Brazil and the River Plate in 1868

by William Hadfield

The number of old fashioned waggons or carts on two solid wooden wheels, drawn by teams of oxen according to the weight carried, and the constant passage of them, and of mules and horses, the former with tinkling bells, all laden with country produce, indicate the nature of the traffic which existed prior to the opening of the railway, rendering the streets of the city a busy scene. The railway being closed between this and Jundiahy no doubt increases this traffic for a time, but it must always exist to a greater or a less degree, as everything for the consumption of the city has to be brought into it by these means. The bulk of the through traffic of coffee and cotton must, however, inevitably find its way on to the rails and be taken down the Serra, as it is impossible mules can compete with a railway for so great a distance. The troops of mules, horses, and carts assemble at shops or warehouses in streets where their business is carried on, their produce discharged, and a certain portion of the animals loaded back to their respective destinations. Hence the perpetual tinkling of bells and creaking of wheels; at the same time a number of carriages and tilburys are constantly in motion, conveying passengers about the city or outskirts, causing a degree of activity one would otherwise hardly expect to find.

Yesterday, Sunday, being the first Sunday in Lent, there was a grand procession, consisting of a large number of figures of saints, carried on men's shoulders, after the old style of chairing an M.P. at home. Sundry children were dressed up as angels, and there were also a military band and some few soldiers; for, as the latter have been drained by the war, only a sufficient number remain to keep guard, &c. The figures are as large as life. They were collected together at the church of San Francisco, a large and rather showy building, and at five o'clock the procession started, amidst discharging of rockets, ringing of bells, and other demonstrations. It passed the street in front of the hotel, and, being a tolerably long one, it had rather an imposing appearance. After traversing the principal streets of the city, it came back by a side one, which also skirted the hotel. A thunder storm had been gathering, and broke over the city just as the procession was reaching the church from whence it started. An indescribable scene of confusion ensued. The pace was quickened, angels were lifted on the shoulders of blacks, the carriers of saints hurried along as fast as the weight permitted—in fact, it was a race with the saints—each trying to pass the other, to the imminent danger of an upset. The only part of the procession which retained a show of decorum was that in charge of the Host, where the high priest walked under a canopy with a number of other priests, accompanied by attendants, swinging censers; and as the Host passed, all the spectators knelt down. Fortunately the rain kept off until the greater part reached the square, and the saints escaped a terrible wetting, as it came down in torrents, with loud peals of thunder and lightning, such as I have rarely met with.

The storm continued in this way for several hours, and curiously enough in the midst of it came a telegram from the Government of Rio de Janeiro, announcing that the iron-clad fleet had succeeded in passing the fortress of Humaita, while a division of Brazilian troops had also taken a redoubt, &c., particulars of which will doubtless shortly reach England. Excitement was at its height, and spite of the thunder, lightning, and rain, houses began to light up, rockets were flying about, and later on, a band of music, with many followers, paraded the streets, playing and shouting vivas, with other joyous demonstrations quite edifying under such an accumulation of atmospheric difficulties. On Monday evening the city was entirely illuminated with candles, lamps, and Chinese lanterns, the latter very pretty, and the effect altogether striking. A full military band paraded the streets, followed by crowds of people; indeed, nearly the whole of the population, male and female, turned out and paraded the streets to a late hour, the wonder being where they all came from. The demonstration continued for three days, or rather nights, but not on so extensive a scale, nor was the firing of rockets so profuse. The news from the seat of war has, therefore, created quite a sensation, the Paulistos being somewhat a martial people, and proud of the exploits of their countrymen before Humaita, though further advices are needed before the war can be considered at an end. A drawback accompanied the war news, namely, the cruel assassination of General Flores at Monte Video, and the sanguinary proceedings that followed on the occasion.

I may mention having attended a sitting of the Provincial Assembly, in a very pokey, close room attached to the palace, with a miserably low gallery at each end for the public. The proceedings, however, were orderly and dignified, and good speeches were made, one by Senhor Leite Moraes, a tall, handsome man, who appears likely to distinguish himself as an orator. The subject under discussion was a complaint against the conduct of the Roman Catholic priests. There are thirty-six members of the Provincial Chambers, who annually attend for a period of two months, and some of them come from considerable distances at much personal inconvenience to themselves. I believe they are to have a larger and better place for conducting their business, which is certainly very desirable. I also visited, in company with Captain Burton, English Consul, one of the seminaries or schools, presided over by French monks, who received us with attention, showed us over the extensive building and well laid-out gardens, and entertained us afterwards with some good English beer. The college, to which a good sized garden is attached, contains accommodation for about one hundred youths, who come here for their education, and remain several months, being comfortably lodged, and, I believe, well cared for.

