BRAZIL AND HER PEOPLE OF TO-DAY

Works of NEVIN O. WINTER

L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

PICKING COFFEE.

([See page 267])

BRAZIL AND
HER PEOPLE
OF TO-DAY

AN ACCOUNT OF THE
CUSTOMS, CHARACTERISTICS, AMUSEMENTS,
HISTORY AND ADVANCEMENT
OF THE BRAZILIANS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT
AND RESOURCES OF
THEIR COUNTRY

BY
NEVIN O. WINTER

Author of “Mexico and Her People of To-day,”
“Guatemala and Her People of To-day,” etc.

ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL AND SELECTED
PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR

BOSTON
L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY
MDCCCCX

Copyright, 1910,
By L. C. Page & Company
(INCORPORATED)

All rights reserved

First Impression, September, 1910

Electrotyped and Printed by
THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U.S.A.

PREFACE

The favourable reception given by the public to the two previous books, “Mexico and Her People of To-day” and “Guatemala and Her People of To-day,” induced the writer to continue his studies of the Latin-American countries and people. To this end an extensive trip was made through several of the republics on that great continent to the south of us, and this work is the first result of that journey. Like the previous books it is presented as a study of the country and people from the most reliable authorities, as well as a record of impressions. In its preparation many books have been read and scores of people, Americans, Europeans and Brazilians, have been consulted and interviewed. The author’s purpose has been to present this treatise upon a neighbouring republic and study of our fellow Americans from a broad viewpoint, and avoid the narrowness of some writings in which everything different or unfamiliar is deemed a fit subject for caustic criticism. With this brief explanation of the purpose of this book, and method of its preparation, “Brazil and Her People of To-day” is given to the public.

The author desires to acknowledge his sense of obligation to Hon. Irving B. Dudley, Ambassador of the United States of America to the United States of Brazil, for courtesies and favours extended to the author; to Hon. John Barrett, Director of the International Bureau of the American Republics for kindly words of introduction; and to the Bulletin, issued by the Bureau, for permission to use three or four photographs as illustrations in this book.

Toledo, Ohio, August, 1910.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

BRAZIL AND HER PEOPLE OF TO-DAY

CHAPTER I
THE COUNTRY

“Norte-Americano,” politely suggested a Brazilian to me in the course of a conversation, and I accepted the correction.

“We also are Americanos,” he continued. After that I was very careful to make the distinction, although in an unguarded moment it would sometimes appear. “Ingles” or “Norte-Americano,” would sometimes be asked, although the most of the Brazilians can spot the “Yanqui,” as he is called with all due respect. It is said that our former Secretary of State, during his circular tour around South America, was very careful in all his speeches to call himself a North American, and this one little distinction aided in increasing his popularity. It is often the delicate little recognition that pleases these Latin people, who are themselves full of flattery and compliments. It is time for the people of the United States, especially as they are now entering upon an era of commercial conquest, to recognize that these people of the great continent south of us are just as much entitled to the use of that term, of which they are likewise proud, as we ourselves are; that though these people are Brazilians, Argentinians, Chileans, etc., they consider themselves first and foremost as Americans, in order to distinguish themselves from Europeans, Asiatics and Africans. We can say to them: “We are North Americans, you are South Americans; but we are all Americans, and proud of our homes in this great, glorious and promising continent.”

The vastness of Brazil is not fully realized. The geographical maps of South America are usually drawn on a smaller scale than those of the United States, so it is not generally known that the United States of Brazil are larger than the United States of America, exclusive of Alaska and the island possessions. From the most northerly point to the extreme southerly boundary is a distance of two thousand six hundred and seventy-five miles. For the sake of comparison one might say that if our own Atlantic coast line was prolonged in the same way it would reach from the southernmost extremity of Florida to the Hudson Bay region of upper Canada. It extends from four degrees twenty minutes North Latitude to thirty-three degrees forty-five minutes South, or thirty-eight degrees in all. The last ten degrees are below the Tropic of Capricorn and in the temperate zone. From a point near the city of Recife, or Pernambuco, to the most westerly point, is a distance of two thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine miles. From there the country to the south narrows continuously, until it is but a few hundred miles wide in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A line drawn west from near the city of Bahia, or São Salvador, would give about the medium width. Rio de Janeiro is in longitude nearly half-way across the Atlantic from New York to London, while the easternmost land, Cape San Roque, is still seven hundred miles farther to the east. Within these confines is a territory of three million three hundred and thirty-two thousand seven hundred and thirty square miles, according to the best estimates, and this makes it the fifth country in the world, being exceeded in extent only by China, the British Empire, the United States of America and Russia.

On the South American continent Brazil easily ranks first, as it occupies almost one-half of the entire surface of the continent, and is three times as extensive as its next largest neighbour, the Argentine Republic. The other republics of South America follow in the following order: Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay. The frontiers of this immense republic join those of all the other republics, except Chile, and also touch the borders of British, French and Dutch Guiana, the only foreign possessions on the mainland of this great continent. With one or two little exceptions the boundaries have now been settled by arbitration, so that the future will probably make little change in the limits as now outlined. It is shut off from communication with the Pacific coast by the lofty Andes, and that at least partly accounts for the lack of development in the western part of Brazil. In all, Brazil’s coast line amounts to about four thousand miles, all of which is on the Atlantic, and this includes nearly two-thirds of her entire boundary line. It would take a fifteen knot steamer ten days of continuous steaming to travel along this entire coast.

It was a surprise to me to find that it is next to impossible, except in the basin of the Amazon, to get away from the mountains. Hill and valley alternate everywhere, rarely rising to great heights, however, except along the coast, and seldom sinking into great crevasses or cañons. The highest mountain in Brazil, Itatiaia, between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, has an altitude of only nine thousand eight hundred and twenty-three feet, while the extreme height of the peaks in most of the ranges seldom exceeds four thousand five hundred feet. The highest range is in general confined to a belt, or chain of mountains, which follows the Atlantic shore, lying at the most but a few miles from the coast, and at times reaching clear to the water’s edge, which is known as the Serro da Mar. This range runs from Pernambuco to the borders of Uruguay, so that the coast, wherever seen from the sea, presents only an outline of mountains and serrated peaks, although at the extreme south they scarcely exceed the dignity of hills. The rise from the water’s edge is frequently very abrupt, and this has made the problem of railroad construction from the seaports to the interior a difficult as well as expensive proposition.

The broadest plains are probably in the states of Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, where they assume the appearance of pampas, and it is on those plains that the stock-raising industry has assumed its greatest proportions. Much of the states of Matto Grosso and Amazonas has been practically unexplored, so that the maps of those regions are, for the most part, guesswork, made up from the reports of travellers and amateur scientists, who have written reports of their travels through them. On the government maps one will find the outlines of rivers which are many miles away from the location given them, and the names of towns will appear in the heavy type given only to places of great importance; and yet, if any settlement exists at all at that point, it consists only of a few huts or a little Indian village. Although travellers have visited those sections, the land is untouched by the hand of man, and as virgin as our own western prairies were a half century ago. This land is mostly claimed by families who have never set foot upon it, and yet it has been the cause of deadly feuds among rival claimants; some basing their title upon ancient Portuguese grants, and others upon more recent ones by the republic. There are no roads that can be utilized by commerce, and only the waterways exist to give access to the outside world.

Brazil is a land of great water-courses. It not only has within its borders the greatest river in the world, but it also possesses several rivers which form the chief tributaries of the Rio de la Plata, another of the most extensive fluvial systems in the world. Because of the coast range of mountains nearly all of the water, even from within a few miles of the Atlantic coast, runs hundreds and even thousands of miles north to the Amazon, or south to the La Plata, before finally reaching the ocean. The great amount of the rainfall has made these streams numerous, as well as very broad, as they near their outlet. Between the sources of the two great systems there intervene but two short leagues of swampy ground, which are the common source of the Amazon and the La Plata, the “river of silver,” as it is named. The basin of the Amazon is larger than the basin of the Mississippi, the Missouri and many others together. It is as large as two-thirds of our own great land. The amount of water discharged is almost incredible. For hundreds of miles from its mouth the depth sometimes reaches one hundred and fifty feet, and in no place in the channel is it less than sixty feet. Its mouth is wider than the entire length of the lordly Hudson. Ocean steamers run between Iquitos, two thousand five hundred miles from its mouth, and European ports, as well as New York; and many of its tributaries, such as the Madeira and Negro, are mighty rivers in themselves. The Paraná, with its wonderful cascades, and the Uruguay, have their origin in Brazil, and the Paraguay drains many thousands of square miles of her territory. These three rivers form the principal sources of the Rio de la Plata, which carries to the Atlantic Ocean a volume of water exceeded by few rivers in the world.

On the western side of the Atlantic ridge the country forms a series of ridges, or plateaus, making, as some one has characterized it, a colossal stairway. These sudden drops make many fine waterfalls as the waters rush onward toward the Paraná River. The states of São Paulo and Paraná are especially rich in these cascades and rapids, and thus furnish unlimited water power awaiting development. They are no less interesting to the tourist, for nothing in nature is more interesting or fascinating than a fine waterfall, where the waters rush headlong in their precipitous course. The Tieté River alone furnishes many of those cascades, one of them, the Itapura, having a height of forty-four feet. Another is the Urubuhunga, near the former, the water passing over the two being of great volume.

All of these waterfalls, however, are overshadowed by the wonderful falls of the Iguassú, situated on the river of the same name, near its junction with the Paraná River, and on the borders between the republics of Brazil and Argentina. A dozen miles away the smoking columns of mist which crown the falls are plainly visible, and its thunderous roar may sometimes be heard for twenty miles. As one approaches nearer, the mist is more plainly seen and the roar of the waters is heard. The first view of these magnificent falls in their solitary grandeur is inspiring. They have the same general shape as Niagara, and are fifty feet higher. The entire falls are more than two miles in width, with a number of islands dividing the cataract. This may be divided into two sections, the Brazilian and Argentine falls. The head falls are on the Brazilian side and occur on an acute horseshoe bend, somewhat similar to that at Niagara, which is caused by the unequal erosion. Below the falls are depths which a hundred fathom line has failed to sound, and the natives call them bottomless. There is a triple leap of three hundred and twenty feet, the last one alone being a drop of two hundred and thirteen feet over sheer precipices of dark rock. At the present time it is difficult of access, because it is reached by ascending the Rio de la Plata and Paraná River, a journey of almost two weeks, or by a several days’ journey overland from Ponta Grossa, in the state of Paraná. Some day, when the means of communication become better, it will no doubt be visited by thousands of people each season. It still remains in all its primitive beauty, for the hand of man has as yet done nothing to detract from or add to what nature herself created. It is like another Niagara set out in the midst of a wilderness, with dense lines of waving bamboo or other trees marking the boundaries of the stream. Like Tennyson’s Brook, the Iguassú might say:

“For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.”

FALLS OF IGUASSÚ.

Above these falls on the Paraná are the wonderful Guayra falls, one hundred and twenty-five miles above the junction with the Iguassú; and four hundred miles still farther up are the Uberaponga falls, with many smaller cataracts intervening. Below Guayra cataract the current piles up in the centre with a corkscrew action, and then dives down again into midstream. It returns to the surface in eddies which leap up twelve or fifteen feet in the air, making, as one scientific investigator terms it, “rapids with which the whirlpool rapids of Niagara are a quiet duckpond in comparison.” One is lost in considering this frantic water power here awaiting the harnessing by man.

Of the climate of Brazil much has been said in a disparaging way. It has been classed as a tropical country, and therefore subject to all the ills supposed to be connected with such a climate. And yet the climate is so varied that the subject can not be dismissed in a single paragraph. It is hot in places, but even in Rio de Janeiro the evenings are generally very pleasant and comfortable, the thermometer usually going down to about sixty degrees Fahrenheit. At least one can always find it so by establishing his home a few hundred feet above the sea level, on one of the adjacent hills. I doubt if the people of Rio suffer from the oppressively hot nights as much as New Yorkers or Chicagoans, and I was there in December, supposed to be one of the hottest months. Fifteen hundred to two thousand feet above the sea level the climate is really delightful, and one need not pity the people who dwell there. Some one has said that the whole country might be compared to a beautiful Tennessee, without the rigours of winter. Along the Amazon it is hot and humid, and yet I have met Englishmen who had lived in Manaos and Pará for years, and who sighed to go back to those places because they loved the climate. In the southern states of Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul the climate is about the same as Argentina, which is regarded as temperate.

There is plenty of rainfall everywhere except in two or three states, almost underneath the equator. On the Atlantic coast it ranges from one hundred to two hundred inches annually. Along the Amazon it is much greater, and on the inland plateaus it will probably average seventy-five inches per year. Thus, in the vast area of Brazil, almost every variety of climate will be found, except the extreme cold, which is absent. It used to be thought that people could not live so near the equator, but proper hygiene takes away all danger of the so-called tropical diseases, so dreaded by most people from colder climes.

As one writer has well said: “Diseases in cold climates are always looked upon as calamities quite independent of climatic conditions; even if ignorant of their causes, pathologists always had an explanation ready. In the case of warm countries, it is otherwise. Without any further inquiry the climate has been blamed as the enemy. The European nations drew around themselves sanitary cordons of quarantine and disinfection against cholera, yellow fever and plague, and for a long time never thought of going right to the source of trouble and improving sanitary conditions in the countries where these diseases had their origin.”

It has really been a base libel upon these countries to blame everything upon the climate and climatic conditions. The heat and humidity may make some diseases more fatal, but at the same time they seem to act as preventative to others which are far more fatal in colder climates. The United States taught the world this lesson at Havana and in Panama, and it has been a valuable one for the world. Brazil has wakened up to this necessity, and now Santos, Bahia, and other cities, as well as the capital, have followed a cleaning-up policy that has brought the death-rate down to where it will compare favourably with other cities of the world.

The United States of Brazil is a republic very much like the United States of America in form. Its constitution is modelled after that of the United States, a Portuguese translation of which was made for them. It differs, however, in some respects. A president, for instance, is ineligible to succeed himself; and even a vice-president, who has succeeded to the presidency, can not be a candidate for that office without a term intervening. The power of the national government is less than that of our own, and the state has greater importance. This condition was made almost necessary in the formation of the republic in order to gain the adherence of many of the states, as they aimed to get as far away from the centralization idea as possible. The great distances separating them likewise, and slow communication between them, has encouraged these differences. In many respects the state governments are too powerful, and the national government too weak. Each state has its own army, although in a measure subject to the national government, but this local militia is more loyal to the state than the national government. The unoccupied land is the property of the various states, instead of the national government as with us, and this has contributed in making the state governments of unusual importance.

The republic is composed of twenty states, one territory and the Federal District, in which is situated the national capital. The states are very uneven in size, the largest being Amazonas, with more than a million square miles of territory, one-third of the whole, and Sergipe having only about twenty-five thousand square miles. Out of the total population of about eighteen million, more than one-fifth live in the state of Minas Geraes, while the great state of Amazonas contains only about one person for each five square miles of territory. The state of Matto Grosso, second in size and also colossal, has even a smaller ratio of population, according to the statistics, which are probably not very accurate on these little known states. São Paulo has heretofore been the most powerful state, and Rio Grande do Sul has had the most checkered history, for its German inhabitants have not always been in harmony or sympathy with the Latins, who predominate in the other states, and they have maintained several uprisings on their own account.

The republic was established on the 15th of November, 1889, and there have been six presidents elected. The term of office is four years. A vice-president is elected who serves in the event of the death or incapacity of the President; the present President having succeeded to the office on the death of Dr. Affonso Augusto Moreira Penna, in June, 1909. The National Assembly is composed of a Senate and House of Deputies. Each state and the federal capital are entitled to three senators who serve for nine years, and a deputy is allowed for each seventy thousand inhabitants, with a minimum of four for any state. The congress now consists of sixty-three senators and two hundred and fifteen deputies, one-third of the former being elected every three years. Each state has its own president, congress, cabinet and other officials, almost identical with the federal officials. The qualifications for suffrage are quite generous; but only a small proportion of those qualified actually vote at the elections, which are always held on Sunday, and generally in the churches. It is safe to say that on those days the religious services do not claim much attention. There is generally a clique, or oligarchy, in each state, which dominates political affairs. These men absolutely dictate the matters of the state and represent the affairs of that state in national politics. Corruption is quite a common thing, but that the farther up one goes the less of it is to be found is my belief. The several presidential administrations have been good, but many of the municipal administrations have followed crooked paths openly.

