U ATORIAL - AMERICA
^MATURIN M.BALLOU
'/
> /
////;
j-r i'-.^>;^:.
•.i---''^'
^p iHatttrin itt» ^allou.
EQUATORIAL AMERICA. Descriptive of a Visit to St.
Thomas, Martinique, Barbadoes, and the Principal Capi-
tals of South America. A New Book. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
AZTEC LAND. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
THE NEW ELDORADO. A Summer Journey to Alaska.
Crown 8vo, ^1.50.
ALASKA. The New Eldorado. A Summer Journey to Alaska.
Tourisfs Edition, with 4 maps. i6mo, $1.00.
DUE WEST; or, Round the World in Ten Months.
Crown 8vo, $1.50.
DUE SOUTH ; or, Cuba Past and Present. Crown 8vo,
$1.50.
UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS; or, Travels in Aus-
tralasia. Crown 8vo, $1.50.
DUE NORTH ; or, Glimpses of Scandinavia and Russia.
Crown 8vo, ^1.50.
GENIUS IN SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Crown 8 vo,$ 1.50.
EDGE-TOOLS OF SPEECH. Selected and edited by Mr.
Ballou. 8vo, $3.50.
A TREASURY OF THOUGHT. An Encyclopedia of Quo-
tations. 8vo, full gilt, $3.50.
PEARLS OF THOUGHT. i6mo, full gilt, $1.25.
NOTABLE THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. Crown Svo,
$1.50.
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY,
Boston and New York.
EQUATORIAL AMERICA
DESCRIPTIVE OF A VISIT TO ST. THOMAS
MARTINIQUE, BARBADOES, AND
THE PRINCIPAL CAPITALS
OF SO UTH AMERICA
BY
MATURIN M. BALLOU
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
1892
Copyright, 1892,
By MATURIN M. BALLOU.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. 0. Houghton & Company.
DEDICATED
TO
CAPTAIN E. C. BAKER
OF THE
STEAMSHIP VIGILANCIA
WITH WARM APPRECIATION OF HIS QUALITIES
AS A GENTLEMAN
AND AN ACCOMPLISHED SEAMAN
PREFACE.
" I AM a part of all tliat I have seen," says Tenny-
son, a sentiment which every one of large experience
will heartily indorse. With the extraordinary facili-
ties for travel available in modem times, it is a
serious mistake in those who possess the means, not
to become familiar with the various sections of the
globe. Vivid descriptions and excellent photographs
give us a certain knowledge of the great monuments
of the world, both natural and artificial, but the trav-
eler always finds the reality a new revelation, whether
it be the marvels of a Yellowstone Park, a vast
oriental temple, Alaskan glaciers, or the Pyramids
of Ghiza. The latter, for instance, do not differ from
the statistics which we have so often seen recorded,
their great, dominating outlines are the same as pic-
torially delineated, but when we actually stand before
them, they are touched by the wand of enchantment,
and spring into visible life. Heretofore they have
been shadows, henceforth they are tangible and real.
The best descriptions fail to inspire us, experience
VI PREFACE.
alone can do that. What words can adequately depict
the confused grandeur of the Falls of Schaffhausen ;
the magnificence of the Himalayan range, — roof -tree
of the world ; the thrilling beauty of the Yosemite
Valley ; the architectural loveliness of the Taj Mahal,
of India ; the starry splendor of equatorial nights ;
the maritime charms of the Bay of Naples ; or the
marvel of the Midnight Sun at the North Cape ? It
is personal observation alone which truly satisfies,
educating the eye and enriching the understanding.
If we can succeed in imparting a portion of our en-
joyment to others, we enhance our own pleasure, and
therefore these notes of travel are given to the public.
M. M. B.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Commencement of a Long Journey. — The Gulf Stream. — Hayti.
— Sighting St. Thomas. — Ship Rock. — Expert Divers. — ■
Fidgety Old Lady. — An Important Island. — The Old Slayer.
— Aborigines. — St. Thomas Cigars. — Population. — Tri-
Mountain. — The Negro Paradise. — Hurricanes. — Variety of
Fish. — Coaling Ship. — The Firefly Dance. — A Weird Scene.
— An Antique Anchor 1
CHAPTER XL
Curious Seaweed. — Professor Agassiz. — Myth of a Lost Conti-
nent. — Island of Martinique. — An Attractive Place. — Statue
of the Empress Josephine. — Birthplace of Madame de Main-
tenon. — City of St. Pierre. — Mont Pelde. — High Flavored
Specialty. — Grisettes of Maritinque. — A Botanical Garden. —
Defective Drainage. — A Fatal Enemy. — A Cannibal Snake.
— The Climate 33
CHAPTER HI.
English Island of Barbadoes. — Bridgetown the Capital. — The
Manufacture of Rum. — A Geographical Expert. — Very Eng-
lish. — A Pest of Ants. — Exports. — The Ice House. — A
Dense Population. — Educational. — Marine Hotel. — Habits
of Gambling. — Hurricanes. — Curious Antiquities. — The Bar-
badoes Leg. — Wakeful Dreams. — Absence of Twilight. —
Departure from the Island 51
CHAPTER IV.
Curious Ocean Experiences. — The Delicate Nautilus. — Flying-
Fish. — The Southern Cross. — Speaking a Ship at Sea. —
viii CONTENTS.
Scientific Navigation. — South America as a Whole. — Fauna
and Flora. — Natural Resources of a Wonderful Land. —
Rivers, Plains, and Mountain Ranges. — Aboriginal Tribes. —
Population. — Political Divisions. — Civil Wars. — Weakness
of South American States ' . • .
CHAPTER V.
City of Pard. — The Equatorial Line. — Spanish History. — The
King of Waters. — Private Gardens. — Domestic Life in North-
ern Brazil. — Delicious Pineapples. — Family Pets. — Opera
House. — Mendicants. — A Grand Avenue. — Botanical Gar-
den. — India-Rubber Tree. — Gathering the Raw Material. —
Monkeys. — The Royal Palm. — Splendor of Equatorial Nights 94
CHAPTER VI.
Island of Marajo. — Rare and Beautiful Birds. — Original Mode
of Securing Humming-Birds. — MaranhSo. — Educational. —
Value of Native Forests. — Pernambuco. — Difficulty of Land-
ing. — An Ill-Chosen Name. — Local Scenes. — Uncleanly Hab-
its of the People. — Great Sugar Mart. — Native Houses. — A
Quaint Hostelry. — Catamarans. — A Natural Breakwater. —
Sailing down the Coast 115
CHAPTER VII.
Port of Bahia. — A Quaint Old City. — Former Capital of Brazil.
— Whaling Interests. — Beautiful Panorama. — Tramways. —
No Color Line Here. — The Sedan Chair. — Feather Flowers. —
A Great Orange Mart. — Passion Flower Fruit. — Coffee, Sugar,
and Tobacco. — A Coffee Plantation. — Something about Dia-
monds. — Health of the City. — Curious Tropical Street Scenes 138
CHAPTER VIII.
Cape Frio. — Rio Janeiro. — A Splendid Harbor. — Various
Mountains. — Botaf ogo Bay. — The Hunchback. — Farewell
to the Vigilaneia. — Tijuca. — Italian Emigrants. — City In-
stitutions. — Public Amusements. — Street Musicians. —
Churches. — Narrow Thoroughfares. — Merchants' Clerks. —
Railroads in Brazil. — Natural Advantages of the City. — The
Public Plazas. — Exports 1^5
CONTENTS. IX
CHAPTER IX.
Outdoor Scenes in Rio Janeiro. — The Little Marmoset. — The
Fish Market. — Secluded Women. — The Romish Church. —
Botanical Garden. — Various Species of Trees. — Grand Ave-
nue of Royal Palms. — About Humming-Birds. — Climate of
Rio. — Surrounded by Yellow Fever. — The Country Inland. —
Begg-ing- on the Streets. — Flowers. — " Portuguese Joe." —
Social Distinctions 180
CHAPTER X.
Petropolis. — Summer Residence of the Citizens of Rio. —
Brief Sketch of the late Royal Family. — Dom Pedro's Palace.
— A Delightful Mountain Sanitarium. — A Successful but
Bloodless Revolution. — Floral Delights. — Mountain Scenery.
— Heavy Gambling. — A German Settlement. — Casca-
tinha. — Remarkable Orchids. — Local Types. — A Brazilian
Forest. — Compensation 201
CHAPTER XL
Port of Santos. — Yellow Fever Scourge. — Down the Coast to
Montevideo. — The Cathedral. — Pamperos. — Domestic Ar-
chitecture. — A Grand Thoroughfare. — City Institutions. —
Commercial Advantages. — The Opera House. — The Bull-
Fight. — Beggars on Horseback. — City Shops. — A Typical
Character. — Intoxication. — The Campo Santo. — Exports. —
Rivers and Railways 217
CHAPTER XII.
Buenos Ayres. — Extent of the Argentine Republic. — Popula-
tion. — Narrow Streets. — Large Public Squares. — Basques.
— Poor Harbor. — Railway System. — River Navigation. —
Tramways. — The Cathedral. — Normal Schools. — News-
papers. — Public Buildings. — Calle Florida. — A Busy City.
— Mode of furnishing Milk. — Environs. — Commercial and
Political Growth. — The New Capital 244
CHAPTER XIII.
City of Rosario. — Its Population. — A Pretentious Church. —
Ocean Experiences. — Morbid Fancies. — Strait of Magellan.
X CONTENTS.
— A Great Discoverer. — Local Characteristics. — Patago-
nians and Fuegians. — Giant Kelp. — Unique Mail Box. —
Punta Arenas. — An Ex-Penal Colony. — The Albatross. —
Natives. — A Naked People. — Whales. — Sea-Birds. — Gla-
ciers. — Mount Sarniiento. — A Singular Story 271
CHAPTER XIV.
The Land of Fire. — Cape Horn. — In the Open Pacific. — Fellow
Passengers. — Large Sea-Bird. — An Interesting Invalid. —
A Weary Captive. — A Broken-Hearted Mother. — Study of
the Heavens. — The Moon. — Chilian Civil War. — Concepcion.
— A Growing City. — Commercial Importance. — Cultivating
City Gardens on a New Plan. — Important Coal Mines. —
Delicious Fruits 297
CHAPTER XV.
Valparaiso. — Principal South American Port of the Pacific. —
A Good Harbor. — Tallest Mountain on this Continent. — The
Newspaper Press. — Warlike Aspect. — Girls as Car Con-
ductors. — Chilian Exports. — Foreign Merchants. — Effects
of Civil War. — Gambling in Private Houses. — Immigration.
— Culture of the Grape. — Agriculture. — Island of Juan
Fernandez 315
CHAPTER XVI.
The Port of Callao. — A Submerged City. — Peruvian Exports.
— A Dirty and Unwholesome Town. — Cinchona Bark. — The
Andes. — The Llama. — A National Dance. — City of Lima.
— An Old and Interesting Capital. — Want of Rain. — Pizarro
and His Crimes. — A Grand Cathedral. — Chilian Soldiers. —
Costly Churches of Peru. — Roman Catholic Influence. — Dese-
cration of the Sabbath 334
CHAPTER XVII.
A Grand Plaza. — Retribution. — The University of Lima. — Sig-
nificance of Ancient Pottery. — Architecture. — Picturesque
Dwelling. — Domestic Scene. — Destructive Earthquakes. —
Spanish Sway. — Women of Lima. — Street Costumes. — An-
cient Bridge of Lima. — Newspapers. — Pawnbrokers' Shops.
— Exports. — An Ancient Mecca. — Home by Way of Europe. 355
EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.
Commencement of a Long Jonmey. — The Gulf Stream. — Hayti. —
Sighting St. Thomas. — Ship Rock. — Expert Divers. — Fidgety
Old Lady. — An Important Island. — The Old Slaver. — Aborigines.
— St. Thomas Cigars. — Population. — Tri-Mountain. — Xegro Par-
adise. — Hurricances. — Variety of Fish. — Coaling Ship. — The
Firefly Dane. — A Weird Scene. — An Antique Anchor.
Ix starting upon foreign travel, one drops into the
familiar routine on shipboard much after the same
fashion wherever bound, whether crossing the Atlantic
eastward, or steaming to the south through the waters
of the Caribbean Sea ; whether in a Peninsular and
Oriental ship in the Indian Ocean, or on a White
Star liner in the Pacific bound for Japan. The
steward brings a cup of hot coffee and a slice of dry
toast to one's cabin soon after the sun rises, as a sort
of eye-opener ; and ha^*ing swallowed that excellent
stimulant, one feels better fortified for the struggle
to dress on the uneven floor of a rolling and pitching
ship. Then comes the brief promenade on deck be-
fore breakfast, a liberal inhalation of fresh air insur-
ing a good appetite. There is no hiu-ry at this meal.
2 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
There is so little to do at sea, and so much time to do
it in, that passengers are apt to linger at table as a
pastime, and even multiply their meals in number.
As a rule, we make up our mind to follow some in-
structive course of reading while at sea, but, alas ! we
never fulfill the good resolution. An entire change
of habits and associations for the time being is not
favorable to such a purpose. The tonic of the sea
braces one up to an unwonted degree, evinced by
great activity of body and mind. Favored by the
unavoidable companionship of individuals in the cir-
cumscribed space of a ship, acquaintances are formed
which often ripen into lasting friendship. Inexperi-
enced voyagers are apt to become effusive and over-
confiding, abrupt intimacies and unreasonable dislikes
are of frequent occurrence, and before the day of
separation, the student of human nature has seen many
phases exhibited for his analysis.
Our vessel, the Vigilancia, is a large, commodi-
ous, and well appointed ship, embracing all the mod-
ern appliances for comfort and safety at sea. She is
lighted by electricity, having a donkey engine which
sets in motion a dynamo machine, converting me-
chanical energy into electric energy. Perhaps the
reader, though familiar with the effect of this mode of
lighting, has never paused to analyze the very simple
manner in which it is produced. The current is led
from the dynamos to the various points where light
is desired by means of insulated wires. The lamps
consist of a fine thread of carbon inclosed in a glass
COMMENCEMENT OF A JOURNEY. 3
bulb from which air has been entirely excluded. This
offers such resistance to the current passing through
it that the energy is expended in raising the carbon
to a white heat, thus forming the light. The per-
manence of the carbon is insured by the absence of
oxygen. If the glass bulb is broken and atmospheric
air comes in contact mth the carbon, it is at once
destroyed by combustion, and all light from this source
ceases. These lamj^s are so arranged that each one
can be turned off or on at will without affecting others.
The absence of offensive smell or smoke, the steadiness
of the light, imaffected by the motion of the ship, and
its superior brilliancy, all join to make this mode of
lighting a vessel a positive luxury.
Some pleasant hours were passed on board the
Vigilancia, between New York and the West Indies,
in the study of the Gulf Stream, tlirough which we
were sailing, — that river in the ocean with its banks
and bottom of cold water, while its current is always
warm. Who can explain the mystery of its motive
power ? What keeps its tej^id water, in a course of
thousands of miles, from mingling with the rest of the
sea ? Whence does it really come ? The accepted theo-
ries are familiar enough, but we place little reliance
upon them, the statements of scientists are so easily
formulated, but often so difficult to prove. As Pro-
fessor Maury teUs us, there is in the world no other
flow of water so majestic as this ; it has a course more
rapid than either the Mississij^pi or the Amazon, and a
volume more than a thousand times greater. The color
4 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
of this remarkable stream, whose fountain is supposed
to be the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, is so
deep a blue off our southern shore that the line of
demarcation from its surroundings is quite obvious,
the Gulf water having apparently a decided reluctance
to mingling with the rest of the ocean, a peculiarity
which has been long and vainly discussed without a
satisfactory solution having been reached. The same
phenomenon has been observed in the Pacific, where
the Japanese current comes up from the equator,
along the shore of that country, crossing Behring's
Sea to the continent of North America, and, turning
southward along the coast of California, finally dis-
appears. Throughout all this ocean passage, like the
Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, it retains its individ-
uality, and is quite separate from the rest of the
ocean. The fact that the water is Salter than that of
the Atlantic is by some supposed to account for the
indigo blue of the Gulf Stream.
The temperature of this water is carefully taken on
board all well regulated ships, and is recorded in the
log. On this voyage it was found to vary from 75° to
80° Fahrenheit.
Our ship had touched at Newport News, Va., after
leaving New York, to take the U. S. mail on board ;
thence the course was south-southeast, giving the
American continent a wide berth, and heading for
the Danish island of St. Thomas, which lies in the lati-
tude of Hayti, but a \o\\^ way to the eastward of that
uninteresting island. We say uninteresting with due
PEOPLE OF HAYTI. 6
consideration, though its history is vivid enough to
satisfy the most sensational taste. It has produced its
share of native heroes, as well as native traitors, while
the frequent uj^heavals of its mingled races have been
no less erratic than destructive. The ignorance and
confusion which reign among the masses on the island
are deplorable. Minister Douglass utterly failed to
make anything out of Hayti. The lower classes of
the people living inland come next to the inhabitants
of Terra del Fuego in the scale of humanity, and are
much inferior to the Maoris of New Zealand, or the
savage tribes of Australia. It is satisfactorily proven
that cannibalism still exists among them in its most
repidsive form, so revolting, indeed, that we hesitate
to detail the experience of a creditable eye-witness re-
lating to this matter, as personally described to us.
Upon looking at the map it would seem, to one un-
accustomed to the ocean, that a ship could not lay her
course direct, in these island dotted waters, without
running do^vn one or more of them ; but the distances
which are so circumscribed upon the chart are ex-
tended for many a league at sea, and a good navigator
may sail his ship from New York to Barbadoes, if he
so desires, ^^^[thout sighting the land. Not a sailing
vessel or steamship was seen, on the brief vo5''age from
the American continent to the West Indies, these
latitudes being far less frequented by passenger and
freighting ships than the transatlantic route further
north.
It is quite natural that the heart should throb with
6 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
increased animation, the spirits become more elate, and
the eyes more than usually appreciative, when the land
of one's destination heaves in sight after long days and
nights passed at sea. This is especially the case if the
change from home scenes is so radical in all particu-
lars as when coming from our bleak Northern States
in the early days of spring, before the trees have donned
their leaves, to the soft temperature and exuberant ver-
dure of the low latitudes. Commencing the voyage
herein described, the author left the Brooklyn shore
of New York harbor about the first of May, during a
sharp snow-squall, though, as Governor's Island was
passed on the one hand, and the Statue of Liberty on
the other, the sun burst forth from its cloudy envi-
ronment, as if to smile a cheerful farewell. Thus we
passed out upon the broad Atlantic, bound southward,
soon feeling its half suppressed force in the regular
sway and roll of the vessel. She was heavily laden,
and measured considerably over four thousand tons,
drawing twenty-two feet of water, yet she was like an
eggshell upon the heaving breast of the ocean. As
these mammoth ships lie in port beside the wharf, it
seems as though their size and enormous weight would
place them beyond the influence of the wind and
waves : but the power of the latter is so great as to
be beyond computation, and makes a mere toy of the
largest hull that floats. No one can realize the great
strength of the waves who has not watched the sea in
all of its varying moods.
" Land 01" shouts the lookout on the forecastle.
A DECEPTIVE ROCK. 7
A wave o£ the hand signifies that the occupant of
the bridge has abeady made out the mote far away
upon the glassy surface of the sea, which now rap-
idly grows into definite form.
When the mountain which rises near the centre of
St. Thomas was fairly in view from the deck of the
Yigilancia, it seemed as if beckoning us to its hos-
pitable shore. The light breeze which fanned the sea
came from off the land flavored with an odor of trop-
ical vegetation, a suggestion of fragrant blossoms, and
a promise of luscious fruits. On our starboard bow
there soon came into view the well known Ship Rock,
which appears, when seen from a short distance, al-
most precisely like a full-rigged ship under canvas.
If the sky is clouded and the atmosphere hazy, the
delusion is remarkable.
This story is told of a French corvette which was
cruising in these latitudes at the time when the buc-
caneers were creating such havoc with legitimate com-
merce in the West' Indies. It seems that the coast
was partially hidden by a fog, when the corvette
made out the rock through the haze, and, supposing it
to be what it so much resembles, a ship under sail, fired
a gun to leeward for her to heave to. Of course there
was no response to the shot, so the Frenchman brought
his ship closer, at the same time clearing for action.
Being satisfied that he had to do with a powerful
adversary, he resolved to obtain the advantage by
promptly crippling the enemy, and so discharged
the whole of his starboard broadside into the supposed
8 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
ship, looming througli the mist. The fog quietly dis-
persed as the corvette went about and prepared to
deliver her port guns in a similar manner. As the
deceptive rock stood in precisely the same place when
the guns came once more to bear upon it, the true
character of the object was discovered. It is doubtful
whether the Frenchman's surprise or mortification
predominated.
An hour of steady progress served to raise the veil
of distance, and to reveal the spacious bay of Char-
lotte Amalie, with its strong background of abrupt
hills and dense greenery of tropical foliage. How
wonderfully blue was the water round about the island,
— an emerald set in a sea of molten sapphire ! It
seemed as if the sky had been melted and poured aU
over the ebbing tide. About the Bahamas, especially
off the shore at Nassau, the water is green, — a delicate
bright green ; here it exhibits only the true azure
blue, — Mediterranean blue. It is seen at its best and
in marvelous glow during the brief moments of twi-
light, when a glance of golden sunset tinges its mottled
surface with iris hues, like the opaline flashes from a
humming-bird's throat.
The steamer gradually lost headway, the vibrating
hull ceased to throb with the action of its motive
power, as though pausing to take breath after long
days and nights of sustained effort, and presently the
anchor was let go in the excellent harbor of St.
Thomas, latitude 18° 20' north, longitude 64° 48'
west. Our forecastle orun, fired to announce arrival,
EXPERT DIVERS. 9
awakened the echoes in the hills, so that all seemed to
join in clapping their hands to welcome us. Thus
amid the Norwegian fiords the report of the steamer's
single gun becomes a whole broadside, as it is rever-
berated from the grim and rocky elevations which line
that iron-bound coast.
There was soon gathered about the ship a be\y of
naked colored boys, a score or more, jabbering like a
lot of monkeys, some in canoes of home construction,
it would seem, consisting of a sugar box sawed in two
parts, or a few small planks nailed together, forming
more of a tub than a boat, and leaking at every joint.
These frail floats were propelled with a couple of flat
boards used as paddles. The young fellows came out
from the shore to dive for sixpences and shillings,
cast into the sea by passengers. The moment a piece
of silver was thro^Nn, every canoe was instantly emptied
of its occujDant, all di\ang pell-mell for the money.
Presently one of the crowd was sure to come to the
surface with the silver exhibited above his head between
his fingers, after which, monkey-like, it was securely
deposited inside of his cheek. Similar scenes often
occur in tropical regions. The last which the author
can recall, and at which he assisted, was at Aden,
where the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea meet. An-
other experience of the sort is also well remembered
as witnessed in the South Pacific off the Samoan
islands. On this occasion the most expert of the
natives, among the naked diners, was a young Samoan
girl, whose agility in the water was such that she easily
10 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
secured more tlian lialf the bright coins which were
thrown overboard, though a dozen male, competitors
were her rivals in the pursuit. Nothing but an otter
could have excelled this bronzed, unclad, exquisitely
formed girl of Tutuila as a diver and swimmer.
But let us not stray to the far South Pacific, forget-
ting that we are all this time in the snug harbor of
St. Thomas, in the West Indies.
A fidgety old lady passenger, half hidden in an avar
lanche of wraps, while the thermometer indicated 80°
Fahr., one who had gone into partial hysterics several
times during the past few days, upon the slightest
provocation, declared that this was the worst region
for hurricanes in the known world, adding that there
were dark, ominous clouds forming to windward which
she was sure portended a cyclone. One might have
told her truthfully that May was not a hurricane
month in these latitudes, but we were just then too
earnestly engaged in preparing for a stroll on shore,
too full of charming anticipations, to discuss possible
hurricanes, and so, without giving the matter any spe-
cial thought, admitted that it did look a little threat-
ening in the northwest. This was quite enough to
frighten the old lady half out of her senses, and to
call the stewardess into prompt requisition, while the
deck was soon permeated with the odor of camphor,
sal volatile, and valerian. We did not wait to see
how she survived the attack, but hastened into a shore
boat and soon landed at what is known as King's
wharf, when the temperature seemed instantly to rise
NATIVE GROUPS. 11
about twenty degrees. Near the landing was a small
plaza, shaded by tall ferns and cabbage palms, with
here and there an umbrageous mango. Ladies and
servant girls were seen promenading with merry chil-
dren, whites and blacks mingHng indiscriminately,
while the Danish military band were producing most
shocking strains mth their brass instruments. One
coidd hardly conceive of a more futile attempt at
harmony.
There is always something exciting in first setting
foot upon a foreign soil, in mingling with utter stran-
gers, in listening to the voluble utterances and jargon
of unfamiliar tongues, while noting the manners, dress,
and faces of a new people. The current language
of the mass of St. Thomas is a cui^ious compomid of
negTO grammar, Yankee accent, and English drawl.
Though somewhat familiar with the West Indies, the
author had never before landed upon this island.
Everything strikes one as curious, each turn affords
increased novelty, and every moment is fidl of interest.
Black, yellow, and wliite men are seen in groups, the
former with very little covering on their bodies, the
latter in diaphanous costumes. Negresses sporting
high colors in their scanty clothing, set off by rainbow
kerchiefs bound round their heads, turban fashion ;
little naked blacks with impossible paunches ; here
and there a shuffling negro bearing baskets of fish
balanced on either end of a long pole resting across
his shoulders ; peddlers of shells and corals ; old wo-
men carrying trays upon their heads containing cakes
12 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
sprinkled with granulated sugar, and displayed upon
neat linen towels, seeking for customers among the
newly arrived passengers, — all together form a unique
picture of local life. The constantly shifting scene
moves before the observer like a panorama unrolled
for exhibition, seeming quite as theatrical and arti-
ficial.
St. Thomas is one of the Danish West Indian Islands,
of which there are three belonging to Denmark, namely,
St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. For the posses-
sion of the first named Mr. Seward, when Secretary
of State, in 1866, offered the King of Denmark five
million dollars in gold, which proposition was finally
accepted, and it would have been a cheap pu.rchase for
us at that price ; but after all detail had been duly
agreed upon, the United States Congress refused to
vote the necessary funds wherewith to pay for the title
deed. So when Mr. Seward consummated the pur-
chase of Alaska, for a little over seven million dollars,
there were nearly enough of the small-fry politicians
in Congress to defeat the bargain with Russia in the
same manner. The income from the lease of two is-
lands alone belonging to Alaska — St. George and St.
Paul — has paid four and one half per cent, per annum
upon the purchase money ever since the territory came
into our possession. Thsre is one gold mine on Douglas
Island, Alaska, not to mention its other rich and in-
exhaustible products, for which a French syndicate
has offered fourteen million doUars. We doubt if St.
Thomas could be purchased from the Danes to-day for
IMPORTANCE OF ST. THOMAS. 13
ten million dollars, while tlie estimated value of Alaska
would be at least a hundred million or more, with its
vast mineral wealth, its invaluable salmon fisheries, its
inexhaustible forests of giant timber, and its abun-
dance of seal, otter, and other rich furs. A penny-
wise and pound-foolish Congress made a huge mistake
in opposing Mr. Seward's purpose as regarded the
purchase of St. Thomas. The strategic position of
the island is quite sufficient to justify our government
in ^v-ishing to possess it, for it is geographically the
keystone of the West Indies. The principal object
which Mr. Seward had in view was to secure a coaling
and refitting station for our national ships in time of
war, for which St. Thomas would actually be worth
more than the island of Cuba. Opposite to it is the
continent of Africa ; equidistant are the eastern shores
of North and South America ; on one side is western
Euroj^e, on the other the route to India and the Pa-
cific Ocean; in the rear are Central America, the
West Indies, and Mexico, together with those great
inland bodies of salt water, the Caribbean Sea and
the Gulf of Mexico. It requires no argument to show
how important the possession of such an outpost might
prove to this country.
Since these notes were written, it is currently re-
ported that our government has once more awakened
to the necessity of obtaining possession of this island,
and fresh negotiations have been entered into. One
thing is very certain, if we do not seize the opportunity
to purchase St. Thomas at the present time, England,
14 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
or some other important power, will promptly do so,
to our serious detriment and just mortification.
St. Thomas has an area of nearly fifty square miles,
and supports a population of about fourteen thousand.
In many respects the capital is unique, and being our
first landing-place after leaving home, was of more
than ordinary interest to the writer. The highest
point on the island, which comes first into view from
the deck of a southern bound steamer, is West Moun-
tain, rising sixteen hundred feet above the level of
the surrounding waters. Geologists would describe
St. Thomas as being the top of a small chain of sub-
merged mountains, which would be quite correct, since
the topography of the bottom of the sea is but a coun-
terpart of that upon the more familiar surface of the
earth we occupy. When ocean electric cables for
connecting islands and continents are laid, engineers
find that there are the same sort of plains, mountains,
valleys, and gorges beneath as above the waters of the
ocean. The skeletons of whales, and natural beds
of deep-sea shells, found in valleys and hills many
hundred feet above the present level of tide waters,
tell us plainly enough that in the long ages which
have passed, the diversified surface of the earth which
we now behold has changed places with these sub-
merged regions, which probably once formed the dry
land. The history of the far past is full of instances
showing the slow but continuous retreat of the water
from the land in certain regfions and its encroach-
ment in others, the drying up of lakes and rivers, as
A LAND-LOCKED HARBOR. 15
well as tlie upheaval of single islands and groups from
tlie bed of the ocean.
A range of dome-shaped hills runs through the en-
tire length of this island of St. Thomas, fifteen miles
from west to east, being considerably highest at the
west end. As we passed between the two headlands
which mark the entrance to the harbor, the town was
seen spread over three hills of nearly uniform height,
also occupying the gentle valleys between. Two stone
structures, on separate hills, form a prominent fea-
ture ; these are known respectively as Blue Beard and
Black Beard tower, but their origin is a myth, though
there are plenty of legends extant about them. Both
are now utilized as residences, ha^dng mostly lost their
original crudeness and picturesque appearance. The
town, as a whole, forms a pleasing and effective back-
ground to the land-locked bay, which is large enough
to afford safe anchorage for two hundred ships at the
same time, except when a hurricane prevails ; then the
safest place for shipping is as far away from the land
as possible. It is a busy port, considering the small
number of inhabitants, steamers arriving and dej^art-
ing constantly, besides many small coasting vessels
which ply between this and the neighboring islands.
St. Thomas is certainly the most available commer-
cially of the Virgin group of islands. Columbus
named them "Las Yergines," in reference to the
familiar Romish legend of the eleven thousand virgins,
about as inappropriate a title as the fable it refers to
is ridiculous.
16 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Close in shore, at the time of our visit, there lay a
schooner-rigged craft of more than ordinary interest,
her jaunty set upon the water, her graceful lines, tall,
raking masts, and long bowsprit suggesting the model
of the famous old Baltimore clippers. There is a
fascinating individuality about sailing-vessels which
does not attach to steamships. Seamen form roman-
tic attachments for the former. The officers and crew
of the Yigilancia were observed to cast admiring eyes
upon this handsome schooner, anchored under our lee.
A sort of mysterious quiet hung about her; every
rope was hauled taut, made fast, and the slack neatly
coiled. Her anchor was atrip, that is, the cable was
hove short, showing that she was ready to sail at a
moment's notice. The only person visible on board
was a bareheaded, white-haired old seaman, who sat
on the transom near the wheel, quietly smoking his
pipe. On inquiry it was found that the schooner had
a notable history and bore the name of the Vigilant,
having been first launched a hundred and thirty years
ago. It appeared that she was a successful slaver in
former days, running between the coast of Africa and
these islands. She was twice captured by English
cruisers, but somehow found her way back again to
the old and nefarious business. Of course, she had
been overhauled, repaired, and re-rigged many times,
but it is still the same old frame and hull that so often
made the middle passage, as it was called. To-day
she serves as a mail-boat running between Santa Cruz
and St. Thomas, and, it is said, can make forty
THE SUGAR-CANE. 17
leagues, with a fair wind, as quick as any steamer on
the coast. The same evening the Vigilant spread her
broad white wings and glided silently out of the harbor,
gathering rapid way as she passed its entrance, until
feeling the spur of the wind and the open sea, she
quickly vanished from sight. It was easy to imagine
her bound upon her old piratical business, screened by
the shadows of the night.
Though it no longer produces a single article of
export on its own soil, St. Thomas was, in the days of
negro slavery, one of the most prolific sugar yielding
islands of this region. It will be remembered that the
emancipation of the blacks took place here in 1848.
It was never before impressed upon us, if we were
aware of the fact, that the sugar-cane is not indige-
nous to the West Indies. It seems that the plant came
originally from Asia, and was introduced into these
islands by Columbus and his followers. •• As is often
the case with other representatives of the vegetable
kingdom, it appears to have flourished better here
than in the land of its nativity, new climatic com-
binations, together with the soil, developing in the
saccharine plant better qualities and increased pro-
ductiveness, for a long series of years enriching many
enterprising planters.
When Columbus discovered St. Thomas, in 1493,
it was inhabited by two tribes of Indians, the Caribs
and the Arrowauks, both of which soon disappeared
under the oppression and hardships imposed by the
Spaniards. It is also stated that from this island, as
18 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
well as from Cuba and Hayti, many natives were
transported to Spain and there sold into slavery, in
the days following close upon its discovery. Thus
Spain, from the earliest date, characterized her oper-
ations in the New World by a heartlessness and in-
justice which ever attended upon her conquests, both
among the islands and upon the continent of Amer-
ica. The Caribs were of the red Indian race, and
appear to have been addicted to cannibalism. In-
deed, the very \Niord, by which the surrounding sea is
also known, is supposed to be a corruption of the
name of this tribe. "These Caribs did not eat their
own babies," says an old writer apologetically, "like
some sorts of wild beasts, but only roasted and ate
their prisoners of war."
The island was originally covered with a dense for-
est growth, but is now comparatively denuded of trees,
leaving the land open to the full force of the sun, and
causing it to suffer at times from serious droughts.
There is said to be but one natural spring of water
on the island. This shows itself at the surface, and
is of very limited capacity; the scanty rains which
occur here are almost entirely depended upon to sup-
ply water for domestic use.
St. Thomas being so convenient a port of call for
steamers from Europe and America, and having so
excellent a harbor, is improved as a depot for merchan-
dise by several of the neighboring islands, thus enjoy-
ing a considerable commerce, though it is only in tran-
situ. It is also the regular coaling station of several
SMUGGLING. 19
steamship lines. Judging from appearances, however,
it would seem that the to^vn is not growing in popula-
tion or business relations, but is rather retrograding.
The value of the imports in 1880 was less than half
the aggregate amount of 1870. We were told that
green groceries nearly all come from the United
States, and that even eggs and poultry are imported
from the neighboring islands, showing an improvi-
dence on the part of the people difficult to account
for, since these sources of food supply can be profita-
bly produced at almost any spot upon the eartli where
vegetation will grow. Cigars are brought hither from
Havana in considerable quantities, and having no
duty to pay, can be sold very cheap by the dealers
at St. Thomas, and still afford a reasonable profit.
Quite a trade is thus carried on with the passengers
of the several steamers which call here regularly, and
travelers avail themselves of the opportunity to lay
in an ample supply. Cuban cigars of the quality
which would cost nine or ten dollars a hundred in
Boston are sold at St. Thomas for five or six dollars,
and lower grades even cheaper in proportion. There
is said to be considerable smuggling successfully car-
ried on between this island and the Florida shore, in
the article of cigars as well as in tobacco in the un-
manufactured state. The high duty on these has
always incited to smuggling, thus defeating the very
object for which it is imposed.. Probably a moderate
duty would yield more to the government in the ag-
gregate, by rendering it so much less of an object to
smuggle.
20 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Though the island is Danish in nationality, there
are few surroundings calculated to recall the fact, save
that the flag of that country floats over the old fort
and the one or two official buildings, just as it has
done for the last two centuries. The prominent offi-
cials are Danes, as well as the officers of the small
body of soldiers maintained on the island. English
is almost exclusively spoken, though there are French,
Spanish, and Italian residents here. English is also
the language taught in the public schools. People
have come here to make what money they can, but
with the fixed purpose of spending it and enjoying it
elsewhere. As a rule, all Europeans who come to
the West Indies and embark in business do so with
exactly this purpose. In Cuba the Spaniards from
the continent, among whom are many Jews, have a
proverb the significance of which is : " Ten years of
starvation, and a fortune," and most of them live up
to this axiom. They leave all principles of honor,
all sense of moral responsibility, all sacred domestic
ties, behind them, forgetting, or at least ignoring, the
significant query, namely, " What shall it profit a man,
if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
About one third of the population is Roman Cath-
olic. The Jews have a synagogue, and a membership
of six hundred. They have a record on the island
dating as far back as the year 1757, and add much
to the activity and thrift of St. Thomas. No matter
where we find the Jews, in Mexico, Warsaw, Califor-
nia, or the West Indies, they are all alike intent upon
SOCIAL LIFE. 21
money making, and are nearly always successful.
Their irrepressible energy wins for them the goal for
which they so earnestly strive. That soldier of for-
tune, Santa Anna, formerly ruler of Mexico, when
banished as a traitor from his native country, made
his home on this island, and the house which he built
and occupied is still pointed out to visitors as one of
the local curiosities. The social life of St. Thomas is
naturally very circumscribed, but is good so far as it
goes. A few cultured peo2:>le, who have made it their
home for some years, have become sincerely attached
to the place, and enjoy the climate. There are a small
public library, a hospital, several charitable institu-
tions, and a theatre, which is occupied semi-occasion-
ally. The island is connected with the continent by
cable, and has a large floating dock and marine rail-
way, which causes vessels in distress to visit the port
for needed repairs. The town is situated on the north
side of the bay which indents the middle of the south
side of the island. The harbor has a depth of water
varying from eighteen to thirty-six feet, and has the
advantage of being a free port, a fact, perhaps, of
not much account to a place which has neither ex-
ports nor imports of its own. St. Thomas is the
only town of any importance on the island, and is
known locally as Charlotte Amalie, a fact which some-
times leads to a confusion of ideas.
The reader need not encounter the intense heat,
which so nearly wilted us, in an effort to obtain a
good lookout from some elevated spot ; but the result
22 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
will perhaps interest him, as it fully repaid the writer
for all the consequent discomfort.
From the brow of a moderate elevation just behind
the town, a delightful and far-reaching view is af-
forded, embracing St. Thomas in the foreground, the
well-sheltered bay, dotted with vessels bearing the
flags of various nations, an archipelago of islets scat-
tered over the near waters, and numerous small bays
indenting the coast. At a distance of some forty
miles across the sea looms the island of Santa Cruz;
and farther away, on the horizon's most distant limit,
are seen the tall hills and mountains of Porto Rico;
while the sky is fringed by a long trailing plume of
smoke, indicating the course of some passing steam-
ship. The three hills upon which the town stands are
spurs of West Mountain, and the place is quite as
well entitled to the name of Tremont — "tri -moun-
tain " — as was the capital of Massachusetts, before
its hills were laid low to accommodate business de-
mands. On the seaward side of these elevations the
red tiled roofs of the white houses rise in regular ter-
races from the street which borders the harbor, form-
ing a very picturesque group as seen from the bay.
Though it has not often been visited by epidemics,
Mr. Anthony TroUope pronounces the island, in his
usual irresponsible way, to be "one of the hottest and
one of the most unhealthy spots among all these hot
and unhealthy regions," and adds that he would per-
haps be justified in saying "that of all such spots it
is the hottest and most unhealthy." This is calcu-
ATTACKING SHARKS. 23
lated to give an incorrect idea of St. Thomas. True,
it is liable to periods of imhealthiness, when a spe-
cies of low fever prevails, proving more or less fatal.
This is thought to originate from the surface drainage,
and the miasma arising from the bay. All the drains
of the town flow into the waters of the harbor, which
has not sufficient flow of tide to carry seaward the
foul matter thus accumulated. The hot sun pouring
its heat down upon this tainted water causes a dan-
gerous exhalation. Still, sharks do not seem to be
sensitive as to this matter, for they much abound. It
is yet to be discovered why these tigers of the sea do
not attack the negroes, who fearlessly leap overboard ;
a white man could not do this with imj^unity. The
Asiatics of the Malacca Straits do not enjoy any such
immunity from danger, though they have skins as dark
as the divers of St. Thomas. Sharks appear in the
West Indies in small schools, or at least there are
nearly always two or three together, but in Oriental
waters they are only seen singly. Thus a Malay of
Singapore, for a compensation, say an English sover-
eign, will place a long, sharp knife between his teeth
and leap naked into the sea to attack a shark. He
adroitly dives beneath the creature, and as it turns
its body to bring its awkward mouth into use, with
his knife the Malay slashes a deep, long opening in
its exposed belly, at the same time forcing himseK out
of the creature's reach. The knife is sure and fatal.
After a few moments the huge body of the fish is seen
to rise and float lifeless upon the surface of the water.
24 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
A large majority of the people are colored, exhibit-
ing some peculiarly interesting types, intermarriage
with whites of various nationalities having produced
among the descendants of Africans many changes of
color and of features. One feels sure that there is
also a trace of Carib or Indian blood mingled with
the rest, — a trace of the aborigines whom Columbus
found here. The outcome is not entirely a race with
flat noses and protruding lips; straight Grecian pro-
files are not uncommon, accompanied by thin nostrils
and Anglo-Saxon lips. Faultless teeth, soft blue
eyes, and hair nearly straight are sometimes met with
among the Creoles. As to the style of walking and
of carrying the head and body, the common class of
women of St. Thomas have arrived at perfection.
Some of them are notable examples of unconscious
dignity and grace combined. This has been brought
about by carrying burdens upon their heads from
childhood, without the supporting aid of the han^s.
Modesty, or rather conventionality, does not require
boys or girls under eight years of age to encumber
themselves with clothing. The costume of the market
women and the lower classes generally is picturesque,
composed of a Madras kerchief carefully twisted into
a turban of many colors, yellow predominating, a
cotton chemise which leaves the neck and shoulders
exposed, reaching just below the knees, the legs and
feet being bare. The men wear cotton drawers reach-
ing nearly to the knee, the rest of the body being un-
covered, except the head, which is usually sheltered
TROPICAL FERTILITY. 25
under a broad brimmed straw hat, the sides of which
are perforated by many ventilating holes. The whites
generally, and also the better class of natives, dress
very much after the fashion which prevails in North
America.
This is the negroes' paradise, but it is a climate in
which the white race gradually wanes. The heat of
the tropics is modified by the constant and grateful
trade winds, a most merciful dispensation, without
which the West Indies would be uninhabitable by
man. On the hillsides of St. Thomas these winds
insure cool nights at least, and a comparatively tem-
perate state of the atmosphere during the day. Veg-
etation is abundant, the fruit-trees are perennial, bear-
ing leaf, blossom, and fruit in profusion, month after
month, year after year. Little, if any, cultivation is
required. The few sugar plantations which are still
carried on yield from three to four successive years
without replanting. It is a notable fact that where
vegetation is at its best, where the soil is most rank
and prolific, where fruits and flowers grow in wild
exuberance, elevated humanity thrives the least. The
lower the grade of man, the nearer he approximates to
the animals, the less civilized he is in mind and body,
the better he appears to be adapted to such localities.
The birds and the butterflies are in exact harmony
with the loveliness of tropical nature, however prolific
she may be; the flowers are glorious and beautiful:
it is man alone who seems out of place. A great
variety of fruits are indigenous here, such as the
26 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
orange, lime, alligator pear, moss-apple, and mango,
but none of them are cultivated to any extent; the
people seem to lack the energy requisite to improve
the grand possibilities of their fertile soil and prolific
climate.
We were reminded by a resident of the town,
before we left the harbor of St. Thomas, that the ner-
vous old lady referred to was not entirely without rea-
son for her anxiety. Some of our readers will remem-
ber, perhaps, that in October, 1867, a most disastrous
hurricane swept over these Virgin Islands, leaving
widespread desolation in its track. The shipping
which happened to be in the bay of St. Thomas was
nearly all destroyed, together with hundreds of lives,
while on the land scores of houses and many lives were
also sacrificed to the terrible cyclone of that date.
Even the thoroughly built iron and stone lighthouse
was completely obliterated. There is a theory that
such visitations come in this region about once in
every twelve or fifteen years, and upon looking up the
matter we find them to have occurred, with more or
less destructive force, in the years 1793, 1819, 1837,
1867, 1871, and so late as August, 1891. Other hur-
ricanes have passed over these islands during the pe-
riod covered by these dates, but of a mitigated char-
acter. August, September, and October are the
months in which the hurricanes are most likely to
occur, and all vessels navigating the West Indian seas
during these months take extra precautions to secure
themselves against accidents from this source. When
HEROISM DURING A CYCLONE. 27
such visitations happen, the event is sure to develop
heroic deeds. In the hurricane of 1867, the captain
of a Spanish man-of-war, who was a practical sailor,
brought up from boyhood upon the ocean, seeing the
oncoming cyclone, and knowing by experience what to
expect, ordered the masts of his vessel to be cut away
at once, and every portion of exposed top hamper to
be cast into the sea. When thus stripped he exjDosed
little but the bare hull of his steamer to the fury
of the storm. After the cyclone had passed, it was
found that he had not lost a man, and that the steam-
er's hull, though severely battered, was substantially
imharmed. Keeping up all steam during the awful
scene, this captain devoted himself and his ship to the
saving of human life, promptly taking his vessel wher-
ever he coidd be of the most service. Hundreds of
seamen were saved from death by the coolness and
intrepidity of this heroic sailor.
Since these notes were written among the islands,
a terrible cyclone has visited them. This was on
August 18, last past, and proved more destructive to
human life, to marine and other property, than any
occurrence of the kind during the last century. At
Martinique a sharp shock of earthquake added to the
horror of the occasion, the town of Fort de France
being very nearly leveled with the ground. Many tall
and noble palms, the growth of haK a hundred years,
were utterly demolished in the twinkling of an eye,
and other trees were uprooted by the score.
The waters of this neighborhood teem with strange
28 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
forms of animal and vegetable life. Here we saw
specimens of red and blue snappers, the angel-fish,
king-fish, gurnets, cow-fish, whip-ray,' peacock-fish,
zebra-fish, and so on, all, or nearly all, unfamiliar to
us, each species individualized either in shape, color,
or both. The whip-ray, with a body like a flounder,
has a tail six or seven feet long, tapering from an inch
and over to less than a quarter of an inch at the small
end. When dried, it still retains a degree of elasti-
city, and is used by the natives as a whip with which to
drive horses and donkeys. In some places, so singu-
larly clear is the water that the bottom is distinctly
visible five or six fathoms below the surface, where
fishes of various sorts are seen in ceaseless motion.
White shells, corals, star-fish, and sea-urchins mingle
their various forms and colors, objects and hues seem-
ing to be intensified by the strong reflected light from
the surface, so that one could easily fancy them to be
flowers blooming in the fairy gardens of the mermaids.
The early morning, just after the sun begins to gild
the surface of the sea, is the favorite time for the fly-
ing-fishes to display their aerial proclivities. They
are always attracted by a strong light, and are thus
lured to their destruction by the torches of the fisher-
men, who often go out for the purpose at night and
take them in nets. In the early morning, as seen
from the ship's deck, they scoot above the ripi)ling
waves in schools of a hundred and more, so compact
as to cast fleeting shadows over the blue enameled
surface of the waters. At St. Thomas, Martinique,
A COALING STATION. 29
and Barbadoes, as well as among the other islands
bordering the Caribbean Sea, they form no inconsid-
erable source of food for the hmnble natives, who fry
them in batter mixed with onions, making a savory
and nutritious dish.
St. Thomas is, as we have said, a coaling station
for steamships, and when the business is in progress
a most unique picture is presented. The ship is
moored alongside of the dock for this purpose, two
side ports being thrown open, one for ingress, the
other for egress. A hundred women and girls, wear-
ing one scanty garment reaching to the knees, are in
line, and commence at once to trot on board in sin-
gle file, each one bearing a bushel basket of coal upon
her head, weighing, say sixty pounds. Another gang
fill empty baskets where the coal is stored, so that
there is a continuous line of negresses trotting into
the ship at one port and, after dumping their loads into
the coal bunkers, out at the other, hastening back
to the source of supply for more. Their step is quick,
their pose straight as an arrow, while their feet keep
time to a wild chant in which all join, the purport of
which it is not possible to clearly understand. Now
and again their voices rise in softly mingled harmony,
floating very sweetly over the still waters of the bay.
The scene we describe occurred at night, but the moon
had not yet risen. Along the wharf, to the coal de-
posits, iron frames were erected containing burning
bituminous coal, and the blaze, fanned by the open
air, formed the light by which the women w^orked.
30 EQUATORIAL AMERICA,
It was a weird picture. Everything seemed quite in
harmony: the hour, the darkness of night relieved
by the flaming brackets of coal, the strange, dark
figures hastening into the glare of light and quickly
vanishing, the harmony of high-pitched voices occa-
sionally broken in upon by the sharp, stern voice of
their leader, — all was highly dramatic and effective.
Not unf requently three or four steamers are coaling
at the same time from different wharves. Hundreds
of women and girls of St. Thomas make this labor
their special occupation, and gain a resjDectable living
by it, doubtless supporting any number of lazy, worth-
less husbands, fathers, and brothers.
After our ship was supplied with coal, these women,
having put three hundred tons on board in a surpris-
ingly short period of time, formed a group upon the
wharf and held what they called a firefly dance, in-
describably quaint and grotesque, performed by the
flickering light of the flaming coal. Their voices
were joined in a wild, quick chant, as they twisted and
turned, clapping their hands at intervals to empha-
size the chorus. Now and again a couple of the girls
would separate from the rest for a moment, then dance
toward and from each other, throwing their arms
wildly about their heads, and finally, gathering their
scanty drapery in one hand and extending the other,
perform a movement similar to the French cancan.
Once more springing back among their companions,
all joined hands, and a roundabout romp closed the
firefly dance. Could such a scene be produced in a
ANCIENT ANCHOR. 31
city theatre an nature!^ with proper accessories and
by these actual performers, it would surely prove an
attraction good for one hundred nights. Of course
this would be impossible. Conventionality would ob-
ject to such diaphanous costumes, and bare limbs,
though they were of a bronzed hue, woidd shock Puri-
tanic eyes.
Upon first entering the harbor, the Vigilancia an-
chored at a short distance from the shore ; but when
it became necessary to haul alongside the wharf, the
attempt was made to get up the anchor, when it was
found to require far more than the usual expenditure
of power to do so. Finally, however, the anchor was
secured, but attached to its flukes there came also,
from the bottom of the bay, a second anchor, of an-
tique shape, covered with rust and barnacles. It was
such a one as was carried by the galleons of the fif-
teenth century, and had doubtless lain for over four
hundred years just where the anchor of our ship had
got entangled with it. What a remarkable link this
corroded piece of iron formed, uniting the present with
the far past, and how it stimulated the mind in form-
ing romantic possibilities ! It may have been the
holding iron of Columbus's own caravel, or have been
the anchor of one of Cortez's fleet, which touched here
on its way into the Gulf of Mexico, or, indeed, it may
have belonged to some Caribbean buccaneer, who was
obliged to let slip his cable and hasten away to escape
capture.
It was deemed a fortunate circumstance to have
32 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
secured this ancient relic, and a sure sign of future
good luck to the ship, so it was duly stored away in
the lower hold of the Vigilancia.
