I have insisted on these facts, which I think are little known, because they seem to me to show a greater energy and vitality than is usually supposed to exist in the productive forces of Brazil. To stimulate this movement, the government has recently taken the initiatory steps in the organization of an Agricultural School in the vicinity of Bahia, in which all the modern improvements suggested by the progress of science and invention, are to be tested in their application to the natural products of the tropics.
The importance of the basin of the Amazons to Brazil, from an industrial point of view, can hardly be overestimated. Its woods alone have an almost priceless value. Nowhere in the world is there finer timber, either for solid construction or for works of ornament; and yet it is scarcely used even for the local buildings, and makes no part whatever of the exports. It is strange that the development of this branch of industry should not even have begun in Brazil, for the rivers which flow past these magnificent forests seem meant to serve, first as a water-power for the saw-mills which ought to be established along their borders, and then as a means of transportation for the material so provided. Setting aside the woods as timber, what shall I say of the mass of fruits, resins, oils, coloring matters, textile fibres, which they yield? When I stopped at Pará, on my way home to the United States, an exhibition of Amazonian products, brought together in preparation for the World’s Fair at Paris, was still open. Much as I had admired, during my journey, the richness and variety of the materials native to the soil, I was amazed when I saw them thus side by side. There I noticed, among others, a collection of no less than one hundred and seventeen different kinds of highly valuable woods, cut from a piece of land less than half a mile square. Of these many were dark-colored, veined woods susceptible of a high polish,—as beautiful as rosewood or ebony. There was a great variety of vegetable oils, all remarkable for their clearness and purity. There were a number of fabrics made from the fibres of the palm, and an endless variety of fruits. An empire might esteem itself rich in any one of the sources of industry which abound in this valley, and yet the greater part of its vast growth rots on the ground, and goes to form a little more river-mud or to stain the waters on the shores of which its manifold products die and decompose. But what surprised me most was to find that a great part of this region was favorable to the raising of cattle. Fine sheep are fed on the grassy plains and on the hills which stretch between Obydos and Almeyrim, and I have rarely eaten better mutton than at Ereré, in the midst of these serras. And yet the inhabitants of this fertile region suffer from hunger. The insufficiency of food is evident; but it arises solely from the inability of the people to avail themselves of the natural productions of the soil. As an instance of this, I may mention that, though living on the banks of rivers which abound in delicious fish, they make large use of salt cod, imported from other countries!
While travelling upon the Amazons, I have often asked myself what would be the best plan for developing the natural resources of that incomparable region. No doubt the opening of the great river to the commerce of all nations was a first step in the right direction; and this measure in itself shows what extraordinary progress Brazil is making, for it is hardly more than half a century, since, owing to the narrow policy and jealous disposition of the Portuguese government, the greatest traveller of modern times was forbidden to enter the valley of the Amazons; while to-day a scientific errand of a similar character is welcomed and fostered in every possible way by the government of a nation now independent of Europe. But a free competition is a necessary complement to the freedom already granted, and competition is scarcely possible where monopolies are kept up. I hold, therefore, that all the exceptional facilities granted by the Brazilian government to private companies are detrimental to its best interests. There is, however, another direct obstacle to progress which ought at once to be removed, since the change could in no way injure the general welfare. The present limitation of the provinces of Pará and of the Amazons is entirely unnatural. The whole valley is cut in two transversely, so that its lower half is of necessity a bar to the independent growth of the upper half. Pará, being made the centre of everything, drains the whole country without vitalizing the interior. The great river which should be an international highway has become an inland stream. But suppose for a moment that the Amazons, like our Mississippi, were made the boundary between a succession of independent provinces on either side of it; suppose that on the southern banks of the Amazons the province of Teffé should extend from the borders of Peru to the banks of the Madeira, the province of Santarem from the Madeira to the Xingu, and that of Pará be reduced to the country east of the Xingu, including the Island of Marajo; each of these separate provinces would then be at once bounded and traversed by great streams, securing the double activity of competition and the stimulus of internal conveniences. In like manner should the lands on the northern banks of the Amazons form several independent provinces; that of Monte Alégre, for instance, extending from the Rio Trombetas to the sea; that of Manaos, from the Rio Trombetas to the Rio Negro; and perhaps that of the Hyapura, enclosing the present wilderness between the Rio Negro and the Solimoens. It will, no doubt, be objected that such a change would involve an administrative staff quite disproportionate to the present population; but the government of such provinces, even with the few inhabitants they might number, if organized upon the plan of the territorial governments of our infant States, would only stimulate local energies, and develop local resources, without interfering in the least with the central government. Moreover, any one familiar with the working of the present system in the valley of the Amazons must be aware that all the cities started during the past century along the great river and its tributaries, far from progressing, are going to ruin and decay; and this is unquestionably owing to the centralization at Pará of all the real activity of the whole country.