“Ordem e Progreso,” order and progress, is the motto of the Republic of Brazil. The flag consists of a green rectangle, representing the vegetable kingdom, with a diamond-shaped yellow block in the centre, representing the mineral wealth. In the centre is a blue circle, which corresponds with the blue of the skies, with the above motto across it. Within the blue circle are twenty-one stars, representing the twenty states and federal district, five of which are grouped to represent the constellation of the Southern Cross. The coat of arms contains the same colours and emblems arranged in an artistic design, and with some other insignia added.

The developed part of Brazil is only a small part of the whole country. It constitutes a fringe along the Atlantic coast, and bears about the same relation to the whole country as the original thirteen states do to the United States as at present constituted. There are few large cities, but numerous small towns of from five to twenty thousand, and many villages are scattered over the land. No part is overpopulated, the most densely populated being the states of Alagoas and Rio de Janeiro, with an average of perhaps twenty-three to the square mile, and there is no danger of even those states being overpopulated for some time yet. In a land where all the year around is a growing season this is a very small population, even considering the mountainous character of most of the country. If peopled as densely as France, Brazil would have a population of not less than three hundred and twenty million. It is almost purely an agricultural country, although some advancement has been made in manufactures through government encouragement and high customs duties. Especially has this been true in cotton goods, and there are many small factories of these textiles scattered over the land, most of them run by the water power which is so abundant in most sections. Some other factories have been started through concessions being granted, but by far the greatest part of the goods used are imported from the manufacturing nations of the world. This governmental assistance causes many of the factories to feel that to some extent they are government enterprises. The same policy has been followed with railroads of guaranteeing returns instead of making grants of lands, which would be an incentive to the railroad to aid in development. The São Paulo-Rio Grande Railway is one exception to this rule, and it is prospering. The Central Railroad, which has over a thousand miles of main track, is owned and operated as a government institution, and this method has not been a success any more than the Lloyd Brazilian line of national steamers. Money goes in from all sources, but the government treasury is compelled every year to make up deficits.

Brazil was discovered in the year 1500 by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral, who took possession of it in the name of his sovereign. It was first named Terra de Santa Cruz, the Land of the Holy Cross, but the name was changed to that of the dyewood which had been in use before. The French soon after began to trade with the natives, but they were driven off by the Portuguese. The Huguenots of the country likewise attempted to establish a free religious colony at what is now Rio de Janeiro, but this attempt was also frustrated, and Rio did not become an important place until the middle of the eighteenth century. The Jesuits sought to make a religious settlement out of São Paulo, but the energetic “Paulistas” rose in their might and drove them into the Spanish territories.

The Portuguese began to colonize the country, and established a number of settlements along the coast. Pernambuco was founded in 1526 and Bahia in 1549, as compared with New York in 1614 and Boston in 1621. The country was divided into fifteen capitancias, each with fifty leagues of coast, and stretching inland in parallel lines to the westernmost limits of the country. These were granted by the king to Portuguese nobles. Numerous struggles took place with the Spaniards, who tried to seize all of South America, and were in actual control of nearly all of the rest of the South American coast. The political outline was finally determined by natural configurations. The Portuguese kept in control of the district penetrated by the Amazon and its tributaries, as far as they were navigable, and the Spaniards got control as far as the Rio de la Plata was navigable on the south; and between these two boundaries the land was kept in the hands of the Portuguese. Where navigation was impeded on the Paraguay, Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, there Spanish domination ended. On the remainder of the coast the Spaniards maintained their supremacy, except the small Dutch, French and English settlements in Guiana. It speaks well for the indomitable perseverance of a small country like Portugal that they acquired and maintained for three centuries such a vast empire, when the mother country is smaller than one island at the mouth of the Amazon.

When King John brought his court over to Brazil, in 1809, a national spirit was engendered. After he returned to Portugal, it was not long until an independent spirit arose and revolution was in the air. Then came a new-world empire, during which the Dom Pedros, I and II, reigned. Each was expelled from the country; the first with rejoicing, the second with sadness, and, perhaps, many a tear. When one considers that the republic only reaches its majority in this year of 1910, and that slavery was abolished only twenty-two years ago, both of these changes being accomplished without bloodshed, the progress of the country can be better understood, and many of its shortcomings more easily overlooked. Furthermore the early advance of the country was stunted by the lust for gold of the first Portuguese colonists. Everything was sacrificed to immediate results, in order that they might return to the homeland and live in luxury. It was different from the motive that influenced either Puritan or Cavalier in our own land, for they sought liberty. The evil effects of this early exploitation have been felt during the intervening centuries, not alone in Brazil, but throughout all of South America.

CHAPTER II
ALONG THE COAST TO THE CAPITAL

It is a delightful journey of a little more than two weeks from New York to the capital of Brazil. In a little more than twenty-four hours after leaving that metropolis, even in the middle of the winter, the vessel is ploughing through balmy seas, and the passengers are sitting on the spacious decks of the comfortable steamers with all wraps discarded. As the route of these steamers is east of that of vessels bound for the Caribbean seas, few boats are sighted, and day after day is passed without the sight of a sail. For thirteen days our ship, the Vasari, sailed through stormless waters, with only one full-rigged schooner coming within our horizon, and no land to be seen.

It was not until near the equator that even a rain storm clouded the skies, and then fleeting showers chased each other across the skies, and peals of thunder and flashes of lightning occasionally created a diversion. The sunsets were wonderful. As evening approached, dark clouds seemed to gather near the horizon; the sun slowly approached them, and then dropped suddenly out of sight. Streaks of red and crimson, silver and gold shot out, and these diffused and melted into each other with the constant variations of the kaleidoscope. The contrast of bright hues with the dark, ominous-looking clouds was striking. There was no twilight, and darkness immediately followed. It was the time of the full moon also. Just a little while after the setting of the sun the moon would rise on the opposite side of the boat. An immense and luminous ball the Queen of the Night appeared, and rapidly climbed up over the bank of clouds; and then, as it dwindled in size, it increased in brilliancy, until the dancing waves were covered with a silvery sheen. Never have I seen such beautiful scenes as we witnessed for several nights when near the equatorial line.

Watches were changed each day since we were constantly travelling eastward, as one will see by consulting a map. New York is situated in longitude seventy-four degrees west, while the easternmost coast of Brazil is in longitude thirty-five degrees west. At last the sandy shores of Rio Grande do Norte are sighted, and the vessel rounds Cape San Roque. Far out at sea little sails appear in considerable numbers, and when near enough to see them it is found that they are simply rafts made of logs fastened together. These are the “catamaran” fishing boats, from the port of Pernambuco. The adventurous boatmen will sometimes venture out a hundred miles to sea in these simple and frail-looking crafts, and they are seldom lost.

Pernambuco, or Recife, is the first port at which the transatlantic steamers stop, and it is either here, or at Bahia, that the American traveller down the east coast first sets his foot on Brazilian soil. It is the second city of importance in northeastern Brazil, and the state of Pernambuco, of which it is the capital, is second in importance only to Bahia. Recife is nearer to Europe than any other South American port, and it is usually made the first port of call by the many steamers which ply to that continent. A coral reef extends along the shore, and at a distance of a few hundred feet from it, thus making a natural harbour for vessels that are not of too deep draught; and it is this reef that gives the name to the city, for Recife means a reef. It is a natural wall rising straight up out of the water, on the top of which has been built a low wall of stone. At high tide this wall is generally high enough to keep out the sea. Recife is a busy port and a great shipping port for sugar, as that is the particular product of this state. The influence of the early Dutch colonists here can still be traced in the old buildings. One finds in travelling through Brazil that each state has only one principal production, which supports the people, and the export tax on which provides the government with funds. At one time this state had a monopoly in sugar production and Pernambuco sugar was known the world over.

THE MUNICIPAL THEATRE, PERNAMBUCO.

Recife is divided into three parts by streams of water or lagoons, and there are many bridges connecting the various parts. In fact it is cut up so much by these arms of the ocean that it has been called the South American Venice. The city is fifth in size in the republic, and is quite a pretty little city with plazas and parks after the usual style. In the oldest part of the city the streets are narrow and crooked, but on the other and larger peninsula, the blocks of houses are larger, the streets wider, and there are some good stores as well as tram cars. The colour of the inhabitants is rather marked, but there is, possibly, not so large a percentage of the negro element as in the larger city lower down on the coast.

The state of Pernambuco is a state about the size of Ohio, and one of the important states in the republic. Its population exceeds the million mark. Because of its large black population, many of whom were formerly slaves, education has not advanced here as much as in a number of the states farther south. Its commerce is considerable, with sugar as the leading item. Cotton is also an important production. At the port one can see cotton coming in on wagons, ox-carts, the backs of mules and even on the black shoulders of the inhabitants. The coast-line of Pernambuco is only a little over a hundred miles in length, but the state runs inland for several hundred miles.

It will probably be surprising to many people to know that the whaling industry is quite an important one along this coast, for this sport is supposed to be confined to polar waters. And yet I have personally seen whales on the western coast of South America almost as far north as the equator. On this coast they are caught up to within twelve degrees of the line. Along the coast of Bahia there are several whaling stations, most of which are in the vicinity of the city of Bahia. As soon as the Antarctic winter sets in, the whales begin to migrate northward and reach these waters in May. From then until November the whaling boats may be seen at any time out on the Atlantic with all sails set, looking for a “blow,” which marks the presence of the game. Passengers on the steamers also watch for the same signs, as it is a novel sight to those making their first trip, and the older travellers are also looking for any diversion.

The whales caught are full of blubber, but the whalebone in the jaws of the variety found here is too short to have much commercial value. The whales generally average from thirty to fifty feet in length, but catches are sometimes made of these marine monsters that will reach sixty feet long. The longest one of which any record has been made was seventy feet from its nose to the end of its tail, and yielded nearly six thousand quarts of oil. The meat is also considered quite a delicacy by many of the Bahians, who devour it eagerly. The methods pursued by the whaler are primitive, and more than half the whales once harpooned finally escape. And yet with all this primitiveness, the average annual catch is from three to four hundred whales, which is not such a bad record.

A day’s run brings the traveller to the most important city in Brazil north of Rio de Janeiro. It is situated on a bay which is generally classed as one of the fine harbours of the world. When Americus Vespucius entered this beautiful and commodious harbour with a fleet, he named it Bahia da Todos os Santos, the Bay of All Saints, in honour of the feast day on which it was first seen. When this discovery was reported to the King of Portugal, he sent out an expedition with instructions to build a city “strong enough not only to keep the natives in awe, but also to resist the attack of any more formidable army.” The present city was founded in 1549, so that the city has outgrown its swaddling clothes long ago. It has also been a city of importance, as it was for almost two centuries the seat of colonial power, and the residence of the Governor-General representing the Crown. The city was originally named São Salvador, and should be called that to-day, but the name of the state clings to the capital as well.

The bay up which the vessel sails to its anchorage has sheltered many and strange craft during the past four centuries since its first discovery. It is a magnificent expanse of water, completely sheltered from the open sea, and large enough to contain all the navies of the world, for it is from ten to twenty miles wide and twenty-seven miles in length. There are no docks, and the boat generally anchors about half a mile from shore. As soon as the port officer has visited the ship, a gang of bandits in the form of men of dark visage crowd around the gangway, and seek to take the passengers ashore. It is necessary to bargain very carefully, and pay nothing to the boatman until the round trip has been made; otherwise you will be compelled to pay extra for your return to the ship.

The city is divided into an upper and a lower town, and is quite an imposing place. The lower part is a narrow, sun-baked strip along the sea front, and is devoted to the shipping and banking interests. One would think that even they would want to get away from the foul-smelling odours which prevail along the waterfront. As one writer has said, “there is a distinct and separate bad smell to every house.”

THE BOAT LANDING, BAHIA.

During the day this section is a busy place, but at night a funereal quiet prevails. The upper city, or Cidade Alta, is reached by a long winding road, or by means of the ascensors, or elevators, of which there are several. The upper city is composed of broader streets, is in every way more attractive, and the air seems much purer and sweeter than in the lower town.

The sights are novel enough, too, especially if it is the first Brazilian city visited. Here one will also meet with that luxuriant growth of flowers, which are seen in every plaza and private dooryard. The public buildings, of which there are a number, for this city is the capital of a state as large as California, are very creditable. The governor’s palace, the senate building, the municipal and other buildings occupy conspicuous sites. There are many churches, of which the Cathedral is the most interesting, and is one of the oldest buildings in the country, having originally been built as a Jesuit college. Clubs, theatres and bathing resorts also add a liveliness to life in this city. Bahia has always been known for its noted names in literature, and many of the brightest men in Brazilian arts and letters were natives of this state.

The bright hues of the buildings add a brilliance of colour to the city which some one has described as “mashed rainbows.” There are vivid yellow, green, purple, sky blue, terra-cotta and many other equally striking shades. Many of the buildings are covered with porcelain tiles, which render them very attractive. Some of the windows are ornamented with a lace work of wrought iron, and occasionally the decoration over the doors is of the same metal, which is said to be of negro designing. Some of these houses date back to colonial times, but others have more cosmopolitan characteristics. The fronts of the yards are ornamented with flowering trees and shrubs that harmonize (in some instances) with the bright colours adorning the plaster covering of the adobe brick, which is the basis of construction used here. Most of the houses are only one story, although two stories are fairly common, and occasionally a sky-scraper three stories in height may be encountered.

There is one thing that will impress itself upon the traveller, and that is the colour of its inhabitants, for it is said that Bahia has a greater proportion of negroes than any other Brazilian city, but it would be a close race between that city and Pernambuco. One might think that he had stepped into one of our southern states, except for the fact that none of the kinky-haired inhabitants speak English. All of them jabber in the guttural Portuguese. Everywhere one goes there are negroes, and negroes of every hue from the aboriginal blackness to a chocolate brown and saffron yellow. I counted fifty people as they passed by me on one of the principal streets. Of this number forty-five were decidedly black, three were surely white, and the remaining two I was not certain about. At the same time a fellow-traveller counted thirty-five on the other side of the street, and said that he was sure of only two white people out of that number. This was about the middle of the day, when the white people were probably taking their siesta, and the proportion would not hold good over the whole city. It is certain, however, as statistics show, that at least eighty per cent. of the population have a sprinkling of negro blood in their veins. And yet, with all this preponderance of blacks, the attempt of the United States to appoint a negro consul at this port almost raised a tropical hurricane just a few years ago.

The shade of black does not mean social ostracism, and one will find white and black side by side in every social circle. Along the docks, and in the markets, one may see the negro men bearing heavy burdens on their heads, after the manner of Mexican cargadors, while the women sit around with a few articles for sale, and smoke huge, black cigars while waiting for prospective customers. The women also have that peculiar stride, which is characteristic of those who are accustomed to carry loads upon their heads. Some of the negro women are monstrous in size, and weigh from two hundred to two hundred and fifty pounds. Their dress, which consists of a long, white sleeveless chemise cut low in the neck, is so simple that it is easy to see that no padding is used. Nearly all wear white, or brightly coloured turbans, some wear shawls folded across the shoulders, and all are either barefooted or wear a heelless slipper.

The shacks made of lumps of clay thrust between slats like lath, and roofed with thatch, which one may find on the edge of the city, are the homes of many of these improvident blacks. In this climate there is no need to lay up for to-morrow, and children are not expensive, for clothing is not needed until several years after they become members of the family. Some of the poor babies may wear a simple coin or chain around the neck, but that will be all, except perhaps the innocent smile of childhood. And yet most of these negroes seemed to be busy at something, although the wages earned are no doubt very small. They impressed me as being rather superior in type to many of our negroes, such as one may find in some parts of Mississippi or Alabama.

It is not good policy for a white man to appear on the street without a coat, as he will lay himself liable to insult by the negroes. One of the men from the steamer took off his coat and carried it on his arm. A white man warned him, but he did not understand the language. It was not long until some negroes began to throw things at him. As soon as he put his coat on again these insults stopped. Coatless comfort on hot days is reserved by the negroes themselves.

The breath of the tropics prevails at Bahia, as it is not far from the equatorial line. A ride to the suburb of Rio Vermelho, which looks out upon the sea, passes through avenues of tropical trees and past fields of bananas. To me the palm is the most interesting tree of the tropics. The mango with its dense foliage, the umbrella tree with its curious yet graceful shape, and many flowering trees—all of these are beautiful; but when I see the palm, I feel like saying with the poet:

“I love the Palm

With his leaves of beauty, his fruit of balm.”