This is only one of the many similar establishments in San Paulo, which, in this respect, answers to our Cambridge or Oxford. The view from the college is very extensive and picturesque—the city on one side, the large plain in which the city stands, with mountains in the distance, and close to the railway station. We heard the locomotive whistle, and saw the steam a long way off, reaching the station in time to see the train come in with 115 passengers, quite a large number, it being about the period of the students returning. It also brought a company of performers from one of the Rio de Janeiro theatres, who are going to afford the inhabitants a month's display of their artistic skill, so that in all respects the city will be very lively during the season of Lent, one of the eccentricities connected with the Roman Catholic religion. I went to the public gardens, which are at only a little distance from the railway station, and cover a large space of ground. They are in tolerable order, with flower beds and a piece of water in the centre. A considerable sum of money must have been originally expended on them, but not keeping things up is one of the major defects of the system in this country.

I thought processions were over for the present, but last evening there was one of some magnitude, conveying a saint from one church to another, and spite of wet streets after the heavy rain, a large number of people turned out to witness and follow the participants in the ceremony. To-day, however, being Friday, the 6th of March, was set apart for a special occasion—a meeting, not a race of saints; and, for a wonder, the day and night have been remarkably fine, a beautiful bright moon now shining after the great bustle is over and the saints gone to rest, though the illuminated altars in various parts of the city are still glittering in all their tinsel, with numerous worshippers, after depositing in a plate their offerings in the shape of “dumps,” a slang phrase for copper coins. Preparatory symptoms have been going on for some days at a sort of large closet, or “hole in the wall” of the house opposite, belonging to an old nobleman, whose wife departed this life to-day. The folding doors had been opened and a large blue cloth thrown over the sanctuary from a balcony above, but still it was easy to see that something unusual was in progress; and to-day, about the time of the procession, the doors opened, and the curtain was withdrawn, revealing a very pretty altar, with a cross and small figures of saints at the top, the back parts and sides being covered with gold and silver tinsel, and groups or garlands of artificial flowers tastefully arranged, the whole lighted up by an immense number of candles, many of them in silver candlesticks, provided or lent for the occasion by devotees. There were about a dozen or more of these old cupboard altars decked out, each apparently vying for supremacy in effect. But I am forgetting the procession itself, which began to form at five o'clock, accompanied by the usual paraphernalia—a number of young girls dressed up as angels, bands of music, soldiers with fixed bayonets, the President of the Province, and all the dignitaries, with the high priest under a canopy and his attendants as before, whilst in front and behind walked the multitude. The meeting of the saints took place close to the hotel, where a halt was made, and a stout ecclesiastic (the bishop's secretary, I believe), for whom a very large pulpit had been temporarily erected at the corner of four streets, addressed a very energetic discourse to the multitude, until his voice began to get rather squeaky, nor could very much be made of what he said beyond that his listeners were a very bad lot, and required all the intervention of the saints before them to save them from perdition. The sermon ended, some music and singing took place before the altar opposite to our hotel, after which the procession went on, passing all the street altars, and this part of the ceremony ended when the saints were fairly housed. For hours, however, before the bright gaudy altars, and the still brighter moon, the whole population of the place passed in review, making their reverence and depositing their “dumps” or offertories.

