Brazil; its condition and prospects...

Front matter

B E A Z I L

ITS CONDITION AND PROSPECTS

BY

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

Prefatory . . . . . . . .3

I, — Voyage to Brazil 7

Chapter I. Voyage To Beazil

At the time I left the United States for Brazil, in the summer of 1882, there was no regular line of passenger-steamers running between ISTew York and Rio de Janeiro. The old American line had ceased, and the present one had not commenced. The consequence was, that our voyage to Brazil was by the way of Europe, while the voyage home was from Rio to ISTew York on one of the new American steamers. I embarked with my wife and daughter on the North-German Lloyd's steamship Oder, and, after a pleasant passage, landed at Southampton, whence we went by steamer to Havre, and thence overland to Lisbon, stopping a few days at Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon. It was particularly interesting to visit Portugal before going to the empire which it had planted. "We had been so well pleased with the German steamer, that we took one of the same company's shijfl? for the passage from Lisbon to Rio, the Graf Bismarck, Captain Thallenhorst commanding, on which we embarked out in the calm waters of the Tagus the lovely afternoon of August 5th. We made the voyage to Rio in twenty-one days, and were favored with pleasant weather and a comparatively smooth sea all the way. There were only three or four cabin - passengers besides ourselves, and we were favored with an abundance of room. The fourth day out we landed at one of the Canary Islands, upon which there is very grand mountain scenery. We spent a short time in its capital city, Santa Cruz, where the steamer took upward of a hundred immigrant passengers bound for one of the Eiver Plate countries. August 22d, we landed and spent about half a day at Bahia, Brazil's capital in early colonial times, and now her second city. It h as a striking situation on red land> which rises abruptly a hundred feet or more above the water. A small park overlooking the sea, and filled with tall palms and large shade-trees, is one of the first objects that arrest attention in approaching the city from the north. As we proceeded down the Brazilian coast, a range of green mountains some distance inland could frequently be seen. From time to time, as we got a little nearer land, cultivated plantations were visible. Nearer the sea were low hills, with a strip of white sand always bordering the shore. We arrived off Bio de Janeiro before sunrise, Saturday, August 26th, and, being awakened for the purpose, arose and went to the captain's bridge to observe the scenery on entering the port. It was very picturesque and pleasing, though the more distant mountains were somewhat obscured by clouds. The granite cone, called the Sugar-Loaf, was among the nearest prominent objects. A chain of irregular mountains seemed to inclose the harbor of Bio, and from one point of view the captain pointed out how the summits formed the figure of a man repos-

VOYAGE TO BRAZIL.

ing, of which, if I recollect right, the Sugar-Loaf was the feet. The scenery, though not of the sublime cast of towering mountains, was, nevertheless, striking. On entering the ample harbor the scene continually increased in interest until the anchor was dropped. An extensive city, sparkling in the morning sun, lay stretched at great length along the scalloped shore of the bay, covering several hills in its limits, and extending to the very slopes of the tree-covered mountains. Botaf ogo Bay, the Gloria Hill, and the church on its top, Santa Theresa Hill, the Public Garden, the towers of the Cathedral — these were some of the objects that were first pointed out to us. There, sure enough, was Rio de Janeiro, the greatest city of South America, an interesting and attractive place, no doubt, yet still a city frequently scourged with the dreaded yellow fever ; there was the city which was to be our new home — for how long ?

It was about nine o'clock when we went ashore. We first walked to the office of the steamship company, and from there took a carriage to our hotel, feeling, of course, grateful for having accomplished so long a journey in safety.

