August 5th.—We arrived yesterday at Ceará, where we were warmly welcomed and most hospitably entertained at the house of Dr. Mendes, an old acquaintance of Major Coutinho. It was blowing hard and raining when we left the steamer; our boat put into the beach in a heavy surf, and I was wondering how I should reach the shore, when two of our negro rowers jumped into the water, and, standing at the side of the boat behind me, motioned me to come, crossing their arms basket-fashion, as we do sometimes to carry children. They looked as if it were the ordinary mode of conveyance, so I seated myself, and with one arm around the neck of each of my black bearers, they laughing as heartily as I did, I was landed triumphantly on the sands. After the first greetings at the house of Dr. Mendes were over, we were offered the luxury of a bath before breakfast. The bath is a very important feature in a Brazilian household. This one was of the size of a small room, the water (about two feet deep and of a delicious, soft, velvety character) constantly flowing through over the smooth sand floor. They are often larger than this, from four to five feet deep, and sometimes lined with blue and white tiles, which make a very clean and pretty floor. It is a great luxury in this warm climate, and many persons bathe several times a day. The bathhouse is usually in the garden, at a convenient distance from the house, but not immediately adjoining it. The bath was followed by an excellent breakfast, after which we drove through the city. Ceará is a wonderfully progressive town for Brazil. Five years ago it had not a paved street; now all the streets are well paved, with good sidewalks, and the city is very carefully laid out, with a view to its future growth.[[44]] To-day we are again coasting along within sight of land, with a quiet sea and a delicious breeze. The ocean is covered with white caps, and of a very peculiar greenish, aquamarine tint, the same which I observed as soon as we reached these latitudes in coming out. This singular color is said to be owing to the nature of the sea bottom and the shallowness of the water, combined, farther north, with the admixture of fresh water along the coast.
August 6th.—Arrived early this morning before Maranham, and went on shore to breakfast at the hotel; for, wonderful to relate, Maranham possesses a hotel, a great rarity in many Brazilian towns. We passed the greater part of the day in driving about the city with Dr. Braga, who kindly undertook to show us everything of interest.[[45]] The town and harbor are very pretty, the city itself standing on an island, formed by two bays running up on either side and enclosing it. The surrounding country is flat and very thickly wooded, though the woods are rather low. Here, at the house of Dr. Braga’s brother-in-law, we saw, for the first time, the slender, graceful Assai palm, from which the drink is made so much appreciated in Pará and on the Lower Amazons. It is curious to see the negroes go up the tree to gather the fruit. The trunk is perfectly smooth, the fruit growing in a heavy cluster of berries, just below the crown of leaves on its summit. The negro fastens a cord or a strip of palm-leaf around his insteps, thus binding his feet together that they may not slide apart on the smooth stem, and by means of this kind of stirrup he contrives to cling to the slippery trunk and scramble up.
We were much interested in seeing here an admirably well conducted institution for the education of poor orphans. Its chief aim is to educate them, not as scholars, though they receive elementary instruction in reading, writing, and ciphering, but to teach them a variety of occupations by which they can earn an honest livelihood. They are trained in several trades, are taught to play on a number of instruments, and there is also a school of design connected with the establishment. A faultless order and scrupulous neatness prevailed through the whole building, which was not the result of an exceptional preparation, since our visit was wholly unexpected. This surprised us the more, because, notwithstanding their fondness for bathing, order and neatness in their houses are not a virtue among the Brazilians. This may be owing to slave labor,—rarely anything better than eye-service. The large dormitories looked fresh and airy, with the hammocks rolled up and laid on a shelf, each one above the peg to which it belonged; the shoes were hung on nails along the walls, and the little trunks, holding the clothing of each scholar, were neatly arranged beneath them. On the upper story was the hospital, a large, well-ventilated room, with numerous windows commanding beautiful views, and a cool breeze blowing through it. Here were cots instead of hammocks, but I thought the sick boys might prefer the swinging, cradle-like beds to which they were accustomed, and which they evidently find very comfortable. When Mr. Agassiz remarked, as we passed through the dormitory, that sleeping in a hammock was an experience he had yet to make, one of the boys took his down from the shelf, and, hanging it up, laughingly threw himself into it, with a lazy ease which looked quite enviable. The kitchen and grocery rooms were as neat as the rest of the house, and the simplicity of the whole establishment, while it admitted everything necessary for comfort and health, was well adapted for its objects. A pretty little chapel adjoined the house, and the house itself was built around an open square planted with trees,—a pleasant playground for the boys, who have their music there in the evening. On our return to town we heard that, owing to the breakage of some part of the machinery, the steamer would be detained in this port for a couple of days. We have, however, returned to our quarters on board, preferring to spend the night on the water rather than in the hot, close town.
