Lawrence attends to things

well now, knows what he                                                                   

has got to attend to & has got                                                                         

to do it. G.                                                                                                       

 

Juniata

Rio Janeiro,

Oct 26 – 86

 

Dear Cordelia,

with A. F. & Geo's, &c.          Your 3 letters of 4^th 10 and 17^th came Saty. I had a chance to send letter by steamer that was leaving within a few hours after our arrival & receipt of your letters so I closed it & sent it along at once. A steamer leaves here for New York every Saty & an occasional Australian steamer during the middle of the week. No one seems to know exactly when we leave here for M Video, I think about next Saty or Monday.

 

The Tallapoosa & Lancaster are here, both go to M—Video shortly. I suppose that Rodgers of the Metacomet wants something or he would never write me. he was a lazy useless fellow on board the M— , dirty too, Jouett used to drive him below from deck.

 

            If you will drop a postal to Mrs K— washerwoman, BKJr. tell her I got my things all right, so did the Paymaster & D^r, in the nick of time. 

 

Thompson was in Pay office at Navy Yard until quite recently when clerk died in Boston office & he got his place, less to do, less hours & more pay.

 

Sorry Mrs Gooch has rooms on her hands, would not be surprised if the Howson's did not or could not come back. Tarbell, our Paymaster is a friend of Thompsons, & was acquainted with D^r Morris, Brittemans, Carrie Welsh, &c, &c, related to Miss Trull.

 

Never mind sending English papers, if anything of Ripley or Butterley news is interesting, or anything marked cut it out & send it. I shall see Bache when we get on South Pacific, it may be February before we reach Valparaiso.

 

Tell Maude that Herbert did not see his pictures before leaving but left directions for one to be sent to her at New York address.

 

Glad to hear from A F & G and get F's picture, a very good one, & came in good shape. send one to Mary, Lizzie, and save me one in case this should get wet or mildewed.

 

Sunday was a rainy day, so I / did not go ashore. It is a fine harbor this, fine entrance, harbor twice the size of Rio New York. Mountains all around 2 to 6 thousand feet high. At night both sides being lit up, the business portion on one side the harbor & the residences on the other like N.Y. & Brooklyn, altogether about 450 000 people it looks well from the water, ferry boats run frequently up to 10pm it is about 5 miles across the bay. I will try & send photo's of the place. I am glad we struck the place before the sickly season comes on, for it must be hot on board ship in the harbor, surrounded by such high hills. I see by the papers that the Essex is gone to China, Stivers expected to be able to keep her on the home station on acct of her crank shaft.

 

            The Lancaster's officers have not yet got over their chagrin of being sent from Nice to Brazil. If you remember the officers & wives pitched into Secy Chandler for the order preventing wives living on board, &c, &c., 

 

I hope the teachers are not pushing Geo ahead too fast, that is before he is familiar with his arithmetic, &c, I had rather he would take time and be sure he understands everything before going beyond his class.

 

Mrs Corbett & her husband have really condescended to enter a boarding house, & even eat a meal. I would have called on them & said goodbye if I had known it. Lawrence & I are going on top of a mountain overlooking the harbor & city tomorrow. The Corcovado, and to see the markets, if it does not rain. I see by papers that Bache's ship is going to Australia & to the Samoan Islands, where I wish we were going. This stick of a Captain. And the hard drinkers we have amongst our officers won't do us any good. Burwell sets a bad example, gets drunk & acts like a fool. Then when sober is ugly and inclined to be aggressive, and also one or two of the others following in his wake, but D^r is sensitive & occasionally shows his teeth. Paymaster laughs at them & ridicules them like the deuce. / while I go along on the even tenor of my way, or try to, & pay no attention to him, which enrages him the more. occasionally I go to the Capt. if he attempts to interfere with me or my men, or matters of the Department. Capt backs down, or has done so far. I know B— has tried his best to get Capt & self foul. I know he is annoyed that I rank him so much, acts like a hog at the table. I sit on his right. if I talk to the Paymaster who sits on my right, next one, he breaks right in & calls Paymaster off. I paid him back several scores the other day. He is 600 $ in debt to the Paymaster, & owes 100 $ to five men. D^r is wine caterer. B— wants to go into all sorts of extravagancies in the mess. I objected until the man was out of debt, and all the officers had paid their mess bills. He was furious, but no go, Baker would not go in for what B— wanted. B— got into a scrape in New York just before we left & had to pay some 500 $ to get it fixed up. He is dreadfully afraid yet. / I don't know any particulars, but he came near a courtmartial, he may not be with us long.

 

He & Wood (a Lieut) are not always on the best of terms. B— wants to do all that the rest do, so being half drunk the other night when Wood had company here he wanted to box with Wood. They put the gloves on after dinner. Wood evidently enjoyed it, for the way he knocked B— around the ward room was a caution. I only wished he had gone for him a little more. Every Admiral & Secy and all the first families of Virginia are his best friends, and he knows none but millionaires, & the highest & best blood in society, here & abroad.

 

If he stops the cruise I shall have lots of time to get square with him, & if he goes home shall be reconciled.

 

Tuesday cleared up for a while & Lawrence & I went up the Corcovado part way, got into the clouds & so stop'd half way & remained at hotel for breakfast while it rained, then we went out to Botanical gardens, & then to the outskirts where the high toned / people live, their 5^th Avenue It certainly was lovely, something like the Promenade at Nice, well lit up, at night it looks well from the water. all the homes are like hotels, so large, & such immense grounds around them. A high iron rail in front, immense double gates bar'd & bolted, & windows all closed with lattice work, not a sign of life, except an occasional piano, or a carriage driving in or out. The gardens all filled with tropical trees & shrubs. Palm trees in great abundance. I enjoyed the out of city ride, in the city it is not so pleasant, narrow streets everybody puffing smoke in your face, the whole atmosphere sort of head-achey. It smells like a Chinese den, & the whole place, the odor, reminded me of China town in in Frisco or Hong Kong. we looked in some of the jewelry stores, Lawrence wants to invest in a diamond, then at some of the hummingbird & buy jewelry. Coming back to the ship I ran against Chf Engr Baker & that P A Engr Towne of the Tallapoosa, both very much disapptd men, as this is a sort of blacklist station.

 

Speaking of that you remember Niles, he of the Michigan, he is here on Lancaster. They all run our officers about / so many Coburgers being here on the J— and of our going round the world, a roving Commission, &c. It is general talk that we have a hard lot of fellows here, & that the Juniata's officers carried on so in New York that the dept would not have us on the home station. Tis a bitter pill for Burwell, Baker, Wood & Usher. As well for the D^r he was assured that the ship was to be kept on home station, so applied for her. I expect we will stick on the Pac Station. Lawrence says so much in favor of Valparaiso, Coss[?] & other places that I think I shall be as well satisfied to remain, Stivers liked it too. best next to China.

 

Tell Alice not to use up all her energies going to parties. I don't like to hear of her being too tired to go anywhere. Fit up Frank & Alice to help Geo with his sums evenings, see that he understands the rules, and help him to reason out things a little. They don't explain things well at school.

 

May write again before leaving. Much love for all, & remember me to all in the house & those outside with whom we are acquainted.

 

Oct 29—will write again before leaving                    George.

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