There had been nothing of special interest in our passage from Lisbon. I was usually awakened before sunrise every morning by the seamen washing off the deck, and hearing the pigs, which were carried for subsistence, scampering about on deck at the same time, a freedom they had while their pens were being washed. Our meals were not taken down-stairs in the cabin, but in a pleasant room forward opening from the deck. Breakfast was at eight o'clock, consisting of a good beefsteak, fried potatoes, good coffee or tea, and bread and fresh eggs ; dinner at 2 p. m. and tea at about dark. The after-

10 BRAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPECTS.

deck was ample for walking, or pitching quoits, and was protected from the sun by an awning. Over the room where we ate was also a small deck, with awning, near to and about on a level with the officers' bridge, and which was a favorite place for sitting and reading or lounging, as the prospect from it was extensive and the atmosphere agreeable. There were a few nights or parts of nights when the heat was oppressive in our state-rooms. We could generally, however, keep the round small window in each state-room open or partly open, but it was sometimes hazardous to do so. One night, when I had left the window open in my room, a wave came against the ship, dashing fully two buckets of water in upon me as I was lying in my berth sound asleep. Another night one of our European fellow-passengers had a similar experience.

The crew was composed of steady, sensible Germans, including some boys who have very good prospects, as, by sticking to their profession, and taking pains to acquire theoretical as well as practical knowledge of navigation, they may look forward some day to become masters of just such a steamship as the Bismarck. In crossing the equator a part of an afternoon is devoted to a bit of frolic to initiate such seamen as are crossing the line for the first time. On this occasion on our steamer there was a grotesque procession, after which the candidates were subjected to a mock operation of shaving, and, by some slip of their seat, found themselves sprawling in a tub of water. The whole concluded by the captain treating all hands to beer. The only dispute or quarrel, and that not serious, which occurred on the voyage, was between a couple of the seamen after this hour or so of fun.

Competent ship-masters agree that the voyage between

VOYAGE TO BRAZIL.

the United States and Brazil is easy and pleasant as compared with that across the North Atlantic. As Captain Beers says, "it is a yacht-excursion.' 3 In coming from New York to Bio de Janeiro and returning, the weather and sea as a rule are favorable, a fact important both to merchants and to those who travel for recreation and instruction.

The United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company began running their line of new passenger-steamships between New York and Bio de Janeiro in 1883; and in October, 1886, commenced the extension of their line to Montevideo with their new steamship Allianca. Leaving their dock at Brooklyn, these steamers proceed on every voyage to Newport News, Virginia, w T here they take on their supply of coal and a cargo of flour, and leave the latter place the evening of the third day after starting from Brooklyn. They pass about one hundred and fifty miles west of the Bermudas, and in the course of five days arrive in the fine harbor of the green mountain-island of St. Thomas — an island which President Lincoln bought of Denmark by a treaty which the Senate refused to ratify. There, a hundred black people, young and old, male and female, bring coal aboard the ship in baskets, which they carry on their heads, working almost on the jump. Peddlers of coral hover about the ship in their boats ; also, youthful swimmers, who, to make a little money and divert the passengers, will dive and bring up any small silver coin that the latter may be willing to throw into the water.

From St. Thomas the steamer is a little less than two days in reaching Barbadoes, a beautiful undulating and exceedingly fertile island, covered with plantations of sugar-cane and numerously dotted with dwellings. It is a favorite resort for visitors, has a good modern hotel, and living on the island is very cheap. From Barbadoes to Para, Brazil's rising city of the Amazon Valley, occupies from four to five days. Passengers will generally wish to visit this and the other Brazilian cities at which the steamer calls, but before doing so it may be best to consult the surgeon on board. The steamer usually runs from Para to Maranham in a day and a half ; from Maranham to Pernambuco, an important city and center of the sugar- trade, in three and a half days ; from Pernambuco to Bahia, in two and a half days ; and from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro, in three days. If you are fond of oranges, always lay in a supply at Bahia. No good ones are to be had at the ports north of Bahia. From Rio to New York there are British steamships leaving weekly, some of which have good passenger accommodations. A person of leisure, or traveling for health, would find a passage pleasant on some of the sailing-packets which run regularly between Baltimore and Rio, a few of which sometimes make four round voyages in the course of the year.

A sailing-vessel leaving one of our Atlantic ports, bound for Brazil, usually steers east a great distance to get into the trade-winds blowing from the northeast to the southwest. She goes east for this purpose nearly half-way across the Atlantic, then southeasterly to about the twenty-eighth degree of latitude ; from there she is carried along by the northeast trade-wind to the tenth or fifth degree of latitude north of the equator, according to the season, after which there are light, variable winds till about the second degree north of the equator, when the southeast trade-winds may be expected, and which take the vessel to about the nineteenth degree of latitude south of the equator ; after which there are variable winds to

VOYAGE TO BRAZIL.