Tropical fruits of many kinds grow in abundance. The Bahia oranges, which are green in colour, have a fine flavour. The cajú is a peculiar fruit about the size of a lemon, with the seed growing out at one end, as though it was stuck on in some way. This fruit is sweet but astringent, and is considered a great blood purifier. The kidney-shaped nut, when raw, is dangerous to eat because of poisonous juice it contains; but a roasting drives out the poisonous quality and the nut is then delicious. The mango, which, to those who have cultivated a liking, is the most delicious of fruits, grows to great size in Bahia, and has a most excellent flavour. One feels like getting into a bathtub, however, after eating one, in order to get rid of the muss made in eating it. I have not yet learned to be fond of this tropical fruit for, like olives, the taste is acquired, and it oftentimes requires many and repeated efforts to cultivate a taste. There is a fruit that grows out of the side and trunk of great trees, which much resembles an immense hedge apple, that is peculiar to this district. It grows to an immense size, and the natives are very fond of it. Then there are melons called the mammão, that grow on trees, and which much resemble the cantaloupe in appearance, but differ in flavour. This melon is said to have excellent digestive properties because of the abundance of pepsin which it contains. All of these, and many more novel things one will find in the markets. The curious little marmosette monkeys, which are not much larger than a good-sized rat, are very common. Then again, this is the home of talking parrots, and their shrill screeches are heard from almost every doorway.

The first experience of the traveller with Brazilian money is rather amusing. In New York I had obtained five thousand five hundred reis, which seemed like a large sum of money, enough to pay for the whole trip. Imagine my surprise when I found it lacked five hundred reis of enough to pay for my first meal on shore! It cost three hundred reis to mail a letter to the States, and a street car ride cost another four hundred reis. My boatman cheated me out of one thousand reis without moving an eyelid. All of these things caused me to put pencil to paper in a little calculation. I found that I was a millionaire for the first time in my life. At the rate of exchange then prevailing three hundred and twenty-five dollars would buy one million reis, the money of the country. You may feel like a millionaire when the bank clerk hands over to you a package of bills, with thousands of reis printed all over them; but the illusion soon vanishes when your hotel bill is presented after a few days’ stay, for a million reis soon disappears. The reis in an infinitesimal coin, so small that you could scarcely see it with a magnifying glass, for one thousand of them are worth only thirty-one cents. The milreis (one thousand reis) is used as the unit, and accounts are thus carried in the decimal system, with the dollar mark at the end of the thousand. Thus, one million reis, which is one thousand milreis, or, as it is generally called, one conto, would be written 1,000$000. It is the same as the Portuguese monetary system, although the Brazilian milreis is only worth about half as much as that of Portugal. The money is all paper, and the most of it is the dirtiest and filthiest money I have ever handled. Some of the bills are so tattered, torn and greasy that it is almost impossible for a stranger to tell what denomination they are. The small denominations are large and awkward coins of several different issues, and of several different sizes.

The state of Bahia is one of the larger states of Brazil, and has a coast line of several hundred miles. It is traversed by mountains in every direction, and that has perhaps been the cause of the tardy development of the country through railroad construction, because of the difficulties and expenses involved. There are a couple of railways which run inland from Bahia, but no railroad connects it with the adjoining states. It is always necessary to come back to the capital city, and take the steamer again for whatever port one is bound for. The productions of the state are varied, and a great deal of the products is exported. The tobacco export from this port is greater than that of all the other productions together. The leaf tobacco is exported in great quantities, but the Bahia cigarettes and cigars have a great reputation in Brazil; and the manufacture of them furnishes employment to thousands of the dusky-hued Bahians. When you consider that the women aid the men in smoking, it will be seen that the home consumption is no inconsiderable quantity.

A dusky boatman rowed me out to the vessel, just as the sun was setting in a lurid glow behind the hills, which form the background of Bahia. The dancing waves reflected the lurid colours of the retreating sun, and the bright colours of the Bahia houses seemed to be borrowed from that radiant orb. Then, as darkness fell, the electric lights were lighted in the lower town and up on the hill; and Bahia looked like a city of enchantment. Here and there moved streaks of light as the electric cars dashed along; and again, similar streaks moved up and down as the ascensors carried their loads. Rockets were going up in various parts of the city, for some religious celebration was being held. It was amidst such scenes that our good ship weighed anchor and we moved south, getting farther and farther away from the fierce breath of the tropics at each revolution of the rapidly revolving propeller.

RIO DE JANEIRO. LOOKING ACROSS THE BAY AT SUGAR LOAF.

With land in sight about half the time, it was almost a three days’ journey to cover the intervening distance of seven hundred and fifty miles to Rio de Janeiro. On the morning of the third day the passengers were on deck early, for the capital was nearing. The sandy shores of the mainland were visible, with their background of rugged peaks. Little rocky islands with the surf dashing up against their jagged edges rose out of the water, and were successively passed. Schools of fish that swam so near to the surface, that they could be followed by the agitation of the water which they caused, were chased by flocks of birds that ever and anon dashed beneath the surface and came up with their prey. As the morning fog lifted, curious forts with disappearing guns could be outlined on the shore, and one imposing fort on a prominent peak seemed to protect the city. Then old Sugar Loaf, which has been so much pictured, lifted its lofty head out of the gloom, with Corcovado and the other peaks in the background. Gradually the harbour of Rio de Janeiro, which is said by all travellers to be one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful bay in the world, unfolded itself; and back of the blue waters of the bay were the white walls and red-tiled roofs of the city, and above and beyond the city were the fantastic peaks of the many oddly formed hills which form the background of this fascinating city.

There are a number of other states in this section of Brazil, each of which deserves some mention. Between Pernambuco and Bahia lie two of the smaller states, Alagoas and Sergipe. The former is a state almost as large as Indiana, and is the most populous in the republic. It is a rich agricultural state, with sugar and cotton as the principal crops. The name, A-lagoas, means the lakes, and it is upon one of the principal of these that the capital, Maceio, is situated. This is a pretty little town of forty thousand or more inhabitants. The people of the state are generally Portuguese, with more or less mixture of the native or negro races. The two military presidents of Brazil were from this state. Sergipe, the smallest state, is nearly twice as large as our own state of Massachusetts, and has a population of about half a million. On the coast it is low, hot and swampy, but in the interior the soil is higher, and most of it very fertile. It has neither a railroad nor a good port, so that the state is greatly handicapped in its commerce. The capital is Aracajú, which is a pretty little tropical city of about twenty-five thousand people. It is quite probable that Sergipe will one day be absorbed by one of the larger states, as the financial problem is a serious one.

Sections of each of the three states lying north of Pernambuco, Parahyba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará lie within what is termed an arid belt. This seems a very strange occurrence so near the equator. There are, however, droughts there that last for several years, and so greatly impoverish the people that government succour becomes necessary. When I was in Brazil a government commission was just starting for that section to study the question, and see what could be done to introduce dry farming methods. Parahyba, which is a little larger than Alagoas, is perhaps the least affected, but still its climate is generally hot and dry. In the lowlands sugar and rice are cultivated, and in the uplands cereals. Cotton is likewise one of the chief products, and a great many cattle are raised in the interior. The capital city has the same name, and is an interior town connected with the seaport, Cabedello, by rail.

Rio Grande do Norte is the most northeasterly state, and was the first land sighted by Europeans on the shores of South America. Its area of twenty-two thousand square miles includes much arid territory where rain is very uncertain. Artesian wells have been tried without much success, and dry farming seems to be the only hope, although the droughts only come periodically. Premiums have been offered for the digging of these wells, and the construction of dams or reservoirs. One of the chief industries outside of agriculture is the production of salt, of which thousands of tons are made each year from the rich saline deposits along the northern shore. Natal is the capital and chief seaport. Although this city is not large to-day, it is very old, having been founded in 1597.

Ceará is a progressive state despite famines which have come about every eleven years, and at times have greatly reduced the population, for fevers have generally followed the famines. The inhabitants are workers, and from this state have been drawn the labourers to develop the rubber industry. Ceará was the first state to emancipate the slaves, and in many ways the people have shown themselves progressive. They stick to the home land regardless of famines and droughts, and cultivate their fields assiduously. The cacao of this state is very fine, and the cattle industry is an important one. This state, the size of Illinois, supports a population of nearly a million, of which about fifty thousand live in the capital city of Fortaleza.

Piauhy is a large state about which little is known. It has a population of less than two to the square mile, and has a coast line not exceeding ten miles on the Atlantic. Only a very small portion of the land is cultivated. The principal exports are a white wax, made from the scales of a palm, and a rubber known as Maniçoba rubber. The towns are small, the largest, Therizina, also the capital, having a population of only twenty thousand. There is much fine timber in the state, and probably not a saw-mill to cut it. With railroads, men of enterprise and money, Piauhy might be developed into a great, prosperous and influential state.

About half-way between Bahia and Pernambuco is the mouth of the São Francisco River, another of the great water-courses of Brazil. For a thousand miles from its mouth this river is navigable for small vessels, except for a distance of about one hundred miles, where there are some wonderful rapids and inspiring falls. In April, when the dry season sets in, the people from the hillsides and mountains move down to plant their corn, beans, rice and mandioca. The freshets leave a deposit of fine white sand, which enriches the soil. It is not necessary to break the ground. The native makes a hole in the ground, with a sharp stick, into which a seed is dropped and then covered. He then builds a shelter of the palm branches and awaits the maturing of his crops. When they are gathered he sells his surplus to the traders, and moves up again into the hills and mountains, where he lives a life of comparative ease and idleness until the next season.

THE PAULO AFFONSO FALLS.

The principal falls of the São Francisco are called Paulo Alfonso, and are a two days’ trip up the river from its mouth, through tropical scenery. The average width of this river above the falls is two-thirds of a mile, and the volume of water is great, for it drains an immense territory. The rapids begin some distance above the falls proper. The whirling and churning water is dashed along on its way toward the final leap, where this immense volume of water is forced through a break in the precipitous banks, not more than fifty feet wide. The falls are slightly crescent shaped. As the main body of the water rushes, leaps and surges down the steep incline of the last rapids, it is hurled against a steep black wall with great momentum; broken into foam and spray, swishing, swirling and churning, it then rebounds only to be pushed over the abyss at a right angle to its original course. The waters then rush forward for a few hundred feet, only to be hurled back by another rock wall three hundred feet high, thus forming a whirlpool, from which it finally escapes and passes through a narrow gorge for several miles, from which it emerges in a little quieter mood. The total fall of the water is two hundred and seventy feet. The view from a height of nearly one hundred feet, as one looks down upon the final leap of one hundred and ninety feet, is awe-inspiring. There is not only a wonderful view of the falls from that point, but a bird’s-eye view of the rapids, and the roar of the falls and rapids is something terrific.

CHAPTER III
THE CITY OF BEAUTIFUL VIEWS

If the capital of Argentina deserves to be called the “City of Good Airs,” then the capital of Brazil should be termed Buenas Vistas, the “City of Beautiful Views.” Of all the cities in the world Rio de Janeiro best deserves to be called by that name. This is not my opinion alone, but it is the almost unanimous verdict of this most beautiful city. Everywhere that the eye falls, it is met with a view that is a worthy subject for the artist’s brush. The camera fiend is kept busy “pressing the button,” for at almost every turn there is the temptation to expose the sensitive plate which will reproduce the scene that so appeals to the eye. But, although the plate or film faithfully reproduces the outline and detail of the scene, the blue of the sky and the waters of the bay, the green of the palms, and the other trees, the colours of the flowers which are omnipresent, and the bright and varied tints of the houses are sadly missing in the resulting photograph. All of these are absolutely necessary to complete the picture, which lingers in the memory of one who has visited this second city of South America.

When the early navigators sailed up the island-studded bay, which leads to the present site of the capital of Brazil, they thought it must surely be the mouth of a broad river, and, as it was in the month of January, they named it, for want of a better name, Rio de Janeiro, the River of January, and the name has clung to the bay and settlement, which has grown into a thriving city, during the succeeding four centuries. No one, however, since that time has been able to discover the supposed river which led to the name. So this city of lovely views and of romantic history bears, and has always borne, a name which is a misnomer, but this fact has not affected either the beauty of the scene or the development of the city. It is simply another illustration of the saying that there is little in a name, and a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. The inhabitant of the city is even called a “flumenense,” from the word meaning a river.

The full name of Brazil’s capital is San Sebastian de Rio de Janeiro, and its foundation dates back to the year 1566, when a landing was effected here by a few colonists near the famous Sugar Loaf mountain. A citadel was built on a hill now called Morro do Castillo. Near this was next erected a church called San Sebastian, in honour of the city’s patron saint, which ancient structure is still standing as one of the few memorials of the remote past, and within its walls rest the remains of the city’s founder, Estacio de Sá. There are still a few other relics of these earlier days, but most of them have been greatly altered, and many of them practically rebuilt.

For a couple of centuries Brazil was the seat of Portuguese power in the new world, and it was the centre of many political struggles during the capitancias. It pulsated with that excitement that can only be found in Latin cities, and many a plot and counterplot has been batched within its environs. For a while, during Napoleon’s occupancy of the throne, it was the seat of government, for the royal family of Portugal fled to these hospitable shores, and all the wealth, pomp, splendour and gayety of a powerful and extravagant court was transferred to this city. This lasted only for a short time, for Napoleon was overthrown, and the royal family returned to the mother land. Political discontent in Brazil soon led to the establishment of an independent empire, with the son of the reigning monarch of Portugal as the ruler of the new nation.

Rio, for nearly every one uses the short appellation, has seen many changes. Starting as a small settlement of adventurers, it became successively the capital of a capitancia, a province, a kingdom, an empire and a republic. All of the latter changes have taken place within the last century. And yet, among all those changes, from the extreme of capitancia to republic, there has been none which so completely affected the appearance, and perhaps final destiny of the city, as the metamorphosis which has taken place during the past half dozen years. The visitor to the Rio of a decade ago, with its antiquated streets, old-fashioned architecture and foul-smelling open-sewered public thoroughfares, which more nearly resembled alleys than streets, would scarcely recognize the new capital of broad avenues, clean, well-swept pavements and the beautiful boulevard which follows the sweep of the bay for many miles.

AVENIDA CENTRAL, RIO DE JANEIRO.

The old has not been entirely displaced by the new, for the famous Ouvidor still remains, and during all the business hours of the day is filled with a throng of shoppers, business men and the idle who spend their waking hours in the cafés or other resorts. It is still the great shopping as well as gossiping street. The people spread themselves over the sidewalk and street, for all other traffic is excluded from this street during those hours. It still possesses some of the best stores and the best of everything that pleases the Brazilians. Thousands of people pass through this street each day, who come for no other purpose than to shake hands with and talk to friends. It may be that their only desire is to see and to be seen. The officeholder comes here to feel the pulse of the people, and the politician tries to hold a public reception on the sidewalk. It is likewise a cosmopolitan crowd, for one will find not only all classes of Brazilians, but many other nationalities. Swells with silk hats bump up against half-dressed negroes with loads on their heads. Lottery peddlers accost you on every corner, and sometimes pester you until it becomes an annoyance. Many of the other streets might be recognized as they have not been changed, although the nomenclature is different, for there has been a new set of heroes and notables, whose names should be preserved in this public way. Nearly all of the old names have disappeared from the signs that face the traveller on all the corners. Even on old Ouvidor, instead of that familiar word, appears in places the name of Moreira Cesar. Other new names are 15th of November, 7th of September, Gonçalves Diaz (the poet), etc., etc.

A few years ago the city fathers decided that they would transform the capital and make it not only a beautiful but a more beautiful city. Engineers and architects were employed, plans were drawn up and work was begun on an elaborate scale, which has not been entirely completed as yet. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the work was the construction of the Avenida Central through the centre of the city, from sea to sea, and its continuation around the bay where it is called Avenida Beira Mar. The Avenida Central starts at a section of the city called the Mauá, and extends through the heart of the city for a mile to the Monroe Palace. A few years ago this was a tangle of narrow, foul-smelling streets and lanes, which the government was compelled to buy at a large figure. Night and day forces were set at work tearing down the old buildings, removing the débris, constructing the drainage and paving, so that the progress made was remarkably rapid for a tropical country, or for any country or clime. Over three thousand men were kept at work night and day, and four hundred buildings were demolished to carry out the work. In less than two years the change was accomplished, and now this avenue, one hundred and five feet in width, with broad pavements made of mosaic worked into odd designs, a row of brazil trees on each curb, and in the centre, alternating with artistic lamp-posts, has the appearance of one of the famous avenues of Paris. Fine new buildings have been built on each side, many of them of really artistic design and finish. The rounded corner has been used at the street intersections, the building line being on a curve of a considerable radius. This adds a beauty and dignity to the architecture of buildings that is lacking in the cities of the United States.

