"In front was the ocean, with the deep blue of the tropics, and its horizon line, which seemed rising to meet the sky. The bay was dotted with sails and row-boats; out on the ocean there was here and there a stipple of white which told of a sail, or a stream of smoke denoting the course of a steamer; on either side of our position were streets and squares of handsome houses, standing in rows and groups of palm or other trees of the equatorial regions; and in the background of the picture was a setting of everlasting hills, interspersed with bits and patches of prairie or undulating ground. We have nowhere seen a prettier spot than this, and endorse the assertion of previous visitors that Bahia is one of the most picturesque cities of the South American continent.
"When we landed we were pestered by pedlers who wanted to sell the famous feather-flowers of Brazil, and this reminded us that Bahia is the centre of the industry. After we had enjoyed the view from the upper part of the city we engaged a carriage and drove to the convent where the finest of these flowers are made. Formerly the convent had a monopoly of the business, and derived a handsome revenue from the work of the nuns; but of late years there have been many rivals, and the convent trade has not been as prosperous as of yore.
"You never saw anything more perfect than these imitations of natural flowers. Put a cluster of them side by side with a bouquet of genuine flowers and you will have to guess 'which is which.' It would be nothing more than a guess so far as the eye is concerned, as the imitation is perfect in color, shape, size--in everything but smell. Here are lilies, budding, half-opened, or in full bloom; hyacinths with their delicate purple; orange-flowers that seem just crystallized from the snow; violets shrinking in their modest hue of blue; roses, in all the colors for which the rose is famed, and in all conditions of growth and bloom; together with buds and blooms and blossoms of many and many a flower unfamiliar to our eyes.
"They showed us admirable collections of humming-birds flying among leaves and flowers. The birds were the natural bodies, carefully preserved, and so poised in their positions as to present the appearance of life; the flowers and leaves were formed of the feathers of other birds, and simulated to perfection the growth of the forest. One collection embraced nearly five hundred humming-birds of all colors and combinations of colors, but we were told that it did not include all the varieties of humming-bird in South America.