Eio de Janeiro. The average crossing of the equator is at longitude 32° west.

As the " torrid zone " extends some twenty-three degrees on each side of the equator, and as the common understanding of the word " torrid " is violent heat, it is no wonder that people have a wrong impression of the character of the weather at sea in the neighborhood of and even under the equator. It is not oppressively hot. On the contrary, there is generally a refreshing breeze, and the nights are often cool enough for passengers to require a blanket for cover in their berths while sleeping.

I believe there is nothing particularly noteworthy as to the phenomena in the vicinity of the equator and through the " torrid " zone, except that the weather may toward evening be habitually cloudy and look threatening, and soon clear up and become bright starlight. The water when agitated displays at night much brilliant phosphorescent light. During the day the sight of one or two sailing-vessels at a distance, also the frequently seen " flying-fish 9 " are about all that would interrupt the monotony. Going south from the equator, say in August, one soon misses the " Great Dipper." The Southern Cross, a constellation of but four stars, is then seen in the southern heavens early in the evening. The Scorpion is directly overhead, and at two or three o'clock in the morning Orion is visible just above the eastern horizon. The distance from New York to Eio de Janeiro direct is five thousand miles; consequently steamships that average twelve miles an hour, a reasonable speed, would make the voyage in seventeen days ; but, calling as they usually do at several intermediate ports, the time is extended five or six days.

CHAPTEE II.

GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING.

Carson's English Hotel, at which we stopped, is handily located on the Eua Catete, the street-cars passing it every five minutes. In size and architecture it is unpretentious, but has a large lawn and garden in the rear, entirely secluded from the street by one of those high walls which still inclose many old dwelling-sites. It is an orderly and popular family hotel. If there are lady guests, a maid taps at the chamber-door about eight in the morning and hands in a pot of black coffee, a pitcher of hot milk, some rolls and butter. This is expected to sustain nature till you are dressed and come to the ordinary eating-room, where breakfast is served from nine, or a little before, till twelve. The earthen water-bottle, which I shall further along describe, set on its own little platter and placed at convenient distances along the center of the table, forms a part of what is usually on every dining-table. There are dishes of oranges and bananas. The steak, or chop, is broiled after you give your order. You may need to wait fifteen minutes for your breakfast ; but be patient, and you will be treated all the better. The servants have been long in the house, and have been accustomed to wait on Brazilian magnates and their families, who are usually very polite ; and if transient guests are irritable, they are themselves the losers.

It being our purpose to go to housekeeping as soon as convenient after reaching Rio, one of the first things to occupy our attention was to search for a suitable house. We had got the impression that, to be secure against yellow fever, one should reside on elevated ground — say on either the Gloria or the Santa Theresa Hill. "We first looked, therefore, at houses on both these hills, making the ascent on foot, in very warm weather, several times to do so, and saw some very fair houses, commanding a splendid view of the harbor and the mountain scenery on the opposite side, but they were so difficult of access that we were reluctant to take either one ; and finally learning, what I have since become satisfied is the truth, that those localities are no more exempt from the fever than some other parts of the city less elevated, we began to look elsewhere. We visited houses in the favorite districts of Sao Christovao, Botaf ogo, and Larangeiras ; and, finally, a desirable new house was pointed out to me by Mr. Rainsford, an old resident and former United States vice-consul, at No. 143 Rua das Larangeiras, which I hired (of course, unfurnished) at one thousand dollars per year.

We had visited over a dozen vacant houses altogether, and in this way had obtained information about the inside of Brazilian houses that we otherwise would not have had. What I saw in this regard impressed me that sleeping-rooms in the older houses frequently lack windows — mere dark alcoves being used for that purpose ; that the kitchens are very small ; and that the quarters for servants are either dark basement-rooms under the principal rooms, or else are in small, detached buildings without windows.

16 BEAZIL: ITS CONDITION AND PKOSPEOTS.

There were things, sometimes, in sanitary regards that were shocking.

