26th May 1832

Rio de Janeiro
During to day & yesterday there has been a strong breeze from the SW; the amount of evaporation which a current of air produces in these countries is very great & in consequence the comparative state of dryness of the road has been today very remarkable. After dinner I walked to the Bay & had a good view of the Organ mountains; I was much struck by the justness of one of Humboldt’s observations, that hills in a Tropical country seen from a distance are of a uniform blue tint, but that contrary to what generally is the case the outline is defined with the clearest edge. Few things give me so much pleasure as reading the Personal Narrative; I know not the reason why a thought which has passed through the mind, when we see it embodied in words, immediately assumes a more substantial & true air. In the same manner as when we meet in dramatic writings a character which we have known in life, it never fails to give pleasure.