ONE OF THE BENDS OF THE BEIRA MAR, RIO DE JANEIRO.

The Monroe Palace, which is a reproduction of the Brazilian building at the St. Louis Exposition, and which received a medal for its artistic design, marks the boundary between the two avenues. The building was completed in 1906, and the sessions of the Pan-American conference were held in it during that year, for which it had been specially constructed. It is a beautiful building, and stands in a location where it appears to the very best possible advantage. Here the Beira Mar (around the sea) begins, and it is so named because it runs between the hills and the bay, and follows the outline of the latter. Much of it is made land, and occupies what was at one time the favourite breeding place of the mosquitoes which were formerly the pest of this city. Double roadways in places, of different elevations, small parks, and the ever-varying outline of hill and bay, the intense shades of green of the dense vegetation, and the palms in stately rows and silhouetted against the horizon make this avenue the most beautiful and most fascinating boulevard in the world. I never tired of riding along the Beira Mar, for the angle of vision is constantly changing in its many turns and twists, and every change is only a new vision of beauty and interest. Thus the drive leads out past the Praia da Lapa, the Praia da Russell and the Praia da Flamengo until it ends in the horseshoe curve of Botafogo, where the exposition of 1908 was held and the buildings of which are yet standing. The Beira Mar is one of the favourite residence districts, and it is lined here and there with beautiful homes. It is easy to go into raptures over such scenes, and dull indeed is the soul that could not be stirred by them.

THE LANDING AT RIO DE JANEIRO.

Among the other streets which have been widened is the Rua Uruguayana, which starts at the custom house and cuts across the city at right angles to the Avenida Central. It is a broad street for a Latin city, but is not so wide as the other. The Avenida do Mangue is a picturesque street, with its quadruple line of stately palms which run its entire length of a mile or more. Rio is the home of the royal palm, and you see them all over the city. The trees are round and smooth and almost as symmetrical as if cut by a sculptor. No avenue of marble columns can equal these furnished by nature. The Canal do Mangue runs through the centre of the Mangue and there are four driveways along it, two on either side of the canal, as it is very broad. Leaving the palms and following the canal, the avenue makes a broad sweep and leads out to the new docks which are being constructed at great expense. Immense warehouses have been built and great cranes erected, but they are not in use, because it is necessary to dredge a channel before the ocean-going vessels of deep draught can reach the docks. Work is progressing, however, and it will not be long until it will no longer be necessary for vessels to anchor out in the open, and for both passengers and freight to be brought ashore either in launches or row boats. Thus will one of the annoyances as well as one of the big items of expense at this port be eliminated. Along the line of warehouses, and parallel with the harbour line, an avenue has been laid out that is more than three hundred feet in width. This gives abundant room for railroad tracks, tram tracks and driveways for both wagons and pleasure vehicles.

There are many pretty little parks scattered over the city, each one of which is a miniature of beauty. The Jardim do Passeio Publico, near the Monroe Palace, is one of these. Its profusion of vegetation is such as can only be seen in a tropical climate, where there is no destroying frost and where a kind nature encourages growth during the entire year. The Praça da Republica is in the very centre of the city, and is the largest park in the city proper. It was the chief theatre of action in the memorable events in which the country was changed from an empire to a republic within the short period of twenty-four hours. Because of this event the name was changed from its former name of Praça d’Acclamacão. There are many statues, in this and all the other parks, of men who have been famous in the country’s history. One of the most noted is that of Dom Pedro I in the Praça Tiradentes, which represents him in the act of shouting the watchword “Independence or death,” after he received the message from the Portuguese Cortes at Ypiranga, just outside the city of São Paulo. There is also a fine monument to the Duke de Caxais, one of the heroes of the Paraguayan war, in a park which bears his name. Another striking feature of the city is the ancient Carioca Aqueduct, which is a monument of picturesque grandeur where its lofty arches loom up over the comparatively low buildings. It was built more than a century and a half ago, but still remains as solid and substantial as when first built. It is now used by the tramway company as a part of its line which ascends the hill leading up to the Corcovado.

There are many charitable institutions in the city for the care of unfortunates and the amelioration of suffering. There are orphan asylums, free clinics for the treatment of various troubles, an institution maintained by the society formed to combat the plague of tuberculosis, and institutions for the care of the deaf and dumb, blind and insane. The largest hospital in Rio de Janeiro, and perhaps on South American soil, is the Santa Casa de Misericordia, which was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1545. The buildings now occupied by this noted institution have been in use for nearly three-quarters of a century, but they have recently been overhauled and remodelled. The buildings are in a classic and beautiful style of architecture, as are most of the public buildings in Brazil. It has accommodation for more than twelve hundred patients. One of the strange and unusual features of this hospital is a revolving wheel made for the reception of unwelcome infants. In this wheel a cradle is so arranged that when an infant is laid on it the wheel turns around, and the little stranger finds a welcome it did not find elsewhere. No questions are asked, no effort is made to find out who placed the infant in the cradle, and the babe is taken care of until it is ready to go forth and work for itself, or has been adopted by some good family. If this institution does nothing else, it takes away the incentive to infanticide which prevails in many places. There is also in the city a Strangers’ Hospital, which is mainly supported by the foreign residents of the capital, and it is an institution that has done a great deal of good among those who are expatriated from their homes by the exigencies of business.

The market is always an interesting place to visit in a Latin country, for the life to be seen there is unique. The market scenes in Rio are not so picturesque as in the cities farther inland, but there are still many unique scenes to be witnessed. It is situated just at one side of the Plaza 15th of November, and on the water front, so that the fishing boats can unload direct into the market and the garbage can easily be disposed of. The building is large and commodious, of an indifferent architecture, but well adapted to its purposes. The deepest impression made upon a visit to this place is the decidedly tropical characteristics to be seen everywhere. Tropical fruits, consisting of oranges, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, mammão, etc., are to be seen in great abundance everywhere. The salted meat so commonly used is stacked up like cordwood. It has a strong smell and is very salty, but it is much liked by the common people, and frequently brings a better price than fresh beef. Fat pork is salted in the same way and done up in rolls from which slices are cut off for the customer. This fat is usually used in cooking the beans which form such an important article of food. There are many kinds of strange fish in that department, for the waters along the coast of Brazil are filled with excellent fish. One fish, which is quite large, is very peculiar, because its eyes extend out an inch or more from its head. Then there are little jelly fish in great numbers, and a little creature that looks like a miniature devil-fish which seems to be a favourite article of food. Shrimps and oysters will also be found for sale. Birds of brilliant plumage await the buyers in their cages, while green and purple parrots sit sedately on their perches and fill the air with their rough screeches. Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea pigs are found in abundance, and even dogs are caged up awaiting new owners. But the numerous monkeys, from the little marmosettes to the big ones three or four feet high, who sit and blink at you like curious little old men, will probably hold the attention of the northern visitor longer than any other one feature of the market at Rio de Janeiro.

To this market come the hucksters from all parts of the city for their supplies, which they then peddle from door to door. Fish and vegetables are carried in baskets that are hung on the ends of a long pole, which is balanced across the shoulder. A score or more of fowls may be placed in a basket which the peripatetic merchant carries around on his head, while the inmates cackle and crow along the way. The bread merchant carries his stock in trade on his head, in a contrivance which looks more like a baby-crib than anything else. Onions and garlic are carried on strings with the stems woven together with straw. Along the streets one will constantly hear the oddly varying cries of these house-to-house merchants, the flute-like whistles which some of them carry, and the clapping of sticks by others or the strangely penetrating noise of the scissors-grinder, which is made by touching a piece of metal to the grindstone.

From the standpoint of comfort the great and imposing Avenida Central is a failure. The sun beats down unmercifully during the hot days, and it is not half so comfortable as streets like the Ouvidor, Gonçalves Diaz, Quintana and others of the business streets which are so narrow that they are shaded from curb to curb during most of the day, and the sun does not really have a fair chance to get in its work. It is, however, the centre of the street life, and at all times is a study of Brazilian life. There is always a crowd of men in the many cafés, which line this street on either side, and the tables of which are set out over half the broad sidewalk, or more. After eating his noon breakfast, a man never takes his coffee at the same restaurant, but always goes to one of the cafés where he sips a small cup of strong, black coffee, smokes a few cigarettes and gossips with his friends. The Brazilians drink coffee as the German drinks beer—not in such great quantities, but fully as often. In fact they drink so much that it must have got into their complexions. A Brazilian proverb says that good coffee must be as “strong as Satan, as black as ink, as hot as hades and as sweet as love.” It is certainly black and strong, is served hot and enough sugar is used to make it very sweet.

One is struck with the vivacity of the groups of men, who talk with their hands, head, face and eyes, as well as with their mouths. Another thing that impressed me was the uncomfortable style of dress, for the average “flumenense” wears a rather heavy suit and derby hat in this hot climate, and would never think of dispensing with his vest under any circumstances. To make up for this one may often see the men carrying fans and briskly fanning themselves. Where these young men, who are clerks in business houses, or hold small-salaried government positions, get the money to spend in these cafés is a mystery to me; for all drinks are exceedingly high-priced, with the exception of coffee, which is uniformly sold for one hundred reis, equal to three cents in our money. In the matter of clothes, however, they are more economical, and they do not dress as well as the ladies whom they delight to watch.

CARIGADORES MOVING A PIANO.

From three to five in the afternoon the Avenida, from the Ouvidor to the Avenida Hotel, is crowded with well-dressed ladies who make these few blocks a sort of promenade. One will see handsomely gowned matrons, demure little maidens, and senhoritas who are just beginning to seek the favours of the young men, and this gives them an opportunity to see and be seen. The ladies wear huge Parisian hats and high heels, and are gowned elaborately. Powder, paste, rouge and other cosmetics are much in evidence, even among the younger ones, whose complexions hardly need such aids to freshness. The figures are plump, and those of the matrons have reached a stoutness that must be distressing to them. The men, whose narrow shoulders and thin chests are in striking contrast to the plump figures of the ladies, sit at the street tables of the cafés and watch them as they pass; but they rather like than resent this, for it is the custom of the country, and a long look is a mark of flattery which they appreciate.

In the streets there is a constant movement. Carriages with liveried drivers, high-wheeled carts loaded with freight, curious little Japanese “kiosks,” in which walks a vendor of dulces, and carigadores with loads upon their heads pass along in endless procession. I have seen pianos thus borne upon the heads of four men pass along the Avenida. Other heavy articles of furniture, and large panes of plate glass are carried in the same way. The old-fashioned, two-wheeled tilbury, so common here, whisks along at as lively a rate as the horse can go. Only one passenger dares ride in one of them, or a great commotion will be raised among the other tilbury drivers. The “fon-fon” of the automobile is constantly heard. A line of auto omnibuses is run along this avenue, and then some of the four hundred or more private autos will be in view at any time. Ice is delivered by automobile, for quick delivery is important in a hot climate when the price is three cents a pound. The automobile ambulance is sure to pass along, as it is always on the go, and then there are a number of auto deliveries, police hurry-up wagons, fire trucks, and even a street sprinkler propelled by gasoline.

THE TREASURY BUILDING, RIO DE JANEIRO.

The police are omnipresent, and are to be found everywhere. There are three classes of these guardians of the public peace: the civil, the military and the mounted police. The former are under the prefect, and the military police, who wear a different uniform, are under the authority of the minister of war. The military police may be seen several times a day, marching along in large or small squads with a bugler to announce their coming. The civil police are more numerous but less conspicuous. It is said that there are oftentimes more or less serious conflicts of authority between the two police organizations. The military police department has a number of auto patrol wagons which are frequently seen on the streets. Whenever a call is sent to headquarters a wagon is loaded up with ten or a dozen officers, and is then sent pell-mell through the streets to the point of call, and frequently two wagons thus loaded will appear. Perhaps the occasion of the call is some harmless drunk (although drunkenness is not common), and it seems a joke to see such a formidable force appear upon such an occasion. At night, a policeman may be found upon almost any corner, and, if there is safety in numbers, then Rio de Janeiro is a very secure place in which to live.

Along the Avenida are many fine office buildings belonging to private concerns, some of which cover almost an entire square, and many of which are truly architecturally beautiful structures. Perhaps among the finest of these are the homes of three of the leading newspapers; the Jornal do Commercio, Jornal do Brazil and O Paiz. The variety of architecture prevents any appearance of monotony. The Caixa de Amortizacão, or treasury building, where the paper and gold money are exchanged and equalized, is a very beautiful building on the corner of the Rua Uruguayana. Near the other end of the Avenida are several fine public buildings. One of these is the new Art Museum, and another the new National Library, neither of which were quite finished at the time of my visit. The Municipal Building is a unique and ornate building, brilliant in colour and adorned with many statues. A number of stately palms which stand near the building give it a very fine setting. The most beautiful and striking building of all, however, is the magnificent Municipal Theatre, which stands in a conspicuous location at a street intersection, and in spacious dimensions, as well as stately appearance, well rivals the far famed Opera House of Paris. It was built by the municipality and cost several millions of dollars, and is said to have a capacity of twenty thousand persons.

THE CITY HALL, RIO DE JANEIRO.

Rio de Janeiro has been transformed. It used to be that the traveller, frightened at the idea of yellow fever, would come here with his ears and brain throbbing from the effects of quinine. He would walk over the city with a smelling bottle under his nose for fear of contagion. Now it is different. Once the home of yellow fever, smallpox and other plagues, this great city has been renovated and overhauled, until now it is as healthful as the average city. The municipal government deserves great credit for the energetic and thorough manner in which this work has been done. Hundreds of miles of underground sewers have supplanted the open gutters of former days, and with the disappearance of the open sewers has vanished the unpleasant odours which formerly pervaded the atmosphere. Low, marshy ground has been filled up. The people were compelled to remove the dirt from the tiles in which moss and fungi had grown, and cement the joints so that there would be nothing to retain dampness. The first floors of all buildings must be made of tile or cement, so that rats can not get into the houses. And then the people scrub and clean, and clean and scrub, in most parts of the city, so that it is a fair rival of a Dutch town. The street cleaning department is alert and active, so that the streets in general are cleaner than the average American city. It is only when one of the heavy rain storms breaks on the city that it is different, and then tons of red sand and mud are washed down from the hills, and the street commissioner has his hands full for a few days to clean up this mud. These tropical rains are veritable downpours, and the amount of water that falls during even a comparatively short rain is almost incredible.

THE “WHITE HOUSE” OF BRAZIL.

The visitor is first inclined to look lightly upon the brilliant and variegated colourings of the houses and other buildings, and think that it is very much overdone. The longer one stays there, however, the more the colouring seems to be in harmony with the tropics. Such brilliant colours and light, airy effects would be entirely out of place in a land where the trees lost their foliage, and snow covered the ground during a part of the year. But here, where the sky is so blue, where the foliage is ever green and where the sun is so bright, even the light blues and greens, the pinks and terra-cotta colourings on the houses finally seem in harmony. Sometimes, under a porch, one will see a landscape painting on the wall of the house, and many of these paintings are well done. The style of architecture is Portuguese and differs from the Spanish style, which always includes a little court, or patio, in the centre. In the Brazilian homes of the better class, a little green yard is maintained in front of the houses, where a few flowers and shrubs are cultivated, and, if large enough, a palm or two will be found. There is no fine grass, however, such as grows in cooler climes, for the grass found is very coarse and is planted stalk by stalk. A high iron fence generally separates the yard from the street. In some of the better homes with large yards, a little pavilion, or lookout, is built near the street, from which the ladies of the family may view the processions and festas, which are such a common occurrence here. These take the place of the balconies erected for ladies where the houses are built up to the street line as in the Spanish architecture.

The public buildings are scattered over different sections of the city, but most of them not already enumerated are of rather indifferent architecture. The Casa da Moeda (mint), the Congress and Senate buildings, the Navy and War Departments and the President’s Mansion are all in different sections. The latter bears several statues on the roof, and connected with it are some very fine gardens. The National Library contains a valuable collection of more than four hundred thousand books, manuscripts and other important documents. The National Museum is one of the oldest institutions in the capital. Originally intended only as a museum of natural history, it has been extended until now it includes all kinds of collections of scientific interest. It contains a fine collection of specimens of animal and insect life in Brazil, and specimens of the art and handiwork of the aboriginal tribes who still inhabit many sections of the republic.