That same night on which the coal bunkers were
filled, our good ship was got under way, while the ris-
ing moon made the harbor and its surroundings as
clearly visible as though it were midday. The light
from the burning coal brackets had waned, only a few
sparks bursting forth now and again, disturbed by a
passing breeze which fanned them into life for a mo-
ment. When we passed through the narrow entrance
by the lighthouse, and stood out once more upon the
open sea, it was mottled, far and near, with argent
ripples, that waltzed merrily in the soft, clear moon-
light, rivaling the firefly dance on shore. Even to
the very horizon the water presented a white, silvery,
tremulous sheen of liquid light. One gazed in silent
enjoyment until the eyes were weary with the lavish
beauty of the scene, and the brain became giddy with
its splendor. Is it idle and commonplace to be en-
thusiastic ? Perhaps so ; but we hope never to outlive
such inspiration.
CHAPTEK II. .
Curious Seaweed. — Professor Agassiz. — Myth of a Lost Continent. —
Island of Martinique. — An Attractive Place. — Statue of the
Empress Josephine. — Birthplace of Madame de Maintenon, —
City of St. Pierre. — Mont Pel^e. — Hig-h Flavored Specialty. —
Grisettes of Martinique. — A Botanical Garden. — Defective Drain-
age. — A Fatal Enemy. — A Cannibal Snake. — The Climate.
Between St. Thomas and the island of Martinique,
we fell in with some floating seaweed, so peculiar
in appearance that an obliging quartermaster picked
up a spray for closer examination. It is a strange,
sponge-like plant, which propagates itself on the
ocean, unharmed by the fiercest agitation of the
waves, or the wildest raging of the winds, at the same
time giving shelter to zoophytes and mollusks of a
species, like itself, found nowhere else. Sailors caU
it Gulf weed, but it has nothing to do with the Gulf
Stream, though sometimes clusters get astray and are
carried far away on the bosom of that grand ocean
current. The author has seen small bodies of it, after
a fierce storm in the Caribbean Sea, a thousand miles
to the eastward of Barbadoes. Its special home is a
broad space of ocean surface between the Gulf Stream
and the equatorial current, known as the Sargasso
Sea. Its limits, however, change somewhat with the
seasons. It was first noticed by Columbus in 1492,
34 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
and in this region it has remained for centuries, even
to the present day. Sometimes this peculiar weed
is so abundant as to present the appearance of a sub-
merged meadow, through which the ship ploughs its
way as though sailing upon the land. We are told
that Professor Agassiz, while at sea, having got pos-
session of a small branch of this marine growth, kept
himself busily absorbed with it and its products for
twelve hours, forgetting all the intervening meals.
Science was more than food and drink to this grand
savant. His years from boyhood were devoted to the
study of nature in her various forms. "Life is so
short," said he, "one can hardly find space to become
familiar with a single science, much less to acquire
knowledge of many." When he was applied to by a
lyceum committee to come to a certain town and lec-
ture, he replied that he was too busy. "But we will
pay you double price, Mr. Agassiz, if you will come,"
said the applicant. "I cannot waste time to make
money," was the noble reply.
The myth of a lost continent is doubtless familiar to
the reader, — a continent supposed to have existed in
these waters thousands of years ago, but which, by
some evolution of nature, became submerged, sinking
from sight forever. It was the Atlantis which is men-
tioned by Plato ; the land in which the Elysian Fields
were placed, and the Garden of Hesperides, from
which the early civilization of Greece, Egypt, and
Asia Minor were derived, and whose kings and heroes
were the Olympian deities of a later time. The poet-
MARTINIQUE. 35
ical idea prevails that this plant, which once grew in
those gardens, having lost its original home, has be-
come a floating waif on the sapphire sea of the trop-
ics. The color of the Sargasso weed is a faint orange
shade; the leaves are pointed, delicate, and exquisitely
formed, like those of the weeping willow in their
youthful freshness, having a tiny, round, light-green
berry near the base of each leaf. Mother Gary's
chickens are said to be fond of these berries, and
that bird abounds in these waters.
Probably the main portion of the West Indian is-
lands was once a part of the continent of America,
many, many ages ago. There are trees of the locust
family growing among the gi'oup to-day, similar to
those found on our southern coast, which are declared
to be four thousand years old. This statement is par-
tially corroborated by known characteristics ©f the
growth of the locust, and there are arborists who fully
credit this great longevity. It is interesting to look
upon an object which had a vital existence two thou-
sand years and more before Christ was upon earth,
and which is still animate.
Each new island which one visits in the West In-
dies seems more lovely than its predecessor, always
leaving Hayti out of the question ; but Martinique, at
this moment of writing, appears to rival all those with
which the author is familiar. It might be a choice
bit out of Cuba, Singapore, or far-away Hawaii. Its
liability to destructive hurricanes is its only visible
36 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
drawback. Having been discovered on St. Martin's
day, Columbus gave it the name it now bears.
St. Pierre is the commercial capital of Martinique,
one of the French West Indies, and the largest of the
group belonging to that nation. Fort de France is
the political capital, situated about thirty miles from
St. Pierre. It was nearly ruined by the cyclone of
last August, a few weeks after the author's visit. St.
Pierre is the best built town in the Lesser Antilles,
and has a population of about twenty-five thousand.
The streets are well paved, and the principal avenues
are beautified by ornamental trees uniformly planted.
The grateful shade thus obtained, and the long lines
of charming arboreal perspective which are formed,
are desirable accessories to any locality, but doubly so
in tropical regions. The houses are very attractive,
while there is a prevailing aspect of order, cleanliness,
and thrift everywhere apparent. It was not our
experience to meet one beggar in the streets of St.
Pierre. More or less of poverty must exist every-
where, but it does not stalk abroad here, as it does in
many rich and pretentious capitals of the great world.
The island is situated midway between Dominica and
St. Lucia, and is admitted by all visitors to be one
of the most picturesque of the West Indian groups.
Irregular in shape, it is also high and rocky, thus
forming one of the most prominent of the large vol-
canic family which sjjrang up so many ages ago in
these seas. Its apex, Mont Pelee, an only partially
extinct volcano, rises between four and five thousand
INTERESTING MONUMENT. 37
feet above the level of the ocean, and is the first point
visible on approaching the island from the north. It
would be interesting to dilate upon the past history of
Martinique, for it has known not a little of the check-
ered vicissitudes of these Antilles, having been twice
captured by the English, and twice restored to France.
But this woidd not be in accordance with the design
of these pages.
St. Pierre is situated on the lee side of the island,
something less than two thousand miles, by the course
we have steered, from New York, and three hundred
miles from St. Thomas. It comes down to the very
water's edge, with its parti-colored houses and red-tiled
roofs, which mingle here and there with tall, overhang-
ing cocoa-palms. This is the most lavishly beautiful
tree in the world, and one which never fails to impart
special interest to its surroundings.
A marble statue in the Place de la Savane, at Fort
de France, on the same side of the island as St.
Pierre, recalls the fact that this was the birthplace
of the Empress Josephine, born in 1763. Her memo-
rable history is too familiar for us to repeat any por-
tion of it here, but the brain becomes very active at
the mere mention of her name, in recalling the ro-
mantic and tragic episodes of her life, so closely inter-
woven with the career of the first Napoleon. One
instinctively recalls the small boudoir in the palace
of Trianon, where her husband signed the divorce
from Josephine. That he loved her with his whole
power for loving is plain enough, as is also his well-
38 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
known reason for the separation, namely, the desire
for offspring to transmit his name to posterity. There
is one legend which is always rehearsed to strangers,
relating to Josephine's youth upon the island. We
refer to that of the old negress fortune-teller who prog-
nosticated the grandeur of her future career, together
with its melancholy termination, a story so tinctured
with local color that, if it be not absolutely true, it
surely ought to be. The statue, unless we are misin-
formed, was the gift of that colossal fraud. Napoleon
III., though it purports to have been raised to the
memory of Josephine by the people of Martinique,
who certainly feel great pride in the fact of her hav-
ing been born here, and who truly venerate her mem-
ory. The statue represents the empress dressed in the
fashion of the First Empire, with bare arms and shoul-
ders, one hand resting on a medallion bearing a pro-
file of the emperor to whom she was devoted. The
whole is partially shaded by a half dozen grand old
palms. The group teems with historic suggestiveness,
recalling one of the most tragic chapters of modern
European history. It seemed to us that the artist had
succeeded in imparting to the figure an expression in-
dicating something of the sad story of the original.
This beautiful island, it will be remembered, also
gave to France another remarkable historic character,
Francoise d'Aubigne, afterwards Madame Scarron,
but better known to the world at large as Madame de
Maintenon. She, too, was the wife of a king, though
the marriage was a left-handed one, but as the power
GRISETTES IN EBONY. 39
behind the throne, she is well known to have shaped
for years the political destinies of France.
St. Pierre has several schools, a very good hotel,
a theatre, a public library, together with some other
modern and progressive institutions; yet somehow
everything looked quaint and olden, a sixteenth century
atmosphere seeming to pervade the town. The win-
dows of the ordinary dwellings have no glass, which is
very naturally considered to be a superfluity in this
climate ; but these windows have iron bars and wooden
shutters behind them, relics of the days of slavery,
when every white man's house was his castle, and
great precautions were taken to guard against the
possible uprising of the blacks, who outnumbered
their masters twenty to one.
Though so large a portion of the population are of
negro descent, yet they are very French-like in char-
acter. The native women especially seem to be friv-
olous and coquettish, not to say rather lax in morals.
They appear to be very fond of dress. The young
negresses have learned from their white mistresses how
to put on their diaphanous clothing in a jaunty and
telling fashion, leaving one bronzed arm and shoulder
bare, which strikes the eye in strong contrast with the
snow white of their cotton chemises. They are Pari-
sian grisettes in ebony, and with their large, roguish
eyes, well-rounded figures, straight pose, and dainty
ways, the half-breeds are certainly very attractive,
and only too ready for a lark with a stranger. They
strongly remind one of the pretty quadroons of Louisi-
40 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
ana, in their manners, complexion, and general ap-
pearance; and like those handsome offspring of min-
gled blood, so often seen in our Southern States, we
susjiect that these of Martinique enjoy but a brief
space of existence. The average life of a quadroon
is less than thirty years.
Martinique is eight times as large as St. Thomas,
containing a population of about one hundred and sev-
enty-five thousand. Within its borders there are at
least five extinct volcanoes, one of which has an enor-
mous crater, exceeded by only three or four others in
the known world. The island rises from the sea in
three groups of rugged peaks, and contains some very
fertile valleys. So late as 1851, Mont Pelee burst
forth furiously with flames and smoke, which naturally
threw the people into a serious panic, many persons
taking refuge temporarily on board the shipping in
the harbor. The eruption on this occasion did not
amount to anything very serious, only covering some
hundreds of acres with sulphurous debris, yet serving
to show that the volcano was not dead, but sleeping.
Once or twice since that date ominous mutterings have
been heard from Mont Pelee, which it is confidently
predicted will one day deluge St. Pierre with ashes
and lava, repeating the story of Pompeii.
Sugar, rum, coffee, and cotton are the staple prod-
ucts here, supplemented by tobacco, manioc flour,
bread-fruit, and bananas. Rum is very extensively
manufactured, and has a good mercantile reputation
for its excellence, commanding as high prices as the
ISLAND PRODUCTS. 41
more famous article of the same nature produced at
Jamaica. The purpose of the author is mainly to
record personal impressions, but a certain sprinkling
of statistics and detail is inevitable, if we would in-
form, as well as amuse, the average reader.
The flora of Martinique is the marvel and delight of
all who have enjoyed its extraordinary beauty, while
the great abundance and variety of its fruits are be-
lieved to be unsurpassed even in the prolific tropics.
Of that favorite, the mango, the island produces some
forty varieties, and probably in no other region has
the muscatel grape reached to such perfection in size
and flavor. The whole island looks like a maze of
greenery, as it is approached from the sea, vividly
recalling Tutuila of the Samoan group in the South
Pacific. Like most of the West Indian islands,
Martinique was once densely covered with trees, and
a remnant of these ancient woods creeps down to the
neighborhood of St. Pierre to-day.
The principal landing is crowded at all times with
hogsheads of sugar and molasses, and other casks
containing the highly scented island rum, the two
sweets; together with the spirits, causing a nauseous
odor under the powerful heat of a vertical sun. We
must not forget to mention, however, that St. Pierre
has a specific for bad odors in her somewhat peculiar
specialty, namely, eau -de -cologne, which is manufac-
tured on this island, and is equal to the European
article of the same name, distilled at the famous city
on the Rhine. No one visits the port, if it be for but
42 EQUATORIAL AMERICA,
3L single day, without bringing away a sample bottle
of this delicate perfumery, a small portion of which,
added to the morning bath, is delightfully refreshing,
especially when one uses salt water at sea, it so
effectively removes the saline stickiness which is apt
to remain upon the limbs and body after a cold bath.
The town is blessed with an inexhaustible supply of
good, fresh, mountain water, which, besides furnish-
ing the necessary quantity for several large drinking
fountains, feeds some ornamental ones, and purifies
the streets by a flow through the gutters, after the
fashion of Salt Lake City, Utah. This is in fact
the only system of drainage at St. Pierre. A bronze
fountain in the Place Bertin is fed from this source,
and is an object of great pleasure in a climate where
cold water in abundance is an inestimable boon.
This elaborate fountain was the gift of a colored man,
named Alfred Agnew, who was at one time mayor
of the city. Many of the gardens attached to the
dwelling-houses are ornamented with ever -flowing
fountains, which impart a refreshing coolness to the
tropical atmosphere.
The Rue Victor Hugo is the main thoroughfare,
traversing the whole length of the town parallel with
the shore, up hill and down, crossing a small bridge,
and finally losing itself in the environs. It is nicely
kept, well paved, and, though it is rather narrow, it
is the Broadway of St. Pierre. Some of the streets
are so abrupt in grade as to recall similar avenues in
the English portion of Hong Kong, too steep for the
NATIVES OF MARTINIQUE. 43
passage of vehicles, or even for donkeys, being as-
cended by means of much worn stone steps. Fine,
broad roadways surround the town and form pleasant
drives.
The cathedral has a sweet chime of bells, whose
soft, liquid notes came to us across the water of the
bay with touching cadence at the Angelus hour. It
must be a sadly calloused heart which fails to respond
to these twilight sounds in an isle of the Caribbean
Sea. Millet's impressive picture was vividly recalled
as we sat upon the deck and listened to those bells,
whose notes floated softly upon the air as if bidding
farewell to the lingering daylight. At the moment,
all else being so still, it seemed as though one's heart-
beat could be heard, while the senses were bathed in a
tranquil gladness incited by the surrounding scenery
and the suggestiveness of the hour.
Three fourths of the population are half-breeds,
born of whites, blacks, or mulattoes, with a possible
strain of Carib blood in their veins, the result of
which is sometimes a very handsome type of bronzed
hue, but of Circassian features. Some of the young
women of the better class are very attractive, with
complexions of a gyi:>sy color, like the artists' models
who frequent the "Spanish Stairs" leading to the
Trinita di Monti, at Rome. These girls possess deep,
dark eyes, pearly teeth, with good figures, upright
and supple as the palms. In dress they affect all the
colors of the rainbow, presenting oftentimes a charm-
ing audacity of contrasts, and somehow it seems to be
44 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
quite the thing for them to do so ; it accords perfectly
with their complexions, with the climate, with every-
thing tropical. The many-colored Madras kerchief
is universally worn by the common class of women,
twisted into a jaunty turban, with one well-starched
end ingeniously arranged so as to stand upright like a
soldier's illume. The love of ornament is displayed
by the wearing of hoop earrings of enormous size, to-
gether with triple strings of gold beads, and bracelets
of the same material. If any one imagines he has
seen larger sized hoop earrings this side of Africa, he
is mistaken. They are more like bangles than ear-
rings, hanging down so as to rest upon the neck and
shoulders. Those who cannot afford the genuine ar-
ticle satisfy their vanity with gaudy imitations. They
form a very curious and interesting study, these black,
brown, and yellow people, both men and women. In
the market-place at the north end of the town, the
women preside over their bananas, oranges, and other
fruits, in groups, squatting like Asiatics on their heels.
In the Havana fish market, one compares the variety
of colors exhibited by the fishes exposed for sale to
those of the kaleidoscope, but here the Cuban display
is equaled if not surpassed.
St. Pierre has a botanical garden, situated about a
mile from the centre of the town, so located as to ad-
mit of utilizing a portion of the native forest yet left
standing, with here and there an impenetrable growth
of the feathery bamboo, king of the grasses, inter-
spersed with the royal palm and lighter green tree-
A BOTANICAL GARDEN. 45
ferns. The bamboo is a marvel, single stems of it
often attaining a height in tropical regions of a hun-
dred and seventy feet, and a diameter of a foot. So
rapid is its growth that it is sometimes known to at-
tain the height of a hundred feet in sixty days. Art
has done something to improve the advantages af-
forded by nature in this botanical garden, arranging
some pretty lakes, fountains, and cascades. Vistas
have been cut through the dense undergrowth, and
driveways have been made, thus improving the rather
neglected grounds. One pretty lake of considerable
size contains three or four small islands, covered with
flowering plants, while on the shore are pretty summer-
houses and inviting arbors. The frangipanni, tall and
almost leafless, but with thick, fleshy shoots and a
broad-spread, single leaf, was recognized here among
other interesting plants. This is the fragrant flower
mentioned by the early discoverers. There was also
the parti-colored passion-flower, and groups of odd-
shaped cacti, whose thick, green leaves were daintily
rimmed with an odorless yellow bloom. Here, also,
is an interesting example of the ceba-tree, in whose
shade a hundred persons might banquet together.
The author has seen specimens of the ceba superbly
developed in Cuba and the Bahamas, with its massive
and curiously buttressed trunk, having the large roots
haK above ground. It is a solitary tree, growing to
a large size and enjoying great longevity. Mangoes
abound here, the finest kno^\^l as the mango cVor.
There is a certain air about the public garden of
46 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
St. Pierre, indicating that nature is permitted in a
large degree to have her own sweet wilL Evidences
enough remain to show the visitor that these grounds
must once have been in a much more presentable con-
dition. There is a musical cascade, which is well
worth a long walk to see and enjoy. Just inside of
the entrance, one spot was all ablaze with a tiny yellow
flower, best known to us as English broom, Cytisus
genista. Its profuse but delicate bloom was dazzling
beneath the bright sun's rays. Could it possibly be
indigenous? No one could tell us. Probably some
resident brought it hither from his home across the
ocean, and it has kindly adapted itself to the new soil
and climate.
We were cautioned fco look out for and to avoid
a certain poisonous snake, a malignant reptile, with
fatal fangs, which is the dread of the inhabitants,
some of whom are said to die every year from the
venom of the creature. It will be remembered that
one of these snakes, known here as the fer-de-kmce,
bit Josephine, the future empress, when she was very
young, and that her faithful negro nurse saved the
child's life by instantly drawing the poison from the
wound with her own lips. It is singular that this is-
land, and that of St. Lucia, directly south of it, should
be cursed by the presence of these poisonous creatures,
which do not exist in any other of the West Indian
islands, and, indeed, so far as we know, are not to be
found anywhere else. The fer-de -lance has one fatal
enemy. This is a large snake, harmless so far as
A POISONOUS SNAKE. 47
poisonous fangs are concerned, called the criho. This
reptile fearlessly attacks the fer-de-lance, and kills and
eats him in spite of his venom, a perfectly justifiable if
not gratifying instance of cannibalism, where a creature
eats and relishes the body of one of its own species.
The domestic cat is said also to be more than a match
for the dreaded snake, and instinctively adopts a style
of attack which, while protecting itself, finally closes
the contest by the death of the fer-de-lance, which it
seizes just back of the head at the spine, and does not
let go until it has severed the head from the body;
and even then instinct teaches the cat to avoid the
head, for though it be severed from the body, like the
mouth of a turtle under similar circumstances, it can
still inflict a serious wound.
The fer-de-lance is a great destroyer of rats, this
rodent forming its principal source of food. Now as
rats are almost as much of a pest upon the island, and
especially on the sugar plantations, as rabbits are in
New Zealand, it will be seen that even the existence
of this poisonous snake is not an unmitigated evil.
Crosses and wayside shrines of a very humble char-
acter are to be seen in all directions on the roadsides
leading from St. Pierre, recalling similar structures
which line the inland roads of Japan, where the local
religion finds like public expression, only varying in
the character of the emblems. At Martinique it is
a Christ or a Madonna; in Japan it is a crude idol
of some sort, the more hideous, the more appropriate.
The same idea is to be seen carried out in the streets
48 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
of Canton and Shanghai, only Chinese idols are a de-
gree more unlike anything upon or belOw the earth
than they are elsewhere.
It was observed that while there were plenty of
masculine loafers and careless idlers of various colors,
whose whole occupation seemed to be sucking at some
form of burning tobacco in the shape of cigarette,
cigar, or pipe, the women, of whatever complexion,
seen in public, were all usefully employed. They are
industrious by instinct; one almost never sees them
in repose. In the transportation of all articles of
domestic use, women bear them upon their heads,
whether the article weighs one pound or fifty, balan-
cing their load without making use of the hands
except to place the article in position. The women
not infrequently have also a baby upon their backs
at the same time. Negresses and donkeys perform
nine tenths of the transportation of merchandise.
Wheeled vehicles are very little used in the West
Indian islands. As we have seen, even in coaling
ship, it is the women who do the work.
The Hotel des Bains, at St. Pierre, is an excellent
hostelry, as such places go in this part of the world.
The stranger will find here most of the requisites for
domestic comfort, and at reasonable prices. As a
health resort the place has its advantages, and a
northern invalid, wishing to escape the rigor of a New
England winter, would doubtless find much to occupy
and recuperate him here. St. Pierre, however, has
times of serious epidemic sickness, though this does
TROPICAL SUNRISE. 49
not often happen in the winter season. Three or four
years ago the island was visited by a sweeping epi-
demic of small-pox, but it raged almost entirely among
the lowest classes, principally among the negroes, who
seem to have a great prejudice and superstitious fear
relating to vaccination, and its employment as a pre-
ventive against contracting the disease. In the yel-
low fever season the city suffers more or less, but the
health of St. Pierre will average as good as that of
our extreme Southern States ; and yet, after all, with
the earthquakes, hurricanes, tarantulas, scorpions, and
deadly fer-de-lance, as Artemus Ward would say,
Martinique presents many characteristics to recom-
mend protracted absence. A brief visit is like a poem
to be remembered, but one soon gets a surfeit of the
circumscribed island.
Our next objective point was Barbadoes, to reach
which we sailed one hundred and fifty miles to the east-
ward, this most important of the Lesser Antilles being
situated further to windward, that is, nearer the con-
tinent of Europe. Our ponderous anchor came up at
early morning, just as the sun rose out of the long,
level reach of waters. It looked like a mammoth ball
of fire, which had been immersed during the hours of
the night countless fathoms below the sea. Presently
everything was aglow with light and warmth, while
the atmosphere seemed full of infinitesimal particles
of glittering gold. At first one could watch the face
of the rising sun, as it came peering above the sea,
a sort of fascination impelling the observer to do so,
60 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
but after a few moments, no human eye could bear
its dazzling splendor.
Said an honest old Marshfield farmer, in 1776, who
met the clergyman of the village very early in the
opening day: "Ah, good mornin', Parson, another
fine day," nodding significantly towards the sun just
appearing above the cloudless horizon of Massachu-
setts Bay. "They do say the airth moves, and the
sun stands still; but you and I, Parson, we git up
airly and we see it rise! "
CHAPTER III.
English Island of Barbadoes. — Bridgetown the Capital. — The Manu-
facture of Rum. — A Geographical Expert. — Very English. — A
Pest of Ants. — Exports. — The Ice House. — A Dense Popula-
tion. — Educational. — Marine Hotel. — Habits of Gambling. —
Hurricanes. — Curious Antiquities. — The Barbadoes Leg. — Wake-
ful Dreams. — x^bsence of Twilight. — Departure from the Island.
Bridgetown is the capital of Barbadoes, an Eng-
lish island which, unlike St. Thomas, is a highly culti-
vated sugar plantation from shore to shore. In natural
beauty, however, it will not compare with Martinique.
It is by no means picturesquely beautiful, like most
of the West Indian islands, being quite devoid of
their thick tropical verdure. Nature is here absolutely
beaten out of the field by excessive cultivation. Thirty
thousand acres of sugar-cane are cut annually, yield-
ing, according to late statistics, about seventy thou-
sand hogsheads of sugar. We are sorry to add that
there are twenty-three rum distilleries on the island,
which do i^ecuniarily a thriving business. "The poor-
est molasses makes the best rum," said an experienced
manager to us. He might well have added that it is
also the poorest use to which it could be put. This
spirit, like all produced in the West Indies, is called
Jamaica rum, and though a certain amount of it is
still shipped to the coast of Africa, the return cargoes
62 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
no longer consist of kidnapped negroes. The article
known as New England rum, still manufactured in
the neighborhood of Boston, has always disputed the
African market, so to speak, with the product of these
islands. Rum is the bane of Africa, just as opium is
of China, the former thrust upon the native races by
Americans, the latter ujDon the Chinese by English
merchants, backed by the British government. Events
follow each other so swiftly in modern times as to
become half forgotten by contemporary people, but
there are those among us who remember when China
as a nation tried to stop the importation of the deadly
drug yielded by the poppy fields of India, whereupon
England forced the article upon her at the point of
the bayonet.
Bridgetown is situated at the west end of the is-
land on the open roadstead of Carlisle Bay, and has a
population of over twenty-five thousand. Barbadoes
lies about eighty miles to the windward of St. Vincent,
its nearest neighbor, and is separated from Europe
by four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean. It is
comparatively removed from the chain formed by the
Windward Isles, its situation being so isolated that it
remained almost unnoticed until a century had passed
after Columbus's first discovery in these waters. The
area of the British possessions in the West Indies is
about one seventh of the islands. It is often stated
that Barbadoes is nearly as large as the Isle of Wight,
but the fact is, it exceeds that island in superficial
area, being a little over fifty-five miles in circumfer-
BRIDGETOWN. 53
ence. The reader will perhaps remember that it was
here Addison laid the scene of his touching story of
"Inkle and Yarico," published so many years ago in
the "Spectator."
Though it is not particularly well laid out, Bridge-
town makes a very pleasing picture, as a whole, when
seen from the harbor. Here and there a busy wind-
mill is mixed with tall and verdant tropical trees,
backed by far-reaching fields of yellow sugar-cane,
together with low, sloping hills. The buildings are
mostly of stone, or coral rock, and the town follows
the graceful curve of the bay. The streets are macad-
amized and lighted with gas, but are far too narrow
for business purposes. The island is about twenty-
one miles long and between fourteen and fifteen
broad, the shores being nearly inclosed in a cordon of
coral reefs, some of which extend for two or three
miles seaward, demanding of navigators the greatest
care on seeking a landing, though the course into the
roads to a suitable anchorage is carefully buoyed.
Barbadoeswas originally settled by the Portuguese,
who here found the branches of a certain forest tree
covered with hair-like hanging moss, from whence its
somewhat peculiar name, Barbadoes, or the "bearded
place," is supposed to have been derived. Probably
this was the Indian fig-tree, still found here, and
which lives for man}^ centuries, growing to enormous
proportions. In India, Ceylon, and elsewhere in
Asia, it is held sacred. The author has seen one of
these trees at Kandy, in the island of Ceylon, under
54 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
which sacred rites have taken place constantly for
a thousand years or more, and whose widespread
branches could shelter five hundred people from the
heat of the sun. It stands close by the famous old
Buddhist temple wherein is preserved the tooth of the
prophet, and before which devout Indians prostrate
themselves daily, coming from long distances to do so.
Indeed, Kandy is the Mecca of Ceylon.
A good share of even the reading public of England
would be puzzled to tell an inquirer exactly where
Barbadoes is situated, while most of those who have
any idea about it have gained such knowledge as they
possess from Captain Marryat's clever novel of "Pe-
ter Simple," where the account is, to be sure, meagre
enough. Still later, those who have read Anthony
Trollope's "West Indies and the Spanish Main"
have got from the flippant pages of that book some
idea of the island, though it is a very disagreeable
example of Trollope's pedantic style.
"Barbadoes? Barbadoes? " said a society man to
the writer of these pages, in all seriousness, just as
he was about to sail from New York, "that 's on the
coast of Africa, is it not? "
"Oh, no," was the reply, "it is one of the islands
of the Lesser Antilles."
"Where are the Antilles, pray? "
"You must surely know."
"But I do not, nevertheless; haven't the remotest
idea. Fact is, geography never was one of my strong
points."
''LITTLE ENGLAND:' 55
With which remark we silently agreed, and yet our
friend is reckoned to be a fairly educated, cultured
person, as these expressions are commonly used.
Probably he represents the average geographical
knowledge of one half the people to be met with in
miscellaneous society.
This is the first English possession where the sugar-
cane was planted, and is one of the most ancient col-
onies of Great Britain. It bears no resemblance to
the other islands in these waters, that is, topographi-
cally, nor, indeed, in the character of its population,
being entirely English. The place might be a bit
taken out of any shire town of the British home is-
land, were it only a little more cleanly and less un-
savory; still it is more English than West Indian.
The manners and customs are all similar to those of
the people of that nationality; the negroes, and their
descendants of mixed blood, speak the same tongue as
the denizens of St. Giles, London. The island has
often been called "Little England." There is no
reliable history of Barbadoes before the period when
Great Britain took possession of it, some two hundred
aud sixty years ago. Government House is a rather
plain but pretentious dwelling, where the governor
has his official and domestic residence. In its rear
there is a garden, often spoken of by visitors, which
is beautified by some of the choicest trees and shrubs
of this latitude. It is really surprising how much a
refined taste and skillful gardening can accomplish
in so circumscribed a space.
66 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Barbadoes is somewhat remarkable as producing a
variety of minerals ; among which are coaly manganese,
iron, kaolin, and yellow ochre. There are also one or
two localities on the island where a flow of petroleum
is found, of which some use is made. It is called
Barbadoes tar, and were the supply sufficient to war-
rant the use of refining machinery, it would undoubt-
edly produce a good burning fluid. There is a "burn-
ing well," situated in what is known as the Scotland
District, where the water emerging from the earth
forms a pool, which is kept in a state of ebullition from
the inflammable air or gas which passes through it.
This gas, when lighted by a match, burns freely until
extinguished by artificial means, not rising in large
enough quantities to make a great flame, but still
sufficient to create the effect of burning water, and
forming quite a curiosity.
There are no mountains on the island, but the land
is undulating, and broken into hills and dales; one
elevation, known as Mount Hillaby, reaches a thou-
sand feet and more above the level of tide waters.
One of the most serious pests ever known at Bar-
badoes was the introduction of ants, by slave-ships
from Africa. No expedient of human ingenuity served
to rid the place of their destructive presence, and it
was at one time seriously proposed to abandon the
island on this account. After a certain period nature
came to the rescue. She does all things royally, and
the hurricane of 1780 completely annihilated the ver-
min. Verily, it was appropriate to call Barbadoes in
ISLAND EXPORTS. 57
those days the Ant-illes ! It appears that there is no
affliction quite unmixed with good, and that we must
put a certain degree of faith in the law of compensa-
tion, however great the seeming evil under which we
suffer. To our limited power of comprehension, a
destructive hurricane does seem an extreme resort by
which to crush out an insect pest. The query might
even arise, with some minds, whether the cure was
not worse than the disorder.
The exports from the island consist almost wholly
of molasses, sugar, and rum, products of the cane,
which grows all over the place, in every nook and
corner, from hilltop to water's edge. The annual ex-
port, as already intimated, is considerably over sixty
thousand hogsheads. Sugar cannot, however, be called
king of any one section, since half of the amount
manufactured in the whole world is the product of
the beet root, the growth of which is liberally subsi-
dized by more than one European government, in or-
der to foster local industry. Like St. Thomas, this
island has been almost denuded of its forest growth,
and is occasionally liable, as we have seen, to destruc-
tive hurricanes.
Bridgetown is a place of considerable progress, hav-
ing several benevolent and educational institutions;
it also possesses railway, telephone, and telegraphic
service. Its export trade aggregates over seven mil-
lion dollars per annum, to accommodate which amount
of commerce causes a busy scene nearly all the time in
the harbor. The steam railway referred to connects
58 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the capital with the Parish of St. Andrews, twenty-
one miles away on the other side of the island, its
terminus being at the thrifty little town of Bathsheba,
a poj)iilar resort, which is noted for its fine beach and
excellent sea bathing.
The cathedral is consecrated to the established reli-
gion of the Church of England, and is a picturesque,
time-worn building, surrounded, after the style of
rural England, by a quaint old graveyard, the mon-
uments and slabs of which are gray and mossgrown,
some of them bearing dates of the earlier portion of
the sixteenth century. This spot forms a very lovely,
peaceful picture, where the graves are shaded by tree-
ferns and stately palms. Somehow one cannot but
miss the tall, slim cypress, which to the European
and American eye seems so especially appropriate to
such a spot. There were clusters of low-growing
mignonette, which gave out a faint perfume exactly
suited to the solemn shades which prevailed, and
here and there bits of ground enameled with blue-
eyed violets. The walls of the inside of the church
are covered with memorial tablets, and there is an
organ of great power and sweetness of tone.
The "Ice House," so called, at Bridgetown is a
popular resort, which everybody visits who comes to
Barbadoes. Here one can find files of all the latest
American and European papers, an excellent cafe,
with drinks and refreshments of every conceivable
character, and can purchase almost any desired article
from a toothpick to a set of parlor furniture. It is
THE ICE HOUSE. 59
a public library, an exchange, a "Bon Marche," and
an artificial ice manufactory, all combined. Stran-
gers naturally make it a place of rendezvous. It
seemed to command rather more of the average citi-
zen's attention than did legitimate business, and one
is forced to admit that although the drinks which were
so generously dispensed were cool and appetizing, they
were also very potent. It was observed that some in-
dividuals, who came into the hospitable doors rather
sober and dejected in expression of features, were apt
to go out just a little jolly.
The Ice House is an institution of these islands,
to be found at St. Thomas, Demerara, and Trinidad,
as well as at Barbadoes. Havana has a similar re-
treat, but calls it a cafe, situated on the Paseo, near
the Tacon Theatre.
The population of the island amounts to about one
hundred and seventy -two thousand, — the census of
1881 showed it to be a trifle less than this, — giving
the remarkable density of one thousand and more per-
sons to the square mile, thus forming an immense
human bee-hive. It is the only one of the West
Indian islands from which a certain amount of emi-
gration is necessary annually. The large negro popu-
lation makes labor almost incredibly cheap, field-hands
on the plantations being paid only one shilling per
day ; and yet, so ardent is their love of home — and
the island is home to them — that only a few can be
induced to leave it in search of better wages. When
it is remembered that the State of Massachusetts,
60 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
which is considered to be one of the most thickly
populated sections of the United States, xjontains but
two hundred and twenty persons to the square mile,
the fact that this West Indian island supports over
one thousand inhabitants in the same average space
will be more fvdly appreciated. Notwithstanding this
crowded state of the population, we were intelligently
informed that while petty offenses are common, there
is a marked absence of serious crimes.
One sees few if any signs of poverty here. It is a
land of sugar-cane, yams, and sweet potatoes, very
prolific, and very easily tilled. Some of the most
prosperous men on the island are colored planters, who
own their large establishments, though born slaves,
perhaps on the very ground they now own. They
have by strict economy and industry saved money
enough to make a fair beginning, and in the course of
years have gradually acquired wealth. One planta-
tion, owned by a colored man, born of slave parents,
was pointed out to us, with the information that it
was worth twenty thousand pounds sterling, and that
its last year's crop yielded over three hundred hogs-
heads of sugar, besides a considerable quantity of
molasses.
England maintains at heavy expense a military
depot here, from which to draw under certain circum-
stances. There is no local necessity for supporting
such a force. Georgetown is a busy place. Being the
most seaward of the West Indies, it has become the
chief port of call for ships navigating these seas. The
AN EQUABLE CLIMATE. 61
Caribbees are divided by geographers into the Wind-
ward and Leeward islands, in accordance with the di-
rection in which they lie with regard to the prevailing
winds. They are in very deep water, the neighboring
sea having a mean dejDth of fifteen hundred fathoms.
Being so far eastward, Barbadoes enjoys an exception-
ally equable climate, and it is claimed for it that it
has a lower thermometer than any other West Indian
island. Its latitude is 13° 4' north, longitude 59° 37'
west, within eight hundred miles of the equator. The
prevailing wind blows from the northeast, over the
broad, unobstructed Atlantic, rendering the evenings
almost always delightfuUy cool, tempered by this
grateful tonic breath of the ocean.
Trafalgar Square, Bridgetown, contains a hand-
some fountain, and a bronze statue of Nelson which,
as a work of art, is simply atrocious. From this
broad, open square the tramway cars start, and it
also forms a general business centre.
The home government supports, besides its other
troops, a regiment of negroes uniformed as Zouaves and
officered by white men. The police of Bridgetown
are also colored men. Slavery was abolished here in
1833. Everything is so thoroughly English, that only
the temperature, together with the vegetation, teUs
the story of latitude and longitude. The soil has been
so closely cultivated as to have become partially ex-
hausted, and this is the only West Indian island, if
we are correctly informed, where artificial enrichment
is considered necessary to stimulate the native soil, or
62 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
where it has ever been freely used. "I question,"
said an intelligent planter to us, "whether we should
not be better off to-day, if we had not so overstimu-
lated, in fact, burned out, our land with guano and
phosphates." These are to the ground like intoxi-
cants to human beings, — if over-indulged in they are
fatal, and even the partial use is of questionable ad-
vantage. The Chinese and Japanese apply only do-
mestic refuse in their fields as a manure, and no people
obtain such grand results as they do in agriculture.
They know nothing of patent preparations employed
for such purposes, and yet will render a spot of
ground profitable which a European would look upon
as absolutely not worth cultivating.
In any direction from Bridgetown going inland,
miles upon miles of plantations are seen bearing the
bright green sugar-cane, turning to yellow as it ripens,
and giving splendid promise for the harvest. Here
and there are grouped a low cluster of cabins, which
form the quarters of the negroes attached to the plan-
tation, while close at hand the tall chimney of the
sugar mill looms over the surrounding foliage. A
little one side, shaded by some palms, is the planter's
neat and attractive residence, painted snow white, in
contrast to the deep greenery surrounding it, and hav-
ing a few flower beds in its front.
The Marine Hotel, which is admirably situated on
a rocky point at Hastings, three hundred feet above
the beach, is about a league from the city, and forms
a favorite resort for the townspeople. The house is
GAMBLING PROPENSITIES. 63
capable of accommodating three hundred guests at a
time. Its spacious piazzas fronting the ocean are con-
stantly fanned by the northeast trades from October
to March. Some New York families regard the place
as a choice winter resort, the thermometer rarely indi-
cating over 80° Fahr., or falling below 70^. This sub-
urb of Hastings is the location of the army barracks,
where a broad plain affords admirable space for drill
and military manoeuvres. There is a monument at
Hastings, raised to the memory of the victims of the
hurricane of 1831, which seems to be rather unj^leas-
antly suggestive of future possibilities. Near at hand
is a well-arranged mile racecourse, a spot very dear
to the army officers, where during the racing season
any amount of money is lost and won. There seems
to be something in this tropical climate which incites
to all sorts of gambling, and the habit among the
people is so common as to be looked upon with great
leniency. Just so, at some of the summer resorts of
the south of -France, Italy, and Germany, ladies or
gentlemen will frankly say, "I am going to the Ca-
sino for a little gambling, but will be back again by
and by."
The roads in the vicinity of Bridgetown are admira-
bly kept, all being macadamized, but the dust which
rises from the pulverized coral rock is nearly blinding,
and together with the reflection caused by the sun on
the snow white roads proves very trying to the eye-
sight. The dust and glare are serious drawbacks to
the enjoyment of these environs.
64 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
As we have said, hurricanes have proved very fatal
at Barbadoes. In 1780, four thousand persons were
swept out of existence in a few hours by the irresisti-
ble fury of a tornado. So late as 1831, the loss of life
by a similar visitation was over two thousand, while
the loss of property aggregated some two million
pounds sterling. The experience has not, however,
been so severe here as at several of the other islands.
At the time of the hurricane just referred to, Bar-
badoes was covered with a coat of sulphurous ashes
nearly an inch thick, which was afterwards found to
have come from the island of St. Vincent, where
what is called Brimstone Mountain burst forth in
flames and laid that island also in ashes. It is in-
terestinof to note that there should have been such
intimate relationship shown between a great atmos-
pheric disturbance like a hurricane and an under-
ground agitation as evinced by the eruption of a vol-
cano.
It should be mentioned that these hurricanes have
never been known to pass a certain limit north or
south, their ravages having always been confined be-
tween the eleventh and twenty -first degrees of north
latitude.
It appears that some curious Carib implements were
found not long since just below the surface of the
earth on the south shore of the bay, which are to be
forwarded to the British Museum, London. These
were of hard stone, and were thought by the find-
ers to have been used by the aborigines to fell trees.
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. 65
Some were thick shells, doubtless employed by the
Indians in the rude cultivation of maize, grown here
four or five hundred years ago. It was said that
these stone implements resembled those which have
been found from time to time in Norway and Sweden.
If this is correct, it is an important fact for antiqua-
rians to base a theory upon. Some scientists believe
that there was, in prehistoric times, an intimate rela-
tionship between Scandinavia and the continent of
America.
Though there are several public schools in Bridge-
town, both primary and advanced, we were somehow
impressed with the idea that education for the com-
mon people was not fostered in a manner worthy of a
British colony of so long standing ; but this is the im-
pression of a casual observer only. There is a college
situated ten or twelve miles from the city, founded by
Sir Christopher Codrington, which has achieved a high
reputation as an educational institution in its chosen
field of operation. It is a large structure of white
stone, well arranged, and is, as we were told, consis-
tent with the spirit of the times. It has the dignity
of ripened experience, having been opened in 1744.
The professors are from Europe. A delicious fresh
water spring rises to the surface of the land just below
the cliff, at Codrington College, a blessing which peo-
ple who live in the tropics know how to appreciate.
There is also at Bridgetown what is known as Harri-
son's College, which, however, is simply a high school
devoted exclusively to girls.
66 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
The island is not exempt from occasional prevalence
of tropical fevers, but may be considered a healthy
resort upon the whole. Leprosy is not unknown
among the lower classes, and elej)hantiasis is fre-
quently to be met with. This disease is known in the
West Indies as the "Barbadoes Leg." Sometimes a
native may be seen on the streets with one of his legs
swollen to the size of his body. There is no known
cure for this disease except the surgeon's knife, and
the removal of the victim from the region where it
first developed itself. The author has seen terrible
cases of elephantiasis among the natives of the Sa-
moan group of islands, where this strange and unac-
countable disease is thought to have reached its most
extreme and repulsive development. Foreigners are
seldom if ever afflicted with it, either in the West
Indies or the South Pacific.
We are to sail to-night. A few passengers and a
quantity of freight have been landed, while some heavy
merchandise has been received on board, designed for
continental ports to the southward. The afternoon
shadows lengthen upon the shore, and the sunset hour,
so brief in this latitude, approaches. The traveler
who has learned to love the lingering twilight of the
north misses these most charming hours when in equa-
torial regions, but as the goddess of night wraps her
sombre mantle about her, it is so superbly decked with
diamond stars that the departed daylight is hardly
regretted. It is like the prompter's ringing up of the
curtain upon a complete theatrical scene ; the glory of
I
INFLUENCE OF THE TROPICS. 67
the tropical sky bursts at once upon the vision in all
its completeness, its burning constellations, its soli-
taire brilliants, its depth of azure, and its mysterious
Milky Way.
While sitting under the awning upon deck, watch-
ing the gentle swaying palms and tall fern-trees, lis-
tening to the low drone of busy life in the town, and
breathing the sw^eet exhalations of tropical fruits and
flowers, a trance-like sensation suffuses the brain. Is
this the dolce far niente of the Italians, the sweet
do-nothing of the tropics? To us, how^ever defined,
it was a waking dream of sensuous delight, of entire
content. How far away sounds the noise of the
steam-winch, the sharp chafing of the iron pidleys,
the prompt orders of the officer of the deck, the swing-
ing of the ponderous yards, the rattling of the anchor
chain as it comes in through the hawse hole, while the
ship gradually loses her hold upon the land. With
half closed eyes we scarcely heard these many signifi-
cant sounds, but floated peacefully on in an Eden of
fancy, quietly leaving Carlisle Bay far behind.
Our course was to the southw^ard, Avhile everything,
high and low, was bathed in a flood of shimmering-
moonlight, the magic alchemy of the sky, whose in-
fluence etherealizes all upon which it rests. -
CHAPTER IV.
Curious Ocean Experiences. — The Delicate Nautilus. — Flying-Fish.
— The Southern Cross. — Speaking a Ship at Sea. — Scientific
Navigation. — South America as a Whole. — Fauna and Flora.
— Natural Resources of a Wonderful Land. — Rivers, Plains,
and Mountain Ranges. — Aboriginal Tribes. — Population. — Po-
litical Divisions. — Civil Wars. — Weakness of South American
States.
The sudden appearance of a school of flying-fish
gliding swiftly tkrough the air for six or eight rods
just above the rippling waves, and then sinking from
sight ; the sportive escort of half a hundred slate-
colored porpoises, leaping high out of the water on
either bow of the ship only to plunge back again,
describing graceful curves ; the constant presence of
that sullen tiger of the ocean, the voracious, man-
eating shark, betrayed by its dorsal fin showing above
the surface of the sea ; the sporting of mammoth
whales, sending columns of water high in air from
their blowholes, and lashing the waves playfully with
their broad-spread tails, are events at sea too com-
monplace to comment upon in detail, though they
tend to while away the inevitable monotony of a long
voyage.
Speaking of flying-fish, there is more in the flying
capacity of this little creature than is generally ad-
DARING NAVIGATORS. 69
mitted, else why has it wings on the forward part of
its body, each measuring seven inches in length ? If
designed only for fins, they are altogether out of pro-
portion to the rest of its body. They are manifestly
intended for just the use to which the creatm-e puts
them. One was brought to us by a seaman ; how it
got on board we know not, but it measui-ed eleven
inches from the nose to the tip of the tail-fin, and was
in shape and size very much like a small mackerel.
After leaving Barbadoes, we got into what sailors call
the flying-fish latitudes, where they appear constantly
in their low, rapid flight, sometimes singly, but oftener
in small schools of a score or more, creating flashes
of silvery-blue lustre. The most careful observation
could detect no vibration of the long, extended fins ;
the tiny fish sailed, as it were, upon the wind, the
flight of the giant albatross in miniature.
One afternoon, when the sea was scarcely dimpled
by the soft trade wand, we came suddenly upon mjT-iads
of that little fairy of the ocean, the gossamer nautilus,
with its Greek galleon shape, and as frail, apparently,
as a spider's web. What a gondola it would make
for Queen Mab ! How delicate and transparent it
is, while radiating prismatic colors ! A touch might
dismember it, yet what a daring navigator, floating
confidently upon the sea where the depth is a thou-
sand fathoms, Hable at any moment to be changed
into raging billows by an angry storm I How minute
the vitality of this graceful atom, a creature whose
existence is perhaps for only a single day ; yet how
70 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
grand and limitless the system of life and creation of
which it is so humble a representative ! Sailors call
these frail marine creatures Portuguese men-of-war.
Possessing some singiilar facility for doing so, if they
are disturbed, they quickly furl their sails and sink
below the surface of the buoyant waves into deep wa-
ter, the home of the octopus, the squid, and the vora-
cious shark. Did they, one is led to query, navigate
these seas after this fashion before the Northmen came
across the ocean, and before Columbus landed at San
Salvador ? At night the glory of the southern hemi-
sphere, as revealed in new constellations and brighter
stars brought into view, was observed with keenest
interest, — " Everlasting Night, with her star diadems,
with her silence, and her verities." The phospho-
rescence of the sea, with its scintillations of brilliant
light, its ripples of liquid fire, the crest of each wave
a flaming cascade, was a charming phenomenon one
never tired of watching. If it be the combination of
millions and billions of animalculse which thus illu-
mines the waters, then these infinitesimal creatures are
the fireflies of the ocean, as the cucuios, that fairy
torch-bearer, is of the land. Gliding on the magic
mirror of the South Atlantic, in which the combined
glory of the sky was reflected with singular clearness,
it seemed as though we were sailing over a starry world
below.
While observing the moon in its beautiful series
of changes, lighting our way by its chaste effulgence
night after night, it was difficidt to realize that it
THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 71
shines entirely by the light which it borrows from the
sun ; but it was easy to believe the simpler fact, that
of all the countless hosts of the celestial bodies, she
is our nearest neighbor. " An eighteen-foot telescope
reveals to the human eye over forty million stars,"
said Captain Baker, as we stood together gazing at
the luminous heavens. " And if we entertain the gen-
erally accepted idea," he continued, " we must believe
that each one of that enormous aggregate of stars is
the centre of a solar system similar to our own." The
knowTi facts relating to the stars, like stellar distances,
are almost incomprehensible.
One cannot but realize that there is always a cer-
tain amount of sentiment wasted on the constellation
kno^^ai as the Southern Cross by passengers bound
to the lands and seas over which it hangs. Orion or
the Pleiades, either of them, is infinitely superior in
point of brilliancy, spmnetry, and individuality. A
lively imagination is necessary to endow this irregu-
lar cluster of stars with any real resemblance to the
Christian emblem for which it is named. It serves
the na^'igator in the southern hemisphere, in part, the
same purpose which the north star does in our portion
of the globe, and there our own respect for it as a
constellation ends. Much poetic talent has been ex-
pended for ages to idealize the Southern Cross, which
is, alas I no cross at all. We have seen a person un-
familiar with the locality of this constellation strive
long and patiently, but in vain, to find it. It'should
be remembered that two prominent stars in Centaui'us
72 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
point directly to it. The one furthest from the so-
called cross is held to be the fixed star nearest to the
earth, but its distance from us is twenty thousand
times farther than that of the sun.
We have never yet met a person, looking upon this
cluster of the heavens for the first time, who did not
frankly express his disappointment. Anticipation and
fruition are oftenest at antipodes.
The gracefid marine birds which follow the ship,
day after day, darting hither and thither with arrowy
swiftness, lured by the occasional refuse thrown from
on board, would be seriously missed were they to leave
us. Watchino^ their aerial movements and untirins:
power of wing, while listening to their sharp com-
plaining cries, is a source of constant amusement.
Even rough weather and a raging sea, if not accom-
panied by too serious a storm, is sometimes welcome,
serving to awaken the ship from its dull propriety,
and to put officers, crew, and passengers upon their
mettle. To speak a strange vessel at sea is always
interesting. If it is a steamer, a long, black wake
of smoke hanging among the clouds at the horizon
betrays her proximity long before the hull is sighted.
All eyes are on the watch until she comes clearly
within the line of vision, gradually increasing in size
and distinctness of outline, until presently the spars
and rigging are minutely delineated. Then specula-
tion is rife as to whence she comes and where she
is goirig. By and by the two ships approach so near
that signal flags can be read, and the captains talk
THE WATCH OF THE SKY. 73
with each other, exchanging names, whither bound,
and so on. Then each commander dips his flag in
compliment to the other, and the ships rapidly sepa-
rate. All of this is commonplace enough, but serves
to while away an hour, and insures a report of our
progress and safety at the date of meeting, when the
stranger reaches his port of destination.
We have spoken of the pleasure experienced at sea
in watching intelligently the various phases of the
moon. The subject is a prolific one ; a whole chapter
might be written upon it.
It is perhaps hardly realized by the average lands-
man, and indeed by few who constantly cross the
ocean, with their thoughts and interests absorbed by
the many attractive novelties of the ocean, how impor-
tant a part this great luminary plays in the navigation
of a ship. It is to the intelligent and observant
mariner the never-failing watch of the sky, the stars
performing the part of hands to designate the proper
figure upon the dial. If there is occasion to doubt the
correctness of his chronometer, the captain of the ship
can verify its figures or correct them by this planet.