Without a much denser population, the best efforts of Brazil to increase its prosperity must be slow and ineffective. No wonder, then, that, immediately after the declaration of independence, Dom Pedro I. attempted to attract German emigrants to his new empire. From that period dates the Colony of San Leopoldo, near Porto Alégre, on the Rio Grande do Sul. It was not, however, till the year 1850, when the slave-trade was actually abolished, and it was no longer possible to import labor from Africa, that these colonization schemes assumed a more definite and settled character. In this attempt the planters and the government were agreed, but with a different object. The plan of the government, undertaken in perfect good faith, was to create a laboring population, and a class of small landed proprietors. The planters, on the contrary, accustomed to compulsory labor, thought only of recruiting their slave ranks by substituting Europeans for Africans. This led to terrible abuses; under pretence of advancing their passage-money, poor emigrants, and especially the ignorant Portuguese from the Azores, were virtually sold under a contract which they subsequently found it very difficult to break. These abuses have thrown discredit upon the attempts of the Brazilian government to colonize the interior, but the iniquities practised under the name of emigration are now corrected. In fact, the colonies established directly by the government, on public lands, have never suffered wrong; on the contrary, the German settlements in Sta Catherina, on the Rio Grande do Sul and on the San Francisco do Sul are very prosperous. The best evidence of the improvement in the condition of the colonists, and of the more liberal spirit of the nation towards them, is the spontaneous formation in Rio de Janeiro of an international society of emigration independent of all government influence, consisting of Brazilians, Portuguese, Germans, Swiss, Americans, French, &c. The objects of this society, of which Mr. Tavares Bastos is one of the most influential members, are, first, to reform the constitution in all which may place the foreigner at a disadvantage; second, to redress the wrongs of the emigrants; third, to provide them with such assistance and information as they may need on arriving. This society has been in existence only two years, but has already rendered valuable services. It is to be hoped that the government will persevere in the liberal course it has entered upon, and, above all, put an end to the unnecessary legal formalities by which the emigrant is prevented from taking immediate possession of his new home. This is especially important in the region of the Amazons, where the new-comer finds none of those facilities which welcome the emigrant in the United States. I cannot too often repeat, also, that all monopoly of transport in the Amazons should speedily be abolished. As soon as the wild products of its shores are subjected to a regular culture, even of a very imperfect kind, and are no longer gathered at random,—as soon as organized labor, directed by an intelligent activity, takes the place of the thoughtless and uncertain efforts of the Indians, the variety and excellence of its staples will be increased beyond all expectation. As it is, a little foresight would prevent an immense deal of suffering in this fertile region, where food abounds and people die of hunger. Accustomed to live upon fish, the natives make little use either of milk or meat, and the fine pasturage which might maintain herds of cattle is allowed to run to waste. Careless of the inclemency of the weather when gathering the harvest of the forest, they scarcely build a shelter against the heavy rains, allow their wet clothes to dry upon their skin, and expose themselves to constant alternations of heat and cold. Add to this, that they do not hesitate to drink stagnant water, if it be nearer at hand than spring water, and we have causes enough for the prevalence of intermittent fever and malarious diseases, without attributing them to a climate which is in the main salubrious, and far more moderate in temperature than is generally supposed. The false notions generally current, even in Brazil, in regard to the climate of the Amazons might have been removed long ago, were the public officers of the northern provinces of the Empire not interested in keeping up the delusion. The Amazonian provinces are made stepping-stones to higher employments. The young candidates who accept these posts claim a reward for the disinterestedness they have shown in exposing themselves to disease, and make the reputed fatality of the climate an excuse for leaving these remote stations after a few months’ sojourn. The northern provinces of Brazil need an administration less liable to change, and based upon patient study of their local interests, and a faithful adherence to them. It is impossible that the president who comes for six months, and is daily longing for his return to the society and amusements of the larger cities, should even initiate, far less complete, any systematic improvements. Like every country struggling for recognition among the self-reliant nations of the world, Brazil has to contend with the prejudiced reports of a floating foreign population, indifferent to the welfare of the land they temporarily inhabit, and whose appreciations are mainly influenced by private interest. It is much to be regretted that the government has not thought it worth while to take decided measures to correct the erroneous impressions current abroad concerning its administration, and that its diplomatic agents do so little to circulate truthful and authoritative statements of their domestic concerns. As far as I know, the recent World’s Fair at Paris was the first occasion when an attempt was made to present a comprehensive report of the resources of the Empire, and the prizes awarded to the Brazilians testify to their success.
