( 030 ) August 3rd, 1838.
We arrived at the port of Rio de Janeiro(038) at 9 o'clock in the evening. Although it was already getting dark when we got so close to the land that we could distinguish objects, the starlit sky gave us enough light that we could see the wonderful peaks and jagged rocks of the coast. The entrance to the harbor is narrow, about three times as wide as the Elbe near Dresden, and does not give the impression of a large, magnificent harbor, which behind it stretches for hours to the west. To the right and left of the entrance are small islands, on one of which there is a lighthouse with a rotating light. Most prominent of all these rock formations is the so-called Sugar Loaf(039), close to the harbor entrance, which rises 700 feet above the sea, and, as its name suggests, has exactly the shape of a Sugar Loaf leaning just a little to the southwest. Its steep walls seem to make it impossible to climb it without all the necessary equipment, although I heard from Pastor Neumann(040) that this had been done before by German sailors and more recently by some English sea officers; However, he too doubted the possibility. On both sides of the entrance to the harbor there are fortresses that completely dominate it and make any conquest impossible. We were called by one of them, and after the desired information about our ship was given through a mouthpiece, ( 031 ) they lit a bright, far-shining light to signify our arrival to a third fortress, which is built on a rock in the middle of the water, not far from the city. This answered the signal and, when we were some way into the harbor, called to us to drop our anchor, which usually didn't happen straight away. We were astonished at this English insolence [arrogance], which so little respects the laws of foreign ports, and we saw on the following day that it was carried much further in front of other English ships, probably by a warship, by making the fortress officials shout, "Let go your anchor," for a quarter, half an hour or longer before they did so. To prove that their order was serious, the fortress once fired a cannonball, whose whizzing we could clearly hear.

August 4th, 1838.
This morning we looked around for Rio, which we couldn't see last night, and found it to be on the southwest side of the harbor.

Opposite is a small town of Rio Grande(041), which is connected to Rio by a steamboat that leaves every hour. Around 9 a.m. an official boat came to [us], inquired about our purpose and state of health and and delivered the harbor regulations to the skipper in Portuguese, French and English language. Only then was it allowed to go ashore. A boat from our ship that wanted to land had to turn back. Since many travelers went from ship to land,

( 032 ) and the following day it was Sunday, and we did not know how long the ship would stay here, we would also have liked to go to Rio, but because of the lack of boats on the one hand and the rudeness of our fellow travelers on the other hand, we had to stay on board for this wonderful day.