Every minute that the chronometer is wrong, assimi-
ing that it be so, may put him fifteen miles out of
his reckoning, which, under some circumstances, might
prove to be a fatal error, even leading to the loss of
his ship and all on board. To find his precise location
upon the ocean, the navigator requires both Greenwich
time and local meridian time, the latter obtained by
the sun on shipboard, exactly at midday. To get
74 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Greenwich time by lunar observation, the captain, for
example, finds that the moon is three degrees from the
star Regulus. By referring to his nautical almanac
he sees recorded there the Greenwich time at which
the moon was three degrees from that particular star.
He then compares his chronometer with these figures,
and either confirms or corrects its indication. It is
interesting to the traveler to observe and under-
stand these important resources, which science has
brought to bear in perfecting his safety on the ocean,
promoting the interests of commerce, and in aid of
correct navigation. The experienced captain of a ship
now lays his course as surely by compass, after satis-
fying himself by these various means of his exact
position, as though the point of his destination was
straight before him all the while, and visible from the
pilot house.
How indescribable is the grandeur of these serene
nights on the ocean, fanned by the somnolent trade
winds ; a little lonely, perhaps, but so blessed with the
hallowed benediction of the moonlight, so gorgeously
decorated by the glittering images of the studded
heavens, so sweet and pure and fragrant is the breath
of the sleeping wind ! If one listens intently, there
seems to come to the senses a whispering of the waves,
as thouorh the sea in confidence would tell its secrets
to a willing ear.
The ship heads almost due south after leaving Bar-
badoes, when her destination is, as in our case, Para,
twelve hundred miles away. On this course we en-
THE SOUTHERN CONTINENT. lb
counter the equatorial current, which runs northward
at a rate of two miles in an hour, and at some points
reaches a much higher rate of speed.
As eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so eter-
nal scrubbing is the price of cleanliness on shipboard.
The deck hands are at it from five o'clock in the
morning until sunset. Our good ship looks as if she
had just come out of dock. Last night's gale, wdiich
in its angTy turmoil tossed us about so recldessly, cov-
ered her mth a saline, sticky deposit ; but with the
rising of the sun all this disappears as if by magic.
The many brass mountings shine with dazzling lustre,
and the white paint contrasts with the well-tarred
cordage which forms the standing rigging.
While the ship pursues her course through the far-
reacliing ocean, let us sketch in outline the general
characteristics of South America, whither we are
bound.
It is a country containing twice the area, tliough
not quite one half the amount of pojDulation, of the
United States, a land which, though now presenting
nearly all phases of civilization, was four centuries
ago mostly inhabited by nomadic tribes of savages,
who knew nothing of the horse, the ox, or the sheep,
which to-day form so great and important a source of
its wealth, and where wheat, its prevailing staple, w^as
also unknown. It is a land overflowing with native
riches, which possesses an unlimited capacity of pro-
duction, and whose large and increasing population
requires just such domestic supplies as we of the north
76 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
can profitably furnish. The important treaty of reci-
procity, so lately arranged between the giant province
of Brazil — or rather we should say the Republic of
Brazil — and our own country, is already developing
new and increasing channels of trade for our shippers
and producers of the great staples, as well as throwing
open to us a new nation of consumers for our special
articles of manufacture. Facts speak louder than
words. On the voyage in which the author sailed in
the Vigilancia, she took over twenty thousand bar-
rels of flour to Brazil from the United States, and
would have taken more had her capacity admitted.
Every foot of space on board was engaged for the
return voyage, twelve thousand bags of coffee being
shipped from Rio Janeiro alone, besides nearly as
large a consignment of coffee from Santos, in the same
republic. The great mutual benefit which must accrue
from this friendly compact with an enterprising foreign
country can hardly be overestimated. These consid-
erations lead to a community of interests, which will
grow by every reasonable means of familiarizing the
people of the two countries with each other. Hence
the possible and practical value of such a work as the
one in hand.
By briefly consulting one of the many cheap and
excellent maps of the western hemisphere, the patient
reader will be enabled to follow the route taken by the
author with increased interest and a clearer under-
standing.
It is surprising, in conversing with otherwise intel-
EXTENT OF SOUTH AMERICA. 77
ligent and well-informed people, to find liow few there
are, comparatively speaking, who have any fixed and
clear idea relative to so large a portion of the habitable
globe as South America. The average individual
seems to know less of the gigantic river Amazon than
he does of the mysterious Nile, and is less familiar
with that grand, far-reaching water-way, the Plate,
than he is with the sacred Ganges ; yet one can ride
from Buenos Ayres in the Argentine Eepublic, across
the wild pampas, to the base of the Andes in a Pullman
palace car. There is no part of the globe concerning
which so little is written, and no other portion which
is not more sought by travelers ; in short, it is less
known to the average North American than New
Zealand or Australia.
The vast peninsula which we call South America
is connected with our own part of the continent by the
Isthmus of Panama and the territory designated as
Central America. Its configuration is triangular, and
exhibits in many respects a strong similarity to the
continents of Africa and Australia, if the latter gigan-
tic island may be called a continent. It extends north
and south nearly five thousand miles, or from latitude
12° 30' north to Cape Horn in latitude 55" 59' south.
Its greatest width from east to west is a little over
three thousand miles, and its area, according to the
best authorities, is nearly seven million square miles.
Three fourths of this country lie in the torrid zone,
though as a whole it has every variety of climate,
from equatorial heat to the biting frosts of alpine
78 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
peaks. Its widespread surface consists principally of
three immense plains, watered respectively by the
Amazon, Plate, and Orinoco rivers. This spacious
country has a coast line of over sixteen thousand
miles on the two great oceans, with comparatively few
indentures, headlands, or bays, though at the extreme
south it consists of a maze of countless small islands,
capes, and promontories, of which Cape Horn forms
the outermost point.
The Cordillera of the Andes extends through the
whole length of this giant peninsula, from the Strait of
Magellan to the Isthmus of Panama, a distance of
forty-five hundred miles, forming one of the most
remarkable physical features of the globe, and pre-
senting the highest mountains on its surface, except
those of the snowy Himalayas which separate India
from Thibet. The principal range of the Andes runs
nearly parallel with the Pacific coast, at an average
distance of about one hundred miles from it, and con-
tains several active volcanoes. If we were to believe
a late school geography, published in London, Coto-
j)axi, one famous peak of this Andean range, throws
up flames three thousand feet above the brink of its
crater, which is eighteen thousand feet above tide
water ; but to be on the safe side, let us reduce these
extraordinary figures at least one half, as regards the
eruptive power of Cotopaxi. This mountain chain,
near the border between Chili and Peru, divides into
two branches, the principal one still called the Cor-
dillera of the Andes, and the other, nearer to the ocean,
A LAND OF PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 79
the Cordillera cle la Costa. Between these ranges,
about three thousand feet above the sea, is a vast
table-land with an area larger than that of France.
It will be observed that we are dealing with a
country which, like our own, is one of magnificent
distances. It is difficult for the nations of the old
world, where the popidation is hived together in such
circumscribed space, to realize the geographical extent
of the American continent. When informed that it
required six days and nights, at express speed upon
well equipped railroads, to cross the United States
from ocean to ocean, a certain editor in London
doubted the statement. Outside of Her Majesty's
dominions, the average Englishman has only super-
ficial ideas of geography. The frequent blunders of
some British newspapers in these matters are simply
ridicidous.
It should be understood that South America is a
land of plains as well as of lofty mountains, ha\^ng
the llanos of the Orinoco region, the selvas of the
Amazon, and the j^ampas-oi the Argentine Republic.
The llanos are composed of a region about as large
as the New England States, so level that the motion of
the rivers can hardly be discerned. The selvas are
for the most part vast unbroken forests, in which giant
trees, thick undergrowth, and entwining creepers com-
bine to form a nearly impenetrable region. The pam-
pas lie between the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean,
stretching southward from northern Brazil to southern
Patagonia, affording grass sufficient to feed innumer-
80 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
able herds of wild cattle, but at the extreme south the
country sinks into half overflowed marshes and lagoons,
resembling the glades and savannahs of Florida.
The largest river in the world, namely, the Amazon,
rises in the Peruvian Andes, within sixty miles of the
Pacific Ocean, and flows thousands of miles in a gen-
eral east-northeast direction, finally emptying into the
Atlantic Ocean. This unequaled river course is nav-
igable for over two thousand miles from its mouth,
which is situated on the equatorial line, where its out-
flow is partially impeded by the island of Marajo, a
nearly round formation, one hundred and fifty miles
or thereabouts in diameter. This remarkable island
divides the river's outlet into two passages, the largest
of which is a hundred and fifty miles in width, form-
ing an estuary of extraordinary dimensions. The
Amazon has twelve tributaries, each one of which is
a thousand miles in length, not to count its hundreds
of smaller ones, while the main stream affords water
communication from the Atlantic Ocean to near the
foothills of the Andes.
We are simply stating a series of condensed geo-
graphical facts, from which the intelligent reader can
form his own deductions as regards the undeveloped
possibilities of this great southland.
Our own mammoth river, the Mississippi, is a com-
paratively shallow stream, with a shifting channel
and dangerous sandbanks, which impede navigation
throughout the most of its course ; while the Amazon
shows an average depth of over one hundred feet for
GREAT RIVERS. 81
the first thousand miles of its flow from the Atlantic,
forming inland seas in many places, so spacious that
the opposite banks are not within sight of each other.
It is computed by good authority that this river, with
its numerous affluents, forms a system of navdgable
water tw enty-f our thousand miles in length ! There
are comparatively few towns or settlements of any
imjiortance on the banks of the Amazon, which flows
mostly through a dense, unpeopled evergreen forest,
not absolutely without human beings, but for very
long distances nearly so. Wild animals, anacondas
and other reptiles, together with many varieties of
birds and numerous tribes of monkeys, make up the
animal life. Now and again a settlement of European
colonists is found, or a rude Indian village is seen
near the banks, but they are few and far between.
There are occasional regions of low, marshy ground,
which are malarious at certain seasons, but the average
country is salubrious, and capable of supporting a pop-
ulation of millions.
This is only one of the large rivers of South Amer-
ica ; there are many others of grand proportions. The
Plate comes next to it in magnitude, having a length
of two thousand miles, and being navigable for one haK
the distance from its mouth at all seasons. It is over
sixty miles wdde at Montevideo, and is therefore the
widest known river. Like the great stream already
described, it traverses a country remarkable for the
fertility of its soil, but very thinly settled. The Plate
carries to the ocean four fifths as much, in volume of
82 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
water, as does the mighty Amazon, the watershed
drained by it exceeding a million and a half square
miles. One can only conceive of the true magnitude
of such figures when apj)lied to the land by compar-
ing the nmnber of square miles contained in any one
European nation, or any dozen of our own States.
Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the estuary of the
Plate in 1508, and believed it at that time to be a
gulf, but on a second voyage from Europe, in 1516,
he ascended the river a considerable distance, and
called it Mar Dulce, on account of the character of
the waters. Unfortunately, this intelligent discoverer
was killed by Indian arrows on attempting to land at
a certain point. For a considerable period the river
was called after him, and we think should have con-
tinued to be so, but its name was changed to the Plate
on account of the conspicuous silver ornaments worn
in great profusion by the natives, which they freely
exchanged for European gewgaws.
Though nearly four hundred years have passed since
its discovery, a large portion of the country still re-
mains comparatively unexplored, much of it being a
wilderness sparsely inhabited by Indians, many of
whom are without a vestige of civilization. We know
as little of portions of the continent as we do of
Central Africa, yet there is no section of the globe
which suggests a greater degree of physical interest,
or which would respond more readily and profitably
to intelligent effort at development. When the Span-
iards first came to South America, it was only in Peru,
WEALTH OF THE INC AS. 83
the land of the Ineas, that they found natives who had
made any substantial progress in civilization. The
earliest history extant relating to this region of the
globe is that of the Ineas, a warhke race of sun-wor-
shipers, who possessed enormous treasures of gold and
silver, and who erected magnificent temples enriched
with the precious metals. It was the almost fabu-
lous wealth of the Ineas that led to their destruction,
tempting the cupidity of the avaricious Spaniards, and
causing them to institute a system of cruelty, oppres-
sion, robber}^ and bloodshed which finally obliterated
an entire people from the face of the globe. The
empire of the Ineas extended from Quito, in Ecua-
dor (on the equator), to the river Monte m Chili,
and eastward to the Andes. The romantic career of
Pizarro and Cortez is familiar to us all. There are
few palliating circumstances connected with the ad-
vent of the Spaniards, either here, in the AYest In-
dies, or in Mexico. The actual motive which prompted
their invasion of this foreign soil was to search for
mineral treasures, though policy led them to cover
their bloodthirsty deeds with a pretense of religious
zeal. Their first acts were reckless, cruel, and sangui-
nary, followed by a systematic oppression of the na-
tive races which was an outrage upon humanity. The
world at large profited little by the extortion and
golden harvest reaped by Spain, to realize which she
adopted a policy of extermination, both in Peru and
in Mexico ; but let it be remembered that her own
national ruin was brought about with poetical justice
84 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
by the very excess of her ill-gotten, blood-stained trear
sures. The Spanish historians tell us, as an evidence
of the persistent bravery of their ancestors, that it
took them eight hundred years of constant warfare to
wrest Spain from her Moorish conquerors. It is for
us to remind them how brief has been the continuance
of their glory, how rapid their decHne from sj^lendid
continental and colonial possessions to their present
condition, that of the weakest and most insignificant
power in Europe.
There are localities which have been visited by
adventurous explorers, especially in Chili and Peru,
where ruins have been found, and various monuments
of antiquity examined, of vast interest to archaeolo-
gists, but of which scarcely more than their mere ex-
istence is recorded. Some of these ruins are believed
to antedate by centuries the period of the Incas, and
are supposed to be the remains of tribes which, judg-
ing from their pottery and other domestic utensils,
were possibly of Asiatic origin. Comparatively few
travelers have visited Lake Titicaca, in the Peruvian
Andes, with its sacred islands and mysterious ruins,
from whence the Incas dated their mythical origin.
The substantial remains of some grand temples are
still to be seen on the islands near the borders of the
lake, the decaying masonry decked here and there
with a wild growth of hardy cactus. This remarkable
body of water. Lake Titicaca, in the mountain range
of Peru, lies more than twelve thousand feet above
the level of the Pacific ; yet it never freezes, and its
EXTENSIVE FORESTS. 85
average depth is given as six hundred feet, repre-
senting an immense body of water. It covers an area
of four thousand square miles, which is about four
fifths as large as our own Lake Ontario, the average
depth being about the same. Titicaca is the largest
lalvc in the world occup}dng so elevated a site.
The population of South America is mostly to be
found on the coast, and is thought to be about thirty-
five millions, though, all things considered, we are dis-
posed to believe this an overestimate. There are
tribes far inland who are not brought in contact with
civilization at all, and whose numbers are not knowTi.
The magnitude and density of the forests are remark-
able ; they cover, it is intelligently stated, nearly two
thirds of the country. The vegetation, in its various
forms, is rich beyond comparison. Professor Agassiz,
who explored the valley of the Amazon under the most
favorable auspices, tells us that he found within an
area of half a mile square over one hundred species of
trees, among which were nearly all of the choicest
cabinet and dye woods known to the tropics, besides
others suitable for shipbuilding. Some of these trees
are remarkable for their gigantic size, others for their
beauty of form, and still others are valuable for their
gums and resins. Of the latter, the india-rubber tree
is the most prolific and important known to commerce.
From Brazil comes four fifths of the world's supply
of the raw material of rubber.
The great fertility of the soil generally would seem
to militate against the true progress of the people of
8(3 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
South America, absolutely discouraging, rather than
stimulating national industry. One cannot but con-
trast the state of affairs in this respect with that of
North America, where the soil is so much less produc-
tive, and where the climate is so universally rigorous.
The deduction is inevitable that, to fuid man at his
best, we must observe him where his skill, energy, and
perseverance are all required to achieve a livelihood,
and not where exuberant nature is over-indulgent,
over-productive. The coast, the valleys, and indeed
the main portion of South America are tropical, but a
considerable section of the country is so elevated that
its climate is that of perpetual spring, resembling the
great Mexican plateau, both physically and as regards
temperature. The population is largely of Spanish de-
scent, and that language is almost universally spoken,
though Portuguese is the current tongue in Brazil.
These languages are so similar, in fact, that the people
of the two nations can easily understand each other.
It is said to be true that, in the wild regions of the
country, there are tribes of Indians found to-day living,
close to each other, separated by no physical barriers,
who differ materially in language, physiognomy, man-
ners, and customs, having absolutely nothing in com-
mon but their brown or copper-colored skins. Fur-
thermore, these tribes live most frequently in deadly
feuds with each other. That cannibalism is still
practiced among these interior tribes is positively be-
lieved, especially among some of the tribes of the
extreme south, that is, among the Patagonians and the
AMALGAMATION OF RACES. 87
wild, nomadic race of Terra del Fuego. These two
tribes, on opposite sides of the Strait of Magellan,
are quite different from each other in nearly every re-
spect, especially in size, nor will they attempt to hold
friendly intercourse of any sort with each other.
There are certain domestic animals which are be-
lieved to be improved by crossing them with others
of a different type^ but this does not seem to appl}^
very often, advantageously to different races of human
beings. It is plain enough in South America that the
amalgamation of foreigners and natives rapidly effaces
the original better qualities of each, the result being a
mongrel, nondescript type, hard to analyze and hard
to improve. That keen observer, Professor Agassiz,
especial^ noticed this during his jesiY of scientific
research in Brazil. This has also been the author's
experience, as illustrated in many lands, where strictly
different races, the one highly ci\'ilized, the other bar-
barian, have unitedly produced children. It is a sort
of amalgamation which nature does not favor, record-
ing her objections in an unmistakable manner. It is
the flow of European emigration towards these south-
ern republics which will infuse new life and progress
among them. The aboriginal race is slowly receding,
and fading out, as was the case in Australia, in New
Zealand, and in the instance of our western Indians.
A new people will eventually possess the land, com-
posed of the several Europea;n nationalities, who are
already the virtual masters of South America so far
as regards numbers, intelligence, and possession.
88 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Since these notes were written, the Argentine gov-
ernment has sold to Baron Hirsch three thousand
square leagues of land in the province of Chaco, for
the formation of a Jewish colony. Agents are already
at work, aided by competent engineers and practical
individuals, in preparing for the early reception of
the new occupants of the country. The first contin-
gent, of about one thousand Jews, have already
arrived and are becoming domesticated. Argentina
wants men perhaps more than money ; indeed, one will
make the other. A part of Baron Hirsch' s scheme is
to lend these people money, to be repaid in small in-
stallments extending over a considerable period. For
this extensive territory the Baron paid one million
three hundred thousand dollars in gold, thus making
himself the owner of the largest connected area of
land in the world possessed by a single individual. It
exceeds that of the kingdom of Montenegro.
As to the zoology of this part of the continent, it
is different from that of Europe, Africa, Asia, and
North America. The number of dangerous beasts of
prey is quite limited. There is nothing here to answer
to the African lion, the Asiatic tiger, the elephant of
Ceylon, or the grisly bear of Alaska. The jaguar is
perhaps the most formidable animal, and resembles
the leopard. There are also the cougar, tiger-cat, black
bear, hyena, wolf, and ocelot. The llama, alpaca, and
vicuna are peculiar to this country. The monkey tribe
exceeds all others in variety and number. There
are said to be nearly two hundred species of them
ABORIGINALS. 89
in South America, each distinctly marked, and vary-
ing from each other, in size, from twelve pounds to
less than two. The smallest of the little marmosets
weigh less than a pound and a half each, and are the
most intelligent animal of their size known to man.
There are also the deer, tapir, armadillo, anteater, and
a few other minor animals. The pampas swarm with
wild cattle and horses, descended from animals ori-
ginally brought from Europe. In the low, marshy
grounds the boa-constrictor and other reptiles abound.
Eagles, vultures, and parrots are found in a wild state
all over the country, while the rivers and the waters
near the coast are well filled with fish, crocodiles, and
turtles. Scientists have found over two thousand spe-
cies of fish in the Amazon River alone.
The pure aboriginal race are copper colored, resem-
bling the Mexicans in character and appearance. Like
most natives of equatorial regions, they are indolent,
ignorant, superstitious, sensuous, and by no means
warlike. Forced into the ranks and drilled by Euro-
peans, they make fairly good soldiers, and when well
led will obey orders and fight. There can be no esprit
de corps in soldiers thus organized ; the men neither
know nor care what they fight for, their incentive in
action being first a natural instinct for brutahty, and
second the promise of booty. In some parts of the
country the half-breeds show themselves skillful work-
men in certain simple lines of manufacture, but the
native pure and simple will not work except to keep
from starving.
90 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
The Spaniards conquered nearly all parts of South
America except Brazil, which was subject to Portugal
until 1823, when it achieved its independen<;e. The
Spanish colonies also revolted, one by one, until they
all became independent of the mother country. The
history of these republics, as in the instance of Mexico,
has been both stormy and sanguinary. Foreign and
civil wars have reigned among them incessantly for
half a century and more.
The present political divisions are : Brazil, British
Guiana, Dutch Guiana, French Guiana, Ecuador,
United States of Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Chili,
Peru, Argentine Republic, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
Brazil is the most extensive of these states, and is
thought to enjoy the largest share of natural ad-
vantages, including in its area nearly one half as
many square miles as all the rest combined. Its sea-
board at Parahiba, and for hundreds of miles north
and south of it, projects into the Atlantic a thousand
miles to the east of the direct line between its north-
ern and southern extremities. Besides her diamond
and gold mines, she possesses what is much more de-
sirable, namely, valuable deposits of iron, copper, sil-
ver, and other metals. We have before us statistics
which give the result of diamond mining in Brazil
from 1740 to 1823, when national independence was
won, which show the aggregate for that entire period
to have been less than ten million dollars in value ;
while that of the coffee alone, exported from Bio
Janeiro in one year, exceeded twenty million dollars,
CIVIL WARS. 91
showing that, however dazzling the precious stones
may appear in the abstract, they are not even of
secondary consideration when compared with the agri-
cidtural products of the country. The export of cof-
fee has increased very much since the year 1851, which
happens to be that from which we have quoted. It
must also be admitted that 2)robably twice the amount
of diamonds recorded were actually found and en-
riched somebody, all which were duly reported, having
to pay a government royalty according to the pecu-
niary exigency of those in authority.
The population of Brazil is between fourteen and
fifteen million, and it is thought to be more advanced
in civilization than other parts of South America,
though in the light of our own experience we should
place the Argentine Republic first in this respect.
Indeed, so far as a transient observer may speak,
we are inclined to place Argentina far and away in
advance of Brazil as regards everything calculated
to invite the would-be emigrant who is in search of a
new home in a foreign land. Were it not that intes-
tine wars are of such frequent occurrence among these
states, and national bankruptcy so common, voluntary
emigration would tend towards South America in far
larger numbers than it does now. The revolutions
are solely to j)romote personal aggrandizement ; it is
individual interest, not principle, for which these
people fight so often. Unfortunately, every fresh out-
break throws the country back a fidl decade as regards
national progress. The late civil wars in Chili and
92 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the Argentine Republic are illustrations in point. The
first-named section of South America has suddenly
sunk from a condition of remarkable pecuniary pros-
perity to one of actual poverty. Thousands of valu-
able lives have been sacrificed, an immense amount of
property has been destroyed, her commerce crippled,
and for the time being paralyzed. Ten years of peace
and reasonable prosperity coidd hardly restore Chili
to the position she was in twelve months ago. The
country is to-day in a terrible condition, while many
of the best families mourn the death of a father, a son,
or both, whose lives have been sacrificed to the mad
ambition of a usurper. Numerous families, once rich,
have now become impoverished by the confiscation of
their entire property. The Chilians do not carry on
warfare in European style, by organized armies ; there
is a semblance only of such bodies. The fighting is
mostly after the fashion of free lances, guerrilla bands,
and highwaymen. There seems to be no sense of
honor or chivalry among the common people, while the
only idea of the soldiery is to plunder and destroy.
The Peruvians whose cities were despoiled by Chili
must have regarded the recent cutting of each other's
throats by the Chilian soldiery with something hke
grim satisfaction.
The obvious weakness of the South American states
lies in their bitter rivalry towards each other, a condi-
tion which might be at once obviated by their joining
together to form one united nation. The instability
which characterizes their several governments in their
A POSSIBLE UNION. 93
present isolated interests lias passed into a byword.
Divided into nine unimportant states, — leaving out
the three Guianas, which are dependent upon Euro-
pean powers, — any one of them could be erased from
the map and absorbed by its stronger neighbor, or by
a covetous foreign power. On the contrary, by form-
ing one grand republic, it would stand eighth in the
rank of nations as regards wealth, importance, and
power, amply able to take care of itself, and to main-
tain the integrity of its territory. A community of
interest would also be established between our govern-
ment and that of these South American provinces,
which would be of immense commercial and political
iinportance to both nations.
To those who have visited the country, and who
have carefully observed the conditions, it is clear that
this division of the continent will never thrive and
fully reap the benefit of its great natural advantages
until the independent republics assume the position of
sovereign states, subservient to a central power, a pur-
pose which has already been so successfully accom-
plished in Mexico.
While we have been considering the great southern
"continent as a whole, our good ship, having crossed
the equator, has been rapidly approaching its northern
shore. After entering the broad mouth of the Amazon
and ascending its course for many miles, we are now
in sight of the thriving metropolis of Para.
CHAPTER V.
City of Pai il. — The Equatoi'ial Line. — Spanish History. — The
King of Waters. — Private Gardens — Domestic Life in Northern
Brazil. — Delicious Pineapples. — Family Pets. — Opera House. —
Mendicaiftts. — A Grand Avenue. — Botanical Garden. — India-Rub-
ber Tree. — Gathering the Raw Material. — Monkeys. — The Royal
Palm. — Splendor of Equatorial Nights.
Para is the most northerly city of Brazil. It also
bears the name of Belem on some maps, and is the
capital of a province of the first designation. The
full official title of the place is, in the usual style of
Portuguese and Spanish hyperbole, Santa Maria do
Belem do Grao Para, which has fortunately and nat-
urally simplified itself to Para. It was founded in
1615, and the province of which it is the capital was
the last in Brazil to declare its independence of the
mother country, and to acknowledge the authority of
the first emperor, Dom Pedro. It is the largest polit-
ical division of the republic, and in some respects the
most thriving. The city is situated about ninety
miles south of the equator, and eighty miles from the
Atlantic Ocean on the Para River, so called, but
which is really one of the mouths of the Amazon. It
is thus the principal city at the mouth of the largest
river in the world, a fact quite sufficient to indicate
its present, and to insure its continued commercial
importance.
THE PARA ESTUARY. 95
As we entered the muddy estuary of the river,
whose wide expanse was lashed into short, angry waves
by a strong wind, large tree trunks were seen floating
seaward, rising and sinking on the undulating surface
of the water. Some were quite entire, with all of
their branches still attached to the main trunk. They
came, perhaps, from two thousand miles inland, borne
upon the swift current from where it had imdermined
the roots in their forest home. Among the rest was
a cocoa-palm with its full tufted head, some large
brown nuts still hanging tenaciously to the parent
stem. It had fallen bodily, while in its prime and
full bearing, suddenly unearthed by some swift devia-
tion of the river, which brooks no trifling impediment
to its triumphal march seaward. How long, one
would be glad to know, has this vast stream, fed by
the melted snow of the Andes, poured its accumulated
waters into the bosom of the ocean? A thousand
years is but as a day, in reckoning the age of a moun-
tain range or of a mammoth river.
As we approached the city, the channel became
gradually narrowed by several prominent islands,
crowded with rich green vegetation, forest trees of
various sorts, mangoes, bananas, and regal palms.
Though it is thus broken by islands, the river is here
over twenty miles in width.
Para is yielded precedence over the other cities on
the east coast of South America in many respects, and
is appreciatively called "Queen of the Amazon," her
water communication reaching into the very heart of
96 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
some of the most fertile valleys on the continent. One
incorporated company has established a score of well-
appointed steamers, averaging five hundred tons each,
which navigate the river for a distance of two thou-
sand miles from its mouth. Para has an excellent
harbor, of large capacity, accommodating an exten-
sive commerce, a considerable portion of which is with
the United States of North America. It has a mixed
population of about fifty thousand, composed of an
amalgamation of Portuguese, Italians, Indians, and
negroes, and is the only town of any importance, except
Quito, situated so near to the equatorial line, where
the interested observer has the privilege of beholding
the starry constellations of both hemispheres. Ships
of five thousand tons measurement can lie within a
hundred yards of the wharves of Para, where the ac-
cumulation of coffee, dye woods, drugs, tobacco, cotton,
cocoa, rice, sugar, and raw india-rubber, indicates the
character of the principal exports. Of all these sta-
ples, the last named is the most important, in a com-
mercial point of view, occupying the third place on
the list of national exports. As we have shown, the
import and export trade of the Amazon valley natu-
rally centres here, and Para need fear no commercial
rival.
For a considerable period this unequaled water-
way, forming the spacious port, and conveying the
drainage of nearly half of South America into the
Atlantic, bore the name of its discoverer, Orellana,
one of Pizarro's captains; but the fabulous story of a
FRIAR GASPAR'S STORY. 97
priest called Friar Gaspar, self -constituted clironicler
of the expedition, gave to it the designation which
it now bears. All the Spanish records of the his-
tory and conquests in the New World, relating to
the doings of Columbus, Cortez, Pizarro, and others,
without an exception, were written in the same spirit
of exaggeration and untruthfulness, leading that pious
witness and contemporary writer. Las Casas, to pro-
nounce them, with honest indignation, to be a tissue
of falsehoods. Even our own popular historian,
Prescott, who drew so largely upon these sources for
his poetical productions, was forced to admit their
manifest incongruities, contradictions, and general
irresponsibility. This Manchausen of a priest. Friar
Gaspar, recorded that a tribe of Amazons, or fight-
ing women, was encountered far inland, on the banks
of the mighty river, who were tall in stature, sym-
metrical in form, and had a profusion of long hair,
which hung in braids down their backs. They were
represented to be as warlike as they were beautiful,
and as carrying shields and spears, the latter of which
they could use with great skill and effect. It was
this foolish story of the Amazons, hatched in the pro-
lific brain of Friar Gaspar, which gave the river its
lasting name.
The Indian designation of the mammoth water-
course was significant and appropriate, as their names
always are. They called it Parana-ting a^ meaning
"King of Waters," and it seems to us a great pity
that the name could not have been retained.
98 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Para has the advantage of being much nearer to
the United States and to Europe than Rio Janeiro,
the capital of Brazil. Though the commerce of Rio
is constantly increasing, in spite of its miserable sani-
tary condition, it is confidently believed by intelligent
persons engaged in the South American trade, that
Para will equal it erelong in the aggregate of its ship-
ments. All freight is now landed by means of light-
ers, a process which is an awkward drawback upon
commerce, and what makes it still more aggravating
is that it seems to be an entirely needless one. Cer-
tainly a good, substantial, capacious pier might be
easily built, which would obviate this objection, ac-
commodating a dozen large vessels at the same time.
The Brazilians are slow to adopt any modern improve-
ment. Portuguese and Sj)aniards are very much alike
in this respect. Wharves will be built at Para by
and by, after a few more millions have been wasted
upon the inconvenient 2)rocess now in vogue, which
involves not only needless exj^ense, but causes most
awkward and unreasonable delay, both in landing
merchandise and in shipping freight for export. This
serious objection applies to all the ports along the east
coast of South America. There is always some private
interest which exerts itself to prevent any progressive
movement, and it is this which retards improved facil-
ities for unloading and shipping of cargoes at Para.
In this instance the owners of the steam tugs which
tow the flat-bottomed lighters from ship to shore, and
vice versa, oppose the building of piers, because, if
THE CITY OF PARA. 99
they were in existence, these individuals would find
their profitable occupation gone. If proper wharf
facilities were to be furnished, commerce generally
would be much benefited, though a few persons would
suffer some pecuniary loss. As we have said, the
wharves will come by and by, when the people realize
that private interest must be subservient to the public
good.
The city of Para is situated upon slightly elevated
ground, and makes a fine appearance from the river,
with its lofty cathedral, numerous churches, convents,
custom house, and arsenal standing forth in bold
relief against an intensely blue sky, while fronting
the harbor, like a line of sentinels, is a row of tall,
majestic palms, harmonizing admirably with the local
surroundings, though in the very midst of a busy
commercial centre. The buildings are painted yel-
low, blue, or pink, the facades contrasting strongly
with the dark red of the heavily tiled roofs, which,
having no chimneys, present an odd appearance to
a northern eye. Here and there a mass of greenery
indicates some domestic garden, or a plaza presided
over by tall groups of trees, among which the thick,
umbrageous mangoes prevail. The Rua da Impera-
triz is the principal wholesale street of the city,
where the large warehouses are to be found, but the
Rua dos Mercadores is the fashionable shopping
street, through which the tramway also passes. The
shops are rather small, but have a fair stock of goods
offered at reasonable rates, though strangers are apt
100 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
to be victimized by considerably higher prices than a
native would pay.
This, however, is not unusual in all foreign coun-
tries, so far as our experience goes. North Americans
are looked upon as possessing unlimited pecuniary
means, and as lavish in their expenditures, prices be-
ing gauged accordingly. This is a universal practice
in Europe, and especially so in Germany.
The climate is very moist, and it has been face-
tiously remarked that it rains here eight days in the
week. One cannot speak approvingly of the sanitary
condition of a place where turkey buzzards are de-
pended upon to remove the garbage which accumulates
in the thoroughfares. It is unaccountable that the
citizens should submit to such filthy surroundings, es-
pecially in a locality where malarial fever is acknow-
ledged to prevail in the summer season. Though at
this writing it is the latter part of May, yellow fever
is still rife here, and we hear of many particularly sad
cases, ending fatally, all about us. This destroyer is
especially apt to carry off people who have newly ar-
rived in the country. The present year has been
unusually fatal among the residents of Para, as re-
gards yellow fever, which seems to linger longer and
longer each year of its visitation. Our own conviction
is that the people have themselves to thank for this
lingering of the pest into the winter months, since
the sanitary conditions of the place are inexcusably
defective.
Gardens in and about the city quickly catch and
INSECT LIFE. 101
delight the eye, — gardens where flowers and fruits
grow in great luxuriance. Among the latter are
oranges, mangoes, guavas, figs, and bananas. The
glossy gTeen fronds of the bananas throw other ver-
dure altogether into the shade, while in dignity and
beauty the cocoanut palms excel all other trees. The
tall, straight stem of the palm rises from the roots
without leaf or branch until the plumed head is
reached, which bends slightly under its wealth of pin-
nated leaves and fruit combined. If you happen to
pass these gardens after nightfall, especially those in
the immediate environs of the city, mark the phos-
phorescent clouds of dancing lights which fill the still
atmosphere round about the vegetation. This pecu-
liar effect is produced by the busy cucuios, or tropi-
cal fireflies, each vigorously flashing its individual
torch. Do they shine thus in the daytime, we are
led to wonder, like the constellations in the heavens,
though hidden by the greater light of the sun ? They
are always demonstrative in the night, be it never so
cloudy, fogg}^ or damp in the low latitudes. They
keep their sparkling revels, their torchlight dances, all
heedless of the grim and deadly fever which lurks in
the surrounding atmosphere, claiming human victims
right and left, among high and low, from the ranks of
age and of youth. Insect life is redundant here. It
is the very paradise of butterflies, whose size, wide
spread of wing, variety, and striking beauty of colors,
we have only seen equaled at Penang and Singapore,
in the Malacca Straits. Some of the avenues leading
102 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
to tlie environs are lined with handsome trees, which
add greatly to their attractiveness and comfort. The
silk cotton tree and the almond are favorites here as
ornamental shade trees. The cape jessamine is uni-
versally cultivated at Para, and grows to a large size,
filling the air with its agreeable fragrance. Here the
oleander, covered with clusters of bloom, grows to the
height of twenty feet and more. The lime, with its
fine acid fruit, which is in great request in making
cooling drinks, also abounds.
The glimpses of domestic life which one gets in
passing the better class of dwellings reveal rooms
with tiled or polished wooden floors, cane -finished
chairs, sofas, and rockers to match, a small foot rug
here and there, a group of flowering plants in one
corner, while hammocks seem to take the place of bed-
steads. The temperature is high at Para in summer,
and woolen carpets, or even mattresses, are too warm
for use in this climate. Bignonias, oleanders, and other
blooming plants abound in the flower-plots about the
city, besides many flowering vines which are stran-
gers to us, half orchids, half creepers. One is apt to
jump at conclusions. These people dearly love flow-
ers, so we conclude they cannot be very wicked.
The families live, as it were, in the open patios,
which form the centres of their dwellings, are shaded
by broad verandas, and upon which the domestic apart-
ments all open. The accessories are few, and not en-
tirely convenient, according to a northerner's ideas of
comfort ; but this is compensated for by the fragrance
BAHIA ORANGES. 103
of flowers, the picturesqueness of the surroundings,
and the free and easy out-of-door atmosphere which
iofnores conventionalities. These attractive interiors
suggest a sort of picnic mode of life which has con-
formed itseK to climatic influences. Everything is very
quiet, there is no hurry, and the stilhiess is occasion-
ally interrupted by the musical laughter of children,
which rings out clear and pleasantly, entirely in har-
mony with the siuToundings. And such children!
Artists' models, every one of them. It all seems to
a stranger to be the very poetry of living, yet we ven-
ture to say that each household has its skeleton in the
closet, and some a whole anatomical museiun!
At Bahia, further south, a revelation awaits the
traveler in the delicious richness, size, and delicacy of
the oranges which grow there in lavish abimdance,
and which are famous all along the coast. Here at
Para, the same may be said of the pineapple, the
raising of which is a local specialty. These are not
picked until fully ripe, and often weigh ten pounds
each. When cut open, the inside can be eaten with
a spoon, if one fancies that mode. They require no
sugar ; nature has supplied the saccharine principle in
abundance. They are absolutely perfect in themselves
alone. People sailing northward lay in a great store
of this admirable fruit, which is as cheap as it is de-
licious and appetizing. In New England, the pines
of which we partake have been picked in a green con-
dition in Bermuda, the Bahamas, or Florida, to en-
able them to bear transportation. They ripen only
104 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
partially off the stem, and after a very poor style, de-
cay setting in at the same time ; consequently the pulp
is not suitable to swallow, and is always more or less
indigestible. The Para pines are seedless, and are
propagated by replanting the suckers. The crown,
we were told, would also thrive and reproduce the
fruit if properly planted, but the first named pro-
cess is that generally employed, and is probably the
best.
In the neighborhood of Para are many large and
profitable cocoa plantations, the industry connected
with which is a growing one, representing a consid-
erable amount of capital. But above all others, the
gathering and preparing of raw india-rubber for ex-
portation is the prevailing industry of this Brazilian
capital.
The common people seem to be an uncertain mix-
ture of races, confounding all attempts properly to
analyze their antecedents. They have touches of re-
finement and underlying tenderness of instinct, as
exhibited in their home associations, but also evince
a coarseness which is not inviting, to say the least.
They are universal lovers of pet birds and small ani-
mals. No household seems to be complete without
some representatives of the sort. Among these are
cranes, ibises, herons, turtle-doves, parrots, macaws,
and paroquets. Monkeys of various tribes, the little
marmoset being the favorite, are seen domesticated
in almost every private garden, full of fun and mis-
chief, and affording infinite amusement to the youtlif ul
ANACONDAS. 105
members of the household. Young anacondas, some-
times ten feet long, are kept in and about the dwell-
ings, to catch and drive away the rats I The reader
smiles half incredulously at this, and we do not
wonder. If one of these rodents be caught in a trap
and killed, it is useless to offer it to an anaconda
as food. That fastidious reptile will eat only such
creatures as it kills itself. This is also characteristic
of the African lion and the tiger of India, when in the
wild state ; neither will molest a dead body, of man or
beast, which they have not themselves deprived of life,
though hyenas, wolves, and some other animals will
even rob the graves of human bodies for food. We
had never heard of anacondas emjiloyed as ratters be-
fore we came to Para, but we were assured by those
who should know that they are especially effective in
warfare against this domestic pest.
Broad verandas give a grateful shade to most of
the dwelling-houses, which are seldom over one story
in height, each one, however, extending over consid-
erable ground space. In the business part of the
town, fronting the harbor, the houses are generally
two or even three stories in height, it being necessary
in such localities to economize the square feet of
ground occujDied. The same sort of external orna-
mentation is seen here as upon the house fronts in
Mexico, namely, the profuse decoration of the walls
with glazed earthen tiles, often of fancy colors, which
gives a checkerboard appearance to a dwelling-house
not calculated to please a critical eye.
106 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
The Opera House of Para is a large and imposing
structure, one of the finest edifices in the town, and
the largest theatre, we believe, in South America,
quite uncalled for, it would seem, by any local de-
mand. It is built of brick, finished in stucco, the
front being decorated with marble columns having
handsome and elaborate Corinthian capitals. The
house lights up brilliantly at night, being finished in
red, white, and gold. It has four narrow galleries
supported upon brackets, thus obviating the necessity
for the objectionable upright posts which so provok-
ingly interfere with the line of sight. The cathedral
is a substantial and handsome structure, with a couple
of tall towers, after the usual Spanish style, each con-
taining a dozen bells. The interior has all the florid
and tawdry ornamentation always to be found in Ro-
man Catholic churches, together with the usual com-
plement of bleeding figures, arrow-pierced saints, high-
colored paper rosettes, utterly meaningless, together
with any amount of glittering tinsel, calculated to
catch the eye and captivate the imagination of the
grossly ignorant native population.
There are many minor churches in the city, and
judging by the number seen in the streets, there must
be at least a thousand priests, whose sole occupa-
tion, when they are not gambling or cock-fighting,
is to cajole and impoverish the common people. It
was a church festival when we visited the cathedral.
There are over two hundred such days, out of every
three hundred and sixty-five, in Roman Catholic
CHURCH FESTIVALS. 107
countries, — not days of humiliation and prayer, but
days of gross latitude, of bull-fights, occasions when
the decent amenities of life are ignored, days when
the broadest license prevails, and all excesses are
condoned. There were a large number of women
present in the cathedral on this day, but scarcely
half a dozen men. The better class were dressed
gayly, and wore some rich jewelry. The love of finery
prevails, and pervades all classes. Some of the ladies
were clad in costly silks and laces, set oif by brilliants
and pearls. Diamonds and precious stones are very
common in this coimtry, and a certain class seem to
carry a large share of their worldly possessions show-
ily displayed upon their persons. What the humbler
class lacked in richness of material, they made up in
gaudy colors, blazing scarfs, and imitation gold and
silver jewelry. Nature sets the example of bright col-
ors in these latitudes, in gaudy pliuned birds and high-
tinted flowers and fruits. The natives only follow
her. The few men who were present came to ogle the
women, and having satisfied their low-bred curiosity,
soon retired to the neighboring bar-rooms and gam-
bling saloons. On special festal days temporary booths
are erected in the squares, in which intoxicants are
sold, together with toys, cakes, cigars, and charms,
the latter said to have been blessed by the priests,
and therefore sure to prevent any injury from the evil
eye!
As in most of the South American cities, there are
several elaborate buildings here, formerly used as con-
108 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
vents, which are now devoted to more creditable pur-
poses. The present custom house occupies one of
these edifices, which is crowned with two lofty towers.
There are plenty of mendicants in the streets of
Para, who are very ready with their importunities,
especially in appealing to strangers. The average
citizens seemed to be liberal in dealing with these
beggars. Saturday is called "poor day" in Para,
as it is also in Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, etc.,
when every housekeeper who is able to give some-
thing does so, if it be only a small roll of bread, to
each visiting beggar. At most houses these small rolls
are baked regularly for this purpose, and the applicant
is nearly sure to get one upon calling, and if he rep-
resents a large family he may receive two. Money is
rarely, if ever, given by residents, nor is it expected;
but strangers are surrounded as by an army with ban-
ners, and vigorously importuned for centavos. The
Spaniards and Portuguese are natural beggars.
Here let us digress for a moment. The system of
beggary prevailing in Spanish coimtries is very trying
to all sensitive travelers. In Italy, Spain, and the
south of France, especially at the watering-places, it
is a terrible pest. Naples has become almost unendur-
able on this account. At every rod one is constantly
importuned and followed by beggars of all sizes, ages,
and of both sexes, — individuals who should be placed
in asylums and cared for by the state. No reason-
able person would object to paying a certain sum on
entering these resorts, to be honestly devoted to char-
PROFESSIONAL BEGGARS. 109
itable purposes, provided it would insure him against
the disgusting importunities of which strangers are now
the victims. Visitors hasten away from the localities
where these things are not only permitted but are
encouraged. It is thought to be quite the thing to
fleece foreigners of every possible penny, and by every
possible means. The contrast in this respect between
the cities of the United States and those of Europe
and South America is eminently creditable to the
former. In the beautiful little watering-place known
as Luchon, in the south of France, at the foot of the
Pyrenees, with scarcely four thousand inhabitants,
there are over one hundred professional beggars, who
constantly beset and drive away visitors. Some of
these, as usual in such cases, are known to be well off
pecuniarily, but are marked by some physical deform-
ity upon which they trade. If the stranger gives, he
is oftenest encouraging a swindle, rarely performing
a true charity. This is one of the increasing dis-
graces of Paris. Beggars know too much to impor-
tune citizens, but strangers are beset at every corner
of the boulevards and public gardens, particularly by
children, girls and boys, trained for the purpose.
Of all the races seen in Brazil, the half-breed Indian
girls are the most attractive, and until they are past
the age of twenty -five or thirty years they are almost
universally handsome, no matter to what class they
belong. Those who have the advantage of domestic
comforts, good food, and delicate associations de-
velop accordingly, and are especially beautiful. They
110 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
would make charming artists' models. The remarka-
bly straight figure of the native women is noticeable,
caused by the practice referred to of carrying bur-
dens on the head. As already mentioned, if a negro
or Indian woman has an article to transport, even
if it be but a quart bottle, or an vmibrella, it is placed
at once upon the head. The article may weigh five
pounds or fifty, it is all the same ; everything but the
babies is thus transported. These little naked crea-
tures, always suggestive of monkeys, are supported on
the mother's back, held there by a shawl or rebozo
tied securely across the chest. When the children
are six or eight years old, they are promoted to the
dignity of wearing one small garment, an abbreviated
shirt or chemise.
The principal food of the common people of north-
ern Brazil is farina and dried fish, with fried plan-
tains and ripe bananas. Crabs and oysters of a poor
description abound along the coast, and are eaten by
the people, both in a raw and cooked condition. But
the white people avoid the coast oysters, which some-
times poison those not accustomed to them.
The finest avenue in Para is the Estrada de Sao
Jose, bordered by grand old palms, which form a beau-
tiful perspective and a welcome shade, the feathery
tops nearly embracing each other overhead. The
tramway takes one through the environs by the Rua
de Nazareth, for five miles to Marco da Legua, where
the public wells of the city are situated. The way
thither is lined with neat and handsome dwellings.
THE INDIA-RUBBER TREE. Ill
shaded by noble trees. The botanical garden is well
worth a visit by all lovers of horticulture. The forest
creeps up towards the environs of the town, wherein
many of the trees are rendered beautiful by clinging
orchids of gorgeous blue ; others are of blood red, and
some of orange yellow, presenting also a great diver-
sity of form. One has not far to go to see specimens
of the india-rubber tree, growing from ninety to a
hundred feet in height, while measuring from four to
five feet in diameter. This tree begins to produce
gum at the age of fifteen years. The trunk is smooth
and perfectly round, the bark of a buff color. It
bears a curious fruit, of which some animals are said
to be fond. The author has seen the india-rubber
tree growing in the island of Ceylon, where it seemed
to reach a greater height and dimensions than it does
in the district of Para. A considerable portion of the
roots lie above ground, stretching away from the base
of the tree like huge anacondas, and finally disap-
pearing in the earth half a rod or more from the par-
ent trunk. The reader can hardly fail to be familiar
with the simple wild plant, which grows so abun-
dantly by our New England roadsides, known as the
milk-weed, which, when the stem is cut or broken,
emits a creamy, pungent smelling liquid. In the
latitude of Para, this little weed, of the same family,
assumes the form of a colossal tree, and is known as
the india-rubber tree. The United States takes of
Brazilian rubber, in the crude state, over twenty -five
thousand tons annually. As to coffee, Brazil supplies
112 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
one half of all which is consumed in the civilized
world ; but we should frankly tell the reader, if he
does not already realize the fact, that it is most fre-
quently marked and sold for "Old Government
Java."
The india-rubber tree is tapped annually very much
after the same style in which we treat the sugar-maple
in Vermont, and elsewhere, to procure its sap. A yel-
low, creamy liquid flows forth from the rubber tree
into small cups placed beneath an incision made in the
trunk. When the cup becomes full, its contents is
emptied into a large common receptacle, where it is
allowed to partially harden, and in which form it
is called caoutchouc. The tapping of the trees and
attending to the gathering of the sap furnish em-
ployment to hundreds of the natives, who, however,
make but small wages, being employed by contrac-
tors, who either lease the trees of certain districts, or
own large tracts of forest land. These Brazilian
forests are very grand, abounding in valuable aro-
matic plants, precious woods, gaudy birds, and va-
rious wild animals. The number of monkeys is ab-
solutely marvelous, including many curious varieties.
A native will not kill a monkey ; indeed, it must be
difficult for a European to make up his mind to shoot
a creature so nearly human in its actions, and whose
pleading cries when wounded are said to be so pitiable.
One of the peculiar street sights in Para is that
of native women with a dozen young monkeys of dif-
ferent species for sale. Marmosets can be bought for
THE ROYAL PALM. 113
a quarter of a dollar each. So tame are the little
creatures that they cling about the woman's person,
fastening upon her hair, arms, and neck, not in the
least inclined to escape from her. It is remarkable
and interesting to see how very fond they become of
their owner, if he is kind to them. Like the dog
and the cat, they seem to have a strong desire for
human companionship. When seen running wild in
the woods, leaping from tree to tree, and from branch
to branch, they do not try to get far away from
the presence of man, but only to keep, in their un-
tamed state, just out of reach of his hands. Ships
sailing hence generally take away a few of these ani-
mals, but as they are delicate, and very sensitive to
climatic changes, many of them die before reaching
Europe or Xorth America.
The great beauty of Para is its abundance of palm
trees. The palm is always an interesting object, as
well as a most valuable one ; interesting because of its
historical and legendary associations, and valuable,
since it would be almost impossible to enumerate the
number of important uses to which it and its products
are put. To the people of the tropics it is the prolific
source of food, shelter, clothing, fuel, fibre for sev-
eral uses, sugar, oil, wax, and wine. It has been
aptly termed the "princess of the vegetable world."
One indigenous species, the Piassaba, is a palm which
yields a most valuable fibre, extensively manufactured
into cordage and ships' cables, for which purpose it
is much in use on the coast of South America. It
114 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
is found to be stronger and more elastic tlian liemp
when thus employed, besides which it is far more dur-
able. The product of this species of palm is also ex-
ported in large quantities to North America and to
England, for the purpose of making brushes, brooms,
and various sorts of domestic matting.
The nights are especially beautiful in this region.
We were interested in observing the remarkable bril-
liancy of the sky ; the stars do not seem to sparkle, as
with us at the north, but shed a soft, steady light,
making all things luminous. This is the natural re-
sult of the clearness of the atmosphere. One is sur-
prised at first to find the moon apparently so much in-
creased in size and efPulgency. The Southern Cross
is ever present, though it is dominated by the Centaur.
Orion is seen in his glory, and the Scorpion is clearly
defined. In the author's estimation, there is no exhi-
bition of the heavens in these regions which surpasses
the magnificence of the far-reaching Milky Way.
CHAPTER VI.
Island of Marajo. — Rare and Beautiful Birds. — Original Mode of
Securing Humming'-Birds. — Maranhao. — Educational. — Value of
Native Forests. — Pernambuco. — Difficulty of Landing. — An Ill-
chosen Name. — Local Scenes. — Uncleanly Habits of the People. —
Great Sugar Mart. — Native Houses. — A Quaint Hostelry. — Cata-
marans. — A Natural Breakwater. — Sailing down the Coast.