Whether or not these ceremonies are conducive to the maintenance of the Roman Catholic Religion I cannot pretend to say, but certainly they are preserved here in all their original stage effect (for it can be called nothing else) just as I first recollect them in Brazil. I understand that in other parts of the Empire they have much fallen off. San Paulo has been more or less isolated, and it is only since the opening of the railway that the foreign element has been introduced. Formerly a voyage to Rio de Janeiro was quite an undertaking; now, by rail and steam, it is an affair of two days. One thing is very clear, that processions and religious observances of this kind are very popular here. It is quite astounding to see the number of people filling the streets, mostly dressed in their best garments, but to-day the ladies wore chiefly black. On the other hand, the black women—the “swells,” as they are called—prefer bright colours, and generally in good taste—white and coloured muslin, with gay shawls thrown over their ample figures, many of them very tall, fine looking women. Considering the dull, monotonous life here, these religious festivals are unquestionably a great relief to the female portion of the population, with whatever motive they may attend them; nor can one help being struck with their apparent earnestness of worship to dumb idols, and the constant stream of “dumps” poured into the plates by high and low, rich and poor, the latter bestowing their mite freely. A parade over the city on such occasions in their best attire, and the opportunity for showing off, has no doubt some influence, but this may be combined with religious feeling, according to their interpretation of it. Amongst the numerous votaries present I may mention the hardy, bronzed, country race, men who travel over the country with mules, leading the life of gipsies, and not unlike them, wrapped in a kind of coloured “poncho,” similar to that worn in the River Plate. They almost live in the saddle, and are a very fine class of men—true Paulistos. But I see they are putting out the lights at the altar opposite, so it is time to extinguish mine and go to bed, as the clock is just striking midnight. To-morrow the folding-doors will be closed, and appear as the ordinary appendages of the house, leaving “not a wreck behind,” except a few leaves of dead flowers scattered about the streets.

After a night's rest, I find that things have assumed their usual quiet course, enlivened only by the continued favourable news from the seat of war, which keeps the church bells going, rockets firing, and bands of music parading the streets at night. These public demonstrations have been of the most lively kind, assisted by a bright moon, without a cloud in the sky; indeed you can see to read by its rays. Moonlight nights are agreeable in any country, but in these tropical countries they seem to have an influence both on body and mind, refreshing the physique and raising the spirits. The atmosphere at this elevated spot is so cool at night that, however hot the day, you sleep in comparative comfort, and awake to enjoy the cool breeze of the early morning.

I took a ride in company with Mrs. Burton in the direction of what is called the Luz, past the railway station, where are numerous country houses, and a handsome bridge over the Tieté, after which the road goes through low ground, now entirely flooded, forming a swamp of many miles in extent. A couple of miles further on brings you to a rather sharp hill, on which is a small, rough-looking chapel, never finished, where people come on a kind of pilgrimage, or to enjoy the beautiful view from it. Looking back, the city of San Paulo is seen to much advantage, and to the left, some thirty-five miles distant, appear the spurs of the mountains, past which the railway runs to Santos. In the opposite direction, and apparently much nearer than they are, you see the chain of hills through which the railway proceeds to Jundiahy, the celebrated Jaraguay (or gold mountain) to the left of them, standing out very boldly in the light of the setting sun. Altogether it is considered one of the prettiest short rides about the place, there being a great variety of them. The site of the chapel also enjoys the reputation of being in the exact line of the tropic of Capricorn, so that San Paulo is just outside it. We reined up a short time to enjoy the prospect and then cantered back for dinner.

A perusal of accounts from England by the last mail, and of those from the River Plate, form a very agreeable diversion to the otherwise monotonous life one has to lead here, although my visit has been an exception to the rule in this respect from the occurrences detailed in previous pages. It is impossible to read the official and private communications from the River without feeling deeply grieved at the tragic scenes that have lately been acted there. The correspondent of the Jornal do Commercio at Monte Video gives a very graphic account of the assassination of poor General Flores and the events arising out of it; and I incline to believe that, however deplorable, they nipped in the bud a very formidable conspiracy, which, had it been successful, would have deluged Uruguay with blood for a long time, and might otherwise have complicated the position of things, as there can be little doubt the first act of the Blanco party would have been to do away with the Triple Alliance, so far as Monte Video is concerned, and to institute a renewal of their insulting conduct towards Brazil. The changed aspect of the war, with a prospect of its speedy termination, will strengthen the hands of the Colorados, and, it is to be hoped, maintain peace and order in the little Republic. The writer already mentioned goes into very minute details of the passage of Humaita by the Brazilian ironclads; and there is quite a tinge of romance attached to their performances, which certainly reflect the highest credit on the gallantry of the commanders and crews; nor less so the victory obtained by the Marquis de Caxias, the combined effects of which must lead to the occupation of Asuncion and to the ultimate surrender or destruction of Lopez himself. That his resistance has been wonderfully stubborn no one can deny; still less the pertinacity which has distinguished the conduct of the allies under difficulties pronounced by some first-rate military authorities to be insurmountable.