A splendid system of electric tramways exists under the management of a company composed of American and Canadian capitalists. The routes are rather complicated, and are quite confusing to the visitor at first. The cars are called “bonds,” and the origin of the name is rather curious. When the system was first inaugurated the people, who had heard a great deal about American “bonds” in connection with the negotiations, applied that name to the cars when they finally appeared, and the name has clung to them ever since.

The city of Rio de Janeiro and its environs constitute the Federal District, which is similar to the District of Columbia. The municipal organization is controlled by the national government, but the people are not disfranchised as in our own capital. The inhabitants of the district elect three senators and ten deputies to the National Congress, and also a city council of ten members which meets in session twice each year. The chief executive is the Prefect, who is appointed by the President and holds office for five years, unless previously removed. Under him are several boards, through which the several departments of public work are transacted.

In 1908 there was held in Rio an exposition in celebration of the centennial of the opening of that port, and the other Brazilian ports to the commerce of the world. The federal government appropriated a million dollars for its palace and exhibit, and nearly all of the states erected buildings, and appropriated a goodly sum toward the expenses. The United States and Portugal were the only two foreign nations invited to take a part in the exposition. The location was a most beautiful one at the extreme end of the Beira Mar, and almost under the shadow of old Sugar Loaf and Corcovado. A number of the buildings erected were of a permanent character, and these, as well as many of the state buildings, still stand.

In striking contrast to the Rio of to-day was that of a century ago, when foreign nations were first given the privilege of trading there. The following extracts are made from “Notices of Brazil,” published in 1831 by an English writer:

“When the country was opened to the enterprise of foreigners, it was not at all surprising that the City of Rio and its commerce should have increased with an unexampled rapidity. Such was the avidity of speculation in England, that everything was sent to Brazil without the smallest regard to its fitness or adaptation to the climate, or the wants of the people who were to purchase them. The shops were ransacked and swept; and the consideration was not what should be sent, but how soon could it arrive. In this way, when the multitude of cases were opened at the custom-house, I have been told, the Brazilians could not contain their astonishment and mirth at the incongruous things they saw displayed before them; implements useful only to Canadians and Greenlanders, and comforts and conveniences fit only for polar latitudes, were cased up and sent in abundance to regions between the tropics.

“Among this ingenious selection was a large supply of warm blankets, warming-pans to heat them, and, to complete the climax of absurdity, skates to enable the Brazilians to enjoy wholesome exercise on the ice, in a region where a particle of frost or a flake of snow was never seen. However ridiculous or wasteful this may seem, these incongruous articles were not lost in a new country, where necessity and ingenuity could apply things to a use for which they were never intended by the sage exporters. Even the apparently hopeless and inconvertible skate was turned to a useful purpose. Then, as well as now, there was nothing in the country so scarce as wrought iron for shoeing mules and horses; and though “ferradors,” or smiths, are to be met at every rancho, “ferraduras,” or shoes, are seldom to be had. When the people, therefore, found they could not use these contrivances on their own, they applied them to their horses’ feet; and many an animal has actually travelled on English skates from Rio to Villa Rica.

“The bustle and activity of the place give a high idea of the commerce of Rio. A multitude of negroes are constantly employed, who labour without intermission the whole day in removing packages of different kinds. They are generally lying open, either to be, or after having been examined; and it presents really a curious and interesting spectacle to pass along the courts and warerooms, through manufactures of every kind, and from all parts of the globe.

“Having waded through these, I mounted upstairs, and I saw a multitude of persons hard at work, as if it had been a large factory. These were the stampers: every article, even to a single pair of gloves, stockings or shoes, when the duty is paid, must be distinguished by this stamp. Three or four hundred persons were engaged in this work. One ran the thread through the corner of the stockings or shoes; another looped it to a little perforated pellet of lead; and a third pressed it flat by striking on it a stamp of the Imperial Arms. Any article, however minute, that has not this attachment to it, is liable to be seized as contraband. The process of stamping every article, however, is so tedious and troublesome that it is found to impede business very much, and the fees on the leaden stamp come to twice as much as the duty on the goods in the cost of pieces of tape and other smaller things.”

CHAPTER IV
AROUND AND ABOUT THE BAY

There are many villages large and small, around the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, but few of them are worth the visiting. Nictheroy, however, a twenty minutes’ ride across the bay, is an exception, for the ride is pleasant and this city is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The national capital is situated in a Federal District very similar to the District of Columbia. Ferries run every few minutes, and the trip is a pleasant diversion. The city contains some thirty thousand or more inhabitants, but there is nothing grand or distinctive about it. It has several public squares after the usual fashion, the streets are fairly broad but badly paved, and some of the public buildings are quite respectable. There is a good system of street railways, and a trip can be made out to the rather picturesque suburb of Sacco do San Francisco, or Itajahý, which is also on the shores of the bay. Perhaps the principal reason that takes travellers there is to say that they have been in one of the state capitals, for it is too near the larger and far more attractive city to have much charm when compared with the other. There is a good beach, and it is possible that at some time, perhaps “to-morrow,” a thriving resort may be built up on that side of the blue bay of Rio de Janeiro.

During the empire, because of the many and almost constant scourges of yellow fever, the diplomatic corps became solicitous about their own health and sought a more healthful residence. Receiving the consent of their various governments, and the approval of the Emperor, a new diplomatic residence was established at Petropolis, a two hours’ journey from the capital. This is the only instance known to me where the diplomatic representatives live elsewhere than in the capital of the country to which they are accredited.

The journey to this diplomatic centre is at the present time a combined rail and steamer journey, although within a very short time, and perhaps by the time this work appears, it will be possible to make the journey by rail in a little more than half the time now necessary. If one has the time, however, the combination journey is preferable, because it affords a delightful journey across the blue waters of the bay, past the Fiscal Island with its imposing edifice, near a number of other islands to the Mauá landing where a connection is made with the oldest railway in the republic. The first rails of this line, which is now a part of the Leopoldina System, were laid more than a half century ago. Almost immediately after entering the train the ascent begins, for it is a climb of nearly a thousand metres to this other capital of the country. As the train ascends many new and varying glimpses are caught of the island-studded bay, and even of the city of Rio many miles away, with Corcovado and Tijuca in the background. The cloud effects vary with almost every trip. At times almost the entire bay is seen, and then again, only fleeting glimpses are visible, as you seem to be looking down upon a bed of billowy clouds. When the steepest part of the road is reached the train is divided into small sections, and the upward ascent is aided by the cog system, although very powerful locomotives are used.

A maximum grade of fifteen per cent. is reached in one or two places, which is a very steep climb indeed, and you feel like holding yourself in your seat. Narrow valleys, or rather passes, are traversed and there is some cultivation, but the most of the way is rather a mass of trailing vines and great, branching ferns. Blossoming vines and trees add beauty to the scene, and immense trees loaded with orchids look down upon you in a tantalizing way; detached rocks weighing thousands of tons are poised on the edge of cliffs, and show the glacial effects in these passes. Sometimes the brown and grim rocks rise above you like a mighty wall a thousand or more feet high, as if nature had prepared a natural fort or a gigantic toboggan slide ready for use. The little mountain streams had become swift torrents, when I passed over this road, from the effects of a severe storm that had just broken on these hills. The air becomes much cooler as the elevation increases. At last the Alta da Serra, the top of the mountain, is reached, and from there it is an easy ride down to Petropolis nestling between lofty peaks.

Being the headquarters of a score or more representatives of the world’s powers, Petropolis is an important city. Furthermore, during the hottest season, it is the fashionable summer resort of Brazilian society, and the wealth and gayety of the capital is transferred to this city. From a small agricultural settlement it has grown into a social centre, an educational centre and the site of a number of cotton mills, which are located here because of the abundant water power. The scenery about Petropolis is beautiful, and affords a number of fine drives and horseback jaunts, which are the favourite recreation of the diplomats. It is a combination of the temperate and tropical zones. Your hothouse plants all grow out-of-doors. Rhododendrons are as large as wheat shocks, and the azaleas are so large they do not look natural. Palms are omnipresent, and the orange with its golden fruit ornaments almost every yard.

The last Emperor, Dom Pedro II., had a beautiful home here which is now used as a young ladies’ seminary. There are also a number of other good schools, among which is a school for girls under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. It is situated on the top of a hill above the city. The rooms have lofty ceilings eighteen feet high, its bathroom is as large as the average living-room, and in every way it resembles the palace which it once was, rather than a school building. Yet as one looks around at the American desks, the blackboards, maps, etc., on the walls, the school stamp is readily seen.

The social season lasts from December to May, the Brazilian summer, and during that time the social life is gay, but it is rather dull the rest of the year. The President, and most of his ministers, spend these months here, and Petropolis thus becomes the summer capital. There are many fine homes of Brazilian families, and some of the diplomatic representatives occupy showy quarters. The home of the American Ambassador is a delightful and charming place. The air is remarkably cool, especially in the evening, even when Rio is sweltering. It is quite likely that the official residences of the diplomats will be changed to Rio at some time in the future, since the sanitary conditions have been so improved, and yellow fever is no longer found there, except in an occasional sporadic case such as might occur at some of our own Gulf ports.

CLUSTERS OF BAMBOOS IN THE JARDIM BOTANICO.

There are many notable botanical gardens in the world, but there is only one, in the general consensus of opinion, which is superior to that of Rio de Janeiro, and it is in Buitenzorg, Java. To the northern traveller every park in Rio is a sort of botanical garden, because of the many and new varieties of plants, but a visit to the famous Jardim Botanico, which is reached by one of the “bonds” that start from the Avenida Hotel, is a revelation. The route leads out through a number of narrow streets. At one place a branch line runs to Leme by a tunnel through one of the hills, where a pretty stretch of beach may be seen. It has become quite a favourite resort as well as residence place, and is worth a visit.

Continuing the journey the car passes by a small lake, called Lago Ridrigo de Freitas, which is a fresh water lake, although separated from the sea by only a narrow stretch of land. There are some interesting old country-houses and modern villas, and a number of cotton factories with their rows of workingmen’s houses built on the community plan. Many fine glimpses of Tijuca, the Two Brothers and Corcovado are obtained along the way. At last the avenue of palms grows nearer, the car stops before a gateway of recent construction, and the famous gardens have been reached. Before one’s vision extends a magnificent avenue of lofty royal palms of even height. This avenue, composed of one hundred and fifty palms, set at equal distances apart, and making a green arch almost a hundred feet above ground, makes an imposing picture like a great colonnade, with their white trunks. As you look up the avenue you see two gigantic walls of gray wood, solidly roofed by huge green tufts. It is a living arborescent gallery, enclosing a path about twenty feet wide with a neatly gravelled walk. About half-way across is a fountain in the centre of the avenue, and here is another avenue of palms which runs at right angles to the other, but this avenue is far less imposing than the one just described. The contrast between the lofty palms and some of the pygmy shrubs and flowers is most striking. In one part of the gardens still stands a single palm, a tall, slender shaft one hundred and twenty-five feet in height, which is called the “mother of all the palms.” It was planted in 1808, the year of the foundation of this garden, with elaborate ceremony by the Portuguese regent, and from the seeds of this palm have been grown all the other royal palms in this garden, so it is said. A tablet has been placed on this palm bearing a statement of this fact.

Another feature which is most interesting is the profusion of bamboos, which are found in dense clusters, and also in shady avenues, where the tops are so intertwined that it is impossible for the sun to penetrate through. One begins to appreciate the beauties of the graceful bamboo when seen under such advantageous conditions. Sometimes an avenue is lined for some distance with similar trees, then with others; sometimes with one species on one side of the walk and an entirely different species on the other side; again they are in clumps all alike or all different, an endless variety in grouping. Fine specimens of the rubber trees are to be seen, and one can get a good idea of this tree which yields such a valuable article of commerce to the world of to-day. The clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and other spice-bearing trees, which are many decades old, may be seen, as well as specimens of the tea plant. The “cow tree,” which secretes a fluid that resembles milk, and a tree which, upon being tapped, pours forth a stream of pure, cold water may both be found.

It will not be necessary for one to travel up the Amazon to see the vegetation that grows there, for specimens of almost every species may be found here. Monster trees from the Amazon country which overtop even the lofty royal palms, and reach a height of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, grow here luxuriantly. Trees with great buttresses, which look like strained muscles, and others, with gigantic vines clinging to them, which are slowly sapping the life out of the friendly tree, grow here, just as they do in the primeval forests. Parasites of every kind may be seen on the trunks, and in the angles formed by the limbs. Some of the trees are almost covered with these parasitic growths. Orchids, which would be almost priceless in the markets of New York, are found blooming here amidst the wild tangle of vines. Specimens of the gigantic lily, called the Victoria Regis, a native of Brazil, and whose leaves measure from ten to twenty feet in diameter, grow in the waters of this same garden. There are also little glimpses of almost virgin forest, that may be seen in the two thousand acres of this treasure-house of botanical specimens. The many shades of green are varied by the colours of the poincetta and other flowers, and in and through all flit birds of many hues, swift flying humming birds and monstrous butterflies. The researches which have been made by the various learned directors of these botanical gardens have proven of inestimable value to the scientific world.

One soon discovers that Rio has more than the seven hills which were boasted by Rome, for there are three times that number that look down upon the bay. A number of these rounded knolls are within the borders of the city itself, and the narrow, winding streets crawl up to the very summit. Others are surmounted by a few houses, while the sides of the hills simply display their red slope to the city. But it is to the suburbs that one must go for the finest views of the city and surrounding country. One of the favourite trips is to Tijuca, the summit of which is almost reached by an electric line, and many of the wealthier people have their summer or all-the-year-round homes on its slopes. As the road climbs up to the summit, many beautiful views are obtained of the scenery surrounding Rio. It is a view of peaks, and valleys and ocean, for very little of the city is visible. The road passes through dense forests, so that one is constantly sheltered from the fierce sun.

Sylvan pathways are flanked with beautiful plants, shrubs and flowers. Leaping cascades are set in veritable flower gardens, and natural labyrinths and grottos abound. The highest point is nearly fourteen hundred feet above sea level. This route is now a favourite automobile drive also, but is not safe to make after heavy rains because of the narrow roadway in many places.

It is, however, to Corcovado that one goes for a magnificent view of Rio and the bay of the same name. This famous hunchback mountain almost overshadows the city and the climb up affords views of dazzling magnificence. It is a great granite cone, precipitous on all sides save one, and an electric line, which follows this slope, now takes the traveller almost to the very summit. Leaving the station in the city, the road first runs over the old and well-preserved Carioca Aqueduct where, for a few blocks, the car runs along high above the red-tiled roofs of the capital city. Then it begins the climb up along the side of the mountain. Now one obtains a view of the bay, and again one looks out over the city to the Serra da Mar mountains in the distance; again it is Tijuca, or the peak of Tingue, that dominates the horizon. The abandoned aqueduct follows the bends of the road and has been broken in many places, for new water pipes now carry the water supply from the original source. An old and famous convent, Santa Theresa, is seen, where husbands used to place their wives for safekeeping when departing on a military expedition. Past hotels, villages and showy private homes the road winds and twists. Finally the line changes to the rack system, as the grade becomes more steep, and at last, after a climb for a few minutes up steps hewed out of the solid rock, the little pavilion is reached that crowns the mountain’s summit. Here beautiful views meet the gaze of the traveller in every direction; mountains on one side, the sea and beautiful bay on the other. On a clear day a panorama of fifty square miles may be seen with the unaided eye. Sheer precipices of more or less bare rock extend down for a distance of fifteen hundred feet or more. A stone merely dropped over the crowning walls would descend to the plains below. It is to the bay that one will turn with most interest. There, in the distance, is the seemingly narrow channel through which all boats must pass on their way to the city. Then nearer to the city is the famous Sugar Loaf, with its curious outline. The blue waters of the bay studded with numerous small islands, the curved shores, the white streaks which mark the cities, and the broad white line, which indicates the Avenida Central and the Beira Mar, acquire a new meaning, and become photographed upon one’s memory in indelible colours; it is then one fully realizes that he is gazing upon one of the most beautiful panoramas that nature has prepared for the delectation of mankind.

CHAPTER V
MINAS GERAES AND MINING

There is another route to Bello Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Geraes, but I chose the one through Petropolis, because I was to have the pleasure of the company of the American Embassador. Petropolis was the one time capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. There are other cities in the state of Rio besides Petropolis. Among these are Therezopolis, which occupies a magnificent site on a commanding hill that gives a fine view of the surrounding country, and Nova Friburgo, the oldest immigrant settlement in Brazil. This city was established almost a century ago by a number of Swiss colonists, and is reached by another railway of almost an equal ascent with the route to Petropolis, heretofore described. This little colony has grown into a prosperous settlement and preserves many of the characteristics of the race which founded it.