The island of Marajo, situated at the mouth of the
Amazon, opposite Para, and belonging to the province
or state of that name, is a hundred and eighty miles
in length and about one hundred and sixty in width,
nearly identical in size with the island of Sicily, and
almost oval in form. One of the principal shore
settlements is Breves, on the southeastern corner of
the island, which lies somewhat low, and consists of
remarkably fertile soil, so abounding in wild and
beautiful vegetation and exquisite floral varieties,
that it is called in this region "the Island of Flow-
ers." We can easily believe the name to be appropri-
ately chosen, since, as we skirt its verdant shores hour
after hour, they seem to emit the drowsy, caressing
sweetness of fragrant flowers so sensibly as to almost
produce a narcotic effect. The easterly or most sea-
ward part of Marajo is open, marshy, sandy land, but
back from the shore the soil is of a rich, black allu-
viimi, supporting in very large tracts a dense forest
116 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
growth, similar to all the low lying tropical lands of
South America. The population is recorded as num-
bering about twenty thousand, divided into several
settlements, mostly on the coast, and consists largely
of the aboriginal race found by the first comers upon
this island, who, on account of their somewhat isolated
condition, have amalgamated less with Europeans and
the imported colored race than any other tribe on the
east coast of the continent.
The extensive meadows of Marajo are the grazing
fields of numerous herds of wild horses and horned
cattle, the former of a sujierior breed, highly prized
on the mainland ; and yet so rapidly do they increase
in this climate, in the wild state, that every few years
they are killed in large numbers for their hides alone.
The exports from the island consist of rice, cattle,
horses, and hides. There are some large plantations
devoted to the cultivation of rice, the soil and water
supply of certain districts being especially favorable
to this crop. As intimated, a considerable portion of
Marajo is covered with a forest growth so dense as to
be compared to the jungles of Africa and India, and
which, so far as is known, has never been penetrated
by the foot of man. Travelers who have visited the
borders of this leafy wilderness expatiate upon the
strange, inexplicable sounds which are heard at times,
amid the prevailing stillness and sombre aspect of
these primeval woods. Sometimes there comes, it
is said, from out the forest depth a wild cry, like that
of a human being in distress, but which, however long
PARADISE OF NATURALISTS. 117
one may listen, is not repeated. Again, there is
heard an awful crash, like the falling of some pon-
derous forest giant, then stillness once more settles
over the mysterious, tangled woods. Every time the
silence is broken it seems to be by some new and in-
explicable sound, not to be satisfactorily accounted for.
The lagoons near the centre of Marajo are said to
abound in alligators, which are sometimes sought for
by the natives for their hides, for which a fair price
is realized, since fashion has rendered this article
popular in a hundred different forms. The num-
ber and variety of birds and lesser animals to be
found upon the island are marvelous. Certain species
of birds seem to have retreated to this spot from the
mainland, before the tide of European immigration;
indeed, it has for a long time been considered the
paradise of the naturalist. Over thirty species of that
peculiar bird, the toucan, have been secured here.
When Professor Agassiz was engaged in his scien-
tific exploration of the Amazon, he dispatched a small
but competent party especially to obtain specimens
from this island, the result being both a surprise and
a source of great gratification to the king of natural-
ists. Many of the objects secured by these explorers
were rare and beautiful birds, not a few of which are
unique, and of which no previous record existed.
There were also many curious insects and other speci-
mens particularly valuable to naturalists, most of which
are preserved to-day in the Agassiz Museum at Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts. The toucan, just spoken of,
118 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
is most remarkable for its beauty and variety of col-
ors, as well as for the very i^eculiar form and size
of its elephantine bill, which makes it look singularly
ill-balanced. This ludicrous appendage is nine inches
long and three in circumference ; the color is vermilion
and yellow delicately mingled. The toucan is much
coveted for special collections by all naturalists, and
is becoming very scarce, except in this one equatorial
locality. Scarlet ibises and roseate spoonbills are
also found at Marajo, both remarkably fine examples
of semi-aquatic fowl, and when these are secured in
good condition for preservation, the natives realize
good prices for them. In order to procure desirable
specimens of the humming-bird species, which are
also abundant on this island, the native hunters resort
to an ingenious device, so as not to injure the skin or
the extremely delicate plumage of this butterfly -bird.
For this purpose they use a peculiar syringe made from
reeds, and charged with a solution of adhesive gum,
which, when directed by an experienced hand, clogs
the bird's wings at once, stopping its flight and caus-
ing it to fall to the ground. Some are caught by means
of nets set on the end of long bamboo poles, such as
are used to secure butterflies, but this method is poorly
adapted to catch so quick moving a creature as a hum-
ming-bird. The author has seen, in southern India,
butterflies of gaudiest texture with bodies as large as
small humming-birds, which were quite as brilliant
as they in lovely colors. The variety and beauty
of this insect, as found anywhere from Tuticorin to
ISLAND OF MARA JO. 119
Darjeeling, is notable. Wherever British troops are
permanently settled, the wives of the common soldiers
become very expert in catching and arranging these
attractive objects, preserving them in frames under
glass. These find ready purchasers for museums and
private collections all over Europe, and are sold at
moderate prices, but serve to add a welcome trifle to
the extremely poor pay of a common soldier having
perhaps a wife and one or two children to support.
The island of Mara jo was not formed at the Ama-
zon's mouth of soil brought down from the interior by
the river's current, as is often the case with islands
thus situated, but is a natural, rocky formation which
serves to divide the channel and give the river a
double outlet into the Atlantic. Agassiz studied its
character, and gives us an interesting statement as the
result. He declared, after careful geological exami-
nation, that it is an island which was once situated
far inland, away from the river's mouth, but which
is now brought near to it by the gradual encroach-
ment of the Atlantic Ocean, whose waves and rest-
less currents have slowly worn away the northeastern
part of the continent. This abrasion must have
been going on for many thousand years, to have pro-
duced such a decided topographical change. For the
word years, upon second thought, read ages, which
will undoubtedly express the true idea much more
correctly.
There are over twenty species of palms indigenous
to Marajo, which, as one skirts the water front, are
120 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
seen growing along the far-reaching shore, fostered by
the humidity of the atmosphere arising from the ever-
flowing waters of the great river. Among these the
peach-palm is quite conspicuous, with its spiny stems
and mealy, nutritious fruit. There are also the
cocoa-palm and the assai-palm, the latter gayly dec-
orated with its delicate green plumes and long spear
pointing heavenward, an emblem borne by no other
tree in existence. The great variety of forms of plant
life and giant grasses is extremely curious and beau-
tiful on this interesting island. We heard, while at
Para, of a proposal made by some European party to
thoroughly explore Marajo, which has never yet been
done, so far as is known to our time, and it is believed
that some very interesting and valuable discoveries
may be the result of such an expedition, composed of
engineers, scientists, and naturalists.
A day's sail to the eastward, bearing a little to the
south along the coast, brings us to the port of Ma-
ranhao, which is the capital of a province of Brazil
known by the same name, situated a little over three
hundred miles from Para. The place is picturesquely
nestled, as it were, in the very lap of the mountains,
which come boldly down to the coast at this point.
It was founded nearly three hundred years ago, is
regularly built, and contains between thirty and forty
thousand inhabitants. Nearly all of the houses, which
are generally of two stories, are ornamented with at-
tractive balconies, and have handsome gardens attached
to them, where the luxurious verdure is with difficulty
MARANHAO. 121
kept within proper bounds. Vegetation runs riot in
equatorial regions. It is the one pleasing outlet of
nature, whose overcharged vitality, spurred on by the
climate, must find vent either in teeming vegetation
or in raging volcanoes, tidal waves, and unwelcome
earthquakes, though sometimes, to be sure, we find
them all combined in the tropics.
The harbor of Maranhao is excellent and sheltered,
the depth of water permitting the entrance of ships
drawing full twenty feet, an advantage which some
of the ports to the southward would give millions of
dollars to possess. According to published statistics,
the exports during 1890 were as follows: thirty-six
hundred tons of cotton, six hundred tons of sugar,
seven hundred tons of hides, a large amount of rice,
and some other minor articles. The imports for the
same period were estimated at something less than
three million doUars in value. This is the entrepot
of several populous districts, besides that of which
it is the capital. ' The province itself contains a
number of navigable rivers, with some thrifty towns
on their banks. The bay gives ample evidence of
commercial activity, containing at all times a number
of foreign steamships, with a goodly show of coasting
vessels. The place is slowly but steadily growing in
its business relations, and in the number of its per-
manent population.
It cannot make any pretension to architectural
excellence, though the Bishop's palace and the ca-
thedral are handsome structures. There are two or
122 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
three other prominent edifices, quaint and Moorish,
which were once nunneries or monasteries; also a
foundling institution, a special necessity in all Roman
Catholic countries. We found here a public library,
and a botanical garden. Not far inland there are
some extensive rice plantations, the province in some
portions being specially adapted to producing this
valuable staple. We were informed by those whose
opinion was worthy of respect, that educational advan-
tages are rather remarkable here, the Lyceum having
in the past few years graduated some of the most
prominent statesmen and professionals in Brazil.
One thing is very certain, the authorities cannot mul-
tiply educational facilities any too rapidly in this
country, nor give the subject any too much attention,
especially as regards the rising generation of both
sexes. So far as we could -learn by inquiry, or judge
by careful observation, the ignorance of the mass of
the people is simply deplorable.
Maranhao is situated about fourteen hundred miles
north of Rio Janeiro, with which port it carries on
an extensive coasting trade. The exports, besides the
staples already spoken of, are various, including an-
notto, sarsaparilla, balsam copaiba, and other medi-
cinal extracts, together with rum and crude india-
rubber. The climate is torrid, the city being one
hundred and fifty miles south of the equator; and
though, like most of the towns on the eastern coast
of the continent, it is rather an unhealthy locality, it
is much less so than Para, and is a far more cleanly
LOCAL PRODUCTS. 123
place than that city, its situation giving it the advan-
tage of a system of natural drainage. The country
near Maranhao abounds in native forests of exuber-
ant richness, producing a valuable quality of timber,
and affordino: some of the finest cabinet woods known
to commerce, as well as a practically inexhaustible
supply of various dyewoods, a considerable business
being done in the export of the latter article. It was
observed that the assai-pahn, from which the palm
wine is made, was also a prominent feature here.
The trunk is quite smooth, the fruit growing in heavy
bunches like grapes, dark brown in color, and about
the size of cranberries, hanging in heavy clusters just
below the bunch of long leaves which forms the top of
the tree. The native drink which is made from these
palm grapes is a favorite beverage in northern Bra-
zil, and when properly fermented it contains about the
same percentage of alcohol as English pale ale.
To the author, the to^vTi of Maranhao was quite
unknown; even its place upon the maps had never
attracted his attention until after it was seen lying
peacefully in an amphitheatre of tall hills, which come
down close to the rock-ribbed shore of the Atlantic
Ocean. This acknowledgment is between ourselves,
for such a confession would sound very ridiculous to
the good people of Maranhao.
After leaving its harbor, our next objective point
was Pernambuco, which is situated about four days'
sail from Para by steamship, and about three from
Maranhao.
124 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
This well-known port, with its one hundred and fifty
thousand inhabitants, is reckoned as the third city of
Brazil in point of size and commercial importance.
It lacks elevation to produce a good effect, and recalls
the low-lying city of Havana in general appearance,
as one approaches it from the sea. The harbor is not
what could be desired for a commercial city, having
hardly sufficient depth of water for vessels of heavy
tonnage, and being also too narrow for a modern long
steamship to safely turn in. The American line of
steamships come to a mooring inside the harbor, but
the European lines, or at least the Pacific Mail, in
which we made the home passage, anchor in the open
roadstead, three quarters of a mile from the shore.
The harbor is formed by a long natural reef, which
makes a breakwater between it and the open sea, a
portion of the reef having been built up with solid
masonry to render it more effective. This remark-
able coral formation, which is more or less clearly
defined, extends along the coast for a considerable
distance, — it is said for four hundred miles. Op-
j)osite Pernambuco it rises six feet above the water,
that is, above high-water mark, and runs parallel to
the front street of the city at the distance from it of
about a third of a mile or less. A wide opening in
the reef at the northern end of the town makes the
entrance to the harbor. Off the northeast coast of
Australia, there is a very similar reef -formation, fully
as long as this on the South American coast, but
situated much further from the shore.
HARBOR OF PERNAMBUCO. 125
It is a serious drawback that passengers by large
ocean steamers cannot enter the harbor of Pernam-
buco except by lighters or open boats ; all freight
brought by these steamers must also be transhipped.
Landing here is often accomj^lished at considerable
personal risk, and a thorough ducking with salt water
is not at all imcommon in the attempt to reach the
shore. To pull a boat from the open roadstead into
the harbor, or vice versa, requires six stout oarsmen
and an experienced man at the helm, so that landing
from the Pacific Mail steamers is both a serious and
an expensive affair. If a very heavy sea is running,
the thing cannot be done, and no one will attempt it.
The powerful wind which so often prevails on the coast
occasionally creates quite a commotion even inside the
harbor, among the shipping moored there, causing the
largest cables to part and vessels to drag their an-
chors. Of course a vessel lying in the open road-
stead, outside of the reef, has no protection whatever,
and is in a critical situation if the wind blows to-
wards the land. If it comes on to blow suddenly, she
buoys and slips her anchor at once; she dares not
waste the time to hoist it, but gets away as quickly
as possible to where there is plenty of sea room and
no lee shore to fear. Fortunately, though so fierce for
the time being, and of a cyclonic character, the storms
upon the coast are generally of brief duration, and
like the furious pamperos, which are so dreaded by
mariners further south, they blow themselves out in
a few hours.
126 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
The geographical situation of Pernambuco is such,
in the track of commerce, that vessels bomid north or
south, from Euro23e or from North America, naturally
make it a port of call to obtain late advices and pro-
visions. The name has been singularly chosen, no
one can say how or by whom, but it signifies "the
mouth of hell," a cognomen which we do not think
the place at all deserves. It is a narrow, crowded,
picturesque old seaport.
The town is situated at the mouth of the Bib6ribe
River, just five hundred miles south of the equator,
and is divided in rather a peculiar manner into three
distinct parts: Recife, on a narrow peninsula; Boa
Vista, on the river shore; and San Antonio, on an
island in the river ; all being connected, however, by
six or eight substantial iron bridges. The first named
division is the business portion of the capital, about
whose water front the commercial life of Pernambuco
centres, but the streets of Recife are very narrow and
often confusingly crooked. Boa Vista is beautified
by pleasant domestic residences, delightful gardens,
and attractive j^romenades, far beyond anything which
a stranger anticipates meeting in this part of the
world. Though the business portion of the city is so
low, the other sections are of better and more recent
construction.
The view of the town and harbor to be had from
some portions of Olinda is very fine and compre-
hensive, taking in a wide reach of land and ocean.
When a brief storm is raging, spending its force
DISREGARD OF SANITARY CONDITIONS. 127
against the reef, the view from this point is indeed
grand. The sea, angered at meeting a substantial
impediment, seethes and foams in wild excitement,
dashing fifty feet into the air, and, falling over the
reef, lashes the inner waters of the harbor into waves
which mount the landing piers, and set everything
afloat in the broad plaza which lines the shore. The
big ships rock and sway incessantly, straining at their
anchors, or chafing dangerously at their moorings.
Precautions are taken to avert damage, but man's
strength and skill count for little when opposed by the
enraged elements.
This plaza, or quay, is shaded by aged magnolias of
great height, and is the resort of unemployed seamen,
fruit dealers, and idlers of all degrees. The house-
fronts in the various sections of the town are bril-
liantly colored, yellow, blue, white, and pink, also
sometimes being covered halfway up the first story
with glittering tiles of various hues. At nearly every
turn one comes upon the mossgrown, crumbling fa-
cade of some old church, about the corners of which
there is often a grossly filthy receptacle, the vile odor
from which permeates the surrounding atmosphere.
This was found to be almost insupportable with the
thermometer standing at 90° Fahr. in the shade,
forming so obvious a means for propagating malarial
fever and sickness generally as to be absolutely ex-
asperating. Notwithstanding all appearances, the
American consul assured us that Pernambuco is one
of the healthiest cities on the east coast of South
128 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
America. The yellow fever, however, does not by
any means forget to visit the place annually. Expe-
rience showed us that the residents along the coast
were accustomed to give their own city precedence in
the matter of hygienic conditions, and to admit, with
serious faces, that the other capitals, north and
south, were sadly afflicted by epidemics at nearly all
seasons.
Pernambuco has several quite small but well-ar-
ranged public squares, decorated with fountains, trees,
and flowers of many species. Two of these plazas
have handsome pagodas, from which outdoor concerts
are often given by military bands. The city is a
thriving and progressive place, has extensive gas
works, an admirable system of water supply, tram-
ways, good public schools, and one college or high
school. We must not forget to add to this list a
very flourishing foundling asylum, where any num-
ber of poor little waifs are constantly being received,
and no questions asked. A revolving box or cradle
is placed in a wall of the hospital, next to the street,
in which any person can deposit an infant, ring the
bell, and the cradle will revolve, leaving the child
on the inside of the establishment, where the little
deserted object will be duly cared for. Connected
with the hospital are several outlying buildings, where
children are placed at various stages of growth. We
were told that about forty per cent, of such children
live to grow up to maturity, and leave the care of
the government fairly well fitted to take their place
DOMESTIC HABITS. 129
in the world, and to fight the battle of life so very
inauspiciously begun. It has been strongly argued
that such an establishment offers a premium upon
illegitimacy and immorality; but one thing is to be
considered, it prevents the terrible crime of infanti-
cide, which is said to have prevailed here to an alarm-
ing extent before this hospital was founded.
There is a passably good system of drainage, which
was certainly very much needed, and since its com-
pletion the general health of the place is said to have
considerably improved. This is not all that is re-
quired, however. There should be a decided reform
in the haljits of the people as regards cleanliness. At
present they are positively revolting. The inhabit-
ants are the very reverse of neat in their domestic as-
sociations, and home arrangements for natural conven-
iences are inexcusably objectionable; such, indeed, as
would in a North American city, or even small town,
call for the prompt interference of the local board of
health. These remarks do not apply to isolated cases ;
the trouble is universal. Families living otherwise in
comparative affluence utterly disregard neatness and
decency in the matter to which we allude.
The districts neio^hborinsf to Pernambuco form ex-
tensive plains, well adapted to the raising of sugar,
coffee, and cotton, as well as all sorts of tropical fruits
and vegetables. There are many flourishing planta-
tions representing these several interests, more espe-
cially that of sugar. The storehouses on the wharves
and in the business sections of the city, the oxcarts
130 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
passing through the streets, drawn each by a siaigle
animal, and even the very atmosphere, seem to be full
of sugar. It is, in fact, the great sugar mart of
South America. The annual amount of the article
which is exported averages some twelve hundred thou-
sand tons. Sugar is certainly king at Pernambuco.
People not only drink, but they talk sugar. It is the
one great interest about which all other business re-
volves. The article is mostly of the lower grade, and
requires to be refined before it is suitable for the mar-
ket. The refining process is being generally adopted
at the plantations. American machinery is intro-
duced for the purpose with entire success. The ex-
port of the crude article will, it is believed, be much
less every year for the future, until it ceases alto-
gether. It was a singular sight to observe the naked
negroes carrying canvas bags of crude sugar upon
their heads through the streets, each bag weighing a
hundred pounds or more. The intense heat caused
the canvas to exude quantities of syrup or molasses,
which covered their dark, glossy bodies with small
streams of fluid. They trotted along in single file,
and at a quick pace, towards their destination, un-
heeding the sticky condition of their woolly heads and
naked bodies.
Not far inland there are extensive meadows, where
large herds of horned cattle are raised, together with
a breed of half -wild horses, the breaking and domes-
ticating of which, as here practiced, is a most cruel
process. A certain set of men devote themselves to
HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS. 131
this business; rough riders, we should call them, very
rough. Good horses are to be had at extraordina-
rily low prices. In the back country there are some
gi-and and extensive forests, which produce fine cabinet
woods and superior dye woods.
By consulting a map of the western hemisphere,
it will be seen that Pernambuco is situated on the
great eastern shoidder of South America, where it
jjushes farthest into the Atlantic Ocean, fifteen him-
dred miles south of Para, and about five hundred
north of Bahia. On the long coral reef which sepa-
rates the harbor from the open sea is a picturesque
lighthouse, also a quaint old watch tower which dates
from the time of the Dutch dominion here. It is pro-
posed to build additional layers of heavy granite
blocks upon the reef, so as to raise it about six or
eight feet higher and make it of a uniform elevation
along the entire city front, and thus afford almost com-
plete protection for the inner anchorage. It will be
only possible to make any real improvement of the
harbor by adopting a thorough system of dredging
and deepening. There was evidence of such a purpose
being already in progress on our second visit, two
large steam dredging machines being anchored at the
southerly end of the harbor.
The people of this hot region know the great value
of shade trees, consequently they abound, half hiding
from view the numerous handsome villas which form
the attractive suburbs of the city. Everywhere one
sees tall cocoanut palms, clusters of feathery bam-
132 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
boos, widespread mangoes, prolific bananas, guavas,
and plantains growing among other graceful tropical
trees, rich in the green texture o£ their foliage, and
thrice rich in their luscious and abundant fruits.
Among the vine products we must not forget to men-
tion a rich, high flavored grape, which is native here,
and which all people praise after once tasting. The
water, which is brought into the city by a system of
double iron pipes, comes from a neighboring lake, and
is a pure and wholesome drink, a most incomparable
blessing in equatorial regions, which no person who
has not suffered for the want of it can duly appreciate.
The International Hotel is the favorite resort of
strangers, and is situated a couple of miles from the
harbor. It is surrounded by beautiful trees and flow-
ers, the golden oranges weighing down the branches
nearly to the ground by their size and abundance,
while the young blossoms fill the air with their deli-
cate perfume, — fruit and blossoms on the tree at the
same time. The garden is thronged by household
pets, and contains a spacious aviary. The monkey
tribe is fully represented ; gaudy winged parrots daz-
zle the eye with impossible colors. One partakes here,
in the open air, of the refreshing viands amid the
songs of birds, the occasional scream of the cockatoo,
the cooing of turtle-doves, and the fragrance of a pro-
fusion of tropical flowers. The native servants are
well-trained, and there is a French chef. We were
told that this attractive place had once belonged to a
very wealthy Brazilian, a planter, who had come to
A PERNAMBUCO HOTEL. 133
grief financially, and as the house was offered for sale,
it had been purchased for one fifth of its original cost
and adapted to hotel purposes. While enjoying our
fruit at dessert, a somewhat similar experience was
recalled as having taken place at Christiania, in Nor-
way, where visitors enjoy the meals in a sort of out-
door museum and garden, surrounded by curious pre-
served birds mingled with living ones, the latter so
tame as to alight fearlessly upon the table and await
any choice bit guests may offer them.
We shall not soon forget the very appetizing dinner
of which we partook, amid such attractive surroimd-
ings, in the gardens of the International Hotel at Per-
nambuco. One fruit which was served to us is known
by the name of the loquat. It is round, dark yellow,
and about the size of a Tangerine orange, — a great
favorite with the natives, though it is mostly stone and
skin, and tastes like turpentine.
This city is often called the Venice of Brazil, but
why, it is difficult for one to understand. It is only
poetical license, for there is not the first actual resem-
blance between the two cities. True, there are several
watercourses, and half a dozen bridges, intersecting
this Brazilian capital. One would be equally justified
in calling the frail catamarans which are used by the
fishermen in these waters, gondolas. This singular
craft, by the way, consists of four or five logs of
the cork-palm tree, confined together by a series of
strong lashings, no nails being used, thus securing a
necessary degree of elasticityo One end of the logs
134 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
is hewn down to a smaller size or width than the
other, thus forming stem and stern, while a single
thick plank serves as a keel. There are no bulwarks
to this crazy craft, — for it can hardly be called any-
thing else, — the whole being freely washed by the
sea; but yet, with a rude mast carrying a triangular
sail, and with a couple of oars, two or three fisher-
men venture far away from the shore ; indeed, we
encountered them out of sight of land. A couple
of u]3right stakes are driven into the logs, to hold on
by when occasion requires. It is really wonderful
to see how weatherly such a frail affair can be, and
how literally safe in a rough seaway. The boatmen
who navigate these catamarans (they are called here
janguardas) manage to keep the market of Pernam-
buco abundantly supplied with the strange, fantastic
fish which so prevail along the Atlantic coast in equa-
torial regions.
We have seen a craft very similar to these cata-
marans in use off the Coromandel coast, between Ma-
dras and the mouth of the Hoogly River, which leads
up to Calcutta. Here the natives manage them in a
sea so rough that an ordinary ship's boat, if exposed,
would surely be swamped. The Madras catamaran
consists of three pieces of timber, mere logs twelve or
fourteen feet long, securely bound together with ropes
made from the fibre of the cocoanut palm. Nails
are no more available here than in the former crafts
we have named. No nails could withstand the wrench-
ing which this raft is subjected to. The middle log
CATAMARANS, 135
is a little longer than the two outside ones, and is
given a slight upward turn at the end which forms
the prow. No sail is used, but two fishermen gener-
ally go out with each of these rafts, propelling them
with broad-bladed paddles, used alternately on either
side. Of course the natives who navigate these crafts
are naked, with the exception of a breech-cloth at the
loins. They are very frequently thrown off by the sea,
but regain their places with remarkable agility. They
manage also, somehow, to secure their fishing gear,
and generally to bring in a remunerative fare from
their excursions. Strange as the catamaran is, it
must yet be described as breezy, watery, and safe —
for amphibious creatures. There is one enemy these
fishermen have to look out for, namely the shark, both
on the coast of Madras and South America. It is
more common to say when one is lost that the sharks
got him, than it is to say he was drowned.
The reef so often referred to, forming the break-
water opposite Pernambuco, is about forty feet in width
at the surface, and is the marvelous architecture of
that tiny coral builder which works beneath these
southern seas. When it has reared a pyramid reach-
ing from the far bottom of the ocean to the surface,
its mission is performed and it dies. It lives and
works only beneath the surface of the sea ; atmospheric
air is fatal to it. The pyramids of Egypt cannot com-
pare with these submerged structures for height, solid-
ity, or magnitude. One is the product of a creature
of such seeming unimportance as to require micro-
136 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
scopic aid to detect its existence; the other are monu-
ments erected by ancient kings commanding infinite
resources ; the former being the process of nature in
carrying out her great and mysterious plan ; the lat-
ter, the ambitious work of men whose very identity is
now questionable. If we were to enter into a calcu-
lation based upon known scientific facts, as to how
many thousands of years were required for this mi-
nute animal to rear this massive structure, the result
would astonish the average reader.
On approaching Pernambuco from the sea, the first
object to attract the eye is the long line of snow white
breakers, caused by the incessant swell of the sea
striking against the firmly planted reef with a deafen-
ing surge, breaking into foam and spray which are
thrown forty feet and more into the air. As we
drew near for the first time, the extended line of
breakers was illumined by the early morning sun,
making fancy rainbows and misty pictures in the
mingled air and water. We were escorted by myri-
ads of sea birds, whose sharp cries came close upon
the ear, as they flew in and about the rigging. Be-
hind the reef lay the comparatively smooth waters of
the harbor, dotted here and there by tiny white sails,
curious shaped coasting craft, rowboats, and steam
tugs, while the background was formed by a leafless
forest of tall ships' masts which lined the wharves,
and partially screened the low-lying capital from
view.
We have remained quite long enough at this city
COAST OF BRAZIL. 137
of the reef, and now turn southward towards the more
attractive port of Bahia.
In running down the coast, the Brazilian shore is
so near as to be distinctly visible, with its surf-
fringed beach of golden sands extending mile after
mile, beyond which, far inland, rise ranges of forest-
clad hills, and beyond these, sky-reaching alps. It
is often necessary to give the land a wide berth, as at
certain points dangerous sandbars make out from it
far to seaward ; but whenever near enough to the
coast to make out the character of the vegetation,
it was of deepest green and exuberantly tropical.
With the exception of one or two small towns, and an
occasional fisherman's hamlet, the shore presented no
signs of habitation, being mostly a sandy waste ad-
joining the sea, where heavy rollers spent their force
upon the smooth, water-worn, yellow beach.
CHAPTER VII.
Port of Bahia. — A Quaint Old City. — Former Capital of Brazil. — >
Whaling Interests. — Beautiful Panorama. — Tramways. — No Color
Line Here. — The Sedan Chair. — Feather Flowers. — Great Orange
Mart. — Passion Flower Fruit. — CofEee, Sugar, and Tobacco. — A
Coffee Plantation. — Something about Diamonds. — Health of the
City. — Curious Tropical Street Scenes.
Bahia, — pronounced Bah-ee'ah, — situated three
hundred and fifty miles south of Pernambuco, is the
capital of a province of the same name in Brazil, and
contains nearly two hundred thousand inhabitants. It
is admirably situated on elevated ground at the en-
trance of All Saints Bay, — Todos os Santos, — just
within Cape San Antonio, eight hundred miles or
thereabouts north of Bio Janeiro. The entrance of
the bay is seven miles broad. For its size, there are
few harbors in the world which present a more attrac-
tive picture as one first beholds it on entering from
the open Atlantic. The elevated site of the city, with
its close array of neat, white three and four story
houses, breaks the sky line in front of the anchorage,
while the town forms a half moon in shape, extending
for a couple of miles each way, right and left. Near
the water's edge, on the lower line of the city, are
many substantial warehouses, official establishments,
the custom house, and the like. Between the lower and
YELLOW FEVER. 139
the upper town is a long reach of green terraced em-
bankment, intense in its bright verdure. Probably
no other city on the globe, certainly not so far as our
experience extends, is so peculiarly divided.
A sad episode marked our first experience here. We
came to anchor in the harbor, according to custom, at
what is known as the Quarantine. About a cable's
length from us lay a large European steamship, flying
the yellow flag at the fore. She came into port from
Rio Janeiro on the previous evening ; five of her pas-
sengers who had died of yellow fever on the passage
were buried at sea, while two more were down with it,
and were being taken to the lazaretto on shore, as
we dropped our anchor. Probably they went there
to die. This was naturally depressing, more so, per-
haps, as we were bound direct for Rio Janeiro ; but
as we now came from a northern port ^dth a clean bill
of health, we were finally released from quarantine
and permitted to land. It is late in the season —
last of May — for this pest of the coast to prevail,
but the year 1891 has been one of unusual fatality
in the South American ports, and none of them have
been entirely exempt from the scourge, some showing
a fearful list of mortality among both citizens and
strangers. We were conversant with many instances
of a particularly trying and sad nature, if any distinc-
tion can be made where death intervenes with such a
rude hand. Victims who were in apparent good health
in the morning were not infrequently buried on the
evening of the same day ! But we will spare the
reader harrowing details.
140 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Americus Vespucius discovered Baliia in 1503,
while sailing under the patronage of Portugal, and
as it was settled in 1511, it is the oldest city in the
country, being also the second in size, though not in
commercial importance. The excellent harbor is so
spacious as to form a small inland sea, the far reach-
ing shores of which are beautified by mingled green
foliage and pretty villas stretching along the bay,
while the business portion gives evidence of a grow-
ing and important foreign trade. This deduction is
also corroborated by the presence of numerous Euro-
pean steamships, and full-rigged sailing vessels de-
voted to the transportation of merchandise. The
buildings are generally of a substantial appearance,
whether designed as residences or for business pur-
poses, but are mostly of an antique pattern, old and
dingy. Though the city is divided into the lower
and the upper town, the latter two or three hundred
feet above the former, it is made easily accessible by
mechanical means. A large elevator, run by hydraulic
power, is employed for the purpose, which was built
by an energetic Yankee, and has been in successful
operation several years, taking the citizens from the
lower to the upper town, as we pass from basement to
attic in our taU North American buildings. Between
the two portions of Bahia there are streets for the
transportation of merchandise, which wind zigzag
fashion along the ravine to avoid the abruptness of the
ascent. Besides these means, there are narrow stone
steps leading upwards to the first level, among the
VIEW OF BAHIA. 141
tropical verdure, the deep green branches and leaves
nodding to one from out of narrow lanes and quiet
nooks. There is still another way of reaching the
upper town, namely, a cable road, of very steep grade,
one car ascending while another descends, thus forming
a sort of counterbalance. By all these facilities united,
the population manage very comfortably to overcome
the topographical difficulties of the situation.
Though there are few buildings of any special note
in Bahia, the general architecture being quaint and
nondescript, still the combined view of the city, as
we have endeavored to show, is of no inconsiderable
beauty. We approached it from the north, doubling
Light House Point in the early morning, just as the
rising sun lighted up the bay. Seen from the harbor,
the large dome of the cathedral overlooks the whole
town very much like the gilded dome which forms so
conspicuous an object on approaching the city of Bos-
ton. The dark, low-lying, grim-looking fort, which
presides over the quarantine anchorage, is built upon
a natural ledge of rock, half a mile from the shore
of the town, and looks like a huge cheese-box.
In the upper portion of Bahia the streets are nar-
row, and the houses so tall as to nearly exclude the
san when it is not in the zenith. They are built of a
native stone, and differ from the majority of South
American dwellings, which are rarely over two stories
in height, and generally of one only. We have heard
it argued that it is advantageous to build tropical
cities with narrow streets, so as to exclude the heat of
142 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the sun's rays and thus keep the houses cooler. This
is not logical. Wide avenues and broad streets give
ventilation which cannot be obtained in any other way
in populous centres. Narrow lanes invite epidemics,
fevers, and malarial diseases ; broad thoroughfares give
less opportunity for their lodgment. A beehive of
human beings, crowded together in a narrow space,
exhausts the life-giving principle of the surrounding
atmosphere, but this is impossible where j)lenty of
room is given for the circulation of fresh air.
These tall houses of Bahia have overhanging orna-
mental balconies, which towards evening are filled
with the female portion of the families, laughing, chat-
ting, singing, and smoking, for the ladies of these lati-
tudes smoke in their domestic circles. Narrow as the
streets of Bahia are, room is found for a well patron-
ized tramway to run through them. No one thinks of
walking, if it be for only a couple of hundred rods, on
the line of the street cars. All of the civilized world
seems to have grown lazy since the introduction of this
modern facility for cheap transportation.
Bahia was the capital of Brazil until 1763, during
which year the headquarters of the government were
removed to Rio Janeiro.
This is a sort of New Bedford, so to speak, having
been for more than a century extensively engaged in the
whaling business, an occupation which is still pursued
to a limited extent. Whales frequent the bay of Bahia,
where they are sometimes captured by small boats
from the shore. It is supposed that the favorite food
PURSUIT OF WHALES, 143
of this big game is found in these waters. There was
a time when the close j^ursuit by fishing fleets fitted
out in nearly all parts of the world rendered the whales
wary and scarce. The catching and killing of so
many seemed to have thinned out their number in
most of the seas of the globe. Then came the great
discovery of rock oil, which rapidly superseded the
whale oil of commerce in general use. Thereupon the
pursuit of the gigantic animal ceased to be of any
great moment, while there was oil enough spontaneously
pouring out of the wells of Pennsylvania, and else-
where, to fully satisfy the demand of the world at large.
Being no longer hunted, the whales gradually became
tame and increased in numbers, so that to-day there
are probably as many in the usual haunts of these
leviathans in either hemisphere as there ever were.
The briefest sea voyage can hardly be made without
sighting one or more of them, and sometimes in large
schools.
There is a portion of the elevated section of Bahia
which is called Victoria, a really beautiful locality,
having delightful gardens, attractive walks, and myri-
ads of noble shade trees. From here the visitor over-
looks the bay, with its islands and curving shore decked
with graceful palms, bamboos, and mango groves ; upon
the water are nimaerous tiny boats, while white winged
sailing ships and dark, begrimed steamers unite in
forming a picture of active life and maritime beauty.
In the distance lies the ever green island of Itaparica,
named after the first governor's Indian bride, while
144 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
still farther away is seen range after range of tall,
purple liills, multiplied until lost in the distance.
A few grim looking convents and monasteries, which
have gradually come into the possession of the govern-
ment, are now used as free schools, libraries, and hos-
pitals. There is a medical college here which has a
national reputation for general excellence, and many
students come from Rio Janeiro, eight hundred miles
away, to avail themselves of its advantages, receiving
a diploma after attending upon its three years' course
of studies. From subsequent inquiry, however, not
only here but in Rio and elsewhere, we are satisfied
that the science of medicine and surgery stands at a
very low ebb throughout this great southland. For-
eign doctors are looked upon with great distrust and
jealousy ; indeed, it is very difficult for them to obtain
a suitable license to practice in Brazil. This does not
apply to dentistry, of which profession there are many
American experts in the country, who have realized
decided pecuniary and professional success. There
were six or eight on board the Yigilancia, who had
been on a visit to their North American homes during
the summer season, at which time the fever is most to
be dreaded here.
The city contains over sixty churches, some of which
are fine edifices, built of stone brought from Europe.
This could easily be done without much extra ex-
pense, as the vessels visiting the port in those early
days required ballast with which to cross the ocean.
They brought no other cargo of any account, but were
THE CATHEDRAL. 145
sure at certain seasons of tlie year to obtain a suit-
able return freight, which paid a good profit on the
round voyage. Several of these churches are in a
very dilapidated condition, and probably will not be
repaired. The cathedral is one of the largest struc-
tures of the sort in Brazil, and is thought by many to
be one of the finest. The cathedral at Rio, however,
is a much more elaborate structure, and far more
costly. It takes enormous sums, wrung from the
poorest class of people, to maintain these gorgeous tem-
ples and support the horde of fat, licentious, useless
priests attached to them, while the mass of humanity
find life a daily struggle with abject want and pov-
erty. Does any thoughtful person believe for one
moment that such hollow service can be grateful to a
just and merciful Supreme Being?
Bahia was a flourishing port before Eio Janeiro was
known commercially, and was the first place of settle-
ment by English traders on this coast. The present
population is of a very mixed character, composed of
nearly all nationalities, white and black, European and
natives. There is no prejudice evinced as regards
color. Midatto or negro may once have been a slave,
but he is a freeman now, both socially and in the eyes
of the law. He is eligible for any position of trust,
public or private, if he develops the requisite degree
of intelligence. Men who have been slaves in their
youth are now filling political offices here, with credit
to themselves and satisfaction to the public. The
actual reform from being a degraded land of slavery
146 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
to one of human freedom is much more radical and
thorouofh in Brazil than it is in our own Southern
States, where the pretended equality of the colored
race is simply a burlesque upon constitutional liberty.
The occasional use of that quaint mode of convey-
ance, the sedan chair, was observable, taking one back
to the days of Queen Anne. Only a few years ago it
was the one mode of transportation from the lower to
the upjDer part of the town ; but modern facilities, al-
ready referred to, have thrown the sedan chair nearly
out of use. A few antique representatives of this
style of vehicle, some quite expensive and elaborately
ornamented, are still seen obstructing the entrances
to the houses. The local name they bear is cadeira.
When these chairs are used, they are borne upon the
shoulders of two or four stalwart blacks, and are hung
upon long poles, like a palanquin, after the fashion so
often seen in old pictures and ancient tapestry.
We have spoken of the narrowness of the streets
through which the tramways pass. In many places,
pedestrians are compelled to step into the doorways of
dwellings to permit the cars to pass them. This is
not only the case at Bahia, but also in half the busy
portion of South American cities. These mule pro-
pelled cars are now adopted all over this country and
Mexico ; even fourth class cities have tramways, and
many towns which have not yet risen to the dignity
of having a city organization are thus supplied with
transportation. The Bahia tramway, on its route to
the suburbs, passes through fertile districts of great
FEATHER FLOWERS. 147
rural beauty, among groves of tropical fruits, orange
orchards, tall overshadowing mangoes, and cultivated
flowers. There is an attempt at a public garden,
though it is an idea only half carried out ; but there
is a terrace in connection here called " The Bluff,"
from whence one gets a magnificent view, more espe-
cially of the near and the distant sea. These delight-
ful and comprehensive natural pictures are photo-
graphed upon the memory, forming a charming cabinet
of scenic views appertaining to each special locality,
choice, original, and never to be effaced.
We must not omit to mention a specialty of this
city, an article produced in one or two of the charita-
ble institutions, as well as in many humble family cir-
cles, namely, artificial flowers made from the choicest
feathers of the most brilliant colored birds. None of
these articles are poor, while some of them are exqui-
site in design and execution, produced entirely from
the pliunage of native birds. A considerable aggre-
gate sum of money is realized by a certain portion
of the community, in the regular manufacture of
these delicate ornaments. Girls begin to learn the
art at a very early age, and in a few years arrive at a
marvelous degree of perfection, producing realistic
pictures which rival the brush and pencil of a more
pretentious department of art. Nearly all visitors
carry away with them dainty examples of this exqui-
site and artistic work, which has a reputation beyond
the seas. Thousands of beautiful birds are annually
sacrificed to fiirnish the necessary material. Thus
148 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the delicate family of the humming-bird, whose variety-
is infinite in Brazil, has been almost exterminated in
some parts of the country. There is one other spe-
cialty here, namely, the manufacture of lace, which
gives constant employment to many women of Bahia,
their product being much esteemed all over South
America for the beauty of the designs and the perfec-
tion of the manufacture.
The special fruit of this province, as already in-
timated, is oranges, and it is safe to say that none
produced elsewhere can excel them. They are not
picked until they are thoroughly ripe, and are there-
fore too delicate, in their prime condition, to sustain
transportation to any considerable distance. Those
sold in our northern cities are picked in a green con-
dition and ripened off the trees, a process which does
not injure some fruits, but which detracts very ma-
terially from the orange and the pineapple. The
oranges of Bahia average from five to six inches in
diameter, have a rather thin skin, are full of juice, and
contain no pips ; in short, they are perfectly delicious,
being delicately sweet, with a slight subacid flavor.
The first enjoyment of this special fruit in Bahia is a
gastronomic revelation. The maracajus is also a fa-
vorite fruit here, but hardly to be named beside the
orange. It is the product of the vine which bears the
passion flower, but this we could not relish. It is a
common fruit in Australia and New Zealand, where
the author found it equally unpalatable, yet people
who have once acquired the taste become very fond
LOCAL PRODUCTS. 149
of it. The vine \Yith its flower is common enougli in
the United States, but we have never seen it in a
fruit-bearing condition in our country.
The province of Bahia has an area of two hundred
thousand square miles, and is represented as contain-
ing some of the most fertile land in Brazil, capable of
producing immense crops of several important staples.
It is especially fertile near the coast, where there are
some large and thriving tobacco, sugar, and coffee
plantations. The first mentioned article, owing to
some favorable peculiarity of the soil in this vicinity,
is held to be nearly equal to the average Cuban pro-
duct, and it is being more and more extensively culti-
vated each year. Bahia cigars are not only very
cheap, but they are remarkably fine in flavor. It was
observed that old travelers on this coast made haste
to lay in a goodly supply of them for personal use.
A coffee plantation situated not far from this city
was visited, affording a small party of strangers to
the place much pleasure and information. The coffee
plant is an evergreen, and thus the foliage is always
fresh in appearance, yielding two harvests annually.
Boa Yista, the plantation referred to, covers about
one hundred acres, much of which is also devoted
to the raising of fodder, fruit, corn, and beans, with
some special vegetables, forming the principal suste-
nance of the people and animals employed upon the
estate. At first, in laying out such a plantation, the
coffee sprouts are started in a nursery, and when they
have had a year's gTowth are transplanted to the open
150 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
field, where they are placed with strict uniformity in
long rows at equal distances apart. After the second
year these young plants begin to bear, and. continue to
do so for twenty-five or thirty years, at which period
both the trees and the soil become in a measure ex-
hausted, and a new tract of land is again selected for
a plantation. By proper management the new planta-
tion can be made to begin bearing at the same time
that the old one ceases to be sufficiently productive and
remunerative to cultivate for the same purpose. The
coffee-tree is thought to be in its prime at from five to
ten years of age. Fruit trees, such as bananas, oranges,
mandioca, guavas, and so on, are planted among the cof-
fee-trees to afford them a partial shelter, which, to a cer-
tain degree, is requisite to their best success, especially
when they are young and throwing out thin roots.
The coffee bushes are kept trimmed down to about
the height of one's head, which facilitates the harvest-
ing of the crop, and also throws the sap into the
formation and growth of berries. The coffee-tree,
when permitted to grow to its natural height, reaches
between twenty and thirty feet, and, with its deep-green
foliage, is a handsome ornamental garden tree, much
used for this purpose in Brazil. The coffee pods,
when ripe, are scarlet in color, and resemble cherries,
though they are much smaller. Each berry contains
two seeds, which, when detached from the pod and
properly dried, form the familiar article of such uni-
versal domestic use. A coffee plantation well man-
aged, in Brazil, is an almost certain source of ample
BRAZILIAN DIAMONDS. 151
fortune. The crop is sure ; that is to say, it has
scarcely any drawbacks, and is always in demand. Of
course there are inconveniences of climate, and other
things needless to enumerate, as regards entering into
the business, but the growth and ripening of a coffee
crop very seldom fail.
As has been intimated, this port is famous for the
production of oranges and tobacco ; so Rio is famous
for coffee, Pernambuco for sugar, and Para for crude
india-rubber.
We must not forget to mention one other, and
by no means insignificant product of Brazil which is
exported from Bahia, namely, diamonds of the very
first quality, which for purity of color far exceed those
of Africa and elsewhere. It appears that a syndi-
cate in London control the world's supply of this
peculiar gem from all the mines on the globe, per-
mitting only a certain quantity of diamonds to go on to
the market annually, and thus keeping up the selling
price and the market value. No one is permitted to
know the real product of the mines but the managers
of this syndicate. The quantity of the sparkling
gems which are held back by the dealers in London,
Paris, and Vienna is really enormous; were they to be
placed in the retail dealers' hands as fast as they are
produced from the various sources of supply, they
would be erelong as cheap and plenty as moonstones.
This sounds like an extravagant assertion, but still
there is far more truth in it than is generally realized.
One of the public journals of London lately spoke of
152 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
a proposed corporation, to be known as the '' Diamond
Trust," which is certainly a significant evidence that
the market requires to be carefully controlled as to
the quantity which is annually put upon it. In old
times a diamond was simply valued as a diamond ; its
cutting and polishing were of the simplest character.
A series of irregular plane surfaces were thought to
sufficiently bring out its reflective qualities, but the
stone is now treated with far more care and intelli-
gence. A large portion of the value of a diamond
has come to consist in the artistic, and we may say
scientific, manner in which it is cut. By this means
its latent qualities of reflection of light are brought
to perfection, developing its real brilliancy. Accom-
plished workmen realize fabulous wages in this em-
ployment. A stone of comparatively little value, by
being cut in the best manner, can be made to outshine
a much finer stone which is cut after the old style.
Amsterdam used to control the business of diamond
cutting, but it is now as well done in Boston and
New York as in any part of the world.
The largest diamond yet discovered came from Bra-
zil, and is known as the Braganza. The first Euro-
pean expert in precious stones has valued this extraor-
dinary gem, which is still in the rough, at three hun-
dred million sterling ! Its actual weight is something
over one pound troy. In the light of such a state-
ment, we pause to ask ourselves. What is a diamond ?
Simply carbon crystallized, that is, in its greatest
purity, and carbon is the combustible principle of %
PREVALENCE OF EPIDEMICS. 153
charcoal. The author was told, both here and in Rio
Janeiro, that there is a considerable and profitable
mining industry carried on in this country, of which
the general public hear nothing. The results are only
known to prominent and interested Brazilians, the
whole matter being kept as secret as possible for com-
mercial reasons. No one reads anything about the
products of the diamond mines in the local papers.
We cannot say that the city of Bahia is a very
healthy locality, though it certainly seems that it
ought to be, it is so admirably situated. YeUow fever
and other epidemics prevail more or less every year.
The lower part of the town, on the water front, is so
shamefully filthy as to induce fever. Upon first land-
ing, the stranger finds himself almost nauseated by the
vile smells which greet him. This section of the town
is also very hot, the cliff, or upper town, shutting off
almost entirely the circulation of air. It is here that
sailors, particularly, indulge in all sorts of excesses,
especially in drinking the vile, raw liquor sold by ne-
gresses, besides eating unripe and overripe fruit, thus
inviting disease. One favorite drink produced here,
very cheap and very potent, is a poisonous but seduc-
tive white rum.
The trade and people in this part of the town form
a strange conglomerate, — monkeys, parrots, caged
birds, tame jaguars, mongrel puppies, pineapples,
oranges, mangoes, and bananas, these being flanked by
vegetables and flowers. The throng is made up of
haK-naked boatmen, indolent natives from the coun-
154 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
try, with negresses, both as venders and purchasers.
As we look at the scene, in addition to what we have
depicted there is a jovial group of sailors from a man-
of-war in the harbor enjoying their shore leave, while
not far away a small party of yachtsmen from an Eng-
lish craft are amusing themselves with petty bargains,
close followed by half a dozen Americans, who came
hither in the last mail steamer. A polyglot scene of
mixed tongues and gay colors.
In passing into and out of the harbor of Bahia, one
can count a dozen forts and batteries, all constructed
after the old style, and armed in the most ineffective
manner. These would count as nothing in a contest
with modern ships of war having plated hulls and
arms of precision. Land fortifications, designed to
protect commercial ports from foreign enemies, have
not kept pace with the progress in naval armament.
Bahia is connected by submarine telegraph with
Pernambuco, Para, and Rio Janeiro, and through
them with all parts of the civilized world.
CHAPTER YHI.
Cape Frio. — Rio Janeiro. — A Splendid Harbor. — Various Moun-
tains. — Botafogo Bay. — The Hunchback. — Farewell to the Vi-
gilancia. — Tijuca. — Italian Emigrants. — City Institutions. —
Public Amusements. — Street Musicians. — Churches. — Narrow
Thoroug-hf ares. — Merchants' Clerks. — Railroads in Brazil. — Nat-
ural Advantages of the City. — The Public Plazas. — Exports.
After a three days' voyage down the coast, be-
tween Bahia and Rio Janeiro, the tall lighthouse of
Cape Frio — " Cool Cape " — was sighted. This prom-
ontory is a large oval mass of granite, sixteen hundred
feet in height, quite isolated from other highlands,
protruding boldly into the Atlantic Ocean. It forms
the southeastern extremity of the coast of Brazil, and
in clear weather can be seen, it is said, forty miles
or more away. Here the long swell of the open sea is
unobstructed and finds full sway, asserting its giant
power at all seasons of the year. Experienced trav-
elers who rarely suffer from seasickness are apt to
succumb to this trying illness off Cape Frio. It is
situated in latitude 22° 59' south, longitude 41° 57'
west, which is particularly specified because the line
of no magnetic variation touches on this cape, — that
line which Columbus was so amazed at discovering
one hundred leagues west of Flores, in the Azores,
nearly four hundred years ago. We had been run-
156 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
ning almost due south for tlie last eight hundred miles,
but in doubling Cape Frio, and making for Rio harbor,
the ship was headed to the westward, while the moun-
tains on the coast assumed the most grotesque and
singular shapes, the range extending from west to east
until it ends at Cape Frio. The continent of South
America here forms a sharp angle, but we were too
full of expectancy as to the king of harbors towards
which we were heading, to speculate much about Cape
Frio and its ocean-swept surroundings.
Rio Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, is also the lar-
gest, if not the most important city in South America,
situated about twelve hundred miles north of Monte-
video and Buenos Ayres, just within the borders of
the southern torrid zone. The distance of Rio from
New York direct is five thousand miles, but most voy-
agers, on the way through the West Indies, stop at
three or four of these islands, and also at some of the
northern ports of the continent of South America, the
same as in our own case, so that about five hundred
miles may be fairly added to the distance we have just
named. Though the vessel was a month in making
the voyage to this port, had we sailed direct it might
have been done in two thirds of the time.
