Brazil, the River Plate, and the Falkland Islands / With the Cape Horn route to Australia. Including notices of Lisbon, Madeira, the Canaries, and Cape Verde.

by William Hadfield

THE EMPIRE OF BRAZIL.

“Stern winter smiles on this auspicious clime;

The fields are florid in eternal prime;

From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow,

Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow;

But from the breezy deep the groves inhale

The fragrant murmurs of the eastern gale!”

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CHAPTER V.
EMPIRE OF BRAZIL.

Rather prefatory and not very particular, though somewhat personal.—Books on Brazil should be in Mediam Viam for the present route, avoiding the Scylla of extreme succinctness and the Charybdis of needless diffuseness.—Object of the Author to attain the golden medium.—With what success, gentle reader, say?—Discovery of the country by the Portuguese. Their subsequent disputes with, and final expulsion of the Dutch.—Extent and Population; variety of soil and produce.—Difficulty of communication between the provinces and the capital, in consequence of extreme distance and imperfect means of travelling.—Extraordinary instance of the roundabout nature of news circulating in Brazil some time ago.—Steam corrective of such sluggishness.—A glance at the Brazilian littoral, beginning with the Amazon, and ending with Rio Grande do Sul.—Pará and its productions.—Rio Negro, and its recent political elevation.—Maranham and its Mercantile importance.—Laird’s steam leveller, on the singular stream of the Itapecuru.—Justice for England by Maranham Magistrates.—Piauhy and its products; also Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, and Paraiba.—Pernambuco revisited by the writer, and welcomed with a rhythmetical sentimental something concerning ‘Long, long, ago!’

Let not the reader suppose, from the heading of this chapter, ‘Empire of Brazil,’ that he is going to encounter either a dilution or a condensation of Southey, Kidder, Weech, Mawe, Prince Adalbert, St. Hilaire, and others, who have written at great length and in many languages, on so fertile and so expansive a theme. The object of the author in this portion of the volume is merely, by presenting at a glance the position and condition of Brazil generally, to enable those who accompany him in these pages the more readily to recognize the points he is about to put hereafter as the result of his own experience, more especially with reference to the machinery of commercial matters in Brazil. It is often the fault of men very full of a particular subject themselves to take for granted that the public either know a very great deal, or wish to know everything about it. Brazil has suffered much from both these causes in European, and especially in English estimation. Those familiar with and competent to write about it, have either presumed that the public were nearly as wise as themselves, and have passed over matters of great interest, believing them to be stale and exhausted, and dwelling upon the trivialities of personal travel by way of varying a beaten track:—or, on the other hand, the exhaustive process has been applied, and historic and topographic disquisition have been employed with a minuteness that would be only tolerated in English county gazetteers or family chronicles. The consequence is that all but the student or the virtuoso in such matters have been repelled from their perusal. When the idea of writing this book occurred to the author—an idea suggested by frequent inquiries for works that should, in a brief compass, give a tolerable notion of things to be met with and that ought to be known in a route of yearly increasing importance between two quarters of the globe—it was suggested that he should steer between the two extremes just indicated. He has endeavoured to do so; and without further circumlocution, he places before the reader the means of deciding with what success.

Brazil,[38] as already noticed, was discovered by Cabral on his way to India in 1500 (although it has been asserted that the coast was visited by Martin Belem in 1484) who at first supposed it to be a large island on the coast of Africa.[39] The reports as to her mineral wealth not being at that time encouraging, little progress was made in colonizing Brazil until 1542, when the Portuguese rulers sent out Thomas de Souza as first governor, who built San Salvador, (or Bahia, as it is now called, capital of the province of the same name,) and materially aided the mission of the Jesuits in civilizing the Indian population. This Portuguese possession was afterwards disputed both by the Spaniards and the Dutch, and the latter succeeded in appropriating several of the northern provinces, viz.:—Ceara, Seregipe, Pernambuco, and Bahia, which they held for a considerable time during the 17th century, and did much towards the permanent prosperity of the country, by building forts, enlarging towns, and carrying out a number of useful public works, which remain as monuments of their laboriousness and perseverance to this day, especially in the capitals of the two last-named provinces. Much gallantry and patriotism were shown by the native Brazilian and Portuguese residents in their conflict with the Hollanders, ending in the final expulsion of the latter from the entire coast, although this event may be considered a misfortune to the country itself, in losing so industrious and painstaking a race.

The Brazilian empire extends from about 4 degrees north, to 33 degrees south, latitude; its extreme length is from 2,500 to 2,600 miles, and breadth above 2,000 at the widest part; it contains some 2,500,000 square miles of territory, comprising every variety of soil and culture, and is possessed of considerable variety of climate. Its population has been variously estimated at from six to seven millions; but no data exist from which one can form more than an approximate calculation. Out of this number, one half may be set down as slaves, and the other half mixed races, from the native-born Portuguese downwards to the pure Indian. One of the great draw-backs hitherto experienced in administering the government of the Brazils has been the distance of the towns and provinces from the metropolis, Rio Janeiro; and this has more especially applied to the northern provinces, from Pará to Pernambuco, where, owing to the almost constant prevalence of a northerly current, sailing-vessels took a very long time in getting down the coast; so that, in the absence of communication by land, the intelligence of disturbances or temporary rebellion only reached the seat of government a considerable period after the first outbreak. An extraordinary and almost incredible instance of this occurred on the occasion of the formidable revolt of the province of Pará, the first news of which was received at Rio Janeiro by way of England, sixty days after a British sailing ship had left Pará, and another recrossed the Atlantic, and anchored in the port of the Brazilian capital, no ship, within all that period, having been able to make way from Pará to Rio against the monsoon and current and wind that prevails for a great part of the year, blowing from the antarctic circle towards the equator. Perhaps the astonishment created by this state of things will, however, be triflingly mitigated if the reader will bear in mind that Brazil is as large as nearly a dozen Great Britains; and will also recollect what vagueness, incertitude, and delay characterise the receipt of intelligence in London from Constantinople and St. Petersburgh, notwithstanding special steamers, express trains, electric telegraphs, government couriers, and time-and-space-annihilating editors of innumerable newspapers, at both ends and all along the whole line of operations. Steam navigation has however in a great measure remedied this evil, as it has done so many others; and news is now regularly transmitted between Rio Janeiro and Pará by a steam company, liberally subsidized by the government, the former being bound to dispatch a vessel once a fortnight, calling at all the ports. In the absence of internal roads or communications along the coast, steam must very properly be regarded as the main-stay of the executive, at the same time that it offers the needful facility for provincial deputies attending the sittings of the Rio chambers. Steam, valuable everywhere, is invaluable here, and may, indeed, be looked upon as the great civilizer and regenerator of a country like Brazil, with a sea-coast extending nearly 4,000 miles from north to south; while other tributary lines of steamers are being established in the innumerable bays and rivers. The northernmost point is the mighty Amazon, which is being explored and opened to general traffic by another steam company, established at Rio Janeiro, and likewise aided with an ample subsidy from the government; though from the terms in which certain North American and other writers, to some of whom we shall have to allude hereafter, speak of the Brazilian authorities, it might be inferred that not a particle of enterprise of this kind is tolerated, much less encouraged. Considering that it is only 20 years since the first funnel darkened the Brazilian waters, this wonder-working agent of steam may fairly be said to be only in its infancy, and its progeny will no doubt ere long be greatly multiplied on the coast and up the vast fluvial arteries of the empire. A brief glance along the littoral boundaries of this almost boundless dominion will soon shew the transcendent importance of steam to such a region. The northernmost province of the Brazils is

Pará, with a capital of the same name, otherwise called Belem, situated on the north-eastern bank of the Amazon, 80 miles from its entrance. From the cause already assigned (distance from the seat of government) the progress of this important province, containing upwards of a million square miles, much of which is yet unknown, has been greatly retarded by civil wars and an unruly population. Its chief productions are corn, caoutchouc (or gum elastic), ipecacuanha, nuts, &c.; but there is no doubt that the navigation of the Amazon will lead to great additional sources of export, and soon render this province one of the most flourishing in the empire, as its immense fertility, miscellaneous produce, and the incalculable advantages of having the greatest river in the world traversing its entire length, so well entitle it to be. The population, of whom some ten thousand are probably Indians, amounts to about 350,000. Of their condition, and that of the province and its capital, we shall speak in detail under the head of the Amazon; as also of

Rio Negro, an internal province situated on the Amazon, and communicating with the seaport of Pará. It has only lately been raised to the dignity of a province.

