Old drawing of Guanabara Bay (1843)

In 1843, the captain of a Dutch ship stationed in the bay of Guanabara, draws the Sugar Loaf with the Fortress of Santa Cruz.

Handwritten letter, with a drawing of the captain of a Dutch ship parked in Guanabara Bay. One sheet, front and back. 15 cm x 25 cm. In Dutch. Rio de Janeiro, December 1843. Fragile state. Single piece.

The text is part of a missing ship's newspaper, which we translated into English. It has days, times, meteorological indications and observations of maritime activity in Guanabara Bay.

Some featured excerpts, translated from Dutch into Portuguese

(...) The American frigate Brandywine and Congress, the English corvette Juno and the steamship Hydra. The Russian schooner Baikal, the Brazilian frigate Cafregua and two small smooth-deck corvettes and also the English sick and slave ship Cressent (...).

(...) He saluted the Brazilian government with 21 shots and N. Amer with 11 shots, which were answered (...)

(...) On December 6th, we celebrate in the usual way the birthday of King William (...) our venerable King, the hero of Waterloo, and so long live the King!!! It made 199 rounds that day, the N. Americ was kind enough to make 35 rounds in the afternoon, the other ships made 21.

Along with the Fortress of São João and Fort Tamandaré da Laje, the Fortress of Santa Cruz constituted the main defensive structure of the bay, city and port of Rio de Janeiro, during the period of colonial Brazil and Imperial Brazil.

Records from that time, in Guanabara Bay, are rarely available to the public, and even less to collectors.

This document written 180 years ago, allows us to imagine the activity at the time, at the end of the year in 1848. Including the slave trade and the extensive use of cannon fire to communicate… or commemorate the birthday of King Wilhelm I of Germany , hero of the famous battle of Waterloo, the last of the French Emperor Napoleon.

The icing on the cake: the design of the Sugarloaf Mountain behind the Santa Cruz Fortress, two important symbols of Rio de Janeiro to this day.