After doubling the cape and sailing some sixty or
eighty miles, we steered boldly towards the mouth of
the harbor of Rio. For a few moments the ship's
prow pointed towards Raza Island, on which stands
the lighthouse, but a slight turn of the wheel soon
changed its relative position, and we entered the pas-
HARBOR OF RIO JANEIRO. 157
sage leading into the bay. After passing the " Sugar
Loaf," a rock twelve hundred feet in height, the city
lay off our port bow. All is so well defined, the
water is so deep and free from obstructions of any
sort, that no pilot is required and none is taken, and
thus we crept slowly up towards our moorings. As
the reader may well suppose, to eyes weary of the mo-
notony of the sea, the panorama which opened before
us was one of intense interest. Everything seemed
matured and olden. There was no sign of newness;
indeed, we recalled the fact that Rio was an established
conmiercial port half a century before New York had
a local habitation or a name. The town lies on the
west side of the port, between a mountain range and
the bay, running back less than two miles in depth,
but extending along the shore for a distance of some
eight miles, fronting one of the finest and most spa-
cious harbors in the world, famous for its manifold
scenic beauties, which, from the moment of passing
within the narrow entrance, are ever changing and
ever lovely. The most prominent features are the
verdure-clad hills of Gloria, Theresa, and Castello,
behind which extend ranges of steep, everlasting
mountains, one line beyond another, until lost among
the clouds. Few natural spectacles can equal the
grand contour of this famous bay. People who have
visited it always speak in superlative language of
Rio harbor, but we hardly think it could be over-
praised. It is the grand entrance to a tropical par-
adise, so far as nature is concerned, amid clustering
158 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
mountains, abrupt headlands, inviting inlets, and
beautiful islands, covered with palms, tree-ferns,
bananas, acacias, and other delights of tropical vege-
tation, which, when seen depicted in books, impress
one as an exaggeration, but seen here thrill us with
vivid reality. It is only in the torrid zone that one
sees these lavish developments of verdure, these laby-
rinths of charming arboreous effect.
Though so well known and so often written about,
the harbor of Rio is less famous than beautiful. The
bay is said to contain about one hundred islands, its
area extending inland some seventeen or eighteen
miles. The largest of these is Governor's Island,
nearly fronting the city, being six miles long. Some
idea of the extent of the bay may be had from the
fact that there are fifty square miles of good anchorage
for ships within its compass. Into the bay flows the
water of two inconsiderable rivers, the Macacu and
the Igua^u, the first named coming in at the north-
east and the latter at the northwest corner of the
harbor.
The Organ Mountains, — Serra dos Orgaos, —
capped with soft, fleecy clouds, formed the lofty back-
ground of the picture towards the north, as we entered
upon the scene, the immediate surroundings being
dominated by the sky -reaching Sugar Loaf Rock, —
Pao d'Assucar, — which is also the navigator's guid-
ing mark while yet far away at sea. This bold, irreg-
ular rock of red sandstone rises abruptly from the
water, like a giant standing waist-high in the sea, and
THE ORGAN MOUNTAINS. 159
forms the western boundary of the entrance to the
harbor, opposite to which, crowning a small but bold
promontory, is the fort of Santa Cruz, the two high-
lands forming an appropriate portal to the grandeur
which is to greet one within. The distance between
these bounds is about a mile, inside of which the
water widens at once to lake-like proportions.
Clouds of frigate birds, gidls, and gannets fly grace-
fully about each incoming ship, as if to welcome them
to the harbor where anchorage might be had for the
combined shipping of the whole world. AVe have
lately seen the harbor of Rio compared to that of
Queenstown, on the Irish coast, twenty times magni-
fied ; but the infinite superiority of the former in every
respect makes the allusion quite pointless.
The Organ Mountains, to which we have referred,
and which form so conspicuous a portion of the scene
in and about Eio, are so called because of their fan-
cied resemblance in shape to the pipes of an organ ; but
though blessed with the usual share of imagination,
we were quite unable to trace any such resemblance.
However, one must not be h}^3ercritical. The gigan-
tic recumbent form of a human being, so often spoken
of as discernible along this mountain range, is no po-
etical fancy, but is certainly clear enough to any eye,
recalling the likeness to a crouching lion outlined
by the promontory of Gibraltar as one first sees the
rock, either on entering the strait or coming from
Malta.
One of the most beautiful indentures of the shore,
160 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
earliest to catch the eye after passing into the harbor
of Rio from the sea, is called the Bay of Botafogo.
The word means "thrown into the fire," and alludes
to the inhuman autos-da-fe which occurred here when
the natives, on refusing to subscribe to the Roman
Catholic faith, were committed by the priests to the
flames ! This is the way in which the Romish creed
was introduced into Mexico and South America, and
the means by which it was sustained.
The principal charm of this lovely bay within a
bay — Botafogo — is its flowers and exposition of
soaring royal palms. The attractiveness of the hand-
some residences is quite secondary to that of nature,
here revealed with a lavish profusion. This part of
Rio is overshadowed by the tall peak of the Corco-
vado, "the Hunchback," one of the mass of hills
which occupy a large area west of the city, and the
nearest mountain to it. From its never-failing springs
comes a large share of the water supply of the capital.
The aqueduct is some ten miles long, crossing a valley
at one point seven hundred feet in width, at a height
of ninety feet, upon double arches. Another large
aqueduct is in contemplation, besides which some other
sources are now in actual operation, as Rio has long
since outgrown the capacity of the original supply de-
rived from the Corcovado. The drainage of the town
suffers seriously for want of sufficient water where-
with to flush the conduits, which at this writing, with
the deadly fever claiming victims on all hands, are
permitted to remain in a stagnant condition! And
LANDING AT RIO JANEIRO. 161
yet there are hundreds of hills round about, within
long cannon range, which woidd readily yield the re-
quired element in almost limitless quantity.
We left the Vigilancia, and our good friend Cap-
tain Baker, with regret. The noble ship had borne
us in safety thousands of miles during the past month,
through storms and calms, amid intense tropical heat,
and such floods of rain as are only encountered in
southern seas. Watching from her deck, there had
been revealed to us the glories of the changing lati-
tudes, and particularly the grandeur of the radiant
heavens in equatorial regions. A sense of all-ab-
sorbing curiosity prevailed as we landed at the stone
steps, overlooked by the yellow-ochre walls of the
arsenal, in the picturesque, though pestilential city.
The nauseous odors which greet one as he steps on
shore are very discordant elements in connection with
the intense interest created by the novel sights that
engage the eye of a stranger.
With a population, including the immediate sub-
urbs, of over half a million, — estimated at six hun-
dred and fifty thousand, — Rio has most of the belong-
ings of a North American city of the first class,
though we cannot refrain from mentioning one re-
markable exception, namely, the entire absence of good
hotels. There is not a really good and comfortable
public house in all Brazil. Those which do exist in
Rio charge exorbitantly for the most indifferent ser-
vice, and strangers are often puzzled to find a sleep-
ing-room for a single night on first arriving here.
162 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Tijuca, situated in tlie lulls a few miles from the city,
is perhaps the most desirable place of temporary so-
journ for the newly arrived traveler, who will find at
least one large and comfortable public house there, fa-
vorably known to travelers as Whyte's Hotel. It is
some little distance from the city, but is easily reached
by tramway, which takes one to the foot of the hills
of the Tijuca range, whose tallest peak is thirty -four
hundred feet above tide-water. This place abounds
in attractive villas, tropical vegetation, and beautiful
flowers, both wild and cultivated. From here also
one gets a most charming view of the distant city, the
famous bay, and the broad Atlantic ; indeed, the view
alone will repay one for making this brief excursion.
The loftiest village in these hills is called Boa Vista.
There are mountains, however, on either side, which
are five or six hundred feet higher than the village
containing the hotel. American enterprise is en-
gaged at this writing in constructing a narrow gauge
electric tramway to the summit of Tijuca. The driv-
ing road from the base to the top is an admirable piece
of engineering, and is kept in the very best condition
possible.
The objectionable character of the Italian emigrants,
who come hither as well as to our own States, was
demonstrated by a party of them robbing and nearly
murdering a resident of Tijuca who happened to be a
short distance from his own house, the evening pre-
vious to the day which we spent at this resort. These
Italians are mostly employed as workmen upon the
PUBLIC EDIFICES. 163
railroad, though some are gardeners on the neighbor-
ing estates. In town they act as porters and day-
laborers on the wharves, as boatmen, and so on, but,
as we were assured, are a lawless, vagabond element
of the community, giving the police force a great deal
of trouble.
Rio has many large and commodious public build-
ings and some elegant private residences, the latter
generally of a half Moorish type of architecture.
Some of the edifices date back a couple of centuries.
The early Portuguese built of stone and cement,
hence the somewhat remarkable durability of these
houses. The large edifice devoted to the department
of agriculture and public works is one of the most
noticeable in the city. The Bank of Brazil occupies
a building which is classic in its fine architecture,
being elaborately constructed of hammered granite.
There is no more superb example of masonry in the
country. The National Mint, on the Square of the
Republic, is also a fine granite building; so is that
devoted to the Bourse, where enormous values chansfe
hands daily. Educational institutions are numerous,
well organized, and generally availed of by the rising
generation. The National College is of notable in-
fluence in the dissemination of general intelligence,
and the same may be said of the Polytechnic College,
an excellent and practical institution. It should be
observed that any well-organized educational estab-
lishment is called a college in this country.
The public library of Rio contains some tw» hun-
164 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
drecl thousand volumes, besides many valuable Spanish
and Portuguese documents in manuscript. It is lib-
erally conducted; black and white people alike, as
well as all respectable strangers, have free access and
liberal accommodations within the walls. This insti-
tution is an honor to Brazil.
Rio has a new and well organized navy yard, a
large arsenal, cotton mills, and several extensive man-
ufacturing establishments. Among the latter is the
largest flour mill we have ever seen. This is an Eng-
lish enterprise ; but so far as we could learn, it had
been found impossible to compete profitably with the
American flour, as now landed at Rio. A foundling
hospital on the Rua Everesta de Veiga is worthy of
mention. Here, as already described in relation to
another Brazilian city, infants are freely received
and cared for, without any inquiry being made of
those who deposit them. These little ones at the out-
set become children of the state, and are registered
and numbered as such. Oftentimes the mother pins to
the little deserted one's clothes the name she desires
should be given to it, and the wish is usually regarded
by the officials of the institution. The authorities
put each child out to nurse for a year, but receive
it back again at the expiration of that time, and
at a proper period send it to school, and endeavor to
rear it to some useful employment or trade. While
the child is thus disposed of, the payment for its
board and care is very moderate in amount, and is
also contingent upon its good health and physical
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 165
condition. Thus the deserted one is likely to have
good attention, if not for humanity's sake, then from
mercenary motives. This plan is copied from that
which is pursued by the great foundling hospitals of
St. Petersburg and Moscow, which are certainly the
best organized and largest institutions of the sort in
the world. Where so large a percentage of the chil-
dren born are illegitimate, such a hospital becomes a
real necessity. There has been no year since this es-
tablislnnent was opened, in 1738, as we were told, in
which less than four hundred infants were received.
Sometimes parents, whose worldly conditions have
greatly improved, come forward after the lapse of
years and claim their children. This right on their
part is duly respected by their properly proving the
relationship beyond all possible doubt, and paying a
sum of money equal to that which has been actually
expended by the state in the child's behalf.
In the line of public amusements there is a large
and weU appointed opera house besides eight other
fairly good theatres, together with an excellent mu-
seum. The performances at the theatres are given in
French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Italian opera is
presented three times a week during the season. This
year the performances were summarily stopped by the
principal tenor dying of yellow fever. The theatre
bearing the name of the late emperor is a sort of
mammoth cave in size, and is capable of seating six
thousand people, not one haK of whom can hear what
is said or sung upon the stage by the performers.
166 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Street bands of German musicians perform here as
they do in Boston and New York ; the ^ass of the
people, being music loving, patronize these itinerants
liberally. One band posted themselves daily before
the popular Globe Restaurant, at the hour of the mid-
day meal (breakfast), and performed admirably, reap-
ing a generous response from the habitues. Most of
the patrons of this excellent establishment were ob-
served to be American, English, and French mer-
chants, who attended to business in Rio during the
day, but who went home to the elevated environs to
dine and to sleep. "I have been here in business
nine years," said one of these gentlemen to us, "and
have been down with the fever once ; but I would not
sleep in Rio overnight for any amount of money, at
this season of the year." This was early in June.
He added : " The fever should have disappeared before
this time, which is our winter, but it seems to linger
later and later each succeeding year." This was a
conclusion which we heard expressed by other obser-
vant individuals, but all joined in ascribing its per-
sistency in no small degree to the imperfect drainage,
and the vile personal habits of the mass of the common
people, who make no effort to be cleanly, or to regard
the decencies of life in this respect.
As to churches, Rio has between sixty and seventy,
none of which are very remarkable, all being dim,
dirty, and offensive to the olfactories. The cause of
the foul air being so noticeable in all of these Romish
churches is the fact that no provision whatever is
THE CATHEDRAL. 167
made for proper ventilation, and this, too, in places
of all others where it is most imperatively necessary.
The offense is created by exhalations from the bodies
of the least cleanly class of the population. It is such
who mostly fill these churches all over the continent
of Europe, Mexico, South America, and the United
States. Precisely the same disgusting odor greets
the senses of the visitor to these edifices, be it in one
hemisphere or another, but especially in Italy and
Spain.
The cathedral of Rio is a large, showy edifice, sur-
rounded by narrow streets, and thus hidden by other
buildings, so that no general and satisfactory outside
effect can be had. The front and sides are of solid
granite, and the whole is known to have cost a mint of
money, yet the safety of the foundation is more than
questionable. Like the grand church of St. Isaacs,
in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg, great expense
will doubtless have to be incurred to renew and
strengthen it in this respect. It is believed that the
site upon which Rio stands was once under the sea,
and, geologically speaking, at no very remote period,
which accounts for considerable trouble being expe-
rienced in obtaining secure and solid foundations for
any heav}^ superstructure. At this writing, the cathe-
dral is undergoing extensive repairs, inside and out,
but in spite of the noise of workmen, the disagreeable
lime dust, and the interference of a network of in-
terior staging, it is still very striking in its archi-
tectural effect.
168 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
In the old part of the town, two prominent cupolas
dominate the surroundings. These belong respec-
tively to the churches of Candelaria and San Luigi.
The most popular church in Rio is undoubtedly that
which crowns the Gloria Hill, called the Igreja da
Gloria do Onterio, which overlooks the bay. Its
commanding situation is very remarkable. In shape
it is octagonal, and seems to be very solidly built.
In front of the church there is a broad terrace, from
whence a fine view may be enjoyed. On a moon-
light night the picture presented from the Gloria Hill
is something worth going miles on foot to behold.
This church was the favorite resort of the late royal
family when they were in the city, though much of
their home life and all of their summers were passed
in the hills of the Organ Mountains at the emperor's
favorite resort, — Petropolis.
The shops of Rio, notwithstanding they are gener-
ally small and situated upon streets so narrow that
they would be called only lanes in North America, —
close, confined, half - strangled thoroughfares, — will
compare favorably in many respects with those of con-
tinental Europe. The larger number of the merchants
here are French, together with a considerable sprin-
kling of German Jews. Indeed, can any one tell us
where we shall not find this peculiar race represented
in the trade centres of the wide world? In many of
the fancy goods stores the famous Brazilian feather
flowers are exhibited for sale, but the best place to
purchase these is at Bahia, where they are a specialty,
MERCHANTS' CLERKS. 169
and where their manufacture is said to have origi-
nated. The narrow streets, traversed by tramways,
are at times ahnost impassable for pedestrians, and
are often blocked by heavy mule teams for fifteen
minutes at a time. By and by some lazy policeman
makes his appearance and quietly begins to unravel
the snarl, which he at length succeeds in doing, and
the ordinary traffic of the thoroughfare is once more
resumed. An unsightly gutter runs through the
middle of some of these thoroughfares, which adds
to the annoyances incident to ordinary travel. All
are regularly laid out, chess-board fashion, very ill
smelling, and harbor an infinite number of beggars
and mangy dogs.
It is customary for local merchants who employ Eu-
ropean clerks — and there are many English, French,
and Brazilians in Rio who do so, — to give them a
fixed salary, quite moderate in amount, and to fur-
nish them with lodgings also. The latter are of a very
rude and undesirable character, in the business estab-
lishment itseK, either over the store, or in the back
part of it. The bedding which is furnished is of a
makeshift character, rarely changed, and never prop-
erly aired. Exceedingly uncleanly domestic arrange-
ments, or the entire absence of them, are also a serious
matter in this connection, from a sanitary point of
view. The clerks get their food at some neighboring
restaurant, and contract irregular habits, all of which
is both mentally and physically demoralizing. It is
among this class of foreigners that the yeUow fever
170 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
finds the most ready victims. To sleep in these
crowded business centres, in ill-ventilated apartments,
with far from cleanly surroundings, is simply to pro-
voke fatal illness, and during an epidemic of fever
these places furnish fuel for the flames. Neatness
and cleanliness among domestic associations in this
city are entirely lost sight of and are totally disre-
garded by men and women.
The Rua Direita is the State Street or Wall Street
of Rio; a new name, which escapes us at this mo-
ment, has been given to it, but the old one is still the
favorite and in common use. Here brokers, bankers,
and commission merchants meet and bargain, and
fiercely speculate in coffee. The principal shopping
street is the Rua de Ouvidor, where the best stores
and choicest retail goods are to be found. In the Rua
dos Ourives, — " Goldsmith's Street," — the display of
fine jewelry, diamonds, and other precious stones re-
calls the Rue de la Paix of Paris. Diamonds are held
at quite as high prices as in London or New York,
and those of the best quality can be bought better at
retail out of this country than in it. A poor quality
of stone, off color, is imported and offered here as
being of native production, and careless purchasers
are not infrequently deceived by cunning dealers in
these matters.
Two vehicles cannot pass each other in this avenue
without driving upon the narrow sidewalk. At times
a deafening uproar prevails along these circmn scribed
lanes. The rough grinding of wheels, noisy bootblacks,
LOCAL FASHIONS OF DRESS. Ill
whooping orange-sellers, screaming newspaper boys,
howling dogs, the rattle of the street peddler, lottery
ticket venders, fighting street gamins, all join to swell
the mingled chorus. And yet these crowded thorough-
fares would lose half of their picturesqueness were
these elements to be banished from them. They each
and all add a certain crude element of interest to this
every-day picture of Vanity Fair.
In their ambition to copy European and North
American fashions, the gentlemen of Rio utterly dis-
regard the eternal fitness of things, wearing broad-
cloth suits of black, with tall, stovepipe hats, neither
of which articles should be adopted for a moment in
their torrid climate. Nothing could be more inap-
propriate. Linen clothing and light straw hats are
the true costume for the tropics, naturally suggesting
themselves in hot climates to the exclusion of woolen,
heat-brewing costumes, which are necessary articles of
wear in the north. Fashion, however, ignores climate
and is omnipotent everywhere ; comfort is subsidiary.
Wear woolen clothing by all means, gentlemen of Rio,
even when the thermometer hangs persistently at
95° Fahr. in the shade, and the human body perspires
like a mountain stream.
The tramway system of Rio is excellent in a crude
way. Statistics show that fifty million passengers are
annually transported by this popular means from one
part of the city to another, and into the suburbs.
The street railway was first introduced here by North
American enterprise, the pioneer route being that be-
172 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
tween the city proper and the botanical garden. The
prices of passage vary according to distances, as is the
case with the London omnibuses. The cars are all
open ones, of cheap, coarse construction, and far from
inviting in appearance, being entirely unupholstered,
and affording only hard board seats for passengers
to sit upon. They are usually drawn by one small
donkey, whose strength is quite overtasked, but the
ground in the city is so nearly level that the cars
move very easily and rapidly.
There is one delightful excursion from Rio which
nearly all strangers are sure to enjoy. We refer to
the ascent of Corcovado, the mountain which looms
over Botafogo Bay to the height of twenty-two hun-
dred feet, and to the summit of which a railway has
been constructed. The grades are extremely steep, and
the road is what is called a centre line, worked upon
the cog-wheel system, the ascent being very slow and
winding. The principle is the same as that of the
railway by which Mount Washington is ascended, in
New Hampshire, or the Righi, in Switzerland. This
road was built by the national government, but as a
pecuniary speculation it does not pay, though it is of
considerable indirect benefit to the city. We will not
dilate upon the grand outlook to be had from the sum-
mit of the Hunchback, which takes in a bird's-eye
view of the harbor and its surroundings, but will add
that no one should come hither without ascending
Corcovado. The top consists of two rounded masses
of bare rock, and is walled in to prevent accident,
NICTHEROY. 173
there being on one side a perpendicular descent of a
thousand feet. It gives one at first a dizzy sensa-
tion to look down upon the vast city spread out over
the plain, from whence a hum of mingled sounds
comes up with singular distinctness. Even the bells
upon the mules which are attached to the tram-cars
can be distinguished, and other sounds still more del-
icate and minute. Just so balloonists tell us that
at two or three thousand feet in mid-air they can
distinguish the voices of individuals upon the earth
below them. The experienced traveler learns to be
astonished at nothing, but there are degrees of plea-
sure induced by beautiful and majestic views which
mount to the apex of our capacity for admiration.
One can safely promise such a realizing sense to him
who ascends the Corcovado.
A tramway which starts from the centre of the city
will take the traveler to the base of the hill, through
roads lined by palms of great age and beauty, finally
leaving him near the point from whence the steam
road begins the upward journey.
Nictheroy, just across the harbor of Rio, on the
east side of the bay, is a sort of faubourg of the cap-
ital, with which it is connected by a line of steam fer-
ry-boats, as Chelsea is with Boston, or Brooklyn with
the city of New York. It is the capital of the prov-
ince of Rio Janeiro, and has broader streets, is more
reasonably laid out, and is kept more cleanly than Rio
itself. Space is found for a profusion of attractive
gardens, and the senses are greeted by sweet odors in
174 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the place of needlessly offensive smells, which attack
one on all sides in the metropolis so near at hand. It
is quite a relief to get on to one of the ferry-boats
and cross over to Nictheroy occasionally, for a breath
of pure air. This is the native Indian name of the
place, and signifies "hidden water," particularly ap-
plicable when these land-locked bays were shrouded
in dense tropical woods.
Unlike Para, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres, this
city has no special river communication with the
interior, but her commerce is large and increasing.
Railroads are more reliable feeders for business than
either rivers or canals. It is a fact which is not
generally realized, that Brazil has over six thousand
miles of well-constructed railways in operation, besides
having a telegraph system covering seven thousand
miles of land service. In the construction of the rail-
roads, the cost, so far as the ground work and grading
was concerned, was reduced to the minimum, owing
to the level nature of the country. As was the case
in New Zealand, many of these railways were con-
structed at great expense, in anticipation of the wants
of a future population, who it was hoped would settle
rapidly upon the route which they followed. That
is to say, many of these roads did not open commu-
nication between populous districts already in exist-
ence. This would have been perfectly legitimate.
They run to no particular objective point, and seem
to stop finally nowhere. The natural sequence fol-
lowed. After being built and equipped with bor-
TRANSPORTATION. 175
rowed money, they were anything but self-supporting,
and pecuniary aid from the government was freely
given to enable them to be kept in operation.
There must always come a day of reckoning for all
such forced schemes, and the Brazilian railways were
no exception to the rule. This is largely the primary
cause of the present monetary troubles in this coun-
try, as well as in the Argentine Republic. The capi-
tal for the construction of these roads came mostly
from England, and that country has been accordingly
a heavy pecuniary sufferer. The rates charged for
transportation upon most of the lines are also exor-
bitant, if we were rightly informed; so much so, in
fact, as to prove nearly prohibitory. Scarcely any
species of merchandise brought from a considerable
distance inland will bear such freight charges and
leave a margin for profit to the producer and shipper.
Would-be planters of coffee and sugar-cane dare not
enter upon raising these staples for the market, unless
situated very near the shipping point, or near some
available river's course, the latter means being natu-
rally much cheaper than any form of railway transpor-
tation.
Situated on the border of two zones, Rio Janeiro
has the products of both within her reach, and thus
possesses peculiar advantages for extensive trade and
general commerce. It is in this latter direction that
her progressive and enterprising merchants are en-
deavoring to extend the facilities of the port. The
passenger landings — not wharves — which border the
176 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
water front of the city here and there are of solid
granite, from which at suitable intervals broad stone
steps lead down to the water's edge, as on the borders
of the Neva at St. Petersburg. We have few, if any,
such substantial landing-places in our North Ameri-
can ports. We know of no harbor on the globe which
enjoys a more eligible situation as regards the com-
merce of foreign countries, both of the New and the
Old World. The one convenience so imperatively de-
manded is proper wharves for the landing and ship-
ping of cargoes, thus obviating the necessity of the ex-
pensive and tedious lighter system. It is her many
natural and extraordinary advantages which has led
to so steady a growth of the city, notwithstanding the
very serious drawback of an unwholesome climate, ag-
gravated by the indolence and incapacity of the local
authorities in sanitary matters. Both consumption
and yellow fever have proved more fatal here than at
any other port in South America, so far as we could
draw comparisons.
The well-equipped marine arsenal of Rio is of con-
siderable interest and importance, as there is no other
port on the Atlantic coast, between the Gulf of Mex-
ico and Cape Horn, where a large modern vessel can
go into dry dock for needed repairs. This receptacle
is ample in size, and is substantially built of granite.
Such an establishment as a national shipyard is a
prime necessity to a commercial country like Brazil,
which has eleven hundred leagues of seacoast.
In the Plaza Constitution, which is a very grand
PUBLIC LOTTERIES. Ill
and spacious park in the heart of the city, there is an
elaborate and costly statue of the father of the late
emperor, of heroic size. The pedestal is surrounded
by four bronze groups, representing typical scenes of
early Indian life in this country. The Paseo Publico
is also a garden-like spot, extending three or four hun-
dred feet along the bay. This is a cool and favorite
resort of the populace. On the corners of the prin-
cipal streets and squares there are little octagonal
structures called kiosks, gayly painted, where hot
coffee, lottery tickets, and bonbons are sold, as well
as newspapers and flowers. Here, as in Havana, the
city of Mexico, Naples, and many European cities, the
lottery proves to be a terrible curse to the common
people, draining their pockets and diverting them from
all ideas of steady-going business. It is customary
also for the regidarly organized business establish-
ments to patronize the lottery with never failing regu-
larity, charging a certain monthly sum to expense
account, but the money is nevertheless paid out for
lottery tickets. The bad moral effect of this upon
clerks and all concerned is very obvious. \Yhen by
chance any prize, be it never so small, is awarded, a
great flurry is made of the fact, and advertisements
emphasize it, thus to incite fresh investments in this
organized public swindle. Tickets are sold by boys
and girls, men and women, and half the talk of the
thoughtless multitude is about the lottery, how to hit
upon lucky numbers, and so on.
It is a mistaken though popular idea that our New
178 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
England consumptives have only to seek some tropical
locality to alleviate their special trouble. . Rio seems
to be particularly fatal to persons suffering from pul-
monary troubles. The same may be said of many
other tropical regions. When consumption is devel-
oped in the Bahamas, Cuba, or the Sandwich Is-
lands, for instance, it runs its fatal course with a speed
never realized in the Northern States of America.
Physicians do not send patients to foreign localities
so indiscriminately as they used to. Almost every
sort of climate is to be found within the borders of
the United States, where also civilized comforts are
more universally to be obtained than abroad. Besides
which, an invalid does not have to brave seasickness
and other ocean hardships, if sent to some eligible
locality within our own borders.
Though Brazil has long been, and is still, famous
for its production of diamonds, precious stones, and
gold, yet these are as nothing when compared with her
exports of sugar, coffee, and hides, not taking into
account her product of rice, cocoa, tobacco, dyewoods,
and other important staples. A large portion of the
abnormal growth of her forests is valuable for its tim-
ber, resins, fibre, and fruits. It is naturally a very
rich country, with a world of wealth in its soil, but
miserable financial mismanagement has caused the
national treasury to become utterly bankrupt, and at
this writing mercantile credit is an unknown quan-
tity, so to speak. The natural resources of the coun-
try are unlimited ; therefore it must be only a question
SIZE OF BRAZIL. 179
of time when a healthy reaction shall set in, and a
period of sound prosperity follow.
It should be remembered in this connection that the
immediate country of which we are speaking, that is,
Brazil as a whole, is as large as the United States,
leaving out the territory of Alaska.
CHAPTER IX.
Outdoor Scenes in Rio Janeiro. — The Little Marmoset. — The Fish
Market. — Secluded Women. — The Romish Church. — Botanical
Garden. — Various Species of Trees. — Grand Avenue of Royal
Palms. — About Humraing-Birds. — Climate of Rio. — Surrounded
by Yellow Fever. — The Country Inland. — Begging on the Streets.
— Flowers. — " Portuguese Joe." — Social Distinctions.
It would require many pages to properly describe
Rio Janeiro with its curious phases of street life, its
manners and customs, its local peculiarities, and
moving panorama of events, all combining to make up
a unique personality. These out-of-door scenes go
far to tell the true story of any special locality. The
fruit and vegetable market, near Palace Square, is a
highly attractive place to visit at early morning. The
negro women venders, always stout and portly crea-
tures, with heads turbaned in many-colored bandannas,
are eloquent in recommending their articles for sale,
and are also very shrewd at a bargain. It is not un-
common for these middle-aged negresses to stand six
feet high, without shoes or stockings, and to turn the
scales at double the average weight of men of the same
color and class. These women were all slaves in their
girlhood. As regards prices charged for provisions,
fruits, and vegetables, in the markets of Rio, they
seemed to the author rather exorbitant, but doubtless
MARKET SCENES. 181
permanent residents do not pay such sums as are
charsred to strano^ers for the same articles. We were
heartily laughed at by a housekeeper on stating the
cost of a small basket of choice fruit which we had
purchased, being told that we had paid four times its
market value. However, it was well worth the price
to us, who had just arrived from an ocean voyage of
^YQ thousand miles and more. On shipboard fruit is
necessarily a scarce article, and it was certainly worth
something extra to be introduced for the first time to
the luscious products of this region.
The abundance and variety of flowers, as well as
their cheapness and fragrance, make them a desirable
morning purchase, with all their dewy freshness upon
them. Oranges, limes, pineapples, lemons, alligator-
pears, cocoanuts, gTapes, mangoes, with an infinite
variety of other fruits, make up the stock in trade,
together with squealing pigs, live turkeys, and noisy
guinea-fowls. Here also are various gaudy feathered
songsters, in cheap, home-made cages, besides mon-
keys, marmosets, and other household pets. The
macaws, chained by the leg, and the screaming par-
rots vie with each other and with the monkeys in the
amount of noise they make. Wicker baskets filled
with live ducks, geese, and fowls are borne on the
heads of native women, who have brought them many
a long weary mile from far inland, hoping to make a
few pennies by their sale. The chatter of the women,
the cries of men and animals, an occasional quarrel
between two noisy Italians, ending in furious vocifer-
182 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
ations and gesticulations, all add to the Babel of sound.
One little marmoset put his hand into that of the au-
thor, looking so appealingly into his face that, ima-
gining the little fellow might be hungry, some nice
edibles, calculated to rejoice the monkey heart, were
promptly purchased and gratefully received by the
marmoset, which, in his eager haste to consume the
same, stuffed the sides of either jaw to alarming pro-
portions. The little creature was wonderfully hu-
man, and having found a kindly disposed stranger,
insisted upon keeping one of his tiny hands in our
own, while he rapidly filled his mouth with the
other.
It is interesting to observe the artistic manner in
which the native women, Indians and blacks, mingle
and arrange the various fruits and vegetables, show-
ing a natural instinct for the harmonious blending of
colors and forms. A pile of yellow oranges, green
limes, and mangoes had a base of buff -colored bananas
picturesquely arranged with all the pointed ends of
the finger -like fruit outward, while a luscious ripe
pineapple formed the apex of the pile, set off jauntily
by its cactus-like, prickly leaves. On the borders of
the market and along the iron railing of Palace
Square, black -haired, bareheaded Italian women dis-
played cheap jewelry, imitation shell, gilded combs,
and other fancy trinkets for sale, embracing priestly
knick-knacks, ivory crosses, crucifixion scenes, coral
beads, high-colored ribbons, and gaudy kerchiefs.
The bronzed faces of these black-eyed, gypsy-like
THE FISH MARKET. 183
women were very cadaverous, as though the land of
their adoption did not particularly agree with them. It
seems hardly possible that these peddlers could gain a
livelihood trading in these tawdry and utterly useless
articles among such a humble, impecunious class of
customers as frequent the market, and yet their nu-
merous wide-open, shallow tin boxes showed a consid-
erable stock of goods.
The fish market is a curious sight in the variety of
colors and shapes afforded by the inhabitants of the
neighboring bay, "where most of them are caught.
What an array of finny monsters ! — rock-fish, large
as halibut, ray, skates, craw-fish, cuttle-fish, and
prawns half as large as lobsters, together with devil-fish
and oysters. Funny idea, but these oysters, many of
them, are grown on trees ! How is this possible? Let
us tell you. The mangrove trees line the water's edge ;
many of the branches overhang the sea, and are sub-
merged therein. To these young oysters affix them-
selves, and there they live and thrive. The same
phenomenon was observed by the author some years
ago in Cuba. These oysters are found in small cor-
rugated shells scarcely larger than a good-sized Eng-
lish walnut, which they somewhat resemble.
In the fish market one sees some very original char-
acters among the negro women who preside over the
finny tribe. They are large, good-natured creatures,
quick at a trade, and quite intelligent. We recall one,
who was a prominent figure among her companions.
She was tail, portly, and strong as a horse. Her head
184 EQUATORIAL AMERICA,
was decked with a bandanna kerchief of many colors,
her flat nose and protruding lips indicating close
African relationship. Secured behind one of her ears
was a cigarette, while a friction match protruded from
the other, ready for use. Her coarse calico dress, of
deep red, was covered in front by a brown linen apron
extending nearly to her bare feet. Her uncovered
arms were about as large as a man's legs. This
nesrress dressed the several kinds of fish with the facil-
ity of an expert, making change for her patrons with
commendable promptness, and dismissing them with
a good-natured smile, adding some remark which was
pretty sure to elicit hearty laughter.
As we stood viewing these things, a noisy fellow
made himseK ver}^ obnoxious to every person whom he
met. He had evidently been too often to the neigh-
boring spirit-shops. A police officer arrested the man
by touching him lightly on the shoulder and saying a
few words to him; then, pointing ahead, made the fel-
low precede him to the lock-up. Though this disturber
of the peace was half drunk, he knew too much to resist
an officer, which is considered to be a heinous offense
and is severely punished in Rio. It was natural to
contrast this scene with the violent resistance offered
by offenders with whom the police of New York and
Boston have often to deal.
The streets of Rio, at all times of the day, present a
motley crowd of half -naked negroes, overladen don-
keys, lazy Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish loafers,
smoking cheap cigars, with here and there a Jew hawk-
STREET AND SOCIAL LIFE. 185
ing articles of personal wear, women with various heavy
articles upon their heads, water carriers, vociferous
sellers of confectionery, all moving hither and thither,
each one intent upon his or her individual inter-
est and oblivious of all others. The background to
this kaleidoscopic picture is the low, stucco -finished
houses, painted in lively red, yellow, or blue, inter-
spersed here and there by bas-reliefs, the whole re-
flecting the rays of a torrid sun. Though it is all
quite different, yet somehow it recalls the narrow,
crowded streets and bazaars of Cairo and Alexandria.
It is very natural, in passing, to regard with interest
those screened balconies, and to imagine what the lives
may be of the haK orientally excluded women within
them, while occasionally catching luminous glances
from curious eyes. The notes of a guitar, or those of
the piano, often reach the ear of the passer-by, some-
times accompanied by the ringing notes of a song, for
the ladies of Brazil are extremely fond of music; in-
deed, it seems to be almost their only distraction. Of
books they know very little, and any literary reference
is to them like speaking in an unknown tongue. Even
the one poet of Portugal, Camoens, appears to be a
stranger on this side of the Atlantic. The isolation
and want of intellectual resort among the average
women of this country are a sad reality, and are in a
degree their excuse for some unfortunate indulgences
and immoralities, domestic unfaithfuhiess being as
common here as in Paris or Vienna.
The majority of the Brazilian women marry at or
186 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
before the age of sixteen, and become old, as we use
the term, at thirty. The climate and the cares of
maternity together age them prematurely. In early
youth, and until they have reached twenty three or
four years, they are almost universally very handsome,
but this beauty is not retained, as is often the case
among the sex in colder climes. Of their charms, it
must be honestly admitted that they are almost purely
physical (animal); the beauty which high culture im-
parts to the features, by informing the mind and de-
veloping the intellect, is not found as a rule among
Brazilian women. Of course there are some delight-
ful and notable exceptions to this conclusion, but we
speak of the women, generally, of what is termed the
better class. Now and then one meets with ladies
who have been educated in the United States, or in
Europe, upon whom early and refined associations
have left an unmistakable impress. The superiority
of such is at once manifest, both in general ease of
manner, and the inexplicable charm which high breed-
ing imparts.
One searches in vain for a full-faced, well-devel-
oped, hearty looking man, among the natives in the
streets of this capital. The average people, both high
and low, are sallow, undersized, and cadaverous.
Sunken cheeks and thin figures are the rule among
the men, a passing North American or Englishman
only serving to furnish a strong and suggestive con-
trast. These people have brilliantly expressive eyes,
with handsome teeth and mouths, though half shriv-
THE ROMISH CHURCH. 187
eled up and undeveloped in body. If one pauses to
analyze the matter, he comes to the conclusion that
vice and short commons, unwholesome morals and an
unwholesome climate, have much to do with this pre-
vailing appearance, which must be in part hereditary,
to be so universal, commencing some way back and
increasing with the generations. As in Mexico, gen-
tlemen meeting on the streets of Rio hug each other
with both arms, at the same time inflicting two or three
quick, earnest slaps with the flat of the hand upon the
back. This is perhaps after an absence of a few
days ; but if they meet ten times a day, off come their
hats, and they shake hands with the most earnest dem-
onstrations, both at meeting and at parting. Kissing
on both cheeks is common enough in many parts of
Europe among society people, but this hugging busi-
ness between men meeting upon the public streets
strikes one as a waste of the raw material.
It goes without saying that the popular religion
of Rio Janeiro and the country at large is that of
the Romish Church, though all denominations are tol-
erated by the laws of the republic. In some districts
it is the same here as in Mexico and continental
Spain, the Protestants being persecuted in every pos-
sible manner. Nevertheless, the power of the priest-
hood, we were creditably informed, is on the wane.
They owe the loss of it in a great measure to the gross
abuse of their positions and their shamefully immoral
lives. No one conversant with the true state of the
case, be he Protestant or Romanist, can deny this
188 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
statement. The author thought that the Roman
Catholic priests of Mexico were about as wicked a set
of men as he had ever met with, taken as a whole,
but further experience in South America has con-
vinced him that the Mexican priesthood have their
equals in immorality in Brazil, and elsewhere south
of Panama. The popular religion of the country is
one of the saddest features of its national existence,
forming the great drag-weight upon its moral, and
indirectly upon its physical progress.
The Botanical Garden of Rio is a justly famous
resort, situated about six miles from the city, behind
the Corcovada, between that mountain and the sea, but
it is easily reached by tramway, or better still by a
delightful drive along the shore of Botafogo Bay,
over a road shaded by imperial palms, together with
occasional clusters of the ever beautiful bamboo, the
sight of which recalled the luxuriant specimens seen
in Japan and Sumatra. The nearest approach to this
admirable public garden is to be found at Kandy, in
the island of Ceylon, which, as we remember it, is
considerably more extensive, and presents a larger
variety of tropical vegetation. The examples of the
india-rubber tree, especially, are finer in the Asiatic
garden than we find them at Rio. A tall, slim-
stemmed sloth-tree, straight as an arrow, and bare
of branches or leaves except at the top, was pointed
out to us here. It is so called because it is the favor-
ite resort of that animal. This creature is very easily
captured, and the natives are fond of its meat, which
\
VARIOUS TREES. 189
may be nutritious, but it can bardly be called pala-
table. As it is almost entirely a vegetable -feeding
animal, we know not why tbere should be any objection
to the meat it produces. The sloth climbs up into
the tall branches of the tree described, though it does
so with considerable difficulty, and there remains until
it has consiuned every leaf and tender shoot which it
bears ; then the voracious creature wanders off to find
and denude another.
The bread-fruit tree is interesting, with its hand-
some feathery leaves, and its large, melon-shaped
product. It grows to fifty feet in height, and bears
fruit constantly for three quarters of the year, then
takes a three months' rest. It is only equaled in the
profuseness of its product by the banana, forming one
of the staple sources of food supply to the lazy, indo-
lent denizens of tropical regions. The candelabra-
tree, with its silver-tinted foliage, is one of the beau-
ties of this charming Brazilian garden. Among other
notable trees are fine specimens of the camphor-tree,
the tamarind, the broad-spreading mango, opulent
in fruitfuhiess, the flowering magnolia, also the soap-
tree, with its saponaceous berries. The cochineal
cactus was thriving after its kind, near by what is
called the cow-tree, which interests one quite as much
as any of its companions, rising over a hundred feet in
height, with a red bark and fig-like leaves. The milk
which it yields is of cream-like consistency, very sim-
ilar to that from a cow, and it may be used for any
ordinary purpose to which we put that article. The
190 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
tree is tapped, as we treat the sugar -maple, in order
to obtain its very remarkable and useful product. It
is nutritious, that is freely admitted ; but most prob-
ably it has some medicinal properties of a latent char-
acter, though of this we could learn nothing.
The world -famed avenue of royal palms in the Bo-
tanical Garden of Rio is unique, being undoubtedly
the finest tropical arboretum in the world arranged by
the hand of man. We saw here a delicate little mem-
ber of the palm family, a sort of baby tree, known as
the small-stemmed palm of Para. Many trees from
Asia have become domesticated side by side with the
maple, the pine, and the elm from New England.
Some of the large trees were decked with orchids and
hanging lichens, the dainty and fantastic ornamen-
tation of nature herself, not promoted by artificial
means. The humidity of the atmosphere especially
facilitates the growth of this beautiful family of plants,
which are as erratic in shape as they are variegated
in prismatic colors.
It would require a whole chapter to do even partial
justice to this remarkable garden behind the Corco-
vado mountain.
One sees here myriads of delicate humming-birds,
wonderful animated gems of color, remarkable in
Brazil for their metallic hues. Such brilliancy of
lustre, glancing in the warm sunlight, is fascinating
to behold. The Spaniards call these delicate little
creatures "winged flowers," and the Portuguese,
"flower-kissers." A lady resident of Rio told the
HUMMING-BIRDS. 191
author of tlie vain attempt of a patient German sci-
enti-t to domesticate a few specimens of these birds.
He commenced by taking them from the nest soon
after they were hatched, at various periods of their
growth, and even after they had learned to fly, but
although infinite care was taken to supply their usual
food, and also not to confine them too closely, the
naturalist was fain to acknowledge the impossibility
of accomplishing his object, though the experiment
extended over a period of two years. The ceaseless
activity of this frail little bird renders any circum-
scribing of its liberty fatal to existence.
Delicate, innocent, and apparently harmless as but-
terflies, these diminutive creatures are often very pug-
nacious, and when two males eno^ao^e in a contest with
each other, which is not seldom the case, one or the
other often loses his life. If disturbed during the
period of incubation, they will attack large birds and
even human beings, directing their long, needle-like
bills at the offender's eyes. Our informant told us the
particulars of a man who, under such circumstances,
came very near losing both of these organs. Scien-
tists have succeeded in preserving over two hundred
different specimens of this little feathered beauty,
representing that number of species indigenous to
Brazil. Some of these are only five or six times as
large as a humble-bee. The artificial flowers already
referred to as being for sale in the shops of Rio de-
pend almost entirely upon the humming-bird for their
delicate beauty; no other feathered creature affords
192 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
such marvelous colors and exquisitely fine material for
the purpose. The best specimens of this work are
necessarily expensive, requiring, besides a truly artistic
taste and eye, skill of execution, infinite j)atience, and
much time, to produce them. We saw a choice design
of this sort, measuring about fifteen by twenty inches,
framed under a glass, the design being a bouquet of
natural flowers, for which the asking price was five
hundred dollars ; four hundred and fifty had been
refused. The feathers were almost entirely from the
throat and breast of humming-birds, arranged by a
woman who had made this work the occupation of
her life from girlhood. We learned that such a piece
of artistic effect represented nearly a year's labor !
One also finds in the Kio shops flower-23ieces ingen-
iously formed from the scales of high-colored fishes,
as well as from the wings and bodies of native insects
characterized by brilliant colors, but these of course
will not compare in delicacy and beauty with the
products of the feathers. The Brazilian beetle is pre-
pared in a myriad of ornamental forms and in many
combinations, sometimes mingled with feathers. In
the Rua dos Ourives there are two or three shops
where a great variety of such objects is offered for
sale. These stores have also many choice native
stones of great beauty, including the true Brazilian
topaz, for which there is a growing and appreciative
demand.
The idea prevails that the climate of Rio is like
some parts of Africa, suffocatingly hot all the time,
SANITARY CONDITIONS. 193
but this is not correct. The American consul told the
author that he had suffered more from the cold than
from the heat in the environs of the city, where his
residence is in a rather elevated district. He declared
that the temperature, even in town, was rarely so
extreme as is often found in the cities of the United
States. He believes that the yellow fever might be
effectually banished from Rio by the adoption of strict
quarantine and effective sanitary measures in the city
proper. As we have already intimated, consumption
prevails here to an alarming extent. This is doubt-
less owing to the peculiar dampness of the atmosphere.
We found that statistics show one half as many deaths
from consumption as from yellow fever, taking the
aggregate of five years. "The one disease comes an-
nually in the heat of summer only, as a rule," said our
informant, "while the other prevails more or less all
the year round, year in and year out." During the
two weeks which the author stopped at Rio, forty and
fifty fatal cases of yellow fever a day were recorded,
and doubtless more than that number actually fell
victims to its ravages, as only those who died in the
several hospitals were enumerated. We were in the
city in June, one of the winter months in this lati-
tude. Heretofore the fever has nearly always disap-
peared, as an epidemic, by the first or middle of May,
even in years when it has been most prevalent and
fatal. Notwithstanding the charm of novelty which
so absorbs the stranger, we are free to confess there
was a lurking dread of the subtle enemy which proved
194 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
so swift and fatal all about us. Fifty deaths daily
by yellow fever in a population exceeding half a mil-
lion only served to show that it still lingered in a
sporadic form where the seeds are perhaps never en-
tirely exterminated. It most readily attacks strangers
and the unacclimated, but no class is exempt. The
indigent, careless, drunken portion of the population
are no more liable, we were informed, to contract the
disease than others of better habits. This outrages
all preconceived notions of diseases of this character,
but we were assured by good authority that it was
really so. The day we left Rio, the English Bishop,
a most estimable man, who was universally respected
and beloved, died of the fell disease.
The summer season begins in October and lasts until
April, and is better known here as the wet season, the
rain falling with great regularity nearly every after-
noon, and at about the same time. Usually an hour
of liberal downpour is experienced, then it promptly
clears up and becomes bright and pleasant. The
warmest month is February. The winter months are
May, June, July, and August; this is the dry season,
during which very little rain falls. The climate ap-
pears to be particularly injurious to persons who are
troubled with a torpid liver. Elephantiasis is indi-
genous, but it is not very common ; the few cases seen
were upon the streets, and were those of negroes who
exposed their diseased limbs to excite public pity,
making the affliction an excuse for systematic begging.
A score of such unfortunates were seen daily in and
ENVIRONS OF RIO. 195
about Palace Square, and one or two regularly posted
themselves before the Globe Restaurant, which is the
Maison Doree of Rio Janeiro.
The well-to-do merchants do not think of livins: in
town, but select some pleasant spot in the environs,
where they erect picturesque homes, often extremely
attractive to the eye architecturally, and surrounded
by lovely gardens, containing both native and exotic
plants and trees. The contrast between commercial
and rural Rio is something very striking. One pre-
sents all the grossness and belittling aspect of money-
getting, the other the graces, liberality, and enno-
bling appearance of culture and refinement. Of all
the trees in these attractive environs, the pahn, in
its great variety, challenges one's admiration most.
We mention it frequently, for it was our constant de-
light. At every turn one comes upon it, in its several
species, — the cocoa-palm, the palmetto, the cabbage,
the assai-palm, the fanshaped-pahn, and scores of
other varieties. The hand and taste of woman are
seen in these gardens of the environs. Flowers are
selected and arranged as only feminine taste could sug-
gest, while the broad piazzas are simply floral bowers
and gardens of placid delights.
The province round about Rio is beautified and ren-
dered profitable by the many large coffee plantations,
particularly attractive when the well-trimmed bushes
are seen in full bearing, bending under the weight of
red berries. Orange orchards abound, the branches
of the trees heavy with the rich golden fruit ; yet as an
196 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
orange-producing section, Florida, in our own coun-
try, is fully its equal. The fruit of the southern part
of the United States is much better and more intelli-
gently cultivated, and is larger and fairer, than the
fruit of this region. We except Bahia, however, in
this remark; that is the very paradise of oranges.
Besides the abundance of fruits. Flora reigns in Bra-
zil, and near to Rio bignonias, passifloras, variegated
honeysuckles, morning-glories, magnolias, and or-
chids mingle with the dark green mango trees and
the delicate light green mimosas which meet the eye
everywhere. It appears that the several species of
flowers have their special season for blooming, when
they are at their best, so that a large variety is always
seen in bloom at all times in the year. We must
confess to having felt half lost without the "Queen
of Flowers," our grand favorite; but as to roses, it
was found that the ever present ants maintained
a fixed hostility to them, rendering it particularly
difficult to rear them in this country. In all of the
many lands we have visited, the author has never
seen such superbly developed roses as are produced
in and about the city of Boston. There is some
quality in the climate of New England, added to the
genius of her famous florists, especially adapted to
their perfection.
The broad leafed umbrella-tree — chapeo do sul —
is often seen in this neighborhood cultivated as a
shade tree, both in town and country, while the thick
clustering bamboo, so often referred to, adds its
''PORTUGUESE JOE.'' 197
unique beauty to the environs in all directions. The
banana and plantain, both cultivated and wild, thrive
hereabouts, and form an important adjunct to the food
supply of all classes. The banana is cultivated by
offsets, and is of rapid growth, coming to maturity and
bearing fruit a few months after it is planted. Brazil
seems to be well called the home of fruits and flowers.
Has the reader ever chanced to hear of "Portu-
guese Joe," of Rio Janeiro? He is a man as well
known in the capital of Brazil as the late emperor.
Ostensibly he is only a successful shipchandler, whole-
sale grocer, purveyor — by appointment — to the
American and British naval ships which put into Rio,
or which are stationed here; but over and above his
extensive commercial relations, we found him to be a
Good Samaritan. He is quite ready for legitimate
business, and has realized a handsome fortune by fair
and honorable dealing. He charges a reasonable
profit upon the various supplies which he furnishes,
but his goods are exactly what he represents them to
be, and he has the confidence of all who deal with
him. His establishment grew up from a small begin-
ning, he having come from Portugal to engage in busi-
ness when only thirteen years of age. To-day he is
in the prime of life, and his store on the Parana de
Dom Pedro II. is a city institution. The highest offi-.
cial, the wealthiest bankers, and the most influential
merchants are glad to shake him cordiaUy by the
hand. Signor J. C. V. Mendes — the other title
being a trade nom de plume of long standing — is a
198 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
gentleman by nature, and a true friend to all strangers
who seek his counsels on arriving at Kio. We fortu-
nately became acquainted with Signor Mendes on the
first day of our landing, and are glad to speak of his
ready courtesy and desire to make all Americans at
home who arrive in the capital of Brazil. It is no
particular recommendation, but it is a pleasure to say
that, with his calm, self-possessed manner, his bril-
liant black eyes and genial smile lighting up his
bronzed features, he is unquestionably the handsomest
man whom we chanced to meet in Rio Janeiro. Manly
beauty is not an imperative adjunct to excellence, but
is still a very agreeable accessory.