Maranhao, or Maranham, or San Luiz, follows on the line of sea-coast, with a large, well-built capital, similarly named, but is not very densely populated, containing probably not more than a quarter of a million inhabitants to an area of nearly 70,000 square miles, the soil being well watered and fertile, and, like nearly the whole of the Brazilian empire, producing wood of the finest kind for almost every purpose. It has always been looked upon as a steady-going place, although its progress has not kept pace with other more favoured provinces to the southward. Its chief production is cotton, of which the export is considerable, averaging about 30,000 bags per annum, and rice and sarsaparilla also form considerable items. The town is situated on an island, some 30 miles from the coast, with rather a dangerous navigation to it, though of easy access for small vessels, a couple of forts defending the entrance. It is said to contain a population of 30,000, which is probably an exaggeration. Its buildings, however, are on a scale not unworthy of such numbers, and consist of a theatre, hospital, several convents, and schools of a very superior order. About 200 miles up the River Itapicuru is the important town of Caxias, formerly Aldeas Altas, and which, though suffering itself considerably in the civil wars of 1838-40, has nearly double the population of Maranham. Its connection with the latter has been greatly accelerated by means of a small steamer running between the two places, and called the Caxiense, built by the constructor of the Argentina, Mr. John Laird, of Birkenhead, under peculiar reservation as to her draught of water; which was not to be more than three feet, and even this appears too much for the shallow places in the river during the dry season, though she seems to have been eminently successful in other respects, and of great utility, not only in going up and down the river with freight and passengers, but also in towing vessels and small craft. The scenery on the Itapicuru is described as most romantic, the banks being high, and lined with towering trees, in many places almost meeting across. The navigation however is very uncertain and irregular, as will have been inferred from what we have said of the necessity of exceedingly shallow-bottomed steamers, in the dry season, when there is not more than from two to three feet of water in some places, whilst in the rainy season it will rise to 20 or 30 feet, inundating, or rather irrigating, the country round to some extent, and rendering it, like the Delta of the Nile, and for the same reason, uncommonly fertile, so much so, indeed, as to leave little scope for industry; for, by merely striking a few plants in the mud, two or three crops a-year can be obtained, more than sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants. On the banks of the river are many large fazendas, or estates, where cotton only was formerly grown, but they are now trying sugar likewise, and with encouraging assurance of remunerative results.

Ascending the river, the first important place arrived at is the Villa de Rosario, situated in a fertile district, and where many influential planters reside. Next in rotation are Paioul and St. Nicholas; afterwards, there comes Itapicuru-Merim, where vessels, drawing 4 feet of water can go in the driest season; but beyond the latter-named place, not more than two feet and a half. Nearly all the produce shipped at Maranham comes down this river in canoes, of about 40 tons register, carrying 300 bags of cotton; and in the dry season this voyage will take three months to perform what the steamer does now in less than four days! In the rainy season these river craft will come down much more quickly; but the average time then occupied in going up is still greater, owing to the strength of the freshes in the river, the vessel having to be hauled up by bodily force, ropes being taken from tree to tree, and requiring a crew for the purpose. This slight sketch of the difficulties attending the navigation of one of the internal rivers of the Brazils by native craft, will show what may be effected by steam, even under the most unfavourable circumstances of a very shallow stream; and what may we not expect from such a communication being established along the mighty Amazon?

Maranham was a short time back the scene of a most brutal murder of an English resident; and, to the credit of the local government, four of the miscreants concerned in it were hanged, the force of which observation will be understood by those who know the difficulty of administering justice in a country like Brazil, where, owing to the vast distance of one town from another, and the consequent difficulty of sustaining the vigilance of pursuit, and the facilities for baffling it, crimes of this nature may be expected to go long unpunished, if the perpetrators be not caught almost red-handed in the very deed of blood. The acting President of Maranham is represented as most energetic and efficient, having done much to improve the town and maintain civil order in his district. His official residence is a very fine one, and should have been mentioned among the imposing structures of the town, or rather city, for such Maranham is, at least in the English sense of the term, being the residence of a bishop, and containing an episcopal palace of considerable dimensions, and of striking architectural appearance. The place, and some of its people, still retain slight traces of its French origin, having been founded by that nation, as late as the end of the 17th century; and, it is said, that that language is better spoken in Maranham than in any other part of Brazil, the capital itself not excepted.

Piauhy.—Beyond Maranham lies the little province of this name, which has no port or outlet; but in the district of Parahyba, 100 miles to the eastward of Maranham, are extensive plains, extending over 6,000 square miles, watered by numerous rivers and covered with cattle, which can be bought exceedingly cheap. Much carne seca (dried beef) is cured here and sent to Maranham, as well as cattle, in beautiful condition. It is easy to imagine what an important element of supply this will be to other parts of the empire not so well provided, so soon as better means of transit exist. Unlike most other portions of Brazil, Piauhy is deficient in wood; but, in addition to its fine pastures, it produces in great abundance maize, millet, sugar, rice, cotton, jalap, ipecacuanha, and some silver, iron, and lead, but none of these yield anything like what may be expected when there is a population something better proportioned to the area we have named, for at present the inhabitants do not exceed 70,000. Its capital, Oeyras, has but about 3,000 inhabitants, but contains some remarkable ecclesiastical evidences of the former presence of the Jesuits.

Ceara is a very sandy district, but with a good back country where many cattle are bred, but which suffers much from occasional drought. Ceara exports a fair quantity of hides, some cotton, and fustic. The town of Aracati is situated on a picturesque river, but with a very bad bar entrance, on which several vessels have been lost; they, therefore, now generally load outside, some miles higher up the coast, where an indent admits of shelter, and to which the cotton is taken in jangadas (native craft.) Though the heat in this province is excessive in summer, the climate is nevertheless healthy. Its population is somewhat about 200,000; and gold, as well as copper, iron, and salt, is among its yet very imperfectly ascertained mineral resources. The town of Ceara is quite on the coast, and has no harbour, or protection, beyond a reef of rocks that forms a kind of breakwater, within which vessels can ride at anchor. It is a curious thing that the reef, of which this constitutes a part, extends along nearly the whole coast of Brazil, from Cape St. Roque to the Abrolhos, near Rio Janeiro, and is of the same hard coral nature. In many places an entrance through, or a break in the reef, enables vessels to get to small ports inside, and jangadas can sail along the coast, within these reefs for hundreds of miles, entirely protected from the sea, which rolls in and breaks upon them with a deafening noise.

Rio Grande do Norte, a name derived from the river which, after an east course, enters the Atlantic at Natal, its capital, possesses a good harbour, but has little direct trade, procuring its supplies chiefly from Pernambuco. Compared with any of the provinces already spoken of, it is well peopled, there being about 140,000 inhabitants to 32,000 square miles. A few cargoes of Brazil wood were formerly shipped here, being the best quality produced in the whole empire, and prized accordingly, till it fell into disrepute from the causes we have already specified, in speaking of that once-prized ingredient in the art of dyeing. Like Piauhy, Rio Grande do Norte is favourable to cattle-rearing; but exports of that kind, in the shape of hides, tallow, or jerked beef, are scanty, because of the paucity of means of transport.

Paraiba is a very fertile province, bordering on that of Pernambuco, and vastly better peopled than the one last described, as it has a population of 70,000 to an area of 9,000 square miles; and cattle of European breeds are raised in considerable numbers with great facility. There is a fine river, some 20 miles in length, leading up to the town, of the same name as the province, where vessels can load alongside the trapixes. The bar entrance is rather intricate, but there is very good anchorage just inside. Paraiba exports largely of cotton, and also of sugar and hides. The upper city is extensive, with large, well-built houses; while the lower, or commercial part of the town, is also extremely good, possessing a splendid Government warehouse, and the whole indicating quondam prosperity, as well as affording additional proof of the industry and perseverance of the Dutch, who formerly held this province in conjunction with Pernambuco. The treasury, in particular, is considered a very fine building; its educational establishments are also excellent; and in the neighbourhood of the town are some of the best-managed coffee plantations probably in the empire.

