Rio Grande do Norte, a name derived from the river which, after an east course, enters the Atlantic at Natal, its capital, possesses a good harbour, but has little direct trade, procuring its supplies chiefly from Pernambuco. Compared with any of the provinces already spoken of, it is well peopled, there being about 140,000 inhabitants to 32,000 square miles. A few cargoes of Brazil wood were formerly shipped here, being the best quality produced in the whole empire, and prized accordingly, till it fell into disrepute from the causes we have already specified, in speaking of that once-prized ingredient in the art of dyeing. Like Piauhy, Rio Grande do Norte is favourable to cattle-rearing; but exports of that kind, in the shape of hides, tallow, or jerked beef, are scanty, because of the paucity of means of transport.
Paraiba is a very fertile province, bordering on that of Pernambuco, and vastly better peopled than the one last described, as it has a population of 70,000 to an area of 9,000 square miles; and cattle of European breeds are raised in considerable numbers with great facility. There is a fine river, some 20 miles in length, leading up to the town, of the same name as the province, where vessels can load alongside the trapixes. The bar entrance is rather intricate, but there is very good anchorage just inside. Paraiba exports largely of cotton, and also of sugar and hides. The upper city is extensive, with large, well-built houses; while the lower, or commercial part of the town, is also extremely good, possessing a splendid Government warehouse, and the whole indicating quondam prosperity, as well as affording additional proof of the industry and perseverance of the Dutch, who formerly held this province in conjunction with Pernambuco. The treasury, in particular, is considered a very fine building; its educational establishments are also excellent; and in the neighbourhood of the town are some of the best-managed coffee plantations probably in the empire.
Pernambuco.—We now approach the most flourishing and remarkable province in the Brazils, upon which the writer hopes he may be pardoned if he descant at some length, as a place intimately mixed up with all his boyish ideas and first impressions; where he spent many happy days, and always returned with considerable pleasure, although, on this occasion, alas! very few of the old familiar faces he once knew any longer arrested his vision, as he cast his eye along the well-known mart and into the well-remembered homes of other days; for a quarter of a century makes a terrible void indeed in the limited ranks of one’s countrymen who take up their abode in such places.
Musical the rippling
Of the tardy current,
Musical the murmur
Of the wind-swept trees,
Musical the cadence
Of the friendly voices,