Brazil and the River Plate in 1868

by William Hadfield

I must now refer to some of our difficulties, resulting from the state in which we found the road. The first actual gap occurs some seventeen or eighteen miles from San Paulo, where the river current has carried away a large culvert, the rails and iron bowls (sleepers) attached to them hanging suspended for some twenty feet. They were at work rebuilding another culvert. We had to leave the carriage, cross the stream, and, walking some little distance, to get to another engine, which with a ballast truck was waiting there. On we went again, at times having to pull up or go slowly over slippery places, until we passed the tunnel, with water dripping from the roof. On the other side of the tunnel occurs the most serious stoppage, the whole side of a huge hill having apparently moved forward, the advanced portion of it blocking up the road. Some under current has raised the rails several feet in places, notwithstanding the immense piles of timber that have been driven in to prevent encroachment. The conclusion is that a mass of quicksands, swollen by the heavy rains, has forced its way under the hill side and under the bed of the railway. The labour here will be very great, by having to remove the falling mass, and the uncertainty is when the movement may subside. The “mountain in labour” has brought forth no “ridiculus mus” in this case. After walking past this obstruction, we again mounted on the ballast truck, and went along until we came to a place where the river had quite overflowed the rails, and the engine had to force its way through two or three feet of water, of course at a very slow and cautious pace; here they are raising the road so as to escape, if possible, future inundations. Once through this last impediment, we rattled along over a good hard bit of road at a good pace to Jundiahy, the end of our adventurous journey. The station is a little distance from the town, which stands on a hill, and after partaking of some solid refreshments, which we fortunately found ready at the Railway Hotel, in half an hour we were again on a ballast truck going through the same process of changing from one truck to another, walking over slippery ground, until we finally again joined the carriage on the opposite side of the broken culvert, before arriving at which a thunder storm came on, accompanied by torrents of rain, and most of us were thoroughly wet through. The storm continued nearly to San Paulo, but it is amongst the gorges of the mountains it comes down most furiously.

It is not my intention to comment further on the errors that have been made in the construction of this railway. No doubt obstacles had to be met at every step; nor can shareholders be supposed to know much about engineering details of this kind. They subscribe their money on the faith of a Government guarantee, believing in the estimates, and that of course the line will, under any circumstances, pay its working expenses. The late Mr. Brunel used to repudiate the existence of engineering difficulties. It was a mere question of money; but I think had he surveyed the intended line of the San Paulo Railway he would have said both these points were involved, the result being that the original estimates are greatly exceeded, and the works still require a considerable outlay before they can be permanently relied on. The thing certainly appears incredible, if it were not the fact, that to work a line consisting almost entirely of short curves and heavy gradients, the directors should have sent out rigid locomotives suited to a first-class English railway, without even bogie frames attached, causing great wear and tear to both engines and rails. I quite believe that with suitable locomotives the line may be safely and properly worked, and it seems exactly a case in point for such engines as Fairlie's. The question as to maintenance of way must always be a very important one; whether in such a mountainous country, subject at seasons to heavy rains and flooded rivers, and with a treacherous soil, the nature of the works is such as can be relied on, for unless this is the case, as the public journals of San Paulo justly observe, the real utility of the railway is destroyed. Coffee growers and cotton planters have been looking to it as a sure and certain means of getting their produce down to Santos, and unless this can be depended on they will have to resort to the old, cumbrous, and expensive mode of carrying it upwards of one hundred miles on the backs of mules as heretofore. It is a momentous question for this province whether or not they can depend on railway conveyance, which I think may fairly be looked for when the line becomes consolidated, but both shareholders and the Government must be prepared to make sacrifices of no common kind before this end is finally attained. That the officials and managers of the line in Brazil are doing all they can is very certain, and it is for the company or the shareholders to provide them with everything required to ensure the permanent success of the company. They entered into a solemn contract with the Brazilian Government and the Provincial Government here, which it is their duty to fulfil, no matter at what sacrifice, and the sooner the shareholders look their position in the face the better, instead of being guided entirely by directors, who could only appreciate their position if they came out in a body and personally inspected the line. One thing is very certain, that if it had not been for the great liberality of the Baron de Mauá in coming to the rescue of the concern, the works might never have been completed or the line opened.

THE CITY OF SAN PAULO.