August 7th.—To-day we have all been interested in watching the beautiful Medusæ swept along by the tide, so close to the side of the steamer that they could easily be reached from the stairway. We have now quite a number disposed about the deck in buckets and basins, and Mr. Burkhardt is making colored sketches of them. They are very beautiful, and quite new to Mr. Agassiz. In some the disk has a brown tracery like seaweed over it, while its edge is deeply lobed, every lobe being tinged with an intensely brilliant dark blue; the lobes are divided into eight sets of four each, making thirty-two in all, and an eye is placed on the margin between each set; the tubes running to the eyes are much larger than those in the intervals between, and the network of vessels on the margin is wonderfully fine and delicate; the curtains hanging from the mouth are white and closely fringed with full flounces, somewhat like our Aurelia. The movement is quick, the margin of the disk beating with short, rapid pants. Another is altogether brown and white, the seaweed-like pattern being carried down to the edge of the lobes, and the lobes themselves being more delicate than those of the blue-edged one, the disk thinning out greatly towards the periphery. The brown marks are, however, darker, more distinct, and cover a larger space in some specimens than in others. This is also true of those with the blue margin, the brown pattern covering the whole disk in some, confined to a simple zone around the disk in others, and even entirely absent occasionally. Mr. Agassiz inclines to think, from the similarity of their other features, however, that, notwithstanding their difference of color, they all belong to the same species, the variety in coloration being probably connected with difference of sex. He has, at any rate, ascertained that all the wholly brown specimens caught to-day are males.
We were rejoiced this morning by the sight of our own flag coming into harbor. We presently found that the ship was the gunboat Nipsic. She had sailed from Boston on the 4th of July, and brought papers of a later date than any we have seen. The officers were kind enough to send us a large bundle of papers, which we have been eagerly devouring.
August 8th.—Another quite new and beautiful Medusa to-day. As we were waiting for breakfast this morning a number floated past, so dark in color that in the water they appeared almost black. Two of our party took a boat and went in search of them, but the tide was so swift that they swept past like lightning, and one had hardly time to point them out before they were gone again. However, after many efforts, we succeeded in getting one, whose portrait Mr. Burkhardt is now taking. The disk is of a chocolate-brown, shading into a darker, more velvety hue toward the edge, which is slightly scalloped, but not cut up into deep lobes like those of yesterday. The eyes, eight in number, are distinctly visible as lighter-colored specks on the margin. The appendages hanging from the mouth are more solid and not so thickly fringed as in those of yesterday. It moves rather slowly in its glass prison, the broad margin shading from lighter brown to a soft chocolate color almost verging on black, as it flaps up and down somewhat languidly, but still with a regular, steady pulsation.[[46]]
August 9th.—We passed yesterday afternoon with the Braga family in town. The weather was charming, a cool breeze blowing through the veranda where we dined. There were a number of guests to meet us, and we had again cause to acknowledge how completely the stranger is made to feel himself at home among these hospitable people. We sailed this morning, Mr. Agassiz taking with him a valuable collection, though our time was so short. The fact is, that, not only here, but at every town where we have stopped in coming up the coast, the ready, cordial desire of the people to help in the work has enabled him to get together collections which it would otherwise have been impossible to make in so short a time. If he is unexpectedly successful in this expedition, it is as much owing to the active sympathy of the Brazilians themselves, and to their interest in the objects he has so much at heart, as to the efforts of himself and his companions.
August 11th.—Pará. Early yesterday morning, a few yellowish patches staining the ocean here and there gave us our first glimpse of the water of the Amazons. Presently the patches became broad streaks, the fresh waters encroaching gradually upon the sea, until, at about ten o’clock, we fairly entered the mouth of the river, though, as the shores are some hundred and fifty miles apart, we might have believed ourselves on the broad ocean. As we neared the city, the numerous islands closing up about Pará and sheltering its harbor limited the view and broke the enormous expanse of the fresh-water basin. We anchored off the city at about three o’clock, but a heavy thundershower, with violent rain, prevented us from going on shore till the next morning. None of the party landed except Major Coutinho. He went to announce our arrival to his friend, Mr. Pimenta Bueno, who has kindly invited us to make his house our home while we stay in Pará. The next morning was beautiful after the rain, and at seven o’clock two boats were sent to take us and our effects on shore. On landing we went at once to Mr. Pimenta’s large business establishment near the wharves. Here he has provided several excellent working-rooms to serve as laboratories and storage-places for the specimens, and besides these a number of airy, cool chambers on the floor above, for the accommodation of our companions, who have already slung their hammocks, arranged their effects, and are keeping a kind of bachelor’s hall. Having disposed of the scientific apparatus, we drove out to Mr. Pimenta’s “chacara,” some two miles out of town, on the Rua de Nazareth, where we were received with the utmost kindness. Mr. Agassiz and Major Coutinho soon returned to town, where no time is to be lost in beginning work at the laboratory. I remained at home and passed a pleasant morning with the ladies of the family, who made me acquainted with the peculiar beverage so famous in these regions, prepared from the berries of the Assai palm. They are about the size of cranberries, and of a dark-brown color. Being boiled and crushed they yield a quantity of juice, which when strained has about the consistency of chocolate, and is of a dark purplish tint like blackberry juice. It has a sweetish taste, and is very nice eaten with sugar and the crisp “farinha d’agua,” a kind of coarse flour made from the mandioca root. People of all classes throughout the province of Pará are exceedingly fond of this beverage, and in the city they have a proverb which runs thus:—
“Who visits Pará is glad to stay,
Who drinks Assai goes never away.”