Pernambuco.—We now approach the most flourishing and remarkable province in the Brazils, upon which the writer hopes he may be pardoned if he descant at some length, as a place intimately mixed up with all his boyish ideas and first impressions; where he spent many happy days, and always returned with considerable pleasure, although, on this occasion, alas! very few of the old familiar faces he once knew any longer arrested his vision, as he cast his eye along the well-known mart and into the well-remembered homes of other days; for a quarter of a century makes a terrible void indeed in the limited ranks of one’s countrymen who take up their abode in such places.

Musical the rippling

Of the tardy current,

Musical the murmur

Of the wind-swept trees,

Musical the cadence

Of the friendly voices,

Laden with the sweetness

Of the songs of old.

ENTRANCE TO PERNAMBUCO HARBOUR.

Transcriber’s Note: map can be clicked for a larger version.

PART OF THE EMPIRE OF BRAZIL, Shewing the Line of the Projected Railway & Navigable Upper Level of the RIVER SAN FRANCISCO.

S Straker lith. 80 Bishopsgate St. London.

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CHAPTER VI.
PERNAMBUCO.

‘That Strain Again!’—‘It hath a dying fall.’—‘Auld Lang Syne, or ’tis thirty years ago.’—Aspect of Pernambuco from the Sea.—Tripartite division of the City, Recife, St. Antonio, and Boa Vista.—Note on the old town of Olinda and its new namesake, the late steamer No. 2 of this A 1 line.—March of improvement by land and sea, in respect to ships and city.—Such Brazilian progress a lesson for West Indians.—Frugality and personal activity on the one hand, prodigality and vicarial mismanagement on the other, being the real difference between the position of the planters in either place.—Sugar Manufacturing improvements.—De Mornay’s Patent Cane Crushing Mill, and its Merits.—Appreciation of the invention in the West Indies as well as Brazil.—Exports of Pernambuco to United States.—Political and Martial feeling of the Pernambucanos.—Peculiarities of the Population, soil, and produce.—Unique effects of rain and drought in the Matta.—Hygienic hints to the consumptive and the yellow feverish.—Initiation of the Railway Era, by the De Mornays, in Pernambuco.—Immense importance of the proposed line, and certainty of its success, sustained by British Capital, and specially supported by the Emperor personally, and the Brazilian executive.—Mr. Borthwick’s report on the project.—The writer’s anticipation that it will be successful, and expectation that the reader will approve of his suggestion for making it so.—Note on Planters’ life in America.

PERNAMBUCO.

It is a trite remark, that there is probably no more permanent or abiding impression on the mind than that created by first visiting a country, whose climate, people, habits, and ideas, differ essentially from those we have been brought up with and are accustomed to regard as a part of our nature. After a lapse of more than thirty years, the sensations I experienced on my first arrival here are as fresh in my memory as if occurring only yesterday. The voyage, which occupied no less than fifty-six days; the eager anxiety for a sight of land; the first view of the foreign port and outlandish looking craft; and then the pilot coming on board with a crew of blacks, seen for the first time; the debarkation amongst strange faces of every possible shade of colour; with the curiously formed streets and singular houses, filled with a population of hues so different from that left behind—every one apparently shouting at the top of their voices; whilst hundreds of rainbow-tinted parrots, and harlequin-skinned animals, more numerous than the managerial knowledge of a boy of fifteen believed had ever appeared out of the Ark, all helped to aggravate the preternatural a perpetual din—the whole scene, as may be imagined, being such as to become indelibly engraven on such a spectator for the remainder of his life. It was a season of eager curiosity and enjoyment. ‘Youth at the prow and Pleasure at the helm’ look only to the bright side of life’s river; but neither time nor distance has since dimmed the halo that seemed then to environ the portals of this first launch into active being. Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis; still the characteristic peculiarities of a new country and new scenes remain fixed in our minds, as if no change had ever come over the spirit of our dream; and such is Pernambuco still to me, though in many respects greatly improved, altered, and enlarged, as I shall proceed to show forthwith.

Approaching Pernambuco from the main, it appears, like Venice, to rise gradually out of the waters, though, unlike the ‘Sea Cybele, fresh from ocean,’ we cannot perhaps exactly descry her ‘tiara of proud towers,’ at least in the sense applied to the mistress of the Mediterranean; but still the reality of the resemblance is quite sufficient to justify the comparison. You first discern church-steeples, domes, lofty houses, glittering in the sun; then shipping, and the general features of a commercial town, become visible. The harbour is quite a natural one, formed by a reef of coral rocks, already described as running along nearly the whole extent of the Brazilian coast, and supposed to be continued inland, where the coast projects beyond the line of the reef. At Pernambuco it has positively all the appearance of a wall some yards wide, just as if erected by the industry of man, and extending along the whole sea-front of the town, breaking off the swell of the ocean, and leaving the water in the harbour or creeks perfectly smooth, except sometimes at high water, and at periods of high tide, when the sea, finding its way over the reef, causes a little bubbling inside. The entrance is through a kind of break in the reef, which also forms the mouth of a river, intersecting the town, but not going any great distance inland;—passing through and rounding the reef, in an instant you are in smooth water, and in Pernambuco harbour. The width of the passage is not much above 200 yards, taken from the reef to the shore, and this is lined with quays and wharves, which have been much extended of late years, and a dredging-machine is now constantly at work, deepening the channels, which are influenced by the current and freshes of the river. The bar formerly allowed only of the passage of vessels drawing 14 feet, but, they say, it is now quite safe for those of 15 to 15½ feet; and hopes are entertained that it can be deepened so as to admit the largest class of vessels, which would be a boon of immense importance to the place.

The town, or city, of Pernambuco is divided into three compartments:—the first, called the Recife (literally Reef), being that directly opposite the reef, and where most of the foreign commercial firms are located; crossing a wooden bridge, is St. Antonio, inhabited chiefly by shopkeepers; and a well-built and extensive compartment further on is Boa Vista, to which you cross by another long wooden bridge, but protected with a light iron railing at the sides. The river runs under these bridges very rapidly at times, and with a snake-like course, almost insulating the two first divisions. From Boa Vista good roads branch off to the country, and a new one has latterly been made to Olinda[40] along the margin of the river, lighted with lamps, &c., a very useful and praiseworthy undertaking on the part of the government.

The town is generally well-built; lofty houses whitewashed, with red tiles, and plenty of verandahs, and windows to admit the cool breezes; and for miles in every direction, towards the interior, are comfortable villas, some very large, and constructed with considerable taste. When I first came here in 1821 only two or three carriages existed in the place, old-fashioned ones belonging to equally old-fashioned Portuguese, and I should suppose something like the ‘dormeuse’ of the Grand Prior of Alcobaça, so graphically described by Beckford, when he travelled with that dignitary to the grand abbey of Batalha [vide Lisbon, page 36]; now there are some 200 vehicles, of all sorts and sizes, and many very good ones for hire, besides those belonging to private individuals; and no doubt taste and luxury would be still more extended in this direction if it were not for the narrow archways through which the Recife is traversed.

In all respects, Pernambuco has been not only a thriving but an improving place, so much so that one who would visit it now for the first time could hardly believe it to be the same town of which Koster, a comparatively short time ago, said that the shops were without windows, light being admitted only by the door, and that there were no distinctions of trades, and no municipal regulations worthy of being so called. Extensive waterworks have been constructed, which bring good water some distance to the town; and doubtless, in a few years, it will be lighted with gas. A bank has been established on a safe and respectable footing; and the merchants have their news-room, as a sort of rendezvous for business, instead of an Exchange, whilst extensive quays have been formed on the margin of the rivers that would serve as models for the conservators of ‘Father Thames.’