Imperfect as is this sketch, I trust I have been able to show, what I deeply feel, that there are elements of a high progress in Brazil, that it has institutions which are shaping the country to worthy ends, that it has a nationality already active, showing its power at the present moment in carrying on one of the most important wars ever undertaken in South America. Neither is this struggle maintained by Brazil for selfish ends; in her conflict with Paraguay she may truly be counted among the standard-bearers of civilization. The facts which have come to my knowledge respecting this war have convinced me that it originated in honorable purposes, and, setting aside the selfish intrigues of individuals, inevitably connected with such movements, is carried on with disinterestedness. It deserves the sympathy of the civilized world, for it strikes at a tyrannical organization, half clerical, half military, which, calling itself a republic, disgraces the name it assumes.
Will my Brazilian friends who read this summary say that I have given but grudging praise to their public institutions, accompanied by an unkind criticism of their social condition? I hope not. I should do myself great wrong did I give the impression that I part from Brazil with any feeling but that of warm sympathy, a deep-rooted belief in her future progress and prosperity, and sincere personal gratitude toward her. I recognize in the Brazilians as a nation their susceptibility to lofty impulses and emotions, their love of theoretical liberty, their natural generosity, their aptness to learn, their ready eloquence; if also I miss among them something of the stronger and more persistent qualities of the Northern races, I do but recall a distinction which is as ancient as the tropical and temperate zones themselves.
APPENDIX.
I.—THE GULF STREAM.
As the results of the systematic investigation of the Gulf Stream upon a plan laid out by Dr. A. D. Bache, and executed, under his direction, by his most able assistants, have hardly yet been presented in a popular form, a sketch of the whole may not be out of place here. This investigation embraced not only surface-phenomena, but the whole internal structure and movement of this wonderful current. It is well known that the Gulf Stream has its origin in the equatorial current which, starting from the Gulf of Guinea, flows for a time in a westerly direction, till it approaches Cape St. Roque. This great projection of the eastern coast of South America interrupts its onward progress, and causes it to divide into two branches, one of which follows the coast of Brazil, in a southerly direction, while the other continues its course to the northwest, until it reaches the Caribbean Sea. After pouring into that basin, the great stream turns to the east to enter the Atlantic again off Cape Florida. The high temperature of the equatorial current is owing to its origin in the tropical zone, its westward course being determined by the rotation of the earth and by the trade-winds. On issuing from the Gulf of Mexico the stream is encased between the island of Cuba and the Bahamas on one side and the coast of Florida on the other. Here it meets the Atlantic in a latitude where the ocean-waters have no longer the high temperature of the tropics, whereas the stream itself has acquired an increased warmth on the shoals of the Gulf. This accounts for the great difference of temperature between the waters of the stream and those of the ocean to the east of it; while the still greater cold of the sea-water on its western side, between the Gulf Stream and the continental shore, is explained by the great Arctic current, pouring down from Baffin’s Bay, and skirting the shore of North America as far as the Coast of Florida, until it is lost in that latitude under the Gulf Stream. The object of Dr. Bache’s investigation was to trace the mutual relations of these two great currents of warm and cold water, flowing side by side in opposite directions, and to discover the conditions which regulate their movements and keep them within definite limits.