One naturally anticipates but will not find any social
distinction as to race in this city. Color opposes no
obstacle to progress in educational or official position.
Pupils of the public schools meet on the same footing
and mingle promiscuously. There is nothing to pre-
vent the intelligent negro from becoming a judge or
minister of state, or from filling any high civil office,
if he develops proper ability. Many bureaus in the
public offices are held by colored men, observably in
the custom house, and the race generally is regarded
with far more respect than with us in the United
States.
Providence has liberally endowed the larger portion
of Brazil with a fertile soil, an unrivaled flora, and
a delightful climate. For a tropical country, it is re-
markably temperate and salubrious. It has mountain
scenery excelling that of Switzerland, with fertile
PROGRESS OF BRAZIL. 199
valleys surpassing those of Italy, and myriads o£ rivers
affording ample means of transportation with natural
and abundant irrigation. Unlike many of her sister
states, including those on the west coast of the conti-
nent, she is exempt from earthquakes and the destruc-
tion caused by devouring tidal waves. While so
much of Mexico and thousands of miles of the Pacific
coast are scorched by drought, there are no districts
of Brazil exempt from regular and refreshing rains,
the importance of which cannot be overestimated. To
crown all else, the splendid harbor of her capital by its
size, safety, and beauty invites the commerce of the
world. It would certainly seem, when we realize all
of these special advantages, that nature had intended
so large and favored a portion of the globe to ulti-
mately be the home of a great, powerful, and prosper-
ous nation.
That the material growth of Brazil is mainly in the
right direction is manifest to the most casual observer.
The many lines of railways penetrating the country in
every province will by and by prove to be effective
means of development. Wherever the facilities are
liberally afforded, not only individuals, but ideas, are
sure to travel, and social and material improvement
must follow. Civilization keeps pace with the iron
horse. W^hen the street rails penetrated the canons
of Utah, polygamy was doomed. Material facts are
stronger than arguments of well-meaning moralists.
The establishment of so many railroads through the
wilds of South America may not be a paying matter,
200 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
it is not so at this writing, but a great moral pur-
pose, and that of true progress, will be subserved by
them. They will be the agents of enlightenment and
civilization to many wild tribes of Indians, at the same
time opening broad and favorable tracts of territory
for settlement by emigrants from the crowded and
overstocked states of Europe.
On the homeward passage, when we visited Rio
Janeiro for the second time, it was found to be rife
with politics; but like Joseph's coat, of so many colors
as to be confusing to a foreigner. It may reasonably
be doubted if the natives themselves clearly under-
stood what they wanted. The revolutionary element
seemed very strong, and was led by men who had no-
thing to lose by agitation, but everything to gain by a
lawless uprising. The most intelligent citizens pre-
dicted a popular revolution of some sort in the near
future, and their anticipation proved to be correct.
Revohition is chronic in South America.
CHAPTER X.
Petropolis. — Summer Residence of the Citizens of Rio. — Brief
Sketch of the late Royal Family. — Dom Pedro's Palace. — A De-
lightful Mountain Sanitarium. — A Successful but Bloodless Revo-
lution. — Floral Delights. — Mountain Scenery. — Heavy Gam-
bling'. — A German Settlement. — Cascatinha. — Remarkable
Orchids. — Local Types. — A Brazilian Forest. — Compensation.
Petropolis, — or the city of Peter, — the fash-
ionable summer resort of the citizens of Rio Janeiro,
is a modern town, dating only from 1844, and contains
at that season of the year a population of some eight
thousand. The intense heat of the crowded city in
the simimer months, not to mention its usually un-
healthy condition, makes even the accHmated inhab-
itants seek a refuge in the hills. So long as the fever
continues to rage, merchants leave their families here,
and come up nightly to sleep and breathe the fresh, pure
air. It is only on the coast and in crowded communi-
ties that epidemics prevail. We were told by residents
that a case of yellow fever never originated at Petrop-
olis ; that it was too elevated for the citizens to fear
anything of the sort. It is so generally throughout
the country ; the yellow fever prevails only m the
ports and at sea level, a peculiarity also observable in
Cuba and the several West Indian islands. When the
fever prevails, as it does annually at Havana and Ma-
202 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
tanzas, the wealthy citizens, and all unaccliuiated peo-
ple who are able to do so, retire inland to elevated
localities, where they are comparatively safe from the
scourge. The same rule apphes to the coast cities of
South America, — Para, Pernambuco, Bahia, etc. It
is a very important matter to the merchants of Rio
that they have, within two or three hours' reach of
their overheated city offices, a resort where th'ey can sit
in a dry skin and sleep in quiet and comfort. Had
they not this resort, they would be obliged to suc-
cumb to disease, or to leave Rio for half of the year
annually.
Petropolis is situated in the Organ Mountain range,
about thirty miles from the metropolis, and is some-
thing less than three thousand feet above tide-water.
The town is built in a slight depression among the
well-wooded hills, forming a vale of alpine beauty,
easily reached from Rio by boat and rail. The latter
portion of the trip, comprising a sharp mountain
ascent, is made by a system of railroad like that by
which the summit of Corcovado is reached. The
popidar route is to cross the harbor at Rio by a large
and commodious steamboat, a distance of twelve miles,
and then to take the steam-cars. There is also an-
othel^ railroad route, all the way by land. The late
emperor's summer palace is the prominent feature of
Petropolis, together with its elaborate gardens, cover-
ing some fifteen or twenty acres of land. Hither
come the diplomatic representatives of foreign nations
to enjoy the salubrious mountain air and the hospita-
DOM PEDRO 11. 203
ble society of the best people of Rio Janeiro, and to
lay aside many of the constraints of city life. A
great contrast is apparent here to the crowded streets
and narrow lanes of the uncleanly capital, while the
air is undoubtedly remarkable for its healthful and
invigorating qualities. The summer palace is sur-
rounded by elegantly arranged grounds, planted with
rare flowers and choice trees from every chme. In
general effect it resembles an old English country
house, except for the tropical vegetation, the fine
verdant lawns of grass, the only ones of any extent
in the country, being particularly noticeable. This
mountain resort has been called the Versailles of
Brazil.
It seems appropriate to recall, in brief, the family
history of the late emperor, Dom Pedro II., of whose
favorite abiding-place we are speaking. He enjoyed a
distinguished reputation among modern rulers, was lib-
eral, scholarly, and possessed of great experience of men
and the world at large. Having been an observant
and studious traveler in many parts of the globe, his
endeavor was to adopt the best well-tried systems of
other governments in educational and other matters
relating to political economy. His system was mild,
progressive, and designed for the general good of the
people over whom he presided ; in fact, it was too mild
for the turbulent, unlettered masses of the provinces
of Brazil. They were not intellectually prepared for
such leniency.
The royal family of Portugal fled hither in 1808,
204 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
at the time of Napoleon's invasion of tliat country,
but returned to Europe in 1821. A national congress
assembled at Rio Janeiro tbe next year, and chose
Dom Pedro, eldest son of King Joao VI. of Portugal,
" Perpetual Defender of Brazil." He proclaimed the
independence of the country, and was chosen " Con-
stitutional Emperor." In 1831 he abdicated in favor
of his only son, Dom Pedro IL, who reigned as em-
peror until November 15, 1889, when he was de-
throned by a bloodless revolution, and, together with
his family, was exiled, Brazil declaring herself a re-
public under the title she now bears of the United
States of Brazil. The feeling was nearly universal
among the Brazilians that they desired to live under a
republican form of government, but Dom Pedro II.
was a man of such estimable character, so just, intelli-
gent, and popidar a ruler, that the revolution, which
finally dethroned him, was deferred long after it was
determined upon. The peaceful manner in which it
was finally achieved is perhaps without precedent, and
shows how thoroughly the mind of the active spirits
of the nation was made up to this end. It was a po-
litical coup d.etat, accomplished without the burning
of an ounce of gunpowder. The emperor himseK
seemed to accept the position as a foregone conclusion.
We learned from persons who had been quite inti-
mate with him that he had already anticipated the
whole condition of affairs, foreseeing that it was in-
evitable. If this is so, he was wise as well as diplo-
matic and humane, for he had enough devoted adher-
THE LATE EMPEROR. 205
ents abdut him to have made a serious though doubt-
less futile conflict for possession. There are always
myriads of the unthinking rabble ready to join and
even fight for authority which is already established,
especially when seconded, as was the case with Dom
Pedro, by a strong personal popularity.
The palace at Petropolis is, with its extensive
grounds, now offered for sale, the country having no
further use for palaces. It is understood that a local
syndicate propose to purchase the whole and cut up
the land into building lots, which are very much in
demand just at this writing. It would not be surpris-
ing if Petropolis were to double its population during
the next four or five years. Speculators are already
at work "booming" the place, and a summer home
here is just what the Rio merchant requires.
Some queer stories are told about the e very-day life
of Dom Pedro by his neighbors. It seems, accord-
ing to these reports, — for the truth of which we cannot
vouch, — that he often chose as his associates and ad-
visers uneducated persons of very humble origin, who
had accumulated wealth by shrewdness and industry,
besides which he latterly exhibited many very peculiar
traits of character ; but, as we say, it is difficult to de-
cide whether these stories are to be relied upon. It is
more than hinted that he had grown very weak minded,
or, as the Scotch say, had a bee in his bonnet. At
all events, it now appears that he did not possess the
necessary energy and executive ability requisite to
control a naturally turbulent and restless people, and
206 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
that his summary dethronement, so peaceably accom-
plished, must have come sooner or later. .
It is very natural to speculate upon the present
state of affairs in this country, since the change has
taken place. To render a republic possible and suc-
cessful requires a liberal degree of intelligence among
the common people, that is, the masses at large. Un-
fortunately Brazil cannot boast of such a condition
among her population. The educated, cultured por-
tion of the community is quite limited, consequently
the country is hardly fit for self-government. Igno-
rant masses are only amenable to the strong arm, and
cannot, while untaught, be controlled through the
influence of reason and argument. Past experience
shows us that while a republic in the United States,
France, or Switzerland means freedom and order, in
these half barbaric southern states it signifies an
alternation of revolution and of military despotism.
Subject to the rule of Dom Pedro, Brazil was alike
free from despotism and from disorder, so that it may
be questioned whether his liberal reign was not, under
the circumstances, the truest republic for which Brazil
was fitted. Indeed, while these lines are being writ-
ten, the question of a return to the former style of
government is opeidy discussed at Rio Janeiro, where
a state of political imbroglio exists very similar to
the conditions which caused the late disastrous civil
war in Chili, on the other side of the Andes. Such a
shocking outcome, however, need never be feared in
Brazil as has been developed by the sister republic
ENVIRONS OF THE CITY. 207
on the Pacific coast, since both intelligence and civ-
ilization are far more advanced in Brazil than in
ChiH.
The town of Petropolis and its neighborhood pos-
sesses good roads for driving purposes, this location
having been for several years the pride and pleasure
of the late emperor, who made the place what it
now is by his liberal expenditures and the constant
improvements which he instituted, paj^ing for them
out of his own private purse. The first selection of
this healthful spot was also his idea, and he felt a
personal pride in doing everything possible towards
making it popular. The roads referred to lead one
through delightful scenery and highly cultivated neigh-
borhoods, beautified by art, until finally they lose
themselves among the hiUs and amidst impenetrable
forests. There are several fairly good hotels here,
where the charges are moderate and the domestic con-
veniences execrable ! The great variety of trees to be
found in and about the town is marvelous, the palm and
pine prevailing, interspersed with the beautiful fea-
thery Brazilian cedar. The tree-ferns which grow here
to a height of twelve feet are great favorites, with their
bright green fronds, six feet in length, almost reach-
ing the ground as the stalk bends gracefully with their
weight. The scarlet passion flower is trained as an or-
namental creeper in nearly every garden-plot, and tall
fuchsias in various colors and pearl white camellias
also abound. We have rarely seen the camellia in
such variety of colors, or such profusion of flowers.
208 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
It is often found blooming beside tall coffee-trees,
themselves full of deep green clustering berries, the
tree, where grown for ornamental purposes, being
permitted to reach full proportions. Here one sees
also a profusion of the rich green bamboo in prolific
groves by the roadside, or surrounding humble cot-
tages, thus forming a welcome shade. In midsum-
mer, so rapid is the growth of the bamboo that every
twenty-four hours adds two feet to its height, or in
other words, it grows an inch each hour throughout the
day and the night. Jack's fabulous beanstalk hardly
surpasses the bamboo, though the former is an amus-
ing myth, while the latter is simply a literal fact.
Some very lovely gladioli and white roses were noted
as adding their beauty to these charming hill gardens
in the Organ Mountains. So abundant were the
flowers of various kinds in the grounds which sur-
rounded our hotel, that any one was welcome to pluck
and approj^riate them to the extent of his fancy.
The public tables were supplied with fresh ones every
day, forming great living pyramids of beautiful colors,
emitting inimitable fragrance.
Our hotel was situated on gently rising groimd,
commanding a considerable view of the plateau on
which the town stands, with Dom Pedro's palace in
the middle foreground, shaded by groups of palms.
It was a delight to sit out-of-doors and watch the cloud
effects as they hung over the tree-covered hills and
peaks, closing their ranks now and again, and sweeping
over the vaUey like a dashing charge of cavaby ; or
TROPICAL TWILIGHT. 209
cautiously advancing in single scuds like infantry
deployed as skirmisliers ; or, again, mottling the sky
in white and peaceful masses. At the brief twilight
hour, it was like a living poem to note the varying
sunset hues creeping along the valley and gleaming
through the branches of the grand old trees which
broke the sky-line of the mountains, and the soft lilac
blush of the sky, like a profile in silhouette, with
sharp curves and infinite detail. A deep, broad gulch,
opening towards the west, afforded a lingering view
of the golden, crimson, and pink horizon, long after
the day had closed, and until the stars gleamed forth
through the transparent atmosphere and glorified the
advent of night.
This is nature in her happy moods. A little later,
to these exquisite delights of the moment, an ugly ob-
verse presents itself. '' Only man is vile."
From opposite the open window where we sit pen-
ning these lines, — it is a Sabbath evening, — there
comes the sharp rattle of diceboxes and billiard balls,
together with the loud, angry talk of persons engaged
at gambling games of cards, interrupted by the re-
peated cries of the presiding genius of the roulette
table : " Make your game, signors, make your game,"
as he coolly rakes in the winnings of the bank. Italian,
French, English, and Spanish adventurers mingle
their jargon with Portuguese in the noisy throng who
crowd the gambling "hell." It was said that sev-
enteen thousand dollars were won by a Portuguese
gentleman, last evening, in this " casino " just across
210 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the street, so losers to a like amount, on the same
occasion, must have been rendered half desperate.
The wretchedly demoralizing effect of gambling is
apparent throughout all the cities of this republic,
the common lotteries tempting the mass of the people,
and various games of chance others who have money
to risk.
Petropohs is extremely attractive in many respects,
the scenery round about it very much resembling that
of Switzerland. The broad streets are lined with such
pretty villas and attractive gardens that one falls to
making romantic pictures of possible delightful things
which might naturally happen in them, and is led to
peer into nooks and corners with a prying earnestness
amounting almost to impertinence. These avenues
contain in their centres deep canals, thirty or forty
feet wide, having granite linings and the upper portion
of the banks neatly sodded with grass. Through these
canals the water from the surrounding hills flows in a
pure, rapid stream, carrying away the drainage of the
town, which is emptied into them by underground
conduits. These water-ways are crossed by numerous
small but substantial bridges, painted scarlet, while
the rushing river imparts a delightful coolness.
The largest portion of the permanent inhabitants of
Petropolis is composed of Germans, whose native
tonjme is heard on all sides, while the familiar clatter
of wooden shoes speaks of Berlin, Dresden, and other
German continental centres. The rosy-cheeked, flaxen-
haired, blue-eyed children are also prima facie evidence
LOCAL SCENES. 211
of the prevailing nationality, though there are a large
number of Italians who reside here. The latter keep
small shops and are peddlers of fruit, or marble cutters
and stucco workers, while many others find employ-
ment as gardeners.
The highway to a certain mining district passes
through the town, and many donkeys laden with inland
products are constantly to be seen in the streets en
route for Rio, giving the place a business aspect hardly
warranted by the local trade. From the neighboring
hills charcoal burners drive their donkeys every morn-
ing, laden with that article for domestic use in the
town, forming picturesque groups on the public square,
where they await purchasers. Others bring small-cut
wood from the liill for fuel, packed in little, narrow,
toy carts, each drawn by a single donkey. Scores of
donkeys bearing taU, widespread loads of green fod-
der are so hidden by the mass of greenery which they
struggle under, that none of the animal is seen at
all, leading one to imagine that Birnam wood has
literally come to Dunsinane. These animals are al-
most always attended by women, who sell the fodder
in the market and return home at night with such
domestic necessities as are required. Women are the
laborers here, as at home in Germany, where they
perform the hard work, while their husbands guzzle
beer and smoke endless tobacco.
Petropolis is, as we have said, steadily growing, but
the banislnnent of the emperor w^ill retard its progress,
as it takes from the town its strongest element of as-
212 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
sured success. We counted about a score of fine, large
residences in course of construction. The climate
here is like that of June in New England, and the
verdure of the trees is perennial.
There is a charming excursion which strangers
rarely fail to enjoy, namely, to a place familiarly
known as the Cascades. The village adjoining these
falls is called Cascatinha, and is situated in the lap
of the Organ Mountains, about five miles from Pe-
tropolis. The road thither leads along the side of a
small but boisterous stream, which gladdens the ear
with its merry, gurgling notes, past lowly, thatched
cottages, orange orchards, bamboo and banana groves,
and green breadths of well - cultivated, undulating
land, finally ending in the midst of a panorama of
bold mountain peaks, lovely with varied gradations of
tint, and subtlest effects of light and shade. Here
the abundant water furnished by the river, which is
artificially adapted to the purpose, forms a series of
cascades and falls, at the same time furnishing the
motive power for operating extensiije cotton and
woolen mills, which give emj^loyment to several hun-
dred men and women. A very humble type of life
mingles hereabouts with that of a much more refined
character. Naked or half-clad children are seen here
and there playing with those who are comparatively
well dressed. Nice cottage homes adjoin those of the
poorest class. Children of both sexes are observed,
only partially covered with rags, who are endowed with
a loveliness of eyes and features, together with hand-
BEAUTIFUL ORCHIDS. 213
some figures, causing one to reflect upon the unful-
filled possibilities of such childish beauty.
Men and women often bring into Petropolis and
offer for sale beautiful orchids, which they find in the
woods not far away. These they pack in green leaves,
retaining a piece of the original bark or wood upon
which they have grown. These pretty flowerings of
exuberant nature are sold for a trifling price. Some
are very remarkable in form and color, such as we have
never before chanced to see, and for really rare ones
the finders ask and receive good prices. We saw
among them a specimen of the Flor del Espiritu Santo,
— " Flower of the Holy Spirit," — to find which is
thought to bring to the fortunate discoverer good luck,
as well as a handsome price for the orchid. These
women may have passed whole days in their search of
the forest, patiently breaking their way through nearly
impassable jungles, before nature reveals to them one
of her most dainty gems. As a ride, the forests are
so dense that it is useless to try to penetrate them,
except by following some beaten route, — a charcoal
burner's road or a straggling way formed by a water-
course.
We well remember, but can only partially describe,
the glory and beauty of the Brazilian primeval forest.
The general tone of the color is brownish rather than
light green, influenced by the absence of strong light,
for though the sun is glowing in the open country,
here it is twilight. Not one direct beam penetrates
the density of the foHage, the sombre drapery of the
214 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
woods. At first one is awed by the vast extent of the
forest, by the dark, mournful shadows, by the gigantic
trees reaching so far heavenward, forming here and
there gothic arcades of matchless grandeur, and by
the bewildering variety of the undergrowth. Scarcely
a tree trunk is seen without its parasite, green with
foliage not its own, " beyond the power of botanists
to number up their tribe." These dense jungles might
be in India, or a bit out of " Darkest Africa ; " one is
barred by an impenetrable wall of vegetation. Where
palms occur, it is almost always in groups ; being a
social tree, it loves the company of its species. So
with the bamboo, which is found in the more swampy
regions, but always in groups of its own family.
These damp woods are the home of the orchids ; it is
here that they revel in moisture, clinging to the trunks
of tall, columnar trees, fattening on decayed portions
of the bark, but forming bits of lovely color, while
about the stems of other forest monarchs wind creep-
ing vines of rope-like texture, binding huge trunks in
a fatal embrace. Their final strangulation is slow,
but it is sure, — only a question of time. Lofty trees
bear charming flowers, as lowly shrubs do in our north-
ern clime. Arborescent ferns vie with the palms in
poetic beauty, with their elastic, tufted tops. Bunches
of lilac and blossoms of snowy whiteness hang in the
air. Drooping mosses depend like human hair from
widespread branches, and soft, velvety moss carpets
the way, with here and there dwarf mimosas trailing
beneath the ferns. Long vines of woody climbers, in
NATURE'S TEACHINGS. 215
deep olive-green, twine and intertwine among the
ranks of stout, aged trees, breaking out at short dis-
tances with pink, bkie, and scarlet buds, rivaling the
color of the birds which flash hither and thither like
rays of sunlight breaking through the leafy screen.
Now and again the shrill or plaintive notes of unfa-
miliar songsters fall upon the ear, mingling with the
cooing of the wood-doves and the low drone of the
dragon-fly. The magnificent arboreal growth of these
forests develops itself into thousands of strange and
beautiful forms, stimulated by the constant humidity
of the high temperature.
The atheist must feel himself stifled for breath in
the tropical forest, and his fallacious creed challenged
by every surroundiag object, while a new light illu-
mines his unwilling soul with irrefutable evidences.
The Supreme Being writes his gospel not in the Bible
alone, but upon the grand old trees, the lowly flowers,
the fleeting clouds, and upon the eternal stars. Those
who seek nature for religious inspiration never fail to
obtain it, untrammeled by the vulgar tenets of secta-
rianism or outraged by the tinsel of church forms
and ceremonies.
The observant traveler from the north is fain to
seek some consolation, some evidence of the glorious
law of compensation, while comparing the features of
these poetical latitudes with his o\\ia. weU-beloved but
more prosaic home. He remembers that if these
gaudy birds do flout in ^dvid colors that dazzle and
charm the eye, they have not the exquisite power of
216 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
song which inspires our more soberly clad New Eng-
land favorites. Brilliancy of feathers and sweetness
of song rarely go together, a natural fact which sug-
gests a whole moral essay in itself. The torrid zone
clothes its feathered tribes in glowing plumage, but
the colder north endows hers with heart-touching mel-
ody. If the flowers of the tropics exhaust the hues
of the prism, attracting us by the oddity of their
forms, while blooming in exuberant abundance, the
sweet and lowly children of Flora in higher latitudes
gTcet the senses with a fragrance unknown in equa-
torial regions. Joy is nowhere all of a piece. Bless-
ings, we are forced to believe, whether in the form of
beauty of color, fragrance, or melody, are very equally
divided all over the world, and those portions which
have not one, as a rule, are almost sure to have the
other. When we become eloquent and appreciative
in the lively enjoyment of scenes in a new country, it
is not always because they are more desirable or more
beautiful than our own ; it is the newness and the con-
trast which for the moment so captivate us. That to
which we are accustomed, however grand, becomes
commonplace ; we covet and require novelty to quicken
the observation. Were the sun to rise but once a
year, in place of three hundred and sixty-five times
every twelve months, we would willingly travel thou-
sands of miles, if it were necessary, to witness the
glorious phenomenon. The most charming natural
objects please us in proportion to their rarity or our
unfamiliarity with them.
CHAPTER XI.
Port of Santos. — Yellow Fever Scourge. — Down the Coast to Mon-
tevideo. — The Cathedral. — Pamperos. — Domestic Architecture.
— A Grand Thoroughfare. — City Institutions. — Commercial Ad-
vantages. — The Opera House. — The Bull-Fight. — Beggars on
Horseback. — City Shops. — A Typical Character. — Intoxication.
— The Campo Santo. — Exports. — Rivers and Railways.
Santos is the name of a commercially important
harbor situated on the east coast of South America
about three hundred miles southwest of Rio Janeiro,
after which city it is the greatest export harbor for
coffee in Brazil. Otherwise it is about as uninter-
esting a spot as can be found on the continent. It
became a city so late as 1839, and contains some
twenty thousand inhabitants. Its annual export of
coffee will reach an aggregate of two hundred and
twenty -five thousand sacks. The bay is surrounded
by a succession of hills, and is well sheltered, except on
the southwest. The town is situated on the west side
of the harbor, and hugs the shore, many of the houses
being built upon piles. Behind the town to the west-
ward rises a succession of mountain ranges. The im-
mediately surrounding country is low and malarial,
causing fevers to prevail all the year round. During
the present season Santos has suffered more seriously
from yellow fever than any other place on the coast
218 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
in proportion to the number of its inhabitants. As a
commercial port it has no rival in southern Brazil.
Santa Catharina, Porto Alegre, and Kio Grande, the
three harbors south of Santos, are rendered inacces-
sible for any but small craft, owing to sandbars at
their entrances.
This is the present terminus of the United States
and Brazil Mail steamship route from New York, and
notwithstanding its many drawbacks in point of san-
itary conditions, is yet growing rapidly in commercial
importance. Its wretchedly unhealthy condition causes
one to hasten away to the more elevated country,
where St. Paul is situated, and where the traveler
runs little or no risk of contracting yellow fever or
malarial affections of any sort.
Santos is the port for St. Paul, with which it is
connected by rail, and from which it is separated by
about forty miles.
This capital of the state of Sao Paulo, St. Paul,
contains some ninety thousand inhabitants. The prov-
ince is credited with a million and a half. The city
lies just under the tropic of Capricorn, southwest of
Rio, about two thousand feet above the level of the
sea, upon a high ridge, covering an elevated plateau
of undulating hills. It enjoys the sunshine of the
tropics, modified by the freshness of the temperate
zone. It is venerable in years, having been founded
in 1554, but it seems to have taken a fresh start of
late, as its population has doubled in the last decade.
As intimated, it is entirely free from yellow fever,
A THRIVING CITY. 219
which is so fatal at Santos, and has excellent drinking
water, together with good drainage and well-paved
streets. The city contains some fine public buildings,
and has many handsome adornments, being largely
peopled by North Americans and English ; the former
prevail in numbers and influence, indeed, it has been
called the American city of Brazil. There is also a
large Italian colony settled here. St. Paul has a
good system of tramways, several Protestant churches,
and a number of educational and charitable public
institutions, together with many of the attractions of
a much larger capital. Among the popular amuse-
ments, the theatre of San Jose is justly esteemed, and
is a well-appointed establishment in all of its belong-
ings. There are two spacious public gardens, em-
bellished with grottoes, fountains, choice trees, and
flowers, while the private gardens attached to the
dwellings are numerous and tasteful.
In the district round about the city venomous ser-
pents are frequently met with, whose bite is as dan-
gerous as that of the rattlesnakes of our northern
climate. As the land is cleared and cultivated, they
naturally and rapidly disappear. These reptiles fear
man, and avoid his vicinity quite as earnestly as
human beings avoid them. It is only when they are
molested, trodden upon, or cornered, as it were, that
they attack any one.
The city is connected with Rio Janeiro by a railway,
and two other railroads run from it far inland.
The Rio and St. Paul railway is fairly equipped, but
220 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the roadbed is not properly ballasted, and consequently
one rides over the route in a cloud of dust, while suf-
fering from the oscillations and jolting of the cars.
This railway, however, is one of the most successful
and profitable in the republic. It is some three hun-
dred miles in length, and passes through a dozen or
more tunnels, one of which is a mile and a half in
length. This tunnel required seven years' labor be-
fore it was passable. There is just now a great
"boom" of land values in and about St. Paul. It
is towards this state that the tide of Italian emigra-
tion is largely directed, for some reason which we do
not comprehend, but it is probably stimulated by a
combined effort to this effect.
The passage southward from Rio Janeiro or Santos
to Montevideo occupies about five days, but a large
amount of rougn ocean experience is generally crowded
into that brief period, added to which the coasting
steamers are far from affording the ordinary comforts
so desirable at sea. Of the food supplied to passengers
one does not feel inclined to complain, because a person
embarking upon these lines does so knowing what to
expect; but as regards the domestic conveniences and
cleanliness generally, there is no excuse for their
defective character. We are sorry to say that the
class of Portuguese and Spaniards one encounters
on these coasting vessels is far from decently cleanly
in daily habits, carelessly adding to the unsanitary
conditions.
The wind in these latitudes is not only inclined to
THE PAMPERO. 221
be fierce, but it usually goes entirely round tlie com-
pass at least once or twice during the voyage, and is
more than liable to wind up, off the mouth of the
river Plate, with a regular and furious pampero.
This is a hurricane wind, which is born in the gorges
of the Andes, and thence pursuing its course over
nearly a thousand miles of level pamj)as, gains speed
and power with every league of progress. The season
in which these hurricanes — for in their fury they
deserve to be thus designated — prevail, is from
March to September, but they are liable to come at
any time. The wdnd is considered by the people of
Montevideo to be wholesome and invigorating, as far
as the land is concerned, but seamen dread it on ship-
board, and call it a Plate River hurricane. We
know of no more disagreeable roadstead than that of
Montevideo, when a pampero is blowing. AVe have
seen ships under these circumstances, wdth two an-
chors down, obliged to resort to the use of oil on the
sea, to prevent themselves from being swamped.
Though the inhabitants represent a pampero to be com-
paratively harmless on the land, yet it does sometimes
commit fearful havoc there also, especially among the
unprotected herds of wild cattle on the plains, and
upon all trees or plantations which lie in its devastat-
ing course. It is true that it brings with it a brac-
ing and life-giving atmosphere from the snow-capped
Andes far away, and if it could only do so with less
forceful demonstration, it would be a welcome visitor
in the heated days of these regions.
222 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
The most direct way to illustrate what these South
American pampas are is to compare them to the vast
prairies of our Western and Southwestern States. Any
one familiar with those far-reaching, horizon-bounded
plains knows what the pampas of the Argentine Re-
public are like. Beginning near the foothills of the
Cordilleras, in their very shadow, as it were, these
smoothed out, level lands extend hundreds of miles
eastward to the great estuary of the Plate River, on
the borders of the Atlantic Ocean. Though appar-
ently sterile, the soil of the pampas, like the dry, baked
land of Australia, only requires irrigation and culti-
vation to rival the most attractive valleys of Southern
Europe. It is believed by scientists that these plains
were once covered by a broad inland sea, connected
directly with the Atlantic. In their present condition
these pampas can hardly be called barren, since they
give excellent grazing for extensive herds of wild
cattle, which thrive and fatten upon the abundance
of coarse, natural grass, similar to what is known
as bunch grass in Texas and New Mexico. This
product ripens and makes itself into standing hay,
retaining its natural vitality and nutritious qualities
throughout months of atmospheric exposure. After
being close-cropped by the roving herds of cattle,
the bunch grass renews itseH, reproducing in great
abundance.
Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, is situated on
the remarkable estuary of the Plate River, — Rio de
la Plata, or "Silver River," — whose spacious mouth
ESTUARY OF THE PLATE. 223
is marked by two capes, Santa Maria and San An-
tonio, more than one hundred miles apart. Only a
nautical observation will show just where the line of
ocean ceases and that of the estuary be^ns. The
unobservant passenger believes himself still sailing
upon the broad ocean mitil he finally sights the land
on which the city stands. The flag of Uruguay fly-
ing from various crafts — blue and white, in alternate
stripes, with a glowing sun in the upper corner near
the staff — indicates the near approach to the land it
represents.
On the island of Flores, fifteen miles from Monte-
video, there are a lighthouse and quarantine station.
The island is formed by a rocky upheaval, not over
twenty feet above sea level, measuring about a mile in
length and two or three hundred yards in mdth. The
tierce pamperos render the navigation of this estuary
oftentimes precarious. When approaching the broad
river's mouth from the north, sailors know that it is
near at hand, long before land is seen, by the color of
the water, which comes forth in such immense volume
as to impart a distinct yellow hue to the ocean for a
long distance from the coast. This effect is said to be
discernible one hundred miles off the shore, but thirty
or forty miles will perhaps be nearer the truth, and
is at the same time a statement answering all legit-
imate purposes. The tide about the estuary is mostly
governed by the wind, and so up the river, showing
no regularity in its rise and fall. The current of the
Plate opposite Montevideo runs at the rate of about
224 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
three miles an hour. In extent, this ranks as the third
great river of the world, draining, with its affluents,
eight hundred thousand square miles of territory; a
mammoth basin, which is only exceeded by those of
the Amazon and the Mississippi.
The commercial activity of the port is shown by the
arrival and departure daily of many large steamships,
foreign and coastwise. Sixty European steamers are
recorded as arriving here monthly, besides a number
from the United States. The maritime business of
the port is mostly in the hands of Englishmen, Amer-
icans, and Frenchmen. The native - born citizen
evinces no genius in commercial matters. The de-
partment of the capital is the smallest in the republic,
having an area of only twenty-five square miles, but
it is fertile, well wooded and watered, its agricultural
interests predominating, which is a most important
fact in estimating the stability and pecuniary respon-
sibility of any state.
The city is exceptionably well situated on a small
rocky promontory, or rather we should designate it as
a peninsula, jutting out into the estuary, three of its
sides fronting the sea, and as its streets are nearly
always swept by ocean breezes, it is cool and pleas-
ant even in midsummer. The land rises gradually
as it recedes from the shore, and then declines to the
bed of a small stream which empties into the bay,
thus affording a natural surface drainage. Uruguay
is a little more than twelve times as large territo-
rially as the State of Massachusetts, and is divided
MONTEVIDEO. 225
into tMrteen departments. There are over half a
million acres of land under good cultivation in the
republic, the principal staples being wheat and corn.
Extreme heat and extreme cold are alike unknown,
the country being within the temperate zone. The
mean summer temperature is 71° Fahr., that of au-
tumn 62°, and of spring 60°. There are, therefore,
but few things which the climate is too hot or too cold
to produce, while for the raising of cattle on a large
scale it is said to be the best section of South Amer-
ica, and this forms, we believe, its largest industry.
In approaching Montevideo from the sea, it is ob-
served that the surrounding country is quite level,
with scarcely a single object to break the distant view.
Immediately upon landing one realizes that the city
is clean and well built, though it is mostly made
up of low structures one story in height. There are
plenty of dwellings of two and three stories, however,
in the more modern part of the tow^i. Dominating the
whole stand the lofty dome and towers of the cathe-
dral, which faces the Plaza Constitution. The turrets
are of striking proportions, each rising to the height
of one hundred and thirty -three feet. The widespread
dome woidd be grand in effect, were it not covered
with glazed tiles of various colors, blue, green, yellow,
and so on, the combined effect of which is anything but
pleasing to a critical eye. Still, it is no more tawdry
than much of the inside finish and meaningless orna-
mentation. There is an elaborate marble fountain in
the centre of the plaza, besides some ornamental shrub-
226 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
bery and flowers. The very fine marble facade of the
building occupied by the Uruguay Club' adds to the
beauty of the plaza. Near the fountain is a fanciful
music stand, in which a military band is occasionally
stationed to perform for the public pleasure. These
South Americans would as soon give up the bull-
fights as the popular outdoor evening concerts, the
excellent moral effect of which no one can possibly
doubt.
An abrupt hill at the head of the harbor, four or
five hundred feet in height, known as the "Monte,"
gives the city its name, Montevideo. This hill is
crowned by a small fort and lighthouse, the latter
containing a revolving light which can be seen a long
distance at sea. A couple of miles inland rises an-
other hill called the Cerrito, or "little hill." Several
times during revolutionary struggles, these two hills
have been fortified by o]3posing parties, who have de-
sired to control the city, but restless revolutionists are
now at a discount, fortunately, in this republic of
Uruguay, a class of uneasy spirits who have reigned
quite long enough on the southern continent.
The town is built in the form of an amphitheatre,
and has comparatively few edifices of importance.
Its regular, straight streets and open squares are in-
tensely Spanish. The Paseo del Molino is the fash-
ionable part ot the town, where the wealthy merchants
reside in curious chalets, or quintas as they are called
here. There is rather an extraordinary taste displayed
in the matter of buildings on this Paseo. Swiss cot-
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE. "2.^1
tages, Italian villas, Chinese dwellings, and Gothic
structures are mingled with Spanish and Moorish
styles. This architectural incongruity is not pictur-
esque, but, on the contrary, strikes one as very crude
and ill-chosen. The charm of domestic residences in
any part of the globe is a certain adaptability to the
natural surroundings, and is, when well conceived, a
graceful part of the whole. InapproiDriate structures
are to the eye like false notes in music to the ear, an
outrage upon harmony. A Swiss chalet in Hindostan,
or a Japanese bamboo house in England, is simply
discordancy in scenic consistency. Nature should al-
ways be a silent partner in the creation and adap-
tation of architectural designs. In olden times the
Jesuits built a large mill near this spot, and hence the
name of the place.
The climate must be very equable and fine to admit
of such fruit culture as exists here. The strawberries
grown in the neighborhood are famous for their size
and sweetness, the vines producing this favorite fruit
all the year round. They are perhaps a little over-
developed, and would doubtless be of finer flavor if
they were smaller.
The Plaza de la Independencia is highly attractive,
and so is the broad, tree-lined avenue known as the
Calle del Dieziochavo de Julio, named after the anni-
versary of the Uruguayan declaration of independence.
This, indeed, is thought to be the most effective boule-
vard in all South America. On festal occasions it is
decorated in an original and brilliant manner, having
228 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
colored draperies hanging from the windows and bal-
conies, bright colored cambrics stretched > from point
to point, with the gay flag of the republic festooned
here and there. Chinese lanterns are hung from the
trees, and arches spanning the roadway and bearing
national designs are all ablaze with ingeniously ar-
ranged gas jets. Down one side of this long avenue
and up the other, it being over a hundred feet broad,
a civic and military procession marches on the annual
recurrence of the date which its name indicates, the
several divisions headed by bands of music, with flags
flying and drums beating. On such occasions the win-
dows and balconies are filled with groups of handsome
women, in gala dresses, together with pretty children
in holiday costumes, who add charm and completeness
to the scene. This avenue is the Champs Elysees of
the southern continent, a thoroughfare of which the
residents are justly very proud.
The streets and sidewalks generally are of better
width in Montevideo than in most of the South Amer-
ican cities. Some few of the private residences dis-
play fine architectural taste, the dwellings being well
adapted to the climate and the surroundings. Many
of the city houses have little towers erected on their
roofs, called miradores^ from whence one gets an ex-
cellent view of the entire city and of the sea. The
town is spread over a large territory, and stretches
away into thinly populated suburbs, but all parts are
rendered accessible by the well - perfected system of
tramways which extend over fifty miles within tlie
POPULATION OF MONTEVIDEO. 229
city and the immediate environs. In the absence of
official figures, we should judge that Montevideo had
a population of at least two himdred thousand. Every
other nationality seems to be represented in its streets
and warehouses, except that of Uruguay herself.
Those "native and to the manner born" are conspicu-
ous by their absence. Speaking of this rather curious
characteristic to a friend who lives here, he replied :
"There are probably fifty thousand European and
North American residents doing business in this city,
forming by far the most active element of the place.
They are seen everywhere, to the apparent exclusion
of the natives. Indigenous blood and energy coidd
not have made this capital what it is at the present
time. It is reaping the advantage of North American
enterprise, English and American capital, and Ger-
man shrewdness. These, combined with the natural
advantages of the location and climate, will eventually
make Montevideo the Liverpool of South America."
Though all this goes without saying, our friend put it
so aptly that his words were deemed worthy of record-
ing. We do not hesitate to predict that the next dec-
ade will nearly double the number of the population
here, as well as the aggregate of its imports and ex-
ports. No other city on the southern continent has
greater advantages in its geographical position, or as
regards salubrity of climate and adaptability to com-
merce. Were it not for the occasional visits of the
howling pamperos, the climate would be nearly per-
fect, and even these exhibitions of a local nature are,
230 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
as we have said, accepted with great equanimity by
the people on land. There are few stoves, and no fire-
places or chimneys, in Montevideo. Cooking is done
with charcoal on braziers out-of-doors, as is the custom
in most tropical countries.
The capital of Uruguay contains the usual educa-
tional and religious, charitable and scientific, public
organizations, with appropriate edifices for the same.
It should certainly be considered a reading community,
having more daily newspapers than London, and
double as many as the city of New York ; also support-
ing a large number of weekly newspapers and monthly
magazines. As to books, so far as a casual observer
may speak, they are few and far between in family
circles. The men read the newspapers, and the women
fill up their leisure time with music and gossip. There
is a national university in Montevideo, where over six
hundred pupils are regularly taught at the present
time, and there are forty-eight professors attached to
this admirably organized institution. We heard it
highly spoken of by those who should be good judges in
educational matters. The custom house, with which
the stranger always makes an early acquaintance after
arriving in port, is a large and costly structure, three
stories in height. The opera house is worthy of par-
ticular mention, being a spacious building of the Doric
order, capable of seating three thousand persons, and
when it is filled at night, the interior presents a grand
array of elegant costumes and female beauty, the ladies
of this city being noted for their personal charms.
THE BULL-FIGHT. 231
This is a circumstance not mentioned casually as a
mere compliment, but simply as a fact. The opera
house covers an entire square, and has two large wings
attached to the main building, one of which is devoted
to business purposes, and the other contains the Na-
tional Museum. There is here the nucleus of a most
valuable collection, to which constant additions are
being made, both by the state and through personal
liberality and interest. We are sorry to say in this
connection that the bull-fight, as a public exhibition,
above all other styles of amusement, is the favorite one
with the rank and file of the populace, which is quite
sufficiently Spanish to control the matter and insure
its permanency. The bull-ring, wherein these brutal
and terribly demoralizing exhibitions take place on
each Sabbath afternoon during the season, is situated
about a league from the city proper.
It must be a country or district under Roman Cath-
olic influence, and with more or less of a Spanish ele-
ment permeating it, to admit of this style of desecrat-
ing the Sabbath, or, indeed, of indulging on any day
of the week in an exhibition which is so thoroughly
brutal, cowardly, and repulsive. It is a sad reflection
upon the community, high and low, to state that the
bull-fight is one of its popular entertainments. We
have said that this is a cowardly game. The fact is,
the bull is doomed from the moment he enters the
arena. He has only his horns and his courage to
help him in the unequal contest. The professional
fighters opposed to him are all fuUy armed, and pro-
232 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
tected by sheltering guards, behind which they can
retire at will. It is twelve experts pitted against
one poor beast. Ingenious, heathenish modes of tor-
ture are devised and adopted to wound, to weaken,
and to craze the victim. If it was one armed man
against the bull, whether mounted or otherwise, it
would be a more equal and gaUant struggle, — but
twelve to one! bah, it is only a cowa.rdly game in
which gallant horses and brave bulls are sacrificed by
a dozen armed men. Even the matadore, who gives
the final and fatal thrust with his sword, and who is
looked upon as a sort of hero by the spectators, does
not enter the ring to attempt the act until the bull
is comparatively harmless, having been worried and
wounded until he is exhausted by the struggle and the
copious loss of blood, so that he is scarcely able to
stand. Though reeling like a drunken man, he stag-
gers bravely towards his fresh and well-armed enemy,
showing fight to the last gasp.
Realize the moral effect of such cut-throat exhibi-
tions upon youth ! The older, cruel and hardened
spectators are only rendered more so, but the young
and impressionable are then and there inoculated with
a love of brutality and bloodshed, fostered by every
fresh exhibition which they witness.
The Exchange is a grand and spacious structure,
admirably adapted to its purpose, being one of the
finest business edifices in South America, to our mind
infinitely superior in all respects to that of Eio, upon
which so much money has been expended in meretri-
EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS. 233
cious desioTis. The author counted the names of some
forty charitable institutions and associations in a
Montevideo directory, eight or ten of which are main-
tained mostly by public endowment, such as hospitals,
asylums for the poor, orphanages, industrial schools,
lunatic asylums, and so on. Near the Plaza Ramirez
there is a school of arts and trades, which at this writ-
ing accommodates a large body of pupils, taught by
competent professors and experts. We were told that
this institution was of great practical service in the
cause of education, its general aim being similar to
that of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
One was hardly prepared to credit Montevideo with
so many and well-sustained educational purposes as
she was found to be justly entitled to. The reader
wiil observe that we speak qualifiedly of these mat-
ters ; it is only the outward and most obvious charac-
teristics of a city, so briefly visited, of which one can
speak correctly. It would have been gratifying to
have remained longer in this capital, to understand
more clearly the educational advantages which are
offered here. In this department of progress, Mon-
tevideo seems in advance of many larger cities.
Squads of soldiers are seen lounging about the town,
dressed in a uniform of the Zouave pattern, not very
jaunty looking fellows, it must be confessed, but per-
haps "as good food for powder as a better." The en-
tire army of Uruguay consists of only five thousand
men, of all branches. The president has also a bat-
talion of body-guards, consisting of three or four hun-
234 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
dred men, forming a very efficient as well as ornamen-
tal organization. This organization consists of men
loyal to the administration, and beyond a doubt per-
sonally devoted to the president. The rank and file
of the army embraces all shades of color, both as to
mind and body, and is liable to become disaffected at
the outbreak of any popular uj)heaval, or through the
dnfluence of designing men. This body-guard, how-
ever, being always on duty, is ready and able to
turn the scale by prompt and consistent action, in fa-
vor of the established authorities, and thus nip rebel-
lion in the bud. It is only after getting thoroughly
under way that revolutionary attempts become formi-
dable. At the inception, the strong arm promptly ap-
plied stamps out the life and courage of the mob, and
renders sedition futile. " No parleying ; fire promptly,
and fire to kill; that ends the matter," said Napoleon.
Blank cartridges and vacillation stimulate a haK-
formed purpose into action.
One is forced to admit that beggars are rather nu-
merous in Montevideo, — beggars on horseback and
wearing spurs. They coolly stop their small, wiry,
half -fed ponies, and with magnificent effrontery beg
of any stranger they chance to meet for a centavo,
a copper coin worth about two cents of our American
money. The incongruity of beggars mounted, while
the stranger of whom they solicit alms is a pedestrian,
is somewhat obvious. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that horses are very cheap in this country, and
that nearly every one rides or drives. A good ser-
CHEAP HORSES. 235
viceable animal can be bought in any of tbe Soutb
American cities at what we should consider a mere
trifle to pay for one. A well-broken young saddle-
horse will bring from twenty to twentj^-five dollars,
but the owner, if one of the dudes about town, will
expend five hundred dollars upon a silver-decked sad-
dle, bridle, and trimmings, a Spanish peculiarity
which is also observed in the city of Mexico. A pair
of well-matched carriage-horses, in good condition,
can be had for seventy -five or eighty dollars. Mares
are not worked in this country, being solely used for
breeding purposes, and have no fixed price ; indeed,
they are not met with in the cities. It will be seen
that for a beggar to set up business here requires some
capital, but not much. De Quincey would describe
Spanish beggary as having become elevated to one of
the fine arts.
There is a class of men in Uruguay called gauchos
who devote themselves to breaking the wild horses of
the pampas for domestic use. They are more Indian
than Spanish, and pass their lives mostly as herds-
men of the vast numbers of animals which live in a
semi-wild state upon the plains of South America.
These men can hardly be said to train their horses.
They only conquer them by a process of cruel disci-
pline which thoroughly subdues the animal. After
this the poor creatures are ever on the alert to obey
their rider's will, prompted by a pressure of the pow-
erful bit, and a merciless thrust of the long, sharp
rowels. The gaucho reminds one of the cowboys of
236 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
our Western States. He forms a very picturesque fig-
ure when seen upon his wiry little mustang, galloping
along with his yellow poncho streaming behind him,
his head covered by a broad-brimmed soft felt hat, his
long, dark hair floating upon the breeze, and his
broad, loose trousers fluttering in the wind. A lasso
of braided or twisted leather sometimes swings from
one hand, while the rider skillfully manages his horse
with the other. Altogether the gaucho forms a pic-
ture of strong vitality and vivid color. He spends
a small fortune upon his equipments, and his heavy
spurs are of solid silver. He is not a hard drinker,
an occasional glass of country wine satisfies him; but
he will gamble all night long until he has lost his last
penny to professional sportsmen, who somehow know
the way to win by fair means or foul.
Few strangers who visit Montevideo for the first
time will be at all prepared to see such a quantity
and variety of rich jewelry in the shops. Imported
dress goods of the finest quality are also offered for
sale in these shops. The Parisian boulevards have
no display windows which contain larger or finer dia-
monds, sapphires, and emeralds; indeed, this country
seems to be the home of precious stones and real
gems. The silversmiths exhibit goods equally artistic
and elegant. The best products of Vienna, Paris,
and London, in the fancy-goods line, are fully repre-
sented here. Readers who have visited Genoa will
recall the fine silver filigree-work which is a specialty
of that city, but some of the manufactures of this char-
INFLUENCE OF INTOXICANTS. 237
acter made here are quite equal, if they do not excel,
that of the Italian capital.
It seemed to be rather a siugidar and significant
fact, that when a couple of pennies will purchase a
tumblerful of the national tipple called cana, a raw
liquor made from sugar-cane, and quite as strong as
brandy, still comparatively few persons are seen under
its influence upon the public streets. It is true that
on all church festal occasions the common people have
a regular carousal, and get very much intoxicated,
whereupon they lose one day in repenting and two in
recuperation. It is the same all over the world. The
lower, uneducated classes, having no intellectual re-
sort, seem imbued with the idea that to get thoroughly
tipsy is the acme of pleasure. The inevitable punish-
ment does not enter into the calculation at all, nor
does it deter the victim from repeated excesses. It is
curious to observe the peculiar effect which intoxi-
cants produce upon people of different nationalities :
the Russian gets boozy on vodka, and only becomes
more loving to his species ; the Mexican drinks pulque
by the pint measure, and craves only to be permitted
to sleep; the French guzzle brandy and wine until
they become equally full of song and gayety; the
American Indian is made utterly crazy and reckless
by drink ; the Irishman finds a fight in every glass of
whiskey ; and the Englishman who indulges overmuch
becomes eloquent on politics and patriotism. In South
America the common people who drink to excess are
rendered pugnacious and revolutionary. The police
238 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
arrangements of Montevideo are excellent, and the
streets are safe for man or woman at any hour of the
day or night, which one is forced to admit is more
than can be truthfully said of the majority of large
cities in either Europe or North America. There is
no sickly sentimentality about crime and criminals
here. If a man outrages the law, he has to suffer for
it, and there is no pardoning him until he has worked
out his entire penalty. It is tlife certainty of punish-
ment which intimidates professional rascals. Official
leniency and pardoning of criminals are a premium
on crime.
Between two and three miles from the city there is
a public park, which is laid out with excellent taste
and skiU, forming a popular pleasure resort. There
are here many fine native and exotic trees, as well as
flowering shrubs and blooming flowers. This spacious
park, intersected by a willow-lined stream, is called
the Paseo, and is ornamented with statues, fountains,
and rockeries. The grounds are also occupied by sev-
eral small places devoted to amusements, shooting-
galleries, billiard saloons, and gambling tables, very
similar to the Deer Garden in the environs of Coj)en-
hagen. Citizens of Montevideo of the humbler class
come hither with their families, bringing food and
drink to be disposed of in picnic fashion. Bordering
the sweep of the bay, which forms the harbor, are
many cottages, the homes of the rich merchants.