We had got into our new house and settled at housekeeping inside of three weeks after our arrival at Rio. Neither carpets nor furniture with woolen or upholstered covers are common in Brazilian houses, though there is nothing in the climate to prevent their use — for moths are no more troublesome in Brazil than in the United States ; but not uncommonly a large rug is used to cover the middle part of the parlor-floor. For the most part, the house furniture is cane-seated, with wood-work of rosewood, mahogany, or some other reddish-colored wood of the country. The sofa has a high back, and is a neat and substantial piece of furniture. Two rows of about three chairs each, facing, are placed at right angles to the sofa, forming a little avenue to it. The sofa, about a dozen chairs, including two arm-chairs, and two cabinets, or " dunkerquerks," with marble tops and mirrored doors, will cost about five hundred dollars. This will answer as a specimen for a part of the furniture in houses of the middle class. Of course, rich upholstered furniture is found in the dwellings of the wealthy. In damp and hot weather, clothing and books gather mold, and should be frequently looked after and exposed to the sun.

There is no trouble about stoves or furnaces. I know only one house in Rio provided with heating accommodations. The stoves for cooking are put in as a part of the house. The fuel consists of wood obtained in the vicinity, and comes in small bundles of slender split sticks, three feet long, each bundle being about a foot in diameter. The numerous grocery-shops, or " venders," furnish and deliver them; but they can generally be obtained more economically by the cart-load from wood-dealers.

GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING.

The majority of the people live from hand to mouth, and buy their supplies from day to day at the handiest shop ; others buy a month's supply of groceries from some dealer down town. The bread made by the bakers in Eio is so good that no family thinks of baking its own bread. Beef is bought fresh every morning, and is generally good. The slaughter of beef-creatures takes place several miles out of the city, under government supervision. The meat is brought into the city on the railroad before evening, and, just before dark, great, heavy, closed wagons, drawn by four mules, go rumbling through the city and deliver the beef in quarters at the numerous meat-shops. By ten o'clock in the morning the retailer has generally sold out all of his stock, though after that a few pieces may be seen hanging up at his door. Ice is rather a dear luxury, though it is now manufactured extensively at Eio. Families get along, however, very well without ice, by cooking their meat the day it is bought, and keeping the food in perforated zinc-paneled, movable cupboards — a most useful article of pantry furniture, which I have only seen in Brazil.

Fresh pork is regarded in Eio as a luxury. The salt pork of the country is good, and comes in a dry condition in heavy rolls. Poultry is sold alive through fear of disease. Turkeys are driven in flocks and peddled at a high price ; the drivers, at a slow pace and in a singing tone, advertising as they go. There are numerous cow-stables all through the city, and milk is delivered in bottles by men afoot, though a few carts are making a beginning. It is also common to drive cows around singly in the morning, and to milk at the door the quantity a family may require. In such cases the calf is allowed to accompany the cow, but is subjected to a muzzle. This dairy business appears to be in the hands of the Portuguese ; and the frequent sight of these cows led about through the streets by innocent, country-looking youths, in some cases quite fresh from the valleys of Portugal, gives Rio a rustic feature which is pleasant.

Of family subsistence, more things are of foreign production than would, at first thought, be supposed. Butter comes in tin cans from Denmark, or some other foreign country ; lard from the United States ; potatoes and onions from Portugal. Neither green corn, green peas, nor tomatoes to any extent, are found in the Bio market. There is a fair supply of several kinds of delicate sea-fish, and the best way to procure them is to go direct to the principal market, rather than depend on fish-peddlers, whose presence can often be known by the sense of smell. The mero, one of the best, is a thick fish with black skin, without scales, costing forty cents a pound, and grows to the size of two hundred pounds. The badejo is another dark-skinned fish, without scales, and attains a weight of sixty pounds. The roballo has scales of the color of the shad, a black stripe on each side, and looks like our salt-water striped bass; its ordinary weight is about seven pounds. The curvina is reddish-colored, has thick, hard scales, which have to be shaved off, with an outer skin, and weighs about six pounds. This, and the vermelho, are similar to the red snapper of the Gulf of Mexico in appearance, and in the delicacy and firmness of their flesh. Nearly all the fish are caught in the Bay of Eio de Janeiro, into which they come from the sea, though some are taken outside as far as Cape Frio, eighteen hours distant by sail. The mero and badejo are caught only with the hook.

