{"id":"01KG8AMETJVBWS7EBTWZJ1FHW3","cid":"bafkreibiddpz3wcur6nljrsmnaiizadrxg6sbt4snl3nslq3quznno2dqu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":8142,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":8087,"text":"CHAPTER L.\r\nTHE BAY OF ALL BEAUTIES.\r\n\r\n\r\nI have said that I must pass over Rio without a description; but just\r\nnow such a flood of scented reminiscences steals over me, that I must\r\nneeds yield and recant, as I inhale that musky air.\r\n\r\nMore than one hundred and fifty miles’ circuit of living green hills\r\nembosoms a translucent expanse, so gemmed in by sierras of grass, that\r\namong the Indian tribes the place was known as “The Hidden Water.” On\r\nall sides, in the distance, rise high conical peaks, which at sunrise\r\nand sunset burn like vast tapers; and down from the interior, through\r\nvineyards and forests, flow radiating streams, all emptying into the\r\nharbour.\r\n\r\nTalk not of Bahia de Todos os Santos—the Bay of All Saints; for though\r\nthat be a glorious haven, yet Rio is the Bay of all Rivers—the Bay of\r\nall Delights—the Bay of all Beauties. From circumjacent hillsides,\r\nuntiring summer hangs perpetually in terraces of vivid verdure; and,\r\nembossed with old mosses, convent and castle nestle in valley and glen.\r\n\r\nAll round, deep inlets run into the green mountain land, and, overhung\r\nwith wild Highlands, more resemble Loch Katrines than Lake Lemans. And\r\nthough Loch Katrine has been sung by the bonneted Scott, and Lake Leman\r\nby the coroneted Byron; yet here, in Rio, both the loch and the lake\r\nare but two wild flowers in a prospect that is almost unlimited. For,\r\nbehold! far away and away, stretches the broad blue of the water, to\r\nyonder soft-swelling hills of light green, backed by the purple\r\npinnacles and pipes of the grand Organ Mountains; fitly so called, for\r\nin thunder-time they roll cannonades down the bay, drowning the blended\r\nbass of all the cathedrals in Rio. Shout amain, exalt your voices,\r\nstamp your feet, jubilate, Organ Mountains! and roll your Te Deums\r\nround the world!\r\n\r\nWhat though, for more than five thousand five hundred years, this grand\r\nharbour of Rio lay hid in the hills, unknown by the Catholic\r\nPortuguese? Centuries ere Haydn performed before emperors and kings,\r\nthese Organ Mountains played his Oratorio of the Creation, before the\r\nCreator himself. But nervous Haydn could not have endured that\r\ncannonading choir, since this composer of thunderbolts himself died at\r\nlast through the crashing commotion of Napoleon’s bombardment of\r\nVienna.\r\n\r\nBut all mountains are Organ Mountains: the Alps and the Himalayas; the\r\nAppalachian Chain, the Ural, the Andes, the Green Hills and the White.\r\nAll of them play anthems forever: The Messiah, and Samson, and Israel\r\nin Egypt, and Saul, and Judas Maccabeus, and Solomon.\r\n\r\nArchipelago Rio! ere Noah on old Ararat anchored his ark, there lay\r\nanchored in you all these green, rocky isles I now see. But God did not\r\nbuild on you, isles! those long lines of batteries; nor did our blessed\r\nSaviour stand godfather at the christening of yon frowning fortress of\r\nSanta Cruz, though named in honour of himself, the divine Prince of\r\nPeace!\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS32QVSMK748G59PEEW2","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFEYRC7SATG1A3CRAS9Z","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:37.714Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:49.631Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}