The increased production of sugar is something marvellous; from 10,000 tons in 1821 to nearly 70,000 during the last year, with the certainty of a still further progressive increase. And this circumstance is adduced as an argument, by the old West Indian interest, to show the great injustice of our present Free-trade system, which, they say, encourages the production of slave to the detriment of free labour. In this instance, however, the assertion is quite fallacious; for the truth is, that whilst this province is the most fertile one in the empire, fewer slaves have been imported into it than into any other. There is, moreover, a large coloured population, a considerable portion of them being analogous to the yeoman class amongst us. The owners of more extensive properties are industrious and enterprising, and not burthened with debts and mortgages, as in the West Indies; they farm their own estates, so to speak, and live amongst their labourers, overcoming local difficulties that would daunt paid agents and attorneys such as swarmed in Jamaica and all the adjacent islands during the period of their prosperity. This is the secret of the well-doing of Brazil, and not the alteration in our fiscal system, although the latter has no doubt acted as a stimulus to the South American planter to increase his productions, by which he is enabled to consume more of our manufactures.

Whether we consider the frugal habits of the planters of Pernambuco, their unremitting attention to their occupation, or their enterprising disposition, we shall arrive at the conclusion that, aided by a soil and climate second to none in their powers of production, they will very soon take the lead among the sugar-producing countries; indeed, the excellent improvements introduced by them within a few years upon the old methods of manufacture will go far to give them that preëminence. Among such recent improvements I may here more particularly mention that of a very practical centrifugal machine, constructed principally of wood, and manufactured in the country. Mr. Eustaquio Vellozo de Silveira has, on his estate, Rainha dos Anjos, one of these centrifugals at work, and with the best results. A most intelligent and much respected member of the General Legislative Assembly, Dr. Domingos de Souza Leao, (to whom I had the pleasure of being introduced at a ball, in Rio Janeiro, and of dancing with his sister-in-law), ordered for his estate, Carauna, in 1851, the first mill of an entirely new patent for crushing the canes, invented by the Messrs. De Mornay. This cane mill is very simple in its construction; and the owner affirms that it gives a much more powerful pressure to the canes than the old mills. Several others on the same patent have since been put up in that province, which have proved quite successful; and it is only this year that others of the same description will be erected in the West Indies, the planters of these islands having been made acquainted with the result of the experiments in Brazil. A very large portion of Brazilian produce, both sugar and coffee, is consumed on the continent of Europe and in the United States, as appears by the returns for 1853, at the end of the chapter on Rio Janeiro.

It will thus be seen that we are not the only customers of Brazil, and that it is a mere fallacy to attribute its prosperity to our legislative measures, although the latter were acts of common justice to our growing trade with the country, as well as to our own over-taxed population. Until the West Indian Islands can exist on principles similar to those established in Brazil, it is idle to suppose that there can be any permanent or rational prosperity in connection with them.

We have said that the province of Pernambuco has long been noted as the most go-a-head and enterprising of the empire; and the same spirit that has led to these results has also been the cause of much political feeling. Several revolutions have occurred here that threatened a dismemberment of the state; the first, during the old regime of the Portuguese in 1817, followed by another very serious affair in 1824, when Manuel Carvalho assumed the dictatorship of the province; and a considerable land and sea force had to be sent there before the revolution could be repressed, the port being blockaded by the Brazilian squadron, under Commodore Taylor, for about six months. Other outbreaks have taken place, attended with much bloodshed, the last in 1848, when the town had a narrow escape from falling into the hands of a set of miscreants, who would first have pillaged and then devastated it with fire and sword; fortunately for the province, their leader, a man of talent and influence, was killed in the outskirts, of the town, and a salutary example set by the punishment of his followers. Since then the province has remained perfectly quiet, and apparently with every prospect of continuing so.

The Pernambucanos, as the inhabitants of this province are termed, have always evinced a martial spirit, commencing with their determined and successful resistance to the Dutch in the 17th century; and it was undoubtedly owing to them that that people were finally expelled. Still, this bellicose feeling is apt to endanger internal tranquillity, when turned in a wrong direction. Happily, the wish to trade and make money seems now to be the predominant sentiment, and we must hope that it will continue to influence the inhabitants.

Like all the other provinces, Pernambuco is governed by a President, selected by the Government at Rio, generally some man of influence residing in the district; and there is a provincial assembly appointed to act under him, as also a municipal and other bodies elected for the local management of the towns.

The coloured and free population of Pernambuco amounts to about 650,000, and the slave races to about 100,000; of the former, 250,000 inhabit towns, and the remainder follow agricultural pursuits. The slaves are about equally divided between town and country. There is a striking difference between the people inhabiting that part of the province nearest to the sea and those living far in the interior; and not only do the people differ in appearance and manners, but the districts differ totally in character and in climate. The sea board, in some parts as far inland as 50 miles, goes under the denomination of the ‘Matta,’ or forest country, and above that it is called Catinga, or Sertao; Catinga, is the name of a peculiar growth of herbage which there abounds, and Sertao means literally desert, applied to this district on account of the peculiar nature of the country, which, being open and unwooded, has an appearance to warrant such a name. The Sertao is, nevertheless, far from being, as the name might lead one to infer, a barren waste, but, on the contrary, the vegetation surprises even those who, born in the ‘Matta,’ have been nurtured among the wonders of the tropical vegetable kingdom. In 1846, two years of drought had driven thousands to seek for food and water in the ‘Matta,’ and had spread desolation and death among thousands of those who remained; and the cotton planters, in the hope of more abundant showers, opened and planted with fresh cotton plants new lands every year, on the first appearance of rain. But they were doomed in each successive season to disappointment, for the little moisture that fell was in each case but sufficient to make the plants germinate, until the return of hot and dry weather parched both ground and foliage. On the third year copious rain fell, and although the young plants of former years had been literally toasted, and the leaves, together with those of all the trees and grass throughout the country, had long fallen to the ground, and might be discerned in heaps where they had been whirled by eddies of wind, looking more like mounds of snuff than foliage of trees, the rain had hardly slaked the thirsty ground, when all the plants, even those longest in the ground, showed signs of vigour in green buds that developed themselves; and pasture land that had been converted into bare earth by the incessant rays of a scorching sun, was, as by magic, from one day to another, converted into fields of the most delicate verdure.

These distressing droughts in the Sertao are now of far more frequent occurrence than formerly, and they are attributable to the fatal practice of clearing and burning large tracts of timber country for the plantation of cotton and maize; for, owing to the peculiar nature of the soil, this land never again becomes wooded; and, being soon unfit for tillage, it is converted into pasture land, and devoted to the grazing of horned cattle and horses. The ‘Matta’ is not subject to a dearth of rain, because, unlike the ‘Sertao,’ it is still covered by the most magnificent forests; and what is worthy of remark is, that here, unlike the former district, the land after clearing becomes again clothed with dense wood, although of an entirely different species to that felled in the first instance. The primitive forest is called ‘Matta Virgem,’ and that of second growth ‘Capoeira.’

There is little difference in the temperature of the two districts of which we have been speaking; perhaps the sun in the ‘Sertao’ is more powerful than in the ‘Matta.’ In the shade in either place it rarely exceeds 85 degrees of Farenheit; but the average heat for the 24 hours in the ‘Sertao’ is considerably below that of the ‘Matta.’ The former, however, has a totally different climate to the latter; while that is dry, and peculiarly healthy, this is humid, and produces in natives and foreigners both remittent and intermittent fever. The ‘Sertanejos’ are a remarkably fine and healthy race; but those of the ‘Matta,’ weak and sickly.

A very singular circumstance attended the visitation of the yellow fever to the seaport towns of this province some years back; viz.:—that it proved as fatal to the ‘Sertanejos,’ who came down to the coast, as to Europeans freshly arrived by sea from cold climates. Another remarkable point about the climate of the ‘Sertao,’ and one that is deserving of the attention of English physicians is, that the most surprising relief is experienced by consumptive patients, who are sent there from the coast by the native doctors, on breathing the exhilarating air of this peculiar climate. I have heard of numerous cases of men going up apparently in the last stage of the complaint, and in a few weeks becoming quite strong, and so stout that they could not get on the clothes they had taken with them.

