The governor of Santos being subject in all cases to the governor of S. Paulo, we applied to him for permission to go thither, which was immediately granted. It was now eight in the evening, and we were without an asylum for the night. I had several letters of recommendation, not one of which procured us any civility, and we found that the inhabitants were far from being courteous to strangers. We were willing to impute this to want of convenient accommodations, but it may be generally observed, that along the whole coast the same shyness prevails, while in the interior the people vie with each other in acts of hospitality. Perhaps in all countries this duty is most practised where the occasions for its exercise most rarely occur.
Being unable to procure a bed at Santos, we were obliged to engage a canoe to convey us up the river to Cubataõ, where we arrived at two in the morning, and were introduced into the guard-house for a lodging. The corporal being called, he accommodated us as well as he was able; we lay down on the softest planks we could find, and made pillows of our portmanteaus, but though much wearied we found ourselves little disposed to sleep on so uneasy a couch. At sun-rise, when we got up, an extraordinary and busy scene presented itself; before the guard-house was a large space of ground enclosed by the storehouse and other out-buildings, and here a hundred mules were in the act of being harnessed and loaded; the gentleness and tractability of these fine large animals pleased us much, and the expertness of their masters, particularly of the negroes, in placing and replacing the burdens, was truly surprising.
From the good corporal, who was commanding officer here, we received every attention, and much more civility than we had reason to expect from having experienced the unaccommodating disposition of the people in Santos, in much better circumstances than himself. He procured us a good breakfast, and furnished us with saddle-mules for our journey, at the rate of ten shillings each, the distance being eight leagues. Having obtained a guide we mounted, and proceeded about half a mile, when we reached the foot of the stupendous mountains we had to cross. The road is good and well paved, but narrow, and, on account of the rugged acclivities, is cut in a zig-zag direction, with very frequent and abrupt turnings, continually on the ascent. The trains of loaded mules which we met on their way to Santos rendered the passage disagreeable, and at times dangerous. In many places the road is cut through the solid rock for several feet, in others along the perpendicular sides, and it leads frequently over the tops of conical mountains, along the edge of precipices, down which the traveller is liable to be thrown into an impervious thicket full thirty yards below. These dangerous places are secured by parapets. After ascending for an hour and a half, during which time we made innumerable turnings, we arrived at a resting place, near which, at a spot a little lower than the road, we found water. This place, as our guide informed us, was only half-way to the summit; we were astonished at the intelligence, as the clouds were already so far below us that they obstructed our prospect. During our progress hither, we observed that the mules travel as quick on an ascent as on level ground; they much excel the horse in uneven roads with sharp turnings, and still more so in bad roads.
To attempt the geology of mountains so covered by vegetable matter would be a difficult task; the component parts of those along which we passed appeared to be granite, and frequently soft, crumbling, ferruginous sand-stone. Some picturesque streams bursting from their high sources form fine cascades, and in crossing the road force their way through many detached and round masses of granite. The woods are so thick in every part, except where the mules tread, that no soil can be seen; the branches of the trees in some places meet and form an arbor over the road, which shades the traveller from the heat of the sun, and shelters him from rain.
After resting for about twenty minutes we again mounted and resumed our ascent. The road presented at times four or five zig-zags above us at one view, and gave us fresh reason for astonishment at the completion of a work so fraught with difficulties. The millions of crowns which must have been expended in clearing the woods and thickets in its course, and in cutting through the solid rock for a considerable distance, as well as in paving it through the whole extent of the ridge, afford no mean idea of the enterprising spirit of the Brazilians. Few public works, even in Europe, are superior to it; and if we consider that, by reason of the scanty population of the district through which it passes, the labor bestowed on it must have been purchased most dearly, we shall hardly find one in any country so well completed under similar disadvantages.