These villas are surrounded by flower gardens and
graceful shrubbery, the endless spring climate making
• THE CAMPO SANTO. 239
the bloom perennial. The flat roofs of many of the
town houses are partially inclosed, so as to form a
pleasant resort in the closing hours of the day, where
family parties are often seen gathered together. So-
cial life among the residents of the environs is very
gay, and so indeed is that of the town residents, whose
hospitality is also proverbial. The Hotel Oriental is
the favorite hostelry of Montevideo, built of marble
and well furnished, though it is hardly equal to the
Hotel Victoria, its rival, architecturally speaking.
The drinking water, and all that is used for domes-
tic purposes in the city, is brought by a well-engi-
neered system from the river Santa Lucia, which is
tapped for this purpose at a distance of thirty or forty
miles from Montevideo.
The Campo Santo of the capital is admirably ar-
ranged and particularly well kept, being in several
respects like those of Pisa, Genoa, and other Italian
cities. It is the most elaborate cemetery in South
America, surrounded by high walls so built as to con-
tain five tiers of niches which form the receptacles for
the dead. The grounds are nearly as crowded with
elaborate tombs and stone monuments as Pere la
Chaise, at Paris, the funereal cypress rising here and
there in stately mournfulness above the marble slabs.
The abundance of metallic wreaths and artificial flowers
afforded another resemblance to the famous French
cemetery. The freshness of many of the floral offer-
ings showed that the memory of the departed was
kept green in the hearts of those left behind. The
240 EQUATORIAL AMERICA. t
traveler sees many such toucliing evidences of tender-
ness all over the world. Much of the marble work
seen in these grounds was imported from Milan, and
some from both Florence and Rome. The monumen-
tal entrance to the grounds, and the elaborate chapel
within them, are both in good taste.
Beef, hides, wool, hair, and grain seem to be the
principal articles of export. Uruguay contains over
half a million of people, and has an area of seventy-
one thousand square miles, intersected by several rail-
ways, bringing the interior within easy reach of the
capital. It is said to be growing more rapidly in
proportion to its size and the present number of
inhabitants than any other part of South America.
The republic is best known to the world by its Indian
name, Uruguay, but on many maps it is still desig-
nated as the Banda Oriental, that is, the "Eastern
Border." It will be remembered that this now inde-
pendent state was originally a part of the Argentine
Republic, which was formerly known by that designa-
tion. Though Uruguay is one of the smallest of the
independent divisions of the continent, it is yet one of
the most important, a fact owing largely to its admi-
rable commercial location. Nearly all of its territory
can be reached by navigable rivers, while its Atlantic
shore has a dozen good harbors. Sixteen large rivers
intersect the republic in various directions, all of
which have their several tributaries. Cheap internal
transportation is assured by over three hundred miles
of railways ; also by these rivers. As already inti-
INTELLIGENT FARMING. 241
mated, its agricultural interests are largely on the
increase, the strongest element of permanency. Ori-
ginally the pastoral interest prevailed over all other,
but agriculture, both here and in the Argentine Re-
public, has taken precedence. The model farms near
Montevideo are unsurpassed for extent, completeness,
and the liberal manner in which they are conducted.
Some large estates might be named which will compare
favorably with anything of the sort which the author
has ever seen in any country, where agriculture is fol-
lowed on intelligent principles. Here the cultivation
of the soil is carried on not solely to obtain all which
can be wrung from it, in the way of pecuniary profit,
but con amore^ and with a due regard to system. As
may be supposed, the return is fully commensurate
with the intelligence and liberality exercised in the
business. Such farming may be and is called fancy
farming, but it is a sort which pays most liberally,
and which affords those engaged in it the most satis-
faction.
To be an honest chronicler, one must not hesitate to
look at all phases of progress, successful or otherwise,
on the part of each people and country visited and
written about. There are always deep-lying influences
acting for good or evil, which scarcely present them-
selves to the thoughtless observer.
One reason for the rapid growth of this republic of
Uruguay is because of its gradually casting off the
slough of Roman Catholic influence, a species of dry
rot quite sufficient to bring about the destruction of
242 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
any government. The same incubus which was of so
long standing in Mexico, where its effect kept the
people in ignorance and ferment for centuries, has at
last been abolished, and modern progress naturally
follows. In Uruguay the Romish Church has lost
its prestigp, having hastened its own downfall by
blindly striving to enforce fifteenth century ideas upon
people of the nineteenth. Monks and nuns have been
expelled, and parish schools have been closed. Free
schools now prevail, and general knowledge is becom-
ing broadcast, which simply means destruction to all
popish control. Intelligence is the antidote for big-
otry, which explains the bitter opposition of the
Roman Catholic priesthood to free schools wherever
their faith prevails.
In all of these South American provinces it has been
found difficult to throw off the evil inheritance of sloth
and anarchy which the Spaniards imposed upon their
colonial possessions. The schoolhouse is the true
temple of liberty for this people. In the department
of Montevideo alone there are to-day over sixty free
schools, and in the whole republic nearly four hun-
dred, something for her authorities to point at with
a spirit of just pride. This enumeration does not
include the private schools, of which there are also
a large number in the capital.
AVe find by published statistics that Uruguay ex-
ports of wool, about seven million dollars' worth per
annum; of beef, over six million dollars' worth; of
hides, four million dollars' worth : and of wheat about
EXPORTS. 243
the same amount in value as that of the last article
named. These staples, however, are only representa-
tive articles, to which many more might be added, to
show her growing commercial importance and assured
prosperity.
Our next stopping-place is the important city of
Buenos Ayres, on the opposite bank of the river,
about one hundred and fifty miles southwest of Mon-
tevideo.
CHAPTER XII.
Buenos Ayres. — Extent of the Argentine Republic. — Population. —
Narrow Streets. — Large Public Squares. — Basques. — Poor Har-
bor. — Railway System. — River Navigation. — Tramways. — The
Cathedral. — Normal Schools. — Newspapers. — Public Buildings.
— Calle Florida. — A Busy City. —Mode of furnishing Milk. —
Environs. — Commercial and Political Growth. — The New Capital.
The city o£ Buenos Ayres — "Good Air " — is well
named so far as its natural situation is concerned, but
this condition of a pure atmosphere has been seriously
affected by unsanitary conditions, naturally arising
from the large influx of a very promiscuous popula-
tion. A considerable percentage are Italians, and so
far as personal cleanliness and decency go, they seem
to be among the lost arts with them.
This thriving city is the capital of the Argentine
Eepublic, which, next to Brazil, is the largest inde-
pendent state in South America, containing fourteen
provinces, each of which has its own local government,
modeled after those of the United States. The aver-
age reader will doubtless be surprised, as the author
certainly was, to realize that this southern republic ex-
ceeds in extent of territory the united kingdoms of
Great Britain, together with France, Germany, x\us-
tria, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Hol-
land, and Greece combined, the actual area being
POPULATION. 245
something over twelve hundred thousand square miles.
The province of Buenos Ayres is just about the size
of the State of New York, and contains in round num-
bers a population of one million. Two hundred years
ago, the city of Buenos Ayres had a population of five
hundred. Having the statistics at hand, it is perhaps
worth while to state that, of the aggregate population
of the province, a majority, or fully six hundred thou-
sand, are foreigners, classed as follows: three hun-
dred thousand Italians, one hundred and fifty thousand
French, one hundred thousand Spaniards, forty thou-
sand English, and twenty thousand Germans. The
number of North American residents is very small,
though they control a fair percentage of the exports
and imports. Authentic statistics show that they num-
ber less than six hundred. Paris is not more crowded
with refugees from various countries than is this Ar-
gentine capital. Why such a spot was selected on
which to establish a commercial city is an unsolved
riddle, as it embraces about all the natural inconven-
iences that could possibly be encountered on the banks
of a large river. The perversity of such a selection
is the more obvious, because those who made it must
have passed by a score of admirable points eminently
superior in all respects to the one now occupied.
The first view of Buenos Ayres on approaching it by
water is peculiar, the line of sight being only broken
by the church towers and a few prominent public build-
ings ; the horizon alone forms the background of the
picture. Unlike nearly all of the South American
246 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
cities, there is no forest or mountain range behind or
surrounding the capital. From its environs a con-
tinuous plain stretches away for nearly eight hundred
miles to the foothills of the Andes. Situated be-
tween the 34° and 35° of south latitude, it enjoys a
climate similar to that of the south of France, and al-
most identical with that of New Orleans. The site
upon which the city stands is considerably above the
level of the river, and though the streets are far too
narrow for business purposes in the older portions of
the town, they widen to a better size in the newer
parts. The roadways are poorly paved, so that it is
very uncomfortable to walk or drive over them.
Boulevards are laid out to cut the older parts of the
city diagonally, as was done in Paris and Genoa, and
is now being done in Florence, so as to relieve the
present insufficient capacity for the transportation of
merchandise. One is apt, however, when remarking
upon these particularly narrow and irregular streets
in a foreign country, to forget that there are, in the
older portions of the capital of Massachusetts, some
quite as circumscribed and corkscrew fashioned. If
we do not find all the excellences of civilization pre-
dominating, and admirable peojDle in the majority
here, we should do well to remember that we have also
left them in the minority at home.
The huge custom house of Buenos Ayres, with
its circular form and high walls facing the river, re-
calls in general appearance Castle Garden in New
York harbor, or the fort on Governor's Island. In
CITY MONUMENTS. 247
its importance as a commercial emporium, this city
disputes the first place with only three others in the
southern hemisphere, namely, Rio Janeiro, Sydney,
and Melbourne, the latter of which has lately added
greatly to its harbor facilities by deepening and wid-
ening the Yarra-Yarra River.
The dwelling-houses of Buenos Ayres are mostly
built of brick, and are of a far more substantial char-
acter than those upon the west coast of the continent.
They have much more the appearance of North Amer-
ican dwellings than Spanish, except that the windows
are strongly guarded with iron bars, and the cool,
shady patios present domestic scenes, mingled with
flowers and fragrance, strongly local in color. The
city is regularly laid out in squares of a hundred and
fifty yards each, so when one is told that such or such
a place is so many squares away, he knows exactly the
distance which is indicated. The Plaza de la Victoria
is surrounded by handsome edifices, including the
opera house and the cathedral, the facade of the lat-
ter very much resembling that of the Madeleine at
Paris. This square has a fine equestrian statue of some
patriot, and a small column commemorating a national
event. The city has a population equaling that of
Boston in number, and we do not hesitate to say that
it is more noted for its enterprise and general progress
than any other of the South American cities. It has
been apj)ropriately called the Chicago of the southern
continent. The republic, of which it is the principal
city, has seven thousand miles of telegraphic wire
248 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
within its area, a tangible evidence of enterprise which
requires no comment. One remarkable line connects
this city with that of Valparaiso, on the Pacific side
of the continent, and is constructed with iron poles
nearly the whole distance, crossing the Andes by
means of forty miles of cable laid beneath the perpet-
ual snows!
It may well be supposed that the inhabitants of
Buenos Ayres are of a cosmopolitan character, when
it is known that the daily newspapers are issued in'
five different languages. As shown by the statistics
already given, a considerable share of the people are
Italians, who form much the larger portion of the emi-
grants now coming hither from Europe, or who have
arrived here during the last decade. As additions to
the population, they form a more desirable class, in
many respects, than those who seek homes further
north. After the Italians, the Basques are among the
most numerous of the new-comers. There are over
fifty thousand of this people settled in the province of
Buenos Ayres alone, readily adapting themselves to
the country. They are a strongly individualized race,
whom no one is liable to mistake for any other. They
maintain in a great measure the picturesque style of
dress which prevails in their native land, no matter
what their vocation may be here. As a rule, the
Basques come with their families, bringing some mod-
erate amount of pecuniary means with them, and at
once devote themselves to agricultural pursuits. They
take especially to the department of the dairy, making
A POOR HARBOR. 249
butter and cheese of excellent quality, for whidi they
find a ready city market. They have a natural incli-
nation towards cattle tending, and are looked upon by
the authorities as among the very best of European
emigrants. To promote this immigration to Argen-
tina, a per capita premium has been paid heretofore
by the government, who, indeed, are still ready to fur-
nish a free passage for responsible emigrants, both of
this and other nationalities. This generous offer has
been so shamefully abused by the beggars, lazzaroni,
and criminal classes of Naples and Sicily, that a check
has necessarily been put upon it, particularly as re-
gards the generally objectionable people of Sicily.
As a shipping port, Montevideo has a decided
advantage over this Argentine metropolis. Large
steamers are obliged to anchor eight or ten miles, or
even more, below the city, on account of the shallow-
ness of the river at this point. A channel has been
opened to facilitate the approach of vessels of moder-
ate tonnage, but much yet remains to be done before
the experiment will be of any practical advantage.
Tugboats land passengers on the quay, who arrive by
the large mail steamers. Vessels of not over twenty-
five hundred tons can lie at the shore and land their
cargoes by means of the limited conveniences of the
new dock. One would think that this want of harbor
facilities was an insuperable objection and impediment
in the growth of a great commercial capital, but Bue-
nos Ayres goes straight onward, progressing in wealth
and business, apparently regardless of such disadvan-
250 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
tages. - The present aggregate of its imports, in round
numbers, is one hundred million dollars per annum.
Even to-day, while resting under so serious a finan-
cial cloud, with her credit at the lowest ebb, and so
many of her lately wealthy merchants in bankruptcy,
the city has a certain steady, normal growth, which it
would appear that nothing can seriously impair. As
we have intimated, the tide of immigration has been
checked, though not entirely stopped, by the depressed
financial and business condition of the country ; stin,
in one closing month of the last year, October, 1891,
over two thousand passengers arrived by steamship in
Argentina, seeking new and permanent homes.
When a pampero is blowing, it sometimes forces
nearly all of the water out of the harbor, leaving it
high and dry, so to speak, though the river is thirty
miles in width opposite Buenos Ayres. Passengers,
baggage, and freight have in the past often been
landed by means of horse carts, hung on high wheels,
and driven out into the water to such a depth as would
float small boats and lighters. Indeed, this was for
many years the common mode of landing freight and
passengers at Buenos Ayres. Two long and narrow
piers which have been built partially obviate the ne-
cessity of employing carts, unless the water becomes
very low. It has been said in all seriousness, and we
believe it to be true, that the cost of landing a cargo of
merchandise at Buenos Ayres has often been as great
as the freight by vessel from New York, Liverpool,
or Boston.
RAILROADS. 251
To construct a suitable harbor here for commercial
purposes is a project attended by almost insurmount-
able difficulties, but the attempt is gradually being
made. The water in front of the city is not only
shallow, but the bottom is extremely hard, while the
increase of depth down the river is so little that it
woidd involve the dredging of soil for a distance of ten
miles, together with an indefinite width. It is very
doubtful if a channel in such a situation, liable to con-
stant changes, could be effectually established and
maintained at any cost. The city does not depend
upon its foreign commerce alone for business, having
a boundless and productive territory in its rear, of
which it will always be the commercial capital. It is
already a great railway centre, the republic having
over seven thousand miles of iron and steel rails within
its borders. Five railways radiate from Buenos
Ayres at this writing, and a sixth is projected. One
route has been surveyed with the idea of connecting
this city direct with Valparaiso, the distance between
the two capitals being about nine hundred miles. It
is designed to take advantage of the road already com-
pleted to Mendoza, from whence the addition would
cross the Cordilleras at a height of ten thousand feet,
and pass through several tunnels, one of which would
be two miles long.
It should also be remembered, while on this sub-
ject of transportation facilities, that the Parana River
is naAagable for light draught steamers two thousand
miles inland from Buenos Ayres, into and through
252 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
one of the most productive valleys in the world.
From Montevideo to Point Piedras, the river is uni-
formly sixty miles wide, and at Buenos Ay res it has
only narrowed to about half this distance. The two
main rivers which form the Plate are the Uruguay and
the Parana, which in turn unite to form the grand es-
tuary called Rio de la Plata.
The city of Buenos Ayres has about as many miles
of tramway as there are in Boston. The various
routes are well managed, and afford an infinite amount
of popular accommodation. This service is carried on
by six different companies. It is not in the hands of
one big monopoly, as with us in Boston. Competition
in undoubtedly best for the public good, but the busi-
ness can be more advantageously conducted by a sin-
gle company. Experience has shown, however, that
such a franchise is liable to great abuse in the hands
of a corporation having no rivalry to fear.
The citizens suffered long and patiently for want of
good water for drinking and domestic purposes. This
trouble has been partially obviated for a considerable
time by the establishment of extensive water-works,
but they are not adequate to the demand. The means
for obtaining a new and additional supply are now
under consideration. A system of drainage has also
been constructed, which was fully as much of a neces-
sity as the supply of water, but which, as usual,
proves to be insufficient in capacity to perform the
necessary work, — at least it but partially meets the
requireme^its for which it was designed. People grow
THE PLAZA VICTORIA. 253
hardened by association with danger, but the impor-
tance of good and sufficient drainage for a capital in
which malarial fevers prevail hardly requires argu-
ment.
Unlike nearly all of the South American cities,
Buenos Ayres has no Plaza Mayor, or public square,
as a grand business and pleasure resort, a central
point, par excellence, designed also for the recreation of
the general public. There are, however, several spa-
cious squares, quite large enough to represent such an
idea, — nine or ten of them in fact, all of which are
surrounded by fine buildings. The Plaza Victoria,
for instance, already referred to, is some eight acres
in extent, made brilliant at night by electric lights,
which supplement the old style of gas-burners. The
government house, the Palace of Justice, the cathe-
dral, and other effective buildings front upon the
Plaza Victoria. Eight or ten of the principal streets
converge here, and this point is also the place of de-
parture for several lines of tram-cars. The cathe-
dral is in the Grecian style, the portico supported
by twelve Corinthian columns, composed of brick,
mortar, and stucco, but the general effect is the same
as though each pillar was a monolith. The edifice is
capable of containing eight or ten thousand people at
a time, being equal in size and architectural effect to
any ecclesiastical establishment on the continent. As
this cathedral is a very remarkable one in many re-
spects, we devote more than usual space to its descrip-
tion. It was rebuilt by the Jesuits in the seventeenth
254 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
century, but was originally founded in 1580, and is
not much inferior to St. Paul's, London, as the follow-
ing dimensions will show. It is two hundred and sev-
enty feet long by one hundred and fifty in width, hav-
ing an area of forty-five hundred square rods, and
stands next in size to Notre Dame, Paris. The inte-
rior of this immense building, with- its twelve side
chapels, is dark, dingy, and dirty, while the want of
ventilation renders the air within foul and offensive.
It is only on some rare festal occasions that an audi-
ence at all adequate to occupy its great capacity is
seen within its walls. A hundred persons do not seem
like more than a dozen in such a place. Less than a
thousand only serve to emphasize its loneliness. One
sees a few women, but scarcely any men, present on
ordinary occasions. The latter are content to stand
about the outer doors and watch the former when they
come from morning mass, or the ordinary Sabbath ser-
vices. Here, as in Havana, SeviUe, and Madrid, the
Spanish ladies, who lead a secluded home life, under
a half oriental restraint imposed by custom inherited
from the ancient Moorish rule in continental Spain,
do not resent being stared at when in the streets.
Probably this is the main attraction which draws most
of the senors and senoritas to the church services,
though undoubtedly many of them are devout and sin-
cere in the outward services which they perform. At
least, let us give them the benefit of such a conclusion.
The national religion of Argentina is that of the
Roman Catholic Church, but the power of the priest-
NORMAL SCHOOLS. ., 255
hood is strictly confined to ecclesiastical affairs, as in
Uruguay. Absolute religious freedom may be said
to exist here. No religious processions or church pa-
rades are permitted in the public streets. This used to
be very different in times past, almost every other day
in the Romish calendar being some saint's day, and it
was the custom to make the most of these occasions by
elaborate parades and gorgeous display. Besides some
twenty-four Roman Catholic churches and chapels,
there are a score presided over by Protestants of va-
rious denominations, — Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lu-
theran, Methodist, and so on. There is, as we were
informed, a large and growing Protestant constituency
in the city.
It should be mentioned very much to her credit that
Buenos Ayres has supported, since 1872, a series of
normal schools, in which regular courses of three
years' training are given to persons desiring to fit
themselves to become school-teachers. To assist those
wishing to avail themselves of these advantages, the
government appropriates a certain sum of money,
and those persons who receive this public aid bind
themselves, in consideration of the same, to teach on
specific terms in the free schools for a period of three
years. There are quite a number of North American
ladies employed in these schools, throughout the sev-
eral districts of Argentina, receiving a liberal com-
pensation therefor, and commanding a high degree of
respect. The University of Buenos Ayres, with about
fifty professors and some eight hundred students,
256 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
stands at the head of the national system of education.
It was founded in 1821, having classical, law, medi-
cal, and physical departments. There are also four
military schools, two for the army and two for the
navy.
Buenos Ayres has more daily papers published
within its precincts than either Boston or New York.
It has several elegant marble structures devoted to
the banking business, generally holding large capitals,
though the financial condition of several of them at
this writing is simply that of bankruptcy. This ap-
plies mainly to the state banks. There are here an
orphanage, a deaf and dumb asylum, four public hos-
pitals, and two libraries: the National Library con-
taining some seventy thousand volumes, the Popular
Library having fifty thousand. There is also a free
art school, together with public and private schools of
all grades. Last to be named, but by no means least
in importance, the city has a number of fairly good
hotels and restaurants, the latter much superior to the
former. Hotels are not only a strong indication of
the social refinement of a people, or of the want of it,
but they are of great importance as regards the com-
mercial prosperity of a large community. Travelers
who are made comfortable in these temporary homes
remain longer in a city than they would otherwise,
spend more money there, and are apt to come again.
If, on the contrary, the hotel accommodations are
poor, travelers complain of them, and strangers avoid
a city where they are liable to be rendered needlessly
POOR HOTELS. 257
uncomfortable in this respect. Rio Janeiro is a not-
able instance in hand, a city whose hotels we con-
scientiously advise the traveler to avoid.
We well remember, at the great caravansary in Cal-
cutta, the only hotel there of any size or pretension,
that a party of five Englishmen and five Americans,
who had come from Madras with the purpose of pass-
ing a fortnight in the former city, shortened their
stay one half, simply because the hotel was so wretch-
edly kept, the accommodations were so abominably
poor, and the discomforts so numerous. Let us put
this idea in mercenary form. Ten guests, expending
at least eight dollars each per day, curtailed their visit
seven days. It is safe to say that they would have
left six hundred dollars more in Calcutta had they
been comfortably lodged, than they did under the cir-
cumstances.
We should not omit to mention the Commercial
Exchange, in speaking of the public buildings of
Buenos Ayres. It is a fine, large, modern structure,
admirably adapted to the purpose for which it is
designed. Until within a year, the edifice in Boston
applied to the same purpose would not compare with
that of this South American capital.
There is no dullness or torpor in this city. All is
stir and bustle. Life and business are rampant, and
yet, strange to say, no one seems to be in any special
hurry. Everything is done in a leisurely manner.
The number of handsome stores and the elegance of
the goods displayed in them are remarkable, while the
258 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
annual amount of sales in these establishments rivals
that of some of our most popular New York and
Boston concerns in similar lines of business. One
may count forty first-class jewelry establishments in
a short walk about town. There is hardly a more
attractive display in this line either in Paris or London.
Diamonds and precious stones of all descriptions daz-
zle the eye and captivate the fancy. The Calle Flo-
rida is one of the most fashionable thoroughfares, and
presents in the afterpart of the day a very gay and
striking picture of local life, a large element being
composed of handsome women, attended by gayly
dressed nurses, in charge of lovely children wearing
fancy costumes. The young boys affect naval styles,
and their little sisters wear marvelously broad Roman
scarfs, and have their feet encased in dainty buif slip-
pers. What pleasing domestic pictures they suggest
to the eye of a restless wanderer !
On account of the narrowness of the streets, there
is but one line of rails laid for the tramway service,
so that a person goes out of town, say to Palermo,
by one system of streets and returns by another.
These cars move rapidly. A considerable distance is
covered in a brief time, the motive power being small
horses. An almost continuous line of cars, with
scarcely a break, is passing any given point from early
morning until night, and the citizens are liberal pa-
trons of them. We saw some statistics relating to the
number of persons carried by the tramways of this
city annually, which were simply amazing, and which
PLAZA RETIRO, 259
would make the management of the West End Rail-
way of Boston "grow green with jealousy, or pallid
with despair." Of course all this has been tempora-
rily affected by the present financial crisis. As we
have tried to show, Buenos Ayres is a wonderfully
busy city, in which respect it resembles our own coun-
try much more than it does the average capitals of
the south. There is none of the visible languor and
spirit of delay which usually strikes one in tropical
centres. People get up in the morning wide awake,
and go promptly to business. There is no closing of
the shops at midday here, as there is in Havana,
Santiago, the capital of Chili, or some of the Mexican
cities, so that clerks may absent themselves for dinner
or to enjoy a siesta. A much more convenient course
for both clerks and patrons is adopted, which does
not block the wheels of trade. The idea of clos-
ing stores at midday to steal a couple of hours for
eating and sleeping is a bit of Rip Van Winkleism
entirely unworthy of the go-ahead spirit of the nine-
teenth century.
The Plaza Retiro is as large as the Plaza Victoria,
and occupies the spot where in old Spanish days the
hateful exhibitions of the bull-fights were given. In-
deed, this square was formerly known as the Plaza
de Toros. Many historical interests hang about the
locality, around which the rich merchants of the city
have erected some palatial residences, faced to a
certain height with marble on the outside. These
domestic retreats have courtyards constructed one
260 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
beyond another, covering a considerable depth, and
forming a series of patios, each appropriated to some
special domestic use, — the dining court, the recep-
tion court, and the nursery. In this square, and also
in the Plaza Victoria, there are always plenty of
hackney coaches to be found awaiting hire, and it
should be remarked that charges are very reasonable
for this service in Buenos Ay res.
There are thirteen theatres in the city, and an admi-
rable museum. The latter, rich in antiquities, is noted
for its prehistoric remains of animals which once lived
in the southern part of this continent, but whose spe-
cies have long been extinct. This particular museum
is advantageously known to scientists all over the
world. The Colon Theatre is a large, well -equipped,
and imposing place of entertainment, as much so as
the Theatre Fran^aise, Paris, and takes a high posi-
tion in representations of the legitimate drama and
the production of the better spectacular plays. This
house adopts what is called here the cazuela in the
division of its auditorium, an excellent system, very
general in South American theatres, and we believe,
nowhere else. It consists in giving up the entire sec-
ond tier of boxes or seats to the exclusive use of un-
attended ladies, an arrangement which seemed to us
strongly to recommend itself. To this division of the
auditorium there is a separate entrance from the
street, and no gentlemen are admitted under any pre-
text whatever. So those who desire to come to the
entertainments quite unattended can do so with per-
NOISY THOROUGHFARES. 261
feet propriety, and are safe from all intrusion in this
isolated position. Tlie ladies of this city, when they
appear in public, dress very elegantly, following
closely North American and European styles, while
displaying the choicest imported materials well made
up. Perhaps comparisons are invidious, but we feel
inclined to accord precedence in the matter of per-
sonal beauty to those of Montevideo. In dress, how-
ever, the ladies of Buenos Ayres certainly excel them.
Each city has its local "Worth," but many dresses
are made in Paris and imported, regardless of ex-
pense.
There may be somewhere a noisier city than Buenos
Ayres, as regards street life in the business section,
but London or New York cannot rival it in this re-
spect. Undoubtedly this is owing in a measure to
the fact that the traffic of so large and busy a metrop-
olis is crowded into such narrow thoroughfares, barely
thirty feet in width, and often less than that, a portion
of which space is taken up by the tramway tracks.
The noisy vehicles which run on these rails make
their full share of the racket and hubbub. Here, as
in the cities of Mexico and Puebla, the drivers of the
cars are supplied each with a tin horn, hung about his
neck, or suspended from the car front, upon which he
exercises his lungs, producing ear-piercing and dis-
cordant notes. Wheels and hoofs upon the uneven
pavements increase the din, supplemented by shouts
and language more forcible than proper, uttered by
enraged teamsters because of the frequent blocking of
262 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the roadway. Add to these dulcet sounds the cries of
itinerant fruit venders, fancy-goods sellers, and the
shouts of persistent newsboys, and one has some idea
of the irritating uj^roar which rages all day long in
the older streets of Buenos Ay res.
Cows and mares are driven singly or in groups
through the streets of this city, and milked at the
customers' doors, so that one is nearly certain of get-
ting the genuine article in this line, though we were
assured that some roguish dealers carry an india-rub-
ber tube and flat bag under their clothing from which
they slyly extract a portion of water to "extend" the
lacteal fluid. "Is there no honesty extant? " Adul-
teration seems to have become an instinct of trade.
Asses are still driven through the streets of Paris, in
the early mornings, and the milk obtained from them
is distributed in the same manner, whether with a
slight adulteration of water or not, we are unable to
say. It is not uncommon at Buenos Ayres to see a
person served on the street with fresh milk just drawn
from the animal, which he drinks on the spot. A
very refreshing, modest, and nutritious morning tip-
ple. Mares, as before mentioned, are not used for
working or riding in this country, but are kept solely
for breeding purposes and to furnish milk. This ar-
ticle is considered to be more nourishing for invalids
and children than cow's milk, and is often prescribed
as a regular diet by the physicians.
The grand driving park of the capital, known by the
name of Third of February, is situated at Palermo,
ENVIRONS OF THE CITY. 263
some distance from the city proper, and covers between
eight and nine hundred acres. On certain days, es-
pecially on Sundays, a military band gives a public
outdoor concert here, when all the beauty and fashion
of the city turn out in gay equipages to see and to be
seen, forming also a grand and spirited cavalcade of
fine horses and carriages. The races take place at
Palermo, and, as in all Roman Catholic countries, on
Sundays.
The neighborhood of Buenos Ayres is generally
under good cultivation, the soil and climate imiting
to produce splendid agricidtural results. The sub-
urbs of Flores and Belgrano each present a very
pretty group of quintas and gardens, wherein great
skill and refinement of taste is evinced. The alfalfa,
a species of clover used here in a green condition as
fodder for cattle, and which is as rich as the red clover
of New England, to which family of grasses it be-
longs, grows so rapidly and ripens so promptly that
three crops are often realized from the same field in a
single season. The immediate environs of the city
are occupied by private residences, many of which are
very elaborate and imposing, surrounded by charming
gardens and pleasure grounds. Grottoes, statuary, and
fountains abound, while orchards of various fruits are
common, interspersed here and there with picturesque
graperies. Some of the highways are guarded by
hedges of cactus, — agave, — much more impenetrable
than any artificial fencing. Trees of the eucalyptus
family have heretofore been favorites here, originally
264 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
imported from Australia, but they have ceased to be de-
sirable, since it appears that nothing will grow in their
shadow. They seem to exercise a blighting power on
other species of vegetation. Figs, peaches, and oranges
grow side by side, surrounded by other fruits, while
the low-lying fields and open meadows nearest to the
river are divided into large squares of three or four
acres each, enameled with the deep green of the thick
growing aKalf a, and other crops varying in color after
their kind. Richest of all are the intensely yellow
fields of ripening wheat still farther inland, whose
softly undulating surface, gently yielding to the pass-
ing breeze, produces long, widespread floating ripples
of golden light.
The love of flowers is a passion among all classes of
the people, and their cultivation as a business by ex-
perienced individuals gives profitable employment to
many florists, whose grounds are pictures of accumu-
lated beauty, fragrance, and variety of hues. There is
as true harmony to the eye in such blendings as there
is to the ear in perfect music. The reader may be
sure that where the children of Flora so much abound,
bright tinted humming-birds do much more abound,
dainty little living feathered gems, rivaling rubies,
sapphires, and emeralds.
To insure the good health of her large and increas-
ing population, the system of drainage in Buenos Ayres
requires prompt and effectual treatment. The natural
fall of the ground towards the river is hardly sufficient
to second any engineering effort to this end. That
EXTENT OF TERRITORY. 265
typhoid fever should prevail here to the extent which
it does, at nearly all seasons of the year, is a terrible
reflection upon those in authority. This is a fatal
disease which is quite preventable, and in this instance
clearly traceable to obvious causes. Rio Janeiro, with
its yellow fever scourge, is hardly more seriously
afflicted than Buenos Ayres with its typhoid malaria.
Indeed, it is contended by some persons living on the
coast that the number of deaths per annum in the two
cities arising from these causes is very nearly equal,
taking into account the results of year after year.
Sometimes, unaccountably, Rio escapes the fever for a
twelvemonth, that is to say, some seasons it does not
rage as an epidemic ; but we fear, if the truth were
fairly expressed, it would be found that the seeds are
there all the while, and that the city of Rio Janeiro,
like that of Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico, is never
absolutely exempt from occasional cases.
The Argentine Republic contains more than a mil-
lion square miles, as already stated; indeed, immen-
sity may be said to be one of its most manifest char-
acteristics. The plains, the woods, the rivers, are
colossal. To be sure, all of her territory is not, strictly
speaking, available land, suitable for agricultural pur-
poses, any more than is the case in our own wide-
spread country. No other nation equals this republic
in the value of cattle, compared with the number of
the population, not forgetting Australia with its
immense sheep and cattle ranches. It is believed,
nevertheless, that the agricultural interest here, as in
266 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Uruguay, is gradually increasing in such ratio that
it will erelong rival the pastoral. The average soil is
very similar to that of our Mississippi valley, yielding
a satisfactory succession of crops without the aid of
any artificial enrichment. The pampas have a mel-
low, dry soil, the common grass growing in tussocks
to the height of three or four feet, and possessing a pe-
rennial vigor which mostly crowds out other vegeta-
tion. A few wild flowers are occasionally seen, and in
the marshy places lilies of several species are to be met
with; but taken all together the flora of the pampas
is the poorest of any fertile district with which we
are acquainted. A few half-developed herbs and
trefoils occasionally meet the eye, together with small
patches of wild verbenas of various colors. At long
distances from each other one comes upon areas of tall
pampas grass as it is called, so stocky as to be almost
like the bamboo, eight or ten feet high, decked with
fleecy, white plumes. Birds are scarce on the pam-
pas. There is a peculiar species of hare, besides some
animals of the rodent family, resembling prairie-dogs
— biscachos — or overgrown rats, together with an
occasional jaguar and puma, found on these plains, as
well as that meanest of all animals, the pestiferous
skunk. Animal life, other than the herds of wildcat-
tie, can hardly be said to abound on the pampas.
Until a few years since, Buenos Ay res enjoyed the
distinction of being the capital of the province of the
same name, as also of the Argentine Republic; but
the present capital of the province of Buenos Ayres,
A NEW CITY. 267
called La Plata, is situated about forty miles south-
east of Buenos Ayres, with which it is connected by
railway. The site of the new capital w^as an uninhab-
ited wilderness ten years ago, the foundation stone
of this city having been laid in 1882. To-day La
Plata has a population of about fifty thousand, al-
though over seventy are claimed for it, a comprehen-
sive system of tramways, broad, well-paved streets,
two theatres, thirty public schools, a national college,
and six large hotels. There are many monuments and
fountains ornamenting the thoroughfares, and what is
now wanting is a population commensurate with the
grand scale on which the capital is designed. An im-
mense cathedral is being built, but has only reached
a little way above its foundation, as work upon it
has for a while been suspended. If the original plan
is fidly carried out, it may be half a century or
more in course of construction. La Plata is suffering
from the pecuniary crisis perhaps more seriously than
any other part of the country. The city is lighted by
both electricity and gas, issues five daily newspapers,
has a very complete astronomical observatory, a pub-
lic library, five railroad stations, and some very ele-
gant public buildings. Its large possibilities are by
no means improved, however. Of the buildings, the
edifice of the provincial legislature, that of the min-
ister of finance, and the legislative palace are all wor-
thy of mention. The government house is a long, low
structure, the front view of which is rendered effec-
tive by an added story in the centre, which projects
268 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
from the line of the building, and is supported by high
columns. The "Palace," as it is called, forming the
residence of the governor of the province, is an elab-
orate and pretentious building, three stories in height,
with two flanking domes and a dominating one in the
centre. Of course La Plata has gained its start and
rapid growth from the prestige of being the provincial
capital, but it is now slowly developing a legitimate
growth on a sound business basis, and though it can
hardly be expected to ever equal Buenos Ayres in pop-
ulation and commercial importance, it nevertheless
promises to be a prosperous city in the distant future ;
its citizens already call it the " Washington " of South
America. A close observer could not but notice that
many houses were unoccupied, and the streets seemed
half deserted.
While the most of our maps and geographies re-
main pretty much as they were a score of years ago,
and a majority of the kingdoms of the Old World have
changed scarcely at all, the Argentine Republic has
been steadily growing in population, progressing rap-
idly in intelligence, constantly extending its commer-
cial relations, and marching all the while towards the
front rank of modern civilization. A detailed state-
ment of its extraordinary development during the last
twenty years, in commerce, railway connections,
schools, agriculture, and general wealth, would sur-
prise the most intelligent reader. It is believed by
experienced and conservative people, particularly those
conversant with the South American republics, that
PROGRESS OF ARGENTINA. 269
Buenos Ayres will be the first city south of the equator
in commercial rank and population, within a quarter
of a century. The increase of this republic in popu-
lation during the last two decades has been over one
hundred and fifty per cent., a rapidity of growth al-
most without precedent. The increase of population
in our own country, during the same period, was less
than eighty per cent. Twenty-four lines of magnifi-
cent steamships connect the Argentine Republic with
Europe, and twice that number of vessels sail back
and forth each month of the year, while its railway
system embraces over six thousand miles of road in
operation, besides one or two yet incomplete routes,
though the opening of its first line was so late as
thirty -four years ago. Add to this her system of in-
land river navigation, covering thousands of miles,
which has been so systematized as to fully supplement
the remarkable railway facilities. ^
That Argentina rests at the present moment, as
we have constantly intimated, under a financial cloud
is only too well known to every one. It is a crisis
brought about by an overhaste in the development of
the country, especially in railroad enterprises. Fes-
tina lente is a good sound maxim, which the people
of this republic have quite disregarded, and for which
they and their creditors are suffering accordingly. It
is seldom that any newly developed country escapes
the maladies attendant upon too rapid growth, but
this is a sort of illness pretty sure to remedy itself in
due time, and rarely impedes the proper development
270 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
of maturer years. If this republic has been unduly
extravagant, and borrowed too much money in advan-
cing her material interests, she has at least something
to show for it. The funds have not been foolishly
expended in sustaining worse than useless hordes of
armed men, nor in the profitless support of royal
puppets.
Nations no less than individuals are liable to finan-
cial failure, but with her grand and inexhaustible na-
tive resources, backed by the energy of her adojDted
citizens, this republic is as sure as anything mortal can
be to soon recover from her present business depres-
sion, and to astonish the world at large by the rapid-
ity of her financial recuperation. Her present annual
crop of wool exceeds all former record in amount,
and is authoritatively estimated at over thirty million
dollars in value. To this large industrial product
is to be added her prolific harvest of maize and wheat,
together with an almost fabulous amount of valuable
hides.
CHAPTER XIII.
City of Rosario. — Its Population. — A Pretentious Church. — Ocean
Experiences. — Morbid Fancies. — Strait of Magellan. — A Great
Discoverer. — Local Characteristics. — Patagonians and Fueg-ians. —
Giant Kelp. — Unique Mail Box. — Punta Arenas. — An Ex-Penal
Colony. — The Albatross. — Natives. — A Naked People. — Whales.
— Sea-Birds. — Glaciers. — Mount Sarniiento. — A Singular Story.
The route to Rosario is rather monotonous by rail-
way, taking the traveler through a very flat but fer-
tile region, over prairies which are virtually treeless,
not unlike long reaches of country through which the
Canadian Pacific Railroad passes between Banff, in
the Rocky Mountains, and Port Arthur, on Lake Su-
perior. The monotonous scenery is varied only by a
sight of occasional herds of cattle, feeding upon the
rich grass, with here and there a mounted herdsman,
and the numberless telegraph poles which line the
track. It is at least a seven hours' journey from
Buenos Ayres to Rosario. Occasionally a marshy
reach of soil is encountered where large aquatic birds
are seen, such as flamingoes, storks, cranes, herons,
and the like.
Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe, is the second
city in point of population and importance in the
Argentine Republic. It is a young and promising
capital, hardly yet fairly launched upon its voyage of
272 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
prosperity, but so far it has been singularly favored by
various circumstances. The place is arranged in the
usual crisscross manner as regards the streets of this
country, which, unfortunately, are too narrow for
even its present limited business. In place of twenty-
four feet they should have been laid out at least
double that width, in the light of all experience has
developed in these South American cities. This new
town is situated a little less than three hundred miles
by water from Buenos Ayres, and about two hundred
by land, railroad and steamboat connection being
regularly maintained between them. The site is admi-
rably chosen on the banks of the Parana River, fifty
or sixty feet above its level, and it is destined to be-
come, eventually, a great commercial centre. In 1854
it was only a large village, containing some four thou-
sand people. It is the natural seaport, not only of
the rich province of Cordova, but also of the more in-
land districts, Mendoza, San Luis, Tucuman, Salta,
and Jujuy, the first named having a population of half
a million. Owing to the height of the river's banks,
merchandise is loaded by " shutes," being thus con-
ducted at once from the warehouses to the hatches of
the vessels. Already a number of foreign steamships
may be seen almost any day lying at anchor opposite
the town, while the railway communications in various
directions have all of their transportation capacity
fully employed. One of these lines reaches almost
across the continent to Mendoza, at the eastern slope
of the Andes, west from Rosario. Other roads run
PROGRESS OF ROSARIO. 273
both north and south from here. The foreign and
domestic trade of the place is second only to that of
Buenos Ayres. Vessels drawing fifteen feet of water
ascend the river to this point. As a shipping port,
Rosario has to a certain extent special advantages even
over the larger city, being two or three hundred miles
nearer the merchandise producing points.
There is already a population of some seventy-five
thousand here, and, as we have intimated, the city is
growing rapidly. Wharves, docks, and warehouses
are in com^se of construction, and can hardly be finished
fast enough to meet the demand for their use. There
are a few substantial and handsome dwellings being
erected, and many of a more ordinary class, in the
finishing of which many a cargo of New England
lumber is consumed. Some of the public buildings
are imposing in size and architectural design, wisely
constructed in anticipation of the future size of the
city, whose rapid growth is only equaled by St.
Paul in Brazil. The tramway, gas, and telephone
have been successfully introduced. There is certainly
no lack of enterprise evinced in all legitimate business
directions, while attention is being very properly and
promptly turned towards perfecting a carefully devised
educational system of free schools, primary and pro-
gressive. When the founders of a new city begin in
this intelligent fashion, we may be very sure that they
are moving in the right direction, and that permanency,
together with abundant present success, is sure to be
the sequence.
274 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
On one side of the Plaza Mayor of Rosario stands
a very pretentious church, not yet quite completed,
but as the towers and dome are finished it makes a
prominent feature from a long way off, as one ap-
proaches the town. In the centre of this square is a
marble shaft surmounted by a figure representing
Victory, and at the base are four statues of Argentine
historic characters. This square is adorned with a
double row of handsome acacias. As regards amuse-
ments, so far as is visible, theatricals seem to take the
lead, the place having two theatres, both of which
appear to be enjoying a thriving business.
When a new city is started in South America upon
a site so well selected, and after so thoroughly sub-
stantial a plan, the result is no problem. The influx
of European immigrants promptly supplies the neces-
sary laborers and artisans, quite as fast, indeed, as
they are required, while the ordinary growth and de-
velopment of inland resources tax the local business
capacity, enterprise, and capital to their utmost. Ro-
sario needs to perfect a careful and thorough systeni
of drainage. Fevers are at present alarmingly prev-
alent, arising from causes which judicious attention
and sanitary means would easily obviate.
We will not weary the reader by protracted delay
at this point, having still a long voyage before us.
Embarking at Montevideo, our way is southward
over a broad and lonely track of ocean. If we can
summon a degree of philosophy to our aid, it is for-
tunate. Without genial companions, surrounded by
FOREBODINGS OF EVIL. 21 o
strangers, and thrown entirely upon ourselves, mental
resort often fails us, life appears sombre, the wide,
wide ocean almost appalling. One of the inevitable
trials of a long sea voyage is the wakeful hours which
will occasionally visit the most experienced traveler,
— midnight hours, when the weary brain becomes pre-
ternaturally active, the imagination oversensitive and
weird in its erratic conceptions, while forebodings of
evil which never happens are apt to fill the mind
with morbid anxieties. The very silence of the sur-
roundings is impressive, interrupted only by the reg-
ular thi'obbing of the great, tireless engine, and the
dashing waters chafing along the iron hull close beside
the wakeful dreamer. Separated by thousands of
miles from home, all commimication cut off with
friends and the world at laro^e, while watchino^ the
dreary ocean, day after day, week after week, we
imagine endless misfortunes that may have come to
dear ones on shore. However limited may be the
world of reality, that of the imagination is boundless,
and sometimes one realizes years of wretched anxiety
in the space of a few overwrought hours. It is such
moments of passive misery which beget wrinkles and
white hairs. Action is the only rehef , and one hastens
to the deck for a change of scene and thoughts. After
experiencing such a night, how glad and glorious
seems the sun rising out of the wdde waste of waters,
how bright and glowing the smile he casts upon the
long lazy swell of the South Atlantic, as if pointedly
to rebuke the overwrought fancy, and reassure the
aching heart !
276 EQUATORIAL AMERICA,
Be we never so dreary, the great ship speeds on its
course, heeding us not ; its busy motor, like heart-
beats, throbs with undisturbed uniformity, forcing the
vessel onward despite the joy or sorrow of those it
carries within its capacious hull.
The Strait of Magellan, which divides South Amer-
ica from the mysterious island group which is known
as Terra del Fuego, and connects the Atlantic with the
Pacific Ocean by a most intricate water-way, is con-
siderably less than four hundred miles in length, and
of various widths. De Lesseps, with his successful
Suez Canal and his deplorable Panama failure, is
quite distanced by the hand of Nature in this line of
business. It would require about ten thousand Suez
Canals to make a Magellan Strait, and then it would
be but a very sorry imitation. It will be remembered
that the Portuguese navigator who discovered this
remarkable passage, and for whom it is justly named,
first passed through it in November, 1520, finally
emerging into the waters of the new sea, upon which
he was the first to sail, and which he named Mar
Pacifico. Doubtless it seemed " pacific " to him after
his rude experience in the South Atlantic, but the
author has known as rough weather in this misnamed
ocean as he has ever encountered in any part of the
globe.
One can well conceive of the elation and surprise of
Magellan, upon emerging from the intricate passage
through which he had been struggling to make his
way for so many weary days. What a sensation of
STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 277
satisfaction and triumph must the courageous and per-
severing navigator have experienced at the discovery
he had made ! What mattered all his weary hours of
watching, of self-abnegation, of cold and hunger, of
incessant battling with the raging sea? Henceforth
to him royal censure or royal largess mattered little.
His name would descend to all future generations as
the great discoverer of this almost limitless ocean.
The passage leading to the strait on the Atlantic or
eastern end is about twenty miles across, Cape Ver-
gens being on the starboard side, and Cape Espiritu
Santo — or Cape Holy Ghost — on the port. The
entrance on the western or Pacific end is marked by
Cape Pillar, Desolation Land, where the scenery is
far more rugged and mountainous, the cape terminat-
ing in two cliifs, shaped so much like artificial towers
as to be quite deceptive at a short distance. The nar-
rowest part of the strait is about one mile in width,
known to mariners as Crooked Reach. A passage
through this great natural canal is an experience sim-
ilar, in some respects, to that of sailing in the inland
sea of Alaska, between Victoria and Glacier Bay,
bringing into view dense forests, immense glaciers,
abrupt mountain peaks, and snow-covered summits,
the whole shrouded in the same solitude and silence,
varied by the occasional flight of sea-birds or the ap-
pearance of seals and porpoises from below the deep
waters. So irregular in its course is this passage be-
tween the two great oceans, so changeable are its cur-
rents, so impeded by dangerous rocks and hidden
278 EQUATORIAL AMERICA,
shoals, so beset with squalls and sudden storms, that
sailing vessels are forced to double the ever-dreaded
Cape Horn rather than take the Magellan route. A
United States man-of-war, a sailing ship, was once over
two months in making the passage through the strait,
and Magellan tells us that he was thirty-seven days in
passing from ocean to ocean, though using all ordinary
dispatch. Within a fortnight of the writing of these
notes, a European mail steamship was lost here by
striking upon a sunken rock. Fortunately, owing to
the proximity of the shore and moderate weather pre-
vailing, the crew and passengers were all saved.
Winter lingers, and the days are short in this lati-
tude. A sailing ship would be compelled to find anchor-
age nightly, and some days would perhaps be driven
back in a few hours a distance which it had required a
week to make in her proper direction. Steamships usu-
ally accomplish the run in from thirty to forty hours,
there being many reaches where it is necessary to run
only at half speed. If heavy fogs and bad weather
prevail, they often lay by during the night, and also in
snow-storms, which occur not infrequently. The sky
is seldom clear for many hours together, and the sun's
warmth is rarely felt, the rain falling almost daily.
Even in the summer of this high southern latitude
the nights are cold and gloomy, ice nearly always
forming. It must be admitted that this region, of it-
self, is not calculated to attract the most inveterate
wanderer. One is not surprised when reading the
rather startling narrations of the old navigators who
FUEGIANS AND PATAGONIANS. 279
made the passage of the strait, encountering the con-
stantly varying winds, and having canvas only to de-
pend upon. The marvel is that, with their primitive
means, they shoidd have accomplished so much. There
are no lighthouses in this passage from ocean to ocean,
though it has been pretty well surveyed and buoyed
in late years, thanks to the liberality of the English
naval service, by whom this was done. There is, in
fact, a dearth of lighthouses on the entire coast of
South America, especially on the west side of the con-
tinent. We can recall but three between Montevideo
and Valparaiso, a distance, by way of the strait, of
fully two thousand miles. The lighthouses we refer
to are at Punta Arenas, Punta Galesa, near Valdi^aa,
and that which marks the port of Concepcion, at
Talcahuano. The Strait of Magellan is only fit as an
abiding-place for seals, waterfowl, and otters ; hu-
manity can hardly find congenial foothold here.
The natives of Patagonia, who live on the northern
side of the strait, are called horse Indians, because
they make such constant use of the wild horses ; they
do not move in any direction without them. Those
on the Fuegian side are called canoe Indians, as the
canoe forms their universal and indeed only mode of
transportation. The former are a rather large, tall
race of people, the men averaging about six feet in
height ; the latter are smaller in jihysical development,
and are less civilized than the Indians of Patagonia,
which, to be sure, is saying very little for the latter,
who are really a low type of nomads. The Fuegians
280 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
are believed to still practice cannibalism. One writer
tells us that criminals and prisoners of war are thus
disposed of, and that the last crew of shipwrecked
seamen who fell into their hands were roasted and
eaten by them. Their hostile purposes are well un-
derstood, for whenever they dare to exercise such a
spirit they are sure to do so. They cautiously send
out a boat or two to passing vessels, with whom
a little trading is attempted, the main body of na-
tives keeping well out of sight ; but in case of any
mishap to a ship, or if a small party land and are
unable to defend themselves, they will appear in
swarms from various hiding-places, swooping down
upon their victims like vultures in the desert. The
officers of the yacht Sunbeam, as recounted by Lady
Brassey, found it necessary to turn her steam-pipes full
force upon the swarming natives, who were doubtless
preparing to make an effort to capture the yacht and
her crew, hoping to overcome them by mere force of
numbers. They were, however, so frightened and ut-
terly astonished by the means of defense adopted by
Lord Brassey that they threw themselves, one and all,
into the sea, and sought the shore pell-mell. Humboldt,
in his day, ranked these Fuegians among the lowest
specimens of humanity he had ever met, and they
certainly do not seem to have improved much in the
mean time. One is at a loss to understand why the
Patagonians should have impressed the early naviga-
tors with the idea that they were a people of gigantic
size. There is no evidence to-day of their being, or
GIANT SEA-KELP. 281
ever having been, taller or larger than the average
New Englander. Half-naked savages, standing six
feet high, naturally impress one as being taller than
Europeans clad in the conventional style of civilized
peoi^le.