The metric system of weights and measures is in use,

GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING.

and meat, fish, and groceries are bought by the kilogramme of two and twenty hundredths pounds. The unit for the measure of money is the milreis — thousand reis — on the same principle as if we in the United States were to indicate our money in mills, and in writing a dollar should say one thousand mills. In figures the Brazilians write a milreis thus, 1$000. Five hundred reis, or half a milreis, they write $500, and a conto — one thousand milreis — 1,000$000. There are nickel one hundred and two hundred reis-pieces, the first worth about four cents and the latter eight cents. There are also copper pieces of which five are equal to a hundred reis. The Brazilian milreis in gold has the value of fifty-four and six tenths cents. But neither gold nor silver is in circulation. All of the money consists of irredeemable legal-tender Government notes which have for years been continually depreciating in value till in 1885 the milreis, in paper, was worth only about thirty-six cents. It rose to the value of forty cents the first half of 1886. This sort of money in a country affects business just on the same principle as if the length of the yardstick were to change from week to week.

The average wages of servants in good families are about forty-five milreis, say sixteen dollars, per month. Some of the best servants are slaves, who are owned and have been trained by people of the upper class. The wages of such servants all go to the owner. The Portuguese generally make industrious and reliable servants, and are very commonly employed in such capacity. They do not expect to make or receive many visits ; and they are usually bright, cheerful, and respectful. As the halls, stairs, and floors, especially in dining-rooms, are uncarpeted, there is considerable scrubbing to be done, and that is done by men on their knees. A man-servant of some of the wealthier families will rise daily as early as five and go to the market, two miles distant, to buy what is needed for the table in the way of fish, meat, vegetables, and fruit. But, ordinarily, your man-servant rises at six, and in a pair of slip-shod slippers goes to the nearest meatshop for the day's supply ; while the meat is being cut, he steps into the shop of the adjoining grocer and buys a morning journal, the columns of which he enjoys reading as much as any one. If he feels like it, he indulges in a small glass of the spirits of the country. On his return to the house, in the course of ten or fifteen minutes, he blacks your boots, sweeps the dining-room and hall, perhaps washes off the steps and sidewalk in front, sets the table for breakfast, cleans the parrot-cage, and generally continues occupied through the day, taking a few whiffs from a cigarette at intervals.

There is in common use in Brazil, as well as in Spanish America and in Portugal and Spain, an earthen bottle (called in Brazil moringue) for holding drinking-water, which is very serviceable, and would form a most useful addition to American household utensils in warm weather, as it keeps water fresh and cool a long time. It is likewise a very picturesque object, being in the form of an ancient Greek pattern, of which a specimen, all but the stopper, is given in Plate XXVIII, page 234, of Eastlake's " Household Taste," under the head of " Greek toiletware." The lower part of this bottle is bulbous in form, about eight inches in diameter, the neck four or five inches long, so as to be conveniently grasped by the hand, and one and a half inch in diameter at the mouth. The stopper is hollow, with a neat circular cap top. The bottom is flat, and it is usually set on a small plate of the same material — the whole of a deep Indian-red color.

GETTING TO HOUSEKEEPING.

The quality of being unglazed gives it the power to keep water cool. Being used also with a stopper, as it always should be, it prevents the water from absorbing the impurities of the atmosphere ; it also excludes insects ; and for these reasons, and because it keeps the water cool, it would be a vast improvement on our open pitchers. In the sick-chamber at night it would prove especially valuable. Its introduction into our country would also tend to do away with the use of ice-water. These bottles are all made by hand, and beautifully shaped by the eye, from a lump of moist and prepared clay, while revolving rapidly on a little table which the workman keeps in motion by a crank worked with his foot. They are retailed singly, with the plate, at less than fifty cents. Glazed and fancy painted bottles are often to be seen on the tables of restaurants and hotels, but they do not keep the water cool, nor are they as picturesque as the unglazed bottles. !No family undertakes to do without the latter.

