Hunting a home in Brazil

by James McFadden Gaston

A few small patches of coffee tree were seen near the village which seemed in a thriving condition, and indicated a yield far beyond what might have been anticipated from the appearance of the soil. A change, however, in the land, seems to commence near this place, and it assumes here very much the aspect of red clay, but in some parts the sandy soil predominating, and all lying very irregular, except immediately upon the streams.

I was impressed with the adaptation of the Jundiahi river, a small stream which runs near our inn, for the location of machinery of limited water-power; and when the railroad reaches this place a good mill or cotton ginning establishment would be likely to prove very advantageous on this river. The fall is not very great, but could be arranged so as to afford all requisite power for this or some similar purpose.

Our quarters were so infested with fleas that I found it necessary to rise in the night and denude myself, so as to remove those that might be in my clothing. After this I returned naked to bed, and wrapping up in the sheet closely there was no further annoyance. This was an experiment with me, and it succeeded so well that I commend it to others when they may be thus unfavorably situated. The dirt floors of this house, and the swine around the doors, presented this nuisance; while our bedding and the outfit of the apartments were in very comfortable order, and clean.

At this point we overtook our camarada and pack-mules, which had been sent ahead of us. Getting a change of clothing from our baggage, the camarada was again sent in advance, so that his mules would not be required to travel as fast as we would ride. The train now consists of eight animals, and the mule upon which I am mounted makes nine, which is rather more than would be desirable to move together. Our baggage trains, consisting of four mules, two belonging to the camarada, and two of the government stock, which are very poor and weak, requires to move slowly, and can take more time by going forward while we stop, either for repose, or the examination of places of interest during the afternoon.

Wednesday, October 4, 1865.

Moving off this morning at 8 o’clock, we proceeded about fourteen miles, and halted at the house of a German for two hours. This man had originally come into the country as a colonist of the government, and getting a little means had bought this place, paying fifteen hundred ($1500) dollars, for three hundred acres, with a dwelling and other improvements. Here the soil is evidently better than that below Jundiahi, and seems to be well adapted to the growth of corn and cotton. I saw here a specimen of the lint of the pina tree, which is a beautiful, silky-looking fibre, as white as cotton, and when mixed with it makes a beautiful fabric; but it has not strength of fibre when used alone to give proper texture to cloth. The pod is large and spherical, growing upon a tree which is very large and tall, and though the yield is generally abundant, the difficulty of procuring the lint is so great that very little is gathered. Eventually the pods fall to pieces upon the trees, and this fine silky cotton is blown broadcast through the forests. We got at this house a very good meal, consisting of Irish potatoes, corn bread, beans, farina, spare ribs, fried eggs, with a dessert of honey and sweet milk. Coffee was also served after dinner, as is the custom everywhere in the country, but I declined it, as all my available capacity was preoccupied by other things. After leaving this place, and proceeding towards Campinas, we began to see the successful culture of the coffee. The extensive plantations, extending with the greatest regularity as far as the eye could reach, presented a most attractive feature after passing the dreary waste for two previous days.

We saw at a point within two miles of Campinas some negroes engaged in loading a huge oxcart with the crude berries of the coffee, from an immense pile that had been gathered from the trees growing along the side of the road. The ground under the trees is raked clean preparatory to stripping the berries with the hand, and an immense broad flat receptacle made of the bamboo cane is placed under each tree, but what fails to fall in this is easily swept up from the smooth earth into a pile, and then taken up and put into the receptacle. These are emptied into piles convenient to the road, from which the coffee is hauled to the drying-yard, where it is spread out and watched carefully to guard it against rain. When dried it is submitted to a process for taking off the hull, and then fanned to clean it more thoroughly, or even by some submitted to cleansing by washing.

Having turned off from the main road to Campinas, we were accommodated with quarters at the antiquated-looking fazenda of Senor Vicente da Sonza Queiroz, who resides in São Paulo, and gave us a letter to his administrator at this place, with the expectation that we would stop here a few days.

After being shown around the premises, Mr. Bennaton and I walked through the back yard into the grove of orange trees in the garden, where we found only bitter sweets that were not desirable to eat. When we returned the old administrator (another word for overseer) expressed himself as not being satisfied with our going into the back yard without notifying him, and there being two single daughters on the premises was doubtless the cause of his concern about our visit. All these people, who have not been in contact with the outside world, think it a solemn duty to keep their females in great seclusion. It may be that this old fellow was afraid we might get a peep at the girls, while perambulating his back yard. They have not however been seen as yet, and, unless affording a remarkable contrast to the appearance of their father, it is not likely they will afford much attraction to the gaze of the curious. With every thing about the house of plain style, we are very comfortably fixed, with a large airy room, and two sleeping-apartments.

The coffee apparatus at this place is of the oldest and most elementary construction, and therefore it may be appropriately described in the outset of my observation. In the first place the yard for drying is simply a firm smooth surface of the ground, with a shelter at one side of it, under which the coffee is carried in baskets, if there is a prospect of rain. When this drying is completed, it is taken into a circular box of perhaps fifteen feet diameter, and subjected to the operation of a large wheel of wood, having a surface of twelve inches, that rolls round in this circular box containing the grains of coffee, and bruising or crushing off the hulls as it passes repeatedly over them. This wheel revolves upon a sweep or beam, to which oxen are yoked and move on the outside of the ring, while the sweep is attached to an upright post in the centre of the ring. After this slow and bungling procedure has done its work, the coffee is fanned or screened and afterwards a hand sieve is employed with blowing by the laborers, to remove the fine investments of the grain. That portion which it is thought necessary to wash is now washed in large wooden troughs by hand, after which another drying process completes the preparations for market.