If it appears a long time in reaching here after passing the wonders of the Serra, I was not disappointed either in the first peep at the city or by a more intimate acquaintance with it. One cannot help marvelling how the adventurous handful of men who originally penetrated the forests and founded these cities in South America had the courage and perseverance to do so; but I believe they availed, in many cases, of the Indian tracks, and doubtless of Indian assistance occasionally. The city has rather an imposing aspect as you wind round it to the station, being built on a ridge of high ground which overlooks the River Tieté—a stream rising in the neighbouring hills, and after traversing nearly the whole of the province, eventually finds its way to the Parana and the Paraguay. At the railway station sundry omnibuses and carriages were waiting to receive the passengers. We drove to the Hotel d'Italia, where a friend had taken rooms for us, and found ourselves tolerably comfortable in a large house rather the worse for wear, and, like most things in this country, allowed to get out of repair. During the construction of the railway it was the head-quarters of the engineering staff.

The first thing we did next morning was to pay our respects to the President of the Province, who received us very graciously. He is a man of a very expressive, benevolent countenance, and I believe he administers the affairs of the province in a most satisfactory manner—not the easiest of tasks in such troublous times as the present.

A ramble over the city impresses one favourably: good wide streets, paved with a material resembling macadam. It is obtained from one of the neighbouring hills, and forms a capital road. The sides are well made of large flags, much superior to those of Rio de Janeiro, although the pavement there is admirable. There are several fine churches, an extensive new public market, and, as a rule, the houses are well and substantially built. The shops are also numerous and well appointed with all the requisites for convenience and comfort suited to a city of 20,000 to 25,000 inhabitants. There are several national colleges here, with a number of young students, who help to enliven the place. The Province of San Paulo has always held a good position, from the enterprise and spirit of the people, the latter owing in some measure to the cool climate, which even now occasionally renders woollen clothing and blankets at night desirable, and a few months hence it will be positively cold, with ice in the morning. Previously to and since our arrival it has been raining so much that a vast tract of land bordering the Tieté is overflowed, and travelling must be very bad. We took a drive to the church of Nossa Senhora de Penha, a few miles distant, on elevated ground, from whence a good view of the city and surrounding country is obtained; but unfortunately rain came on, and we had only to make the best of our way home, the carriages nearly sticking fast in a quagmire. Otherwise the road is a pretty good one.

I may here allude to the kind hospitality of Captain and Mrs. Burton, which rendered our visit an exceedingly agreeable one. On the occasion of this visit to Nossa Senhora de Penha, a curious incident occurred. On our way out Mrs. Burton took a fancy to some geese which were quietly feeding by the roadside, and she determined to make a purchase of them on our way back, although it was raining heavily. After some bargaining the geese were bought, their legs were tied, and each of us took charge of one or more. They were quiet enough until we reached the city, where the people began to pelt us with wax water balls, as it was the Intrudo time, when such pastime is still carried on to a great extent in an old fashioned place like San Paulo. The geese became alarmed, struggled to release themselves, and after some difficulty and much amusement we got them safely disposed of in the yard attached to the Consulate. Geese are very plentiful in Brazil, but there is a prejudice against them amongst the natives as food, from an idea that they eat snakes and other vermin, but a few weeks good domestic feeding is calculated to do away with any objection of this sort, as we had occasion to find in the excellent quality of these very geese when we afterwards dined at the Consulate.

A ridge of mountains forms a background to the north-west of San Paulo, in some of which are gold mines that have been long abandoned, nor is the mineral wealth of the province at all developed. The railway may bring with it new enterprise of this kind, but it will be slow work.

I went over the San Bento Convent, where only one priest appears to reside in an enormous building, a portion of which has lately been fitted up with considerable taste. The church is also kept in good order, but it seems absurd for only one man to occupy such a building. The wealth of religious orders in Brazil is by no means insignificant, and it would be to the advantage of the country and of the people if this was made available for national purposes. Religion would be better appreciated, and the State would be able to form colonies in some of the richest lands of the Empire, which naturally enough fell into the hands of religious bodies.

It is said that the Tropic of Capricorn passes close to the city of San Paulo, but of course the exact spot cannot be defined. There is plenty of fruit and vegetables to be had, grapes are abundant and very cheap, good milk and fresh butter are easily obtainable, the cow going round to the houses in the morning with a bell attached to her, and generally the calf following. Indeed, a great many of the comforts and conveniences of life are to be found here which do not exist in other Brazilian towns, whilst the climate is infinitely superior. For many months of the year the thermometer ranges about 60°, and at times goes down to 40°; on the other hand it is sometimes very hot, but of short duration. This morning I saw a black boy in the street engaged in the occupation of shoeblack, with his little box and brushes very much after the London style. In fact there is a more general inclination to work when it is not so intensely hot. There goes the railway whistle, the train starting for Santos, and it will return about 3 p.m., bringing the passengers by steamer from Rio, which left there yesterday. There are two fast steamers a week between Rio and Santos, so the communication is well kept up.