Boarding the semi-weekly express train at Petropolis, which is here termed “grande velocidade,” we were soon winding around the hills and through the narrow passes threaded by the river. Occasionally little primitive villages and a few unimportant adobe towns picturesquely grouped along the banks of the stream were passed. The scenery is beautiful as pass after pass unfolds itself on the journey down to lower altitudes. One is impressed by the extent of mountainous territory which is encountered by the traveller all over the republic, with the exception of the country traversed by the mighty Amazon and its tributaries. It is a constant surprise to see the vast amount of soil in Brazil that is actually without development. Mile after mile of this land, which is within a comparatively short distance of the capital, had the appearance of never having been occupied by settlers, or ever having been disturbed by agriculturists. Although broken it could well be adapted to the raising of stock, at least for sheep and goats, for these animals would find sustenance. It seemed to me that cattle could be raised profitably also, since it would not be necessary to feed them, as pasture will grow all the year round.

AN OX TEAM OF MINAS GERAES.

The few natives who did live in the little mud-brick huts, with thatch roofs, that cling to the side of the hills eked out a very poor existence, if one judged by the appearance of everything around their homes. A few chickens and pigs with plenty of dogs, perhaps a mule and a cow, constituted the only stock that one could see. A little patch of corn, a banana stalk or two, and perhaps a patch of mandioca root, seemed to be the only attempt at agriculture of the improvident negro or poor whites who dwell on these beautiful hills. The houses contain only the very crudest of furniture with rude beds and the very simplest of culinary outfit. Nature is perhaps too bountiful, and man depends upon that bounty rather than his own exertions.

The mandioca is a small shrub with a tuberous root that grows in nearly every part of Brazil. It grows to the enormous size of fifteen and twenty pounds, and somewhat resembles an enormous radish or sugar beet. In its natural state it contains a very poisonous juice which must be eliminated before the real substance can be used for food. It is first pressed and then washed, and the water must be thrown away for it is poisonous. The root is then ground into a meal which is very rich in starch. One large root will sometimes produce as much as two gallons of this prepared meal. After being crushed the meal is at once roasted, or otherwise it will turn sour and be spoiled. Tapioca is one of the products of this tropical tuber. The utilization of this root was first discovered by the Indians, who found a method of getting rid of the poisonous qualities. To-day, the mandioca, or farina, flour is one of the principal articles of food in Brazil, not only among the poorer classes but also with the well-to-do. Many of the articles served on the hotel tables are thickened with the mandioca meal. This, with rice and beans, furnishes the almost exclusive food of the poor. On the railway trains one will see that this meal comprises one of the chief articles of the lunches which have been brought by one’s fellow passengers.

It is perhaps wrong to think only of the practical in the midst of scenes of natural beauty, but as our train whirled along with its grande velocidade, past rapids which could be converted into incalculable power for the manufacturing so essential in the world, I could not refrain from thinking what fine power was here going to waste. A little of it is utilized in generating electricity for the cities of Nictheroy and Petropolis, and there are a few cotton mills run by the water power of this stream. Not one unit of the available power is utilized, however, although in this land of expensive fuel there is a great call for electric power and current. At last the Parahyba River, a still finer stream of water, is reached and the railroad follows up this stream. At Entre Rios (which means “between the rivers”) a change is made from the Leopoldina Railway to the Central, which is a government line. After a couple of hours the train reaches Juiz de Fora, which is the largest town in the state of Minas Geraes. In 1867 Juiz de Fora was described by a writer as a town with “a single dusty or muddy street, or rather road, across which palms are planted in pairs.”

At the present time this city contains a population of perhaps twenty-five or thirty thousand people. It is in a region of great productiveness, and in a mild and semi-tropical climate. The surrounding hilly country forms a rich and extensive coffee district, and is also very favourable to the growth of corn and beans, as well as other products. Cattle raising is also an important industry. It is a comparatively modern town, and its streets are laid out much wider than the older towns. There are several colleges here, and the public schools are unusually good, so that the number of educated persons is exceeded by few places in the entire republic. Several small manufacturing industries have been established to make use of the rapids in the Parahyba River which flows through the city.

About a ten hours’ journey in a northerly direction from Juiz de Fora lies Bello Horizonte, the new capital of the state of Minas Geraes. After leaving Juiz de Fora the railroad climbs the higher altitudes, and it is not long until the coffee region is left behind. The atmosphere becomes cooler and more exhilarating as the altitude increases. Like most of the cities Bello Horizonte is built in a valley surrounded by hills, with a river running through it. It is a city made to order, for the site was selected only sixteen years ago. At that time there was scarcely a habitation on the chosen site, but the location seemed to please the government and so it was decided to erect a city to be used as a capital. Like La Plata, in Argentina, it is a city built after an architect’s designs, and, because of the elaborate plans made for it, was given the name “bello,” which signifies beautiful. It has been likened by the enthusiastic Brazilians to our own city of Washington, because of its broad avenues and many plazas, and the modern style of its buildings. The principal avenue, Affonso Penna, named after the late President, who founded this city while he was President of the state, is one hundred and fifty feet broad, and has a triple row of shade trees its entire length. The public buildings are attractive because of their newness, and are a radical departure from most of the public buildings that one may see in Brazil. A magnificent palace for the executive has been erected, and a number of buildings for the legislature and other branches of the government. The city is well lighted and is altogether a bright and cheery place.

The state of Minas Geraes is one of the largest and most important states in Brazil. It is larger than France and contains a population of more than four millions of people. It derives its names from its mineral wealth, for Minas Geraes signifies general mines. It has within its borders many mines, and possesses the oldest gold mine in the country. There are many small towns but no large cities, so that most of the population dwell in small villages. Much of this state, like many of the others, is still undeveloped, and railroads have not yet penetrated large sections of it.

This state has the honour of having struck the first blow for freedom from the oppressive rule of Portugal. Joachim José de Silva Xavier is the traditional hero of this event in Brazil. This patriot was a travelling dentist and, because of his occupation, was nicknamed Tiradentes, which means “to draw teeth.” He belonged to a club of men who had banded together for patriotic purposes. Spurred on by the success of the American revolution, and angered by the attempt of the mother country to impose iniquitous taxes upon the colony, these men met in secret for many months. Tiradentes in his trips around the country preached his revolutionary doctrine, and many new adherents were added to their cause. The wandering dentist was probably not the originator of the various schemes of this body of dreamers, for far abler men than he were among them, but he probably did more to spread the doctrine than any of the others. At length, in 1789, before their plans were fully matured, the plot was discovered, and the leaders were arrested in Ouro Preto, at that time the capital, and thrust into prison in that city. They were imprisoned in dark and damp cells for many months, pending the trial and decision of the matter.

Each one of the conspirators was finally condemned to death, but all escaped this extreme penalty through influential connections, except the unfortunate Tiradentes. He was made the scapegoat of the whole affair, and was executed in the public square of Ouro Preto, on the 21st of April, 1792. His body was quartered and the head exposed in that city. The right arm and leg, and also the left arm and leg, were each sent to different cities, there to be exposed publicly as a warning to other possible conspirators. His house was torn down and the ground salted to purify it; and it was ordered that no building ever again be constructed on that tainted soil. His property was confiscated; his family and their descendants were declared “infamous” and disgraced, even to the third generation. To-day, the name of Tiradentes is honoured all over Brazil, monuments have been erected to him and streets named after him in many cities. In the principal plaza of Ouro Preto is a marble column, upon which stands a statue of the martyred “tooth-puller.” The pedestal of this monument is the original stone on which he was exposed in a pillory and publicly scourged, on the very spot on which now stands his splendid monument. Many of the places connected with this conspiracy are preserved; and even the spot on which stood the house of Tiradentes, which was destroyed by order of the government, is sacredly preserved and guarded for the patriotic lessons which it teaches.

A branch of the Central Railroad runs from the main line back among the hills to this city of Ouro Preto, the “black gold.” It lies in the hollow of a narrow valley and is completely surrounded by high, rock-capped hills. All about the hills are the rough, red and gray, yellow and brown holes made by the old miners, which have been enlarged and washed by the rains. The roughly paved streets ascending and descending the hills are narrow, crooked and irregular. Carts and carriages are of little use, and the freight is generally carried on the backs of pack mules. One can see building timbers, stones, flour and water thus carried through the streets of Ouro Preto on almost any day.

Although gold mining in Brazil never reached the proportions it did in Mexico and Peru, it was no inconsiderable factor in the early development of the country. As early as the middle of the sixteenth century, parties of intrepid pioneers had penetrated several hundred miles into the interior. They found auriferous ground in some of the streams in what is now the state of Minas Geraes. As soon as the news reached the settlements other parties of explorers followed, and the tablelands, mountains and streams of this district were overrun from São Paulo to the south and from Bahia on the east. One can not help but admire the rugged courage of these sturdy prospectors, who set out into the tractless forests and moorlands in search of the yellow metal. They bridged rivers, enslaved the Indians and dotted the province with little settlements. It was not long until a small but steady stream of gold was trickling across the sea to Portugal. The crown exacted a tax of twenty per cent. on the entire output, and this naturally led to a great deal of smuggling.

Because of this surreptitious mining it is impossible to give the entire output of the gold mines of this province. Official records, however, show that between the years 1700 and 1820, no less than thirty million ounces having a value of more than $500,000,000 were produced. Legends of the fabulous production of certain mines are recounted, and a few mines were worked for more than a century.

Because of the crude methods in use, and the difficulty of working them at great depths, many of the mines were abandoned before they were really exhausted. One of the principal mines now worked is the Morro Velho, which was operated in a desultory way for a long time by the colonial settlers. In 1818 it was pronounced exhausted. A few years later this mine was reopened and has been worked by an English company ever since, and is still producing a profitable output. It has now reached a great depth. Gold is found nearly all over the state of Minas, although the production to-day is not so great as in the earlier days. A great deal of it is low grade ore, which can be worked profitably only with the latest improved machinery, so that not only the cost of operation can be reduced to a minimum but the greatest percentage of the gold and silver may be extracted from the gravel and quartz.

Many other minerals are found in this state, but few of them are worked. There are a number of iron outcrops reported which are said to be composed of almost pure ore. Copper has been found in Minas, as well as in several other states, although little exploitation has been done, and platinum is also mined. Brazil contains the largest mines of manganese ore that have yet been discovered. This metal promises to be of more value in the future. Monazite, an essential element in the manufacture of mantles for incandescent gas lights, is mined in large quantities and shipped to Europe.

Many precious stones are found in Brazil. Among them are amethysts, tourmalines, aquamarines, topaz—and, lastly, the diamond. India was the original source of diamonds. In 1728, almost two centuries ago, these precious stones were first discovered in Brazil. For a century and a half Brazil held the absolute supremacy in the production of diamonds, until the discovery of the South African fields transferred the centre of the diamond industry to that region. Although the number of diamonds of Brazil to-day is far less than those of South Africa, it is said by experts that the Brazilian diamonds have a far larger proportion of what are classed as the “first water,” those which have a tinge of bluish steel in them, than any other country, and the diamonds of that country bring the very highest market price.

The centre of the diamond industry in Brazil is at Diamantina, in the state of Minas Geraes, although these precious stones are also found in the states of Motto Grosso, Bahia, Goyaz, and Paraná. Heretofore the methods of mining diamonds in Brazil have been of the very crudest sort, the same that have been used almost from the time of the first discovery. Just recently American capital has purchased the leading mines, and modern dredging machinery has been installed, as well as machinery for the separation of the gravel products from the diamonds. These machines are run by water power generated from the streams along which the diamonds are found. This will revolutionize the diamond industry in Brazil, and the possibilities are that the production of diamonds in that country will be greatly increased.

There is, and has always been, a fascination about the diamond. Not only is it unrivalled for lustre, brilliancy and fire, but it is so hard that no known substance can cut it or make the slightest indentation save, another diamond. The popular saying that it takes a diamond to cut a diamond is literally true. Furthermore, it is composed of pure carbon, and is thus related to two of the commonest of substances, coal and graphite. The appearance of the diamond when first picked up is very different from its appearance after the skillful cutter and polisher have done their work, for it is very dull and the non-expert would probably not recognize it.

The discovery of the diamonds in Brazil was by accident. In searching for gold and silver some singular stones, supposed to be pebbles, were discovered. The negro labourers were attracted by their uncommon qualities and geometric forms, and showed them to their masters. In the card games which were popular in the mining camps these pebbles had been used for counters. At length, an officer, who had been in India, and had seen the diamonds of that country, suspicioned their real nature. Upon a comparison of the weight with other pebbles he found a great difference. As a result some were sent to Lisbon to be examined, from whence they were forwarded to Holland, and the Hollanders pronounced them to be real diamonds. It has been estimated that during the one hundred and eighty-one years since the discovery of diamonds, Brazil has produced two and one-half metric tons of these valuable stones, or twelve million carats. The value of the production each year amounts to about one million dollars of actual value. This is small in comparison with the mines of South Africa, but no such force or vitality has been expended in the mining. And yet the production is much simpler. The diamantiferous fields of South Africa have required the most expensive machinery, and every device that human ingenuity could devise for the successful extraction of the diamonds. In Brazil, so far as discovered, the diamond deposits are all alluvial and are found on the surface, and in or along the beds of rivers. Hence no deep mining is necessary as in Africa. These river gravels also contain a considerable amount of gold, which helps to pay the cost of dredging. The primitive processes in use are very similar to those in use in placer gold washing. The gravel is dug out and placed in small wooden bowls. The miners then proceed to a convenient place on the stream and laboriously wash out their material, gradually getting rid of the particles not wanted. Sometimes a pit is excavated, and a part of the stream diverted into it for the washing process.

Although no diamonds have been found in Brazil as large as some of the extraordinary gems that have been unearthed in the Kimberly mines, some beautiful and large stones have been discovered. One of these, called the “Regent of Portugal,” weighed two hundred and fifteen carats, and has been estimated to be worth more than a million dollars. It is now numbered among the French state jewels. Another was the “Star of the South,” which was found by a negress who was at work in the mines near Diamantina. This diamond weighed in the rough two hundred and fifty-four and one-half carats, but when cut was reduced to one hundred and twenty-five carats. It is a fine stone of first quality. A large one was discovered in 1908 which was one and one-third inches long and three-quarters of an inch in width, which would make it of extraordinary size.

The discovery of the Braganza diamond is an interesting story. This was in 1791. Three men who had been convicted of capital offences were sent out into exile among the Indians and wild beasts. As they were forbidden to enter any city, or hold any communication with the world, they searched for treasure. While washing for gold in the Abaite River, they were attracted by the gleam of a curious stone. As diamond washing was prohibited they took the stone to a priest. He ventured to lead them to the governor, and the diamond was presented to him. At the request of the priest the three men were pardoned, but the government retained the gem.

The black diamonds, called “carbonados,” are found in greater quantities in Brazil than in any other country. These are used solely for commercial purposes in making points for drills. They are as hard as the other diamonds, but lack the transparency and brilliancy of the white stones. The “carbonados” are found in much larger sizes than the others, one of three thousand and seventy-eight carats having been discovered. These stones have a considerable value and are worth from $25 to $75 per carat, the price depending upon the demand and supply. Nothing has ever been discovered that is so good for drilling hard rocks as the diamond drills made from these “carbonados,” and they have been successfully used in drilling many railroad tunnels.

CHAPTER VI
A PROGRESSIVE STATE

It is a distance of three hundred miles from Rio to São Paulo, the second city in the republic, and the ride is very interesting, especially so for the first two or three hours. This time is taken by the railway line to climb over the ridge of mountains, which everywhere pass close to the shore. For some time after leaving the Central station in Rio, the train passes through the city and suburban towns, over which a good and frequent suburban service is run. Then a strip of rather low land gives the traveller a fairly good view of a Brazilian forest of small trees and undergrowth, matted together with parasites, and forming an almost compact mass of green in which many orchids may be seen. Fairly well cultivated fields are passed at intervals until the ascent begins at Belem, from which time there is very little cultivation. Some grand glimpses of mountain scenery are revealed as the train turns around bends and emerges from one or another of the numerous tunnels along the line. Mountains, hills and valleys, flowing streams and cascades, mingle in a panorama of wonderful beauty. At Barra do Pirahy the São Paulo road branches off from the line to Bello Horizonte, and gradually descends to lower levels.