The most vital question affecting the development of the resources of Brazil just now is the promotion of railway undertakings. The first movement has been made at Rio Janeiro, where a short line of about ten miles opens a communication between the city and Petropolis, a thriving little establishment up the mountains, where the Emperor has a palace. Other extensive lines are projected from Rio; but as regards local advancement, that from Pernambuco, southwards, offers the strongest inducement to individual enterprise, and there is every chance of this one being at once proceeded with; for the design was conceived and the plan matured by accomplished English engineers, long resident in Brazil, though principally occupied in pursuits of the kind mentioned in connection with improvements in sugar plantations. Such plans have been revised and approved of by a distinguished consulting engineer, expressly despatched by British capitalists for that purpose from London; and on the strength of whose report (to be referred to presently) the necessary funds for all preliminaries are being advanced; and, lastly, the Imperial Government of Brazil has made the most liberal concessions on behalf of the project, in which the Emperor has personally most warmly interested himself, having examined the whole of the drawings pertaining to it with that minute, and, it might be almost said, intimate practical or professional knowledge which his Majesty, as is well known, brings to bear on all investigations of the kind, being probably the best informed prince living in the theory of scientific pursuits and in general literature, as we shall have occasion to mention when speaking of the Court of Rio in the next chapter but one.

In order to understand the difficulties of transit here, it must be borne in mind that nearly every article of import and export has to be conveyed on the backs of horses to and from the towns, as mentioned; so that the expense of transport, when the distance to be traversed is considerable, is often equal to the value of the article conveyed.

The proposed Pernambuco Railway is to have three divisions:—1st, from the city to Agua Preta, a distance of 75 miles, and comprising within its range some 300 sugar estates; 2nd, from Agua Preta to Garanhuns, a distance of 85 miles, passing through an extensive cotton district; 3rdly, from Garanhuns to Paulo Affonso, the falls of the great river San Francisco, 100 miles, a fine and extensive cattle district. The total distance would thus be 360 miles; but it is only intended to commence with the first division of the line, which will afford immense convenience to the planters and others brought within its scope, enabling them to send their produce to market at a moderate cost, and to keep the men, at present required to accompany the horses, employed in valuable labour on the spot. Moreover, the planters and their families will then travel backwards and forwards much more frequently between their estates and the city, transact their business, and make their own purchases, whilst the great internal resources of the country will be brought into play, and all will be large gainers by the facilities thus afforded. The ground is in general favourable for the construction of the railway; there are few rivers to cross, none of them deep, whilst there is a population computed at 60,000 free persons (white and coloured) and 15,000 blacks, besides some 50,000 inhabitants of villages, &c., that will be brought within the scope, without taking into consideration the population of Pernambuco itself, which is about 100,000. It is, therefore, clear that few countries possess such strong inducements for the establishment of railway communication as Brazil; for at present she is destitute of internal roads, at the same time that she teems with valuable natural productions, and a healthy vigorous population. It is, in fact, quite a virgin country in many respects, and capable of infinite developement in resources, commerce, and their natural concomitant, wealth.

Mr. Borthwick in his admirable report, in the course of which he pays a high and deserved compliment to the Messrs. De Mornay, who first broached the scheme, and subsequently most carefully surveyed the ground of the section for which they have obtained the concession, viz., from Recife to Agua Preta, says, that a grand internal communication between the capital and the most thriving provinces is of such obvious importance as to be only a question of time, and the way is pointed out by the natural facilities of the San Francisco, extending for so great a distance, and serving so large and rich a territory.

Some idea may be formed of the immense importance of the connection, by means of a railroad, of the River San Francisco, at some point above the falls of Paulo Affonco, with the seaport of the Recife, by referring to the accompanying map, showing the course of that majestic river. From the rapids, in connection with the Falls, this river is navigable to the bar of the Rio das Velhas, in the heart of the province of Minas Geraes, a distance of more than 700 miles; numerous considerable tributary rivers increase the extent of continuous navigation to nearly 2,000 miles. A large portion of the commerce of Minas Geraes, all that of Goiaz, and Matto Grosso, and much of Piauhi, Bahia, and Pernambuco, would be conveyed by this new channel, increasing, in an incredible manner, the present trade, and developing sources of wealth and profit at present totally unknown or unheeded.

The enlightened views of the Brazilian government point to an early consummation of these great arteries of prosperity and riches, so soon as political and monetary affairs in this country become settled. It has wisely undertaken to guarantee a certain per centage on the outlay necessary for making the lines, until such time as they are self-paying, of which no reasonable doubt can exist in the mind of any one who has studied the question fully and fairly. But even supposing this not to be the case, and the government had to incur a permanent guarantee for the construction of the lines, the return in other ways, and the direct and positive benefit conferred by them on the population, are too obvious to require comment. Steam navigation and railways are, as already repeatedly observed, the great desiderata of the empire of Brazil; and, in now taking my leave of Pernambuco, I devoutly hope, if ever I revisit the place, to find these potent civilizers of mankind in active operation. It must not be lost sight of by those who may be dubious as to the success of railway enterprise in such a country, that the inhabitants are a very social, travelling people; that there is a great intermingling of families in the provinces that would be sure to give rise to constant excursions by rail, to and fro, between given points; and, in fact, that all the elements of railway success are at present to be found, only awaiting the appearance of the lines which would successively call them into operation.

CHORA MENINAS—THE PLACE OF THE WAILING CHILDREN.

Note to the Second Illustration.—Domestic Life among the Brazilian Planters.—Chora Meninas, the place represented in the second of the larger sketches in this chapter on Pernambuco, is in the environs of the city of the Recife, situated at an angle formed by two high roads, both leading to localities much liked by the foreign merchants, and consequently selected by them for their country residences. The road shown in the engraving leads to the Magdalena Bridge, over the river Capibaribe, beyond which the Sitios, or country houses, thickly scattered on either side, with their mango, bread-fruits and orange trees, and their fragrant flowery shrubs, convey to the stranger most pleasing sensations as he rides leisurely past them. The other road turn to the right of Chora Meninas, and passing the Manguinho, leads to the Ponte d’Uchoa, the other locality much frequented by foreigners. The two places lie, indeed, in the vicinity of the same river, the Capibaribe, the one on the right bank, and the other on the left. Chora Meninas means, literally, the Place of Wailing Infants, an appellation given to it from the spot having been the scene of much bloodshed in a civil conflict in times gone by, when the children of the slain filled the air with their lamentations over the bodies that strewed the ground. The edifice shown in the sketch was once the dwelling house of the owner of a sugar factory situated on that spot, and the chapel was erected by the planter. The buildings are old, and it is many years since the plantations of canes have been discontinued there, as suburbs of the increasing city of Pernambuco have encroached upon the lands. No vestige even now remains of the out-buildings, once destined for the manufacture of the sugar. The dwelling and chapel are built in the ancient Portuguese style, and exhibit signs of Moorish architecture in various parts. The house is a very good sample of many to be found upon the old sugar estates that are in the hands of rustic proprietors, who are very far behind in all those things that indicate an advanced state of civilization. The low roofs, the small unglazed windows, situated under the very eaves of the building, the lean-to roof over a long veranda, the unceiled rooms, the uninhabited ground-floor, partly used for store rooms, and partly abandoned to toads and serpents, and to the sheep and goats, which, as well as a decrepid ox or two, will, at times, enter by the doorless apertures to procure shelter from the heavy tropical rains,—all are characteristics of many of the residences of the less educated planters, who were born and bred to the occupation of cane-planting, as their fathers and grandfathers were before them. If some old and comfortless brick building does not exist upon the estate, you will find the planter domiciled in an edifice of his own constructing. It will then consist of but few rooms, all on the ground-floor. These will not be ceiled, neither will the partition walls be carried up to the roof, so that in one apartment everything is overheard that passes in the others. Often has the writer of this note had to occupy for the night one of these small partitions, without even a window or aperture to admit the light, and has had to listen to many a curtain lecture, while lying on a camp bedstead or stretcher, rolled up in a piece of printed calico in his uncomfortable dormitory. The following is a specimen of many occurrences of the kind that may be witnessed by a traveller when quartered at such plantations.—Wife. Zuza, have you bolted the strangers in? Planter. No, I forgot it; but never mind. Wife. Never mind, indeed! but I do mind. Gertruda! Black Girl. Nhora! (meaning senhora). Wife. Get up, and bolt the door in the passage leading to the stranger’s room. Black Girl. Nhora, sim, (meaning, sim, senhora.) Pause, during which the stranger hears somebody in his room, and heavy articles being moved across the floor, and he asks who is there? Wife. Gertruda, you baggage! what are you doing? Why don’t you bolt the door? Gertruda. There are some things in the way, and I can’t shut it.—A pack saddle, two panniers full of dried beef, and half a cask of salt cod-fish have been lying near the door, inside the unfortunate stranger’s room, the aroma from the beef and fish being more intolerable than any one not having slept under similar circumstances can possibly conceive. At last the impediments are removed, the door is heard to close, the bolts are drawn, and the stranger would compose himself to sleep, in spite of what has passed, of beef and fish, but he is still irritated by the lady avowing to the unfortunate slave that she is a shameless hussy, and that a dozen blows with the palmatorio in the morning will no doubt improve her morals and her agility.

