It is perhaps wrong to think only of the practical in the midst of scenes of natural beauty, but as our train whirled along with its grande velocidade, past rapids which could be converted into incalculable power for the manufacturing so essential in the world, I could not refrain from thinking what fine power was here going to waste. A little of it is utilized in generating electricity for the cities of Nictheroy and Petropolis, and there are a few cotton mills run by the water power of this stream. Not one unit of the available power is utilized, however, although in this land of expensive fuel there is a great call for electric power and current. At last the Parahyba River, a still finer stream of water, is reached and the railroad follows up this stream. At Entre Rios (which means “between the rivers”) a change is made from the Leopoldina Railway to the Central, which is a government line. After a couple of hours the train reaches Juiz de Fora, which is the largest town in the state of Minas Geraes. In 1867 Juiz de Fora was described by a writer as a town with “a single dusty or muddy street, or rather road, across which palms are planted in pairs.”
At the present time this city contains a population of perhaps twenty-five or thirty thousand people. It is in a region of great productiveness, and in a mild and semi-tropical climate. The surrounding hilly country forms a rich and extensive coffee district, and is also very favourable to the growth of corn and beans, as well as other products. Cattle raising is also an important industry. It is a comparatively modern town, and its streets are laid out much wider than the older towns. There are several colleges here, and the public schools are unusually good, so that the number of educated persons is exceeded by few places in the entire republic. Several small manufacturing industries have been established to make use of the rapids in the Parahyba River which flows through the city.
About a ten hours’ journey in a northerly direction from Juiz de Fora lies Bello Horizonte, the new capital of the state of Minas Geraes. After leaving Juiz de Fora the railroad climbs the higher altitudes, and it is not long until the coffee region is left behind. The atmosphere becomes cooler and more exhilarating as the altitude increases. Like most of the cities Bello Horizonte is built in a valley surrounded by hills, with a river running through it. It is a city made to order, for the site was selected only sixteen years ago. At that time there was scarcely a habitation on the chosen site, but the location seemed to please the government and so it was decided to erect a city to be used as a capital. Like La Plata, in Argentina, it is a city built after an architect’s designs, and, because of the elaborate plans made for it, was given the name “bello,” which signifies beautiful. It has been likened by the enthusiastic Brazilians to our own city of Washington, because of its broad avenues and many plazas, and the modern style of its buildings. The principal avenue, Affonso Penna, named after the late President, who founded this city while he was President of the state, is one hundred and fifty feet broad, and has a triple row of shade trees its entire length. The public buildings are attractive because of their newness, and are a radical departure from most of the public buildings that one may see in Brazil. A magnificent palace for the executive has been erected, and a number of buildings for the legislature and other branches of the government. The city is well lighted and is altogether a bright and cheery place.
The state of Minas Geraes is one of the largest and most important states in Brazil. It is larger than France and contains a population of more than four millions of people. It derives its names from its mineral wealth, for Minas Geraes signifies general mines. It has within its borders many mines, and possesses the oldest gold mine in the country. There are many small towns but no large cities, so that most of the population dwell in small villages. Much of this state, like many of the others, is still undeveloped, and railroads have not yet penetrated large sections of it.
This state has the honour of having struck the first blow for freedom from the oppressive rule of Portugal. Joachim José de Silva Xavier is the traditional hero of this event in Brazil. This patriot was a travelling dentist and, because of his occupation, was nicknamed Tiradentes, which means “to draw teeth.” He belonged to a club of men who had banded together for patriotic purposes. Spurred on by the success of the American revolution, and angered by the attempt of the mother country to impose iniquitous taxes upon the colony, these men met in secret for many months. Tiradentes in his trips around the country preached his revolutionary doctrine, and many new adherents were added to their cause. The wandering dentist was probably not the originator of the various schemes of this body of dreamers, for far abler men than he were among them, but he probably did more to spread the doctrine than any of the others. At length, in 1789, before their plans were fully matured, the plot was discovered, and the leaders were arrested in Ouro Preto, at that time the capital, and thrust into prison in that city. They were imprisoned in dark and damp cells for many months, pending the trial and decision of the matter.
Each one of the conspirators was finally condemned to death, but all escaped this extreme penalty through influential connections, except the unfortunate Tiradentes. He was made the scapegoat of the whole affair, and was executed in the public square of Ouro Preto, on the 21st of April, 1792. His body was quartered and the head exposed in that city. The right arm and leg, and also the left arm and leg, were each sent to different cities, there to be exposed publicly as a warning to other possible conspirators. His house was torn down and the ground salted to purify it; and it was ordered that no building ever again be constructed on that tainted soil. His property was confiscated; his family and their descendants were declared “infamous” and disgraced, even to the third generation. To-day, the name of Tiradentes is honoured all over Brazil, monuments have been erected to him and streets named after him in many cities. In the principal plaza of Ouro Preto is a marble column, upon which stands a statue of the martyred “tooth-puller.” The pedestal of this monument is the original stone on which he was exposed in a pillory and publicly scourged, on the very spot on which now stands his splendid monument. Many of the places connected with this conspiracy are preserved; and even the spot on which stood the house of Tiradentes, which was destroyed by order of the government, is sacredly preserved and guarded for the patriotic lessons which it teaches.
A branch of the Central Railroad runs from the main line back among the hills to this city of Ouro Preto, the “black gold.” It lies in the hollow of a narrow valley and is completely surrounded by high, rock-capped hills. All about the hills are the rough, red and gray, yellow and brown holes made by the old miners, which have been enlarged and washed by the rains. The roughly paved streets ascending and descending the hills are narrow, crooked and irregular. Carts and carriages are of little use, and the freight is generally carried on the backs of pack mules. One can see building timbers, stones, flour and water thus carried through the streets of Ouro Preto on almost any day.
Although gold mining in Brazil never reached the proportions it did in Mexico and Peru, it was no inconsiderable factor in the early development of the country. As early as the middle of the sixteenth century, parties of intrepid pioneers had penetrated several hundred miles into the interior. They found auriferous ground in some of the streams in what is now the state of Minas Geraes. As soon as the news reached the settlements other parties of explorers followed, and the tablelands, mountains and streams of this district were overrun from São Paulo to the south and from Bahia on the east. One can not help but admire the rugged courage of these sturdy prospectors, who set out into the tractless forests and moorlands in search of the yellow metal. They bridged rivers, enslaved the Indians and dotted the province with little settlements. It was not long until a small but steady stream of gold was trickling across the sea to Portugal. The crown exacted a tax of twenty per cent. on the entire output, and this naturally led to a great deal of smuggling.
Because of this surreptitious mining it is impossible to give the entire output of the gold mines of this province. Official records, however, show that between the years 1700 and 1820, no less than thirty million ounces having a value of more than $500,000,000 were produced. Legends of the fabulous production of certain mines are recounted, and a few mines were worked for more than a century.
Because of the crude methods in use, and the difficulty of working them at great depths, many of the mines were abandoned before they were really exhausted. One of the principal mines now worked is the Morro Velho, which was operated in a desultory way for a long time by the colonial settlers. In 1818 it was pronounced exhausted. A few years later this mine was reopened and has been worked by an English company ever since, and is still producing a profitable output. It has now reached a great depth. Gold is found nearly all over the state of Minas, although the production to-day is not so great as in the earlier days. A great deal of it is low grade ore, which can be worked profitably only with the latest improved machinery, so that not only the cost of operation can be reduced to a minimum but the greatest percentage of the gold and silver may be extracted from the gravel and quartz.