Much of the land, as the slopes become less steep, has been cultivated in the past with coffee, but it is now abandoned. Dead, or nearly dead, coffee trees are still standing amidst the wild growth that has sprung up since the land was abandoned. This part of Minas Geraes was at one time regarded as one of the richest coffee sections in Brazil, and would be valuable land even to-day were it not for the improvident and wasteful methods of the average planter. The trees were planted too thick, and no effort made to place back in the soil any of the elements taken out. It was considered cheaper to buy virgin soil in a new location than to do anything to build up the land already owned. The same thing is seen in other parts of Minas Geraes and the state of Rio de Janeiro, the latter being the state in which was originally grown the famous “Rio” coffee.

The road follows the Parahyba River most of the way, sometimes on one bank and again on the other. The valleys become broader, although occasionally a cut is made through an interesting ridge. The towns are more numerous and larger during the last hundred miles. The Italian element grows more pronounced, and many Italians may be seen at the stations and on the trains. Ox teams drawing clumsy carts seem to be the principal conveyances for freight, and two-wheeled carriages of an antiquated type, which must have been the originals of the London hansom cabs, convey the passengers. At one station an old style automobile was sandwiched in between these two classes of vehicles, and it seemed strangely out of place, except that the automobile was as antiquated for that class of conveyances as the others were in their line.

Immense ant hills dot the landscape in many places. These hills are oftentimes from three to four or five feet in height, and look strangely like old-fashioned bee hives with their rounded tops. The red dust sifts in through the car windows in clouds. As the windows must be kept closed on this account, one is given a turkish bath under very disadvantageous circumstances. Furthermore, no matter how hot it is, the sweltering traveller is not permitted to remove his coat, as that is a breach of etiquette not allowed here. I tried it and was immediately requested very politely to put it on. You may expectorate on the floor as much as you like, but to remove your coat—“No, Senhor; it is against the rules of the company.”

The dust is caused by the red clay which is used as a ballast here because it is found all along the line, and is cheaper than stone. A few coffee fields are passed, and then we enter a valley many miles broad, and one has his first glimpse of really level land in Brazil. At length, after eleven hours’ ride, the train rolls into the Norte station of the City of São Paulo, and the carigadores begin their struggle for your luggage. Then, after being released from their clutches, you are turned over to the tender mercies of the cabman, and the traveller welcomes the comfort of a bath in his hotel to get rid of the dust of travel.

The city of São (pronounced Sah-o, with a nasal sound after the a) Paulo is the second city in the republic in population and commercial importance. It is situated on a plain with low hills upon the entire horizon. Its population is in the neighbourhood of three hundred and fifty thousand. Although little coffee is produced within fifty miles of São Paulo, yet it is the centre of that trade, and the great increase in the production has caused the wonderful growth of this city. It is more like an American city than any of the other Brazilian towns, because, in whatever direction one looks, the high smoke-stacks of some of the many factories may be seen. The suburbs are many and new, and everywhere are signs of building activity and the construction of public improvements. The growth of the city has really been marvellous. Twenty years ago São Paulo was a comparatively unimportant city of twenty-five thousand people. Now it has grown and broadened out until it covers a wide territory. Real estate values have increased until to-day real estate on Rua São Bento, or Rua Quinze de Novembro (15th of November), is almost as high as on the principal streets in similar towns of the United States. It has become the distributing and manufacturing centre for this, the most progressive state in the republic. The temperature of São Paulo may have something to do with the energetic character of the people. Although the latitude is not much different from Rio, its altitude of more than 2,000 feet renders the climate very agreeable. I was there in the middle of their summer, and, although the days were quite warm, the nights were delightfully cool, and blankets were very comfortable on one’s bed.

RUA DIREITA, SÃO PAULO.

The business centre of the city is a triangle composed of the two streets above mentioned, and the Rua Direita, the straight street. Around this triangle in the afternoons the ladies walk on their shopping tours; in the evening it is the promenade, and all the people who are down town at night may be seen somewhere on that route. São Paulo is not a typical Brazilian town, for it has outgrown many of those characteristics to be seen in the towns which are more peculiarly Portuguese. There is a large foreign element, and their influence is notable in every part of the city, and even in the life of the Paulistas themselves. A great deal of the exclusiveness of the family life has disappeared, and the young women of the city may be seen out upon the street on a shopping tour, or performing an errand, unaccompanied by the duenna, which would be unknown in more conservative Rio. There are perhaps one hundred thousand Italians in the city, and added to these are several thousands of other nationalities, with only a small sprinkling of those of American birth. And yet, although the number of Americans is small, the American influence is paramount, and everywhere I went, among high officials or business men, I found a great interest in things American, and an effort to copy after and learn from the institutions in the United States. Their aim is progress and, although some of the methods are rather crude and sometimes impractical, the effort is apparent and great good is being done.

The Tramways, Light and Power Company of São Paulo has had a great influence in this city and has, I believe, been an educational feature in the business development. It is owned by the same group of capitalists who control the company having similar concessions in Rio, but their influence is more easily traced here. The charter of this company is Canadian, but its methods are strictly what we term American, and a number of our fellow-citizens are at work with it. Brazilian young men consider it a credit to be in the employ of this company. They furnish an excellent system of electric traction with about eighty miles of track. The electricity is developed from a waterfall on the Tieté River, a few miles away. A great deal of freight is hauled on the tram lines, and it is no uncommon sight to see car load after car load of squealing pork hauled through the streets.

English is taught in the public schools, and is a required language before a degree is given, so that it will not be many years before the educated classes will all have a knowledge of that language. “And,” said the able director of the schools, “we aim to teach a conversational knowledge of the language and not merely a reading knowledge.” “Furthermore,” he said, “we are copying after the educational methods of the United States just as fast as it is possible to introduce new methods. It can not all be done at once, for certain prejudices exist in favour of the old systems.”

BUZZARDS AT THE MARKET, SÃO PAULO.

“Estado, Senhor? Correio?” These are the cries that greet one’s ears as the hustling little newsboys ply their trade, just as their counterparts do in our own land. This city supports a dozen dailies. The two above mentioned are very enterprising publications, which publish more foreign news than the average American daily, although the most of it is European. Then the lotteries are everywhere in evidence. In some blocks there are three or four agencies, besides the vendors on the streets. The Brazilians are born gamblers, and this is their favourite method of wooing the fickle goddess of fortune. There is a national lottery, and perhaps the next most popular one is that of this state. There is a drawing nearly every day, with an occasional grand prize of fifty thousand dollars. I met one American who had just drawn a prize of sixty thousand dollars in the National lottery, and this had caused quite a flutter in the English speaking colony. The people forget that not one dollar is paid out for perhaps four that are paid in, but they are always hoping that the lightning will strike in their direction. Men, women and school children, people in silk and rags, black, white and brown, all buy the little strips of paper with the magic numbers on them, and they eagerly scan the drawings when posted. Brazil is not alone in this folly, however, for all the republics surrounding her encourage the same form of gambling.

As São Paulo is the capital of a state there are the usual public buildings that one will find for the transaction of the public business. The finest and most imposing building in the city is the Municipal Theatre, which is a very fair rival to the one in Rio de Janeiro. It is not quite finished as yet, but the exterior is very fine and in good taste. There are some beautiful homes on the Avenida Tiradentes and the Avenida Paulista, the latter being a comparatively new street. The new thoroughfares are broad and roomy, while the streets in the old town are, for the most part, very narrow and illy adapted for the traffic of a large city. This is overcome to a certain extent by allowing the cars and street traffic to move only one way on many streets.

THE YPIRANGA.

Just beyond São Paulo, and only a short ride by electric car, is a magnificent building known as the Ypiranga, which deserves more than passing notice, for it is built on the site of the birthplace of Brazilian independence. Dom Pedro, representative of the Portuguese authority in Brazil, was also the son of the King of Portugal. In the struggles between Brazil and the Cortes of Lisbon, which was striving to increase the taxes of that country, and at the same time remove what little constitutional liberty had been granted, this prince was heart and soul on the side of the people. During the long struggle Dom Pedro had ingratiated himself with the people, until all were united with him. Insult was heaped upon the Brazilian deputies in the Cortes, by refusing to let them speak in behalf of their country’s cause. At length a peremptory order was sent to Dom Pedro ordering his immediate return to Portugal. The messenger bearing this decree met the prince as he was returning with a hunting party on the bank of a little stream called the “Ypiranga.” Upon reading it he called upon his followers, and declared that he would never leave Brazil. “Independence ou morte (independence or death), is my watchword,” said he. The party took up this watchword, and it spread like wildfire all over the land. This was on the 7th of September, 1822, and a month later Dom Pedro was proclaimed Emperor of Brazil. One will find many streets in Brazil named 7th de Setembro, in commemoration of this grito, or shout of independence.

The museum is very imposing, as it stands on an eminence that overlooks the country for miles around. It is built of marble, but the red sand of the country has given it a very peculiar effect, almost like that of old ivory. It contains much that is of scientific interest. Especially fine is the collection of humming birds, beetles and butterflies. There are several specimens of the Louvadeus grasshopper, which raises its feelers and poses itself almost in the attitude of prayer. The name means “praise God.” One of the principal objects of interest is a large painting representing the scene when the prince pronounced the watchword “independence or death.”

GENERAL VIEW OF THE IMMIGRANT STATION AT SÃO PAULO.

The governments of several different states are endeavouring to induce immigrants to come in. The efforts of São Paulo have been most successful, and their methods are copied by other states. This state maintains a splendid immigration office in the city of São Paulo, which is strictly up to date. The immigrants upon landing at Santos are taken by special train to this station, and here they are kept for a week or ten days at government expense. During this time they are housed in excellent quarters, given good food, and kept under the supervision of doctors. Many have had their entire expenses from their homes paid by the government. In these buildings are offices where immigrants are secured employment on the various fazendas. A record is kept of each fazendero to see if he carries out his contracts. Notices are posted up where labour is wanted on fazendas or railroads. Written contracts are made and signed between employer and employee in legal form. The wages generally received are from $.90 to $1.25 per day for such labourers. Interpreters are kept who are able to converse in the many languages that will be required. The labourer is then forwarded to his destination in the interior at government expense. It is far different from the way they are received in our own land, and I only wish that a few hundred thousand of those seeking the shores of the United States each year would turn their steps down this way. They would be better off there than they are in our own great cities.

When I visited this immigration station there were about nine hundred immigrants there who had just been landed. Of this number four-fifths were Spaniards, with a sprinkling of Russians, Poles, Austrians, Hungarians and Italians. A few days later I saw a couple of hundred more of the same varied nationalities landed at Santos, and loaded on a special train for São Paulo. I always pity these poor immigrants who come to a new country with no money, few clothes, many children, and nothing else but a big hope of something, or faith in somebody, in their breast. The total number of immigrants reaching all Brazil in the past year, the excess over those leaving, would not exceed eighty thousand.

The government of São Paulo has established a number of colonies in the state, one or two of which I visited. In these colonies the land is platted in tracts of about fifty acres, which are sold to the colonists at $500 per tract, payable one-tenth each year. The colonist is allowed to live one year free of charge in the colony house, but within this time he must construct his own home. Some of these colonies have proven quite successful, and many immigrants have thus been able to acquire a home with their own vine and fig tree surrounding it. It is certainly the best thing for the colonist, for he has a chance to secure his own home and that ought to be a stimulus to bring out the best there is in a man. In the less developed part of the state, lands will be given the colonist practically free.

The Italian element in Brazil is large, and is increasing each year by immigration. In all of the cities of southern Brazil the Italians are numerous, but they probably reach their largest percentage in the state of São Paulo, where they number about forty per cent. of the population. Of the two and a half millions of people in that state there are perhaps one million of Italian birth. Everywhere one can see evidences of these children of sunny Italy, who have sought homes in the new land because of the overcrowding at home. Most of them come from northern Italy, and they are said to make better workmen than those from Southern Italy. It would be difficult for the coffee planters to work their plantations were it not for these people, and every plantation has one or several colonies of these labourers. They are generally preferred to the negro labourers by the planters. The most of them are industrious and frugal. Many of them eventually join one of the government colonies, and purchase a small tract of land; others become tradesmen, and open a small store to cater to those of their own nationality; still others travel from door to door selling small household articles needed by the housewives. One will hear the same street cries, see the same characteristic packs and bundles, and observe the same styles of dress that are common in the northern provinces of Italy. In recent years the number of Italians coming to Brazil has because of restrictions of the Italian government.

There is still an abundance of soil in this state, nearly three times as large as all New England, awaiting development. The entire western half, which is composed of fertile virgin soil, is practically unexploited. The recent completion of the railroad, which follows the Tieté River to its junction with the Paraná, will open that section to emigration. Along this river, and the other water courses of the state, much fine hardwood timber is found that is well adapted for finishing lumber. Some of the woods are similar to and will take as fine a polish as mahogany. The difficulty is in marketing them. The logs will not float, so that it is necessary to build rafts on which to transport them. As none of the streams flow direct to the Atlantic, the logs must be sent down through the La Plata system, and the many waterfalls make this impracticable. Cheap railroad rates furnish the only solution to this problem.

The water power awaiting development in this state is almost incredible. As the rainfall is large and frequent the volume of water is constant and reliable. On the Tieté River alone there are hundreds of feet of hydraulic falls that could furnish thousands of horsepower energy for practical purposes. The same might be said of the Piracicaba, the Rio Grande, the Paranapanema, and the Mogy-Guassu Rivers, as well as the mighty Paraná itself, which forms the western boundary of São Paulo.

One of the most interesting trips made by me in Brazil was to Riberão Preto, which is in the very centre of the richest coffee district in the world. The route first led over the tracks of the São Paulo Railway to the town of Jundiahy. This line runs through the hills and gradually reaches a lower level. No villages of importance are passed until Jundiahy is reached, and that is interesting only as a railroad junction point. Here a change was made to the Paulista Railway, over which a ride of an hour takes the traveller to Campinas, a city once very flourishing because the centre of the coffee trade. During the past few years this town has declined, because the coffee production in this neighbourhood has greatly decreased. The city probably contains twenty-five thousand people, and is a typical Brazilian town—far more representative than its more successful rival of São Paulo. There are hundreds of acres of coffee trees still producing in the Campinas district, but they are not well kept, as it seems to be the general intention of abandoning it when the present trees cease to bear. I visited one plantation in this neighbourhood, the Fazenda da Lapa, and it was very interesting, because it was the first one that I had examined, but it cannot compare with the ones later to be described. The charming hospitality of these fazenderos is most captivating. On the visit to this plantation the owner served us a meal of fruit fit for a king’s table. It was in the early days of January, and we had oranges, bananas, figs, mangoes, pineapples, strawberries, plums and several varieties of grapes, all of them raised on the plantation, and most of which we had ourselves assisted in picking.

THE PICTURESQUE FAZENDA DA LAPA AT CAMPINAS.

At Campinas is located the Instituto Agronomico, which is an experimental institution of the state government. Its purpose is to study the various enemies which attack vegetation and discover means, if possible, for their eradication. It also experiments with the raising of various kinds of grain, and the cultivation of fruits. The work laid out for this institution is a good one, for what is needed in Brazil is a practical application of good agricultural principles, a study of the soil and a knowledge of what it is adapted for. The equipment of this institution is good, and the buildings are large and commodious. But a great deal of money is spent for what might be termed the show features, where it could better be expended for practical purposes. There is a great field, I believe, for the cultivation of fruits. In a country such as this, where fruit trees grow almost without cultivation, a very large percentage of the fruits are imported. For instance, at the hotels the fruit served would be American or Portuguese apples, and Malaga grapes. And yet, right here at this institute, I saw grapes finer, in my opinion, than those brought over thousands of miles of water. With proper cultivation nearly every one of the common fruits of the tropical and temperate zone could be raised here, and of fine quality. Instead, thousands of dollars are sent out of the country for the fruits which might be better raised at home.

From Campinas the journey was continued over the Mogyana Railroad, a narrow gauge track. The line passes through coffee plantations for some distance, and then into uncultivated lands, where the only industry is the raising of stock. A part of the land traversed is abandoned agricultural land, and part of it has never been under cultivation. The cattle seen on these farms are only of fair quality, for not much care has been taken in breeding the animals up to a high standard. With many bends and graceful curves the road follows a stream, cuts across valleys and around hills. There is no part of the ten hours’ journey when hills of fair size are not a prominent feature in the foreground. A number of towns are passed, and a few very narrow gauged railroads run off to plantations, which cannot be seen from the railroads. The soil is almost the colour of dried blood, and this red dirt filters in through the windows in great clouds. This blood-red dust colours everything it touches with a reddish hue. The clothing is soon tinted with it, and even the children’s complexions show the effects, for Brazilian children, like their cousins all over the world, like to play in the dirt. But this red soil is good coffee land, and coffee plantations are seen crowning the summits of the hills. At last the train reaches Riberão Preto, near which are situated the best and largest coffee plantations, not only in Brazil but in the world. The town is comparatively modern, for this district is newer than Campinas, and it has been growing in importance year after year in the past two decades. It is now a city of ten or fifteen thousand people.