The meals and other domestic arrangements on these plantations are of a piece with the dwelling. The dinner is served to the stranger and the male members of the family only, and consists of broth and a portion of the contents of the above-mentioned panniers, with perhaps the addition of a little fresh beef; but this, having been several hours on the fire to make the broth, is not easily separated from the other. This dish fills a plate to the very outside, and is well piled up, and another plate equally well filled with pirao, made of manioc flour, mixed with some of the broth, and formed into an unctuous sort of pudding. Besides these two dishes, which constitute the most important part of the meal, there will be a plate containing some of the contents of the cask baked on the embers, and two small plates, one containing bruised chili peppers, lime juice, and broth, as sauce for the beef, and the other some of the peppers, oil, vinegar, raw small onions, and garlic sliced, as sauce for the cod fish. Dessert will consist of bananas, Dutch cheese, and guava, potato, or other sweets. All help themselves with their own knives and forks, when they have such things, sometimes the guest only being supplied with them, because he is a foreigner. In the latter case the rest help themselves with the apparatus nature gave them. It is done thus: each has a plate near him, and the meat, pirao, and sauces remain in the middle of the table. They draw from the dish a portion of the meat which they lay in their respective plates; this is subdivided by hand. With the ends of the fingers each then scoops out a piece of pirao, about as big as a hen’s egg, a shred of the beef is laid into the hot sauce and withdrawn; and the two having been a little worked up together with the ends of the fingers and the palm of the same hand until they are tolerably incorporated, the elongated bolus is conveyed to the mouth and swallowed in a manner that would probably astonish a Neapolitan macaroni eater, and certainly astounds everybody else who witnesses it for the first time.

The class of Brazilians of whose mode of living the foregoing conveys a slight idea is fast disappearing before the rapid strides that civilization is making in the country. The majority of the planters of the present day are intelligent, and free from most of the prejudices inherited from the old Portuguese settlers. Many of the landed proprietors live in large, well-built houses, keep excellent tables, and, indeed, are generally of high acquirements, some having received a university education, and mixed in the first circles in Europe, and at the court of Rio Janeiro, assimilating in a great measure to the squatters in Australia, or the landowners in New Zealand, many of whom, as is well known, consist of cadets and collateral branches of the noblest and most ancient families of the United Kingdom.

The hospitality of the Brazilians to strangers, and their attentions particularly to Englishmen, when travelling in their country, are remarkable. They have got the notion that all Englishmen imbibe wine, brandy, and beer largely; and it is unfortunately but too true that what they have witnessed during their intercourse with our islanders in some measure warrants the conclusion they have come to. They always expressed the greatest astonishment when the writer refused to take wine except at dinner; and when they found that he never took their new harsh rum, or worse liqueurs, they exclaimed ‘Nao hé Inglez!’ When a man is very drunk they say he is Bem Inglez; and a dram they call, huma baieta Ingleza—an English wrapper. Some further particulars relative to domestic life among the planters, and among various grades of the Brazilians, will be found in a note somewhat similar to this appended to the chapter on Bahia; but, as partially helping to complete the foregoing picture of a Brazilian interior and menage, I select the following from a German work published in the course of the present year, entitled ‘Reise nach Brasilien,’ by D. Hermann Burmeister, the original of which I have not seen, and am therefore indebted to a review in the ‘Athenæum,’ of last month, for a translation of the extract:—

At sunrise, the family is awake. The servant, or (where there is none) the housewife lights the fire, and boils the coffee, which, though prepared in a peculiar manner, is always excellent. The raw sugar and the unroasted berries are stirred together and roasted in a covered pan, so that when the sugar melts and cools it forms a tough mass with the berries. A spoonful of this is pounded in a mortar and put into a linen bag. Boiling water is then poured upon it, cups are held underneath, and the beverage is ready. Coffee-pots are not used, but the cups are made separately, and handed about on a salver: they are small, and without handles. Milk is only added in the morning; in the evening the coffee is taken without it. The hour for breakfast is ten o’clock; black beans, porridge (angù), dried meat, meal (farinha), bacon (toucinho), cabbage, rice, and even a fowl, when the entertainment is of a superior kind, are served up. Everyone eats what he pleases, the same plate being used at once for everything. The host and his guests sit at the table to their meal, while the wife remains without, and looks on, eating apart. When these have finished, the slaves and servants take their turn. Now come the occupations of the day. The wife goes to her work, that is to say, she mends her own, her husband’s, and her children’s clothes, while the man goes out to walk, or to game, or to gossip on the highway. At three or four o’clock, there is a fresh repast of the same kind as the other. They eat heartily, drinking water either alone, or mixed with a little brandy, and soon after dinner take a cup of coffee. After this comes the period of repose, during the hottest hours of the day, and then comes another walk, which generally lasts till late at night. Between five and six o’clock, the ladies call upon their friends, accompanied by a black female servant. Some families take a third meal between seven and eight o’clock, but this is an exception.

INTERIOR OF THE MILL HOUSE OF THE ‘CARAUNA’ SUGAR ESTATE, IN PERNAMBUCO, BELONGING TO DR. DOMINGOS DE SOUZA LEAO; SHOWING DE MORNAY’S PATENT CANE MILL.

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CHAPTER VII.
ALAGOAS AND SEREGIPE.

Area, Products, and Population of Alagoas.—Maceio, the principal Seaport.—Rivers navigable only by boats, except the San Francisco.—Cataract on the same, at the famous Falls of Affonso; a new sight for Used Up travellers in search of the picturesque in the tropics.—Primitive condition of the Province of Seregipe, and prospects of rapid improvement through Railways.

The adjoining province to Pernambuco is that of Alagoas, so called from lakes situated a short distance from the coast, and where the capital of the province was originally placed; but latterly the shipping port of Maceio has been preferred, and it has grown into a flourishing little town, where a good deal of produce is cleared. It is built on the gentle slope of a hill, a short distance from the bay or harbour, formed, like all others in Brazil, by a reef of coral rocks, inside of which a vessel rides in safety with plenty of water. Its exports first in importance are cotton, and sugar, and then hides. With the exception of the Reconvavo of Bahia, there is probably no part of Brazil so populous as the greater part of this province, which, embracing an area of about 150 by 60 miles, has a population of fully a quarter of a million, chiefly addicted to agriculture, here prosecuted with great success, as the soil is most rich, yielding nearly every Brazilian produce in great profusion; but tobacco, once a prime staple, is falling off, owing to the cessation of imported slave labour; cotton is now fast taking its place, and its cultivation is being followed most encouragingly, common cotton cloth being also made in most of the houses, though the manufactured article is imported, with trifling exceptions. There are numerous rivers in the province, but none of them navigable for any distance, except by boats, in the construction of which the inhabitants greatly excel. In this province is the famous cataract of Paulo Affonso, over which the River San Francisco is precipitated a perpendicular height of fifty feet, one of the grandest sights in nature; and we look forward with confidence to the time when it will be a familiar sight also to the western traveller, as the projected railway from Pernambuco, after traversing nearly the whole province, is to terminate almost at the very foot of the Falls. Of all the provinces of the great empire of Brazil there is none probably that may calculate with greater certainty on a more rapid augmentation of its prosperity from railroads than Alagoas, as nearly all the traffic is now conducted on horse-back and in a species of canoe; and as the productiveness and variety of the soil are vast, correspondingly large will be the result of affording the numerous population the means of transport. The town of Alagoas itself contains about 14,000 inhabitants, and possesses some good educational and large religious establishments, being situate in the midst of an agreeable and fertile country, surrounded by some of the finest timber-trees in the empire, the province yielding to none in the quality or quantity of its forest produce, inclusive of Brazil wood.

