.MTI4NQ.MTAzNDQ1

As we entered the Harbour or rather Roadstead An American ship was seen standing out. We boarded her sent a letter bag by her home She was the Rain Bow. We were soon anchored a boat came along side with papers and letters Each one was anxious to receive a letter or paper from home and when Received they would just off, seat themselves behind a gun, and read, and read, it over & over again, next came the good things of this country viz a boat-load of all sorts of provisions. Peaches Mangroves organges lemons melons &c I would ask here who would be a savage? and live on rice when by becoming civilized you obtain so many good things of this life some folks have said the poor innocent savages, but they are all that I have seen poor d-n rascally savages they are all or nearly all avaricious to a surprising degree, in short mans whole nature is improved by being civilized, We found all the papers talking war-talk and of course Mids will talk Oregon and Texas were all the go. You might hear some of the [?riefer?] particularly the western ones continually crying out hurra for Texas. The night we came into Macoa it rained My gracious I should rather say it poured down torrents. it was the darkest night I ever saw. I could not see my and before me only during the flashes of lightening which were very brilliant and dazzling. Maco is a beautiful place at a distance but it looses a great deal of its beauty on going into the city for the streets are narrow crocked [sic] and dirty, one soon gets lost in their narrow winding passages Macoa was once a place of great trade but bad laws have driven this trade elsewhere it is a Portuguese place and was settled in the year 1550 & generally supposed that it belongs to the Portuguese but it is only held by them by permission of the Emperor. And they are allowed to govern themselves by their own laws it is a strongly fortified place. It is walled on about 2½ sides. Strong forts are very advantagiously built on the hills around it. Many [?hap?] guns are mounted on their walls. towards the North' are extensive Rice fields with marsh beds and narrow Causways whilst still further to the N' the Peninsular [sic] narrows to 250 yds