“MONTE ALEGRE” FAZENDA.

At the station were waiting carriages from the hospitable “Monte Alegre” fazenda, the residence of Colonel Francisco Schmidt, who is known as the “coffee king.” This man came to Brazil as a poor emigrant boy a half century ago, and hoed coffee trees for other fazenderos, and on lands which he now owns. Seated on the broad veranda of “Monte Alegre,” one could see avenues of coffee trees stretching out over the hills, and good coffee lands are always hilly, until they were lost in the horizon. Although it was not possible to see, yet one knew that they continued in the same unbroken rows down the other slope. I rode in a carriage with the Colonel for hours through a continuous succession of coffee trees, during the three days that I was his guest, with no end in sight. When you consider that there are from two hundred and fifty to three hundred trees to each acre, you will readily realize that the number of trees soon runs into the thousands, then into the tens of thousands, and finally into the millions. So do not be surprised when I tell you that this coffee king has already growing upon his various fazendas the almost incredible number of eight million coffee trees. I did not see all of them, but I saw so many that numbers lost their meaning, and I could only think in millions.

Twenty-three million pounds of coffee were marketed by this man in one year. This is enough to give every man, woman and child in the United States and Canada a cup of coffee for breakfast for one week. He has twenty railroad stations on his thirty-two different fazendas. He has twenty machines run by water or steam power for cleaning coffee, and acres upon acres of drying yards, all of which are scenes of activity in the harvesting season. Nearly a thousand horses are employed in the work of the plantations, besides more than that number of mules and oxen. There is also a fully-equipped sugar mill, which turns out thousands of pounds of refined sugar each year. In fact, the Colonel told me, as we were seated at the great dining table, that would seat forty persons, and which was spread with the good things of life: “Everything on the table, except the flour used in making the bread, was raised on this plantation.”

The Colonel reminded me of the feudal lords of old, for the eight thousand people who live on his plantations not only depend on him for labour, but look up to him and tip their hats respectfully whenever they see him. The work of taking care of the coffee trees is all let out to families at so much a thousand trees per year, and a family will take care of five thousand trees. The price paid is from $25.00 to $30.00 per thousand per year for hoeing and cleaning the fields, and they are paid in addition to this for picking the coffee at established rates. Furthermore, they are permitted to plant corn and beans in between the coffee rows which gives them an extra profit. Day labourers are paid at the rate of $.90 to $1.00 for each day’s work.

Everything about this plantation is conducted in a systematic manner, and in that is the secret of Colonel Schmidt’s success. The thirty-two farms are all connected with his home by telephone, for which more than eighty miles of telephone wire have been strung. Everything, including plumbing supplies, is kept in systematic order and the owner himself knows where each article may be found. Machinery when not in use is carefully stored under shelter to protect it from rust. A half dozen blacksmiths, as many woodworkers, harnessworkers, shoemakers, etc., are kept on the plantation, and even a private tailor is employed at the house. A dozen or more general stores are operated for supplying the wants of the employees. With this and much more detail this great plantation is run on modern business methods, with as perfect a system of bookkeeping as the average business man employs. From these books can be told at a glance the exact cost of each plantation for each year, its production and the net profit to the owner. And, above all, the Colonel is a charming host, and finds time to make it interesting for those, like myself, who visit him where he is king.

A RUBBER PLANTATION OF MANIÇOBA RUBBER TREES.

The “Dumont” fazenda adjoins the one just described, and it is the second largest plantation in Brazil, and perhaps in the world. It was formerly owned by the family of Santos-Dumont, the aeronaut, but is now under the control of an English company. They own a private railroad with more than forty miles of track, which runs to Riberão Preto. The track is only twenty-six inches wide, and the cars are rather narrow with room for only one person on each side of the aisle. A special train, with the best car the road possesses, drawn by a Baldwin engine, was sent for us and we were taken over the coffee plantation, which possesses nearly five million trees. It was also very interesting to travel over the thousands of acres owned by them, in and through the rows of coffee trees which almost brushed up against the car in places, in this comfortable, if diminutive coach, and see the methods of culture and care of the coffee, which is slightly different than that pursued on the other. It was also interesting to find an up-to-date American in charge of the vast interests of this English company, and to know that one of our own nationality is making good in the coffee-raising industry as well as in other lines. This company markets all its own coffee through an auxiliary company in England in packages under its own labels. The “Dumont” fazenda is also conducting an experiment in rubber culture, and now has forty thousand trees growing, some of which are almost ready to tap. If rubber continues to advance, as it has in the past year, this part of their plantation may prove more profitable than the growing of coffee.

CHAPTER VII
AN AMERICAN COLONY UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS

Have you ever heard of the Villa Americana in Brazil?

Quite likely you have not, for I had never heard of it myself until my visit to that interesting country brought it to my notice. We frequently hear of German villages, Hungarian settlements and Italian colonies, but a settlement of North Americans on the other side of the equator is something new. And yet the colony is not new, for it was established more than a generation ago; children have grown up and married, who still call themselves North Americans, and who have never set foot on soil over which waves the stars and stripes. In travelling over Brazil I frequently met with American young men and women who informed me that they came from the Villa Americana. So often did that name reach my ears that I decided to visit this place, and see for myself what kind of a settlement it was, and how these voluntarily expatriated fellow countrymen lived in this land so different from our own. It is a journey of about two hours from Campinas on the Paulista Railway.

But first let me tell you the history of this colony. At the close of the civil war many Southern families, whose plantations had been devastated by the northern armies, felt that they could not live again under the old flag. Proud spirited and unconquered, these brave southern veterans who had marched with Stonewall Jackson, and the Lees, and Johnsons, decided that they would leave the land that had given them birth and seek fortunes anew in a new land, and amidst new surroundings. Brazil appealed to the leaders in this movement because the plantation system was similar to that under which they had been raised, and slavery was legal in that land, which was still an empire. A few men went as an advance guard and selected a site about one hundred miles northwest of the city of São Paulo. A favourable report was made to those still back in the States, and it was not long until several hundred families had left their Southern homes, and were making new homes underneath the Southern Cross. In all it is estimated that at least five hundred American families located in that section of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, between the years 1865 and 1870. They came from Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and perhaps one or two other of the seceding states.

As I stepped off the rapido, as the express train is called down there, the name Villa Americana, which means American Village, on the neat little station struck a sympathetic chord in my heart. It seemed good also to see a number of tall, slender men, typical Southern types, such as one might see at almost any station in Tennessee or Georgia, standing on the platform awaiting the incoming train. One member of the colony, who was in the government employ, was with me and performed the introductions necessary. “How do you do,” “Glad to see you,” “Come around and see me,” and similar cordial expressions came from every one. And the best of it is that they were sincere, and not the empty, meaningless expressions so often heard. It was a pleasure to accept several of these invitations, as many as my limited time allowed.

VIEW IN VILLA AMERICANA.

On entering the home of perhaps the most prosperous member of this colony I felt like standing at “attention,” and giving a salute when I saw the silk starred and striped banner of Uncle Sam fastened up on the wall of the “best room.” The house itself, with its large hall, roomy apartments and broad veranda surrounding the house, looked like one of the plantation houses so common in the South. This man had a large family of children, all of whom, with one exception, had been educated in the schools of the United States, and two boys were at that time in one of our colleges. About the whole house was an American atmosphere that warmed the very heart’s blood in a traveller so far away from home. And so it was in the other houses I visited; in every one was the same cordiality, the same pleasure at seeing some one from the “States,” and the same loyalty to everything American. In some of the younger members one could detect a slight accent in speaking English, which is always noticeable when children learn a Latin tongue in their babyhood. The older ones said that these young people speak the Portuguese with a similar foreign accent. The young ladies of the American colony, and there are a number of them, were typical American girls, bright, cheery and free as their sisters are at home, and so different from the Brazilian young women among whom they live, and who are so hampered by the customs and traditions of the race. We took a “trolley” ride over the settlement, but it is rather different from the American trolley, for it is nothing more than an old-fashioned buckboard.

Many of the original members of the colony became dissatisfied, and returned to their former homes. There are, however, four or five hundred Americans still living in this colony, or within a radius of a few miles. A few have moved to other parts of Brazil, and others have intermarried with Brazilians; but, in general, they have remained true to their Americanism. Some of the original families purchased slaves and worked their plantations in that way, until that institution was abolished in 1888. A few have prospered very much, but many others have done just fairly well. One of the wealthiest men made his little fortune out of watermelons. Others have sugar plantations and make brandy, or raise coffee; and still others do general farming, similar to what they were accustomed in the Southern States. A Protestant church, called the Union Church, adorns one hill, and a school-house in a conspicuous building is in another part of the village.

A BRAZILIAN FRUIT MARKET. MELONS FROM VILLA AMERICANA.

Some one had told me that the war was a tabooed subject; that the few older members still left were fighting the battles over. When I met the oldest member of the colony, who had left the United States in 1865, the impulse came to test this subject. I mentioned the fact that my own father had served in the Union army and fought for his country on that side. This old man, who was past the allotted three score and ten, and who had fought with that intrepid warrior, Stonewall Jackson, then told me the whole history of the colony, and the causes that led to its establishment. “It was a mistake,” he said, “but we did not realize it then, and afterwards it was too late to sacrifice what we had here and move back. We still love the old flag.” When I left, he gave me the Brazilian embrace as a special mark of favour; and I verily believe that I left a good friend in this old man who had the traits that we all love in the Southern gentleman.

When Senator Root, then Secretary of State, visited Brazil four years ago, a new station was named Elihu Root in his honour on the Paulista Railway, and this name stands out conspicuously on every time-table of that line. The special train conveying him passed through the Villa Americana, and he was asked to stop and address the Americans. When the train stopped many of the older residents met him with tears in their eyes; and, I was told, the eyes of the distinguished American were not dry; and he has said that it was the most pathetic incident in his trip. He was asked whether it would be better for the colony to remain in Brazil or return to the United States. “Stay where you are,” he said, “and be good Brazilians. You will find the States so changed that they would no longer seem like home.”

The Secretary was right. A few months before my own visit one of the prosperous members of the colony went, with his family, to his old home in Texas, with the intention of remaining there. He left his property in the hands of an agent for sale. A few weeks after his arrival in Texas he cabled to his agent not to sell the property, as he was coming back. In a few months he and his family returned to the Villa, giving as his reason that the old neighbourhood had changed so much that it did not seem so much like home as Brazil.

The members of this colony are now Brazilian subjects, the younger ones because of their birth in that land, and the older ones by virtue of a general proclamation. Few of them actually take any part in the politics of the land. All of them, of course, speak the Portuguese language, but use the English in their homes. They are still Americans at heart. My visit to this little American settlement in the very heart of the great Republic of Brazil will always remain a pleasant memory of a most delightful trip.

CHAPTER VIII
THE TEMPERATE ZONE

Brazil is not all within the tropics. The Tropic of Capricorn passes through the suburbs of the city of São Paulo. South of this line is the temperate zone, within which is included the states of Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul, almost the entire state of Paraná, and a part of the states of São Paulo and Matto Grosso. Leaving São Paulo, a ride of two hours over a unique railroad carries the traveller to the busiest port in Brazil. The ride down the Serro is delightful on a clear day. The train is divided into small sections, each with its own powerful little engine, which are attached to a cable. One section is always taken up while another is going down in order to balance the load. Through tunnels, over tressels and along shelves cut out of the solid rock, the train gradually descends until the coast level is reached, and a short ride carries the traveller into the splendid station at Santos.

The city of Santos is not alone one of the most important ports of Brazil, but of the world as well, because of the enormous quantity of coffee shipped from it. At one time it was noted in a different way. It was then regarded as one of the most unhealthy cities in the Americas. I talked with a man who had lived there for twenty-five years, and he told me that in times of pestilence the dead bodies would be taken out to the cemetery by the score each day. People who went there hardly dared to breathe, so fearful were they of contagion. The Brazilian government deserves great credit for the changes that have been wrought in Santos, for the death rate is no greater than in the average coast city, as complete sanitation has been effected, and a good water supply brought in.

The name of Santos is an abbreviation of the original name Todos os Santos (All the Saints), for it was on All Saints’ Day that the site was discovered by Braz Cubras, in 1543. It was plundered by the English Vice-Admiral Cook in 1651, under orders from Admiral Thomas Cavendish. Because of its admirable bay Santos early became an important port. It is situated on a point of land which becomes an island in the rainy season. It looks quite picturesque as one sails up the channel to the docks, with the tropical vegetation and the surrounding hills which slope almost to the water’s edge.

It is the only harbour along the Atlantic coast where vessels can unload without resort to lighters. A very extensive system of docks has been constructed here, which will be two and one-half miles in length when finished. Several dozen vessels will then be able to lay at the wharf at the same time, as frequently happens in the busy season. More than one thousand boats call here each year. The city is not especially interesting, as there is nothing to distinguish it from other Brazilian cities. The main interest lies along the docks. And, by the way, the Docas de Santos Company have a contract that is worth a fortune. This company constructed the docks, and are given a concession which is bringing in millions of dollars in profit.

LOADING COFFEE AT SANTOS DOCKS.

In the coffee season the docks, the streets of the shipping quarter and the warehouses have a busy appearance. The streets are almost rendered impassable by the wagons loaded with bags of coffee. Dozens of carigadores hurry back and forth between the wagons and warehouses, or between warehouses and boats, with two or three bags of coffee on their shoulders. Women dart here and there among the wagons, and pick, or scrape up, the berries which have been spilled upon the ground during the loading and unloading; and they sometimes realize a fair sum for a day’s work. In the warehouses the coffee is emptied out in immense piles, sorted and resacked in bags of uniform weight, and then stacked up in piles which number thousands of bags. From these docks the coffee is sent out to Europe and America, and from there distributed to all parts of the civilized world.

The through steamers to Argentina and Uruguay do not stop at any Brazilian ports south of Santos, so that it is necessary to take the national boats. It is a law of the country that coast steamers must fly the Brazilian flag. There are two lines that make the various stops, of which the Costeira Line of Lage Brothers is probably the best, as they have English captains.

After leaving Santos the tropical plants and palms grow less luxuriantly, and the vegetation more closely resembles our Gulf States. The first port at which the boat stops is Paranaguá, the only harbour, and the only port of any importance on the coast of the state of Paraná, a state about the size of Pennsylvania. There is a strip of lowland along the coast that is subtropical, being low, flat and marshy. On these marsh lands rice has been very successfully cultivated during the past few years. West of the coast range of mountains the climate is more temperate, and there are some fine plateaus that extend as far as the Paraná River on the western boundary.

CUTTING RICE WITH AN AMERICAN HARVESTER.

Paranaguá is a thriving town of ten thousand or more, and has one of the finest harbours on the coast. From this port a railway has been built to the capital, Curytiba, and Ponta Grossa, the second largest town in the state, a distance of nearly two hundred miles. This line is a triumph of engineering, for it climbs over the Serro da Mar without resorting to the aid of cogs or cables. A ride over it affords some magnificent views in the richness and variety of views to be seen as the train runs around bends, and bursts forth from the many tunnels along the line. This route is said to have been the scene of many tragic deaths during the revolution of 1893-4, when revolutionists were carried by train to the highest points along the line, and then brutally hurled into the depths below.

It is a journey of about four hours to Curytiba, which is a pretty little city of half a hundred thousand people, more or less. It is one of the largest cities south of São Paulo, and is situated at an altitude of 2,500 feet above sea level, thus giving it a pleasant and equable temperature. The city is comparatively modern with the usual public buildings of a capital, plazas filled with shrubbery and flowers, and a Botanical Garden of which the people are very proud.

Paraná is a rich state in natural resources. It was formerly united with São Paulo as one province, and the original inhabitants have many of the same qualities as the Paulistas. Many foreign colonies have been established by state aid, and some of them have prospered. Italians, Poles and Germans constitute the colonists, of whom the Poles are probably the most numerous. There are large areas of forests, of which a tree known as the Paraná pine is the most common, as well as most useful. This tree grows to a lofty and imposing height, with a trunk several feet thick. It is used much the same as our own pine, and a great deal of it is exported to the other Brazilian states, as well as to Argentina and Uruguay.