In three hours we reached the summit, a plain of considerable extent, the lowest estimated height of which is six thousand feet. The surface is chiefly composed of quartz covered with sand. The sea, though distant twenty miles, seemed to us as if it washed the foot of the mountains; the level part of the coast and the port of Santos below us came not within the angle of vision. While we enjoyed this sublime prospect, we were refreshed by a cool breeze, which renewed our strength and spirits, and enabled us to pursue our journey with alacrity. Advancing about a mile and a half, we came to a part of the road which was cut several feet deep through the rock, and observed in this quarter many small streams, which, though contiguous to the sea, all flow in a south-west course to an immense distance, and, uniting, form the great river Correntes, which joins the Plata. This circumstance will sufficiently explain the form of this mighty ridge of mountains, namely, that the highest and steepest side fronts the sea, and that the other shelves more gradually and with more frequent outlets to the plains of the interior. This part of the road is lined by fine trees and large thickets on both sides. The heavy rains of the season (December) had damaged it in various parts; the readiest mode of repairing these breaks is to cut down several trees, about seven inches diameter, place them across, and fasten them down with hooked stakes. The mules which travel these rugged declivities, though far more hardy than horses, frequently fall victims to fatigue; we observed some dead by the way-side. In the course of our route we passed several parties of negroes and some of Indians, working at repairs in the road, or making new branches from it. Some of them I noticed with swellings in the neck, though very different from those I have observed in Derbyshire and other mountainous countries. In the case of these Indians there not only appeared that protuberance from the glands commonly called a wen, but lumps, of from half an inch to three inches in diameter, hung from it in an almost botryoidal form. Persons thus afflicted are called in the language of the country papos.
After crossing several rivulets and passing a few houses we arrived at a tolerable inn, belonging to an officer of militia, where we were soon provided with plenty of milk, coffee, and fowls. It is distant sixteen or twenty miles from S. Paulo, and may be considered as half-way between that town and Santos. The owner, who was much surprised to see Englishmen, treated us with every civility, and procured us a change of saddle-mules. While they were preparing, he shewed us a tract of land in front of his house, tolerably well cleared, where we took an hour’s shooting. We then proceeded through a much more open country, which bore the traces of former cultivation, and seemed of late to have been much neglected. As we drew nearer S. Paulo, the road improved, and was enlivened by a greater number of habitations in its vicinity. We passed two convents, which had the air of convenient houses, and were distinguished by large crosses erected before them. The land was watered by several fine streams; in one part we observed a quarry of ferruginous grit-stone, but we had not leisure to make much mineralogical research. S. Paulo, although on an elevated site, is not observed at any great distance in this direction. In its immediate neighbourhood the river runs parallel to the road, which it sometimes partially overflows, and covers with sand. To our left we saw a large estalagem, or inn, where numbers of mules are unloaded, and travellers commonly pass the night. It consists of a very large shed, supported upon upright pieces of timber, with separate divisions for receiving the cargoes or burdens of the mules, each traveller occupying as many as his goods require; and there is a piece of ground of about a hundred yards in circumference, planted with small upright stakes, at ten or fifteen feet distance, to which the bridles of the mules are tied while they are fed, saddled, and loaded. These estalagems are common in all parts of Brazil.
On entering the town, although we had expected much from its being the capital of the district, and the residence of the governor, yet we were struck with the neat appearance of its houses, stuccoed in various colors; those in the principal streets were two or three stories high. Having arrived an hour or two before sun-set, we walked to the house of a gentleman, to whom we had a letter of recommendation; but he being absent, we were obliged to pass the night at the estalagem, where our mules had been put up. It was a miserable abode. The next morning we breakfasted with our friend, and were conducted by him to the governor, Brigadier General França Horta, who honored us with an invitation to dinner, permitted a perishable cargo of my friend’s property, which was lying at Santos, to be unloaded, and gave us a general welcome to his palace. We had the good fortune to find that two of his Excellency’s aides-de-camp, men of excellent character, had been educated in England. They assisted us in obtaining lodgings, rendered us every service that we stood in need of, and shewed an earnest desire to make our stay as agreeable as possible.
