The city is divided into an upper and a lower town, and is quite an imposing place. The lower part is a narrow, sun-baked strip along the sea front, and is devoted to the shipping and banking interests. One would think that even they would want to get away from the foul-smelling odours which prevail along the waterfront. As one writer has said, “there is a distinct and separate bad smell to every house.”
THE BOAT LANDING, BAHIA.
During the day this section is a busy place, but at night a funereal quiet prevails. The upper city, or Cidade Alta, is reached by a long winding road, or by means of the ascensors, or elevators, of which there are several. The upper city is composed of broader streets, is in every way more attractive, and the air seems much purer and sweeter than in the lower town.
The sights are novel enough, too, especially if it is the first Brazilian city visited. Here one will also meet with that luxuriant growth of flowers, which are seen in every plaza and private dooryard. The public buildings, of which there are a number, for this city is the capital of a state as large as California, are very creditable. The governor’s palace, the senate building, the municipal and other buildings occupy conspicuous sites. There are many churches, of which the Cathedral is the most interesting, and is one of the oldest buildings in the country, having originally been built as a Jesuit college. Clubs, theatres and bathing resorts also add a liveliness to life in this city. Bahia has always been known for its noted names in literature, and many of the brightest men in Brazilian arts and letters were natives of this state.
The bright hues of the buildings add a brilliance of colour to the city which some one has described as “mashed rainbows.” There are vivid yellow, green, purple, sky blue, terra-cotta and many other equally striking shades. Many of the buildings are covered with porcelain tiles, which render them very attractive. Some of the windows are ornamented with a lace work of wrought iron, and occasionally the decoration over the doors is of the same metal, which is said to be of negro designing. Some of these houses date back to colonial times, but others have more cosmopolitan characteristics. The fronts of the yards are ornamented with flowering trees and shrubs that harmonize (in some instances) with the bright colours adorning the plaster covering of the adobe brick, which is the basis of construction used here. Most of the houses are only one story, although two stories are fairly common, and occasionally a sky-scraper three stories in height may be encountered.
There is one thing that will impress itself upon the traveller, and that is the colour of its inhabitants, for it is said that Bahia has a greater proportion of negroes than any other Brazilian city, but it would be a close race between that city and Pernambuco. One might think that he had stepped into one of our southern states, except for the fact that none of the kinky-haired inhabitants speak English. All of them jabber in the guttural Portuguese. Everywhere one goes there are negroes, and negroes of every hue from the aboriginal blackness to a chocolate brown and saffron yellow. I counted fifty people as they passed by me on one of the principal streets. Of this number forty-five were decidedly black, three were surely white, and the remaining two I was not certain about. At the same time a fellow-traveller counted thirty-five on the other side of the street, and said that he was sure of only two white people out of that number. This was about the middle of the day, when the white people were probably taking their siesta, and the proportion would not hold good over the whole city. It is certain, however, as statistics show, that at least eighty per cent. of the population have a sprinkling of negro blood in their veins. And yet, with all this preponderance of blacks, the attempt of the United States to appoint a negro consul at this port almost raised a tropical hurricane just a few years ago.