. It is always a striking featurein the everywhere-romantic scenery

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