Hunting a home in Brazil

by James McFadden Gaston

This is the only information from any of my friends since leaving on the 26th of June; and I am quite anxious to know the present disposition of those who are expected to act with us in the projected move to Brazil.

I delivered a letter of introduction to-day to Mr. Joseph Bennaton, No. 125 Rua Direita, from his nephew, Mr. Newton Bennaton; whereupon he manifested a cheerful readiness to promote my wishes, and extended an invitation to sojourn at his house while I remained in the city. I thanked him for his proffered hospitality, but stated to him that circumstances made it desirable for me to stay at the hotel, where persons could be seen on business. His invitation to visit his family and take dinner to-morrow afternoon was however accepted.

A copy of the handbook for emigrants to Brazil, arranged by Dom Galvão, was received from him to-day by the hand of his secretary. In this, he has compiled the laws and public enactments of the empire of Brazil bearing upon the relations of foreigners in becoming residents of the country, with the regulations heretofore in force pertaining to colonization. It is expected that important modifications of the laws of Brazil will be made in regard to the anticipated emigration of people from the south of the United States, yet nothing has yet been definitely determined on by the authorities.

Tuesday, November 28, 1865.

Upon calling this morning at the residence of the Minister of Agriculture, he was absent, and a note was left for him stating that I would return at ten o’clock to-morrow morning with other gentlemen from the Southern States.

Dr. Shaw, Dr. Davidson and Mr. Brooks called with me to-day upon Dom Galvão, and had a conference with him in regard to the emigration movement. He was so kind as to send his secretary, Mr. Mello, with us to one of the public offices to procure maps of the lower provinces of Brazil. This latter gentleman speaks English as well as Dom Galvão, and I accepted his invitation to go out to-morrow afternoon and make the acquaintance of his mother’s family.

I proceeded with Mr. Bennaton at four o’clock in the little steamer to his residence in Caju, and found the scenery in that precinct quite attractive, and his residence very pleasant. His wife is a German lady, much younger than himself, and they have three interesting little children. She is a fine performer on the piano and sings admirably, but as her pieces were mostly Italian I could not fully appreciate her music.

After dinner I joined them in a visit to Mr. Fox, who resides in an elegant house upon the hill, which is surrounded by grounds laid out in fine taste, and having the additional attraction of most excellent grapes, imported from the United States. He drew my attention to the fact of his dwelling being much damaged by an insect which destroys the texture of the wood and leaves the part without support. I supposed it to be the same that had been seen at the house of Mr. Blackford, where the interior of the wood was reduced to a mere powder, with a thin exterior layer.

This injury to the texture of the wood may escape observation unless there is a special examination of the particular part, as the perforations by which these insects enter the outer layer are very small, and all the fine sawdust made by their operations remains within this outer shell, that is not thicker in the specimen seen than coarse white paper.

Any iron rod, or even wooden pole, thrust against a piece of timber affected in this way would cause it to yield and fall into a hole, so that the damage might become in this way apparent when their presence was suspected in a house. But most of the heavy timbers being concealed, this mode of testing is impracticable, and they give way, as the first sign of the mischief going on within.