Seregipe, contiguous to, is also a good deal mixed up with Alagoas. They are both intersected by the great river San Francisco, which, though it might be made navigable for hundreds of miles above the falls of the same name, and be rendered a source of valuable commerce, is navigable only by small smacks for a comparatively very short distance from the sea, all goods destined for the interior farther up having to be carried on the backs of horses to another part of the river, and there put on board jojos, that is, two or more canoes lashed together, and traversed at top by a piece of board. It is worth remarking, that in ascending this river, and indeed most rivers on this coast, the wind blows up for some two hours continuously, which admits of sails being used, and the descent is easily effected by the current without the wind, which blows downwards for nearly the same space of time towards the coast. The area of Seregipe is estimated at 18,000 square miles, the population at about 200,000. This province is likewise very productive, especially in fine timber, though vast tracts are still altogether uncultivated, but very large herds of cattle prosper on the fine pastures which everywhere abound. The principal town is Sao Christovao, but is not of importance, sufficient to require any detailed notice, or to detain us from the large and important town and province we next proceed to, viz., Bahia.

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CHAPTER VIII.
BAHIA.

Bahia, its old name retained in a new place: the province and the city; present condition and splendid prospect of both.—Intra-mural peculiarities and Extra-mural properties.—Prolific sugar produce.—Historic, artistic, and archæological attractions of Bahia.—Souvenirs of the Jesuits.—Relics of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Francis Xavier.—A Bahian church built in Europe.—British Bahian clergyman and local railways.—Health of the city.—A Brazilian poet warbling native wood-notes very wild.—Necessity for keeping a nautical eye in fine frenzy rolling towards the Abrolhos.—Departure from Bahia.—Approach to the Brazilian capital, and untoward preliminary to the Argentina’s acquaintance therewith.—Stray notes on Bahia, containing memoranda on Brazilian matters in general.

Note to the Illustrations.—Both the illustrations in this chapter are copied from ‘Sketches in South America,’ by Sir W. Gore Ouseley, who, in a letter-press ‘Key’ to his beautiful portfolio of drawings, affords some interesting particulars, of which the annexed is an abridgment:—The first remarkable object in approaching the harbour of Bahia is the Fort of St. Antonio, situated on the point of a rock, forming the extremity of the Cape called after that saint. It is not large, but it is a fair specimen of the numerous solidly-constructed stone forts that have been scattered by the Portuguese (and Spaniards) throughout their colonial possessions, wherever deemed necessary for purposes of defence or aggression, and which bear witness, in their well-built walls, and often handsome details, to the ample means, military skill, and power, that backed the zeal of the first settlers in South America, and founded the Brazilian empire. Fort St. Antonio has on its highest part a light-house, of great service to mariners in making the port at night, as there are shoals off the point. Opposite to Cape St. Antonio is a long low island, called Itaparicá, between which and the port is the channel for large vessels. The scenery near Bahia does not present the striking features that distinguish Rio de Janeiro; it has neither the well-wooded hills nor the lofty precipitous rocks that environ the capital of Brazil. It is, however, very pretty, varied by small hills and acclivities, and ornamented by the tall, graceful cocoa-nut and the usual luxuriant vegetation of Brazil. The Cape, like the coast generally of the province of Bahia, is surrounded by coral rocks; and a reef of coral extends to a considerable distance from and along the shore. The beach is sandy, with large stones strewed on it by the action of the waves. After passing the Cape and Fort St. Antonio, which are on the right on entering the harbour of Bahia, the next prominent objects are the church and villas on the high land, called Victoria, overlooking the harbour. It is a favourite and picturesque suburb of Bahia, and is the chosen site of several ‘chacras’ or quasi country residences. The elevation is sufficient to avoid the extreme heat of the lower town and to get the benefit of the sea-breeze. It is considered a healthy situation, and a tolerable carriage-road leads to the English cemetery, marked by a cross in the foreground, and to the point of St. Antonio, as well as along the coast. On the beach are several ‘Armaçaos,’ or places where whale-boats are kept, and whales cut up. They are provided with capstans and tackle, for hauling up the carcase and blubber to be reduced to food by the poor, the flesh looking like coarse beef. The whale on this coast is pursued in large sailing-boats, and harpooned while the boat is under sail. In the inner harbour are situated most of the wharves, quays, and warehouses along the beach and projecting into the water; and here numerous vessels lie in perfect safety; the foreign men-of-war generally near a round castellated tower or fort, not far from the entrance. Bahia is divided into two towns, the upper and the lower, the former of which being more modern, is built with greater regularity than the latter; and contains many handsome buildings, including a rich cathedral, the palaces of the archbishop and governor, a court of appeal, theatre, hospitals, a library of from 60,000 to 70,000 volumes, and many other edifices, chiefly of an ecclesiastical character. The lower town, San Salvador, or Bahia, is dirty and badly laid out, but in it are to be found the exchange, arsenal, and imperial dockyard. About three miles north-east are yards for the construction of merchant shipping. The houses are mostly of stone, and often lofty. The Dutch have left traces of former possession in the brick paving of some of the streets. At the foot of the steep height, covered with foliage, and crowned by the ‘Paseo Publico,’ or public promenade, is a small landing-place for boats, conveniently situated for those who prefer a steep but clambering ascent to the upper town, to being first taken round the point into the interior basin and landed in the lower town, to be thence carried up by negroes in a sort of palanquin. Those in use here consist merely of a chair on a platform of boards, suspended from the centre of an arched pole or beam, the projecting swan-necked ends of which are born on the shoulders of two men, who relieve themselves by the occasional use of a stick as a lever applied under the pole as it rests under the opposite shoulder. The motion is neither pleasant nor the position seemingly secure. Yet not only ladies, but men, and of no light calibre, invariably use them for transport to the upper town and in visiting. The chairs are sheltered by curtains from the sun, and the woodwork as well as curtains are often gilt and showily and expensively ornamented. The steepness of the streets prevents the use of wheel-carriages, except in a few directions, and causes the substitution of these palanquins. Bahia, founded in 1549 by Thomas de Souza, first captain-general of Brazil, is one of the most important commercial cities in America; and prior to the transfer of the vice-royalty in 1763 to Rio, was the capital of Brazil. It is defended by several forts, some of great strength. It was stated some years ago to contain above 150,000 inhabitants, among whom are many very wealthy proprietors and merchants. This population is divided pretty equally into whites, mulattoes, and blacks. A few miles from Bahia, on the Atlantic coast near Rio Vermelho, is a small ruined chapel, dedicated to St. Gonçalo, said to be the first building devoted to Christian worship constructed in Brazil, or, as some say, in America.

Bahia, or San Salvador da Bahia, is commonly called by the former name, which is only the abbreviation of the title given by the first settlers to the bay, at the head whereof stands the capital, viz., ‘Bahia de todos os Santos,’ or ‘All Saints’ Bay,’ as already stated; but some geographers of the present day retain the old nomenclature; and in so recent and authoritative a work as the eighth edition of the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ now in course of publication, the reader is referred, for the province and city of Bahia, to the article San Salvador, which may be expected to make its appearance somewhere towards the end of 1856, by which time, it is to be hoped, the subject will have expanded to dimensions corresponding with such procrastination in its treatment by such means.

ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF BAHIA.

This province contains within itself the germs of enduring prosperity: a splendid bay many miles in extent, where countless ships can ride close to the shore, with lakes and rivers branching from it, form so many natural harbours, docks, and canals; whilst it abounds with sugar plantations, forests of timber fit for shipbuilding and other purposes, precious stones, and many tropical productions, the latter of which can be all procured in a degree only limited by the amount of labour and the facility of bringing things down to the ports for shipment.