Chapter III. Rio And Its People

While the first rude huts were being built where Hew York now stands, Rio de Janeiro, the commercial and political capital of Brazil, had been settled over fifty years. It is situated as far south as Havana is north of the equator, and has now a population of nearly half a million, it being the largest city, outside of the United States, on the American Continent. It is the seat of half the foreign commerce of the empire, has a navy-yard, arsenal, several ship-yards, cotton - mills, foundries, and other manufactures. If one of our larger ships of war needed repairs while in the South Atlantic, it could find only at Rio a sufficiently large dry-dock. The glory of the city is its splendid harbor, four miles wide by twelve miles long, and into which the largest ships can enter with ease and lie in safety. The city is built on one side of the bay which forms this harbor, with wooded and peaked mountains in the immediate background, whose spurs and foot-hills, in places, press down almost to the water's edge, forming headlands between which are smaller, crescent-shaped bays. The older part of the city is on low, flat land, where the streets are straight and narrow. Within the present city limits are twenty hills, some of which are quite prominent and covered with buildings. The principal hill is Santa Theresa. On the Gloria are a white

RIO AND ITS PEOPLE.

church of the same name, and a few villas amid scattered royal palms ; on the Castle Hill are the observatory and shipping telegraph station, while the Saude Hill is covered with old and cheap dwellings. Two or three other hills are noticeable as the sites of old and rather dingy- looking convents. Others, again, are about in their natural state, clothed with bushes and trees, though here and there are considerable areas of green grass. Granite-quarrying is going on extensively at the base and sides of several hills.

From the Botanical Garden, situated at the foot of the Corcovado Mountain, around to the foot of the Tijuca Mountains, the distance is about ten miles, all of which is built up. The whole of this distance can be traveled in street-cars, and the trip would give one many interesting views and a fair idea of the city. Another interesting ride on the street-cars would be to Ponte Caju, and past the cemetery of that name. It is a promontory, at the end of which the Emperor has his hunting-park, but which, I imagine, he seldom visits. A still more interesting trip on the street-cars is up the inclined plane in cars pulled by a cable and stationary engine on the Santa Theresa Hill, and to the new reservoir, the view from which is fine.

The best view of Eio and its surroundings is obtained from the top of the Corcovado Mountain, two thousand feet high, situated about five miles from the custom-house. Though connected with the Tijuca group of mountains, among which are some higher peaks, it is easily distinguished by its peculiar form. The side toward the sea is a precipitous column of rock for half the distance down from the top — the Botanical Garden lying at the foot. The opposite side is gradually sloping, clothed with forest, and from some points of view is thought to look like the stooping shoulders of an old man — a fancy which suggested its name. The view from the summit, taking in as it does almost the whole extended and irregular area of the city, with many interesting natural objects, is highly pleasing. Like Naples, as seen from the hill of St. Elmo, the level part of the city resembles a plane of tiled roofs, with steeples and domes interspersed, yet studded with several bright-green hills dotted with buildings and trees. In the direction of the Emperor's residence, some six miles distant, and which seems to stand amid an undulating, verdant park, are large tracts of vacant, level, and grass-covered land, showing what an extensive area remains for the city to be built upon farther up the bay. Beyond these in the distance are to be seen the Organ and Petropolis Mountains, though they are frequently obscured by the clouds. The blue Atlantic, visible as far as the eye can reach, the surf rolling over white beaches near the foot of the mountain, the few scattered islands near the shore, the Sugar-Loaf and other prominent heights near the entrance of the harbor, the capacious harbor itself with its numerous vessels, the old city of Nictheroy on the opposite side — these are some of the many objects upon which the eye lingers. A railway for most of the way up was opened in the latter part of 1884, and completed to the top the next year ; so that now, by taking the Larangeiras street-car and the new railway connecting therewith, one can get from the heart of the city to the summit in an hour. The area on the summit is about a fifth of an acre, all granite, and is inclosed by a firm concrete wall. At Paineiras, two thirds of the way up, is a fashionable restaurant hotel.