The waters of Magellan are very dark, deep, and
sullen in aspect, with insufficient room in many places
to manage a ship properly under canvas alone. In their
depth and darkness these waters also resemble those of
Alaska's inland sea. The shores are quite bold, and the
rocks below the surface are mostly indicated by giant
kelp — Fucus giganteus — growing over them, a kind
provision of nature in behalf of safe navigation. It
will not answer, however, to depend solely upon this
indication ; the many rocks in the strait are by no
means all so designated, nor are they all buoyed. Sea-
kelp is very plentiful in this region, and serves many
useful purposes. It forms a nourishing food for the
Fuegians under certain circumstances, when their
usual supply is scarce. They dry it and prepare it in
a rude way suited to their unsophisticated palates. It
also forms a portion of the support of the seals and
sea-otters ; these creatures feed freely upon its more
delicate and tender shoots. It is wonderful how it can
exist and thrive among such breakers as it constantly
encounters in these restless waters, which are churned
into mounds of foam in squally weather ; but it does
grow in great luxuriance, rising oftentimes two hun-
dred feet and more from the bottom of the sea. It is
curious to watch its abundant growth and its peculiar
282 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
habits. If the wind and tide are in the same direc-
tion, the plant lies smooth upon the water ; but if the
wind is against the tide, the leaves curl up, causing a
ripple on the surface, like a school of small fish. A
specimen of giant kelp was secured from alongside
of the ship, broken off at arm's length below the sur-
face of the water. It was heavy and full of par-
asites. Upon shaking it, myriads of marine insects,
shells, tiny crabs, sea-eggs, and star-fish fell upon the
deck. All of these were of the smallest species, some
almost invisible to the naked eye, but how wonderful
they appeared under the microscope, which developed
hundreds of forms of life infinitesimal in size !
At a prominent point of the main channel is a
strong box made fast by a chain, which always used
to be opened by the masters of passing ships, either
to deposit or to take away letters, as the case might
be, each shipmaster undertaking the free delivery of
all letters whose address was within the line of his
subsequent course. In the whaleship service, especially
during times now long past, this arrangement has
been of great service, and there is no instance on
record where the purpose of this self-sustaining post-
office was disregarded. In these days of fast and
regular post-office service, the " Magellan mail," as it
was called, is of no practical account.
There are several fairly good harbors in the strait,
but the only white settlement was originally a penal
colony founded by the Chilian government, though
it no longer serves for that purpose, the convicts
PUNT A ARENAS, 283
having risen some years since, and overpowered the
garrison. A large portion of the Patagonian shore is
well wooded, besides which an available coal deposit
has been found and worked to fair advantage. Steam-
ships, which were formerly obliged to go to the Falk-
land Islands, in the Atlantic, five hundred miles
from the mouth of the strait, when running short of
fuel, can now get their supply in an exigency at
Punta Arenas — *' Sandy Pomt." It is situated in
the eastern section of the strait, about a hundred and
twenty -five miles from the entrance. We do not
mean to convey the idea that this is a regular coaling
station, though it may some time become so. The
town consists of straggling, low-built log-houses, and
a few framed ones, reminding one of Port Said at the
Mediterranean end of the Suez Canal, with its hetero-
geneous population. That of Sandy Point is made up
of all nationalities, strongly tinctured with ex-convicts,
and deserters from the Chilian army and navy. Eng-
glish is the language most commonly spoken, though
the place is Chilian territory. It contains some twelve
or fifteen hundred inhabitants, and is the most south-
erly town on the globe, as weU as the most undesira-
ble one in which to live, if one may express an opinion
upon such brief acquaintance.
We made no attempt to go on shore at Punta Are-
nas. A rain-storm was at its height while the ship lay
off the town, and when it rains in these latitudes, it
attends exclusively to the business in hand. The water
comes down like Niagara, until finally, when the clouds
284 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
have entirely emptied themselves, it stops. Jupiter
Pluvius is master of the situation, when he asserts
himself, and there is no one who can dispute his
authority. Umbrellas and waterproofs are of no
more use as a protection during the downj)our, than
they would be to a person who had fallen overboard in
water forty fathoms deep. One of our passengers
came on deck with a life preserver about his body, sol-
emnly declaring that if this sort of thing continued
much longer, the article would be absolutely necessary
in order to keep afloat.
During the season the Patagonians bring into Punta
Arenas the result of their hunting in the shape of seal
and otter skins, together with guanaco, and silver-fox
skins, which are gathered by local traders and shipped
to Europe. Occasionally a few sea-otter skins of rare
value are obtained from here, fully equal, we were
told, to anything taken in Alaskan waters. We have
said that Punta Arenas is the most southerly town
on the globe. The next nearest town to the Antarctic
circle is the Bhiff, so called, — also known as Camp-,
belltown, — in the extreme south of New Zealand,
where the author has eaten of the famous oysters
indigenous there.
Two sorts of supplies are to be obtained by navi-
gators of the strait, namely, fuel and good drinking
water. Sometimes a valuable skin robe may be pur-
chased of the Patagonian Indians. It is called a
guanaco-skin cloak, and made from the skin of the
young deer. To obtain these skins of a uniform fine-
BIRD LIFE, 285
ness of texture, the fawns are killed when hut eight
or ten days old ; the available product got from each
one is so small as hardly to exceed twice the size of
one's hand. These are sewn together wdth infinite
care and neatness by the Indian women, wdio use
the fine sinews taken from ostriches' legs for thread.
One of these guanaco-skin cloaks represents a vast
amount of labor, and a hundred fawTis must die to
supply the raw material. Only chiefs of tribes can
afford to wear them. Strangers who are willing to
pay a price commensurate with their real cost and
value may occasionally buy such an article as we
describe, but these cloaks are rare. One was brought
on board ship and showTi to us, the price of which was
twelve hundred dollars, nor do we think it was an
excessive valuation. It was worth the amount as a
rare curiosity for some art museum.
That monarch bird of Antarctic regions, the alba-
tross, frequents both ends of the strait, and sometimes
accompanies steamships during the passage, together
with cape-pigeons, gulls, and other marine birds, though
as a rule the albatross is little seen except on the broad
expanse of the ocean. A bird called the steamer-duck,
also nicknamed by sailors the paddle-wheel duck,
was pointed out to us by our captain. It is so called
from its mode of propelling itself through the water,
scooting over the surface of the strait while using both
wings and legs, and creating considerable disturbance
of the water, like a side-wheeler. The wings are too
small to give it power of flight through the air. The
286 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
steamer-duck is a large bird, nearly the size of the
domestic goose ; after its fashion, it moves with aston-
ishing velocity, considerably faster than the average
speed of a steamship. But we were speaking a moment
since of the albatross, which is a feathered cannibal, and
shows some truly wolfish traits. When one of its own
species, a member of the same flock even, is wounded
and drops helpless to the surface of the sea, its com-
rades swoop down upon it, and tearing the body to
pieces with their powerful bills, devour the flesh raven-
ously. This was witnessed near the Arctic circle, be-
tween Hobart, in Tasmania, and the Bluff, in New
Zealand, a few years ago, when some English sports-
men succeeded in wounding one of these mammoth
birds from the deck of the steamship Zealandia. The
only other known bird of oar day which measures
from eleven to twelve feet between the tips of the
extended wings is the South American condor.
The sea hereabouts abounds in fish, which consti-
tute the largest portion of the food supply of the few
Indians who live near the coast of either shore. The
Fuegians dwell in the rudest shelters possible, nothing
approaching the form of a house. The frailest shel-
ter, covered with sea-lion's skins, suffices to keep them
from the inclemencies of the weather. With the ex-
ception of an animal skin of some sort, having the
fur on, secured over one shoulder on the side exposed
to the wind, the canoe Indians wear no clothing. We
were told that several of these natives, while quite
young, were taken to England by advice of the mis-
GOLD IN PATAGONIA. 287
sionaries and taught to read and write, being also
kindly instructed in civilized manners and customs,
which they gladly adopted for the time being ; but
upon returning to their native land, in every in-
stance they rapidly lapsed into a condition of semi-sav-
agery. It had been hoped they would act as a civilizing
medium with their former friends, after returning
among them, but this proved fallacious, and was a
great disappointment to the well-meaning philanthro-
pists. This same experience, as is well known, has
been the residt of similar experiments mth natives of
Africa and the South Sea Islands. The author is
conversant with a striking illustration of this character
in connection with an Australian Indian youth, which
occurred in Queensland, and which was both interest-
ing and very romantic in its development. It simply
went to prove that hereditary instincts cannot be
easily eradicated, and that not one, but many gener-
ations are necessary to banish savage proclivities which
are inherited from a long line of ancestors.
Gold is found to some extent in the beds of the
streams in Patagonia, — free gold, washed from the
disintegrated rocks. Natives sometimes bring small
quantities of the gold dust into Punta Arenas, with
which to purchase tobacco and other articles. Many
heedless and unprincipled individuals sell them intox-
icants, to obtain which these Indians will part with any-
thing they possess, after they have once become familiar
with the taste and effect of the captivating poison.
Xot far from Cape Forward, near the middle of the
288 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
strait, which is the most southerly portion of the Amer-
ican continent, three native boats were seen during our
passage. The steamer was slowed for a few moments
to give us a brief oj)portunity to see the savage occu-
pants. These three frail, ill-built canoes were tossed
high and low by the swell of the Pacific, which set to
the eastward through the strait. Each boat contained
a man, a couple of women, and one or two children, the
latter entirely naked, the others nearly so. They were
Fuegians, raising their hands and voices to attract our
attention, asking for food and tobacco, to which appeal
a generous response was made. Their broad faces,
high cheek-bones, low foreheads, and flat noses, their
faces and necks screened by coarse black hair, did not
challenge our admiration, however much we were
exercised by pity for human beings in so desolate a
condition. They certainly possessed two redeeming
features, — brilliant eyes and teeth of dazzling white-
ness. The fruit thrown to them seemed best to suit
the ideas and palates of the children, who devoured
oranges, skin and all ; but the gift of clothing which
was made to the parents was laid aside for future
consideration, though there are probably no " ole clo' "
merchants in Terra del Fuego. The men ate hard sea
biscuit and slices of cold corned beef ravenously. The
plump, well-rounded shoulders and limbs of the women
showed them to be in far better physical condition
than the men, whose bodies consisted of little besides
skin and bones. They were copper colored, and the
skin of the women shone in the bright sunlight which
FUEGIANS. 289
prevailed for the moment, as though they had been
varnished. If their faces had been as well formed as
their bodies, they woidd have been models of natural
beauty. How these people could remain so nearly
naked with apparent comfort, while we found over-
coats quite necessary, was a problem difficidt to solve
satisfactorily.
" They were born so," said our first officer. " As
you go through life with your face and hands exposed,
so they go with their entire bodies. It is a mere matter
of habit, — habit from babyhood to maturity."
All of which is perfectly reasonable. It was ob-
served that on the bottom of their boats was a layer of
flat stones, and on these, just amidship, was spread a
low, smoiddering fire of dried vines and small twigs,
designed to temper the atmosphere about them. So
frail were the boats that one of the occupants was kept
constantly baling out water.
It is impossible to form any intelligent estimate as
to how many of these aborigines there are in and about
the strait. They find food, like the canvas-back ducks,
in the wild celery, adding shell-fish and dried berber-
ries, and are a strictly nomadic people. After exhaust-
ing the products of one vicinity, for the time being,
they move on, but return to the locality at a proper
time, when nature has recuperated herself and fur-
nished a fresh supply of vegetable growth and edible
shell-fish. A stranded whale is a godsend to these
savages, upon the putrid flesh of which they live and
fatten until all has disappeared. In their primitive
290 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
way they hunt this leviathan, but want of proper facil-
ities renders them rarely successful. Occasionally they
manage to plant a spear in some vital spot, deep enough
to be effectual, so that the whale, after diving to the
depths of the sea, finally comes to the surface, near
the place where he was wovmded, to thrash about and
to die. Even then, unless it is at a favorable point,
the large body is liable to be swept away by the strong
tide setting through the strait, so that the natives sel-
dom secure a carcass by these means.
Not long since one of the European mail steamers,
on approaching the Atlantic end of the strait, sighted
an object which was at first thought to be a sunken
rock. If this was its character, it was all important
to obtain the exact location. A boat was lowered and
pulled to the object, when it was found to be the
carcass of a dead whale, in which was a stout wooden
spear which had fatally wounded the creature. Se-
curely attached to the spear, by means of a rope made
of animal sinews, there were a couple of inflated blad-
ders. The speir was evidently a Fuegian weapon,
and though it had finally cost the whale his life, the
dead body had been carried by the current far beyond
the reach of those who had caused the fatal wound.
The discovery showed the crude manner in which these
savages seek to possess themselves of a whale occa-
sionally and thus to appease their barbaric appetites.
They could not pursue one in their frail boats, but
the creature is sometimes found sleeping on the sur-
face of the sea, which is the Fuegian opportunity for
AQUATIC BIRDS. 291
approaching it noiselessly, and for planting a spear in
some vital part of the huge body. AYhales, when thus
attacked, do not show fight, but their instinct leads
them to dive at once.
A few whales were observed within the strait during
our passage, some so near as to show that they had
no fear of the ship. It was curious to watch them.
There was a baby whale among the rest, five or six
feet in length, which kept very close to its dam ; it
suddenly disappeared once while we were watching
the school, though only to rise again to tlie surface
of the sea and emit a tiny fountain of spray from its
diminutive blow-hole. In passing a small inlet which
formed a calm, sheltered piece of water, still as an
inland lake, there were seen upon its tranquil bosom
a few white geese, quietly floating, while close at hand
upon some rocks, a haK score of awkward penguins
were also observed, with their ludicrous dummy wings,
and their bodies supported in a haK standing, half
sitting position.
Ducks seem to be very abundant in the strait,
but geese are scarce. An occasional cormorant is
caught sight of, with its distended pouch bearing wit-
ness to its proverbial voracity. All the birds one sees
in these far away regions have each some peculiar
adaptability to the climate, the locality, or to both.
The penguin never makes the mistake of seeking ouj*
northern shores, nor is the albatross often seen north
of the fortieth degree of south latitude. True, were
the former to emigrate, he would have to swim the
292 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
whole distance, but the latter is so marvelously strong
of wing that it has been said of him, he might break-
fast, if he chose, at the Cape of Good Hope, and dine
on the coast of Newfoundland.
Terra del Fuego, — " Land of Fire," — which makes
the southern side of the strait, opposite Patagonia, is
composed of a very large group of islands washed by
the Atlantic on the east side and the Pacific on the
west, trending towards the southeast for about two
hundred miles from the strait, and terminating at
Cape Horn. The largest of these islands is East
Terra del Fuego, which measures from east to west
between three and four hundred miles. One can only
sj)eak vaguely of detail, as this is still a terra incog-
nita. These islands do indeed form " a land of deso-
lation," as Captain Cook appropriately named them,
sparsely inhabited to be sure, but hardly fit for human
beings. They are deeply indented and cut up by
arms of the sea, and composed mostly of sterile
mountains, whose tops are covered with perpetual
snow. When the mountains are not too much exr
posed to the ocean storms on the west coast, they are
scantily covered with a species of hardy, wind-dis-
torted trees from the water's edge upward to the snow
line, which is here about two thousand feet above the
sea. In sheltered areas this growth is dense and for-
est-like, especially nearest to the sea ; in others it is
interspersed by bald and blanched patches of barren
rocks. In some open places, where they have worn
themselves a broad path, the glaciers come down to
GLACIERS. 293
the water, discharging sections of ice constantly into
the deej^ sea, crowded forward and downward by the
immense but slow-moving mass behind, — a frozen
river, — thus illustrating the habit of the iceberg-pro-
ducing glaciers of the far north.
One never approaches this subject without recalling
the lamented Agassiz and his absorbing theories relat-
ing to it.
The author has seen huge glaciers in Scandinavia
and in Switzerland, forming natural exhibitions of
great interest ; each country has peculiarities in this
respect. In the last-named country, for instance,
there is no example where a glacier descends lower
than thirty-five hundred feet above the sea level, while
in Norway the only one of which he can speak from
personal observation has before it a large terminal
moraine, thus losing the capacity for that most striking
performance, the discharge of icebergs. The best
example of this interesting operation of nature which
we have ever witnessed, and probably the most effec-
tive in the world, is that of the Muir glacier in Alaska,
where an immense frozen river comes boldly down
from the Arctic regions to the sea level, with a sheer
height at its terminus of over two hundred feet. From
this unique fa(^ade, nearly two miles in width, the
constant tumbling of icebergs into the sea is accom-
panied by a noise like a salvo of cannon. This gla-
cier, it should be remembered, also extends to the bot-
tom of the bay, where it enters it two hundred feet
below the surface of the water, thus giving it a height.
294 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
or perhaps we should say a depth and height combined,
of fully four hundred feet. Icebergs ,are discharged
from the submerged portion continually, and float to
the surface, thus repeating the process below the water
which is all the while going on above it, and visible
upon the perpendicular surface. Nothing which we
have seen in the Canadian Selkirks, in Switzerland,
Norway, or elsewhere, equals in size, grandeur, or
clearly defined glacial action, the famous Muir glacier
of Alaska.
The most remarkable peak to be seen in passing
through the Strait of Magellan is Mount Sarmiento,
which is inexpressibly grand in its proportions, domi-
nating the borders of Cockburn's Channel near the
Pacific end of the great water-way. It is about seven
thousand feet in height, a spotless cone of snow, being
in form extremely abrupt and pointed. This frosty
monarch sends down from its upper regions a score or
more of narrow, sky-blue glaciers to the sea through
openings in the dusky forest. Darwin was especially
impressed by the sight of these when he explored this
region, and speaks of them as looking like so many
Niagaras, but they are only miniature glaciers after all.
One sees in the Pyrenees and the St. Gothard Pass
similar cascades flowing down from the mountains to-
wards the valleys, except that in the one instance the
crystal waters are liquid, in the other they are quite
congealed. The group or range of which Sarmiento
is the apex is very generally shrouded in mist, and is
visited by frequent rain, snow, and hail storms. We
A SINGULAR STORY. 295
were fortunate to see it under a momentary glow of
warm simshine, when the sky was deepest bkie, and
the ermine cloak of the mountain was spangled with
frost gems.
It would seem that such exposure to the elements
in a frigid climate, and such deprivations as must be
constantly endured by the barbarous natives who in-
habit these bleak regions, must surely shorten their
lives, and perhaps it does so, though " the survival of
the fittest," who grow up to maturity, is in such num-
bers that one is a little puzzled in considering the
matter. A singular instance touching upon this point
came indirectly to the writer's knowledge.
It appears that four Fuegian women, one of whom
was about forty years of age, and the others respec-
tively about twenty, twenty-five, and thirty, were
picked up adrift in the strait a few years ago. It was
believed that they had escaped from some threatened
tribal cruelty, but upon this subject they would reveal
nothing. These fugitives were kindly taken in hand by
philanthropic people at Sandy Point, and entertained
with true Christian hospitality. When first discovered
they were, as usual, quite naked, but were promptly
clothed and properly housed. No more work was re-
quired of them than they chose voluntarily to per-
form ; in short, they were most kindly treated, and
though the best of care was taken of them in a hy-
gienic sense, they all gradually faded, and died of con-
sumption in less than two years. They seemed to be
contented, were grateful and cheerful, but clothing
296 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
and a warm house to live in, odd as it may seem,
killed them ! They were born to a free, open air and
exposed daily life, and their apparently sturdy con-
stitutions required such a mode of living. Civilized
habits, strange to say, proved fatal to these wild chil-
dren of the rough Fuegian coast.
CHAPTER XIV.
The Land of Fire. — Cape Horn. — In the Open Pacific. — Fellow Pas-
sengers. — Large Sea -Bird. — An Interesting Invalid. — A Weary
Captive. — A Broken-Hearted Mother. — Study of the Heavens. —
The Moon. — Chilian CivU. War. — Concepcion. — A Growing City.
— Commercial Importance. — Cultivating City Gardens on a New
Plan. — Important Coal Mines. — Delicious Fruits.
Magellan named this extreme southern land, of
which we have been speaking, "the Land of Fire,"
because of the numerous fires which he, from his
ships, saw on the shore at night, and which were then
supposed by the discoverers to be of a volcanic char-
acter. The fact probably was that the Indians did
not fail to recognize the need of artificial heat, es-
pecially at night, though they had not sufficient gen-
ius to teach them to construct garments suitable to
protect them from the inclemency of the weather.
These fires were kindled in the open air, but the na-
tives camped close about them, sleeping within their
influence.
Cape Horn, the extreme point of South America,
on the outermost island of the Fuegian group, is a
lofty, steep black rock, with a pointed summit, which
has stood there for ages, like a watchful sentinel at
his post. Two thirds of Patagonia and Terra del
Fuego — the western part — belong to Chili, and the
298 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
balance of both — the eastern part — belongs to the
Argentine Eepublic. A recently consummated treaty
between these two nationalities has fixed upon this
final division of territory, and thus settled a question
which has long been a source of dispute and ill feel-
ing between them. This division makes Cape Horn
belong to Chili, not a specially desirable possession,
to be sure, but it is an indelible landmark.
The sail along the coast northward after leaving
the Pacific mouth of the strait affords very little va-
riety of scenery ; the dull hue of the barren shore is
without change of color for hundreds of miles, until
the eye becomes weary of watching it, as we speed
onward through the long, indolent ocean swell. Arid
hills and small indentures form the coast line, but as
we get further northward, this dreary sameness is
varied by the appearance of an occasional small settle-
ment, forming a group of dwellings of a rude char-
acter, possibly a mining region or a fishing hamlet,
connected with some business locality further inland.
Sometimes a green valley is descried, which makes a
verdant gulch opening quite down to the sea.
This dense monotony becomes more and more te-
dious, until one longs to get somewhere, anywhere,
away from it.
In the dearth of scenic interest, we fall to studying
the various passengers traveling between the Pacific
ports, a great variety of nationalities being repre-
sented. Among those of the second-class was a hand-
some Italian boy, with marvelous eyes of jet and a
SEA EXPERIENCES. 299
profusion of long black hair. He liad a small organ
hung about his neck, and carried an intelligent mon-
key with him. The boy and his monkey joined in the
performance of certain simple, amusing tricks to elicit
mouey from the lookers-on. Both boy and monkey
were happy in the result achieved, the former in lib-
eral cash receipts, the latter in being fed liberally
with cakes and bonbons. The capacity of monkeys
for the rapid consumption of palatable dainties is one
of the unsolved mysteries of nature.
Schools of porpoises played about the hull of the
ship, and clouds of sea-birds at times wheeled about
the topmasts, or followed in the ship's wake watching
for refuse from the cook's department. Occasionally
the head of a large, deep-water turtle would appear
for a moment above the surface, twisting its awkward
neck to watch the course of the steamer, while shore-
ward the mottled surface of the gently undulating
waves betrayed the presence of myriads of small fish,
over which hovered predatory birds of the gull tribe.
Now and again one would swoop swiftly downward to
secure a victim to its appetite. Few albatrosses were
seen after leaving the Pacific mouth of the strait.
They are lovers of the stormy Antarctic region, with
the tempestuous atmosphere of which their great
power of wing enables them to cope successfully.
The author has seen one of these birds off the south-
ern coast of New Zealand which spread eleven feet
from tip to tip of its extended wings. It was caught
with a floating bait by one of the seamen and drawn
300 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
on board ship, where it was measured, but not until
a long contest of strengtli had taken place between
men and bird. The albatross was slightly wounded
in the mouth and throat by the process of catching
him with a baited hook. But they are hardy crea-
tures, and unless injured in some vital part pay lit-
tle heed to a small wound. After this bird had been
examined, it was liberated, and resumed its graceful
flight about the ship as though nothing unusual had
happened.
An invalid girl of Spanish birth, who was perhaps
sixteen years of age, very tenderly cared for by her
mother, was propped up daily in a reclining seat upon
deck, where she might find amusement in watching
the sea and distant shore, while inhaling the saline
tonic of the atmosphere. Poor child, how her large,
dark eyes, pallid lips, and painful respiration ap-
pealed to one's sympathy! It required no profes-
sional knowledge to divine her approaching fate. She
was really in the last stages of consumption, and was
on her way to a poj)ular sanitarium near the coast,,
hoping against reason that the change might prove
restorative and of radical benefit. It was pleasant to
observe how promptly every one on board strove to
add to her comfort by simple attentions and services,
and how the choicest bits from the table were secured
to tempt her capricious appetite. The grateful mo-
ther's eyes were often suffused with tears, carefully
hidden from the gentle invalid. Her maternal heart
was too full for the utterance even of thanks.
A TOUCHING INCIDENT. 301
"Ah," said she to us in a low tone of voice, "she is
the last of my three children, two boys and this girl.
The two boys faded away just like this. Do you think
there is any hope for her, senor? "
" Why not, senora? We shoidd never cease to hope.
The land breeze and the springs where you are going
may do wonders."
Heaven forgive us. The child's fate was only too
plainly to be read in her attenuated form, and the dull
action of her almost congested lungs.
One day a small, weary sea-bird, newly out of its
nest, flew on board our ship quite exhausted, and
being easily secured, was given to the young girl to
pet. It soon became quite at home in her lap, eating
small bread crumbs and little bits of meat from her
fino^ers. Confidence beino^ thus established between
them, the little half -fledged creature would not will-
ingly leave its new-found benefactress. It seemed to
be a providential occurrence, affording considerable
diversion to the sick one. For a while, at least, she
was aroused from the listlessness which is so very sig-
nificant in consumption, and her whole heart went out
to the confiding little waif. It was a pretty sight to
see the bird nestle contentedly close to her bosom, the
pale-faced girl scarcely less fragile than the little
feathered stranger she had adopted. No one thought
that Death was hovering so very near, yet the third
night after the bird flew on board the young girl lay
in her shroud, with an ivory crucifix, typical of the
Romish faith, in one hand, and the other resting upon
302 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
the inanimate bird she had befriended, which had also
breathed its last.
Attempted consolation to a freshly bleeding heart
is almost always premature, and there are few, very
few, human beings competent to offer it effectually
under the best circumstances. The sad-eyed mother
listened to a few well-meant words of this character,
but slowly shook her head and made no reply. Time
only could assuage the keenness of her sorrow. By
and by she spoke, with her eyes still resting upon
that pale, dead face, where nothing but a wonderful
peace and serenity were now expressed.
"Have birds souls, do you think? " she asked, in a
low, trembling voice.
"Possibly," was the reply; "but why do you ask? "
"Because," she continued, speaking very slowly,
"that tiny creature and my darling died almost at the
same moment, and if so, her spirit would have com-
pany on its way to the good God."
The unconscious poetry of the thought, so quietly
expressed by the sorrowing mother, as she sat beside
the corpse with folded hands and burning eyes, which
could not find the relief of .tears, was very touching.
The motor of the big ship throbbed on, the routine
of duty continued unchanged, passengers ate, drank,
and were merry, the sea-birds wheeled about us utter-
ing their sharp contentious cries, and we pressed for-
ward through the opposing wind and tide, as though
nothing had happened. Only a mother's loving heart
was broken.* Only a soul gone to its God. Surely
PHASES OF THE MOON. 303
sucli sweet innocence must be welcome in heaven.
But ah I the great mystery of it all !
Most intelligent people will agTee with us that no
study knoA^VTi to science can compare with astronomy
for absorbing interest. At sea one finds ample time,
convenience, and incentive to study the sky, populous
with countless hosts of constellations. Especially is
it interesting to watch the numerous phases of the
moon, beginning with her advent as a delicate cres-
cent of pale light in the eastern sky, after the sun has
set, and continuing to the period when she becomes
full. Each succeeding night it is found that she has
moved farther and farther westward, until, arriving at
the full, she rises nearly at the same time that the
sun sets. From the period of full moon, the disc of
light diminishes nightly until the last quarter is
reached, and the moon is then seen high over the
ship's topmast head, before day breaks in the east.
Thus she goes on waning, all the while drawing closer
to the sun, until finally she becomes absorbed in his
light. The interesting process completed, she again
comes into view at twilight in the west, in her exqui-
site crescent form, once more to pass through a similar
series of changes.
The superstition of sailors touching the moonlight
is curious. No foremast hand will sleep where it
shines directly upon him. They are voluble in relat-
ing many instances of comrades rendered melancholy-
mad by so doing. "They talk about the moon mak-
ing the ebb and flow of the tide," said an able sea-
304 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
man to the author. "There's lots of queer things
about the moon, but tJiat 's d — d nonsense, saving
your honor's presence." Thus Jack eagerly absorbs
superstitious ideas, and ignores natural phenomena.
No humble class of men are so intelligent in a general
way, and yet at the same time so universally supersti-
tious, as those who go down to the sea in ships.
In coming on to the west coast it is natural, perhaps,
for the reader to expect us to refer briefly to the late
civil war in Chili, but we have not attempted in these
notes to depict the local political condition of any of
the states of South America. In the past they have
most of them shown themselves as changeable as the
wind, and remarks which would depict the status of
to-day might be quite unsuited to that of to-mor-
row. The average reader is sufficiently familiar with
the struggle so lately ended in Chili. One party was
led by the late President Balmaceda, in opposition to
the other, known as the Congressional party. That
which brought about this open warfare was the re-
fusal of Congress any longer to recognize the presi-
dent on account of his high-handed, illegal, and venal
official conduct. A line will illustrate the cause of the
outbreak. It was the Constitution of the country as
against a Dictatorship. The President of the Chil-
ian Republic, like the President of the United States,
has a personal authority such as nowadays is wielded
by few constitutional monarchs. Balmaceda proved
to be a tyrant of the first water, abusing the power of
his position to condemn to death those who opposed
CONCEPCION. 305
him, without even the semblance of a trial. He suc-
ceeded in attaching most of the regular army to his
cause by profuse promises and the free use of money,
while the navy went almost bodily over to the side of
Congress. The contest assmned revolutionary pro-
portions, and many battles were fought. As a casual
observer, the author heartily coincided with the Con-
gressional party, and rejoices at their wholesale tri-
umph.
The suicidal act which ended Balmaceda's life was
no heroic resort, but the deed of a coward fearing to
face the consequences of his murderous career. It
is not the man who has been actuated by high and
noble sentiments who cuts his throat or blows out his
brains. Such is the act of the cunning fraud who real-
izes that he has not only totally failed in his object,
but that his true character is known to the world.
Suicide has been declared to be the final display of
egoism, and it certainly leaves the world with one
less thoroughly selfish character. The disappearance
of such an individual may produce a momentary rip-
ple on the surface of time, but it fails to leave any
permanent mark.
Nearly three hundred miles south of Santiago, cap-
ital of Chili, on the Pacific coast, is situated the city
of Concepcion. It stands on the right bank of the
river Biobio, six or seven miles from its mouth, and
contains about twenty -five thousand inhabitants. The
people seem to be exceptionally active and enterpris-
ing, though at this writing suffering from the effects
306 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
of the late civil war. It is the third city in point
of size and importance in the republic, and dates
from over three hundred years ago. It wiU be re-
membered also that it once held the place now occu-
pied by Santiago as capital of the country. The city
is built in the valley of Mocha, under the coast range
of hills, and is justly famed, like Puebla in Mexico,
for its pretty women and beautifid flowers. It is a
clean and thrifty town, with handsome shops, a charm-
ing plaza, and an attractive alameda. This latter
deserves special mention. It is a mile long, and beau-
tified with several rows of tall Lombardy poplars, the
sight of which carried us to another hemisphere, where
those lovely Italian plains stretch away from the en-
virons of Milan towards the foothills of the neigh-
boring Alps and the more distant Apennines. Great
things are prognosticated for Concepcion in the near
future by its friends, and it is already the principal
town of southern Chili. The streets are well paved,
and lined by handsome business blocks, together with
pleasant dwelling-houses, built low, to avoid the effect
of earthquakes, the universal material being sun-dried
bricks, finished externally in stucco. The facades are
painted in harlequin variety of colors, yellow, blue,
and peach-blossom prevailing. The town has really
more the appearance of a northern than a southern
city, and has long been connected with Valparaiso by
railway.
Some of the most extensive coal mines on this part
of the continent have been discovered in this vioinitv,
TALCAHUANO. 307
and are being worked on a large scale. In fact, Coro-
nal, not far away, is the great coaling station on the
Chilian coast for steamships bound to Europe or Pan-
ama. One would suppose that this coal mining must
be quite profitable, as we were told that twenty -five
and even thirty dollars per ton was realized for it de-
livered at the nearest tide-water. The port of Concep-
cion is some seven miles from the city, where the river
Biobio flows into the ocean at Talcahuano, — pro-
nounced Tal-ca-wha'no, — a small to^vn on Concep-
cion Bay possessing an excellent harbor. There are
here a large marine dock, an arsenal, and a seaman's
hospital. Close by the shore is a spacious and conven-
ient railway station. The bay is some six miles wide
by seven in length. There is a resident population
of nearly four thousand, who form an extremely active
community. The majority of the houses are of a
very humble character and, like those of Concepcion,
are built of adobe.
Spanish capitals in the West Indies and South
America were originally placed, like Concepcion, some
distance from the coast, to render them more secure
against the attack of pirates and lawless sea-rovers,
who might land from their vessels, burn a town on the
seashore, after robbing it of all valuables, and easily
make good their escape ; whereas to march inland and
attack a to^vn far from their base, or to proceed up a
shallow river in boats for such a purpose, was a far
more difficult, if not indeed an impossible thing to do.
Thus Callao is the harbor of Lima; Valparaiso, of
308 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
Santiago; and Talcaliuano, of Concepcion. The situ-
ation of the last named capital is admirable, at the
head of the bay, which affords one of the best harbors
on the west coast of the continent. When the trans-
continental railway from Buenos Ayres, on the Atlan-
tic side, is finished, surmounting the passes of the An-
des, — already "a foregone conclusion," — it will have
its termination here at Talcahuano, which must then
become a great shipping point for New Zealand and
Australia. Half a dozen lines of European mail
steamers already touch here regidarly. The river is
too shallow to admit of vessels drawing more than a
few feet of water ascending it so far as Concepcion, but
Talcahuano is all sufficient as a port.
Few places have been so frequently devastated by
fire, flood, and earthquakes, or so often ravaged by
war, as has this interesting city. In the early days
the Araucanian Indians put the settlers to the sword
again and again. This was the bravest of all the
native Indian tribes of South America, and is still
an unconquered people. The city was laid in ruins
so late as 1835 by an earthquake, though no special
sis"ns of this destructive visitor are to be seen here to-
day. Still, one cannot but feel that with such possi-
bilities hanging over the locality, there must be few
people willing to expend freely of their means for
substantial building purposes, or to make Concepcion
a permanent place of abode. Human nature adapts
itself to all exigencies, however, and the place grows
rapidly, notwithstanding the discouraging circum-
THE TELEGRAPH. 309
stances whicli we liave named. It is not the native
but the foreign element of the population which is do-
ing so much for this region. Were the mingled na-
tive race to be left to themselves, there would be few
signs of progress evinced; they would rapidly lapse
into a condition of semi-barbarism. The Chilian
proper is a very poor creatui-e as regards morals, in-
telligence, or true manhood; his instincts are brutal
and his aims predaceous.
Like all South American cities, Concepcion is laid
out by rule and compass, the fairly broad streets cross-
ing each other at right angles. There is a large and
costly cathedral, but a wholesome fear of earthquakes
has caused it to be left without the usual twin towers,
which gives it an unfinished appearance. The place
also contains other churches, a well-appointed theatre,
two hospitals, and several edifices devoted to char-
itable purposes. Opposite the cathedral stands the
Intendencia, a large and handsome government house.
Telephones and electric lights have long been adopted,
and the telegraph poles do much abound. In these
foreign places, so far away from home, to see the
streets lined, as they are with us, by big, tall poles,
holding aloft a maze of wires, is very suggestive ; but
where can one go that they are not? It is curious to
realize that we can step into an office close at hand
and promptly communicate with any part of the
world. We may have sailed over the ocean many
thousands of miles, and have consumed months to reach
the spot where we stand, but electricity, like thought.
310 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
annihilates space, and will take our message instantly
to its destination, though it be at the farthest end of
the globe. These marvelous facilities are no longer
confined to populous centres. Electricity not only
bears our messages to the uttermost parts of the world,
but it propels the tramway cars in Rome, Boston, and
Munich, while it also lights the streets of New York,
Auckland in New Zealand, as well as of London and
Honolulu.
The importance of Concepcion is manifest from the
fact that several new railway connections terminating
here have lately been accomplished; but the impor-
tant event already referred to, of the transcontinental
railway, will finally insure her commercial greatness.
The town is surrounded by a widespread, fertile coun-
try, abounding in both mineral and agricultural
wealth, equal to, if not surpassing, any other province
in Chili. The city was financially strong before the
late civil war, and has still some very wealthy resi-
dents. The principal bank of Concepcion, with a
capital of one million dollars, paid a dividend to its
stockholders in 1890 of sixteen per cent, on the pre-
vious year's business. The cathedral and govern-
ment house, already spoken of, front on the plaza, a
large open square ornamented with statuary, trees,
and flowers, the latter kept in most exquisite order
and constant bloom by means of a singular and ori-
ginal device. It seems that each separate plot of these
grounds is owned or cared for by a different family
of the citizens, and that a spirit of emulation is thus
TREATMENT OF THE DEAD. 311
excited by the effort of the several parties to make
their special plot excel in its beauty and fragrance.
This keeps the whole plaza in a lovely condition, and
makes it the pride of the city.
Society and business circles are mostly composed of
foreigners, the German element largely predominat-
ing. The native, or humbler classes, as we have al-
ready intimated, are a wretchedly low people. They
"wake" their dead before burial, much after the
style which prevails in Ireland, except that the pro-
cess is more exaggerated in manner. Drinking and
debauchery characterize these occasions, which are
continued often for three days at a time, or so long as
the means for indulgence in excess last. In case of
youthful deaths, the child's cheeks are painted red,
and the head is crowned in a fantastic manner, the
body being dressed and placed in a sitting position,
thus forming a strange and hideous sight. Such
treatment of a corpse could only be tolerated by a
barbarous people. In the environs of the town, Laz-
arus jostles Dives. There are here many hovels, as
well as a better class of residences. Some of them
are wretchedly poor, built of mud and bamboo, the
inhabitants half naked and wholly starved, if one may
judge by their appearance. On Saturday, which in
Spanish towns and cities is called "poor day," the
streets of Concepcion are full of either assumed or
real mendicants. The Spanish race is one of chronic
beggars, — they seem born so. Scarcely less of a nui-
sance than the beggars are the army of half -starved,
312 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
mongrel, neglected dogs, that throng in the streets of
the city, rivaling Constantinople.
It should be mentioned that Concepcion has a good
system of tramway service, and that the cars have
attached to them a class of neat, pretty, and modest
girls for conductors, who wear natty straw hats, snow-
white aprons, and are supplied with a leather cash
bag hung by a strap about the neck. It seems rather
incongruous that while so many evidences of real
progress abound- in this city, water, the prime neces-
sity of life, should be peddled about the streets by
the bucketful. Now is the time to perfect a system
of drainage, and to introduce an adequate supply of
good water, from easily available sources.
The inexhaustible coal fields already mentioned,
which are situated but a few miles away, must prove
to be a lasting source of prosperity to Concepcion.
They are far more important and valuable, all things
considered, than a gold or silver mine near at hand
would be. Indeed, it is found in the long run that
the latter kind of mineral discoveries do not always
tend to the material benefit of the community in
which they are found. The earth produces far more
profitable crops than gold and precious stones, even
when considered in the most mercenary light. The
business prospects of Concepcion, as we have pointed
out in detail, are exceedingly promising. That the
city is destined eventually to rival Valparaiso seems
more than probable, and yet there is another side to
this favorable aspect thus presented, which it is not
TROPICAL FRUITS. 313
wise to ignore. True, the climate is equable and
healthy, but that great drawback, the liability to
earthquakes and tidal waves, still remains, like a
dark, portending shadow. In spite of this startling
possibility there is something of a "boom" already
instituted, at this writing, as to the prices of land in
and about both the port and city of Concepcion. It
is a fact that people will soon become calloused and
heedless of almost any familiar danger. Jack turns
in and quickly falls to sleep, when the watch below is
called and relieves him from the deck, though the ship
is in the midst of cyclone latitudes, and while a haK-
gale is blowing. The people of Torre del Grecco, at
the base of the volcano, do not sleep any less soundly
to-day because Pompeii was utterly destroyed by
Vesuvius eighteen or nineteen centuries ago. The
earthquake of 1835 first shook Talcahuano nearly to
pieces, and then completed its destruction by a tidal
wave w^hich swept what remained of it into the sea.
It goes without saying that most of the fruits and
staple products of the tropics are to be found both
at Concepcion and at the port of Talcahuano. Each
place we visit seems to have some specialty in this
line. Here, it is the watermelon. Favored by the
soil and the climate, this fruit is developed to its
maximum in ^veight, richness of flavor, and general
perfection. They are sold cheap enough everywhere.
A centavo will buy a large ripe one. Street carts
and donkeys are laden with them, and so are the
decks of all outgoing vessels. It is both food and
314 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
drink to the poor peons, who consume the fruit in
quantities strongly suggestive of cholera, dropsy, or
some other dreadful illness. Any one accustomed to
travel in our Southern States, in the right season of
the year, will have observed how voraciously the negro
population, young and old, eat of the cheap, ripe crop
of watermelons ; but these South American peons have
a capacity for storage and digestion of this really
wholesome article, beyond all comparison. A child
not more than ten years of age will devour the ripe
portion of a large melon in a few minutes, and no ill
effects seem to follow. An adult eats two at a meal
which would weigh, we are afraid to say how much,
but they are considerably larger than the average
melons which are brought to New England from the
South. After all, the watermelon is healthful food,
though it is more filling than nourishing. It will be
remembered that the famous fasting individual. Dr.
Tanner, after eating nothing for forty days and forty
nights, took for his first article of nourishment, at the
close of this time of fasting, half a watermelon, and
that he retained and digested it successfully.
CHAPTER XV.
Valparaiso. — Priucipal South American Port of the Pacific. — A
Good Harbor. — Tallest Mountain on this Continent. — The News-
paper Press. — Warlike Aspect. — Girls as Car Conductors. —
Chilian Exports. — Foreign Merchants. — Effects of Civil War. —
Gambling in Private Houses. — Immigration. — Culture of the
Grape. — Agriculture. — Island of Juan Fernandez.
Valparaiso — "Vale of Paradise" — was thus
fancifully named because of its assumed loveliness.
True, it is beautifully situated, and is a fine city of
its class, located in an admirable semicircular bay,
not upon one, but upon many hills, backed by a cres-
cent-shaped mountain range. But when one compares
its harbor to that of Naples, or Sydney in Australia,
for picturesqueness of scenery, as is often done, it only
provokes invidious remarks. The matchless harbor
of Rio Janeiro, on the eastern coast of the continent,
already fully described in these pages, is far more
charming in general effect and in all of its surround-
ings, not to mention that it is more than twenty times
as large. Valparaiso is the principal seaport of Chili,
and indeed, for the present, it is the main port of the
entire west coast of South America. By consulting
the map it will be readily seen that Chili must ever
be a maritime nation, depending more upon an effec-
tive na\^^ than an army. The possession of the na-
316 E(lUATORIAL AMERICA.
tional ships of war by the Congressional party in the
revolution so lately terminated gave .them virtual
control of the cities along the coast, at the outbreak
of the emeute, and this means they employed against
the Presidential party with the most ruthless effect.
They did not hesitate to savagely cannonade and shell
a city, though two thirds of the occupants were their
own friends and supporters, provided it was held os-
tensibly, and for the time being only, by the support-
ers of Balmaceda. The outrageous bombardment of
Iquique is an instance in illustration of this charge.
The Chilian delights to be cruel; it is his instinct to
destroy and to plunder. He is by nature boastful,
passionate, and headstrong. This disposition seems
to be born in the race, is in fact a matter of hered-
ity, fostered by bull-fights and kindred entertain-
ments. But the country must now pay for the enor-
mous destruction of property of which the directors
of the civil war have been guilty. The European
powers have already begun to send in their demands
for damages done to their non-combatant merchants.
England comes first with a bill calling for payment
of sixty million dollars. Spain, Italy, and Germany
will follow. It is estimated that a hundred million
dollars will be required to settle these foreign de-
mands. Chili must pay. There is no avoiding it.
Reckless destruction will be found to be rather an ex-
pensive amusement in future for these South Ameri-
cans. Their outrageous and murderous treatment of
citizens of the United States who land upon their
CHILIAN TERRITORY. 317
shore is also like to cost them a heavy sum in way of
penalty. The present is a good opportunity to teach
them a salutary lesson. The Chilians will not be in a
hurry to repeat crimes which they find entail sure and
swift punishment.
A majority of the population of Chili lives, as a
rule, within a few miles of the sea, and her coast line
extends from Cape Horn northward over two thou-
sand miles to the borders of Bolivia and Peru. With
this extraordinary length, she has an average width of
hardly more than a hundred miles, bordered on the
east by the western slope of the Andes, whose eastern
side belongs to the Argentine Republic, and on the
west by the Pacific Ocean. The present estimated
area of the republic is about two hundred and twenty
thousand square miles, containing a population of
considerably less than three millions, though its capa-
cious territory could be so divided as to make twenty-
five states as large as Massachusetts. Sixteen hun-
dred miles of steam railroads render the principal
sections of Chili accessible to one another. The coast
line has from time to time been undergoing decided
chancres throuQ:h volcanic action. In 1822, after a
visible commotion, the shore was permanently raised
three feet at Valparaiso, and four feet at Quintere.
This change extended over an area of a hundred thou-
sand miles. Another but lesser elevation took place
in the same region in 1835.
There seems to be no accounting for the vagaries of
a land subject to volcanic influences.
318 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
The harbor of Valparaiso is well protected on the
east, south, and west, but it is open to the north,
from which direction come very heavy winds and
seas during a couple of months in the winter season,
often causing serious casualties among the shipping
which may chance to be anchored in the harbor.
A "norther" is as much dreaded here as it is at Vera
Cruz and along the Gulf of Mexico generally.
The entrance to the harbor is on its north side, and
is a mile in width, more or less. The flags of nearly
all nations are seen here, though the Stars and Stripes
are less frequently to be met with than others. The
city lies at the base of the closely surrounding hills,
up whose sides and in the ravines the dwelling-houses
have been constructed, tier above tier. Over all,
further inland, looms the frosted head of grand old
Aconcagua, twenty-two thousand feet and more in
height, believed to be the tallest mountain in the
western hemisphere. This mighty member of the
Andean Cordillera is said to be ninety miles away,
but it is so lofty and dominant, as seen through the
clear atmosphere, that it appears almost within can-
non range. At this writing the harbor presents
quite a warlike aspect. English, American, French,
German, and Chilian men-of-war are anchored here,
looking after their several national interests, as af-
fected by the civil war. The bugle calls of the sev-
eral ships, the morning and evening guns, the display
of naval bunting, together with the flitting hither and
thither of well-manned boats, all unite to form a gay
SANTIAGO. 319
and suo^ofestive scene. The Chilian cruisers in the
hands of the revolutionists would not hesitate to bat-
ter down any government buildings on the coast, de-
stroying incidentally the domestic residences and mer-
chandise of non-combatants, were they not restrained
by the presence of foreign flags and guns. When
Balmaceda undertook by a proclamation to shut up
the ports of Chili, and declared them blockaded, he
was told by the several naval commanders on the
coast that he could not establish a paper blockade,
and that if the merchant ships of their several coun-
tries were in any way interfered with, he would have
to fight somebody else besides the revolutionists.
The ports were therefore kept as open to legitimate
commerce as they ever were.
The author was disappointed at not being able to
reach Santiago, the capital of Chili, which is situated
at the foot of the western slope of the Andes, nearly
two thousand feet above tide-water. It is connected
with Valparaiso by railway, and under ordinary cir-
cumstances can be reached in eisfht hours. The dif-
Acuities caused by the civil war, and the suspicion
with which all foreigners were regarded, proved im-
possible to surmount without a protracted effort, and
submitting to any amount of red tape. Santiago
was founded by one of Pizarro's captains, in 1541,
and now contains about two hundred thousand inhab-
itants. There are some Americans and many English
resident in Santiago, together with Germans and
Frenchmen, the foreigners being mostly merchants.
320 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
We were tol 1 of two familiar statues which are to be
seen in a public square of the city, in front of the post-
office. One represents George Washington, the other
Abraham Lincoln, both of which were stolen from
Lima during the late conflict between Chili and Peru.
But this is a digression. Let us once more return
to the commercial port of Valparaiso.
A considerable portion of this city has been re-
claimed from the sea, and still more land suitable for
the erection of business warehouses near the shore is
being added to this part of the town. Local enter-
prise, however, is pretty much suspended for the time
being, owing to the disturbed condition of political
affairs. The mountains near at hand supply ample
stone and soil for the purpose of extending the area
of this business portion of the town. Sixty or seventy
years ago, the city contained only a single street, on
the edge of the harbor ; to-day it has all the appear-
ance and belongings of a great commercial capital,
and a population of a hundred and thirty thousand.
Except Rio Janeiro and Buenos Ayres, we saw nowhere
thoroughfares more full of energetic life and business
activity. The main avenue is the Calle Victoria,
which runs round the entire water front, occupied by
the banks, hotels, insurance offices, and the best shops
in the town.
There are four large daily newspapers published in
Valparaiso, whose united circulation exceeds thirty
thousand copies. "El Mercurio " has the eminent
respectability of age, having been published regularly
VALPARAISO. 321
for a period of half a century. The facility for news-
gathering is very good, as this city is connected with
the world at large by submarine cable, but no such
detailed and complete summary of intelligence is at-
tempted as our North American journals exhibit
daily. While on this subject, we may add that there
are no newspapers in Europe, or elsewhere, which will
compare with those of the United States in the aver-
age ability and journalistic merit which characterizes
them. We do not say this in a boastful spirit, but
simply make the statement as an incontrovertible
fact.
Some of the business structures along the harbor
front of Valpa^raiso are fine edifices architecturally,
and many of the retail stores will compare favorably
with the average of ours in Washington Street, Bos-
ton. The elegant class of goods displayed in some of
these establislmients shows that the population is an
habitually extravagant and free-living one. We were
told, by way of illustration, that millionaires were as
plenty as blackberries before the late civil war, while
many wealthy men, foreseeing the catastrophe which
was about to occur, shrewdly prepared for it, and
by careful management saved their property intact.
Many of the private houses on Victoria Street are
spacious, elegant, and costly, the occupants living in
regal style, to support which must cost a very hea\y
annual outlay. It appears that President Balmaceda
discovered, during the late struggle, where and how
to lay his hands upon the resources of a few of these
322 EQUATORIAL AMERICA.
citizens, and that such he completely impoverished,
under one pretext and another, using their property
to support his armed minions, and to swell the ag-
gregate of funds which he sent for deposit in his
own name to Europe. One or two cases of this sort
were related to us in which the citizens were not only
made to give up the whole of their private property,
but were finally imprisoned and sentenced to death
upon a charge of treason, without even the semblance
of a trial !
It is no marvel, to those who know the facts of his
career, that a man who was guilty of such crimes,
when at last brought to bay, finding himself betrayed
and deserted by his pretended friends, should have
blown out his own brains. The posthumous papers
which he left, and wherein he tries to pose as a mar-
tyr, are simply a ludicrous failure. Jose Manuel
Balmaceda was in the fifty-second year of his age
when he committed suicide, and was at the time hiding
for fear of the infuriated citizens of Santiago, who
would certainly have hanged the would - be dictator
without the least hesitation or formality, if they could
have got possession of his person.
The tramway-cars of Valparaiso are of the two-
story pattern, like those of Copenhagen and New Or-
leans, also found in many of the European