Everything at Bahia bespeaks the former head-quarter of an important government. The removal of the latter to Rio was of course a great disadvantage to this place, which has since had to work its way up as a commercial entrepot, with frequent interruptions from political disturbances, the last in 1837 amounting to a positive civil war, when a most lawless band obtained possession of the city, which they held for several months, and were only driven out, with much slaughter, after having attempted to fire it, in which they partially succeeded. Since that time things have been tolerably quiet, the discovery of large deposits of diamonds in a district called the Chapada having given an impetus to business, and taken away many restless spirits, there being now a population of some 40,000, collected there in pursuit of gems here found in considerable abundance—some of extraordinary value. It is 50 to 60 leagues distant from the town of Cachoeira at the head of a river of that name, which is navigable for steam-boats and a source of considerable traffic, there joining the Paraguassa, into which sundry small tributaries, of more or less importance, flow.

The production of sugar, for the fine quality of which the province is greatly celebrated, as also for that of its tobacco, so highly praised in Portugal and Spain, has latterly revived, amounting for the crop just finished, to 80,000 tons. As already observed in the case of Pernambuco, this increase has not originated from any fiscal changes in England, but simply from the cessation of civil discord, enabling the planters to devote their entire energies to the culture of their estates. It is true that large importations of slaves have aided this movement, and that Bahia has been the great focus of this detestable traffic; but the stimulus cannot be traced in any way to our treatment of the West India Colonies, however disposed interested parties may be to ascribe it to this circumstance. The Brazilians had begun to find out the advantages attendant on peace and tranquillity, and that the greater the quantity of produce they could export the larger would be the means at their disposal for the purchase of the necessaries and luxuries of life, which they now began to look upon as desirable to possess. Improved machinery for the making of sugar was brought into operation, as well as additional capital for the development of that product, and likewise of cotton; in the export of which latter commodity Bahia now nearly equals Pernambuco, exceeding that port and province, and all the rest of Brazil put together, in the quantity of its sugar. The natural consequence of such application of skill and means has been a largely extended production from almost virgin soil.

THE CHAPEL OF SAN GONCALO, AT BAHIA.

Whilst the trade of Bahia has thus progressed, signs of local and municipal improvement are also visible. Short as is the time since the accomplished author of the note, page 123, wrote—viz., in 1845—the streets have been generally repaired, and the roads leading to the upper town put in an efficient state, so that carriages can now traverse them safely; new quays, extending along the margin of the bay, are in process of erection; also a new custom-house, together with many other much-needed improvements, chiefly owing to the personal activity of Sen. Gonsalvez Martins, formerly President of Bahia, and late Minister of the Empire, who is a native of the place, to which he has shown himself devotedly attached. Bahia possesses more attractions for the mere traveller, in search of curiosities, than probably any town in Brazil, or even in the whole of South America; formerly the capital of the empire, as we have just said, and still next in extent and importance to the metropolis, and as being also the chief seat of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, its religious structures are the most numerous, imposing, and unique, of any in all Brazil. The cathedral of San Salvador is a splendid monument of the architectural genius of the Jesuits, and its interior corresponds in magnificence with its external beauty, containing, among other remarkable mementos of those colonizers, a portrait, said to be taken from life, of their famous founder, Ignatius Loyola, and that of St. Francis Xavier. The ancient college of the order, now a military hospital, is also very fine. There are probably not less than 40 churches, one of them being situated in the principal street, the Praya, called the Church of the Conception, chiefly composed of blocks of marble which were forwarded from Europe already numbered, like the plates of an iron house in these days, and on their arrival they had merely to be put together, and the building was constructed at once, according to the precise design of the architect at home. This is the more singular as very excellent stone abounds on the spot, the theatre, for instance, being erected on a rock, and numbers of houses are built therewith from the same material, to the height of five stories, some having balconies and blinds, instead of windows—a most desirable arrangement in such a climate, and one which speaks much for the honesty of the lower classes in a town of great trade like Bahia, the extent of whose business may be surmised when it is stated that upwards of a million pounds’ sterling worth of English goods alone enter it annually. Mr. Borthwick, the engineer, sent from London to determine on the accuracy of Messrs. De Mornay’s survey of the Pernambuco railway, in his report, already referred to in the preceding chapter, speaking of the rival claims of Bahia to a railway of its own, and contrasting the condition of the two extraordinary nourishing provinces, says:—‘In 1851 the imperial revenue, from Bahia was 4,784,600 milreis, and from Pernambuco 4,639,427 milreis, irrespective of movements of funds, &c., which would reverse the comparison in that way.’ I have not the returns for the last two years before me, but believe that the general relative proposition is still about the same.

Here I saw the first practical adoption of the Brazilian railway system, in the working of a tram road, to level a large space of uneven ground called the Campo, on the Victoria Hill, by which means a large amount of work has been done in a very short time. For much of this the natives are considerably indebted to the English clergyman who officiates as chaplain to the British residents, and who, not satisfied with paving the road to heaven leading to the path he points out, and building a handsome new church in this locality, has been public-spirited enough to afford material assistance in the construction of highways, building of bridges, and other engineering works, thus clearly and beneficially proving his aptitude for business of this kind.

Bahia has suffered severely from that dreadful scourge the yellow fever; but we found it had in a great measure passed over; and it is to be hoped that it will gradually die away, though it appears that the chief medical men in the empire have decided that it will remain a permanent, or at least intermittent, visitant, something probably like the cholera amongst us, which has apparently become acclimated in England, continuing a steady course of mortality, without those sudden inroads whose speedy devastation so greatly shocked, because they so much surprised, us.

There is a romantic kind of history attached to the first settlement of this province, embodied in an attempt to copy Camoens in his splendid work, commemorative of the discovery of India by Vasco da Gama. (Vide introductory chapter.) It is called ‘Caramaru,’ and was written by José Basilio da Gama, a Brazilian, born in Minas Geres, about the year 1740, and is descriptive of the adventures of a Portuguese sailor, who was wrecked somewhere near Bahia, and rescued from the fate of his shipmates (who were sacrificed by the cannibals, then in possession of the coast) by an Indian princess, who became enamoured of and married him; he then figured in the wars of the Indians, by whom he was looked upon as a kind of demi-god, and afterwards made a trip to Europe with his wife. Some of the scenes in this poem are well and graphically depicted, giving a good insight into the state of the country at that period, and of the savage life existing; but after reading Camoens, it sinks immeasurably into the shade, and we have difficulty in believing it to be written in the same language.

Our stay at Bahia was limited to the day. We sailed again at night, and were obliged to pass outside the Abrolhos, it being night when we came up with them; otherwise there is a good channel for a steamer between these rocks and the main land, and it is a great saving in distance. The name of these crags is very appropriate (‘Open Your Eyes’) there being much need of it, and no light-house to warn the mariner, should he unfortunately be driven by the current or some other casualty near such perils at night-time. Few accidents, however, happen, because a wide berth is given to the Abrolhos. Off Cape Frio we were met by a stiff south-wester, which came down upon us with a freshness and determination worthy of St. George’s Channel; our little steamer went through it manfully, only sending the spray over us. We did not descry the light on Cape Frio owing to the mist and drizzling showers, but soon came up with that on the Island of Raza, opposite to Rio Harbour, which is a splendid light seen from a long distance, and it renders the entrance to Rio comparatively easy. We steamed on, and passed the fort of Santa Cruz, where vessels are hailed; but in running in to the anchorage ground we unfortunately came in contact with a small vessel, placed in the roads with chains and anchors to afford succour to vessels in distress, odd enough called the ‘Succorro,’ or ‘Succour.’ She had neglected the precaution of having a light up, so stringently enforced by the regulations of the port; and we could not see her till close upon her, doing some damage, but nothing very material, and came to anchor close to her for the night.

The following interesting ‘scraps,’ touching manners, customs, and things at Bahia, have been supplied by my valued relative, Mr. Wetherell, for some time British Vice-Consul there, who employs much of his leisure hours not merely in collecting information of this nature and placing it on record, but also in other useful pursuits connected with botany and natural history, of which he has sent home many interesting results.